"Are you telling me," Harry said, gritting his teeth at the young-faced Healer in front of him, "that you can mend a broken leg with the flick of a wand, that you can regrow all the bones in the human body with a potion, but you can't—you can't fix my daughter?"
"Y-yes—well, it's quite different, really...brain damage...Dark Magic..." the Healer stammered, wringing his hands and glancing at the floor.
"Dark Magic? Are you mad? I'm an Auror—are you accusing me of performing Dark Magic on my own daughter?"
Ginny stifled a sob from the corner of the room.
"No, no, of course not, Mr. Potter, sir...forgive me...your wife mentioned...Aelius Endonym..."
Harry shut his eyes. When Ginny was six months pregnant, Aelius—one of the many Dark wizards intending to avenge Voldemort's defeat—had attempted to break into the Potter residence. Harry had been away at the time, dealing with an emergency at the Ministry, so Ginny was left to fend for herself and their children. She had called for backup immediately, and a team of Aurors arrived who battled with and ultimately killed him. In the precious seconds before they came, however, he'd shot a curse at her. She managed to partially deflect it with a shield charm, but three weeks later, she gave birth to Gracie, who was born more than two months early and had apparently suffered brain damage as a result of the curse.
It was Ginny who spoke now, her voice choked with tears. "So what does this mean for—for Gracie?"
The Healer hesitated. "It's too soon to tell for sure, but your daughter's case of cerebral palsy appears to be fairly mild, comparatively speaking...She has sustained damage to the cerebral cortex, and looks as though she has spastic diplegia, which means that her arms are minimally affected, if at all. Many times, patients with this type of CP have average or above-average intelligence. She does, however, have a great deal of tightness in her legs. There are treatments, both magical and conventional, but no cure for something like this. Even if the damage wasn't the result of Dark Magic, which complicates matters considerably, it's impossible to magic away a brain injury of this nature. Mrs. Potter—it is my responsibility as a Healer to inform you that your daughter will likely never walk independently."
Later that evening, Harry and Ginny stood over Gracie's crib as she slept, blissfully unaware of the news that her parents received and of the challenges that she would face in the coming years. Ginny reached down to stroke her strawberry-blond curls.
"Grace Emmeline Potter," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I thought you'd be my little Quidditch player. I thought you'd take after me."
"She does take after you," Harry said, his tone fierce. "You're both fighters."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
It was July of 2013, just a little more than a month after Gracie's third birthday, and two years since her diagnosis.
Her five-and-a-half-year-old sister, Lily, was wailing in the background.
"Mummy! James stole my broomstick and he's not giving it back! It's mine!"
Ginny sighed. "Not right now, Lily. We're going to be late for your sister's appointment! ...Gracie, stay still for mummy, please."
Gracie Potter was wriggling in Ginny's lap as Ginny strapped hard plastic braces onto her crooked legs.
"They hurt," Gracie whimpered. "No braces. Take them off!" She tugged at them, pulling at the Velcro.
"I know, honey," Ginny murmured. "I wish there was a magical way to keep your legs straight so you didn't have to wear them, but they really do help."
Once they were securely fastened, Ginny gathered Gracie into her arms and the two of them, along with Lily, James, and Albus, piled into the fireplace.
"Elbows in, everyone," Ginny said, and she tossed a generous handful of Floo powder into the hearth. "St. Mungo's Hospital," she said, and in a few moments' time, she and her children found themselves in the reception area.
They were all-too-familiar with the hospital, having visited it often since Gracie's diagnosis for her weekly physical therapy appointments. The brunette witch at the front desk barely glanced up at them as they traipsed over.
"Hello, Mrs. Potter. Healer Semperus finished up early with her previous patient, so you can go straight in now," she said.
"All right, thank you," Ginny replied, and then she turned to James. "Go up to Gilderoy's room with Albus and Lily. I'm sure it's been a while since he's had any visitors."
James rolled his eyes. "Gee, Mum, I wonder why! Maybe it's because the last time we visited him, he tried to sign Lily's forehead with a Sugar Quill."
"Well, if you'd prefer, you can come with Gracie and me to her appointment." She smiled, knowing that her children were far too adventurous to agree to that alternative.
James sighed. "Finnnne, we'll go see Gilderoy. Why can't we ever visit somebody cool, like a vampire or a werewolf?"
"Uncle Bill's kind of like a werewolf! And Teddy's dad was a werewolf!" Albus piped up.
James shook his head, exasperated. "Uncle Bill's not a real werewolf, and Teddy's dad doesn't count because we never got to..."
Her children's voices faded as they ran down the hallway toward the lift. "Don't wander off, and stay out of trouble!" she called. "I'll fetch you in an hour or so!"
With that, she headed back with Healer Semperus and set her daughter down on the bed.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Healer Semperus was a plump, pleasant woman with her blond hair tied back into a bun. She smiled down at the three-year-old on the bed—small for her age, with strawberry blond curls that framed her face in ringlets, striking green eyes, and a delicate white dress that ended at her knees, just before her braces.
"Hi Gracie!" she said. "Are you ready to get started?"
She flourished her wand at Gracie's atrophied legs and a shower of purple light fell upon them.
Gracie wrinkled her forehead. "That maked my legs feel funny!"
"I bet it does! No owies though, right?" Healer Semperus said, and Gracie shook her head.
The Healer turned to Ginny. "I'm trying some stronger spells today to release some of the tension in her legs."
"Stronger spells? You mean something permanent? Will it help her walk on her own?"
"Not permanent, no. They'll probably last longer than the usual spells, though—a couple of weeks rather than a few days. You might want to start looking into a wheelchair—"
"A wheelchair? Isn't that some sort of Muggle contraption?"
"Yes, but so are the braces. With injuries like Gracie's, sometimes Muggle technology can be helpful."
The Healer glanced toward Gracie again, muttered an incantation under her breath, and flicked her wand, sending a shower of orange sparks onto the bed.
Gracie giggled. "My legs feels like jelly!"
"Actually," Healer Semperus paused. "That's not a bad idea...maybe we ought to try the Jelly-Legs Curse to loosen her up a bit."
Ginny balked. "A curse? No, no, no. My daughter has already been cursed once in her life and look where it's got her."
The Healer set down her wand for a moment, and a peculiar smile crossed her face. "Yes, but sometimes a curse is a blessing in disguise."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Author's Note: This is my first story on FF, and I would love to hear what you think of it so far! Any and all feedback is appreciated. :) More chapters to come!