{Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World was created J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Warner Brothers and Scholastic books. I, therefore, own no parts of this except for the plot, Andromeda McGee, and Wyvern, plus a few random Death Eaters whom of which are all figments of my imagination.}
Chapter 9
Could Have Been Better
**Sound the bugle now/ Play it just for me/ As the seasons change/ Remember how I used to be/ Now I can't go on/ I can't even start/ I've got nothing left/ Just an empty heart "Sound the Bugle" Bryan Adams, from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Soundtrack (Which is much better than the actual movie, in my opinion)**
Andy felt the warm summer sun shine through an open window onto her face. She shifted her neck slightly to remove the glare from her eyes. She wished she could get up and dance. Moving her neck was an event that she could celebrate. There was nothing she could do due to the small fact that the rest of her body, other than her toes and fingers, was still paralyzed.
A spring was digging itself into her left shoulder blade. There was nothing she could about that either. Even after having regained her soul the week before, it had decided to take its own damn sweet time reconnecting itself with her body. That did nothing to improve her disposition.
Madame Pomfrey was having her nerves grated on by her only patient. The Mediwitch preferred to devote her time away from Andy's complaining and cursing. At least the girl was not cursing her. Andy chose to curse her own incompetence instead. She knew the nurse was working her hardest to restore her to her own vigorous self. The Mediwitch did not like having to wait hand and foot on an invalid. Madame Pomfrey wished her patient would somehow miraculously heal, but knew in her heart that it would never happen. Regrowing a soul was tough business and there was nothing she could do to speed up the process despite all her efforts.
Dumbledore was worried. Sirius and Remus had not contacted him even after two days of being sent to the Transylvanian Alps. That was not a good sign. They should know better than that. They should have at least owled or Floo-ed him to say that they had gotten there safely and everything was alright. He feared for the worse. Neither man was forgetful. Remus had an especially good memory. He would have known better than to let his Head Master wait like this for an answer. People really did begin to frustrate him after a while. He stood up from behind his large desk and walked out of his office. Walking always did help to clear his mind.
He paced restlessly through the school, finding new things to worry about with each step. It didn't help like it usually did. He sadly shook his long beard. Why did the world have to be so difficult? He glanced to where he had ended up: outside the infirmary. If he was correct, and he most always was, Andromeda was still there recovering from her injuries. Dumbledore decided to enter. Maybe talking with his newest Potions Mistress would help. She tended to bring new incites into people's lives.
Andy was still laying on the bed muttering to herself. The Head Master could not make out what she was saying but determined it to be none of his business. "Good afternoon, Andromeda."
Her necked turned slowly in his direction so that she could make awkward direct eye connect. "Head Master. What brings you to see me?"
He sat down in one of the chairs nearby. Poppy had placed a few nearby for her once frequent visitors of Misters Black and Lupin. "Nothing more than the need for human companionship, my dear girl. Are you feeling any better?"
"Slightly. I can move my right elbow," she said proudly. For her it was humongous achievement.
"That's wonderful, simply stunning that you are healing so fast."
"You call this fast?"
"When a soul is reconnected, it may take months or a year before everything is fully regained."
"I don't have months or a year. I need to be fully functional by September 1st."
"Have you considered a wheelchair or maybe crutches?"
"Sir, I have fully considered all my options and most of them require at least the use of my upper limbs, which I do not have yet. I refuse to have a nurse maid or someone who has to take constant care of me after I leave this room."
"May I ask why?"
"It's degrading. I'm not an invalid. I never will be one. They'll learn never to mess with Andromeda Josephine McGee again after I'm through with them."
"Revenge will get you no where in life, my dear."
"I know, but it keeps my mind occupied while I lay here with nothing to do."
"Is you lesson plan completed?"
Andy grinned. "Sir, I finished it within the first week of break. I have the first month done and the rest is outlined basically. I figured that it would be easier to get it over with then in case something like this happened."
Dumbledore raised a white eyebrow. "You know this was going to happen?"
"No, but I figured I had a good chance of being injured, especially with my luck, so that's why I wrote it then instead of now. I almost wish I hadn't. It would give me something to do…" she trailed off.
An owl swooped through the open infirmary window and dropped a letter on the Head Master's lap. It perched, cooing softly, on the bedpost. Dumbledore opened the letter cautiously.
"Dear Head Master Albus Dumbledore,
I hope this letter finds you well, as it does not with us. You had informed us earlier this week of that two men were being sent to Romania to research the von Fleckingar family. The village in which the von Fleckingars had once resided in is one of those that we regularly ward against the dragons. We checked it this morning to find the town deserted and burned down, most likely by renegade dragons. There were no bodies found. My men and I also located a path of two sets of foot prints leading to a small cave in which there was a cave in. I believe that these may have been the men that you sent, given the tracks are fresher that all the others. We are not certain of the fate of the men that you sent, but believe that they are part of the dead. I am sorry to be the one to inform you of this.
Sincerely,
Charlie Weasley
Member of the Dragon Protection Agency, Romanian Branch"
Dumbledore was shocked. He had not suspected anything of this magnitude to happen. It couldn't be true. Sirius and Remus could not be dead. He still needed them.
"What is it, sir?" Andy spoke softly. She could tell that something was wrong from the expression on Dumbledore's face. His blue eyes had lost their familiar sparkle.
The Head Master raised his eyes from the paper to met Andy's gaze. "It seems that Sirius and Remus might be dead."
"Are you certain?"
"The letter is from an old student of mine, whom I trust. He works with dragons in Romania and was checking the village that Sirius and Remus were sent to. The village had been burned down, most likely by the dragons and no signs of the two men remained except for a few tracks. The tracks only led to a cave-in."
Andy's jaw dropped. "It can't be true! They can't be dead! They just can't be!"
"I believe it is so. We must face the facts of life."
"I'm not going to. They aren't dead until I see both bodies no longer breathing."
"That's fine philosophy, but there is a chance that they were burned to death and no parts remain."
"Then I stand true to my beliefs and they are not dead yet."
Dumbledore smiled. He knew he could not change her beliefs. It was probably better that she had been there when he had gotten the news than him have been alone. Andromeda always had been the eternal optimist. He supposed he should be thankful. "Thank you, my dear girl. I shall change my perspective. It makes things a little less depressing, though they still are considered missing."
"I know, sir, that they will be until they are found, but I will try to keep my hopes up."
"I know you will. I must deliver the news that the village had been attacked to the Minister. Have a pleasant afternoon." The Head Master walked out the door.
Andy let the sobs of grief roll through her. They couldn't be dead! Not now, when she still needed them the most. Other people needed them too! Who else would young Harry turn to? Who else would be there to brighten people's days? No one! She wished she could run away and hide from the world. She needed to be alone. She dreamed herself running through the halls, back to her very room. The door was locked seventeen different ways with unbreakable spells that few could get through, though she did not know how she knew them to begin with. She lay down on the bed and began to sob in mourning for her two lost friends.
Madame Pomfrey walked into the main room of the infirmary to give Andromeda her afternoon medications. She gasped, seeing the bed empty for the first time since July. The nurse searched the room carefully, finding no trace of the girl save for a few lost hairs. Andy was just not there. That was the only way she could put it. She Floo-ed the Head Master's office. "Albus, Andromeda has disappeared!"
Dumbledore's brow furrowed. "She has?"
"Yes, she has!" Madame Pomfrey said indignantly. "I went to check on her to give her the afternoon medications and she was not there nor anywhere else in my infirmary."
"I shall check the rest of the castle; she should not have gone very far."
"Especially in her condition!" the nurse huffed. "Moving makes it worse!"
"I am certain it does, Poppy. I shall get back to you right away as to if I find her or not."
The Mediwitch's head exited the fireplace, leaving Dumbledore alone once more. He summoned a locator crystal from a shelf and held it in his hand. "Show me Andromeda McGee." It blurred a dusty blue before showing a picture of Andy face down on her bed, being racked with sobs. "Thank you." It changed back to its normal black color. He set it down before explaining to the nurse that Andromeda had somehow ended up back in her own rooms. Madame Pomfrey seemed rather pleased that her patient had finally gotten some sense into her and left her infirmary.
Dumbledore supposed that he should go check on her. He wandered slowly down to the dungeon rooms and stared at the locked door, debating the best way to handle the precarious situation. He could sense many spells preventing entry.
"You won't have any luck getting in," a small voice said from the wood.
"She's locked it numerous times with more spells than I'll even know."
The Head Master smiled politely at the picture hanging near the door. Six creatures frolicked playfully around a meadow: a wolf, a rat, a dog, a stag, a lynx, and a hawk. He knew them all quite well and had not been surprised when Andy had located the picture for her rooms. "Are you certain?"
"She told us to make sure no one comes in unless she said so," the hawk chirped fiercely.
"And we aren't about to let anyone do so."
"Even if the person in question is the Head Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Dumbledore inquired.
"You could be the Minister of Magic or the bloody Pope for all we care, but you aren't coming in here."
"Very well then, I bid you all adieu. Thank you for you assistance." He had realized that it would be hopeless to try to force his way into the rooms. Andromeda would most definitely not like that, and judging by what he could sense, the spells that protected her rooms were extremely strong and difficult to break without the maker's consent. He would attempt it later if she chose not to come out of her hiding place. He hoped it wouldn't be too longer. They would need her when the students came.
Andy had fled to her rooms after hearing the news. It had shocked her to hear that her best friends might be dead or, worse in her opinion, missing. She wasn't certain how exactly she had succeeded in being able to move after still being partially paralyzed. It must have been the despair of the news that had shocked her system into cooperating with her again.
She sat up in realization of what had actually happen. She raised her hand in front of her face and twisted the fingers to make sure all of them moved. Her arm was flexed. It, too, was able to move. She precariously set a foot on the floor and placed her weight over it, seeing that it could now hold her up. The other one was lowered beside it. Andy stood up, wobbling slightly. She took a step forward, then another.
"I did it!" she whispered. Her voice echoed in the near empty room. "I did it! I can move!" It sounded like something overly simple to be proud of, but for anyone cooped up in a bed for weeks at a time, it was an amazing achievement. She skipped around the room, spinning in circle just because she could. If only Sirius and Remus could see her now…
Andy collapsed in chair. That brought reality crashing back onto her. Sirius and Remus…She didn't know what to think. They might dead. They may be still alive, but either way they were missing. She wished there was something that she could do, but there was nothing that she could think of. She didn't even remember where they had gone to begin with.
Quiet laughter escaped her lips. No, she would definitely not be much of a help to anyone. It was hopeless, absolutely hopeless. Her laughter dissolved back to sobs. She buried her face in her hands, letting tears drip down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do.
There was nothing that she wanted to do. She wanted to help, but she felt weak and defenseless from her still ongoing recovery. In fact, she felt terrible. It was a listless agony that continued growing on her. She couldn't stop it. Nothing could. Sirius or Remus might have been able to, but they were lost. Andy let her mind drift to its mindless eddies that it had traced for the past few weeks.
She was helpless. She couldn't think straight, couldn't walk straight. Her emotions were jumbled beyond any coherent recognition. She wanted to die, to leave this world forever. She knew she couldn't. Other people still needed her. It was the thought that counted. If she died, everything would go away and she could be in peace. She wouldn't have to worry about being whole again or whether Sirius and Remus would return from where ever they were. She wouldn't have to worry if she would survive another day in this new life she had made for herself.
No, she couldn't! No blade would be sharp enough to ease her pain. No cliff high enough to stop the suffering. It wouldn't work. It couldn't work. Damn it! May all the gods and their minions be damned to an eternal hell of anguish and pain!
There was no understanding that she could bring herself to bear from all of this. People enjoyed ruining their lives, didn't they? It seemed that sooner or later they would kill her and everything would be all for the better. There was going to be a long time before that happening occurred. The world had yet to see the end of Andromeda McGee.
{Author's Note: My life has been simply awesome in the past week. For Christmas, my parental units gave me a black and silver Gateway Pentium 4 with flat screen, CD burner, and DVD player. That is what this chapter was written on. Secondly, I've seen The Two Towers twice so far, the first time in full costume as Samwise Gamgee. We also had the other three hobbits, an elf, and a Nazgul, so it was great! And lastly, we finally figured out which musical we're doing this year. Get this, we got the rights to Les Misèrables! LES MISÉRABLES! Woo-hoo! I'm psyched! Just out of curiosity, why does everyone assume that I am evil enough to have killed off Sirius Black?
Shasa Perino: See above comment about Sirius. And yes, Christmas Cookies.
Frogboy: Can you tell I like Cliffies? I'm not sure exactly, but I think they are pretty close. Yeah! Power to the Martial Artists!
Anna Black: I've seen it twice so far. LotR rocked! Um, I don't think so. If there were any aspects of Mulan in that, it was not what I was thinking. I didn't even realize it. As for the cat thing, I didn't think about that either. It wasn't meant to be akin to one of your scenes. Its all pure coincidence. Yes, I know I have a few errors. I fixed a couple, but yes I do spend more time snogging instead of proofing…
VMorticia: Understandable.
Aly: Who said I killed Sirius? Give me credit. I'm not that evil!
Atheis Gainsborough: I can leave it there and I just did. Once again, who said I killed him? Damn…You people seem to think I'm that evil! Go ahead, hurt me. I'd love to see someone try.
Sora G. Silverwind: Snape is coming back in the next chapter. He will play a major role from now one. I just had to build up to it. My readers miss me anyways with all the things that I do. But I shall probably look for it anyways.
Peace, Love, and Furry Hobbit Feet, Nataly Ravenlock}