Nicoletta waved at Healer Ashford as she left. "Thank you!" she called over her shoulder.

Tickle, tickle...ACHOOOOO!

What was that...the huge and most terrible cold Annie had ever had? Maybe. She just hated it...and was afraid of that little fact that she was now at the Hospital Wing and ready to be examined. Sigh...

When she heard her name, she let go of Drew's hand and headed towards the room where Healer Ashford pointed to. Be brave...Drew is here, with you...if something weird happens, he'll be there... She told herself in her head so many times that maybe it was causing her a worst headache and worst fever.

She sat down and waited for Healer Ashford to appear.

Her knees could be seen trembling.

Soft-sounding footsteps could be heard drawing closer and closer to room three. A moment later, the door slowly opened, and Gabriella walked inside. This, she noted, was the child who was currently suffering from what sounded like a cold or the flu.

"Hi there, Miss Robles," she said, greeting the girl with a smile. She got and good and situated on her stool before continuing the conversation any further. "It sounds like the recent weather just hasn't agreed with you. I'll just do a quick examination then administer a Pepperup Potion. This is likely something that can instantly be cured."

The examination revealed a pretty high fever, which was undoubtedly pretty rough on the poor girl. Gabriella gave her an apologetic look before turning to retrieve a Pepperup Potion. "I'm positive this will cure you in no time," she said, uncorking the phial and passing it to Annie. "Drink up and see if that helps."

Gulp!

"Good day, Ms. Ashford..." Annie greeted back, though still feeling those terrible though normal goosebumps whenever she faced a doctor, nurse, etc. And just as Annie had written, Healer Ashford was reading her notes about her current condition. "Yeah, and I think that the whole deal is that I barely get to do any sports...which is more worse than being in my bed complaining about this cold..." She commented, though using her congested nasal voice. Ugh, eeky. She took a previous peek to see if Drew was around, still. Yes...he was. Whew...

Pepperup Potion? Okay. Yes, Annie could handle that, not the whole Muggle medical procedures everytime she got sick or monthly check. "Thank you..." She said, smiling and taking the small bottle into her left hand, to drink it in the less of a minute.

Ewww. Annie tried to hide her disgust for the medicine, though it was impossible. But in less than three minutes later, she just felt better. De-congested, with much more energy...and ready to hit the ground again. She wonder how much all this could last, though. "Should that be it, like I won't have to take this again?" Annie was hoping for the best answer, a YES.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." She almost yelled of surprise. Long live Magic!! She stood up, though still feeling a bit dizzy. Her headache was just fading off.

Hmm, so the girl attributed her illness to lack of sports? As in, not being able to actively participate in an of usual endeavors. "The good news is that we're halfway through with the winter season, so hopefully the weather will start to warm up a bit, and you can get a little more exercise," she commented. She wondered if the girl had also given Quidditch tryouts a go. That may have helped, as well.

Gabriella nodded in reply to Annie's 'thank you'. "That should be it, yes. You should actually already be feeling a lot better. The Pepperup Potion typically works instantly, although, you'll feel better and better as time goes on," she explained. She knew the girl was also wondering if she needed to stay in the Hospital Wing too much longer, or if she was free to go. "In other words, yes, you are free to go. You should feel back and better than ever in no time."

Herminny entered room 3 as she was told and took a seat on the hospital table. She started to get a feeling this was her room. She looked toward a girl about her age who was still in the room and hissed at her as she climbed up on the hospital bed and waited for the nurse. She did not want to feel like this, and she certainly did not want to hiss at people. she hoped the healer would arrive soon.

"Thanks," Kiri sniffled, and got up. She had no idea where "room three" was (good thing it wasn't Room 101), but girl who looked as if she was stuck halfway in a transformation from human to cat seemed to know, so, blinking rapidly to keep her eyes clear, Kiri followed her.

As they entered the room, Kiri spotted Annie - what she'd been here for, Kiri didn't know, but her treatment appeared to be concluded. "Hey Annie," said Kiri, jumping onto a bed and nearly missing as her blurry vision made her misjudge the distance from the edge. The cat girl (what was her name... Herminny something, right?) was in a pretty bad mood, hissing at Annie as she passed. Kiri didn't pay any attention.

Instead, she sneezed. Twice. Three times. Ugh! Grumbling to herself wasn't nearly enough of an outlet for her annoyance - she needed to be well again as soon as possible - but it would have to do. Yelling and shouting in the Hospital Wing was probably not a good idea.

When the nurse entered, Kiri smiled and waved at her weakly. She pointed at the cat girl wordlessly - the healer could take care of her first. Kiri's flu wasn't going anywhere, after all; it was only her nose that was runny.

Listening as Healer Ashford talked about the future weather made Annie feel a bit better. She was right, the climate would grow warmer and there'll be soccer, running to do. So, Yay!! "And as for Quidditch," She moved closer to her. It was an embarrassing confession. "I sort of fear heights, like my cousin...so as for right now, I think I should get rid of that before getting on a broom..." The end, she was so embarrassed. Heights, her fear?! What was with Annie now?

Minute by minute, even second after second the potion made Annie feel out of stress, her forehead was not so warm anymore, now it was normal temperatured. "Thank you..." Annie said, for the un-numbered time now. She didn't know, at the moment how to thank her. She stood up from the examination bed then smiled at her saviour. Yes, saviour. Because of her, Annie was not going to spend her Christmas break sick.

Oh no. Was that a hiss? AT ANNIE? Her reaction, was none. She needed to hide those weird non-girly moments she had whenever she played soccer and had to fight visually with the opponent team, against those girls that hated her team to win.

"Hope you feel better..." Annie said, calmly then continued to walk out of the room. Just then, Kiri had arrived too. And whoa, she looked much worse than Annie when she entered. Could she be having the flu?

"Hey, Kiri!" Annie answered with a small wave. She wondered what she could have done to have that terrible runny nose. This weather was crazy, so it was probably a reason.

But then Annie realized, there were too many girls in that room. It meant for her, to get out and enjoy the day, or go do homework. Because Annie was so far late on those.

"Thank you, Ms. Ashford..." Again, she said it and walked out of the room. And how weird, she had not run away, like most times at the Muggle doctor appointments.

Upon entering the room, Gabriella immediately spotted the Gryffindor girl---er, cat---perched on a table and hissing at poor Kiri Starstalker. Realizing that this situation called for more immediate attention than Kiri's flu, Gabriella headed over towards Herminny first.

She'd never actually dealt with transforming humans back to humans before, but she'd studied the situated lots of times while in Healer School. As she grew closer and closer, she swished and flicked her wand, shooting a non-verbal charm right towards Herminny. A moment later, the girl was bound to the table by an invisible force. It wouldn't hurt her, of course. It'd just prevent her from repeating what she'd just done.

There was no potion on hand that would help Herminny in this transformation. Gabriella would need to mix several different phials together plus add a few more ingredients to get the concoction she needed. She set to work doing this, hoping it wouldn't take long at all.

While she waited for a few potions to brew into a nice mixture, she retrieved a bottle of Pepperup Potion and made her way over to Kiri. On second thought, though, the flu would call for three doses of the potion, not just one. Knowing this, she turned back around and retrieved two additional phials.

"Good day, Miss Starstalker," she greeted, approaching the girl with a smile. She imagined Kiri didn't feel well at all, but Gabriella always liked to offer a smile anyway. She found that it often times helped her patients feel just a tiny bit better, even if only in spirit rather than health. A quick examination told her that Kiri definitely had a case of the flu---not too severe of a case, but a case nonetheless.

"The cure lies within three doses of Pepperup Potion, but the thing is, they can't all be taken at once. I'll give you a dose now, then when that's had time to settle, you can take your second dose," she explained, passing over one of the three phials. "You can stay right here while you wait for each dose to take effect. It won't be long at all."

Gabriella glanced in Annie's direction, giving her an apologetic look as she did so. The fear of heights, especially for a witch, couldn't be easy to deal with. Not wanting to bring up a possibly touchy subject too much more, Gabriella switched the topic of their conversation to something much more pleasant. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Miss Robles. Being sick is certainly not fun at all," she said. The corner of her lips curved up into a smile when Annie thanked her. "You're quite welcome, dear."

Herminny snarled at the healer as she was bound to the table. Her animal self wanted out but as hard as that part of her tried she could'nt even budge. she tried to say something but all that came out were meows that sounded like moaning.

Oh, no, this is bad.

Kiri waved at Annie as she left, then watched with interest as the nurse started her healing business. Phial after phial, some bulbous and round, others thin and long like a chemist's test tubes were pulled out of cabinets. Kiri, who was pretty bad at Potions, didn't recognise any of the liquids although some had pretty interesting colours. One or two even seemed to glow.

"Goo'day, Healer Ashfor'," she managed when the Healer appeared in front of her, holding three bottles that Kiri, unfortunately, remembered all too well. Pepperup Potion... She'd declined Professor Lawson's offer of a phial of that, but it looked like there was no way around it. Kiri rolled her eyes and mimed sticking a finger down her throat. Of course, Healer Ashford wouldn't know about her aversion to Pepperup (unless someone had told her about the events surrounding the flooded school), but her illness had frustrated Kiri so much that she just needed to show her feelings.

"Not very fond of Pepperup Potion," she muttered, struggling with the stopper of the first bottle. Pinching her eyes shut, she raised it to her lips and tilted it back. The hot liquid immediately brought back memories of the cold lake water. The Merpeople... and the pressure of water all around her, creeping into her mouth and nose, wanting to suffocate her...

Kiri nearly gagged but managed to swallow the potion instead of spitting it out. She shuddered, feeling steam begin to rise out of her ears. "Thanks," she said with a weak smile, tucking her hair back. "How, er, long until I have to take the second dose?"

A short time later, Gabriella had brewed a potion that would successfully cure the girl of her animal-like characteristics. Just in case there were any other children who'd also suffered from the potion explosion, Gabriella made a few extra phials, storing them away in the potions cabinet for possible later use.

Phial in hand, Gabriella returned to Herminny's bedside. The girl was still bound by the invisible force, so Gabriella could approach her without the chance of being attacked. She drummed her fingers against the phial as she thought about how she could administer the potion without getting bit or hissed at. At the spur of the moment, without giving Herminny any warning, Gabriella poured the potion down her throat. "There, there, Miss Telerino. You should begin transforming back into your usual self within the next few seconds," she said.

"Not very much people are fond of medicine, regardless of whether or not it's a potion or some muggle-type remedy. It's not easy being ill," she said, giving the girl an apologetic look. For a moment, Gabriella thought the girl was going to spit the potion right on out her mouth, but at the last second, it was properly consumed.

Her apologetic look had just faded away when the girl asked about taking the second dose of potion. The truth of the matter was that the dose would need to be taken now. She'd give the girl a minute or two to compose herself, but that last time she'd given a student that liberty, they'd run from the Hospital Wing in return. Jake Upstead had still not taken that last dose.

In reply, Gabriella passed the second phial to Kiri. "Drink up," she said.

Herminny saw the nurse pour some sort of liquid down her throat and it tasted so gross. She coughed on it as she felt herself transforming back into a human being which was not pleasant. It hurt and felt weird as her body stretch back to it's normal form but by the end she did not care. She was so happy just to be her normal self again. However she quickly noticed she was still bound to the the table. She looked toward the healer and and said, "Thank you so much for making me human again, but could you please release from this table.".

Kiri's ears were itchy. She really wanted to scratch, but the last time after taking Pepperup Potion, she'd basically scalded her fingers on the steam rising from her ears. Instead, she drummed them on the surface of the bed she was sitting on, wishing very much she was able to twitch her ears.

To distract herself, Kiri watched the healer prepare potions for Herminny. As they disappeared down the girl's throat, she wondered idly if any of them tasted as bad as the Pepperup, and decided that they probably did not.

Would Kiri have switched her flu for a pair of cat ears and the ability to sniff out rat farts?

Maybe not. But she was going to make very sure that, from now on, she would wear a thick scarf when hopping onto a broomstick. When Healer Ashford was done with Herminny, she turned around and walked over to Kiri's bed again. "It's not easy being ill," Kiri confirmed, nodding, "but I'm especially, er, not fond of Pepperup. I... had to take a lot of it two terms ago, and I've got some memories connected to that that I'd rather not be reminded of." She took the second phial, popped the cork out and, squeezing her eyes shut so tightly that stars flashed in front of them, gulped down the potion.

With her breath held, Gabriella waited and watched to see if the girl would properly transform. This was, of course, the Healer's first time transforming a human back into a human, but she was still confident that her concoction would work.

When Herminny thanked her, the corners of Gabriella's lips tugged up into a bright smile. "You're quite welcome, and of course I'll unbind you. I had to make sure you would properly heal first, but now that you have...," she said, trailing off as she raised her wand. A few swishes and flicks led to the spell being lifted, which meant Herminny was free to go. "You may go now, Miss Telerino. Have a nice day," she added.

With the first patient completely healed and dismissed, Gabriella was free to focus her attention on administering the last two doses of Pepperup Potion to poor Kiri. Poor, of course, because the potion looked to be putting the girl in a rather miserable mood. Upon hearing that she'd suffered from an unfortunate incident two terms earlier, though, Gabriella completely understood.

"Ahh, I see. Yes, yes, sometimes situations in our lives have a lasting impact on us," she commented. She didn't ask what happened, as she figured Kiri would tell her if she felt it appropriate.

The conversation came to a halt when Kiri lifted the phial to her lips and drank the second of the doses. "You're doing just fine, Miss Starstalker. Just one more, and this will all be behind you," she said, passing the last of the phials to the girl. "When you're ready..."

Kiri shuddered. After the second dose of Pepperup, the potion was losing its one redeeming effect, its warmth. Thanks to her infection, Kiri was cold - and the Hospital Wing, no doubt for good reasons, was a little chilly as well. So while she detested the potion's taste, noticing the warmth run through her body had improved her mood and made her feel a little better.

But with the second dose inside her, the warmth was rapidly turning to uncomfortable heat. Her armpits broke out in a sweat. The urge to scratch returned even stronger, but Kiri wasn't interested in her ears anymore; now she wanted to scratch herself all over. The Pepperup Potion's heat felt like ants crawling along her veins and beneath her skin. This tingling sensation was extremely uncomfortable, but sliding back and forth on the bed didn't help - there was only one thing to do, really.

"Next phial, please," she said tersely, holding out her hand. Healer Ashford, hovering nearby with a concerned look on her face, passed it to her. "'nks." With a sarcastic salute, Kiri raised the little bottle to her lips and drank. Steam shot out of her ears, little droplets of waters condensing on her earlobes.

When all was said and done, Gabriella was only left to glance at the girl with yet another apologetic look. She still didn't know what had happened two terms ago, nor did she really need to know, but the girl had a been a trooper, regardless.

"You're free to stay in here until the effects of the potion wear off," she said, eying the girl's ears. "I know you're probably ready to get out of here, too, though, so you're free to leave when you'd like. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to." Gabriella, after all, wasn't too fond of taking medicine either. Pepperup Potion, especially, was rather unpleasant on the body---mainly the ears.

Grabbing a quill, Gabriella marked Herminny and Kiri as being healed. It'd been a long day---and a trying day---but it'd been a productive day. "If there's nothing else I can do for you, Miss Starstalker, I'm going to head back to the waiting room to see to a few additional patients. Have a nice day," she said, heading towards the door. A few seconds later, she was back in the hallways and on her way to the waiting room.

"Er, you too," Kiri said hastily, drying her ears with the sleeve of her robe, a little surprised at the abruptness of the nurse's departure. "Thank you, Healer Ashford!" she called after the woman, and then she was gone, the click-clack of her shoes audible for a few more seconds. Kiri didn't blame her for not sticking around - the waiting room had been full of people with what looked like serious injuries (similar to each other's too, so maybe they'd been in a duel or something), and after administering the Pepperup Potion, there wasn't really anything the healer could do.

Kiri finished wiping her ears and slumped over on the bed. Now that the worst effects of the potion were gone, she discovered that she did, in fact, feel a little better. Her head didn't feel as if it was filled with rock anymore, and... Kiri held a hand up to her forehead. Yes, it wasn't as hot anymore as before. Except...

She sat up again, looking around. A large sink made of stone had been let into the wall opposite her. Kiri slid off the bed and crossed the room. The sink had a huge silver tap, and, after turning it, Kiri simply pressed her lips at its mouth and gulped down some cold water. That made her feel even better - now she'd got rid of the Pepperup Potion's taste as well!

The only remaining problem was the effect of its warmth, and a triple dose at that. Kiri was sweaty and clammy all over; the way her clothes were sticking to her felt pretty gruesome... Well, she considered, she was in the Hospital Wing! She slipped behind one of the examination curtains that could be pulled around each bed to give the occupant some privacy, and quickly slipped out the topmost layers of her clothes. Taking out her wand, Kiri pointed it at herself to dry the sweat - the result wasn't perfect, but it would do until she was able to take a proper bath.

Buttoning up her blouse, she made sure she'd holstered her wand, then, after a last glance to check that she hadn't left any used tissues or similar things behind, Kiri left the room, throwing a glance into the waiting room on her way out to see what was happening there.

As soon as the nurse waved her wand over her the table and released her she quickly got up and upon hearing she was free to go smiled toward the nurse and left the room and exited the hospital wing and headed up toward her common room and as far away from the potions classroom as possible. After today she did not want to go back there for a long, long time.

Right. Room Three. Room Three. Room T - AHAH!
Adam found the right room. At least he hoped he had, because knowing him this'd be the wrong room. Although he was sure she'd said Room Three, and he was pretty sure it said Room Three on the door. So it should be right, right?

Eh. Standing just past the doorway, Adam searched his pockets franticly, for the wand he knew he didn't have. Where was Lori?! She better be keeping it safe otherwise...
Eh, otherwise nothing. He didn't have it in him to hurt her of all people.

And right now, the burn should be the first thing on his mind. He raised a hand to it, wincing as his inde finger touched it gingerly.

Gabriella turned the corner and started to make her way into room three. She stopped, however, when she nearly ran right into the boy standing just past the doorway. "Oh, dear, let's get you to one of the hospital beds," she said, nodding in the direction of one of the many empty beds. "Go ahead and get seated, and I'll retrieve the burn-healing paste."

She gave him a polite smile then scurried past him. Reaching the cabinets, she began to rummage through them in search of the familiar orange ointment. "Ahh, this is it," she mumbled to herself, reaching up to make a grab for the tube. "This ointment works to quickly heal your burns, and the best part about it is that it won't even sting or hurt. It just feels cool to the skin." She imagined coolness was exactly what the boy needed right about now.

Turning around as he heard someone behind him, Adam grinned slightly at the pretty Healer. "Okay..." he said hesitantly before taking a seat gingerly on the edge of the nearest bed. He wasn't the biggest fan of hospitals, but he didn't mind them. Then the Healer went over to the cabinets and started rummaging around speaking about paste.

"It won't hu-" Adam began to ask, but then she had already begun to reasure him that it wouldn't, which was a really good thing. He was too worried about his wand for pain, and coolness on his skin sounded nice, like when he'd been coming back from Hogsmead and he'd been tempted to stick the burn in the snow.

"Em Miss? You aint seen Lorelai Bristol, have yeh?" he asked randomly. She probably didn't know who Lori was, but he had to try. She had his wand for gawds sake! And the wand was probably in paiiiiin! And nice Healer lady could fix it, yeah?!

Just after explaining to Adam how the ointment would work and feel, Gabriella squeezed a dime-sized amount of orange paste onto her hand then began to apply it to the burn marks on the boy's face. She was careful to be gentle, as she didn't want to run her hands across the burns in a way that would cause further pain. Her eyes narrowed in thought as she did this.

"Miss Bristol, hmm? I'm afraid I haven't been introduced to a Lorelai Bristol yet. If she drops by, though, I'll tell her you're looking for her," she promised. Although, she imagined by the time she came across Lorelai, Adam would have already found her himself. When she finished applying the paste to the boy's burns, she closed the tube then glanced back at Adam. "Alright, I'm all done. Your burns should gradually heal over a course of a few hours. The paste will keep them from causing you pain."

Nodding - well, attempting to nod, Adam didn't really want to mess up the Healer whilst she was putting the paste onto his cheek - Adam waited until she'd ceased to apply the paste and then spoke again. "It's just that she's got my wand and my wand's snapped in two and it's probably in more pain than me right now and I was thinking that maybe you could heal it too because well I need my wand and I can't go without it and nowI'mgoingtoshutup," he said, before realising how stupid he must've sounded.

But then again, the Healer was clever, and she probably knew a way to fix his wand that wouldn't mean it'd backfire and burn him again.

Forcing himselgf to keep his hand by his side and not reach up to touch his now orange cheek, Adam pushed himself off of the bed. "Thanks miss," he said with a grin.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes in confusion as she listened to Adam describe the casualties his wand had suffered. "You're asking me to heal your wand, as well?" she questioned, making sure she'd heard correctly. She hadn't exactly ever been asked to heal an object before.

Despite how odd the request was, Gabriella tried her best to help. "I'm afraid there's no way to actually heal your wand. You see, because a wand is made of such strong magic, it can't be healed with Reparo. That spell may piece the wood back together, but it won't piece the magic back together," she reported, giving the boy an apologetic look.

"I remember hearing how Harry Potter once pieced Ron Weasley's wand back together with the Elder Wand...but that was the Elder Wand, not an everyday wand," she continued. Poor Adam. She was sure he'd be crushed when he heard what else she had to say. "I'm afraid you'll need to owl Ollivander's for a new one, dear..."