Closed; The Final Act - Part II

[allaboot_terry]

Terry had never tried landing from a portkey with someone in his arms, let alone someone so fragile and burned. He felt Pansy coming down with them, everyone latched on to each other as he'd never seen before. While he'd been a part of the D.A. he'd never really been on the firing line before. Looking around he saw in slow motion, Cecilia rushing

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[ccecilia]

It was like something in Cecilia snapped into action when they landed inside the waiting room, finally feeling in her element. If there was anything she could do to help now, it would be here. She broke her hold of George, waving her wand with a flourish and bringing four different stretchers toward them

[george_goesboom]

He did consider it, for a moment. But the rush of adrenaline had worn off as they had left the burning scene behind, and he suddenly felt uncharacteristically unargumentative. Really quite tired, actually. His shoulder throbbed sharply under the clutch of his opposite hand as he blinked down it and the trickle of blood that was still insisting on going about ruining his favorite jacket.

"Right. Yeah. Everything's okay. Everyone's fine. Right?" He glanced back up at Cecilia, focusing in on her face. She was fine, at least. Even if nothing else was, at least she was okay-

[ccecilia]

She looked down at him, the black smudges on his face from the smoke masking his usual spatter of freckles. She brushed his hair back off his head, her eyes catching his as she offered him a tight smile.

"Everyone's here-" she said, though whether or not their chances were any good, she didn't know.

She was still shaking from the sight of Daphne and Pansy, their bodies unrecognizable.

"Now- come on, I'm taking care of you personally-"

[george_goesboom]

George could only nod, closing his eyes as he leaned into the comforting touch of her hand.

His sluggish mind (bloodloss was a hell of a drug, apparently) struggled to piece together the facts of what had just happened - the men with the guns, the burning building, the charred bodies- but they had to be okay, right? This was St-Mungo's, the best of the best, he had seen Healers regrow entire limbs and stitch up gaping holes in people's chests. Surely this was something they could handle-

He blinked his eyes open again, reaching his functioning hand out to grab Cecilia's shaking one, realizing a bit too late that his fingers were sticky with blood.

[reidinggg]

Say what you will about St-Mungo's, no one could ever accuse them of being inefficient - considering that the scene he Apparated into was still a mess of scrambling Healers and gurneys and injured bodies being organized and dispatched, he could only imagine that the automated message (Patient: Skylar Fawcett - Status: Critical - Ward: Emergency) that had reached him just as he was stumbling back into their flat had been sent out within seconds of her arriving.

Needless to say, he was in full panic mode. His stomach was in knots, questions were piling up in his head, and he wasn't quite sure how he'd even managed to make it to the hospital without splinching himself, knowing only that whatever was happening, he had to be there and he had to be there nowHis gaze flew across the room, scanning bodies and faces (some of them terrifyingly unrecognizable) until - there she was. Whiter still than the sheet she was sprawled against, eyes closed, covered in blood - so much blood, way more blood than should ever be finding its way out of a

[so_harry]

Cecilia's voice rang through his eardrums, the hospital buzzing around him as they landed in the waiting room. He was still holding on to her, still clutching her to his chest when the stretcher came toward him, two wards urging him to place her down, get her to the patient room. He didn't want to let her go at first, his whole body tense with worry. But Cecilia was barking orders again and he eased her down onto the stretcher carefully.

"Right this way, Mister Potter-" the one ward said. "Follow-"

"You- What the fuck did you do-"

He spun on his heels, that voice cutting into his gut as he met Reid's face.

He should have known he'd show up.

He gulped, trying to explain everything while managing to stay as calm as he could considering the look of rage in Reid's face.

"She was shot-" he said, raking his hand through his hair, glancing back at the stretcher over his shoulder. "It was the Burning Man- the men- whatever the bloody hell they're called-"

[reidinggg]

Reid didn't even bother to take in any of the sputtering Harry was doing as he all but charged across the room, the white hot flare of rage building in his chest blinding him to everything and everyone else. He was freaked out, and confused, and completely terrified, but mostly he was sick of Harry Fucking Potter and all the shit he seemed to keep bringing around with him, and he didn't care that the man looked all sorts of frazzled and horrified himself, he had fucking had it-

He was barely even aware of what he was doing, moving purely out of reactive instinct as he reached his intended target and the fist that had been clenching at his side swung up to firmly collide with Harry's cheekbone.

[so_harry]

His head snapped back.

He could feel the red creeping into his cheek where Reid's punch burned, Harry stumbling a step behind him. He rubbed at his face, cracking his jaw as he blinked his eyes open, taking focus of the very rage he underestimated in the other bloke.

Bloody fuck-

"What are you doing-" he burst out, the mark of Reid's punch shiny on his pale, weathered skin.

[skylar_x]

They rushed Skylar to the back immediately, healers coming out of the woodwork with potions for the regrowth but it was clear that the damage was extensive. She was pulled into an emergency surgery, the bullet lodged deep into her shoulder blade, cutting through her almost completely

[so_harry]

He had been pacing in the waiting room, avoiding Reid as much as possible, not wanting a repeat of what had happened earlier to happen again. It had been a good punch but it added nothing to the pain already swarming in his head. He was tugging at his hair, his footsteps no doubt irritating everyone around him.

"Mister Potter-"

The assistant beckoned for him to follow and Harry was off in a flash, following her down the corridor.

"Is she alright?" he asked. "Is she awake?"

But before anyone would answer him, he had reached her room and there she was. His heart caught in his throat as he saw her, his whole body tensing as he walked inside.

"Skylar?"

He came to her beside, sitting beside her, his hand reaching for hers.

[skylar_x]

Her body was still weak but she was wide awake, alert as Harry came through the door. She tried to sit up but the pain shot through her again and she winced.

"Harry, I'm okay-" she said in a strained voice. Skylar coughed, her whole body shaking as she did.

Everything had been a blur, images of smoke and blood, Harry's arms around her, and his voice calling out-

[so_harry]

"No- you were shot-"

His words were broken, staggered, his breathing still shaky. He had seen her unconscious, he had nearly lost her. He was waiting for the relief to hit him but it was hard when he saw her here, looking so small in the bed before him,

"You saved my life-" he choked out, gripping at her hand. "This is why I needed you to stay home-"

[whythespiders]

This was such a ridiculous, bloody clusterfuck. One minute, Ron had been weeding through useless information that would have been more helpful if Harry hadn't been suspended. The very next, he was getting a patronus from Kingsley letting him know that all hell had broken loose.

It was going to take more time - hell, he didn't even know how long it had been - to put this whole fiasco together. Granted, it seemed like it'd been somehow successful, but that didn't change anything. He'd left oblivators to do what they did and gotten the joyful tasks of tracking down Harry and everyone else that had apparently been involved in this.

St. Mungo's was in disarray, even more so than it generally was. At least that made it easier to find people who knew things, when you knew how to navigate chaos.

"What in the hell? Explanations, right now," Ron barked.

[so_harry]

Harry knew there was still a lot to be done. Questions to be asked, interrogations to take place. That entire bloody village needed to be Obliviated.. The whole thing had just happened so bloody fast-

He was leaving Skylar's room, knowing that she was calling Reid in and wanting nothing to do with that particular exchange. Not to mention, he needed to contact Kingsley and figure out what had gone down after he'd taken the Portkey to the hospital.

He didn't expect Ron to be waiting there in the middle of the lobby.

"It was a fucking mess, mate," he said, sighing wearily. "I didn't have a bloody minute to think-"

[whythespiders]

"Yeah, I know that. Where do you think I just was?" Sometimes, Ron got rage-filled enough to want to hit people. This was one of those times. Luckily - contrary to what Hermione Granger might think - Ron had better self restraint than that.

"If it looks like a mess now, no wonder you've all ended up here! Kingsley sent me to figure out what in the bloody hell happened." He made a harsh gesture over his shoulder, needing to get out of a lobby that was crawling with people who would start hanging on their every word in about thirty seconds.

[so_harry]

"Come on, then-"

He gestured to Ron to follow him, trying to find a dark, quite part down a hallway where the two of them could talk. Their arrival had caused a bit of a stir, the media already trying to find their way instead.

Thankfully, St. Mungo's had a strict no-journalists policy.

Once he found a secluded enough area he turned back to Ron.

"Have you rounded them all up?" he asked.

[reidinggg]

Reid had hardly stood still for a second himself, alternating between pacing circles in a corner of the room to sitting in a chair with his knees bouncing anxiously, back to pacing, then sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, drumming his fingers on the top of his leg. Then back to pacing.

He couldn't deny the tug of mixed anxiety, relief, and yes, jealousy, that pulled at his stomach when the Healer's assistant peaked through the door and beckoned Harry over, his restlessness then doubling as entirely too much time passed before anyone else came to the door. Finally that same assistant returned, glanced down at the chart in her hand, then back up to the lingering crowd. "Chambers?"

Reid flailingly jumped to his feet, just about tackling the assistant as he rushed through the door to follow her to Skylar's room.

"Bloody fucking Merlin I swear if you ever do anything like that to me again I will kill you myself what the hell were you thinking you stupid stubborn idiot-" The words all tumbled out at once as he burst through

[skylar_x]

Her strength was returning to her but slowly, still leaving her limps feel heavy and her head throbbing. It was almost as if she could feel the potions going to work which was a very strange feeling, almost like an intense tingling in her shoulder where the muscle was rebuilding itself.

When Reid burst in she tried not to smile due to the gravity of the situation. But she was just so relieved to see him there, even if he was lecturing her so quickly it was hard to keep track off all the words spewing from his mouth.

"I'm fine-" she said, her voice softer than it had been with hair, but still just as raspy. "They got me here just in time."

[reidinggg]

"It is mostly definitely not fine," he muttered, his voice muffled against the top of her head as he pulled her into a firm yet gentle hug, careful not to jousle her too much given the injuries she was clearly still recovering from. The dryness of her voice rang uncomfortably in his ears, the sight of looking so weary and frail pulling at his heartstrings.

"Damnit, Skylar. What were you thinking," he asked again, less accusatory and closer to whisper this time.

[skylar_x]

She used what strength she did have to shift closer to him, taking comfort in the way Reid's body wrapped around her own and nuzzled into him. He smelled clean, like shampoo and their laundry detergent.

"I was thinking- Reid, Harry was in trouble. I wasn't thinking," she told him honestly, knowing the lecture that would follow.

After all, Harry was a professional. He was an auror.

But he was also suspended.