healing spells won't fix this mess : // {NO}

[Teddy Lupin]

"Rosie.." he sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder, his body lowered for her, so it wouldn't be so much of a stretch. He rested his head on hers for a moment before he lifted up and look at Zane. "Do I always have to be the optimistic one? Seriously, Zane will recover. He's going to be better then fine eventually. As for taking the leadership role, I know you can do it. Why do you think Zane chose you as Second in Command? Just because he felt like it? No, he knows better then that. He knows that you can handle taking over, you are the most rational one out of us all after all. I was the one who wanted to keep fighting tonight, you're the one who got us out of there. Without you, both Zane and I would probably be dead now." Teddy told her, his arm pulling her closer to his body. She was really torn up about this, as was he, but he knew that Zane would get better. How could he not?

"Now don't be crying on me Rosie. Do I have to sing the Charlie song?" he chuckled, raising his hand to her eyes and wiping away a few tears that had escaped. "Really now, do you think Zane would give up so easily? Especially with Quidditch right around the corner?" Teddy chuckled, giving her another reassuring squeeze before he began to sing the dreaded song he hated most, but the song that she sang to him whenever he felt down.

Cheer up, Rosie
Give me a smile
What happened to the smile I used to know
Don't you know your grin has always
Been my sunshine;
Let that sunshine show...

Come on, Rosie
No need to frown
Deep down you know tomorrow is your toy...

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie smiled, letting him wipe away her tears. She knew she didn't need to worry. Zane was stronger than he seemed, even when she looked at him now, she knew that. He wouldn't give up so easily when he knew his friends and his Quidditch Team were counting on him. That just wasn't Zane. He was dependable and always there for whomever needed him at the time. And he never gave up.

"I'm just being stupid, that's all," she answered, smiling a bit more through her tears as he began to sing to her. Although both had grown to resent the song over the years, they were both secretly fond of it. It did, after all, lift their spirits whenever they were feeling a little grey, and it was a sure-fire way to cheer the other one up. That, in itself, was amazing, and a great accomplishment.

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[Zane Lestrange]

At the mention of Quidditch, Zane's mind focused somewhat. Yes, that was definitely Teddy speaking about Quidditch and saying that he should miss...I can't miss any practice, Slytherin will steam roller us, especially with Charlotte as Seeker once more.. The spirals had returned, every now and again changing colour. Zane watched the spirals change through a spectrum of colours before they began to merge into one. Rosie? Well the spirals had morphed into something that resembled Rosie apart from the cloud Rosie looked, well hawk-like. Strange, Rosie's not like that at all...one she doesn't have a... his thoughts were interrupted when the hawk-Rosie began to speak.

"Hurry up Zane, your wasting our time. You are so selfish to get yourself hurt, you didn't even think about the rest of us. You could have prevented this war with the DE, if you were a better leader we wouldn't be in this mess. You should be ashamed, you're not worthy to lead the New Order. Maybe you should go and join the DE seeing as though you have Lestrange blood in you," at this the hawk-Rosie was joined by a hawk-Teddy. Teddy looked very different, in fact he was wearing lipstick. The hawk-Teddy joined in with the hawk-Rosie's attack, "Why are you still here? They don't care about you. You should just walk out of that door and never return, after all we don't want you here. Surely you've heard us talking, we're planning a takeover and there's nothing you can do to stop us. You'll be cast out and disowned, where you belong." Zane started a mantra to get rid of the hawk clouds, You're not real. You're not real. You're not real!Then the hawk-Teddy and hawk-Rosie said in perfect unison, "Why don't you just hurry up and DIE?"

On the word die, the hawk-Teddy and hawk-Rosie vanished and Zane suddenly became aware of the conversation in the room around him. It seemed as though Teddy was talking about Rosie being the second in command. Hmm everything's normal. It was at that moment when Teddy started to sing.

Cheer up, Rosie
Give me a smile
What happened to the smile I used to know...

Admittedly Teddy wasn't the greatest singer in the world and Zane had the urge to tell him so. For the first time in what seemed like an age, Zane spoke out loud:

"Teddy, no offence mate, but you're not the greatest at singing..."

[Teddy Lupin]

"Now I wouldn't say stupid Rosie, stupids too strong of a word. Frankly, to me, you were just a little frightened. But seriously, you really don't need to worry about that. Zane's going to be fine." Teddy chuckled, hugging his friend before he looked back at Zane. He looked like he needed to say something, that something quiet weird was happening to him. He raised an eyebrow as he continued to watch his friend struggle with himself.

But as soon as he spoke, he began to laugh gently, shaking his head. "What did I tell you Rosie?" he chuckled smiling at his best friends. "Glad to hear you talk Zane, it was probably the little Quidditch talk I had wasn't it?" Teddy laughed looking at all the New Order as he laughed. Zane was alright, and if he was talking now, then he'd be flying by next week.

[James Sirius Potter]

When James heard Zane speak he looked round and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Zane and said "That's so like you, waking up at the sound of Quidditch." and laughed

[Zane Lestrange]

"Actually it was that combined with the fact that I thought I could smell crumpets. I'm glad you're back to normal Teddy, you did look rather odd as a hawk and so did Rosie. Oh and another thing, there is no way on earth that I am missing Quidditch. One, Slytherin would steam roller us in the next match, Two Charlotte would never stop going on about it and Three it's just not going to happen. I'll be out there tomorrow, Teddy my friend, and you won't be able to stop me because your silver arrow is no match for the power of the firebolt," he laughed slightly as he said this which triggered a small coughing fit.

"Ow," he said as he propped himself up with some pillows. "Can't madam Pomfrey fix my ribs?" It seemed like the obvious solution, the school nurse, broken ribs, it all made sense. Or maybe she would know they were cursed and begin to investigate. "On second thoughts, maybe that isn't such a good idea..." He glanced across at Rosie and spotted the tears before saying, "How long have I been out of it? It feels like five minutes, has it really been that long?"

[Rosie Lupin]

"Well, you'd be scared too, Mr. Lupin, if you had the threat of the leadership of such a society as the New Order hovering around behind you wherever you went," she answered, winking at him, before grinning and sniffing in as her tears faded away. She wiped the thin lines of water off of her cheeks before turning to Zane and answering his questions.

"Not long. Half hour at the most," she said, happy that he'd come to and was at least talking to her and the others to let them know that he was alright. Already, she could see a tad bit of the color returning to his cheeks as he talked about Quidditch, and there was a slight sparkle in his eye, which, though usually there, had been absent in the past half hour or so. She silently thanked God that her friend seemed to be alright. She didn't know what she'd do if he wasn't.

"The whole Madam Pomfrey idea's probably not a good one," she answered, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. The adrenaline that had fueled her fear for Zane was fading fast, and all of a sudden, her eyelids were drooping, as most of the energy in her body left it. The soft beds that the Room of Requirement had made seemed so comfortable and inviting right about then.

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[Teddy Lupin]

"I probably would, well maybe. We'll have to see next time when you both get injured, see how I react then." Teddy grinned playfully, but added "But I won't because there won't be a next time." just so Rosie wouldn't freak again. Actually, she probably would, she had her ways like that. He sighed and looked to Zane, who had a few questions. He was glad however, to see that his friend was recovering. The thought of them rushing to Madame Pomfory with Zane's cursed ribs and the questions she would ask about this mess seemed to remind Teddy that without Rosie's guidance, he would of brought Zane right to her, and he wouldn't be able to explain the situation to her. Another reason why Rosie would be able to take over.

As she back limp in his arms due to fatigue, Teddy yawned as well. "Well, I say it's time we all go to bed. Lucky it's a weekend, I'd hate to see what they do to us if we all showed up late for classes." Teddy yawned, standing up, still holding on to Rosie. He led her over to one of the beds and unraveled the sheets and helped her into bed, covering the sheets back over to her as he took the bed beside her. He sat down and stretched, removing his shoes slowly out of the fact that he was extremely tired.

[Rosie Lupin]

”There better not be a next time,” Rosie answered, smiling lethargically at him, her eyelids continuing to droop further and further until she could hardly even keep them open. They were going out of focus and suddenly, Rosie realized what time it was. She’d left the Common Room at two in the morning, which would make it about four by now. Yawning, she kicked off her slippers, glad that she was already in her pajamas, or something close to them, and let Teddy lead her to bed, where she promptly fell asleep.

The dream she had that night was a rather unpleasant one. Loud sounds and bright, flashing lights combined to give her a rather fitful bout of sleep. The images kept changing from one thing to the next. It was as though there was a Boggart trapped in her dream, because there was a rapid flash of the images she feared the most, accompanied by loud, resounding cracks every time they changed. CRACK! Dead Teddy. CRACK! Dead Zane. CRACK! Dead James. CRACK! Dead Lily. She was forced to stare at each of the images in turn, before she finally shook herself awake in the wee hours of the morning. Her body was covered in a dense, cold sweat, and her breathing was heavy and labored. Putting her hand up to her eyes, she thanked God that none of those images in her dream were real. If they had been, she didn’t know what she would have done.

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[James Sirius Potter]

James was asleep, but unfortunatly he was a light sleeper. He heard Rosie stir and woke up. "Rosie are you ok?" he asked seeing her shake. He got up and walked to her bed and hugged her. They were close as cousins go but he did feel slightly guilty that it was him not Teddy at that moment.

[Teddy Lupin]

Teddy woke from a pleasant dream with a scream. He bolted out of bed, his eyes opening slowly and his hair going from the mousy brown it went when he was sleeping to its bright turquoise color again, blinking his eyes a few times trying to concentrate, to see who the scream had come from. He knew it was either Lily or Rosie, but when he looked over to Rosie's bed, James had her in his arms, trying to comfort her. A small ting hit his stomach, for two reasons. He threw one of the reasons to the back of his mind and let the one that said "Something has happened to your best friend!!" take over as he jumped out of his bed, sporting only his boxers and an over shirt as he sat down next to Rosie.

He wouldn't hold her, as James was doing that part already, but he still looked frantic. "Rosie. Rosie. Rosie." he said in a hurry, looking around her, as if it would give something away to her shrieks. But nothing, it must have been a dream. His eyes locked on her eyes, the green becoming watery with the swelling of tears and bit his lip, lifting a hand to wipe her tears and hair away from her face. "Was it a dream?" he asked, his voice in a whisper.

[James Sirius Potter]

James saw Teddy wake up and knew that he would want to comfort Rosie. He slowly let go of Rosie and moved her into Teddy's arms. He watched as he comforted her and listened hoping that this dream didn't mean anything.

[Rosie Lupin]

At the moment, Rosie hardly noticed the events going on around her. She vaguely remembered waking up and a shape, she thought it was her cousin, James, rushing over to hug her. Then, a while later, Ted had awoken. Thank God. Although she and James were close, he just didn't understand her the way Teddy did. She was slightly thankful when her cousin transferred her into Ted's arms. Nodding vigorously to her friends questioned, she reached up to hold her head, trying to keep in the murky details of her dream so that she could relate them to her friend.

"Yeah. It was awful. You were both dead. And Zane and Lily too. And Corliss, Scorpius, Charlotte, and Kianthra were all there. And I was in pain. Really really bad pain. Worse than earlier tonight with the Cruciatus Curse. And it lasted longer too." She continued to wipe the tears from her face. She knew it was a silly dream, and probably meant nothing. But it had all been so real. Especially the pain.

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[Teddy Lupin]

"Shhh Rosie." he whispered, wiping away the tears with the back of his hands. James had transferred Rosie over to his arms and he smiled gently at him. Rosie, James and himself spent most summers together since they all grew up together, spent all their summers together. Yet, he and Rosie had grown the closest out of all the cousins. If he could be counted as one. He held her closer to his chest and rocked her his arms, trying to calm her down.

"I know it hurt Rosie, but you got to believe me. It was all a dream. Myself and James are still alive and so are Zane and Lily, even if they are still asleep. And I hope you're not still in pain. Are you?" he asked, looking at her arms and legs, seeing if there were any bruises of sorts. His eyes were still adjusting to the light, so there may still be something there that he hadn't seen yet. "I won't leave you until you feel perfectly safe again. Nothing's going to harm you." he whispered to her, for her ears only. He looked to James to see if he had anything to add.

[Rosie Lupin]

Calm spread over her as he quieted her with his soothing voice. His arms felt so familiar, after all the summers they'd spent together, all the hugs they'd shared through those years. They'd grown so close, through Quidditch matches, cooking, chores, board games, rainy days spent inside pretending, and all the countless other things they still did, even if they seemed childish an immature at their present age.

"Not really," she answered, leaning her head back against her chest and trying to calm her breathing to a steady beat. She snuggled in closer to his chest. It was quite warm compared to the cold expanse of the cool night air outside her sheets. Remembering her bed, she looked down at it. Her blankets were tangled around in a knot, her pillow was halfway across the room, where she'd thrown it during her dream. Sighing, she tried to clear the dream from her head. "Thanks, Ted," she murmured.

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