Circi | 2

THIRTEEN

"Girls in Common"

September 1994, 1 month later

Circi had stayed in St Mungo's Hospital for two nights. Within an hour of her being assigned a room and her foot being treated, Lucius had been notified and arrived promptly with Narcissa.

As the night drew on and visiting hours had been closed for a while now, Narcissa took Draco and Carmen home while Lucius was allowed to stay overnight. Tucked away in the hospital bed, Circi looked unusually peaceful. The white bedsheet was drawn up around her neck and her hair was knotted but his image of her being filthy and badly hurt was all but diminished.

As he usually did when looking over her, he felt guilty. But this time he felt extra guilty considering he had not been there to get his children out of danger.

While she did not stir, he couldn't resist rearranging her pillow every now and then or tucking her blanket in more so. He finally took the small stuffed toy of a unicorn she had begged him for on an adventure through Diagon Alley when she was three-years-old and tucked it under the blanket by the crook of her neck. Her head turned, pressing her cheek into it and Lucius soon fell asleep in his chair beside her bed.

By the time she was permitted to go home, the homework Circi had yet to complete was sitting on the desk in the study she and Draco shared. There were two days until they were due to head back to Hogwarts.

Despite the dull ache in her foot, Circi dragged herself around with a cane less extravagant than her father's and spent her days in the study doing homework and the night with her leg raised on a pile of pillows as she slept. The final days passed slowly but Circi no longer needed the support of the cane on the day of returning to Hogwarts.

She was limping noticeably, sure, and she moved slowly but that was all forgotten upon seeing Leslie. She greeted him with a hug.

There was a silent agreement between the two of them not to discuss the quidditch world cup and they spent the train journey passing liquorice snaps and trading the cards they found in their chocolate frogs. Halfway through the journey the Ravenclaw girl, Francis, was how Leslie introduced her unaware the two had met before, joined them. She had been eager to see Leslie but when she saw Circi her smile dropped.

She had turned to leave the carriage but Circi lunged and caught her arm. Mumbling and apology, she avoided eye contact and gingerly sat back down. It wasn't much but it comforted Francis enough to join them. This worked out better in their favour as she had two of the one card both Slytherins had been searching for. Unexpectedly, Circi enjoyed the journey and was grateful for her help when it came to climbing onto the self-drawn carriages they could now ride on.

Francis was quiet and often watched the floor when she spoke, her ginger hair clipped back with a plastic purple butterfly making it impossible for her to hide her face. Leslie often answered for her whenever Circi asked a question. Whether it was through some overt narcissism or they had somehow become great friends without her noticing, she wasn't sure, but she soon learned that Francis was a near-expert on magical creatures already. As a muggleborn who would have known nothing a little over a year ago, Circi was impressed. It intrigued her how animated Francis became on the subject of Buckbeak the Hippogriff, her passion embarrassed Circi's treatment of the situation the year before.

In the end, she was glad to be seated with the rest of the Slytherins at dinner. Otherwise she would be sure to spill all of her insecurities to the girl.

Dumbledore's announcement began as usual but he soon introduced something new for the year: the Triwizard tournament. It had been cancelled years ago after a student died and its return confused many of the students.