Saint Mungo's

When the next morning finally came, I was ill. I barely managed to go to the bathroom because I felt nauseous as soon as I left my bed. The thought of breakfast alone made me want to vomit.

"I'm not well," I managed to tell Dora who was on her way to the bathroom herself.

My cousin stared at me. "My goodness, Vivi, you're as pale as a sheet. I'll tell Mum."

I wanted to tell her that there was no need to fuss but she was already gone and I stumbled back into my bed. What a mess. Why did I have to be so ill now? I really didn't want to be a nuisance for the Tonks.

Aunt Andromeda was with me a few minutes later. She checked me for fever with a spell, something I had never seen done before. "Well, you've got a rather bad fever," she said. "Better stay in bed. Maybe you've caught the same bug Mandy had in the beginning."

"I hope so," I said. Mandy's illness had been over after two days. I wasn't sure if I really had the same thing. Mandy's had started gradually while mine had been there right away.

I hoped it would be better when I slept another night but I was disappointed. The next night was even worse than the one before and I barely slept at all. Instead I had lots of disturbing dreams and maybe something like visions, or simply hallucinations caused by the fever. My head ached after this night.

The Tonks did their best to take care of me. I was rather ashamed. They barely knew me yet and already had to look after me while I was ill. By now, I even needed someone to accompany me on the way to the toilet. I really would have liked to spare them that.

"Don't be stupid. You didn't choose to become ill on Christmas," Andromeda told me. "I'm your aunt and of course I'm looking after you."

"Thank you," I muttered and took a few of the fruit slices she had brought for me. Fruit were among the only things I could eat, along with semolina paste, chicken soup and mashed potatoes. I didn't manage to eat much of any of those things though. Andromeda kept telling me to drink lots of water.

That awful headache made me feel as if I was going to be sick at any time. "Too bad I have no talent for healing magic," Andromeda said as I told her about it. "And neither do Ted and Dora. If you have the gift, it's easy to make headaches go away."

I had done this before but obviously, you weren't able to heal yourself or my magic was too weak from the fever. Either way, my attempts to get rid of my own headache didn't work out. Andromeda was the only one who came into my room because she was worried that the illness might be contagious. "Doesn't do anyone any good if we all have to lie down," she said.

On the third day, I was hurting and itching anywhere. When I looked at my arms, I was shocked. They were full of red pustules and my skin had turned an unhealthy greenish colour. My head was aching even worse and I was hurting all over. I felt so miserable that I had tears in my eyes.

When Aunt Andromeda walked into my room, she realised what was going on right away. "Oh, it's Dragon Pox. I almost thought so. We'll have to take you to Saint Mungo's."

"Saint Mungo's?" I never needed to go to a hospital before. The thought scared me. "Is it a bad illness?" It definitely felt that way.

"It has to be treated," Andromeda explained. "You'll feel better really soon when you get the proper treatment."

I really hoped that she was right but at the moment, I couldn't imagine that I'd ever feel better again.

"I'll floo-call Saint Mungo's," Andromeda said. "A Healer will come here and take you to the ward by Portkey."

She left the room and I was alone with my fear. I had never been so ill in my life. The closest thing to it had been the scarlet fever I had when I was much younger. I really hoped that they'd be able to help me at this place called Saint Mungo's.

"Don't worry," Andromeda told me. "I've had Dragon Pox as well and so did your mother and Aunt Narcissa. There was a real epidemic of it back when I was at Hogwarts. Your father was one of the few people who didn't get it because he had received an immunisation as a child. He helped Madam Pomfrey take care of all the sick."

I didn't really want to think about my father, not after all those hints and nightmares but I couldn't tell Andromeda so. She only wanted to be nice to me.

The doorbell rang and I flinched. I hated loud noises since I was ill. They made the dizziness and headache even worse. There were voices downstairs; Ted had obviously let the visitor into the house.

A few moments later, I heard someone walk up the stairs and knock on the door.

"Come in please," Andromeda said.

A woman with short, curly brown hair walked in. She wore the same lime green robes and the same bracelet my father had worn on this last picture in the photo album. A Healer from Saint Mungo Hospital.

"Good morning. My name's Charlotte Frobisher. I'm the Healer in Charge of the Gunhilda of Gorsemoor Ward for Dragon Pox patients. I'll take you to Saint Mungo's by Portkey now. Have you travelled with a Portkey before?"

"Yes, Madam," I managed to say. It had been fun the last times I did it but I already knew that it wouldn't be in my current condition.

I was right. My head was spinning when we arrived at the hospital room and the Healer had to half carry me to my bed. Only when I lay there, I was able to take in my surroundings. I was in a very small room with white walls and a table.

"This is the quarantine room," Madam Frobisher told me. "You will receive treatment that keeps the disease from spreading to other people before you're being moved into the regular ward."

The treatment consisted of a spell with a very difficult incantation. Madam Frobisher had to repeat it three times each over different parts of my body. Afterwards, I received a potion that tasted very bitter. Drinking it wasn't fun but it made my stomach feel better afterwards.

About half an hour later, Madam Frobisher considered it safe to move me to her ward. Andromeda was doused with some potion before she was allowed to leave the quarantine room.

The Gunhilda of Gorsemoor Ward was a large room with about ten other people who all had red marks covered with various sort of ointments and greenish skin as well. The youngest one didn't look older than three; the oldest was an elderly man.

Madam Frobisher gave me another potion in a relatively large goblet. "I'm sorry, you have to drink this. Sugar doesn't make it less effective but I've been told it's tasting better without it."

Emptying this goblet really wasn't easy but I managed it somehow. I hoped it would help me after all. After that, the Healer performed another spell which consisted of a long incantation and signs she drew with her wand onto my body. Healing magic really looked difficult and I found it quite admirable that someone could do this. Our spells usually were really short like Wingardium Leviosa.

After this rather complicated spell, she spoke another one that was supposed to kill the pathogens in my body. It created a shower of tiny greenish sparks which left a tickling sensation on my skin. It wasn't exactly painful but rather unpleasant.

"That's been the most important part," Madam Frobisher told me when this spell was finished. "There are some other potions you have to take later this day but now we can take care of the symptoms. You have a rather bad headache, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"The magic against this is applied wandlessly by directly touching your neck and head," she said. "Is it alright for you when I do this?"

"Yes, of course," I said. Why would I not want her to do this?

Feeling how a few touches by the Healer's hands made that awful headache disappear was really impressive. Even more impressive than the magic which was done with a wand, at least to me. And it was quite possible that I'd be able to learn this as well. I had already done something like that before I had known I was a witch.

When the headache had gone, Madam Frobisher took care of the marks. I hadn't felt them anymore at all since I had arrived at the hospital. There was so much to see and do here. She put ointment on the pustules. "You don't have to worry about scarring. When the pustules are treated in this early stage, they will heal completely."

Afterwards, I received a potion against the fever and another one that was supposed to help getting rid of the disease.

When lunch time arrived, I felt much hungrier than I ever had during the last few days. The food wasn't as good as the things I had gotten at the Tonks' though. The potatoes were slightly overcooked and the sauce too salty. Still, it wasn't too bad and the nausea had vanished.

In the afternoon, Aunt Andromeda came to visit with some her fruit and I was really glad to get them. If I weren't so tired, I'd already feel completely healthy again.

"How long will she have to stay?" Andromeda asked Madam Frobisher.

"Five days minimum," the Healer answered. "Relapses are always possible and it's better if we can deal with them right away."

I was a bit disappointed by this. People who had been at the Hogwarts Hospital Wing had normally been discharged after one night so far. I'd really rather spend the rest of my holidays at the Tonks' than in this place but I didn't want to become a burden for them either.

"She can leave the ward and walk around a bit when she's feeling better though," Madam Frobisher added. "There's no danger of passing the disease to anyone anymore. Short walks are okay but nothing too straining."

I was still too tired to get up much but I was able to walk to the toilet on my own again. The pain was gone as well and Madam Frobisher's trainee Healer, a young man called Thomas Lufkin treated my pustules once more in the evening.

This night passed without any nightmares. I dreamed of my Dad visiting me though. "I just took a short break from my own work upstairs to see how you're doing," he said in the dream. It wasn't a nightmare but when I woke up, I felt almost like crying because it hadn't been real. It would be so nice if Dad had continued working here and never have become a Death Eater. We could have been a real family and no one would have hated me for my last name. They might even admire my father because he could help sick people like I did for Madam Frobisher.

The next morning, I felt perfectly fine once more. Magical healing really was a wonderful thing. Breakfast consisted of toast with strawberry jam and butter which didn't taste very well but which I managed to eat despite of it.

Aunt Andromeda came to visit me right before lunch. "They're offering food upstairs in the Tea Room and it's better than the stuff they're giving the patients," she told me. "So, if you're feeling well enough to walk up to the fifth floor for a bit of better food..."

"I think so," I said. Five flights of stairs were a lot but I had made it to the toilet and I had wandered the corridor twice. Thus I thought I could try it. Better food was worth it after all.

When we reached the stairs, I soon realised that I wasn't really well yet. Getting up took me much longer than usually and we needed many pauses. The old Healers who diagnosed odd complaints and suggested even odder remedies didn't exactly invite us to linger but we had no choice.

When we had finally made it up, I dropped into one of the chairs and left Aunt Andromeda to fetch our food. They served pasta with tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese and it did taste better than the rest of the food I had had here.

"I really hate that I got ill when I was visiting you," I said.

"There's nothing you can do about it so no point in being angry," Andromeda said. "It's not as if it were your last chance to visit. There are more holidays to come after all."

"So you'd let me come again?" I asked.

"Of course. You're a really nice and well-bred girl Vivien. Not at all what I expected after hearing how you had grown up."

"Thank you," I said, slightly embarrassed about the praise. "I just hope I didn't infect anyone else."

"I don't think so. Ted and I both had Dragon Pox and Dora got the immunisation. Mandy was tested yesterday and she is already immune as well. Maybe the illness she had when she arrived was Dragon Pox as well."

"Really? She wasn't nearly as ill as I was."

"Yes. That's probably because the disease is much more serious in pure-bloods. This has to do with a small group of people marrying among each other over a long period of time. It's been like that at Hogwarts as well. Most Muggle-borns and half-bloods were up again in no time while the pure-bloods fell seriously ill."

"So only marrying pure-bloods is really a bad idea?"

"Obsessing with it definitely is," Andromeda said. "That doesn't mean it's bad if you fall in love with a pure-blood or anything but you shouldn't rule everyone else out."

"No, of course not," I said. I hadn't really thought about this before but I didn't really care about people's blood.

When we had finished eating, I felt rather tired. At least, I only had to walk down the stairs now, not up again.

When we reached the landing of the fourth floor, we saw a white-haired woman standing there. She had her arms raised and was humming to herself. Something about her behaviour was really off. Her dressing gown with a tag on it showed that she was a patient as well. While my name tag was red, hers was blue. I wasn't close enough to be able to read the name though. I didn't really feel like getting any closer either.

"Oh no," Aunt Andromeda said quietly. "Who let her wander off on her own?"

My knees grew weak again. I rather wouldn't have walked past that woman.

My aunt was much more straight forward. "Good afternoon Alice," she said, walking towards the other patient. "I'll take you back to your ward."

The woman didn't seem to have heard her at all. I wondered if she was deaf.

"Come on," Andromeda repeated more forcefully and stretched out her arm. At first the woman showed no reaction but all of a sudden, she started to scream. I flinched.

"Everything alright, I'm only trying to help," my aunt said soothingly. The woman didn't seem to hear her. She backed away and Andromeda just managed to catch her before she fell down the stairs. The strange woman desperately tried to get out of Andromeda's grip while my aunt attempted to steer her towards the door of the department.

Before they reached it, the door flew open and two people walked out. Augusta Longbottom and Neville. I sighed deeply Those two were very high up on the list of people I didn't want to meet in my current state.

"Will you leave her alone?" Augusta shouted. Neville seemed very small. "Do you have no decency at all?"

"I wanted to help," Andromeda said. She obviously tried not to shout herself but she still wanted to make herself heard. Alice at least had stopped screaming now. She stood huddled in a corner now as if she was trying to hide away from all those loud people. Now she reminded me very much of Neville who had taken a similar pose.

"Help! You look like her twin sister! Do you really think she'd want your help? Of course she's terrified. You have no consideration at all," Mrs Longbottom shouted.

Aunt Andromeda took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I should have thought of that. I thought she might harm herself when she walking around on the stairs like this, that's why I wanted to get her back to her ward. That's all."

She looked at me. "Come on Vivien. We should go now."

Both Mrs Longbottom and Neville stared at me. Neville's face went deadly pale while his grandmother was shouting again. "You brought her here? Why? The daughter of the people who are responsible for this."

I was feeling very dizzy again. Mrs Longbottom's words seemed to come from very far away. "The daughter of the people who are responsible for this?" What was she talking about? What was going on here?

"Vivien is ill," Aunt Andromeda said rather loudly as well. "That's why she was taken to the hospital. We didn't intend to meet you or any members of your family. It was a coincidence."

A green-robed wizard walked out of the door labelled "Spell Damage" now. "What's going on here? This is a hospital my ladies. Could you please keep your voices down?"

"You owe me an explanation," Mrs Longbottom said to the Healer, still rather loudly. "How could Alice wander off like this? It's much too dangerous and you know that. We've only been away talking to Healer Jones for a few minutes."

The Healer started to apologise to Mrs Longbottom and Andromeda took me by the hand. "Come along. We really should get away from them."

She didn't need to tell me twice. Neville was still staring at me as if he had seen a ghost or whatever was a really terrifying sight for a wizard.

"What was that about?" I asked as soon as we were out of earshot. "Who was that? What's wrong with her? And what do we have to do with it?"

Andromeda sighed deeply. "I didn't want to tell you until you are older but now you probably won't rest until you know. Let's get you back to your ward first though."

I barely managed the walk back. Sweat was running down my face once more and I felt really dizzy. The headache was returning as well. I needed to ask Madam Frobisher to make it vanish again. Maybe walking up to the fifth floor hadn't been a very good idea after all. Aunt Andromeda gave me a glass of water and I drank. Then she drew curtains around my bed and her chair, a few charms followed.

"I don't want anyone to overhear us," she explained. "The Healers can get in but the others will live us alone."

"Alright."

"What do you know about your parents' involvement with the war so far?" my aunt asked me.

"I know what Dora told me," I said. "They're in Azkaban and they've been Death Eaters, supporters of You-Know-Who. They all hated Muggle-borns."

"Yes, I haven't talked to Dora about the details yet either even though I'm going to do so before she makes the final decision to become an Auror. Your parents have been sent to Azkaban as punishment for one specific crime. You-Know-Who vanished after he had tried to kill Harry Potter, you've probably heard about this, don't you?"

"Yes, who hasn't?" My heart was beating violently. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear what she had to say but at the same time I knew I had to listen.

"Good. I've already told you that your mother was an obsessive follower of You-Know-Who. She couldn't accept that he had been defeated by a mere child and believed that he still had to be out there somewhere. The Ministry feared that as well. That's why they sent Aurors to look for him abroad. Frank Longbottom, Neville's father was one of them."

"Frank Longbottom?" I tried to put the pieces together. "Does this mean; was that woman, Neville's mother?" It probably wasn't that surprising. They did resemble each other even though she was so very ill.

Andromeda sighed. "Yes. The woman up there is Neville's mother, Alice Longbottom née Fawley, another pure-blood woman."

"And Mr Longbottom is there as well?" I asked in horror remembering the proud and confident Quidditch player and duellist from my photo album. "And my parents are supposed to be responsible for that? But why, how?"

"I was just going to explain this to you," Andromeda said kindly. "Most Death Eaters had already given up on You-Know-Who but there was a small group around your mother left. The others were your father, your uncle Rabastan and Barty Crouch junior. They wanted to find You-Know-Who and help him back to power."

I swallowed. It wasn't enough that I was the child of a terrorist, I had to be the child of one of the most fanatical ones. The four people I had always considered my family from those few early memories in fact was a group of conspirators.

"Your parents and the others believed that Frank Longbottom knew where You-Know-Who was. Both Frank and Alice Longbottom were Aurors. Do you know what the Unforgivable curses are?"

"Yes, Dora has told me about them," I said.

"Good. That means you know about the Cruciatus curse as well, don't you?"

I did. It was supposedly connected with my family and Dora had told me about it when we really talked to each other for the first time.

"Yes. It is the torture curse, isn't it?" I whispered. I understood now what Mr Tonks had meant and where some of my dreams where coming from. He hadn't used electric shocks of course but magic. A curse that was supposed to cause pain. I suddenly felt very cold.

"But why are they so ill? Dora told me it was the least dangerous of the three curses," I said. She had actually threatened Malfoy with it.

"I hate to say it but that's because Dora doesn't really understand about it yet. The Cruciatus curse can be relatively harmless if someone's exposed to it for a short time. Relatively. I've had it used on me and I know that nothing's the same afterwards even if it's only a very short time."

"Who?" I asked, desperately hoping that it hadn't been one of my parents.

"No one you know," Aunt Andromeda said in a very distant voice. "Anyway, if powerfully magical people use it over a long period of time... Mind, body and magic of the victim are severely damaged. That's what's happened to the Longbottoms. They have to stay here permanently."

I slowly repeated the terrible truth I had heard from Andromeda's explanations. "They've tortured them to insanity?"

"Yes, if you want to put it so bluntly. And little Neville has probably been watching. It's not very surprising that he's not quite right either."

I really didn't want to think about that. I felt ashamed for some of the things I had been thinking about Neville. It was quite understandable that he couldn't be nice and polite to me. There was something else. "My father used to work here. Shouldn't he have known what happens when they do this?"

"He should and he did," Aunt Andromeda told me. "That's why my father-in-law is so upset. Rodolphus treated the victims of the Cruciatus curse before he became a Death Eater himself. He probably knows more about the effects of this curse than any other wizard in this country."

I fell silent. There was nothing else I wanted to ask, nothing else I wanted to know. One piece of information was worse than the next. I didn't know what I was supposed to think now. I couldn't believe this but my aunt had no reason to lie. I had seen Neville's mother. How could they do something like that to this poor woman, to Neville's father who had once enjoyed his life so much? I simply couldn't understand it and I didn't want to understand. I remembered some of the other pictures. My mother's cousin had just been killed by Aurors. Maybe they had wanted revenge. But still, this wasn't an excuse.

I remembered my father telling me about the plants in the garden, my mother reading to me about Morgan and Uncle Barty flying with me on his broomstick. I couldn't believe this. They weren't people who did things like that.

"They've always been nice to me," I said and realised that I cried.

"Yes, and believe me, I'm very, very glad about that," Aunt Andromeda said. "I feared your mother might have acted like, well, might not have treated you well. I'm glad this isn't the case."

I was really crying now. I couldn't understand any of this.

"Oh Vivien, I'm so sorry," Aunt Andromeda said. "I really wished I could have waited until you're older but better I tell you then you find out on your own."

Aunt Andromeda stayed with me all day. When Madam Frobisher passed me on her evening round, she frowned. "The fever has returned. I told you that you weren't supposed to do too much too quickly."

"We didn't really have a choice," Andromeda said, her voice heavy. The Healer didn't really understand but she didn't ask any more questions. I received another foul-tasting potion but it didn't really help much. Dragon Pox wasn't my real problem. I wasn't the child of a wonderful magical family as I had dreamed; I was the child of monsters. I could be glad that most people at Hogwarts did not hate me yet but when they learned the truth, they probably would.

I didn't really want to return to Hogwarts like this and force people like Neville to see me and be reminded of me. Learning about magic didn't sound so great anymore. It made this kind of thing possible. I knew I'd never grow up to torture people in Muggle England but here, you never knew what was going to happen. I had already used my magic to hurt people. Did that mean I would be like them as well? Was it something I couldn't help at all? Something in my blood? If I were rid of magic, I would be safe from that.

I didn't want to be a witch anymore.