Between Comfort and Chaos

𓆏𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Author's Note:  Sorry for the delay! I have had the ick but am back to normal now. Chapters will continue again on a once-weekly basis. 

Please comment, share with friends, like, and stay tuned for future updates :) 

𓆏𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Lessie's POV

I stood in shock as I stared at the boy in front of me. The gleam from the overhead lights made the sweat glisten, giving his skin an unearthly pallor that was splotched with bright red patches. This was the most color I'd seen on him in quite some time.

My eyes followed his features watching his chest cave in and out with the heavy breaths. Could he have run all the way here? From where? Ominis wasn’t known for his athletic abilities; more so, he often took his time, only ever picking up his stride to a casual speed walk. Or, should the situation be dire, a light sprint, but never to this extent.

Poppy cleared her throat, and I returned to my body, realizing that I stood utterly exposed. His hand felt warm on my chest, and I could feel it seeping into my skin, causing my heart rate to double. The flush of embarrassment only bloomed darker as I saw where his hand was connected.

As if in sync, Ominis and I came to the realization at the same time. He withdrew his hand, stumbling backward as I quickly clutched the sheet from the bed covering myself, not that it would help in his case.

"I-i'm so sorry! I didn't. I mean…. MERLIN!" His voice came out in a wheeze, and he maintained an effort to stay upright, swaying a bit.

"No, no, it's okay… are you okay?!" I asked, approaching him as if he were a caged graphorn.

"Y-yes…." He wheezed once more, but as his knees began to buckle again, a whispered confession crossed his lips.

" N-no…"

I closed the gap.. grabbing him by the shoulders and forcing him to sit down at the end of my cot. He was shaking, and I couldn't tell if the moisture on his face was from sweat or tears. I had only seen him cry once, but it was different from this.

I attempted to crouch but realized that the numbing salve had its limits, and stretching the skin was out of bounds. Standing back up and repositioning my blanket against my chest. I made to sit down next to him, wrapping my arms around him in a side hug before turning to the Hufflepuff.

"Poppy, can you call for the matron?"

She nodded, starting a cacophony of loudly urgent yells as I sat with my fellow Slytherin.

Whispering gentle encouragement on how to breathe, my hands slowly moved to his back, all sense of the earlier impropriety forgotten. With the shock of his sudden intrusion out of the way, I was able to assess him more thoroughly. He was dressed down, with no robe, just a simple green plaid school vest over a white button-down shirt. My right hand ran large circles from the top of his collar down to mid-back.

I listened to his breathing, making a conscious effort to breathe loudly next to him so he could mimic the repetitions. After a minute or so, the redness on his face and neck started to recede, and his breaths became more even. The melancholy look was ingrained in his features, however. He turned his face towards me, inches from my own, and I could smell the sweet scent of jam. I stayed still, observing, heartbeat racing, willing it to slow down to no avail.

“Thank you.” He whispered so low I almost couldn’t hear it.

Without realizing it, the hand that had been stroking his back snaked up the back of his neck and forced his head to rest on the edge of my shoulder. He was pliant and made no attempts to resist. Instead, giving a soft hum.

I realized, as the tell-tale clicks of heels stopped in front of our makeshift room, that Poppy was no longer hollering. The curtain was drawn once more, and Nurse Blainey stood peering in.

“What is all the commotion about?!”

Her gaze went from Poppy, who was erratically pointing towards me and settled upon the lithe form at my side. The matron's eyes went round as saucers, and her lips turned down in a disapproving grimace.

“By the Gods! OMINIS GAUNT, what are you…….” She stopped short as she took in his form, a great contrast compared to his usual immaculate appearance. Her disapproving continence was replaced with one of gentle concern, and I began to wonder just how often he came here for her to have had such a reaction.

He turned his head towards her, and a knowing look passed between the two of them. He let out an uneasy sign shifting away from my shoulder and sitting upright once more. He was still slightly shaking. The tremors were visible as he rubbed his hands together.

“Right, well, you come with me. It isn’t acceptable to be in here with these young women.” She made to grab the boy, slipping her hand around his waist and hauling him up. Both of our faces flushed once more at her comment, as they walked in tangent the few steps back out of the makeshift room, the curtains fluttering in their wake.

The matron swiveled her head with a rebuke in her voice, looking me dead in the eyes, “ And you,” she started, “you need to be resting. Lay back down, and don’t you dare more til I return unless you’d like to be transferred to St. Mungos!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Turning towards Poppy, I was met with a skeptical look. Her arms were crossed against her chest, and she pulled her lips into a small smirk.

“What?” I asked, dropping the sheet and crawling back onto the thin mattress once more.

“Oh, nothing.”

She was smirking, and I could almost feel the mischief oozing around her.

“Poppy… you have that look.”

“I wonder how he found out we were in the hospital wing, the only people who know are the professors and Sebastian, and it's not like either party would broadcast the issue, seemed kind of serendipitous.”

“Clearly, you don’t know Sallow. Given the opportunity to brag about our little endeavor, he most certainly would. Although, he wouldn’t have told Ominis. That is a bit strange.”

We continued to discuss the possibilities of what had led up to the events until Nurse Blainey came back with new salves and bandages.

There was no more mention of the Gaunt boy, nor did he make an appearance outside of our room again that night. Taking a draught, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. My thoughts kept playing over the warm feeling of his head on my shoulder as I fell into a dreamless sleep.

----

The next two weeks passed by at a snail's pace. Poppy’s leg was mended by the 5th day, and she was cleared to go back to classes. Leaving me to deal with the boredom that was solitude. I was itching to be out and about.

I didn't care if it was just a jaunt through the corridors, I was stir-crazy. My injuries, however, had me reduced to becoming a permanent fixture within the hospital wing. My days were broken up by the nurses changing my bandages, meal times, and visitation hours. After dinner, Ominis had made a point of coming by and helping me get caught up on all the lectures I was missing.

With special permission from both Headmaster Black and Nurse Blainey, he was allowed to extend his visits past curfew. It soon became my favorite time of the day.

These little study sessions were more often than not interrupted by the arrival of Poppy and Sebastian, much to the Gaunt boy's dismay. On the days that Ominis would be late due to detention Prewett would come and walk me through the recipes for potions class.

Tonight was one of those nights. I had graduated to bandage changes once a day and was able to freely move around and thankfully to start wearing clothing again. I had just finished a pleasant dinner of roast lamb with day-old potatoes when a familiar voice rang out.

“All decent in there?”

“All decent out there?” I called back

A shock of red hair came into view as my other potions partner moved back the curtain. His eyes crinkled at the edges as a cheerful smile lit up the rest of his face. His robes fluttered out behind him as he stepped in carrying a rather large tome.

Plopping down on the empty bed next to mine, he placed the book on the table between us before leaning back on his hands.

“Gaunt wanted me to let you know that he won’t be coming tonight.”

I could feel the disappointment rushing through me and gave a pout. He had never not come since his discovery of what happened and it was a bit concerning. Something drastic must have happened.

“Caught up in another mermaid hunt?” I asked sarcastically, poking fun at one of the ginger's previous bullying attempts.

He had somehow convinced Ominis, with the help of Nerida, that they had a mermaid friend who he could meet. It ended up with the Gaunt boy wasting half a day and needing a change of dry clothing.

Leander laughed and shook his head.

“He wishes. No, Sallow and him got into a little argument in the potions room which lead to a cauldron being tossed. It ended up breaking not only Professor Sharps's cane but also apparently a highly sought-after vile of phoenix tears.”

“Oh, that's all?” I replied sarcastically as I rolled my eyes. “ Honestly, Sebastian is a lot of things, but I've never seen him get so frustrated that he'd toss a cauldron.”

“Actually it was Gaunt, not shocking though considering his family, just needed someone to ruffle his feathers a bit. Basically, though they have an extended detention session.”

I stared at Prewett with a slack jaw. The shock at the discovery made my fists clench at my sides as a million possible explanations crossed through my mind. This sort of behavior would not be something I could ever expect from Ominis. He was gentle, only delving from his soft-spoken attitude to give the occasional sarcastic comment.

Prewett was looking over at me with a conspiratorial grin. His words began to sink in. 'Considering his family'. As much as I had grown fond of the Gryffindor, he still had a habit of saying things he shouldn't.

I would usually let it slide, but for some reason, it irked me. It was an irrational type of low-simmering anger. Not the kind where you would explode in shouts of rage, but the kind where your blood filled with ice. Almost predatory.

I locked eyes with him, waiting for him to realize the mood had changed. After a few pregnant moments, I broke the tension.

"Prewett, I value your friendship, however, I won't let insults be slung at one of my best friends." My tone was soft yet authoritative.

He seemed to shrink, replaying his words and finding the offending phrase. His eyebrows shot up once he pinpointed his mistake, the apology coming out in a quick stammer.

" Oh… well, I'm sorry I didn't mean any offense. I don't personally know his family, so I shouldn't have just blindly believed those rumors."

I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words…. He couldn’t have realized….

“Blindly believed?”

He palmed his face in embarrassment, letting out a low groan.

“Heavens above, this is why people think I’m a complete arse. Leander Prewett, the one with his foot in his mouth.”

I let out a frustrated sigh reaching my hand out and patting the top of his freckled one with a thin smile.

“To be fair, you are an arse, most of the time, but I feel like that's not the real you. The real you gets excited about Summoner’s Court and sneaking pastries into class, and practicing dance lessons in alcoves when he thinks no one can see. That version of Leander is my favorite. If my advice means anything, maybe work on thinking more for yourself instead of blindly following what everyone else thinks?”

He stood slowly taking a quick look at the door before moving to sit beside me on the bed. Usually, we remained further apart, though I didn't mind the proximity.

“Thank you, and I am truly sorry. I know Ominis is a nice chap, I genuinely enjoy the banter we have in class. It’s leaps and bounds better than waiting for one of Garreth’s inevitable explosions.”

“What are friends for? Now, we better get started, before we waste any more time.” I chuckled.

Reaching over me he grabbed the heavy tome before unceremoniously dropping it on my lap.

The book was much used, covered in rough worn leather. The title read off in serious bold letters, 'Potion's Problems and How to Solve Them’. It was one I was all too familiar with, as it had the reversing agents and recipes for almost any potion you could think of.

While I was good at potions, I would never claim to be exceptional. Good enough to get an E on my O.W.L.S. due to an accidental fluke but I still needed to work harder.

This book had been one that Ominis had used in order to pass the class, surprising everyone with the same grade in the subject. Had he not had his family name behind him, there would have been allegations of cheating. He wasn't known for his potion prowess.

My hands caressed the cover of the book before parting the pages to a chapter containing the advanced-level potions. A folded piece of parchment in a sprawling hand fluttering out. I fingered it curiously before opening it.

"Speaking of my roommate, it seems that Garreth got his hands on a list of the potions that'll be on the end-of-term exam." Leander cleared his throat before continuing. “It’s from me. The paper, that is. I put it there as a guide….. Um, as a token of appreciation for all the kindness you’ve shown, even when I was a downright sod.”

"Is that so?" I asked, skimming my finger over to a potion that had a long list of complicated measurements with a frown.

Leander beamed, pride evident in his voice. " I did have to pull a few strings to get that for you."

I looked at him once more. The slight blush from earlier was still present on his cheeks but now his aura held a tinge of confidence. I smiled back at him. This was the leg up that I needed after my little hiatus.

"Thank you! I'll have to thank Weasley too."

"Of course, anytime you need! I am your man." His blush deepened as he tried to backpedal.

“ Not YOUR man, obviously, a friend that is a man that can do things. Manly things for a woman like you….. Not that you are incapable of doing them…. Saints above, what am I saying….”

He shook his head as I began to laugh. His confidence slipped as his foot found its way back into his mouth like all the times before.

“Leander, it’s fine, I’m not offended. Don’t worry, If I ever need a favor, you’ll be the first one I ask how about that? You can rely on me as well, should the need arise.”

His ears perked up towards the end of my comment and he cleared his throat again, rubbing his hands over his knees before giving them a quick pat.

“Well then, as you said, let's not waste time, curfew is soon and I would rather not follow your two buffoons to detention for breaking it.”