Answers and Recuperation (Tag; Waycca, Molly, Tony, William, etc)

Akasha walked into the hospital wing with Molly's unconscious body in her arms. She thanked the healer that took her friend from her and gently placed her on the bed; she needed to see how Jane was doing.

Walking deeper into the infirmary, she saw the young girl and began to check on her vitals. Once hearing the study heartbeat from the gauze wrapped chest, she gave a sigh in relief.

She took the chair next to Jane's bed and placed it between hers and Jaydens, which were conveniently right next to each other, and sat in it, troubling thoughts running through her head. Who killed Eli? Why did they kill Eli? Why did Jayden take his anger out on Rogers? Why was Rogers in the staff room at all? What did Voldemort have to do with any of this?

'So many questions. And I think that,' she looked at the Pensieve sitting on the table between her two friends hospital beds 'Will give me my answers.'

Waycca made her way to the hospital wing and paused at the entrance, eyes wide and horrified at the amount of people in here. What could have happened to affect so many students? There couldn't just be one perpetrator - there were far too many victims.

Her breath caught in her throat when she spotted Akasha and...what was Molly doing here? Her stomach lurched as she realized that something must have happened to her, too.

She made her way over to her vampire friend, trying not to let the word 'CONFUSED' scrawl across her forehead. "What's wrong with Moll..." she tried asking, though her voice trailed off when she spotted Jane on the hospital bed. Her legs threatened to buckle beneath her and she had to sit on the chest at the end of the bed to gather her bearings before speaking again.

"How is...everyone?" she murmured grimly, gaze flicking over to Jayden just to make sure he didn't have any new wounds. She wasn't sure why she thought he would, but everyone just seemed to be falling around her lately.

Akasha was deep in thought when Waycca arrived, thoughts of the horrible attacks running though her mind once more. She looked up at her friend from her seat with a grim smile, "Stable, thankfully. Everyone's been injured severely, whether mentally or physically, but they'll live. Hopefully they aren't too scarred, and will be able to heal quickly. But" She sighed and turned to look back at her three unconscious and pale friends. "We won't know that until they wake up. Which will be soon, I hope."

The vampire paused, before hesitantly asking, "Waycca, I know that you're in shock also, but I need to ask." Once again, she looked at her friend, but this time with serious eyes, "What were you doing before you happened upon Jane-dear?"

It was a preposterous thought; Akasha knew for a fact that Waycca loves Jane like her own sister. But, it's also plausible, simply because Waycca is human, and was there with Jane. Controlling a human is not an impossible thing, especially for someone like Voldemort.

Waycca nodded slowly. Stable. Stable was good, right? Stable was manageable. She allowed herself to relax as she glanced around at her unconscious friends, but instantly stiffened at Akasha's question. An innocent enough question, though, wasn't it? Because she had been the first one to see Jane like that, other than maybe the perpetrator. But she was already feeling defensive as her brain worked to find an answer.

She'd been deliberately avoiding that thought because the only thing she remembered prior to finding Jane was hours before, in the Shrieking Shack, surrounded by Death Eaters and other students. "I...I don't know," she said, forcing herself to meet her friend's gaze. "I don't even know how I got in the school because right before that I was in the Shrieking Shack and..." Her jaw clenched and she had to look away, staring resolutely out the window.

Talking about it now, she had to wonder how she hadn't seen the huge gaps in her memory before. She couldn't even recall the trek back through Hogsmeade that she must have made to get back to the school. An awful mix of emotions tangled themselves together in her chest, and she suddenly wasn't so sure she wanted to know what was really going on.

"He was there, Akasha," the girl breathed, willing her voice to be heard. "Voldemort." The message he'd commanded them to send...no, no, there was some other explanation. There had to be. "And then the next thing I knew, I was looking down at Janey on the floor..." Any other words she'd been planning to say felt glued to her throat. I'm a bystander, that's all. I'm just a witness. I can't remember because I'm in shock, that's it.

William held Tony close as he carried the other boy bridal style. Every step he took towards the hospital wing and not their dorm broke a little more of his heart, knowing how much his boyfriend wanted to be away from all this and forget. How Tony had begged with such a pain-filled and broken voice back int eh staff room, it nearly shattered him. But Tony needed medical attention. He was hit with that torturous curse.

And thus, despite his boyfriend's wishes, he took the boy to the hospital wing. So that he could be looked after. After that, then they would go to their dormitory. He wasn't sure if they could ever forget this night, William wasn't sure he wanted to. Someone was responsible for Tony getting hurt, and William wanted vengeance.

Entering the hospital wing, he stopped short as he saw the two Gryffindors again, sitting by some others in beds. He walked in quietly, coming closer to see who else was hurt. There was Jayden, of which William stood further away form. Regardless of what Akasha said, he was still tense and bitter of the Irishman who hurt his love. He didn't dare get close to him in fear of what he might do. In the bed next to the red head, was a little girl William recognized. She too was a Hufflepuff, and a first year.

How many more of us have they gotten? he wondered, sick to his stomach. He moved further down,a few beds away from Jane, before sitting tony down on a free white bed. He took the chair next to the bed, and held his boyfriend's hand, not even daring to let go of it, in fear of what might happen. "So what now?" he asked, his voice a little harsh, a sad, and very tired overall.

He turned his head to look at the two girls, his eyes demanding answers. Answers, that even they might not be able to give.

[Do you guys mind if Miranda joins them to kind of help everyone process? She's already tending to the injured. Totally cool if you wanna keep this a students thing though! ]

((That'd be totally fine with me!))

(I cannot Rp at the moment because my laptop is being a bitch. Miranda can skip over Akasha,til I come up with a solution. Sorry guys )

Despite his clinging, when Billy did take him into the Hospital Wing, Tony found himself pulling away and peering around the beds in hopes he wouldn't recognize anyone. There were so many bodies, so many people attacked or hurt or bending over others already in white linen beds. His stomach turned and rolled at the sight of so many people, some with gashes crisscrossing up their arms, others coated in so much blood he couldn't see the original wounds, and still others simply curled in on them selves, likely rocking away the same pain that still left his own nerve ends tingling.

As Billy set him down in one of the few open beds left, Tony's nose wrinkled at the sound of crinkling below him. There were crisp sheets and then there were paper sheets. These seemed to be in the later of the two categories. Nonetheless, he burrowed down in the mattress, determined to block out the world around him--the low moans and the silent tears--all of it. When Billy picked up his hand and held it close, Tony managed a small smile and pulled his boyfriend's hand closer. "Thank you, Billy," he murmured, placing a kiss on Billy's knuckles and turning to face his boyfriend, his back to the Gryffindor girls they'd encountered in the Staff Room.

He squirmed when Billy let out an exasperated, "So what now?" Even though the question wasn't aimed at him, Tony could feel the letter still folded up in his back pocket, out of sight, burning his skin as if to fault him for not producing it immediately and showing it to Billy.

Miranda was tired. There was really no other way to describe it. She knew the hospital wing just as well as Sitka. So, she flitted through the room, moving from patient to patient. She tended injuries where she could and focused Sitka's attention on the more serious cases. So many...how had this happened? Each of these students would need serious counseling. And someone would eventually have to explain to them what had happened. She sighed as another student was brought in, a Gryffindor girl this time, carried in by one of the school's resident vampires. Soon after, she saw two more enter, two boys, one carrying the other.

They seemed to group together. She guessed they had endured similar horrors. Interestingly, they seemed to be banding together rather than taking out their rage and fear on one another. At least a couple of them seemed unhurt, at least physically. What they needed was willowbark tea. It soothed the mind and the body and would help them begin to process what had happened. She slipped into Sitka's office, and put the familiar pot and cups down from a shelf. After quickly heating the tea, she murmurred, "Wingardium Leviosa" and strode to the group of students.

She approached and gently lowered the tray onto one of the bedside tables. The Gryffindor girl was unconscious. So, she moved toward the injured hufflepuff boy first.
"Is everyone else unharmed?" she asked the surrounding students as she moved her wand over Tony, gauging his injuries. "You are just going to need rest Mr. Rogers. and possibly a rejuvenating draft to restore your body some."

(Sorry for taking so long to reply, but now I'm back! ^_^)

As Waycca spoke, Akasha listened intently, a feeling of dread and anger filling her when her friend confirmed her fears, telling her that Voldemort was indeed heavily involved. And from what her pale friend was describing, it seemed that he had used the Imperius curse on her...Along with many others including, it seemed, Tony Rogers. Just like Waycca, he was absolutely clueless as to what happened or how. Imperius seemed to be the only logical solution. Unless Rogers was secretly a Death Eater, which the vampire highly doubted. The boy looked like he couldn't even kill a butterfly.

Akasha looked at her friend with extreme sadness and sorrow in her eyes. More than likely, Waycca had been the one to hurt Jane, and that thought killed Akasha on the inside, just like she knew it would to Waycca. At the moment, it was only an assumption. But if she got the memory that she needed from Waycca, there was a possibility that her suspicions would be confirmed, and she doubted that her brunette friend could handle the truth. But they needed to know.

Just as she opened her mouth, Princeton and Williams arrived, both boys looking extremely tired and reluctant to be amongst the Hospital Wing's populace. The vampire grimaced at the look on their faces, Princetons in particular, and stood, wanting to not prolong the process. Before she spoke to them, she leaned towards the other female, and kissed her on the forehead, "No matter what we discover, I want you to know that I love you dearly, and I will never desert you." Then she turned back to the two Hufflepuffs, in time to hear Princetons rude sounding question. She frowned at him, trying her best to not snap at him like she wanted.

Then the healer came over, and she watched as the blonde woman checked over Rogers' injuries. 'He's going to need more than rest after we find everything out.' She thought with dark humor. "Thank you, Professor, could you please check over Jayden for me? I'm not very good at healing, and I want to make sure that he's alright." The vampire asked kindly. She honestly was not good at healing; she was much better at injuring or maiming. She wanted to make sure that knocking Jayden out didn't cause any issues.

With a reluctant sigh, the vampire turned to the other humans looking at her expectantly, "Right. At the moment all of us are confused or unsure as to what exactly happened tonight, but I've figured out the best way to find out the truth. I have my suspicions about what happened, but I want to make absolutely sure. And to do that, I will need memories , specifically you two," She said, looking pointedly at Rogers and Waycca. "Professor Dumbledore has allowed me to borrow his Pensieve, which we will use to view your memories. Is that alright with everyone?"

She figured Waycca would be ok with it, the girl seemed like she wanted to know, but Rogers'? A totally different story. He was absolutely terrified, and she doubted his lover would allow her to possibly make him even more so. The fact that this endevor may prove that his lover did indeed kill someone when he stated otherwise, may be another reason.

Waycca watched Akasha, studying her reaction with an acute sense of anxiety. She could feel panic start to trickle through her system, and was blissfully distracted from it when William and Tony arrived. She saw Princeton put his boyfriend down on one of the beds and looked away, suddenly feeling like she was intruding on something deeply personal, even though they were all out in the open. It probably also had something to do with the fact that Rogers's curled form only added to her mounting dread.

The brunette managed a weak, grateful smile to her white-haired friend and nodded. She wanted to say something to express how thankful she was at that - if she really did do something terrible, it was a comfort to know she wouldn't be totally abandoned - but any words at her disposal still seemed lodged in her throat. Though her friend's words did bring a twisting feeling of certainty in her gut that she did do something awful. The vampire seemed sure that she did, and anyone in their right mind would come to the same conclusion.

Waycca was so submerged in her thoughts that she didn't notice Professor Melgrove until she heard Akasha speaking to the woman. It was a relief for someone with capable, healing hands to be around. Then her attention was snatched away again at the mention of the Pensieve, and she startled herself with the alarm she felt at seeing the thing. They were going to find out now? Right here in the Hospital Wing? Her brain rioted against the notion, firing off a thousand excuses. They were tired, it was late, couldn't it wait for morning? Of course, it made sense but-

She willed herself to stand and nodded slowly, shoving all the fear to some dark, secluded area of her brain. "I'm on board," she said, hoping she only imagined the frail quality of her voice. She would not settle for ignorance, especially if it meant staying in the dark about what happened to Jane. Besides, she could still be innocent, couldn't she? A witness. Denial to the very end.

Blue eyes watched carefully of Tony's movements since they entered the hospital wing. How the other went from clinging tight, to moving about to see the other patients. And then when he was sat down upon the bed, he laid down with his back against the Gryffindor girls. Perhaps that was for the best, William himself wasn't all too happy to see them. Not with the circumstances as they were. But despite the fear, the anger, and the overall tiredness sin his body, he still managed a small happy smile to his boyfriend as the blonde kissed his knuckles. It wasn't often Tony gave the initiative of any public display of affection.

I wish it was during happier circumstances though. he thought briefly as he squeezed the other's hand an leaned down to kiss his temple. He could vaguely hear the two girls speak, but could not make out the words. He decided it didn't matter, for it was not addressed to either him nor Tony.

When Professor Melgrove appeared to inspect injuries, William simply shook his head to show he was physically unharmed. Upon her instructions to Tony, the quiditch player simply frowned and scooted his chair closer to the bed. His boyfriend would need more than rest. But he supposed there could only be so much done with crucioed patients. As horrible as that was.

He continued to hold his tongue at the mention of the Irishman who needed some healing. As much as he held anger at the other, a rational part of his brain told him it was for the best. Though everything else told him the other should suffer for what he did to his boyfriend. But that was just the angry badger within him that felt threatened for his loved one. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on what the vampire Gryffindor told him before about the man. That he wouldn't have attacked Tony like that under normal circumstances.

But would have droven the man to crucio a student? The sight of his dead lover? Would the man be so brash as to attack without knowing what had happened? Gryffindors tend to act without thinking. his mind supplied, not helping his mood at all. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at the students of the red and gold house.

At the mention of a pensive and the needing of memories, William blinked before thinking it over. That would help to fill in some questions. Though he wasn't sure how happy he was to make Tony reveal any of his memories when he was in the state he was in. Especially if he had to relive some of the horror when everyone looked through them. As the other Gryffindor agreed, he sighed. "If Tony is alright with it, then I'm in." he said, his tone protective. "And," he began, eyes flashing towards the bed where the redheaded man slept on. "if his memories are retrieved when he wakes up as well." It was only fair, as well as important they saw what he witness to, to get some understanding of why he attacked Tony.

Molly groaned; she felt like she was immense pain... and she was. Her whole body was sore and it almost hurt to move. She took in a deep breath, just wanting to go back to sleep and hoping that whatever pain she was in would simply just go away. Neither seemed to be happening and when she heard other voices close to her, she peeked her blue eyes open just barely and noticed that she was in the hospital wing. How did she get here? Where had she been last? Realization hit her; she had been in the Trophy Room... when... when Waycca had attacked her. Well, now she knew why her whole body hurt like hell. She almost survived that she had survived... but now she was once again in the hospital wing and there seemed to be a lot of other people here.

As quietly as she could manage, she sat up a bit. It was rather hard, as pain erupted from her body. She looked down at her hands and noticed the boils that she had feared were still there... yes they were. Oh, she couldn't wait until they were all gone... she had a feeling she looked horrible. Covered in boils and in massive pain. Perhaps she should have just pretended she had still been asleep instead of bothering to sit up. Especially because of the amount of people who were in here. She saw Akasha, Professor Melgrove, one of the Hufflepuff Quidditch players, another Hufflepuff boy, Jane and Jayden... both whom were in hospital beds, lying unconscious. Her heart constricted at the thought of them being attacked as well. Molly's eyes then wondered to see Waycca. It wasn't that she was upset with her friend... even though she had just attacked her and that memory was fresh in her mind. It was actually sort of hard to look at her and she tried not to flinch. Obviously, she was no longer under a spell, which was good, but... she forgave her friend, it would just take a little bit to forget it ever happened.

Molly cleared her throat. She was already up, so she might as well make her presence known. "Uhm," her mouth was very dry and let out a small cough, which only added to her pain. She grimaced slightly. "W-what... what's going on?" She finally managed to ask, her voice somewhat breathless and tired.

Tony nodded after Professor Melgrove looked him over, not surprised by the outcome. For all the pain the Cruciatos curse caused, there wasn't much that could be done for a victim. Still, the idea of sleep and a restorative draft seemed wonderful. He even managed a flicker of a smile when Billy squeezed his hand for comfort, though he couldn't manage to muster up the strength to return the gesture.

That flicker of protection shattered once Akasha mentioned a Pensieve. One the one hand, they could figure out once and for all what had happened this night and everyone would stop blaming him for the death of professor Ezra. On the other, they could figure out what happened and the professor's death could be his fault. Having no memory of the event didn't make him innocent. And the Shrieking Shack--the monster in the Shrieking Shack--he certainly didn't want to relive that moment.

There was a pause of silence before the other Gryffindor girl chimed in, "I'm on board." Then Billy, not quite as quick. "If Tony is alright with it, then I'm in."

His memory flickered back again. Images of looming, hooded shadows and a the shack that creaked as if it were swaying, even without a breeze. With a quick burst of strength, Tony managed to give Billy's hand a tentative squeeze. "I'll do it," he murmured, voice nearly betraying his wavering convictions.

Miranda brushed Tony's hair from his eyes, comfortingly. "We'll get you in top shape again soon," she said with a small smile.

At Akasha's request, she turned to the unconscious professor. Her hands moved delicately, her wand sweeping over him, pausing at his head. Tucking her wand up her sleeve, she carefully felt the lump on the back of his head.

"Probably a concussion," she murmured.

She quickly hurried back into Sitka's office, returning moments later with a small jar of a blue viscous material. It was a salve to expedite the body's natural healing process. She gently applied the salve to his injured skull. As she was closing up the jar, Molly's groan reached her ears. Almost instantly, Miranda was at her side. With surprising strength, she placed a hand on her back and one on her shoulder, easing her back down onto the pillows.

"Back down, sweetie," she whispered. She could see the pain in the gryffindor's face. "Let's see if we can do something about that pain, shall we?"
She rummaged through a pocket in the apron around her waist. Bottles rattled around inside. She kept the basic necessities in there when she was healing and had plenty of pain killers. "There it is," she said, pulling out a clear vial filled with a transparent pink liquid. Opening it carefully, she handed it to Molly. "Drink this. It will help suppress the pain for a time. And give me a chance to look at you without causing you immense pain."

She turned to the others as, one by one, they agreed to use the pensieve. Miranda, however, was uncertain. She for one would not be handing over her memories. There were some things that she would never let anyone see. Her soft, warm voice carried over to the group. "I will not interfere in this, but I will warn you to be careful. There are some memories you may wish you never had. I do, however, also acknowledge that we need to know what has happened. But once we gain this knowledge, I need you all to promise me something...." she waited a moment. "No matter how awful, or terrifying, that knowledge is, you will remain here with me, and your friends, until we are able to sort it out. Does that sound reasonable?"

Molly frowned slightly as Professor Melgrove pushed her to lie back down. She blinked for a moment when a vial was being presented to her. She groaned inwardly. No more vials of disgusting tasting medicine, please, she thought to herself. Still though, a break from the pain would be lovely. Perhaps she should just try to avoid situations that got her into these messes... though, that might simply be impossible.

Molly took the vial into her small hands and poised it against her lips. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of how well it would go down. She shook her head of the possibility that it would be disgusting and just tilted her head back enough for the liquid to pour quickly down her throat. She grimaced a bit in disgust and hoped that its effects would kick in quickly.

Molly frowned once more when she realized that no one was really answering her question. What was going on? Had this thing happened to others as well? Was everyone in the school in trouble? Was... was... Voldemort trying to infiltrate the school? The possibility of questions was endless in her mind and no one seemed to be providing her with any answers.

Molly's blue eyes glanced for a moment to the pensive. Were they going to... look at their memories? She supposed to determine what had happened. Molly's eyes flicked to Waycca. She seemed to not know what she had done... and if she looked at her memories? Oh Merlin, she wasn't sure if that was such a good idea. It might break her... she didn't want to see her friend like that, even after what she had done.

Waycca glanced at Miranda and pursed her lips. The healer was right, she supposed. There were memories she'd rather the whole Hospital Wing didn't see - such as activities with one professor that had the potential to get them both in a hell of a lot of trouble - but she knew they'd only be looking at recent memories, and she hadn't been in that situation in weeks. And all of this was far too important to shy away from. They needed answers, and this was the most obvious way to get them. "Reasonable enough," she murmured with a slow nod.

Her attention was drawn to the person behind Melgrove then, and her eyes widened at the sight of Molly. Boils, everywhere, and obvious pain on her face. The brunette instantly felt anger flare up inside her, a distinct need to know who had done this. The fire quickly extinguished, though, and was replaced by her earlier anxiety. She moved toward her friend's bed and forced herself to speak. "We're, uh, getting some answers, Mol," she muttered, feeling another surge of guilt even as the words left her mouth. But that was ridiculous, because she hadn't played any part in whatever had happened to Molly. If anything, she had done something to Jane-

Horror swamped Waycca and that train of thought was quickly snuffed out, but it was too late. Had her brain really already accepted that terrible, improbable reality? No. She couldn't start believing that because it simply wasn't possible. I am a bystander. Then why couldn't she look her friend in the eye? Why was she deliberately avoiding the sight of Jane's heavily bandaged form if she was so innocent?

She wanted so badly to know what had happened to Molly, to just ask who was responsible for her current condition, but her growling sense of dread kept any questions from forming. The curtain of denial was falling away, dissolving into this sickening certainty that she'd done something wrong, something unforgivable. "We're going to take a peek into some memories to try and sort out what happened." Thankfully, her voice sounded steadier than she felt. Her eyes flicked again to Rogers and Princeton and she had to wonder what they'd find in Tony's head. She didn't dare think about what might be in hers.