Obliviate My Choices {Book 4}

21. And so it begins

Slowly, my eyelids twitched open, and I found myself staring at a very familiar stone ceiling. The hospital wing. Seeing nobody was around, I tried to sit myself up, but was stopped by a burning feeling in my gut.

I swore loudly, and after throwing the bed sheets off and gingerly pulling my pyjama top half way up, I found my stomach was tied tightly in white bandages. There was a small stain of red on them, and I whimpered at the sight.

The curtains around my bed were swept open and Madam Pomfrey was stood there, tutting. "Over-exerting yourself again, I see!" She gently pushed me back onto the pillows, pulling the sheets over me.

"How--How long have I been out?" I asked groggily, everything was a blur from the adreneline of the moment. All I could think of was blood on my shirt and Malfoy holding me. Why was he doing that?

"Almost three days," Madam Pomfrey said brisky, checking a clipboard on the end of my bed. "You are once again very lucky, Aurora. If that wound was any deeper you could have bled out."

"Oops?" I giggled weakly, the slight movement taking energy out of me.

"Hi." A voice said, and I was shocked to see Malfoy sticking his head around the curtain, hands wrapped up in thick bandages.

"I thought I told you to stay on your designated bed, Mr Malfoy." Madam Pomfrey huffed.

"Well last time I checked, my hands didn't stop me from walking about." Malfoy said sniedly. She glared at him. "Sorry, can we just have a few minutes."

"Yes, and only a few." Madam Pomfrey huffed. "I can guartee Aurora here is going to have some visitors at any given moment."

Malfoy perched on a chair next to me, folding his bandaged hands in front of him. "What did you do?" I asked curiously.

He shrugged. "I burned them in potions. They were pretty bad so I had to get them sorted out." he paused, looking nervous. "You shouldn't have jumped in front of that spell."

"Well I did, there's nothing to be done about it now." I said bluntly. "It is what it is."

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you still cared about me." Malfoy murmered, not looking me in the eye.

Feeling slightly enraged for some reason I snapped, "Well you can't just shut your emotions off quickly. That's obvious, considering you've now got a weird attachement to me. It's funny, considering I was always just an information kiosk to you."

"--What--What do you mean?" He stammered, looking flustered.

"Come on D--Malfoy, Malfoy." I corrected. "If I remember rightly you were the one trying to stop bleeding, telling me I couldn't leave you alone."

"You were delirious." He snorted, getting to his feet with a cocky smile. "I'm glad you're not dead though. Otherwise I would have to see those filthy thestrals for the rest of my life."

"Malfoy," I said loudly, as he was about to duck through the curtain. He turned around, questioningly. "For a minute--well before I passed out, I swear you said I love you."

"Like I said, you were delerious." He said, his smile faltering. "Well, I'd best go before your stringbean of a boyfriend turns up. No doubt I'm to blame for you being hurt."

Before I could argue back, he disapeared. So I was left to have Madam Pomfrey checking my vitals and redressing my bloody bandages, snapping that I wasn't to try and go anywhere without her saying so.

I'd barely settled into my nest of pillows when the hospital door slammed open. I glanced up, just in time to see my brother practically grab me in a choke hold, glasses pressed into my neck, tears streaming down his face.