The air inside the hospital wing was quiet, too quiet. Only the occasional rustle of parchment or the soft clink of vials echoed in the room. The windows let in the late morning sun, casting a warm, golden glow over the neat rows of beds.
In the far corner, James Potter's fingers twitched.
A second later, his eyes snapped open.
He sat up suddenly, gasping for breath, sweat clinging to his forehead. His heart thudded against his ribs as if it were trying to escape.
At the same moment, Rose let out a sharp cry and bolted upright in her bed across the room.
Both were pale, eyes wide with confusion and terror. For a long moment, they just stared at each other, unspeaking, but knowing.
Then—
"James! Rose!"
Chairs scraped loudly. Ginny rushed forward, wrapping James in a hug so tight he winced. Harry had already grabbed his son's shoulder, his voice shaky with emotion. "You're awake…"
Hermione flung herself to Rose's side, cupping her face as Ron stood behind, visibly shaken.
Fred and Alicia blinked, stunned, before quickly moving forward. Angelina, George, Fleur, and Bill all clustered near the foot of the beds, while Molly and Arthur stood at a slight distance, their eyes glassy but relieved.
"Oh, thank Merlin," Molly muttered. "Poppy! They're up!"
Madam Pomfrey dashed out of her office almost instantly, robes flapping behind her. "Out of the way, let me through!" She waved her wand, scanning them quickly. "Heart rate high, breathing normal, core magic… fluctuating, but no signs of active trauma…"
Rose gripped the blankets. "What… what happened?"
"You were unconscious for a month," Hermione said gently, her voice thick. "You both passed out at the same time again. And—"
"And what?" James asked, glancing at his family's faces—every one of them filled with worry.
Ginny hesitated. "You… it looked like… You were choking yourselves."
James blinked. "What?"
Harry sighed. "It didn't make sense. You both suddenly clutched your necks and collapsed. There were marks, bruises, even though no one touched you. It was like… like you were attacking yourselves."
"We tried every spell we knew," Bill added.
"Even Fleur's healing magic barely eased the marks," George muttered.
Rose shook her head slowly. "We didn't do it to ourselves… I swear… something… it grabbed me—us. We couldn't breathe. It wanted to kill us."
James looked at her and nodded. "I saw her again. The girl. She was screaming. Said it was coming for us next."
Hermione sat down slowly, exchanging a glance with Ron.
"Her again?" Arthur said, concerned. "The girl with red hair and green eyes?"
"Every vision," Rose whispered.
Fred crossed his arms. "It's no coincidence anymore."
"We've all agreed," Hermione said firmly. "It's time to connect every piece. Rose, James—you're not alone in this."
"You've got everyone in this room behind you," Alicia added with a soft smile.
"And beyond," said George. "Bill, Fleur, Angelina, and I have already started tracking the linked records."
"And Fred and I are in on it now too," Alicia said proudly. "We found some things in Hermione's office."
James blinked. "What things?"
"Later," Hermione said quickly. "For now, we focus on your recovery."
"But the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students?" Rose asked suddenly, spotting the unconscious forms on the next beds. "They're still out?"
Madam Pomfrey nodded grimly. "Haven't woken once. Not a flicker."
James's face hardened. "They saw her too, didn't they?"
Everyone looked at each other.
No one answered.
That night, while they were going to sleep at the Hospital Wing, James saw the girl's reflection in the mirror opposite to his bed, and he woke Rose up.
"Rose, get up." She woke up with a jolt, looking at James confused, "Do you see her?, In the mirror, he whispers,"
"Yes, Bloody Hell, this is getting worse, wait! James! Look at your body!, It's covered in red marks." Rose yelled, causing Madam Pomfrey to come out.
"Even you are!" James yells in reply, both utterly shocked.
"Merlin's beard, this is getting worse. Stay right there, you two, don't move. I will have to bandage you up or you will begin bleeding tomorrow." Madam Pomfrey says and summons some bandages and starts wrapping them around."
After she finished, she ordered them to sleep and relax their brain not to think about anything.
The next morning, they both woke up, their bandages stained with blood. They looked at each other and screamed, causing not only Madam Pomfrey, but even a few students from the corridor to come check on them. The students screamed, looking at them, and the students screamed in sync.
Madam Pomfrey asked them to inform the other Professors and the headmistress, and shooed them away while changing their blood-stained bandages.
The strange part? They hadn't even had any wounds before.
Only faint bruises had been around their necks the night before. Now, crimson blotches covered their clothes and sheets—deep gashes slashed across their arms, legs, backs, and even their stomachs, like something had tried to tear them open from the inside out.
"What in Merlin's name—" Madam Pomfrey muttered, clearly shaken as she waved her wand to stop the bleeding. "This is dark magic… no—this is something worse."
James let out a low moan as a fresh wave of pain shot through his chest. "What's happening to us?"
Rose's breathing was shaky, her face ghost-pale. "I don't… I didn't even feel it. I just woke up like this—bleeding." She looked down at her hands, now stained red. "There was no pain until I opened my eyes."
The commotion outside the hospital wing grew louder. Whispers rushed through the corridors like wildfire—students claiming the Potter boy and Weasley girl had been cursed, possessed, or worse.
When Professors Longbottom and Vector arrived, they looked just as disturbed. One glance at James and Rose, and they immediately stepped back, sending a Patronus to summon McGonagall.
She arrived within minutes, lips pressed tight, wand drawn. She took one look at the room and froze. "What happened?" she asked, her voice like steel.
Madam Pomfrey turned with wide eyes. "They were fine last night—stable. But this morning, they woke up like this. These wounds weren't here before. They didn't do this to themselves, Minerva. They couldn't have."
James flinched as blood soaked through a new bandage. "It felt like… something inside me was breaking."
Rose nodded slowly. "Like… it was clawing its way out."
A long silence followed.
Then McGonagall finally spoke, quietly but firmly:
"Send a message to the Weasleys and the Potters. Students should go back to their common rooms and, if hurt, tell the prefects. Lock the castle down. We need to do an inspection." She said, still looking at James and Rose, fear was in her eyes, but so was determination.