𝙈𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨 ✍︎︎ 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙋𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧

|𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀|

The hospital wing of Hogwarts was notorious, and not for good reason. Students only visited there for one of two things: They were hurt. Or, someone they cared about was hurt.

Either way, it wasn't a place one would like to frequently visit. Better yet, it wasn't a place one would like to visit ever.

Despite that fact, no one found themselves in the depths of the treacherous wing more than the Golden Trio themselves. Except this time, their fourth member was hurt.

It had been a week since the accident. The nurses had come to the conclusion that Mariana's injuries wouldn't have been so severe if she hadn't fallen off the cliff.

They had also decided that her injuries weren't as bad as they seemed. After a quick examination and short surgery, Madam Pomfrey declared Mariana, "Barely scratched."

Truly, the shock had been the factor that caused Mariana so much pain. The nurses said that if everything hadn't happened so suddenly, she wouldn't have even felt half the pain she did that night. Apparently if Mariana had been really knocking on deaths door, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish the lengthy trek back to Hogwarts.

Even amongst all those facts, Harry Potter still wasn't convinced. He knew what he saw that night. There was far too much blood for her injuries to be considered minor. The way she fell to her knees, the way her eyes were sealed shut, the way...Harry shivered at his spot beside Mariana's bed. It pained him to think about it.

She was sleeping peacefully, her breath light and airy, her hair falling gracefully over her face. He tried his best to lodge the image of the hurt Mariana out of his mind but every once and a while, it found a way to creep in. Harry sighed and shook his head fervently. He needed to get a grip.

He cared too much about her. And he knew, he just knew, she thought of him as nothing more than a friend.
-
After two long (and terribly boring) weeks spent in the hospital wing, Mariana Rosewood
finally returned to classes. She was particularly overjoyed to know that many people were excited to have her back.

However, the end of the year was rapidly approaching and exams upon exams hit Mariana like a train. Not only that, but the endless stream of work that she had missed in those past two weeks was thrown in her face with no mercy.

One day, as Mariana was scurrying along the hallways, a three foot high stack of papers in hand, she ran head first into Dean Thomas. And, of course, her papers went absolutely everywhere. "Oh, sorry about that, Dean!"

Dean, luckily, just smiled at her and began shoveling her papers off ground. Mariana glanced up at him gratefully as she reached for the last paper. The Thomas boy, though, seemed to have the exact same idea.

Their hands touched, just for a moment, until they both jerked away. The two murmured apologies as they stood up from their crouching positions.

"Thanks, Dean." Mariana said, beaming at him.

Dean scratched the back of his neck and shot a goofy little grin her way. "Of course. I'll pick up your papers any time, as long as it means I get to touch your hand."

At that sentence, Mariana was pleasantly surprised. Merlin, he was flirting with her. And, the Ravenclaw quickly realized, she liked it.

A lot.
-
"You can't be serious." Mariana declared, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"I'm afraid it's true. It seems parents aren't too comfortable with a werewolf teaching their children, rightfully so." Remus explained.