Written by: NeonDomino & Screaming Faeries for the Capture the Flag challenge at Hogwarts.
Nymphadora Tonks awoke to a shooting pain in her head. She let out a groan and shifted around in her bed, finding it very uncomfortable. She wondered if the softening charms on the bed had worn off already—her father had only reapplied them three days before. Seventeen couldn't come quick enough—she wanted to be able to do these spells for herself.
"Bloody hell," she muttered under her breath. rubbing the back of her hand over her closed eyes. She took a couple of breathes, trying to assess the pain. What had happened this time? She shifted again, pushing herself into a sitting position and opened her eyes, planning to head to the kitchen to find a pain potion. She gaped around the room in shock - this was certainly not her bedroom.
She was in the middle of a very clean smelling, bright white room, with three other beds surrounding her. Three elderly women were sleeping in the beds, with various machinery attached to them with wires and tubes. Nymphadora went to swing her legs out of the bed, which was covered with a thin, cotton blue blanket and starch sheets, but realised she couldn't actually get very far. On the inside of her elbow on her left arm was a thick piece of surgical tape, holding a wire into her arm. When she bent her elbow, she realised there must be something—like a needle—in her vein. It was attached to a pole which was carrying what appeared to be a bag of water beside her bed.
Nymphadora grasped the surgical tape, ready to pull out the needle. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, honey," a voice suddenly broke her attention, and Nymphadora looked up. A slightly large, dark-skinned nurse was smiling over at Nymphadora from the window, carrying a clipboard. "You've had quite a fall, young lady."
"Happens all the time," she muttered to herself, taking another look around before studying the woman. After a moment, she realised that she was in a muggle hospital—similar to the television shows her paternal grandparents liked to watch. She sighed—her parents weren't going to be happy. Andromeda was always sighing and frowning over her lack of coordination and Nymphadora really didn't want to sit through another of Mother's lessons on how to walk properly and not rush and trip over everything.
The nurse approached the bed. "Now you've woken up, can you tell me your name and a contact number for your parents?" she requested, glancing at the clipboard in her hands. "I'm sure they're worried about you." She took out a pen, and looked up at Nymphadora expectantly.
"Oh. Erm…" Nymphadora racked her brains for an excuse. She didn't want her mother and father finding out that she'd been in the hospital—especially not a Muggle hospital. Andromeda would near enough faint in shock, and want to rush her straight to St. Mungos for a full check up, and her father would probably just laugh at her for her constant stream of clumsiness. "D...Dora," she finally uttered. "Dora Weasley." The nurse cocked an eyebrow in disbelief, but thankfully she didn't push it. Nymphadora looked to the side of the bed, discovering her rucksack, and fished around in it until her fingers closed around the smooth plastic of her new mobile phone.
It had been a gift from her grandparents—that is, Ted's mother and father. A large, brick-like mobile telephone device which they had hoped Nymhadora would use to call them while she was at school—of course, they were unaware that no Muggle technology would work within Hogwarts, but it was a nice thought. Nymphadora had instead asked her father to magically duplicate the phone, and she had given the other to her boyfriend, Charlie, and had spent a fair amount of time teaching him how to use it, so they could speak to each other during the holidays. "I don't know my parents' numbers, but I know my...brother's," she finished, gesturing to her mobile phone.
Nymphadora got the number up on the screen, and ignored the look the nurse was giving her. Finally the woman sighed and copied the number from the screen and disappeared from the room. Tonks quickly shot off a text to Charlie, explaining that he needed to pretend to be her brother for a call he was about to get. She sent the message and hoped he would read it before the nurse called him.
With the nurse gone and the other residents of the room fast asleep, Tonks concentrated on the light brown hair she had left home with. Hoping to make her story more plausible, she added a hint of red to her hair and a few freckles to her face, hoping it was enough to make her bear a slight resemblance to Charlie. She watched the door impatiently, hoping that Charlie was on his way to get her out of here. Charlie was good at talking and would hopefully be able to convince the nurse of anything—even possibly convincing the nurse to let her go free.
After about fifteen minutes of sighing, tapping her feet and impatiently glancing towards the clock on the far wall, Nymphadora finally became aware of the sound of footsteps in the hallway beyond the room she was occupying. She heard the voice of the nurse who had been looking after her, and in the next moment, the doors were swinging open. Charlie came bustling through, his long, sunset-coloured hair tied back in a scruffy ponytail. He was wearing a faded black 'Rioting Dementors' t-shirt which Nymphadora knew had previously belonged to Bill, though Charlie had also torn off the sleeves scruffily, so that it resembled more of a tank top. He had his hands in the pockets of his low slung, baggy jeans that were sporting rips on the knees, and he was grinning over at Nymphadora.
The nurse was hurrying after Charlie, trying to catch his attention, but Charlie flung himself down heavily in the seat beside Nymphadora's bed. "Well, I would like to say I'm surprised, Tonks—but it's not really unlike you to whack your head on something and end up in a Mu—"
"—I know," Nymphadora cut in quickly before Charlie could say the word. The nurse was eyeing the pair of them suspiciously.
"I thought you said your name was Dora?" she asked, her dark gaze flickering between them.
"It's...a nickname," Nymphadora replied carefully, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the nurse.
"We've been calling her that for years," Charlie continued. "So, I can take her home now, right?"
The nurse looked between the pair suspiciously, ignoring the smile on Charlie's face. "How old are you?" She asked, turning back to her clipboard.
"Seventeen," Charlie replied and Nymphadora held in a groan. It was the Muggle-world and seventeen wasn't the right age out here. The look on the Nurse's face showed that she felt the same way.
"I'm sorry Mr Weasley, your… sisterneeds someone over eighteen to discharge her, she can't discharge herself. Legally, we have to have a parent or guardian here for her. Maybe you have a contact number for someone?"
"Eighteen, always forget that part," Charlie muttered to himself frowning slightly. He glanced at Nymphadora before looking at all the other beds in the ward, noticing that everyone else was asleep. His fingers moved towards the pocket which contained his wand.
The nurse watched as Charlie retrieved his wand from his pocket, but before she could comment, he had flicked it in her direction. "Confundo," he murmured quietly. Almost immediately, a look of blankness spread across her previously suspicious face, and she dropped her hands to her sides. "Yes...I'll get on that right away," she stated airily, and began to wander aimlessly around the room. Nymphadora inwardly thanked the other patients for being asleep, and therefore completely unaware of the charm that Charlie had just cast.
Nymphadora stifled a laugh as Charlie tucked his wand away, and he picked up her rucksack. "Come on then, let's go, before one of the other nurses gets in here." Nymphadora nodded and carefully climbed out of the bed in her nightshirt. However, it was immediately apparent that she'd already forgotten about the drip that was attached to her, as she was jerked back by the tube, which ripped itself out of her skin painfully. She cursed herself, grabbing the inside of her elbow and rubbing the small, pinprick shaped mark on her arm.
The pair headed quickly through the door, freezing at the nurse waiting outside. "You haven't been discharged," the strict looking woman said, eyes narrowing at the pair. "You need to return to your bed for now whilst I sort this out."
"Want me to confound her too?" Charlie whispered.
Nymphadora shook her head. "Too many witnesses," she whispered. "On the count of three, run!"
Charlie grinned as she began to count, grabbing her hand when she reached three.
After all, if he didn't hold on, she'd probably fall and knock herself out again—then they'd never get out of the hospital.