“WAKE UP JAMIE!” someone screamed in my ear. I opened one eye to reveal my sister Lily, standing before me.
“What do you want?” I growled.
“Well hello to you too sunshine” Lily sank down into the lone chair beside my bed.
“Why are you here? You usually come in with Mom and Dad”
“Well, one of the nurses owled me, saying you needed a bit of a ‘pick me up’” she said, all too casually. I raised my eyebrows at her. “Okay, they said you hadn’t spoken to anyone in two days, and they owled me to see if I could snap you out of it”
“Snap me out of what? I’m perfectly fine”
“You smell like a dead person” she said bluntly. Tact had never been one of Lily’s strong points.
“I do not” I said indignantly.
“Yes you do, and quite frankly I think your Healer is a saint to put up with you! You’re acting like a little kid, throwing tantrums, and not talking to anyone about your problems! What’s wrong Jamie? What happened? Is it the walking thing? Because they told me you’ve refused to go to those”
“I suppose by ‘they’ you mean her” I pointed towards the door, where Florence was hovering.
“Don’t change the subject Jamie!”
“Fine, I didn’t go to two poxy gait-trainings okay? Big deal!”
“It kind of is, because if you’re going to dance at my wedding, you’re going to have to be able to walk” she fiddled with the small diamond ring that my eyes were now zoned in on.
“You’re engaged now? When did this happen?” I yelped.
“Last night” she blushed “Eugene asked, and I said yes, you’re the first person I told” she raised her head, and her chocolate brown eyes, so close a colour to mine bored into me. “So, I’ve told you my secret, now you tell me yours”
Lily and I had always been close. Albus was always a bit of a weird kid. When he was younger, he was so desperately shy that he only really spoke properly to Dad and Rose. As he got older, he was ‘too busy being misunderstood to pay attention to much else’ as Lily said. To put it simply, Lily understood me better than anyone else. And for that reason, she had the authority to tell me when I was being an idiot. Florence Creevey most certainly did not.
“Kaitlin came to see me on Wednesday” I picked at a loose thread in the duvet cover.
“I’m still not seeing the problem here”
“She. . . . . . She told me that she didn’t think she could handle someone with so many ‘issues’. She made it sound like we were just having some sort of fling. We were together for three years Lil’s, three years, and in the end, it just meant nothing to her”
“Oh Jamie” Lily got up off the chair, and wrapped her skinny, freckled arms around me. Somehow, she managed to get the same level of warmth into her hugs that Nana Weasley did, even though she was half her size. “Life’s kind of got it in for you at the moment doesn’t it”
“You’re telling me this” I laughed.
“You know, I always knew she was a cow. Sisterly instinct” She nodded wisely.
“Pity your sisterly instinct didn’t kick in sooner, isn’t it” I smiled sadly. She burrowed her head into my neck, and we stayed like this for a while until, in a muffled voice she told me she couldn’t stand the stench of B.O any longer, and demanded I took a shower.
“Well, I agree he does smell horrific, but it would make more sense if he took one after gait training, if he’s going to go” a soft voice, that was all too familiar to me said.
“Oh, he’s going” Lily smiled evilly up at me “Come on Jamie, shake a leg” I shot her a scathing look. “Too soon?” she winked
“Much too soon” Florence muttered to her.
~
“Come on Jamie!” Lily shouted “You can do it!”
I grunted with frustration, and attempted to drag my left leg forward, for just one more step. I leaned heavily on the two bars either side of me, the cool metal felt good against my sweaty palms. It felt like there were two cinder blocks tied to my feet, I almost got my left foot off the ground, but I lost my balance, and fell backwards into the chair. I slammed my fists against the bars. “Forget this! I give up!” I shouted.
“Just try one last time” Florence pleaded.
“Don’t tell me what to do” I snapped.
“Oi! Get off your high horse Jamsie-boy; don’t speak to her like that!” Lily strided across the room. “Now, I’m not going to let you quit just because you didn’t get it first try! It’s going to sound really corny, but we are Potters! And do we give up? No!”
“You have to remember James, your balance has been altered, you’re doing brilliantly” Florence added “Now, will we try it one last time?” I nodded silently. She grabbed my forearm, and helped me to my feet. And the cinder blocks returned.
I fought against them, and managed to drag my right foot forward. A faint ringing came into my ears, and I could just see Lily jumping around like a manic, and Florence beside me, a triumphant look on her face. The sweat poured down my face, but I battled on, dragging my left foot forward. I pulled my way to the end of the bars, and flopped down gratefully in the chair Florence conjured in front of me.
“Oh James! You got to the end of the bars!” Florence beamed, her eyes looked strangely moist.
“I knew you could do it” Lily squealed, clapping her hands together rapidly “Next thing on the agenda, shower, now”
~
After I had passed the Lily sniff test, Florence agreed to let me sit in the day room. I had grown heartily sick of the four walls of my room, and I was glad to be in a new environment. Geraldine, the woman in the bed beside me, waved merrily from where she was busily knitting what looked like a potato sack from across the room. I smiled back, and Lily accused me of having a cougar.
“Seriously though Jamie, watch your back, you’d never know what type of women could be prowling the halls, looking for unsuspecting idiots with very deep pockets” she winked. “Listen, I must head! I’ve to throw something together on the pros of dating a smart guy before Patil has my head” Lily rolled her eyes and left with a swift hug. She detested her job at Witch Weekly, but the journalism game was a hard one to get into. I smiled to myself, and didn’t even notice Florence Creevey arriving, pain killers in hand.
“You did really well today James, I actually feel kind of proud” she smiled warmly. I hadn’t noticed before, but Florence had a really nice smile. She was also tiny, barely up to my shoulder and as skinny as a whippet.
“So am I your favourite patient now?” I asked cheekily.
“Well, Gryffindor’s make the best progress, but they are definitely the most difficult patients” she said simply, placing the glass of water down on the table.
“Then who’s the best?”
“Slytherin, they’re used to being handed everything anyway” she giggled.
“What house were you in then? Ravenclaw?” I questioned.
“It’s unprofessional to release personal information to patients” she recited.
“Definitely a Ravenclaw” I concluded.
“Hufflepuff actually” she faced me, hands on her hips.
“Hufflepuff? Aren’t you supposed to be the nice ones?” I winked.
“Just take your medication” she huffed, bustling away.
I chuckled under my breath. Look who’s being moody now.
~
LOOK! LOOK! A new and improved longer chapter :)
Thank you all for whoever has read this! Do you like Lily? Think she’s annoying?
And what about James? He is happy! SHOCK!
And Kaitlin. . . . . . . .Oh how I hate her. . . . . . .
I will try to update before the queue closes on the 15th but no promises! :-)
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