Chapter 5.0

Percy


He was so cold, and so very, very weak. His heart was racing, pounding as his whole body screamed he was in danger. He was carefully breathing evenly and slowly, as he'd been taught to do when panic attacks happened. The images of the Pit, memories of the funerals of his fallen friends, and the other terrible things in his life filled his eyes every time he blinked.

He was barely conscious, he felt like he was running out of air. Blind spots danced over his vision, and if he were to describe their color it wouldn't be black. He'd simply call it nothingness. He watched as Hermione suddenly left the compartment, and he tried to stand to follow. He fell to the floor with a splash, and felt strong hands picking him up.

"Don't go, not safe. Hermio-" his mind faded again to blackness.


Lupin

He lifted the limp boy back into the seat, and swore to himself. He'd never seen someone have a reaction this bad to a Dementor, and the boy needed proper medical attention. He felt the boy's pulse, and gritted his teeth when he felt how fast it was. He didn't need to count to know it was too fast. He laid him on his side in the recovery position, and covered the poor boy with his cloak.

The girl came back a moment later, and she resumed her seat next to the redheaded boy. He glanced at the sword the boy had somehow gotten, only to find it was gone. When the train stopped, the others refused to leave. They sat on the train, and Professor Mcgonagall and Madame Pomfrey arrived after a few minutes.

"What's that idiot done now?!" Madame Pomfrey yelled, as she saw him lying still on the seat. She immediately began to check him over, as Lupin explained to Mcgonagall and the nurse what had happened.

"Bad reactions to the Dementors, Minerva. Harry fainted, but I've never seen a reaction like Percy's. I gave them all some chocolate, and he drank some weird blue potion. His friends didn't want to leave until they were sure their friend was all right." Madame Pomfrey and Mcgonagall both seemed a little somber at the statement. They all knew Dementors only affected people with terrible trauma. Percy chose that moment to wake up. He saw Madame Pomfrey, and gave a little whimper.

"Oh no, not you!" He said, sitting up. She grabbed his shoulders and forced him back down.

"OH YES, IT'S ME!" she roared in a volume he'd never seen the kindly nurse use. Not even when his friends had managed to break three bones jumping off the moving staircase onto the staircase below.

"I'm fine! I didn't kill any of them, I'm not cursed!" He said, struggling. She held him down firmly. Mcgonagall took Percy's friends out, and they gave him worried looks as they left.

"You damn well better not be! I don't know about this curse nonsense, but you're not moving an inch until I say so!" She conjured a stretcher, and Lupin helped her put the slightly shaking boy on it. She strapped him down, and he glared at her. Then, the boy's sea-green eyes turned to him.

"Professor, would you mind taking my bag? I really don't want to have Snape sneer at me for not having my textbooks." Lupin frowned, that sounds like the old slimy Severus he knew.

"That's Professor Snape, Percy." Said Madame Pomfrey, who was taking his pulse.

"No, it's not. The slimeball knows I call him by his last name, and before you say anything, he also knows I think he's a slimeball." Lupin laughed, but clapped his mouth shut when Madame Pomfrey glared at him.

"Where's your bag, Percy?" Lupin asked, but he still thought the kid was great. Anyone who would call Snivelus a slimeball to his face was a good guy in his books.

"Well, I would point but this monster woman had me tied down. It's under the seat to my left." Lupin picked up the heavy duty black bag, which had a compass built into one of the straps. They made their way up to the castle, Percy floating on his stretcher. Lupin went to the Great Hall, and he heard Percy complain loudly as Madame Pomfrey took him to the infirmary.

"Oh come on, not again!" He wailed, and Lupin chuckled. Madame Pomfrey seems to have found a problem child.


Would you prefer if I released the whole book at once, or released one or two chapters a day? This series is my first work, and I've just figured out how to publish over time. Thank you all again for your kind words and wonderful ideas.

Best of luck,

Istalri