Sea and Serpent (PJO/HP)

Chapter 15. Hospital Wing

Amaryllis heard voices around her but couldn’t make out a word. They came out muffled and sounded far away.

Some voices spoke louder than others; rough and angry, yet it sounded hoarse, as if they had been shouting for a while. Or crying. She hadn’t known that many that would cry for her at Hogwarts. Her brother, Harry, was one, and though she hadn’t known Susan and the other girls in her house, she would have been emotionally struck with them getting hurt.

Amaryllis tried to move, begging any part of her body to move when nothing happened. Everything felt like it had been filled with lead, weighing her down and unable to move. She didn’t like it. To not move or voice the questions that swirled in her mind. What happened? How did she get out of the water? And why had the giant squid drag her under? There were so many questions, yet those were the top three that kept coming back. The lightning was a horrible timing, a fluke, in her mind.

Another soft voice came from somewhere further, but more demanding. It had quieted the other voices, and Amaryllis felt the pounding in her head now that it was quiet and she had nothing to focus on. The feeling of exhaustion swept over her again, dragging her back under even though she wanted to stay awake and reassure Harry and those that were somewhere nearby that she was fine. Even though she couldn’t tell if she was fine. Everything ached. Her body was lead and grounded to the bed she lay on, unable to open her eyes or utter a sound.

The last thing she heard was a loud click as she fell into another dreamless slumber.

It was dark when she woke up again. Quiet, except for the steady breathing. She didn’t know what had woken her up, but tensed when she felt a thumb stroke the side of her hair. It wasn’t only her breathing she heard, but another that stood beside her.

The weight of their hand was lifted, replaced by light strokes across her hair.

“I’m sorry, Amaryllis. I had hoped to protect you by never seeing you. This is my fault.”

The voice wasn’t one she recognized. She wanted to peel her eyelids open and see who had spoken, but the heaviness hadn’t lifted, refusing to open no matter how much thought she put into it.

“You should feel better by tomorrow, by some miracle those mortals will say. But I couldn’t leave you lying in this bed.”

What did they mean? She felt tired, hungry, and confused on top of her body, still aching all over. She wasn’t sure what the magical world did for lightning strike wounds, but she doubted they worked quickly. Then a thought occurred to her; how long had she been out?

As if the voice knew her question, he answered. “Tomorrow—well, today is Friday when you awake. I doubt they will send you back to classes, but Amaryllis, the sky is not a place for you. It is not a domain you can willingly enter without being struck down. I have done what I could with these wizards to get you out of that class, but the rest is up to you. I pray you will be safe until summer.”

A creak sounded from somewhere, and the soft voice she heard before echoed in the room. The hand retreated from beside her, just as the scent of saltwater and seaweed hit her. “Is someone there?”

Nothing.

The room returned to quiet as the voice mumbled something, and footsteps grew closer.

“Still sleeping. Poor thing. I’ll have to get a potion ready for her in the morning. Might be feeling a bit sore and hungry.”

The voice grew quieter the further she got away, the click of a door echoing in the room again. And Amaryllis held out the tiredness as she twitched her fingers, wondering if they’d come back. She wanted to know who they were and how they disappeared as quickly as they had. Apparition was impossible within Hogwarts, or at least that’s what they were told, and Amaryllis doubted what they taught in History of Magic was wrong. Which meant there was something going on beyond the magic she knew or someone more powerful than Dumbledore had just been in the room with her.