Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, well, I would not be sitting in Rose Avenue bored out of my mind…but I am. Of course, I would never have met my friends, either, cuz I would live in Britain, but yeah…Also, I'm American…so please, don't own, don't sue.
Previously: Harry and Hermione arrive home late after telling their secret. Child abuse in detail and oblivious adults.Warnings: Serious injuries in detail, violence and plenty of swearing. Self-deprecation—of course—and as always, ANGST ABOUNDS! I hate doing this to my characters...involves mentions of abused teenage Sirius.
Chapter Eight: Come Save Me From This Hell, in which the long-anticipated liberation is carried out. (Minor change in this chapter: Remus was meant to play guitar! ) Thanks!)
'Genevieve Asbury' led 'Theresa Osborne' into one side of the London duplex now jointly owned by the 'Asbury' and 'Osborne' families. 'John Osborne' and 'Will Asbury' had already started through the house.
"So, this should be our side, and you three can have the other side. I take it Mya likes it at her babysitter's?" Meghan asked Kate. Kate nodded, looking through the room. "The two sides are similar, nearly identical, but for the fact that the former tenant left a badly-tuned piano in the right-hand room of the other side. Will was immediately ready to load it off on you."
"We'll get it tuned," Kate said matter-of-factly. "I play, as you know, Gen." Meghan nodded. "Still in love with music," she joked.
"Of course I am. I could never give music up. John's never told me if he still plays the guitar he did when we were kids. He's never mentioned it. I've looked around for it, but search me if I know how men organize their private possessions." They shared a quiet laugh. "Spacious," Kate commented a few moments later.
"I know. You and John and Mya will fit no problem. Same with us. Plenty of room for the six of us." They continued to move through the house, chatting lightly.
As soon as they were out of the house and back in Kate's car—the boys would take the 'bus', which meant they were Apparating back to Remus's place.
The anti-scry-charmed car gave them the perfect chance to discuss the kids without speaking in their carefully crafted code. The two women were quietly worrying, and had been doing so for quite a long time.
"God, I hope they call us soon," Meghan said worriedly, watching the road. Her thoughts, the depressing ones they were, were elsewhere. "We haven't heard anything for, what, an entire month now? Who knows what's happening there? I'm really…did you ever see Vernon before everything happening? That man is overweight, he's tall, and he looked pretty damn vicious. He could do anything he wanted to little Harry. That's probably the reason Harry is so little."
"I never saw him. But I could easily picture him from your description. What was that man thinking?" "That man" now constantly referred to Albus Dumbledore. No one in the group was inclined to think very highly of him lately. "And the Grangers—neither of them ever looks like they're the least bit happy. They can smile, sure, but it's never a happy smile."
"If they don't call by tomorrow, I'm going over there. There is no way they are staying at either place another day. They probably don't have a way to contact us." She looked down at the clock. "It's getting late. We should get back to Remus's, see if they call us before you need to go with Remus to get married." Kate smiled, her mood lifted.
"Finally, something to be glad about. It's been doom and gloom for a while now. They need to call us. I'm going to have a heart attack soon. After we get married. At the courthouse." Kate frowned. All the whirlwind preparation was making her sick.
"Someday you'll have your wedding," Meghan consoled. "I'm sorry we have to hurry things along, but we need to stop looking suspicious in Little Whinging." Kate nodded. "Plus, we want to have a little flexible time. We don't want to be checked over when they figure out Harry's out of his 'safe place'. As soon as you've been married (well, you and Remus, you know what I mean) we can move in. If you say you have two quiet kids who don't want to leave the house and don't want to meet strangers, they might believe that."
"How about they don't like moving? They had friends where they lived, and they didn't want to leave the familiar surroundings. That ought to do it."
BREAK
Hermione couldn't leave the familiar surroundings, as much as she wanted to. She came to, even though it was slow and painful.
Her body was on fire; the pain was that bad. What had happened? It was like her mind had put that information away in an inaccessible place. She remembered her father coming into the room. She remembered him yelling at her. She couldn't remember why. Something she hadn't done at all, or at least not intentionally. She dimly remembered him hitting her. She couldn't remember for how long, or with what. She could guess it was about whatever he could find, judging by the way she was feeling.
She tried to lever herself up using her arms, then gasped in worse pain when she disturbed a mass of torn tissue there. Would she make it to her ninth birthday alive? If she survived till then, would she make it to September and the school term? At this rate, she gave herself about two weeks until she kicked it.
She tried using her hands. She managed to push herself into a sitting position. Cocking an ear to listen for her parents, she heard nothing. Her door was wide open.
She tiptoed to the door. The house felt empty. She hurried down the stairs. Still no one. It was dark outside. They should be here. There was a note on the kitchen table though. She read it.
We've gone to dinner. Don't leave the house. You may have some water. Mum and Dad. She got herself some water and drained the glass in record time, feeling a little guilty as she poured another glass. She saw the phone.
Dare she call Mr. Lupin? Did he even remember she existed? Would he care if she called? "I shouldn't," she croaked to herself.
But her sensible mind took over her body and somehow made it over to the phone. Her timid self picked up the phone and her sensible self dialed the number. Her timid self held the phone to her ear like a lifeline thrown when no hope was left. It was all she had left. It had to work, or she would die.
It had barely rung once before someone on the other end grabbed it up. "Hello?" said a girl's voice. No, it was a woman.
"Hello, this is Hermione Granger?" she said uncertainly. The person on the other line gasped. "I was trying to find Mr. Lupin?"
"What do you need, 'Mya? It's Kate, love. Just talk to me." Hermione's eyes widened. She remembered!
"I need help," Hermione said quietly. "Mum and Dad are out right now. He did it again. I'm not sure I can walk much more."
"We'll be there in a minute," Miss Kate promised. Hermione thanked her in a soft voice, and waited for the click before putting the receiver down.
There was a knock on the door not two minutes later. Hermione made it to the door on shaky legs, and opened it toward her, so as to cover herself up. Her parents had taught her to answer the door that way; so that no one could see any injuries if she was at home alone. Which she was, quite frequently.
Kate and Remus stepped in. She was hiding behind the door now. "Hermione? Are you here, love?" Kate asked. "We're here."
Hermione summoned what was left of her already meager courage and stepped into the open. "I'm here," she said quietly, not realizing the mess she looked in her bloodied ripped shirt that was far too large anyway since she was so thin, having lost so much weight recently. Remus was floored. Kate gasped in horror.
Kate fell to her knees in front of the small girl. She reached out to hug her, but Hermione flinched away horribly, taking two full steps away.
"No, little one, it's Kate. I'm not going to hurt you. I love you. It's wrong for anyone to hurt you. It wasn't right then, it isn't right now. Don't you remember?"
"He didn't think I was his," Hermione whispered. "I'm a devil. Everything's my fault, and he knows, too. He knows about everything."
Remus was looking at Hermione, studying the many lacerations crossing her upper half, her thinness, her black eye. He suppressed an urge to rush to her, knowing that would spook her.
"Hermione, all I want you to do is hold my arm as tight as you can," he said, his voice low and soothing. "We're going to go away from here and not come back. Is there anything you want to take with you?"
Hermione nodded, and went upstairs. She came back down with a worn but well-kept copy of Madeline. It was her only book that didn't belong to the lending library she liked to visit when her parents were out or away. Remus understood, and offered his arm. She let her hand rest on it timidly. "Hold on as tight as you can," he told her. She held on obediently.
She was being squeezed through a small tube. There was no air, and it was tiny. Too small for her. Where did it go? Where was she headed?
The tube feeling ended, and she fainted on the floor in the new house's living room.
"I'm going nowhere until she revives and is checked into a hospital," Kate said half an hour later. Remus had just told her, gently but firmly, that they would have to leave to get married and she was steadfastly refusing to move from beside the couch Hermione now rested on. Remus was slowly losing heart.
"Kate, I know you want to be her mother and always stay with her. Meghan and Sirius aren't going until after we get back, and she'll be with them. You trust Meghan, don't you? She'll take care of Hermione when she wakes up, love. Kate, this is our time as much as her time. Maybe a bit less. But she has Meghan. She has Sirius. They can take care of her while we go and do this. I thought this was important to you." Kate looked up at him. He was looking forlornly at her. "I thought you wanted this. Do you?"
"I do," she said with a watery smile. She smoothed Hermione's fevered brow. The comatose child leaned into the touch. "She needs a doctor, Rem. This isn't cutting it. Water isn't going to save her. She's going to burn out."
"Kate. We don't want to call a doctor and have messy questions to answer. We need a medi-witch or –wizard. We swear them to secrecy beforehand and they won't tell anyone. We can tell them what happened to her. Without pinning suspicion on ourselves," Meghan finished. "We two will take care of it. You go get dressed to get married. Something old, something new, something borrowed (take my barrette if you want it, it's on the dresser for you), and something blue. Wish you luck!" Sirius echoed her sentiments. "We'll take care of her," he promised his adopted sister, patting her arm. "I'll Floo a medi-wizard I know immediately."
"Thanks so much, Sirius," Kate said as she hurried up the stairs to put on the outfit she and Meghan had so carefully chosen the week before. She hardly looked twice at the pretty clothes as she hurried into them, brushed her hair, and put Meghan's barrette in her hair. Stepping into her shoes, she and Remus Apparated to the courthouse.
Meghan looked at Hermione, biting her lip. "Sirius, who were you going to call?" she asked. "It better be someone good. We might not be able to save her if they aren't."
"You don't know them. Just call Jason McCarthy and tell him you're married to John Brown. He'll remember me. I went to him for something else once."
"John Brown?"
"Don't ask." His face darkened. Meghan left it alone. Throwing some Floo powder into the fireplace, she called out, "Jason McCarthy!" That was what Sirius had said to do, wasn't it? She couldn't very well ask him now; he was in with Ashley, doing something to make her forget that she'd seen Hermione, in that state, collapse on the floor.
"Hello," said a friendly-looking man in glasses with dark brown hair. "May I help you, miss? Since you obviously know who I am."
"I'm married to John Brown. I've got a severely injured child on the other side of this fire. I would really appreciate it if you didn't say anything about any of this to anyone." She thought on that. "Actually, I would like you to swear you won't say anything about it to anyone." McCarthy looked a little surprised, but he swore.
"Thanks. Can you come through? It's really urgent. This girl is like my daughter in a number of ways and she really needs some help. 16 King Arthur Street."
"Of course, Mrs. Brown." He appeared in the house via the fire not thirty seconds behind her, Healer's bag in hand. As soon as he saw Hermione on the couch, he dropped the bag and rushed over to her. "My God," was all he said. He grabbed hold of her hands, careful not to touch her arms, noting the torn tissue. It was all Meghan could do not to rush up to him demanding if she could be saved. If she was too far gone.
"Mrs. Brown," he said a minute later. "Mrs. Brown, she's really badly hurt, severely starved, and dehydrated. I'll do everything I can to fix it, but I can't guarantee anything at this point. Who is she?" Meghan looked from Hermione to McCarthy. She shook her head, not trusting her voice at this point.
"She's someone from around here. She hangs around with my—my nephew." Those words stuck in her throat. Harry. If Hermione was in this state, what about Harry?
"Who did this to her?" he pressed. Meghan closed her eyes, then opened them again. "It was her parents," she told him, her voice breaking. "Her parents, and my nephew too, his aunt and his uncle. I don't know what's happened to him. He could damn well be dead right now, and I don't know what's happened to him. I don't know what's happened to her."
"Who is responsible for your nephew?" McCarthy asked professionally, although his voice cracked as well.
"My husband and I should be, but he was sent to his maternal aunt and uncle. We are his true guardians and his godparents," she said resolutely. "But we're not supposed to interfere."
"What is this girl's name?"
"Hermione."
He nodded silently, then went back to her. Pulling out his wand, he tapped it lightly against her temple. She glowed blue for a moment, then went limper, if that was possible. Meghan put a hand on his shoulder. "Sleep spell," he said without looking up. "Don't want her waking up until the fever's gone down some more. Aguamenti." He directed the spell at a bowl, stirred it with his wand, and dipped a cloth in it, laying it on her dirty, pale forehead. "Mrs. Brown—"
"Please, call me Meghan," she said before she could stop herself. She heard a groan from the other room. She smacked her forehead. Watch who you give that information to, Meghan Aletha. "Damn. Continue, please."
"I'll need to set up something to give her water. She needs it, but she won't be able to drink it in the state she's in. I can do that. I'll just need some quiet. If you could—"
"Already gone," she said. She hurried out of the room toward where Sirius and Ashley were. She smiled at Ashley, and pretended there was nothing wrong as they played a little card game.
"So, Dad, how's it been with you and Ashley?" she asked him. Sirius laughed tensely and replied that they were having fun. Ashley launched in on a lengthy seven-year-old explanation. I can't tell you how glad I am that you're still young, Ashley, Meghan thought sadly. Don't grow up as fast as they have.
She was called back by a knock on the door. She told Ashley she'd be back, and that she was going to need to hear more later. "Umm, Meghan, I've patched her up a bit. You may want to see her. She's still sleeping, though. Her fever's not yet down. I don't think her system can handle an antipyretic right now, although I will give you one in case the fever doesn't culminate soon."
Hermione lay on the couch, arms bandaged, face clean, and most of the cuts closed. The tube in her mouth was probably giving her water. Meghan knelt next to her nephew's best friend and stroked her hand, murmuring comforting words in the sleeping girl's ear. Don't worry, Kate, we have it under control, she thought to her surrogate sister.
"Healer McCarthy, I can't tell you how much this will mean to my friend. She's practically a mother to this girl. She'd be here herself, only she had an appointment to get—"
And McCarthy fell over. Remus grimaced. "Sorry, sir. Just Apparated in…are you the Healer then? Kate, stand up, love, there's someone you just landed on."
Kate stood up and helped McCarthy up. She didn't let go of his hand, just pumped it heartily. "Sir, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for Mya." Meghan was trying to signal her to stop with the charade. "I would have called you myself…"
"I thought the child's name was Hermione?" the medi-wizard asked. Meghan gave Kate her best Look. Kate winced.
"Yeah, sorry Meg. I didn't know. You didn't say anything. I'm sorry, sir. Mya is her nickname. And you are?"
"Jason McCarthy. I got the call from your friend Mrs. Brown. It's absolutely horrific, what those people did to this child. Have you called the child authorities?"
"No, actually, Healer McCarthy, we're in a bit of a tricky position there," Remus told Jason. "If we called the child authorities, one of us at least might well get arrested, if not all." Jason was starting to look confused. "Damn. You don't know."
"I didn't tell him everything," Meghan whispered to him. "Only what he needed to know. I thought you said information was on a need-to-know basis only?"
"I did, I did. Anyway, Healer McCarthy, thank you so much. We were so worried." Remus, a little uncomfortable, looked to either side of the medi-wizard who had graduated from Hogwarts only five years before the rest of them.
McCarthy looked closer at Remus. "Aren't you Remus Lupin?" he asked.
"Er, yeah," Remus said lamely. "I guess." Damn, Remus, you should have done something. A man hiding someone on the run doesn't give his real name!
"What the hell are you three standing there doing nothing for?" Sirius's voice came, muffled by the door of the other room. "Thank him for saving the poor little girl who could have been on the couch dying. But now she isn't. Has anyone checked up on Harry, speaking of little children who could be dying?"
"Shut up, Si—love," Meghan said loudly. "We really need your silence right now. Thank you so much, for the fiftieth time." Kate nodded enthusiastically from her position next to Hermione. "If you could just stay here while I look up a phone number and see if I can reach someone. You will have to forget everything I say, because none of it is true," she lied.
Meghan looked up the Dursleys' phone number as quickly as she could. She looked at Kate, worried, as she dialed the number.
Vernon Dursley picked up. "Dursley residence. Vernon speaking," she heard from the other end. She groaned inwardly.
"Pardon me, I'm one of Harry's teachers for school this year, and I need to talk to him about his behavior, please," she lied. It was the only way to get the phone to Harry.
"Is he in trouble then?" the man sounded almost pleased. Meghan quickly assented. "Wait a second, miss." She heard a bellow. "Boy! Come here!"
"Hello?" came her nephew's quiet, hesitant voice.
"Harry! Don't tell your uncle I'm on this end. It's your Aunt Meghan, but don't let him see it because I won't get to speak to you otherwise. I'm going to ask yes or no questions. Answer the questions as truthfully as you can with him standing there, all right, dear? Thanks, Harry," she said without waiting for an answer.
"You can still walk around?"
"Yes."
"Is it something you feel comfortable when doing?"
He hesitated. "No."
"Has he been beating you often?"
Another pause. "Yes."
Meghan looked over at Kate, her eyes sad and she nodded. "Do you think you can hold up?"
"I can—"
"The truth, Harry."
"Well, umm, no then."
"I'll be over in a few minutes with your godfather. If your uncle asks, tell him I told you your appalling behavior can't continue. And I don't really mean it, love. I'll be there soon. Love you."
"Yes, miss." She hung up.
Meghan whirled around. "I need you two to take—can that, Kate's not going to leave Mya alone. Remus, I need you to keep Ashley occupied. I feel so negligent, but I can't take her to see this. I'm going to get Harry, and I'm going to need to take him with me. Promise me Ashley will have no idea what's going on, Rem."
"Promise, Pearl," Remus said intensely. "So sorry, Healer McCarthy, for the confusion. Meg will be right back. I promise you we can do anything you need—"
"And we'll pay you well for all this trouble you're going into. Thank you so much." Meghan grasped his hand, let it go, and rushed into the other room.
"Sirius, love, we're going to see Harry. Let me lead, I visited with Lily once. Grab my arm, and I'll take you." Ashley looked up. "Ash, love, I'm so sorry, but Mum and Dad really have to do this. We'll be back very soon. Equipped, Sirius? Good. Let's get out of here. We need to be back ASAP." Sirius nodded tightly and kissed Ashley on the forehead.
"I love you, kid. We'll be right back." Ashley nodded, confused. What's up with Mum and Dad today? "Bye, Mum, bye, Dad."
"See you, kid."
BREAK
The Blacks materialized in the Dursleys' perfectly kept lawn. It was dark; no one saw them. They walked straight up to the door, and without even bothering to knock, Meghan barged into the house, purpose filling her stride. Vernon Dursley came up into her view. "Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?"
She whipped out her wand and pointed it right between his eyes. "I'm here for my nephew. I am not leaving without him. And I don't care if you get hurt, you or that pesky family of yours."
"Where is he?" Sirius demanded, his voice low and his eyes cold and dangerous. Vernon saw that the two meant business, and pointed to the cupboard under the stairs. Meghan's blood boiled even as she was opening the cupboard and crawling in, dreading what she might see in the shape of her nephew.
"Harry?" she whispered, reaching into the pitch-black space. There was a gasp, and someone moved away from her as fast and as far as they could. "Harry, it's Aunt Meghan. I'm here to take you to your new home. You'll be safe. Come on, lovey. Sirius is here too. We're going to get you out of here and take you to someone who'll take care of your hurts."
Harry relaxed a little and scooted into the sparse light. Meghan's heart clenched at the sight of the small boy, covered in cuts and bruises. She reached out to gather him in her arms. He saw, and recoiled. "It's Meghan. It's Pearl. I'm here to get you out. Come on," she repeated. "I won't hurt you. I'll never hurt you. We're leaving this place forever, and you're not coming back."
Finally she was able to coax him into coming out of the cupboard with her. As she stood up, Harry's thin hand dwarfed in her own, she found herself eye-to-eye with the shaking barrel of a gun, held by Vernon Dursley. "I warn you, you freak. I'll shoot," was all he said. The woman looked from her nephew to his maternal uncle.
"You don't honestly think you can give him something better than I can," she said, her voice shrill in disbelief. "You can't honestly think—"
"I think I'll give him what he deserves. He and the rest of you ruddy freaks. He deserves this, and you do too. Unnaturalness!"
"Put the gun down," came a calm voice from behind Vernon. It was Sirius. Meghan thanked anyone above who was listening for her husband. "I'm armed." Slowly but surely, the beefy man lowered the gun. "Good. Stupefy." As soon as the man collapsed, Sirius pointed his wand at the man's head. "Obliviate. There. It's what you deserve. Let's get him out of here."
It was a bit of a struggle, but they managed to Side-Along-Apparate the frightened young boy to their current stronghold. As soon as he saw McCarthy and the others in the room, he backed up to the wall. Surreptitiously, Sirius, still standing beside Harry, touched his wand to the boy's temples and murmured a sleep spell. He collapsed. McCarthy didn't look twice at Sirius.
"God, him too," he whispered, gripping the unconscious child's hands. The three adults left the room and joined Remus and Ashley.
"Hey girl, told you we'd be right back," Meghan said, trying to be jaunty. "Harry's just got a little ill traveling. He should be fine soon. Let's get back to our game of cards, shall we, love?"
Remus and Kate went back out into the room. Sirius followed them. McCarthy was similarly taking care of Harry. Kate rushed to Hermione, who still looked pale as death, and was breathing ever so slowly. Sirius knelt to help the Healer, no longer caring if his identity was realized. Just to be caught doing what was right was better than to do the wrong thing.
"So who are you?" McCarthy whispered as soon as Harry was bandaged and half-healed. "I trust you know this boy?"
"I'm his godfather, and his uncle. Will he be okay, Healer? How many broken bones?" Sirius wanted to know it all.
"He had a broken arm, three broken ribs, and just a hairline fracture in his ankle. It would have been painful, but easy enough to heal. He should be fine, physically. The girl too. I'm just not so sure about mentally and emotionally." He looked over at Sirius. "This sort of thing doesn't just leave the physical scars, sir, it—"
"I know," Sirius said shortly, overriding the man. "I know." He took Harry's thin hand in his own. It was barely skin stretched over bone. "Harry, don't do this to me," he whispered. "Tell me you won't leave," he demanded. "I can't lose you too. I lost you once. Don't make me lose you again. Not after everything else." He was crying. He turned his head away from the Healer.
"Harry?" the man asked. "Harry Potter?" Sirius nodded incoherently, looking at the thin, pale face of his godson. "Your godson? Then that would make you…"
"Sirius Black, John Brown, John Smythe, Will Asbury, whatever you want to call me, Healer McCarthy, I'm the same person, I've been in almost the same boat, and I once knew you. Go on and call the Aurors. I'll lose my soul happily for him, and my wife, and my daughter. Even if my innocence is for nothing. I deserve to lose my soul. I deserted my wife and my newborn daughter and my best friend, and my godson. I as good as killed James and Lily, I deserve whatever they throw at me. I deserved what my parents did all those years ago. I—"
A hand closed over his mouth. "Sirius Orion Black, I know you don't get emotional except around troubled children, but remember you don't deserve any of it."
Sirius buried his face in his hands. "I do. I left you there with a two-month-old, to fight a girl, still, probably under Imperius. I lost you, I lost Ashley, I lost Harry."
"You know how to fix it? Stop moping around about everything and just give life a go for a few decades. When you're old and tired—older and more tired—then give up." Sirius groaned at her joke out of habit. "I know, isn't my wit so sharp? How's he doing?" Sirius looked up at his wife and over to the healer.
"He should be fine, Mrs. Brown—"
"I told you to call me Meghan," she said with a smile. "Since I'm not really Mrs. Brown."
"No. But you're pretty close," Sirius teased. "Only a few shades darker, you know. Black is as close as it gets." Meghan shrugged.
"John Brown? Honestly, how'd you come up with that one?" she demanded. "And you didn't tell me what for."
"Nothing important," Sirius said, evading her questioning eyes. "Nothing at all. Don't worry about it." McCarthy was looking a little skeptical under his shock.
"I seem to remember it being quite important. Wasn't there the issue of several—?" He saw Sirius shaking his head and didn't say any more. Meghan rounded on McCarthy. "What was it, Healer McCarthy?"
"Under the circumstances, call me Jason…I'm pretty sure Mr. Black doesn't want me to tell you—"
"I really don't care. He doesn't seem to know what's good for him, Jason. Tell me anyway. I was going to talk to him anyway." She gave her husband a Look.
Sirius sighed resignedly. "Just spit it out, Jason, otherwise we'll be here all night. My wife is a very determined woman. You learn these things growing up with a person."
"I remember getting a call from a teenage boy, probably around fifteen, with brown hair and gray eyes, and he told me he had got in a fight, and thought maybe he'd broken some bones. I, of course, told him to come through the fire, because it was late and I had no patients or anything. I did a quick examination charm, and sure enough, he had several broken ribs. I patched him up, he thanked me and paid me 'for my trouble' and Flooed back to 12 somewhere. I never forgot it, for some reason." Meghan marched up to Sirius.
"I get so tired of telling you the same thing over and over," she scolded. "I'm not even going to bother saying it this time, because you just ignore me. Why don't we just agree that you're not mending and you don't want my help and maybe we should focus on the kids? All three of them. Including the daughter I'm supposed to be watching." Sirius took a deep breath, nodded, and went with his wife towards the daughter he was trying to get to know. Jason took vital signs on the two children, shook his head, and raked his hair back from his face.
"Damn," he muttered. Jason McCarthy, former top student at St. Mungo's Healer program, hadn't lost a patient yet, and he wasn't going to lose the wizarding world's hope for salvation. "I should have known." Harry and Hermione weren't going to be "fine" soon. Either physically or spiritually. And the four adults had quite a job in front of them, raising two of what would be the probably quietest kids in the world, who probably wouldn't speak up about feeling "a little off" until they were an inch from death. Jason banged his head on the wall. It had been a while since he'd felt stupid. He was overdue. Harry and Hermione weren't just bruised and bloody. They were far too underfed, not to mention sick with fever and weak. With all the magic he'd just run through them still in their veins, there wasn't really any more he could do by way of spells and potions. He'd have to go to Muggle methods if he wanted to save them before his skills were a moot point.
He shuffled through to the bottom of his bag…There it was. He pulled out a small bowl and unscrewed the lid. As soon as he opened it, it filled with clear liquid that smelled of roses. It was an ages-old Muggle antipyretic. Jason knew from experience that it wouldn't be enough, but the rosewater was among the few ideas he had left. He'd have to see if Remus Lupin had a bottle of Muggle Tylenol around. He wiped the children's faces, checked that they were re-hydrating, sat back, and tried not to lose control.
He couldn't do this on his own. Who was he kidding? He wasn't Dilys Derwent. He'd passed his class with honors, but how useful was that around here? A piece of paper wasn't saving these kids…he had to try, but there wasn't much he could do. They were already so far gone. But they needed to survive, or he had a feeling Black would crack.
Amazing what adrenaline and dying patients can do for a chap, he thought to himself wryly. He was in the same house as a dead woman and child and a convicted mass murderer who had escaped from the impregnable Azkaban. And he hadn't even drawn his wand on them; such was his worry for his two patients. Neither of which he had spoken to.
Harry and Hermione stabilized, he took a seat on a chair and concentrated on staying awake, keeping an eye on the two children. They were so pale, he thought. Had they seen sun since two or more weeks ago? Somehow he doubted it. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what the kids would be doing if their lives hadn't been so unfortunate. He could see Harry Potter, the world's beloved savior, being a normal child, with two parents, probably a couple of siblings, and quite a few adoptive aunts and uncles, not to mention his real ones. He imagined Hermione, red-cheeked, laughing, racing her best friend to the playground, letting her win out of good sport. But for some reason, the images in his mind couldn't be reconciled with the children before him, inert, pale as death. He pushed his limp hair back from his face. Why him, of all people? Why was he here at this very moment in time, witnessing something few others were privy to?
He looked up as a young girl entered the room. She had shoulder-length curly black hair, bright gray eyes, quirkiness in her manner, and a somber expression on her face.
"Harry and Hermione are sick, aren't they?" the girl asked him. "They're very, very sick. I can tell. Why are they sick, mister?"
"They're sick because they've had a very rough time of it, little girl," Jason said tiredly. And then he looked closer at her. "What's your name, little girl?" he asked.
"I'm Leigh. Leigh Asbury. I think my parents were talking to you earlier?" she asked. Did she say Asbury? I don't remember…oh, they've trained her well. She's the Blacks' little girl, he realized. What was her name? I know it was all over the papers…I should really know who she is. "Hello, Ashley Black," he said with a small smile. She stamped her foot.
"Why do I always have trouble lying?" she muttered to herself. "I know I'm not convincing. Any pointers before I go undercover, mister?"
"Jason McCarthy, Ashley, or Leigh, I suppose. Your parents were talking to me earlier. It's nice to meet you. Harry and Hermione had a pretty bad time of it. When they wake up, you're going to need to be really nice to them, all right? They won't be too talkative for a while. Tell you what, Ashley. I'm making it your special job to make sure you get them what they need, even if they won't tell you what it is. They'll be sleeping a lot, so you're going to need to be quiet. They might have a little trouble talking to you. You need to be really patient. Can you do that?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Good. So you're my special helper. Right now I want you to go get your mum and dad and their friends for me. I need to talk to them for a few minutes. While I do, you can keep an eye on Harry and Hermione, okay, sport?"
Ashley rushed to the other room to retrieve the four. "Mum, Dad, Aunt Kate, Uncle Remus, I think Mr. McCarthy wants to talk to you about Harry and Mya." The nickname had been quickly been adopted by the small girl, and there would be no confusion when it came to calling her that all the time.
"Coming, Ashley," Sirius said, a very solemn look on his face. "How did you get out there, I wonder?" She pointed to the door. "Next time listen when I tell you to stay in the room."
"Sorry, Dad," she muttered. "I was worried for Harry and Mya, though," she said, impetuous. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I needed to see what was wrong." Sirius put a hand around her shoulders, told her not to go off like that again but it was all right for now, and pulled Meghan out into the living room.
"What is it, Jason?" Sirius cut to the chase. Seeing Harry lying there, prone, was not doing wonders for his nerves or his blood pressure.
"They're stabilizing. For right now, they're going to have to survive lying there. I can't give them any more magic or potions. There's too much in their blood already. We'll have to let the fever run its natural course. It may lead to delirium, but you should be able to deal with that. If it so happens that they wake up before tomorrow at about nine just be careful around them. That's when I'll be coming to check back on them. I shouldn't have anything then, seeing as it's Sunday tomorrow and I'm not on call. I'll be here, probably just before nine o'clock. All of you need to get some sleep too. Ashley, take care of yourself or you can't take care of your cousin and your friend, all right, sweetheart? I'm really sorry to be leaving like this, but it's getting late, and I will be back in fourteen hours. Their supply of water won't need to be refilled, it's endless. Just make sure they don't fall or anything." He gathered up his bag, looked at his patients, swallowed, and turned back to the five people watching him with awed (Ashley) and thankful expressions. Kate Bassett smiled tiredly, her gaze skipping back to her surrogate daughter.
"Thank you so much," she said again. "I was so worried. And then we had to go…I just was so confused. And I'm sorry we pinned so much on you at such a late hour."
"Don't worry about it, umm," he fumbled.
"Kate. Kate Lupin." She smiled at Remus. It felt good to finally say it.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said rather uncomfortably. They nodded.
BREAK
A/N: SO MANY REVIEWS JOY AND HAPPINESS JOY!! Forty one!!!!! God I am over the moon! The most I've ever had on a story before this is in the teens and now I'm in the FORTIES…back to the story and yeah.
Sorry it's taken me a week or so to update. I apologize, because I'm really lazy (ahem, cough, cough, so lazy it's not funny, cough, cough) and I could have done it last night but I was reading these awesome stories, I got to them somehow from aizi's profile. I am addicted to fanfiction now! It's actually very sad…but thanks for all your reviews, and Madm05, I know I'm not very inventive in word choice…I'm working on it though. Thanks for the feedback everyone!
Make sure you look both ways before crossing the street, don't take drugs, and always feed fish peanut butter! Those are my words of wisdom for today!
Meghan thinks I'm crazy. "Completely off her rocker". I happen to agree, proudly, in fact. Pudge and I get along very well, although he's suggesting almond butter next week…
This may be the last chapter for a little while cuz I have to write the next one. Sorry, but I've been writing other stories that I'll probably never post. Of course, I'll try to get the chapter out as soon as possible. Trust me.
Lotsa love and WHOOHOO I finished my Rose Avenue project,
LysPotter