Moments In Between

Help Me Hold On To You

Andromeda collapsed onto her sofa with her face planted against a pillow. It has been several weeks since the incident in the catacomb between her and Ominis. Neither of them had the nerve to acknowledge one another, especially during classes. She spent the majority of her time hiding in her room of Requirement whether it be working on her assignments or in the vivariums taking care of her magical creatures. She has avoided going to the Great Hall and sleeping in her own dormitory. It was almost like she had made herself disappear by going into isolation.

Sebastian made a promise to her that he would talk to Ominis but she was not in the mood to discuss anything that was related to the boy that broke her heart. She barely interacted with her friends, which only caused them to worry. Natty tried to coax her the other day after class to join her at Hogsmeade to share a butterbeer but she politely declined her invitation.

Everything hurts. Her heart, her head, her stomach...her entire body constantly ached. Andromeda groaned and rolled over onto her back with her hands rubbing down her face. She somehow managed to pull out her gramophone to play music in the background to see if it would help to distract her from intrusive thoughts.

~*~All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put me together again~*~

But nothing seemed to work. It was only a matter of days before her anger at Ominis dissolved into sorrow and loneliness. She did not want to admit it but she missed him.

Their late nights in the common room. How he would take her hand to lead her through the castle.

She was in love with him.

~*~'cause all of my enemies started out friends, help me hold onto you.~*~

Tears began to roll down her cheeks just at the thought of it. Andromeda swore that Sebastian almost blurted out that Ominis loved her back at the catacomb, but how could he after saying those cruel words? Her heart felt so heavy as her mind kept replaying their argument over and over again.

What could she have done differently?

There was only one person that could comfort her right now and she did not even have the strength to confront him.

~*~ I've been the archer, I've been the prey. Who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay?~*~

Andromeda slowly lifted herself up and wiped the end of her sleeve under her nose. A small voice spoke out from behind the sofa.

"Uh...Miss Andromeda?"

She peeked over the backrest and found Deek holding a letter in his hand. "Oh!" She tried to straighten out her hair and uniform. "Deek! I apologize, I did not hear you at all."

"Deek did not want to disturb you but Deek is worried about his friend."

Andromeda shook her head and brushed off the remaining tears. "I'm okay. What do you have in your hand?"

"Ah!" He handed the letter over. "Deek was down in the kitchens when one of the elves gave it to Deek. Deek was given strict instruction to deliver it to Miss Andromeda."

Andromeda studied the envelope and recognized the handwriting. "It's from my friend Poppy. I wonder why she sent this."

She ripped open the envelope and read, "Please meet me at the pens by our Care of Magical Creatures classroom. I have an urgent message about the poachers that I need to tell you straight away." Andromeda threw the letter onto the end table and stood up to put on her robe. "I got to go! Deek, I promise that you do not need to worry about me. I'll be okay."

She then ran out of the Room of Requirement to meet up with her friend.

_______________________

Andromeda found Poppy alone leaning against one of the fence posts by their classroom. "Poppy! I came as soon as I got your letter!"