𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 46

CHAPTER FORTY SIX
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-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH AVIANA
HIDES IT

. . .

"You've been acting strange, Aviana." Pansy suddenly appeared by her side the next morning as she seated herself for breakfast, her uniform traded - not for comfortable clothes - but a black skirt, a blouse and a dark green argyle jumper. Her legs were covered in thick tights with pattern of snakes over it, a pair of heeled shoes tied tightly over her feet. 

"Have I?" Aviana turned towards her, the Parkinson girl watching as she reached for her necklaces of layered pearls and gold chains, and saw lace gloves, holding the same pattern as her tights. "How, exactly?"

"First of all, I can't quite remember you ever having an affinity for gloves." Blaise commented, the girls looking across the table to where he and Draco sat. "When have you ever worn gloves."

"I can name various scenarios." Aviana replied, letting her eyes slide over to Draco for just a moment. "But, if you may know, I haven't been sleeping well, and last night I fell asleep in the midst of my detention." She swallowed, the lie sliding so easily from her lips. "We were writing lines, and I got ink everywhere. All over my face, all over my uniform, and all over my hands."

"I don't see any ink." Draco peered at her face. 

"I could wash that off easily. But my nails and cuticles are entirely soaked and will take several days to get rid of." Avia replied, rolling her eyes. "I've worn them for Quidditch before, I wore them for the Yule ball, and I wore them to almost every event our parents dragged me to. I don't see why you're insistant on proving me wrong."

She shook her head, reaching past her usual favourite assortment of pastries for a bowl of fruit salad, ladling some out onto her own, much smaller bowl, as well as a few bits of bacon, and french toast.

"You're not going to take them off to eat?" Pansy rose an eyebrow. 

"And get ink in my breakfast?"

"Good point." Pansy turned away, and Aviana reached for a knife and fork, ignoring any other conversation ongoing as she began to eat. 

Her face remained blank as she applied pressure, but there was no way she could even try and ignore the pain running through her hand. But it was constant - and it hurt. 

Upon leaving Harry in the bathroom, she had gone straight back to the Slytherin common room, hand dug straight into her pocket and surrounded by tissues. She had managed to get through within ten minutes, her friends sat by the fire not seeming too fussed about asking her questions and letting her go to the dorm and do her homework - they all knew she had an incredibly large amount to do, seeing as she had been at detention every night.

Which meant if she did try and complete it before or after the detention, it would be completed poorly and not up to her own usual standards. That in itself was enought to force Aviana into spending her weekends catching up, and quite frankly, her friends had heard her grumbling about it enough not to question it.

And after she had left the common room, Aviana could let her hand breath freely, managing not to get blood everywhere as she got to her dorm and went straight for the bathroom, glad to find no one else in there and the first aid kit beneath the sink practically untouched. 

She didn't trust herself enough to heal the cut made up of letters with magic - Aviana wasn't as practised in the medical side of charms as she would like to have been, and she knew that if messed up, it could end up disastrously. 

Instead, she slathered far too much salve on there before wrapping bandages around her hand, and was asleep before the others came up to bed. And the next morning when she awoke, the dorm was empty again, and unwrapping the bandages found that there was a very prominent mark in place of the open wound.

She knew she wouldn't be able to explain it if seen, and her school uniform had made it so much easier to hide the reddening skin. But an entire scar was a different story, and she knew she had to hide it properly.

And if that meant enduring the glances from her confused friends, she was okay with that. She just had to deal with the ache as she moved. 

"Hey - Aviana." A voice broke through her thoughts, and she looked across to see Draco. "You know Ron Weasel made the Gryffindor Quidditch team, right? We're going down to watch the practise now, if you want to come."

Aviana got to her feet, a smirk on her face. "Of course I'm coming." Her usual tone had returned to her words, and her friends look relieved. "And who let him on the team - come on, really? That's the best they had?"

They seemed to accept that she was fine for now. Thank Merlin.

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