1 9 9 5 , J u l y
Cordelia Black lay unconscious on the white bed of the room that Remus had reserved for her stay at St.Mungo's until she was good to go.
The pale girl who had arrived with a bloody mouth and bruises that were turning black and blue, now lay with faded bruises, a clean mouth which had a pipe doing down it.
The pipe was to feed her healing potions.
Remus could not hold back when he heard that Cordelia had arrived with three almost crushed to powder ribs. Her stomach and abdomen took the worst of blows.
One of her ankle was fractured as well.
It was a miracle the girl was still alive, so said the healers at St.Mungo's.
Remus blamed himself for whatever happened, but it was all in vain.
He would constantly be murmuring apologies to Lia when he stayed.
Narcissa Malfoy, Cordelia's godmother, had rushed to St.Mungo's the morning she received the letter from her son.
With Lucius Malfoy on her heel.
Lucius Malfoy almost sneered at Remus but refrained from doing any such thing in a public and also because his wife said so.
Narcissa and Remus worked on a timetable, where she would keep her niece company for the first half of the day and Remus on the second half.
For only he was allowed to stay at night, him being Lia's guardian.
Narcissa was horrified and had cried in her husband's comforting arms after she had returned from St.Mungo's on their first day.
The sight was too much for Narcissa, who had grown fond and caring towards the girl so much so that she suggested that they apply for her custody after she wakes up.
It had been nearly a week since Cordelia was admitted.
She woke up coughing at night, startling Remus.
The medics and healers rushed to her aid immediately.
Half an hour later, Remus was allowed to go back in, the tube was now removed and a few potions sat on the table beside Lia's bed.
Remus rushed forward and stood beside the young girl, not knowing what to say.
His eyes teared up as he breathed a sigh of relief, upon seeing the familiar grey eyes.
"Lia" he cleared his throat when his voice cracked a little, "How are you?"
Lia looked at Remus, she was paler than usual.
"I feel alright, only my ribs hurt a bit when I try to inhale deeply" she shrugged, her voice scratchy and a little gruff.
A few seconds of silence passed away before she sat up straighter, remembering something.
"Moody" she croaked, "He's not-" she got interrupted when a fit of coughs broke through her frail state.
"Calm down, don't talk so quickly" Remus handed her a glass of water, rubbing her back.
When Lia had calmed down, Remus could not hold it in any longer. His eyes became red and puffy as tears poured down, he kept mumbling in a croaked voice.
"I'm so sorry cub. I came down as soon as I got the letter, I- I don't know what I would've done had something happened to you"
"Remus, it's not your fault" she whispered sadly upon seeing Remus so vulnerable.
"It is. I should've replied to your letters sooner, I should've came down immediately but... but"
"Remus..... Remmy it makes no sense. You could not have stopped it from happening. But I need to know what happened, how did I end up here?"
"Right"
Remus sat up straight from his crouched position as he wiped away his tears, gaining back his breath.
"You remember how much?" He questioned Lia.
"Walking to Dumbledore's office..." the girl trailed off.
"Right, you were walking towards his office. When Moody- I mean the person disguised as Moody stunned you. He left you deep in the forbidden forest and had you covered with an invisibility cloak. It was Narcissa's son who had alerted the professors of your disappearance" Remus explained.
"It's.... how long was I stunned for?" Lia asked, curiously.
"From 22nd of June until 24th when you were found. We had to rush you to St.Mungo's immediately" he replied with a guilty expression.
"The.... the third task is over? And who discovered that it wad someone else dis-" her breathing picked up again.
"Relax. I'll answer every question you might have Lia, I'm not going anywhere" he intervened.
"It was Barty Crouch Jr. Mr.Crouch's son, let me finish" he said when he saw Lia open her mouth to ask another question, "Mr.Crouch had Barty drink the Polyjuice Potion with his mother's hair in it, who was dying. His mother had persuaded Mr.Crouch into letting Barty out. She replaced Barty, disguised as her son from the Polyjuice which she drank until heart breathe. Which is why everyone thought that Barty was dead. It was his mother, whom the dementors buried......" Remus explained most of the things to Lia.
"So, why didn't he kill me like his father?"
The question made Remus wince, Barty could have very well killed her and Remus would have been hoisting another funeral.
"He.... he said that you reminded him of his only friend- your father, Regulus. Which is why he could not kill you."
Lia sat silently for a moment, processing everything that was being told to her.
"The task? Who won? Did anything happen?"
Remus did not know how to answer that question without upsetting the girl. Cedric wad after all a good friend.
"Why don't you rest for now? We can continue to-" but he could not finish his sentence, when Lia cut him off.
"What happened?" She asked with an expressionless face.
Remus searched Lia's face for a few seconds before sighing sadly.
"The task..... they had to retrieve the tri-wizard cup, Moo- Barty had turned it into a portkey. It led Harry and Cedric where Voldermot wanted Harry. Harry watched him come back to life by a ritual which required Harry's blood but Harry managed to escape when Voldermot asked him to duel him." Remus gulped, leaving out the most important piece of information. Hoping she didn't notice.
But she did.
"Only Harry managed to escape?" She pressed.
"Oh Lia.... Voldemort, he- he ordered Wormtail to kill the spare, the spare being Cedric" Remus said softly.
"Peter Pattigrew?"
Remus nodded in response.
The young girl stared emotionless at Remus for a few seconds before opening her mouth again.
"Cedric's dead?"
"I'm sorry" Remus said with a worried tone.
"You're kidding right? He can't be dead" she gave a dry laugh, as her eyes welled up with tears.
"I really wish I was cub, I really wish" Remus rubbed Lia's head.
Lia felt as if someone had stunned her again. But only, this time she could feel everything.
"I- I should've gone to Dumbledore sooner, he- he can't die. He wouldn't have" she started hyperventilating, taking in deep breaths.
"Hey, hey hey calm down. It's not your fault" but nothing seemed to be working.
Remus called for the healers, two of them immediately rushed in and had Lia drinking the potion sitting beside her bed.
Lia was deep in sleep within seconds.
"Don't talk about anything that could upset her. Her mental state and physical state are still very fragile. You can say it's the after effects of the stunning spell, she'll take a few days before balancing out her emotions"
The healers informed Remus, who nodded mutedly.
Remus sent out two owls- one to Harry and the other to Dumbledore, who had requested Remus to inform them when Lia wakes up.
Remus did think of sending an owl to Narcissa but refrained from doing so, for he knew that she would be coming down to St.Mungo's tomorrow anyways.
Narcissa would be at St.Mungo's while Lucius goes to get Draco, who would be returning tomorrow for their summer break.
-
Narcissa Malfoy was startled when she saw Cordelia sitting up on the hospital bed when she arrived, going through the cards that were kept at the table beside her bed.
"Lia" she whispered, a small smile gracing her lips.
"Cissa" Lia smiled.
The blonde woman moved towards her niece, hugging her to herself.
"Oh, you're alright, you're alright" she breathed as she placed a kiss on Lia's head.
"Yes I am" Lia smiled, taking a a hold of Narcissa's hand.
"Oh, I'm incredibly happy. Draco must be coming in a few hours with Lucius, they were both worried about you, even if they don't tell you that" Narcissa gushed.
"Draco?" Lia quizzed.
"They start their summer break today" Narcissa explained, handing Lia tea.
"Lia-" it was Remus.
He stopped midsentence when he saw Narcissa was here.
"Uh, Dumbledore would like to meet you.... whenever you say" he said.
"Tomorrow?"
"I'll let him know. I'll be back later then alright?" He turned to leave.
"You're leaving?" Lia questioned.
"No, I'll be back later. Until then I'm sure your cousin and others would keep you company" he smiled, ruffling Lia's hair he walked out of the room.
"It's what we did when you were unconscious. I stayed for the day and he spent the nights here, him being your guardian" Narcissa explained, the last part with her eyes slightly narrowed.
Lia simply nodded.
A healer came in with a small bottle of potion, "Here. You're potion, drink up" she handed Lia her potion.
Turning to Narcissa, the healer said, "I'm Mary, as I've already told her guardian, please refrain from talking about things that could be upsetting" she smiled at Narcissa.
Narcissa only nodded in reply, her eyes trained on her niece, who had her face scrunched up due to the lingering taste of the potion.