Wh-what...? (open)

Lolly chewed on her lip. The last three months had been ... well, blank, for the most part. She couldn't remember anything in that gap. It was like someone had reached into her mind and scooped out her memories. That, or she'd hibernated for the winter. Which sounded really strange, even to her...

She pushed her way through the kitchen, asleep now as it was night and the house elves had retired. It was empty. Lolly stumbled over to the big wooden door that led to her bedroom and pushed it open. To her surprise, she had to push harder and it took so much more effort. It was like the door had grown ten times heavier since the last time she'd been there.

The door eventually ground open enough for her to fit through, and Lolly stumbled into the small room. It was dusty. Silver light filtered in through the grime-covered window and pitifully lit up the space. Hey eyes fell on a mirror and she clambered over to it.

What Lolly saw looked nothing like who she remembered. Her face was sallow, her eyes lacklustre. Lolly's blonde curls were cut short and dirt caked her cheeks. Her once-red lips were now dry and cracked, and her neck and shoulders were so thin and bony that it scared her.

Tears pricked her eyes. "What happened to me?" she croaked, fingers gently brushing her reflection in horror.

Alcyone had found that wandering around after hours was enjoyable. She felt that rebellious feeling she'd never felt before, as she'd dare not do anything her parents disapproved of in their home. Only a fool would, really. She brushed her hair out of her face as she wandered along and came across a portrait. She reached out and trailed her fingers over it. There was a mark on the pear, it looked like something she could pick off. She scratched at it, but with a giggle the portrait swung open.

She blinked and stepped inside, surprised. She'd finally found the Hogwarts kitchens - much to her amusement - and inside was Lolly. Or was it? She looked tired, horrible. Alcyone gasped and immediately moved over to Lolly with concern written all over her features. Her eyes were wide in shock. "Lolly? Are you okay?" She asked warily as she stood in front of the once beautiful adult.

She wondered what could've happened to transform the blonde beauty into something that only showed her beauty half-heartedly. She looked tired. Her heart ached painfully, as Lolly had been such a lovely woman during Anne's death. Apparently, Anne had come back to life but Alcyone had scarcely believed it when she saw the Gryffindor. She'd been the first to discover Anne, after all.

Lolly couldn't manage to drag her eyes off her reflection as a student made her way into the kitchens. Her throat formed a big lump in it, making it hard for the nymph to breathe. Lolly's legs went shaky and she grabbed onto the dresser that the mirror was attached to.

The girl asked her if she was okay and her concern washed through Lolly's mind. She briefly recognised the girl's voice as Alcyone, a second year. Lolly's scarily lifeless eyes found Alcyone's and she swallowed.

No longer could she hold back the shock that had enveloped her body. Lolly's body wracked in a giant, heaving cough, followed by a sob. Tears broke the damn and spilled onto her face and Lolly lost her grip on the dresser.

Her thin body collapsed on the ground and as Lolly's head hit the stone, she blacked out.

Alcyone reached out a shaking hand to touch Lolly's arm and she patted her comfortingly. Lolly's legs were shaking as she looked on in horror at the mirror that revealed to her the lifeless looking girl. Alcyone felt another pang of pain wash through her as she saw Lolly seem to struggle to hold herself.

"Lolly?" She persisted. She was glad when Lolly looked at her at first, but a moment later she saw the hollow, sunken-ness of them and how they seemed to be the eyes of the dead. "Lolly!" She cried in surprise at the eyes. "What in the name of Merlin happened to you?" She asked in a shaky voice.

Then, Lolly began to cry. It was horrible to watch her cry, because Alcyone wasn't sure what to do. She moved to hug Lolly, but the woman had already collapsed onto the floor and passed out. Startled, Alcyone dropped down beside her, and then she whistled. A moment later, an owl appeared at the kitchen window.

She ran over to the owl and flew open the window. She searched the dresser and found quills, parchment and some sticks. She scribbled down a message on the parchment in a messy scrawl as tears splashed on the parchment. Tears of fear for the woman that had helped her when she'd been broken.

Headmistress Romain,

I am sorry to trouble you at such a late hour, and please excuse my disregard for school rules but Lolly Hart has just fainted.

I am un-aware as to why, but she looks like a dead person and then she suddenly began to cry and pass out. We are in the kitchens and I am un-sure of what to do. Should I send a letter to Healer Henley and get her to come down and check Lolly as well?

Kind regards,
Alcyone Malfoy.

She tied the complete letter to the owl and sent it off to the headmistress' office. She went back over at knelt beside Lolly, a hand on her cold forehead. "Wake up, Lolly!" She cried as tears poured down her cheeks.

Briony was finally getting Raven off to sleep when she heard the rapping of the owl on the door to her room, growling a little as she was promptly woke up, Briony picked up Raven, trying to hush her by bouncing her on her hip, and retrived the owl.

Surprisingly enough it was from a student, and she frowned a little bit when she opened it and read the message properly, raising an eyebrow, Briony swiftly took the secret passage from her office down to the kitchens, to see what had happened to her old friend.

She had not seen her in a long while and she had begun to worry that there was in fact something wrong with her...but she had not expected something like this to occur.

Pointing her wand at Lolly as soon as she saw her, Briony muttered 'Ennervate.' to try and wake her from her faint, and she saw the distressed state that Alcyone was in and frowned even more;

"I believe that we should probably get the healer Miss Malfoy, although, finding some chocolate might help her get some energy back temporarily."

Looking at Lolly she whispered faintly; "Whatever happened to you?" while stroking Raven's hair to calm her too.

Lolly's eyes flew open. She gasped for breath before her breathing steadied again and she sat up in confusion, resting her wait on her elbows. She blinked a few times and then looked into the face of Briony. Lolly's eyes widened when she saw that Briony was holding a child.

Raising a hand, Lolly gently scrubbed away the tear stains on her cheeks and pushed herself upright properly. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and shook her head. "I-I'm not sure," Lolly replied to the headmistress.

A pounding, throbbing sensation started in Lolly's skull and she raised her fingers to her temple. So many emotions were washing over her. She didn't know what to make of them.

Briony could not believe that something like this had happened again, Anne had come down with a case of memory loss due to some stupid act of magic being performed before she even knew how to do the spell itself.

Seeing her surprise had made her think that she had lost her memory, she had definately told her that she was expecting, at least she thought she had done.

"Well I would think that we should get you to the Hospital Wing okay? Alcyone, will you please take care of Raven while I help Lolly up?" she asked the child, not wanting her to take the baby but knowing that she needed to.

Alcyone felt relieved as the headmistress arrived and nodded her head when she suggested that chocolate may be a good idea. Alcy stood up and walked over to a cupboard, opening it and digging through. She opened more cupboards and then located a pantry - which seemed to be endless. She wandered along the aisles and found the fridge, where to her joy there was chocolate.

Alcyone grabbed a bar and walked back out to the main area. She smiled at the adorable baby in Briony's arms but it faded immediately as she looked back at Lolly. Wordlessly, she handed her the chocolate and watched as Briony and Lolly exchanged a few words.

When Briony asked her to take care of Raven, Alcyone recognised the hesitance. "Don't worry, professor, I used to take care of Ella and Cae when they were babies," Alcyone hoped this would be reassuring.

Briony smiled lightly when Alcyone managed to find some chocolate for her, it was nice that the student had been here for Lolly when this ordeal had begun, she thought that it would have been even more scary for it to happen to her while she was on her own, and she was a little guilty for not being here herself.

Taking the chocolate, Briony held Raven out to Alcyone and although she did not mean to, her protectiveness took over her for a moment, and she gave her a pointed stare, before trying to cover it up with a small joke realising she had perhaps been a tad harsh;

"She likes pulling hair by the way, so watch out." she smiled gently, before walking over to Lolly and biting her lip in thought. "Now, I'm going to help you up, do you think that you can walk properly, or do you need me to carry you?"