Chapter 24: St Mungo’s
Sirius was not allowed to leave that day, but stayed in the Hospital Wing for two more days until Tuesday evening. He was very glad to leave, but didn’t see the point of doing any productive work as the Easter Holidays were beginning on Friday. He spent most of the rest of the week telling people avidly how he had bravely fought two Death Eaters with his fellow Marauders by his side. By the time the holidays had approached they were being hailed as heroes by most of the school, much to the disappointment of many Slytherins. Lily also was happy to tell people of the ordeal they had all gone through, making sure people knew how brave her boyfriend was, which suited James enormously.
So it was that Easter was upon them. James had invited all the Marauders and Lily to his house for the holidays, but Remus was still in St Mungo’s and Peter’s father never let him stay at friend’s houses for the holidays. So when the Hogwarts Express arrived to take the students back to London, it was only James, Lily and Sirius who got on board with the other students.
The journey back was fun, as the three of them sat in a carriage with Yves, Sarah, Frank and Alice. They all played endless games of Exploding Snap and held competitions to see who could build the biggest tower of cards before they exploded. Lily proved to be the best at this, as she was more careful than the others, especially the boys, who were more concerned with making elaborate castles with extra turrets. Although they were supposed to be doing it the Muggle way, Sirius kept sneaking his wand out from under his robes to keep his card castle upright.
James’s parents came to meet them at King’s Cross, to help with the luggage. His father was tall and looked very similar to James, except that he had a different shaped nose. His mother had blue eyes and beautiful brown curls. They smiled as the three approached.
“Hi, mum,” James said, as his mother swept him up in a hug and kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome back, my boy,” she said, letting him go and reaching for Sirius.
James’s dad saw Lily standing awkwardly behind them. “Hello, you must be Lily,” he said, extending his hand. She shook it nervously. “Hello, Mr Potter. Nice to meet you.”
“And you.”
“Lily!” James’s mother screeched, suddenly spotting her. “Oh James, she’s gorgeous! Come here, dear.” Lily took a step forward and Mrs Potter grabbed her into a warm embrace. “I don’t know how you put up with this one,” she said, letting her go and picking up one of James’ suitcases. “He can be a handful at the best of times.”
“Come on, dear, leave the poor girl alone,” Mr Potter said, also reaching for a suitcase. “Let’s just get back to the house and get some food down you all. I’ll bet you’re hungry. I remember those long journey’s on the Hogwarts Express.”
“Cheers, dad,” James said. “I’m starving.”
“Do you know where we’re going?” Mrs Potter asked Lily.
“I think so. James told me where it was. But it’s my first time Apparating since I passed my test, so you might have to put my disassembled body back together again.”
“You’ll be fine,” James said. “Just stay close to me.”
James stood a step closer to Lily just as his parents Disapparated. Lily was nervous that the distance would be too much for her, but she managed to keep her head together and concentrate as she went spinning through the air to reach her destination in less than a millisecond. She appeared gracefully before a pair of magnificent gates.
Lily almost choked when she saw where James lived. It was enormous. The house looked close to the size of a mansion, and the grounds leading up to it from the gate where twice the size of Lily’s parents house. They walked up the path together dragging their cases behind them. James’ parents, who were more experienced, had Apparated straight into the house, and were there to greet them in the living room once they entered.
“Well, here we are,” James said, dumping his suitcase on the floor.
“James, take that up now, will you?” his mother said. “Then you can come down and eat. You can relax, Lily. The boys will take your cases for you.”
“We will?” James asked, incredulous.
“If you want to be a gentleman, you will.”
“Oh it’s ok, I’d like to see where I’ll be sleeping anyway.”
“Ah yes. We’ve put you in the Blue Room. And Sirius, you’ll be in with James again.”
The three of them dragged their cases back into the hall and climbed the stairs.
“Blue room?” Lily asked. “How many are there?”
“Six bedrooms,” James replied.
“Wow, I never knew you lived in such a big house.”
“It was my grandfather’s. He was a filthy rich man. But he went bankrupt when he lost a series of bets with goblins. We got to keep the house, but that was it.”
“Well, it’s an impressive bit of heritage,” Lily said, admiring the paintings in the hallway upstairs.
“Here’s you room,” James said, opening the door to a bedroom that overlooked the grounds at the back of the house. “It’s right next to mine. I’ll leave you get unpacked.”
“Thanks, James,” she smiled back at him, and then turned into her room to unpack.
Half an hour later, James’ mother called them all down for dinner. They sat down in the dining room together, and it felt good to be in a home environment again. James’s parents were really sweet to Lily and treated Sirius as a son. She felt right at home.
They talked mainly about the incident with the Death Eaters, and James’ parents were insistent that they were told all the details. His mother kept fussing over them all, feeding them more food than was necessary and making sure they all were recovered.
“And what’s all this about Remus?” James’ father asked at one point. “Is he any better?”
“We haven’t heard anything. For all we know he could be getting worse.”
“Well, why don’t you go to visit him this holiday?” Mr Potter said. “You can all Apparate, and I’m sure he’ll be much better by now, and love to have your company for a while.”
“Yeah, let’s do that!” Sirius said. “Can we go tomorrow?”
“Of course, dear,” Mrs Potter said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Poor old Remus. He’s such a sweet boy. I do hope he’s all right. What a horrible thing to go through. I don’t know what the world is coming to, but it’s not something I want my boy growing up in.”
“I’ll be fine, mum. We already proved that, didn’t we?”
“Now don’t go getting ahead of yourself, James,” Mr Potter said. “You-Know-Who is not to be taken lightly. I want you all staying out of trouble form now on. It’s just not worth it.”
“I know, dad, we’ll be careful, I promise.”
“Good,” Mrs Potter declared. “Now, that’s enough of that. Who wants dessert?”
***
The next morning the three of them got ready to Apparate back to London. Mrs Potter made them all a large breakfast of pancakes, and packed them lots of food for the day. She also sent them off with a bottle of her grandmother’s Freeze, a cream which cooled the skin immediately for the relief of chafing skin. They were to give it to Remus in case he had regained consciousness.
They left around ten o’clock, and Lily found it easier to Apparate the second time around. They turned up as Mr Potter had directed them, in front of a dingy old run-down clothes shop in a busy London street.
“Are we here?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah, this is the place. I had to visit my uncle here once when I was a kid,” James replied. He walked forwards and peered into the glass. “Uh, can we please see Remus Lupin?” he asked the glass wall.
One of the mannequins turned its head towards James and the others. It slowly nodded and then beckoned them forward with one finger. James looked around at the others. “I think we just walk in,” he said. He took Lily’s hand in his and they stepped forward into the glass. Lily knew a moment of feeling as if she was walking through cool water, and then they had stepped out and into the warm, dry reception area of St. Mungo’s.
Lily looked around. There were rows of old wooden chairs with an aisle down the middle that led to a desk. It was fairly quiet for an Accident and Emergency, Lily thought to herself. There didn’t seem to be many people waiting to be seen, and the queue to check in was small. “This is efficient,” Lily said.
“I don’t think it’s always like this,” James replied. “At least, it wasn’t when I came here last.” They walked through the rows of chairs, where only a few people were sitting, some with apparently nothing wrong with them, perhaps waiting to see friends or loved ones, others with signs of injury. One man had a light bulb sprouting out of the top of his head, which lit up every time he sneezed, something that seemed to happen every few seconds.
James, Lily and Sirius approached the desk of the Reception Area and joined the small queue.
The woman in front of them, whose ears had grown to the size of small pumpkins, stepped up to the receptionist once the man in front of her had been sent to sit down in the waiting area. The receptionist glanced at her once before declaring, “Spell Damage, Fourth Floor.” James moved forwards.
“We’re here to visit someone,” he said to the particularly haggard looking receptionist.
“Name,” she said nonchalantly, whilst continuing to scribble on a piece of parchment in front of her.
“Well, I’m James Potter, and this-“
“Not you, who are you visiting?”
“Oh, sorry. Uh, Remus Lupin.”
“Lupin… Lupin…” She stooped to flip through a file in a drawer below her. “Ah, yes,” she said, straightening up again. “Mr Lupin was in the Critical Injury Ward-“
“Critical?” Sirius asked, aghast.
“If you’ll let me finish,” the Healer said, looking down her glasses at Sirius. “Mr Lupin was in the Critical Injury Ward, but was moved this morning to the Franklin Rein Ward. If you will proceed to Spell Damage on the Fourth Floor, a Healer will direct you to his room.”
“Thank you,” Lily said.
“Visiting time ends at four this afternoon,” she continued.
“Sure,” Sirius said. “Thank you. Let’s go, guys.”
They took the stairs up to the Fourth Floor, where a sign above a double door read:
SPELL DAMAGE
Unliftable jinxes, hexes, incorrectly applied charms etc.
They passed throught the double doors and along a narrow corridor, where they were confronted with a completely different sight to the calm Reception Room on the Ground Floor. “Wow,” Lily said. The corridor was bustling with people of all different situations. Many drifted along on stretchers magically led by Healers in lime green robes that bore the emblem of a crossed bone and wand. There were people nursing an assortment of different injuries and disfigurements, wearing hospital robes and following Healers on foot or in wheelchairs to various different parts of the ward or hospital. Other Healers were bustling around with clipboards or equipment, rushing from one room to another.
“Excuse me?” Sirius asked a passing woman wearing uniform. She stopped and smiled at them. “Can you tell me where Remus Lupin is please?”
“Mr Lupin? Ah yes, if you’ll follow me I can take you there now.”
“Thank you.”
She strolled off towards the other end of the corridor, weaving her way in between other busy people, and they struggled to keep up with her. She led them left round a corner and then right, along a narrow corridor with portraits of famous Healers lining the walls. They reached a double door on the left hand side with a brass sign on the wall next to it that read Franklin Rein Ward. Underneath that, a handwritten card in a holder read Healer-In-Charge: Rector Goodge, Trainee Healer: Rosier Flint.
“His ward is just through here,” she said, pointing her wand at the catch so that it clicked and the door swung open. She entered and they followed her through to a calm and quiet corridor with many doors. “It’s this one here,” she said stopping at a door with another handwritten sign that read Lupin.
“Thank you,” James said, turning the handle. “Is there someone we can talk to? I mean, about how he is and everything.”
“Of course. I will alert his Healer to your visit. But I think that if you go inside, Mr Lupin himself will be able to tell you how he is.”
“He’s awake?”
“He has made a significant improvement. I think you will be surprised. Your Headmaster certainly was.”
“Professor Dumbledore was here?” James asked, incredulous.
“You missed him by about an hour. He was here this morning.”
“Thank you.”
The three of them entered Remus’ room together. There was a window in the opposite wall that was emitting a bright light that filled the room. Remus was sitting up in his bed with bandages wrapped all around his chest and arms. He looked up in surprise when they walked in. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too, Moony,” Sirius said as they approached his bed. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’m… wow I wasn’t expecting you at all!” He was grinning widely.
“You didn’t think we would leave you here without coming to take the micky out of you, did you?” James said. “What are all these bandages for?”
“Well my skin looks pretty horrible right now. They put all this on this morning when they moved me here, to stop it from chafing.”
“We hear you were on the Critical Injury Ward,” Lily said, pulling up a chair and sitting down on it.
“Yeah well I don’t really know too much. I only woke up from the coma yesterday. It all feels a bit surreal to be honest. But Dumbledore came to see me this morning once he heard I had woken up. He filled me in on lots of details.”
“Like what?”
“Like what happened to all of you and what happened to me while I was still in school. The Healers are really nice here. They said I shouldn’t be here for too much longer if I keep improving like this.”
“That’s great news!” Lily said. “What about your N.E.W.Ts?”
“Lily,” James said. “He doesn’t want to be thinking about those things right now.”
“I know. I only wondered whether he was in a fit state to do them.”
“Well, Dumbledore said I don’t have to do them if I don’t feel up to it. But I think regardless of how I’m feeling or how much revision I’ve managed to do, I’ll do the exams if I’m let out of here by the time they start.”
“Good choice,” Lily said.
“So do they know anything about what happened to you?” Sirius asked. “All I remember was a blast of purple light and then you just stopped moving. I thought you were dead.”
“I suppose we’re all lucky not to be. My Healer said it was a curse that went wrong. It was so powerful that it knocked me out and put me in the coma. My brain just sort of stopped responding for a while. But the fact that it was an incorrect curse caused the calluses on my skin. It’s awful, everything itches all the time.”
“That reminds me,” James said, reaching into his bag and pulling out the bottle of Freeze. “This is from my mum. It’s a cream. I think it’s supposed to help your skin condition.”
“Well I’ll try anything,” Remus said, taking the bottle and putting it by his bedside. “I’ll ask the Healer to put some on when they next change my bandages.”
There was a moment’s silence. “So, “ Remus said. “Tell me the gossip.”
James smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. You’ll never guess what Sirius did!”
“What?”
“He asked out Ellie!”
“Did you really? Well I’m sad to have missed that!”
“She was going to do it anyway!” Sirius protested. “Besides, it’s about time I asked someone out. It’s always the other way around.”
“Don’t we know it,” Remus said. “So how’s that going?”
They spent a good hour talking about what Remus had missed from school since the battle. Once they had run out of things to tell him, Sirius pulled out his Travel Wizard’s Chess and they played a game in teams: James and Remus against Sirius and Lily.
None of them realised how much time had passed until the Healer-In-Charge, Rector Goodge, came to do his rounds. He told them all he could of Remus’ condition as he inspected his day’s progress and changed the bandages around his chest and arms. The Healer looked sceptically at the bottle of Freeze but consented to applying it to the calluses. Remus was very surprised at how much it reduced the itching and sent his thanks to Mrs Potter.
Once Healer Goodge was finished, he informed James, Lily and Sirius that visiting hours were over. He gave them a few minutes to say goodbye.
“Well, see you, Moony,” Sirius said. “You can keep the Wizard’s Chess, it’ll give you something to do. Well do I know how boring it can be to lie in bed all day long.”
“Thanks, Padfoot.”
“See ya, mate,” James said. “If you’re discharged before the end of the holidays, you’re more than welcome to stay with us.”
“Cheers.”
“Bye, Remus!” Lily said, giving him an awkward one-armed hug so as not to annoy his raw skin. “See you really soon, get better!”
“Thanks, Lily. See you soon.”
And they left, James and Lily hand in hand, and Sirius humming to himself, the three of them feeling all the better for having come, and much encouraged that Remus was conscious and looking like he was well on the way to recovery. As Sirius paused to look at a painting of one of his ancestor’s, who had been a Healer at St. Mungo’s, Lily turned to James.
“You don’t know how pleased I am that it’s not you in there,” she said.
James smiled. “Me too. But I feel bad for Moony. He was cursed because he came to help me.”
“It’s not your fault,” Lily said. “But this might make you feel better.” She stepped up on to her toes and kissed James’s nose lightly.
“That helps a bit,” James replied. “But not as much as this.” He grabbed her round the waist and pulled her into a proper kiss, his other hand round the back of her neck. He didn’t care who was watching, until an old woman in hospital robes trudged past and muttered, “Youth of today. I’d have had my lips sealed for a week if I did that at their age. A whole week…” She tottered off, shaking her head and still muttering to herself, just as James and Lily fell about laughing.
Love Conquers by dumbly_dorr
Chapter Notes: Well... it's a long one, as requested. Please enjoy and leave lots of lovely reviews! lol...