Who: Mary and Anyone Where: A corner of the Great Hall When: Shortly after lights out, February 15
Mary had been pushing and pushing and pushing herself because it was easier than sitting down and thinking about what they had seen. Because she had watched her parents work themselves nonstop for their congregation at home. Because she felt somewhere deep in her bones that she had to prove her worth as a witch. But now there was nothing that she could do, and the images from the night before wouldn’t stop flashing through her mind. Not even the lovely ones - the kiss with Peter, their hours of talking, the way the stars sparkled in the night. No, she was reliving the moment they found Lucinda and it prevented sleep. After tossing and turning for only a few minutes, she lurched off the bed and weaved between the beds to find a dark corner where she sat down, rubbing her cross between her fingers. It was too quiet for her to miss the footsteps and she looked up guiltily, blinking hard. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep just yet and I - I wanted to pray. I’ll go on to bed soon.”
Poppy excelled in healing people. It’s what she was born to do, and it was her job to save the lives of the bruised, battered and bloodied students. But beyond that, it was also her job to make sure they knew they were okay. To make sure they understood that the steps they needed to take in their recovery process were all very reasonable and, as she saw one Mary Macdonald walking away from the main group and disappearing, she followed not long after. She had become desensitized to sights like Lucinda’s body, but knew all too well that her darling students had not. “Don’t apologize, my darling,” she whispered soothingly. “I thought I might join you. I haven’t had much time to do that. Do you mind the company?”















