17
Sarah POV
Harry and I didn't speak afterward, even though we'd visit Ron together in the Hospital Wing with Hermione. Ron improved rapidly, and thanks to him muttering things in his sleep (Hermione's name), Lavender broke up with him. That made me really happy, because now Ron and Hermione spent a lot of time together, exactly what Hermione had really wanted. Now that Ron was on speaking terms with me, he tried to ask me twice what Harry kept bothering me about, and I nearly hexed him. I'd been trailing Malfoy around, subtly, inbetween classes when Harry wasn't looking at the map, but Harry knew what I was doing and was angrier at me than ever. I was furious with him; getting Ron to do his dirty work was sickening. In fact, I didn't go to the next Quidditch match on purpose, opting to stay behind, like I knew Malfoy would, to see what he was doing, and, most importantly, to corner him about what he did to Ron. It wasn't actually that hard, he had two girls with him, one on each arm, and they were giggling high enough to give me a headache. Using my tactic of hiding in secret passageways again, I surprised them on the fifth floor, making it look like I'd come from nowhere. "I want a word, Malfoy." The voice that came out of me was bitter and cold, making the giggling girls sober instantly, and Malfoy sneer.
"Because I would talk with a Mudblood, Wimkil." He mocked, going to walk around me with his girls.
"Langlock." I said calmly, waving my wand, and the girls on either side of him immediately whimpered and fanned the air in front of their mouths, hysterical. I'd just glued their tongues to the roof of their mouths, and I guess it would be a tad uncomfortable… "Watch it," I warned Malfoy, the bitter voice instantly back when he drew his wand. "I'll remove the hex if I can have a word." I gave him my ultimatum, feeling gleeful deep down inside when he struggled with it.
"Fine." He snapped, stalking into the hidden passageway first, turning on his heel and scowling down at me. "What?" He said, irritated. Now that we were in private, I let all of my fury rage, especially my frustration at Harry.
"What? I'll tell you, what, Malfoy. I told you to stop it, I offered you protection, I gave it all to you on a silver platter. And you had to try it again, like a coward, and another innocent student got hurt." To my happiness, the dark, harsh voice came out of me, similar to the one I'd gotten at the beginning of the year, and it made him take a step back. It must have been unnerving, hearing that coming out of a pale and trembling girl like me, especially one that was relatively short and most definitely unthreatening.
"You think I could and would magically stop on your whim, Wimkil?" He retaliated after he blinked a few times.
"It's not my whim." I said dangerously, poking my wand into his chest, growing taller as I swelled with anger. "Look, I didn't want to help you, because I knew you'd act like the arrogant prick you are right now. But you've got people in high places looking out for you." I forced out, having to choose my words now that I was talking about the topics that I had to be tight-lipped about. Malfoy's eyes narrowed.
"Why haven't you gone running off to Dumbledore then, if you're so worried about me trying to kill him?" He spat. I opened my mouth and groaned in frustration, whipping my braid off my shoulder. If only I could throttle Malfoy by the collar and tell him everything, that would wipe that smug look right off his face.
"Ask your Aunt," I snapped furiously, and ducked out of the passageway. Pointing my wand at the two girls, I undid the curse then angrily stormed away as Malfoy ducked out of the passage, looking bemused. Ignoring the shrieking girls behind me, I ducked through another passageway, white-faced, furious, and shaking, and ran into a crowd of roaring Gryffindors- apparently we'd lost. I'd never really cared for Quidditch, but I was already in a bad mood- and it only made me worse. With a sigh, I tried to quell my shivering and started back for the Common Room. Halfway there, Ginny randomly popped out from behind a doorway, looking angrier than I did.
"Sarah! Come here!" She hissed, so I crossed the hallway, fully expecting to be yelled at. Ginny was pale, not as white as me, but unusually so for her. "I've been looking for you. I need your help." She said, and pulled me in the door. All of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, minus Harry, had Cormac McLaggen in a corner, wandless.
"What is going on here?" I asked, immediately balking, but Ginny steered me forward anyway.
"You don't know? You didn't go to the game?" She asked, and I shook me head with a frown.
"This idiot, instead of playing his position, tried to show Peakes here how to be a better Beater." Ginny said, jerking her thumb at a small blond boy to her right. Cormac made an angry noise, but she ignored it. "So he takes his bat from him and tries to demonstrate. He pelts a Bludger right into the back of Harry's head and cracks his skull." Ginny snarled, and I felt my jaw drop. Was he ok? "Oh, he's in the Hospital Wing, he'll be fine. But then we lost by almost three hundred points." Ginny explained, seeing my expression, then took a deep breath and threw a filthy look at Cormac. "Now, I know you don't like Quidditch, but you can't let this stand. I was going to hex him myself, but…you've got a reputation for the best hexer on the planet. Everyone saw what you did to Marcus Flint last year." She said, and I felt myself blush. I used to be nobody- nobody talked to me or noticed I existed. But then I became friends with Harry and hexed Marcus Flint to mush. I hadn't realized I had a reputation, but apparently I did. I looked at Cormac. He'd caused Hermione and I a lot of grief, and I knew he was a prat. To top it off, he'd cracked Harry's skull open. Even if Harry and I weren't talking I couldn't let him take that kind of hit without retribution.
I drew my wand and walked forward. The team converged behind me as I raised it.
Thirty seconds later, Cormac looked like he was made of jello, with huge buck teeth, flaky skin, antlers, a carrot for a nose, tentacles for hair, and he was quacking like a duck. Crawling on his hands and knees, he repeatedly ran into a desk. Roaring with laughter, the team escorted me out of the room, and, grinning, they all went their separate ways. For a moment, I stood in the hallway, trying not to be too pleased with myself before going up to the Hospital Wing. On the way, I passed Hermione, who smiled and shrugged at me before heading towards the library, flushing. I knew she'd just been talking to Ron- he was still in the Hospital Wing because of the poisoning. Shaking my head at those two (they were actually quite stubborn and alike), I slipped into the wing. It was generally quiet. Ron had his nose buried in his birthday gift from me, and Harry was lying inert on the bed beside him, head swathed with bandages. I winced instantly and started down towards them. Ron looked up and waved at me, opening his mouth to greet me when Madam Pompfrey came from nowhere, sitting me down and waving her wand.
"Excuse me, Madam Pompfrey, but I'm fine." I said, but she shook her head.
"You're too pale." She muttered, almost to herself, and kept running her tests. When she ran tests by my head again, she frowned. "It all fits…well, you're free to go." She said, turning her back, but I ran around and caught up to her.
"What's wrong? You've done that twice now." I asked, and she looked at me then away. She waved a hand dismissively before stepping around me and heading back to her office, shaking her head. I looked after her a minute more before joining Ron.
"What was that all about?" He asked instantly as I sat on the foot of Harry's bed, stretching my legs out to the foot of Ron's with a sigh. "She was right, you are real pale." He added, and I shrugged, frowning.
"She won't tell me. I'll ask Dumbledore about it later. I think she's nuts, I don't feel bad at all." I said, swooping my braid back over my shoulder. "So, how are you?" I asked after a pause. Ron shrugged.
"I think she's nuts too, I feel fine but she won't let me go. I'd give it two more days and I'll be free." He said, stretching. I could still see the faint lines on his arms from the brain trying to strangle him last year in the Department of Mysteries. "What?" Ron asked, seeing me staring at him. I jerked to life then rubbed my forehead tiredly.
"I can see the lines on your arms from the brain last year," I said looking at my hands clasped in my lap and picking nervously at my thumb. Memories of that place still made me anxious.
"That's weird, cause you're the only one to notice," Ron said cheerfully, taking his book from me off his lap and setting it on his nightstand. Seconds later, Harry stirred, and then his eyes popped open. "He's arisen!" Ron said with mock elation, raising his arms in the air. Harry shot him a look after he'd sat up, snatching his glasses off his nightstand, putting them on and blinking several times.
"How bad did we lose by?" He asked after feeling his head.
"About three hundred points." I said, taking my feet off of Ron's bed and sitting up straighter. Harry looked at me and did a bit of a double take- and I knew he was noting that I looked gaunter after my new fight with Malfoy.
"I'm going to kill McLaggen," He growled halfheartedly, sitting back with a scowl.
"There's no need," Ginny called as she slipped around the door, nearly skipping down to us with glee. "McGonagall found McLaggen- he'll be up soon." She said to me, and I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. Ginny slapped me a high five while the boys looked at us, curious and suspicious.
"What's going on?" Ron asked, and Ginny snorted with laughter while I started to flush.
"Let's just say Sarah did a Marcus Flint on McLaggen for me." Ginny sniggered, and both of the boy's jaws dropped.
"No way!" Ron gasped, and it started off a new round of my laughter.
"I had to," I said, shrugging but grinning at the same time, getting to my feet. "Come on, Ginny, I can't be here when he comes in, I'll be laughing too hard and it'll give me away." I said, and waved goodbye to both jaw-dropped boys, walking out with Ginny. We passed McGonagall and a dazed looking McLaggen, and I nearly burst from not laughing around her. The Gryffindor Quidditch team didn't peep a word, and Hermione didn't even figure out it was me. It was great to have Harry pull me aside and give me a solemn bravo for what I'd done, not even mentioning Malfoy or Death Eaters.
Unfortunately, our good terms vanished as quickly as they'd come. I was still following Malfoy, and plotting the best day to beat him to the Room of Requirement. Harry and Ron were getting more and more suspicious, and frequently whispered with each other and passed notes in classes, shooting me looks. They even got Hermione to tentatively ask me what was wrong, and all I did was get up and walk away. But that only sparked her interest, and I'd often catch her looking at me then quickly looking away. It really hurt deep down to not be able to tell my friends the truth and to look like a villain to them. Dumbledore wasn't pressing me to 'get on with it' with regards to me and Malfoy, but I'd catch him looking at me during mealtimes, and it was clear what those looks meant. Figuring enough was enough, I decided to go and get some advice. He applauded my efforts so far, but advised me to take bigger and bolder steps. Before I left, I thought of another question that had been in the back of my brain for awhile now.
"Professor, I have another question. Whenever Madam Pompfrey sees me, she runs all these tests around my head and always gets this…look on her face, like I'm growing a tumor or something. But she always denies anything's wrong when she's done. It's starting to worry me." I confessed, and Dumbledore looked thoughtful, turning around from where he'd been petting Fawkes to face me.
"Do you mind?" He asked, drawing his wand with his burnt hand. I shook my head and held still while he ran a multitude of tests, starting to frown about halfway through- exactly like Madam Pompfrey. "I believe what is troubling Madam Pompfrey is what appears to be inflammation in your brain, my dear."
"Inflammation?" I asked, completely lost.
"I do not think it should be of any concern to you. If my guess is correct, and they usually are, I think this is stress on your mind from Occlumens, not from anything else." He said, sitting back at his desk with a tiny sigh. "Speaking of, I hear you are getting quite proficient at Occlumency." He changed the topic lightly and I shrugged, still thinking about what he'd said. He didn't sound entirely sure, but I wasn't going to press the smartest wizard I knew.
"I'm working on counter-attacks. They aren't easy." I said with a sigh, and Dumbledore chuckled softly.
"You will excel, I have no doubt." Were his parting words, and as I walked back to the Common Room, I passed Harry, going to his lesson with Dumbledore. We looked at each other, but then he continued on, dropping my gaze.