"Rose?"

When she entered the St. Mungo's lavatory, the last thing she expected to see was her cousin Roxanne standing at the sink.

"Roxie?" said Rose, confused. Was there residual mind magic floating around the corridors? Had she begun to hallucinate as well? "What are you doing here?"

Roxanne's cheeks darkened as she dried her hands and checked herself in the mirror.

"I- well, remember how I told you about the charity fashion show I was applying to?"

Rose nodded.

"Well, it turns out that Madame Malkin is on the board for it. She brings some of her designs here a few times a year to put on a smaller show for some of the long-term residents. I had to send in all of my sketches for the main show— tell them which I wanted to bring, a few photographs of my progress— and she wrote me and asked if I would like to assist her with the smaller show as well."

"Roxie, that's amazing!" cried Rose. "How did it go?"

"It was wonderful!" gushed Roxanne with a grin. "She has actual models who come in and help out, and I got to see how they move and everything- and there are a few things I want to alter now with some of the designs, but that's alright, I knew that would happen once I saw them in motion- but I think she liked them, I really do! And Fred got to come along, and Mum and Dad even came to watch. I think Mum finally understands that I'm serious about this."

"This is a big deal," said Rose, "why didn't you tell the rest of us?"

Roxie shrugged.

"Didn't know how it was gonna go," she said, "and it's not like they were gonna let us all leave school for some silly- wait, Rose, why the hell are you here?"

"Oh," said Rose, her stomach dropping as she remembered the circumstances that had brought her to the hospital, "that. Whatever's going on with the castle's magic is messing with Lorcan's Sight and making him pretty sick. Something happened during Professor Evariste's class and McGonagall had Aunt Luna come and take him here. Al and I came along to keep Lysander company, but we've just been stuck in the waiting room all afternoon."

"That's rotten," said Roxanne with a frown. "Do you want to come back with us? Madam Chang is taking Hugo and I back to school as soon as we finish packing everything from the show."

"I'd rather wait for Lorcan," said Rose, "but thanks anyway. We've got Clare waiting with us, we'll be fine."

Rose took comfort in seeing Roxanne, and managed to find her way back to the waiting room without getting lost. The monitoring disk was still sitting on the table next to Lysander, who was shooting it icy glares every couple of minutes. It had not changed its message.

As the hours wore on, the waiting room emptied out. By the time the disk read "Examination Room Eleven," Rose's group was the only one remaining. They spread out from their corner, attempting to make themselves more comfortable.

"Any more of those muffins?" asked Albus after a long stretch of silence.

"I think a few of the chocolate," said Rose, not looking up from her book. She had contorted her body into a mostly horizontal position across two chairs, looping her legs around the arms that were protruding across the midsection.

"Chocolate sounds great," said Lysander with a groan. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and squinted at the tray. "Wingardium-"

"Lysander!" said Clare, throwing out her hand.

With a loud crack, Lysander's wand went shooting out of his hand. It flew across the room and skewered the muffin tray, sticking through two of the pastries before poking out the other side. Mouths open in surprise, the three children turned to Clare, whose bright eyes had immediately begun to water.

"I- I'm sorry, I-"

And then, for the first time that day, Lysander began to laugh. He leaned back against the wall, shut his eyes, and let his body keel over with the force of his laughter. Clare blinked in confusion, eyes still watering, as Lysander fell over to the side, lost in hysterics.

"You shot the muffins!" he finally managed to gasp out, before returning to his peals of laughter.

Albus gave his friend a dubious once-over, then rose from his seat with a groan. Lysander's wand slid easily from the two muffins, one of which Albus brought back to the table and deposited in front of Lysander with a half-cocked grin.

"You need some chocolate, mate," he said, wiping Lysander's wand off on a napkin. "Eat."

Rose looked back at Clare, who was hurriedly dabbing her eyes with the end of her sleeves.

"It's alright," said Rose quietly, "it's all fine."

"I'm sorry," said Clare again, "it just- he can't do magic, we're not at Hogwarts."

At this, Lysander and Albus returned their attention to Clare. It was clear that all three students had forgotten that part of the wizarding law. And for Lysander, it would have been the second time in a year he would have broken it.

"I didn't mean to," said Clare quietly, "it just happens. I still can't control it. My parents tried to teach me when I was young, but it- it never progressed past the accidental magic stage. No functional spells, no use of a wand. Things go a bit haywire when I try."

"That's still impressive," said Rose after a moment. "From what I read, I thought... I thought that Squibs just didn't have magic."

Clare smiled wryly and shrugged.

"That's the general idea," she said, "that it just skips a generation in a magical family, but sometimes it can just get skewed a bit. There's a whole range, from having no magic at all to having too much accidental magic that can't be reined in. You know, I..." She trailed off, blushing furiously, and Rose didn't know if she was going to continue. Clare looked at the students, swallowed, then went on. "I can actually make some potions, you know. They work and everything. It's not like being a Muggle, where brewing a potion won't produce the correct results no matter what. They're- they're excellent. I can't brew anything requiring incantations, but there are many that don't. Professor Slughorn has been letting me practice after hours."

Even Rose didn't know what to say to that. All this time she had thought that Clare didn't have any magic, and that she was just trying to be a part of the wizarding world in whatever way she could. She imagined that this was even harder- to be able to use some of her magic, but to have the rest completely unaccessible. She couldn't imagine.

"Anyway," said Clare, her voice suddenly brusque, "that's unimportant. I'm sorry for sending your wand off like that, Lysander. I just didn't want you to get in trouble."

"I'm glad you did!" said Lysander, giving her an encouraging smile. "I sort of did the same thing this summer. Even though this is a bit of a special situation, I still don't want to gamble on what the Ministry's reaction would be the second go around."

Clare slowly relaxed back into her seat. The black disk vibrated again, and this time it was Albus who reached out for it, glaring at Lysander as he went to move.

"Eat," he instructed, glancing at the disk. "Oh, he's in an Intake Chamber now. That's progress."

Lysander groaned and shut his eyes. Rose resisted the urge to do the same. She didn't like the sound of any sort of intake to St. Mungo's.

Another hour passed without any update. The one amenity that the room lacked was a clock, and with the enchanted window, it was impossible to tell how much time had passed. When the door to the waiting room finally opened, it was Healer Aberdeen who entered with a soft smile.

"Right where I left you," she said, still chipper after what Rose felt had been an eternity. "If you'd like to see your cousin now, you can come in. His mother's with Healer Schmidt and some of the others."

They abandoned their games, books, and food refuse to immediately follow the Mediwitch. The white walls seemed to be blaring with artificial light, and Rose realized that they were compensating for the sun, which must have set by now. Overall, the effect was more disconcerting than reassuring.

The room Lorcan was in was much like any other hospital room. Rose had been in quite a few over the course of her short life, owing to the number of important people in her life who had chosen dangerous professions. Not all sections of St. Mungo's looked like this; she had been expecting the warm earth tones of the sections she had visited previously. At least this room resembled the others she had seen.

Lorcan was sitting cross-legged on a rumpled bed, wearing a set of standard-issue robes that made his skin look grey and his hair white. The long screen on the wall was glowing with various symbols and numbers in shades of green and blue. Rose scanned them quickly, but could not understand whatever shorthand the Healers were using.

"Finally," huffed Lorcan with a scowl. "Now where is my mum? I'd like to go back to school."

"She's still with the other Healers," said Healer Aberdeen sweetly, patting the bed in what seemed to be her attempt at reassurance. "They'll bring her back as soon as they're done. Now, would you like us to send for some food?"

"I'm not hungry," grumbled Lorcan.

"Have you been eating?" asked Rose. Lorcan refused to meet her eyes, still scowling. "Lorcan, you've got to have something. It's past dinner."

He looked at her in confusion, opened his mouth to disagree, then shut it again without saying a word. After a moment he nodded to Healer Aberdeen.

"I'll send up one of the elves," said the Mediwitch. "Make yourselves comfortable, I'm sure the meeting won't run much longer."

As soon as the door was closed, Lorcan chucked one of his pillows at it. Clare stepped to the side, her thin brows raised, but did not say anything.

Rose sat on the side of the second bed, which was empty and still neatly-made. Lorcan honestly looked like hell.

"How are you doing?" she asked tentatively.

Albus settled into a chair next to Clare. Lysander began pacing by the foot of his twin's bed.

"I'm rotten," snapped Lorcan, ruffling his hair. "This place is right awful. I'd like mum to stop talking to them so we can go back to school already."

"My head hurts too," said Lysander quietly. "I'm sorry."

Lorcan finally looked up, meeting his brother's steady gaze. He nodded once, then looked back at the bed.

"I don't think they're getting anywhere," continued Lorcan, "and I'm sick of their stupid questions, all the poking around in my head. I just want to go back to bed."

"We'll go back soon," said Rose, "I promise. We just have to wait for Aunt Luna."

With the soft jingle of wind chimes, a house elf popped up next to Lysander at the foot of the rumpled bed. She was wearing a shortened version of Healer Aberdeen's robes, but hers were lime green instead of lavender. She was holding a small clipboard and smiling in a way that was eerily similar to the Mediwitch's.

"Hello Mister Scamander," chirped the elf. "May Shipsy take your food request?"

"Hi Shipsy," grunted Lorcan. "Er- could I just have a grilled cheese? Maybe with tomato soup?"

"Absolutely," said Shipsy, scribbling a note on her clipboard. "What about Mister Scamander's friends?"

"Erm... just more of that, I suppose," said Rose awkwardly. The others shrugged.

"Shipsy will bring back many grilled cheese and a tureen of soup!" said the elf happily. With the of bells again, Shipsy disappeared.

Lorcan slid down in his bed, uncrossing his legs and yanking the blankets up to cover them.

"At least I'll get something to eat," he muttered grouchily.

The food reappeared a short while later with the sound of bells with without the house elf. Rose wondered idly if they should really be referred to as house elves if they were not working in houses. She was aware that many were now properly employed in various wizarding establishments like Hogwarts and St. Mungo's, unlike in years prior where they did not receive wages or workers' benefits. Her mother had told her that instead of proper clothing, the elves were forced to wear tattered, dirty rags. She frowned at the thought.

It was good to have a proper meal after a day of waiting around the hospital. Clare managed to get Lorcan talking a bit after they had finished eating, and Rose felt better about letting herself relax. Even Lysander stopped pacing, coming to sit with her on the spare bed.

Rose didn't know when she fell asleep, but she came to some time later with her back aching from the awkward position she had ended up in. She had fallen partially over on her side, using Lysander's leg as a makeshift pillow instead of resting on the ones behind her. He was slumped over into himself, head drooped to his chest as he breathed steadily. Albus was curled up in a chair like a cat, and Clare, though she looked drained, was still sitting awake by his side. Lorcan was still mostly upright in his bed, but his eyes had slid shut.

Rose saw what had caused her sudden awakening. Aunt Luna had finally appeared, accompanied by Healer Aberdeen and Healer Schmidt. As the door closed behind them, the others began to wake from their uncomfortable half-slumbers. Lorcan seemed to come to his senses first.

"Mum," he said, his voice still gravely with sleep, "can we go home now?"

"Not quite," responded Healer Schmidt, her frown again accentuating the lines framing her face. "I'm afraid that we need you to stay with us for a time longer in order for us to further examine your particular condition."

For a moment, Rose thought that Lorcan was actually going to start screaming at the woman. But Aunt Luna spoke first.

"I'm sorry, love," she said softly, looking worn to the bone. "I don't know what else to do. But we can't send you back to the castle right now."

"Then I want to stay too," said Lysander immediately.

"No," said Aunt Luna firmly, turning to her other son, "absolutely not. You need to go back and keep up with your studies. It looks like there is a spare bed here, so I will be staying with Lorcan."

"Mrs. Scamander," began Healer Shmidtt, still frowning, "our normal policy is-"

"Maybe I was unclear," said Aunt Luna with a serene smile, turning to the Healers, "I was not inquiring about your policy. Thank you, though. Please inform your elves that I'll need a second set of blankets. I've noticed there's a bit of a chill in here."

She held eye contact with Healer Schmidt, which Rose found remarkable since the Mediwitch had a stare that was currently rivaling Professor McGonagall's.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," said Healer Aberdeen agreeably, ignoring her coworker's glowering and turning to Lorcan. "You should try to get some rest, dearie. Healer Cunningham is coming in early tomorrow to meet you."

"Thank you," said Lorcan curtly.

"The rest of you must return to school," said Healer Schmidt, looking away from Aunt Luna at last. "It's far past visiting time. Professor Clare-"

"Just Clare, thanks," said Clare with what Rose was certain was feigned confidence. "Yes, we'll be taking the Floo back. Mrs. Scamander?"

"I'll be in touch with Professor McGonagall," said Aunt Luna with a sigh. "We'll figure more out tomorrow. I'll probably just bring him back myself once he's cleared."

"Alright," said Clare. "Lorcan, I'll see you once you're back at Hogwarts."

The children took turns hugging Lorcan before leaving the room. He watched them go with a wistful expression, and Rose felt a pang as the door closed behind her.