A/N Thanks to all of you whom have reviewed.
I am still in the process of re-writing the beginning chapters, so note that the name of the "Dining Hall" has been changed to the "Dining Chamber". I looked onto HP lexicon the other day and found out that it actually already had a name so….
Anyway, thanks to all of you who have taken your time to read my story, and please take your time to tell me how you feel!
It was embarrassing. Embarrassing, that a group of eleven year olds had more grace, than the rest of your class combined. Or at least, that is what Rose thought as she watched the three eleven year olds across from her, taking their unit exam at six in the morning.
She was tired, almost to the point of utter exhaustion. Getting up at six in the morning wasn't faring well for Rose's energy level, not to mention putting off your homework until an hour before curfew.
Well, the Durmstrang students seem to be doing worse, she thought as Madame D'Augbine was furiously making marks on her clip board.
She had already taken her exam, thankfully, with only a few irritated clucks from Madame D'Augbine, before she moved on to the student across from her.
She looked at Scorpius, whom was now eating his breakfast, with an elegance Rose couldn't believe he was capable of. Hugo and Albus, whom were sitting across from Rose, covered their faces, trying, though unsuccessfully to hide their laughter. It had become routine for them to jibe at Scorpius for his, as they described it, "girly" manners.
However, Madame D'Augbine had an expression of pure delight glowing upon her face.
Oddly enough, Professor Longbottom had started to attend their early morning lessons. He first entered the class, towards the end of the first week, and asked if it would be alright if he could observe, and had been attending every class, always sitting in the corner of the pastel blue room.
As Monsieur Hasbrouck stood toward the front of the class, explaining how to perform spells wordlessly, (of the more complicated genre), Professor Longbottom walked into the classroom. Rose vaguely wondered if he was going to attend these classes in addition to their morning lessons, smiling, as she imagined Professor Longbottom attending every one of their lessons.
"Monsieur Hasbrouck, may I have Rose Weasley, please?"
"Why yes, of course." He said, with an accepting gesture. "Do be sure 'zhat you get 'zhe notes from one of your peers.
She put her parchment in her bag, and put it over her shoulder. Walking toward the back of the class, Scorpius gave her a questioning look, to which she replied with a puzzled shrug.
She shut the large wooden door behind her, and outside stood Albus who looked just as clueless as Rose felt.
Without explanation, a habit that seemed to be arising from Professor Longbottom, he motioned for the two to follow him, as he set forward with a grueling pace. His steps seemed urgent, with long, quick strides, causing Rose and Albus to have to jog along with him.
As they walked on, Rose quickly realized that she hadn't been to this part of the castle yet, and with her luck, couldn't remember the route they had taken to get here.
They stopped before a ceiling high double door, it was gray, and slightly metallic looking. Across it, at about eye level, black gothic lettering read out "The Beauxbatons Medical Chamber". Albus's eyes widened as he and Rose looked at each other quickly.
"Now before we go in," Professor Longbottom sighed. "It's Fred; he seems to have been in a sort of, accident." He put his hand up to silence the outburst that was inevitably coming between the two. "Let me finish. He was found outside of the Train this morning, unconscious. Now, normal potions don't seem to be reviving him, though it may be for the best, because he would be in extreme pain if he had awoken, seeing as he hit his head on the side of the train as he fell, it took a few potions to heal the wound, but Madame Godenot still believes there is substantial bruising."
Without permission, Rose and Albus pushed the doors with such force they slammed to the side, the noise waking many of the students on beds. Professor Longbottom apologized behind them, as they sped toward a bed in the middle of the room, where Fred, with his mussed hair, laid. The irritated headmaster didn't bother scolding them for causing such a scene, since he knew they wouldn't feel any remorse for it. He had observed that they were a very closely knit family, oddly protective of one another.
He closed the curtain around them and spoke to them in a cautious, hushed tone.
"Now, we must keep what happened to Fred, unknown." Longbottom told them.
"What do you mean? How did this happen?" Rose said with a worried passion.
"We don't know." Professor Longbottom answered her. "And that's why we don't want to alert the student body. We won't know exactly what happened to him, until he becomes conscious again. This is why we want to keep it a secret, because we don't know if he just fell and hit his head, or if he was attacked."
"Yeah," Albus snorted, "He fell on his head, and it can't be healed with any regular means of magic."
Professor Longbottom gave him a disapproving look.
"Well it obviously wasn't an accident." Albus reasoned.
"Wait, where's Hugo?" Rose asked, noticing her brother was absent from this important of an event.
"I couldn't pull him from his class." Professor Longbottom told them. "I couldn't convince him to leave with out saying aloud in class what had happened. Every time I argued for him to leave class, he came back with an even better counterargument displaying why he should stay. It was quite unnerving really."
Rose smiled at her brother's wit. Though she was surprised that he had done it. Growing up, students learned from their parents about their old friends and student peers from Hogwarts, including the fact that Neville Longbottom had never done very well with verbal debates. So, all students had done their best to try to outwit the professor, while Hugo was his biggest advocate. The professor had become very good with students and their attempts, though every once in a while, there is a student who backs him into a tight spot that Hugo gladly gets him out of.
The large doors open slowly, and Rose hears Hugo's voice asking Madame Godenot where Fred was. She obviously pointed to their enclosed spot, and soon after, the curtains opened slightly as Hugo let himself in. His eyes widened in shock to seeing his cousin unconscious on the bed, and Professor Longbottom began to explain what had happened for a second time.
Hugo didn't say anything, though that was highly predictable.
Professor Longbottom soon left, but the three family members stayed until Madame Godenot forced them to leave his bedside in time to make it to the train.
Thankfully the next day was Saturday, and Rose, Albus and Hugo refused to leave Fred's bedside. Scorpius had come in the early afternoon, after asking almost every teacher, before he reached Professor Longbottom of their whereabouts. He stayed for an hour or so, before leaving to finish a Herbology essay. They did however leave for meals in the Dining Chamber.
After Dinner, as Hugo and Rose did their homework on a small desk beside the bed. It was quiet, the Medical Chamber was mostly empty, and the inhabitants that did reside in it, were all soundly sleeping. That was until, of course, around seven in the evening the tall metal doors slammed open with more force than Albus and Rose had put upon it.
"WHERE IS MY SON!" A deep voice shouted. Rose immediately recognized it to be the voice of her uncle. Uncle George.
"Excuse me? 'Oo are you? And will you please calm down? 'Zhere are many patients 'zhat need 'zhere rest-"
Rose waved her hand to alert him where he was. She knew there was no calming down her uncle when it came to Fred. Her aunt had told her once, that he had almost likened Fred to his brother Fred, whom had passed away. "It would kill him," Aunt Clara had told her. "If anything ever happened to Fred."
He grabbed a chair from a nearby desk and pulled it up as close as he could get to Fred's bed, as Professor Longbottom scurried into the Chamber. Madame Godenot had given up on trying to explain what had happened to Fred, and opted to give sleeping potions to the students he had awoken.
Professor Longbottom had finally calmed him down enough to explain what had happened, and Uncle George asked many of the same questions that his niece and nephews did.
And, like his niece and nephew, he refused to leave his son's side.