Wishes

By: Airelle Vilka

A/N: Preliminary apologies for the 'shortness' of this chapter… The next few could take a while, because I have my SAT on June 2nd and need to study. :-( I shall do my best to continue, though, so who knows? The next chapter could be up soon.

Chapter 10 The Hospital Wing

"How is she, Poppy?"

She? Who's she?

"She has had quite a nasty burn, but I think I'll mend it."

Burn? That must hurt.

"Very well. Any idea when she could awaken?"

"No, Minerva. Severus did not exactly say what this was…although I think I have an idea," the voice added quietly.

Severus? Who's-- oh… Snape. Right.

"I see. Well, make her comfortable, Poppy."

"Don't worry, she shall be fine. Please tell the Headmaster so."

"I will. Goodbye."

"Good night, Minerva."

The voices fell silent, and two sets of footsteps retreated in different directions.

Soon, the door opened again. Several people, it seemed, had just entered.

"Please, Madam Pomfrey, may we see Professor Vilka?"

Professor Vilka? Oh, wait a minute, that would be me. Silly.

The woman was hesitant, but finally said, "Oh, all right. But make it short; it's just like talking to a statue anyway."

She went into another room, by the sound of it, and feet approached the bed.

Bed? Oh, so that's where I am.

"You think she's all right?"

"Of course she's all right, you dufus! See, she's breathing!"

"That's nothing," said another voice. "My great-grandfather Newt was breathing too -- right before he died!!-- Ouch!"

"You think she needs to hear that, Alica?" said the first voice, annoyed.

"What makes you think she can hear us at all?"

"Oh… she is going to kill us when she wakes up."

"It's not our fault she got hurt!"

Hmmm… so I got hurt. Ah, yes… the Runespoor…

"Yeah, but we sent her down to the dungeons with that note-- which was YOUR idea, Tracy!"

"Shush! You want the whole world to hear that?"

"Sorry."

"Anyone say what did this?"

"Nope. Snape was the one who brought her up here, and--"

"Snape?!"

"Yeah. He's keeping mum. And Madam Pomfrey won't say anything either."

"Oh. But Hermione, d'you think it's very bad? You've read a lot, maybe you can figure--"

"I have no idea, Neville. But it mustn't be too bad. Look, I overheard Madam Pomfrey say something about burns spreading up her arms and her face. Do you see anything?"

"Err…no."

"See? She's fixed it. Now, come on, before she wakes up and sees Alica and Tracy."

"Yeah, we'd better. Come on, Neville." The others walked to the door, but there was still a presence near the bed.

"Go on, I'll be right out," called Neville's voice. The door shut, and there was silence.

Oh dear… the poor boy must be worried…

"I hope you'll be all right," said Neville timidly. Then, his voice grew quiet. "It better not have been Snape who did this."

"Are you all right, dear?" called out Pomfrey's voice from some distance.

"Oh, uh, yes," the boy muttered quickly and a pair of feet shuffled hastily towards the door. "Goodbye, Madam Pomfrey."

"Goodbye." And all was quiet.

Airelle opened her eyes and blinked. A canopy stared down at her. The curtains had been drawn; she had no idea what time of day it was. But Pomfrey had bid good night to McGonagall. So…

She got up without pain, and looked at herself. Her fingers were still slightly red from where the Runespoor egg liquid had soaked them, and she had a sore throat and a sizable headache, but otherwise, everything was as it should have been. A thought passed through her mind… How long have I been out?

Turning her head from side to side to make sure her neck was working, Airelle drew aside the edge of the curtains about a centimeter. There was no movement from the other side. She pushed a little further.

The room was empty; Madam Pomfrey had gone to bed. A single candle was burning on the nightstand, sending flickering shadows dancing across the walls. Soft glow streamed in through the window – moonlight. It was late.

Airelle did not feel sleepy, and hung her bare feet off the bed. It was then that she noticed the pile of things stacked neatly on the floor next to her.

Curious, she crept out and knelt next to the heap. And gasped.

They were presents. Little wrapped boxes addressed to her, of all shapes and sizes. Airelle smiled. Did people think that highly of her-- only after two weeks? It was true she was nice to the students-- but so soon--

She took the first on her lap and quietly took off the paper. Upon opening it, a light exploded onto her face and she had to turn away. When the Greeting Spell had cleared, Airelle removed a small wooden box and a card from Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw House. It read:

Though you may not be well now/Don't worry about a thing/It'll turn out great somehow/And you'll be back before you can say 'Feather Wing'

With Love, Prof. Flitwick and the Students of Ravenclaw

P.S. We know we can't rhyme. But you can't blame us for trying!

Airelle laughed softly and opened the box. But she immediately regretted it, because as soon as she had lifted the lid, music began to emanate from it. The Illusions professor smacked it shut and crawled back into bed, listening for Madam Pomfrey.

When a sufficient amount of time had passed, Airelle came out again, straightened her nightgown, and unwrapped the rest of the presents. There was one from Dumbledore, Sprout, Sinistra, more teachers, and many of the students—most from her Illusions classes. There was one entitled 'From A. Tylon and T. Patts,' but she decided not to open it. Knowing those two, it would probably be a Dungbomb.

One from Neville and the Gryffindor Class… Hagrid… and…

"What's this?" she whispered, picking up a small paper she hadn't noticed before. Raising her eyebrows, she unfolded it. On the top, written in green ink, were four lines in a flowing handwriting.

Ink shouldn't be wasted And neither should sound

So do yourself a favour

And turn around.

"Oh, no…" She had no choice, but turned slowly. And standing next to her bed, long fingers running over the curtains, was none other than Severus Snape.

"Gg…g…h…"

"Good, you interpreted the message correctly," he said, crossing his arms and looking down at Airelle, who was still crouched on the floor. "I said sound shouldn't be wasted, and you're quiet. Better than I expected."

She was thunderstruck. "What are you doing here--"

"Shh!" he hissed suddenly, sweeping towards her and grabbing her hand.

"Wha—"

The Potions Master did not reply, but dragged her up and basically threw Airelle and himself into the bed, drawing the curtains shut and leaving them in the darkness.

Airelle stared at him, bewildered. Snape put a finger to his lips and pointed towards the doorway.

A soft pair of footsteps had just entered the room. It was Madam Pomfrey. She walked a little closer to the bed just as Airelle began to realize how odd this looked. What if she opened the curtains to check on her patient? All I need right now to complete my day is to be found in bed with Severus Snape, she thought and would have exploded into laughter had Snape not clamped a cold hand over her mouth.

Madam Pomfrey stopped next to the candle. She only had to pull back the curtains.

Please, please don't open them.

She reached up towards the crease.

Oh, we're doomed. Airelle prepared herself for a loud scream. In the back of her mind, a voice laughed at her again. Oh, this should be amusing. Never thought you'd wind up here with Snape, of all places, eh?

A sound suddenly came from the room Madam Pomfrey had just exited.

"Oh, goodness, is that silly Kneazle clawing the furniture again?" She shuffled away into the other room in her slippers, muttering to herself about her pet, leaving Airelle to breathe the kind of relief a prisoner standing on the gallows felt at being freed. She looked backwards at Snape, whose breath was even. His eyes glittered magnificently, like obsidian diamonds, in the darkness.

"I'm going to kill you," she growled and made to throw the nearest available thing—a pillow--at him. However, it did not work, because he wrestled it away from her and said like an impatient parent, "Come, we can maim each other later."

With that announcement, the Potions Master crawled out of bed, black robes trailing like water after him, and gestured for Airelle to come out the door.

She looked at him and smiled. He was sneaking her out of the hospital wing to wander around school in the middle of the night. If they'd been students, it would have been understandable. But they were teachers… and Snape was the most loathed in the school… the venture was now hysterically funny, to say the least.

The former Auror shrugged, took her wand from the table, and followed her friend into the hallway on tiptoe.

To be continued…