Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just a figment of my imagination
Chapter seventeen: Sickleave"Hermione?"
She moaned. Everything seemed to be dark around her. And what scared her most was that she was having difficulty breathing properly. What was going on?
"Hermione?"
Who was that calling her?
"If you can hear me, open your eyes please."
So that was why it was so dark. Slowly and with a little difficulty she opened her eyes. The light around her was bright, but she couldn't see properly. As if everything was out of focus.
She opened her dry mouth, licked her chipped lips and said: "Why can't I see?"
Her vision remained blurred no matter how many times she blinked and it frightened her.
"You have an eyeinfection. Nothing too serious. It'll be cured in no time. How are you feeling?"
"...Weird..." she replied. "Where am I?"
"In the hospital, dear. I'm mrs. Medlycott, your nurse. You're in good hands so don't you worry. And there's a visitor here for you too."
The vague blurr that had been mrs. Medlycott moved away and was replaced by another blurry figure, this one with red hair.
"George?" she asked.
"Hole in one." he said with a smile. "You really scared me yesterday."
He sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand. She sat up and leaned on her elbows. With one hand she wanted to rub her face, but her hand collided with a piece of soft cardboard.
"Am I...wearing a face mask?" she asked confused.
George nodded. "Yes, one around your nose and mouth. It's a precaution..."
"Precaution for what? What happened?"
"Well..." George said hesitantly. "You fainted last night. I didn't know what to do so I took you here. I told them about you coughing and everything and then they started shouting about that illness Hoot had. Apparently you do have it too...like you thought...The mask it for the nurses' safety."
"And what about my eyes?" she asked, even though talking hurt.
Her throat was still sore and every word she uttered was painful.
"It's a bit disgusting, really. But they reckon that a bit of infected slime from your nose ended up in your eyes when you were thrashing about last night. But it's only a light infection, it'll be gone in no time, the nurse said."
Hermione nodded subdued and lapsed into another fit of coughs without warning. Tears of pain rolled down her cheeks. George looked at her hesitantly and slowly reached for a red glass bottle on her bedside table.
He unscrewed the top and poured the thick golden liquid into a goblet.
"Here. This is a honey drink for your throat. It'll make you feel better."
He handed her the goblet and she lifted up her mask in order to put the goblet to her lips. George backed away and averted his face almost instantly. She frowned as the drink slowly went down her throat like thick treacle. She had a sweet tooth, she knew, but this was too sugary even for her.
She handed the goblet back and slid the mask back on and then laid down on her back so she could stare at the white ceiling, trying to ignore the fact that George had seemed to hold his breath since she had taken the mask off. The ceiling she was looking at seemed to be the only thing in focus because it was just a big empty, white space.
"When will I be able to go home? I've got midterms to study for and my internship-"
"You're on sickleave for the moment. The Healers say they can't be sure when you can go home."
"Oh..." she turned her head towards the blurr that appeared to be George. "Are you going to stay for a little while?"
"Well..." he said hesitantly. "I've got to go, actually. Fred's launching a new product in the Skiving Snackbox line. Brainbuster Bubblegum. I need to be there. And one of us needs to guard the shop when the other goes to Andersson, Hoot & Kramer..."
"Oh...I, I saw one of you talk to Vivian yesterday..." Hermione said slowly, not able to block out that vision of Vivian swishing and flicking her Kramer Leviosa all over the place. "Is everything going alright?"
"Oh...that...That was Fred. Vivian gave him the papers Zonko sent over for us. Apparentally they want a settlement now."
"That's great!" Hermione said excitedly, leaning up on her elbows again.
"Yeah, it is. We're almost there! If it hadn't been for you and Viv we would probably be paying Zonko for our own ideas right now!"
She reached for his hand and directed her eyes at the ceiling again. "That's wonderful."
"I've got to go now. It's nearly ten o' clock and Fred-"
"Of course. You should go. Good luck."
He smiled and leaned forward so she could see his face. "Thank you. I'll be back after the shop closes."
He leaned in and, after what seemed to be a moment of hesitation, placed a soft and tender kiss on her forehead.
"I've asked the nurse to place a radio in your room so you can listen to some music, because you can't read with your eyes and all."
He kissed her forehead again and then stood up. He waved at her from the door, but all she could see was a vague blurr that disappeared after a moment. She let out a loud sigh.
Hermione turned on her side after a few minutes and reached for what appeared to be the radio and switched the buttons she had her hands on until it produced some sound. Unfortunately the only channel it seemed to be able to pick up was a music channel dedicated to Celestina Warbeck, mrs. Weasley's favourite singer.
Hermione groaned and rolled back onto her back, rather having this rubbish on than having to listen to the humming silence that seemed to fill her room. A cheerfully humming blurr walked into her room suddenly and bustled around before heading to the bed.
"Hello mrs. Medlycott." she croaked.
"Oh, hello again dear. I see you're a fan of Celestina as well? Oh, I can never get enough of her."
Hermione smiled painfully and said nothing. Mrs. Medlycott seemed to be busy with the glass bottle and goblet George had handed her earlier.
"I've got two things for you. One for your sore throat..."
'Oh jolly.' Hermione thought tiredly, shuddering at the thought of that same thick sweet liquid.
"And one for those eyes of yours." Mrs. Medlycott continued.
This cheered Hermione up slightly and she sat up immediately.
"Open your eyes, then. I'm just going to squeeze some of this ointment into your eyes. Won't hurt a bit, just a bit awkward the first time."
Hermione eagerly opened her eyes as wide as she could and allowed the still humming mrs. Medlycott to get on with her job.
"There we are!" the nurse handed her the goblet and, grudgingly, Hermione swallowed it.
Once mrs. Medlycott had left, Hermione sat up, letting her feet dangle above the cold linoleum floor. Then she leaned sidewas and fell back with her head into her pillow out of boredom. According to the radio it was only half past ten.
'Still seven hours on my own to go at least.' she thought dully just before she fell asleep.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"So how did it go?" Fred asked through his fixed smile when George apparated behind him.
"She'll be fine. She's got nurses looking after her." George replied as he fixed a similar smile on his own face.
Outside the shop, a large crowd of schoolkids with some hesitant parents had formed, waiting for the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes shop to open. Verity handed George his shoprobes and walked over to the door.
She looked at her bosses before, finally, unlocking the doors to let in a sea of customers.
"Welcome, welcome!" George bellowed. "Get your Pygmy Puffs, your lovepotions and your magical quills!"
"Muggle jokes! Vanishing accesoires and, most especially, the New and Improved...SKIVING SNACKBOXES!" Fred continued. "No Puking Pastille was ever this potent!"
"No one can do without the Brainbuster Bubblegum! Be a genious for a day!"
"Just keep chewing and your test's a shoe-in!"
Fred looked at George, who was being run down by eager thirteen-year olds. He was so busy smiling and selling that he didn't seem worried at all. Fred looked away and helped a young girl by picking her up as she reached for a lovepotion on a shelf that was too high.
"Careful how you use those." he said with a kind smile.
She nodded fervently and stared at a boy her age across the room, who seemed to be too interested in some Fainting Fancies to be thinking about girls. Fred chuckled as she skipped away to the till, where Verity could hardly manage to keep up with the flow of customers.
The bell above the door chimed as it opened and closed every two seconds.
"Well, well." said a female voice into his ear, temptingly. "So this is the shop we've been fighting for."
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