It was a sight she'd never expected to see – her effervescent, energetic Randy, collapsed on the ground, unmoving.
"Randy?!" Clara shrieked, sprinting over to where he lay. She crouched down towards his face, and then went rigid with horror when she realized she couldn't feel his breath. She nudged his shoulder, and when that produced no response, began to shake him. "Randy? Please wake up!"
Nothing. No sound, no movement, but the rustling of the grass around them.
She looked around frantically for Taffy, but for once, the little bear was nowhere in sight. And when she looked back at Randy's face, to her horror, his skin tone was beginning to turn ashen.
"Randy…" Clara whimpered once more, before she took a deep breath. "I need to find Prefect Klaus," she murmured to herself. "Randy, hold on!"
Moments later, she returned with Klaus in tow. The tall golden-haired Prefect had not hesitated to come to her aid the moment he'd seen her expression.
At the first sight of Randy's prone form, Klaus muttered something and waved his wand. Suddenly Randy's body jerked. Tears of relief fell down Clara's face as the pink-haired wizard began to gasp and cough, the percussive spasms wracking his whole body. He finally opened his eyes.
"Clara…" he murmured, and she dove into his arms.
"Thank goodness," she sobbed. "You're alright. Thank you, Prefect Klaus…"
Randy looked beside to where Klaus was standing, gazing at them steadily. "Klaus…"
"Irresponsible, as always," Klaus said sternly. "That kind of metabolism spell…you're lucky. If you'd held out any longer, your heart would have given out."
A horrified silence fell upon them. Randy ducked his head, gaze fixed on the ground, as Clara began to tremble.
"What is wrong with you?" Klaus spat. "How can you be so irresponsible? Do you enjoy making your girl cry?" Klaus's gaze flickered to Clara briefly before it hardened, focused again on Randy. "Get your act together and learn to take care of yourself," he muttered, and then turned, disappearing back into the school building.
Alone now, they sat together, Clara still clinging to him, listening to the sound of his renewed heartbeat. "Serge," she whispered. "What did you do?"
His eyes went distant, and he thought of a red-haired boy, faraway and frozen.
Would it have worked? Would the same spell that had accelerated his own beating heart bring to life one that had been turned to stone?
"Please," Clara whimpered. "Don't do that ever again. Don't leave me alone like that."
His arms tightened around her.
Would it have been worth it to die, finding out?
"Never again," he whispered.
His mind was made up. It was a promise.
