59

[Touching, wearing or even being in close proximity to Cursed Objects might bring any number of consequences with it. So to say, what the exact and immediate effects are will never be sure until you or the people around you can and will notice. Yet, despite the clarity, this book will be your best guide to identify common curses, what to expect, how to treat them, and when to know it is too late.]

My eyes scanned the pages as a yawn rattled through my chest. Trying my best to be comfortable in a chair that was simply not meant to be, my eyes diverted from the third book in the past week to claim it was the best guide to identify curses and or other magical injuries.

It was tiring, frustrating to know I've wasted all this time for nothing and nothing once more.

As my eyes continued to flicker through the room, acknowledging the empty hospital beds before they fell on Malfoy's, I was startled to find his eyes connecting with mine right then and there.

I exhaled loudly, clutching the book between my hands tighter as my eyes narrowed in on him.

"You're not supposed to be awake," I observed, trying to seem unfazed by the sight as my fingers continued trailing along the spine of the book in my hands.

"Well, I've slept for the past ten hours, Adreanna." His voice mocked me, brows raising cockily as he took me in. If he was surprised to see me, he didn't let on. "I've gotten plenty of rest. Thank you for your concern, though."

With a shake of my head, my attention fell back onto the book, opening it to skim through the pages mindlessly. There was no higher purpose but to distract myself from his insufferable attitude.

"I'm not." My clarification was accompanied by a shrug. "—concerned, I mean." I huffed as I flipped through another few pages, feeling my patience running thin with both him and the book.

"Ah." A wide smirk formed on his lips, gracing them in a self-satisfied and victorious way— a completely insufferable one. "That's why you've been here every single day? Because you're not concerned?"

It was obvious he was enjoying this, revelling in my apparent abundance of concern that I hadn't even fully confronted myself. Up until now, I had been rolling with it, not wasting a single thought on how this must've looked.

"It's called common decency to come and check on you, arsehole—" I muffled, not daring to take my eyes off of the paragraphs in the book. Attention on anything other than that excited glimmer in his eyes whenever he knew he had the upper hand was more than welcome. "Once, by the way. This is the first time I'm here."

No, it wasn't. But despite being conscious, he was asleep all the other times in the past week and couldn't have noticed my being there.

"No, it's not."

Or maybe he did.

Though suddenly, my attention wasn't on the insufferable blond in the hospital bed before me anymore; even his words were nothing but distant background noise as I reread the sentence I had just stumbled upon once more.

It described similar things to what I had noticed in Dumbledore's office that night; limbs dying off— blackened, charcoal-like skin, and went on to say this;

[This type of curse would rapidly cause the death of anyone who came into contact with it, although in certain cases, the spread of the curse could be slowed down by magical means. If you have the needed magical proficiency and manage to slow the effects of the curse, no doubt within a year, your time will run out either way. Regardless of the methods of delaying the spread, there is no known way of removing or completely stopping this type of curse.]

The book snapped close within seconds, and with wide eyes, my gaze flickered through the room restlessly, completely oblivious to Malfoy's inquiring look.

If this meant what I thought it did, all I needed to do was wait— and keep Malfoy from finishing the job before Dumbledore's time would run out naturally, and I could take credit for it.

With my mind miles away, I muttered nothing but a half-hearted "Whatever," jumping off the chair simultaneously. It didn't seem like he was going to stop me, and it was a relief in itself to have come as far as my hand wrapped around the door handle without a snark comment.

But quickly, my lucky streak was broken as he opened his mouth once more, the smirk audible in his voice alone— I didn't have to look back to know it was there. But I did, anyway.

"You know, Adreanna," He drawled, at which point my eyes landed on him— low and behold, that familiar smirk gracing his features. "I should've known when Blaise told me you listen when Pansy talks about me."

The way he worded his sentence begged for me to bicker back, aiming for my denial, my amused snickers and frustrated groans. And, though it was tempting, I had bigger matters to tend to— couldn't possibly waste my time with something as trivial as this.

So, I ignored the open invitation to do so, instead had my gaze roam him in his seated position. You'd almost feel sorry for him, with his hair a mess, those dark circles under his eyes and the visible cuts on his arms that hadn't healed yet.

Though, all the sympathy I had for him that day — when he was laying in a puddle of his own blood, grasping for life and begging death to spare him with no one around but the two people he despised the most — was wiped away at the sight of that cocky smirk of his.

My mind flickered to the question of why I didn't just let him die that day and thank Potter for it, but I was quick to divert my attention elsewhere in order to keep myself sane.

"You look awful, do you know that?" My head tilted as the words slipped past my tongue, lips quirking upwards in an amused smile as he jokingly took a look at himself.

"Well, I did almost die just a few days ago—" He cut himself off with an amused huff, the start of a laugh turning into a pained cough. "Though, I suppose that's nothing new. I'm just surprised Potter managed to do better than you— get me closer on the verge of death."

"Way to make me regret ever trying to stop that bleeding of yours." My tone was sharp, annoyance lacing it just as much as amusement was. When a snicker passed by my lips just moments later, he seemed almost relieved that he did manage to coerce it out of me, which only earned him another sigh.

I turned back around at the same time, the door already opened as a last sentence slipped past his lips. "I do hope you enjoy that gift I had delivered to your dorm."

My eyes rolled without the satisfaction of him ever seeing it, head shaking in both confusion and annoyance as I slipped through the door and shut it behind me.

Just for a moment, I leaned against it, my eyes closed and my head angled at the ceiling to take a deep breath. My mind was running overtime, wondering what other deadly surprise could be waiting for me in my dorm while simultaneously remembering what I had just found out about Dumbledore.

"I reckon you two get along better now."

The familiar voice had my eyes snap open, posture straightening as I pushed myself off the door in one swift motion. "I must've missed a lot since that day you called me 'too fucking good' just to make sure you wouldn't run into me again afterwards."

My eyes widened at Kai's words, and I blinked at him, perplexed by the opposite of his usual laid back attitude— his words were still laced in sarcasm, his brows raised in light mockery, though he meant everything he said.

My face screwed up at the memory, contorting in second-hand embarrassment as a defeated sigh escaped my lips. "You're right," I admitted, eyes opening again. "I'm... sorry. Do you want to—?"

He seemed taken aback by my sudden apology just as much as I was. We both knew it wasn't something typically rolling off my tongue as easily. Though, in this situation, it only seemed appropriate.

Despite it, Kai cut me off before I ever got to lay out my offer.

"Oh, no," He interrupted quickly, waving me off. "No, I'm busy—" His voice seemed to trail off at the words, though he quickly caught himself mere seconds later. "I just came to let you know about that wooden cabinet you asked about a few months ago."

The revelation was accompanied by a shrug, though my curiosity had been peaked as soon as the words wooden cabinet escaped his lips. "Faye said I should let you know—"

"— Faye?" Suddenly, I was curious about more than just that cabinet, and my brows raised in interest.

"Yeah, Faye."

"Your—?" I began, voice trailing off in hopes he'd fill in the blanks. All of it out of sheer interest in the matter, of course.

He shook his head forcefully, waving me off with an eye roll. "Never mind that, Anna," He sighed. "It's a vanishing cabinet. I thought you'd want to know."

I couldn't keep Kai from turning around and leaving without another word, my mind instead puzzling all the missing pieces together as Malfoy's plan became abundantly clear to me. 

A/N: Kai >:( I feel betrayed 

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See you tomorrow. <3