Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 28.
Maria Slack had wanted to be a nurse for as long as she could remember and when to her and the rest of her family's complete shock she had received her Hogwarts letter aged eleven she had hadn't let it get in the way of her achieving her goal for a moment. So here she was, thirty years later, a Ward Sister at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She had been in charge of the isolation ward on the second floor of the hospital for almost four years now, and it had been her job to oversee the fully isolated cubicles designed for those whose ailments were so contagious that they had to be kept away from other patients. This ward understandably had a high medi-witch/wizard to patient ratio and it was her job primarily to make sure that all of their patients received the care they needed and to keep all of her staff well and happy, a job that was on some occasions much easier than others. Thus said she would have rated not only her skills as a Healer as verging on formidable but also her ability to deal with people. However, everybody had their limits and it seemed that Maria had today reached hers.
Eight days ago she had received an owl from the Ministry informing her that they were sending her a patient. She had assumed that this patient, for whom she had been given a number rather than a name, would be a prisoner who had become ill enough to require medical treatment. It would not have been the first time that this had been the case as it was far easier to manage a convict in an isolation booth than on a regular ward and though the disruption to her routine that these cases caused was not something she relished, she had learned to deal with the necessary presence of law enforcement officials that this resulted in. She was, therefore, more than slightly taken-a-back when the two young upstarts arrived with a child in their arms. Despite her surprise she had tried to get as much information from them as possible, but they had told her virtually nothing, seeming reluctant in the extreme to say anything at all. They had requested that she find a hospital gown for the child, which frustrated Maria as they had just assured her that the toddler was neither injured nor ill, but she complied with their request with a minimum of fuss.
When she returned from her search, it was to find the child in nothing more than her underwear with her head shorn to the quick. She had questioned what possible need there could be for the removal of the girl's beautiful obsidian locks but the two young men had fobbed her off with some regulation from the Middle Ages. This piece of legislation apparently stated that anyone in custody should have hair longer than a foot removed, as apparently some prisoner had attempted to strangle his jailer with his hair. Maria managed to refrain from pointing out that the likelihood of this child managing to do something similar was remote to say the least but even though she knew that rapid hair growth, with the help of a potion, was not a real challenge, it upset her greatly for some reason. They had barely stayed long enough after this to make sure Maria had no doubt about that fact that the infant was to be kept in the isolation cubicle she had prepared already and was not to be given clothing or anything else without the express permission of the Ministry before thrusting the obviously petrified child into her arms and vanishing.
Had they remained longer they might have felt the sharp side of her tongue, but as it was they had not, and she had had little choice but to get on and fulfil their instructions to her. As she had done her best to get the child to relax she had noted quickly that she did not behave in the fashion she would have expected of a distraught child. She did not scream or cry or shed a tear even, she did not speak at all or even make a noise but allowed herself to be carried and placed without protest. It crossed Maria's mind that it was possible that the child had been deeply traumatised due to something she had witnessed and that this was why the officials were being so cagey about her and the restrictions about those who were to be allowed to have contact with her. It was her husband who had put that theory to rest the following morning as he sat reading the paper at breakfast. It did not take a genius to make the connection between the events reported to have occurred at her former school and the child who had been placed in her care. She had cried before she had arrived at the hospital that day; cried for the teacher whom she had respected hugely and the child for whom she could see no happy ending.
The revelation had not been hers alone it seemed, judging by the reaction of the majority of her staff upon her arrival, but their new knowledge didn't really tell them anything of any use. They now knew whom the child had once grown up to be but really very little else and even over the next few days they did not learn very much more from the child herself. The Little One, as she had become known, had spoken only rarely and even then it had been the same phrase time and again and in a language that none of them understood. They had eventually established that it was Gaelic that she spoke and had made attempts to learn some basics and therefore to communicate with her, but it was not simple as going out and buying a French, German or Italian phrase book. They left the door to her room open, but apart from visiting the bathroom, she did not show any signs of wanting to investigate the rest of the ward. She sat on her pillow, knees drawn up under her chin and big blue eyes following anyone who came near with a detached gaze. They had tried to grab her attention with an array of toys, stuffed animals and books and although the latter had occasionally garnered a certain amount of interest she seemed generally unenthused by them. She had eaten little even when encouraged and seemed only to sleep when her body simply could not stay awake any longer. Maria had been there when she had woken up screaming, covered in a sheen of sweat and obviously even more petrified than she was from hour to hour, so any disinclination to close her eyes was hardly surprising, she supposed.
The Little One had been peacefully asleep however when she had arrived this morning exactly a week after her arrival and that was why she had been quite happy to leave her be as they tended to the morning rounds. Just as they were finishing up, another official from the Department of Law Enforcement arrived and told her quite bluntly that he was to 'guard' the door to the child's isolation cubicle. He had been saved from her wrath, if only temporarily, by the sudden deterioration of one of her genuinely ill patients. She had had to leave him, settling himself in a chair next to the door, as she had gone to tend to the woman three doors down. When she had deemed her well enough to leave her in the care of the junior medi-wizard on duty, she had stepped out of the room pausing in the doorway to ensure that the thorough cleaning charms, designed to work in a millisecond, washed over her several times as a precaution before she left. She was just in time to hear the entrancing singsong voice of the Little One.
"Ma 's e do thoil e, an taigh beag!" She sounded almost desperate and Maria picked up her pace down the corridor. The bulky law enforcement official was standing in the doorway obviously intending to block the child's exit.
"Got no idea what you're saying kid, but you ain't going anywhere," he said in a detached tone, as she drew near.
"What do you think you're…" she began, but the sound of liquid trickling onto the floor from some height caused her to turn and look again at the Little One. The corner of her lip was firmly clamped between her teeth, eyes for the first time since her arrival wet with unshed tears and the growing puddle at her feet making it obvious why she had been trying to leave the room.
That was when her patience had finally run out and, to coin a phrase, she had 'lost it'. She crouched down in an instant, vanishing the mess with a wave of her hand and looked into the child's eyes hoping that she would see the understanding and forgiveness in her own.
"Don't worry Little One; you've done absolutely nothing wrong." She scooped her up into her arms and held her close, cradling her head in the crook of her neck, before straightening up and turning on the imbecile before her.
"You are to leave now and don't even think about coming back," she hissed. "And there will be no replacement. She is a child not a criminal! She's not even ill for Merlin's sake but you want her kept here, and so she's under my protection, and if the Minister himself has a problem with that then he can come and see me about it!" she finished, forcing the young man to back down the corridor towards the door and out of the ward with only the power of her words. This incident, despite Maria's best attempt to make it seem trivial, certainly did nothing to improve the child's state of mind. She was supposed to have had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off this week, but though she managed to stay away on Friday, a prior engagement taking up both her time and to a certain extent her concentration, as soon as she saw the paper the following morning she had been on her way into the hospital.
Maria was not certain what to think about the news of who the only couple to successfully apply for guardianship of the Little One, Anna, were, but it was certainly the hope of a name that she would be familiar with and that they could use without the fear of the weight of the law hanging above their head. When she had arrived on the ward, she had stopped and simply stood outside the isolation cubicle watching its inhabitant for a moment. The child looked so small and alone, as if the room was merely the physical manifestation of the emotional detachment that was so obvious in her every action or inaction. Over the last week she had lost enough weight to make her cheekbones almost protrude from her skin, a skeletal image not helped by her shaved head. Her hair had grown a little, but only enough to result in a soft fuzz which Anna now absentmindedly ran her hand over. At that moment, as if sensing Maria's inspection, she looked up with those huge blue eyes and tilting her head just looked at her. She looked away and opened the door stepping into the cubicle and approaching the bed slowly.
"Good morning Anna." She said quietly. The child, whose eyes had once more drifted away, suddenly turned to look at her so intensely it was if she were examining her very soul.
"Càite a bheil m'Daidein agus Moony?" She asked a sense of urgency plain to hear in her voice as she knelt up, seeming to want to see more of the corridor, as if expecting to see someone arriving. Though the mediwitch had no idea what it was that the child had asked, she did recognise a portion of the question, assuming that was what it was, from the one she had posed time and time again in response to their attempts to speak her language. Leaning forward she placed a gentle hand on the child's head, stroking her new baby soft hair for a moment before Anna stopped her desperate visual search. When she turned back to look at her, the pain and insecurity in her eyes was indescribable. She opened her arms and for the first time in her stay the child had voluntarily fallen into her embrace, wrapping her arms round her and holding for a moment as though she was petrified that the world would try and rip them apart. The embrace lasted only for a moment, but the connection was incredible and left Maria with a feeling of desolation that she could not be sure she would ever be able to rid herself of.
The following morning, she shut herself away in her office on the ward in an attempt to catch up with all of the paperwork that had been steadily increasing and been ignored since Anna's arrival with them. She had made good progress when, around lunchtime one of her staff knocked tentatively on the door.
"There's someone here," she began, sticking her head around the door. "A Mr Arthur Weasley, says he's got permission to see the Little One."
"I'll be out in just a second," Maria told the young girl without looking up, and finished the form she had begun before pushing back her chair. The man who met her with a nervous smile and an outstretched hand was obviously a Weasley, even to a muggle born like herself.
"Pleased to meet you Mr Weasley," she said, shaking his hand.
"And you too Ma'am. Now…" He delved into a pocket of his robes. "I have all the official documentation…"
"Don't worry about that," she reassured him. "As long as you got past that pit bull, it's alright by me." With this she gestured at the Ministry Official who had been posted by the entrance to the ward after her rather frank dismissal of the one inside it. "She's just in here," she continued, gesturing to the cubicle. "Not what I would call ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but I've had to comply with the Ministry's stipulations you understand?"
"Of course, of course." Mr Weasley reassured her in this instance. "Now if you don't mind, I may have been let in but I'm afraid I'll only have a limited amount of time."
"Be my guest," she said, gesturing to the door. "Would you like me to…"
"No, I think we'll be fine. Thank you again." And with that he opened the door and entered. She watched for a moment as this man she suspected to be deceptively shy entered the room, all the time returning the vaguely disinterested gaze of its occupant. She supposed he introduced himself and let the child take her time in making a visual inspection before conjuring an overstuffed armchair and producing a book from another well concealed pocket. Maria was unsure what to make of this as he began to read aloud from the volume, Alice in Wonderland she thought from what she had seen of the cover. He read for a few minutes before, quite surprisingly, Anna slid down off the bed and moved closer to him. To all intents and purposes less than a minute later it looked as though she were trying to see high enough to be able to look at the words. Arthur Weasley lowered the book and looked at the child for an instant before opening his arms in a silent invitation for her to climb up and to Maria's complete surprise she did just that, snuggling into this strangers lap and seeming to follow the written words as he once more began to read out loud.
Maria returned to her own work shortly after they pair had settled down, what she had seen still intriguing her but knowing that her queries would have to wait. When she gave up on concentrating on her paperwork half an hour later and returned to the ward itself she was even further taken aback to see that Anna was quite plainly fast asleep in the mans arms. She opened the door slowly and as quietly as she could, adamant once again that she was not going to interrupt her much needed rest.
"Hello," she said in a hushed whisper as he looked around to see her enter. She received a smile in return as the he expertly shifted the sleeping child from one arm to the other, allowing him to lean down and place the book on the floor with minimal disruption. "I'm quite impressed, Mr Weasley," Maria continued after a moment. "She's more relaxed with you than she is with us, even after almost ten days."
"It's Arthur," he corrected. "And I have one or two advantages over you I'm afraid."
"She knows you?" she asked, perching on the end of the bed, facing the chair where he sat.
"No, but I'm male and Professor McGonagall had much more male contact in her early life. I've spent time with Professors Lupin and Snape as well, and they spent a large amount of time with her between her 'creation' and her arrival here."
"Ah," was all she could think to say to this. "Was it just me or could she read that?" she asked pointing at the novel.
"To a certain extent. She reads English as Gaelic if that makes any sense. They were trying to help her learn the language by reading aloud to her while simultaneously letting her read the text. As she can grasp the meaning of the words she reads it's easier to associate the English term she's hearing with its meaning."
"So, if I wrote something down, like … it's bedtime, she would understand that?" Arthur nodded in reply. "Well I wish someone had told me that in the first place. But then again there are lots of things that I'd have liked to find out about all this before I found them out from the papers." She received a sympathetic look in return for her barely controlled frustration. There was another moment's silence and Maria watched contentedly as Arthur gently caressed Anna's head. When he spoke again it caught her off guard.
"You know that the hearing which will decide whether Severus and Remus will be awarded guardianship starts tomorrow?" She nodded; that much had been in the papers that morning. There was another, shorter pause. "Would you be willing to be brought forward as a witness?" This took her aback.
"I'm not sure what you think I could possibly add to any case …"she pointed out.
"You've seen what Anna's been like for the last week and a half," he pointed out bluntly. "I may not have met her before today but I do know what I've heard about the inquisitive charming little girl that she was before she was removed from my clients care." Maria had a sudden realisation that if the passion and conviction with which he spoke now were anything to judge by, Arthur Weasley was going to do a marvellous job of playing advocate.
Needless to say she agreed that, should it be required, she'd be quite willing to go and state her case, or, she thought more appropriately, tell the panel of her experiences with the child. So when, at lunchtime on Monday, an official parchment arrived bearing the seal of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement she wasn't taken hugely by surprise. The tone of the letter was however much more civil than those she had been receiving from the Minister's Office on their behalf. Amelia Bones had on this occasion, it seemed, taken the time to write to her personally. What it said was somewhat nondescript but she appreciated the other woman's thoughtfulness in giving her any indication about what was likely to be occurring the following day. Before Maria left at the end of her shift that day, it seemed that plans had been formalized. She was told to expect a translator to arrive the following morning, and that they would be expected to meet with the Chair of the Panel at about eleven o'clock before going on into the hearing itself. She had been mildly amused at her staff's burst of activity at this news. They had decided that although there was much about her appearance that they could do nothing about, they were none-the-less going to do everything they could. Anna was bathed and polished, and one of the more skilled trainees altered the hospital robes that they had no choice but to dress her in so that they passed for regular clothing. But nothing they did had anything like the effect that a simple sentence she wrote down had.
We're going to see Daidein and Moony tomorrow.
To begin with, her face was a mask as she appeared to read and re-read the sentence. The change in her when she finally placed it back down was not dramatic but as Maria caught her eye a small but recognisable smile tugged at the corner of her mouth for the first time that the medi-witch could recall.
The young man who knocked on her door the following morning looked decidedly nervous as she invited him in.
"I'm Dien, Dien Campbell," he said offering her a hand. "I'm here to meet…" he glanced down at the file he held, "246.01." If the hesitation in his voice, which held a recognisable Highland lilt, was anything to go by he was as confused as she had been at this description.
"Also known as Anna," she informed him. "And I'm Maria Slack."
"Pleasure to meet you." After a moment he continued. "This is a bit strange for me – I'm a muggle you see." This took her by surprise though she supposed it made sense when one took his dress into consideration.
"And how did you get dragged into all this then?"
"Well my sister's a witch, so I guess I was the person with the strongest magical connections, who was also capable of speaking Gaelic fluently, that they came across."
She nodded. "It is a bit weird though isn't it?" he added with a small smile. If she had been twenty years younger and single she would have classified it as endearing.
"It's certainly an unusual situation," she conceded. "How about I introduce you to the unusual child at the center of it all?" Standing up she opened the door and they headed down the ward.
"I don't know what you've been told," she continued as they walked, "but Anna's been somewhat reclusive since her arrival with us. Obviously the language barrier hasn't helped but I certainly suspect the root of the problem is deeper than that."
"I've not been told much," Dien began. "But all that I need to know apparently."
"That's fine, as long as you realise that you shouldn't expect her to be an easy nut to crack. She barely communicates with us, and all I can do is hope that your ability to understand her will be enough to alter that." Again he nodded quietly and yet again she was left watching through the windows as a virtually unknown male entered the cubicle in order to get to know the little girl inside.
Just as with the day before, she watched as he entered and closed the door behind him, obviously using the time to gather his thoughts before turning to face her. Maria watched for the next thirty minutes as the young Gael who, it seemed, had a natural charm with children, coaxed Anna out of her shell enough to get her to speak. It wasn't until someone on her staff spoke her name to ask a question that she was shocked out of her state of distraction. The request he made was a simple one and it took her mere seconds to answer it; after she had solved the problem, she returned to her office in what she really already knew would be a futile attempt to start working again. At half past ten she gave up her charade and picking up her cloak, went out to meet with Dien and Anna again. She found them, to her surprise, apparently engaged in quite intense conversation but they both looked up when she entered.
"Time we were off I'm afraid," she said lightly, despite the immensity of what was about to take place casting a heavy burden on her heart. It was odd to watch Anna's delayed reaction as Dien translated what she had just said for her, to watch the obvious nervous tension fill her as she slipped off the bed and straightened out her dress.
"How did you two get on?" she asked more conspiratorially.
"Not badly actually," he said with another one of those smiles. "Every second question was 'When are we going to see Daidein and Moony?' Daddy and Moony that is, I'm assuming that Moony is her name for… Remus Lupin is it?" Maria nodded in reply and the silence continued uninterrupted for a moment.
"Right. Let's go then," she said, spurring herself and the others into action, leading them towards the corridor outside.
The guard sitting by the entrance to the ward stood and followed them as they walked past him and down the stairs. Before they started their descent she stooped and picked up Anna, who had up until that point had been clinging with quite extraordinary strength to both her and Dien's hands. They received some strange looks and at one stage Maria was certain she could hear the whisper of Minerva McGonagall's name, but they walked quickly and managed to avoid creating any more of a scene than was absolutely necessary. Before they'd even stepped out the door Maria could feel the chill autumn air blow through the waiting room and the child in her arms shiver.
"Doesn't she have a coat – or a jumper?" Dien asked, looking over the child's head towards her.
"There have been some interesting limitations placed on us as to what Anna's allowed to have, do and see," she replied through gritted teeth, wrapping her cloak around Anna as securely as she could manage. As they stepped out into the street and started the short walk towards the Ministry he leaned in closer to her and whispered in her ear.
"I'm assuming that they," he gestured over their shoulders towards the goon still following them, "are also the reason for the interesting haircut."
"Well it's hardly what I would have chosen for her," she replied equally quietly with a soft smile. They continued on a pace and before long they were inside the Ministry's extravagant entrance hall. They paused, looking around for some sign of where it was that they were supposed to be going.
"This way," said the surly guard, who had till moments ago been slouching behind them. He led them over to the security desk and bypassed the short queue telling her none too politely to get her wand ready for inspection.
Once they were done, they entered one of a series of lifts that lined one of the walls of the magnificent hallway, and the ministry official once more took control and selected the floor to which they were going. The increase in tension as the lift began to move was palpable and Anna shifted in her arms. Dien began to speak quietly to her in a flow of soothing Gaelic and, though Maria could not understand what it was he said, she could feel it ease the little girl and in turn she was relieved by this. When the doors and the metal gates opened they were faced with an unnerving sight.
"Are they…?" Dien asked haltingly.
"I think so," she replied looking at the hoard of people crowding the space in front of them. Flashbulbs started cracking and the members of the group who were obviously with the media started shouting out questions at them.
"Oh shit," the guard said under his breath as he hit the panel causing the doors to slide shut again. This time the lift started to travel sideways.
"What the hell…." Dien said as he fell against the side of the box.
"Where are we going now?" Maria asked as she held Anna closer.
"We can get to Madame Bones office from behind the Court Room," he replied shortly. Moments later they stopped. Dien seemed to struggle to keep his balance and Maria was certain she heard him say something about 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. She supposed that it was hardly surprising that a muggle was struggling to deal with a sideways travelling lift.
"They won't be able to get through here," their guide mumbled as they stepped out into the hallway once more.
The door to Amelia Bones' temporary office by the site of the hearing was nondescript to say the least. Maria, however, was given only a little time to contemplate it, as it opened immediately when the official knocked. They were ushered inside and seated by the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and suddenly they were all sitting there in silence.
"Well, I hope that you didn't have too much trouble with the press – they've been gathering all morning apparently." She paused and looked at the official who was now standing next to the door. "You can go now – it's ok," she told him, and Maria thought she could detect a touch of mild irritation in her voice. Once the door closed behind him the other woman seemed to relax a little, pulling up another chair to the group and sat herself down.
"You must be Maria Slack," she said, extending a hand out towards her. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person," the older woman added as the mediwitch struggled to find a hand to shake hers with.
"Dien Campbell," yhe young man introduced himself and shook her hand.
"And this must be Anna," she continued with what seemed to be genuine pleasure in her voice. Maria did notice the use of her maiden name and Anna, it seemed did as well as she shifted slightly on her knee where she sat, revealing her face for the first time since their arrival. It was plain to see that the sight of the shorn headed and sunken-cheeked face took her back a little, but she covered it quickly.
"Right then Mr Campbell, shall we give this a trial run?" Madam Bones suggested before turning and introducing herself to the reason they were all there. Maria watched with interest as Dien in turn spoke to Anna. The toddler's interest was obviously captured by this as she rearranged herself once again and spoke in return.
"My name's Anna," he said once she had finished. "It's nice to meet you Amelia. When am I going to be able to see Daidein and Moony?" If she was expecting the Head of Law Enforcement to question the fact he had not translated 'Daidein' she didn't show it, but she did show some interest in the question that had been posed.
"She seems to be more than slightly anxious to see them," Dien pointed out, and she took this in with a quiet nod.
Over the next hour and a half Madame Bones explained to both of them, and Anna what would happen when they entered the Court Room. They had lunch, during which Maria was pleasantly surprised to see Anna help herself to food without any encouragement. At about one o'clock there was a knock at the door and a man of short stature informed them that the panel had gathered in the waiting room across the hallway. They parted ways and headed around to wait in a small ante-room as far away from the crowds they had encountered earlier, as possible. She and Dien shared a nervous smile as they took a seat on the bench that lined one of the walls. Anna, who had been walking along beside them, pulled herself up onto the bench between them and shifted closer to her. She automatically put her hand around her shoulder and settled in for a wait they had been promised shouldn't be too long. The door swung open of its own accord less than five minutes later, silently summoning them into the arena. Once more they shared a look as they stood and taking Anna's hand made their way into the open chamber. She had no idea what it was that she had been expecting to find when they entered the room and looking around her she tried to take everything in at once.
To her right there was a long bench, behind which sat the panel and their Chair, and a few metres in front to her left a stand surrounded by a railing. She could see more than one familiar face in the packed public gallery, and the press pen was full to bursting, but it was one of the two tables standing before them that caught her attention. At the table sat three men she would recognise anywhere after the last few weeks and it was soon plain to see that Anna recognised them as well.
"Daidein! Moony!" she called, bolting from her grasp. Maria was certain that she'd never seen anyone so desperate to return to someone as Anna was to get back to these men. It seemed that Anna wasn't the only one who was thrust into action, as the two professors both seemed to hurl themselves out from behind the desk and towards her as well. She was so caught up in watching the events unfold before her, as though in slow motion, that she didn't even notice someone in the Court Room draw their wand.
A/N: Well here it is… the longest chapter of all time grin. Hope it was worth slogging it out ( and waiting for).
With Anna's reappearance so arrives the Gaelic -
Càite a bheil m'Daidein agus Moony? – Where are my Daidein and Moony
Ma 's e do thoil e, an taigh beag! – Please! The bathroom!
Hope these were fairly obvious through the context but never mind.
Ummmm, yeah, hope you enjoyed it and please do let me know!
Linds
PS – only two more chapters and an epilogue to go till the end of part one!
xLx
