When Rose opened her eyes, her vision had gone blurry: an unfortunate sight that she was getting used to seeing (more often than she would like to).
The familiar white walls and bunk beds of the hospital ward helped her gain her bearings. She tried to sit up – big mistake. She felt instantly nauseous so she shut her eyes and put her head back on the pillow to avoid vomiting.
After some of the queasiness in her stomach had passed, she slowly opened her eyes. Professor Dumbledore was standing at the edge of her bed.
"She's awake," He was talking to a nurse that was standing at her side.
"I know," The nurse said quickly, "I saw her wake up and I ran to get you right away."
Professor Dumbledore walked over to Rose's side. "Rose?" He asked, "Rose- how are you feeling?"
Rose's vision was still a little blurry but she could make out the faint outlines of the figures in front of her. She could see Dumbledore's school robes and long white beard but his face remained out of focus.
"I think my stomach's upset." Rose said and quickly leaned over the side of her bed to vomit into a bucket. 'Disgusting' She thought to herself.
"Chocolate!" The nurse whom Rose had never seen before said in a high- pitched voice. This nurse appeared to be rather young, she was slim with short blonde hair, and had pretty green eyes. Rose wiped her mouth off with a rag and sat back up in her bed. The nurse handed her some chocolate and Rose took a bite. Professor Dumbledore had sat down in a chair next to Rose.
"What happened to me?" Rose asked Professor Dumbledore in a groggy voice.
"Dementor attack at the Quidditch game- you took a hard fall," Professor Dumbledore answered, "They've been searching the grounds for Sirius Black."
Rose's eyes widened as she bit into another piece of chocolate.
"Is he here?" Rose whispered "At Hogwarts."
"No," Professor Dumbledore reassured her, "And we are doing everything in our power to keep students safe."
Rose looked down at her hands, "Professor," She asked, "I'll have to stay here for a couple of nights won't I?"
Professor Dumbledore looked down at the floor and nodded. "In fact, um, Nurse Rivers will take care of you, I'll go get her now."
Rose sighed and rubbed her forehead which was now starting to throb. This was not how she had wanted to be spending her time- in the hospital. Professor Dumbledore had gone to fetch the young Nurse and she quickly came with a cup of water to Rose's bedside.
Before the Nurse turned to go, she paused, and said to Rose "Rose- do you know who I am?"
Rose took a sip of water and shook her head. The Nurse sat down next to her- in the place where Professor Dumbledore had just sat.
"My name's Rebecca Rivers," The nurse introduced herself, "You can call Ms. Rivers, I just thought you should know…" She lowered her voice, "I'm a Squib too. Or as I prefer to call myself, a Non-Magical Person."
Rose stared into her cup in confusion before saying, "I'm not a Squib. At least… not yet. Not even the Professors here know what to label me as."
Ms. Rivers nodded shyly and quickly said, "Of course, I just I've heard about your situation, and I just thought if you ever wanted to talk about Muggle life or things… I understand. I didn't mean to offend you."
Ms. Rivers stood up to leave Rose alone but Rose quickly called her back. There was one thing she wanted to know.
"If you don't have magical powers," Rose asked, "Why are you working at Hogwarts?"
Mr. Rivers smiled and sat back down, "I tried living in the Muggle world, when I was about your age," She paused, "And I simply found there was a part of me that I couldn't keep hiding from people which was my Wizard past. I explained my situation to Professor Dumbledore and he was very understanding of it. I told him I had an interest in medicine so he put me up in the ward."
Rose blinked. "But you can't make like… potions and stuff… so how are you helping magic students?"
Ms. Rivers nodded- acknowledging the confusion before adding, "Rose, there's people at this school who are Muggle-born, the way we treat those other students may be different you see?"
Rose didn't answer but let Ms. Rivers continue.
"For example," She said "I've been observing you Rose and your admittances to this hospital. I've read your reports and symptoms and it seems you've been suffering from frequent fainting spells and outbursts- is that correct?"
Rose was listening intently to what Ms. Rivers was saying trying to make sense of it all before she nodded and answered, "Yes."
"Well," Ms. Rivers continued, "Muggles have this concept of Mental Health. Have you heard of it?"
Rose shook her head no. "Basically," Ms. Rivers explained, "There's physical health related to your body, and emotional health, and mental health that relates to your mind. Rose… I think that based off of some of your symptoms you may be showing signs of anxiety."
Rose felt a sharp feeling of nervousness rush through her "Are you saying I'm looney?" She asked in an accusative voice to Ms. Rivers who quickly shook her head.
"No," Ms. Rivers clarified, "No, you're not. They just don't really talk about those things in the Wizarding world- it's more of a Muggle concept. I just worry that if you find out you are Muggle when you're 16 you'll show more signs so it's important to take good care of yourself and go get help when you need it."
"So Wizards don't have this thing called 'anxiety'?" Rose tried to clarify.
Ms. Rivers looked down at the floor before saying "It's complicated. Health in this world is very complicated and very different from the Muggle world Rose and I just want you to know that I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to about it."
Rose was feeling overwhelmed. "I'm sorry," She said to Ms. Rivers, "I think my head is hurting again."
Ms. Rivers nodded and quickly stood up, "Yes, that was a lot to take in," She said.
Rose nodded in agreement and watched as Ms. Rivers finally left her alone. Rose's head began to throb so she lay down in her bed and pulled the covers over her head.
She suddenly felt very small again. What was happening with Sirius Black? What was anxiety- and how would she explain that to her friends?
For now, she wouldn't. She'd keep it a secret. It was all too much to take in.
She drifted off into a deep sleep and dreamt of chocolate.
