Before we get started:
1: At the moment I have more in my head than I would like. Among other things, an idea for the second part of this story which unfortunately blocks my creativity until I have written it down... So part 2 already has 3 chapters xD Sorry for that :P Anyway, that's why I'm posting a bit irregularly right now.
2: Did I make a special effort with the header for this chapter ;) but PSST :D
Have fun!
"Merlin's trampled mauve bushes!" Sebastian gasped when he caught sight of Hazel. Ominis, beside her, looked quite unharmed, thankfully, though upset and and messy. Sebastian had sat sleeplessly in front of the fireplace, reading, hoping he wouldn't have to look for them. Then, around 2 o'clock, he had heard stumbling, dragging footsteps, and painful groans. When he had gotten up and turned around, his breath had been taken away.
Ominis dragged Hazel alongside him, who, her face contorted in pain, leaned fully on him. The left arm, completely uncovered by cloth, was pressed against her belly, the hand pressed to her side. The blood from her nose dripped unhindered, down her chin, onto her clothes. Her right arm was draped over Ominis shoulders, he was supporting her. She was barely walking herself, dragging her feet behind her with trouble. "What, for the hopping cauldron, happened?!" he shouted, running to them to help Ominis get her into the room. "Ranrok's people," Hazel whispered strained when they were finally in the room and she could sit down. She felt terribly dizzy.
"At first there were only 4 and we had already taken out two of them, but when they saw the carts, there were more and more. I stopped counting at 15. Hazel, lean your head forward. Your nose is still bleeding!" Ominis interrupted himself when he saw Hazel's head slump back after she sat down in the chair in the middle of the room. She sighed wearily and propped her head up with her right hand, resting her elbow on her knees. She just let it drip onto her pants, too exhausted to do anything about it.
Sebastian could tell Ominis was a mess, still full of adrenaline. "We did pretty well, but the last few... we started to run out of energy. Hazel was forced to use her Ancient Magic. Shortly before finishing the spell, however, the curse knocked her out. When everything was quiet, I found her unconscious, in a circle of dead goblins, injured and bleeding from the nose ever since," Ominis told quickly, while he searched her dresser for her nightgown, wand in hand, glowing red.
"What are you looking for, Ominis?" Sebastian asked, his gaze shifting anxiously between him and Hazel. He worried she was about to faint or he was about to destroy the room. "I'm looking for her long-sleeved nightgown. We've to get to Noreen. We'll get her nosebleed explained somehow, should we get caught, but the arm had better be seen only by Noreen" he explained quickly.
Sebastian grumbled. "Here. Just take the short one and put the sweater over it for her. She should drink an energy potion before we go" Sebastian said firmly, pushing her short sleeved night gown into his hand and a sweater with the Slytherin emblem on it.
Hazel was so exhausted that the two decided to give her the bluish energy potion directly. With difficulty, Hazel swallowed it and shivered a little as the cool liquid ran down her throat.
"Come. We have to hurry, my little snake." Ominis tried to motivate Hazel. Sebastian thought she really didn't look good. He helped her take off the Cloak and took off her shoes, but he let Ominis do the rest and turned his back to her. He stayed in the room in case she fainted or something like that.
"Ahh!" Hazel cried out as when Ominis took off her tunic, he got to the bandage on her side. "Sorry," he muttered worriedly. He was hurrying too much, he scolded himself. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the right sleeve and Hazel pulled her arm out and helped him pull the tunic over her head, carefully pulling her injured arm out of the opening. The pants she shakily pulled off herself.
With ease, Ominis pulled the summer nightgown over her head. Hazel's ponytail loosened as he pulled it on, and she grumbled as she blew the wild strands out of her face as she put her arms through the straps and he handed her the sweater. He helped her pull the injured arm through the sleeve, and she managed the rest on her own. When Ominis told Sebastian he could turn around again, Seb fished the hair ribbon out of the tangled curls.
"Why are we actually putting her in sleeping clothes?" Sebastian finally asked. "It's simple. We'll change in a minute, too. We'll explain Hazel's nosebleed, in case someone catches us, by saying that she fell out of bed because of a nightmare and hit her nose on the nightstand. When it didn't stop and she got dizzy, she wanted to go to the hospital wing herself. We were still sitting in the common room because we couldn't sleep, so we accompanied her," Ominis explained to him impatiently, digging his own pajamas out of the nightstand and ordering Sebastian to change as well if he wanted to accompany them. He just snorted and disappeared from the room with a " you can count on it".
Ominis quickly changed his clothes and knelt in front of Hazel. "Hey," he whispered worriedly to her and put his hand to her forehead. She was freezing. He fished her school robe off the bedpost and pulled it over her. She did not resist. He closed the robe in front and gently pulled her to her feet. He had handed her a new handkerchief, which he had pulled out of the nightstand with his pajamas, and she held it under her nose, unsteady and wobbly on her feet. "Don't look at me so disapprovingly. I admit I overestimated myself!" she muttered sheepishly, struggling to regain a firm stance.
"Here, have a drink" Ominis grumbled, holding out his water bottle, which he had pulled from her bag on the floor. The slightly warm water did her good, she felt a little better after she had drunk a few sips.
"Thank you," she said softly. He took the bottle from her hand and placed it on the small table behind him before gently embracing her. He had a feeling she needed that right now, not knowing that the look on her face had been guilty and very unhappy.
She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, unable to return the hug properly without smearing them both with blood. "We should get going if you still want me to walk myself..." she whispered in a shaky voice, separating from him. Ominis nodded, very carefully grasping her injured arm to show her that she should use it to hook under him, while holding the cloth to her nose with the other. She slipped on a pair of shoes before they left the room.
The bandages no longer bloodied completely, but her nose was still bleeding constantly, even though the flow had already weakened. Ominis and Hazel waited impatiently for Sebastian in front of the stairs leading into the castle.
"I had to wait a short while or someone would have woken up" Sebastian grumbled apologetically as he arrived at their side in green pajamas and robe. "Come on" he then muttered and grabbed Hazel's arm, which she used to stop the bleeding on her nose, to support her.
Fortunately, they arrived at the hospital wing unhindered, but unfortunately had to go wake Noreen. Sebastian disappeared into the back room, where the door to her quarters was, while Ominis put Hazel in one of the beds and helped her take off her sweater. She was shivering directly, though, so he had her put her robe back on. He bent down to the love of his life, who was so careless, and kissed her on the hair, which made her sigh and close her eyes. "You'll be able to sleep in a minute, little snake. Hold on a little longer will you?" Ominis whispered to her, sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking her uninjured hand in his.
It was only a few minutes before Sebastian returned with the somewhat distressed looking nurse, Noreen Blainey. "Hazel," Noreen moaned when she saw her friend lying there so damaged. She was pale as a ghost, her nose was bleeding and the girl could barely keep her eyes open.
"Noreen, what we tell and show you now must not leave this room. You remember what Fig told you" Ominis opened the conversation tiredly and smiled a little sadly in Noreen's direction. She nodded. "Of course. What happened?".
"We helped someone get back his livelihood that was stolen from him by Ranrok's people. For that we had to go to one of the smaller camps. It wasn't as small as we thought, unfortunately. Hazel has a stab wound, here on her side" Ominis gently grabbed Hazel's right side, but she groaned anyway. "And one of them cut her left arm from top to bottom. He missed the pulsars by a very narrow margin, but the healing potion barely helped, and she says her arm feels a little numb. Also, her nose has been bleeding for almost two hours. Ever since she saved our lives with her Ancient Magic. When that magic broke out of her, it triggered a seizure of the curse and she passed out for a few minutes. I immediately gave her the potions, but she remained unconscious for a few minutes. So I bandaged both wounds and brought her in. She woke up again at Lower Hogsfield. Since no one must know what we were doing, we quickly changed our clothes so it wouldn't be noticed if we were caught" Ominis quickly finished his narrative while Noreen was already looking at her nose.
"You didn't happen to do this...help...to maybe get some information?" Noreen grumbled. Hazel remained silent while Noreen looked down her nose with some sort of small magnifying glass. "Of course, that was the side thought of helping someone. Why let an opportunity go to waste?" ominis muttered. Noreen nodded.
"Mr. Sallow, turn around, please. I have to pull up her dress" Noreen explained grumpily after she was done with her nose and held out the cloth to Hazel again. Without a murmur, he turned and looked out the window.
Ominis stood up to give Noreen room to investigate, but Hazel held him by the shirt of his pajamas, but immediately whimpered as she did so with her injured arm. "I'm not far away after all, love. Noreen just needs some space" he said and Hazel nodded sheepishly and let go of him. She felt so incredibly disoriented in her head. Could hardly focus properly on anything.
"She's completely spaced out, isn't she?" Noreen muttered as she had to ask Hazel several times to sit up so she could untie her bandage. Ominis gently grabbed her shoulder and supported her as she finally regained some composure and sat up. "E-excuse me," she muttered distractedly. Ominis shook his head. "It's all right. Just try to concentrate a little, will you?" he replied, and she nodded.
The wound on the side was painful, but hardly worth mentioning. The area looked sore, but it was no longer bleeding or deep. "I won't be able to do much more with potions. But I have an ointment that will help" Noreen said and quickly went into the back room to get some things. She returned with a pot and several vials.
She held out a leather-wrapped piece of wood to Hazel. "Bite down on it. I have to cauterize the vein in your nose, it won't close on its own. It'll hurt for a very short time. I'll hurry, I promise. Ominis, will you hold her a little?" Noreen instructed her. At that moment, Hazel was thankful she didn't notice much of what was going on.
Ominis sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders to prevent her from shaking or twitching too much. Hazel reluctantly bit into the piece of wood and closed her eyes, but after a second of a burning sensation twitching through her, it was gone.
"There, now I'll wipe the blood off of you, then we'll see if that's enough" Noreen muttered as she took the piece of wood from Hazel and wiped her face with a damp cloth.
Hazel made an uncomfortable noise and at some point just turned over, exhausted, and buried her face in Ominis pajamas. He laughed softly and stroked her tangled hair. "Hazel, she's just trying to help you" he said softly. "I just want to sleep, Ominis" she whined softly and sniffled. She was so terribly emotional sometimes when she reached that stage of exhaustion.
"In a minute. Noreen will put the ointment on your side, put on a new bandage, and take care of your arm some more. Then you get to sleep, okay?" She shook her head and Noreen sighed softly.
"Why not?" Ominis asked her gently. "I don't like to sleep here" she murmured very softly. Again he laughed. "Don't worry. If necessary, I'll carry you to your room, okay?" he promised her and she nodded, inhaling deeply his scent and then slowly separated from him. Her eyes were wet and she sniffled softly.
"Come on," Ominis sighed, feeling for her cheeks to wipe away her tears before she turned back to Noreen, sheepishly. Noreen just smiled and turned to smear the ointment on her stab wound.
After she tied a clean bandage around her waist, she turned to the bandage on her arm, which admittedly still hadn't completely bled through, but that didn't seem to take much longer either. There were already clear stains.
Noreen carefully unwrapped her arm and sucked in the air. The cut went, quite precisely, from the top of the shoulder, down to her wrist. She saw that the cut had actually been intended to cut tendons or to catch the arteries. Fortunately, neither was hit. Noreen wondered if it would be better to work with a spell. The cut was fortunately not very deep, but very long. With long wounds it was often better to work with diptam. But that had a much higher chance of leading to scars, as on her back. Noreen sighed.
"I don't know if this will work on a wound of that length, but I'd like to try a spell to close the wound, okay?" Noreen asked the two. Noreen knew that Hazel was already unhappy now with all the scars and considered herself ugly. Hazel did not respond at all, but Ominis nodded. He moved next to her and held her again. She was so cold...
Noreen cleaned the wound and muttered a spell and the wound slowly closed from top to bottom while the tip of her wand glowed white. Hazel whimpered a little and closed her eyes, but remained still in his arms. All that was left was a reddish mark where before there had been a gaping wound.
"Now you have to drink this. It will make your body replace the blood you lost more quickly. I don't know if you remember what it does. It can make you pretty dizzy" Noreen explained to her, but Hazel was already anything but clear-headed. Ominis nudged her and made a worried sound when she didn't respond.
"It's okay. She's taking longer than usual because she lost so much blood. She'll feel cold and tired. She's probably short of just falling asleep, so it's going to take more than a gentle nudge to call her back to her senses" Noreen laughed gently.
Ominis frowned. "Hazel. Concentrate! You will take the potion Noreen is holding out to you now!" Ominis then harshly ordered her. Hazel winced slightly as his harsh voice got through to her. She blinked frantically and shook her head for a moment, trying to clear her mind. She looked at the goblet in front of her face, confused at first, but when Ominis cleared his throat, she reached for it and just downed the contents. She shivered. The potion tasted awful, she had to suppress a choke and put a hand over her mouth. It tasted like blood sometimes smelled. Somehow metallic and heavy and... strange.
Ominis gently rubbed her back and made loving sounds to soothe her. When the gag reflex was deflated, she leaned back, exhausted. "Would you like me to give you another energy potion before you leave?" Noreen asked quickly, before Hazel could drift off again. Hazel was so worn out at that moment that she was grateful, for every bit of extra strength, that she simply just nodded.
Ominis looked down at Hazel with his magical sight. She was sleeping quite restlessly and her face was contorted painfully. He knew that it was only a dream that caused her pain. Otherwise, she would have been awake by now.
He ran his fingertips lightly over her furrowed forehead, which immediately smoothed out. He heard her sigh softly and put his hand to her cheek. Immediately she stopped tossing and turning and nestled into his touch, moving closer to him in her sleep so that he almost fell out of bed.
He laughed softly. He liked the influence he had on her. That she calmed down just by him touching her. He knew she had the same influence on him when he slept fitfully. That was also one of the reasons why they rarely slept apart, although it was against every school rule. Without each other, their nights were short and cold. But although he tried hard to give her a peaceful night, she tossed and turned every now and then, and sometimes she literally clung to him in her sleep. He lay back down and gently wrapped her in his arms when she started clinging again. He noticed that she needed the closeness.
"I don't want to lose you, Ominis. Never," she murmured in her sleep. So that was what was bothering her. The fight and her physical condition had probably been a painful reminder of what was ahead, and he had vowed to be with her through it wherever he could. And now she was afraid. Did she think he would feel any different? he asked himself. Because hell, no. He also had the constant fear of losing her.
"I'm here, little snake. You won't lose me," he murmured into her wild hair. He hugged her close as he heard her sob. The dream, whatever it was, had woken her up crying. "Shhshhh. I'm here, Hazel," he murmured lovingly.
Such mornings were unfortunately nothing new for him. She often had nightmares, which woke her up like that. He could stop one or the other dream with his closeness, but not all of them. "Hey, it's all right, darling," he tried again to reassure her. Hazel took a shaky breath and looked up at him with teary eyes, putting a hand to his cheek as if to make absolutely sure it was really him, even though she had felt the proof all along. When her hand gently touched his cheek, her sigh sounded relieved. He put his hand to hers.
"See? You can't get rid of me so easily. Not anymore. Never again" he said to her, smiling warmly. "Even though I cry so much?" she asked him sadly. "Cry all you want. I will always be there to dry your tears" he replied and, to emphasize his point, gently wiped away her tears. "And even though I'm always putting you in danger?" Her voice trembled as she asked this. "I will fight every one of your battles with you as best I can" he said lovingly. "Why?" she asked. Her voice was still trembling and her eyes were full of tears again. "Because I love you. You are the most wonderful thing in my life. You. ARE. My life." he declared lovingly, resting his forehead against hers as she sobbed.
"I-I was so terrified of losing you yesterday, even though hardly anything happened to you Ominis," she sobbed, looking into his partially focused, glowing eyes. He snorted.
"Do you really think I wasn't afraid? When I think about what is probably still waiting for you, I feel sick with fear. I know exactly, I will hold you bleeding in my arms more often. I will often almost lose you and I am afraid when it finally comes to that. That this is your fate and I can do little to save you from the worst. Believe me, my little snake. I feel the same way you do," he said firmly and kissed her gently.
"I'm so sorry" she whispered as they separated and he shook his head. "It's not your fault, after all." he muttered, bewildered. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have to feel this way" she replied.
"if it weren't for you, my family would arrange for me to marry off after graduation to some arrogant, power-mad cousin of I don't know how many degrees, force me to have children with her to strengthen the family, and then lock me up like an animal for being of no use to them blindly and damaging their reputation. I bring my baggage into this relationship as well, Hazel. You don't have to shoulder any of it alone. Okay?" he said, upset. She sighed heavily and nodded.
"If your family even tries to drag you away from me, I will give them all a fiery death" Hazel then rumbled darkly. He laughed joylessly. "You see? And that's what I intend to do to anyone who hurts you and you don't catch before I do" he also said gloomily.
"I guess we can both be pretty creepy, huh?" hazel laughed weakly, and ominis joined in. "When it comes to you, I'm not a typical heroine from any novels. That silly little bitch would sacrifice you outright to save the world. I, on the other hand, would let the world burn to keep you safe!" Hazel muttered after turning over on her back again. Ominis laughed, having had the same thought.
He nudged her gently. "How do you feel now?" he then asked again, concerned. Hazel stretched and winced briefly as her side wound felt uncomfortably sore, but otherwise she just felt a little tired and aching.
"I've been worse," she muttered quickly, putting on a smile. Ominis furrowed his brow. He had seen and felt exactly how she had winced. Hazel sighed, "I'm sore. The stab wound hurts a little, and other than that I'm just a little exhausted, okay? Don't worry about it, it's nothing more" she said softly.
"Then just tell me directly how you feel and I'll worry less" Ominis grumbled and without further ado reached to her side and pushed up the nightgown she was wearing to have a look at the bandage and the wound underneath. Hazel got all red in the face as he did this so naturally. She helped him loosen the bandage and lay down on the other side so he could look at the wound.
As he ran his always cold hands along the edges of the wound, she shivered and shuddered. Ominis grinned, but concentrated to maintain his magical vision. He carefully felt the wound and withdrew his hand when she cried out. "Sorry. We should go back to Noreen today. It still feels pretty warm around the edges" he murmured, helping her sit up. They tied the bandage tight again before Hazel sheepishly pushed the dress back into place. "Was I being too invasive?" he asked sheepishly, realizing how flustered she was herself. She shook her head.
"I wouldn't care where you were hurt either, I'd look at it every morning...no, every chance I got to make sure you were going to be okay" she murmured. He laughed. With a final gleam in his eyes, he looked at the small clock on the nightstand before reaching for his wand.
"You do look like you could sleep on endlessly, but how about breakfast?" he asked her, grinning. She sighed. Sometimes she still had to take Noreen's potion to have any appetite at all, though that had improved considerably.
"I'll get the cup from the table and in half an hour I'll be hungry for sure" she laughed sheepishly. Ominis just smiled at her understandingly and somehow proudly. He was glad that she didn't just say that she wasn't hungry, but realized that she had to eat. When she stood up, however, her knees gave way and she fell.
"ouch" she grumbled and Ominis rushed straight to her and knelt in front of her. "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly. She laughed a sad laugh. "I felt so dizzy all of a sudden. I was just going too fast." she said. He reached under her arms and helped her stand up. He noticed that her knees were still shaking a little.
"We'll go to Noreen right after breakfast," Ominis decided. He hoped that the food would give her back some strength and they wouldn't have to go to Noreen because of any fainting episodes, but in the end really only because of the ointment.
When she was getting dressed, she had to sit down again and again, which is why Ominis made a worried sound. He didn't know what she was wearing. He himself wore only a pair of black comfortable cloth pants, a thin shirt and over it a sweater in Slytherin colors.
"Heavens, I don't know what to wear" she grumbled as she went to her dresser again. So she hadn't gotten dressed yet, Ominis thought with a grin.
"Hmm... If it were up to me" he murmured and stood behind her and played with the ruffles on her shoulders, playfully sliding his hands back and forth along them. She laughed softly. "I can wear something with ruffles, but I'm certainly not leaving this room in a nightgown" she giggled. Again he gave a thoughtful loud.
"You have that long-sleeved shirt with the ruffles on the sleeve and collar," he said, smiling and resting his chin on her shoulder. He gave a short laugh as her curls tickled him. He loved that feeling. " In addition, you just look for the same sweater as me. I know you have one of those too. Then any skirt, I know the school uniform ones aren't quite as comfortable as the others you have though. So since we don't have class, you can choose something more comfortable" he murmured in her ear. "And if you're cold, tights" he finished and kissed her neck. She laughed out loud.
"You just want me to put on some frilly skirt" she laughed sheepishly. He could feel the blush rising in her. "hmmm I wouldn't mind. Do you have a skirt like your one dress has? I like the way that kind of skirt looks on you. So light and flowing when you turn" he mused smiling. She turned in his arms, smiling, and as he straightened up, rested her forehead against his.
"I'm curious. How come you have such an accurate idea about it?" she whispered with a smile. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.
"You know, your little trick with magic. It works like a charm. The more I practice, the clearer it puts the images in my head. You can imagine it right now, like outlines coming out bright and sharp, and the colors and shapes inside of them getting blurry. It's still easier for me to just hold the wand close to you and wave it up and down as far as the exact shapes are concerned, but even though I don't know what the colors are called that I can see blurry, I can only see them with the spell through my eyes. And so far I can say, blurry green looks great on you" he murmured before kissing her gently. Hazel got goosebumps when he touched and kissed her so gently. She put her arms around his neck, but had to separate when she felt dizzy again and leaned against him, swaying. He laughed softly as she whispered softly, "Breathtaking."
"As it happens, I ordered several of these skirts from Augustus. They arrived a couple of days ago, so it will be one of them" she giggled then and separated from him when she could stand on her own again to some extent.
Now Ominis frowned briefly. "Green was the color of grass, wasn't it? Something you wore was a similar color to the grass at your feet, so I thought, Well..." he mumbled sheepishly now, and Hazel laughed affectionately, stroking his light hair out of his eyes. "Yes. My blind serpent. Grass is green" she said softly.
Dressed in a light mixture of rosé, off white and black, she finally came out of her room with ominis. She wore a blouse that had a brownish white fabric in the front with small ruffles separated from the rest, after the ruffles it continued in an rosé tone, in sleeves that ended with just as brownish white ruffles. The collar was equally frilly and she had tied a brown bow under the collar. Her skirt continued the rosé almost seamlessly and you could see the ruffles of the off white petticoat peeking out slightly from under the skirt. She had a brown, tighter-fitting sweater tied around her waist, which loosened up the whole look a bit, wore dark tights and brown boots. A new black travel cape she had also put on and Ominis had styled her hair as always with a white bow to a high ponytail and attached her clip. Of course, she also wore the necklace.
"Someday you'll have to describe to me what all these different colors are called. I could only say bright to that!" Ominis laughed as they walked out of the room arm in arm. Before finally getting dressed, she had taken that potion from Noreen that was supposed to stimulate her appetite and now looked much more motivated to go to breakfast. However, she was still leaning heavily on Ominis, which others probably didn't even notice, since he had his arm wrapped around her waist and she had hers wrapped around his. "I'd love to," she almost purred to him.
"I thought you guys were going to take advantage of the class cancellation to stay in bed until evening" Sebastian laughed softly, lifting his head from a book as they sat down next to him. "My nightmares ruined that a bit" Hazel mumbled sadly, sounding so downcast that Ominis quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek to make her smile again.
"How are you?" Ominis heard Sebastian say, very anxiously. So anxious, in fact, that he listened up. "What's wrong, Seb?" he therefore asked him directly. Around them, too, he now perceived the murmured words about how tired or pale Hazel looked.
"She is still extremely pale Ominis, and she looks tired" he explained to him. Ominis grumbled worriedly and looked over at Hazel. "Ominis, I told you exactly how I was feeling. You noticed how shaky I still am. Don't look at me like I've been hiding something from you" Hazel grumbled and reached for the bread to make herself two sandwiches.
The chatter around her did diminish her desire to be in the Great Hall, so she hurried a bit to eat.
Yes, of course Ominis had noticed that she was still not secure on her feet. Or that her skin was a little colder than usual and that she was still tired. But he hadn't noticed that it was so obvious. "Good morning, Hazel," they heard someone say behind them, and Hazel turned around in surprise.
"Oh, good morning Garreth," Hazel returned the Chaotic Gryffindor's greeting with a smile. Garreth was one of those students who didn't care too much about rules, just like Sebastian. He was always causing trouble, was a class clown, and regularly exploded his potions with experiments in class. She had often gotten Garreth Weasley the one or other ingredient, or helped him in other ways, so they were now something like friends.
Garreth looked over at Ominis and Sebastian a little sheepishly before running a hand through his orange-red curls and giving her a worried look. "I wanted to check on you. How are you doing? You look pale" he said. "Is that so obvious that you can notice it halfway across the room?" she mumbled sheepishly, lowering her gaze. "Well, honestly, yes. Everyone who knows you is wondering what's going on. Natty and Cressida were going to lay it on you as soon as you finished eating, so I thought I'd prepare you for it." he said with a laugh. She shook her head.
"I just bumped my nose tonight because of a nightmare and I didn't dare go to the nurse at first. I mean.... How awkward is it when you fall out of bed because of a nightmare and hit your nose and it just won't stop bleeding. But after a little over an hour and a splitting headache, I went" she said quietly to him.
"Can you imagine the look on our faces when she came out of her room shaking and bleeding?" Sebastian laughed softly. Garreth look became concerned again. "And then you're still so pale? You'd better go see the nurse again. Head injuries can be critical if you don't notice them" he said. "I'll take her there as soon as she's ready, Garreth" Ominis said with a harsh undertone. Hazel slapped him on the arm and then turned back to Garreth.
"Would you tell them not to worry and that I'll see Nurse Blainey after breakfast?" she asked him quickly and Garreth nodded. "all right. If you need any potions...!" He started and she laughed. " I know how to find you" she finished the sentence.
Garreth waved goodbye and went back to the Gryffindor table and she saw Natty and Cressida besieging him directly. She shook her head and turned back to her food. Quite joylessly she bit into it and forced herself to eat up.
"Did you just get jealous?" Sebastian asked Ominis with a laugh. Ominis just grumbled without saying anything, so Hazel leaned against his side, resting her head against his shoulder.
"Are you all right?" Ominis murmured to her immediately. She sighed. "You have no reason to be jealous, my blind serpent. No one here is more interesting to me than you. Although Star is getting close to that" she said laughing at the end. Ominis sighed in frustration.
"I know that. I trust you" he said, his voice and facial expression gentle again. "But you don't trust the others?" she asked with a smirk, and he nodded. "You know that without you two, I don't really feel comfortable with anyone. Except maybe Noreen, Natty and Eleazar" she said then. He took her tightly in his arms, which surprised her.
"You know I wish it wasn't like this. That you could feel comfortable anywhere, even when we're not with you," he murmured into her hair. She returned his embrace and nodded. "Of course" she murmured. With a " it will be alright" she separated herself from him, so as not to draw more attention to herself.
Just as they were about to get up, the mail came. Owls of all breeds, colors and statures flew into the hall. Some delivered newspapers, others packages or letters. Hazel was treated to quite a bit of mail that morning. She winced when she heard an owl screech above her. She groaned and looked up. The gray owl probably took this as a dropping permit and simply dropped the package she was carrying in her talons. Startled, Hazel caught it and just barely noticed another letter falling in her direction. With a somewhat startled "uff" Hazel dropped back onto the bench and looked at the package.
"Hazel?" someone asked quietly behind her, leaving little opportunity for the other students to eavesdrop. Startled, Hazel turned around, eyes wide as she recognized Phineas Nigellus Black. When Professor Black noticed how pale the girl was, his eyes widened slightly. He drew his eyebrows together. "Please come to my office when you are ready. Mr. Gaunt may accompany you if necessary" her uncle said quietly but firmly, with a disapproving look at Ominis. Hazel just nodded in confusion.
"Sir!" Ominis interjected, just as Professor Black turned toward the exit. "I was going to take Hazel to nurse Blainey right after breakfast. I'm sure you can see she's not doing too well right now!" he interjected. Hazel glanced uncertainly in his direction. She did not yet know how to handle her uncle. He always seemed so bitter and unapproachable, and everyone was always trying not to anger him. So she was surprised that Ominis didn't seem to be that kind of person.
Her uncle eyed her closely again, then nodded. "All right, Mr. Gaunt. Then take my niece to the nurse first. But as soon as she dismisses her you come to me" he said and left. Hazel sat slumped in her seat, embarrassed, her hands clasped nervously. She sighed and gripped the fabric of her skirt to keep her hands busy. "This day can't get any worse," she muttered. Ominis put a hand on her shoulder. "It won't be so bad, Hazel," he cheered her up.
"Okay, so tell me what's on your minds" Noreen said as she sat down with a chair next to the bed where Ominis and Hazel were sitting. He had his arm around her, almost protectively, as he always did, in fact, and had her pressed against him. "Ominis insisted that you take another look at the wound. It still seems a little inflamed and Ominis said it would be warm to the touch," Hazel said. She didn't say that it still hurt either, though she held her side with her other arm the whole time and occasionally screwed up her face when she moved. Noreen examined her and her posture closely and she and Ominis sighed at the same time.
"'Darling, you can go ahead and tell her it still hurts'" he murmured to her, looking disapprovingly in her direction. Hazel groaned. "It's not that ba... Ah!" she exclaimed as he touched her - gently, actually - there. "That bad?" he grumbled, and his look turned apologetic. She sighed and pulled her blouse up a bit as Noreen moved closer to look at it.
"Did you get to it somehow or did you move around a lot yesterday?" she asked after unwinding the bandage and picking up wipes soaked in rubbing alcohol. "Just to the common room and then to bed. But... ah that burns!" she winced at the end as Noreen cleaned the wound again. She gritted her teeth and looked away, embarrassed. "But?" Noreen asked, however, causing Ominis to finish her sentence for her.
"She had nightmares tonight and threw herself around quite a bit," he said. Noreen nodded and dabbed at the wound. It fortunately showed only a slight indentation, which meant that the potions had healed the worst of it. However, the wound was bright red and sore. Here and there the skin was chafed and a few small drops of blood had emerged.
"You managed to chafe the skin. I got some new bandages from Bea, which you can use to apply ointments specifically to wounds and protect the wound at the same time, without needing a normal bandage. Maybe we'll give that a try. Then at least it can't chafe." she murmured. "New?" Hazel wondered. Noreen nodded. "A muggle supposedly invented it two or three years ago. The researchers at St. Mungo's have improved it, though. Using a magic substance to make it stick. The muggles used resin and gimmicks like that and tore their skin open in heaps with it." she laughed softly.
"Okay," Hazel simply said with her eyebrows drawn together. Noreen laughed again. "Don't worry, it won't happen again with the enhanced ones" she said before disappearing into the back room. "Stupid bandage" Hazel muttered annoyed as she looked down at the wound, making an uncomfortable sound when she saw how red and swollen the wound looked. Ominis moved away from her slightly and carefully placed his cool fingers on the edge of the swelling.
Hazel sighed. "Why are your fingers always so cool?" she asked softly. He laughed. He knew that was doing her just fine. "Because fate thinks you get hurt so often you need a personal cooler" he murmured to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. However, when Ominis heard footsteps from the next room, he pulled his hand away and Hazel grumbled unwillingly.
"Whats wrong?" Noreen asked when she heard Hazel's unwilling grumbling and looked back and forth between her friends in confusion. Ominis smiled in her direction. "Do you have anything we can use to cool the wound a bit before you apply the ointment?" he asked her innocently, then smiled in Hazel's direction, who blushed and looked away in embarrassment.
Noreen put one and one together and laughed. "You don't have to be ashamed in front of me. I'm glad that finally someone here in the castle has somewhat of a normal relationship, without hiding from everyone. So you're saying that it feels good to keep something cool on? Hmmm. Well, it's pretty swollen, so I guess it can't hurt," Noreen murmured thoughtfully.
The nurse rarely had to cool anything, since there were potions or spells for many things. In the wizarding world, there were rarely only superficial wounds and for many of the smaller ones, a healing potion was enough. But even potions had a limit, and with this wound it had been reached. So even if she gave Hazel a healing potion, there was little chance that it would still help with the wound. She went through the potions she had in her cabinets and coolers in the back room and her expression brightened. "I'll be right back," she said, hurrying back to the back room.
"A Glacius Potion. It's for deep burns and black magic fire curses. So, some more gauze around it and here you go. Don't press on it too hard. Very lightly" she said and handed Hazel the wrapped violet. It had a wide bottom, which was perfect for the spot. Hazel sighed with relief as the coolness of the bottle spread through the gauze to the wound.
"That feels good," Hazel murmured. After a few minutes, Noreen took the bottle from her again and examined the swelling, nodding in satisfaction. She cleaned the wound again before sticking this new type of ointment bandage over it. It fit just right. "And you're quite sure this will hold?" Hazel asked skeptically, but Noreen nodded. "Quite sure. If the wound still hurts you during the day, come back before you go to sleep. Then I'll change the bandage. But it should be over in a day or two, if the ointment works now," she said with a smile.
Hazel tugged her clothes into place while Ominis turned to Noreen. "Thank you. As always, you are of immeasurable value to us, Noreen," he said gratefully. Noreen blushed a little, she had not expected such a compliment after all. "You are my favorite patients, you know that!" she laughed sheepishly. Hazel shook her head.
"I know it's your job. Nevertheless, we are grateful to you. Also for your friendship. You're one of the few people I feel comfortable with even alone, Noreen" Hazel said and warmly hugged the young nurse, who returned the embrace. Hazel separated from her and clapped her hands excitedly.
"How about we go to the café in Hogsmeade together at tea time? In the main square, near the honeydukes? I hear the tea is particularly good there, and it looks like the sun will be shining today!" she suggested, looking excitedly back and forth between the two. She hadn't really had a chance to visit all the stores in Hogsmeade yet.
Ominis laughed as he heard her bouncing around with excitement. "How about you, Noreen? Do you have time?" he asked, stepping up to Hazel to rein her in a bit as she groaned due to her side.
Noreen joined in his laughter and nodded. "If no one gets hurt before then, I have time. I haven't been private in Hogsmeade in a while. Usually my work eats up all my time, but with no Quidditch this year, it's almost like a vacation, except for you two!" she laughed. Hazel made an embarrassed sound, but smiled before suddenly leaning against Ominis, swaying a bit.
"Great. Then I'll have something to look forward to when I sit with my uncle!" she said sheepishly, trying to hide her giddiness. "Oh, Professor Black called you to him?" Noreen asked, surprised. Usually he only called students to him when they had messed up a lot and were about to be expelled. On the other hand, Hazel was his biological niece... Hazel's distraction seemed to work on Noreen.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad, Hazel. After all, you didn't break any rules. At least he shouldn't know about it" Ominis said affectionately to his girlfriend and looked at her worriedly. Should he tell Noreen that she still felt dizzy?
"Professor Black asked for all your reports after the Cruciatus curse incident, since your initiation into school. I modified the sword wound report, it's now a claw wound from the dragon, so your secrets are still safe. I think he just wants to hear from you yourself how you are doing. Professor Black may have a hard and bitter shell, but I know his wife. He has a soft heart, trust me. You just need to warm up to each other. Eventually you'll know how to deal with him," Noreen said, smiling confidently at her friend. But she, too, was now frowning.
"Hazel, something is wrong. Give me your hand," she suddenly demanded. Uncertainly Hazel held out her hand, which Noreen took at her wrist and felt her pulse. She then held her wand to the crook of her arm to check her blood pressure. After that, she looked up frowningly.
"You're dizzy, aren't you? Always or just episodically?" she asked, upset. Hazel let out an anguished and elongated loud. Ominis laughed with satisfaction. "I was just about to turn you in, too, sweetheart. Don't think I didn't notice you stumbling against me. You couldn't hold yourself upright on your own for a moment. Come. Sit down again" he said smiling and made her sit down again.
"It's just phased. When I got up, my legs gave way. And just now I had a short feeling that everything was spinning and I felt a little sick, but that passed very quickly when I leaned against Ominis" she explained sheepishly. She hated being so weak.
"You still have low blood pressure. That's why you're so pale, and I bet you're tired, too, aren't you?" Noreen asked, and Hazel nodded. Noreen sighed, disappeared into the back room, and when she returned, held a cup out to her.
Hazel had to suppress a gag when she smelled the potion. Now she realized that the blood-forming potion smelled exactly like it tasted. Like blood. "Vampires must love this potion" she said with pure disgust. Noreen laughed.
"It's more complicated than you think. The potion can bring them death if they drink it just like that" she laughed. Hazel screwed up her face, but accepted the cup when Ominis made an admonishing sound and grumbled annoyedly in his direction. When she had drunk it, she could not suppress a pitiful gagging and Ominis stroked her back affectionately, which, because of the sensitive scar, sent a shiver down her spine. She wiped the tears from her eyes and quickly drank the glass of water, which Noreen held out to her with an apologetic smile.
"Now I feel sick all morning" Hazel complained. "I have something for that too in case of emergency. If you still feel sick before we go to Hogsmeade, I'll give you something for it, okay?" Noreen asked apologetically and Hazel nodded.
"Okay. Now talking to my uncle is going to be even more awkward!" she sighed, gently rubbing her stomach to settle it. "Stand there by the window for a few minutes. Fresh air does wonders for nausea, my dear" Noreen said, reaching out a hand to the pale Hazel and pulling her towards the open windows of the infirmary.
"Do you want me to accompany you?" Ominis asked her fondly as they stood outside the principal's office. He knew the answer was clearly yes, but Hazel shook her head. "It's all right. I have to get along on my own sometime, don't I?" she asked him, smiling faintly.
He frowned. "If you're not ready for this, I won't leave your side" he said firmly. She smiled lovingly at him and put her hand to his cheek. "Just promise me you'll come to me when I send you a message yeah?" she asked him. She was desperate to get along independently. She never wanted him to leave her side, of course, but there would be moments when he couldn't be with her. Neither he, nor Sebastian, nor anyone else. And she had to learn how to deal with such situations. She had managed on her own before Hogwarts, after all. Only that was when she had closed off her feelings. Almost 24 hours a day, so after all that had already happened to her at Hogwarts, it was hard for her to keep her wall down when she was without him. She guessed how important it was to him for her to eventually not need her barrier anymore. And she knew that this promise would be her safe anchor. As long as she knew that he would come when she sent him a message, she had nothing to fear. He put his forehead to hers and looked thoughtful, listening to her heart and breathing, then nodded before kissing her gently.
"I don't care if you tie a note to Star's neck, send a note with Lilly, or send an enchanted note. Stay where you are and I'll come to you" he promised solemnly as he straightened up. "Thank you" she whispered emotionally and separated from him. "I think I'll wander around the castle a bit when I'm done here. If it gets too much for me, I'll just go to the common room or the greenhouse. I know I'll be fine there" she then told him and he nodded. But he still had his hands on her hips and didn't let go, looking down at her with concern.
"What about your dizzy spells? You know that this potion has the side effect of making you all... dizzy in between" he said worriedly. She frowned and nodded. "I'll walk slowly and stay near walls I can lean on if need be. If I realize I can't take it anymore, I'll text you, okay?" she said soothingly, and he nodded before kissing her forehead and letting go. "Tell me everything later then, okay?" he said before they said goodbye.
Hazel stood uncertainly in front of the door. Her stomach was acting up with nervousness and she was tempted to call Ominis back, but she took a deep breath and knocked. Heavens, she had no idea how to even address him. Was this a... private conversation or an... official one? Principal and student, or uncle and niece? She was startled for a moment when his imperious-arrogant voice called >Come in!<. She took another deep breath and opened the door, closing it again behind her.
The office was dominated by a small elevation, surrounded by columns, to which a small staircase led. The elevation was round and on it stood the principal's desk. To the left of her, still standing in the entrance, was a door and to the right of her stood a globe and tables with various equipment.
Her uncle had stood up when she had entered and, waving his wand, conjured a chair in front of the table. Actually, it was almost an armchair, but without arms. "Come in, sit down," her uncle said.
Hazel frowned. She had never heard the principal speak so.... Friendly?... like that. It sounded like it was unusual for him to speak like that, too. Hazel walked towards the stairs of the elevation, walked up the stairs a little clumsily, but stopped in front of the chair. She looked him in the eyes, hard. Inside her heart was pounding like crazy, outside she was perfectly calm. "Is this a conversation between principal and student, or uncle and niece?" she asked him directly, looking at him motionless as he frowned.
Phineas Nigellus Black was not sure what his niece had in mind. Was this a question about private matters or school matters? "Uncle and niece," he answered curtly, gesturing with his hand back to the chair. Hazel sighed softly and pulled the chair a little closer to the table. She sat down, putting her legs together a little to the side and her hands together in a graceful posture. She felt a little out of place and stiff, still nervous inside. It was not that she closed her feelings. It was just that this time she was wearing a bare mask, not knowing what he wanted from her. She looked at him for a moment and realized that he himself seemed nervous.
"Well..." he began, seeming unsure how to begin. "first of all, I'd like to hear from you yourself how you're doing" he began the conversation. Hazel frowned again. It seemed strange to her that her uncle asked her that now - after almost 6 weeks. However, she didn't know him either. Had... they even known each other before...? "Honestly?" she asked him, looking him right in the eye. He nodded. She dropped her mask a bit and sighed.
"Not Good. Without people like Ominis Gaunt, Sebastian Sallow, or Nurse Blainey...I don't know if I would still be here. A lot has... happened in these 6 weeks. It feels like it's been years" she replied.
Her uncle frowned sadly and nodded. "I got all those reports from Nurse Blainey. I'm sorry you had to go through all that," he said regretfully, but she shook her head.
"It... May I call you...Phineas?" she asked uncertainly. It seemed strange to her to call a relative by his last name, but on the other hand they didn't know each other and he was the principal...
He nodded. "It's not your fault what the students decide to do on their own, Phineas. However, I must say that I can't guarantee the safety of the Malfoys if they get too close to me again," she added, frowning at the last part. Phineas nodded. "Me neither," he said somberly.
Hazel raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't really thought of him as the family type. Again her uncle sighed. "What do you remember? From your Childhood?" he then asked her directly, looking her in the eyes seriously. She got the feeling that he wanted to renew or make some family ties, but she didn't remember this man... Even if his voice seemed somehow familiar to her.
She looked into his eyes for a long time without saying anything, when her head began to throb slightly. He did not avert his eyes, did not break the eye contact. He didn't know why, but he felt that if he broke it, she wouldn't reveal anything.
"Six months of hellfire nonstop," she said coldly. Phineas furrowed his brows, but still did not look away. His gaze turned sad. "And ominis. Those are the clearest memories I have" she continued. Now it was she who broke eye contact as she shivered.
"I remember how Ominis and I spent a lot of time together. When his father demanded that he treat me like lesser folk, afterwards, when no one paid any more attention to us, he used to come into my room and brushed my hair. Sometimes he braided it and put on my clip. These unguarded moments were what made our friendship. Then suddenly he stopped coming. That was the day the hellfire started" she brought the memories together and crossed her arms in a protective gesture as she got goosebumps thinking about it. She ignored her creeping headache from the previous reflection.
Again her uncle sighed. "You were probably too young. You and I had a close relationship then. Your parents seldom had the leisure to take proper care of you, so I or my wife often looked after you. I always tried to keep the whims of my brother-in-law and my sister away from you. Unfortunately, I failed for a whole six months. When I realized what they were doing and planning to do... I did everything I could to convince them to just let you go instead of killing you," the usually bossy and cold principal unhappily explained.
As he told this, Hazel rubbed her temple for a moment as the headache grew stronger. "I must confess, though, that I didn't expect to see you again Hazel. We all thought you were a squip. A pureblood without magic. But I'm glad you are. Even if it hasn't seemed that way so far" he ended. His expression took on something proud. Not this arrogant pride. It was rather fatherly pride.
"If we had such an intimate relationship, why did you never visit me?" she asked. Her voice pitch was indefinable, and her facial expression seemed somewhat strained. "I was worried that Elladora and her husband might still change their minds, so I thought its best to stay away. As long as they weren't interested in you, you were safe" he replied and she nodded.
"I suddenly woke up one night in a bed I didn't know and screamed. I was screaming and crying and lashing out. They sent me to many doctors. Told me I had imagined it, that it was just a nightmare. A lot of kids in my situation go through that. I had... what did they call it... post-traumatic stress disorder? Even though they didn't know from where. During that time, I built my first mental wall" Hazel told him as she stared blankly ahead. Phineas flinched at the mention of the wall and Hazel raised her eyes.
"That's why, no matter what happened, you were so composed. You instinctively discovered this ghastly talent" he murmured. She nodded. "Is it ghastly if it keeps you from losing your mind? If it helps you think where others can no longer think?" Hazel asked.
"Guess it's a matter of interpretation" grumbled her uncle bitterly. "If it weren't for my Mental Fortress, I wouldn't be sitting here, uncle. If you knew how much it rages in it sometimes..." Hazel laughed bitterly.
"That's why I'm glad you started entrusting yourself to Nurse Blainey. She says she promised you she wouldn't tell anyone, and I respect that. As long as it helps you," he nodded. "It does. But Ominis helps me the most. He doesn't pity me like some of the students or teachers do. He cares and worries, yes. But he treats me the same way he always has. Even though I wake him up so often at night when I have nightmares!" she laughed.
Phineas frowned. Was she going to the boys' dormitory? In the middle of the night? Hazel saw the look and groaned. "Yes. If I have a dream again that a giant, roaring dragon is going to rip his head off, I'll go to the dorm and wake him up quietly. When you love someone, and you have a constant fear of losing them to something, those nightmare-fueled fears don't go away until you hold them alive in your arms. So yes, maybe the muggles are right and I do have a post... whatever," she grumbled and crossed her arms again.
Phineas laughed softly and nodded in understanding. Nevertheless, he remembered something he had overheard by chance. "Can it be that you aren't entirely honest, Hazel?" he asked with a smile. She looked into his eyes, aghast. Her cheeks turned a very faint red as she shook her head.
"I happened to hear two of his roommates say one time that they hardly ever got to see him anymore. Mr. Gaunt would always go to sleep after them, but be up before them. According to Mr. Sallow, it was probably to wake you up. They said he was really drilling you because he was helping you study. I think he just sleeps in your room," he laughed softly, but there was something disapproving in his look.
Hazel became even redder. But she got a serious look on her face and the blush faded a bit.
"Do you know what it's like to have dreams of the Cruciatus Curse?" she asked him ruthlessly. He shook his head. He had fortunately always been spared this. Now she smiled sadly.
"He does" she said softly. "He has them just as often as I do. In my room, no one cares if anyone wakes up there screaming. If someone cries or whimpers there. We're not doing anything inappropriate, Uncle. We're just both trying to deal with our past together. Since he's been sleeping with me, the dreams are getting less for both of us. All we do is worry about each other," she said, with a sad smile. Her uncle sighed.
"It's against some guidelines. But I can't really blame you. You were just made for each other, even back then. You're lucky to have a single room. So I'm not going to do anything about it. As long as he's good to you, I'm happy. You could have made worser choices," he sighed.
Hazel's smile became honest as she thought of Ominis. "When I wake up because the scar on my back hurts, he wakes up almost as if we made a deal and wordlessly massages it until the pain is gone. When I cry in my sleep, he takes me in his arms until I calm down. When I am so scared that I can't breathe, he makes me breathe again. He is more than just good to me," she said in love.
Now Phineas also smiled and nodded. "I wish that wasn't even necessary. But at least you found someone to help you through it. Don't worry, no one will find out," he said.
He stood up and walked around the table, his arms spread somewhat helplessly, in a suggestive gesture. "May I hug you?" he asked unsurely. Hazel stood up, a little too quickly for her blood circulation. She stumbled and Phineas caught her and hugged her. She returned the hug. The smell of dusty books and pine needles rose to her nose, her head was pounding unpleasantly.
"If you ever want to talk to someone about anything, whether it's hobbies or nightmares, you can always come to me. Even if it's just for a cup of tea or because you can't sleep. My doors are always open to you, princess," Phineas said, triggering an avalanche of memories in Hazel.
A younger version of this usually bitter man, Hazel sitting on his lap and laughing happily as she told him how she and Ominis had played together.
He held Hazel in his arms as she cried because she had hurt herself, her parents uncaring in the background.
As she lay on the floor writhing in pain after hours, weeks, months of torture and He wildly discussed with her parents before he lifted her in his arms and after a few mumbled words she fell asleep in his arms before she woke up in the unknown bed.
She slumped in his arms, moaning and holding her head. Insecurely, her uncle directed her to her chair so she could sit down when her knees gave way. "What happened?" Phineas asked helplessly. She couldn't answer him. Memories flooded back into her mind with a blinding headache.
Phineas, how he had taken her home so she could play with his children.
How they used to walk together, enjoying the sun.
How Ursula - his wife - had baked cookies with her.
How she had sewn her a dress, for her fourth birthday.
How he had tried to teach her to read at 4 and had failed miserably, reading her the fairy tales himself instead.
She was crying. Phineas Nigellus Black knelt before his niece, helpless. He didn't know what had happened, why she was crying, why she was in such pain. In a fit of panic, he called his house elf Scrope. "What can Scrope do for the Master?" the Old House Elf asked, surveying the situation before him with wide eyes as the elf recognized Hazel.
"Go get nurse Blainey. My niece seems to have a headache." he commanded, before turning back to Hazel, who was still holding her head, crying. "As the Lord wishes," the elf muttered and was gone.
While Phineas was trying to calm his niece, Noreen Blainey showed up five minutes later. "What happened?" she asked disapprovingly when she saw her friend slumped in the chair like that.
"If only I knew! We were talking about her childhood and when we hugged, she suddenly had this ache," her uncle said, somewhat startled, and made room for Noreen. Noreen did her best to get through to Hazel, but when that didn't work, she put her to sleep with a spell and she slumped quietly in Noreen's arms. Noreen laid her on the floor and examined her, but couldn't find anything else. She frowned and turned to Professor Black.
"Professor, what exactly did you discuss today?" she asked. The usually staunch and selfish Headmaster stood beside the nurse, looking down at her, all helpless and worried. "We first talked about how she was doing, about her relationship with Mr. Gaunt, about her childhood and what she remembers. Then I told her about what she doesn't remember, about my wife and I, how we took care of her" he quickly enumerated.
"Ah. So I know what happened" Noreen muttered, feeling her forehead. All normal. "Would you have the kindness to enlighten me?" Black grumbled . "I think you've broken one of her memory seals with this. She pretty much blocked out everything from her past. Those memories usually come back on their own as she gets older and more mature. As slowly as she's ready. You kind of just dropped a bombshell of memories. That must have been incredibly confusing. And painful. I'll take her to the hospital wing, where she can rest a bit and deal with the memories without being disturbed," she said, levitating her with a wave of her wand.
When she woke up, she was lying in a bed. Feeling a terrible deja vu, she panicked and looked around to see Ominis sitting next to her bed. "Hey, hey. Take it easy. You're in the hospital wing, you hear me?" he said softly as he heard her panicked heartbeat. When her eyes focused on him, she sighed in relief and slumped back into the pillows.
Groaning, she put her arm over her eyes as her headache finally came back to her, but this time it was considerably less bad. "How do you feel?" he asked quietly. Noreen had told him what had happened and he didn't want to overwhelm her again right away, so he held back a bit with his worries.
Hazel sniffled a little. "I-i don't know. I have a headache" she whispered in a quivering voice. He leaned down to her and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before putting his hand to it. Hazel sighed, but remained silent. He noticed her taking deep breaths and her heartbeat settled.
"I-I..." Hazel started, her eyes still covered, sighing. Ominis said nothing, giving her time. "I remembered," she then just said softly. When he didn't answer, she lifted her arm and looked at him from under it. She put her arm down and turned to his side, reaching for his hand, which he had pulled away.
" Well so much for >getting along on my own<" she laughed a little bitterly and pulled the blanket up a little higher. Ominis smiled gently and shook his head. "It's all fine, little snake. No one could help that" he murmured softly to her and squeezed her hand. Again, she sighed. "He said a couple of things that set this off. So.... Many memories..." her voice quivered as she tried to sort out the memories and ignored the headache.
"Hey. It's all right, my little snake," he tried to reassure her. She shook her head. "I didn't know I had also blocked out... GOOD memories" she sniffled softly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently, without pushing. "No...yeah...I don't know. It feels like everything isn't in the right place yet. I...am so confused" she murmured, furrowing her brows.
"You know I'll listen to anything you want to talk about" was all he said. He pulled her hand to his lips and left it there for a moment. She smiled gratefully. "There are so many confusing bits and pieces. I remember baking cookies with my aunt. Then again, her sewing me a dress or us going for a walk. I remember children I played with at their house. And I also remember the night he took me away...but it's all so... unrelated" she grumbled the last part and groaned as the headache grew a little stronger again. Ominis gaze became concerned again and he called out to Noreen.
"Do you have anything for her headache?" he asked her. Noreen saw her strained expression and had to stifle a laugh. "She wouldn't need anything if she wasn't trying so hard to get everything in order. Hazel, dear. Stop torturing yourself. It's confusing, I know. But if you give it a few days, everything will fall into place" she said with a warm smile, brushing her wild curls out of her face. "It's..." she continued and exhaled shakily as she had tears in her eyes again.
"what about my uncle?" she asked then instead, wiping her eyes. "He left just before you woke up. He was worried, I've never heard him like that before." ominis said. Hazel sniffled. "I would like to tell him thank you. It's so confusing but... I have only good memories of him. At least I think so..." she mumbled shakily.
"All in due time. First we'll get you in shape for our tea party in Hogsmeade, shall we?" Noreen said cheerfully, dashing into the back room and returning with a cup. Hazel sighed.
Outside of Hogwarts, Hazel immediately felt better. Ominis felt that she relaxed in the sun and stopped thinking about those confusing memories, even though she never stepped far away from him. It was as if she was unconsciously afraid to move too far away from him. He concluded that she still felt unsteady on her feet, which he couldn't blame her for. The side effects of a blood-forming potion could last all day and she knew that these dizzy spells could come at any time. But she enjoyed the sun and nature and laughed when a wild Puffskien jumped into her arms on the way.
"What are you doing here all alone, little one? What a cute, cuddly thing you are!" she purred to the chubby creature in her arms. Ominis laughed softly and had stepped behind her when the force of the jump had knocked her slightly off balance. Noreen smiled warmly as she finally experienced Hazel outside of the infirmary. It was the first time they had done anything together outside of it, and it pleased her that Hazel could be so free outside of Hogwarts, even though she had already experienced so much.
The furball made purring and whining sounds and snuggled into Hazel's arms, making Ominis laugh again. "I think I found the perfect job for you. You don't know about it yet, but you'd make a wonderful wildlife keeper, darling!" he said as he hugged her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder. He let his eyes light up for a moment, watching the little round animal relax and purr in her arms. He smiled as she made a happy sound.
"Is this behavior normal for these animals?" she asked him. "Well, normally they hide from people. But when they trust a wizard or a witch, they are very trusting. That makes them good pets and that's why creature traders like to sell them" he explained. She grumbled a little.
"Freedom is the most beautiful thing about them, isn't it?" she grumbled, and he laughed. "I know. This one was free and decided to jump into your arms" he said. "What is it anyway?" she asked him in response, a bit confused. Noreen had stepped closer and smiled. "A Puffskien. When I was your age, my family had an army of them. They lived free on our property. I think they still do today" Noreen laughed.
Hazel looked around to her left and right, peering into the bushes and meadows surrounding her. "Why was this one alone?" she murmured anxiously, pushing the little one a little higher. "I don't know. Maybe they had to flee from something. Because of their size, they have many natural predators. Hippogriffs, but also owls or eagles" Ominis said quietly. Hazel turned in his arms and kissed him on the cheek.
" Well then, this one is safe now! If he wants, I'll keep him!" she said firmly and Ominis laughed again and smiled lovingly at her. "You have such a big heart. I have to be careful that your room doesn't become an animal shelter" he said full of love, making her blush a little.
"I think the wildlife keeper of Hogwarts has a small group on the castle grounds. We could ask her later if she would incorporate him" Noreen said and Hazel smiled brightly at her and nodded.
"How does that sound, little one? You'll come and have tea with us and then we'll see if we can find you some new friends?" Hazel purred to the little fur ball in her arms. The little one squealed excitedly and bobbed up and down in her arms as if he wanted to nod. "Woah!" Hazel exclaimed as the furball jumped from her arms, onto her shoulder. Then she laughed and took Ominis hand to go on.
Hazel smiled the whole time, even when she stumbled into Ominis arms once again because she felt dizzy. The little Puffskien on her shoulder, jumped over to Ominis shoulder at some point, had enough of the wobbly ride and grumbled a bit.
Hazel laughed and smoothed his fur apologetically before running her hand through Ominis hair. "Hey!" he grumbled a bit, blushing as he smoothed his hair back down and the little creature on his shoulder made an almost laughing sound. "Why do you always do your hair back, anyway, love? Not that it doesn't look good!" she purred the last words softly in his ear as she tucked in on his other side and walked on with him.
Noreen suppressed a giggle and slapped her shoulder jokingly. He shrugged and regretted it as the Puffskien grumbled. "Well, it's not like I can see myself. You guys have it easy, you can use a mirror, for me it's just a bright thing. So I'll stick with what I've had good experience with in society, I think. My mother used to do my hair like that. That's how a man of good family would wear his hair, she always taught me" he told smiling.
"Hmm... then here you have another experience: I love the way your hair looks when you wake up. You look so relaxed then" she whispered to him and he blushed. He knew, of course, that Noreen already knew that they often slept in the same bed, but it was still something that was rather unusual in society at their age, even frowned upon as long as one was unmarried. Hazel giggled in love, which made his heart beat faster and the Puffskien purred.
He hoped he would have many more such light-hearted moments with Hazel.