Chapter Ten

After she had finished her dinner, which was comprised of a salad and some chicken, Sansa Stark excitedly made her way to the library. Her favorite part of the day was spending time with Margaery--and Danaerys of course. She was the first one to make it to the library that day. Sansa sat down at their usual table in the back corner of the room, pulling out the lastest dragon book she had been reading from her bag.

While the other three girls felt like they were getting nowhere in regards to figuring out how to hatch the three dragon eggs, Sansa actually felt confident that she knew how to hatch the eggs. From a series of context clues, Sansa figured out that by using fire the eggs would be able to hatch into baby dragons.

However, Sansa found herself stopping each time she tried to tell the other girls about her theory. She told herself it was because she didn't want to get caught when they ended up testing her theory but in reality, she knew she wanted to spend as much time with Margaery as she could and the library was the only time she could almost be one on one with the Slytherin girl. She felt an almost obsessive need to be Margaery Tyrell’s friend, she had never felt this way towards someone.

“Hey Sansa,” Margaery greeted the Ravenclaw girl as she sat down in the seat across from the girl. “Hey!” Sansa exclaimed, probably a little too excitedly for the situation. Margaery chuckled quietly. “Where’s Daenerys?” She asked--the other girl was usually the first one there. “I’m not sure…” Sansa trailed off, looking around the library for the silver-haired girl. “She’s probably talking to her friend… Missy, is it?”

“Missandei and you’re probably right.” Sansa corrected, agreeing with her friend even though a nervous feeling was growing in the pit of her stomach. The feeling only grew when Daenerys hadn’t shown up ten minutes later, only Arya was ever that late. Sansa furrowed her eyebrows at the thought, only Arya had ever been late to their ‘study’ sessions in the library, so maybe Daenerys was with her sister?

Sure enough, not a minute later, Arya skipped into the library with Daenerys following her. “Hellllllo,” Arya greeted, giving them a wide grin. “Aren’t you supposed to have practice today?” Sansa asked, a little upset that her sister was there. “It got canceled,” Arya slammed two books onto the table. Daenerys gingerly sat down in the seat across from Arya, which happened to be the seat next to Sansa. The red-haired girl noticed that Daenerys was much paler than usual and she had her left arm limply laying across her lap. The girl sounded like she was wheezing with every breath she took. Daenerys noticed Sansa’s concerned stare and quickly averted her gaze. Sansa made a mental note to talk to the other girl after they were done.

“Have we made any progress?” Arya asked, tossing a few jellybeans into her mouth. Margaery shook her head, disheartened, “We’ve found nothing.” Guilt wrapped around Sansa’s heart and squeezed, making it hard for her to breath for a second.

“Bloody hell, I thought me being gone would let you guys get more work done,” Arya muttered, rubbing her upper arm self consciously. Sansa scoffed, “It did.” Arya shot her a hard glare. Daenerys shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with Sansa’s tone. Sansa felt guilt squeeze her heart once more. She gave Daenerys an apologetic look, but the Hufflepuff girl kept her gaze downcast. Sansa sighed and turned back to her open book. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Daenerys open up a book and stare at it, never once turning the page. Arya didn’t seem to notice her best friend’s strange attitude, she was quite enthralled in her own book. Margaery, also, was focused hard on reading and scribbling down notes. Sansa cursed herself for her abnormal ability to pay attention to the small details.

Every passing minute Daenerys’s breathing seemed to get harder and her posture seemed to stiffen plus Sansa never once saw her move her left arm. Sansa’s concern for the girl skyrocketed when Daenerys accidentally grazed her arm against the table and she covered her mouth before a small yelp could escape. “You okay, Dany?” Arya asked, glancing up at Daenerys from her book. The silver-haired girl gave Arya a tight nod that seemed to be good enough to get Arya to go back to reading. Sansa, now convinced there was something wrong with Daenerys, reached over and gave the girl a light pat on the thigh. Startled, Daenerys turned sharply to face Sansa. She gave Daenerys a look, the other girl gulped and her face went paler if that was possible.

About ten minutes later, the girls decided to be done for the night. Arya and Margaery bid the other two girls and goodnight and went their separate ways. Daenerys looked like she was about to bolt but Sansa grabbed her arm before she could. Unfortunately for Daenerys, Sansa grabbed her left arm. The Hufflepuff girl let out a pathetic squeak before her knees collapsed. Sansa panicked, reached out and caught Daenerys before she could hit the ground. Sansa was frozen in place as Daenerys gripped tight onto her arm with her right hand.

“Sansa, it hurts,” Daenerys whined, pain throbbing throughout her body. “Where does it hurt, Dany?” It was the first time the nickname slipped past Sansa’s lips. “Everywhere.”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific,” Sansa slowly lowered them to the ground. “I… I can’t move my wrist.” Dany nodded to her left wrist that was hanging limply to her side. “I... can’t breathe right.” Daenerys’s eyes filled with tears, her breath becoming more ragged. “We have to get you to the hospital wing,” Sansa responded, a serious look coming over her face. Dany’s grip tightened on her arm. “No, we can’t!” She exclaimed Sansa shushed her, looking around to make sure no one heard.

“Why not?” Sansa whispered, Dany shook her head, tears started to drip from her eyes, “He’ll do it again or tell everyone.” Sansa gulped, terror spreading through her chest. “Tell everyone what, Daenerys?”

The girl shut her eyes tight and shook her head. “You’ll hate me.” Sansa’s hands moved up to her friend’s face, gripping it and whipping her tears. “Nothing could make me hate you more than I hate whoever did this to you.”

Daenerys put her head down, but Sansa lifted it up so the girl’s violet eyes would meet her blue ones. “Who did this to you?” Sansa said, her tone aggressive.

“Joffrey,” Dany mumbled, almost inaudible but Sansa heard her. “Joffrey?!” Sansa whisper-yelled, letting go of Dany’s face. Her hands curled into fists. “Why would he do this?” The silver-haired girl put her head down again, the tears coming again. “He… he found out I’m a mudblood--”

“Don’t call yourself that!” Sansa whisper-yelled, her hands back on Daenerys’s face, lifting her head up again. Frustration flashed through violet eyes. “Why not? It’s what I am, isn’t it?” Daenerys spit out.

“Dany, it doesn’t matter if you’re pureblood or muggleborn…” Sansa said gently, pulling the girl into a loose hug, making sure to not bump any of her injuries. “What matters is your character. Do not, I repeat, do not listen to a spoiled pureblood idiot about how much you're worth due to your patronage. I'm a pureblood and I think muggleborn students are some of the strongest, most hardworking students in this school. You being muggleborn just makes me believe that more."

Daenerys's cheeks flushed red--she wasn't expecting the compliment. "Thank you, Sansa." Sansa gave her a light squeeze in response. "Now let's get you to the Hospital Wing."

***

Sansa didn't really sleep that night. She was up all night thinking of how to get back at Joffrey for hurting such an innocent soul. When it was time for breakfast, she dragged herself to the Great Hall and sat down with the rest of the first year Ravenclaws. She almost fell asleep in her food when she felt someone grab her. She jerked awake, turning around to fight whoever's hand was on her shoulder. It was Arya.

"Have you seen Dany??" The girl got out frantically. Sansa tried to hide the concern for the Hufflepuff girl but Arya read right through her, "What happened?? Sansa, what do you know? Is she hurt? Oh my merlin--"

"Arya sit down." Sansa sighed, tiredly. "No, tell me what's going on." Arya stubbornly crossed her arms, standing tall over her sister. Sansa rolled her eyes, "Fine. Yesterday someone attacked Daenerys, broke her wrist and ribs. She was trying to hide it from us in the library but I could tell something was wrong. I made sure she got to the Hospital Wing." Sansa explained, bluntly, making sure to ski; over certain parts of the story--the ones that Daenerys would explain to Arya on her own.

Sansa had only seen Arya cry a few times in their short eleven years on earth. Each time was more devastating than the last, so when Arya's eyes started to fill up with tears, Sansa stood up, trying to comfort her sister with a hug. Arya, surprisingly, wrapped her arms around Sansa as soon as the taller girl stood up, startling her a little. They were starting to cause a scene, so Sansa made the decision to move them out into the hallway. Arya gripped to her tightly, hiding her face to the other students as they swiftly made their way out of the Great Hall. Sansa found a bench sitting below a window for them to sit on. Arya was still crying into her shoulder.

"I didn't even notice," Arya sobbed into Sansa's shoulder, "I'm a terrible person." Sansa felt her heartbreak slightly at the hurt in Arya's voice. "You're not a bad person, you're just... unobservant." Sansa awkwardly patted her sister on the back. She was never one for comforting people and it had happened twice in two days--she was out of her element. Arya cried harder and Sansa winced, cursing at herself. "Arya, Daenerys didn't want to worry you. She was hiding it. I only noticed because I was sitting next to her." It was a lie, Daenerys was clearly in pain and anyone paying attention to her would know that, but Sansa swallowed her pride for once. Arya only shook her head into Sansa's shoulder in response. The sisters sat there a while, Arya still crying, until the bell signaling classes were starting went off, breaking Arya out of her trance. She quickly got off of Sansa, stood up, dusted herself off, and quickly wiped her tears off her face.

"Um... this never happened," Arya stated, turning away from Sansa to go to class. "It's okay to have emotions, Arya," Sansa called out to her. The smaller Stark didn't turn around, only continued to walk away from Sansa. The red-haired girl sighed, rubbing her temples. She never expected Hogwarts would have this much drama.