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hi guys!!
can we get to 2k comments and 600 votes ?
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MAY 20th, 1997
She carries my books for me, walking a few paces in front of me at a slow pace so as not to leave me behind.
My eyes don't move from the back of her frame once, and I notice how she tightens her hands uncomfortable and subtly glances over her shoulder every once in a while. She wears her bag on one shoulder and mine on the other, and her hands grip the hem of her skirt while she leads me to the Room of Requirements. We'd just finished up at the small party thrown for Pansy's birthday, offering separate excuses to leave.
I got discharged from the Hospital Wing a week ago devoid of any bandages or gauze and with strict instructions not to strain myself in anyway lest I open up the wounds. Madam Pomfrey had looked me right in the eye as she'd ordered me not to work out, stretch too hard, or take any showers—especially not burning hot ones. No, instead, I get to sit in a bathtub with a washcloth.
Celeste had muttered to me without meeting my eyes that it was fine if I wasn't ready to resume the task yet. I told her the task wouldn't wait any longer for me, and then she proceeded to take my bag off my shoulder.
My entire body aches whether I'm standing, walking, sitting, laying. Potter carved marks all over my body, twisting down my chest, winding down my arms, falling over my legs. It's the ones on my face that I hate the most, crossing over my nose and splitting my lip. Those are the ones that get any stares.
I can't stop thinking about this morning at breakfast.
The last empty seat had been between Blaise and Pandora, and that's exactly where I sat, right across from Celeste. Pandora had beamed when she'd seen me, asked me how I felt, helped me try out a few Concealing Charms when I'd said the ones I tried didn't work, and when those didn't work either, she smiled and said I didn't need them.
Then I'd turned forward to find Celeste glaring burning holes into the side of Pandora's face, her dark eyes stony and her jaw clenched.
Celeste makes the doorway appear, and we slip into the Room of Requirements. Neither of us says a word as we walk over to the cabinet, but there's a moment where we're both just frozen and staring at each other as if we'll telepathically figure out who is doing what today.
Eventually, I break away from her dark, enrapturing eyes to turn to the cabinet, feeling jittery under her stare. She maintains it even as I start casting that spell, arm aching to hold my wand up, but after a few moments, she takes her place on the sofa to dive into our schoolwork.
