Good morning! Or, well, good day or evening or whenever you get to this chapter. :) So far NaNoWriMo's going good, with another 5,542 words added to Black Fire! A big THANK YOU! to all the wonderful reviewers who sent me encouragement and condolences for the mean reviews. You people truly are awesome.
As always, hope you enjoy. :)
Disclaimer: See profile page. Basically: I own nothing recognizable from elsewhere.
Ch. 10 – I wanna be healthy
"Feelin' Good I wanna be healthy, I wanna be happy. I wanna feel good, good, good, good, good. Yeah, I wanna be cheery. I wanna be snappy. (snap) I wanna feel good, good, good, good, good. I wanna greet ev'ry morning with a smile on my face, And fel like I'm ready for the day. I wanna walk through my life with lots of style and with grace, And know that I'm always okay!" - What a Character (no author attributed, it is on the teachers. Stjohns. K12 website).
"Soo….Malfoy. Can't see I ever saw you becoming a healer. Figured you more for a politician…" Sirina mused, eyeing said Malfoy. One corner of Malfoy's mouth quirked.
"Perhaps if my father were free, I would have. Since I am now head of the Malfoy family, I can choose my own path. Part of my 'community service' sentence was helping out St. Mungos. It was mostly menial, but I found I really like helping to heal people. So I asked St. Mungos if they'd be willing to take me on, despite the black marks on my record. Since I'd been doing such a good job, and also volunteering when I wasn't doing community service, they agreed. Well, that and a very hefty donation. If you think a hospital doesn't have politics, you are sadly mistaken." Draco Malfoy replied as he walked over and began scanning Sirina with his wand. A quick couple of passes and about three spells later, Draco stood looking at a parchment with Sirina's name at the top.
"Huh." Sirina replied somewhat blankly, trying to get a peek at the parchment. Malfoy released the parchment, which vanished in a puff of yellow flames. Suddenly orange flames surged out of Sirina at Malfoy, who looked rather non-plussed. Sirina's flames wrapped entirely around Draco, and his own yellow flames surging up and twining with the orange flames. Soon the two were hidden from sight by a rippling dome of flames. After a few moments the flames receded to the usual bar of combined flames connecting Draco Malfoy's' heart to Sirina Potter-Black's heart.
"Well...that was unexpected." Malfoy stated dryly. Sirina shrugged.
"Not really, this sort of thing seems to happen to me all the time, now." Sirina replied cheerfully. "I'm calling you Draco now, just so you know." She laughed, emerald eyes shining brilliantly. Malfoy sighed, but just rolled his silver-grey eyes. "So, can you do anything about my bones?" She wondered.
"Yes, I can. It won't take that long, either." Draco Malfoy replied. He gently pressed a hand against Sirina's shoulder, forcing her to lay back on the pillows. When she was resting comfortably against the bed, Draco tapped Sirina once with his wand, and she felt herself being immobilised. "We don't want your lungs to be crushed, so I have to immobilise you temporarily." He explained as he tapped her again.
Sirina felt the familiar sensation of her bones vanishing, all of them except for the vertebrae in her neck. Draco's wand descended in a downward slash, and then flicked right-to-left and left-to-right. The springy hawthorn wand was then twisted in a spiraling spell and drawn back upwards. Sirina's quadruple-colored magic flowed up to hover just above her, then the blue began to flow outwards until there was a vague glowing blue shape like Sirinas' body. Next the gold strands of Sirina's magic flowed into the blue shape and became organs. The Green magic welled up and turned into the muscles. Finally the Silver, the began to flow up and out from the centralized blob. Smaller and smaller streams branched out until above the ball showed a diagram of what Sirina's skeleton had looked like, before Malfoy vanished her bones. Looking at the floating diagram, it was suddenly clear to all present just how much Sirina's bones had been squishing everything else. Many of the organs and muscles had edges or entire pieces where the two colors of magic mixed, making odd-colored bruises. Draco muttered a few words under his breath as he jabbed the hawthorn wand towards the floating ball of magic. Draco's amber flames flowed from his non-wand hand and joined with a stream of magic which flowed into the ball of Sirina's magic. Slowly more silver magic flowed up out of the ball, and with the direction of Malfoy's magic and flames, began to enlarge to length and breadth of the bones until the silver skeleton fit all the other colors of magic correctly.
"This next bit is going to be very painful, and I can't give you anything for it." Draco warned. "But it will be over quickly." He added, voice cool and calm. If she could have, Sirina would have nodded or voiced her approval to proceed. As she was immobilized, however, Sirina just let the magic fill her lungs with air and remove the carbon dioxide. Regulus was not so impeded.
"What does this process entail?" He demanded. "Our family, as you should know, cannot have certain potions or spells that healers normally use." Draco nodded shortly.
"I am aware. We use.." Draco started to say, before Colonello interrupted.
"Why would this healer be aware of what the family can or cannot take? Is it that big a family?" He asked suspiciously.
"Draco is my first cousin, once removed, through his mother. He is Sirina's second cousin, through Sirius, and also her third cousin through her birth father." Regulus informed the rest of the present guardians. Off to one side, Dr. Shamal was quickly writing words in a folder which had Sirina's name on it.
"As I was saying, before I was interrupted" Draco began again, giving Colonello a flat and irritated look. "We will give her the Skele-gro potion. Now that her magic has the new pattern for the bones, the Skele-gro will follow the pattern of her magic as it grows the bones from scratch. It will start from the vertebrae in her neck that I left in place. As soon as new bone has formed on either side of the vertebrae I left, I will vanish those vertebrae so that those will grow in correctly as well." Draco explained while digging out the bottle that looked like a glass bottle surrounded by a white ribcage.
"I thought you said this procedure would be quick. I've had to have my hand bones regrown after an accident before, and that took four hours. I can only imagine how long growing back an entire skeleton will take." Regulus protested. Once more a corner of Malfoy's mouth quirked into a smirk.
"That would be true, if I were just an ordinary healer. Luckily for my new Amber, I am her new Calcite. As a Calcite Aspect, I can use my aspect to fuel her magic and the potion's reactive processes. Normally the potion works by drawing energy and magic from the patient's body, so Skele-gro takes a long time to work, and it is recommended that patients be knocked out if conscious. That way the patient has a steady stream of energy that comes from resting. With the power of a Calcite, however, I can replace the necessary energy with Calcite energy and allow Sirina's magic to draw from my own." Draco replied calmly, tapping Sirina with his wand once more. The blond man stepped backwards two steps and slashed his wand diagonally downwards from right to left. The floating magic model drifted downwards until it lined up with Sirina's body then melted into her and became unseen once more. Draco removed the cap from the Skele-gro, turned it upside down, and poured the potion into the cap. When the potion in the cap came up to the last level-line inside the cap, Draco placed the Skele-gro on a nearby counter. He stepped forward once more and poured the Skele-gro into Sirina's mouth. With a gentle stroke of Draco's wand down from Sirina's mouth to her stomach, the potion flowed into the stomach. He quickly put the cap next to the skele-gro, then removed a vial from his bag.
"This is an accelerator. This will cause the potion to work quite a bit faster, and has been tested as safe for the Black family." Draco informed Regulus as he tipped the contents of this vial into Sirina's mouth. Once more he used his magic and wand to draw the potion from her mouth to her stomach. This time, however, Draco did not remove his wand from where it barely made contact with the fabric over her stomach. Instead he murmured "Mergium*¹." A stream of yellow-golden magic twisted with Draco's yellow Calcite flames poured forth from the ten inch wand and flowed into Sirina's stomach and midsection.
If Sirina had not been immobilized, she would have been thrashing and screaming as the new bones forced themselves through pathways that were either not there before, due to the smaller spaces, or were too small for the new circumference of the improved skeletal structure. Only seconds after the pain started, Draco used his off-hand to make a quick gesture towards the bones in Sirina's neck, which promptly vanished. In the next second the bones had already re-grown. For Sirina, however, everything was pain and burning. Although she could not move or speak, all her guardians felt her pain. If they had not seen the floating model of what, exactly, her organs and muscles had looked like with her smaller skeleton, they would have interrupted. They still might have, if they didn't know that Sirina had almost no bones and couldn't survive outside of the immobilization spell. All the guardians gritted their teeth through the grueling thirty minutes it took for all of the bones to grow. About every five minutes Draco made a quick jerking motion with his hand and the immobilized muscles on the top and the side shifted outwards a little so that it wouldn't happen all at once when the spell was released. At the end of the thirty minutes, Draco wearily broke off the connection from his magic and flames to Sirina.
"Finite Incantatem." He murmured, giving two quick swishes and a few other movements to make the form of the shield which was the hand movement for the general counter-spell. The instant the immobulus charm was released, Sirina's body convulsed uncontrollably and the scream trapped in her throat released into the air. Reborn, being the person closest to Sirina besides Draco, reached their Sky first. He gently enfolded Sirina in his arms, pulling her head into the crook of her neck. The scent of cedar wood, gun cleaner, and espresso surrounded Sirina.
"It will be okay. It will be over soon." Reborn promised, holding Sirina as still as he could so she would not injure herself. Very quickly the other guardians were there, and it became a sort of group hug. Every guardian except Draco hugged as close to Sirina as they could, even if that just meant they were hugging another guardian. Everyone felt the immediate concern and anger of Xanxus coming down their bond with him. Everyone except Sirina sent back reassurance and calm. Slowly Sirina's seizures slowed down into spasms, and then tapered off into trembles. Her screams slowed down to whimpers. The whimpers became silence as Sirina shivered in their arms and then became completely still and silent, just regaining her breath. Sirina gripped Reborn's soft expensive lapel in one hand and Colonello's white undershirt with the other. Both of their heads bowed over hers, creating a little sheltered space.
"Please tell me that was the last healing I need." Sirina gasped at Draco.
"That is all you require at the moment. Knowing you, however, something will come up in about a year. If not sooner. There's a reason Madame Pomfrey actual put a placard above one of her beds to reserve it for you. I heard she still hasn't taken it down, just in case." Draco replied, attempting a bit of levity. Sirina finally registered Xanxus' anger and worry, and took a moment to send her own reassurances to him down the bond. At finally receiving a reply from Sirina herself, Xanxus calmed down. He did send a bit of a grumpy feeling back for her making him worry like that. She sent back a quick hug-like feeling before re-focusing on the people in the room.
"Well, at least I'm done for now." Sirina replied with a sigh. She turned to look at the uncomfortable Zabinis loitering near the doorway and trying to pretend they weren't intruding on these private moments. "Sorry, Zabinis. We do not mean to make you uncomfortable." Sirina called to them.
"We are fine. Are you? I do not think mother would want any member of our family to bond to one who is in danger, health-wise." Blaise Zabini retorted mildly as he stepped forward slightly. Sirina was caught off-guard for a moment when she saw him. It was true she'd not really seen him since sixth year, but even the changes seemed rather drastic. He'd short up to five foot eight. He still moved with the same inherent grace, and was still of a slender build. He seemed to have gained a lot of lean muscle, though. He still had the short male haircut and the type of black hair that looked blue whenever and wherever the light hit it just right. His skin was still a nice olive with golden undertones. Much like Reborn, Blaise wore a very expensive Italian suit. Unlike Reborn's black suit, however, the one Blaise Zabini wore was a navy-blue suit with a very light purple shirt underneath it and a purple tie on top. He had grown facial hair now as well. A short scruffle grew on the very edges of his jaw, and rose slightly over his chin. His brown shoes looked just as expensive as the suit, although Sirina did not know enough about fashion to guess what brand either of them were*2. Most of the other Zabinis looked rather like very similar copies of Blaise Zabini, except for the lone girl who looked almost nothing like Blaise. The girl, by contrast, had a much lighter tan tone, dirty-blonde hair, and was a petite five foot two.
"Perfect health now, she just needed a bit of bone growth." Dr. Shamal cut-in before anyone else could answer and pulled Sirina's attention away from the others present. He then moved forward, pulling people off the hug-pile or elbowing them out of his way. Her guardians quickly moved to the walls around the room, except for Reborn and Colonello. Those two men stayed on either side of Sirina's bed by the head of the bed. One hand extended to her, and his indigo flames performed a quick scan. "Yes, no problems. She's even recovered from the bone procedure. You are free to go as soon as we get your new weight and height for your records." Dr. Shamal informed Sirina before picking up the clipboard and leaving the room once more. A female nurse came in a few seconds after Dr. Shamal left, and escorted Sirina into the bathroom. The nurse pulled a scale out from the cupboard under the sink and had Sirina stand on it.
"Not bad, a decent 110 lbs.*3" The nurse commented. She then had Sirina stand in front of the back of the door. Sirina hadn't noticed before, but there was a chart glued to the back of the door for measuring height. "And you are now a decent five foot three. You were never going to be a giant, of course, but at least you don't look like you are a child anymore." The nurse murmured as she jotted down both measurements on her clip board and ushered Sirina back into the main room. The nurse departed with the clip board and Sirina looked to her guardians, to see what they should do.
"Flame trials first, I think." Reborn mused, to the agreement of the others.
"Okay. One of you step forward and hold a lick of your flames over your palms." Sirina instructed, sitting up on her own once more. Sirina demonstrated with her amber flames. Blaise Zabini nodded to one of his family members, and the young lady stepped forward. A gentle sun flame hovered over her own palm, flickering slightly with the girls' uncertainty. The girl looked like she could not have been more than thirteen. She walked over towards the bed and held her flames out towards Sirina's. Sirina's flames didn't even twitch in the direction of the sun flames. Sirina held her hand side-by-side with the girl, but her flames didn't move. "Sorry, looks like we aren't a match." Sirina apologized. The girl smiled a bit sheepishly but assured Sirina she didn't mind much. Quickly the girl traded places with a man who looked to be about twenty. A bright purple flame was already burning over his hand. Sirina went through eleven family members. Some of them were suns, some were clouds, and some were lightnings. None of them was a good fit. Sirina and her guardians, were rather surprised. So far most everyone she'd met since coming to the island had been compatible with her flames. Blaise Zabini was the last person there, and he stepped forward with a clear purple flame on display. Before Blaise was even a third of the way from the doorway to the bed, his flame and Sirina's surged towards each other and the bond snapped into place.
"Welcome, Blaise Zabini, my Amethyst Cloud." Sirina greeted with a grin. Blaise looked into his new Amber Sky's gleaming emerald eyes, and bowed to her.
"Thank you, my Amber Sky. I look forward to savoring our bond for many years. It is a relief to have found such a strong person to bond to." Blaise replied formally before raising from his bow.
"I shall open a portal for the rest of you to return to Zabini Manor. Please notify Aurora that Blaise has bonded and will be staying with us." Regulus commanded. Sirina sent a confused look at Regulus, but it was Blaise who answered.
"Aurora is my mother's first name." He grinned at her. "Not many people remember that, of course." He added with a bit of a grumble. Sirina grinned up at her newest guardian, but didn't comment. Instead she shuffled the pillows until she could lean back against the pillows and the wall but still be mostly upright.
"Well, we definitely need to plan out what we'll be doing from here on. I know we were going to meet your friends Skull and Fon, but there are other things that also need doing." Sirina stated, chewing briefly on the lower left corner of her mouth. "For example, Uncle Regulus you mentioned something about claiming my positions in the families? And I really need to look over my finances. We will also need to either pick out a property I already own or buy a piece of land to build a manor on. I also need to get everyone's position in the family sorted out, and make sure we all have the appropriate focuses…" Sirina began listing off. In a flare of indigo flames a clipboard and pen appeared in Regulus' hands. A notebook was open on top of the clip board, and Regulus began to write down everything Sirina was saying.
"Most of us also need to pack up our old places and ship our stuff to wherever we're going to be living, as well as sorting out some luggage for use until we move into the new place." Lal pointed out sensibly. Sirina nodded at that.
"What do you mean by 'appropriate focuses'?" Levi wondered. Sirina centered her attention on Levi as soon as he started to speak. She was a little afraid he might feel left out and abandoned, since his bond wasn't as strong as her other bonds.
"Well, I know there are witches and wizards who use other focuses besides wands for their magic. When the Vongola was here, I noticed Tsuna and his guardians have focuses that their flames flow through. I thought we should all probably have something like that. It probably makes delicate or flame-sucking task a lot easier." Sirina explained simply.
"You want to give us all Vongola rings?" Levi gasped, and all of the none-magical guardians looked rather thunderstruck. Sirina looked back at her guardians in confusion. Was it really that big a deal?
Oh Sirina, so used to magic and being able to buy magical tools easily. I think this chapter turned out okay. This chapter actually went exactly where I wanted it to…:D
For those who are interested, I have posted a picture of both the 'small' and the 'big' Sirina (after healing). There is also a picture posted of the diagram showing all the guardians Sirina lost to death before this story began. These are posted, once more, to both my Deviantart account, and my pinterest account. I'm not a great artist, but I feel like they turned out okay and are worth a look. ^_^.
My DeviantArt name is also wingzrooke, and the pinterest board for Black Fire is located at pinterest dot com slash pictoralinspire slash black-fire-story-pics. Just put a period instead of the 'dot' listed above, and replace 'slash' with a forward slash. :)
*¹ - a spell used to merge the spellcaster's magic and gifts to the person the spell is placed on. It is a sort of sacrificial magic, a specialty of the healers in the black family, a part of the sacrificial branch of the "Black Magic".
*² - I based Blaise's suit on the Ermenegildo Zegna Bespoke suit (which costs about $22,000). The picture of this suit can also be found on the Pinterest board for Black Fire. The URL is listed slightly above this. And yes, I did steal the models' facial scruff for Blaise's description. In fact Blaise was clean-shaven until I saw that picture….
There is also a pin for the shoes, though it is separate. I used the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture XXX Brown Cap Toe Shoes for this meeting. I wasn't able to find an original sale of these, but I found a pair on Ebay for $949.00 (currently). I know almost nothing about fashion, so I had to rely on articles to find out which were some of the more popular and extremely expensive italian suits & shoes. Sorry if I offended and fashionistas with my choices.
*³ - I tried to find out what units Italians use to measure weight, but I couldn't find anything. So I'm sticking with feet/inches, pounds, etc. for my descriptions since I actually know and understand these units. Sorry it isn't really accurate for where they are.