𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻, cedric diggory

˗ˋ 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH SHE ARRIVES

. . .

The next morning Rosie was up early, although she wasn't supposed to be leaving until after lunch. She showered, picking out her best jeans and prettiest shirt - it was made by her relatives under the Black Lake, and consisted of quite whispy material over a plain corset-style bodice. She had to pull a cardigan over it though, far too afraid of something slipping out of ending up cold. 

 Rosie even put on a bit of makeup; smudged brown eyeliner and a tiny bit of lip gloss, pulling her hair back with one of the seashell clips she had gotten with her outfit for the Yule ball. 

She fidgeted all morning, unable to focus at all and barely getting anything done when she helped out, result with Molly having to gently suggest that she shouldn't be spraying doxycide ( the day before they had only battled one set of curtains, and were sorting the other that day ). 

The Kersey girl left right after lunch, filled up on Mrs Weasley's sandwiches and one pocket filled with a list of ingredients, the other pulling down slightly with the weight of the coins that her, Fred and George had counted out the night before. Her father's words echoed in her mind, telling her to be safe and to apparate there and when she left St. Mungos to apparate back, to not go anywhere else because who knows what was out there.

She only felt the tiniest bit guilty as she apparated to St. Mungos from the alleyway on the road opposite Grimmauld place, knowing that the next place she apparated wouldn't be back to that alleyway, but to another one near the Leaky Cauldron. 

Emerging out onto the road that homed St. Mungos, Rosie's eyes settled on the old red brick building that homed the condemned department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. She approached it rather cautiously, pausing as she saw someone else proceed towards the building, glancing around before stepping towards the window, muttering something and then disappearing.

Giving it enough time between her and the first person approaching the magical hospital for it to lack suspicion, Rosie herself moved towards the broken window, looking up at the unfortunately familiar, ugly and old mannequin.

"Rosie Kersey." She muttered. "For Cedric Diggory." She watched as the dummy nodded, before vanishing and letting her step through, which she did. Rosie entered St. Mungo's, digging around in her pocket for her permanent visitor pass, pinning it to her cardigan.

The girl had entered into the, as usual, crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs, some looking perfectly normal and reading out-of-date copies of Witch Weekly, others sporting gruesome disfigurements such as elephant trunks or extra hands sticking out of their chests. But Rosie was used to this by now, and smiled at every Healer, who were dressed in lime-green robes and holding clipboards, talking to the people sat in chairs - the ones who clearly had some sort of ailment.

"Rosie, lovely to see you!" Just above a desk, amongst various posters and instructions of where to go, a portrait of Dilys Derwent, a once healer and headmistress of Hogwarts.

"You too, Dilys!" Rosie replied, matching her energy and shaking off the feeling she always got when first entering the Hospital. She always tried to be positive there, reserving any other emotions for when she was alone in Cedric's room - Healer Strout had told her that guests really tended to be quite negative, and by just appearing happier even if you didn't feel it made the place seem brighter.

Smiling at a few more Healers, Rosie headed towards the stairs, climbing up to the fourth floor as usual. Cedric wasn't really kept in a specific ward, instead he was in a room just by the Janus Thickey Ward. 

"Rosie!" Miriam Strout was just about to enter the ward, what seemed to look like a grandmother and grandson by him. "Here to see him? There's been signs of improvement - there's not a lot, but they're there."

"Hey Neville." Rosie smiled absentmindedly as she came to a stop besides the Healer, taking the key to Cedric's room from Healer Strout. "Mrs Longbottom, pleased to meet you." She didn't seem to notice the utter horror that had appeared on Neville's face.

"Neville, who is this?" Augusta Longbottom's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked from her grandson to Rosie, and when the Kersey girl finally saw the panic, she glanced at Neville before clearing her throat, offering her hand for Augusta to shake and planning on getting out of there as quickly as possible.

"My name is Rosie Kersey, ma'am. I'm in Gryffindor as well, two years above Neville." Rosie grinned as she introduced herself, shaking the woman's hand. "I really must be off, I'll leave you to your visits." Rosie began to walk away, Neville physically deflating as she did so. "Oh - and the cherry scones in the cafe are absolutely wonderful, if you're planning on going up there."

And with that, Rosie hurried away from a still rather panicking Neville, finally reaching the door to Cedric's room, fitting the key in the lock and pushing it open.

After a few long days, she was back. 

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