This Chapter is dedicated to DROWNINMYBRAIN, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, here's my present for you! It's my birthday next week, the big 21, so I DEMAND 21 reviews before I post the next chapter! Lol…ENJOY!
Chapter Twenty
Everything's going to be alright,
You said to me,
Everything's going to be alright,
We'll wait and see.
The first thing Kitty was aware of was the sirens wailing all around her and she screwed up her face, trying to twist away from the sound of the noise when a white hot pain shot through her head. She dragged her eyes open, suddenly finding an influx of light, regular blue flashes that made her head swim as she tried to focus on what was going on.
There were sounds of people shouting to one and other and then she could hear someone talking to her.
"Hello love, can you hear me?"
She tried to say something, but found that no words came out and she raised a heavy hand to her head, finding something strapped to her face. She tried to pull it off before a pair of hands slowly pulled her arm away.
"What's your name love?"
"K-Katie," she said groggily.
"What's your last name love?" asked the kindly voice once more.
"Potter…" she whispered, "where – what happened?"
"You've been a car accident Katie," said the voice in a soothing sort of a way, "now try and stay still, we're just getting you out."
"Is he – how is he?" she croaked out, trying to look to her left but finding her head too heavy to move.
"We're getting your friend out now. Katie, can you tell me where you're hurt?"
"He's hurt," she told him thickly, "before…help him first."
"We've got plenty of people helping him," reassured the voice, "now what about you? Where does it hurt?"
"Just my head…" she murmured, closing her eyes wearily.
"Yes, you took a nasty knock – you should have been wearing seatbelts. Now, tell me, can you feel your legs?"
"Yes."
"Can you wiggle your toes?" persisted the voice.
"Yes," she said.
"And you're fingers?"
"Ye-" said Kitty before giving a yelp as white hot pain coursed up her arm.
"That looks broken too love," the voice told her soothingly as she gritted her teeth fiercely.
"Is he hurt?"
"I'm just putting this neck brace on now Katie," the man answered, delicate fingers working around her neck, "be brave."
"He…they stabbed him…" she whispered, grabbing his coveralls desperately with her uninjured arm, "he's hurt…"
"What did you say?" asked the man at once in a shocked voice.
"We we're attacked…" she told his desperately, trying to make him understand, "they stabbed him…the men hurt him…please, don't let him die."
"Ok Katie, we're doing our best," said the man comfortingly before turning away.
He was telling everyone what Kitty had just said and she tried to turn to look at Harry. The man however, forced her to look at him and soon she was being pulled out of the wreckage of the car. She was being taken to the large ambulance, strapped into the long stretcher and she couldn't see Harry.
"Harry!" she called desperately as she was painfully loaded into the vehicle.
There were people all around her but the doors was closing now, Harry was nowhere to be seen.
"HARRY!" she screamed.
Faces all above her, talking to her but she couldn't hear what they were saying, it was a blur.
The sirens started to wail and she kept crying out Harry's name.
"Patient is a male youth, approximately 16 years of age, been involved in an RTA," punched out Rita Simmons promptly as the white coats swarmed around the trolley that was racing through the corridors of a massive building some 20 minutes later.
"Massive trauma to the head, neck and chest," she continued as it crashed through a set of double doors, "suspected fracture to the pelvis, left arm and possible internal bleeding from a wound to the abdomen. We've given him 40 milligrams of saline and morphine."
"Well, well, well my son," said one of the white coats as the trolley was wheeled next to another that was surrounded by all manner of machinery, "we have been in the wars haven't we? Well, let's get him on the bed and see what we can do!"
Seven pairs of hands grabbed the bloody sheet the body of the boy was lying, hoisted it up and deposited it on the second trolley. In a matter of seconds scissors were cutting through the torn remains of the boys shirt and jeans, electrical diodes were being attached to the bare chest, needles were piercing the skin and depositing a variety of painkilling drugs as various latex gloved hands were assessing the injuries.
The doctor that had spoke before was lifting up the lids of the boy's eyes and shining a small flashlight into them, "Pupils dilating fully so he's still with us!" came the cheerful diagnosis.
The nurses and doctors smiled grimly and continued with their work, well aware that a dilated pupil didn't make his survival a dead cert, it just meant he wasn't dead yet. The beeping of the machine was constant in their ears.
"Can someone get onto bloods, we're going to need at least two pints down here," called one of the doctors, as he brandished a needle and thread, "And can someone call anaesthetics, we're going to have to prepare him for surgery if he's going to walk on that hip again."
One of the nurses scurried off and left the team shouting instructions at each other until the doors crashed open and another trolley was rushed in.
"Who's this?" asked one of the doctors, jerking his head across to the second prone figure in the next bed, around which a team of doctors was now furiously working.
"The girl who was driving," said another as they worked, "suspected fracture of the right arm, ribs and head trauma. Lost consciousness in the ambulance."
"Got off a lot better than our one then," he replied as all around the two figures the doctors hurried to work.
"Drivers always do," retorted the second doctor.
"RTA did you say?" asked one doctor suddenly, in a slightly confused voice.
"Yes, hit a tree just outside Hangleton. But she told the paramedics that they'd previously been attacked by some men."
"That'd explain the stab wound," he replied, fingers examining the small yet deep cut mark, that was pumping blood profusely.
"Have the police been informed?"
"They're on their way."
Among the hubbub of noise a loud beeping noise suddenly peeled out.
"B.P's dropping," called out a nurse, looking at the computer screen and reading out a list of figures, "he's having trouble breathing!"
"Bag him then," came the answer and soon a mask attached to an air bag was placed over the bloody face, being pumped gently by one nurse as various other drugs were being injected into the arm.
"B.P's still falling," she said, "there's some kind of obstruction."
"We're going to have to perform an emergency trachaeotomy," shouted the doctor, not in panic but in agitation for the seriousness of this turn of events, "it looks like we've got a collapsed lung!"
Orders were being yelled across the bed, mingling in the air with sound of the slow beeping of a machine and the clatter of metal tools against metal before a long plastic tube was being pulled out of it hygienic wrapping. It was handed across the table to the doctor, who had prised the boy's mouth open and had begun to feed it down his throat.
It was a tense few moments before things began to take effect and the beeping of the machine became more regular. The doctors and nurses smiled grimly and began to go about their business of preparing the mystery boy for surgery.
The first thing Kitty was aware of was the sound of many people going about their business, voices in low conversation and an all too familiar smell of disinfectant. She screwed her eyes up tighter as indistinct memories of the previous day came filtering back to her, she remembered a church…and a vicar…
She gave a low moan and tried to shift position, giving up almost instantly as a red hot shooting pain seemed to push down on her entire chest, making it difficult to breathe.
"Can you hear me Katie?" came a soft voice to her right.
Kitty slowly prised her eyes open, blinking in the bright light as she focused on the plump woman who was standing beside her bed, chart and pen in hand.
"Where…where am I?" she demanded in a croaky voice, wincing again at the pain in her chest.
"You're in New Cross Hospital, you were brought here last night in an ambulance," the woman explained, "you were involved in a car crash."
All at once this seemed to prod her memory even further and everything came rushing back, the underpass, the graveyard, the church, the stolen car…
"Harry!" she gasped, attempting to sit up before giving a yelp of pain and collapsing back onto her pillow.
The woman fussed over her, telling her to keep quite still, explaining she had broken ribs.
"H-Harry," she said through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the lingering pain, "Is he…Where is he…? Where's Harry!"
"He's in intensive care Katie," she said softly, kneeling down closer to her now, "he's had an operation and he's very sick."
Kitty felt like she was falling down a very, very deep hole and the feeling on her heart being crushed had nothing to do with her ribs or bruised chest.
"No…" she whispered is distress, feeling the tears springing to her eye unbidden, "No! He can't be…we we're safe…we we're ok! We were going to go to Cornwall! And surf! And camp…he's can't be sick!"
"Katie," said the woman seriously, "do you remember what happened to you last night?"
But Kitty wasn't listening, the horrible feeling that Harry was being stolen away from her by something she had no control over was more than she could bear and she began to sob. Her chest seemed to scream in protest at the moment but she couldn't have stopped for all the money in the world; the shock of yesterday, the horror of waking up, she couldn't cope with it.
"Is he…i-is he going to, to d-die?" she choked out and the woman looked at her in distress.
"We're doing everything we can for him Katie love," she soothed, "he's getting the best care and attention."
"That's n-not an answer!" Kitty tried to yell, but it came out more like a spluttered accusation.
"It's too early to say Katie," she replied honestly, "he's suffered massive injuries. Do you remember how he got them?"
"Car crash," Kitty said, some small part of her functioning brain telling her that she mustn't tell anyone about the events that happened before the crash.
Not for as long as she lived.
"You told the paramedic last night, that you'd been attacked, by some men?" reminded the nurse, "Do you remember that?"
"No…it was a car crash…we we're joyriding," she said and the nurse gave a frown.
"Harry had some very specific injuries," she pointed out, "the police have been called."
Kitty heart began to hammer against her chest. Police? Their situation had just gone from life-threatening to life-ruining in an instant and Kitty tried not to show how terrified she was by this. However, she failed miserably, bursting out into a fresh bout of tears, clutching her ribs at the agony.
"I'm going to give you some pain relief for those fractures now Kitty," said the nurse calmly, "get a bit of rest and then the police will come and ask you a few questions, is that ok?"
Kitty shook her head desperately, "I want to see Harry!"
"He's on a closed ward at the moment love," she replied, "I'm afraid you can't visit him just yet."
"Please," Kitty begged, "please! I have to see him!"
"I'm sorry Katie, try and get some sleep."
Kitty screwed up her face against the tears as the nurse carefully injected a clear liquid into the contraption taped to the inside of her elbow. As hurt and scared as she was, she found herself quickly drifting off into a dark and dreamless sleep.
As Kitty slept in the hospital bed on the ward, two police man and woman were stood outside, watching her with the doctor that was on rounds.
"Her names Katie Potter," the doctor was saying, consulting his notes, "I don't think she's local though, we're having trouble tracing her medical records."
"We'll run a check ourselves on the database," the policeman replied, notepad and pen in hand, "Could you tell us at what time they were brought in yesterday?" asked one, notepad and pen in hand.
"I think the emergency call was made by a passing motorist at about 9 p.m., the car had hit a tree on the bank of the road and been thrown into a nearby ditch," said the doctor grimly, staring at the bruised, pale girl in the bed, "Apparently he only noticed they were there by seeing the tree, we don't really know how long they were down there. My guess is an hour at the most, judging by the amount of blood lost by the boy."
"And he was the passenger?" the policeman asked, jotting something down.
"That's correct."
"And who was it that was told that the pair had suffered a prior attack before the crash?"
"Our paramedic, John Wood. She told him whilst they were being cut from the wreckage that they been attacked by 'some men' and that Harry, that's the boy, no last name, was stabbed," he explained carefully.
"And is that the case?" demanded the policewoman.
"He had suffered a stab wound to the abdomen, not long before the crash though by the look of things, perhaps half an hour?"
"I see…" replied the policeman, still writing notes.
"What do you think happened constable?" asked the doctor.
"We're not sure yet. At the same time just beyond the woods that the road lies on, the local church was torched, we found the body of the vicar inside it and another, as yet, unidentified body," he said grimly, "we're not treating the two as unrelated."
"Do you think they did it?" he asked in a shocked voice.
"Again, we don't know just yet. These two might just have escaped from a situation that left their associates dead. We're going to need to question her when she comes round, if that's ok?"
"I'll have to examine her first, she may not be able to answer you're questions right away, the nurse who saw her a few hours ago said she seemed to be in massive shock," the doctor replied.
"Of course, just so you know though, we're treating both of them as potential suspects in a murder inquiry," said the woman now, handing the doctor some forms, "so keep a close eye on them."
"They're not going anywhere for a long time," the doctor said dismissively, "the boy is still critical in intensive care, only 30 survival chance at the moment."
"What about the girl?" he asked, looking grim at this news.
"She should be awake soon, come back in two hours?"
When Kitty awoke for the second time in her hospital bed her memory filled in the blanks with sickening speed and for a moment she could only lie there as each thing got filed and processed. It was like watching a horror movie that had nothing to do with her life. And then she remembered the nurse, what she said about Harry. And the police.
She had to get to him.
She carefully pulled the blankets off her, wincing as she withdrew the needle sticking out of her elbow and swung her feet over the side of the bed. The curtains were pulled around her and she carefully stood up, gasping in pain as her ribs screamed in protest and her head swam dizzyingly for a moment. She waited for the psychedelic colours to fade from her eyes before she noticed her backpack lying on a small chair by the wall. Gratefully she shuffled over to it and checked it carefully. The gun was still safely stowed away.
She pulled out a jumper and some jeans and spent the next few agonising minutes trying to lever herself out of the hospital gown and into her clothes. Her right left arm had been cast in plaster and a tentative exploration of her face found a heavy bandage wrapped around it, she could help but gasp when she saw her chest, covered in livid looking bruises with an imprint of a steering wheel.
She finally got changed and began to hobble out from behind her curtains before standing more upright and gritting her teeth against the pain as she walked out of the ward. Nobody seemed to notice her and she kept her eyes down, heading to the nearest lift she could find. Amazingly, still no one stopped her and soon she was running a finger down the map on the wall until she found it.
ICU - Intensive Care Unit, Floor 5
She pressed the button and leant heavily against the wall of the lift as it lurched upwards, her only companion a steward pushing an empty wheelchair. She gave her a curious look but got off at floor 4 and Kitty travelled the last bit of the way, heart all the time hammering against her chest.
Was Harry still alive?
Where was he?
What would the police do to them?
Would she get caught?
As the lift doors opened she sidled into the hall and did a quick sweep of the place. Various orderlies, nurses and doctors were rushing about and she leant against one wall, squinting at the whiteboard map of beds behind the reception. She scanned over the names, heart leaping into her throat when she saw one name.
Harry (?) - Room 7
She tried to steady her breathing and looked down to her hands, which were shaking uncontrollably. Gulping nervously, she worked out where Harry's room was and set about watching the corridor, waiting for a moment to slip by unnoticed. It was nearly twenty minutes later before the corridor was momentarily empty and the receptionist had her back turned as she sorted through the filing cabinet before Kitty could make her move.
She could manage nothing more than a shambling lope, desperately trying not to cry out at the pain as she padded across the floor, yanked open Harry's door a went inside. She pulled it too quietly, flicked down the blinds on the glass window and stood with her back to the bed for some time, breathing heavily.
"Hello, I'm looking for my brother Harry, he went missing last night and we're worried something's happened to him."
Remus stared hard at Tonks who was grasping the newly installed magical telephone in a white hand.
"He was last seen in Little Hangleton, we think he's rather seriously injured," she said tearfully.
There was a silence and Tonks nodded before saying hastily.
"He's 16 years old, and he has black hair and green eyes and a scar on his forehead," she told them, "he may have come in with a girl, called Catherine Earl? She has dreadlocks, Midlands accent…"
She paused suddenly and gave a nod, "Yes I'll hold."
She looked over to Remus and he could see every single strain and worry that he could feel on his face mirrored on hers. She bit her thumbnail as the silence crept by before drumming her fingers on the table, then tapping. Eventually Remus laid a hand over hers.
"Yes – hello?" she said suddenly, looking tense and alert.
Remus edged forward, trying to hear what was being said but he could hear only the garbled sound of a telephone voice at the other end of the line.
"What?" she yelped suddenly, eyes lighting up in excitement, "Really!"
"What, they've got him?" begged Remus and everyone held there breath.
"Of course – yes – I understand – I'll be there right away!" gushed Tonks before slamming down the phone.
"New Cross Hospital," she said faintly as everyone burst into wild cheers and chatter at the same time.
"What's happened to him?" asked Molly tearfully.
"They're not allowed to say until I'm positively identified!" she told them, jumping to her feet, "let's go!"
"Right Remus you better come along, Arthur, you know you're way around these muggles you come too, I'll be the backup, Tonks can be his sister and Vance, you can come and obliviate the doctors!" ordered Moody and everyone jumped into action.
The chosen five strode towards the fireplace and began to floo their way to the nearest station to the hospital as the rest milled about looking uncertain.
"Molly," shouted Moody, one foot in the fire, "tell Madam Pomfrey to get prepared, we're taking him to Hogwarts."
Kitty sat on a small chair, staring at Harry. She didn't think she'd ever felt more terrified in her whole life, not even last night when she thought she was going to die, when she watched the murder of the vicar, when she was sitting in those woods alone. Harry just looked so…battered.
She flinched at her choice of words, but it was the only one she could come up with. His face was covered in bruises and cuts, he skin was so pale it looked almost translucent, and his eyes were closed peacefully. She just couldn't take it all in, she had to look away, trying to remember what he looked like before all this begun.
Back when he was her Harry.
Before she found out what he was.
A magician, she said in her head.
Magic. Spells. Curses. This couldn't be real. She'd wake up any minute now and realise she and Harry were in some random pub chatting away like normal, probably about the weirdest dream she'd just had. But she wouldn't wake up, she knew this now. She's seen spells. She seen them, seen what they could do.
Harry the Magician.
She laughed at herself incredulously, looking around the empty room in embarrassment in case anyone heard her crazy thoughts. Magician...she didn't even know if that was what they were called, wizards? Warlocks? Sorcerers? Maybe they were all just called witches? Was there more of them? A whole country full of them? She'd certainly seen at least 10 of them now - where did they all come from? To the best of her knowledge Harry had always lived in Surrey, she was sure he went to her Nursery school and Playgroup - when did he become a magician? Had he grown up being able to do magic, or did he one day just be made one?
A sudden, startling thought appeared in her mind as she was considering this. What if you weren't born a magician, and you didn't become a magician at all...what if he wasn't even human? I mean, she thought wildly, staring down at the unconscious form in front of her, what if he's an alien? It would explain the magic she reasoned to herself, feeling like she was bordering insane, magic just isn't possible, even by her scrappy knowledge of science and biology she knew it was impossible to do half the things the magicians had been doing. They'd travelled hundreds of miles in seconds; like those transporters in Star Trek, they'd fired those spells (as she'd come to call them); were they lasers? They could move things with their mind, create things out of the air, make them disappear...
Suddenly she snapped out of it - aliens?
She almost laughed out loud, willing to just give in to disbelief. She couldn't believe it, she just couldn't. She was just imagining things surely? She raised a hand to her throbbing temple, fingering the bandages there that had nothing to do with the headache developing - there was just so much to take in, to think about. How did this affect her life for a start, how much of England was populated by these magicians or aliens? How many had she met already? How many of them were still after Harry? How many of them would be after her, now that she'd fought back?
She shook her head again, trying to calm her mind, telling it not to think anymore. Impossible she knew, but she had to try something. She decided instead to focus on the steady beep beep of the machine, finding her eyes beginning to droop in time to the beat. She lay her head on the crisp bed sheet, telling herself she would only close her eyes for a few moments however, she found it impossible to open her eyes again and was almost grateful to be falling into a deep sleep, propping her head in her arms, hand still grasping Harry's.
Her dreams were jumbled and unintelligible, the only thing she could really remember was the fact that Harry was in it, and that flying saucers and light sabres featured heavily. The sleep however was brief, and what seemed like seconds later, although hours of dreaming had passed, she awoke, looking around quickly to see if anyone had spotted her yet.
And then her eyes fell back on Harry.
Tears began to splash down her cheeks and she didn't have the energy, or the desire to stop them or brush them away. She held onto his hand tightly because, magician or alien or whatever, Harry was still the most important thing to her in the world and she didn't think she could cope with losing him.
"Do you hear me Harry?" she whispered, brushing his fringe off his forehead and studying his face, "Everything's going to be alright...just like you always say, it's going to be ok."
She pulled her chair closer and picked gave his hand a gentle squeeze in the hope that somewhere, somehow he might feel it. However, his hand was limp and unresponsive and she choked back a sob as she realised the full extent of what was happening. He was critical, she was so close to loosing him that she didn't want to even think about it. He just lay there, all lines and drip bags of blood and clear liquids, needles in his arms and tubes down his throat, stitches, bandages and plaster casts.
"What did they do to you..." she whispered again, voice muffled with tears, "Why do this? I don't understand what you've done to make them want to do this to you..."
She buried her face in his blanket, full of the weariness and pain with no one to help or comfort her.
Crack
She barely registered the loud noise the first time, assuming it had come from the hall.
Crack...Crack
This time she did, and all the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, she recognised that sound - it was them again. As if in a dream, and moving so slow she seemed to be underwater, she stood up, pulling her hand out of Harry's to survey the scene. Three people had appeared from nowhere, shrouded in cloaks with their wands pointing at her.
Crack
"Je-sus!" she yelled, stumbling backwards.
A fourth person had appeared at the foot of the bed and her heart exploded in terror - it was them, the hooded people, they'd come back, they'd found them again.
"Stay away!" she shouted at them trying to sound as threatening, "don't you come any closer! I'll scream for help!"
She felt defenceless against these four magicians, able to do nothing else but hold out her hand warningly. Three of them began to lower their hoods and she was greeted by sombre, grim faces.
"Catherine Earl?" asked one, a pale faced man with greying hair.
"I mean it! You come any closer I'll scream!" she cried, seeing him move towards them slightly.
He halted in his tracks and held up his hands. This threw her slightly.
"Oh Remus, look at him," said one of them sadly, and Kitty looked quickly over to her before darting her gaze back to the first man.
She shifted her posture slightly, feeling dazed and confused through the terror she'd first felt.
"There's no need to be scared," said the man they'd called Remus in a soothing voice, "we're Harry's friends, we've come to get him."
"Do you think I'm gonna believe you!" she cried, desperately wishing she had some kind of weapon with which she could defend him with.
Then she remembered her bag was propped up the corner, with her gun…
"Please, you must understand - we're telling the truth," he said in the same calm, yet pleading manner, "we've been looking for him since you disappeared -"
"Shut up!" Kitty demanded, finding herself bordering on hysterical, "Go away!"
"Please Cathy," said the woman, moving forward, "can you just listen-"
Kitty, seeing her edging towards her stealthily was scared into acting, there was no way she was letting them get him a second time. She grabbed the chair she had been sitting on from behind her and swung it around, throwing it at the woman, who stumbled backwards with a yell. The two other men shouted as she darted towards Harry's bedstead, and the bright red emergency button.
"Obstruco," came a gruff voice just as she slammed her hand on it.
With a yelp she withdrew her hand, which was still tingling with the electricity that had coursed through it suddenly.
"Work!" she yelled at it desperately.
She tried hitting it again but the same thing happened again, and again, and again. She looked over to them angrily ready to scream when she came face to face with a wall of wands pointed straight at her.
"What, you're going to try and kill me again?" she spat out, still nursing her hand.
"We're not here to hurt either of you," said the calm man again, who was now standing next to the woman she'd injured.
Kitty merely stared pointedly at the wands as if to say, 'Oh really?'
"Lower your wands," said the woman as she rubbed her arm, obviously understanding her silence.
"Not likely," came a gruff voice from the depths of the one hood that had remained pulled up.
"She's scared!" she replied irritably, "Just put it away! It's not necessary!"
The four people slowly dropped their wands and pushed them into their robes and Kitty watched unimpressed. She was stepping from foot to foot now biting her lip, still trying to shield Harry from them. One of them, a tallish man with flaming red hair, attempted to walk around the other side of the bed.
"Don't!" she yelled harshly, pointing an accusatory finger at the man.
"Arthur," cautioned the first man.
"Listen Cathy-" began the girl in a gentle voice.
"Go away!" she said, anxiously hovering at the bedside.
"We're not going to do that Cathy," she said slowly yet resolutely, looking towards the other men, "we're here to help Harry."
"No you're not, I know who you are!" she said, feeling the tears beginning to well up, "but you can't have him, so piss off!"
"Listen Cathy," said the girl, encouraging smile on her face, "My name is Tonks, I'm a sort of policewoman ok? And this is Remus Lupin, Harry's dads best friend," the man with greying hair gave her a nod of the head, "the other mans name is Alastor Moody, he's also a policeman, and this is Arthur Weasley, Harry's best friends dad."
The ginger haired man smiled at her warmly.
"You're all magicians aren't you?" she demanded hoarsely, accusatory tone still present in her voice.
"We're all witches and wizards yes," she said in a soothing voice as if this was to make the news any easier to handle.
Kitty gave a choked sob, her heart still beating madly.
"Can you tell us what happened Cathy?" asked the man introduced as Arthur, voice warm and full of sympathy.
"I'm not gonna talk to you!" she sobbed desperately, "Leave us alone! We don't want you here! Go away!"
"Stun her," came a flat voice from inside the raised hood.
"Moody!" snapped Remus as Kitty gave a horrified start.
"We haven't got time for the waterworks," he replied, "Potter needs to see a Healer right now."
"She's the only one who knows what's happened to him Mad-Eye," barked Tonks.
"Listen, Cathy," said Arthur gently, "I know you've been through a lot, and that you're very frightened right now, but we're Harry's friends, do you understand? He's best friends with my son, Ron Weasley - Harry must have talked about him?"
She shook her head mutely, mind still screaming at her that they were going to stun her, whatever that meant.
"Oh," he said, looking slightly confused, "well…er…my son's Harry best friend. And we look after Harry sometimes during the holiday…We even took him to watch the Quidditch once, great game, Ireland won-"
"Arthur!" barked the hooded man, "enough."
Kitty stared at them mutely, unaware that she was shaking uncontrollably.
"Cathy," said the woman kindly, "Don't you recognise my voice? I spoke to you that day on your phone, when I warned you that Harry was being chased? Do you remember?"
She nodded slowly.
"Good," she said, looking pleased, "So you know we've been looking for him for a long time, and we certainly didn't want this to happen. And now we want to make him better, can you tell us what happened to Harry, we need to know so we can help him."
"He's going to get better," she told them shakily, "he'll be awake soon! He's got plenty of morphine so you can't do anything, so go away!"
"What's morphine?" asked the ginger man blankly, looking to the others for help.
"It's a type of muggle pain relief medicine," supplied the woman, "now Cathy, you must understand that we've got our own special doctors for magical people like Harry, who'll make him better in a few hours."
"That's not possible," she whispered.
"It is," she insisted earnestly, "if you tell us what's wrong with him, I'll explain how we'll make it better."
"He's - he's had an operation," she began in a shaking voice as everyone around them flinched, "internal bleeding I guess...haemorrhage or something like that, they won't tell me…I looked at his notes though and they said they had to take out one of his kidney's-"
"Merlin's beard!" Harry's dad's friend exclaimed softly.
"Taken it out?" demanded the hooded policeman, "butchery!"
"Have they still got it?" asked Arthur hopefully.
"Go on Cathy," prompted the greying man kindly once he'd recovered.
"And they put him on a drip..."
"Drip?" asked the three all at once.
"You see that bag," said Tonks, pointing over Kitty's head, "it has fluids and medicines in it, they put it in his bloodstream through a needle and tube, you see down there, in his arm?"
The three made outraged, disbelieving comments and Kitty felt completely unbalanced - were they stupid or something?
"He's got another one for blood," she added cautiously.
"That's not good," said Tonks as the three men continued to gasp and exclaim, "that's from a blood donor, we're going to be looking at magic level dilution..."
Kitty frowned and shook her head in confusion, magic level dilution?
"Blood donor?" demanded the gruff man sounding puzzled.
"Somebody else's blood?" asked the kinder one, also looking worried.
"Yes I've heard about them," said the ginger man, looking interested despite himself, "you see, they get people to come and give pints of blood in return for a biscuit and orange squash, and then they use it-"
"Not important right now Arthur," murmured the man.
"They've cast his arm too," she said, shifting slightly so they could see Harry, "it's only a minor break they say, from the crash…"
"Crash?" the four of them demanded in unison.
"We crashed," was all she said, brandishing her own cast arm and motioning to her stitched head.
"How?" demanded the man known as Remus.
"The normal way – in a car," she snapped, and they all looked at her worriedly.
"Never mind all this - we better get him to Pomfrey," said the hooded man imperiously, "sort out this mess..."
"No! You're not moving him anywhere!" said Kitty desperately, sensing she'd let her guard down too much, "I don't care if you are Harry's goddamn friends, I still don't trust you."
"Please Cathy," pleaded the red-headed man, "we must get Harry to a healer, they can mend his broken arm in a second, replace his kidney and get rid of all these stitches..."
"You can't do that," she whispered in disbelief, "mend a broken arm in a second...can you do that?"
"Of course," said the woman, smiling encouragingly.
"Ron told me that in his second year of school Harry lost all the bones in one arm in a freak accident," said Arthur, bouncing on the balls of his feet at the memory, "and our healer had them back overnight."
"How do you accidentally lose all the bones-" Kitty began faintly.
"That's not important right now," reminded Alastor.
"He's too ill too move," she told them, moving closer to the bed and placing a hand on top of Harry's, as if this would make it impossible for them to take him.
"We can move him," Alastor said.
"No you can't," she told him loudly and angrily, "he'll die if you move him, do you understand!"
"He'll die if he stays here," he retorted fiercely and Kitty felt unbalanced, "your medicine won't work on him."
"Well you're not using your stuff on him, who knows what'll happen!" she said, wishing she could shake Harry awake right there and then.
"Cathy, we can have him up and awake by this time tomorrow," said Remus kindly, "and that's what you want right?"
"Yes," she whispered, heart squeezing painfully, "of course."
"And that's what we want," he reassured her, "we've been worried sick..."
"But he…" she began to say, her mind getting all tangled up and confused, "he doesn't want you…he left because of…"
"Harry didn't leave because of his friends Cathy," the girl said in a quiet voice, "there's a lot more to this story than you know. But right at this moment it's not important, what is important is that Harry was seriously ill and we need to make him better – that's what you want isn't it?"
"Y-yes," she whispered uncertainly, looking over at Harry momentarily.
"So, do you give us permission to take him?" asked Arthur.
She felt trapped, unable to take the responsibility for this huge decision, there was no way she could lose him though. What if they were right and the doctors here couldn't do anything for him, that he'd die because she couldn't make the right decision.
"Cathy, we have to take him," said the woman imploringly, "or he's going to die…"
Kitty stared at her for a moment before stepping down slightly.
"Ok…"
"Excellent," she said, moving forwards instantly.
"But he's going nowhere without me," Kitty told them quickly, "I'm not having you whisking him off to some random place where I don't know."
"No way," said the gruff policemen quickly.
"You have to! I'm not leaving him! And we're murder suspects now!"
"Murder?"
"Because of last night!" she said, feeling suddenly very sick.
She wasn't just a suspect, she was a murderer.
"She's coming Moody," said the woman with an air of finality, "we need to know. Tell Vance to sort the police out too.
"I'm coming?" Kitty demanded hoarsely.
"Of course you're coming, you must trust us Cathy," Remus told her.
"That's not going to happen and you know it."
Everyone stared at her for a few moments, either unsure of whether this was a yes or a no, or that they had just begun to assess her and found something wrong. Either way she didn't like it and she wouldn't let them do anything to Harry without her seeing it first.
Kitty had always imagined herself as a very strong person, not easily scared or bothered by things that went on around her. But today,today she was terrified. The magicians had been all sweetness and kindness to her, going about their extraordinary business as if nothing untoward was happening. They had flown...no that wasn't the right word, they had arrived outside a massive wrought iron gate, rusting and falling off its hinges, after only a second before being in the hospital room. She didn't understand it - how was that possible? It really was like the transporters in Star Trek, proper beam me up Scotty, instant travelling through space in a matter of seconds.
Either that or they'd drugged her – made her think she'd travelled in a second…
Everyone steadied themselves slightly and Kitty tried to push her way to Harry's side, trembling with horror as she saw he was floating mid air with no visible way for this to happen.
"Get out of the way," came a gruff voice, pushing her aside as Harry went ahead.
Frightened into silence she couldn't even summon a rebuke and trailed after them as they swept through the dilapidated gates and her gaze fell upon a massive castle ahead. It was a ramshackle place, broken glass windows, arches crumbling away into the ground, gardens tangled and wild with neglect.
Strangely though, they continued towards the ruin as if it were their destination and she notice a Government sign lounging in some tall grass.
Access to this area is strictly prohibited by order of the Ministry of Works.
A sudden wave of uneasiness washed over her and she took in the ruined building, then the cloaks ahead of her.
Another sign flashed past her as they hurried onwards.
Private property.
Keep out - trespassers will be prosecuted.
Kitty frowned deeply at this, before another one was visible off to her right.
Danger - This building is unsound and potentially hazardous.
She stopped following them - they weren't supposed to be here, it was dangerous. She was almost turning around to walk back towards the safety to the iron gate when the sudden realisation that they were taking Harry into this ruin, not a hospital, hit her.
"Stop!" she yelled suddenly.
The assembled group seemed not to hear her, muttering between themselves.
"OI! STOP!"
She ran forward and pushed through them to get to Harry.
"What's wrong?" asked the woman as they all stared at her.
"Where are you taking him?" she cried, trying to pull Harry backwards from his strange exorcist pose.
"To the castle," replied the greying man as Harry remained firmly where he was.
"You can't go in there!" Kitty said angrily, "You lied! You said you were taking him to the hospital!"
"We are," the woman said soothingly, "it's inside the castle."
"Give him back!" Kitty said desperately trying to pull Harry still, "You lied, there is no hospital! You think this is funny! Taking him away to some crappy old ruin to die!"
They all stared at her in open mouthed shock for a seconds before the greying man suddenly gave a small smile.
"Do you think this is funny!" she nearly screeched, "You're sick!"
"No, I'm sorry," he said, face carefully arranged now, "you're under the influence of a powerful anti-muggle charm that on this castle - makes you think you can only see a ruin? Want to follow the signs back to safety?"
Kitty nearly agreed before she gave a disgusted scoff.
"Yeah right! I'm not falling for your tricks."
"It's true Cathy, one small spell and you'll be able to see where we're really going," said the woman, brandishing her wand.
"Don't you dare!" she really did scream this time, trying to shrink away from the threat.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she replied, looking upset at her reaction, "I just want to-"
"Retego."
The voice came out of nowhere and they all looked up to see the only one of the cloaked figures that had collected her that hadn't lowered his hood; the policeman.
"We're wasting time," was all he said, "carry on."
Kitty was about to protest when she looked up, eyes drawn in a sort of horrified trance towards the ruin. Only it wasn't a ruin anymore, it was an elegant medieval castle, full of towers, lead paned windows, sweeping manicured lawns - and all its walls intact. She stumbled backwards so much that she tripped over and sat, sprawled forgotten on the floor as she stared up at the sudden hallucination.
He'd done something to her, that hooded policeman, he'd used magic on her!
Feeling suddenly dirty and contaminated she tried to wipe the magic away, brushing her skin with her hands frantically. But when she finished and looked up, it was with a creeping horror that she saw the castle was still there, still perfect…
Taking a deep gulp of air she scrambled to her feet and chased after the others, who were far ahead now. She clutched her ribs, which were screaming with pain and they had entered the castle through a pair of huge oak doors and practically ran down the stone corridors, until they'd entered what Kitty would loosely term a 'hospital'. Harry had been placed on a bed and a bustling lady had appeared instantly by his side, wand out.
They had to forcibly remove Kitty after a few minutes, such was the volume of her yells and protests at seeing Harry being threatened again. They'd tried to explain that she was helping, but she didn't believe them for a second and now she was sitting on the side of one of the beds at the other end of the room, desperately craning her neck to see what was happening. All she could see were the various forms lit up by sudden flashes of light and illuminations that were emanating from their wands.
However, when she finally looked around her settings, it began to dawn on her that things were not right. Suddenly, she felt as if she was being watched and she turned, eyes drawn to a large painting on the wall. She was sure the eyes had moved. She squinted at it closer, it was an oil of a rather ugly looking man covered in warts and she looked into his eyes, feeling a shiver chase down her spine.
The man in the painting winked at her suddenly.
"Je-sus Christ!" yelled Kitty, reeling back and falling off the bed and into the cupboard.
It rattled precariously for a few seconds and then also clattered to the floor, sending the fruit bowl and jug of water crashing to the ground.
The man in the painting began to chuckle, pointing and laughing at her.
She swore loudly, scrambling backwards desperately, trying to get away from the horror of the situation, but found herself crawling among the debris of the fallen cupboard. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the painting, it was like seeing a car crash, there was some kind of morbid fascination in this thing that caused her such terror.
"Don't be frightened," came a kind voice from beside her suddenly, "he likes to tease newcomers..."
"But he's a painting!" stammered Kitty, looking across to the speaker.
She only lasted one second of absolute horrified silence before she began to scream.
Remus and Tonks had been supervising Harry's treatment when the screaming had started and had both jumped out of their skins. Everyone in the room had turned to look at the source of the noise in panic.
"Oh no," moaned Tonks, rushing over to the girls aid.
"Carry on with Harry!" Remus demanded over his shoulder as he hurried over to the bed.
Tonks was already ushering the Grey Lady away, who looked hurt and tearful as she vanished into the far wall. Remus crouched down in front of Kitty, who had her back pressed up against the wall, trying to hide under the bed. She was swearing quickly in the kind of voice that would usually be associated to the mad ramblings of the insane and had her arms wrapped around her head protectively.
"Cathy?" said Remus gently, "Are you ok?
"No I'm not ok!" she shrieked at once, tears choking her voice as she tried to push herself further into the wall.
"Try not to be frightened," he said, trying to reassure her inexpertly.
She began to rock backwards and forwards, crying into her arms, taking deep shuddering gasps. Remus shot a look at Tonks who looked stricken, they both had no idea how to explain to a muggle about ghosts.
"That was a-a ghost!" she sobbed loudly, "a f-fucking ghost! I could s-see right through i-i-it!"
"She won't harm you Cathy," tried Remus, "they can't even touch anything-"
"The paintings move!" she accused, tears still in her voice, "ghosts walk through the walls! We transported here in the blink of an eye! It was a ruin! You can hurt people without even touching them!"
Tonks and Remus shared an anxious, yet significant look.
"I've got to get out of here," she said suddenly, her voice full of panic, "you're all crazy, I must be going mad..."
"Just get some rest and you'll-"
Began Tonks worriedly before giving an exclamation of surprise, Kitty had jumped out of her hiding place and quickly side stepped them, racing off down the hospital wing.
"Stop!" yelled Tonks running after her, "Cathy!"
But she didn't stop, she merely pushed herself faster, passing Harry and the group crowded around his bed towards the door.
"Stop her!" yelled Remus as the group watched her in shock.
She grabbed a trolley of bottles in the aisle and threw it into the path of those that were chasing her, who crashed into it and went sprawling to the ground. She became aware of people shouting instructions to each other, but none of that mattered, all that she knew now was that she had to get out, away from all these unnatural, evil things. She had to find somewhere to hide until she could figure out how to rescue Harry. She was out the door and into the corridor, heading for the entrance way and the massive double doors and she could hear them all behind her.
"Stop!"
"Cathy!"
Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw someone lurch towards her and she turned to see it wasn't a person - it was a suit of armour. She screamed loudly, yelling herself hoarse as she pulled out from its grasp, kicking and punching at the hard, cool metal for freedom. She managed to pull free and it clattered to the floor and she tried to run again, but her ribs were hurting too much and her head was pounding, the terror was making it hard for her to think, to make any sort of plan and now she was lost. She couldn't find the doors, here there were only rough stone walls, no windows, just torches and brackets and cold...
"And what do we have here?" demanded a silkily voice suddenly.
Someone grabbed her by the wrist, someone she hadn't seen lurking in the shadows and was wrenched to a halt mid-run. Kitty filled her lungs and screamed, going on and on until she had no more breath as she fought tooth and nail to get free, which incidentally were her only weapons. The man was shouting at her, voices were echoing around the corridor and she was dimly aware that her wrist hurt.
"Stop screaming!" yelled the man, sounding torn between furious and frantic as she began to swear.
"Let me go! Let me go! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" she raged, fist connecting with some part of the man, who gave a grunt and let her go.
She stumbled backwards and turned to run, smacking instead into someone's chest. She looked up to see a deformed face staring grimly down at her, scars cutting across the flesh, pieces of which were missing. An electric blue eye bulged out at her, spinning madly. She began to scream again, backing away in horror at the awful sight.
The last thing she remembered before the nothing took over, was the word 'stupefy' being roared somewhere in the corridor.
"Mad-Eye!" cried Tonks furiously, rushing over to Kitty who had hit the floor with a loud thump, "what do you think you're doing!"
"She was hysterical," he said simply, looking neither apologetic nor concerned for Kitty's welfare.
"Well whose fault is that!" she demanded, "setting the armour on her!"
"I take it this is the illusive Cathy," asked Snape with obvious distaste as he looked down at the girl.
"As a matter of fact it is," replied Tonks tartly, "and thank you for scaring the living daylights out of her - thank you all in fact, brilliant job! There goes our chance of ever having her trust us."
"Why does she need to trust us?" asked Moody, also kneeling down at the girls side now, "if you trust someone you leave yourself open to attack! Besides, she's going to be obliviated soon anyway so it doesn't matter."
"What?" demanded Tonks in disbelief, "says who?"
"Say's me," he replied, looking at her as if she was stupid, "you don't think we were going to let her wander off knowing all about not only the Order, but Hogwarts, Death Eaters, You-Know-Who, magic?"
"Well, I," stuttered Tonks, before snapping her mouth closed and thinking, "I didn't think we'd decided anything yet..."
"We ought to get her to the hospital wing," cut in Snape, staring down at the girl, "she's gone very pale."
"Probably terrified for her life," muttered Tonks, summoning a stretcher and leading her down the corridor.
Moody and Snape followed her at a reasonable distance, allowing her to storm ahead, dragging Kitty into the hospital wing, which was abuzz with noise and commotion. Remus had been injured falling over the trolley Kitty had pushed in their path and was holding a towel to his forehead while Madam Pomfrey was busy casting spells over Harry and shouting instructions to various people to fetch potions or salves. It seemed half the Order and Hogwarts teaching staff had turned up. Just when Tonks didn't think the place could get anymore hectic, almost the entire Weasley clan arrived.
They were led by Mrs Weasley, who was in full stride, face chalk white save for two tiny splotches of pink in the cheeks, closely followed by Ron and Ginny, who looked just as anxious, Fred and George, who looked strangely grim without the usual grins and Bill and Charlie, who were deep in discussion with two other wizards. The massive group of witches and wizards swarmed about the room, talking loudly between each other and demanding news as Ron and Ginny tried to push through. However the room suddenly became hushed as Tonks tried to pull Kitty through the crowd to a bed. They parted before her, all staring down and trying to get a good look at the girl they'd all come to know as Cathy, or Our Girl, and who, they believed, was responsible for Harry's disappearance.
It couldn't have been a good introduction for her, their opinion of her was amazingly low to start with, and now all they saw was the limp form of a battered and bruised girl, pale faced and black-eyed. Mrs Weasley surveyed her with a stony look in her eyes, and Ron, who was standing next to her, was watching her with an unreadable expression, mouth hanging slightly open.
Ginny was clinging onto his arm as she stared hard at her.
"That's her!"
The whispers started and Tonks tried to ignore what they were saying, finally managing to get through the crowd. She took Kitty to a bed far away from the rest, laying her down and pulling the curtains around the bed, shielding the curious, if not accusatory, stares. She placed an enchanted sleep charm on the girl and with a flick of her wand changed the unconscious girl into a hospital robe, pulling the blanket over her. She stood back and surveyed the girl worriedly, unconsciously biting her nails. A moment later someone walked around the curtains and stood next to her.
"What happened?" asked the newcomer, sounding worried, "why did she come in unconscious?"
"Mad-Eye stunned her," replied Tonks stiffly, "oh Remus, you should have seen her...he sent one of the suits of armour after her and, well, you can imagine how she reacted to that...Then Snape caught up with her and she punched him, then ran smack bang into Mad-Eye...Imagine seeing that face if you were a muggle...Its bad enough for some wizards."
"Maybe it's best to let her sleep for a while then, she's had a big shock..." he said, smoothing down a few rumples in Kitty's quilt.
"No thanks to us," she said bitterly, "we should have thought about this a little bit harder...bringing a muggle into Hogwarts! I mean the paintings, ghosts, armour, staircases...it's enough to freak anyone out..."
"I suppose all we can do is wait and see now is how she is when she wakes up," said Remus, "figure out the next course of action."
"Mad-Eye reckons its obliviation," she said neutrally.
"That would be the sensible option," he said.
"Yes, that would be sensible," agreed Tonks.
There was an uneasy silence.
"But you don't agree with that do you?" she said flatly, sensing his reluctance.
"I don't think Harry would agree with that, or her," he said, a look of intense worry on his face, "or me..."
"Me neither," she said, feeling an anxious knot twist in her stomach, "it's just, if she's obliviated then she'll forget all about Harry. It's not good for him because he'll be devastated, and it's not good for her because not only have we stopped her loving someone, we've also resigned her back to a life of abuse and, and pain!"
Remus nodded along in total agreement. In the background they could hear Mrs Weasley's commanding voice booming to her children to keep quiet and out the way and the hustle and bustle of all the gathered witches and wizards.
"And plus..." began Tonks hesitantly, before taking a deep breath and ploughing on, "and plus I like her. I know, I know I shouldn't because of her terrible past and her behaviour and running away with Harry and everything...but, I just think she's misunderstood, you know? She's had a hard life, no ones ever given her a chance I'd bet, but now with Harry...I don't know..."
"...maybe she's a different person?" finished Remus and Tonks was relieved to find he thought the same as her.
"Exactly," she said emphatically, "I just feel so sorry for her...what must her and Harry have been through? How did he get like this? How did she get him to the hospital? Where did they go? Why does she love him? Why does he love her? They're polar opposites as far as I can see!"
"Looks can be deceiving," said Remus finally, "you know that."
"Too right," she muttered, "and now everyone in there hates her..."
"Let not worry about it right now," said Remus gently, leading Tonks out of Kitty's enclosed ward, "let's worry about Harry and his new kidney..."
AN/ Grins wickedly> How do you like it so far? I tell you what, it is SO much fun writing magic from a muggle point of view! You get that added dimension of 'what-the-hells-going-on' that is easily explained in magic-centric fics!
Thanks for ALL my reviews, especially all of you that love Kitty - I'm glad you like her, I've intentionally written her so that sometimes it's very hard to see why anyone would like her lol. And we all know there's nothing like a bit of angst to dwell on - mine s currently 70 page projects about 'managing the historic environment' lol.
THANKS!