Saturday, June 12th 1999
Minerva sat down on a chair in front of a stage next to Raj, Daniel and Nina. The curtains on the stage were drawn and other people were still filing into their seats. Minerva looked down at the program booklet in her hand.
"Looks like Lucy's performance is fourth," she said.
"I'm glad she decided to do dance again," Raj said with a smile. He looked down at his own program booklet. "She's up against five other girls, it seems."
"I'm so glad she's dancing again too," Nina said with a smile as she got her camera ready for when Lucy came out. "I love doing her makeup and helping her into dresses that she is actually okay with wearing."
"Oh yeah, I never thought about that," Daniel mumbled with a scowl, thinking about all the days he had spent just trying to get her to put on a freaking dress for some event or another. She was always so stubborn and annoying. "She wears her ballet dresses no problem but any other dress becomes this whole big thing,"
Minerva smiled. She was about to say something when the lights began to fade out and the spotlights on the stage came on. A skinny man wearing a black suit came out onto the stage and introduced the event.
"Welcome to the thirty-first annual Petites Étoiles Competition. Tonight we are joined by three spectacular judges," the host said with a lot of pep and enthusiasm. "Simone Faucher, Laurette Samson, and Philippe Tailler."
The crowd applauded as the three judges walked out onto the stage and took their seats at the judging desk near the back. The program got started and the dances began. Girls came on the stage to dance their solos. Eventually it was Lucy's turn. Minerva watched her walk slowly to center stage and smiled. She had been so nervous this morning but now looked confident and ready. Lucy looked over the crowd and saw her family in the distance. She gave them a little smile.
The soft music faded in and Lucy started dancing. Minerva watched her move, twirl, and jump gracefully about the stage. Her movements were elegant and beautiful. She was swift and controlled and disciplined. Her dance was emotional and told the story of someone who felt hopeless. Someone who felt stuck. Minerva knew that Lucy was working through a lot of her own emotions through her dancing and she was glad. It was definitely a good, healthy way to for her to do so. Lucy looked at home up on that stage and it came through in her dancing. Minerva could tell that this was something that her daughter really loved. Maybe Lucy would become a ballerina when she was older. Minerva definitely thought that she had the skill and the determination to do so.
Lucy finished her routine and left the stage. A few more performances in her category took place and then other categories started. Eventually the whole program ended and awards started. Lucy's category was called and all six girls walked out on the stage to see who won. Lucy looked nervous again now. Minerva caught her eye and gave her a reassuring smile. Lucy smiled back. The host awarded the runner ups.
"For the Ballet Petite, eight and under, category; third place is awarded to... Liza Rodriguez!"
The crowd cheered as a little girl wearing a blue tutu ran forward excitedly. The girl's parents jumped up out of their seats to cheer on their daughter. She shook the hand of the host and accepted her trophy before moving off to the side a little bit to wait for the other winners. Cameras flashed throughout the exchange. Lucy was getting more and more nervous as time passed. She hadn't gotten third.
"Second place is awarded to... Sophie Garfield!"
Another little girl left the lineup and walked forward towards the host. Unlike Liza, Sophie walked more slowly and gracefully instead of running forward excitedly. The crowd cheered again and the girl's parents jumped out of their seats. Lucy sighed. That was it. She hadn't placed at all. She knew she hadn't. She was sad. She had tried very hard and had been very confident in her dance yet she hadn't been good enough to even place.
"Finally first place! This award goes to the best dancer of this evening and this dancer will move on to the nationals competition in December," the host said loudly into the microphone. "And the first place winner is... Lucy Collins!"
Lucy blinked a couple times. She had won? She had won! The host turned to look at her and she smiled and walked forward. She did her best to control her excitement, wanting to be like Sophie. Calm, sophisticated and not surprised by her win. She shook the host's, kind of sweaty, hand and accepted the trophy. Looking out into the cheering crowd, she saw Minerva, Raj, Nina and Daniel all on their feet cheering her on. She smiled for cameras and shook the host's hand one more time before walking over to the other two winners. They had their pictures taken together before going back offstage.
"Great job, Lucy!"
"Way to go!"
"I knew you were going to win! You were the best one out there!"
"I really loved your routine!"
Lucy smiled and thanked her friends and teachers backstage. She was still in a little bit of a shock from winning. She had not expected to get first place and move on to nationals! She also had not expected this much congratulations and praise backstage. At her old studio they had not been as supportive. Her teacher had always been but the other girls in her class had never even told her good job. They were all too busy worrying about their own performances to worry about her. She was really glad that she had changed studios.
Eventually the rest of the categories had been called, the awards awarded, and the program ended. Lucy walked out from backstage and found Daniel, Nina, Raj and Minerva waiting for her. She ran up to them and Minerva pulled her into a hug.
"Good job, my darling! I'm so proud of you!" Minerva said with a smile. "You did so well and I could tell you worked so hard!"
Lucy smiled. "Thanks," she said. Minerva took her trophy for her so she could hug Nina.
"You danced beautifully, Lucy," Nina said when they pulled away. "I knew you were going to win!"
"You were great up there, kid," Daniel said with a smile, tousling her hair a bit.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. She looked over at Raj and he reached down and picked her up. She hugged him and he gave her a little squeeze.
"That was amazing, Lucy," he said with a smile. "You were probably the best dancer up there."
"Definitely," Daniel said with a smile.
They walked outside, Raj still carrying Lucy, and over to Raj's car. He drove them to a restaurant so they could celebrate Lucy's win. Lucy told them all about how nervous she was and how surprised she was when won as they ate. She told them about how big a deal Nationals was and how scared she was for that competition. She would have to work really hard to do well there. She was glad that she had quite a bit of time to get ready for it. Minerva smiled and told Lucy that she knew that she would work very hard and do very well at this competition as well. After they were done at the restaurant, Raj drove himself back to London and Minerva, Lucy, Daniel, and Nina took a Portkey back to Hogwarts.
Friday, June 25th 1999
"How come you didn't want to play outside today?" Anne asked as she and Lucy walked through the shelves in their school library. It was the last day of school but the girls weren't playing outside with all the other children. They had gotten permission to spend their break inside today since Lucy had said that there was something important she wanted to tell her. "What did you want to tell me?"
"It's a huge secret that I'm not supposed to tell you but it's so hard not to tell you, Anne!" she exclaimed in a loud whisper. "So hard!"
Anne laughed. "Why aren't you supposed to tell me?"
"It's the law," Lucy said, walking to the end of the row and looking around quickly to make sure that no one was around who could overhear them. She saw nobody so she turned back to her friend. "We couldn't even tell Uncle Raj for a really long time but now he knows and I want you to know too."
"Wow, okay," Anne said, very intrigued by what this secret could be. It must be very big if Lucy hadn't been allowed to tell her uncle.
"Anne, this is going to sound really weird and you're probably not going to believe me when I tell you but hear me out, okay?" Lucy said.
"Okay..." she said a little uncertainly.
"I'm a witch," Lucy said. "I can do magic. My mum's a witch too, that's how come I am even though my dad and Daniel can't do magic."
"You can do magic?" Anne said with a smile on her face that told Lucy she didn't believe her. She probably thought this was some sort of game.
"Yeah, I can," Lucy said with a nod. "Watch this. Accio Pride and Prejudice."
Four copies of the same book flew off the shelves and came over towards the girls. Anne stared at them with wide eyes as Lucy grabbed each of them out of the air.
"See?"
"You... oh my god! Lucy, that was so cool! Do more! Do more!" Anne said.
"Okay!" Lucy said with a smile. She handed Anne the books and took the one on top. Slowly the book began to bend and the papers folded back until it took the shape of a bird. The paper bird fluttered out of Lucy's hands and flew into the air around the girls.
"Wow!" Anne said, watching it go. "That's amazing!"
The bird came back to Lucy and she changed it back into a book. She had the books fly back into their rightful places on the shelves. She and Anne sat down on the floor so that Lucy could tell her all about the Wizarding World.
"So, you're mum's a witch and she teaches at this Hogwarts school?" Anne asked.
"Yeah! It's really cool, Anne! It's this huge castle where loads of people live now," she said happily. "Mum teach Transfigurations. That's the magic of turning one thing into another like I did to the book."
"That's so cool," Anne said.
"Yeah, so there's a whole world of magic people but," Lucy sighed and shook her head, "they're not having a very good time right now. There are these bad guys called the Death Eaters. They think that they're better than people who can't do magic and want to hurt them. They're at war with the Order of the Phoenix, a group that believes that everyone should have the same rights even if they can't do magic or their parents can't do magic. They're really bad. They're the ones that... that killed Dorcas."
"Oh my god..." Anne said quietly. "War?"
"Yeah, the war has been going on for six years, Mum says. My mum and my Aunty Amelia are in the Order. Last year the Death Eaters came to our house to hurt us but some of our friends were able to save us," Lucy said quietly. "Nina and I were home alone but James and Sirius were able to come in time to stop them."
"They came to your house! Oh my god, Lucy, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay but we're not allowed at home anymore. That's why we went away for the whole summer," Lucy said. "That's why I couldn't see you all summer."
"Oh, where did you go?" Anne asked, still looking very worried.
"We went to Hogwarts. A lot of people live there now because of the war," she said. "I stay there now with my mum. Daniel and Nina stay in at the University during school so they can still go to class but they come back to Hogwarts during their breaks. They're back now. Remus Apparates me to and from school everyday. Apparating is when you disappear from one place and appear in another. Like teleportation."
"That's so cool," Anne said. "So will you be there all this summer too? When will you come back to Rochester?"
"Mum said that we can come back when the war is over," Lucy said. "It sucks because I can't go over to your house or invite you over because of it. Hopefully this summer I can convince my mum to let me come see you. I hate not being able to see you."
"I hope so too. I hated the summer you were away!" she said. "It was so boring!"
"I'll talk to my mum," Lucy said. "Hopefully we can do something. I'm so glad you know now. It was so hard to keep the secret from you."
"I'm glad you told me too," Anne said with a smile. "When you come over this summer you have to show me more magic!"
"Okay," Lucy said with a smile. "I'll bring some of my books so you can read them too. They're really interesting."
"That sounds awesome!" Anne said. "I can't wait."
...
"Mundungus Fletcher is cleared," Minerva said, flopping down on the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. "If you can believe that. I would have put all my money on him to be completely honest."
Dumbledore smiled a little. "Mr. Fletcher is a lot of things," he said, "but he is not a blood supremacist."
"I'm glad he draws the line somewhere," Minerva mumbled. She stretched her back a bit and sighed. "So, how are things in Reading? I heard about the Giants."
"Thirteen dead, muggles are blaming a tornado," he mumbled, smile gone now. "It's getting harder and harder to hide the giants."
"How's Hagrid's work going? Has he made any headway?" Minerva asked.
Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "It seems the Death Eaters are offering far better gifts than we are," he said with a sigh. "They think they will get a lot better treatment when You-Know-Who is in power."
"That's ridiculous. Once he has no use for them he'll have them all destroyed too," she muttered. "They should know that. He doesn't care about them."
"He's good at making them think he does."
Minerva sighed and shook her head. "I saw the state Hagrid was in when he got back," she said sadly. He had been beaten and bruised, cuts all over his face. Pomfrey couldn't help him either because magic did nothing on Giant skin. "It's getting unsafe for him to be around them. I don't think you should send him back again."
"He knows of the risks associated with his task," he replied.
"The Giants have said no. What more can Hagrid do but go and get tossed around by them?" Minerva asked with a frown. "He can be more useful elsewhere."
"He has his small group -"
"And we can live with that," Minerva said. "Send him to Newport with Peter and Sirius. Hagrid can help with the raids there."
Dumbledore didn't say anything for a long time. She glared at him until finally he mumbled, "I will think it over."
Minerva sighed and shook her head, knowing that probably meant no. "Well, I'll be investigating Sturgis and Dedalus next," she said, deciding to change the subject. "All the students that were leaving left on the Hogwarts Express a few minutes ago and Emmeline and Charles came back from their raid safely. They managed to arrest three Death Eaters."
"That's good," he said with a nod.
"I have nothing else to report at this time."
He gave her a little smile. "Lucy should be back from school soon so I will let you go," he said. "I'll see you at dinner."
"Goodbye, Albus," Minerva said, standing up and leaving the office.
...
"Hey, Mum," Lucy said, walking into her mother's office with her backpack on her back.
Minerva looked up from her desk and gave her a smile. "Hello, darling," she said, putting her quill down and leaning back in her chair. "How was your last day of school?"
"It was okay," she said. Lucy walked around the desk and resting her head on Minerva's leg. Minerva smiled and ran her fingers through Lucy's hair. "Can I tell you something?"
"Of course," Minerva said with a smile.
"You won't get mad?"
MInerva raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh no," she said. "What did you do?"
"Nothing too bad," Lucy said, looking up with a smile.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I may have... accidentally... told Anne about magic and the war and everything," Lucy said quickly, looking down again.
Minerva looked at her for a second before sighing. "That lasted a lot longer than I thought it would."
Lucy looked up. "What?"
"I thought you would have told her a long time ago," Minerva said, pulling Lucy up into her lap. "I understand telling some people, Lucy, but you can't just go around telling everyone. You can get in a lot of trouble for that."
"I know but Anne is my best friend!" Lucy said. "She tells me everything and I have to tell her everything too because that's what friends do!"
MInerva smiled a little bit. "Alright," she said. "You made sure that Anne understands she's not allowed to tell anybody though, right?"
Lucy nodded vigorously. "Anne won't tell anyone," Lucy said. "We can trust her."
"Of course," Minerva said.
Lucy smiled and hugged Minerva's chest. She rested her head on her mother and said, "Can you take me to meet her during the summer? Last summer I didn't get to see her at all and it was terrible! I missed her so much!"
Minerva smiled. "I'm sure we can figure something out," she said quietly. Lucy smiled and got up. She took off her backpack and sat down properly in Minerva's lap, resting her head on her mother's chest. Minerva wrapped her arms around her and sighed. "Is there something else bothering you?"
Lucy shook her head. "No, just tired," she said. "So, are the students gone?"
"Yes," Minerva replied, combing her fingers through Lucy's hair again. "Left a little while ago. Daniel and Nina are inside the sitting room, why don't you go say hi and put your bag away? Then you can go down to Classroom C and play with Nymphadora, Bill and Charlie."
Lucy nodded. She slid off her mother's lap and walked towards the trapdoor. Minerva sighed and shook her head as she watched Lucy disappear inside.
...
Lucy was sitting on the floor of a classroom playing cards with Tonks. Other children were running around playing loudly as they played. Lucy picked up a card from the deck and said, "My birthday is coming up and I'll finally be eight too like you and Charlie."
Tonks smiled. "You're still younger than me."
Lucy stuck out her tongue at her making Tonks laugh. She was about to say something when she heard some sort of commotion from across the room. The two girls turned to see a group of children crowding around something.
"What are they looking at?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know," Tonks replied, putting her cards down and standing up. "Wanna go see?"
Lucy nodded and got up as well. She and Tonks walked over to the group and pushed their way to the front. In the center of the group of children was a boy Lucy knew was named Trevor holding a brown wrapped package.
"What is it?" asked a girl in the crowd.
"I don't know," Trevor said with a smile. He was very much enjoying all the attention he was getting from the other children. "I found it in the Great Hall after the students left. I don't know what's in it."
"Open it!" someone said excited.
Trevor smiled and ripped open the package. He pulled out a smaller black box with weird engravings and a silver crank on the side. Trevor started turning the crank and tinkering music started coming out. Lucy frowned. She had a bad feeling about this but she didn't say anything. She didn't normally like toys like this but something felt off about this one. She knew something was going to pop out but this didn't look a normal Jack in the Box toy.
The music came to an end and the top of the box opened with a pop. Lucy didn't get a chance to see what popped out because suddenly black smoke rolled out of the box and encompassed the children. Lucy couldn't see anything. She started coughing as the smoke entered her lungs and reached out to grab Tonks for support. It felt like someone had reached down her throat and was squeezing her insides in a fist. Tonks took her hand and tried to drag Lucy out of the smoke but she was coughing crazily as well. Suddenly she fell over, pulling Lucy down with her. Lucy hit the cold hard floor and felt very dizzy. She tried to scream as she felt extreme heat across her face but the smoke had filled her lungs and was choking her from the inside. She felt like her lungs and skin were on fire. She felt like her organs were melting inside her. The pain was too much for her. Lucy blacked out.
Andromeda Tonks saw the smoke when it erupted from the center of the group of children and ran towards them with her wand out. Other parents followed. They used their wand to contain the smoke so it wouldn't fill the entire room and disappeared it. To their horror, under the smoke they found nine children lying unconscious on the ground barely breathing. Black marks, burns, and red rashes covered every part of the children's exposed skin. Andromeda ran to Tonks and checked her pulse quickly, tears filling her eyes. She felt a very faint pulse.
"Dora! Dora, wake up!" she cried but Tonks didn't move. She looked around and pointed at a short plump witch looking on in horror. "Go tell Madam Pomfrey what's happened, we'll bring the children."
The woman jumped slightly before racing from the room. Andromeda and some other witches and wizards conjured up stretchers for the children. She pushed Lucy and Tonks's stretcher out of the room and towards the Hospital Wing as quickly as possible.
They made it to the Hospital Wing and Pomfrey directed them to different beds. She and the other Healers, that had come to Hogwarts to help with injuries sustained by Order members during raids, got to work right away to try and figure out what had happened.
Dumbledore and Minerva burst into the room, followed closely behind by Daniel and Nina. Dumbledore looked furious. No one had ever seen him look so angry and it scared them even more. Everyone was used to Dumbledore providing a calm, well composed front. To see him this way told them that whatever had happened was very serious. He had the black box floating in front of him and stormed to Pomfrey's desk. Minerva, Nina and Daniel saw Lucy and ran to her bedside quickly.
Tears filled Minerva's eyes when she saw the condition Lucy was in. Horrible burns covered her face and arms. Red rashes surrounded the corners of her mouth and her lips were jet black. Nina burst into tears and Daniel held her close. Minerva moved closer to the bed and pushed hair out of Lucy's face.
"Oh, my darling," she whispered, tears falling down her face. She looked at the Healer that was working on her and asked, "Is she - is she going to be okay?"
The Healer gave her an unsure look. "We're not sure, Professor," she said softly. "Their lungs have been covered in some sort of black soot and burns. We're still trying to determine what the best treatment would be."
Minerva glared at her for a second before turning on her heel and storming to Pomfrey's desk too. "What the hell happened?"
Pomfrey looked at her sadly and shook her head. "We don't know for sure."
"Somehow this dark object entered this castle," Dumbledore said angrily, motioning towards the black box. "A child found it and brought to where the other children were playing. Some of the parents were able to contain the smoke before it filled the whole room and infected everyone else as well."
Minerva looked at the box with so much hatred. "This was obviously aimed at the children!" she exclaimed, looking at the dark object obviously posing as a child's toy. "Whoever brought it here knew that this was something that a child would find amusing! Those idiots are targeting children!"
Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes. After a second he said, "How are the children?"
"Alive," Pomfrey whispered, looking around at the beds where the Healers were working. Parents were crying at their children's bedside, holding their hands and begging them to wake up. Lights from the Healer's diagnostic spells flashed every so often. Whispered discussions of the security of Hogwarts drifted through the the tense air. Pomfrey sighed. "We'll see what we can do."
"I will send Horace up to help identify what poison was used. Minerva - actually, no. You stay with your child," Dumbledore said. "I will have Pomona organize everyone else back into their rooms. Every item in this castle must be tested. I'll have some Aurors come up and search the castle to make sure there is no other dark object hiding somewhere a child could find."
Minerva and Pomfrey nodded. Pomfrey said, "The boy over there, Trevor Kilian was the one with the box. When he wakes up you will be able to ask him where he found it. Maybe he will be able to provide some useful information."
Dumbledore nodded. He floated the black box back up and said his goodbye before heading out of the Hospital Wing. Minerva sighed and watched him go for a second. She looked around the room and saw the panicked look on everyone's faces. She looked over at Lucy's bed. Nina and Daniel had found chair and were sitting beside the bed. Nina had a hand on Lucy's cheek and tears in her eyes still.
She turned back and looked at Pomfrey. "Lucy... her lungs are already quite weaker than the average person because she was born so early," she whispered, tears filling her own eyes. "Is she going to be okay?"
"I don't know, Minerva," Pomfrey said honestly. "We'll do what we can."
Minerva sighed again and nodded. She walked back over to Lucy and looked at the girl. She drew up her own chair on the other side of the bed from Nina and Daniel and took Lucy's little hand in her's.
"She's strong," Daniel said quietly. "She'll be okay." He looked around at the other children. "They'll all be okay."
Thursday, July 1st 1999
Almost a week passed and the children showed no sign of recovery. Pomfrey and Slughorn were still trying to determine the poison used. It was difficult as they didn't have much of a sample to go on. The children had been given potion after potion but nothing woke them.
The panic from the attack had become a constant lull in the background. People were on edge as day after day passed and the children stayed unconscious. People were starting to get very worried that their children might never wake up. Murmurs spread through the halls. Was Hogwarts no longer safe? Two families had even left to take up refuge somewhere else. Minerva could not say that the same thought hadn't crossed her mind. She had brought Lucy to Hogwarts thinking this would be the safest place for her and yet this happened. Had she been wrong about the security of Hogwarts?
The pressure of this panic had started putting a strain on many relationships. Nina was beginning to think that going back to Canterbury when Lucy woke up would be the best course of action. Daniel on the other hand believed that any option where the four of them could all stay together was the best option. They had gotten into it a few times which usually ended in a huff and a "we'll talk about it later". Minerva saw other arguments around the same lines between parents, debating whether they should stay at Hogwarts or not. Pomfrey had to shuffle three couples out of the Hospital Wing after a yelling match broke out.
The whole castle had been searched head to toe for any other dark object that may be lurking. Barty Crouch himself had come along with the Aurors to carry out the search. Nothing strange was found and no one had any information that would help ascertain how this package made its way into the castle. Everyone's personal belongings had also been checked. Some protested that this was an invasion of privacy but after what happened Dumbledore didn't want to take anymore chances. He admitted it was quite authoritarian but this was war and at present safety of everyone under Hogwarts's care was his first priority.
Minerva was sitting beside Lucy's bed as always. The burn marks on her face were still bright red and painful looking. The poison was obviously magical as the wounds it inflicted were not healing normally. Raj was sitting beside her with his arms crossed. Remus had shown him the Leaky Cauldron and he used the Floo from there to Dumbledore's office every night to see Lucy. Dumbledore didn't mind his comings and goings. He understood. Daniel and Nina were sitting on the other side of the bed fast asleep. Isobel was sitting beside them also asleep. She had heard about the attack in the Prophet and had sent a letter to Minerva right away. Minerva's vague response caused her to come straight up to the castle to make sure everything was okay. She had let out a horrifying noise the first time she saw Lucy laying in the bed and had been staying at the castle ever since. Amelia basically lived at the castle now too. She was sat on Minerva's other side. She only left Lucy's side to go to work and came back right after. She didn't even work weekends anymore so that she could stay with Lucy. Minerva, Amelia, and Raj had started doing their paperwork by Lucy's bed. James, Lily, Sirius, Peter and Remus came by now and again to see how Lucy and the the other children were doing, Remus came the most often, but right now it was just the six of them around Lucy's bed.
Minerva sighed and looked down at Lucy's little hand in her's. "Oh, my darling," she whispered. "Please wake up. We all miss you and really want you to get better as soon as possible. Your birthday is coming up soon. Isn't that exciting, darling? Eight years old! You're growing up so so fast... I need you to be okay, my love. We all need you to be okay."
Lucy didn't move. Minerva listened to her soft breathing. It was still irregular, breaths getting stuck because of the burns inside her lungs. Minerva sighed again and looked away. She wished that there was more that she could do. She wished that she had been there when Trevor Kilian found the package so she could have stopped it.
"It'll be okay," Amelia whispered. "Horace will figure out the potion and she'll wake up. They all will."
Raj nodded. "Yes," he said. "Lucy's strong. She's survived so much. Nothing can hold her down for too long."
Minerva smiled a little. "Nothing can."
Raj sighed as he watched Lucy's chest go up and down irregularly and suddenly felt a terrible wave of deja vu. He had been here before, sitting beside the bed of a Collins who was having breathing problems. He had promised Jay that he would protect these children. He had promised that he would take care of them. How disappointed he would be to see Lucy like this. Raj had failed to keep his promise.
Amelia looked over at him and knew what he was thinking about. "Hey," she whispered. "This is not the same thing."
Minerva looked between them with confusion until she also realized what they were talking about. She shook her head quickly. "No," she said. "No, no, no. This isn't that. No. No, this is different." She felt her breathing quicken and tears fill her eyes. "No, she's not... it's not like that... it's not going to end like that."
"It's not. It's not," Amelia said quickly, putting a hand on Minerva's shoulder. "They will figure out the potion and they'll save her. This is not that."
Raj sighed. "After Jay was diagnosed," he mumbled, "both Daniel and Lucy were tested for cystic fibrosis too. Just to be safe. They had chest x-rays and blood tests. Lucy was very scared but Daniel was able to calm her down enough to get the tests done with."
Minerva covered her face with her hands. Amelia moved over and put an arm around her, pulling her into a hug. Minerva turned so she could hug Amelia properly. Amelia rubbed her arm soothingly.
"I want the results," Minerva said quietly, voice a little muffled by Amelia's clothes.
"They are fine, of course," Raj said. "They weren't both in a hospital bed when you came back were they?"
"A little insensitive, Raj," Amelia said, giving him a look.
"They were worried about Lucy though," he continued. "Lungs are one of the last things to develop in utero so because she was born early her lungs were very underdeveloped. She has an inhaler that she never uses."
"She needs an inhaler?" Minerva asked suddenly, pulling away from Amelia and looking at him with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? That's information that as her mother should know! Does she have it with her? Why doesn't she use it? Should she be using it?"
"She has it in case she needs it," Raj said. "She doesn't have to use it unless she needs it. I've made sure that she keeps it in her backpack with her at all times in case she needs it but she's embarrassed about it."
"Embarrassed," Minerva muttered with a shake of her head. She looked down at Lucy and sighed, taking her hand again. "You need to wake up, sweetheart. We have a lot of things to discuss."
"Way to motivate her," Amelia said with a smile.
Minerva gave her a look.
"These potions though," Raj said. "Maybe when they fix up her lungs, they'll make them stronger as well. Maybe we won't need to worry after that."
"That's true," Amelia said with a nod.
"I hope so," Minerva mumbled, though she doubted she would ever stop worrying about this child.
Just then the curtains around the bed shuffled and Dumbledore poked his head in. He gave her a small smile and she motioned him in. He closed the magical sound blocking curtains behind him and conjured up a chair for himself. He sat down and quietly, as to not wake Isobel, Nina and Daniel, said, "How are you three doing?"
"We're fine, Albus," Raj said. "How are you?"
"I'm alright," he said.
Minerva sighed. Minerva and Dumbledore's friendship had also begun to feel a bit of strain recently. As the days past, Minerva spent almost all her time in the Hospital Wing with Lucy and had been neglecting her Order mission. Meaning they were nowhere closer to figuring out who the spy in the Order was. Amelia had also been here so she wasn't helping out much either. Minerva had been doing all her work, preparing for the upcoming school year and increasing security measures from the Hospital Wing which made private meetings hard. Dumbledore needed her to help him come up with their next moves and to bounce ideas off her but he knew that Lucy was her biggest priority right now. He understood that and he would never say anything to her but he was starting to become frustrated. With her occupied he found himself having a lot more on his plate. The last time they had spoke had devolved into a childish yelling match where Minerva accused him of caring more about the spy in the Order than the safety of Hogwarts and he accused her of not taking the war seriously enough.
"Minerva," Dumbledore began but she put a hand up to stop him.
She shook her head and said, "No, it's my fault, Albus. You don't need to apologize. You're right. Figuring out who is feeding the Death Eaters all our information should be our top priority. I shouldn't be spending all my time sitting around. I also shouldn't have accused you of not caring about the safety of this castle. I am very sorry."
"No, I completely understand. I should not have accused you of not taking this seriously. I know that you yourself have witnessed the horrors of this war," he replied. "I apologize as well."
"Neither one of us are blameless in this, it seems," Minerva said with a small smile. He smiled a little as well.
"No, it seems we're not," Dumbledore said.
"Well, I'm glad you two have made up," Raj said. "Now is no time for mommy and daddy to be fighting, right Amelia?"
Amelia tried to keep a straight face but the corners of her mouth did twitch upwards. She shook her head at Raj. "You're terrible."
Minerva gave Raj a look but Dumbledore just chuckled. "Your humour has been very refreshing, Raj."
"I can't believe you still find it refreshing now," Amelia said. "Hasn't he been coming and going through your office? Aren't you annoyed of this man yet?"
"He's much better in small doses, I assure you, Albus," Minerva said.
"You two have zero faith in me," Raj said with a shake of his head. "Albus thoroughly enjoys my company and he appreciates my jokes far better than you two do."
Dumbledore smiled and nodded. "I do appreciate your jokes but now I would like to get serious, if that's alright."
"By all means," Raj said, motioning for him to continue.
"Great," he said. He looked over at Lucy, sighed and shook his head. "I believe that it may have been a Hogwarts student who brought the box here."
"A student?" Minerva exclaimed in a hushed tone.
Dumbledore nodded. "They most likely left it somewhere a child would find it before leaving on the train."
"A child of a Death Eater then?" Amelia asked.
He nodded. "Most likely."
Minerva sighed and rubbed her temple. "They're using children to carry out attacks on other children," she muttered. She reached over to the bedside table and opened the drawer. She pulled out a folder and handed it to Dumbledore. He took the folder and opened it up to look at the papers inside. "I don't know how they managed to get this object passed Alastor and the other guards but I've done some research and Eduardo Javier of El Salvador invented a new device called Probity Probe. It is a thin gold rod that detects spells of concealment and hidden magical objects. It's already in use at Gringotts Bank and all over America. I thought we could get one for Hogwarts as well."
Dumbledore nodded as he flipped through the academic papers on the Probity Probe. "I think that may be a good idea."
"I've got the address of where we can order them in there if you wanted to do it yourself. Though," she gave him a look, "I suppose you may just want me to do it."
He gave her a small smile. He was glad that she was talking to him like she used to again. He handed her the folder back to her. "I would very much appreciate it."
"Well, I'm glad you agreed," she said, taking the folder back and looking down at the photo of the Probity Probe. Raj held out his hand for it, wanting to see too, and Minerva handed it over. "Because I've already order three."
He raised an eyebrow at her, shook his head and smiled. "Of course you did."
"Three seems like a lot," Raj said.
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Do we really need three?"
"One for the front gate, one for checking the mail, and one for the Entrance Hall," she replied with a sigh. "I know that it may ruffle some feathers, placing one at the entrance but I just want to be safe."
"I think it's a good idea," Amelia said with a nod, looking down at the picture of the probe in the folder on Raj's lap. "We don't want another incident like this."
"Very thorough," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Seems like you have everything covered without me."
"Should be here in time for the start of the semester," Minerva said, taking the folder back from Raj, throwing it back into the bedside table and closed the drawer. She then looked over at Nina and Daniel who were still asleep and sighed again. Nina was leaning her head on his shoulder and he was leaning his head on hers. They had made up after their last fight but it didn't feel like it was completely forgiven. "They've been fighting again."
Dumbledore sighed. "Tensions are running high," he said. "Everyone is on edge."
"I just wish the children would wake up," Amelia said with a sigh, looking over at Lucy now and pushing hair away from her face. "It would put everyone more at ease."
"Poppy and Horace will figure out an antidote," Dumbledore said reassuringly. "It just takes time."
"Her birthday is next month," Minerva whispered.
"She'll wake up in time," Raj said. "I know she will."
Author's Note:
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review, they make me happy! :)