Till Forever Falls Apart

Chapter Thirty-Three: I'm No Master

November 12, 1992

"Valentina Lupin-Black."

The coldness of Madam Pomfrey's words quickly snapped her out of her sleep-filled daze, the young girl jumping out from under the hospital bed covers and looking frightened at the healer before her.

Val laughed nervously. "I can explain."

"You can explain to Professor Flitwick why you were not in your dorm before curfew," Pomfrey said with her hands on her hips.

"Please, wait!" Val put out a hand to stop the healer from writing a letter to her head of house. The woman looked up, clearly overworked from the recent attack, and Val made her point quickly and respectfully.

"I didn't want Harry to be alone," she started. "With everything that has been going on lately, and how... beaten he looked after the match, I thought he might use the company."

Madam Pomfrey did not dismiss her, but looked at the young girl with a hesitant understanding.

"As his friend, I probably shouldn't tell you this," Val forced tears to spring to her eyes, "but... he's prone to suffer nightmares. Nightmares, Madam Pomfrey! Sometimes, he even needs his mother at home to lay with him until he falls asleep. I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

Val could've sworn she had heard Harry curse her under his breath. Repressing a laugh, she gave the school healer another sorrowful look, similar to the one she had worn when talking to the lady in the portrait the night before.

"Oh," Pomfrey clucked her tongue. "Just this once I will let you go without sending you to Flitwick. This cannot happen again, Ms. Lupin-Black."

Val smiled coolly. "Of course. As soon as he's awake, we'll be on our way."

Madam Pomfrey gave a reluctant sigh as she closed the door to her office.

Knowing that she had left, Harry rose and gave Val a sudden kick to the shin. The girl's mouth dropped open as she picked up the nearest pillow and began to whack him with it.

"What was that for?" She cried, her voice somewhere between a laugh and anger.

"Really?" Harry snatched the pillow from her. "Nightmares, Val? My mother needs to be at my bedside to help me sleep?"

"It's not like she's going to tell anyone," Val pulled the curtain between them as she changed out of her clothes from the previous day and into the ones a house elf had been kind enough to bring her.

"It's not true!" said Harry, upset at the story Val had fabricated.

She laughed lightly. "Lighten up, Potter. One day, you can make up something about me."

Fully dressed, she yanked the curtain back, delighted to see that Harry had made a great recovery and was back on his feet.

"Care to go with me to breakfast?" She skipped as she buttoned her robe. "I'm famished."

Harry looked back at Colin's bed, blocked by high, thick curtains, shifting his mood.

"I think I'll go back to my dorm and see Ron," Harry mumbled. "See you."

And hurrying off, Val was left alone to carry her now darkened spirits back to Ravenclaw Tower.

"Hello, Val," Anthony closed the telescope he had been looking through, walking over and sitting next to her on the couch.

"Hi," was all Val could say, putting her feet up on Anthony's legs and looking up at the charmed sky in the center of the common room.

"I was talking to Dean at breakfast and he said they're starting a Dueling Club next week," Anthony mentioned as he offered her an apple. "Care to join?"