Merula- Get Well Soon

	That fall hurt worse than it looked. What had felt like a sharp pain in your knee was revealed to be a pretty severe fracture.

	You couldn't believe it. You hadn't been at Hogwarts for three days before you had suffered a debilitating injury. Madam Pompfrey assured you that the broken bone would be fixed, but the process wasn't going to be pleasant. Plus, you were ninety-percent sure you had a concussion.

	Lying in one of the uncomfortable Hospital Wing beds all by yourself, it was all you could do to keep from raging. How dare she? She didn't care if you got hurt, in fact, she had probably meant to break your bones. This was so like her, you had only known her for a few days but you were already fed up with her incessant bullying, belittling, and callous disregard for human life.

	The nurses had asked how you had hurt yourself, but you pretended to be too dazed to understand. But next time they asked, next time you would tell them that it was that scumbag classmate of yours Mer-

	The door opened. You were hoping to see your only friend Rowan or even that dweeby Ben Copper kid. But no. Instead of a friend, you found yourself staring at the one face you had hoped to never see again. Merula Snyde, the fellow Slytherin that had jinxed you and gotten you into this entire mess, walked into the Hospital Wing with her usual disinterested look. Only, her movements were oddly tense, maybe even guilty. She was probably worried about you snitching on her and wanted to intimidate you before that could happen.

	"What are you doing here?" you asked in a suitably annoyed voice. Your eyes quickly darted to her torso. She was clearly hiding something behind her back, even though her wand was at her hip. What was she planning?

	Merula sniffed haughtily and glanced away.

	"I can go wherever I want," she huffed. "And no first-year is going to tell me otherwise."

	"We're both first-years," you protested while doing your best not to strain yourself. It was hard to verbally defend yourself with your leg strung up in a cast. "And for that matter, we're both Slytherins! Why would you attack me like that?"

	"Hey, you're the one who accepted the duel! It's not my fault you couldn't deal with a simple Levicorpus spell. Maybe if your wits were as quick as your mouth you could have-" Merula's face went red. She seemed to have trouble breathing for a moment, then she quickly regained her composure and said: "Whatever, that's not why I'm here. Look, take this," Merula said quickly as she shoved a small box into your hands.

	"What is this?" you asked warily.

	"It's candy stupid. Didn't you get some on the train? Maybe you're too poor to- No, just, just eat the stupid candy."

	"Is this from you?" you asked, unbelieving. This had to be a trick. You'd probably open the box and get hit by a cloud of sneezing dust or something.

	"No!" she said too quickly, blushing furiously. She turned around and made a big show of crossing her arms and adopting a confrontational stance. All in all, it dawned on you that she was protesting too much.

	When she spoke up, the insincerity in her voice was blatant.

	"It's, it's from the other Slytherins, your stupid friends brought you this stupid candy and this stupid get well soon card. I just brought it because-"

	"Because you felt bad?"

	You heard a sharp intake of breath.

	Then, Merula turned to face you. Despite the look of horror growing on your face, she sat beside you and tightly gripped the scrunch of your neck.

	"Listen up," she hissed with that all-too-familiar look of intensity in her eyes. "I didn't come all this way so you could mess with me. I just thought that, I thought maybe I overdid it and when you didn't wake up for a few seconds I thought..."

	You smiled despite yourself.

	"No, that's not it! I just thought that-"

	Your smile widened.

	Merula looked you straight in the eyes, the intensity of her expression increasing with every heartbeat. Her violet gaze was impossible to tear away from. Staring intently, she gently placed the flat of her palm against your chest and pressed down.

	"I thought maybe I hurt you too badly," she finally said.

	You opened your mouth to reply, just as Madam Pompfrey entered the room. Her expression was cheerful and oddly oblivious, despite the fact that Merula was almost entirely on top of you.

	"Oh, you have a visitor. Tell me, were you there? Did you see what happened to him? He can't seem to remember," Madam Pompfrey asked sweetly.

	"I, um, no-" Merula stammered as she released you and jumped down from the bed. She dusted herself off and coughed into her fist weakly.

	"Oh? And what about you deary, do you remember anything important?" Pompfrey asked.

	You slowly, deliberately, fixed your eyes on Merula and for one moment enjoyed her barely-concealed terror. Then, you shrugged.

	"No idea. I think I might have tripped or something."

	After a bit of idle conversation (and the ominous appearance of a bottle labeled: "Kneecap Mender") Madam Pompfrey left.

	Merula, throughout it all, had stayed at your side.

	You were beginning to feel a bit drowsy, and your scrambled brain certainly wasn't helping things. As your eyelids began to droop, Merula approached and gave you a light punch in the shoulder.

	"Look, I'm going back to class. I'm going to brew a potion so good it'll ruin your chances of ever surpassing me," she said with a familiar glint of malice.

	Then, her tone changed as she jammed her hands in her robes pockets and added: "But since you're missing class, I guess I can help you study tonight to get you caught up. Look for me when you get back to the common room, or you're dead. Got it?"

	Half-asleep and unsure if any of this was really happening, you could only manage to nod.

	"Maybe this is the concussion talking, but sure, I'll go," you said.

	"But, on one condition."

	"What's that?" Merula asked, unable to hide her concern.

	"You've got to teach me how to block that bloody spell."