CHAPTER FOUR.
a wake up call.
( paper crane no. 775. )

AN ICY DRAFT OF MORNING AIR pushed its way through the dewy, unmown grass of the Hogwarts grounds and shook the flaking leaves on the trees which shivered but did yet to falter, their colours turning into autumn hues. The breeze floated through the school corridors where the sun had just started to rise with its warmth and brilliant golden colours, casting shadows upon the walls. Mr Filch, the caretaker, had started his morning rounds of cleaning up and making sure the castle was as tidy as it could be while being accompanied by his cat, Mrs Norris. Though he knew the mess would be back by the end of the school day. He didn't know why he bothered...

The magical paintings had woken up to start their complaining about how the nights were now drawing in and the days were getting colder — like they did every single year. It was a seasonal thing. October had only just arrived and already they'd begun to talk about the dreary weather that was on its way, the summer season completely forgotten about. Students and teachers were starting to arise too, heading to the Great Hall for early breakfast, their stomachs rumbling and their eyes heavy.

The castle was waking up.

The morning chill didn't spare any opening as it wafted through one of the ajar windows of the Hospital Wing, triggering goosebumps and prickling the skin of the stirring blonde, an evident dull ache lingering throughout her body. Her fingertips, her toes, her head — they all tingled with numbness. Hell, even her mouth felt strange as she slowly ran her tongue over the insides of her cheek. She wondered if her body looked at bad as it felt. Painful and beaten.

She drowsily racked her mind for any memories to track down why her body felt so battered and sore — or why the fact the mattress underneath her felt a tad harder than her own dormitory bed. Where was she? How long had she slept for? What day even was it? She had no answers for anything.

Slowly and reluctantly, Mint opened her eyes, scrunching her face up as the blinding light immediately poured in. She let out a small groan, her eyelashes faintly batting against her lids as she continuously blinked, adjusting to the light. Why was it so bright? Surely the dormitory wasn't always this intense... It didn't take long for her eyes to adapt — with a couple of harsh blinks in between. Soon enough, her surroundings became more clear.

She was in the Hospital Wing.

Why? She had no idea. How? She couldn't answer that either. Everything seemed like a weird blur and she couldn't remember even passing out. Had she had an attack? The more tried to at least trigger one thing that would help her remember, the more the back of her head throbbed with pain. With a small wince, she moved her aching arm to touch it — before finding out it was protected by a layer of bandage, bursting out more questions.

She wasn't even surprised to have woken up somewhere that wasn't her bed. This was something that happened way too often for it to even count as rare. She was just confused as to what had happened for her to end up there. It was likely she'd had an attack, but usually, she remembered them the morning afterwards...

Pushing herself up on her elbows, Mint froze as she met the unimpressed — yet sympathetic — eyes of her best friend, who sat on a wooden chair at the blonde's feet with a Charms book in her hand and her ebony hair already straightened. She sported a frown and Mint couldn't give her anything but a disoriented look in return. "I'll go get Madam Pomfrey," Irene mumbled.

Mint blankly stared at the retreating girl's back before nesting her head back onto the pillow. After a couple of minutes, Irene returned with Madam Pomfrey at her heels, carrying what seemed to be a metal tray, full of supplies - and perhaps, medicine.

"Feeling a bit better I presume, Miss McKinney?" Madam Pomfrey questioned, placing the tray down on her nightstand.

Mint blinked, barely croaking out a: "What happened?"

Madam Pomfrey tutted. "Well, I would assume from that nasty bump on the back of your head that you fainted and hit your head against the concrete. But the boys tell me you were gone even before that," she recalled, mixing some solutions. "They said you looked pale and had a hard time breathing."

"Who did?" Mint croaked, furrowing her brows.

"Potter and Black."

Mint's eyes widened. Like someone had flipped a switch on her brain's temporal lobe, all her memories of the past twenty-four hours came flooding back. The Transfiguration lesson. McGonagall. Sirius. James. Mint gasped as she sat upright, the dull ache in her limbs forgotten for a moment, too lost in the shock of the past events.

"Careful!" Madam Pomfrey scolded. "You're going to make yourself faint again if you sit up like that!"

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit!" Mint muttered under her breath as she hid her face in her hands. This couldn't be happening... She'd fainted in front of the one person she'd sworn to never show the vulnerable side of herself to... and his friend! Oh, this was bad- very, very bad. How was she going to go back to class knowing she'd fainted in front of one of the hottest boys at Hogwarts? Nonetheless, her crush? She almost felt exposed. Ashamed.

Gradually, the throbbing at the back of her head overtook her thoughts as she was pulled back to reality — and Madam Pomfrey's pointed look.

"See? You shouldn't have shot up like that! Here, drink this," Pomfrey handed Mint a suspicious-looking liquid, which she inspected for a moment, before chugging it down. It felt soothing as it slid down her dry throat.

"What-" Mint cleared her throat. "What was that?"

"Wiggenweld potion," Madam Pomfrey replied, taking the empty glass from her hand. "It'll heal the bump on the back of your head and any other aches your body may have felt from the past day or so." She collected up the empty tray and in replace, placed a cup of water on Mint's nightstand. "No going to classes today. I want you to stay here and rest. I can imagine your body has been put through a lot of strain." With that, the woman strode back into her office.

She could already feel the effects of the potion start to kick in. The throbbing in her head had significantly dulled and her limbs felt less numb. Eventually — with the help of some rest — she'd be back to normal.

She felt Irene's blazing glare burn into her forehead, causing Mint to internally curl in on herself. What had she done now?

"Why do I have a feeling you're angry at me?"

"That's because I am," Irene quipped, crossing her arms.

Mint gaped. "Why?"

Irene's lip twitched. "Why? Why? Because do you want to know what I found in our dormitory right after I caught word you'd been taken to the Hospital Wing?" She fumbled through her bag before pulling out a flask. Mint's medicine flask. "It's completely full!" She tossed it on the bed and crossed her arms. "Anything you'd like to say for yourself?"

"In my defence, it tastes like shit."

"That doesn't mean you stop drinking it!" Irene reprimanded. "Otherwise, this happens!" She gestured to Mint's body in the hospital bed.

"Alright, so I left it in the dormitory for a day, sue me! I didn't think anything of it!"

That pushed Irene off the edge. "It's the only thing keeping you alive!" She screeched, taking wary glances at Pomfrey's office in hopes she wouldn't suddenly come out. "And that's the thing! You don't ever think about the consequences of things!" She pinched her nose in frustration. "Look. I get that you hate your disease- I mean, we all do. But, for fucks sake, can you start taking care of your body? You're killing yourself! Whether you realise it or not!" Mint didn't know what to do other than stare. "I know your heart is a fucking pain in the arse, but let's not forget it's the only thing keeping you here! So, you know what? I don't give a bloody fuck if you like taking that medicine or not... if it means you get to live another day! You... bloody clotpole!"

Irene's chest heaved up and down from her outburst — she was just sick and tired of her best friend wanting to live so badly, but forgetting to take care of the one thing that was keeping her alive. Mint ranted on and on about the future, only to never think about the present. And it frustrated her.

"That's my word," Mint muttered as a way to break the awkward atmosphere that had overcome them. Though Irene wasn't having it.

"Did you not hear a word I just said?" She scoffed and Mint flinched slightly. "Take this shit seriously! That one slip up could've cost you your life. Thank god Madam Pomfrey only thought it was just another collapse..."

The pair stared at each other. Irene with distress and Mint with guilt. She had tried to get back up to the dormitory the moment she knew what was happening, but the boys had blocked her in. She didn't bother telling her friend that as there wasn't any point. It would just ignite Irene's anger even more.

Abruptly, Irene reached over and embraced Mint, wrapping her arms around the girl's weak body. "Don't do that to me, man," she softly whispered into her shoulder as all the pent up frustration melted into worry. She was just scared. The blonde squeezed her back in response. Her skin was cold — well, Mint was always cold — but she smelt of gentle vanilla and the soft laundry detergent she used on all of her clothing.

Releasing each other, Irene stepped back and grabbed her book. "You know, if you weren't in a hospital bed right now, I'd slap you."

Mint cheekily grinned. "And since I am, we'll let it go just this once?"

Irene pretended to hesitate before whacking her book against Mint's thigh. "Yeah no chance," she huffed. "But remember I still hate you, okay?"

Mint jokingly rolled her eyes. "Okay." Looking around, she tried to look for a certain item. "Hey, what happened to my bag?"

"It's under the table," Irene revealed, already reaching down to grab it. "While James carried you, Sirius carried your bag."

"Wait... James carried me here?"

Irene almost laughed at Mint's incredulous face. "What? Did you expect him to leave you lying there like a bloody lemon?"

"Yes?" She squinted.

Irene shook her head. "You should've seen it," she giggled, "he was so adamant to get you here that he almost dropped you twice. Yelling at everyone to get out of the way." Mint's face churned to shock. "You looked like a dead bride in his arms."

Mint squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't..." While the thought of James Potter being concerned for her wellbeing made butterflies squirm in her stomach... the fact she even fainted in front of him, to begin with, made her cringe. Hard. What a twat she was.

"Does Lily know I'm here?"

Irene scrunched up her face. "It's fifty-fifty. She knows you're here, but I only told her it was because you were feeling under the weather."

Lily was very fairly new to the friendship. Up until the fifth year, it had always been the Ravenclaw duo. The terrible two. The Sherlock Holmes and her John Watson. Mint Rosé McKinney and Irene Kelps. Mint had always believed the best things in life came in twos; like the Chinese philosophical principle of Yin and Yang which represented balance, harmony and order. Up until the fifth year, she never imagined a third party accompanying the herb and the Vietnamese goddess.

But having been invited into Slug Club — created by her potions teacher, Professor Slughorn — that very year made Mint think differently. Sure, the club had some of the most well-liked and famous students attending, but they were all too snobby and too far up their own ass to see the sun. Did Slughorn really think she was going to actually get along with people like Severus Snape, or the pompous twat, Lucius Malfoy? Hahahaha, no.

So when Slughorn finally added Lily, it was a breath of fresh air. Mint finally felt she was sitting in a field of flowers (no pun intended) as opposed to a stuffy room filled with a bunch of arrogant twats, who saw nothing but the coins in their pocket. It surprised her as to how much they got along and how much Mint liked her — wasn't she supposed to hate the girl? She was the 'soulmate' and the only one 'worthy' enough for James Potter... right?

By the end of the year, Lily was hopping in and out of their inner circle of friendship, hanging with them when she wasn't with her fellow Gryffindor friends. And two became three. Of course, Irene was more than ecstatic. She'd harboured years of crushing on the redhead and now she actually had a chance! (That was only if Lily liked girls too.) Naturally, she kept her secret crush under the radar. And that wasn't the only thing they kept from Lily.

She didn't know Mint had a terminal illness. And the pair wanted to keep it that way. It was best some things weren't known.

Irene wearily glanced at her watch. "Shit, it's almost time for my first class. I better be off if I don't want Trelawney to beat my ass for being late..." She paused. "That sounded better in my head."

Mint handed her the crane from her bag. "You know who to give it to?"

Irene raised a brow. "Don't worry. I got it."

"Have fun!" Mint yelled as she watched Irene leave the Hospital Wing.

She fainted in front of James Potter.

Groaning, she pulled the covers over her head. She officially hated herself.

END OF CHAPTER !!
to be continued.

nini speaks !

😭 i hate writing angst between the two but i
better get used to it ... er what ? who said that. also
i wonder who the crane went to ooooop. any
theories? cause it's about to go down next chapter
it's not even funny. it's about to get well angsty
up in hereeee <////3

( rewritten; 22/10/21 )