Sorry it took a while and sorry it's not very long and pretty rubbish but I've just gotten back from holiday in France, so I haven't had much time (I got sunburn on my legs! ow!)but I'll try and get something better up soon.
The moment she stepped through the door, her heart sunk. Every head in the room turned to look at her, awkwardness seemingly pulsing from her body, the tension in the air of the room spiking to send shivers down her spine. Each eye was filled with a wary curiosity blanketed by a deep layer of unplaced fear.
"Valkyrie, you're two lessons late. Come along now, we haven't got all day." Skulduggery tried and failed to lighten the mood in the classroom. Valkyrie felt her eyes drift to the floor as she closed the door behind her and moved to his side. She could feel the eyes boring into her, hitting every nerve and ridiculing every movement. She bet to herself that internally, they were terrified she would snap and kill them without a moments notice. On the outside, they were putting on brave but curious faces. Judgmental, curious faces. But their eyes gave them away.
Skulduggery resumed his sentence. He was talking about mixing self defence and attack to form a solid technique, but that was all Valkyrie gained from the conversation. He didn't ask her to do any demonstrations. She was glad of that.
The lesson dragged by agonisingly slowly. Valkyrie thought she saw Ginny Weasley in amongst the crowd of faces on one of her rare glances up from the floor in a weak attempt to get the gist of what was going on, but she couldn't be sure. The flash of red hair had only been there a moment, and then it had gone again. But she knew they were teaching fourth years, so it was a distinct possibility.
Valkyrie didn't know what to do anymore. She felt like she couldn't face the people who used to be her friends, but if she hid away in her room, Darquesse would start talking to her again. And wasn't that what she had wanted? To slowly mentally tear Valkyrie apart piece by piece until she wasn't Valkyrie anymore? It was like a fight where there was no positive outcome for anyone. Anyone except Darquesse. It was a lose-lose situation for Valkyrie. She hated lose-lose situations.
Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Skulduggery dismissed the class for lunch. Some scurried from the room as quickly as they could, others trying to maintain their dignity by walking normally, though their legs trembled slightly, as if they were expecting a sneak attack from behind. As soon as the last student was gone (which didn't take very long), Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie.
"I didn't think you'd come in."
"The bathroom was getting a tad confining. You know how I am with small spaces." There was a brief silence. Valkyrie turned her head to the window and looked out from where she stood. The green hills themselves seemed to shrink away from her, not a student or teacher in sight. At least there were no visions.
"They don't blame you, you know." Skulduggery said, walking up to her and looking out of the window alongside her.
"Of course they do." She muttered "To them I just snapped and killed a bunch of people. They think I'm a raving lunatic ready to turn on them at any minute. They think I'm crazy."
"You are crazy."
"Yeah, but a good crazy."
"Dumbledore called a special feast last night, and told them an amended version of what happened. He also told them to keep their mouths shut under penalty of expulsion and both Ministry and Sanctuary enquiries." Valkyrie paused a moment, and her bottom lip trembled slightly.
"What did he say?"
"He said that when the criminals came, you were possessed by a not-so-nice spirit that controlled your actions and motives. You couldn't have stopped it, and you were as haunted by it as they were. But the problem had been dealt with, and you were yourself again, and until such time as everything could be restored to its normal appearance and function and what not, they were to treat the guests kindly and formally but to avoid them whenever possible. And they were not to mention the incident again unless with a counsellor or other professor."
"So naturally the entire school's not stopped talking about it?"
"Naturally."
"Great." Valkyrie muttered "Do they know anything about… her."
"No. Nothing. Apart from the Weasleys, Mr Potter and Miss Granger, of course."
"Yeah, well, I told them, didn't I."
"You did."
"So. When does Dumbledore want us out?" There was a pause.
"He doesn't."
"He doesn't?"
"No. Umbridge does, despite Dumbledore's story. She's been snooping around the hospital wing for days now trying to get in and talk to the other sorcerers, but Madam Pomfrey won't allow it."
"Yeah well, Umbridge would."
"Indeed." Another pause.
"Is Tanith awake yet?"
"Not yet."
"And Sanguine?"
"Under constant sedation. He's unconscious 24/7. Personally I'd rather just put a gun to his head and have done with it, but I'm afraid that's not allowed, apparently."
"Shame." Valkyrie muttered "What about China?" Skulduggery stiffened slightly.
"I haven't spoken to her, but from what I could see she's already fully recovered. She intends to leave tomorrow, apparently."
"Tomorrow?"
"Apparently."
"Oh. What about Kenspeckle? I didn't scare him too much did I?"
"Grouse? No, of course not. It would take a lot more than a simple deception to make Kenspeckle scared of you. As it is, he's having a magnificent time learning about wizarding medicinal methods, and in turn is teaching Madam Pomfrey a trick or two. Apparently."
"Stop saying 'apparently'."
"But it's such a marvellous word." Skulduggery protested, waving a hand away dismissively "Besides, I haven't had a new catchphrase in quite some time."
"'Apparently' isn't a catchphrase Skulduggery."
"Says who?"
"Says me. And the dictionary. And most other people."
"Ah, most other people. Myself not included, therefore, it is a catchphrase." Valkyrie turned her head from the window and looked at him, a slight annoyed smile on her face, present troubles momentarily sliding to the back of her mind.
"You're so hopeless."
