Friday, 18 May, 23:45 GMT, present day
The smell of the dank dungeon wafted through her nostrils as she tried to take a deep breath. She winced in pain as her ribs felt like they were carving into her with each slight movement.
He pointed the gun at her head. She held her hands up, as she looked into his eyes.
"Any last words before I end this, Half-breed," he said icily as he cocked the gun.
"You don't have to do this, Phillip," she said pleadingly.
Her old friend hit her across the face with the side of the handgun. Her legs wobbled, a bit stunned, she could taste her blood from the cut in her mouth. She coughed, a stream of blood ran down her chin.
"You never learn, do you?" his voice laced with venom. "My name is Kourtney Schield. What last words would you like on your epitaph?"
"Please remember me, Phil," she pleaded.
"Get on your knees," he said, pointing the muzzle to the ground.
"No," she gulped, looking at him.
Without warning, he pulled the trigger, putting a slug into her right thigh. She wailed as she fell to her knees. She placed her right palm on the wound, trying to apply pressure. She looked up at him, breathing in small breaths.
"Last words," he said curtly. He pointed the muzzle of the gun at the top of her head.
She trembled before looking up at him. "I love you," she said, as tears streamed down her cheeks.
He flinched slightly as he heard the words. Then he took a breath, "You mean nothing to me."
She gulped. He placed the gun against her forehead. "I want to hear you say it," he said calculatingly, "'I mean nothing to you.'"
She blinked, staving off tears. She gulped looking up at him, "No."
He narrowed his eyes at her, studying her. He watched as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Has this Phillip of yours known you to be so stubborn?" he said as he looked at her.
"End it, Kourtney," she said softly, staring up at him. She saw him take in a breath, faltering for a moment, as he took a step back.
She saw the flashfire. Then everything went black.
o-o-o
Friday, 18 May, 23:50 GMT, present day
Drew bolted upright in the hospital bed, nearly startling her mother to death. Hermione quickly stood up and grabbed her by the upper arms, calming her down.
"Ginny, Greg!" Hermione yelled for the two head medical staff who were on shift. Hermione pulled Drew into an embrace, whispering to her to slow down her breathing. The Muggle-born mother heard her daughter whimper.
"Phillip, Phillip," Drew stammered.
Mediwizard Gregory Goyle and Mediwitch Ginny Potter walked quickly into the hospital room. They both blew out a breath at the same time before heading towards the bed.
"Hey," the ginger-haired witch looked at the patient. She nodded at Hermione who helped Drew lay back down. Ginny studied the Half-blood Squib, "You gave us a fright, you know that?"
Drew smiled. She looked upwards, knowing that her Aunt Ginny was going to put her through a battery of tests.
"Hey, Kiddo," the brown haired veteran mediwizard said, smiling. "We're going to check your vitals and reflexes alright."
Both medical personnel set up holograms to check on her internally. As the pair of Wizarding doctors gauged her reflexes to the stimuli they administered, they deemed Drew fit.
"You are amazing, Drew," her Aunt Ginny said as her mother squeezed her hand.
They all looked at the door as Draco, Jr. ran through. "I heard all of the commotion," he said, a little out of breath. He looked at her older sister and nodded. He walked up to the hospital bed and took a hold of her other hand.
"All ribs are healed, both lungs are inflated, no internal injuries. Your left scapula and clavicle have fully healed," Mediwitch Potter said.
"You'll be doing surgeries in the O.R. soon enough," her Uncle Greg laughed. Drew was also able to laugh at herself. "I think you're going to be alright, Drew."
"It's a little past midnight," her Aunt Ginny said as she squeezed her shoulder. "I think you should get some rest. We'll do further tests on you later this morning, okay."
Drew nodded. Ginny squeezed Hermione's shoulder, nodding at her, silently telling her that everything was going to be fine. Gregory also nodded at Hermione. The two older medical Wizarding folk left the family in the room.
o-o-o
Saturday, 19 May, 0:10 GMT, present day
Drew took a breath. "Is Phillip alright?" she asked.
"He's fine, Drew," Junior said, reassuring her.
"So, he's," Drew began, trying to find the right words as a tear rolled down her cheek, "Is he really Mr. Schield's grandson?"
Her mother squeezed her daughter's hand. "He is Roxanne's and Kellen's son. Phillip is from a Pureblood family. He is going to need time to process all of this, Drew."
"Where is he?" Drew asked softly.
Her mother squeezed her hand again, "Phillip's back in Boston helping his team in their championship run."
Drew nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek. "How long have I been in a coma?" she asked softly.
"It's May 18th, Drew," her brother said.
She gulped. She nodded at him. "Did Uncle Blaise Obliviate him?"
"Everyone involved thought that it wasn't in Phillip's best interest to do that," her mother said softly. "He deserved to know his Wizarding history."
Drew nodded, knowing in her heart that was the right decision. She gulped. "I want to take a shower."
"Drew," her brother said.
Drew looked up at the mediwizard. He blew out a breath, helping her to a seated position. He looked at his mother who shrugged.
"You're probably suffering from muscle atrophy, Drew," Junior said as she leaned into his chest.
He helped her to her feet. He nodded at her.
"I've got her, Junior," Hermione said as she allowed Drew to lean against her.
Drew took a breath as she felt the cold floor under her. Her knees wobbled for a moment. Her mother nodded at her and Drew nodded back as they made their way to the bathroom.
Drew was able to shower unassisted. She bathed herself, staying in the shower for at least twenty minutes, the beads of water dropping onto her body felt therapeutic. She felt cleansed as she gingerly stepped out of the stall. She looked at her mother who offered her an arm to lean on. Drew stepped under the dryer.
Drew looked at the Hogwarts t-shirt and sweatpants that her mother had pulled from the drawers in the bathroom counter. She ran her hand over the school's emblem. How ironic it was that she was going to be putting on the shield. She scoffed a bit before starting to dress.
o-o-o
Saturday, 19 May, 0:30 GMT, present day
Hermione helped her daughter walk out of the bathroom. They were slightly startled seeing the amount of new visitors in the room.
"We were all in the break room when we got Junior's messenger Patronus," Hans said.
Drew looked around at all of her contemporaries. Lauren, Dean, Ronda, Jessica, Patty and Hans were in the room along with Heath and Jacob.
"We just wanted to check on you," Dean said as he hugged his oldest and dearest friend. He helped her to the hospital bed.
The group of young Wizarding folks sat around Drew's hospital bed. They stayed for a good twenty minutes talking about their childhood. Mrs. Malfoy smiled, listening to their stories.
Junior looked at his watch. He yawned. "Alright mates, I hate to break up this little reunion, but we should give Drew some time to rest. Aunt Ginny's going to put her through more tests later on today."
The youngsters laughed. "My brother, the stuffed shirt," Drew said, smiling.
"Okay, Junior's right," Jacob, his fellow Mediwizard agreed, laughing.
Each of the children went to Drew's bed to give her a hug goodbye. Lauren and Dean hugged her first. "I'll see you later, okay," Dean said as he kissed her forehead. Drew nodded.
Patty and Jacob hugged her. Heath, Hans, and Junior hugged Drew as well.
"Don't ever do that again, alright," Heath said.
"You know me, Heath," Drew said, nodding. "I like to keep you on your toes. You have to apply your craft in the Real World, sometimes."
"Very funny," Heath said, kissing her forehead before leaving the room.
"Ronda," Drew said as she gently took hold of her forearm.
"Yeah, Drew," the older witch said.
"I want to give my statement," Drew said looking up at her.
Ronda looked at both her Aunt Hermione and at her fellow Auror, Jessica. Mrs. Malfoy nodded at her as she stood up and exited the room.
"Drew, this can wait until later," Jessica said.
"I want to do it while it's still vivid in my mind," Drew said.
"Okay," Ronda said as Jessica sat back down. The ginger haired Auror waved her wand and a roll of parchment paper and a self-inking quill magically appeared.
o-o-o
Saturday, 19 May, 0:55 GMT, present day
"Just speak naturally, as you remember things had happened," Jessica said.
"The quill will write everything down," Ronda said. "Take your time."
Drew nodded. She blew out a breath before she began her statement.
"We arrived at the Martinez home close to 10 p.m. that night. We had come from dinner after my job interview for the E.R. position at Saint Augustine's," Drew began. "We had a disagreement at the end of dinner which left us both distracted when Mr. Schield and the five other Death Eaters apparated in."
"Drew, how did you know they were Death Eaters?" Ronda asked.
"They all had the Dark Mark on their left forearms," Drew answered.
The two Aurors nodded. "What happened next?" Jessica asked.
"I'm not sure how many Cruciatus curses I was hit with," she paused, remembering the excruciating pain as she took in a breath. "I … I killed two of them, breaking their necks."
"You were defending yourself, Drew," Ronda said.
"They were hurling torture curses at Phillip, too," she said. "I couldn't do anything to stop them.
"Mr. Schield asked the Death Eater who held onto me if Phillip was the one," she gulped. "Harlin, that's what his name was, the Death Eater who was behind me acknowledged him.
"They dropped the wands that they were using and used other wands to apparate us quickly away from the house, knowing that the Ministry would soon be there," Drew continued.
"We ended up at the Schield residence. There were other wizards and witches working on Muggle weaponry. They took," Drew whimpered. "They took Phillip away while Harlin dragged me downstairs to the holding cell.
"His job was to torture me before the real torture would begin. I recognized him," she paused. "He was the one who attacked us in the alley thirteen years ago with the Dagger of Irses. That's how Mr. Schield learned about Phillip. His DNA was on the dagger."
Ronda nodded her head. "Then what happened, Drew?"
"Harlin talked about how Mr. Schield had his minions perfect the potion that would be used on the Muggle ammunition and that it killed in half the time," Drew said breathing. "The old wizard was going to finish what his daughter started almost three decades ago.
"Sometime during the torture, I blacked out. I don't know how long I was unconscious. Harlin was gone when I awoke. My ribs were sore. I had a hard time breathing. Then I heard the footfalls."
Jessica looked at Ronda for a moment. "Take your time, Drew," the younger witch said.
"Phillip . . . Phillip wasn't himself," Drew said as she looked at Ronda. "There was an emptiness in his eyes. He started to tell me about the history that Mr. Schield fed to him; that he was the son of Roxanne Schield and Kellen Tanner, that Cecil Schield was his grandfather.
"I knew then that Mr. Schield must have used the memory charm on him," Drew took in a breath.
"He was Kourtney Schield and he was task to avenge his family by destroying mine," she gulped. "He was wielding his mother's wand, quite deftly, actually. He used Levicorpus on me, whipping me into the walls. He couldn't use the torture curse, yet. His grandfather told him not to use it until the last minute. They were going to sync the use of an Unforgiveable with the Death Eaters' attack on the Muggle-born population.
"He mentioned that the Schield family has a way of draining their enemies' Wizarding gifts by overpowering them. He continued to beat me until it was time to end things.
"I could barely stand," she said as she looked at the two Aurors, "Then he accioed one of the Muggle handguns with modified ammunition. He asked if I had any last words before he completed his revenge.
"I told him that he was wrong about how he thought that my parents had killed his parents," Drew closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I told him the real story of how his parents died during the Ministry raid of the Tanner estate.
"He didn't believe that his father killed his mother by accident; that the killing curse meant for my mum hit Roxanne Schield instead. He didn't believe how his father died. He thought I was lying and wondered how I knew so much detail.
"I told him that I had forgotten how painful the torture curse was until Mr. Schield used it on us. I told him his father had used the Cruciatus curse on me almost thirty years ago," she whimpered. Jessica squeezed Drew's hand. Drew nodded at her.
"I'm not sure how he regained his faculties," Drew said. "He was Phillip again. I saw the remorse in his eyes when he saw what he had done to me. He wanted to get me medical attention.
"But we needed to get the information about the weapons to the Ministry. It was important that they stopped Mr. Shield's plans. I told Phillip he needed to find a way to get the info to my dad and that he should leave me because I would slow down his escape.
"But he wouldn't hear of it. There was no way he was going to leave me there. So, we had to think of another way out. Neither of us had our mobiles and his grandfather hadn't taught him how to Apparate.
"But Mr. Schield did walk him through the Unforgiveables. I mentioned to him about the Wand Tracking System; that wands that have been catalogued were easier to trace, with less time to issue warrants. He didn't understand, at first.
"I told him that they were called Unforgiveables for a reason," Drew sobbed. Jessica squeezed her hand again and nodded at her.
"I asked him to use one on me. It would have been his only way out," Drew gulped. "It would have signaled his location to the Ministry and the Aurors would have arrived to investigate.
"I begged him to use the wand on me. I was exhausted. I shut my eyes. I heard him utter the killing curse. I waited for it to end. But nothing happened. I heard footsteps on the stone floor outside of the cell. Phillip placed me gently on the ground. I heard Phillip utter the torture curse at Mr. Schield.
"I think Mr. Schield blocked the curse," Drew whimpered. She looked at Ronda. "Then I heard the wizard utter the same curse. I felt excruciating pain. Then it stopped. I looked over at Phillip. His grandfather hit him with the Cruciatus.
"I begged the old wizard to stop; that his grievance was with my family and that Phillip didn't know the ways of the Wizarding world, yet," Drew paused. "Everything happened so quickly. Phillip bolted and tackled his grandfather. I think the old man's wand broke.
"I saw Mr. Schield pick up the handgun that Phillip had let go after the memory charm broke," she gulped. "He aimed it at Phillip. I swept Phil's legs out from under him. I could feel the two rounds enter my chest and I could feel my knees give out.
"I'm not quite sure of the events that happened after that. I don't remember leaving the cell and I don't know how I ended up at Hogwarts," Drew said, finishing her statement.
"Wow," Jessica said. She looked at her fellow Auror.
"We'll review the statement and corroborate it with the statements of the other witnesses," Ronda said. The veteran Auror took in a breath as she nodded at Jessica. "Drew, we have to ask."
"Do you want to press charges against Phillip for the assault?" Jessica finished Ronda's thought.
Drew looked at the two, "No."
The pair of Ministry workers nodded their heads as they stood up. Jessica squeezed the patient's hand. "You did good, Drew."
Drew closed her eyes and nodded her head. She looked up at Ronda.
"Get some rest, okay," the ginger-haired witch said.
"Thanks," Drew said as the pair exited the room.
Her mother and brothers reentered. The boys took their seats and immediately began to rest their eyes. Hermione smiled to herself as she watched all of her children settling into slumber.
Hermione kissed her daughter's forehead, "Goodnight, Drew."
"Goodnight, Mum," Drew said as her eyes closed.
o-o-o
Saturday, 19 May, 01:30 GMT, present day
Hermione Malfoy blew out a breath. Her head swiveled as the platinum blonde wizard ran into the room out of breath. Hermione stood up and gently took hold of his elbow ushering him out.
"I just got the Patronus," Draco Malfoy said. "We just wrapped up a case. Is she alright?"
"She just fell asleep a few minutes ago. She just finished giving her statement to Ronda and Jessica," Hermione said.
"She's okay, though, right?" Draco asked.
"She's coherent," Hermione said. "Physically, she's fine, at least the initial tests say so. Ginny's going to put her through more tests later today. It's her mental state that is going to take some time to gauge."
Draco shut his eyes and took in a deep breath. Hermione pulled him in for a hug. "She'll be fine, Draco."
She could feel him tremble. She hugged him closer.
She led him into Drew's room. They both took a couch and settled in.