Cursed Together

Part 5 - The Long Night

The West Wing had a reputation as a hotspot for foot traffic, earned through the fact its corridors led directly to the towers holding the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor common rooms via the Great Hall, hospital wing, and central staircase. Even during the quietest periods of the day, the corridors always looked busy due to the rows of suits of armour, each stood tall with their arms proudly bearing their bespoke, intricately crafted depiction of a legendary weapon. As dinner approached, however, the walkways filled with the bobbing heads and rippling robes of clusters of students and staff members as they flowed towards the warm welcome of the Great Hall's huddled benches and blazing chandeliers.

Holding his breath, Will followed in the wake of a pair of bullish older students and overtook more students and professors than he could count. Despite his crossed fingers and flitting eyes, however, another, much slower group of students fell in behind the higher-years and blocked Will's path, a move that forced him to merge with a wide-eyed group of youthful Gryffindors and bide his time. A ghost swept by his ear, yet he was too distracted to appreciate it.

He chanced to look over his shoulder, and a flare of radiant gold caught his eye. To the displeasure of many of his peers, Will fought the current and landed by Penny's side, receiving her bright smile in return. "Ah, Will, is everything alright?" she asked, sweetly but with a touch of concern.

Will fixed his skewed tie. "What? Oh, yes, I'm fine," he said, finding his feet at Penny's side. "I just didn't want to sit with first-years, you know, even now they tend to be full of questions and...I need to recharge."

The girl beside Penny turned to another Hufflepuff student and pointed to something in the book she held. Penny nodded, her hands clasped to her robe. "I get that. You need some time to talk about anything but magic, else your mind will turn to mush!"

Her warm smile urged Will on. "I think some of the professors around here prove that!" he said, drawing a laugh from Penny that stoked the flames of his spirit.

Ahead of them, the turn into the Hall drew closer, but between them and it a pair of shoulders suddenly slid into view. Barney's broad build and razor-like jaw endowed everything he did with a subtle, impenetrable confidence, to the extent that everybody filtered around him and Katja without complaint. "You again," he sniffed to Will's faltering body. "I thought I made myself clear. Penny's not interested in talking to a shrimp like you, okay?" His thumb wiped his nose, though more to show off the thickness of his arm than to remove anything. Behind him, Katja tried to lead him into the Hall, but he threw off her coaxing grip and kept his eyes on Will.

Penny groaned and tightened her robes around her body, burying herself beneath the bulk of her uniform. "Barney, give it a rest. You're blocking the corridor. I don't even care about the stupid Ball, okay?" She tried to walk past him on the coattails of a Hufflepuff prefect, only to find that his body slipped into her path. "Seriously? What's Will done to you? He's just –"

In the space left by the prefect, Will's absence burned into Penny's mind. The lights suddenly closed around her, their heat searing the surface of her skin and drawing beads of sweat that trembled down her forehead. Somewhere in the Great Hall past Barney's stony frame, a red cloak slumped onto a crowded bench and tugged at Penny's heart as it settled its hands on the table. "Get lost, Barney." Penny took a deep breath and barged past the Slytherin, a move that startled him so much that he stumbled into Katja and barely caught himself before he sent them both to the worn stone floor.

Through the careful deployment of magic, meals sat ready for a student at regular intervals along each bench. Ordinarily, each table served a particular House, yet apart from the feasts that commemorated special occasions neither the professors nor the prefects enforced this rule, especially with older students. Nodding to a Gryffindor prefect she passed along the way, Penny hurried to take the space opposite Will, yet a younger Gryffindor threw themselves into it and started an energetic discussion with the student beside them. By the time Penny placed herself on a bench, she was too far away to even see Will, let alone get his attention.