The Cursed Ones

Chapter Seventeen: House Arrest

I sleep in a spare teachers' bedroom, which they've put just down the hall from Narcissa's. They'd originally planned for me to be closer to Professor McGonagall, as she is sort of Dumbledore's right- hand man, so to speak, but Narcissa volunteered to be my full-time watcher - or, babysitter, in my opinion - by reasoning that it would bring both professors out of their way to make sure I get from McGonagall to Narcissa every day, and that she was the Head of my house anyway, and she already had the "special arrangement." I've discovered that they have indeed given Narcissa a time-turner to cover her lessons and her full time job of watching over me.

The whole thing is really just humiliating. I hardly see anyone, and I sorely miss Draco and Pansy by the time the weekend comes and goes. When I do see them, it's only for short periods of time due to our entirely opposing schedules and placements, and even their playful tauntings about me being babysat by Draco's mom don't put me in higher spirits, though I humor them and act as though it's as funny to me as it is to them.

I spend the nights sleepless and bothered, and my restlessness is beginning to kick up a storm. I feel as though it's only a matter of time before I explode in some way or another.

Monday kicks off the start of the next week with an entirely unanticipated horror.

Narcissa wakes me with an especially somber face, and I lurch out of bed, already understanding that something bad has clearly happened. Her hair is down, not even pinned back like it usually is, and it catches me off guard. I've also never seen her in such a state of undress. She's hurriedly dragging a white silk robe over her shoulders to cover the rather small sage green night dress she is wearing, as if she hadn't even enough time to pull the robe on before she ran to my room. Her feet are adorned with the prettiest silken slippers I've ever seen. They almost remind me of ballet flats. In my sleep-glazed state, I determinedly have to keep my gaze fixed on her worried face and whatever bad news she is bearing instead of the places my mind is wandering to.

"What?" I demand, my voice rougher than I meant for it to be. "What time is it?"

"I've found out that Miss Parkinson was rushed to the hospital wing late last night," Narcissa breathes out, sounding as if she might pass out from the stress of it. "It - it seems as though she's been stricken with the very symptoms you experienced. It is identical to what you..." She trails off as I inhale sharply.

"Why the fuck didn't they tell us that last night, then?" I bark, feeling my body stiffening and my spine straightening so that I'm suddenly at least an inch or two taller than I was standing only moments before the news.

Narcissa seems to almost stammer. "I - They wanted to keep it under wraps until they could be sure it was indeed the same ailment you suffered from, it seems."

I practically lunge for my own slippers. "Let's go," I say breathlessly, managing to slide my feet into them in record time. I don't bother to try to find something to cover my night shorts and tank top. I don't want to waste one more second.

Narcissa surges forward suddenly and blocks me from exiting the room. She grabs onto my arms to stop me, and the roughness of her grip startles me. "No," she says firmly in a lowered tone. "You are not to leave this room. The school is going into a full blown lockdown. We're taking this seriously. This is the second student to be attacked within the span of, what, less than sixty hours?"

It's funny to me that it takes two "murder attempts" to shut down a Wizarding school, when in a muggle school, something as flimsy as a false bomb threat will do the trick, but I don't say that to her. Instead I stare blankly at her, studying her eyes for any sign of a weakness, for something to push in an attempt to get her to let me go and see Pansy. But really, I've rarely seen her with so much stony determination in her eyes. She's really taking this whole "protect Noir" thing seriously. I guess this second attack might even be enough for her to chain me to the goddamn bed or something.