Wish Upon A Star (Cont.)

Meeting 3

Her eyes snapped open as she woke up with a gasp.

"Goddamned bullshit," she muttered darkly, turning over. She should've known. Going to that place was bound to mess with her head. 

Annoyed, Ashlyn got out of bed, and in the darkness, made her way to the kitchen. Nobody wants to be woken up in the middle of the night, by a nightmare, where Bellatrix was screaming 'Crucio'.

Ashlyn leaned against the counter. She placed the glass of water down and pulled up the sleeve of her cardigan. 

She didn't need any light to see the scar. 'Mudblood'

The scar didn't bother her. She honestly thought it looked cool. It wasn't that she was scared of Bellatrix either...It was the curse that unnerved her. The cruciatus curse...why did it scare her so much?

'Helloooo~ You up there?' she called.

'What do you want now?' the voice answered lazily.

'Why do you think the cruciatus curse bothers me so much?' she asked.

'How am I supposed to know?' the voice snapped. 'I don't know. Maybe because of the Longbottoms, or because that shit actually hurts like hell. I can feel a bit of it from up here too, or...No idea,'

Ashlyn felt her arm twitch. She didn't have to try hard to remember the feeling. She didn't even need to close her eyes to feel the pain. It was as though every single bone was being broken, as though her skin was being peeled away, as though her fingernails were being ripped off, as though she was being burned beyond third degree. It felt as though she was being pierced by a thousand knives, her muscles being torn and ripped apart into pieces, as though she was receiving huge blows to the head, as though her eyes were being gouged out...

...It was terrible.

She gave an involuntary shudder.

Ashlyn sighed and pulled her sleeve back down.

Now that she thought about it, why did she ever take Hermione's place?... Right because she hoped the other idiots would plan their escape faster. But then if they did, they wouldn't be idiots, would they?

 Well, if she were to go back in time, she would still do the same. She'd rather it be her than anyone else. And it was her friends in question. She would trade places with any of them. She would go instead of Ron to see the acromantulas, she'd go instead of Harry to the graveyard where Voldemort tortured him, she'd take their place anytime...She owes them that much. For all the shit she put them through. For all that they did for her. Even though they didn't know, through the pages itself they helped her hold on for long, to keep her head above the water...

Ashlyn flicked her wrist, and it took a few seconds for her little black book to come zooming towards her. She hadn't checked her calendar for a while.

Welp, time to cross off a few more days. 

She had hardly opened the book when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"It's me," Draco said softly.

Ashlyn who had swirled around with a hex on the tip of her tongue relaxed.

"Will you ever stop scaring me like that?" she muttered, hiding the book in her cardigan.

Ashlyn put her arms round his middle and hugged him. Draco hugged back promptly.

"Was it a nightmare?" Draco asked.

"Not really," Ashlyn lied. "I just wanted water," she jerked her head at the glass of water on the counter.