A/N: Thank-you for your comments, they are greatly appreciated. Anyway here's another chapter, this one is a little short but oh well.
Lupin and the 2 Malfoys immediately turned to face Brittany who appeared to have not heard the gasp. However when she noticed the others were staring at her she gave them a questioning look and continued walking thinking the others had just taken notice of her walking slightly farther behind than someone might have guessed. The others made way for her then hung back for a moment and started walking after her. Nobody was ever really sure which one of the 2 adults noticed the cut first, but both seemed to respond in the same way at the same time. They rushed towards her and stopped her walking. Lupin however was the first one to say something about the deep gash in her head.
"How long have you been walking around with this wound?" he asked urgently.
"What wound?" Brittany asked wrenching away from Lupin's hand which was now investigating the deep gash in the back of her head. "I'm fine, and I'd be better if you would just leave it alone. It's nothing I haven't dealt with." She added continuing to walk briskly down the hall.
"Brittany, stop. It's dangerous. You could get infected- Brittany!" Lupin said having to almost jog to keep up with her.
"Oh come on," moaned Brittany as she continued to walk towards the entrance of the order's hideout.
"Professor, what are the odds that she isn't already infected?" Draco asked.
"Very slim, but nonetheless (A/N yes, it is all one word if you were wondering) we should still- wait a minute, did you just call me professor?" Lupin responded, noticing the use of a name for him that hadn't been used for a good 20 years.
"Um, well yes, It's... just...um..." Draco stuttered.
"Oh, never mind that now. We have to worry about Brittany now. Who knows what has already gotten into this wound. You, boy, what did you say your name was?" Lupin asked catching Jeremy by surprise.
"Well, I didn't," Jeremy said, coming back from who-knows-where in his mind.
"Well then, out with it!" Lupin said suddenly very rushed.
"Jeremy," He answered shyly.
"O.K. you need to go catch up with Brittany and try to talk some sense into her, got that?" Jeremy nodded. "Good."
Jeremy raced up ahead to catch up with Brittany.
"Brittany! Brittany!" Jeremy called. Brittany turned.
"What Jeremy?" Brittany asked trying not to indicate the pain she was currently feeling in the back of her head.
"You can't keep on like this. We don't know how deep your cut is nor do we know if it is infected. C'mon Britt, at least let Mr. Lupin check it out a bit or wrap it up," Jeremy pleaded hoping that she would listen to him and let Lupin patch it up.
"Fine," Brittany sighed realizing how foolhardy it had been to walk away from Lupin when he was offering her help.
"What!" Jeremy asked hardly expecting her to give in that easy.
"I said 'Yes', " Brittany answered. "Now let's go back to Mr. Lupin and your Dad and get me a Band-Aid or something," She added trying to sound cheerful. She took 2 steps but on her third she stepped under a crack in the ceiling through which a small stream of water was dripping. As she stepped under this a small bead of water slipped from the crack and landed right in the center (and deepest) part of her cut. She cringed in pain and stopped in her tracks. Unknowingly allowing another bead of water to fall painfully into her wound. When Jeremy realized why she had stopped walking he helped her over to the wall and helped her to the floor, where she could sit with her back against the wall. He started walking away but before he turned the corner Brittany called after him.
"Jeremy! Where are you going?" She called, starting to get up.
"No, no, no!" he shouted at her. "You need to stay here. I'll go get Mr. Lupin. You just stay right here," he said being sure he helped her sit back down.
"O.K. Jeremy, but hurry back," Brittany said knowing that she would have to stay there.
She watched as Jeremy hurried around the corner until she could no longer hear his footsteps. This was when she decided that she would have to start making her way back towards Lupin, who knows what might have gotten into her cut. Besides, she had no clue how far behind her Mr. Lupin was.
Knowing that she was way too weak to gather herself to her feet she slowly inched her way towards a table to her left. If I can get there I can pull myself up to my feet Brittany thought. When she was less then a meter away from the table she was nearly scared out of her skin by a voice behind her.
A/N: Dum Dum Dummmmmm... Sorry that ending of a chapter deserves a bit of dramatical music, if I do say so myself. New chapter coming in a day or two probably.
