By: Sweet 16 Movie Buff!
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"Oh my giddy aunt," she breathed again. Urgently she tapped his cheek, "Sirius . . . Sirius wake up! Please wake up. Oh, lord . . . please, please wake up, Sirius, you stubborn blighter. Please . . ."
He tossed his head to the side with a groan. "I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry . . ."
"I know, I know. I am too. I'm sorry, but," she leaned close to his face and pleaded, "Sirius, you have to get up. You need to get medical attention. You need a healer. Please . . . I'll help you, but you need to get up. Here, lean on me." She slung his left arm across her shoulders and braced his body with hers, "Now up you get."
She grunted as she tried to hoist him upright, but when she took a heavy step, the ground slipped and they collapsed on the ground. A small cry escaped Sirius as his face contorted with pain, his hands clutching his side.
Jillian slipped from beneath him gently and attempted desperately to sooth him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, that was a bad idea. I'm so, so sorry."
She combed her fingers through his hair, cooing quietly. She eyed the side he was clasping so tightly and saw dark blood pooling around his hands. Gently she pried them away to see his olive tee shirt was tattered and black with blood. His blood.
"Oh my lord." Jillian struggled out of her over-robes and let them fall away. She stripped away the knit vest that was a part of the school uniform, and hastily fumbled with the buttons of her blouse as she stripped down to her muscle tank.
Swiftly she bunched the button-down to his side, hopping to stem of the flow of blood. The pristine white blossomed with red and Jillian found herself clamping the knit vest on Sirius's wound. With her hand still pressing the cloth, she fumbled for his hand and gently guided it down his side to hold the clothes in place.
"Press firm. There's a good boy. Now we're going to get you on your feet. Come on," Carefully she looped his arm around his neck and her arm around his waist. Then, slowly, first on her knees she helped him to a sitting position, then slowly staggering they were standing, if swaying precariously.
"It's just a scratch," Sirius rasped as they took their first step, his face set in a pained grimace. "Just a scratch."
"If that's just a scratch then the lake's just a puddle," she whispered, "Stop trying to play the hero."
Jillian, supporting Sirius, stumbled out of the trees and back into the strange moonlit world of the Hogwarts's school grounds. The grass was a blanket of shadowy, twinkling azure while Hogwarts loomed high above like a silver statue.
Jillian did not make for the school that was ominous and distant, but instead turned toward the silhouette of a lone hut on the edge of the forest.
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"Hagrid! Hagrid! Please open the door! Hagrid!" Jillian kicked solidly at the cabin door. "Hagrid, its Jillian! Please open the door! Hurry!"
There was a resounding crash from within the cabin that shook the ground. Hagrid stumbled about the cabin; his steps rushed and sleep-heavy, as he stoked the fire and hastily lit a lamp. The door swung open and Hagrid's monstrous frame filled the doorway.
"Jilly?" he yawned hugely, "Li'lle late fer visitin' righ' now - "
"I know. I'm sorry but I know I could trust you. He's hurt. Sirius is hurt. We were attacked in the Forbidden Forest and - "
"Attacked?" Hagrid echoed sharply. Then for the first time he seemed to notice Sirius's crumbling form leaving heavily on Jillian. "Blimey!"
Swiftly Hagrid gathered up Sirius in his arms and disappeared inside, Jillian closing the door behind him. Hagrid tossed the rumpled mess of sheets and blankets off the bed and gently laid Sirius down. He checked the clothes bunched at his bloody side, laid Sirius's hands over the rags.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I'm so sorry, but I knew you'd know what to do."
"S' alrigh'," Hagrid said, "Though Madame Pomphrey woulda fix'd 'im righ quick - "
"Madame Pomphrey can't. She'd ask too many questions. He – we'd be in a terrible bit of trouble if anyone knew - "
"Alrigh', alrigh'! I was jus' sayin'. Now go 'n boil some water. Ther's a good lass."
Jillian hurried to comply, filling a large pot at the sink pump. She set the water over the fire when she heard a sleepy ruff. Startled, she glanced down to see a large, fast-asleep Fang.
Frowning, Jillian asked Hagrid, "Is Fang okay, Hagrid?"
He looked up from the linen tablecloth he'd been tearing into thin strips and smiled a small grin, "Yeah, jus' sleepin' is all. Can sleep righ' through anythin'."
"Oh."
"S' that water ready?"
"Oh!" Quickly Jillian removed the pot from the fire, using a dishrag to hold the handle, and scuttled over to the bed with the water.
Hagrid was already sitting on the edge of the bed, one large hand on Sirius's knee. He looked dwarfed, lying on the massive bed, his face damp with cold sweat and his hair clinging to his forehead. Hagrid had removed the bundle of rags, revealing an even bloodier mess. Sirius's tee shirt was tattered and torn; any of his barren skin was clotted with dry, black blood. Jillian felt her stomach give an involuntary roll.
"Righ," Hagrid frowned, "Righ' . . . Jilly, I want yeh ter hold him down, while'r . . . yeah. Hold 'im tight."
Nodding, Jillian crawled onto the head of the bed and curled over Sirius's head, her hands pressing firm on his right shoulder, her knee braced on his left.
"Good. Now on three," Hagrid gathered the hem of Sirius's shirt in his hand, "One . . ."
"Be brave," Jillian murmured. Sirius nodded mutely.
"Two . . ."
Jillian clamped her eyes shut tight.
"Three!"
Hagrid jerked the shirt up and it tore free of his side. Sirius screamed in agony, twitching and jerking against the hold of his captors. The pain was intense; it was as if a thousand needles had stabbed him, sending waves of icy chills up and down his spine, and at the same time a thousand candles had scorched his side, leaving a numb barren feeling.
"Is all righ'," Hagrid said at last, patting Jillian on the back. "It's all over."
Slowly, Jillian unfolded herself from around Sirius and stumbled off the bed. Hagrid then pulled the tee shirt over Sirius's head and set it aside. Sirius lay panting and shivering, bare-chested, the sheets darkening dark red around him.
"Excuse me," Jillian murmured and flung open the window and retched.
When she receded back into the hut, Hagrid was looking at her with a tender kindness in his eye.
"I know, I know," she grumbled, swiping the back of her hand across her mouth, "Stop acting like such a baby."
"Nah, Jilly. Not at all. Not at all." And he presently began to mop away the dry blood from Sirius's wound.
Jillian averted her eyes, mumbling some excuse about making a pot of tea, and set to the task. When Hagrid had finished cleansing and bandaging Sirius and seen to it he had a comfortable pallet by the fire, Hagrid joined Jillian at the table and accepted his cup of tea.
She was staring at the stained sheets, dazed. "This won't do. Scourify."
The sheets rippled and once again settled, white and clean. She laughed softly, staring at her wand; "This is all my fault. All my bloody fault."
She worried her lower lip between her teeth. She had put him in danger tonight. He had risked his life to safe hers. Why had she ever hated him before? She had gotten Sirius into so much trouble through the course of their friendship; she had gotten them both stuck in horrible detentions . . . and managed to pull him out of those quite a few times. She'd gotten him into so much trouble . . .
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FLASHBACK NEXT!!!!!!!!!I don't know whether or not to post the whole flashback at once or one chapter a day, like I'm doing (sorta) now. Tell me what you'd prefer, please!