Varian never thought he'd be the student that was brought into the school infirmary on a stretcher. It wasn't like his fault, but he couldn't help but feel embarrassed and guilty. He wasn't certain if it made him feel better that he wasn't the only student being brought in with a stretcher.

He laid in the infirmary bed, looking up at the ceiling. As abruptly as the attack had started, the more suddenly it had ended. But it left the anxiety and fear that someone would suddenly appear and Avada Kedavra him. Or something like that. No matter what he told himself, he was still having difficulty calming his racing heart.

Once the attack had died down. Eugene had ran and found Professor McGonagall. She was able to get Varian a stretcher and had two people take him to the infirmary. Thanks to having Eugene watching over him, he was one of the first to arrive. But that meant he had to watch as they brought in all the other injured students. He also had to listen to Dumbledore telling students that they couldn't check on their friends or siblings yet. It wasn't a fun experience.

"Are these the last two?" Pomfrey asked.

Varian turned his head to look at who the woman was talking about. Remus was carrying Ginny and Tonks held a blonde girl. They set them in the beds across from his, but in a sitting up position.

"Yes. All the students are accounted for," Tonks answered. "These two aren't hurt. They're hexed though."

"I'll see to them, thank you." Pomfrey nodded.

"Do you need any help?" Remus inquired.

"Yes. Ask Snape to make a batch of pain killers. We're low and I have a feeling that Cassandra will need them with her minor concussion."

Remus nodded. "I can handle that."

"Once I finish the students medical reports, Tonks, can you get them to Dumbledore so he can send the news to their parents or guardians?"

Tonks nodded. "Will they all be alright?"

The nurse nodded. "No one is seriously hurt. The worse we have is a shattered femur, but nothing we can't heal with magic, medicine, and time."

The husband and wife let out a small sigh of relief at the news before stepping out of the way. But the news only made Varian question the point of the attack. If no one was killed, could it be that it wasn't an attack but rather a distraction? Maybe not. A threat? Perhaps. Maybe it was a statement, a show of a power. A warning of a great evil that was daring them to defy. It was all so much to wrap his head around and so many possibilities on what it could be or mean or the purpose of it.

Pomfrey then took two potions out a cabinet and handed it to the two girls. Ginny and the other girl struggled to swallow it, but they managed. Due to their pale faces and how they clutched their stomachs, it appeared that they hit with a hex that made them dizzy. Usually that lead to nausea, but he wasn't going to bet on his theory. Though, the thing that told him the most what was wrong was the potion Pomfrey had handed them. He had recognized it and tried to remembered what hexes it was used as a remedy for. Considering how quickly the two began to recover, it appeared to be one of the more mild curses.

"Are any visitors allowed in?" Tonks asked.

The nurse nodded. "I can manage now as long as they don't all flood in at once."

When Pomfrey finished writing out her student health notes, she handed them to Tonks and her and Remus left.

Varian scooted himself up into a sitting position. Unfortunately, he couldn't reach his satchel and he wasn't moving to get it. He wasn't a patient that liked to cause trouble, but being in a state of helplessness really irked him. He let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his thick black hair that had a single blue strand.

His eyes drifted up and caught sight of Ginny. He frowned. Of course they were across from each other. He would have preferred if she was on the other end of the room, near the front. Not that he was certain why it bothered him so much.

The red head looked at him, her eyes appearing to be adjusting. Perhaps the dizziness was starting to settle. Varian couldn't be sure though.

"Did I do that?" Ginny tilted her head, staring at the bandages on his torso.

Varian glanced down and pulled his blankets up to cover the bandages from sight. "Well, your broom did," he retorted.

Ginny winced. "Sorry. I should have made sure that you were actually ok."

The Slytherin raised a brow. What was with the Gryffindors suddenly giving him so much attention? And over an injury? It wasn't so bad. He definitely had worse.

"Don't mention it. I've given myself far worse," he muttered.

The girl's brows creaced together. "Ouch. What happened?"

Varian snorted, passing her a glare for his reply. Was that a taunt? No, it was a genuine question. She seemed to be curious and not actually waving his mistakes over his head like the people at home.

The girl looked uncomfortable, but she didn't falter her gaze. "I'm Ginny, by the way."

"And?"

"And What? Do you want my full name?"

"No, I know you're the Weasley girl."

"Oh. You could have just said that or pretended you didn't know."

"Key word being could."

Ginny rolled her eyes. Well, at least she was feeling well enough to move her eyes. At least not to vomit or lose all balance.

Their conversation was interrupted. "Cass!"

Varian's eyes darted to the owner of the voice. A seventh year with long blonde, hair hugged another girl with short, black hair. The girl with black hair was a seventh year that played Quidditch that was in a bed near the entrance. Then a seventh year boy was standing next to the blonde, which Varian immediately recognized as Eugene.

Eugene looked up, his eyes catching Varian's. He said something to the two girls before walking towards him. If he was being honest, Varian was surprised. He expected that Eugene wouldn't even bother to even acknowledge him again since Varian was no longer in need of assistance. But he was wrong.

"Hey, hair stripe!" He waved.

The younger teen snorted. "That's a new one. Forget my name already, Fritzherbert?"

"Well, I... Uh..." Eugene scratched the back of his neck. "Varitoss?"

Varian snorted back his laughter, making it come out more annoyed than what he actually meant. "I'm kidding. But it's actually Varian Meyer."

"Right! I knew that." Eugene shot him a pair of finger guns. "Ok, yeah, I'm not the best with names."

The sixteen year old shrugged. "I'm just good at it. What brings you here, Fritzherbert?"

"You can just call me Eugene if you want. Usually only CassAndra calls me that. Thought I'd say 'hi' and see how you were holding up. Any better?"

"A little, but I'm unfortunately stuck here."

"Do you need me to pick you up something? Like some books?"

Varian tilted his head. "Why?"

"Why not?"

"Well... If you wouldn't mind..."

"Of course not! I'll drop some by later."

"Thank you." Varian wondered what he was trying to get in return, but he was willing to figure out. Anything to keep himself occupied while he was stuck in bed.

"No problem." Eugene turned and looked at Luna and Ginny. "Are you two ok?"

"Yeah, just a mild hex," Ginny replied. "We won't be here very long."

"That's good. If you any of you three need anything, you can ask for me."

"Thanks," the two girls chimed.

Varian nodded, but felt confusion rising in his chest. He didn't know why Eugene was suddenly concerned about him, after all, they had only meant a few hours prior. Why was he going out of his way to make sure he was comfortable? What did he want?

Pomfrey walked over, passing Eugene a smile. Then she turned to Varian. "Your parents have been alerted and they will be comeing in person to check on you."

"It's just a barely cracked rib-" Varian began.

"Don't complain to me, dear. I'm just passing the news," she said.

Varian nodded and let out a sigh as Pomfrey left to tell other students similar news.

"Is everything good?" Eugene asked.

"Yeah, why?" Varian raised a brow.

"Nothing." The burnett shook his head.

It wasn't that Varian didn't want to see his parents, it was just a little embarrassing. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he didn't want them to worry and he felt like it was a waste of their time to visit for only a slightly cracked rib. Then again, he did just survive, what they could only assume, a terrorist attack. Perhaps his parents were visiting for more reasons than just a "hello" and "you poor thing". He hoped his mother didn't say the latter, for he was sure that would be used against him later on. People could be so cruel.

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Ginny was glad when Pomfrey let her and Luna leave. She would rather lay in her dorm bed rather than be stuck in the infirmary, listening to the groans of her fellow students in pain. It also gave her a better place to think. Of course she understood that she didn't need to be concerned about the the attack, but she couldn't avert her attention anywhere else.

She tapped her fingers on her desk. Were the attackers trying to hurt a certain group of students? It couldn't be certain houses. Ravenclaw and Slytherin seemed to have the least amount of injuries, but that could have been because the houses were on the smarter side. On average, at least. Or perhaps it was just luck, which appeared to be the more possible answer.

Then again, it could be possible that all of Slytherin or Ravenclaw's injuries were just mishaps. After all, the only reason Varian was in was because her broom was hit with a spell and she rammed into him. Perhaps most of the rest of Slytherins' injuries were causes to similar problems. After all, there were only three in the infirmary rather than ten Gryffindor and eight Hufflepuff.

Ravenclaw didn't seem to be in midst of most of the chaos, only having four injuries. Perhaps it was luck, or maybe it was planned that way. So that it would throw the investigators off? Ginny's head was spinning from her own logic and decided to come to a new theory.

They weren't just after half-bloods either. She herself was a pure-blood and Hannah Abbot was hurt as well. There were a few muggleborns that were in the infirmary too. She didn't understand. None of it made sense. There was no connection that she could find.

Shaking her head, she pulled out her homework. Minus well take it out first so that she wasn't doing it last minute. Give her something else to think about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco closed his dorm door behind him. He let out an exasperated sigh as he tossed his robe over the chair at his desk. The satchel on the desk caught the corner of his eye. Pomfrey must have had Varian's bag sent to their dorm for safe keeping. Something he wouldn't have thought twice about had the bag not looked like it had been thrown on. It's contents were spilt, and it was the books that really caught his attention.

Of course, the old spell book didn't surprise him. It was the book underneath that had no title. Reaching out, he picked it up, flipping through the empty pages. To anyone else, it would look like an old and unused journal, but Draco recognized it, practically throwing it on the floor in panic.

Sweat built up on his forehead. How did Varian get his hands on such a cursed book? Why would Varian have it, let alone want it? Certainly he was smart enough not to be doing his hair brained experiments, right?

One thing was certain, the book did not belong to him.