A Holiday Spent in the Hospital [Revised Version]

The holiday was well and truly ruined.

I sat on a hospital bed at St. Mungo's, sighing over and over. I was still sighing when Petunia arrived with a lunchbox.

"I told you not to get involved in their family's business. Look what happened—you all got hurt, didn't you?" Petunia rolled her eyes at me, then sat on the edge of the bed and started peeling an apple for me. "At least it wasn't serious. You really were lucky."

"Does it still hurt today?" Lily looked at me worriedly. "You really lost a lot of blood back then."

"You were only a little less hurt than I was. Why are you asking me?" I leaned toward Petunia. "Could you cut it into pieces, please?"

"Don't push your luck!" Petunia said huffily, then asked Eileen, who was sitting nearby, to lend her a knife.

Tobias had been taken to an ordinary hospital, while Lily, Snape, Eileen, and I had all been admitted to St. Mungo's, even sharing the same ward.

Over the past few days, I had occasionally chatted with Eileen about the magical world. She was still hesitant and would sometimes wear a conflicted look, but whatever she thought was her business, and I couldn't be bothered to try persuading her further.

Later, though, a patient came into the ward and recognized her. The patient excitedly said how much they had loved watching her play Gobstones years ago, and the two spent the entire afternoon talking about it. After the patient left, Eileen looked visibly more spirited.

"Do you think Mrs. Eileen will be willing to get a divorce?" I asked Lily.

"She definitely will. Severus has been packing his things these past few days," Lily said quietly. "I saw him move all his books into the living room."

Tobias definitely wouldn't be leaving the hospital anytime soon. After all, wizards and ordinary people couldn't be treated as physically the same. Besides, the rest of us had all taken potions and received magical treatment. Eileen could already speak, but he was still unconscious.

I spent the entire holiday lying in St. Mungo's. Lily and Petunia often came to see me, and Snape occasionally came to visit Eileen, always passing me without a word.

Gradually, Eileen began chatting with me, and she even told me how to make many potions, which benefited me greatly.

"Are you really all right? Should you stay in the hospital a little longer?"

Lily had been very anxious lately. Whatever I did, she wanted to help, as if I were something fragile. She even tried to carry my trunk when we boarded the train, leaving me torn between laughter and exasperation. "I'm really fine. Look, haven't I completely recovered? It was just some blood loss. It's nothing serious."

"You were hurt?"

As I was speaking, James's surprised voice rang out behind me. I turned to see him and Sirius appear with their arms around each other's shoulders. "What happened?"

"Just a little problem." I brushed it off. "How was your holiday?"

I had thought James would immediately launch into an excited account of his holiday, but instead he gave me a suspicious look. "Are you really all right? You said you lost a lot of blood... What kind of little problem makes you lose that much blood?"

[James asked me about my injury...]

[1. Throw myself into his arms and cry]

[2. "I got hurt playing Quidditch on my head"]

[3. Say I went to defeat Voldemort over the holiday]

[4. Whatever, go to sleep]

...What a nostalgic feeling.

"Ah, well, this happened, and then that happened, and then it went like this." I gestured for a while. "Do you understand?"

James shook his head blankly. "I don't understand."

In any case, I found a way to brush the matter aside. James soon brought up what they had done over the holiday, saying that he had accidentally blown up the backyard while practicing Quidditch, making his dad so angry that he chased him around the yard, trying to hit him.

"How did you manage to blow up the yard playing Quidditch?" I was shocked.

"Ah, well, this happened, and then that happened..." James began imitating my gestures, and I immediately covered his mouth.

"Fine, I don't want to know anymore."

Second-years traveled to Hogwarts by carriage. On the way to the carriages, James looked at the first-years crossing the Black Lake in the distance and said nostalgically, "Back in the day, I too traveled to Hogwarts from over there..."

"Excuse me, may I ask how old you are now, sir?" I was speechless.

"Time is a terrifying thing," Sirius concluded.

From a distance, I saw a large group of Thestrals standing quietly on the flat ground, harnessed to the carriages. Seeing Thestrals now gave me a warm feeling. After all, whenever I saw them, it meant that this loop had reached its second year. Before getting into a carriage, I couldn't resist reaching out to stroke one on the head. It gently lowered its head and let me rub it.

"You can see Thestrals?"

Just as I was thinking how cute Thestrals were and how nice it would be to have one, Sirius's voice suddenly rang out behind me, startling me so badly that I nearly grabbed the Thestral's bones.

"Can't you break that habit of always talking to people from behind?" I was very displeased. "If you do it again, I'm going to hit you!"

[Sirius asked me why I could see Thestrals...]

[1. "Because I missed you to death"]

[2. "Huh? Can't everyone see them?"]

[3. "I'm touching the air"]

[4. Whatever, go to sleep]

What were these options?! Were they New Year's greetings or what?!

I had been planning to brush him off again, but when I looked at Sirius, I suddenly remembered witnessing his death.

Before I encountered the Dementors, my sympathy for what Sirius had been through in Azkaban had only been superficial, and my understanding of losing happiness had been entirely on the level of the "Happy O Spirit" I had watched as a child.

Only when I actually encountered a Dementor did I realize that it wasn't simply pain and despair. Negative emotions drowned me like a tidal wave. For no reason, I began feeling death and breakdown welling up inside me, and I would often find myself clutching my head and sobbing without realizing it. I saw everyone who had died, saw blood-red skies. Those feelings lasted only a moment, yet they drove me to a mental breakdown. It was almost impossible to imagine that Sirius had endured them for twelve whole years.

[Sirius's favorability -1]

When I came back to myself, I saw Sirius turn and leave. I had accidentally fallen into my memories while staring at him, but since he had left in anger, at least I wouldn't have to go to the trouble of explaining.

I patted the Thestral's head again and jumped into the carriage.

[Author's note]

★Side quest reminder★

*Congratulations on unlocking Snape's main quest-[Spider's End · 2]

*Congratulations on unlocking Eileen's main quest-[The Prince Family]