Chapter 9
The next morning at breakfast James squeezed his way between Maggie and Lily. He then turned to Lily. "Lily things have been going really well between us for a bit now and I am hoping you would consider going with me to Hogsmeade this weekend."
Lily looked surprised. "Um James I-"
"Oh, don't answer right now! Take some time and consider it. If you decide to go, that would be amazing, but if you decide not to, we can keep being friends. No pressure." He then gets up and moves further down the table to sit with the quidditch team.
Lily turns to Maggie with wide eyes. "What do I do?!" she squeaks out.
Maggie laughs. "I think you should give him a chance, but that is up to you."
They move on to charms and they are surprised when James takes the seat next to Lily leaving Maggie to take the seat next to Sirius.
Lily looks nervously at James, but he doesn't bring up Hogsmeade. They start talking about their essays before class starts.
Maggie sits next to Sirius and smiles. "Morning Padfoot."
"Morning Pegs." He smiles back. "So, do you have Hogsmeade plans for this weekend?"
"Not yet, why?"
"Would you consider going with me?"
"Sure thing."
"Like a date."
"Oh...um I dunno Sirius."
"If it's too weird we just stay friends, but I think we should give it a chance."
"Well, I suppose that's true and we have been friends for a while so it should be an easy transition, right?"
"Right." Sirius smiles.
Hogsmeade
Lily and James walked down to the village together while chatting happily. James had met her at the girl's dormitory stairs with a single red rose. He was working really carefully to keep the atmosphere comfortable and the conversation flowing. They were both in their own world until they returned to the castle. Lily walked her to the stairs to the girl's dormitory leaving her with kiss to her knuckles and an offer to meet in the library the next day for a study date which she promptly agrees to.
Sirius also met Maggie at the bottom of the stairs, but he had a single white daisy. They both headed towards the village in an awkward silence. They were both building the tension while trying to come up with something to talk about.
Maggie finally broke the tension "I don't know why but you are making me really nervous."
"You are making me nervous too." He smiles.
Maggie rolls her shoulders "Okay how about I tell you something you don't know about me and you tell me something I don't know about you."
"I think you know everything about me. We have been friends for six years."
"Just try. I'll start. Did I ever tell you about my encounter with a Wampus?"
Conversation finally starts flowing once Maggie broke the ice. They went from shop to shop picking up necessities such as pranking materials from Zonko's, and sugar quills and copious amounts of chocolate from Honeyduke's. They then moved on to the Three Broom Sticks. Maggie found a table while Sirius got butterbeers.
"So, Sirius what do you want to do after you graduate?"
"I am going to try for an auror position. With the war getting worse I want to help protect people that can't protect themselves. What about you?"
"Newt offered me an apprenticeship. I am considering it."
"Would that be in America?"
"Not necessarily. He travels all over the world to study different magical creatures. He said that it would be case by case. There can be lots of downtime while waiting for governments to approve the research so I could be home for a few months at a time then leave for a month or two."
"Oh, that wouldn't be so bad. Are you planning on being a Magizoologist?"
"That is the dream, but I might specialize if I come across a creature that is fascinating enough to keep me from every other creature." She smiles.
They finished their drinks and decided to head to the shrieking shack before heading back to the castle. They were walking up the winding path when their way was blocked by a group of three Slytherins that were heading towards the village. Snape, Mulciber, and Avery were sneering at them with contempt.
"Dating beneath your station aren't you Black. But I suppose blood traitors would be attracted to each other." Snape sneered.
"Go away Snivellus. I have better things to do than waste time on you." Sirius said while attempting to lead Maggie past the group.
"Did you pay for everything Black? I'm sure Weasley here couldn't." The other Slytherins laughed as Maggie's face got red.
"Bugger off Snape." Maggie snapped.
"I would bet they are together to keep the blood line pure. Black would never be able to reunite with his family otherwise." Mulciber said.
"Yeah, and I bet she is a good shag. I hear redheads are wild in the sack." Avery agreed while leering at her.
Sirius quickly whips out his wand followed by Maggie. Snape was quickly hit with a bat-bogey hex and
Avery began puking slugs. Mulciber hurled a curse at the same time as Maggie sent one back. The blue light that was heading at Maggie turned orange and she was lifted off the ground when the orange light wrapped around her and shot into her mouth. Her eyes went wide then she collapsed to the ground unconscious. Sirius hit Mulciber with a stunner before quickly running to Maggie.
"Maggie! Mags wake up!" he said while shaking her. He tried reviving her but it didn't work either. He scooped her into his arms and hurried to the castle.
Once in the castle he took her directly to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had him lay her on a bed while she started casting diagnostic charms.
"What happened?" she asked while looking worriedly at Maggie.
"She was hit by a curse I have never seen before. The light was orange and it lifted her up in the air before shooting into her mouth. She was unconscious when she hit the ground." Sirius said while pacing.
She looked worried. "Mr. Black please go get Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster. Quickly."
He shot out of the room running to the headmaster's office. Once he got to the statue guarding the entrance he was surprised when it moved to allow him entry. He quickly ran up the stairs and knocked on the door rapidly.
"Enter." the headmaster said.
Upon entering the room, he found all four heads of house sitting with Dumbledore.
"Sir, you and Professor McGonagall are needed in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey said it is urgent."
"What has happened? Dumbledore askes as he and the other professors turn to pay attention.
"Maggie Weasley was cursed by Mulciber while in Hogsmeade. We don't know what curse and she isn't waking up." Sirius said looking distraught.
"This may need additional hands Horace, Filius please join us. Pomona will you please locate Mister Mulciber."
"Of course, Albus."
And with that they all quickly dashed to the hospital wing.
Sirius explained how the curse manifested on the way and they instructed him to sit outside the main doors. After an hour all of the professors stepped back into the hall. Professors Flitwick and Slughorn walked past Sirius with sympathetic looks. McGonagall walked up to Sirius. "Mr. Black go on to the Great Hall for dinner. Miss Weasley is being moved to St. Mungo's."
Sirius felt the dread build in the pit of his stomach. "Professor do you know what the curse was?"
"Professor Dumbledore has an idea, but it will need to be confirmed by a healer. I need to contact her brother." With that McGonagall turned and strode down the hall towards her office.
Sirius turned back to the hospital wing and slipped in the door. He quickly walked to Maggie's bedside and grabbed her hand. Professor Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey were both in her office out of sight. He sat at her bedside with his head down until Professor Dumbledore came back into the room.
"Mr. Black you can stay until the healers get here to transport her to the hospital."
"Professor what do you think it is?"
Dumbledore looked sadly at the two students. "I believe she has been hit with an advanced dark curse that will keep her in a deep slumber unless treated promptly. The healers at St Mungo's should have the potion ingredients needed to remove this curse if so."
"I am guessing I can't go with her."
"Unfortunately, no."
"Thank you, Professor."
Once the healers transferred Maggie to the hospital Sirius headed to the common room. Upon entering through the portrait hole Sirius sees James, Remus, and Peter sitting on the couch in front of the fire.
"Padfoot! Join us! How was your date?" James asks grinning broadly.
"Padfoot? What's happened?" Remus asked looking worried.
"Maggie is at St. Mungo's." Sirius said while approaching.
"What?!" James asked while shooting to his feet.
"Everything was going good, like really good. Then we ran into Snivellus, Avery and Mulciber. They said some stupid stuff and we started dueling. We got them, but not before Maggie got hit by this curse. I've never seen anything like it." He said while putting his head in his hands.
"I am going to let Lily know." James said while getting up. He squeezed Sirius' shoulder when he passed.
"Did you hear the incantation?" Remus asked looking thoughtful.
"No, he mumbled it." Sirius said looking tired.
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
For the first week Maggie was in the hospital the healers were working to remove the curse. It was changing as time went on and she was showing symptoms that they had never seen before. The healers tried several different antidotes before consulting with other hospitals and finally settling on asking for phoenix tears from Professor Dumbledore in a desperate attempt to remove the curse before her life force was emptied. He arrived at the hospital with a small vial full of phoenix tears. When the healers went to administer the raw phoenix tears, they found her skin had changed into a shade of grey and as they were sitting her up her hair gained a thick streak of white. When they opened her eyes, they found that the iris's had turned a pearly shade of white. They quickly poured the vial into her mouth while helping her swallow. They watched as her skin started returning to a normal color in patches until it was all normal. However, when they checked her eyes, the white coloring persisted. Still, she slept. It was at the end of the second week that her eyes changed back to their normal brown while the white streak in her hair stayed. Slowly she woke at the beginning of her third week in the hospital. Her family was overjoyed that she had finally woken up, but were very concerned when they found out her voice was gone along with her sense of taste and ability to smell. The healers tried to recover her memory of the duel and could not recover any memories. They kept her for another week watching her progress and brought in a Legilimens to try to find out what curse she had been hit with. He could not penetrate her mind. When her senses of taste and smell came back, they decided to set up follow up appointments and released her to go back to school.
Hogwarts
While Maggie was away in the hospital the marauders were dealing out harsh pranks to the whole of Slytherin. Normally Lily and Remus would argue, but not at the moment. The marauders had received a letter from Arthur informing them that the healers have no idea what curse she had been hit with and they are consulting other hospitals across the magical world. This set Lily and Remus into a research spiral. They were both constantly in the library leaving James, Sirius, and Peter to handle their revenge. When they received word that Maggie had woken up, they were all relieved. The full moon was soon and they decided that Slytherin had paid enough for now, though Sirius did not agree, he held his tongue. Though soon an opportunity presented itself.
Sirius noticed that Snape had been watching Remus a lot recently. This led to Sirius cornering Snape and telling him where the knot is at the bottom of the whomping willow.
On the night of the full moon the marauders met Remus in the shrieking shack and they all changed like normal. What was not normal however was Snape opening the door to the shack from the tunnel under the tree. As soon as Moony smelled him he lunged. Prongs was quick to intercept him and threw him across the room. Then swiftly turned and grabbed Snape in his antlers before lunging out of the shack and throwing the door closed with his back hooves. He then ran back to the castle and spoke to Snape discovering that Sirius had set up the dangerous situation. Snape agreed to keep their secret as long as they stopped going out of their way to prank him.
This situation led to the estrangement of Sirius from his group of friends. The other Gryffindors could not understand why the marauders were not on speaking terms with Sirius. Sirius looked guilty and stayed to himself for the most part.
When Maggie finally returned to Hogwarts, she was walked to the common room by Professor McGonagall.
"I understand that you are still recovering from the curse and do not have a voice, so accommodations have been made. You will return to classes like normal, but you do not have to perform any spellwork until your voice has returned. We would like you to try nonverbally, but it will not be counted against you if you are not able to successfully cast any spells. If a potion requires verbal contributions, you will have a partner who will handle that portion. Also, the Fat Lady has been instructed to allow you entry without a password until further notice. Do you have any questions or concerns?"
Maggie shook her head.
"Very well. I believe you have some people that are anxiously waiting for you. Please stay out of trouble Miss Weasley and let me know if you need anything."
Maggie smiled and nodded.
She then turned and walked into the portrait hole. She was immediately catching Lily who had launched herself at Maggie giving her a fierce hug.
"How are you feeling? I've missed you so much! Did you stay up to date on your studies? Do you think you will need help preparing for exams? Oh, I missed you!"
"Lils let her breathe. Maggie is your voice still gone?" James asks walking up to the pair.
Maggie smiles sadly and nods.
James sighs and reaches over giving her a hug. This is quickly followed by Remus and Peter.
She looks around but doesn't see Sirius. She turns back to James looking confused.
He sighs again. "We need to talk about Sirius."
They all moved to the couch by the fireplace once settled James explains everything that Maggie had missed. Her eyes were wide when she found out about Sirius's terrible prank. She looked at Remus concerned. He just shook his head.
AN: Thank you for the follows and favorites. Please review. See you next time. -A.