Chapter Three

Anastase followed Irinel into the main bar of the Leaky Cauldron. It was a dark shabby place that smelled strongly of smoke. Despite it only being mid-afternoon the room was packed full of chattering patrons – a handful of grubby looking warlocks, a pair of old women nursing glasses of sherry, a group of people wearing hooded cloaks, and several others.

As they walked in the wrinkled old barman looked up at them, 'Madam Atarescu, it's been a long time since I last saw you in here.'

'Indeed, it has Tom. I'm afraid I haven't had much reason to go out the past few years, but now Anastase, my eldest, is Hogwarts age', Irinel explained. She looked at Anastase, 'Anastase this is the barman I mentioned outside, Tom, he's run the Leaky Cauldron for as long as I can remember.'

Anastase nodded in acknowledgement.

'So, you needed to get all his stuff I suppose?', the barman said before turning to Anastase, 'Good to meet you, young man. Looking forwards to Hogwarts, are you? Know what House you want to be in?'

'It's nice to meet you too', Anastase said, then tilted his head to one side considering, 'I am looking forward to Hogwarts but I'm going to miss the twins, and Mamă a lot, of course. I think I'll be a Ravenclaw, I like reading loads, it's my favourite thing to do!'

'That's an understatement, Tom. If I let him, or the twins, do as they wanted I'd never see them, and they'd never eat!' Irinel exclaimed, 'And while we're on the topic of his bottomless pit of questions, he wanted to know how Muggles got into Diagon Alley. I presume that you're the one who has to let them in aren't you?'

Tom laughed as he led them around the back of the bar to the fireplace, 'Indeed I am. I'm also the one that has to handle tampering with the spells that keep this place hidden from Muggle London every summer. What we have to do', he explained, 'Is tie all the acceptance letters into the enchantments so that the parents can see the place. You wouldn't believe the number of kids I've had run in here all excited while the parents are still outside panicking because their son or daughter has just vanished from their point of view, because they didn't bring the letter. I keep telling Professor Dumbledore that he needs to tell the teachers that go out to Muggle-borns to make sure the parents know that because it's a right pain in the behind I can tell you!'

He then bent down to pick up a large pot and held to out to them.

'Here you go.'

'You go first Anastase, I'll follow', Irinel gestured him forward.

Anastase dug his fingers into the Floo Powder and pulled out a handful before turning to the fire.

Hopping over the grate he shouted, 'St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.'

He kept his eyes shut as he whirled through the Floo Network, spinning like a top. The rush to passing air loud in his ears as he hugged himself to avoid hitting other grates. After a few seconds, he felt the speed decrease and opened his eyes as the St Mungo's fireplace came closer. With a slight leap, he stepped out of the Floo and landed in the reception. Anastase had only just found his footing when he had to jump aside to allow Irinel to come out of the grate behind him.

He had never been to St Mungo's before and looked around the hospital lobby curiously. It was a large bustling place filled with people, some of whom looked quite normal as they sat on small wooden chairs reading old copies of Witch Weekly or the Daily Prophet, on the other hand, there were some witches and wizards who looked like victims of a curse or two, sprouting tentacles from their faces or with six arms. Anastase couldn't help but stare as one man let out an ear-splitting roar before walking towards the lift.

There were a host of witches and wizards dressed in lime-green robes carrying clipboards upon which they made notes as they walked up and down the rows of seats asking patience's questions. Anastase noted the wand and bone emblem on the front of the robes and tapped Irinel on the arm to get her attention.

'Are they the Healers?' he asked softly.

'Yes, they are', Irinel replied, she sounded sad. 'They're the ones who have been looking after your sister all these years', she paused, 'It should have been me', her words were bitter with regret, 'She should have been able to stay with us but…things happened, things changed, and unfortunately, that didn't end up being an option. Anyway', she shook off her dark mood, 'We'd better get in line or we'll never see her!'

Irinel pulled him over to the queue that had formed in front of a desk marked Enquiries. It was manned by a harassed-looking wizard who seemed to be having some problems with the three people at the front. The middle one, a dark-skinned woman, looked like she was unconscious and had smoke pouring from her ears. The others supporting her looked angry and appeared to be arguing with the wizard.

Finally, his temper having reached breaking point, the man yelled, 'Look, her being off her head doesn't make you lot unable to read! Potion and Plant Poisoning – third floor! Next please!'

The trio moved on the with unhappy grumbling as the next person, a pale looking boy holding his father's hand, pushed past them.

As they were waiting Anastase looked at the posters behind the help desk: Potion or Poison: Always Keep Cauldrons Clean, Swish and Flick: Watch Your Aim With Common Household Spells, Antidotes Are Anti-Don'ts Unless Approved by a Qualified Healer. A large portrait of a witch with long silvery hair labelled:

Dilys Derwent

St Mungo's Healer 1722-1741

Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

1741-1768

Also hung on the wall.

As Irinel walked forwards, Anastase looked at the floor plan:

GROUND FLOOR: ARTIFACT ACCIDENTS

(CAULDRON EXPLOSION, WAND-BACKFIRING, BROOM CRASHES, ETC.)

FIRST FLOOR: CREATURE-INDUCED INJURIES

(BITES, STINGS, BURNS, EMBEDDED SPIDERS, ETC.)

SECOND FLOOR: MAGICAL BUGS

(CONTAGIOUS MALADIES, E.G., DRAGON POX, VANISHING SICKNESS, SCROFUNGULUS)

THIRD FLOOR: POTION AND PLANT POISONING

(RASHES, REGURGITATION, UNCONTROLLABLE GIGGLING, ETC.)

FOURTH FLOOR: SPELL DAMAGE

(UNLIFTABLE JINXES, HEXES, AND INCORRECTLY APPLIED CHARMS, ETC.)

FIFTH FLOOR: VISITOR'S TEAROOM AND HOSPITAL SHOP

IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHERE TO GO, INCAPABLE OF NORMAL SPECK OR UNABLE TO REMEMBER WHY YOU ARE HERE, OUR WELCOMEWITCHES AND WIZARDS WILL BE PLEASED TO HELP.

Anastase stared at it wondering where Luminița was, there didn't seem to be a floor for the born mad, he thought grimly. As he watched he saw a man collapse, his limp body was immediately swarmed by Healers who hurried him off.

'Anastase, what are you doing? I nearly lost you!', Irinel grabbed him by the arm and tugged him towards the desk.

He blindly realised that while he'd been lost in his own head they'd nearly gotten to the front of the queue.

The elderly woman in front of them handed the man behind the desk a long note, 'I'm here for my check-up but they didn't say if I was going to Magical Bugs or Spell Damage you see', she blinked at him like an owl, 'I've been to both before.'

'Yes, I see, you're in Magical Bugs today – the second floor. You'll see Healer Yakira's door on the left, can't miss it!' he waved her off cheerfully.

Irinel smiled at the wizard as she stepped up to him, 'Hello, we're here to see Luminița Atarescu. I'm her mother Irinel and this is Anastase, her brother.'

The Welcomewizard ran a finger down a long list in front of him, 'Atarescu, Atarescu…aah yes, Luminița you said? The Janus Thickly Ward – Fourth Floor, as far along the corridor as you can go.'

'Thank you', she said, 'Come on Anastase, keep up and stop daydreaming.'

They walked through a set of double doors into a long narrow corridor lined with more paintings of famous Healers. It was lit up by great crystal bubbles fill with candles that floated along the ceiling. More Healers hurried through the various doors along the passageway. Strange gases seemed to waft from some of the doors as they opened and Anastase could hear loud cries and wailing.

'That's the Accident and Emergency Department you can hear', Irinel murmured, 'I remember coming here to give birth to you and Luminița during the War. The ward would be packed full and they'd have to spill out into other wards. Some of the injuries were truly horrific, it makes me so glad that we were able to stay out of it, I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for some families having to receive the news that someone had been killed or seriously injured.'

Anastase came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the corridor, 'Did Tata go there? Before he died', he asked.

'No, no your father never came here. He was dead long before I found him lying in the garden', Irinel said flatly, her icy tone quickly ending the conversation.

They had to walk up what seemed like an endlessly long flight of stairs before they reached the Spell Damage floor and by the time they got there, Anastase was panting.

'Have we got much further?' he wheezed, bent double over the bannister, gasping for breath.

'No, we're here now. You need to get out more Anastase, you look as if you'd just ran from here to Cornwall, rather than walked up four flights of stairs!' Irinel exclaimed, 'This is what happens when all you do is read. You and the twins all need to go out into the garden more and get some exercise!'

Anastase glared at her but he could see her point and on reflection, the only reason he and twins weren't the size of houses was because half the time they forgot to eat at all! Well if Hogwarts had half as many stairs as St Mungo's then he'd have to change that.

Irinel walked to the end of the corridor and checked the ward, 'This is the one we want, Anastase, hurry up.'

Anastase trailed after her. The sign on the door proclaimed it to be the Janus Thickly Ward: Long-Term Residents. The Healer-in-Charge was apparently James Alton, while the Trainee Healer was Marcus Trigg.

He looked around and winced internally, for all the personal effects that surrounded the many beds in the room, it was still clearly a hospital ward, with small high set windows letting in only minimal light casting a dingy pallor over the scene.

As they entered a pleasant looking Matron walked up to them, 'Hello, there. I'm Matron Mrium Stare, come to visit, have you? It so nice for them to see people other than us!'

Anastase and Irinel blinked at the woman's enthusiastic personality which seemed somewhat out of place in the room full of people who had permeant mental damage.

'Uh, yes', Irinel said faintly, 'We're here to see my daughter Luminița.'

Still chatting, the Matron lead them to a bed at the far end of the ward.

'I'm afraid', she lowered her voice, 'That there hasn't been much improvement in the last eight years. We've tried as much as we can but sometimes there is nothing we can do. I'm very sorry.'

Irinel seemed unsurprised to hear this and simply stared expressionlessly at the bed as Matron Stare wandered off to continue her rounds.

Luminița lay on her back humming to herself. As Anastase watched she stretched out her hand and began moving it through the air as if she were batting at something. Her dark blue eyes gazed at thin air. She suddenly sat upright and laughed before sinking back onto the bed.

The sight of Luminița giggling merrily on her bed, totally oblivious to the real world made something inside Anastase snap.

'She's mad. As mad as she was when she left! We're lucky you didn't let the twins come they would have been traumatised!' the angry words burst out of Anastase in a torrent, 'A "bit better", "pleased to see us" – she doesn't even know we're here! Why did we come? You were perfectly happy to ignore her for eight years, so what's changed? Did you suddenly find your compassion for the daughter you basically abandoned when she was six?! Or did something happen? What was in that letter from Unchiule Camil that scared you so much and don't try to deny it. I am not blind. I saw the look on your face. You were terrified!'

When Anastase fell silent he realised that everyone in the ward bar Irinel and Luminița were staring at him. Even the other patients had fallen silent. A grey-faced man who had been whimpering and shaking was now wide-eyed with fright, a fur-covered woman let out a high-pitched yip before diving under the covers of her bed. The Matron glared at him furiously. Luminița giggled and Irinel stared at the floor.

Anastase buried his head in his hands out of sheer embarrassment, face flaming red, before fleeing from the ward in tears. Behind him, Irinel slumped onto Luminița bed only seconds before breaking down herself. The poor Matron hurried over to comfort her.

Irinel screamed into her hands as the Matron rubbed her shoulders. Anastase was too intelligent, evidently, he's seen right through her mask to the fear beneath yesterday when he'd come to get his letter, she had thought she'd managed to fool him but obviously not. Straighten up she waved Matron Stare back to her rounds and ran her hands through Luminița's hair. This was what had happened the last time she'd got caught up in Camil's madcap schemes, an insane daughter who could never leave St Mungo's because she was a danger to others, and herself, and a dead husband who had perished trying to save his eldest child from a life of madness. Luminița stirred restlessly as if sensing her distress, rapidly opening and closing her eyes, hands twitching.

'Shh, shh', Irinel murmured, 'It's alright Luminița. I'll look after you, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you again.'

Now if only she could show her sons why she needed to keep them safe and hidden from the world, but she couldn't. They were too stubborn, too fierce to lay down and take it silently. Too much like her if she really admitted it, although their lack of empathy and analytical minds scared her with how much they resembled Camil at times. She shuddered and wiped her eyes, now she had to focus.

Anastase didn't stop running until he was well up the flight of stairs to the next floor. He came to a halt gasping, muffled sobs spilling out.

He rested his head against the wall, shaking. It wasn't like him to have a breakdown, but he'd just been so angry! Why did his mother have to do this? Life had been perfectly fine without Luminița around. Sure, basically abandoning your six-year-old daughter for being mad wasn't good, but that was Irinel's problem, not his. She was the parent, not him. He felt ashamed at himself for disbelieving Kronid and Liniște too, after all, he had been the one to start the whole theory, and now it looked like he'd been correct, Mamă was trying to hide something if her refusal to look him in the eye had meant anything!

'Uh, are you alright?' the strange voice came from somewhere above him and nearly made Anastase fall down the stairs as he lept in fright.

A hand grabbed his shoulder as he slipped, catching him just in time to stopping tumbling head over heels down the steps.

'Sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump, I mean you look as if you've had enough of a fright before I scared you', the speaker was a young boy. Despite only being a year or so older than Anastase he already had silver hair.

Anastase blinked at him in surprise, 'You have grey hair', he blurted out. Oops, he mentally clapped a hand over his mouth and flushed. What was wrong with him today?

The boy smiled kindly, 'It okay', he said, 'I'm used to people being surprised. It's just something that runs in Mum's family. She went grey really young too. Anyway, I was wondering if you were alright, didn't mean to make you almost break your neck. Did…did you just get some bad news? Do you have family here?' his voice went from babbling and apologetic to soft and hushed.

Anastase shook his head, 'No, nothing like that. I…my sister's here, but she's been here since I was four. She has…stuff, something, wrong with her mind, I'm not sure what. She's in the long-term ward on the Spell Damage floor. But I wasn't crying about that. It…something's wrong with my family, all of it, not just Luminița, and I was so angry, and I started shouting at Mamă. Well, then I just ran out. I feel like a total idiot…and a brat', he added, 'I want to know what's going on, because if Unchiule Camil is doing something dangerous or illegal and Mamă gets caught up in it, then it affects all of us. Not just the adults.'

Dead silence met his tirade. The silver-haired boy stared at him with wide grey eyes.

'Well, I can't say that I understood half of that or that it's any of my business, but if you think something's wrong with your family or that they might be in trouble or involved with something against the law shouldn't you tell someone? Then they can tell you if you're right to be worried or just overreacting and imagining things', he suggested.

Anastase looked at him solemnly, 'That's one of the things that isn't right though', he said, 'We don't have any contact with anyone that but family. There is no one to tell. Doesn't that seem wrong to you? My brothers and I only realised yesterday, I mean, we'd never thought about it before. Why would we? It was normal, but when you see it and think…you know how strange it is', Anastase trailed off in thought.

The two boys stared at each other for a while. Standing in silence, each wrapped up in their own ponderings.

The older boy suddenly jerked upright, 'Oh no! It's probably time for me to go – I'm here with my cousin', he explained, 'He needs to come here for check-ups.'

He started to run down the stairs, he turned, 'I'm Locryn by the way. Nice seeing you mystery boy.'

Anastase watched him go, before walking down the steps himself. He was far slower than Locryn had been, reluctant as he was to head back to the ward, and his mother.

As he went back, he thought about what he would do, would he slink back in head down and ashamed…or would he go straight back to demanding Mamă tell him what was going on? He was more than slightly tempted to go with the latter, after all as he'd said to Locryn, he and the twins, and Decebal and Simu for that matter, all had the right to know if the family was involved in something illicit – if only so they knew not to pry any further! The talk with the other boy also made him realise just how alone they all were as well. It had been lovely talking with someone who he hadn't known since he was a baby, but it had again highlighted just how isolated he was. The first thing that had come to his and the twin's minds had been to investigate themselves, the first thing to come to Locryn's had been to tell another, unrelated, adult. It was Anastase reflected, horribly unfair that there was nobody that he and his brothers could turn to aside from their cousins, who were the same ages as themselves. This thought made Anastase cringe even further as he recalled his angry words to Liniște yet again, he had been willfully blind and stupid, not wanting to admit that Mamă could do anything wrong. Well, he was disillusioned now, speaking to somebody normal had only highlighted just how abnormal his own upbringing had been.

Having finally reached the door to the Janus Thickly Ward, he lifted his head, set his shoulders, and firmly brought his emotions under control. Grasping the handle, he shoved the door open. Irinel still sat on Luminița's bed tear stains visible on her cheeks. The Matron, still bustling around the ward, gave him a look that might have been the expression version of the Killing Curse. Anastase glared back, how dare she judge him! She had no idea what was going, and on the subject of strange, why hadn't St Mungo's ever thought it odd that Luminița never had any visitors? Obviously, they knew she had living family so why hadn't anyone noticed?

He marched up to Irinel and looked at her, 'If you want an apology, you're not getting one. I stand by what I said before: I, and the twins and our cousins, we all deserve to know if somethings going on. I get it if you don't want to say it here, in public, but we have a right. If something is happening, you have to tell us. I know we're children but if something happens to you, it affects us too, more than you in some ways.' He made his tone firm as he strengthened his resolve.

Irinel shook her head, 'Why won't you believe me? I told you nothing has happened! Unchiule Camil's letter was nothing.'

'You're still lying to me', he seethed, 'I saw your face! You were scared. And what about Luminița? None of us ever visited her for seven years…and now you want to. If something hasn't happened, then why? Why the interest? I would have been perfectly happy to never see her again as long as I lived. The twins never even knew her, they didn't know she existed until last year, and she certainly never knew them when she left nor, if her state at the moment is normal, does she know now!', Anastase was breathing as heavily as if he'd run up another flight of stairs, 'And speaking of the twins not knowing about their sister until they were eight, why the secrecy? You hide so much. I don't even know how Tata died! You haven't told anyone, not even Unchiule Mircea and Mătușa Lăcrămioara, I asked them once, years ago', he added, seeing the question on Irinel's face.

Irinel's mouth twisted unpleasantly, 'I have a right to privacy. I loved your father, I still do! Sometimes-', she cut herself off with a harsh, ragged cry.

'What Mamă? You wish he still lived and one of us did not? Do not think that is a surprise! The twins and I have always known that you hated our looks, mirrors of you that we are. We have your personality too, don't we?', Anastase could hear the cruel mocking in his own voice, somehow he couldn't regret it. 'We are beautiful, intelligent but oh, so cold. Not like your darling Radoslav!', he laughed, it was ugly sound.

A high pitched, tinkling giggle interrupted his taunt. Anastase and Irinel both stared as Luminița rose from her bed and stepped towards them. Her long, flame red hair hung down her back, swaying as she moved. Her ocean coloured eyes were fixed on Anastase.

'Hello, little brother', her voice was harsh from disuse, 'I remember you. You hated me. You always did. Even when I tried to play with you.' She pouted like a young child.

'Your eyes, they are still the same, so dark, so cold, so empty. It makes me wonder what's looking back at me from them. Do you feel anything?' there was a strange wonder in her voice now, 'Do you feel anything for all the little people that love you so much? Or do you simply not care?'

Anastase recoiled from her, 'I hated you?! No, sister. I remember you! You hurt me, or you tried anyway! Until I learned how to avoid you, and that Mamă and Tata would stop you if I told them!' he waved a hand at her, 'If this is what you remember from living with us, then no wonder you're in here. You are mad. I think the better question would be if you felt anything. My eyes may be "dark and cold", but I know my own mind, can you say the same?'

'Stop this both of you', Irinel shouted, 'This is not a competition! Luminița can you hear me? I'm your Mamă, I love you. I always have-'

'She tells the truth now sister', Anastase felt wild with turbulent emotion, 'You were her perfect lovely daughter-'

'If you think I loved you or your brothers any less then you are wrong! Everything I've done, everything I've ever hidden was to protect you! And what happened to Luminița is why! Are you happy now, Anastase? Now that you know. Luminița may be mad but she got one thing right, you are cruel. You don't have my personality, you have Camil's, you all do. Ever hungry for more, more knowledge, more power, more everything', she looked disgusted, 'You are just like him.'

'Forget him, Mamă. He has always been jealous of me-'

'You liar!' Anastase was furious, 'How can you listen to this? Mamă, you were the one who sent Luminița away not me! I was four! This is not my fault. And what happened to "the hunger for knowledge, in and of itself, is never a bad thing", he quoted, then laughed, 'I can't even believe I'm having this conversation. It's insane! What did Camil do to Luminița? And what does it have to do with the letter he sent you?'

'Just STOP! Both of you!', Irinel rubbed her face wearily, 'Luminița, Anastase is right. He had nothing to do with you being sent here. Anastase what happened with Camil is in the past. His letter…it did unnerve me but don't – I mean it – don't dig for more information, alright?'

'Okay, Mamă-', Anastase started to reply when he was abruptly cut off.

'So, this is how it's going to be then', Luminița voice was a lot less dreamy than it had been moments previously, 'Always him isn't it? Well, here's your answer brother. Do I feel anything? Why yes, yes, I do, for people who care for me. Which is none of you! In the seven years, I've rotted here, the only person who visited me was Camil! He is wonderful, lovely, he loves me!', her words became a shrill wail.

Luminița tossed her head and shrieked with laughter, 'He showed me the truth of all things. Our family's heritage! And one day, I'll make you pay, both of you!'

She spun back and fell onto the bed limply. Irinel lunged forward in shock. Anastase's lips curled as he looked at her.

How could anyone be so crazy? Anastase shook his head as he watched Irinel's and the disapproving Matron fuss over Luminița. Her eyes had rolled back into her head leaving the whites staring ghoulishly at the ceiling. Jealous of her? He'd been scared of her not hateful! As for his eyes being cold and dark, well it had hardly his fault he had dark brown eyes rather than Radoslav's blue! And how could a four-year-old be cruel? Totally crazy, but if Camil had been a regular visitor to the ward that definitely explained why none of the stuff had ever questioned her never being seen, because she had been, by the very person what had been responsible for putting her here, if his reading into Irinel's implication had been correct. He was broken out of his racing thoughts when Irinel called him.

'Anastase, we're leaving', her voice was sharp, her face tense as she swept out of the ward.

Anastase hurried after her. Alright, he could admit that he could be a bit cruel now, but at four? Somehow, he didn't think that was quite as true. It had been a good thing that Irinel hadn't let the twins come with them, now that he looked back on the argument, his hot-headed anger was one thing but the twins, who definitely were cold and logical, would have left not just Irinel but also Luminița, the Matron and most of the patients in sobbing heaps.

Irinel's stopped in the hospital lobby and turned to him, 'I have never been so embarrassed by you Anastase, what that poor woman must have thought, you screaming at Luminița! I won't say that she didn't give as good as she got but that's no excuse! Luminița is here for a reason and half the things she says don't mean anything.'

'I know Mamă, and I am sorry for getting angry but what I said is true. If you'd said before that Camil was dangerous and that you wanted to keep us safe, then you should have said so! Then none of this would have happened! All I wanted to know was the truth', Anastase bowed his head, 'And now Kronid and Liniște are running around thinking that you want to keep us isolated because you're up to something illegal. We spent all yesterday evening talking about it. They were going to talk to Decebal and Simu to see if they also thought that never seeing anyone, but family was strange.'

Irinel sighed, 'I suppose from your point of view it was strange, but even now there are many things you do not know of. Stop investigating, all of you', she groaned, 'This is one of the many problems that come with having children that are cleverer than you! You all see more than I realise and then this happens.'

'I'm sorry Mamă', Anastase was sorry, sorry that he had to lie to her about finding out the truth, and sorry that she didn't trust him enough to tell him why she has really done what she had.

Irinel held out her hand, Anastase took hold of it. The sucking, crack of Apparition surrounded him.