Mara's Magic

ii - a wee ill

Quidditch practice the next day was a little strange. 

I began to feel shaky halfway through, but shrugged it off as soon as it came. I continued to play for about a half an hour before it really began to be a problem. My legs felt like jelly and it became difficult to grip the broom as tight as I needed to. 

After a quick word with Oliver, I flew to the ground and moved to sit down on one of the benches by the locker room. But, my legs gave out before I could even fully dismount my broom. 

I caught myself on the bench, lifting the rest of the way up. I accio'd my water jug and a protein bar, finishing both over the span of a few minutes. After finishing, I shook out my legs and they felt fine. Keeping one hand on the bench and the other on my broom, I stood up carefully. Huh. The shakiness left as quickly as it came and I boarded my broom again, flying into the drills and catching the quaffle from Oliver. 

That same shakiness kept coming at random points throughout the day. I would get light headed if I moved too quickly (which was a problem during quidditch), my hands would physically twitch, and I was constantly tired, no matter how much sleep I'd gotten the night before. Oliver was convinced that I was sick, Diana thought I was overexerting myself, and Percy demanded that I go see Madam Pomfrey. Minnie, oddly enough, recommended that I see Professor Dumbledore. I started with our nurse, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of visiting our headmaster about what I believed to be a cold or the flu. 

When I first walked into the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was tending to a Third Year boy who had broken his arm. She gestured for me to take a seat and so I waited patiently for her. About two minutes later, she made her way over to me. 

"What's going on?" She asked. With a sigh, I began explaining.

"Well, it started earlier this week when I got super shaky during quidditch practice. And then, I began to get really light headed and my hands started shaking. My whole body's felt achy too, and I've had an unending headache. And I've been extremely tired all week even though I've been getting an upwards of ten hours of sleep," I told her. She nodded wearily, her eyes not leaving my face. 

"Have you felt anything wrong with your heart or your head, by chance?" She asked. 

"Like what?"

"Like heart burn, heart palpitations, or headaches? Any nausea?"

"A little bit of nausea, yeah. And yeah, a pretty bad headache that hasn't gone away," I answered, even though I had told her that before. She had previously been scribbling down notes, but stopped when I replied. 

"When did it start?"

"Wednesday."

"Where is the pain centered? On your forehead, behind your eyes, in your sinuses...?"

"At the back of my head I think."

"Dearie, you stay here. I'm going to fetch Professor Dumbledore," she told me. "Go on. Lie down."

I didn't. "I'm sorry, why are you getting Dumbledore? I kind of just thought it was a cold."

She didn't say anything and just began to scurry out the door. 

"Madam Pomfrey! What's going on?" I called. The door to the Hospital Wing slammed shut and I sighed, falling back onto the bed. I pulled my Fantastic Beasts book from my bag and picked up where I'd left off on Bowtruckles, trying to keep my thoughts from running wild. 

After only a minute, the door flew open and Dumbledore and Minnie were running towards me, Madam Pomfrey on their heels. Dumbledore stopped at the foot of my bed and I slowly lowered my book, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"