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booksmarts and broomsticks
act ii , take a breath
chapter twenty-nine , just breathe

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➖TESS ROBBINS ➖
may 1993

THE TIME THAT PASSED while the three girls were in the Hospital Wing at Penny's bedside elapsed in a blur. Despite the feeling of shock having gradually faded from Dria's system, she couldn't fight the numbness that was clawing its way into her mind to replace it.

She could just about make out the blurring colours of pink and orange that shone through the window of the hospital wing, and craned her neck ever so slightly - it had become rather stiff, having been leant on Tess' shoulder for the best part of three hours.

Her hand still held that of Penny, which had not shifted in the slightest, and the blonde was dreading the moment where she'd have to let go.

Jackie too still onto the Ravenclaw's other hand and, although she had always resided on the floor, she had slumped and her head now rested upon the mattress as her shoulders rose every now and then signifying small breaths leaving her lips.

Tess had dozed off very briefly, her emotional exhaustion turning into that of physical and causing her eyes to droop, lulling her into a light slumber. She would let out a light whisper of a snore every now and then, which brought a slight smile to Dria's lips - it seemed the tonic she'd been sneakily pouring into the girl's pumpkin juice since Easter was beginning to pay off.

The Robbins girl only stirred when the sound of a throat being cleared entered their, otherwise silent, midst and Dria encouraged her to wake by shrugging her weight of the side of her body slowly, allowing her friend to return to the conscious world so she could turn around and see Professor McGonagall stood at the end of the bed.

Neither of them said anything but they really didn't have to. Dria knew it was well past visiting hours in the hospital wing and as much as she hated the thought of it, she knew that the three of them would have to leave.

The two young Gryffindor boys had left a little bit earlier, neither of them wanting to stick around and process emotions they were too young to have to deal with. McGonagall had escorted them from the hospital wing then, and had returned now to do the same for the two Gryffindors huddled before her, while Professor Sprout stood by waiting for the Hufflepuff on the floor beside the bed.

With no more words said, the three girls found themselves defeatedly rising from their seated positions and slowly moving towards the end of the bed. The two Gryffindors took their time in wrapping their arms around Jackie very tightly, before stepping back and beginning to exit to the hospital wing, following behind a wary McGonagall.

That journey too passed in silence, with the exception of the sound of their feet hitting the cold stone corridors beneath them. The air had something cold about it, not so much its temperature - after all it was May - but just a feeling; it was threatening and hostile. It was something Dria had never for one moment ever felt when at Hogwarts.

At some point during the journey, Dria felt Tess link her arm with hers and spared her a soft smile, it was apparent the blonde's sudden unease had caught her friend's attention.

Once they arrived at the Portrait Hole, the Fat Lady didn't even ask for the password, instead sparing a sympathetic glance at the Professor that led the party and slowly creaking open for them to step through.

Professor McGonagall stepped back a little and allowed the two girls to pass by her and join their housemates. As she passed the woman, Dria noticed a piece of parchment clutched in her hand, the blonde also saw that her knuckles were turning white as she readjusted her grip on it. She couldn't help but let out a sigh as she wondered just what regulations would be written upon it.

Tess spotted the blonde's sudden fixation upon the Professor and tugged at her sleeve so as to break her from it, dragging her into the main body of the Common room.

Dria's ears took a moment to adjust to the sudden volume thrust upon them that juxtaposed so greatly to the silence of the corridor. Her blue eyes widened upon seeing just how many students had gathered in the space. Students dressed in red and gold ties from all years filled the room with concerned chatter leaving their lips. Dria wished she could say the air was more relaxed but even with the oppressive silence having dissipated, tension was still rife.

The two girls slipped into the main body of the room relatively unnoticed, a few odd glances were spared in their direction but they soon looked away once they'd both settled themselves beside Amir, Lorcan, Hettie and Isolde.

Their four fellow Gryffindors welcomed them with small smiles and slightly confused looks but raised no question in regard to their former whereabouts. Besides their attention - as well as that of everyone else in the room - was soon grasped by the entrance of their Head of House as she called for silence, making her presence known and displaying the same piece of parchment, Dria had only seen moments ago, in her grasp.

"Could I have your attention please?"

If there had been the slightest echo of chatter remaining in the room, her request silenced it and every student watched the Head of House with wary gazes.

"Because of recent events, these new rules will be put into effect immediately." She cleared her throat, before unravelling the parchment in her grasp and reading from it;

"All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock every evening." She recited from the parchment, steadily. "All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions."

Dria wasn't sure what type of reaction Professor McGonagall had been expecting as she revealed this new information to the students. As far as she could see, no one had batted an eyelid, they continued to look upon her with the same wary expressions that she mirrored right back.

"I should tell you this." McGonagall sighed, her voice lacking the usual authority that Dria so often associated with it. "Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed."

Her words felt like a weight on Dria's chest as if all of the events of that afternoon hadn't been enough. Silence persisted as her final statement hung in the air - the school will be closed.

Dria knew they were no closer to catching the heir than they were when the first attack happened. She hadn't been told directly but it was fairly obvious by the way events were turning out - if she'd felt helpless before, she couldn't even describe what this new feeling washing over her was.

"Maybe it's for the best."

The voice of Lorcan McLaggen brought Dria out of her spiralling mind for a moment, whereupon she realised that their Head of House had left the Common Room and the silence, it was once in, was beginning to fade back into concerned chatter.

"How can you say that, Lorc?" Amir shoved him in the arm, his face contorting into a frown at the newly disclosed news.

"Don't pretend like you feel safe in this place anymore." Lorcan scoffed, folding his arm over his chest - although he tried to pass his statement off as cocky, there was a slightness to his demeanour that convinced Dria he meant every word he said. "I mean there was a break-in this morning as well. What's the Heir of Slytherin going to do next? Petrify us in our sleep?"

Dria's attention suddenly perked at his off hand comment about a break-in, her eyebrows furrowed and she manoeuvred herself so as to appear to be a part of the conversation.

"Wait, wait, wait." She cut in, concern written all over her features. "Break-in? What break-in?"

"You don't know?" Isolde replied, her own eyebrows furrowing but in confusion rather than concern.

"Dria, it was in your brother's dorm." Hettie informed her, her eyes wide and serious as she informed the blonde.

"What?"

"Apparently, they only messed up Potter's stuff though." Lorcan shrugged, as though break-in were a common occurrences in their dormitories. "Weird, if you ask me."

"I'm beginning to think he might not be responsible." Isolde added, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Solely because of that?" Hettie scoffed, quirking an eyebrows at her friend.

"Who, in their right mind, would willingly trash their own room-?!"

If the four friends that stood by her and Tess said anything more, it faded into silence as Dria willed herself to stomach another pain that she'd been repressing. Her blue eyes looked up and scanned the room around her, it took her a while but they soon found her brother.

Michael was sat in a corner of the common room by himself - not even with Seamus or Dean, who Dria noted were beside Neville Longbottom at the fireplace. It appeared he'd also managed to push them away too. The boy looked absent, his eyes were a washed out blue and large bruises from exhaustion sat beneath them. Dria thought that, by the looks of him, if he stood up too quickly he might fall over.

"Did he not tell you?"

She heard Tess' voice, it was no more than an whisper but she knew who she was talking about. Dria had no doubt that Tess' gaze had followed her own and the two of them were both looking upon the shadow that was once her brother.

"He never tells me anything." Dria replied, her voice holding a note of sadness where normally she would shrug off her brother's antics. But this time, she couldn't feign a derisive laugh or a shrug. Worry had become her constant companion and refused to let her feel otherwise. "I'm really worried about him, Tess."

No response from Tess came or maybe it did but Dria didn't remember what she had said. All she could hear the sound of her heart throbbing in her ears, getting faster and faster. Her blue eyes scanned around the room in disarray, it was like there wasn't any happiness there anymore. No laughter, no smiles. It was empty.

Even Oliver who tried to make light of every situation was looking solemnly into the flames of the open fire. Percy Weasley stood not too far from him looking as distressed as Dria had ever seen him, with his friend Alita Byrnes at his side, patting his shoulder sympathetically. His brothers, Fred and George, who you could always rely on for a laugh had their gazes fixed on the floor. Her brother continued to sit alone in the corner, looking broken and torn. Harry and Ron stood in the staircase to the boys dormitory, looked defeated as they stood without Hermione.

Hermione was petrified, as was Penny. The Heir of Slytherin was still at large, looking for their next prey as they roamed around the school. A school that was to be imminently shut down, and what then? Would Dria have to return to her mother whom she hadn't spoken to in nearly six months-?

The pounding continued thrumming in her ears, her breathing was shaky and escaping her as, hard as she tried, she couldn't quite seem to catch it. Her vision was beginning to blur as tears prickled at the edge of her eyes - she felt like the walls were closing in.

In a fluster of panic, her hand shot to her head in hope to silence that god-awful pounding and she willed herself to push through the crowd of students towards the girls' staircase.

She thought she maybe heard someone call her name, but her mind was too focused on scrambling up the stone staircase to compute it. Her shaking hands fumbled for the door handle of her dormitory which brought her the slightest sense of calming as she stepped through the threshold, but not enough to distract her mind from its turmoil.

She couldn't fight the choked sob that left her lips as she grasped onto her bedpost for support, before she felt her legs give way and she sank down the floor. Her heartbeat was beating fast in her head - too fast, she thought.

She found herself grasping her chest, pleading for it to slow down. Unaware of the tears streaming down her face and the ragged breaths leaving her lungs. She squeezed her eyes shut in defiance, and shook her head - she was terrified at what was happening, something she couldn't seem to control. Burying her face in her hands, she desperately tried to fight to urge to rip her hair out - the feeling of unknown was tearing her apart inside and she couldn't stop it.

"Dria!"

Suddenly, a voice rang true and clear. Her blue eyes opened wide in alarm, the whites of them reddened by the strain of the tears. She couldn't seem to focus on anything, yet this voice continued to say her name. She felt two hands place themselves upon her cheeks and fix her eyeline in one place.

"Dria, breathe."

Dria hands shakily found their way to grasp onto those holding her face, and slowly she saw Tess materialise out of the blur that had once been her vision. She grabbed her wrists tightly in her hands, as her breath continued to escape her.

"Dria, look at me." Tess instructed, not allowing her friend's eyes to leave her own. "You need to take a deep breath."

Dria pressed her lips together in attempt but as soon as she did, she felt as though her heart was going to burst through her chest. She shook her head defeatedly as her erratic breathing took back control, and another sob left her throat.

"I can't, I can't-" She all but choked out, grasping Tess tighter and tighter by the second.

The Robbins girl pulled the blonde closer to her and wrapped her arms around her, trying to drown out her panic with the stillness of her own body.

"I'm here and you're okay." She said slowly, holding onto her friend, "I'm here and you're okay. Hold onto me, you're okay."

Dria squeezed her eyes shut once again, but continued to grasp onto Tess, desperate for something to ground her.

"So much is wrong and I can't do anything." Her eyes opened once more to meet those dark irises of Tess, tears rolling down her face as the Robbins girl wiped them away. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do-"

"You don't know have to know what to do." Tess silenced her, speaking directly in her ear trying to overpower the sound of her breathing. "All you need to do right now is breathe."

"I can't, I can't-"

"Yes, you can."

And she could. She gasped for a large breath of air and continued to inhale until her lungs physically rejected it. With a loud cough, she felt airways open up again and air begin to flow back through her system. The thumping in her head persisted but it had dulled considerably. Her breathing was still fast and disorderly but it was softer and under more control. Dria felt her body slump in exhaustion, and could feel her hair being stroked gently by her friend who she was still grasping on so tightly to.

After a few moments of regaining her breath, Dria found the strength to remove herself from her position curled up in Tess' embrace and shuffle along the floor and rest against her bed frame.

"I'm sorry, Tess." She apologised, with a small nod and she furiously tried to wipe her eyes.

"Shut up."

"I mean it." A light laugh left the lips of the Lockaby as she nudged her friend, who had moved to sit beside her. "Thank you."

"What can I say?" The Robbins girl chuckled, joining her hands with those of her friend. "I am the best."

"Yeah, you are." Dria affirmed in all seriousness, earning a soft glance from her fellow Gryffindor who merely nudged her shoulder against the blonde's.

"Deep breaths?" Tess asked, squeezing her friend's hand slightly, before she responded with a nod.

"Deep breaths."

In sync, the two of them closed their eyes and took a breath in and then let it out. The air around them was still tense but they were in a little bubble of serenity just for a moment.

That was until a confused meow interrupted their attempt at mindfulness. Dria's eyes softly opened and she leaned forward to see Figaro, on the other side of Tess, looking very bewildered by the two of them being sat on the floor.

"Here, have some cat therapy."

But either Figs or Dria could disagree, Tess had clasped her hands around the small feline and practically thrown him in Dria's grasp. He gave an objectionable mewl but soon settled in his human's embrace as she hugged him close to her. Finally feeling at peace as the sound of his content purrs filled her ears.

"The world is crumbling around us, Tess." The blonde let out a short sigh, as she shot her friend a sorry glance.

"Yeah, it is."

"That's comforting."

"But we've got each other." Tess reassured her, placing her hand over Dria's once more and offering her a small shrug. "That'll have to be enough for now."

Dria let out a light chuckle, as she squeezed Tess' hand in her own and sparing her friend the dearest of glance.

"That'll always be enough."

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
okay, so this is a straight-up
tess appreciation chapter, for
those wondering. and this is
also heavily inspired by anna
nalick's breathe (2am) which is
heart wrenching and something
i very much advise you listening
to if you want to get to better
grips with this chapter !!

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