"That's it!" Del exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "I can't do this." She had officially been in the infirmary for a week and now they were finally ready to let her out. The only issue was she couldn't walk more than a few steps.

"This stupid thing keeps getting stuck," she pointed out as she hit the top of the wheel, "How am I even supposed to get to classes in this?"

Pomfrey had gotten a hold of a wheelchair for the girl. It was that or crutches but she didn't have enough muscle mass to use crutches long term yet. It was odd that she was taking so long to recover seeing as she had magic on her side but they were working on it.

"It's this or you're stuck in a bed until you can walk again," Pomfrey explained with a frown. "Hopefully, it won't be for too long."

"I am not going back in that bed," Del announced.

"Then make the chair work."

"Fine," she huffed, "Can I take it around the school?"

"Yes," she agreed, "If you need help or get stuck again, send a message my way."

Del rolled over to the door and made an attempt at opening it. "Merlin's beard," she muttered as the door hit her chair again. She rolled back and pulled out her wand. She waved it and the door opened to reveal a bleeding James Potter with his friends at his side. "Ouch," she observed rolling backward so they could enter the room, "That looks like it hurt."

Pomfrey re-emerged and her eyes widened slightly upon seeing the boy holding a blood soaked cloth to his nose. "He was hit by a bludger during the match," Peter explained to the doctor. She nodded before guiding the boy to a bed and having him take a seat.

"Where are you going?" Sirius inquired and Del looked back to see he was talking to her. He seemed to just now register that she was sitting in a wheelchair.

"To practice," she explained before looking back at Pomfrey who was cleaning up James, "If I'm not back in about half an hour, I'm dead."

Pomfrey rolled her eyes, "I'll keep that in mind."

Del grinned before wheeling out of the room. She made her way through the hall, taking turns rather successfully. That is until the wheel got stuck again.

"Come on!" she exclaimed as she tried to move the wheel but it wouldn't budge. She looked down to see what appeared to be a used dungbomb stuck to the bottom of the wheel, "Seriously!"

She bent down to pull it out but couldn't reach far enough. She mentally cursed her short arms. She huffed before leaning down again but she ended up falling from the chair, sending it rolling backwards.

Del rested her head on her knees, not even bothering to try and get her wheelchair.

"You look like you're having a wonderful time," someone observed and Del looked up to find a kid in a wheelchair next to her abandoned one. He lifted it up and flicked the dungbomb off. He pulled out his wand, "There's actually a spell that helps prevent this." He waved his wand and mumbled a spell. The spell shot from his wand and he rolled the chair toward her.

Del stopped it before it could go too far and braced herself, pulling herself up and sitting back down, "It's harder than I thought it would be."

He laughed a little, "You'll adjust."

"You're Harry Tonks, aren't you?" Del inquired. "Ted Tonks brother?"

"How do you know that?" he asked curiously.

"Andromeda is my cousin."

He faltered, "You're a Black?"

She laughed a little, "Trust me, I'm not like them." She gestured to the chair, "Her sister's are the reason I'm in this situation in the first place."

He glanced to his left for a moment, "Come with me."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, "Are you going to push me down the stairs?"

"I think I should be more worried about you doing that to me," he pointed out and she couldn't help but nod in agreement. She followed him through the halls.

"You know how to break?" he asked the girl as they came to a stop at the top of a ramp.

"Yes," she confirmed, looking down the ramp, "Why?"

He grinned, "You'll see." He rolled backward for a moment before sending himself down the ramp, he came to a stop once he was off. He looked back up at the girl. "If you can't stop, I'll stop you," he informed her, holding up his wand.

She nodded reluctantly before backing up slowly. Worst case scenario, you die. And if she were honest, that probably wasn't the worst outcome of this. She did as the boy did and rolled down the ramp. As soon as she was off, she quickly stopped. "That was..." she breathed out.

"Awesome?" he inquired.

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod. "Who would have thought Hufflepuff's knew how to have fun?" she mused.

"And who would have thought Slytherin's could be anything but an asshole?" he countered and she laughed.

"Touché."

"Wanna go again?" he asked the girl and she nodded eagerly. Rolling back up the hill proved to be much harder than going down but eventually she got up.

"I'm going to have freakishly strong muscles the longer I do this, aren't I?" she asked the boy and he nodded, smiling in amusement.

They took turns before going but as Del came to a stop, someone stood in front of her. She looked up and smiled sheepishly upon seeing Pomfrey standing there, "Hey."

"I see you're adjusting well," she observed, glancing over at the third year Hufflepuff who was trying not to laugh.

Del nodded, biting her lip, "Evidently, yes." She glanced behind her, "Can I get back to it?"

Pomfrey rolled her eyes but nodded, "And if you're up for it, you can be sent back to the Slytherin common room. Dumbledore has arranged for a room for you on the bottom floor. You'll be alone but it's easier than trying to get up the stairs."

Del grinned at this, "Thank you, Poppy."

She rolled her eyes before walking off, "Don't be too long."

Del turned to Harry, "Again?"

After a few more times going up and down with the boy, she made her way back to the infirmary in a far better mood than before. She used her wand to open the door and rolled in to find James laying on the bed next to the one she had grown accustomed to occupying.

She rolled over quietly and began to fill her bag up with the things she had been keeping with her. There wasn't much but she did have quite a few outfits she had to get back to the Slytherin common room. She hoped that all of her stuff had already been moved and that she wouldn't need to worry about it.

"Mr. Potter," Pomfrey stated as she entered the room, holding a container of something. The boy shifted before sitting up. "Drink this," she suggested, "It'll help."

She turned and saw Del sitting there. "You're back," she concluded, "Your new room is set up whenever you're ready. We'll keep doing physical therapy daily so make sure you come here after lunch every day."

"Got it," she nodded in agreement, placing her bag in her lap. "Thank you."

James grimaced after swallowing the potion and handed the bottle back to the nurse. "Better?" she inquired and the boy nodded before hopping off the bed. "Try not to get injured again, will you?"

"Can't make any promises, Poppy," he replied and the boy seemed in a much better mood as the color returned to his face. "But I'll try my hardest."

She shook her head at the boy before making her way to her office. Del rolled backward slightly and adjusted where she was directed before making her way to the door. She pulled her wand out but James stepped forward and opened the door before she could do it herself. She smiled tightly at the boy as she rolled out, "Thank you."

"How are you doing?" he asked and she looked up at him to find him scratching his neck awkwardly.

"Like Jean-Baptiste Poquelin says," she began as they made their way down the hall, "'The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming.'"

He raised an eyebrow at the girl, "Since when did you become an optimist?"

She snorted, "I'm not an optimist. But if I think too negatively, someone would be dead."

"Fair enough," he nodded before he stepped in front of her causing her to break.

She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

He frowned, "I don't know." She rolled her eyes and moved to go around him but he stepped in front of her again. "Just...give me a second."

"I really don't have time for this, Potter," Del pointed out as she tried to go around him again. "Don't think I won't run over you." She moved forward to do as promised but he placed his hands on either side of her wheelchair, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She could feel his breath tickling her face as he stared at her not saying anything. "Maybe you should go back to Pomfrey," she suggested and she cursed herself at how quiet her voice had come out, "You may have brain damage or something."

He was silent as he watched her for a moment before he stood up straight, shaking his head. She opened her mouth to say something but he walked off before she could. "Where are you go - Potter!"

She scoffed as she looked around to see if anyone saw what had just happened before heading to the Slytherin common room.

Del rolled in after saying the password, hoping to just get straight to her room but luck was not in her favor that night. As soon as she had entered, Cynthia flung herself at the girl, causing Del to roll back a little.

"I'm so sorry," Cynthia apologized as she squeezed the girl. "I should have believed you."

She patted the girls back and breathed out, "You're going to send me back to the infirmary if you don't let me breathe." Cynthia released her with an apology. Del looked up at the girl, "What happened?"

"Please don't ask her that," Angela pleaded. "I just got her to stop crying."

Del's eyes widened slightly but she didn't ask anymore questions. She didn't care as long as she never had to see Axel again. At least not when it could be severely avoided.

While she had meant what she said about not needing Cynthia and Angela, it didn't mean that she didn't miss them. And if they were willing to say they were wrong, she could get out of her own way and forgive them. At least mostly.

"I need to get my stuff into my new room," she explained.

"It's so pretty!" Cynthia beamed and Del grew confused. "And it's huge too!"

"They had us bring your stuff down," Angela explained. "We put everything away for you." She reached into her pocket, "It comes with a key too."

Del took it from the girl, "Thank you."

"We'll see you at dinner?"

"I actually have plans to eat with someone already," she replied and now it was their turn to be confused. "I'll see you guys after the Head Boy and Girl meeting though."

She rolled off to where her new room was and opened it after some minor struggling. She threw her bag on the bed and looked around. Cynthia was right. It was huge and it was gorgeous.

The room contained a large black four poster bed - if Del were to guess, it was probably king size - and it had green and black sheets on it, decorated with black throw pillows. Above the bed hung a black framed photograph of a serpent looped around a sword. On either side of the bed was a matching set of nightstands.

To the right of the bed, pressed against the wall was a black wood bureau with a large mirror on top. There was another dresser to the left of the bed and a door, which she assumed led to a bathroom. At the foot of the bed rested a black chest for storage.

She definitely didn't have enough stuff to fill the room up.

Del changed out of the clothes she had been wearing all day and put new ones on before leaving her room and making her way to the Great Hall. She rolled up to the Hufflepuff table and earned looks from those at the table as she stopped her wheelchair next to Harry.

"For a moment there I thought you had changed your mind," Harry announced as he turned to look at the girl.

"Nope," she replied, "I just had to get settled into my new room. They gave me one on my own on the bottom floor."

He grinned, "It's nice, isn't it?"

She looked around the Hall in confusion. "Was I really that late?" Most of the tables were about half empty except for Slytherin which remained the same.

"No," Harry shook his head.

"Then where is everybody?" She looked around again and she caught her brother and his friends looking at her. She rolled her eyes but waved at them and they quickly looked away like they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing.

Which, knowing them, could have been anything.

"More people have gone home," the girl next to Harry explained. "After everyone heard about what happened to you and James Potter and Dumbledore sent letters home, parents got worried."

She grimaced, "Does everyone know it was us?"

"We didn't at first," Harry explained, swallowing whatever food he had been chewing. "But then there were rumors you were in the infirmary and Potter had been acting strange. Jumping at sudden noises, not bothering Evans as much and what not. We sort of just connected the dots."

Del glanced back at James for a moment with a slight frown, "Is he still out of it?"

Harry shrugged, "Seems fine to me."

"We heard what you did," the girl spoke up again. Del looked at her in confusion. "Jumping in front of the spell for him."

"Oh," Del faltered, "I didn't - It was nothing."

"Don't down play it," Harry suggested. "Any other Slytherin would have let the spell hit him."

"A real Slytherin never would have let the spell hit him," Del countered and everyone at the table didn't seem to believe her. "Anyways, it really wasn't a big deal."

She turned back to the front and one of the Hufflepuff's at the table spoke up, "I have a question." She looked over at them and waited for them to continue, "Is it true what they're saying about him recruiting Slytherin's within Hogwarts?"

Del hesitated, "I don't know."

"You have to know something," she countered. "I mean, they did this to you. They had to have said something."

She shook her head, "If that was their intention, they clearly failed." She placed her fork down, changing the subject quickly, "You all know my name but I don't know any of yours."

"I'm Chelsea," the girl introduced before pointing at the boy who appeared younger than her and sat across from her, "That's John."

"I'm Stephen," the boy next to Chelsea announced.

"So Chelsea, John, Stephen," she repeated pointing at each of them as she said it. "Did I get it?" They all nodded, "Good."

"She's not associating with the Slytherin's anymore," Sirius announced as he looked away from the girl again and turned back to his friends. "That's a good thing, right?"

"Aren't they in a fight?" Peter inquired. "Because the boy groped her and the girlfriend who was friends with Delphinus thought she was trying to steal him from her. And then the other one sided with the other friend or something like that."

James' jaw clenched at the reminder of what had happened a month or so ago. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much still because it shouldn't have, at least not after so long. But it did anyway.

Sirius' eyebrows furrowed at the boy, "I didn't even remember all of that."

Peter blushed, "I have a lot of free time."

"Anyway," Sirius shook his head. "They made up. At least the girl's did."

James grew confused at this as he looked over at Del who seemed to be enjoying her time at the Hufflepuff table and over at the two girls she used to hang out with who sat with a few other girls. No boyfriend in sight.

"How do you know that?" Remus asked, clearly just as confused as James.

"Snivellus told me." The three of them all turned to look at him in surprise. "Oh, come off it. He saved my sister's life. I owe it to him to try and be civil."

James snorted into the glass of water he had been drinking and covered his mouth as he placed the cup down. The few people around them turned to look at him and he just waved them off with a muttered apology.

"You?" he inquired with a cough. "Civil with Snivellus?"

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised," he replied, grimacing slightly. "It's not nearly as fun as messing with him but I suppose it could be worse."

"Right..." James trailed off, still confused. First Del started talking to the Hufflepuff's and now Sirius was being friendly with Snape. Was everything changing?