The Chaser : A Fred Weasley Fan Fic

Sixty: Kneel

Tilly's POV

My eyes flicked open wide, like the sudden jolt you get when drifting into a dream but you suddenly miss a step and find yourself falling. My body forced itself awake just as I was about to hit the ground.

Hermione and Fred crouched around me, their eyes watching me intently. It was like they were suspended from shock.

My brain felt fuzzy and I wanted to ask what the fuss was all about, when Ginny and Alfie round the curtain. They gawped at me just as Hermione and Fred did. I could see a smile start to form on Ginny's lips but something in my stomach churned.

I heaved. It was terrible. A loud, dry heave as my stomach tried to pull something up.

"It said this could happen" Hermione muttered, lifting a plastic bin to rest under my chin. Luckily it concealed me from view of anyone else.

I heaved again, but this time thick black tar spewed out of me. It was as if everything I'd consumed in my lifetime was attempting to wretch its way out of me.

I would have cared how I looked and sounded if I hadn't been in such a daze.

When my stomach settled, I wiped my mouth and Hermione pulled the container from my lap. My head knocked back in exhaustion and I took another look the group that had gathered around my bedside.

"What are you all looking at?" I scowled, covering my face with my hands.

Fred chuckled. Half in genuine laughter, half in disbelief. He shook his head at me and wrapped his arms tightly around my torso, that was propped with thick pillows.

"What's the matter?" I mumbled feebly. I couldn't understand why they were all acting like this. I'd only been sick.

My surroundings were becoming sharper, though mostly masked by blue medical curtain. Ron hovered at the end of the bed, his eyes darting between Hermione and I in amazement.

Nobody was answering my questions.

"Could somebody please tell me what on Earth is happening?" I pushed.

I tried to pull myself up more, but everybody braced themselves as if I was about to break. I was getting frustrated.

"You've been asleep" Hermione exclaimed, "You've been asleep for days, Tilly!"

"Oh" was all I could muster.

The nausea had subsided but I was beginning to feel a pain radiating in my chest. It only felt a pulled muscle, but it felt worse when I made any kind of sudden movement. I winced and Fred came to support me, putting his hand on the small of my back.

"What is it?" he said, his voice laced with panic.

"Nothing, it's just my chest. It stings" I mumbled, holding the place over my heart.

Fred looked at Hermione, as if he was waiting for her to say something. Hermione shrugged. They'd created some way of communicating with each other, without even having to talk and it was irritating me. I just wanted them to tell me what was going on.

The healers were alerted. I was checked over repeatedly for what felt like hours. I was allowed to bathe. I was brought food, though I couldn't stomach it yet. Ginny brought me soft pyjamas to change from hospital robes.

But they all stayed silent. They wouldn't tell me what had happened. I didn't push too hard, but they all were behaving so strangely.

The healers looked happy with the tests they'd run and they said I could go home that evening. I couldn't think of anything I wanted more. St Mungo's was a horrible place, especially when it felt like everyone was looking at you.