Misconception
Loki wiped the sweat from his forehead on the back of his sleeve. The fumes from the potion had heated the room up considerably. Thankfully, he was just about done. When he was finished, he ladled the potion into two vials. It should help Aaric and Amdis to begin to heal. He left the room and headed for the healing room his niece and nephew currently resided in. He handed one of the vials to Eir upon entry and then looked to the beds. Thor and Jane were between the two beds, hovering over their children. Both son and daughter were grey, and their breathing was shallow. A sheen of sweat covered their skin and soaked their clothes. They both had a damp cloth with a cooling spell on their foreheads. It was vital that they were kept cool. He administered the potion to Amdis while Eir administered the other to Aaric.
“I could cool the bed sheets down.” He said, looking up when she had swallowed the potion. “To help keep their temperature down.”
“Please.” Jane nodded.
Loki nodded and a small spell had the sheets of his niece’s bed rather cold. He had soon done the same for Aaric.
“The next day will be crucial.” Eir said. “If they do not wake by tomorrow night, the likelihood of them waking will decrease.”
A whimper left Jane’s throat at the thought and Thor placed his arms around her. Loki gripped his brother’s shoulder briefly. “I will go tell mother and father. If you need anything, call me.”
“Thank you, brother. And you, Lady Eir.” Thor said.
“I will continue to do everything in my power.” Eir said.
Loki nodded in agreement and then left. As he was walking the halls, he thanked the Norn’s that Kysa was on Midgard, out of the sickness’ reach.
Kysa sighed in relief as she opened the letter that Hugin had brought her. “They’ve woken up and are on the mend. Eir’s confident that they’ll be fine.” She read aloud.
Daphne and Hermione smiled. “There, you see,” Hermione said. “They’re alright. You didn’t need to work yourself into such a panic.”
Kysa hadn’t slept the whole night before, or the night before that and was now feeling all the worse for it. Draco finally sat down beside them.
“Morning.” He mumbled, as he helped himself to breakfast.
“Good morning Draco.” Daphne greeted. “Kysa’s cousins are on the mend. She received the letter just before you arrived.”
“Well that’s good to hear.” Draco said, hiding a yawn behind his hand. After he’d drunk his tea, he began to wake up a bit more. “Kysa don’t tell me that you didn’t sleep again last night.”
The bags under her eyes were growing and her usually pale skin was a sallow pale.
“She spent most of the night in the common room.” Hermione told him. “Worrying herself sick.”
“They’re my cousins. What was I supposed to do?” She began coughing. Taking a few long gulps of pumpkin juice, she soothed her itchy throat. Rhan looked up at her and yowled. Her eyes were worried. Kysa grabbed an empty plate and filled it up with meats and placed it on the floor next to her familiar. The large cat sniffed at the food, then her and then yowled again. She sensed mixed feelings from her familiar. “I don’t know what you want, Rhan. It’s what you normally have.”
“What’s wrong?” Draco asked.
“She’s worried about something. And I don’t know what.”
“She can sense your feelings right? Perhaps she’s worried for your cousins too. Because you are.” He said. It was a logical thought.
“Maybe.” Kysa replied to him.
Hermione placed a reassuring hand on her friends arm. “It’ll be fine.” She said. They finished their breakfast and went to History.
As the day progressed, Kysa began feeling progressively worse. She was sure that she knew what was happening. So, at one point, she crouched down beside Rhan. “Make sure you take care of Hermione while I’m ill girl, alright? I think it’s somehow spread to me, and I just know that the upstarts in our house will try something against Hermione otherwise. But this may just be a passing bug. It might be a lesser strain.”
Rhan just nuzzled her and mewled forlornly. She knew Kysa was ill, and the feline did not like it. This was something she could not protect her mistress from. They then hurried to catch up with the others who were heading for potions. Professor Snape had called her to his office the day after the confrontations with the Potters and asked as her head of house for the details of her relationship with the Potters. He had questioned her closely on blood adoption and what that meant. He summed it up nicely. “It’s broken all the connection you have with James Potter biologically and made you the half-sister of your twin.” She was sure that he had intervened where the Potters were concerned several times since. She took her seat next to Hermione and waited for the Slytherin head of house to enter. When he did, he glared at the Gryffindors and took the register, before putting the instructions on the board.
“Chop or pulverize?” Kysa asked her friend when they had grabbed the ingredients from the storage cupboard.
“Chop.”
Kysa nodded and grabbed the mortar and pestle and began grinding the right ingredients for the potion. About halfway through the lesson, Kysa began to feel ill and sore. It was small at first, before it increased, until she could not concentrate on her potion, but only on the pain and the feeling of her stomach roiling. She was starting to feel dizzy too.
Hermione steadied her when she swayed suddenly, and Professor Snape was soon beside them. “Miss Lokidottir, is there any ingredient you were using that you are allergic too? Or ingredients that when combined you are allergic too?”
Kysa shook her head, unable to say anything, before she swayed again.
“Professor, her cousins have been ill recently. As have several others back in her home. Perhaps this is that?” Hermione informed him, her voice worried.
Snape nodded. “Pack away both yours and Miss Lokidottir’s things, Miss Granger and bring them with you. We are going to the hospital wing. The rest of you- keep working.” He supported his student out of the room with Hermione following close behind. It was near the end of the lesson, so she knew that there wasn’t much point in her going back and continuing on her own later anyway. Rhan was on Kysa’s other side, supporting her mistress as much as she could. Madam Pomfrey said nothing as Kysa was brought in. She merely motioned to a bed, which Snape helped Kysa onto, before stepping back.
“Miss Granger has a rather plausible theory of what is wrong with her.” Snape said.
“Whatever it is, it had better cover why Miss Lokidottir is burning up. Her temperature is increasing dramatically.” Madam Pomfrey said. In the back of her mind Kysa thought that was quite the achievement. Especially seeing as she was part Jotun.
“Mione.” She groaned.
“I’m here.” Hermione came forward.
“My dad, you have too-” she broke off coughing suddenly, before she brought up her breakfast.
“Easy now.” The matron said, banishing the bile with a wave of her wand. “Don’t worry. We will contact your father. Miss Granger, you have an idea?”
“Her cousins and others around their age have been ill back in Asgard. I think it might be that. But if it is, Madam Pomfrey, she needs help from her family and others- like Eir. She told us about it. It can be lethal.”
“Lethal?” Snape asked. “Are you sure?”
Hermione nodded. “But it only affects children from five to thirteen. No one knows why. But I don’t think it’s a problem for mortals.”
Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Thank you for telling me this. We will definitely ensure her father is contacted. Somehow.”
“Kysa’s mentioned before, about the Avengers. I think, if you can’t get a message to her family, that they would know how.”
“Who are these Avengers? I’ve never heard of them.”
“Her dad and uncle are a part of the group. They’re all what are known as Superheroes in the muggle world. They all possess extraordinary talents and protect the whole world from extreme threats. The one who’s most well-known is a man named Tony Stark. He’s a genius and a billionaire. He’s probably your best bet. Him or Steven Rogers. I don’t know the real names of the others.”
“Thank you Miss Granger.” Madam Pomfrey said. “I will bear that in mind.”
“Mione, watch your back.” Kysa warned her, before her eyes closed. She was visibly shivering all over, and a thin sheen of sweat had already appeared on her forehead.
“Madam Pomfrey, this reminds me of an epidemic I read about once. It was called the sweating sickness and was prevalent from around 1485 to 1551.” Hermione said.
The healer nodded. “I have heard of it. But she seems to have almost completely missed what is known as the ‘cold stage’ and gone straight to the ‘hot stage’.”
“She was dizzy, and in pain I think, during potions. That was part of the first stage, right?”
“But there were no cold shivers. And she may have been in pain. You are unsure yes? But, I will do what I can until her father can get here or send something. I have a range of potions and there are spells to keep her cool. Don’t fret Miss Granger. I will take good care of your friend. You had best be off to lunch.”
“Alright Madam Pomfrey.” By the time Hermione had placed her things back in the Slytherin Common room and then reached the great hall, lunch had already started. It was then that she noticed her follower. “What are you doing here Rhan? Shouldn’t you be with Kysa? She needs you right now.”
Rhan looked up at her, before the big cat nudged her hand and then padded into the great hall. The first year just shook her head and followed.
“What did Madam Pomfrey have to say?” Draco asked.
“Will Kysa be alright?”
“They’re going to make sure that they alert her father somehow. But…”
“But what?” Daphne asked.
Hermione glanced up at the teachers table and then back at her two fellow first years. “I don’t trust them. Especially not the headmaster.” She refrained from mentioning Professor Potter. He was supportive of the Potters, and they him. While she normally had the utmost respect for authoritative figures, this time she had a feeling that she would need to go behind their back. “Now, I told them one way that I know may lead to getting in contact with her father. But I know another channel too. Kysa can talk for ages about her.”
“You mean this Caia?” Draco asked, his voice low.
Hermione nodded. “I know she has some sort of connection to the wizarding world, and the group her father and Uncle work alongside while on Midgard. We can get a letter to her. They don’t even know who she is. At least, not in relation to Kysa.”
“My, you are a worthy Slytherin, sneaking around like this.” Daphne smiled. “You’re going to need an owl. And not a school one. Those are monitored. Draco, let her use yours.”
“Why?” Immediately he was on the defensive. If it was one thing he didn’t like- it was being ordered around. He was normally the one doing the ordering.
“Think of it this way Draco, you can either let her use your owl, and therefore get word to the right people that a certain princess is ill and in need of aid from her own people and then be known for doing your bit to help said royal, or you can let Hermione use a monitored owl, get caught, and then know that the message not reaching the right people was your fault. Your choice.”
“When you put it that way. Come on. You can write the letter in the owlry. It’s more private up there anyway.” Their whole conversation had passed in whispers, and no one else had even taken note of it. So, the three got up and left, and Rhan padded along with them, remembering her mistress’ request.