Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my thoughts of AU and OC, the rest all belong to J K Rowling. Thank you MoonVale for helping me in straightening up this chapter as well.

Chapter 8

Settling herself on an empty chair, Healer Norman welcomed Minerva amicably. "Hello, Minerva."

"Hello, Astrid," the Deputy Headmistress nodded with a small smile.

Once she had everybody's attention, Norman began laying down the bare facts.

"I assure you that, although many of my junior healers have given up hope…I have not."

Behind her, Mason cleared his throat but said nothing.

"I don't really blame them; they haven't seen anything like this. They might have read about it. Given the many complications, our work has suffered some setbacks. Miss Granger is still with us. Yes, she is still responding and is speaking…"

"Really! She is awake?" Potter asked, all excited with this piece of information.

Healer Norman nodded, "Yes, Mr. Potter, but there is more. I would prefer if none of you speak in between."

Potter sat back mumbling an apology.

"She is speaking but, she seems to be speaking to herself for now. Most of the time it is gibberish phrases," the healer's eyes sought out Snape as if to say more. In response, the Headmaster narrowed his eyes.

"When she was first brought in, we had tried to incubate her since there was that black substance still visible right over her chest. However, that was a blunder on our part," Norman looked down apologetically.

"No sooner had the attending healer had her under the procedural spell, Miss Granger's magic lashed out and sent him flying. Simmons ended up banging his head against the wall and cracking his skull open. But that is nothing that cannot be fixed. Webber, on the other hand, made the foolish conclusion of trying to contain the "rogue magic" and was met with a similar fate." This time, her eyes roved over the attentive group until it settled on Potter. Her next words were directed to him.

"Still, I will not call it Obscurus. Miss Granger, has in fact, retained her physical features. My juniors might refer to that, but I will hold my reservations until the very last. That woman seems to be battling with the interfering "rogue magic". Severus, I was going to write to you but Mr. Malfoy volunteered to get you personally."

Turning to Malfoy she enquired in a no-nonsense tone, "How are you feeling now? I am still quite shocked that you survived quite unscathed."

Malfoy politely offered, "Good enough."

"Still, if you feel dizzy, take things lightly. Understood?" her eyes glinted.

"I will Madam," the Slytherin assured.

Addressing the group once again, she went on, "Granger shows signs of having seizures, multiple of them. I was informed that she did suffer from the Cruciatus Curse at the hands of the late Bellatrix LeStrange. However under our observation, she has had no seizures. After those freak incidents, we had contained her in a specialty enclosure. We call it the Circle. Right now we are watching her progress through a glass wall. The room has magically built-in sensors. It allows us to monitor the additional presence of the "rogue magic" and its effects from time to time. Our observations so far are as follows..." bringing out a parchment from her robe, the old woman started reading.

For some unknown reason, Miss Granger has been restricting her spontaneous flow of magic.

Due to this prolonged restriction, we also surmise that there must have been a recurring trigger to add to it, her magical core had gone into lockdown.

When she had first woken from her stupor, she had been sitting like a doll, stiff and rigid, unresponsive and unseeing. This gives me a feeling that the girl has given up hope or has got too near death to give up on living.

This is not the end of our concern. Since Miss Granger is a powerful witch, her sudden self-induced restriction on her magic has made her magical core off balance. Excess magical energy has started building up within her. If that is not dealt with soon, she can unwillingly cause harm to many innocent lives.

Rolling the parchment and transferring it back into her robes, the Healer looked up and said, "Now that was the official report."

Minerva snorted, "And unofficially?"

Healer Norman smirked, "In plain words, I am still trying to stall the process as much as I can. Yes, Mr. Potter's presence has given me some leverage but I have been given a very short deadline. That is why I would ask you, Severus, to take a closer look into this matter. I know Miss Granger was your student and knowing you, I am certain you will know how to at least buy her some time. I am most certain I can rely on that magnificent mind of yours."

"I am here to help." Snape's short but precise answer lit up the elderly healer's face.

Standing up, she invited them all to join her. They walked together through some deserted corridors, till they were ushered into a circular space. Through the middle of it run a huge glass wall. On one side of it, several monitoring screens were blinking and graphs and charts were constantly updating themselves. Three junior healers were huddled together. They greeted the group sullenly then kept to themselves. Healer Norman ignored them, instead, she gestured the group to stand facing the hazy glass wall.

Once all of them assembled near it, she waved her hand before it and instantly the spell cleared away the haze. Severus saw a white enclosure with bare walls and no window. A bed was placed inside. Though it looked slept in, presently it was empty. The space was not traditionally lit up, but some spell was allowing them to see the room clearly.

Minerva was the first to notice the crouching figure at the furthest end of the semicircular room. "Oh, Merlin! What has become of her?"

Severus observed the young woman facing towards the wall, rocking on her hips, her long hair down and tangled. She was thin and nowhere near what he remembered of the brilliant young girl he had had the honor to teach.

Healer Norman was standing next to him and speaking again.

"She sits like that most of the time now. She never turns away from the wall. She hates any kind of light, though she hardly opens her eyes. She whimpers and then shrieks if any of us even try to communicate with her."

Tilting her head up, the former Slytherin shared her observations with the thoughtful Headmaster in painful whispers, "Severus, standing here, looking at the girl, there are moments when I struggle hard to act as her healer. Her reputation, her magical prowess and her indomitable spirit gives me hope that I can save her in time. But if she withers away without aid, the entire magical community will never revive from the loss incurred."

A/N: So, any thoughts? What are you all expecting from the upcoming chapters?