Paige O'Malley (omals) wrote in caged, @ 2013-10-02 17:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-10, [ log ], ginny weasley, paige o'malley |
WHO: Paige O'Malley & Ginny Weasley
WHEN: Wednesday Oct 2
WHERE: G6 girls dorm
SUMMARY: Ginny looks out for her friend
RATING: PG
STATUS: Complete
All she would let out was a whimper as she left detention, determined not to shed tears in front of Carrow. Her hand was on fire, she had never felt such an ache. As she rushed down the corridor she wanted to do nothing but cry. How could she be so stupid to think she could handle this torture, for what, a stupid fucking essay? She was disappointed in herself. Just some words in a journal, that was all they were. Yet, they felt like so much more than that. It was strange. It sometimes felt like those words in a silly little essay that meant nothing left more of a mark on her than the one on her hand now. But at the same time could she truly endure the pain again? Over top of torture mark? Paige did not stop once she made it to the common room. She rushed through not wanting to see anyone. She didn’t even want to show the people she knew, the family away from home, that she wasn’t strong enough to take this. She wished she was stronger than this. Paige wanted to do more, fight, say something, because all of this was wrong. As she walked through the dorm door and sat down on her bed, she finally began to cry. This was too much. Wasn’t she supposed to be a brave Gryffindor? She looked at her hand through blurry eyes staring at the stupid writing in her hand. Was magic really might? It didn’t fucking feel like it right now. No better than those torturous Muggles if you ask her. With all they had discussed, were they really any better? No. With her good hand she brushed the tears from her eyes and sniffed. She missed practice for this. Ginny Weasley was just coming from the bath. Practice was a little rough tonight and her muscles were sore -- perhaps she’d made everyone run a few too many laps. Mostly it was to kill time, though. All of the plays she wanted to try involved Paige and it seemed a little pointless to go through them without her there. The team was just not where they needed to be right now and the first match was coming up relatively soon. With so many things on Ginny’s mind, it was hard to keep Quidditch at the forefront. Not with their Seeker in detention, but more importantly, not with one of her very best friends writing some stupid phrase in her own blood 100 times. Ginny wished she could have been there to help Paige through it. She felt a little twinge of guilt for not doing so. But of course, the team needed her. How many practices could she possibly miss before things started to go really downhill for Gryffindor? Gently toweling her hair, she walked into the room in her regular T and boxer shorts - her standard nighttime apparel. Her brown eyes caught a figure moving on Paige’s bed, and she heard the muffled sounds of crying. Dropping her towel on her bed, Ginny walked toward Paige’s and opened the bed curtain. “Paige?” Paige knew hiding away was not going to work, not in this dorm, not when her friends were concerned how she was. Especially not when she was crying. She should have put up a silencing charm or something. She was rubbing her hand under her nose in a graceless manner. “Hi,” she said with a muffled voice. The tone solemn and distorted from her stuffed up nose. Right now she didn’t feel like a strong teenager, more like a useless child. She dropped her hands to her lap. “How was...,” she wanted to ask how was practice but it just seemed silly. There was no way to avoid the big hippogriff in the room. “How could you have done this four times,” she was amazed and dumbfound all at once. “It hurt so much,” she started to tremble as she spoke. “How can they be so, horrid?” Ginny’s maternal instincts took over relatively soon after Paige finished her sentence and she sat on her bed and wrapped her arms around her friend, cradling her head on her shoulder and patting her hair. She looked like she was a bit in pain herself, listening to Paige so wounded. “I’m sorry,” is all that Ginny could manage to say, anger flickering in her eyes. “They’re horrible Death Eaters and they thrive on this.” She finally moved back and looked at Paige, wiping her tear-stained cheeks with a bit of the blanket on the bed. She didn’t have any tissues and she sure enough wasn’t going to leave Paige’s side. Not again tonight, at least. “There now, did you go to Pomfrey?” asked Ginny after she cleaned up a bit of her friend’s face and wiped some stray hair or two. “Let me see your hand.” Resting her head against Ginny’s shoulder felt like the one normal thing from tonight. Such a simple gesture made her feel a little better. She tried to fend off the tears, but failed. She felt too exhausted to be strong. She knew what Ginny said was true. They were horrible Death Eaters. A fact that made her want to fight them more, but then again, enduring this all over again was a hefty price. “I hate them more, if that is even possible.” A revelation that would make it hard to play by their rules, unfortunately. Or at least it seemed like it right now. Shaking her head, “Not after. I just came back. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry.” She said with a sniffle looking at Ginny. Thankful her friend was here, with or without tissues. Paige cautiously showed Ginny her hand. “Paige, you should’ve gone to Pomfrey after,” Ginny chided her lightly. “It’s probably too late now. After-curfew and all that.” She took Paige’s hand and looked at it closely. It was red, sore, and there was just the faintest touch of Paige’s handwriting -- Magic is Might. Not enough to scar yet, but perhaps 3 more detentions her hand would start looking more like the back of her own. Ginny gave a troubled sigh and touched the wound on Paige’s hand gently, watching her friend wince. “Do you have your wand? A cooling charm will help. ” Her eyes lit up as an idea dawned on her. “Oi! Maybe we can try some of those healing spells on Phoenix Press.” “I know,” she mumbled sound as if she was speaking to her disappointed mother. It was silly, but it was also pride. She winced as her friend touched her hand. Looking at it more closely than she had before. It was weird to see words in her skin, even if they were somewhat faint. It was strange to see it on her own hand, even if she had seen it on Ginny’s. She had been right though, it was harder than it seemed. Before she had a chance to say she had her wand, and that a cool charm sounded like a great idea, Ginny had another flash of brilliance. “That is a good idea,” she said trying to sound somewhat enthusiastic about the idea. Which was a stretch given the wounded tone in her voice. “You do it?” Paige asked feebly, “you’re better at it than me.” Ginny suddenly wished Susan was here. She didn’t know how to tell Paige she was probably no better at healing charms than she was, but she’d try. “Let’s see. I think I still have my copy under my bed.” She got up and quickly fetched it, thumbing through the pages. “Ah, here we go. Healing charms by Butterfly. Thank you, Butterfly, whoever you are!” she smiled, jokingly looking up at the ceiling. But really, thank you Susan. Sitting next to Paige again, Ginny perused the spells. “I think this Obtorpesco should help. It’s supposed to feel cold and numb swelling.” Paige was relieved Ginny was up for the task. Watching her find her copy underneath her bed. “Yes, thank you Butterfly.” Paige was nervous about trying it out, but she trusted Ginny. “That spell sounds about right.” Cooling and numbing swelling sounded like it was right up her alley right now. She looked down at her hand. “Alright, give it a go.” She held up her hand and sort of turned away. Not that she didn’t trust Ginny if it blew up to unaverage size, or if it froze, she really didn’t want to be looking straight at it. Though if it went entirely numb, she wouldn’t really mind at this point. Ginny had Paige’s wand and tapped the back of Page’s hand with it. Taking a bit of a breath, she looked at her friend warily before mustering up a bit of courage to just go for it. How hard could it really be? If she was good at jinxes and hexes, healing spells should be no different. Boy, she really hoped this didn’t backfire and Paige wound up missing a hand instead. “All right, here goes…” she said with a wince. “Obtorpesco.” A cool, light jet of air released from the wand, a bit of a blue tint in color. “I...I think it’s working,” said Ginny as her eyes widened. “Does it feel okay? Am I hurting you?” Half tempted to say just do it, but she didn’t want to pressure her friend. She just wanted the anticipation of the fact something could go wrong to be over. Relief washed over her as she felt the cooling sensation hit her hand. “Good,” she mumbled opening her eyes and turning to look at her hand. “Not hurting at all. Getting some pain relief,” which was a big win in her mind. “Thanks Gin,” she gave a weak half smile. “You’re the best.” “You’re welcome,” Ginny smiled back. “I’m just glad it’s working and I didn’t give you boils instead. Merlin.” There was a little silence as she continued to let the blueish air hit Paige’s skin. She watched her friend carefully for a moment. “So. You probably know now why I wanted you to write the essay, huh.” “Boils or quilled hand, don’t know which is worse.” Paige laughed shaking her head. “But I’m thankful it is getting opposed to the alternative.” Whatever that could actually be. Paige nodded her head in response, “Mhmm,” she hated to admit it but Ginny really did have the right idea. “Maybe next time, just not write one at all and don’t give lip?” Paige offered as a suggestion. “Or just suck it up.” She shrugged. Ginny sighed. There really was no right answer. “I don’t know, Paige. I want to tell you to be quiet and just stay under their radar, but at the same time I am proud of you for speaking up. I hope you know that.” It was true. She was proud of Paige and some of the rest of her Gryffindor friends for being so outspoken. She just couldn’t stand seeing them in pain either. “Whatever you decide to do, you know I support your decision, right?” said Ginny quietly. “I mean, I may not exactly like you getting detentions, but now what you know what they mean...I reckon it’s your call.” “Thanks,” she said with a bit of surprise. “I know you don’t want to see me get hurt. But at the same time some things are just not going to be okay. They’re awful people. If the little I can do is stand up to them in some form, then I feel like I have to.” Paige sighed, “I wish I could do something more, something useful. But it sort of feels like this fight is all I can fight. May not be much, but I think it is keeping me sane?” It was all complicated. She didn’t like feeling bad for playing along, nor did she like the idea of torturing herself for standing up for something so small in the scheme of things. “But you’re right. I know now, and it is my call. I think I might wager this feeling against what I’m fighting for.” Maybe essays weren’t the biggest issue. But if target practice became more than human like fingers on a bear, there could be reason for a fight. Though she never hoped it came to that. Ginny nodded and gave a soft smile, tucking a bit of Paige’s hair behind her ear. “Okay, you,” she said, standing. “Since your hand has momentary relief, I’d suggest getting to be soon...lest it starts throbbing in the middle of the night.” She opened up Paige’s curtains, about to go before she turned her head to look over at her friend over her shoulder. “Going to be all right?” Paige nodded her head. “Yeah, I will.” She knew she would be okay. There was just a lot to think about. “And beds a good idea.” She said moving on her bed and getting her pillows situated. She felt exhausted and right now she just wanted to forget about today and sleep. Wake up tomorrow and have a better day, if that was possible. “Thanks.” Ginny made this entire experience better. |