The Direct Result of
a Bludger in the Head
Disclaimer: I would like to say
to all of my readers out there in
Computer Land, that
despite rumours to
the contrary, I am most certainly
NOT a mass hypnotist, nor do I insert
subliminal messages in my stories to entice you.
The following rumours you may
have been told
are also false:
1) Jack
Ichijouji = JK Rowling.
2)
Jack
can even
afford a lawsuit.
3) Jack purposefully
flirts with his readers.
Thank you for your time.
And please, if you hear anyone spreading these vile lies, set them on
the straight path.
When I opened my eyes, I instantly wished I hadn't. The hospital wing
was dimly lit, but it seemed that every photon of light was created
entirely to damage my retinas.
Wait, hospital wing?
“Oh, good, you're awake.” I couldn't see who was talking,
except for a flash of red hair in the corner. I assume it was hair. I
wasn't wearing my glasses. “Got a nasty Bludger to the head
just when you wrapped your fingers around the Snitch.” I
instinctively raised my hand to my head, and winced when I touched
the bandage. I should have asked who'd hit it. I should have asked
how long I was going to be in there.
“Did we win?”
She moved closer, rolling her brown eyes and grinning. “Yes, we
won. You almost got yourself killed though, doesn't that matter?”
I shrugged, then tried to hide the fact that shrugging had caused a
blinding amount of pain. “I've had worse. Where're my glasses?”
“What's wrong with your neck?” Ah, perceptive one she
was. She handed me my glasses and the room came into focus
“Nothing.”
She moved around so she was just behind me, leaning against the wall.
“Look me in the eye and say that then.”
Bugger. I tried to turn my torso without moving my neck, but for a
moment forgot myself and twisted my neck around. I made it, but it
was getting back that would be the trick. “Perhaps there is
something wrong with my neck after all,” I admitted.
She shook her head and sighed. “Scoot forward, then,” she
ordered, in a voice not to be disobeyed. I did so, my legs dangling
off the bed, and she sat behind me and rested her hands on my
shoulders, kneading the muscle softly. I winced involuntarily.
“Baby,” she chided jokingly.
“Sorry.”
“I yelled out for you to look out, but of course, you didn't
hear me. Probably better that you didn't, or you might have been
injured more seriously.” She moved up my neck, and I kept my
flinching to a minimum. “You could have been killed, as it was.
I don't know what those Slytherins where thinking, aiming for your
head like that.”
“Thanks
for the neck rub. It really helps a lot,” I
interrupted, but I don't think she heard me, or simply chose not to
acknowledge me.
“Of course, I know
what they were thinking, they could get rid of the best Seeker
Hogwarts has seen—” I blushed at that— “in
years, if only for a few weeks.” Her hands were a bit less
gentle now, and her fingers pinched a little.
“Er, I think that's enough,”
I tried to say, but she contined her rant.
“They're only lucky the referee
couldn't tell whether they'd hit before or after you'd had the
Snitch, but I know it was after, it's just the kind of thing they
do...”
“You're not helping as much now.”
“...and
of course no one wants to say anything, we're all supposed to 'get
along,' but if they're the type I'm expected to get along with...”
“Okay, not helping at all,
really.”
“...then maybe I'll just go off
to Beauxbatons, far away from those bloody serpents...”
“What you're
doing is the opposite of help!”
“...and they
can all just kiss my—”
“Pain! Pain!
Pain that is painful!”
My
anguished cries seemed to snap her from her ranting. “I'm so
sorry!” she exclaimed. “Let me just—”
“No,”
I replied a bit harsher than I intended. “I mean, no, thank
you. I'll be fine. We have the best nurse in the world here at
Hogwarts.”
As if I'd said,
“Accio the best nurse in the world,” the nurse
walked in and my friend jumped off the bed and into a chair next to
my bed. “How're you holding up then?” she asked, taking
off my glasses, and checking my bandages and my neck.
“Oh, I think
I'm—”
“That's good,
dear,” she replied, obviously not paying attention. “All
right, you should be able to leave here tomorrow. Unless you have
something I'm not aware of?”
My neck was just womanhandled by an
irate redhead. “Nothing at
all.” Coward.
“In fact, I'm feeling much better. Maybe I can leave a bit
early?”
“We'll see,
dear,” she said kindly, then turned to the girl at my side.
“You can stay for a while, dear, but my patient needs his
rest.” She then tottered off to deal with another occupant of
the room.
“She's in a
good mood,” I observed. “She never lets anyone stay in
here.”
“I really am
sorry about your neck.”
“Don't worry
about it,” I replied. “Like I said. I've had worse. You
know Seekers are always the ones fouled. This is nothing compared to
third year.”
“You're sure
you're all right, then?”
“Couldn't be
better. Well, that's a lie. But I'm fine.”
She smiled, a wide
one, and I found myself smiling right along with her. “I'd
better go tell the rest of the team you're up. So they can bring your
chocolate, hail the conquering hero, and all that.”
“You do
that.” She walked to the door, then at the last moment ran back
to me and kissed me on the cheek. “What was that for?” I
asked, blushing.
“Health. Get
well soon, Arthur.”
“Thanks,
Molly.”
Yes. I've
definitely been worse.
Just for the record, this
wasn't supposed to be a very twisty story when I
started out. But few things do end up the way I intend for
them when they're started.
And my thanks to my beta, because I really don't thank her enough and I do appreciate her.
