BLARGH! Yes, I said it. Blargh. Problem? No? Good. Anyway, sorry about the long distance between updates, but here's one now, and I'll be updating most of my stories tonight as well, so read those. I'm listening to music as I write this, it's inspiring.
My play list:
Brad Paisley; Greenday; All-American Rejects; Michael Jackson; Bon Jovi; Taylor Swift; Idina Menzel (The original Elphaba in Wicked, I love those songs!); and others!
*****
George was clutching his head when his family ran in. His ENTIRE family. Including Harry and Hermione, although it could be argued whether or not they're included in the Weasley family.
Suddenly, there were arms and torsos all around him. Honestly, he didn't realize he was being hugged. Just that there were arms and torsos all around him. And they all smelled like sweat.
Just then a healer came out.
"Have you filled out the paperwork we gave you?" the kind faced lady asked, looking sympathetically at George.
Arthur Weasley looked at George, who gestured vaguely to several papers he had thrown on the ground, which had scattered themselves across the tile.
"Right," Arthur said. "We'll get right on that."
The next couple of hours were absolute torture. No one who came out of any of the rooms seemed to be able to tell them anything about Allyson. Katie never left his side, but George still felt so alone.
Finally, at two in the morning, George realized vaguely that his whole family was still there.
"You all can go," he said numbly. "I'm fine here."
"No you're not," everyone said at the same time, followed by an awkward silence in which George did not argue with them.
"Mr. Weasley?" Everyone's heads snapped up, but it was apparent that the healer was speaking to George.
"Yes?" he replied, suddenly alert. "What is it?"
"It appears that Miss Albright has been hit with a very severe Memory Curse," the Healer said. "Worse than a Memory Charm, and generally illegal. What it does is wipes the victims memory clean, aside from basic motor skills, usually their first name, and a few other things that are difficult to fully erase from a person's mind. If the person is surrounded my familiar things, they may remember, as with a basic Memory Charm. However, unlike a Memory Charm, with a Memory Curse, once the victim starts to remember, it causes them unspeakable pain."
"And what's the cure?" George asked immediately.
"Well," the Healed began uncomfortably. "You have to understand that the course of action we take is completely Miss Albright's choice, and-"
"What's the cure?" George repeated harshly.
"There are two possible treatments," the Healer continued uneasily. "One is to completely erase her memory. Wipe it clean completely. She will have to relearn how to walk and talk, everything. She would likely never be able to do magic again, and there would be no way she would ever remember anything from before, and she would also have terrible long-term memory loss."
George nodded, and the Healer paused, as if to let this sink in.
"The other way is a muggle technique. It's called, 'Brain Surgery'. We would literally go inside of Allyson's head and remove the curse from her brain, thus-"
"No way," George said. "There's no way you can legally cut open someone's head. Not even muggles are that stupid!"
"Actually, it can be very effective in rare cases such as this, and-"
"She would die if someone cut into her brain," George said. "Right?"
"Well, there's always risks with these kinds of things," the Healer explained, biting her lip. "But we would-"
"You can't do that," George argued, raising his voice. "Wipe her memory or anything, but you can't just risk her life!"
"I'm sorry Mr. Weasley," the Healer said coolly. "But that is the course of action Miss Albright has chosen."
*****
"You can't," George informed Allyson, walking into her room.
"Hello George," Allyson said, her voice raspy. She was too tired to open her eyes, but she managed to smile weakly at him.
And George melted all over again. The tough shell he'd been building in the waiting room shattered, and he was helpless.
"Please don't do this Aly," he begged her. "I can't lose you too."
"You won't," she said, but it came out so faint it was the opposite of reassuring.
"Aly, I need you. Please. I'll help you be yourself again, after they wipe your memory. I'll be there every step of the-"
"George," she said harshly. But it just came out raspy and soft. "I'm having the muggle 'surgery' and I don't care what you say about it. I can't lose my mind, in the literal sense, I mean. I won't be me. What if you don't love me anymore?"
George was about to tell her that he would always love her, no matter what, when she screamed suddenly. "George!" she screamed. "Make it stop!"
She squirmed in her bed, shrieking in pain and agony, and Healers began crowding the room, talking over each other and saying things like, "Out of my way!" and "It has to be now!" and "Ouch!" until they took Allyson out of the room, before George had a chance to say anything at all.