Raindrops on Roses

Chapter 43: Goodnight

Goodnight

JUNE 2025

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Almost as soon as they got the word that the raid was starting, the casualties started pouring in. The anxious wait, with its awkward juxtaposition between worry and mind-numbing boredom, was turned instantly into near-chaotic business, made all the stranger for it being the middle of the night. Albus ran between between the narrow beds, delivering potions and charmed bandages, as Maureen and Gwen patched up both Hit-Wizards and injured smugglers alike. When the numbers became too much for the two Healers to handle, they began sending the least badly hurt to one side to wait for treatment, attending only to those who needed immediate care.

"You're on," Maureen told him when he came back with his next armload of bandages, nodding to the expectant row of injured men, some of whom were being guarded by other Hit-Wizards and a couple of Aurors who had just arrived, apparently straight from the control room back in London. Albus eagerly went over and started using every bit of knowledge he'd gleaned from working in St. Mungo's that year. He healed cuts and abrasions, broken bones, even a punctured lung - though he asked Gwen over to make sure he'd got it right, afterwards. No one was allowed to leave yet, for the reason Maureen had explained to him earlier - they had to be checked thoroughly for long-lasting curses that could strike even years down the track.

In the chaos, and the excitement of actually doing something, he almost forgot the reason he was even there, until a big group of men came in all at once, causing a commotion that couldn't be ignored. One of them was very tall and broad, but not wearing a uniform, and he was helping a masked Hit-Wizard carry - yes, it was Teddy, half naked and apparently asleep, laid out on a stretcher. Albus made an involuntary move towards him, but Maureen gave him a sharp look, and he obediently hung back, watching as they lowered him into a hospital bed.

"Is he okay?" a familiar voice called out, panicky, and Albus looked around to see his best friend being supported into the room too, blood all down one arm and limping badly."He needs blood," Scorpius said urgently, "he's been drained, he needs..."

"You need to lie down," Albus hissed, going to help the man who was trying to force Scorpius to sit on a bed. No one stopped him from helping this time.

"Al?" Scorpius stared in surprise and stopped fighting to get to Teddy, allowing Albus to cut through the material of his T-shirt to get to the wound in his shoulder. He winced. "Merlin, that hurts... Al, I need to talk to your Dad, he's got it all wrong, it's not Dreher, it's - ow!"

"Stay still," Albus said, the part of his brain that was constantly channelling Knox taking over while he worked. The potion he wiped over the wound cleaned it instantly, and he put his weight behind his arm, holding Scorpius still against the bed rails. "Still as you can, okay?" he said, much more calmly than he currently felt. His heart was pounding. "Just for a minute."

Scorpius bit his lip and let out a little moan as Albus focused, flicking his wand and whispering the sequence of charms that would knit the wound back together, bone, muscle and tissue, and finally the skin. "Not even a scar," he said, reaching for one of the many pain relief potions he'd distributed earlier. "Don't tell Knox I gave you this," he said. They'd so far managed to avoid getting Scorpius hooked on the pain potions he'd had to take regularly for nearly a year, and he doubted the old Healer would approve of giving him another, now, when the wound was already healed. But his friend's face was still white with pain and exhaustion, and it was all he could think of to do.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Scorp croaked. He downed the bottle and swallowed, grimacing. "Al," he said as soon as the vial was empty. "I really have to -"