AN: Forgot to mention, in the last chapter: I based this whole development on the fact that Missis Longbottom talked Petunia and Vernon into telling the girls about Black over the summer. Heidi lied to McGonagall back in chapter 7. Just wanted to have that cleared out since it might have confused some of you.
Chapter 10: At the Hospital Wing
"Hi!" a shrilled voice mumbled from above. It sounded strangely familiar.
"Oh! Weasley, was it?" Someone asked. This voice too, sounded vaguely familiar, even more so than the last.
"You…you remembered my name?" The first voice asked bewildered, and yet, extremely pleased.
"Well, you are a fellow Quidditch player," the second voice pointed out. It was manlier than the girlish voice from before, and it definitely rang a bell. But where had she heard it?
Her conscience was slowly returning, and the two voices were getting annoying. Couldn't they just let her sleep a little longer?
"Right…Am, well, I just wanted to say… th-thank you! Thank you for catching me!" The last part was spoken in a shrilled high-pitched voice, which made Heidi's ears ring, and caused a soft moan to escape her.
"Don't mention it," the boy's voice responded quickly, and then called: "Madam Pomfrey! I think Heidi's coming through!"
"I'll be right there!" The unmistakable voice of the nurse called, and in the next moment, Heidi felt a hand gently land on her forehead, and when she sluggishly opened her eyes, she came face-to-face with the worried figure of Madam Pomfrey hovering over her.
"How are you feeling dear?" The nurse asked kindly.
"Horrible!" Heidi whined as a sharp pain suddenly struck her dizzy.
So she was in the hospital wing? How did that happen?
And then it all came back, her mind speeding through the incident that got her there. Sirius Black…Peter Pettigrew…Hermione… the cloaked figure…and… what was that white misty thing?
"What was that black cloaked thing?" Heidi found herself asking instead, her eyes squinting as she massaged her aching temple.
"A Dementor," Hermione's voice answered. "You two were attacked by Dementors."
"Two…?" Heidi asked still very much confused. And then she remembered about her sister…
"Where's Diana?" she asked in desperation as she jumped out of bed, startling the nurse and Diggory. "Where's my sister?"
"Over here!" A week voice from her left called, and Heidi turned her head to see her usually energetic sister, lying in the bead to her left, looking as white as a ghost, and wearing a dishearten expression on her face. Her features sifted into something resembling a half-hearted smile, and Heidi, overcome with relief, felt suddenly light-headed, and she was sure she would have fallen flat on her face, had Diggory not reached out and caught her.
"You shouldn't excite yourself Miss Potter!" Madam Pomfrey chided. "You and your sister need a lot of rest, to recover from the exposure to the Dementors!" the nurse swiftly made her way to her side and helped Diggory guide Heidi back to bed.
"If you wouldn't mind leaving, my patients need to rest," Madam Pomfrey addressed the people in the room, and Heidi turned her head around to note that between her bed and that of her sister's there were a crowd full of people huddled around: Hermione, Neville, Luna, Hagrid, Fluffy, Filch, with Missis Norris perched on top of her sister's bed, and Fang sitting quietly on the foot of her bed. On her right, there was, as well an arsenal of people assembled: Cedric Diggory with Ginny, Ron, Fred and George Weasley. Angelina, Alicia, and Wood, were sitting a few strides across them.
What the hell is going on here? Heidi thought worried. Why are all these people here?
"You're right!" Hermione was quick to agree with the nurse, and motioned at the others to take their leave. "We'll let you two rest for the night."
Heidi nodded mutely and stared silently as Hagrid and his group, alongside the Weasley brothers and the Gryffindor Quidditch team exited the room after wishing the two girls to get well.
"I hope you have a speedy recovery," Diggory said, and leaned down to give Heidi a peach on the cheek, before he too, made a quick getaway.
After everyone else had departed, Heidi turned to give Madam Pomfrey a quizzed look.
"What happened?" she asked the nurse.
"Apparently the Quidditch match was interrupted due to the arrival of the Dementors, who barged onto the Quidditch pitch uninvited," the nurse explained. "The Headmaster chased them off the field, and the creatures made their way to the Hogwarts' double doors, where they stumbled across you two. The Headmaster was furious, as were the three who represented the International Quidditch teams, and everyone else for the matter."
"As am I!" said Diana grumpily.
"I'm right beside you," Heidi agreed. "I can't believe those things would come here and attack students! The Headmaster did take some actions against this right?" Heidi asked hopefully.
"Yes, though it's not much," Madam Pomfrey said in a reproachful tone. "Because even before, those things were only limited to guarding the areas that delimitated the grounds, and those things didn't listed. I doubt any threats the Headmaster might have thrown can do him any good since Fudge refused to dismiss them."
"Fudge was here?" Heidi asked intrigued.
"Yes," the nurse nodded. "Since Minerva, Hagrid and Dumbledore petitioned him for the Dementor's immediate removal, or relocation, but the Minister refused to budge, insisting that they're doing more good than harm."
"That's a load of bull!" Diana spluttered looking peeved. "Black is no way near as dangerous as those things, and Pettigrew is even less of a threat!"
"That's right! What happened with Black and Pettigrew?" Heidi asked suddenly remembering why those wretched things were here in the first place. "What did the others decided to do?"
"Miss Granger decided that it would be best to leave Black up to Hagrid," Madam Pomfrey responded. "Hagrid decided that he wants to talk in length with Black, and get the full story out of him, since he's the only one of us that still has doubts regarding his innocence." Heidi's expression suddenly turned guarded and she looked ready to jump out of bed again, but Madam Pomfrey pushed her back down while saying: "But he settled on not telling Dumbledore unless we all agree to it! He's going to drop by tomorrow so that we can finish our talk."
Heidi looked relieved and sunk back down in her bed while closing her eyes.
"Can I get a pain relieve potion?" she asked the nurse. "My head is killing me!"
"Of course dear," the nurse nodded and quickly made her way to her office.
"Diggory saved Ginny from the Dementors," Diana said, suddenly startling Heidi, who turned to give her a confused look.
"What?" the brunet asked, not sure if she'd understood or not.
"I woke up a little earlier than you, and saw Ginny being treated by Madam Pomfrey," Diana told her looking anything but pleased. "Apparently she'd only gotten a little dizzy and lost her balance. She fell of her broom, but Diggory caught her before she could get too close to the Dementors, so she was only a little shaken when I saw here; a little bit more than when she was on the train. She came over to thank him as soon as Madam Pomfrey was done with her. And then you woke up…"
"So, that was who I heard right before I cam through…" Heidi mumbled remembering the conversation that had woken her. The brunet kept her silence up until Madam Pomfrey returned with the potion, unaware of how exactly she should feel about this new development.
"What's gotten you so downcast?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she handed the brunet the vial of pain-relieve potion.
"Nothing," Heidi said, shaking her head slightly as she drowned the whole bottle. "My medicine?" she asked the nurse.
"You'll have to wait two to three hours before taking it," the nurse told her. "It's not safe to dose you up with more than one potion at a time," she chided, giving her a displeased look.
"Alright," Heidi nodded.
"What medicine?" asked a baffled Diana.
"For my anemia," Heidi clarified and Madam Pomfrey nodded curtly.
Diana nodded, and after giving her sister a worried glance, she decided to turn in for the night, since she was feeling exhausted.
-OOOOOOO-
Heidi was exhausted as well, but she refused to close her eyes and rest, for fear of what she'd see at the other side of her eyelashes. Frankly, since she'd been hooked on the dang potion she'd never once gone to sleep without it, and she wasn't confident that she'd be able to either.
She was scared of seeing him. Scared of seeing Voldemort, scared of the overwhelming confidence that he seemed to emanate, or that twisted little brain of his which had the ability to make her own judgment seem mediocre in comparison. She was scared of loosing control over herself, over her own thoughts, scared of loosing her individuality, because he made everything seem so simple and alluring, yet twisted and wrong. She wasn't going to loose to him! And she wasn't going to loose to sleep either! She'd stay awake until Madam Pomfrey arrived with the sleeping potion!
"And here I was thinking you rather liked the mental stimulation," a serpentine voice purred seductively in her ear.
Heidi froze, feeling her heart stop in place as a cold shiver ran down her spine.
"Breath," the voice commanded softly, prompting Heidi's heart to start beating fast against her rib cage.
"How…?" was the only word she could muster before she realized the answer to her own question. She'd fallen asleep! Ah, hell no!
"I think you know the answer to that one," the voice replied teasingly, and suddenly, the owner of the voice came into view with his loathsome smirk in place and ruby-red eyes sparkling with mirth. "Missed me?" he asked cheekily.
"Hell no!" Heidi was quick to answer, even as she felt her hear skip a beat or two at the sight of his handsome visage. Wait, what? Heidi furiously shuck her head, trying to clear that thought from her mind, while squeezing her eyes shut, hoping that, maybe, if she'd ignore him, he'd go away.
"Again with this game?" the teen asked sounding displeased. He leaned back down again and whispered tauntingly in her ear. "It didn't work last time. What makes you think it will work now?"
Heidi flushed as she felt his warm breath tickling the soft skin of her neck, and snapped her eyes open with a bang, while jumping out of bed and fixing the teen with an icy glare.
"Ouch! Such a hate-full look just for little old me? I do believe I've done nothing to warrant such odium," he said while giving the best impression of a wounded puppy, which Heidi didn't buy one bit.
"Yes you have!" she accused. "You're interrupting my sleep!"
"Really?" the teen asked while lifting an inquisitive eyebrow. He swung his legs over the bed and rose to his feet lazily. "I was under the impression that you might need my advice."
Heidi stared a moment dumbfound at the teen, before she erupted into fits of laughter. "I need your advice?" she asked sarcastically. "Why the hell would I need your advice? You're the most evil, loathsome little-"
"Bastard, who also happens to be the only part of your mind that can think," the teen finished for her.
"I can think for myself! I don't need your help!" Heidi snapped feeling offended.
"Really? Then are you telling me that you're happy with the half-baked plan you came up with for catching Black?" the teen asked callously while fixing here with a disappointed look.
Heidi stared, her mind suddenly going blank, unable to think of a coherent comeback to that statement. "It still worked," she finally defended meekly.
"Yes, thanks to dumb luck!" the teen snapped still looking displeased. "So many loopholes, as your dear friend Miss Granger stated," he shuck his head. "And speaking of Miss Granger, can you honestly tell me that you've not found her behavior in the last couple of months to be rather odd? Or are you telling me that one slipped your radar, just like that fact that Lupin failed to attend class after the full moon? And poor Snape, he gave you such an obvious hint, and yet you failed to realize it!"
"I did not fail to realize it! But you can't exactly expect me to draw conclusions so easily! I was only waiting to see if Lupin failed to attend another class next month!" Heidi snapped back at him.
"Hmm, well, at least your brain is not dead yet," Voldemort said, that creepy smile of his suddenly coming back in place. Heidi scowled at him.
"I'm not stupid!"
The teenaged Dark Lord sluggishly made his way around the bed, while give her one of his trademark taunt-looks. "I never said you were," he purred sublimely and leaned forward, capturing her wrist in his grip. In one swift motion, he'd pinned her against the wall and his slight muscular frame, burying his head between her shoulder blades and placing a soft kiss at the hem of her neck.
Heidi shivered slightly and panicked as she felt her heart beat wildly against her ribcage, and a warm, tingling sensation envelop her lower abdomen. But, despite the fact that she wanted to push him away, she found that all her strengths had forsaken her, and her arms were resting uselessly by her side instead.
"Then, tell me," the teen began softly whispering in her ear. "Love," that sole word triggered a torrent of messy feeling and unnamed emotions in Heidi that she was not willing to admit having, not ever! "What do you think of Black's little trial? Do you think he's telling the truth?" Voldemort asked curiously.
"Y…yes, I think he's telling the truth," Heidi managed to respond in a raspy voice, while shaking her head slightly and trying to regain control of her body. It was all in vein, she'd know. Ever since that Bogart incident she'd know how much she'd missed him. The feel of those lips on her skin, the pleasant shiver that ran down her spine as his hands traced soft circles on her back, that lean chest pressed firmly up against her, and all the messed up feeling that came with them; she was starting to feel lightheaded.
Voldemort placed a soft kiss on her neck, and lazily turned her previous words against her: "Is that the conclusion that you've come to after extensive research and observation, or is that merely wishful thinking on your part? There might not be any love loss between you and your biological parents, but that doesn't change the fact that you're curious to know more about them." He leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. "Are you sure that curiosity of yours isn't blinding you to the truth?"
"It's not!" Heidi cried out desperately while pushing the teen away from her. "It's impossible to lie while under the influence of Veritaserum, damn it! And you most definitely are not the only part of my brain that can think!" she accused, pinning the Dark Lord with a hard glare. "If anything you only make me question my own judgment! And I've never been wrong before!"
"Quite presumptuous of you," Voldemort chides and shuck his head disappointedly. "To think that you've never been wrong… Then why did Pettigrew manage to elude you for so long? Or, why didn't you figure out the fact that Sirius Black was Fluffy sooner? If anything, the fact that you managed to get conned so easily should serve as a clear warning that you're not at all as omniscient as you so obnoxiously presume you are."
"Stop it!" Heidi snapped and balled her hands into fists. She was breathing erratically and gritting her teeth, a massive migraine had overtaken her and she was sure she'd fall off her feet at any given moment. But she never did. In fact, she felt quite secure with her back pressed firmly against the wall.
"Shhh," someone whispered in her ear. "You should go to sleep now." A hand was slowly tracing her scar, and she felt the pain slowly subside into nothingness.
"Miss Potter?" a soft voice whispered in her ear, causing the brunet to jump out of her skin. Heidi nearly fainted from shock and embarrassment when she saw Madam Pomfrey's face so close to hers. She shrinked back, and the nurse had the decency to pull out of her personal space.
"I'm sorry for startling you, but I couldn't be too loud else I would have risked waking your sister," the nurse pointed at Diana who was sleeping soundly in the next bed. "I brought your potion," the nurse held out a vial of crystal clean liquid.
Heidi looked dumbfounded at the bottle, for a moment her mind went completely blank, then she remembered about her potion addiction, and what had brought it on in the first place. She suddenly felt very sick.
She slowly held out her hand and took the vial of potion from the nurse's outstretched one.
"Are you feeling alright Miss Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked noting her pale complexion.
"Nothing worse that the usual," said a disgruntled Heidi.
Madam Pomfrey nodded, but still took out her wand and dragged it over her form for good measure.
"Miss Potter, do you make a habit of sleeping with your jewelry on?" the nurse asked, and pointed at Heidi's neck, where the gold chain, (which she'd received in her first year) lay exposed.
Heidi looked slightly confused. "No, I don't think so…" she tried recalling if she'd taken it off the previous night, and to her surprise, she found out she didn't. In fact, if she were perfectly honest with herself, she couldn't recall ever taking it off after that night when she first put it on. How odd…
"If you wouldn't mind taking it off then," Madam Pomfrey advised. "It's not healthy to sleep with jewelry on. You do know that, don't you?"
"Yes, of course," Heidi nodded and slowly reached around her neck to undo the chain. She pulled it off, and Madam Pomfrey opened the door to the drawer behind her bed, where the brunet gingerly placed the mysterious golden locket. As soon as the piece of jewelry dropped from her hand, she suddenly felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and her head felt much lighter then before.
It was a weird sensation. One she didn't get the chance to enjoy for long, as Madam Pomfrey prompted her into taking the medicine.
"Good night," she said and rested her head on the pillow as she felt her eyelashes getting heavy.
-OOOOOOO-
Madam Pomfrey decided to keep the girls in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend, and the twins didn't look so pleased.
Diana whined and cried, and kept swearing up and down that she was fine, while Heidi only asked that Madam Pomfrey get her a book out of the restricted section and promised she'd stay put.
"Why do you need this book from the restricted section?" The nurse asked giving the name of the book a hard glare.
"I want to make sure that there's no way Black could have gotten pas the effects of the Veritaserum potion and lied to us," Heidi answered.
"Oh, come on sis, you don't seriously believe that!" Diana chided while giving her sister a peeved look. Heidi wasn't so pleased with herself for falling for Voldemort's challenge either, but she kept telling herself that it was better to be safe than sorry as her hand slowly traced the form of the locket around her neck.
"Well, unfortunately, there are ways to bypass the effects of Veritaserum," said the nurse. Diana felt her hopes suddenly crash down, because she actually liked Black (or at the very least Fluffy) and the thought of him lying to her was painful, while Heidi gripped the locket around her neck in a tight fist and said:
"But?" feeling that the nurse was not done talking.
"But, Veritaserum is an extremely powerful truth potion," Madam Pomfrey told her. "In fact, it's the most powerful in the world, and the methods of defending against such potion are extremely hard to come by, expensive and time consuming. For example, one method would be a counter-potion, which he would have had to administrate a few minutes before Veritaserum was, and given the fact that he was unconscious for more than ten minutes since the interrogation began, I'd say that one is extremely unlikely. Another way to get pass Veritaserum would be by performing a binding ritual which sealed that secret away. However, this does not permit you to lie under Veritaserum, it in fact does not allow you to mention the secret even to people who know about it, it actually kills the bound person if he even intents to speak of the secret. Black would have died before he'd have uttered a single word. And…"
"And," the girls pressed looking expectant at the nurse.
"There's the Unbreakable Vow and the Binding Contract, which work in similar ways to the Binding Ritual. Either way, only the counter-potion would have permitted Black to lie under the influence of Veritaserum, anything else would have killed him."
"Well, since he's not dead, that means he didn't lie!" Diana declared happily while Heidi still didn't look convinced, but decided to drop the subject for now.
Madam Pomfrey mentally sighed when she saw the brunet giving up. Frankly, Veritaserum, as powerful as it might be, was not as reliable a potion as the girls thought it was. There was a reason why the Wizengamot refused to take a testimony under Veritaserum as proof of someone's innocence or otherwise, because, it was so easy to fight of, that the majority of the jury were beyond critical of using it in a court room. Something that any proficient Occlumency user, or mentally instable patient, could get pass was not considered reliable evidence. But the girls needn't worry about such petty matters, after all, she and Hagrid had made sure to demand an Unbreakable Vow from Black last night that prohibited him from harming the girls, or any other students willingly (he'd managed to dodge the unwilling part by saying that he'd already hurt them unwillingly by bringing the Dementors here. Cocky bastard!).
Hermione and Neville swooped into the hospital wing a few minutes later, and Neville spent a good fifteen minutes chastising the girls for not telling him about the plan.
"We didn't want to distract you with things we already had under control," explained Diana. "You wanted to be there for Ginny and support her on her first match, so we-"
"I might like Ginny, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my friends!" Neville cut her off, still looking peeved. "Next time you do something as insane as this, you better tell me! And not after the whole bloody thing is over!"
"Okey-dokey commander," Diana nodded and grinned expectantly at the boy as she asked: "So, how did things go with Ginny?"
Neville flushed and lowered his eyes to the ground as he muttered under his breath: "She kissed me on the cheek." The girls had to squint to hear the muttering, but after Hermione told them what had happened, the twins beamed at him and congratulated the boy on his achievement.
"See! And you wanted to give up that for a lousy goose chase with us?" Diana chided looking disappointed. "You would have missed one hell of an opportunity there, mister grouchy!"
"I already missed one hell of an opportunity to be there for my friends!" Neville said looking downcast.
"Neville, stop blaming yourself!" Heidi reprimanded. "We were the ones who decided to not have you tag along. You shouldn't feel guilty for it! Beside, we're very happy with the progress you've made with Ginny, and we're willing to forgive you for not being there this time."
"One hell of a progress I've made," Neville said, lowering his eyes to the ground. "Diggory's made more progress than me, and he's not even trying. He saved Ginny from the Dementors, I reckon you heard," the blond said while giving Heidi a cautious look.
Heidi nodded, trying to look as nonplused as she could. "You know Cedric's not interested, right?"
"Doesn't change the fact that she's interested," Neville muttered and lowered his eyes to the ground once more.
A heavy silence fell on the quartet. Hermione was squirming silently in her seat on the foot of Heidi's bed, while Diana, Neville and Heidi were lost in their own thoughts. The curly-haired was thinking about topics she could use to distract her friends' attention from the grim subject, but she was too afraid to mention any of them, less she risked ending up on Heidi's radar, and she was scared of the inevitable confrontation about the Marauder's Map incident. So she waited patiently for one of her friends to break the awkward silence, but none of them would budge, and when it looked like Hermione had had enough, and was about to speak up herself, that's when the heavens answered her call for a distraction, as Luna Lovegood, Rubeus Hagrid and Fluffy entered the hospital wing.
"Hello," Luna greeted. "I hope we're not interrupting?"
"Not at all!" Hermione was quick to reply. "Do please come in!"
Hagrid told the kids that he'd decided to keep Sirius Black under his care and not tell Dumbledore unless the girls decided to do so. Heidi and Diana thanked him for being so understanding, and Luna promised as well that she'd not reveal Fluffy's secret to anyone. Filch, who came to visit the girls a few hours later, reluctantly told them he'd keep quiet as well.
Around lunch time, Heidi and Diana shooed Hermione and Neville of to lunch so that they could eat with their crushes. Diana was a little reluctant with letting Hermione go, but the curly-haired dashed out the door before she could protest. Around lunch time was when Diggory came to the hospital wing to visit Heidi, and the brunet pretended to be asleep and told the nurse to send him on his way.
"Why are you giving the poor boy the silent treatment for?" the nurse asked curiously.
"He deserves it," Diana said and turned her back on them and pretended to sleep.
"Deserves what? What's he done?" The nurse asked still looking baffled.
"He's been disqualified from the tryouts, right?" Heidi asked the nurse.
A spark of understanding crossed over Madam Pomfrey's face as she slowly shuck her head. "The Quidditch team representatives have chastised him for his actions, but no, he has not been eliminated as a possible candidate. But he did an admirable thing by saving that girl!" the nurse told her firmly.
"You're not supposed to take your eyes of the spoils and save the enemy at the cost of your teams' match!" Heidi said sharply and refused to comment any further.
Madam Pomfrey shot the girl a displeased look, and only said: "You wouldn't have reacted this way if it had been you he'd've caught," before heading back to her office.
Heidi agreed wholeheartedly with Madam Pomfrey. Things would have gone differently if she would have been the one playing in the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. For one, she wouldn't have fallen off her broom! But wishful thinking didn't change the fact that she hadn't been the one playing Seeker for her teams, or the fact that she hadn't been the one Cedric had rescued from the Dementors. Ironically speaking, she herself had been attacked by Dementors, and Diggory hadn't rushed to her rescue because he was too busy catching Ginny. Damn him for being such a nice guy! And Speaking of Dementors. Heidi had still not figured out what that white smoky thing that saved her and her sister was. She'd have to check the library for it.
-OOOOOOO-
Heidi chose to ignore Diggory's visit the next day as well, and her sister Diana settled down and accepted her faith of being in the hospital wing once Hermione brought her a small black box on her next visit, which intrigued Heidi somewhat. There was something awfully familiar about that box, but she couldn't quite place the feeling. Yet, Heidi decided on not pestering Diana about the origins of the box, since her dear sister had began to take all her concerns as insults as of late, that Heidi had deemed it best not to goad her.
But it felt so weird, seeing Diana write her own essays (and on time), study by herself and get good grades in something other than Charms or Defense, that Heidi was finding it a little hard to get accustomed to. The weirdest part was, that whenever they were graced by the miracle of seeing the red-haired reading, it was always a book on Medicine or Healing Magic, something which worried Heidi quite a lot, since, if Diana ever decided to research the actual effects of anemia, she'd instantly know that Heidi's sickness was not in any way related to it.
"It's Sunday," Heidi stated, as if this was supposed to mean something to the other inhabitant of the room.
"So?" Diana asked not bothering to take her nose out of A Students Guide to becoming a Mediwitch.
"You're reading!" Heidi pointed out bewildered. "You never read on Sunday! I never read on Sunday!"
Diana finally lowered the book from her face and turn to give her sister one of those peeved looks that the brunet was so accustomed to receiving whenever she brought up the subject of Diana's newly acquired learning spree.
"Why do you always do that?" the red-haired asked in a deceptively quiet voice. "Why do you always have to question my newly acquired academic interests as if that's a miracle you were never expecting of me? Does it bother you that much that I'm finally trying to do things for myself without having to rely on you all the time?"
"Will you stop jumping to conclusions already!" Heidi snapped being more than a little short-fueled due to the massive headache that was threatening to overtake her. "I'm not mad at you for finally taking an interest in your academic duties! What I'm mad about is the fact that I don't know why you've suddenly become so interested in learning! Is it because I offended you somehow, or did someone else put you down, or is it something else entirely? I can't understand this behavior of yours! Because you're not acting like my sister would anymore, and it's scaring me!" Heidi finally shouted out.
The truth was, the brunet had just now realized herself that Diana's recent behavior had bothered her that much. The red-haired had been slowly drifting away from her ever since first year, since she'd started hanging around those Gryffindor girls that both she and Hermione didn't like. And come second year, they were even more divided, thanks to Neville's addition to the team. Sure they were a team, but it usually felt like they were split up into her and Hermione, the two know-it-alls and Diana and Neville, the less-thought more-action part of the team. And third year was proving to be a big disaster as far as their union as a team went. It felt like everyone was chasing after something else, and it always felt like they were only together because they've gotten accustomed of being that way.
"Like you're one to talk!" Diana scoffed at the brunet. "You're the one who started this whole hush-hush charade and deemed me unworthy of your trust!"
"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Heidi cried in outrage. "In all my life, I've never deemed anyone worthier of my trust than you! And I thought you knew that!"
"Oh really? Than can you honestly tell me that you trust me more than you do Hermione?" the bitterness and harshness in her sister's voice felt strange and surreal and Heidi was prompted to respond in an evenly bitter tone.
"Of course I-" but she stopped dead in her track. She couldn't find herself capable of finishing that sentence, because her brain had shifted into gear the moment her sister had phrased that question, and she's immediately began counting and weighing all the times she'd confided with her sister, against all the ones she'd confided in Hermione, and she'd found out, to her amazement, that the scales were tilting heavily towards Hermione's direction… after all, Hermione knew about Voldemort, Hermione knew about her addiction to sleeping potions, it was Hermione whom she had first told about Voldemort's kiss, it was Hermione she'd told about her suspicions of Black being Fluffy (Diana had blindly waited for Hagrid in the hall without knowing who the enemy was, what if Black hadn't been a friend and would have attacked her while she was busy looking for another culprit?). Heidi's lips parted as if she was about to say something, but she found herself unable to form any words, let alone finish her sentence.
"Figures," she heard Diana mutter bitterly as the red-haired turned her head away from her.
Heidi turned her head away as well, not knowing what to say. What could she say? I'm sorry I lied? I'm sorry I didn't trust you? Those words, those simple words felt like superglue which had glued her mouth shut. Sorry…that word was too damn heavy for her liking.
Diana silently squirmed in her bed, nervously playing with her hair. She'd felt down right terrible the last time she'd fought with her sister. She had wished to make it all good, and ignore the whole thing altogether, but her sister was a stubborn one, and she had been incredibly hurt when her sister had ignored her attempt at a makeup, so she'd given her the silent treatment in return. But now she felt down right guilty for fighting with her, especially since Heidi had told her that she was only being mean because she was worried about her, and it wasn't like she was being completely honest with her sister either…
*Knock, knock*
Two soft knocks echoing from the door drew the twins' attention, and in the next moment, the small, dreamy face of Luna Lovegood made its way around the hospital door.
"Hello," she greeted idly as the door opened slightly and the girl stepped into the room. Her advancement stopped at the threshold as she took note of the heavy atmosphere in the room. "Or, I could come back later?" the girl suggested clearly not wanting to interrupt.
Nothing about her figure had changed as she posed the small innocent question, not the dreamy expression, nor the indifferent stance. Like a statue, which had been forever frozen in place, she felt neither intrusive nor familiar, like she was part of the scenery itself, but still managed to stand out, somehow. The soft golden hue of the afternoon sun dangled on her face, and illuminated her soft curls and pale skin, making her seem like something divine, out of this world. She wasn't intrusively rushing them for an answer, but merely patiently waiting for their permission to enter into this little world of theirs. It felt so weird, and at the same time, so comforting, that it made Diana smile and Heidi's features soften.
"No, you don't have to go," Heidi told her kindly.
"Yeah, you can come in," Diana said brightly.
"Thank you," Luna responded idly and bounced into the room, taking a seat on the chair between their beds. "Lunch was crowded, so I decided to skip it and head over to see Fluffy. He's as lively as ever."
"I'm glad to hear that," Diana said looking relieved. "And Hagrid? How is he fairing?"
"Better then yesterday," Luna told them. "He refuses to let Fluffy out of his sight dough…"
"That was expected," Heidi said while sighing lightly. "Have you eaten yet?"
"Just one of Hagrid's rock-cookies," Luna said.
"Well, then, why don't you stay and have lunch with us?" Diana asked, and Luna gave a curt nod.
"I'd love to!"
The blond junior kept the girls company up until Hermione and Neville finished lunch and finally barged in still talking about the youngest Weasley brothers, something which displeased both Diana and Heidi, albeit for different reasons. Their two friends never even noticed that something was wrong. It felt so weird. You couldn't even tell they were arguing a while back.
-OOOOOOO-
AN: Since a lot of you have posed questions regarding the pairings of this fic, I've decided to take the time and inform you officially what the pairings are (despite having already done so on my profile page):
Heidi will end up with Voldemort, NOT Tom Riddle! I've already explained on my profile page how I consider Tom Riddle and Voldemort to be different beings, so I'm not gonna do so again (and you'll definitely notice what I mean when Voldemort will finally make an appearance in 4th year).
Diana is going to end up with Tom Riddle - the diary one. I'm done with her relationship with Draco, as I've no intention of pairing them up together since their relationship feels too abusive to me (it's funny when Diana sends Draco to the hospital wing, but reverse the roles and you wouldn't like it so much, now would you?). Diana's pairing and the information I've given you this chapter should serve to help you unravel the confusion behind the whole Tom Riddle enigma (if not, wait a few more chapters and you'll have your answers).
Hermione will be paired up with Draco. I'm not giving up any plot points on this one, but the base is already there, and it will keep building.
Neville is paired up with Luna, as I'm sure you're all aware of. Don't worry, I have something planned for his relationship with Ginny as well.
And with that out of the way, I hope you've had a happy Easter!