Dark Tower

All characters belong to JK Rowling.

This story has not been beta'd , please be kind with this new author.

Chapter eleven: Feeling troubled.

When Jessica sat down for lunch in the Great Hall, she had lost her appetite. She stared at the food that surrounded her, but none of it even vaguely appealed to her. So, she served herself a cup of coffee and munched on an apple to pass the time. At least she ate something.

Her thoughts lingered on Severus's last words. "I hunger for other things at the moment." She tried to ignore the shiver that ran down her spine, as the words resonated again and again in her mind. His intent was getting too clear for her.

She felt trapped and needed to rid herself of that feeling. Barely noticing the odd glances the other faculty members were throwing her, she got up and hurriedly left the room. Her feet took her outside under the clear sunshine, but she didn't notice its warmth. Her eyes spanned the grounds, looking for something, somewhere she could go to take her mind off these obsessive thoughts.

The lake was inviting...but it wouldn't do, she thought hesitantly. Then her eyes strayed to the dark forest that lay a few yards away. She started to walk toward it, feeling this might be the way to go. She entered the dense forest, her feet taking her over rocks, fallen trees and bramble. She walked quickly, seemingly with purpose. She walked for a little while until she reached a small clearing.

Astream ran through it, a few fallen trees lay near, so she decided to sit there for a while. As she gazed numbly at the flowing waters, her feelings of anxiety slowly ebbed away. Peace returned in her heart and mind, cleansed of those horrible words she had heard a short while ago. She slowly thought out her predicament, weighing the pros and cons, trying to figure what had happened to her within the last few days. She sighed deeply, knowing instinctively what should be done, but dreading the outcome.

She got up when she noticed the sunlight had almost gone by now, realizing that she needed to go back to the school. Retracing her steps, she tried to walk as fast as she had done before, but with the dimming light, she found herself tripping over tree stumps and other things that littered the forest floor. She took her wand out and whispered "Lumos" so she could light the way. But as she tried to jump over a large fallen tree, a screech owl let out an eerie cry, distracting her enough that she accidentally caught her foot in a small branch. She fell face first, up and over the tree, landing on a jagged boulder that lay there.

She stayed there for a few moments,spawled unbecomingly, trying to catch her breath. But as she tried to move, a sharp pain shot across her forearm, effectively stopping her movement. She let out a gentle moan. She had probably broken something, or so she thought. She turned on her back, but her foot had stayed caught ona branch. Merlin's beard! What a mess she had made of this. Taking a deep breath to control the pain she was feeling in her arm as well as her ankle, she turned over andsat up and trying to dislodge her foot.

She screamed in pain as she yanked her leg free from the tree limb. She breathed in and out, calming her mounting distress. 'Her wand!' She thought suddenly, 'Where was it?' She strained her eyes, trying to see stupid thing. She groaned in frustration, as she had to admit she had lost it during her fall. She started to grope the ground around her, hoping to find it.

After a half hour, and a few bug stings (she didn't know which bugs had done it, and was beyond caring now), she finally found it behind a low bush. "Lumos" she murmured, and a soft light illuminated her surroundings. She breathed a sigh of relief. But now, she had to get herself out of here. Using her hand, she felt her right leg and ankle, and noticed a fair amount of swelling above her ankle. 'Can't walk on that', she thought briefly. She pointed her wand at her leg and uttered "Ferula";a temporary splint appeared. She got up and put her weight on her leg... it wasn't so bad. She could walk out now. Forgetting her arm for now, she continued her way slowly.

She finally got out of the woods and headed for the castle. Checking her pocket watch, it was way past suppertime. She would have something brought up from the kitchens to her room. But first, she would visit Mme Pomfrey for a little bone mending.

She opened the front door and entered slowly. She felt totally drained of all energy by now and Poppy's office seemed so far... But she had to go. As she started to climb the stairs, she heard the shuffle of feet behind her. She barely had time to turn around when a pair of arms grabbed her in an embrace.

A cloud of bushy hair, topped with a witches's hat, obstructed Jessica's view. Two small, pudgy arms squeezed her about the waist.

"Jessica, where have you been? We've been so worried about you." Sprout said in a high-pitched voice. "When you missed supper, then your rounds, we knew something was wrong. Did you get kidnapped by Death Eaters?" Sprout babbled at her.

Jessica was a little confused by such a show of caring. She had only been gone...but as she looked up and saw the clock on the wall, she calculated she had been gone over five hours. No wonder Pomona was so upset.

"It's ok, Pomona. I only got lost in the forest and injured myself when I mistakenly put my foot in the wrong place. " She tried to push the woman off, but her arm was throbbing like mad by now. Smiling mildly at her, trying to appease her anguish, she said, "I'd just like to go to Mme Pomfrey's for a quick check-up. Everything is fine now, I'm back at the castle."

Pomona looked at Jessica's splint and her awfully swollen hand and wrist; she took a step back from her. "Good lord! What have you done to yourself?" she questioned her, "Yes, yes... I'll bring you over there. You need some medical care right now! But first I have to warn Albus that you've come back."

Without giving it another thought, she turned away and ran to the Great Hall. A minute or so later, she came back with Albus, Minerva, Remus... and Severus.

Jessica's legs almost gave way and her face paled considerably. She tried to clear her voice to say something as they arrived, but she could only manage a feeble "Hello".

Albus came up to her, noticing the splint, her swollen arm and fairly smudged up face. Her face was wanand she looked on the verge of fainting.

"She needs Poppy's attention right now. Let's get her up there, and we'll talk later." He made a stretcher appear, both he and Remus helped her on it.

She felt dreadful and extremely embarrassed by now. She hadn't wanted that kind of attention. She kept her eyes closed, refusing to even whimper from the pain she was enduring. She didn't want to be looked upon as crybaby... but now, she felt like a misfit, which was even worse. She so wanted to cry now. She was tired, hungry and miserable.

They got her to the infirmary, and Pomfrey got to work on her. After she was done, the pain had subsided, even if the swelling hadn't gone completely away. But she felt better anyway. Poppy asked if she was hungry, and when Jessica told her the last thing she had eaten was an apple for lunch, the mediwitch huffed at her and turned away.

She came back with a tray, laden with sandwiches, some fruit and a large glass of pumpkin juice. She admonished her, going on about people who didn't eat right and expected health afterward. Jessica ate the food under her watchful eye, down to last crumb. Satisfied that she had eaten properly, she left Jessica alone behind the drawn curtain. Jessica lay back on the soft bed, got herself comfortable, and then fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

She woke a few hours later, groggily aware that she wasn't in her bed. Then she remembered her little escapade through the forest and groaned gently. Someone immediately came forward and took her hand. She felt so sleepy though...she simply couldn't focus her eyes enough, to see who it was. But a gentle hand caressed her forehead and she became still. 'This really feels nice,' her foggy mind told her, before she fell back asleep.

The sun was shining brightly in the room, when she heard a male voice murmuring her name. She opened one eye, but had to close it again. The sun was really too strong for her eyes at the moment. But she tried again, and finally had both eyes opened. She looked on her right and saw Remus sitting there. He smiled at her; "Well... come on now sleepy head. You need to wake up, it's almost noon!"

"Remus! I'm so glad to see you!" She sat up and turned to face him, swinging her legs off the bed. "Is it that late, already?" Her hand came up to push backthe hair off her face, still squinting because of the sunlight. He pushed over a tray on wheels, filled with an assortment of finger foods.

Remus seemed a little tired, dark circles had appeared under his eyes. Jessica felt awful. She pushed the tray away and took Remus's hand in hers. "Did you stay here all night?"

He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a wry little smile. " I offered to sit with you for the night...didn't want to leave you alone in here."

She smiled sadly at him. "You shouldn't have, you have classes today, now you'll be too tired to teach anyone..."

"It's alright, I'll manage." He looked down upon their entwined hands and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "I was really upset when you went missing. We thought something horrible had happened." He whispered on, not wanting to be overheard by anyone.

Jessica pulled on his hand and made him sit near her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, putting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to have made you worry like this. Please forgive me... I simply didn't look at the time and got caught off guard in the forest." She answered softly.

He added nothing but merely squeezed her a little tighter, happy that her adventure hadn't been an ill-fated one.