Amaryllis heard voices around her but couldn’t make out a word. They came out muffled and sounded far away.
Some voices spoke louder than others; rough and angry, yet it sounded hoarse, as if they had been shouting for a while. Or crying. She hadn’t known that many that would cry for her at Hogwarts. Her brother, Harry, was one, and though she hadn’t known Susan and the other girls in her house, she would have been emotionally struck with them getting hurt.
Amaryllis tried to move, begging any part of her body to move when nothing happened. Everything felt like it had been filled with lead, weighing her down and unable to move. She didn’t like it. To not move or voice the questions that swirled in her mind. What happened? How did she get out of the water? And why had the giant squid drag her under? There were so many questions, yet those were the top three that kept coming back. The lightning was a horrible timing, a fluke, in her mind.
Another soft voice came from somewhere further, but more demanding. It had quieted the other voices, and Amaryllis felt the pounding in her head now that it was quiet and she had nothing to focus on. The feeling of exhaustion swept over her again, dragging her back under even though she wanted to stay awake and reassure Harry and those that were somewhere nearby that she was fine. Even though she couldn’t tell if she was fine. Everything ached. Her body was lead and grounded to the bed she lay on, unable to open her eyes or utter a sound.
The last thing she heard was a loud click as she fell into another dreamless slumber.
It was dark when she woke up again. Quiet, except for the steady breathing. She didn’t know what had woken her up, but tensed when she felt a thumb stroke the side of her hair. It wasn’t only her breathing she heard, but another that stood beside her.
The weight of their hand was lifted, replaced by light strokes across her hair.
“I’m sorry, Amaryllis. I had hoped to protect you by never seeing you. This is my fault.”
The voice wasn’t one she recognized. She wanted to peel her eyelids open and see who had spoken, but the heaviness hadn’t lifted, refusing to open no matter how much thought she put into it.
“You should feel better by tomorrow, by some miracle those mortals will say. But I couldn’t leave you lying in this bed.”
What did they mean? She felt tired, hungry, and confused on top of her body, still aching all over. She wasn’t sure what the magical world did for lightning strike wounds, but she doubted they worked quickly. Then a thought occurred to her; how long had she been out?
As if the voice knew her question, he answered. “Tomorrow—well, today is Friday when you awake. I doubt they will send you back to classes, but Amaryllis, the sky is not a place for you. It is not a domain you can willingly enter without being struck down. I have done what I could with these wizards to get you out of that class, but the rest is up to you. I pray you will be safe until summer.”
A creak sounded from somewhere, and the soft voice she heard before echoed in the room. The hand retreated from beside her, just as the scent of saltwater and seaweed hit her. “Is someone there?”
Nothing.
The room returned to quiet as the voice mumbled something, and footsteps grew closer.
“Still sleeping. Poor thing. I’ll have to get a potion ready for her in the morning. Might be feeling a bit sore and hungry.”
The voice grew quieter the further she got away, the click of a door echoing in the room again. And Amaryllis held out the tiredness as she twitched her fingers, wondering if they’d come back. She wanted to know who they were and how they disappeared as quickly as they had. Apparition was impossible within Hogwarts, or at least that’s what they were told, and Amaryllis doubted what they taught in History of Magic was wrong. Which meant there was something going on beyond the magic she knew or someone more powerful than Dumbledore had just been in the room with her.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
Rays of light filtered through her eyelids, disturbing her slumber.
She opened her eyes slowly, squinting as the light nearly made her close her eyes. The ceiling had carved archways and long wide lancet windows that let natural light in, brightening the room. Beds with white and green sheets lined the walls that had green linen dividers and a small table beside them.
An older woman with grey hair pulled back, dressed in a red and white nurse’s outfit, came from a room across from her
“Oh, you’re up, dear. I’m Madam Pomfrey. How are you feeling?”
Amaryllis took a moment to answer as some parts of her still felt sore, but she didn’t feel anything majorly wrong. “I feel… fine.”
“That’s good. Better than I expected for someone hit by lightning. First time I’ve ever had to brew a potion for such a thing, but it seems to have done a better job than I thought.”
Madam Pomfrey took a small cup off the table beside her and held it out. “Drink this. You may feel better, but I won’t be having no patient of mine leave this ward feeling anything but one hundred percent.”
Amaryllis didn’t argue with her as she raised her hand to take the drink, stopping when she noticed her arm—faded red lines ran down her arm like branches that spread out from a tree. The thickest part came from the base of her shoulder, thinning as it went down into what she saw.
Madam Pomfrey’s voice was soft and apologetic when she spoke, “I tried to give something for that, but unfortunately, there isn’t much more I can do for it.”
“No,” Amaryllis tried to say, but her voice came out thick with emotion. “It- I… thank you.” She had no words to voice how she felt. She could only filter shock as one of them as she stared at her arm.
Madam Pomfrey held out the potion for her with a soft smile.
Amaryllis took the potion without another word, brought it up to take, and scrunched her face up once she caught the smell of it.
Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes. “Potions don’t aren’t meant to smell good that fix you up. Now, drink up. I’ll send for lunch to be delivered.”
“Lunch?” Amaryllis shot back with wide eyes.
“Yes, lunch. You’ve been asleep for two days.” Madam Pomfrey informed, reminding Amaryllis of the voice last night that had said the same thing. “It’s a miracle that you’re even up right now after what happened. You’ll have the weekend to recover more; thank Godric for that. But I expect to see you back first thing Sunday so I can make sure you're doing well. Though I’m sure your brother and friends will be by soon since they’ve visited you ever chance they get.”
Madam Pomfrey left soon after she drank the awful tasting potion, mumbling something about the weather and the weird nature of the year, and it was only the start of term.
The place was quiet, even when Madam Pomfrey brought food over, and placed it on a bed tray as the doors creaked open and a voice she recognized spoke breathlessly.
“Lissie.”
Harry walked through the doors with Ron, Hermione, and Susan in tow just before the doors closed behind the other students.
“Harry,” Amaryllis mumbled, holding back everything she felt as the corner of her eyes stung.
She always tried to be brave. They had to have been. Crying got them nowhere. Begging did nothing but get them ignored more. It was the brave facade they built that got them from one day to another. Whether it was for themselves or the other; it had gotten blurred somewhere along the lines, but she wasn’t about to give into the feeling that clawed at her chest. Not when she saw the way Harry’s emerald eyes had dulled since the last time she saw him, or the bags under his eyes. He wasn’t one to study or have classwork worry him, so she knew he had lost countless hours of sleep because of her.
“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
“I’m fine, Harry.”
“A glass of water? More food?”
“Harry.” She tried to catch his attention, but it was as if he wasn’t hearing her. Amaryllis knew he had seen the scar since they had visited while she slept, but he didn’t stare at it pointedly like Ron had with an awe look in his eyes.
“What ab—”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Harry,” Hermione piped in, slapping him on the shoulder. “Let her speak. We do hope you are feeling better, though.”
Amaryllis smiled at Hermione, grateful Harry had stopped hounding question after question before he ran out breath. “I’m fine, truly. Maybe a little sore, but Madam Pomfrey fixed me up.”
Ron piped in with a quirked eyebrow. “Bloody miracle, that is, I’d say.”
Amaryllis shrugged, not sure if she would use that choice of words. “I was just…” She trailed off as the man’s warning echoed in her mind. She had thought she dreamt it until Madam Pomfrey told her how long she had been asleep, and now, she wasn’t so sure she had. Everything that happened seemed to point to every action she made that day up to when she got struck. It still didn’t answer her question as to why. What had she done to incur the wrath of the weather? She may have loved the Greek myths, but that’s all they were; myths. They weren’t real, and neither was Zeus. “Unlucky.”
Susan reached her hand out, hesitating to place her hand on her shin, and slowly withdrew it back to her side, “that’s more than just being unlucky, Rhylie.”
“Then what would it be?”
“I don’t know.” Susan shook her head, but Ron had no problem speaking his mind.
“Whatever it is, it’s a fascinating story you can tell.”
Harry and Hermione chorused Ron’s name, glaring at the red-headed boy who seemed oblivious to what he said.
“What? How many people can say they were saved from lightning by the giant squid? No one.”
“Ron. Not many walk away from a lightning strike unscathed. Ninety percent lead to more disabilities than a sc—” Hermione chided Ron with a glare, but stopped to stare at her with wide eyes.
Amaryllis gave Hermione a halfhearted smile to reassure her that she wasn’t upset at what she was about to say because she had only stated facts. It seemed to be what she did, and Amaryllis wouldn’t fault her for it.
Harry’s eyes widened, turning to her as he asked Hermione with a croaked voice, “Really?”
Ron piped in with his own question. “How do you know that?”
Hermione glared at Ron. “Because unlike you two, I read.”
“She’s right,” Susan added. Her light brown eyes dull with a smile that barely stretched across her face. “What happened hasn’t in… My parents had never talked about something like this happening. If it had, well, I’m sure it would have been something talked about. Maybe in the muggle world it’s common, but in the Wizarding world… not so much.”
Harry turned to Susan. “What are you saying?”
“Harry,” Amaryllis scolded, giving her brother a look that told him to ‘knock it off’. She knew Susan wasn’t being rude by what she said, and she didn’t deserve Harry to question a meaning behind something that wasn’t there.
Susan shook her head, staring at her for a moment before she addressed Harry. “I’m not saying it’s never happened, but it’s also extremely rare for this to happen. Even the teachers are upset at what happened and are trying to figure it out. It could have been much worse.”
Amaryllis could have died.
That’s what Susan was saying without saying it. And she wasn’t wrong. Amaryllis could have been a part of the ten percent that hadn’t survived according to Hermione’s statistics.
“But,” Susan began, stopping to stare at the sheets in deep thought.
Amaryllis was scared to ask and receive the same answer she had thought when it happened, but she asked to confirm. “But what, Susan?”
“When the storm began, it was when class began, and every time the thunder and lightning happened, it was while you did something. I mean, I could be wrong as many others were trying at the same time, but when you were going higher, it got louder and more…” Susan furrowed her brows as she seemed to try and find the right word. “Angry? And then, the lightning seemed to go right for you. I tried to yell at you to move, but you were frozen, and the… the giant squid just came from nowhere quickly and grabbed you. Madam Hooch began shouting for everyone to get inside and chased after you as it pulled you into the lake. That was when Professor Dumbledore came out, seeming anxious but angry.”
Harry stared at her with a look she read easily. He wondered if it had to do with what happened at the Zoo with Dudley, but even she hadn’t had time to figure out anything while at school. She had basically spent more time in the Hospital Wing than in actual classes, and it was only the first week. She dreaded to find out what she missed and catch up over the weekend.
Susan assured her she took notes for their classes and still would before they were kicked out by Madam Pomfrey as they still had classes to attend.
Amaryllis had asked about leaving to attend, but was quickly denied as she had only been up for an hour and Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t have her fainting by pushing it if she had something to say about it. And Madam Pomfrey did. She was a very stern woman who put her foot down and wouldn’t take no for an answer when one became her patient.
Amaryllis had to wait a whole night before Madam Pomfrey let her leave just as everyone would be going for breakfast. Another spectacle she would have rather avoided after Ron had given away to the rumors that spread—mostly by Slytherin’s which made her dread what would be said the moment she made an appearance.
A/N:
Happy New Years everyone! I try not to make the chapters too long so there isn't a lot packed into a chapter and easily readable since we all have lives and shit happens that drags away at random times. But I enjoyed this one that gives Amaryllis hints and unpacks that something else is amiss that sets her journey for the year apart from Harry's.