Where the injured go to seek treatment...

Vipera stumbled into the Hospital Wing and shivered, clenching her fists and teeth to try to stop this. Shit she was really sick. he had a way with stuns. She heard him as he whispered. Invisibility cloak- damn. And stunning wasn't much of a prank. She had stunned him because he tried to touch her bum and he needed to learn his place, but she- she was innocent- well, not really but she didn't deserve to shake and ache like she did now.

"Madame P..." she moaned and the Head Nurse attended her quickly, helping her into a bed as Vipera continued to grumble and groan and curse to the highest heavens. it certainly was a mouthful.

Sailor talk. hell, she used the whole damnn dictionary within about 30 seconds.Needless to say, madame Pompfrey was not impressed.

Ulti snunk in to the hospital wing to spy on Vipera. Britt was no where to be seen. Ulti left right after Vipera so it wouldn't make much sense if he found Britt there already. In fact he wasn't even so sure if she was coming at all since he never saw her leave. Ulti decided he would wait until the time was ripe before taking off the cloak and making up with Vipera. The thought of Britt showing up disturbed him since it would complicate matters.

Madame Pompfrey gave Vipera a draught and the girl laid back, suddenly calming. The liquid stuck to her throat with a disgusting thick almost apple flavoured taste.
"Yuck-" she said, frowning as Madame Pompfrey laughed at her reaction before speaking.

"Now Miss Riddle make sure to drink the whole bottle. There's water by your bed for aftwerwards. Rest and relax- if you just try to stay calm the potion will take effect and you'll be feeling better by tomorrow morning."

"Dammit- I'll be overnighting?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Shit."

"Excuse me Miss Riddle?" Madame teased with a laugh.

"Nothing." Vipera replied, trying to relax as madame Pompfrey walked into the back area of the Hospital Wing. She settled back onto the bed and sat down on it. She slipped off her Hogwarts vest so all she wore was her blouse and shorts before running her fingers through her dark hair and getting under the sheets of the white bed.

Brittany burst through the Hospital Wing doors, staggering as she did so, nearly falling down. She was very dizzy from her encounter with the Centaur. Blood dripped onto the clean, white floors. An orderly rushed over to her, helping her walk. She made her way to a hospital bed, muttering to herself, dropping her broom to the floor.

Looking around, dazed, her eyes met Vipera's and she gave her a serious look, blood dripping into her vision. The orderly set to mending her.

Vipera blinked once then twice at Britt.
"What the fu-???" she started before the nurses started to attend Britt, cleaning her wounds and taking her to a bed across the room. She wondered if they were going to put her under. She did look pretty bad.... Shit!

Madam Pompfrey approached her, tsk'ing as she usually did when Brittany came to the Hospital Wing. She began muttering enchantments- apparently she had a bruised tailbone, and a sprained wrist, and a potentially broken left hand. Brittany waved off any sleeping medication, and sat up, almost shouting.

"Give me a minute to breathe here! VIPERA! What the HELL did you do to make those Centaurs so pissed off!"

She spit out a mouthful of blood into a bowl the orderly was holding, which was filled with steralized water. He frowned and stalked off angrily to get a new bowl.

Ulti, upon seeing Britt badly hurt, found the strength to take off his cloak.
He approached Vipera and placed some flowers on top of her desk.
Their eyes met but he couldn't find the words and moved on over to Britt's bed.
He winked at her then headed for the door.

Centaurs are always pissed for one reason or another," Vipera murmured- looking away. Brittany shouldn't have been out there. and the last thing she should have done was admit an allegiance to a Riddle. her father had lost the war. They didn't want anything to do with Little Miss Riddle- the one who followed- emerald eyes and dark hair, wild as a demon's when she ran. She was sneaking for secrets of astronomy- of divination, something she had never experienced before.

And every centaur shut her out- save Firenze.

Just then Ultimater pulled off his cloak and set flower on her dresser.
She just kindof stared at him stupidly. He stuns her and then gives her flowers. What the hell? The shock definitely showed on her face.

She shook her head, angrily.

"Vipera! Stop with the lies! You have been following them for a long time- that's what the Centaur said before he threw me into a tree, okay? This is getting way out of hand. Tell the truth now, or- I'll have to banish you from the Forest!"

She hated using her authority like that, but if she was going to continue to lie like this, something had to be done.

She watched Ultimater walk out, glaring at him as he went. She would deal with him later.

"Banish me then," Vipera said softly. But she knew she wasn't going to stay away. They knew things- and she wanted desperately to somehow steal that knowledge. She needed to know. She just needed it and Britt had to right to take that from her. If Vipera wanted to take these chances then she would- make no mistake about that and no authority figure- even if it was the Headmistress would stop her.

She was a Slytherin and a Riddle.
No one told her what to do.

She gave Britt a defiant look and rolled over on the bed, looking away.

She looked at her in disbelief.

"So, you're just going to let this happen? What if it had been a first year out there, Vipera? Someone who couldn't defend themselves at all? What would you have thought then? You're the most pathetic, selfish, and vile person I've ever had the misfortune to talk to. You deserve whatever you have coming to you. I can't believe I even thought about befriending you. Enjoy your lonely life."

She grimaced in pain as an orderly moved her left wrist.

"It's broken, you idiot! Why don't you think I moved it when you asked me to?"

Vipera got up, and her eyes burned with something terrifying when she looked at Brittany.
Her voice was soft with rage when she spoke, her words a whisper against the air.

"You know nothing, do you hear me?" she told her, standing and getting up out of her bed, her anger fueling- giving her strength, making her hard and tough.
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" she screamed, throwing a pillow at Brittany and smashing the bottle of drought against the bed-table.

She ran out of the Hospital Wing, her body still aching- burning as she fled- she had to get away. She had to hide. Anywhere- anywhere she could stay unseen.

She was going to cry.

She watched her leave, frowning. She didn't flinch during her outburst. She felt guilty for saying what she did. She was better than this... she knew she was. She shouldn't have lost her cool like she did. She was usually much more tolerant. I guess it's the stress... she thought.

She laid her head against the pillow, allowing the nurse and the orderly to work on her, wincing every now and then.

This is going to be a long night... she thought.

Vipera (lame as she was) found a broom cabinet just past the Hospital Wing and shoved herself inside, biting her lower lip so hard that it bled- in an attempt to stop the tears, hot and salty- from stinging her face.

God, her tears burned like fire as they ran down her ivory face. Shit this was not a good day. Why couldn't she just stop being so bloody angry all the time?


Her mouth tasted of blood.

Closing her eyes for what seemed like the first time in decades, she drifted off, feeling every muscle and bone in her body throbbing. Just another day at Hogwarts... she thought, breathing slowly. She hoped that Vipera would make her way back to the Hospital Wing. She was worried about her. She'd never seen anyone stunned so bad, yet, she had never seen someone recover so well from such a bad stun so quickly. Vipera was tough, that's one thing she had to give her.

It's too bad she's so damn stubborn...

Zamber strolled into the Hospital Wing knowing that she was late but it had been a nice night out and she couldn’t resist wandering the grounds, still searching for answers. She had been supposed to go straight to the hospital wing as soon as she had returned but another reason for her staying out late was the fact that she had been trying to stop shaking, she hated it when she got like that and it happened way too often. She had started getting better until she had gone to see the memory specialist but when she was there she had totally freaked.


Glancing around her she spotted someone sleeping and wondered if she ever knew the girl. So far she had met a few people who knew her but the feeling of recognition was only one sided. Perching herself on the edge of an empty bed she inspected her nails, pulling a face as she waited.

After a few moments, Brittany opened her eyes slowly, fully aware of the pain she was in. She moaned for a moment, then adjusted herself. It felt like her entire back was disconnected, and she was now sure that her tailbone was broken. She pulled herself more to the side to take pressure off of that area, looking up as she did so.

That's when she noticed the girl. She squinted, making sure. She smiled, feeling her muscles strain.

"Zamber! What are you doing here- how are you?"

Her eyes were puffy. Dammit.

Vipera frowned, wiping the tears from her eyes and the blood from her lips as she stepped out of the ridiculous broom closet that had been her sanctuary for that brief moment when Vipera Riddle had lost her cool. But Vipera didn't lose her cool.
She needed to stop being so serious. And she needed, she started to shake, more medication.

And so, reluctant as she was, Vipera had to return to the hospital wing. She wasn't stupid enough to try and heal from a Stunning Spell all on her own but she was quite surprised at how much stronger she was feeling- unlike when she had first revived.

"Madame Pompfrey?" she asked as she entered, moving towards the back- ignoring Britt and Zamber. "I need some more meds."

Glancing away from Zamber, she watched Vipera walk back in. God, she looks like hell right now... she thought, shaking her head. Rather than speak her mind, she decided to play it cool. If she wants to talk, she'll do it. I'm not going to try and reach out to her anymore, every time I have, I've gotten my ass chewed out for it.

She groaned as a spasm of pain came up her back. An orderly, came to the bedside with a bowl of white liquid and handed it to her for the pain. She reluctantly drank the potion and re-adjusted herself once more.

Vipera sighed as she waited for Madame Pompfrey. Britt should apologize- She saw the look of shock on her face. Yeah she looked like hell- duh. Vipera frowned and shook her head- biting her lip only o to remember that was a bad idea- the pain making her cuss as soon as she grabbed a gauze pad for her bleeding lip.

Where the hell was that nurse?

The orderly continued working on her, but as he was applying more bandages to her, she noticed how much pain Vipera was in. She rolled her eyes and looked up at the boy.

"Look- can you give her some assistance? I'll be okay over here, just go and make sure she's okay. Just because I'm Deputy Headmistress doesn't mean you should deny other people medical attention-"

The boy began to argue with her, stating that he wasn't denying Vipera purposely, that my wounds were worst. She raised her hand in his face and gave him a stern look.

"Do it now, or I'll have you out of here before you can say 'Yes ma'm' is that clear?"

He nodded. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, ma'm..." he said, looking to the ground. She gave him a smile and a pat on the butt as he turned around to assist Vipera.

Vipera was thankful when Britt sent the boy over but she could handle herself. She did stare however as Brittant patted the boy on the butt. her Headmistress was a pervert? She shrugged. Whatever floats your boat... and growled at the attendant as he tried to stitch her lip. She snapped at him. "What do you think you're doing? Bloody stitches? I am not a muggle!"

OOC- Ew, don't make me sound like a pervert, it was just funny. haha.

The boy jumped at her anger and quickly shuffled off into the other room to retrieve Madam Pompfrey. Brittany sighed, watching the boy go. I'll have to apologize to him later... she thought.

She watched Vipera for a long while before Madam Pompfrey finally came into the room.

"What's all this shouting about in here- you'd think we were in the Great Hall! I understand you're hurt and you're not feeling well, but it's important to know that this is an infirmary- people come here to get better! Why don't you both stop being selfish and start respecting the other patients are you who are trying to rest!"

Brittany frowned. For the first time she noticed that three other beds in the Hospital Wing were occupied, as well as a rather lengthy line waiting to be admitted. She sighed and nodded at the nurse.

"I apologize... I'm just stressed right now. Tell your orderly to come out once more, I'd like to apologize to him as well. I shouldn't take it out on you..." she said, looking from Madam Pompfrey to Vipera- the message going to both of them.

Vipera just sulked as Madame Pompfrey chastised them both. She sighed.
"Fine."
She pressed a new gauze pad to her lip and winced. Why did she always have to bleed somewhere near her mouth- it was like blood was a regular and routine taste for this girl.

Brittany sighed, chewing on both her lip and her thoughts. She finally interrupted the silence between the two, clearing her throat.

"Look, Vipera- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have exploded like that. I'm just overly stressed with everything... I'm usually much more tolerant. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Okay?"

She looked at her weakly, her eyes innocent.

Vipera was almost satisfied with Britt's apology, but the weakness and the innocence in her eyes made her sick. Granted, Vipera could probably use more of these moments but her very nature defied them. From birth, she was taught to be a hardass- to care only about herself and forsake others to achieve her own destiny- her own power. And sometimes.... well, sometimes that worked- giving Vipera an intense determination to overcome any threat or danger or challenge. She was strong, but she was unhappy- lacking the finer emotions of life. She felt sorrow, and anger most of all- but never did she feel love or happiness and she had a glimpse of friendship but it slipped away.

Her eyes softened against her will. Britt could feel. She was so lucky she could feel things for and with other people. She knew love- otherwise she wouldn't be fighting so hard to save Shawn. And Vipera- well, she wasn't even sure if she loved her family? Was that love? Or just kinsmanship?

"It's okay" she surrendered and looked away as the healer put a bright blue balm on her lip to stop the bleeding.

She smiled slightly. She would have preferred an apology in return, but this was a start. She at least had the courtesy to let her know if they were okay or not, now she could rest easy- hopefully. She watched the healer apply the balm to Vipera's lip and felt her eyelids grow heavy once more. Fighting her urge to sleep, she cleared her throat as the orderly walked by that she had gotten an attitude with.

"Young man, I just want to apologize for my behavior earlier. I shouldn't have taken anything out on you, you were just doing your job. I'd hate to trouble you, but could you please get me a glass of cold water? I'm absolutely parched..." she said, smiling at him.

The boy stared at her, then nodded, accepting the apology. He returned moment's later with a cold glass of water. She smiled and thanked him, taking the glass. She took the ice cubes out of the glass and put one in her mouth, sucking on it for a while. She sighed, flexing her toes out of boredom.

Vipera sat down on the bed, tried and defeated- from the rage and from the sorrow and from those damned tears. She sighed and sat down on the cot, shaking her head before closing her eyes and waiting for the pain to stop.

Deciding to break the once again silence, she looked up at Vipera.

"So, what do you want to do once you graduate Hogwarts? Any idea what career path you're going to take?"

She sighed. "I don't really know yet..." she let her voice trail off. 'Not much place for people like my family anymore..." she mused, her mind twisting. she didn't want to think. She just wanted to relax for a bit. She didn't want to think just at this second.

She nodded, sensing that she didn't want to talk. Oh well, I guess I'd better just rest then... maybe someone will come and visit me! she thought, hopefully. She adjusted herself once more and closed her eyes, licking her lips.

"Oh no, not you. You cannot be here!" Madam's Pomfrey's voice yelled from outside. There was a grunt, and a huff, and small bang against the door. The door opened, and Shawn hustled in.

"I'm sorry Madam!!" He yelled behind him, as he rushed over to Britt's bed. "Shit, girl, what in the world did you do to yourself? Lose a fight against a wall?" He said, as he got to the bed, smirking. "I came as soon as I heard you were here." He said smiling. "But damn, you look like shit..." He added, making a weird face at her.

Brittany opened one eye, in an irritated way. She shook her head slightly.

"You come to visit me in a hospital- you know, where people need rest and relaxation, and you barge in like a bat out of hell. You have to be quiet, Shawn! And you're supposed to bring flowers too... and candy..."

She laughed, sitting up slightly, wincing.

"Not a wall this time though, a Centaur did this one." She said, in a matter-of-fact voice, glancing over at Vipera pointedly. She then glanced back at Shawn and smiled weakly.

"Thanks for coming, though. That's nice of you. I know how you're busy these days."

"Hey I'm never to busy to visit a friend who got their ass kicked by centaurs... What's next, gonna go into a giant's village and think you'd be safe?" Shawn said laughing. "Oh and i ate the candy on the way up here, and I have to give madam pomfrey the flowers, because i kinda shoved her... She doesn't like me much, yah know?" He added, smirking.

"So do you need anything? I cleared my schedule for the rest of the day."

She blinked several times after hearing this story. Then just shook it out of her head.

"Nah, I should be okay. You don't have to sit here with me all day, by the way. I should be fine here. I don't need anything, the orderly will help." She gave the orderly a playful wink, which he returned with a scowl. She sighed.

Pete limped up to the hospital to get treatment from his latest injury from his latest stunt.He looked around and saw the whole place was deserted 'Odd'he thought to himself'This place is usually jam packed'

Glancing up from her bed after Shawn had left, she watched Pete walk in. She frowned, noticing his limp.

"You okay? What happened?"

"My most resent stunt didnt go very well"Pete answered as he sat down on one of the beds waiting for the nurse to take a look at him

Lizz walked into the Hospital Wing, she didn't feel to well and wondered if there was anything to cure the throbbing pain in her side. She waited for the nurse.