Minerva's POV

'They're ready for you now.' Minerva looked up from her contemplation of the red and brown striped carpet and smiled weakly at the young receptionist sitting behind the tall reception desk – the woman had graduated from Hogwarts only six or seven years ago. Minerva thought that she might've been in Hufflepuff but she couldn't be sure.

'Straight down the corridor until you get to the door at the end - the Dilys Derwent suite. It was nice to see you again Professor.' Minerva widened her smile until she felt her cheeks spasming with the effort and nodded at the woman.

'Thank you, I'm glad to see you doing so well.' She answered formally, although, if she was honest with herself, she could barely remember the girl.

'Thank you,' Remus stood up abruptly. He looked exhausted and worried. Severus, who had been sitting on his other side stood up too, slightly more smoothly. His expression was blank and impassive.

'Are you okay, Minerva?' Remus asked, offering her a hand to help her up, which she took gratefully. She nodded and caught his eye. For half a second, she considered saying nothing but then she remembered the conversation that she'd had with Severus in her office two days ago – her relationship with these two men had evolved way beyond a professional one and she was thankful that they were here supporting her.

'It's rather silly, Remus but I keep thinking how close we are to Tansy only we're not allowed to see her. She must be feeling so alone.' Minerva had been aiming for a light-hearted tone but she failed somewhat when her voice cracked slightly on the last word. She swallowed and told herself firmly to get a grip – she needed to be strong for Tansy right now.

'Whatever the outcome of today's meeting, we will be insisting that Miss Laverstock is allowed visitors.' Severus said firmly, his black eyes flashing slightly. 'There is no way that they can argue that being left alone and isolated is the best option for her. You will see her today, Minerva.' Minerva nodded and picked up her walking stick.

'Thank you both for coming with me.' She said simply and started walking across the small reception as quickly as her creaking knees would allow, anxious, now that the time had come to get this over and done with.

The three professors walked down a narrow, carpeted corridor until they reached the correct door which bore a small bronze plaque bearing the legend The Dilys Derwent Conference Suite. Here, they were admitted into a large lecture theatre, off which there was a smaller room containing a large formal-looking rectangular table made of dark mahogany wood that was identical to the panelled walls and window frames. The whole room felt slightly oppressive and overly intimidating. The five professionals that made up the medical review panel were sat along one side of the table and Minerva immediately recognised Healer Silverhorn who was sitting closest to the door. His thin grey hair had retreated even further in the past two years but his eyes were still kind and intelligent. Opposite the review panel, Minerva saw Healer Knits, Tansy's Mind-Healer. It was strange to see her out of her lime green robes. She exchanged a tired smile with Minerva that did not quite meet her eyes - she looked exhausted.

'Ah Minerva, Professors…' Healer Silverhorn stood up as the three professors entered the room and immediately walked towards them to shake their hands.

'Malcom…' Minerva replied, feeling slightly wrong footed by his presence.

'I'm the head of the medical review panel here.' He explained, gesturing to the three witches and one wizard who had remained sitting at the table. 'I tend to chair the meetings because it helps to keep them moving forwards. Otherwise we often end up talking in circles.' He gave a short laugh. 'Well, yes, anyway, the panel is comprised of five consultant Healers from separate departments. We find that it's important to have multiple disciplines present to make objective decisions about medical care. It can be a real help to hear opinions from specialists in other departments.' Minerva nodded and tried to smile.

'I'm sorry to see you in this way, Minerva,' he continued sincerely. 'Miss Laverstock is a remarkable young woman and we only want to determine what's best for her. I was very sorry to hear that she was so unwell again.' Minerva saw that the other members of the review panel were all nodding. She nodded at them, not trusting her voice enough to speak.

'Please sit down,' one middle-aged witch said, flicking her wand at the three chairs next to Healer Knits which slid smoothly out from under the table.

'Thank you.' Minerva's knees seemed to have locked in place and she stumbled slightly as she took a step forward. Remus immediately steadied her and she shot him a grateful smile and allowed him to help her around the table and into a chair. Then both Severus and Remus took seats on either side of her. Minerva propped her stick against the back of the chair and then looked up at the five professional Healers who were all watching her with undivided interest. She suddenly felt inexplicably nervous - it was almost as though she was being interviewed.

'Thank you for coming today,' Healer Silverhorn said, sitting down again and then sliding a thin leather-bound file over the table towards Minerva, Remus and Severus. Minerva saw that each of the review panel and Healer Knits had a copy too. 'We have been discussing Miss Laverstock's early section review and her ongoing care plan this morning. Let me quickly introduce the rest of the panel...' He did so and Minerva heard each of the Healers' names and disciplines before immediately forgetting them once again. '…and Healer Knits you already know. I asked her to attend this meeting even though it's her day off as there have been some developments in Miss Laverstock's case over the last two days. She has also helped to provide details of the specialist…'

'I'm sorry, what developments…?' Severus interrupted in a smooth voice. Minerva glanced at him and saw that his black eyes were narrowed as he looked at Healer Silverhorn.

'Yes indeed,' Healer Silverhorn said mildly, looking over at Severus. He didn't look at all perturbed by the other man's interruption. 'Let me bring the three of you up to speed so that you are on the same page as us so to speak. Then we can discuss the decisions we've made as a panel and what we feel are the best options moving forward, what we hope will be of the most help to Miss Laverstock.'

Minerva felt her stomach twisting slightly as she realised that the panel had already come to a decision of some sort. There was a part of her that wished that they would just get to the point already. She bit her lip and pulled herself up a little straighter in the hard-backed chair as Healer Silverhorn tapped his own leather-bound file with the palm of his hand.

'The full written report is in your file but I will summarise.' Minerva resisted the temptation to open the file then and there and focused instead on the Healer.

'As you know, Miss Laverstock was admitted under the emergency mental health act on Saturday afternoon after an impressive display of uncontrolled projected magic which resulted in her knocking a patient unconscious and mildly injuring a Healer.' Healer Silverhorn began. 'As a consequence, she was held under the mental health act with the possibility of a review after two weeks. Obviously, this has been brought forwards after you raised concerns as to whether we were able to meet her individual needs.' Minerva nodded and opened her mouth to speak but the Healer hadn't finished. His brow furrowed slightly as he continued talking.

'Since her admission there have been two further incidences of violent and projected magic. The first occurred on Saturday evening. It appears that Miss Laverstock's dreamless sleep potion drip was set up incorrectly and she experienced a nightmare. It took some time for the Healers to calm her down sufficiently to stop her from projecting and two Healers in Training were injured in the process.'

'What do you mean the dreamless sleep potion drip was set up incorrectly?' Remus asked and Minerva could hear the anger in his voice. She struggled to reel in her own rising anger as she waited for the reply. Healer Silverhorn opened his mouth but Healer Knits spoke first.

'I take full responsibility. The potion drip was set up by a HIT and wasn't checked by a fully qualified member of staff. There is no excuse.' She sounded exhausted. 'I'm very sorry. It should never have happened on my watch.'

Severus drew in a deep breath and reached for the leather-bound file. He flicked it open and his black eyes scanned the sheets of parchment inside. Minerva saw his lip curling slightly as his eyes settled on the report of the incident in question. Then he pushed it across the table towards her. Certain lines stood out.

Potion drip failure… unconscious blast of projected energy… bodily injury…

She scanned down feeling slightly sick.

Severe panic attack… physical symptoms including vomiting and loss of bladder control… a strong sedative and calming potion…

Anger welled up inside her and she took in a deep, calming breath, willing herself to remain in control.

'This whole incident occurred because Tansy's dreamless sleep potion was not given properly!' Minerva said angrily, turning to Healer Knits. 'This is exactly the same as before, when Fred kissed her. If you hadn't put her in this position then it would never have happened!'

'I know and I'm sorry Minerva.'

'This would never have happened under our care.' Remus said and Minerva saw him curling his hands into fists on the table-top. 'She would be so much better off at Hogwarts!' His voice was now trembling with anger and he seemed to be having trouble keeping himself under control. With a jolt, Minerva realised that there had been a full moon the previous night. Even with the wolfsbane potion and Tansy's transfiguration spell, he must be exhausted and emotionally wrecked today. She'd asked too much of him expecting him to be here this morning when he ought to be at home in bed.

'I agree with everything you've said,' Healer Silverhorn said quickly, seemingly trying to regain his former control of the meeting. 'Obviously these failures have been noted, but we are also here to discuss Miss Laverstock's projected magic and the dangers it poses to other people. There…' He hesitated and then flicked over a page in his file. '…there, er, there was also another incident yesterday afternoon. A member of staff was trying to check Miss Laverstock…'

'Perhaps I should explain,' Healer Knits interrupted. She sighed quietly and seemed to count to ten as if drawing some strength before she continued. 'Yesterday we were extremely short staffed on the mind ward. The day shift was covered by a Healer who has little experience of the ward. A situation arose when she asked Miss Laverstock to remove her clothes so she could perform a routing examination, checking for self-injury. When Miss Laverstock refused to remove her clothes, the Healer thought that it meant that she was hiding something so she decided to remove them herself so she could ensure that she didn't need first aid. She… she vanished Miss Laverstock's clothes which resulted in Miss Laverstock experiencing a flash-back of her time in captivity and the abuse she suffered…'

'She vanished Tansy's clothes?' Remus interrupted, his voice rising.

Minerva could see him shaking with rage and her own feelings of anger and annoyance derailed slightly as she saw him reaching for his wand. She quickly placed a hand on his arm, hoping to calm him down but he shook her off and stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back so hard that it fell over with a crash. On her other side, Severus jumped to his feet too.

'HAVE YOU ANY IDEA? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE'S BEEN THROUGH?' Remus was yelling now, leaning forwards with both fists on the table-top. 'SHE WAS TORTURED AND SEXUALLY ABUSED FOR MONTHS! HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN TO HER? DON'T YOU HAVE SOME LEVEL OF COMMON SENSE?'

'Remus calm down!' Minerva said urgently, concerned that they would get thrown out before they could finish the meeting. Her own anger fizzled under the surface and she swallowed down the urge to rage and storm alongside him.

'WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? IS THIS THIS THE LEVEL OF PROFESSIONAL CARE WE SHOULD EXPECT HERE?' His voice cracked and Minerva realised that he was fighting tears and started slightly in surprise because Remus so rarely lost control.

'Remus…' She began again but trailed off, at a loss for what to say.

'Remus,' Severus had walked round behind Minerva's chair and he pulled Remus around to face him. 'You need to calm down. You need to get out of here. We can handle this.'

'I NEED TO GET HER OUT OF HERE!'

'You need to let us handle this. This isn't helping her Remus.' Remus deflated slightly at the other man's words. He took a deep breath, dashed his hand against his eyes and then turned on his heal and walked abruptly out of the room, kicking his fallen chair on his way out. Severus looked down at Minerva, and she saw the fury in his black eyes and realised that he too was struggling to stay in control.

'Are you okay, Minerva?'

'I'm okay, Severus. I just want to get to the bottom of this.' She said, softly enough that her words wouldn't carry to the review panel on the other side of the table. Severus nodded curtly and he resumed his seat and then turned back to Healer Knits.

'I'm sorry for the interruption,' he said smoothly, 'please continue.' He made no apologies for Remus's actions.

'Er… yes…' Healer Knits exchanged a look at Healer Silverhorn who was looking distressed by the recent turn of events. Once he had nodded to her to continue, she leaned forwards towards Minerva and looked her in the eye.

'Look, this is going to be hard to hear and I'm sorry to be the one to tell you.' She paused, seemingly searching for the right words. 'Like I said, Miss Laverstock experienced a flashback of her time in captivity during which she found a scalpel on the floor and she used it to self-harm.' Minerva felt the blood draining out of her face and grasped the table in front of her as the room pitched to one side.

'Is she okay? Is Tansy okay now?' Her voice came out sounding high pitched and slightly hysterical and she tried to take a deep breath but the oxygen in the room seemed to have diminished.

'She's okay, Minerva.' Healer Knits said quietly.

'How did she find a scalpel?' Severus asked, looking worriedly at Minerva. 'Surely it wasn't in her belongings?'

'I believe that a former resident had hidden it under the cupboard and the room wasn't fully cleaned and checked before it was reassigned to Miss Laverstock. It was just bad luck that she found it during her flashback. Once again, there is no excuse...' The Healer trailed off, exchanging a glance with the review panel, all of whom were shaking their heads and looking grave.

'It appears that for several minutes no first aid attempts could be administered because Miss Laverstock was unconsciously projecting a shield charm.' Healer Silverhorn said, when it became apparent that Healer Knits wasn't going to continue. 'The attempts made to disable it were unsuccessful.'

'It took us some time before we managed to calm her down enough that she stopped the projecting.' Healer Knits said soberly. 'In fact, if Mr Weasley hadn't been present, we might not have been successful at all. Then we were able to administer first aid but she had already lost a huge amount of blood and she went into cardiac arrest which resulted in her needing resuscitation for nine and a half minutes.'

'Her heart stopped?' Minerva whispered, suddenly feeling slightly lightheaded. She was suddenly afraid that she was going to faint. 'Her heart stopped?' She repeated. Her voice seemed to be coming from a long way away. Across the table she saw several members of the medical review panel getting to their feet. She felt Severus's hand on her arm and then Healer Knits pressed a glass of cold water into her hand. She seemed unable to grasp it securely and it tipped dangerously over the parchment sheets in front of her.

'Are you okay, Minerva?' Healer Silverhorn was beside her, his voice distorting slightly as her hearing buzzed and crackled.

'Is… Tansy… okay…?' The words took a lot of effort but she said them eventually.

'Yes, she's fine.' Healer Knits said, looking Minerva in the eyes. Her face seemed to shimmer slightly at the edges.

'Was she… trying… to… take her own life…?' Minerva gasped.

'I'm sorry Minerva.' Healer Knits didn't elaborate any further which gave Minerva her answer. She failed to stifle a low moan.

'Have a drink Minerva, do you need a minute?' Healer Silverhorn asked softly, reaching over from behind her and straightening the glass that was still tipping precariously in Minerva's hand.

Minerva took a shaky sip of water, her teeth clinking softly against the glass. The room started coming back into focus again and she suddenly felt slightly ashamed of her reaction.

'I'm alright. I'm sorry. It was just a shock to hear that.' She glanced at Severus and saw his concern as he looked back at her. Then he turned back to Healer Silverhorn who had sat down opposite them again.

'I'm sure you can understand our concern about leaving Miss Laverstock here in the care of St Mungo's when incidents like this happen.' Severus's voice was firm and his tone calmer than the fury in his eyes. Whilst Miss Laverstock was in our care there have been no recent incidents of projected magic or self-injury. We are aware of her individual needs and we have successfully managed them in a way that has not triggered a negative response.'

'Miss Laverstock is clearly severely mentally unwell, Professor Snape,' a middle-aged female Healer that Minerva thought worked in the spell damage department interjected softly. 'She also has a history of extreme self-harm and suicidal tendencies, not to mention violent and unpredictable projected magic.'

'That is true,' Severus's said curtly. 'However, these recent relapses have occurred solely based on mistakes that have happened whilst she was under the care of this hospital.'

'Professor Snape, I think we can all agree that there have been certain failures in Miss Laverstock's care here up to this point.' Healer Silverhorn put in, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. 'We are here to find a solution moving forwards that is in her best interests. We all want her to get well.'

'Back at the school, we have an extremely competent school matron who has handled Tansy's mental health crises in the past.' Minerva said. She still felt slightly faint but she wanted to be a part of this discussion and she was desperate for the review panel to hear her opinions. 'We are also looking into getting her some professional help but it's hard because of her selective mutism. However, we do encourage her to talk to us because she's comfortable with us, even though we aren't trained professionals. We obviously also shield from triggering situations that might cause an uncontrolled projection.'

'We're not sure that simply keeping her away from triggering situations is enough.' The male Healer interjected. 'She needs to learn to control these projections or she will never be able to live a full and independent life.'

'I think you're probably right, Healer…' Minerva squinted at his name tag and then gave up. Instead, she continued speaking, her voice gaining strength as she got into her stride. 'I just don't think that this is the best place for Tansy to be. She needs to be around people she trusts. She also needs to be with her daughter. It has taken me…' She looked at Severus and amended her words slightly. '…us over seven years to gain her trust and build a relationship with her. I don't think the mind ward will be able to meet her unique needs. She's a very very complex young woman.'

'Before you arrived, the panel had actually already come to this very same decision, Minerva.' Healer Silverhorn said. He smiled gently at Minerva who stared blankly back at him, having not really taken in what he had just said. 'Miss Laverstock is clearly in desperate need of treatment for her mental illness and therapy to help her to overcome the trauma she suffered during her confinement last year and also in the past. However, we are all in agreement that this might not be the place for her to stay as she receives this treatment.' Minerva looked at him in slowly comprehending disbelief. 'We would like to discharge her today and have her continue her treatment here as an outpatient.' He turned to Healer Knits. 'Do you have anything to add Aspen?'

Healer Knits nodded and then turned to Minerva. She looked her straight in the eye before she spoke.

'I am truly sorry for the lapses in care that Miss Laverstock has suffered in my department. The whole department has been put under review and the Healer responsible for yesterday's events has also been banned from working with mentally unwell patients in the future and is facing disciplinary action.' She sighed and glanced at Healer Silverhorn before she continued. 'I do not normally conduct outpatient care myself but I would like to take Miss Laverstock on as my patient. Maybe I am wrong but I think that we may have forged a narrow bond and I truly believe that with time and effort I will be able to help her.' A long silence followed the Healer's words whilst Minerva digested what had been said.

'Thank you for that offer Healer Knits. That would be wonderful.' Minerva replied eventually. She suddenly felt a wave of almost overwhelming hope and anticipation. It was as though a huge weight of responsibility had been lifted from her shoulders.

'Well, I think that concludes this meeting,' Healer Silverhorn said cheerfully. Minerva looked up at him and saw that he was already undoing the collar of his robes in anticipation of getting back in a lab-coat. He looked down the row of Healers beside him.

'Does anyone disagree with this course of action or have anything further to add?' The panel shook their heads simultaneously and he smiled and stood up.

'Thank you all for your attendance, particularly you Aspen as I know it's your day off.' He said formally. He turned to Minerva. 'When Miss Laverstock is feeling better, then she's welcome to come and spend a day in the laboratory. And the unconditional offer is still there when she's ready for it. I hope she improves Minerva, I really do.'

Minerva appreciated that he'd used the word 'when' and not 'if' but she still felt a sudden wave of sadness as she thought back to the time when Tansy had been well enough to work on her own research. She nodded and then stood up herself, making rather a meal of picking up her stick and pushing her chair back so that she wouldn't have to respond. When she looked up again, she was thankful that the review panel had left and she was alone in the room with Severus and Healer Knits.

'I'll take you down to the mind ward. I'm sure Miss Laverstock is more than ready to go home.' Healer Knits said, gesturing the two professors out of the room.

Hi everyone. Sorry for the long wait – this chapter caused me quite a bit of grief to write, damn writers block! Every time I sat down to write it nothing would come. Hope to be back more often now. Tansy is going home!