Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing of hers!
Chapter 4
It was three in the morning when the doctors reentered Rose's hospital room. Over the last few hours Rose's breathing became increasingly more wheezy. Her temperature grew despite the many cooling and fever breaking spells. The nurses attached Rose to many machines then. Hermione recognized a few of them from when her aunt had surgery when she was still at Hogwarts. One to measure blood pressure, another to monitor the heartbeat, and many more which were just explained to her that day. The steady beeping was beginning to drive Hermione mad, yet oddly reassuring since it meant Rose was still alive.
Hermione knew they discovered why Rose was so sick over an hour ago. Nurse McKay had been leaving and entering the room on occasion, muttering something to the other nurse. He would stay around until Nurse Bell or he himself cast a spell, and when it proved unsuccessful, he would shake his head, and exit the room. It was the twentieth time he came in when he whispered into Nurse Bell's ear. Her brows furrowed and gave him a questioning look. Nurse McKay looked somber and shrugged his shoulders.
Nurse Bell cast a difficult spell from the sound of it, and then gasped. Healer Clarke instantly appeared next to her and they spoke beneath their breath. Hermione's heart was beating so quickly she couldn't make out the words. Then, all three who were attending to Rose, excused themselves from the room. Hermione gripped the bed as she tried to hold in another sob. Her trembling hand found Rose's face wiping back stray curly hairs that escaped from her plait.
"Oh darling" Hermione sobbed. She moved to hold Rose's hand and cried into the bed.
In the time that followed, she tried to calm herself by going over every diagnosis and healing spell she knew. After the war, she made it a pastime of hers to know as many medical spells as she could. The summer before she left she spent many hours curled in a chair reading healing books borrowing most of them from Fleur. She felt so helpless in that area during the war. By studying and memorizing as many as she could she knew she would never have that feeling again.
Yet, in her relatively newfound, yet, vast knowledge of healing and medical spells, she recognized hardly any of the enchantments the healers had been casting. Not even something similar. It did nothing to comfort her and she once again felt helpless.
Hermione expected the three to return, however, when the door opened, the only one who came through was Healer Clarke. She looked somber. Hermione was glad she was sitting down. Healer Clarke transfigured the stool into a chair similar to Hermione's. She sat in the chair. Hermione prepared herself for the worst.
Healer Clarke took a deep breath, and released it slowly. "Hermione," She began. "I'm sure you know that we diagnosed Rose a few hours ago." Hermione was listening intently. She nodded to show she comprehended. Healer Clark continued.
"After so many of our spells weren't conclusive, I had Nurse McKay research other possibilities. Rare ones. Diseases and curses that haven't been apparent in centuries." She took another deep breath while Hermione was hanging onto every word she uttered.
"Nurse McKay happened upon the one Rose has. It's an ancient disease. It doesn't even have a proper medical name." Healer Clarke stopped. She looked nervous to begin again.
"I'm terribly sorry to ask you this. But... were you or Rose's father...ever a victim of the Cruciatus Curse?"
Hermione's breath stopped. She had been trying to keep up with everything Healer Clarke had said through her exhaustion. But, the Healer's question left her baffled. She was here about Rose, not herself or anyone else. She blinked quickly to keep new tears back and cleared her throat.
"Yes, during the... the war. I-I was tortured." Hermione managed. Healer Clarke nodded.
"I'm terribly sorry Hermione. This curse, it's pure evil. Centuries ago it was used on muggles and muggleborns by evil, and mostly pureblood, witches and wizards. They mixed this curse in with the Cruciatus Curse... If the tortured didn't die from the initial effects, it would sometimes appear as though they survived without any lasting damage. These people went onto live their lives, many of them having children... Their pregnancies being completely normal; their births routine. A few premature, but that wasn't too peculiar. After their children were a year or so of age... They would notice their children growing ill. Slowly at first, but the longer it would last, the more sick they became. Nothing helped, even the muggleborns who took their children to magical healers. They couldn't find anything that would cure their children... They would get weaker and more ill... Eventually, they made the connection that those same people whose children were sick, at least one of them were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse and this ancient curse combined."
Hermione stared at Healer Clarke. She tried to speak but her throat was dry and parched. Healer Clarke conjured a glass of water. Hermione drank, swallowed, and fearfully asked.
"What happened to them? The... The children I mean..."
Healer Clarke looked at the floor, then back to Hermione. "They... They died." Hermione felt her heart crumble. She looked at Rose who seemed to get paler by the minute. She couldn't imagine her life without her. She left her home, her friends, and her family because of her. She knew she would do anything in the world if it meant saving her little girl. Her breathing started to pick up in pace, and Hermione felt the panic rise in her throat. Healer Clarke reached out and held Hermione's forearm firmly, drawing Hermione's attention back to her.
"I'm not done yet Hermione." Healer Clarke squeezed her forearm.
"We've been brainstorming for hours on what could solve this. We've looked at every test that we've done on Rose. We're still doing some finalizing spells to test our theory, but... We believe the curse is stored within the blood of the child. We've found some discrepancies there and it's our lead so far. We also know from the records you've given us, that you don't have them. In fact, Rose's blood is the only kind that we've seen like it." Healer Clarke paused and took a deep breath.
"We're trying, well... We think we can create a resistant strain from the magic in your blood and give it to Rose. If it's done correctly- the resistance should-should-destroy the curse." At that moment Nurse Bell and Nurse McKay burst in.
"Healer Clarke," Nurse McKay gasped as though he'd been running to get there.
"The tests. They worked!" He was grinning and so was Nurse Bell. The joy seemed to spread over to Healer Clarke. But only a small, brief smile crossed her lips.
Hermione's pulse quickened again. 'Could they do it? Could they save my daughter?' She looked at Healer Clarke to hear her response. The Healer wiped her face with her hands and spoke.
"Are you ready to give it a go Hermione?"
Hermione's tears fell again. This time however, they were silent. They were hopeful tears. Had they finally found a chance for her only child?
"Yes."