I awoke to a nearly pitch-black room and the sound of nearby whispering. My head felt foggy, but I quickly identified the voices of Madame Pomfry and Professor Snape, speaking in strained tones. I attempted to sit up and demand Snape tell me what had happened with the Order missions that night and whether Sirius was safe, but my throat was too parched to try.
Spotting a glass of water on my bedside table, I reached out for it only to succeed in knocking it to the ground. I cringed at what sounded like an explosion in the echoey and previously silent wing as the glass shattered on the tile floor, scattering pieces everywhere.
"Potter, what happened?" Pompfry questioned as she rushed over and quickly vanished the shards that littered the ground.
"I needed water" I managed to croak in reply as Snape glowered disapprovingly at me. He reached to fill another glass from the jug on my bedside table, spotting the unfinished bottle of sleeping draught that I had yet to finish from yesterday as he did so.
"Potter, you shouldn't even be awake right now! You are meant to consume the entire dose of this potion at once in order for it to be effective, not take one measly sip! How do you expect to recover if you neglect to rest properly?" He demanded, glaring at me with anger.
I flinched back from him in slight fear, sighing in relief when Madame Pompfry took the blame for not ensuring that I finish all of the potion. The last thing I needed was detention in the dungeons with Snape, who I noticed was sporting fresh cuts across his hands and wrists and deep circles under his eyes. His wounds soon reminded me of my original question and I desperately croaked out,
"Is Sirius alright? What about the rest of the Order, where is everyone?"
Snape's mouth twitched as if in annoyance, and he looked down at the floor before meeting my eyes. He handed me the glass of water he had poured and told me I needed to drink before he would answer. I pathetically tried to control my shaking hand that had caused the first glass of water to tumble, but Snape soon grew impatient. With a wave of his wand a straw appeared, which he placed in the glass and then held to my cracked lips. I never in a million years could've imagined him doing this for me and I looked up at him suspiciously as I drank. Once I had greedily finished the glass, with Snape reminding me to breathe before I drowned myself, I met his gaze again.
"What happened?" I demanded, sounding more confident than I had before.
Snape paused and looked away from me, turning to Madame Pompfry whom he seemed to be engaging in a silent conversation. Almost as if they were deciding what to tell me? Meaning that something had gone wrong?
"Please, I need to know now!" I begged of them.
Snape sharply reprimanded me then, threatening to take away points if I couldn't control myself better. Sighing, he met my gaze warily.
"Sirius and Tonks were on an assignment together. I will not divulge what they were doing, but the plan went…amiss."
He could see I was beginning to panic and quickly continued,
"They're both alive, but Sirius took a curse that had been aimed for Tonks. No one has been able to identify just what the curse was, but it seems to have induced a sort of coma. Dumbledore is with him now and seeing as Sirius cannot be transported to St. Mungos for fear he will be identified, Madame Pomfry and I have been discussing possible treatment options for him."
I gaped in shock as my mind tried to process what he was telling me. That I might lose Sirius too? So soon after Cedric? I let out a moan, covering my mouth with my hands and lowering my head to my lap as I tried to control my breathing, my newly healed ribs protesting in pain as I did so. Why was it that those I loved always seemed to be in danger?
"His prospects are not dire as of now and someone will be with him around the clock, monitoring his condition—"
I stopped crying at these words and began to raise my head from my lap, interrupting Snape to suggest "I'll go! I can take care of him!"
Snape looked at me aghast as Madame Pompfry reprimanded "No Rose, you're not strong enough yet. You need to rest."
"Indeed" Snape concurred, "You would be of no use to the dog in your current state."
"Don't call him that! And I need to be with him, I can rest at Grimmauld Place anyway!"
"Rose, no. I cannot allow that, it's enough that Sirius and Tonks are both being cared for there. No, you need to stay here where you're better protected" Madame Pomfry declared.
"Protected? How do you figure that, a bloody teacher who worked and lived in this castle all year nearly killed me yesterday!"
"Ten points for back talking Miss Potter. No one will harm you while I'm in this castle and you are to follow every direction Madame Pomfry gives you from now on without question, understood?" Snape growled at me, his eyes glinting dangerously.
I almost kept fighting them, the urge to be with Sirius overwhelming me, but my body had had enough. Defeated, I leaned my throbbing head back against the pillow. I accepted the pain potion Pomfry gave me as well as the remaining dose of sleeping draught Snape thrust into my hands and my eyes soon closed as my tensed body began to relax.
As I drifted off, the sunrise began to cast yellow, glittering shadows around the dark hall. I stared blankly at Snape as my eyes became heavier and heavier, barely managing to say what I needed to before drifting off completely.
"You said he would be back before dawn…"