Run Away ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter forty-four

Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine

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The Gryffindor dorms were as loud as Antheia Wynter's had ever heard them before. She pulled her head under the covers more pretending to be asleep. After returning to speak to the Keepers in the middle of the night, she hadn't felt any better off. She crawled into her bed and lay restless for the rest of the night dreading the idea of facing the day. Perhaps she could have gone straight to the vivarium, but it felt better to attempt sleeping beforehand. Finally, all her opinions were exhausted and the only thing left to do was to face Marceline Elm once and for all. But for now, she was hesitating even leaving the safety of her bed.

Her roommates hadn't bothered being quiet as they prepared for the day's match. Not that she had expected them to be. Their quad was never known for being quiet.

With the school year finally coming to a close, there was one important event left and the time had finally come. It was the final round of the Quidditch Cup and by the end of the day, either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff would be celebrating their victory by the end of the day. The entire tower was buzzing with electricity with the possibility of the cup coming home to them.

All of the Gryffindor team had left before sunrise for a morning practice before the match. Nellie's loud pudding around the room before anyone else woke up confirmed it. Antheia remained hidden in her bed counting down the passing hour until she knew the team had left for their last practice. Thankfully, it meant that Garreth Weasley had left the dorms too. Even after a week, Antheia wasn't ready to confront her friends about everything that was going on. And she was well aware at this point that Garreth was likely waiting for her return to tell Anne and Ominis. When she had taken off a week earlier she had written to ask Natti to tell both of them that she was going home for a few days, but that had been all.

Antheia hadn't told anyone that she had returned back to the castle yet and no one had expected her to appear until later in the day. She wanted to remain unseen for as long as she could. She had pulled the curtains of her four-post bed before she had crawled away to hide away the night before as she savored the remaining few hours of peace and quiet until she was woken up again.

"Where is Merlin's name is my lucky scarf?" Cressida asked from the other side of her curtained bed.

Antheia didn't even have to open her eyes to know the answer.

"Around your bloody neck," Natti teased back, "You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body, I swear!"

She laughed a little to herself listening to the chaos that was filling the Gryffindor Tower. She missed quidditch; playing on a team, the celebration of a win, the excitement of preparing together, and even the shared heartbreak of a loss. Part of her wanted to jump out of bed and join them like every other Gryffindor student was doing that morning, but she had something more important to do that day.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," Cressida announced, "We should go to Hogsmeade and pick up some extra decorations for tonight in case we win today!"

Natti corrected her, "You mean when we win today!"

They shared a cheerful laugh before leaving. Both girl's footsteps were halfway down the stairwell as Antheia sat up in her bed. Her body was still tired from the lack of sleep, but she had felt better from just resting her eyes.