Who: Padma Patil and Adrian Pucey What: Padma seeks refuge When: June 25, Saturday, late evening Where: Adrian’s flat Rating: PG-13 (they are both naked in the shower, but as Adrian says, it’s in a ‘completely non-sexual manner.’) Status: Complete
Michael said to get somewhere safe, somewhere they wouldn’t think to look for her. Raising her hand to knock on the door of the flat, she knew this wasn’t what Michael had meant. It had taken her hours to get there, the Ministry’s Curfew cutting her apparations short, and she’d had to catch a Muggle bus the rest of the way. It was past midnight, it was raining, and Padma’s field healing of her wounds had stopped the bleeding enough for her to not bring too much attention to herself, but not quite enough, it seemed, to ease the pain or all of the bleeding. The blood was starting to soak back through her clothes and she could only hope Adrian knew the basic healing spells from playing Quidditch.
Really, she could only hope Adrian was home at all. It was probably a bad idea to come to him given their most recent conversation over the journals, but she had his address, and honestly, not much else of a choice. Steve’s with Anthony, Lavender’s, her parents, all would be ready targets should the Ministry want her found, so while she hated to endanger anyone else like this, the fact of the matter was she was hurt, she’d just confronted the man who had Obliviated her, and she was reeling from the pain of the wound on her thigh. Adrian was simple. He provided shelter, safety, potential healing, and not too many questions. And short of holding her, he provided everything she needed with the minimal risk to him or to herself.
Midnight on a Saturday night? Why on earth would he be home, man with a social life like him. Oh there was that grounding the ministry had laid down on him. That managed to keep him home most nights much to his dismay. Adrian knew he walked a fine line. The mark on his arm could give them any excuse they wanted to lock him up with his brother and father and throw away the key. He did want to avoid that. Stuck inside, the team having a nice loss on their hands... Adrian was awake with a beer in his hand spread across his sofa with something on the telly. Oh yes, a pureblood with a telly.
The wards he had up around the flat alerted him to the presence of someone before there was any sort of knock at the door. Adrian curled his fingers round his wand and padded quietly to the door. Peering through the peep hole his brows immediately pulled together.
Padma Patil looking like a drowned animal at his door well after curfew.
He yanked the door open and while there were a many questions running through his mind he didn’t ask any at first. “Get in here.” He simply said, stepping aside and holding the door open as he looked down the stairs that led up to the flat. Merlin only knew if the Ministry was dead set on hunting down wayward ST’s.
She had hoped he was in, but as the seconds dragged on between her knock and the door’s opening, she has begun to panic and doubt. Her eyes darted anxiously down the hall, and she wrapped her arms tighter around herself, wishing she had a sweater to ward off the chill of the building now that she was out of the warm, summer air outside.
She jerked as the door yanked open, eyes darting immediately to Adrian, almost afraid it wasn’t him, but some MInistry official who had anticipated her move and was already waiting on her. She’d just helped Michael jump the Minister’s Junior Assistant in Hogsmeade. Honestly, she was expecting anything at this point.
She slipped in quickly, ignoring the searing pain that shot up her side as she used her legs again. The pain in her left hip and injured side had dulled somewhat when she had stood still outside Adrian’s door, but moving again cause it to return with a roaring throb, and she began to immediately look for something to steady herself, or somewhere to sit. She half-turned to Adrian, a slightly woozy, dazed look on her face, trying hard in her tired, drained state to think of the words she needed to explain why she was here and what she needed.
She looked like a quidditch player who had just taken a bludger to the head. Well not just, rather like when they tried to get up before they ought to. Adrian’s brows only furrowed deeper as she stepped inside, her footing all too unsure. Adrian had just enough time to close the door behind them before he was putting his arm around her.
He didn’t think twice before he had his other arm scooping under her legs. “You’re not drunk.” He finally spoke, not smelling even a bit of alcohol coming off of her. “You’re sopping wet and about to fall over. What the fuck happened?” He didn’t bother to correct his language, there were few people he did that for. Astoria and perhaps Padma were among the few. But this situation deserved a fuck or two.
It wasn’t until he adjusted his hand on her legs and saw the red colour and ripped denim that he realized exactly what it was- “For fuck’s sake-”
“Don’t—” she started, defensive still from the night’s events, as he moved towards her, hand coming up to his chest instinctively, as if it might stop him from doing whatever he was about to do. She belatedly realized that he was steadying her. The moment his arms went under her legs, that arm darted up and around his neck, momentarily afraid of the quick movements, and disoriented by it. She clung to him, pressing her forehead immediately to his shoulder to muffle the yelp the slipped past her lips as he adjusted her in his arms.
“I—” she started, but could only press her face further against his shoulder, vision pricking hot at the corners of her eyes, forcing her to shut them quickly. She wanted to explain, but Adrian’s picking her up had caused the field dressing of her wound to come undone, and the blood started to gush freely beneath the ripped fabric of the light denims she wore, soaking through to Adrian’s fingertips.
She didn’t appear in any state to actually explain what was going on and Adrian didn’t exactly want to play the guessing game. But did he have much of a choice? He spared the tinge of blood that was on his hand now one last sparing glance before he moved, quick steps taking him toward the sofa he had just been lounging on. He’d thought about going straight to the loo but with no place to lay her down aside from the tub... the sofa seemed the better option. It could be cleaned.
He did his best to lay her down gently. He’d never been exactly known as a gentle man. Settling her head against the cushion, Adrian rocked back down onto his heels. “Can I look? I don’t know what the hell has happened to you but you’re hurt, that much is for certain.” He didn’t like this, not at all. Not that he cared, but he didn’t like it.
For someone who had been so apprehensive of being touched moments before, she clung to him until he rocked back on his feet. Even then, it was clear she didn’t want to let go. She opened her eyes slowly, vision clearing a bit as she took a deep breath. Focusing on his words, she tried to remember how to form responses and managed a nod. Her hands dropped, shaking, to the buttons of her denims, fumbling and inept as they attempted to get them down.
She didn’t even think about the fact that she was about to take off her pants in front of Adrian, just that she knew she had to get out of them to show him her wound, and knowing, dimly in the back of her mind, that she had to get out of her denims to let him help however he could.
The look on her face wasn’t something he wanted to see. It reminded him of a time that didn’t exactly bear remembering. She looked terrified and hurt and he’d be one cold bastard if he didn’t give two shits about that. Bastard yes, but not that cold. Adrian’s fingers closed over hers as she struggled to work the buttons in her jeans. “Stop,” He said with a surprisingly soft voice. “Just lay down and-” He released her fingers and took up the task she’d been trying to accomplish. “Just let me see how bad you’re hurt.” He didn’t relish this unbuttoning of pants, far from it.
“You can tell me what happened later.” He added looking up at her as he slowly tried to work the damn fabric down her hips. The blood was clear and he was fairly certain that this couldn't feel good for her.