Curiosity Is Not a Sin

The Hospital Wing

When Rose woke up the next day, she felt extremely disoriented. This was not the first time she'd woken up in the hospital wing, but it was the first time that she could not quite remember how she'd gotten there. She had vague memories of Albus taking her there from Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she had no idea if those memories were accurate. She didn't even know what day it was.

Most people would assume that it had been one day, but Rose knew better. She'd spent three days passed out in the hospital wing after a nasty fall from her broomstick in her third year, and Roxanne had once been in the hospital wing for nearly two weeks with a concussion, most of which she had no memory of.

Madam Byrd walked out of her office. "What day is today?" Rose demanded.

"Wednesday," Madam Byrd said shortly. She disliked engaging Rose in conversations about the duration of her stay in the hospital wing, because she and Rose always seemed to have very different opinions on what constituted "enough time."

"How long was I out for?" she asked cautiously.

"No longer than you needed," Madam Byrd told her.

Rose tried to quell her growing panic, but she was fighting a losing battle. Just as she was beginning to really lose it, however, the door opened and Albus stuck his head in. "I won't upset her, I promise," he said. Madam Byrd gave him a penetrating look, and then walked back into her office.

He came over and sat down next to the bed, and she grabbed his arm. "Al! How long have I been out for?"

"Less than a day. You're feeling better, then?"

The sight of her cousin's red hair brought the rest of her memories flooding back, and she gasped. "That bastard!"

Al looked lost. "What?"

"He put something in my tea!" Rose was livid. Albus glanced nervously toward Madam Byrd's open door and tried to shush her. "I was too tired," she said in a lowered voice. "I wasn't paying attention, he was wandering all over the room, he was behind me at some point, and he slipped something in my tea!"

Her voice had gotten both higher and louder again. "Rosie, keep it down," he said, his voice soft.

"He put something in my tea!" She did not understand how Albus was not reacting more strongly to this fact.

He rubbed his forehead. "Probably. I wasn't thinking about it, either, if that makes you feel any better."

"He poisoned me." Rose actually looked around for her wand, though she had no idea what she was planning to do with it, given that Scorpius was not actually present and that there was no way in hell that Madam Byrd would let her leave the hospital wing yet.

He cousin rolled his eyes. "Now you're just being melodramatic. He did not poison you."

In Rose's opinion, that was a very charitable interpretation of the events that had transpired. She sniffed. "That bastard."

After about ten minutes, Albus excused himself to go get lunch before his afternoon classes. A few minutes after he left, the door opened again, and Scorpius walked in. He looked very pleased with himself.

"I just saw Al go down the stairs," he said, sitting down in the chair her cousin had vacated. "How are you feeling? Everyone said you went hysterical yesterday." He shook his head in mock disapproval and actually patted her hand. "Too much caffeine, Red."

She snatched it away. "You bastard," she hissed angrily. "You put something in my tea!"

He looked like he was trying to hide a smirk, but his attempt failed miserably. "I don't know what you're talking about. That tea must have been really strong."