Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters.
Note: Sorry this took so long to post, I redid most of it and that took longer than I thought. Hopefully another two more chapters tonight. Happy reading!
Harmful if Swallowed
Like suggested we carried on the next week as normal as possible. Ron seemed to get overly paranoid whenever Professor Madison got close to his desk, a few times I had to swat him since he couldn't seem to shut up. I managed to sit with Hermione and the others during Potions class, it was all I could do to ignore Draco's questionable look. I still hadn't figured out how I wanted to tell him. Though I knew I wanted it to be soon.
On my way back to common room a couple of nights later I thought of telling him but saw Charity and my mind got caught up in throttling her. It didn't dawn on me she was laughing until I got closer. "Stupid first year taking candy from Fred; what was her name? Abby? Probably dried up now" I halted upon hearing the name. And she knew I heard it. Without waiting to ask questions I spun around and ran, taking the stairs two a time all the way to the hospital wing.
Just as I was about to reach the last step I saw the twins. Both of them looked surprised to see me. George was quick to say his goodbye and move along. Fred was stuck with me glaring at him. "Abby? Really? Of all the students? Abby" I asked, my voice hard and annoyed.
"I didn't mean to Tam, I swear, I gave her candy, just a regular piece of candy, after dinner. Charity was being a bitch and I wanted to make Abby feel better. I gave her candy" he insisted but I shook my head.
"Is she okay?" I asked as he nodded, walking a few steps down.
"You told me stop testing them on students, I did. I swear" he said moving down one step, hesitant about getting closer.
"So she gave herself a nosebleed and blamed it on you?" I asked sarcastically as Fred sighed in annoyance.
"It wasn't mine" he said firmly. "Ours look like peppermint, red and white, not all red with white dots. The ones she had weren't ours" he said as I tried to lighten my expression. Someone else gave Abby a nosebleed. Great. I thought morbidly to myself. "Listen to me," he paused to lick his lips. "I'm already in trouble, I've already been yelled at, I don't need to hear it from you too. And I know it sounds mean, but, accidents happen. I'm sure someone is going to have ill side effect from our candies at some point. But it's what we do. This is what I'm doing with my life. I want you to be on board with that, not fighting against me" he said as I gritted my teeth and looked away, how was he making me look bad? I wondered as I shook my head.
"Fine Fred, it wasn't yours, but Abby thought it was. I don't want to give her the impression it was 'just an accident.' So until you understand what I'm saying I don't want to be around that stuff, it's not safe" I told him as he looked at me with a sudden hurt.
"Okay," he said, his face cold. "And just so we're clear, you can be the one to tell Abby you don't forgive me like she thought you would" he said angrily as he walked down the stairs and out of sight. I waited a few minutes, deciding not to talk to Abby—since she wouldn't understand either—and headed back to the common room. It was nearly ten. Without so much as a goodnight to anyone I hurried upstairs and laid on my back thinking until I was unconscious.
When I woke up it was bright, which meant it was morning. Monday morning. I let out a groan as I rolled out of bed. "I still had my clothes on." I mumbled to myself as I walked around in search for my things. I was washed, dressed and packed but decided against breakfast as to not be late. I slung my back over my back and started for the stairs. As I neared the bottom I could tell someone was slumped down in the oversized chair, the back of the chair facing me. I walked closer to get a better look, half surprised to see Fred; he was dressed, and his schoolbag was propped against the chair. "Morning" he said without looking up.
"Hey" I replied, last night's conversation slipping back into my mind.
"Sleep okay?" he asked as I shifted. No.
"Yeah" I lied as he nodded. "Listen, Fred…" I started but trailed off. I didn't want to break and tell him I was okay with him going around with the candies, but I did know he didn't purposely give one to Abby. He wouldn't hurt anyone that didn't deserve it. "I shouldn't have snapped at you" I decided on saying.
"No, you had every right to. I'm glad when you get mad at me over stupid stuff like this. It means we're not fighting about serious stuff, we're not fighting about someone liking you or about my pass flings, we're not fighting about Professors. It reminds me we're just two people who can be normal, we have a normal life somehow" he said as he stood up and took my hands. "Tam, I'm sorry I've been weird around you lately, I just…this is new to me, this is different. You're different and I…" he trailed off as he stared at me. Suddenly it all clicked. His looks, his touch, his vibe, his nervousness. It took every ounce of strength to not pull away or give him a weird look. Though it took even more to not look like I wanted to pass out.
"Don't worry about it" I said, the only thing I could think of to redirect the conversation. "I just don't like seeing a first year get hurt. I'm sorry about my comment. I just—I want us to be okay, I guess I just miss you" I replied quickly. He smiled and pulled me into a hug, his breathing was slow, and he smelled like cinnamon and sugar. I giggled as I thought about it.
"I still want to tell you something" he said quietly, still holding on. Somewhere, outside the common room the bell sounded, signaling the end of breakfast. I pulled away, cursing at myself for being thankful of the bell.
"Tell me later okay?" I told Fred as I went to kiss him goodbye.
"C'mon, I'll walk you" he said slinging both bags on his shoulder. I smiled as I grabbed his hand and we made our way out of the common room.
I saw Melinda first, she kept looking down the halls for me, I could see her mumbling as I walked closer but I couldn't make out the words. "Maybe she's cursing Draco" Fred joked as we passed some students I didn't know.
"Hey" I said to Melinda, who finally stopped looking around.
"Morning Melinda" Fred said. Melinda relaxed from whatever she had been thinking and smiled up at him.
"Good morning guys," she said holding her look on me. I smiled back as Fred shook off my bag.
"I should go if I'm going to make it to class," Fred said with a sigh. I rolled my eyes, I knew he wanted me to tell him he didn't have to go, but he did.
"You'll be done before you know it" I said pleasantly giving him another kiss. He groaned and mumbled as he waved bye to Melinda and sulked off.
"George told me what happened with Abby" Melinda said as we watched Fred perk up as Lee approached him. "I don't think he's going to class" Melinda added as we continued to watch and Lee and Fred.
"No, he's going" I told her confidently. History of Magic was only a few doors away from our Transfiguration class, so I could see him look back me wave and then disappear with Lee into the classroom.
"Maybe he'll stay for once, George is." I finally took my eyes off the door and looked at her. I started to ask how she managed to convince George but I imagined it was much like how she convinced Draco most of the time.
We moved into the classroom instantly ready to pick up our conversation but Professor McGonagall was now handing back our assignments from the first and second week of class.
"This will give you an idea of how you might be doing when you take the O. . Some of you clearly need to adjust your studying habits, while others need to make some" she said passing a paper to Lavender. I could just make out a D but she quickly stuffed her paper to the back of her book. "Of course, there are a handful of you that I feel very confident about" she said this as she handed me my paper; I was overjoyed to see the O and even more thrilled to see the same on Melinda's paper. If I could pull off grades like hers without copying I was bound to do well on the actual exam.
After class we gathered together to share marks. Both Harry and Ron got a P, while Seamus and Neville both managed a D; I had to congratulate Neville though, at least he didn't get a T. None of us were surprised that Hermione received an O. Ron was the first to ask Matt what he got as we left the classroom. Hermione had nudged him, his formality may have been lacking but it was a question the rest of us were curious about too.
"Not bad I suppose" he said showing us the O on his paper. "I'm pretty good at following directions and I catch on pretty quickly" he said flashing his best smile. Hermione and Melinda congratulated him but then quickly headed off.
"Good job on that assignment, I was hoping you did well" I told him. He nodded and started to follow the direction of Ron and Harry but I continued straight. "I'll be there in a second, I just wanted to check something" I said as I peeked into the History of Magic classroom; the students in there were packing up as well. I scanned the room, my eyes instantly falling on set of redheads in the back corner. "Well done" I said happily as I turned around to leave.
"Wait up!" I stopped and turned just as Fred walked into me, my nose colliding with his bag. I ignored the stinging sensation as my eyes watered up as I covered my nose with my hand. I could feel the blood before I saw it. "I'm sorry" he said with a laugh as he pulled me into a hug. "Here" he said pulling out something from his pocket. "It's the nosebleed antidote, I swear." I stared at the candy. "C'mon, take it, you'll feel better" he said unwrapping it from its clear wrapper and then shoving it in my mouth. I made a face as I pulled away from him. It tasted funny, bittersweet. Fred pulled my hand away from my nose to look at the damage. "See, it stopped already" he said proudly as George joined him.
"You're making us late for our next class" George joked as Lee joined them.
"Right, I forgot you care today" I said giving him a knowing smile as his cheeks blushed. "Thanks, see you later" I said to the boys as I wiped my nose and walked over to where Matt was still standing.
"You alright?" he asked looking at me sideways. I explained to him what happened as we walked to Defense Against the Darks. "And you ate it?" he asked, though he looked slightly worried. "After the stuff with Abby" he added.
"I was little hesitate but, I trust him" I said as I sat down at the desk in front of Matt. I turned around to watch him unload his bag, he didn't look completely pleased with my decision but I ignored the thought, it wasn't any of his business anyway. I thought to myself. Draco, along with some other Slytherins walked in and took their seats, Draco, of course, next to me. "Good morning" I said happily to him. He smiled back at me and then proceeded to take out his things. I gave him a concerned look, he never smiled at me.
"Good morning Tam" he replied, his tone upbeat. For a moment I thought perhaps I had indeed gotten the wrong antidote or my hearing was off, but Draco was still looking happy, if I listened closely I thought I could hear a low hum.
"You okay?" I asked slowly.
"Yep, not that it's any of your business but, I have a date this weekend, with Courtney" he said as I blankly stared at him. Courtney Knacks? Matt's evil sister Courtney? I wanted to ask but Professor Madison walked in, announcing she'd be handing back old assignments first. To my great surprise and probably to her great annoyance I received another O, as did both Draco and Matt. Matt smiled at me while Draco shrugged and filed it between the pages of his book. The Slytherins in front of us didn't seem to care about their Ds and Ts.
Halfway through our continued lesson about the benefits of throwing a wizard into a Location Point I felt another wave of chills, this one seemed to shake me. I felt my teeth chatter as I closed my mouth and continued copying my notes, though I realized I had very little information, I barely knew what Professor Madison was saying. "Are you alright?" Draco hissed into his paper, shooting me a small look of concern.
"Fine, just a bit cold, aren't you cold?" I asked my voice groggy and low. He stopped writing, his concerned face growing. I tried to will myself to stop shaking but it was no use, I was freezing. Draco laid the back of his hand on my cheek, then moved it to my forehead, his motions so quick no one would've noticed if they weren't looking.
"What have you taken today?" he asked, his voice slightly demanding.
"It's those twins, she took something from them" Matt explained, ignoring my glare as he told Draco. "Earlier, she accidently walked into one of them and got herself a nosebleed and then they gave her something to fix it but I think it was the wrong one." I shook my head; I didn't get the wrong candy; that didn't happen accidently two times in a row.
"Get up, I'm taking you to the hospital wing" Draco said as he waved his hand in the air. I didn't hesitate, at least there I could just sleep.
"What happened?" I heard Madame Pomfrey asked.
"Fever Fudge" Matt told her. I shook my head, I wanted to protest but I was too drowsy to move. "The Weasley twins's products" Matt added as Madame Pomfrey said something and then disappeared, quickly returning with a cup and something else. She placed the object on my head and waved her wand for a moment, the object made some sort of beeping noise until she took it off my head. "Oh dear…" she said placing the object on the dresser.
"She has a fever, doesn't she?" Draco asked as Madame Pomfrey nodded.
"Here you go, drink up" she said pushing the cup to my mouth. The liquid tasted sour, I wanted to spit it out but I knew that would be defeating the whole purpose so instead I gulped the rest down. "One-oh-two point seven…that's much too high for someone so young, these products should be banned" Madame Pomfrey said angrily as she pushed me back leaving the covers neatly folded.
"…not…high at…sorry" I felt myself saying, or more like mumbling. "Gonna kill…gonna…" I tried speaking again but my tongue felt too thick and my eyes kept fluttering. It was a nice image to fall asleep to, watching Draco sit on my bed and squeeze my hand, looking the upmost concerned. He didn't belong with Courtney, not if he still cared about my well-being.
