The next morning Freddie was transferred to St Mungo's and admitted to the Janus Thickey Ward. It was the wizarding equivalent of a Muggle psych ward. Snape had been gone from her bedside when she was woke up and she felt alone in the hospital.
Several Healers tried to talk to her. She ignored them. She lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling nothing. She slept, on and off, throughout the day. They brought her a tray of food for lunch. She didn't touch it.
In the late afternoon, the Healer in charge of the patients, Miriam Strout, came and took the untouched tray away.
"You should eat, dearie," she said, clicking her tongue. "You'll never get better and back to school if you don't eat."
"I don't care," she said tonelessly.
Miriam clucked her tongue sympathetically.
"You have some visitors. Are you up for it, Winnie, dear?"
Freddie shrugged. She didn't care for the nickname the motherly-looking Healer had bestowed upon her but she couldn't bring herself to care enough to be annoyed.
"I'll leave you three alone," Miriam said and Freddie finally looked over to see her aunt and uncle standing in the doorway, smiling at her. Her Uncle Cecil was a tall, burly man with a thick graying beard. His wife was equally tall, but thin with dark hair and even darker makeup, save for her blood-red lipstick. They walked over to her and pulled the curtains around her bed.
"We knew you'd turn out just like your parents," her aunt Millicent said, sitting in the chair beside her bed and patting her hand.
"For your sake I hope you hid the body well," her uncle said with a twisted grin.
"Cecil," his wife hissed. "You don't know who could be listening."
A sickening feeling came over Freddie as she realized what they meant. They thought she had killed him.
"I d-didn't! He- we-"
"Hush now, this isn't the place to discuss it," Millicent said, squeezing her hand. "We're going to get you out of here."
"Quite right," Cecil said. "No niece of mine is going to stay in this loony bin. We're taking you home."
"We'll have a grand feast to celebrate, all of your favorites, and you can tell us all about the little Mudblood boy," her aunt said, squeezing her hand once more before getting up.
Freddie lay there, feeling stunned. They thought she killed Daniel...and they were proud! She felt sick to her stomach.
She heard a commotion from the hallway. Heard her uncle's booming voice arguing with the Healer about taking her home. She got out of bed on trembling legs and staggered to the door.
"I don't want to go with you," she said quietly.
"She doesn't know what she's saying," her uncle said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She wrenched herself away from him.
"Just go!" she shouted, startling the adults in the hallway. "I don't want to go with you! Just leave!"
The force of her anger shook the hall and portraits fell from the walls. Nearby Healers and orderlies hurried towards her.
"Winifred-" her uncle began sternly.
"Go, get out of here!" she yelled. "I don't want to go with you!"
A blast of white energy surged from her body and blasted Cecil off his feet. Freddie was quickly restrained several large Healers. Her uncle got to his feet with a huff.
"I think you should leave," Miriam said, standing in front of Freddie protectively. "Winnie has been admitted for treatment and she won't be leaving with you or anyone else without my permission."
"Fine," Cecil snarled, grabbing his wife's arm. "We're leaving. Keep her here forever for all I care!"
Freddie was led back to bed by the Healers. She didn't fight them. And when Miriam brought her a potion to make her sleep, she didn't fight that either. She drank it gratefully and lay back on the pillow, falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.
#
Over the next several days, Freddie met with several different Healers, too many to keep track of. They reviewed her memories with a Pensieve. They gave her potions even she didn't recognize, performed spells she'd never heard of that were supposed to jog her memory. Nothing worked.
She found some comfort in the kindly Healer Miriam. Miriam had stood up for her against her aunt and uncle, and continued to do so when she got overwhelmed with the various Healers talking to her. Miriam coaxed food into her and brought her sleeping potions when everything got to be too much.
Miriam got her out of bed one day and took her down the hall to a bathroom.
"Get you a nice, hot shower dearie and you'll feel better," Miriam said.
Freddie just stared at her. Miriam smiled sadly and began to undress her. She led Freddie gently under the hot spray of water.
Freddie stood there, letting the water pout over her. She heard Miriam gasp and when she looked down she saw blood running down her body, down the drain.
Daniel's blood, she realized sickly. From my hair, it's been in my hair this whole time.
She began to scream and pull at her hair frantically, clawing at it.
"Shh," Miriam said soothingly, putting her arms around her, not caring that her robes were getting wet. "We'll get it out, honey, it's okay..."
Freddie stood there, sobbing and shaking, as Miriam washed her hair for her. When she turned off the spray of water, Miriam left to get her a clean gown. Freddie stood there, staring at her reflection in the mirror, staring at her wet, black hair. She picked at her hair, still trembling.
What if it was still there, what if she didn't get it all, what if...
As she stood there, staring at her reflection in the mirror, her hair began to lighten. From the roots, spreading down her shoulders, until her hair was a light, pale blonde.
Miriam came back in with a clean gown. She looked surprised at Freddie's hair but didn't say anything. She helped her get dressed and led her back to her bed where she had a potion waiting.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Rest now, dearie," Miriam said, stroking her head. "You're going to be okay."