In Poppy's Care

Chapter 5: In Poppy's Care

March 21-23, 1997

I opened my eyes to find the light from a wand aimed at my face. Instantly I raised an arm to block the bright glare, catching a brief glimpse of the wand holder in the process. But instead of Lucius Malfoy's triumphant leer, I found Remus' pale, frightened face hovering over me. I tried to speak, but my voice wasn't cooperating. A sort of croak emerged; it was the best I could do.

"It's all right, Kailin. You're safe!" Remus tore off his jacket and spread it over me, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder. "Tonks! Over here!"

The wand-light flashed upwards, and gold sparks flew into the air. Then Remus turned the light back on me, searching for any apparent injuries and brushing the hair out of my face. I'm sure I looked a sight, blackened with soot and mud and God knows what else.

"We've got to get you out of here," Remus said, his expression grim. "Where are you hurt?"

"Ankle," I mumbled. "I think I broke it. I don't know what else."

He picked me up as though I weighed nothing and began to trudge through the trees. I groaned aloud; the multitude of aches and pains told me that more than a broken ankle was involved. But then the warmth of his body began to penetrate my thin tee-shirt, bringing the sensation of life seeping back into me.

"Warm," I gasped.

"What?"

"Warm," I repeated. "Feels good..."

"Hold on, Kailin. Don't you dare die on me!"

I heard footsteps, and when I opened my eyes again I saw a second lit wand bobbing toward us. Tonks appeared moments later. "Oh, no! Is she all right, Remus?"

"She's hurt. We've got to get help."

"St. Mungo's?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You know what'll likely happen if I take her there. We've got to go to a Muggle hospital."

I wanted to ask how they intended to call an ambulance, but my brain and mouth still seemed disconnected somehow. I contented myself with listening in on the conversation.

"Here, cover her with my cloak. It's bigger than your jacket..."

Suddenly there was something heavy wrapped around me, forming a cozy cocoon that felt wonderful. "Why are you here, Tonks?" I asked drowsily.

Nymphadora Tonks' heart-shaped face wavered in the dim light, but I was sure that I saw her wink. "Just fancied a walk in the woods. Naw, just joking. It was my turn to be on call tonight. Wasn't that was a major stroke of luck!"

Whatever... The warmth beginning to flow through my body was the ultimate relaxant. I closed my eyes and let myself drift away. The rest was a blur of voices and impressions.

"You can't take her on the Knight Bus, can you?"

"I can and I will. I'd like to see them stop me. She's hurt and she needs help."

"I'd avoid St. Mungo's at all costs. They'll want to Obliviate her, you know."

"What'll you tell them at a Muggle hospital?"

"...Portkey to Hogwarts?"

"Hang on, Kailin."

Once again, the world went black.

* * *

The mingled smell of antiseptic and pharmaceuticals was a terribly familiar one. I opened my eyes and tried to make sense of my surroundings.

Bright sunlight greeted me as I gingerly lifted my head and looked about. I was obviously in a hospital ward somewhere, swaddled tightly under a crisply starched sheet and warm woolen blanket. A series of old-fashioned, wheeled white screens shielded me from seeing beyond the immediate vicinity, while above me a vaulted ceiling soared into the distance. To my right, Remus was sprawled face down on the bed next to mine, fully clothed and looking exhausted. From the quiet, rhythmic rise and fall of his back, I guessed that he must be sound asleep.

"Hello there." A woman in an outmoded nurse's uniform appeared around the edge of the screen. "Kailin, is it?"

I nodded.

"I'm Poppy Pomfrey, the matron here at Hogwarts. I'm quite pleased to make your acquaintance, although the circumstances are rather unfortunate," she said, clucking her tongue.

"I'm at Hogwarts?" I was stunned. How had I gotten from Kent to the northern reaches of Scotland?

"You are," the woman affirmed.

"How did I get here?" My mind was trying hard to wrap itself around the improbability of the situation.

"Magic. You needed care, and the most reasonable solution at the time was to transport you here."

"Oh." I gave up my efforts at logic and turned my head to glance at my husband. "Is he all right?"

"He's fine," Madam Pomfrey told me. "Completely worn out, but fine."

"He looks like he could sleep for a year."

Poppy gazed at him fondly. "We go way back, Remus and me. He was a regular patient of mine every month while at school, did he ever tell you?"

"Yes. He was terribly disappointed that you couldn't make it to our wedding."

"I was abroad at the time, visiting my son. Believe me when I say that I would have been there if I could. Remus Lupin means that much to me."

I tentatively flexed muscles and wiggled extremities. "How am I?"

"Quite well, considering."

"Which means what?"

"You have a sprained ankle, a number of scrapes and cuts, a broken collarbone, and mild lung irritation. It could have been much worse."

"I'm not burned?" I held my breath, waiting to hear her answer.

Poppy shook her head. "Nothing worse than you'd get from sunbathing too long on the beach. You are a very lucky young woman."

Sweet relief washed over me. Madam Pomfrey continued.

"I understand that you are in Muggle medicine."

"Yes."

"Then let me share with you what I've done. I've mended your collarbone with an incantation, although it'll be a bit tender in that area for a while. I used salves and ointments for your scrapes and burns and a potion for your lungs. The sprained ankle, however, will take a while. I could have mended it in second if it had been broken, but I'm afraid soft tissue injuries heal only when they're ready."

I nodded. What she said about sprains was true: they took a long time to heal. Magic might be able to fix fractures, I thought, but it couldn't take care of everything. It was an oddly comforting thought.

"Could I have a drink of water, please?" I requested.

"Of course." Poppy moved to my bedside table and poured a glass from a stoneware pitcher. She helped me sit up a bit – I could see what she meant about the collarbone area being a bit tender – and gulped the water down greedily.

"What time is it?"

"Eight o'clock."

My brain awoke fully with a jolt. "In the morning?" I yelped, struggling to sit up all the way. At once every cell in my body screamed out in protest. I groaned and sagged back onto the pillow.

"Here, now!" Madam Pomfrey scolded, bustling around the bed, replacing the covers. "You'll need to lie quietly for several days if you want to heal properly!"

"But I need to call work and let them know I'm here. I mean, I have to tell them that I'm hurt and won't be in for a while –"

"I'm sure Remus can take care of that when he wakes," Poppy said sternly, fixing me with a look that she probably used to reduce students to a state of quivering submission. I decided abruptly that she wasn't as friendly as she first appeared. In fact, I thought she looked rather like the sort who would keep her bedpans in a refrigerator.

"Remus is awake," a sleepy voice said, and I glanced over to see my husband swinging his legs over the side of the next bed and running a hand through tousled hair, looking anxious. "What's wrong?"

"Work," I said worriedly. "I have to let them know that I won't be in."

"Oh." Remus visibly sagged with relief. "Is that all?"

"Is that all? They can fire me if I don't call in. In fact, I'll need a doctor's note if I'm off for a week or more!"

He yawned and moved from his bed to perch on the edge of mine. "I'll take care of it, dearest. You just relax."

"Listen to your husband, even if you won't listen to me," Poppy said, nodding stern agreement. "I'll be back shortly. I need to fetch another dose of the Aeration Elixir."

I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that I was unable to do anything else at the moment. Could it be possible that this had all started less than twelve hours ago? It seemed a lifetime.

"I thought I was going to die," I said as Madam Pomfrey's footsteps disappeared into the distance. At once, my throat constricted and hot tears pricked my eyes. I worked one arm out from under the covers and reached for my husband.

Remus took my hand and enclosed it firmly in his own. I suspected that his smile was meant to be encouraging, but it was a pale imitation of the real thing. "I thought I'd lost you," he murmured.

I was unable to respond as tears began to trickle down my cheeks. Remus wiped them away, first with a tender hand, then with the corner of the bed sheet. Words were unnecessary. It was enough that we were alive and together.

Finally, Remus spoke up. "Can you tell me about it?"

I nodded, trying valiantly to contain my emotions. "I fell asleep, and suddenly there were all these banging noises."

"Banging noises?"

"The cottage windows. They were slamming shut. Remember how we opened them all before you left?"

Remus nodded, and I went on.

"There was something – I don't know, something evil that you could almost feel. I tried to get out of the house but when I tried the front door, it seemed like it was sealed shut. No matter which way I turned the lock, it wouldn't budge. And then the fire started and I tried opening the windows to climb out, but they wouldn't open either. I even tried to break the glass with those dog dishes, but they just bounced off."

"Those bowls that were lined up in the kitchen?" Remus' eyes widened in amazement. "They were enormous. They should have easily shattered the glass."

"They didn't," I said, grimacing. "They just bounced off and broke into pieces."

Remus frowned. "I wonder... Some variant of the Imperturbable charm, I suppose. Go on. How did you manage to get out?"

"The dog flap."

"The what?"

"The silly dog flap," I repeated with a weak smile. "I was on the kitchen floor and I heard a dog bark. I don't know why it caught my attention, but it did. When I looked up, I could see smoke slipping out the cracks around the dog door. I lunged for it and managed to squeeze myself through. I guess that's when I cracked my collarbone; I thought I felt something snap just then."

"You heard a dog bark?" Remus ignored my collarbone and backtracked to the barking dog. He looked startled by this revelation.

"Yes. Why? Is that important?" The point was that I'd been able to escape through the flap. Remus was looking as bewildered as if I'd told him aliens had transported me to safety.

A myriad of emotions sped across my husband's face. He drew a deep, shaky breath. "It's just that – well, when I got back to the cottage, I saw the fire and the Dark Mark..."

"Yes?"

Remus made a helpless motion with his hands. "I was screaming, I think. I don't recall much from that moment, to be honest. All I knew was that flames were shooting through the roof and that you were inside. I sent a message off to the Aurors, and just then I heard a dog barking at me."

I was missing something here. "You heard the dog, too?"

"I heard and saw the dog. It was off to the side of the cottage." He hesitated. "You're going to think I'm mad, Kailin, but I could swear that it was Padfoot. Sirius in his animagi form."

I stared at him, a shiver coursing down my spine. Remus continued, looking almost apologetic for asking me to believe such a thing.

"It – he," he amended, "was barking like mad, clearly trying to get me to follow him. If it had been any other dog, I wouldn't have turned away from the cottage, but –"

"He led you to me?" I ventured breathlessly.

Remus nodded slowly. "I'm sure of it."

I thought about this. In a world where magical things were commonplace, who was I to say that Sirius Black hadn't come back to lead the wife of his good friend to safety?

"So Sirius saved my life," I whispered.

Remus' eyes were moist. Wordlessly, I gripped my husband's hand.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey brought me a cup of broth not too long after. It smelled and tasted heavenly, but Remus had merely rolled his eyes in contempt.

"Do you know how much of that stuff I've drunk in this very place? Enough to float a navy. And I don't ever recall thinking of it as 'heavenly'."

"I don't care. It tastes great to me," I said, clutching the cup with both hands.

"Would you like some too, Remus?" Madam Pomfrey inquired, having overheard only half of the conversation.

"No, thank you, Poppy. I've had my share," he said politely.

She chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "After Kailin's finished with her broth, I'm going to move her to one of the private rooms so she can be undisturbed."

Remus smiled. "One of 'my rooms'?"

"Yes, indeed."

"So she can be undisturbed or undetected?" he wanted to know.

Poppy eyed him shrewdly. "A bit of both. We're fortunate that there hasn't been a parade of students by this morning, with all their minor complaints about upset stomachs and whatnot."

Fifteen minutes later, I was barely resettled into a sunny private room when there were footsteps and voices outside.

"Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall are here to see you," Madam Pomfrey told me. "Are you up to it? I'd prefer that you take a nap, you know."

"I'll nap later," I promised her. "Please send them in."

Remus rose from his bedside chair to greet the pair as they entered in a flurry of robes. Albus Dumbledore always looked impressive; his garb automatically conveyed a sense of grandeur while the true indicator of authority was radiated by the man himself. Some months ago, when Remus had told me Dumbledore's age, I'd been floored. Minerva, meanwhile, looked distressed, and I suddenly remembered that her sister had lost her home because of me.

"Ah..." A warm smile spread over Dumbledore's face. "I'm delighted to see you awake and doing so well, Kailin."

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Not at all," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm delighted that we were able to be of assistance. Bringing you here actually solved a host of problems for us. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Well, not so fine, but better." I wondered about the 'host of problems', but didn't ask. I turned my attention to Minerva. "Professor McGonagall, I'm so terribly sorry. Your sister's house –"

"Kailin, don't even dream of apologizing," she said, her Scottish accent more pronounced than usual. "I'm more sorry than I can say. To think that I nearly sent you to your death!"

"But if it had been any other house, I probably wouldn't have survived."

"What do you mean?"

Remus explained about my escape through the dog door. By the time he finished, McGonagall was shaking her head in amazement.

"Miranda and all her dogs! I've never approved of her menagerie, but it looks as though for once they served a purpose."

"But her home is gone," I protested.

Minerva shrugged. "As long as her precious dogs weren't involved, I'm sure she'll be quite all right. She often talked about doing a major renovation on the place anyway. What disturbs me more is that someone in the Leaky Cauldron overheard me directing you to her cottage last night."

"Do you think they might have overheard your private conversation with Remus?" I asked, wondering if their discussion about the affairs of the Order had also reached unwelcome ears.

McGonagall shook her head. "It did occur to me when I first learned of the fire, but it was far too noisy in the pub proper. I'm sure no one overheard that part."

Remus agreed. "We discussed the cottage when you were leaving, Minerva. It was quieter out by the Floo grates, although I didn't notice anyone lurking nearby."

"And Malfoy wasn't around," I put in. "Believe me, I was on the lookout for him. It had to be him, though. I'm sure of it."

"Ah, yes. Mr. Malfoy..." Dumbledore's voice was much softer now. "On the way here, Professor McGonagall explained about your encounters with him. Tell me, Kailin, did he threaten to harm you?"

"Not exactly, although he told me that associating with werewolves could be deadly. I suppose you could take that as a threat. And in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have mouthed off to him." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at this, and I went on. "I called him a nasty bigot and told him to get out of my face."

Professor Dumbledore chuckled in delight. "How wonderful! I wish I could do the same. Unfortunately I spend far too much time dancing on political eggshells – a sad requirement of being Headmaster, I'm afraid. Kailin, Remus, I've read the report that Nymphadora Tonks is submitting this morning. You'll be pleased to know that what reaches her supervisor, and eventually the Daily Prophet, will not give any specifics of the case."

"Good," I said, relieved. The fact that Tonks, the responding Auror, was a member of the Order meant that the official report would be spun in our favor.

"Thank you, Albus," Remus said earnestly.

Albus nodded acknowledgement. "I will ask Severus Snape to use his contacts to determine if Malfoy was indeed responsible, and if anyone else was involved. Right now, he is of the opinion that whoever started the fire probably acted alone and not under the direction of Lord Voldemort. In other words, it looks less like an organized Death Eater attack than an act of pure spite.

"It's a miracle you survived, Kailin. It does, however, raise one more issue. Providing Malfoy did it – and let's assume that he did, for the sake of argument – he doubtless believes you to be dead. Therefore, it won't do for you or Remus to parade around Hogwarts in plain view while you're recuperating here. Remus does not look the part of a grieving husband, and you, my dear, look far too alive."

I smiled at the comment. Dumbledore continued.

"Your meals will be sent up, of course. If there's anything you might want from the Library to pass the time, Remus, I'll see that Madam Pince brings it by. I'm truly sorry to have to confine you like this, but as you know, there are students here with close ties to Voldemort's followers – Malfoy's own son, among them. We must be cautious."

As Dumbledore and McGonagall turned to go, I remembered the one thing we hadn't mentioned about last night, and I glanced up at my husband. "Did you want to tell them about the dog?"

"Dog?" Minerva echoed.

Remus shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "It's nothing important."

"Then I'll talk more with you two after Severus has something to report," Albus said. "Meanwhile, just rest and recuperate. You're safe here."

I turned to Remus when the pair had left. "Why didn't you tell them that you think Sirius saved my life?"

Remus squeezed my hand. "It's neither here nor there, dearest. In the long run, all it amounts to is that you claim you heard a dog and I say I saw Padfoot. Frankly, I think it's very private and very special. I may tell Dumbledore about it someday, but not now."

"Do you think he wouldn't believe you?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm certain he'd believe me. I just don't know that I'm ready to share the secret."

* * *

The Daily Prophet carried the story of the fire, although it was little more than a brief blurb:

Death Eaters (followers of He-Who-We-Wish-Had-Not-Returned) were apparently responsible for a fire last night at a cottage outside Gravesend, Kent, according to a report filed by Aurors this morning. The cottage belongs to Miss Miranda McGonagall, who is out of the country at the present time. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement would neither confirm nor deny the rumor that a Muggle woman died in the fire.

I mended under Madam Pomfrey's excellent ministrations while Remus caught up on his rest and relaxation. That first day, Poppy spent much time plying me with potions and salves and insisting that I sleep. It was the exact opposite of the trend in Muggle medicine, where we launch people out of bed at the earliest opportunity in order to keep the insurance companies happy. I enjoyed playing the role of pampered patient until the second day, when I'd had my fill of sleep and was dying to know what was involved in wizarding healing procedures.

I devoured every textbook that Poppy owned, finding one more fascinating than the next. Many of the modern Muggle drugs had their basis in the herbs and preparations used in medicinal potions. And what Muggles lacked when it came to magic, we made up for with our array of technology. Still, both boiled down to skilled practitioners caring for those in need. Interestingly enough, we had more in common than I'd expected.

On the third day, Severus Snape stood with Dumbledore at the foot of my bed, regarding me with the same disinterest that he always displayed in my presence. He had spoken with Lucius Malfoy the night before, he said, and in the course of the conversation Malfoy mentioned that he'd had a 'bit of fun' Thursday night. A large snifter of brandy later, it was revealed that in a fit of pique, he had set fire to a house where a Muggle woman was staying, ridding the world of another piece of filth and proclaiming Voldemort's superiority by displaying the Dark Mark in the sky. What puzzled him, however, was that the act hadn't garnered much press in the Daily Prophet.

"I suggested to him that perhaps the remoteness of the house was to blame," Snape said, his face expressionless. "Without witnesses, his grand gesture went unnoticed. And if there is anything Malfoy despises, it's going unnoticed."

I suppose that meant that if Lucius Malfoy ever tried to come after me again, he'd do so in the middle of Trafalgar Square. Remus thanked Snape for his inquiries on my behalf, and Snape responded that it was no more than he would do for anybody in the Order. Given the poorly concealed loathing he generally displayed toward my husband, it was probably the closest the two would ever come to a cordial relationship.

"Professor Snape," I said, stopping the man as he turned to leave.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," I said simply, holding his eyes with my own. I would no longer wonder why the Order kept him around.

Snape merely nodded acknowledgement before turning on his heel and departing.

I glanced around at Remus and Dumbledore. For two men who had just heard a virtual confession from Lucius Malfoy – albeit secondhand – they didn't seem very happy.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "This is good news, isn't it? We thought Malfoy had attacked the cottage, and now we know."

Remus perched on the side of the bed and reached for my hand. "I'm afraid that's as far as it can go, Kailin," he said gently.

"What do you mean?" I didn't like the sound of this.

"If you accuse Lucius Malfoy of attempted murder," Dumbledore told me, "you will be discredited at once. The sad reality of the situation is that no one will listen to a Muggle who is married to a werewolf, regardless of the truth. Besides, while the Ministry may have awakened to the realities of Voldemort's return, the money in Malfoy's pocket still speaks louder. He's publicly proclaiming to be on the side of the greater good these days, and people believe him."

"But we have proof. Snape said –"

"You cannot prosecute, Kailin. To do so exposes Severus as a spy and I will not allow that to happen." Dumbledore sighed, as though a great weight had settled upon him.

I turned to my husband, hoping against hope for some kind of support. But Remus' expression told me what I feared.

"He's right, Kailin. We can't prosecute Malfoy based on what Snape told us."

His words fell into a pool of silence.

So this was it? I was attacked and very nearly killed, and there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it? I wanted to scream out at the injustice of it all, but I suspected that what was happening to me had already been repeated numerous times in the wizarding world. This was what it meant to be a Muggle married to a wizard. What Dumbledore didn't come right out and say was that the Order of the Phoenix had to be preserved at all possible cost. It never occurred to me that it would happen at my expense.

"What if Malfoy finds out I'm alive? Do you think he'll try again?" I asked Dumbledore numbly. The Headmaster regarded me gravely over his half-moon glasses.

"Lucius Malfoy is neither stupid nor careless. I doubt that he would be willing to pursue a vendetta against you, particularly if Voldemort was not behind it to begin with. On the other hand, he would certainly not be pleased if this particular failure was flaunted before him.

"Remus is relegated to the fringes of the wizarding world because of what he is. That is unfortunate, but in this instance it works in your favor. If he does not draw attention to himself – and he normally does not – then he will not draw attention to you. I suggest that you refrain from going with him to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, on the off-chance that you might be spotted by Malfoy."

I was relieved. I enjoyed Diagon Alley, and had hoped to visit Hogsmeade someday, but I would readily give these up if it meant my survival. "So I don't need to go into hiding or quit my job."

"Not at all."

Remus took a deep breath. "You should go back to the States until all this is over, Kailin. I won't have you in danger at every turn."

"I'm not leaving you," I said immediately.

"It's the only safe course, " he answered sharply.

"Safer for me, maybe," I burst out. "What about you?"

"I can take care of myself. I used to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, remember?"

"So it's fine for you to worry about me, but I'm not allowed to worry about you?" I asked heatedly.

Dumbledore, who was looking as though he wanted to put both of us in detention, held up a hand at once. "I'm not suggesting that anyone should go anywhere. Remus, you and Kailin will need to discuss this in private, and at a lower volume, I might add."

That was enough to silence us. Madam Pomfrey, I noted, had poked her head around the corner to glare at us disapprovingly.

Remus and I discussed our situation, as well as our options, all that day. The one thing we could readily agree on was that any official legal action against Malfoy was out of the question. We could not undermine the Order. Besides, we had neither the resources nor the stamina to undertake such an endeavor. I accepted the fact that when justice finally came, it would be at the hands of the Order of the Phoenix and not the wizarding courts.

As for the other issue – remaining in Britain or returning to the States – Remus and I were in flat disagreement. He still held that I should leave the country, while I was determined to stay. Neither of us would budge on our positions, and the debate ended in a stalemate. I wouldn't have put it past him to Apparate me to the foot of the Statue of Liberty and leave me there.

And he knew I would be on the first plane back.