Unbranded- Theo Nott Love Story

XXVI: Retribution

Addi woke up to a heated throb stretching across every inch of her body. Her head pounded with the force of an entire group of angry trolls. Her pulse danced just under the surface of her skin, sitting so shallowly her bruises and scratches lifted and fell with the rushing blood.

She groaned and rolled onto her stomach to hide her face in her pillow. She took in a deep breath and smelled pine and linen. The familiar scent forced her awake as she pushed up to her palms and looked around. "Hello?" Her head roared at the quick movement and her vision blackened around the very edges and threatened to swallow her whole.

She rolled onto her butt and pushed the drapes open to look out into her dormitory. The light flooding in through the large porthole nearly blinded her in its muted hues of blues and greens. She squinted and rubbed her eyes to try and wake them up further.

Theo was nowhere to be seen, which only further confused her because she didn't know how his scent could christen her pillows if he wasn't in her room.

She hung her head and rubbed her temples as she tried to recall any part of the previous night. It stitched together in broken pieces, giving her a demented image of poisoning the Gryffindors, being attacked, her Gryffindor friends walking her to her common room. It started to grow fuzzy as she shared a joint with Theo. She remembered taking a hit of the magical herb, then... nothing.

"Shit," she muttered to herself as she lost the rest of her night. She didn't remember getting into bed or falling asleep.

She lifted herself and noticed a glass of water on her nightstand with two little orange pills. She smiled gratefully and took the water and pills. She swallowed them, then devoured the water to quench her bone-dry mouth. Her tongue resembled sandpaper and tasted like an outhouse. Water dripped down her chin and trailed down her neck to wet the raised scratches left behind by spiteful women.

When it emptied, she lowered the glass and gasped on air to try and replenish her aching lungs.

The bathroom door opened as Daphne walked out, her hair wet as she used a towel to dry the ends. She stalled at the sight of Addison's deshelved form. "She's alive," she teased wickedly. "After last night, I wasn't sure you'd make it up this morning."

Addison set the glass on the nightstand before falling back into her bed. "I think I'm undead."

Daphne laughed and moved to sit on the foot of Addison's bed. "What happened to you? You look like you got in a fight with the Whomping Willow and lost."

She winced and the memory. "I wish it was something that amazing. It was a stupid cat fight with Gryffindor girls. They ganged up on me."

"And you didn't hex them?"

She turned her head to spot her wand on her nightstand where she had left it the previous night. "I was unarmed."

Daphne sucked in a breath through her teeth. "How unfortunate. Will you go to Madame Pomfrey for a healing tonic?"

She let her eyes slip closed. "She'll just ask questions, which will equal a detention for me. I've already been in trouble enough this term."

Daphne hummed and stood. "That is true. I thought you were trying to set a record or something." She ran the towel over her dripping ends. "Go shower. It'll wake you up, then we can go get some food to fill that stomach of yours."

She groaned and shook her head. "I don't want to move."

Daphne laughed and retracted all of the drapes around her bed to flood her with light. "It's lunch, Adds. You've already missed breakfast. You need food and a shower. You're making this entire dorm smell like Fire Whiskey. Pansy almost threw up this morning at the smell."