Hiding in the Hospital Wing

Renny had run into a group of girls, Cecily something, saying that there was a battle, and it was imperative to hide. Renny took charge, telling them the best place for the time being was obviously the Hospital Wing. It was rather large, and once people started getting brought in from battle, there would be people there to attend to them. Besides, it was sort of set away from the fighting. The Great Hall was much too close for comfort.

But there was one problem Renny had...

“No.”

“Piper, this time, I'm not taking no for an answer.”

Renny grabbed her sister by the wrist and literally drug her half the way up, Piper struggling the entire way. Piper was yelling about something when suddenly, a huge leg burst through the window, shattering them with glass. A huge spider had crawled up the wall and was pushing itself into the hallway, pushing its way towards them. Renny froze, staring.

“STUPEFY!”

The spider flew backwards and out through the window again. Renny turned and looked at Piper, wide-eyed, staring at her sister, looking so old and fierce, staring out the window with her wand raised. She slowly lowered it and looked up at Renny. “Let's go.”

They ran to the hospital wing and slid inside. The nurse began freaking out; they weren't the first there. Renny and Piper began moving through the ranks of people- Piper taking the Slytherins, and Renny everyone else, telling everyone to quiet and calm down.

Fighting.. what the hell was going on?! One minute it was peaceful, suddenly people were all over, spells, giant spiders. By the sound of it, things were getting heated, and Selene was freaking out. Most of the Hufflepuff's were.. People were rushing in and out of the portrait, giving people in the room snippits at a time, talking about what they had seen outside. Selene kept hearing of people hurt though, more and more, and finally she jumped to her feet, and pulled on her robes, grabbing her wand, and she rushed out of the room without a backward glance. She wasn't going to go and fight, oh no.. she was heading somewhere different.

The Hospital Wing.. it was the one place she could think they were taking the wounded. Taking the freaking out students, there needed to be a place, and they all knew where to go. Selene rushed up the stairs, catching glimpses of the fighting out of the windows. What was going on? Where had this all come from? She hadn't even known there was distress! Catching her breath, she stopped at a window and looked out. Flashes of lights, oftentimes someone collapsing, but what really scared her was how much green light was being flown back and forth. She couldn't tell who all was out there, or even what side they were on, but she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Finally tearing her eyes from the chaos outside, Selene rushed into the Hospital Wing.

It was just like people had been saying, chaos, disorder, mayhem, people were flipping out, and for good reason too. Some were hurt, though not as many as Selene had thought there would be. Most of the hurt people were probably still out there... fighting, protecting the school. Selene bit her lower lip and started to join in the few who were attempting to calm down the people there. Helping to instill quiet, and see who needed help the most at that moment in time.

This was why he hated magic so. This was why. The evidence lay right before his eyes. He stood there, staring, flabbergasted by what he saw. Rafael though that perhaps he should have been down there helping but the more pressing issue was the spiders that had taken it upon themselves to try and get inside the castle. He’d thrown up some temporary wards but they were weak and only supported the doors. Soon enough those who remained inside would have to do something to help the effort and it was going to end with either a lot of student deaths or a lot of spider steak for them to roast when they were done. Rafael was desperate for the latter. He wasn’t going to die today – he couldn’t afford to. He saw nothing but bad magic here today – there was no good and bad. The Order seemingly had no direction and the Death Eaters were without much of the same. Rafael did not wish to aid either side.

Bolting the doors, Rafael pushed away and picked up one of the First Years that reminded him eerily of Raina. He gestured for the assortment of lower-school students to follow him and from there they walked briskly up to the hospital wing. He told them that it was imperative their wands stay out and that if a Spider came near them then they were to use Stupefy. The children did not disappoint and Rafael was thankful for their wandwork. They made it to the hospital wing without injury and Rafael kicked the doors open. They swung forward, hitting the walls behind them, and he heard the sound of them swinging shut again. He found that he wasn’t alone with his band of followers either. Renny, the girl he assumed to be her sister, another girl and one of the French-transfer students were present.

“Evenin’” Rafael spoke, managing a smile as if there wasn’t a battle going on beyond the walls. He laid down the child on one of the beds and pulled the blankets over her. He brushed her hair out of her eyes before flicking his wand, conjuring a game for the others to play – one that would distract them for an appropriate amount of time. “Are these doors warded?” He asked. “Who is still in the castle?” he added shortly afterwards.

Selene jumped when the door burst open, and she pointed her wand at the newcomers, but was relieved when she saw it was a band of what appeared to be first year Gryffindors and their prefect. Going to the window Selene glanced down at the chaos going on outside and whistled under her breath. There were werewolves everywhere, and spells being sent every which way. "Zere are steel tons of keed down in ze Hufflepuff Common Rooms." She said breathlessly. "Wee need to get zem out! Zey do not know what ez 'appening." She said, drawing attention to herself because of her odd accent. She flushed red, but stood her ground, looking at the boy who had entered. "Ez zere a way to get out of zis school safely? For ze children.." She said glancing at the first year students who were looking around them in a very frightened fashion. They were so small and couldn't have any idea of what was going on, sure they were smarter then they looked, but still.. they were children, and they needed out.. now.

"Wee need to check ze other common room as well.. All of zem.. Eet appears you 'ave the Gryffindor's 'ere... but Ravenclaw... Hufflepuff and Slytherin are still in zere dormitories." She glanced around, attempting to stare anyone down who questioned her. The fact of the matter, was that no one would want to go down to the Slytherin Common Rooms... Everyone thought every Slytherin was bad.. but there were still first years down there, who were just as frightened as the ones who were Gryffindors. "I will go down to ze Hufflepuff Common Rooms and get ze first years.. but.. we need Ravenclaw and Slytherin..." She said and glanced around. There wasn't a single Slytherin in there, how the hell were they going to get them out?! This wasn't like other battles, the teachers were absent, and control was in their hands, soon though.. she had a feeling it would get a lot worse, for there were bound to be Death Eaters here already, and Order not far behind.. teachers were trying to get things under control, but it was impossible this far into the battle.

It started with screams, it ended with tears.

Mira had been woken from her fitful sleep by screams. Faintly she could hear shouts, breaking glass, and running feet above her head. And she knew. Everyone had read about the next battle of Hogwarts, saved by Harry Potter who killed the Dark Lord. And now Mira would get to live her own version of it. Fighting. Mira was skilled with the occasional hex to make peoples teeth grow but when it came to actual fighting.. She had never tried. 

For this reason it was clear that the best course of action was to hide. Flee responsibility to help others, save herself. Run, run, run her body chanted. She was in the common room now, surrounded by chaos. And run she did. Out of the dorms, up the stairs, corridor after corridor. She wasn't sure what it was but she stopped in front of the hospital wing. Not a half bad place to hide, plus medical care for any wounds. 

Mira yanked open the doors and was shocked to see several people already standing there. And she recognized a face. "RAFAEL!" she cried, her voice almost cracking. The full weight of what was happening was settling over her now that the brief rush of adrenaline was gone. Her knees felt weak. Mira stumbled over to the boy, feeling faint. Who cared that he probably hated her? They would need eachother in this time of disaster. 

Mira reached the Gryffindor and fell into him, her head falling to his shoulder. She could already feel tears leaking into his clothes. "What's happening?" she croaked out to him, not caring that she had probably just walked into a conversation. Mira was a mess. Her hair was windblown from running and messy from sleep. But the worst part was the scared look in her eyes. And Mira didn't scare easily.

OOC: scattered and sloppily done iPod responce.. But here she is!

Ah, the Hospital Wing. Surprisingly, people weren't streaming in and out of it already. In fact, it seemed comparatively calm. Was there anybody up here at all?

Damon pushed the doors open and was greeted with a sight worth seeing. Not just a Slytherin in the arms of a Gryffindor, although that was novel, but several students who appeared to be doing the smart thing and trying to avoid the battle out on the grounds.

It was almost a shame to kill them, really.

Damon smiled. Just an ordinary smile, the same one he used in classes and the common room.

"Twenty points to each of you for doing the sensible thing in a time of crisis," he said.

Then, he locked the doors behind him.

The nurse had been going crazy, and had reverted to locking herself in her office. Obviously, years of being a nurse for teens had wore her down to her last nerve because now she seemed incapable of functioning. Renny was running around, ushering young ones on to beds,trying to fit as many on one bed as possible, to save up the room.

The door opened and she turned to see a professor striding in. She let out a sigh, mopping her hair out of her face as she approached him. "Professor. Thank goodness you are here! Kids here are panicking. There's terrible things going on here." Renny never noticed what Piper noticed,the weird look in Damon's eyes, locking the door. Piper watched, lip curled, eyes narrowed, nose scrunched. Renny just smiled at him.

Selene jumped a foot in the air when a person walked into the Hospital Wing. He looked to be an adult, and she nearly relaxed, but stopped cold when his voice rang out among the students standing scared in their pajamas, watching him. "Sir... why.. why are you locking ze doors?" Selene asked stepping out of the crowd of students so that she stood closest to him. A lot of the younger kids backed up and Selene felt suddenly very alone. she was still in her nightgown, which was low cut, and her blonde hair fell about her shoulders. She had a very strong french accent, and had a robe pulled hastily over her pjs. "Eez ze fight done down zere? I mean.. eef eet eez... we can go 'elp.. well I can go 'elp.. zese are very young keedz in here... I mean... zey cannot do much.. first years.." She smiled faintly at the man, but stopped and gulped, taking a step backwards.

"Are ze spiders gone?" She asked softly, taking another step back. Why did he look like that? Why had he locked the door. Selene had a bad feeling this was not a nice man. "Move back... Keedz.. move back.. against ze wall." She said and stood her ground as the kids scurried to the wall, sitting under the windows and staring at the man who had intruded upon their tiny safe haven. "Vat do you vant?" She asked, trying to make herself sound much more brave then she felt. But it failed when her voice cracked at the end of her sentence. Her hand hovered over her wand, but she didn't grab for it yet.. it was very possible he had come to help them anyway! He could be someone who had been sent to help get them out of the school... if that was possible.

As Selene spoke, Damon knew his actions had alarmed her and right now, that alarm could quickly turn to action if he wasn't careful. The older students, at least, needed to trust him before he could make his move.

Turning from the doors, he lowered his voice so the younger children wouldn't hear.

"There are Death Eaters already inside the castle," he told them, confident that this show of "trust" would encourage them to return the feeling.

"The best help you can give right now is by making sure these kids are safe," he went on. "I don't think the Death Eaters will try to get to the students. They seem mostly concerned with hunting down their enemies so if everyone just keeps quiet we should all be fine."


"Yes, the spiders have gone," he said, louder this time, so everyone could hear. "Most of them, anyway. Is there anything anyone needs?"

Selene immediately relaxed. He was on their side. She hadn't transferred here that long ago, and now that she had time to stop and think rationally, she realized it was her head of house. She flushed and realized that she had completely not trusted him at all. She felt her shoulders relax, and smiled at him. "We 'ave been here for quite some time... we 'ave not 'eard anyzing.. but we 'ave 'eard sounds from below... Eet scares ze children.. zey are so young sir! I do not know what to do!" She said and she could feel her fear starting to show, and she had to swallow hard to get a grip on herself. He had come to see that where the children in the school was, and the Hospital Wing was a very obvious place to go... she was just happy to have an adult who wasn't hiding in their office.

She could visibly see the students relaxing now that Selene had. They had gotten fearful because she had tensed up, but now she was okay, and the spiders were gone. It was a happy moment for them. It was like the only good news they had had, except that the Death Eaters were in the school, which sucked... Selene moved and sat on a bed wearily, running her hand through her hair. "Zey are very tired sir.. eez zere any bed anywhere? Extra ones for zem to sleep on?" She asked hopefully, looking up at the professor. He was their savior, their adult, and she definitely needed one right now.