A/N: Wooo, an update, finally! If you read it, will you pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase review it? Thank you, much love!
Chapter 24
Or,
Amortentia, Letters and Lies.
"Amortentia?"
"Indeed. Disastrously strong in this case, the effects could have caused death."
"Death?" A younger healer gasped, looking up at the Head Healer of the day, with wide eyes.
At St Mungo's, they worked their hardest to ensure anybody who was brought to their ward left in perfect condition. There were head healers, in charge of the important, deadly cases, who would be shadowed by training officials, who were lucky enough to watch them do their daily work.
"In this case, the love potion was so strong, the person who had taken this potion, were sent into a state of infatuated hysteria."
"So, they didn't act in the same way they would have if they hadn't taken the potion?" The shadowing Healer asked, "Why had they taken the potion?"
"Exactly." The Head Healer nodded, and then sighed ever so slightly, "We can't yet be certain why a love potion was consumed, until our patient wakes up."
"He is going to wake up, though?"
"I'm absolutely certain that he will wake up. When he was cursed, he obviously couldn't be controlled by the potion anymore, so it should be out of his system by now. We can go wake him up."
The pair of Healers walked into the room in which their patient was situated. Sirius Black was sprawled out on his back, still battered and bruised. Every time the Healers entered the room, they would wince, despite the fact they'd be trained not be affected by patients; seeing a young boy on his death bed, due to Lord Voldemort and his followers, was something you couldn't not be affected by.
"Hello Sirius, I'm Marie, I'll be taking care of you until you're well enough to go back to Hogwarts." The Head Healer smiled softly as Sirius' grey eyes fluttered open.
"Why am I here?" Sirius croaked, immediately taking a dislike to the plain, empty walls. Even though the walls were exactly the same at the Hospital Wing, it was home- it was Hogwarts.
"Can you remember anything from yesterday at all, Sirius?"
He nodded slightly, "I remember being out, in Hogsmeade, with a friend..."
"They were just a friend?" The shadowing healer interrupted.
"Yeah. Isabelle. She's my friend, we were out together, and then the next thing I remember is being tortured by Voldemort." His face darkened.
"We have records of you running around, screaming the name Isabelle, Sirius.." Marie said softly.
"What's wrong? Why are you talking to me like that?" Sirius said, panic filling his chest, "Like, you're hiding something. What are you hiding from me? Is she dead? My friends? Lily? James? Marlene? Are they okay? TELL ME!"
"Your friends are okay, Sirius. They're hurt, but they're safe at school." She paused, and then she said, as calmly as she could, "The real problem lies with you, actually."
Sirius said nothing, he merely raised an eyebrow. He was scared about what the nurse was going to say; he could feel how hurt and screwed up he was, but what was the nurse going to say?
"Have you realised how you can't remember anything about your date with your friend Isabelle?" The healer said, watching his facial expressions for a crucial reaction.
Sirius frowned, thinking back, "I remember getting two drinks for us, and then I remember The Three Broomsticks being attacked."
"The bar wasn't attacked as soon as you sat down."
"It must have been. I can remember it."
"No, Sirius, you can't. We found traces of Amortentia in your blood- do you know what that is?"
"Of course I do." He replied, "Amortentia?" He repeated, just to make sure, "The love potion? How was I given a love potion? I was only with Isabelle…"
"And this Isabelle, are you sure that your relationship is platonic?"
"Yeah, of course it is, I don't date."
Marie sighed, "That doesn't mean she doesn't love."
"Love potions are normally given to make the other person fall in love with them, so it makes some sense at least."
"It makes no sense at all." Sirius said, frowning.
"It does." The shadowing healer said, "This girl, Isabelle, has a crush, she loves you, whatever it is- there's feelings there for you that are unrequited. You don't feel the same way, do you? So, what better way than to use a love potion? Instant, complete infatuation."
Sirius looked gobsmacked; Isabelle had spiked his drink with a love potion simply because he didn't want a relationship? Because she 'loved' him? Growling, he forced himself into a seating position on the bed.
"You're still in pain, be careful." Marie said with a stern glance that reminded Sirius of Madam Pomfrey's.
"When can I go back to school?"
"Maybe a week, or so, we want to keep an eye on you."
"No." Sirius snapped, "I'm not staying here for a week, not when my friends are at school. I need to see them, I need answers!"
"We're getting a report from each friend of yours which was present at the attack."
"No. Not my friends- they won't know." When the healer showed signs of not trusting him, he continued with a firm voice, "My friends wouldn't have known about Isabelle's plan, otherwise they wouldn't have let her go out with me in the first place."
"So, what you're saying is, we need to speak directly to Isabelle?"
"Yeah." Sirius said coldly, "She'll know."
"Alright, Sirius, we'll get this sorted, alright?" Marie said softly, "I'll tell Professor Dumbledore to get letters from your friends, so you don't feel so alone. But please get some rest, the more rest you get, the quicker you'll be out of here."
"Letters? Can't they come to see me?"
"No. I don't want you being stressed out."
"I'm being stressed out already." He muttered.
"Then, rest."
"I can't believe he's gone, though…" James whispered to Lily. He was perched on the end of her bed in the Hospital Wing; they were sharing a breakfast tray, chatting about the recent events.
"It's alright, James, we'll find out what happened to him soon enough." Lily said in an encouraging voice; she linked their fingers together and smiled at him- he returned the smile.
"I hope you're right, Lils. I still can't get over it…"
Marlene, who was just waking up, caught brief bits of the conversation, "Gone?" She said, bolting up from her bed with a sharp wince, "Gone? Who's gone?"
"Sirius, Marls, they've.."
"SIRIUS!?" She said, panic and nausea filling her whole body. She started to shake as she glanced quickly around the room, "No. Sirius can't be gone, he can't…"
James caught on to what was going around her head, "No, Marls! Hell no! Sirius isn't dead!"
She calmed down slightly, "No? Not dead?"
"No, Marls. He's not dead." James' face, which had paled upon reading Marlene's thoughts, gained some colour, "He was…seriously fucked up, though. They've taken him to Mungo's to get him back to full health."
"We're allowed to write him letters." Lily interjected helpfully, "Y'know, so he doesn't get lonely."
"He'll be tearing out his hair." James laughed slightly, imagining Sirius cooped up in a room.
"Nah, he wouldn't want to ruin his locks." Marlene chuckled and sighed with relief, gazing around the wing absentmindedly wondering about everything.
James noticed it, "We're alright, Marls."
"Just." She said, her jaw setting, "We have to do something about this."
James' head tilted to the side with curiosity, "What can we do?"
"Fight back. Defend ourselves." Marlene's stony gaze burned into the wall, "We can't let them walk over us anymore. Yeah, we did alright last night, but it wasn't enough- was it? People are getting hurt, it's inevitable, I know, but that's not the point. It's the principle of it all. We're no different to those bastards which are running around blasting people out of the way, off the Earth, simply because they've apparently got different heritage, different blood-"
"-they have got different heritage and blood, Marls." Lily interrupted.
"Yes, I know," Marlene said with a sigh, "But it's not right. Having pure blood doesn't even matter now, does it? This Voldemort thinks he's the boss, he's the best, and that he's going to click his fingers and everybody will end up running- either to him, or away from him. Well, I'm doing neither. I'm going to stand in that bastard's way until he's brought down."
"Miss McKinnon, a word please." Professor Dumbledore's voice was heard before him himself was actually seen. Walking over to Marlene, his eyes twinkled slightly, "How are you feeling?"
Marlene had flushed due to her rant, "Erm, I'm alright. In pain, a lot of pain, actually…"
"Yet, you're alive."
"For how long, though?" She countered.
Dumbledore smiled slightly, "That, Miss McKinnon, is up to you, is it not?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You guess?" He looked down at Marlene over his glasses, a twinkle still present in his piercing blue eyes.
"Well, no." She stuttered, "You're right. I'll live longer if I make it so, but I'm not afraid to die."
"You're not?"
"Not if I'll be dying for something right. Not if I'm dying to save the lives of the next generation, and, hopefully, some of our generation."
Dumbledore smiled once again, "Perfect."
"Sorry, Professor?" Marlene frowned in confusion.
"Miss McKinnon, I overheard your- for lack of a better word- rant about Lord Voldemort and his ways and means. Did you mean every word of it?"
She nodded, "Yes. He needs to be stopped, Sir."
"And you want to help?"
"Of course."
"And you can keep a secret?"
"I take them to the grave."
"And you're not afraid of dying?"
"Definitely not."
"Then, if Madam Pomfrey allows it, please come to my office tonight at 8 o clock."
"I'll be there."
The professor smirked slightly, "I know you will. In the meantime, enjoy your chocolates, and please, write a letter to Mr Black to ensure he doesn't lose his mind and acquire a permanent room at St Mungo's."
Marlene chuckled slightly, "I will, professor."
Without another word, Dumbledore left the hospital wing after having a brief chat with Lily and James about their injuries.
"You going to write a letter to Sirius now, Marlene?" Lily asked, offering her some parchment and a quill."
"Yeah." She accepted the supplies, "D'you just carry this stuff around with you constantly, Lily?"
Lily nodded, "I like to be prepared!"
"Prepared?" James scoffed, smirking.
"Shut it, Potter." Lily said, grinning.
"Make me." He challenged.
Marlene mimicked being sick, "Get a room!"
"Shut it, Marley." James said using the nickname she hated. In return, Marlene threw the ink pot off James' head with a glare; James, in return, only howled with laughter and muttered 'Marley'.
"Hey, that was my favourite ink pot!" Lily glared at the pair of them.
James was trying to remove the ink from his glasses to regain his sight, "I'll buy you a new one,"
"That's not necessary," She grumbled, cleaning the ink stains up with a wave of her wand, "C'mon, let's write our letters to Sirius."
Isabelle could hear the chatting. She heard the agony in Marlene's voice when she thought Sirius was dead, she heard the trauma in James' voice when Marlene's thoughts became apparent to them, she heard it all.
It was all her fault.
Many times since the accident Isabelle thought about what her friends would say once they found out she'd used a love potion on Sirius. She knew them well enough to know that they were loyal; they would remain on Sirius' side, no matter how much Isabelle pushed her argument forward. In reality, Isabelle didn't have a decent argument. She was just a jealous girl, in love with a guy who didn't love at all. And she'd nearly gotten him killed because of her actions.
She was awoken from her thoughts when she heard James' howl of laughter. At first, she thought he was in pain, but after peaking out from behind her quilt, she realised he was laughing because Marlene had attacked him with a pot of ink.
Sighing, Isabelle tucked herself back under the covers after taking her potions which Madam Pomfrey had left out. She smiled, getting one last look at their smiling faces- because, that would probably be the last time she'd ever see them like that again.
Dear Padfoot Sirius,
Alright mate? Bet you wish you were here, we've got loads of sweets Although, you get fit healers, so you're better off. How are you feeling? Do they know anything about the incident- you were acting a bit strange.
Nevermind Lily's nonsense emotional crap, just hurry your arse up and get back to Hogwarts, we have a prank to play on the bastard snakes.
Just focus on getting yourself better, Sirius. We miss you.
Love,
Gingersnap and the Great Prongs.
Lily and James.
Sirius laughed out loud reading the letter that he received off Lily and James. He noted that they were writing letters together, like an old married couple (he made a mental note to take the piss out of them for that in his reply). There was a blotch of ink splattered toward the end of the short letter, which made Sirius grin, because it was obvious Lily had gotten irritated at James' and jabbed the quill into the parchment.
With a smile on his face, Sirius moved onto his next letter.
Padfoot,
Alright mate? I hope you are. I've enclosed some of James' chocolate frogs, I nicked them when he wasn't looking.
It's a boring here without you, everybody's going out of their minds, especially Marlene and Isabelle seems a little lost without you.
Get better soon mate, we have a prank to plan!
Remus.
Sirius froze at the mention of Isabelle's name and his smile vanished from his face in an instant. Isabelle was lost without him? He felt angry at Remus for even mentioning it, but he couldn't really be angry at Remus, it wasn't his fault- he didn't know what Isabelle had done.
Sighing, he found the last letter; it was obvious who this one was from.
Black,
We've been told to write you letters to help you recover better, like it'll even help, but in case it does help you, I'm doing it because as much as you may not know it, I want you back here and better. (Take that suggestively, I'll rip your head off when I see you next)
Everybody is worried about you, even me, but we're more curious about what the hell happened to you. I think I'm the only person who's going to actually address your brain malfunction, so here it goes:
What the fuck happened to you? You would never have acted like that over a girl. Ever. Something was wrong, so tell me, what was it? You could have gotten yourself killed, Sirius! And I don't see how I would have coped. Just, what happened? Tell me, because Sirius Black, Casanova of Hogwarts, would never ever chase a girl.
I do honestly hope you get better soon, it'd be nice to see your pretty mug.
Marlene.
He chuckled ruefully at Marlene's letter. It was the longest, but it was the letter that helped him focus the most. He re-read her letter, several times that day; his friends weren't pissed off at him for his behaviour, even though he couldn't help it, he thought they'd have been annoyed at him for acting pathetically and getting worked up over a girl.
The healers had left him some parchment, and Sirius begun his replies to his friends. After they were finished, he yawned and slumped back against the pillow, and drifted off into a tormented sleep.
Gingersnap and the great Prongs,
I couldn't help but notice you're writing letters together now.
You're like an old married couple.
Padfoot.
P.S: I'm best man.
"If Sirius continues to call me Gingersnap, I'm going to murder you, James."
"If Sirius continues to call me the Great Prongs, I'm going to kiss you, Lily."
Lily tried not to laugh as she smacked James across the face with her pillow.
Mars,
Nice to know you're concerned and all up for helping me get better, I appreciate it. However, you know I'm going to take your comment suggestively; we both know you're not going to rip my head off, but you can rip something else of mine off, instead.
"He's an absolute pig…" Marlene muttered to herself- however, she had a smile on face. With a chuckle, she continued reading her letter.
As for my brain malfunction, it was because of a love potion which was slipped into my drink by the charming, Isabelle. Yeah, I know, it's shocking and practically unbelievable, but it's true. So, she's the reason I'm in this fucking shit hole, just recovering from my death bed (even though I'm recovering well, it's not the point.)
See you soon,
The delightfully charming, nice on the eye, Sirius.
Marlene didn't even comment on Sirius' choice of words for his signature. Her mouth was hanging open due to his news- Isabelle had done that to him? What sort of a crazy bitch would do something like that? Marlene couldn't contain her rage. Sirius was her friend and he had nearly died because of Isabelle's actions.
Growling, Marlene tossed her letter to the ground, and jumped out of bed. She stormed over to Isabelle's bed, yanked the covers back and prepared a giant, kick ass speech about her outrageous actions.
Looking down, Marlene didn't find Isabelle. There were no pillows moulded to the shape of a human; in fact, there wasn't even a sign to prove that somebody had been sleeping in that bed.
All that there was, lying on the pillow, was a note.
Addressed to Sirius.
"Marlene?" Lily asked, approaching the bed herself upon seeing the apparent distress on her friends face; she let out a sound of surprise at the empty bed, "Where's Isabelle?"
"In hell, I hope." Marlene replied, picking up the letter.
"Why?"
"She spiked Sirius' drink with love potion."
Lily turned around and looked at James with matching disbelieving expressions.
"Don't open the letter, Marls." Lily warned.
"I'm not going to." Marlene replied.
But, Marlene was too nosey, and too annoyed, to currently listen to Lily's advice. Leaving the hospital wing, Marlene didn't head up to the owlery. Instead, she stuffed the letter in her short pocket, and headed up to Dumbledore's office for her 8 o clock appointment.