Chapter 12: stepping out of character for a moment

Cherie awoke. Her senses gradually coming back to her. She was in a bed. It was defiantly NOT her bed. Cheries' muddled mind went into over drive. Where was she? How had she gotten there? And most importantly, WHAT HAPPENED!!!

The answers slowly; likened unto the flowing of molasses in February; crept back to her. She was in the hospital wing. Someone had carried her there. Due to blood rushing to her head she had fainted. Cherie was suddenly pressed with the desire to know just whom it was that had saved her from a rather nasty tumble down a few flights of stairs? A longing to be held again also crept into her head. This was quickly swept aside by madam Pomfrey voice. "Ahh! I see you are finally awake! You know when mister Zabini carried you in here I suspected foul play, but as it turns out you only collapsed from blood loss due to your monthly menstruation and low blood sugar, you know you really should eat something! I know you young girls never want to gain a pound but believe me! Men like a woman with some meat on her bones!" Well that answered one of her questions.

"H-how long have I been in here?" Inquired Cherie "Only a few hours. It's about time for lunch I believe." Came the reply. Cheries mind began to work. She was about as studious as Hermione but approached it all in a much different manner. Cherie liked to take days off, to have fun and to go to parties. But she also hated to skip class or miss a test…falling behind was definitely not her thing.

"Do you think that I could be released now that I'm awake?" Cheries asked, puzzling over what was supposed to have been covered in her morning classes today. Oh well she was certain that someone must have taken notes that she could borrow and either read over or copy. Come on she was friends with mostly all the girls and ANY boy could be flirted out of things. I mean you bat your eye lashes twice and their putty in your hands.

"I suppose you could leave in a few minutes but I will have to run a few tests first. Oh! I almost forgot! Here is some extra strength Advil for those cramps of yours." At seeing the bottle Cherie was elated! Finally some pain relief she was used to! Snatching the bottle from madam Pomfrey she poured out 2 and shoved them in her mouth where they were quickly followed by a big mouthful of water. Swallowing, she ardently thanked the nurse over and over and silently berated herself for forgetting to pack her own.

She was soon released from the hospital wing and found that she had just enough time to step out the door before she was late for her next class. "Crap" was her only thought as she bolted off towards her herbology class allowing her adrenaline rush to block the pain from her cramps. She skidded into the second green house to find….it completely empty.

Cheries over active imagination came into play…come to think of it she hadn't seen any one since leaving the hospital wing. What if everyone was abducted by aliens? Or stuck in some parallel dimension? Wait! Stop! She screamed in her head. She was over thinking and she knew it. She had defiantly watched way too many star wars, star trek and other alien and science fictiony things with her father.

Looking around Cherie decided to do something totally out of character. She was going to skip class.

Clutching to the hand rails as she climbed the stairs she fervently prayed that the Advil would kick in soon. She reached her room and flopped on her bed. Pulling her curtains around her she silently tried to doze off. After laying there for about half an hour Cherie gave up and decided to do some redecorating. She had been living in this dorm for about a month now and it still had hardly any of HER in it. Using a quick color changing charm she changed her curtains to soft lavender. She changed her sheets and various bedding to a pale minty green with the same lavender embroidery and vibrant orange flowers. After that she moved to the rest of her corner of the room. A large mahogany vanity appeared just where the light from the window could catch its mirror.

After filling it with her make-up and hair supplies Cherie created a large comfortable chair and accompanying desk. Moving on she placed various keepsakes and photos on the walls with adhesive, and with that put the finishing touches on the area. It was hardly recognizable. But if you knew Cherie then you would feel like you had just stepped into a little piece of her mind.

Glancing at her Roman numeral clock which read VI: XIV (6:14). Dinner had started 14 minutes ago. Unfazed at her unusual lack of intuitive time telling techniques Cherie made her way up to the great hall. Upon entering she could feel many eyes on her. Unlike this morning Cherie did not mind this, she knew that they were all wondering about what was wrong this morning, or her disappearance today, a few though would be worrying over her collapse on the stairs.

Gracefully she glided to the Slytherin dinning table and took the vacant seat beside Blaise and Draco. Flashing one of her most charming smiles at Blaise she thanked him profusely for saving her. "You're welcome Cherie. By the way what caused you to faint? You don't appear to be the type of person that would do that."

Cherie briefly wondered if she should tell him the whole story. However her maidenly good judgment kicked in. "Oh, it was the just the blood rushing to my head from standing up to quickly." She sweetly replied. Blaise and Draco didn't really buy that but as they really weren't in a private setting they wisely determined to wait further questioning till latter.

Latter on Hermione also questioned Cherie on the subject of her missing class yesterday. To Hermione Cherie decided to be totally explicit as they had already had LONG discussions (through letters) about womanly things like this. They then moved on to the much more warmly received topic of her rescuer. "It was so nice to be held like that!" Cherie exclaimed after describing how Blaise had saved her. "Wow! I wish I had someone like that!" Hermione sighed. Cherie smothered some giggles behind her hand. "What!" Hermione cried. "It's just that you DO have someone like that! Even if he hasn't realized it yet himself!" "Who!" "Draco duh!" "What he doesn't like me! And he's such an idiotic jerk!" "First off he does like you and Hermione he has grades just as good as yours so that totally makes the last statement erroneous!"

The two girls giggled about their various boy problems till the teacher separated them for disrupting their class. Man Cherie was such a bad influence!