Chapter 2
"Katherine Rowsch," Irma murmured, holding out the card to Poppy. She stood up and moved away from the mediwitch, silently reentering the Hospital Wing and moving over to the bed. Pulling back the curtain Irma's eyes fell upon the pale form of the girl.
She'd been laid out like it was her funeral, and her skin instead of being grey was just a deathly shade of white, nearly as white as the sheets she laid on. Katherine's hair was not dark as the guardian of the books had originally thought, but a brownish-red, which Irma's sister would later squeal was: "Auburn! Beautiful, beautiful auburn!" However, Irma didn't really care about hair color, but it was an interesting contrast against the white sheets and contrast fascinated her. Poppy had apparently brushed it and pulled it back so it lay in gentle waves on the pillow, the only thing of color as even Katherine's lips had gone pale.
"It can't be healthy," the librarian mused to herself. Her colleague was at her shoulder before Irma could react. Her brown eyes slid from the pale little girl to the shorter woman at her side. Irma looked down on her from quite a few inches. "Well?"
"Well, what do you propose I do? Get away from here, she needs rest." The mediwitch had a grip on Irma's arm and was trying to guide her away rather forcibly. The librarian realized that Poppy had not been able to fix the girl in an instant, which was something of a obscurity- Poppy could mend bones and bruises in seconds, so something much more sinister must have been at play. Poor girl, Irma thought sadly as she looked at the little thing. Her clavicle was sticking out from above the neckline of the hospital robes she'd been changed into. The girl had probably been starved, which made Irma feel a little sick. She herself loved food, perhaps a little too much for the weight that was in fashion.
"Well," the word came much harsher from her lips than Irma intended, "What's going to be done with her?" She stood her ground, which seemed to irritate the witch who dropped her arm and merely glared, hand on her hip.
"I imagine Albus will find her parents and send her back to them. With wards and the sort." Poppy shrugged, giving off an air of not caring too much. "Now will you kindly step out-"
"When will she wake up?" Irma asked, cutting her off. Some vindictive part of her got a secret thrill out of irritating Poppy as much as she could. Perhaps it was Irma's teenage rebellion forty years late.
"I'm not sure. Tonight or tomorrow morning?" Poppy shrugged her shoulders, eyes drifting over to the girl's pale face again. Poppy wasn't the sort to be concerned with what happened to the girl after she left the Hospital Wing, only her health. Perhaps a sort of defense mechanism, Irma mused, not to get too attached, as the teenager would leave soon.
"I want to stay," Irma said suddenly, not really knowing herself why she wanted to stay. Perhaps it was because she was bored, and she simply wanted something to do other than return to the empty library. Poppy looked at her a long moment, and Irma knew she could win an argument if Poppy had any objections. After all, words were her forte.
Albus Dumbledore sat up in his office well past midnight for the second night in a row, piles of papers covering his desk along with various books as he sifted through all of them in turn, occasionally writing on a scroll, which laid open on the cluttered desk.
There was a brusque knock at the door and he waved his wand at it, the door opening to reveal his Deputy Headmistress. Minerva McGonagall looked to be in a fine temper, her glasses on the end of her nose and her lips tightly compressed. Lack of sleep had her usually sharp eyes clouded just barely and the lines under her eyes were more pronounced.
"Albus, there are no reports in wizarding or Muggle records of a Rowsch family in or around London, let alone a Katherine Rowsch." Minerva looked at him with a tired expression. "Are you positive she is…" she trailed off, looking even more perplexed.
Albus sighed, setting down his quill and folding his hands on his desk. "I was afraid that is what you would report Minerva." He gestured for her to sit down in a large comfortable armchair he conjured up. "It would seem our mysterious young guest who has arrived here under even more mysterious circumstances can not be sent back to a family of any kind."
"Albus, she must be reported to the Ministry." Minerva said in a serious tone, looking at him. His blue eyes met hers and he smiled serenely, seeming to have anticipated this sort of response from her.
"It is a matter I have contemplating all evening, my dear. However, I believe it would be best to keep Miss Rowsch here, at Hogwarts." Albus said calmly, pulling a small pouch from his pocket and offering it's contents to her.
"No, thank you." Minerva stuck out her hand to decline the jellybeans. "Stay here? Albus, there must be laws of some sort in the wizarding world about lost children. She isn't yet of age and the Ministry will be sure to want something with her,"
"I realize all of this, however, I am certain it would be allowed for her to stay in the school. Her education needs to be furthered, as she has had none so far, and moreover, I believe she should remain in the place she has come." Albus said in a very calm voice.
"How could this have happened? Tell me it again," Minerva had heard his theory time and time again in the past few days but still had trouble believing it.
"When this school was founded there was a charm placed on it to prevent people from apparating inside. Helga Hufflepuff, however, was concerned that children in need would not be able to enter this place. It has been known that children who are untrained in magic can apparate with out knowing how if only to save their lives. There are also rumors that Hufflepuff succeeded in making the castle's anti-apparition charms bend for children that are in danger, looking for a safe haven."
Minerva opened her mouth a moment and then closed it with a sigh. They looked at each other for a long time before she opened her mouth again. "I suppose you will be making some sort of record of her to placate the Ministry?"
Albus smiled. "Yes, I do believe I will."
"Where has she come from Albus? Who would harm a young girl in that way?" Minerva asked, her brow wrinkling. It was the same question they had asked each other the night before, still unanswered.
"I hope to learn that in good time. When Poppy deems Miss Rowsch ready to be spoken with. With her permission I also hope to be privy to some memories that may lead us to her attacker." He closed his fingers around another jellybean and popped it into his mouth.
"I'll trust your judgment," Minerva's brow quirked, something Albus recognized as evidence of her fiery temper abating.
"As I trust yours, my dear." He gave a rather cheeky smile and rose to his feet. "However, it is well past the usual time I retire, as I assume for you as well. Allow me to walk you to your rooms and bid you good night." Albus took her arm and a smile graced the corners of her lips as she allowed him to lead her to her rooms.
Poppy had run diagnostic charm after charm, and the outcome wasn't as good as she'd have liked. The mediwitch was in a fine mood, considering that Irma had taken up residence near the girl's bed. It was mostly curiosity that kept Irma there. After all, it wasn't everyday that girls fell into the library out of thin air. Another small part of it was the obligation Irma felt- the girl had fallen into her library, and therefore in some abstract way had registered in Irma's mind as her responsibility.
Katherine had already been there two days, going on a third, and she hadn't so much as moved. Irma had been mildly interested in watching Poppy levitate the girl's head up a few inches, and gently open her mouth to feed her small bits of potion on a three-hour basis.
"Blood replenishing, nutrients… she's very malnourished." Poppy would mutter to herself more than Irma. Irma had gotten used to the mediwitch ignoring her after they'd thrown a few sharp words back and fourth. Poppy was increasingly vexed at her inability to instantly cure the girl and send her on her merry way, and Irma was vexed that Poppy couldn't awaken the girl so she herself could get back to her library. There was something too white and too clean about the Hospital Wing that made her feel uneasy.
That day, Irma had picked up Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to reread, trying to imagine the exact facial expressions as she read as a means to make the book more embedded in her mind. Brutus had just stabbed his friend when she looked up from her book to see grey eyes flecked with green blinking at her, rather close to where her book had been in air.
She started, a near vile word escaping her lips as a product of shock, and the girl pulled back from all fours onto her knees, looking terrified of Irma where moments ago she had looked merely curious. Poppy was out of her office in an instant, giving a surprised squeak.
"Oh! You're awake." Poppy straightened her robes and took out her wand. Katherine's eyes snapped to it and she watched her warily, blinking and not making a sound. Poppy gently sat on the edge of the bed. "Hello Miss Rowsch, I'm Madam Pomfrey, a mediwitch. How are you feeling?"
Irma watched this exchange; the slightly younger woman's agitated but vaguely playful banter of the past two days fading and being replaced with gentle tones underlying efficient words. The girl was on edge, like a kitten sprayed with the garden hose. It was the wand, Irma realized as Katherine's eyes flickered to it again.
Katherine did not speak, and Poppy cast a diagnostic charm on the girl, giving her a curious glance. The girl jumped and Poppy held out a hand as if to touch her.
"It's a diagnostic charm. It will not harm you. Madam Pomfrey is comparable to a doctor." Irma said suddenly, as it occurred to her that since the girl hadn't been privy to the wizarding world except through a madman who had used magic against her, she would not understand that Poppy had her best interests at heart.
The girl nodded slowly, turning her- what Irma could only describe as eerie and shadowed- eyes to her. Poppy also looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you, Irma. We'll be checking up on Miss Rowsch right now. Please go fetch Albus." The mediwitch said this rather icily. She wasn't muggleborn, and as Irma was dying to point out, probably did not understand in any way shape or form this girls confusion. However, she managed to send out a civil remark, a vague hope for Katherine's health, and went on her way.
Irma trailed slowly down and then up to Albus' office doors after muttering: "Jellybean." She knocked a little too loudly and glared at her fist as the door opened. Albus sat at his desk, looking a little weary but pleased to see her nonetheless.
"Katherine Rowsch is awake and a one Poppy Pomfrey requests your presence in the Hospital Wing." She said this in a rather dull tone, amusement at their old time joke in her eyes. It somehow always worked out that when Irma had news to tell him, which she deemed important, it would come out in a very monotone voice and rather unusual wording.
On cue, Albus looked up, blue eyes twinkling, "I shall see what I can do, Madam Pince." He mimicked her toneless voice and rose to his feet. Irma smiled a small smile and nodded to him, on her way back to the library.
Irma didn't think much about Katherine Rowsch in the next few hours before dinner. She skipped lunch, opting to work more on filling out order forms for new books instead. Her thoughts turned traitorous, however, and a slight worry in the back of her mind nagged at her. The girl was alone, in a place she didn't belong in, obviously terrified. She shook her head, deciding to go down to supper and see what Albus intended to do with Katherine.