snake skin * d.m.

5.

Her eyes began to grow blurry, as a flood of tears burned behind her eyes. Her hand lay on Lira's shoulder, into which she shrugged it off. Clove wasn't surprised. She had done many things to hurt Lira in their friendship. She knew, if the roles were reversed, Clove would feel the exact same way.

"Get the hell away from me.." Lira whispered weakly, trying to prop herself up on her elbow. It took everything inside of Clove to resist helping her.

"You're weak, you shouldn't move just yet..." Clove's voice was just as weak, and her palms grew clammy. She knew Lira didn't want her there, but with the imminent danger closing in, she couldn't just leave her. "Stay still." Her voice was barely a whisper, and she began trying to scoop up Lira. She had promptly begun to protest before realizing the severity of her weakness and fell limp under Clove's touch. But, as she had been dressed as the enemy, a student behind her shouted "Stupefy!". It struck her between the shoulder blades, falling to the ground, she dropped Lira, only hearing her cries of pain before drifting unconscious.

---

Her strides were confident, and she held her books in her arms as she headed down towards the Slytherin common room. She rolled her eyes before saying "Pure-blood". Whoever set the password like that, they were a real twat. She sighed, waiting for the bricks on the dungeon wall to clank together, throwing dust around everywhere as it had always done. But, walking forward she hadn't paid attention to what was in front of her, with which she collided into Draco. Crabbe and Goyle stalked behind him, and her heart picked up pace as he glared at her.

"Watch where you're going mudblood." Malfoy's voice spewed like thick tar, it's tone was suffocating and it kept her feet glued where she was. His two goons cackled like a pair of hyenas. Draco looked between the two before letting his smile sneer. Clove frowned and gasped as he placed two hands on her shoulders and harshly pushed her to the ground. Her back collided into the dungeon floor, gravity working against her. She lost her breath, and her eyes widened at Malfoy. "Let yourself touch me again, Cohen, you'll regret it." He snickered, striding away, his nose pointed towards the ceiling. He turned his head back ever so slightly, allowing for a sliver of his eyes to watch her for a split moment.

Clove still lay on the floor when Pansy Parkison poked out of the common room. She would step over her body, snickering as Clove had failed to push herself up. Pansy turned her head around frantically, she aimed to follow Malfoy, and once she caught a glimpse of his snow-white hair turning the corner, she quickened her pace and ran after him.

Clove coughed before propping herself on her elbow, her throat tightened and began to dry. Now covered in the dust from the bricks opening the passage to the common room, they began to shift back to their normal placement, and she cursed under her breath. Picking up her books that were sprawled across the floor, a pair of gingers crept around the corner as the bell had just dismissed classes. Assuming they had potions with Snape, she perked her head as they came towards her giddily.

"Fred! George!" She waved, smiling, but her head began to ache something fierce and her vision began to blur. The two seemed to notice, and they knelt next to her.

"You alright, Clo?" They said in unison, both of their faces wore an expression of worry until George pointed something out to his brother. They bent towards one another behind her head.

"What? What is it?" She turned around, focusing her attention on George, then Fred.

"You're bleedin' Clo, what happened?" George's voice was quiet and concerned. "Did someone do this to you?"

"Who did this, Clove?" Fred sounded angrier than George, but they both were still hushed, and a flood of students walked around them in the corridor. Everyone around her seemed to slow down, she felt her hand involuntarily reach to the back of her head. It was wet with her own blood. Her heart was beating harshly in her chest.