"Oh, oh okay misses doctor lady know best huh?"

A sarcastic response nearly escaped Miranda’s lips. She stopped herself releasing it when she realized who she was standing in front of and simply smiled back at the boy, placing the now empty potions vial on the table beside the bed. Of course she knew best, she was a healer. One of the best damn healers in the country!

"Madam Elliot, perhaps in lieu of our meeting we had scheduled this week, I could take the opportunity to welcome you now."

Miranda turned around to face the headmaster and frowned slightly. “A bottle of wine is normally more customary that a bleeding boy, you know.” She offered before taking the Felix Felicis from him and glancing down at it. The potion was already glowing brightly, and reflecting a golden glow off their faces. It shouldn’t have been doing that unless it had been shaken, letting the ingredients react with one another.

A suspicious eye was cast at the headmaster before she turned back to the boy. Maybe he’d just been giving it a shake out of…habit. Most people did that. Well, if they knew the bottle wasn’t going to explode. Miranda would never recommend giving a bottle of impulsive beetle juice a shake. It had taken weeks to grow her eyebrows back so she looked normal again! That was not something she’d be repeating in a hurry.

"I mean, rather exciting day isn't it! This is Kyle Gibson - I'm sure you'll be well acquainted before he leaves school this June!  How're you finding it here, Madam Elliot! Do you lack any necessities?"

A small smile graced Andy’s lips as she gave the little bottle another shake, making the glowing even brighter than before.  “Oh, you know, the potions cabinet is looking a slight bit…vacant.” She shrugged her shoulders and lifting the new vial to Kyle’s lips, she muttered “Drink.”

With the potion drained, Andy popped the vial on the table and took the slug from the headmaster. She pointed her wand at it and tapped it, causing a few grains of salt to drop from the point and land on the black slug, making him sizzle and small screeching sound emerge from it. Without hesitation, the slug was placed on Kyle’s head and immediately turned light blue.

"Wait.. what?"

“So I thought. Amazing creatures, horned slugs. It’s turned light blue, meaning that the substance is mildly akaline. They’re like the magical equivalent of pH paper and universal indicator.” Realising she was probably rambling; Miranda bit her lip and stopped for a moment.

“It’s a faulty cleaning spell that you actually performed. According to ancient witches, boiled mouldy broccoli is a fantastic remedy for removing stains.  Depending on the powerfulness of the spell, the seeping should be easing off soon. You’ll be left with a distinct smell for a while, but apart from that, nothing to worry about.”

Now for the bleeding wound.

Hearing Nicky slip from Kyle’s lips was even more repulsive than the seeping mess from his head. Nicky? When did he ever call her Nicky? Now was not the type to blow her top over something so little, so she kept her mouth shut and just tired to keep from appearing too put off by the state of her best friends head. “I am not adorable,” she grumbled under her breath. Adorable was what you could describe a cat or dog like, or even one of the half-witted Hufflepuffs but not Nicola.

Nicola saw the glow so it got her attention away from the boy’s head. Felix Felicis if she wasn’t mistaken. She watched it for a second before letting her eyes dart back to Kyle. “Kyle you are so silly sometimes,” she mused not really knowing what else to say. What would he be up to next? Her eyes darted to the healer watching what she did with the slug. pH paper? What in the world was that? Nicola mulled it over for a few moments before looking at the blue slug, Nicola didn’t understand what a blue slug meant or what slightly alkaline meant either but she didn’t exactly care at the moment to ask. Well she had a feeling about the alkaline, but the pH paper was taking her mind through a ponder.

As Kyle began to come more lucid she was pleased, at least there would be no more ravings about ho adorable she was. “Kyle are you less crazy now? No more talk of purple skies?” Nicola hoped so.

The Headmaster smiled as Kyle and Nicola handled one another's nerves.  Despite all of Kyle's absolute tomfoolery, and Nicola's adult-like dedication and drive, the two seemed to be doing a very good job of keeping Kyle's mind off of the slug, and Nicola's mind off of the sludge.  He was glad Kyle had a friend as dependable and consistent as Nicola, but wondered at the same time what Nicola was doing hanging around with Kyle. 

All this time, Miranda Elliot's wand had been slowly sucking the excess blood from Kyle's stomach slice.  The area was now much easier to see, and Knox could see the wound was likely made from something very large with very large claws.

"Merlin's blood, Gibson!" Knox exclaimed.  "What did you tangle with! A rapid chimera?  This isn't a scratch! Nicola, do you know anything about this? Where he was?"

He turned to the Healer.  "Madam it's deep and it appear that uh, your wand is getting full."  Indeed, Madam Elliots wand had begun to flick and quiver, sending droplets of blood this way and that, spotting anything nearby.   This sort of chaos, well, Knox had lost his taste for it with his youth.  He was very glad of the experienced Madam Elliot at the helm.

“Kyle are you less crazy now? No more talk of purple skies?”

Kyle blinked several times, his memory a little fuzzy from the hours before. "Uh... what? Purple... Nic are you feeling okay?" He asked, though a second later it dawned on him that he had said it earlier. Whatever the healer did worked, though the pain returned on his stomach. Looking down to see a bloody mess, with deep gashes and cuts all over he raised an eyebrow. The pain was pretty bad but he could handle it. "Oh -- well would ye look at that..." He commented offhand with a chuckle. "I suppose we need to patch that up eh?" He said looking at all three people in the room.

"What did you tangle with! A rapid chimera?  This isn't a scratch! Nicola, do you know anything about this? Where he was?"

Continuing to look at his wound, the memory came back and quite vividly. He was in the forest, mostly because he was bored and he came across a unicorn. He'd never seen one up close before and it didn't seem bothered by him so he went up to see it. After ten minutes of sitting with the creature, Kyle heard a growl in the distance and upon further investigation the creature emitting it turned out to be a bloody quintaped! Kyle had never seen one in person, and it was incredibly strange that it had migrated so far from its home. It tried to attack the unicorn and then Kyle, and a fight broke out. In the end, Kyle got the bugger to run off wounded but he had suffered an array of his own injuries. Various bruises, a couple gashes, but worst of all a backfired effodio spell he tried to finish the beast off with. "Uh. Well. Quintaped in the forest. You might want to check that out since it was so far from home..." He said simply, cringing at the inevitable response that Greyfriar would have. "Beat me once I'm healed, sir." He added with a slight grin.

With the sludge less of a worry, Miranda’s focus had moved towards the bloody wound. Her wand was now pointed towards it in a vain attempt to suck up any of the excess blood. It just kept coming and she now started to wonder just how bad an idea giving him the replenishing potion prematurely had been. In her experience, it had helped to create a normal blood flow and stop the ridiculous amount of bleeding that came with a wound. But her experience didn’t entirely (if at all) include much spell damage.

"Madam it's deep and it appear that uh, your wand is getting full."

Andy’s eyes shot down to the wand that was now shaking, struggling against her grip while spitting dried blood from the end. “Flaming bat bogies...” She cursed, withdrawing the wand and giving it a violent shake, ceasing the spell. In all honestly, the healer wasn’t sure as to what to try to get rid of the bleeding and close the wound. She’d not before had dealings with the spell used by Kyle but was not about to admit it either.

As Kyle confessed to Knox about what he’d been up to, Miranda decided she had to look up any antidote in her book. A novice’s action, perhaps. Before Knox could explode at the boy, Miranda butted in. “The only shouting you can do is if he gets any worse. Not at the boy.” She said quickly before turning on her heel and sprinting into her office just off the ward.

The sound of loud thumping was heard as the professor took steps two at a time from his Dungeon Lair to the first floor, his pockets full of loose vials and flasks as well as his arms.  He was being as careful as he could not to drop them as the staircases shifted and moved under him, but there was still the undeniable sound of glass squeaking against glass.  Even his breast pocket had potions stuffed in it.

He had heard through the grapevine that the Infirmary needed replenishing, and usually the Healer went out to Wizarding places to fetch things.  This time he decided to help out with some old tried and true potions and some of his own invention which proved themselves worthy of keeping during the Second War.  Plus… Miss Miranda Elliot was… ah-hem… quite the looker.  Once again he wanted to impress a lady with a heroic deed.

He halted when he saw a trail of blood, most likely dried, leading all the way up from the Ground Floor to the First.  His eyes widened, and suddenly that wee spark of courage left from days gone by flicked on like flint smacking against steel in one sudden blast as his brain ran visions of memories to the forefront of his mind.  His face turned uncharacteristically serious as he went into a sprint, his grip tightening on his babies.  This was beyond impressing a woman now.

His face as stony as the walls around him he continued his long stride race down the corridor as he made it to the First Floor, as he turned to enter the sick room he found a spot of blood that was not so dried up and slid dangerous to the side.

“OHMIGAWDOMIGAWDOMIGAWD!” he cried loudly.  Good heavens!  This stuff was more slippery than fresh peeled bananas!  He saw then that there would be no end to his sliding, risking his hard brewed concoctions.  Wincing, he aims his slide toward a suit of armor.  With a whine he braced himself.

No doubt there was the sound of the horrifying echo of a crash as metal met the ground and as Nico swore religiously, as his good father taught him.  After another round of mumbled cursing he appeared at the door, huffing, puffing, and knees shaking.  With a pale look he skidded more gracefully toward the noise of work and conversation, exclaiming, “I see I delivered some good just in time!”  Quickly he stacked things in the cabinets, granted maybe not in the order that had been established before as he did it the way he did a decade ago and rushed to the bed, his face still strangely grave.  “Anything I can do?” he asked in a low calm voice before he could even get a good look at the boy’s wounds.

Knox balked indignantly at both Kyle and Madam Elliot, who had rushed away.   Why he hadn't intended to say a word!  Honestly, where had this reputation come from? He only bellowed on occasion, and never was physically a bully.  Kyle had just been particularly trying.  You couldn't blame the man.

And just when Knox Greyfriar was taking in breath to attest with a raised voice how he wouldn't dream of hollering at Kyle, Nicodemus Gunnar did the hollering for him.  Knox watched with winces as the young be-goggled Potioneer careened into the room.   When Gunnar asked what he could do, Knox grumbled.

"Tell this people I'm a perfectly reasonable wizard with a mind only for this boy's safety! Let it not be said that Knox Greyfriar has ever done anything but deliver young witches and wizards back to their families brainier, taller and better off than when he got them!" 

The Headmaster was slightly hurt at the accusation.  The old bear may bluster and he may bellow, but he laughed just as loudly and just as often.  There was no man gentler and no man more concerned about the welfare of the students.   

“The only shouting you can do is if he gets any worse. Not at the boy.”

Kyle chuckled. "With all due respect Madam, I don't think I can get much worse." He said pointing to his bleeding abdomen. But that was okay. Though Kyle wasn't entirely sure if Knox would explode on him or give him his sympathy, perhaps it would be best to say the entire situation. "To my credit I was defending a Unicorn..." He said to defend himself from everyone thinking he was just an outright fool, because most times Kyle was not.

Just then, the wild potions professor came barreling into the room doing all sorts of hollering and screaming as he slipped on Kyle's spilled blood. Kyle was never a huge fan of potions but he did appreciate Professor Gunnar's motivation and outright silliness. It was quite refreshing when contrasted with the general austere attitude of his other professors. "Ah! Professor! Glad that you joined us!" He shouted with glee, still in amusement at the man's exclamations. "Watch out for the blood though." He added sardonically.

"Tell this people I'm a perfectly reasonable wizard with a mind only for this boy's safety! Let it not be said that Knox Greyfriar has ever done anything but deliver young witches and wizards back to their families brainier, taller and better off than when he got them!"

"Headmaster!" Kyle shouted though he was right next to him, "I don't think you're unreasonable! Why, you're just a big teddy bear if you ask me!"

Nicola watched as the wounds on his stomach were exposed, she had no issue with blood but to see the harm that had come to Kyle made her sick to her stomach. Her goal was not to puke, and she just stood there in silence looking away from Kyle to Knox as she shook her head, she had no idea what Kyle had gotten up too. Nicola saw the wound from the corner of her eye and just wished it could be healed.

The arrival of Professor Gunnar was not enough to distract the queasy feeling that was growing. She wanted to be here for Kyle she really did but she was afraid to even open her mouth.  Nicola’s hand went to her mouth and she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to be sick she was stronger than that. As she opened her eyes she realized that she was not at all stronger than her stomach.

“Oh god I am going to be sick,” she felt her stomach lurch and clapped her other hand over top of the other. She closed her eyes again she was determined to let the feeling pass.

In the small office, Miranda moved quickly, she snatched up her black rimmed glasses, put those on and lifted a ridiculously heavy book onto her desk. The book was hauled open and she started scanning through the pages for what she wanted. “E…E…ah…” Her finger hit the page, pointing to the spell and she frowned. She failed to comprehend why Dittany was the suggested remedy to counteract the effects of this spell. Essence of the plant had been used for stomach aches and digestive troubles a long time ago, but never for wounds.
   
Sadly, Andy didn’t feel she had the experience in dealing with this very spell to not take the book’s advice and so she moved to the cabinet and grabbed a small jar of the plant essence. She also snatched a pot of honey and some myrrh for good luck. They should at least help the healing along.

With these in hand, the healer stalked from the office and towards the even larger gathering of people around the bed. Had this ward suddenly become a theatre?! The jars were placed on the bedside table, and as Miranda started to mix them in a bowl, she glanced at the potions professor over the top of her glasses.

“Lovely to see you, Professor. You arrived just in time.” She said quickly, mixing the ingredients into a paste with a few twirls of her wand. “You don’t happen to have any green tea do you?”

“Oh god I am going to be sick,”

Miranda’s eyes snapped to the young Slytherin and she grit her teeth. “I don’t want anymore to clean up, child. Do it in one of those buckets.” She pointed to a few black ones in the corner before glancing back at Kyle. Why did girls have to be so squeamish? She’d never been. It was only a bit of blood and guts, after all.

Wedging himself between the Headmaster and the young lady while excusing himself he heard a bellow.

With a blank monotone voice he said as he began gently touching around the wound, "The Headmaster is a perfectly reasonable wizard with a mind only for this boy's safety…” he paused as he looked up at the boys head and poked the slug, “Let it not be said that Knox Greyfriar has ever done anything but deliver young witches and wizards back to their families brainier, tal—” he was cut off mid-sentence by the girl’s cry.

He looked up, his eyes widening when the Healer was not standing across the bed from him.  Doing a tiny pirouette his eyes decreased from the sixe of dinner plates to normal.

“You don’t happen to have any green tea do you?”

“Sorry, but not at the moment, love,” he grinned with a devious tone shooting the lovely woman a wink before his eyes returned to Kyle.  Yes even at such an odd time he was still a wee bit of a flirt.  When he had to treat women during the Second War (and a couple… ah-hem… men as well) he found that it kept their minds away from the pain.  Nico seemed to forget that Miranda was the School’s top Healer, and a good one at that, not a patient.

While pressing the top of the sucking wound with his left he reached into the mess of his abdomen with the right to see if he could find any punctures in the liver or big arteries.  The Potions Professor looked up with an open mouth, only to see that the good witch had already started to make a salve.  With a grin as he applied some of his weight to a hole his hand had discovered he asked, “Ooo…  What’s that ye, got there?” 

"Accio buckets!" The Headmaster shouted over his shoulder, flicking his wand towards the corner.  A quartet of pails zipped over to the melee and Knox put two into the hands of the now squeamish Slytherin. 

"Aim for the bottom," he counseled Nicola, "It would be all the more confusing if we couldn't sort out whose slime was whose."

Looking back at Kyle, Knox found that Nicodemus was elbow deep into Gibson's belly.  "Dear god...He's not a sandbox, Gunnar." 

A quintaped?  Wait a minute, a quintaped?  The Hairy McBoons were supposed to stay put on their island, weren't they?  "Kyle, are you present? Where in the forest were you?  That quintaped will have to be fished out before Remembering day."

A strange glimmer sprouted up in Knox's brain - if Kyle had not been dancing about like a fool in the Forest, someone more litigious might have come across the quintaped, putting quite a smirch on the on-coming festivities.

Many things were happening at once, from Nicola getting sick to Professor Gunnar's appearance and some question involving green tea. Kyle was still a little dazed when the potions professor reached his hand into Kyle's bleeding wound.

"ARGH!" Kyle groaned closing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth through the pain as the professor did whatever he was doing. "Gah! You -- got a nice touch there -- Professor." Kyle said through the pain. He was used to pain, he had grown up on pain but having someone feel through your insides was never a pleasant feeling. Kyle clenched his fists tightly and had a newfound respect for the muggles who got these sort of things done as a regular form of medicine.

"Kyle, are you present? Where in the forest were you?  That quintaped will have to be fished out before Remembering day."

Kyle looked up at the Headmaster, trying to remember where in the forest he was. "I believe -- south side -- about a quarter mile in. He should be --" Kyle said with another groan of pain, "Wounded. Look for blood." He added. "Oh I love my life..." Kyle said sardonically, shifting his view to Nicola who did not look well. "Nicola... you alright?"

At least being called child distracted her for a moment as she glared at the healer, she was no child and Nicola did not appreciate being called one. Nicola unfortunately felt the lurch of her stomach again as a bucket was shoved into her hands. Nicola was making an attempt not puke but she couldn’t exactly stop herself just the sight of Kyle’s gashed stomach had sent her over the edge. Nicola could only handle seeing Kyle in so much pain and she had just reached her limit.

Hearing Kyle groan in pain gave the final lurch of her stomach sending whatever her stomach contained right into the bucket. Nicola left her head aimed towards the bucket for fear that another display of what her stomach had to offer would happen. After a few moments she heard Kyle’s voice and she turned to look at him. “Yeah I’m fine.” She wiped her hand over mouth looking back to Kyle as she put the bucket down and pushed it to the side with her foot, but still holding the other empty bucket just in case.

A sickly look remained on her face as she looked at Kyle hoping that her stomach had done enough fun for now. Nicola looked at Kyle and forced a smile on her face. “Really I am fine.” All she needed was him worrying about her when he was in a state like this.

The wink offered by the potions master caused a small frown to form on the healer’s features. She’d have had more to say about the name ‘love’ as well, if they hadn’t been in a compromising enough situation. The boy seemed to be getting worse and needed the paste smoothed over the skin near the wound as soon as possible. Then, with any luck, the ingredients would go about their business and the skin would refuse back together.

"It would be all the more confusing if we couldn't sort out whose slime was whose."

Her eyes focused on the mixing pallet, Miranda couldn’t help but smirk at this comment. It really was the weirdest things that amused her. “It would be all the more easier if kids weren’t so squeamish.” She found herself muttering. “If-“

She was cut off by the headmaster’s next comment directed at Gunnar and Miranda’s eyes shot up to glance at the professor. They scanned down, following his arm before they suddenly widened. “You lost something in there?!”