~A/N: This was written for the Irrational Fears Challenge by UbiquitousTime on the HPFC forum. My character was Victoire, the fear was needles. I hope you enjoy this and leave me with a review either of praise of criticisim. Please leave constructive criticisim, I love getting good, well constructed advice. Happy reading, Lissa~

The room in St. Mungo's was sterile. Bright white, and sterile. The room reeked of cleanliness. In fact it was a bit over bearing. The stark room was not exactly the ideal place for Victoire to regain her senses. But even through the foggy haze of what's going on? and what am I doing here? and the foggy vision that swam and made her head spin along with the unbearably strong scent of clean she noticed one thing immediately.

The needle in her arm.

She panicked, and her dizziness frenzied as the walls seemed to close in on her. She felt like she was drowning in an endless sea of water. She clawed at her arm. Angry red welts formed quickly around the crook of her elbow as the drugs proved to be working seeing as she could not find her bearings well enough to yank the needle out of her vein. She was panicking so much that she did not hear her door open and did not realize there was another person in the room until said person caught her wrist in his hand.

She looked up, tears dripping down her face, her eyes meeting with another pair. Azure to chocolate. Her husband looked worried.

"Vic-"

"Geditout," she begged. "Please get it off me!" she begged. Teddy looked toward the door where the Healer's assistant stood.

"Please go get Healer Bowenstein." Teddy asked the assistant who quickly left in search of the doctor. Then he turned his attention back to his wife. "Love, love, you need to calm down before you hurt yourself."

A doctor soon arrived. He explained that Victoire was brought to the hospital after an accident when she was performing with her dance troupe three nights before. A loose cable had led to an entire lighting fixture crashing down. Victoire was lucky, her ankle had caught underneath it. The bones shattered but were healable. Others weren't so lucky. The news about Angeline, a friend of Vic's, comatose state would be revealed to her later.

"Please, it has to come out, I h-hate needles. They remind me of -" She broke down into tears.

Let it be known that Victoire Gabrielle Weasley-Lupin never liked needles to begin with. Like most children she abhorred those yearly visits to the doctor to get shots, and that hatred for needles only grew as she got older. Maybe it had to do with her queasiness for blood and gore (partially thanks to a movie Teddy had taken her, Dominique, James and Molly to see at a muggle cinema when they were all much younger), but Victoire never was able to stand needles. Anything from medical to artisan, she could not stand syringes or any other form of needle.

It did not help that her younger sister had a long history with needles. Dominique started out as a happy child, but as she reached her teens years she fell into a horrible cliché. She had a secret relationship with an older boy, and then people found out. The boy, Nathan Wood, supposed 'Golden Boy' and quidditch captain extraordinaire, had a girlfriend who then made Dom's life miserable. By this time, Victoire was already graduating and could do nothing to defend her baby sister. Dominique slowly began a downward spiral which ended with her disappearing; running away from home. But this only happened after the whole family watched her fall victim to drugs.

This had scarred Victoire. She watched her sister torture herself. She watched her baby sister's favorite companions become cigarettes, a lighter, drugs and needles. It was horrible. No one could stop Dominique. She disappeared without a trace. She missed Victoire and Teddy's wedding, and the birth of their first and only child, Dominic William Lupin.

Every needle was a reminder of her broken sister. Just a glimpse of an IV, syringe or threading needle made her shatter a bit inside. They were a constant reminder of her baby sister.

The one she couldn't save.

The one who died before she even turned 22.