Oh, you spoiled, spoiled readers! 3 days later and I update again! Review, my reader, review! I need to know people like it so I keep writing!
The light, fluffy feeling beneath me made me feel like I was sleeping on a cloud, and the pain in my limbs was gone. Was I dead? Was this Heaven? The Church-Goer's would describe Heaven as in the clouds, but Uncle said I couldn't even enter the church without burning, how could I be in Heaven? Auntie and Uncle always said I would end up in Hell with the other freaks, but Hell couldn't be this comfortable. So, I wasn't dead, but where was I?
When I shifted just a small amount, I realized that in the center of my fetal position was something soft and squishy. I knew I shouldn't be as calm as I was when realizing that I had a stuffed animal, that Dudley had probably already told Auntie and Uncle that I had stolen it, and I would be punished. But it was like there was a bubble around me, and all the thoughts of being punished were on the outside of the bubble. I knew they were there, I just wasn't afraid. It was a nice feeling.
'Calm'. The word floated across my mind, and I remembered Gabriel saying 'Calming Charm', and the rest of my memories flowed easily after that. I was in the Hospital Wing, and I was holding a teddy bear. I would have to give it back to Gabriel, but it was very nice of him to let me have it for the night.
I sat up and looked around the Hospital Wing. It was empty of people, but it was still friendly and welcoming. The rays of freshly risen sunlight poured through the windows, and the thought that I should have been up much earlier to begin my list of chores was trapped on the other side of the bubble. Madam Pomfrey came bustling in from the hall, Gabriel and Tammy right behind her.
"Morning, sleepyhead!" Tammy said kindly once the three of them were close enough to be heard.
"You feeling better this morning?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes, thank you for letting me have your teddy bear for the night." I said politely, holding the bear out for him to take back.
He gave me a confused look, and sat down on the end of the bed without taking the bear back. "Harriet, do you remember what I said last night?"
I thought hard, trying to remember exactly what he had said. "'This is your bear now. Take care of him or her' for the night." I answered.
"I never said 'for the night'. I made that bear for you. It's yours forever." Gabriel explained calmly.
"But I'm not allowed anything." I stated matter-of-factly.
"Sure you are." Tammy eased down next to me on the bed. "You own your school supplies. You own the cloths you're wearing. You own your wand." She listed.
"Well, yes, but…but the bear is different." I urged, putting the bead down next to my feet, closer to Gabriel.
"How so?" He questioned.
"Because… because it's not mine." The bubble was shrinking and I was starting to feel overwhelmed again.
"But it is yours. I gave it to you." Gabriel said.
"But I'm not allowed to have anything!" I felt pressured, like when Uncle was trying to get something out of me that I didn't know or was simply yelling at me for messing up like always. I started pulling at my hair to try and find some strange comfort.
"Harriet, it really, truly is your teddy bear." Tammy assured, just likely Dudley would only to turn around and yell that I had taking his toy.
I felt something snap inside me. "It's not mine! I'm not allowed to have anything! I get hurt when I have something that's not mine! T-the bear i-isn't mine! It's too n-nice for the l-likes of me!" I sobbed, barely coherent. I couldn't see or hear anything around me from the ringing winds. The spark I felt around me only made me cry harder, because I was being freaky again, and I was going to be in trouble. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, and then I felt the softness of the bear again, and a second pair of arms. The bubble tried to grow around me, but it kept popping.
The spark blinked out of existence, very different from its usually fading, but I was still hysterical. But with the wind gone, I could hear the soft murmurings of both other Hufflepuffs saying that it was okay, that I was okay, and everything would be alright. I don't know how long it took, but my sobs slowly decreased to hiccups.
"My goodness!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed somewhere else in the room. "I have never seen such powerful accidently magic!" When I was calm enough, I peeked out between to two older Hufflepuffs holding me still, and saw the Hospital Wing in ruins. The beds sheets were torn to shreds, the furniture was cracked and some thrown into the middle of the room, and the light window curtains looked like a pack of rabid cats had gotten their claws into them. I would have cried, but I was out of tears. But that doesn't mean I was out of fears.
"Are you better now? Are you ready to head to breakfast?" Gabriel asked softly.
Of course I wasn't better. I was still a freak letting her freakishness out. And breakfast? "Breakfast…?"
"Yeah! Let's go get some breakfast! You're probably starving after not eating much last night, and from the energy you just used this morning. Let's go get some breakfast." Tammy encouraged.
When I didn't make a move, or say anything, Gabriel asked quietly, "What do you want to call your bear?"
I looked down to my chest, where I was clutching said item. The bubble had returned, and I wasn't so frightened of having it. "Mine?" I whispered, looking at Gabriel carefully.
He nodded and confirmed, "Yours."
"Mine." I whispered, clutching it harder. "Could…could I call it Hufflepuff?"
Both older students smiled at me, and Tammy said, "You can call it whatever you want. Hufflepuff sounds like a great name for a teddy bear." I let a small smile of my own, trying very hard to ignore the damage to the room around me. Of course, the fear floated outside my bubble anyway, but still.
"Alright, you three." Madam Pomfrey came over, waving her wand at items as we walked by, and they fixed themselves. "Time for you to get to breakfast. Don't want to be late now. And Ms. Potter, I'd like to see you after classes today, right before dinner."
I knew I was going to be beaten for letting my freakishness out, but I couldn't seem to care. I shouldn't even get breakfast for what I did, but Tammy and Gabriel said I could, so I could have breakfast. I would take the beating like I always did, and everything would be normal, at least until I messed up again, and I would deal with it again. Everything was fine.
