Eleven

Faith heard screams and cries, but they felt like they were coming from miles away. Her eyes felt like they were glued tight, and her head kept flopping to the left, and she couldn't move it even though it hurt. Her whole body felt like it was full of cracks, and she could feel wetness surrounding her head and back.

Poppy's head was buzzing with fear and anxiety. She dashed onto the pitch, like many other people. She pushed her way to the front, and took in the horror before her. Faith was splayed on the ground, her hair matted beneath her. All her joints were at funny angles, and there was blood pooling near her head and shoulders. Her eyes were closed, and she was unmoving. Poppy started to cry.

Through the blur of her tears, she saw Draco, crying too, being held back by Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall were crouched over Faith, trying to pick her up. Madam Hooch was hurrying over with Madam Pomfrey in tow.

Poppy's knees gave way, and she sank to the floor. Professor McGonagall saw, and hurried over. "Oh, Miss Hastings, I didn't want you to see," She said shakily. "It looks so bad-"
"Is she dead?" Poppy interrupted.
"No, Miss Hastings," Professor McGonagall sighed. "But she is hurt, very badly. She's being taken upstairs, we'll get someone from St. Mungos to treat her."
Poppy nodded, but she wasn't really listening, all she heard was 'not dead' before she switched off.

She was escorted upstairs to her dorm, where Hermione promised Professor McGonagall to look after her. "Can I see her?" Poppy asked, just before McGonagall left.
"Not for a while Miss Hastings. I'll fetch you if you can."

Poppy didn't really remember the rest of that day. She sat in her dorm with Hermione, with Lavender and Parvati coming up occasionally to make sure she was ok. At six o clock, Hermione went down to dinner, promising to bring pudding back for Poppy.

Poppy pretended to be asleep whenever anyone came into the dormitory after that. It was only after midnight that she got up, to fetch a glass of water. Afterwards, she stood at the window of the bathroom. It was slightly misted from the cold. Behind the mist, the grounds looked empty. For a while. And then something moved. It was a tiny speck, and Poppy couldn't make it out at first. The she realised. It was a house elf, like at the Quidditch World Cup. It was running towards the gates into Hogsmeade. Of course, it could be a Hogwarts house elf, but Poppy doubted it. Why would it be running away if it was? Feeling puzzled, Poppy looked back the way it came, to her surprise seeing another figure. She thought she recognised the figure but she wasn't sure. She had to rub away the mist to check. But there was no mistaking the flame red hair, it had to be Ron. What was Ron doing skulking in the grounds in the middle of the night? Poppy didn't really want to think about him, she was so angry about him hitting Faith- especially with her in the hospital wing. Feeling troubled, Poppy went back to bed, but she didn't really sleep until the morning bell rung.

Poppy somehow got dressed in a tired, upset haze. She went down to breakfast and sat absent mindedly spooning sugar onto her bacon. "What you doing that for?" Ron joked.
"Don't talk to me," said Poppy, not looking up.
Ron sounded confused. "Eh, why?"
"Because you tried to beat up my sister, and now she's nearly dying." Spat Poppy, looking at him. He looked tired, too.
"Because of her broom," said Ron. "That had nothing to do with me!"
"Didn't it?" Asked Poppy, striding out of the Great Hall.
"No!" Shouted Ron, trying to keep up with her. "That was not me, I did not touch her broom!"
Professor McGonagall, who was just entering the hall, took Ron by the shoulder. "That's the second time you've made a spectacle of yourself in two days, Mr Weasley. Don't do it again."

Gryffindors and Slytherins had transfiguration first lesson. It seemed eerily quiet without Faith to answer all the questions. Nobody seemed to try very hard, but neither did Professor McGonagall. At the end of the lesson, she called for Poppy and Draco.
"It seems," she started sadly, "that Faith's broom was tampered with. Somebody did this on purpose, do either of you have any idea who?"
Draco shook his head fairly quickly. Poppy took a bit longer. She had been joking when she said that to Ron, but was she right? Could it be him, or Harry, or anybody that resented her and Draco? Was it the same person that had been stealing and breaking their things? "No Professor," she replied finally.
"Okay," said McGonagall. "Faith is still unconscious, but the Healer is hopeful."

Poppy and Draco left together. "Do you have any idea?" Draco whispered to her. "You can lie to McGonagall, but do you?"
Poppy thought a moment. "The strange things have been happening to me and Faith," she said. "Like Faith's homework, and that note, I just wondered, if, you know it could be them."
Draco nodded. "You're right you, know, it could!"
"But I don't know who they are either, I though Ron, or Harry-"
"Ron?" Said Draco incredulously. "He's not smart enough for that! And aren't you friends?"
"Well, I was." Said Poppy. "But Faith never was, not since she started going out with you, and I think he was pissed me and Harry ditched him at the Yule Ball. I don't want it to be him, believe me, it just sort of fits."
"It does," agreed Draco. "I suppose me and Faith, that just tipped him over the edge yesterday morning, and-"
"Yep," said Poppy. "And I saw him, in the grounds last night, like, two or something."
"God," said Draco. "I'll kill him."
"No," said Poppy, breathing deeply. "We're not certain. Wait until we are."

Xxx

Faith made leaps and bounds in her recovery, and was discharged from the hospital wing a few weeks before Easter. She was very interested to know all about her accident, but like Poppy, she wanted to wait to be certain about Ron. "I can't see it," she said at breakfast of her first day. "He hit me remember? That should have been punishment enough- he didn't need to chuck me off my broom too."
"Might have been payback for Draco though, for beating the shit out of him." Poppy mused. They hadn't told anybody but Draco about their suspicions.
"Maybe. I don't think so. But if its not Ron, who is it?"

It tough trying to get along with Ron and Harry, whilst they were thinking they were doing all they could to harm them. They didn't have much time to be friends, however, because exams were upon them, and of course Faith and Hermione were working the hardest, even though they probably needed to work the least.

Poppy hadn't picked up a text book, nor did she intend to. She spent all of her time watching Ron; it developed into almost an obsession. Draco was splitting his time between looking after Faith, who still felt quite weak after her ordeal, and revising.

Xxx

June came, bringing with it boiling weather, cloudless skies, and end of year exams. These would be the fourth years last tests before OWLs, and almost everyone was nervous.

Poppy wasn't nervous. She hasn't tried in any exams or essays yet, and she had still got good marks. Whilst most people stayed up cramming, she stayed up, watching Ron's every move, tracing his steps, listening to every conversation.

There was definitely something odd going on. True, she didn't spot him doing anything bad, and he wasn't being really mean to her or Faith, but Poppy did see him sneak out of the castle every Sunday night - well, monday morning, at two o clock.

On the day of the first exam- potions- the Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years queued up in a silent line to go into the dungeons. Snape let them in and they filed to their seats. "No talking," he snapped. "The paper is on your desk. You have one hour. Get on with it."

The paper was tough, but nobody expected any less from Snape. Neville snivelled his way through it, and even Draco felt bad for him when Snape came and hit his face forward into the work. The next exam was Care of Magical Creatures, which was just as easy as potions hard. In the afternoon came divination for Poppy and Ancient Runes for Faith.

Faith breezed through Runes, feeling that revising had helped in at least one subject. Poppy, however, wasn't doing well at all. It wasn't the fact she hadn't revised- she doubted that anybody except Lavender or Parvati did- it was just that she didn't remember learning anything on the paper. They had done planets this year, but this test was all about dreams. She hadn't even heard Professor Trelawney talk about dreams. Maybe she had mentioned it, and Poppy had ignored it, but she couldn't ignore a whole lesson, never mind topic. Gritting her teeth, she began to write- complete waffle- but she had to try.