Disclaimer: As much as I wish I owned Harry Potter, I don't. This magical world that I'm using for inspiration belongs to the supermegafoxyawesomehot J.K Rowling and her genius brain. I merely own the plot of this story and the OC's :)
Well it's Monday again so that means that it's time for an update haha. I have a bit of writers block so I'm not sure when the next update will be, i am still aiming for next Monday but im not entirely sure. Anyways enough of my babbling, back to business. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think. Reviews encourage me to keep writing because I know people are enjoying it.
Walking down the dim isolated corridors on her way to the hospital wing with Parkes following at her heels, Mackenzie was huffing and puffing in anger. Because Parkes wasn't paying attention in Potions, she was now stuck with the burden of walking him to Madam Pomfrey. Remembering what happened in potions had her fuming.
*Flashback*
"Parkes NO!" Mackenzie shouted, but it was too late, the porcupine quills were already in the potion and she had just enough time to dive out of the way of the explosion.
The fall to the ground made her ribs hurt even worse; she gasped in pain and held her breath until it died down a bit. She let the breath go and took short deep breaths. The next thing she heard was Parkes letting out a horrified yell.
She sat herself up and took a long look at Parkes, who was now covered in bright red, puss filled boils. She suppressed a laugh while hoping that they were really painful. He deserved it. She enjoyed seeing him like this it was hilarious and the rest of the class obviously thought so, because they were all laughing hysterically.
"Parkes! Robins! What have you done?" Mackenzie's smile faltered when she heard Snape's furious voice. She cowered away from his looming figure.
"It was Parkes' fault,Professor, he hasn't done anything all lesson and then he just carelessly threw the porcupine quills into the cauldron." She scowled at Parkes. She couldn't believe how careless he was.
"Oh shove it Robins, it's not my fault," he growled back at her.
"It is your fault Parkes! You aren't supposed to put the porcupine quills in until AFTER you have taken the cauldron off of the fire," she said with a roll of her eyes. "If you were paying attention and actually participated and read the instructions you wouldn't be covered in boils right now and my shoes wouldn't have holes burnt into them!"
"ENOUGH!"The fierceness and malice in Snape's voice startled Mackenzie andshe was instantly quiet. "30 points each from Hufflepuff and Slytherin for your carelessness-"
"But sir! It-"
Snape just continued talking as if she hadn't interrupted "- you will both have detention with me every night for the next 2 weeks, and Miss Robins you can escort Mr Parkes to the hospital wing."
"What! But sir I-"
"Enough Miss Robins. You will do as you are told. Now go!"
*End of Flashback*
So now here she is walking through the corridors alone with David Parkes. Why was she the one stuck with taking him? Why couldn't one of his friends take him? I mean, sure she was a Hufflepuff and she was nice to everyone, but she was not responsible for Parkes and he didn't deserve her niceness.
She looked down at her shoes. Her toes were poking through the end of them. Great, this is just what she needed. Stomping down the hallways caused her ribs to hurt again, but she was too furious to stop and walk normally. She was finding it more and more difficult to breath, so she thought about seeing Madam Pomfrey about it. Then again did she really want anyone to know about it? What would happen if Higgs found out that she had told and he came after her again? That's when she decided to keep it to herself, there was no point in telling someone only to have something much worse happen. She would just have to be careful for a few weeks. Yes a few weeks. She was sure that her ribs were at least fractured. She was in too much pain for them to be simply bruised.
She drew a breath in through her gritted teeth and tried to breath normally which was becoming more and more difficult. She clutched her side but let her arms drop when they got to the doors of the hospital not wanting Madam Pomfrey to figure out that she was hurt.
"Um Madam Pomfrey are you here?" She asked, looking around because she could not see her anywhere. At the sound of Mackenzie's voice Madam Pomfrey came back around a corner and gasped at the sight of Parkes.
"Oh dear, what happened here?" she asked in a worried tone that a mother would have.
"We were in Potions and Parkes caused our potion to explode," she explained giving Parkes an accusing glare. She could not keep a straight face for long though when she looked at him. His face was absolutely covered in boils and she found satisfaction in the fact that they looked very painful.
Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue is disapproval.
"Very well, Mr. Parkes come over here and sit on this bed. I will have to give you a potion to get rid of the boils but I'm afraid you will have to stay in overnight. Thank you Miss Robins you may go now."
Mackenzie heard Parkes groan, resulting in Mackenzie smirking. Parkes looked at her and gave her a death stare. She shrugged and smiled at him before skipping out of the Hospital Wing, totally forgetting about her ribs until it felt like knives were being shoved through her midsection. She slowed down to a walk and hid behind a pillar gasping for breath. She started to reconsider getting checked, but once again thought better of it and chose to ignore it as much as possible.
When she got back to the dungeons, the end of class bell rang so she went in and grabbed her books to get to her next class and make this day be over and done with already. By the end of Muggle Studies she was glad to get to the Great Hall so she could eat something. She was walking slowly and carefully so she didn't cause herself anymore pain.
She thought that she would sit with her brother today after not seeing him much lately. She was really close with Adrian. He was the one who looked after her when their mum was busy or at work. She used to have nightmares and he would be the one to come in and help her get back to sleep. Their father taught them all kinds of musical instruments before he died, so Adrian would play his guitar for her to help her fall back to sleep. She didn't know what she would have done without him.
She searched the long table for him and spotted him half way down. She smiled and waved on her way and he jumped up and gave her a tight hug causing her to wince in pain. He was crushing her ribs. Adrian heard her sharp intake of breath and let go of her immediately.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice dripping with concern.
"Nothing, nothing I'm fine," she attempted a smile but by the look on her brother's face, she could tell that it didn't work. She didn't want him to worry, he was always looking after her and it was about time she grew up and looked after herself and solved her own problems. Besides, if she told him what happened, she was sure that he would do something that he would regret later.
"Don't give me that crap Mackenzie, I can tell when you're lying." He tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows, daring her to argue with him. She bit her lip nervously, feeling conflicted. On one hand she wanted to tell him because she hated lying to him and he may be able to help, but on the other hand she didn't want to get him involved and make things worse for him and herself. She decided that it would be better for him to know, maybe he knows a healing charm. She grabbed his hand and started dragging him out of the Great Hall.
"Mackenzie, what are you doing?" he questioned her.
"Just come with me, I'm going to show you what's wrong, so just come on." They got to a pillar and she pulled him so he was facing her. "Okay if I show you, you have to promise me you won't freak out."
"Mackenzie I-"
"Just promise" she pleaded with him.
"Okay I promise," she heard him reply after a few moments of silence.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she pulled her school blouse up just enough so he could see the black and blue bruises covering her ribs. She heard him take a sharp breath.
She opened her eyes and Adrian was just staring at the bruises so she pulled her shirt back down. He looked up to her eyes with his mouth open in shock.
"Mackenzie...wh-who did this to you?"
She took a deep breath and sighed, which was not a good idea because it caused her a large amount of pain to do so. Adrian saw this and grabbed fistfuls of his hair his facial expression full of worry and concern.
"It doesn't matter," she stated simply looking down at her feet, too afraid to look at his face.
"It doesn't matter? Of course it matters Mackenzie!" His voice rose in volume; he was getting frustrated with her now.
"You promised you wouldn't freak out," she whispered. She knew he would that's why she made him promise, he never breaks his promises butshe guessed this was an exception. She doesn't blame him though; she would have the same reaction if it were him that this had happened to.
"That's before I saw that," he said pointing to her ribs. "I can't just ignore that. Of course I'm going to freak out!" She could hear the anger in his voice and looked up at him and into his eyes her own pleading with him.
"Don't be mad at me okay, just forget about it, pretend you didn't see anything," She begged him, her voice barely an audible whisper. She heard her brother sigh deeply in response.
"I'm not mad at you Kenzie, I'm mad that you won't tell me who did this to you." At this he pulled her into a hug,being gentle so he didn't cause her any more unnecessary pain. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest, trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to overflow, but she could not stop them from falling from her eyes.
She could smell his cologne and although it might be strange, this scent was comforting to her, it represented home and safety. He kissed the top of her head and slowly let her out of the hug wiping away the tears that had escaped.
"You know I will have to tell mum."
Mackenzie widened her eyes at this. "Ade you can't! You just can't. You know how she will react. Please. Promise me you won't tell her." Sobs racked her body causing her shoulders to shake and her ribs to hurt, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop.
Adrian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing. "Okay, Okay I won't tell mum. I promise my lips are sealed, but you should at least go to the Hospital Wing and get checked out." He hated seeing his sister in so much pain. She was always in some sort of pain lately, whether it is physical or emotional. He just wanted to see her happy for once. He hadn't seen her truly happy since their dad died. He had tried so many different ways to cheer her up. He used to be terrified when she would wake up screaming from nightmares. It killed him inside to see his sister like that.
Mackenzie shook her head.
"No I can't go to Madam Pomfrey she will ask me what happened and you know how much of a bad liar I am. If I told her and he found out things will only get worse."
"Well can you at least tell me?" he pleaded with her.
"I can't Adrian, just drop it okay? It will be fixed in a few weeks and then I'll be fine," she said before walking away in the direction of her next class.
Adrian watched his sister's retreating figure, and when she disappeared around the corner he walked into the Great Hall in a daze. As he sat down, he was consumed with thoughts about his sister's safety. Who was doing this to her? And why, what did she do to deserve this? He placed his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands ignoring the curious looks he was getting from his friends. He felt that he HAD to tell someone. He just had to, but she didn't want anyone to know, she had said if the person found out that she told things would only get worse. He definitely didn't want that. He would protect her with his life. So for now, his lips were sealed.
