A/N: Sorry about the long wait! I've been extremely busy.
Flying lessons arrived the next week. Madam Hooch apologized for not having given us our lessons sooner, but she had been terribly sick after a trip she’d been sent on by Dumbledore. I didn’t believe her, but only watched as she demonstrated how to mount her broom.
“Go ahead, students,” she called over a cold burst of wind. “Get a broom, each of you.”
We followed her instructions and placed a hand over the broom, commanding, “Up!” My broom popped up after a few moments and hit the palm of my hand. I winced. Ginny was holding her broom limply, standing much like Luna often did. I was about to ask her if she’d flown before when Madam Hooch yelled, “Now, mount your brooms!”
I took a deep breath and swung my leg over the broom, wondering if it would take off immediately. Luckily for me, it just hovered where it was, with me sitting on it. I waited, taking measured breaths to calm my nerves. “Grip the handle!” our mentor barked.
I uncertainly arranged my hands in front of me. She walked past Ginny, nodding, and stopped next to me. “Come now, girl, this isn’t a tree you’re holding, it’s a broomstick!” She took my hands and placed them in a different way. I nodded, and she left me alone. I glanced at Ginny.
“Ginny?” I asked.
“Mm?”
“What’s flying like? Is it scary?” I questioned. She turned her head towards me and tipped it to one side.
“It’s easy,” she commented, squinting at something over my shoulder. “I’ve always been flying. My brothers made me play with them.”
“I see,” I said, glad she’d spoken so much. I never thought I’d see the day when I spoke more than her, but for the past few days I’d been putting in most of the conversation, trying to get her out of her sedated state. We lapsed into silence as Madam Hooch continued down the line, correcting her students.
“He’s angry with me,” Ginny said suddenly, this time looking directly at me.
“Who?” I asked, though I had a faint idea.
“Tom,” she reported, nodding her head, then shaking it. “Said he was tired of hearing how Fred and George used to torment me.”
“Well, erm, maybe you should give him a break,” I suggested casually.
“What do you mean?” Ginny demanded, still looking at me.
“Maybe”you need some time away from each other.”
“I should just leave him? But I talk with him every day!”
“I know”but maybe right now you should, you know, let him rest a bit.”
Ginny sighed. “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”
I took a deep breath. If she left the diary for even a little while, maybe I’d have time to take it and hide it, or maybe show it to a Professor. I quailed at the thought of handing my good friend’s diary to Professor McGonagall, but I remembered that the pages were blank. She wouldn’t read anything of Ginny’s unless Tom repeated it. But did I dare steal it at all? I’d never had such thoughts in my head in my entire life.
“Now that you’ve all readied yourselves, listen carefully,” Madam Hooch commanded. Mounting her own broom, she gripped the handle with perfect form. “You must kick off of the ground, and hover a few feet above it. Hold your position, and then lean forward (but not too much) and come back down. When you are landing, put your feet squarely bellow you. That way, you won’t fall over. I’d like to go without any accidents this year.” A couple students snickered down the line.
“Right,” she continued. “On my whistle!” I held my breath, forgetting Tom and focusing entirely on the terror at hand. A shrill blast filled my ears. Biting my lip, I kicked hard off of the ground.
Ginny sailed into the air and hovered nicely. My broom shot past her. I struggled to pull it straight, and succeeded when I was a good fifteen feet above my friend. I attempted to lean forward, but my broom was rigid, stuck in its position. Ginny easily leaned forward and landed. I tried to throw my weight forward a little in an attempt to move the broom in any direction, but it was frozen. Cold air whipped about me. I coughed a little and shivered a lot. The students were all on the ground by now, and looked up at me. Colleen and May giggled a little farther down the line.
“Susan’s got herself stuck!” Colleen tittered as Madam Hooch strode by her, broom in hand. A particularly vicious blast of wind nearly knocked my off. Before I could stop myself, I started hyperventilating.
“Sholt!” barked Madam Hooch. “Lean forward, NOW!”
A few tears breaking loose from my eyes, I thrust my weight downward, only to throw my head on the handle. I gasped, and lost consciousness.
When I awoke, Ginny was looking out of the window behind my bed. Madam Hooch was conversing quietly with another woman, who must have been Madam Pomfrey. Ginny had told me of her a few days into school while she demonstrated her great knowledge of Hogwarts.
“She’s awake,” Ginny called out, noticing my open eyes. I only looked all around, examining the Hospital Wing for the first time. “Are you okay?” she asked me.
“I”I think so,” I mumbled.
“Good. After you bumped your head, wind was blowing all around you and you started to fall,” Ginny relayed. “Madam Hooch jumped on her broom to catch you, but you stopped falling. In mid-air.” We were both silent.
“I stopped… falling?” I repeated faintly.
“Yes,” Ginny said.
“H-how is that possible?” Ginny shrugged.
“I don’t know. But Madam Hooch told us to go warm up in the Common Room and took you out of your spot in the air and carried you back to the ground. I followed her here. She’s been talking to Madam Pomfrey for the last hour.”
“I’ve been here for an hour?” I cried out. Madam Pomfrey heard me and bustled over.
“Now, dear, you’re too weak to get up, so just stay here, on your bed. I’ll get you a drink.” She turned to Ginny. “You may go now. If there are any other visitors, tell them that they have five minutes.” Ginny nodded and walked out of the room.
Madam Pomfrey handed me a sizzling, clear drink. “This should help you regain your strength in a few hours. Drink it,” she directed. I nodded and took little sips. It was very hot, but tasted like warm air. Madam Pomfrey said good-bye to Madam Hooch and went to attend to another patient who had some potion spilled on him.
When I looked up again, Paige was sitting next to me. “Hello,” she said quietly. I tried to smile. She’d come all the way up to see me!
“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Not bad. This drink will help me get better soon.”
Paige smiled. “Glad to hear it. If there’s anything you want, like a book to read, or something, just ask and I’ll get it,” she offered. I smiled wider at her kindness.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I don’t need any-” I stopped speaking. How would I steal Ginny’s diary if I was here? It was a book after all. “Actually,” I admitted, “I could use one certain book. But it isn’t mine.” Paige looked confused. “Listen, I know you won’t like this, but if you could steal Ginny’s little black diary I’d be extremely grateful,” I said in a rush.
Paige raised her eyebrows. “The one she takes everywhere?”
“Yeah. I don’t know where she hides it-”
“But I do. I could steal it for you,” Paige insisted. “Where do you want me to put it? Should I bring it to you?”
“If I had it, I don’t know what I’d do with it,” I mused.
“Well, I know a good hiding place,” Paige confided. I stumbled upon it after Charms one day. She smiled at the memory. “How does that sound?”
“Brilliant,” I whispered. Once again, I wondered why I was speaking so much. I realized I’d been wondering that a lot lately. Maybe it was okay for me to talk as much as I wanted to. This thought encouraged me and I sat up more in my little bed.
“Thank you so much, Paige,” I said graciously.
“Any time,” she said, looking a little embarrassed at her eagerness to help me. “I don’t have anything else to do. Nobody would notice if I went out of the Common Room alone. Nobody does,” she declared bitterly. I sighed.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “How about this”if you help me, I’ll make sure that you can sit with us and stuff. With me and Ginny. How does that sound?”
“Great,” Paige beamed, clearly glad to have a friend. She set off determinedly.
“Thank you again,” I called out after her. She smiled at me over her shoulder.
That night, I returned to Gryffindor Tower. Paige was reading quietly, and Ginny was staring into the fire a few chairs away. At least she hadn’t torn up the Common Room searching for her diary. Yet.
“Hi,” I said to Paige as I passed. She looked up and grinned. I returned her smile. “Hi, Ginny.” She looked up at me and nodded.
“I’m going to try,” she announced.
“Try what?”
“To give Tom a break.” I beamed.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know”as long as I can make myself.”
“Ginny, that’s great!” I said, hugging her. She looked suspicious.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with me talking with Tom,” she corrected. I agreed hurriedly. I glanced over my shoulder. Paige looked hopefully at me. I had a promise to fulfill.
“Er, Ginny?”
“Mm?”
“Want to go sit with Paige?”
“Huh?”
“She’s really nice. You’d like her.”
“Sure,” she said after a pause, her mind set on giving Tom a break. I knew what she was thinking: Paige could distract her from Tom. She nodded and followed me over to Paige.
Two weeks later, I was in the Hospital Wing again.
It came up quite suddenly, and I didn’t expect it at all. I woke up coughing in the early hours of the morning and shivered in heat. Misty was under my bed. Smart cat, I thought sadly. She doesn’t want to get sick as well.
I lay awake, coughing hard while desperately trying not to. I didn’t want to wake everyone and be pestered by Colleen. I tossed and turned, dozing off every half an hour only to be jerked awake by more fits. I wondered if I should try and find a drink of water, but I was too tired to get out of bed. My mind wandered over my life, adding to the shudders as I recalled the comfort-shattering fights between Mum and Eric.
Hours later, the other girls began to wake up. Ginny rolled out of bed like she did every morning in her monotonous style. As she shuffled around the room, I dragged my weight out of the tangled sheets and moved unsteadily to my feet. Ginny barely glanced at me, digging for robes in her trunk. The other girls yawned widely. I coughed in return and clutched the bedpost.
I stumbled over to my trunk and removed some robes and shakily tried to pull them on, before I realized that I was still wearing my night gown. Groaning, I pulled at my clothing.
“Are you okay?” Paige asked quietly from behind me. I shook my head, feeling nauseated. I decided against responding, in case I failed to hold down last night’s dinner.
Colleen and May look at me like I was contaminated, which, in a way, I was. It didn’t help my mood, however, and I slumped to the floor, shivering again.
“I think you should go to the hospital wing,” Paige pronounced. She whispered in my ear, “Ginny still hasn’t found the diary. She’s begun to look for it, though.” I nodded and stood as best I could. Paige took my arm and supported me. We walked together, unevenly, past Colleen and May, past everyone.
The castle was cold, since it was late November. School would be let out for our break soon, and I wasn’t sure what I’d do then. Paige led me to Madam Pomfrey, who sat me in a bed and handed me a pot. The moment they turned their backs, I vomited.
Paige was ushered out of the room as Madam Pomfrey Vanished the mess in the pot. “I thought that might happen,” she sniffed. “You’ve come down with something, dear. It’s frightfully cold outside. The wind seems to have picked up suddenly this morning. Maybe your dormitory was drafty?” I shrugged. “Humph. Well, you’ll need to stay here for a little while so I can heal you.” I nodded, keeping my mouth firmly shut.
A few minutes later, a few owls flew into the room. The post had arrived, and an unfamiliar owl found my bed and dropped a letter onto my head. I caught it before it landed in the pot, which was clean for the moment.
The letter was from Mum. I opened it eagerly.
Dear Susan,
Eric finally called me on the telephone yesterday. He said that he’d “come to his senses.” For a moment I thought he had gotten past his nonsensical rage, but then he demanded that I leave “his house” and find somewhere else to stay. He also said that he was coming come that evening and expected me to be gone.
I know this must have a negative effect on you, but please, rest assured that I’ll be fine. Melinda offered her home to me, of course. I’m currently with her in Diagon Alley. However, I realize that I can’t stay here for too long. Melinda’s job in Flourish and Blots can only support me for a short time. She’s offered to start working at Gringotts, where she used to work, but I told her she shouldn’t change her job to help me out. Besides, she hated working there.
I’m hoping to get a job for myself, but there aren’t any available in Diagon Alley. Melinda said she’d look into Hogsmeade for me, which is very close to Hogwarts. If that works out, you might be able to get special permission to visit me on weekends and keep me company. However, I’m not sure that Melinda’s friends at the Three Broomsticks are in need of an inexperienced bartender.
Enough of complicated matters. Your break is coming up, and they’re bound to ask you what you’ll be doing during that time soon enough. When they do, tell them that you’ll be going to stay with your aunt (Melinda). I’ll be here with her. I look forward to spending time with you.
Love, Mum
Angered bubbled under the surface. Eric was an idiot. And Mum had no where to go! What if she couldn’t get the job at the Three Broomsticks? Where would we live? At least I’d be seeing her at Christmas. I shivered in the cold of the morning. Bitterly, I wished the sun would come out.
Before I knew what was happening, the clouds outside of the window behind me parted slightly to reveal a blazing sun. Snow fell softly against it as I leaned backwards to stare outside. That was most unusual. A bit of warmth filled my skin and I relaxed, content to be warm.