"Hey Draco!" Someone shouted behind him.
Draco was walking down one of the school passages, past some classrooms he could barely remember. He spun around and saw a vaguely familiar face running towards him.
"Amera?" he asked, standing as still as he could.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that Amera shouldn't be here, but he didn't care right now. All he wanted was to see her, feel her arms around him. He smiled as she came closer to him.
"I missed you Draco!" Amera said, running into his arms and hugging him.
"I missed you too…" he said, hugging her back; but again, he knew he had just seen her earlier.
He relished feeling her arms around him, pulling him back together as if he'd been broken beyond repair.
"Where have you been? I've been looking for you all day!" Amera said from the grasp of his arms.
"I've been right here, waiting for you." He replied, but again he knew this wasn't making sense somewhere in the back of his head.
Amera leaned back out of his hug, looking him in the eyes.
"You have no idea what she did to me…" Amera said, but her voice faded fast.
Draco looked into her eyes, and something started happening to them. They started going dull, washed out grey. He took a step back, and looked at her face. It started going hollow, the cheekbones and jaw were sticking out horribly; her face was steadily turning grey.
"What's wrong Draco?" she asked; her voice barely coming through.
Her arms and legs started becoming skinnier, going grey. Draco stood further back; he didn't know what to do. He looked around to the one of the classrooms, about to call for help, when he heard a soft crash behind him. He looked back to Amera, on the floor, crumbled into a heap. He went for her, but he couldn't move. Every step he tried to take forward, he slid ten backwards. He wanted to shout, but suddenly his voice escaped him and his throat started closing up. He heard screaming, somewhere in the distance…
Draco shot up out of his bed, screaming at the top of his lungs. He stopped, trying to catch his breath but it felt like he had an icy cold pair of hands around his throat. He looked around his room, no one was there yet. He could still hear a commotion down stairs. He tried to breathe; all he could manage was short breaths. He looked at his watch; it was barely an hour since he lay down. He didn't want to sleep again; he didn't want to have the same, or another, nightmare of Amera. He took as deep a breath as could manage; his head started reeling from the lack of oxygen. He placed his head on his pillow, trying to reason with himself that in a week she would be better and back to normal.
"I hope Amera will break this news of who did this to her to someone as soon as she wakes up."
Monday came slowly for everyone that knew Amera. They wanted to go see her so badly that throughout the day it was all they could talk about. The great hall was filling up for lunch, with a few whispers going around.
"I hope she's alright today, madam Pomfrey won't allow any visitors." A fourth year Ravenclaw, whom Amera was tutoring in Transfiguration, said to the rest of her friends.
Hermione walked in the door, as calmly as she could possibly muster, and sat next to Ron, Harry and Tashia. They immediately knew that she was the bearer of good news when they saw the huge grin on her face.
"Spill it Hermione." Ron said.
"We can go see her today! And guess what? I've got off now, and so do you guys!" Hermione smiled, looking like the corners of her mouth would fall of the edge of her face.
"Really? As in now? Today?" the three of them asked simultaneously.
"Yes! So if you guys want to get her something, I suggest you go to fetch it now."
The four of them stood up, ready to go fetch a gift, if they could manage to find one. Ron and Harry managed to get some sweets form their last Hogsmeade visit, and Hermione found some photos that never made it to the scrap book that she had put together for Amera and Tashia for Christmas. Tashia found Amera's bathrobe and pyjamas, along with a sketch book and charcoal.
"Amera loves to draw when she's bored." Tashia explained to Hermione when she didn't understand Tashia's choice of gifts.
They all went to the hospital wing, and knocked on the huge door. Madam Pomfrey answered, when she saw who it was, she immediately let them in.
"I must warn you though; she doesn't entirely look like herself yet." Madam Pomfrey fretted before opening the curtain.
"We don't care. We're still her friends." Harry said; a note of defiance in his voice.
Madam Pomfrey hesitated for a moment, and then they all heard her voice, albeit a little weak.
"Is that Harry, madam Pomfrey?" she asked from behind the closed curtain.
"It's all of us Amera!" Hermione said.
They could see a ghostly silhouette behind the semi-transparent curtain. Madam Pomfrey didn't bother any longer, and pulled the curtain open slowly. They all tried their best not to gasp, but none of them got it right except Hermione.
"Hey guys…" she smiled.
Hermione immediately went to sit on the edge of her bed, smiling all the while.
"We're so glad we finally got to come see you." Hermione said.
Tashia, Harry and Ron still hadn't done or said anything, they were still in shock. It was definitely Amera sitting in front of them, but they couldn't get past how she looked. Her skin was a bluish grey, her cheeks were hollowed out, her arms and legs were bone thin. The whole of her eyes were a glowing yellow, like the liquid that was in the drip in her arm. The only part of her that still looked like her was her golden hair, which looked a little dull, and her smile that still stood bright white against the grey of her skin. The hand that the drip was in looked almost normal, the patch of skin around the needle was completely normal.
"Are you guys just going to stand there?" Amera asked, staring at them with her huge yellow eyes.
"No, of course not." Tashia said, putting the pyjamas and bathrobe next to her bed, and the sketch book and charcoal on the table at the foot of her bed.
"Can I give you a hug?" Tashia asked cautiously, standing right next to Amera.
"Of course you can. Just don't squeeze too hard, I might break." Amera joked.
Tashia bent down over Amera and hugged her, trying her best not the cry on her.
"You had no idea how worried I was. I still don't know what to say to Aurora." Tashia said, standing back and allowing a tear to fall.
Ron and Harry walked up to her as well, managing to give her a soft hug. Ron didn't linger, but Harry tried to hug her as long as possibly could.
"Harry, really, I'm not going to fall apart…" Amber said over his shoulder.
Harry eventually pulled back, a small smile on his face. Hermione was still sitting on the edge of her bed, not sure what to say to her.
"So, how much longer do you think you're going to be here?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know. I'll be out of here tomorrow if madam Pomfrey allows me, which I know she won't."
Madam Pomfrey looked through the window of her office, to the small crowd around Amera's bed. She bustled over, making a fuss over Amera and pushing Hermione off the bed. Madam Pomfrey replaced the drip, checked her over once again and went back to her office.
"See what I mean? She's not going to let go of me easily." Amera joked, pulling the table with her sketch pad closer.
Amera started drawing, absent minded, while looking at the others. She thought she was doodling, but when Hermione looked at the sketch pad, the obvious reaction made it clear she wasn't.
"Amera, what on earth are you drawing?" Hermione asked.
Amera watched the others" faces before looking down. She had no idea what it was she had drawn, but it looked like a dream, a far away reality. There were five blocks in the page, each one with a different scene.
"I think it was a dream I had, or…uh…" Amera stopped halfway.
Memories started to flood her head, and she realised that it wasn't a dream, but the reason why she was in the hospital wing. The first block was herself, standing in the bathroom looking in the mirror. The second was Pansy blocking her in the doorway. The third was Pansy throwing her wand across the room. The fourth was the jinx. The fifth was Hermione and running down the hallway towards her. Amera closed her eyes forcefully and clapped one hand over them. Hermione picked up the sketchpad and looked carefully at the blocks, realising what it was.
"This last one is me… I think this is what happened to Amera."
The boys looked at the drawing pad as well, and tried to make sense of it all. It was like a cartoon or story board. It was very clear what had happened.
"Amera? We have to show this to Dumbledore…" Tashia said quickly after looking at it.
Amera shook her head, crying. Madam Pomfrey scuffled over and chased them away.
"She needs her rest. You can come back later." Madam Pomfrey pushed them towards the door, forcing them to leave. Hermione grabbed the drawing pad before leaving; they had to show this to Dumbledore.