Chapter 13: St. Mungo's Hospital
I was lying in a hospital bed clutching my left arm. I'd bandaged it up as soon as I had arrived in a hospital. I hadn't let anyone see it. The Dark Mark was on my arm full time now. There was no way of hiding it. The nurses had tried to persuade me to let them see it but I was adamant. No one, absolutely no one, shall see the mark.
"Miss Burnett, you have visitors" I looked at the door. My mother, my father and my brother all came in.
"Oh, Jasmine!" sobbed my mother, throwing her arms around me. I pushed her off and jumped out of bed. I stared, eyes flashing. I wasn't letting her off without an explanation.
"Honey, where have you been? We've been so worried!" I didn't move.
"Jasmine," my dad said. "You do know who we are, don't you?" he was talking to me as if I had brain damage.
"Your names are Claire, David and Steve Burnett." I said in a matter of fact voice.
"I'm your mother, honey," sobbed Claire. I glared.
"I have no mother." I spat at the ground around Claire's feet. She stared, then tried again.
"But you do, Jasmine. I'm your mother, and David-"
"Legally, yes, you are my mother. Biologically, yes, you are my mother. But you are a mother who has failed in her role of protecting her child and so, to me, you are not my mother." She stared at me. Then, David came forward.
"Now Jasmine, we know you've been through a rough summer, but –"
"You know nothing!" I shrieked, "You know nothing about what's happened to me! All because of you, you did nothing to prevent it from happening, you let it happen!" Tears were streaming down my face, now. I was pointing furiously at Claire, who shrank back behind her husband. Nurses were running in with their wands. A reporter had sneaked his way in. In the doorway, I saw Hermione and the Weasleys staring at me with a terrified expression.
"You know nothing and you let it happen! For nearly two months I have been under extensive torture! For two months I was starved to near death! For two months, tortured, locked in a room! Tortured by Voldemort!" Silence fell about the room. My dad's face had gone white as chalk as it had done when he entered. My mother uttered a shaky laugh.
"Jas, dear, you're delusional. From what I've been reading on your paper, he isn't back. And why would he go for you? No, he's not back. Someone did torture you, I can see it in you eyes, but no way was it him."
"I beg to differ, Claire, you just hope it isn't him so that I never find out about what happened to me that Halloween night. The night Voldemort tried to kill Harry but got hit with his own curse. Tell me your version of the story, because I know. I know that you stood aside and let Voldemort brand me like cattle!" I ripped the bandage off my left arm and shoved it in front of her. There, on my arm, was the Dark Mark. Everyone held a collective breath.
"Jasmine, you must understand, he threatened to kill me." She whispered, her eyes widening with fear.
"Well, he will now. You just destroyed me. In trying to protect yourself, you have destroyed me. I will never forgive you." I stood there, staring at her. She burst into tears. David was staring from the mark on my arm to my sobbing mother.
"What, what is the meaning of this?" He whispered. He looked petrified.
"It was so long ago! I didn't realise the consequence of it, I, I… I'm so sorry Jasmine!" She sobbed. I just glared.
"On the night Voldemort –"
"Don't say his name!" Shrieked a nurse.
"- fell, the night he tried to kill Harry, he came to see Claire and threatened her if she did not let him mark me as his follower. I was meant to lure Harry to him, to keep him weak."
"No!" shrieked a voice from the doorway. I looked. Hermione was standing there, her hands over her mouth. "No, that can't be true." She, too, was crying.
"I didn't choose this life, it was chosen for me. I would never have chosen this path if I'd had the choice, but –"
"Really, you wouldn't?" It was Harry who had spoken. My stomach seemed to drop. I looked round. "Because, honestly, I doubt that very much. Strange that you should have looked up ways to get past the age line. Who's to say that you didn't help Crouch try and kill me? You were the one who came up with all the spells I needed to get me through the task."
"Harry, I would never…" I started, but my voice failed me. This was exactly what I had been dreading. He blamed me. He thought I had something to do with him and the Goblet.
"Harry, that is ridiculous!" Said Mrs Weasley, firmly. I could see that she was holding tight to her wand, as if ready to use it. She was trying not to look at my unbandaged arm. "She's fifteen!"
"That's enough!" Shouted a voice. The head nurse had appeared. "Everybody out!" They all left. Claire was still sobbing, "I'm sorry", but I wasn't listening to her anymore. I was exhausted. As soon as the room was empty, I fell to the floor and cried…
