The New Life created in the Fall

Chapter Seven

The rest of the period went by painfully slow, and I knew why. Rin, never showed.
Logic failed me, for a short time as I'd gone over the possibilities as to why. After the first twenty minutes, I came to the conclusion that Minerva has Rin with her. But something deep down, filled with panic. Almost as if my body knew something was wrong and I was in denial about it.
It wasn't until thirty minutes in, when Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Zabini entered and I took in their concerned expressions that my gut feeling may be correct. The three of us didn't waste any time. Once the rest of the class cleared out when the end of the day bell went off, we floored it.
At the top of the first set of stairs, an open door caught my attention. Every room on this floor is always locked, or in use of other teachers. There wouldn't be a reason for this door to be unlocked, let alone wide open like it is. The boys waited as I was guided by my thoughts to enter the room. My chest tightened with anger, pain, and fear as I saw the parchment on the ground.
It wasn't until I picked it up that my anger turned to hatred. A seething rage.
The small square paper has Rin's name and signature on it, as well as Minerva's. It was a tardy slip.
And it was covered in blood.
Her blood.

The few students that lingered in the halls and common room didn't dare pick their heads up as we ran through. Making our way as fast as possible to get to her dorm.
All three of us reached for the handle, and Blaise and myself withdrew, allowing Draco to turn it.
When we noticed the door was locked, I used a spell to force it open. Thankfully, it made barely any noise, not wanting to alert any more people than just us. For now at least.

I didn't have to see the boys faces to know what feeling they were emitting. The rooms atmosphere mixed with my earlier anger, as well as, suffering, guilt, sadness, and more guilt.

Rin.

The entirety of her usually patched eye, is slashed. In multiple directions and layers. Her patch is no where to be seen and as I look her over, her hands are bruised. With small scrapes across the knuckles. I could feel the tension, as the three of us froze. Making an attempt to remain as calm as possible for her, my muscles begin to ache as I try to relax. My hand tightened around the piece of parchment, leaving behind a crinkling noise as it gets crushed in my grip.

Draco drops himself onto his knees in front of her. I was so in my own head that I didn't realize he approached her. Mr. Zabini is glued to my side. Going through the same problem as myself. I watched as he brings up a loving hand, caressing her injured face, and gently stroking his thumb against her skin.