Not Alone After All

Chapter LII

"Oh, my god, Laurie!" Ginny's voice was the first thing she heard upon entering the infirmary.

"Mr. Potter, get her in here. On the bed," Madam Pomfrey told Harry. He was quick to comply, helping his sister to climb on the the bed right next to George. "What happened?"

"Pansy Parkinson said something and they just kind of jumped on top of each other," Harry explained.

"Did she get hit on the nose? Let me see," Madam Pomfrey grabbed Laura's face, angling it right and left, up and down. "Looks broken. But it's bleeding way too much for just a broken nose. Did you get hit by a curse?"

"Might have," Laura finally spoke. "Not sure." They looked at her with confused faces. "Ever hear the term 'blinded by rage"? Yeah, so, I'm not sure."

"Alright. I shall give you a potion either way, and you will have to spend the night here, so I can observe your progress," Madam Pomfrey told her. And byst as Laura was about to cpmplain, Madam Pomfrey cut her off. "No 'but's. You already are extremely pale, so you cannot, Miss Potter, afford to lose much more blood. You shall spend the night, that is final. Now, lower your hand so I can mend your nose."

Laura did as she was told, and Madam Pomfrey raised her wand, saying the Episkey incantation. Laura hissed in pain, but she had to admit that it felt much better now that it wasn't broken anymore.

"Drink this," Madam Pomfrey handed her a glass of clear liquid Laura had not seen her pour. "It should stop the bleeding in a few hours time."

"What happened?" Ginny asked her, pulling her chair closer to Laura's bed.

"Oh, you know. Just Pansy being Pansy," Laura tried to wave it off, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Just Pansy being Pansy never got you to punch someone's face off," George commented.

"Oh, are we talking now?" Laura spat at him. She knew the main reason she was mad wasn't because of George, but the fact that he had been ignoring her because of Fred made him just as bad as his twin.

"No, you are not," Madam Pomfrey said, having come back to assist her. "Miss Potter, you need some rest. And so do the two of you. Now the rest of you, off to bed. Miss Potter stop playing with that cloth and press it back to your nose."

Laura huffed, but did as the healer told her, not wanting to spend any more time than necessary in the infirmary. Specially if a certain Weasley was there.

"Professor Snape has excused the two of you from detention tonight, as he has postponed it," the Madam explained to Laura and Fred. "You two shall go to his office tomorrow night after the feast." Laura groaned. Happy birthday to me, she thought. "Now rest," she told them. "All three of you."

Madam Pomfrey left to tend to other students in the infirmary, and soon enough, it was time for Harry and Ginny to leave. Laura hadn't even begun to imagine how much more awkward things would become once the three of them were left all alone.

"Are you two going to talk?" George broke the tension a few minutes in.

"Madam Pomfrey said I shouldn't," Laira told him indifferently. She didn't even dare to look their way, keeping her gaze a on the door instead of the window, where Fred's bed laid.

"Oh, come on. You know very well what I meant," George told her. "I'm really tired of be ik NY the middle ground, you know?"

"George Weasley, you have been nowhere near the middle ground," Laura sneered at him, finally snapping her head his way. "You haven't spoken to me in weeks."

"Well he's my twin, not yours," Fred finally spoke up. Laura's hand fell from her face, completely forgetting her bloody nose.

"How wonderful of you to acknowledge my presence, Frederick," Laura spat. She saw the look on his face and didn't feel one ounce of regret. She had done nothing wrong, she did not deserve to be treated the way they had been treating her. "Specially seeing you are too cross to even look at me." That shut him down real quick, because indeed, his gaze had been fixed on the window ever since she entered the infirmary. Not once had he stolen a glance to check if she was alright. Well, not to her knowledge.

"I can't believe you, right now," Fred mumbled.

"Enlighten me, Weasley. Why is it you're cross with me?"

Laura could feel George uneasiness with the situation.

"As if you didn't know," Fred spat back.

"As a matter of fact, I do not. All I know is; ever since you saw me arguing with Malfoy, you decided it was best for me to stay away from you. You decided what I wanted, and acted upon it. And although all was well with George, and he apologised to me, as soon as I came to make things up with you, you left and ignored me like a bloody git!"

Fred's gaze finally fell upon her face and he seemed to finally realise that Laura was actually hurt, and being away form her two best friends had her heartbroken. However, his face suddenly hardened a again and he quickly looked away with a scoff.

"Sorry, is this a bad time?"

Laura turned around and saw Cedric Diggory standing awkwardly next to her bed.