Content warning: Violence and mentions of death.
"Pick her up! Let's go, let's go!"
A pair of older witches in white robes burst into Diana's dorm, though she wasn't home. Hannah watched incredulously as the nurses levitated an unconscious Barbara onto a stretcher.
"Miss! Do you know what happened?" one of them asked forcefully.
Hannah just stood and stared at Barbara's face, which had become a sickly shade of blue. Swallowing harshly, she turned to the nurse.
"Beats me. She was just drinking tea and collapsed."
"Would you like to accompany her into the hospital wing?"
"No, I'll pass."
The other nurse signalled for the first's attention. With a nod, the two of them pushed the stretcher out of the dorm and down the hallway, leaving Hannah in the room on her own. Feeling a mixture of emotions, she shut the door and tried to get back to studying.
Hannah's eyes scanned the pages, but nothing was registering in her brain. It was as if the words themselves were avoiding being caught in the tractor beams of her vision. Thoughts swirled in her mind, none of them pertaining to the contents of the book.
Maybe I need to rest, she thought. Setting the books aside, she laid herself down on the couch and sighed deeply.
What was going on? Maybe she was stressed about her upcoming exam, or maybe she just needed a glass of water.
Or maybe…?
No. That wasn't right.
Get the hell out of here.
Before she could argue with herself any further, there was a knock at the door. Hesitantly, Hannah opened it and revealed one of the nurses from earlier.
"Good evening. Please make your way to the vice-chancellor's office at your earliest convenience."
"W-What? Why?" Hannah stammered, but the nurse witch simply bowed and took her leave. Perplexed, Hannah grabbed her keys and left.
As Hannah approached the door to the head office, she saw two familiar faces sitting against the wall. One's eyes lit up upon seeing her, while the other not-so-subtly groaned and turned away.
"Hannah!" Amanda greeted her. "They got you too, huh?"
"Got me?" Hannah asked.
Sucy cracked her neck and forced herself to look at Hannah.
"They think one of us had something to do with Barbara's poisoning." she grumbled.
"She was POISONED?!" Hannah cried, her body tensing up and her eyes immediately focusing on Sucy. Seeing their surprised reactions, though, her shoulders dropped and she cleared her throat. "N-Not that I care. She deserved it."
Amanda rolled a dust bunny from the carpet between her fingers and flicked it across the hall as Hannah sat on the floor with them.
"So. Poisoned, huh?" she repeated, her eyes narrowing at Sucy.
"Hey, don't look at me," she said flatly. "I haven't spoken to her in months. You two are much more suspicious."
"Me?!" Amanda exclaimed, a little offended.
Sucy laughed dryly. "Well, Hannah can't stand the girl, and you're her friend now, right?"
"Dude, I'm still suspended. I really don't need to dig myself further in."
"And I sure as hell didn't do it," Hannah added. "I'm busy. Babs- I mean, Barbara isn't worth my time."
The three sat in silence for a moment, waiting to get called into the office.
"God, I feel like I'm in high school again," Hannah complained, staring out the window.
"Sucy," Amanda began, lowering her voice. "Did anyone shady swing by your potion shop lately?"
"Yeah, say it louder," she grunted sarcastically, gesturing towards the door with her head as Amanda rolled her eyes. "But no, I don't sell poisons anyway."
"What potion shop?" Hannah queried, her voice suspicious.
"Oh, shut it," Sucy snapped. "I don't need your attitude right now."
"MY attitude?! I'm just making conversation, you're the one jumping down my throat!"
"Yeah, and I'll be pouring poison in there if you don't leave me alone-"
They were interrupted by the sound of the door lightly unlocking and slowly opening.
"Miss England. Miss Manbavaran. Miss O'Neill."
A gentle yet stern voice beckoned the trio in, and they exchanged glances before complying.
The hospital wing was silent, save for Barbara's gentle breathing.
Her skin was slowly shifting back to its natural colour, but she was still unconscious. She laid on the bed as the door to the wing clicked open.
Light footsteps made their way to Barbara's bed, and the individual took a deep breath as she sank into a chair next to her.
"Hi, Babs," Hannah whispered. "It's me."
She took in Barbara's form. It had been a while since they'd really acknowledged each other in a positive light, and Hannah's stomach began to fill with butterflies.
Memories of the two hanging out filled her brain. Seeing Barbara in such a state filled Hannah with something like… regret? Longing? She couldn't quite tell.
All she knew at that moment was how badly she wanted to cry.
"I swear to God, I'm gonna kill whoever did this to you," she muttered viciously, before a sob escaped her. As her conscience began to weigh on her like a ton of bricks all of a sudden, she hung her head and let the tears flow.
"I'm so sorry…" she rasped, taking a breath before crying some more.
Her moment of clarity was interrupted by Barbara softly moaning and beginning to stir. Wordlessly, Hannah jolted upright and hustled out of the hospital wing, drying her eyes with a handkerchief and composing herself again.
Barbara awoke just as the door shut, hiding her mystery visitor. She concluded that it must have been one of the nurses checking in on her as she weakly rolled over and shut her eyes again.
As Hannah trudged quickly down the empty hallway, she thought she saw a shadow move in the gentle moonlight shining through the windows. Writing it off as her being emotional and needing sleep, she continued moving.
At that moment, an invisible force grabbed her and put her in a headlock.
"Get off me!" she grunted, struggling wildly, but the force didn't stop. A vial of poison floated in midair, with the cork popping itself off and rolling across the floor.
Hannah's mouth was forcefully opened, and the open vial headed right for her.
Filled with adrenaline, Hannah kicked wildly behind her and found herself freed from the invisible force. Landing on the ground next to the cork, she mindlessly snatched it up and pocketed it.
She scrambled to her feet and whipped out her wand in one swift motion.
"I KNOW IT'S YOU, SUCY!" she screamed. "I'LL KILL YOU! MUROWA!"
With a fierce swing of her wand, a big blast of heat rocketed down the hallway, but it didn't come into contact with anything except a potted plant. The spell exploded into smoke once it hit the wall at the end of the hall.
Hannah breathed heavily, her eyes darting all around the hall, her wand at the ready.
"Where'd you go, mushroom freak?!"
No response. The silence was almost deafening after what had just transpired.
Tentatively, Hannah took a few steps backwards before turning around and quickly walking down the corridor.
Was that… the same poison Barbara ingested? She noticed the same smell lingering in the air in both instances.
If that really was Sucy, she was out for both of them. But did that mean…?
Hannah's mind turned to Diana. They certainly weren't on good terms, especially not after the prank Hannah and Amanda had played on her.
Thinking about Diana made a hot wash of anger flow through Hannah's body.
But even still… a horrible core of guilt nestled itself in her heart. Was Diana going to be okay? Sucy wasn't after her, was she?
Sucy slouched down the hall, heading to her first class for the day. Still half-asleep, her mind was just on making it through the day and checking up on her latest mushroom experiment back in her dorm.
Just as she neared the lecture hall, she lost complete control of her body as her limbs became numb. She knew exactly what was going on - somebody cast a control spell on her, and she was dragged into a supply closet.
The door shut loudly, and a light from the witch's wand revealed the face of Hannah.
"What the hell do you want?" Sucy grumbled, still fighting against the control magic.
"You know exactly what I want," Hannah replied through gritted teeth. "You're after Diana next, aren't you?!"
Sucy rolled her eyes. "The old woman gave us the clear. You still think I did it?"
"Oh, don't pretend like you didn't ambush me in the hall last night. I only know ONE loser freak who's obsessed with poison."
"As much as I'd love to poison you right now, I have no reason to attack Barbara or Diana."
"Really?" Hannah asked pointedly, cocking her head and plunging a hand into the pocket of her jacket. "So you don't recognise this?"
Sucy muttered something profane under her breath as Hannah thrust the cork from earlier in her face. Squinting, she held it between her fingers and gave it a sniff.
"Novice crap," Sucy huffed, tossing the cork aside. "Even Akko could brew this up."
"I'll kick your ass if you keep lying to me," Hannah spat, and Sucy raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you care so much, anyway?"
At this, Hannah's face flushed red for a moment as she quickly attempted to regain her composure.
"W-What?! I don't care! I'm just mad because you attacked me!"
"What did you say earlier? 'You're after Diana next, aren't you?'"
Sucy's demeanour remained steadily calm, which only further infuriated Hannah.
"G-Get outta here!" she stammered. "I'm done with you!"
She threw Sucy out of the supply closet with a flick of her wand, deactivating the spell as Sucy faceplanted and swore again. As she sat back up, she noticed a fiery-haired girl heading right for her.
"Here she is, the witch of the hour!" Wangari exclaimed, helping Sucy to her feet and holding a microphone up to her face. "So, how d'you feel about all the crazy rumours pinning you as some kinda serial killer?"
Sucy stared directly at her, then at Joanna and Kimberly, who had emerged to document the impromptu interview. The trio stared at her with bated breath.
"Uh… what?"
Kimberly furiously scribbled notes as Joanna snapped a few photos.
"Please don't take photos of me," Sucy muttered, but Joanna wasn't listening.
"Well, you've gotta be aware of the evidence by now, right?" Wangari asked her. "Two witches have been attacked by an invisible force, and both times the same poison was involved. And everyone saw how you attacked Hannah the other day…"
More notes and photos. Sucy rubbed her temple with her hand.
"I didn't poison them. Leave me alone."
Wangari raised a hand, and the other two immediately lowered their items and stopped the documentation.
"Listen, I know this is annoying. I don't think you did it, either. It's just our job to lay out all the evidence and gather whatever info we can about current events."
Sucy sighed with resignation. How the hell did she get caught up in all this?
"Oh, Barbara… I'm so glad you're okay."
Barbara laid on the couch in her dorm, resting under a blanket. Diana brought a teapot over and poured her a cup before setting it on the table.
"Thank you, Diana."
Barbara groggily sat upright and took a slow sip. The taste of poison wasn't present this time, and she sighed with relief.
From the bedroom, Hannah peeked at the duo through the crack in the door. She opened it a little, but second-guessed herself and shut it.
Idiot, she thought. The air was still way too tense, especially with Diana around. There was no way Barbara would want to talk to her, either - especially not after she treated her like garbage for so long.
It really took Barbara having a health emergency for Hannah to see sense?
Was she even seeing sense? Maybe she was just feeling sorry for herself. Guilty that Barbara almost died thinking Hannah hated her. While things between them were rough, they had still been friends for years, and Hannah was beginning to wonder just how long she'd been a bad influence on Barbara for.
A knock at the door broke the silence as Hannah started peeking through the gap again. Diana opened it and revealed a pair of witches.
"Um, sorry to disturb you," Elfriede began, "but have you seen Chloé anywhere?"
"Chloé?" Diana repeated. "I haven't come across her, why?"
Sarah sighed and looked at the ceiling. "It's been, like, a week since anybody can remember seeing her last. Just forget it."
She turned and began to leave, but Elfriede grabbed her arm.
"The other thing," she whispered, as Diana gave them a mildly puzzled look.
"Right…" Sarah uttered. "The other thing." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I didn't wanna scare you, but Chloé did say, uh…"
Diana cocked her head curiously. "What did she say?"
"...that she'd had enough of you and your team."
A chill ran down Diana's spine. Her cool exterior faltered for a moment, but she folded her arms again.
"That's why we're here," Elfriede explained. "We weren't sure exactly what she meant, but the three of you are involved."
From the couch, Barbara weakly lifted her head and turned to look at the door.
"You don't think… she attacked Hann and I, do you?" she said slowly, but Sarah shook her head.
Hannah's eyes widened. Barbara still called her a nickname?
Sarah rubbed her neck. "She doesn't have it in her. I think it was Sucy, personally. But anyway, Diana, just watch your back."
She and Elfriede quickly said their goodbyes and headed off as Diana gently shut the door. She tried her best to hide it, but her face had become very pale.
"Diana?"
She turned to Barbara and forced a smile. "D-Don't worry about me. Just rest up, I'll be out for a moment."
"Please be careful!" Barbara exclaimed, before losing energy and lying back down again.
Diana took a breath and composed herself before stepping out the door. Once the latch shut, the dorm was silent again, and Barbara settled in and prepared to take a nap.
"I'm glad you're okay."
Barbara snapped awake and whipped her head around to look at the closed bedroom door.
Diana's casual walk quickly became a distressed run as the edges of her vision began to throb.
She eyed everyone suspiciously as she ran. Her eyes darted all over the place, just waiting for someone to jump out at her.
The destination drew closer. The outside of Akko's dorm was very familiar to Diana by this point, and even in her panicked state of mind, she could spot the telltale stain on the carpet and the way the wallpaper sort of crumpled up further down the hall.
Just before she could reach it, the force finally struck.
Diana was pinned to the ground, and a vial of poison hovered threateningly above her face.
"L-Leave me alone!" Diana commanded, her voice shaking. The vial seemingly uncorked itself, and the odour almost immediately burned her nose.
"FINALLY!" cried a disembodied voice, which Diana also noted was panting heavily. It sounded like it may even have been magically modified to sound deeper. "IT'S FINALLY MY TIME!"
"Who are you?!"
The force tightened its grip on Diana, and the vial swung gently above her face, taunting her with the threat of spillage.
"Oh, that's a question I've heard WAY too much for my liking," the voice mused, with a menacing chuckle. "I'm… the dirt beneath your feet. I'm the one you forgot to see. I'm the saviour for all the little guys TRAMPLED and FORGOTTEN by ASSHOLES LIKE YOU WHO THINK YOU'RE PERFECT!"
With every word shouted for emphasis, the vial of poison was thrust in Diana's face, making her cough when the fumes hit her nose. She could almost taste it, and it was disgusting.
"Y'know," it continued, "there's a girl on campus I fancy. You might know her. Average height, big red eyes, speaks Japanese?"
"A-Akko?!" Diana exclaimed with bewilderment.
"Yes, Akko! I almost worked up the courage to ask her out yesterday. Then I talked to my roommates for support, and WHAT THE HELL DID THEY TELL ME?!"
Diana didn't respond. Whoever this person was, they were all but shouting in her face. It sounded like they might've been on the verge of tears, too. Diana couldn't help but wonder if Akko or anybody in the surrounding dorms was hearing any of this.
The vial dangled in the air, as if somebody was swirling it around and observing it.
"You, Barbara, the other one… Hannah, was it? You three think you're so gifted and talented. A rich girl and two little losers who ride her coattails. You three sicken me, and I've honestly had enough."
While the force was distracted, Diana attempted to suddenly scramble out of its grasp, but it only gripped more firmly.
"It's over, Cavendish! I couldn't deal with your lackeys, but I've got you right here! Any last words before pure poison runs through your veins?"
Panic. Panic. Pure panic. Diana was going to die right here and now. Where the hell was Akko? Lotte? Sucy? Barbara? Hell, even Hannah?!
Even in a life-threatening situation, Diana kept a stoic face, save for her feverish breathing and crazily high heart rate. Her heart throbbed like mad in her ears, and she completely missed the sounds of footsteps approaching them.
A pair of hands grabbed the air in front of Diana and forcefully yanked something backwards. As if flicking a switch, Diana could suddenly see just who was throttling her at that moment.
"Chloé…" Sarah muttered. "What… the FUCK… is wrong with you?"
In shock, Chloé had completely frozen up, lacking any of the confidence she had just been displaying. Sarah took her by the arms and stood her up as Elfriede helped Diana to her feet and dusted her off.
"I'm okay," Diana assured her, though her heart rate suggested otherwise. "B-But thank you."
Chloé stared at Diana with blank eyes. She looked like an absolute mess - her hair was wild, her clothes dishevelled, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"Seriously, Chloé, this is way too far," Sarah scolded her. "I can't begin to guess what got into you-"
"BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE!"
All three of them were taken aback by Chloé's sudden shouting. Finally, the doors to the dorms around them began to crack open, but most of them decided not to get involved.
Diana turned to look at Akko's door, but only Lotte's eyes were visible through the gap in the now-open door. The two nodded a greeting, but Diana decided to turn her attention back to the scene at hand.
"I put in so much damn effort. I'm always answering questions. Staying up late finishing assignments. Helping other students out when they need something. What do I have to show for it? NOTHING!"
She took a sharp breath as the others just watched on, bewildered.
"But you, Miss Cavendish. You have it all! Friends, the perfect relationship, the favour of the staff, plus whatever else your little heart desires. Your roommates are two literal nobodies, but people still know them because they're Diana's friends!"
Diana refrained from talking about the drama her team was experiencing. Sarah put a hand up to her head as Elfriede just watched solemnly, as if this was a rant she'd heard several times before.
"Listen to me, Chloé," Sarah said with an authoritative tone. "That's just the way things are sometimes. We keep telling you this. You can't control your circumstances. And running around POISONING people certainly isn't the way to go about it."
Tears fell from Chloé's eyes as she continued to breathe shakily, looking less tense.
"I apologise, Miss Bernhardt, but may I?" Diana asked, and Sarah shrugged and took a step back.
Diana offered an arm to Chloé, who eyed her with suspicion. After a moment, she nodded, and Diana laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Things are unfair sometimes. You work and work, and you think your efforts go unnoticed. But I can vouch for myself, and I know the effort you put in."
Blinking slowly, Chloé sniffed and turned her nose up at Diana.
"No, you don't. You're too busy looking down at everybody."
"It's an attitude like that that'll repel people from you," Diana remarked firmly. "Do you think I tripped and fell into the position I'm currently in? You and I are both from noble families, but we both need to remember that that won't carry us through our lives."
Chloé stared at the ground in front of Diana, tracing the carpet's pattern with her eyes.
"Plus," Diana continued, "you have two loyal friends right here." She gestured to Sarah and Elfriede. "They came to my dorm today asking about you. They were genuinely worried about your wellbeing."
"R-Really?"
Chloé gazed at her friends, and both of them smiled back at her.
"We hate seeing you like this," Elfriede said.
"You talk a lot of shit, but we still like you," Sarah joked, nudging Chloé playfully.
Diana's heart had stopped pounding out of her chest, but she still felt very uneasy about the whole situation.
"We've strayed too far from the main issue, however," she finally observed. "Chloé, despite all we've said, you still attempted to kill three students. That's unacceptable. I have to ask that you see the vice-chancellor and speak about further actions."
Sarah and Elfriede hung their heads solemnly, knowing this was inevitable. Chloé sighed deeply and turned around.
"Take me there, please."
Nodding sadly, and feeling a mixture of emotions, Sarah and Elfriede led Chloé down the hallway, and they eventually disappeared.
"B-Babs…"
Barbara didn't really know what to say, but something felt wrong. Diana was still out, and she knew Hannah wouldn't be nearly this friendly if she was around.
"Hann…" she uttered. "Please don't."
"Huh?"
"Please just don't," Barbara repeated. "If things were different, I'd forgive you in a heartbeat. It's just not an easy thing to get over."
With a small sigh, Hannah folded her arms and sank into the armchair.
"Whatever. I get it."
Tense, silent air filled the dorm's living room again. With all her heart, Barbara really did want to patch things up with her friend, but she just couldn't ignore how terrified she felt of expressing herself and speaking up about things.
She rolled over on the couch and tried to get some more sleep as Hannah headed back to their bedroom. After a moment, she emerged with a blanket from Barbara's bed and covered her with it.
"What the hell do you want from me, Babs?" she muttered.
AN: Hannah's behaviour isn't being redeemed, nor is it being excused here. I'm trying to capture the complexity of the situation for both her and Barbara - they want things to be like they were before, while also acknowledging that there was unacceptable behaviour that was going ignored. If I do decide to redeem Hannah, there will be a lot of work involved in making her deserve it.
I apologise for this little tangent here. I'm just trying to ensure you understand that I take the themes I write about seriously, and don't intend to misrepresent anybody's experiences. It's completely up to you whether you as a reader want to give Hannah the time of day or not. Regardless, thank you for reading this far, and thank you for waiting for this chapter!