The Comedown || Drabble
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Emmeline Vance couldn’t stop staring at the clock. Her head was spinning, muscles aching. Despite the lesson Professor Flitwick was giving, all she could focus on was sleep. She wanted to sleep, she missed lying down and closing her eyes, escaping into an unknown world where anything was possible. She missed how great it felt to wake up after a good night’s sleep, with a smile on her face and a cup of tea in her hand. Emme smiled at the thought of falling asleep, if only she were able to.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Brought out of her thoughts, she spotted something in the corner of her eye. She had to resist looking, after all, it could be there to kill her. Emme could feel herself running out of breaths. The mixture of sounds, from the ticking clock to her fast breaths to the drums playing in her head, kept her from hearing a certain professor calling her name for the answer to the question he had just asked. As she stared at him, she couldn’t understand the words coming from his mouth. She was able to make out a few of the words spoken to her. There may have been a ‘Vance’ pronounced and possibly an ‘attention’, she wasn’t quite sure. All she knew was that the world was spinning around her, so quickly, so suddenly. She tried to close her eyes to make it stop, she didn’t want to feel like this any more.
All of a sudden, her breaths had stopped and Emmeline felt herself falling out of her chair.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
I need tea.
Oh, er… sure. Well, as long as you’re sure you’re okay.
Positive. It’s gotten late, hasn’t it? You should sleep. Goodnight, Betty.
I need tea.
I think you should see her, just to make sure. Especially because you’re not sleeping despite being exhausted.
If it gets out of hand, I’ll definitely see her. I think I have it under control right now, though. I feel quite fine. I appreciate your concern though, Betty, really.
I need tea.
You… you’ve not been reading? And yet you’re not worried about it? Oh, Merlin. Well, the detention’s over now, she’ll have forgotten all about it this time next week, surely.
Well, not as much. I still read, though. I’m not sure if I should be. Jack said I should go speak to Pomfrey about it anyway, so I suppose I should that for him eventually. Hm yes, hopefully. I can’t see why she would hold a grudge for so long, especially for something so trivial.
Emme?
That song’s too short, I think. Have you tried meditating?
I can’t say I have.
I need tea.
It’s still not great. Sleep deprivation can have awful effects on people if it goes on for too long, surely you’ve read up on this by now? She’ll lighten up, you’re just taking the brunt of her anger because you gave her the detention.
I haven’t been able to read as much as I’d like to, unfortunately. It’s been a mix of headaches and exhaustion keeping me away from my books. Hm, I suppose that could be true. It was a rightly deserved detention, though, I don’t take it back.
