#arabellipher

It was a pleasant evening, the sun slowly making it’s way down behind the horizon. It was often that Arabella decided to take walks down the streets of Hogsmeade around dusk, she enjoyed the little village, it was always the same, quiet, the occasional passersby. Sometimes they greeted her sometimes they didn’t. However, this night was rather different from the rest. As she made her way back towards her house she spotted something on the floor, illuminated by the street lamps. At a closer glance she realised it was blood, the hairs raised on the back of her neck as she followed the trail with her eyes, it led to an alley and she could see a figure against the wall. She slowly reached for her wand, her fingers wrapping around the handle, ready for any sudden movement. She could tell that, that the blood belonged to whoever it was that was lent against the wall. She approached them cautiously, she had to make sure they were alright, it was just in her nature. She didn’t want to call out, in case she startled them. She made her way down the alley, slowly and quietly. Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness and her eyes widened, at first in surprise and then worry. “Christopher” she said.

She put her wand back in her pocket and practically ran the short distance to him, looking over every inch of him to see where he was hurt. “Arabella” he said, “what are you doing down here?” he asked her, his voice worried, he glanced around. She noticed he was clutching at his arm, “I took a walk and I saw the blood so I came down here to check. Christopher what on Earth happened?” she said not sure what to do, all she knew was he needed medical attention. “Some dark wizards were in the area, I could have been anyone” he told her. She shook her head, she knew that, but she was more bothered about him “So there were some dark wizards around the village and you went after them?” she asked, the annoyance she felt at him being injured seeping into her voice. “I am trained in defense against the dark arts you know, Arabella. Some may say I’m good enough to teach it” he winked at her. She rolled her eyes, even whilst he was stood in front of her bleeding, he could still make her want to smile. 

Then he hissed in pain and the worry was back, “Christopher, let me take a look” she said, trying to pry his hand from, what she imagined was a cut. “No need. This is by far one of the least worst things I’ve had happen to me” but she didn’t care, he was hurt, she didn’t care if he had, had worse. She was going to patch him up, whether he wanted her to or not. “My house, now” she ordered. His eyes softened. “I’m really okay, Arabella. I’ll just go to the Castle and sort this out, it’s going to take two minutes. You go home, it’s getting late” he told her, but she shook her head.   "Nope, you’re going to come home with me where I can heal you and then you can go back up to the castle. Understood?" she said. He gave into her and she got them back to her house, she noticed Christopher glancing around everywhere. She knew he was looking out for any signs of attack. "I don’t want them finding your house" he told her, when she faced him, she nodded and let them inside. "Sit down here" she said, walking into the kitchen and pulling a chair out. 

The place with the healing supplies was in one of the harder to reach cupboards. Grabbing a chair and standing on it, she took what she needed. “Having your medical supplies in a place you can’t reach easily really isn’t wise, Arabella” he told her, she knew that. It was just the only spare place. “I need you to take your shirt off” she said jumping down. He nodded and took it off, she noticed that cut that ran the length of his upper arm, she frowned and pulled the chair she had been standing on towards her sitting on it so that she was at a better angle to treat him. “Does it hurt?” she asked as she gathered some cleaning cloths. “Not really” he shrugged.  "Okay, this will" she said as she began to clean the edges, a hiss left his mouth. "I’m sorry, Christopher. I just need to make sure it’s all clean before I dress it. To prevent infection and all that" she told him. "It’s okay" he paused, "thank you" he said. She looked at him and smiled, "you’re very welcome. It’s not like I was going to leave you to bleed in a dark backstreet after all" she chuckled.  "Good to know" he laughed with her. 

In silent concentration she healed the cut as best as she could and then proceeded in wrapping the rest of it up in clean gauze. “You know this is far too much for something so little” he told her as she finished dressing it. “I don’t care, I want to make sure that’s okay and that it won’t get infected while the last bit heals. Just because you have had worse than this, doesn’t mean that I won’t worry and be over the top in nursing you back to health. I’m like it with everyone I care about” she shrugged as she finished the final bandaging of his arm. He just smiled at her and put his shirt back on. “You can’t wear that it’s torn and covered in blood, one minute” she went into her bedroom, there were some mens t-shirts in there. “This should do” she said throwing him a black t-shirt” he smiled and put it on, “I’ll wash this and sew it up for you” she said taking his shirt off the table and placing it in the sink. ”Thank you, but you can just throw it away. Though I must say Arabella, I didn’t have you down as the type of girl that has a stash of mens clothes, should I be worried?” he laughed.  "Oh give over" she said, laughing "I just prefer men’s t-shirts to sleep in„ they’re comfier". "Ah!" he laughed, "Well, thank you for being so kind, Miss Applewood, Have a nice evening" he said and Christopher began to head towards the door. Arabella stopped him, "Christopher, it’s dark outside and you’ve been in trouble already tonight. I have a spare place for you to sleep" she offered, not wanting to have to nurse him again, she’d only be worried, even if it was a short distance. He smiled, "okay".

Arabella went to her bedroom and gathered some sheets and a pillow, placing them on the sofa. “Thank you” Christopher said and began to create the makeshift bed. Arabella realised he’s gotten wrong impression. “Oh no, I’m on the sofa. You’re in my room” she smiled pointing towards upwards. His brows furrowed, “Heavens no, Arabella. I’m a guest in your home, I’ll stay on the sofa” he told her. “My sofa is only tiny, it is much more sensible for me to sleep here” she said. After a lot of persuasion, Christopher agreed and retreated to Arabella’s bedroom. She lay herself down on the sofa, turning a couple times to get comfortable before drifting into sleep.