Chapter 5- In Which My Mistake takes A Turn For The Better
I awoke an hour later to find several worried faces clustered around me as I lay tucked snugly into a crisp hospital bed.
"Whatever possessed you," Hermione breathed, when she noticed my eyes were open. "to run off like that, when you'd been specifically warned not to?" I looked around without answering, noting everyone in the confines of the closed off area where my bed was. I saw Dennis, of course, and Colin, as well as Harry, Ron, Neville, his girlfriend Eloise, Eunice, Amanda, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus, Dean, several of the younger students, and the aforementioned Hermione.
"There was this cat," I tried to explain. "It looked so pitiful, there in the alley. It had such beautiful silver eyes…"
"And you couldn't see right through it?" Ron exploded. He was ready to hit someone…namely Malfoy.
"Shh, Ron," Dennis admonished. "You'll get us thrown out. Besides, it's not like she was particularly expecting to be led away from everyone and mauled by huge Slytherin dolts! I took all your stuff back to Gryffindor, Erin, and Amanda put it on your desk."
"Thanks," I said quietly. I tried to sit up, but when I moved, pain shot through my side, so I hissed and lay still. Madam Pomfrey Bustled in soon after.
"Out!" she barked. "Everybody out!" She began to take my temperature as my friends left the enclosure, glancing back at me apologetically. "Don't worry dear, you should be fine by tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey told me, patting my hand gently. "Those boys gave you quite a time, but they're being dealt with most severely. The Headmaster wishes to speak with you after I've finished my treatment." She huffed in annoyance. "I asked him to wait until tomorrow, but nooo, of course it had to be now!"
The nurse tugged my shirt up a little, and I gasped at the bruises covering my side. So that's why it hurt! Come to think, of it, my head hurt too. I raised my hand and touched my forehead, but my fingertips only brushed a linen bandage. Come to think of it, my head did hurt some…
"You've got some nasty bruising, with a possibility of cracked ribs, and your forehead is bruised and cut. Just drink this," she held out a tiny vial of blue liquid, "and with anti-inflammatory charms, you'll be in class tomorrow. Here comes the Headmaster," she told me. "Drink up!" I choked down the bitter blue potion as the Headmaster passed the curtain and conferred quietly with Madam Pomfrey. She turned and flicked her wand in my direction, and I immediately felt the bruising ebb.
"Lovely, work, Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore complimented the nurse. "Erin," he said gravely, sitting down. "I understand you had a run-in with some older students this morning."
"Yes," I said.
"Will you tell me the circumstances of the event, please?" he requested. "Any background information…"
"Malfoy threatened me this morning because I hit Jeremy Flint yesterday. He insulted Dennis, so I slugged him," I explained simply, reddening slightly. "Someone came after me when I left the Great Hall to day, and insinuated there might be trouble, but I decided to ignore his advice, and went to Hogsmeade only with Dennis. We were in the Three Broomsticks for a break when I saw Yolanda Duran outside, and I wanted to ask her about some Herbology homework, so I went outside to find her. I passed an alley on my way to find her, and there was this cat in the alley. It was so cute! I followed past a bunch of houses and around a corner, where it promptly disappeared. I looked around, but didn't see it. When I turned to leave, there were these three figures cloaked in black and when the tallest one spoke, I recognized it immediately as Malfoy." Here I paused and Dumbledore looked at me intently.
"What did he do then?"
"He, Crabbe and Goyle cut off escape and I ended up backed against the wall of this old house. Malfoy did some sort of spell that made my body function separately from my mind, and I banged my head against the wall a lot before falling over. Crabbe and Goyle proceeded to kick me, and when they stopped, Malfoy stepped over and was just about to do something else when Professor McGonagall showed up. She froze them, and sent Hermione and Dennis off to find people and then I blacked out." I watched Dumbledore's face as he considered what I'd said.
"May I assume," he asked politely, "that the 'someone' who proffered advice was Blaise Zabini, of Slytherin?"
"How did you know?" I asked with interest.
"In part because it was he who informed the Professor McGonagall that you were in trouble." My eyes got wide.
"How else?" I asked.
"I simply asked the portraits!" Dumbledore chuckled. My head was spinning. Blaise, again, come to my rescue. How many times would I end up owing him? What would he think of me now? Dumbledore rose and with a few words of thanks, he left my 'cubicle' and I heard him speaking to Madam Pomfrey. Soon, she bustled back in.
"Time for you to rest, dear," she said. I noticed that my headache was gone. Madam Pomfrey left my bedside and I was left alone to stare at the ceiling. I closed my eyes, and minutes passed in silence until I heard something move by my bed. My eyes flew open as Blaise Zabini came abruptly into view, some sort of cape held in his hands.
"How could you?" he asked, voice shaking in anger. "I told you to stay with someone. Why didn't you listen to me?"
"Blaise," I said, "I didn't mean to get beat up! It was just that I didn't think I had anything to worry about, and that blasted cat…"
"Oh, so it's just that you think you're immortal, is that it?" Blaise asked, looking at me.
"No!" I exclaimed, hurt. "I just didn't think he'd actually do anything!"
"Malfoy isn't one to make idle threats," Blaise told me, his anger beginning to recede. "Next time, trust the people who have experience with him, and trust that I know what I'm talking about! When I saw you go darting down the alley, I ran for a teacher. I know even I couldn't stand against Malfoy in evil mode! Then, when I saw them float you out of there on the stretcher…" Blaise trailed off.
"You were that worried?" I asked, much surprised. "I mean anything at all to you?"
"Erin…" Blaise's cool fingertips brushed my hand. Our eyes met, and I felt like I could just drown in those deep blue depths. I felt my eyes closing as his face lowered to mine, and then our lips met softly. His lips were warm and gentle, and I sighed with noiseless contentment when he pulled away.
Blaise looked at me in silence for a moment more, then pulled the cape over himself and left without another word. Invisibility cloak, registered part of my mind, but I ignored it, finding It much easier to sleep now, and I drifted off momentarily.
