Injured at Hogwarts Ⅱ

Outside of the infirmary in a corner sit three rumpled figures around a transfigured linen bed with a ragged, crooked screen that barely provides any sense of privacy. A window peeking just around the edge of the corridor reveals that is late with long shadows across the grounds. The light grows dimmer with each passing second.

Terry Greengrass's usual floppy hair is dusty, but not that he has noticed. His delicate features are covered in a thin layer of grime. His hazel eyes are stark as he clutches the hand of his to be betrothed, Sylvia Flint.

Unlike Terry, Sylvia's sharp features are clear of snot as she had not gone to Hogsmeade like the rest. Her bluish-gray eyes are filled with dread. Her dark, sleek hair falls over her face like a curtain. She leans further against Terry until their shoulders are pressed together. Tiredly, her head slowly leans over with time onto his shoulder to rest. Terry doesn't protest the weight and leans back gently laying his head against Sylvia's.

Also guarding the unconscious form of Rowan Prince is James Potter. Wisps of hair have escaped from James' ponytail. His thin, round silver spectacles hang on the tip of his nose as he leans forward resting his face in his hands. His hazel eyes are half-closed as he ponders the events of that morning. His hand subconsciously plays with the silver ring where a glittering sapphire-eyed wyvern coils around a pointed dagger.

The usual melodic voice of Terry is raspy. "Cousin Ames stopped by with several of my cousins before your arrival James. He said that Rowan is just unconscious, magical exhaustion apparently. Cousin Ames said Rowan will wake up soon enough on her own."

"I thought as much," James replied sounding rather muffled. Sitting back up in his chair, James stretches his neck from side to side. James's neck lets out a faint popping sound causing Terry to wince.

"Although I must admit at the irony and rather fortuitous coincidence that my cousins were visiting Hogwarts in preparation to set up a clinic in Hogsmeade over the course of the summer," Terry drily remarked.

Sylvia tucked her head further into the crook of Terry's shoulder. "Mm, I would even swear that your cousin Ames sent one or two admiring looks at Madam Pomfrey in passing."

"Well, Cousin Ames is a widower. And an infirmary matron would certainly be straight up his alley," Terry quipped with a roguish wag of his eyebrows.

There is a moment of silence before Terry and Sylvia burst into laughter. A strange sound almost unrecognizable at the moment. James is unable to stop himself and joins in. They laugh until tears come out of their eyes from the unspoken emotions. They fall just as abruptly silent.

A loud moan is heard causing them to glance at Rowan, who suddenly sits up wide awake in bed with her wand pointedly drawn. Rowan's midnight indigo eyes are darting wildly with a cold sheen of sweat on her forehead. There is a terrible, real sense of fear in her eyes.

Sylvia instantly sits up and pulls away from Terry. She holds out her empty palms showing they do not hold a wand. "You're safe, Rowan, you're in the Infirmary.

Rowan slowly lowers her wand recognizing her surroundings. She reaches up and touches her neck as if reassuring herself she was just dreaming. A horrible nightmare, nothing more.

Taking an unsteady breath, Rowan half-closed her eyes shaking off the last tendrils of the nightmare. "How is everyone?"

Sylvia's hands clench into fists, but Terry reaches for her hand again. Taking a deep breath, Sylvia replies, "Bethanie's arm is broken, but it is fixable. She was transported to St. Mungos by her Great-Uncle Adelmar Fawley. Regulus naturally hurried off to accompany her and Sirius. Tiffany went along to accompany Sirius and Bethanie as well."

"What happened to Sirius?" Rowan's eyes snapped wide open.

Terry smiles sadly at Rowan. "During the attack, Sirius shielded several first years, but he neglected to dodge a stray Death Eater's curse. The Aurors arrived mere moments after and managed to perform a counter curse in time, but not before the curse had destroyed Sirius's left leg to just below the knee.

Rowan's shoulders pressed together as she let out an emotional groan. She knew exactly how much quidditch meant to Sirius. The amputation of his left foot would not permit him to continue to play the beloved magical sport. As for the replacement of magical limbs, the wizarding world is far from creating an adequate replacement limb for playing sports. Why Moody in Potter's time had a bloody peg leg as did Professor Kettleburn!

"Who else?" Rowan solemnly raised her gaze and asked.

"Well, Andrew received dark curses across the face, they will scar, but he will survive," Terry grimly responded. "Olympia Branstone was struck by a slew of hexes and jinxes when the two of them were escorting the younger students out of Hogsmeade. She's also at St. Mungo's being treated. Peter and Quyen Crowley left to accompany Olympia and Andrew."

"There are only a few severe injuries like that of Sirius. The majority of wounds incurred are treatable," Terry quietly added before his face becomes somber.

"Who's dead?" Rowan flatly inquired understanding the need for solemnity.

"Not as many as you would think," Terry hoarsely replied, but pressed forward at the firm stare from Rowan. "Four dead," hesitated before roll calling the names of the deceased. "Leticia Bones (Gryffindor), Davey Gudgeon (Ravenclaw), Jacob Clayton (Hufflepuff), and Flortentia Champlain (Slytherin)...." He paused to take a breath, "And Professor Slughorn."

Closing her eyes, Rowan presses her lips into a sorrowful grim line. Leticia Bones had been murdered in Potter's time and in this timeline. She would never grow into a grown witch in either life. A fourth year, who had been on the cusp of womanhood and now Leticia Bow will marry the boy she liked, her friend, Barty Crouch Jr. Nothing would ever come of it in this life or the next.

Rowan did not know Davey Gudgeon very well, a sixth-year Ravenclaw. However, she knew he had nearly lost his eye in a dare to touch the whomping willow. A bit strange with bangs that covered his eyes but nothing abnormal for a Ravenclaw.

Although the last two names hurt the worst. Rowan tutored the kind first-year Hufflepuff. Jacob Clayton had been a former werewolf, now cured. Jacob had been excited to return home for the summer holidays and tell his siblings all about it. And now he would never get the chance to see his family again.

Yet worst of all, Flortentia Champlain, Regulus's best friend. She and Florinda Champlain are identical cousins as their mothers and fathers are identical twins. The only different features between the two are that Flortentia had straight silky, coffee-colored hair, and tended to wear a silver ribbon to differentiate her from Florinda, her cousin.

The two girls are often seen in the Slytherin common room with their heads hunched over a book or game be it wizarding chess or a board game. They are independent of each other, but at the same time dependent upon each other. They are-, had been close.