Malfoy Amongst The Chaos

Mistakes Have Been Made

<10>

Wanda

"And were there witnesses?" Dumbledore asked me.

He still wore his black travelling cloak and stood opposite me, tapping a long finger on the top of his chair; Harry was right, Dumbledore had   been travelling.

I bit back the curiosity and "where have you been?" from the tip of my tongue and asked through swollen lips, "For which event?"

The Headmaster surveyed me with an x-ray-like gaze, a gaze that wasn't hostile, and yet, was also not friendly, "Professor McGonagall is speaking to Harry, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger about the other incident." He said, speaking in his usual innocuous tone. "Let us focus on the matter that only concerns you."

Pain spliced across my temples and I grit my teeth. "I don't know." I answered. How was it possible for so much to go wrong in so little time?

I was so exhausted that I could barely manage to stay awake, let alone comprehend the disastrous situation I now found myself in. If people had seen... but I couldn't muster a concentration span long enough to ponder it without a burning pain squeezing behind my eyes.

Dumbledore stood up completely straight, "I shall travel to Hogsmeade and see what damage I can undo, I daresay there may be a few Hogsmeade residents that I can persuade to keep this whole thing under their hats - if - it is not already too late, that is." he added, raising his silvery eyebrows.

A wave of nausea rolled through me.

"Your wand," he continued, "is also missing, I notice."

I nod faintly, I'd almost forgotten.

The old man sighed, his long robes rustling as he rounded his desk and stopped by the side of the armchair I was slumped in. "I will retrieve it for you." he says, softly.

"Thank you," I reply in a muffled voice. A heavy silence follows and my eyelids droop. Inside, my brain is aching, my ears ringing, my ribs throbbing... part of me questions why I'm even still alive. Why we made it back. Why my friends are okay. "I'm sorry."

The words leave my mouth before the guilt can drown them. I hide my face behind my hands, feeling hysteria shake my spine. Tears mingle with blood and I shudder pitifully - they could've been dead today.

"Though I regret the use of your magic," Dumbledore murmurs, placing a hand on my uninjured shoulder. "I do appreciate the severity of the situation and, perhaps, I did quite underestimate the strength of your power. You did well," he says, but it doesn't help. How can it help? They could've just as easily been another Sirius. Another of my long-lost family. My best friends. They could have died too.

"They nearly died." I whispered, spreading salty tears across my cheeks as I swiped a hand over my skin.

"So did you." the Headmaster reminds me, a twinkle in his eyes.

But that didn't seem important to me. I couldn't stop being horror-stricken at what might've happened to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Maybe he knew it because he smiled and said, "Wanda, what is done is done. You all made it out alive today - yourself in a considerably worse state by comparison. It is normal to feel guilty, but not healthy to carry it on. Those monsters may have been close, but they did not come out on top - you did. You are more capable than you think, Wanda - not every mistake is a bad one."

I wanted to believe him - I begged myself to do so. But the war in my head never seems to be won.

I breathed deeply, trying to suppress more tears; there was something else I wanted to ask. "Professor... were they here for me?"