juliet rivers is a fan of herbology (hang_ten) wrote in changedrpg, @ 2011-10-13 14:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !date: 1997 - october, juliet rivers, rufus macfusty |
WHO: Rufus MacFusty & Juliet Rivers
WHAT: Rufus wakes up after the attack
WHERE: Mungo's
WHEN: Thursday morning
WARNINGS/RATING/STATUS: None/G/Finished log
It was almost ten when Rufus started finally waking up. He stirred lightly but it took a few minutes to swim through the haze all the potions had left and blinked against the light when he opened his eyes. “Jules?” He said, glancing down at the blond head next to him, but all that came out was a croak. Clearing it, he tried to sit up but hissed at the pain the movement caused and settled for touching her head lightly. “Jules?” He said again, his voice clearer this time.
Jules woke almost instantly when Rufus touched her head, pushing off the side of the bed and sitting up in the uncomfortable hospital chair. “Rufus,” she responded, her voice quavery. She wanted to jump him, wrap her arms around him and hug him, and it was only through great strength of will that she managed to stay seated. “How are you? Do you need anything?”
Shaking his head first, Rufus quickly changed his mind. “Water?” he asked, shifting much slower this time as he pushed himself a little more upright.
Nodding, Jules moved, pouring him a glass and holding it out to him. She watched him carefully, her brow furrowed as she did. She couldn’t remember a time that she’d been this worried and she perched at the edge of her chair as he drank, her fingers pressing against his arm, hungry for the contact.
Rufus took the glass and downed it quickly, drinking eagerly until it was gone. “Thanks,” he gasped, catching his breath as he set the glass down on the bedside table. He rested his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes for a moment, placing his hand over hers.
Dropping her other hand onto his, Jules sandwiched his hand between hers. For once, she didn’t know what to say to Rufus, she was completely at a loss and she’d never ever had any problem speaking to her best friend. “How do you feel?” she finally asked, a frown still curling her lips down.
“Like I got hit by a Hippogryff,” he said, flashing a small smile as he tried to joke with her.
“Oh Ruf,” Jules breathed, feeling fragile, angry and sad and she just wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she just took a breath and pushed on, knowing that Ruf was feeling worse. “Do you know what happened?”
“Yeah, I...” Rufus nodded and tried to call up the memory of last night. He remembered it all it was just a little blurry. “I got attacked. By a...” he said, recall the tackling and the pain but his face fell slightly, giving her a weak, horrified look when he realised just what had done the attacking.
Jules nodded, slowly, bouncing slightly on the chair, wanting to hug him close, but not wanting to hurt him. She couldn’t say the words, but judging by the look on Ruf’s face, she wouldn’t have to. “It was Fenrir Greyback,” she told him, leaving out the argument she and Kenna had gotten into with the werewolf.
The implications of the attack sunk in and Rufus felt mildly sick as he nodded at the additional information. “So not hit by a Hippogryff then,” he said, still trying to joke even when he was at a loss for what to say.
“He... bragged about it,” she blurted out, before she could stop herself, anger evident on her face. She’d been angry more often in the past few hours than she had been in her entire life.
Her outburst pulled his attention and he studied her expression for a moment. “You talked to him?” He asked, his disbelief plain. “Jules..he...you can’t...”
“No, Ruf,” she told him, shaking her head. It wasn’t like she’d searched him out, run into him in person. “He posted about it, like he was...” she cut herself off and shook her head again, twisting her hand to grip his.
“Jules, don’t,” he begged, squeezing her hand. Fenrir was capable of anything and attacking him was bad enough but he didn’t think he could handle anything like this happening to her. “Just, don’t, please,” he said, softer, watching her closely.
Watching him for a moment, Jules sucked in a breath and tipped forward, resting her head against his arm. “I love you,” she told him, dropping her arm around his waist and gently hugging him.
“I love you too, Jules,” he said, his worried expression softening as he held onto her arm and brushed a hand over her hair. “Do Mum and Dad know yet? Any of them?” He asked, resisting the urge to look around the empty room for his family.
She nodded, twisting her head slightly, so she could look up at him, not wanting to move away from him. “I got a message to Tamsin, she got the rest of them, Pethy too,” she gestured towards the door. “They just went to get breakfast, they’ve been here the whole night, I just... couldn’t leave you.”
Worried about what his family was going through, Rufus nodded and stroked Jules hair again. “I don’t mind,” he told her, glad he’d woken up to someone and not an empty Mungo’s room. “How are they?”
“Kenna’s angry,” she answered, the feel of Ruf’s fingers in her hair calming her. “Elspeth’s not doing so well, Tamsin got her from school last night, but she’s really worried. She didn’t want to leave you either but your parents made her go get something to eat.”
Ruf’s expression twisted slightly, guilty that they were all worried and freaking out because of him. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, dropping his gaze as he knew she’d reject his apology right away.
Shooting her head up, Jules stared at him. “You’re mad,” she told him, simply.
“That’s not new,” he joked, not ready to get into an argument over guilt when he could still only struggle to sit up. “You’ve been telling me that forever.”
“It still stands,” Jules said firmly, wishing Rufus didn’t look so pathetic and injured. She watched him for a moment before taking his hand and pressing a kiss to it. “Is there anything you want?” she asked, softly.
“To go home?” He asked hopefully, even though he knew he’d be stuck there for a while longer.
Jules winced sadly and shook her head. “I don’t know when that’ll happen. I won’t leave you, though,” she promised.
“You have to work,” he pointed out, giving her hand a squeeze and smiled encouragingly. “I feel great, maybe they’ll let me go today. We can convince them, right?”
Jules’ attention had been focused so solely on Rufus that she hadn’t even thought of work and let out a little gasp. “I’m supposed to work tonight!” she told him, before she could stop herself. “Maybe Kenna or Tamsin can stay with you, while I’m working, or I can take off...” she trailed off, trying to figure out how much money they had, glad that Ruf’s uncle had helped them buy the cottage and they didn’t have to worry about not making rent.
“It’s okay if you can’t, I understand,” he said, smiling at her even though he wished she wouldn’t have to go anywhere. He felt better when she was around, even when he was in a hospital bed, injured.
“No,” Jules shook her head. “I’m staying here, I’ll let Leah know there was an emergency. It doesn’t matter, I can get another job. I’m not going anywhere,” she paused and looked down at herself, tugging her grimy shirt away from her body. Glancing back up, she gave Ruf a weak smile. “Except home to shower.”
“I didn’t want to say anything,” he teased, shifting slightly on the bed. “But you could use one.”
She didn’t want to say that she was lucky Kenna or Tamsin or someone had cleaned her clothes in the night because, she’d’ve been covered in his blood otherwise. “Do you want me to go see if I can find your parents?”
“Can you?” He nodded, afraid to see the worried look on his family’s faces but wanting to see them even more.
Nodding, Jules pushed out of her chair and hesitated before dropping down to gently hug him. “I love you,” she said again, more grateful than she could express that Rufus was awake and going to be as alright as possible given the circumstances. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she told him, hugging him lightly again before pushing out of the room in search of his family.