Undistinguished (H.P.)

Chapter 43: Help

oOo

"I'm sorry, Miss Green. Professor Dumbledore is currently away for the holidays and won't return until a week into the next school term," Professor Sprout looked at her with curious eyes, "the train will be leaving soon, you should grab your trunk and head towards the Entrance Hall." 

"Professor please, it's urgent!" she pleaded, eyes wild with desperation. It was the morning after Slughorn's Christmas party and Veronica didn't get a wink of sleep the entire night, planning what she was going to say to the headmaster. This all seemed useless now as her head of house was refusing to give her the time of day, despite the begging she previously displayed.

"If it's that important perhaps you should tell someone else as Professor Dumbledore is unavailable. What's bothering you?" Those words made Veronica stop. She didn't want to let everyone know about her vision and decided to keep it between the people who had to know - her and Dumbledore. 

After staring at Professor Sprout for a good few empty moments without saying anything, Veronica watched as the woman huffed and walked away. 

She slowly began to slump back to the Hufflepuff Common Room, feeling abandoned and empty. Her plan had failed and she was back to square one with no idea of what to do next or who to turn to. 

Little did she know that someone was listening to her conversation with Professor Sprout and was now following behind her as she strolled down the corridor. 

As she passed by an empty classroom just before reaching the main staircases, darkness engulfed her and she couldn't see a thing as arms wrapped around her and dragged her into the room. 

The unknown person slammed her into the ground and she felt the tip of a wand pressing painfully into the side of her neck. Veronica was frozen, too terrified to speak and so all that was heard was the small whimpering sounds escaping her lips. 

"Listen here you little bitch - whatever you think you know, you know nothing. Keep your dirty mouth shut or your pathetic group of friends will face the consequences." a deep slimy voice hissed in her head, warm breath creeping over her face and down her neck, making her hair stand on end.  The wand was being pushed harder every time the person emphasised their words. 

With a final kick to her side, a scuffle of rushed feet drifted away from her, and the loud slam of the classroom door echoed around the room suddenly, making her jump. 

Veronica was still unable to see anything, and for what seemed like the next hour she was curled up in a ball on the cold stone floor, shivering and sobbing in distress before the darkness edged away from her vision and the bright daylight flooded back in. 

As much as she wished someone would come looking for her, find her on the ground and rush to help her up and assist her into the common room, no one appeared. 

For the first time in the last couple of years, she felt truly alone. An empty feeling spread throughout her body and she quickly numbed the cold abandoned void in her mind as she would've done throughout her first few years at Hogwarts. 

oOo

The whole journey back on the Hogwarts Express, Veronica was sat quietly, seemingly lost in her empty mind. She curled into Harry's side, closing her eyes to focus on his presence hoping to calm her still racing heart, despite it being hours since the confrontation. 

Harry mistakenly assumed she was tired and believed she had fallen asleep with her head resting in the crook of his shoulder and neck due to how still her form was. 

She appreciated how the rest of her friends had left her out of the conversation, also noting her presumably resting form, especially after Harry had rested his head on hers while reading his potions textbook. 

By the time they had pulled into Kings Cross Station, Veronica had found a peaceful place in her mind and distracted herself with the feeling of Harry rubbing his hand up and down her arm to keep her warm. Overall, she was feeling better than she was earlier on and decided she could live with that for now. 

oOo

Christmas at the Burrow was overall very relaxing. 

Mrs Weasley greeted Veronica with open arms, embracing her tightly as if she were a true member of the family, something that made the girl smile brightly, despite the terrible day she's been having so far. 

The holidays were full of laughter and joy, with various guests from the Order visiting occasionally there was never a boring moment. 

Veronica did her best to stay out of any conversations about Malfoy, but couldn't help but overhear that Harry had witnessed Snape's confrontation with the Slytherin during Slughorn's Party. He explained what he heard and it added to the list of information clogging her mind. 

She should've known that sleep wasn't going to be an easy task after the experience she'd had the last couple of days at Hogwarts, and it was very difficult indeed. Every night she woke in a pool of sweat, gasping and spluttering as if she'd been underwater when in reality she was only drowning in the nightmares that stemmed from her visions. 

It got to the point where she had no clue if what she was witnessing was a vision or a manifestation of her deepest fears. Images of Hermione, Ron and Harry being tortured - screams and sobs filling her ears - haunted her at night and coming back in flashes during the day.

The dreams had taken a toll on her and it was becoming fairly obvious to the household when she would drift off and zone out during almost any conversation, and her pale skin emphasising the dark circles under her eyes didn't help. 

This was why, some time near the end of the break, Harry pulled her to the side with a face full of concern. 

"Don't lie to me Veronica, you've been different the entire holiday. Seriously now, what's wrong?" His hands rub up and down her arms due to the cold air coming through the cracks in the window next to them. 

Just looking into his deep green eyes that stared at her with so much compassion, reminded Veronica of the danger she has put him, and the rest of their friends, in and her emotions became too overwhelming. Before she knew what was happening, tears were rapidly streaming down her face. 

Seeing that Veronica definitely wasn't okay, Harry pulled her into his arms and embraced her tightly. He ran his hands through her hair gently, avoiding the knots and tangles from where she tossed and turned at night. 

She was sobbing like a baby into his chest and, even though he had no idea what was going on, the comfort Harry was giving her made her realise how important it was that she kept him safe. 

"I'm just so worried about what's going to happen to all of us, I've been having such unsettling dreams," she explained once she had calmed down enough to speak. 

Harry reached one hand up to wipe the tears from her face, smiling adoringly at the small girl in front of him that cared too much for her own good. 

"Nothing bad is going to happen to you while I'm around, and trust me when I say I'm not leaving anytime soon," he whispers while leaning down and pecking her bright red nose. Veronica wasn't sure if it was red from the crying or the blushing that had begun after she noticed the intense look in his eyes. 

Throwing her arms around his neck once more, she kissed him passionately, Harry happily returning the favour, before they headed back to the main room joining the final celebrations. Both looking much happier than they did previously. 

oOo