The Madness Within: A Harry Potter FanFiction

Chapter VIII

David was standing opposite where she usually sat, wondering why she wasn’t there already. Lana was always there before him. It felt so strange with her not there, like the car was completely empty.

            Maybe she did go home, he thought, frowning.

            Then he saw her, running across the platform to get through the swiftly closing doors. She rammed into them and squeezed through, breathing heavily.

            She looked worse than before, and David hadn’t thought that was possible. She was sweating, and her eyes were glancing about fearfully. She didn’t look at him as she took her usual seat across from him and leaned back, taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

            David didn’t know what to do. He’d never seen a person look this sick before. Maybe she needs to go to the hospital, he thought, but knew he’d never convince her to go. He stood and watched her for the longest time, trying to decide how to react.

“Lana?” he finally asked, stepping close to her, “Are you alright?”

            “Fine,” she replied bluntly, using the gloves she wasn’t wearing to wipe sweat from her forehead. “Just fine.”

            “You don’t look fine,” he said, and he sat down beside her.

            “I’m going home,” she said, “You don’t need to worry about me.”

            “You don’t just look sick, you look like…” He fumbled for the right words. “You look like you’ve been to hell and back.”

            She laughed, eerily energetic, and her eyes got very wide. “That’s probably because I have.”

            “Do you want me to walk you home?” he asked, “You look like you’re going to pass out or something.”

            “I don’t need people knowing where I live,” she said, almost too quietly for him to hear.

            His lips parted, and he was about to speak, but a voice came over, saying they were coming to the next stop. She was beginning to gather the things she’d dropped, but he put his hand lightly on her arm. “Look, if you need anything, you have my number—”

            “I’m fine, David,” she said, brushing his hand off.

            “You’re not fine,” he argued finally, “You’re far from fine, you’re just not admitting it.”

            She was silent, not looking at him, but at the wall beside his head.

            “If you need anything,” he repeated, “Anything at all, call me. I want to help you.”

            “Noted,” she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Thanks for your concern, but I really have to go.” She stood and marched to the doors, and they opened to reveal the platform.

            “I’ll see you later, then,” David said.

            She’d already stepped onto the platform, but she turned around, and looked at him with her big blue eyes, and said, “See you later.” Then the doors closed, and the train kept on, leaving her behind.

            Lana rushed home as quickly as she could, pushing the door open and accidentally slamming it against the wall.

            Rae jumped and nearly knocked her laptop off of the bed, and Sawyer screamed, covering her mouth with one hand and nursing the knee she’d smacked into the desk with the other.

            “Lana,” Rae hissed, once she’d calmed herself down.

            “Sorry,” Lana said, closing the door gently behind her. She threw her stuff onto the floor and leapt onto her bed, saying, “I need to talk to you guys.”

            “You need to fix the wall,” Sawyer said, and motioned to the small hole the doorknob had created.

            “I will,” Lana said, “Later. But this is serious.”

            The girls looked at each other. Rae closed her laptop and moved it to the side, and Sawyer stepped away from the desk and sat down beside Rae. “What is it?” Sawyer asked, folding her legs under her.

            “You’re probably not going to believe me,” Lana said, “But… I need to tell somebody.”  

            “Lana, just tell us,” Rae said, “You’re kind of freaking me out right now.”

            She took a breath. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”