Under the Rainbow [open to anyone!]

[devin pucket]

Taking the cup in her hands she winced a little at the heat of the cup and gingerly held the handle being sure not to touch anything hot. Though it did sort of warm her chill. Breathing a little she thought for a moment about protesting his vague brush off about Integra and what was going on, but she decided not to press the matter. Or more her aches decided for her. Running a hand over her face for a moment she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Okay... Okay..." She didn't have it in her to fight him. "I just.... I'm so tired... I just wanna sit for a moment." Bringing the tea to her soft lips she sipped it slowly and wrinkled her nose. "Hot. Oh but it makes the icy feeling go away... yay." Devin sipped it again despite the burn and sighed. Was he concerned. He seemed like he was fussing a little.

Watching him for a second out of the corner of her eye she caught him eying her. "You're... worried." her tired face turned to him and smiled. "Alright... go ahead and look me over." Devin reached out gingerly to set her cup on the desk and took a deep breath before attempting to pull her shirt off. A little cry escaped her as the ache lingered in her muscles. She managed to get it halfway over her head before giving up, her body refusing to budge. "Nope... nope....." A tear rolled down her cheek more from the struggle than from the pain. The skin that was exposed had a gray tinge to it where the crazy bitch's curse hit her. The skin itself looked like it had been infected with malice and was slowly making its way into being an ugly blue and purple mark.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

It may seem a little backwards, but Dim was sort of glad to see her react to the heat of the cup. In fact, he was just glad she was able to hold the cup to begin with. Not that nerve damage was always the end of the line. Nerve damage, in theory, could be healed - but it was tricky business and he'd never dream of doing it himself. She seemed okay enough, just in pain and, apparently, cold. Dimitri had been on the end of a crucio (or at least the Russian comparable spell) often enough, but he always just remembered either extreme numbness or extreme sensitivity (depending on who cast the spell and how long and where he'd ended up hit). He'd never experienced anything to do with temperature - but then every spell and every person was different.
As soon as he saw her reaction to his ignoring the matter with Integra, he felt a little guilty. She had gotten hurt, she was entitled to the truth at least a little, wasn't she? And his tone had been more brusque than he'd wanted. No matter now, though. Later. He smiled faintly as she drank her tea, sipping his as well - more out of nervousness than that he was actually thirsty. He had always reacted strongly to valerian and he did so now as well. All the better, as it calmed him down a little, made him see thing from a bit more distance, and he felt his frustration wane. They were both okay and they were going to fix this.

Of course he was fussing a little! When Devin commented he seemed worried, Dimitri frowned, a little confused. "Of course I am," he said, sounding a little more defensive than he was supposed to be, perhaps. "The spine is a bad place to be hit - and I'm responsible for it." He meant that both ways: it was his fault and he felt like he ought to be the one to fix it.
He nodded a little when she told him it was okay and that he could look her over now. Dim wouldn't have minded it if she'd sat for just a bit longer. Then again, she was obviously tired. The sooner they got this out of the way, the better.
He winced when he saw Devin struggeling with her shirt (and no - no he wasn't going to blush - this was professional - professional!). "Ssh, let me," he muttered, carefully getting the item of clothing out of the way and moving so he could inspect the place of impact, gently brushing her hair out of the way.

At first sight, it just looked like a deep, angry bruise - but Dimitri knew better. Gently running his fingers down her back (not just touching her there out of nowhere - he didn't want to shock her or make her flinch), he rested his fingertips lightly on the discoloured skin. That had to hurt, especially because it was, indeed, ice cold. Dimitri kept one hand on her back, the other reaching for his wand. "This might hurt a little," he quietly said, apologising in advance. "We need to get your blood flowing there, get your immune system going so that can take care of the harmful after effects of the spell. Unfortunately, that means it's going to swell a bit and your nerve ends might end up tingling?" He glanced over her shoulder. "But before I start - is anything else hurting? Can you feel your feet and your hands, is there any numbness or over sensitivity?"
Dimitri looked around the room for a moment. When he started warming the afflicted area to increase bloodflow he would really rather have her lying down, not sitting up.

[devin pucket]

Devin let him handle her shirt and closed her eyes again. It was strange as she should have been thinking about all the pain shooting through her body, but all she was noticing was the gentle touch of his fingers on her cool bare skin and the careful nature of the way he brushed away her long honey colored hair. A few stubborn waves trickled back again but she pulled them to the other side for him. She turned her head over her shoulder and glanced at him.

More pain wasn't something she really wanted but she would have to just deal with it. "Oh yes, I can feel all my toes and fingers and even wiggle them. Just everything is very cold. It's like.... Like she poured Evil infected ice into my veins." That sounded a little silly and didn't make much sense but that's definitely what it felt like. Licking her lips a little she drew in a breath. "You're....You're sure you know what you're doing? Not that I don't trust you or that I'm doubting you..just...." She smiled at him a little and looked to her bedroom door.

Her bed. It would be so comfy right now. The big soft blankets and squishy feather pillows. Devin liked to feel as if all the bedding was eating her. Almost like sleeping in clouds. Except she always imagined clouds would be rather cold, and definitely preferred for her bed to be warm. "But could we..." she let her eyes trace a few times between him and the door to her room. "It just.... It's more comfortable there... and if I cry I can just cover my head or something and no one has to see!" She tried to smile a little but she was cold and uncomfortable and no one smiles when they feel like that. Not a real smile at any rate.

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Dimitri was being extremely slow and gentle about things, because although her sensation was different from his after a cruciatus curse, he'd just rather not hurt her more than necessary. He caught her eyes briefly as she looked at him over her shoulder and smiled reassuringly (or at least he hoped it looked reassuring enough). Things were going to be fine. It was just going to take a while. Even if he hadn't been there, her body would've sorted itself out eventually - he was just going to help the progress along.
He was glad to hear she could just feel and move everything. Nothing too serious, then: just the residue of the spell that had to be dissipated. He could do that, he knew how to do it. In a way, it was a little similar to massaging muscles that had cramped up with lactic acid after working out too much. The big difference being, of course, that this was no lactic acid and that it was just a tad more serious - but by no means dangerous. As for 'evil in her veins', Dimitri didn't think it sounded that silly "It is, sort of." His voice was quiet and just a bit too hoarse. Dim cleared his throat. "It's the spell residu - and the spine is just a bad place to get hit by it," he explained. "Cortisol and other stress hormones are raging through you right now and they are holding your immune system back from cleaning up the mess, so I'm going to jump start it." He smiled a little (a smile that felt fake around the edges) and squeezed her shoulder gently.
"It's not as bad as it sounds when I say it like that, sorry." Dimitri knew exactly what he was doing. He had done it to himself a few times, though not on his back because he couldn't reach there.

Following his friend's gaze to the bedroom door, he had to admit he really was glad she'd suggested it herself. "I'd prefer you lying down as well," he said with a bit of a nod and helped her up, walking her to the bedroom carefully and deliberately. "I don't expect it to really hurt, not that much anyway - but it will be a little uncomfortable." Helping her down onto the bed on her stomach, Dimitri gave her a moment to get comfortable.
"Okay." He sighed slowly and got his wand out again. "What I'm going to do is increase bloodflow around the place of impact so your white bloodcells can pick up something it wrong. That's going to be uncomfortable a bit like-" He struggled to find the right words in English. (He'd already been so proud of himself that he knew words like 'hormones' etc. - they weren't words he used often.) "It's going to feel as though it's newly bruised, you know, uhm - swelling. But it's not, it just seems that way, okay?" he tried to assure her. "And it is going to feel warmer, that should be better, right?" He rested his warm hand on the small of her back gently. "You also may experience nerve tingling, I don't know. I've never done this on a spine before," he admitted. "I'm going to start off slowly, so just let me know if you feel anything too unusual or painful."
Aiming his wand, he muttered something Russian under his breath and started slowly. Devin was supposed to feel tiny pulses of pressure and slowly, but steadily increasing warmth. He had the tip of his wand about ten inches away from her skin, but he'd draw closer as they continued, and then the pulsing vibrations as well as the temperature should go up, increasing bloodflow around the dark blotch across Devin's spine.

[devin pucket]

Most of what he had said didn't make sense to her so she was very glad when he just kept talking. The more he talked to her the more relaxed she felt. Once they'd gotten to the bed she pulled a pillow under her face and a soft blanket around her chest to keep the draft away. Closing her eyes she tried to just play music or something calming in her mind. Think happy things. Clouds. Warm rain fresh picked tea leaves. Tea leaves.... Bloody freakin hell. His cup...Stupid divination.She supposed it wasn't as stupid as she first thought. Her pale dainty hand crept across the sheet and her cold fingers found his free hand and moved it from her back so she could hold it. Call her a girl, but it gave her comfort.

Looking down her body at him she nodded a little and closed her eyes. Waiting for the pain or what ever it was to come. But it wasn't exactly like pain. It was like hitting your funny bone. It ached a little, but it tingled more than anything and felt warm. Like a hot pain. Holding her eyes shut tight and her hand gripping his she took in a deep breath and felt everything fall away from her as she drifted away in her own mind.

Her father was there. He was arguing inside the house with her grandfather. She was only six. Her pretty yellow party dress was nicely pressed and her hair set about her shoulders in perfect little curls. Her father had no doubt learned some very handy beautifying charms. There were other children in the yard out back with her. Tables all lined neatly in a the grass. It was her birthday. But she didn't want to have a birthday. She didn't understand why her father made such a big deal of it. She was very curious for being only six. And later she would come to understand it was also his wedding anniversary and the anniversary of her mother's death.

Standing in the middle of the party goers, children running around on toy brooms and parents sitting about drinking and indulging on cake that changes colors. She was staring at the back door where she could hear a muffled and irritated discussion about Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. Her mother's name was mentioned and she stood motionless just straining to listen. She caught her name on the air and jumped as the door swung open and banged against the wall. Her grandfather stormed down the perfectly level back steps and was coming at her quickly. Gasping as he took hold of her arm she stumbled and looked back at the door. "Daddy!!!" An angry silhouette of her father could be seen looming in the doorway, his wand drawn "DADDY!!!" There was a bright flash over head and she was lifted into her grandfather's arms. Everything went quiet. She was sure there was actually noise. She just couldn't hear it anymore. Her head was so full of other things now. Her grandfather's free arm was over her shoulder aiming at her father. A few more flashes of light were filling the air around them and soon she fell to the ground. Blood dripped from her knee and trickled down her leg. Another scratch stung at her elbow. As she sat up, her father, running to her, scooped her up in his arms. Pushing through the worried crowed of parents and frightened kids, Theo took her inside the house and shut the door. He'd helped her wash and got her a glass of water. How was he supposed to explain this all to his little girl? As he tucked her in that night he choked back tears for his dear Magnolia. "Daddy...My tootsies are still uncovered."

He smiled at the little girl and tucked her feet under the blankets before kissing her forehead. "Dream only of angels my darling for they will always protect you." As he reached for the lamp his little girl as usual only had more questions.

"Daddy... Is mommy an angel now?"

He smiled at her and nodded. "Yes. A very beautiful angel."

"With pretty wings? And a fancy dress? And some shoes made of clouds and glitter?"

Laughing he nodded once more. "Yes of course all those things."

"So....If mommy is an angel because she is so good...What will become of Grandfather? It would be a shame if he were not an angel too."

He was puzzled by this and was lost as to how she could have thought so purely of his father still. "Why do you say that?"

Devinity blinked a few times and sighed. "Because... If he has family they should love him. And It would be a shame to see someone we loved not be an angel. You love him don't you, Daddy? Because he's your dad?"

Theo wished that much could be true. "I do. Of course I do."

"I don't know if us loving him is enough, Daddy." She watched his eyebrows synch together at the middle and sighed. "He's not a very nice person. And you said that bad people don't get to be angels. Do you think Grandfather is a bad person?"

"I think....I think Grandfather is misguided." He lowered his voice and sighed. "Devinity, Grandfather is a Death Eater. And there isn't a single Death Eater alive who still has a soul that's not rotten to the core. That's why I was trying to tell him to stop following the bad man who is misleading him."

Devin smiled and patted his hand, "Good try, Daddy." Then she took up an old looking bunny rabbit stuffed animal and snuggled in under the covers.

When she opened her eyes next she was back in her Hogwarts bedroom. Half naked. Gasping she blinked and tried to roll over a bit. Her head still felt a little fuzzy as she let go of Dimitri's hand and sat up a little, clutching a blanket to her chest. "I... I thought I'd forgotten that.... It wasn't anything Dimitri did to make her remember that bit of her past. Perhaps it was just that the stingy warm feeling of her scrapes felt similar to the sensation on her back. She hoped she hadn't interrupted his work by moving. "Sorry..." Raking a hand through her hair she relaxed a little and sighed. "I...must have nodded off and had a.....nightmare or something...." Leaning back she looked at him half hoping she hadn't talked or screamed in her unconsciousness. Really all she wanted to do know was get warm and be held all night while she tried to forget the awful fight she'd just had to relive.

Word Count: I normally don't do this but this was AWESOME!!! 1164! heck yes!!!!

[/justify]

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

Dimitri was worried. He was really just hoping he was doing the right thing here, especially as he had little to now medical knowledge about these sorts of things. Sure, as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher he knew one or two things, plus he had a fair share of personal experience when it came to things like these, but treating yourself or treating a colleague.. friend.. well, someone else you cared about, anyway - that was totally different. He was a little afraid he was rambling, but Devin wasn't complaining, so he just kept it up to reassure himself as well and prepared. Dim almost jumped when Devin's still icy cold hand grabbed his own, but he pulled himself together and squeezed it gently, braver than he felt.
As Devin gave a nod that she was ready, he began - and fell silent. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk, but he was afraid to divert his attention away from the process. Magically massaging and warming up tissues like that was a delicate process at best and now he wasn't even doing it to himself, so he couldn't actually feel what was going on, either. There were so many things that could potentially go wrong, although he hadn't told Devin. The pulsing could damage the muscletissue if it was too intense or abrupt and, in extreme cases, could even resonate bones and undermine the structure, lowering the bone density. Dimitri didn't want to do either (although he wasn't so afraid that the latter would happen), but then he was also working near someone's spine and that meant there was also potential nerve damage to consider. All in all, he was focused utterly on Devin's reactions, as they were the only indications that he was going to get. He flinched for a moment as Devin squeezed his hand, but managed to push away the rising feeling of panic in his throat - she didn't seem in pain. Rather, she seemed to be drifting off (Dimitri wasn't sure if it was in trance, unconsciousness, or sleep - although somehow it seemed unlikely that she could sleep at a moment like this).

He kept a keen eye on her throughout the procedure. She seemed a little troubled, but no more than someone who's having a lively dream. As long as she didn't seem to be hurting or really troubled, he wasn't going to interfere. When he finished, she didn't wake up, so he just covered her with the duvet and cast a warming spell on it to get her back to her normal temperature (or a little warmer, just for comfort). Then, he sat back and waited for her to wake up. He wasn't going to wake her up and he wasn't going to leave before she'd waken up either, just to check that she was okay. Part of him sort of wanted to stay there all night, maybe waking her up every few hours just to check - but he would just wait until she really woke up and see how she was doing then.
When Devin woke up, she seemed a little desorientated - but then again maybe she'd slept pretty deeply and woken in the middle of a dream. Dimitri knew what it was like when that happened. He smiled at Devin a little, sat on the edge of her mattress. "Don't apologise. How're you feeling?" he asked. Dimitri didn't ask her about her nightmare. If she wanted to share she would, but he wasn't going to pride, especially not as Dimitri wasn't that open about such things either. It would be a bit hypocritical of him to expect that of Devin.
"This is all I can do, I'm afraid," he said and smiled apologetically. "I was thinking maybe you should still see a healer in the morning?"

[devin pucket]

Devin lay there a while and just breathed she could tell Dimitri was doing his best and his efforts were not in vain as she did feel a bit better. Definitely more comfortable and relaxed. There was just something ominous about her dream maybe it was just her mind making connections between her de grandfather and Integra Echoes. Sighing a little she nodded, "I'll go down to see Iain Tomorrow. I just want to rest right now..." She looked up at him and gave him a little half smile.

Sitting back up she looked around and quickly found her shirt. Very carefully she eased it over her head and sighed. "At least that was easier.. ish." She gave him another little smile and tucked her knees up a little. "You don't.... have to go....Do you?" That sounded weird. It was weird. And Devin was about to be very forward, for her. Which wasn't something that routinely went well for her. In fact it usually made her feel sick, which with both their different little phobias, wouldn't end well at all.

Pushing back a bit of hair she breathed and licked her lips. "I could... um.... I could really use some company....for the night..." There was that rolling sick feeling. Had she really just asked him to stay over? "I-I mean.. if you.... want to... If it's not.... weird.... It's probably too weird." She covered her embarrassed face with her delicate hands and shoot her head before raking her fingers through her hair. Then it hit her. "Oh my god It is weird.. .You've seen me half naked.. " She let her head fall back and then onto her knees where she covered her entire head with a pillow. "I am so sorry! I'm such an idiot.... You're probably really freaked out right now...Sorry.."

[Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich]

At least Devin did seem a little more relaxed, but Dimitri absolutely agreed that she should probably see a healer in the morning. He didn't know this Iain, apart from that he was a new healer at Hogwarts and around Devin's age, so maybe they knew each other from before? (And was it weird that he wasn't sure what to think about that? That was completely irrational.) "Yes, that's probably for the best," he agreed, careful not to show his silly irrational thought on his face. "He probably knows more about this sort of thing than I do. What are you going to tell him, though?" After all.. would it be wise to say that Integra had attacked her (while she'd been fighting with Dimitri, no less)?

Discreetly looking away as she pulled on her shirt, he turned back as she spoke and it was back on. "Good. Glad I could help at least a little. You should probably just sleep now," he said and was just getting up to leave when she asked him not to go.
"Oh, no of course I don't mind staying," he reassured her, stumbling over his words a little. He could very well imagine that she wouldn't want to be alone, not now. To be very honest, he hadn't particularly wanted to leave her, either, but hadn't offered because he'd thought it might've been inappropriate. "This chair is fine, I can sleep right here."
He smiled a little. "Really, it's not weird." It would've been had she asked him to stay in her bed, but she hadn't. The chair was fine, he could always transfigure it into a stretcher if needed..

But, oh goodness yes, he had seen her half naked. Well, he'd very much tried not to pay too much attention to it (and that hadn't been too hard because there had been too many other things going on and demanding his attention - but it sort of came flooding back now). Dimitri blushed. "Oh, I mean, no, I didn't see anything, really. It's fine." If possible, though, his blush deepened even further. "Don't worry about it." He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself.
And why was he being funny about this? They were both adults and even if it hadn't been medically necessary it still wouldn't have been weird if they'd seen each other naked. They were adults. It was just flesh. Everyone was naked under their clothes. If Devin went to see Iain in the morning he'd see her with her top off too, right? Then again, that thought didn't make things better at all.