Dido could only stare as the Ravenclaw, helpless to the effects of gravity, thudded down onto the hard, cold stone floor. Eyes fixed on Mikaela’s own, she saw the girl’s wrist land with a sickening twist as it went down to break the fall. She didn’t even flinch when Mikaela’s head hit the stone, echoing all around. Dido stood still- no, frozen- on the steps. Every fibre in her muscles was telling her to run, to scream, to sob and beg for mercy from the gathering crowd but not even a finger moved. It was as if she had been made of the same stone as the castle, the walls, the hard floor.
When Mikaela’s eyes raised to meet Dido’s own, it was almost like a switch had been flipped off in Dido’s head. The girl lying prone on the floor was not the same one who aced every exam, who laughed with her best friend, who studied in the library with an angelic smile and widened eyes. The girl on the floor was hurt and vulnerable and so very normal. Her shirt untucked, blue tie loose and bent, dark hair shaken from her braid in messy waves. Mikaela mumbled something and her clear eyes, once focused, now hazy and closing even as she spoke. Those eyes spoke more words than Mikaela could otherwise use in that moment. As Dido gazed into them, desperately trying to decipher their meaning, she could only find pages of hurt, fury, betrayal.
Had Dido pushed her?
She looked down at her hands, managing to tear her gaze from the magnetic force that kept it locked onto the girl sprawled across the floor. They hadn’t changed since the hour or even week before. The skin around the knuckles was still creased. The nails were still chewed down. The small scratches down her thumb from the almost-nonexistent nails were still there. They were still her hands. And they were shaking.
A high pitched gasp came from a girl a few metres from Mikaela. Dido looked back up, skipping over Mikaela and focusing on the small group before them. They were watching. They were staring at Mikaela. They were horrified. They were scared and angry and worried. They were there. The sharp pain appeared behind Dido’s nose again, causing another deep throb in her head as more tears threatened to form. She glanced around wildly, feet still stuck down to the cold step. She-
The badge.
Halfway between Dido and Mikaela’s limp body, the tiny scrap of blue material rested on the edge of the second step. It was torn and ripped, ugly dark threads fraying out from the edges where Dido had sewn it in place with only the light of a torch. The silver half-eagle, missing a head, caught the light and the bright glimmer glistened up at Dido. The wink of light which had once brought pride and joy from its place on her robes was now searing into Dido, mocking rather than cheering, judging rather than supporting.
Ignoring the students before her, Dido stepped down twice, till she was at the same level as the badge. She crouched, back turned down the stairs, facing away from the people, and from Mikaela. Dido scooped the badge up and gripped it tightly in her right hand as she rose. She moved to the side of the stairs before slowly, carefully, taking the final two steps and placing her foot down on the stone. The moment she did, a flash of something cold and unpleasant hit her, forcing her gaze back towards Mikaela, still lying on the ground and now with her eyes shut.
Again, Dido couldn’t move. She could only stare at the small, hurt, girl. The edges of her own vision ceased to exist and a small tunnel of clarity formed around Mikaela. Nothing else mattered. Dido’s bottom lip quivered and her sight turned blurry. Had she- had… had Dido... Could Dido have… Did she pu… Had..
An older student stepped to the side of Mikaela, blocking Dido’s sight. The small group that had formed were now advancing, staring down at Mikaela with concern in their eyes and voices. Mikaela was their priority. Good.
Right hand balled into a fist around fabric, short nails once again biting into the skin of her palm, Dido took one step away, then another, then another, until she was running down the corridor, expression contorted into something as monstrous as it was vulnerable and fearful.
