A/N: Couldn't keep you waiting that long - although I'm sure you doubted that anything truly terrible had happened to Effie! Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews - for those of you craving some other Marauders - this chap is for you!


Chapter Twelve: There's where my brain would leak out

"Blimey, she's been getting into a lot of fights lately, hasn't she?"

"Of course Slughorn bought Warcroft's story – he's obsessed with her."

"Well, at least Effie's alive to do the detention."

"That's a depressing silver lining," I mumbled through cracked lips as I opened my eyes and saw three flesh colored blobs with hair sitting around my bedside. "Glasses…"

I felt someone's soft hands place my glasses on my face and I was able to see that Marlene, Benjy and Jasper were huddled around my sick bed. I sat up slightly dizzily and accepted the sips of water Marlene fed me while Benjy ran off to get Madam Pomfrey. I touched my head, which was aching and felt a thick wad of bandages wrapped around it.

"What happened?" I asked as the Medi-witch arrived and began undressing my bandage and tapping my head with her wand.

"Broken skull – you fell off the Quidditch stands when you were dueling with Wendelin and her friends. They said you sent a curse at Wendelin that gave her hives but it rebounded on you and sent you flying off the edge of the stands," Marlene said, the look on her face skeptical.

"Sounds like a likely story," I groaned as Madam Pomfrey fed me a couple of chewy tablets that tasted like liquorice.

"What happened, really?" Jasper asked.

"I sent a curse and someone sent a curse back at me, although I don't know who it was."

Madam Pomfrey sniffed irritably. "I knew a backfiring wand couldn't have thrown you that far! I'll speak with Professor Slughorn – you don't deserve to be punished when the others weren't."

I felt a stab of affection for the Nurse who normally scared me and I tried to smile at her.

"Don't smile – it'll overexert your head," she snapped before waving her wand once more and redressing my head wound. "You'll need to stay until after the weekend to make sure your skull is fixed properly. I'll have the House Elves bring you a dinner tray while I go and have words with the Potions Master!" she said before turning to my friends.

"You can stay until after she eats but then Visiting hours are over, do you understand me?" she continued sternly and with those parting words, she bustled out of the room leaving me to stare at three very worried faces.

"Don't look so sour! Like you said, at least I'm alive!" I said, attempting to smile.

"Stop smiling," Marlene scolded with a grin of her own.

When my dinner tray arrived, Benjy and Jasper excused themselves to go eat but Marlene just picked at the chips from my plate. "I'll just go to the Kitchens later, don't worry!" she said when I tried to make her leave.

"I'm so mad at Warcroft, she's going around telling everyone that you attacked her completely unprovoked. What were they saying that riled you up so much? You don't usually lose your temper like that…"

I chose not to tell Marlene that they'd been insulting her and just shrugged. "Oh, the usual."

"I can't wait until I find her in a deserted corridor," she replied angrily.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have started the fight anyway. It was ridiculous with six against one."

"Five – Emmeline absolutely lost it when you fell. She was screaming at them so bad, her face turned purple! Of course she's still speaking to them, but we always knew she was a bit of a doormat."

"Not a doormat…a sheep," I said, laughing.

"NO LAUGHING! This girl needs to rest her face. Visiting hours are over! Come back tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, bursting in to the room and shooing a giggling Marlene out of the Hospital Wing before forcing a Sleeping Potion down my throat.

The next afternoon, I had a surprise visit that kept my spirits high all day. I was lying in bed, flipping through an old copy of Witch Weekly from the Hospital Wing and driving myself insane doing the crossword rather than working on the pile of homework on my bedside table. Apparently, I wasn't allowed to smile but I could use all the brainpower I had while I was bedridden with my broken skull.

"2 Down – Ballad singer with last name that begins with conflict (7)" I read out loud as I twirled my quill between my fingers.

"Warbeck – as in Celestina. She's my mum's favourite."

I looked up to see James Potter entering the room, followed by Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and bringing up the rear, Sirius Black. James was holding a bunch of wildflowers.

"I know we haven't been properly introduced but I'm your best friend's Quidditch captain, James Potter," James said with a grin as he shoved the flowers into the vase by my bed. "I think you've met Remus and Peter and your personal tutor, Sirius Black."

"You're quite the gent, Prongs," Sirius laughed before nodding at me. "You feeling all right? It looked like a nasty fall." His face looked full of concern and it made my stomach flip over.

"I don't remember it," I replied abruptly, making the four boys laugh as they sat in the chairs around my bed. "Er- not that I don't appreciate it, but why are you lot here?" I asked, unable to help myself. I suppose I was friendly with Sirius but I'd barely spoken to the rest of them.

They laughed again but Peter spoke up. "Well, Sirius wanted to come and when the rest of us heard about your fall, well…"

"They thought it would be cool to see what a broken skull looked like," Sirius finished.

"And we wanted to see if you were okay!" Remus put in hurriedly.

"Well, I can't unwrap the bandages, but I did do a bit of a drawing on the cast," I said, turning my head slightly so that they could see. Madam Pomfrey had yelled at me twice for drawing on my cast, worried that the ink would cause my head more damage, but as I had so little to do, I had spent all morning drawing over the area covering my broken skull, anyway. It was borderline creepy and probably extremely morbid, but I thought it looked quite cool – a sketch of a brain leaking blood down the side of my head.

"That's disgusting!" James said with glee as the four of them inspected it closely. I tried not to blush at their close proximity, but pointed out the little details.

"Here's where the main break is – and that's where my brain would probably leak out if we undid the bandages," I said, tilting my head so that they could see it closely.

"That's really good. I mean it's a bit terrifying, but still good," Remus said, as he and Peter backed away to let Sirius in to look.

He traced the drawing with the tip of his finger, and although my skull was numb, I still felt as though I might burst at his touch.

"Thought you said you were bad at drawing," he said, narrowing his eyes playfully at me.

"It's not very realistic," I shrugged, feeling embarrassed. His finger dropped down to the nape of my neck and I unconsciously giggled loudly before stopping myself abruptly from laughing. When I saw the odd looks on their faces, I thought I'd better explain my predicament.

"Sorry, but Pomfrey says I can't smile. I have to rest my face," I said as they all stared in amazement.

"You have to rest your face?" James asked slowly before a smile slid on to his face. "Do you know what this means?"

"That I won't get wrinkles as early as other people?" I said, fanning myself slightly trying not to look too overwhelmed by Sirius' light caress. Luckily he'd backed away now, and was just staring at the drawing on my cast thoughtfully.

James clicked his tongue. "No! This is the ultimate Laughing Contest! We all do things that'll make you laugh and you try not to!"

"That is…"Remus started to shake his head before smiling. "The best idea ever."

"Sirius always wins at this game, though!" Peter complained but nevertheless the four boys took it in turns to make faces at me.

Peter went first, doing all of the usual moves: sticking his tongue out, pulling his lips apart and crossing his eyes but I was able to keep a straight face quite easily. Remus' approach was a little tougher because he seemed so serious and seeing him pulling his nose up like a pig and bob around like a chicken was really quite amusing. I still managed to keep a straight face long enough to get to Sirius' turn which turned out to be the worst attempt yet. All he seemed to be capable of doing were his squinty faces and the only reason I wanted to smile was because they made him look quite adorable. In fact, I almost lost it when he got really close to me with one of his close-lipped, half smiles and squinty winks, but luckily he frowned at me before I could smile and said, "I think they've broken you – I can't even get a blush out of you, let alone a smile!"

I did blush at that but I was too mortified to even think about smiling when he said, "Ah – I knew I'd get it eventually."

"You didn't make her smile!" James put in. "But I've got a trick that she won't be able to resist." He walked up close to me, not quite as close as Sirius had but still a little too close for comfort and just stared at me with the most solemn, woeful, un-Potter-like expression.

And I couldn't help it, it not only made me smile but it made me laugh and James held his arms over his head victoriously as the others groaned.

"Pathetic!" Remus said.

"Not fair!" Peter moaned.

"I thought you were better than that," Sirius sighed, shaking his head at me.

James beamed. "Well – the match starts in an hour, so we better go. Hope you feel better soon, Effie."

"Thanks Lads," I said with a big smile as they waved and headed to the exit.

"So, how long do you have to stay here?" Sirius asked, hanging back.

"I'm not sure yet," I said. "Depends on when Pomfrey wants to take my bandages off, I guess. Oh and if I don't have ink poisoning."

"Well hey – Hogsmeade is tomorrow and all the lads have got themselves dates. My only offer right now is hanging out with Stebbins and Patil from your year, but they're sort of try-hards. If you get out of here, do you want to hang out with me?"

I think my heart might have stopped. How I managed to get the next words out, I'll never really understand.

"I'll see if I'm allowed to leave."

Sirius smiled. "Cool. I'll meet you at The Three Broomsticks 'round eleven then?"

I nodded and he gave me a little, parting wink before he left the Hospital Wing, greeting an incoming Marlene with a hearty hello. Meanwhile, I was hyperventilating and gesturing at Marlene wildly to hurry up. As Sirius disappeared through the big, oak doors, Marlene frowned at me and hurried over.

"What's wrong with you? Shall I fetch Madam Pomfrey?"
"I…think…he…asked…me…to Hogsmeade," I said, gasping dramatically between each word. My heart was pounding a mile a minute and I felt sweaty and prickly all over my skin.

Marlene's eyes got wide before she let out a high-pitched, very un-Marlene shriek. "He didn't!"

"I think he did."

"Tell me – how did he say it?" she said, excitedly, jumping on to my bed and tapping my knees excitedly.

"What is all this commotion about?" Madam Pomfrey said, storming in as I was retelling the story. "You've been smiling, haven't you?"

"Madam Pomfrey, you don't understand. Today is the best day of my life!" I said as she checked my turban of bandages, clicked her tongue at the drawing and force-fed me some of the usual chewy tablets.

"Oh, broken skull and all?" she said as she stuck a thermometer in my mouth. I widened my eyes at Marlene and she took over for me.

"Madam Pomfrey – the bloke she's been obsessed with for years just asked her to Hogsmeade!" Marlene said and we both squealed, even though I couldn't really open my mouth.

The nurse smiled as she pulled the thermometer out of my mouth. "That's very nice dear. But you can't leave my care until the end of the weekend."

"What!" Marlene and I yelled together and she shushed us in alarm.

"Quiet, girls! Yes, I'm very sorry but you have a concussion and you can't risk worsening your condition."

"But Madam Pomfrey!" I protested, desperately. "I have to go!"

"Well, I'm sorry but you can't and that's that," she said firmly. "And McKinnon – don't you have a Quidditch match to get to?" She left us alone then, looking as annoyed as I felt.

"I'm sorry," Marlene said after a few minutes.

I sighed heavily. "It was too good to be true anyway. I'm sorry I can't come to your first match."

"Given your record watching me play Quidditch, maybe it's safer for your skull if you do stay put," Marlene said, giving me a hug. "Don't worry – I'm sure he'll ask you again, sometime."

I nodded and tried to smile at her. "Good luck – I hope you flatten Slytherin!"

When she'd left, I fell in to a huff and didn't even bother listening to the commentary of the match. I pretended to sleep when Madam Pomfrey came in because I was furious but mostly I tried to look on the bright side – Sirius Black had asked me to go to Hogsmeade, even if I couldn't go.


A/N: Hmmm Sirius. Thanks for reading - please review and let me know what you thought!