Chapter
Eight
Lions and serpents
It was dark when I opened my eyes. My left hand and arm felt numb, and I could tell that a restraining spell had been cast on me, binding me to the bed. If I had known where I was, maybe I wouldn't have panicked so badly. I thought I was a captive. It would have been the first time in my life. If it had been true.
I struggled against the spell for sometime, until I was too weary to continue. My strength was spent, and sweat was running into my eyes. I started to wonder what would become of me. Then I heard voices, and they were happy, young voices, though slightly quieter than was perhaps the usual for them. They were struggling to keep quiet and failing miserably.
I turned my head and noticed that my surroundings were not as unfamiliar as they had initially seemed. My eyes were adjusting the dim light. It was sometime very late in the evening, and I was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
"Are you sure one of the Aurors was brought in, Lily?" asked a quiet, masculine voice.
"Yes, I was in here while they were treating him back there. Madam Pomfrey said that I should keep anyone from disturbing them -- her and Krohn and Sinistra.," said another voice. It was that of a young woman.
"Do you think he's still in here?" questioned the first voice.
"I don't know, and if he is, we really shouldn't disturb him," said the girl in a very serious tone of voice.
"I just want to get a look at him, maybe talk to him. If it's Moody, he's supposed to be one of the best there is. Maybe he could put in a good word for me."
"James!" she hissed almost angrily.
"I brought cookies ..." he said in an oddly childish voice.
The next thing I knew someone was pulling the privacy screen aside very carefully and very quietly, letting more light into my dark corner of the ward. The young man entered first. The light from the outer room caught his face just right so that I could get a good look at him. His eyes were a piercing hazel and filled with surprise when he saw me looking at him. At his elbow was an auburn-hared young witch with sparkling green eyes and a worried expression. She clutched at his arm in surprise when she saw me staring at them.
"Hello," I said hoarsely as they appeared to freeze in their tracks.
"You ... you must be ... that is, well ... you're Mister Moody, right?" questioned the young wizard, who appeared to be in his sixth or seventh year.
"Yes," I said, struggling briefly against the restraining spell again.
I watched as the young women put her hand to her mouth. Her companion took a step closer to the hospital bed.
"We didn't mean to disturb you, sir," he said.
"Quite all right," I murmured.
I wondered for a moment how many potions I had been given and what kind. I did not feel calm, but it occurred to me that I could not feel all of my limbs properly, especially my left hand and part of the arm. Forgetting about the two teenagers for a moment, I turned my attention it and frowned as I realized that it was all bandaged up. Then I remembered the pain and the regeneration cream.
Something cool and damp touched my face for a moment. I flinched and turned. The girl - Lily, her companion had called her - had a damp cloth in her hand. I suspected that she had conjured it. She looked rather pale.
"I help Madam Pomfrey sometimes as an assistant, sir," she stammered, sponging the sweat from my face.
"Indeed," I said. I noticed then that there was no pity in her bright green eyes, only sternness and the expression that I had come to know as one of duty. And perhaps a little anxiousness. She was, after all, quite young.
"I think you ought to lie still," she said as the wizard, James, walked around to the other side of my bed.
He looked at my linen-wrapped hand for a moment and shook his head. I felt rather certain that he knew something of what had happened.
"Your wand hand, sir?" he questioned. So perhaps he didn't know exactly.
"Yes," I growled, closing my eyes as I felt a stab of fear. The girl patted my other hand awkwardly. "Who are you?" I questioned them.
I could almost feel them hesitate. They were afraid that I would get them into trouble, but they need not have worried.
"I'm James Potter. She's Lily Evans," the young wizard responded.
I opened my eyes again and nodded, "Alastor Moody."
"Of course," said James.
"You want to be an Auror?" I asked him.
"You heard us talking," he said.
"Well?" I questioned.
"I do," he replied.
"What house are you?" I inquired curiously.
It was a well-known fact that Slytherins made the best Aurors, though there were always Gryffindors who took to the job as well, though by my estimation they often found more satisfaction in the more bureaucratic jobs in the Ministry, as did Ravenclaws and even Hufflepuffs. Of course, I was rather certain that these two were Gryffindors, especially in his case. I had heard the last name Potter before.
"Gryffindor," he confirmed.
"And you are leaving school this term?"
"Yes," he nodded.
I wanted to question him further. I liked the look in his eyes. Bold, rather brave, but thoughtful too. All very nice things and illusions brought on by too many pain-potions as likely as not, but still, there was something about the young man that warranted closer inspection.
"See to it that you apply to the training program, Mister Potter. If you can make it through that, there might be a place for you in our ranks," I said, beginning to feel rather sleepy again.
"Thank you very much, sir," said James, who sounded very pleased at the prospect. He removed something from the pocket of his robes, causing me to stiffen for a moment. Then the scent of cookies reached my nose. He had not been joking.
"What a strange young man," I thought as he deposited a neatly tied napkin on the bed side table.
"I thought ..." he began.
"For later," interjected Lily, who seemed rather feisty. I had heard her last name, which was totally unfamiliar to me, but for a moment I wondered if she was a cousin of Molly something-or-other who had married Arthur Weasley.
"Yes," said James.
Then we all heard the sound of footsteps in the outer ward. I could tell by the look on James and Lily's faces that they were not supposed to be there.
"Tell me you have the cloak!" Lily hissed quietly.
"It isn't even after hours," James said back in a quiet, but annoyed voice. "I left it in my trunk."
"Maybe if we duck over there," suggested Lily, pointing to a darkened corner of the room between the privacy screen and another unused bed.
James looked at me for a moment, and I managed a half smile.
"I'll not draw any attention to you," I assured them before they hurriedly went to their hiding place.
I had expected the footsteps to belong to Madam Pomfrey, so I was quite surprised to see the young professor from that afternoon - I was assuming that only a few hours had passed. Sinistra was not a tall man, I noticed as he stepped into the partitioned section of the hospital wing. Not even by my standards. He smiled when he saw that I was awake. I thought he glanced at the parcel on the table by my bed, though I couldn't be sure.
"Mister Moody, how are you feeling this evening?" he questioned politely.
"I feel ... heavily medicated," I told him. I was also feeling a bit sleepy and rather anxious about my injured hand, but I didn't want to admit either of those things.
"You are," he chuckled, "but I am rather certain that it is for the best."
I nodded my agreement and tried to move again, but was still held firmly in place by the restraining spell. It was something of a nuisance, not to mention that it made me feel more vulnerable that I ever wanted to be.
"Why am I restrained?" I asked Sinistra.
"Oh, well, you were thrashing around quite a bit earlier," he replied rather conversationally. "Madam Pomfrey thought it was for the best. I can remove the spell if you would like," he added.
"Please."
He took out his wand and quietly said the counter spell. For a brief instant after becoming free I had the insane urge to leap from the bed and run. Then I realized that I was in no condition for that and wearing hospital robes.
"Better?" he asked.
"Much. Thank you."
"Professor Krohn ... Reynard, I mean, was able to save your hand. It should heal quite nicely," he informed me.
"Then I can leave in the morning?"
He laughed and said, "Hardly. But I believe better quarters may be found for you during your convalescence."
"Convalescence?" I questioned, not liking the sound of that.
"A week perhaps, if you take your potions properly and refrain from doing anything foolish," he said. I looked into his light brown eyes and frowned. He seemed so nonchalant, and yet the look in his eyes was ... inscrutable, even to me.
"A long time."
"Perhaps," Anastasio agreed with a slight nod.
Then he did something very odd. His eyes darted toward the darkened corner where the two young Gryffindors were hiding and then back to me. He raised an eyebrow slightly and straightened his back, not quite stiffening, but rather becoming more alert.
"I would kindly thank the two students hiding behind the other bed to please leave the hospital wing this instant and in a civilized manner," said Sinistra rather loudly.
He did not turn as James and Lily came out of hiding. He did not look at them. They did just as he asked with half-hidden smiles on their young faces. There seemed, at least in my opinion, to be a certain understanding between the young professor and the students.
"So you have met our Head Boy and Head Girl," noted Sinistra after they had gone.
"Yes."
"They weren't bothering you, were they?"
"No ... it was nice to have some company."
Sinistra's eyes drifted to the table where James had left the cookies. He smiled slightly.
"Reynard hates them, you know. Because they -- and their friends -- manage to get away with so much. But they can be very entertaining," he said.
"The young man wants to be an Auror," I told him.
"Ah, so it wasn't just a social call then," said Sinistra, raising an eyebrow slightly. "But I am not surprised. James has top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"It takes more than that," I countered.
"True, I'm sure," he said, looking into my eyes with a very measuring, assessing gaze. "I suspect that Madam Pomfrey would want you to get some sleep. She had earlier expressed a desire for you to remain sedated until morning, if not because of the pain, then so you wouldn't try to use your hand."
I glanced at the bandaged appendage for a moment and nodded as I resisted the urge to try to wiggle my fingers.
"It doesn't hurt," I assured him.
"It is still numb then?"
"Yes."
"I don't know if that is a good sign or not," he said. I yawned softly, and Anastasio smiled a second time. "But I can see that I am keeping you awake," he chuckled, reaching down and patting my uninjured hand.
"I don't mind," I said, feeling very sleepy.
"Ah, but Madam Pomfrey would mind very much," he replied quickly. "So go to sleep, Mister Moody."
"Alastor," I mumbled.
"I am honored," chuckled Sinistra. "My friends call me Anastasio," he said, squeezing my hand one more time as I closed my eyes.
"Anastasio," I repeated sleepily.
The last sound I heard that evening was that of a chair being drawn up. I was comforted that he was not leaving, but a bit baffled as well. Why should someone care so much about a stranger? I did not have the answer.
A/N: The chapter is short, but it is all that I can come up with at the moment. I don't really like James Potter after reading OotP, so it's almost painful to write anything nice about him. But that's my problem. I've also been busy with school and other projects. Sorry.
I want to thank everyone who has reviewed: dragongirlG, Lady Cinnibar, Otspock, Jennifer, Lady FoxFire (during GoF wasn't that long ago), eat paper (I don't think I'll change anything), Lord Master Omega, ER, Kazza, Jessyka, setsuna, silversea, Kris, Alena, Finwitch1 (Alastor's wooden leg is fascinating, isn't it?), Vicious Lily (they haven't decided yet), Badassgothicgirl, Barbara Kennedy (it's harder to write now that it isn't as 'original' of an idea), & Savage Damsel (I haven't quite given up, but I'm close). Thank you all very much!!!
Lions and serpents
It was dark when I opened my eyes. My left hand and arm felt numb, and I could tell that a restraining spell had been cast on me, binding me to the bed. If I had known where I was, maybe I wouldn't have panicked so badly. I thought I was a captive. It would have been the first time in my life. If it had been true.
I struggled against the spell for sometime, until I was too weary to continue. My strength was spent, and sweat was running into my eyes. I started to wonder what would become of me. Then I heard voices, and they were happy, young voices, though slightly quieter than was perhaps the usual for them. They were struggling to keep quiet and failing miserably.
I turned my head and noticed that my surroundings were not as unfamiliar as they had initially seemed. My eyes were adjusting the dim light. It was sometime very late in the evening, and I was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
"Are you sure one of the Aurors was brought in, Lily?" asked a quiet, masculine voice.
"Yes, I was in here while they were treating him back there. Madam Pomfrey said that I should keep anyone from disturbing them -- her and Krohn and Sinistra.," said another voice. It was that of a young woman.
"Do you think he's still in here?" questioned the first voice.
"I don't know, and if he is, we really shouldn't disturb him," said the girl in a very serious tone of voice.
"I just want to get a look at him, maybe talk to him. If it's Moody, he's supposed to be one of the best there is. Maybe he could put in a good word for me."
"James!" she hissed almost angrily.
"I brought cookies ..." he said in an oddly childish voice.
The next thing I knew someone was pulling the privacy screen aside very carefully and very quietly, letting more light into my dark corner of the ward. The young man entered first. The light from the outer room caught his face just right so that I could get a good look at him. His eyes were a piercing hazel and filled with surprise when he saw me looking at him. At his elbow was an auburn-hared young witch with sparkling green eyes and a worried expression. She clutched at his arm in surprise when she saw me staring at them.
"Hello," I said hoarsely as they appeared to freeze in their tracks.
"You ... you must be ... that is, well ... you're Mister Moody, right?" questioned the young wizard, who appeared to be in his sixth or seventh year.
"Yes," I said, struggling briefly against the restraining spell again.
I watched as the young women put her hand to her mouth. Her companion took a step closer to the hospital bed.
"We didn't mean to disturb you, sir," he said.
"Quite all right," I murmured.
I wondered for a moment how many potions I had been given and what kind. I did not feel calm, but it occurred to me that I could not feel all of my limbs properly, especially my left hand and part of the arm. Forgetting about the two teenagers for a moment, I turned my attention it and frowned as I realized that it was all bandaged up. Then I remembered the pain and the regeneration cream.
Something cool and damp touched my face for a moment. I flinched and turned. The girl - Lily, her companion had called her - had a damp cloth in her hand. I suspected that she had conjured it. She looked rather pale.
"I help Madam Pomfrey sometimes as an assistant, sir," she stammered, sponging the sweat from my face.
"Indeed," I said. I noticed then that there was no pity in her bright green eyes, only sternness and the expression that I had come to know as one of duty. And perhaps a little anxiousness. She was, after all, quite young.
"I think you ought to lie still," she said as the wizard, James, walked around to the other side of my bed.
He looked at my linen-wrapped hand for a moment and shook his head. I felt rather certain that he knew something of what had happened.
"Your wand hand, sir?" he questioned. So perhaps he didn't know exactly.
"Yes," I growled, closing my eyes as I felt a stab of fear. The girl patted my other hand awkwardly. "Who are you?" I questioned them.
I could almost feel them hesitate. They were afraid that I would get them into trouble, but they need not have worried.
"I'm James Potter. She's Lily Evans," the young wizard responded.
I opened my eyes again and nodded, "Alastor Moody."
"Of course," said James.
"You want to be an Auror?" I asked him.
"You heard us talking," he said.
"Well?" I questioned.
"I do," he replied.
"What house are you?" I inquired curiously.
It was a well-known fact that Slytherins made the best Aurors, though there were always Gryffindors who took to the job as well, though by my estimation they often found more satisfaction in the more bureaucratic jobs in the Ministry, as did Ravenclaws and even Hufflepuffs. Of course, I was rather certain that these two were Gryffindors, especially in his case. I had heard the last name Potter before.
"Gryffindor," he confirmed.
"And you are leaving school this term?"
"Yes," he nodded.
I wanted to question him further. I liked the look in his eyes. Bold, rather brave, but thoughtful too. All very nice things and illusions brought on by too many pain-potions as likely as not, but still, there was something about the young man that warranted closer inspection.
"See to it that you apply to the training program, Mister Potter. If you can make it through that, there might be a place for you in our ranks," I said, beginning to feel rather sleepy again.
"Thank you very much, sir," said James, who sounded very pleased at the prospect. He removed something from the pocket of his robes, causing me to stiffen for a moment. Then the scent of cookies reached my nose. He had not been joking.
"What a strange young man," I thought as he deposited a neatly tied napkin on the bed side table.
"I thought ..." he began.
"For later," interjected Lily, who seemed rather feisty. I had heard her last name, which was totally unfamiliar to me, but for a moment I wondered if she was a cousin of Molly something-or-other who had married Arthur Weasley.
"Yes," said James.
Then we all heard the sound of footsteps in the outer ward. I could tell by the look on James and Lily's faces that they were not supposed to be there.
"Tell me you have the cloak!" Lily hissed quietly.
"It isn't even after hours," James said back in a quiet, but annoyed voice. "I left it in my trunk."
"Maybe if we duck over there," suggested Lily, pointing to a darkened corner of the room between the privacy screen and another unused bed.
James looked at me for a moment, and I managed a half smile.
"I'll not draw any attention to you," I assured them before they hurriedly went to their hiding place.
I had expected the footsteps to belong to Madam Pomfrey, so I was quite surprised to see the young professor from that afternoon - I was assuming that only a few hours had passed. Sinistra was not a tall man, I noticed as he stepped into the partitioned section of the hospital wing. Not even by my standards. He smiled when he saw that I was awake. I thought he glanced at the parcel on the table by my bed, though I couldn't be sure.
"Mister Moody, how are you feeling this evening?" he questioned politely.
"I feel ... heavily medicated," I told him. I was also feeling a bit sleepy and rather anxious about my injured hand, but I didn't want to admit either of those things.
"You are," he chuckled, "but I am rather certain that it is for the best."
I nodded my agreement and tried to move again, but was still held firmly in place by the restraining spell. It was something of a nuisance, not to mention that it made me feel more vulnerable that I ever wanted to be.
"Why am I restrained?" I asked Sinistra.
"Oh, well, you were thrashing around quite a bit earlier," he replied rather conversationally. "Madam Pomfrey thought it was for the best. I can remove the spell if you would like," he added.
"Please."
He took out his wand and quietly said the counter spell. For a brief instant after becoming free I had the insane urge to leap from the bed and run. Then I realized that I was in no condition for that and wearing hospital robes.
"Better?" he asked.
"Much. Thank you."
"Professor Krohn ... Reynard, I mean, was able to save your hand. It should heal quite nicely," he informed me.
"Then I can leave in the morning?"
He laughed and said, "Hardly. But I believe better quarters may be found for you during your convalescence."
"Convalescence?" I questioned, not liking the sound of that.
"A week perhaps, if you take your potions properly and refrain from doing anything foolish," he said. I looked into his light brown eyes and frowned. He seemed so nonchalant, and yet the look in his eyes was ... inscrutable, even to me.
"A long time."
"Perhaps," Anastasio agreed with a slight nod.
Then he did something very odd. His eyes darted toward the darkened corner where the two young Gryffindors were hiding and then back to me. He raised an eyebrow slightly and straightened his back, not quite stiffening, but rather becoming more alert.
"I would kindly thank the two students hiding behind the other bed to please leave the hospital wing this instant and in a civilized manner," said Sinistra rather loudly.
He did not turn as James and Lily came out of hiding. He did not look at them. They did just as he asked with half-hidden smiles on their young faces. There seemed, at least in my opinion, to be a certain understanding between the young professor and the students.
"So you have met our Head Boy and Head Girl," noted Sinistra after they had gone.
"Yes."
"They weren't bothering you, were they?"
"No ... it was nice to have some company."
Sinistra's eyes drifted to the table where James had left the cookies. He smiled slightly.
"Reynard hates them, you know. Because they -- and their friends -- manage to get away with so much. But they can be very entertaining," he said.
"The young man wants to be an Auror," I told him.
"Ah, so it wasn't just a social call then," said Sinistra, raising an eyebrow slightly. "But I am not surprised. James has top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"It takes more than that," I countered.
"True, I'm sure," he said, looking into my eyes with a very measuring, assessing gaze. "I suspect that Madam Pomfrey would want you to get some sleep. She had earlier expressed a desire for you to remain sedated until morning, if not because of the pain, then so you wouldn't try to use your hand."
I glanced at the bandaged appendage for a moment and nodded as I resisted the urge to try to wiggle my fingers.
"It doesn't hurt," I assured him.
"It is still numb then?"
"Yes."
"I don't know if that is a good sign or not," he said. I yawned softly, and Anastasio smiled a second time. "But I can see that I am keeping you awake," he chuckled, reaching down and patting my uninjured hand.
"I don't mind," I said, feeling very sleepy.
"Ah, but Madam Pomfrey would mind very much," he replied quickly. "So go to sleep, Mister Moody."
"Alastor," I mumbled.
"I am honored," chuckled Sinistra. "My friends call me Anastasio," he said, squeezing my hand one more time as I closed my eyes.
"Anastasio," I repeated sleepily.
The last sound I heard that evening was that of a chair being drawn up. I was comforted that he was not leaving, but a bit baffled as well. Why should someone care so much about a stranger? I did not have the answer.
A/N: The chapter is short, but it is all that I can come up with at the moment. I don't really like James Potter after reading OotP, so it's almost painful to write anything nice about him. But that's my problem. I've also been busy with school and other projects. Sorry.
I want to thank everyone who has reviewed: dragongirlG, Lady Cinnibar, Otspock, Jennifer, Lady FoxFire (during GoF wasn't that long ago), eat paper (I don't think I'll change anything), Lord Master Omega, ER, Kazza, Jessyka, setsuna, silversea, Kris, Alena, Finwitch1 (Alastor's wooden leg is fascinating, isn't it?), Vicious Lily (they haven't decided yet), Badassgothicgirl, Barbara Kennedy (it's harder to write now that it isn't as 'original' of an idea), & Savage Damsel (I haven't quite given up, but I'm close). Thank you all very much!!!