Her sin – 14 – Poppy
"Minerva…"
That voice…
"Min, wake up"
It had to be a dream…
"Good morning, dear"
She opened her eyes, turned round and… it wasn't a dream!
"Poppy!" Minerva exclaimed happily hugging her friend but quickly breaking down into tears.
"Don't cry, Min, please…"
"You shouldn't be here…"
"Tom said it was you who asked for me…" Poppy told "Are you feeling bad, or not?"
"You met Tom? Oh Poppy! You don't understand… you won't be able to leave now… you'll be a prisoner like me!" Minerva warned taking her hand to her head "Maybe if I talk with him… I could…"
"Stop it, Minerva!" Poppy suddenly shouted "He let me chose… Someone attacked me in the forest, I woke up somewhere in the middle of a field… Tom was there… just he and I… He told me you were feeling bad, that you would only trust on my hands to help you, but that you didn't want me to stay here… He let me chose between stay or leave; I told him I'd never leave you alone if you needed me and then he helped to stand up and the house appeared in front of my eyes…"
"He did that… really?" Minerva asked, and Poppy nodded.
"Now… tell me, Min… What's wrong with the baby?"
Minerva couldn't believe Tom had done such a nice thing… and neither that her friend had chose to stay with her instead they could maybe never get out from there. Poppy has always been a very good friend…
"About a couple weeks ago I began to feel a hard pain… right here…" she touched a place under her womb and Poppy took her fingers there too "Tom took a couple doctors to the house, but I'm sure they were too scare to say the truth 'cause both of them said I was fine when I still feeling the pain. What is it, Pops?"
"You know I'm not going to lie you…" she told removing her fingers and trying to hide a worry face "I'll ask you to take off your clothes and I'll look it better with my wand but… I'd say that the baby has been placing to go out…"
"But I'm just five months pregnant! It's impossible!" Minerva frightened "Can you do anything?"
"If I'm right and this is what is going on then I'll try to take it back to his right place… it's going to hurt you a little bit but, it's the only way… Then you'll have to rest until the birth day"
Minerva nodded and stood up to take off her clothes. Poppy helped her to unzip her dress when…
"Oh my Gosh!"
Minerva quickly covered her shoulders and turned round avoiding her friend's look.
"What is that?"
"Nothing" Minerva said sobbing.
"Min… I've seen it, you can't say me it's nothing… he's hitting you again, isn't it?"
"No, he's not. It just happened once… I knew Tom wasn't in the house so I tried to escape… I transfigured myself at lunch time and when everybody was looking for me into the house I jumped out though the window. I run the faster I could but, when I reached the front gate Tom appeared, I scared and he could grab me…"
"Were you trying to escape?" he asked touching the tabby cat with his wand and taking it back to its human form.
"No, Tom… I…"
"Shut up!" he yelled "On your knees!"
"Tom, please… it was a mistake, I won't try it again, I promise…" she begged crying hard.
"On your knees, I said!" Minerva obeyed and knelt down on the ground "I'm going to remember you the lessons you've forgotten"
When he tore the neck of her dress to show her shoulders she understood what was going to happen. Her hands grabbed hard on the grass while she made an effort to not yell every time the whip slashed her skin. Finally she fainted of pain.
"…When I came back to myself I was still there… he'd left me alone in the garden… I was able to leave the house with just a few steps…" Minerva told drying some tears falling down her eyes "…but I didn't. I knew it was a trial… I could have left, but he'd have come behind me and hit me harder… I came back to the house and…" she stopped a while like if she was living that remembers again on her mind "…he'd left my wand on the bed… Oh Poppy! I gave him what he wanted… He knew I wouldn't attack him, that's why he gave my wand back… I healed the injuries with a spell the better I could and then I kept my wand into the drawer… I felt defeated… I've never tried it again, and I've never taken the wand again… I didn't care about be alive or dead until I began to feel this pain in my belly… Poppy, I don't care what happens to me but I do know I don't want my baby to die"
"I won't let it to happen" she said approaching to her friend and embracing her sweetly "Come one, let's take off your clothes and see how your little tabby is"
"What did the family said?" Albus asked to Alastor when he came back to their room in the city's guesthouse.
"Not too much. They were waiting their father to come back for lunch and he never did"
"Staying here is useless, Albus… Even if you're right, we don't know where Minerva's house is!" Aberforth exclaimed when an old owl came into the room with a letter for his older brother "What does it say?"
"It's from Mrs. Hooch… it says Mrs. Pomfrey is disappeared since yesterday so she's coming with us. Rolanda's sure if anything's wrong with the baby as I think, Minerva would ask help to Poppy"
"Poppy's disappeared, too?!" Aberfoth yelled.
"It's what it seems. Do you still wanting to leave?"
"No! Obviously we have to stay and investigate a little more.
When he heard a scream coming from Minerva's bedroom, Tom run upstairs and went inside without knocking the door. Minerva was grabbing hard Poppy's hand and she was doing something in her belly with her wand.
"What's going on?" he wondered not understanding, but any of the two women answered. He stayed quiet in a corner until Minerva seemed to fell asleep and Poppy stood up "What were you doing?"
"The baby was in a bad position, that's why she was in pain" Poppy told "I've placed it again, but she needs to rest. Nothing can worry her until the baby's born" Tom nodded and Poppy wrapped Minerva up "I'll need some medicines for her recover… She's too weak and I'm afraid this baby hasn't stop giving problems… Min will need all her strength to fight for the lives of both…"
"I'll give whatever you ask… make a list of what you need and I'll send someone to the town…"
"Some of the plants I need are not found until spring… I need them just cut so I wondered if you'd let me go to find them on the forest when they began to bloom…"
"Sure… there's no problem if someone goes with you and you don't try anything weird, Mrs. Pomfrey…"
"As I said you, Mr. Riddle, I'd never leave Min alone…"
"It's Lord Voldemort, please… the only allowed calling me by my old name is her…" then she gazed the peacefully dreaming Minerva on the bed.
TO BE CONTINUED…