Out of the Shadows (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 24- Heal (Ava)

"Oh, shut up!" I threw a pillow at her face as Neville burst out laughing. I turned to him, "Neville, you are not allowed to laugh at Ginny's jokes."

"That's so not fair!" He pouted, "She's funny!"

A laugh escaped my mouth, and I hit Neville with a pillow, "So are you, you idiot. Anyway, have you been writing anything lovey dovey for Hannah Abbott while you've been here?"

His cheeks flamed red and he shushed me, "Ava! It's supposed to be a secret!"

Ginny snorted, " You're hardly very secretive, Longbottom. While you're making speeches to the DA your gaze always falls on Hannah. It's revolting."

"As if you and Harry didn't used to snog in the Gryffindor common room," Neville shot back, and Ginny laughed, "We did it to piss Ron off, most of the time. Anything more exciting was likely to happen behind closed doors."

"Enough!" I shouted, "That's my brother you're talking about!"

"That's my brother you slept with in the room above mine!" Ginny smirked, and I felt a blush creep up my neck.

"I am never telling you anything again, Ginny Weasley."

"You didn't even tell me!" She managed in between laughs, "George is the one that told me in fits of hysteria after he'd found you in bed together the next morning-"

She was cut off as the doors to the Room flew open and two students stumbled in with a figure draped over their shoulders. I was on my feet at once, alongside Neville and Ginny, as the two students laid the figure on one of the rugs in the corner of the room. My eyes fell on his face, and I instantly recognised Colin Creevey. My heart stopped when my gaze glazed down his body and I caught sight of the blood seeping through his white shirt. Several students were standing around him with panicked expressions on their faces. I lunged forwards and crouched down beside him, my wand already in my hand.

"Ginny? Neville?" I called over my shoulder, and they were crouching down opposite me a moment later.

"We need to get his shirt off for a start to see how deep the wounds are," I murmured to them. Neville nodded quickly and began to cut away at the fabric with a spell. Ginny shouted over her shoulder, "Seamus! Get the potions from the cupboard!"

A moment later, Seamus appeared next to me with a handful of different coloured potions in glass vials. He placed them down on the floor beside Colin's head and pulled off the remaining fabric that was stuck to Colin's chest. I was trying to ignore the fact that blood had started to pool around Colin's body and the fact that his face was deathly pale, and instead spoke to him.

"Colin? Can you hear me?" I murmured quietly.

He let out a very weak groan, and then his eyes rolled back in his head. Nearby, someone whimpered.

"Right, if you're not helping, could you go and sit in a corner?" Ginny shouted, "It's difficult enough without you lot goggling."

The crowds dissipated, and I bent down closer to look at the depth of the red gashes across Colin's chest. They reminded me very much of the incident that had taken place in the girls' bathroom last year with Harry and Draco, but I couldn't be sure if it was the same spell. I shook my thoughts away and pressed my wand to one of the cuts. I silently cast a spell, and a moment later the skin began to knit back together. I continued to do the same for the other wounds on his chest, ignoring the fact that the scars across Colin's skin were still very prominent.

"Is there a blood-replenishing potion there, Seamus?" I asked, and a moment later he was uncapping the bottle and holding it to Colin's lips. We all watched in apprehension, and sagged with relief as some colour began to return to his cheeks. After a few minutes, his eyes flickered open and he glanced at all of us. He tried to sit up and swore loudly.

"Whoa!" I pushed him back down, "We still need you to take a healing potion- the wounds ran quite deep."

"Yeah," Colin muttered darkly, "I can feel that."

Ginny snorted, "Alright, Creevey, no need to play the martyr."

"Shut up, Weasley," He shot back.

"What happened?" Neville asked quietly after Seamus had given Colin a healing potion.

"I was travelling back from Hogsmeade station when the Carrows cornered me and asked me what was in my bag," He paused, "I think they just wanted a reason to have a go at me... but anyway... I told them it was none of their business and that if I was smuggling Harry Potter in, I'd be a bit more discreet than that. Then they pulled me away from the other students and laid into me..."

"What is it with us Gryffindors and always saying the wrong thing?" Seamus muttered, and I laughed quietly. After a pause, Colin sat up.

"Hang on... Why are you here? Ava Potter?" His eyes looked like saucers, and I couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Thought I'd continue my studies, you know... my education has been a bit patchy..." I muttered, and his lips twitched into a smile.

"No, really... Why are you here? Death Eaters everywhere are searching for you. It was in the Prophet."

I sighed, "I'm on the run from Death Eaters and I wanted to help our cause in some way. So I decided to come here and help the DA. I'm not leaving the Room of Requirement, though- I doubt that would go down well."

"That's really cool," Colin beamed, "What do you do when we're all in lessons? It must be boring!"

"I read books about healing," I replied, "Pretty useful, I'd say."

"Really useful!" He smiled as he pushed himself up onto his elbows.

His brother, Dennis, came over to speak to Colin and see if he was alright, so the rest of us decided to give him some space.

"You did a good job, Ava," Neville remarked, and I smiled.

"Thanks, Neville! You guys helped though. I couldn't have done it without Seamus' vast knowledge of potions."

"I can teach you which ones are which, if you like." Seamus settled down on the hammock beside me, "I had to learn fast before Christmas because we never had enough people in here to heal students, and we decided that a few of us would need to learn what each potion did. Dean and Lavender taught themselves as well, but they always tell me that I know them the best."

Ginny and Neville nodded, "Could you teach us as well, Seamus? Ava will always be in here to help any students that need it, but it would be useful for us to know as well if she's busy with other students."

"Sure," Seamus yawned, "I'll show you tomorrow- I borrowed a book on potions from the library and it's in my dorm room."

A few minutes later, Dean walked into the room carrying a pot of hot chocolate. He placed the pot on the floor by my feet and summoned some mugs from the shelf over to us.

"Any explanation for this, Dean?" Seamus smirked as he poured himself a cup, "Are we celebrating something?"

"Nah," Dean murmured as he sank down on another hammock, "But I thought we might try and get one final night of so-called 'luxury' in before we have to return to lessons."

Neville and Ginny both exhaled deeply after one sip of hot chocolate, and Ginny smirked, "I suggest we keep drinking hot chocolate even on the nights that we do have lessons. Plus we can't be leaving Ava on her own in here every night."

A warm feeling spread through my chest, and I laughed, "Oh, it's not so bad in here. This is luxury compared to what I've seen in the past six months."

"Now, now," Neville murmured, tapping his foot against my shoulder lightly, "Let's not overuse the word 'luxury'- we'll soon forget what it really means."

"Anything that's not a reminder of this bloody war is luxury to me," Dean muttered bitterly, and I nodded in agreement.

"Wise words spoken by Mr. Thomas," Seamus wrapped his fingers around his mug tightly, "Although I see luxury as a fortnight away in a hot country..."

The five of us fell about laughing, and in that moment I decided that 'luxury' was simply spending time with my friends. For now, that was enough.