Auxilim.
That means 'help', Sirius panicked as he ran down the corridors, and turning into the Hospital Wing.
"Madame Pomphrey!" He yelled, running through the rows of hospital beds.
The nurse shuffled out of her office, looking alarmed. "Good Merlin, Mr. Black, what is this ruckus about?"
"It's an emergency..." Sirius panted. "Please, we need your help,"
Madame Pomphrey's kind face darkened. "Lead the way, Mr. Black,"
~*~
Madame Pomphrey and Sirius hurried back to the common room, medicine clinking in the matron's bag as they stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Chocolate frogs!" Sirius said hurriedly, and the portrait swung open.
As the two made their way up the stairs, Lily's frantic voice flooded the hallway.
"Don't close your eyes!"
~*~
After that, it was hard to say what happened. All Sirius could recall was the intense feeling of fear causing him to freeze in his spot while Lily and Madame Pomphrey attempted to assess and fix the situation.
Evidently, with Clara crumpled on the floor and getting paler and paler, whatever she was doing wasn't helping at all. So when the nurse point her wand at the window and produced a patronus charm with urgency, she called for the aid of the headmaster and the head of the Gryffindor house. Lily was crying, and Sirius wasn't doing too well himself but he found the energy to walk over to kneel beside her.
At the back of his mind he remembers telling her that everything was going to be okay, and she sobbed out a broken, "We never even made up!" before the door burst open for the third time to reveal Dumbledore and McGonagall. Sirius had never been so relieved to see a professor in his entire life.
"Ms. Evans, Mr. Black, move to the side please," Dumbledore said, moving towards Clara, Professor McGonagall trailing behind him with a pale face.
Sirius helped Lily to her feet, and to the other side of the room, where they both sat on Lily's bed, too shaken to talk.
Things started to get really bad when Dumbledore tried to pour a shiny, silver potion into Clara's mouth. Some of the potion missed her lips, and splattered onto her chin and immediately started to steam. Then, Clara let out a shrill hiss of pain, grabbing her face with a weak hand and curling in on her side.
Sirius was on his feet instantly, "What's going on? What happened to her?" He said, pushing in between the adults to kneel beside Clara's head. He hovered his hands over her skin, wondering what would happen if he tried to touch her.
"Albus, we have to transport her to Saint Mungo's immediately," McGonagall was saying, grabbing onto the wizard's arm, and shaking him slightly. "Albus!" The headmaster's eyes were foggy, his face screwed with concentration and concern.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Sirius ground out, temper and fear rising steadily.
"I will take her to Saint Mungo's," He finally decided. "Minerva, contact Mr. Campbell and inform him of what has happened. Poppy, tend to Mr. Black and Ms. Evans," He turned to the nurse. "A calming potion shall suffice."
It took a second to process what was happening. "Wait, you're leaving me here?!" Sirius said sharply. "And you're calling her dad of all people to-"
Dumbledore spun around to face him, "Yes, I am Mr. Black. And it would be in your best interest to heed to my command," He retaliated with icy precision. Without waiting for an answer, he bent over and grabbed onto Clara's sleeve with purpose, before disappearing with the loud crack! associated with apparition.
"No..." Sirius spun around to face McGonagall. "You have to let me go with her!"
McGonagall, although grey in the face, stood taller and stepped into the role of a teacher once again. "I will do no such thing! You are to stay here until we gain information about Ms. Campbell's health-"
As she kept rattling out instructions, Sirius realized he had never felt so helpless in his life.
~*~
Clara did not know what happened. She had gotten up to go to the washroom, and was stopped on the way back. She had been half-asleep anyways, but before she could process a coherent thought, her head split open with the most intense headache she had ever experienced in her life. She was vaguely aware of the door opening behind her, but her head, oh my goodness her head, was yelling at her with the force of a hundred voices and she couldn't move she couldn't see-
And before she realised it she felt the floor under her back, and a pair of warm hands on her arms but the voices were still talking and she wanted nothing else than just to have it all stop for just a moment-
There was a burning sensation on her face, and a sweet taste in her mouth but the headache only increased with every second that the liquid was on her face so she tried to wipe it away and she thought she was definitely crying out loud now.
Before she realised it, the walls around her collapsed and the voices were screaming now and she thought her head was going to burst and her lungs were going to crumple if she didn't get any air, but her world opened up again and she could breathe and her head was light, but the world around her wasn't and she's thinking that finally, finally she was going to have everything stop.
And then it did.
~*~
Sirius didn't stop fuming and yelling until Madame Pomphrey had given him and Lily the calming potion.
Lily couldn't blame him. She had just witnessed one of the most terrifying things happen to her best friend, and she was just being left behind like she was a child, with Joseph Campbell at Clara's side when it should be them because he never gave a damn about her anyways -
Lily sipped her calming potion.
She, Sirius, Professor McGonagall, and Madame Pomphrey were in the Hospital Wing now, because the dorm room had become very, very claustrophobic for the two of them and the adults seemed to realise that.
Speaking of the elders, McGonagall and Pomphrey sat at the nurse's desk at the front of the infirmary, giving her and Sirius some space. Madame Pomphrey side-eyed them in concern every once in a while, but it was a fruitless action since Sirius refused to turn his back from them in the first place.
"Is there anything you two would like?" Madame Pomphrey asked gently, coming to stand at the foot of the bed Lily sat on. She glanced at both of them as she said this.
There was a pause, and then, "James." They both said in unison.
"And..." Sirius faltered. "Remus and Peter,"
A look of understanding passed between Pomphrey and McGonagall, before the latter stood up. "I'll go find them," She said, offering a small smile before walking out of the room. As Madame Pomphrey went back into her office, Lily drained the rest of her potion and got up to sit beside Sirius.
"Are you okay?" She asked tentatively.
Admittedly, he did not look okay. "Yeah. Just..." He trailed off, his voice hitching before he had to stop and take a deep breath.
"Yeah," Lily rushed before he could say anything. "Yeah, I know."
Another pause.
"She'll be okay though," She tried to reassure. A mental image of Clara crying in her arms flashed behind her eyes and she took a deep breath.
"Merlin's beard, what happened?!" James's voice broke their silence as he hurried into the room, Remus following him with a concerned expression.
Lily couldn't help it. Her eyes filled as James approached her, and spilled over when he gathered her in his arms. She took a sharp breath in and closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to realize she would never wait this long to resolve an argument again.
~*~
Sirius watched as James and a misty-eyed Lily separated. With a few soft words spoken under his breath, and a nod from Lily, he turned and walked towards his best mate, worry written all over his features.
James took a seat on the bed beside Sirius', and Remus settled beside him. They looked at each other for a long moment, before James said, "Mate, are you okay?"
Sirius rubbed his eyes and nodded despite himself. "Something happened to Clara," He deadpanned.
James seemed to age before him. "What do you mean 'something happened'?"
"Sirius, is she alright?" Remus asked, slowly realizing that she wasn't in any of the beds around them.
"Well..." He started, slowly feeling himself become undone. "I-I don't know, too be honest..."
~*~
When Clara awoke, there were nurses and doctors flitting around her, all taking in hushed voices as they examined her.
The voices had definitely stopped, but the weight of their absence had left an uncomfortable knocking against her head.
"Healer Smith, she's awake." A female voice announced.
A blurry woman stepped into Clara's vision. "Clara, can you hear me?"
All Clara could manage was a feeble groan in response, trying to blink the stars out of her eyes. The Healer asked another question, but her voice reached Clara's ears distorted and warbled, as if she was speaking under water. Instead, she could begin to hear whispers creeping through her ears, wrapping around her mind in a familiar way.
~*~
The next time she opened her eyes, Joseph Campbell was perched on a chair beside her cot. He looked the same as always, his hair slicked back, and his eyes still the ever-icy blue.
"Dad?" Clara croaked.
Something stirred behind Joseph's eyes, but despite her silent urging, he made no move towards her. "Clara, how are you feeling?"
She still felt drowsy, and her head strangely empty. "'M okay."
Her father's voice hardened, "Speak clearly, Clara, I cannot understand a word you're saying."
"... I'm okay,"
"The Healer told me your diagnosis," He continued, straightening and fixing his cuffs as if discussing his daughter's deteriorating health was the norm. "She said with the weight of your final examinations, you had overwhelmed your body with stress and worry. So much, in fact, your mind shut itself down because it couldn't take it anymore,"
Clara blinked. "Oh... what about the voices? Was I just imagining them?" She asked genuinely.
"As I said before, you overworked yourself. Healer Smith told me you were muttering about voices in your sleep, but she simply dismissed them as a result of your stress,"
Clara had begun to sit up, the wheels in her mind slowly working. "Where is Healer Smith now? I'd like to talk to her, if that's alright,"
"Healer Smith told me to pass along the message," He snapped, and Clara settled instantly, a spike of fear in her stomach. "In fact, she said you were permitted to return home, under the conditions that you rest,"
Intuitively, she knew something wasn't right. But as Joseph rested a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Lets go home,", she couldn't help but agree with whatever he said.
~*~
BOOOOOOOOM HERE IT IS! I AM SO, SO, SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE.
School is so stressful, I literally had zero time to dedicate to this story. BUT, even then, thank you so much for commenting and hearting!
What did you think of this chapter? For once, I'm actually satisfied with it! Remember, critical comments are always appreciated!
Thank you guys for reading,
Iesha xoxo