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booksmarts and broomsticks
act ii , take a breath
chapter thirty-two, calmer seas

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➖PENNY CLEARWATER ➖
june 1993

DRIA'S JAW KEPT clenching and unclenching as she focused intently on the sight before her. Her foot was tapping incessantly upon the Hospital Wing's stone floor and a low huff from her left told her it was clearly getting on Savannah's nerves. The blonde took in a deep breath and shuffled on her feet to change how she was stood in the hope it would prevent it from further occurring.

About a week had passed since Michael's reappearance and subsequently the Lockaby children's parents had left the school with the promise of seeing them when the term ended a couple of weeks from then.

Allan Lockaby had left with a very confused Professor Lockhart in his care who made an excessive effort to bid everyone in the Hospital Wing goodbye before leaving with his good friend, Allan in the hope of getting his memories restored one way or another.

        Michael had stayed in the hospital wing for a few nights following his ordeal which soon came to light when Dumbledore paid the family the visit he'd promised.

        The Headmaster had informed them that the diary — which Michael had obtained at some point throughout the year — had contained a very dark magic as it was an artefact from the school days of You-Know-Who — or as he had been known then; Tom Riddle.

         Dria noted how her brother had paled upon the mention of the name and, as Dumbledore continued to explain, it became clear as to why.

        The dark magical influence of this Riddle had bewitched Michael and forced him to commit all the evil deeds that had occurred throughout the school year — the writings on the wall, the petrifications and opening the chamber itself. It appeared Riddle was the Heir of Slytherin and had been using Michael like a puppet all year to fulfil his legacy.

        Dria wanted to kick herself for the amount of times she'd spotted her brother's odd behaviour and proceeded to do nothing about it, shrugging it off as teenage angst. She remembered the dark circles beneath, and the lifelessness of, his eyes, his fatigue and general reclusiveness. Her blood boiled at the thought that some dark entity had polluted the mind of a thirteen year old boy and forced him to see and do such atrocious things, weakening him in order to grow stronger.

         The diary in question, they were informed, had been destroyed in the chamber. Michael was no longer at Riddle's mercy and was free of him.

         The Headmaster also explained that the monster responsible for the petrifications had been none other than a Basilisk — a great snake that had been travelling the school via the pipes.

        Dria was certain she would never trust the school bathrooms ever again. 

But, nevertheless, she was glad that the storm had passed and left them on much calmer seas. Although, said calmness was not actually being translated as well as she'd hoped as she and Savannah stood side by side watching as Madam Pomfrey began portioning out the mandrake draught into goblets.

         "I mean on the bright side, if it doesn't work, it's only a cat." Savannah shrugged, as the matron approached the frozen feline.

         "Savannah!"

         "What?" The older girl retorted in response to the blonde beside her. "Better the cat, than Nearly Headless Nick."

        Albeit still horrified by Savannah's blatant lack of empathy for the cat, Dria let out a small huff and allowed her gaze to travel to the petrified ghost floating at the other end of the Hospital Wing.

         "Yeah, how do you reckon they're going to treat him?" The blonde voiced, her lips pursing in confusion.

        "Throw it at him and hope for the best?"

        "I guess that's the only option—"

         "Are you two going to prove useful now?" The sudden call of Madam Pomfrey brought the two volunteers away from their debate over the Gryffindor ghost, as she looked on them with an arched brow.

        "Yes, Madam Pomfrey." The two girls responded hastily before moving closer to the bedside.

        The matron poured a small amount of the draught in the open mouth of the cat and took a step back. Dria inadvertently held her breath as her gaze fixated on Mrs Norris, waiting for her to display any sign of life.

        A slow breath left Madam Pomfrey's lips causing the two volunteers to look and exchange worried glance with her, but then a very unimpressed sounding meow entered their midst.

        Dria's blue eyes shot back down to the cat to see her tail swishing from side to side slowly, as her bright yellow eyes darted all around her as she tried to figure out her surroundings.

        "It worked!" Dria cried out in glee, as the room filled with light laughter from Madam Pomfrey and a breath of relief from Savannah. "Oh my God, it worked!"

         The matron bent down ever so slightly to examine the cat that was gradually becoming more and more mobile as she regained control of her limbs.

         "That was a nice nap, wasn't it, Mrs Norris?" Madam Pomfrey chuckled, giving the cat a light scratch on the head before looking back up at her two assistants and handing them each two goblets filled with the draught.

        No more words needed to be said before Dria and Savannah made their way over to the rest of the petrified students in the Hospital Wing and gradually administered the right amount of antidote to each patient.

Dria had to stifle a laugh when she saw Savannah sprinkle some on Nearly Headless Nick as though she was seasoning a soup, and spared the girl a thumbs up.

The last patient Dria arrived at was Penny, her features still unchanged from when she first been brought there, some weeks prior. The blonde stifled a light sigh before crouching over her friend and pouring the antidote into her mouth, before stepping back and sitting in the chair at her bedside.

A few moments passed when she began to hear the awakening groans of other patients awakening from their petrified state — even the hearty chuckle of Nearly-Headless Nick which was followed by a very happy exclamation from Savannah. Her gaze flitted around to the other beds in the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey was greeting all those that had been petrified and explaining the current situation to them.

"It's Percy."

The sudden voice caught her off guard, and Dria found herself whipping around to face Penny who was looking up at her with an apologetic glint in her eye.

"What's that?"

"I'm dating Percy Weasley." The Ravenclaw confirmed, her eyes squinting ever so slightly as though anticipating a reaction from the blonde beside her — but Dria only chuckled.

"You don't say?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't know how!" The prefect began, her words fumbling as they fell out of her mouth. "I guess I was scared of how you would all react as I know he's not everyone's cup of tea and I wasn't completely sure where the two of us stood but we talked after you and I fell out ... so I'm dating Percy Weasley."

Dria couldn't help but chuckle at the less than elegant manner in which Penny had delivered her confession. The Ravenclaw seemed confused at her reaction but as far as Dria was concerned Penny could have been dating Mr Filch and she would have still been smiling — she was just happy to see her un-petrified.

"So, just to confirm, prefect duties are ...?"

"Still prefect duties ... just with a bit more snogging than advised." Penny told her, a slight blush running up her cheeks.

"You really like him?" Dria asked with a small smirk as she quirked an eyebrow at her bashful friend.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, that's good enough for me." The blonde nodded, earning a relieved sigh from the girl opposite her.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you Dria, I'm sure that you and Oliver—"

As soon as his name left her lips, Dria began shaking her head at Penny with a light smile on her lips and cutting her sentence off.

"Don't worry about that Penny, there was some truth to it." Dria confessed, with a light sigh and she sat up straighter in her chair. "Oliver and I; we're friends now and he's not shown me any sign of wanting to be anything more, and I think I've accepted that."

Penny spared her friend a sympathetic glance before sitting up a bit straighter in her bed and opening her arms to the blonde.

"Friends again?"

"Of course." Dria chuckled, however made no move to hug the girl as she waited for the antidote to take full effect. "But, you should probably rest up because you're going to feel super stiff in a moment."

Almost as soon as the words left her lips, Penny let out a low groan and her hand flew to her neck.

"I think you jinxed it, Merlin's beard!"

***

         "AND TO THINK, ALL this time, you made fun of me for being scared of snakes!"

"Well, most snakes can't kill you just by looking at you in the eye, Tess." Dria retorted, with a light shake of her head as she placed down her glass of pumpkin juice.

"My case still stands." The Robbins girl shrugged, before turning her attention to Amir and Lorcan who was sat on the opposite side of the table from them.

After the news of the petrified students being restored, an impromptu celebration feast was organised for that evening. As Dria looked around the Great Hall, it looked as happy as she'd ever seen it. The candles seemed to burn brighter, people were smiling wider and the spread of food was the most lavish she'd ever seen.

Her gaze travelled around the room from where Penny was sat chatting animatedly with Una Callahan and some other Ravenclaws to Jackie who was arm-wrestling Nate Squire at the Hufflepuff table with a resolute smirk on her face as Maisie cheered her on. Even at the Slytherin table, Cecelia Kennedy wore a smile as she laughed with Phoebe Rowle.

The Gryffindor table was no exception. Harry and Ron were grinning with the now-restored Hermione, and a few seats down sat Dean and Seamus with her brother laughing over some thing or another — Dria was just happy to see the light back in his eyes.

        "Could I have your attention, please?"

A light clinking of cutlery against glass accompanied the tone of Professor McGonagall as she stood at the top of the hall and directed everyone's attention to Professor Dumbledore.

"Before we begin the feast," The Headmaster announced as the hall fell into silence, "Let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake juice has been so successfully administered to all who had been petrified."

        An immense round of applause swept over the Great Hall as Dumbledore nodded in the direction of the matron and Herbology professor seated at the staff table.

        Dria heard Tess let out a large whoop from behind her, and immediately mirrored her actions, clapping her hands together with a large smile across her face.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to two other individuals who assisted them this year." Dumbledore added as the applause began to lull. "Savannah Consuelos and Dria Lockaby."

Dria's eyes widened at the mention of her name as the roaring applause filled her ears once more, and she felt Tess' hands on her shoulders, shaking her in triumph.

Savannah caught her eye from down the table and shot her a wink, as the applause persisted. The blonde could feel her cheeks heat up at the sudden acclaim, especially when a loud wolf whistle rang out from the Hufflepuff table where she turned to see Jackie cackling away with glee.

As the applause began to subside, Dria reached forward and grabbed her goblet of pumpkin juice in attempt to hide her face from any further attention — albeit Tess was still chuckling behind her, having refrained from shaking her shoulders.

"Also, in light of the recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been canceled!"

Dumbledore's next addition caused Dria to nearly splutter her pumpkin juice, earning her a slap on the back from the Robbins girl behind her.

"I won't lie, with everything going on, I very nearly forgot we had them." Tess said loudly in order to be heard above the applause that roared even louder than the ones that had encompassed the hall previously.

Dria merely chuckled, she couldn't find it in herself in that moment to give a shit about her exams, instead running a hand through her hair and finding solace in the thought of throwing her practice Potions essay into the common room fireplace.

         But before she could join in with the applause, the sound of the entrance doors creaking open caught her attention — as well as that of every student in the Great Hall. Turning in her seat, Dria looked across the room to see Hagrid standing in the doorway with a bashful smile on his face.

       "Sorry, I'm late!" The groundskeeper chuckled loudly as he strode into the Great Hall. "The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused ... some ruddy bird called Errol."

        Dria shot a look at Tess who gave her a small nod, confirming that her thoughts were right. The two girls cast a look down the table to Percy Weasley, who was burying his head in his hands while his friend, Alita Byrnes chuckled by his side.

         Hagrid passed by them as he proceeded down the Hall and eventually came to a halt a few feet from them, standing before Harry, Ron and Hermione.

       Dria craned her neck out from the table in order to get a better look at the scene playing out close by.

        "And I'd just like to say, that if it hadn't been for you, Harry, and Ron, and Hermione, of course, I would—" The groundskeeper faltered slightly, his voice hitching with emotion. "I'd still be you-know-where, so I—I'd just like to say thanks!"

        Dria felt a small smile spread across her lips as she watched Harry stand up from his seat, looking adoringly up at the friend before him.

        "There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid." The young boy told him sincerely, before stepping forward and embracing him in a tight hug that the groundskeeper soon returned.

       A loud sniff caused Dria's gaze to falter away from the touching scene to Lorcan McLaggen who sat opposite her, shaking his head in attempt to maintain his composure and shooting her a glare as she met his gaze, at which she promptly rolled her eyes.

        The sound of slow clapping brought her attention away from the sensitive boy opposite her, and brought it to the staff table where Professor Dumbledore had risen from his seat and was now applauding — a gesture soon followed by Professor McGonagall, who too stood up from her seat.

         It wasn't long before the applause was replicated by the rest of the staff table, and finally Harry, as he stepped back from Hagrid and began clapping his own hands together.

         Dria whipped her head around and looked at her fellow housemates with a knowing glint in her eye. Without any words being exchange, the small group of sixth years burst out into applause and screams of enthusiasm just as it engulfed the rest of the hall.

         Everyone rose from their seat — Dria and Tess even climbing on top of the bench in which they sat — as Hagrid shook hands left, right and centre, students flooding towards him in congratulations.

        Tess threw her arm around Dria as they continued to cheer amid the persistent applause around them.

        The blonde took a deep breath in through her nose, leaning into her friend's embrace before letting it out with a hearty laugh; all was well once more and she was going to soak in every second.

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
hospital wing squad
getting the credit they
deserve has made my
year && one more
chap until act three
kids, whoop whoop

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