Chapter Three
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George figured that he shouldn't have been surprised that he was Flooing to St. Mungo's less than a week later. Draco's words had been running through his mind over and over, distracting him even from the shop. Besides, today was the anniversary of the Final War, of Fred's death, and he was always nostalgic around this time. Even if Draco hadn't talked to him, he might have come to see his sister anyway. Well, probably not, but he didn't admit that out loud.
Draco had been right about the red parchments. Nearly every healer they passed stopped and stared at George walking through the hall, and then hurried over, saying something about signing some form or other. Draco fielded them all off with charm and smiles, but it still took almost ten minutes to get from the entrance to Ginny's room, when it only should have taken one or two.
"Geez, you weren't wrong about those red parchments, were you, mate?" George muttered, brushing off his robes.
Now that they were closer to Ginny's room, they could hear the loud scream filtering out. Draco looked inside the barred window with a frown. One of the healers was standing in front of her, a brush in her hand. Someone had probably seen George coming and ran off to get Ginny 'presentable' for her brother.
"I'll deal with this, thank you, Healer Thorn," Draco said, stepping inside.
She glowered at Ginny, shoving the brush into Draco's hand as she turned to leave. "Good bloody luck," she muttered, leaving the room in a huff.
Even though the woman had gone, Ginny still screamed, staring at the brush with wide eyes. Draco went to put the brush in his pocket to hide it from her view, but then the pitch of her scream increased, terror laced in the note. Frowning, he looked down at the brush. A single strand of red hair was caught in the bristles. Healer Thorn must have gotten close while Ginny was sleeping.
Holding the brush out to her, Draco watched as her scream died down. She watched him warily, even as her hand snatched out to grab the brush with reflexes that any Seeker would have envied. She picked out the hair, her eyes looking over the rest of the brush to check for more. Satisfied that she had her hair back, Ginny dropped the brush onto the bed an arm's length away. Draco was sure she would have thrown it or dropped it on the floor had it been any other healer. With a nod of thanks, he took the brush and left the room to see George standing there waiting. Well, at least he hadn't run off this time.
"I'll have to take your wand, sorry. Ward policy. But you can conjure up a chair before you go in, if you'd like. Not much in the way of comfortable furniture inside," Draco added.
"Thanks," George said, conjuring up a chair quickly.
To his credit, Draco didn't even batter an eyelid when the extravagant purple and red chair appeared. It looked a lot like an overgrown jester's hat, and even had little bells on the end of each branch.
Taking George's wand away, Draco held the door open for him to go inside.
"Just call if you need ... help," Draco murmured.
Ginny glowered at him, but it didn't last long. He had to say that to every visitor, no matter who they were seeing, and they both knew that.
"I'll be fine," George said certainly, but even Draco could see the tiny bit of fear in his eyes.
"If everything goes well, I'll be back in an hour. Don't give your sister anything to eat. The wards around this place would go nuts if she had a Canary Cream," Draco added, smirking.
"In that case, you'd better take the Ton Tongue Toffees too," George said, fishing into his pockets quickly.
Draco conjured a clear box, and George dumped a lot of tiny lollies and food packets into it. Before Draco could leave, George grabbed a round white disc.
"Peppermint," he said in explanation, popping it into his mouth with a grin.
Draco shook his head and left the room, keeping the door propped open with a slipper that had been outside. He frowned slightly, recognising the pink and purple slipper as Alice Longbottom's. If the Longbottom's couldn't go near Ginny without screaming, why was Alice's slipper next to her door?
George looked at his sister, a slight frown forming. A part of her long hair had been brushed before her screams had stopped the healer, but the mess didn't bother him. He'd seen worse on himself, after all. However, as he looked at her, George could tell that it really had been a long time since any of them had come to see her, simply because of her clothes. Her shirt looked to be a few sizes too small, even though it was obvious it had been stretched with magic. And the last time he'd seen her, Ginny's hair had been considerably shorter, not even reaching her shoulders. Now, even with the yearly haircuts the patients received, her hair was halfway down her back.
He looked at her eyes, unable to stop the flinch when she stared back at him. He relaxed visibly when there was no hint of red in them, settling back on his chair. The bells jingled with his movement, and Ginny - Ginny, who never said a thing, whose only form of communication was through screaming, who hadn't even cracked a smile since arriving in the ward - let out a tiny giggle.
George stared, as if he'd been tricked or been hearing things. True, his right ear was basically useless, but his left ear... It hadn't played tricks on him before. He moved again, the bells tinkling, and there! There was another giggle. Small, tiny, a complete contrast to her serious and pale face, but it was still a laugh nonetheless. The happiest he'd heard his sister since before Hogwarts.
He moved some more, dancing in the seat, his own laugh escaping as Ginny's giggles continued.
Out in the ward, it was as if someone had cast a Full Body Bind on everyone at once. Silence descended and everyone, healer and patient alike, stopped still to listen to the laughter coming from Ginny's room.
A grin flitted onto Draco's face, before the usual mask returned and he continued with his work.
Slowly, everyone resumed their tasks, but everyone seemed a lot calmer than they had been earlier in the day.
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End of the third chapter.
Thank you for reading!
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