Holding on for LIFE [albus]

[Deleted]

Andy had completely missed this entire tower explosion business, and now she felt terrible about it. Her-uh-boyfriend? Albus had been seriously injured and was apparently the culprit behind the entire thing. Andy didn't believe for a second that he had done it on purpose. No, she knew what it was liked to be blamed for something you didn't do. She hadn't been allowed to see him though for two days, and that was stressing her out to no end. They had only been involved with each other for what... a week? Maybe less? When all this went down.

Now, visitors were allowed in the packed hospital wing and Andy slipped into the room along with several other students going to see their friends. She glanced around the room until she saw bright red hair rushing toward a bed. Lily. She hesitated, hanging by the door before catching a glimpse of Scorpius with his girlfriend.

They made eye contact, but Andy quickly turned away. It didn't dawn on her that Scorpius and Albus were best friends The thought almost made her turn around and walk out of the hospital wing. That is, until Lily skipped up to her with a wicked grin on her face. "He's all yours Andy-kins," and with an oddly placed giggle and a wink Lily was out the door.

Andy took a deep breath, finally approaching Albus's bed. "Hey..." she said, looking down at the floor beside him.

@al

[Deleted]

@lestrange

albus watched in slight surprise when lily suddenly vacated the end of his bed and bounded through the curtains that he'd asked for around his bed. it was so he didn't have to know he was still laying across the room from his cousin. he shifted his head against the pillow, rolling it to the side to see who his sister had hurried off to meet and then he saw her. andy. his .. girlfriend? it hadn't been very long but it was still a little weird to think of her as his girlfriend. but a nice feeling too. he heard lily giggle and he raised his brow slightly and watched as she made it clear that she wasn't going to be coming back in the next few moments at least and his gaze shifted to andy as she came closer to the bed. "hey." he was confined to the bed. it was horrible. he'd been told there was nothing medically wrong with his back, and there was no magic spell or potion that would fix whatever was going on in his head that was causing the problem and he was supposed to wait and see what happened. he wasn't really a wait and see kind of person. he chewed the corner of his lip as she looked down at the floor. he reached his hand out to touch her wrist lightly with the arm that hadn't been broken then he patted the bed next to his hip. "have a seat?" he had the other hand hidden under the blanket, the burns from the magic still clear on his wrist and it wasn't a sight he was eager for people to see. he already was being subjected to odd glances from people.

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Andy made sure the curtain was closed behind her when she moved to stand beside his bed. She flinched slightly when he touched her wrist. She wasn't expecting him to be able to move. A rush of relief flowed through her and she nodded, sitting on the bed beside him. "How are you... gosh," she suddenly bit her lip and shifted slightly so she could lean down and kiss him. It wasn't the gentlest of kisses, but it was hopefully not too much that she was causing him any pain. She pulled back just enough to see his face and lifted a hand to play at the hair by his ears. "I'm so sorry. I should have been there with you. I-" she didn't want to tell him where she had been when it all went down. She felt awful enough as it was, caring so deeply for two guys at once.

Not that she had been doing anything bad, no! She had just awkwardly ran into Phil in the hallway and they got to talking. That's when everything happened and Andy and Phil didn't even get wind of it until after the fact. She pushed thoughts of her guilt and of Phil aside. She was here to see Albus Potter, the charming boy with the messy dark hair.

"Are you... in a lot of pain? Am I hurting you?" she pulled back, panicking slightly.

@al

[Deleted]

@lestrange

"How are you... gosh," she didn't even give him a chance to reply to her as as soon as she'd finished speaking she had kissed him. not the most gentle but he wasn't hoping for gentle. he kissed her back, lifting his fingers to touch the side of her neck as they kissed and he managed a small smile as he took his head back slightly. "well hello" he said, leaning his head back against the pillow and he let his hand rest on his chest again. "it's okay andy. i'm so glad you weren't. i .. i'm still not clear on it all myself" he said as he touched his temple lightly. he remembered what had happened before the explosion. after that though things were a little sketchy. rose and him being on their own, falling through the floor and neville fixing his broken ribs. though most of that memory was pain. he almost shuddered as he recalled that. he was glad no more people had been hurt and caught up in it. there were a few and the guilt he felt about people being hurt because of him? well he had a lot of it.

without thinking about it he found he'd started leaning her head toward her hand as she played with his hair lightly, feeling oddly comforted by the touch. he wasn't the worlds most affectionate person. in fact he wasn't affectionate at all on most occasions but this? this felt nice. he shook his head as she asked about his pain. it was there but not enough for him to notice it all the time. "it's not too bad. promise." he said, closing his eyes for a second. "you're not hurting me" he said, opening his eyes and he looked at her. "do you know who else is in here? because of .. what happened" he hadn't worked up the nerve to ask yet and people seemed to be not telling him things on purpose, or avoiding him all together.

[Deleted]

She could feel his pain, his panic, his doubts. It was all the things she felt every day. The guilt, the angst, the darkness. When he claimed she wasn't hurting him she leaned forward slightly again, returning to where she had been before. He asked who else was in there and she had to rack her brain for the names and faces. "Honestly, I haven't paid much attention..." she said truthfully. She bit her lip, trying to remember who she had seen out there. "Rose wasn't in here for long, Ondina is here. James is okay," her eyes widened, "oh, James was on the floor above you. He's here somewhere, Rory's with him."

She blinked, trying to remember if there was anyone else she should mention. "I don't think many other were hurt though. I saw Elaine Dupree and Desirae Rosseau being carried down here yesterday, but I didn't see them out there just barely. Honestly I just... I just came straight to you," she said, dropping her gaze to his chest for a moment. She was embarrassed to be feeling... feeling anything, really. She was still uncomfortable with this whole feelings thing.

@al

[Deleted]

@lestrange

"Rose wasn't in here for long, Ondina is here. James is okay," "oh, James was on the floor above you. He's here somewhere, Rory's with him." his eyes widened a little. james had been hurt? he hadn't been told that. why hadn't anyone told him that his brother had been in the tower when it had gone down. he shook his head a little, shifting slightly and he rested his hand on her lightly. "j-james got hurt? where is he .. how bad" he asked, the words falling out of his mouth. he didn't figure his brother was dying. someone would have told him about that. he lifted his gaze to andy as she kept on talking about the people who were in the hospital wing. "I don't think many other were hurt though. I saw Elaine Dupree and Desirae Rosseau being carried down here yesterday, but I didn't see them out there just barely. Honestly I just... I just came straight to you," he watched her gaze drop and he bit his lip for just a second. he wasn't used to this. feeling something that actually made him want to reach out and offer a comfort he wasn't sure he knew how to give. it had been so long since he'd felt that need to. it was almost foreign to him. "i'm glad you did" he said, letting his head rest back on the pillow, his hand still clasped around hers lightly as he made the unusual move to lift her hand up to his cheek, he was going with what he felt like he should do, not what his brain was telling him to do, which was drop her hand. but the feeling to keep it in his hand was stronger. oddly.

[Deleted]

"Hey, hey," she consoled, patting his arm, "James is okay. He just needed a little attention, nothing serious," she explained. She honestly didn't know much about it but she found out enough to make sure Albus had a good explanation. Andy watching silently as he lifted her hand to his cheek. She didn't pull away, but she didn't know what to do next. She caught her breath, bit her lip, and took a deep breath before finally shifting a little so she was closer to him, and more comfortable on the bed.

"I think you should get some rest, though... they won't let us stay very long, I'm sure," she said, about to glance around and realizing that the curtains were closed so that was entirely pointless.

@al

[Deleted]

@lestrange

"Hey, hey," "James is okay. He just needed a little attention, nothing serious," al let himself relax a little back into the bed. he had almost killed two of his cousins and his best friend. he was already going to cop enough trouble from his family without adding almost killing his brother into the mix. he lifted a hand to his eyes and pressed them into the bridge of his nose. he was tired but he didn't want to sleep yet. he rested his other hand on her cheek, more surprised that he'd done it than the fact she was letting him keep it there. he chewed his lip at her next words. "I think you should get some rest, though... they won't let us stay very long, I'm sure," he shook his head a little. "i'm fine. don't let them kick you out" he said softly. he didn't want to be alone. he wasn't used to feeling like he needed someone with him. he was used to being on his own, handling things on his own but he didn't want to today.

[Deleted]

"I... I'll try," she said It was weird, someone needing her. She wasn't used to that, not even a little bit. Sure she had seen it in Phil and Jayden on occasion, but this was different. He was in a completely vulnerable place and he was asking her to stay. He wasn't asking for her to get anyone else, he wasn't asking to go see anyone else. No, he wanted her around. In all honesty, the idea made her uncomfortable for a moment. She bit her lip, leaning back for a moment to gather her wits.

"So... why were you and Ondina fighting? Over Scorp?" suddenly her eyes became wide. Albus was his best friend. Scorpius's best friend. Her ex-betrothed one. According to them, they broke off the betrothing when they were in their third year, though they didn't tell her parents that. They would have been furious. Her and Scorp were close until they had a huge falling out and they hadn't been friends since.

Oh, this was a bad idea.

@al