Belladonna

A Night in Hospital

It's a short chapter so...it's a double post!

Belladonna 13

A Night in Hospital

8 November 1992

"Mum... Dad... No go... Ana be good..."

A loud crack awoke Ana from her dreamy haze. She was lying in bed in a darkened hospital wing. The night sky, with its many stars, shone through the window across from her. Ana thought she was alone until she heard movement beside her. She turned her head and found her sick companion to be none other than Harry Potter.

Before she could question his presence there, her head was filled with a terrible ringing. She moaned and grabbed her head.

"Ohhh... What happened?"

There was a stretch of silence before Harry answered her. "You took a bludger to the head."

"Mother of Merlin, you're a bloody genius aren't you? I meant the match. What happened in the match? Please tell me it was worth it. Tell me they didn't blow it after I left."

Harry didn't respond, but when Ana looked over at him, she saw his cheeky grin.

"Oh bugger! You caught the snitch didn't you?"

"I don't know why you're so surprised."

"Brilliant. Marcus if going to try and pin this on me, just what I need."

There was more silence before Harry offered, "Actually, he looked pretty upset with Malfoy."

"Not his precious Draco, surely; he can do no wrong. Why? What did he do?"

Harry's grin seemed to grow at the memory. "The snitch was floating right by his head, but he was too busy laughing at me to notice it. He would have had it if he had just looked."

"Somehow I'm not surprised. His distinguished seeker abilities were not the reason he made the team."

Ana and Harry drifted into yet another silent spell. Ana tenderly pushed herself into a seated position. She knew it was late and she should try going back to sleep, but the last image that had passed through her mind was unsettling. She tried to hang on to it now to make sense of it, but it was fading quickly. And when it was gone, Ana couldn't bring it back and she couldn't pull any meaning from it.

She looked around her and found a small table next to the bed. She expected to see the little lamp there, but not the small potions vial. Ana picked up the vial and the note that came with it.

FOR PAIN

It was written in Sev's hand. Ana smiled at the gesture. She was about to pop the cork on the bottle when she saw something else on the table: a sugar quill. There was no note with this gift, but Ana knew it was from Fred.

A sudden, agonizing groan from Harry drew her attention.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"My arm...the bludger broke it during the match... Afterwards...afterwards Professor Lockhart tried to fix it."

"You let Professor Dimwit try to fix your arm?"

"I..." Harry looked at Ana curiously. "I didn't let him; I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

"Well that's because he doesn't listen to anything besides his own voice. Let me guess, instead of mending the bone, he removed it."

"Yeah, but it wasn't just the one bone," he mumbled under his breath.

"What? No! How many?"

"All of them." Harry held up his still floppy arm to show her, and Ana laughed. She couldn't help it.

"I...I'm sorry...I'm not....laughing...at you, just... Oh! What and idiot! Not you...this time at least, but...Oh! He really is one isn't he? I knew there was something not right about his books. I mean...does he really expect us to believe that he wrestled a full-grown werewolf to the ground? The werewolf would have crushed his delicate bones...which, I suppose explains why he can't perform a simple bone-mending charm. He's probably never had to use one before! So... Madam Pomfrey gave you skelegrow, I bet?"

Harry nodded.

"I also bet that it tastes rather revolting."

"Have you ever had it before?"

"No, but I know what goes into it, and believe me, you don't want to know. And...I imagine it's doing very little for the pain as there's no pain relief in it."

Harry nodded again, this time with a grimace as he held his arm. Ana looked at the vial in her hand. It was intended for her, and yeah, her head still hurt a little, but Fred's sugar quill was helping with that. And judging by the look on his face, Harry's pain was a lot worse. Ana was not Harry's biggest fan by any means, she certainly wouldn't be lining up for one of those signed photos he was apparently handing out, but the boy had all the bones in his arm removed by an incompetent Professor. She felt slightly bad for the boy.

"Here," she said holding out the vial towards him. "Drink this. It will help with the pain."

He just stared at the vial in her hand. "Why?"

"Because you're obviously in pain and I'm offering to relieve you of that pain. Sev brewed this especially for me, so you know it's not poisoned. Take it."

Harry continued to just stare at her.

"The offer won't last all night, Potter. Take it."

Harry reached out for the vial and immediately felt its numbing affects take over.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Ana replied. "Really, don't tell anyone about it. I wouldn't want word to get around that I'm...nice or something."

"I doubt anyone would believe me if I did tell them."

"People will always believe what they want to believe. As long as you, and those important to you, know the truth, then that's all that really matters. That's why I've decided to embrace the Wicked and Snape's Daughter bit."

Harry furrowed his brows and looked at Ana. "But you are his daughter...aren't you?"

"My point exactly. He's not really my dad. I'd be Ana Snape then, wouldn't I?"

"I...I guess so, yeah..."

"But no one stops to think about that, do they? They don't stop to think about a lot of things...like Professor Dimwit's accomplishments. I bet if people stopped to think about it a bit more, and looked past the charming smile and pretty hair, then..."

Ana stopped suddenly as she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She and Harry looked at each other before they both lay back down and pretended to be asleep. Professor Dumbledore backed into the room a moment later, followed closely by Professor McGonagall. They were carrying something like a stiff board between them. They headed towards the nearest bed and lifted the board onto it. It wasn't until McGonagall went to get Madam Pomfrey that Ana saw two hands sticking up in the air holding a camera.

It wasn't a board they'd placed on the bed; it was a student as petrified as the cat, Mrs. Norris, had been on Halloween. The Heir of Slytherin had struck again.