Listen to the Sound...
"Where are Natalie and Stone One," Hestia asked Jimmy Peakes.
She called the twins Stone One and Stone Two. They were identical except for their hair, and it was difficult to keep them straight. Especially if Esme, or Stone Two, had hers pulled back.
"How long ago did they leave, Peakes? Who took the tip?"
"MacDonald did. They left about an hour and a half ago? Maybe?"
Hestia frowned.
"Something wrong, Auror Jones," Trainee Mikelle Sullivan asked as she walked up.
"Where did they go, Peakes?"
He handed Hestia coordinates on a piece of parchment. "Come on, Sullivan. Peakes, tell Auror Shacklebolt I went after McDonald and Stone."
Mikelle followed Auror Jones out.
Hestia apparated into the area of Knockturn just in time to see the green jet hit Enid Stone's chest then her body hit the ground, eyes wide and unseeing.
"NO!"
The hex the bastard threw at her went right past Hestia's ear. She returned fire and nearly took his arm off. Hestia was angry. She was beyond angry.
Mikelle knelt next to Natalie and checked for a pulse.
Pucey disapparated and Hestia was about to follow him.
"She's alive! But she needs a healer!"
Hestia chose to go to Natalie. She might regret letting him go, but she'd never regret helping one of her kids.
"Healing Hands in Hogsmeade, and take Stone with us."
Mikelle nodded.
Hestia and Sullivan had apparated into the entryway of the clinic with Natalie and Stone's body. To her credit, Sullivan was all business. Hestia could not say the same.
"HELP!"
Theo came running out of the back. He froze for one whole second before skidding on his knees next to Natalie.
"What happened?"
"I'm not entirely certain," Hestia replied. "I got there after the fact."
Ginny came running out of her office, looking at the people in the entryway. Her eyes flicked to the bodies on the ground. Theo was bending over a dark haired woman, so Ginny immediately moved towards the other body, a blond. "What happened?"
Mikelle looked up at the healer. "She's dead," she whispered. "Auror Jones didn't want to leave the body, but she's dead. She was dead when we got there. Killing curse. She and McDonald went after Adrian Pucey."
"Natalie," Ginny said, her head turning to look at Natalie and Theo. "How is she," she said, even as her hand reached up to close the blonde's eyes.
"Breathing on her own," Theo answered.
His gut was twisting. He didn't know a person could feel this bad. Sure, he made a big show of being annoyed with Natalie most of the time, but she was one of the few people who honestly cared about him. He couldn't stand that someone so full of life seemed so lifeless right now. He ran a specific diagnostic and sucked in air through his nose.
"Cruciatus."
Hestia hung her head. Pucey had had his wand on Natalie when she and Sullivan popped in, but Hestia didn't know what he'd been throwing because they'd chased him off.
"I need to send some owls," she said quietly.
"She's taken it before. Several times. Being subjected to the Cruciatus can lead to long term heart-tissue damage, as well as brain trauma." Ginny rose. "We need to get her to room one."
Theo gingerly lifted the girl he had come to think of as his sister.
Hestia moved to owl Dean and Harry. She should tell Dean in person, but she would tell him when he got here.
Theo was heartsick as he put Natalie on the exam table. He'd give anything for her to sit up and tell him to quit fussing.
"Is Longbottom here? Isn't this his expert area?"
"Neville," Ginny shouted, following Theo into the exam room.
Hestia heard Ginny shout for Neville as she went to the waiting room with Sullivan to await Dean.
Neville had been already grabbing his things when he heard his name shouted. That worried him a bit. Usually he was there to handle any of the people who had brought the people into the clinic for emergencies. Nott and Ginny usually handled the patients.
Rushing into the exam room, he skidded to a stop when he saw Natalie on the table. "What happened?" he asked in shock.
"Cruciatus," Ginny said, coming to the side of the table as Theo laid her on it. "This is her third or fourth time." She'd seen the heart of someone who'd taken the Cruciatus again and again. Natalie had not been subjected to it nearly as many times as Severus Snape, but who knew when the damage started. Natalie had taken the unforgivable on several occasions in a short period of time.
"Damn it," Neville muttered. He rushed to the head of the table and quickly cast some diagnostic charms. "Her vitals are fine. Blood pressure's a bit high, breathing is normal. Her heart is beating normally."
He cast more charms to look for more problems that the Cruciatus would have affected. His eyes shot to one of her fingers on her left hand when it twitched then back to the charm. It confirmed what he thought. "Minor nerve damage. Nothing life threatening though."
Theo closed his eyes and breathed out. "Will the two of you please look after her. I'm going to wait for Thomas. I don't think I can be objective here. I don't want to do anything wrong for being too close to her."
Ginny watched Theo leave the room before turning her attention back to Natalie. "She'll need physical therapy for the nerve damage. Do you know anyone good?"
"I do," Neville said, recasting the charms just to be on the safe side. "Most of the idiots at St. Mungo's didn't know anything, but there are a few that also do training and other work on the side for people who couldn't afford Mungo's fees."
He looked up at Ginny. "I don't want to cast any other spells to test motor skills or wake her up. The damage is too fresh. I could have her come in and check then. Do you need me to do anything else?"
"If you think she's fine, we'll just let her rest," Ginny said, taking a step back.
Neville sighed. "I looked at her once, when I was at St. Mungo's. There was already a bit of damage and she complained of headaches. If she gets hit a few more times, there could be serious consequences beyond nervous twitches and memory lapses. I think she'll be lucky this time."
"It's not 'this time' that I'm worried about," Ginny said with a frown. She'd lived with an Auror for several years, cleaning out his cuts and wounds from the job. She had an idea how Aurors thought, and it wouldn't matter if it was certain that the next time Natalie got hit that she'd suffer permanent damage. She'd keep going out, regardless.
Theo had went out to sit with Auror Jones and the tall girl. He was waiting for Thomas.
Dean burst through the door, not quite at a dead run. He skidded to a stop and, spotting Hestia and Theo, asked, "Where is she?"
Hestia stood ready to stop him if she had to. She was no match without her wand, so she had it out already.
"Ginny and Neville are looking her over. She's breathing. She's just not awake yet."
"What do you mean 'she's breathing'?" He turned to Hestia. "What the hell happened?"
"She and her trainee got a bead on Adrian Pucey. They went after him."
Theo sighed. His hands were shaking. "She's unconscious. Looks like the Cruciatus again. Neville's with her. He's one of the best for that sort of spell damage."
"Damage?" Dean felt his stomach lurch. "What kind of damage?"
"The Cruciatus affects your nervous system," Theo explained. "I had to remove myself from the room. We'll know more when Gin and Neville join us. She's going to be all right, Dean."
Hestia looked at Nott.
"I refuse to have it be any other way, so she's just going to have to wake up."
Dean headed toward the back without acknowledging them. He stood in the doorway of the examination room, staring dazedly at Natalie as Ginny and Neville hovered over her.
"Gin?"
Ginny looked up from where she'd been looking at Natalie's pupils. Her face softened slightly at the look on the face of one of her oldest friends. "Dean," she said, taking a step away from the exam table.
Neville looked up, hating that this had to be the way he and his friend reunited after all these months. "I'm watching her closely, Dean, and I'm the best there is. She's in good hands here."
He was sure that Neville had said something, but Dean couldn't seem to focus on anything but Natalie's slack face. She's so still.
Theo came to stand by Dean. "Can we set her up to stay here? I'll check on her at night. I don't want her going to Mungo's."
"Not Mungo's," Dean said in a dull tone as he moved to stand beside the exam table. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "She hates it there."
"Trust me, she won't be going back. The arses there wouldn't know what to do." Neville looked down at Natalie. He remembered how he felt when Mac had been beaten down and nearly killed when she had been jumped. It was a terrible feeling. "If we have to stick her in my office to give her a room we will. You know we'll help her."
Theo looked at Neville. "When will she wake?"
"I don't want to cast any waking charms." Neville looked at Dean before turning back to Theo. "I don't want to overexert the nerves by forcing her to wake up. She's going to have to do it on her own. Then I can do more diagnostic charms and get a better idea of the damage. Right now she's stable and sleeping just fine."
Theo nodded. "I'll tell that to Jones."
Dean wasn't listening. His eyes were drawn to Natalie's hands. He took them into his own, trying to soothe her twitching fingers.
Theo went out to speak to Hestia.
"She's sleeping comfortably. We aren't doing any waking charms. She'll be staying here."
Hestia nodded. "Keep Dean here, no matter what."
"Where are you going?"
"To look for the bastard that did this."
With that Hestia was gone.
Mikelle looked at the healer. "Someone from the Ministry will be around to get Stone."
"Who?"
"The body. Her name was Enid Stone."
Theo nodded as that one left. He turned when Ginny came out from the exam room.
"For the moment, we can turn one of the exam rooms into a permanent room for Natalie. We functioned with only two rooms before, we can do it with three," she said, her face serious. "She'll get better, she just needs time to heal. Therapy for the nerve damage. She'll be fine."
Theo nodded absently.
Then he sat suddenly on a chair in the waiting room. He put his head in his hands. He didn't like this. Things were easier for him when he didn't concern himself with anyone else.
Ginny sighed, running a hand over her face. Fingers nimbly ran through her hair, pulling it into a ponytail, wrapping around itself to keep it in place. She turned, brown eyes landing on the blonde's body on the floor. She was dirty, there were marks on her face, scratches that had stopped oozing blood when her heart had stopped bleeding.
She moved slowly, her wand flicking at the body, lifting it from the floor, following it as it traveled towards a room in the back. She would document the injuries, give her cause of death, then clean her up. Her family would see her whole and complete, Ginny would make sure it was so.
Theo looked up when he was alone. He needed to pull it together. He got to his feet. He'd need to set up the exam room for Dean to stay there. Because Theo knew that's where Dean would want to be.
{SUMMARY} Natalie isn't waking up. She's taken to the clinic.
She called the twins Stone One and Stone Two. They were identical except for their hair, and it was difficult to keep them straight. Especially if Esme, or Stone Two, had hers pulled back.
"How long ago did they leave, Peakes? Who took the tip?"
"MacDonald did. They left about an hour and a half ago? Maybe?"
Hestia frowned.
"Something wrong, Auror Jones," Trainee Mikelle Sullivan asked as she walked up.
"Where did they go, Peakes?"
He handed Hestia coordinates on a piece of parchment. "Come on, Sullivan. Peakes, tell Auror Shacklebolt I went after McDonald and Stone."
Mikelle followed Auror Jones out.
Hestia apparated into the area of Knockturn just in time to see the green jet hit Enid Stone's chest then her body hit the ground, eyes wide and unseeing.
"NO!"
The hex the bastard threw at her went right past Hestia's ear. She returned fire and nearly took his arm off. Hestia was angry. She was beyond angry.
Mikelle knelt next to Natalie and checked for a pulse.
Pucey disapparated and Hestia was about to follow him.
"She's alive! But she needs a healer!"
Hestia chose to go to Natalie. She might regret letting him go, but she'd never regret helping one of her kids.
"Healing Hands in Hogsmeade, and take Stone with us."
Mikelle nodded.
Hestia and Sullivan had apparated into the entryway of the clinic with Natalie and Stone's body. To her credit, Sullivan was all business. Hestia could not say the same.
"HELP!"
Theo came running out of the back. He froze for one whole second before skidding on his knees next to Natalie.
"What happened?"
"I'm not entirely certain," Hestia replied. "I got there after the fact."
Ginny came running out of her office, looking at the people in the entryway. Her eyes flicked to the bodies on the ground. Theo was bending over a dark haired woman, so Ginny immediately moved towards the other body, a blond. "What happened?"
Mikelle looked up at the healer. "She's dead," she whispered. "Auror Jones didn't want to leave the body, but she's dead. She was dead when we got there. Killing curse. She and McDonald went after Adrian Pucey."
"Natalie," Ginny said, her head turning to look at Natalie and Theo. "How is she," she said, even as her hand reached up to close the blonde's eyes.
"Breathing on her own," Theo answered.
His gut was twisting. He didn't know a person could feel this bad. Sure, he made a big show of being annoyed with Natalie most of the time, but she was one of the few people who honestly cared about him. He couldn't stand that someone so full of life seemed so lifeless right now. He ran a specific diagnostic and sucked in air through his nose.
"Cruciatus."
Hestia hung her head. Pucey had had his wand on Natalie when she and Sullivan popped in, but Hestia didn't know what he'd been throwing because they'd chased him off.
"I need to send some owls," she said quietly.
"She's taken it before. Several times. Being subjected to the Cruciatus can lead to long term heart-tissue damage, as well as brain trauma." Ginny rose. "We need to get her to room one."
Theo gingerly lifted the girl he had come to think of as his sister.
Hestia moved to owl Dean and Harry. She should tell Dean in person, but she would tell him when he got here.
Theo was heartsick as he put Natalie on the exam table. He'd give anything for her to sit up and tell him to quit fussing.
"Is Longbottom here? Isn't this his expert area?"
"Neville," Ginny shouted, following Theo into the exam room.
Hestia heard Ginny shout for Neville as she went to the waiting room with Sullivan to await Dean.
Neville had been already grabbing his things when he heard his name shouted. That worried him a bit. Usually he was there to handle any of the people who had brought the people into the clinic for emergencies. Nott and Ginny usually handled the patients.
Rushing into the exam room, he skidded to a stop when he saw Natalie on the table. "What happened?" he asked in shock.
"Cruciatus," Ginny said, coming to the side of the table as Theo laid her on it. "This is her third or fourth time." She'd seen the heart of someone who'd taken the Cruciatus again and again. Natalie had not been subjected to it nearly as many times as Severus Snape, but who knew when the damage started. Natalie had taken the unforgivable on several occasions in a short period of time.
"Damn it," Neville muttered. He rushed to the head of the table and quickly cast some diagnostic charms. "Her vitals are fine. Blood pressure's a bit high, breathing is normal. Her heart is beating normally."
He cast more charms to look for more problems that the Cruciatus would have affected. His eyes shot to one of her fingers on her left hand when it twitched then back to the charm. It confirmed what he thought. "Minor nerve damage. Nothing life threatening though."
Theo closed his eyes and breathed out. "Will the two of you please look after her. I'm going to wait for Thomas. I don't think I can be objective here. I don't want to do anything wrong for being too close to her."
Ginny watched Theo leave the room before turning her attention back to Natalie. "She'll need physical therapy for the nerve damage. Do you know anyone good?"
"I do," Neville said, recasting the charms just to be on the safe side. "Most of the idiots at St. Mungo's didn't know anything, but there are a few that also do training and other work on the side for people who couldn't afford Mungo's fees."
He looked up at Ginny. "I don't want to cast any other spells to test motor skills or wake her up. The damage is too fresh. I could have her come in and check then. Do you need me to do anything else?"
"If you think she's fine, we'll just let her rest," Ginny said, taking a step back.
Neville sighed. "I looked at her once, when I was at St. Mungo's. There was already a bit of damage and she complained of headaches. If she gets hit a few more times, there could be serious consequences beyond nervous twitches and memory lapses. I think she'll be lucky this time."
"It's not 'this time' that I'm worried about," Ginny said with a frown. She'd lived with an Auror for several years, cleaning out his cuts and wounds from the job. She had an idea how Aurors thought, and it wouldn't matter if it was certain that the next time Natalie got hit that she'd suffer permanent damage. She'd keep going out, regardless.
Theo had went out to sit with Auror Jones and the tall girl. He was waiting for Thomas.
Dean burst through the door, not quite at a dead run. He skidded to a stop and, spotting Hestia and Theo, asked, "Where is she?"
Hestia stood ready to stop him if she had to. She was no match without her wand, so she had it out already.
"Ginny and Neville are looking her over. She's breathing. She's just not awake yet."
"What do you mean 'she's breathing'?" He turned to Hestia. "What the hell happened?"
"She and her trainee got a bead on Adrian Pucey. They went after him."
Theo sighed. His hands were shaking. "She's unconscious. Looks like the Cruciatus again. Neville's with her. He's one of the best for that sort of spell damage."
"Damage?" Dean felt his stomach lurch. "What kind of damage?"
"The Cruciatus affects your nervous system," Theo explained. "I had to remove myself from the room. We'll know more when Gin and Neville join us. She's going to be all right, Dean."
Hestia looked at Nott.
"I refuse to have it be any other way, so she's just going to have to wake up."
Dean headed toward the back without acknowledging them. He stood in the doorway of the examination room, staring dazedly at Natalie as Ginny and Neville hovered over her.
"Gin?"
Ginny looked up from where she'd been looking at Natalie's pupils. Her face softened slightly at the look on the face of one of her oldest friends. "Dean," she said, taking a step away from the exam table.
Neville looked up, hating that this had to be the way he and his friend reunited after all these months. "I'm watching her closely, Dean, and I'm the best there is. She's in good hands here."
He was sure that Neville had said something, but Dean couldn't seem to focus on anything but Natalie's slack face. She's so still.
Theo came to stand by Dean. "Can we set her up to stay here? I'll check on her at night. I don't want her going to Mungo's."
"Not Mungo's," Dean said in a dull tone as he moved to stand beside the exam table. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "She hates it there."
"Trust me, she won't be going back. The arses there wouldn't know what to do." Neville looked down at Natalie. He remembered how he felt when Mac had been beaten down and nearly killed when she had been jumped. It was a terrible feeling. "If we have to stick her in my office to give her a room we will. You know we'll help her."
Theo looked at Neville. "When will she wake?"
"I don't want to cast any waking charms." Neville looked at Dean before turning back to Theo. "I don't want to overexert the nerves by forcing her to wake up. She's going to have to do it on her own. Then I can do more diagnostic charms and get a better idea of the damage. Right now she's stable and sleeping just fine."
Theo nodded. "I'll tell that to Jones."
Dean wasn't listening. His eyes were drawn to Natalie's hands. He took them into his own, trying to soothe her twitching fingers.
Theo went out to speak to Hestia.
"She's sleeping comfortably. We aren't doing any waking charms. She'll be staying here."
Hestia nodded. "Keep Dean here, no matter what."
"Where are you going?"
"To look for the bastard that did this."
With that Hestia was gone.
Mikelle looked at the healer. "Someone from the Ministry will be around to get Stone."
"Who?"
"The body. Her name was Enid Stone."
Theo nodded as that one left. He turned when Ginny came out from the exam room.
"For the moment, we can turn one of the exam rooms into a permanent room for Natalie. We functioned with only two rooms before, we can do it with three," she said, her face serious. "She'll get better, she just needs time to heal. Therapy for the nerve damage. She'll be fine."
Theo nodded absently.
Then he sat suddenly on a chair in the waiting room. He put his head in his hands. He didn't like this. Things were easier for him when he didn't concern himself with anyone else.
Ginny sighed, running a hand over her face. Fingers nimbly ran through her hair, pulling it into a ponytail, wrapping around itself to keep it in place. She turned, brown eyes landing on the blonde's body on the floor. She was dirty, there were marks on her face, scratches that had stopped oozing blood when her heart had stopped bleeding.
She moved slowly, her wand flicking at the body, lifting it from the floor, following it as it traveled towards a room in the back. She would document the injuries, give her cause of death, then clean her up. Her family would see her whole and complete, Ginny would make sure it was so.
Theo looked up when he was alone. He needed to pull it together. He got to his feet. He'd need to set up the exam room for Dean to stay there. Because Theo knew that's where Dean would want to be.
{SUMMARY} Natalie isn't waking up. She's taken to the clinic.