Chapter 19

Santana woke up to her hand being squeezed. She tensed, almost pulling her hand away before realising that it actually didn't hurt.

"Santana?" 

Santana kept her eyes closed even as she hummed out a response. Her brain felt oddly fuzzy, like something was clouding her thoughts. She didn't feel quite awake, she barely had the strength to open her eyes. Actually falling back asleep seemed like the perfect plan. 

"Santana!" 

"What?" Santana croaked out, wanting nothing more than to curl up on her side and drift back to sleep. Her body didn't seem to want to move though. 

Suddenly she was being slapped repeatedly on her shoulder. Her eyes flew open. 

"Good you're awake." Quinn said angrily. "Now I can beat you properly."

True to her word, Quinn slapped Santana across the face. 

"Quinn!"

Santana's mother jumped out of the chair beside Santana's bed, grabbing Quinn's shoulders and pulling her away from Santana. Despite her anger, Santana was still too sluggish to react properly. All she could do was glare, clutching her left cheek. 

"What's your problem?" She asked in her hoarse voice. 

"My problem?" Quinn asked, trying to get out of Maribel's grip. "My best friend has a death wish. What in the world would make you go in there? Why would you go into the bloody forest Santana, what could you possibly have been looking for?"

Then Santana remembered why she was lying in the hospital wing. She remembered the giant eagle-horse, Sam on the floor, her arm bleeding. She quickly looked down at it. There was a bandaged tied neatly around her forearm all the way up to her elbow. 

"It was very deep." Her mother said. Santana's eyes snapped to her, immediately feeling guilty. Her mother looked tired. Her eyes looked slightly swollen, like she'd been crying, but it was the look in them that had Santana's stomach twisting uncomfortably. Rather than being angry like Santana had been expecting, she looked weary. Defeated. "Madam Pomfrey said you'll be fine in a few hours, she'll be glad to see you're awake."

Santana nodded, dropping her eyes. Quinn scoffed from behind her mother. 

"Looks like she'll be the only one." Santana mumbled, resisting the urge to look at Quinn. 

"Santana this isn't a joke." Quinn said loudly. "You could have died. You nearly did!"

"Oh please." Santana sighed, settling back against the pillows. 

"Quinn why don't you go to class." Santana's mother said softly, but in the voice that said plainly 'I'm not asking.' "Santana's awake now, you can see her later."

"But-"

"She needs to rest." Her mother cut in. She gently gripped Quinn's shoulder and guided her away from the bed. "She'll still be here when you get back."

Santana let her eyes drift lazily around the wing. All of the beds were empty, save one in the corner opposite Santana. Brittany looked tiny the way she was tucked in under the covers, her blonde hair slightly covering her face and a large fury lump on her stomach. At least the cat was safe, Santana thought to herself. At least that entire disaster hadn't been for nothing. There were two people sitting by Brittany's bed, a man and a woman, both very blonde. Santana guessed they were Brittany's parents. 

Her mother returned, retaking the seat she'd been in when Santana woke up. Santana forced herself to look at her. Her mother sighed heavily, slowly shaking her head. 

"Why would you…." She took a breath. "Get some rest mija. Your headmaster will be wanting to talk to you soon." 

Santana's heart beat suddenly faster. Dumbledore wanted to talk to her? Was he going to expel her? The forest was forbidden but she hadn't gone in there for fun. She hadn't thought it was a good place to go for a walk. She hadn't even been looking for adventure. Surely Dumbledore would understand that she had to help Brittany. She didn't have a choice. 

"I hope to hell you have a good explanation." Her mother said under her breath, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. 

Santana closed her eyes, willing sleep to come. If she was going to have to plead her case in front of Dumbledore, and probably professor Snape and McGonagall as well, she was going to need to be much better rested than she was now. 

  **********

Two hours later, Santana was sitting up in her bed, Sam was standing next to her, fidgeting nervously with his fingers, Brittany was sitting in the chair on her other side, biting her lip and avoiding everyone's eyes. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were standing at the foot of her bed, all looking grim and serious, and her mother and Brittany's parents were standing slightly to the side, looking worried. 

"Now I warn you three, that it is in your best interest to tell us the entire truth." Professor Snape said, looking directly at Santana. "Lying will not help you."

Santana swallowed thickly, nodding. 

"We shall start with Mr Evans." Professor McGonagall said. "Tell us what happened?"

Sam glanced at Santana, then at Brittany. 

"Um…I…I was…I had gone to watch Gryffindor quidditch practice." All the adults nodded. "And then I remembered that I hadn't started my Herbology homework, and….well it probably wasn't a good idea for me to be wasting time like that."

Santana cringed, looking down at her lap. The fact that Sam had been going to finish his Herbology homework would make her excuse of going to the greenhouses to look for professor sprout look suspicious. From the way Snape was looking at her, with his brow slightly creased, she could tell he was already thinking something along those lines. 

"On my way back up to the school I ran into Santana-"

"And what were you doing there Santana?" Professor McGonagall asked. 

"I was going to ask-" She stopped short as Dumbledore slowly tilted his head down, fixing her with his crystal blue eyes over his half-moon spectacles. She sighed. "I was going to watch quidditch practice."

"Slytherin wasn't training today." Professor Snape said slowly. 

"No they weren't." Santana looked down. 

"So you were sneaking onto the pitch to watch the Gryffindor team?" McGonagall asked. 

"Yes professor."

"Why?"

"I wanted to see what kind of tactics they were planning on using in their match against us. I wanted to see if we could beat them or if we needed to be doing something different."

McGonagall shook her head. 

"That is dishonourable Mrs Lopez, and very disappointing to learn."

Santana hung her head. 

"Go on Mr. Evans."

Well, while Santana and I were talking, Azimio and Puck came walking up the trail, and then…" Sam faltered here, and Santana completely understood. McGonagall was likely to blow her top once she heard that they'd been fighting again. 

"We simply want to get a clear understanding of the events." Dumbledore said. "Please continue Mr. Evans."

"Azimio and I got into a fight, because…" Sam glanced at Brittany. 

"Because what?" McGonagall pressed. "Tell us what could possibly be a good reason for you to engage in yet another primitive display, despite my attempts to rid you of the habit."

"He was saying that Brittany is a squib. That Filch was probably…her dad."

Santana saw Brittany's parents both frown heavily, but she was more focused on Brittany's reaction. She had both her lips pulled into her mouth, staring down at the floor, but Santana saw the way her features changed. The way the corners of her mouth dipped down slightly. The way her shoulders slumped. The way she shut her eyes like she was trying not to cry. 

"That is outrageous." Brittany's dad said, taking a few steps forward. "How can you allow such bullying to go on headmaster? To go unchecked?"

"We were unaware that any bullying was taking place." Professor McGonagall said. "I assure you had we known-"

"How could you not?"

"Brittany has never come forward about it."

Everyone turned to Brittany. She looked up with wide startled eyes, evidently not appreciating the attention. 

"Britt how long have they been bullying you?" Brittany's mother asked gently. 

Brittany shook her head. "It's not a big deal mum."

"Brittany." Her father said, sounding almost annoyed. "Those boys have no right to talk about you like that, and if they do it to your face I want to know!"

"Dad please…" Brittany looked round at the other adults, her cheeks pinking slightly. "I don't…I don't mind it."

Santana narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out why Brittany wouldn't want Azimio, Puck and Finn to get what was coming to them. She couldn't understand why Brittany seemed almost embarrassed by it when she hadn't done anything wrong. 

"Tell us how long this has been going on." McGonagall asked sternly. Brittany looked at her, swallowed thickly, but didn't answer.

"Since the beginning of term." Sam said.

"Sam." Brittany protested weakly. 

"First they just said that she was…that she was….weird" he said quietly, rushing the word out like he didn't want to linger in case he was accused of being the one to call her that. "But then after a while, when they started realising she wasn't that good at magic-"

"I'm rubbish!" Brittany cried. "I'm no good at all and they're not wrong about it. That's why I didn't say anything to you professor, because everything they say is true!"

"It's not." Santana muttered. She caught Brittany's eye, holding just long enough to see her calm down slightly, before her parents were blocking Santana's line of sight, her mother hugging her to her chest while her father brushed her hair affectionately with his hand. 

"These things take time Brittany." Her father said. "You can't expect to learn it all immediately."

Brittany didn't say anything. 

"Quite right Mr. Pierce." Dumbledore said. "In any case, Mr. Adams and his friends will be dealt with. Please continue Mr. Evans."

"Well, after we fought, when Azimio and Puck were leaving, they said they would be glad they didn't have to deal with Brittany anymore, or her cat. They said they didn't think it could survive in there."

"In where?" Brittany's mother asked. 

"The forest." Santana said. 

Sure, Azimio hadn't actually said that he'd let the cat loose in the forest, but Santana didn't think the professors would think it clever that she ran into the forest without knowing for sure that was what he'd done. Besides, if they questioned him, she doubted they would ask whether he did or didn't tell her, they'd probably be more concerned with whether he actually did it or not. Santana figured this lie was harmless in the greatest scheme of things. 

"Oh my god." Brittany's mother breathed. She pulled back from Brittany, tilting Brittany's head up to look at her. "Please tell me you did not go into that treacherous forest looking for Lord Tubbington."

"I couldn't leave him in there alone mum." Brittany said in a high pitched voice. "I knew he must be scared, I had to make sure he was okay. I had to get him."

"Brittany." Her father sighed, shaking his head. 

"And so that is when you and Mr. Evans ran into the forest?" Professor Snape asked. 

"Well…" Santana looked at her mother. "I told him to go get help. I told him to call a professor before I went in."

"There were some Ravenclaws by the whomping willow, I told them to get help."

"We can at least be thankful for that." Professor Dumbledore said. 

"Why did you both not go to get a professor yourselves?" Snape asked. 

"Why did you have to be the one to save her?" Santana's mother asked. 

"Because I was right there." Santana said. "I thought I could get to her before she went in too deep."

"Sam and Santana got to me just in time. I was being attacked by…by a-"

"Hippogriff." Professor Dumbledore supplied. "Not an inherently dangerous creature, so long as you know how to deal with it."

"Not inherently dangerous?" Santana's mother asked, frowning. "That thing put my daughter in the hospital."

"Incidentally, how is it that she managed to escape at all?" Professor Snape asked, eyes narrowing at Santana. "Hippogriffs are not known to simply walk away from a perceived threat."

"Yes actually." Professor McGonagall said, turning to Santana. "When we arrived the Hippogriff seemed almost disoriented."

"I cast the protection spell, protego, and it flew right into it."

McGonagall and Snape shared a look of disbelief. Brittany's parents both turned to her, frowning. 

"The spell was strong enough to block the Hippogriff coming at you at full speed?" Dumbledore asked. 

Santana nodded. 

"I thought you were a first year like Brittany." Brittany's mum asked. 

"I am."

Santana caught her mother's eye, expecting to see her at least frustrated as she usually was when Santana cast spells she had no business knowing, but she wasn't frustrated. She was smiling. A small smile, but a smile none the less. She nodded, almost like she was saying well done, and Santana wasn't sure what to make of it. 

"Well." Professor Dumbledore said, drawing everyone's attention away from Santana. "Let us be grateful for Ms. Lopez's quick thinking and skill. Thankfully no one was hurt too badly. I must also commend you on the red sparks you sent up, which helped the prefects and professors easily locate you. That was a great display of the kind of smart thinking we try to foster here at Hogwarts. But I hope we have all learned from this experience. Skilled though we may be…." He stared right at Santana, looking so serious Santana couldn't look away. "It is always safer and wiser, to seek help from those better suited to do so. While I understand the urgency of the situation, and there is no way of knowing what would have happened to Ms. Pierce had you waited for professors to arrive before taking matters into your own hands, it cannot be disputed that Ms. Pierce…" he turned to Brittany. Santana let out a breath, glad his intense gaze was off her. "Going into the forbidden forest in search of your feline friend was not a wise decision. You put yourself and your friends in great danger, danger that could have well been avoided if you spoke up about your situation with Mr. Adams and Puckerman. There is never a reason to suffer in silence or alone my dear." He said gently, giving Brittany a soft smile. "Help is always given to those who ask for it, am I understood?"

Brittany nodded. 

"Good, good. Now I think these children need rest. Merlin knows Poppy is upset enough about the time we have already taken. Best not to upset her anymore. Parents, if you will come with me to my office, I have some matters I wish to discuss with you all."

With a polite nod to Santana and Sam, Professor Dumbledore turned and walked out of the hospital wing, leading Professor Snape and McGonagall. Brittany's parents both kissed her head and followed the professors while Santana's mother walked forward and squeezed her hand. 

"I'll be right back." She said quietly, before leaving. When the door clicked shut, Santana exhaled, dropping back against her pillows. 

"So…what does that mean, are we in trouble?" Sam asked. 

"I don't think so." Santana said. "They didn't take points or anything, I don't think they'd leave without doing at least that if they were planning on it."

"You really think we're going to get away with it?" Sam asked hopefully, sitting on the edge of Santana's bed.

"I think they're just relieved we're all alive."

"Yeah so am I."

"I'm really sorry." Brittany said. "I didn't think about all the dangerous things that could attack us in there. I was only thinking about LT getting lost or…falling into a hole or eating something poisonous. I didn't…I didn't even think about the creatures that could kill me. I'm so stupid!"

"A little bit." Sam said, nodding. 

"Sam." Santana hissed. 

"What? It's true. It was stupid of us to go in after her too. People do stupid things sometimes when they're not thinking." 

"You were worried about your cat Brittany." Santana said. "He's important to you, I get it." She shrugged. 

"You guys didn't have to come in after me."

"And leave you to be mauled by a hippogriff?" Sam asked. "Come off it."

"But why would you put yourselves in danger too? Why didn't you go get help like Snape said?"

Sam shrugged. 

Brittany turned to Santana. 

"Like Sam said, people do stupid things when they're not thinking, especially when their friends are in danger."

Brittany's eyes widened. 

"Friends?"

Santana nodded, looking at Brittany then at Sam and smiling. 

"Yeah, friends."

"Cool." Sam said, grinning. 

"Yeah, cool." Brittany beamed. 

  *******************

Their parents returned a short thirty minutes later, which to Santana was excellent news for them. In her experience, the longer grownups talked the more serious things were. They also didn't return with any professors, another good sign. 

"Excuse me, Lopez is it?" Brittany's dad asked as he approached Santana's bed. 

"Yes." Santana nodded. "Santana." Her mother came to stand beside her bed, her hand on Santana's shoulder. 

"Santana." He repeated, then he seized her hand and shook it fiercely. "Thank you." He said sincerely. "Thank you for going to help Brittany." Brittany's mum meanwhile, was pulling Sam into a bear hug, wiping tears from her eyes. Santana met Brittany's eyes, feeling slightly alarmed by their gratitude. She hoped Brittany's mother wouldn't try to hug her as well. 

"I know it was dangerous." Brittany's mother said. "And I'm sure your mother…" she let go of Sam and turned to look at Santana's mother. "I'm sure you aren't too pleased about all this but…thank you. Who knows what could have happened to her in there."

"I would've been eaten by a hippogriff." Brittany said.

"Hippogriffs don't eat people honey." Her father said. 

"No they just tear them apart with their gigantic claws." Santana's mother said. "But thank goodness my daughter was there to save yours." She smiled sarcastically, clasping her hands together at her chest. "Thank goodness she risked her life and nearly had her arm cut off because your daughter couldn't bear to lose her cat."

"Mum…." Santana gasped, staring at her mother in disbelief. She'd never seen her mother be less than pleasant to anyone outside of the family. She was always calling Santana out about 'that attitude' and grounded Santana more than once for it. So seeing her be so rude now was appalling. 

"No I am sorry, but I do not need you encouraging my daughter to be so reckless with her safety. With her life. I don't need you making her think this was the right thing to do, or that it was clever."

"That wasn't what we were try-"

"She is eleven years old. Eleven! The same age as your daughter. She has no business facing off against a hippogriff, let alone putting herself in the path of the other much more dangerous creatures that live in the forbidden forest. Just because she is brilliant. Just because she is smart and resourceful and much more capable than any of her peers, does not mean she should be expected to or rewarded for putting her life in danger. The burden does not fall to her to protect your daughter or anyone else's, and while I can appreciate that her being there may have saved your daughter's life, and of course I am glad that she is okay, I will not allow you to imply that what she did was heroic or warrants any sort of praise. Our children are alive due to a combination of luck and skill. Now while I know Santana will always be skilled, she may not always be so lucky. So like I said, I do not need you encouraging her. Rather than thanking her, you should be apologising that she was put in a situation where she had to weigh the value of her safety against your daughter's."

Brittany's parents looked stunned. Santana felt stunned. She wanted to be annoyed with her mother for making the Pierces and Brittany feel so bad when really she didn't think it was Brittany's fault, but she couldn't bring herself to be mad. Her mother had called her brilliant, smart and basically said that she was better than every other first year. Everything Santana had been trying to get her to say for years. She had finally acknowledged Santana's skill, and how hard she worked to be good at magic, and really that was all Santana could care about. 

"Of course." Mr Pierce said, recovering before his wife. He nodded, first at Santana's mother then at Santana. "Of course we are very sorry about this whole debacle."

He ushered Brittany up out of the chair and pulled her to his side. 

"It won't happen again."

And with that, he turned and led Brittany and his wife back to the corner where Brittany's bed was. 

"Mum." Santana said, looking up at her. 

"Oh come Santana. We're supposed to act like you are in any position to be saving anyone? You are the same age as that girl. Now listen here, just because she is incapable of performing magic and you are exceptional at it does not make her your responsibility. She should never have set foot in that forest, knowing as she clearly does that she isn't exactly a powerful witch. She is not a damsel. She wasn't taken into the forest, and having her parents imply that she is helpless and needs saving will do no good to you, or to her, for that matter. I won't stand for it."

Santana pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. It was oddly nice having her mother stand up for her like this. Having her be protective of her wasn't a new thing, but her doing it without making it Santana's fault for once was refreshing. 

"Mum." Santana said again. When her mother stopped trying to fix her hair and looked at her, she continued. "I'm sorry."

Her mother sighed, bringing one hand to cup her cheek and the other to brush her hair back. 

"Mija…" she said tenderly. "I know."

"I wasn't going to. I promise I wasn't ever going to."

"Santana"

"I was going to be better. I was trying to be more careful, less arrogant."

"Honey I know." Her mother said loudly over her. "Leon has already told me." She looked sad but tried to smile none the less. "You know about your uncle."

Santana nodded. Since the moment had presented itself, she couldn't help but ask. 

"Why didn't you tell us about him?"

Her mother looked down at the bed, quiet for a moment. 

"We stopped talking about Theo long before you were born. It hurt your abuela too much to talk about him. Your father says he was always her favourite. As for your abuelo, he would get angry just thinking about him. He said it was wasted potential, and that if your abuela hadn't coddled him so much he would have gone on to do great things. They fought a lot after his death, angry with each other, themselves and even your father and Tia Sylvia."

"Why? They'd already left the school hadn't they?"

Her mother nodded. 

"But they were a reminder of what they'd lost." 

"That's why Tia moved to Germany isn't it."

"Yes. She had a big fight with them one day, and told them that the way they were acting you'd think they lost all their kids that day in the forest. She said that since her parents obviously didn't care that she was still alive, she was leaving and would never return. We didn't hear from her again until years later, when you were maybe three or four years old, when she sent your father an owl saying she was married and had a child. She didn't plan on telling your grandparents, but your father insisted she do so. The news nearly broke your abuela. She said her grief over her son had blinded her and cost her her daughter as well and that she could not bear. So, she rid the house of the memory of Theo and never spoke of him again."

Santana gripped her blanket, running her thumbs over it. 

"You think I'm going to end up like him."

It wasn't a question. She knew this already, but she wanted to hear her mother say it. 

"You think I'm going to wind up with a head too big for my own good, and get myself into trouble with my arrogance."

Santana's mother nodded slowly. 

"You two are a lot alike."

"Yes I know." Santana rolled her eyes. "Gifted, intelligent, ambitious…McGonagall told me."

"He was witty." Her mother said, with a fond smile. "Always used to make me laugh with the things he'd say when I'd hang around him and your father. He thought he was the best looking Lopez in the family and made sure we all knew it. He was extremely supportive, like during your father's quidditch games he would make his friends cheer for him, all of them holding up signs with his name, even when they were playing Slytherin, and he was insanely over protective. Once your father had left he started hexing any boys that tried to come anywhere near me, even though I told him I wasn't interested. One time" her mother giggled. "He turned this one boy half into a cow, and when Professor McGonagall turned him back the poor boy was stuck mooing for an entire week."

Santana burst out laughing. 

"No way."

"He must have been in so much trouble." Sam said. 

Santana and her mother turned to face him, both having forgotten that he was there. 

"Yes." Her mother said, sobering. "He got detention for weeks, but he said he didn't care because now all the boys knew not to try their luck with me."

Santana shook her head, wondering what spell one used to turn someone into a cow. She'd have to look that one up. 

"Was I worried that you would get too arrogant that you wouldn't be able to recognise danger? Yes. Especially after that stunt you pulled on the broom with your father. I took that as a sign that you thought you were invincible, just like Theo. But Santana…" She tapped Santana chin to get her to look at her. "I was more scared that your talent would outshine everything else about you. That you would become so focused on being the best, on proving to everyone just how good you are, that you forgot to actually live."

Santana frowned. "What do you mean?"

"By the time Theo was fourteen, he became almost like a circus act. Everyone wanted to see him do all the hard stuff he'd learned how to do. He didn't start off wanting to be the best, he just was by nature, but going in to his fifth year, there was this pressure to keep that reputation. He wasn't learning spells because he found them fascinating but because he knew no one else knew them and that would impress them. Then one summer your grandfather had some colleagues at the house for dinner and he bragged about Theo's abilities. They asked him to do a few spells and were so impressed by him you know what they said?"

Santana and Sam shook their heads. 

"We could use someone like you in the ministry son."

Things were clicking into place for Santana. That was why her uncle had suddenly become bored with school, and hell bent on taking his NEWT exams. It wasn't enough to impress his professors anymore, when he'd had the chance to impress high ranking ministry officials. 

Now she understood why her mother hated it when people made a big deal of her abilities. It wasn't that she wasn't proud of her, it was that she didn't want Santana chasing the attention. She didn't want Santana to be hungry to show off or feel that performing that highly all the time was expected of her. 

"I was scared you would die, but I was also scared that if you did you would only be remembered as the gifted young girl who could have grown up to do great things. People don't even remember who he was, all they remember is what he could do. I want more for you Santana."

Santana nodded. "I'm sorry mum." She said again, feeling like she should apologise at least one more time. She could only imagine the fear that gripped her mother when she learned Santana had gone into the forest. It was probably the worst case of deja vu ever. 

"It's alright. That Brittany girl seems nice, it would have been a shame if she died for a cat."

Santana snorted. 

"Is she a friend of yours?"

Santana looked at Sam, hating herself for the way she immediately wanted to deny it. 

"Kind of." She said. "I think she could be."

"Well maybe you could knock some sense into her."

"Mum she's not stupid." Santana snapped. "That cat means a lot to her."

"Alright." Her mother held up her hand. "Watch that attitude."

"You're telling me." Santana smirked. "I think you ought to apologise to the Pierces."

Her mother looked over her shoulder at where Brittany's parents were sitting on either side of Brittany. Santana saw her cringe before she turned back. 

"How about I let you off the hook for this mess and we call it even."

Grinning Santana held out her hand for her mother to shake. 

"Deal."

  ***********

Madam Pomfrey let her leave the hospital wing an hour later, with orders to rest her hand for at least two days to make sure it was fully healed. Her mother hugged her tight, kissed the top of her head and then pulled back and cupped her cheek. 

"I'm hoping I don't have to tell you-"

"Not to do this again?" Santana asked. "No mum."

"Good." She kissed Santana's forehead before letting her go. "Your father will be glad to know you're okay. I left in quite a hurry, I'm sure he's rather confused."

"Dad doesn't know?"

"I read Snape's letter and left immediately, so no."

Santana chewed her bottom lip, choosing to look at the wall rather than her mother. 

"Could you….maybe not tell him?"

Her mother sighed. Santana turned her head even more to the side, not wanting to catch even a glimpse of her mother's face. 

"What would you have me tell him?"

Santana shrugged, pulling both lips into her mouth. 

"Santana, I have to tell him."

Her eyes snapped to her mother.

"But-"

"He's your father, and he needs to know what happened today."

Santana could read between the lines. She knew what her mother was really saying was that her father needed to know that she'd been right all along. That he'd allowed Santana to run rogue, inflating her ego, and it had almost gotten her killed. Her mother wanted to use this to win the fight Santana knew her parents were still having. 

"Fine." She said, taking a step back.

"Urgh Santana."

"Tell him, I don't care."

Her mother's shoulders sagged, but she nodded. 

"Right well." She looked around the empty corridor, fixing her handbag securely on her shoulder. "You have class?"

Santana shrugged. 

"I'll just go to the common room and wait for Quinn."

"Alright. I shall head back to the hospital."

Santana nodded, feeling dejected. For a moment she'd been getting along with her mother. For a moment she hadn't minded the hugging and kissing and all the fuss. For a moment, she hadn't wanted her mother to leave. Yet just like that they were back to not really knowing what to do with each other. Just like that she couldn't wait for her mother to leave. 

"Tell your brother I said goodbye."

"Okay."

Her mother took a step away. "See you for summer then."

"Yup."

With a nod, her mother turned and walked down the corridor. Santana watched her go. She knew it was her fault things had taken a turn. She'd closed off and shut her mother out. But was it too much to ask that her mother fight back? That instead of just leaving she try to figure out why Santana had reacted that way? Try to fix it?

Her mother had come to expect this type of behaviour from Santana, so she didn't question it. Most of the time Santana preferred it that way, but after having such a nice afternoon with her mother for the first time in years, she couldn't help wishing she cared just a little bit more. 

  Sighing, she turned around, deciding to take the long route to the Slytherin common room, hoping the walk and solitude would give her a chance to sort through her thoughts. 

Today, well actually yesterday and today had changed a lot. She'd gone into the forbidden forest, something she'd sworn never to do, faced a hippogriff and successfully cast a sixth year charm. Despite the pride she felt at these achievements, she would never forget how scared she'd been. She would never forget the way Sam was lying still, like he was dead, or the absolute terror on Brittany's face when she'd arrived, or the pain that had surged through her arm when she'd been attacked by the foul creature. 

Then there was the other thing, which truthfully was weighing on Santana more than her adventures in the forest. She was talking to Sam again and was friends with Brittany. Both Gryffindors. She couldn't see how things would be moving forward. Was she going to start sitting at the Gryffindor table sometimes, or would she invite them to the Slytherin table? 

How would the other Slytherins take her new friendship? Sebastian still hated the Gryffindors, so Santana couldn't see him welcoming them to their table with open arms and kind words. What about Quinn? She was still pretty upset with Sam, even after he'd stood up for Santana against Azimio, and Brittany was a complete stranger to her. What would she think of Santana suddenly buddying up with them? Would Santana have to split her time between her Gryffindor and Slytherin friends? Would they force her to choose, either them or the Gryffindors? Would they get so mad they didn't even want to be her friends anymore? Sebastian maybe, but Quinn wasn't likely to turn on Santana over something like this was she?

Santana worried all the way to the common room, unable to predict how her friends would react and therefore unable to quell her anxiety. Fortunately, her thoughts were interrupted as soon as she walked into the common room. 

"Santana!" Rachel's loud voice called, seconds before multiple people were surrounding her, blocking her path to her dorm.

"Did you really go into the forbidden forest?" Rachel asked. 

"Is it true you faced a giant?" Sugar practically screamed. 

"I heard there were vampires in there, like in the stories." Lauren in contrast was speaking in a hushed tone, looking extremely worried. "Like they suck your blood and everything."

"Does she look like she had the blood sucked out of her?" Sugar asked.

"Did you get expelled?" A first year boy asked.

Rachel gasped, clutching Santana's arm. 

"They wouldn't would they?"

"Why did you go in there anyway?"

"And why didn't you invite me along?"

Santana picked out Sebastian's voice, sieving through the people around her and finally finding him just on the outskirts of the crowd, leaning against an armchair with a lopsided smirk on his face. 

She pushed through the crowd to stand in front of him.

"It was kind of a last minute decision."

Sebastian shook his head slowly. 

"You're mental."

"Trust me it's better you weren't there. I don't recommend it."

"Why what happened?"

Both she and Sebastian turned to scowl at Rachel, who was once again standing too close to Santana for her liking. 

"Okay first of all…." Santana pushed her back several steps. 

"We're dying for the details Santana." Sugar whined, bouncing on the spot. "Quinn wouldn't tell us anything."

"And your brother looked ready to murder the first person to ask him." Sebastian chuckled.

"And Willow kept saying we should just wait for you to come back."

Santana looked around at the eager faces of all her classmates, noticing that some of the other Slytherins in the common room were looking her way. 

"Alright." She sighed, knowing it would be better to get it over with now. "What do you want to know?"

"Did you see either a giant, werewolf-"

"Or vampire." Lauren cut Sugar off. 

"No."

Lauren looked relieved. Sugar looked disappointed. 

"What put you in the hospital?" A first year boy asked. 

"A hippogriff."

"A what?" Rachel asked. 

"Hippogriff. It's like a half eagle half horse thing. Massive."

"Wicked." Sebastian grinned. 

"What did it do to you?" Rachel asked. 

"How did you get away?" Lauren asked. 

"I have a better question." 

Santana turned to see Quinn standing at the entrance to the corridor leading to the girls' dormitory, arms crossed over her chest. 

"Why'd you go in, in the first place?"

Everyone looked at her expectantly, Sebastian looking like he hadn't even considered that question until just now. 

"Are you going to hit me again?" Santana asked. 

Quinn shrugged. "If you deserve it."

Santana frowned. Much like in the hospital wing, she had no idea why Quinn was so upset with her, but now she wasn't exhausted and recovering from an attack. 

"I'll be right back." She told Sebastian, who nodded, before marching up to Quinn. She grabbed her arm, dragging her into their dorm and closing the door. 

"Okay spit it out."

Quinn yanked her arm free. "You're the one with questions to answer."

"Oh bullocks." Santana snapped. "Who hits a person in a hospital bed."

"Please, I didn't even hit you that hard." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Why did you hit me at all?" Santana threw up her hands. 

"Why did you go into the forest?"

Santana licked her lips, taking a breath to calm down.

"I had to." 

"With Sam?"

Quinn sounded hurt, which Santana took to mean she would at least be a bit more reasonable now. She wanted answers, and Santana knew she was entitled to them, but Quinn's temper was often as bad as hers, and if she was angry, the news that Santana had risked her life for a Gryffindor would not go over well.

"Puck and Azimio sent Brittany in there, trying to get her killed."

Quinn frowned. It was clear she hadn't been expecting to hear that and didn't know what to say. Santana used her silence to get as much out before the questions she couldn't answer started coming.

"I was going to spy on Gryffindor quidditch practice when I ran into Sam, and then Puck and Azimio came along, bragging about what they did, and we just ran in.

Quinn studied her for a moment.

"You went in there to save Brittany?"

Santana nodded. "You know how pathetic she is with magic. I knew she wasn't going to last five minutes in there."

"She's a Gryffindor." Quinn said, and Santana was glad that it didn't come out as an accusation, more of a confused statement. 

"Yeah well….that doesn't mean she deserves to die."

Quinn met Santana's eyes, her entire demeanour softening. She nodded. 

"I guess you're right. They better expel Adams and Puckerman for that."

"Dumbledore said they'd be taken care of, I think that's what he meant."

  "Good." Then Quinn sighed. "I'm still mad at you."

"For what? Not coming to get you before I went in?"

"For going in at all. It's dangerous in there Santana, you could have died."

"I already heard this from my mum Quinn." Santana walked passed her to her bed. 

"DAMN IT SANTANA."

Santana spun around, staring wide eyed at Quinn, who was breathing heavily. 

"Did you even think about us when you decided to risk your life for her? Did you think about Leon being found by some Ravenclaws telling him his sister was lost in the forest?"

"No." Santana admitted. 

"No. And then when you wake up you're not even sorry. You don't care that we were out of our mind with worry-"

"But I'm fine!" Santana said, her guilt making her defensive. "It was my life I put in danger, not yours. You can't be mad at me-"

Quinn grabbed a pillow from the bed closest to her, Lauren's, and launched it at Santana. Santana ducked quickly. 

"Quinn!"

Another pillow came flying at her, which Santana barely managed to dodge, but before she could recover she was flying backwards, crashing into her bed and rolling off the other side. She clutched her stomach, groaning in pain. 

"I swear Fabray." She muttered, getting onto her knees but staying crouched behind the bed for cover in case Quinn attacked her again. "You're lucky I don't have my wand."

"You're all I have Santana." Quinn's hoarse voice prompted her to peek over her bed. Quinn's wand hand was lowered, but it was the broken look on her face that told Santana she was safe. She got to her feet gingerly, still clutching her stomach. 

"So why are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm serious!" Quinn snapped, and Santana had to fight the urge to duck back under the bed. "Everything's a joke to you, even your life apparently, but you're all I have. You're the only person I feel like….really understands me…or something…" Quinn looked down, playing with her wand in her hands. "I don't know I just know that if you died-"

"Come on." Santana said, moving out from behind her bed. "Quinn I didn't die."

"You could have."

"But I didn't."

Her conversation with Brittany the night of her detention with McGonagall, where she'd realised that Quinn was the closest thing she had to a perfect wand, came back to her. She realised she was probably the same thing for Quinn. 

"I'm sorry." She said. Quinn looked up at her. "I didn't….You know I didn't want to die right?"

Quinn cracked a small smile. "Still making jokes." She shook her head. 

"I'm serious." Santana said, smiling too. "We're supposed to move in together remember?"

Quinn nodded, her shoulders relaxing. "Yeah. We just have to make it through the next six years that's all."

"Piece of cake." Santana scoffed. "Didn't you hear?" Quinn raised an amused eyebrow. "I fought a hippogriff."

"Yeah, yeah." Quinn laughed. "Don't let it go to your head."

"Though" Santana rubbed her stomach, cringing. "I think I might rather face the hippogriff than you."

"Yeah remember that next time you try to kill my best friend." She pointed her wand at Santana. 

"Only cause I don't have my wand." Santana muttered, turning to look around her bed. "Where is it anyway?"

"Leon has it. Carried it out of the forest for you."

Santana sighed, closing her eyes. 

"Yup, you're going to have to face him too." Quinn chuckled. 

  *************

Sam was waiting for them outside the great hall when they went up for dinner. He eyed them nervously as they approached, shifting from foot to foot. Santana glanced at Quinn. She hadn't said anything when Santana had told her that she'd decided to forgive Sam, since she still didn't have her wand, she hadn't pushed her for a reply. 

They stopped several feet from him. 

"Uh…" He looked at Santana. She shrugged. "H-hi Quinn."

Quinn had her lips pressed tight together, hands crossed over her chest. Her silence made Santana incredibly uncomfortable. 

"So" Sebastian stepped forward. "You're not so bad I guess." He held out his hand for Sam to shake. "You could have left her in there but…" he shrugged. "Well anyway." He extended his hand closer to Sam. Grinning, Sam shook it.

"Thanks."

They all turned to Quinn. She hadn't moved. Her eyes remained unreadable.

"Q for Merlin's sake-"

"I'm sorry." Sam blurted. "I was an idiot. I wanted to fit in so bad and I messed up but I'm sorry Quinn. I'm really sorry."

"Quinn." Santana said. 

Quinn's eyes flicked to her briefly and Santana saw her decision. She dropped her hand from her chest and sighed. 

"Alright don't be pathetic. You proved yourself when you took on Azimio."

"So you forgive me?" Sam asked tentatively. 

"Yea-"

She'd barely spoken before Sam was rushing forward, wrapping her in a tight hug. 

"Thank you!"

"Sam?!"

Mike was standing at the end of the corridor, looking confused but extremely excited. Sam let go of Quinn, turning to him. 

"Yeah." Sam grinned. 

Mike ran up to them, abandoning the Hufflepuffs he's been walking with. 

"What's…" He looked from Sam to Quinn to Santana. "What's happening?"

"We've decided to forgive him." Santana said. 

Mike didn't ask any questions. The broad smile on his face was enough for Santana to know that he didn't care why they'd decided that. He was just glad to have one of his best friends back. 

"Brilliant."