ALL I WANT ; TMR

eight.

The day's mortification weighed heavy on Colette as she trudged down the halls of Hogwarts. She had missed all of potions trying to figure out the counter-charm to the spell Riddle had placed on her bag, and when she couldn't find anyone to aid her, she had to attend the rest of her classes with pathetic excuses as to where her books were.

She now made her way to the Slytherin common rooms in order to find Lucian. She knew that, out of everybody, he'd be the best help in her predicament. A peculiar sound made Colette stop in her tracks, however. It resembled one of a bell, or wind chimes.

The louder it grew, Colette grew closer and closer to the conclusion that it was the giggle of a girl. She sighed, stance easing and wand shoved back into her robe's pocket as she rounded a corner to continue with her path.

Instead, she met the sight of two girls on a staircase. One was tall, with long black hair in a knot at the base of her head and honey-brown skin. Her gut instincts told her it was Dona, one of the girl's she roomed with. One step closer proved her hypothesis to be right, and the identity of the second girl became clear as well.

Alice knelt in front of Dona, hands working at the other girl's shoe laces as she tied them for her. Colette recognized her giggles to be the melodic sound she had just been pursuing; they were caused by something the taller girl was whispering. Both girl's were in incredibly close proximity, and Colette felt incredibly awkward to have been intruding.

She tried to subtly back out, but knocked into a knight armour and sent that clattering onto the cobblestone floors. She cringed, hands impulsively covering her face as she turned to face the two girls again.

"I'm so sorry, I-" She whispered; she doubted that they heard her. Nonetheless, she seemed to be apologizing for her sake more than theirs.

"'Letty! Oh darling it's been quite a bit. How are you adjusting?" Alice shot up, blushing as she bit her lips. She wore her quidditch gear, bold in crimson and gold as she skipped towards Colette, embracing her in a hug before gesturing to Dona, who was also clad in the same fashion.

"This is Dona Black! I presume you know each other, yes?" Alice looked at the two, smile wild and eyes fresh with excitement. Dona nodded, monotone expression slightly spoilt by the tinge on her nose and cheeks.

"Erm, yeah. Listen I best be-" Colette began, before Alice interrupted.

"Oh, do come with us to practice! It's only us and a few others today," The blonde looked at Dona in some sort of way, one that Colette soon deciphered to be asking her for permission.

"Oh I don't know about that," Colette shook her head, beginning to muster an excuse on why she couldn't before the air was knocked out of her lungs. Alice began pulling her by her arm across the corridor.

-

As she walked alongside Dona and Alice, Colette noticed they drifted further and further apart the closer to the quidditch pitch they got, and once they had reached the stadium, Alice had separated from the two entirely to join two other Gryffindors on the opposite of the pitch.

The quidditch pitch hadn't changed from her time, the bleachers still as high and grass just as green. Colette's mind wondered as she took in the place, a feeling of melancholy washing over her. Dona paced beside her, obviously slowing down as to not gain speed on the shorter girl. Colette took note of this, smiling slightly in newfound respect.

They met with Abraxas, who was in full quidditch gear as well. His pale skin contrasted starkly against the deep green of his uniform, white hair comically held back from his face with bobby pins. He spotted Dona and waved her over, scrunching his eyes in confusion at her company.

"Didn't know you two were close," He said, amused.

"Hardly," Dona spoke, grabbing an extra broom from beside Abraxas and offering it to Colette.

"Oh, I don't play." Colette trued laughing off the crushing pressure she got from the two Slytherins staring at her.

"Suit yourself. Though I look prettier up close," Abraxas stood, winking before mounting his broom and taking off. Dona followed shortly after, and Colette was left alone on the pitch, looking up at the players above her.

She eventually made her way up to the bleachers, fingers picking at the dead skin around her nails as she watched the practice in boredom. She had never held an interest in quidditch, and would always bring along things to keep herself entertained during games. However, with the absence of her book bag, she was stuck with nothing.

The sky was a pale grey that day, clouds heavy with unreleased rain and hair crisp with the cold beginnings of autumn. Wind blew around her face, biting at her nose and extremities and painting them pink.

And then the ringing began.

The all-too-familiar, all-too-annoying ringing from the cryptic ring she wore. It's been acting up at random intervals of the day recently, awaking her at night and disturbing her classes. And the part that bothered Colette most was that nobody heard it but her, and she was stuck losing sleep and sanity for reasons unknown.

The ring had only aided her once before, but now it was proving to be a nuisance.

Colette looked down on it to acknowledge it, like an insufferable sibling that kept barging into her room. It always seemed to do the trick in stopping the noise.

And yet this time it didn't.

It only grew louder, filling her head with white noise. The wind stilled around her, the shouts from the quidditch players ceasing to a hum. The ringing was at the forefront of her mind.

It urged her to stand, commanding her without saying a word and pulling her from her place on the bleachers. Her feet moved as she glided down the steps, hand held out in front of her and ring trembling on her finger. Her eyes kept locked on it, yet she kept moving.

She reached the railing that cut off the bleachers from the quidditch pitch, and after it was a steep decline. A voice from the back of Colette's mind, in which she recognized to be her own, pushed at her, told her to sit down, but the ringing only grew louder and consequently muted her subconsciousness.

The world was still. The ring shook. The orb adorning it glowed.

And then Colette was falling.

Everything happened all at once. The ringing stopped. The wind returned, whipping her around, and the shouts from the quidditch players grew louder. Colette gained control of her mind, but was unable to do anything.

Her vision blurred in and out of focus, rain pelting against her skin like hail. Her name was screamed from the distance. Colette didn't recognize it.

A force hit her stomach, followed by an unbearable pain. A bludger. Her rib cracked, followed by another. She came close to hitting the floor before she was swooped away.

Her vision faded into black.

-

This was the most paINFUL CHAPTER TO WRITE. I struggled with it for three days, and when I finally wrote something, I fucking deleted it. God I hate myself sometimes.

But I'd like to give a special thanks to Blackmagicforever , for being the first supporter of this book! Thanks babe, it means so much<3

Votes and comments are appreciated! Tell me what you think <3

- dina