pl_bill (pl_bill) wrote in plagued_rpg, @ 2010-01-30 16:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | 1999 january, bill weasley, hogwarts: grounds, hogwarts: hospital wing, melinda bobbin, neville longbottom |
Who: Bill Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Melinda Bobbins
When: After the attack
What: Bill find's Neville and brings him to hospital
Where: Hospital Wing
Rating: fairly low
Complete/Closed
Bill did not like full moons. Sure, it could have been worse, he could have been a full blown werewolf but the moon and the days surrounding it were still miserable for him. His craving for bloody meat got more intense, he became irritable and restless and most of all he wanted to be alone, especially when the moon was up. He couldn't see it through the window he was looking out due to the fog, but he didn't need to, he knew where it was. When he heard the howl, he thought he was imagining things, but it sounded close to the castle. Letting a low growl slip from his lips, he made his way down to the grounds, it was probably nothing but Bill felt pent up and a walk would do him good anyway.
Bill might not have been a wolf, but his senses got sharper around the moon and he smelled the blood before he rounded the corner. He saw the boy passed out in the hallway and as he approached the unmoving body, he heard the clawing at the door. Werewolves, thats really what the school needed. He looked down at the boy, assessing the situation as he used his wand to levitate Neville, trying not to knock him around too much. This... this was just the tip of the iceberg, it was only going to get worse for the boy, Bill knew, but his first focus was to get him to the hospital wing.
Levitating the body, Bill moved as quickly as he could, calling for help as soon as he was near enough for the staff to hear him.
Melinda's eyes were tired. She'd been stuffed inside the infirmary longer than she had intended to be there, completely losing track of the time. She remembered someone coming to tell her it was time for the feast (in case you ever forgot something so ingrained in your mind), but that had been hours ago, even though it didn't particularly feel like it. Somewhere between the book on magical viruses and lists of different constellations of ingredients, she heard Bill's voice in the distance. Curiously, her brow furrowing, she stood from her desk. She nudged the door open to poke her head out and paled nearly instantly, seeing a body float towards the infirmary.
"Bloody hell, what happened?" She asked, pushing the doors open all the way to accommodate the floating boy. "There's-- The empty bed just on the left there." Melinda added, pointing in the general direction of the empty bed. She hurried aside them, pulling the curtains to section them off, in case anybody might still be awake, or curious.
Bill quickly placed the boy on the bed that Melinda had pointed at and took a step back. He didn't leave the bed, but gave the healer enough room to do what she had to. He had no idea how to heal a person with wounds as bad as his. Bill also didn't know what to say to her when she asked him what happened, He wasn't there, he could only guess, but he knew one thing for sure. There was a werewolf on campus, and he was hungry. Bill frowned and looked back over the boy.
"I don't know, I found him in front of the entrance. I heard a howl and when I went to investigate i found him. There was definitely a clawing sound from the door. The kid was obviously attacked by a werewolf. Why he was outside this late at night though, I'm not sure. Or who the werewolf was." Bills eyes darken, he didn't have to know who it was to know that he was going to get rid of it. Bill supressed the thought of his own fight with a werewolf, and a part of him, the angrier werewolf part of him, hoped it was Fenrir.
"Werewolf..." Melinda echoed as she looked at the boy. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him. So many students did any more, but she'd long forgotten so many names. She looked up at Bill for a moment before stumbling towards the potions cabinets. Werewolf. There wasn't much Melinda would be able to do for the kid. Those wounds would end up being ghastly scars -- just like the ones Bill had.
Melinda did what she could do. She stopped the bleeding and healed the gashes as much as the magic in them would allow. Broken bones were mended, and a potion to encourage the replacement of his blood was given as best as she could manage. The pain potion would unfortunately have to wait.
"This is the first time werewolves have been here, hasn't it?" She asked, looking up from Neville as she set about bandaging the worst of his wounds.
Bill watched her silently as she healed Neville, gave him potions and bandaged the wounds. He didn't know what to say to her, he barely knew her and he certainly didn't know Neville, but he felt compelled to stick around and watch after the boy. He had to start keeping a better tab on his family, if there was one werewolf, others would soon follow and it wouldn't be long before Fenrir himself was on the campus. With him around no one would be okay, especially not his family.
"No. They've been here before. Twice." Bill paused slightly, catching sight of his face in a reflective surface near by. "Both of the major battles that took place on Hogwarts grounds involved at least Fenrir that I know of, probably more." Without thinking, Bill brought his hand up to rub his face. "I'm less concerned that they came, and more concerned that they can't leave. Students... they have to realize they just cant go running around on campus anymore." Bill sighed.
"Do you know when the boy will come around?" Bill looked anxiously at the injured boy.
"I meant... recently." Melinda spoke softly, though she really already had her answer. She doubted there would be any student foolish enough to be walking around on a full moon when there were werewolves about. She was beginning to understand why it had been such a fight to get transferred to Hogwarts. First the virus, then the murder... now werewolves. What was happening?
"Probably not until the morning. He lost a lot of blood." With the tap of her wand, the last of the bandaged bound against itself. She stuffed the wand back into her pocket before going about cleaning up the mess of her efforts. "It's a sad thing that Hogwarts isn't even safe any more." Hadn't that always been the most remarkable thing about the school -- that it was the safest place?
Neville woke late the next morning screaming. His entire body hurt, though the pain in his left arm and stomach somehow seemed to overpower the rest. He sat up quickly in the bed, though fell back down, his head spinning. He tried to remember what happened, why he hurt.
It came back to him in flashes. Losing track of time in the greenhouses; flashes of gray fur; growling; running; a howl; pain; falling; laying on the ground, yellow eyes staring at him, teeth close to his face. He screamed again, bringing his hands to his face to cover his eyes, though not realizing that only one came.
Bill jumped when the boy screamed. He had ultimately decided to wait around the hospital wing until Nevill woke up. He hadn't been there the entire time, having left just long enough earlier in the morning to check on his wife and grab something to eat. Bill wasn't sure exactly what to do, or what was entirely appropriate, but what he did know was that there was a pain potion sitting in the tray next to the bed. He wasn't a healer, but now seemed like a good time to give it too him.
"Hey Neville, here, calm down and take this, it'll help." Bill said uncapping the potion. He reached gently to remove Neville's arm from his face. "You're safe now, kid, you just need to take this for the pain." Bill tried to reassure him, though he realized that the scars that tore across his face would not be the most pleasant thing given what happened to him, not that they were ever terribly pleasant to see.
Neville took the potion, the taste foul but he almost instantly felt the pain start to subside. Finally looking up to whomever it was helping him he saw Bill. He'd never met the man before but had heard enough about him from Ron to recognize him. He also remembered hearing where the scars came from. Had he been in a better mood he probably would have thought it ironic that he was the one to find him. He looked away.
"Was it a dream? It had to be another dream that... that couldn't have happened right?" There was some desperation in his voice. Neville knew that Bill didn't change, but wondered if he might do it in his nightmares. There was no other way this could happen. There couldn't be a real, full fledged, werewolf at Hogwarts.
Bill frowned and crossed his arms. He really wanted to tell Neville that it was a dream and that Neville would be okay. He wanted to be able to tell Neville that it would all go away and that there would be no trace of the attack. But he couldn't. He couldn't really give the boy any help. Sure, they had both been attacked, but Bill wasn't a werewolf and he was certain that Neville would be, which would mean that Neville was worse off than Bill was. He didn't say anything when Neville looked away.
"No." Bill said slowly, "It wasn't a dream." Bill only knew that it wasn't a dream because he hadn't slept. He pulled up on of the chairs and sat in it, leaning forward to Neville. "It was definitely a werewolf that attacked you? I know you don't want to talk about it, but If there is the Headmaster needs to know." Bill said slowly. He would save the talk of what would happen to Neville himself for a little bit later.
The sound of screaming, generally, was a sure way to get a healer in your general area rather promptly. Melinda dropped the journal she had been working in, leaving the quill to splatter ink across the knotted wood of the desk as she hurried to find her newest patient -- Neville. She skidded to a halt just outside the curtain that sectioned off the bed from the rest of the infirmary. Carefully, so as not to cause any sort of alarm, she pulled the curtain back as Bill spoke. A sigh of relief passed her lips when she saw the little vial of the pain potion already in Neville's hand.
"It's good to see you finally awake, Mr. Longbottom." She said softly, the hint of the Scottish Highlands in her voice. She took the empty bottle from him, setting it on the cabinet next to his bed before making a notation in his file.
Neville took a deep breath. It wasn't a dream. He didn't know what to think, to say, to do. His entire life had just changed
in an instant, and not for the better.
Bill was right, he didn't want to talk about it; he didn't even want to think about it. But he knew he had to, he couldn't just sit there quietly and let that thing get in the castle, let it hurt other people. "I-It had to be." He was shaky and quiet. "I d-don't know w-what else it could have b-been."
He saw the healer when he looked back up, though only nodded when she spoke. He couldn't make himself agree with her statement, and didn't know what else to say.
Bill looked up when Melinda came in. If she asked him to leave or move, than he would, but until then he would just sit there. He nodded when Neville spoke, he wanted to ask why he was outside, what kind of stupidity had possessed him to go wandering out at night just weeks after the murder of a fellow student. He knew saying those things would be a bad idea, and he tried to think about what he would do if it were Ron in this situation.
"Listen," Bill said trying to catch Neville's eye, "If it was... a werewolf, things aren't going to be pleasant from you here on out. It was the moon last night, and unless you are... <i>incredibly</i> lucky, you have the disease." He said softly. "Its going to be hard, but I'll help you the best I can... We can talk about it more when your ready." Bill said and he leaned back in his chair, he wasn't going to push Neville into talking about it just yet, but he wasn't going to leave either.
Melinda had no intention of asking Bill to leave. Especially not when he, between the two of them, had more of an idea as to the subject matter. Instead, she stayed quiet, hugging Neville's information. Whether or not he wanted to talk about it, there were things that needed to be discussed. They needed to ensure his name got on a list for wolfsbane - something, she thought, they might want to start brewing here to avoid any more panic rather than requesting it from St. Mungo's.
She'd seen this once or twice during her training. The wealth of things that could, and were never really, done spun in her head. She pulled up a chair to sit in, trying to make herself focus on this first step here, telling the patient.
He stared at his hands at first, as Bill spoke to him. Though he looked up and eventually let the man look at him. His eyes looked just like Ron's, only they seemed wiser, like there was more life, experience, behind them. Even though he never knew the older man before he felt some strange and twisted connection to him. "Thank you." he whispered, looking away again.
Neville felt tears slip from his eyes as he lay there. He didn't know what to do. He knew he'd have it, it was obvious that the wolf last night had no semblance of humanity, whoever that had been embraced the wolf, let it take control. He hadn't just been bit a little either, half of his arm had been destroyed; there was no way he was getting out of this, simply with a little luck.
He took a deep breath. "What... what do I do. I d-don't want to h-hurt anyone."
Bill found himself wishing that he knew the younger man better, and wished he knew just what to say to him. Sure, there was wolfsbane, but how long before they began to run out of components for the potion? Its not like the school was getting a lot of help from the outside world, not that Bill could tell anyway. Slowly, Bill nodded at Neville.
"I know you don't want to hurt anyone, and I'm going to do my best to make sure you don't." Bill told him, "There are... really only two options. You can let the wolf in you take over, thats what most werewolves do, and you wont be able to control yourself on the full. Or, you can take Wolfsbane monthly. Under wolfsbane, you still transform but... You'll have better control over yourself, your head will still be there. It wont be easy, but its the best option." He watched Neville for a moment, giving time for the boy to ask questions or the healer to add anything he missed.
"Given the current state of things, it might be that Headmaster Flitwick requires you to take the wolfsbane potion." Melinda began, shifting in her seat to better address Neville. "You'll need to take one potion a day starting on the first quarter of the moon up until the full moon. I'll start today making sure that the potion will be here when you need it, so you'll come to us to get it. We'll see if we can't set up a space for you during the first few months to ensure that your body is taking well to the wolfsbane."
Melinda's hand reached out, resting on Neville's for a moment. She squeezed his arm in an attempt to be reassuring, though she doubted it would have done much. "It's not a completely desirable solution, I know. It's the best we have for now, though." After all, if it wasn't a member of her family that found it, she was quite certain that someone would find a solution for lycanthropy. Wolfsbane was just the tip of the iceberg. "For now, I'm going to ask that you stay here for a little while longer to make sure those wounds don't open up again. Is there anybody you want to talk to-- your friends? Or do you want to be left alone for a little while first?"
Neville didn't even think about the options. "I want the wolfsbane. I-I can't let it have control." He'd never be able to live with himself if her hurt anyone or did this to anyone else. "B-but, can we make it here? I know it's h-hard and costs a lot... I h-have money but I can't get it." He really wanted to stop stuttering and falling over his words but he couldn't seem to calm himself down enough to do it.
He flinched at the touch at first, not expecting it, though he didn't shy away from it. He'd discovered over the past months that he was a very physical person and he wanted nothing more than for someone to hold him in that moment, though he'd never ask one of them to do it, just because he'd be too embarrassed and wouldn't want to make them uncomfortable.
He nodded, figuring she was going to keep him anyway. He was really starting to hate the hospital wing, having spent far too much time there this year. He thought about asking for Demelza, he wanted to be with her more than anything, just to have her in his arms would make him feel so much better. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't let her see him like this and he couldn't let himself fall any further in love with her. He knew he had to leave her, to let her go, find someone who could be there for her and would never hurt her. He didn't know if he could be that person any more and didn't want to put her in that place. "No... d-don't call for them, they don't need to w-worry about me."
Bill nodded when Neville said that he would prefer to take the wolfsbane, he had known that the younger boy would take that option based on what he knew about the boy from the previous year (amongst the things that Ron had told him). If Bill had gone full wolf, it would have been the path he would have chosen. He frowned a little when Neville started babbling on about complexity and cost of wolfsbane.
"Don't worry about any of that Neville," Bill told him slowly, "If anyone can handle a wolfsbane potion, its Melinda and Pomfrey. As far as cost goes, don't worry about that either, helping the student body is what the hospital wing is here for." He did his best to sound reassuring and confident. He was sure of Melinda and Pomfrey's ability, there was no denying that, his worry was whether the Ministry would make sure they were stalked on the supplies necessary for the potion.
"I hope you don't mind if I hang around," He said looking at Neville. He felt somewhat attached to Neville due to the similarities of their situations, and seeing as Neville didn't want to see any of his friends, Bill found that he was more than happy to keep the boy company. "I can help with uh... observations... on the full moon if you want me too." Bill offered, trying to make it sound less like a scientific study and more of the gesture of companionship he was trying to put forth. "Its not like I have much to loose if things go wrong." He shrugged, he was already scarred and part wolf anyway.
Melinda, for a moment, felt a rise of unabashed pride when Bill gave his vote of confidence in her potion skills. Though she was pretty sure that the name Bobbin probably commanded a little more respect in the potions field than the title of healer. Still, it was hard not to want to preen just a little over such a compliment, especially from someone she didn't particularly know. It lasted only a moment, though, as Neville spoke again.
"Don't-- Bill's right. The school is here for that. If the school can't keep their supply stocked, I can have my brothers send it from my parent's store. Really, let the potion be the least of your worries right now." She gave Neville's arm one last squeeze before letting it fall back into her lap. She thought, for a moment, about telling him that they were going to worry one way or another-- that those scars weren't going to go away, ever. But she bit her tongue. It wouldn't do much good for him at the moment. "Alright," she said softly. "Is there anything I can get you, then?"
Neville sighed, he knew he'd let them use the schools' supplies but once those ran out, he'd figure out some way to pay them. He had money, from his parents mostly, he'd just have to figure out how to get it to the healer.
Neville just shook his head at Melinda's question. He knew there were probably dozens of things it would make sense for him to ask for, food, a shower, his journal, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't want to do much of anything other than lay there. "I-I don't mind." He was almost glad Bill wanted to stay with him, he wasn't sure what would happen if he was left alone with his thoughts. He knew he'd feel better having someone there for his change, the first few times at least, but he found fault with Bill. "You... you can't stay. You're married, y-you have a big f-family, you can still have k-kids. You have enough to loose." Neville wouldn't let himself hurt that.
He looked down to his arm and the bandages covering most of it. He went to pick it up, look at it, but he could barely move it. "Is... did you do something to my arm? I-I can barely move it." He looked at the healer, his brow furrowed.
Bill watched Neville carefully, when he fell silent for a few moments, he could only imagine what the kid wold be thinking in the position that he was in. He leaned forward a little bit, he wanted to tell Neville that he was going to be around on the moons whether he had Neville's permission or not, but he had thought better of it. "I am married, and I do have a family, I'll always have a family. I have faith that the potion will work out just fine, and I've fought a werewolf before, if anything happens I'll be ready for it. I'm more suitable than anyone else you'll find." He said slowly. Bill chewed his lip and looked down at Neville's arm, it looked bad, but Bill wasn't sure what to say about it, he wasn't the healer Melinda was.
Melinda's eyebrow rose just a hair at Bill's comment. Wolfsbane or not, there weren't many people who'd willingly put themselves in the path of a werewolf. The reasonable part of her brain tried to figure out whether it was courage or stupidity that would put him in that room on a full moon. The female part of her brain had to wonder what his wife would say about it. She didn't envy him that conversation.
"Your arm was badly damaged by the attack." Melinda said after a moment, turning her attention back to Neville. "It'll heal, save for the scars. It's just taking a little longer than normal because of the causes of the wound. You should be fine by the end of the day." She gave him the best encouraging smile she could muster-- something dampened only by the fact that she felt bad for him. Nobody deserved this sort of future. She could remember Remus, the way he had to leave his post as professor before he was forced out. "I'm going to go get some paperwork done, and contact Headmaster Flitwick. If you need anything, just scream out Melinda and I'll be here in seconds."
Neville sighed again. He knew he wouldn't win the fight with Bill; at least not this time.
He looked back to the arm, "Oh." He tried moving it again. He was able to flex his fingers but couldn't do a whole lot more. He felt a tinge of pain as he tried to lift it and when he tried to bend his elbow, apparently bad enough to get through the potion. He looked back to the healer, nodding, "I will."
He turned to Bill once she left. "Th-thanks. For...for everything." Neville was sure he'd be in much worse shape had Bill not been there, he was a strange kind of comfort. Ne looked back to his hands for a long moment before asking quietly, "Wh-what's it like?" He knew that even though Bill didn't transform every month but that there were other effects werewolves felt throughout the month.
"There's no reason to thank me. I didn't go through my attack alone, not only did I have my family and fiance, but Remus was pretty helpful." Bill said with a shrug. "I don't know. You're symptoms are going to be a lot worse than mine, I'm not a full wolf." He said slowly, leaning forward a little bit.
"Around the moon, I get really edgy. Quick to anger, moodiness, I'm quite the jerk to be around. I get... restless. I have to be up and moving and running and while it helps me get in great shape, its actually a little bit annoying to my wife and my work. Sometimes, I go days without sleep. And I get this... intense hunger for bloody meat. Normal stuff though, like steak." Bill told him, "Though, as a warning, the person who turned you... they'll likely want you for their own, my expirience is that they get a sick satisfaction out of claiming those they taint by offering them a place in the pack. It's not a offer you want to consider Neville."
Neville bit his lip as Bill explained all of the aftereffects. Part of him hoped that he wouldn't be so terrible as to drive everyone close to him away, but at the same time another part did; if people left him than they wouldn't worry about him as much. When Bill mentioned Remus, Neville thought of Teddy, wondering if the baby felt anything like that and how hard it would be for Harry.
Neville hadn't even thought about whoever had done this coming back to find him. He didn't even know who that was, having only seen them as a wolf. His brow furrowed, "I-I wouldn't want that. I don't...aren't the packs usually...the one's who hunt, wh-who hurt people?" He couldn't imagine doing that.
He sighed again, yawning this time. He was tired, but almost afraid to sleep. "Do you... do you think you could get my journal for me and maybe some books... on, well, you know." He wasn't sure if he could actually say it yet. "Ron would know where my journal is in the dorm. But... could you, not tell him yet. I-I don't want it to get around before I tell De-a f-few people."
Bill nodded, "Generally speaking that's what they do. They stick together a lot, it... kinda preys on people dislike of being alone." He said with a shrug. "Obviously, you don't have to join the pack, but they are going to try to pressure you to join them. I was just letting you know."
He nodded and stood, wiping his hands on his pants as he stood up for no real reason. "Don't worry, I'll take care of your things, and don't worry, I wont tell anyone, not even Ron. Meanwhile, try and get some sleep." He told him. He knew that Neville wasn't going to, but he thought he would tell him to anyway. "Are you sure there is no one you want me to send up here?"
Neville took a deep breath. He wanted to deny it but he needed to see her. Even if all he did was tell her he wasn't going to be with her anymore. "C-Can you send Demelza Robins?" he asked Bill quietly. "She's a se-seventh year Gryffindor. Small, she p-probably has red hair but it might be blond."
Bill nodded at Neville again, "I'll let her know to come here as soon as possible. I'll come back with your things a little bit later, alright?" He said as he left Neville.