Chapter 12: Vanishing
If ever Aria had wanted to sink into the background, never to be seen again, it was in that moment. With two pairs of brown eyes glaring at the boy who stood stiffly beside her. Every scenario went through her head. Any second the twins would pounce. Cedric had little chance. She envisioned George springing forward, his hands outstretched towards Cedric's neck. She pictured Fred holding Cedric in a head lock until he cried for mercy.
Just as quickly as her urge to dissolve appeared, it melted into something else. Violence never solved anything. Kingsley taught her that. She had never really wanted to hit anyone in her life. Not until that very moment. So before George could utter his numerous insults to Diggory, before Fred could clobber him unconscious, Aria sucked in a gulp of air, tapped Cedric on the shoulder, and punched him in the jaw as hard as she could.
"Bastard-" Aria watched as Cedric stumbled a bit and put his hand to his jaw. The witch suddenly drew in a sharp breath and looked at her fist. "awww" she breathed in shock. Her plan had back fired. Of course it did. Her feet slid backward, her eyes wide and her wrist becoming limp and red.
"Ar-" Cedric was cut off by the twins, who had shoved in between the two and gave him identical death glares.
"Touch 'er again," Fred seethed
"And you better say some prayers," George narrowed his eyes. The twins crossed their arms and continued to stare at him. "That means leave Diggory." Cedric did just that. Aria didn't watch as he left. She was far too preoccupied.
"I broke it," Aria said through clenched teeth. George was on his knee in a second, his broomstick like wand at the ready.
"What you plannin on doin with that?" Fred asked his brother incredulously. George looked at his wand and tucked it away.
"Impulse."
"Thats sweet and all George, but just take me to the hospital wing." She shifted to stand without using her wrist. Both of the boys reached to help her, but she shoved them off. "I broke my wrist not my leg." With that she stood up with a grit of her teeth and started toward to hospital wing.
On most occasions, Aria was well tempered. She was gifted with patience and had a distinct ability to stay level headed in most situations. However when she was in pain, bone splitting pain, Aria was a force to be reckoned with. Years earlier when she was no more than 8 or 9, Aria was hit in the stomach with a bludger when Fred and George were playing around. The words that came out of her mouth would have astonished even the most seaworthy sailor. Though she had a fairly high pain tolerance, her way of dealing with it included a personality shift.
"And how might I ask, did you receive this injury?" Madame Pomfry examined Aria's throbbing hand.
"Hit a wall." Aria's eyes darted from one wall to the other. Madame Pomfrey wasnt convinced.
"That would shatter your nuckles. And for the record Ms. Lennox you are a terrible liar." The healer put the students hand down and looked at her disapprovingly. George shifted and gave Fred a sideways glance.
"She hit Cedric Diggory." George seemed to immediately regret his words, before they even came all the way out. Aria shot him a dirty look.
"Is that true Ms. Lennox?" Madame Pomfrey looked stunned. Aria nodded and squinted her eyes as the healer squeezed her hand too tightly. "Ms. Lennox! Violence is not tolerated."
"Hold on!"
"This no longer concerns you Mr. Weasley," the witch lifted her hand. "And Mr. Weasley," she addressed the other twin.
"He kissed her."
"Without her consent."
"Is that true?"
"We saw it! He had his tongue down her throat."
"Oh for Merlin's sake."
"It was disgusting."
"Shut up!" Everyone was suddenly still. Aria gritted her teeth and looked to Madame Pomfrey seriously. "Cedric has kissed me before. I ran away the first time, but he apparently still harbors feelings for me. When he kissed me today he had just insulted my friends and so I would have hit him if he'd have kissed me or not. But you can see I don't really have a wrist of steel so here I am. That is all. Give me detention, wrap my hand, and let me go because I have an important meeting with Pr. Flitwick." The silence returned. Only this time the entire wing was quiet, anxious to hear what craziness would unfold next. Madame Pomfrey twisted her head and stood to shoo the flabbergasted twins away.
"Go!" Madame Pomfrey shoved the reluctant boys out of the wing forcefully as Aria stared blankly at the bedside table. "You stay right there. I'll be back with some things." Madame Pomfrey said very sternly when she passed Aria.
"Diggory really kiss you?" A dry voice said behind Aria. She turned and faced her dorm mate Nicola, who was sitting up against about five or so pillows and flipped through a culture magazine. Aria was accustom to Nicola disappearing due to "family issues". Aria was convinced and was one of the only people who knew about Nicolas true issue. And even she didn't know the whole of it.
"Yeah," Aria said quietly. She was suddenly no longer bothered by her throbbing wrist but focused on the girl beside her. She couldn't help but stare at her friend. Nicola had been peachy keen just hours earlier in the dorm. But her eyes had sunken in, greyish peach around the edges. Nicola's pale skin seemed to stretch to fit around her collar bone and jawline. Her usual straight blond pony tale was down, revealing its, intense thinness.
"Believe me," Nicola said suddenly taking Aria out of her trance. "This is a good day." Nicola tapped her lower side. "Just my kidneys today." She gestured to the pinkish purple potion beside her. "Hence this crap." Nicola looked back at her magazine and sighed. "You did the right thing, hitting that bastard. I would have kicked his balls into his-"
"That's enough Ms. Stebbins." Madame Pomfrey returned with a small glass in her hand. "And lay back on our side. Dont want those kidneys to grow back in the wrong place now do we?" Nicola scoffed, but did as she was told. Madame Pomfrey handed the little glass to Aria, who examined the clear and odorless liquid. "It's water."
"Lucky," Nicola said jealously. Madame Pomfrey turned back to Nicola as she took her wand out.
"Complaining wont bring those kidneys back Ms. Stebbins." The older witch watched as Aria sipped the water calmly. "Now. Calm?" Aria nodded and stared at the healers simple brown wand. "I do hate this spell." She pointed the wand to her patients hand. "Episky"
"Ah!" Arias head stretched forward and she looked at the healer in shock.
"That's what the waters for. To keep you calm." Madame Pomfrey patted Aria on the knee and stood up to go to her other patients. "No detention is necessary Ms. Lennox. As surprising as it may be, I was in your shoes once."
"Thank you Madame." The woman merely nodded and walked a good ways away to her other patients. Aria drew her attention back to Nicola, who had her back to Aria. Aria stood cautiously, rubbing her sore hand, and crossed to sit on the edge of Nicolas bed. "Do you need anything?"
"No." Nicola said very quickly, her deep blue eyes staring ahead of her. After a short pause, Aria patted Nicolas leg and stood. "Thanks Aria." Nicola smiled when Aria made her way out. Aria had to keep herself from choking up.
Seeing a friend in Nicolas's state would be hard for anyone. When she was diagnosed with a rare form of Vanishing Disease at age 10, the Stebbins parents contemplated not sending their daughter to school at all. But at that time only small parts of her body would disappear. Her ears. Toes. Fingers. Her tongue on more than one occasion. For awhile they sat in denial that the disease would get any worse. And for three years it didn't get much worse. Not until one Dark Arts class third year when Nicola suddenly fell out of her chair and reached for something in her chest. She swung her arms around furiously and gasped for breath. Pr. Quirrell carried her all the way to the hospital wing, where they determined her lung had disappeared.
After that everyone started looking at her differently. As if she were going to explode in front of them. Sarcasm became her defense mechanism. She used humor to keep people both close and away all at once.
Eventually, it wouldn't just be Nicola's kidneys that needed growing back, it'd be her heart or her brain. Once that happened, there really wasn't much anyone could do.
Aria tried to forget about it almost every day. Everyone did. Including Nicola.
Well hello lovelies! I apologize for the late update however I've just gotten home from a girls trip with some of my college buds. I have a nice long break so I'll try and update a little more than usual just for you guys! Happy Holiday's to everyone and congrats of surviving the Apocalypse.
Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I truly love you all!
