Chapter 10. At St. Mungo's

'No, they passed out after Dumbledore told them they were witches.'

'Oh…'

… (flash to St. Mungo's) …

Mrs. Weasley was standing at the lobby, screaming to the witch behind the counter.

'Call a Healer now!-'

'I told you, madam, they are all busy at the moment-'

'Call one anyway! If you don't call them now, these girls will die!'

Mr. Weasley tried to calm his wife, but didn't succeed in his attempt.

Mrs. Weasley had never been that angry in her whole life.

As a medi-witch, she knew in what danger those two girls were in and she wasn't going to stand there and let it happen.

The receptionist-witch picked up a phone and ordered a doctor immediately.

Within a minute, there was a Healer there, together with some nurses.

'Finally!' Mrs. Weasley bellowed and the Healer looked at her.

'Hello Molly, how are y- Oh…'

He had seen the girls in their arms.

'Bring them to ER 5!'

The nurses Levitated the girls on to a berry and brought them to an emergency room, with a large blue number 5 above the door. The blue changed to red when Selena and Yasmine got in, the colour of mortal danger, Dumbledore knew.

Mrs. Weasley wanted to follow, but the Healer stopped her.

'Don't. You can't help now, Molly. Try to relax and -'

He didn't end his sentence, but left after a short nod.

Mr. Weasley went to his wife and led her to the seats in front of the ER. Dumbledore sat down next to her.

'Molly, what do they have?' He asked.

… Flash to Grimmaulds …

'Harry, what happened then?'

Harry sighed again.

'They passed out and well… I had to go and get Mrs. Weasley and the rest you know.'

Hermione and Ron nodded.

'But.. I still don't understand what made Dumbledore react like that… How come he knew who they were, only by a mere look at them?'

Harry and Hermione looked at Ron, thinking about his question.

… Flash to St. Mungo's …

'I'm not sure, but…' Her voice lowered.

'I think they are, you can call it a deep coma. One that deep, where there is a large possibility that you never wake up from. If you do wake up, you have, most likely, brain-damage and are sentenced to live life like a plant.'

Mrs. Weasley's eyes got wet and a tear followed her cheek.

Mr. Weasley comforted his wife, while Dumbledore got up and wandered from the one side to the other, worrying and muttering to himself. Once in a while he checked the number, whether or not the colour had changed to green. It hadn't. It only became darker, till it was almost completely black.

Mrs. Weasley didn't say a thing, and neither did her husband.

They just sat there, worrying for hours until..

Suddenly the doors opened and the Healer came out.

Dumbledore looked at him and then the number.

It had become a red colour again, but no trace of green.

His hope sunk.

'They almost didn't make it. The next 24 hours will be deciding if they live or if they-'

He couldn't finish.

'They won't die!' Mrs. Weasley said, sounding close to hysterically.

'Molly, you know as well as I do, there is a possibility of this. Do not question your knowledge and prepare for the worse.'

With these words the Healer left them.

… Flash to Grimmaulds …

'I don't know, Ron. -' Harry said. 'And I don't really care now. I just want to know if they are all right… They are after all Sirius' only living relatives now and the ones that helped me.'

Hermione's face changed. She had an idea, you could tell of her eyes.

… Flash to St. Mungo's …

The nurses told them that they could visit the girls, but better not to stay long.

They would need all their strength and concentration to return from the tunnel of dead.

The three adults went inside and couldn't breath for a moment at the sight of the girls.

They were as white as a corps, from lots of different point of their bodies were they stuck to machines and their breast moved only slightly, almost not.

Dumbledore moved closer and shook his head.

'I should've known,' He said. 'I should've known.'

Mrs. Weasley came closer and shook her head too.

'You couldn't have, Dumbledore. I don't know what happened, but it's not your fault.'

Mr. Weasley came closer too and asked Dumbledore what had happened.

The old man sat down and looked to the two red-heads.

'I told them who they really were. Who their parents were and what they were now.'

'And that is?' Mr. Weasley asked further.

'They are the children of Regulus Black, Sirius' brother-' Dumbledore waited for a second, to let this sink in and then continued.

'I told them about him, of him being a secret spy for me and that they were witches. They passed out after this.'

The two Weasley's stayed silent for a second and then Mr. Weasley started to ask questions.

'What do you mean, secret spy? How can they be his daughters? How come we never knew, if you knew? Did - did Sirius ever knew?'

Dumbledore shook his head.

'Sirius never knew. Regulus was killed before he could tell him. He had only just send a special message to me, before Voldemort murdered him. And as for you all never knew, well… Their magic were bound the instant their father had died. Regulus had putted that protection on them, as he knew they'd be send to a Muggle-home, because no one in the magical world knew of their existence. That way, they'd be safe for Voldemort.

It broke his heart taking care of that, but it was for their own good.'

'But… What about their mothers?'

'Died during birth. Both of them.'

'Both?!' Mrs. Weasley said.

'Yes, both. They had separate mothers as far as I knew.'

Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley nodded and remained silent during the rest of the visiting hour.

… Flash to Grimmaulds …

'We are going to do what, Hermione?'

'We're going to St. Mungo's now.'

Harry looked at her, and didn't believe her. Neither did Ron.

'Oh, stop looking like that, you two. Don't say you're not worrying about them either?!'

Harry nodded.

'I do worry, but-'

'Honestly, Harry! I thought you'd be the first to come along! Seeing as you normally always put others first, instead of orders! Have you got no heart?!'

Hermione was shaking of anger, it seemed that this had been laying on the tip of her tongue for a while, waiting to come out. Harry looked at her, his eyes were burning of rage.

'I am worried and I do put them first! I just heard they are family of Sirius! I DON'T KNOW HOW I MUST FEEL NOW! SO DON'T TELL ME I DON'T HAVE A HEART! I JUST DON'T KNOW!'

Ron looked awe-struck at the both of them.

'Calm down, Harry, lad. We'll go to St. Mungo's, ok?'

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and both were ashamed.

'I'm sorry-' They both said at the same moment. They smiled weakly to each other.

'I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean it, I-'

'Hermione, you meant it, but I don't mind. It was true what you said.'

Hermione got more redder and Ron shrugged.

'Well, this was an awkward moment… Let's go!'

Hermione and Harry smiled and grabbed a bit of Floo-Powder. Ron scribbled down a small note in case anyone of the Order would come and wonder where they were, then he grabbed a bit too.

'St. Mungo's!' All three said and they stepped in to the blazing fire.

… Flash to St. Mungo's …

The fire in one of the hearth's in St. Mungo's rose and Harry, Ron and Hermione got out of it.

They went to the help-desk immediately.

'Excuse me, where-'

'Ron? Harry? What are you doing here?'

Mr. Weasley came to them and pulled them closer.

'What happened? Why are you here and not in the HQ?' He whispered, sounding more worried than normal.

Harry knew, by the tone, that there was something severely wrong with Selena and Yasmine.

'Mr. Weasley, what's wrong with them?' He asked, interrupting Hermione's answer.

Mr. Weasley looked Harry in the eyes and saw his determination.

'I don't know how to tell you this… I guess it's better you come and see for yourself. I'll explain in the way.'

Mr. Weasley walked them to the ER 5, while he told what was wrong.

'I'll be honest from the start, Harry. They are in a coma. A deep and dangerous one. One with mortal danger. It's most likely they won't wake up anymore-'

Harry's breath stopped. 'What?!'

'If they don't wake up the next 24 hours… But even then, you can expect brain-damage of the shock…'

Ron looked at his father.

'What do they have?' He asked, unbelieving.

'They call it the Tunnel Of Dead. This does not occur much, but if it does…'

They arrived at the ER.

'Prepare yourselves and be quiet. They need their rest and concentration.'

AN: This chapter is kind of personal (I will not explain myself here, because it's too painful at the moment) but I will say this: the Tunnel of Dead does exist, how weird it sounds.

The person who's in a coma, is that deep away, that he's lost in his own mind and world that he can never find the way again. In street-lingo (here in Belgium, or at least where I live) they call it the Tunnel of Dead. Apparently, according to those who studied this, it's like you are in a tunnel and are slowly walking towards the light (you must have heard of this) but you get lost in the way.

You live, but that's all. You can't think, can't move, you're lost. Kind of Dementor's Kiss.

And for those flashes, that'll occur more during the next chapters, probably. Tell me in your review if this bothers you or not, thanks.