a warning (open)

[mrpotter]

James walked into the pub at an unusual hour, it was quarter to eleven in the morning, as such, the place was deserted, not many got drinks before five in the evening. While the Leaky Cauldron did serve some food, James knew that it was not what people came here to do. They came here to get drunk, or get some cheap overnight lodging. He selected a corner table with his book, and ordered a butterbeer from the waitress that had approached him. James began to read, not usually a pastime of his, it was out of the ordinary to see the young Potter with a book, but he found this one immensely interesting.

He had picked it up at a muggle library, some sort of science fiction tale involving a time machine and chasing the antagonist through time to make sure he didn't mess up historical events. The things muggles came up with, it was amazing to James. He was not quite as fascinated by them as his Granddad Weasley, but knowing that they got by without magic, it was an impressive feat. He casually sipped his butterbeer until he finished it off, and then decided that he was going to leave, as not to make the landlady think that he was loitering. James slipped his book back into his bag, and then left the building.

As soon as the door closed behind him, James heard somebody shout "NOW!" and he suddenly found himself being held at wandpoint. He wanted to struggle, but something told him that was not a good idea. "Are you sure it's the Potter kid?" One of the masked people said aloud to the group of perhaps six. James' stomach sank, these were Death Eaters. "Well, look at him! Looks just like his daddy," the one holding him at his wand responded. James squirmed a bit, he did not like his father much, not since he kicked out Angel. He did not resent Harry like Evangeline, but still...

"Take his wand," said another. James had no choice as the one to his left reached into his pocket and yanked it out, a mere second later he had snapped it. "Such a good little boy, not giving us any trouble," said the one restraining him, stroking his hair as if he were some sort of lapdog. James had had it, he kicked backward, connecting with the man's shin. He howled in pain, and had no choice but to let James go. This was instantly a bad choice, as one of the others immediately had his wand on him.

It was the worst pain in his life, James wasn't sure if he had ever screamed so loudly before, tears streamed down his face although he was unaware of them. All he knew was the sheer agony, until... "STOP!" One of the Death Eaters hissed. "You'll draw too much attention, it's a wonder no one's come already." Some of the others made grunting noises in response, then two of them picked him up by his upper arms and started dragging him off. James tried to yell, but found he had no voice, it must have been some sort of spell.

He struggled, but it was no use, there was no escaping. What he wondered was where had all the people gone? Diagon Alley was a place bustling with activity, surely someone would have seen what had happened. James thrashed as much as he could, but he didn't seem to be phasing those brutes any. A blindfold was slipped over his eyes, and it only took a second for James to figure out why, as he was hit in the stomach with a blow that knocked the air out of him, as he sputtered for breath he was hit again, and again, and again. James didn't know if they were using magic, or their fists, but nevertheless he was in considerable pain.

Stars came before his blindfolded eyes as it felt as if his head had been smacked against a brick wall. "Leave him," said one of the Death Eaters, "it'll be a warning to the others, we're back, whether they like it or not." With varying volumes of pops and cracks, they left. James raised a shaking hand to his blindfold and removed it, a searing pain coursed through his shoulder as he moved his arm, there was a dull ache in his chest. He stuttered and coughed a mouthful of blood onto the cobblestone. James found he was in some deserted alley, unable to move very far without gasping because of the sharp pain.

James looked down and nearly threw up, his leg had been broken and the bone was jutting out from the skin, blood pouring from the wound. He forced himself to look away, bringing a hand to his pounding head, his fingers touched something wet and hot, it took him a moment to register that it was his own blood. James opened his mouth, to scream for help or something, but was only able to emit a rasping noise before finding that the world was growing quite dim...

[igloogirl]

Gabriella was walking slowly down the streets of London on her way home when she caught the strong smell of blood wafting from a nearby alley. Confused, Gabriella inhaled more deeply. The scent was familiar. Her cousin, James. Turning on a dime, Gabriella ran to the alley, not caring if anyone saw. The streets were unusually empty anyway.

He looked very small laying there, his leg badly broken and blood pouring from a wound on his head. "James?" Gabriella asked, grabbing his hand. If he didn't respond, she would take him immediately to St. Mungo's, but hopefully James would at least come around before she took him.

[mrpotter]

James heard the voice, as if from afar and the speaker were only whispering. Nevertheless, the sound made his head sear with pain. Somehow death did not seem like such a bad idea just then. He tried to find his voice to respond, but was too weak to form words. James currently sat on the border of unconsciousness and consciousness, but he was currently leaning toward the former. All he could manage was a weak cough. James' breathing had been reduced to unsteady, shallow breaths, anything deeper caused him immense agony.

[igloogirl]

"Ok, I'm going to take you to St. Mungo's," Gabriella said, barely managing to keep her voice from shaking. She was scared by James' condition, he seemed very near to death. She picked him up as gently as possible, slipping one arm under his legs and the other under his back. Turning on the spot and concentrating, Gabriella Apparated into St. Mungo's. The welcome nurse gasped at the sight of them; James with his broken legs, pouring blood, and Gabriella carrying him, her own clothes drenched in red. It seemed like a lifetime before a couple of Healers were running over to them.

[mrpotter]

[blockqote]

James was nowhere near being able to process what was going on around him, all he knew was that there was a bunch of movement, sound, and light, which made his head hurt even worse. His mind flitted in and out of consciousness, the few seconds when he was there he was unable to understand what was being said about him, as if everyone there were speaking another language. James wished it weren't so bright, as if the world were listening he slipped into a deeper state of unconsciousness, everything becoming blissfully dark.

[/blockquote]

[igloogirl]

A couple of nurses ushered Gabriella into a room where she placed James down on a bed. His eyes were half-opened, but unfocused. Gabriella backed away from the bed slightly, waiting for the Healer to come into the room. As she couldn't heal bones, she didn't want to get in the way.

[questionmarksrule]

Jenna rushed into the room after a call from the nurses. She tried not to wince at the state of the patient on the bed. With a wave of her wand, the blood was cleaned off his body and Jenna saw that it was her cousin, James. She gulped, feeling suddenly sick. Jenna managed to keep her composure, quickly attending to his head injury, which closed up without a problem. His leg would be trickier, however. Narrowing her eyes, Jenna concentrated on the wound, performing a series of complex spells before the broken leg moved back into the place and James' leg closed up. He had lost a lot of blood, though. Jenna signaled to the nurse that she would need to give him a blood transfusion.

[igloogirl]

Feeling suddenly exhausted, Gabriella took a seat, watching the nurses rush in and out until finally one came in with a couple of bags of blood for James. It was then that Gabriella realized she had been holding her breath the whole time. And she was thirsty. "Um, Jenna I'll be right back, okay," Gabriella whispered to her cousin. After a nod from Jenna, Gabriella Apparated to her apartment. She opened the fridge and downed two bags of her emergency blood, not caring that it was human. Feeling better, Gabriella took a deep breath to steady herself before Apparating back to the room that James was in.

[mrpotter]

As the room bustled about him, James was entirely unaware of what was going on. No images came before his closed eyelids, only quiet darkness. No pain, no sound, only nothing. It was something that James would be unable to describe, just floating about in nothingness. It was a strange concept, to quite literally not be doing anything. James did not even move an inch, maybe this was death, maybe it would all be over. What a thought. No, if he weren't alive, he wouldn't be thinking, would he? Everything was confusing.

[questionmarksrule]

Jenna gave a grim nod to Gabriella as she re-entered the room. This was the most shaken up that she had seen her cousin, ever. Jenna turned back to James, grabbing the blood and using magic to slowly stream it into his blood. He was still unconscious, which was probably a good thing at this point. Jenna was just hoping that he hadn't lost too much blood. After all the blood had gone into James' body, Jenna turned back to Gabriella. "What happened?" she asked.

[mrpotter]

James' brain snapped harshly back into reality for a moment, the pain had dulled but it was still there, he felt ill. Before he could register what was around him, he vomited, but the only thing to come from his mouth was blood. Its taste was salty and metallic in his throat. All James knew was that he was alive, and that was not good to have that sort of stuff come from your mouth. His head pounded.

[igloogirl]

"No idea," Gabriella replied, but then James was up, vomiting blood onto the floor and the bedsheets. "James?" Gabriella exclaimed, jumping up out of her chair. She reached for her wand, but decided it was probably better to let the professionals handle this one, as she wasn't exactly the most trained person in Healing.

[mrpotter]

James wanted to reply, but couldn't, his voice had been lost, and he was quite delirious. All he could manage was an aggressive cough, which sprayed bits of blood all over the place. His mind was wandering off again, perhaps with the intent to knock him out again. He slumped onto the bed, in some sort of half-conscious state. His head felt as if it might explode from pain, James couldn't even tell which direction was up.

[questionmarksrule]

"Crap," Jenna murmured, raising her wand. Murmuring the spells under her breath, she performed spells to heal James' lungs and throat. Then she put him in a magical trance so he would stay asleep for a couple of hours so his body would heal faster. Once he was no longer awake, she turned back to Gabriella. "This is horrible," she murmured.

[mrpotter]

James could not fight the spell, and within seconds had slipped yet again into an unmoving darkness. His brain did not conjure images, which was probably a good thing, the last thing that he needed was to have flashbacks to what had happened that day. James still felt the pain in his chest, it was like knives tearing through his insides ruthlessly. But in his trance, he could not voice any complaints, only be forced to sleep through them silently.