Beneath Her Skin

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Madam Pomfrey gave Alastriona a pat on the shoulder and a small bottle containing a Sleeping Draught.

"If you need anything, dear, just come see me straight away." Madam Pomfrey looked down at the young girl with kind, sympathetic eyes. She truly believed it was a miracle that Alastriona didn't die or come down with a serious case of pneumonia. Madam Pomfrey didn't want anymore harm to come to this girl, she'd been through enough as it was. "Make sure to take care of yourself, Alastriona."

Alastriona smiled weakly at Madam Pomfrey. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, for everything." 

Madam Pomfrey patted her shoulder once more before Alastriona turned and left the Hospital Wing. She'd been there for over a week now, Madam Pomfrey had wanted to monitor her for signs of pneumonia.

It was clear now that she was, physically, perfectly healthy.
Her mental health? Well, that was another question all together and it wasn't something Alastriona wanted to dwell on.

It was Tuesday morning and she needed breakfast, that's what Alastriona decided to concentrate on instead of what was going on inside her muddled head.
Alastriona walked quietly, as she always had, into the Great Hall and stopped to see where her friends were. That was when she noticed the stares. Every pair of eyes seemed to turn to her and Alastriona's freckled cheeks turned a bright pink as her heart thumped uncomfortably in her chest.

She finally saw her friends sitting at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast and walked as fast as she could with her head held high despite all her classmates staring at her. She refused to be chased out of Hogwarts due to gossiping teens and unblinking eyes. 

Alastriona sat in-between Draco and Darcy, opposite Theo, Blaise and Dawn.

She leant her head on Draco's shoulder and breathed out a sigh of relief, if she couldn't see everyone staring then that meant they weren't staring... right?

Draco smiled, even though she wasn't looking at him, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drawing her in close. "Pancakes?" He asked. 

"Please." Alastriona replied, perking up at the smell wafting over her. She sat up straight when Draco fixed her a plate with two pancakes and handed her a jug of maple syrup. Her friends watched as she drowned her pancakes in syrup-y goodness. 

"Red," Alastriona shifted her eyes from her pancakes to Theo, "how come you didn't tell us you were having secret bathroom conversations with Tracey Davis?" He asked, the others all waited for her response as well.

Alastriona cleared her throat. "I heard her crying one afternoon and we started talking... I knew it was her and obviously she knew it was me but I think we both liked pretending that we didn't know each other... there wasn't any pressure that way."

"Pressure?" Dawn questioned her gently. 

Alastriona shrugged half-heartedly. "We didn't have to hold back. There wasn't any judgment and there was no pressure to act or pretend to be anything."  Alastriona knew her friends were hurt she hadn't said anything about Tracey. "It was only the start of a friendship, I hadn't approached her outside a bathroom stall yet, I had planned to and then—" Alastriona stopped and frowned briefly before looking back down at her breakfast. "These are amazing." She said softly, not so subtly ending the conversation.

Alastriona turned her gaze to the Gryffindor table and spotted Fred, George and Ginny Weasley sitting together having breakfast. Without saying anything Alastriona left her friends and her half eaten pancakes and sat down next to Ginny and opposite the Weasley twins.

"I just wanted to say thank you." Alastriona said quietly, not wanting to draw anymore attention to herself. "You all helped to save—"

Ginny Weasley stopped her from speaking with a simple wave of her hand. "Alastriona," Ginny said with a soft smile, "you don't have to thank us. You're our friend. You're pretty much part of the family and we're just glad you're okay." She looked over at her brothers and raised her eyebrows at them, "Right?"