A Marauder's Guide to Falling Forever
PART FOUR
Written by alliegrl
Chapter Eighteen
She was too late.
The atrium was in disarray. Auror's were trying to maintain some semblancy of order by grouping people together. Marlene caught sight of Peter near the Welcome Witch and called out to him, "Peter!" His head rolled to the side at the sound of his name being called, and watched with a stony expression as Marlene hurried towards him. "What's going on?"
"You haven't heard yet?" Peter sounded surprised.
"No," she said, her voice and body beginning to shake. "Heard what?"
"Tom's been taken to St. Mungo's. Some sort of accident in the department. Came up the lift cursing people." He pointed his finger around and she noticed for the first time that the chaos was centered around witches and wizards being attended to by medi-wizards, some minor and others being prepared for transport back to St. Mungos.
Her heart nearly stopped. "When did this happen?"
"Oh, maybe twenty minutes ago. Aurors had a hard time taking him out. It was like he had a death wish or something."
Marlene felt her stomach recoil. "An accident in his department? What sort of accident?"
"Don't know. They don't talk about what goes on in there. But I heard some other people talking right before you got here that something similar happened last year," Peter replied, sounding disinterested. Obviously that information held no relevance to him.
"Rookwood," she uttered under her breath.
"Sorry, what?" Peter asked sharply. "What did – "
"Nothing. Never mind, Peter." Then she was racing towards the fire place, pushing through the crowd. She ignored the protests of others already in line waiting to travel, even bypassing those enroute to themselves. Faintly in the background she could hear someone calling out her name, and she didn't stop to figure out if it was Peter or Sirius. Probably Sirius. He knew where she had been planning to go. But whoever it was didn't matter in the moment.
Grabbing a handful of floo powder she tossed it into the fire and a rupture of emerald flames flickered to life, engulfing her body as she flew into the hearth. "St. Mungos!" she cried out, and the atrium dissolved away.
The familiar stark white lobby of the hospital greeted her. Dizzy and faint with tension, Marlene scrambled from the chute and started lunging towards the direction of the staircase.
"Wait one minute!" A commanding voice bellowed somewhere behind her when she tried to push through the security screening. "You need to go through security first."
"My godfather!" she cried out. "He just came in. Spell damage. I need to get up there!"
"Not without security." He sounded annoyed. Marlene thrust her wand at him and he probed her body with the same magical devices the Ministry used for entrance. He seemed to go agonizingly slow, which only propelled her irritation. She snatched her wand back before he had even properly pulled the probe away and then she was pushing past him again, rushing into the lower mezzanine.
Marlene's feet didn't move fast enough, and she stumbled and tripped going up the marbled steps of the spiralling staircase more than once. Each step felt heavier and heavier as though she were being weighted down with bricks, her lungs struggling to inhale enough oxygen to keep her body going.
Her mind was racing faster than her feet trying to piece it all together. Tom had touched an orb. It wasn't an accident. He knew not to touch it and yet he had done it anyways, which meant that someone on the inside had suspected him somehow of being the new Keeper.
Flashing through her mind was Cassandra's prophecy. Thrice will seek what belongs to the fourth. That was two attempts at the prophecy now, and one more attempt would be made to obtain it.
Finally she was pushing through the doors into the Spell damage unit, and she could hear the masculine screams that she suspected belonged to her god father. Immediately she felt like she might be sick. The piercing cries sounded anguished and riddled with the promise of torture. She might have thought the cruicatus curse would be more generous than whatever curse had been inflicted upon him by touching that prophecy.
She recognized Martha immediately behind the desk and right beside her was...
Patrick.
Marlene scowled. She hadn't even had time to consider the possibility of running into him. He didn't look up right away when she rushed through the doors and approached the counter, and only after Martha exclaimed, "Marlene!" did his head snap upwards. There was a brief, awkward connection between their eyes before he pulled away to stare back at the papers on the desk.
"I need to see Tom," Marlene said firmly, directed at nobody in particular.
Martha had a sympathetic smile, and a tone that reminded her of a condescending mother. "Oh sweetie, you really shouldn't see him like this. We need to get him calmed down a bit first."
"I don't fucking care! I need to see him NOW!" she snapped, loudly enough to cause an echo. It was unlike her usual behaviour, and both Martha and Patrick recoiled at her outburst. Under different circumstances she would have felt, or felt inclined to be apologetic. But not now.
She didn't bother to wait. She flew past the desk in the direction of the screams, ignoring the yells from the Healers behind her. He was down at the far end of the hall and with each step the screams of his mania became louder and more disturbing.
She nearly lost her lunch when she pushed into the room and caught sight of him withering on the floor, blood pouring outside his left side temple from where he had either hit his head, or been hit by someone or something else. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated so far that the irises had disappeared completely. It was like she was staring directly into a dark abyss, all traces of humanity vanished.
A large gash raked down his disfigured face, bloody and raw, and she noted with disdain that he was visibly missing three fingers. But even past the physical distortion of her god father was the sheer psychosis that told her that Tom no longer existed. He had died the moment his fingers touched the orb.
Then his dark, demon eyes caught hers and she felt herself being pulled deep into the void of darkness. He began to laugh erratically, scrambling to claw his way from where he laid on the floor in a desperate attempt to reach her.
"Key. Key. Key. Key." He chanted in a demonic undertone, cackling in between syllables and his body began to slip in the pools of blood that collected on the floor underneath him. Marlene hadn't watched a lot of muggle movies, but everything about this scene reminded her of a Hollywood concoction of pure horror.
She stared in dismay, completely unable to pry her eyes or will her body to move away from him. Then a pair of strong hands slammed down onto her shoulders and pulled her so hard away that she felt her body falling. Whoever was behind her folded their arms around her and practically dragged her out of the room, her heels dragging against the marbled tile.
Suddenly, somebody was sobbing. The feel of wet, salty tears raining down her face made her hyper aware that the sound was coming from her lips.
"It's okay Marlene. It's going to be okay." The voice was soft and gentle, and they stroked her hair in an effort to comfort her. Marlene looked up through watery eyes to see Patrick watching her cautiously, his body stiff and uncertain about whether or not he should even be talking to her, let alone touching her.
She pulled away from him and viciously wiped at her eyes. "Why did you take me away?!"
"You don't need to see that," he replied quietly. He didn't move towards her, instead he tucked his hands into his pockets and stared down at the floor. "He'll be better once we get a calming draught in him."
"I'm not leaving," she said stubbornly. She remembered the drill; visitors were not permitted to stay past visiting hours. "I will not leave. You will physically have to kill me before I move from this unit."
He flinched at her words. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you won't have to leave in a body bag."
Her name filling the hallway caused both of them to refocus their attention to where another figure was racing down the hall. A blur of color, and then Sirius slammed into her with enough force that they both went flying backwards into the wall. The sickening thud of where her body smashed the plaster was nothing in comparison to the sound of his thundering heart, his staggering breaths.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" he growled into her ear so low that nobody else would be able to hear. His hands were both snaked into her hair and curled around her body, pulling her into him so tightly she thought he might constrict the air from her lungs. The question was completely rhetorical and she didn't bother to answer.
When he finally allowed her to move away, though not completely out of his grasp, she looked up into his face to see the fire raging in his pupils. Sirius was angry. Very angry.
Perhaps under different circumstances she would feel affected by that, but not now. Their previous quarrel seemed to melt away, all her energy and attention focused elsewhere. Later. They'd deal with it later.
"He touched it," she whispered low. "And Rookwood..."
Sirius leaned back in to mutter into her ear, "You don't need to think about that right now. Seriously Mar! This was the dumbest most reckless thing you could do yet."
"We can't leave Tom alone right now!" she squealed. Sirius shushed her and then whipped his head around. Patrick had dispersed, and Tom's manic screams were loud enough to drown out their whispered conversation.
"You shouldn't be here," he told her. "You need to leave. Frank is here, he's going to stick around to make sure nobody hurts him."
"I'm not leaving!" she hissed. "I swear to god Sirius don't make me hex you. I will do it. I don't care if you sling me over your shoulder and drag me out of here like some barbarian, I will hex you every minute of every day for the rest of my life!"
Sirius pulled away from her, his arms dropping to his sides in defeat. Marlene's own hands flew to her hips and she leaned inwards in what she meant to be a menacing sort of stance. A 'don't-mess-with-me' look chiselled into the features of her face.
"Everyone has been worried about Lily's temper all this time. I think we've all underestimated you." Finally he cracked a smile, traces of his anger beginning to fade. But only slightly.
"I'm not playing around, Sirius," she said with authority. "I'm not going anywhere."
He folded his arms across his chest. "So then neither am I."It was late and visiting hours had long passed. Sirius was slumped uncomfortably against the wall next to her, eyes closed and letting out ragged and uneven breaths that told Marlene he was likely sleeping. They were sitting in the hallway at the far end of the hallway, about ten feet away from where Tom had been secluded for the night.
Though Tom had been silent for hours due to the heavy doses of calming draught, they had moved all the other patients in the area to the opposite side of the ward. Marlene was appreciative for the privacy, considering they weren't even supposed to be there.
"Sirius?" Marlene prodded at his shoulder to test whether or not he was awake.
He let out a grunt, "Mmmm." Then he was silent. Definitely asleep.
She pulled herself up off the floor, careful with her movements so as not to wake him. Then she moved silently down the long hallway towards the Healers desk. She hadn't eaten anything or had something to drink in hours and her throat was feeling dry and insatiable.
A low murmur of voices could be heard right before she turned the corner of the hall. They were too quiet for her to decipher the words, but she could definitely tell they were masculine. Not thinking anything other than the glass of water she was so desperately seeking, she rounded the corner and into the direct sight of the desk.
Patrick glanced up from his chair and immediately stopped talking. The man on the opposite side of the desk seemed to stiffen, and then slowly turned his body so that Marlene could see that he wasn't a Healer working the unit.
And then her heart stalled in her chest.
Because it was Augustus Rookwood.
"As I told you already Augustus, it's too late for visitors. You'll have to come back tomorrow." She heard Patrick's voice, louder in volume this time, bounce off the quiet walls of the ward. He had turned his attention back to Rookwood, whose eyes were still locked on Marlene.
Marlene hesitated. She didn't want to turn away and cause any suspicious movements, yet she didn't want to draw any closer to the man she was certain had been the cause of Tom's demise. The man she was certain would be after her if he only knew.
Suddenly the tattoo on her wrist felt hot and bothersome, like it sensed the danger standing twenty feet away and screaming at her to run. She didn't comply, instead tugging on the sleeve of her sweater to ensure it was hidden well and continuing forward towards the desk.
She mentally accounted for her wand which was stored in her back pocket, hoping she wouldn't need to use it.
"I had to work late this evening, it's the first opportunity I had to get away. I was the one who found him as you know, and I'd really like to make sure he's alright." She overheard Augustus speaking. Not an ounce of concern seemed to accompany his words. Or perhaps Marlene was biased and was looking for excuses of his guilt, which was a good possibility.
"Do you need anything Marlene?" Patrick looked back over at her as she approached the desk.
"Just grabbing water," she said, offering the weakest of smiles. They hadn't talked again since Sirius had shown up, though she had seen him many times during the course of the evening.
"Your Tom's God daughter, right?" Augustus continued to look at her, his hawk like eyes scanning over her as though he might be able to see straight through her and discover the key hiding away on her arm. She resisted the urge to grab for it.
"Yes," she confirmed, her voice fragile and uncertain.
"You wouldn't mind if I dropped by to see how he's doing would you?" he asked, voice suave and commanding. Marlene felt her heart thundering so hard against her ribcage that she thought her bones might break. The wand was so close, and her fingertips twitched thinking about grabbing for it. He seemed to pose no immediate danger, yet still she was weary of his presence.
"Actually I do mind." She heard herself speaking without being aware that she had coherently formed the words. "It's late and he's in quite a state. As I'm sure you might remember during your time here."
Patrick's head snapped up from the desk to look at her, eyes wide and surprised. Augustus also looked taken aback, as though dubious to her knowledge of such history. She didn't elaborate further, and instead moved swiftly to cross the space where the water was.
Her fingers were shaking as she filled a cup, never allowing her back to be completely turned to Rookwood, always allowing her peripheral to keep him within sight. Sirius was just down the hall, Frank was somewhere outside the ward, and a couple of other Aurors were on the lower level mezzanine.
Surely Rookwood wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything now that he knew the ward wasn't empty, and even if he did he was vastly outnumbered.
"I see. Yes, it is late. Perhaps I was too hasty in my concern and I didn't stop to consider that it might not be prudent to stop by tonight," he said, his voice low and careful. His eyes were hard and considerate, and once again Marlene couldn't help but feel like he could see right through her.
This time she couldn't control the urge to grab at her arm. And his eyes travelled along with the movement. She tugged at the sleeve and offered a tentative smile, in an attempt to convey she wasn't feeling the uncomfortable nature of their interaction.
But internally she was screaming at herself. This was exactly why Sirius said she shouldn't have stayed.
Then Rookwood turned back to Patrick, "I will be back in the morning to check in. Perhaps we could grab that coffee soon and catch up. It's been too long." Patrick nodded, unsmiling. Then Augustus gave one last curious look to Marlene before leaving the unit.
She exhaled something fierce the second his body disappeared and only then did she realize her body was shaking something terribly.
"Marlene, are you okay?" Patrick obviously noticed her strange behavior too because he leaned over the desk to assess her.
"I haven't eaten in a while," she said, "I think maybe my blood sugar is low or something. Or I'm just really tired. Probably both."
"You and Black should just go home." His brows lowered. "It can't be comfortable sleeping on the floor."
"I'm fine." She brushed him off. Then another thought occurred to her. "Do you know Rookwood or something?"
"Oh." Patrick's tone fell flat and he fell back into his chair. "Yeah. I guess you could say we're friends. Or at least old friends from school." He let out a small laugh. "He spent a lot of time here last year so we became reacquainted. I'm surprised you knew about that though."
"I was working in the unit when he was here." She shrugged. "I guess I just remembered that given the circumstances."
"Right." He nodded, refolding his arms behind his head and leaning back into the chair. "Yeah, it's really something to remember, that's for sure."
The thought nagged her for the rest of the night. She never wanted to believe that Patrick was the type of person that James and Sirius had claimed he was. Their stories of him never seemed to add up to the version that she had grown to know. But she couldn't ignore his friendship with Rookwood, who she was certain posed a threat somehow. Had she and Sirius not have been positioned outside Tom's door, would he have allowed Rookwood into his room? He had decided to work later that night, and he had been the only one working the unit.
The idea that Patrick was secretly a Death Eater made her nauseous though. She just couldn't bring herself to believe it. But still, she began to keep her guard up around him and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had kissed her months ago.
Marlene remained at the hospital for the next three days. Despite Rookwood's words that he would return for a visit, he had not come around again. Only when Lily stopped by on the third day, pinching her nose and looking repulsed, insisting that Marlene return home to shower did she finally leave. But she returned very quickly after to maintain her position outside Tom's room.
She knew that it was somewhat pointless. He was going to be in the hospital for a long time and likely wouldn't remember the events leading up to his admission. Whoever it was, Rookwood being the most likely suspect, would probably not be within his grasp of memory recall.
Still, Marlene felt the need to stick by him and make sure that he did not lose his life because she had failed to warn him in time. Sirius had insisted she was being silly, there was no way she would have been able to convince him to give up his job even if she had made it into the Ministry before the incident. Despite his pleas she could rid herself of the guilt.
It was on the fourth night that she insisted Sirius needed to go home to get proper sleep.
"I'm going to be fine. Emmeline is just downstairs and has admitted both Fabien and Gideon with fake illnesses so that they can be nearby."
"I don't need the bed Mar," he replied with a sluggish slur. His eyes were rimmed with dark circles and he was constantly stretching awkardly to rid himself of the pain from sitting outside in the hallway during the evenings.
They had agreed it was too conspicuous to hover outside the door all day long when the volume of traffic was heaviest. So they took turns pacing around the inside and outside of the ward, and only keeping space directly outside Tom's door when the visiting hours had ended.
"You most certainly do," she nagged at him. "You can't even keep your eyes open anymore."
"Then you come with me. I'd feel better if you came with me." He pulled her in for a hug, his hold much softer than usual and Marlene chalked it up to his lack of sleep.
Marlene tilted her head up to look at him, raising her hand to run it along his jaw. "Look, I took a nap earlier in the day. That's more than I can say for you. And besides, if something were to happen – which it won't, so you need to stop worrying – then you need to be physically prepared for that. Right now you'd fall asleep before a curse even had the chance to hit you."
She felt his body take in air, his chest rising against her and then he dipped his head to take his time against her lips. There was nothing more she wanted then to accompany him back to the loft, sleep not the only thing on her mind. But Sirius was going limp from exhaustion in her arms and she pushed away from him.
"Seriously. You need to go." And reluctantly he did.
