The Squib and the Werewolf

27. Wounds And Warfare

Madam Pomfrey managed to stop Raya's bleeding, but she was unable to completely remove the wound from Raya's skin.
However, Remus was able to get all the blood out of her clothes, as he had experience with that particular spell.
"You're very lucky, Miss Lupin. If the spell had hit you in the centre of your throat, you would have bled to death before you got to me. But since it hit the side of your neck, you should make a full recovery" informed Madam Pomfrey, as she finished placing the dressing against Raya's wound.
"So, she's going to be O.K?" Questioned Remus, who looked paler than Raya had seen him look in ages, because he was so worried about her.
"I see no reason to suggest otherwise. She will have a permanent scar I'm afraid, but other than that, she will be fine" answered the matron.

"She didn't lose too much blood then?" Asked Sirius.
"No. I have given her a blood replenishing potion, and I will give her another dose in a few hours time, which will make up the blood she lost. But like I said, she was lucky the spell didn't hit her more central, or she would have lost too much blood" admitted Madam Pomfrey.
"I told her a hundred times on the way over here, that she shouldn't have pushed me out of the way" informed James.
"And I told you that I would gladly take a wound like that again, if it meant saving your life" replied Raya.

"I could have taken Snivellus's hit" insisted James.
"I'm not saying you couldn't. But I'm the only one who saw what Snape was about to do, so I was the only one who had the chance to save you" replied Raya.
"I don't need your protection. I am the one who is supposed to looked after you. I'm stronger than you, so Snivellus's spell wouldn't have affected me as much as you" admitted James.
"Why because you're a boy?" Frowned Raya.
"Yes. I'm taller, older, and more muscular than you, which means I have more blood to spare. So please, don't do that again"
"Fine, next time someone attacks you, I'll just stand back and watch".

"James doesn't mean to be ungrateful that you saved his life" insisted Remus.
"Of course I'm not. I'm honoured that you risked your life for me. But I just wish that you hadn't" admitted James.
"Me too. I couldn't bare it if something bad had happened to you" Sirius said quietly to Raya.
"What, and I don't matter as much?" Questioned James.
"That's not what I meant. But like you said, you can take a hit better than Raya" replied Sirius.
"Hey, I'm not some fragile little thing that needs to be protected. I may be a girl, and a Squib, but I can look after myself" insisted Raya.
"Of course you can, that's why you're the Lioness" replied Peter.

"Alright, I'll leave Miss Lupin in your capable hands boys, while I fetch a potion which will help lessen the scarring" announced Madam Pomfrey.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me" said Raya, politely.
"You're most welcome. Now, don't go over exerting yourself, because you don't want to make the wound bleed again" informed Madam Pomfrey.
"I won't have to stay in overnight will I?"
"I would prefer it if you did, but we'll see how you are doing this evening, and if I think you have recovered enough, I will let you go"
"Thank you".

Madam Pomfrey smiled, before heading out of the hospital wing, towards her office.
"If she thinks you should stay here overnight, then that's what you should do, because she knows best" said Sirius.
"Since when do you think that adults know best? Anyway, I don't want to give you guys any more chances to treat me like an invalid. And I don't want the whole school knowing that I had to spent the night in the hospital wing, because of Snape" replied Raya.
"He is going to regret harming you, when he faces us again" said James threateningly.
"Yes, he will pay for what he did" agreed Sirius.
"He's started a war against us that he will not win" added James.

"Do we know what spell Snape used?" Questioned Peter.
"Some dark spell, no doubt" mumbled James.
"I didn't recognise it, so maybe it's one he came up with by himself. We all know how much he likes to invent spells" sighed Raya.
"But I didn't hear him utter an incantation" replied Peter.
"That's because he is excellent at non-verbal magic, even though we haven't even been taught it at school yet. He's even better than James" admitted Remus.
"It would make sense for that slimy git to invent a non-verbal spell that cuts up your enemies like a knife, because that guys is twisted" added Sirius.
"Which is why we need to be careful around him. If he really is inventing new kinds of dark magic, then we can't keep messing with him like this" warned Remus.

"I will never be afraid of Snivellus, no matter how many dark spells he creates!" Announced James.
"Hear hear" agreed Sirius.
"You wouldn't be saying that, if you were the one he nearly killed" Raya said quietly.
"I'm sorry he did that to you. But I promise that I won't let Snivellus hurt you again" insisted Sirius.
"But he is more powerful than you" reminded Raya.
"He is not more powerful than all of us together. If we all use our magic together, we can easily beat him. You saw us today, Snivellus was at our mercy. We would have embarrassed him in front of the whole school, if McGonagall hadn't turned up"
"What I saw  was you and James getting cocky. If you hadn't turned your back on him to argue with Lily, he never would have been able to throw off the Impediment jinx without you noticing"
"Alright, well in the future I won't turn my back on him or underestimate him, you have my word".

"I would prefer it if you and James promised to just leave him alone" revealed Raya.
"You can't mean that, especially after what he did to you" frowned James.
"I don't want me, or one of you to get hurt, which is what will happen if you keep on pushing Snape" replied Raya.
"You worry too much"
"Look, I don't want you taking things too far, just because you are  jealous that Snape is friends with Lily"
"She's not going to be friends with him anymore, not after he called her a Mudblood"
"I'm serious, James. I don't want any of us to get hurt, because of your crush on Lily Evans".

"And I am serious too, Raya. There is more going on here than just school bullying. Look, we all know what side of the war Snivellus is going to end up on, and it is not the same side as us. Which means that at some point in the future, we will likely have to duel him. And we need to make sure he fears us, when the time comes. That's why we have to keep putting him in his place, because we can't have him thinking he's better than us. If we meet on the battle field one day, I need him to be afraid of taking us on, because that just might save our lives. Which is why I will never stop picking on Snape" informed James.
Raya sighed, "Fine. But I just think you are making a powerful enemy, that's all".
"Maybe. But like Padfoot said earlier, you don't have to worry about slimy Snivellus hurting you again. For we will always protect you, from now on" promised James.
"I hope you are right" mumbled Raya.