9: A Grey World
"NANA!" Pandora screamed, making a mad lunge forward to race across the rubble-strewn street to Valbona's side, only for Jeff to fling his arms around her middle, vice-like grip holding her back.
"Pan, wait!" he demanded, and she instantly reached to claw at his hands in an attempt to get free, shrieking:
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"
"Calm down!" Jeff pleaded, forced to lift the flailing girl right off her feet, staggering backwards a few steps further into the alleyway. "Stop...just...listen to me..."
"W...what have you d...done?!" Pandora shrieked, struggling to fiercely that he stumbled sideways into the wall with a wince. "What have you done?! You...you've...you've...you're a...a..."
"Pandora, listen to me..."
"YOU'RE A MONSTER!"
"They needed it, Pan!" Jeff shouted as a distinctly nervous crowd began to gather around the site of the devastation, a handful of people running to start scrabbling at the dust and rubble. "They needed waking up!"
"Y...you're...you're crazy!" Pandora sobbed, shaking her head vigorously, but his grip on her grew tighter than ever until she felt as if she could barely gasp for breath.
"They're hypocrites, Pandora! All of them! All the witches and wizards! They look down on us, they think we're helpless and...and backward! All because we don't have magic! But they need to take a good look in the mirror, don't they?! Magical society has been all high and mighty for centuries! And it's a sick, stagnant society, Pan. It's not going anywhere and it never truly has been! Somebody ought to fix it. Somebody ought to make it better..."
"You're...you're c...crazy..."
"Somebody has to reach out and...and give them a good shake! Show them they aren't as...as bloody grand and powerful as they think they are! Maybe then they'll get down of their bloody high horses and realise it's them who are backward! It's them who resist change and...and don't adapt! It's them who are the weak, pitiful ones, not us!"
Pandora gasped in a fresh, choked breath as across the street she watched Valbona fling a large slab of jagged brick over her shoulder with such a crash that it left a hefty crack in the cobbled pavement. As the Auror stooped to grasp hold of something amongst the rubble, Pandora's gaze darted down to Jeff's hands clasped together around her middle.
"Somebody needs to give you a good shake!" she cried, voice beginning to grow hoarse. "You're utterly m...mad!"
"I thought you'd understand..." Jeff said, voice suddenly soft as if her reaction troubled him, and Pandora found herself laughing quite hysterically as she exclaimed:
"Oh I think I...I understand, Jeff! I think I understand a...a whole lot! And it's...it's sick! You're sick!"
All of a sudden there came a horrible shrieking from back across the road, and in a split second Pandora found herself acting with barely a thought. She suddenly went limp in Jeff's arms, the sudden weight making him falter as she flopped her head forward down towards her middle, and before Jeff could adjust his grip upon her the girl screwed her eyes shut and, without a moment's pause, sunk her teeth into his fingers, causing him to instantly drop her with a shout of pain. No sooner had his arms been yanked from around her, Pandora, with only the smallest of stumbles, bolted out of the alleyway and across the street without so much as a glance backwards at him.
She came to a skidding halt at Valbona's side to find the half-giant stooped over the rubble, enormous hands grasping tightly onto Dora's arms, one of which looked to be at a distinctly unnatural angle.
Dora, still buried in rubble from the naval down, was coughing violently, her eyes screwed shut and her face bruised, scratched and made pale from dust.
"Nana!" Pandora flung herself upon her knees beside her grandmother. Ignoring the grazing rubble beneath them, but before Dora could so much as open her eyes Valbona, who was so focused that she seemed entirely oblivious to the new arrival, asked:
"Ready?!"
"No..." Dora mumbled thickly, face contorting in clear panic, "Please don't..." only for Valbona to visibly brace herself...
Pandora's eyes widened in panic a split second before the Auror tightened her grip upon Dora's arms and pulled backwards with all her might.
Dora, teeth gritted furiously at the flood of pain erupting down her arms, let out a distinctly furious shout of pain, only to gasp in a fresh breath to shriek:
"BLOODY STOP!"
"No time to stop." Valbona grunted as she managed to drag the older witch a few more inches out of the rubble. "You lose blood. No time at all...ready?" This time she didn't wait for Dora to answer.
Pandora reached to clamp her hands over her face, wincing at Dora's moan of protest, and she didn't dare open her eyes again until a long moment later she heard Dora splutter:
"Pan...!"
Eyes snapping back open the girl scrambled forward until she was leaning over her grandmother. The witch stared up at her, dark eyes distinctly unfocused as she yanked her good arm free from Valbona's grasp.
Pandora felt hot tears streaming down her face as she felt Dora reach to press a dusty palm to her cheek.
"What're you doing here?" Dora asked, apparently having entirely forgotten, and the girl gawped at her for a moment before stuttering:
"I...I c...came w...with Jeff..."
"Are you hurt?"
"N...no, Nana..."
"Where's Jeff?"
At this question, Pandora found herself letting out a loud sob.
"I don't know, Nana!" she cried, voice growing high, and Dora's hand reached to pull her closer until their foreheads were pressed together.
"It's alright, Sweetheart." the witch whispered hoarsely, dark eyes suddenly piercing. "Everything's going to be alright. Now...now you listen to me, Pandora. Listen..."
"Hurry, Dora!" Valbona interrupted, but Dora ignored her.
"I want you to...to get up and...and walk over to...to Gringott's, alright?"
"I..I won't leave you..."
"Climb t...to the top of the steps and...and sit there."
"No..."
"Don't m...move from that spot, d'you hear me Pandora? Stay right at the top...you'll be within the goblins' protective wards...in case there's any other a...attacks. You...you stay right there where...where I can...can see you. Un...until it's safe..."
"B...but..."
"Don't you argue with me!" the witch snapped groggily. "Either you march yourself over there and...and do what you're told, or I'll have Valbona bloody carry you!"
"Nana..."
"Please, love! I'm alright, I'll...I'll be alright, I promise! Now go on! Go!"
And before Pandora could attempt to protest any more, Valbona had clamped a saucepan-like hand upon her shoulder and dragged her back onto her feet.
"Go!" the Albanian instructed, giving the girl a firm push in the right direction. "Do as your nana tell you, yes? She know best!" As Pandora stumbled away she heard the Auror ask Dora: "How are your feet now?"
"My feet?" Dora echoed with a choked laugh. "Keep up Valbona, won't you? We're way p...past my f...feet!" As the Auror reached to grasp hold of the metamorphmagus' arms again Pandora felt a fresh wave of panic wash over her, making her stumble as she heard Dora announce in a distinctly panicked tone: "I can't...I can't feel my legs..."
From atop the pearly white marble steps leading to the entrance of Gringott's Bank, Pandora leant heavily against a pillar and watched the chaos below. Within minutes the cobbled street became flooded with witches and wizards dressed in scarlet Auror robes and the striking orange robes of the Ministry's Hit Wizards, and the girl watched as a large group of Aurors came streaking across the road towards the explosion site. Even from a distance, Pandora could hear the unmistakable voice of Deputy Head of Aurors Jasmine Wickes bellowing instructions at the top of her lungs:
"HIGGINS, ABBOT, GUGEON! SECURE A PERMINTOR! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL IS HARRY?! YOU! DIGGORY! I MEAN BERTIE! BERTIE AND TED! GET EVERYBODY INSIDE GRINGOTT'S!"
Pandora watched numbly as her father and Albert Diggory came to a skidding halt before the crowd and her father called:
"Auror department! Everybody remain calm and listen very carefully..." he was almost drowned out by Jasmine behind him as yet another Auror appeared, pushing his way through the crowd, causing Jasmine to shriek:
"WHERE THE BLOODY HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
"Bristol!" Head of Aurors Harry Potter shouted back in an attempt to be heard over the noise. "Now, where's Ron gotten to..."
"It's his day off!"
"Oh yes...right! XANDER! I WANT PROTECTIVE WARDS ALL OVER THIS ALLEY..."
As he strode towards the rubble, Jasmine at his side, Harry seemed to trail off into silence as he watched the hulking form of Valbona Luga rise from a crouch upon the floor, turning round to face him...
At the sight of Dora cradled limply like a rag doll in the half-giant's arms, both the Head and Deputy Head of Aurors stopped dead in their tracks. They both appeared distinctly stunned for a long moment as behind them Teddy and Albert Diggory set about herding the crowd of shoppers towards the bank's entrance, and then the two of them leapt back into action. Harry darted forward to get a closer look at his injured friend, instantly reaching to press two fingers searchingly against her neck in the hope of finding a pulse, and without daring to look round, Jasmine called:
"TEDDY!"
Pandora felt fresh tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as she watched her father pause in his directing of the crowd to look over his shoulder.
Like Harry and Jasmine before him, Teddy took one look at his mother and was instantly stunned. He seemed to visibly sway upon his feet for a moment before rushing forward, pushing Harry out of the way in his dazed panic, reaching to cup his mother's pale face in his hands as Harry whirled around, gaze darting desperately around the crowds of people and Ministry employees rushing this way and that as he bellowed:
"HEALER! HEALER! G...GET ME A BLOODY HEALER...P...PLEASE!"
Valbona was babbling hurriedly at Teddy as he buried his face in his mother's shoulder, and as a couple of member's of the Ministry's medical team came rushing away from patching up a few shaken spectators, Teddy suddenly spun around, his gaze fixed upon the crowded marble steps...
Pandora was about to fling her arms up into the air to wave madly at him, sure that he was looking for her, when a hand upon her shoulder made her jump and a voice in her ear said:
"Inside please, Miss. Don't worry, we've got everything under control..."
"N...no..." Pandora mumbled, turning her wide-eyed gaze upon the speaker.
Albert Diggory gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"It's alright..." he began calmly as people continued to stream through the doors behind him.
"No..." Pandora raised a shaking hand to point as a stretcher was conjured and Valbona set about carefully lowering Dora onto it. "Th...that's my...my Nana..."
"Your Nana?" Albert Diggory echoed without so much as a glance back down the street. "Did you come here with her?"
"N...no...I...I..."
"What's her name, Miss? If you tell me I'll make sure they come and fetch you when they take her to the hospital..."
"N...Nymphadora L...Lupin..."
Albert Diggory's calm expression instantly tensed.
"You're...you're Tonks' granddaughter?"
Pandora gave a shaky nod and the Auror spun around to stare at the scene, face growing instantly pale.
"That's...that's her there, is it?" he asked, reaching to rake a hand through his hair, and when Pandora merely gave a miserable sniff he muttered: "Merlin, not Tonks..."
As she too turned back to look at the scene Pandora found Teddy pushing his way hurriedly through the crowds towards them, and upon spotting him, Albert Diggory called:
"Ted! Over here!"
No sooner was her father free from the crowds of people hurrying up the steps, Pandora flung herself into his arms, burying her face in the front of his scarlet Auror robes, a fresh sob escaping her throat as she felt his arms wrapping tightly around her.
"D...Dad!" she squeaked, screwing her eyes firmly shut and attempting to gasp for breath as his grip upon her very nearly knocked the air from her lungs.
"Sweet Merlin, Pan!"
"Dad I...I...I'm..."
"Shh." Teddy leant to bury his face in her hair, rocking the two of the back and forward ever so slightly. "Don't panic, Sweetheart. It's...it's alright, don't panic..."
"I'm s...sorry, Dad..."
"Shhh."
"I...I'm s...so sorry..."
"It's okay. She's okay, Sweetheart. She's going to be okay..."
"Is she?" Albert Diggory asked anxiously, as if he didn't really trust anything that a father might tell his daughter at a moment such as this, but when Teddy looked up at him he merely said:
"Harry's sending for back up to clear the rubble and search for survivors. He says you're to stay in the bank and make sure nobody leaves."
"Right..." Albert mumbled, giving himself a little shake, and with that he turned his attention to an elderly witch clutching a generous number of shopping bags and a walking stick who appeared to be struggling on the steps.
"Come on, Pan." Teddy said, straightening up as if Albert's composure was infectious. "They'll take Nana to Mungo's...we'll go with them...Valbona says she'll fetch Mum and Grandad and...where's Immy today? She's not at the Leaky is she?"
As she found herself being half-dragged back down the steps and down onto the cobbles, Pandora attempted to fight through the foggy panic in her mind to recall her sister's whereabouts...
"She...she's with Mum...I think..."
"Good! Good, good...that's good...quickly now, Sweetheart!"
"Is Nana really going to be alright, Dad?" Pandora asked worriedly as Teddy sidled his way through the crowd, reaching to grasp his daughter firmly by the hand. "She...she was screaming when V...Valbona dragged her out..."
"She's lost consciousness, Sweetheart. Valbona said she...she passed out almost as soon as she saw you at the top of the steps..." When Pandora failed to suppress a sob, Teddy paused in his striding to reach and pull her closer to him, sliding a firm arm around her shoulders. "It's alright, Pan." he insisted as they finally broke free of the crowd to find a cluster of healers bent over the stretcher and Valbona nowhere to be seen.
"Ms Luga's gone to fetch Remus." Harry announced as father and daughter stumbled past him, and with one last dismayed glance back at Dora the Head of Aurors set about shouting fresh instructions to a couple of passing Hit Wizards.
"I can't bloody believe it..." Jasmine Wickes was muttering as she stared blankly off down the street. "Valbona bloody Luga...!"
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Jas!" Teddy muttered as he came to a halt beside her, Pandora clinging to his side. "Don't be pathetic..."
"Excuse me?!" Jasmine spat, eyes widening quite madly, only for Harry to warn:
"Jasmine...!"
"I won't excuse you," Teddy told her frankly. "Mum wouldn't have stood a chance if Valbona hadn't been here..."
"She's a completely psycho, Ted!"
"So are you, Jas..."
"That's insubordination!" Jasmine pointed out irritably, only for Harry to snap:
"Jas, I'm not paying you to just bloody stand there, you know!"
Despite their little spat, Jasmine reached to lay a hand on Teddy's arm and she told him:
"Send word to Headquarters, won't you? We'll be worried sick about her until you do."
"I will." Teddy agreed without so much as a glance sideways at his colleague. And as she turned to stride off up the street to help Xander Pikket and a couple other Aurors setting protective wards, the Deputy Head of Aurors cast one last worried look at the stretcher and said: "And tell her she better pull through, alright?! Her rude letters about how crap I am at my job are the only things keeping a smile on my face most Monday mornings..."
As Jasmine hurried off, over amongst the remains of the building there came a fresh shout for medical assistance and Pandora glanced to see a young wizard being pulled free from the rubble. As one of the healers bent over Dora's stretcher hurried off to assist the Ministry wizards pulling the teenager out onto the cobbles, Pandora felt her stomach twist into knots to get a fresh glimpse of her grandmother. Her legs, dusty trousers rolled up past her knees for the healers' inspection, seemed bent and bloodied. One healer was busy wrapping a bandage tightly around one mangled knee, the linen already soaked crimson and Pandora found herself screwing her eyes shut. A lack of vision didn't seem to help, for another two healers appeared to be having some sort of argument.
"Well if we don't we could lose her before we get there!"
"I think she could make it to Mungo's without it! If we act quickly..."
"It'd be safer!"
"It's unnecessary! And if we do she's probably going to lose that leg..."
"Bloody hell, she's waking up..."
Pandora made to lunge forward, only for Teddy's grip upon her to hold her back.
"Keep her asleep!" one of the healer's demanded and Pandora watched as the youngest healer grabbed a spare bandage, hastily doused it in a blue-tinged liquid before clumsily reaching to press it Dora's nose. Within seconds the metamorphmagus appeared to have gone more limp than ever.
"Careful with that!" one older healer muttered as he reached to snatch the bottle away from the somewhat nervous-looking young witch, and Pandora gritted her teeth when he muttered: "We're not trying to put her to sleep permanently, you know!"
"S...sorry!" the young healer mumbled, and the healer wrapping Dora's legs in tight bandages demanded:
"Pull yourself together, Lizzie! Right! That's the best I can do...shall we move her now, or risk the freezing charms?"
They went into a huddle, squabbling briefly under their breaths before each drawing their wands and coming to stand around the stretcher, wand tips pressed to Dora's bandaged limbs.
"On three!" one of them instructed, and Lizzie cleared her throat loudly.
A moment later there came a bright flash of pale blue light and suddenly everything seemed to happen very quickly. The stretcher was levitated up from the cobbles and Lizzie had turned to hurry over towards the watching son and granddaughter.
"Are you relations?" she asked as she pocketed her wand, and Teddy informed her:
"She's my mother."
"I see. Well then, Mr. Lupin, we'll be taking your mother straight to St. Mungo's Hospital and if you would care to make your way over there I imagine by the time you have made your way to the front of the queue at reception, a Welcome Witch will be able to direct you to the correct high dependency ward."
"Yes..." Teddy agreed, sounding a little dazed, and the witch was about to turn and hurry off after her colleagues when he hastily asked: "Is she...how is she?"
"She's exceptionally lucky to be alive, Mr. Lupin." the healer told him, smiling ever so slightly. "And she's exceptionally lucky to have a friend like Ms...Luga, was it?"
"Um...yes, Ms. Luga..."
"The next few hours will be critical, but I'd say her chances of survival are looking promising...the chances of her maintaining all four limbs are...less promising, I must admit..."
"Oh..."
"We've used a freezing charm to stem her bleeding, Mr. Lupin."
"I see..."
"But this can be very risky...irreparable damage is quite common and amputation is a likely option to avoid any further issues should the limb become too damaged..."
"Y...yes..."
"We'll have more information once we get to the hospital."
"Yes...thank you..."
Pandora watched the witch hurry away again, and the girl clung ever tighter to her father's robes in panic at the notion.
"Come on, Sweetheart." Teddy murmured after a moment, tightening his grip upon her, and with that the squib felt the sickening pull of apparation...
It was an agonising wait in the reception of St. Mungo's hospital, and yet even once Teddy and Pandora had been directed to the ward where they found Dora lying motionlessly in a bed, being poked and prodded and fussed over by half a dozen healers who kept rushing in and out of the room, Pandora felt worse than ever. She sat with her father upon a couple of plastic chairs just across the room in order to keep out of the healers' way. Teddy scribbled a note to Carrie and Imogen on a notepad he had in his pocket and disappeared briefly in search of a method of sending it, leaving Pandora to stare blankly at her grandmother all alone.
She had been sat there for some five minutes when her grandfather arrived.
At the sight of Remus shuffling through the doorway, white as a ghost and as frail as she'd ever seen him, Pandora had leapt to her feet.
"Grandad!" she'd exclaimed, ready to rush across the room to throw her arms around him, but her exclamation did not seem to even register with him. The werewolf did not so much as glance at her. Instead his eyes were glued to the lifeless figure of his wife upon the hospital bed. Pandora watched, trying to swallow the lump that rose in her throat, as he made a beeline for the bedside, reaching with distinctly shaky hands to grasp hold of Dora's hand.
Behind him, Valbona came striding into the room, took one glance at the distraught husband, before drawing her wand. Teddy's vacated chair came skidding across the room, legs scraping upon the tied floor until it came to a halt just short of hitting Remus in the back of the legs.
"Sit." the Auror instructed, and without so much as a muttered thanks Remus sunk down into the chair, head bent forward with a despairing huff as he raised Dora's hand up from the sheets, eyes screwed tightly shut as he pressed his lips to her fingers.
Pandora felt a fresh and overwhelming sense of guilt strike her with renewed ferocity as she watched him sit, rocking back and forth in his chair. When Teddy returned a moment later he went to stand at his father's side, a hand coming to rest upon the werewolf's shoulder.
"Coffee, Dad?" the Auror suggested, and the werewolf raised his head just enough to murmur:
"Hm?"
"D'you want coffee?"
"Coffee...?"
"Yes, Dad. Do you want a cup of coffee from the cafe?"
"No. No, Teddy, I...I'm shaking enough as it is..."
"Whiskey?"
"What?"
"D'you need a whiskey even half as much as I do, Dad?"
The werewolf gave a somewhat choked laugh and sunk further forward until he could hug his wife's arm to his chest.
"Oh Ted," he whispered despairingly, "what am I going to do with her? I thought this was it...thought I...thought I had her safe at long last..."
"I know..."
"There was the...the war and...and the Aurors and...and all those scraps when...when you were younger..."
"I know, Dad..."
"...and...and Azkaban!"
Pandora, who had been busy staring miserably at her shoes, looked up with a frown.
"I know..."
"And each time I...I thought some day I'm...I'm going to get hold of you and...and never let you go and...and she's retired and I'm...I'm getting so...so old for all of this, Ted!"
"I'm sorry..."
"But she's retired! It's...it's not meant to be like this anymore, we're...we're not supposed to...to have anything like this..."
"Nobody could have known, Dad..."
"Which makes it...it worse! I...she...we didn't...we didn't ask for all of this! For once we...we've been keeping our heads down!"
"I know, Dad..."
"Even...even Azkaban, we accepted it, we...we were asking for it..."
Bemused, Pandora rose carefully to her feet and shuffled towards the end of the bed.
"Nobody asked for that, Dad!" Teddy muttered darkly.
"We knew we were asking for trouble." Remus insisted bitterly. "Your mother's been asking for trouble her...her whole adult life and...and we finally settle down and...and stop picking fights and...look at her!"
There was a long, painful silence, before the werewolf gave a disconcerting sniff that made Pandora wonder if he was in actual fact crying, and then he asked his son:
"Do they know who it was? Who...who did it? Who...who's put her here..."
"Not a clue," Teddy sighed, reaching to rake a hand through his mousy hair. "There's not been so much as a hint, nobody saw it coming..."
"There are always hints." Remus insisted bleakly. "We're just too blind to see them."
"Let's not worry about...about any of that, Dad." Teddy suggested. "Let's just...just leave that up to the Ministry..."
"You are part of the Ministry." Valbona pointed out, and Teddy huffed and insisted:
"Let's just concentrate on...on Mum getting better. That's all that really matters!"
"I ever find who did this," Valbona announced somewhat savagely, "they dead!"
"What sort of an Auror are you?!" Teddy muttered, shooting her a scowl, and his fellow Auror smirked and exclaimed:
"A scary one, yes! What sort of an Auror are you, eh?!"
"I follow my mother's example of how to be a decent Auror, Ms Luga, and being scary has nothing to do with it..."
"Rubbish! Your mother scared shit out of me when I meet her! She smile sweetly and threaten to put me in hospital like I am nothing! And for minute I believe her when she say it! She scariest Auror I ever meet..."
Keen to avoid an argument between her father and her grandmother's Albanian saviour, Pandora chose that moment to voice a niggling question.
"What's all this talk about...about Azkaban?"
"N...not now, Pandora..." her father muttered hurriedly, "I'm sure Grandad doesn't...doesn't want to talk about that..."
"About what, though?" Pandora said, face contorting in confusion, only for her father to shoot her such a stern look that voicing further confusion instantly became impossible because she felt compelled to bite her tongue.
It seemed to Pandora that her grandfather was quite incapable of talking about anything much at all then, for whilst Valbona went off in search of a drink and Teddy went to sit at the other side of the bed, Remus shifted his chair closer, reaching to sweep the snowy hair back from his wife's forehead.
"Oh my darling," the girl heard him sigh, expression bleak as he gazed down at the lifeless witch, "the world's turned grey!"
Carrie and Imogen arrived fifteen minutes later, and as a family they sat clustered around the hospital bed, Carrie and Teddy sat on one side, her head resting upon his shoulder and her hand upon his knee, thumb scuffing his worn trousers in silent reassurance, and yet tears made steady salty tracks down her cheeks. On the other side Pandora and Imogen sat either side of their grandfather. They each offered him a hand and he held onto both of them for near on an hour as Valbona returned with coffee and took to pacing up and down at the end of the bed. Healers came and went, frowning and prodding Dora's legs with wands and other strange looking implements. They scribbled notes upon clipboards and squinted at notes made by those who had come before them before bustling away again.
It was fast approaching three o'clock in the afternoon when Dora finally woke up.
Her eyelids gave a feeble flutter that made those watching her sit suddenly bolt upright in their seats, and the metamorphmagus let out a soft groan, her brow crinkling as she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked against the harsh light of the hospital ward, breathing growing instantly shallow as her dark eyes darted around searchingly. She looked at each wide-eyed family member in turn until she spied her husband leant forward in his chair, his hands pulled free from the girls' grasps as he reached instead to lay a hand upon his wife's arm.
Dora blinked somewhat dimly at him for a moment, as if she couldn't quite focus her eyes, and then she drew a shaky breath and whispered:
"Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!"
Everybody seemed to let out a relieved breath, and at the end of the bed Valbona gave a short, booming laugh that made Pandora and Carrie jump.
Remus tried to smile, but it was far more of a grimace as he reached forward to press a hand to the pale witch's cheek.
"Nymphadora," he said slowly as if she might not understand him, "one of these days you'll be the death of me!"
Dora sighed heavily, eyes drifting closed again as she told him:
"Well rather me than Carrie, love. I'm a far less stressful cause of death..."
From the other side of the bed both Teddy and Carrie smothered sniggers into one another's shoulders as they reached to throw arms around one another in relief.
After a long pause Dora dragged her eyelids open again in order to inform her husband:
"You look like crap, love."
"D...do I?" Remus asked weakly, dazed by her good humour.
"Yes. And it's not on, I'm telling you now! Didn't you get the memo? It's my turn..." Dora trailed off with a wince as she attempted to shift against her pillows, and quite suddenly all of her good humour was lost. A panicked look materialised upon her face and though Remus' grip upon her arm tightened reassuringly she looked wildly around again until her gaze came to rest upon Valbona.
"Val..." she whispered, visibly swallowing a lump in her throat, and the half-giant leant forward across the bed towards her questioningly.
"Yes?"
"I...you...you'll be honest with me...won't you?" Dora said, as if she didn't trust her family to grant her the same request, and Valbona gave a firm nod.
"Yes."
"You will?"
"Yes, Dora."
Dora swallowed again, eyes very nearly pinning the Albanian to the spot.
"If...if I...if I look down," she said slowly, as if she didn't honestly want to speak, "what...what will I see?"
There was a pained silence before Teddy hurriedly began:
"Oh Mum..."
"Be quiet, Ted!" his mother snapped, gaze still fixed upon the no-nonsense Auror stood at the foot of the bed. "Now. Be honest, Valbona. Are they...are they going to...am I going to..." she trailed off, face contorting in frustration before she blurted: "Am I going to lose my legs?!"
"I...I don't know..." Valbona mumbled, shifting her own legs awkwardly. "They tell me nothing..."
"You're not going to lose your legs, Dora." Remus said as both Imogen and Pandora tensed in horror at the idea, and Dora gave a somewhat panicked laugh and said:
"Yes, but you would bloody say that, wouldn't you?!"
"We wait, yes?" Valbona insisted, sounding flustered and reaching to scratch her head. "We wait and see what the healers say. You concentrate on not dying first, yes?"
"I think I'd rather die." Dora complained, screwing her eyes shut in horror at the notion, and Remus reached to smooth her dishevelled hair, telling her:
"Don't say that, darling. Try and just rest, won't you?"
Sighing heavily the witch reached a blind hand sideways until it came to rest upon Imogen's knee as she asked:
"How're my girls? How's...how's my Pan? Gave me...gave me more of a fright than...than that explosion did!"
Pandora opened her mouth to mumble a response, but her throat seemed to dry.
Because her grandmother's distress had left her feeling sickened and her grandfather's bitterness had made guilt drop like a lead balloon in the pit of her stomach...
And Valbona's determination for vengeance made her fearful...
How could she ever admit the truth? How could she ever tell her family that she had been there, that she had helped Jeff set the explosives, that she had pressed the button...
It was like the weight of the world was upon her shoulders, and the longer she sat watching her grandmother drift uneasily in and out of sleep the more Pandora felt as if it might crush her to death.
Dora's condition was declared stable some hour later by a passing healer who had mumbled a series of alarming things related to nerve damage, before offering the panicked family a disconcertingly bright smile and announcing that, though the fate of the patient's lower limbs had yet to be determined, she was past the worst and doing well.
Pandora wondered why this didn't make her feel much better.
As the hours wore on talk became disconcertingly mundane. They spoke of what sort of food might be found in the hospital cafe around dinner time, about whether or not the Ministry would grant Teddy compassionate leave from work, about whether or not he really wanted it or if he'd prefer to throw himself into the ensuing investigation whole heartedly.
Remus sent messages to family friends and former Order members via patronus to inform them of Dora's condition and thereafter the hours became punctuated by visiting silver spectres exclaiming shock and dismay, offering well wishes and promises to visit the hospital as soon as they could. Dora would, Pandora suspected, be utterly flooded with visitors the following morning.
Throughout it all Pandora was quiet and nervous, she fidgeted in her chair, refused offers of tea or coffee whenever Valbona went to fetch some, as a dreadful sense of numb cold seemed to descend over her...
Pandora had never felt so guilt-ridden and wretched in her whole life, and she was sure she could never feel any worse than this...
But then there had come the sound of squeaky wheels as an elderly witch had wheeled a rickety trolley into the ward and set about handing out copies of the Evening Prophet to the patients and their visitors. Pandora had watched in mute horror as her father had dug around in the pocket of his Auror robes to extract a few coins in exchange for a copy, and whilst Remus sat hunched in his chair, grasping hold of Dora's hand as she shifted fitfully in her sleep, Pandora felt panicked tears prickle her eyes at the sight of the front page headline:
WIZARDING BRITAIN SHAKEN TO THE CORE AFTER DIAGON ALLEY EXPLOSION
"Read it out, Dad!" Imogen said, leaning forward in her chair as Teddy eyed the article in question, and Pandora felt a lump rise in her throat as her father cleared his throat.
"Wizarding Britain was, this morning, shocked by a catastrophe which has harrowingly echoed tragic events not seen since the days of the Second Wizarding War." Teddy read, as Pandora felt tears already begin to prickle at her eyes. "Shortly after eleven o'clock, Auror Headquarters responded to frantic calls for assistance following an explosion at Flourish and Blott's bookshop in Diagon Alley, London. Immediately suspected as an arson attack, the explosion has left the shop in complete ruins and has caused further damage to the surrounding area. A number of victims were caught in the blast, including thirteen year old James Rutherford and his eleven year old sister Jenny who were out shopping with their mother. Whilst Jenny is being treated for shock and minor injuries at St. Mungo's Hospital after the siblings were dug free from the rubble by Aurors and volunteers, James, a student of Hogwarts School and Keeper on his house's Quidditch team, was found shielding his sister from the blast with his body, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Shop owner Bertram Blott and five of his customers remain in hospital this evening, whilst two others were discharged this afternoon with minor injuries.
This afternoon, Head of the Auror Department Mr. Harry Potter spoke to the press a short distance from the blast site, where his department are still combing the building's remains for survivors.
"This is a very dark day for the wizarding community." Mr. Potter told our reporters, "We have come under attack and the aftermath is without a doubt tragic. On behalf of both the Auror Department and the Ministry of Magic, I would like to send our deepest sympathies to the families of all those affected by the blast. However, our community's resilience and spirit has shone through in full force today. My Deputy Miss Wickes and I are extremely grateful to all of those members of the public who have volunteered to help with our operations today. Upon reaching the site all members of the public were directed to the safety of Gringott's Bank in case of a second attack, and protective wards have been placed over the remaining buildings in Diagon Alley. Mediwizards were on hand to care for the injured and we have done our very best to respond to this attack as swiftly as possible. All efforts will be made by my department in the coming weeks to ensure the continued safety of the Wizarding community and the apprehension of those responsible for this terrible attack."
Deputy Head of Aurors, Miss Jasmine Wickes, was unavailable to comment at this time. However, this tragedy has likely struck a particularly personal chord with many in the Auror Department, after one of their own was caught in the explosion. Former Deputy Head of Aurors and member of the Order of the Phoenix, Mrs. Nymphadora Lupin was seen by spectators being dragged from the rubble before being attended to by Mediwizards at the scene. Mrs. Lupin, who was admitted to St. Mungo's in what healers described as a 'critical condition', was rescued from the blast by former National Duelling Champion Valbona Luga of Albania, who is rumoured to have been staying with Mrs. Lupin during a visit to Britain. Ms Luga, whose hostile relationship with Mrs. Lupin reached notoriety when they faced one another at the duelling championships almost two decades ago, coming to a head when Mrs. Lupin knocked Ms. Luga unconscious in the final round, was a surprise figure in Diagon Alley this morning, as Auror Mr. Xander Pikket commented. Mr. Pikket, who faced Ms. Luga alongside Mrs. Lupin all those years ago, spoke surprisingly highly of the Albanian Auror.
"Ms. Luga was already in the process of rescuing Mrs. Lupin when we arrived." Mr. Pikket explained. "She was extremely focused on the task at hand and she had a very professional manner when handling the crisis. She seemed to be extremely concerned for Mrs. Lupin's wellbeing, more than one would expect given their past, and she sprinted away to inform Mrs. Lupin's husband of the situation. Just as she was leaving I heard her ask the healers to take good care of Mrs. Lupin. She asked them to save her friend's life." When asked if he knew how long the two rivals had been friends, Mr. Pikket shrugged his shoulders and told us: "Tonks never spoke ill of Valbona Luga, she always said she was a good dueller, she never said much else. I never had any idea that they had become friends."
Shortly after speaking to Mr. Potter and Mr. Pikket, our reporters received an owl from a Mr..."
Teddy abruptly stopped reading.
Pandora felt her insides twisting into knots as Carrie looked up from an inspection of her shoes to ask:
"Ted?"
Teddy stared at the words in front of him for a long moment, before slowly wetting his lips and continuing, his voice suddenly quieter.
"...from a Mr. Jeffrey Fawley..." the Auror breathed, "who...who claims...who claims responsibility for the atrocity as leader of...of the previously unknown militant Squib group...Pan's Army."
Pandora felt herself tense in horror as countless eyes instantly turned to stare at her.
Her mother had reached to clamp a hand to her mouth, tears springing to her eyes and her father's grip upon the paper had slackened as his dark eyes looked at her with incomprehension. Imogen had turned in her chair, gripping hold of the back of the seat until her knuckles grew white, and Valbona looked dumbstruck...
And her grandfather.
Pandora's grandfather...!
Pandora could not bear to look.
Instead, she burst into tears.