Get Out Alive

"Ridder! Zackary! Get down here!" Ginny called. "You're going to be late for school!" When the boys came running down the stairs, she handed them their lunches and kissed them on the forehead. "Be good," she said, waving at Angelina. She was really glad she'd split morning drop off duties with her sister-in-law. She got a lot more done that way. Walking back into the kitchen, she grabbed the post from the window seal and picked out the purple card with the MLE seal. When she opened it, she recognized Harry's writing, not Tonks's.

Ginny, Tonks was injured last night on the mission. We've taken her to St. Mungo's. Come over when you get this, I'll meet you at the entrance.

~Harry

Pausing only to lock the front door, Ginny ran to the front yard and Disapparated. She landed in an alley about a block away from the hospital and sprinted all the way there. When she reached it,, Harry was waiting for her in front of the visitor's entrance. "Where is she?" Ginny panted. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get to her room," Harry said. "Come on."

They entered Tonks's room and Ginny let out the breath she'd been holding. She'd expected to see something much worse, but Tonks looked alright, apart from the fact that she was still unconscious. "What happened?" she asked again. She didn't take her eyes off of Tonks as Harry explained. "But she never chases criminals," Ginny said. "Why did she run after this guy? She usually lets you handle that," she said, looking at Kingsley.

"She really wanted to take this guy down," Kingsley said. "He's the head of a child-trafficking ring. They kidnap Muggle-born children when the kids start displaying signs of magic. They sell them to purebloods, who use them as slaves, or so we think."

"So what's wrong with her?"

"He used some kind of Dark Magic," Harry said. "We haven't been able to wake her up yet."

Ginny sank into a chair at his words.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm sure they'll find something soon."

"You're sure it was Dark Magic?" Ginny asked.

"Yes. I saw it."

At that moment, one of the Healers walked in. "I'm sorry everyone, but we need you to leave. We have to run some more tests. Oh, hello, I don't believe we've met. I'm Healer Fitzroy."

"Ginny Tonks," Ginny said, shaking his hand.

"Oh, are you sisters?"

"No, I'm her wife."

The Healer gave her an odd look for a moment. "I see. Well, Mrs. Tonks, you should know that we have not ascertained the problem yet, but we are still looking."

"Thank you. Do you have any idea if she'll wake up on her own?"

"Not yet."

Ginny looked expectant, but the Healer didn't seem to want to divulge any more information.

"We'll come back later," Kingsley said. "Are you staying here?"

"Yes," Ginny nodded. She took Tonks's hand while Fitzroy ran the tests.

"I'll tell Angelina what happened. I'm sure she'll watch the kids after school."

"Thanks."


By the end of the day, nothing had turned up and Ginny was sinking into panic. The Healer had come back for multiple tests, but hadn't been very forthcoming with information. Finally, around seven that night, a different Healer came in. "Charles Brandon," he said, without looking at her. "Healer Fitzroy has passed this case to me. I'm better at Dark Magic than he is, so he says." He looked down at Tonks's chart. "Well, we've narrowed it down. It looks like the spell he used was an old, but effective, binding spell. Basically it's one of the three that makes a person go catatonic. Tonks is locked in her own head, in other words."

"So how do you reverse it?" Ginny asked, clearly relieved.

"We have to figure out which of the three spells it is, and then go from there. It could take some time. Why don't you go home, and come back tomorrow? We're going to let her rest, so there won't be any more testing or anything tonight."

Ginny nodded. She leaned over and kissed Tonks. "I'll be back in the morning," she whispered. "Thank you," she told the Healer.

He nodded, never once meeting her gaze.

With one last look at her wife, Ginny left the small room. She Apparated outside of Fred and Angelina's house a minute later, and knocked on the door.

"Ginny," Angelina said, hugging her. "They told us what happened. Is she okay?"

"I think she's going to be," Ginny said. "They said he put her in some kind of catatonic state, or something like that. The Healers were acting weird though; I couldn't get much out of them. Where are the boys?"

"In the living room, working on their homework," Angelina said. "You should all stay here tonight. We have enough room, and you shouldn't be alone."

"Thanks, Angie."

When they got to the living room, the twins and their cousin were all reading out of their school books. Zack noticed Ginny first. "Mummy!" he said, running to hug her. "What's happened? Why didn't you come to get us from school today?"

"Er…Dresden? Why don't you come help me put away the dishes?" Angelina said, taking him by the hand.

"What's up Mummy?" Ridder asked, sitting next to her on the couch.

Ginny took a deep breath, willing herself not to break down. "Mama had an accident while she was working," she said softly. "She's in St. Mungo's now and the Healer's are helping her get better, but I don't know when she'll be home."

"An accident?" Ridder said. "What kind of accident? What's wrong with her?"

"Can we go see her?" Zack added.

"Not just yet," Ginny said. "A bad guy put a spell on her that's making her sleep. But as soon as she wakes up, I'll take you to visit her." She hugged both of them. "How about we go help Dresden and Aunt Angie?" Taking them by the hand, Ginny walked into the kitchen, praying Tonks would come through soon.

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