| HIDDEN IN SECRETS |

chapter thirty-five

TRELAWNEY'S PREDICTION

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Verena was falling. Cho had abandoned the race for the Snitch for her safety. When she saw Verena, she zoomed down to help, but she had missed her hand by an inch. Instead, she caught her Nimbus 2001 as it had gone crashing down with her.

Potter had successfully caught the Snitch. Then, he zoomed towards Verena to catch her. As he did, he pointed his wand at the cloaked figure. A silvery-white light protruded out from his wand and the Dementors retracted, leaving the pitch.

Potter caught Verena's hand, almost falling off his broom from the force. Not long after he had caught her, Damien flew up beside him. After seeing the Dementors, he had taken a broom on a mission to protect his sister. He helped Potter bring Verena to the ground safely and then the professors took her to the Hospital Wing.

"Mum!"

Verena went to her mother's room. The door was open a crack. She pushed it and the door swung open. She saw her mother on the ground, a bottle a few feet away from her hand.

"Mum!" she cried, running to her body. "Mum! No, please— "

Verena saw a white light. She squinted her eyes and blinked a few times, getting adjusted to the bright light. She slowly sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You're up, finally," said Draco with relief.

"It was like Potter all over again," said Damien. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine," Verena replied.

No, she was not. Verena had just seen her mother dead. She was terrified.

"It's a good thing Potter caught you," said Astoria, holding her hand. "I thought you were going to die."

"Your brother swooped in to save you, too," Daphne added, smiling at him and then at her.

"Space! Give her some space," Madam Pomfrey demanded. "I can't believe it. Dementors on campus grounds again? Attacking yet another student?"

She handed Verena a bar of chocolate and said, "Eat this all up – gradually. Not all at once."

"May I be released?" Verena asked.

"You most certainly may not!" she said furiously. "Oh, I'm not upset with you, dear," she added, then left.

"Dumbledore's furious," said Draco. "I hear he's meeting with Cornelius Fudge right now."

"Father's here, too," Damien told her. "He was informed right away and is trying to come to an agreement about the Dementors."

"Rena, about Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint... " Draco began. "I told them not to since, you know, you're playing. I tried stopping them— "

"It's okay, Draco," Verena assured, putting a hand over his. "They didn't hurt me... wait, where's my broom."

"Don't worry," Daphne said quickly, calming her. "Cho caught it. The team came earlier while you were asleep... and then Madam Pomfrey kicked them out. 'Only a few at a time' you know."

"Oh, I see," Verena said quietly.

Her friends stayed with her until it was time for dinner. Even her father visited to see how she was doing. Of course, she looked okay to him, but he had some doubts. He noticed that his daughter did not smile as much as he thought she would when surrounded by her friends. His wife, too, would hide her worries.

After eating the meal Madam Pomfrey provided, Verena read more journal entries. She grew to love Dahlia through her writing. It made sense to her when Dahlia wrote she wanted to be a writer for the Daily Prophet, even though her parents would rather her be something else. But the next few entries saddened Verena.