New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|18| Chapter Eighteen

E I G H T E E N

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Is he okay?" squeaked Hermione anxiously.

"What happened?" Harry questioned sounding nervous. 

"How is it this happens to more than one person in your family?" demanded Ron in utter confusion.

Saffron got three very contrasting reactions from her three very different friends when her younger brother collapsed to the floor. They all had different knowledge of what was going on. Hermione knew precisely what it was, as Saffron had confided in her as to their clairvoyance last year. She was far more concerned with his wellbeing than the cause of what happened. It took Harry longer to join up the dots, so even though he knew of Saffron's condition, it took him a bit longer to realise that Rowan suffered from it too. On the flip side, Ron had no idea. The Mitchell siblings had a limit on two friends each. Maya had her friends Bethany and Melanie whilst the twins had two between them, Elena and Emilia. It was easier that way. The majority of those close to them knew, considering their mother told them when she was younger. It was paramount that they kept it under wraps and although Saffron felt that she could trust Ron with the secret, it wasn't necessary so she didn't. She would do so if the time was right and it wasn't yet.

"He'll be okay," Saffron insisted, crouching over her brother, inwardly praying that his time in the Grey would be brief. Her mind was going a mile a minute. The last thing he had said before the Grey consumed him was that he had heard Rachel in his mind clearer than ever. What was that going to end up meaning? Would he be able to talk to her all the time as they had presumed? Only they would know. 

Saffron hoped it wouldn't be painful but was glad that what was inside was finally coming out for them. It had happened for her at the end of their last year in Hogwarts when the Grey managed to capture Peter Pettigrew for her, unleashing a branch of magic that she had never ventured into before. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to go back to that place to conjure the magic again but at least she didn't have to worry about it much anymore. For the twins, they knew that theirs were conjoined and would happen together. The hints of it last year were evidence to back up that belief. When it came to Maya, she hadn't yet found out what was inside but Saffron figured it would occur when she was tested in a high-pressure situation. For Saffron herself, it had been when the stakes were raised sky-high by capturing Pettigrew. For the twins, perhaps tonight had been the culmination of theirs and the pressure of small connections had finally burst. Maya just needed the right set of circumstances and hopefully, then it would come out.

"He just had a ... a panic attack, it happens when you've grown up somewhere like Squires and then are under a lot of stress," What Saffron said was a complete lie but she wasn't going to dare go near the actual cause of Rowan's collapse with so people scurrying past them every few seconds. "That's what Amanda told us, he'll wake up soon... most likely. I think he was just worried about---"

Saffron squeaked when Rowan jolted upright, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and his lungs gasping for air. He looked around him, as though looking for something specific. It was clear that whatever he was looking for, which Saffron presumed to be Rachel, was nowhere to be seen. His eyes landed on Saffron and she seemed to be a compromise for him.

"Saffron, I can hear her. I can hear her and she can hear me when we want to," Rowan began, having to cough as he was exerting too much energy by speaking too quickly. He was still suffering from the aftermath of being transported to the Grey, which did take both physical and mental toll on the body. 

"Are you okay?" Saffron asked him carefully in the pause that he had to cough. She needed to say something to him so that he wouldn't continue to ramble what he wanted to let her know, potentially exposing their secret to anybody and everybody. She did her best to give him a knowing look in order to get him to stifle his emotions and keep his mouth shut. "Look, I know you must have had a fright by collapsing. But you'll be okay, just stay calm. I'll help you up,"