✓ | RECKLESS AND BRAVE | Draco Malfoy

13 | MONDEGREEN

     "TESSA, RUN!" Harry was yelling again.

     Her arm was completely useless, cradled against her chest as she dropped her body to a low crouch and shot forward in a sprint. Every step she took triggered a hidden trap in those walls, more and more darts escaping and threatening to pierce her skin.

     Without warning, the ground beneath her began to rumble and shake before a violent sway racked through the corridor. Tessa screamed in surprise, her footing nearly going out of balance as she steadied herself swiftly and pushed herself to run faster. All those times she'd been running with Uncle Kasimir turned out incredibly lifesaving. She'd have to give him a big hug and a huge thank you if she ever made it out of her alive.

     The end of the hallway was close, and she nearly cried in relief. Suddenly, the ground shuddered tumultuously and gave out beneath her. The floor collapsed as large, gaping cracks spiderwebbed the brick walls as the ceiling rumbled. Screaming, Tessa jumped to reach the safe place outside the trapped corridor, everything seeming to move in slow motion.

     Her knees crashed against the floor and she cried out at the blinding pain surging throughout her body as she tumbled on her numbing arm. The world danced before her eyes in pairs, flashing lights blinding her as she saw stars. She cried and groaned, struggling to get to her feet as she grabbed and yanked on the lever that gave out a whine.

     "HARRY, GO!"

     Tessa looked back at the boy just in time to see him run to the direction of the door right before the ceiling of the trapped pathway to fall and permanently block her from ever going back to Harry.

     She stayed there, slumped against the wall with her hand gripped on the lever for a good minute before getting to her feet. She whimpered at the hot pain throbbing in her knees and nearly every part of her body as she limped. Before her was a door that would bring her back out to the castle, and Tessa was glad because she was about to fall unconscious any second now.

     Reaching for the handle, she twisted it open and heard the faint fluttering of something beating against the air. Light filled her vision as she blinked drowsily and adjusted her sight. It was the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey was rushing for her, a look of complete shock and bewilderment crossing her features. "Tessa Valentine?" was the last thing she heard before she collapsed into the matron's awaiting arms.

ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ

She woke up feeling as though she'd been crushed by bricks. Every inch of her body was numb and she didn't have the energy to move. Her right arm felt like it was on fire, her upper bicep being the most painful.

     "Hello, Teressa."

     Shifting under the covers, Tessa forced herself to open her eyes and take in her surroundings. Professor Dumbledore stood on her left, his crescent shaped glasses twinkled under the light. She was in the Hospital Wing, she could see the unmistakable sight of beds with white sheets lined up on her side of the wall and on the other. Glancing to her right, her eyes nearly bugged out upon seeing the massive overflow of sweets and candies of all kinds, handwritten letters with brightly colored ink — she saw glimpses of her name and Harry's name on majority of them. And most importantly — there was treacle fudge.

     Lots and lots of treacle fudge.

     Her eyes slid from the bedside table to the bed next to her, and she did a double take at the black haired boy laying unconscious. "Harry!" her voice cracked and hoarse from not having used it in several hours.

     "He's alright, dear," Dumbledore said. "As are you." Tessa forced herself to sit up, ignoring the sparks shooting up her right arm that was wrapped in a bandage. "It was a poison dart, it was designed to invade swiftly into your system and promise instant death if the right antidote is not given at once."