Harry watched the fleeting blonde with disgust. Typical Malfoy always fleeing when things got a little tough. The brunette sighed and shifted his gaze back to the injured girl on the bed. She looked so frail and weak, to be expected but Harry still couldn't place what was so off about her. Her presence felt so foreign but so familiar at the same time. He felt like he was back at Privet drive, suffering to keep himself sane. He looked around for some hint that would let him in on the truth. Carefully standing up he made his way around he bed, until he spotted her ripped and bloody clothes lying on one of the chairs. He stared at them for a moment, trying to figure out what was different about them. "So odd, what is off about them?" he mumbled while lifting up the tattered material that used to be a shirt. He was about to give up and place the shirt back down when it hit him, this was a muggle shirt; the girl had been wearing muggle clothing. Harry furrowed his brow in confusion, he supposed it wasn't too odd, there were loads of muggle-borns at Hogwarts that wore muggle clothing on their own time. Shrugging he placed the shirt on the chair lightly. He sighed and shook his head, feeling that it must just be his guilt ridden mind making him come up with these crazy conspiracies.
The emerald eyed teen walked over to a nearby window and stared down at the Hogwarts grounds. From here, there was a clear view of the courtyard where he had had his confrontation with Malfoy. A frustrated Filch was trying to clean up the blood stains that where slowly drying into the concrete. Harry silently hoped that they would clean up the blood soaked snow as well. There was red, so much red that he feared he would lose his mind if the red didn't clear up soon. Some students were still lingering in the courtyard, watching Filch clean to his dismay. There was something odd though, all the students looked slightly frightened and more than a little curious, but none of them looked sad, or concerned. Surely the young girl must have some friends who would be worried about her. But no one aside from Harry and Malfoy had come to see her, and no one in the courtyard seemed to show any concern for her. Harry frowned and chewed on his bottom lip, what was going on. He was starting to finally feel some calm, the quiet of the hospital ward was soothing, but that was all interrupted when a blood curdling scream broke through the peace.
Back in the Slytherin dorms a pale blonde was in the showers in a near panic. He hadn't realized it before but the blood was everywhere. It was in his hair, down his arms and somehow across his stomach. If anyone were to see him at that exact moment they would have described him as nothing short of bearing the look of a trapped and crazed animal. Draco half wondered to himself if this is what a werewolf felt like after a night of hunt. He grabbed the soap on the ledge beside him and rubbed it furiously over his skin. He rubbed it so hard that his skin started to take on a reddish colour. Draco slowly brought the soap away from his raw skin when it started to sting, and leaned his head back against the wall, sighing in agitation. This was all too much for him. All this blood, brought back memories, memories which he want nothing more than to forget. Flashes of blood and gore flew through his mind and he felt himself growing more and more agitated. The only thing that brought him out of his stupor was a sharp pain in his lower lip. "Ow," he hissed and brought his hand up to touch his lip. He pulled back his hand and realized that his lip was bleeding. Draco had bitten his lip so hard that it had bled. "More blood, great," he groaned and placed his hand under the stream of lukewarm water.
Draco pushed himself away from the wall and looked down at his body to see if he had managed to get all the blood off. It was then that his eye caught something on his chest, something that wasn't blood. Sharp white lines that slightly protruded from his normally pale skin stood out and seemingly glared up at Draco. The blonde had tried to forget about them but the recent events brought the pain from them back full force. Perhaps not physical pain, but the mental pain made it feel almost physical. They were scars, and not just any scars, they were the Sectumsempra scars that potter had placed on him a few months before. And now, a young girl was lying in the hospital wing with what were probably identical marks, the only difference being that Draco's had healed. At the thought of the girl having to bear the marks that he had a small pang of guilt went through his stomach. Draco glared at nothing in particular when the guilt flew through him. It went thorough so fast that he thought that he may have imagined it. Why should he feel guilty? It had all been Potter's fault. It was Potter who followed Draco outside and started the fight. It had been Potter who cast the curse. Yes but you cast the first spell, you dodged the sectumsempra, his mind nagged at him.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" he screamed and clutched his head in his hands, pulling painfully on the blonde strands. His voice reflected off the bathroom walls as he felt himself slowly sink to his knees. Why did he have to feel like this? That girl was nothing to him, and he shouldn't feel so bad. If anything he should be mad at her for getting in the way. If she hadn't been standing there she wouldn't have gotten hurt. She was the nosey little brat that thought it was okay to watch them as they fought. At least, that's what Draco was trying to convince himself. But you know the truth, his mind chimed in irritatingly. Draco couldn't understand why but he felt himself growing dizzy. Why was this happening? The blood was gone, down the drain. It only remained on his clothes but those weren't anywhere near him. He whined pitifully and made an attempt to stand up, he just had to get out of the washroom and take a nap, and then he would feel better. The blonde somehow managed to make it onto his feet and turn the shower off. Draco grabbed his cast a simple drying spell and wrapped a clean cloak around himself, just as he felt his whole body grow cold. Before he knew what was going on his body began to convulse in violent shivers. When had the floor been so close? Draco whimpered softly as his vision went black and he lost consciousness.
Harry whipped his head around at the sound of the scream and saw the girl sitting up in the hospital bed, clutching her head in her hands and screaming continuously. He ran over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.
"What's happening? Where am I? What is this place and who are you people?" she screamed at the top of her voice before flipping her head around to stare at Harry, her blood and sweat soaked hair clinging to her pale cheeks. Harry grabbed her shoulders and tried to get her to focus on him enough for him to explain the situation to her. The girl however had different plans and slapped Harry's hands away before jumping out of the bed and running towards the entrance of the hospital ward. By this time Madam Pomfrey had ran out of her quarters and was looking shocked and feared. The girl had almost escaped but a tall figure with sleek black hair had managed to grab her arm in time.
"Oh thank goodness Severus, she's far too weak to be leaving yet and she seems to be in a state of shock," Pompfrey said in a quiet voice before taking out her wand and pointing it at the girl's forehead. The small brunette stopped struggling against Snape's grip at the moment she saw the wand, her eyes grew with an immense amount of fear and oddly enough, curiosity. She opened her mouth to say something at the exact same moment Pomfrey muttered "Somnus," which must have been a sleep spell judging by how the girl immediately went limp against Snape. He frowned at her but carried her over to her bed anyhow. It was only then that Harry noticed that there had been someone standing behind Snape, Blaise Zabini. Only Zabini wasn't the only one there, he was carrying none other than Draco Malfoy.
Madame Pomfrey carefully checked over the other girl, making sure her wounds hadn't been reopened in all the commotion before she lifted her head and saw the two Slytherins by the door. She looked at Snape for explanation and he looked over at Draco with a stern look. "It appears that suffered some sort of….panic attack. I informed Mr. Zabini that he was fine but he insisted that be taken up here to be looked over." Madame Pomfrey sighed tiredly and nodded.
"Place him on that bed over there," she told Zabini before turning around to look at Snape.
"Judging by the matching blood on the clothes found with Malfoy and the blood on that girl's clothes there I would say these two incidents are connected? Wouldn't you say Poppy?" Snape muttered with a slight tone of boredom. "And why do I have a feeling is also connected with this?" he added before turning to frown at said brunette. Harry's eyes widened when he was acknowledged, he knew that look very well. It was Snape's "You may have done nothing but I will fins someway to blame and punish you anyways" look. Harry looked down at his feet with a sort of ironic amusement. At least this time it would be easy for Snape to place all the blame on Harry, as it had indeed been his fault. At least, the girl getting injured had been his fault; Malfoy passing out couldn't had been his fault as well." Speaking of Malfoy, Harry turned his head in time to see Pomfrey checking to Blonde git over.
"Yes well, I'll explain everything Severus," she mumbled while checking Draco over with various spells. She apparently came to a conclusion as she stood up and looked over at Blaise, who was standing nervously by Draco's bed. Harry found this quite odd, since when did Slytherins care about anyone by themselves? Zabini seemed almost, concerned for Malfoy. "He'll be fine. Severus was correct in saying he had a panic attack. Today's events," a quick glance over to the girl lying in the next bed, "must have overwhelmed him. He just needs some time to rest," she explained reassuringly to Blaise before she stepped away from the beds and walked over to Snape. "We'll talk in my office, Severus," she muttered and walked over to said office, Snape close behind. Pomfrey opened the door but not before turning to Harry and Blaise, "you two should get going," she told them in a tone that was not to be argued with before walking into the office, the door closing when Snape entered.
It was that moment that Blaise chose to rush over to Harry and slam him against the closest wall, his hand clenched dangerously close to Harry's neck while his wand pointed at the Brunette's temple. "This is your fault. You caused this," he growled quietly, but dangerously.
"Mm, Zabini, it seems you care an awful lot about Malfoy there. Well, if you could get your head out of your own or Malfoy's ass long enough you would realize that I had nothing to do with it. Yeah, the girl's injury was my fault but Malfoy's own instability was what fucked him over. I didn't hurt your little boyfriend," he replied in anger, but refused to yell.
"Shut your bloody half-blood mouth Potter. You don't know anything. I swear, when I'm through with you, not only will you be expelled, but I will make sure that the expulsion is the least of your worries." With that he let go of Harry and made to leave the hospital wing, not before punching the brunette across the jaw. Harry fell to the ground and noticed his glasses had fallen off in the process. He reached his hand out and felt around for them, he needed to find them quick so he could deal with Zabini. By the time he found them and placed them back on his face the Slytherin had already left. He jumped up and made to run out of the ward when his eyes caught a glimpse of the two pale figures lying in the beds, a new wave of guilt flashing through him. Maybe that punch had been what he deserved for hurting them. Harry felt that the punch had been lenient compared to what he truly deserved. Harry walked over to the frail girl and placed a hand on her cheek, "I'm sorry," he muttered and stepped away from her. Emerald eyes watched her for a few more minutes before he left the hospital ward, not even sparing a glance at the blonde.
The rest of the day passed by without much incident. Word of what happened in the courtyard that morning had seemed to get around the school quickly but no one appeared to know the truth about what had really happened. Harry had spent the rest of the day curled up underneath the red and gold bed sheets of his dorm room. Ron and Hermione made a few attempts to get through to Harry but he refused to talk and they figured it best to leave him to his own devices. Harry stared blankly at the wall of the dorm room, trying not to let his thoughts run away on him. His jaw throbbed slightly and he could tell that it would probably have taken on a purplish colour by the next morning. Harry groaned and pulled his blanket over his head and begged for sleep. This was turning out to be some Christmas holiday.
The full moon shone brightly into the windows of the hospital ward. All seemed peaceful until a shocked pair of brown eyes opened. The young girl sat up quickly in her bed and looked around. It was very dark, the only light coming from the moon but she could tell that there was no one around her, no one awake at least. She turned her head and saw a blonde boy, who appeared a few years older than her laying on a bed a few down from her's. She couldn't remember how she managed to end up like this. Her class had been on a school trip when she had wandered off a bit only to come across a large castle. It was odd, she figured that something as big as the building would be easy to see but it had hidden itself so well.
Curious, she walked to the castle and found it, amazing. She had never seen anything that seemed so….magical. And now here she was, sitting in what seemed to be a hospital, her chest searing in pain. She lifted her shirt and saw deep bloody gashes down her body. She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from crying out in shock. It was horrifying, but she knew what she had to do. She had to get out of this place and it appeared that these horrible people were not going to let her go without a fight. It was now or never, if she was going to escape she would have to do it when they were all asleep. She winced and she placed her feet on the ground and tried her best to move quietly. Her brown eyes flashed over to what appeared to be the remains of her clothes. Frowning, she realized that she would never be able to wear them but she had to put on something. She chewed on her lip in thought before looking over to the boy in the other bed, it was then that she noticed and black and green cloak lying on the chair beside his bed.
The young girl limped over to the bed, silently praying that her footsteps would be heard. She grabbed the cloak and wrapped it tightly around herself before quickly moving back to her bed and grabbing her shoes, the only piece of her clothing left intact, aside from being covered in blood. She shoved her feet into them quickly and ran out of the hospital. She leaned against the wall, the pain from moving so much flashed through her body. Leaning against the cold stone wall she panted lightly and looked around, trying to find the exit to this hideous place. Bracing herself, the brunette moved down the corridor and down a large set of staircases. Finally she found herself standing in front of a large pair of oak doors. She sighed in relief and rushed towards them. Looking around she blinked slowly and was happy to see that no one had noticed her. Pushing her way out of the doors she ran as fast as she could through the snow and away from the castle. The cold winter air blasted against her cheeks and she found herself shivering violently, but she refused to stop running.
Reaching the top of a secluded hill she finally allowed herself to stop and sit down. The snow soaked through the cloak on froze her to the bone, but she didn't notice. She has escaped. She had gotten away from what appeared to be her own personal hell. She felt so lost and confused. What was this place, and what were those people? They were not normal, that she was certain. There was one thing she knew for sure. She was going to tell people about what happened here. She would tell them everything, these people were not going to be secret for much longer. And when she told, she would make sure that they were going to pay. They would pay for what they had done to her. One way or another. She stood up slowly and took one last look at the castle before turning her back on it and walking back to where she knew her classmates would be waiting for her.
Draco's pale grey eyes opened slowly and he frowned in confusion. Sitting up slowly her looked around at his surroundings and realized her was in the hospital ward and it was dark. All was quiet so what exactly had woken him, and why was he here? Last thing he remembered was being in the bathroom of his dorm. He groaned slightly and lowered his head into his hands. The smell of disinfectant burned his nose and reminded him of how much he hated being in here. It was then that a thought came to his mind; the girl from earlier. He lifted his head and looked over to the bed where she was lying, the bed that was now empty. Draco furrowed hi brow in confusion, surely Pomfrey hadn't let her go yet? She had been so injured, there was no reasonable explanation to where she could be. Looking around he realized that the cloak her was wearing earlier was now missing, and so were the young girl's shoes. Had she run away? And she stole my clothes? Glaring at the empty bed she stood up and walked over to it. He looked down at the blood stained sheets and sighed. Why should he care that some nameless girl and run away from here. It was her funeral. He lifted up one of the sheets, not noticing the sound of an office door opening.
"Mr. Malfoy? What are you doing out of bed?" came the stern but quiet voice of the medi-witch. He let go of the sheet in his hand and glared over at her.
"I'm fine, but as it seems, you have lost a patient," he muttered back and pointed down at the bed he was standing in front of. He saw the panicked look in her eyes as she scanned over it. Frowning with concern she walked over to Draco and looked him over quickly.
"You're fine now, go back to your dorm, I shall deal with this," she said to him, her voice laced with fear. The blonde rolled his eyes and turned away from her. Yes, I know I'm fine, I just told you that you blithering ninny. He thought to himself and moved over to the bed that was his. He pulled his shoes on and walked out of the hospital ward without as much as a backwards glance. As he walked through the cold halls a thought flew through his mind. Why had the medi-witch seemed so…scared…about the missing patient? Surely the girl wasn't going to cause that much of a problem?