The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

The Heart Dragon

"D-don't t-touch - don't touch m-me," Newt swatted at the mediwitch trying to unbutton his shirt. "D-don't --"

"Mr. Scamander," the mediwitch argued, "You've had a heart attack, we must examine --"

"Don't t-touch me, I s-say!"

"Newt!" Tina slipped around the mediwitch," Newt, you have to let them examine you. Just like you do with the creatures, you know? Very important examination, my love." She grappled with the buttons the mediwitch had been trying to do. "We've done this before, haven't we? When the griffon's talon got your shoulder, remember that time?"

"Y-yes," Newt nodded. He was still wincing from the tightness of his chest, the muscles felt like they were squeezing up. His eyes were closed.

"It's just like that," Tina said, and she slid the shirt back off his shoulders. Gods alive, why hadn't she gone into medicine herself instead of law enforcement? She could've treated him herself back in the briefcase and avoided all this trouble. Her eyes met the mediwitches and she nodded and they quickly switched places. 

Newt braced himself when the mediwitch's hand dropped to his chest. Her palm was warmer than TIna's had been. "Bil-Biloxi's P-Pain Relieving H-Hot Cream?" he asked, sniffing the air.\

"Yes, sir."

"I - I was on an ad-advert for th-them once. In - in the forties. P-Paid for a new h-hippogriff p-paddock at - at Hogwarts w-with the proceeds," he stammered.

"I didn't know they'd been around so long," the mediwitch offered.

"F-founded i-in 1934," he said. "I - I knew - knew Lee B-Biloxi v-very well. He - he d-did good with that - that cream - though i-it was or-originally m-meant to be a - a stew."

"A stew?"

"H-horrible cook, horrible," Newt stammered.

The girl laughed and her hands disappeared from his chest and he opened his eyes. 

"You're doing wonderfully, Newt," Tina said.

He looked down. The mediwitch had smeared a mixture of the cream and some purple goo all over him, and he recognized the goo as imaging elixir. She was getting the internal systems viewing goggles out of a bag. 

Newt was torn between hating the contact and fascination with the goggles. They were top-of-the-line wizarding equipment that allowed the mediwitch to look inside his chest without opening it up. He'd fancied a pair for the briefcase, to use with the creatures, but the elixir was highly toxic to many of the creatures, and there was no telling which ones would be damaged and which wouldn't without doing a fair amount of testing and he hadn't the time yet. What a helpful contraption, though, he thought, watching as she unfolded all the bits and parts and pulled the headset on.

He closed his eyes again as she approached.

There was a whirr as the mediwitch turned on the goggles and Tina watched as she stared intently at Newt through them, coming closer and bending over to get a good look at his chest. Her head tilted this way and that, and she reached up to push some of the elixir around, getting a better angle by coming a bit more to the side than she'd originally put the elixir on. Newt flinched at every touch and he grappled for Tina's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Nearly done," the mediwitch said, though her voice was less chipper than it had been when she'd started. "Well that's odd."

Tina's face paled. "What's odd?"

Newt opened his eyes, too. "N-never good wh-when someone s-says some-something's odd about your - your innards," he said.

Tina clutched his hand.