Disclaimer: I seriously have to put this every time? Dang. If I were J.K. Rowling, then…

I would know my first two initials (J.K. – what does it stand for? It shall drive me to insanity)

I would be PUBLISHING THIS AMAZING STUFF!

C'mon, guys.

By the way, I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I know everyone says that, and I know the world wouldn't fall in if I stopped writing together – my hugest fans wouldn't even notice – but aw, who cares? Maybe it'll catch on :D Enjoy!

The infirmary.

A wonderful place with all-too-many wonderfully amusing stories of pain, organized side by side, all lying conveniently in little beds that have seen all of blood, sweat, and tears.

The reality of it was bleary in Teddy's eyes at first; confusion, at first, but without any immediate wish to pursue what was really going on, just lazy, idle confusion.

The first thing he understood was light; it was afternoon, or maybe even morning. It was still raining, he could hear the sounds forming in his ears, actually meaning something. He could see the clouds, they were patchy – each one was rimmed with golden sunlight.

The second thing he felt was pain.

His whole body was sore. His arm felt like it was wrapped in countless blankets – or was that his leg? Leg, definitely leg – and his neck had a kink in it that felt as if someone had shoved a bowling ball in, right beside the bone. He had a pressing headache, and the disgusting, medicine-y smell that hit him right away surely wasn't helping. For some reason, the Alarm Clock of Life had chosen for him to wake at this exact moment; he was cool with that, accept it was earlier than he would have wished. But it wasn't in his hands, and there was no snooze button - or maybe there was, who knows. Teddy didn't really care at the moment; he sort of hated metaphors, espacially long drawn-out ones such as that one. He just gave a weak smile at how pathetic the meager complaints were, and began to regain the ability to produce thoughts.

Something in the forest, with an invisible pig-bear – what had it been? Why was he in the forest? All his thoughts seemed to gather at once, and then his smile strengthened.

Oh, yeah. I fell off the train to Wal-Marts.

That didn't sound right…

Hogwarts.

He groaned lightly, sitting up and putting a hand to his head, rubbing it slightly. Queasiness almost sent him reeling, but he just scrunched his eyes closed, his grin evaporating.

He had only missed a couple of days of classes, though, so he would be good. Hadn't he? He couldn't have been out that long, maybe a half a week or something.

"So you're up," he heard a girl say.

There was a long pause inbetween his response from her initial comment. He couldn't quite hear her, but he could still interpret what she had said. Plus, even a simple question required a bit of thought, and his brain was still moving sluggishly.

"Guess so," Teddy grunted, snorting.

"Who are you?" she asked right away, before he could even see her.

He suppressed a groan. Already, he had paparazzi – hey, his handsomeness was hard to refuse. But not even a hello? He wasn't in much of a flowery mood already, but this – this was just ridiculous.

"What's it to you?" he asked, fairly rudely, but he thought it was just fair.

Teddy turned his head, seeing the girl for the first time. She had light blonde hair that fell over her shoulders, shining in the hesitant light from the window. She was smiling, and her rosy cheeks were spotted with light freckles. "I come in here to see my boyfriend, since he's injured, and every time I come in here, your hair's a different color!" she giggled, her cheeks blushing into an even deeper pink.

"It's a talent of mine," he sighed, sitting back into the grouping of pillows behind him.

She smiled and skipped off, seeming overly cheerful. She seemed a bit familiar, but he was sure it was just one of those people with one of those faces you saw all the time.

Teddy looked up, curious to see what color his hair was now. Turquoise, just the way he liked it. He sat for a moment and focused, turning the tips flaming pink. He grinned; it was the kind of attention having pink and blue hair attracted that he ate for breakfast.

And only then did he realize that, in the whole exchange, he had not shared his name, nor learned hers.

Shrugging and writing off the thought, Teddy got up slowly, his balance leaving him for a moment before he gripped the nightstand set beside his bed. A lamp fell off and shattered, and a cup of water tipped over, the clear contents gushing out. He winced, and felt hot embarrassment as he saw a cane beside his bed, obviously intended for his use.

He grabbed it and began to walk out, hunched over it like an elderly person.

When he came into the next room, he heard a soft, weird sound. He turned and saw the girl he had met earlier, leaned over the 'injured' boy, snogging with him like there was no tomorrow. The dude looked like he was at least a fourth year or something, or maybe a huge second year, but he was sure that girl had been in his year. He blinked, unmoved by it, and began to walk out.

He had escaped the infirmary alive!

Teddy silently wished there were trumpets and confetti, but to no avail. Apparently wishes weren't included in magic; oh well, he already knew that, but oh well.

He walked for a while through the almost empty corridors. What was up? Why was it all so empty?

He stumbled around a corner, and began to hear sounds of many voices and laughter and mingling, amplifying as he went further down this new corridor.

He grinned, thinking of all the marvelous times he would get lost in this place of limitless corridors, turning round another corner to see a huge entryway into the fabled Great Hall, filled with students, both shorter than him and seven years older than him, fatter than him and taller, of all sizes and shapes (Mostly shaped like people, but this was a school of wizardry, so you never knew).

He scanned the area, and saw brilliant shining plates full of food, and it was all some certain category of food, he couldn't put his finger on it for a moment – eggs, ham, bacon, toast, omelet, jam, scones, tea – breakfast. It was breakfast, he knew, and he wanted to smack himself in the face for not remembering the most important meal of the day.

If you couldn't remember it, it's not that important, his conscience or some other part of his being told him, and he couldn't help but nod in agreement. But that was good; everyone was almost as groggy as he was, since it was – what – seven in the morning? Almost eight? When WAS breakfast?

Now. Breakfast is now, another voice in his head told him, and this time he was sure it was his conscience. Only something like that could conjure up such wise, articulate words. His eyes continued to overlook the room, as if waiting for an invitation.

He saw a few familiar faces from King's Cross Station and the train, but just a few. He saw his friend – who, incidentally, he had only known for around a couple of hours – that kid Angelo Reilles. He was wearing a black robe and – Teddy noticed as he turned towards him, laughing, his face stuffed with food as he joked with friends, it had a yellow tie under and the Hufflepuff crest embroidered on it.

They had already been sorted! But that was okay, they did that just on the first day…right? Or was that like a month in? He rubbed his eyes, some sort of distant panic nagging at him, but it quickly faded.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and walked in, still feeling excessively tired and dragging his feet more than usual.

Ready to enter into this new reality, with whatever surprises he would encounter in it, making him wish he had stayed back in the infirmary with the newlyweds, he stepped through the giant marble entry, his eyes opening.

If anyone noticed (I didn't even notice myself, for a while) In Angelo Reilles's name, I put the I before the E. And there. Was. No. C. Ah, well – we live and we learn. Hope you enjoyed, my 2-3 fans, please comment and review and all that wonderful stuff.