Dorcas woke up, heavily dazed and scared. She couldn't remember where she was, but once the recollections of the events prior to her losing consciousness came back to her, a strange disappointment overcame her. She wasn't dead, she wasn't going to meet her mother. She was so expectant, hopeful even, but as she thought of how the chance to see her mother again has slipped through her fingers, she had the horrible urge to weep.
But where was she? Surely this wasn't the dungeons; it wasn't as dark. And even though she has never been to the Slytherin common room, she could tell that it didn't have whitewashed walls and ceiling and a strong smell of antiseptic in the air.
Antiseptic?
The smell brought her back to her senses. She knew the smell, it was the one distinct to the Hospital Wing, and as she scrambled to a sitting position, she realised, sure enough, that she was lying on a four-poster bed with its white curtains drawn protectively around her. A pale white blanket was draped over her body, and she was in a comfortable white dressing gown.
How on earth did she end up here?
Confusion gripped her as she tried to get off the bed, but her eyesight swam terribly and she was forced to lie back down. If she was in the Hospital Wing, surely Maeve and Silver would be here too? Where were they?
"You're up!" a voice cried out joyfully from somewhere on the left side of her. "Madam Pomfrey, she's up!"
A second later, the curtains around her was thrown aside, revealing a very white-faced, but very excited looking Leigh. "Hi," he exclaimed, grinning.
Her confusion deepened even more. "Leigh, what -" she stopped speaking as she realised how sore her throat was, her voice was hardly audible. Slowly, she lifted a hand and touched the front of her neck. The skin seemed to be bruised.
She remembered Crabbe having got hold of her neck and trying to choke her. Millions of questions swirled around in her head, all attempting to escape through her mouth, but her voice refused to cooperate. She stared helplessly at Leigh, wishing for an explanation.
He sat down by her bed, taking her hand. "How are you?" he asked, just as Madam Pomfrey bustled in and began to check her. She pressed her wand to various parts of her body, muttering to herself, and apparently satisfied, she said, "Well, you're perfectly fine. You should be able to leave the wing after you've had a filling lunch." She looked disapprovingly at Dorcas, as though she though that Dorcas should stay in the Hospital Wing forever, and venturing out into the world would be an immense crime. Unable to find any excuse to keep her however, she left them alone.
"Water," she managed to croak. Leigh quickly leapt to his feet and poured her a goblet of water, which she drank gratefully. Her head was starting to ache now, and she wanted to ask him a hundred questions. But all she managed to say was, "What - happened?"
And Leigh sat down and told her everything.
Apparently she wasn't as invisible as she had assumed when crossing the Great Hall. Juliet had spotted her going towards the basement, but then moving away to head into the dungeons instead. She was really worried, informed Leigh. But as she was to sit for her exam in ten minutes, she couldn't follow her into the dungeons, and had instead found Leigh and asked him to check on Dorcas.
"I went near the dungeons and I waited for you to return," he continued the story, his voice suddenly becoming low as he lowered his head to stare at the bedsheets. "I - I was scared to go in, Dorcas, so I turned back and I informed Professor Slughorn who was just coming out of the Potions classroom."
He paused, slightly pink in the face. "I'm sorry, Dorcas."
His apology bewildered her and momentarily pushed the sluggishness out of her body. She pushed herself up and rested back against the headboard. "What on earth for?"
"Well, I just turned away, didn't I?" he asked, looking anywhere but at her. "I'm a coward, I couldn't even get the courage to go into the dungeons."
But Dorcas didn't think he was a coward. Ignoring the sharp stabbing in her head, she reached out and took his hand. "Hey, you did the smart thing getting Professor Slughorn. I was surrounded by four of them, and I doubt you could have got me out if you had gone in on your own." She paused, and when she was reassured by the smile that formed on his face, she urged him to continue. "Then, what did you do?"
Cheered by her reassurance, Leigh said, "I followed Slughorn into the dungeons. It was so creepy in there, with all those green lights and the odd damp smell! Anyway, it wasn't hard to find you. We heard some shouting and scuffling, and we hurried towards the direction the noise was coming from. And we found you. There was this big bloke lying on the ground, and Mulciber whimpering, and his robes were singed and I could smell burnt flesh. And this woman - Emma Vanity, I think her name is - she was laughing and jeering at you while the large bloke tried to choke you." He paused and continued in a whisper. "It was scary. Your face had gone all blue and swollen, and when Slughorn stupefied him, you just collapsed like a rag doll. I thought you were dead."
He shivered visibly. Dorcas felt bad for him, but she didn't know what to say. Her head was still aching badly.
"Well, thanks Leigh," she said, truly meaning it. "You saved my life. I don't know what they would have done to me if you hadn't found us."
Leigh smiled a little. "Slughorn was furious. He dragged them all to Dumbledore's office, but since Mulciber was very badly burnt, he had to stop and drop him here instead." He glanced towards the other side of the large room. Dorcas followed his eyes and saw one bed with its curtains drawn shut. "Dumbledore wants to talk to you. He wants to know what happened there. He questioned me, but obviously I don't know what really happened."
Dorcas didn't say anything, staring silently at the wall opposite. Leigh leaned towards her with what looked like an admiring look on his face. "But you did hold them off, didn't you?" he whispered. "I mean, two of them were on the ground and the girl seemed to be bleeding a lot."
Dorcas didn't feel any pleasure at the thought, and didn't think she deserved any credit. But she had faced the people responsible for her mother's death, and even though she hasn't really done anything to them, she felt slightly better knowing that she had confronted them, let them know that the death eaters wouldn't always get away with everything they did, that there would always be someone to stand up to them.
Now all she needed to do was officially join the Order of the Phoenix and fight actively against Voldemort.
"Oh, and I brought some food for you," said Leigh as he brought a tray from a nearby bed and laid it down in front of her. Dorcas smiled gratefully at him and dug into the food; she was incredibly hungry.
But a nagging in her mind kept her from enjoying her food fully. She took her time to chew on a large piece of chicken before she swallowed it and looked at Leigh, who was gazing out of the windows. "Where are Maeve and Silver?" she asked, trying to keep her voice casual. "And - Juliet?"
"Oh, they're in the Great Hall. Giving their exam."
Dorcas frowned. "Exam? But Maeve and Silver don't take Muggle Studies."
"They're not sitting for Muggle Studies," explained Leigh. "You were asleep for a day, Dorcas. It was yesterday afternoon that Slughorn and I found you in the dungeons."
"Oh," she said in a small voice. No wonder she was so hungry.
After she was done shoving the food down her throat, she stood up abruptly, but swayed on her feet; she was still a little weak. Leigh caught her immediately, looking incredulously at her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he cried, sounding much like Madam Pomfrey intent on keeping one of her patients in the Hospital Wing overnight.
"Didn't you say Dumbledore wanted to talk to me?" she asked pointedly. "Let's get this over with."
"But -"
"Madam Pomfrey said I can leave after I've had a filling meal," she argued. "And what I just had was more than filling. I'm ready to leave."
And she didn't just mean the Hospital Wing, though Leigh wouldn't know that.
Clearly alerted from the commotion, the matron bustled out of her office to ask what was going on. But when she couldn't find anymore reason to keep Dorcas in here, she grudgingly let them go.
Dorcas set off for Dumbledore's office immediately, not bothering to change out of her dressing gown. McGonagall was already there, and she sat down wearily on the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk and recounted the events of the dungeons. She could feel McGonagall's glare boring into her and she avoided looking at her at all, guiltily staring at her knees instead. Leigh sat uncomfortably beside her; he had wanted to leave but Dumbledore insisted that he stay, given that he was involved in the situation.
"Are you going to expel them?" she asked the Headmaster once she was done telling the whole story, although she left out the part where she had used an unforgivable curse. She was certain Emma Vanity had told them, and should Dumbledore ask her to confirm the claim, she wouldn't deny the accusation. Thankfully he didn't, and she sighed in relief when he accepted her story and sat thoughtfully with his hands in front of him, the tips of the fingers touching. She didn't think she could bear anymore disappointment from Professor McGonagall.
"No," he answered predictably. Dorcas had expected this. After all, he hadn't expelled Mulciber when there was clear evidence that he had performed some sort of Dark Magic on Mary. She sighed and stood up.
"Can I leave now?"
Dumbledore didn't answer her question but said, seemingly having read her mind, "Expelling them will only allow them to rejoin the Dark Lord. I would like to delay that as much as possible."
She didn't want to argue, but she couldn't let the words escape her mouth. "So you're going to let them roam freely around the castle with all these innocent first and second years around?"
"The safety of my students is my top priority," he spoke calmly, not even slightly bothered by the tone she had used. "I assure you none will come to any harm under my care, and under the care of my trusted colleagues."
Dorcas wanted to retort, to tell him that his care hadn't really stopped Crabbe from nearly choking her to death, but of course, she thought to herself, there was only so much Dumbledore could do when a student willingly and carelessly walked into the Slytherins' lair.
Thus, with a nod, she left the office, all the while feeling McGonagall's stare boring into her back.