MISSED CALLS ➡︎ TEDDY LUPIN [2] ✓

cxv. THE HOSPITAL WING

Avalon opened her eyes to the dark, dimly lit hospital wing, and suddenly felt the urge to vomit. She didn't remember what happened prior to her ending up here. All she knew was that there were several cots pulled up next to the one she was on, far closer than Madam Pomfrey's strict rules usually allowed for.

On the cot closest to her was Cordelia Rosier, wide awake unlike the inhabitants of the other beds, and she was sitting up against the wrought-iron headboard with Isabel's head in her lap.

"Feeling nauseous?" Cordelia said quietly, barely above a whisper. When Avalon gulped and nodded, the brunette sighed. "I expected that. Oleander, if it doesn't kill you, will make you nauseous for quite a while after ingesting it."

All of Avalon's memories from the past several hours came rushing back to her, and she suddenly remembered eating the chocolates that she thought had been a gift from Teddy and puking her guts out in the Gryffindor bathrooms.

"So I really was poisoned, then?" Avalon asked in the same quiet tone as her sister's girlfriend, trying not to wake any of the others.

Apart from Cordelia and Isabel, Avalon could see Victoire's blonde hair shining like silver in the moonlight; she shared a cot with Beth, and the two of them laid back to back, both fast asleep. On the cot next to them, Violetta was sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning in her sleep.

Cordelia glanced up from Isabel to look at the redhead. "I'd drink some water if I were you—helps with the nausea." She said, not answering her question.

Avalon raised her eyebrows. "How do you know so much about poisons?"

"My dad... he, er, he taught me a lot. Apparently, my grandfather, y'know, the Death Eater, he specialized in poisons. Weekends with old grandpa Rosier were spent going over which plants caused what effects. Never taught me how to reverse them, though, so I had to learn that on my own. Dad nearly beheaded me when he found out I wanted to go into medicinal herbology." Cordelia laughed cynically, eyes far away and a look of careful contemplation on her face.

Madam Pomfrey came bustling into the otherwise quiet hospital wing, probably woken up by the two girls' hushed conversations; after all, Poppy Pomfrey was known for her eagle eyes and impossibly sharp hearing.

"Miss Weasley, I'm glad to see that you're awake." Madam Pomfrey said with a tight-lipped smile. "I trust that Miss Rosier and the others haven't been bothering you?"

Avalon shook her head, adjusting her position on the bed and wincing as another wave of nausea hit her. "No, not at all. Cordelia's just been keeping me company."

Madam Pomfrey's expression didn't change. "Excellent. Professor McGonagall has written to your mother, and she should be here in the morning to speak to the headmistress about possibly opening an investigation." She said.

"An investigation? You mean, an investigation into who poisoned me?" Avalon said with wide eyes. "If you tell my mother that someone tried to kill me, she'd burn down the school in the process of finding who did it."

cord + av = unlikely bffs