The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 5

Fred had been walking with George and Lee, and they were about to enter the Great Hall when Parvati ran in, shouting for help. "It's Anna! She won't wake up!"
Fred's eyes widened and he ran over to Parvati, gripping her by the shoulders. "Where is she? What happened to her?!"
"I don't know!" Parvati said, her eyes wide. "She said that Crabbe and Goyle roughed her up a little, and she seemed fine until she got into our carriage, and then she just kind of slumped over."
"Take me to her." Fred said urgently, and Parvati dashed outside; he was right on her heels. He yanked the door open, gathering an unconcious Anna into his arms. Fred walked as fast as he could, people parting so that he could get through.
"Hang on Anna." He muttered as he stared down at her pale face. "Just hang on, you're going to be alright."
He reached the hospital wing and laid Anna down in one of the beds, looking at Madame Pomfrey as she scurried over.
"Can the Potters never stay out of trouble?" Pomfrey muttered as she checked Anna's injuries. "Lots of bruising...broken arm...a couple broken ribs...possibly internal bleeding..." Pomfrey talked to herself as she made a list of ingredients and handed it to Fred. "Weasley, get this list to Professor Snape, tell him that I need this potion as soon as possible."
Fred didn't ask any questions; he simply nodded as he grabbed the piece of parchment and ran out, not stopping until he had reached the Great Hall, where the Sorting Ceremony had just begun. He panted as he went up to Snape and handed him the list. "Madame Pomfrey said that she needs this potion right away; Anna might die if she doesn't get it."
Snape stood up, his black robes billowing around him as he rushed out of the Hall, and Fred dashed after him.
Snape went into the Potions pantry, gathering different vials and bottles into his arms before going into the Potions classroom. He muttered to himself much like Madame Pomfrey had, but Fred couldn't make out what he was saying. He watched as Snape put the ingredients inside a cauldron. Snape stirred it a few minutes, frowned, and added some more ingredients before stirring it again. The potion began to bubble, and when the smoke turned from an emerald green to a pale blue, he poured the potion into a vial. "Take this to Madame Pomfrey Mr. Weasley. And try not to dawdle. As you said, Miss Potter's life is on the line."
Fred slipped the vial into his robe  pocket before running quickly to the hospital wing. "Here." He gave the vial to Madame Pomfrey. She removed the lid before tilting Anna's head back and pouting the liquid down her throat. She had also made a salve to spread over Anna's bruising, and she lifted up the young girl's shirt. Anna's entire stomach was black and blue; Fred almost gagged and he turned away at the sight.
Madame Pomfrey spread the pink paste over Anna's stomach before pulling her shirt back down. "Mr. Weasley, if you feel like you're going to be ill, kindly take a seat."
"I'm fine." Fred insisted. "Anna's gonna be alright isn't she?"
"Only time will tell." Madame Pomfrey answered. "We'll know for sure in a few hours. Kindly go and fetch her brother, I'm sure that he'll want to come and  see her."
"He's not here." Fred answered. "I haven't seen him or Ron anywhere."
Hermione rushed in then. "I heard people talking about how Crabbe and Goyle beat Anna up-" she went pale as she stared at Anna's limp body.
"She'll be fine." Fred told Hermione. "Anna's strong, she's going to get through this."
Hermione merely nodded numbly. Fred sighed and he wrapped her in a hug, rubbing her back as she began to cry. "It's going to be alright, she's gonna be okay," he mumbled, not really caring that she had soaked his shirt; Fred could tell that Hermione needed comfort right now. After all, Anna was basically the sister that Hermione never had.
"She has to get better." Hermione whispered. "She just has to."
"And she will." Fred assured her. "I promise that she will."
Hermione merely nodded as she pulled away from Fred, sniffling as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I'm going to kill Draco." She muttered and Fred chuckled softly. "I'll help you hide the body."
"There will be none of that kind of talk here." Madame Pomfrey said sternly, but there was the tiniest trace of a smile on her face, so Hermione and Fred were fairly certain that they wouldn't get into too much trouble for it.
Dumbledore and McGonagall entered then, both of their faces grave.
"How is Miss Potter's condition Madame Pomfrey?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not good, I'm afraid." Madame Pomfrey responded. "She's lucky that she's even alive. Mr. Weasley got that potion to me just in time. Physically, she'll probably recover just fine, given some time. Mentally and emotionally, however...well, I can't exactly say for sure how it's affected her in those areas. Until she's woken up, we won't know the full extent of the damage."
"Please keep us updated Poppy." McGonagall said, and Madame Pomfrey nodded. "Of course I will, Minerva."
Dumbledore sighed as he looked at Anna. "It's a sad day indeed when students turn on each other in so violently a manner." He nodded at Madame Pomfrey before walking out with McGonagall.
"Madame Pomfrey..." Hermione said after a moment's silence. "You said that you didn't know how this would affect Anna both mentally and emotionally...what did you mean by that?"
Madame Pomfrey gave a long sigh. "Usually when someone goes through something as traumatic as this...it affects them in many ways. They may suffer from paranoia, nightmares are also common. She may cut herself off from people, almost retreating into a type of shell."
"Isn't there some way that we can help her?" Fred asked, and Madame Pomfrey was silent for a moment. "I suppose that all you can really do is be there for her, especially if she tries to close herself off. It would be then that she would need to know that people are there for her; that she has people that want to help her."
Fred and Hermione both nodded, they would be sure to be there for her, and Fred was certain that others would be there for her as well. There were a lot of people that cared about Anna, and Fred could only hope that she realized that. But for right now, he had to make sure that Draco paid for what he had done.
"I'll be back." He muttered to Hermione, and she didn't have any time to question him before he was out the door.
"You better not do anything stupid Weasley." She mumbled before sitting by Anna's side, determined to stay there until she woke up.

Fred searched all over for Draco, finally finding him in one of the dungeon corridors with Crabbe and Goyle, tormenting some first year.
"Malfoy!" Fred shouted, and Draco turned to him as the first year scurried away. Draco sneered at Fred. "You lost,Weasley?"
Fred's hands curled into fists. "I know what you did to Anna."
Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Maybe I did something and maybe I didn't. Even if I had, there were no eyewitnesses to what had supposedly happened, just Potter's word against mine. And a lot more people will be inclined to believe me."
"Only because you'll be paying them off with Daddy's money." Fred retorted, and Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever way works. Besides, that little twat had it coming to her for getting Flint expelled."
Fred felt his blood begin to boil. "It's his own fault! He attacked Anna!"
"Oh please. She probably had it coming, the little blood traitor."
"That's it!" Fred whipped out his wand. He shouted a spell and a moment later Draco was screaming and jumping around, a dog's tail on his bottom. Fred laughed as he made his way back to the hospital wing.
"What did you do?" Hermione demanded, and Fred shrugged. "Just taking care of some unfinished business."
"You better not have done anything to get yourself into trouble."
"Look Mione, just drop it, alright? We have more pressing things than how I spend my time." Fred looked at Anna, who was still unconcious.
"Come on, Anna." He whispered. "Please wake up."