Where is that healer? Adrianna sat on the edge of her bed pulling at her necklace that was making impatient growling noises.
She said she would be right back. Adrianna was getting released from St. Mungo's to finish her recuperation back at Hogwarts. She was so thankful to be able to go back to school.
I wish Nicole was coming back with me. As far as Adrianna knew, Nicole had yet to wake up. Her mother had told her what had happened in the accident. Nicole had saved her life protecting her from the collapsing building. Adrianna was lucky to be alive, all the healers said so. The only reason why Adrianna was still alive was because of Nicole.
Adrianna rubbed her hand across her stomach that was still tender. A couple of inches above her naval was wrapped and bandaged from where the ladder rung had broken apart and impaled her.
"What's wrong?" Adrianna looked to her mother who was sitting at the table in the room. Her attention was fully on the paper that was in front of her as she worked on her next book.
"That healer said that she would back with the stuff so I can leave almost 10 minutes ago!" Adrianna said exasperated.
"That little lion of yours whimpered, like it was hurt or sad, not impatient." Adrianna glanced down at the lion's head pendant.
"Who gave that to you again?" Her mother asked.
"Sirius Black. He came to visit. The boy with the black hair."
"Is he your boyfriend?" Adrianna shook her head as she rubbed her hand across the pendant.
"He's just a friend."
"A good friend from what I hear," Her mother said.
"What do you mean?" Adrianna asked confused.
"Dumbledore practically has to drag him out of here whenever he visits. He made quite a scene when Dumbledore told them that they couldn't go with you when you were transferred here."
Adrianna was shocked to hear how Sirius reacted. Sirius had come with Sansa, Remus and Peter to visit the day before. She could tell that her friends were worried about her and Nicole, but there was nothing to suggest that Sirius was that upset to cause a scene.
"Do you think Nicole will wake up?" Adrianna asked looking at her mother. Her mother put down her quill.
"I don't know. The healers are doing everything they can for her. She's in the best possible hands here," She said matter-of-factly.
"You spoke to her mother?" Adrianna asked. She nodded. Her and Sofia had become a support system for each other this past week as both their daughters fought for their lives. She had no idea what she would have done without Sofia there to share her worries with.
"Do they know what happened?" Adrianna asked. It was still something that Adrianna wondered about. Based on the type of explosion and damage to the building it was safe to assume that someone had caused the explosion on purpose. The question still remained who and to what purpose.
"The ministry is still fumbling around in the dark," Her mother said sharply. If there was one thing that Raquel Monroe hated, it was the Ministry of Magic. She found them to be extremely incompetent and more concerned with Daily Prophet headlines than the truth.
"Is there going to be some sort of investigation or something?"
"There damn well will be! Whoever did this is going to rot in Azkaban." Adrianna shook her head at her mother's remark.
At least something good came from this whole mess. Adrianna thought looking at her mother.
Raquel Monroe was an award-winning author leaving little time available to being a devoted mother. Their relationship had become strained ever since Adrianna's father walked out on them nearly 4 years ago.
"So...do I get to find out what happened to Lucia?" Adrianna asked gesturing to the unfinished manuscript on the table. Raquel had started to read her story to Adrianna while she recovered, a sort of mother-daughter bonding.
"What was the last part you remember?"
"Lucia had just gotten…" There was a knock on the door.
"That better be the healer," Adrianna said as her mother went to answer the door.
"Hello Raquel. May we come in?" Raquel stepped aside. Dumbledore entered the room followed by a man with a thin mustache.
"Hi Professor. What are you doing here?" Adrianna asked looking from Dumbledore to the other man in the room. Raquel went to stand by her daughter.
"How are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Better. The healers said that I can come back to Hogwarts...Is that why you're here?" Dumbledore shook his head.
"This is Bartemius Crouch. He's the new head of the Department of Law Enforcement," Dumbledore said gesturing to the other male. Crouch stepped forward.
"What can we do for you Mr. Crouch?" Raquel asked.
"The ministry is conducting a full-scale investigation into the incident involving your daughter. As head of the department, it is my responsibility and duty to look into the matter and to find the culprits," Crouch stated matter-of-factly.
"What help can my daughter give about the explosion? She was inside the building when it collapsed and was unconscious for most of the time."
"Yes. She is not the ideal witness, but the other one has not woken up yet, so your daughter will have to do," Crouch said bluntly.
"Excuse me?!" Raquel said offended.
"Raquel. We all want to find who is responsible for what happened. I know this has been a difficult time for both of you, but the ministry wants to help. We need to find out who did this," Dumbledore said sympathetically. Crouch cleared his throat as he took out a notepad and a quill from his jacket pocket.
"You can stay." Bartemius said to Raquel. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Thanks for your permission." She said sarcastically.
"Let's get started shall we….You were at Hogsmeade for the weekend trip, correct?" Adrianna nodded.
"You wanted to go to this..."Muggle Emporium"?" Adrianna nodded.
"Was there any reason in particular?
"We wanted to get a birthday present for Lily."
"We?"
"Sansa, Marlene, Nicole and I." Crouch turned toward Dumbledore.
"Nicole is the other person who was found in the building?" Crouch asked. Dumbledore nodded.
"What about the other two?"
"Marlene was outside of the building when it exploded. Madame Pomfrey was able to heal her at Hogwarts. Sansa, to my understanding, was nowhere near the building during the time of the incident," Dumbledore explained. Crouch turned his attention back to Adrianna.
"The Muggle Emporium was supposed to be closed. How is it that you got in?"
"Nicole spoke to the owner."
"What did she say to him to make him allow the two of you to enter the shop?" Adrianna hesitated.
"I don't know...He came out of the shop and Nicole went to talk to him. I don't know what she said to him but he let us in."
"Interesting." Adrianna squirmed on the bed.
"So you and Nicole split away from the other two girls and went inside the shop." Adrianna nodded.
"Whose idea was that?"
"I don't understand...what idea?"
"Was it Nicole's idea for you to go with her into the shop or did she want to go alone?"
"What are you insinuating?" Raquel interrupted. Dumbledore was about to speak when Crouch stopped him.
"I'm not insinuating anything Mrs. Monroe. I am simply trying to figure out the exact nature of what happened. May I continue?" Adrianna grabbed her mother's hand to stop her from doing something to Crouch that she might regret.
"I offered to help Nicole search in the shop and she accepted. Happily," Adrianna said. Crouch wrote something down in his notepad.
"Where were you when the explosion happened?
"I was on the third floor balcony…..wait." Adrianna thought back to the accident.
"I...I was climbing down the ladder to the second floor." Everyone looked at Adrianna.
"Why were you on the ladder?" Crouch asked.
"...Nicole. She...she...told me to get down from the third floor...I was right by the ladder so I started to climb down and that's when the explosion happened. It knocked me off the ladder…"
"She told you that the attack was coming?" Crouch asked in disbelief
"No...not exactly...She just….warned me…" Adrianna stammered.
"Like she knew it was coming?"
"I guess...She just said 'get down' and then like a couple seconds everything exploded." Adrianna explained.
"This changes everything," Crouch said to Dumbledore who was contemplating the situation.
"You think Nicole knows who did this," Raquel said matter-of-factly.
"It would seem that she knew something that made her tell your daughter to get down from the third floor," Crouch explained. Adrianna looked from one person to another.
"You can't think that she did this!"
"Maybe or maybe not but she is involved somehow."
"She didn't have anything to do with this! She was hurt just like me!" Adrianna couldn't believe what Crouch was saying. Nicole was laying in a hospital and here he was claiming that it might be her own fault that she was there. It made no sense.
"Calm down sweetie," Raquel said rubbing Adrianna's arm. There was a knock on the door.
Dumbledore opened the door.
"Professor Dumbledore? What are you doing here?" Sofia asked standing in the doorway. She saw Raquel and Adrianna and a man she had never seen before.
"Is this the other victim's mother?" The man asked Dumbledore. Dumbledore gestured for Sofia to come into the room.
"Sofia Dolohov, this is Bartemius Crouch, head of the Department of Law Enforcement."
"Cantrell's replacement," Sofia said studying the man before her.
"That's right. Don't worry. He kept me up to date about what is going on."
"Great. Do you mind telling me what's going on."
"They're conducting an investigation about the explosion," Raquel explained.
"I was just interviewing Ms. Monroe here. Your daughter is still in her coma, I presume," Crouch interrupted.
"Actually no." Everyone turned to look at Sofia.
"She woke up about 10 minutes ago," Sofia said smiling. It still felt surreal to her.
"She wanted to see Adrianna. I was hoping that I would catch you guys before you all left," Sofia said looking at Raquel.
"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible, at least not right now," Crouch stated.
"What do you mean? I want to see her!" Adrianna said.
"I need to interview her first."
"Surely you can wait to interview her until after the girl's have seen each other. They both almost died!" Raquel snapped.
"Which is exactly why the interview must take precedence. The people who did this to both of your daughters is still out there. We must find them," Crouch stated.
"Do you have children?" Raquel asked.
"I'm not sure what that has to do with anything," Crouch said uncomfortably.
"If you did, you wouldn't be such an ass!" Everyone stared at Raquel.
"It's fine. We'll do the interview now. I guess I don't really have a choice," Sofia said looking at Crouch. She was really starting to hate this guy.
"Tell Nicole I said hi and I'm glad she's okay," Adrianna said to Sofia.
"I will." Sofia left Adrianna's room followed by Dumbledore and Crouch. She walked down the hall to her daughter's room. She knocked on the door.
"Come in." Nicole called out.
Sofia entered followed by a man dressed in a suit and tie. He black hair was straight with a part down the middle and a thin mustache on his upper lip. Dumbledore entered last in his usual colorful and celestial robes, closing the doors behind him.
Nicole sat up in the bed pulling the covers closer to her body. She felt subconscious under the intense gaze of the unknown man.
"This man needs to speak to you...about the accident."