Saturday Morning
Liam and Morwena followed Professor McGonagall up to the Hospital Wing. They watched as she spoke briefly to Madam Pomphrey and then disappeared behind the curtain. By the door, Philip and Benedict sat in chairs. When the Headmistress entered, they got to their feet, but she did not address them.
Liam shook Philip’s hand. “You did well, tonight. You had those brats running for the hills.”
“I did my best,” said Philip. Looking towards the curtain, he murmured, “I hope she’s alright.”
“Where’s Lara?” asked Morwena.
“She’s nearby,” said Benedict. “She’s on a break.”
Liam asked Benedict, “They keeping you busy, up here, Took?”
“Oh yes,” said Benedict. “Mostly, I’ve played the role of gofer. ‘Took, fetch this for us. Fetch that.’ They could use ‘Accio’ of course, but all their magic was on Pauline, see, so they just yelled for me.”
Morwena’s eyes bored into Benedict. “What happened to Pauline?” When he hesitated, she swept up his hands in hers and said, “Tell me!”
It was a potent magical command, too strong to resist even if he wanted to. “It was bad,” said Benedict. “The curse sucked the life out of her. If Hark hadn’t been there, she would have died.”
His confession might have continued, but Morwena, stricken, let go of his hands. “Died?”
Benedict nodded, his face solemn. “I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but it’s the truth. She almost died on the way up here.”
Lara emerged from the shadows of the dimly lit wing and embraced Morwena. “Each time she went to the edge, love called her back.” She gazed in to Mowena’s eyes and said, “There is still healing that must be done, but she is stable now. Have hope, so that she will have hope!”
McGonagall emerged from the curtain and told Madam Pomphrey to send the Hufflepuffs to bed. She swept passed the teens and climbed the stairs towards Gregor’s office.
Lara went to Liam’s side and gave him a hug. Nodding her head towards Morwena, she said, “Take her back to her common room and then go to bed. We will be down in a little while.”
Liam said, “Come on, Wen. Off to bed. Doctor’s orders.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder and led her out the door and down the stairs.
The two walked side by side down the stairs. Morwena was silent. Her face was pale and tremors swept over her. Her pace slowed until she came to a complete stop. Liam had to climb several steps to come back to where she stood.
“Come on,” he said, and reached his arm out for her once more. She leaned against him, and then, with sudden force, the dam broke and she was weeping. Liam felt the whole of her weight against him. He leaned back against the stone wall and slowly lowered the two of them until they were sitting on the steps.
“It’s my fault,” she murmured.
“No,” said Liam sternly. “Don’t say that.” He raised her chin and gazed into her eyes. “Do not take one milligram of guilt off that brat. He did this to her. It’s his fault.”
“You don’t understand! I recruited Pauline into Slytherin House. I knew she was Muggleborn, and I did it anyway. I thought, as a five-witch coven, we could protect her.”
“You still can protect her. Lara said she’s got some healing to do yet,” said Liam. “She’s going to need all of you girls to help her.”
Tears overwhelmed her, and she sunk her head into his shoulder. He held her as she quivered and wept. He found himself stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. He remembered the time, when he was just eleven, when he found Sadie crying up in the Owlry and had done his best to comfort her. Sadie had pulled at his heartstrings. Morwena weeping, her head on his chest, her body in his arms, pulled ever harder at those heartstrings.
It would be years before he could look back on that moment with any sense of wisdom or objectivity. Then, he would understand that his lovemaking with Gillian was about pleasure and being daring. She wanted the thrill of being with him, the thrill of discovery and the risk of being discovered, all at once. But it had never been about intimacy and being vulnerable. Morwena, though fully clothed, had opened the tightly sprung jewel case of her soul to him. That moment on the stairs with Morwena was far more intimate than anything he had shared with Gillian.
Finally, the tears slowed. Liam got Morwena to her feet and led her down the Straight Stairs to the door of the Slytherin Common room. She gazed shyly up at him, and then, with a sudden motion, kissed him. Her boldness made them both blush. “I should go,” she said.
He stepped away, so that he would not hear the password, and watched her disappear from his view. With long strides, he made his way to the Hufflepuff common room. He met Benedict coming from the other direction. “Is Felwich okay?” asked Ben.
“Yes,” said Liam. “I took her back, just like I said.”
“I heard her crying,” said Benedict. “I saw the two of you together. I didn’t want to walk past you, so I went back. When I tried again, you were gone.”
“Where’s Lara and Hark?”
“They’re still with Pauline. He wanted another minute with her, and Lara thought it would help her. She’s going to need him. She’s going to need all of us. That’s what Lara said.”
“We’ve done our part for tonight,” said Liam. “It’s time for bed.”
The clock on the Hearth Room wall chimed once. It was already Saturday morning.
Harry Potter took Reginald Dennison to the Auror station in Godric’s Hollow. Reginald was placed in an empty cell which included a bed. Potter quickly wrote a brief summary report which he shared with the Duty Officer. He then returned home to his family. The transcript of Reginald’s confession followed about an hour later, and an hour after that, there was a report from Tatiana, the Healer from St. Mungo’s who had worked to heal and stabilize Pauline.
At six a.m., a letter went out from the school to Pauline’s parents notifying them that their daughter had been attacked by another student, and that the attacker was in the custody of authorities. A similar letter went out to the Dennisons informing them that their son was under arrest and facing expulsion.
Two hours later, the youngest Hufflepuffs gathered by the hearth, but there was no prefect to escort them to breakfast. Rainey asked Aylie, “Where is everybody?” Not even the Second Years had gone to a meal before on their own. Their prefects had always walked with them.
The Fourth Years lingered by the fire, too, for Bennie and Bell were not with them. Ava Swansea finally took charge. “We’re going to breakfast,” she said in her big sister voice. “It was a very late, very stressful night for some people. If you are loud and boisterous in the hallways, they are going to be quite short with you. So come along, quiet as hobbits, now!”
In the Great Hall, Sadie was sitting with the youngest of the Ravenclaws. As she expected, none of the Gryffindors had yet come down for breakfast. She watched Ava Swansea lead in the First and Second Year Hufflepuffs and noted the absence of all four prefects. There were no Fifth or Sixth Year Hufflepuffs at all.
There was a similar scene at the Sytherin table, with Alyssa Pitchfork playing prefect instead of Morwena and Q. Even her brother, typically an early riser even on weekends, had yet to make an appearance. What’s going on? thought Sadie. What happened last night?
While Sadie sat in the Great Hall, wondering where all her friends were, Renata Dennison stormed into the Auror office in Godric’s Hollow demanding to see her son. She was brought into the station to the holding cell where Reginald was. He had risen only a half hour before and given some cereal for breakfast.
“This is an overreaction, don’t you think?” she said to the day manager, a tall man in his fifties with slate grey hair. He said nothing back. To her son, she said, “What have you done this time? Do have any idea what I have to put up with? The neighbors gossiping all the time! If they aren’t talking about your father and all his crooked financial doings, they’re tutting their tongues about you! Now, McGonagall is threatening to expel you! We saved your neck last time, so you just assume that we can do it again?”
Reginald looked crossly at his mother but didn’t answer. She had never spoken so roughly to him before. Without waiting for an answer, she turned her attention to the day manager.
“I can take custody of my son now,” she said.
“Yes,” he said, “but you won’t. We’ve set a hearing for Monday morning at nine a.m. A judge will decide where the lad stays until the trial.”
“You’re being ridiculous! This is a complete overreaction by the Headmistress. She’s trying to make an example out of my son.”
He held up a stack of papers in his hand. “Ma’am,” he said, “in my business, no news is good news. And this is quite a bit of news. Reports have been coming in all night about your son. Now, I haven’t read any of it yet, but I did read the top sheet, and it says, and I quote, ‘Do not release. Family is an apparition risk. Accused should not be in proximity to his father’s extensive Dark Magic collection.’ To that, I can add that the young boy here has complained since he woke up that he himself was attacked last night. Since his assailant is yet unknown, the safest place for him is right where he is.”
“I’ll see you in court,” said Renata, coldly.
“That you will,” he answered amiably. She stormed from the room without a look back.
In the Great Hall, Aiden had made an appearance, along with Terrill Reese, Jason Carter and Freddy Jones. Reginald Dennison was notably missing. Intrigued, Sadie went to speak to her brother. Before she could reach him, Freya Felwich relocated from where she had been sitting, next to Alyssa and Meriko, and sat beside Aiden. The two began whispering to each other while Aiden eased an omelet onto his plate. Since Terrill was on Aiden’s other side, Sadie sat down across from him.
Freddy Jones was holding court, while a group of younger Slytherins, including Nolan Marrett, gave him their full attention. Sadie chose to listen rather than to pry answers out of Aiden. “We were just going to scare her, see? For a laugh! That’s all it was. Just a joke, right Carter?” Jason made no answer. His head was bent over his omelet. “But then, Reggie, the crazy git, had to go overboard like he always does. He cast one of his creepy spells on her.”
“What happened?” pressed Nolan, eagerly.
“Well, for starters, Harkenborough thrashed us,” said Freddy. “Knocked Jason here on his ass straight away, but Jason got off easy, didn’t you? Look at my cheek! See that scar? And my wand arm!” He pulled down his sleeve to show off the long red slashes to his forearm.
“Harkenborough scratched you?” asked Nolan, skeptically.
“It was his birds,” said Freddy solemnly. “Little yellow demons, they are. Screaming like banshees, clawing at me with razor sharp claws, pounding down on my head with their beaks. I got it bad, but Reggie got it worse than me. Hark sent most of the birds at him.”
Nolan’s main takeaway from this was that magical birds could be used as weapons of terror, but it was years before he could successfully conjure them.
Sadie made some quick calculations. “So, Dennison attacked a girl. Pauline? And Philip was with her, so he thrashed you. Well, good for him! And where is your wannabe Dark Lord this morning?”
Freddy didn’t know, and neither did Aiden. Jason spoke. “Harry Potter himself hauled him out of here by the ear. Potter came in with Longbottom. He must have been at McGonagall’s party.”
Sadie turned to Aiden. “Where were you when all this was happening?”
“Once I figured out what Dennison was up to, I tried to stop it, but he stunned me. He got both of us,” he added, indicating Terrill.
“It’s best that you didn’t have anything to do with it,” said Sadie.
At the Hufflepuff table, the Took twins were just sitting down to breakfast. “Ben is here now,” said Freya.
“Go,” said Aiden. “Tell me what he says.” She nodded and left.
“Aren’t you a pair of scheming Slytherins,” said Sadie.
Benedict and Belladonna arrived in the Hearth Room at the same time, about twenty minutes after Ava left with the younger students. Bell greeted her brother with a hug and asked, “When did you get in?”
“Just after one. I had done everything I could. Hark and Lara stayed later. A Healer from St. Mungo’s came to help out, too.”
“They sent us to bed around 11. We stayed up and waited for a bit, but when no one else came back, we went to bed.”
Pangs of guilt still plagued Ben. In a low voice, he said, “I saw her naked.”
“Who? Langlet?”
Ben nodded. “I was there when Lara changed her into a hospital gown. I was casting spells on her to keep her warm.”
“Was she even awake?” asked Bell. Ben shook his head no. “You weren’t supposed to look.”
“I know.”
“You better apologize to her.”
“When she wakes up, I will. I want to check on her right after breakfast.”
The twins went up to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ava was monitoring the younger students and dismissing those who were finished eating. As soon as Benedict sat down, the Little Coven came over from the Slytherin table to join him. Alyssa sat between Ben and Bell, while Meriko sat on Ben’s other side. Freya sat across from him, watching his reactions and leaning forward to catch any word he might say.
Alyssa started off the questioning. “So, there was a big ruckus between our Houses last night.” She repeated what Jones had said earlier to see if Ben or Bell would contradict or embellish. The twins, however, were tired and focused on their plates of omelets.
“It was a late night for us,” Bell said, finally. “A later night for Ben than it was for me. They sent me to bed around 11. Ben was up in the Hospital Wing half the night caring for Pauline.”
“How bad was she hurt?” asked Alyssa.
“It was bad,” said Ben. “Once the healer from St. Mungo’s arrived, I was mostly a gofer after that. Whatever they needed, I had to run and get it. Finally, things settled down. They sent me down after McGonagall arrived. I don’t know when Hark and Lara went to bed. They were out later than I was.”
He finished up his omelet and then pushed his plate away. “I want to go see her.”
“Who?” asked Alyssa. “Langlet? Surely, you’ve done enough for her. Everything should be sorted by this point.”
“She’s my patient,” said Ben firmly. “I want to see her.” He stood and strode from the room. Freya wanted to follow, but Alyssa decided to stay and get more details out of Bell, so Freya sat and listened.
Up the stairs Ben marched. At the Hospital Wing, there was another healer from St. Mungo’s sitting at a desk by the door. “We’re not taking visitors at the moment,” said the woman.
“I was one of the first responders last night,” said Ben. “I’d like to see my patient.”
“Name, please?”
“Benedict Took.”
“Keep it short, Mr. Took.”
Ben walked past the table. Pauline’s curtain was drawn, but not all the way. He slipped inside and gazed at her a moment before checking her vitals. “You’re doing very well,” he said. “Much better than last night.” Looking down at her sleeping face, he felt a sharp pang of heartache. “I did the best I could for you. Everything I knew how to do, I did. Lara did more, and Hark, too, but I did what I could.”
Her dark lashes curled upwards, as if she were a mascara model, though there was no makeup on her face at all at that point. There was something Hark had said in the night that seemed completely appropriate, so he repeated it to her. “What we wouldn’t do to see those green eyes again.”
Just then, her dark lashes lifted. Her green eyes, bleary at first, slowly focused on him. Ben felt his cheeks go flush. “Oh! You’re awake! I’ll get Madam Pomphrey!”