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"Are you okay? Are you going to make it to the house?" Bill asked in a slow, gentle voice. Eleanora's legs had completely given out halfway up the yard, and she was leaning all of her weight on Bill, sweating profusely. She closed her eyes and nodded, wishing her head would stop pounding. "Just a few more steps," Bill murmured, holding her up as best as he could. "You'll be alright, just a few more steps, Nora."
Eleanora opened her eyes and felt like she was underwater. She blinked hard a few times, trying to focus on her surroundings. She stopped moving and leaned into Bill's side, breathing hard. He looked down at her, alarmed.
"Just a little further, then we can get my mum." He tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, not wanting to distress her further. Internally, he was panicking. He had no idea what had happened to her, or why Snape had been the one to escort her there. "Come on, Nora," he said again, wrapping his arm more tightly around her to support her as much as he could. Eleanora kept blinking, frantically trying to get her vision back to normal. The pain in her head was unbearable, and the last thing she heard was Bill's voice before everything went black.
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"Bill, get me another wet cloth, quickly now."
Eleanora opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the soft early morning light illuminating the room, then she realized that she was seeing everything normally. No more underwater feeling. Mrs. Weasley hurried across the room when she saw that Eleanora was awake, kneeling down next to the cushiony couch she was stretched out on.
"How are you feeling, dear? You gave us quite a scare last night."
Eleanora tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry for any sound to come out.
"Here," Bill entered from the kitchen holding a glass of water and a wet washcloth. He handed his mother the cloth and knelt down beside her, looking at Eleanora with an expression full of concern. "Do you think you can hold this? Do you need help?" Eleanora shook her head and reached for the glass with her right hand, but winced and put it back down immediately.
"Not that arm, dear. I haven't started mending it yet," Mrs. Weasley said, pressing the cloth to Eleanora's forehead to wipe away some stray bloodstains. Eleanora reached for the glass with her other arm and took it shakily. Bill quickly leaned over and helped her sit up to drink the water. "We've spent practically all night fixing you ribs, most of them were broken." Mrs. Weasley got in the way of Eleanora's free arm as she continued to clean her face. Bill took the glass when Eleanora had finished and set it on the floor, then he adjusted some of the pillows on the couch so she could sit up comfortably.
"We're doing the best we can, but some of the bruising won't fade for a little while," he said as Eleanora felt her ribs for any trace of the excruciating pain she'd felt the night before.
