"Rise and shine, Freddie!" said an overly-chipper voice, fighting through her haze of sleep. Freddie thought she could probably ignore it and fall back asleep, except for the fact she felt like she was suffocating. She tried to take a deep breath but couldn't and she was dimly aware of her arm hurting. As she fought her way awake the pain increased exponentially. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into twin pools of bright green.

"Mrrrow?"

"Good morning to you, too. Now get off me, Ziggy, I can't breathe," Freddie groaned. She tried to lift her hand to brush him off but was stopped by a fiery pain shooting down her arm that made her suck in air.

"You up?" Amelia asked, coming around the curtains looking fully awake and refreshed. "Wow, you look terrible."

"Ugh," Freddie said, squinting her eyes closed. Maybe if I go back to sleep it'll quit hurting, she thought.

"You told me to wake you up," Amelia reminded her. "You said not to let you sleep past 9, that you wanted breakfast."

"I can't eat," Freddie said, putting her good arm over her face to block out the light. "I don't feel good."

It was true. The pain in her arm and her empty stomach from skipping dinner the night before was a nasty combination. She knew she should feel hungry, but she just felt nauseous and her brain felt foggy.

"Like, you're still sore? Or you're nauseous? Or you're sick-sick?" Amelia asked, lingering near the foot of her bed.

"I don't know. Yeah. Sore and nauseous. My shoulder hurts. Like, really bad," she admitted reluctantly. "I had a bad fall yesterday one of the times I transformed."

"You should go to the nurse."

"Unh-unh. I'll be fine," she said. Maybe.

"Well you should at least let me look at it," Amelia said in a no-nonsense sort of way.

"What can you do? You've even less nursing experience than I have," Freddie said with a chuckle that she quickly stopped because it hurt her shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe, but I can at least tell you if it looks as bad as you think it feels," she reasoned.

"Hmm... I'm not sure that I can get up..."

"I can help you-"

"No!" Freddie said quickly and a little more sharply than she intended. "Don't touch me! ...Sorry, just, please? Don't touch it."

"Okay, okay. I won't," Amelia promised, raising her hands innocently. "Hm...what about the potion you took last night? Would that help?"

Freddie glanced at the little blue bottle on her nightstand. She hadn't taken any more of it after she'd fallen asleep. She knew it would help the pain, but it might also make her nausea worse. She knew the contraindications, knew it shouldn't be taken on an empty stomach.

"I need food on my stomach to take that or it'll make me sick," she told her friend.

"Okay, well, what if I went to the Great Hall and sneak some food out for you?"

"That could work," Freddie agreed with a nod.

"Anything in particular you want?"

"No, just whatever. Toast or something, I don't care," she said.

"Right. I'll be right back," Amelia promised. Ziggy gave Freddie a final piercing stare, then jumped down from the bed and followed Amelia out of the dorm. Freddie frowned slightly at his departure, but maybe he was hungry and he didn't want to wait on her. Or maybe he had to use the bathroom.

Freddie blew out a sigh then tried to gingerly lift herself into a sitting position. She'd thought it might be best to try it without a witness and she was right. The moment she tried to shift her shoulder it brought tears to her eyes.

"Dammit," she swore through clenched teeth, blinking back the tears. "Dammit, dammit, dammit."

She tried to touch it with her good hand, to try and feel the damage of the wound, but she couldn't bring herself to touch it. She knew it would hurt and her hand was trembling, unable to go further, until she finally just dropped it back beside her on the bed.

"Stupid," she muttered aloud. Stupid, dumb idiot. Can't even touch your own shoulder. Didn't even know you were hurt. It can't be that bad, it didn't hurt like this last night. It can't be broken, it just can't. And I know it's not dislocated. I could still move it yesterday. My fingers weren't dusky so I know my circulation wasn't compromised. I guess it could be a fracture...and then what if it is? What do I do for a fracture? Skele-Gro or Bone-Knit Brew maybe. But I don't have either of those. Why don't I have either of those? Why don't I have a med kit along with my potion's kit? All I have in my potions kit are ingredients and I can think of is going to fix this... Amelia is going to make me go to the Hospital Wing...Severussss, why aren't you in my head when I need you?

She wracked her brain for a solution, but in the end all she could do was sit there and wait until Amelia came back. She could smell the toast and sausages before Amelia even entered the room and the smell made her stomach churn unpleasantly.

"You look a little green, Freddie," Amelia said, concerned, as she pulled a napkin containing the food out of her pocket."Are you dying?"

"Feels like it. I can't eat that right now...will you get my potions kit out of my bag?"

"Book bag or purse?" she asked obediently.

"Book bag."

Amelia retrieved the kit without question and set it on the bed next to Freddie. She picked it up with her good hand, but couldn't get it open. She let out a frustrated groan and Amelia intervened.

"Why don't you tell me what you're looking for?" she asked, taking the kit from her.

"Ginger root. There might be one in the bottom of the kit, at least, I hope so. It's white and lumpy, sort of looks like a hand-"

"I know what a ginger root is, Freddie," Amelia said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that bad at potions."

"Sorry."

"Here it is," Amelia said. She held it up for her approval and Freddie nodded.

"Slice off a bit of the end for me. Use the silver knife."

"What's the ginger root for?" Amelia asked as she obeyed.

"You don't know?"

"Turns out I'm not that good at potions either," she said with a grin. She handed the piece of root to Freddie and she started to nibble on it slowly.

"Ginger works for nausea," Freddie explained. "It's disgustingly bitter and much better as a tea, but it's usually effective."

Amelia sat carefully on the edge of the bed while Freddie finished eating the little bit of ginger. Her stomach started to feel better almost immediately and after a minute she reached for the toast.

"Here," Amelia said, quickly getting up and getting the toast off the bedside table for her.

"Thanks," Freddie said and took a small bite. She chewed it slowly. It felt thick and dry in her mouth but she was sure she could keep it down now. "I'm sorry, Amelia. I know this sucks. You don't have to stay, I'll be alright."

"It's fine," Amelia said dismissively. "Besides, what are you gonna do if I leave? You'll just lay here and die."

"Maybe," she said with a ghost of a smile. "No, seriously. You don't have to take care of me. Dalton's probably waiting for you."

"You're not getting rid of me that easy. He's at Quidditch practice," she said. "Besides, I've thought about being a nurse someday."

"Really?" Freddie asked. This was news to her. She wasn't sure but she didn't think Amelia's marks were high enough for a medical career. At least, her potions grade wasn't...but she had time to improve.

"Well, no, Freddie not really," Amelia said, seeming amused that she'd taken her seriously. Freddie scowled at her friend and took another bite of toast. "Actually, I've been thinking about what you said a few weeks ago."

"What did I say?" she asked blankly through her mouthful of toast.

"About being a hairdresser," she said, though she looked a little embarrassed. "I think I'd be good at it."

"You'd be great at it!" Freddie said, accidentally spraying toast crumbs on her bed. She started to move to brush them off but the pain in her arm stopped her.

"Yeah? I think I'd really enjoy it," Amelia said as she absently brushed the crumbs off the bed. "I'm just not sure what my folks will think. It's not exactly glamorous."

"Um, it's the definition of glamorous. What you do with hair is amazing."

"Yeah but it's not glamorous by their standards. Purebloods, you know? I'm pretty sure they want me to settle down and start popping out pureblood babies as soon as I graduate," she said bitterly. It was the first time Freddie had heard Amelia say anything negative about her family or her heritage and it surprised her. She'd thought her friend had been proud to be pureblood.

"Don't get me wrong," Amelia said quickly, seeing the expression on her face. "I'll gladly have babies eventually and of course I'll marry a pureblood...I just want to have some fun first."

Freddie considered this a moment, then swallowed her last bite of toast.

"Well as long as you don't go opening a Muggle hair salon, I think it'll be fine," she told her. "Surely your parents won't hold it against you if you want to live your own life, even if it is just a few years."

"I dunno," Amelia said doubtfully.

"I think you should do it. Do what makes you happy and if you can make money doing it, that's even better."

Amelia smiled at her and inclined her head.

"You're right, Freddie. 'Course I still got a couple years to figure it out. You ready for some sausage? Or your potion?"

"Potion," Freddie decided, thinking the sausage might still be too much on her stomach.

Amelia carefully uncorked the vial and handed it to her. Freddie was even more cautious than the night before, letting only a few drops of the potion hit her tongue. She didn't want to be completely loopy again and she didn't want to risk the potion masking a more serious injury.

It took less than a minute and the pain started to ease off. She hadn't even noticed the rest of her body was still sore until it wasn't anymore. Only her shoulder still hurt but it was reduced to a dull throb she thought she could manage.

"Be sure you put the stopper back in that good," she said as Amelia took the vial from her.

"Yes ma'am," she said sarcastically, but smiled to let her know it was in good humor. When Amelia had put the bottle away Freddie gritted her teeth and tried to sit up again. Her whole arm throbbed as she moved but it wasn't unbearable if she moved slowly. When she was finally sitting up on the edge of the bed she breathed a sigh of relief and she thought Amelia did too. It didn't matter that she didn't think she could stand up, just sitting up seemed a miracle.

"Alright, let's see it," Amelia said authoritatively. Freddie raised an eyebrow at her tone but started to undo the top buttons of her nightshirt. When she could finally pull it down over her shoulder she heard Amelia let out a hiss.

"Uhh, you might want to rethink that trip to the Hospital Wing, Freddie," Amelia said. "That does not look good."

Bracing herself, Freddie turned her head to look at her shoulder. Her stomach sank at what she saw. The bruise was much darker than before and it was swollen, the skin stretched tight over her shoulder bone. Amelia was right, it didn't look good. And the fact that she could still feel it through the Pain-Relieving Potion working its magic, well, that wasn't good either. She exhaled slowly, thinking.

"I'm not going to the Hospital Wing. Listen!" she said quickly as Amelia started to protest. "Can you do something for me?"

"Anything, Freddie, you know that."

"I want you to go to Professor Snape's office, knock on his door, and tell him that I need Bone Knit Brew and some Bruise Cream."

"You can't be serious," Amelia said, her face paling slightly.

"I am."

"Umm...you know, maybe it's not that bad? It's just a bruise," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"He's not that bad, Amelia, and when you tell him it's for me he'll give it to you," she assured her. Probably. Maybe.

"Ughhh. Couldn't you ask me to do something else, like literally anything else? Maybe I could steal a potion for you from the Hospital Wing?" she asked hopefully.

"This will be faster and you won't end up in detention."

"You might be surprised," Amelia muttered under her breath.

"What do you mean?"

"Um, I'm pretty sure he hates me, Freddie. I'm terrible at Potions and he always looks so angry."

"You are not terrible at potions. You should see the work the first years do! And he's not angry, that's just his face."

"Are you sure?"

"Amelia, has he ever given you detention?"

"Well, no."

"Then what are you so scared of?"

Amelia thought about it a moment, then sighed.

"Alright, fair enough. I'll be back in a minute...hopefully."

"You'll be fine," Freddie called after her.