Eva couldn't see. All she was met with was darkness, pure darkness. She was alone, completely and utterly alone. She wanted to cry for help, to burst into tears, neither of which she was able to do.
That was when she heard a pair of footsteps although, try as she might, she couldn't see whose they were. In fact, she couldn't see at all. Her eyes couldn't move, couldn't function. She could feel that they were open, but the lids wouldn't budge.
The footsteps then disappeared again. Was she dead? She was so certain she was dead. This couldn't be reality, but if this was all that was left for her for the rest of eternity, that was much worse.
An unknown amount of time later, two pairs of footsteps came back, followed by a voice, a familiar voice, and she'd never felt so happy in that moment.
"Oh dear me, and both of them too!" McGonagall exclaimed sadly.
Of course, Hermione was beside her. Eva wondered about her friend. Was she okay? Was she going through exactly the same thing? Maybe she would never know.
"This is rather unprecedented." She heard McGonagall crouch down between them. "Our first Slytherin victim. Potter and Weasley will not be happy to see this."
"When were they found?" Eva heard Snape's stern voice ask.
"About 15 minutes ago, I expect," Filch sneered.
Eva heard a series of movements around her, followed by several hands lifting her weight up and placing her down on something softer than the hard ground of presumably the library. As her weight was lifted up again and carried out, she heard a continuation of the soft murmurs, questioning the fact that Eva was a Slytherin, an attack no one saw coming. But she did. She knew that after the giant snake found her at Christmas, it wouldn't give up so easily.
Several hands were placed on her again, though she had no idea whose they were. The only senses she'd been left with were hearing and touch, and even then that was little to go by.
"On the count of three," she heard Madam Pomfrey instruct beside her, "1 . . . 2 . . . 3."
Her body was lifted from the soft surface and placed down on an even softer one. She heard the same thing happen beside her, only a few feet away, which she assumed was Hermione being moved too. Then came a voice she hated, a voice that made her unmoving blood boil.
"Such a shame I was unable to use that counter-curse on these poor students," Lockhart muttered. "They could've easily been spared had I been there to save their innocent souls."
Someone sighed. "Another month or two before the Mandrake remedy will be prepared," Pomfrey said. "The poor things, this issue is truly getting out of hand. I worry I will run out of beds at this rate."
Eva heard a soft popping sound. "What is the purpose of this mirror?" McGonagall asked, holding up the mirror that had saved both of their lives.
There was silence for a moment. "No idea," Snape replied.
"Well," McGonagall exhaled heavily, "I will inform Potter and Weasley of this development." She lightly stroked the side of Eva's face. "They will be heartbroken, I presume."
The voices then died out as their footsteps receded once more. Eva felt a blanket being draped over her and someone pushing her hair out of her face.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you both," Pomfrey murmured, before her footsteps also quietened as she moved across the room.
Then Eva remembered something, the reason she was a Slytherin in the first place—Hecate. Where on earth was her obnoxious and condescending demon? She'd be having a laugh riot by this point.
'I would be laughing if I wasn't stuck here petrified with you, sugarplum,' Hecate's voice rang through Eva's head.
'Hecate!' Eva internally yelled. 'You're . . . petrified?'
'Since you have been petrified and I was inhabiting your soul at the time, I have been petrified within your body,' Hecate explained, 'so now, you have me for company for the next few months.'
'Oh shit,' Eva deadpanned.
There was peaceful silence in her head for a moment, but for only a moment. 'I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 1000-"
She wasn't sure how long she'd been lying there. Any concept of time had completely left her thought processes, although it felt like years.
Footsteps began to approach from the entrance to the hospital wing towards their beds. "I warn you, this could be a wee bit of a shock," McGonagall warned.
She heard a gasp. "Eva!" Harry yelled right beside her. He did know she could still hear him and he didn't need to shout, right?
"Hermione . . ." Ron whispered.
"They were found together near the library," McGonagall informed them. "Along with this." An object was lifted off Hermione's bedside table, presumably the mirror. "Does it mean anything to either of you?"
There was silence for a moment. "No," Harry murmured.
Eva felt Harry's hand hold hers, examining her unmoving and stone-hard fingers. She'd known this would be hard, but not this hard. And she couldn't even cry about it.
In the Slytherin common room, Snape had the entire house gather around near the fireplace. Some sat on the sofas and on the side table while some stood around. Snape rarely made announcements to them, so they knew this would be something serious.
Snape stood in front of the fireplace facing them, his face as expressionless and unreadable as always. "This morning, Miss. Infernum was unfortunately found in the library beside Miss. Granger. Both have been petrified."
Gasps and murmurs swept through the room, most questioning how that was even possible. They had been making bets as to whether Eva would be next, not realising that the monster would even bother coming for her considering the house she was in.
"Excuse me, Professor," Malfoy spoke up from where he was reclined on the sofa, "but I don't understand. You say she was petrified? She's a Slytherin. I was put under the impression that Slytherins are safe."
"Isn't the monster being controlled by the heir of Slytherin?" Flint questioned, stood behind one of the sofas with his arms crossed. "Why would Slytherin want to attack one of his own?"
"Regardless of house," the room went silent at Snape's voice, "she is not a wizard-born student. Due to recent events, a new set of rules are being put in place across the school, and I expect you all to follow them closely. Don't get arrogant. The rules are as follows.
"All students will return to their house common rooms by 6 o'clock every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher or member of staff. No exceptions."
"How many victims is that now?" a first year girl asked.
Snape paused at the door before leaving. "Two Gryffindors, a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, and a Slytherin."
Over the next week, things went by a pretty regular schedule for Eva. Harry and Ron would visit daily, bringing flowers which they replaced whenever the old ones wilted, but other than that, the only company she really had was Hecate.
Cedric had also visited once, though it was brief since watching one of his close friends in that state was likely to be rather traumatising. He brought her a 'get well soon' card and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Jelly Beans for when she could eat again, yet for obvious reasons she was unable to actually thank him.
Maybe 4 or 5 days into her stay at the hospital, she received a visitor she really hadn't been expecting, not at all.
Footsteps approached slowly. "I'm warning you now, Draco, that this sight may be somewhat unfavourable," Snape warned.
She heard Malfoy scoff before he even entered the room. "I can handle it just fine, thank you."
Once they finally entered the hospital wing and Eva's bed was visible to them, both sets of footsteps stopped. She heard Malfoy approach eerily slowly, but without making a sound. There was no way to tell if he was in shock or silently mocking her.
Eva had already figured out what position she'd been petrified in. Her left leg was bent slightly, and her hands were curled from where she'd been gripping onto Hermione's arm. Her lips were parted slightly while her hollow green eyes were wide with fear.
She felt Malfoy's hand touch hers for a moment curiously before quickly pulling away. "Can she . . . can she hear us?"
Snape sighed from the other side of the room. "It is believed that those who have been petrified are able to feel and hear, but this can vary between individuals."
"And her demon?"
"Presumably petrified with her," Snape responded.
There was silence for a few moments. Eva heard a chair being moved beside her bed as Malfoy sat down by her. The only thing she could hear for a few long minutes was his breathing until he finally spoke.
"Snape's gone now . . . so, maybe you can hear me, but maybe you can't," he observed, "but if you can and you are simply ignoring me, Infernum, didn't your parents ever tell you it's rude to ignore others when they are speaking?"
Eva wanted to laugh at his sad attempt at a joke, but instead she was physically as still as a statue, unmoving and unresponsive.
He sighed. "The bet in the house is off since you and Granger were petrified simultaneously. Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass both made you a card." She heard him carelessly stand it up on her bedside table. "The card was signed by most, with obvious exceptions such as Parkinson. I'm sure you are already aware of Crabbe and Goyle's little crush on you, unless you are truly as ignorant as you seem. The pair of buffoons have written their names the largest."
Eva internally rolled her eyes while Hecate mocked her.
"My father has been informed, and he sends his insincerest condolences," Malfoy sniffed a laugh. "If he found you less annoying and meaningless, maybe he would've visited too, but I highly doubt it. He didn't even want to visit me back in November."
There was a long and regretful pause. Without Eva's responses, he'd somehow let his tongue slip. Eva already knew that Malfoy had a somewhat distant relationship with his father, that much was obvious, but he would never intentionally confide in anyone about it, especially not her. Even Crabbe and Goyle, his closest friends, weren't told much of Malfoy's life at home.
"In all honesty, I don't have a reason to be here and see you, Infernum," he confessed. "No one would've expected you to become a victim, or I doubt those bets would've taken place at all—that's a lie, they would, but that's not the point. It may surprise you, but I and the others dislike you far less than we dislike your friends."
That was the Malfoy equivalent of a complement, she assumed. She felt him place a hand on her shoulder for a moment. "This was never supposed to go this far," he whispered to himself.
Then he took off, his footsteps disappearing without another word. Eva was left speechless. Not that she could talk, but even if she could she wouldn't know what to say. She'd never seen that side of Malfoy before, the side that did care for his friends, the side that did worry about even Eva's welfare, and she knew that she was unlikely to see it again.
'Face it, you like him,' Hecate sang tauntingly in her head.
'No I do not!' Eva internally argued. Did she? No, she didn't, she definitely didn't.
'Come on, sugarplum, it's okay to have a little crush.'
'Not on Malfoy,' Eva argued. 'Malfoy's just a bully who uses offensive language against me and my best friend, I wouldn't ever crush on a bully like that. And his hair's all greasy too. Besides, I don't know what you're on about, Catrina. I don't "like" Malfoy, no, never, it will never happen. I just . . . he's just a friend, that's all. I worry about him as a friend, and I think of him as a friend.'
Hecate laughed. 'I'm older than reality itself, Eva. I can spot a crush from a mile away. Give it some time, and I'll prove you wrong.'
Goddamn it, Eva hated having a demon.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: Mwahahahaha, had to do it. Also there's a little bit of soft Draco too but I didn't want him to get too OOC so I hope I actually did his personality some justice here hehe.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!