Chapter Five
Recalled to Life
"Will she be all right Albus?"
"I don't know, Minerva. I just don't know."
"But surely she can't--"
"Poppy has done all she can, and that's more than we can ask. All we can do now is wait."
The rumbling became clearer as the voices grew louder, though they were still whispers. A mouse scampered across the linoleum floor. A window was open, and the wind whistled through the drapes. It was her hearing that was the first sense to return to her. She could hear the scuffle of feet as the two adults shifted uneasily where they stood. As she tried to figure out whom the voices belonged to, a tingling sensation spread through her entire body as her muscles aroused from their sleep. A million needles pricked every crevice, making her want to scratch uncontrollably. Everything hurt; she was in so much pain. But she didn't care how she felt, as long as she could feel again. The voices, they belonged to a man and a woman. They sounded worried. Worried about her. She could here the sighs and sense the frustration. Things came back to her even slower than they had drifted away; she longed to stretch her aching back but her body would not yet let her. So she laid there, her eyes still closed, for her sight was the last thing to return. She began to breath a little deeper. She began to remember. She shut her closed eyes even tighter as the memories flooded her mind. She clenched her hands and dug her nails into her palms as she started to relive the events. The woman's muscles were now fully awake; they began to endure spasms, which caught the two figures' eyes. She thrashed even more, and the older woman became more concerned.
"Albus, shouldn't we wake her?"
"No, it would be too dangerous." He did not give an explanation as to why, but the woman knew better than to question him. So she sat with her arms crossed, looking over her glasses at the troubled woman. The man went to the side of the bed and sat down in a chair. He placed his hand on top of hers, and she immediately relaxed. Her eyes opened slowly. Her vision was not yet back to its full potential; everything was blurry. Dark colors mixed together to form an abstract painting that she could not comprehend. But one color struck her in particular--white. She turned her heavy head to the man sitting next to her. She held his hand tight as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Father?" she whispered. The man looked down, sad and tired. The tears fell, and she could see more clearly. She registered the half moon spectacles and the hooked nose.
"No, child," he whispered back. She looked up into his eyes, tears forming all the same.
"Albus." She smiled--it even hurt to smile. It faded quickly for she was afraid her jaw would fall into her lap. She squeezed his hand even tighter. "It's so good to see you again." The old man smiled.
"It is good to see you also." He looked up at the woman who was watching them intently. "She's fine, Minerva. You may go now." The old witch looked at the woman and smiled.
"Welcome back, Reign."
"Thank you," she breathed. The older woman nodded to Albus. He returned it. She turned on her heel and strode out of the room. She nearly hit the ceiling when she reached the door, for someone had been listening to their conversation.
"Severus!" She grabbed her heart, weary that it had stopped. Severus Snape shot straight up off the wall and straightened his robes. He smoothed back his hair and glared at the woman. She smiled to herself, remembering the reason he was probably there. "She's going to be fine." He looked away. She smiled out loud, and left him standing outside the Infirmary. He moved closer to the entrance, trying to listen to all that was going on inside.
Every time her chest movement peaked her eyes closed as she inhaled the sterile atmosphere of the Infirmary. Albus waited patiently for her to return to her normal self; Severus waited impatiently. He was about to leave when he heard someone stir. The sheets scraped across her body as she stretched and groaned. It felt so good to stretch. Her mouth hung open as a great yawn escaped her lips. She laid one hand over her head on her pillow, and took the Headmaster's hand in her other. She gazed into his twinkling eyes, and she started her story without being told.
"It was three nights ago. I was sleeping, or at least trying to. The ground started to shake. I looked outside and all I could see was a sea of black. It washed over our village, killing everyone who came in contact with it." She shut her eyes and gripped the man's hand tighter. "No one could stop them. There were too many of them. They had caught us off-guard. Even the strongest men in the army, even Jonah--" she stopped. Tears fell silently down her soft cheeks. Albus stroked her hand.
"It's all right. Take your time," he said soothingly. She took a deep breath and began again.
"They destroyed everything and everyone. I tried to help as many people escape as I could, but it wasn't enough. There was about a thousand people living in our city." She shut her eyes again. "Now only about a hundred remain." The man's head dropped. How hard that must have been for her. "It happened so fast. Our village of thousands of years, wiped out in one night." Her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed. "I remember everything. The brilliant colors of the curses, the horrible screams of the children--" her voice cracked and her eyes closed. "And that laughter. That terrifying laughter." She shivered as she recalled the sound. She arched her back to make it stop, then she relaxed and stared up at the ceiling. "He was looking for me, Albus." She sat up very slowly, and the man did not stop her. "Voldemort was looking for me." He didn't seem surprised that it was the Dark Lord she had been speaking of.
"He was after your potion?"
"Yes. But I told him that I had destroyed it, which was true! He didn't believe me, or maybe he did and was just disappointed. But nevertheless he killed all those people--all because of me!" The tears poured out of her eyes but she stared straight ahead, trying to forget. Albus didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't her fault, for that would be a lie. And he was disheartened because of it. She wiped the tears from her eyes and started another fragment of her story.
"I was the last one out, as far as I could tell. Everyone that was still alive had run off in different directions. I couldn't find anyone. So I ran. I ran to the only place I could think of." She turned and looked at Albus, dried tears streaked her face and her eyes were large and soft. "I didn't know where else to go. I'm sorry." She looked down into her hands as the old man straightened up.
"Sorry?" He laughed. "Don't be sorry for coming here. We are always glad to have you. I'm honored that you chose Hogwarts." He smiled down at her. "But I do wonder how you managed to run for three days with that large gash in your side." Reign had all but forgotten about the pain from her wound. But the memory of it ignited the agony. She clenched the scar as she remembered.
"Voldemort gave this to me. A curse that he said would consume me slowly, eating away at my body until there was nothing left. Then it would devour my soul." Dumbledore's eyes grew wide. "It started out as a small scratch, but it grew--" she stopped. "Obviously." Now all she had left was a scar. "I bet Poppy had her work cut out for her." Albus laughed again.
"She certainly did. Especially since you were--" he paused. "Since you weren't with us." She smiled. She wasn't about to tell him what it was like to die; he would find out sooner or later. The old wizard stood up from his seat and straightened his robes. "Well, you are welcome to stay here as long as you wish."
"Thank you Albus. Thank you so much."
"I'm not sure I should be the one you're thanking." His eyes drifted over her head as Poppy walked toward them. She smiled and they returned it.
"Glad to see you're all right Reign. We were getting worried about you." She placed a water jug onto the table next to the bed. Before she could stand up, the woman grasped her hands and held them tight.
"Thank you Poppy. Thank you for resurrecting me." Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened a bit.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it that--"
"No, no. That's exactly what you did. Thank you so much." She lifted the woman's hands and kissed them gently. Poppy felt a warm current flow through her body. She looked from Albus, who was smiling, to Reign, who had just given the most sincere gratitude in the history of such gratefulness. She pulled her hands away from Reign's grasp and laid them on top of her hands.
"Your very welcome." They both smiled at each other. Albus sidestepped to the edge of the bed, ready to leave. Reign lowered herself back onto her pillow. The light from the candles created shadows that danced across the ceiling. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the dancing had stopped. Madam Pomfrey had blown out the candles. She was bathed in darkness, but could still hear the shuffle of feet.
"Goodnight, Reign," said Albus. He whispered his thanks to Poppy and wished her a good night also. Reign heard him leave the room. Severus was still waiting outside as the Headmaster exited the Infirmary. Albus did not seem as surprised to see him as Professor McGonagall had. He placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his black eyes. "Are you going to be all right, Severus?" He seemed genuinely concerned.
"Yes, I'll be fine," he mumbled as he turned to leave. Albus watched him as he stalked down the hall. He hoped that the Potions master would be fine. He was a changed man since the last time Reign had come into their lives; he had become a bitter man. Albus hoped that he could change again.
Poppy folded her hands and walked to the end of the bed. She whispered to her patient.
"Get some sleep, child. You've been through a lot."
She couldn't have been more right.
***
NOTE: I suppose I should state that the title of this chapter is from the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. If you've read it, you will understand. If not, well, that's OK too. It's a pretty good book, but not worth the two hundred pages it takes to get to the good part (the end). Nevermind, I'm rambling. A/N: The Book the First and Book the Second thing is also from that novel. Hope you're enjoying this!
