Allyson's family and friends mourning her current state. Cassilynn still cries every night and visits her sister often. Draco wears the ring with pride, answers questions about it with a sad smile, cries when he is alone and still visits his soulmate often typically after hours. Hermione and Penelope were in the hospital wing, petrified. Draco had given them a page he ripped out of a book at Flourish and Blotts. Draco had done everything he could to be able to fix this, even offering his help to Severus Snape on preparing the potion to administer to the students petrified.
Draco had tried to join Harry, much to his disdain and personal surprise, down in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry all but begged him to stay out of it, knowing Allyson would have his head if he let anything happen to Draco if it was in his control for it to not happen. The school year was drawing to a close, now. The mandrakes were ready, and the potion just needed to be brewed. As soon as it was, the students and the ghost that were petrified would be back to their normal selves.
Dumbledore was back as headmaster. Errold was on his way to have Hagrid set free from Azkaban. Lockhart was now in a padded room at St. Mungo's hospital. All seemed to be going back to normal. The students and teachers all hoped that next year would be worry and danger free. Everyone but the first years without older siblings, were tired of two years in a row of something going wrong. However, something told them this was only just the beginning.
*Allyson's POV*
The world around me looked the same, however it was starkly different than the usual Hogwarts I knew and loved. It was warmer than it was what felt like a night ago. However, I woke up in the hospital wing and my eyes burned as if they were extremely dry. My head was pounding and then memories of last night flooded my brain. I was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom; I was washing my hands and face, then when I looked up after washing off my face, I was eye to eye with a giant green lizard snake looking thing with big yellow eyes. Finally, as I sat up with a rush a scream that was trying to escape before it all went black escaped my throat with such force my throat was sore.
"Hey. Hey. Hey. You're okay. You're alright. You were petrified. You've been frozen since December."
"Madame Pomfrey? What do you mean? What day is it?"
"It's the end of May, dear."
At that I couldn't contain the tears. I just cried and soon dad was beside me. He wrapped his arms around me, and I cried into his chest. I had missed so much school. I had so much work to catch up and so much studying to do before finals in a week or two. As soon as I calmed down, dad sat down in the chair beside my bed.
"Allyson, welcome back. We have a lot to catch you up on. You have Christmas presents to open, homework and class work to do, and most of all friends and family to hug tightly. They all miss you so much. Cassi didn't take the news well. From what I hear, none of them really did. The heads of Houses were the ones to break the news to your family and friends. So, I was only able to see Draco, Cassi, Orion, and Vesper's reaction. I'm not sure how close you were to Taytum Lang, but Orion, Cassilynn and Vesper told her. Everyone visited you here every day they could. I stayed by your side most of winter break, Harry and the Weasley's as well. All of us have been keeping notes for you from your classes, Harry, myself, the Weasleys and even Draco. Now, you and the other students will have to spend a few days to make sure you all are fully recovered."
"Dad, did you give my gifts to them?"
"Yes, I did. Thank you for writing names on the sales tags. Else, I wouldn't have been able to keep that promise."
"And... The ring?" My voice was barely a whisper, but he heard me.
"He hasn't taken it off without reason for months. He boasts about how you got it for him, when anyone asks about it." He had a slight chuckle in his tone as he finished his last sentence.
A smile quickly etched onto my lips at that statement. Draco was proud of me, Draco cares about me. There is no other reason as to why Draco boasts. Draco boasts as a means of bragging, showboating you could say. He boasts only a few things, and those few things always are most important to him. So far, he had only boasted about his blood status and his father. To know I made the ranks, felt empowering and boosted my self-confidence a bit. Draco Malfoy was proud of me, proud to be my soulmate, proud that I was his soulmate. Yet, something didn't add up.
"What did you say to him?"
"Nothing really."
"Dad, I know you. Maybe not as well as Cassi, but nonetheless I know you. You don't want what happened between you and mum to happen to me. Or to Cassi. Draco wouldn't immediately flip a switch like that. He once almost yelled at me about not being able to change belief systems overnight. So, out with it. Dad, what did you say to my soulmate?"
"Fine. I reminded him that you and him come from different backgrounds. That if he truly wanted you in his life, he would have to believe everything his father taught him growing up was wrong. He's actually been coming to me for weeks now to talk, trying to better himself so he doesn't make my mistakes. He listens to my memories of Lily and what I did wrong, and he actively tries to make progress in forgetting what his father taught him about blood status and such. We also have been making plans for further down the road. Nothing you really need to worry about at this time. Okay, since you're awake now. Madame Pomfrey is going to give you a check and then your siblings and friends can come to visit for a few hours."
"Dad, thank you. For, well, for everything. Half the things you have done for me, you didn't have to. I really appreciate it. Can you send Draco in first? Then Cassilynn and Harry. I want as much time with Draco and my siblings as possible. So, everyone else can wait for any point and time during the next few days."
With that dad nodded and beckoned Madame Pomfrey over. She checked my vitals and the gashes on my head. Once I was given the all clear, dad went to let Draco know he could come in now. This was how I spent my six day stay in the hospital wing. Studying was done with Hermione and our friends that are in the same year as us. Draco and Cassilynn were really my saving grace when Hermione didn't want to study with me, because Ron and Harry were studying with her. Dad and Draco helped me with potions, Orion and Cassilynn kept me up to date on the school drama, Vesper and Taytum were just as smart as the second years and would help me with my transfiguration and herbology work, and Harry filled me in on what happened in the chamber of secrets.
Soon enough it was time for exams. Well, it would have been if the ministry hadn't suspended them because of all of us who missed most of the year being petrified. Hermione was bummed, and frankly so was I. I spent days cramming for the exams, Hermione too, just for them to be cancelled. For the rest of Hogwarts, we were mostly told to relax and unwind. We still had classes, but most of them were spent studying miscellaneous things or chatting with our friends. In flying class, we could sit in the stands or partake in a pickup game of Quidditch. I typically sat in the stands watching Draco and Harry go head to head with each other during the pickup game. In Potions, dad had us list potion ingredients in alphabetical and potency order. In Herbology we spent the days in the courtyard naming and listing plants and their potion, magical and medicinal properties. Flitwick let us talk most of the class period, sometimes we would play games, or he would give us a survey to rank our favourite lessons and spells. Saturday classes were suspended for the remainder of the year.
At night I found myself in the Astronomy tower. I couldn't sleep, so looking up at the stars helped me relax a bit. Sometimes Dad, Cassilynn or Draco would find me there and sit with me. Weekends Dad would take me and Cassilynn to Hogsmeade. He would let us bring whoever we wanted along, I almost always brought Draco and Harry, while Cassilynn brought Orion, Vesper, and Taytum. We would all laugh, joke, talk, and have pure unadulterated fun. We would walk store to store looking around, sometimes buying something we liked but mostly buying sweets from Honeydukes. In the last few weeks Draco and I went out to the Black Lake more and more, with dad as a teacher and parental chaperone, so we don't have a repeat of the heart attack that was our first official date. Dad made sure to keep his distance, though, which we both appreciated.
That all leads us to now, the end of year feast. The room was loud with the chatter of hundreds of conversations going on all at once. We were all in our conical hats and our school uniforms. The professors all sat at the front of the room at the long table. Everyone was at their house table, like the start of the year feast, soulmates from different houses were not permitted to sit with their mates for the two major feasts. So, every now and then you could see four or five students looking longingly at their partners at other tables. Rain was sitting as close to Fred and George as she could, I was sitting as close to Draco as I could, and Cassilynn was sitting as close to Oliver as she could. Even though Oliver was putting off starting to date Cassilynn until she's a bit older, you could see in both their eyes that they were losing the will power to continue that arrangement. He wanted to also focus on school and quidditch, and she wanted to also focus on her studies. However, it was becoming more and more apparent to onlookers that neither of them had the strength to stay away from each other for long. I wager that sometime between now and the start of fourth year, after he graduates, one or both will buckle, and they'll be together.
Dumbledore finished his speech, granted I didn't hear a word of it. I just knew it was over because the banners hanging around the room turned to Gryffindor and my house table had erupted into cheers. Soon enough the food appeared on the table, and we all started eating. Laughter and conversations started up once more and everything was merry and bright in the Great Hall. After about an hour or so of conversations and eating we all went back to our dorms to pack and get some sleep. Tomorrow we would eat breakfast and then head to the train station in Hogsmeade. My group of friends and I all plan to sit together on the train, without our soulmates, so we all could talk about summer plans and probably share some goodbye tears and see you laters. Our goodbyes and see you laters for our soulmates, if we weren't spending them together would be shared at King's Cross.
I just hope next year I get to actually fully experience my time at Hogwarts. No drama, no extended stays in the hospital wing, just me and my soulmate drifting through daily life at Hogwarts with our friends and family. That shouldn't be such a big ask.
A/N: This is the shortest chapter of this section at only 2046 words. This is the last chapter of Chamber of Secrets. Allyson was in hospital so much as planned, because I wanted her to be one of the students petrified to give even more reason behind a fan theory I whole heartedly believe. I believe it was Draco that discovered the basilisk was behind the attacks at school, I believe that was the page he ripped out of the book right before confronting Harry at Flourish and Blotts, and I believe that somehow, he got it to Hermione. Also, if you haven't wagered it yet, Roanna is going to be 100% canon Draco times a million. Orion is sadly just there for an added friend and to be Annie/Alex's soulmate. Snape will be canon as much as possible, but a sweetheart with his kids. Also, please if you saw Borgin and Burkes anywhere that should probably say Flourish and Blotts, please let me know. Anyways, this concludes Allyson's first year at Hogwarts. I will see you all again on the 25th of August. thank you so much for reading. xxx Leo.