Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter One

  Air invaded her lungs so roughly that they couldn't take it anymore, they were expanded to their limit and they screamed. This isn't right, she shouldn't even be breathing in the first place. Delilah shot up, the rush giving her a headache and her eyes squinted against the light. Once her vision came too, she threw up.

  Delilah rolled on her side as her chest convulsed in on itself, throwing up whatever little food she'd had in her system. Her throat burned and a groan passed her lips as she fell on her back. The grass was soft and lightly pricked at her skin, the sun was warm and everything was just wrong.

  She should be dead- no, not should. She was dead, she'd been killed. The memory was fresh in what should be her no longer functioning brain.

  Delilah had been sent to retrieve something from the Department of Mysteries. Kingsley didn't want her to go but she insisted, there were more pressing matters that the order needed to handle. Blaise didn't want her to go either, though he didn't know she was a part of the Order of the Phoenix. He knew it was dangerous and she'd lied to him, saying she wouldn't go but then she did. Why must I be so reckless?

  Everything fell apart so quickly. One minute she had what she needed, the next Death Eaters were everywhere. Delilah remembered the ache in her wrist as she moved her wand at rapid pace to fend off all the hexes. Then green started to blind her vision and a chill ran itself up her spine that made her feel stiff. They were trying to kill her. She'd nearly gotten out, she was in the Atrium, feet from the floo network. Then he was there. His black silk capes falling elegantly to the floor. The white spiders that were actually his hands held his wand lightly. He smiled at Delilah, there was incredible pain that seemed to last forever, she screamed, then there was a flash of green, and she was dead.

  Now she was at Hogwarts, laying in the grass next to her vomit on the shore of the Great Lake. She rolled her head to the side and her breath hitched. The castle looked beautiful and whole. It had been so long since she saw it look like that. The Hogwarts in her memory was demolished, entire walls, floors, and towers missing. The skies weren't clear, a dense fog had permanently settled on the grounds due to all the dementors.

  Delilah wanted to run inside, feel the warm heat of the fires, find a hidden section in the library with Blaise, tell absurd stories past curfew in the astronomy tower with Luna, watch Harry and Ginny at Quidditch practice, have Hermione help her with runes, sneak into the kitchens with Ron, sketch flowers with Neville, raid Zonko's with Fred and George, pester Draco, braid Cho's hair, sleep in a bed that's hers, laugh when she wanted to, cry when she wanted to.

  She couldn't.

  Because this was not her Hogwarts. She didn't know where she was. Yes, it was the same castle in a sense, but how had she gotten there? Was this some strange mirage her brain created? Was this her version of heaven? Delilah felt dizzy as she stumbled to her feet. Her clothes were the same. She'd been wearing nice black dress robes, an attempt to go unnoticed in the Ministry. Although, her trainers peaked through. Her nose scrunched at the smell of her vomit as she walked towards the water.

  Dipping her hands in, a chill shot up both arms. It was painful but also nice, she could feel and that was what mattered. Considering she was supposed to be nothing but a corpse at the moment. Delilah splashed some water on her face and on her neck before standing up again. It was early morning and she flinched when she saw people at the Quidditch field. They were practicing and their shouts of laughter rang all the way to her. She hadn't heard genuine cheer in awhile. It sounded foreign and beautiful.

  The Forbidden Forest was leering on her right while the castle tempted her on her left. Delilah felt she shouldn't go into Hogwarts. It wasn't the same, it couldn't be the same. Yet the forest was full of creatures that she had no defense against besides her wand. Delilah was acquainted with most of the forest, but again, who knows if it was anything like she recalled? Nothing was making sense and her head began to ache again.