Chapter 15

Sitting in a loose sweater and shorts, Atlas stared over at Harry’s bed, Madam Pomfrey in front of her as the woman tended to her arm. Her nose was still broken and had soiled her new jumper with blood a good few minutes ago, bruising had also manifested around her eyes from the impact of the Bludger on her goggles. The pain was bearable now, wasn’t making her cry like it had been when she was first carried into the hospital.

The real pain that remained was the icy cold that had encased her heart, like stabbing pains tormenting her chest, thanks to the Dementors. Dumbledore had been and gone in a collected rage, storming off after them once he had initially whirled them away. Which led them to now.

Madam Pomfrey sighed and handed Atlas a chocolate frog, “Could you have not caught him with your left?”

“I wasn’t thinking…” Atlas mumbled, not moving her mouth too much so she didn’t disturb her nose

“Clearly,” Pomfrey tutted, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder before turning to check on Harry. A commotion sounded outside and Atlas turned just in time to see the rest of her team along with Cedric Diggory storming into the Hospital. Shouts were exchanged between the Hufflepuff and Weasley twins, shocking Atlas as she had never actually seen the three interact before this.

“You’re supposed to stop Bludgers from hitting your team!” Cedric ranted, face contorted into one of fury, “But you let it hit her, not once! But twice! What is wrong with you!?”

“We could barely see out there!” George fumed.

“Yeah! And it’s not like we’re the one’s who pelted it at her! You’re team batted at her when she was trying to help Harry!” Fred added. Cedric clenched his jaw and moved in on the twins. Ron backed his brothers up as Angelina and Katie got in between them, Hermione left glancing around the hospital hurriedly. 

Eventually, she spotted them and rushed over after seeing Atlas’s broken nose only for Cedric to beat her to it, the boy practically stumbling over to her and bringing her into a gentle hug. “Merlin Atlas! What was that!? You could have been killed!”

“Hello, Cedric…” Atlas mumbled, patting his back awkwardly. He pulled away, eyes frantic as he looked her over, “I’m fine, Madam Pomfrey gave me something for the arm and she was just about to do my nose.”

“I can do that,” the two turned to Hermione, noting her wand out and her face determined. “I can.”

“Alright…” Cedric said warily and took a step back, holding Atlas’s hand as he did. Hermione eyed him a moment, her face indiscernible, before moving forward and whisking her wand in a way that hypnotised Atlas. The movements were so precise, elegant, smooth and seemingly effortless.

“Episkey…” Heat went to Atlas’s nose and it soon cracked back into place, earning a grunt of pain from the girl. She leant forward and reached out for a towel. Only, when she looked up she saw Hermione already had it, the girl sat beside her and holding it up to clean the new and dried blood from her face. “Here…let me.”

“Oh…sure,” Atlas nodded, watching Hermione first dampen the towel before bringing it up to gently clean her face. Cedric watched them a minute, glimpsing at Atlas’s letterman jacket upon Hermione’s form, before smiling amusedly, internally noting to bring the moment up at a later date. He let go of Atlas’s hand and ruffled her hair, moving to get up, “Where are you going?”

“I sort of…ran away from my team,” Cedric offered sheepishly and then smiled fondly, “I couldn’t wait to see you. I was uh…really scared but now that I’ve seen you’re in–” he motioned to Hermione who hadn’t turned to watch him leave and was still diligently cleaning Atlas’s face, “–capable…hands, I’ll be going.”

“That makes sense…congrats on the Snitch,” Atlas offered half-heartedly.

“I wanted a rematch but…apparently I caught it fair and square, if I had known Potter had been attacked I wouldn’t have gone for it,” Cedric sighed, glancing over to the Gryffindor team who had been stuck at the entrance by Madam Pomfrey. The lady was berating them for disrupting the calm of the hospital and would no doubt do the same to Cedric once he went to leave. “Great, guess it’s my turn for a scolding.”

He left and, as predicted, was stopped by a red-faced Madam Pomfrey. At that, Atlas allowed herself a laugh jolting Hermione who had just finished wiping the blood from her chin and was moving to her hands. Atlas watched her do this with a fond smile, eyes darting from Hermione’s face and back down to her working hands. “Did they recover my broom?”

“Mhmm…” Hermione hummed and Atlas cocked her head to the side, noting how the usually talkative Hermione – when she wasn’t studying – was deliberately holding her tongue.

“Is it intact?”

“Yes, it was blown into the Hufflepuff’s tent…” That was something, “Harry’s was…” she grimaced and looked over to Ron who was holding onto a bundle of something, “massacred by the Whomping Willow.”

“Ouch…” Atlas winced, casting a look over at Harry. “Poor broom.”

“Mhmm.”

“You’re unusually quiet.”

“Why did you let go of your broom?” Hermione asked suddenly, stopping her cleaning and staring Atlas dead in the eye.

“I would have thought it obvious…the Dementors were descending on us…I knew Dumbledore would catch us,” Atlas offered and then raised her hand to pinch at Hermione’s cold cheek, her skin quite pale from the weather, her hair was drenched too, looking as if she’d just climbed out of a pool. “Don’t be upset.”

“It was just scary,” Hermione mumbled, looking over to Harry. Atlas followed her gaze, “Watching the both of you fall…Harry’s had a streak of Quidditch accidents but never this bad and seeing you as well…it was just…very frightening.”

“I…well, I’m sorry.”

“I’m just…glad you’re ok,” Hermione muttered and Atlas grinned, pulling the girl into a hug which she quickly reciprocated. The rest of the team eventually came inside, Fred and George grumbling a few words to Cedric who was only just leaving, Angelina and Katie shushing them and Ron despondently cradling Harry’s broken broom. “You were really…amazing.”

“Falling, breaking my nose and hurting my arm aside, right?” Atlas smirked, tucking a strand of Hermione’s hair behind her ear when she pulled away.

“Right,” Hermione nodded.

“You alright there, Atlas?” George asked, moving around to talk to her, she nodded, leaning over to grab the glass of water she had beside her, but Fred beat her to it, handing it to her instead.

“Pretty boy was right…” Fred sighed, though he seemed annoyed to admit it, “Sorry, we did a bad job in watching your back.”

“No, no,” Atlas took a sip and smiled tiredly, “Cedric’s just awfully protective. Older brother instincts, you know?” she set the glass down and pulled back her covers, Hermione startling when she realised Atlas was attempting to stand.

“What are you doing!?” She whispered harshly, though immediately went to help her up. Atlas didn’t respond and moved over to Harry’s bed, plopping down in the chair beside it and sighing. 

“Sorry,” Atlas grinned, earning a withering look from Hermione who pulled out another chair and sat beside her. Ron stood behind them and the other four went on the other side of Harry’s bed. “Where’s Wood?”

“Drowning himself we think,” Angelina spoke this time, looking a little sorry, “took a hard blow, especially when he admitted Diggory won fair and square.”

“Saw the light drain from his eyes,” Fred sighed.

“You guys were lucky the ground was soft…” Ron murmured and Atlas turned to look up at him with a smile, reaching up to pat his shoulder.

“I thought you were dead for sure,” Katie said this time, earning an uncomfortable sound from Hermione who shuffled in her seat, brows furrowed. 

“He didn’t even break his glasses,” George offered to lighten the mood as he reached for them and put them on, Atlas chuckled lightly but the rest of the team kept quiet.

“That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life…” Katie whispered again and Angelina nodded in agreement, the entire team settling into silence as they just stared down at Harry. Madam Pomfrey came by a moment to hand Atlas a sling, Ron offering to help her into it, which she agreed to.

“Harry!” Fred suddenly shouted and everyone whipped their heads around to look at the boy. Ron tied up the knot of the bandage behind Atlas’s neck first before he leant over the two girls to check on his best friend, “How’re you feeling?”

“What happened?” Harry asked, sitting up so suddenly Atlas jumped from her seat, earning another round of gasps because she herself had not long recovered enough to stand.

“No sudden movements, you two!” Madam Pomfrey scolded from her desk and Atlas tentatively sat back down, Hermione taking her hand and playing with it nervously.

“You fell off your broom,” Fred told, looking to Atlas, “Must’ve been what, fifty feet? Atlas caught you, really looked like she was going to pull you up too but some wanker shot a Bludger right at her. Knocked the last of her strength I reckon.”

That wasn’t the truth, Atlas and Hermione knew that but it wasn’t a big deal so no comments were made. “We thought you’d died,” Katie repeated, voice shaking. Hermione’s hold on Atlas’s hand tightened.

“You caught me Atlas…?” Harry rasped, glancing down to Atlas’s bandaged arm, “With your right arm?”

“I know, stupid move,” Atlas grinned nervously.

“It was but…thank you,” he smiled and Atlas shrugged it off, “The match…” he suddenly remembered, “What happened? Are we doing a replay?”

No one said anything so Atlas decided to break the silence.

“Cedric got the Snitch last minute. When he realised what had happened he wanted a rematch. They won fair and square though,” Atlas offered sympathetically, “Even Wood admits it.”

“And where is–?”

“Angelina said she reckons he’s trying to drown himself,” Atlas finished and Harry frowned, tucking his knees to his chest dejectedly. Ron shook his shoulder in an attempt to shake him from his wallowing.

“C’mon, mate, you’ve never missed the Snitch before,” he smiled, still cradling the ruined broom Harry still hadn’t noticed, “there had to be one time you didn’t get it.”

“Besides it’s not over yet,” Fred said and continued in a talk on how they could still have a shot at the Inter-House Quidditch Cup, but Atlas tuned it out, she was exhausted. Healing charms would do that to a person; the spell would take the remaining energy from a body and would fuse it into healing any of their wounds, so it was no wonder she soon found her head falling against Hermione’s shoulder.

***

It was the day of Atlas’s release from the hospital, she had spent the entire weekend in the wing with Harry, the two of them getting treated for their injuries respectively. Well, Harry had recovered quicker than her, mainly because his main issue was the Dementor attack. Out of the two of them, Atlas was the one who had the most damage done. Which was why she’d missed the first class of that Monday morning.

Harry had to go and Atlas sort of pitied him, the lesson had been Potions, meaning the boy no doubt got grief from Draco who had apparently been parading around with both of his arms in perfect condition. Atlas grimaced at the thought of the boy and tentatively pulled her arm through her sleeve, immediately wrapping it back up in its sling when she had tugged on her jumper too. 

Getting changed had been a bother that morning, with the achiness setting in from overexertion, she had been on the brink of near collapse when she had woken up from her nap on Hermione’s shoulder – finding herself in bed when she did. It was lucky Madam Pomfrey had been there to stop her from getting out of her bed otherwise she really would have fallen.

Thankfully, her next lesson would be easy, Professor Lupin had assured her when he had visited the hospital in passing that morning that he would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again. However, Atlas couldn’t help but note the man’s haggard appearance when he did, he’d looked like he’d lost quite a bit of weight, his skin an oddly pale colour and his clothes in worse condition than before.

The reason for it was clear but neither of them brought it up.

A form walked into the hospital just as Atlas had pulled her shoes on and when she looked up she saw Harry looking down at her amusedly. “You alright?”

“Do I look–” she stood, her knees cracking when she did, “–alright, to you?”

“No…no you don’t,” He offered with a sheepish smile which quickly turned into one of concern, “You shouldn’t be this bad surely…?”

“I’m just tired. Nightmares thanks to those Dementors, it took a lot to pull away from that Dementors hold,” Atlas scowled. It quickly melted away into a half-hearted smile to Harry, who she knew had been suffering the same. If his abrupt jolting upright’s in the night were any indication. “Are you helping me to my lesson?”

“Ah, right,” Harry nodded, guiding her along.

“Surprised Hermione didn’t come…she’s been hovering around me all weekend,” Atlas mused, cracking her neck and swiping her hair back. Noticing her dilemma, Harry took her hairband from her and tied her hair into its trademark half-tail, earning a mumbled thanks in return.

“She wanted to,” Harry told and Atlas smiled slightly, “but she also needed to keep Ron from murdering Malfoy.”

“What’s he done now?”

“Just making fun of me…about the Dementors…” Harry sighed and Atlas peered over at him, the two of them walking out of the hospital after a faint goodbye to Madam Pomfrey. “Atlas, am I…is there something wrong with me? Why do the Dementors–?”

“Dementors are terrible things Harry,” Atlas interrupted, “I’m no expert really, don’t like reading on them let alone being supposedly guarded by them…” she grumbled that last bit, “I suspect the Dementors affect you worse than others because there are horrors in your past that the others don’t have.”

“But you have those horrors too…I’ve seen you when you wake up from those nightmares, Atlas,” Harry said and Atlas pulled her lips into a thin line, her brows knitting together.

“I do…but I’ve always remembered, I don’t need a Dementor to remind me of that night. Ever since I was a little tot, I’d have nightmares of my mother being blown to bits…not a thing a child should grow up with,” Atlas offered weakly, her voice cracking slightly. Harry watched her in concern, gulping quietly at the girls recounting, “It’s why I don’t faint, why I can look away from a Dementor, it may be my worst memory but I’ve seen it so many times I can wake myself up.”

Harry didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to, the way he had gone rigid told Atlas enough. She glanced over at him with a warm smile and outstretched her good arm to ruffle his hair, disheveling it even more than it had been.

“What’s been on your mind anyway?” Harry suddenly snapped up to meet her gaze, which she steadily returned, “Our beds are beside each other, I needed someone to talk to but you were always looking far away.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he flushed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “It’s just…” he took a moment before looking at her with so much sheer determination, she couldn’t help but laugh lightly, “What do you think about Professor Trelawney’s…prediction?”

“Which one?”

“The Grim.”

“The omen of death?” Atlas clarified and Harry nodded, “Well…Divination is very vague…especially something like tasseomancy…I suppose there could be some truth behind it but I wouldn’t say it’s concrete.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked curiously and Atlas huffed a breath, humming to herself as she tried to find the best way to describe what she was trying to get at.

“It’s like the illusion or belief of something happening leads it to actually happening. So, in The Grim’s case, believing you are going to die soon only hastens your death,” Atlas tried. Harry still looked a little lost, “Do you want an example?”

“I think that’d be best…”

“Alright, say we have an old man, he gets his tea leaves read and he comes back with The Grim, in a flurry of paranoia, he shields himself from the world, always sleeps with one eye open, double locks his doors, glances over his shoulder wherever he goes until one day he sees a stray black dog on the street casually walking by his window. At the sight, he drops dead from heart failure, or he drops a match he was using to light his stove, or he rushes for cover and trips down his stairs — do you see where I’m going with this?”

“I think so…so what you’re saying is, it’s like a coincidental distraction, something that fuels deadly paranoia?” Harry asked and Atlas nodded.

“Something like that, why?”

“Well…I think I saw one…a Grim I mean,” Harry shrugged, the two of them turning up a flight of stairs and casually waving to a few ghosts that floated by. “I didn’t want to talk to Hermione and Ron about the one I saw this time because well…Ron would go into hysteria and Hermione would go the logical route.”

“Sounds like them,” Atlas nodded with a grin and Harry chuckled. “So you wanted an outside point of view? Guess you’re lucky I’m not entirely fussed, even if it’s nothing magical I won’t bug you for feeling anxious because of it but I also won’t fuel it.”

“Thanks,” Harry smiled genuinely and Atlas waved it off, motioning for him to continue what he was saying, “Anyway, I saw one…before the term started and almost got hit by the Knight Bus.”

“You almost got hit by the Knight Bus because you were distracted by it,” Atlas inferred and Harry nodded.

“Right and then, in the Quidditch game…I saw it in the stands.”

“Hold on,” Atlas stopped, furrowing her brows, “Me too.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah…it was the reason I got smacked in the arm by the Bludger,” Atlas mused and then huffed in disbelief, “maybe I’ve got the Grim too, or, of course, it was a coincidence and just served as a distraction to you because, you know, you have the death omen and me because I thought it was my friend Lyra.”

“You have no idea how much better this makes me feel,” Harry sighed, leaning up against the corridor wall, “Not that it was a good thing you got hurt but because now I don’t feel absolutely bonkers.”

“That or…like I said, we’ve both got the Grim,” Atlas grinned and Harry pushed at her good shoulder. “I’m kidding.”

“Let me have this,” Harry muttered, rubbing down his face. “Guess it was a good idea to talk to you…”

“Obviously. Where Hermione offers book-smarts and Ron offers streetsmarts, I offer…logic but with a sprinkle of open-mindedness.”

“I’m glad, otherwise I think I’d have gone mad by now,” Harry huffed and then looked to his watch, “We should get going, we’re already a few minutes late.”

Atlas decided to tease the boy, “Ready to see Professor Snape?”

“You tosser. I’d managed to forget.”

“That’s not very nice, you should watch your profanity,” Atlas smirked, the two of them walking down the corridor and finally getting to their classroom. Harry hesitated at the doorknob so Atlas took the plunge for him and opened it, grinning and waving at a sickly looking Professor Lupin who Harry promptly gawked at. 

“You knew didn’t you?” Harry hissed. Atlas shrugged and walked over to Hermione, thankful she would be able to sit next to her this lesson without Snape breathing down her neck about it.

“Hey you,” Hermione beamed as she sat down, taking ahold of Atlas’s hand and giving it a firm squeeze before she went back to her work, “how are you feeling?”

“Better now,” Atlas smirked sending her a wink as she got out her things for the lesson. Hermione just stared at her a moment, cheeks flushing before ducking her head and getting back on task. The smile on her face not leaving once throughout the lesson.

***

Lunch rolled around and Atlas was feeling eager at the prospect of eating somewhere out of the hospital wing for the first time in a few days. Hermione, Ron and Harry walked with her, the boys talking about something Atlas couldn’t hear nor did she care to try to and Hermione was beside her reading a book, its contents unknown to Atlas as she hadn’t bothered to look. All she was curious about was what was on the lunch menu.

It was probably going to be the same as usual but anything beats the potions she’d had to live off of under Madam Pomfrey’s care because of the medication she was on. It would just be nice to eat some real solid food.

They rounded into the great hall, Atlas practically bounding over to the Gryffindor table where she slid into her seat. Hermione followed her with a look of utmost amusement and the boys sat opposite them; they were still engrossed in conversation.

“Finally, some actual food,” Atlas muttered, picking up a sandwich from a pile at the centre of the table and chomping into it, not even flinching when a heavy arm snaked over her shoulder. The yellow and black tie in Atlas’s peripheral confirmed who it was and so she didn’t pay the boy any mind.

“No greeting? I visit you, drop off chocolates and deliver get well soon cards from dozens of people from different houses and I don’t even get a ‘hey’?”

“Hey, Ced,” Atlas mumbled, suddenly engrossed in a platter of sausages a few seats away from her, right in front of Ron’s little sister. “Hey, Ginny, could you pass the sausages?”

“Oh, Atlas!” Ginny grinned, her eyes roaming the table for the tray before she spotted it and pushed it over to her, “Here.”

“Thank you,” Atlas nodded, forking a few on to her plate, aware of both Cedric and Hermione eyeing her in her peripheral. She turned to Hermione first, “Did you want one, Mione?”

“Ah, no but…” She motioned to Cedric who was still stood behind her, arms now crossed.

“Cedric, you’re disturbing the pretty lady,” Atlas sighed, turning to him.

“I’ll be honest, that is a first,” Cedric hummed thoughtfully and Atlas rolled her eyes, looking to Hermione with a sorry smile, the girl only mirroring the action and going back to her book. “Just wanted to check-in. See how you were.”

“I’m fine Ced, you can go back to your lost boys now,” Atlas huffed, motioning over to the group of Hufflepuffs hanging about at the end of Gryffindor table, waiting for Cedric to go back to them.

“You should come and sit with us sometime, Edwards got a really hot sister who apparently couldn’t keep her eyes off of you the whole game,” Cedric smiled and Hermione rolled her eyes, flipping a page of her book. Atlas was completely oblivious, too engrossed in a speck of grease on her jumper thanks to a, particularly, juicy sausage.

“Hmmm, maybe,” Atlas replied absentmindedly as she then looked up to find Cedric grinning and Hermione now with her book closed, “I doubt you’re telling the truth though, I couldn’t even see out there so I doubt this girl you’re talking about watched me the entire game. If she did, I’d sign her up for the Seeker position.”

“Ron and I watched you just fine,” Hermione mumbled and Atlas laughed, turning back to look up at Cedric. Only, he was looking to the Owl window where an all too familiar Eurasian Eagle-Owl was descending upon them, a red-letter clutched in its talons. 

“Oh no…” Atlas muttered, catching the Howler as Aquila perched herself on Cedric’s shoulder, the boy snatching up a small sausage to feed the large owl.

“Atlas’s got a Howler!” Seamus exclaimed as the red letter flew from her hand and hovered in the air in front of her. Atlas noticed Ron and Harry just behind it, stopping their conversation to watch the scene. Even Hermione paid close attention, waiting as it hovered for just a moment before the most horrifying roar was expelled from within the paper.

The roar of a dragon. Soon followed by, “ATLAS MAGIANIMA BLACK, ARE YOU ACTIVELY TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!?” It was Bella and she was apparently quite peeved, “FIRST I HEAR YOU GET HOSPITALISED ON YOUR FIRST DAY! THEN I HEAR FROM CEDRIC THAT YOU’VE BEEN SNEAKING AROUND!” Atlas shot the boy a glare which he smiled sheepishly at, “AND NOW YOU’RE CATCHING FALLING BOYS FROM THE SKY WITH YOUR INJURED ARM YOU — YOU UTTER FOOL. EYEING UP DEMENTORS TOO LIKE IT’S A MERLIN BE DAMNED STARING COMPETITION. WHAT’S NEXT!? GETTING TORN TO SHREDS BY SOME WANDERING BEAST IN THE BLACK FOREST!? I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL YOU LITTLE SWINE!”

Atlas stared at the letter, mortified as it seemed to catch its breath, everyone surrounding her looking all sorts of scared. The letter wasn’t even to them yet they still felt intimidated, though, to be fair, it had opened with a dragon roar. 

“IF YOU SO MUCH AS PASS THAT HOSPITAL I WILL HIJACK A DRAGON AND COME BURN YOUR SORRY ARSE TO A CRISP. YOU GOT THAT YOU LITTLE SHIT!?” Atlas automatically nodded, gulping as the letter then turned to Cedric, the boy going as white as snow while Aquila on his shoulder remained unbothered. “AND YOU! DIGGORY! EDUCATE YOUR TEAM! YOUR BEATERS HIT A BLOODY BLUDGER IN THE DIRECTION OF TWO INJURED PLAYERS! THE SCUM OF IT! I’LL TEACH ‘EM MYSELF IF NEEDS BE YOU PRAT!”

“Y-yes Izzie!” Cedric yelped, his cheeks flushed from the embarrassment. Finally, the letter turned upon Hermione who went from amused to nervous.

“YOU!” Hermione flinched and Atlas worried her bottom lip, dreading what would happen next, “Hi!” That was a turn. Hermione eased up and stared curiously at the letter. “My name’s Isabella Krase, I’m like Atlas’s older sister, she talks about you all the time. Granted she talks about Harry and Ron a lot too but I don’t really listen to those stories, boys are just boring you know?” 

Ron and Harry looked both amused and mildly offended while Hermione grinned and Atlas smashed her head against the table, her appetite lost in some dank hallway it may never return from. Dramatic, sure, but it’s what she felt.

“I’m going to assume you agreed and — oh look’s like time’s running out. Ok,” The letter turned back to Atlas, “Atlas, you little git, I love you so don’t die alright? I’ll visit next year when work isn’t hectic and the dragons aren’t wrecking the place. My hair is on fire as we speak,” Atlas blanched and sighed, shaking her head in her hand, “Oh hey, now that you’ve met, do you admit you have a tiny crush on–?”

The letter ripped itself to shreds and Atlas let out a breath of relief, sinking in her chair so she was practically under the table as the tables around her descended into silence. That silence quickly turning into an uproar of laughter, Cedric and Atlas at the butt of the joke.

“I’m going to murder her…” Atlas muttered as Cedric deflated and pushed Aquila into flight.

“Murder her? I think I’d rather murder myself, less hassle.”

“You know what? I second that.”