Fallen Crowns || Blaise Zabini

Chapter 2

《 CATASTROPHES 》

Time had frozen. Darkness had struck her, and she sat there, her hands shaking and lips trembling. For the first time in her life, Karen Fawley was vulnerable.

Her deep black eyes were lost and empty, staring at the wall ahead, and the flawless wall seemed like a screen where Karen projected her thoughts. But they were visible only to her.

Snapping out of her misery, the girl washed her face and did all that she could in a minimum amount of time to look presentable, for she had to leave the castle immediately. Tying up her hair, Karen rushed out, having to go through many doors, and halted in the middle of the corridor where the head of her house stood.

He was a person with a cold and stoic look spread over his features, his hooked nose never seeming to be at peace. His black greasy hair was always in place and his lips were paper thin, giving him a more intimidating appearance. But what truly identified him, were his eyes; pitch black, showing no emotions behind them, cold tunnels. They went very deep, and yet were very shallow to look at.

"Miss Fawley, you are required to head to St. Mungo's Hospital immediatley. I assume you are aware of the reason," he spoke in his hard voice, taking a small pause before completing his sentence, "and so, we should not delay any further. If you would please, follow me." He said, turning around and walking in an accelerated pace.

Karen wordlessly followed him, not wanting to waste a second before she got to her mother. The clicking of their footsteps echoed in the isolated corridors, as they made their way to the office of Severus Snape.

"I assume," he spoke, his cold gaze turning towards the fireplace, "that you shall be able to travel through the floo network?" His tone seemed undisturbed as he spoke normally, no sense of emergency showing upon him. It made Karen's blood boil with fury, he knew her parents and he looked like he couldn't care less. He expressed no good regards for Eloise Fawley, as she lay there in a critical condition.

Taking a deep breath, the girl went into the fireplace which had no burning fire in it, despite the chilly weather and even colder atmosphere of the room. Taking a fistful of floo powder in her palm, she spoke with clarity,
"St. Mungo's Hospital for Maladies and Injuries!"

A green flame lit the fireplace, taking the girl along with it as it slowly started to subside. The heat felt comforting but the sudden jolt shook Karen, as she appeared in a different fireplace, the ablaze flames disappearing. Her body still warm from the fire moved swiftly towards a a lobby where a few people stood in line, most of who had a frown etched upon their face.

The girl without paying heed to any of the people, walked up to the front of the line, pushing past the others. She reached the polished white table, behind which two attendants sat in their seats with papers, files and a register each kept on the lower part of the table in front of them.

"Excuse me, but I was here first. You are expected to wait in the line." Spoke an impatient and furious voice from behind the girl.

Karen simply ignored the voice, and said to the receptionist, "Eloise Fawley. She has been admitted here."

"Yes, and what relation do you have with her?" The woman who wore a formal attire and glasses without a frame said, not looking up from the papers which she was reading.

Karen seemed annoyed by the behaviour of the attendant, who seemed to not care at all, but decided that she did not have any time to waste on her. She would deal with that later.
"I'm her daughter, Karen Fawley. And I need to know where she is immediately." The girl who was losing her cool said Firmly.  The receptionist looked up and analysed Karen's face.

Seeing the fury raging in her dark eyes, she quickly flicked her wand, and Eloise Fawley's documents came out. Reading out from there, she informed Karen of where her mother had been placed, and assigned a healer to escort her till there.

Karen started to leave when she was stopped by that same squeaky voice that made her head hurt. The woman who had been waiting in line, who's place Karen had taken, looked at her with a mean look.

"You can't just get into the line like that, you have to wait your turn. You're no Royalty!" She commented in a mouse like voice.

"That," Karen said with a smirk, "is where you go wrong. I am Royalty. "

"You don't have a crown, and last time I checked the Royals wore crowns." She bickered, her sentences making less sense than that of newborn babies.

"Nobody is a queen because of a crown."

And saying that, Karen walked past, not wanting to Waste any more of her time on people who were worthless to her.

Reaching her mother's room, the girl made a move to enter, but was stopped. She turned with a fury spread over her facial features and expressed in her body language, to face and vanquish any sort of obstacle that did not permit her to see her mother immediately.

"I am afraid, Ms. Fawley, that you cannot see your mother now. She is in a critical condition, you may see her after we are done treating her wounds." The male healer informed.

The look he received from Karen was something many would cower down to, but he stood there, a small smile on his face.

"It is for her own good. We assure you that it shall not take much time. You'll just have to wait a while." He said in a calm manner, looking down at the fuming girl.

The girl sat on a chair in the waiting room, her eyes glued on the door from where she could be called to visit her mother. She let out a sigh, shaking her head. She was exhausted, after the match and then coming to Saint Mungo's was extremely tiring.

She looked out the window, as even the sun was going to bed. It was slowly descending back into it's cot, tired from the day, ready to sleep in a deep slumber. It allowed the stars to take it's place, helping the moon to shine as well. It allowed night to fall, as black covered the sky, the stars miniscule looking from a distance. The moon glowed dimly, radiating a warm light, making the night where many catastrophes might happen look calm and peaceful.

It had been about an hour since Karen had been sitting, and no one had appeared at the door to call her. Standing up from her seat, she walked towards the door, and opened it. However, before she could walk out, she bumped into a sturdy body.

Looked up to glare at the person and tell them off, but seeing who it was her eyes softened.

Blaise Zabini stood there, his usual energy and spark lost. His eyes looked tired, and seeing behind them, you could see everything he had been trying to do. He had a few cuts on his arms and legs from the quidditch match, and a frown upon his face.

His eyes widened in concern as he looked at Karen, and he spoke to her, seeming worried,
"Are you alright? What are you doing here?"

"I'm alright, Blaise. But, why are you here? What happened? You appear to have come out of an apocalypse." Karen said, as both of them momentarily keeping aside their reason for visiting the hospital, just seeming to care about each other's well- being.

"I'm alright. And no, I've not come out of an apocalypse. The apocalypse isn't over yet, we still have a while to go." He said, groaning and massaging his forehead, "And did I hurt you?" He gazed at her in concern yet again.

"No it's fine. I'm alright. Come, sit." She said, opening the doors and directing him inside.

They both sat down beside each other, sighing simultaneously. Karen tilted her head, resting on Blaise's shoulder.

They sat like that, their hands intertwined,  looking into nothingness.
Karen allowed her heavy eyelids to drop, as she still aware of her surroundings, decided to take care of herself.