A/N: One-shot for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments), Assignment #10, Lesson Religious Education: Esbats, Task #12 - December, Cold Moon: Write about a night that seems endless
Helena just had time to lean over the edge of her bed, getting most of the vomit into the bucket that stood beside it. This was the third time tonight that her body had violently ripped her from a place between waking and sleeping, riddled with nightmares. Who would have thought a few harmless-looking sweets could cause such misery?
Helena had heard about the "opportunity to be a part of cutting-edge wizarding science" from her friend Angelica. They had had to keep the whole thing super-secret. No one had told them why, but being part of something that no one was allowed to know about had sounded like huge fun.
Helena had buzzed with excitement when she had gone to the first meeting. There had been quite a number of Gryffindor first years assembled in a corner of the Gryffindor common room. Which had been a little weird, because surely, all the other Gryffindors would see them? But still, it had been a secret for all non-Gryffindors, so it still felt cool. And the meeting had been organized by the Weasley twins! This could only be good.
All they'd had to do was eat one sweet. Lee Jordan, the twins' friend, had given some of them, Helena included, a bucket. That was the moment when Helena had briefly felt anxious. But before she could make up her mind, Fred – or had it been George? – had already started to count down from three. On "One!" everyone had swallowed their sweets, as instructed.
The moment Helena had swallowed, her stomach had given an awful lurch and forced out everything she had eaten that day, which had splattered into the bucket on her lap. Frantically, she had looked at the nearest one of the twins, but he had looked entirely undisturbed. Apparently, this was supposed to happen. Helena had vomited again. And again.
When she had been able to look up again, cold sweat on her forehead, Lee had held another sweet in front of her face. "Here, this'll make it stop!" he'd said. Helena had grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth, quickly swallowing before she would puke again.
But her stomach had lurched once more, even though it had to be empty now.
"How long... before… it works?" Helena had asked, panting.
"It should work immediately," one of the twins had said.
Helena had thrown him a desperate look before another wave of nausea had forced her to bend over the bucket yet again.
"You there," Fred or George had called, "bring this one to the Hospital Wing. Take the bucket. But tell absolutely no one how this happened, understood?"
Someone had grabbed Helena by the arm an led her through the corridors to the Hospital Wing. The journey had seemed endless.
That had been eighteen hours ago. Neither of the Weasley twins had come to check on her, only Angelica. But they had instructed her to impress upon Helena, once again, that she was not to tell Madam Pomfrey or anyone else about the sweets that they were experimenting with.
Helena sat up in her bed in the dark and put her hands in front of her face. The nausea was all-enveloping, never ceasing, a living nightmare. She just wanted it to please, please stop. She couldn't keep down any of the food or drink she was given, not even when Madam Pomfrey charmed it directly into her stomach. No potion would take because Helena threw it up before the magic could work on her body. In the end, Madam Pomfrey had had to get Professor Snape. He had performed some complicated incantation that had put water and nutrients directly into Helena's bloodstream so she would not dry out or starve. He had done this every six hours since Helena had gotten to the Hospital Wing. She checked her watch. It was still another three hours before Professor Snape would come again. Helena held on to the tiny hope that maybe then, he would have been able to brew a potion that would work rapidly enough to make this horror stop before her body rejected the remedy yet again.
Helena was angry, so angry. First at herself for eating something of which she didn't know what it was. Her mom had always warned her about this, but Helena had laughed about her, saying that she was old enough to know what not to eat. Then, she got angry at the Weasley twins and their friend for not telling the first years what they were using them as guinea pigs for. Finally, her anger made way to fear. What if Professor Snape didn't find something that worked? What if this was her life now? She'd rather die.
She started to sob. If she wasn't allowed to tell anyone what she took, how could Madam Pomfrey help her properly? But if she did tell, she'd attract everyone's scorn. If Umbridge heard about this, she would definitely expel Fred and George. And it would be Helena's fault. No one would ever forgive her; the twins were very well liked and she was just an insignificant first year. No, she couldn't tell. If she did, she would be in for six and half years of being an outcast. There was no way out of her situation.
Helena was forced to stop sobbing and bend over the side of her bed again, heaving up bile.
She had never felt so alone.