Cerulean - Fred Weasley

Chapter 8 - The morning after

Its pale hands were reaching out, gripping onto Simones's leg, pulling her deeper into the darkness. She could smell its decaying flesh... 

"Argh!" Simone screamed. She was coated in sweat, her heart like a ticking bomb. It's alright, this was just a nightmare. You're safe in your dormitory. Why is the mattress so bumpy?

Simone raised her heavy eyelids. The air was cool and brisk. She was in a forest of tall, ancient trees that blocked most of the sunlight. "What the fuck." She murmured, shakily getting to her feet. "Where am I?" Her head ached with nausea. Lee Jordan was passed out a few metres from where she had lain. She was suddenly aware that her shirt was missing. Face burning, she scavenged for it, eventually retrieving it from under a large oak. It was soaking wet. "What the hell happened last night?"

She followed the trail of passed out Gryffindors to Hagrid's cabin. It was truly a miracle no one had been attacked by anything in the forbidden forest. She heard rumours about a clan of giant spiders. 

She had been dreaming of something. Something pale and evil. The thought of that was too much. Overcome by a wave of nausea, Simone fell to her knees; retching all over Hagrid's prized pumpkin patch. That seemed to clear her head a little. Eager to flee the scene before Hagrid arrived, she paced up towards the castle. Her limbs ached from sleeping on uneven ground and her head continued to throb dully. With no destination in mind, she soon found herself at the bottom of the astronomy tower. each step hurt, but the view was worth it. She leaned against the railing, surveying all of Hogwarts, from the mountains to the black lake. It had been years since she'd had a nightmare like that. 

"Simone," murmured a groggy voice. She whipped around in shock, spotting a very naked Roger. 

"Merlin's beard!" Simone averted her eyes in disgust. "Put some clothes on!"

"Sorry, Sim." He rummaged around for a minute or so. "You can look now, I'm all dressed."

"What in Merlin's name were you doing?" Simone's eyes fell to the sleeping figure of Lola. "I see."

Roger blushed slightly. "Last night was crazy. We came up here to get some... alone time."

"We weren't together last night? I woke up in the forbidden forest."

Roger laughed loudly, causing Simone to cover her ears. "You and the Gryffindor boys disappeared at around 2 am."

"What was I thinking?" 

"I don't think you were." He grimaced. "Let's head back to the common room for a cup of tea, maybe a hangover potion."

"That's all I've ever wanted." She glanced at Lola once again. "Surely we should wake her? I don't like the idea of her up here alone."

"Trust me, she'll be way more upset if we shake her awake. Best if we act as if we were never here."

Simone spent the rest of that weekend confined to her bed. Ruth and Sophie both had hangovers, though nowhere near as bad as hers. They put on some Fleetwood Mac and applied unicorn horn face masks. Monday came far too soon. 

Luckily, Simone had care of magical creatures first. Hagrid was a complete sweetheart. For the first few weeks of term they handled horrors called blast-ended screwts, which had luckily been passed on to the fourth years. Recently, they had been examining mokes: silverly lizards able to shrink at will. Hagrid had promised them a special treat in this class, so most of the students were excited. she joined the group waiting by Hagrid's cabin. He came out of the woods, a deer carcass slung across his shoulder like a sweater. "right class, follow me." he headed back into the woods, the students hesitantly following him.

"Hmmm Fred, I wonder when Simone was last in these woods"

"Probably sometime soon, you know how outdoorsy she is." replied his twin.

They smirked at her. "What the hell happened Saturday night?" She lowered her voice. "All I remember is waking up soaking wet in the forest." 

George's eyes widened. "You don't remember? This is going to be one fun morning."

"Don't say another word, Georgie, we wouldn't want to give away the surprise."

Simone rolled her eyes. They were approaching a large clearing. Hagrid stopped suddenly. "Well there they are." he threw down the deer carcass. Four thestrals approached, all dark and shrivelled looking. 

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Fred asked. 

"You can't see them?" Asked Simone. "Look, they're eating the deer."

Suddenly a Hufflepuff let out a shriek. "Something is eating it!" The class was growing uneasy, Simone supposed the sight of a carcass being stripped by an invisible force would be frightening. 

"Right. These here are thestrals. Can anyone tell me what a thestral is?"

"A breed of winged horse that's commonly associated with death." squeaked a mousy girl.

"Five points fer Slytherin. Show of hands, who here can see them?"

Simone hesitantly raised her arm. The entire class looked at her. "Would you mind describing them for the group Simone?" His black eyes were crinkled in sympathy. 

"Well, they're quite large and very skinny, almost shrivelled. They have large black batlike wings and a reptilian face. Their eyes are red." One of the thestrals approached her. She held out her hand to touch it. Its skin was leathery but oddly warm.

"That sounds horrifying." Said the same Hufflepuff. The rest of the class murmured in agreement.

"Don't be fooled by their ties to death, they are gentle giants and are given a much harsher reputation than they deserve." Hagrid continued to talk about thestrals, but Simone was not listening. She thought back to the death of her mother, the explosion and the shower of flames. Later her father had said it was a floo accident. 

The class headed back to the castle after the lesson had concluded. Simone was walking behind the twins, too absorbed in her thoughts to make conversation. 

"So Simone, who'd you see die?" questioned Fred.

She felt her lower lip trembling and gazed up at the pair. "None of your business you orange prat." She snapped and stormed off. 

"I didn't mean to offend you..." But she was already at the castle gates, tearing her way across the school to the girl's toilets. She dropped her books and slammed the stall door. Simone was no crier, in fact, she couldn't remember the last time she had. But at that moment she felt all of her emotions boiling outward. Hot tears spilled from her eyes, running down her cheeks. She covered her mouth, trying to stop the sob. It's loud and echoes off the cold stone walls. One follows, then another.  

It must have been five minutes before she felt her eyes dry. Shaking herself off, she splashed cold water from the water basin onto her cheeks. Her face was puffy and mascara was running down her cheeks. "Why is this the day I start wearing makeup," she muttered to herself.

"You don't need it anyways" called a voice from behind her.