HEATHENS - Harry Potter ✔

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It was bright. That's all she could process for a few minutes.

Then her hearing returned. The sound of birds chirping. A slight breeze. Something was hitting the window.

After that, she could smell. Antiseptic infiltrated her nose. The strong perfume of flowers; dandelions most likely.

Taste was fourth. Dryness; she needed water. A faint taste of medicine was present.

Last came feeling. Pain.

A groan escaped past her lips. She tried to move but seemed unable. She groaned again, this time out of frustration.

"Kiera?"

Neville was standing above her, a look of relief and worry on his features. The side of his head was bandaged.

"Neville?" she asked confused and worry registering into her system. "What happened to you?"

For a second, Neville's face seemed to be taken over by extreme worry. She could see him better now. One of his arms was supported by a sling and his face had multiple scratches. The bandage covering a large cut on the right side of his forehead had a dark spot of blood seeping into it. "The detention," he said slowly, "remember?"

The detention. That's what had caused her pain and the ... hallucinations. They were hallucinations.

None of it was real.

"Yeah," Kiera said, nodding her head but the movement just caused the sharp pain in her skull to intensify, so she stopped. "Yeah, I remember ... it was horrible."

Neville evidently couldn't offer any words of comfort, so he settled for a tight-lipped smile and sat back down on the bed next to hers. Kiera turned her head to the seeing that there was a glass of water on the small bedside table beside her. Making an attempt to reach for it, she noticed that her right arm was tightly bound.

Someone noticed her struggle and picked up the glass for her. "Here," she said, handing it to the girl.

Shock didn't even begin to explain it. "What are you doing?" demanded Kiera, not accepting the glass. "Why are you here?"

Astoria Greengrass gave an irritated sigh. She opened her mouth to say something, but Neville spoke first. "She's okay, Kiera. We can trust her."

"And what gave you that impression?" Kiera asked, not backing down.

"Hmm, I don't know," said Astoria sarcastically. "Maybe the fact that I saved both of your lives."

Kiera's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Yes, I saved your lives," repeated the girl. "I was down in the dungeons and I heard the Carrows, so I hid obviously but I heard Alecto say that she didn't suspect 'they' would make it through the night," the girl told the story. "Of course, I had no idea who she was talking about or if she was even being serious, but I decided to make sure. That's when I found you two, bleeding out in the corridor."

She paused for a moment, an anxious expression on her face as she looked at Kiera. "I think you were dead, for a few seconds. You weren't breathing and I couldn't feel a pulse. But I managed to get you both up to the Hospital Wing to Madam Pomfrey's care. She stopped your bleeding and took care of the most serious wounds, but neither of you had a medical slip so she couldn't keep you there in case the Carrows would suddenly show up. So, we moved you up here. It's a private room that's a part of the Hospital Wing but it's so rarely used that no one really knows about it ... now, drink the water."

Slowly, Kiera stretched out her hand and took the glass from Astoria. The first gulp of the liquid tasted heavenly; as did the second and third. Before she knew it the whole glass was gone.