Well, here it is! Thanks to Moonlit Lightning for the constructive review =) You made my day!
Disclaimer: me no own
"L-Lefty!"
What..?
"Oh Merlin, cous'..wake up.." Cockney accent..
Ash? Is that you? Jeez, it sure sounds like you..
"En..hm?" She opened her eyes slowly. She lay in a secluded part of the Hospital Wing. Her cousin, a mess in the chair next to her bed. But it wasn't Ash.
Miles was hunched over with his head in his hands, still wearing his Quidditch uniform, still soaked to the bone. He lifted his head to look at her. He looked barely six years old. Red rimmed eyes, hair messy, nose bright red from all the wetness. All of his reassurance and distance stripped away, and there lay exposed his raw core.
"A-are you okay?" He choked out.
"I'm fine, are you?" She reached for him, but he withdrew, Adam's apple bobbing as if he was trying to swallow his tears.
"F-fine.."
"Then why are you stuttering?" She asked, trying to be gentle. Miles always stuttered when he was upset. At this, a new wave of pain crossed his face.
"Listen...I-I'm n-not.." He lapsed into another round of sobs as she gathered the broken mess into her arms. He curled into her and sobbed loudly, tears and snot streaming.
Lefty sat in silence as her cousin cried. This was Miles Graham, the toughest Quidditch jock in school. Miles Graham wasn't ever like this. But this was also Miley, the sensitive six-year-old, virtually attached at the hip to his twin brother. This was the little boy recovering from the abuse by his muggle father.
He shook and coughed from lack of air. "L-listen.. Ashy...he...h-he's broken pretty bad, cous'.." Lefty felt fear-driven adrenaline begin to rush, but she squelched it. The first priority was to calm poor Miles down."It's all m-my fault, cous'! I-I couldn't get there in time! Our brooms w-were..." She held her cousin tighter and rocked him.
"It's not your fault, sweetheart.. Shhh.. It's okay, Miley.. S'not your fault.."
His breathing hitched and slowed down as she rubbed his back. In a few minutes, her cousin was sound asleep. Lefty tucked him into her bed and ran a hand through her hair. How many people were here? She pulled back the soundproof curtain and into the main part.
A first year and a third year were huddled around the bed of a seventh year, laid up with a broken leg and a head injury. Madam Pomfrey had called in Professors Sprout and Slughorn, who were frantically growing and brewing healing potions. The healer herself was dashing about to each bed, checking on her patients. Her wand would blink when someone was in pain. Lefty caught her arm as she neared her. Madam Pomfrey nodded and pointed to a secluded area of the Wing. The Intensive Care Unit.
There were only two curtained beds. She poked her head in the first one and found who she was looking for.
Ash's compact form took up little of the bed. He was deathly pale, his shaggy hair was more ruffled than normal. Lefty pulled up a chair to his bed and just sat there. She didn't say anything sappy or clasp his hand like in Muggle movies. She just stared. Ash was breathing, there were no visible injuries, and he had more color now. She took the strand of hair he'd been braiding beads into. On a shelf she noticed Madam Pomfrey had folded his robes. She reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of wooden beads. Lefty set to work, twisting them in, adding another strand, letting the hair mesh with the beads. She tied it off with a peace sign bead and rose to leave. Ash stirred, but fell asleep, this time snoring lightly. He didn't snore when he was unconscious, she guessed.
Outside, Lefty immediately bumped into someone, landing hard on her butt.
"Natty?" The girl was expressionless. Lefty shook her shoulder again. "Natalia? What's wrong?"
Natalia blinked, and for a minute Lefty saw something in her eyes. The prefect got back up and walked away. Lefty caught her by the wrist. "What is it?"
Natalia suddenly screamed and jerked her hand away, running out of the Hospital Wing. Lefty turned.
Danny, their other prefect, lay dead on a cot. Danny with the kind smile and never-ending amounts of patience. Danny who loved Natalia. Lefty felt her stomach twist. Oh my God.. She took a shaky breath. Not now, not now..
Leftius D. Spencer straightened up and walked out of that scene with three things on her mind; Danny, her dormmates, and a change of clothes for herself and her cousins. This was Leftius D. Spencer, who was the rock. Lefty who held people together.
This took eons, I tell you.. Reviews are love!
