A/N : Thank you so much for the reviews! I always have to thank you guys first and foremost because it means so much to me. =) And yes, I feel so bad about taking so long for the previous chapter that I'm starting on this one as fast as possible. It's great to hear how much you all care about Lene, so I'll just start the chapter so you don't kill me for ranting too much. Enjoy!
Chapter Seven : Our Protector
The first thing I saw was a bloodstained knife.
I know what you're thinking.
I should have turned away after that...but I kept on looking. Thank the heavens I was with Alicia and Angelina, who were much more capable of taking care of these sort of situations than I was.
Lene was sprawled out on the bathroom floor – I could see that she was at least semi-conscious, but she didn't seem to have noticed our sudden intrusion. In fact, she didn't seem to notice much at all.
Within seconds, Angelina had sprung forward to Lene's side to check her vitals. "She's breathing, but her pulse is weak. Very, very weak," Angelina reported to us. I noticed how she averted her eyes from the knife lying in Lene's outstretched hand.
Alicia let out a soft moan and slowly slid to the floor at the nauseous sight that greeted us. I wasn't feeling too good, either. There was recently thrown up food covering most of the marble floor, and there were signs of half-digested food and blood on the toilet bowl as well. Lene was as pale as death, and had deep cuts all over her arms. Spatters of blood decorated the bathroom mirror in an arcane pattern.
You didn't need to be a genius to figure out what she had been doing.
"Hey, Katie," Angelina whispered. I looked up to see her holding a bunch of Lene's beautiful hair in her fist. "Isn't hair loss a symptom of an eating disorder?"
I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling very dizzy. This was too much to deal with.
"Lene wouldn't - she couldn't...she can't have...she just can't have! She's fine, she's bleeding because she just – she just fell down, that's all," I managed to say through all the shock.
Alicia managed to pull herself up – she never had liked blood – and walked over to me as Angelina continued to cradle Adelene.
"We've all seen how thin she's been getting, Katie," she said softly, putting her hand on my shoulder.
I took a step back from her and pushed her hand off me. "What are you talking about?" I cried. "You don't know what you're saying! She's my best friend! I would have known! If there was anything wrong she would have come to me, because – because that's what best friends are for! I would have known!"
"Then I don't think we've been very good friends to her, Katie," Angelina said calmly, in a voice devoid of expression.
I turned to look at Angelina, on the verge of bursting into tears.
"Denying things won't help Lene. Apparently, we haven't been there for her – and that's something we're going to have to fix when Lene gets better."
Angelina was right. I knew she was.
Angie, Lene and I had attended a seminar about eating disorders during the summer holidays, and I could still remember the signs of an eating disorder : Severe restriction of food intake, weight loss to an unhealthy level, an intense fear of getting fat or losing control of eating, a distorted body image, self-induced vomiting, periods of strict dieting, hair loss and loss of periods.
Lene hadn't been getting her period since we started school – both of us had joked that she was pregnant.
I realized how stupid I was.
I would have started sobbing right then and there, but two thoughts let me hold on to my sanity : the first that I hadn't been a good friend. All my life, I had prided myself on being a faithful friend to Lene, and now I knew that I had been completely disillusioning myself, and everyone around me. And I wanted to make it up to her. Angelina was being the brilliant friend that she was – right then, she was checking on Lene's body and her vital statistics to determine her condition.
And what was I doing?
Approximately nothing.
The second thought that kept revolving round and round in my head – that Angelina had said that Lene would get better. That she would be okay. That we would all be able to hear her laugh like a crazed maniac again.
That was it.
"Angie, how is she?" I asked crisply, marching up to her.
Angelina gave me an appraising look before replying, "Her pulse is getting weaker. We have to take her to the hospital wing. She's lost too much blood, and if you haven't noticed, she hasn't even acknowledged the fact that we're here – even though her eyes are wide open. This is out of our league, Katie. We have to go, now."
"Then we'll go," I replied. "You can carry her there. I'll go on to the hospital wing to tell Madam Pomfrey you two are coming. Lish, I suggest you clean up the bathroom before there's an international incident."
For a second or two, I allowed myself to wonder how come Angelina didn't seem upset at all. But then I saw the determination in her eyes and I knew the answer. Angie was our protector : she would be damned if anything ever happened to one of her best friends. The tears would come later.
As for now, Adelene was the most important thing in our lives.
McGonagall excused me from all of my classes the next day so I could watch over Lene. Angelina tried to get permission to be excused, too, but her request was denied. I don't blame McGonagall for not letting her skip because Angie's work has not been going very well this term; but you should have seen the look on Angie's face.
I sat there next to Lene's bed all morning and she didn't stir. The freaky thing was that her eyes were wide open – it's like one of those Muggle horror movies you watch where giant snake thingies go around the school petrifying people.
Cheap special effects much?
Madam Pomfrey (whose skin still looks AMAZING) gave me some seriously medical explanation about Lene's condition, but I got the drift : she would be okay.
She would need some psychological help as well, but she would be okay all the same.
You have no idea how much of a relief it was for me that she would be alright – I had hardly slept the night before, the guilt bearing in on me from all sides.
It was the period before lunch when she finally spoke. All of a sudden, she just blinked as if she was coming out of some sort of trance, and looked at me with a strange glint in her eye.
"I've been found out, haven't I?" she asked, in a voice that was hardly her own.
I wasn't really sure what to say, because the emotions in me were doing a sort of jig at the moment on seeing her talking again. Somehow, I managed to nod in reply.
"Oh," she simply said.
She turned to face the wall on her other side.
"Damn."
Her shoulders began to shake, and at first I thought she was convulsing with laughter like she always did - but when I started hearing strange noises emanating from her, I realized she was crying.
"Oh, Lenie," I said soothingly, and got up to put my arms around her. I sat myself down on her bed, and she turned around to put her head in my lap; just like the countless other times we had done the same thing when we were eight. She continued to sob softly in my lap as I stroked her now thin hair.
"What have I done, Katie...What have I done?" she kept repeating in between sobs, clutching on to my school robes as if they were a lifeline.
I felt completely helpless; I didn't know what to say and I didn't want to feel that way. What if I said the wrong thing and made everything worse? What if I hurt her feelings? What if I had judged the entire situation wrongly? What if...?
Madam Pomfrey actually came in for a second, but saw the two of us and immediately turned around and left again.
Nice witch, she is.
Lene had all these horrible scabs all over her arms, and you could see some caked blood in her hair as well. Every time she caught sight of her bruises, she'd just burst into tears again. Finally, she managed to pull herself together. She managed to sit up with some difficulty, ignoring my offers to help her. She looked me straight in the eye and asked me the same question she had been repeating endlessly for the past half an hour, except with more conviction, "What have I done?"
What was I supposed to say?
"Adelene, I'm not going to pretend that you haven't done anything wrong; because you have. I'm not trying to shove this in your face or anything, but I do want you to realize that what you were doing to yourself could have killed you. It not only would have hurt you, but it would have hurt everyone around you, as well; and I know you're not the type of witch who would want that to happen. Being thin isn't the secret to life – it's not going to change your life for the better or for the worse. Do you want to live the rest of your life in a hospital, with a fear of food and always worrying about what people think about you? Or do you want to live in a world that's full of magic, and experience what all your friends will experience together? Nobody but you can decide how you want to live your life, Adelene, and I know you'll make the right choice. I believe in you."
I would have paid a million Galleons to have said something as cool as that, but unfortunately, God was against me once again.
I stood and turned around, already knowing who I would see standing behind me, and indeed saw I had been correct.
"You don't have a reason to believe in me. You hardly know me. Why would you say something like that?" Lene asked him curiously; indeed she was looking more curious than upset now.
Oliver took a few casual steps closer to Lene and I, smiling. "You're right, Adelene. I hardly know you – and you want to know why I believe in you? Well, if you really must know, it's because you're one of Katie's best friends. I trust her taste in friends; I know she's a good judge of character. I believe in her, too...so I suppose I believe in you."
My eyes widened slightly.
Why on earth does he believe in me?
Is the guy mad, for heaven's sakes?
"Orli, if you believe in me, I'm afraid you're going to end up dying a tragic, untimely death that involves homosexual bunny rabbits," I interrupted.
He and Lene both gave me very quizzical looks.
"Homosexual bunny rabbits?" Oliver repeated blankly.
A few tense moments passed by, as Oliver and Lene continued to stare at me.
And then I heard it.
The most beautiful sound I had ever heard in my life.
"Oh, bless the wizards above, she's laughing!" George cried at that moment, running into the hospital wing and up to Lene's bed; screeching to a halt.
For Lene was indeed laughing, and watching her I felt my heart swell up like a great big balloon, because I knew Angelina had been right. Lene was going to be okay.
At that second, Miss Protector herself, Fred, Alicia, Cedric and Colin walked into the wing, all of them with huge grins on their faces. Obviously, they had already heard or seen Lene laughing (to be honest it was hard to miss her) since no one seemed to be committing any form of grievous bodily harm to the others.
"Oh, Merlin," Lene wheezed, clutching at her ribs, trying to stop laughing. "Ow, ow, ow, shut up, Katie, you're making it worse with all your homosexual bunny –" She started laughing again; her laughter immediately followed by several audible yelps of pain.
Colin, who was this puny little second-year boy, marched up to me with his camera and said politely, "Excuse me, ma'am, but can I take a few pictures of all of you?"
I could hardly hear the end of his sentence because Lene had started all over again on hearing the word "ma'am", so I had to raise my voice slightly to make my voice heard.
I agreed.
Colin immediately began taking shots of all of us, as Cedric began talking to Lene with a slightly alarmed look on his handsome face – obviously, he had never witnessed one of her eruptions before.
I was about to tap George on the shoulder to talk to him, but someone tugged on a lock of my hair first.
"Your hair's let down," Oliver said to me with a smile when I turned around.
Something about that smile made my stomach do a sort of dance, and I quickly responded, "Yeah. What's it to ya?" I hoped he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary about my response.
Oliver shrugged and gave me this look that made me feel all warm inside.
"I like you with your hair let down. You should keep it that way."
Something inside of me felt like screaming, Yes, Oliver, anything you say! I worship you in my Katie way!
Oh, no.
I was rhyming.
How utterly...tacky.
"I'll remember that," I said, gracing him with a little smile.
I suddenly remembered what he had said to me during our last tutoring session together. Had he meant what he said? Did he really...well, did he really...like me? The possibility seemed too darned wacky to be true, but right at that moment, anything seemed possible.
So if he DID like me, then how did I feel about it?
Hey, I was a genius, remember?
Just let me take a few seconds to think and...
Hmmm.
Tick.
Tock.
"Katie? Is anyone in there?" Oliver broke into my consciousness, looking into my grey eyes with his hazel-brown ones.
"Uh..." I sputtered.
Damn. I need more time!
This should not be this hard! I should know this – after all, we are talking about me here.
Just a few more seconds to think, dammit...
"Katie?"
Stop looking at me...
"I beg your pardon, sir, ma'am –" I could hear Colin's voice suddenly saying – Lene started laughing again and Alicia quickly dragged Cedric out of her way, "- do you think I could get a picture of the two of you?"
Oliver looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. I mean, what harm could it do?
I just hoped Colin wouldn't drop dead the second the photograph came out, because I am far from photogenic.
"Alright, one, two..." Colin counted down, pointing his camera at the two of us.
To my surprise, Oliver took a step closer to me and put his arm around my shoulders. He was so close that I could smell his aftershave, a very clean, fresh scent...
"...three!"
After Colin had walked away, I noticed Oliver let his arm linger around my shoulders for slightly longer than necessary before finally stepping away.
There I was, in the hospital wing of all places, with Oliver Wood, surrounded by all my friends, having been excused from classes the entire day, and knowing for sure that my best friend would not die today – and it was all very, very good.
A/N : Ta-dah! Happy ending! Yay! Please review and tell me what you thought - if this chapter seemed a bit rushed, sorry, but if I don't get offline right this second I am 110% SCREWED! Lol, hasta!
