Petals of Oleander

Chapter Twelve: Oi!

A few days later, Harry and Ron were missing. I hadn't seen them all afternoon, and the fearful whisperings echoing through the school were only growing in abundance. I had never felt more small. 

Still, I trucked my way through my classes, clinging to any semblance of normalcy I could find. None of the Professors had made announcements regarding the issue, so I hoped it wasn't as big of a deal as I was interpreting it to be. 

When I got back to my dormitory, all the girls were lounging about the way they always did. 

"Elle, hey!" Miri perked up when I entered. 

"How are you guys doing?" I asked, a twang of worry staining my voice.

"We're fine. Because everything is fine." Avalon huffed. She was laying on her bed taking notes from a book. How could one study at a time like this? 

I said nothing. I quickly slipped into my pajamas, fed TipToe, and buried myself in my bed, not bothering with my nightly self-care ritual.

"Are you seriously going to sleep already?" Ondie asked.

"Mmhm." I grunted from within my nest of pillows and blankets. 

Nobody asked further questions, just resumed their small-talk nonsense. You see, Miri's resolution for this year was to stop gossiping. Needless to say, the conversations in our room had become painfully dull ever since. 

Their voices began to fade away as my eyelids got heavier and my thoughts completely enveloped me. This was something I did each night to try and prevent nightmares. Dad had said that our dreams are only our minds working to process the events of the day before, so I thought maybe if I did all that before I fell asleep, I could have those visions of sugar plums or whatever the hell dreams were meant to be. 

Before I knew it, the sun was back in the sky, the crows were cawing, and I had to face yet another God-forsaken day.

I got ready, and shuffled out of the common room.

"There she is!"

"Elowen! Hey!" Ron and Harry ran toward me with cheery voices. If I wasn't so tired I would have questioned this. 

"We got Ginny! She's in the hospital wing, come on!" Ron said excitedly. 

They each put a guiding hand on my back and the three of us ran directly to Ginny. 
I was so relieved! I could not wait to see her.

When we got to the hospital wing we could hear Ginny and Hermione chatting from around the bend. That meant everyone was okay. I could have started sobbing right then and there from all the joy and relief I felt in that moment. 

"Ginny!" I squealed, running to her and hugging her head. Hospital hugs are never easy to maneuver, especially.

"Winnie oh my goodness I have so much to tell you." She said. 

"Maybe let's wait until we all get back to The Burrow to discuss all of this, yeah?" Harry suggested.

"Why?" I asked. 

"No reason, just... she's going to have to tell all the parents, no use in telling it over and over again. Reliving everything, I mean." Harry lied through his teeth. Something truly terrible must have happened. I would likely never hear the full story though, as I was sure the moment I left Ginny was briefed on what she could and could not tell me. 

The rest of the school year flew by in a blink, and before I knew it I was sat in the Great Hall waiting oh so anxiously for Dumbledore to announce that Gryffindor had won the year's house cup.

All my friends were completely zoned out and looked bored as stone sculptures. Draco on the other hand was clutching silverware in his hands so intensely his knuckles were white. Did he really think we had a shot at winning? I kept watching him as the points were tallied up. 

As the flags overhead rolled forward revealing red, gold, and a lion, Draco's eyes rolled to the back of his skull. 

I threw a wadded up piece of parchment at him to get his attention amongst the roar of cheers erupting from the other side of the room. 

"Oi!" He yelped as it struck his cheek.

"You didn't actually think we'd win, did you?" I projected.

He stood up and rounded the end of the table and down my row until he was standing over me like a vulture. I gazed up at him, raising an eyebrow and doing my best to maintain a smug look even though I was terrified of whatever horrible thing could possible come out of his mouth. 

"I thought we had a chance, given all our academic achievements this year." He leaned down until his nose was a breath away from mine, "Sort of like how you thought there was a chance I didn't see you staring at me this entire time."

My jaw dropped and my cheeks flushed red as he maniacally laughed and practically ran back to his stupid little friends. 

"What? What did he say to you? I didn't catch the last bit" Ondie leaned in.

"Nothing. He's just a twat, that's all." I answered.