Illness:

Lucy was not feeling well at all. Her neck hurt, her stomach hurt, her head hurt, and she felt like she was going to throw up. She could feel sweat rolling down her face, and she felt like she was on fire. Her skin had red bumps on it and she couldn't really move her neck. And through all of this, she still didn't know what was wrong with her.

"Here, you need to take this." Madam Pomfrey brought something to her lips. She opened her eyes, but quickly closed them, because the light blinded her. This had happened before, she would open her eyes only to close them right after. Everybody seemed to be talking quieter around her too. "Drink this; it will make you feel better." The nurse whispered. Why was everybody whispering? "Tilt your head up so I can pour it in your mouth." The girl tried, but her neck wouldn't budge. She started to panic and thrashed about. Her eyes open, she quickly looked around the room trying to find someone familiar besides Madam Pomfrey.

The man called Severus, an ancient man with a long white beard, and an older woman with a tight graying bun on top of her head were in a seemingly deep discussion. The man with straight black hair to his shoulders noticed her first - he had been facing her way - and went over to her bedside.

"Calm down, you won't be better until we can get you calm enough to give you the medicine." His voice was cold, but she could see in his eyes that he was actually trying to be soothing, or at least sincere.

She tried to nod, but failed, and cried out in pain. At least she thought she did; she only heard a faint noise when she screamed. She could have sworn she screamed from the top of her lungs. Madam Pomfrey and the old lady exchanged worried glances as they saw her confused face.

Madam Pomfrey was the first to recover and took advantage of her open mouth to pour the medicine down her throat. Lucy wanted to spit it back up, because it tasted horrid, but Madam Pomfrey clamped her hand over the girl's mouth. Lucy gagged, but somehow managed to keep it down. She suddenly felt tired, and felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, until she couldn't keep them up anymore.

xXx

Severus watched as the girl closed her eyes. She looked so frightened and in pain, and only he knew why she was scared of Albus and him last night. He wished he could undo what happened, but he was not a fool. He knew that wasn't possible. Who knew how many times Tenebris had assaulted that girl. He only wished he knew her name. And where was her mother?

"Severus?" It sounded like Albus had been calling his name for quite a bit of time now.

"What?" The man in black snapped. He wasn't mad at him, but Tenebris Drake, who hurt that little girl. Albus was just the unfortunate bystander. As usual.

"Are you going to stay here?" Snape looked around. Minerva had left already and Poppy was wiping the girl's face with what looked like a damp cloth.

"I have papers to grade." With that, he spun around and stormed off to the dungeons.

xXx

Albus sighed. When would Severus ever get out of his own way? It was obvious that he cared for the girl, Lucille. Perhaps he remembered the first time he saved her. With one last glance at her, the old man walked out of the hospital wing, gently humming to himself.

xXx

Lucy woke up and felt a little better. Her neck was still sore, her head still a little sore, and her red skin was now a lighter pink. She opened her eyes, and this time, was not blinded. She felt warm, but not hot. Her stomach was still upset, but she hoped that would go away soon. A moment later, as if she had jinxed herself, she rolled over onto her side and threw up onto the side of the bed. When she was done a few minutes later, the mess disappeared. The bed was now clean, but it gave her no comfort. The magic scared her more than cleaned her. Magic was a tool - for good and bad.

Lucy looked for the culprit, but saw no one. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, even though she felt my vocal cords move. She rolled right off the bed and onto the cold, hard floor. Her neck screamed at her and she felt warm tears slide down her face from fear and pain. Feet made their appearance in the girl's viewpoint and she meekly looked up.

Madam Pomfrey held her hands out to help the girl back into bed. After she was settled on the bed again, she looked down. She was embarrassed that she had acted in such a way. These people at the hospital were trying to help her, and she was scared of them.

By the time she looked up again, Madam Pomfrey was already at the door of her office and Severus was staring at me. His stares felt more like glares. Lucy wasn't offended or scared; she was curious. The man confused her. On one hand, he had saved her from her burning house. On the other hand, she did not know him or what his intentions were. She looked away as she tried to shake the fears of what he could do from her mind.

She looked back up, again, and saw that Severus was moving his mouth as if he were talking, though no sound came out. He turned towards Madam Pomfrey's office and looked as if he were yelling, but again, no sound. Were these people trying to make her feel insane? Even though he made no sound, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office with a sad expression a few moments later and opened her mouth as if to reply. Again, no sound.

xXx

Severus sat there, watching as Poppy went back to her paperwork in the office. The girl was deaf. When the child finally looked up, he looked back at her, trying to find out what she was thinking without having to use Legilimens again. After all, she couldn't possibly know Occlumency at such a young age; it seemed wrong to use Legilimens on this girl when she couldn't prevent it. No, he wouldn't do that again unless absolutely necessary.

He huffed and got up, deciding staying here was doing more harm than good. The chair fell over, but Severus was already on his way back to his comforts far away from the hospital wing.

xXx

Alone in the dark hospital bed, Lucy felt a lot better, except for the fact that she couldn't hear anything. She couldn't even hear the chair fall. But she saw it. Not being able to hear it hit the ground was some of the most terrified the girl had felt. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and everything will be back to normal.

She didn't. Sure, she didn't feel like she was going to throw up anymore, her skin was back to normal, her neck felt a lot better, and her head was fine. But she still couldn't hear. She was starting to get really worried now. What if I never heard again?

She was so deep in thought, that she didn't notice the door open or someone walk, or rather glide, to my bedside chair. She looked up and jumped, Albus was sitting beside her with a small smile on his face. She looked away, it really was freaky. He sat there awkwardly as she looked around the room, waiting for him to talk. But then, she realized that even if he did talk, she wouldn't hear him. She felt hot tears stream down her face at the thought. Her ability to hear people coming was pretty much the only thing that could ever help her. It saved her life more times than she could recall. She was too small to fight him back, too sheltered to know how to do many things like write for help or call the aurors, and too scared to talk back. Mostly.

After a little bit, she looked back at him, but he was gone. For some reason that made Lucy feel sad. Nobody wanted to be around her. Maybe it was because she couldn't hear them to be able to strike up a conversation. Maybe she was boring, or people didn't like the fact that she really didn't look them in the eyes. That she gazed at walls or at my hands instead. Whatever the reason, she needed to apologize to them. For everything they had done for her. To Severus for saving her from the fire, for Poppy for taking care of her, and Albus just because she didn't respect him when he visited her earlier.