𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗻. ✭

𝟎𝟏𝟒. the diary

━━━━━━ CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

━━━━━━

having to tell their friends that benjamin had been petrified had to have been one of the hardest things evelyn had ever done. 

first, they told ginny. out of shock, she let out a loud squeal and ran into the nearest bathroom. from what it sounded like on the other side of the door, she was doing a mix of bawling her eyes out and puking up everything she had eaten in the last month.

then, they told rory and carina ("great welcome back gift, don't you think?" lani had said). rory let her bags collide with the floor as tears flooded her eyes and carina let out a hushed, "no!" 

and it didn't help that, predictably, evelyn blamed herself for the whole situation.

"i should've never told him to go off without us!" she wailed in the gryffindor common room, tears streaming down her face. "we should've stuck with him, we should've been more careful!"

"it's not your fault, ev," rory sniffed, tears on her own face. 

"yeah," lani said hoarsely. "no one's fault but the heir of slytherin." she then got up from the couch to face evelyn, rory, and carina. "we need to figure out who it is."

"lani—" carina started.

"no," lani interrupted her. "we need to. they got our boy, this isn't fair anymore, and—what did malfoy say again, ev?"

"that the last time the chamber was opened, someone—" she paused, pushing her fingernails into the palms of her hands to stop herself from absolutely losing it right then and there. "someone died, a muggle-born."

"oh my god," rory buried her hands in her face.

"when did you talk to my brother?" carina asked them.

"we were on our way to our dorm and he started saying stuff," evelyn muttered. "the usual."

carina glared at her for a moment before uttering a, "oh."

the group attempted on visiting benjamin in the hospital as much as they could, except ginny, who would begin to sob at the thought. perhaps they thought that sitting by his bed in hope would cause some kind of miracle to occur, for ben to wake up. but he didn't. every morning, every afternoon, and every evening, benjamin would lay lifeless on his back as the others conversed around him.

"it's hopeless," evelyn cried. "he's a goner!"

"bloody hell, don't say that," carina quickly said, evelyn's words hitting her like a boulder. "he'll turn up, right?"

"yes," rory nodded. "yes, of course he will. won't he, lani?"

lani didn't respond, she was looking into his face.

"leilani?"

"sure," she mumbled. "i'm gonna go."

rory sighed as she watched lani tramp out of the hospital wing, then turned back to benjamin. "oh benji, i'm sorry but we have to go to class now! goodbye, we love you."

she planted a kiss on his forehead and backed away to let the others say their farewells.

"good luck, benj," carina gave him a hopeful smile before realizing he wouldn't be able to see it, then settled for a quick pat on the shoulder.