Later That Night
I've been in the hospital wing all day.
Shortly after waking up from being knocked unconscious, a nurse explained that I suffered an accident during the quidditch tryouts.
Recklessly reaching top speed on a broom, ultimately catapulting myself into a barricade, wasn't my finest hour. I suffered a serious concussion and sprained my arm. Considering the velocity of speed I was going, it's a miracle that I wasn't hurt much worse. I unfortunately remember very little about the accident due to the concussion.
On the bright side of things, I was informed that I succeeded in catching the aggravating golden snitch.
The unpredictable team captain of Slytherin could treat this in one of two ways. She could recognize the accident as an example of my tenacity and yearning to be on the team. Or, I may not be viewed as the most graceful candidate after squashing myself like a bug against a windshield.
The sound of high heels stomping across the marble floor echoes throughout the hospital wing. Demi speed walks into the entrance immediately approaching one of the nurses.
"Speak of the devil," I mutter to myself. I rub my throbbing temples lazily watching on from afar.
The Slytherin team captain rushes to my side once she finishes speaking with the nurse. She's wearing a studded leather jacket, black skinny jeans, and matching boots. Folding her arms, she paces back and forth before standing in the corner adjacent to me. The authoritarian facade was no longer existent, and she looks distressed.
"Are you okay?"
"Never been better," I grumble with a smirk.
She takes a seat on the vacant bed beside me and crosses her legs. "I came as soon as I could. I had to finish the tryouts. But I felt like I shouldn't have even been there. It was hard for me to pay attention after sending someone to the hospital."
"It's all good?" I state in a question format. Frankly, the blonde's concern over my health throws me off. Apparently she had flipped the emotional switch once again.
"I'm so sorry for being so hard on you. But it was only because I really saw the potential in you, and-"
"Stop, stop, stop." I cut her off holding a hand up. "Who are you, and what did you do with that bossy, moderately bitchy blonde from earlier?"
Her cheeks exude a rose coloring while fighting back a smile. She narrows her eyes leaning closer. "Is that really how you want to speak to your new team captain?"
"Does that mean..?"
Demi nods her head unleashing the repressed smile. "Congratulations, Walker. You're our new seeker."
"YES!" I shout instantly growing light headed. My head pounds as I recline to the pillows.
"Don't get too excited," she advises arching an eyebrow. "That's not for at least another two weeks."
"What? What about the introductory course? Why another two weeks?"
She lightly smacks the bottom of the sling holding my arm. I cry out in pain as she leans back folding her arms in amusement. "Does that answer your question?"
I wince blowing heavily through my mouth. "Yes. And welcome back, moderately bitchy blonde."
Demi gives a sarcastic 'ha ha' opening her purse. "Here." She hands over a tiny vial of potion. "Pain killer. It's a bit stronger than what they have around here," she adds with a wink.
"Thanks, Demi," I say with a crooked smile. I place the fuchsia colored potion in the drawer of the table next to me.
"No problem, I make them all the time," she replies buttoning her purse shut.
"No, not that."
She stops fidgeting with her bag as she slowly looks up to me.
I rotate my head on the pillow so I'm fully facing her. "Thanks for.. thanks for believing in me."
Demi promptly shakes her head and raises her hands. "You're the one that caught the snitch. I had no doing in that."
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have pushed myself."
"And if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be sitting in this janky hospital bed," she half snorts rolling her eyes.
"I mean it." I demand her eyes. "I wouldn't have been given the chance to honor my father. I was sheltered by my adoptive parents my entire life from ever knowing my true story," I say in a rare moment of vulnerability. "But from what I've heard around here, my father was a courageous, dignified man. Someone I aspire to be. You trusted my abilities, and I fucking did it. If he was still around, I think I would havemade him proud."
There's a pause of silence as she breaks our gaze. She stares to the ceiling blinking rapidly before looking back to me. A few tears line the rim of her eyes. She reaches over covering the back of my hand with hers.
"You are proving your father proud, whether he's still with us or not," she says softly.
A couple pairs of feet enter the room from behind her at a running pace.
"Hunter?" Hermione calls.
Demi instinctively removes her hand from mine and casually fits her fist beneath her chin. But it was too late, based off the look on Hermione's face.
There's an awkward pause in the room filled with immense tension. Hermione and Demi stare back at each other in a silent standoff.
I lean forward to see Ron standing behind Hermione. He's scratching his head looking between the girls with furrowed brows. Clearly, he had also picked up on the painfully uncomfortable vibe in the room.
He awkwardly clears his throat making his way to me. "Are you alright there, Hunter?"
"Fine, thanks." I shift in the bed so I'm in a more upright position. "You would have known that if you had come to check on me earlier," I add with a disappointed finger wave.
"Better late than never," he replies shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm out of here," Demi announces standing to her feet and grabbing her purse. "Rest up, Walker. I'll see you on the field." She rotates on her stilettos and struts toward the exit. Neither of them say a word as she passes Hermione.
Malfoy appears in the doorway and gives his sister an acknowledging nod in passing. He walks slowly toward us with his hands in his pockets. His eyes transition between the two Gryffindors, his gaze lingering on Hermione.
He wordlessly passes them as he now looks to me. "You look like shit, Walker."
"Thanks, buddy."
Ron lets out an annoyed sigh crossing his arms. "What're you doing here, Malfoy?"
"I could ask you the same question, Weasley."
"Hmm let's see.." Ron taps his chin looking toward the ceiling. "Oh, I know! Maybe because I'm Hunter's friend,you twit."
I roll my eyes rubbing my temples. It wasn't easy having two of my best friends in the school loathe each other. And I couldn't picture them sitting around the campfire singing 'Kumbaya' any time soon.
"Off to bed, students." An elderly female nurse enters the room in perfect timing. "It's time for Mr. Walker to get some rest. Mr. Malfoy, please assist him back to the dormitories as instructed. Now, off you go."
"I'm fine, really," I insist. I stand to my feet too quick. I get a serious head rush as I fall back on my ass on the bed. I let out a defeated groan hanging my head in my hands. I just wanted to fucking sleep.
"Get up, you lazy oaf." My 'sympathetic' roommate hooks one arm around my uninjured one, helping me to my feet.
We make our way toward the exit. Ron assists him, putting a stable hand on my back from the other side. There's a rare moment of silence between them. It's almost just as uncomfortableseeing the two not at each other's throats.
Hermione leads the way holding my bag full of quidditch gear and dirty clothes. She guides us toward the first set of stairs. Thankfully, it would only take one layover trip between the unreliable stairwells to reach the Slytherin Common Room.
On the route to our next destination, the second staircase suddenly changes its direction and comes to an abrupt halt. The four of us lose our balance as we're violently shoved to the left. I grasp onto the railing for dear life. My head is spinning and I'm getting sick to my stomach.
After standing there for nearly 5 minutes, Malfoy takes a seat on one of the steps facing us. "Of course I'm stuck on the one defective staircase in this bloody castle with a Weasley," he scoffs.
"Piss off, Malfoy," Ron sneers. He storms up the stairs passing him.
"Ron," Hermione calls after him in a threatening tone. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Away from him!" he shouts.
I groan taking a seat next to Draco. I replay the mental image of leaning over the banister and puking my brains out. We're easily a few stories up, and that would be a terrible surprise to those beneath us. Luckily, most of the students appeared to already be in their dorms.
Hermione ascends the stairs stomping her feet in aggravation as she nears Ron at the top. "This is the third floor. It's forbidden," she reprimands.
"Forbidden, is it?" Malfoy's eyes flash with mischief.
"Don't do it," I warn.
Of course, he doesn't listen to me. He pats me on the back before beginning his mission to the top.
I moan in severe annoyance rising to my feet, lazily following his footsteps.
It didn't seem as though the stairs had any intention of moving any time soon anyway.
Once I step off the top step and on to the ledge, the disobedient flight of stairs promptly moves to the correct destination.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Ron opens the lone door and we file inside one by one. We enter an ominous, cave-like room. It's littered with spider webs attached to creepy statues dispersed throughout. A row of pillars lining the walls light on fire as we walk past them.
In the moment, my adrenaline kicks in and I lose all symptoms from the accident. My fight or flight instincts are on high alert. It felt as though we were being watched.
We speed walk across the pavement until we're ultimately faced with a dead end.
"Well, that was fun." Ron's eyes are wide as he observes a large spider web. "Best be going back now.."
I join Malfoy who had wandered off to a shadowy corner. He yanks a door as it slams the locked padlock to and fro.
The conspicuous rusty stairwell creaks, signaling its arrival to the third floor again. Prominent footsteps ricochet off the cobblestone walls. Whoever it was, they were getting close. Very close.
"We have to hide!" I hiss.
We all burst into a panic as Ron tries to open the locked door once more. Malfoy heavily shoves him to the side, giving another useless tug.
"Oh move over!" Hermione demands aggressively cramming herself between them. She whips out her wand and nears to the tip to the door. "Aloe Hamora." The lock instantly detaches as the door creaks open. The three of us delay in astonishment. It never got old watching the beautiful, heavily resourcefulwitch do her magic.. literally. "Let's go!" She pushes Ron, followed by Malfoy, into the conveniently located hiding spot. I'm spared of the harsh physical consolidation due to my injury.
"Aloe Hamora. And when did you learn that one, Ms. Teacher's Pet?" Ron taunts as she closes the door behind me.
Malfoy immediately gets in his face, assertively shoving Ron backward. "Say that again. I dare you."
"What're you gonna do?" Ron puffs out his chest taking a step toward him.
"Shut the fuck up!" I seethe. I use my non-sprained arm as a barricade between them. "They're friends, Malfoy. He wasn't being serious."
Draco takes a step back, smoothing the lapels of his jacket while he gathers himself. I'm in light shock that he was showing his cards so effortlessly regarding Hermione. The exaggerated defensiveness over her was another obvious sign of his feelings. And apparently, he didn't care to hold that back anymore.
"Um.. guys?" Hermione's shaky voice pipes up behind us. The three of us turn to her.
"Oh fuck." I'm faced with an easily four story, three headed dog towering over us. It's sleek black with short haired fur, and its fangs are probably the same height as me. Each of its heads connect at the base of its neck, and share the same four legs.
We scream and holler in unison, bolting toward the exit. The massive monster begins to take shots at us, each head taking turns chomping in our direction. The deafening, guttural growl shakes the walls. The copious amount of saliva hanging from the creatures mouths drips all over us.
As the first one to the door, Ron breaks it open. He trips over himself falling to the ground. Malfoy has his arm around Hermione, escorting her first out of the room. They step over Ron, making their way safely out of reach. I'm the last one out of the door.
"Ron!" Hermione screams. I look behind to find Ron still on the ground. I don't know whether he was stunned frozen or injured, but he's not moving. There's a thunderous jingle of metal chains restricting the beast from within the room. The three headed dog was on a mission to make him its late night snack. It makes another attempt to strike, this time reaching only feet away from his shoes.
Without another thought, I lunge forward and grasp the back of Ron's shirt with my free arm. I yank him just inches from the furthest distance the monster could extend its neck. I lose my balance falling to the ground behind him. We both squirm backwards on our ass.
Malfoy and Hermione shove all of their body weight against the door in an effort to close the barricade holding the beast. The door smashes the snout of the one of the heads as it lets out a bellowing cry.
I yell at Ron to get up and help them. I only had the use of one arm, along with a severely fucked up equilibrium. I was rendered useless. I helplessly watch on horrified for our lives.
Ron finally gains the gumption to get back up on his feet. Malfoy and Hermione grunt in thorough struggle, losing the battle of strength against the monstrous creature.
Unexpectedly, Ron winds his fist back and punches one of the deformed dog heads directly on the nose. It howls another loud cry as it fully retracts itself back in its room.
The three jump at the opportunity, slamming the door closed.
Ron turns to me shaking from head to toe. His back slides against the door until he faces me on the ground again.
"Good thinking." I pant, initiating a high five with him.
Hermione stands frozen in place, horrified, with her arms snuggly wrapped around herself. Malfoy silently watches her who's also visibly shaken.
I watch him pull her in for a hug, comforting her in his arms. If I wasn't so traumatized from almost being mauled by a three headed monster, I think I might be a little jealous.
"What on Earth are the four of you doing here?" Professor Snape emerges from the darkness charging toward Malfoy. Draco instinctively removes his arms from around Hermione.
"All of you. Get back to your dormitories," he instructs annunciating every syllable. "Now."
Ron and I boost ourselves up from the ground. I dust my pants off, discreetly inspecting Snape.
It simply didn't add up.
Sure, students weren't supposed to be here. That's fine. It's forbidden. The creepy room, cob webs, and lethal trio headed dog clued me into that.
But why was Snape here? He was the professor of potions after all. It was hard to believe that there was anything to be retrieved on the third floor to benefit his teaching.
The four of us silently make our way to the stairwell.
"Malfoy," Snape addresses him."You will meet me outside of the Common Room in 2 minutes. Is.. that.. clear?"
I turn to look back at my roommate. He's uncomfortably rubbing the side of his arm staring at the ground. He appears guilt ridden as if he'd been caught stealing candy from a baby.
Draco gradually nods his head. I give one last look between the two before successfully making my way to my room.
It was one hell of a day, and it was time to go to bed.