SEA, SWALLOW ME, remus lupin

seachd, the ballad of broken bones

CHAPTER SEVEN
the ballad of broken bones

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THE FOLLOWING MORNING, COVE IS once again sat twiddling her thumbs in front of an extremely stressed Madam Pomfrey. An influx of students have flocked to the Hospital Wing with back to school bugs, meaning that the healer has a very busy schedule of handing out cold-curing potions. So, here sits Cove, waiting.

Grey skies float by outside as she hangs about patiently, reminding her of the rainy summer by the seashore she lived through. It was only a few weeks ago, she supposes, yet nostalgia bows against her heartstrings as if they're a violin's. She can almost smell the lingering saltwater in her hair, taste the fresh seaweed on her tongue. Homesickness has always been a weakness of hers but it's hitting like a bullet train the more she stays on dry land. Cove's two worlds are slowly tearing her in half: a schism in her soul.

  She nearly flies ten feet into the air when Madam Pomfrey grazes her bad arm, pulse racing from the shock. A furious blush colours her cheeks when she recovers.

  Madam Pomfrey doesn't seem to notice and tuts at her. "Merlin knows how you managed to loosen the bandages on the first night. That's definitely a record."

  Cove studies her. "Why, do you get many selkie patients?" she asks curiously.

   "You'd be surprised," she hums.

  Cove raises an eyebrow. She purses her lips, kicking her feet back and forth as her arm is taken care of. Cove wouldn't consider herself squeamish, per se, but in her defence it's far easier to get through the searing pain when she's not staring at her wounds. She knows the webbing's long gone, though there's still some nasty bruising around the skin that was battered by her metamorphic bones. A cold healing salve is smoothed over the scattered patches of irritation and she knows it's safe to look. The salve begins to sting.

  "Are they anyone I'd know?"

  "I doubt it," Pomfrey says. "The last one I knew of graduated years before your time. Lovely boy from Elgin, mind you."

Cove has to hand it to Madam Pomfrey — she doesn't know anyone from Elgin, but it still feels as if there's something she's not being told. Then again, what is there to hide?

  "Goodness, that is some very stubborn scarring, pet. I'm afraid that I can't do much to heal them. It appears that your claws were too strong and the wounds aren't fresh enough for magic to fix them."

  She falters, peering at her hands tentatively. "Oh, that's alright," Cove says sincerely. "I can live with a few scratches. Thank you for all your help, Madam Pomfrey."

  "Have a good day, love."

  "You too! I'll be back before you know it."

  Madam Pomfrey sends her a bizarre look. "Hopefully not."

  She just laughs.

When she's on her way out, her gaze snags on the boy sat on the neighbouring hospital bed through a crack in the curtain. Their eyes meet with the force of tidal waves crashing against one another in the open sea. He looks away just as quickly, picking nervously at his cuticles as the cogs turn in her head. Cove decides that since he's already spotted her and there's no excuse not to talk to him, she should go over and say hello. Just to be polite. ( Fallon and Mary's teasing definitely got to her. ) Perhaps it's the painkillers getting to her head but she's in a particularly good mood, the sort of one where she has the overwhelming feeling to make friends. She doesn't get that often.