I Solemnly Swear

Chapter 11: Guilt and Realisations

"'The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.'"

The sound of Sirius' voice was the only noise in the Hospital Wing, the grey eyed Marauder finally giving in to the nagging of one James Potter. James had spent the days since Rose woke up pestering Sirius about the book. Rose smiled softly, busy writing a (heavily watered down) letter of explanation to her understandably worried parents about why she was going to be in hospital for the best part of a month.

It was the twenty first of November, a sunny but cool Sunday, and Rose could never remember being so incandescently happy to be stuck in the Hospital Wing, writing a letter to her mum and dad. Through what Rose could only describe as the grace of Merlin (and the fact that they'd always been a little over-affectionate with one another), nobody had noticed the change in circumstances between Rose and Sirius.

Remus hummed to himself, flipping through his Arithmancy textbook, making notes on a long scroll of parchment. Lily, by far the most able of them healing-wise, perched on the other side of his bed, pointing out passages to him that would be useful. Rose scrawled a signature on the bottom of her letter, then put it to the side, letting her thoughts wander while Sirius read aloud.

Aside from minor bruising from the wall collapsing on her, and a bandage covering her right forearm (which Lily told her not to worry about), Rose's injuries were entirely from multiple torture - as Madame Pomfrey tactfully described it. Every part of her body ached, she could barely hold her own weight, she tired easily, and the nightmares would always come at night.

Lily had bruises and abrasions from the rubble of the explosion, and suffered the odd nightmare about the whole business. Peter had broken a leg and somehow mauled by a puma created by a Death Eater - injuries that had only presented themselves after the Full Moon. He stayed in bed, enjoying the fruits of being stuck in the Hospital Wing. Remus was suffering from a rough Full Moon, the injuries not mixing well with the ones already sustained from the duels. He never once complained, taking the time to recover before doing anything.

James had a nasty slice over his right eye, a face like a paint by numbers, two broken ribs, and a broken collarbone courtesy of Moony. Every movement must have caused him pain, but not a word of serious complaint passed his lips. Even more remarkable was that he had yet to ask Lily out anywhere - in fact, they seemed to be maintaining a cordial politeness and distance. Sirius had a gash in his right thigh, three broken ribs, two fractured ribs, and - if he was to be believed - enough colour on his body to paint that Muggle Sissy Chapel. That comment had sparked a discussion about muggle versus wizarding art, Lily looking almost surprised that James and Sirius knew anything about muggle society. Rose had to quickly explain that they actually paid attention in Muggle Studies class, while Remus tilted his hand from side to side.

Madame Pomfrey made the rounds late that afternoon, passing out potions and stern reprimands not to move. Rose glared at the murky khaki potion (that smelled like feet) that the Matron forced into her hand. "Merlin's underwear!"

Twin streams of the unappetising potion streamed from her nose, Rose coughing and gagging and trying desperately not to laugh at the same time.

Peter looked horrified at the words that had just come from his mouth, a bright blush tinting his cheekbones. "Sorry."

"Timing, Wormtail," James sighed, pinching his nose to swallow a dull yellow potion. "Six years we've been telling you. It's all in the timing. You okay, Rosie?"