And I can feel the warning signs,
Running around my mind.
So here I go...
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway. -
Half The World Away

TERESA

My day started awfully, and it didn't get any better from there. After being thoroughly humiliated by Ella at breakfast, spending the entire Charms lesson thinking about Regulus and therefore accidentally setting fire to the desk, I was ready for a break.

Obviously, I didn't get one.

'Teresa!' Ella called as I made my way to Potions. 'Oi, Teresa!'

'What?' I grumbled. 'Ella, you've already humiliated me at breakfast by telling Regulus I liked him when you know why I don't want to date him and besides, even if you didn't, it's my decision so you can bloody well stick your nose out of my business. It doesn't matter if I like Regulus or not, because it's my damn decision anyway. What do you want?'

I said all that quickly, only stopping for breath once or turning around to look at Ella.

'Teresa,' Ella said hesitantly.

I turned around. Regulus was standing next to Ella, looking thoroughly awkward and embarrassed. Ella, however, looked like she couldn't decide wether to jump up and down in joy or shove me and Regulus together. And then possibly attach us at the hip- permanently.

'Bloody hell,' I mumbled. 'What do you want?'

'Er-' Regulus started.

'We wanted to-' Ella blinked. 'Oh, I've forgotten now, anyway. It's such a lovely day- birds chirping, sun shining-'
I looked outside, where thunder flashed and rain poured down in torrents.
'Let's go to Potions! Come on, Regulus- or do you want to spend time with Tessa alone?'

'Let's go, Ella,' I mumbled. 'Please, everybody, forget I ever said anything, ever. Let's just move on.'

Ella laughed happily. 'Not a chance. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this?'

'Ella,' Regulus said. 'Not helping.'
At least we were in agreement about that, at least.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath- and crashed into a wall.

'This day is just getting worse and worse,' I mumbled. 'I think I need to go to Madame Pomfrey.'

****

Obviously, no one let me go to the Hospital Wing. Instead, I was made to sit through Potions, clutching my head and trying to look as pathetic as possible.

Please let me leave, I thought. My head doesn't even hurt, just please let me go... With luck, I can escape to the dungeons and try to put off talking to Regulus for as long as possible. Please, somebody, take pity on me...

Eventually, to my great relief, I blew up my second potion and almost took out Severus Snape with a flying toad's eye (actually, several toad's eyes. And a tree branch- I wasn't sure how that got there). Professor Slughorn waddled over and tutted at me. 'Are you alright, Teresa?'

'I-' I debated making up a lie about how I got my head injury, then sighed. 'I, uh, walked into a wall, sir.'

'You what?' Slughorn blinked. 'How does this affect your potion?'

'My head really hurts,' I explained. 'I think I might have a concussion, and I should probably go to Madam Pomfrey, because I almost hit Snape with a tree branch, and I don't know how it got in my potion, and my potion blew up-' I coughed. 'It was a very hard wall.'

'Of course,' Slughorn said. 'Right. Miss May, if you just leave before you severely injure any students- I mean, you look very pale. Ahem. Someone take Miss May to the hospital wing, please.'

Oh shit. Regulus.

'Ah, Mr. Black! Your potion is almost done, isn't it? You take Miss May away from here- that is to say, to the Hospital Wing.' Slughorn beamed like he was doing me a favour.

I'm screwed.

So I did what any self- respecting girl would do in this situation- I pretended to faint.

****

Don't try fake fainting at home, kids. More often than not, what can happen is you trip falling over, and then hit your head on the table and actually faint.

It worked in a way- I didn't have to have the awkward well, I really like you, but I won't date you talk with Regulus.

It also made my head feel like someone was hitting it, over and over, with a truck full of bricks.

When I woke up, ten minutes after hitting my head, Madam Pomfrey frowned at me in distaste. 'You have a lump,' she said menacingly. 'You need to stay overnight to make sure you don't have concussion.'

Perfect. I would postpone my talk for as long as possible.

'Don't smile,' Madam Pomfrey said. 'If Mr. Black hadn't caught you when he did, there could have been damage!'

I got the feeling that Madam Pomfrey was annoyed with me- she probably knew, or at least suspected, that I had fainted on purpose. Then her words registered- and I almost fell out of the bed in shock.

'Wait- Regulus caught me? I thought I just fell!' I could imagine how that situation played out- probably with lots of laughing classmates and my unconscious body dangling unflatteringly from Regulus's arms.

'No.' Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips, and then evidently decided to be nice to me again. 'You fell a little, and then hit your head on the table, and then Regulus caught you before you hit the floor.'

In my inagination, the amount of laughing students doubled.

'In fact, he only just left!' Madam Pomfrey said. 'He carried you all the way here, imagine!'

The background in my imagination changed to Hogwarts's halls, and the laughing students changing to laughing portraits.

'I think he said he would be back after Potions ended,' Madam Pomfrey continued.

'I feel really tired suddenly,' I said quickly. 'I think I might have a nap- if Regulus comes when I'm asleep, can you tell him to come back later? Sleep helps healing,' I added.

Deep down, I knew I was just delaying the inevitable and overreacting a lot, but I just closed my eyes and tried to make my breathing seem like I was asleep.

Hope you enjoyed! Vote, comment, fan, whatever. Tell me what you think, and if you see any errors at all, let me know!

xxx Jade