Pride of Gryffindor

[James Woodlock]

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Following on from this topic.

James could not believe the actions of his own cousin sometimes, he knew the boy was adventurous and daring but he had gravely overstepped himself on this occasion. Lucas was very lucky that the mandrake he unpotted was only a baby otherwise he, and his friend could have been killed. It was one thing for him to have no regard for his own safety but to drag someone else into it was unacceptable. James guided the two boys into the hospital wing and after getting the attention of one of the nursed got the two boys into beds. It was now just a waiting game for the two to wake up.

Word had been sent to Professor Kingsley, no doubt she would take her time as the two would not wake up for a few hours. No doubt James himself would have some explaining to do when the Gryffindor head of house arrived. Never mind the fact that Lucas and Aaron entered the Greenhouse unattended and uprooted a mandrake, the fact remained that they could enter the Greenhouse and put themselves in harms way. James may have to answer the headmistress for his negligence. In the meantime all he could do was wait.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

The Head of House had been in her lounge all set for a quiet night when she'd received the message. Dropping her tea on it had made the message garbled and she'd only managed to read half before she was racing down the steps, hoping that she'd read the message wrong. As she burst through the room, the woman was already talking, expecting an answer from one of the nurses.

"What happened? How big were the mandrakes? Please tell me they're not-?"she was interrupted with a hush, her volume too loud for the other patients, as she was ushered towards the bed of the two boys. Seeing them breathing sent a wave of relief through the woman before her eyes settled on Woodlock. Finally some answers! He'd been the one to write to her. "What happened?"

 

[James Woodlock]

James didn't know what to think or feel when he saw Professor Kingsley bursting through the doors of the hospital wing demanding answers from the nurses. After shushing her and point her over to the boys direction she made her way over. The sight of the two breathing seemed to be a relief for her but he knew that she would demand answers and when he told her everything she would at the very least find him partly responsible. He knew this because he found himself responsible. He had been careless and it had put students lives in danger, that of his own cousin at that.

"Cy...Professor Kingsley," He corrected himself remembering the need for formalities in the presence of students, even unconscious ones. "I was working in the Greenhouse when I needed to pop over to the garden for something, I was expecting Lucas any moment so I left the Greenhouse, unlocked, from what I can gather he brought along a friend and saw fit to uproot a mandrake, thankfully. It was a baby so there should be no last damage, I take full responsibility for this, I was careless and I put students lives in danger, I put my own cousins life in danger, there's no excuse for that," He finished looking over the Lucas's unconscious form.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Dropping into an available seat that was near the two unconscious boys and the professor, Cyndi listened to the man's story. She glanced over at the two boys as he spoke, looking back as James claimed full responsibility for the situation. Reaching out, she quickly patted the man's arm before returning her hands to her lap. "Full responsibility is a little much, professor" she stated with a shake of her head. "They're Gryffindors. No doubt they thought it'd be cool to see what was inside the greenhouse without a professor there and no doubt they'll think that this" she gestured to the hospital beds," is a cool story to tell. You have to share the responsibility, sorry to say. They knew they shouldn't have been in there" she finished. She couldn't say that Ava would think the same, but that was a problem for him for another moment. She very well wasn't going to yell at the man about Gryffindors being injured when he was so clearly already feeling guilty.

The woman folded one leg over the other, prepared to wait out the time until they woke up again. She had no plans on letting them simply leave the hospital wing to go brag about their exploits without her having her say first.

 

[James Woodlock]

James was grateful that Cyndi appeared to not blame him completely, even though he did himself. He knew he would have to take some responsibility himself when he came before Professor King. He wasn't looking forward to that, but nothing would be worse than having to write the letter to Lucas's mother to explain what had happened. He would wait until the boy woke up, and he would stress that he would be fine. But as a parent himself he knew she would stop reading after 'unconscious in the hospital wing'. "I guess you're right, Lucas hasn't exactly been a model student since he got here, but it doesn't change the fact I left the greenhouse open," He sighed as he sank back into a chair at Lucas's bedside.

James wasn't sure how long he sat at the boys bedside, but he was impressed that Cyndi remained there too. He half expected her to leave and have him send word when they stirred. Of course, it was two Gryffindors laying in those beds, he shouldn't have been so surprised. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he heard a groan, fairly certain it was coming from Lucas. James breathed a sigh of relief. Now that he was coming to, it was time to punish them for their stupidity.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

The woman didn't comment as nothing the man said was entirely untrue. Instead, Cyndi settled in more, getting as comfortable as she could in the hospital wing chairs, as she prepared to wait as long as she needed to for the two Gryffindors to wake up. She knew that the nurse had likely informed Ava already, but someone would still need to notify the boys' parents. They deserved to know that their children had been knocked out by mandrakes. She'd summoned a magazine as she waited, flipping through some inane article about a model and her quidditch player boyfriend's on-again-off-again status, when she finally heard a groan. "Thank you, Merlin" she muttered, looking up from the drivel she was reading to see that one of the boys, Woodlock, she believed, was waking up.

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

The last thing Lucas remembered was the scream of the mandrake and then everything went black. He didn't know how long when was out but the first thing he heard was the voice of Professor Kingsley mumbling. If he was close enough to his head of house to hear her mumble, he was in trouble. He was slow to open his eyes, the back of his head was throbbing, no doubt from when he hit the ground, but all in all felt alright. Lucas opened his eyes and was met by the gazes of Professor Kingsley and his cousin James. Oh yeah, he was in trouble. "Morning," He mumbled grinning at the two Professors. He looked around and saw Aaron in the bed next to him, he hadn't quite woken up yet.