It was Thursday morning. Chalondra was still hidden in the hospital wing, forcing her friends to bring her the homework she had to do for when she was out. The most she could do was hold a quill in her trembling fingers, and even then it was only for about two minutes. She hated how weak she was, and how much class time she was missing. She hated it!
And Kadric hadn't been back to visit her since that fiasco Wednesday morning.
He's probably busy, thought Chal, tapping the edge of her bed nervously. She had finished all of her homework at a snail's pace, but she was done. All her friends were outside enjoying the first snowfall, and Chalondra was cooped up inside a hospital wing with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her.
And they were all very, very unpleasant. After all, who wants to sit around waiting quietly while on death's door? And she didn't know when that evil cloaked thing would come back to talk to her, but whenever it was she wasn't looking forward to it.
From behind Chalondra's curtain, (she had asked for it specifically to be put up.) she heard muffled voices, both sounding very angry.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot just let any student waltz into the hospital wing without a permission slip from a professor!"
"But it's my free class! Where am I supposed to get a permission slip, Madame Pomfry?"
"I don't know and I don't care, but my patients need their rest! Especially Miss Guarmagoz, the last few days have been terribly rough on her, and she NEEDS rest."
"I bet she's perfectly fine."
"Oh, are you the expert on our resident, Mister Marsters?"
Chalondra felt her stomach clench. Kadric! Kadric was here! But Madame Pomfry wasn't letting him in. So how could Chal get him to come in without seeming too desperate?
"Madame Pomfry," she called feebly, coughing for emphasis. "Madame Pomfry," she repeated quietly. There were a few harsh mumbled words, and then Madame Pomfry strode in, her lips pursed and eye alight.
"Yes?" Madame Pomfry asked.
"Did I get my medicine? My bones feel so…tired…"
"I gave it to you."
"Was it enough?"
"Yes."
"But I'm still…so…so weak…"
"Augh!" cried Madame Pomfry, throwing her hands up. "Fine! I give up! I'll go get you your medicine, but you can't blame me if you sleep for the next two weeks straight!" She swerved around and marched out of the curtained room.
"Wait!" Chal called more strongly then she had wanted. Madame Pomfry turned around.
"Yes?"
"Who…who's out there?"
"No one," she snapped.
"But I heard a voice. Are you depriving me of the social interaction that I thrive on in such a vegetative state?"
Madame Pomfry fell silent. "But he's skipping class to see you!"
"It's his free period Madame Pomfry."
Madame Pomfry raised a brow. "You seem very inclined to meet with this Slytherin, hmm?"
Chalondra felt herself blushing. "No way. I just owe him a thank you. You know, since he saved my life."
Madame Pomfry seemed to be calculating in her head desperately.
"Pleeease?" Chalondra asked quietly so Kadric wouldn't risk hearing the pleading in her voice.
"All right. But ONLY five minutes!" Madame Pomfry swished out and in a matter of moments, shoved a bewildered looking Kadric through the curtain and stomped off, muttering about medicine.
Soon it was completely silent except for the echoing steps of Madame Pomfry. Chalondra realized Kadric was still standing by the curtain wall, almost uncomfortable. One hand was running through his hair while the other fiddled with his robes. His eyes were on the floor.
"Well isn't this fun," Chalondra snapped, crossing her arms (A huge effort.). Kadric managed to glare at her.
"What, want to rub it in my face how I went soft and brought you here? Yea, I did. So what?" he snapped, eyes blazing. "I may be a Slytherin, but I'm not inhuman. It was the natural thing to do, all right? So don't gloat." He crossed his arms and glared at her, daring Chal to fight back.
"I just wanted to say thank you," she stated huffily, shifting uncomfortably underneath her sheets. "So thanks," Chal said icily, her blazing eyes equally matching Kadric's. Why did he have to be such a jerk anyway? Chal didn't understand the way her heart worked.
Kadric's eyes immediately changed. Now he looked almost – sorry? No. Impossible. "Oh," he managed, almost feebly. "Well, no problem."
"You can leave now," Chal snapped. "I don't want to accidentally gloat or anything on how YOU saved MY life. You know, that would be so rude of me to thank you more and so on."
Kadric's mouth formed a tight line. "Why are you so bloody annoying anyway, Ravenclaw?"
"Me?" Chal said in a shrilly voice, getting lost in the two's petty argument. "I'm the annoying one? Well excuse me Slytherin Slime, but it wasn't me who kissed you TWICE now, was it? NO. I'm not the one who reads other people's private notes, or teases other people's friends for stupid reasons they SHOULDN'T. I'm not the one who jumps to conclusions, and – and – "
Chal felt her heart beat quicken at an uncomfortably fast pace. She had been sitting up, but now she slacked off, sinking onto the stiff bed, her heart rate not slowing down, but speeding up. Her head was spinning slightly now, and she raised her weakened hands to hold her head tightly, her face grimacing.
"Chalondra?" Kadric asked, taking a tentative step closer. She didn't answer, because the question was faint in her mind. She gritted her teeth together. What was going on? She must have gotten to wound up again. Leave it to Kadric to give her a nervous breakdown again.
"P – P – Pomfry," she managed, everything blinking in yellow dots. "Pomfry!" she cried louder, and she heard Kadric's footsteps pound away.
Just when Chal was falling out of consciousness, she felt something cool touch her lips, something tilting her head back, and then a cooling liquid running down her throat. A few moments later she blinked, the objects fuzzy. But in a few seconds everything cleared, but now she had a pounding headache.
"Chalondra!" Madame Pomfry scowled. "I'm surprised at you! After I specifically told you not to get wound up, you DO! I TOLD you you're still weak, so do not get stressed!" Madame Pomfry threw her hands into the air once more, exasperated. "If I have to tell you again…"
"Madame Pomfry?" asked a voice. Both Chal and Pomfry turned to see Kadric standing there, once again nervous looking. But he managed to say coolly, "it was my fault, not Chal's. I accidentally egged her on. I know I shouldn't have, but…"
"I knew it!" shrieked Pomfry. "I shouldn't have let you see her in the first place! Out! Out!"
"Madame Pomfry, it wasn't my fault -," Kadric started.
"OUT!" Pomfry ordered, eyes flaring. Kadric cowered slightly – even the bravest man would have at a look like that.
Chal's mind was whirring, when something completely random popped into her head. Tutoring.
"Madame Pomfry," Chal suddenly blurted in her sweetest voice. Madame Pomfry turned around apprehensively.
"Yes?"
"Um…there's one class that I'm falling behind in because of being in the hospital wing."
From behind Pomfry Chal saw Kadric's eyebrows fly past his bangs in a look of surprise. Chal hurried on, blushing like mad. "You see, it's Herbology. It's never been my strong spot, and, well, the Slytherin here is tutoring me. Do you think he could stay, only to tutor me? I desperately hate getting behind in my work, and my friends have been bringing all my other homework. That's why he came today – to tutor. But then we got off on the wrong foot. So can he stay to teach me, please?"
Madame Pomfry narrowed her eyes in Chal's direction. Chal blinked nervously. Why did Pomfry always make her feel so nervous, anyway? Kadric stood silently behind the nurse.
"Fine," Pomfry decided. "But if you stress yourself over school work, this boy is never coming up again."
"I promise Madame Pomfry," Chal said hurriedly. "I'm very serious about my schoolwork."
"She is," Kadric piped up. Pomfry glared at him, and he quieted.
"I'll leave you two then," Pomfry decided turning around and pushing the curtain back to walk through, mumbling something about going to Dumbledore about this.
A familiar silence followed her exit.
"So how come you wanted me to stay?" Kadric asked, a smirk planted firmly on his face. Chal stuck her tongue out at him and sat up shakily to grab her books (which were sadly placed within a hands reach on her bedside table.).
"Because you obviously had something to tell me. Why else would you come?"
Kadric walked over and pulled up the visitor's chair. "What, a guy can't come say hello to his student?"
Chal gritted her teeth. "Don't push it pal," she warned, but Kadric just smiled.
"What're you going to do in this weak state, anyway? Poke me to death?"
Chal only grimaced. "Pass me my quill please." Kadric did so in the silence as Chal opened her book.
"So why'd you come anyway?" Chal asked, shutting her book only seconds after opening it. "You obviously didn't come to check up on me, considering you could probably care less about me. So spill."
Kadric's ears turned slightly pink, his eyes narrowed. "Fine. I wanted to know why you fainted the other day."
Chal bit her lip, stomach shrinking. "Um…exhaustion?" she suggested, nervously opening the book again. Why did she have to ask why he came anyway?
"That's obvious," Kadric snapped. "But what was exhausting you anyway? I know it couldn't be tutoring. I remember you used to do projects bigger than this outside of class without a problem."
"How would you know if wasn't any problem?" Chal asked bitterly. "You only bothered to talk to me so you could tease me."
Kadric winced. "True. Fine. Okay. Let's avoid that and continue. Why?"
Chal sighed. "Because it's harder to tell secrets to my friends for me then it is for you, probably. My friends were beginning to get suspicious, I'm behind in my homework, and I haven't gotten sleep in a while." Not to mention you kissed me TWICE and I don't know what you mean by it, Chal thought painfully.
"Nothing else?" Kadric asked in a warning tone.
Yes, Chal thought. Yes, I'm being stalked by an evil man and he wants me to find out almost everything there is about you. "No," Chal said bitterly. "Why do you care anyway? Don't worry, I'll be able to make tutoring for whatever purposes it has for you."
Chal could see the tension on Kadric's face. "That's not why I came, all right? When I grabbed you, you were all, well, limp and really white and stuff. You looked almost dead, what with your black hair against the white skin and such. It was really creepy, especially since you just kind of fell out of nowhere. So really, I – er – DID want to check on you."
Chal began to blush as Kadric avoided his eyes. "Why?" she asked.
Kadric's head shot up faster than you could say 'Veela.' "You're pushing it," he warned. Chal grinned teasingly.
"Why, do you looove me?"
Kadric's eyes widened into a horrified expression. "Oh God, please don't burden me with such a suicide-inducing thought."
Chal giggled. "It'd be even worse for me," she said matter-of-factly.
"Why? At least I'm handsome, charming, and perfect in every singly way."
"Yea, except for that you can't make a potion worth sickles and you have that whole bully problem to sort out."
Kadric flapped a hand at her. "Please, those are minor imperfections."
Chal could only smile as she flipped to the last page she had read in her text book. "Sorry to ruin this delightful conversation, but if we don't start on my tutoring Madame Pomfry will have our heads on a platter."
Kadric nodded. "How come you wanted to be tutored NOW anyway?"
Chal rolled her eyes. "Because it's school work, Kadric! I can't miss out on anything, no matter what's happened to me." Kadric rolled his eyes.
"Fine, fine. Okay, so what do you need help on in this chapter?" he asked suddenly, bending closer to get a better look at the book on Chal's lap. She turned it at an angle so the two could both see it if they craned their heads inward.
"The part about photosynthesis with Mandrake's. I mean, how does it work if these plants are pretty much like kids?"
Kadric gave a cynical smile. "Well, they obviously have leaves, right?"
Chal grew red in the face as she bent closer to the page to scan the paragraphs. "But somewhere here it said something about how their photosynthesis worked, and it was different than normal…"
Kadric sighed. "You mean here under the 'Photosynthesis' section?" He bent closer as Chal gave a disgruntled noise, his finger tracing through the paragraph. Chal bent closer as well, trying to read what he was. The two were almost ear and ear, until Chal felt his hair brush against the side of her head.
She froze, her body unable to respond to her frantic mental cries of 'Back up! You're too close!' Kadric didn't seem to notice right away though and continued to read, until a wisp of Chal's black hair fell from behind her ear and grazed gently against the side of his face.
Chal watched through her frozen eyes as Kadric tensed up even more than Chal. He cocked his head slightly to the left to look up at Chal. She could clearly see his eyes were wider than normal. "We're a bit close, aren't we Ravenclaw?" Kadric asked in an innocent voice. Chal was still frozen, and could only manage a tense smile that involved her upper lip curling, making it look more sinister than intended.
"Um…," she said through locked teeth, backing up as quickly as her body would let her…which was slowly. For once, Kadric wasn't smiling his smirk. Chal wasn't smiling either. In fact, she was far from it. Her heart was racing and she was feeling weaker than she had since she had fainted.
Neither one moved for a moment. Both were at eye level and neither would look away, their noses only inches away from each other. Chal was beginning to feel very uncomfortable, and hoped Kadric was as well. This was just weird. So WHY wasn't she looking away?
"Well this is fun," Kadric said cheerfully, despite the fact he wasn't blinking. Chal couldn't pull herself away from those blasted eyes that were so mesmerizing.
Chal couldn't say anything. What could she say? Yes? No, because it WASN'T fun. It was anything but fun. It was horrifically awkward.
Something was happening behind the curtain – another visitor or something. But Chal didn't really notice. All she noticed was that she and Kadric were being pulled closer and closer by some fateful invisible force that she couldn't fight. Kadric was looking more serious then Chal had ever seen him…ever.
Chalondra and Kadric were so close now…she could hear his steady breathing; see even more into his swirling eyes hiding so many things…
Their lips brushed lightly together, and Chal felt her heart race. This was different then before – he wasn't doing this just to shut her up. Finally.
Before anything else could happen, the curtain was drawn back quickly. "Chal, I brought your transfiguration homework – HOLY TOLEDO!" Kate's familiar voice interrupted the two, causing them to bounce as far away from each other as possible. Chal blushed under her friend's intense gaze, which at the moment was popped out eyeballs and a hanging mouth. Kadric had reacted so suddenly his chair had gone flying, taking him with it as it fell. His cloak was tangled up in the legs, and he hurriedly fidgeted with it until it became loose, his hands clearly fumbling with shakiness. He stood up shakily and gave Chalondra something like a scared look. And then he was gone, running out the door like a frightened rabbit.
Chal's expression was almost equal to Kate. How could he just run OFF like that? What a jerk!
"Um. Chal. We need to talk." Kate's voice was barely above a whisper. Chal, even more red then before, noticed her books on the floor.
"Er, you dropped my books," Chal said meekly. Kate flapped a hand in the direction of the books and ran over to the side of Chal's bed.
"I don't care about books. Did I just see you and KADRIC, well, you know…Chal, and he's a Slytherin! An EVIL Slytherin who teased you for pretty much your whole existence at Hogwarts! And what was he doing here anyway? Oh my gosh Chal this is TERRIBLE! He's got you under the spell! Chal, I thought you were more sensible, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh…"
Chal put a finger to her lips, brow furrowed. "Kate! Shut up!" she hissed. "We're not the only ones in this hospital wing, you know!" As calm as Chal was acting, she felt empty inside. What had Kate seen? Had she seen them kind of kiss or just super close together? "First of all Kate, what did you see?"
"I saw you and that Slytherin really close, and – and –," Kate stammered, eyes widening. "Chal, which is just EW!"
"Kate," Chal said in a warning tone. "Kate, stop it. He was only here because he's the one who brought me here when I fainted, okay? He told me he was the only one in the hallway when I did faint. That's all. He was just pointing out something I had on my face," Chal lied suddenly. Kate snorted.
"Chalondra, are you serious? I know you better than that. Please. You and Kadric are together!" she whispered painfully. Chal's eyes widened.
"Kate, you've performed one too many charms today. Me and a Slytherin TOGETHER? Kate. Ew. You know I hate Kadric, he teased me FOREVER! I wouldn't possibly do anything more than thank him for saving my life. Kate, you're a loser."
Kate sighed. "Chal, it just…it didn't look good."
"Kate, I don't care what you saw, it isn't what you think. And don't go telling anyone lies, all right? Just keep this to yourself, because you saw it all wrong. I hate Kadric. Hate. Him. Just, stop it, okay? You're getting way too ahead of yourself."
Please, please, please go away Kate. Please don't tell anyone. Please believe me when I'm lying to you. Please.
Kate bit her lower lip. "Well, I AM late for Charms…"
"Yea, you better hurry. You're NOT missing a single class because of me and your hallucinations." Chal pointed to the door. "Out."
Kate got up unsteadily and began walking for the door. "Oh, and Kate?" Her friend turned around at Chal's shaky voice. "Not a word, okay? Not a word."
Kate nodded hurriedly, and then scampered out of the hospital wing.
But not before Chal saw something like a green Slytherin cloak vanish from the open crack of the hospital door. Kadric had been listening.
"Oh, GREAT," Chal muttered, flopping down so her head rested on the pillow. "Just wonderful. My best friend almost discovers one of the most secret things in my life as well as ruining it, and then Kadric hears me talk about how much I hate him when I don't." She slapped her forehead with the palms of her hands.
"Not to mention I'm being followed by a stalker. Great, great, great," she moaned sarcastically.
And yet, as everything terrible whirled through her mind, something giddy emerged. Kadric had, well, almost voluntarily kissed her. And Chal hadn't been jabbering on and on or anything, so he can't use the shut up excuse for that one! But he would probably never talk to her again…not after hearing she hated him, when she didn't.
"Life is not fair," she moaned. "Just when something good happens, something else terrible comes and outweighs it." Chal stayed silent for a few minutes. "If Kate tells anyone, she's a dead woman."