A/N: This chapter will be switching times and places. An extra large space between paragraphs will indicate a time change. BTW: Sit back and enjoy!
~M.A. Raie~
Chapter 3The wheels of the carriage creaked with every rotation on its metal axle. The red sun was setting in the distance, casting dark shadows over the earth. The lanterns that hung on each corner of the carriage suddenly sprang to life, emitting a yellow glow before and behind the stallions pulling the carriage. There was no road that they could follow…just the never-ending train tracks stretching for miles.
The people inside were riding in silence, their slack bodies moving with every jolt from the wagon. Severus sat, his back to the horses, looking out of the window between the heads of Ginny and Poppy, though not seeing much of anything.
After what seemed like forever, the three passengers could hear the yelling of commands and cries for help. They became louder and more distinct as the horses carried them closer. Before long, the horses stopped. Severus turned the knob on the carriage door, stepped out and helped both of the mediwitches to the ground. Then, he turned his head and examined the scene before him.
The train was on its side, however most of the cars were still on the tracks. A good few of them had been thrown and strewn across the countryside. Severus just thanked the Gods they weren't traveling over the bridge when this happened. There were adult witches and wizards carrying lanterns and calling orders and replies to each other. Severus, Poppy and Ginny walked up to the person who seemed to be directing the ordeal.
Ginny smiled when they had reached them, "Well, Minister Weasley, what do you make of this?"
Percy Weasley turned and looked down upon his sister. As usual, he had a stern look on his face, however, the light from his lantern only made him look more grave.
"When I received Headmistress McGonagall's first letter, I was easily troubled. I immediately began arranging for the heads in each department to gather and start a search. Not long after her first letter was received, I received a second letter from the Headmistress telling me what a student had said. I could wait no longer. I apparated here myself and was dumbfounded. I assure you – this site was hell when I arrived. To my surprise, I found several students on their feet outside the train. However, some students, unfortunately, were not as lucky," Percy motioned behind him and, for the first time, the three Hogwarts staff members noticed about ten body bags lying fifteen feet away, "As far as what I think about this, I believe it should be evident: this incident could and should have been prevented."
Severus looked around at the scene, "Has everyone been accounted for?"
Percy shook his head, "we are still searching, Professor. The majority of them have been marked down."
"I don't see several of the students," Madam Pomfrey noted in a panicked tone.
Percy nodded, "Several critically injured students have been sent to St. Mungo's. Owls have been sent to their parents, informing them of the accident."
Severus groaned at the thought of having angry, raging parents to deal with. Howlers would be coming in hourly, he was sure of it. Then the image of parents storming the school entered his mind. Knowing this wasn't the time to think about what was going to happen, Severus began helping children, using basic healing charms for small scrapes and bruises and sent them to the St. Mungo's ambulances.
It was a few hours before dawn. Every doctor, Ministry Member and the three Hogwarts staff members who were there had been working nonstop all night long. Out of nowhere, Percy ran up to Severus, who was tending to a child.
"Professor, we have to get the children remaining out of here within three minutes."
"Minister, what is going on," Severus asked.
"The steam engine is too hot. It is trying to start itself up again. It is about to explode."
"Don't you know any spells that can stop this?"
Percy shook his head, "Any charm would need at least five minutes to cast. We don't have that kind of time. Just move!"
Severus pointed his wand at the child in front of him, "Mobilocorpus."
He did this to several of the children around him and in no time, they were over a hundred feet away. Severus was running for cover when he heard a high voice.
"Help! Someone help!"
He looked around. The person yelling could not be seen, so a spell to summon him could not be cast. Severus merely followed the sound of the voice and found the kid. His foot was trapped under a large piece of metal.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Severus chanted.
With a swish and flick of his wand, the metal lifted. Severus lifted the boy into his arms and began running with him when the engine exploded.
"Hoo…hoo-hoo…"
"Morning sunlight streamed in through the gap in the four-poster's forest green velvet curtains and shined onto Treasure's eyes, causing her to blink several times before she was able to focus. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and saw her black owl, Black Magic, trying to get her attention. The Daily Prophet was lying beside him and he looked happy to see his master. She smiled, gave him an owl treat and opened the wizard newspaper. The front page held the story she needed:
Hogwarts' Express Disaster
The Hogwarts' Express, carrying nearly 300 students, was traveling towards Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry yesterday when, sometime before nightfall, it ran off of its tracks scattering several of its passenger cars causing students to endure injuries and, some, even death. Several Ministry of Magic Employees, including the Minister himself, Percy Weasley and mediwitches and mediwizards from St. Mungo's Wizard Hospital were on the scene in no time. It took Hogwarts' own staff almost two hours to make it to the scene and only three staff members showed: two mediwizards and a Potions Master.
Everyone worked for nearly seven hours to locate many of the students, tend to their wounds, send them to St. Mungo's or, for the more unfortunate ones, put them in body bags. It was after 3 AM when the steam engine, the Hogwarts' Express, began starting itself up again. It was lying on its side and couldn't move. Apparently, the strain made the engine heat up too much and it combusted.
Not all reports on what happened after the explosion are available.
~Melissa Skeeter, SC~
Treasure stared at the paper.
Exploded? Daddy was there…is he okay? Oh Gods, what am I going to do?
In the middle of Treasure's thoughts, there was a light knock on the door. Before she could answer, the door opened and her mother's voice broke the silence.
"Treasure," she said quietly, "Treasure, are you awake?"
"Mom," Treasure exclaimed and jumped off of the bed; she ran into Hermione's arms and started to cry, "Momma the train exploded and daddy was there is he okay have you heard from him I need to know please tell me he is okay!"
"Shhh, shhh. Now, Treasure, its okay," Hermione said quietly, "Lets go sit on your bed, okay?"
Treasure nodded and Hermione led her to the bed. Tears were still streaming down Treasure's face. They were hard to control. Hermione held her only daughter's hands in her's. She took a huge breath before she spoke.
"Daddy was near the train last night when it exploded," Hermione was saying slowly and clearly as though she were speaking to a child, "He was going to save a second year when the blast threw him back," by this time, Treasure had controlled her tears long enough to listen to her mother, but her bottom lip was trembling violently, "He hit the ground over a hundred feet away from the train and medical personnel attended to him immediately. They got his breathing stable but they couldn't get him to wake up," Hermione's voice was now cracking slightly and a tear traveled down her cheek, "They got him to St. Mungo's but he is in a coma with second and third degree burns all over his body. He hit his head very hard and his brain is very swollen. The mediwizards don't…don't…they don't know if he will wake up."
After she finished with her news, both she and Treasure burst into uncontrollable sobbing. After a few moments, Hermione regained control of herself.
"Headmistress McGonagall has allowed Remus, you and I to go to St. Mungo's to see your father. Classes won't start for another one or two weeks."
"How could this happen," Treasure asked, "Why did this happen to us?"
"I don't know, sweetie," Hermione replied, shaking her head and holding her daughter in her arms.
"Momma, I am sorry for being so angry with you. I never wanted to hurt you," Treasure cried, "I don't know why I was so angry ---"
"Quiet, Treasure," Hermione whispered, "I forgive you. It is natural, teenage behavior. I did the same thing to my mother when I was your age. Just promise me one thing."
"Anything, momma."
"If I make you mad, tell me so we can resolve it."
Treasure nodded, "I promise."
The bright, white walls engulfed her as she walked down the endless hall, squinting blindly in the light. Everything was whirling around her like she was in the eye of a tornado and everyone else was the debris. Without the hand of her mother holding her own, she would have never made it through the storm. Thanks to her, Treasure found herself standing in the doorway of her father's room, frozen with fear, depression and disbelief.
A nudge in her back told her to move forward, towards her father's bed. As she moved forward, she noticed that father was in bad shape. At least, that is what the bandages extending over extended areas of his body made her believe. Other than that, he looked fine.
He is just sleeping, Treasure told herself, Just having a nap.
No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get reality to leave her alone.
"Remus," Hermione began, interrupting Treasure's thoughts, "You may visit with your father first. Then it will be Treasure's turn."
Remus looked up at Treasure, "Do I have a time limit?"
For the first time, she smiled and kissed her little brother on the forehead, "Take your time."
Treasure and her mother left the room to give the youngest in the family some privacy. Although she insisted that he take his time, Treasure was becoming restless as time passed. After thirty minutes of waiting, she stood and headed for the door.
"Treasure Ryan ---"
"What if he is asleep," Treasure whined, knowing that her mother was going to warn her against opening the door.
"It doesn't matter. Remus and I will respect your time in there as you should respect ours."
She sighed, "I am going to go get something to eat. Would you like something?"
Hermione shook her head and Treasure walked downstairs to the lounge. She got a canned butterbeer and two pumpkin pastries. While walking back up to her father's room, she passed by the front desk.
"Excuse me," Treasure said, "Have either Christina Riddle or Anistasia Riddle been emitted?"
The nurse behind the desk checked her list and shook her head, "No, I am sorry. There are no records of any Riddles being emitted in the past forty eight hours."
"Thanks," Treasure replied sadly and completed her journey to her father's room.
For an hour more, Treasure had to wait before Remus emerged from Severus' room. She smiled weakly at her brother and entered. There was a seat already pulled up to the side of the bed where Remus had previously sat. She, too, took a seat in that chair and took her father's hand in her own. Severus' chest was moving steadily up and down in a rhythmic pattern…his breathing was shallow, but it was steady.
"Daddy," Treasure finally whispered as she brought his hand up to her mouth, "daddy, you have to wake up. You really need to hear this. Daddy, I love you, please don't leave me! I need you! I am sorry about what happened in the Great Hall last night. I know you were looking out for me, but I was too blind to see it. I promise to never be stubborn like that again. I promise…daddy, please wake up! Please tell me that everything is okay! I need you to tell me that you forgive me for what I have done," she exclaimed, tears streaming down her face, "I just want to be the best daughter to you that I can be. I love you."
Treasure lay her head down on the bed and cried herself to sleep. ~+~