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Tom, Malfoy and Reg were back on Hogwarts ground, the weekend after that disastrous Halloween.
Tom was fuming: the summoning ritual had not worked. He had gnawed at the whole procedure in his head, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.
The alternative- that he did not have enough magic to perform a ritual- was unthinkable, and even considering it made his heart pound furiously. He had almost sacrificed himself, bled out in the hexagon. If Reg and Malfoy had not shoved blood-replenishing potions down his throat, he'd probably have died. It had taken him nearly a day to regain his strength.
And worst of all Reg and Malfoy had had to take care of him while he was unconscious. Tom despised being weak and needing people to care for him. He was furious and frustrated.
So when he felt a teasing at the corners of his mind, he almost brushed it off. He was caught up in his rage, but there was still something about it, something strange that snagged his attention. Inexplicably, he thought of frizzy hair and frizzy magic.
And instantly he was alert, spine straight, magic sharp as a blade. He whirled around, his eyes widened at what he saw and then ran to the figure he saw falling to the ground.
It was a girl, bloody and filthy, hair lank and dead looking, pale faced, throat bleeding freely. He could barely sense her magic. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she'd died.
Then she suddenly opened her eyes, tear rimmed and red, swollen and unfocused.
"What's happened Miss?", he asked her.
She didn't seem to hear, but she feebly whispered something that changed Tom's life:
"The stars are right now."
Then her eyes closed again and she went limp in his arms.
Tom felt like he'd suddenly stopped, and the earth had continued rotating without him, like he'd had air punched out of his lungs, like someone had broken into his ribcage and crushed his beating heart.
Reg woke him from his stupor. He pulled at Tom's bicep and said urgently, "We need to take her to Madam Helen."
When Tom remained frozen for a second longer, Reg turned to Malfoy, and hissed "Help me."
Malfoy cast a levitation charm, the girl rose a few feet into the air, her arms hanging like dead weight. Tom saw that one of her forearms was bleeding even worse than her throat. Malfoy took a closer look at the arm, then turned his head and vomited violently. His levitating charm wobbled, but Tom unfroze and took over just before the girl could crash to the ground.
Reg glared at Malfoy.
"Take over the levitation Reg," Tom commanded.
Reg did. Tom set to stopping the bleeding as well as he could. There was a curse on the wounds that prevented coagulation and closing, so Tom cast bubblehead charms localized to the wounds, pressured to keep the blood inside. Malfoy had cast red sparks into the air, and within minutes, as Tom struggled to hold the bubble head charm and as Reg continued levitating the body towards the castle, the front doors burst open and Madam Helen, Professor Dumbledore and Slughorn burst out.
They froze as they took in the sight of the limp girl, but Madam Helen recovered the fastest and began casting diagnostic charms at a rate Tom had never seen the old woman cast before.
"Cursed knife wounds, curse attacking magic, blood and magic dangerously depleted," she frowned, "subjected to multiple rounds of the Crutiatus curse". A stunned silence greeted her muttered pronouncement.
"Albus, help me extract the curse, while I stop the bleeding. Horace, take over the levitation on the", she waved her wand and a stretcher appeared, "stretcher."
When Slughorn continued to stare gap-eyed at the girl, she barked, "Move, Horace!"
She brushed Tom, Reg and Mal aside brusquely, "I'll take over. Let go."
Tom watched in horrified fascination as the girl's blood welled up as soon as he let the bubble head charm go. But then Madam Helen started muttering and casting, and it began to seep back into her body. The three teachers rushed into the castle leaving the boys behind on the front steps.
Malfoy cast a freshening charm on his mouth and collapsed onto the steps, holding his head between his knees, "Bloody hell."
Tom stood staring at the doors behind which the girl had disappeared, until Reg grabbed his shoulder, and then he too sank onto the steps, and looked back at the way they had come, staring at the trail of red they had left behind.