Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, or ideas (Harry Potter nouns) belong to J.K. Rowlings. Olivia McGonagall, Ferris Longbottom, and Eudora are mine.

Chapter 12: The long stormy night.

Minerva clasped her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment. "No, please, no. Let it be anything but this," she whispered.

"Potter and his friends explained that the dragon they were warned about was heading straight for them and Livie realized it first. Apparently Potter went to retrieve a birdie for someone and didn't see the dragon. Livie was on her broom and rushed over to distract the creature and somehow warn Harry. The dragon knocked her off the broom with its front foot. She's not burnt in any way, but she fell quite a few feet," he relayed.

Minerva stood and began pacing. "What was she doing out there? Why wasn't I paying closer attention? Will she be alright?"

Seeing that she was becoming frantic, he stood and grabbed her by the shoulders. "She's eleven and you can't watch her twenty-four hours a day. It was an accident. You and I will go to St. Mungo's and speak with the healers," he said frankly.

She glared at him. "How can you be so bloody rational? Our daughter is in St. Mungo's and you're calm about this!"

He sighed and let her go. "Someone has to be. One of us has to keep a cool head about this, or we'll be useless to her."

She looked away and he realized there were tears in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and held her for a while. After owling Albus, Severus and Minerva flew to St. Mungo's.

"Can you tell us which room Olivia McGonagall is in?" Minerva asked the hawk-eyed woman at the front desk.

"And what relations are you two?" the woman asked in a pinched squeaky voice.

"We're her parents," Severus answered.

The woman's mouth formed an 'o' and she looked at the sheet in front of her. "She's in room 13B, but I don't think they'll let anyone in there at the moment. She came in earlier today and the healers placed her there to keep her stable," the woman explained.

They walked toward the room in silence, Minerva's eyes never leaving the floor. As they arrived at the door to 13B, three healers emerged. Minerva grabbed one by his sleeve and asked, "Is Olivia McGonagall here and may we see her?"

The healer wore small round glasses and looked similar to a muggle doctor. "She is in need of our care and cannot be disturbed. We will work with her shortly and attempt to repair the damage," he said coolly.

"What sort of damage?" Severus questioned.

One of the other healers answered. "When she fell, spinal nerve damage occurred. The procedures to correct and fix the problem are reliable, but nothing is guaranteed."

"If she's not being helped at the moment, then why can't we see her? She's my daughter and I demand to see her!" Minerva articulated adamantly.

The healer sighed. "There's nothing you can do for her tonight, so I suggest that the two of you go home and come back tomorrow."

"I most certainly will not! I intend to stay here all night if I have to!" she retorted.

"Madame, we have no way of accommodating you at the moment," he tried to tell her.

Severus gently grasped Minerva's shoulders. "There's nothing we can do here. We should leave and return tomorrow."

She glared at him fiercely. "How can you say that? She's not just my daughter, but yours also," Minerva paused and slapped him. He looked at her completely perplexed. "Now get over there and find a way to fix this," she told him, pointing to Livie's room.

He nodded and walked toward the healer. "If you don't let her see the girl for a moment, she'll probably hex both of us into the next century," Severus stated.

The healer looked at Minerva and nodded slowly. "I suppose I could let you two stay for a moment, but only a moment."

"Thank you so much," Minerva remarked.

They found a small room with a single bed and several monitoring devices sticking in various places to a small obsidian-haired girl in the bed. Minerva rushed over to Livie while Severus strode over calmly. She stood beside the bed and stroked her daughter's hair. Much to her surprise, the girl opened her eyes.

"Mum," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have been flying, and I probably shouldn't have-"

Minerva would not tolerate Livie's blaming herself. "It's alright. I know it was an accident. It was not your fault. You were very brave to save Mr. Potter."

Livie simply watched her. "Mum, why are you crying? I'll be fine. Is Uncle Severus with you?"

Severus stepped up from behind Minerva and rested his hand on Livie's. "I'm here, Poppet."

Her eyes met his and a sense of pleading passed between them. "Uncle Severus, please tell Mum that everything's going to be fine. The healers will fix whatever is wrong and…" she trailed off, hoping he understood that she needed to hear that everything would be fine as much as Minerva did.

Severus swallowed hard, unaware that a single tear had slipped past his defenses. He gently patted her shoulder and nodded. "Yes, Poppet, everything will be fine."

Livie smiled, trying not to notice that Minerva was still crying. To her surprise, Minerva took Severus' hand and spoke. "Livie, we have something we want you to know before anything else happens."

She glanced at Severus and he nodded. "Poppet, you have always had a father. I am your father," he admitted.

Livie smiled again. "Thank goodness. I wouldn't want anyone else as a father." A smile spread across Severus' face at that moment that nothing could erase.

"We should probably explain to you how this came about. I know you've seen that old potions book with the sleeping draught on one side and the fertility potion on the other side. A student dropped the fertility potion on me one day and I did not know what it was. It is activated by touch. I was looking for a place to wash it off and I ran into Severus. He just found out this year that he is your father. I should have told you both a long time ago," Minerva conveyed.

"That's alright, Mum," the girl responded.

"I'm sorry, but we really can't let you two stay any longer. I have to ask you to leave," one of the healers called out.

Minerva and Severus turned back to Livie. "We love you very much and we promise to come back tomorrow," he told her.

"I love you guys too," Livie answered.

As the two left the room, another healer walked up to them. He was a distinguished man with graying black hair, an agouti, and silver streaks at the temples underneath round glasses. "I am so terribly sorry that I was not here when you two arrived. Her condition is not good, but it is not as bad as what is told to you. Most likely she will make a full recovery," he reassured them as they prepared to return to Hogwarts.

They shared a small quiet dinner in Severus' rooms. Minerva managed to eat a little of her shepherd's pie, but she could only pick at the rest with her fork. Then she set the fork down and began pacing. Severus used his wand to clean up the dishes and then tried to catch up to Minerva.

"I can't believe they wouldn't just allow us to stay the night! I am certain that we are not the only parents to make a request like that! Why can't they understand that she's…" Severus caught Minerva as she began to sob and pulled her to the couch.

"I know how badly you want to be there with her. We have done all we can and now it's up to the healers. I miss her too," he relayed.

She wanted to accuse him of not caring as much as she did. "I can't believe you would…" but she changed her mind when she noticed tears in his eyes as well. "Severus, I'm sorry I thought you didn't care. And I'm sorry I slapped you. You've been right the whole time. We need to be more rational."

He kissed her forehead. "Livie's right, everything will be fine. I think I need some brandy."

"I'd like some too," she stated as he stood and went in search of the bottle.

They talked about everything except the one thing that troubled them most. What Severus failed to pay attention to was how many glasses of brandy Minerva had poured for herself. He looked over at the bottle and thought that it ought to contain more liquid.

Minerva, how many glasses of brandy have you had?" he questioned.

He watched closely as she set the glass down and nearly missed the coffee table. "I believe I've had five. Care to make it six?" Her eyes almost dared him to pour her another glass. He picked up the bottle and both glasses, placing them in the kitchen.

"That was not exactly a good idea and I am sorry. Trust me when I tell you that you can't drown your problems in alcohol. I think it is best that we retire. You're going to have a dragon-sized headache in the morning." He hugged her and said, "Goodnight."

"Capital idea!" she stated, attempting to stand.

He sighed and shook his head as he watched her sway and try to steady herself on the arm of the couch. "Perhaps it would be better if you stayed on the couch."

She nodded. "Goodnight, Severus. That plan is perfectly elementary," she mentioned before curling into a little ball at one end of the couch. He dressed in his nightclothes and made his way to bed, not expecting anything unusual to occur.

The room was bathed in black darkness when she woke, head still quite fuzzy and completely unaware of her surroundings. Where am I and why is it so blasted cold in here? I must have fallen asleep on my couch, she reasoned. Standing, she attempted to feel her way to what she thought was her bedroom. Ouch! Oh, that wasn't good. I'm so cold! Who put that there? I don't want to know what that is, she thought as she bumped into and knocked over several various objects hidden by darkness.

Finally she reached the bedroom. Her head was too muddled to remember that she was fully dressed as she crawled between the sheets and the blanket. Ah, warm again. Somewhere her mind realized that there was someone else there. "Goodnight, Severus," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his chest and fell asleep.

Severus turned off his alarm and immediately realized that something was different. He looked at his arms and then he noticed the other pair of arms around his chest. "The last time I checked, I only had two arms. If these other arms aren't mine, then whose are they?" he asked aloud. Then he remembered Minerva supposedly sleeping on the couch. He turned and, as he expected, he found Minerva. "Ahem, Minerva, what on earth are you doing in here?"

His voice sounded uncomfortably loud as she opened her eyes slowly. When she realized why she did not immediately see her arms, she moved back with speed associated with her animagus form. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a panicked voice.

"That's what I just asked you. You're in my room," he reminded.

She rubbed her temples. "Not so loud please. Last night is a bit dodgy. I remember waking up in the dark and being quite cold. I must have thought that I was in my own rooms and wandered off to bed."

"And you didn't think it strange to find me here?" he inquired.

She blushed. "I am genuinely sorry. I was cold and I was definitely not thinking clearly. Oh, I had three glasses too many last night. Promise you'll never let me drink that much again."

He chuckled. "It's partly my fault for bringing the bottle out anyway."

As he left the bed, she noticed that he wore black pajamas. "Does the colour black cling to everything you wear?" she asked with a smirk.

He turned back to her for a moment. "Actually I have green dress robes here somewhere."

She smiled and then grimaced and walked over toward him. "Do you have anything for a headache of this sort?"

"I most definitely do. If you could just give me a few moments, I'll find something," he told her.

She waited for him on the couch and he emerged a few minutes later wearing his usual black robes. He stepped over several fallen objects, mostly books and a few collected nick-knacks as he made his way to her. She jumped up and started to apologize again. "Severus, I can't tell you how sorry I am about how poorly I handled myself yesterday and last night. I just-"

He had placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her gently. "I was surprised this morning, but I rather like waking up with you. Yesterday was a trial for all of us. By the way, you managed to make an exquisite mess of my living room, knocking over all that you did. Now, go on back to your rooms and do whatever you need to do and we will check on Livie."

She nodded and transformed into a cat, scampering off toward her rooms when he opened the door. As she turned back into her human form and passed through her door, she wondered how her Gryffindors were handling what had happened to Livie.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had spent the night in the Common Room in sleeping bags, mostly talking about what had happened. In the early hours of the morning they were still talking. "It's all my fault. I should have been more aware. I was lucky that I even heard her warning me," Harry lamented.

"Look, mate, it wasn't your fault. Bad things happen and if you want to blame anyone, blame the man who owned the dragon," Ron mentioned.

"Ron's right. It was an accident, but she will be back and everything will be fine again," Hermione tried to reassure him.

Harry sighed heavily. "Everyone who tries to help me gets hurt. Why in the world did she have to take on a dragon?"

"Because she's a Gryffindor like the rest of us and she's also very brave," Ginny answered.

"We know she's at St. Mungo's. Why don't we all ask Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape what room she is in and visit her?" Hermione suggested.

"That's probably a bad idea," Harry stated.

Ginny yawned. "Why?"

"After what happened, Snape probably wants me dead," Harry remarked.

"I think we should still ask. I'm will and anyone who would like to come with me is welcome," Hermione relayed.

An hour later, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Harry had managed to track down the professors before they returned to St. Mungo's. Hermione was planning to speak, but Harry decided to talk to them instead. "Professors, we are incredibly sorry for what happened and would like to visit Livie to make amends. May we accompany the two of you to St. Mungo's?"

Minerva turned to Severus. "We should let them come. It might help to make the whole thing easier on everyone," she recommended.

"But he's the reason she's in St. Mungo's to begin with!" he said in a harsh whisper.

"It wasn't his fault. He just wants to tell her that he is sorry," Minerva tried to convince him.

After a few more moments in deliberating, he agreed. "Alright, they can come. Let's not waste anymore time now."

When they entered St. Mungo's they were greeted by the distinguished healer who had told them the previous day that the damage was not as severe as what they had been told. "Good morning to you. I have remarkable news. The procedure went according to plan and your daughter is fine. She'll spend another day here and then we will transfer her back to your school's infirmary, where she should spend another two days. Then she should be rested enough to return to her classes."

Minerva was beaming. "May we see her now?"

The healer nodded and led the entourage to room 13B. They entered to find Livie sitting up in bed, looking out of her window.

(my thanks to Quill of Minerva, TartanLioness, Lizella, Crazy-Physco, Clove, and Lady of the Twilight Woods for reviewing :D)