Chapter 7: Memory Lost, Memory Found
Author's Note: There isn't one this time. *grin*
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Slowly wallowing through the haze into semi-consciousness, Seona opened her eyes a crack and looked around. White. It reminded her of the white-hot pain that had lanced through her entire body, like someone dragging their nails across the black-board of her soul. She shook her head, and immediately thought of a good half dozen reasons why she shouldn't have done that.
What had happened? She remembered stumbling across Draco Malfoy tormenting one of the first years. She had forced him to stop, gotten into an argument with him. He had claimed that it was right for him to do what he did, because the child was only a Muggle-born. Mudblood was the word he had used, a term she had hoped never to hear. And her control had snapped. It wasn't an open-handed slap she delivered, but a solid fist to the jaw. She remembered feeling the crunch of the impact.
She hoped like hell that she'd broken his jaw.
His instant reaction had been to level his wand and her and scream a command she had never heard before. Then her whole world had dissolved into searing agony. She had a vague memory of collapsing to the floor, writhing in pain without any way to stop it. She shuddered, then decided abruptly that she shouldn't do that either. What ever that curse was, it had left her feeling like something had trod on her.
But what had happened then? She had been down in one of the lower corridors, but the proliferation of white suggested that she had been moved into the hospital wing. Frantically scanning her memory, she finally came up with a sharp voice and swirling black robes. There was only one teacher who regularly wandered around Hogwarts looking like a large bat. Now that she had found that scrap of memory she found others linked to it. He had stopped Malfoy with the stupefaction curse, then sent the first year off to find Dumbledore. He had touched her, sending a new symphony of pain through her flesh. She couldn't remember if she had spoken or not, or what he had said to her in response.
Then nothing.
While she considered this, the curtains around the bed opened to admit the matronly form of Madame Pomfrey. Her face brightened when she saw that Seona was awake. "Well, good morning. I was starting to think you weren't going to wake up at all. The last potion I gave you should have worn off an hour ago."
Seona tried to respond, but only managed to produce a vague croak. She licked her lips and tried again. "How long did you keep me drugged?" Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears, as if it didn't quite belong to her.
"Only two days. I wanted to give a chance for your nerves to heal without you having to feel it."
"I think I need another day. At least." Head lolling back against the pillows, she tried to make her body relax. It still felt as though it was stretched to the limit.
"I'll give you a potion for the pain in a moment," the mediwitch assured her. "But you need to start moving your body again or it will get too stiff and you'll have even worse problems." Seona simply sighed in resignation and lay quietly while the woman fussed over her, muttering charms and comments on her progress. The quicker it was over, the quicker she could take something for the pain.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was almost two weeks since the ordeal at Halloween. She had been given three days to recover in the hospital wing, then it had been suggested that she should resume her lessons as normal. Since she had finally stopped feeling weak and ill every time someone touched her, she agreed readily enough. It was boring in the hospital, even if her friends came to see her every day after classes finished.
Professor Snape had paid her a visit as well, bringing with him a very downcast Draco Malfoy. Seona's cheeks had burned and her fingers twitched slightly as she imagined fastening them around the boy's neck and squeezing. She held the impulse in check however, as he ground out something that passed for an apology. Snape had glared at him, and he had repeated the phrase with a little more grace before escaping from the room as soon as she had murmured an acceptance. Snape had given her a look that actually seemed to contain a touch of sympathy and informed her that Malfoy had been given two weeks worth of detentions. That had mollified her a little, but it wasn't going to stop her from hating him.
Now she stood at the door to the Headmaster's office and wondered for the hundredth time why he had called her here. Taking a deep breath, she raised a hand and rapped sharply on the wooden panels of the door. A muffled "Come in!" was followed by the door swinging open of its own accord. Steeling herself, she went in and stood politely in front of the huge oak desk.
Dumbledore looked up at her, eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. Well, at least he didn't look angry, she though in relief. He motioned for her to take a seat, then began to speak once she was seated. "First of all, Miss MacGinty, I want you to understand that what I am about to tell you is your own information. You can share it or not as you wish." He was more serious now, and she nodded with some trepidation. He continued, "When you were taken to the hospital wing at Halloween, Madame Pomfrey checked to see if you were under any other curses than the one which Professor Snape heard cast. What she found was not a curse, but a memory charm which had blocked off a part of your mind. After a short discussion, it was decided that we would not remove the memory block until we had spoken with you about it. Do you have any idea when or why such a block would have been placed?"
Somewhat taken aback, Seona frowned and had a quick rummage through her own mind. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "I'm afraid not, Headmaster. Even knowing that it's there, I still can't find any hint of its presence. Which, I suppose, only proves it's doing its job. It would be a fairly shoddy memory block if it didn't block the fact that it was there." She smiled wanly, then added, "But if I ever knew why it was being put there, that knowledge is behind the block as well."
The Headmaster sighed. "That was what I was afraid of. So I give you a choice. You can leave it as it is, or it can be opened. Even in the opening, there is a choice. If you wish, we can carry out the procedure while you are in a state of half-consciousness and then reinstall the block when we are finished. You need never even have to think about it again, because we can also block your memory of finding out about it. Or, we can simply remove the block and allow you to assimilate those memories into your life."
A choice indeed. Seona sat silently for a few moments, weighing up the options. She certainly didn't like the idea of having someone rummage through her memories and reinstall the block. That just wasn't even a valid option. So the question was, did she want to know what was hidden there? Well, the answer to that was simple. Of course she did. Her own natural curiosity wasn't going to let her leave this one alone. She took another deep breath and raised her eyes to meet Dumbledore's.
"Open it. I'll deal with whatever we find."
Dumbledore nodded and pulled out his wand. Pointing it at her head, he began to chant softly as she felt her eyelids growing heavier. She struggled against the invading urge to sleep, but it wasn't long before unconsciousness overtook her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She was lying on a couch in a strange room, and her head felt as though it was on fire as she tried to make out her surroundings. "I have to stop waking up like this," she murmured to herself.
For the second time in as many weeks, she tried to reconstruct her last moments of consciousness. She had been called to Dumbledore's office, she remembered. He had told her of a memory block that had been found in her head during her time in hospital. He had asked her what she wished to do about it, and she had decided to have it removed. Then he had cast a spell.
So what about those hidden memories? She turned her attention inwards, looking for anything that hadn't been there before. Everything still seemed to be in order. So what was the big deal? Was it merely some really dull boring fact that she wouldn't notice? She probed deeper.
Abruptly, she sat up with a horrified gasp. The sudden movement turned out to have been a very bad idea, and she slipped from the land of consciousness yet again.
She awoke to see Dumbledore peering down at her in concern. She was dimly aware that she couldn't have been out for long, since Madame Pomfrey wasn't in evidence. But this detail was drowned in the huge flood of horror and loathing that now filled her. She turned pleading eyes on Dumbledore as she clutched at his robes in panic. "What have I done?" It was a whisper. It was a plea. It begged the world to tell her she was wrong, that it was all a cruel joke.
The Headmaster's eyes were sad and filled with sympathy. "It could not be helped," he replied in a voice filled with gentleness and understanding. "And now you have people who can help you. Now, sleep for a while. Sleep without dreams." He held a vial to her lips and she barely managed to choke down the mixture. Within moments, she found blessed oblivion.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
REVIEWERS TRIBUTE:
Many thanks go to:
Beth the Fox - Yay! *giggle* I made someone scream! Glad you like it. :)
Skyfire - Here's the next one.
Atropos - I agree... he is a pleasant and attractive person... Oh, wait! I don't think that was quite what you meant.... *grin*
Melanie C - Good question. And hey, I'm just chuffed that someone actually takes the time to comment on every single chapter! :)
Little Miss Insane - Well, all shall soon be revealed... maybe.
Sarah - It's a challenge to write well for a good 'bad guy', but the best part is that you CAN show so many sides to them.
Morbane - Not really the enemy here (at least, not intentionally), but I figure they'd be unlikely to get along very well. If nothing else, there's the house rivalry and the fact that Snape tends to pick on Gryffindors.
Saotomealita - Here's more. :)
Vexus - Thanks. It's good to get confirmation that I am actually keeping them in character.
kaori - Well, they certainly won't 'do stuff' for quite some time yet. But I promise you'll have plenty of warning.
Kudra - Oh, she has them. She just didn't know about them until now. *grin*
Author's Note: There isn't one this time. *grin*
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Slowly wallowing through the haze into semi-consciousness, Seona opened her eyes a crack and looked around. White. It reminded her of the white-hot pain that had lanced through her entire body, like someone dragging their nails across the black-board of her soul. She shook her head, and immediately thought of a good half dozen reasons why she shouldn't have done that.
What had happened? She remembered stumbling across Draco Malfoy tormenting one of the first years. She had forced him to stop, gotten into an argument with him. He had claimed that it was right for him to do what he did, because the child was only a Muggle-born. Mudblood was the word he had used, a term she had hoped never to hear. And her control had snapped. It wasn't an open-handed slap she delivered, but a solid fist to the jaw. She remembered feeling the crunch of the impact.
She hoped like hell that she'd broken his jaw.
His instant reaction had been to level his wand and her and scream a command she had never heard before. Then her whole world had dissolved into searing agony. She had a vague memory of collapsing to the floor, writhing in pain without any way to stop it. She shuddered, then decided abruptly that she shouldn't do that either. What ever that curse was, it had left her feeling like something had trod on her.
But what had happened then? She had been down in one of the lower corridors, but the proliferation of white suggested that she had been moved into the hospital wing. Frantically scanning her memory, she finally came up with a sharp voice and swirling black robes. There was only one teacher who regularly wandered around Hogwarts looking like a large bat. Now that she had found that scrap of memory she found others linked to it. He had stopped Malfoy with the stupefaction curse, then sent the first year off to find Dumbledore. He had touched her, sending a new symphony of pain through her flesh. She couldn't remember if she had spoken or not, or what he had said to her in response.
Then nothing.
While she considered this, the curtains around the bed opened to admit the matronly form of Madame Pomfrey. Her face brightened when she saw that Seona was awake. "Well, good morning. I was starting to think you weren't going to wake up at all. The last potion I gave you should have worn off an hour ago."
Seona tried to respond, but only managed to produce a vague croak. She licked her lips and tried again. "How long did you keep me drugged?" Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears, as if it didn't quite belong to her.
"Only two days. I wanted to give a chance for your nerves to heal without you having to feel it."
"I think I need another day. At least." Head lolling back against the pillows, she tried to make her body relax. It still felt as though it was stretched to the limit.
"I'll give you a potion for the pain in a moment," the mediwitch assured her. "But you need to start moving your body again or it will get too stiff and you'll have even worse problems." Seona simply sighed in resignation and lay quietly while the woman fussed over her, muttering charms and comments on her progress. The quicker it was over, the quicker she could take something for the pain.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was almost two weeks since the ordeal at Halloween. She had been given three days to recover in the hospital wing, then it had been suggested that she should resume her lessons as normal. Since she had finally stopped feeling weak and ill every time someone touched her, she agreed readily enough. It was boring in the hospital, even if her friends came to see her every day after classes finished.
Professor Snape had paid her a visit as well, bringing with him a very downcast Draco Malfoy. Seona's cheeks had burned and her fingers twitched slightly as she imagined fastening them around the boy's neck and squeezing. She held the impulse in check however, as he ground out something that passed for an apology. Snape had glared at him, and he had repeated the phrase with a little more grace before escaping from the room as soon as she had murmured an acceptance. Snape had given her a look that actually seemed to contain a touch of sympathy and informed her that Malfoy had been given two weeks worth of detentions. That had mollified her a little, but it wasn't going to stop her from hating him.
Now she stood at the door to the Headmaster's office and wondered for the hundredth time why he had called her here. Taking a deep breath, she raised a hand and rapped sharply on the wooden panels of the door. A muffled "Come in!" was followed by the door swinging open of its own accord. Steeling herself, she went in and stood politely in front of the huge oak desk.
Dumbledore looked up at her, eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. Well, at least he didn't look angry, she though in relief. He motioned for her to take a seat, then began to speak once she was seated. "First of all, Miss MacGinty, I want you to understand that what I am about to tell you is your own information. You can share it or not as you wish." He was more serious now, and she nodded with some trepidation. He continued, "When you were taken to the hospital wing at Halloween, Madame Pomfrey checked to see if you were under any other curses than the one which Professor Snape heard cast. What she found was not a curse, but a memory charm which had blocked off a part of your mind. After a short discussion, it was decided that we would not remove the memory block until we had spoken with you about it. Do you have any idea when or why such a block would have been placed?"
Somewhat taken aback, Seona frowned and had a quick rummage through her own mind. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "I'm afraid not, Headmaster. Even knowing that it's there, I still can't find any hint of its presence. Which, I suppose, only proves it's doing its job. It would be a fairly shoddy memory block if it didn't block the fact that it was there." She smiled wanly, then added, "But if I ever knew why it was being put there, that knowledge is behind the block as well."
The Headmaster sighed. "That was what I was afraid of. So I give you a choice. You can leave it as it is, or it can be opened. Even in the opening, there is a choice. If you wish, we can carry out the procedure while you are in a state of half-consciousness and then reinstall the block when we are finished. You need never even have to think about it again, because we can also block your memory of finding out about it. Or, we can simply remove the block and allow you to assimilate those memories into your life."
A choice indeed. Seona sat silently for a few moments, weighing up the options. She certainly didn't like the idea of having someone rummage through her memories and reinstall the block. That just wasn't even a valid option. So the question was, did she want to know what was hidden there? Well, the answer to that was simple. Of course she did. Her own natural curiosity wasn't going to let her leave this one alone. She took another deep breath and raised her eyes to meet Dumbledore's.
"Open it. I'll deal with whatever we find."
Dumbledore nodded and pulled out his wand. Pointing it at her head, he began to chant softly as she felt her eyelids growing heavier. She struggled against the invading urge to sleep, but it wasn't long before unconsciousness overtook her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She was lying on a couch in a strange room, and her head felt as though it was on fire as she tried to make out her surroundings. "I have to stop waking up like this," she murmured to herself.
For the second time in as many weeks, she tried to reconstruct her last moments of consciousness. She had been called to Dumbledore's office, she remembered. He had told her of a memory block that had been found in her head during her time in hospital. He had asked her what she wished to do about it, and she had decided to have it removed. Then he had cast a spell.
So what about those hidden memories? She turned her attention inwards, looking for anything that hadn't been there before. Everything still seemed to be in order. So what was the big deal? Was it merely some really dull boring fact that she wouldn't notice? She probed deeper.
Abruptly, she sat up with a horrified gasp. The sudden movement turned out to have been a very bad idea, and she slipped from the land of consciousness yet again.
She awoke to see Dumbledore peering down at her in concern. She was dimly aware that she couldn't have been out for long, since Madame Pomfrey wasn't in evidence. But this detail was drowned in the huge flood of horror and loathing that now filled her. She turned pleading eyes on Dumbledore as she clutched at his robes in panic. "What have I done?" It was a whisper. It was a plea. It begged the world to tell her she was wrong, that it was all a cruel joke.
The Headmaster's eyes were sad and filled with sympathy. "It could not be helped," he replied in a voice filled with gentleness and understanding. "And now you have people who can help you. Now, sleep for a while. Sleep without dreams." He held a vial to her lips and she barely managed to choke down the mixture. Within moments, she found blessed oblivion.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
REVIEWERS TRIBUTE:
Many thanks go to:
Beth the Fox - Yay! *giggle* I made someone scream! Glad you like it. :)
Skyfire - Here's the next one.
Atropos - I agree... he is a pleasant and attractive person... Oh, wait! I don't think that was quite what you meant.... *grin*
Melanie C - Good question. And hey, I'm just chuffed that someone actually takes the time to comment on every single chapter! :)
Little Miss Insane - Well, all shall soon be revealed... maybe.
Sarah - It's a challenge to write well for a good 'bad guy', but the best part is that you CAN show so many sides to them.
Morbane - Not really the enemy here (at least, not intentionally), but I figure they'd be unlikely to get along very well. If nothing else, there's the house rivalry and the fact that Snape tends to pick on Gryffindors.
Saotomealita - Here's more. :)
Vexus - Thanks. It's good to get confirmation that I am actually keeping them in character.
kaori - Well, they certainly won't 'do stuff' for quite some time yet. But I promise you'll have plenty of warning.
Kudra - Oh, she has them. She just didn't know about them until now. *grin*