A/N: First of all I want to apologize for the long time it took me to update. You may direct all your disappointment towards me and also my college. I guarantee that the story will be updated more frequently now that I'm once again on vacation, and that it won't stop being updated until it is finished. I would also like to thank all those of you who reviewed, followed and favorited it. Please enjoy this new chapter and leave your critics, suggestions and commentaries if possible. Feedback is always great. Thank you all :D
"Ugh." Skye whimpered trying to move her body. She recognized she was at the hospital wing, and most of her body ached.
"You shouldn't move too much." A rather familiar voice said. Jemma unconsciously reached for Skye's shoulder to keep her from moving.
"What happened?" The Gryffindor girl asked, ignoring her mixed feelings towards the girl sitting beside her.
"You got hit on the head by a bludger. You were flying pretty fast, and you fell. Two broke ribs, a twisted ankle, lots of bruises and of course a nasty concussion."
"Alright." She replied, tracing her hand along her ribcage and then the big bruise that extended from her forehead down to her cheekbones. She could feel a large scar that she could only imagine looked awful.
"That's where it hit you." Jemma added.
"And what are you doing here?"
"I told the nurse I'm writing an essay on the effects of pain relieving herbs for extra credit in Herbology, and she let me watch you over night to take notes."
"Did you lie about that too?" Skye asked turning her body to the other side, so she was facing away from Jemma.
"No…I asked the Professor if I could do it. I wouldn't be able to make that up. I'm not good at improvisation, however I excel in preparation."
Skye couldn't help but laugh at the way she had spoken those last words, as if she had memorized them from repeating so much. She remembered how nice and easy it was to talk to her at Hogsmead and how her father seemed so proud of her being on the team. It was a kind of pride she had never seen before.
One of her foster fathers was really happy when won a spelling bee in second grade, but it didn't compare to the way Mr. Simmons looked at his daughter. And of course Coulson was amazed when Skye made it as a seeker, and he even got her some muggle ice cream a few days later, but she knew he cared for her only as a nice student with whom he could actually discuss non magical subjects.
Even though she was disappointed about Jemma's actions, Skye still thought she seemed like a nice person. While growing up, no one had ever given her a chance. She was always going from foster home, to orphanage, to foster home again. She wondered if maybe she'd go out of her way to be accepted by a family, if she could and that was probably why she couldn't dislike Jemma.
"What time is it even?" Skye asked, still looking away from the other student. "I mean, for how long was I out?"
"I'm not very sure about when the game ended. It all got pretty messy after you fell as everyone rushed to see what had happened. But it's half past midnight now."
"Shouldn't you be asleep then?" Skye asked, sounding meaner than she intended to. Jemma shifted uncomfortably on the chair she was sitting and stared at her feet. She knew Skye was mad at her and she knew she wasn't supposed to be there anyway. She was once again being pushy into making friends and this time she was sure that Skye was bothered.
"I have…I have been waking up from time to time to check on you and take notes."
"Well, I'll go back to sleep and you should too. It's not like you have the privileges of a giant scar on your head. I'll let you know if I feel anything."
It wasn't the first time Skye was bound to a hospital bed. She was 8 when her tonsils were removed. However, the hospital was always full of people and the orphanage nuns would always come to visit and stay with her. The hospital wing at Hogwarts was the complete opposite. It was huge, and looked like a church, and it was also really cold and people rarely stayed there for more than a few hours.
When Skye woke up on the next morning, Jemma wasn't there anymore, but Coulson, who was reading the back of a chocolate frog card, had taken her place.
"You got one for me?" Skye asked with her sleepy voice.
"No, but your team brought you enough, I think." Coulson pointed to a big basket filled with candy that was placed in front of her bed.
"Yay." She replied, trying to find the less painful way to sit.
"Good thing you're awake, though. Melinda, she's awake." Skye didn't notice that professor May was standing by the window, a few beds away.
"How are you feeling Skye" May asked, approaching the two of them.
"Better, I think." Skye replied.
"I just came to inform that student Grant Ward was the one who sent the bludger your way, after you had already reached the snitch and the game was over, so he'll be punished accordingly."
"Wait, you're not going to expel him or anything, right? Like, he won't be kicked out of the team of anything?"
"Well, he'll be suspended from the next game against Ravenclaw, but I don't think he'll face any other problem unless you or your team would like to formally accuse him of foul play."
Melinda May was the head of Slytherin and she knew from Ward's first day of school that he'd be causing trouble. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but Gryffindor was the only team who refused to complain about his conduct in the field. However, despite his problematic personality, Grant Ward had promising future as an auror and showed profound knowledge on the defenses from Dark Arts, so his behavior would worry Melinda, more than angry her.
Skye was no different. She and Ward had gotten quite close after her breakout as the Gryffindor seeker and even though she was under the "pretty boy effect" for a while, their relationship was always based more on their rivalry. The truth was Skye, at first, considered him as a friend, but she soon found out there's no way anyone could trust him. There was, however, an agreement on the Gryffindor team to never have any player expelled from the other houses. They would rather train twice as much than have people claim their victories were easier. Deep inside her, Skye wanted to have Grant kicked out. Hell, she wanted him out of Hogwarts if she could. It wasn't the first time he hurt someone after the game was over, but to think he had done this to her made her angrier than anything.
"Well, I guess if we're done, I should let you rest. Phil?" May said.
"I'll go in a moment. I need to talk to Skye." Coulson moved to seat on the edge of Skye's bed and waited until May was out the door. "So," he turned to her, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." She answered, reaching out for a package of Every Flavour Beans. "Want the first one?"
"No, I want to know how are you really feeling. Not only you're in a nasty situation, but you've been weird for a while now."
"Have you ever had a first impression of someone that made you think they're great, but then it all fall down to pieces, but you still want to think they're great and you have no idea how to feel?"
"Is this about Ward? Cause I thought your thing with him was completely over and I can always talk to May if you want…"
"Not about Ward. Definitely not about Ward."
"Then who is it Skye?" The concern on Phil's eyes was noticeable even to the most oblivious person in the planet. Skye contemplated telling him all the things that went through her mind in the past month, but she avoided at all costs seeing him as a father figure. The times she actually believed she had a family were the ones that hurt the most once they left her.
"Hum…Look, my head really hurts right now, I should probably get some more rest, could you maybe get me out of this hospital wing as soon as humanly, or wizardly possible? Thanks Coulson, you're the best. Bye." Skye laid down and closed her eyes, waiting for Phil to leave his spot at her bad.
"Look, I'll go, but first let me tell you this: If this person, whoever they are, is still on you mind somehow, you might want to get all this cleared up with them before it starts to mess with your head. I'm talking from experience."
Once his weight lifted and she heard the big doors closing, Skye sat up again and resumed the hard job of finding the good tasting beans in the package.
"You arrived at the dorm really late yesterday, didn't you?" Fitz asked a little out of his breath. "And could you maybe walk a little slower and pretend you can talk to me?"
"Fitz, I need to get to the library and finish my Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment, and no I can't walk slowly." Jemma replied, walking effortlessly through the packed hallways and managing to avoid collision with every single student walking the opposite way. Fitz on the other hand, was responsible for a few potions supplies being dropped.
"Ok, ok. But why did you arrive late at the dorm?"
"I didn't arrive late, I arrived early in the morning. I was finishing an extra credit thing."
"What extra credit thing?"
"Fitz! I don't have to tell you everything I work on. What I have to do is finish my homework." Simmons replied stopping in front of the library doors.
"Alright, alright. See you after the free period?"
"Yeah, sure."
Libraries were always Jemma's favorite place. She never knew if it was the quietness, or the books or the combination of both, but it made her extremely calm. It took her a few minutes to organize all her books on the table in front of her, but it saved her the trouble of looking for the information she needed once she stared her essay.
Writing was a precise work for Jemma Simmons. She could never write a sentence only once. She would write at least three different versions of the same paper before settling on final version. It was such an intricate job that her brain pretty much turned off for everything else around her. That's why it took her so long to realize someone was calling for her from across the table.
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry I didn't notice you." She whispered to the tall boy sitting in front of her.
"Wow, I'm a bit sad, but it's okay. You're the substitute seeker for Ravenclaw, right?" Trip asked.
"Yes, you're Antoine Triplett, Gryffindor captain. We met when my dad talked to you before the game."
"Yeah, best day of my life. First of all, please thank your father again for coming to speak with us. Second, I have a note for you. I didn't read, but I think you're being called at the hospital wing." He said giving her a wink. "Also, I heard you're pretty good. I hope we get to face each other before I graduate."
"Thank you, you're pretty great too." She answered picking the little folded paper he placed between them.
"It was nice to properly meet you Ms. Simmons." Trip said getting up and walking towards the doors. Jemma didn't read the note at first, because she was worried about what it might say, Instead she decided to go see Skye as soon as she was finished with her work. If she had face harsh words, she would rather hear them than read them.