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Chapter Twelve

For the few weeks leading up to Christmas break, Alanna didn't wake up. Tiffany, Luke and Remus used all of their spare time to be in the Hospital Wing with her. Peter sometimes went with Remus, but eventually left out of pure boredom. James and Sirius didn't even bother trying to comfort Remus, because they knew that the only thing that would comfort him would be if Alanna woke up. And that apprently wasn't going to happen any time soon.

The castle was almost empty one morning as it was the last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas break. Students from third-year and up were all rushing into Hogsmeade to find last-minute gifts for their friends and families.

Tiffany had started hanging out with Luke far more than usual and leaving Elise, Maddi and Brooke alone. The three girls were starting to notice the change in their friend's behaviour and decided to confront her about it. But they could never find her anywhere. They knew that Tiffany either had to be up in her dormitory, in the Great Hall or in the library. She wouldn't really be anywhere else.

Maddi was walking down a corridor when she caught sight of her older brother Scott and his gang of Slytherins picking on a first-year Hufflepuff. She sighed and walked over to the group quickly to stop her brother.

"Scott!" Maddi called out. Scott glanced over and rolled his eyes when he saw it was just his younger sister.

"What d'you want, Maddi? Some money? I've only got two Galleons, but you can have it."

Maddi smacked her brother's money away from her face. "I don't want your stupid money. I want you to leave this boy alone," she said sternly. Scott huffed.

"Or what? You'll tell on me? Ooh, I'm shaking!"

His Slytherin gang chortled behind him, making Maddi fume.

"Look, if you knew what was good for you, you'd leave him alone. He's done nothing to you and yet you're treating him like dirt! You can at least pick on somebody who's mean to other people so they can have a taste of their own medicine!"

"Yeah? Like who?" Scott challenged.

"Like ... like ..." Maddi struggled to think of a name when she heard laughter. Her head snapped to the right to see Sirius Black and James Potter laughing with each other. They ducked into a broom cupboard and Maddi heard them high-five each other inside. She smirked evilly. "Like them."

She pointed at the broom cupboard at the end of the corridor, making Scott become confused.

"Uh ... I think you might need mental help, Mads," he muttered quietly, giving his sister a pat on the shoulder. Maddi swatted his hand away.

"No, dingus, the two morons inside the broom cupboard," Maddi said in exasperation. "James Potter and Sirius Black. The school pranksters and bullies. Except for you, of course. They need some serious sense knocked into them, and they need it really soon. It'd do them some good. Trust me."

Maddi winked at her older brother before stalking off with the Hufflepuff boy trailing behind her. Scott blinked before turning to his friends.

"Did my little sister seriously just tell me to bully some people?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I think she did, mate," one of the Slytherins spoke up.

"Shut up, Clark!" Scott muttered angrily. "It was a rhetorical question!"

*

Tiffany and Luke were seated on either side of Alanna's bed in the Hospital Wing. Tiffany had long fallen asleep and was curled up in an uncomfortable position in her chair. Luke was slowly dozing off, his hand resting over Alanna's as he waited for any sign of movement.

As Luke finally nodded off, Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office at the end of the Wing. Luke was alert as he heard the Healer walk briskly over to where he and Tiffany were waiting for Alanna to awake.

"Do you know what's wrong with her yet?" Luke asked the Healer. Madam Pomfrey sighed and shook her head.

"My best guess is some sort of coma, but I have no idea what could've caused it," she stated. Luke sighed and rubbed his face. He leaned back in his chair.

"She'll wake up, right?" he asked her quietly. "It's not forever?"

"At this point, Mr Pilir, I have no idea," Madam Pomfrey answered truthfully. "If it is in fact a coma, she has a chance. But since she's been asleep for a few weeks now, I'd say the chances are slightly lower than fifty percent."

"But it's possible, isn't it?" Luke asked quickly, his eyes wide at the thought of the girl never waking up. "It's happened before?"

Madam Pomfrey shrugged as she watched the sleeping girl. "It's possible, and still quite likely at this point. I'd say after a month then her chances get lowered to about thirty percent. After a year, the probability is about ten."

Luke sighed and rubbed his face again. Madam Pomfrey made a face as she noted the purple bags underneath the boy's eyes.

"You need rest, boy," she muttered quietly. "As does your little friend here," she added, gesturing to a sleeping Tiffany. Luke rolled his eyes.

"She's not my friend," he muttered.

"Then why is she here?" Madam Pomfrey asked in confusion.

Luke shrugged. "She's here for Alanna."

"I see. So why are you here?"

Luke opened his mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut. Madam Pomfrey gave the boy a knowing look before she pointed at the oak doors of the Wing.

"Out. And take your friend with you," she ordered. Luke rolled his eyes as the Healer walked back to her office. Luke stood up and walked around Alanna's bed. He prodded Tiffany in the ribs, making her jolt awake abruptly.

"What? I'm up!" she cried loudly. Luke snorted.

"C'mon, sleepyhead, we're leaving," he told her. Tiffany glanced down at Alanna.

"No change?" she asked sadly. Luke sighed and shook his head.

"Madam Pomfrey says we need to get outta here and get some sleep. She kicked us out just now."

"Old hag," Tiffany muttered. "Alright, let's go then."

Together, the two walked out of the Hospital Wing, both of them throwing worried glances back at Alanna.

Tiffany sighed as they walked down the corridor outside the Wing. "Only so much hope goes into something like this. And mine is dwindling very quickly."