Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, and ideas (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. All Elf-related topics, the Elvish language, references to staff magic, and any other Lord of the Rings nouns belong to J. R. R. Tolkien and the Elvish dictionary at Nevrast. The titles of the chapters were inspired by "Once Upon a December" from the cartoon movie Anastasia. Professor Heryn O'Sheen is mine.
Chapter 10: And a song someone sings.
She stopped a moment later and faced him, wiping her eyes. "I didn't know I could do that either. Some things have changed since my arrival here. I just sat down, stopped thinking, and started playing. Did I usually resort to this when I was upset?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. Now before you do anything else, I have something to tell you," he stated as he sat down on the piano bench next to her.
"I'm so sorry for everything," she choked as she wiped her eyes again.
"Granted, I wish you had told me about that last part sooner or not at all," he began gruffly, "but I do respect the fact that you did tell me. The point is that the situation, in all its entirety, was not your fault. It you want me to blame something, I blame that battle! I blame Byron Hornet! I'd even blame Fudge if I thought it would help!"
The Elvish woman stood and began to pace. "How can you tell me these things? I am a shadow of who I once was."
"I would never blame you for any of this. I would sooner blame myself for failing to find you. Neither the miscarriage, your memory loss, nor any of our current circumstances were ever your fault," he told her softly. "If you want me to be upset with someone, then I choose myself. I tried for three years after you disappeared, but it wasn't good enough."
Not knowing what to say, she simply stood and watched him. He turned back to the piano and began playing Moonlight Sonata. He played the melancholy piece with a passion she had rarely seen in anyone. She closed her eyes, only listening to the melody, then she let her reverie take over and found herself standing closer to him, thinking with someone else's mind.
He had blocked out the room and everything around him, focusing only on the music that he knew without having to read the notes. A pair of hands on his shoulders only drew him out of his trance for a moment. As he continued to play, the person behind him massaged his neck to the tempo of the music. They remained in the trance until a knock was heard at the door.
Minerva had gone down to the Potions classroom, seeing newly bottled potions, but finding no one. She knocked on the door of Severus' office as well as the door of his rooms and had received no response. Her last idea was to head to the Elvish woman's room. Hearing music as she approached the door, she was certain that at least someone would be there.
Severus left the piano bench to answer the door. The Elvish woman turned around slowly after a long pause. He was surprised to find the Transfiguration professor when he opened the door. "Minerva, what brings you by?" he inquired.
After she had stepped inside, she produced the book. "Albus and I found this in the library and thought that you might be able to use it. The book contains ancient wizards' incantations and may be of use as you learn to work with the staff."
"Thank you," he told her as he accepted the book. "The staff assembled itself this morning after I waved my hand over it."
"I should be able to help you with the words as well, considering my studies of Middle Earth," the Elvish woman remarked over his shoulder.
He nearly dropped the book as she suddenly grabbed her head and cried out in pain. Setting the book down quickly on the chair, he caught her as she nearly collapsed in his arms. Minerva's brow furrowed with worry. "What just happened?"
"Whenever she has a moment that she thinks as Heryn, her mind fights back when she returns to her other self and the shift gives her a headache, only I don't think it has been this painful before," he explained.
She looked over at Minerva for a moment. "He's right. They have become more painful lately."
"I think it's time we took you to Poppy," the older woman recommended.
The medwitch opened the door quickly when she heard them knock. "What seems to be the problem?"
The Elvish woman winced in pain. "I have been having more problems with my memory and I'm getting terrible headaches from them."
"Well then sit down and we'll see what we can do for you," Poppy suggested.
The medwitch gave her something for the pain and then used a few spells from her wand to examine her new patient's head and mind. Everyone was surprised when she gasped. "What is it?" the Elvish woman questioned.
"Merlin's beard, I've never seen anyone's mind so fragmented! You never had amnesia," Poppy began.
"Then what did she have?" Severus barked.
Glaring at him for a moment so that he knew she wanted him to be more patient, she turned back to the woman she was examining. "Did muggles treat you when you left the battlefield eight years ago?" she inquired.
After the woman sitting on the bed nodded, the medwitch continued. "Of course they wouldn't know it wasn't amnesia. Someone has placed a memory charm on you, and not a very good one. Apparently it only worked well when you were far away from Hogwarts. Once you came home, your memory and mind began to fragment themselves, trying to fill in the gaps. With your mind doing that, you're lucky that you've been sane at all. If we remove the charm, your headaches should dissipate and you should be back to your old self. Unfortunately I don't know how to remove this particular one."
"But I might," Severus commented, noticing that there was something Poppy did not want to tell them. "It may take some time though. I have to look up the potion in the old lesson archives."
"Is that because it was one of the potions I taught as Potions Mistress?" the Elvish woman inquired.
He nodded and the medwitch spoke up. "Heryn or Moira, whatever you want to go by these days, you need to rest. I'll give you something for the pain and then I want you to take it easy for the remained of the day," she instructed.
"You also might want to give her a sedative," he suggested, giving her a meaningful glance. The medwitch agreed.
The woman walked back to her quarters with Severus and Minerva after being handed a sedative potion to take before she rested. After she had entered and handed the book Minerva had brought by earlier to Severus, the other two walked toward the dungeons. "Are you certain that you can remove the memory charm?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Of course I can, I just need to find the proper potion. I feel like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner."
"The symptoms weren't clear and even she did not know. Did it seem to you that Poppy didn't tell us everything?" Minerva probed.
Sighing, he spoke gruffly. "She neglected to tell us what will happen if the memory charm cannot be removed. Her mind will continue fragmenting until she has a brain hemorrhage or until she looses hold on what reality she is living in. The truth is that we don't have much time to do this," he relayed.
"That's why you told Poppy to give her a sedative," Minerva recalled quietly.
"I don't usually ask for help, but I think in this instance two pairs of eyes are better than one," he remarked as they entered his study.
Minerva nodded. "I'll help you look for the potion."
The two perused through a few boxes stuffed with dusty files and took a break for dinner. After a hurried supper, they resumed their work. He was about to start on a new box when she placed the recipe for the potion he had been looking for in front of him. He took it and nodded. "I can carry on from here," he told her frankly.
She left him and headed back to her rooms. The chess pieces had just been set up when she heard a familiar knock at her door. Albus stood there as she opened it, smiling. "Hello, my dear, you gave the book to Severus I assume?"
Nodding, she invited him inside and poured him a cup of mint tea. She sat across from him and he watched her, noting a slightly distracted expression. "Is something on your mind, Tabby?"
Steam rose from the tea as she took a few sips. "Our guest did not have amnesia. We took her to Poppy and she discovered that a memory charm had been used."
"So there is a chance that we could have the real Heryn O'Sheen with us again?" he inquired, allowing her to begin the game.
"Yes. But Severus informed me that the memory charm must be removed soon before it causes any more damage to her. I helped him look for a potion that would assist him," she mentioned.
After a few pawn moves, Albus told his bishop where to move on the board. "I'm surprised that he asked you."
"Oh, he didn't ask. I simply volunteered to save him the trouble of asking, though he did come close," she relayed as she studied the board.
Albus raised a skeptical eyebrow. "That still does not sound much like Severus. I assume that the situation with the former professor's memory has changed to require urgency?"
Her eyes held a deep concern for the Elvish woman as her knight pulverized his bishop. "Yes, apparently if the problem is not corrected soon, she could loose her grasp on reality altogether or there could be serious damage to her brain. Therefore, Severus told Poppy to give her a sedative."
Minerva won the game and walked to the door with Albus. They lingered for a moment and he cupped her face in his hands. Then he kissed her soundly. "Goodnight, Tabby. I am planning to owl the Ministry of Magic again to see if anything has changed."
She smiled warmly. "Goodnight, Albus. Don't stay up too late. You need your sleep almost as much as I do."
They shared a tender kiss. "And I thought I was supposed to be watching your health," he quipped. She smiled with amusement and the two parted company. Minerva wandered how Severus was doing as she prepared for bed.
The Potions Master had successfully brewed the potion along with another sleeping draught and carefully walked to the Elvish woman's rooms in order to give her the mixture. I do hope that this idea works. I wonder if she finally understands how much I have missed her, he thought to himself as he entered her rooms. He found her on the couch, reading the book that Minerva had dropped off earlier in the day.
He cleared his throat and she looked up. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks. The sedative wore off and I figured I should take a look at the book while it's sitting here," she replied.
Nodding, he sat down next to her and showed her the grey liquid in the triangular vial. "This is the potion I was telling you about earlier. Unfortunately we will not know the outcome until morning. I have also brought you another potion to help you sleep."
"Thank you," she stated as she accepted both potions. In an hour she had prepared herself for bed and he watched as she drank both potions to monitor any immediate negative affects. She drifted off to sleep peacefully while he elected to spend the night on the couch yet again.
(my thanks to Quill of Minerva, brokentoy19, Lady Jolly, Leta McGotor, and S.S.S.570 for reviewing :D)