Lorcan saw Lexi trying to leave and he stood up, listening to Sabel say what he wanted to.

He looked at her. She looked utterly defeated, it seemed as though all the fight and spark had gone out of her.

He stood up, patted Sabel gently on the shoulder, and waited until he released Lexi.

"Lexi, can I walk you up to the Gryffindor Tower?" He asked quietly.

Alexa had hoped they would leave her be and let her walk away, but she had been foolish to think that that would happen. She then felt Sabel's arms wrap around her from behind and she stiffened a bit. He should hate her for what she had done, they all should. She snaked out of his arms and turned to face him. Speaking in a broken little voice she said, "It is my fault for being so weak that I couldn't fight off the curse like so many of the others did... I hurt those people and tried to hurt many more, you two included... I am broken right now, Sabel." Tears were still cascading down her cheeks.

Considering Lorcan for a moment she finally nodded her head and said, "Yeah, that's fine." Sniffling and sobbing she turned around and walked out of Tate's seating area before anyone else could stop her.

Lorcan watched her go with a lump in his throat. He paused for a moment, knowing that he would struggle to make her feel better and could accidentally make her feel worse.

He turned to Gold. "Make sure that he doesn't go anywhere until he's been seen to. Please?" He asked her quietly. He was sure that Sabel was in more pain than he was admitting to.

With that he took off after Lexi, worried that she shouldn't be alone.

Those words cut deep; deeper than he had thought they would. He had heard them reflected in her voice the few times she had spoken since the curse was lifted from the students under Remi's command, but now they were out in the open, hanging on the air. And the agony contained within them was enough to cut out his heart.

Watching Lorcan go with her, he hoped that the other boy would be able to help her; he understood her better than Sabel could ever hope to, so maybe he could connect with her and give her some peace.

That didn't stop him from wanting to go after her, to wrap her in his arms again and tell her it wasn't her fault; that she had been cursed with a spell that even strong, adult wizards hadn't been able to break; that she wasn't herself and couldn't blame herself. But then, he also knew that if he had been in her situation, he would have the same mindset and would not be able to shake it. He knew all the other kids that had been caught were thinking the same things, and it tore through him with unbelievable pain.

Stunned emotionally, he dropped back into the chair, barely aware of the breath caught in his throat and the first, silent tear that rolled down his cheek.

Hearing Sabel mention that there was nothing wrong with him and others should be tended to first, Gabriella gave the boy a slight frown. "Nonsense, child. You deserve equal attention," she stated. She turned towards Gold and Lorcan when the students began explaining what injuries Sabel had obtained. "Chest injuries, hmm?" That was more of a statement to herself than a question to Sabel, though.

She knelt down and began the examination of Sabel's ribs. There was a few moments of silence then the healer glanced up and said, "Two broken ribs. Now hold still, Mr. Dakest." She began a series of wandwork that basically pulled Sabel's ribs back together together again. She hoped it wasn't hurting him too badly, but he did have a pretty bad injury. When she was done, she passed him a potion to help with any pain he was feeling.

When Sabel was tended to, Gabriella turned and made her way towards an unconscious Kazimeriz. Healing this man would take its toll on her, for she knew him to be far more experienced and educated in all magical matters than she was. He was also far older than her, and she just thought he deserved to be back and better than ever.

An examination showed the many lacerations stretching from the back of his head and on down his back. She cleaned the wounds as carefully and efficiently as she could then spread an ointment around the affected areas. She followed that by wrapping the man's head and parts of his back with bandages. He'd been hit by a Cruciatus, which probably succeeded in causing more psychological damage than anything. When he woke, she'd give him a potion for pain and strength, though.

He was beyond grateful he had sat back down, for as soon as Healer Ashford started on his ribs, the pain intensified tenfold. It was a small relief that it was a chest wound, for the air caught in his lungs with the agonizing fire that coursed through his upper body kept him from making any sound. Instead he pressed the side of his head against the back of the armchair and forced his hand not to push away Ashfords wand, gripping his pantleg instead.

When she was done, he tried to say thank you, but seering pain kept any words from leaving and even taking a single breath seemed to send shards of glass into his sides and chest. It felt better, but he wondered how long the pain would end up lasting. Gripping his side with one hand, he held the potion in the other and closed his eyes, trying to hide the tears that had pressed into them from the emotional and physical wounds of the day. He would drink it later, when he had caught his breath a little.

Nicoletta awoke in a dazed sort-of way. The lights flashed irritably in her eyes and everything was still blurry. She found that her head was on a girl's lap. Who? Nicoletta had no idea, but she was to exauhsted to move it. It felt as though she had been running and running for hours and she couldn't catch a breath. Every muscle in
her body shook and her head pounded. Nicoletta moaned, or.... tried to. Her lungs burned as though she was breathing thorns. In.... stab, out..... stab, in..... stab, out.... stab. Over and over. Then it was all happening again; the sinking feeling, the loss of control and the.... vomiting. She pushed herself off of the chair and onto the floor to avoid people. Nicoletta curled up on her knees. Blood stained her hair and cheeks and clothes. Too tired to move, she slumped up against the foot of the chair. Blood oozed from her mouth until, once again, everything went black.

Torin wandered over to Reese after he saw that she had drank a potion. He was hoping that she was feeling better now. Or well, at least a little better. Because it would suck if she was still in pain after being given medicine.

"How are you doing now, Reese?" he asked as he looked down on her.

Reese lifted her head slightly when she had heard Tate's voice, and that's when she noticed that Kazi was in his arm. OH MY MERLIN, what had happened?! As soon as she began to think of all the stuff that had happened on the fifth floor, she heard Tate say something about Kazi getting hit with several curses...one being the Cruciatus curse. Her eyes looked over at the man laying on the sofa, and then she leaned her head back against the cushioning charm, and stared up at the ceiling.

All she could do now was HOPE that Jack was okay and that he didn't get hit with any curses.

She closed her eyes, not even taking in the fact that one unconscious Remí had been down there, and she didn't open her eyes until she heard Torin's voice "I'm...better," she responded as she looked towards him. "That potion made me feel a whole better." She tried to give Torin a little smile.

Lorcan arrived in the headmaster's seating area with a dejected air. His encounter with Lexi in the seventh floor corridor had left him feeling even more useless than usual.

He saw Sabel gripping his side with his eyes closed. He sat down next to the older boy gently and said, "It helps if you take the potion, you numpty." Lorcan knew what broken ribs felt like. Lexi had broken his the year before by accident.

He looked at Sabel expectantly, waiting for him to take his potion.

The sound of Lorcan's voice brought Sabel's eyes back open halfway, though he didn't bother to move his head; for some strange reason he was starting to feel extremely drained of energy and just wanted to stay in one position. Another reason he hadn't moved his arm yet.

Despite that however, a small chuckle left him at Lorcan's choice of words, also leaving him with a powerful grimace. Mental reminder: do not laugh.

"Numpty?" His voice came quietly, with the least amount of expended air possible; he felt like a whimp, but he wasn't particularly fond of being in pain. That being said, his mind registered Lorcan's words about the potion, and his eyes flicked down to it. "How's Alexa?"

A smile flickered across Lorcan's face as Sabel chuckled, but as the Gryffindor grimaced his smile died.

"It means fool, or idiot." Lorcan said by way of explanation of the word numpty. It was a fond term really.

When Sabel asked about Lexi, Lorcan rubbed his face with his good hand. "She... she thinks that she's a bad person and everyone's going to hate her. She doesn't want to use her wand anymore. She's scared, I think."

Lorcan looked at Sabel. "You still haven't taken that potion by the way. Just in case you were wondering why you still feel lousy."

Sabel felt his heart sink at Lorcan's words, turning the potion vial slowly between his fingers. "None of it was her fault. She needs to know she isn't a bad person..." The words came as more of a quiet expression to himself than to anyone in particular, though he wished she would hear and believe them.

A weak smile touched his lips as he stopped turning the vial. "Idiot..." His eyes went over to Lorcan. "You're like a mother hen. It's sweet." And mother hens were not to be disobeyed. Lifting the vial, he swallowed the potion, feeling a slight relief in the cool trickle it made as it passed to his gut. A small breath escaped as some of the tension left his chest; it helped with the pain, but it wouldn't get rid of it all.

Lorcan nodded as Sabel spoke. "I told her all that. Twice. She's not listening. She kept saying that all she ever does is hurt me..." He couldn't say what he was thinking, not with so many other people around.

He didn't really listen to what Sabel said next and watched his older friend take his potion and saw relief spreading over his face. "Better, isn't it?" He asked with a grin.

Suddenly his grin dropped. "Did you just call me a chicken?" For a moment he glared at Sabel but then the exhaustion and the pain in his shoulder combined with the ridiculousness of the question in view of everything that had happened and he started to laugh.

Standing up he said, "Come on, I'll walk back to the tower with you."

For a moment, Sabel thought the other boy was going to knock him right back over the chair. It probably wasn't the best choice of words given Lorcan's physical condition and the emotional turmoil he was going through with Alexa. Once again he remembered Headmaster Tate saying something about appropriate timing for jokes; apparently it was something he still needed to work on.

But then the boy laughed, and Sabel couldn't help but smile. It was wonderful to hear someone laughing after all that had happened. Chuckling a little, which thankfully caused less pain than before, Sabel pushed himself slowly to his feet, which wasn't so much less pain.

"I..." His eyes flicked around the room, searching. "One of my friends got brought up here at the beginning of the battle...he wasn't doing very well...I...wanted to check on him..." There. His gaze stopped on Raiden, lying on the floor. Why in all the length of Merlin's beard was he on the floor. Giving Lorcan a worried glance, he headed over to Raiden and squatted beside the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Raiden?" His gaze went back to Lorcan. "Can you help me move him onto a couch?"

"He's sleeping," Tibi slurred sleepily in response to the boys approaching Raiden. "Dun wake him up," he mumbled.

Cause if they woke him up, Tibi would have to tell him what he did. And he wasn't ready to do that yet.

"Floor's not too bad," he said, feeling his eyes droop again. Yes... another nap.

Gabriella paused for just a moment to catch her breath. Now that most of the students were tended to and healed, she was starting to realize how tired she was becoming. She shook it off, though, and made the rounds to check on the ones she'd healed so far. Poor Miss Davis seemed to still be extremely ill, but the remainder of her injuries would have to work themselves out. The healer had given the girl all the proper medication, so all that was left to do now was wait for it to take affect.

Kazimeriz, on the other hand, would require far more monitoring than he was currently getting. Knowing this, the healer took a moment to levitate the man and bring him to an area of the Hospital Wing he could stay in until his St. Mungo's status was determined. She returned to the seating area a few moments later, Kazimeriz no longer in tow.

Lorcan nodded at Sabel, not really knowing how much use he could be with only one arm. When Tibi started to talk, Lorcan frowned, wondering how hard the kid had hit his head.

"Right then, how are we going to do this?" He asked Sabel, hoping he had an idea.

Sabel blinked at the sound of the other voice, his eyes falling on Tibi. Memory rushed back to what happened in the enterance hall, and where there was once anger at what the boy had done, now there was only sadness and pity. Giving the exhausted boy a weak smile, he looked around the place, considering Lorcan's words. "Uhmmm...not sure..."

Couch...blanket...pillow...Raiden. He blinked. Raiden, pillow, blanket, floor.

"Lorcan, want to grab a few pillows for Raiden and Tibi?" He moved over to a stack of blankets that were nearby and gathered a few in his arms. It wasn't a bed, but neither Lorcan nor Sabel were in the condition to move Raiden, and he didn't want to upset Tibi further.

Moving back over to Raiden and Tibi, he wrapped the sheets around both boys, giving Tibi a reassuring and gentle squeeze on the arm. It was a relief that the pain in his chest had diminished enough to let him move around so much.

Lorcan dutifully grabbed a pillow for each boy and went over to where they were being tucked in by Sabel.

He very gently lifted each boy's head, slipped the pillow underneath it and stood back.

He wondered if there would ever be a normal year at Hogwarts or if things like this happened at other magical schools. He also realised that he really wanted to see his mum.

Something flickered, in Gold's green eyes. There was pain in Alexa's tones, and it cut, cut really deep. Gold knew, too, that there was more Alexa could have said, but probably would not, not to her. Like Dylan, Alexa too had been through a lot. More than a girl her age ever deserved to be pulled through. No potion could heal those injuries.

Only time - and even that, not completely.

She wrapped her arms around the girl to give her one, more hug. "You're very brave, Alexa," she said, gently. "I want you to remember that." But then Alexa had risen to her feet, and it looked like she was ready to go. Gold wasn't so sure the younger girl ought to be moving so quickly; and would have stopped Alexa, if her friends had not gotten there first.

Well, she would let them handle this. They were closer to Alexa, and would know how to tackle her, better. Gold only had understanding and care to offer; and, sometimes, that wasn't enough.

She turned to Lorcan, and nodded. "I will," she said, gently. Sabel wasn't stepping out of this place, until he took the proper potions, and everything. Not on her watch. "Lorcan -" She looked back at the Hufflepuff. "Have you been tended to?" He must be exhausted, too. Injured. But Gold hadn't seen him talk to the Healer.

For the first time, now, Gold really saw Raiden and Tibi. Something twisted in her heart, and she bit her lip. Raiden with the cute Kitty!ears, who never, ever failed to make her smile, and feel all warm - and Tibi, who was extremely nice, in general. RemiCreepyFreakyDude was an absolute idiot, how dare he hurt so many of the people Gold loved, or cherished?

She took a deep breathe, and ran her fingers through her vibrant, red hair. Even the thought of her hair didn't make her feel good, right now. "I'm here, if you need a hand," she told Lorcan and Sabel quietly. She didn't want to interfere, really. But if they needed some sort of help, she was right here, for a while more; and she had a wand she could handle.

Tiberius squirmed as he was given blankets and a pillow, getting more comfortable on the floor.

Rolling onto his side, he mumbled, as he drifted to sleep. "Tell Raiden... I.. I didn't mean it."

He would not remember saying so when he woke up.

Sabel's hand on Raiden's shoulder, and the soft murmuring of his name, did not manage to wake the boy from his slumber. His now abandoned right hand, stretched out in front of him, closed up a bit, fingers bending in as if feeling for something in his palm that had been there, but was there no longer.

"'mmstuh," he mumbled, eyebrows knitting together as he frowned in his sleep. His head turned on the pillow that had somehow appeared there, cheek brushing against it, and the frown slowly faded away as he sank deeper into unconsciousness.

A sad smile pressed onto Sabel's lips at Tibi's words, tears pressing in his eyes again. Tucking the blanket a little more securely around the boy, he gave his shoulder another, gentle squeeze. "We know you didn't. It's not your fault. Just rest."

Then Raiden was shifting and mumbling something, but it was only a brief bout of uncoordinated conciousness within a deep state of absence from the present world. Pulling another blanket over the prefect and making sure he was in a position that wouldn't cause him further pain on his injuries or stiffness, he slowly rose to his feet.

He spared Lorcan an apprecative look. "I think, I'm going to curl up here, mate, with these guys. I...was there when Raiden got injured, and...I might be able to provide some insight when they both wake up. Thank you...for everything." He would have given the younger boy a brotherly hug, but wasn't sure how he would respond to it, so instead clapped a hand to his good shoulder lightly.

Then his eyes turned to Gold with her words and for a moment he watched her. Slowly stepping up to her, he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You, should rest now. That is how you can help." A sympathetic smile touched his eyes as he glanced between his two commrade in arms. "You look exhausted. Both of you. You should both get some rest."

Lorcan looked at Gold and then at his sling. It was torn and filthy. "I'm alright, Miss Ashford put my shoulder back into the socket before all that... stuff upstairs. I'll get a clean sling later, it won't hurt anything for now. Thanks though." He blushed under her gaze... the insecure little boy who had arrived at Hogwarts was still there under the defensive layer of grumpy sarcasm. He felt uncomfortable being the focus of her attention and so switched his to Tibi, who had started to speak.

Lorcan shook his head. How many people had the mental case taken control of? None of it made sense to Lorcan. None at all.

Lorcan listened to Sabel and nodded. If his friend had been hurt and he could stay with them, he would. Of course, Lexi was very hurt, but she couldn't get away from him quick enough.

"Fair enough, that makes sense." He said quietly, tensing as the Gryffindor clapped him on the shoulder. He had a feeling that Sabel had wanted to hug him and was deeply relieved that he had not. Lorcan would have to have words with him about that. He just did not do unnecessary physical contact, not anymore.

"I'll see you later then." He said and gave them both a little wave before turning and walking away.