In Her Eyes

Chapter Twelve

Alastriona was right. She didn't sleep that night.

Instead she stared at the starry ceiling and listened to Darcy's heavy breathing next to her. Sirius Black had not been caught and wasn't found anywhere inside the castle and so the students were allowed to sleep in their dormitories the following night.

Alastriona, however, was plagued by nightmares each night and often found herself sitting in the Common Room reading or in the Potions classroom making random potions from her textbook. 

No matter how much Cedric made them train on the quidditch field Alastriona just couldn't sleep without having nightmares of Azkaban break outs and flashes of green.

It was showing in her classes as well. She'd fallen behind in nearly all her classes and had a meeting with Professor Sprout before quidditch practice today which was not a good sign.

Alastriona left the dungeons to make her way to Professor Sprout's office, which was close to the green houses. Alastriona yawned loudly as she passed the Great Hall, staring at the floor in front of her otherwise she knew she'd become distracted and she didn't want to be late to her meeting, "Watch out!"

The warning came too late and Alastriona suffered the hit from the girl, the girl had tried to steer clear of her but it was unavoidable and they collapsed together on the cold floor, the girls legs weighing down on Alastriona's stomach.

"Bloody hell!" Alastriona groaned as she sat up slowly, "I'm sorry, I wasn't even paying attention-" She stopped and smiled at the girl who was laughing, still lying on the ground, "You're Victoria! It's nice to meet you, I'm--"

Victoria sat up, "Call me Tori, please. And you're Alastriona Breen, I know. We should probably get up before a professor comes past and thinks we're canoodling." Tori winked at Alastriona and helped her stand up.

"How'd you know who I was?" Alastriona questioned.

Tori rolled her eyes and swept a few dark locks off her face, "I've heard all about you! Your height gave it away, not to mention the red curls, the spacey look on your face and the fact that you're using your wand to keep your hair in a bun." Tori grinned, "Also Darcy has a photo of you two from your first year in her room, I snoop." She heard her name being shouted out from the hall she'd just run out of, "Damn, see you later Little Red!" 

Alastriona didn't even have time to say goodbye before Tori sprinted off, the Weasley twins close on her heels chasing her out into the school grounds. "Just keep walking, Alastriona... just keep walking." She followed her own advice and kept moving, there were no other distractions on her way and she knocked softly on Professor Sprout's door.

"Come in." Alastriona breathed in and out deeply, calming her shaking hands, before pushing open the door, coming face to face with her Head of House. "Morning, Alastriona. Please, have a seat." Alastriona sat in front of her desk stiffly, "What's been happening, Alastriona? Your grades have been falling rapidly and you're handing in essays that are only half finished or not handing them in at all. I'm not the only one that's noticed and your other professor's are concerned as well."

There was no beating around the bush with Professor Sprout, "I-- I haven't been sleeping well, I'll try harder, Professor." 

Alastriona just wanted to be out of the room at this stage and Professor Sprout knew this but she had to make sure her student was okay. "Why haven't you been sleeping well? I need you to talk to me about this, Alastriona, I can help you but only if you let me."

She wanted to roll her eyes but valued her life here at Hogwarts. "Sirius Black was inside this castle. Sirius Black who escaped from Azkaban, who else can escape, Professor? How many other criminals can get out, who else can break into Hogwarts?"