Entanglement

5. An Invitation

TW: mental illness

I had spent most of dinner speaking in hushed tones to Andre, recounting what had really happened before the match. Merrin had, predictably, not been present in the Great Hall.

When we had finished eating, Andre realized he had forgotten something back at the dormitories, and insisted we go back before we completed our task.

I hesitated outside the door to Andre's room. I could turn around and go back to my own, but I'd risk Pansy giving me a lecture and encouraging me to take the plunge anyway. At this moment I decided it wasn't worth the effort. I convinced my brain that this wasn't a bad idea and waited impatiently for my friend.

Soon after, Andre flung the door open and joined me in the hall with a sense of urgency. Wordlessly, he closed the door behind him and turned to grab my wrist as we hurriedly made our way towards the hospital wing.

My stomach tied itself up as every step brought us closer and closer. My friend's gait couldn't be bouncier, and he dragged me along down the quiet halls. We weren't out past bedtime, but I worried that a professor would stop us either way. Two Slytherins going to visit an injured Gryffindor? It couldn't look anything but suspicious, even if she was famous. Thankfully, the few people and ghosts we passed did not question us on our destination, and we soon found ourselves outside the hospital wing.

While my friend wanted to rush in, I stalled for a minute, pleading my body to calm down. My chest was thumping, and I didn't want to stumble over my words like I had when Mirren had caught me before the game. "Andre, hold on!" I exclaimed as I fidgeted with my clothing, trying to make sure I was the epitome of presentable. He groaned at me and tapped his foot impatiently as I adjusted my top relentlessly.

It was only then I noticed the crumpled-up paper in his hands. "What is that?" I didn't wait for him to answer me as I reached over and tried to grab it from him playfully.

He nimbly kept it out of my reach as I fumbled over him, partly serious in my efforts to steal it away. He smiled at my insistence and held it out of my reach as he answered my question. "Ha! It's one of the mini posters from Seeker Weekly. From the issue that covered her and her brother's favourite positions to play." He was teasing me. "I want to ask her to sign it. Don't know when I might realistically get another chance."

My jaw dropped at this realization. "You can not ask her to sign that." I gripped Andre's wrist in desperation as I spoke. "Blaise would murder you if he found out, and definitely me too when he heard I had gone with you,"

My friend froze in place at my begging and looked to me with deep concern as I continued. "You said we were just paying our respects," My eyes burned as I felt them begin to water at the idea of Mirren actually thinking we were fans. I was sure she didn't believe my confession at the tent, not after the way she'd sneered at me before I left, and I genuinely thought that was probably the better option. "You have no guarantee she won't tell everyone we asked for her autograph, and you cannot promise me it wouldn't get out." I lowered my head and I shut my eyes to stop the tears.

I heard the sound of the poster crumpling up and Andre putting it in his pocket. He gently grabbed both my hands and squished them between his own. "I'm sorry. You're right. We're just here to clear up anything from back on the pitch. I'll leave it alone." He spoke calmly and assuredly but I could tell he was severely disappointed in my ask.

I opened my eyes and quickly pulled myself together with a few deep breaths before looking to Andre, and we went inside the hospital wing.

She had her back to us, and her curly hair had been tied up into a simple and messy ponytail. Her posse had left her, and she wasn't in her quidditch clothes anymore either. She had changed into a loose tank top and jeans that rested just below her hips and exposed just the band of her underwear where the shirt was bunched up by one of her pockets. I realized she was wearing boy's undergarments and pulled my face from her hips as it grew warm at the thought.