She stared excitedly at Kingsley Shacklebolt's leg. "Shall I begin?"
"No." Kingsley's expression was grave. "Lupin's worse off than I am. Treat him first."
Tonks did not care who she treated first.
And Lupin, who had started spacing out the moment she leaned close, was even less likely to care!
Before long, Lupin's trembling, desperately suppressed groans of pain echoed through the ruins:
"Easy... easy... it's going to break, it's going to break..."
Battlefield first aid was a compulsory course in Auror training, and setting broken bones was especially important. For wizards who could use potions, as long as their brains and hearts were unharmed, even severe injuries would not greatly affect their combat ability.
Only fractures could truly impair a wizard's performance—being unable to stand properly or wield a wand was far worse than having one's intestines spilling out!
Tonks had naturally taken such courses... she had simply never put them into practice...
Ignoring Lupin's resentful glare after pain brought him back to his senses, Kingsley endured his own pain and picked up the gilded box he had specifically told Tonks to retrieve.
"Kingsley, what is this?"
Seeing Kingsley open the box, Tonks, who was treating Lupin's injuries nearby, curiously leaned over. As she asked, she unconsciously tugged at the strap in her hand.
From the corner of his eye, Kingsley saw Lupin's thigh twitch violently.
A muffled, pain-filled groan drifted over.
Hmph!
Served him right!
Kingsley did not pity Lupin in the slightest. A man in his thirties, still indulging in foolish romantic fantasies all day—he deserved a lesson!
Ignoring Lupin, whose chest was being cinched so tightly that his ribs hurt too much for him to breathe, Kingsley deliberately slowed down and gradually opened the box.
Driven by curiosity, Tonks leaned farther and farther forward.
Lupin's thigh