Lily, Alice, Sirus, James and Remus were all standing by the door, looking bored and probably waiting for me so they could leave.
"Let's go." I said, pushing past them and walking straight out the door without a single look at any of their faces. My hand was sticky from my own blood and I realized that it was soaking through my coat, causing a large stain that I was certain would never come out.
"Ellie, wait up!" I heard someone call, but I didn't turn to see who it was. A hand landed roughly on my injured shoulder, making me cry out in pain.
"Ellie, whats wrong?" I looked up at Remus but before he could say anything else, I heard, "Oh my God! Is that blood?!" Alice had come close enough to clearly see the red seeping through my coat fabric.
"What happened? Remus! Get your hand off her arm!" Lily cried, moving faster when she heard the word 'blood' and tugging at Remus.
"Yeah, um... I had another one of my famous accidents... You know, running in public plus me equals BAD" I thought back to our conversation early that day, using it as a quick cover story. It seemed like everyone bought it, choosing to worry more about getting me help then what actually happened. Remus squinted at me and it was clear that he didn't believe me. But he knew that, right at this moment, it wasn't really important what happened. What was happening was a much more pressing issue.
"Okay, are you good to walk back to the carrages?" Sirius asked, pulling off his own coat and handing it to me to cover my injury.
"Yeah, I think-" I wasn't even able to finish before Remus was holding me in his arms, making it seem like I weighed nothing.
"Come on." He looked at the others and started walking. "We can talk later." He whispered to me, making sure no one ealse over-heard.
It wasn't as bad a trek to the carrages as I thought it would be. It was way worse. With every step taken, the movement justled my arm. Half-way there, I buried my face in Remus' chest and grit my teeth together to keep from voicing my pain.
It took exactly 182 steps to get to our destination. I counted along the way. Sirius and James got on the back of the carrage first, holding out their arms to pull me up. Everyone piled in quickly and then we were off.
Every time we hit a bump, they would all look at me like they were expecting me to burst into tears any second. My blood had begun to soak through Sirius' coat, making both his and mine ruined. Remus picked up my hand, though I think it was more to comfort him then me, proving that I was still alive even though I could sit in the carrage fine all on my own.
Once we reached the castle, Remus got off first, Sirius and James easing me down to him. Now that we were at the castle, people that we knew were looking at us, some of them whispering and pointing at me.
"Laugh like something funny happened. Laugh like we're messing around." I murmured in Remus' ear. He looked at me, confussed at first, but once he realzed that people were staring at us, he laughed loudly, looking at Sirius and James for help. We all laughed and chuckled, James and Sirius shovng eachother lightly to make it look more real. Lily and Alice walked in front of Remus and I, hiding us from direct view. It was a long journey to the Hospital Wing, but we made it, avoiding questions from people we passed.
We burst through the doors, Lily already calling for a nurse as Remus put me down on one of the nearest cots.
A lady with dark brown hair came over and smiled at me.
"And what can I do for you today?" She asked, her voice filled with a fake sweetness.
"I... umm... I hurt my shoulder..." I stumbled over my words, wondering how much she was going to ask and what stories I should have ready.
"Yes." She waved her hands, telling me to continue.
"And it's... Bleeding?" I said the last word like a question since I didn't really know what she wanted me to say.
"Right. Let me take a look." She reached out her hands, removing mine and Sirius coat. She gasped when she saw all the blood seeping across my own coat, showing no signs of slowing down.
"Well. I'm going to need you to remove your jacket, please." She pursed her lips and signaled for a woman across the room to join us.
I slowly peeled the fabric from my arm, whincing when my wrist accidently bumped the cut. Once I was free of the coat, even I was suprised.
You could barely even see the sliced skin because of all the red. Lily gasped and grabbed James hand, since he was standing right next to her.
"Now. Do you feel any pain?" The 2nd lady asked, the one that just joined us.
"Of course she's in pain!" Alice exclaimed, "Are you really that thick that you can't see all the- Hey!"
Sirius had stomped on her foot- Hard.
"Alrighty." Lady number 1 said, still using the some how insulting sweet voice, "Lydia, would you get the bandages? And some cloths and water?" Lady number 2- or 'Lydia' - trotted acrossed the room, her shoes clicking on the floor with every step.
"So. Why don't you tell me what happened." This woman had a really annoying habit of starting everything she says with one word sentences. I sighed ad made up a story as I went.
"We were at Honeydukes annnnddd... I went to the back of the store." I shifted uncomfortably on the sheets of the cot. "I saw something I... Really wanted. I started running for it..." I glanced at all my friends, watching their expressions. Everyone seemed to believe me, except for Remus, who already knew I was lying, "And as anyone else in this room will agree to, when I run, bad things happen... I slipped and rammed my shoulder into one of the shelves... I guess my skin got snagged or something... on a nail maybe?" I shook my head and dropped my eyes to the floor.
"She does get in accidents like this often. She's super clumsy." Remus added, and I guess he was trying to help.
"Sure." Lydia came back to us then, saving me from having to answer anymore questions.
"Anne, you should get the cream- You know, the healing cream?" Lydia voice drawled, obviously from some country-like town.
"Right."
Lydia started dabbing at my arm with a cloth, making tsk-tsk sounds as she worked.
"Lydia. You aren't going to get anything done like that." lady number 1 -Anne- lectured, returning with the cream.
"And just how do you suggest I do it?" Lydia said, standing up straight and crossing her arms.
"Well. It's going to hurt like a- ...Well, you know- but it'll be better if you apply pressure." She took the cloth from Lydia and moved towards me.
"Actually..." She trailed of, reached towards the table that was beside my cot and picking up a cup and a bottle.
"Drink. It'll help numb the pain."
"What exactly is it?" Lily asked, sounding worried.
"Medicine." Anne replied.
I looked up at her, unsure if I should really drink it, but I began to unscrew the top. The liquid inside was black. Pure black. Appetizing.
I catiously poured some into the cup and then smelled it. That was a mistake. It smelled like nail polish remover and dirt. Not a good combination.
I took a deep breath and quickly downed the medicine, shuting my eyes tight as I swallowed.
Yup. Tasted like nail polish remover and dirt, too.
"There. You should be alright." Anne said, moving her hand to just an inch away from my arm.
"Ready? One. Two. Three!" She scrubbed at my arm, but I screeched and jerked away from her touch. It felt like I was on fire, or I dumped boiling water on myself. Possibly both.
I gave a single fleeting glance at the two nurses and picked back up the medicine bottle. I tore off the top and chugged atleast 3/4ths of the bottle, if not more.
"Wow. That'll help now, but you'll regret it later." Anne gestured to the bottle and Lydia nodded in agreement. It had been full when I arrived, but now, when you tilted it to it's side, you could see the glass bottom.
Before I knew what was happening, Lydia passed me my coat and was saying something to me.
"I'm sorrrry... Whaaat?" I drew out my words longer then I should of, but not really knowing why.
"I said, your free to go, darlin'. Take care." Anne and Lydia turned and walked away, moving down the long line of hospital beds.
"You ready?" Sirius asked, giving me a strange look.
"Yeeeaaahhh." I mumbled. I felt like my head was stuffed with cotton and my stomach filled with butterflies. I felt good. I felt... Drunk.
"Well come on, you." Remus gestured with his hand for me to stand.
"Kaaay." I placed my feet slowly on the floor, giggling for no apparent reason. Before I could even put much weight on them, the room began to spin, and I came close to high-fiveing the floor.
"Easy there." Remus said, snaking an arm around my waist to steady me.
"Yoouu knooowwww..." I said, turning to face him and placing my hand lightly on his chest, "You have reeaal nice eyes..." I laughed.
"Why thanks. But we should really be leaving."
"I broke up with Reeeguulassssss cuz' he was an asssss!" I hic-upped.
"Thats great. Come on." He started pulling me towards the door.
Without even thinking, I bunched up his shirt in my hand and pulled him down to me, giving him a big, sloopy kiss right on the mouth. I pulled away, looking right into his big brown eyes thinking 'I think he kissed me back'.
From then on out, everything was black.