I seem to be unable to stop updating :)))
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Sarah was standing before Arthur, talking and well, but he was bandaged on almost every part of his skin.
"Why can't they take them off?" asked George, gesturing to the bandages.
"Because he'll start bleeding again if they take it off. I reckon the venom makes it difficult for the blood to coagulate properly and it's too fluid right now. It's better to keep the wounds covered," said Sarah hastily, looking around the room and a sheet where the Healer's names were written.
There was a Healer Trainee: Augustus Pye, and she recognized the name, he was one of her friends from this summer. She had some questions, and possibly a solution, regarding the antidote for Arthur and that was the perfect way to reach the Healer.
She glanced up at them and they were staring at her, she raised an eyebrow.
"That's exactly what the Healers said, actually," said Arthur, in a small voice from his laying position. They all nodded, truly impressed, and looked back at Arthur.
"So, are you going to tell us what happened, Dad?" asked Fred assertively.
Sarah discreetly excused herself, leaving to search for Augustus. She approached the woman Molly had asked for directions to Arthur's room and asked if she could know his whereabouts.
She didn't look up from her register and scoffed, "Are you the girlfriend again?"
Sarah took a second, then decided to go along with it, "Oh, yes, I-hm. Tonight's our anniversary, meeting the parents and everything, you know how it is, everyone's a bit nervous," she gushed, trying to earn some sympathy, "And I need to drop off his suit and make sure everything's in order. It will only take a second, then I'll scurry right back out."
Sarah smiled and did her best imitation of a lovestruck face, and the woman, although she didn't seem to care in the slightest, chewed on her gum and pointed her pen behind her, "Down the hallway, the last door on the right. He's there with the Healer in charge."
"Thank you so much!" said Sarah sweetly and fist-bumped the air once she was out of sight. She knocked on the door and saw Augustus holding some papers and looking over some files. He looked up and his jaw dropped, "What are you doing here, you smart-arse?"
"Nice to see you, too, Augustus," said Sarah, walking in the room.
He walked over and gave her a quick embrace and she explained as briefly as she could, "Arthur Weasley, he's my best friends' father, and you're treating him along with Hippocrates Smethwyck."
"Right, the snake. Those fangs, and that venom, I'm telling you. Quite the head-cracking case," said Augustus, going back to his files.
"Right. What have you tried as an antidote? Did you try-"
"Everything. Dittany, poison antidote, Dragon liver crushed, Dragon liver burnt, Graphorn horn, rue. We've run out of options for the moment," he explained, ruffling through the pages.
"Did you try Syrup of Arnica?" she asked determinedly and his head shot up.
"Are you mad? He'd die with as much as a drop," snapped Augustus quickly, shaking his head frightened.
"No he won't. It needs to be combined with Iguana blood," argued Sarah and he scoffed again.
"Iguana blood? That's poisonous, too! Might as well give him Streeler shells for breakfast," said Augustus indignantly.
"You git. I'm serious, the two combined together will clear out the toxins foreign to the body," she said, taking a step forward and holding her ground.
Augustus dropped his papers, "You'd be fighting fire with fire. Poison with poison. It doesn't make any sense."
"It wouldn't be like that. It'll act like a blanket, putting out the fire. Do you not remember what the thesis of Newton Park was? 'The combined forces of evils overrule the single and greater' he spent his life proving poison must be fought with a poison to counter-act it," she said, watching as her words finally made sense to him, "The Antidote for Common Poisons has mistletoe in it. It isn't the sole ingredient. Combined with other poisons, they exchange properties, and morph into different substances, fighting the poison. Maybe you're familiar with the subject of Alchemy?"
He rolled his eyes, "Don't mock me, now. Of course I know Alchemy, what do you think got me here? All right, I'm considering what you're saying. I'll talk with-"
The door opened and Hippocrates walked in, his uniform on, and wand in hand. His traits were thin and strict, but he seemed to lighten up when he saw Augustus and didn't throw Sarah out the second he saw her.
"The girlfriend?" he asked smiling teasingly and Sarah and Augustus frowned, "Ew, no," they both said at the same time and Hippocrates raised his eyebrows.
"Then who are you?"
"Sarah McCauley, sir," she said, "A friend."
He seemed to recognize the name, she thought he might mention her parents, but he didn't, "Oh, I've heard about you. You're the one who put Pye for the first time in his life second place to something. You were first in your class at the Academy of Healing Magic, weren't you?"
Sarah's mouth fell open. She had been recognized for something she had done alone, he didn't know her parents, he knew her.
She'd had a small friendship/rivalry with Augustus all summer, they were indeed among the best in that class. But after she received her exams and was missing an Outstanding in Herbology, she reckoned Augustus had received a full record of 'O's and made peace with that fact.
"At what subjects didn't you get an 'O'?" she asked Augustus and he bit down a smile, like it was ironic and painful to admit, "Herbology and...Alchemy."
Sarah grinned, "That explains your reluctance to my Antidote idea."
"Antidote idea?" interjected Hippocrates.
Sarah hesitated a few moments, because she didn't want to be an arsehole, barging in here and pretending she knew better than him which was totally inaccurate. She still had a lot to learn, "I apologize, Arthur Weasley, he's my best friends' father. And when I heard about the unusual venom, an idea came to mind. And because I knew Augustus, I figured, I might at least see if it could help."
Hippocrates stared for a second, then crossed his arms and straightened his back, "That's bold of you. But I don't particularly mind, as long as it's good."
She rubbed her hands together and tried to order her thoughts as well as she had earlier with Augustus. And she repeated what she'd told her friend and left Hippocrates to think for a second while he mumbled all the ways it could go wrong, and all the ways it could go right.
"I believe you're quite on to something, here," said Hippocrates, still lost in his thoughts.
"I'll collect a sample of his blood and experiment on it, see if it heals as expected. Quite the idea, Miss McCauley. On your path to becoming a gifted Healer, I hope," he said, raising an eyebrow at her and she nodded.
"That's the plan in the fall, sir," she replied, intimidated and hopeful that she had managed to help Arthur.
"I'll be glad to take you on as a Trainee when you finish Hogwarts, if you wish," said the Healer, leaving her speechless.
She'd hoped to apply to the program of becoming a Trainee in the spring, at the usual time and wind up cluttered with four others, as they do the first year. Madam Pomfrey had assured her that with the supplementary experience she'd acquired from Ireland, she'll stand out well enough.
But a personal inquiry from a Healer himself, that seemed to form Augustus, which was saying something about his prestige, was a whole other story.
She nodded, still dizzy, "It'll be an honor, sir."
"Very well," said Hippocrates, nodding deeply, "Follow me, you two. You aren't exactly allowed to be here, Miss McCauley."
Sarah chuckled nervously, and the three of them made their way to Arthur's room, stopped in the way to collect from a small cupboard the flasks of Iguana blood and Syrup of Arnica.
While they waited, Sarah turned to Augustus, "That reminds me. I told that lady downstairs when I was looking for you that I was your awaited girlfriend. You might want to clear it with her in case she shows up."
His face seemed to fall apart, "Great, now I have to make up for that as well."
"What did you do?" she asked curiously and he frowned, looking down at the ground, "I-uh. I was at dinner with her parents and I accidentally burnt her father's tie."
Sarah snorted with laughter and he glared at her. "Oh, don't worry. My two best friends are in the most adorable relationship now, and it started with him burning half her hair. You'll be fine."
His eyes went wide and he smiled, "Okay, I definitely wasn't expecting that."
Hippocrates got out and they continued their way.
Augustus smirked, "Any news on that ginger head of yours?"
Sarah's face grew hot, "Shut up already, will you? I told you, he's my-"
"Best friend. Right. Keep telling yourself that," Augustus followed up while they walked inside Arthur's room, "He's here, isn't he?" He looked around and frowned, "Shit which one is it?"
Sarah hit his shin and tried to mumble as discreetly as possible, "Shut up right now, Augustus."
Hippocrates introduced himself to the newly arrived family, "I will collect a sample of your blood, Mister Weasley, see the effect of a quite uncommon idea that has surfaced. We'll know the results in a few minutes."
Hippocrates exchanged a knowing look with Sarah, confusing everybody else in the room and opened a flask to gather the blood inside.
He set Arthur's blood in a small recipient and mixed the Iguana blood and Syrup of Arnica into another, and dropped the poisons into the blood.
He let it sit for a few minutes, everybody watching it warily, Sarah most of all. She was confident it would work, but a lot of factors could deviate the forming of the counter-poisonous substances.
She was worried Arthur might have to wait more time until they found an Antidote, also there was a little quiet voice that worried she'd make a fool of herself before everyone, Hippocrates especially.
But that subsided when he got up from his chair and approached the sample again, Sarah kept glancing between the flask and Arthur. Wishing it will work.
Hippocrates moved his wand into a complicated motion and a small red smoke shot out of the tip of his wand. He'd analyzed the blood, but she didn't know what the color meant.
"It's red," said Sarah panicked, "What does red mean?"
Hippocrates was stunned. He carefully observed the recipient, then looked at Molly and Arthur and smiled, "It means there's an Antidote."
Sarah gasped.
"And as soon as we figure out the dosage," continued Hippocrates, "Which should take only a couple days, you can go home, Mister Weasley."
Molly covered her mouth to muffle a cheer and went to hug Arthur, then went to the Healer to thank him endlessly.
Hippocrates took in her gratitude but quickly gestured towards Sarah, "Miss McCauley approached me with that avant-garde idea, which I do not regret partaking. I'll leave you to rejoice while I check on other patients."
He turned to Augustus, "Mister Pye, if you will. Please go to the laboratory and urge them to start working on this Antidote."
Augustus quickly waved at Sarah and he started running. Before Hippocrates left, he turned to Sarah, with something she could only describe as some sentiment of gratitude, or regard, "Looking forward to your training."
She smiled and nodded and as soon as he left, Molly and Ginny jumped to wrap their arms around her, "Oh, Sarah, dear. This is simply marvelous!"
Sarah let out a soft chuckle, not having expected any of this, but overjoyed Arthur will be going home soon. Arthur was all right, he will be all right, fully.
"Blimey, Sarah, that was mental," said Ron, eyes wide.
George hugged her tightly, "You really went out there and told a Healer what to do. Aren't you bold?"
"Oh, believe me, I was terrified he'll hex me and throw me out of here. But I got awfully lucky with that pair," she said, chin resting on George's shoulder.
He pulled away and ruffled her hair, "Guess all your studying actually payed off."
She playfully grimaced at him. She knew it wouldn't have worked without Augustus being here, it was a wonderful coincidence that turned into the perfect situation for her and now for the Weasleys.
Sarah locked eyes with Arthur who nodded gratefully. Fred took a step closer to her and let out a breath of disbelief, he rested his hands on her arms, squeezed gently and quite literally took her breath away with the look in his eyes, something indecipherable intertwined with the happiness of finding out his father will make it home in a few days.
"You're something else, McCauley. Something else entirely," his eyes flickered down to her lips for a split second and he quickly took her into his arms to prevent her from seeing that, biting on the inside of his lip to keep his mouth shut, because he wanted to say something incredibly idiotic.
He pulled away and smiled at her, and he wanted to stay there, stare into her eyes, those evergreen golden specks that light up his days.
She raised an eyebrow, bewildered, her heart thumping against her chest, "What? No comment, whatsoever? Really?"
"Still a smug pain, you are," he smirked, hoping she couldn't hear how fast his heart was beating and they went to sit around Arthur's bed.
That afternoon, they spent it with Arthur. George had written Selena a letter as soon as he could and he hugged the letter she sent back to reply, saying she wishes Arthur the best and that she expects news and that she loves him.
Everybody smiled endearingly at him. Molly turned to him, "When do I get to meet this wonderful girl that's got you smiling like that?"
Sarah and Fred grinned at him, exchanged an amused look when they saw his face turn red, "I don't know, Mum. I-"
"Why not invite her over for Christmas? I'll write to her parents," said Molly, looking at Arthur who smiled and nodded.
George smiled down at the letter, and said, "I'll talk to her."
"Aw, aren't you sweet," teased Ginny and Fred, Harry, and Ron chuckled.
"Sod off, you lot. Don't get me started on your love lives," said George, a slight threatening undertone that made everybody back down.
He looked over everyone's faces and nodded proudly, "That's what I thought."
"Such drama. I remember those days," said Molly and she proceeded to tell a story, that got even Fred and George asking for more, about a very complicated relationship she'd had the misfortune of being a part of in her youth and that ended in a fight with that particular individual, Arthur and one of her brothers, Gideon.
"Bloody hell, Mum, that really happened?" shrieked Ron.
Arthur chuckled, putting a hand on Molly's shoulder, "Of course, your mother was quite the gal. Still is."
"Wow," said Fred and George at the same time, pressing her to say the name of the guy but she refused, which only made them ask relentlessly.