the seven devils [completed]

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

CHAPTER SEVEN

November settled over the Scotland fields, bringing its storms and rain with it. The sky sparked alive as lightning struck across it, followed by the imperious sound of thunder. The wind hit the windows of the castle, making them shake at its force.

An unfamiliar feeling overtook Varya as she heard the whistling of the wind, although not indescribable, and she pulled her knees closer to her chest. From one of the windows of the Eastern Tower, she watched as the sun slowly drained on the horizon. Her breath was somewhat shaky due to climbing countless stairs, and she took a minute to calm her beating heart.

Over the past month, her stature had grown smaller, cheeks standing out and eyes having a reddish tint. Her tiredness took over most of her day, and no matter what she did, she could not bring herself to fully focus.

As the clock approached midnight, she wondered if her Astronomy class would go longer than expected. Varya hoped that her teacher would take notice of her weakened state and send her to the infirmary, which she had meticulously avoided.

She blamed it on her overly-stressed nature, as she had been polishing herself raw to be ahead in most of her classes. The girl was astonished at her lack of resilience, as she did not find the Hogwarts curriculum to be challenging, yet she crumbled like the scrum on a cigar's end, turning into fine dust and letting the zephyr make whatever it needed of her. Every movement was staggered, clumsy, and her lungs constricted as if veins had rooted inside, suffocating her alveoli.

"You look quite out of sorts," said Ren Rosier as he approached her, a textbook in hand. Varya let out a small whimper as a response, not bothering to look up at him. Once the bell struck midnight, they both headed to their class.

A spell had been cast over their heads, protecting them from the weather's wrath. Nevertheless, the sky was barely visible, stormy clouds covering most of it. Their teacher, a robust woman with less dexterity than a Sasquatch, looked unpleased at this.

"I suppose we will go over the constellations today," she said, "We were supposed to study Jupiter's mood. Ah, and I told Armando that moving the fifth year class to midnight was no good!"

Varya took this as an opportunity to sit down and slack against one of the Tower's walls, her head falling to her knees. She had hoped that the class would be canceled, but her teacher refused to do so.

"Rough week, then?" asked Ren as he sat down beside her, pulling out one of his charts. "Bloody weather, the professor should just let us leave early."

"You reckon I could ask her to dismiss me early?" Varya cringed at her voice sounding so hoarse, as if she had been drained of her life supply.

"Good luck with that, so many students have taken a dislike towards Astronomy that she does not believe them when they try to get out of class." he laughed, scribbling the answers with his pen rapidly.

"That is the Aquarius constellation," Varya pointed weakly.

Ren turned to her, "Of course," he mumbled and cut his answer with a verticle line. "I have heard that you are quite the scholar, teachers have taken a liking to you. Have you perhaps gotten an invite to the Slug Club?"

Varya frowned, unfamiliar with the name, earning a laugh from the curly-haired boy. His dimples poked out, and the girl was shocked at seeing one of Riddle's man so expressive.

"Yes, I suppose it is quite hard for a girl to get in. As a matter of fact, I believe there are only two that Slughorn has invited, whereas the number of boys is quadrupled." he said, some arrogance in his voice.