Well, now that ff.net is finally back, I get to upload the conclusion!
Hope you like it! And, if anyone's interested, this fic is also archived at Sugar Quill and Fictionalley. Many, many thanks to all the
wonderful people who have reviewed!
Chapter
4
Newt's
head felt like it was going to split right down the middle. He groaned, shutting
his eyes tightly, afraid of what he might see if he opened them.
"Oh,
good. He's awake," he heard a voice say.
Before
he knew it, someone had propped him up and forced a disgusting liquid down his
throat. He sputtered and gagged, flailing his arms, but that someone pinned him
down and said "Relax. I know it's not pleasant, but it's for your own good."
Newt
reluctantly opened his eyes, the pain in his head dissapearing gradually. For a
moment everything was blurry, but slowly came into focus. He saw the petite
face of the Nurse, Marie, peering down at him. "Where… where am I?" he croaked.
"You're
in the hospital wing, and you have a visitor," she said, pointing to his right.
Newt
realised that he was lying on one of the thin, white beds in the hospital wing,
and sitting next to him, looking more unsettled than Newt had ever seen him
look, was Patrick. He was in his dressing gown, gaping at Newt as if he were a
ghost, and for a brief moment Newt feared that he was.
"Hello,
Patrick…" Newt said, a little sluggishly. "What're you doing here?"
Patrick
looked worried. "Don't you remember what happened?"
Newt
squinted at Patrick, his mind feeling completely fogged up, and racked his
brain to figure out how he got there. A figure rolled over and mumbled on the
next bed, and he noticed that it was Porpentina, fast asleep. A Lumos spell suddenly seemed to activate
in his brain, and with a start that nearly sent him tumbling off his bed, he
remembered everything that had happened that night.
"Wha…
What happened?" he croaked.
"Where
do you want me to start?" asked Patrick, fidgeting in his chair.
"I…
The last thing I remember is this huge branch heading right towards me… Ouch,"
he added, although he really didn't feel any pain anymore.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what Porpentina
said."
Newt
turned around slowly and looked at Porpentina in the next bed, who was snoring
loudly. "Is she all right?" he whispered.
"She
will be. The nurse gave her this potion which sent her into a fit of giggles, and
so she gave her another potion which sent her to sleep."
Newt
hung his head despondently. "You're probably here to kill me, right?"
"Well,
when I heard what happened, my first thought was indeed to do that, but… Newt I
want to apologise."
Newt's
head snapped up in amazement. "You
want to apologise? I was the one who
was being the complete prat!"
"That's
true," said Patrick smiling slightly, but then he sobered up. "Honestly though
Newt, I… I should have been a better friend. I could have helped you today, you
know that. And anyway it's not my fault that you're an absolute idiot."
Newt
was feeling too relieved to argue with that. "You're… you're not angry with me
for taking Porpentina into the Forest are you?"
Newt
shook his head, smiling affectionately at the sleeping form of his sister. "No,
not really. The cream puff could do with a few hard knocks. And anyway, I knew
that she would've been safe with you. It seems like she enjoyed the whole
experience."
"Really?"
"Well,
apparantly when Ogg first brought her in, she was jabbering like crazy, but
after she drank the potions she kept saying it was a 'Jolly Good Adventure.'"
"God,
Patrick, I'm sorry."
Patrick
shrugged nonchalantly. "I understand what you were trying to do. I would have
done the same, you know. Or I hope I would have. But frankly I feel more sorry
for you. Lesser men have been
rendered powerless under the wrath of Porpentina Murray. But I get the feeling
you can handle her."
"Why's
that?"
Patrick
shrugged again, not answering. Newt sighed and leaned back on his bed. "What
happened exactly? How did Porpentina get out? Where's Eddy?"
Patrick
squirmed again. "Well, from what Porpentina said, after you fell off, she
panicked, but managed to get Eddy to stop. Then she guided him around towards
you, and hoisted you up onto his back. Apparently, she got frightened out of
her wits by a group of Ashwinders, freshly hatched, probably, but managed
to get away by swinging at them with
her satchel (Useful weapon, that,
thought Newt) and climb onto Eddy. I think she saw some other creatures too,
but she couldn't make out what they were. Anyway, Eddy galloped off at full
speed, but for a few minutes she thought that she lost. She didn't want to risk
flying Eddy in case you slipped off again. Well, there wasn't any immediate
danger, but Porpentina panicked when she saw a Centaur, and so did Eddy, and he
took off into flight. Luckily, she managed to get a firm grip on you, and it
turned out that you were very near the edge of the Forest. Eddy… Eddy landed
near Ogg's hut, and Porpentina persuaded him to help her get you here." He
paused. "The important thing is that both of you are alive."
"And
Eddy?" asked Newt quietly. "How's he doing?"
Patrick
opened his mouth uncomfortably, but before he could say anything, the door
burst open with a deafening BANG.
Newt
saw, of all people, his mother standing in the door frame, absolutely livid.
Patrick
glanced at Newt, muttered "See you in the morning," and hurriedly fled the
room, squeezing past Elizabeth Scamander as inobtrusively as possible. Newt was
both happy and not happy to see him go.
Elizabeth
stormed towards her son, her face screwed up and her short brown hair flying in
every direction. She stopped short in front of his bed and shrieked "Newton Artemis Fido Scamander!" From the
next bed, Porpentina suddenly burst out giggling. Well, look who's up, thought Newt morosely.
Elizabeth
looked bemusedly at Porpentina for a moment before turning on her son again.
"Young man, do you have any idea how
much trouble you're in?" she hissed, sounding incredibly like an Ashwinder
herself.
Newt
gulped and looked up at his mother's furious face. He noticed that Professor
Dumbledore had discreetly entered the room as well. "I'm really, really sorry
Mum. You have no idea how much. I was just… I was worried about Eddy, that's
all. I'm so, so-"
Elizabeth's
face crumpled and suddenly she flung herself at Newt, crying out "Oh, my baby!"
"MUM!"
cried Newt, now thoroughly shocked. "It's… it's ok… really, I'm fine."
Elizabeth
continued to sob on Newt's shoulder. "I was so, so worried. I just came here to
retrieve Eddy, and I heard what happened… Oh, Newt why couldn't you just leave
well enough alone for once?"
"Mum,
what are you talking about?"
Elizabeth
looked at her son sadly, while Dumbledore awkwardly cleared his throat. "Newt,
Eddy… Eddy didn't make it. He died a half-hour ago."
Newt's
throat went completely dry. "What do you mean? He… he couldn't have… I… he couldn't
have."
Elizabeth
hugged her son. "I'm sorry, honey, but you ought to have seen this coming. Eddy
was very, very old, and he was becoming weaker everyday…"
Newt
blinked furiously. "It's all my fault," he croaked. "It's my fault as usual. I shouldn't
have insisted he come here. I... I even flew
him today, what was I thinking? If it weren't for me, he never would have gone
into the Forest and… Mum," he said, his voice breaking, "Why? Why did he have to go in there? And when I saw him, he didn't
even want to go, and… it's all my fault."
Elizabeth
shook her son as if trying to shake some sense into him. "Newt listen to me,
Eddy might have lived a day or two longer if he was at home, but I don't think
that would have been what he wanted."
Newt
gazed blearily at his mother. "What d'you mean?"
Elizabeth
hesitated. "Honey, I've never let that Hippogriff be… himself. Be what he's
supposed to be. He was my first experiment, and I loved him dearly, but I guess
I got a little carried away. I trained him to be highly sensitive to danger,
but I never let him actually experience
it. Eddy's been living a very… boring life, Newt. I never even let him mingle
with the other Hippogriffs unless they were already tamed. I think that since
he was here, with no one to mind him, he couldn't help but feel a little
adventurous and go exploring. It's his natural instinct. He knew that his time
here was going to end, and I guess he just wanted to have a little adventure
before he passed on."
Newt
contemplated this for a few seconds. "But then… he didn't even get to
experience that adventure. I stopped him. I deprived him of the one thing that
he ever wanted. I… I didn't know, Mum."
Elizabeth
nodded to show that she understood, but Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully.
"Oh, I don't know, Newt. Judging from Miss
Murray's account, he seemed to have quite an escapade while you were
unconscious. Besides, I've always thought that Death was nothing but an
adventure in itself… It's all right, Newt." he added, noticing that Newt was
starting to cry.
"Honey,
are you going to be okay?" Elizabeth asked, concerned.
Newt
nodded, quickly wiping his face with his bed sheets. "I'll be fine, Mum. I
just… I'll be fine."
Elizabeth
hugged her son again. "I'm going to spend the night here, Newt. I'll come and
see you in the morning before you head to class."
Class. Newt felt the now familiar
sensation of panic wash over him. "Professor, is Gryffindor going to lose any
points over this?" he asked worriedly.
Dumbledore
looked at Newt soberly. "The only ones who know about this are Ogg, Marie, and
myself. They won't say anything if I ask them not to. I don't feel that it
would be fair to deduct house points considering all that you've been through
tonight. Although I do hope you realise the seriousness of what you've done.
You not only risked your life, but also that of a fellow student."
Newt
nodded, feeling worse than ever. "I suggest you get some rest, Newt," said
Dumbledore, not unkindly, as he left the room. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Elizabeth
hugged Newt, kissed him on the forehead and told him "I hope you realise that
this means you're not getting your allowance till your O.W.L. results are out."
Newt
nodded, smiling faintly, and bid goodnight to his mother as she left the room.
The nurse bustled over and forced a glass full of some blueish looking potion
into his hand. "Now that that's over…" she mumbled. "Drink the lot, Scamander,
and no funny business. I'll be right back." Saying so she left the room as
well.
Newt
wrinkled up his nose at the stench of the potion. "I wonder where she's going,"
he muttered to himself. In the next bed Porpentina giggled again. Newt had
almost forgotten that she was there.
"Probably
off for a secret midnight snog session with Professor Whitby," she whispered
confidentially.
"What?" exclaimed Newt.
"It's
true," she nodded primly. She fell silent for a few seconds, and then added
"They're probably going at it like rabbits right now."
Newt
shook his head to get rid of that disturbing mental picture as Porpentina
continued to giggle. "You do realise, Newt darling, that once this potion has
worn off I'm going to kill you."
"I'll
be looking forward to it."
Porpentina
giggled again and settled down in her bed. "G'night, Newton Artemis Fido
Scamander." she mumbled drowsily.
"Goonight,
Porpoise." he muttered, but Porpentina was already asleep.
Newt
sighed, and stoically blinked back some more tears that threatened to spill. It
would do no good to cry again. Eddy was gone. Animals go. People go. It was the
natural order. If anyone understood nature it was him. He glanced at Porpentina
without really knowing why.
Newt
sighed again. pinched his nose shut and downed the awful concotion. All at
once, he felt a sense of serene calmness take over his entire body, completely
relaxing his every nerve. Is this what
Eddy feels like now? Newt wondered sleepily. I guess he must be happy wherever he is. He'll be off having his great
adventures, I think. I wonder what Hippogriff Heaven is like… I hope they have
plenty of Flobberworms, Eddy always liked to eat those…Bye, Eddy…
And
Newt drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
~*~
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