The Eighth Year Universe
Love Wins
There Are Doors That We Can't Walk Through
The chapter title is from the song:
Rewrite the Stars by Zendaya and Zac Efron, from The Greatest Showman.
Susan heard about what had happened in a roundabout way – a very roundabout way. She was working on some lesson plans at Caroline's place, where she had stayed the night. That in itself was a little odd because usually Caroline came to Bones Manor.
But last night, Caroline had just come off a shitty shift, and she had wanted her own whiskey and her own bed. Susan had wanted her, so they compromised.
Now Susan was drinking coffee and contemplating getting Theo fired so she could replace him with a Headmaster whose handwriting was actually legible. That was when the back door swung open.
"Mum, help, I'm having a crisis, please!"
Susan raised an eyebrow at Edith, who was usually the most put-together girl, unlike her daughter. Addison was either done up to the nines in tight jeans or fancy dresses, with red lipstick and perfect hair. Or she wore old holey Quidditch jumpers, no makeup, and didn't bother running a brush through her hair.
But Edith straddled the middle ground. She made herself up a little when she went out. She never slobbed around the house in old jumpers. She didn't wear much makeup, use glamour charms or style her hair in a particularly fancy way.
But when she barrelled into the kitchen that morning, she looked frazzled. Her hair was a frizzy mess, her cheeks were pink, and she looked like she'd thrown her clothes on as fast as possible.
"Can I help you with that crisis?"
Edith jumped and breathed in sharply, "Susan! God, why are you here? Where's my mum?"
"I stayed the night. She had a bad shift," Susan said, frowning slightly, "And she went out for coffee and pastries. Are you okay, Edith?"
"No," Edith said with a shake of her head, "I'm not okay because I…I'm straight, okay? Mum told me when I was like 14 that I could be who I wanted to be, and I told her that I knew who I was, and I did!"
Edith spun around and looked at Susan, "I knew Mum was bisexual, and it was fine. She dated guys and girls when I was young, nothing ever stuck because nobody would commit because of me, and that sucked for her, but I didn't care that she was into guys and girls, okay?"
"Okay…" Susan said slowly.
"But I knew when I was 10 that I had a crush on Teddy Potter. And I knew at 14 that Henry Foster was the most handsome guy I'd ever seen, and I knew at 21 that I was in love with Alexios Rosier!" Edith rambled, "I knew all of that, and I never ever had the urge to kiss a girl. I never looked a girl and thought about her like that."
Susan bit her lip when she finally realised where this was going.
"Then Nevaeh Hall kissed me!" Edith exclaimed, "Nevaeh bloody Hall! And I mean, obviously, she's pretty. Everyone thinks other girls are pretty at some point, don't they? It doesn't mean you want to sleep with them though!"
"It doesn't always mean that," Susan agreed with a slightly amused smile.
Edith sighed, "I hated Nevaeh Hall when we were in school, you know? She was in this year above me at school, and I hated her because she got Teddy Potter!"
Edith shook her head and paced the kitchen with more fervour, "Only her and Teddy didn't work out. Then I bumped into her in the hospital, and she was different. I mean, sure, she's still bitchy and vain. But with a good heart, too, you know?"
Susan nodded, "Uh-huh."
"But I thought she still hated me. The little jibes she used to make every time I walked past her kind of gave me that impression, but then we worked together on this one job. She healed a kid who told her his father hurt him, and she brought the kid to me. I did what I could before handing the case over to Mum, but Nevaeh stayed with him the whole time. She just spoke to him, but it was like an insight into her soul."
Susan raised an eyebrow, "Was it?"
Edith was oblivious to Susan's amused mood. She just carried on, "Suddenly, I realised maybe she has intimacy issues, and that's why it's hard for her to make friends. I mean, she was taken into Lupin House when she was 2 years old, and her half-sister was a baby, so that would leave a mark on someone. Anyway, after that case, something changed. The jibes turned into friendly banter, and I thought finally, we're friends."
Edith stopped to take a breath, then she looked at Susan, "And now, I think maybe I was so angry that she and Teddy were together for another reason because she kissed me, Susan. She kissed me in a towel in the locker room, and I didn't think I liked girls at all, then we were in the cubicle and…" she shook her head.
"And now you're not so sure you're straight," Susan said, barely containing a smile.
Edith groaned and threw herself into a chair at the other side of the table.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it," Susan said, reaching across the table to grab Edith's hand, "Some people know they're gay when they're young. They feel wrong somehow like they're in the wrong body or like something went wrong in their head. Some people figure out that they're bisexual when they're young too, but most of the time, it doesn't happen that way."
Edith bit her lip and looked up at Susan.
"Most of the time, we conform to what society thinks is normal," Susan explained, "We date guys, we sleep with guys because that's what girls do. But then a girl kisses us, and it changes everything."
"Who kissed you and made you realise?" Edith asked curiously.
Susan laughed, "Daphne Potter, or Greengrass as she was back then. Although I'm pretty sure I wasn't unique in that, she was at least three people's gay awakening."
Edith laughed weakly, "I thought I was straight last night, and now I've…."
"Had sex with a girl?" Susan finished.
Edith nodded and buried her head in her hands.
"Ten times better than any sex you've had with a guy, right?" Susan asked calmly.
"Yes!" Edith cringed.
Susan smiled and pried her head out of her hands, "There's no shame in it. Your mother's hardly going to judge you, is she?"
"What am I judging her for?" Caroline's voice asked. She stepped into the kitchen with coffee and a brown bag full of breakfast pastries.
Edith groaned, "Mum, please tell me you've got croissants in there."
"I do," Caroline said, "And I'll make you one if you tell me why you look you've just discovered that the world is ending, and Susan is trying not to laugh."
Edith looked up at her mother, "I recently discovered that I'm bisexual."
Caroline raised an eyebrow, "How recently?"
"About an hour ago," Edith admitted sheepishly.
"In the shower room of St. Mungo's," Susan added with a mischievous grin.
"Susan!" Edith despaired.
Caroline chuckled, "Well, you know I don't mind, sweetheart. Is this a rebound thing after that nice Spanish boy broke up with you?"
"No! And he was Greek!" Edith exclaimed. She pushed herself to her feet, "It's not a rebound thing because I think I've had a thing for her forever. But my stupid, dumb brain convinced me I was straight until she kissed me in a towel after a traumatic life event."
"Wait, who kissed you?" Caroline asked.
"And what was the traumatic event?" Susan added.
"It was Nevee," Edith said, "Nevaeh, Hall."
Caroline smiled, "She's a nice girl and a great Healer."
"She was always a good kid," Susan mused, "I liked teaching her."
Edith grumbled non-committedly, "Maybe it was a bad idea. She was upset because she saw her best friend get shot with an arrow. What if I was her comfort shag?"
"Wait, rewind, Edie," Susan said, holding out a hand, "Who got shot with an arrow?"
"Victoire," Edith said, "On the raid in Hungary. They came back after it went badly, and Nevee was upset."
"That probably just means that whatever she said had more substance," Susan said offhandedly, "Don't worry about being a comfort shag. But listen, did anyone else get hurt?"
Edith took a breath and focused for a moment, "Uh, yeah. Someone else was brought in, but they were really secretive about who it was."
Susan looked over at Caroline, and her eyes widened in horror.
"Harry," They said in unison.
Susan jumped to her feet, "I need to talk to Daphne. Oh Merlin, she must be going out of her mind," she said.
Caroline nodded and walked forward, kissing her softly, "I'll see you later."
Susan nodded and gave her a final peck, then she grabbed her cloak and hurried out of the door.
"What…" Edith frowned, looking from the door to her mother.
"If Harry is hurt, she'll want to check on Daphne," Caroline explained, "They're close friends. Daphne is Addison and Alyssa's godmother."
"Daphne?" Edith echoed, "Her gay awakening girl? That's the godmother of her children?"
Caroline smiled at Edith, "You have met Susan, haven't you?"
Edith snorted in amusement, and Caroline sat down opposite her daughter at the table.
"So…tell me all about Nevaeh."
"Mum!" Edith cringed.
When Susan stepped into Harry's hospital room, she made a scene.
"You don't get to come to me and ask me to look after your kids if you all die. Then conveniently forget to tell me that your husband is in critical condition, Daphne Greengrass."
Daphne looked up at Susan with bloodshot eyes, "I didn't…I'm sorry. I'm not really in a state to…" she shrugged.
"I thought Neville or Lilly would have told you," Daphne said weakly.
Susan crossed the room and kissed Daphne on the cheek, "And when I next see Neville and Lilly, I will kick their arses for not telling me."
Daphne managed a weak smile. It was the first one that had come to her lips since everything that happened.
"Don't be too harsh on them," Daphne said quietly, "I think they're just as cut up about this as I am. Neville and Harry are brothers, and Lilly…she loves Harry, they love each other, in their own way."
Susan smiled sadly, "He's a hard man not to love, Daphne."
"I don't know what I'm going to do without him," Daphne said, her voice breaking and her eyes filling with tears.
"I want to believe that he can do the impossible, but no one can do the impossible every single time, Suse," Daphne said tearfully.
Susan cupped Daphne's face to look her in the eye, "Hey. I don't know who's doing all the talking, but this doesn't sound like the Daphne I know because the Daphne I know is determined that things will go her way. She gets things done. She doesn't feel sorry for herself. She's a badass bitch. She's the Ice Queen."
"I don't feel like the Ice Queen right now, Suse," Daphne whispered, "I just feel like I'm losing the person who means the most to me. I love Lilly, I love Neville, I love my children, but Harry has always been different. The thought of the world without him…it's grey, it's a world without any colour."
"And how do you think I felt when I lost Percy?" Susan asked softly, "It wasn't even a curse. It wasn't a duel gone wrong. It was something so stupid, a goddamn aneurysm after everything he had gone through, and it didn't feel fair, Daphne. I got angry, I drank myself into a stupor. Merlin knows I did not want to live in a world without him. But I had my girls, and every day, I healed a little more. There was life after death, there was sunshine after the rain, the world kept turning, and it felt cruel at first, then I realised that it had to."
Daphne blinked her tears away, "I'm sorry, Susan, I didn't mean to be insensitive."
Susan shook her head, "No, you need to understand how it felt, Daphne. It felt like death because a part of me died with Percy, and I'll never get that back. But I don't want to, I don't want to be the me I was with him without him to share it with."
Daphne swallowed and nodded.
"But you are not there yet," Susan assured her, "Your husband is still breathing. He's there. He has colour in his cheeks. He is alive, and he is fighting."
"You don't know that," Daphne said quietly.
"Yes, I do," Susan said firmly, "Because we've both known that boy since he was 11 years old and have you ever known him to stop fighting?"
Daphne pulled Susan into a hug, "You're right, I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Susan murmured, "Sometimes you just need your honest Hufflepuff best friend to hit you with the harsh truths that your girlfriend sugar-coats."
"That girlfriend is the one with the coffee, so watch your mouth, Bones."
Daphne smiled weakly at Lilly and accepted a cardboard cup of coffee, "Thanks, Lil."
"I give an epic speech, and still, you don't look at me like that," Susan joked.
"You have Caroline to look at you like that," Lilly said with a half-smile.
Susan smiled back, "Are you doing okay, Lilly?"
Lilly shrugged, "Honestly? No. There's nothing we can do right now, and I hate not being able to do anything. I feel useless, and I look at him like that and…."
"He doesn't look like Harry," Daphne finished, reaching down to take Lilly's hand.
Susan sighed, "Does anyone have any theories?"
Lilly shook her head, "Sadie saw him earlier and did some charms. She needed to run the figures and things in the Department of Mysteries, and she said she would get back to us. If she figured anything out. Michael and I are going to put our heads together, but…it's such old magic, Suse. Nobody alive knows anything about it."
Susan sighed and said, "Well, if I have any ideas, I'll let you know."
Daphne smiled half-heartedly, "Thanks, Suse."
The days in the hospital bled together. Daphne tried to keep track of them on the calendar when she went home, but lately, she only did that once every couple of days to shower. She ate at the hospital, changed her clothes and used the washroom there. She was pretty sure she had seen every Healer who worked in the Janus Thickey Ward, and she knew them all by name.
She was rarely alone. If Neville or Lilly weren't with her, then one of the kids was, and occasionally the Healers would stay for a chat too. She knew they were going above and beyond to do that, and Daphne appreciated it.
On one of these rare occasions when she was alone, Delphi came to check in on Harry.
Daphne was tired, but she hadn't been able to get much sleep. She smiled half-heartedly at the Healer and said, "I wouldn't bother. The last three Healers have all said the same thing – no change."
"Well, I am not the last three Healers," Delphi said matter of factly, "I spotted the small spot of brain activity when we first brought your husband in."
Daphne hadn't known that. She cleared her throat and nodded, "Uh, thank you."
"There's no need to thank me for doing my job," Delphi said softly, "Has anyone explained to you what this means?"
She motioned to the scan of Harry's brain activity which was constantly monitored by the Healers.
Daphne shook her head, so Delphi sat down next to her and said, "Then I will. Most Healers assume the next of kin won't understand. Still, you are a Curse Breaker, and I know about your relationship with Healer Longbottom, so I suspect that you will."
Daphne smiled slightly, "Thank you for not underestimating me."
Delphi chuckled and zoomed in on the brain scan, "Your father mentored me through my rebellious teen years with ease. Trust me, I would never underestimate one of his hell-raising girls."
Daphne actually laughed at that, a sound that seemed strange to her own ears.
Delphi pointed to the scan and said, "So the thing we are constantly monitoring here is Harry's awareness of his surroundings. To do that, we keep an eye on his brain circuits because what we want to see is brain circuits that switch back and forth between internal awareness and external awareness."
Daphne nodded. She was following it so far.
"Internal awareness means that the person is thinking about themselves. They could be daydreaming, their mind could be wandering. Or they could just be aware of their own body," Delphi explained, "In healthy people, activity like this reduces when our awareness shifts to external events. Have you ever been deep in a daydream until someone makes a loud noise or talks to you, for example?"
Daphne nodded, and Delphi explained, "That's when our brain circuits switch to external awareness. It's so subtle, we often don't realise that it's happening."
Delphi continued, "With Frank and Alice Longbottom, I saw two sides of that coin. Frank didn't switch to external awareness at all. He was completely aware of himself, but not of anything going on around him."
Daphne looked at Delphi as she explained. She was so calm, but this entire conversation had her seeing the woman she remembered as a scared little girl in a whole new light.
"But with Alice, those shifts were there," Delphi explained, "Not when Healers spoke to her, but only when her son came to visit. That was when she became externally aware, but it was so minimal because other parts of her brain were damaged, which made motor control and talking very difficult for her. She knew who he was, but she couldn't express how she felt about him."
"I can't imagine how that must have felt," Daphne said quietly.
"Frustrating, for someone with a healthy mind," Delphi confessed, "But hers wasn't healthy. The part of her brain that controlled her feelings was damaged. She would be prone to violent mood swings. Unfortunately, there was never any hope to save her or Frank."
Delphi motioned to Harry's scan, "But there is for Harry. We want to see his internal awareness going down when he becomes aware of something externally. We don't want to see internal and external awareness at the same time. Do you see this little yellow section of activity here?"
Daphne nodded and focused on the scan on the wall.
"That means he's internally aware right now," Delphi explained, "And although he hasn't shown any signs of external awareness yet, that's not a bad sign. We have no idea what he's going through, but whatever it is, it will be overwhelming. It may take some time for him to be able to grasp at what's happening out here in the real world, but that doesn't mean he never will."
Daphne smiled and nodded tearfully at her, "Thank you, Delphi. For…everything."
Delphi smiled back, "I'm just doing my job."
"And you're really good at it," Daphne promised.
Lilly yawned and rubbed her eyes. It was late, she didn't know quite how late, but her eyes were beginning to glaze over.
Michael topped up her mug of coffee and smiled weakly, "Remind you of anything?"
"Fifth year," Lilly admitted with a sheepish smile, "Pulling stupid hours to make sure we beat Hermione Granger in the O.W.L's."
"Damned if we were gonna let a Gryffindor bag 'smartest witch in the year', right?" Michael laughed.
Lilly leant back in her chair and chuckled, "You bribed the house-elves to give us coffee. How did you do that, by the way?"
"Told them I'd knit them hats otherwise," Michael said, shooting a grin in Lilly's direction.
Lilly laughed loudly, "God, I forgot you were in the DA."
"You forgot a lot of things," Michael admitted, "Most of the good things, to be honest."
Lilly sighed, "I know. I'm sorry, Michael."
Michael shook his head, "I understood why you hated me at first. But you never got over it and…I know I screwed up, flirting with you when you and Neville were on a break, so I figured that was why. Then when me and your mum…well, that was fair enough too. But we were friends before all of that, Lilly. We were friends before we messed it up with sex, and…I've missed that, I've missed our friendship."
Lilly nodded down at the ancient text in front of her, "I've missed that too, Michael," she promised.
A snap indicated that the lounge door had opened, and Linda stepped in with a tray.
"Right, it's 1am, I'm callin' it," She said, putting the tray down on the table, "Hot chocolate and a cookie, then off to bed with you."
Michael raised an eyebrow, "You're talking to your daughter, right? Not your husband?"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure she's talking to both of us," Lilly said, grabbing a cookie from the tray.
"I was," Linda agreed, "You two find anythin'?"
Michael shook his head, "Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs are hard to read. It takes a long time to get through a short amount of text."
"Since when do you read Ancient Egyptian?"
"We get taught it at school, Mum," Lilly yawned, "Curse Breakers need it. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason they teach it in Ancient Runes, actually."
Michael waved a hand, "That and runes and hieroglyphs are often used for blood rituals."
Linda and Lilly both gave Michael the exact same 'what the fuck' look. Michael looked between them and frowned, "Well, that's mildly disconcerting."
"I thought the Corners were a light family," Lilly prodded, "What do you know about blood rituals?"
"We're a neutral family, actually," Michael shrugged, "But for your reference, I researched it while training to be a Healer. I really didn't know where I wanted to specialise, and it came up when I was studying spell damage."
"Hm," Linda said, giving him a sceptical look.
"Why else would I know about blood rituals?" Michael asked in disbelief, "Bloody hell, Lin."
Lilly bit back a smile at the rather sweet interaction, "You two are pretty good for each other, you know? I'm sorry I didn't realise sooner."
"Well, you would have 'ave if you wasn't avoiding us," Linda said sharply, "Now drink your hot chocolate."
"Jesus Christ, Mum," Lilly muttered. But she picked up the mug anyway, "Do as she says Michael, unless you want a bollocking."
Michael snorted and picked up his mug.
"Nice to see you two gettin' along again at the very least," Linda mused.
"Only took a crisis," Lilly replied dryly.
"Which we're going to resolve," Michael said determinedly, "We're further on tonight than we were this morning, after all."
"True," Lilly sighed.
"You goin' to fill me in?" Linda asked.
"Yeah," Lilly said. She ran a hand through her hair. "So, the Judgement of Osiris is also called the Judgement of the Dead because Osiris is the god of the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, all the dark shit basically."
"So he's like Judas then?"
Lilly frowned at her mum, and Michael snorted, "No, Lin, he's nothing like Judas."
"Well, Judas was a right bastard, and this Osiris guy sounds like he was too," Linda objected.
Lilly let out a reluctant laugh, "Most gods are bastards, Mum. Anyway, the Judgement of the Dead can take two forms. The first sees judgement as a continuous process with the dead being subject to the decisions of a court in much the same way as they were when they were alive."
Linda frowned but nodded.
"The second sees death as the moment when the whole life of a person is judged. The verdict has far-reaching consequences for their afterlife, and we're pretty sure that is what is happening to Harry," Lilly finished.
"So he's in a courtroom?" Linda asked in disbelief, "That's what happens when we die? They take us to fuckin' court? Cause I grew up in the east end, I know how to thwart a court."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can't thwart one ruled over by the god of the dead," Michael said under his breath.
"Michael Corner, you want to stop being downright sarcastic if you want to get in bed tonight?" Linda objected.
"Sorry, Linda," Michael said instantly.
Lilly ignored them and continued, "Those found to be pure after the trial are declared to be a transfigured spirit which is true of voice. Those found wanting face being fed to a demon or thrown into a lake of fire. In Harry's case, I think those translate to having his soul put back together or…."
" - dying," Michael finished because he knew that Lilly couldn't.
"And there's nothin' in there about how to wake him up?" Linda asked, gesturing at the tome.
Lilly shook her head, "Just this cryptic thing about the four "Roarers" and their part in the trial, but I don't know what that means. There's also this note that the accused can appeal to Thoth for his help in gaining a positive outcome."
"So Thoth is like his lawyer or something?" Linda asked.
Lilly actually chuckled, "Yeah, something like that. Thoth is the god of the moon, sacred texts, mathematics, the sciences, magic, messenger and recorder of the deities."
"Magic's got to be the important one in there, right?" Linda asked.
Michael nodded, "We think so, yeah. If Osiris is Death, then Thoth has to be a messenger of his somehow, and in theory, that's the person who could help Harry."
"Bloody complicated all this," Linda sighed.
"Yeah," Lilly agreed, "That's the problem."
"And you ain't gonna find the answer tonight," Linda said pointedly, "You're both burnt out. Try and look at it again on a bit of sleep, with fresh eyes."
As much as she hated it, Lilly knew that her mother was right. She finished her hot chocolate and got to her feet, "Thanks for the hot chocolate, Mum and…."
She turned to look at Michael, "Thanks for hauling the long hours with me again."
Michael smiled sadly, "Bit more at stake now than there was when we were 16."
"When we were 16, Voldemort had just come back," Lilly reminded Michael, "Everything was at stake, but somehow Harry's life…it means more than all of that."
"It always will when you love someone that much," Michael said perceptively.
Lilly didn't fight it. She just nodded, "Yeah, I suppose it will. Goodnight guys."
She left the kitchen, and Michael got to his feet. He pulled Linda into a hug, and she sighed.
"She gonna be okay?"
"If Harry wakes up, she's going to be fine," Michael replied as he held his wife, "But if he doesn't? Then, I don't know."
"Better get praying to this Osiris bloke then, I suppose," Linda mused, and Michael was startled into laughter.
"Do me a favour, Lin?"
Linda raised an eyebrow at him, and Michael grinned, "Never change."
Daphne came home from the hospital that night because Lilly had gone to get her when she eventually gave up on researching with Michael. The moment she had seen Daphne, she had been able to tell how utterly exhausted she was.
"Come home."
"I can't," Daphne had said, "What if he - "
"He isn't going to wake up," Lilly said, her voice cracking, "Not yet. Come home, have a bath, take a sleeping draught. Please, Daphne."
And Daphne had been exhausted enough to relent. So they all went to Potter Manor that night, and Lilly sat on the edge of the bath and washed Daphne's hair.
"You don't have to babysit me," Daphne had said dryly, "I'm not going to try and drown myself."
Lilly had nodded and said, "I know. I'm here because I want to be."
And any objections Daphne had thought of died in her throat after that.
Now they were in a spare room because Lilly and Neville both knew that Daphne couldn't face the room she had shared with Harry for 20 years. Daphne was in her pyjamas, and Neville was pouring sleeping draught into a vial for her, and that was when Lilly couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"Listen, while the three of us are together, I need to say something," Lilly confessed.
The other two looked over at her, so Lilly took a breath.
"I've done a lot of soul searching since Harry…well, you know. And in some conversations I've had, with people like Delphi and Michael Corner of all people…I've come to this earth-shattering revelation that I...love Harry."
Lilly looked over at Neville and Daphne, who hadn't really reacted yet.
"Yeah," Neville said simply.
"No, you don't understand," Lilly said quickly, "I don't mean as a friend or anything. I mean, I love him. I mean, he is infuriating and… complicated. He's not perfect; he is flawed, but he is so loyal and kind and…. he would let the world burn just to save the people he loves. I never understood that until now because I would do the same. I would do exactly the same to save him."
Daphne smiled sadly, "You get it now."
Lilly looked from Daphne to Neville, who was smiling slightly.
"Aren't you shocked?"
"No," Neville laughed, "I realised you loved Harry as more than a friend years ago. We didn't talk about it, but I didn't think we needed to. Nothing about the four of us has ever been conventional, after all."
Lilly stared at her husband in shock.
"I knew too," Daphne admitted, "When I saw the way you two were in the field together, I knew it went beyond friendship or kinship, and I'm glad it does. I love you both, and you keep each other safe. Why would I ever feel annoyed or threatened by that?"
Lilly smiled and dropped onto the bed to hug her friend, "Thank you."
Neville handed Daphne the sleeping draught and climbed into bed, curling up against Lilly's back, "And you know, Harry and I always joked that we wanted a brother to share everything with."
The joke was so out of place after the serious confession and with Harry in the hospital while they were here, but sometimes a little dark humour was what you needed. Lilly snorted, and Daphne shook her head and knocked back the potion.
For the first time since Harry had been hit by that curse, she let the blackness of sleep fully claim her.
- TBC -
