A/N - Woah, hey, long time no see. I pretty much forgot about this fic when I threw myself into the world of roleplaying to try to develop my writing skills. Fair warning, every chapter I've currently got written up of this story was written last year, back when my writing was atrocious and I had no real experience. tbh I'm embarrassed just reading over this, but some of you seemed to enjoy this, so here you go
The corridors were bustling, streams of students scurrying to the Great Hall as excited chatter filled the air. Weak beams of stray sunlight filtered in through the open windows, dancing across the stone floor as they bathed the gaggle of people in soft light, a crisp breeze whispering through the trees as it drifted through the windows. Astrid sighed, in awe of the tranquilly of the outside world as she shoved through the crowd, her arms linked with Angelina as the girl tugged her forward, Alicia and Katie following close behind.
"Hurry up; otherwise we won't get a good seat at dinner!" Angelina moaned.
"We're going as fast as we can!" Alicia shot back, elbowing a disgruntled fourth year out of the way as he tried to cut in front of her.
Astrid felt suffocated, thrown into the middle of the crowd, the air growing stifling as she was rocked back and forth, bumping from person to person as she ambled forward unsteadily, her balance shaky. A shrill ringing noise assaulted her ears, rattling through her mind as she winced, instinctively raising her hands to cover her ears. Her vision blurred, her eyelids growing heavy as the noise overpowered her.
Astrid, what's happening? The voice piped up, worry lacing its tone.
She scrunched her eyes shut as the blood rushed to her head, waves rattling against her skull, licking at her insides as the piercing cries grew more and more disturbing, the noise unrelenting. Her world stretched and twisted, growing distorted as everything began to spin, twirling around her in a taunting blur. The colour drained from her face, her eyes stinging with hot tears as she winced in pain, stumbling forward, tripping over thin air.
Astrid, I'm scared.
Her fingers curled around her ears, her nails raking against her flesh, piercing her skin as the darkness engulfed her, eating away at her mind, tearing her apart from the inside. She shook violently, her skin crawling, and her knees buckled beneath her. She rocked from side to side, reality too far to see as she heard the distant cries of her name.
You're falling, Astrid, you're falling!
She collapsed to the floor in a crumpled heap, her legs crumbling beneath her as her skull rebounded off the cold, stone floor, blood trickling into her eyes, her breathing ragged.
And then, it was black.
A boy was the first thing she saw, curled in a ball in a dimly lit corner, hugging his knees to his chest as he rocked back and forth, his startlingly bright eyes glazed over. Muffled sobs escaped his lips every so often, a lump rising in his throat as he tried to hold each strangled cry back, swallowing it down. A large gash dominated his features; an ugly cut sprawled across his cheek, scarlet blood spurting from the wound, trickling down his ghostly skin.
A young girl approached cautiously, cutting off the rectangle of light flooding the distorted corridor. Padding across the damp, blood-soaked carpet, her bare feet became stained scarlet, globs of red liquid squelching between her toes. A tattered teddy bear, torn apart and sewn together again, stuffing bursting from the seams, hung limply in her hand, her fingers clasped tightly around its arm.
Slowly, he raised his head to face her as she reached him, her shadow looming over him. Soundlessly, she sat down beside him, the bear positioned in her lap, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Sniffing, he wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve.
"Hi," She whispered, her voice barely audible in the darkness.
"Hey," He responded quietly, his voice cracking.
"Are you okay?" She asked, tilting her chin to look up at him with wide eyes, and his hand instinctively rose to his stinging cheek. He glanced down at the girl and for the first time, he noticed the glistening tears brimming in her eyes.
"I'm fine," He smiled weakly, trying to reassure the girl.
"No, you're not." She said softly, biting her lip. After a pause, she spoke again, her voice shaky, "I'm scared."
"Aw, come here," He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding the girl close to him as she embraced him tightly, burying her face into the crook of his neck. He softened at the feel of the girl gripping his shirt tightly, balling the fabric up in her fists.
"You don't need to be scared," He said gently, stroking her back soothingly, "I'm here."
"But you're scared." She mumbled into his shirt, hot tears spilling over her lower lids, lacing her lashes.
"Granted, I'm scared," He started, pulling the girl into his lap, tightening his grip around her, "But I'll always protect you. You know that, right?"
"I know," She answered, looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes, her cheeks stained with tear tracks. She gulped, speaking quietly, "But I'm scared for you."
"Scared for me?" A lump rose in his throat once again, and he felt tears stinging in the back of his eyes, "I'll be fine. I'm tough, remember?" He strained to smile in reassurance, and she returned it half-heartedly, sniffing as she held back another wave of tears.
"I know, but not as tough as them."
"I'll be fine, we'll be fine. We'll get through this together, okay?" He whispered softly, stroking her hair as she fell against him. She stayed quiet as she listened to the steady beat of his heart, resting herself against him as she rose and fell with his chest. He continued to stroke her hair, cradling her, unsure of what to do or say to reassure the girl as his t-shirt soaked through, tears spilling freely from her eyes as she sobbed silently.
"We'll get through this together." She hiccupped into the darkness, repeating his words as she nuzzled into him, feeling safe in his arms.
Astrid opened her eyes, a ringing in her head as she blinked, her vision blurred as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Everything felt fuzzy, a dull ache thumping against her skull, ringing in her ears. Wearily, she propped herself upright, soaking in her surroundings as the clean smell of disinfectant and potions assaulted her nostrils. A candle flickered lazily on the cabinet beside her bed, white wax dribbling down its curved body, a puddle gathering on the silver dish. Raising a ghostly pale hand to her throbbing head, she strained to remember what had happened, but the puzzle pieces just didn't fit. Her fingertips grazed the soft material of gauze and as she tentatively rubbed her thumb over the fabric, it occurred to her that a bandage had to be wrapped around her. It was dark outside, she noticed, and she had no idea how long she'd been unconscious for. Silver streams of light flooded into the room through the open window opposite her bed, soaking her in pale light. Stars dotted the navy streaked sky, swirls of black blotting the canvas like an ink stain spreading. Falling back against the pillow, she groaned, wincing it pain as the relentless thudding in her mind grew fierce.
"Astrid! You're awake!" A voice exclaimed excitedly. Rolling over on the lumpy, solid mattress, Astrid saw Angelina, Katie and Alicia dashing across the Hospital Wing to her bed, followed by a grumbling Madam Pomfrey.
"Keep it down, girls!" She hissed, "People are trying to sleep!" She gestured to a bed at the opposite end of the room, where a rather green looking second year, covered in bubbling boils, lay peacefully.
"What happened?" Astrid groaned, rubbing her head tenderly.
"Don't you remember?" Katie looked at her fearfully, her eyes wide, "You collapsed on the way to dinner!"
"It was terrifying!" Alicia piped up, "All of a sudden you went as white as a sheet, and you started shaking and holding your head as if it were about to fall off, and then the next thing we knew, you were on the floor,"
"You were bleeding pretty badly," Angelina added, and Astrid looked from face to face to see her friends watching her with frightful eyes, worry etched across their faces.
"I don't remember a thing," Astrid said softly, racking her brains in search of memory of the evening's events. The only thing her mind provided her with was the haunting memory of what happened after she collapsed.
Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, pushing past the girls, "You three ladies should get to bed, it's late and Professor McGonagall with give me a right earful if I keep you out much further past curfew."
She shooed the girls away from the bed, peering at Astrid with concern, "Miss Black needs her rest."
The trio nodded in understanding, retreating away from the bed.
"Bye Astrid, we'll see you tomorrow," The three girls chorused as they shuffled out of the room reluctantly, glancing back at their bed-ridden friend one last time.
"Drink this, it'll help the pain." Madam Pomfrey suddenly thrust a goblet of bubbling purple liquid at Astrid, its contents splashing over the brim and splattering the crisp bedsheets, a stain spreading over the material.
Astrid nodded and obliged, gulping down the peculiar concoction as its strong odour overpowered her nostrils. The warm liquid tickled the back of her throat, burning her insides as the acidic taste lingered on her tongue. She wrinkled her nose, her face contorting in disgust as she swallowed hard.
"There, that'll do the trick," Madam Pomfrey swiped the goblet from Astrid's grasp, setting it down on the bedside cabinet, "Now try and get some sleep, dear." She smiled kindly, her warm eyes crinkling at the corners, and scurried away, retreating out of the Hospital Wing as her navy robes billowed behind her.
Astrid sighed, nuzzling into her pillow as she wrapped her arms around herself tightly, hugging herself as she squeezed her eyes shut. How much longer will this haunt me, she asked herself as she felt her body shake, a shiver jolting down her spine. Tossing and turning, she tried and tried to remember what had happened tlast thing she could vividly remember was leaving the common room with Angelina, Alicia and Katie – they'd clambered out of the portrait hole in a giggling huddle, cheerily waving goodbye to o her, but her mind was blank, a clean slate. The the Fat Lady as the portrait swung shut, and then they'd begun descending the stairs; after that, there was nothing.
She groaned in frustration, longing to scream into the pillow, and cast a glance over at the sleeping boy at the opposite end of the sparse room. His skin was fading to a pale mint shade, and the boils were beginning to subside as strands of wheat coloured hair fell in front of his eyes. His mouth hung open, saliva pooling on his pillow as webs of the stuff tricked from his lips, drying in a crust at the corner of his mouth, and thundering snores erupted from his lips with every breath. Astrid grit her teeth, burying her head under her pillow to escape the grating noise that was making it so impossible to think clearly, hazing her vision.
This was going to be a long night.
