Always Someone To Talk To ((Zara))

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

((Zara first, and I suspect some other people could pop in if necessary but please do ask me and Zara before you do that. )

Sapphire didn't much want to admit to being awake. She wasn't in the most comfortable position but she couldn't be bothered moving, and she had a sore throat as bad as any she'd had before. But her experience with sore throats was that they usually tended to get worse if you got up anyway. She opened her eyes but all she saw was ceiling, so she closed them again. Instead she ran through the different runes, organising them into order in her head. She couldn't remember them all right now but she did have a bit of a headache to blame it on. WIS, ORT, MANI, NOX, QUAS. Wisdom, magic, life, poison and illusion. JUX, REL, POR, IN, AN. Harm, change, move, create, negate. She ran each group through in her head more than once and then was about to start thinking of common ways of putting them together when she realised that ceiling she'd just seen wasn't the one in her dormitory. So where exactly was she?

She opened her eyes to find out. Oh. How lovely. The Hospital Wing. Really not her favourite place. Sapphire groaned, even though that really didn't help her throat, and propped herself up a little more so she could see around her. "Oooh," she said in response to the sudden dizziness that prompted. When her head had stopped spinning and she opened her eyes, she saw Zara's face floating there in midair. Wait - no, it was definitely still attached to her body. Just had looked for a moment as though it was floating. A bit disorientating. Sapphire smiled at her sister and reached out to take her hand. She didn't much like being looked after but Zara knew her well enough to understand that. Sapphire struggled to remember what had happened, but all she could remember was Dana pointing her wand at her as though she really was going to curse her. Which was hardly very likely to happen so maybe she shouldn't take too much notice of that. Then again, she had to have wound up here somehow.
"How..." Sapphire asked, but her voice was all odd. She cleared her throat before starting again; she certainly hadn't been imagining that sore throat. "I don't really remember what happened." she said, not explaining any further that she wanted someone to tell her. Confusing situations irritated her.

[Zara Phoenix]

Did the walk to the Hospital Wing always seem this long? Zara had made this trip many times herself. She was a reserve Beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, more than once did a stray Bludger smack her off her broom. All those times though it didn't seem like the hallway was this stretched. Each step she took only seem to take her further away from her destination. This was the first time Zara was going to the Hospital Wing without a injury. This was also the first time she was ever afraid of the place. Death Eaters had once again attacked the school. Why couldn't the Professors keep them out? She had just received word not to long ago that someone really close to her had been hurt in the struggle. Zara was like most people who knew about the danger around them but held the slightest ignorance and believed that the danger could never reach her, or anyone she cared about. Today's events came like a slap in the face.

Zara finally reached the Hospital Wing after what seemed like an eternity of walking. She quickly moved through the door, forcing herself to be calm and quiet, knowing full well that others had been caught in the attack also and no doubt were in the room resting. Zara scanned the beds and searched the faces, she soon found what she was looking for. Sapphire, her twin sister, lay asleep on one of the beds. Zara quickly moved to her bed, snatching an empty chair as she went and dragging it behind her. Sapphire appeared to be sleeping rather peacefully, her chest rose and fell steadily with each breath. Zara's eyes trailed upward to Sapphires neck. She couldn't help but wince at the garish bruise that ran about her neck.

Zara hadn't heard much about what had happened during the attack. She only knew that Sapphire had been magically choked, and the bruise on her neck only seemed to confirm this fact. Just than Sapphire gave a groan, Zara quickly stood to her feet and looked down on Sapphire. Sapphire's eyes opened as she looked around and attempted to get her bearings. Zara sat back down and smiled back at Saph and took her hand gently. Sapphire began to speak but Zara gently brushed her hand through Sapphires hand. "Shh." She gently urged. "Just try and rest now. You were attacked by Death Eaters, but your in the Hospital Wing. Your safe now."

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire sighed as Zara hushed her but fell back against her pillow nonetheless, prompting another spell of dizziness. Once it had subsided she spoke again. "I'm sure they could make the ceiling more dynamic," she complained. "Add an upside down flowerbed which can be changed by occupants. Well, okay, maybe not but... they could make some effort at least. How else is resting going to be interesting?" It did hurt a bit to say that, but she wanted to say something to stop her from thinking any more. Because the confusion was not clearing much at the moment. But after Zara had explained what had happened, she fell silent as she digested the information. She wasn't quite sure what it meant to her. After what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup, she really hadn't wanted to think too much about Death Eaters. She'd only been about to start her second year at Hogwarts then and certain images had lingered with her a long time. Yet this time she could barely remember anything. Just Dana pointing her wand at her and she wasn't very sure about that. She closed her eyes, trying to access any memories about the event, but they weren't around right now.

"I thought I was safe enough before," she said eventually, although she looked Zara in the eyes to convey that she was grateful for her being here. And that she felt safe with her sister here. It made the situation familiar anyway; Zara had been there with her wherever the two girls were carted off to. "Nobody's safe." she stated bluntly, shrugging slightly although it hurt a bit and Zara probably wouldn't see it. It was true enough, but at the same time she didn't know much she could do about it, or much she could do to stop Death Eaters from posing a threat to her. Other than moving to another country once she'd finished at Hogwarts - the USA would be the obvious choice - which she wasn't sure whether she wanted to do. Obviously if she became a curse breaker she wasn't going to be staying in one country all the time anyway, but the wizarding community in Britain was the one she was the most familiar with now. She wasn't a British citizen though. It would depend what Zara did anyway; sticking by the one family member who'd never decided there was somewhere they'd rather be could only be a good thing. Sapphire smiled at Zara although she didn't voice her thoughts, and just held her sister's hand for a while, drawing strength from the fact she was here. But that image she had in her mind of Dana was still bothering her; Death Eaters being involved couldn't be good whether or not the memory had any truth in it.
"Is Dana...?" she started to ask, but didn't finish her question anymore because she didn't have much clue what she was asking about anyway. But she was concerned now, concerned to know that Dana was fine. She fell quiet as a few more memories began to tease at the back of her mind, just out of reach, staring up at that inadequate ceiling as she tried once more to work out what the situation actually was.

[Zara Phoenix]

Zara's hand continued to brush lightly through Sapphire's hair. Sapphires comment made Zara raise her gaze up at the ceiling. She could see where Sapphire was coming from. The ceiling really wasn't much to look at. Such a boring sight would really make time travel at a snails pace. Also the gloomy atmosphere would also stunt someones healing ability. Zara smiled, "I'm sure if we pester her enough we can convince Madam Pomfrey to do something about it." She knew how ridiculous her statement had sounded. If Death Eaters had managed to get into the school at all how could anyone be safe.

Zara's smile faltered a bit but she held it. "Shh." She hushed Sapphire lightly once again. "Its all being taken care of. The Professors are one full alert. Nothing bad can happen." It was a lie, but the best she could come up with at the moment. Death Eaters had managed to get into the school again. After what had happened last year it would have been obvious that security would have been stepped up. Yet the Death Eaters had struck again. Who knew where they would end up next. Zara's ears perched up at the mention of Dana. Zara had never really met Dana, but she knew of her. Dana had been involved in the attack also? "Don't worry, I'm sure shes fine." Zara wasn't completely sure about this. She hadn't heard about any others aside from Sapphire and she didn't have any idea about what had transpired during the attack.

Zara was full of question. She wanted desperately to ask her sister what had happened. She wanted to know what her sister had gone through so she could comfort her better. But reason overcame her curiosity. Sapphire needed rest. "I think you should rest now. Try and sleep, it'll make you feel better."

[cleo]

((Well, as you invited me over via MSN - here I am in all my glory.))

Cleo hummed some random tune to herself as she more or less pieced together what she had heard from Dana and madam P and what she had seen to knowledge of what had happened. Looking at Dana and Kris again who were both sitting on one of the Hospital Wing beds – or rather Kris was sitting, Dana was half-laying in his arms – Cleo stood. Dana was pretty much her best female friend and she would soon become a sister as well. But Cleo had other friends too and Dana wasn’t the only one of her friends hurt. Smoothing down the fabric of her long black skirt that hit snugly around her hips Cleo wandered further into the Hospital Wing her heels clicking quietly on the floor. Cleo had always enjoyed the sound, but today it seemed almost out of place. Her deep, almost blood-red blouse caught many eyes in the white Hospital room as well, but that didn’t bother Cleo too much. She had helped Sapph to her bed previously so Cleo didn’t have any trouble locating her now.

Cleo observed the girl smoothing Sapph’s hair curiously but didn’t let herself be bothered as she stepped forward. The other girl wasn’t old enough to be her mother so Cleo figured she might just as well drop in for a moment as Sapph seemed to be awake. Hovering in the background for a moment Cleo pulled out a button from the pocket of her blouse. The button had originally been at the collar of the blouse but Cleo hadn’t liked them so she had cut them off. Thinking for a moment Cleo tapped her want once to the button watching as it turned into a small clump of irises. A wave of her wand later perfect little dewdrops appeared on the flowers and tucking her wand securely back again after tying the transifugration to make sure it wouldn’t turn back. “Glad to see you awake again. Even though you still look lousy so sleeping does sound like a rather good option,” Cleo stated almost jovially as she stepped forward making her presence known before presenting the clump of flowers to Sapph for a moment before placing them in the empty vase on the bed-side table.

Cleo observed Sapph for a moment trying to detect signs of what had happened to her, yet not finding any but her paleness right now. Glancing over at the other girl Cleo found her somewhat familiar from classes held together. Wasn’t she related to Sapph? Her twin perhaps? “I’m Cleo,” Cleo stated bluntly to the other girl before glancing back at Sapph, touching the tip of the diamond on her engagement-ring almost subconsciously. “Madam P said that there wouldn’t be any permanent damage left, as far as I know. Am I correct? Dana was really worried, but she’s not really in a state to come and check you right now.” Cleo looked calmly at Sapph waiting a response before she would return to her original guarding post at Dana’s bed.

[Sapphire Phoenix R7]

Sapphire smiled as Zara responded to her comment about the ceiling. She had been trying to find some amusement. Zara seemed almost more worried than she herself was. Then again, possibly she knew things to worry her that Sapphire didn't. After all, she hadn't sounded entirely convinced when she assured her everything was all right and safe. It was ludicrous to think Sapphire wouldn't notice - she did know her sister very well after all. Sapphire had closed her eyes but now she opened them again, eyeing Zara for a moment and pondering saying her thoughts out loud. But it seemed a lot of effort and she didn't much want to create more trouble. So she just sighed and lay there, trying to piece together her memories into some coherent set of events. Great. She was helpless and in Madam Pomfrey's Hospital Wing.

Zara was stroking her hair and had just told her she should try to sleep. Sapphire sighed again as she opened her eyes once more in response to that. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep for, but she didn't feel particularly tired. Just lousy, as Cleo had just put it. Sapphire smiled at her friend as she put some flowers in a vase by the side of her bed and watched lazily to see what her sister and Cleo would make of one another. Zara didn't know many of her friends actually. "I'm well-liked by red-heads, I see," she said, finding that she was once again trying to put her sister at ease without even thinking about it. Cleo had already introduced herself but Sapphire didn't hesitate to introduce the two to each other. "Zara, Cleo, a friend," she explained and then, "Cleo, this is Zara. My twin sister." Sapphire smiled at Zara as she said the words. They were non-identical and their personalities weren't particularly close but they did get on well.

Sapphire shrugged as Cleo asked her what her state of health was, although she was rather stiff and also lying down so she soon stopped that fruitless action. "I'm sure I will be, though I haven't seen Madam Pomfrey," Sapphire said. "For small mercies I've to be thankful..." She smiled a little. Madam Pomfrey was not her favourite person, and for some reason she just didn't much like being fussed over or looked after. "My throat hurts like hell right now and my head's not the best it's ever been... but I'm glad to hear that's all going to go away." she continued, in her mind making a note of what Cleo had said about Dana and concluding that evidently Dana had been there, and had been hurt. She still wasn't sure what had happened though. "Dana..." she murmured as she tried to make sense of it in her head, barely aware that she was thinking out loud at all and closing her eyes again. It did help dispel her dizziness a little. But Cleo did seem to know what was going on and Sapphire didn't like this confusion.
"Cleo," she said as she opened her eyes again, just to make sure her friend wasn't making her way off. "Would you mind explaining to me... well, what happened? I can't really remember much."

((Yes, I could probably write more and better but I hope this'll do because I'm seeing lights in front of my eyes right now and I think it might be my bedtime.))

[cleo]

So the girl was Sapph’s sister. Cleo glanced at her calmly once again noticing the red hair as Sapph also pointed it out. For a few moments Cleo looked at the hair before deeming the colour a shade lighter than hers. Cleo still preferred her own rather wild hair-tone and the number of hair so she deemed Zara worthy of a brief smile before glancing back at Sapph with a raised eye-brow: “Merci you have to be thankful for? Would you rather be sick? Or have permanent damage done to you because madam P wasn’t around to make sure there would be no trouble?” Cleo snorted and shook her head a little. She preferred doctors taking care of her and she preferred cold hard medicine to natural herbs. It was mostly only the mental point of view, but Cleo felt more secure with eating medicine so maybe that helped her gain her health back quicker on those. And if pain-killers would took a year or two off from her life – Cleo would still take pain-killers even with that knowledge than live in any kind of pain!

Cleo smirked a little as Sapph listed all the things that hurt over her body understanding quite clearly the reasons behind this. So it came all the more of a shock to her when Sapph asked her to explain what had been going on. Cleo stared at her for a moment before smiling a bit hesitantly and letting the tip of her tongue glide over her upper teeth. She couldn’t really avoid such a question. Well, she could actually, but it wouldn’t be overly fair to Sapph. “Well, if you don’t remember, then I suppose that explains why you asked about Dana,” Cleo stated slowly as she took a step backwards. Crossing her arms over her chest Cleo leaned her hip against the bed-side table and gazed at Sapph for a few moments. Should she sugar-coat her words? After a moment of pondering Cleo decided to just state the blunt facts as she figured Sapph would appreciate that the most.

“First, keep in mind that I stumbled onto the scene only later with Kris, so I have just pieced together what I think happened from what I have heard,” Cleo stated as she let her fingers slip through her hair before stating almost in a monotone tone of voice what she knew, “Death Eaters attacked. Melody had the misfortune to run into some. She was under Crucio I think when you and Dana happened to walk by and disturbed the situation. I don’t have a clue as to what happened from here on other than I know that at some point Dana was placed under Imperio and she cast a strangling charm on you. Not really something we learn in DADA but Dana knows more plenty of hexes as you most likely are fully aware of.” Cleo glanced pointedly at Sapph’s throat for a moment as she paused for a moment to let everything she had said settle in her mind. Shrugging Cleo continued: “For some reason the spell wore off – Imperio and Kris heard Dana. We came by. You were passed out so I helped you get here. Kris killed the Death Eater shooting through Dana’s shoulder as the Death Eater was using Dana as a living shield. Now we’re all here. Quite the happy family.” Cleo smirked with little amusement as she looked at Sapph trying to keep her face carefully blank of all expressions.

For a moment Cleo stood still as silence stretched before she shrugged and took a step forward. Bending lightly over Sapph’s bed Cleo didn’t care that she had turned her back almost rudely at Zara. “I understand that you need to think about it, but keep in mind the not everything is black and white in this world. Get better. I’ll come by again at some point,” Cleo told Sapph seriously as she squeezed her friends hand for a moment before stretching and turning, quick steps carrying her away once again as Cleo headed back towards Dana’s bed-side. She had a lot to think over as well.