The first thing Scabior noticed when he slowly came around was the odd, heavy feeling in his right shoulder, and as it continued down on his side and upper thigh too, it filled him with dread. Suddenly he remembered the initial joy he felt when he saw the bright, Gryffindor-red streak appearing in his hair, and then the pain that followed. It was unlike any injuries he had before. It was intense, like a burnt finger, but the impact was heavy, like a Bludger to the head, and it made the whole room, and his friends in it whirl so fast that he felt more than happy to finally hit the ground when everything went dark around him.
The splitting headeache it gave him was still around, but he was more worried about his hand, so instead of opening his eyes, he squinted even harder and tried to move it with all his might. It was too heavy for him to lift, and to make things worse, it made the weight shift from his shoulder towards his chest, and it gave him a sharpish sensation in the stomach too.
It felt very much like being elbowed in the guts by a small child, and as he finally opened his eyes, he saw that it was because he had a small child, a girl with dark, unruly hair, much like his sprawled over his right side.
"Merlin's saggy left–" he sighed with relief as he pulled his sister a little closer.
"You're awake!" she snapped her head up without a warning, almost hitting Scabior on the jaw with it, before ducking back and burying her face in his neck. "You're awake! I've been so worried for you!"
"Cat... You shouldn't be 'ere," whispered Scabior, clearing his throat after the fright she gave him.
"I told her that, but she refused to leave your side," grumbled Madam Pomfrey, as she walked up to the bed and touched Catherine's shoulder. "Move back, sweetheart, and let him sit up. I have to take a look at him," she lit a candle on the bedside with a swish of her wand, and as his sister scooted over to sit by his feet instead, Scabior found it a lot easier to raise himself from his pillow as instructed.
Having nothing to support his head made him dizzy for a moment, but a few deep breaths and the matron's hand against the back of his neck helped a little with that. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a faint, silvery-blue light, and at first it made the skin prickle under his hair, then it gave him a shiver that ran through the side of his head and neck, but it died away quickly and took some of the light-headedness too.
"Will 'e be all right?" asked Cat, watching the whole procedure with eyes wide, like she had never seen magic being performed before.
"Yes, he will," nodded Madam Pomfrey. "He's very lucky," she added, looking at Scabior in a way that suggested that only the presence of his sister saved him from a long and highly unpleasant lecture on his stupidity and what it could have costed him.
"And the others?" Scabior tried to change the topic.
"They will be fine too," the matron pursed her lips, as if she feared to let out more information than he deserved. "Swan and Wyngarde woke within the hour, and Graham just before supper," she motioned towards the screen behind her with her head. "You are all very lucky," she nodded again, and Scabior had to cough to mask his delight. Only four of them ended up in the Hospital Wing, which meant that Vincent was out somewhere, sporting the perfect token of Gryffindor pride, but without a splitting headache.
Or that he chickened out like the others said he would, but Scabior doubted that.
"Drink this. Slowly," Madam Pomfrey handed Scabior a cup filled with a milky white potion. "And you, sweetheart, you say good night to your brother and go back to your dormitory," she ordered Cat.
"Let me stay with 'im!" the little girl begged. "At 'ome 'e lets me stay with 'im all the time! Please, let me stay."
"I'm sorry," Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "It's getting late, and he needs to sleep."
"You should go, kitten," Scabior nudged her gently with his foot that she was practically sitting on.
"Let me stay at least until 'e finishes 'is potion," Cat went on, giving Madam Pomfrey the puppy eyes that have never failed her before.
"Until he finishes his potion," sighed the matron defeatedly, before stepping away from them, but not going very far. It wasn't the first time Scabior had to spend a night in the Hospital Wing, and he knew that as soon as the last drop of potion passed his lips, his sister would be out of the ward and back to her own bed, so he tried to sip it slowly.
"I've brought you Jelly Slugs," beamed Catherine, motioning towards the bedside. "I've got 'em and a few new quills from Mum," she looked at them fondly.
"And 'ow did you like my present?" he smiled with a hint of pride in his voice, because getting a large bag of Bertie Bott's by her bed in the Hufflepuff dormitories wasn't an easy task, even with his extensive knowledge of the castle and talent for sneaking around in it. And he did it by night, to surprise her in the morning...!
"They were yummy," she smiled at him. "And they were all strawberry falvoured!"
"Really?" grinned Scabior. It took him a few weeks to collect a decent amount of it, and most people he asked for them found it endearingly odd that she would eat only this one flavour. "Well, when should one get lucky if not on their birthday?" he raised his cup towards her and took a sip.
"Indeed," she straightened her back a little.
"Are you finished with it?" Madam Pomfrey stepped closer to his bed again.
"Almost," nodded Scabior, looking at his sister apologetically as he finally emptied the cup.
"Then the party is over," announced the matron, as she took it from Scabior. "Say good night and come along," she nodded towards Cat, who slipped off the bed with a petulant sigh.
"Can I come tomorrow?" she stepped back into her shoes.
"Sure," grinned Scabior, taking one of the Jelly Slugs and biting its head off, to get the potion's taste away. "I'll be 'ere," leaned in as Cat came over to hug him. "Happy birthday, kitten," he pulled her closer and munched on the jelly extra loud to make her giggle.
oOo
Nothing about the weather suggested it was still August, so Scabior adjusted the collar of his jacket with a sniff and crossed to the street to the small apothecary. It was still open, but like most of the shops in Wizarding Britain these days, it looked like it had been closed for weeks.
"Evening, sir," nodded the wizard behind the counter. "How may I help you?" he asked, and even though he was not wearing his Ministry armband, he gave Scabior a wary look.
"'Ello," Scabior walked up to him, and he tried to put on a friendly smile. "I'm lookin' for Catherine. Is she in?"
He could tell that the wizard was thinking hard how to refuse him politely, but before he even the chance to mumble a sorry, sir, the door leading to what looked like to be their store room opened with a bang.
"You're out!" gasped Cat, holding onto the frame for a moment longer, before she ran to Scabior and threw herself into his arms. "You're out!" she laughed. "I've been so worried for you!"
"Sorry about that," Scabior pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.
"What took you so long?" she looked up at him with tears in her eyes and the biggest, most adorable grin on her face. "I've read in the Prophet that they let people out, but it's been nearly two weeks."
"There were things I 'ad to take care of first," he cleared his throat, glancing at the wizard behind the counter fleetingly. He was still watching them, but Cat's reaction seemed to turn his mistrust into plain curiosity, and Scabior was almost happy for it. He would have hated to admit that he had been too ashamed to show his face here, and so spent these two weeks hunting people for the Ministry and drinking away the gold he got for it with a woman he just met instead.
She followed his gaze and let him go with a smile, but slipped her hand back into his. "Can I step out for a moment?" she asked the wizard, and started pulling Scabior towards the door without even waiting for an answer.
"Sure," he nodded. "Take your time."
As they left a shop and took shelter from the rain in the alley beside the building, it was much like the time when Scabior had started his first job at Cobb & Webb's. Back then they used to be a lot closer, so when Cat was home from Hogwarts, she came around once or twice a week when he had his lunch break to eat a few bites of his sandwich, drink half of his pumpkin juice and beg him to give her just one cigarette.
"Look at you," she smiled, putting the pack and her wand back into the pocket of her apron. "You look like shit," she touched his face fondly, like their mother used to.
"Well, at least you are pretty enough for the both of us," Scabior chuckled, turning his head slightly to blow the smoke the other way.
"Oh, I know that," she straightened her back and lifted her chin like a princess, but the longer she watched him, the more sober her face turned. "But seriously. Are you all right?"
"I'm all right," he nodded, looking her in the eyes to make sure she believed him.
"Good," she touched his face again. "You 'ave a place to go? The kids love you, and we can make some room if you–"
"I know, but I'm fine, thanks," Scabior shook his head, taking the cigarette between his teeth, because he wanted to keep that as a kind of last resort. "And it's not why I came," he reached for the inner pocket of her jacket and taking three bags of Bertie Bott's out of it. "I 'ad no time to open and sort 'em, but happy birthday, kitten!" he handed them over with a grin.
Thanks for reading. Please, leave a review if you liked it! :)