Chapter Five

Cosmic Crisis

True to her word, the first couple of days at Anna's London flat was like playing tourist. Corey, grateful to be in blue jeans and t-shirts again, traipsed around town with her, visiting the Tower and the zoo and shopping for things he couldn't normally get. On the third day he was already getting tuckered out, hoping to stay at her flat and see what sort of new programs he was missing on television. He was still lounging about on his couch-bed and flipping channels when Anna came out in business clothes, grabbing her Ministry cloak off of its hook.

"Are we doing both worlds today?" Corey asked thoughtfully, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Yes, I need to stop by Gringotts and pick up some things for the Ministry, and go to the library for some things for Vallid. If you hurry and get dressed, maybe we can go to a movie or something afterwards," she suggested.

"Great! I haven't been to a movie in an entire year!" Corey said excitedly, turning off the telly. He threw on his shirt and folded up the bed, and before no time they were out the door again, Corey with his black trench coat in hand.

The Leaky Cauldron was close enough to where Anna lived that it only took a short walk to get there. Before Corey knew it they were at the bank, and Anna handed the head goblin a Ministry envelope.

"Three items from Ministry vault #263," Anna explained.

"Very well, I will take you down, Miss Hughes," Griphook said. Once they got there, Corey was made to wait outside as Anna entered a large vault with a tremendously gigantic door. He peered in curiously but was slightly disappointed, for instead of seeing piles of gold or items like in other vaults, all he saw were rows of smaller vaults, each one with their own number. She took out a key and searched through one of those and pulled out three things and put them in a bag before stepping out.

It was not long before they were back on the street that Anna was stuffing her cloak in her purse, which was amazingly big enough to fit her cloak as well as everything else she had in there. Corey grinned to himself. Even Aunt Anna, who seemed in many ways to prefer the Muggle world to the magic, had learned to make some concessions for convenience's sake over the last year.

They took the tube to the library, and by then the streets were bustling with people. Corey however, was suddenly getting the feeling they were being watched and warned Anna about it.

"You know, Corey, you're starting to sound like my brother. Are you sure you're not just imagining it? I seriously doubt there is anyone around here interested in us," she said, turning down St. James Square.

"Aunt Anna, maybe they wouldn't be interested in you because most of them don't know you well. It might be me they're after. My parents have quite a few enemies, you know," Corey said, looking serious. "Maybe I should cast a you-know-what just to be on the safe side."

"Oh, no, you don't. You're not going to be breaking the rules already. Come on, let's just get the periodical listings Lunette needs and get out of here," Anna said. Despite her own reassurances, Anna too began to feel a bit edgy as they walked through the library, looking up the aisles with a growing sense of uneasiness. "Why don't you make yourself helpful and look some of these up?" Corey sighed and began looking them up, groaning because many of them were in French. As he tracked them down and brought them back to the table, he thought he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye.

"Aunt Anna, are you sure I'm imagining things? Because, honestly, this place gives me the creeps," Corey whispered, but she nudged him hard.

"Hush, just sit here while I copy these," Anna said. Corey had offered to copy them, but Anna, thinking Corey was already getting a little too insistent about using magic, decided to do it the other way. A strange sense of déjà vu came to her as they were leaving, and it was enough to convince her that maybe Corey wasn't just being paranoid after all.

"So back on the underground, Aunt Anna?" he asked as they headed out. "Or do we want to check the movie times at the Odeon first?"

"I think we'd better get to the Ministry as quickly as possible," Anna said in such a tone that Corey looked up in surprise. "I knew I should have rented a car today."

"Hang on a minute. Let me get out my book of safe houses and I'll see if there's somewhere close we can go," Corey suggested, stopping to pull out a little black book and flipping through the addresses. "Here we are, there's a little flag shop just up two streets... Aunt Anna?" Corey spun around, having lost her in the crowd. Suddenly he heard a scream and rushed over to see Anna lying on the pavement. It wasn't a particularly unusual sight; Anna had a tendency of leaving her body at strange moments as a part of her magic, but Corey knew that this time something else must have happened to her. Her face was very pale, and several others were trying to take her pulse.

"I can't feel anythin' no…wait…I think she's breathin' but its shallow," a man in a tweed coat told the crowd gathering around her. Corey knelt beside her, picking up her purse.

"Here, now, leave that," the man said in alarm.

"She's my Aunt Anna. She took me touring," Corey explained. "Is she going to be all right?"

"I saw someone take a stab at her, and then she fainted," a woman said, standing next to the man.

"I don't think he stabbed her, there's no blood, but she's not doin' all that well," he told her, then saw Corey watching him. "Don' worry, I think someone went for an ambulance," the man said.

Corey grew even more worried. There could be little doubt that whatever it was that had happened it was magical not physical. But how was that possible? Magic didn't normally affect Anna directly, for her magic worked differently than theirs. Whatever did this couldn't have been a direct spell, but Corey soon realized now was not the time to try and figure it out.

Right now there was little he could do except go ahead with the Muggles' plan to take her to the hospital…there had been too many witnesses to do otherwise. From there, he was sure he could contact the Ministry, or if all else failed, Hogwarts. She was wheeled into trauma, and Corey found himself at the front desk answering questions of relationship and so on. He found himself extremely grateful for the black book Severus had given him, complete with post addresses and such, using the ID he found in Anna's purse for some of the rest.

"I really need to call my Dad. Do you have a phone handy?" Corey asked. "He's the next of kin."

"Sure, you can use the phone over there," the nurse said, and Corey went over, waiting impatiently to get the operator, and then called the Ministry.

"Special Services, Penelope speaking," said the woman on the other line.

"Yes, this is Corey Willowby. Can I get connected to the shells for Arthur Weasley?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley isn't in the building. Would you care to leave a note with his secretary?" Penelope asked.

"I don't suppose Counselor Vallid is there?"

"No, but even if she were, we're under orders to hold all shells…"

"Never mind, is there anyone there who works with Anna Hughes? It's an emergency."

"Why, yes, Ederick Thurspire is here. Would you like to talk to him?" Corey hung up the phone.

"Fine, time for Plan B," he said to himself.

Minerva had gone to the gate and was both surprised and concerned to see Corey Willowby there asking to see his parents. Swiftly Minerva brought him in and walked him down to the dungeon. Jennifer was standing in a chaotic conglomeration of boiling potions and emptied and newly filled bottles piled on all of the worktables. She jumped up the moment she saw Corey, and as he was quickly explaining the situation, she turned off the potions she knew were safe to turn off and stepped into her office long enough to get a long rectangular box that had arrived for her earlier in the day. She opened it and took the purplish-hued wand out of its velvet mold, not even having had time to test it. It was too late now… she was just going to have to trust it would work right.

"What are you doing, Jennifer?" Minerva asked, although she had already guessed the answer.

"What I have to do, what else? I'm going down to that hospital. Can Corey stay here?" Jennifer asked, using the wand to disguise herself in Muggle clothing. "Actually, Corey, if you'd finish that batch of Intestine Bias Solution and that Lavender Balm and bottle it while I'm gone…"

"Jennifer!"

"Don't worry, Minerva, he can handle it," Jennifer assured her, grabbing her cloak. "Could you get in touch with Dumbledore and Severus for me? Thanks Minerva! I'm off," Jennifer said. She entered her office and shut the door, leaving Minerva standing there momentarily speechless.

"Mom in the Muggle world, now there's a scary thought," Corey said, stirring the Lavender Balm. "Is it just me or does she always get bossy in a crisis?"

As much as Jennifer was a fish out of water in the Muggle world, she knew she couldn't leave Anna in such a state. She Apparated on a rooftop near where Corey had said the hospital was, surveying the area a moment before popping down to a secluded spot and quickly entering the building and walking straight over to the desk.

"I would like to see Anna Hughes, please. I'm her sister-in-law, Jennifer Snape. My adopted son told me that she was brought here earlier," she said.

"Oh, yes… my, you got here fast," the nurse said with surprise, glancing around. "I'm sure the boy is around here somewhere…"

"He's all right, I sent him home," Jennifer quickly explained. "How is Anna?"

"Well, I don't know, she's still in emergency, but I'll let the doctor know you are here," she smiled. "Please have a seat and I'll call you when he's ready to see you." Jennifer nodded and sat down, wondering what to do next. A young girl was sitting next to her with her leg in a cast, looking bored and reading a magazine. She smiled at Jennifer.

"I'm getting my cast off today," she said happily. "I broke it crashing my bicycle six weeks ago," she explained.

"Six weeks ago?" Jennifer echoed, staring at her. "And you're still wearing a cast?"

"Well, the doctor says bones take a long time to grow," she said. "I suppose you haven't ever broken a bone, have you?"

"Oh, yes, but…six weeks?"

"Annie, the doctor will see you now," a nurse said. Jennifer waved at the girl as she hobbled away, looking troubled. Then she glanced at her watch. What in the world was taking so long? Just as Jennifer got up to strike out on her own, her name was called out. A balding sort of heavy man with grey hair lead her into his office, sighing softly before offering her a smile.

"My name is Dr. Coats, I'm the head neurologist. I've been put in charge of Miss Hughes' case," he told her. Jennifer nodded.

"I see. What have you found out?"

"Actually, we're still running some tests. You see, your sister-in-law seems to have fallen into a deep sort of comatose state, but we have yet to find the cause. The CAT scan shows that she is actually having normal brain activity; there are no signs yet of drugs or sugar problems. She does have a slight bump on the head but it is my feeling that she received that after she had entered this state. However, her heart rate is very weak and we have her on oxygen, otherwise, we haven't found anything else wrong with her yet. Do you know if she was under any special medication, or was she taking any alternative drugs?"

"Alternative drugs?"

"Herbal remedies, things like that…"

"Ah, no, her brother and I would have known if she were," Jennifer said.

"Any history of epilepsy?"

"Of what?"

"Any seizures?"

"No, I don't think so," Jennifer said with a shrug. "Can I see her now?" Dr. Coats sighed.

"No, I'm sorry, until we have some better understanding of what this is and what's causing it I rather you would sit and wait until we run some more tests. It should only take a few more hours before we know something…"

"A few more hours?" Jennifer blinked at him. "What in the world takes so long?"

"Well, we have to run some more blood samples, that takes time, an MRI, tissue samples…"

"I've got a better idea, how about you show me where she is now, and we both walk out of here in one piece, hm?" Jennifer said, taking out her wand. Dr. Coats blinked at her, but she didn't give him much time to react before she landed him out cold with a spell. Taking out her dagger she cut off a piece of his hair and began digging through her equipment, grinning slightly upon finding the right phial.

Jennifer glanced in the mirror one last time before heading out of Dr. Coats' office, glancing back over her shoulder where he was fast asleep. Straightening her white coat and grabbing the clipboard she left the office, locking the door behind her. She strode down the hallway, reading the numbers and departments before she finally turned into the right ward.

"Doctor Coats? I have those tests results you wanted. Do you want me to put them in your office?" a nurse asked.

"No…no," Jennifer said, trying to calm herself. "I'll take them now, thank you," she said, and took the papers and shuffled them under her clipboard. Glancing above her and reading the numbers again, she finally found the right place. Anna was lying there with a strange mask over her nose but otherwise looking peaceful, as if someone had given her a powerful sleeping dose, or even…Jennifer looked at her thoughtfully. Surely it couldn't be Cosmic Sleep. Then again, the doctor had said she had normal brain activity…if it was a regular dose, something probably would have shown up. "Don't worry Anna, I'll get you out of here somehow," Jennifer said in a low voice. But how was the question.

"Doctor Coats?" a younger man came in looking thoughtful. His nametag said K. Braxton. "Still no change, huh? What do you want to do?"
"I don't think she belongs here," Jennifer heard herself saying with a frown. The other doctor nodded.

"You're right, it may be better if we transferred her to the main hospital. There's only so much we can do here. Shall I prepare that transfer order for you?" he asked. Jennifer, gazing at him with surprise, quickly recovered and nodded.

"Thank you."

"Sure, I'll leave a note at the front desk with transfer information as well," the intern said, walking off. Relieved at the stroke of luck, Jennifer decided to peek around at some of the others in the emergency ward, and soon wished she hadn't. A young boy, not more than four or five, was crying softly having apparently broken his arm. She walked over smiling warmly at him and his mother, who looked terribly worried and was trying to calm him down.

"It's all right, the doctor says they'll be doing your x-rays soon," she said.

"But it hurts Mum, it hurts," he said. She glanced up at Jennifer, a slight fire in her eyes.

"Excuse me, but can't you do something here? Perhaps something for the pain." Jennifer barely hesitated, picking up a water glass from beside them and turning around, slipping a phial in her hand and pouring it in, mentally calculating how much extra dose to put in with the dilution. She then turned around and handed it to them.

"He's to drink all of that," Jennifer said firmly. "He should feel better not long after he does."

"Thank you, Doctor," the mother said, and Jennifer nodded, looking in the next berth.

It was not long after she had gone around the whole room and looked in on the various patients that the man returned again with the paperwork.

"I sent for the ambulance, it should be here any minute. Shall I wheel her down?" Braxton asked, leaning Anna's head back down and straightening the bed she was one.

"No, I'll do that. Why don't you check on the other patients," Jennifer suggested, and tried to push her. It didn't move.

"Oh, the wheels, I'll get it," the intern offered and unlocked them, glancing at the doctor strangely. There was something definitely different about Dr. Coats.

"Thanks," Jennifer said. Quickly she wheeled her out, spotting what appeared to be a large lift. A couple of nurses tried to call after her, saying he was going the wrong way, but Jennifer wasn't about to stop now. The moment the lift doors closed she took out a key and holding on to her put it in her hand. A second later the doors opened, showing only an empty cart.

In the meantime, Jennifer took Anna in front of her cottage, putting her on a hovering stretcher. Eddie picked them up the moment he came on duty, and the Knight Bus dropped them off at Anna's cabin. Finally having a moment to take a breath, Jennifer glanced at her watch to see where Severus was. It was still set on "Elsewhere." Well, Jennifer still had a card to play. If Anna had somehow been Cosmic cursed, there was only one person who could bring her out. Stepping outside, she held out her hand and thought of her familiar, and within a minute Ratfly appeared soaring through the trees and to her hand, screeching noisily. Quickly scribbling a note, she sent him off.

It was starting to get late, and she wondered if Severus would be home soon. She glanced at her ring…he was worried. But as she stood pondering that, she saw something come out of the woods…a large black dog running ahead of a young looking centaur with strawberry blonde hair. The centaur, oddly enough, was wearing a cuffed white shirt that fit snugly around his humanoid half as if tailored to fit. But before Jennifer had time to ask who he was, the dog suddenly jumped up and turned into the frantic form of Sirius.

"What's wrong? Where is she? What's the emergency?" Sirius asked in a panic.

"Just shut up and go kiss her," Jennifer said. "And don't you dare tell Severus I sent for you."