A/N: Still not many reviews! Tut, tut! Anyway, heres chapter 6. I'm writing this at eleven o'clock at night but I don't think I'll Post till tomorrow morning, cos I haven't got any reviews from last chap yet!
Disclaimer: I don't own HP
Chapter 6 – Hospitals and Tears
Arianna woke with a pounding headache and aching limbs in a familiar room. The hospital wing at Holcraft Academy for witchcraft and wizardry.
'What the hell am I doing here?' She thought to herself, 'The last thing I remember is – Oh shit!' She tried to sit up but immediate pain shot through her head like wildfire. She desperately looked around the room as much as possible from her lying-down position.
'Kay, Mrs Robson!' She thought desperately, 'If either of them got hurt because of me…'
At that moment, the school nurse came out of her office. She glanced around and noticed Arianna was awake, and immediately headed over to her.
'Oh good, you're awake.' She said briskly, 'You gave us all quite a scare, Miss Black. That was a nasty curse you were hit with.' Arianna just waved it off.
'Yeah, well I'm fine. Where are Kayla and her mum? Are they okay? Did they get hurt?' she asked anxiously.
'They are both fine. From what I hear, after you were hit, Miss Robson managed to hold off any remaining Death Eaters while her mother got the situation under control.' Arianna sighed with relief. Neither of them was hurt. But there were still several questions nagging at the back of her mind.
'Do you know why the death eaters attacked me? And why am I here? Why not an actual hospital?' The matron sighed.
'You were in pretty bad shape, Miss Black. You were brought here because it was unlikely you would have survived a longer journey.' Arianna felt herself going pale. She had really been hurt that badly?
'As for why they attacked you, I honestly have no idea. You will have to speak to the aurors about that. They were wishing to speak with you as soon as you woke up, but I told them over my dead body were they speaking to you so soon after being hit with that curse.' Arianna smiled at the old nurse gratefully.
'Thanks for that. Can I see my mum? Or my friends? What time is it anyway?'
'It's about two-thirty in the afternoon, 29th of August. You were out for two days. Your mother has been sitting with you ever since you were brought here, she just left to get a coffee.' Arianna's jaw dropped. Two days?
'What about my friends? Can I see them?' The old matron gave a faint smile.
'Miss Robson and Miss Williams both wanted to stay with you, but their parents and the headmaster insisted that they go to their classes. It got to the point where they both had to be physically removed from your presence.' Arianna grinned. She could imagine Kayla and Paige having to be dragged away screaming their heads off. She racked her brains.
'Hmm… 2:30 Thursday... They'll be in Potions right now. I doubt they'd hate to miss that. Can you call them up here?' The matron rolled her eyes.
'Alright. Your mother will be back in a minute too.'
'Awesome. Thanks Miss Ransom.'
'Anything for my most frequent patient.' She called as she disappeared into her office. Ten seconds later, Arianna heard her voice over the magical intercom.
'Kayla Robson and Paige Williams, report to the hospital wing. Robson and Williams to the hospital wing.'
About three and a half minutes later, 2 blurred shapes rushed into the hospital wing and flung themselves on Arianna.
'Oi! Guys! I'm in pain here! Just cos I'm awake doesn't mean I'm completely cured!' The other two hastily got off her and sat down in two of the chairs beside the bed. It took Arianna a few moments to realise they were both crying.
'What's wrong?' she asked them confusedly.
'It's just that whe- when that curse hit y-you I thought… I thought…' Kayla trailed off and burst into fresh wave of tears.
'Kay called me as soon as they brought you here.' Paige said quietly, tears streaming down her face, 'There was this huge cut along the back of your neck and it wouldn't stop bleeding…We were all so worried.' Arianna looked down at her hands. It was uncomfortable to hear people talk about her like that. She was about to say something but she was cut off when another blurred shape rushed into the room and engulfed Arianna in a hug.
'Oh, Ari! I was so worried about you! I should never have let you run off like that! Oh I'm a horrible mother!'
'Mum! I'm fine, just a little sore! Can you get off me now?' But Anna-May didn't let go.
'Oh I'm a terrible mother! Social Services are going to take you away from me! And just when we were going to be a real family again as well!' Paige shot Kayla a confused look, but she just shrugged. Probably just the hysterical ravings of a worried mother. Then she realised that Arianna was wincing under her mothers grip, and decided to step in.
'Ah... Mrs Black? Ari's still abit sore right now, so hugging her like that probably isn't the best idea.' Anna-May immediately jumped back.
'Oh I'm so sorry sweetie! Did I hurt you?'
'No mum, I'm fine.' She sighed with relief, and then turned to Paige and Kayla.
'Girls, do you mind if I have a moment alone with my daughter?'
'Not at all, Mrs Black. We'll just go find Miss Stinson. She always has some variety of sugar stashed in her office. Oh, Penny dearest!' Arianna grinned as she watched Kayla drag Paige over to the nurse's office, and then she turned her attention back to her mother.
'What did you need to talk to me about?'
'Well, I've talked to Penny, and she seems to think you'll be able to travel by portkey tomorrow, as long as you get plenty of rest after we arrive.'
Arianna felt her stomach lurch. She had completely forgotten that tomorrow was the day they were due to be leaving. The entire reason that they had to leave so soon was because Anna-May wanted Ari to start at Hogwarts on the same day as everybody else. She was leaving the country tomorrow and she hadn't even told her best friends yet. Granted, she wasn't really given much of a chance to tell them, but still! It just wasn't fair. Anna seemed to notice her daughters crest-fallen face, but misinterpreted it completely.
'Don't worry sweetie. I'm sure he'll like you!'
'No mum, it's not that, it's just that... I still haven't told Kayla and Paige I'm leaving. I'll miss them so much!' Anna looked surprised.
'It's ok sweetie! They can still come for visits and you'll make heaps of new friends at Hogwarts!'
'It won't be the same.' Anna didn't say anything. She just sat quietly, looking at her daughter's miserable face. Finally she stood up.
'You had better tell them. The sooner the better. Do you want me to go get them now?' Arianna nodded silently. Anna disappeared into the nurse's office and a few minutes later her friends emerged.
'Your mum said you wanted to talk to us.' Paige said as they sat down. Ari nodded, took a deep breath and began.
'You guys know about my dad right?' Paige and Kay shot each other nervous glances. Ari almost never talked about her dad.
'Well… He's innocent.' Kayla's and Paige's mouths dropped open.
'Who's been feeding you this shit?' Kayla demanded, suddenly angry, 'I'll beat the crap out of them! I'll – '
'No! Kay, it's really true!' She proceeded to tell them all about her visit from Lupin, her meeting with Dumbledore, and finally, the decision her mother had made. Paige had been sitting quietly through the whole thing, staring at her hands. Kayla's face had been growing whiter with every word Arianna spoke, and with the last announcement, she jumped to her feet.
'How can they do this to you? To us? To everybody! Without even a weeks notice they're just moving your whole life? This just isn't fair!' She turned and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Arianna watched her go, a look of grim sadness on her face.
'She has every right to be mad, you know.' Arianna jumped. With Kayla's dramatic departure, she'd almost forgotten Paige was still there.
'She gets one days notice that her best friend is walking out of her life. It isn't fair, Arianna.' And with that, Paige jumped up and followed Kayla out of the room. Arianna stared after her. She hadn't been expecting that. Paige was one of the hardest people in the world to predict at times. Ari vaguely realised she was crying again. This was getting to become more frequent.
Anna stuck her head out of the nurse's office and noticing that her daughters friends were gone, headed over to Arianna's bed.
'How did it go?' She asked gently, placing a hand on Ari's shoulder.
'Just great mum.' She snapped back, 'Just leave me alone!' She rolled over and determinedly clamped her eyes shut. She just wanted to sleep. Being conscious just hurt too much right now.
A/N: Chapter six finitio with chapter 7 on the way! WOOHOO! Please review! The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update!