𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒫𝓇ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓈ℯ𝒹 𝒪𝓃ℯ | 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 |

#21 The Art of Choices

"Mom I said no.", I rolled my eyes and flinched at the movement I did. The pain on my side was almost smoothed down, but the constantly bubbling radiating from my mother's mouth for the past hour gave me a headache.

"Tiara this is not funny. You know what's on the line.", she hissed, but kept her face in her friendly expression with El and Blaise sitting by my side.

Hermione left a few minutes ago, which was probably for the better. I couldn't handle the look she got from the corner of my mother's eyes. The way this woman straightened to look down on the girl, clearly not on her level at all in my mother's opinion.

The girl came by to tell me how bad Harry felt for what he did. That he wanted to visit me too, but she told him it would've been probably a bad idea. Anyway, I didn't want to hear it though. And especially I didn't want to see him.

"I know mother, because you're reminding me every five minutes since you came here.", I spat back and sat up straighter carefully to not make any more damage as Madam Pomfrey moved on from Draco's bed beside me to mine.

It was nearly a day since the fight in the bathroom and Draco hadn't woke up yet. Mrs. Strout came by almost immediately as we entered the hospital wing. Snape had apparated right to St Mungos after he saw my injury and took her with him. My mother was there this morning after the professor sent her an owl.

She didn't say it, but she was almost annoyed that he didn't come by and immediately brought her to Hogwarts before I laid down in my bed. I saw it in the way she scrunched her nose when she thought no one noticed, once Snape stepped into the hospital wing to check on me too. In the way she rubbed the corner of her eyes in distraction when she realized she couldn't hold it back. I was relieved though, because the simple imagination of having her with me, while Mrs Strout stitched the cut, let me think about a lot of things I probably would've said to my mother but shouldn't. And the following hours I slept. God bless Madam Pomfrey for her sleeping potions.

Since she came by she tried to convince me coming home, eying Draco's relaxed features suspicious as if he was the one doing this to me and brought up the 'I'm your mother' clump even after El and Blaise arrived an hour ago.

"Listen, I'm not coming home. Not with him under the same roof and not in the middle of the school year.", I said calmly and looked at El for support since she always knew something to say. But even her face was glowing in discomfort.

"I assure you, Mrs Fox, Tiara is in the best hands.", Blaise said and smiled at me, but my mother's eyes quickly shot over at her next target. Her gaze signalizing her annoyance to get counter of a kid.

"Oh yeah? And look where we at. She just got a mirror shard removed from her stomach. And - and lost blood."

"Yeah, that's not fair, mom.", I flinched as Madam Pomfrey checked on the stitches Mrs. Strout did as she healed me. The witch swore on muggle technics since her work with Augustus Pye. And strangely after she said to my mother that they were the best option when magic has its limits, my mother let her do them.

Definitely a late Christmas miracle for me.

"Mom, I'm fine and it wasn't much, okay? You heard Madam Pomfrey, it wasn't deep and the shard plugged the wound."

"Don't you see that I just try to protect you?"

Her voice was raising to a point where all remaining conscious people in that room turned towards us. El cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. She would've probably already left when it wasn't for my pleadingly demanding gaze to not let me alone with my mother.

"Mom you really can go home again.", I slowly lost my temper. „Or you finally telling me why your pale Snape ordered Mrs. Strout here for such a small injury. Or you for that matter. Is it the family curse?"