© Sunrisepainter: Because of Snape

Uninvited Visit

Hope slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she felt was the unbearable pain in her ankle and her leg. Her head weighted hard on her shoulders as if it was made from lead.

With a moan, she sat up in her bed and for a moment, she did not know where she was. It certainly was not the forest any more for she lay in a warm, comfortable bed. It was dark and after her eyes got used to the darkness and the faint light of the moon shining through the high window, she could eventually recognise the silhouettes and contours of the Hospital Wing. Something moved at her right side. She saw some red hair – Fred!

Hope breathed a sight of relief. So, he was still alive, too. Suddenly, she felt something heavy on her led. Hermione. She sat on chair next to her bed but her head rested on Hope's legs. She slept save and soundly. However, Hope wanted to know what exactly happened.

She carefully nudged the younger girl. Hermione startled in shock and looked around her in confusion. When she saw that Hope was up, Hermione started to rejoice and hugged the surprised blonde tightly.

"You've woken up! Are you hurting anywhere? Professor Lupin said that you wasn't bitten by a werewolf but the scars won't go. Why did you have to walk into the forest anyway! Fortunately, Fred had the situation under control. If not, you maybe wouldn't be alive any more and then-"

Hermione ranted all confused while tears streamed don her face, tears of joy and fear.

"Hermione!" Hope finally interrupted her friend. Immediately, the brunette stopped talking.

"Thanks, Hermione." Hope sighed and felt calmer now.

"Ah, by the way, Madame Pomfrey wanted me to wake her when you're awake. I'll be back soon!" Before Hope could utter another word, Hermione was gone with the wind. Hope shook her head while smiling.

"Oh well, that's our little Hermione. Always busy and worrying about others." A familiar voice piped up.

"Since when are you awake?" Hope asked surprised. Fred smirked at her.

"Oh, quite a while."

"What happened? I mean... after all my whole world went all black?" She asked. Fred kept silent and just gazed outside the window. Hope got impatient:

"So? I really want to know how we ended up in th Hospital Wing and why Hermione was talking about a werewolf and scars!"

"They attacked you, after you fell down the rock. I mean the wolves." He said so quietly that Hope barely could hear him.

"Did they? I mean...were they...?"

"Werewolves? No, they didn't even bite you either as far as I know. You were quite lucky. However, they probably would've ripped you to pieces, if I didn't drove them off."

"You got rid of them to save me?"

"Yeah or did you think I would leave you on your own and escape? In the end, I'm not as cold as you think." He said a little hurt.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

He was just about to answer when Hermione and Madame Pomfrey entered the room.

"Oh, you children really keep me busy!" The matron shook her head in disbelief.

"How are you feeling, Miss Shycates?"

"I'm quite aright." Hope tried a smile but she was struggling suppressing her pain.

Madame Pomfrey gave her a suspicious look but did not say anything.

"When can we leave the Hospital Wing?" Fred wondered.

"Oh, you're also awake, Mr. Weasley. You may go back to class tomorrow morning. Miss Shycates however has to stay longer to fully recover."

With a deep sigh, Hope let her head fall down on her pillow again.

"Just great! Could you at least explain to me where I'm injured?"

"Sure, my dear. You broke your ankle when you fell over that root. However, in my opinion that's not the worst damage. I also detected a slight concussion and some major scratches by the wolves. You should be happy that there weren't any werewolves, so you don't have to worry about any unusual development concerning your body or your behaviour. Nonetheless, some scars can't be reduced any more." Madame Pomfrey stated. Hope breathed a sight of relief again. So, she was basically quite lucky under the circumstances.

"I advice both of you to get some more sleep, Mr. Weasley and Miss Shycates. Miss Granger, you should go to bed as well."

"Oh please, Madame Pomfrey! Can't I stay with Hope for a while?" Hermione pleaded. The matron gave he a warm glimpse. This fawn brown eyes of the Gryffindor could not be resisted at all.

"Fair enough, my dear. However, I only give you one hour. That should be enough! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Madame!" Fred, Hope and Hermione said simultaneously.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot..." The woman turned on her heels when she was already in front of her office door. "You should come to Professor McGonagall's office tomorrow, Mr. Weasley. Your brother and Miss Granger have already told her their side of the story, but she needs to know every detail!" Fred just nodded his head. The office door snapped shut behind Madame Pormfrey.

"By the way, have you been here all the time until I woke up?" Hope turned to Hermione.

"Well...yes."

"Thank you!" A broad smile spread across the older girl's face.

"No problem. George wanted to stay, too, Fred. However, Professor McGonagall told him that I'm enough and sent him off to bed. Before he left, he told me that he would definitely come back this night, thought. Secretly, of course.

"I'm dying to see that happen!" Fred chuckled.

"Let's hope he won't be discovered by Filch or Snape." Hope said.

"No, not him! After all he's one of the infamous Weasley- twins!"

"That's a good point, thought!" Hermione giggled, and even Hope could not suppress a small smirk although she was still quite pale.

"Now, I really like to know how you got rid of theses beasts." Hope eventually wondered. A broad smirk spread across Fred's face and finally he depicted all about his "fight" with the wolves.

"Dr. Filibuster's Firework?" Hope wondered in astonishment and left her mouth agape.

"Yeah! Simple but pretty effective!" Fred grinned.

Hope musing looked at her wrist. There was still the small scar, the memory of her first encounter with Fred and George. Never did she hate anything more that the twins and their fireworks. However, one of the twins just saved her life with his firework. How ironic!

She was brought back to reality as someone carefully opened the doors of the Hospital Wing.

"George!" Fred whispered happily.

"Hey man, you're aright?" His twin smirked back.

"Why yes! Did Filch cross your way?"

"What do you take me for? A beginner?"

"Haha, didn't I tell you? A Weasley- twin will never be caught!" Fred triumphed.

"That's the attitude, brother!" George laughed and said down at the end of his twin's bed.

"By the by, the two of you are already the gossip of the whole school!"

"Really?" Fred sounded quite delighted. Hope frowned:

"How did they get to know about all of this in one night?"

George and Hermione looked at each other and started to burst out into laughter.

"Hope, both of you slept for a whole day and a night!" Hermione panted.

"Oh!"

"So, what are they gossiping about us?" Fred asked curiously.

"Well, they say that you were attacked by at least hundreds of werewolves. Hope was scared to death, so she fainted. Fred however is the great hero. He should've killed all of the werewolves in one go and brought Hope back to school on a black unicorn." George laughed even harder now.

Hermione, Hope and Fred joined in as well. This story was just so visionary that not a single person in his or her right mind would believe it. The chatterboxes (Hermione knew exactly who that was) did a great job.

The four of them still talked about these and that. They vent on Snape and Umbridge and laughed a lot. Eventually, Hope drifted off to sleep. She dreamed how Fred and her rode on a unicorn trough the Forbidden Forest and how the wolves dance around them like professional can-can dancers. This crazy dream made her smile which even reached Hermione who watched her friend sleep.

The next day, Fred was allowed to leave but he did not seem to be happy at all.

"That means I have to deal with Snape and Umbridge once more." He answered as Hope asked about it.

The female Gryffingdor laughed:

"You poor thin, in that case I wish you all the best! Today is Tuesday which means you have a double period of Potions with the Hufflepuffs!"

"I completely forgot." He mumbled depressed.

"Chin up, you have a free period in return this afternoon. Believe me I would rather go to class instead of wasting my precious time in bed. It's really boring!"

"No worry, we'll visit you after class. You won't get bores at all with us." He winked at her.

"Thanks!"

"See you later, then!" He waved for one last time before he hit the road. After the door of the Hospital Wing was closed, it became very silent. Hope suddenly felt terribly lonely. Fred always drove her crazy but at least he was able to distract. This is what she need the most, though. It was not because of her boredom but rather all the bad memories came back as soon as she was on her own. The wolfs encircling them. Their sharp claws and teeth. She closed her eyes and tried to think about something else.

Hope encountered some very boring and dull days and if George, Alicia, Angelina, Lee and Fred would not have visited her each and every day, she would have probably died of boredom. Her five friends always made her smile and turned the Hospital Wing into a brighter place for a short amount of time. Fred had told Professor McGonagall the whole story and she had been everything but delighted. Fred always complained about the intense lecture she had given him. Hope had to secretly admit that they were quite lucky to get of that cheaply. Their teacher had refrained from punishing them as they did it for a school project, but she had urged them to not do anything stupid like this again.

Sometimes, Hermione also came to see Hope. She often tagged along with the older Gryffindors where she preferred to keep in the background. Nevertheless, when she and Hope were on their own, the two girls had some serious talk. Hermione really became her best friend now.

Once, Harry, Ron and Ginny, the youngest of the Weasley's, came, too. Hope presumed it was because they were curious and not because they were altruistic. Indeed, even the little Euan showed up one day to wish her al the best. With a shy smile on his face, he placed a bunch of plucked flowers next to her bed. Hope was very touched and happy about the visits of her schoolmates. She also liked the small presents they sometimes brought with them

Like this, the days started eventually to fly by and so, it was already in the middle of November, when the door of the Hospital Wing flew open and Cormac McLaggen wandered in. Hope, who was reading some book, looked up and her features darkened.

"What do you want, McLaggen?"

"I just had to take a look at my sweetheart!" He chirped and his voice was dripping with scorn.

"Oh yeah? Well, now that you have seen me, you can crawl back to where you come from."

"Why? I like it here."

As if he owned this pace, he sat down on the edge of her bed. Hope retreated from him as far as the size of the bed permitted.

"I warn you, McLaggen! If you won't get lost within the next minute, then...!"

"What are you going to do, darling?" He smirked smugly.

"Then, I'm going to call for Madame Pomfrey." She said coldly.

"Come on, Shycates. You won't dare to do so!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't challenge me!" She hissed.

"And if I do anyway?"

He leaned towards her with a nasty grin on his face. Of course, she backed off even more, so that she almost lay on her bed.

"And what if I'm intending to challenge you?" He breathed in her face.

"You don't scare me, McLaggen!" She whispered and pressed her lips tightly together.

"Come on, why won't you like me?"
"Are you kidding me? You tried to use me to win a stupid bet! That's really the lowest!"

"Really?" He hissed angrily. "And what about Wealey? He was also part of that bet! However, you don't give him a cold shoulder as you do it with me! No, you seem to be really close now, according to all accounts!"

"I don't think this has anything to do with you, McLaggen!" She answered coolly. "Fred apologized to me and told me that he regrets everything he has done to me."

"And you believe him so easily?" Cormac raised to his feet and Hope was very relived to be released from his close proximity.

"Yeah, I do." She tried to remain calm although her insides were boiling with rage.

"In the end, you're even more stupid than I thought!" He said disparaging. Now, Hope could not hold her anger back any longer. She jumped onto her feet, so that she was now eye to eye with the intruder of her peace.

"How dare you use me like that and call me stupid in the end, you stupid little bastard!"

"How did you call me?" He asked and threatingly stepped in her direction. She narrowed her eyes:

"Bastard!"

"Just wait and see, you dirty twerb!" He roared, lunged out and hit her face as hard as he could.

Hope stumbled back. She felt nauseous and saw stars flickering in front of her eyes. Something wet streamed over her upper lip into her moth. Blood!

"MCLAGGEN!" A voice thundered behind them. Like a furious Hungarian Horntail, Madame Pomfrey came stomping in from her office.

"What in Merlin's name has gotten into you for you hitting a girl!? Leave my Hospital Wing as fast as you can or else! And don't you think I let you off so easily! You will feel the consequences soon, sunshine!

She gripped the boy at his collar and dragged him forcefully out onto the corridor. After that, she slammed the door in his face which made one of the paintings on the wall crashing down to the floor. The small wizard in the painting started to throw a fit:

"Intolerable! I am a Professor of the Potions! You shouldn't treat me like that! I'm famous, you ignorants! Intolerable!"

"Oh just shut your trap!" The matron roared and the wizard eventually dared not to utter another peep. Then, Madame Pomfrey faced her young patient. Her furious expression turned into a softer one:

"My poor dear. Just a moment, I'll cool your cheek!" With a flick of her wand, she summoned some never-melting ice. Hope took it thankfully and pressed it against her aching nose.

"What a nice boyfreind you have there, my dear. Something like that should be arrested, if you asked me. Slapping women and all! Pshaw!"

"He's not my boyfriend, not even a friend." Hope mumbled.

"Then you should be very lucky for he's not!"

"Oh yes, how lucky I am he's not." She thought by herself when madame Pomfrey was long gone. "But he almost became my boyfriend some weeks ago."

This thought mad her shudder.

End of Chapter Fifteen.

A/N: My dear readers,

thank you for still supporting me. Even thought, I don't get much reviews any more, I still keep an eye on the polls ;). I had to raise the raiting for this chapter. Just to me on the safer side, thought. So, what do you think will happen next? Cormac seems to be quite angry? How do you think her friends will react if she tells them?

Have a nice day and be prepared for a new chapter in the next few days.

XOXO

Sunrisepainter