AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter, but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!
Can You Take the Jump?
Chapter 35
"You're that girl." He squinted. "That muggleborn child that Sirius the Third is seeing. The one whom he made a deal with my Great-granddaughter Walburga to get my Great grandson out of his rightful resting place!"
Great-grandson? Does he mean Alphard?
"What deal?" She asked, taking out her wand and casting a Lumos to properly see the painting's expression. Phineas winced at the glare of the light. "What. Deal?"
…
Hermione watched Sirius animatedly chat with his friends. He used his hands a lot, waving them back and forth, up and down. He was happy and excited about something, uncaring of the terrible deal he made with his mother.
"A Wizarding Oath isn't the same as an Unbreakable Vow," Harry told her carefully. "He might live even if he doesn't follow through. He's strong-willed enough."
Hermione knew he was telling her the logical thing, but 'might' was not a word she wanted to use when talking about Sirius's life. She needed him to live. Period.
"I know you're thinking it's your fault, but it's not." Harry consoled. "Not all the blame needs to be placed on your shoulders."
"Sirius would have never gone to the Crypts if it wasn't for me. He would have never made the deal if it wasn't for me." Hermione shook her head, knowing Harry was just saying those things because she wanted to hear them.
A March breeze touched her face as Hermione made her way to Herbology. The bitter cold of winter disappeared, replaced with cool air and warm sun. The students around her laughed as they basked in the sun, their skin feeling the warm sunlight for the first time in months.
She despised March.
"For Merlin's sake, Mudblood. Watch where you're going."
A large hand clasped her shoulder, making Hermione jerk away and immediately reach for her wand.
Mulciber's scarred hand stayed midair, surprised by her dramatic reaction before dropping his hand back to his side.
Hermione glanced at the scars on his hand. She'd forgotten all about the incident back in their First Year until that moment. She had exploded his wand into hundreds of sharp wooden pieces that had embedded themselves in his hand. She was the one who caused those scars, and he didn't even know it.
There was a visceral reaction in Mulciber as she stared at his hand.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, unnerved by her unflinching gaze. Everyone had heard about her magical meltdown at Alphard's funeral. People were genuinely afraid of her now, unlike when she won the Championship where the intimidation was still partially mixed with awe.
She watched him leave, her mind taking her back to First Year when she caused Yaxley to transfer out of the school. She wondered if he was in Voldemort's ranks. Willis, the boy she had levitated to the ceiling and dropped on multiple times, each time closer to the ground, had dropped out of Quidditch due to a sudden fear of heights.
"Was he bothering you, love?" Sirius had slowed his steps to wait for her. He encased her in his warm embrace, surrounding her with his comforting scent.
"No, for once, he wasn't." She reassured.
Love, that's what Sirius started calling her. She knew it was just a term of endearment, but she was both worried and anticipating it could be more. The fact that the stupid love bracelet that Lily had gotten them in third year was no longer on his wrist bothered her further. She couldn't remember when Sirius's had come off, but there was still a part of her that refused to believe in the stupid superstition.
At the same time, she subconsciously touched her love bracelet on her wrist that was dangling by a single thread. It looked so fragile that a strong wind could snap it off.
Unaware of her internal dilemma, Sirius smiled down at her, kissing her. Kissing Sirius never just felt like a kiss, it felt like a high that she couldn't get enough of. She moaned when he pulled her deeper.
A disgruntled cough by a passing student separated them, not because they were embarrassed, but because it was a reminder that they had to get to class.
"How was your workout today?"
"No workout this morning."
"No?" Sirius paused; he placed his hand over her forehead, then at the nape of her neck. "You don't feel warm. Are you sick? Hurt?" He checked her for any signs of illness, noticing the glittering diamond bracelet on her wrist, the same one she was wearing during Alphard's funeral.
Hermione shook her head, "Just tired." She took his hand off her neck and held his hand.
She was telling the truth, even if she was understating it.
The month of March was… March 5th was the day Hermione Granger and all her friends and family had died. The day that it all ended for her.
Her nightmares were extra vivid and unrelenting, her Obscurus even more energetic. She was at the height of her instability and adding the recent death of Alphard would mean that her Obscurus would be more chaotic. Luckily, the date landed on a Saturday this year, allowing her to recuperate at St. Mungo's for the weekend without needing to worry about school when she was already at risk of failing the year.
"Do you want to skip Herbology today?" Sirius stopped her from entering the greenhouses that were only a few meters away. "I'll skip too, and we can spend the entire day together."
"Oh yeah? What would we do?" She asked, humouring him while subtly walking towards their Herbology class.
"It's Friday, we can get out of school and go to muggle London for the weekend, catch a film and eat at that Indian place we went to last time!"
"Don't you have Quidditch practise tomorrow?"
"What's the point of having the captain as my best mate if I can't skip a practice every once in a while, to spend time with my girlfriend?" Sirius shrugged.
"Because your captain is James Potter," Hermione told him wisely. "Besides, academic probation, remember? Also, I'm busy this weekend."
"Busy?"
"I'm going to St. Mungo's for a checkup. It's the big annual one, so I can't reschedule."
"Oh," he pouted. She wondered if he knew how adorable he looked. "That sucks. When will you be back?"
"I'll have to stay the entire weekend, but I'll be back on Monday." She promised as they entered the greenhouse.
He gave her a peck on the lips before walking toward his assigned seat next to one of his ever-faithful fans. The girl gave her a haughty look and turned to Sirius with batting lashes, but Hermione paid it no mind, and neither did Sirius.
Hermione silently walked to her assigned seat next to Severus, who did not comment. The two hadn't spoken a single word to each other since the night of Alphard's death, but Hermione would put an end to their silent spell.
"Could you owl your mother for me, I'd like to visit the flat on Sunday to collect some of Alphard's books."
Severus blinked, not realizing she was speaking to him. "O-oh, Sunday? This Sunday?"
"Yes. Or I could just Owl her directly." She requested while putting on gloves to harvest the Fanged Geranium.
Their stiff and formal interaction felt unnatural, while they were never as casual as he and Lily were, they were never this strict. After the night of Alphard's death, Severus had taken a few weeks off school much like she had, although his stellar attendance and academic records exempted him from academic probation.
She wasn't blind to his efforts when he returned.
Much like their unspoken promise, Severus returned to Hogwarts as a new person. He cut his ties with the other Slytherins that bullied Hermione, he looked out for her on multiple occasions when Travers was being a nuisance. He ate alone, he attended classes alone, and he only really spoke with Lily.
He was trying, but forgiveness didn't come so easily.
"Mum is checking out the land Alphard left us. She won't be in Diagon Alley on Sunday. You can just walk in. Pinky still lives there with mum."
"Okay."
…
Hermione watched the sunrise on Saturday, March 5th from her anti-magical chamber, exhausted from her lack of sleep yet completely awake.
Preparations in her anti-magical chamber had been set up by Pinky two nights before her arrival on Friday night. When she arrived, her loyal House Elf stood in the middle of her private room in St. Mungo's, holding an incredibly specific set of instructions by Alphard about what Pinky and Hermione would need to do while she was out of commission for the next 48 hours.
Her bed, nailed to the floor had shackles, while medical gadgets that injected premeasured dosages intravenously were all set up along the side. The drug was a mashup of Dreamless Sleep Potion, a sort of paralytic, and opioids which Belby dubbed "The Sleeping Beauty". It was incredibly harmful and left lasting damage to her body, but most importantly, it was fucking effective.
"Ah, Miss Evans." Belby walked into her room looking far too joyful. "Today is the day!" He announced in a sing-songy voice. A long line of healers trailed after him.
"Who are they?" She frowned.
"They are your new healers. Healer Black used to refuse any other healer to come near you. He would take on all the responsibility himself, but unfortunately, he is gone." Belby tutted. "Healer Bones has also resigned, but do not worry, she has signed a waiver claiming she cannot speak of you or your ailments to anyone else, even her family. While I am sure she has never spoken to anyone before, it was just a precautionary measure now that she quit."
Belby snapped his fingers and one of the healers scurried towards her, needle in hand. Hermione flinched back.
"No need to be frightened my dear, while they are no Alphard Black, they are quite qualified."
"I never consented to this." Hermione moved her arm away from the unknown healer who was trying to get a blood sample.
"Well, what are the other options? There's no one else who wants Healer Black's job. He did it because he cared for you as more than just a patient, but you're fresh out of luck with the rest of us. You're notoriously well-known for being a difficult patient."
"Difficult?!"
"Not you as a person, but your illness. You need round-the-clock care and constant updates. You are unpredictable, unstable, and incurable. The worst three things a healer can encounter."
"I see you still haven't quit, Belby." Hermione deadpanned, reluctantly allowing the scared healer to take her blood.
"No," he smiled, but it was not warm. "How could I when you are the best experimental lab rat I've ever had?"
The healers around them gasped at his description, but Hermione didn't bat an eye. The two of them had a peculiar relationship that was founded on usefulness. Hermione was a useful test subject for his potion experiments while he was useful to her as a genius Master Potioneer. The second either of them became useless to one another, they would split ways and neither of them would shed a tear.
"Wow, that might as well have been a declaration of undying love for you. You'll make me cry."
Belby laughed at her sarcasm. If he appreciated anything about her other than the fact that she was his test dummy, it was the fact that her wit made him laugh every so often.
"Don't judge me too harshly. I know it's not the greatest day for you, but it's quite exciting for me. In what other parts of my life am I legally allowed to drug a child up to her eyes with experimental drugs, if not with you today?"
"Sir," one of the other healers who'd been checking her sleep graphs walked up to Belby. "She didn't sleep a wink last night."
"No, I expect she didn't. She never does." Belby took the graph from the healer and inspected the chart.
"When was the last time you got more than 3 hours of sleep?"
Hermione couldn't remember, so she shrugged.
Murmurs could be heard around the room as the new healers spoke in low voices to themselves. To be her new healers or at least temporary ones, they must have read her extensive file, yet they still seemed incredibly surprised about her sleep patterns.
"How prepared are they for tonight?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"You'll remain in this anti-magical chamber tonight. They've been told everything, and they have read your file. If that doesn't warn them how dangerous you are, then it's not my fault that they're imbeciles, is it? I'm not part of the admissions committee for St. Mungo's, but apparently, our hospital's one of the hardest places to get an internship in, let alone a residency." Belby spoke casually, looking up to one of the healers next to him for confirmation. She nodded.
"Belby, if—"
"Relax, they will be warned, again. And again. And once last time, just in case. Alright? I don't enjoy lawsuits either." Belby's nonchalant voice made her angry, like her potential to blow up this place with her Obscurus was just an annoyance.
"Shackle her."
"Wait, what?!" Hermione jumped to get out of bed, but the 4 healers in the room grabbed her and held her down as they shackled her limbs to the bed.
"BELBY!" Hermione shouted with outrage. "What is the meaning of this!"
"I am your new head healer," Belby informed. "Black may have been soft with you, but I'm not. You haven't slept properly in days. You may unknowingly nod off at any moment causing chaos to this hospital. Healer Black may have given you remarkable freedom because he was willing to watch you 24/7, but I am not Alphard Black."
"There is a protocol for a reason! You can't just shackle me to a bed while I'm still wide awake!"
"New Head Healer means new protocols may be made for an unpredictable patient like yourself. I respected and complied with Healer Black for 16 years, even though I was the Director of this hospital, but no more. It is better and safer for all of us if you are shackled now."
"BELBY!"
"Be glad I'm not already drugging you because that option was also on the table. I will leave you with several books for your enjoyment." He gave her several thick texts and left them by her hand. "And one of these healers will come by in 10 minutes to insert a catheter for your…excretions."
"BELBY!"
…
That same morning; Saturday, March 5th. Hogwarts
Sirius woke up unnaturally early. His sleep had been troubled. He was worried about Hermione's hospital checkup, worried that there was something wrong, worried that the healers wouldn't be able to fix her this time, and worried that she'd hide it all from him.
With those cheery thoughts, it was no wonder he couldn't go back to bed. He sat up from his bed and got dressed to go down to the Great Hall. A part of him wondered if he should work out like he knew Hermione did at this hour, but workouts that weren't mandated by James or with your sweaty sexy girlfriend next to you just didn't have the same appeal.
The Great Hall was empty. The House banners above each house fluttered from the draft in the empty hall. He tentatively walked over to the Slytherin table, like a small child sneaking money out of his parents' coin purses. He ran his hand over the wood where hundreds of thousands of students had probably had their meals throughout the school's long history. He sat on the bench, looking out to the rest of the Great Hall from this angle.
It was jarring how similar, yet different it was to the Gryffindor's angle, just flipped. Like two sides of the same coin. He imagined the Hall filled with students and thought of his life if he'd sat here instead of the table below the red and gold banner.
"If I hadn't met Hermione, there's a huge chance that would have been the case." He smiled, remembering that moment when she held his hand during the Sorting. The confidence she had in him, the indisputable belief that he was different from his family.
"This summer, we will have a very special guest visiting our house. You will be present and on your best behaviour. You will not sprout a single syllable of muggle filth in his presence, and you will obey his commands."
His mother's words left a twitch of discomfort and anxiety in his chest. Whoever this guest was, Sirius knew he was the person behind all the terrible news that headlined the Daily Prophet. Anyone with half a brain could see how the cases were connected. The successful muggleborns in their community, the crimes against muggles themselves. The targets were clear. The pureblood families who were well known for their allegiance with muggleborns and their ways hadn't been targeted yet, but Sirius knew it would just be a matter of time. Trouble was brewing on the horizon.
He thought of all his friends. His newfound family. He didn't know if any one of them would survive if the wrong side of the war won.
Hermione. He feared for her most of all. During troubled times, it was better to not be seen, and remain invisible to the masses, but Hermione already had enough spotlight on her. She was right, Dumbledore had paraded them around during the Yule Ball and now she was seen. Sirius wasn't stupid, he could tell there was a difference in how the Slytherins treated her; like she was bait and anyone who touched her would be reeled in.
"Sirius?"
He jumped.
For a split second, he was sure Hermione was standing there.
"Lily." He recognized. "What are you doing up so early?"
"It's Hermione's checkup day." Lily walked over and sat on the Slytherin bench. "I never sleep well on Hermione's checkup day."
She looked out to the Great Hall, just like Sirius had done a few moments ago. "This reminds me of our first train ride on the Hogwarts Express."
Sirius chuckled while shaking his head. "I remember. You wanted to be a Slytherin."
"I can't believe I was so naïve." She laughed along with him. "Besides, can you imagine my hair with the green? I'd be a walking Christmas advertisement."
"Your sister pulls it off."
The mention of the absent sister made Lily's smile falter.
"What happens today? During her checkups, I mean."
"I'm not sure." Lily sighed, "Hermione doesn't exactly share anything. Her healers are so secretive about her, too. They never let us visit, they never tell us anything. She just comes back after looking like she'd been tortured for 3 days straight and never says a single thing."
"Then let's find out."
"What?" Lily whipped her head around. "What do you mean, 'Let's find out'."
"I mean, let's go see her. You must know the layout of St. Mungo's pretty well since you visited Hermione plenty of times. Let's go see her."
"That's crazy, we can't just go!"
"Why not?" Sirius demanded. "What's crazier to me is how you've never thought of doing this before. Besides, isn't this what you want? To find out the secrets your sister is holding?"
"Hermione will be furious."
Sirius nodded, "Probably. But with your sister, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than asking for permission."
Lily's green eyes glowed with determination, "Alright, but we need a more solid plan."
Sirius smirked, "You're talking to a Marauder, you've come to the right person."
…
The loss of Alphard suddenly felt raw once more as Hermione sat in her anti-magical chamber by her lonesome. She'd never been alone before for March 5th, not like this. Alphard was always there, sitting by her side, reading to her, talking to her, even if she never responded. She was ashamed for never fully appreciating his company until now. It was so quiet in the room with only her mind as terrible company.
She blinked away the tears she refused to let fall, knowing Belby and his group of Healers were somewhere still watching.
She dutifully picked up one of the many books Belby and his team left behind and allowed herself to dissociate from her current situation by immersing herself in a history book about the wizarding Roman empire.
Sometime around lunch, a healer brought in a tray of food. All the items on the tray were varying shades of beige and grey, looking like the least appetizing lunch she'd ever seen, but that wasn't the reason she refused to lift the spoon to her mouth.
"Pinky can bring my lunch."
"Miss Evans, this was made by the hospital's nutritionist. He ensures that it contains everything that you'll need to get through the day and the night."
"Hm," Hermione smiled though she felt no joy. "I won't repeat myself. If Belby wants to feed me a grey sloop of questionable contents, he's going to have to shove a tube down my throat and force me."
In the observatory, Belby's healers looked troubled, their flickering eyes moving back and forth between the girl and their boss.
"How did she know? Sir, if she won't eat it…"
Belby watched the girl intensely with a sneer. "We can try to administer the drugs at dinner. Until then, let her call the elf."
Always so cautious, always on guard, always so wary. If it had been Alphard Black giving her that tray of food, she would have eaten it, no questions asked. A part of Belby regretted not building that trust with the girl from an early age. How easy she would have trusted him if he had just faked the smiles and conversations when she was a baby.
"Out!" His frustration burst. "Everyone, get out!"
…
That night, Lily quietly shifted her legs out of her bed. Unlike her normal pajamas, Lily was fully dressed in thermal underwear underneath her thick pants, her wand in her wand holster, and her coat shrunk to fit in her pocket so it didn't make so much noise.
"Mmmmhermsin"
Lily froze. Lyana's sleep talking was getting worse every day, but when she turned her face into her pillow the room was quiet once again, filled only by the steady and deep breathing of four girls.
She crept downstairs to the empty common room, looking around wildly trying to see with no light.
"Sirius." She called out. "Sirius!" she whispered louder.
"You don't need to whisper."
"Ah!" Lily whirled around, nearly tripping over the carpet at the sound.
Sirius leaned against the railing of the staircase, "Took you long enough. I was thinking you fell asleep."
"Merlin's beard, don't scare me like that!"
"I said you don't need to whisper, but that doesn't mean you can yell." Sirius shushed her. He glanced up at the staircase, hoping his friends' advanced hearing wasn't picking up her voice.
"Come on," He motioned for her to follow him. "Let's go."
Hogwarts at night wasn't magical and full of awe. The old castle was creepy and scary as she could hear whispers and movement echoing the long halls. She followed closely behind Sirius, down the stairs, and around corridors. His movements seemed exact, although she had no idea where they were going.
"Here." He stopped by a door. With a simple wave of his wand, the door creaked open revealing a professor's private room.
"Sirius, is this…?"
"Uncle Alphard's old room? Yeah. My family was supposed to take his belongings, but Walberga doesn't like coming to Hogwarts because of…" He trailed off.
"Of people like me." She nodded knowingly. She walked around the small office room while Sirius searched for fire logs to start the fireplace for the floo.
Lily walked to her late professor's desk where he probably spent the most time grading papers and assignments. On the table, there was a small picture. It was a magical picture of a little girl. With her head down she was reading a book as big as her body, and her crimson hair covered her face entirely.
"Hermione." Lily immediately recognized.
Hermione turned her head to face the camera as if she could hear her. Lily gasped. She'd never seen her sister look so sickly, so dead in her life. Hollowed out cheeks unfitting for a toddler, dead eyes, and intense darkness around her. Her skin was sallow, there was not a hint of childish joy in her.
"Why would my uncle keep a picture like this." Sirius wondered out loud, peering at the photo over her shoulder.
"I-I'm not sure." She couldn't tear her eyes away from the photograph. It was a sight of Hermione that she'd never witnessed, the side of her that she'd always hidden away from their family. If this was what Hermione was going to look like tonight…
Lily's feet stopped, trembling at the thought. The Hermione Lily knew was perfect, and while she'd always wanted to see her sister shed those exterior walls, she didn't want to see her sister broken.
"You alright?"
Lily whipped her head around.
"Are you ready?" Her voice trembled. "To see Hermione like that?" Lily pointed to the picture.
Sirius paused, contemplating the question. "I want to believe that she is healthy and this is just a regular check-up, but if it isn't…I can't pick and choose what side of Hermione I want to see. I either see Hermione or I don't. I'm scared, but my feelings for her, my opinion of her won't change."
Lily watched the softness in Sirius's eyes glaze over at the thought of her sister. His soft smile, the faintest bit of colour on the top of his cheeks, and his dilating pupils all pointed in one direction.
"You love her," Lily whispered with awed realization. "Does she know?"
He blinked rapidly. The twitch in Sirius's jaw said enough.
Eager to avoid the conversation, Sirius pointed to the fireplace and whispered, "incendio."
He waited in silence for her to go first. Every fibre in her wanted to bombard Sirius with questions, but the crack in the fire told her now wasn't the right time. They each grabbed a handful of Floo powder.
"St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries!"
The second the green fire dissipated, the two students opened their eyes to a busy waiting room. Unlike the quiet of Hogwarts, St. Mungo's was loud with patients crying in the waiting room, family arguing with the receptionists, and healers calling for patients.
"Come on." Lily pulled the dazed boy. Alphard may have been Sirius's uncle, but this was not a sight he was accustomed to. He was a Black, and Blacks didn't come to St. Mungo's like regular commoners, they had private healers who made house calls. But if they did come to St. Mungo's, it was always through private floo lines.
Using the chaos of the reception room, the duo inconspicuously walked through the hospital thanks to Lily. She walked through the maze-like halls, easily navigating them through experience.
"Keep up," Lily urged, getting more and more anxious as they walked farther into the hospital.
"Why aren't we going to her hospital room?"
She shook her head, "Hermione won't be there. Not today. She's in a special room. I've only been there a few times, and I've never been allowed inside, so I hope you have a plan."
"You've never been inside?"
"No, they never let me."
They?
Lily abruptly stopped, pushing him back.
"She specifically asked to take the drugs separately, not hidden in her food. She also called us idiots for trying to drug her in secret."
"Of course, she did."
Sirius recognized the voice; it was the same voice that had called him 'kid' multiple times when he carried Hermione's half-burnt body into the emergency room.
"But she took the drugs? No resistance?"
"Other than insulting all the healers in the room? No, no resistance."
"How long has she been out?"
"Around 2 hours. There hasn't been much change or movement. It's like she's dead…The healers are on a cycled schedule to ensure she's being watched every second."
"Good. Let's go to the observatory."
The two Gryffindors waited as the clicking of the healers' heels got further and further away.
"They were talking about Hermione, weren't they?" Sirius asked. "What did they mean 'drugs'? What did they mean by 'It's like she's dead?'"
"Hermione's always been on pills and potions her entire life." Lily's voice shook, there was tension and anxiety in her voice.
Sirius waited for her to answer his second question, but the answer never came.
"Let's keep going." This time he was the one to urge them forward.
Lily gripped his arm tightly. Her almond eyes were wide with fear as tears welled in them.
"What if she's not okay. What if she's never been okay a-a-and I've just be-been pushing her to do things, blaming her for not being open, getting angry with her for hiding away? Sirius, what if she's not okay?"
Sirius clenched his jaw tightly. He didn't want to think about Lily's words. He didn't want to bear the possibility that Hermione wasn't okay.
"Let's just focus on one thing at a time, Lily. Let's get to her first and then we'll deal with the rest."
They walked to a secluded section of the Janus Thickey Ward. A large metal wall separated them, but there were ancient runes engraved into the wall, depicting a sort of spell. Sirius's ancient runes were far from perfect, but he could read a handful of the runes.
"Is this…a prison?" Sirius snapped his head to Lily.
"It's an anti-magical chamber. Historically used to imprison magical folk." Lily nodded. "Hermione should be behind these doors."
"She's been stripped of her magic as well?" He clenched his fist so hard that there were crescent indents on his palm from his nails.
"This is where I've always been stopped. I can't get in."
Sirius narrowed his eyes, "If magic isn't going to work, let's force it open."
Lily raised her brow at Sirius's suggestion. "You're right, the door itself can't be magical, so really, it's just a regular door. All we must do is take it off its hinges and it'll come off."
Sirius had been suggesting breaking the door down, but Lily's idea seemed like a much better plan.
…
Belby sat in the observatory, munching on a granola bar while watching his oldest patient lie motionless in the cold and empty chamber below.
Hermione was strapped into the bed with shackles so thick and heavy it was hard for two grown men to manually lift together. There were leather straps that kept her tied to the bed to keep her as stable as possible and 5 tubes sticking out of her from various places that were giving her nutrients, keeping her hydrated, injecting her drugs, draining her urine, and keeping her breathing.
"Why March 5th, sir?" One of his healers approached him, staring at the girl below them. "I hear she's not this bad on other days."
Belby shrugged. "No one knows. It just is. She was born in January and stayed with us until she was 5. As far as our records go, nothing happened on any of those March 5ths, but it's always been today."
"No one? Not even Healer Alphard?"
"If he knew, he never wrote it down in his personal patient journal, and that man wrote everything down."
"What do you think she dreams about that elicits such a strong magical power? What would cause such trauma that she could attract an Obscurial at such a young age?"
War. And all the horrors that come along with it.
"Director Belby?"
"We will never know for sure." Belby turned to the young and budding healer. He looked down at her name tag, R. Aberdeen. 2nd year HD. She was only in her 2nd year. A muggleborn. "But let's hope we never find out, Healer Aberdeen."
"Director Belby," another healer, a brunette with thick glasses interrupted their conversation. "Hour 13 commences in 20 minutes."
Hour 13. Hermione's peak instability when her Obscurial got worse. It didn't make any sense because she wasn't dreaming, so there was no reason the magical parasite would become active, but it was as if her body was reacting through muscle memory, almost like a trauma-driven circadian rhythm.
"Already? You and you." Belby stood up, pointing to the two healers next to him. "Come with me to check her drugs and restraints."
The three healers walked to the door, only to freeze at the sight of the two students trying to remove the hinges of the door.
"What are you doing!" Healer Aberdeen cried.
The children's heads snapped up to see the furious adults. Instead of looking afraid or ashamed of being caught, the two children made direct eye contact, standing tall and proud as if they'd been doing a noble deed.
"Lily, keep trying to take off the hinges, I'll buy you more time."
"Take off the… No!" Belby's other healer cried. She stepped forward, but the familiar boy raised his wand.
Belby raised his brow at his impertinence. "You're Healer Black's nephew." He recognized. "The boy who brought Miss Evans to the hospital after being burned by the fire lilies."
"What a displeasure it is to make your reacquaintance," Sirius growled.
"Put down the wand boy." Belby tutted. "You are underage, we both know you cannot fire a spell without getting a hearing from Wizengamot. Unless you think you are above the law."
"That's a fat load of hypocrisy! You're the people who think you're above the law! Imprisoning a patient to an anti-magical chamber, wait till the Aurors hear about this!"
"You've got it all wrong." Healer Aberdeen shook her head.
"Miss Evans," Belby called out to Lily who was still trying to take the hinges off the door. "I've only met young Mr. Black on one previous occasion so I cannot judge him for his idiotic decision-making tonight, but I am quite disappointed to see you here. Your sister is so levelheaded, it's a tragedy to see that you've not inherited your sister's marvellous gift."
"I'm tired of your lies and secrets. I want to see my sister. Now."
Belby studied the two students before him with narrowed eyes. He was impressed they made it this far, even.
"Fine."
"Healer Belby!" His two healers objected. "They're just kids!"
"Just kids?" Belby asked. "These two students snuck out of their school in the dead of night, risking expulsion and arrest. While the execution of their plans was subpar, their enthusiasm can't be ignored."
"But Director Belby—"
"Be warned children, Miss Evans is not a pleasant sight to see now." He stepped forward and inserted the key into the door.
…
She froze. Whatever she'd expected, it wasn't this. The sight before her made Lily's stomach lurch. Her stomach acid burned her esophagus as she pushed down the overwhelming need to vomit.
The silence was deafening, only to be occasionally broken by the sound of muggle medical machines beeping, turning, or pumping. She sank to the floor as her hands covered her mouth in the horror before her. What the hell were they doing to her sister?
"H-Hermione?" Lily called out in a whisper.
Lily had been expecting and imagining many things in her life on what happened to Hermione in this room, but this caused his heart to stir painfully with emotions.
Belby tapped on a tube. "This line feeds the drug that's keeping her down and sleeping. We've essentially put her into a coma with her bodily functions barely working, which is why we needed that," he pointed at a muggle machine. "To help her breathe, and those," he pointed to bags hanging on a pole, "to feed her and hydrate her. And these hold her excrements." He explained.
"A-and the restraints?" Lily's voice shook, barely audible over the machines.
"Precaution." Belby interrupted. "The drugs are at a constant calculated rate, as is the dosage, but her magic tends to burn through them depending on her state. Sometimes, through the narrow window between dosages, her obscurus cause her to thrash and go on the offensive. She has no recollection of it when she wakes up though."
Lily fell to the floor and Sirius swayed as their eyes stayed on Hermione. One of the healers took a tentative step forward but stopped when Sirius raised his wand at surprising speed.
"I understand how this may appear to you guys, but this is what Hermione wanted, this—" they waved around to their room in general, "was her wishes." They spoke ever so softly.
"No magic, remember?" Belby waved his wand around and tapped it against the beeping muggle machine.
A cry ripped out of Sirius's throat as he threw his wand to the floor and ran towards the healer with all his might. Once he knocked Belby down, he ran toward Hermione. He grabbed one of the tubes and tried to pull it.
"Sirius stop!" Lily was the one to grab his arm and stop him.
"You pull that tube out," Belby sounded more serious than he had ever before. "Either we die, or she dies."
"Is that a threat?" Sirius spoke through a clenched jaw.
"It's a warning." Belby struggled to get up, wincing as he rubbed his head.
One of the female healers shouted desperately. "Please, I know how this looks, but we promise she's as safe as she can be. And we must get out, there are only 5 minutes before Hour 13."
"What's Hour 13? Explain." Lily Evans's unfittingly cold voice broke the panic. Unlike her voice, her actions were soft and gentle as she stroked her sister's dull, lifeless hair. Hermione's ghostly face was a stark contrast to Lily's pink healthy hue.
Sirius slowly released his grip on the tubes as he glared at the healers before them.
"Right." Belby cleared his throat, "Well we're not sure what really causes it, but Miss Evans's condition significantly drops on this day and especially by hour 13. Everything becomes unstable, she loses all control, and…" he glanced up to Sirius who listened intently, "her Obscurus comes out."
"Like it did after Alphard's funeral." Lily nodded, sitting up from the bed now with a deeper frown on her face.
The healers shook their heads. "Worse."
"W-wait an Obscurus?" Sirius interrupted. "I thought she had a bout of magical instability. She's an Obscurial?"
Lily's head snapped towards Sirius. She'd forgotten that he hadn't known.
"Oh fuck. Hermione's going to be so mad that you know."
Belby looked over at the young Black's paling face. "Does it change anything?" He asked with genuine curiosity.
For Belby it had changed everything. When he first got the job offer to create potions for a child, he threw away the letter. Then, the St. Mungo's director at the time sent a second letter, this time detailing Hermione Evans's situation, he jumped at the chance.
Hermione Evans was his life's work, his forever challenge. She embodied the question that he fell in love with, obsessed over. This didn't mean that he loved Hermione Evans like Alphard Black. No, he loved her problem, her disease, her evolving mental strength, yet failing body. In honesty, Belby wouldn't know what to do with himself if he ever cured Hermione Evans. It would be his greatest accomplishment and the greatest hindrance to his motivation.
"…No." Sirius shook his head. He stroked her cheek with his finger. "No, it doesn't change anything."
"Sir, it's time."
Belby nodded.
"We must get out. Your sister is at her most unstable. You can stay in the observatory."
The healers pulled the students away from Hermione's unconscious body and locked the heavy doors behind them.
"What's it like?" Lily asked softly. "Her Obscurus, I mean."
"It's…" Belby hesitated, as the memories of Hermione's first years in this hospital surfaced in his mind. "Terrifying. Yet it's also terribly sad."
A tear rolled down her face.
For the past ten years, Lily had always wanted to know. She wanted to know everything about her secretive sister. She wanted to see beyond the wall and close the distance. She'd spent years heartbroken because Hermione wouldn't talk to her, the rarity of her sister's smiles and laughs. But now, seeing her sister lying there as if she were dead constricted her heart with fear, love, and guilt.
"It's starting."
Silence fell in the observatory. Everyone watched Hermione with intense curiosity and a hint of horror. It started with a twitch, then another. Soon she was thrashing against her binds violently. The chains that held her down rattled, and the equipment rolled around, banging against each other.
"I thought you said she's not dreaming!" Sirius accused.
"She isn't."
Hermione started choking on the tube that helped her breathe.
One of the healers attempted to rush out of the room to help Hermione, but Belby stopped him.
"You go there, there's a chance you might die."
"If I don't go down there, there's a chance she might die."
"She won't. She's just trying to scream, not breathe."
Hermione suddenly stilled, then she opened her eyes to reveal just whites. Bloody tears ran down her face as a black tar-like liquid oozed out of her. The machines started flickering, as well as the lights. The EKG machine that measured her heart rate raced, shocking just jagged lines and nothing else.
Lily started but choked on her sobs while Sirius and several Healers had to look away.
Belby watched with a neutral face, waiting for her to fight it down, recording how long it would take for her to return to her stable condition.
All this fight just to die in less than 10 years. It was still a secret, even to his new team of healers. It was a promise that Belby, Black, and Bones made due to their patient's insistence. She ensured them that it was for the best, that the future she saw would benefit if no one knew. He'd already broken Miss Evan's request to not let anyone see her in this state. He would keep his second promise.
At least for now.
…