Losing Faith

𝟏

𝐍 𝐎 𝐕 𝐄 𝐌 𝐁 𝐄 𝐑.

—

Opening her eyes, Nicole felt the ceiling in front of her eyes move.

When you live in a magical world and only a short wave of your wand can destroy the whole world — the moving ceiling is not surprising. But it wasn't magic that made it spin before her eyes, it was a hangover.

Nicole growled at the feeling of nausea that washed over her as she rose on her elbows, lifting her head from the soft pillow,

"I'll never drink again in my life, I swear." She said in a hoarse voice, closing her eyes against the rasp in her parched throat. She felt thirsty, and the urge to pour water down her throat was so unbearable that she groaned again.

"Faith, are you awake?" She asked, still with her eyes closed, lying on her elbows, and when there was no answer, she slowly opened her eyes, gently turning her head toward the bed of her roommate, and also her best friend, Faith.

Her bed was empty, the bedspread perfectly covering it, making it clear that Faith hadn't even slept in her room.

"Little bitch." Nicole exhaled, struggling to get out of bed, and stumbled into the bathroom, wondering why her leg was hurting.

Faith wasn't there, which meant Nicole had to deal with the aftermath of last night alone. But all she wanted to do was go back to bed and stay there for at least twenty-four hours.

Stepping onto the cold tile in the bathroom, her gaze met her reflection in the mirror, and she curled her lips in disgust at her deplorable appearance.

Her rumpled dress was splattered with pale brown alcohol, her face was puffy, and there were bags under her eyes. There were also maroon hickeys on her neck, and her hair looked like a bird's nest.

The thought that she wouldn't drink again flashed through her mind one more time — recovering from the booze was difficult, it wasn't worth it.

She had spent a good two hours trying to get her appearance and inner state in order, and when she sank down exhausted on the bed after finishing her preening, she was surprised to realize that Faith had not appeared, and it was already past noon.

When she first realized that her friend wasn't in the room, and that she hadn't been there all night, she didn't even doubt that she was at Draco's. But after a few hours of being alone in an empty room, the loneliness had become unbearable, so for the first time that day, Nicole decided to leave the room.

"Where's Faith?" She asked as she stepped onto the floor of the common room, finding Draco and Blaise sitting on the couch. They turned their heads at her voice, then looked at each other and shrugged.

"She didn't sleep with you?" Nicole asked as she plopped down on the couch across from them, feeling the heat of the burning fireplace on her side.

She was sure that she had tried to climb into it last night to get into the house of one of the Durmstrang boys with whom she had spent some time during the summer, but she chose to push the hazy memories away, focusing on Faith.

"I don't know if she slept with me last night, but I woke up alone." Draco said, rubbing the back of his neck, he probably didn't feel any better than Nicole.

"So where is she then? It's been a few hours now."

Nicole had no idea if Faith was in trouble, and in fact, no one had. Because what could have happened to her within the walls of Hogwarts? Especially when there had been a wild party in the Slytherin common room last night, after which it wasn't surprising to wake up somewhere like the lakeshore or Hagrid's cabin, so no one was worried, no one sounded the alarm, and no one was looking for her.

Until another night fell.

As Sunday drew to a close, Faith was still nowhere to be found. Nicole, Draco, Blaise, and a few other friends searched every corner, every classroom, every room in all four houses, every closet, and every tree in the forest — she was nowhere to be found. 

And then they sounded the alarm, causing a commotion throughout the school.

Faith had disappeared.