Chapter 6:
The countdown begins
Harry stared blankly at Hermione in disbelief, "What?"
Hermione sighed heavily and looked nervously around the room before continuing, "He got Sparkinsons a long time ago, right after his sister died."
"How in the name of Merlin did you find that out?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Let's just say reading restricted books and biographies during summer boredom led me to an odd-looking book in an old library down the street from my house." Hermione explained further, a slight etch of uneasiness in her tone.
"But you live—well like me; in the muggle world, how would they have something like that in a library?" Harry asked, slightly puzzled by circumstances.
"Well you see that I'm not exactly sure of, the librarian is a very old lady, and she almost reminded me of McGonagall…so I thought maybe she could possibly be an elderly witch, like other people that have moved into the muggle world. But anyway I stumbled upon this book in the back of the library, in a place where I had walked by and never noticed it hundreds of times before, it was almost in a completely obvious place but you couldn't see it unless you looked the bookshelf from a strange angle," Hermione said, the trio exchanging slightly nervous glances. "It was so odd…It practically crumbled under my fingers when I took it from the back of the bookshelf! I checked it out at the desk and the sweet little librarian gave me this completely deranged look… I began reading the book and it said all this stuff about this all-knowing man who was connected to this "Pool of Fortitude", and a strange flower that was lost over time and nonsense like that."Hermione said stopping to catch a breath and glance at the other two; Ron's mouth hung slightly open as both he and Harry stared transfixed back at her.
"Did you believe it?" Harry asked before Hermione had the chance to continue.
"Of course not, I thought it was all rubbish! But it was odd…no matter what I did I couldn't put the book down, it was like the book was telling me to keep reading…" Hermione whispered.
"Yeah because a book could do that—" Ron said chuckling, rolling his eyes in disbelief. Hermione glared at him, and Ron's smile quickly vanished, "Right, sorry, uhh continue." He stammered, attempting to avoid her icy gaze.
Sighing she began again, "Anyway, then it began to go on about this strange disease, and there were footnotes at the bottom of the book with some serious side-effects and names listed; something like B. Bagshot, J. Greg, M. Sinister, and A. Dumbledore…" Hermione finished clearly looking uneasy on the couch.
"Do you still know where this library is, or the book?" Harry began as Hermione shook her head.
"A day or two after I returned the book the library burned down, and the little old lady was never found." Hermione whispered as the bickering of Charlie, Fred and George's conversation began to get louder as they got closer.
They all sighed, "Of course. Why could it ever be that easy?" Ron said sheepishly, speaking what was on the minds of all three of them.
Fred, George, and Charlie stumbled down the staircase, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Bill, "Time to go." Mrs. Weasley said teary-eyed as the trio stood from the couch.
Finally.
%%
Harry had been to St. Mungo's briefly before, to visit Arthur Weasley after he had been attacked by Nagini, but he only remembered bits and pieces of that night due to the Occulmency he had to endure before and after his visit. St. Mungo's had a few different wards for different types of emergencies, and the one that they were in was the one Harry least liked, and was slightly puzzled as to why they were in it. The Psych ward. Hopefully, they were just passing through.
A strange sensation overwhelmed him as he stepped out of the brick fireplace; he wasn't quite sure if it was the overpowering lavender and elderly aroma or the fact that a cross-eyed old man in a straightjacket had walked up to him and asked him where the nearest gingerbread house was. Either way, it was making him extremely uncomfortable and itching to leave as soon as the fireplace relit itself behind him.
Refocusing his thoughts on finally having the chance to see Ginny, he began to smile for he knew it was all worth it. He filed down the completely white hallway next to Ron and Hermione, following the long line of Weasleys in front of him which also included Luna and Neville.
The hallway seemed to never end as he passed several nurses and doctors, all of whom were dressed in lime-green outfits, looking slightly ridiculous in the all-white hallway. Each time they passed through a patient's door it was accompanied by a horrible scream or cry begging for them to let them out or have mercy on them, unnerving Harry to his very core.
A shrill scream echoed throughout the hallway sending Harry's mind into a panicked barrage of concerned thoughts about Ginny, hoping that she was still sane after being in here for a day, for Harry thought he was beginning to go mad already and he had only been here a few moments.
He looked over at Ron and Hermione wondering if they were thinking similar thoughts; Ron was clenching his fists in frustration, a grim expression on his face, while Hermione's eyes had already begun to fill up, a few stray tears beginning to tumble down her face.
Another loud scream set off like a siren, making everyone jump a few inches, and to quickly flee as far from the source as possible.
Hermione jumped and grabbed Ron's hand as a loud crash broke the continuous rhythm of their footsteps against the floor. He looked down at her, the grim expression on his face morphing into a happy confusion mixed with sorrow for his sister. He half-smiled and didn't let go of her hand, and wiped a few remaining tears from her face, causing Harry to feel more alone than ever.
The trail of Weasley's that they had been following came to a stop in front of a closed door with a small doctor holding a clipboard in front of it. Everyone began to form a small semi-circle around the doctor, as he spoke in a quiet but grave voice, "She's doing remarkably well at this point, and hopefully she will be able to continue to keep this up for it will prolong the spread of the disease…however, she is starting to show signs of…insanity." The doctor said struggling to look any of the Weasley's in the eyes as he spoke.
Molly Weasley clung onto Arthur as if her very life depended on it and shakily asked, "Dr. Greg, can we…see her?"
He nodded solemnly, "Please, call me Jeff. She's asleep now, but she should come around soon, but be warned, you may not like what you see." He finished, and turned to lead the family into Ginny's room.
"Insanity?" Harry whispered as he stared, transfixed, at the back of dwarf-like doctor in shock. Harry had not been prepared for this; he shuddered as he tried not to think of Ginny as a permanent psychopathic patient at St. Mungo's.
Anger built up inside of him as he turned to glare at Hermione and Ron who had stayed behind with him in the hallway, "You knew! Why didn't you tell me?" He hissed at an extremely flustered Hermione.
"Harry, I didn't know! You have to believe me, I would have told you!" Hermione said her voice shaky, as she began to tremble as yet another ear-splitting scream echoed down the hallway.
"Lay off her Harry, she didn't do anything wrong! Malfoy is the one you should be thanking!" Ron said putting an arm around Hermione to calm her down, as Harry huffed and angrily stalked away from them toward a chair across the hallway. Ron and Hermione entered Ginny's room after a few moments, without a second glance at Harry.
Harry's thoughts began to spin out of control, as he paced in front of the chair. What if this is permanent? What if she doesn't remember anything; her family or her friends…or him? Harry tried to envision a life without her; but all that he could think of was a lonely and unbearable emptiness, and truthfully he would rather hand himself over to Voldemort than live without her. He sat down in the chair, on the verge of a mental breakdown, and decided to just stare at the white wall across the hall, and to try not to think at all.
Harry didn't know how much time had passed since his bicker with Ron and Hermione, so he peered over towards the doorway to see if he might finally be calm enough to see her. Just as he looked up, Luna's head popped out of the doorway and she cheerily asked, "Harry? Would you like to see Ginny? She's just come around." She said, quickly disappearing back into the room.
Harry got up, ready to face whatever could possibly happen when he ventured through the doors.
He slowly walked into the silent room, side-stepping a wall of Weasley's to catch a glimpse of the red hair and blue eyes that he had longed to see since the train; she lay in a hospital bed in the middle of the room, her hair slightly frizzy, and a smile breaking through her slightly solemn expression when she saw Harry.
Her eyes were indeed clouded over as Hermione had mentioned, and as he looked at her he caught a glimpse of the small green dots over various parts of her body.
"Well, we got our chance to talk to Gin," Fred began,
"I think Harry deserves to get his turn too. George finished as everyone cleared out of the room silently.
Harry turned his attention back to Ginny, pulling a chair closer to her bed as she smiled weakly.
"Ginny, how—how are you feeling?" Harry managed. His throat felt inhumanly thick, and looking at Ginny in such a terrible condition only made it worse. His anger flared outrageously at Malfoy; the cause of all her pain and suffering.
"Well, a bit better now…I can think pretty clear at the moment. I'm so glad everyone could come and see me, it really takes my mind off of everything…especially that you came to see me." Ginny whispered her voice hoarse and barely louder than a whisper.
Harry smiled, put his hand on Ginny's and leaned in to kiss her forehead lightly.
She smiled back at him as he began to find his voice and began, "So what did the Doctor say about your condition? Do they have a cure or anything?" Harry asked, as Ginny's smile faltered.
Avoiding Harry's gaze she spoke even quieter than before, "They don't know just yet…They are saying that there isn't a cure…" Ginny finished, removing her hand from Harry's grasp so that she could wipe away a few tears from her eyes.
"Ginny, it's going to be okay, we'll find the cure. I won't stop until we do, I'll do whatever it takes!" Harry said, attempting to comfort her but failing miserably.
"Harry…there's something else, if the cure isn't found within a certain time period …I'll die." She said, beginning to shake uncontrollably.
Harry stared breathlessly at Ginny, trying to comprehend what she was saying, and at the same time trying to stay strong for her so that she would not lose it completely.
"Ginny, don't worry! We'll find it…How—how long do we have?" Harry asked, trying to stay positive as Ginny's eyes began to fill.
"The doctors estimate…10 days." Ginny stuttered, tears falling down her face freely.
Harry gasped, tears beginning to threaten his eyes into an overload. They hadn't the faintest idea where they were going or what they were even looking for at this point. How would they be able to find whatever Ginny needs in 10 days? It seemed impossible as Harry began to think of everything that could possibly go wrong.
"No." Harry thought, not realizing that he also had said it out loud also.
He looked up at Ginny, tears still streaming down her face, and began again his voice growing stronger by each positive thought.
"Ginny, we will find the cure. You're going to be fine, please don't worry. I'll go to the worlds end and back if I have to!" Harry said confidently, as Ginny smiled through tear-streaked eyes.
"I know you will Harry." Ginny said smiling.
Harry reached up to wipe a few tears from her face, and to his surprise she pulled him in and kissed him. He had longed for soft lips for so long, and the kiss felt so good, it gave him so much hope and the confidence that he previously had lacked. Nothing would be able to stop him from saving Ginny.
He broke the kiss to look into her beautiful and loving blue eyes, despite whether or not the color pigment was really there; to tell her that he loved her more than anything else in the world and he would do anything to save her, but as he looked into her foggy eyes he found something entirely different. Harry cringed.
"Get away! Get away from me!" Ginny screamed, pushing Harry dazedly back into his chair.
"Stop, you're hurting me! Stop it! Leave me alone!" Ginny screamed; as her body began to jerk wildly in every direction and her clouded eyes rolled sickeningly into the back of her head.
Harry gazed at her in horror, not knowing what to do, or being able to move to help her. It was if he was paralyzed from the inside out. The doors burst open, doctor filing into the room as Ginny began to scream again, "Get away! Don't kill me! Stop it!"
Harry's tears began to fall freely from his eyes, as he stared back at Ginny. She looked like she was going through an immeasurable amount of pain, and it broke Harry's heart. She was writhing madly in her bed, her eyes rolling every-which-way.
Harry was still rooted in his spot, unable to move or think of anyone but Ginny.
"You! You did this to me!" Ginny screamed, pointing an accusing finger at a horrified Harry. Her eyes rolled back from her head, only to fix upon Harry; her gaze full of hate and was so icy that he thought the room had just dropped twenty degree's.
He stared at Ginny's finger, her voice ringing clearly throughout his mind as several doctors dragged him numbly out of the chaotic room.