I watched my brother's hand squeeze around mine tightly and I looked back to his face. His eyes were slightly open, and he was giving me a small smile.
"You're an idiot, you know that, right?" he told me.
I laughed and wrapped him in a hug. He coughed in pain, but he said it was fine. The tears falling down my cheeks were no longer sad, they were happy. The others bear hugged my brother as lightly as possible.
Erika was wiping tears on Lorcan's blankets, "We really thought you were dead!"
Lorcan laughed with pain in his voice. The girls removed themselves from him, but when I tried, he shook his head.
"Don't go."
I smiled and didn't let go for a little while until I heard the doors open again. Looking up, I saw a girl in Lorcan's year with long curls of mousy brown hair.
"Becca?" I said, confused.
Lorcan smiled as Rebecca Wood approached his bedside. She took him by the hand and ran her thumb along his knuckles.
"Are you okay, Lorc?" she asked, sweetly.
Lorcan nodded. My mouth was ajar as I realized what this was.
"How long, Lorcan?" I asked, smirking. Lorcan bowed his head slightly. I lightly smacked his shoulder, "Come on! You were okay with my dating Lily; how long have-?"
"Two months." Rebecca answered for my brother.
I looked at her, then back at my brother, "You kept a secret from me for two whole months?!"
Lorcan shrugged, "It's not that hard. I'm not you."
I left Lorcan and Rebecca to talk about what happened. Lily, Alice, Riley, Erika, and I walked through the halls in silence. We finally reached the library and found a table in a far corner. There we sat in silence for longer.
"Do you think they remember?" Alice finally asked.
We all looked at her and Riley explained, "I don't know. It would've been so long ago, and they could've thought it was all a dream."
~~~
It'd been a week since we got back, and everything was beginning to feel 'normal'. Lorcan is now walking around and going to his classes personally, Riley, Erika, and Lily have won their last three Quidditch matches. Alice is walking from class to class like she was the Queen of England. And I am slowly getting over my fear of creatures as I drew one as a birthday gift for Papa.
It was freezing on the Saturday when my parents arrived at the school saying we were finally going to see Nana and Papa. I took hold of my drawing and shoved it in my pocket. I hadn't thought to ask to see Nana and Papa earlier so this was the first time seeing them since coming back from the past.
None of us have told Mum or Dad about getting help from Nana and Papa. Did they even have any memory of us or did our visit loop and create an alternate timeline where something else happened and one of our family members was different.
We apparated in front of Nana and Papa's house and it looked exactly the same. The door opened right as we got to the steps. Neither Nana nor Papa was in the doorframe, but Nana was standing at the dining table. She pointed her wand at a rag, and it started to wipe it down.
She set her wand down on a ledge and approached us, a smile plastered on her face, "Hi, good afternoon."
She hugged our parents, gave us a glance, smiled and winked. I looked at Lorcan and Erika. A shocked look plastered on each of our faces. She gave us each a hug, too. When she got to me, she whispered in my ear.
"Nice to know you're all okay."
She pulled out of the hug and started about her day like usual, but I could help but smile. They did remember.
Papa came up from the basement, greeted us, then whispered in my ear, "How'd you break your arm again?"
He laughed as he straightened his posture. I went slightly red, but I couldn't help but laugh a little.