11. The house screamed

When she woke up, all the events that had taken place seemed like memories that belonged to another person rather than to her. She looked at herself and got a shock: she was dirty with dried blood on her body, her clothes were singed, and her whole body ached. She looked around and recognized the Shrieking Shack.

Flora wanted to go back and undo what she had done. But how? And her baby? Flora wept convulsively. She thought of Felipe and their children. She had to get up. How had she gotten there? She looked for her wand, but could not find it. Besides, she knew that she would not need it anymore: with just a few snaps of her fingers, and focusing her thoughts on what she wanted, she could do whatever she wanted to. So, she wasn't dependant on the wand any longer. To command it by imagination was much more efficient than to do it by verbal, oral or any other way. By using her newly acquired magical powers she mended her clothes, and cleaned herself up enough to get ready to go home.

She remembered that she had lessons to give that day, but she was feeling so unwell. I cannot forget to send an owl to McGonagall telling her that. She thought.

She loved Felipe, how could she have done that to him? The awareness that she had left him alone and abandoned in the last few days suddenly overwhelmed her, and that sadness and guilt weighed on her shoulders. She looked at her left hand, and to her surprise, a ring with the black stone replaced her wedding one. Flora could feel that no frame held the stone; therefore, her skin was in continuous contact with it. She tried to take off the ring, but was unable to do that. She felt vulnerable and hopeless, so she broke down in tears.

Then Flora heard taps on the door. Katarina was there. With great effort she stood up and walked to the door, holding up in the wreckages of the house. She opened the door.

Her head ached. She felt something strange, as if her head was hollow inside.

'Flora! We have all been looking for you for the last two days! What happened? Felipe is so worried, Yan cannot stop crying, Ricardo and Lia were released from classes yesterday. Now they are with their father. Even your friend Hermione came to help us. She's been here since yesterday. Mr. Potter arrived today - he suggested that you could be here. Felipe and he are looking for you in the Forbidden Forest right now, and Hermione is looking for you in the castle.' Katarina said, worriedly looking at her friend.

Flora pondered about telling Katarina a little about what had happened to her. She needed to tell her about Harry and their baby. She needed caring. But something inside her would not let her do it. She only asked her friend to take her to the clinic because she had done some experiments that had not worked out all right. So she did not feel well.

While Flora was being treated in the hospital, Katarina told her:

'There was a break in Azkaban, the wizarding prison yesterday… The strange thing is that the guards believe that Mr. Potter is involved with this… that somehow he contributed to the escape. Very dangerous people, Hermione told me. But she also ensured that Mr. Potter hasn't done anything since he himself had arrested those people last year.'

'Katarina, I think.. it would be better to tell others that I'm here…'"

'You're right! I was so happy at having found you that I almost forgot ... I'll be back soon. Take care!' Katarina went out.

Flora needed to be alone with the nurse. She wanted to ask her about her baby. To her sorrow, the nurse confirmed what Flora knew somehow: the baby was gone. Flora wept in silence, a pain that was only hers.

Felipe and Harry arrived together. The nurse explained that as Flora had lost so much blood, she should remain under observation for a while. Then the nurse turned to Felipe and reported:

'She lost your baby.'

He looked Flora in the eyes and asked her, looking worried, and with teary eyes:

'A baby? Oh, Darling, why did you not tell me anything? I had noticed that you were different ...'

'I... I was not sure, just suspected it ... And besides, I was so immersed in my astronomy studies, as ...'

Felipe kissed and hugged Flora. She gazed into Harry's eye over her husband's shoulders, as if to apologize and ask for support at the same time through her red teary eyes.

Harry, in turn, excused himself and went out to wander aimlessly on the streets, tears streaming down his face, and then he started crying his heart out. Her grief tore at his heart. Next, he went into the Hog's Head and did something he had never done before: he drank a bottle of firewhiskey. Not that it would ease his pain, or make him forget anything. He felt guilty for not taking care of her, for not giving her any support, and for not having taken the child with him. He had to punish himself somehow.

Aberforth tried in vain to give some advice to Harry even without knowing what was going on. The old man knew him long enough to know that Harry was not well at all. But Harry did not heed any advice. He did not feel worthy of anyone's help. To worsen things up, just then he received an owl from the Ministry telling him that he was temporarily suspended from his duties and that he was under investigation.

Very depressed he said: 'A troll is better than me.'

Then he asked Aberforth to send an owl to Ginny, telling her he would not be returning home soon, so she would not have to wait for him. Then he requested:

'Please leave me alone.'

Out on the street, with the second bottle of firewhiskey in his hand, Harry went towards the Shrieking Shack. The traces of Flora's blood on the floor increased his guilt and pain.

Ginny, the Weasleys, as well as his friends tried in vain to get him out of his miserable situation, but he would not give in. Everybody thought that it was caused by his suspension from the Ministry, but no one believed that he could be in any way, involved in the terror that was installed, despite the Daily Prophet forming this hypothesis based on his "guilty" behavior. Even so, he would not tell anyone the truth, it would not be elegant. He was almost on the verge of losing his mind. He had betrayed the love of his life – Ginny, of course – and further more with his beloved Flora in hospital in a severe condition and his baby dead, he could not think of anything, except punishing himself secretly.

He had not felt this way since the death of his godfather Sirius Black. He felt like going back in time and doing something. He would pluck his heart with his fingernails if it could bring the baby back. He did not blame Flora, even though she had been unwise. He thought that he should have taken care of her - despite having the same age she was like a child, he could see in her eye the childish fascination to know the magical world, or the way she sought the safety and comfort of his lap in the Shrieking Shack - all this aroused in him the need to care for her. Which he did not heed. He had failed in his duty. He was a coward – that was what he thought about himself. He wanted to die, but he thought it would not be enough: he needed to punish himself, needed to feel that pain. He felt responsible for everything. He wanted Ginny to hate him, to despise him, he wanted Flora to hate him too and to curse him. He thought he did not deserve his wife or Flora. So, every night one could hear in Hogsmeade, along with the howling wind, screams echoing through the alleys. They came directly from the Shrieking Shack. But when it was searched, nobody found anything, since Harry was under his invisibility cloak.

On the other hand, Flora also felt guilty mainly about the loss of her baby, but also about probably having been caught off guard by Bellatrix. The ring embedded in her skin left her with no doubt that something bad was happening to her. Deep down in her mind she felt something strange, as if her thoughts were being monitored. She feared for her sanity. She did not know how Harry was. Felipe was aware that if she knew that, it would make her even sadder, since Flora was very devoted to her friends. Therefore, he omitted any news about their friend. Felipe tried in every way to keep Flora from suffering, even when he questioned her about what she had done with the wedding ring, he gently accepted when she replied: "I've replaced it by this ring; I found it more beautiful." He knew that it was not a true answer, he knew that something had happened which Flora did not want to share with him, but he did not contradict her.

The following week, Flora was discharged from hospital and returned home. Her children merrily received her. Her friends had worked in her garden to take off the gnomes and had filled it with flowers of various species trying to make her happier and to cheer her up. Flora was very moved by all the expressions of affection and thanked everyone.