Since this is the last chapter, I feel I should give a short speech...
One day, a long time ago, I decided to write a fic with The Odds. Rachelle promised to help me, and she's helped so much since then!
This fic has come a long way...you all should be very happy that I decided to delete the old one, change my penname, change my e-mail, change the title, and start over completely.
I realized, even though the fic only had one negative review, that it's a very bad sign if the author is too embarrassed to even read it.
I'd like to thank you, reviewers! An especially big thank you to those who've been reviewing for a while and have checked back for updates! DOOM on those reviewers who reviewed once then never read it again. DOOM ON YOU.
In closing...
So if you Enjoyed this Quacky, Unique, Ended story, Look out (and review)!
:runs away sobbing as the fic ends:
Chapter 45
Sometime during the night – no one ever knew the exact time because no one thought to look at a clock – a thunderstorm crashed so loudly overhead that Tiffany woke up.
She groaned and turned on her side to face Rachelle's bed, keeping her eyes closed, trying to fall asleep again. She heard something thump against the floor and her eyes fluttered open on impulse. She would have closed them again, had she not seen what she saw.
Tiffany gasped loudly when she saw Matt's collapsed form on the floor between Rachelle's bed and her own bed. She turned on the lamp next to her bed, took the book that was lying near it and threw it at Rachelle. Rachelle gasped in pain.
"Ooow! What is it?" she asked sleepily.
"Look!" Tiffany said, pointing at Matt on the floor.
Rachelle looked and screamed. Tiffany almost screamed too, now that she saw Matt in the light.
Matt was lying face up with his eyes halfway closed and was barely breathing. He had burns and deep cuts all over and his clothes were torn to shreds. He looked as if he were on the brink of death.
After Rachelle screamed, everyone else woke up, too. They all rushed over to see what Tiffany and Rachelle had gotten out of bed by this time to look at.
Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Bita's reactions were pretty much the same as Tiffany's and Rachelle's. Everyone knelt down in a squished circle around Matt since there wasn't that much room between Rachelle's bed and Tiffany's bed.
Matt gasped for air and attempted to speak. Everyone leaned in closer to hear him so he didn't have to strain.
"Zastrin…alive…good luck."
Rachelle stood and left to get help. When she came back with a confused and worried-looking Madam Pomfrey, she led her over to where Matt and everyone else was. At that moment, Matt stopped breathing and stared forever unseeingly at the ceiling.
The next few weeks passed by as a blur. Final exams weren't canceled after all, since mostly everything the students were supposed to learn had been covered, despite the set-back of having The Odds transfer not having learned anything everyone else learned the past two years. Though final exams still took place, The Odds, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were exempt because of what had happened.
After that, when it was time for the end-of-the-year feast, The Odds stayed in their dormitories despite the fact that Hermione had tried to talk them into going. They liked people even less than usual after seeing two of their new friends die.
Finally, it was time to go home. The site of the train that would lead them away from where such terrible things had happened was more than welcome to The Odds. They boarded the train and sat in a compartment with Hermione, Ron, and Harry as they waited for it to start moving.
Tiffany sighed and said, "So…I guess all we have left to do is wait until something happens again…"
"I guess…" Bita agreed slowly. She was silent for a few moments. Suddenly, she said, "I'm h-".