The sun was fading away in the winter sky, giving the air a strange luminous touch. It was not long since the first snow had fell over the hill, so the white, delicate cover was still lying flabbily onto the cold ground of the Hogwarts gardens.
" Do you think she is all right?"
The words slinked away in the flickering voice of a short silhouette. A more purposeful voice answered.
" What do you mean, if she’s all right? Look at her. She’s all grimy and half covered in snow. AND she’s bleeding…"
The two silhouettes were sitting reluctantly in front of a third one, lying still in the snow. It was a young girl, with her eyes closed, mouth half-open, wavy dark purple hair scattered in the snow. She was wearing her Slytherin robe, but it was all shabby, here and there tiny pieces of its fabric ripped out.
The shortest of the two stepped closer , hesitating.
" What should we do then?"
The two girls were both in the 7th year in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. One of them was a Ravenclaw, the other was a Hufflepuff. Both dutiful, hard-working students, both avoiding getting into trouble, and there they sat, goggling at the unconscious girl, not knowing what to do.
" I think we should get her to the hospital wing", replied the taller one.
The other kept looking into the snow, reflecting. She suddenly looked away, fixing her friend, her face wrinkling thoughtfully.
" I don’t think we should do that, she said. Just imagine, what if they think we did this? And if she is hurt so badly, then it must have been a serious fight, which is not allowed in the school. So I think it would be better if we didn’t tell anyone…"
The taller one looked at her friend with a shocked expression. But then after meditating for a while, she finally admitted it would be the best idea.
