Chapter 11

Poppy Pomfrey had been asleep in her chambers when Minerva came bursting in. She jerked awake, not expecting the intrusion.

"Poppy," Minerva cried, her hair askew and looking more frazzled than she had ever seen. "Come quickly! A few students are badly injured!"

Poppy jumped onto her feet in an instant and followed Minerva quickly into the Hospital Wing. She was startled to find Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger all in hospital beds. What startled her even more was finding Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody standing near them. Poppy did a quick assessment of the children. Neville Longbottom looked as if he had been beaten up badly and his nose was broken, but he was sitting up and looking worriedly from Ron to Hermione. Luna Lovegood was also on a bed, looking sadly into space. Ginny Weasley also had a few scrapes and bruises, but was sobbing quietly on her bed. Both Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were unconscious.

"What happened?" Poppy asked, running over to Ron's bedside.

"There was a battle in the Department of Ministries," Alastor answered gruffly.

"A battle?" Poppy repeated blankly. "With who?"

"The Death Eaters and You-Know-Who," Minerva answered, looking stricken. "I'll fill you in on more details later. The first priority was is healing these kids."

"Of course, of course," Poppy said. "Who should I tend to first?"

"Hermione," Ginny and Neville said at the same time.

Poppy immediately ran over to Hermione bed and started examining her. "What happened?" she asked. "There aren't any marks on her."

"I-I d-do-don't know," Ginny said through her tears as Tonks handed her a tissue. "I wasn't there!"

"It was Dolohov," Neville said quietly, staring steadily at Hermione. "He got her at the beginning. She Silenced him but he did this slashing movement with his wand. The curse was purple. I don't know what it did but it hit her in the chest and she fell to the ground. I carried her away from the battle but she never woke up."

Poppy took a deep breath and started running diagnostic spells. She'd never heard of a curse like that so she assumed it must've been some sort of Dark Magic. After running a few spells, she noticed something and felt her blood run cold.

"What is it, Poppy?" Minerva asked worriedly.

"She's bleeding internally," Poppy replied, summoning five different potions at the same time. "Almost all her organs have been slashed, save her heart. She's lucky she's still alive."

Immediately, Poppy regretted saying it aloud. She could hear Ginny give a strangled sob and start to cry even harder. Both Neville and Alastor made a strangled growl sound while Tonks and Minerva gasped quietly. Instead of addressing their concerns, Poppy continued to work. Hermione's complexion was ghostly pale and her breathing was shallow, but her heart rate was good, which gave Popy hope. After about twenty minutest of continuous spellwork and potions, she felt confident enough Hermione would make it.

"Hermione will live," Poppy declared. "She'll be in here for a while though. Now, what happened to Mr. Weasley?"

"He got hit by some spell that made him go loopy," Ginny answered, sniffling. "And then he summoned these brains out of a tank and they started attacking him. I don't remember when he passed out but I don't think he got attacked anymore. Maybe it was when he hit his head."

Poppy let out a big sigh of relief. He was only hit with a Confundus Charm and then must've passed out because of hitting his head. His arms were a different story though. Even after applying copious amounts of Dittany to them, the wounds weren't healing completely. He'd probably have open wounds all up and down his arms for a good five days. She gave him a pain potion before waking him up.

Ron let out a small groan as his eyes flickered open. Almost as soon as his eyes opened, he shot up into a sitting position, looking around frantically and reaching for his wand.

"Ron!" Ginny cried. "It's okay! We're in the Hospital Wing! It's over! We're all here!"

"Where's Hermione? And Harry?" he asked, relaxing slightly.

"Harry is with Dumbledore. Hermione is in the bed next to you, Ron," Luna said in a calming voice. "She was hurt very badly but she's going to be fine."

Ron whipped around wildly to look at Hermione. Poppy felt her heart clench as she watched Ron's face; he looked both sorrowful and furious at the same time. He reached over to Hermione's bed to grab her hand softly.

"What happened?" he asked, frowning.

"You got hit with a Confundus Charm," Ginny explained as Poppy walked over to her. "And then you acted really loopy and you summoned these—these brains. Merlin, it was just awful."

"They sort of attacked you," Neville finished for Ginny. "And then you hit your head and passed out."

Ron stayed silent, probably trying to process the information. Poppy moved on to fix Ginny's ankle and gave her some bruise salve. Ginny smiled gratefully at her.

"What happened to Hermione?" Ron asked quietly.

Poppy sighed, figuring it was probably best for her to answer. She turned to Ron to find him gazing at Hermione, still holding her hand, and Poppy's heart clenched.

"She was hit with a curse," Poppy started, not wanting to scare Ron too much. "She had Silenced her attacker, so the affect of the curse wasn't as bad as it should have been. Essentially, the curse caused massive internal bleeding and organ damage. However, Miss Granger is going to be fine; she'll just need to stay in bed and take some potions for a while."

Ron's jaw clenched as various emotions flitted across his face. Poppy's heart went out to the boy. It was obvious he was smitten with Miss Granger and hearing that she nearly died probably wasn't easy for him.

"So she'll be okay?" Ron said, sighing deeply.

Poppy nodded and Ron's shoulders sagged in relief, his eyes closing tightly.

"Ron, there's something else you should know," Tonks said hesitantly.

"What?" Ron asked sharply. "Is Harry okay?"

"Harry's fine," Tonks said, her eyes starting to get a little misty. "Ron, it's Sirius. H-he…"

Before Tonks could continue, she broke down into tears and fled from the Hospital Wing. Ginny Weasley also started to cry again, grabbing a tissue from her bedside table. Even Minerva dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. Ron looked stricken.

"No, he-he can't be d-dead," Ron stammered, looking around to each person. "Does Harry know?"

"Yes," Luna answered calmly as Poppy started to attend to a nasty looking split lip. "He was very upset about it. It was very said."

Ron sighed and leaned back against his pillows. Poppy fixed up Luna and Neville before checking on Hermione again. Her color was starting to return and she was breathing easier. Poppy heard Alastor excuse himself and Minerva did the same. The four children remained silent for a long time, just sitting there staring at each other, as if reassuring themselves that they had all made it. The sight made Poppy feel sick. Their innocence had been stolen from them by the ugliness of war. Why should these children be put in such a position? A battle was no place for a Hogwarts student.

Poppy snuck off into her office and cried.


AN: Hello wonderful readers! So originally I had a couple other chapters during OoTP, but none of them turned out as good as they sounded in my head; I've been struggling from serious writer's block and suffering from too much school. I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear comments from you all!