Chapter 37: St. Mungo's

December 19, 2002

Everyone was eating lunch when their trunks arrived from Hogwarts. After getting dressed in muggle clothing, so as not to draw attention to themselves on the way to the hospital, they greeted Tonks and Moody, who had turned up to escort them across London.

Tonks was very interested in the vision of the attack on Mr. Weasley, "There isn't any Seer blood in your family, is there?" she inquired of Dawn curiously.

"Well technically," Dawn said. "Buffy does get prophetic dreams because of the Slayer. But other than that, no."

"No," said Tonks musingly, "no, I suppose it's not really prophecy you're doing, is it? I mean, you're not seeing the future, you're seeing the present… It's odd, isn't it? Useful, though…"

"Not far from here," grunted Moody sometime later as they were nearing St. Mungo's. "Wasn't easy to find a good location for a hospital. Nowhere in Diagon Alley was big enough and we couldn't have it underground like the Ministry—unhealthy. In the end they managed to get hold of a building up here. Theory was sick wizards could come and go and just blend in with the crowd… Here we go."

They had arrived outside a large, old-fashioned, red brick department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd. Large signs on all the dusty doors read CLOSED FOR REFURBISHMENT.

A large woman laden with plastic shopping bags said to her friend as they passed, "It's never open, that place…"

"Right," said Tonks, beckoning them forward to a window displaying nothing but a particularly ugly female dummy whose false eyelashes were hanging off and who was modeling a green nylon pinafore dress. "Everybody ready?"

They nodded, clustering around her. Tonks leaned close to the glass, looking up at the very ugly dummy and said, her breath steaming up the glass, "Wotcher… We're here to see Arthur Weasley."

The dummy gave a tiny nod, beckoned its jointed finger. Before Dawn could stop Tonks, she had seized Ginny and Mrs. Weasley by the elbows, stepped right through the glass and vanished. Fred, George, and Ron stepped after them. Buffy, Harry and Dawn were next as they emerged quite warm and dry on the other side. Moody and Willow followed behind them.

They had arrived in what seemed to be a crowded reception area where rows of witches and wizards sat upon rickety wooden chairs.

Witches and wizards in lime-green robes were walking up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes on clipboards like Umbridge's.

"Are they doctors?" Harry asked Ron quietly.

"Doctors?" said Ron, looking startled. "Those Muggle nutters that cut people up? Nah, they're Healers."

"Over here!" called Mrs. Weasley and they followed her to the queue in front of a plump blonde witch seated at a desk marked inquiries.

Dawn quickly moved through the Weasleys and next to Ginny. She glared at Tonks for a moment as though Tonks had invaded her domain. She felt that Ginny was hers to comfort as she put an arm around her girlfriend.

Tonks noticed how defensive Dawn had gotten with her. She smiled apologetically.

At the front of the queue, a young wizard was performing an odd on-the-spot jig and trying, in between yelps of pain, to explain his predicament to the witch behind the desk.

The blonde witch irritably, pointing at a large sign to the left of her desk, said, "You want Spell Damage, fourth floor. Just like it says on the floor guide. Next!"

The wizard hobbled and pranced sideways out of the way; Mrs. Weasley moved forward to the desk. "Hello," she said. "My husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us—?"

"Arthur Weasley?" said the witch, running her finger down a long list in front of her. "Yes, first floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn ward."

"Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley. "Come on, you lot."

They followed through the double doors and along the narrow corridor beyond. They climbed a flight of stairs and entered the "Creature-Induced Injuries" corridor, where the second door on the right bore the words "DANGEROUS" DAI LLEWELLYN WARD: SERIOUS BITES.

"We'll wait outside, Molly," Tonks said. "Arthur won't want too many visitors at once… It ought to be just the family first."

Mad-Eye growled his approval of this idea and set himself with his back against the corridor wall, his magical eye spinning in all directions.

Buffy pulled Harry and Dawn back.

Mrs. Weasley looked toward Buffy. "Don't be silly, Buffy, Arthur wants to thank Dawn. Besides do you really think you can separate Dawn from Ginny for long?"

"No," Buffy said as she and her siblings followed Mrs. Weasley into a small and rather dingy ward.

There were only three patients. Mr. Weasley was occupying the bed at the far end of the ward beside a tiny window.

Dawn instantly moved to Ginny and once again put her arms around the younger girl.

"Hello!" Mr. Weasley called. "Bill just left, Molly, had to get back to work, but he says he'll drop in on you later…"

"How are you, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, bending down to kiss his cheek and looking anxiously into his face. "You're still looking a bit peaky…"

"I feel absolutely fine," said Mr. Weasley brightly. He held out his good arm and to give Ginny, who had stepped out of Dawn's embrace, a hug. "If they could only take the bandages off, I'd be fit to go home."

"Why can't they take them off, Dad?" asked Fred.

"Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try," said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, reaching across for his wand, which lay on his bedside cabinet, and waving it so that eight extra chairs appeared at his bedside to seat them all.

"It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open… They're sure they'll find an antidote, though, they say they've had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime, I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour. But that fellow over there," he said, dropping his voice and nodding toward the bed opposite in which a man lay looking green and sickly and staring at the ceiling. "Bitten by a werewolf, poor chap. No cure at all."

"A werewolf?" whispered Mrs. Weasley, looking alarmed. "Is he safe in a public ward? Shouldn't he be in a private room?"

"It's two weeks till full moon," Mr. Weasley reminded her quietly.

"They've been talking to him this morning, the Healers, you know, trying to persuade him he'll be able to lead an almost normal life. I said to him—didn't mention names, of course—but I said I knew a werewolf personally, very nice man, who finds the condition quite easy to manage…"

"What did he say?" asked George.

"Said he'd give me another bite if I didn't shut up," said Mr. Weasley sadly, he had noticed that Buffy was about to go talk to the man and nodded in understanding. He remembered hers and Dawn's story and how one of their friends was a werewolf who had actually learned to control the transformation.

"Hi," Buffy said to the man. "You don't know me but my name is Buffy Potter, I'm the Slayer."

"I do know you," said the man. "But not by that surname."

"Summers?" said Buffy as he nodded.

"My brother is Rupert Giles," the man said. "Your former Watcher. My name is Everette Giles."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Everette," said Buffy as she shook the man's hand. "Your brother has probably mentioned one of my friends. Oz?"

"The name does sound familiar," Everette told her.

"He's a werewolf," said Buffy. "A couple years ago he went to Tibet, learned how to control the transformation. He now lives there with his wife and two kids. I would be happy to give you his contact information so you can go learn to control the transformation."

"Thank you," he said as he smiled at Buffy. "Rupert has always had nice things to say about you. I can see he was right about every single one of them."

Buffy returned his smile as she took out a piece of paper and pen and wrote down how to get in touch with Oz. Then she wished him a good day and returned to the others.

"That was a good thing you did, Buffy," said Mr. Weasley.

"So, you going to tell us what happened, Dad?" asked Fred, pulling his chair closer to the bed.

"Well, you already know, don't you?" said Mr. Weasley, with a significant smile at Dawn, who once again held Ginny in her arms. He was happy his daughter had such a loving, caring young woman for a girlfriend. "It's very simple—I'd had a very long day, dozed off, got sneaked up on, and bitten."

"Is it in the Prophet, you being attacked?" asked Fred, indicating the newspaper Mr. Weasley had cast aside.

"No, of course not," said Mr. Weasley, with a slightly bitter smile, "the Ministry wouldn't want everyone to know a dirty great serpent got—"

"Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley warningly.

"—got—er—me," Mr. Weasley said hastily.

"So where were you when it happened, Dad?" asked George.

"That's my business," said Mr. Weasley, though with a small smile. "I was just reading about Willy Widdershins's arrest when you arrived. You know Willy turned out to be behind those regurgitating toilets last summer? One of his jinxes backfired, the toilet exploded, and they found him lying unconscious in the wreckage covered from head to foot in—"

"When you say you were 'on duty,'" Fred interrupted in a low voice, "what were you doing?"

"You heard your father," whispered Mrs. Weasley, "we are not discussing this here! Go on about Willy Widdershins, Arthur—"

"Well, don't ask me how, but he actually got off on the toilet charge," said Mr. Weasley grimly. "I can only suppose gold changed hands—"

"You were guarding it, weren't you?" said George quietly. "The weapon? The thing You-Know-Who's after?"

"George, be quiet!" snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"Anyway," said Mr. Weasley in a raised voice, "this time Willy's been caught selling biting doorknobs to Muggles, and I don't think he'll be able to worm his way out of it because according to this article, two Muggles have lost fingers and are now in St. Mungo's for emergency bone regrowth and memory modification. Just think of it, Muggles in St. Mungo's! I wonder which ward they're in?"

"Didn't you say You-Know-Who's got a snake, Buffy?" asked Fred, looking at his father for a reaction. "A massive one? You saw it the night he returned, didn't you?"

"That's enough," said Mrs. Weasley crossly. "Mad-Eye and Tonks are outside, Arthur, they want to come and see you. And you lot can wait outside," she added to her children and Harry. "You can come and say goodbye afterward. Go on…"

"Willow and I'll watch them, Molly," Buffy offered and Mrs. Weasley smiled at her in appreciation. The Weasley children, Dawn, Harry and Buffy went back into the corridor. Mad-Eye and Tonks went in and closed the door of the ward behind them.

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Fine," he said coolly, rummaging in his pockets, "be like that. Don't tell us anything."

"Looking for these?" said George, holding out what looked like a tangle of flesh-colored string.

"What are those?" Buffy asked.

"Extendable ears," Fred answered.

Buffy sighed shaking her head.

"What?" Dawn asked her sister. "You telling me you don't want to know what they're talking about, Buffy? How can you do your job if you don't know what's going on?"

"She's right, Buffy," George agreed as he and Fred disentangled the string and separated five Extendable Ears from each other. Fred and George handed them around.

Buffy looked at her siblings who motioned for her to go on. "Alright," she said as she took a pair from the Weasley twins.

The flesh-colored strings wriggled like long skinny worms, then snaked under the door. For a few seconds Buffy could hear nothing, then she heard Tonks whispering as clearly as though Tonks were standing right beside them.

"…they searched the whole area but they couldn't find the snake anywhere, it just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur… But You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?"

"I reckon he sent it as a lookout," growled Moody, "'cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing and if Arthur hadn't been there the beast would've had much more time to look around. So, Potter says she saw it all happen?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded rather uneasy. "You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Dawn or Harry to see something like this…"

"Yeah, well," said Moody, "there's something funny about the Potters and I'm not talking about you know what."

Buffy was sure Moody was referring to the Key.

"Dumbledore seemed worried about both Dawn and Harry when I spoke to him this morning," whispered Mrs. Weasley.

"Willow," Buffy said as she handed her pair of Extendable Ears to the redhead. She opened the door and stepped inside before closing it behind her. She walked toward the group. "So, he's worried about Harry and Dawn. Why?"

"You sister saw things from inside You-Know-Who's snake…" Moody answered. "And didn't your brother last year mention seeing Voldemort learning that you had taken his place in that tournament? Obviously, you don't realize what all of that means, You-Know-Who's could be possessing either of them. And if the one he's possessing is your sister—"

Buffy sighed; she knew exactly where this was going. "Then he would have access to the Key."

"Exactly," Moody said. "Then he would possess the ability to appear anywhere with a legion of Death Eaters and no one could stop him."

Out in the hall Willow looked at Dawn and sighed.

"What?" Dawn asked. She had been holding Ginny so had not been listening to the Extendable Ears.

"Their worried about you and Harry," Willow admitted. "Their afraid that Voldemort could be possessing you or Harry. And if he is possessing you…"

"Then he would have access to the Key," Dawn said with a sigh.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Dawn?" Buffy said as she noticed how pale her sister looked when they returned to Grimmauld Place.

"Could he be after me?" Dawn asked from where she sat at the kitchen table.

Mrs. Weasley turned and glared at Fred and George. "You two I will be talking too. Now everyone except Dawn out."

"Mum," Ginny said as she put her arms around her girlfriend. "I'm staying, for Dawn."

Harry looked toward Buffy. "Buffy."

"You can stay," Buffy said. "This after all concerns you to." She then looked toward Ron, Fred and George. "Harry and Dawn will likely tell you later. But right now, let's give Dawn a little space. The more people right now the worse it will be."

Ron, Fred and George looked at Dawn for a long moment and then nodded in agreement as they left. Mrs. Weasley closed the door after them and made sure that they couldn't use the Extendable Ears.

"I'm not sure he knows about Dawn," Harry said.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Because the attack on Mr. Weasley, she wasn't the only one to see it. Dawn was just the first to raise the alarm," Harry said.

"You saw it also?" Mrs. Weasley asked as Harry nodded.

"We know that Dawn has a connection to me," Harry said. "What if that's how she's seeing everything, through me?"

"Like when she saw your memories in her dreams," said Buffy. "The problem is how do we prove that? Because we need to know if Dawn's not safe."

"I think I know how, Buffy," Willow said. "Remember when Glory took Dawn."

Buffy sighed as she nodded. "When I went catatonic," she said. "You did a spell that allowed you to enter my mind to bring me out. Do you think if you went into Dawn's mind that you could see if there is only a connection to Harry or to both Harry and Voldemort?"

"I think so," Willow said.

Buffy looked at Dawn for a long moment and sighed. "It's your call, Dawn.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Willow found herself inside a modest L.A. home. She recognized it from when she had entered Buffy's mind a year and a half before with a few exceptions. The furniture was different than what she remembered seeing in Buffy's mind.

She wandered through the house, slowly as she tried to sense Voldemort's mind. Then she heard a TV playing in the next room. She passed framed pictures on a mantle and saw that they were different also. These pictures unlike before now had Dawn in them.

"Hi, Willow."

Willow turned and saw eight-year-old Dawn and nodded in understanding. This was Dawn's memory eight years after her birth.

"Are you a memory?" Willow asked.

"Yes and no," Dawn said. "This is all a memory, yes. But the me that is talking to you now is not. I'm the part of Dawn that is the Key. I know why you are here, Willow. Dawn has nothing to worry about. The only connections that exists are to Harry and the Slayer."

"The Slayer?" Willow asked.

"The primeval spirit of the Slayer is here as Dawn was an uncalled Potential," Dawn replied. "The monks that poured me into Dawn's body created contingencies upon contingencies. You know of one of them should Buffy have failed, but there were more. One of which is that Dawn would be called as a Slayer if all other contingencies failed. I know that if Voldemort knew about Dawn and possessed her, the Slayer spirit within Dawn would fight."

"And drive Voldemort out," Willow said as she remembered when the Sunnydale High computer teacher had been possessed by Eyghon. Angel had tricked the demon into inhabiting him and his demon had fought and won destroying Eyghon. "I don't know if you can communicate with the Slayer spirit, but tell it thank you."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Willow opened her eyes and looked at Dawn who smiled at her. She looked up at Harry, Buffy, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley who looked at her expectantly. "There is no connection to Voldemort in her mind. The only connections are to the Key, to Harry and…"

Buffy noticed Willow hesitate. "And what?"

Willow sighed. "The Slayer," she said. She looked toward Dawn and smiled. "You are an uncalled potential. It was another contingency. If all others failed then you would be called to protect yourself." She looked at Buffy. "Remember Angel and Eyghon?"

"Yeah," Buffy said. "Are you saying that if Voldemort invaded Dawn's mind? The Slayer spirit in her would fight?"

"Yes," Willow said.

Ginny let out a sigh of relief as she hugged her girlfriend. "So that means that he has a connection to Harry then doesn't it?"

"It's a possibility," Willow said. "I would have to go into Harry's mind to know for sure."

"That's up to you, Harry," Buffy said.

"I think right now, I'll pass," Harry said. "Because if we know for sure then Voldemort will know that we know. We can use it, to our advantage."

"If you are sure that is what you want to do," Buffy said. "It is after all your mind, so it's your call. But I will admit I am hesitant in letting that connection remain."

"As am I," Mrs. Weasley agreed.

"If I didn't think it would be useful for our side," Harry admitted. "I would definitely want the connection blocked."

0 – 0 – 0 - 0 – 0

That night Harry dreamt again that he was walking down a deserted corridor toward a plain black door, past rough stone walls, torches, and an open doorway onto a flight of stone steps leading downstairs on the left…

He reached the black door but could not open it… He stood gazing at it, desperate for entry… Something he wanted with all his heart lay beyond… A prize beyond his dreams… If only his scar would stop prickling… then he would be able to think more clearly…

"Harry," said Ron's voice, from far, far away, "Mum says breakfast is ready."

Harry opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "Would you find Buffy and tell her I need to see her."

Ron nodded as he left the room.

Moments later Buffy came in. "What is it?" she asked.

"The dream with the corridor and the black door," Harry said. "I had it again."

Buffy sighed. "I'm still hesitant."

"I know, Buffy," Harry said as he moved to her and put his arms around his sister. "Or have you forgotten I know your fears."

"I haven't forgotten that you saw that," Buffy said. "But it does help that you know why I am hesitant. I've already lost my mom. I just don't know if I could do survive the grief if I lost you or Dawn."

"I know," Harry said as he wrapped his arms around Buffy.

After breakfast everybody spent the morning putting up Christmas decorations. It was around six o'clock in the evening that the doorbell rang and Mrs. Black started screaming. Hermione had come for the remainder of the Christmas holidays. She and her parents were supposed to go skiing but she had said that skiing wasn't her thing and the Grangers had let her come to stay at Grimmauld Place for the remainder of the holidays.

"I came on the Knight Bus," said Hermione airily, pulling off her jacket as she, Ron, Harry, Dawn and Ginny sat in Harry and Ron's bedroom. "I had to wait for term to end officially before setting off. Umbridge is already livid that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even though Dumbledore told her Mr. Weasley was in St. Mungo's, and he'd given you all permission to visit. So, Dawn how're you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Dawn said as Ginny patted her arm comfortingly.

"No, you're not," Ginny said. She looked at Hermione. "Willow did some magic. Confirmed there is no connection to You-Know-Who in Dawn's mind. Of course, Dawn has something else to worry about that, Harry has that connection and that Dawn herself is a Potential Slayer."

"Okay," Hermione said. "One thing at a time. Harry, you don't think your being possessed, do you?"

"No," Harry admitted. "If I did there would be things and times I couldn't remember. Right?"

"Right," Ginny said as she glanced at Dawn. She wasn't sure if Harry had told her about her first year at Hogwarts. "When he did it to me, I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there."

Dawn sighed as she patted Ginny's arm. "I know about that; you don't have to worry about sparing me the painful stuff."

Ginny was glad that Dawn felt that way. That there was no secrets between the two of them.

"I know you guys are worried," Harry said, "that Dawn and I can see these things. That I may have this connection to Voldemort. But think about it, it could be useful to know what he's doing if I can see what he's doing."

"Buffy left the choice up to Harry," Dawn said. "She and I are both hesitant but we agreed it was his call."

"Now," Hermione said as she looked at Dawn. "Dawn, how do you feel about this Potential Slayer, stuff?"

"Don't get me wrong, I've always wanted to help Buffy. But at the same time, I've never really wanted to be the Slayer," Dawn admitted. "I've seen what it's done to Buffy's life and I'm actually torn between accepting the duty if I'm called or running away from it."

December 25, 2002

Dawn awoke on Christmas morning to find a stack of presents at the foot of the bed she shared with Ginny. "There better be some for me," she said as Ginny looked up, she was already halfway through opening some.

"Good haul this year," Ginny informed her girlfriend through a cloud of paper. "Thanks for the locket, it's wonderful, Dawn."

Dawn smiled as she moved beside Ginny and sorted through her presents and found one with Hermione's handwriting on it. Hermione had given her a book that resembled a diary, except that it said things like "Do it today or later you'll pay!" every time she opened a page.

Dawn looked over at the other bed in the room. Since Sirius was in Sunnydale, Buffy had taken to sleeping in his room. So, Hermione had the other bed to herself. "Really?" she said as she returned to looking through her pile. Sirius and Lupin had given her a set of excellent books entitled Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts.

She would have to show the book to Buffy and Willow.

Hagrid had sent a furry brown purse that had fangs, which were presumably supposed to be an antitheft device, but unfortunately prevented Dawn putting any thing in it without getting her fingers ripped off.

"Seriously, Hagrid.," she said as she showed Ginny and Hermione the purse and both agreed it was rather impractical.

There were two presents from Harry. The first was a small, working model of a Firebolt, the second was a wizard's chess set.

Ron had given her an enormous box of Every-Flavor Beans; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave her a hand-knitted jumper and some mince pies.

"The jumper is traditional," Ginny said apologetically. "Mum and dad give us new ones just about every year."

Buffy's gift was a painting that showed her, Harry and Buffy in front of their house in Sunnydale. She saw that the painting had been bewitched as she saw that the Dawn, Buffy and Harry of the painting were waving at her.