A/N: Do not own. X's are scene breaks, "- -" are signed conversations. There are two potentially upsetting things mentioned in this chapter. The first is a blind line up and while it does not contain mention of rape, it does deal with the difficult nature of the aftermath: the lawsuits, trials, etc. The second is some of the children get very ill and there is a constant mention of vomiting. I do apologize for the wait, this chapter took me longer than I expected. As always, use your words. -Case
-x-
She watched her youngest son from the door way, shaking her head. She was aware he was so engrossed in what he was doing that he hadn't noticed her. She had left her office door open to go get something and had been called away, so she had no idea how long he had been in her office. She had only been alerted when he started messing with her desk drawers. She stepped fully into the office when he picked up the rosewood box from inside a hidden compartment. "Do I want to know what you are looking for?"
He jumped, dropping the box. "Alexis! Sorry! I'm sorry!" He squeaked, darting as far away from her as possible. He hadn't meant to get caught, but her desk was so fascinating, there was all kinds of information there. Getting caught meant getting beat, or worse. "I didn't mean...I'm sorry!"
She took a deep breath, forcing down her anger at the monster who had harmed her son. Sure, she wasn't happy he was snooping, but she wasn't going to beat him. She had snooped through both Tim and Eric's offices as well as their bedroom, trying to find anything that proved they weren't telling the truth. She moved slowly, picking up the locked box and setting it on her desk before turning her eyes back to the trembling child. "Deep breath, Teddy. I'm not going to hurt you."
He pressed himself into the corner, arms moving to protect his head. She had promised she would never harm him but that didn't mean she couldn't. His father had made promises in the past and always broken them. He was more afraid that she wouldn't want him anymore. After all, he could handle a beating, but he didn't think he would be able to handle it if she got rid of him. "I'm sorry!"
He was shaking so bad that all she wanted to do was hug him. She knew better than to touch him, though. His magic was likely to react out of defense. "It's okay, Teddy. Take a few deep breaths for me, alright? I am not going to harm you. I'm not angry or upset. Deep breath." She crouched so that she was on eye level with him, keeping her distance so that he wouldn't feel threatened. "You are safe, son. You are safe here."
He took a deep breath, eyes darting around the room again before settling on Alexis. She had said she wasn't mad and she didn't look mad. But she had to be mad, she just had to. His father would have been if he had even thought of touching his things. She said he was safe but he didn't feel safe. Because he knew what would happen to him if she got rid of him. He'd have to go back to his father's, he wouldn't survive that. He liked it here, he liked being hers. He didn't want to lose that. He took a deep breath before meeting her eyes again. "Please don't get rid of me. I'll be good and I won't ever touch your stuff again." He stated finally, forcing his tone to remain emotionless.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, shaking her head. He sounded so much younger that he was. "I would never get rid of you. You are mine. You aren't going anywhere." She answered quietly, carefully reaching out to grasp his shoulder, meeting terrified eyes when they flew to hers. "I know you are scared and that's okay. I am not going to hurt you or get rid of you, that I promise you."
He took a deep breath, trying to force himself to calm down. It was so hard, he couldn't make himself not be afraid. He knew she wouldn't hurt him but he still couldn't force down that fear. To his shame, he felt like he was going to cry. He never cried when his father beat him, it would have just made it that much worse. So why did he feel like that now? "I'm sorry!"
"Beruhige mein liebes Kind, bitte. Du ist sicher hier. Ich habe dich." She answered softly, gently gripping his shoulders. While he wouldn't understand most of what she had said, she hoped he would hear it in her voice. She knew she could use calming magic but she rather try to get him there on his own. "I got you, Teddy. I got you." She repeated.
He took a deep breath before launching into her arms. He couldn't force back the tears but he did feel a little less awful. Her soft murmuring helped. He didn't even flinch when she wrapped her arms around him. He was still afraid but it was getting easier not to panic.
She held him tight, ignoring the wetness on her robes. It would take a while to get him completely calm, to make him understand she really wouldn't hurt him. For now she would just hold the sobbing child. Everyone needed to cry sometimes.
-x-
Lucius took a deep breath, fighting down his anger again as he lead the fifth girl into the listening room. Millicent would not be able to see the boys, but she would be able to hear them. Like the previous four girls, she had her parents and her healer with her. He had introduced himself to three of the six girls, who had not met him before, and had talked with all the girls to get their stories and help them feel comfortable with him representing them over the past couple of weeks. He had been dreading this day as much as they had, he knew this would be painfully difficult for all of them. Well, almost all of them. Luna, the fourth girl to identify him, hadn't seemed upset at all, and she had been the only one without a parent there. He still hadn't managed to find her father. But he knew it would be different with Millie, the child was already shaking.
She took a deep breath, glancing from her mother to Eric for a long moment before looking back at Mr. Malfoy. He said they could start at any time, whenever she was ready. And after looking around the room, which only contained a few chairs, a table, and a speaker, she thought she was ready. Because she couldn't see anything, so there was no frightening boy to stare down. "I'm ready, sir."
He nodded, pressing the intercom. "Let's hear boy number one."
"If you're quiet, I won't hurt you."
She shook her head, glancing at the older man again.
"Boy two."
"If you're quiet, I won't hurt you."
At the negative response, he sighed. They had five boys lined up but they rarely got that far. It had been easy to get the five teenagers to repeat the phrase, including the two prefects on duty that night, after they had paid each of them ten galleons.
"Boy three, please."
"If you're quiet, I won't hurt you."
She shuddered, turning and burying her face into her mother's robes. That voice haunted her nightmares. While she knew he couldn't see her, she still feared that he would know it was her.
"Take a deep breath, Millie." Eric instructed softly, forcing himself to not touch the child. Her mother had quickly wrapped her in a hug but he could still see the panic hitting her. "You are safe in here. They cannot see you or hear you." He added, repeating what they had told her earlier.
She tried to take a deep breath, she did, but she just couldn't force herself to calm down. Because he was there! And he had hurt her. But he couldn't hurt her now. Right? Her mother's tight arms around her was helping but it wasn't stopping the tears. She couldn't stop the tears. She was thirteen! She was suppose to be strong enough to do this.
"It's okay, Millie. You are safe in here. He cannot see, hear, or touch you. It is perfectly normal to be upset but I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay? Good, and another. If you are ready, Mr. Malfoy has to ask you one question and then you, your mother, and I can go back to your house." Eric stated softly, crouching so he was on eye level with the girl. Honestly, he had expected her to be this upset, expected all of the girls to be this level of upset. What they were doing wasn't easy and it would only get harder.
She nodded, turning her eyes to Mr. Malfoy even while she stayed within her mother's hold. She didn't want her to let go.
"I know this is hard, Millie, but I'm going to need a verbal answer, okay? Is this the boy who hurt you?" Lucius asked calmly. He was recording every one of these girls, with their parents permission of course, so they wouldn't have to go through this part again.
She hesitated, fighting back her tears for a moment. "Yes." She answer quietly before starting to cry harder. She did it, she told them who it was. And she was terrified.
"Let's get you home, Millie." There was still a long journey ahead for these girls. With the tapes and their healer reports, he had hopes it wouldn't be as traumatic as these trials normally were.
-x-
Ariana took a deep breath before finally pushing open the door to the camp. She had been attending group for the last few days and then returning to the medical wing. But today they had decided she was safe enough to return to camp full time. And she wanted to be there. She wanted to be around the people she was starting to think of as family, the counselors and students, most of whom had visited her at least one. Mary had checked in on her every day since she was admitted, if not a couple times a day. While she still felt like harming herself sometimes, she no longer wanted to die. She knew she could make it through this. She stepped slowly into the lounge, before grinning suddenly.
"ARIA!" Lila shouted, leaving her place beside Louis and rushed toward her sister. She leaped into her arms, hugging her tight before stepping back and signing rapidly. -You ok now?-
-I'm better yes. You not brush hair today. We fix that- She signed back, smiling down at the younger girl. She expected the glared she got in return.
-No-
-Yes. Have you showered?- She shook her head when Lila took off back to where she was before. "Back to normal then." She snorted softly, giving a small true smile when the other girls moved in to surround her.
"I gave her a shower yesterday." Lexie stated quietly before hugging her friend. "It's good to have you back."
Of course they had all learned some signs by now. Derek couldn't be everywhere and with her...sick, she knew the other girls had stepped in. "It's good to be back. Thank you, all of you, for looking after her. I know showering her, especially, is not fun."
"She's family." Hannah shrugged, taking her turn for a quick hug before falling back into the loose circle. "That's also the understatement of the century." She added, shaking her head. Bathing Lila wasn't fun or easy.
"I tried to do her hair this morning but I gave in up as a lost cause." Jamie stated, glancing toward the little ten year old who packed quite the punch when she wanted to.
If Lila had showered yesterday, then she could wait until tomorrow to fight that battle. Plus, she needed to talk to Jake about Lila. She had overheard a conversation not meant for her ears, that Jake would be taking care of Lila during the school year as the one-on-one she had always needed but never been allowed. "Her hair is almost always a lost cause. So, fill me in on all the latest news." She knew Rose was still grounded, Rose would be grounded for forever if she didn't straighten up, but she knew she had missed a lot. After all, Derek had just walked in talking to boys his own age in a way that wasn't mean and Lila was sitting with the little boy that she knew most of the younger kids avoided. She had a lot to catch up on.
-x-
"I hate you!"
Tim sighed, ignoring the slamming door for a moment. This brought back memories of a younger Alexis and a younger Remus, although they both still had their moments. He was getting too old for this. He was also aware that part of Rose's problem was the bond between her, Alexis, and Eric. She was a child feeling adult emotions when she could barely understand her own. Add to that her abilities and her abuse, it was no wonder the child was a bundle of barely controlled emotion. He picked up the book she had thrown at him, before placing it back on the table. They were trying to teach her basic occlumency, just enough so that she wouldn't receive nightmares from magic transfers, and it wasn't going very well. That child did not like meditation. Neither did the child who had just come sprinting into their quarters, leaving the door open yet again. "Don't run, Damien." Sitting still wasn't in either of their natures.
"Sorry!" He called, running into his room. He knew he had left it here somewhere. He was spending more time in their quarters lately, and he liked it. No matter what his brother said. He just kept leaving his toys here, instead of the camp. No one else could touch them here.
He shook his head, quietly shutting the door to their quarters. As difficult as it was raising two teenagers, a child, and keeping an eye on two young adults, he wouldn't trade it for nothing. He wasn't quite sure where Isaac was but he knew that their oldest teenager would show up eventually, he always did.
Damien crawled out from under his bed, finally having found the paper airplanes he had been looking for. He bet he could fly these from the top of one of the towers even without using magic. Malik had said it wasn't possible to throw a plane off the tower and land it safely on the ground but he knew he could do it. He used to throw them out of trees at home without any problems, it couldn't be much different from that. He stuffed the airplanes in his robe pocket before sprinting out of his room and back toward the door.
"Where are you off to Damien?" The child should really be with his group when he wasn't in their quarters. He was too young and too new to the castle to wander on his own. He was pretty sure Damien's counselors didn't know where he was. They always sent a message when Damien said he was going to their quarters, just to make sure he had reached it safely. He hadn't received a message today.
"Camp!" He shouted, lowering his voice at the raised eyebrow. They kept getting on to him to use his 'indoor voice' and to 'stop running'. But he liked running and he couldn't help that sometimes he yelled. "I'm heading back to the camp." Which wasn't a lie, exactly. He was heading back to the camp to grab Malik, so they could sneak up to the tower if they could get away from Phil and Charlie.
He moved slowly, picking up the paper airplane that had fallen out of the child's pocket. He knew for a fact that his group would not be going outside until later this afternoon. So unless the child planned to fly it inside or planned to wait until his group went outside, which he doubted, he had a feeling his child was up to something. He held it out the the child, frowning slightly. "Are you going outside, Damien?"
He took the plane, blushing. He could easily lie to his father but he was having trouble lying to Eric and Tim. So much trouble. It didn't help that he was wearing Eric's robes, which made him feel safe and guilty, because they still smelled like the older man. "Uh...maybe?"
"I see. Where do you plan to fly this from?" They had already had a conversation with the child about jumping out of trees, although he was still allowed to climb them. But not past a certain high and if a counselor or teacher told him to come down, he was suppose to. He was realistic though, if the child wanted to climb up high, he was going to, no matter what he said. His elemental abilities and his tendency to take risks meant that the child was going to try quite a few dangerous things before he realized that they hadn't been lying to him. His magic just wasn't ready for everything he wanted to do with it.
"You'll get mad." He answered, shaking his head. He knew the light-skinned man would be angry, he just knew it. And when people got angry, they tended to hit. It didn't matter that neither of the older men had hit them yet; it didn't even matter that he felt safe with them. He knew eventually they would get angry or tired of them and either give them back or start hitting. That's what Isaac said anyway.
"I won't be mad if you tell me the truth, Damien. I might be disappointed but I won't be angry." Tim replied calmly. His children had rarely made him anger, just disappointed. There were a few times where he had gotten upset with Alexis or Remus and had needed to walk away for a bit, but he doubted the preteen had done anything on that level.
He wasn't sure if that would be any better, actually. His father had only ever been angry at him but Isaac had been disappointed a time or two when he got into a fight at school. And that hadn't felt great. He did have a feeling that the older man wouldn't let it go if he didn't tell him. And he would feel guilty. It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong! Was he? "The tower."
While there were a lot of towers, he was pretty sure he meant the astronomy tower, which wasn't a place a first year needed to be alone. Students weren't allowed up there alone until their fifth year and only if it was class related. If the child thought he could control the airplanes from the top of that tower, he was wrong. The wind resistance alone...he was more likely to get hurt than anything else. "That's really dangerous, Damien. You aren't allowed up there alone, you know this."
"I wouldn't be alone." He retorted, glaring at the healer. While he didn't seem angry, the look in his eyes made him feel very small. He didn't like this feeling. If this is what disappointing them felt like, he did not want to do it.
He sighed, shaking his head. "Let me rephrase that, then. You aren't allowed up there without an adult. You could get hurt, especially if you are playing with your abilities."
It wasn't playing, not really. He didn't understand why the light-skinned man thought he would get hurt. He liked being high up, he liked feeling the wind and air. It made him feel almost as safe as their robes did. "Why?"
He wasn't sure he had an answer that the child could understand. At least he knew the child was asking because he was naturally inquisitive and not because he was trying to be difficult. "For one, there is no one around if you, or one of your friends, gets hurt and it would take awhile for help to get there. Secondly, there are many factors in how something might move through the air. Gravity, air resistance, mass, wind...there are many variables that can make something simple really dangerous. And finally, your magic is not ready to even attempt controlling something as simple as a paper airplane, especially from that height. When your magic is ready, Eric and I will help you learn how to use your gifts." He answered finally.
If his magic wasn't ready, could he learn the actual science behind it? Because he figured he'd have to know it eventually to be able to manipulate it. "Are there books in the library on air physics?"
He barely held in a snort, smiling at the child. "Aerodynamics and yes, there should be. If there aren't, we will order you some." He would have to tell his husband about 'air physics', later. The kid wasn't that far off. He would have to see if they had any books at the child's reading level. He didn't think he would be reading aerospace engineering books anytime soon. But then, he never knew with this child. With any of their children, really. They all tended to surprise him from time to time.
He would have to go search the library later. And he could always ask Isaac. His brother read all the time, so he might already know all about aerodynamics. When he was speaking to his brother again, anyway.
-x-
"Alexis?"
She kept rubbing the child's back, gazing down at the boy curled up against her. She had finally managed to get them both to a nearby armchair and maneuvered the preteen to sit on her lap, so she could calm him easier. It had taken nearly an hour to get Teddy to this level of calm. But she was also aware that could change in an instant. "Hmm?"
He kept his head buried in her shoulder, hesitating for a moment. He was afraid if he asked, she'd remember she was suppose to be mad at him. He knew she wouldn't hurt him, he really did, but it was hard to accept that. "Why aren't you mad?"
"I'm not happy you were snooping. But I am not mad because I understand why you were snooping. I use to do the same thing to Eric and Tim, until I grew to fully trust them."She answered finally, meeting brown eyes when he finally looked at her,
He hesitated, biting his lip for a minute. He didn't want to ask but he would rather know now than later. " Are you going to get rid of me?"
She blinked, staring at the child for a long moment. "I would never do that, Teddy. You are my son, you aren't going anywhere. Nothing you could do would ever cause me to love you any less." She moved him slightly, so that they could see each other better before gently taking hold of one of his hands between both of hers. " I want to show you something." She took a deep breath, focusing on her own magic and finding the thread that connected her magic to his. While he couldn't see magic like she could, Alexis had learned a trick years ago to be able to show adopted children how they were connected to their families. "Ostendo familia is a spell that shows how families are connected by magic. Do you see the gold thread between us?"
Teddy gasped staring down at the gold running from his hand to her hand. He moved his hand but the thread was still there, still connecting them. He understood enough about old magic to know that family magic could not be broken. Bain had said there was familial magic binding the four of them together but it was another thing to see it for himself. "I'm sorry I was snooping Alexis. I do trust you. It's just safer to know what's going on around me." He responded finally, leaning back against her.
She canceled the spell, smiling softly. She was well aware that he didn't fully trust her, but he would with time. "I expected you to. That is why my alarms started going off when you touched my desk drawers." Not that she had really felt the need to intervene before he had managed to find one of the hidden compartments.
He wouldn't have normally gone in her drawers but he had gotten carried away. Usually he didn't take that risk, he only searched what he could see on the desk. It was too easy to get caught otherwise and he had been afraid to get caught. But it did make him curious though. "Is that why all of the papers on your desk are boring? Because you knew I would look at them?"
She snorted, shaking her head. "I hate to tell you this son, but nearly all of the paperwork for running a school is boring. Anything you shouldn't read, you won't be able to read." It was easier, and faster, for her to read in her native tongue and it also kept her children from reading things they shouldn't. It was something she had learned from Eric.
"That's why some of it is in German!"
"That's why."
He leaned his head back against her shoulder, relaxing again. He was exhausted all of a sudden, now that the fear was completely gone.
She smiled down at the child, drifting off to sleep. She was content to hold him for as long as he would allow, for she knew that soon he would protest that he was too old to be held like this.
-x-
Harry crawled under his bed, a book tuck carefully tucked under his arm. He stretched out on his belly for a moment, prying up a loose floor board before reaching in his pocket and removing the apple he had swiped from the dining hall. He knew Remus and Severus had said they could eat anything in the kitchen if they were hungry but he was still afraid that they might take that away as punishment. It was only the second week of August, it hadn't really been that long ago that he was starving. Now that he was eating regular meals and his counselors were making sure that they had access to snacks since their bodies were healing, his was hungry more often. So he had been hiding a few pieces of fruit and toast, nothing that would really go bad, just in case he got in serious trouble, he was bound to eventually, or in case he got really hungry in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure if the castle had put magic around the boards or if the elves had, but he had a feeling it was probably to keep his food from attracting bugs. He replaced the floor board, carefully rolling onto his back. He opened his photo album up to the last picture of him and his parents, groaning when he heard the clomping of his sister's crutches. He didn't want to go to group, that's why he was hiding. She couldn't hide with him, since she couldn't crawl under the bed and he just knew she would tell Remus where he was.
The dark-haired girl sighed softly, stopping beside her brother's bed. As much as she hated small, dark places, Harry loved them. Not that it would do anything as one of their guardians could smell them, but she would tell Remus she couldn't find him, just to give him a few more minutes. She didn't always enjoy group but neither of them had ever ran from it. Because group was about helping everyone in the group work through emotions and thoughts by talking about them aloud. And sometimes for her, just listening to the older girls talk helped.
He relaxed again, focusing on the picture for a long moment. He couldn't really tell if 'baby Harry' looked like either of his parents. 'Baby Harry' just looked like a baby.
Since the child had entered their quarters, he knew he hadn't left them, especially since none of the wards had sounded. He looked around the half-messy room for a moment before crouching down beside the bed. Remus glanced beneath it, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He wasn't quite sure if the child was hiding because he was looking at his photo album or if that just happened to be what he had grabbed. "It's time for group, Harry."
He flinched, grimacing. "I don't wanna."
"It's not a choice, Harry. Jake promised that tonight will be a riveting discussion called 'when in doubt, ask for help'. I'm sure it will be interesting." The twin groans made him chuckle. All of Jake and Mary's group members hated it when Jake even attempted to make titles for any discussions. He knew both of his kids were going to be unhappy when they realized that it was the full moon and they would be staying at the camp, it wasn't an option this time.
Harry finally gave in, rolling back on to his belly and crawling out from under the bed. He carefully placed his photo album back on his bookshelf before darting out of his room and into the sitting room, where his sister was impatiently waiting. He knew Remus would walk with them, one of them always did.
-x-
He had been expecting her to approach him, just not this soon. Which meant if she had accept the offer, he had a position to fill and an already overwhelmed headmistress to inform. Yesterday had been her day off, it would had made sense for Poppy to had gone to an interview then. He wasn't a fool, she was close to retiring and the job she had been offered would allow her to take a more administrative role. It was customary for directors of other hospitals and medical programs to send each other letters when they offered a position to a healer or mediwizard, particularly if it would put that hospital in a bind, so no one was blindsided. It was an ethics issue that was outlined by the Healers Guild. "Poppy?"
As much as she loved this school, she felt like she had failed it students and its staff. And while she knew that the few cases she had been able to report had been helped, the rest of the students she had brought to Albus' attention had been brushed aside. She had seriously considered turning down the offer, she really had, but she also wondered if it wouldn't be better for the school to have an entirely new medical staff. Before, it had just been her. Sure, if there had been a serious outbreak of the flu or several students got hurt, Pomona or Severus, or later Alexis, would help, but it had always just been her. Alexis had quickly realized that she was a one-woman medical department and had often taken over the wing so she could have a day off. Albus had never seemed to understand that in a school of almost seven hundred, there had to be someone on call at all times and it had exhausted her to do it alone. The two professors with medical training and the healer who was now headmistress had understood that and had always helped her to the best of their abilities, despite the headmaster and his former deputy's opinion on that matter. "St. Mungos has made me an offer I cannot refuse, I am sure you are aware."
"I am. I take it, you are going to accept it?" He would admit that at first he couldn't see her doing bureaucratic work but he had quickly learned why the students, and some of the younger staff, called her the 'dragon lady'. St. Mungos was looking to replace one of their Head Mediwizards, as he was retiring. Each department had a mediwizard who oversaw the other mediwizards and made schedules, handled hiring, promotions, rotations, etc. They even oversaw the novice healers on the floor if necessary.
She sighed, settling into the chair in front of his desk . " Miguel and I negotiated that I would stay here until the last week of August. After that, I will return on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons for as long as you need me to." She answered finally, meeting dark eyes before accepting the cup of tea he offered her.
He understood the Saturday evenings, as he was helping Alexis teach a ritual class on Saturdays, but not the Sundays. "Sunday afternoons?"
"You like to have dinner with your children on Sunday's and Gods only knows someone needs to make Alexis eat." She smiled at the younger man. It was hard not to notice the love the men had for their children and how much they cared about all of young counseling staff. Even if that young counseling staff drove her up a wall. Some of them were barely out of their apprenticeships and they were also so easily excitable. The amount of young counseling staff, the new mind healers who were still in their twenties, the increasing amount of young professors...the energy level in the staff had tripled. She was going to do her best to be here on the 1st of September, if only to visit for a bit, just to see the amount of energy in the school, to see how that would change things. Because she knew it would change things and that was one of the reasons she had taken the job. They needed fresh eyes in the medical wing and a medical director who was an actual healer, not one who had to floo St Mungo for life-threatening injuries.
"The students will miss you, Poppy. And so will we." Which was true. Many of the students would miss her. But he also knew that a lot of the camp kids avoid Poppy. He wasn't sure if it was because they felt like she fussed to much or if it was something else, but he did know most of the students would miss her.
"I'm not gone yet. And I will come visit once I do leave. Would you like me to tell Alexis?"
"I'll tell her tomorrow."
-x-
"I'm sorry, Alexis. I just- I couldn't... I don't even. I fucked up. I lost complete control of the situation." She groaned, head in her hands.
She sighed softly, glancing at Eric before gently resting a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. This was honestly not how she wanted to start her morning, sitting beside one of her counselors of Eric's couch trying to find some answers. They weren't even sure what had happened or why three of the little girls were extremely ill and she needed to get to the bottom of this so they could help them. "I know you are upset, Rani. I also know you are exhausted. Why don't you start from the beginning, okay? What happened after the girls went to bed?"
The dark-skinned counselor took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment and forcing her brain to go back to the night before. Her and Kate had been arguing about the duty schedule and whose turn it was to dress Lila before going to bed themselves.
-x-
She groaned, feeling the alarm go off for the third time. She rolled over, glancing at Kate. She had gotten up the last time but at this rate, neither of them would get any sleep.
Kate sighed, sitting up. "I got it." If it was little Melody again, she was going to take the child to the medical wing. They had both scanned her, she had given her a stomach soother and she had still thrown up at least twice.
She tried to go back to sleep but when Kate didn't come back after nearly half an hour, she couldn't help but start to worry. She got up and headed into the girls bunk, scanning it quickly. The door leading into the bathroom was open and two of the beds were empty. Two? She stepped into the bathroom, grimacing at the retching she could now hear, the sound she hated the most.
"I was just about to call you. So now it's both of them." Kate stated softly, even though she knew her voice wouldn't carry outside the bathroom. She had cast a one-way silencing spell, so she could hear if any of the other girls got sick but they wouldn't wake the other girls up. She pulled Megan's hair back as the child rush to the toilet again. She had already tied Melody's hair up. What worried her was that the two girls slept on opposite sides of the room. Megan had been the one to set off the alarm this time but Melody had quickly followed her.
"Can I scan you Megan?" She asked softly. She knew Kate had already scanned her but she wanted to know if the scan of Megan would show that same as the scan of Melody. And then if it did, did they just give her a stomach soother and hope their stomachs settled? Should she look for some pep-to? Was it just a belly ache from something they ate?
She nodded, resting her head on her arm as she knelt on the cold tile. Thankfully, Kate had cast a warming charm on them. She hadn't felt this bad since she had a stomach bug!
Kate watched her friend in silence, meeting her eyes when she finished her scan. She knew she found exactly what she had. Which was, nothing. Neither of their scans showed that there was anything wrong with these girls. "I'm going to get them a glass of water and grab Megan a stomach soother." She remarked quietly. She might grab one of her medical books while she was at it. The rate at which they were vomiting, they should be showing something, even if it was a stomach bug. Or hell, now that she thought about it, they should even show simple dehydration.
She nodded, gently stroking the sick child's back. It didn't even seem like the stomach soother was helping Melody. Should they try a stronger dose? A different potion? Had it even been long enough to give her something else? Peppermint tea?
It took an hour to get a glass of water in both girls, get them cleaned up, and get them back into bed. She had just fell back asleep when the alarm when off again. She sat up and looked at Rani, completely at a lose. "I'll take whichever one of them it is up to Eric. Maybe he can find something we are missing." She groaned, sliding out of bed and back into the girls room. It honestly didn't surprise her that they were both back up and vomiting once more. She sent a quick message to Eric and once she was able to move them, gently led the two girls upstairs. She had a feeling she would probably end up staying in the medical wing with them but she knew Rani would understand.
The three hours of sleep she got hadn't done much to make her feel human. The fact that she was trying to get a shirt over Lila's head was not making it any easier. On a normal day, it would have been fine. This wasn't a normal day. Kate was still upstairs with the still sick girls. She had left the door to her and Kate's room open, as she was trying to dress Lila, and one of her preteen's had wandered in there. And come out with a journal that she knew quite well wasn't hers in her little hands. "Jessica, is that yours? Lila, please, arms. Nicole love, pants first." She stated tiredly, hoping that Kate had at least warded her journal.
"Put it back, Jessica." Karrie growled, trying to wrestle her shoe on while avoiding her cast.
"Make me."
"Girls, it is early. Jessica, that does not belong to you. Put it back where you found in." Rani ordered again, glancing at the preteens. She bit back a smile when one of the 12 year olds, Lucy, went over to Karrie and offered to help her. It said a lot to the girl's growth that she accepted the offer and let the younger girl help her with her shoes.
Jessica glared at the older woman, flipping the book open. It wasn't like she could read most of it anyway. Most of it was written in some other language, French maybe? But the parts she could read..."March 1st."
"Don't you dare!"
"Jessica!" Damn it Kate. Security spells! Wards. Anything to keep a thirteen year old from reading her secrets! Especially ones that involves a 'secret' romance with a certain headmistress that was completely obvious. It was, however, at that moment, that Lila decided to fight free from her, and she heard a sound that she had heard all night long. Retching.
"Ewww!"
"That's disgusting!"
"Give me it!" Karrie threw herself off her bed, ignoring the pain in her leg and the squeal from little Lucy and onto Jessica. She punched the bigger girl in the stomach, scratching at her face and grabbing for the journal. It wasn't Jessica's! It wasn't right for her to read other people's secrets aloud. Especially someone who took care of them, like Kate and Rani did!
Her eyes quickly found the girl vomiting, Nicole, and then flew to the girl who shrieked. "Karrie! You have a broken leg! Lila do not leave this room naked! Dammit to hell!"
"She's still puking!"
"I see that! Lucy, love, help Nicole to the bathroom. Karrie get off her!"
"Let go!" Jessica shrieked, kicking out at the smaller girl. She heard a sickening crack and winced for a moment before trying to knock the girl off of her. "Get off!"
"Girls!" She tried to pull the wrestling pair apart, although it was more like Jessica was rolling around on the floor and Karrie was just holding on to her.
"Nicole's still puking!"
"I know! Fuck! Karrie let go! Jessica stop!"
"What on earth is going on in here?" Mary asked, stepping into the room. Jake was dressing Lila, who had managed to get out of the room wearing only her underwear and one of her girls had come to get her when they found one of the little ones vomiting all over the bathroom with a friend beside her. The other little girl had told her girls that 'everyone had gone mad'. Having heard what just came out of Rani's mouth, she now understood what the little one meant.
She grimaced, catching hold of Mary's eyes and jerking her head toward the two girls. She waited for her to nod before she wrapped an arm around Karrie's waist. It took them a moment but they finally managed to pull the still struggling girls apart. She took the journal out of Jessica's hands before catching sight of Karrie's leg. Eric was going to be pissed. Alexis was going to fire her.
"Have you scanned Nicole yet?" She asked quietly, vanishing the mess. Hannah was with Nicole and Lucy and would stay in the bathroom with them until she came to take them to the medical wing. If it was a stomach bug, she would just give her a potion for it. But she did know Karrie, at least, would need the medical wing. Her girls had slowly followed her into the room, to help finish getting the younger girls ready for the day. Where was Kate and how had things spiraled so quickly out of control?
"Not yet. She just started vomiting when all hell broke loose. If it is the same as little Melody and Megan, we won't find anything. When I checked in with Kate before I started getting them ready this morning, Eric was stumped." She sighed softly, running a quick scan over the now silent and fuming Karrie. "Does one of your girls have Lila?"
"Jake was getting her dressed. He'll take her today." She answered, frowning slightly. She knew she was missing a couple but she had thought they were in the bathroom. " You have two sick?"
"Yeah. Scan Nicole. See what the scan shows you. I'm willing to bet it will be blank. We were both up all night with them until Kate finally decide that since the stomach soothers weren't working and we couldn't keep enough fluid in them, that she would take them to Eric in case we missed something." Her scan of Karrie told her what she already knew. The child's leg was broken, badly, and she was in a lot of pain. She would offer her a pain potion but she also knew that she would refuse. The child was too angry right now. She would talk to her in a moment. She went to scan Jessica, sighing softly. At least that was one child who only got a few minor bruises out of it and a few scratches.
Mary came back into the room, the little second year at her side."You can check on her, Lucy, but be careful." She instructed quietly, watching as the small girl wove through the older girls, who were quietly talking to the younger ones, to reach the side of the dark-haired, fuming little girl with unicorns dancing on a now useless cast. ""My girls have offered to spend the day with yours, they like hanging out with the younger ones. I'll take all of them with me and wrangle Melody into helping. You were also right. Her scan came back clean. Hannah will help you floo the two of them up to the medical wing." She added, meeting Rani's eyes when they flew to hers.
"Mary..."
"We will talk about it later, alright? Worry about your girls right now. " She shook her head, eyes going to where little Lucy was sitting silently beside a much calmer Karrie. Interesting. "I'm going to assume Jessica is going to be grounded. Would you like to talk to her or would you rather I do it?"
"I'll go talk to her before I take Karrie up. Can you have Hannah go ahead and take Nicole up if she is stable?" She asked quietly, waiting for the nod before going over to the angry little girl. "Jessica." She stated softly, crouching to be on eye level with her and waiting until she looked up at her. "We don't take things that don't belong to us. You know this. I gave you plenty of warnings to stop, didn't I? But you wouldn't. Remember what we have been trying to teach you? Actions have consequences. You are grounded for four days." From the look on the child's face, it was like she had said a year. She was such a social child and to be confined to her bunk room except for meals, group, and therapy was hard on her, she knew that. That was what made it an effective punishment.
"I didn't mean to break her leg." She said finally, looking up at the older woman. She knew that wouldn't get her out of trouble but she wanted her to know that. She really hadn't wanted to break her leg. She hadn't want to hurt Karrie like that, not like that.
"I know, Jessica. I think she knows that too. I'm going to take her to the medical wing and get it all sorted, alright?" If she had thought the girl had broken her leg on purpose, they would have had a much different conversation.
"Okay."
-x-
"That's what happened." That was the disaster that would probably cost her the job she loved. The girls might drive her crazy but she adored them.
"I know Kate said both Melody and Megan were fine before you put them to bed last night. They both were acting perfectly normal. Was Nicole fine when she got up this morning? Was she acting unusual at all before she became ill?" Eric questioned quietly, watching the young woman for a long moment. Honestly, she had handled the situation the best she could, even if there were a few things she should have done differently. She should have let the other counselors know that she was running by herself so they could help her or one of the older girls could had helped her. But what was important right now was figuring out what was wrong with the three sick little girls. None of the scans they tried showed anything, not even the touch scans. None of the potions were working. He couldn't fix something he couldn't even start to detect. If it was a curse or a spell, it was a masked one.
She closed her eyes for a moment, going back over the morning again. She had an arm wrapped around Lila's waist, her other hand trying to maneuver a shirt over her head. Her eyes scanned the room, keeping an eye on the other girls. There was Jessica, with a notebook that wasn't hers; Nicole sitting on the floor trying to pull shoes over bare feet when she still wore her pajamas. "She was having trouble dressing. It was almost like she couldn't remember the steps we taught her, like when she first came to us. There was no warning. She just started vomiting." She answered finally, shaking her head.
"Did she touch anything, Rani? Was there anything out of place? Anything that shouldn't be there?" Alexis asked quietly, watching the younger woman. She was well aware that she might just not know. A lot was going on. That was one of the reasons Tim and Filius were currently sweeping the younger girl's cabin, to see if they could detect any charm or spell, anything at all. Because this wasn't an illness the girls had and it wasn't food poisoning or a stomach ache. They were looking at curses, spells, and poisons that had somehow found their way to little girls and had managed to get through the wards undetected.
"I don't know. There was a lot going on. She started vomiting that same moment Karrie leaped at Jessica and I lost control of Lila." She grimaced, shaking her head. She had realized why she had let Lila go, besides being distracted of course. The little girl had decided to bite her just as Jessica screamed and Nicole puked. It had really all gone to hell.
Eric blinked, frowning slightly before adjusting his eyes to focus on the magic he was seeing. What the hell was on Rani's arm? It looked like her magic was trying to burn something off."Rani, before you brought the girls up here, did you touch anything that was in the cabin? Anything at all?" He asked calmly, catching Alexis' eyes for a moment.
She frowned, tilting her head. She knew that look well, so she let her own eyes change, looking for magic in a way that was natural for her. She almost reached for her arm but stopped, seeing the look Eric gave her. Even without touching her, she could see the bite marks on her arm, which she was sure belonged to a little first year. Which meant if Rani had touched whatever made the girls sick...it was in her blood stream.
"I picked up Nicole's bear. She must have knocked it on the floor. I shrunk it down and brought it up here for her." She answered quietly, hesitating. They were both looking at her with concern. She had a really bad feeling about this. "Why?"
"Does she have it now?" She asked, standing swiftly at the nod.
"Alexis. Gloves, masks, containment fields. Until we know what is on it, do not touch it." Eric ordered, knowing the swiftly retreating headmistress would heed him on this. "Lie down, Rani. Whatever was on the bear is now in your blood stream. Since you are not ill, I don't think you got as much of it as the girls did. That said, I do want to examine your arm." The darker-skinned healer stated quietly, meeting scared hazel eyes when they flew to his. It never got easier.
"What if the bear makes her sicker? Fuck." She whispered, shaking her head. All she did was make it worse. But Nicole had that bear all night and she didn't get sick until this morning. What if..."What if when she dropped it on the floor, it got whatever made her sick on it? If she had put her hands in her mouth..."
"She would have started vomiting once her body realized what was wrong. And when you picked it back up, I bet you scratched your arm. Did you touch anything else?"
"Karrie!"
He sighed, touching his pendant and sending a quick message to Lucas, who was working on Karrie's leg as they had to heal it slowly since magic overwhelmed her body, to check her over. "It hopefully wouldn't transfer like that. If we think about it like a normal illness, how does a normal sickness transmit?"
"Mouth, nose, eyes, blood." She answered automatically, smiling sheepishly when he nodded his approval.
"What can we rule out?"
"It's not transmitted through water, air or food. Otherwise more of the students would be showing symptoms " She knew he was trying to distract her and she was well aware that he was scanning her with his wand and not by touch, but she was almost grateful for the distraction. She was not Kate. She wasn't afraid of Eric and honestly, the older man had been her hero from the moment she had first learned about him. For one, he was ranked as one of the top ten healers in the world. And two, he looked like her. When one of the professors at her university told her that her dreadlocks were unprofessional and that she would never find a job with them, her mentor told her to write Eric, because Eric was well respected and he had dreads. She never actually expected him to respond. While Eric had box-braids, not dreads, he wrote her back and she later found out that he also wrote both the professor and the director of the university. No one said a word about her hair after that.
He was right, her magic was trying to burn it off. Whatever it was, it must have been a very small amount. If he couldn't get it out of her, she would lose feeling in that arm, if she didn't lose the arm. And that was best case scenario. He could try to draw it out of her but without knowing what it was, it was almost too risky.
Alexis grimaced, frowning at the results of the test she just ran. She knew exactly what this was and Eric was not going to be happy. She wasn't happy. She wasn't sure how it got into the school but she knew why the wards hadn't detected it. She never thought she would need wards to detect this.
Tim sighed, stepping out of the floo with the box. "We found it. I take it from the look on your face, you already figured it out." He remarked quietly, setting the containment box on the table and gesturing for Filius to do the same.
She nodded. "Do you know where it originated?"
"A letter. The powder was in a letter Melody received. It wouldn't have set off any alarms. If she touched her mouth, that would explain how she got sick." Filius answered, shaking his head. Three sick children and a sick counselor poisoned and for what? Revenge? Megan was one of his students and he knew this type of poison.
"It was also on the sleeve of Megan's soiled pajamas. She must have dropped them on the floor where Melody had opened the envelope at." If he ever found the people who had done this...a couple more hours and they would have lost the three little girls. Their organs would start shutting down. He had already informed Eric and Severus, so Severus was working on the antidote, but it would still take another hour. Two of the three little girls were on magical IV's, to keep fluid in them; they would have to start the other two on IV's as well.
"She sucks her thumb. That's how she ingested it. I'll start the IV for Nicole." She said, stripping her gloves off and leaving the men with the three containment boxes. They would send the letter and the poison to the auror office to see if they could find whoever did this. She was not looking forward to the next several hours. This poison was extremely painful to cure and it was almost impossible to detect if healers didn't know to look for it. Normal scans, even advance scans, would never find it. That's what made it so deadly. So now she needed to update all of the wards to check for that poison and see who was trying to kill an eleven-year-old. After she helped Eric, Tim, and Lucas heal these little girls and Rani. It was going to be a long day.
-x-