Title:
Troubled Waters: Shadow of Doubt (9 of ?)
Author name:
Darkforest214
Category: Romance, Drama, Angst
Spoilers:
Books 1 through 5
Rating: PG-13
Summary: This
story was the inspiration for "Diary of a Hufflepuff." Follow
several characters through their adventures in love. The main
characters are Fred and George and Olivia James, (one of) my original
character(s).
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters
and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers
including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and
Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no
copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka… I own nothing
(except for the few characters I came up with…)
A/N:
About time for another chapter, don't you think? Let's here it...
Chapter Nine
Tyler came to the Hospital Wing first. He greeted Ginny with a hug, a kiss, and a worried smile. "How's she doing?" he asked Ginny.
"You've only been gone 15 minutes," said Ginny with a forced laugh. Ty gave Ginny a look that told her he wasn't joking. "Sorry. She came to, once, but had another coughing fit and passed out again." Ty put his arm around Ginny's waist and they moved to stand at the side of her bed. Ty sighed and rested his head on the top of Ginny's.
George came in and saw the two holding and comforting each other, their backs to him. His concern for Liv exceeded his brotherly concern for Ginny at the moment.
"Good, you're back," said Madam Pomfrey. Tyler thought she was talking to him, but then she spoke again. "Did you find Professor Snape and give him that parchment?"
"Yeah, he said he'd have it ready in an hour or so," said George. Ginny and Tyler both jumped, startled by his quiet entrance. They immediately let go of each other and moved apart.
"Is she—" George started, but was interrupted when Liv woke up and started coughing. Madam Pomfrey moved to her side and made her sit forward. But she didn't pass out this time.
"Are you ok?" both Ty and George asked at once.
Liv nodded, unable to speak. She wiped the side of her mouth with the sleeve of her robes, unable to see the blood on the black sleeve of her robes.
"Are you sure you're ok?" asked Ginny. She glared at the two boys, daring them to speak again.
"I—" Liv started to speak, but ended up coughing again. When she stopped coughing she pulled her hand away from her mouth.
"Oh dear," said Madam Pomfrey as she took up Liv's hand in her own and inspected it. "I hope Professor Snape has that potion ready soon."
"What? What's the problem?" George asked, having not seen the palm of her hand. Liv showed her palm to the three as Madame Pomfrey gave her a wet rag to wipe off her hand.
"Ollie! Ollie are you—" said Tyler in shock. Liv had been coughing so hard that there were specks of blood on her hand.
She attempted to speak again. "I'm sure I'll be fine, Ty," she said in a hoarse whisper. "I just…I just don't know what's—" she started coughing again.
"Here, drink this, it won't cure your sudden illness, but it will sooth your throat and ease your cough," said Madam Pomfrey as she handed Liv a cup of bitter smelling herbal tea. "It's the best I can do for you, until Snape has that potion ready."
Liv almost choked on the drink when she heard this, that and the drink was rather bitter. "Snape! He's making the what?" she asked hoarsely.
"Don't worry Liv, he doesn't know it's for you," said George.
"He doesn't even know I exist," said Liv sarcastically.
"I'll leave you four alone," said Madam Pomfrey. She turned and left disappearing into her office.
Ty had returned his arm to Ginny's waist and when George saw this his big brother instinct kicked in, only this time Ty was ready to fight back.
"Somebody please explain to me why I wasn't told about this relationship before," said George as he looked from Tyler to Ginny and back to Tyler.
Ty shared a knowing look with Liv and sighed. George saw him do that and looked to Liv.
"You…you knew?" asked George surprised. Liv slowly nodded her head yes. "But you never told me?" She nodded again. "But why?" George was confused; he hadn't known that his girlfriend had been keeping this from him.
"I never told you for a few different reasons," she said haltingly. "George, Ginny and I are close friends she's like a sister to me. It's amazing, sometimes she knows more about me than I do," Liv took another sip of the drink and Ginny smiled. "I wasn't going to tell you because she's your sister. She would have told you when she was ready. I also didn't tell you because Ty's my brother, and I know how protective older brothers can get with their little sisters. Even if they're only 13 minutes younger," she said accusingly to Tyler. "That and they're relationship is new…the met at the Yule Ball…" She looked George in the eyes. "I love you, George. And I love my brother too. I didn't want to see either of you upset," she held George's gaze until she started coughing again.
"Save your voice, Liv," said Tyler. "I can continue from here."
"No, wait. You called me Ollie in front of George again," she whispered.
"I know," he said with a smile. "Why don't you try and get some rest, we can continue this conversation outside in the hall."
"Oh no you don't, I don't want you two going at each other's throats the minute you're out the door," said Liv.
"We won't," both George and Tyler said at the same time.
"And I'll make sure they don't," said Ginny, smiling reassuringly to Liv.
"Fine, just leave the doors open a crack so I can hear," she said to Ginny privately as they turned to go. Ginny laughed and nodded.
When they were gone Liv rolled to her side and listened intently to the conversation being held outside.
"So George, can you accept the fact that I have a boyfriend and move on?" asked Ginny once they were outside.
George thought over his answer before giving it. Picking his words carefully he spoke. "I liked you Tyler, when I just knew you as Liv's brother. But I am willing to accept, and respect you as my little sister's boyfriend."
Ginny smiled and ran to hug him. "Thank you George! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Easy Ginny, I can't breathe!" said George with a laugh.
Liv smiled when she heard Ginny thanking George. She had hoped what she had said might help George understand.
When Ginny let go of George she went and hugged Tyler. "But you know I'm going to have to tell Fred…and Ron," he said after a slight hesitation.
Ginny turned and faced him with a horrified look. "You can't tell Ron! He'd kill Ty! Go ahead, tell Fred, but please, please don't tell Ron," she pleaded with him.
"Ok, I'll tell Fred, but you have to tell Ron before Christmas. Otherwise Fred and I will break the news to him Christmas morning, and he won't be happy," George said to her.
"I have to tell him!" said Ginny slightly shocked.
"We could tell him together," suggested Tyler.
"Oh, so you can be nearby and get killed when he explodes. Yeah, sure, you can be there," she said sarcastically.
"Fine, I'll make sure that I stay in the Hufflepuff common room the day you tell him," said Tyler. He was about to take Ginny's hand when Fred walked up behind them.
"Tell who, what?" asked Fred.
Ginny and Tyler both jumped and turned around. Both said, "Nothing!" at the same time.
"To tell Ron that Ginny here has a boyfriend," said George.
"Really, who?" asked Fred a silly grin on his face.
"My man Ty, here," said George as he slapped Tyler, harder than necessary, on the back.
"No kidding. You know, I thought I noticed something going on between you two," said Fred smiling. "I'm not as stupid as you might think," he said, a big grin on his face.
"You didn't know, did you?" said George. He saw right through Fred and knew he was lying and joking.
"I hadn't a clue! Good job at keeping it a secret," said Fred. He leaned over to George and whispered, "She must have gotten that from us," he said proudly.
"Well she didn't get it from Ron, he's a prefect," George whispered back.
"So what're you all doing hanging out around the hospital wing? And, where's Liv?" Fred asked.
George nodded his head towards the doors. "She's in there," he said.
"Oh? What happened? Is she all right?" Fred asked, looking to Tyler for the answer.
"She'll be fine, and Madam Pomfrey isn't too worried, that's a good sign," said Tyler.
"Well that's good. But uh, what happened?" Fred asked.
"I'm not really sure. We were in the Library and she started coughing so hard that she passed out," said George.
"I was right! The Library is bad for your health!" Fred exclaimed.
Liv heard him from her bed and laughed. But laughing only made her start coughing again.
The others laughed too. "C'mon, let's not be standing around out here when Snape comes by with that potion," said Ginny.
The four ended up wandering around the castle for a while. "Where did you leave Ron?" George asked Fred after a while of walking in silence.
"Oh, he didn't need me anymore. He's still in the Room of Requirement," said Fred.
"So he found something exciting, and interesting to do?" Ginny asked. She was walking hand in hand with Tyler in front of two of her brothers, and she felt pretty good about it.
"Yeah," said Fred. "Uh, what time is it? Because my stomach is telling me it's time to eat," he said hungrily.
Ginny looked at her watch, seeing as she was the only one that had one. "No! We've missed it!" said Ginny. "It's almost 1:30!"
"We missed lunch! No wonder I'm so hungry," said Fred holding his stomach.
"Let's go downstairs to the kitchen then," said George, smiling.
"Have you seen the kitchen yet?" Ginny asked Tyler.
"No, I haven't," said Tyler.
"You've been here five years, and you've never been to the kitchen!" Fred said in shock.
"No, I haven't. I thought students weren't allowed in the kitchen," said Tyler.
"I don't think it matters. Liv and I ran into Dumbledore there just yesterday. He just told us not to spoil our lunches," said George.
"Besides, George and I go there all the time. I don't think we've ever gotten in trouble for it either," said Fred proudly.
"No, we did get in trouble that one time, when Filch caught us going there after hours," said George.
"Oh yeah, that's right. He didn't believe that we were going out for a late night snack. He thought we'd make a mess of some sort that he'd get stuck cleaning up," said Fred.
"Let's just go get something to eat so we can get back to Liv," said Ginny, bringing the twins back to the present.
Liv was asleep when Fred, George, Ginny and Tyler entered the Hospital Wing. Upon seeing them Madam Pomfrey came over. "Professor Snape came by with the potion and she should be ready to leave in time for dinner," she said. "But I'd like to speak to the two of you in my office," she said pointing to Tyler and Fred.
"I think she means me," George whispered to Fred. Fred nodded his head and stayed behind with Ginny.
George and Tyler followed Madam Pomfrey into her office. Once inside she closed the door and took a seat behind her desk. "Now, I need to know what happened so I can figure out what brought on these sudden coughing attacks," she said seriously as she looked sternly at the two.
Tyler started first. "She was fine before and during breakfast, but afterwards she told me she had plans. Basically the next time I saw her she was coughing so hard she could barely breathe."
Madam Pomfrey looked to George for his side of the story. "I was to meet her in the library. When I came in she was at a back table reading some book about American witches and wizards," said George. "We just sat around and talked for a while. When we got up to—" he hesitated and looked to Tyler. "When we got up to leave she started coughing."
She wouldn't happen to have that book with her now, would she?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"I don't know, it could be in her bag," said George.
"Can you fetch it for me please?" she said to Ty. He nodded and left the office. He came back in moments later holding her bag.
"Can you pull that book out for me?" she said to Ty and he opened her bag.
"George, was it this one?" he asked. George nodded and Tyler passed it over to Madam Pomfrey.
She took it and opened it up. "You wouldn't happen to know what page she was on, would you?" she asked George.
"I remember there was a picture on the page. I'd recognize it if I saw it again," replied George. Madam Pomfrey passed the book across her desk to him. He opened it up and slowly flipped through the pages. When he came to a page with a picture of a stuffy, stuck up looking wizard he stopped. "That's the page she was on when I met her this morning. I remember because I made fun of the way that wizard looks," he said as he passed the book back across the desk to Madam Pomfrey.
She started inspecting the book. "Thank you, that'll be all for now," she said somewhat sternly. The two boys got up and left her office.
"What was that all about?" Fred asked his voice in a whisper.
"She was trying to figure out what brought on this sudden 'thing.'" Said George. He called her illness "thing" for lack of a better word.
"And she needed Liv's school bag to figure it out?" Ginny asked.
"Books," said Fred thoughtfully. "Oh no!"
"What?" Ginny and Ty both said at once.
"Um, George, do you remember that time we accidentally spilled some potion ingredients from one of our products over some books Hermione had left open in the common room?" Fred said to George, a mixed look of worry and realization on his face.
"Yeah, I remember. That one book on top had some stuffy, stuck up looking picture of a wizard on the open pa—" he stopped mid-word and looked to Fred, a look of realization and horror on his face. "Fred, that powder always made us cough, remember?
Ginny and Tyler looked back and forth from Fred to George, shocked and confused at what they were hearing.
"But never that hard, or that long," said Fred, thoughtfully.
"It must have become more potent with time. And she must have inhaled some of it," said George.
"That's why she keeps having those coughing fits!" said Tyler, still slightly shocked.
"Well let's not just stand here!" said Ginny. "Let's go tell Madam Pomfrey what we know!"
"That might not be a good idea, Ginny. Your brothers could get in a lot of trouble," Tyler said to her.
"You're sticking up for us? But why? It's our fault she's here," said George, slightly confused.
"George, if you were willing to give me a chance with your sister, then I'm willing to give you one with mine," Tyler said seriously. "You'll of course have to tell her how this all happened."
George nodded, a serious look on his face. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office. "No need to worry boys, and girl, she'll be fine. The book was just dusty," the four exchanged looks and gave fake sighs of relief. "I'll have to tell Madam Pince, she won't be happy of course," Madam Pomfrey mumbled as she walked back to her office.
"You're lucky that she thought that it was only dust," Ginny said to her brothers.
A/N: I hope you all enjoy...I'm trying to re-post ch 8 to fix a few errors, but it won't let me...Don't worry, I'm not changing anything, just a few grammer things. So you don't have to go back and re-read it. Just a warning. Anyway, R&R please
