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“You know, this would be a lot easier if you would stop moving.” Penny says as she dabs at your cheek.
You were sitting on the floor of the artefact room with your back resting against the wall. Penny was kneeling beside you with a cloth in her hand, dabbing at a series of cuts and gashes on your face.
“Sorry.” You say with a hiss.
Penny delicately wipes at a long diagonal cut across your cheek that’s slowly dripping blood. As the cloth touches the open wound you feel a painful sting, causing you to wince and turn your face away.
“(F/N).” Penny sighs, like a mother does to their child.
She was getting frustrated, you could tell. She had already been tending to your wounds for the better part of an hour. She had quickly cleaned the scrapes along your arms and shins, but the cuts on your face were taking more time, due largely to your constant squirming at even the lightest touch. Whatever was on that rag hurt, and the injuries on the side of your face and around your eyes were much more sensitive than the others.
“I know.” You say in an apologetic tone. “It just stings. Isn’t there a potion or salve you could use that wouldn’t hurt as much?”
“I suppose so.” She says, dipping the cloth in a bowl next to her. “That is, if you’re willing to wait three months for me to brew it.”
Wringing out the handkerchief, she begins touching up a cut on your lip. Again, you hiss in pain, but you fight the urge to pull back, allowing her to clean the wound.
“I still don’t understand why you couldn’t go see Madam Pomfrey.” She says, dipping the rag in the bowl to clean the blood off. “She could have had you patched up in an instant.”
“She’d ask questions.” You say. “And I definitely don’t want Professor Dumbledore to find out.”
“So, I take it you were up to no good?”
“You know me.” You say with a coy smile.
“Yes.” Penny smiles. “I certainly do.”
A comfortable silence lingers between the two of you. You gently take her small hand in yours, thumb brushing along the back of her soft hand. She blushes softly, turning her gaze to the floor. She pulls her hand away and tucks a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. Picking up the towel, she busies herself with soaking the towel in the bowl again, smiling softly as she tries to hide the blush on her face.
“What was it then?” She asks, wringing out the cloth.
“Hmm?”
Gently, she places her hand on your cheek and angles your face towards her to better access a cut above your eye.
“How’d you hurt yourself this time?”
“I, uh, there was a spot of trouble in the Forbidden Forest.” You admit. “I stumbled across a rather large Acromantula den.”
“Was anyone with you?”
“No.” You say, blinking irritably as Penny continues dabbing at your eye. “I went by myself.”
“Why didn’t you ask one of us to come with you?” She asks. “You could have been killed.”
You mutter something about not wanting anyone else to get hurt because of you. Penny sighs and sets the cloth in the bowl and moving them both to the side.
“(F/N).” She sighs. “Please be more careful.” Her small hand slips into your own, her other hand gently resting on your shoulder. “I worry about you.”
You smile sadly and place a reassuring hand over hers. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. I just hate seeing you like this.” She says, gently stroking your cheek. “I really care about you.”
Squeezing her other hand, you softly wrap it in both of your own, bringing it up to your lips, kissing her fingers.
“I’ll be more careful.” You say quietly. “I promise.”
Pulling her hands away, Penny picks up the bowl and starts ringing the cloth out again. You’re still smiling at her when she brings the towel to your face once more, so you’re not ready for the familiar painful sting when it touches the gash on your cheek. You turn your face away.
“Blimey, that smarts.” You hiss.
Penny drops her towel in exasperation, releasing a frustrated breath.
“Please, just try not to move.” She says tiredly. “I need to finish disinfecting the wounds.”
“I’m sorry.” You apologize again. “Whatever you’re using hurts. What are you using anyways?”
“Rubbing alcohol.” She responds.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a muggle remedy.” She informs. “My dad uses it whenever Beatrice or I get injured. It kills the bacteria, so the wound doesn’t get infected.”
“Well whatever it is it stings.” You complain.
“We would have been done ages ago if you’d just sit still.” Penny says, her voice getting more and more irritated. “Not even Bea puts up this much of a fight.”
“Well, is there anything you could do so it doesn’t hurt as much?”
“Well,” Penny says slowly, her cheeks flushing with color, “there’s something my mum used to do when we were younger.”
“I’ll try anything at this point.” You say, eager to dull the sharp pain around your eye, cheek, and corner of your mouth.
“Okay.” She says quietly, her face completely red. “Tell me where it hurts.”
“Uh, my eye.” You say, indicating the deep cut beneath your left eyebrow.
Slowly, Penny leans in, her face inches from yours. You’re about to ask what she’s doing when her soft lips gently press against the injury.
“Anywhere else?” She whispers.
“My uh, my cheek.” You say quietly.
She nods and places another soft, lingering kiss on your cheek.
She pulls back and you see her eyes flicker to your lips. Your mouth has suddenly become very dry. She tentatively places a gentle hand on your shoulder as she leans in. Her face gets closer and you lose yourself in the ocean of her sapphire blue that is her eyes. One of your hands finds a place resting on her waist, the other floating up to her face, your fingers delicately playing with the hair on the side of her face. Her cheek is soft beneath your palm, and the feeling of her lips against your own erase the pain of your injuries.