Pink in the Night.

Chapter Fifty-Five.

"(Y/n)!" Madam Pomfrey whispered the moment (Y/n) was brought into the hospital wing. (Y/n) was clinging to the doorframe to the best of her ability from being in Bill's arms. This prevented Bill from being any further. "Stop that!" scolded the nurse as she swatted (Y/n)'s hands down.

"I feel like we end up in the hospital wing every year," Ron was muttering in the dormitory. "Always one of us injured..."

"Monthly for (Y/n)," Hermione said in reply. Ron snorted.

"Where is she?"

"Didn't you hear her scream?" Hermione whispered. "Can't imagine she's doing so well... I reckon that's why the adults went looking for her..."

"Bill!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed. 

"Sh!" Molly shushed. Ginny held her hands up. Nonetheless, Molly looked very expectantly at Bill. "Did you find her?"
Bill partially turned his head, side-eyeing (Y/n), who frantically shook her head. The others, however, sprang to their feet.

"Get back here, Padfoot!" Remus' voice hissed from outside the hospital wing. "A dog being unaccompanied isn't a—" Remus instantly shut up and ran forward, tightly hugging (Y/n) to his chest. Sirius rubbed his head against (Y/n)'s dangling hands as the girl wailed into Remus' chest.

(Y/n)'s hands flew to her mouth, feeling very sick indeed, and she hurried into the bathroom where she would spend a good part of her night dry heaving. Remus was there with her, rubbing soothing circles on her back and holding her hair up. Very mother-figure of him, (Y/n) would have joked if her heart hadn't been plucked out of her chest three times over.
Once the Weasleys had taken their very short leave to search for the others in order to inform them (Y/n) had been found, and once Madam Pomfrey had gone to find (Y/n) towels, pyjamas, and a wellness potion, Sirius was there as a human, taking Remus' place in terms of holding (Y/n)'s hair back.

"There, there," Remus assured. "You'll be all right. We're here. We've got you. You're going to be okay." (Y/n) had a very high suspicion that Remus was also trying to reassure himself of the matter. "Let your emotions go—"

"Not too much, though," Sirius said. "Don't want you being emotionless—"

"Shut up, Sirius— You'll be all right," Remus assured (Y/n). (Y/n) tried pushing them away, murmuring something about being able to handle herself. "Hey, hey, hey. Look at me," Remus said, snatching up (Y/n)'s wrist. "You deserve to sit back and let someone care about you for once, okay?" he said. "And we're here to do just that, you hear?" (Y/n) tearfully nodded. "Good."

A while later, Remus and Sirius were kicked out of the bathroom by (Y/n), who wanted to take a cold shower. Her sobs and sniffles could occasionally be heard much to the concern of the others. When the water was turned on, a very familiar cat came strutting into the hospital wing, her tail swishing, and she looked around as though she were royalty in the place (she was. Madam Pomfrey absolutely adored (Y/n)'s cat and always had treats and food on hand just for her).
The group stared as Effie the ragdoll cat stopped and sat in front of (Y/n)'s door, her tail swishing expectantly as though expecting the door to open for her. Then, she stretched her paws forward, her back arching, and trotted forward. She scratched her right paw against the door three times and sat and waited.
(Y/n)'s soft protest was heard, which was met to more scratching. The door remained shut. Effie then started scratching at (Y/n)'s door with both paws, still not being let in. After around fifteen seconds of this, the bathroom door came open. No one could see (Y/n), but they most definitely could hear and sense her annoyance.
"Of all fluffy companions, you, Josephine Manet (Y/l/n), are the worst!" (Y/n) exclaimed. Effie, in turn, mewled at (Y/n), which was followed by purring and her scratching at the cracked door again. The cat was picked up, taken into the bathroom, and then locked in.