the past is not yet gone -- louis

[Deleted]

@louis

spending the day curled up in his bed wasn't exactly a day zac wanted to remember. he had just grunted from under the covers that morning when someone had tried to rouse him out of bed but he been stubborn and they had eventually left for class. he had slept most of it, a pillow pressed against his side as he tried to make it comfortable. in hidsight if he'd have gone to the hospital wing when he'd broken the rib it wouldn't be so bad now. it was a few days later now and he felt stupid even thinking of going. he felt awful. sick, sore and he wanted to curl up into a ball and die. the nurse would be able to help how could he go, he had left it so long they'd probably call his parents and they didn't need that. he had the curtains pulled around his bed in the hopes that people would just leave him alone till he started feeling better but he should have known better. he could hear voices coming up the stairs outside the dorm room and he buried his head more into his pillow, shivering slightly as he pulled the blankets closer to him. he felt hot and cold at the same time. it was one of the worst feelings. he closed his eyes against the awful feeling and tried to drift back to sleep, lest people actually believed it.

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Louis had had a good day; he had the classes he liked best, and in between periods he got to see Georgie. She had been really down lately with Max not talking to her because of...well, him and feeling conflicted about her parent's return.  He'd wanted to do something special with her tomorrow night, but what he wasn't sure.  So he'd sent an urgent owl to Teddy, asking him for his advice.  He clambered through the portrait hole and made his way upstairs to the sixth year boys dormitory.  As he tossed his bag onto his bed, he saw that Zac's curtains were still drawn.  "Come on Zac, have you really not left bed all day?  You must be starving!" he called to his best friend.  When he received no answer, Louis became concerned.  He gently pulled back the curtains to the bed and saw Zac curled up in his blankets, shaking.  Louis' face went white as he reached over and shook Zac.  "Zac?  Zac can you hear me?" he asked, unable to stop the worry from his voice.  He raced out of the room and called down the stairs.  "Help!  Someone please, I need help!"  Footsteps rang out of one of the older Gryffindor boys and together he helped Louis lift Zac gently out of bed.  "Come on buddy, to the hospital wing, there we go," he said, trying to see if there was any blood anywhere as they half carried Zac out of the room.

@isaac

[Deleted]

@louis

"Zac? Zac can you hear me?" he could hear him but he didn't have the energy to open his eyes or do more than groan as his friend started shaking him. his breathing hitched when he did, the sharp pain in his ribs growing as the movement stopped and lou left the room. thank merlin. it seemed like seconds till he was back, with help apparently. he didn't need help. he needed to sleep. that's what he needed. so why were they lifting him out of bed. "i'm i-in pajamas..." he winced and tried to cringe away from them as they did. he tried to yank his arm from the hold of the older gryffindor student but the hold he had was like an iron grip. he stumbled with them, most of his weight taken up by lou and the other gryffindor. he didn't know who it was, couldn't tell by his voice either. "i-i'm fine" he mumbled to them as they made their way from the dorm to the hospital wing. by the time they got there zac was more exhausted than he had been when he'd been dragged out of bed, he could hardly breathe through the pain in his chest and he let himself collapse onto the bed that the healer told them to put him on. he curled up on his side and gripped the spot where his rib was broken and buried his head into the pillow. he felt the healer lay his hand on his forehead and he cringed away from the cold hand, hearing them talk about fever .. infection .. something like that. he drank the potion the healer gave him and dropped his head back against the pillow, not able to fight the healer when he looked at his broken rib. he took his eyes from the healer and looked at lou. "see .. it's n-nothing" he said as he chewed his lip and closed his eyes, the potion taking effect and sending him off to sleep as the healer worked on fixing him up.

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Louis couldn’t help but let a laugh escape his lips as the protest from Zac slipped out. “Honestly Zac, I’m in pajamas is the best you could do?” he quipped as they made their way to the hospital wing. Immediately, one of the new nurses, Sasha he had introduced himself quickly as, helped get Isaac into a bed. He checked Zac out and Louis hovered overhead, unsure of how to be useful. He listened as Sasha diagnoses Zac with a broken rib that had become infected due to not being treated, and Louis cursed inwardly. He KNEW there had been something wrong with Zac that day, but Zac of course had insisted he was fine, so Louis had finally let up. He never should have done that; now Zac looked terrible and Louis felt responsible. “Sir...Nurse Sasha...can I help in any way?” he asked him desperately.

@isaac

[Deleted]

@louis

sash had been preparing for a nice quiet evening in the hospital wing when all of a sudden two students burst into the hall pretty much carrying another student who did not look well at all. sash frowned and hurried across to direct them to a bed and he checked the by out when he had been placed on the bed. "zac?" he said to the student as he roused him slightly, rubbing his hand up and down his arm to keep him away for now. he could feel the heat coming off his body as he hovered over him and he reached to the draw beside the bed and pulled out a potion to help bring it down. "drink this" he said as he helped zac keep his head up enough to swallow the liquid. once he had and he was settled back against the pillows, sash waved his wand and summoned a cool cloth for zac's head. he had become familiar with the student after he had come in to see his sister when she had been in the hospital wing. he wondered if it was the same thing for a second until he examined the boy further. he frowned at the bruising on his side, felt a rib broken beneath the surface and could see where there had been a graze. it was red now which indicated an infection. he took another potion from the drawer and moved to put it on the graze. "his rib is broken, how did this happen?" he looked up at the friend who had brought zac in. “Sir...Nurse Sasha...can I help in any way?” he nodded slightly as he waved his wand over zac's side. "see that cloth? keep wetting it and putting it back on his forehead. it'll help his fever" it was a good thing he was asleep, putting bones back into position was painful, not being away for it was a blessing.

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Louis didn’t know how to reply to Sasha when he asked how Zac had gotten this way, but paled slightly. They had gotten away with the zipline, much to their and Lily’s amazement, and he doubted that they would get in much trouble post-zipline. Still, he didn’t know this nurse and didn’t want to give anything away. “We...we were racing outside and he tripped and fell on the stone steps. I thought I heard him go down a bit hard, but then he was up again in no time. I asked him if he wanted to go to the Hospital Wing but he insisted he was fine, I swear I didn’t think it was this bad,” Louis explained rapidly, his voice raising higher and higher with each syllable. He nodded at the nurses’ instruction and wet the cloth that was draped over Zac’s forehead; it was already warm from his fever. Trying not to shudder, he drenched it in the icy cold water, wrung it out and gently laid it over his friends’ forehead. “Is...is he going to be okay?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

@louis

“We...we were racing outside and he tripped and fell on the stone steps. I thought I heard him go down a bit hard, but then he was up again in no time. I asked him if he wanted to go to the Hospital Wing but he insisted he was fine, I swear I didn’t think it was this bad,” sasha nodded slightly when louis described what had happened. he wondered if there was more to the story the way that louis had balked at telling him the story but he wasn't going to press the matter. it was over with and now they needed to focus on the now. he watched louis put the cloth back on zac's head and he nodded slightly. "good" he said as he finished up healing the broken bones, satisfied they were slowly weaving themselves back together. now all that they had to worry about was the infection but sasha didn't think it was all that serious. probably made worse by the sixth years lack of rest and treatment since the injury. “Is...is he going to be okay?” sasha rounded the bed and laid a hand on louis' shoulder he smiled slightly, the worry louis had for his friend was a good thing, it meant they each had a good friend. "i do not think he's in danger of dying. he needs rest right now, hopefully his fever will come down and we'll see how he's feeling" he said as he gave louis' shoulder a light clap and he summoned a chair to the side of the bed for him to sit on if he so wished. "if he starts to stir .. come find one of the healers, alright? i'll go write up some notes about what happened" he said as he moved to step away from the bed, waving his wand slightly so the blanket at the end of the bed lifted and fell over the sleeping teenager.

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Louis’ face showed the relief when Sasha told him that he did not think Zac was in danger of dying. “Good,” he said simply, and it was true. The Meagles did not need two of their three children knocking on Death’s Door. Xanthippe was still in Saint Mungos, and from what he could get out of Zac, they weren’t much closer to discovering what the cure for their ailment was. There was talk of moving her back to Hogwarts as Madam Blacksmith was plenty capable, and Louis wondered if it’d be good for Zac to see his sister in the Hospital Wing together. Zac would probably not want any of the attention on him though.

He waited there for what felt like hours; it probably was as the sun slowly dipped in the sky. He had written a note to Georgie, explaining where he was and how he had to stay there when he saw Zac’s finger twitch. Nearly falling out of his chair, Louis scampered over to the door and pounded. “Excuse me! Excuse me! Isaac’s waking up!” he exclaimed, using his best friends full name to avoid any confusion.

@isaac

[Deleted]

@louis

he was burning. he was convinced that he was on fire. why the heck was it so hot. he had a blanket on. that didn't make sense, why would there be a blanket over him when it was so hot. his fingers twitched against it as the outside world slowly came into focus for him. the hospital wing. he was in the hospital wing. when had he come to the hospital wing. he could hear louis yelling something, hear the pounding on a door and it made his head ache. "louis ..?" he mumbled as he lifted his head from the pillow under it. the last thing he rememered had been laying in bed feeling awful. he still felt awful now but less so. he wasn't in pain anymore, his rib didn't feel like it was trying to slice everything inside him and he didn't feel like he was going to loose the last thing he ate. he shifted to sit up against the pillows as someone exited the room louis had been banging on and came over to the bed. a dark haired nurse with an accent. he said something about a fever. well that would explain why he felt so hot. before he could ask what had happened the man was hurrying away. "lou?" he asked again, his head starting to clear slightly his body adjusted to sitting up a little more. "what happened?" he asked, as the man came back with a potion for him to drink. he took it without a question and drank it, coughing at the taste and letting his face twist. "ugh" it was the worst thing he had ever tasted. "it's for you're fever" he nodded as sasha, now he could think clearly he knew it was sasha, told him about the potion he had just drunk.

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Louis came back swiftly to Isaac’s bedside, Sasha in tow. He waited until the nurse explained to him the potion Zac had drank and what it was for before coming to sit by his bed again. “I came up to check on you and you were curled in a ball, semi-conscious and shivering and sweating all at the same time,” Louis began, trying to steady the tremor in his voice. He waited until Sasha was back in his office before continuing, lowering his voice so they would not be overheard. “Your injured ribs from when you fell the other morning, that’s what’s caused this. The nurse even said it was because of a rib injury, and you and I both know you downplayed how hurt you were,” he whispered, then sat back up, a look of sympathy crossing his face. “Zac, I know you’re worried about Xanthippe, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look after yourself and seek medical help if you need it. You know she wouldn’t want that,” he told him, a pleading note entering his voice. He understood Zac’s need to be alright since Xan was so sick, but it was true; he highly doubted his sister would want him risking his own life to spare her the worry.


@isaac

[Deleted]

@louis

“I came up to check on you and you were curled in a ball, semi-conscious and shivering and sweating all at the same time, Your injured ribs from when you fell the other morning, that’s what’s caused this. The nurse even said it was because of a rib injury, and you and I both know you downplayed how hurt you were,” he frowned and shifted slightly. he didn't remember most of the day that had just passed. he rubbed his fingers into his eyes and listened as his friend kept on explaining what he thought today was about. he wasn't wrong but zac didn't want to admit louis was right. but he didn't see he had a choice. he couldn't argue in that moment that he was fine, that would be worse. it would be like he was calling louis stupid. “Zac, I know you’re worried about Xanthippe, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look after yourself and seek medical help if you need it. You know she wouldn’t want that,” he was, he was so worried about his sister. he didn't know how to handle being the healthy one, it was a new concept for him. he was worried if he had a problem people would accuse him of trying to take attention from xan, though he was starting to get the feeling they were going to think that now. "i didn't want people to think i was trying to get attention" he mumbled quietly as he looked away from louis and at the roof. "i've always been the sick one .. the one getting sick and now it's her .. i don't .. " he trailed off with a slight shrug and he rubbed his forehead lightly.

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Louis sighed and patted his best friends shoulder. “Nobody thinks that, in fact they think the opposite. That you’re trying too hard to keep the attention OFF you so they’d focus on only Xan. She’d understand if you cracked a rib that you need to get it looked at buddy,” he reasoned. He looked around the hospital wing; Xan was still not back from Saint Mungos, but according to the Meagles that was a distinct possibility in the not so distant future. Hopefully it was not tonight, otherwise she’d probably make herself sick just yelling at Zac and his chivalry. “There’s a difference between sick and injured. Everyone expects us to get injured in a way people expect Teddy Lupin to change his hair color when he feels like it. It’s just in our nature with our adrenaline-fused antics to break some bones,” he joked, then turned serious. “The difference was you let the injury become a sickness because it got infected. If you’d just listened and hopped up her the day you cracked your rib, you realize this wouldn’t have happened right?” he told his friend. He knew he sounded like he was lecturing Zac, but he was coming to understand there was a stark difference in being daring and being foolish. Daring was fun, but foolish was dangerous.

@isaac

[Deleted]

@louis

“Nobody thinks that, in fact they think the opposite. That you’re trying too hard to keep the attention OFF you so they’d focus on only Xan. She’d understand if you cracked a rib that you need to get it looked at buddy,” he frowned a little. he knew xan would understand. it was just something that he felt he couldn't do. "i also didn't want my parents to have to choose between coming to see me and staying with her" he said with a small shrug and he let his head rest back against the pillow behind him. having one sick kid was hard enough but having two? well that was worse. “There’s a difference between sick and injured. Everyone expects us to get injured in a way people expect Teddy Lupin to change his hair color when he feels like it. It’s just in our nature with our adrenaline-fused antics to break some bones. The difference was you let the injury become a sickness because it got infected. If you’d just listened and hopped up her the day you cracked your rib, you realize this wouldn’t have happened right?” zac let his eyes roll and a small smile slip onto his face at his friend making sense. "stop making sense with your logic" he said as he scratched his side through the shirt he was wearing. "thanks though .."

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Louis gave an exasperated sigh and chuckled. “Zac, your parents have been doing a balancing act with triplets for sixteen years. I think they know how to handle it if two of you are sick,” he said jokingly. Really he wasn’t sure how Mr and Mrs Meagle were able to accomplish all that they had with the triplets; each of them were different in their own way, but of course had plenty of similarities. Still, they managed to make sure each Meagle triplet knew they were loved and appreciated.


Louis’ smile widened as he patted Zac on the shoulder. “I will not stop making sense until you see sense,” he said, raising his eyebrows. He stood up and gave a small sigh. “Alright, I’m gonna go back to the tower and get some sleep. It’s almost curfew but hopefully someone like Ranger is on duty,” he said. Ranger was a good guy; he could explain to the older Gryffindor that he had brought his friend to the Hospital Wing and was just making sure he’d be okay before he left. Some other Prefects might not have been as forgiving. “You take it easy though; I’ll be back tomorrow. With your homework,” he said, grinning devilishly as he waved goodbye and headed out of the Hospital Wing.

END LOUIS