Snapshots
Broken Mind
I'm NOT JK Rowling and I don't own Harry Potter! This is written for EvylinDevilin's Choose Your Path Challenge.
"You're kidding me!" Sirius laughed.
"I'm not! I swear!" Samantha replied.
"You're lying! I don't believe you! No way that's true!" Sirius grinned.
"It is as true as it gets." Samantha said "No joke! The boil she had was the size of my fist!" Samantha held up her clenched fist for emphasis.
"How'd she get it?" Sirius asked when he had finally stopped laughing.
"Claimed that she got it from a jinx tea cup." Samantha shrugged. The door to the flat swung open and Remus walked in.
"Hey Remus." Samantha called from the small kitchen. "Want some dinner? It's Spaghetti and Meatballs."
"Yeah thanks! Aren't you two having anything?" Remus answered hanging up his coat on the crowded coat rack before flopping down on the sofa beside Sirius.
"Already had some." Samantha answered "Hold on a minute and I'll have yours ready."
"Rough day?" Sirius asked.
"'S alright really." Remus replied. "You?"
"Can't complain."
"How are James and Lily?"
"Prongs is upset that he can't do anything and Lily's worried sick."
"I'm visiting Lily tonight." Samantha said placing a plate of steaming spaghetti and meatballs in front of Remus. "Apparently Harry been crying for his "Auntie Sam""
"Well you go on." Sirius said getting up and placing a kiss on her forehead "We'll be fine for one night besides you haven't seen Lily in three weeks."
"Just promise me that there will be a flat to come back to." Samantha said with a grin. Sirius placed a hand over his heart
"I solemnly swear--"
"You're up to no good." Samantha finished. "Remus can you make sure he behaves?"
"Not promising anything." Remus answered. Samantha laughed and gave Sirius a peck on the cheek before grabbing her coat and walking out the door.
Sunlight burned Sirius's eyelids forcing him awake. He opened his eyes to the familiar sight of his bedroom's ceiling. He rolled on his side to see if Samantha was awake but the other side of the bed was empty and it hadn't been slept in. Sirius sat up confused.
"Mooney!" He called.
"Wuzzup Sirius." Was the reply, slurred with sleep.
"Did you see Sam come in last night?" There was a long silence from the next room.
"No, I don't think so." Remus answered "She's not with you?"
"No or I wouldn't be asking." Sirius swung his legs out of bed and walked to his bedroom door. Maybe she fell asleep on the sofa? He thought but it was quickly dismissed when he saw the empty living room. Sirius felt a bubble of fear rise in him she could've stayed with James and Lily he thought but a tap on the window snapped him out of his thoughts.
A tawny owl that he had never seen before was waiting at the window with a message tied to its leg. Sirius opened the window and the owl fluttered in and landed on the small wobbly coffee table. The table wobbled somewhat when the owl landed on it but thankfully remained standing.
Sirius bent down and untied the letter from the owl's leg and as soon as the message had been removed the owl fluttered away out the window. Sirius stared after it for a moment and then down at the letter that bore the seal for St Mungos. He frowned thinking it a letter for Samantha but instead it bore his name. He tore open the letter and began to read
Dear Mr Black,
We are writing to you due to an arrival at St Mungos late last night. The patient has been identified as Miss Samantha Clearwater and we have learned that she resides with you and a Mr Remus Lupin. We wish to inform you that she has been moved to an intensive care unit and we wish to offer our condolences.
Yours Sincerely
Patrick Moore
Senior Healer, St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Sirius stared at the letter in disbelief and shock, intensive care unit the words screamed at him on the page. He clutched the letter in his hand rooted to the spot.
"What's going on Sirius?" Remus asked peering over his shoulder at the letter. Sirius didn't respond but shoved the letter at Remus's chest and stormed to the fireplace. He took a handful of power from the small pot lying on the mantelpiece and threw it into the flames.
"Sirius!" Remus called after him.
"What?!" Sirius snapped.
"You need to get dressed first." Remus said noting that he was only wearing his boxers and an old t-shirt.
Finally dressed and having eaten some breakfast Sirius made his way to St Mungos fear clutching at his heart. What had happened to Samantha? He had talked to James and apparently she had come to their house, talked with Lily, played a little with Harry and then left. Something must have happened when she was traveling between Godric's Hallow and their flat.
Upon entering the hospital he was directed to the fourth floor and told to head down past the Janus Thickey Ward and take the first left. He arrived outside a small room with the words Intensive Care Unit printed in large letters over the door. Sirius hesitated for a brief second before giving the door a small knock.
A small middle-aged woman opened the door to him and looked him up and down.
"I'll take it your Mr. Black then? Or are you Mr. Lupin?" she asked.
"I'm Sirius Black…is Samantha there?" he asked a small bubble of fear rising in him. He wondered whether Samantha would be unconscious or in a coma or some other horrible condition. The woman nodded
"Aye," the woman replied looking grim "She hasn't spoken a word since she regained consciousness…poor dear. She wrote down your names and address that's the only way we could contact you."
"What happened to her?" Sirius was getting more worried for his fiancé by the minute. The woman looked at him; Sirius could tell that she pitied him.
"Poor dear was attacked by Death Eaters…they tortured her something dreadful…they left her in an alley when she lost consciousness."
Sirius paled "T-They didn't…you know…did they?" he asked fearful of the answer.
"Oh dear lord no!" The woman exclaimed "They didn't touch her like that."
"Thank God." Sirius murmured to himself.
"But her mind is…fractured." The woman continued "She is doing better…well better than when she was first admitted. She will occasionally respond to a statement I make… she periodically becomes aware of her surroundings--"
"Can I see her?" Sirius asked.
"Well…I…" the woman said looking up at the desperate man "Go ahead…but mind you don't upset her!" Sirius gave the woman a small nod and she stepped aside to let him into the room. Sirius gave her a small half smile and stepped into the room.
The room was light and airy with a large window which showed the blue sky outside. Sirius's gaze however was drawn to the figure who was sitting on the edge of her bed with her gaze on the floor.
"Samantha?" Sirius knelt down in front of her. Her magenta blue eyes were glassy, dull and vacant. They stared at the tiled floor but it was obvious that she didn't see anything at all; she had retreated to the farthest reaches of her own mind.
"I'm sorry Sam…I should have went with you. I should have protected you I'm sorry! Please say something Sam…talk to me." Sirius pleaded but got no response.
Sirius felt heat rise to his face in shame, and he growled deep in his throat, finding that anger was a far easier emotion to deal with. "Say something! Yell at me! Call me an idiot!" he demanded. The girl didn't even blink. It was as though she had been rendered blind, deaf, and mute in one fell stroke. And in a sense, Sirius supposed, that was true.
The realization made him even angrier at himself, and he grit his teeth. "Yell at me, Damnit!" he exclaimed, grabbing Samantha by her shoulders and shaking her roughly. Her head lolled limply, as though she didn't have the faculties to hold it straight.
He heard a murmur of disapproval somewhere to his right, and he turned to see that the woman was pinning a glare on him. Rebuked, the man stepped backwards and Samantha fell limply against the bed. Sirius let out a shuddering sigh and ran trembling fingers through his shaggy hair.
"Damn it, Samantha," Sirius grumbled, shaking his head, and wrenching his gaze from her limp, broken form. And then the woman was at her ward' side, a calloused palm pressed against Samantha's young cheek.
"You should go." The woman said "You've upset the poor dear."
"Upset her!" Sirius yelled motioning to the limp woman "How can I've upset her if she can't feel anything!"
"Get out!" the woman ordered sharply "You've caused enough trouble for one day! Don't come back or so help me I'll call some aurors on you!" the woman's voice got more demonic as the seconds passed and soon Sirius wasn't looking at a middle-aged healer but his cousin Bellatrix
Sirius awoke with a jump his breaths were coming in gasps and soon a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders.
"Sirius are you alright?" It was Samantha, thank god it was Samantha. He looked at her in the dark her long gold hair was messy and she looked frightened. Her hand was resting on her swollen stomach.
"Yeah I'm fine go back to sleep." He said giving her a kiss on the forehead. Samantha gave him one last worried look and lay down again.
Sirius ran a hand through his hair and vowed to go and talk to James tomorrow.