The Lions' Daughter
Everything smelled sterile, well except for a slight floral scent.
Violets maybe?
The stones she had fallen against no longer felt hard. The stones felt soft, pillowy. They smelled like cotton.
Her hair wasn't in her face and didn't itch her nose anymore, it felt up and smelled like honeydews.
Someone was chattering beside her and someone had her hand. The hand was calloused and larger than Minnie's
"Minnie." The voice of her father called her name, "Minerva Aine."
"Dad?" Minnie opened her eyes.
The hospital wing was blinding with light.
As her vision came through, she saw her her dad was wearing one of his few unstained shirts and a spacious grin. There were a few bandages across his forehead and in the morning light the flecks of gray in his hair were slightly more visible.
"You are ok?" She asked. She wanted to sit up and hug him, but the pain in her body prevented her movements.
"Yeah." He said before kissing her unhurt hand, "I'm right as rain or better. How do you feel?"
Her wrist held a burning pain, but it wasn't so intense anymore. It was wrapped in some kind of sling. Her head on the other hand felt like it had been pressed under a horse's hooves.
"My head hurts."
"You hit your head pretty hard when you tackled Crawford, you also broke your wrist." Her dad softly explained, "Madame Pomfrey says you will recover quickly."
"How's mum?" Minnie looked around and noticed her mother asleep in the bed beside her. She began pushing herself up. "Lark-he-he-"
"And she's survived." Her dad put his hands on her shoulders, "Please Minnie, you shouldn't exert yourself."
"But mum."
"She's been sleeping a long time." His eyes drifted over to the bed directly beside Minnie.
"It's my fault dad." Minnie explained, the back of her throat felt like claws had been dragged down it, "I let that man in."
"Yes, but from what I hear, you are a bit of a hero."
"I'm not, mum's laid up and I was just trying to make sure nothing happened to her."
"Oh don't start that Min." He said with a light pat of her hand.
"I didn't save mum. It's my fault she and everyone else was in harms way." Minnie argued back, remembering the sound of her mother's screams ringing through her ears.
"Madame Pomfrey says that if you hadn't stunned Lark, the curse would have killed her." Her dad gruffly insisted.
Minnie felt a weight leave her chest. "How did you know I stunned him?"
"When they carted him to Askaban, he kept moaning about how it was impossible he had been stunned by a little fifteen year old girl in a pink sweater." Her dad lifted his chin and un-charismatically winked, "Good job on that."
She said not feeling the energy to smile. "So they found everyone?"
"Yes." He tipped his head, "Your mum was able to distract Crawford long enough."
Minnie nodded, "I wasn't sure, things get fuzzy after a while."
"What do you remember?"
Minnie relayed everything as best she could remember, trying to remember what she could.
"I remember something else, I saw Patronuses near the end." Minnie said with a little memory. "There, there was a Lion, and I know I didn't cast one. I thought I died."
"After we were all found, while the Aurors took everyone to safety, I went with your Godfather to find you and your mum." Her dad breathed out. "We were worried there would be dementors so we cast Patronuses to light the way."
"The lion was yours?" Minnie asked, feeling quite confused.
He nodded, "Yeah."
"I thought you only had a non-corporeal Patronus?" Minnie asked as she managed to sit up a little.
"You hear that from Jack?" He asked holding her head. He looked over the wrapping on her head.
"He said you didn't have happy enough memories." Minnie mentioned.
"Your uncle is a very, don't tell him I said this, smart man, but he doesn't know everything." Her dad rubbed his neck looking around the hospital room and everyone in it.
Minnie managed to chuckle a bit, thinking about how her Uncle would dance if he knew her dad had called him smart.
Her dad leaned down to her and in a hushed tone whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"
"I'll do my best."
He chuckled, "Can you guess what my happiest memory is?"
Minnie tilted her head, quite confused.
"The day you were born." He kissed her forehead before saying, "You looked up at me with those big brown eyes and I realized that everything that had ever happened, was worth it to have a daughter like you."
What small esteem Minnie had held onto seemed to grow greatly under the compliments of her father. Minnie managed another smile through her sobs, "I love you dad."
"I love you too Minnie." He answered, tears glazing the edge of his eyes. He pat the edge of her foot. "Now come on, rest up, you need to be at your best when your mum wakes up. Madame Pomfrey made me promise I'd tell you to go back to sleep if you woke up."
"Where's Alice?"
"She's safe." Her dad began to tuck her into the bed, pushing the blankets around her, "Everyone's safe, and that's what matters. Go to sleep."
Minnie laid back, "Will you stay with us?"
"Of course." He nodded a little, his eyes darting over to her mother. "I wouldn't leave."
Minnie tried to sleep, but she couldn't.
She found a small solace that her father wasn't just the person she could talk with, but he was also the person she could be silent with. She could sit and watch the other patients in the hospital wing.
She was very relieved to see that a family of red heads were gathered around a bed, with Josie's arms wrapped around her dad's neck.
Everyone had family and friends visiting them. Smiles abounded around the room. Minnie counted the beds, everyone who had been missing was now found.
It was a few hours before her mother's eyes began to flutter open.
Her mother mumbled something as her eyes peeled open, "Meeeniiie!"
"Sam." Her dad said taking her mum's hand.
"Is Minnie alright?" Her mum asked as her eyes opened fully. "Is she here? I was awake when she fell. That damned tosser he hurt my baby while she tried to protect me. I tried, I tried Nev, please tell me she's alive!"
"Minnie is just fine, she's here." Her dad said nodding over to Minnie.
"Minnie!" Her mum called for her.
"Hey mum." Minnie reached for her mum's hand.
"You alright baby girl?" Her mum asked taking her hand. "I saw you tackle Crawford. He didn't hurt you did he?"
Her dad explained, "She's got a good bump on her head and she's got a broken wrist, Madame Pomfrey says she will be right as rain soon."
"Oh my sweet girl." Her mum said squeezing her hand, "My brave girl. You needed to stay where you were. He hurt you."
"He would have killed you mum."
"She saved your life Sam, she stunned Crawford." Her dad explained, "And Harry and I were able to find you."
"Baby girl!" Her mother dopily gawked, "You saved my life and your dad's life, and I imagine you saved many lives."
"It's nothing mum, it was my fault he was here."
"No baby! Crawford is to blame, not you." Her mother almost shouted making Madame Pomfrey insist she needed to calm down.
"Baby girl, you are a hero." Her mother said in a calmer tone.
"I tried to tell her that, I don't think she's hearing either of us." Her dad laughed a little, "She gets that depreciative shit from you."
"Or you." Her mum said, her eyes now falling onto Minnie's dad.
Her mother turned her attention fully to him. She grabbed his face and kissed him without hesitancy.
"I thought I'd lost you." Her mother said after letting go.
"I'm the one supposed to be saying that." He laughed a little before kissing her again. "What were you thinking? With your condition?"
"Well what was I supposed to do?" Her mother asked frantically between affectionate gestures. "Leave you there?"
"Well, I hate seeing you in this hospital bed again honestly." He answered and Minnie felt like vomiting.
She knew her parents loved each other. Which was good. It wasn't every day they just macked on each other's faces. Minnie couldn't actually remember a time they'd been like that. All of the disgust she'd carried from Aberforth's conversation resurfaced.
Minnie just looked away.
"Crawford said he killed you." Her mother exclaimed with a whimper.
The sounds of kissing entered her ears again before her dad answered.
"No, they were keeping us alive to feed the Dementors. Poor Gladrags had been there for so long, she's having a hard time adjusting to sunlight." Her dad explained, "She will live though, she's with her family now."
"Mummy! Dad!" Alice's shrill voice shrieked through the hospital wing. "Minnie!"
Her shrill voice was followed by the sounds of running footsteps. Alice dove atop their mother in a cascade of big pink flowers and bouncy blonde curly pig tails. Duke flew in behind her before nudging each of their cheeks.
Madame Pomfrey was sure to have a conniption. She exclaimed, "Miss Longbottom, please mind their delicacy!"
No one really minded Pomfrey her as their mother held Alice in her arms. Her mother kissed Alice's face repeatedly. Everyone began laughing.
Duke landed upon Minnie's mother's shoulder, curling up in a ball before licking her cheek.
"I'm ever so happy none of you are dead!" Alice exclaimed before grabbing her father around the neck and kissing his cheek.
Alice climbed over her mother before next diving onto Minnie. She flew into a rage of sticky kisses upon her face. Minnie's arm hurt as Alice ignored her sling with her affection.
"Oh Minnie." Alice exclaimed as she sat herself beside her, "Lysander, Cody and I were all so worried about you! Especially after Cas said you'd stayed behind."
"It's Cas now?" Minnie asked feeling a smile peel upon her face.
"Of course it is!" Alice exclaimed as she pulled herself from Minnie's arms, "It bloody well, better be. He saved our lives!"
"What?" Minnie asked readjusting her broken arm.
"The train was attacked." Alice said as she pulled up a chair, "By dementors."
"Holy crickets." Minnie said feeling her eyes widen.
"Cody, Lysander and I, we were all arguing with Cas. He was preventing us from coming to find you." Alice continued, "We were hoping to get off the train somehow, Cody and I had our broomsticks, we could have made it back here to help."
"It's very good you didn't." Their dad said with a nod, "It was a mad house here."
"I realize that now." Alice groaned, "But when the dementors attacked, only Cody could do a Patronus successfully and he couldn't quite manage. Cas did though! Oh his fox Patronus is quite beautiful. It has a very slender tail."
"He did?" Minnie asked sitting up a little. Cas had never managed one before. Her head pounded a bit more as Alice spoke.
"Yeah, he held them off." Alice sat up a little. "He kept us from getting sick and he passed out Chocolate frogs. Then while the Headmistress fended the rest off with the Aurors, he stood guard."
Minnie would need to thank him for taking her request so seriously.
"I've made a very precise decision that you can date him as long as you like and I won't attempt to break you up." Alice said with a smile.
"I don't feel like that's up to you, you little Terror." Their dad scolded.
"All the same, I approve." Alice said before kissing Minnie's cheek. "Now I must hear everything."
"What do you mean Lissy?" Minnie asked.
"I want to know what happened." Alice sat herself onto her elbows. "Everyone in school says you are quite the hero."
Minnie's ears began to feel warm, especially as her parents chided in.
"She is a hero. She's a real little lion." Her dad chuckled, "Just like her mum."
Her mum weakly smiled, "She's braver than I, I think, so it's appropriate."
Minnie felt overwhelmed, but decided to take the opportunity. How many more times in her life would she really have to talk more than Alice and her mum?
As her sister's eyes lit up with pride, Minnie began to believe she maybe was a bit of a hero, even if it was just to Alice.