in our time of need | harper

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

SHE FELT AS IF THE AIR RIPPED APART AS SHE apparated on to her families property. She'd left the Ministry swiftly, with the very last shred of her sanity dragging behind her like a dead dog on a chain. She fell on to the ground as she landed, knees wobbling as she got back to her feet and hobbled home. Where it was warm, and nobody knew what she had done. But, she felt as if it were written on her skin. A dirty mark of sin permanently etched on her.

Falling in to the front room of the house, Ondina ripped off her coat. She felt constricted. Heart hammering so fast that it filled all the space in her ribs and left her lungs choked and gasping. She knew rationally that it was an attack, brought on by sudden stress of great magnitude, but it didn't help in the moment. Tears dribbled freely down her cheeks, her tongue still felt coated with Polyjuice Potion and her skin felt too tight.

Next her shoes flew across the room as she kicked them off. She was sobbing now, the breaths between ragged and loud. Pulling at the top of her shirt, her chest was a ruby red and she popped the top button off trying to find relief. This was not an unfamiliar occurrence, but it had been years since an attack like this. She thought she was over this level of madness. The kind not fuelled by anger but pure fear.

Tendons stretched in her thin neck, and she took to rubbing madly at the skin of her cheeks until her palm was stained beige and pink and black with smeared, sticky make up. The collar of her white work shirt ten shades darker than before. She looked as if she'd been attacked. Mad eyes and clenched teeth. So far gone she didn't even think to immediately find a phial of relief. As she paced the house, she mumbled to herself.

"Find out... dad... I can't... it's too late." Nonsense strings of jilted consciousness. Stuck between squeezing breaths. She fished out her relief when her vision began to fade from lack of oxygen, pulling the stopper out with her teeth and throwing it back so harshly that she almost swallowed the bottle along the way. It provided minimal relief. Only the physical ailments, it just so happened her troubles were rooted in her head this time.

Ondina never thought she was a Bad person. She knew she could be cruel. She knew she could be selfish, but that was self preservation. What had killing Owen achieved? Other than prove everyone right about her. She didn't like being wrong, not in this way. It felt like taking a step back only to find a wall behind her and in front. Boxed in. 

@harper

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Ondina Nell Weasley

Silence. That’s what the majority of the day had consisted of. Xavier was back in school, her parents had left a note about an extended vacation they were going on, and Ondina was at work. Though not for long, the distinct crack of someone apparating onto the property pulled Harper away from the book she had her nose stuck in all day. And so, a perfectly normal, average day off from work was about to be ruined. It was absolutely abysmal that she was berated and looked down on by her younger sister, but for the most part she could avoid it when their parents were home. Times like this though, where Ondina knew she could reign supreme over the household, were the worst. There was no escaping the torrent of slammed doors and slew of statements that Harper could only assume were attempts by Ondina to belittle her. A lot of it went by her, either ignoring it completely or by being so used to it, that it didn’t even register anymore. Today was no different from the sound of it; the rapid sounds of shoes and other personal objects being flung around the house, and the front door being whipped open and closed without a second thought. Without any adults in the house (Harper being hesitant to call herself one when she was still living with her parents), anything went.

And then it all stopped. It wasn’t like that was an unusual occurrence – her sister was like any normal person and tired eventually, sometimes sooner than most due to her condition. Tossing around anything in a frenzy had to add up eventually. Deciding that the silence was her cue to creep downstairs and see what was going on, Harper took a few deep breathes and did just that. Even if Ondina was still going to hate her for no apparent reason, and Xavier seemed to think that ‘fixing’ her was impossible, she still had a duty to act like a decent human being.

There was no way Harper could have expected the scene that was before her when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Ondina was in a state that was foreign to her – the only obvious indicator being that something had happened to her. Harper’s first instinct was to find a vial to fix a possible asthma attack, the closest being located in a medicine cabinet in the bathroom off of the front entrance hallway. Quickly rifling through the medication there and returning to her sister, Harper practically forced the vial into her hands, not registering that there was already one there. Working on auto-pilot, the next step was to direct Ondina gently towards the nearest couch, making sure not to smother her in the process. Exacerbating the asthma attack was the last thing she needed to do – years of diligent training on how to proceed during one immediately flooding back into her head as she kept the filled vial in plain view in case Ondina needed it as she sat down on the couch.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

IN HER BLIND PANIC AND DELIRIUM ONDINA couldn't process her surroundings. She didn't even react when Harper sidled up to her. Absently, her eyes caught sight of the phial in Harper's hand and her fingers twitched, but she was just blinking at it, her mouth flapping open like a beached fish. She didn't stop Harper from ushering her toward the sofas, either, and she hated taking orders. Her body simply slumped deep in to the cushions when prompted.

But, Ondina's chest still wheezed noisily and her skin had gone sallow, a sticky sheen of sweat across her brow and down her neck. So stark against the blot of pink on each of her hollowed cheeks. She looked absolutely awful. And the remnants of make up streaks didn't help. She looked like a melting wax work.

On auto pilot, Ondina reached forward and took the phial from Harper, uncorked it and tossed it back in one. Perhaps not wise, as she'd already consumed one only moments before, but she was operating on a level that verged on catatonic. Her world begun and ended around her. She was in the eye of her own storm. But, eventually, those large, saucer eyes turned to Harper. She wanted her mum and half expected to see her there instead of her sister. Alas, it was only that familiar shade of red there to comfort her. But, Ondina could make do.

Sagging forward, Ondina reached two clawed hands out and grabbed the front of Harper's shirt. She dragged her close, although she may have just been pulling herself in to Harper's orbit. It was hard to tell. Her nose was running and every time she closed her eyes more tears leaked from the corners, stained a little grey by mascara.

"H-harp-per?" She sobbed, each break a hiccup that made the bones and tendons in her neck stand to attention. "Whe-where's mum..?" The word 'mum' came out in a bubbling whine, echoed by a wheeze as she yanked Harper closer and buried her snotty, teary face in to her sisters shoulder. "Please hug me..." She murmured in to her sisters shoulder, burrowing closer to hide from the reality she had painted for herself. "I'm so cold." But not as cold as the dead, not yet. 

@harper

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Ondina Nell Weasley

This was horrifying. Harper had made plenty of crude jabs at her sister’s condition over the years, toying with the concept that she wouldn’t actually help her find the vial of medication if it ever came down to it. That was the most extreme Harper could come up with when she was being stabbed over and over again with words she didn’t deserve. Ondina had to have known she was joking about that, right? But she didn’t take the medicine initially, letting Harper guide her to the couch and creating a sinking feeling of dread that, even in this state, she wouldn’t allow the phial to come from anywhere but her own supply. That thought was immediately dashed aside once they were sat down on the couch and Ondina snatched it out of her hand. Two doses in a row. Harper was positive she had never seen that happen before, and that pit in her throat was back once again, barely gone from her last worry. There were a million questions about what could have thrown Ondina into this situation - a mere shouting match could do it if she wasn’t careful – but this was something else, and Harper wanted to know. First though, she needed to make sure this wasn’t going to get any worse than it already was, and from the way Ondina was clutching onto her it seemed like the attack was starting to come down slowly.

Her shirt looked like an ink well had been spilled across its front, copious amounts of mascara wiping off onto it in layers as she listened to Ondina’s request and pulled her into a hug, albeit a light one. Smothering the asthmatic girl on accident was too easy to do, and Harper was careful to leave enough space between them so that her sister could both breathe and be close. Circumstances aside, this was not normal, and Harper allowed her hand to awkwardly keep itself between her sister’s shoulder blades for support, filling in the gaps of silence with the occasional ‘shhh’ to try and give some reassurance that the attack was over.

The cry for their mum was awful, a noise Harper had never heard before come out of Ondina before. “She’s on vacation with dad, remember?” she said slowly, trying to give as much time as possible between her responses so that Ondina wasn’t rambling off questions left and right and making things worse. Harper wanted to say she could call them, or send her patronus to notify what happened, but decided against it for the time being. Their parents didn’t need to know everything. They didn’t know everything. And unless Ondina wanted her to reach out, she wouldn’t.

As for the feeling cold, Harper couldn’t figure out how to fix that, other than sliding her wand out of her pocket just enough so that she could light the fireplace and attempt to get her sister a little closer than she already was. She had no idea what Ondina’s body went through when an attack came out, the obvious signs being the inability to breathe and what she could only assume was a subsequent panic attack when medicine wasn’t within reach. Was being cold how the body fought back against the lack of oxygen? All she really knew was that the medicine seemingly straightened out an attack. And that was it. “I’m here. You’re going to be alright. Just focus on getting your breathing even. Okay?”

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

HARPER ACTUALLY HUGGED HER AND ON ANY other day the thought alone would have wrinkled Ondina's skin. But, she needed comfort. Any kind, even from the sister she often butted heads with. Because, her mother wasn't around. And though Ondina could feel her chest slowly easing as she buried herself in to Harper's shoulder, it wasn't the same. She needed to be held together, and it was almost as if Harper couldn't bear to touch her.

The reminder that her mum wasn't going to be around any time soon almost sent Ondina back over the edge. A great big frog forming in her throat again. Harper was rubbish at this, Ondina thought. Her mum knew just what to say and how to say it. When Ondina pulled back to look up at her sister, it wasn't to find strength in her eyes but caution. A concern that would have made Ondina feel better if it wasn't so foreign in comparison to what she was used to.

Ondina's lips pulled down at the corners and she leaned away from her sister, curling her arms around herself as she turned and lay her head on the arm of the sofa, pulling her knees up under her chin. "You're rea-lly rubbish at this," Ondina sniffed, hiccuping in-between as she struggled between the remnants of sobs. But, the fire was at least filling the room with a woody, homey scent. If her mother was here she'd have sat Ondina by it and brought a big pot of hot water, slowly encouraging Ondina to breathe in the sweet, minty steam of eucalyptus and lavender.

She looked at her sister from the corner of her eye, a poor sight of stringy red hair and dewy, streaked skin but there was the persistent, dark glint in her eyes. "Are you being nice because you have to, or because you want to?" Ondina asked, her lips pouted petulantly, her voice was hoarse and pathetic. 

@harper

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Ondina Nell Weasley

Harper didn’t need to hear her sister tell her she was awful at this, or rubbish, in Ondina’s own words. She could tell from the way Ondina recoiled, or pulled away rather, from the hug. It was somewhat accepted but it was obvious to Harper there was something missing. The cry for their mum was probably just that. She always came to Ondina’s rescue in these situations, even when they had been little. Harper had always wanted to help, but there were certain things she couldn’t do, and this was obviously one of those. Filling in for their mum’s embrace and comforting words was never going to happen, at least not fully. Harper was only doing what she had been taught to do, in the off chance an attack descended upon Ondina when neither of their parents were home. The fact that this was the first time it had ever happened was absolutely astounding.

So when Ondina told her she was ‘really rubbish at this’ and placed herself at the end of the couch in a tiny ball, Harper bit down on her tongue. Hard. This wasn’t the time to get fired up or yell. She wasn’t sure what her sister had gone through to be in this state and the last thing Harper wanted to do was reignite it again. Ondina was always going to be abrasive and on offense, even when she was on the verge asphyxiation. Harper knew that, and while she normally threw something back, now wasn’t the time. Slumping back into the couch cushions, she stared into the now roaring fireplace. At least something she had done in the last few minutes had worked. The kind words and continued sniffling told her that her comforting hadn’t done anything for her dear sister, and that being told she was rubbish wasn’t the last of it. And it wasn’t.

Restraining herself the second time was almost impossible. The things her tongue dared her to say right then and there were irreprehensible, and Harper desperately wanted to do so, only holding back by the angel on her shoulder, commonly known as her common sense. She hated that thing, especially today. If she thought carefully choosing her words before was tough, this was like walking through a minefield without a metal detector and also blind. “You know which one it is,” she said quietly, sliding off of the couch and onto her feet, taking a few steps away before looking down at her sister. “I’m going to make tea. It’ll help with the swelling.” Exiting the living room, Harper paused in the hallway to gather her composure, letting out a struggled exhale. It had been slipping while she was on the couch, the want to yell and scream for no reason other than to put Ondina in her place. The time it would take for the water to boil and the tea to steep would be long enough for her to come to her senses again, and defend herself against a possibly volatile Ondina. If not, she would improvise like usual.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

CURLED TIGHTLY IN TO HERSELF ONDINA wondered if her sister would lie to her. Tell her what she thought she wanted to hear. That she was helping her because she loved her, or something equally ridiculous. Ondina didn't have to wait long for an answer and it was as vague as it was completely transparent.

A small, sickening smile pulled at the corners of Ondina's chapped lips, fingers clawed around around the upholstery of the sofa's arm. "Wow," Ondina said, with that hoarse, wicked voice, watching as her sister stood up to make tea. "If you had any balls you'd slip me a little something and get rid of me for good." It was a call to her sister's back, watching every step she took until she was out of shot. "Wouldn't even take much."

In her sisters absence, Ondina wondered if Harper  had every thought to do as much. Put her out of her misery, and all that. Ondina had certainly thought about it, when she had been little and meek and full of fear. But, now she knew what it felt like to kill a man. Now she'd seen what it was like to really die, and she didn't find the notion promising in the slightest. She'd live on, even to spite herself. The ghost of a bottle of medicine wrapped in her spindly fingers, there even when it was not. 

@harper

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Ondina Nell Weasley

The words that trailed behind Harper as she entered the kitchen were vile; how dare Ondina think she could ever do that! There was supposed to be a reaction to that, there always was, but Harper kept it bottled up, just like she had moments earlier. Everything had a time and place, and upsetting the ‘delicate princess’ wasn’t something she was keen on doing. Even if things would be easier without her sister in her life, murdering her in cold blood? Harper could never do that. Not only was it not in her nature, committing an act such as that would shatter her into billions of tiny pieces; as if she were made of glass. So even with her blood coming to a rolling boil, she kept her mouth snapped shut. It tore her to shreds trying to be a good person, especially in a time of need, and being picked apart for doing what was right. Xavier was correct in that regard: Ondina was unfixable, and even if she made an attempt for redemption, she would surely fail. Being placed centimeters away from death didn’t even phase her. It was sick.

There was no reason to hurry with the tea, as she had initially planned to be. If Ondina was going to hiss at her even in this state, then she could wait a couple minutes for tea. Gently placing the filled kettle on the stove top, Harper chose to make the tea the muggle way. She was going to be as extra about this as possible. While waiting for the water to boil, she prepared the tea she was going to use, chamomile, and pulled out the container of sugar. Merlin forbid she put too little or too much into the drink. She would never hear the end of it after that.

Figuring that enough time had elapsed, Harper dangled her wand in the general direction of the stove and used a heat charm to significantly accelerate the boiling process, the shrill whistle announcing its completion coming only a few seconds later. Burner off, serving platter out, and all of the proper tea set pieces in place, Harper levitated it carefully back into the living room where Ondina lay, and brought it down onto the coffee table. “Have at it,” her voice cracked the silence as she leaned up against the door frame that separated the living room from the hallway. “I won’t be responsible for botching how strong or sweet you want it.” Purposefully leaving everything out for her to pick had to be a good idea, right? Though that was also thinking Ondina was a rational person to begin with. At most, Harper was about to get an earful about how stupid she was for not even knowing how to steep tea properly, or whatever.

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

ONDINA LAY SILENTLY AS HARPER LEFT THE ROOM, curled in on herself. With only the wheezing sound of her rickety chest to keep her company. It had always been like that. Her constant companion, as known to her as her own heartbeat. The sound of her weak, rattling lungs struggling to work. Sometimes Ondina wished she could cover her ears and block it out, but it followed her internally. No matter what.

Eventually, however, the rhythmic sound of Harper's footsteps filled the room again. Ondina had half hoped her sister would have gone and simply not returned. Although, at the same time, if she had, Ondina could not predict her own fury at the matter. She didn't need her, but she'd be damned if she warranted her walking away. Especially when she felt so weak.

"What did you do?" Ondina croaked, pushing herself up on the sofa with a groan. "Import the leaves yourself?" Though the key sharpness in her tone was greatly diminished by the obvious pain in her voice. Her body had quickly come down from the adrenaline, the attack hollowing her out from the inside. She turned her head slowly, scowling at Harper over the took of the sofa, where her sister stood close to the door. "What, afraid you might catch something?" She snipped, though she was already turning around at the prospect of tea.

On the coffee table, the worn, silver platter sat neatly. A mug of steaming hot water, a little silver pot of tea leaves and a great big mound of sugar. It was a deconstructed cup of tea. Ondina sizzled as she reached over and plucked a tiny little sieve from the tray, staring at it dumbly. She couldn't make tea from scratch, her mum just always knew how she liked it. Ondina felt heat prickle from the tips of her toes all the way to the crown of her head. Was it shame, or anger?

"Are you trying to be funny?" Ondina said with unnerving calm, her nostrils flaring. She didn't have it in her for another outburst, but that didn't mean she wouldn't risk passing out to give it a try. Grinding her teeth, she took the edge of the tray and very slowly pulled it over to the edge of the coffee table before, with a great swing of her thin arm, she used the platters handle to Frisbee it against the nearest wall.

It landed with a great smash, the mug shattering amid a great starburst of hot water before everything landed in a heap on the floor. Ondina didn't stir, she didn't even watch it make impact. She simply shifted back in to her seat and slumped deep in to the cushions. "I don't want tea anymore." She said coolly, her jaw flexing. She'd be damned if she'd allow Harper to make a big fat fool out of her. 

@harper

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Ondina Nell Weasley

The fact that Ondina moved from her slouched position to a more appropriate tea drinking one got Harper’s hopes up. She knew it was silly to expect a thanks, or anything remotely nice to come out of her sister’s mouth, but silent acceptance of the tea would suffice. They could treat it as a peace offering of sorts. Even with the cracked voice criticizing how long it had taken to boil the water and prep the ingredients, Harper ignored it. Pushing all of that to the side for only a few moments would be better for her in the end. Ondina could scream and yell all she wanted about it later – for now, Harper preferred her sister to shut-up and drink the tea however she preferred it. The only interference on her own end was boiling the water, and that was impossible to screw up. If there was a problem with that, Ondina had demons far greater than her inflated ego and excessive use of lipstick.

The obtrusive clatter of the serving tray coming into contact with the far wall had Harper staring at her sister, mouth hanging slightly open in shock. Ondina’s words, about her trying to be funny, echoing in her head as she watched the water streaming off of the wall into a small puddle on the hardwood floor. The irony of it mixing with the tea leaves and sugar in its new home on the floor was lost to Harper as she looked back at her sister, aghast at what she had just witnessed unfold in front of her. Was this all part of a game to Ondina? Harper knew she got off to the verbal abuse and endless berating; this was something else entirely. It was unwarranted (as far as she could tell) and erratic behavior. The first thought that had come to mind was that Ondina had hit her head in the time she had been prepping everything in the kitchen, or even earlier during her attack before coming in the front door. That had to be it…

“I -” Harper started, finding herself at a loss for what she wanted to say. The fact that she had just witnessed a platter full of tea get tossed across the room and was now being told that tea was no longer an option in such a calm and collected manner was horrifying. It felt like the air in the room was constricting her as she tried to figure out what to do next, not wanting to be screamed at any more, but also unable to ignore the pool of hot water forming in their living room. Biting down on her lower lip, Harper began again, slowler and weaker than she had been minutes earlier, “I’m trying to do my best here Ondina. Obviously I’m doing a shit job, but unless you want me to call mum and dad, and have them come home early, you’re stuck with me.” She could hear her heart beat reverberating in her ear drums as she spoke, terrified of the screeched response she was going to get in return from the next part. Moving to the center of the door frame, Harper’s hands clenched into fists and were stuck to her sides firmly, as if superglued there. This was going to take everything she had, and then some. Whatever was shot back at her, she was going to need to be as resolute as possible to withstand it. “And please, for the love of god, start acting your age and grow up. Screaming bloody murder whenever you don’t get your way is for children. You’re better than that Ondina. Don’t make it easier for everyone to hate you more than they already do. You won’t get far like that.”

[Ondina Nell Weasley]

i dare you.

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HARPER HAD STOPPED to help Ondina, she finally wished her sister would just leave. It had been a long, and traumatic day. She had killed somebody. She felt sorry for herself, which bred her desire to be looked after, but she finally just wanted silence. Harper was no good at it, her pathetic attempt at trying only made Ondina angrier. More frayed.

The tea had been the last straw. Ondina burned with a mixture of shame and frustration. Like her sister had known she couldn't do it hehrself, and was retaliating for every barb Ondina had thrown at her. Trying to show her up. But, Ondina would not allow that. Not while she breathed. Which explained the spreading puddle of cooling water and tea leaves. The air was heavy with chamomile.

"I'm not stuck with anybody." Ondina said petulantly, arms crossed tight over her chest. She didn't bother looking at Harper, she was quite finished with the sight of her. But, when her sister continued, Ondina couldn't help it when she spun on the sofa. Her knees braced on the cushions as she looked over the top to where Harper still stood.

"For your information, I didn't scream." She hissed, her hands clawed over the top. She couldn't bring herself to raise her voice, her throat still sore from before. "And who are you to tell me how to act? I'll do whatever I damn well please, this is my house too." Her nose was wrinkled, and she looked young with all of her make up cried and smudged from her face. "Hate me." She said, nostrils flaring and jaw flexing. "I don't need your approval, Harper, and I didn't ask for your righteous opinion!"

Spinning in place, Ondina's legs landed heavily on the sofa, her feet thudding on the ground. When her toe hit one of the little silver bowls that had held the tea leaves, she kicked it hard across the room. She ignored the ache in her feet when she finally managed to yell, "Just fuck off!" She could feel Harper's lingering presence like an overbearing shadow. Her sister could have been right, but it didn't matter. Ondina had long since given up her desire to impress her eldest sibling. That didn't, however, stop her chest from tightening. 

@harper

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Ondina Nell Weasley

Now she had done it. If nails had been driven into the hypothetical coffin of their relationship one by one over the last few months, this was close to the last few remaining ones, if not the last. Harper couldn’t tell with charged emotions and tempers flying. Everything she had just finished saying was true as far as she was concerned and had been for the last eighteen years of her life. She wasn’t stupid, and she knew her sister wasn’t either. Of course Ondina through a temper tantrum when things didn’t go her way. She was a vile person. Somewhere along the way, reality had become twisted for her. That was the only thing that made sense to Harper. Sure, she had been babied and coddled her whole life because of her illness. But that didn’t mean she had to be Queen Bitch. Nobody was out to get her when she was little. The world hadn’t been against her. Now it kind of was. And she was finally starting to push Harper to the other side as well. Assuming Ondina even cared about that in the first place was agonizingly painful. She had never done anything intentional unless it was in her own defense, and Merlin knew not defending yourself was worse than doing so when it came to Ondina.

Defending herself now though, seemed like a lost cause to Harper. The tipping point had been reached, and anything said or done now was going to be irreparable and irrevocable. Assuming it wasn’t that way already, all of it depending on Ondina’s point of view on the situation. Harper would have loved it if her sister had stopped, even if it was just long enough to drink the tea. She felt like she could have taken the verbal abuse of the century after that. Ondina had taken over though, her superior presence overriding Harper’s in an instant. All the Gryffindor could do was stand idly in the doorway, just like she always did, and have it all thrown back into her face. For once, Harper was thankful that the wall had received the frustration of the tea instead of her.

As Ondina seemingly came to a close with her action, a posed ultimatum, a command to go away, and another swift kick to the poor silver bowl that had once housed the entirety of the house’s sugar, Harper took a half a step back, unsure of what to do next. There was no winning this, if there was even anything to win anymore. She still had to call their parents and tell them about the asthma attack; it would be irresponsible of her not to do that especially if further complications came from it in the next few hours or even days. Being told to basically screw off was good enough to seal the deal, and her eyes drifted away from her sister and down to her feet. Ondina wanted her gone. It was easier to have it said out loud and to think about it than to actually act on it. “Okay…” she finally mustered out after a few seconds of silence. “I uhhh…I’ll clean that up later so just rest or whatever,” Harper said quietly, her arm barely making it high enough to indicate the mess from the tea before falling back to her side, her body already starting to go into an exhausted, numbed state from the brief tiff. She turned to head back upstairs, feet moving up and down on the first few steps like they had cinderblocks attached to them. Harper wanted to add more, about how she was sorry for not being any help or that she should have been more comforting, but kept it bottled up as she began her climb up the remainder of the stairs and into her bedroom. She was going to call their parents, but only mention the asthma attack, and how she was stupid and tripped over the carpet when bringing Ondina tea. There didn’t need to be anything else said about that now that it was said and done with.