The next morning was hell on earth for poor Ollie.
She woke up with a terrible headache, freezing cold, and sweating. Her sinuses felt plugged, and her throat ached something fierce. Never had she gotten a cold such as this one before.
But being the stubborn Lark she is, Olive said nothing about feeling under the weather and got ready for the day, bundled up with a few extra layers.
As she sat at the Ravenclaw table early that morning in the Great Hall, Ollie was trying to stay awake. She drank some tea in hopes of it lessening her fatigue- but didn't feel like eating or drinking any more in fear of vomiting it back up or simply not being hungry.
Personally, Olive knew it was her fault for having the cold. She didn't go inside when it was snowing out, and didn't wear the proper clothing for the sudden frigid weather. It wasn't supposed to be cold that day when she went to see Sirius, but the weather has cooled down severely.
Still, though, she secretly blamed Fred and George for the matter. They drove her insane, and she wanted nothing to do with them at this point, yet she let them escort her up to the castle the long way through the snow, when she could have been in the hot shower in merely ten minutes. As good as their intentions were, she just wanted to be warm, and they were taking her the long way to where she wanted to desperately go.
Snow still fell outside on the Hogwarts' grounds, making Ollie worry about Sirius. She gave him a blanket and a jar of fire to keep him warm, but hoped it would be enough for him. The man didn't have much since he wanted to stay near the castle grounds to stay near Harry and catch Peter Pettigrew. Olive only hoped he wasn't freezing to death out there- which added to her anxiety and fueled her illness and headache.
As she sat with her head resting in her arms at the table, Olive didn't notice anyone come in the Great Hall and head towards her. In that sick state, she didn't notice much of anyone around her. She just wanted to rest up as much as she could before classes today- where they'd be going outside for Care of Magical Creatures to check on their blast-ended shrewts and take them for a walk in the snow.
Hagrid didn't really have a thing against weather, so naturally his classes were never cancelled- even if the Malfoy family wanted him gone and Buckbeak dead.
Two people sat across from Ollie, which she assumed was Nat accompanied by a groggy Cho. As she picked her head up with a small groan, she wasn't met with her two best friends.
"Please go away." Olive moaned, pulling her Ravenclaw scarf tighter around her neck and shoulders as she shivered.
"Ollie, we came to apologize." Fred said, twiddling his thumbs as his hands rested on the table.
He and George exchanged a look at Ollie and then with each other when she didn't respond. Even with her usual fair skin, she looked exceptionally pale today, her nose red and her eyes a bit bloodshot.
"You're apology is accepted if you leave me alone."
George reached across the table and put the back of his hand across Olive's forehead. He let out a sigh, pulling back his hand.
"You've got a fever. Go to the Hospital Wing, Ollie."
"No. I'm fine- it's just incredibly warm in here."
"Yeah, and George and I aren't identical."
"It's allergies, I'll be better once classes start." Ollie muttered, propping up her head with her hands. She gave a look to Fred and George, trying to tell them that she was fine- but she honestly looked terrible.
"Woah, Ollie-o you look like death." Nat commented when she sat down next to her curly-haired friend.
"Thanks, Nat, way to boost my self esteem." The ill girl sniffled, staring at the tea she had poured for herself just a few minutes prior- pushing it away with her hand.
The blonde looked to Fred and George, helping herself to some steaming coffee and scrambled eggs, "What are you two doing here?"
"Well," George began, "We were going to apologize to Ollie-"
"But now," went Fred, "We're trying to get her to go to the Hospital Wing or something."
Nat gave them an apologetic look for Ollie's stubbornness. As her gaze traveled back to her quiet best friend, Natalie realized that she had fallen asleep.
"This happened last year when I was petrified. Cho said she didn't eat or sleep until she passed out in the middle of Transfiguration. She's quite stubborn." Nat told the two, "She won't get help until she runs herself dry, we'll just keep an eye on her for a few hours until that happens."
George felt a small pang of concern for Ollie, remembering hearing gossip about the girl who collapsed in the middle of class. He felt bad for her, partially because it was kind of his and Fred's fault for not getting her inside sooner.
"She's already asleep, why can't we take her there now?" Fred asked, glancing at Olive. She was fast asleep, bundled tightly in her extra jumper and scarf.
"Because she'll just get right back up and head to class again. Trust me, we- including Cho and Cedric- will keep an eye on her. The minute she's run herself to the ground, we'll take her to the Hospital Wing. It's the only way she'll learn." Natalie explained, glancing the twins. She adjusted her blue and silver tie before finishing her breakfast in silence, looking over at Ollie to make sure she was still asleep.
After several moments of silence, Fred and George found themselves alone again with a sleeping Ollie. Cho was sitting with Cedric at the Hufflepuff table, and Natalie had gone to Muggle Studies early- the only class that she and Ollie did not share together. Instead, the curly headed girl had Divination that morning with the twins- and it never started on time.
The girl stirred, adjusting her position in her seat to make herself more comfortable. Ollie sniffed, shivered, and went back to her power nap before classes began.
George had to admit, she looked peaceful sleeping, even in this sick state. Ollie wasn't glaring at them, or quirking a brow at a joke Nat said, or an unintended pun that Cedric would say. He found himself often looking at Ollie, not because of a crush or anything- he didn't see her as anything of that sort- but George just found Olive interesting. There was this whole side to her that he didn't know existed, and her writing was unlike anything he's ever read (mind you, the collection of the books Fred and George Weasley have read is at bare minimum).
As a result of Olive just coming off as interesting and different- George found that he and Fred often spent more time with her. When Olive had asked the previous night as to why they wanted her to help them find the black cat- there were a lot of reasons why. George never found himself in a place to say why. He thought she was a wonderful person- much more substance to her character than the Miss Lark who's barely spoken a word in class her whole time at Hogwarts. He just didn't know how to say them without sounding like a complete useless git.
As much as the twins were good with knowing the right thing to say and when to say it- George found himself at a loss for words.
The time was winding down to the first class of the day, and as much as Fred and George wanted Ollie to snooze, they had to wake her for class.
"Olive- we gotta go to Divination." Fred whispered to the girl as George gently shook her.
"I told you to leave me alone." She muttered with a yawn, lifting her head from the table as she rubbed her eyes from sleep.
"We can't do that, you see." George smirked as he grabbed Ollie's bag from the table, slinging it around his shoulder with his own bag.
"Why is that?" Olive got up slowly from her spot, her arms wrapped around herself as she followed George and Fred towards the door. She didn't notice that one of the twins had grabbed her bag- Ollie just walked groggily after those two.
"Special order from Natalie." Fred grinned patting Olive on the shoulder. She looked up at him, narrowing her tired eyes.
"Nat?"
They nodded.
"My lucky day."
It didn't take long for Olive to rethink going to class. She fell asleep in Divination and almost puked into her cauldron at Potions. Nat, Ced, and the twins seemed to keep a close eye on her, but Olive tried not to notice the concerned glances. She hated people worrying about her, and just wanted go on with her day like nothing was wrong.
She was headed to lunch, her bag hanging off her shoulder and her steps were slow. Olive wanted to sit down, the dizziness in her throbbing head hadn't stopped since Transfiguration last period when she kept on trying to turn a chair into a Donkey.
As Ollie wandered into the Great Hall, she miserably trudged over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down, where her cousin and two best friends were already waiting for her. Cedric had gotten her a bowl of her favorite soup, while Cho had brought some tea that her parents would send her when she wasn't feeling well.
"Home made Chicken Noodle. Your favorite." Cedric patted her on the back, which only made Olive wince as her stomach lurched. She looked at Ced with her bloodshot eyes and a tired, small smile, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Ceddie, but I'm not that hungry." She said with a yawn, closing her eyes.
"You have eat something, Ollie. Have some tea- it'll clean you right out." Cho smiled, sipping on her own mug of medicinal tea.
"Might want to word that differently." Ollie said through a small chuckle, propping up her head with her arms.
"You really have to see Madame Pomfrey then." Cedric said, "You're making dirty innuendo jokes, you never do that unless you're sick."
"I'm not sick, it's just allergies."
"Allergies that had you almost vomiting into our potion day." Natalie butted in, "The twins were right, we do need their help."
The Lark girl's head shot straight up, looking the blonde straight in the eye.
"You- what- with them! How-"
"Easy there, Ollie you're going to give yourself a heart attack." George said, taking a seat on the other side of Ollie as he and Fred approached. Jumping over the table, George's counterpart sat next to Nat, giving her a small smile before turning to the sick girl.
"Seriously, you think we wouldn't pass up an opportunity to fight your stubbornness?" Cho exclaimed, "You seriously underestimated us, Lark."
Olive glanced at the five of them, unsure of what she's supposed to say. Had they really come up with a way for her to admit she's really sick and needs to go to the Hospital Wing? Sure, she liked to know that people cared about her- but Ollie hated being a burden on people.
"I'm fine- it's some allergies, the seasons are changing. It snowed last night. Now, if you'll excuse me," Olive got to her feet, slinging her bag around her shoulders as she stood wearily on shaky knees, "I'll be on my way."
"To where?" Cedric asked her.
"That's for me to know, and for you five to not find out any time soon." She grumbled, feeling her hair turned an ill looking green as a wave of nausea hit her. Ollie did her best to change it back on her way out, trying to swallow down the threat to throw up.
She exited the Great Hall, and turned to head to the library- where she was sure to get some peace and quiet. Perhaps she could be able to write, since she hadn't had a second to sit down and open her notebook at all today. As much as she craved to write, the urge wasn't as strong as it usually was.
However, on the way there, Olive found herself feeling incredibly dizzy and nauseous- the worse its ever been today. She blinked, trying to clear her head as she picked up the pace. Ollie didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone throwing up or falling over- so she tried to act as normal as possible.
Maybe I should have went to the Hospital Wing... Olive thought to herself as the slowed herself down to ensure she didn't fall over. Her stomach churned, the nausea rising in the back of her throat.
That wasn't just nausea...
Olive swore to herself as she hurried across the hall to the bathroom, her shaky knees and sore stomach making it hard to move quickly.
"Ollie!"
"No..." She moaned back at the voice, pushing into the girls' toilets and running to the nearest stall.
Olive then proceeded to vomit her little heart out.
Usually when one vomits, they'll feel a bit of relief afterwards. Vomiting was supposed to help rid you of the bad stuff.
This only made her feel worse.
For several minutes, poor Ollie sat on the floor over the toilet, either puking or waiting to puke. She didn't notice that people were asking if she were all right, or if she wanted some water- all she hears was the thumping of her heart deep in her chest, making her headache throb even more.
Over the years, Olive hasn't been much of one to get sick. Last year there was the incident with Nat when she was petrified, and a mild case of the Dragon Pox when she was a child, but besides that, she didn't have any other illnesses that were too severe to skip class or anything.
This was totally knew for her.
She leaned against the stall after flushing the toilet for the fourth time, squeezing her eyes shut to try and make the room stop spinning around her. The bathroom was quiet, empty, except for the heavy breathing and sniffling of Olive.
A pair of footsteps walked into the girls' toilets, quickly finding Ollie sitting on the floor in the stall.
"Ollie?"
"Why is it always you two?"
The twins seemed a bit taken back by the suddenness of her question, especially when she was leaning into puke again.
"Nat doesn't like puke. Cedric said he can't come in here. Cho likes Cedric- and we like breaking the rules." Fred said a bit quieter than his usual perky voice. He leaned against the door while George kneeled down next to Ollie, patting her back.
"Is it too late to say I told you so?"
"Unless you want vomit down your front."
"Okay then."
Ollie finished her round of throwing up her insides, leaning back against the stall once more. She was sweating, yet still shivered in her excess amount of layers. It worried the twins to see her this way, but they knew they were going to get Olive help after she was finished vomiting.
"Come on." George helped the girl up, letting Olive grip onto his arm as she unsteadily walked over to the sink. Fred turned on the cold water, allowing Ollie to rinse out her mouth and wash her clammy face.
As she stood over the sink, gripping the edges with her hand, Ollie looked up with her intense blue stare, moving from George to Fred, then back to George before focusing back on the running water. She reached up, loosening her tie until it almost came undone, then turned off the water.
"Say it." Olive mumbled, her voice a bit hoarse from puking. She looked down at her shoes ashamedly, feeling guilty for Fred and George having to do this for her.
"Say what?" Fred asked, looking his twin. They both knew what she meant, but didn't want to say it.
"I don't think I know either, Freddie." George shrugged, "Sorry Olls, we've got no idea."
A small smile pulled at the corners of Olive's lips as she glanced up a the two. For once in her life, the twins' antics weren't as annoying as she usually saw them as.
"Thank you."