XXV

The days till the summer holidays drawled on slowly, as the nights grew shorter and the days grew longer. Veja was still confined to the infirmary for reasons unknown to anyone, and she had vehemently refused to go home to recuperate. So, Grega took it upon herself to persistently visit the girl as often as she could. She didn't know why she did it, but she just did it.

They never spoke; they just sat in the cold and dreary silence of the ward. Thirty minutes a day, neither facing the other, perhaps not even breathing. Grega would walk in at exactly quarter-past-six on the weekend, and would drop a single chrysanthemum in on the stand next to her bed. She would then sit on the bed next to the long window and look out as far as she could see, afraid to speak. In the days following after Veja woke up, she sat even further away.

The silence became even more unbearable. Veja didn't care. At least now, the noise was gone. She didn't know why that self-righteous girl waltz into the ward three times a week with flowers. Did she suddenly feel responsible for her? It was ridiculous. She would come in and drop a flower on the nightstand, then retreat to the furthest corner of the room and sit there, not saying a word or even glancing at her. Veja made sure to burn the flowers to nothing as soon as she was out of sight.

She hadn't made any effort to get out of the bed she lay in. it was a futile effort. She'd tried once, and soon quickly realised that she was paralysed from the waist down. She had fallen to the floor and cried, tears running all over her broken body; searing their trails into her skin. She wasn't particularly surprised – every action had a reaction. She'd struggled back up into the bed, where she had imperiod the matron into allowing her to stay for as long as she wanted to.

She never wanted to see the face of another Hogwarts student again. They were all vile and wicked, and she hoped they suffered a fate worse than hers. The mere thought of hoping made her scoff. She knew hoping was a bleak endeavor. At the end of the day they would all grow up to be successful magic folk, with children worse than they were, while she was doomed to not be accepted by the two worlds she stood in.

Veja reached out with her hand and rang the bell that had been placed on her nightstand. Grega jumped, startled by the sound. Both had forgotten that either was in the room. A few minutes later the matron hurried in, her red dress waving in the wind behind her.

"Is there a problem, dear?" she said as she checked the girl's temperature and eyes.

"I'm fine." Veja said and pointed towards Grega. "Can you get her out of here, please?"

"Me?" Grega scoffed. "But I haven't done anything! I just dropped a flower!"

"Are you daft?" Veja burst out. "YOU are the reason I am here!! YOU drove me off that tower!! YOU did this to me!"

"Grega darling, perhaps-" the matron cut in.

"What's she on about, Matron?" Grega turned to her. "I didn't do anything to her! You fell off the tower, and Harry Potter caught you!"

"YOU LIAR!!!" Veja screeched and flung the bedsheets away from her.

"Grega, you must leave." The matron said firmly, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"She's lying!" Grega protested. "You know she's lying!"

"Please leave now, dear. You're making her upset."

Grega shrugged off the matron's hand and glared at the girl in the bed, before turning with an angry huff and storming out.

"Good riddance!" Veja yelled after her. She sighted the flower on the stand and flung it at her retreating back. "And take your fucking flower with you!"

"Veja!" the matron said sharply.

"I never want to see that liar again, do you hear?" she snapped and sat up with all her strength.

"Careful now," the matron rushed to support her. "before you hurt yourself."

Veja fell silent. Silence filled the ward again as Veja stared at her limp legs until they blurred into one.

"What's wrong with my legs?" it came out barely a whisper.

The matron sighed. "I think you fell harder than it seems, dear. You should go-"

"No." Veja fell back into her pillows. "you may go."

She waited until the matron had shut the door before she sighed and shut her eyes.

Grega's vision was blurred by her tears. She bumped into people twice but kept stumbling angrily until she reached the dormitory. Once she was in, she threw herself into the safety of her bed and let the tears flow.

"Are you okay?"

Grega blinked into her pillow before wiping her eyes and sitting up. It was Hether; she was sat by the window tuning her harp. "I'll be fine." She said and picked up a book from the floor. The Chocolate Soldier. It was a play that she didn't understand but amused her more.

"You will be, of course. But you aren't." Hether prodded. "Spill."

"It doesn't matter." Grega said but went on. "I went to see Veja- the girl that fell. She said I drove her off the tower. She's crazy."

"Did she, now?" Hether was surprised. She had obliviated everyone. So, why then did this girl remember.

"She was really upset." Grega went on. "Raving, actually. Like I'd put her in the infirmary..."

Hether wasn't listening. She was staring at the clock, as if her intense glaring would make time pass faster. Grega frowned. She was always aloof; as if she never really cared about anything or anyone.

"Are you even listening?" she snapped her fingers in Hether's face.

Hether blinked. "No, I've actually got somewhere to be. Bye."

Before she could object, Hether picked her bag and jacket in a swift movement and hurried out of the dormitory. Less than ten seconds after she had departed, Cho burst into the room and swept it with her eyes.

"Where's Hether?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"She just left, actually." Grega yawned. "Didn't you see her?"

"No," Cho placed her hand on her hip. "Michael said no one had left in the past five minutes. You know, since they're tracking everyone's movements now."

"How strange," Grega pursed her lips. "I've always known her to be strange, but now I think she's up to something."

"What are you on about?" Cho rolled her eyes.

"No, really." Grega stood up. "Her and Draco are always together somewhere where no one else is."

"Yeah, I would do that if I were snogging someone." Cho said sarcastically.

"Hether doesn't like public displays of affection."

"Which is exactly why they'd go somewhere no one else was." Cho sighed. "There's nothing suspicious going on, Gregs."

Grega frowned. Something in her gut told her that she was right; that there was something more to Hether and Draco than they let on. Then she remembered the duel, and her face lit up. "Wait, Cho."

"Make it quick. I've got to find Hether."

"Just listen. Remember during the duel between Hether and Pansy, after Pansy used that Killing Curse? The spell- or magic Hether used to absorb it was far different than anything we know. Even…even You Know Who couldn't do that when he tried to kill Harry Potter-"

"Are you saying You Know Who's more powerful than Dumbledore?" Cho frowned.

Grega groaned. "Just listen! The magic was very different. Almost primitive, and she didn't use a wand. You're in some of Draco's classes. What's his magic like?"

"Well, it's different, but Snape could be tutoring him." Cho said then sat down, puzzled. "Actually, it's a bit similar to Hether's. like sometimes when she does the spell and doesn't say the words and then we have to remind her. It's almost a bit like dark magic-"

"What if she's teaching Draco dark magic?"

"But why would she do that?" Cho said, but something clicked in her head. Grega did have a point. Hether was ruthless – something she had seen more frequently – and was willing to use any means to get what she wanted.. "What if she's training him to be a death eater?"

"That's absurd!"

"But you know she's powerful. Probably even better than Hermione." Cho said. "We should tell Hermione. She'll know what to do."

Grega was dumbfounded. "Of all the people in this school, you could only think of her? Are you serious right now?"

"Come on!" Cho rose from her bed. "We should get going. Who knows what else she's doing?"

Grega reluctantly got up and followed Cho. "Are you, like, obsessed with Hermione or something? Because everyone sucks up t her and it's terribly annoying."

"No, I'm not obsessed. She'd just nice to everyone."

"As if," Grega scoffed. "Then why'd she push me down the stairs in second year?"

"I don't know, probably because you tried to trip her but ended up tripping yourself? And I know that because I was there when it happened." Cho hit her shoulder playfully. "Now come on before she teaches Draco how to take down Dumbledore or something."