The Shadow of Slytherin

After the Relic

While the snow has melted at the beginning of April, the weather is dull and dark, giving students a gloomy wake-up call every morning. On this particular morning, not even three days after your release from the hospital wing, with Madam Blainey demanding a check up every so often, you lay in bed, the face to the ceiling, the head in constant pain as the cold weather tears on the golden metal on your face. Although Madam Blainey managed to remove most of the shrapnel that hit you, she feared it might do more damage to remove the metal and since neither she nor any of the other teachers found any danger coming from the scar, they've agreed to let you be.

It does help, the support of the teachers, including the endeavours of Professor Fig in the search of your trials, and the rather nosy Professor Weasley, but she as well gives you hints for some of your missions, not admitting to it, but whenever you appear lost in your work, she finds the right words to lead you into another direction that gives you clues.

"So does it do anything?" Finley drops onto the bed next to you, staring at the eye.

You rise up, your back against the headboard, the long grown, ultra violet strands of hair falling into your face, wavy and frizzy as you have removed the braids Poppy has given you while resting in the hospital wing. "How do you mean? It's a scar" your voice dry and emotionless, the eyes lingering on Finley.

***

You recall Poppy visiting you, telling stories of what has happened since you got hurt. How Solomon's body could not be found and both Anne and Sebastian have gone. Ominis has covered for his best friend, fearing his sister might be close to death, but the two of them have not exchanged a word since Feldcroft.

"I have warned him many times" Ominis states, seated next to your bed while you rest, the pain that resonates inside your head so strong, you wish to scream, but due to a potion Madam Blainey has given you, your body is immobilised, exhausted and unable to react other than locking you in while you suffer. "He got you hurt, almost killed, and still he refuses to give up" A sigh comes over his lips as Ominis rests his head on your shoulder, the bed too small for him, but it does not stop him from resting beside you, not a sound coming over your lips. The ears on your heartbeat, Ominis stays until the sun leaves the last light on the wall and then vanishes, the hospital wing dark and quiet. "Please get better soon, Salem" Ominis says as he presses your hand and leaves the hospital wing for the night.

Closing your eyes, you let the pain stream through your head. It has lessened since the hospital, the incident in the catacombs still rushing through your mind over and over, Solomon as he fights you and Sebastian, then the inferi, their snarls as they attack, but it all turns black when a red light strikes you, and upon waking, you hear the professors whisper, fighting to get all that is left of the relic, out of your body. Metal stuck in your arm, some in your shoulder and chest, small slithers of metal that have found their place hidden beyond your hairline, the dark blue hair that hides the shimmering metal.

"Purple really is not your colour" Atticus jokes, dropping onto the chair beside your hospital bed, his eyes on the golden shimmer that leads from your temple, through your eyebrow into your eye, leaving it blinded. "But I am glad, you are still alive" he presses out, smiling.

An exhausted grin on your face, you turn your head to look at Atticus, his long hair knotted, not tied back as usual, the robe untidy, his tie hanging to the side. He looks lost and tormented, the eyes empty as he follows your moves. "What happened to you?" The hand rested on his, you lean out of bed, a sharp sting in your shoulder as your hand grabs your skin.

Under your touch, something hard moves, but when you try to inspect it, it has gone.

"Salem?" His eyes on you as your fingers brush over your arm, you study Atticus's expression, troubled, tired, "You need to be more careful"