Our Story

Disbelief


Andromeda ran as hard as her legs would work through the main halls of the castle and down the stairs toward the dungeons. She hoped that she wouldn’t tumble down the stairs as she took them two at a time. Her vision was blurred as her eyes filled with tears that over flowed and were now burning down her cheeks. She was so lost to her thought that she hadn’t noticed other students staring at her as she ran past them; she didn’t even hear Alison calling her name as she chased after her. Her thought strayed to Ted as they always had, but this time she only felt her heart breaking further instead of the joy it once felt.

‘How could he do this?’ she thought. ‘So soon after… we…’ she couldn’t even finish the thought as her eyes burned again with a new batch of tears. She pulled open the portal and ran through the common room and straight up to her dorm. She ran across the room and collapsed onto the bed, sobbing into her pillow, thinking that this was supposed to be the boy who promised her a new and promising life, promised to take her away from all the evil and give her a happily ever after, and above all promised that he would never hurt her. Her hands clutched to her chest while she tried to gasp for air in between her sobs.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Alison’s somber, yet understand face. She tried to compose herself somewhat until she heard Alison whisper, “It’s ok, I know. Don’t be mad but I had a bad feeling and followed you. I saw it too.” Alison reached out her open arms towards for Andromeda to fall into. She sat there on the bed holding her friend while she grieved, trying to prevent her from hyperventilation. Alison feared that she would have to bring Andromeda to Madame Pomfrey. After about two and a half hours Andromeda had begun to calm down. She still sobbed but it was as violent as it had been before and she was beginning to fall asleep from the exhaustion.

Alison realized how much her heart actually ached for her friend. Alison had just lain down on her bed, beginning to relax, when she heard a low “ahem” from the frame on the wall slight to the left of her head. She looked up to see Althea’s concerned face looking down at her.

“My dear, what happened?” Althea whispered to Alison as she looked over towards Andromeda now asleep in her bed. “It looks as if someone has broken her.” Althea had heard Andromeda return with Alison calling after her, she began to run through the portraits to find her. She found Andromeda laying across her bed sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for air. Althea could feel her heart ache, putting her hands against the invisible wall of the portrait, wishing she could just jump out and console her. All she wanted was to be able to wrap her arms around the broken girl, one she had now considered her girl.

A hard look came across Alison face, remembering the events of that night, “Ted, that’s what happened.” She seethed out. She began to tell Althea what had transpired that night, trying to keep her voice low enough not to disturb Andromeda. For now she was peaceful and sound asleep, Alison knew that tomorrow would be painful enough.

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Balt had gotten Ted up, dressed and began to walk him out of the tower. Balt could tell from looking at him how this had broken Ted, he even had to brace his friend as they walked towards the Hufflepuff house. Balt had thought about if he had lost Alison and what it would do to him and shudder at that thought. He knew that Ted was going to need someone in his corner right now. He would be there for him right now because Ted would have been there for him.

They were almost to the portrait of the short man in his sitting chair, which guarded the portal to the Hufflepuff common room. Just then a woman stepped into the painting and whispered something to the short man and he nodded and stood up and walked right out of the frame. The woman stood in front of the chair with her arms crossed and glared at the two boys approaching the portrait. Balt noticed that she had a wand peeking out from underneath her folded arms. As he approached the painting he had realized that she was the woman from the Slytherin house who had told him to meet Alison in the common room earlier.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.” Althea snarled in Ted’s direction. “I have a mind to leave you out here and call for the grounds keeper to notify him that we have students out after curfew. Especially after your actions tonight, I …”

“Please, Madame.” Balt said, cutting her off. “Please do not speak of what you do not know of.” Balt tried to stop her tirade as politely as possible.

“What I know, boy, is that there is a young woman that I have been watching over whose heart is lost and only pain exists. One who cried until exhaustion set in and sleep had to take over.” Althea growled at Balt.

Ted had looked at Althea while she let him know how Andromeda was. Tears welled up in his eyes and over flowed, knowing that this was what the woman he loved was going through, and it was his fault. Ted fell to his knees and still looking up at the witch in the portrait. Balt steps to his aid saying, “Don’t you see what this has done to him as well? Andromeda ran out right away with Alison right behind her. I stayed there longer and saw what happened, the betrayal, after that. There was a spell I have never seen before, whatever it was he couldn’t move of his own accord. Let him through the portrait and then walk with me back to the dungeons and I will explain everything to you. He is innocent in all this.”

Althea staggered backwards a little at the part about the spell he witnessed. ‘An unforgivable, could it be?’ She could see the pain in Ted’s eyes and his collapse. She felt she needed all the information in this in case for Andromeda’s sake. “All right then Balt. We will walk and discuss what you have seen.” Althea opened the portrait and let Ted through. Once she closed the portrait she stuck her head through one side of the frame and the short man returned. “Tell me what happened.” She said flatly as she began to walk through the frames along side Balt and he went over everything of that night.

When they approached the entrance to the Slytherin house she bid Balt good night and watched the wall slide closed behind him. ‘I think I shall go for an early morning chat with the headmaster and let him know of this possibility of an unforgivable being performed inside the castle.’ She walked through the frames and towards the her rooms.