If Madam Pomfrey was being a hundred per cent honest, she was growing tired of seeing the same faces inside the Hospital Wing. However, when Éponine Rosier arrived with an unconscious Regulus Black, the matron couldn't help but comes across as puzzled. After all, the drama that made its way around the corridors of Hogwarts, did not fall on deaf ears when it came to the faculty. Thinking back to a couple of years ago, it would have been expected to see one of them in the company of the other, especially if one was in the Hospital Wing. But since the known falling out between the two teens, it was quite a confusing scenario.

Éponine wasted no time explaining that Regulus had been hit with a bludger, and due to that, had fallen a great height from his broom. If that wasn't enough to cause concern, she also told Madam Pomfrey that he had landed on his back.

Nothing more needed to be said as Madam Pomfrey immediately cleared the area, so she could examine Regulus' injuries. She muttered to herself that Quidditch came across as far too dangerous, even if they had magic to heal most injuries. How was it that Third Years required a slip to attend visits to Hogsmeade Village, but a second year could volunteer for Quidditch when it had a great potential to cause serious damage?

"Is he going to be alright?"Éponine whispered at one point, her voice quivering. "How bad are his injuries?"

In her arms, she was holding onto her little cat so tightly that Madam Pomfrey thought the cat would end up popping in her arms like a balloon.

"Ms Rosier-"

"I moved him," she admitted. "I know I shouldn't have. We've gone over healing magic in class and they always tell us not to move someone before assessing their injuries because it can cause further damage. I wasn't thinking at the time, I just wanted to see...I thought it was Gian...but then I saw it was him...I...I..."

Before Madam Pomfrey could tell her to calm down, Éponine burst into tears. Toulouse finally managed to free himself from her hold and jumped down to his owner's feet, where he purred loudly as if he were trying to comfort her. However, no amount of purring could get her to settle down right away. However, Madam Pomfrey didn't have a lot of time to spare when it came to comforting Éponine, not when she had a gravely injured patient waiting on.

"Ms Rosier," Madam Pomfrey cut her off in a firm voice, " I need you to go take a walk around the castle and calm yourself down. Once you have calmed down, you can return and by then, I should know what I'm dealing with. Go on."

It seemed harsh initially, but it was what Éponine needed to hear as she nodded her head and quickly left the Hospital Wing. Toulouse remained, leaping up onto one of the empty beds, and settling in.

Nine broken ribs, a shattered hip, and multiple fractured vertebrae later, it was a wonder that Regulus had maintained consciousness as long as he did. It was bad enough that the bludger had hit him with such force at an angle, that it more than likely knocked the wind out of him causing him to fall off his broom. And while his injuries were to be taken very seriously, Madam Pomfrey came to the conclusion that he was lucky to have fallen the way he did from such a great height or the injuries themselves could have been life-threatening or fatal.

Had his body not been loose when he hit the ground, there was more of a chance that he could have broken much more. Not to mention, there was always the possibility of one landing on their neck and snapping it.

Magic was a wonderful thing to utilise when it came to such injuries, but it didn't mean that it was going to be pain-free. In most cases, simple breaks and hairline fractures were easy to manage with the Brackium Emendo charm, but for more intense injuries it was going to take a lot more work. For his spine alone, Madam Pomfrey decided it was best to remove the pieces of bone and have Regulus intake Skele-Gro once he woke up.

In fact, while it was going to be a rather painful process, he was better off with a new set of bones instead of merely fixed broken ones. She had been reading in one of the latest released Healing journals that patients who had their broken bones repaired with spells such as Episkey or Brackium Emendo, reported feeling soreness later on in life, such as when the air grew cold in the wintertime, they could feel old injuries. If it was able to be done, a new bone was better than a repaired one.

For a brief moment, as she adjusted Regulus in bed, he awoke, crying out in pain. She had him take the dose of Skele-Gro, which caused him to gag from the flavour alone. She told him it was going to be a very painful experience for the night but that it would all be worth it. Regulus didn't respond at the time though, overwhelmed by pain, he passed out again.

Later in the evening, Regulus did wake up again, to a sharp stabbing sensation in his back. He didn't cry out though because as he opened his eyes to find a pair of yellow ones staring back at him. His body was too sore, even to jump, as he realised it was Toulouse that had come to rest on his chest. The cat was purring loudly, that Regulus could feel his entire chest vibrating under the little pile of fur.

"What are you doing?" he asked Toulouse as if the cat would answer. "What do you want?!"

"Shh...keep your voice down! Do you want to wake up everyone!"

Regulus really thought at that moment, that he had officially gone mad. Even in the world of magic, it wasn't possible for animals to speak human language, at least, to his knowledge. However, it wasn't Toulouse that had scolded him, but Gian, who appeared at his bedside.

"Gian?! What are you-"

"Shh!!" Gian said again, reaching one hand and covering Regulus' mouth. "Didn't you hear me the first time? Keep it down or you'll wake her up!"

Already in a foggy state, Regulus didn't understand what Gian was talking about until he followed the younger boy's direction and saw Éponine sitting in a corner, sound asleep.

She looked terribly uncomfortable, with her legs pulled up to her side on the small armchair. She was using her arm as a pillow and her head was leaned in such an awkward position that Regulus couldn't figure out how she was sleeping.

Eventually, Gian pulled his hand away from Regulus' mouth, with the reminder to keep his voice volume to a minimum. He picked up Toulouse into his arms before transferring the cat over to another bed before returning his attention to Regulus.

"I don't understand," Regulus told him. "What are you two doing here?"

"The better question is, what are you doing here?" Gian countered. "I saw what you did up there in the air for me. I saw you take the bludger for me."

Regulus looked away from him, shaking his head. "No, I didn't. I was just going for the snitch-"

"Which you caught before the bludger came for me. You had more than enough time to move out of the way, but you positioned yourself in front of it so that I wouldn't take the hit. You can't lie, I saw it with my own eyes. So, that brings up the question of why you did it? Last I heard, you can't stand my kind, so why would you try and save me?"

There was such an overwhelming silence that blanketed over the area that Regulus was sure he could only hear the sound of his heartbeat. He didn't know how to answer Gian's question as he thought it over in his head. All he could remember was hearing Éponine screaming for Gian to dismount his broom to avoid getting hurt, and at the time, he had been thinking about how she used to cheer at his matches.

He had been going for the snitch, thinking of the time where he said he was going to catch plenty more for her. And he did manage to grab the snitch but seeing the bludger going for Gian, he did throw himself in front of it, taking the brutal impact.

"I don't know," Regulus finally answered, but that wasn't a good enough answer for Gian.

"I don't get you all," he said with a shake of his head. "Really, I've tried to look at it from your point of view, but I don't get it. You all claim you hate muggles, muggle-borns, and people who support our existence. But look around you right now, who is in the Hospital Wing checking up on you? Me, a muggle-born. And Éponine, that so-called blood-traitor. She's the one who brought you here! She sent Travers to go get Madam Pomfrey and I'm pretty sure he never came back. So she brought you here and she's pretty much been here ever since, waiting for you to wake up."

Regulus looked over in Éponine's direction, thinking of all the times she had been with him at the Hospital Wing before, whether it was due to a quidditch injury or the fact that she punched him in the face when he tried to kiss her.

"None of your so-called friends have come to check in on you. That elite title you hold of being a pureblood doesn't seem to matter much right now. How else can I put it? What makes you so much better than me that you don't think I belong here? At least I have the decency to check up on you. Travers isn't here, and he's the captain of the team. I shouldn't even be allowed in this school, according to you and yet here I am. And here you are because you took that bludger for me. Or maybe you took it for Éponine, who knows, but you still did it."

"What do you want me to say?" Regulus asked him quietly. "What exactly should I say?"

"Maybe that you're sorry, at least you could say that to Éponine! Just when everyone thinks she's moved on, you keep coming in and giving her mixed messages. You tell her that she should denounce her beliefs, but then you go ahead and save me. What do you think that tells her? Don't keep giving her hope if you're not willing to change. You can't keep stringing her along. But if you are willing to change, step up and do it. You already know you're going to find support. Éponine and Sirius want to be there for you!"

"They seem to be doing just fine without me. They seem rather cosy with one another. You don't think I know that she's been sporting my brother's leather jacket around."

"I think I know Éponine well enough to say that if you hadn't abandoned her in the way you did if you had stayed by her side, she wouldn't even have looked in Sirius' direction twice. Maybe to have as a friend, but she would have never looked at him like that. She looked at you like that, deep down, I think she still wants to see you in that light, but you make it so damn hard for her to love you."

Regulus didn't reply, but Gian didn't seem to be in the mood to listen to anything he had to say if he did. Instead, he reached into his pocket for something.

"Here," he said holding out his hand," she told me to head to the dorms and grab these for you."

Opening his own hands, Regulus was able to accept the pair of socks he was given.

"I'm taking her back to the Common Room," Gian told him, "just think about everything, will you? Think about who's been there for you and who's willing to be there for you right now."

Gian walked away from the bed and scooped up Toulouse before making his way over to where Éponine remained asleep. Regulus closed his eyes, not sure if he could handle another confrontation that evening. But he listened as Éponine stirred with Gian telling her that they needed to head back to the dorms. She seemed to put up some protest but Gian told her they could come back first thing in the morning.

"Did you give him the socks?"

"Yes, I did."

Regulus thought they were walking away until he heard footsteps approaching his bed again. He held his breath as someone neared and seconds later he could smell Éponine's perfume. Thank goodness he was in the Hospital Wing for the evening because he felt his heart stopped as Éponine leaned in and kissed the side of his face.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear bringing his entire body to tingle. "Sleep well."

The sound of her footsteps retreated and the Hospital Wing fell silent once more. He opened one eye slowly to peek around the room, to see that it was empty. He let out a heavy sigh before touching the side of his face. He was still holding onto the fresh pair of socks as he looked up at the ceiling, gritting his teeth as his spine felt like it was on fire.

But the interaction with Éponine, no matter how brief, made the pain so worth it.

A/N: