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✵❀𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆❀✵
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Charlotte woke up in an unfamiliar place. The bed sheets felt different; the usual soft and comfy sheets felt uncomfortable and itchy, the pillows under her head were hard and made her neck ache.
She opened her eyes, and a blinding white light made her instantly close them again. She instantly knew where she was; the hospital wing.
She was unsure why, she was positive it hadn't been a full moon, so why on earth was she there?
"Lottie?" Harry's voice was thick with worry, he hadn't slept since Charlotte entered the hospital wing, he was too desperate to see her and make sure she was okay.
She hummed in response, too tired to sit up just yet. It felt like she hadn't slept in weeks.
"I'm going to get our dads. Wait one second, try and stay awake for me, okay?"
She didn't respond, instead, her mind drifted to breakfast. When had she last eaten? She was hungry.
Slowly sitting up, Lottie winced as she felt a pain in her hand, and when she lifted it to examine it, she noticed a bandage wrapped around it.
And then all the pieces of the puzzle joined together.
Pomfrey must have seen it. James and Remus must have seen it. They knew.
She felt her chest tighten as worries rushed around her head. If they had said anything to Umbridge then it was likely she would tell everyone she possibly could that Charlotte was a werewolf, and if she used it against her...it would not be good.
"You've woken up!" Poppy was staring at Charlotte with concern, "I think you have lots to explain, missy, because your boyfriend is refusing to say anything without consulting you first!"
The Hufflepuff instantly smiled.
"That is not a good thing!" Huffed Pomfrey, "how are you feeling?"
"My head hurts," Lottie said honestly, "my hand, too."
"Well that's expected. Gosh, Charlotte, you should have come to me straight away!"
Lottie didn't answer, instead, her attention was turned to James, Remus, Sirius and Harry, who had just entered the hospital wing.
"Thank goodness you're awake," Remus sighed in relief. He looked scruffier than usual, his hair was messy and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. Perhaps he hadn't? How long had she been asleep for?
"How long was I asleep for?" She asked nobody in particular.
"Three day's."
"Three days!?" She sat up properly, her eyes wide. "Where's Coco, is she okay? Has she been fed? She needs to have her daily walk and-"
She moved to get out of bed, though Pomfrey stopped her. "Back into bed! And you four, do not stress her out, she is a patient in my hospital and I will kick you all out if I have to put her health first!"
"Sorry Poppy," they mumbled sheepishly.
"What on earth happened to your hand?" Asked James, who looked extremely confused and conflicted.
Charlotte's eyes drifted to Harry, who gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand.
"It was Umbridge. She made me write lines with a silver quill."
And just like that, all three men blew up into fits of rage. It was rather dramatic if you asked Lottie, each one of them cussing out the woman who was strangely obsessed with the colour pink.
"We have to go to Dumbledore!" Cried Remus.
"Dumbledore? Fuck that, let's go to her office and throw her out the window-"
"Mister Black!" Cried Poppy, shaking her head. "You will not use such vulgar language in my hospital wing! Adult or not, I will kick you out if I here another word of that!"
"Sorry Poppy," he murmured, quickly adding, "stupid toad. I've always hated her ugly outfits and her weird throat clearing and-"
He continued to rant about what he hated about Umbridge, but Lottie looked over at James. He didn't look angry, no, instead, he looked hurt and upset.
"How long has this been happening?" He asked, and the raff of Sirius quickly died down as everyone waited for Charlie to respond.
"A few months," she shrugged, "since my first detention with her, I guess."
"What!?" Cried Remus, "that was in September! It's now March! Almost April!"
Lottie nodded, Harry rubbed the back of her hand soothingly with his thumb.
"We need to put an end to this. Now." Remus said sharply, "I say we go to the ministry, talk to Cornelius."
"No." Charlotte said quickly, her heart thumping in her chest.
"No?"
"Why not?"
"She'll tell everyone," Lottie shook her head, her voice quiet.
"Tell everyone what?" Asked Sirius, though Remus instantly knew what she meant, and he frowned, hating that she had to deal with the same struggles as him.
"We won't let her," he promised. "We can make it go away without her telling everyone. If we tell Cornelius right away then we can get her out of Hogwarts and request she is kept away from the press. We just have to work smart, that way we can keep it quiet and you won't have to deal with her anymore."
Charlotte didn't entirely believe him, though she felt oddly comforted at how careful he was with his words.
"Nobody is going to know, Charlie," Harry said softly, his thumb still rubbing the back of her hand.
"I can go to Dumbledore now, sort out a port key, get us straight to the ministry." James said.
"I'll come," Sirius said.
"Good. The two of you shoo whilst I do some checkups. Mister Potter, Mister Lupin, am I correct to say that you'll stay?" Asked Pomfrey.
"Yes," Harry said quickly.
Remus looked down at his unnervingly pale daughter, she looked so sick that it made him so angry that he want to tear Umbridge into tiny pieces. "I'll stay."
Charlotte leant back against the pillow, her head felt heavy and her nose was stuffy. She wanted a hug from Harry, she wanted to hold him close and for him to tell her it's going to be okay. She wanted Theo and Alex to be cracking little jokes and to be lightening the mood, she wanted to hear their little motivational comments and their stupid boyish laughs. She wanted Kaycie and she wanted her to make comments on her hate for Umbridge and she wanted to hear her laugh. She wanted to hug Kaycie, she wanted to hear her tell her it would be okay, that Remus talking to Fudge would make everything better.
She closed her eyes, the pillows attempting to take her back into a deep sleep, though sadly, that was interrupted.
"Stay awake for me, Miss Lupin. Here, take this," Pomfrey handed her a potion. "It will help."
Lottie stared at the potion in disgust, it didn't look nice.
"Chop chop! The quicker you drink it, the faster you'll feel better. Now, this hand of yours is going to take a long while to heal. Usually, these burns would take a few days with the correct medication, but Charlotte, I can make no promises of that now. The scarring is deep and it's not pleasant, months worth of a silver scar is not going to be exciting to heal."
"But it will get better, won't it?" Asked Remus, who looked nervous for Pomfreys response.
"Eventually," nodded Poppy. "We need to give it time. I'll be back shortly, Charlotte, drink that potion!"
Lottie quickly downed the potion, shuddering as she swallowed it.
"There we go!" Remus smiled, "do you fancy some breakfast? I still have time to run down to the hall to get you some food."
Charlotte nodded, "yes please."
"I'll be back in just a moment."
Remus left, leaving Lottie and Harry alone.
"How are you feeling, love?"
"Tired," she sighed, and Harry moved his chair closer to her, his hand moving to play with her hair.
"We're going to fix this," he kissed her forehead, "god, we should have told them about this months ago."
"It probably would have been wiser," she chuckled, feeling a little more relaxed as she focused on him playing with her hair, he was plaiting it, something he had been practicing for a while.
"Never fear! The life of the party is here!" Announced Alexander Rosier, who was extremely excited to know that his best friend was awake again.
"MISTER ROSIER! THIS IS A HOSPITAL WING!"
"Oops...sorry Poppy."
Theo rolled his eyes at his friend, smiling lightly as he flopped down on a chair next to Charlottes bed. "You look a bit tired. Who would have thought after three days in a bed, someone could still be tired!"
"Must be a ginger thing," decided Alex, sitting next to Harry. "How ya feeling, Lottie?"
"Okay,"
"Well okay isn't very good. What can we get you?"
Harry chuckled lightly as he watched Theo and Alex go into protective mode, the both of them offering new things to Lottie, who looked like she just wanted a nap.
I wasn't until James, Sirius and Remus all returned that the fussing died down. Remus handed Lottie a hot chocolate and some chocolate waffles whilst Sirius and James looked ready for action.
"Thanks," Charlotte said to her father, taking a sip of her drink as she silently thought about him. He was being so kind, so gentle throughout the situation that it made her wonder if he really was willing to try hard to build a relationship.
"Dumbledore has a portkey ready." Announced James. "We're going to see the minister of magic."
A/N
Writing on a Samsung > writing on an iPhone
Qotd: what phone do u have?
Word count: 1600