(Eng) Weasleys, Pranks and other Curses

12

I had spent the next few hours in this fog between unconsciousness and consciousness. Again and again I had come back to the surface, only to find that the pain had grown worse. From my neck to the fingertips of my left hand, rusty barbed wire ran through my veins.

Madame Pomfrey had tried several times to separate me and George, but I had not even heeded that discussion. George had affirmed that he was fine - which I didn't believe him, but we were both alive, after all - and so the nurse had given up and continued to work on my arm instead.

I had risked a glance once and immediately regretted it. My skin was really gaping apart like wax paper and I was pretty sure I had seen bone. Choking, I had turned away again and George, laughing, had put his hand to the back of my head and held me against him.

"If you think that's bad, you're really better off not playing Quidditch."

I knew he was lying. If students injured themselves that badly on a regular basis, I'm sure the sport would have been banned by now. Still, I was grateful to him. I was searching for the right words when the nurse interrupted us.

"If you're awake enough for that, you're awake enough for medicine." She was still annoyed that I had defied her, but at the same time she wouldn't risk doing a bad job. She promptly held out a spoonful of syrup and I dutifully opened my mouth.

Immediately my face went all tingly and then numb. Ah. It dawned on me what was about to happen and I buried my face against George's neck again.

Madame Pomfrey was really skilled, and I was sure I wouldn't have endured the pain with anyone else, but none of that changed the fact that the stitching of the wounds was almost as bad as the vulture's claws.

"I'm almost done," the woman said for what must have been the fifth time, as tears streamed down my face and seeped into the collar of George's Quidditch cloak. Although my whole body was so numb that I feared I might have bled to death after all, I could no longer lose consciousness. Just when it could be useful.

The nurse cursed me as she wrapped the last bandage around my neck, George having to lean his head back to keep from getting her angry hand shoved at him.

At that moment, the door to the hospital wing opened for the first time. A torrent of voices rushed in and instantly died away as the principal closed the door behind him.

"Holy Merlin!" came a feminine voice from behind Professor Dumbledore. A small woman with red hair came into my field of vision and half stumbled around the bed.

"I'm fine, Mom," George mewled as soon as his mother had taken his face in both hands.

Mortified, I wanted to break away from George after all, but his arm around my shoulders made it impossible for me to move. "It's not my blood, the cuts aren't deep. It's fine, really," he reassured the woman before she could say anything.

"Not your blood?!" she exclaimed more shrilly than she intended, but then her gaze went to me and I couldn't imagine what she must be seeing. To my astonishment, however, Misses Weasley merely expelled her breath in relief.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, was not so easily appeased. He came to my side of the bed and slid elegantly around Madame Pomfrey, who fixed my arm and cast evil glances in my direction.

I slumped down into defeat. "This is all my fault," I began, but the principal interrupted me.

"Don't. I'm not here for any blame. Miss Renard, I have not been able to reach your parents."

My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. "Yes, that will take a few more weeks, too. Is it something urgent?" Am I going to be expelled?

"We're going to have to evacuate Hogwarts on short notice. Our friend has gone a little - how do you say - amok."

Now I pushed myself off George after all, shoving the stinging pain aside with a hiss. "Is anyone hurt?!" My voice was shrill and hurt my own ears, but if someone else had been hurt - or worse! Katie had already been one too many.

"Hurt?" Dumbledore gave me an incredulous look over his half-moon glasses. "Miss Renard," but he decided to go in a different direction. "I need to reach your parents so they can come and pick you up. All the students have to go home for the extended fall break."

"Extended fall vacation?" grinned George gleefully behind me. Madame Pomfrey had now gone over to him and was tending to the countless cuts on his face, neck and hands. I sucked in a startled breath as I really looked at him for the first time. "It's not my blood," he reminded me with a wry grin, but I didn't understand how he could be joking like that again.

"Miss Renard?", Dumbledore repeated his question.

"My parents are not available until the end of the year," I confessed meekly. They had asked me in their last letter how things were going and told me about this assignment. It would last several months and they would be cut off from the outside world during that period. "But it really doesn't matter. I've already packed my things and if you let me use the fireplace again -"

"Miss Renard." The disappointment in his voice made me break off. Amazing how the man could carry on a conversation by just saying my name.

"I'm fine. Really," I affirmed, until a mocking laugh came from the nurse.

"Yes, until the sleeping syrup stops working. Don't be silly child. You can't take care of your wound by yourself."

My gaze went to the thick bandage that bound my arm to my chest. The pain wasn't that bad. And if I didn't have to walk around, I could ignore the lingering dizziness from the syrup for a while.

"You can't stay alone. Do you have anyone else I can contact?"

"We have house elves," I tried one last desperate attempt before noticing that the principal wasn't looking at me. He was casting glances over my head at Misses Weasley and obviously he had won this silent conversation.

"By Merlin, Dumbledore, I know what you're doing here and you've won. Let the Wabberschalk come and get me if I wouldn't help a child in need. Of course she can stay with us." And as if she had never been upset, her face grew warm and soft. "I'm Molly." She gently put her hand on my healthy shoulder, but pulled it back when she noticed the blood still wet on her fingers. "And I'm going to get you some clean travel clothes." She was gone before I could complain.

"Professor!", I hissed after Dumbledore instead, who had also wanted to leave. He turned back to me. ""I can't do that!"

"It would be irresponsible of me to let you go alone. You're not off the hook yet." He nods toward my arm. We both knew what he meant. The poison. It would be several days, maybe weeks, before we could be sure the antidote had worked.

"I can't endanger this family!", I hissed, disregarding the fact that George was now straightening up beside me as well.

"Don't worry." With a calm expression, the principal placed first my wand and then my necklace on the small nightstand. I hadn't even noticed it was missing! "I took the liberty of fixing the clasp. And I may have made a few changes. Just make sure it stays on your neck this time."

And that was the end of the subject.

In disbelief, I looked at the necklace. I wanted to reach for it, but since it was on my left - on my injured side - I had to twist too hard and gave up, cursing.

"Let me." George slid behind me and grabbed the necklace. "Where are your parents?" he asked, relatively tactfully, as he tried to put the necklace on me without incurring Madame Pomfrey's wrath.

"In Peru, I think," I confessed quietly. I wasn't allowed to say more specifics, but all the painkillers were already making me sleepy again.

"And there's no owl mail there? Or-quite modern- internet?"

I knew he was joking, but his hands rested on my shoulders for a moment too long and I no longer had the strength to fight back. Already half-dazed away, I let myself sink back against his chest. "They're trying to find a way to break the curse."