The Dreamer's Curse

The Stone

[Chapter 13]

Grandma Caroline was sneaky. In the morning, she pulled out application forms to no less than three British universities and cajoled me into applying as a transferee student. It was her Christmas present to me — or mine to her. I wasn’t quite sure of the distinction just yet. I had nearly signed my name as Jane Kingsleigh instead of Jane March, which would have complicated things indeed. It took the whole day, and by the end of it, I was thoroughly exhausted.

After reading a Christmas greeting from Raph, and sending one in return, I went to bed and expected to turn up in the hospital wing. Instead, I drifted into blackness and spent the evening writhing in pain, not even feeling the vortex which brought me back. My shirt clung to my sweat drenched back and I was panting. My headache was back with a vengeance.

My phone rang next to me, only increasing the throbbing in my head.

I picked up after the twelfth ring. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Joe’s cheery voice blared in my ear.

I moaned in response.

“Not a good time?” he asked.

“Not exactly.”

“Well, uhm, Merry Christmas, Jane.”

“You too.”

A pause.

“Everything all right?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, my head just hurts.”

“Hey, I have to tell you something important…”

“Yeah?”

“I think you should know… Never mind, I’ll tell you when you get back.”

“Hey, wait—”

Joe hung up. I tossed my phone on the floor and squeezed my eyes shut until I finally fell asleep.

“She’s waking! Madam Pomfrey! Come quickly!” I heard someone’s faint voice call out.

I let out a groan. My head was still throbbing, though much less than in my own realm. I gingerly pried my eyes open to find a small cluster of people around me.

“Thank Merlin, you’re awake, Jane! It’s nearly been nearly two months!” Flora exclaimed.

“It’s past two months, Hestia,” Ron frowned.

“I’m Hestia, Ron!”

“And I’m Flora!”

“Two months of this,” Harry smiled at me. “That’s what you’ve caused.”

“Dumbledore and Flitwick were furious with Quirrell when you’d been found,” Fred pipped from my right.

“Yeah,” George went on. “The git left you for dead, he did.”

“Reckon McGonagall would’ve hexed him if he turned around.”

I gave them a weak smile. “What else have I missed?”

Harry smiled. “Christmas, and New Years. Tomorrow’s the start of term — speaking of which —”

“Lots of lessons,” Hermione appeared out of nowhere and dumped a stack of books and papers on my bedside.

“Here, I’ve copied some notes for you.”

“Hermione,” Ron grumbled. “She’s just woken up, and you’re talking about homework?”