Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 78 | Too Young

It was early morning on the first of March when Druella Black, nee Rosier, bolted from her bed and rushed to the bathroom, her stomach whirling furiously like an angry hurricane. She gagged before throwing up in the sink, the horrible retching sound filling the bathroom and floating through the door.

Druella took a deep breath, trying to steady herself as she glanced at the time. It was six o'clock in the morning, which meant some of her dorm mates would be waking up soon and she didn't want any of them finding out....but she couldn't really help it for she threw up the contents of her stomach again, shaking uncontrollably  over the sink.

Turning on the tap to wash away the sick in the sink, Druella watched as it was all rinsed away. She knew exactly what this meant by now - she had been throwing up every morning since Christmas and Druella could remember a specific moment during the New Year celebrations that would explain why she had been so nauseous in the morning for a few months.

Gulping, her hands found the swell of her stomach and she sighed deeply, her face contorting with misery. Still, at least there was a bright side...after all, Druella was married and was technically allowed to have children so it wouldn't be frowned upon and her parents wouldn't be too cross because she was carrying on the bloodline.

Druella gasped as the same nauseous feeling filled her body and she bent over the sink again, closing her eyes this time as she retched and gagged, feeling the tears slip down her cheeks before she wiped them furiously away. Druella Black did not cry.

"Druella? Are you alright?" a voice cane from the doorway, which was one thing that she had been dreading, and she opened her eyes to see Adelaide Yaxley stood there, her long red hair braided into a plait and her eyes clouded with sleep and concern, having obviously heard the sounds of Druella being sick from the dormitory.

"Fine," Druella forced a smile, everything in her tone clipped and dismissive, indicating that she didn't want Adelaide to be there. "You don't look fine," Adelaide raised an eyebrow, moving forward, "Are you stressed about the N.E.W.T.S? 'Cause I know I am," she shrugged, a sympathetic grimace on her face, "I threw up the other day as well."

"I don't care," Druella said through gritted teeth, her knuckles turning white from how tightly she was gripping the sink in front of her, her stomach churning again.

Adelaide yawned and moved to the mirror, peering at the shadows underneath her eyes with a frown, "I know. I was just telling you to try and make you feel better but I won't bother next time," she told Druella, in such a casual and airy tone that would've annoyed Druella previously but now simply made her feel guilty.

"Sorry," she mumbled gruffly, the words feeling weird on her tongue, "I was just—" the strange feeling on her tongue suddenly caused her to gag and Druella bent over the sink again, clutching her stomach and Adelaide silently reached forward and held her hair back whilst Druella threw up again and again, the continuous motion causing frustration to mount in her body. Or maybe that was just nausea again.

"You're really ill, Druella. I should take you to see Nurse Marner," Adelaide clucked her tongue in slight concern but Druella pulled away from her, rinsing the sink and washing her mouth out quickly with a mouthful of water from the tap. "I don't need to go to the hospital wing. I'm fine," she insisted, sweeping her hair out of her face and taking a step forward.

But suddenly, the bathroom was spinning ferociously in a circle and Druella could've sworn that there was more than one Adelaide in the room as she attempted to walk but the movement only disoriented her further, her eyes blurring and her head spinning, a strange ringing noise echoing in her head. And, without a moment's warning, Druella Black collapsed in a heap on the seventh year Slytherin girls' bathroom floor.