"Er… Miss? There's a large number of people wanting to see you… I'm not sure if-"

"Oh, good! Let them in!" Stell said eagerly, "I was wondering when they'd find the time to visit me!"

"Well, if you're sure Miss…" the young healer said nervously.

James, Lily carrying Harry, Claire, Sturgis Podmore, Dorcas Meadowes, Remus, and Peter, all lead by Sirius, trouped into the room.

"Stell!" Sirius exclaimed, leaping onto the bed beside her and leaning over to kiss her.

"Oh, thank Merlin you're alright!" Lily said, taking the seat by the bed.

James placed himself at the foot of the bed by Claire who was carefully inspecting the cast that had been put on Stell's wrist.

"We're so glad you made it, darling!" Dorcas cried, conjuring a chair to sit on.

"Are you feeling better?" Remus asked.

"Sturgis got his head banged in too!" Sirius said, gesturing to grinning Sturgis Podmore, who pointed to a bandage on his forehead that was soaked with a nasty-looking purple liquid.

"Got the ok today! All brain damage is officially healed!" he said amiably.

"So what happened to you? Will everything heal alright?" Lily asked concernedly.

"Well, I think so. Funny curse that knocked me out, they're not entirely sure what it was, but I seem to have lost some ribs…"

"Lost them?" Claire asked, "How?"

Stell started to shrug, but then winced and stopped. "The healers aren't sure… I think I had a punctured lung or something, as well. Anyway, that's all fixed, though re-growing the ribs hasn't been fun. I broke my wrist, too and for some reason, the bones wouldn't set properly to be healed so they've had to put a splint on it," she raised the arm with the cast, "and I hit my head off some guy's tombstone that had all these enchantments on it to stop people from digging it up. For some reason it's keeping the skin from fully healing and the healers think it might scar."

"Oh, that's too bad," Dorcas said, "Isn't there anything they can do?"

"They've been trying everything and I suppose I'll just have to hope for the best. I fractured my skull, too, but that got fixed right away," Stell added, almost as an afterthought. She was rather enjoying telling the gruesome story of all her various injuries, but there were more important things at hand, pressing questions she had to have an answer to about the battle. "Anyway, I'm not too upset about the scarring. I figure I'm luckier than some…"

Everyone nodded sadly. "You've got that right," murmured Remus.

There was an awkward pause during which all the happiness and excitement seemed to evaporate from the room.

"Well…" Stell said after several uncomfortable minutes, "I could probably guess by whose not here, but I had rather hoped that some people had just been too busy to come to visit right away."

"Yes," Sirius said wearily, "Most of the older members are fine but they're working double time now to track down all those involved."

"McGonagall's alright, and Dumbledore, of course," Lily said.

"I don't think anyone could ever hurt Dumbledore," Dorcas added.

"Yes, and Mad-Eye Moody is fine, obviously. And Edgar Bones," Sirius said thoughtfully, "And Emmeline Vance is ok."

"Some people are still recovering, Elphias Doge and Dedalus Diggle. Some of us visited Dedalus earlier, he came round before you," said Remus, "He wanted to come see you with us, but he wasn't well enough yet so he said to say 'hello' from him."

Stell nodded, "Well, that's good. Will Elphias Doge be alright?"

"It seems so," Lily said, "You and he and Sturgis were in the worst conditions and so far you two have made it, so we're hoping he'll be fine, too."

Stell smiled, "That's great news. Tell Dedalus hi back for me when you go to see him…" She hesitated, then began reluctantly, "What about-"

But Sirius cut her off, determined not to make her guess, "I might as well tell you the worse. You're going to have to know."

Stell nodded apprehensively. Sirius took a deep breath, "The Longbottoms…" he said tentatively.

Stell gasped, tears coming into her eyes, "They're not…?"

"They're not dead… But, I don't know, maybe that would've been better. They were… tortured, the cruciatus curse. They still haven't come to and the healers think they may be in a permanent coma. If they do ever wake up, they'll probably be very susceptible to the curse. Dumbledore thinks that they had some sort of information that Voldemort wanted, so they're likely to be attacked. If they're tortured with the cruciatus curse again, it's probable they'll suffer permanent brain damage."

"That's terrible," Stell said, looking down at her bed sheets. Everyone's worried eyes were on her.

"Are you ok? Do you want me to…?" Sirius anxiously studied her face.

"No, I'm alright. Go on," Stell said.

"Gideon and Fabian. They took on five death eaters at once…"

"They were doing well, but Lucius Malfoy got them from behind after he knocked me unconscious," Sturgis said miserably, resolutely determined to own up.

"Oh, Sturgis, it's not your fault," Claire said.

"I'm sure no one blames you," Stell said sadly. "I passed out right away. Whoever I was fighting probably got a few other people as well."

Sturgis just hung his head. "Is there… Did anyone...?"

Sirius nodded sorrowfully. "Er… yes. Joanna."

Stell gaped at him silently for a moment, and then turned to Lily, as if for confirmation. Lily's eyes gave all the proof she needed. For a few moments they all sat silently, sharing their grief.

At last Dorcas slowly got to her feet, kissed Stell on the cheek and said a silent goodbye. Lily and James followed, patting Stell comfortingly on the back as they left. Claire hugged her friend tightly and Sturgis despondently shook her unbroken hand. Remus gave her a comforting hug as well before he left Stell and Sirius alone.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!