James held onto Raeverri's hand, asleep with exhaustion from his sleepless, anxious night. He had counted the hours until morning and then woke up, leaving the Gryffindor tower without changing or washing at all. His hair, usually messy like his father's, was tangled and repulsive, with crumbs of food and stains of butter beer in it. He had bags under his eyes and his body and teeth reeked. But James had been too anxious to do anything and rushed out of the tower in the morning, hurrying to Raeverri's bedside.
She looked much like she had the night before, except her body wasn't thrown around. She lay peacefully on her back, and her eyes had been closed. She had a bandage on her arm, where blood was seeping through. Her left arm and both legs were levitated in the air. Madame Blackhorn, the nurse who was the new replacement for the ancient Madame Pomfrey, needed her patients to be awake before she could mend the broken bones. So for now, they hung in the air. Her left leg was twisted at the knee in a position that was painful to even look at. Her right ankle was snapped too, swelling like a tree trunk and bruised darker than the night sky. Her arm, though, was the worst. Her forearm had been snapped completely in half, in a way that her hand was touching her elbow. The bone poked through the skin where it was bent, a nauseating sight. James had been sickened but, exhausted from his night and horribly hung over, he had quickly fallen asleep.
Only now, as he heard a gasp of pain from the hospital bed, did James wake. He shot up in confusion, his eyes blurring before they focussed on Raeverri. She had waken and was craning her bruised neck to see, taking in her injuries with horror. When she saw her arm, twisted and torn, she threw her head over the side of the bed and threw up in shock.
"Alright Miss Budrige, alright," the soothing voice of Madame Blackhorn called out, as she scurried out of her office. She took Raeverri gently by the shoulders and placed her back on the bed. James flicked his wand, cleaning up the mess instantly. "Now, we have some mending to do," Madame Blackhorn said. James rolled his eyes. As if she didn't know, he thought.
"Potter, do you mind?" she said. James took the cue and backed out of this room, hearing the cries of pain as Raeverri's bones snapped back into place.
James was back in the chair by Raeverri's bed, where she was sleeping fitfully. He was still exhausted. After he had left the room, he had spent an hour being grilled by Headmaster McGonagall for information about the attack. She hadn't understood how, if James hadn't heard anything, he had gone into the corridor and found her. So, he had confessed to drinking which earned him a detention afterwards. He had also explained how his items had been searched, with the map being taken. James guessed that soon, there would be a big investigation about the whole matter. "An attack on a student is a serious matter, Potter. There will be serious measures taken to solve this problem." The memory of their conversation still haunted him.
James was shaken out of his thoughts as Raeverri gasped and sat up, shaking feverishly. "Rae? How are you do-"
"James- I'm, I'm so sorry. He made me do it!" Rae whispered fiercely. She thrashed around in her sheets, laying back down.
"Who made you do what?" James asked, grabbing her hand. All day, people had been asking her about the accident as well. But she hadn't remembered anything. She said the last thing she remembered was going to bed and then waking up in the hospital wing. Something about it had bothered James. Something about the foggy look in her eyes or her monotone voice hadn't seemed right. It was just so unlike her! Raeverri was usually bubbly and friendly and looked at you with her piercing eyes, making you feel as though she knew all your secrets. That look had been gone from her eyes, no traces of the Raeverri James knew. Until now.
"The Minister- he came!" she gasped. "Take the map. Take the map!"
"Rae! What's going on!" he whispered, scared that she would go back to her monotone secrets if Nurse Blackhorn came.
"James! Go James!" she cried. She was shaking now, twitching and slashing around the bed frantically as though she were having a fit. Then, her voice changed altogether. It was deep and rusty, cracking at the slightest change in pitch.
"The Potters are not safe anymore."