"Delphine- Delphine stop!" Cosima demanded as she yanked her hand from Delphine's firm grip.
"You have to see Madam Pomfrey, Cosima. That is not normal!" Delphine said frantically, grasping Cosima's hand again.
"Delphine, just stop for a sec. Breathe, okay? Chill out," Cosima said, putting her hand on Delphine's arm comfortingly, "Relax. I'm fine-"
"You are not fine, Cosima. You are coughing up blood! That is not 'fine!'"
"I know it's not, okay?" Cosima said with a hint of annoyance, "Don't you think I'm freaked out about this too?"
"Then why won't you see Madam Pomfrey?"
"I…" Cosima sighed, "I don't know…"
"I don't care what you say, Cosima. This cannot go on. Coughing up blood is never a good sign."
"I know," Cosima said, biting her lip to keep it from quivering. Delphine pulled the brunette into a strong hug.
"It will be okay, chérie."
Cosima just sniffed and buried her face into Delphine's shoulder.
"Madam Pomfrey can make it better, yes?"
Cosima nodded, wiping the tears off of her cheeks, "Yeah…"
"Come on," Delphine said gently, taking Cosima's hand in hers once more.
"You're coughing up blood, you say?"
Cosima nodded shakily. Delphine squeezed her hand in both of hers soothingly.
"What color was the sputum?"
Cosima furrowed her brows, "Uh, red?"
Madam Pomfrey looked up from her clipboard vacantly.
"Light… red?"
Madam Pomfrey sighed and wrote down the information, "How long has this been going on?"
"Since this morning. Like, literally ten minutes ago."
"Are you experiencing any chest pain now?"
Cosima looked at Delphine briefly before answering, "I mean, yeah, but that could be because of the grindylow attack right?"
"Well does it hurt to breathe?"
"Deeply, yeah."
Madam Pomfrey put her clipboard aside, pulling out her wand, "Lift your shirt please. Miss Cormier, if you could assist me with making a calming draught for the boy in bed four?"
Delphine frowned slightly, "Um, yes of course." Delphine kissed Cosima's cheek and gave her hand one last squeeze before leaving through the curtains.
"Miss Niehaus, your shirt."
"Oh," Cosima pulled of her shirt swiftly, thankful that she had put a bra on that morning.
Madam Pomfrey pressed the tip of her wand to Cosima's ribcage. "Take deep breaths please."
Cosima winced as she inhaled deeply for the mediwitch. She continued to do this a few times before her breath caught on her last breath, coughing violently into a tissue. Pulling away, she saw the spray of blood on the tissue, a sight she would never grow to get used to.
"See?" she said, holding up the tissue with a small smirk, "Light red."
"Mm…" Madam Pomfrey said, levitating the tissue in front of her, "This is concerning."
"What's concerning?"
"There is a lot of fluid in your lungs." Madam Pomfrey said whilst writing something in her journal, "It could be possible that they are infected somehow."
Cosima widened her eyes, "W-what?"
Madam Pomfrey nodded, "Yes, this is a well known side-effect of near drowning. When you inhale an unhealthy amount of water, especially some as bacteria ridden as the Black Lake, the fluid that remains in your lungs can cause, well… issues."
"What kind of issues?" Cosima pressed.
"There are bacteria in the Black Lake known to cause infections that may be the cause of your bloody sputum, but I will not know which ones specifically until I take a sample."
Cosima handed her the tissue.
Madam Pomfrey smiled sadly, "You know what 'sample' means, Cosima."
Cosima whined, "Can't you just use this?"
"I'm afraid that would not be as accurate."
Cosima whined louder as Madam Pomfrey took out a needle kit.
Madam Pomfrey sighed, "I'm sorry, but even with magic, this is still the neatest way to withdraw blood."
Cosima winced as the needle entered her arm, "What does this mean for me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, am I ineligible to compete now?" Cosima asked, rubbing the crook of her arm as Madam Pomfrey finished.
"I'm not too sure of the rules, Cosima; but I do know that injuries, no matter how dire, do not make a champion ineligible to continue."
Cosima scoffed, "Great. I'll just… cough up dirty lung matter until I kick the bucket."
"I will try my hardest to see to it that that does not happen," Madam Pomfrey reassured.
Cosima gave her a small half smile.
"Wait here, I'll put this in the back and get you a cough suppressing potion."
"Thanks."
Cosima watched Madam Pomfrey walk out through the curtains. She sighed and scratched her dreads as she thought about what could possibly be making her cough like this. She read once that there are animals inhabiting the Black Lake that carry bacteria that could literally erode lungs and arteries. Her eyes became watery at the thought of lung deterioration. That could possibly damage her entire life.
As Cosima was pulling her shirt back on, the curtain opened again with Madam Pomfrey and a medium sized red bottle.
"Here is your cough suppressant," she said, handing Cosima the bottle, "Take sips when your cough becomes persistent, and I mean sips. Too much of this and you won't know the difference between your fingers and your toes."
"Sounds dope," Cosima commented, uncorking the bottle and taking a whiff, frowning in surprised satisfaction when it was cherry-scented.
"I assure you it is not 'dope,' whatever that may mean," Madam Pomfrey stated, turning around, "I want you to come back tonight, the results of your sample should be ready by then, and I'll have a more accurate account of how to treat you."
"Sweet," Cosima said, hopping off the bed and taking a sip of the potion. "See you later,"
"Bye, dear."
Cosima moved the curtain and looked around the wing for Delphine, frowning when she couldn't find her.
She walked outside of the wing looking around for any sign of Delphine. She smiled slightly when she spotted a mane of curly locks, but frowned deeper when she saw who was with her, and was currently pinning her to a wall?!
She felt an oncoming sweat break out on her forehead as she quickly sauntered over to Delphine and the stupid Hufflepuff boy who was hitting on her girlfriend at the wrong time.
She stopped when she was two yards away from them, but neither were aware of her presence as Cedric rubbed Delphine's cheek with his large hand and leant closer into her. Cosima heard a hesitant "Um…" from Delphine before she decided to act.
Pulling Cedric back aggressively, she doubted he even saw who she was before her right fist connected swiftly with his face.
Cedric dropped to the ground in pain, and Cosima loomed over him with a livid face. She heard a shrieked "Co-si-ma!" right before she was about to lay a barrage of punches on the boy. She stopped, fist cocked, and looked at the horrified face of Delphine.
"What the fuck, Niehaus!" Cedric gurgled, unable to control the blood pouring out of his nose. Cosima looked back down at him for a moment, before looking at Delphine again. Deciding that she just didn't want to be anywhere at the moment, she sniffed and straightened her shirt, walking away calmly and ignoring Delphine's calls.
She walked aimlessly about the castle, not really paying attention to where her feet were taking her before she ended up on a balcony, looking out over the landscape of Hogwarts. Sitting down, she found that she subconsciously craved a joint. She silently cursed psychology for making her feel that way, knowing full well that she shouldn't even consider doing it. She went through her bag anyway, pulling out the embroidered tin box.
She opened it, eying the single roll of cannabis left inside it. She took it out, analyzing the poor rolling job. Bringing it to her nose, she reveled in its sweet stench for a few moments before placing it on the ground.
Cosima hugged her knees to her chest as she stared at it, wondering how an herb can have such an effect on the psyche. She'd have to research it later, she thought.
For a split moment, she considered going to the library so she could just look it up herself. Then she remembered that she really didn't want to see Delphine, or the horror on her face after she punched Cedric, or the concern she showed when he dropped to the ground, or feel the disappointment she felt after Delphine didn't follow her.
Cosima scoffed angrily, "The wing was right there. He could have went himself," she said to the air. She didn't regret what she did. Not one bit. The bruise on her knuckles was a badge of honor. She punched Cedric Diggory. In the face.
Cosima smiled to herself as she pictured him crying in the hospital wing over his nose. She wondered briefly if she managed to break it, but found that it didn't matter, because this was the magical world. He probably healed himself. He probably looks the same as he did before, rosy cheeks and all.
She focused back on the joint lying in the stone. It would be stupid to smoke it now, she told herself. She should save it for another day, when she could actually smoke it without coughing up her insides.
She didn't move though. It wasn't until she shuffled when she found that she had lost feeling in her butt. She stood up stiffly, knees aching, wondering how long she had been outside. She looked at the sun that was beginning to set and concluded that it must've been a few hours. She rubbed feeling back into her butt and stretched with a yawn.
She grabbed her bag and began to leave, but then back tracked as she remembered that the joint was still there. She looked at it, cocking her head to the side, before crushing and scraping it against the stone. She smirked as she watched the ground up remnants float away with the cool breeze, before turning around and heading back down the tower.
Cosima headed up the Ravenclaw Tower steps swiftly, planning to have a quick nap before she had to go back to the hospital wing. When she got to the top step, she caught a glimpse of blonde curls at the door of the tower. Not even sure it was Delphine, she quickly turned back to descend down the stairs.
Apparently she wasn't fast enough, because she heard a desperate "Co-si-ma!" as she soon as she put her first foot down.
Cosima froze and closed her eyes slowly with a sigh as she heard Delphine approach her.
"I was looking everywhere for you."
Cosima climbed the last two steps once more, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. "Were you?"
Delphine nodded, "I… wanted to talk."
Cosima pressed her lips together, "Yeah, I kinda don't, though… so."
Delphine frowned as Cosima walked by her. Not having any of it, she pulled Cosima's shoulder back , "I will not let another month go by with you being mad at me, Cosima. I want to talk."
"Fine." Cosima said firmly, "Talk."
"He... did not know we were seeing each other," Delphine explained nervously.
"Oh, okay," Cosima said sarcastically, "So were you gonna tell him before or after he fucking kissed you?"
"I was surprised, okay?" Delphine said, running her hand through her hair, "Merde. I'm sorry I did not react before you hit him-"
"Wait, are you blaming this on me?"
"Non! Cosima I am saying that you jumped to conclusions-"
"So he wasn't going to kiss you? I was imagining that whole thing?"
"Cosima will you just be quiet for one minute!" Delphine shouted, causing Cosima to flinch.
"He came up to me while you were with Madam Pomfrey and said he wanted to ask me a question, so I went out into the hall with him. He said he thought we had a really nice time together at the ball, and that he wanted to take things further. That is when you walked up to us. Yes, I should have seen what he was doing from his body language, but I didn't and I'm sorry. He touched me and I… froze up. I'm sorry, Cosima."
Cosima stared back at Delphine, seeing nothing but truth in her eyes, and nodded.
"So after you punched him, I took him to the hospital wing explained to him that we were seeing each other. I stayed with him because he really didn't do anything wrong, and I thought that I would just be able to explain to you during charms, but you weren't in charms," Delphine continued, almost chidingly.
"Yeah, I was feeling… things," Cosima said with a gesture of her hands.
"I understand," Delphine said reaching for Cosima's hand. "Do you forgive me?"
"Mmm… yeah," Cosima said, squeezing Delphine's hand, "Do you forgive me?"
"Bien sûr."
Cosima giggled and pulled Delphine into a warm hug, kissing the side of her neck.
"You broke his nose, you know," Delphine whispered.
Cosima guffawed, lifting her head, "I did? Really?"
Delphine nodded with a giggle, "You are very strong, chérie."
"You think?"
"Mhm."
"…Does it turn you on?" Cosima asked, lowering her voice.
"Mmm…" Delphine pondered, "Maybe, if I had not been concerned for his well-being. He is my friend, you know."
Cosima scoffed, "You should have been worried about my hand. His cheekbones are made of friggin' steel!"
"Je suis desolée, I didn't ask how your hand was," Delphine said rubbing Cosima's bruised hand gingerly.
"Eh, it's alright. Now."
Delphine kissed it softly, "Is that better?"
"Uhh… yeah. A bit," Cosima said with a blush. Delphine giggled again and captured Cosima's lips in hers.
The two kissed for a short while before Cosima broke the kiss, "You know what? Fuck it. Come with me."
After solving the knocker's riddle, Cosima tugged Delphine into the Ravenclaw dorms. She knocked on her door, and after hearing no answer she smirked and dragged Delphine into the room.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Cosima said, holding out her arms.
"It is very lovely."
"Isn't it?"
"This must be yours." Delphine said sitting on one of the three beds.
"What? How'd you know?"
"Your sheets are red. And this is Ravenclaw."
"Oh. Well what can I say, I like red."
"I noticed," Delphine said, looking at Cosima's poster, "What is this?"
"What?"
"These squares."
"Oh," Cosima said lying down on her stomach, "The Periodic Table of Elements. Everything on Earth, magical or non-magical, is made of these elements."
"Wow."
"Your favorite would probably be gold," Cosima said, pointing to the 'Au' on the chart, "That's what makes up most of the jewelry."
Delphine shrugged, "I'm more of a… silver person."
"Mm."
"What's your favorite?"
"Carbon." Cosima said immediately.
"Why carbon?"
"Carbon is friggin' awesome, that's why. Everything that is animate contains a form of carbon in it. Also, diamonds are made up of carbon."
"I like diamonds."
"I know you do. Diamonds are a girl's best friend, you know," Cosima said casually as she played with her bracelet, "I want to discover another element by myself one day. I'm gonna name it 'Cosimium.'"
"Isn't that a bit selfish?"
"Nah, dude. Mendeleev did it."
"Mendeleev?"
"Yeah. Mendelevium. It's synthesized, though."
"I don't know what that means."
"Well basically a synthesized element is one that isn't usually found in- you know what? You don't wanna hear me geek out."
"Non, it is fascinating," Delphine reassured, laying down next to Cosima.
"I don't wanna waste time talking about synthetic elements, Delphine. You're in my friggin bed right now."
Delphine looked at their situation; she was right. They were laying in Cosima's bed, alone. "You're right," she said, rubbing Cosima's back, "We should do something else."
Cosima scooted closer, "What do you have in mind?"
Delphine smiled, "A few things," she said as she melded her lips with Cosima's.
Cosima hummed softly as she felt Delphine suck her bottom lip and moved on top of her. Delphine wrapped her arms around Cosima's neck, playing with the small hairs at the base of her head. Cosima tilted her head to deepen the kiss before pulling away suddenly. She sat up quickly and turned to the other direction, coughing violently into her hand. Delphine rubbed her back soothingly, waiting for the coughs to stop.
Cosima wiped her mouth after she felt her throat settle down, and headed to the sink to rinse out her mouth.
"What did Madam Pomfrey say about it?" Delphine asked softly.
"Nothing," Cosima croaked, "Yet. It could be an infection or something."
"When do you find out?"
"Tonight."
Delphine took Cosima's freshly washed hand, "I will go with you."
Cosima looked at her sadly, "If you want."
"Of course! You are… very important to me, Cosima."
Cosima gave her a soft smile, "I'm glad."
Delphine squeezed her hand.
"Come on, let's go."
"It is indeed a lung infection."
Cosima groaned.
"A bacteria found in the excretion of Grindylows is known to have this effect on the lung."
"Merde…" Delphine cursed.
Cosima started chuckling.
Delphine looked at the girl in question, "Chérie?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Cosima said catching her breath, "It's just that, I literally got sick from inhaling grindylow shit. I mean who would've thought I would go down like this."
Madam Pomfrey stepped in, "Oh, you are not 'going down,' Miss Niehaus. Far from it."
Cosima blinked at the mediwitch, "I'm not dying?"
"Heavens, no. Maybe a bit, if you were somewhere other than here. But I assure you you are in the best place for something like this to happen. We have all the resources you need to get well."
Cosima slumped against Delphine, who was sitting next to her on the bed, "Oh thank god."
Madam Pomfrey squirmed where she stood, "Unfortunately, the antidote will take about 14 weeks to procure, and even after we make it, it will still take a couple weeks to fully heal."
Cosima frowned, "What."
"I'm sorry, it's just how these things are. You should know, Cosima. You once procured a polyjuice potion to prank your sister. It took you about a month at least."
"Yeah but that literally transformed my entire body. Well, not really, actually. I transformed into Sarah, and she is me…" Cosima trailed off.
"Nonetheless, some potions take years to make. We will help your cough all throughout the brewing time. We have plenty of suppressants.
"Mm…" Cosima mumbled. Delphine rubbed the back of her neck soothingly.
"What will this mean for the tournament? What if I'm still sick?"
"I talked to Mr. Crouch about it and I'm afraid you will still have to compete."
"Ugh!" Cosima moaned, laying back on the bed and covering her face, "This blows."
"I will see to it that you are as comfortable as possible during this final challenge," Madam Pomfrey reassured.
Cosima just nodded, waving her off.
"Just keep taking doses of that cough suppressant I gave you earlier," Madam Pomfrey said, gathering her paperwork, "I trust you can help her with that, right Ms. Cormier?"
"Oui, pas de problème."
Madam Pomfrey nodded and walked away from the two of them. Delphine looked down at Cosima, who was still lying down on the bed with her hands on her face.
"Cosima," Delphine said, rubbing Cosima's stomach gently. She felt Cosima sigh under her palm, but panicked when her breath became shaky.
"Cosima?" Delphine tried again, watching the girl's lip start to quiver. Delphine tsked softly and laid next to her, bringing the girl tightly to her side.
"This is so… fucking frustrating." Cosima whined. "I can't even catch a break when I'm sick."
"I know. But it shows how strong you are. You didn't lose any of the challenges, you know."
Cosima scoffed, "Yeah right. I definitely lost the last one."
"No you did not. If you had gotten Alison and left, you would have won."
"But I just had to stay behind, didn't I?" Cosima groaned, "I'm such a pussy. Clearly I need to be a bitch from now on to win."
"NO."
Cosima looked at Delphine.
"You keep doing what you are doing. Your… uh… consideration won you points."
"With who?"
"With everyone. Me. You know you are the only one who did not physically hurt the dragon. All of the other challengers faced it directly. You are the only one who used strategy."
"Eh, well-"
"And, you are the only challenger to see to it that the others were safe in the lake challenge. Everyone else, how do you say… 'dipped'?"
Cosima chuckled, "I do say that."
"My school mates love you. They think you are cute and brave."
Cosima's eyebrows bumped, "Oh really? Which ones?"
Delphine slapped her arm softly, "It does not matter. You are mine. Only mine."
"Mmm... True that," Cosima said, pecking Delphine softly on the lips.
"Come on," Delphine said pulling Cosima off of the bed, "I want another Eskimo Pie."
"Your wish is my command."
A few months had passed when Cosima and Delphine's walk to Charms was interrupted.
"Miss Niehaus!"
Cosima turned around to see McGonagall shuffling quickly towards the pair of them.
"Y-yeah? What's up?" Cosima asked nervously, feeling Delphine's hand tighten around hers.
"It's your sister, I'm afraid. She's been attacked."
"What?!" Cosima exclaimed, triggering a small coughing fit. Delphine, as always, was quick to rub her back. Cosima waved her off after she recovered, "Which one?"
"You will see. Please head to the hospital wing, I have to find Professor Dumbledore."
Cosima watched with a gaped mouth as Professor McGonagall walked by her and continued down the hallway, "Wait, what?"
Delphine tugged her in the direction of the wing, "Cosima, come on!"
Cosima was in shock. Her sister had been attacked? Was it Sarah? Or Ali? She had no idea of her surroundings until she heard the familiar squeak of the wing doors.
Looking around the wing, she saw a crowd of students gathered around one bed, even some with casts and bandages. Moving closer, she couldn't see who it was because all of the students were in her line of vision. Growing irritated she roughly pushed them out of her way, with a grumbled "Move!"
Finally she saw the white sheets of the bed. Gulping slightly, her eyes trailed along the lump underneath the blankets, frowning deeply when she saw her sister's face.
"What the fuck?"
She was prepared to see Alison or Sarah with a broken arm or with a leg in a cast.
But she wasn't quite prepared to see Rachel Duncan with an eye patch.
AN: I'm SORRY. This took WAY too fucking long, and I'm sorry. Huge writers block. Huge. Sorry. I hoped you liked it. I promise there will be NO more angst in this story.