Part Eighteen: Choices
Vernon Dursley had no idea the dog behind him was still alive until sharp fangs sank deep into his wrist. He dropped the gun with a scream of surprise and alarm and tried to pull free, only to drive the sharp teeth deeper into his flesh. He kicked out with his foot and connected solidly with the animal's side. The dog let go and backed away.
Vernon passed a shaking hand over his eyes and blinked. He looked around the room, wide-eyed, at the carnage surrounding him. There was blood everywhere. The huge black dog was bleeding from a wound in its chest, nearby a strange woman lay still in a pool of blood, and Harry. Vernon stared. Harry was a bloody mess, too. Severely beaten and barely conscious, Harry half lay over the woman as if to protect her from further harm.
Harry fixed Vernon with his one good eye. "Why," he sobbed brokenly. "Why did you do this?"
Vernon simply backed away, holding his injured wrist and shaking his head. He looked confused and dazed, almost mesmerized. Harry watched him as he left the room, shaking his head in disbelief as he walked away.
"Harry." The voice was coming from behind him. "Harry, help me." He turned. Sirius was trying to drag himself over to where he and Glynnis lay. Blood stained his shirt and one arm was hanging limply at his side. "You'll have to . . . hold on to me," he gasped out as he reached the injured pair, "and Glynnis if you can."
"Sirius," Harry choked. "He killed her. He killed Glynnis."
Sirius acted as if he hadn't heard. "Hold on to her. I can get us out of here but I can't hold you. I need my hand free."
"Sirius!" Harry yelled, his voice cracked with grief. "She's dead! Glynnis is dead!"
Sirius shook his head. "No. Not dead. Not yet. Hold on Harry."
Harry stared at his godfather, then, at Glynnis. He couldn't believe she was still alive. The bullet had gone into her back and hadn't come out. She was lying on her side in a pool of blood. Harry reached out for her and then pulled back. In his mind's eye he saw Cedric Diggory lying cold and dead beside him. "I can't do this again."
Sirius put a hand on Harry's arm. "You have to, Harry. She'll die if we leave her and I only have enough strength to do this once."
Harry squeezed his eyes shut and reached out again for Glynnis. He took her cold hand in his and then took Sirius' injured arm. Sirius winced as Harry grabbed hold but said nothing. He simply pulled out his wand. "Hold on," he whispered.
In a far corner of the room, behind some packing boxes, a figure appeared out of nowhere as the trio disappeared. An invisibility cloak, similar to Harry's, was tossed carelessly over one shoulder. He surveyed the bloodstained floor and grimaced. This hadn't gone well. Dursley was supposed to kill Potter. How the stupid Muggle had managed to override the Imperius Curse was beyond him but there was naught he could about it now. Potter was gone and still alive. His teacher would not be pleased. On the other hand, he'd learned some valuable information that might appease his wrath. Sirius Black was animagi. That was interesting. Very interesting. Yes, perhaps his teacher would forgive this one breach for that little tidbit.
**********************
Glynnis wandered through the garden, enjoying the soft warm sunshine. She wanted to ask the gardener how he managed to get that particular shade of orange in the tulips but try as she might, she couldn't find anyone around to ask. Even that didn't seem to matter as she explored bed after bed of the most beautiful blooms she had ever seen. She inhaled their lush fragrances and let the heady scent fill her. A quick zephyr pulled white blossoms from a nearby tree and sent them spinning around her. Glynnis spread her arms wide and twirled gaily, trying to catch the sweet-smelling petals in her hands. She couldn't remember when she'd been this happy. Yet something niggled at the back of her mind and she couldn't shake the feeling that she should be somewhere else right now. For the life of her, she couldn't remember where, but something just wasn't quite right. The sound of windchimes caught her ear and, on a whim, she followed the tinkling music.
The windchimes stopped as Glynnis stepped onto a white gravel path that wound in among young flowering trees. She followed the path, her feet barely making a sound as she walked. Ahead of her loomed a small gazebo surrounded by white roses. A person sat there on a bench as if waiting. Glynnis approached.
"Welcome, Glynnis."
Glynnis stared at the beautiful woman who greeted her. She was tall and willowy, with skin the warm color of cocoa. Her black hair hung in hundreds of tiny braids down her back and her white silk dress hung by a single wide strap across one shoulder.
"Who are you?" Glynnis asked. "Do you know where I am?"
"I am Daphne. I am a guide."
"A tour guide? For the garden? It's very lovely."
Daphne laughed, a soft sound like falling rain. "No. Not a tour guide. Not exactly. I am a guide to the other side of life. I have come to offer you a choice."
"A choice?" Glynnis was confused. What did all this mean?
"What do you remember, Glynnis?"
Glynnis smiled. "I twirled in the sunlight while white flower petals drifted on the breeze around me." She spread her arms and spun around as she had as a child. "It was wonderful!"
"No, Glynnis," said Daphne gently. "What do remember before the garden?"
"Before the garden? I . . . I don't remember anything." Glynnis didn't remember. It seemed there had only been the garden but she knew there was more. She told Daphne as much. "It's as if I should be somewhere else, but I'm not sure where," she said finally, her voice sad with loss.
Daphne took her hand. "Come. I will show you." She took Glynnis' hand and led her to a silver gazing globe.
Glynnis touched it hesitantly. "I have one of these," she said with some surprise. "I know I do, but how can that be?"
"You have one at home," Daphne explained.
"Home?" Glynnis said in a small voice. This should mean something to her but she couldn't place it.
"Look," said Daphne as she passed her hand over the globe's surface. Glynnis watched in fascination as her life passed before her eyes. She relived everything in a matter of moments. Everything up until Vernon Dursley shot her. Then the gazing globe went blank. Glynnis had her band pressed against her mouth. She was shocked. How could she have forgotten? How could she not remember? "Oh my God! Harry! And Sirius! Oh, Daphne, what happened to them? Are they alright? Oh, please tell me they're alive!" She turned to the guide with tears in her eyes.
Daphne gestured to the globe once more.
********************************
Attivus Attlewart had had a long day. "Why is it that all the Grimalkin sisters have their babies all at once?" he asked his feet as he kicked off his boots and wiggled his toes. "I would not have thought it possible for seven women in one family to conceive on the same day four years in a row." The doctor stretched back in his chair and a fat black cat jumped into his lap. Attivus scratched under the offered chin and continued speaking. "And to top it all off, they have the ugliest babies I have ever seen. I know all babies are supposed to be beautiful and all that, but you can only lie so often. Poor things. They look just like their mothers. Don't know how those girls can even get their husbands to . . . well, anyway. They do say love is blind. It would have to be in their case. Either that or they've perfected love potions in the last five years." He shuddered. "I don't know, Mistofolees. Maybe I should retire. What do you think?" The cat only purred and offered his back to be scratched. Attivus laughed. "I thought that's what you'd say."
All at once the cat's relaxed demeanor vanished. His back arched and his fur stood up. Attivus sighed and set the animal on the floor. The only time the cat reacted like this was when someone was about to apparate into the room. He didn't know how the cat knew, but then again, this cat did many things he was at a loss to explain. "I guess it's back to work," he groaned as he hauled himself to his feet.
With a loud thunk his guests hit the floor. Attivus gasped. Sirius and Harry and Glynnis were laying in a heap. All unconscious, all covered in blood. He reached into a pocket and threw a handful of powder into the fireplace behind him. A shimmering face appeared. "Attivus! What a plea . . . "
The doctor cut him off abruptly. "I need you here now! Bring Lupin!" He turned his back unceremoniously to the flames and hurried over to his three new patients. A quick examination told him that Glynnis was the worst for wear. He made quick work of his wand and sealed the gaping hole in her back, stopping the blood flow for the moment. It wasn't enough, he knew, but he hoped it would hold her for now. Saving her would take all his skill and he needed to see what he could do for the other two until help arrived. With that thought, Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin appeared before him. Remus gaped in shock and Albus muttered an expletive under his breath.
"What happened?" Dumbledore demanded as he knelt next to Harry.
"I have no idea. They just apparated in here. All unconscious." Attlewart was busy sealing Sirius' wound. "Take her upstairs. First door on the left," he commanded Lupin, who was still recovering from the shock of seeing so much blood on three people.
"Harry. And Sirius," he stammered.
"In better shape than her. You're familiar with the house, now move!"
Remus knew from experience that Attivus' tone meant business and he quickly elevated Glynnis and took her to the designated room. Attivus had elevated Sirius and was following Remus. He turned to Dumbledore. "Bring Harry."
Before long, Glynnis, Harry and Sirius were in separate beds in the large room Attivus used as an infirmary. Remus waited anxiously by the bed as Attivus saw to Sirius' injuries.
"Sizeable hole. Lucky it didn't hit his heart. Damn Muggles and their guns. Seen this before. Not in a while, mind, but I've come across it. Woe to any wizard caught unawares. These things can kill faster than any curse I've ever heard of."
Dumbledore interrupted the doctor's ever present running commentary. "Will he live, Attivus?"
Attivus nodded. "Aye. He'll live. No thanks to whoever is responsible." He stood. "I've done what I can for now. Harry's next." And with that he moved onto the next bed where Dumbledore was busy removing Harry's clothes. Lupin followed and his face blackened with rage as he took in Harry's battered body. Huge black and purple bruises covered Harry's ribcage and stomach. His injured shoulder had the distinct imprint of a large hand imbedded in the flesh. Various other bruised covered his arms and legs. "Who could have done this?" he spit out through clenched teeth.
"I have no idea," answered Attivus, "but I hope I never find myself alone with them. Doctor or not, I'll tear them apart. No one deserves to be treated like this."
Albus watched as Attivus examined Harry, shaking his head. "What's the damage?" he asked grimly.
"Four broken ribs. Bruised kidneys. Bruised larynx. And if I'm not mistaken," he added as he gently probed Harry's abdomen, "a ruptured spleen. Damn it! Harry cannot take this right now. He's been through enough. The exhaustion from the dagger incident is compounding matters. He has very little energy left as it is, without having to recover from this. Stand aside, Remus, I need room." With a wave of his wand, he went about the business of repairing Harry's broken body. Under the black and blue marked skin, bones mended and organs healed. After five minutes, Attivus was drenched in sweat with the effort. By the time he was finished ten minutes after that, he was breathing heavily and trembling.
Remus reached out a hand to steady him. "Attivus! Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
Attivus waved his hand in dismissal as he slumped into the chair Dumbledore had conjured for him. "Fine. Fine. It's just that healing takes a toll on the healer. Any fool can wave a wand around and perform first aid but the deep stuff takes it out of you. I'll have to remove that spleen the old-fashioned way, you might say, but that can wait. For now, I just need a moment." The doctor closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. He grew very still and seemed almost trance like for several long moments. Then his eyes snapped open and he surged to his feet. "Ah, yes. Much better. Nothing like a short nap to refresh the tired spirit, I always say. Now then," Attivus sobered, "I must see to Miss Babcock."
He went to the bed where Glynnis lay, unmoving, on her stomach. The angry red wound where the bullet had entered her body was no longer bleeding, but that wasn't what worried the doctor. She'd lost a large amount of blood and the bullet was lodged very near her heart. He sighed and paced around the bed.
"What can you do for her, Attivus?" Dumbledore asked from where sat holding her hand.
"Hmmm. That's the tricky part," Attivus frowned. "These bullet things, those are what's in the gun, cannot be removed by magic. I have to remove it by hand. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do that. You see, the bullet has done a lot of damage on the way in and Miss Babcock is very weak. I would wait until she was stronger, but these things tend to cause infections very quickly if not taken out."
"Can we do anything to help?" asked Remus.
Attivus looked up at him quizzically. "Have you a strong stomach, Lupin?"
**********************
"I'm dead, aren't I?" Glynnis asked Daphne.
Daphne laughed again. "No. Not quite. You see, that is where you have a choice. You must decide, Glynnis, where you will go now. You may choose to return from whence you came." Her hand passed the globe and the scene at Grunnings returned. "Or you may choose to remain here." She swept her hand in the direction of the gazebo and there stood Seamus and Derek, just as they were the day she last saw them. Seamus waved in greeting and Derek smiled, the bright sun glinting off his tiny teeth.
"What if I make the wrong choice?"
Daphne shrugged. "There is no wrong choice. There is only one choice. You will make it."
"I don't understand what you mean."
"It means that whatever choice you make will be the one that has to be made. You have spoken of fate. Think of it that way."
"So the choice has already been made for me?"
"In a manner of speaking. Don't worry too much about it, Glynnis. Once you have decided, all of this will be erased from your memory and you won't remember ever having been here or ever having chosen."
"What if I chose to go? What will happen then? What of Sirius? Of Harry and this evil wizard who is trying to kill him?"
Daphne smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I can make no guarantees. I can only tell you this. In the battle of good over evil, good will always win. But it is a battle and pain will be suffered and lives will be lost."
"What if I choose to stay?"
"Then you will rejoin your husband and son. You will live here as if nothing had ever happened. You will have no knowledge of what went before."
Glynnis chewed her lip. Her gaze was torn between the scene in the globe and Seamus and Derek waiting for her. "I don't know what to do!" she wailed in despair. "Either way I make a selfish choice! Either way I hurt someone I love! I can't decide. I can't think."
Daphne put a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "Clear your head. Do not let your mind make this decision. This is a choice of the heart, Glynnis. Listen to what it tells you."
Glynnis hung her head and the tears fell from her eyes into the soft grass at her feet. She was torn in two. Two lives waited for her and she wanted them both. She raised her closed eyes to the blue sky above her and felt the breeze drying the tears on her face, felt the sunlight brighten her vision and let the glow of it's warmth fill her. Everything around her was quiet. She willed her tormented mind to be still and did what she always did when she was troubled. She let the sound of the wind playing on the leaves fill her ears. She let the birds take her soul heavenward. She let her heart free to decide. She opened herself.
"Glynnis."
The voice was plaintive, yearning.
"Come back to me. Please. We need you. I need you."
A single tear coursed down her face. So near and yet so far, the voice spoke quietly. So quietly she had to strain her inner ear to hear it.
"I love you. Please come back to me. Come back and be my wife."
The familiarness of it called to her heart and her heart called back. She opened her eyes and turned around. She smiled at Seamus and Derek. "I've made my choice."
*******************
Sirius sat unmoving by Glynnis' bedside. Attivus and Remus had tried to make him see reason. He needed his rest, as much as she did, but he told them that until she opened her eyes and greeted him or died in his arms, he refused to leave her. Harry was in the next bed, still unconscious as well. The surgery to remove his ruptured spleen, and the other injuries on top of the damage the dagger had done, had utterly exhausted him. Attivus had keep him in a controlled sleep for four days and was considering waking him in the morning, if he seemed to be stronger.
In the first few hours after Sirius had awoken, three days ago, he had related the story of their disastrous run in with Vernon Dursley. The time after that had been spent watching and waiting. He slept in the chair between Glynnis and Harry's beds and refused to move. Harry would recover, Attivus assured him, but Glynnis was another story. She seemed to have given up fighting. Sirius spent the long hours of the night talking to her about his life, about James and Lily, about Hogwarts. And when his voice was tired and hoarse, he would hold her hand and think to her, not knowing if she could hear him or not.
Tonight he lay next to her on the bed, his hand stroking her hair. A storm was brewing and lightening flashed outside. The glowing fire was the only light in the room, Sirius' three friends having gone to bed long ago. For some reason, the storm unnerved him. Something was happening. He couldn't explain it but something told him tonight would be it. For better or worse, live or die, Glynnis would be awake or gone by morning.
"Glynnis," he whispered into her ear. "I know you can hear me."
The storm seemed to intensify as the seconds passed. Thunder crashed above the house, rattling the windows.
"Come back to me. Please. We need you." He tried to swallow back the tears but one escaped him and fell unheeded onto her cheek. "I need you."
Sirius wanted to raise his voice, to shout above the storm, to rage at whatever force held her prisoner. Instead he bowed his head into her hair and spoke so softly he could barely hear himself, saying the words that had been on his tongue from the first night they'd met and the words that had formed there since that time.
"I love you. Please come back to me. Come back and be my wife."
A huge gust of wind whistled over the rooftop and down the chimney. The fire flared up with a flash and exploded up the flue, leaving nothing but the smoking hearth behind. Sirius ran to close the damper, afraid the flames would lash back and set the room on fire. With a sigh of relief he heard the rain pour down, extinguishing any blaze that might have started above. "Lumos," he said quietly and a small light appeared in his hand. He checked on Harry and adjusted the blankets over him. Then he turned back to Glynnis and saw her eyes shining up at him in the dark.
