Acceptance: Hogwarts Legacy Continued

Chapter 71: MC- what did I miss?

When Diana woke up fully it wasn't until two days later. She had been in and out of consciousness during the past 48 hours, but nothing very lucid. When she had woken Nurse Blainey had rushed to her, and after making her take some medicine, she tried to fill in the gaps of her memory. She asked if anyone else had been admitted, but the nurse only mentioned Ominis passing out and waking a few hours later.

"So Sebastian didn't need any care?" he questioned, trying to sound casual.

"Of course not, he was the most fit out of the three of you when they brought you in. Did something happen that he would need medical attention?" She looked over at the girl suspiciously as she asked, but she only replied with a shake of her head.

After about half the day Diana was permitted to leave. During that time she had been able to eat and keep food down, which was the biggest indication the nurse was looking for. Professor Weasley had also stopped by to ask her what had happened. She thought she remembered most of it, but all she shared with her teacher was that she overexerted herself with her use of ancient magic. Even without more details she was satisfied with the answer, seeing as the nurse hadn't found much wrong with her during her stay.

When she was leaving the hospital wing she tried to decline the nurses attempts to fetch someone to walk with her, but she insisted. Diana checked the clock on the wall, not wanting to disturb the final classes of the day that her friends would be attending. The only person she knew that didn't have class right now was-

"Garreth Weasley" she replied, deciding it would be the least inconvenience to him. "He would probably be in the library around this time."

"I'll fetch him, you stay put." She watched the nurse leave, and took a seat back on her bed. She suddenly thought that maybe the Gryffindor may be in the room of requirements and wouldn't be found. Her worries were unfounded though because only a moment after she had left the nurse returned, Garreth in tow.

"Seems he was already waiting-" she turned to the boy "Take her to her common room so she can change, then walk her to the great hall for dinner, please make sure she eats."

"Yes ma'am" he replied with a salute, then he turned to her; face laced with worry. She tried to give him an encouraging smile as they made her way out, thanking her caretaker again before pushing through the door.

As soon as they passed the door and entered the hallway Garreth moved quickly over to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. She stiffened in his embrace, feeling a little thrown off by the gesture. Had he been worried about her? He let go and pushed her out, holding her shoulders and looking her over. Her face felt warm under his gaze, not sure what he was looking for. He met her eyes and stared deeply into them, making her go rigid again.

"You have got to stop putting yourself in danger."

"H-how did you-"

"Because that's what you always do! I don't even really know what happened, neither Gaunt or Sallow will tell anyone, but I do know you. You can't keep doing this..."

He was worried about her, she felt a pit of guilt form in her stomach. She probably had made all of her friends worry about her again. That'd hadn't been her intention, she had just wanted to help-

"We couldn't even come to see you, Blainey wouldn't let any of us in!" He drew her attention back from her thoughts. "We were so worried, but she said she just didn't want a repeat of... well I don't think she wanted anything to disturb you. We've all been taking shifts when we didn't have any classes, although Sallow fought for a while to stay camped out here the whole time."

"Is he okay?"

"Who? Sebastian? Uh yeah, he seems fine to me. He got in a lot of trouble though, I guess he skipped detention, and the quidditch game. I personally would be way more scared of Imelda though-"

"Do you think we could wait outside of their class? They're in transfiguration."

"I'm supposed to take you to your common room..." He looked hesitant, but he didn't meet her eyes.

"Please Garreth- I really need to talk to them." She moved around so she could catch his eyes. She tried to mimic the pleading look she had seen Sebastian give countless times, but she didn't really know what she was doing. She tried to make her eyes larger and pout her bottom lip. He looked down at her, but he didn't seem to fold. She was going to just say she would go without him, when he finally broke.

"Okay fine, but then right after that you are going to change and then go to dinner- promise?"

"Yes sir" she copied his salute from before and he cracked a smile. Then he begrudgingly turned, and they headed towards the transfiguration room.

They didn't have to wait too long before the class ended. They sat together on a bench just to the other side, with the door to the class in view. Garreth had started talking about how one of his potions was going when the door opened and students started to file out. Diana jumped on her seat to see over the crowd looking for and finding their respective heads. She called out to them and they both stopped immediately and turned her way.

"DIANA!!" Sebastian screamed and raced over to her. She was going to drop down but before she could he threw his arms around her lower waist and held her tight as picked her up and spun her around. She squeezed his head tight, utterly surprised by his reaction. There had been quite a whiplash of events with him recently, from the cold shoulder, to saving his life, and now a full embrace. It all felt like a little much. She was about to ask him to let her down when Ominis beat her to it.

"Put her down! You're going to make her sick."

"Ah right- sorry." He very carefully placed her on the ground. Her head did feel a bit shaken, and she would have lost her balance if Ominis hadn't immediately brought her into his own embrace. Thankful for the stability she buried her face into his chest, letting his smell envelope her. She hadn't noticed before but he smelled like vanilla. It was warm and inviting, and it made the moment feel even more calming.

"Hey you just said that so you could hold her!" Sebastian chided him.

"Shut up Sebastian." he retorted and she gave a little laugh- it sounded muffled. Then he let go and took a step back. He held her shoulders just like Garreth had, but the spinning must have really thrown her off because it didn't feel as stifling as it had before. Or maybe it was a lack or an intense gaze.

"Are you okay??" the blind boy asked

"Yeah I'm okay- got the all clear from the nurse." She tried to sound reassuring in her tone, wanting to remove any worry that he or Sebastian may feel.

"Okay then we need to talk-" Sebastian grabbed her arm and started to pull her away, removing her from Ominis' hold. Before she could question him though she felt a pull on her other arm; looking over she saw Garreth holding on, looking annoyed.

"Actually she's supposed to head to her common room. I'm walking her there and then escorting her to dinner. Nurse Blainey insisted." His last statement was a bit lower than the other, and it was accompanied by a glare towards the Slytherin.

"Well we have some very important things we need to discuss- and seeing as she waited to see us I assumed she also wanted to talk." He sent him a glare of his own, but it was short lived as Ominis stepped in between him and her.

"Sebastian she just got released, she hasn't gotten to change her clothes in days. I'm sure she would like to take a bath at least before he has to talk to us."

"Oh yes sorry-" he dropped her arm immediately. It surprised her that he backed down so quickly. "Come and find us after you're ready. We'll be um well you know where to meet us."

"If we see Poppy before you we'll tell her you're out and okay." Ominis told her.

She nodded, glad for their help and also that nothing had escalated. She said goodbye, and then turned to the Griffindor, who thankfully had also let go of her arm. He gave her some sort of look- something he couldn't distinguish- and then his eye flicked to the boys behind her. She tried to move forward, attempting to get him to follow. Then he got a steely look in his eyes, grabbed her hand, and practically pulled her away from the boys. She walked with him, allowing him to keep hold of her hand if it meant that they could leave. She heard Sebstian yell something out, but she couldn't make out what it was as they turned the corner and made their way to her house entrance.