Chapter 11

The time malady

Rosietta had just walked down the stairs with a cigarette tucked between her lips much to Marietta's and Mesut's luck. They were perched on the staircase waiting after they were unsuccessful in opening the door. Thankfully she had gone on another cigarette break now. They exited back into the narrow corridor and were laughing happily at their escape. Marietta once again donned her veil, but it was not perfectly knit together as before. She felt a bit more confident as a couple of patients chatting outside their room doors looked at them. She kept her head held high despite that, and found that she was nodding at them as they walked by. She slowed down at her room, not wanting to walk further to the reception desk in the event that Tom was present. As Mesut walked ahead, turning back when he noticed her lingering she realised that it would be wrong to not continue walking with him. She started walking again before he spoke.

"Oh, you're going to your room?"

"No, I was just wondering if to check on Katherine."

As if on cue, the door opened and Katherine poked her head out blinking rapidly at the two. "Oh Marie... I mean..."

"Katherine, hi!"

"Where were you? Hi Mesut... oh! You were with Marietta? How exciting! I knew you two..."

"Are you good Katherine? I got to get going now though..." Mesut interrupted.

"I suppose I am good. I would have been great if Marietta returned here without her scarf because that would mean that the experiment with those Healing students went well... unless I should be great because she is waiting to tease me? This would be pretty funny, albeit a bit mean."

Marietta laughed, "No I haven't got a mean bone in my body, I didn't..."

"Which would mean you are not teasing me, because you are pretty nice... although I can't say physically as I have never..."

"It didn't go according to plan. They tried to help me but Dr. Grant is hopeful she could make it work..."

Katherine started again but Mesut interrupted hastily, "It will be all right Marietta..."

She was grateful for her scarf shielding the huge frown and pursed lips that formed on her scowling face. He means it in the best way possible. "I hope so too..."

"Cho hopes so too! I just glimpsed it though but..."

"What?"

"Your pretty owl Fluttery came!"

"When!?"

"This morning...! Actually not so nice! He pecked Rosietta! Don't you like Rosietta, you're smiling! Why are you smiling?"

"No... It's just this cute thing he does... he likes pecking!"

"I don't fancy pecking, it must hurt. I wouldn't know, although Rosietta did cringe when she got it! Unless she thought it would hurt and panicked, much like I probably would!"

"Where is he?"

"He is in the letter room! Rosietta took him. She was so scared he bit her again. I have the letter on our coffee table, but we haven't had coffee on it yet, I think we are too young still..."

"Oh, well let me get it... Mesut..." she turned back to him.

"Yes, it's all right, we will catch up later?"

"It would only take me a moment though."

"Mesut..." said Rosietta a few feet away, walking down the narrow corridor.

"Oh... hi..." he said sluggishly, Marietta again made out his dread, but she knew it was

nothing out of the ordinary.

"As per Dr. Bridge's request, we got the package for you..."

"It arrived?"

"Yes... I have it at my desk. Come. Hello girls," Rosie added as she strolled off ahead.

"See you Marietta... Katherine,"

"Bye. Do have..."

Marietta responded while Katherine was still speaking. "Take care... and Mesut... thank you for today..."

"Thank you too Marietta..."

With a blush he turned away following Rosietta.

Katherine stared behind him mumbling, "He is walking just as happily as you did that evening with Tom... speaking of Tom! How..."

Marietta grabbed the letter triple folded upon the coffee table. She threw herself onto her bed in excitement. Katherine returned to continue working on her art assignment, after Marietta made her anxious about the deadline date. She stared at the letter for a while, at the top left corner it signed, Chocolate hopes you are all right! Marietta stared at it happily, excited to open the parchment, but at the same time savouring the moment. She waited far too long. Slowly and cautiously she unfolded it. She fumed at its length, expecting something much longer for all the time that passed.

Hello Mere, I am so sorry for this late response. Mum passed a rule: no owls allowed. So I had to sneak time in! My vacation is going really well, thank you for asking. I am really sorry about your summer though. I hope this gets sorted out soon. You know you are still beautiful. Aunty still loves you. We all know she can be rough around the edges. Take care, Cho.

No rereading was necessary. Marietta crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it across the room. She buried her head beneath a pillow and released a loud, muffled grunt. Her feet kicked up into the air and her heels pounded away on the bed. She bit at the pillow and her scarf and then lifted the pillow up before slamming it back upon her she threw it off the edge of her bed and looked up at the ceiling, blocked by Katherine's inquisitive looking face. Startled, Marietta jumped.

"What's wrong, bad news? Oh my... you're angry! Do you want my pillow? Dr. Bridge said releasing the anger helps you feel better... come let me get it... or do you want yours? It's on the floor! I will get it for you, unless you want mine!?"

"No, I don't want anything..."

"If you keep that anger welled up it will get unhealthy! Do you want a hug, unless you don't want me touching you?"

"Don't touch me!"

"Oh no! I don't like this. You need to get rid of the anger. Didn't throwing that paper ball help it? Or do you prefer hurting yourself? Let me get it so you can throw it at yourself!"

"No! Keep that letter away from me! I will kill her if I see it!"

"Kill who? Cho! No! Why!? That's why you cannot keep that rage in! You will do something you regret..."

"I won't regret it! I don't regret doing anything! I am happy I spoiled her relationship with Harry! I am happy they all got in trouble! I am happy to be here! I am happy I don't have to see her or that fake, stupid, retarded smile and "oh so flawless" face! I am happy she dragged me along to join that stupid group so I could rat them out! I am happy I stood by her side when everybody abandoned her! That ungrateful little bitch! All those times I held my tongue, and watched what I was saying so I won't hurt her feelings, but she dare sends me a message with those words that torture me, that follow me anywhere I go! Those damned words that labelled me a dirty little traitor! That's the piece of crap she writes to my long, damned, two paged letter! I hope she got pecked!"

"I knew it! You like Fluttery attacking people! This anger is turning you into a monster! Unless you already are one..."

Marietta burst out laughing, "You're crazy you know that?" She managed to sit up on the bed, still shaking from the anger. Her continued giggling was very contagious, causing Katherine to eventually join in.

"That's why I am in here." Katherine stated, without adding more as her repeated chuckles distracted her.

Surprised by this Marietta spoke quickly, "No I don't mean it like that I meant that you are fun..."

"I am fun? Thank you. I don't think I am... I am silly sometimes, I know that... and I come on pretty strong, like I am right now! I need to give other people a chance..."

"Sometimes yes... but you are genuine and you are honest all the time. Something everyone needs to do."

"Thank you, I know sometimes it can be mean though... like..."

"Even so, honesty gives people the truth, rather than their constant beating around the bush and acting like everything is great when clearly nothing is..."

"Then I am guilty for lying then, because it bothers me that I've never seen your face..."

"No, you have always mentioned it... but you left it up to me to tell you when I was ready..."

"I did, didn't I? I suppose I always thought you would tell me one day when you were ready... being friends and all. If we are friends, unless you don't think we are..."

"I have lost too many friends to not think of you as an actual friend..." Marietta announced, considering how well Katherine understood to not press her with questions.

"It hurts when we lose friends I know, but Cho did write you... unless you are not speaking about her..."

She did respond, why am I freaking out? Oh right that's why! Marietta reflected on her long two paged letter. She had taken some time out of her difficult week before she got admitted into the hospital, to write what was happening with her: from her mother's anger and disappointment to her own displeasure of not being cured. She took a few extra days to continue writing, hoping to update her friend with every bit of her story, while asking all relevant questions to uncovering how Cho was doing. "She did write Katherine, but I felt like she didn't devote much time to me. She has always had a tendency to do this to me... but given what happened between us, I feel like we are drifting apart. She was there for me, I won't forget that, but it felt like towards the end of the school year, she was biding her time to get away from me. She doesn't seem too enthused to respond to me, to mention anything about her vacation, to tell me how her relationship is progressing... nor did she care about how I was doing. "

"I am sorry you feel that way. I don't know how you feel... although you told me, but I can't feel it exactly, but I am sorry... I am sure she doesn't mean anything... I think..."

"It's like I am always there for her, but god forbid something goes wrong with me..."

"That is something I think we are all at fault over. Not saying you are... wrong or I am wrong, but I think it makes us wrong for having to think in that way, but I think like the fault still..."

"What are we at fault over?"

"We are all at fault for expecting too much of people. Not a true fault, just a tiny bit, a small spec, a milispec if that exists, or even smaller and..."

"I follow..."

"Right! It is not wrong to want dear friends to give us the same level of attention, by all means I think we deserve it especially after all the efforts we put in..." Katherine halted studying Marietta, who sat listening intently. She continued, "I don't think anybody matches up to anybody's expectation... but they match up in other ways, and then when they come crumbling down with that weight on their shoulders, we suddenly feel betrayed and overlook the efforts they gave to us. For instance, like..."

As Katherine rambled, Marietta began pondering on that image of her mother tending to her when she had a measly little cold. She saw the anger and hatred shadowing her heart attempting to overwrite that with all the bad qualities she experienced with her. She reflected on Cho hugging her tightly as she wept into her shoulders, tears dripping in odd patterns as the ghastly pimples distorted their path. She studied the letter in her head again, of its short length and vague responses, but she remembered the initial line, Mum passed a rule: no owls allowed. Maybe she really couldn't dedicate much more time. Still, I took time out of my difficult schedule couldn't she do the same from a vacation? Then she picked up on the judgment she passed again. Despite the vague responses, Cho supported her when everybody grimaced and jeered at her wherever she went, maybe she should be excused here?

Then, Marietta pondered over if she was expecting too much, maybe Cho was expecting just as much from her, and Marietta, to indirectly use Katherine's words, came tumbling down the friendship slope when she betrayed the D.A. Cho must have felt betrayed too, but still focussed on being there for her in turmoil.

Finally, the thoughts she had pushed away from her memory, never to be spoken off surfaced as Katherine's explanation continued, "Obviously Marietta, we sacrifice a lot...". Sacrifice, that was exactly what Marietta would have liked in response. Even though Cho gave her support towards the end of the school year, it paled in comparison to the time she dedicated to Cho's difficulty. She thought she deserved much more than that after casting her feelings aside for her best friend's ex boyfriend, Cedric Diggory. Marietta long had a crush on him and was dejected to say the least when he approached her one evening inquiring about Cho. There is a rule that goes in opposition of standing in the way of your best friend's possible love interest, and Marietta adhered to it. She fumed at her mother for her text book rulings.

Marietta stepped aside and threw her feelings out the window as she helped set a plan in motion to introduce Cho to Cedric. Deep down, she envisioned Cedric enjoying the time he spent with her and eventually falling for instead, like she had read in all those romantic stories, but in reality she knew that nobody was going to give up on their quest to earn a date with Cho. There was to be no happy ending except for Cho, if you could call his eventual untimely death such. It surely pained and Marietta loathed Cedric sometimes, even though she never had anything ill to say about him. He was always nice to her and he did introduce her to boys he thought she would find interesting. Then came his death, Cedric Diggory was dead, and who was responsible? Yes... Harry Potter. Him she could lash out at, he was the last one that saw Cedric and he refused to share anything about him in his last moments. It saw an entire year follow, with her listening to all the wonderful experiences between Cho and Cedric, while consoling her best friend each time she would break down into tears. Marietta had nobody to speak to about it for nobody was ever supposed to know about her feelings. She sometimes felt angry when she thought about the interest in Harry Cho shared, earning her best friend a hint of antipathy. Marietta felt like it was a betrayal of Cedric's memory.

"Katherine you are so right..." Marietta said, interrupting her.

"Oh I am? That's great, I am hardly ever..."

"Everything you said, I think it's true! I expect too much from people! Just like my mother does! Oh my god... I am her!"

"That's great! I wish I was more like my mother. She is very, very pretty... can't say the same about daddy though..."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Marietta chuckled again. "I expect that everybody should put in the same amount of effort into the relationship that I do! Because I expect that, I am worried right now about losing them because I have failed to meet expectations as a friend too. They don't know about some things I did, so they won't have anything to remember good about me..."

"I am sorry to hear that Marie, I mean... but likewise, so do us. We don't know how much others sacrifice for us, like you sacrificed being in the room that day I was sad. Of course that's different because I am aware that you did. Maybe some things are better left unsaid? Then, you also think we should not linger and just be honest with each other..."

"Perhaps I need to reconsider. It is true... honesty is the best policy, however some things really shouldn't be said if it would hurt somebody dear to you."

"That's why I hide my suspicions about your scarf sometimes..."

"That's why I hide my suspicions about you too Katherine..."

"You are suspicious about me?"

"I find it strange that someone as happy and exciting as you are can get that depressed. Why are you in here?"

"That won't hurt me... in fact it hurt me that you didn't ask me before..."

"It did? I am sorry I didn't Katherine," She pondered over it, why didn't she ask? She thought that she was selfish, for letting her problems be her main concern over others who clearly had worst issues. Marietta knew however that she was always intrigued but never thought the time was right to ask. With that she quickly recalled her day on top of the roof, finding the reason to best explain why she did. "I thought Katherine, that when you were ready you would tell me. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Thanks... that's very nice of you to think about me like that."

"Of course, what are friends for?"

Katherine, with wavering eyes beheld Marietta. "Thank you, Marietta."

"No thank you, thank you Katherine for being there for me too."

Marietta realised just how much she cherished these little things while she and Katherine chatted away into the evening. Being an only child often limited these mini bonds, bonds that she often grew jealous of when she saw other siblings. It would have been nice to have someone there, especially with the whole rift between her mom and dad. It was hard at times, sitting on the stairwell while they would bicker and argue over pretty much the simplest of things. It was never cute like was expected of a couple. In fact it was definitely something no couple should engage in. She would sometimes yearn for someone to talk to, someone who would understand just how difficult things were.

In some ways, Marietta relished her Hogwarts escape. It kept her away from home, and she enjoyed the company of her friends. Maybe they were all spoilt brats with judgmental attitudes, but she certainly felt accepted. She looked forward to their many gatherings, their many gossips and rumours, and their conquests with the opposite sex. It was something new to Marietta in many ways as she couldn't quite speak of that with her mother. She was only supposed to be focussed on school. In many ways however, Marietta loved school. She hated that while most of the students would be away for term and only see their parents back on the holiday, she didn't. Whatever apparition rule existed in Hogwarts, they always lifted it at special, arbitrary times on Friday evenings for parents wanting their children back home. Marianne always ensured her daughter returned home on the weekends, a trend which halted in her sixth year when Marietta was constantly booked with detention while her mother was swamped with work.

Back at home, it was much easier without the banter from her mother and father, but again she would be alone. She would miss her friends, while her mother would insist she dedicated certain times of the day to study, which often resulted in them unable to meet halfway. She would rage to herself, and jot her feelings into her diary, an act she had eased up on because it often took the hate away and she had nothing to vent about to her friends.

Given everything that unfolded towards the end of her last school term, she noticed just how much she had grown into a recluse, taking only her issues with her. She would sit in the shadows, refusing to look at the mirrors (the ones that still remained in her room) and just weep into her hands. As was customary she began touching her face, feeling every pimple scattered so recklessly across her face. If not for that, she would study her reflection and be so consumed by her faith. She had lost many of her friends, but sitting here with Katherine now she noticed she had also gained so much and she had completely disregarded all of her new found wealth. She felt selfish. The guilt of forgetting about Mesut cropped up and she felt a bit alleviated of it when she reflected on their wonderful afternoon together.

Now, she felt like she had taken Katherine for granted. Dr. Bridge was right, she developed a good rapport with everyone, but she didn't give any of them a chance to know her. As Katherine had suggested, people don't always match up to the other's expectation. She felt as though Katherine certainly did her best to be a friend, and now Marietta decided to at least try to match the expectation of a friend Katherine would have wanted. They both hid their suspicions about each other. Katherine certainly seemed surprised that Marietta was interested. As Marietta noticed, Katherine was now chattering very casually, fending off the need to be on fire with her conversations, when someone was able to keep her sustained. All it took was for somebody to make an effort. That's all it took. Maybe that was all I wanted from Cho, more of an effort. Adamant to make up for her poor friendships, Marietta decided to inquire about Katherine.

Listening intently to Katherine's story, Marietta was amazed at just how descriptive she was. Her flare and rapid fire speech, despite their superfluous content, kept her tale from being anything but prosy. With a sharp mind of that becoming of a Ravenclaw student, Marietta enjoyed it immensely, and made mental notes of the many things she always found interesting but never learned in great detail at school. Such things included time turners, which were the main stars of Katherine's picture.

Katherine was, as everyone would have suspected, diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This diagnosis however was not made until a couple of years ago, and given the way her life was affected as a result, Marietta could not help but empathise with her. She took from Katherine's tale that she was super smart, partly due to the fact that she attended one of the most renowned all girl's school in the world. She attended the Salem Witches' Institute of the United States. It was a school Marietta's mother had studied intently before sending her daughter to Hogwarts. Katherine was sorted into the Belabour Division, her school's equivalent of Hogwarts' Ravenclaw.

Befitting of her division's name, Katherine was a very assiduous student and in her epithet of liking many things, she was unable to decide upon subjects she would pursue in her third year of school. Her subject count was baffling to even one of Ravenclaw's top students, but Marietta knew her mother would have loved it. Maybe she would have pushed for it had it not been for the fears of misusing a time turner, which Katherine was given to keep with her strict, belaboured schedule of twelve subjects.

Time turners were among the most dangerous tools in Wizardry, ranked second on the top five most virulent objects in history. Time-related magic is unstable, and serious breaches in the laws of time result in catastrophic events. These events are unclear and uncertain, as the only issues that can be listed are those known about in history, or those that are not even known about due to the popular anomaly known as un-birth. As Katherine began describing, Marietta had a blurred memory of seeing her mother reading the paper and pointing out an article to her as she expressed why she wished the Ministry would put a ban on them. The article, in the Wizarding World Newspaper was titled: British Witch at Salem's diagnosed with ADHD as a result of Time-Turner.

Katherine, the witch diagnosed with ADHD, was accidentally exposed to a Memory Charm more popularly known as the Forgetfulness charm, during a Charm's class in her third year. Luckily, it was from another learning student, so the effect was not as bad. She was properly tended to by Healers, and the only memory loss she suffered was not remembering anything in class moments before being hit with the charm.

Fully recovered though, Katherine used the time turner to attend the five classes that were on a parallel time slot to that particular Charms class. As time progressed her grades began dropping severely. Her friends, teachers and parents had also noticed her random deviations on topics and short term memory. That was when the Healers diagnosed her with ADHD. They kept her in the hospital for observations and uncovered the cause for this disorder. By returning to classes on par with the Charms lesson, the effect of the charm would not have been cured in that particular time continuum, and thus it had taken a toll on her cerebrum each time she reversed the hands of time. With her naturally quick and sharp mentality, combined with the somewhat deterioration in her cerebrum, Katherine found it very difficult to focus on any one thing.

On further inquiry, Marietta found out that Katherine was on medication for ADHD. With an interest in Healing, Marietta had studied on the many medications that existed, and knew all about Bupropion and the many side effects. It explained to her all about Katherine's mood swings. While the antidepressant treated several conditions such as depression, studies have shown that a small percentage of people who took them could experience worsening depression. Dr. Bridge, as Katherine explained was attempting to get her off of the drug. She realised that Katherine had no other side effects until her medical treatment started. Therapy had also shown that given the right support and assistance, Katherine could be made to complete any task, much like Marietta was assisting her in keeping with the story.

"Oh are you all right Marie?" Katherine asked.

"I am sorry," Marietta sniffed and used part of her scarf to dry some of the tears. She didn't realise what had happened. Her eyes were watering and her throat was clenched. She felt so much sympathy for Katherine. Fear struck her nerves. She imagined how hard it must have been for someone's life to change so suddenly. It was easy to slip on Katherine's shoes and ponder over their situations being reversed. "I am just, really sorry to hear that Katherine."

"Oh I shouldn't have told you! Oh it's my fault!"

"No! It's not that," realising that Katherine probably couldn't fully understand what happened she attempted to change her meaning into something else. "I just think a time turner is so scary you know? How it could dramatically change someone's life."

"Yes, ADHD is a scary thing! I am lucky I wasn't un-born or something! Did you use a time turner too? Is that why you're here? Oh! Unless you're not ready to tell me..."

"No no! Ha, ha. I was just... worried."

"Oh gosh, no! Don't be worried..."

"No, I am fine, I am fine. I will tell you about me."

"Yes, let's start with your name! Do they call you Marie or Mariette?"