EXIT

37. STEEL GREY

37. STEEL GREY

I slowly open my eyes, only to immediately squeeze them shut again. It's way too bright.

White, white, white.

Am I dead? Is that the only thing you see when you're dead? An eternal, all-pervasive light, so bright it even hurts to blink? How unpleasant.

My neck protests as I turn my head. I allow myself another cautious look.

Mint green and steel grey.

Ah, this is better. I heave a sigh of relief.

As I focus on the sterile-looking metal, partially covered by some kind of gown fabric, I become aware of more and more sensations.

My throat is sandpaper dry and my tongue feels furred, but apart from the pinpricks behind my conjunctiva caused by the bright light, I don't feel any pain. My limbs are weightless. I have no contact with the ground or any other surface. There's a dull pounding in my ears.

Death isn't as bad as I've always imagined it to be.

I slowly let my gaze wander and finally discover two figures who have their backs to me. One is dressed in white, the other in black, but they have the same hair color. A pretty white blond. One might think that the two women were related. But they are not. Not even distantly.

This single finding triggers a whole series of insights.

First: Apparently, I'm not dead after all.

Second: Right next to me, or rather right next to my sickbed, because that's what I seem to be lying in, are my mother and Luna Lovegood. This in turn makes me suspect that the latter healed the former and that I'm in the trauma room of Camp Black.

Third: If I'm really at Resistance headquarters, that must mean that the battle at the Manor is over.

Fourth: And wow, I'm actually not dead.

I laboriously clear my throat, causing both my mother and Lovegood to spin around. Whereas Lovegood immediately presses two fingers to my neck to feel my pulse and simultaneously begins muttering diagnostic spells, my mother rushes to my other side and grabs my hand.

"Oh darling, you're awake," she sobs.

I feel like I have cotton in my ears because it sounds more like udalinjuwaig, but I still know what she's trying to tell me.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out except a hoarse croak. A blink of an eye later, Lovegood holds a glass of water to my lips. I sip greedily, gratefully meeting her warm and gentle gaze.

"And now a Pepper-Up," she chirps with a kind smile.

The water glass is replaced by a small vial and I swallow obediently once more. My hearing immediately returns to normal and my limbs become heavier. Suddenly, I can clearly feel the mattress beneath me. My vision sharpens noticeably and the light is no longer as bright. Thank Merlin.

And the first thing I say is, "Granger?"

My mother lets out a little sniffle, but Lovegood gives a relieved laugh. She continues to evaluate her diagnostics as she answers me.

"She's fine. As far as I know, she's interrogating some of the Death Eaters who were arrested today, but she should be here any minute."

I suck in a sharp breath and my eyes flutter shut.

Relief doesn't even begin to describe what washes over me at Lovegood's words. The feeling is much more intense, much more powerful. I bathe in it for a moment, then wrap my fingers around my mother's hand and squeeze it weakly.