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DAWN FELL OVER HOGWARTS AND CASSIOPEIA LAY AWAKE IN HER BED IN THE HOSPITAL WING. Dumbledore brought her back to Hogwarts and, keeping her promise, she trudged up to the hospital wing to find Madam Pomfrey. Her friends, minus Harry, were all there. She couldn't bear the thought of looking at any of them so she laid in the farthest bed away. Madam Pomfrey gave her a potion to help with any lingering pain and she was supposed to take a Dreamless Sleep Potion, but Cassiopeia hadn't drunk it.
She let herself lay in the hospital bed for hours, thinking of everything that had happened. To think that not even a whole twenty-four hours ago, Cassiopeia had been taking her History of Magic O.W.L. and preparing to meet Ron in the kitchens as a celebration. It was wild. In the span of a few hours, her entire life had been flipped upside down.
Draco Malfoy, her best friend since childhood, now hated her. She flew on a Thestral to the Ministry of Magic in London. Her father tortured her multiple times. Eleanor was cursed and Ron almost suffocated. Sirius died. The Dark Lord appeared. He and Dumbledore dueled. Harry was possessed.
It all got to a point where the only thing Cassiopeia could do was silently cry.
She had gotten a look at herself in a mirror when she arrived at the hospital wing and practically jumped at her appearance. She had never looked so disheveled. Her hair was wild and knotted, clinging to the sweat on the back of her neck. She had a few cuts on her hands from the glass and the blood from her nosebleed had dried on her face. Cassiopeia looked and felt like she had just gone to hell and back.
The few rays of morning sunlight poured into the hospital wing, blinding Cassiopeia. She glanced over at Ron, who sat five beds away from her. He had the rest of the ropes cut off him and was stirring in his sleep. She felt her heart break a bit. It was her fault he was like this. Her fault he almost died.
Not wanting to be there when he woke, Cassiopeia climbed out of her bed. She slipped her shoes back on and grabbed her wand from the bedside table before she shoved it into the waistband of her skirt. The rest of the castle was probably still peacefully asleep, none of them knowing that eight of their peers had almost lost their lives that night.
She walked through the wing, not looking at the rest of her friends, and approached the large oak doors. Carefully, she creaked one open but it caught the attention of Madam Pomfrey, who flew out of her office. She scolded, "Miss Coldwell! What are you doing out of bed? You need rest!"
"I... I think I'll be going back to my dorm now, Madam Pomfrey," Cassiopeia spoke softly. She didn't want to return to the Slytherin dormitories at all but it was better than staying here.
"You will not do such a thing! You need to take another potion at eleven o'clock and then rest for at least another day! Please, return to your bed, Miss Coldwell."
"Madam Pomfrey, I assure you I'm feeling better. I can come back to take the potion."
"I will not ask again, Miss Coldwell! Please, return to your bed."
