Chapter 36

Petunia didn't want to have to go through a fire place ever again. If it hadn't been for Mrs. Snape being with her she would have died being caught looking like a chimney sweep. This was the second time she had been in that ruddy dingy pub. She doubted wizards had ever heard of keeping anything sterile and clean at least some of them. She couldn't help the look of disgust that came across her face as she looked about the pub. And the soot was repulsive.

"Has the owner never heard of a chimney sweep?" Petunia asked Mrs. Snape.

"I don't think Tom has dear." Mrs. Snape said as she finished the cleaning spell over Petunia. "We'll stop at one of the shops and get you a cloak to cover your dress on the way back."

Petunia followed Mrs. Snape out of the pub and she looked up and saw the sign. This had been it, she hadn't remembered the name. She had tried to find it two years ago and hadn't been able to, but now upon seeing it again her memories came back of having been here. She didn't like the pub then and she didn't like it now. She followed Mrs. Snape as she started walking down the street. Petunia knew her stamina would not be able to keep pace with Mrs. Snape.

"Mrs. Snape, might we slow the pace down please?" Petunia asked the older woman.

Mrs. Snape stopped and looked back at her as Petunia caught up as people passed them on the street. "I'm sorry dear, I should have realized. I was wanting to get you there quickly and their other mode of transportation inside the Hospital is blocked at the moment."

"It's quite alright." Petunia said as Mrs. Snape fell in beside her and started walking at a much slower pace Petunia knew would allow her to continue.

"It shouldn't be. Father and I are worried about you. You don't look well at all." Mrs. Snape said softly. "You look dead on your feet."

If almost nearly practical strangers were worried about her she reasoned she must look bad. Here she had thought she had been doing pretty well at hiding everything. She knew that when she was at Little Whinging no one noticed anything and some of them knew her better than Lord Prince and Mrs. Snape. She never dreamed she would be in this position ever. So that was why Severus had escorted her the way he did back up to the dining hall Petunia reasoned.

"Does Mr. Prince feel the same as well?" Petunia asked trying to get confirmation on why Severus was acting the way he was. She never had a man do anything like that before with her. If she had to admit to herself she was enjoying it after all she wasn't expecting anything from him. She was only the Aunt of his twin boys was all.

"Severus? What ever gave you the impression…Oh, you mean by him escorting you to the dining hall this morning?" Mrs. Snape asked.

Petunia looked over at Mrs. Snape and could see a slight smile the older woman had upon her face. "Yes."

Her smile grew bigger as she turned to look at her. "Petunia," Mrs. Snape said as she took her arm in hers and leaned closer to her so she could whisper softly, "Severus is using Pureblood etiquette with you dear. You are a widow, that means you are single and unattached. In our world dear being a widow at your age means you are back on the market. There are protocols to follow with this etiquette. He escorted you in on his right side, by him offering to escort you was his way of saying he's open to a friendship status with you. You accepted his offer of friendship because you came in on his arm. As long as you are on is right side there is no use worrying over it. Now if he ever moves you to his left then you might want to reevaluate everything."

Petunia was dumbfounded she had never head of anything like this before. Social cues that were unspoken, and here he had never said a word over friendship and she fell right into this unawares. She knew they couldn't exactly remain how they had been, it would be awkward for the boys. "Is there a book I can read on this?" Petunia asked.

"Of course dear, I'll get it for you when we get back. This etiquette is like a dance and it is initiated by the men when it comes to the women. Children have certain things they need to learn as well, that mainly is outside to the public. Being at home in private is a different matter. It is often more relaxed when they are at home. Certain households don't really follow this etiquette while they are still young, but once they come of age certain households require them to do so. The boys will need learn it, and yes that includes your son as well. Most children learn it by watching their parents."

Something else the boys needed to learn and herself it seemed. Protocols for etiquette who would of thought and Lily never mentioned any of this. Lily had told her James Potter was a Pureblood and came from a house that was titled like the one Severus was in. It was almost chivalrous if she really thought about it. Good lord, Lily had chosen James Potter that cad over Severus, she felt her sister was a complete idiot. She couldn't say much better about herself, look what she had done, had an affair with her boss and ended up marrying him. But then she had never really had a choice in front of her the way Lily had.

She was brought out of her reminisces when they stopped in front of an abandoned red-brick department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. The sign in the window said "Closed for Refurbishment", along with the sign was the most outdated style of dress on a mannequin she had seen in a long time.

"We're here dear." Mrs. Snape said as she moved Petunia even closer to the window to look at that garish dress. Mrs. Snape then addressed the mannequin, Petunia gave her the most bewildered look. Petunia didn't understand what the woman thought she was doing because mannequins couldn't talk. "We're here to see about a healer for magic block removal."

To Petunia's surprise the mannequin gave a nod and beckoned with its jointed fingers. Petunia's thought was you can't walk through glass but to her horror that was exactly what Mrs. Snape was getting her to do. This was completely mental, magic in the books she had read had never had anything work like this before in them. Walking through the sheet of glass of was like walking through a sheet of cool water without the effort of getting wet. She clenched her jaw together because she wasn't about to show any weakness of not having seen anything before. That may have been her jaw but she couldn't help her eyes from widening as she looked about the room. The reception area had wood chairs that looked ready to fall they were so rickety. This was something her mind kept pondering, if they had magic why have something that looked like that. The Prince Manor held nothing that looked like this, that home held craftsmanship all through it. Not to mention the disfigurements on people waiting in the room. She allowed Mrs. Snape to lead her over towards a one of the chairs and she sat down with her.

"We'll have to wait, but a healer will be by shortly. The lines don't look to long." Mrs. Snape said.

Petunia could see wizards and witches in lime-green robes walking up and down the rows asking questions and making notes on clipboards. One of those wizards came by and stopped in front of them.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked without looking at either of them.

"Magical core block." Mrs. Snape said.

The wizard looked up and looked at them then around the room then back to them. "You need to bring the child in with you." He said.

Petunia closed her eyes and lowered her head, this was rather embarrassing considering she wasn't a child.

"The woman sitting next to me has her magical core blocked." Mrs. Snape said not even addressing the child commit.

Petunia looked up at the wizard in the lime-green robes. "This is a joke right?" He asked.

"Afraid not." Mrs. Snape said as she patted Petunia's arm.

That was when he really started looking at her and scrutinizing her. "Name?"

"Petunia Evans." Petunia said.

"Up with you now Miss Evans. I'm going to lead you two back myself, they are not going to believe this. I wouldn't have myself until I really took a good look at you."

He took them to the second floor the sign read magical bugs for the floor. Underneath the sign she read contagious maladies. She looked at Mrs. Snape. "I'm not contagious."

"I know dear, and so does the one escorting us. It is just the floor they put this malady on." Mrs. Snape said.

On the doors they were passing she read different types of diseases, dragon pox, vanishing sickness, scrofungulus. Petunia stopped reading the doors. They came to the very end of the ward and the last door read non-contagious magical core block. The wizard in the lime-green robe opened the door.

"You are our only guest Miss Evans. Any bed if you will, I'll go inform the healers."

Petunia went to the first bed, there wasn't like there was a lot in the room only two. She took a seat as Mrs. Snape sat down in the chair next to it. It didn't take long and the wizard who had escorted them was back in tow with five healers that walked through the door with him.

"I'm telling you it is magical core block and she is not a child." The wizard in the lime-green robe said.

"That is impossible," The healer in a white robe said and then turned to look at her. He wasn't the only one all five of them stopped and stared.

"Not impossible, not anymore. Because there is the proof." Lime-green said. "I'll leave you all to it. Good day Miss Evans."

Then he left the room. She had been instructed to lay down before she collapsed. She did so. All five started casting spells and parchments were being written upon furiously. Petunia closed her eyes, the walk had been tiring enough. She wasn't aware when she had fallen asleep but startled awake when she felt a hand on her cheek.

"Magically deprived exhaustion." She heard the wizard say as he looked down at her. "I'm healer Cicero Smethwyck, I'm going to oversee your case. You are a very sick witch, but the good news is your magical core is very strong, I've never seen a magical core this strong ever being blocked. The treatments generally last four weeks, but in your case it may go longer. You are the first patient that has ever walked in over the age of ten. You are a first Miss Evans."

He sat down on the bed beside her. Petunia watched his every move.

"I'm going to say a few spells to release some of your magic to other parts of your body. Your organs are trying to shut down because of being magically deprived. Merlin only knows how you survived this long with only that small trickle you have going. This will give your organs a boost that they desperately need right now to keep functioning."

Petunia could only nod. Petunia turned her head to look at Mrs. Snape, the woman was crying, what had all those healers told her while she had been asleep. She looked back at healer Smethwyck as she heard the Latin phrases being said. That was when she felt a knot in her middle right below her belly button somewhere began to shutter, she started shaking as if the room were cold while it wasn't. She started feeling a tingling sensation all over her body like one of her appendages had been asleep, that was when she felt the needle pricks and Petunia bit down on her tongue as she pushed the back of her head into the pillow.

"Just a little more and then I'm going to release it. I want you to take a pain relieving potion before you return home." Healer Smethwyck said. The tears were rolling down her sides of her head as she felt the cold phial on her lips. "Drink Miss Evans."

Once she drank it, it had taken a few minutes as the needles lessened the pricking all over her body. She kept her eyes closed and her head back as she tried to breath waiting for it all to stop. She felt him get off the bed.

"This is all the potions she is going to require. I want her to be given another pain relieving potion in four hours. This is going to be required around the clock, until she can withstand the pain. It should lessen in about three weeks, I'm hoping it does. Until then she will be in constant pain. You have one set of potions for her organs, those are generally not needed in children. Her organs are in failure level and still are. The other set of potions is for the block itself. Those will be administered three times a week, I'll start those once I get her organs to a safe place that it can start happening. There a set of instructions as well, I'm leaving the monitoring spell upon her. I need access to the home in case of emergencies. I'll be notified immediately. The last thing we want is for her to die when she's fought this long to live."

"You'll have it. I'll contact you by owl as soon as I get home and talk to my Father." Mrs. Snape said.

Petunia kept breathing as the needles lessened as she listened to their conversation, from what she could understand, she should be dead already from this.