Chasing Riddle

:･ﾟcarrow :･ﾟ

author's note:

thank you so much for your support thus far! it means so much to me and i'm so happy that you enjoy my writing! please do vote and comment so i know how you guys feel and again, i'm so grateful to be able to share this with you!

also should I remind you that this is the year Tom opens the chamber!!! yayyy!

⚡️WARNING: this chapter contains gory details, skip it if you'd like! (you'll know where the parts are when you see them.)

~~~

As Harlow's slippers started to get soaked through with blood she tried hard not to jump out and protect Luxe.  What were they doing to him? Was he dead? She shivered at the thought and stayed hidden behind the cabinet.  Going out right now would mean total annihilation, maybe even death.  She knew she was being dramatic but Tom had just struck down someone who was supposed to be his friend.  How could you trust someone like that?

The boys started to leave, one by one and she crept to the innermost corners of her hiding spot so they wouldn't find her.  The dark covered her like a cloak as she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes.  Her heart thudded horribly loud against her ribcage and she curled in even more on herself.    It didn't seem like Tom saw her because he was already running out of the door, clothes spattered faintly with blood.

She breathed a giant sigh of relief as they left and immediately ran over to Luxe.  The sight that befell her made her scream. Small half inch deep holes littered his body, leave for his face which was slashed horribly at the chin.  Blood was pooling underneath his body in such an immense amount that the metallic stink reached Harlow's nose.   
"Oh my god."

She thought back to the moment she'd found the blood on her shoes, Riddle had still been whispering Crucio to Luxe.  That meant...the reason why there was so much blood was because the Crucio spells had pushed the blood through the holes.  She almost puked.  

Luxe was going to die of blood loss and she didn't know what to do. 

Harlow had to use a quick spell in her arsenal, something that could stall as much time as possible.

"Episky." She whispered.  It was the easiest thing she could do yet she almost laughed at the foolishness of it all.  The holes barely budged, only stitching together with the thinnest slabs of skin.

"Episky, Episky, Episky." Her hands were bloody as she ran them over the wounds softly.  She was thinking what to do.  Luxe was unconscious and his pulse was starting to slow ever so slightly.

She couldn't bring Luxe to the nurse because teachers would start to question everything, eventually maybe leading to Harlow herself getting in trouble by Riddle. She'd have to find a way out herself.  

What did her Potions professor tell her about healing? Well, the wounds on Luxe's body did look like werewolf wounds and to cure those wounds you had to mix essence of Dittany with silver.

Essence of Dittany.  That was it!

Harlow walked out of the room into the corridor and hoped to god her plan would work.  Brandishing her wand in the air she enunciated clearly.

"ACCIO ESSENCE OF DITTANY!" Her other hand stayed outstretched and before long a small vial of black liquid zoomed into it.  Her hand clasped firmly around it and she gasped.  She didn't think that it would work because most likely someone placed an anti-theft charm on it but here it was.  She didn't know where it came from, hopefully not the potions closet since the professor would know it was missing.  She'd have to deal with the consequences of taking something later.

She rushed into the room again and tried to calm her shaky hands.  What if he was already dead? Her bloodstained fingers traced their way to his wrist and she took his pulse.  It was slow but he was obviously still alive.

"This is going to hurt, okay, Luxe?" She whispered, uncorking the vial with slippery fingers.  When she finally managed to get the cork out she prayed a small prayer and upturned the bottle, slowly letting the dribbles of liquid fill each hole in his flesh.  There was an acrid stinging sound and smelly fumes wafted their way out of his body. She swatted them away with her hands and continued to Episky his body as the Dittany worked its magic.  Finally, after a half hour, most of the holes were back to normal, leaving behind the barest trace.  Luxe was ghostly pale and as much as Harlow was proud of herself for healing him she was still scared that he was suffering from blood loss.  

"Tergeo." She muttered, siphoning off the excess blood from his body.  Harlow thought about getting a blood replenishing potion.  That should help for sure. But she'd already tried to summon a potion to her once so if she did that again...someone would know for sure.

But on the other hand...

She shook the thought away. She'd ask the nurse for it herself and come up with a situation.  As she sat cradling Luxe in her arms and letting the blood soak her dressing gown she came to the thought of how malevolent Tom was.  Puncturing holes in a friend and leaving him to die?

"Luxe?" She traced a finger on his cheek.  Her heart beat wildly.  His eyelid fluttered once, twice and stilled.

"Luxe, hang in there okay? You just need some Blood Replenishing Potion.  I promise you'll be okay." She slowly lay his head down on the floor and used a dusty stack of books to raise his legs over his body.  That should help him deal with the shock for now.  She got up herself and with a few muttered words started to clean the room.  The blood slowly disappeared as she waved her wand and then she came back to Luxe.  As she put his arm around her shoulder and slowly lifted herself up she heard the door creak.

Her heart stopped.

"Need any help?"

It was Tom.