Chapter 2

The Hospital Bed

Dream

There was a knock on the door just as Mrs. Weasley had finished putting breakfast on the table. 7 of the Weasleys were sitting around the wooden table, as well as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Alexis Black. Mr. Weasley had to leave early for his job at the Ministry, and Bill and his new wife Fleur had extra shifts at Gringotts. Charlie had to leave back to Romania because on of the dragons was causing too much trouble.

10 heads turned towards the door as the knock sounded again. George went to open the door and then there was a sudden white light. Alexis remembered strong hands grabbing her roughly above her elbow and pulled away. She heard screams and a streak of red light came within inches of her.

An eerily detached voice floated through the white mist, "My name is Michael Goodman. I am a representative of the Magical Law Enforcement department. I am here to bring Ms. Alexis Marie Black in for questioning.

A room drifted through the white fog, a dark smelly room with mold on the walls. She was crouched in a corner, trying desperately to be invisible. A large wizard came into the cell and wrenched her out of her corner by her hair and slammed her into the wall.

"Where does Albus Dumbledore go?" He screamed at her.

"I don't know. I don't know where he goes!" she whimpered as his body pushed against hers. 'Oh no…please…no…not again!' she thought to herself, feeling his disgusting mouth on her neck. 'Just close your eyes…block him out…think of somethi-' she froze as she felt his fingers fumbling for the buttons and zippers of her clothing. She screamed as she felt a hard bulge press against her stomach and everything went black.

End Dream

Charlie, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting around a hospital bed that contained a teenage girl. Her long black hair lay in sweaty clumps and her angular face was pale and flushed; her delicate features were distorted with her nightmare. Ginny Weasley was holding her hand worriedly and glanced at Hermione.

"What's wrong, 'Mione? Do you know?"

Hermione. Her face pale, nervously licked her lips. Her hands, out of habit, went up to smooth her once bushy hair, but it was unnecessary; during the summer it seemed to have been calming itself down, with the help of the nightly hair potions Hermione had been applying.

"I think she's having some kind of nightmare…" she said taking a deep breath and looking questioningly at the door that led into their ward as if wondering whether or not to get a medi-witch.

They all sat in the hot room at St. Mungo's, waiting for Mrs. Weasley to come back with some kind of news. They all jumped as they heard a moan coming from the bed. Alex was tossing and turning and shaking her head, like she was trying to rid herself of a bad memory. Her lips were moving like she was trying to say something. They all leaned in and listened closely.

"I don't know. I don't know where he goes!"

"Where who is?" Charlie said, scrunching up his face, trying to think.

"Well, she was taken to the Ministry for questioning. They've been trying to get me to tell them about Dumbledore and where he goes. Maybe that's why they took her," said Harry, almost in a whisper. Ever since he had found out that Alexis was Sirius' daughter, they've been closer; it was like they were practically brother and sister, though not by blood.

"But why her?" Ron said, looking confused, "They could had taken any of us!"

Charlie sighed and ran his fingers through his flaming red hair. He looked down at Alexis, now lying still in the bed. He loved her like a little sister; it would have been like he was seeing Ginny lying there instead.

"There's probably something we don't know about, some hidden fac-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Alex was sitting straight up in bed, staring straight in front of her. They all stared in shock. Alex stopped screaming and blinked, then shook her head. She stared at each of their faces, studying them as though she had never met them before.

"What happened?" she asked, curiously looking at their startled faces. She tensed suddenly when she found her vision blocked and strong arms wrapped around her. But she relaxes when she realized that it was just Charlie pulling her into a rough bear hug.

"You were having some kind of nightmare and then you sat up and started to scream," Ginny said still holding Alex's hand. Through the gap between Charlie's arms, Alex could make out Mrs. Weasley practically sprinting towards her bed with a medi-witch following in her wake.

"What happened? Who was screaming? Is everyone okay?" Mrs. Weasley said, anxiously studying each face that was surrounding bed.

"It was me, Mrs. Weasley, "Alex spoke up. Mrs. Weasley spun around and finally noticed that Alexis was finally awake, "I had a nightmare." Alex said, apologetically.

"Oh, Alexis, you're finally awake!" Mrs. Weasley beamed, taking Charlie's place and giving her a hug. The medi-witch started checking Alex's vital signs.

"So," Ron asked, curiously, looking over at Alexis, "Do you remember anything about what happened?"

Hermione looked sharply at Ron, as though she thought that he was being insensitive (a/n: which we know he can be sometimes…), but the look was lost on him.

"I remember some things, little flashes mainly. But, I can't remember all of it. There's just a lot of big blank spaces."

"That's okay, dearie," the medi-witch said reassuringly, "It'll all come back to you eventually." The medi-witch said a spell and suddenly she had a vial of Alex's blood. She patted the girl on the knee and exited.

"Well, what happened during the times you do remember?" Ron persisted. The nest thing everyone knew, Ron was staring bug eyed at his mother, rubbing the back of his head. "Bloody hell! What was that for!"

"Ronald Eugene Weasley! How can you be so insensitive, so tactless!" She looked at all of them and started waving her arms around. "She's just been through a very hard, traumatic time and you're asking her to relive it!"

Ron stared sheepishly at his mother and then at everyone else gathered around the hospital. The others suppressed laughs as Mrs. Weasley smacked him with her purse again.

"And pay attention when I am talking to you! Honestly…"

She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the hallway. Judging by the muffled yells, Mrs. Weasley was continuing the argument away from the recovering Alexis. Everyone started talking about normal, everyday things to try to keep conversation away from what they all wanted to talk about…After about half an hour, Alexis started to drift off and everyone stopped talking. Harry looked at everyone else.

"I think we should get going…"

Hermione looked anxiously at her good friend and said, "We'll come back later after you've gotten some rest."

"You guys have to leave so soon?" Alexis sighed, looking disappointed.

Ginny chuckled slightly, "You've been out for three days, Alex."

Alexis was shocked by the news. How could three days pass without her even knowing it? Charlie, sensing her distress, said soothingly…

"Don't worry, all right? We'll come back later and talk some more."

They all hugged her goodbye, and Hermione and Ginny squeezed Alex's hands.

"We'll bring you some books to read, okay? I know what a book worm you are," Ginny whispered in her ear.

Alexis smiled and whispered back, "I've got nothing on Hermione…"

When Harry hugged her he had a little surprise.

"Malfoy was here earlier, I almost forgot to tell you."

"What? As a visitor or a patient?" she asked, confused.

"As a patient," Hermione clarified. "It didn't look like there was any physical damage done to him, but he did look paler than usual."

"Yeah, we were wondering why he was brought in here because…well, because…" Ginny trailed off, biting her lip. She didn't want to verbally say what had happened to her honorary big sister.

"Because he didn't look worse for wear like the other patients in this ward," Charlie finished, gesturing to the other occupied beds. Alexis looked curiously at the bed-ridden figures. Some definitely looked worse for wear; one witch a few beds down from her had a long gruesome scar running down the side of her face.

"I don't see him here."

"Well, you wouldn't, would you? He left last night. He actually arrived a few hours after you," Harry said. Alexis shrugged and changed the subject.

"Whatever. I don't really want to talk about ferrets right now," She looked around, as though searching for someone. She frowned and said, "Has Remus been here?"

"He was here earlier this morning," said Mrs. Weasley, coming back in, "He told me to tell you if you woke up that he will be here tonight. He'll be so relieved that you have woken up," She frowned in concern, "It looks like he hasn't eaten much lately, "She smiled and gestured for the group to start leaving, "I'll just have to make a big dinner when you're released and make sure he attends it. Goodbye for now, dear," She kissed Alex's forehead, "Get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow."

Everyone waved goodbye and walked out the door. Ron offered one more wave before he shut the door behind him.

Alexis sighed as a medi-witch came bustling towards her bed with a thermometer and a tray full of potions. After choking down the potions, which she suspected were pain relievers and dreamless sleep, she was left to herself. She felt alone, not that she minded. She loved the Weasleys, and Harry and Hermione, but sometimes it was just too many voices at once. And besides, sooner or later, they'll start to ask questions, questions about what had happened. Right now she couldn't remember that much, but the medi-witch had said that she would eventually. Did she really want to remember? She sighed again and sunk deeper into her blankets, letting the dreamless sleep potion take over.