𝙁𝘼𝙏𝙀'𝙎 𝘼𝙇𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙈𝙔 (𝙰 𝚂𝙽𝙰𝙿𝙴'𝚂 𝙳𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 6

"Flying lessons start on Thursday this week," Sushila said, as she looked at the notice pinned up in the Slytherin Common Room. "It's with the Gryffindors."

Draco, who was sitting on the couch near the fireplace, smirked. "Bet Potter will make a fool of himself. He probably hasn't been near a broom once in his life."

Sushila rolled her eyes, sitting down by a desk. "You're saying that like you're some sort of flying expert."

"Well, I am," Draco said defensively. "I once narrowly escaped Muggles in those...helicopter things they use to fly around!"

"No way!" Pansy, who'd heard the last bit of the conversation, flopped down on the couch next to the boy. "You really did that?"

Draco launched into a story, boasting about how his 'Quidditch skills' helped him escape the Muggles.

𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵. The voice in her head was back with a sneer, and Sushila agreed with it for the first time, her other hand automatically going to her wrist.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦? The voice seemed surprised. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦!

"We're not," Sushila muttered, rubbing the mark with her left thumb.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥! The voice...whined?

I agreed just this once. Sushila countered, feeling a bit silly. Not all the time.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵. The voice continued. 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢--

"Shut up!" Sushila snapped, and the students talking on the couch turned to look at her, surprised at the outburst.

"Sorry..." She said sheepishly, gathering up her books. The pain in her wrist flared up again, and she gritted her teeth, not wanting to cause a scene in front of them.

The voice was getting more frequent since the last few days, and Sushila couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't being able to grasp the fact that it was her own imagination. Is this how Harry feels about his own scar?

Her birthmark was a dark brown now, the eyes lacking  pupils, but it still felt like they were judging every person which crossed paths with her, like they were observing everything.

Sushila was so lost in her thoughts that she crashed into someone, making the figure stumble back slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Professor!" She exclaimed, looking up to see Quirrel rubbing the back of his head.

"No, no, it's fine," He said absently, before hurrying away.

Wait, didn't he used to stutter? Sushila thought, as he watched him disappear from view. That man stuttered over every second word in a sentence! Maybe she must haven't fully registered what he'd said, or...

𝘖𝘳, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯. The voice drawled. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘯𝘰-𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

Sushila would have pondered over it, but the bell signalling the start of classes rang, and she realised in a panic that she was late for Potions.

Thursday morning came, and Sushila found herself being a jumble of nerves. This afternoon would be the first flying lesson, and she didn't know whether she should dread it or be excited.