Never Seen You Like This

[Aurora Night]

Continued from here.
Rory had... never been in the hospital wing before. As she lay staring up at the ceiling of the bed she'd been gently pushed onto, she couldn't think why this was. Hadn't it been her mission when she was younger to explore every little place this castle had to offer? It had been the first place that had been large enough - more than large enough - to give her a challenge since first learning to navigate the hallways and back staircases of the family estate. Rory had never thought to question why her dad had grown up in such a big and fancy house, nor why their own family happily lived in a smaller one. It had just always been that way. And when getting between the two homes was only a pinch of green powder away... where had she been going with this thought again?

Rory tried to frown at the ceiling, but didn't have the energy to do much more than close her eyes slightly. She'd been given something when that professor had first brought her in here, and she supposed it was helping. The urge to cry had gone away, even though she kind of felt like she might like to. Instead she just felt sort of... numb. Being looked after by the school healers had helped her come to terms with what had happened to her at least to some degree, but the intensity of the emotion she had experienced during her reaction was unsettling to think about. Rory wondered if she would feel even worse about it once this potion wore off, a thought that didn't make her feel any better about the situation. Her thoughts already raced and stumbled over one another as she lay here listlessly, confused and tired and anxious. She felt weak, and she was terrified to think - had she always been this weak? The boggart, a creature she had studied in Defence only last year, had completely deceived her, even once Rose's presence had begun to confuse it. The certainty that Rory had always had in herself had been shaken by this chance event, and it made her feel ashamed of herself. And worse... she felt afraid. And that feeling only unnerved her even further; it wasn't something she had any idea how to deal with. Rory's hands bunched anxiously into the comforter beneath her.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi had prepared for a lot of situations in her years of study to become a teacher, but she had never so much as imagined having to care for students in a situation like this one. A sip of calming draught had gone a way to settle her nerves, but she still felt... wrong, as though there were something vital she hadn't finished, some pressing issue she still needed to protect these children from. Though there were other people to watch over them in the hospital wing, Kahurangi didn't feel remotely ready to step away, even if she couldn't stop thinking about her parents. The knowledge that nothing she had seen was real felt more secure now, with the calming draught in her system, but she still burned with need to see them, to hug them and know everything was really alright. As soon as she felt comfortable leaving the girls in someone else's care she needed to floo home, but for now, Kahurangi sat watch next to the redheaded girl's bed, hoping that her silent presence watching over them was enough to help the girls feel protected.

 

[Rose Holland]

Even thought he shock had worn off and Rose knew now what had happened, Rose could still feel her fingers trembling in her lap. She pressed them against her legs as if she could force her hands to be still and obey, to feel okay like she was pretending to feel. She had to be okay, because Rory clearly wasn't. And if they were both not okay, there was no one that could be there for Rory. So Rose had a smile on her face, even if it felt like it shouldn't be there. The calming draught had made her less upset, but it hadn't made her happy. She wasn't sure if she could be happy in this awful room with Rory so sad. The silence was killing her, and when she finally couldn't stand it any longer, she turned to Rory with her smile still in place. "Hey, maybe later we can go outside." She said, nodding. "It'd be nice out in the sun." There wouldn't be any scary boggarts outside. They could just forget all about this. "Just... when you can go, I mean." She added, her voice faltering slightly. The creature hadn't hurt Rory, not physically. But she could tell her friend wasn't okay. She almost wished it was just something obvious that they could bandage up, she didn't know how to fix this.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley Elridge was not doing well. Being away from school for the holidays had helped a little; Mum's support always calmed her, but there could be no advice this time, no way to fix this hurt. And as soon as she returned to Hogwarts it all came crashing back. She'd been avoiding Harley, which practically meant avoiding her other friends too, avoiding Odette as much as possible when she shared a room with the snake. Drowning in a dark hopeless lethargy. But when she heard that two of her best friends were in the hospital wing, she shook off that inertia and ran.

And all of those thoughts flew out of Hayley's head when she saw Rory lying in the hospital bed, with Rose looking pale and shaken beside her. There was a teacher there Hayley didn't know very well, too, but she paid little attention to that. "Rory, oh my god are you all right? What happened?" Hayley came to Rose's side of the bed, and awkwardly tried to gather them both into a hug. If someone had told her a couple of years ago that she would care so much about Rory's wellbeing - Rory, who was so stubborn and annoying and fun to tease - she wouldn't have believed them. But these days, Rory was truly one of her closest friends, and concern for her overrode for the moment all of Hayley's own pain.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Rory Night, being carried to the hospital wing by a teacher. That was all she had heard from someone passing by, and Harley had broken into a sprint. Rory getting injured badly enough to need the hospital wing was by no means unlike her, with her boisterous spirit, but to Harley's memory it had never actually happened before. Desperate to see what was wrong with her friend, Harley hurtled down flights of stairs and burst into the Hospital Wing. The sight of her three best friends hugging only slightly softened the horrible sight of Rory lying on a hospital bed. Harley was fine with doing reckless things herself, but seeing a friend of hers so badly hurt by... whatever she had been doing that she was in a hospital bed made her stomach turn.

Harley hurried across the hospital wing and threw herself into the group hug, not caring that she slightly elbowed the unfamiliar teacher in the process. "What happened?" She asked, unable to keep the worry and panic out of her voice as she hugged three of the most important people in her life close, burning with the need to protect them all, to keep them safe no matter what. Harley never wanted to see a friend like this again.

 

[Sophia Night]

Sophia's steps grew quicker as she entered the third floor corridor, even as she felt the muscles in the front of her shins strain from the harried pace she had kept up all the way from the Great Hall. This wasn't the time to climb leisurely up each flight of stairs or get caught behind slow walkers in the corridors - her sister was in the Hospital Wing. And although it was completely in Sophia's nature to worry, this time something felt different about being faced with the news of another of Rory's little mishaps. The note she had been summoned with had seemed... urgent. It wouldn't have been urgent if her sister had merely fallen out of a tree and broken both her legs. Sophia's mind was in overdrive.

As she entered the wing her eyes immediately began seeking the familiar red of Rory's hair, but all she could see was a small group of people clustered around one bed. Sophia recognised most of them as her sister's best friends, but there was also a professor she had seen up at the staff table during meals sometimes. While before her pace had been so frenetic, now Sophia slowly drew to a halt as she crossed the room to stand at the foot of Rory's bed. She felt uncertain about her place here in the midst of the older girls, especially while they currently had her sister wrapped up in a large group hug. Sophia smoothed out a wrinkle at the foot of the bed awkwardly, and then decided to turn to the professor to get the full story of her sister's condition. As the woman explained the basics of what had happened, Rory's group of friends drew back from her enough for Sophia to finally catch a glimpse of her sister's face. The expression shocked her, and her heart leapt into her throat. Rory looked... so scared. It made sense considering the circumstances, but Sophia still had trouble believing it. Her hand snaked out to take her sister's. "I'm glad you're okay, Rory. You... there's lots of people here for you." She wished Grandfather could be here for her as well, Sophia was sure it would really help her sister a lot.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory stared up at the ceiling, and as she watched to see if that dark spot was going to slide away somewhere she heard Rose break the silence that had fallen. Rory was glad for it, truth be told, and would have liked to have done it herself. She just couldn't think what to say. Rose's idea sounded nice though, and Rory attempted to push herself up into more of a sitting position. She stopped halfway, her forearms feeling a bit shaky. "Thanks, Rose. That sounds... it sounds good." She attempted a smile at her friend, but she felt like it had come out a bit wonky. The professor was still here, but Rory didn't know what to say to her either, so the woman received the same wonky smile. It was probably about to turn very awkward as she scrambled for something, anything, to say, but thankfully the sound of someone arriving gave them all something else to focus on.

It was Hayley, and Rory watched in a sort of daydream as the other girl crossed the room and drew both her and Rose into an uncomfortably-positioned hug. Already sinking back down the bed's headboard, Rory sank further into Hayley's embrace, even as she buried her face in her friend's arm in a kind of shame. Rose had been there and had seen the whole thing, so there wasn't anything to explain to her. But how was Rory supposed to respond to Hayley's questions when she didn't even know if she knew the answers herself? She didn't feel alright, but nothing had physically happened to her - that should mean she was fine, right? Rory's mouth worked open and closed a few times, but she couldn't summon the words needed to try and explain yet. Hayley always seemed so strong, and Rory felt ashamed for not being as strong right now herself. "I'm... I'm not hurt, no." She finally managed to say.

She was still trying to think of something to say to the second question when Harley burst in and, with her there to complete the group, it suddenly crushed in on Rory how much these three people meant to her; how much it meant to her to have them all here together. Harley's sudden weight as she launched herself over into their hug was a comfort rather than too much, and Rory managed to lift her arms to clutch at whatever parts of her friends were tangled around her. Harley repeated Hayley's question, but Rory felt less pressure to answer it right now and instead just concentrated on trying to ground herself in the steadying presence of her friends. "I'm so glad you guys are here," she said, surprised to realise that the words had to be choked out slightly. She could still feel the presence of the calming potion in her system, but she definitely felt a bit overwhelmed with the care her friends were showing for her. Gratefully overwhelmed. Her hand quested to the bed's edge in search of Rose's hand. She hoped her friend was doing better than she was right now, but she had experienced the fear from the boggart as well. Rose needed to get as much out of this hug as Rory was.

It was only once her friends had drawn back again that Rory noticed that her sister had suddenly materialised in the Hospital Wing as well. She immediately felt guilty, realising that for the duration for this experience she had forgotten Sophia was even at Hogwarts. Seeing the younger girl kind of made her feel worse, in a way. At least she had seen her friends in various stages of their own distress over the years, which gave her some sort of previous experience to bounce off with each of them now. Sophia had never seen her like this, and Rory felt caught in the headlights of her younger sister's stare. She panicked at the younger girl's decision to the get the story of what had happened from the professor, but sat meekly through it all, relieved that at least the H-leys now knew her reason for being in the hospital wing. The familiar nickname couldn't bring a smile to her lips, though. Rory tried not to look at anyone as the story progressed, and so was taken by surprise at feeling a small hand slip into hers. She immediately knew that it was Sophia, and she squeezed her sister's hand in response. She wasn't okay like Sophia believed, but Rory knew that her sister's words were important. Despite what the boggart had tried to tell her - she hadn't lost anyone.