Disclaimer: Thank you, Jo Rowling, for letting me borrow your fantastic world.
Chapter 7: Allergies
"Melody!" I exclaimed, running up to her bedside. Anna, Stefan, and Laine were already there. Although we had made plans to sneak in two nights ago, we had been caught and we were just now seeing her for the first time, three days after she had first gone in for her 'reaction.' Now I would finally see what was ailing my best friend-
"Er-Melody?" I gasped, shocked. Madame Pomfrey was telling the truth.
Not only was she very much in the bed Anna had sworn she hadn't been in, but it was very apparent that she had been suffering from a severe reaction.
Her throat was puffy and red, and the rest of her face was covered with blotches and hives. Her breaths fell shallowly, and there was some sort of glowing bluish spell that covered her mouth and nose.
"That's to help her breathe." Anna pointed to it in a trembling voice. "Her...her bronchial tubes are constricted, apparently."
"Blimey, she can't breath? Oh, damn," I whispered hoarsely, falling to my knees beside Melody in between Stefan and Laine. I took her hand, registering with surprise how cut up her arms were.
"What are all these little cuts?" I wondered aloud.
"It looks like she's been running through thorns," Stefan observed.
Laine checked her watch. "I'm sorry Roxanne, Anna and I have got to go to Divination," she said apologetically, resting her hand on my shoulder. "We'll see you later, shorty."
I didn't even laugh at our ironic joke; I just nodded. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I'd start crying. I waited until their footsteps disappeared to let out the breath I'd been holding.
"You're still here, than." I addressed Stefan without looking at him. He was sitting behind me, so I couldn't read his expression.
"Yes, I'm still here," he said a bit snappishly. "She's my friend, too. Why have you been avoiding me these last couple days?"
Oh, I dunno. Maybe because your Headmaster's a raving dark wizard lunatic who goes around setting his students on security wizards and you all seem to think that's perfectly fine! I thought about saying it, but something held me back. I knew Stefan didn't know about the other side of his Headmaster.
"I haven't." I knew this denial was pathetic.
"Right," Stefan said shortly. "If you're going to be like that then I've got things to do, girls to snog-"
"You're the one being a prick here!" I burst out. I rose to my feet, hot with anger. "You'd think that there were no girls in Durmstrang the way you chase after them here!" My eyes were slightly wet, and I blinked away several tears that had been clinging to my eyelashes. Merlin, I was such a baby. I hope he didn't think I was crying over him, or I might actually die of embarrassment.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Stefan spluttered. "You're jealous, aren't you? You fancy me-"
"You've got such a big head, you can't even handle knowing that not every single female on earth is attracted to you," I snapped. "Because for your information, Stefan, you can flirt with whoever you want. I do not give a damn," I said, completely truthful. He looked rather shocked, like hearing that I didn't fancy him was huge news. "And your sister Nadia, why is she so stuck on Al? She didn't show any interest in him until I saw Nikola whispering and pointing to him, like he was telling her to follow him!" I accused, and Stefan's eyes widened with offense.
"Don't you have a go at my sister!" He exclaimed, shooting up and sticking a finger in my face. "You've obviously got no idea what you're talking about, you-"
"Get your hand out of my face you great prat!" I shrieked. "Just get out of here!" I snapped, and to my surprise, he did. I sank back into my chair, and then let out a stifled scream. I really needed my best friend to wake up.
Later that evening, I was buried deeply in the library, my head not even visible over the pile of books on my table. I had grabbed everything with even the slightest mention to ghosts, souls, hearing voices, hallucinations, or mental insanity.
I had paged through all of them and the closest thing I could get to my case was schizophrenia.
I groaned loudly, laying my head down and closing my eyes. I was pretty sure if the librarian, Madame Pince, could see me over all my books, she'd be giving me the evil eye now. I put my head up again and began massaging my temples, looking at the notebook I'd started.
During the beginning of my research session, almost two hours ago, I'd started writing down notes because I'd been ridiculously optimistic that I would find something helpful by this method.
Now, I was reduced to chanting under my breath some sort of spell that was supposed to clear the brain of all negative energy. I had my hopes up for a moment, but then, just as clear as ever, the voice came-
Am I driving you mad, Roxie-kins? It was mocking me, I just knew it.
That had been about half an hour ago, and no more words had floated through my brain no matter how much I begged, pleaded, threatened, cajoled, and blackmailed.
I'd even started a letter to Victoire, who I had been keeping a regular correspondence with as she updated me on her hunt for Dom and Teddy and the love potion situation.
Dear Victoire,
Have you ever heard voices in your head? I have this year, and now I think I'm hallucinating too. I thought it was real at first, but now I'm not so sure. It brought me back to the Battle of Hogwarts...I'm bursting to tell someone, but no one would believe me. Maybe it's just stress. This year has turned me upside down worrying about Melody, worrying about Al's new girlfriend Nadia...well she isn't officially his girlfriend, but she might as well be because I saw him give her the last treacle tart at dinner the other day so he must consider her some kind of goddess.
Also, you'd never believe the task Uncle Harry gave me, I've made absolutely no progress this far. Except I'm not supposed to tell anyone about that.
In addition to that, it appears I'm the only one who knows that the Headmaster of Durmstrang is evil.
It seems as though I'm turning out to be whackier than Luna Scamander, that lady Uncle Harry always invites over for Christmas at the Burrow.
Love, your mental cousin,
Roxanne
Of course, I didn't sent it, but it had been good to get off my back. Melody was due to wake up tomorrow.
"Roxanne?" Came a tentative voice from above me, and I looked up to meet the hesitant eyes of Rose Weasley.
"Rose!" I exclaimed, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically considering we'd just seen each other this morning to discuss Melody's condition. I'd wanted to tell her about the Battle of Hogwarts thing, but I ended up keeping it to myself.
"How's it going?" I asked her, trying to hide the titles of some of the books such as Okay, You're Schizophrenic. Now What? And, Congratulations, You're a Medium!
She didn't even give them a look, just sank into the chair beside me.
"Scorpius asked me to Hogsmeade," she blurted, her brown eyes completely unfocused. "And I don't know what to do."
My mouth dropped open. On one hand, he'd been dating Anna (well, on and off, but still...) for years, but Rose had liked him just as long...I was torn with loyalty to both my closest cousin and one of my best and oldest friends.
"You-he-what-did you say?" I gasped.
"I said I'd think about it," she relayed in a tiny voice, finally fixing her eyes on me.
"You-you've liked him since we were kids, Rosie!" I exclaimed.
"I know," she said in that same small voice. "But...Anna. I don't want to...I'm just sick of fighting with her and Laine and Melody, Roxanne," she sighed, putting her head in her hands. "Maybe this was a bad idea, dragging you into this. I should just leave-" she stood up to go.
"Wait!" I cried. "Wait. Rose, I can't tell you what to do, but...I really think you should go," I winced inwardly. "I'll...talk to Anna for you if you want," I grumbled. I couldn't believe I was saying this. Why couldn't Rose talk to her?
"You will? Oh, thank you, Roxanne! You're the best cousin ever!" She cried, eyes lighting up. She stooped over to fling her arms around me and then began to run out of the library.
I was left sitting sort of frozen, with a sour look on my face.
Why did I have to be the in-betweener?
"Wait-Rose!" I whisper-yelled after her, and she skidded to a stop.
"Yeah?" She came back to the table.
"It's about Al...have you noticed, erm, his new girlfriend?" I asked.
"Nadia?" Rose made a face. "She's like...she's like...I dunno, very annoying."
"That's an understatement," I snorted. "But there's something else, it's like..."
"Roxanne?" This time, it was a different face I looked up to.
"Well, I've got to go!" Rose said suddenly, and this time she was gone before I could call her back.
"What?" I quickly wiped the sour expression from my face. "Oh, it's you," I grumbled, still not entirely happy about the hospital incident the other day.
Stefan sat down immediately, taking this as an invitation. He looked at the pile of books skeptically.
"What to Expect When You're Being Haunted?" He questioned. "Souls and Why They Stay Behind? Roxie, what is this?"
"Don't call me Roxie," I said immediately, still remembering our fight from the other day.
"Roxanne, I'm sorry about...what I said in the hospital," he pleaded. "I was just..."
"A blithering idiot?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, sure, I guess you could say that-"
"You guess-?"
"Look, do you want to wade through schizophrenia books on your own?" He interjected.
"No," I sighed. "I've found nothing helpful. Nothing. I'm starting to actually think I am schizophrenic. It makes the most sense."
"Have you tried looking into...I dunno what it's called, being one of those people who talk with ghosts?" He said in a rushed whisper, like he didn't want anyone to hear him uttering this nonsense.
I scoffed a little bit. "Yes I have, and I don't believe in them, anyway. Maybe I'm being haunted. I've looked into everything."
Stefan frowned. "What about if someone's trying to communicate with you? Someone's seriously talking, from beyond the grave, trying to tell you something?" Stefan looked at me, completely serious.
I laughed until I realized he was actually not joking. "Huh?" I raised a confused eyebrow.
"What?" Stefan protested. "You'll look up being haunted and having mental diseases but not consider this?"
"Who would try and communicate with me?" I argued back. "It's not like I've got any dead relatives that I actually knew..." there was Fred, but he had been for years before I was born. And I was pretty sure he wasn't hanging around as a ghost.
"Let's just look into things a bit more. I'll help."
"I've been "looking into things" for the past two hours," I mumbled under my breath.
"I can hear you." Stefan smirked at me.
"I wanted you to." I smirked back. Just like that, all the awkwardness had evaporated.
"So," I put down the book after another half hour, rubbing my eyes. "You didn't tell me you had a sister." I didn't want to reiterate our earlier argument in the hospital, but I honestly did want to know why he didn't bring up his sister; and they must have been twins too, because they were the same age.
"What? Oh," Stefan mumbled, pulling the book up higher to cover his face.
"Stefan!" I protested, pulling it back down. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He mumbled something distinctly like "She's evil!"
"Evil?" I laughed, pulling at his hands so he would drop the books.
"When we were both eight she started my broomstick on fire because I didn't include her in the Quidditch lessons my cousin Viktor Krum was giving me," he said solemnly, leaning forward so his face was inches from mine. "It was an accident...I think...but it scarred me for life," he whispered dramatically, clutching my hand with both of his. I snorted at his antics and carefully removed my hand from his. I really needed him to realize that I was not attracted to him. So I leaned back from him as well, keeping a safe distance.
A look of hurt and confusion crossed his eyes, but he quickly covered it.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and Stefan had suddenly found the ceiling very interesting.
Why do people always look at the ceiling when they're embarrassed? Is it because there's some magical genie of wisdom up there telling them what to do? Is it one of those things that's just not spoken about, like some rule of etiquette or something? Because that would make sense, if I was the only one who couldn't see them.
I looked up at the ceiling too, but didn't see anything except a rather large wad of blue gum someone had stuck up there. Madame Pince would be so furious if she knew.
"D'you see the-"
"-bubble gum, yeah," Stefan finished, grinning crookedly. "Think Madame Pince has got a secret habit?"
"Maybe," I began to grin as well. "Maybe when her secret lover comes to court her in the library every night she must quickly get rid of her gum because she's really very insecure about the habit, and one night he came early and she didn't have anywhere to throw it but up-"
"Yes!" Stefan was roaring with laughter. "You really do have the oddest imagination, Roxanne."
I laughed a little; if only he'd heard my genie spiel in my head a few moments ago.
Our laughter died, and I noticed with a start that he was leaning in toward me again; I backed up.
"I've got a date to Hogsmeade tomorrow," he blurted nonchalantly, his face turning bright red. I opened my mouth and closed it again, like a bloody fish.
"Stefan!" Came a girl's voice, and none other than my friend Su Chang of Ravenclaw came quite literally trotting up, her flouncy, shiny black hair swishing behind her. Her heart shaped lips widened into a blindingly white smile as she caught sight of Stefan.
"Hey Su!" Stefan's face broke into a grin, and held his arms out for a hug. She swooped in and planted a kiss right on his cheek, sliding right onto his lap and sliding her arm around her shoulder. He put his arm around her waist.
"Stefan! I'm so excited for Hogsmeade tomorrow, I was so glad you asked me...hey, Roxanne," she beamed at me.
"Hi?" It sounded like a question.
She gave me a weird look and turned back to Stefan, tilting his chin up and planting a soft kiss on his lips.
"Well," I said weakly, but neither made any acknowledgement that they heard me or were coming up for air any time soon. "Well, I'll just be going then. See you both later...or not," I snickered, leaving the books for the new lovebirds to clean up.
On the morning of the trip to Hogsmeade, I was riding in a carriage with Laine, Anna, Melody, their dates, and my date. I was still sort of surprised as to how I'd managed to get a date, but here Toby Longbottom was, sitting next to me and grinning. He was a popular bloke, even though his dad was a professor.
I remembered our conversation in the Great Hall this morning, shouted across the Gryffindor table to the Ravenclaw:
"Oi! Roxanne!" He had yelled, craning his head around his friends.
"Hey, Toby!" I called back, waving.
"D'you have a date to Hogsmeade?" He bellowed, standing and leaning over the table.
"No," I shook my head.
"Well, do you want me to fix that?" He grinned, and I raised my eyebrows.
"Sure," I smiled flirtatiously at him, and he sat back down with a satisfied grin. His friends clapped him on the back.
"Nice going, mate!" One of them-Gerard Finnigan-clapped him on the back.
"She got pretty hot this year," another one observed.
"Toby Longbottom!" Anna gasped, shaking my shoulder. "I didn't know you liked him."
"Er..." I began.
"Funny thing, I actually thought you fancied Stefan," she said with a smile. "But I'm glad you like Toby, he's nicer."
"That reminds me...Anna, I've got to tell you...Rose is sort of...going with Scorpius to Hogsmeade," I blurted. "She's not doing it to hurt you, I swear! She felt so bad about it-"
"Really, it's fine," Anna said with gritted teeth, tracing a design on the table. "I couldn't care less. I've got a date anyway."
I was startled out of my thoughts by Toby slipping his hand into mine. I looked up to meet his blue-green eyes, surprised. He smiled easily at me, squeezing my hand.
I looked across the carriage at Laine and her date, Lance; she was trying to get him to say her name right, he kept calling her Laney.
"There's no ee sound at the end of my name, you great twat," she was bellowing, and I snorted loudly.
"Laine, let it go," Anna hissed in her ear, putting a hand on her arm.
Melody and I exchanged a look, trying not to smile. She had been out of the hospital for a day now, and you couldn't even see her rashes anymore. She was coming with her Durmstrang friend, Ivan something or other; but only as friends.
"Roxanne?" Toby repeated, and I realized he'd been trying to talk to me.
"Oh-what? Sorry..." I looked at him guiltily.
"Where do you want to go once we get there?" He smiled at me sweetly.
"Oh, it doesn't matter." I shrugged. "Want to go to the Three Broomsticks?"
"Oh, yes," he said, grin widening. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm so glad you didn't say Madam Puddifoot's!"
"No way," I protested. "I'd rather go to Zonko's. Actually after the Three Broomsticks, want to go there? I need to stock up on prank supplies..."
"I think I love you," Toby joked, batting his eyelashes at me with a huge grin.
"That's nice," I grinned, playfully pushing him away. "So if you love me before the first date, even, what's it going to be after? Marriage?"
"I already have the ring," Toby said solemnly, and with that we arrived at Hogsmeade.
"And that toad was how he met your Uncle Harry," Toby finished, and we both burst out laughing.
"Toby, you're so funny," I giggled, and we both took a sip of our butterbeers, foamy and golden in the mugs.
"Uncle Harry talks about your dad all the time, you know, and how brave he was," I told him. "And how...how are your grandparents?" I asked him tentatively, speaking of Professor Longbottom's parents in St. Mungo's tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange.
"They're..." Toby started. "I think Grandmum might be getting a bit better," he said excitedly, leaning forward. His eyes were sparkling and I couldn't help grinning at his boyish excitement. "She recognized Dad yesterday!"
"That's great, Toby!" I told him sincerely.
"Yeah...so how's your family?" He asked.
"They're..." I trailed off, remembering the whole Dom/Teddy/Victoire love triangle. "Great," I found myself saying. "Fantastic."
Toby looked at me like he didn't believe it for a second.
"You know, one of the downsides of having a famous family is that you're always in the papers and magazines," Toby began. "And my Mum gets witch weekly, so..."
"So you've been reading up on my business?" I raised my eyebrows, immediately on the defense.
"No!" Toby said quickly, shaking his head. "I don't-I don't read Witch Weekly." He looked very embarrassed. "I'm just saying...I just wanted to know if Dom and Teddy have come back yet," he said innocently, and I relaxed slightly. I sat back in my seat, loosening my scarf. It was hot in the pub, with a cozy atmosphere, but outside the October air was beginning to take a chill.
Two loudly talking ladies passed us, their conversation heard by the whole pub-
"-but it's been silent for years now, two generations! You surely don't think it's haunted again!" One of them was saying, and the other argued back heatedly.
"I tell you, Sybil Trelawney was down there the other day and she swears she saw three ghouls floating around!"
"Well, Sybil is pushing seventy and doesn't know what she sees anymore," the other woman said shortly. Toby and I locked eyes, both interested.
"Are they talking about the Shrieking Shack?" I whispered, leaning forward across the table.
"I think so!" Toby whispered back excitedly.
"Well..." I began. "We could always...go check it out, you know..." I suggested, trailing my finger on the table and looking up at him hopefully.
"I thought you'd never ask!" He stood and grinned, throwing several galleons down on the table and offering me his hand.
I took it with a smile and we left the store arm in arm, heads bent together and laughing at the prospect of our private adventure. On the way out I saw Stefan and Su; I hadn't realized they'd been sitting behind us. I waved over my shoulder, smiling, but Stefan acted like he didn't see me. What was his problem?
We continued out, darting across the road in between shoppers. The atmosphere in Hogsmeade today was lovely; the sky was full of heavy clouds and hope for snow was in the air, brightening everyone's moods. It was early October, and Halloween decorations were everywhere.
"There it is," I breathed after the long walk up the path. We were looking up the hill at the shack, which was completely run down and now almost completely covered in vines. The land around it was overgrown with tangled weeds, like no one had looked after it in centuries. This was, of course, the case.
"The windows and doors are boarded up," Toby noted.
I looked behind me, now slightly nervous. I thought I had heard footsteps that stopped quickly after we did. Were we being followed?
"Toby," I whispered quietly, leaning toward him so I didn't have to speak loudly. "I think someone's followed us."
"What?" Toby exclaimed, whirling around. I smacked my forehead: he had never heard of subtlety, apparently.
"Who's there?" He bellowed in a deep voice, holding his wand out. "Show yourself! Roxanne, get behind me, I'll protect you-"
"I can protect myself just fine, thanks," I said drily, stepping in front of him with my wand out. I heard a branch snap, and saw movement behind a tree in the distant.
"Roxanne, something's here!" Toby suddenly whimpered, now cowering behind me.
"Oh, hush," I reprimanded the cowardly Gryffindor. How was he in Gryffindor anyway? My brother Fred was braver than him!
"Hey!" I shouted after the figure, who had turned and was beginning to run away. "Come back!" I started to chase her, with Toby whimpering behind me, not wanting to be left along at the Shrieking Shack but also not wanting to chase our unknown watcher. As hard as I ran, I couldn't catch up; the girl disappeared back up the path and I stopped to catch my breath. By now she'd be impossible to spot amidst all the other Hogsmeade shoppers.
A scream sounded from behind me and I whirled quickly to see Toby on the ground, rolling.
"Owwww!" He cried, clutching at his ankle.
"Toby!" I exclaimed, dropping down to my knees beside him and taking his shoulders. "Are you alright? What's happened?"
"I twisted my ankle." He was breathing hard, his face scrunched up.
"Alright, let's...let's take your shoe off." I was beginning to panic; Toby was obviously in great pain, what if it was broken? I couldn't carry him all the way back to Hogsmeade...
I carefully worked his shoe off while he whimpered and moaned, trying to hold back tears.
"Hold still!" I cried as I was almost kicked in the face.
"S-sorry."
I finally got the shoe off. "Erm...Toby, is this the right foot?"
He nodded.
I looked at it closely, touching it gently. There was practically no swelling; it couldn't be worse than a tiny sprain at the most.
"Alright, let's get you back to Hogsmeade," I sighed, taking his shoe and putting it in his hand. "I'll help you walk." I pulled his arm around my shoulder and he began to hop; it took us twenty minutes to climb back up what had taken two minutes to get down.
We finally made it back to Hogsmeade and Toby quickly put his shoe back on.
"I think I'm fine now," he said shakily, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking anywhere but me.
"You sure?" I asked, biting my lip and trying not to laugh. He suddenly wasn't very keen on letting anyone see his weakness.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Let's go to Zonko's."
On the way there, I couldn't help but notice that Nadia Leonov, my school rival, was looking at me with the oddest expression on her face. There were twigs in her hair...had she been the one following us? Why?
She quickly looked away when she saw me staring. Where was Al? Wasn't he with her? Then I saw him, staring into Zonko's display window. He called her over without looking, and I could see the huge, goofy grin on his face. She complied and snuggled in to his side, resting her head on his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world. He snaked his arm around her waist and pointed to something in the window.
She turned around, and locked eyes with me as if to say I'm going to rip Al's heart out and there's nothing you can do about it.
I honestly think I could have set the whole village of Hogsmeade on fire at that point. Al was like a brother to me and if this bitch destroyed him, I was going to go Salem Witch Hunt on her ass.
She really brought out the vulgarity in me.
"I had a good time, Roxanne," Toby said awkwardly on the carriage ride back to Hogsmeade. We were sitting slightly away from each other, the mark of how badly our date had gone. I had a feeling Toby wouldn't be asking me out again anytime soon, not after his ego had been completely stomped on.
"Yeah, me too," I said awkwardly, nodding. I stared out at the trees and Toby was looking intently at the ground.
Why did we have to be alone in the carriage?! This was the most awkward silence I had ever experienced.
"Let's just forget about-"
"Can we just pretend that never hap-"
We both stopped, laughing awkwardly.
"Friends?" Toby stuck his hand out and my face broke into a grin.
"Friends," I agreed, shaking his hand.
"So, how was your date yesterday?" Stefan asked as we climbed the stairs to the very top of the stands for the first Quidditch game of the season, Ravenclaw versus Slytherin.
"Well, it was...certainly...it sucked," I admitted glumly. "Yours?"
"It was alright," Stefan said carefully. "Why? What happened?"
"Well, we went down to the Shrieking Shack, someone was following us, and then he said he was going to protect me...so I said I could protect myself then ran after her, and then he sprained his ankle and really it was just a tiny sprain but he was just going on and on and then I had to practically carry him all the way back to Hogsmeade..." I related.
"Wow, you really know how to beat on a bloke's ego," Stefan raised his eyebrows, sounding mildly impressed.
"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. "How was Chang?"
"She was fine, did that Longbottom bloke try and kiss you?" We sat down and I gave him a weird look.
"Why the sudden interest?" I asked suspiciously.
"No reason," he said quickly, turning back to the fields where the players were beginning to shoot out of the pitch.
"Potter-Malfoy-Agnor-Bjorn-McLean-Flint-Zabini!" The announcer roared from the stands as the green-robed Slytherins made their lap, smiling confidently and flying close to the Slytherin stands for high-fives. I clapped politely, because my cousin Al and friend Scorpius were playing.
"Have you heard anything else from the voice?" Stefan asked in a whisper, leaning his head close to mine.
"No." In fact, over the last few days the voice had been strangely silent, like it was seriously sorry for bringing me to the Battle. "I'm still wondering about those star maps actually..." I trailed off. And why your Headmaster set off the dark magic alarms at the portkey station..."What do you think they mean?"
"I don't know if they're important," Stefan said quickly. He looked very conflicted, and I really would have badgered him more about that strange statement if I hadn't heard the voice again...
I'm still here, and by the way, you're not schizophrenic.
"Isn't that exactly what a voice caused by schizophrenia would say?" I asked aloud. Stefan looked at me and leaned in close to whisper.
"Is it talking again?"
"Yes, it just told me I wasn't schizophrenic..." I trailed off, slightly uncertain. "It's never responded before! And never talked this much at once!"
You're talking back! I thought excitedly, trying to focus my thoughts on the voice.
Yes, well spotted, the voice thought drily, and I almost laughed. I've got to show you something, and we haven't got much time, the voice said urgently.
What have you got? I asked eagerly, squeezing my eyes shut so I could concentrate. And who are you?
Go inside Hogwarts and I'll direct you from there. And where would be the fun in telling you my name? It would take all the mystery out of things! Come on Roxanne, you're clever. You'll figure it out. The voice was already sounding far away and tinny.
"We've got to go back to the castle!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. I grabbed Stefan's hand and began dragging him down the stairs; the rest of the student population suddenly jumped to their feet in tumultuous roars and yells; Ravenclaw had just scored a goal.
We began to sprint up to the castle, all the while I was thinking encouraging things to the voice.
You can do it! Come on, Voice, almost there...
"It's fading," I gasped, bending over and breathing heavily as we finally approached the doors. Stefan, the bloody git, was only slightly out of breath.
Oi! I'm a he, thank you very much!
I was too startled to be glad at this revelation. Can you read my mind? I thought accusingly.
Only the thoughts you direct at me.
"That's good," I spoke aloud. "Right now, Stefan, let's-"
"Wait, Roxanne." He put his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes intently. "You think...you think this voice is your friend, right?"
"Of course!" I exclaimed. "It's a he, by the way."
"Alright then. But...if it-he's really your friends, answer this. Why did he plunk you down in that battle where you could have died?" He asked seriously.
"He didn't mean to!" I protested defensively. "Really, he only meant for me to be a spectator, and not be able to interact at all. No one else was even supposed to see me, but something...went wrong. It was an accident."
"Was it?" Stefan asked quietly. I won't pretend I didn't doubt myself for a moment there. But I just didn't think Stefan was right.
"I know he's good," I said passionately. "He wouldn't hurt anyone, Stefan. I can feel it," I gazed sincerely into his eyes.
"I know you think that," he acknowledged. "But Roxanne...what if...what if you're talking to the spirit of a Death Eater?"