Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 6.
The next two hours were lost inside tomes of formulary varying in age spectacularly, and in journals where any mention of age related potions had come to his attention. He knew before he began however, that there was little point in his efforts. In a society where accidents were somewhat inevitable, there was a precedent for incidents such as these. Any injury, accidental transformation, malformation or general altering of a person's physical being or personality that could not be wholly reversed within two weeks of the initial incident had to be reported to the Ministry. It was then up to them to decide what was to be done next.
In some cases they were quite willing for individuals to be allowed to carry on their lives as before, however when there was in essence a dependant involved, things became more complex. It was the Ministry's right to deign that they were a 'new' individual, and therefore had to be awarded rights. If this was the decision that they came to this had further repercussions, as it meant that any further attempt to return this new individual to the old would be to commit actual bodily harm or, depending on the judge at the time and how successful the attempt was, even murder.
The nature of the kind of potion he could only assume they were dealing with, would require months of research. Even if he knew exactly what the concoction had been, it would take weeks to work on an antidote that may well never be found. Severus wasn't a defeatist, he was just aware that the chances of his success were minimal, not that he was going to let that stop him trying. However, there was only so long he could keep up his concentration after a night without sleep, and with all the day's events churning through his mind. So deciding that a change was as good as a rest, he stood and headed quickly towards the Hospital wing.
After he had spoken to the Headmaster in his classroom earlier he had been more than slightly concerned for the older man's well being. He cared deeply for Albus Dumbledore and knew quite well how deeply the loss of his bestfriend, confidante and lover would be, due to the fact that he had watched her go through exactly the same thing at the end of the war when they had genuinely believed that Albus had not survived. In any case when he quietly entered the ward, not sure of what kind of state of affairs he was likely to find inside, he was a little shocked to see no sign of Albus.
The room was dark, with the blinds drawn against the Autumnal sunlight, bar the light that was given off by the small globe that sat on the bedside cabinet next to where he had deposited his colleague earlier. He could see the outline of the child however, sitting upright, her back up against the wall with her knees tucked under her chin. She was looking about and even from this distance he could tell she certainly didn't look as relaxed as someone he was fairly certain was supposed to be sleeping. It made sense that the medi-witch would try and have the young girl get some more sleep, as she could have only had a few hours the previous night added onto the upset that this whole situation must be causing her. However calm she appeared, it didn't seem to be working.
It was clear that Poppy was busy in another part of the wing, so when Minerva turned to look at him as the door swung shut with a gentle thunk, he decided he ought to try and do his best to remedy the problem.
"Good morning Miss McGonagall." He said as he pulled up a chair and tried not to think about how odd it felt to be saying that.
"Halò." She replied and lifted up the end of her pigtail and waved it at him. He couldn't help but let his amusement show a little at this.
"Well done." He replied a little sarcastically. He had discussed the language issue with Albus earlier and it had seemed that they both acknowledged that though it would be useful to understand the basics of Gaelic to help her, if she were to be with them for any length of time it would be far more productive if she were to learn English. Severus also knew that the best way for that to happen would be for her simply to be exposed to people speaking it.
"Well, what are you supposed to be doing?" He asked, placing the books he had brought with him on the bureau. Before he could get any further the medi-witch came through the door from her office.
"Still not sleeping?"
"It would seem not – I'm fairly certain I didn't wake her up." He added for good measure.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry – she seems a little too perturbed to relax enough to actually sleep at the moment. Did you get breakfast?" She added, seemingly at random.
"Ummm, no – why?"
"Oh – I tried her with porridge but she wasn't interested. She did drink the milk though."
"Well I suppose that's a start. It's hardly surprising she's a little hesitant though."
"True. And you need to eat – it's another three hours till lunch." Though he wouldn't admit it aloud he was beginning to feel somewhat starved. "What would you like? – and I'll ask one of the house elves to bring it up from the kitchen."
"Porridge would be good – but salted not sweet, and some tea and toast would be nice. Thank you."
"Well, there's the sum total of no-point in you or Albus making yourselves ill." The nurse muttered under her breath.
"Where is the Headmaster by the by? I expected to find him here."
"And you probably would have if I hadn't forced a sleeping draught down his throat and sent him back to his chambers as soon as he arrived back from the dungeon."
"I think that was likely a wise move." Severus said.
"Then thank you for your praise of my skills." The witch snapped back in an entirely uncharacteristic fashion. Running a hand over her face she sighed. "This situation seems to be getting the better of all of us." She continued more distantly. "I had Georgina in tears earlier when we were trying to come up with something approximating acceptable day wear for the honey." As she spoke she stroked the raven hair that covered the girls head.
Severus bit back a retort about the fact that the teary woman was a Hufflepuff and so this should have come as no surprise.
"In any case, I'll go speak to someone about breakfast." She said standing up and heading back towards her office. Severus picked up one of his books and flicked it open and began skimming for anything that might be of use. After a moment he was aware that he was being watched intently. Usually he would have just ignored this but in his already unsettled state of mind he knew there was no chance of his being able to concentrate.
Glancing up he realised that Minerva was now sitting on the edge of the bed looking rather intently at him. Without pause Severus simply began reading aloud, deeming that potions texts were as good as anything for her to be hearing. Five minutes later there was the characteristic pop of a house elf arriving in the room. He thought nothing of it but the girl seemed to get the shock of her life as she all but flew at him. After the initial shock though, the look on her face morphed into one much closer to interest than fright. He detached herself from his leg voluntarily as the elf began to speak.
"I's is sorry Master. Didn't mean to frighten little Miss!" Thankfully for Severus's sanity, this specimen seemed much more concise and coherent than most.
"No harm done." He said taking the tray. "Thank you." With that the creature bowed its head and scurried out of the ward. Summoning one of the tables from the other bay he put the tray down on that as he watched Minerva struggle to get up onto the adult height bed again. After a few minutes he conceded and, leaning forward, gave her a boost up. He tested the porridge noting that for once, not only was it hot but that there had been no sugar anywhere near it. After salting it he tucked in, only to stop again a few moments later when he realised he was being watched once again.
"Tha an t-acras mòr orm." She said looking at the spoon he was resting on the edge of the plate.
"You want a taste?" He asked holding it out to her. She leant in and took the spoon from him, and though he had worries that his breakfast would end up on the floor, she managed to get the entire spoonful into her mouth. As she swallowed her eyes lit up in obvious approval.
Shaking his head a little he couldn't help but push the bowl towards her, sacrificing the rest of his portion in favour for the toast. He watched her over the rim of his teacup as she managed to finish off the rest of the cereal and was most surprised by her competency with the utensil for she never spilt a drop and managed by some miracle to keep her face clean.
Just as she was finishing, the mediwitch came back into the room at quite a pace.
"Fillius is sending up one of his second years he think might be coming down with something." She told him by way of explanation as she began drawing partitions around the bay where they were settled. "So I'll give you a little privacy." He nodded a little in response. "Did she…?" She asked as she finished obviously realising that Minerva was scraping the bottom of the bowl.
"Yes, she stole my breakfast if that's what you're asking."
"Oh, that's good I suppose. You salted it?"
"Yes." He replied.
"Well, maybe that's it – hers had been sweetened. Well I think that's my patient, I'll check back in with you shortly, ok?" She asked, flashing a smile at the young girl who returned it a little hesitantly. He noticed as the other woman left that she could barely keep her eyes open. She was fighting it though, even when he moved the table away from between them and shifted his seat closer so that he could gently encourage her to lie down and pull the blankets over her. As he was rearranging the top a little hand snaked out and grabbed his hand. Severus's forehead creased.
"And what exactly am I supposed to do now?" He asked her. Opening her eyes she just looked up at him and said quietly:
"Tapadh leibh." With a sigh and a shake of his head, Severus gave in once again.
Rearranging himself he picked up the book he had been reading before and continued on silently from where he had finished aloud. After managing the feat of balancing the heavy tome on his knee, he quickly became immersed in the details of the case studies involving age altering potions.
The sound of Poppy's voice was just audible as she asked the student at the other end of the ward to follow certain instructions. He could hear the rattle as they coughed and the tick of the pulse rate monitor. A few minutes later he glanced down and was a little relieved to see that Minerva had fallen asleep.
"You really are a miracle worker aren't you?" Poppy commented in a whisper as she pulled back one of the screens, entered the enclosed space and shut it again.
"Hardly." He replied equally quietly. "How's your other patient?"
"He's doped to the eyeballs with antibiotics but should be fit to go back to the warren this evening. My first respiratory infection of the year." She added with a small smile. "And I meant what I said earlier, she seems to trust you."
"That may be," he began as he tried to pull his arm free, "but it still escapes my understanding why."
"Well that's hardly important is it?" The other woman decided as she began to straighten up the bedclothes unnecessarily, before beginning to run a few further check-up tests. Severus turned back to his book as she worked, having given up on freeing his arm for the moment. "She still seems to be fine and there doesn't appear to be any reason that she should be kept here for very much longer." His head shot up at this.
"Don't you think that it's still a little early to be saying that kind of thing?" He asked.
"Not if she's under the care of someone who's relatively competent; after all a hospital wing is hardly the place for a child who is well." The mediwitch countered from the other side of the bed. "Which brings me to the next point. I think you should be charged with her care Severus, at least in the short time."
"Are you…!" He started loudly but hushed as he felt the child between them stir. He quietened his voice but gratefully retrieved his hand which Minerva had released as she rolled onto her back. "Are you serious?"
"Entirely so." She replied looking up and catching his eye. "The only time I've seen her come close to relaxing is when you're here."
"I would have thought it made hugely more sense for her to be placed in Albus's care, after all he can speak the same language as she does which is bound to be a bonus."
"There are several reasons why I think that's a particularly bad idea. In case you hadn't noticed, Albus isn't as young as he was and I think you'll agree that he's probably more than a little distressed about what's happened. Add that on to the fact that there could quite possibly be issues, for some people, in leaving a three year old version of the individual with her lover."
"You cannot be serious if you genuinely believe that he would…" He all but hissed at her.
"Of course I don't. But if we do end up having to take this to the ministry, it might look more than a little odd." She countered just as forcefully.
"Then surely it would be better to place her with one of the female members of staff then?" The mediwitch sighed.
"You have to understand that from what I know, and from what Albus has told me, the only person that this child has ever spent any quantity of time with was her father. She seems to like you, Fillius and Albus more than she likes any of the females she's come into contact with thus far, which is understandable if she doesn't know how to react to us. The Headmaster even went as far as suggesting that the reason she seems to have taken a fancy to you is that you remind her of Malcolm. By all accounts he didn't take fools lightly, I have little doubt that he loved his wife and daughter but he was a serious, intense man from what I've gathered. That said – the similarities ought to be obvious." Severus said nothing for a moment, trying to think how he ought to respond to that.
"I still maintain that there must be a better arrangement. Not only am I supposed to be teaching classes, but it would be useful if I managed to actually get some research into an antidote done!"
"You and I both know Severus that it's not going to happen like that. It's a question of balance. I suspect that Albus would not object if you didn't return to teach immediately and I'm sure that the others will be more than willing to lend a hand in looking after her." She continued.
"I still don't think this is a good idea."
"I'll have the house elves do some basic work on your spare room then." She said with an air of finality.
A/N:
Halò – Hello.
Tha an t-acras mòr orm – I'm awfully hungry.
Tapadh leibh – thank you (formal)
Yeah – thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really do appreciate it. Keep up the good work wink
Thanks M
xLx
