The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.64 | Life is Good... for now

The evening was a blur. At some point while listening intently to Markus and Madam Pomfrey, Margaret had fallen asleep. He would need to apply dittany over the curse wounds every hour for the rest of the night to avoid maximum scaring which meant he had a long night ahead of him.

The dormitory doors opened, waking Margaret up when she heard Dumbledore's voice.

"...was in panic. Miss Greengrass was able to to give her Calming Draught on time."

"Quick thinking on your part, Miss Greengrass," says Dumbledore softly not wanting to disturb the sleeping occupants.

"Thank you, sir," says Daphne quietly.

"You should go back to your common room now, Daphne," says Madam Pomfrey. "It's almost after hours."

There was a bit of shuffling as Daphne collected her things. The doors clicked open and closed behind her once more.

"Let them both stay the night, Poppy," says Dumbledore once Daphne is gone. "Sending Margaret back now would lead her to inevitable questioning from her peers, which may bring unnecessary stress on her for the time being."

"You're right, Headmaster," says Madam Pomfrey, sounding solemn. "Poor thing... That must've been a horrible ordeal to witness. Do we know who did it?"

"Yes. Harry Potter."

"No! Not Potter, surely?" gasps Madam Pomfrey. "I never thought... He seems to be such a nice lad..."

"Now, now, Poppy," says Dumbledore calmly. "It was not a deliberate attack nor was it aimed at Mister Smith. The spell ricocheted. For his carelessness, however, Harry has received detention every Saturday morning with Professor Snape for the rest of the term. A shame, truly, as the team he captains will have to play the final Quidditch match without him..."

"Professor Dumbledore...?"

"Mister Smith, you must lay down!" fusses Madam Pomfrey.

"How are you feeling?" asks Dumbledore.

Margaret peeked over her blanket, but could only see shadows past the curtain drawn around her bed.

"I just heard Dumbledore... Sir, may I have a word with you?" comes Markus's barely audible voice.

But Margaret hardly cared how raspy his voice was. She was so glad to see him be aware of his surroundings that she almost teared up.

It seemed like an eternity later when Markus finished talking to Dumbledore while Madam Pomfrey had busied herself by turning off the lamps and closing the drapes over the windows with her wand. When the matron peeked in through the curtain around Margaret's bed, she pretended to be asleep.

Soon after that, Dumbledore left the dark and quiet hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey retreated to her office.

Quietly as she could, Margaret kicked off her shoes and turned on her back, wondering if now would be a good time to bother Markus.

"Psst..."

Margaret rolled her eyes. Of course; they were thinking the same thing.

"Psst back at you," she says in his head. "You woke me up."

"Au contraire, ma sœur. I think they can hear your rumbling stomach down in the dungeons," he retorts.

"Piss off... I haven't had dinner."

"Why not? Why are you still up here anyway? What happened to you?"

"Nothing as bad as having my dashing six pack abs ripped open," she tells him, shifting on her bed and grinning up at the dark ceiling. "Oh, I'm sorry, I mean your pot belly. The dad bod without being a dad - the sad bod!"