I'm sure you can guess the routine by now. Don't own J.K. Rawlings or any of her stuff, i.e. Harry Potter series, character therein, or the "Hogwarts World."



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She was first aware of the chills that shook her body. She was shaking uncontrollably, and everything seemed to be spinning, even with her eyes closed. Try though she might, she couldn't seem to gasp in enough air, either. As if from a distance she heard a woman saying, "I've never seen anything like this, Professor. She's burning up, but shakes as if she's freezing. I'm certain there's nothing left in her, and I can't get anything nutritious down either. She's dehydrated and incoherent. I don't even know if she knows we're here right now."

"Please, continue to do the best you can, Madam Pomfrey," a man responded. Then silence. The silence and the darkness terrified her more than anything. Her ears felt stuffed full of cotton and she couldn't open her eyes. She silently cried out for help. A sudden rushing sound filled her mind and she was aware of a faint babble. She sank into oblivion, comforted by the noise.





The pain gnawing at her stomach brought her to awareness next. Danna achingly opened her eyes, groaning at the pain. It was full night outside and she was in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. Her stomach clenched, growling demandingly at her. Vaguely, she wondered how long it had been since she had eaten, but didn't spend much time in idle speculation. She was more interested in finding something to eat.

She rolled out of the bed and was forced to cling to it a moment, readjusting her body to holding up her own wait. She staggered towards the door, eventually ending up on her hands and knees. It was much easier crawling, and the world didn't spin around her as much. She had just made it to some stairs when she heard someone whistling. Danna looked up weakly, and found herself staring at Peeves, whose whistling had cut off abruptly and now stood staring, wide-eyed, at her. Peeves dropped into a low, formal bow, and spoke with uncharacteristic submissiveness, "How may I serve you, Great One?"

Danna sighed in relief. "I need food, Peeves. And information when you get back." Peeves bowed again and zipped off down the hallway. Danna leaned back against the wall and stared across at a mirror. She was trying to figure out who the new ghost was when she realized she was staring at a reflection of herself. Her skin had changed from pale, to pasty, and her face was shrunken. She looked like a skeleton, the skin stretched tight across her forehead and cheeks. Her hair hung limply. She hissed in frustration, pupils narrowing to slits, before she caught herself and breathed slowly, forcing her pupils to dilate fully again. Peeves returned then, trays overflowing with food in his arms. The trays all held raw, red meat.

"Thank you, Peeves. Now, how long have I been out? And what happened in my absence?" She began eating what Peeves gave her, forcing herself not to gorge, and listened to Peeves's report. He told her that she had been unconscious for nearly 4 days, about the upcoming Yule Ball, the Triwizard Tournament, who was dating who, what the teachers were doing, what would be for breakfast tomorrow...bluntly, more than she wanted to know. But she didn't interrupt him. She was too busy eating. She wiped her bloodied hands on her robe, then dismissed Peeves. Feeling much better, she made her way back to the Gryffindor dormitory.



Danna was grateful that she took the time to change last night when she was awoken by the startled cry of Hermione. "What are you doing in here? You should be over in the Hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey." Danna pried her eyes open, sighing.

"I'm feeling much better now, Hermione, thank you. All I need now is rest and the correct diet." She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and then climbed out of bed. "Besides, I don't want to get any further behind than I already am. Are any of you going to the Yule Ball?" she asked, just to change subjects.

The reaction she received wasn't what she expected. They stared blankly at her. Then one of her other roommates started to giggle. "Do you realize, Dannarae," she asked, "that this is the first time you've ever talked to us without us trying to get you to talk first?" The other girls started grinning at that point, and Danna couldn't help but smile with them.

"Well, I guess having a near death experience has reminded me that I'm human too. And please, call me 'Danna.' Dannarae is so formal," Danna said. She stood up and started working on getting dressed. Hermione immediately came to help her.

"You know," she said quietly to Danna, "a lot of people would call me a fanatic as far as academia goes. But what you're doing now is carrying it to extremes. You should be resting."

"I can get better sitting at a desk just as well as laying in bed," Danna responded. They all descended to the Common Room together. As with this morning, everyone stared at Danna when she entered. "I hope this doesn't happen all day," she murmured softly.

A smile tugged at Hermione's lips. "You realize it's because you look like a walking skeleton, don't you?" Danna laughed softly, then nodded, gripping Hermione's arm to keep from falling. "Come on, you two!" Hermione said to Ron and Harry. The two boys shook themselves, coming out of the trance. "She's going to need our help today." Hermione narrowed her eyes. "And if I hear that you abandoned her, you'll do your own homework for a week!"

The four headed towards the stairs when Fred and George joined them. "Blimey! Who're you?" Fred asked.

"Be nice, Fred!" Hermione said.

"I'm George," he answered.

"Whatever!"

But Danna grinned. She had forgotten what it was like to have siblings. "You know, Fred, you shouldn't tell a lie. It's likely to come back and get you." Fred looked at her in surprise.

"But I'm Fred!" George exclaimed.

Danna laughed. "Please, I can tell the difference between twins as easily as you can tell that I'm half dead. I grew up with a lot of identical siblings."

They walked into the Dining Hall and sat down. Danna's plate was heaped by everyone so fast that she barely had time to choose what to eat. She didn't mind. She really did need to put her weight back on, so she ate voraciously. She cleared her plate, then filled it a second time and cleared it again. "You know," Ron said around half a mouthful, "if you would have waited one more day before coming down, you wouldn't have to go to school. It'd be Saturday."

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.



AN~You know, I don't think I like this chapter as much. Oh well. R/R please! :)