Irene nodded. Was it Anthony's imagination or did she really look a little odd today? Shrugging as Irene got off the car; Anthony drove a little further down the lane so that he could get a proper spot to park. He finally found a good place and parked the car. He then got off and started walking towards Pari's place.
It was already eight thirty in the evening and it was dark. Anthony could see Pari's house clearly from where he was and could make her out as she stood at the window of her bedroom, a pool of light falling on her.
Anthony continued to look at her as she stood there, apparently talking to Irene. The window was huge and the glass panes were open. And then what Anthony saw made his heart miss a beat. A pair of hands suddenly appeared behind Pari and pushed her.
“Merlin!” Anthony broke into a run as the girl struggled to gain support but failed and fell down five floors. There was a loud thump and Pari landed on the street, blood beginning to gush out of her. An approaching car stopped and a man and woman rushed out of it as Anthony skidded to a halt.
“Oh my God, we saw her falling!” exclaimed the other man, as Anthony scooped Parineeta up in one go. Then the man looked at Anthony. “You know her?”
“Yes,” Anthony replied. “I'll take her to the hospital.”
“Do you need help?”
“No, thanks...” Anthony walked towards his car as fast as he could with Pari's weight. But what had happened? Had Irene pushed her? It couldn't be anyone else... Unless...
Anthony gasped as realisation struck him. Irene was fair complexioned. And the hands that had pushed Pari looked tan from where Anthony had seen them. And there was just one person with such hands whom Anthony could think of. Rebecca Palmer.
***
Daisy was sitting at the Three Broomsticks with her friends as they all chatted merrily over Butterbeer. They were half way through discussing The Weird Sisters when she looked over at the other table and saw Chris kissing Jane Wilson.
Daisy got up and walked away from the pub, leaving her friends surprised and confused. Soon she was at the lake, sitting on the same rock as she had when she and Chris broke up. She opened her bag and extracted a bottle of aconite juice that they had to use for a potion. Luckily she had forgotten to remove it from her bag. Daisy uncapped the vial and was about to pour the poison into her mouth...
“DAISY!” someone knocked the vial out of her hands. Daisy soon came to realise that it was Pari. “What the HELL do you think you're doing?!”
Daisy couldn't do anything but hug Pari as streams of tears began to fall down her eyes.
She was now in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Chris was looking at her with pleading eyes. “I love you, Daisy. Can't we get back together?”
“No.”
“But why?”
“Where was your so called love when I thought I was pregnant? Where was it when you kissed Jane Wilson?”
“I didn't know that I loved you then!”
“I knew that I loved you,” said Daisy. “But now I'm over you, Chris Stevens.” So saying, she got up and walked away to her dormitory.
It was the masquerade ball for Christmas. Incidentally, Daisy and Chris had arranged for it when they had been on talking terms. Daisy filled up her glass from the punch bowl and raised it to her lips. She had come with Neil as a friendly date, but Andrew had asked her for one dance. Presently, Andrew wasn't visible, so she was looking for him. Finally she spotted him seated at a table and walked over to him. “I've been looking for you forever,” she said. “Let's dance?”
“Um... Sure,” said Andrew and they walked to the dance floor. Just as they began to dance, Daisy realised that something wasn't quite right. This wasn't Andrew.
Then as he pressed his lips to her hands, she knew who he was. It was Chris. Andrew and Chris both had blonde hair and she had mistaken the colour of his eyes through his mask due to the dim light.
Daisy stopped dancing. “I'm sorry, I thought you were Andrew.” She was just freeing herself from Chris when he bent forward and kissed her lips.
Daisy pushed him away disgustedly and slapped him hard. Chris placed a hand on his cheek and looked down. All the other couples also stopped dancing for a minute as Daisy spoke to him menacingly. “Don't ever try that again, do you understand?” She stormed off the Hall and stayed in her dormitory for the rest of the Ball.
Daisy was seated at the Great Hall, trying to have breakfast while Chris continuously tried to make conversation with her. She pretended not to hear him and carried on chatting with Andrew and Pari, who had come over to their table. Suddenly, Pari grabbed Daisy's glass of pumpkin juice. “Pari!” said Daisy, but Pari wasn't looking at her. She was looking directly at Chris.
“What did you put into this?”
Chris went pale. “N”Nothing!”
“Really?” Pari raised the goblet and before Chris could stop her, she was drinking the juice. There was silence amongst the four of them for a while. Then all of a sudden, Pari fainted.
She was taken to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey said that Pari's pumpkin juice had contained a potion which would erase some of her memory. Thankfully, the dose was so light that Pari would be able to recollect everything that had taken place more than about two months ago.
Daisy stormed into Chris's dormitory. “Why did you add that potion in my pumpkin juice?”
Chris sighed. “I... I wanted you to forget the last two months so that we could start afresh.”
“You bloody bastard!” Daisy spat at him. “Do you understand how serious this thing is? How will Pari cope with the two months' worth of lessons now? You've bloody ruined her entire career. Do you get that?”
Chris looked down. “I'm sorry...”
“Who helped you in this?”
“No one...”
“Shut up. You suck at concocting potions. Tell me the truth.”
“No one. I swear.”
Even though Chris insisted that he had done this on his own, Daisy knew that Rebecca was involved. That was the day that she truly started hating Chris Stevens and also broke all ties with Rebecca Palmer.
Pari indeed couldn't recollect two months' worth of academics, but Professor McGonagall rescued her by speaking to the Ministry of Magic and getting permission for Pari to give her NEWTs two months late. Pari had stayed back at Hogwarts for an extra two months and gone to India after that, returning to Britain only in September.
Daisy could feel her senses clear up slowly. First, the dreams faded away and the blackness lifted from her eyes again, giving her a blurred vision of everything around her. Then her ears popped and suddenly she could make out all the sounds about her. It was like being alive again.
Daisy could feel the face mask clearly now and it discomforted her slightly. She looked around and was a little disappointed that no one was in her room. She remembered the girl Chris had brought with him and wondered where the two of them were. Just then, Robert entered. She raised her hand to tell him that she had woken up and he in turn rushed to her side.
“So, how do you do?” he asked, looking at something above her that she couldn't see.
Daisy nodded as Robert took a stool beside her. He waved his wand so that her bed rose a little to put her in a reclining position. Daisy's discomfort with the face mask was increasing and she motioned for him to remove it.
“We can't remove that,” said Robert as he pulled on gloves and palpated her abdomen.
Daisy could feel a bead of sweat form on her forehead as the mask made her feel increasingly claustrophobic. Robert then realised the problem and took off the mask gently. “Well, let's see how your lungs are functioning. If that's clean then we can put you back on the cannula.” He waved his wand again and Daisy felt her chest grow warm as a purple light radiated out of it. “Fair enough,” said Robert. “I'll get a Trainee to fix you to a cannula.”
Daisy tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry to be able to do so. Robert left the ward and five minutes after that a young girl who looked as old as Daisy entered the room and took the stool that had been occupied by Robert a while ago. Another older boy arrived a few seconds later. “You can give her the ice chips, Carla,” he said, turning to one of the cabinets in the ward. Daisy could see the word ‘Trainee’ emblazoned at the back of his robes. Meanwhile, Carla conjured a paper cup of ice chips and as Daisy had them, her tongue and mouth moistened.
The other Trainee then came and fixed Daisy up with the cannula. He then looked at Carla. “Harrison asked me to inject the antispasmodic too. Should I do that?”
“Sure,” said Carla. “Have you brought the syringe?” She had an American accent.
“No, I'll get it.”
As the other Trainee walked away, Carla smiled at Daisy. “Hi! I'm Carla John. Chris and I are classmates. He has told me a lot about you.”
Daisy smiled back. “Really? And what about the other Trainee? Are you all classmates?”
“Nah, Matt's a senior. That's why I got the ice chips and he got the cannula. First years are allowed to observe certain limited procedures and take temperature and pulse.”
“You weren't at Hogwarts, were you?”
“Nope, I'm an American, so I finished my schooling there. Then I decided to get my Healer degree from here.”
Daisy didn't say anything as she settled back properly. The other Trainee , Matt came back with a filled syringe. He opened the needle cap and then the IV port when Daisy realised that the potion was orange, not red. “Wait!”
Matt stopped midway through inserting the needle into the port. “What happened?”
“That... That's not the antispasmodic.”
“Of course it is; I checked it with Harrison.”
“N”No... Check it once more.”
“Oh come on...” Matt pushed the needle in completely.
“NO! Please, don't...”
Matt gave her an irritated expression. “Look here, I have no wish to kill you and open my eyes in Azkaban, okay. I know you belong to that smart-arse batch of students at Hogwarts but the rest of us weren't dumb either.”
“I... Please call the Healer once...”
“Oh Merlin...” Matt removed the needle from the port and was about to leave the room when Healer Tudor came in. “Ma'am,” said Matt, “the patient is saying that this is not her regular antispasmodic.”
Healer Tudor took the syringe in her hand. She examined the syringe for a while and said, “This is the antispasmodic.” She came forward to Daisy, pushed the syringe and emptied it into the IV port. Daisy held her breath, expecting the seizures to start any minute. But nothing happened.
Matt raised an eyebrow and left the room. Carla followed him, leaving Healer Tudor alone with Daisy. She removed the helmet like thing from Daisy's head and put it away. “I'm here for the night, okay? Just send for me if you feel any discomfort. Go to sleep now. Do you want a tranquiliser?”
Daisy shook her head. “I'll sleep by myself.” Healer Tudor lowered her bed a little bit and dimmed the lights. Daisy took a deep breath and shut her eyes, sleep filling her senses even though she had slept for so long...
She suddenly heard something knock over and opened her eyes with a start. Ron had entered the room and banged on to something. He looked at her apologetically. “Sorry...”
“It's okay,” replied Daisy, her voice full of sleep. Then she remembered. How could she have been so stupid?! “Ron!” she called out, as he turned to go.
He turned around. “What happened?”
Daisy took a deep breath. She wasn't afraid of anything now. “The killer...” she said. “It's Rebecca.”
He frowned and came back, taking the stool next to her as he did so. “It's Rebecca?” he asked disbelievingly.
Daisy nodded. “Yes. Rebecca is the culprit. She has the Galvanising Gem.”
“How... How did she steal it?”
“I don't know. Andrew and I never found out about it...”
“Does Chris know about this too?”
“No. He isn't aware of any of this. He doesn't even know about the Gem.”
Ron was silent for a while. “Anything else that we need to know?”
Daisy hesitated. Should she tell him? She looked away. “That's it, I guess...”
“For how long have you known this?”
Daisy hesitated again. “S”Since the start... All this information is in that drawer I wouldn't let you open.”
“Why didn't”?”
“Daisy?”
Ron turned around to see Robert standing at the doorway. He came inside and looked at her sternly. “Didn't Healer Tudor ask you to sleep?”
“I was just””
“I'll inject the Sleeping Drought. You're not going to sleep otherwise.”
“N”No... I'll sleep...”
Robert turned to Ron. “I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to leave her alone. Strain in any way inclusive of just staying awake can be bad for her.”
Ron nodded and left the room. Robert on the other hand, walked towards Daisy. He reached for her nasal cannula and removed it. Bewildered, Daisy was going to ask him why he did that, when he conjured a pillow. And before Daisy could so much as open her mouth, she felt the pillow being pressed against her face.
***
Ron sat next to Ginny, very shocked with what he had just heard. He looked at her. “Rebecca is the killer!”
“What? Who told you?”
“Daisy just did.”
“She's awake?”
“She is,” said Ron. “She knew that it was Rebecca since the start. I was just about to ask her why she didn't tell us about it when Robert came for a check up and asked me to leave.”
“Robert came for a check up? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Why? Didn't you see him?”
“I might have been looking somewhere else when he passed by. But... I thought it was Healer Tudor's shift. He's generally home by this time.”
Just then, Romilda came rushing down the corridor. “Parineeta's just been admitted into the ER. She was pushed down her window. Anthony has gone back to her place. He reckons it was Rebecca.”
“It is Rebecca!” Ginny said. “Daisy just told Ron.”
Ron got up from his seat. “I'm going too.”
“To Pari's house?”
“No, to Chris's house.”
“Huh?”
“Rebecca is there.”
”How do you know?”
Ron pursed his lips. “If I'm not wrong, Chris's parents aren't home tonight. His house is huge and empty. Perfect for Rebecca to brew her potion.”
“But what if Irene and Anthony catch her now?”
“Then I'll come back.” Ron began to walk away, but Romilda caught up with him.
“I'll come along with you,” she said. “You're probably one of her targets, so you shouldn't be alone.”
***
Chris pulled on his robes in a hurry, cursing the traffic jam that had kept him late. There had been huge commotion in the street where Pari lived: someone had jumped off their window or something. Having no diversion to take and being unable to Apparate due to a large number of Muggles around him, Chris had to endure driving through the heavy traffic. Presently as he walked down Daisy's corridor he saw Ginny sitting on one of the chairs outside. “Has Daisy woken up properly?” he asked her, when he had come close enough.
“Yeah,” said Ginny. “Robert's just checking her.”
A little amazed as to why Healer Harrison was there at this time, Chris walked a little further and entered the ward to see a shocking sight. Daisy was struggling continually against the Healer, who was trying to smother her with a pillow. Chris just raised his wand. “Stupefy.” A flash of light hit Robert and he slumped forwards, falling over Daisy as he did so.
Chris ran forward and pulled Robert away from Daisy and threw away the pillow. Her breaths were heavy and eyes were half closed. He then noticed the cannula that was lying on her sheets and fixed it up for her again. She took in a deep breath, coughed a bit and opened her eyes completely. Chris squeezed her hand, unable to believe that someone had just tried to kill her again. He kissed her cheek and gestured towards Robert, who was unconscious. “He just came and put that pillow on your face?”
Daisy nodded, breaking into a coughing fit. Chris propped her up and patted her back, trying to comfort her. “How d'you feel?” he asked, letting her lie down again once her cough had subsided.
Daisy took another deep breath and said, “Can I have some water? My mouth feels dry.”
“You can have ice chips,” said Chris conjuring a paper cup full of them. He gave them to her and said, “I'll take Healer Harrison to Harry and Ginny so that they can interrogate him.” He went over to the unconscious Healer and tied him up with a spell. Then he supported him outside, where Ginny was sitting. She stood up at once.
“Why have you”?”
“He was trying to kill Daisy!”
“What?!”
“He was smothering her with a pillow. I think you should interrogate him.”
“Sure... Let's take him to Hermione's office...”
The duo dragged Robert to Hermione's office where he was made to sit on one of the chairs. “Now I'm very sure that he had been controlled. He obviously didn't do it on his own will or he'd have killed Daisy long ago,” said Harry. “But how's she doing it?”
“Who?” asked Chris, frowning.
“We... Can't...” Ginny stammered for a minute. “It's Rebecca. She has been killing everyone.”
“Becks?!”
“Yes.”
“B”But... No way!”
“Daisy has given us this information,” said Ginny. “It really is Rebecca. And she just attacked Pari a while ago.”
“Merlin! What happened to Pari?”
“She's stable,” replied Hermione. “Her wounds will be healed in a day.”
“But Becks... It's impossible...”
“Ask Daisy yourself, Chris,” Ginny said. “She's known it all along. In fact, this last attack on Daisy was because she was about to tell us about the killer.”
Chris ran out of Hermione's office and was in Daisy's ward before he knew it. “Becks is the s”serial killer?”
Daisy hesitated as she kept the cup of ice chips aside. “When can I start having fluids by mouth?”
“Daisy, just tell me that Becks hasn't been the one all this while.”
“Hell yes, Chris, she is the culprit!”
“She's been killing all those people?”
“Yes!”
“And she tried to kill you?”
“Yes,” whispered Daisy.
“She was the one who ran that knife through you?” Chris asked again, his voice starting to become menacing.
“N”No... She j”just sent someone to... k”kill me.”
“And you know who that was?”
“No.”
Chris instantly knew that she was lying. “Tell me, Daisy,” he said.
“I don't know who it was!”
“You're lying. I'm going to rip that person from limb to limb. Who was it?”
Daisy buried her face in her hands. “I said I don't know...”
“I'll find out,” said Chris. “And when I do, that person had better get scared...”
“Please,” said Daisy. “Can we talk about something else?”
“And how do you expect me to do that? Becks is my best friend, Daisy. And knowing what you mean to me, she tried to murder you! That means she's never cared for either you or me all this time!”
“I beg of you, Chris... Please... Change the topic.”
Chris wasn't listening. “May I know why you never told me about this earlier?”
“I didn't want you to get involved!”
“Right. So you putting yourself in danger was better than letting me be involved?”
“How was I in danger? I was in fact trying to keep out of this mess for all I could! I was fine until I decided to go and tell the Aurors about her.”
“And knowing that she always finds out that you're going to tell the Aurors about her, you went ahead with it today?”
“I wasn't scared this time, Chris. And I'm sure she would have tried to kill me even if I wouldn't have told the Aurors about her. She would never take chances.”
“Oh, sure you weren't scared!” Chris said. “But there are others who do get scared for you, you know.” He looked away as his voice broke.
“Chris...”
He looked back at her, blinking back tears. “You should have at least given me an idea...”
Daisy sighed. “I'm sorry. It was just that... You would have been in bigger danger if you knew. She would have killed you faster than you think. I told Pari about this only and only because Rebecca would never find out that she knew. And Rebecca was aware all along that I knew everything. She kept me quiet by threatening to kill my parents if I told anyone.”
Chris decided not to tell Daisy about Pari's attack as he composed himself and kept a hand on Daisy's forehead. “Well... It's all about to be sorted out now I guess... But promise me that such a thing will never happen again.”
“It won't.” There was silence for sometime. Then Daisy spoke up again. “You never answered my question.”
“Which one?”
“When can I start ingesting fluids?”
Chris hesitated. “Your stomach is still healing, so it might be a while.”
“My stomach?”
“Well, remember that day when you had those severe abdominal pains...?”
“Um, no. When was that?”
“What's the last thing you remember?”
Daisy frowned. “I remember being stabbed and waking up very briefly twice...”
“You don't remember anything after that?”
“Nope. How long has it been anyway?”
“A month and a half.”
“You've got to be kidding me.”
“I'm serious. You were out cold for two weeks after you got stabbed and you woke up on my birthday. After that, you slipped into a coma for a month.”
There was silence for a while. Tension weighed down upon both of them as they wondered whether the Aurors had arrested Rebecca yet. Then Daisy spoke. “Did I wish you?”
Chris suddenly broke out of his reverie. “Huh?”
“Your birthday, you know. Did I wish you when I had woken up?”
“You did. You told me not to mope around and go have fun.”
Daisy made a face. “This year I've been sick for all the important birthdays, I guess. I can't believe I can't remember saying all those things to you!”
“Yeah, and Ryan got real upset because you shooed him away. You also told Pari to carry on with my party.”
“Oh... Did you like it?”
Chris grimaced. “It was good, but my mood was all messed up. Anyway, that was when I met Cheryl.”
“Cheryl?”
“That's the girl who was here when you first woke up today.”
“Oh... Oh yeah. I remember.”
“Well, that's Cheryl Willis. You know who that is, don't you?” Despite the utter seriousness of the entire situation, Chris grinned.
Daisy pulled on her blankets uncomfortably. “Cheryl Willis. That was actually her?”
“Yup. She's gorgeous, isn't she?”
Daisy's heart sank. “I... I didn't see her face properly. But I guess she is pretty... Is she a witch too?”
“Nah. She's a good friend of mine, though, so I could tell her about us.”
“Us? You told her that I'm your girlfriend?”
Chris grinned for a second and then decided to tease Daisy a bit. “Nah. I told her about us being wizards. She doesn't know that I'm not single.” He winked at her.
“So... Is she interested in you?”
“Yep. Very.”
“And you've obviously had a crush on her since our sixth year...”
“Oh yeah. I've always found her really sexy.”
“Hmm...” Daisy looked down. “I really can't match her, can I?”
Chris realised that this was leading to dangerous waters and decided to cut it short before Daisy got too upset. He stroked her cheek fondly. “Of course, Daisy, she can't match you. I was just kidding. I've already told her that I'm with you. She knows better than to make advances to me.”
Daisy suddenly felt really sad as she looked up at the ceiling. Chris still didn't know anything. He had barely scratched the surface by finding out about Rebecca. But if he had all that extra information then he'd probably never ever talk to Daisy. That's why she had decided not to tell him about it till he found out on his own. She would explain everything after that...
Her stomach gave a sharp throb and to her horror, Daisy felt tears fill up her eyes. Chris looked at her and knelt down before her so that their faces were really close. “Is something bothering you?” he asked softly.
Daisy shook her head as the tears started to fall. She didn't know why she was crying, but an unbearable weight on her chest brought the tears streaming. Finally she realised that it was guilt that was weighing down upon her. She was guilty of too much. She raised a shaking hand and placed it on Chris's cheek. “I'm s”sorry!”
Chris looked confused. “For what? It's okay that you didn't tell me about Becks...”
“I've b”been too s”selfish.”
“No, you haven't...” Chris kissed her forehead. “You've been really brave.”
Daisy found herself unable to speak as another wave of tears racked through her. She sniffed and wiped away some of them, trying to find her voice. Finally, she gained her composure. “There's one m”more thing that you have to know about...”
“Tell me.”
Daisy opened her mouth to talk, just as Ginny and Harry burst in with Hermione. Ginny said, “Harry and I need to go immediately. We just got word from Ron that our help is needed.”
“Where is Becks exactly?” asked Chris.
“She's at your place,” replied Harry. “So you must stay away for tonight.”
“I will,” said Chris.
“What about your parents?”
“I'll just inform them about it,” said Chris, standing up. He looked at Daisy. “I'll be back in a while, okay?”
Daisy nodded as he left the ward. Harry and Ginny followed him and Hermione sat next to Daisy.
Meanwhile, Chris strode down corridor after corridor and waved his wand so that his robes were off by the time he was outside the hospital. He knew that his parents would be dining at the Willis' currently and before any of the Muggles could notice, he had Disapparated to their place. He knocked at their door, which was opened by his distressed looking mother. “Chris!” she said, bending forward and hugging him.
“What happened, Mum?” Chris asked.
Melanie took his hand and led him inside, where he saw Brenda Willis blow her nose with a handkerchief and Mr Willis sitting at the dining table, looking distressed too. “Cheryl's not home yet,” Melanie explained. “It's been pretty long since she left. Do you know...?”
“I left her at our place an hour ago...” Chris said. Then he realised what had happened and stood up. “Oh shite!”
“Kevin has gone home””
“WHAT?!”
Melanie looked confused. “Your father has gone home to check if she's anywhere in the vicinity.”
“NO!” Chris exclaimed, standing up. “Oh God...” without uttering another word, he was out of the Willis' house.
***
Hermione looked at Daisy as the teenager prepared to sleep. Somewhere inside her heart, Hermione felt that she must go and help the Aurors. Something told her that Ron was in trouble. Hermione contemplated this for a second and stood up. Then bending towards Daisy she said, “I'm going and helping the Aurors out, okay? Just take care of yourself and get good rest.”
Without waiting for Daisy's response, Hermione walked out of the ward. She was outside the hospital shortly afterwards and had Apparated to Chris's house.
She was in front of the house, just as someone else Apparated next to her. She raised her wand, only to find that it was Chris. Relaxing a bit, Hermione looked at the huge mansion in front of her. It looked sinister as the moonlight fell on it. She could see a room on the second floor which seemed to have some lights on. Otherwise, the entire house was pitch dark. Her heart beating fast, she looked at Chris, who nodded at her. Then both of them opened the gates and walked up the driveway together.
They reached the front door in a minute and waited there, wondering how they should get in. After a few seconds of thought Hermione said to Chris, “Let's just get inside, okay? Be prepared for any surprises, though.”
Chris nodded. “Okay. On the count of three. One... Two... Three... Alohamora.”
The door opened with a creak and both of them entered the dark hallway as it automatically shut behind them. There was no sign of Harry or Ginny, or anyone, for that matter. Blackness, thick and velvety surrounded them. Hermione lit her wand but Chris didn't. “Light it up,” she whispered. “You'll need it.”
He did not light his wand. Hermione turned around. “Chris?”
There was no response. Nor was there any sign of him. Hermione was starting to get a little scared now. Where was Chris? How had he disappeared like that?
Suddenly she heard movement behind her. She turned around again, to see Chris standing a few feet away from her. The darkness made his tall frame look really huge. “Where were you?” she whispered, turning her wandlight at his face. That was when she realised that something was amiss. His eyes looked different; menacing rather.
Hermione stumbled backwards. “Chris?”
He just raised his wand and whispered two deadly words. “Avada kedavra.”