Madam Longbottom was very gentle. Her soft hands brushed over Rey's injury and she murmured an apology when Rey winced. She then pulled out her rosewood wand and tapped as lightly possible.
"It'll take an hour to do its work," Longbottom warned. "Just come get me if the pain gets too bad."
Rey watched her disappear into her office, then heard footsteps. She turned her head to see Ben running over to her. He slowed when he was about five feet away and approached her breathlessly.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Rey said, wincing briefly from the pain of the injury repairing itself. She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I thought you wouldn't care. Weren't you the one who hit the Bludger after all?"
He frowned. "You think because the date went wrong I'd hit it on purpose? It was my fault, I needed to leave to take care of something I'd forgotten."
"I know I made you uncomfortable," she admitted.
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean what I said," he told her as he took her hands into his. "I meant it when I said I admired how smart and talented you were, I meant it when I said you were as pretty as Padmé Amidala, and I meant it when I said-"
He took a deep breath, having a hard time reliving another one of those three three-word phrases that started with an 'I' and ended with a 'you' that could change everything.
"I've meant every nice thing I've ever said to you, and rarely meant any of the bad," he finished.
"You still hit me with a Bludger," Rey pointed out. She was between acceptance and hatred of her feelings towards him. He seemed pretty sweet to her after the project, and he seemed like he was turning things around from the nasty Slytherin that used to taunt her about her trouble reading.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, it was just a knee-jerk reaction," he explained. "I didn't want it to hit you. I don't want to hurt you."
"I believe you." Her words were soft, heartfelt. She let out another small gasp from pain and he stood there, not knowing quite what to do. He didn't dare hug for fear of hurting her shoulder further.
She took a few deep breaths and looked up at him. She was going to accept this, even with her misgivings. Despite the idea she still had that he might have information on the Chamber of Secrets. Besides, she could use this to find out more information.
She couldn't help but gasp in pain again. He stared at her for a moment before placing one hand on her good shoulder, the other hand hovering over the dislocated/broken one. He awkwardly placed it on her neck. She managed a smile at this.
"You don't need to put on a brave face," he said softly.
"This isn't a brave face," she informed him with a smirk. "It's a happy one."
"I-I just didn't know, with the way Gryffindors act and all-"
"Shut up and kiss me, you fool," she said in a way that made his skin feel electrified. He moved his hand on her neck up to cup her chin as her hand framed his face. Their lips met into a kiss that tasted of snow.
He straightened as Madam Longbottom came out. Instead of walking to them, she broke into a run and flew past them, blond hair flying as she tossed her robes to the ground to reveal more practical muggle garb. She flung open the door and stopped. She then turned around and conjured a mirror into her hand. After scanning carefully, she went out into the hallway, the beds floating after her.
Ben and Rey stood and walked to the door, Rey nursing her shoulder the whole way. They looked to see several petrified bodies out in the corridors, trailing all the way from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. One only had to look up the steps to see something truly terrible. Luke Skywalker was Petrified.
