Everything ached or burned. She didn’t trust herself enough to move, knowing it would bring down a world of pain. Her head pounded and she wondered if this was what it was like to have a hangover. 

Where was she? The bed under her was soft, but it wasn’t hers. Had she been captured? She tried to move her arms, but it hurt to do so. She still tried to. Damn the pain, she had to know if she could fight back. Her heart was pounding in her head. Even that hurt. What did this person think they could gain from her? Her parents didn’t have enough wizard money to count as a fortune and she certainly was no influencer in the world. But she knew things. Things that could easily get her in a situation like this. It had before, why not now?

She winced. Thinking wasn’t painless either. She didn’t want to, but she forced herself to open her eyes. The world blinded her and sent her head spinning. She could have screamed. It hurt so much. 

Someone in the distance spoke. A sour liquid was poured into . She tried to move her head away. Would this make the pain worse? It did. Then she recognised the taste. It was something for the pain. When the person tried to give it to her again, she swallowed eagerly. felt raw. Again, this movement hurt. Yet the general pain she was feeling quickly faded. She might have relaxed. She didn’t. She had no idea where she was, but she was starting to doubt that the captors were who she thought they were. At least she hoped they weren't.

Another potion. She didn’t recognise it and it was poured in quickly. Very likely because they didn’t want her to move her head. They forced her to swallow. Seconds passed. The dizziness subsided. There was just a heaviness in her body. In her mind too. 

“Dahyun?” she heard, “can you hear me?” How did they know her name? Again, she wondered what they wanted from her. She had no exceptional magical abilities. Very few knew of what other knowledge she possessed. Others couldn't have known that. Unless the secret had not been well kept. 

She blinked once. Twice. A kindly woman appeared in front of her. She wondered if it was an illusion. Then she recognised the face: Madame Selen. 

“Not captured then.” The words came out as a croak. She sank back into the bed, letting the relief wash over her. She felt giddy with it. 

“Captured?” she repeated. “Do you remember your last name? Your house?”

“Kim,” she said. “I’m an aspiring Hufflepuff.” The words were a struggle to bring up. “Why am I here?” Was that really her voice? It sounded so much lower than normal.

“We’ll answer that later. Sleep now.”

“I can’t." She was already drifting off. “I have work to do.”

“Not right now you don’t.” 

It was as though her body had just been waiting for the permission to shut off. She hoped for a dreamless sleep. Those were her favourite. Within moments, she was out. 

When she woke this time, she felt incredibly thirsty. And weak. She tried to move her head or her arms. The pain brought tears to her eyes. She was pulling on broken bones and a very sore brain. It felt like lifting lead. Her entire body felt like that. Some big hunk of metal. Well, not that big. 

She tried to open her eyes. Slowly. She tried to think about what she knew. She was in the Hospital Wing. She knew she was last on the stairs, looking forward to getting to the common room and starting Alchemy homework. Then…what had happened? Had she been attacked? She couldn’t imagine that. Not here. At least she hoped not. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe. It was safe. The fall was probably her own fault. 

“You’re awake." The person's voice was hardly above a breath.

“Getting there.” Her voice still sounded terrible. She sometimes liked to sing as she played the piano. She hoped her voice would return to normal. But first, her entire body would have to heal. She could live with a hoarse voice. It might add to her non-existent intimidation factor. 

Her eyes adjusted. They ached, but she looked for the speaker. She couldn’t quite pick out her face. Someone had taken out her contact lenses, and she doubted she could reach her glasses. Her nose was also sore, so that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Even so, as she squinted, she recognised them. It was the way they held themselves: straight back, but a tilted head. It was also the hair. Sana. In pyjamas—also green. She was standing right by the curtains, her arms crossed.

“Dahyun, I,” she broke off. A pause. “I’m so sorry.” Was her voice shaking? That was something Dahyun'd never thought she’d hear. 

“Why?” Then she coughed. “Is there water?”

Sana moved closer to her bedside and grabbed a glass from it. She took out her wand, muttered something, and a large drop was lifted out. 

“I can do it myself.” She lifted a hand, hissing the moment she did. The drop burst and water dribbled down her chin and neck. She was already feeling too warm in this bed, so this felt good. The warmth was probably from the many bandages wrapped around her. One of her arms was in a cast, the other had several dark bruises. One leg was also in a cast. Was this the day after whatever had happened? 

“, I’m sorry.” Another drop. This time it met its mark. Dahyun swallowed, hoping the liquid wouldn’t make her throw up. It wouldn’t be pleasant for either of them. 

“It’s not your fault. I lost track of what hurt and what didn’t.” She tried for a chuckle, but ended up coughing, her chest hurting with every one.

She was silent. Dahyun looked away from the many bandages covering her body. The girl was closer now, but she still needed to squint quite a bit to make out her face. Were her eyes puffy? They were certainly very dark. Sunken almost. 

“Wow,” she said. “I think you’ve slept less than me.” 

Sana let out a small breath. It was a quarter of a laugh. At least something. 

“So why are you sorry? And I don’t mean the water apology.” 

“You remember what happened?” 

Dahyun combed through her memory again. 

“I was on the stairs, between two and three?” She wracked her sore brain for more. “I think I fell. Maybe miscounted the step?” That must have been it. Hadn’t she recently told someone about the illusory step? As luck would have it, she’d fallen due to that very step. “How could that be your fault? Aren’t you not very steady on your own feet?” The Slytherin seemed designed to fly, but somehow movement was very different in the halls and on the stairs.

“I should've been there,” Sana said. Were those tears on her face? Or was Dahyun’s head just giving her mild hallucinations?

Then the doors opened and Dahyun heard hurried footsteps. All traces of vulnerability, at least the ones Dahyun could see, disappeared. Sana straightened and took several steps back. Even her shaky breath had steadied. 

“She’s awake,” she called. Then she left, barely scraping past Jihyo and Chaeyoung as they appeared at the curtains. Jihyo was wearing normal clothes, but Chaeyoung was also wearing pyjamas. What time was it? It was dark outside, but in the autumn, that didn’t mean much. 

“Finally.” One made to hug her, but probably thought better of it. Dahyun felt disappointed. She could really use a hug. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?” Chaeyoung asked, a frown on her face. The bite in her voice was surprising. The question itself even more so. Sana wasn’t one of the best people she knew, but hurting someone, at least in the way her closest friend was suggesting, was almost unthinkable. 

Dahyun was quite sure ‘she’ could still hear them. “I think she wanted to see if I was alright.” The prospect was strange. She nearly felt bad that she was so surprised. 

“Did she try and convince you to say something?” Jihyo asked. Why were these two so suspicious of her?

“No,” she said. “She just apologised.” 

Her friends went silent. Then the door closed softly. 

“How are you feeling?” Jihyo asked. 

“Terrible.” There was no point sugar-coating it. At least not right now. 

“You look it too.” Chaeyoung’s bottom lip trembled. 

“Thank you.” She laughed. Then stopped herself, holding her chest. She’d forgotten that laughing hurt. 

“Guess you’re not allowed funny visitors,” Jihyo said. “I’ll let Jeongyeon know she can come.” Despite the jest, her brow was furrowed. 

Dahyun stifled her laugh. If anything, that hurt more. “How much work do I have?”

Chaeyoung gave her a look. “The question you should be asking if how long you’ve been out. Then how long you’re here for. Then you ask how much work you have.”

“Ravenclaw logic is not welcome.” She stuck out her tongue. It tugged at a swollen lip. “How long was I out?”

A series of silent seconds passed. That wasn’t good. 

“Four days,” Jihyo finally said. 

Four days. How were her bruises still so dark? They should have been yellowing at this point. “And how long will I be here?”  The weekend was already here. She had missed a complete week. 

“Don’t know. Apparently you’re not healing as fast as you should be.” 

Dahyun let that sink in. Why would that be? Healing potions usually acted fast. The worst injuries could be in pretty good condition after a week. None of hers felt like they were close to benig healed. “You’ll be happy to hear that I don’t want to hear how much work I have to do.”

Chaeyoung grimaced. “But you’re gonna ask anyway.” 

“I have to follow the Ravenclaw logic.” She grinned. It probably looked nightmarish. At least she didn’t have to see her reflection. 

“You’re not touching it today,” Jihyo said. Her gaze was stern. “I’ll take it all with me if I have to.” That meant they were collecting it. The thought made her chest swell with appreciation for her friends. 

“I’ll get it back.” Her wand was on her bedside. She saw her glasses there and reached to take them. Her chest strained against the movement, so she pulled back. Broken ribs too? This list was just getting longer and longer. 

“I’ll take your wand,” Chaeyoung chimed. She passed her the glasses. 

“Wandless magic in Charms,” she waggled her eyebrows, “I could use the practice.” She was tempted, so tempted, to lift the glass of water with said magic. She didn’t. In her state, it would spill fully onto her. Might hurt even more. Instead, she put on her glasses. Just as she thought, her nose protested with a burst of pain. She kept them on. 

The faces in front of her became focused. Both looked so tired. Unkempt too. As if they’d slept badly. She frowned internally at that. Doing it with her sore mouth wouldn’t be wise. 

“Then I’ll just stay here.”

“Me too.” 

Dahyun gave them a look. “I’m already in the Hospital Wing. You can’t get any more watched over than that.” The first time she’d been here, Madame Selen had gotten after her for reading at night. She’d been sure the woman was asleep, but she’d been wide awake. She hoped something would change there now that she was in sixth year and actually needed to be up at night. 

“I know,” Chaeyoung said. “But it’s worth sticking around.” She pulled back the curtain, revealing piles of get-well-soon notes and even more sweets. 

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Even if it had been four days, how could all this come her way? “All for me?”

“It’s for the Quidditch team,” Jihyo said dryly. “Of course it’s all for you.” 

“And your lovely friends too, I hope.” The Ravenclaw had already opened two chocolate frogs. She immobilised both and put one in Dahyun’s good hand. It hurt as well, but she could use it. She was pretty sure her writing hand was broken, but she’d be able to use her wand. 

“I’ll never eat even half of this.” She hummed at how good the chocolate was. “And I never should.” They’d definitely fed her in the past few days, but she doubted it had tasted very good. Her jaw ached, but she kept on chewing. Her happiness made it worth it. Also the fact that chocolate melted. 

“Momo will be happy,” Jihyo chuckled, “I made her promise not to eat anything until you woke up.”

As much as the Gryffindor loved her food, Dahyun knew she’d kept the promise. She looked forward to seeing her—later today? Tomorrow?

“What time is it?” It was dark outside.

Chaeyoung glanced at her watch. “6 am.”

Dahyun gaped at them. “And you tell me to be responsible with sleep?” The words felt sour, but she tried to smile anyway. Even if she didn’t tell them everything, she didn’t like being a hypocrite either. 

“And we’ll keep telling you that,” she retorted. 

A moment of comfortable silence passed, but her thoughts were up in the air. How had three people been awake before six in the morning? Her friends, she could understand, with difficulty, but she would do the same. Maybe there were spare beds here. Even so, how had Sana stayed awake? Why had she done so? Their patrol would have been on a Friday, but it only ever ended around twelve. She couldn’t have been awake that long. She shouldn’t have been. 

“Okay,” Dahyun said. “I’m ready. How much work do I have?”

They exchanged a long look. 

“That,” Jihyo started, “is something that’ll wait until after breakfast.” 

She groaned. As they made to leave, both squeezed her good hand lightly. Then she got a thought. She stopped them before they went to the curtain. 

“I am going to say this myself when they let me out,” she started, “but can you tell people, if they ask, that it wasn’t Sana’s fault? If it comes from you, it’ll start to spread already. Sink in too.” As much as she wanted it to be, she knew that it wouldn't be enough. Not in this school. People jumped on the reputation of Slytherin to blame its students for everything. She was pretty sure Sana would be having a terrible time. Maybe she could convince a few people that it wasn't her fault. Maybe that would spread. She definitely had to try. 

Chaeyoung looked at her as if she’d grown a third eye. 

Jihyo’s voice was quiet. “She could have stopped it from happening. You’re lucky to be alive.”

The thought made Dahyun shudder. She wouldn’t even have realised what was happening. It would have just been over. 

Then she straightened. “And no one expected anything like that to happen. This isn’t the first time I patrolled alone.” She gave them each a long look. “How could she have known? I just fell and that’s all it was.” All the students needed to know that as well. Even if she wasn't actually sure herself, she'd have to act like she was. 

Silence followed. An uncomfortable one. Then they nodded. And left. 

______

Author’s Note

Title reference! It may not be the last time I do that, because I cannot resist. 

Anyway, Dahyun’s awake now. There’s a lot of confusion. At first she thinks she was kidnapped, then she’s noticing just how badly hurt she is, and she doesn’t know why she fell. And yet, she tells people she "just fell", believing the words herself. There are definitely theories in the back of her mind for why she fell. They relate to the summer before sixth year. I'd love to hear your theories there! I've got a couple clues in previous chapters ;)

Then we have Sana, Chaeyoung, and Jihyo. The former is the first to see her awake. The latter two are told the story they’re supposed to tell. Do you think they will? And do you think they believe those words? They're two very different things, and I hope to explore that some more in this story! 

Thank you all for the support on this story. I honestly didn't expect it and it makes me incredibly happy to see. 

Hope to hear (read) your thoughts and I'll see you in the next chapter!