"Miss Black, I want you to go see Madam Pomfrey." Professor McGonagall announced.
Salem opened her mouth to protest, but swallowed her words when her Head of House held up her hand.
"No, I don't want to hear it Miss Black. You and Mr Potter will go to Madam Pomfrey after dinner for another checkup. I already know that professor Lupin did quite a good job at patching you both up, but I just want to be sure."
Salem nodded solemnly and continued down the path to the carriages. George was holding the door for her and she quickly got in after thanking him.
The girl looked outside the window, watching the scenery pass by slowly. She pulled her eyes away from the glum mood nature was in and focused her attention on her friends who were watching her with concern.
"What happened on the train?" She asked quietly, she didn't want to know the answer, not really, but she needed to in order to understand what had taken place.
George frowned and Fred looked uncomfortable, eventually the latter spoke up. "When the dementor opened the door it was simply looking around, probably for Sirius Black. It was really cold and it felt like it had sucked all of my happiness away already. When I thought he was going to leave again, he did the exact opposite really. It took notice of you and Harry and halted in his actions all together. I don't know how or what happened, but it made this horrible gurgling sound and both of you stiffened up.
"Where Harry was simply sitting wide eyed and absolutely silent, you screamed. You sounded absolutely terrified Salem."
His voice cracked and he looked up at her sadly. He never wanted to see her like that again, and he would do everything in his might to protect her from feeling like that again.
Salem swallowed a big lump in her throat and quickly looked down. Her eyes watered slightly as she remembered how utterly afraid she had been, at the frightening voice that had filled her head and the pain that followed after that bright flash of purple.
"Remus sent it away with a spell, I don't know which one, but it worked. It was going to kiss you or Harry, or both, if he hadn't..."
Salem let Fred's words sink in and couldn't help but have the most inappropriate thought after the awful experience they all went through.
"I bet he would've been a horrible kisser, like a washing machine and a plumber all in one."
♠️♠️♠️
The meal was amazing, Dumbledore had held a great speech as always and the house elves outdid themselves every year. Sadly, Harry and Salem weren't currently heading to their headquarters, but making their way to the Hospital Wing instead.
A frustrated noise left Salem's mouth and Harry turned to look at her questioningly. "I don't understand why we need to go! Sure, it's sweet and all of professor McGonagall to be concerned about us, but I'm alright and you're alright as well! I just don't see the use..."
The boy shrugged half heartedly. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. McGonagall would hunt us down and drag us to Madam Pomfrey herself if we decide to skip this checkup right now."
Salem groaned and threw her head back in annoyance. "You're right... Why do you have to be right?" She whined, making Harry chuckle at her misery.
They saw that Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for them when they reached the Hospital Wing. She smiled kindly at the two children and ushered them inside. She pointed to a bed to their right and they quickly sat down on it.
"Alright, I heard what happened from professor Lupin and that he attended to both of you already, and he did a great job. But like professor McGonnagal said, better save than sorry."
Harry was the first who had to go through the woman's examinations, it was nothing too worrisome. She just looked in both Harry's eyes with a small lamp and checked if everything reacted the right way. After that she muttered several spells which turned up with nothing and she smiled brightly.
"Like I thought, completely healthy, you may go or you may wait for Miss Black until she's finished...?"
Harry turned to look at Salem whom shook her head and smiled gently. "You're exhausted, and don't try to play it down, I saw you yawning all throughout the meal. Go ahead without me, I'm right behind you."
The boy nodded, gave her a quick hug before he went on his way. Salem's eyes followed his movements until he he disappeared around the corner.
"Are you ready Miss Black?"
Salem nodded and let Madam Pomfrey do her examinations. Everything went wonderful until the nurse arrived at the last spell. The woman frowned and tried again, but the spell was blocked from inside Salem's body. It was supposed to check if every part in her brain was working coherently, but got blocked by a certain part which couldn't be reached.
"Can you tell me what happened when the dementor entered the compartment Miss Black?"
Salem tensed up at the question, she didn't want to relive that horrible moment. The nurse saw the girl's reluctance of sharing the story and regarded her reaction with concerned eyes.
"If you don't tell me what happened, than I won't be able to help you, Salem." Madam Pomfrey said and squeezed the girl's shoulder comfortingly.
She breathed in deeply and reluctantly told what happened on the train. "Well, I don't remember what happened exactly, because the dementor affected me quite badly. But Fred filled me in..."
She recalled Fred's explanation and the nurse nodded along encouragingly. Salem was done with the tale within a minute and Madam Pomfrey frowned, deep in thought.
"What did you see? When the dementor focused on you, did you see or hear anything?" The woman eventually asked.
Salem's breath got stuck in her throat and her hands trembled slightly, but she mustered all her courage and softly told Madam Pomfrey about what happened to her.
"At first I just stiffened and felt unhappy, empty and cold. My uncle has taught how to defend myself against dementors, I'm not able to produce a corporeal patronus, but an incorporeal one I can manage. But I couldn't do anything, I couldn't move, I was afraid..."
Salem stared off into the distance and licked her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she recalled the clear and cold voice that had filled her mind.
"All of a sudden there was a voice, it was so cold and clear, I was terrified of it even though I had never heard it before. I had goosebumps all over my body. It told me that my father had given me to him and that we would do great things together.
"He would make me his right hand if all went well."
Her eyes had gone distant and her voice had gotten quieter and quieter as she got further and further in her tale.
"He didn't say anything to me after that, but my mind was filled with a bright purple flash and my body hurt all over... I heard a blood curling scream, but Fred later on told me that I was the one who was screaming and that I probably heard myself."
Madam Pomfrey heard her swallow audibly and she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. The woman had an inkling about what was going on.
"I don't know why I was terrified of that voice, it was as if my body had heard it before and knew what was going to happen..."
Madam Pomfrey ran her fingers through Salem's hair comfortingly and rubbed her back, it made her feel safe and felt a lot like how Molly comforted her if she got homesick during the summers.
"I have an inkling about what's currently happening to you..."
Salem looked at the woman with expectant eyes, wary for the obvious bad news she was about to receive.
"As you said yourself, it was as if your body had heard it before. Well, when I tried to examine you and check if the dementor had done any damage to your brain, it appeared that it did the exact opposite. The spell got blocked by a certain part of your brain...
"When the dementor tried to... suck... your soul out of your body... it opened a small gate to a certain part of your brain. That part contained the memory that you relived in that moment, and since dementors make people relive the most horrible events of their entire life, it's safe to say that it was immensely traumatic for you.
"What I can conclude from this whole thing is that your body found that event so traumatic that it forced itself to forget about it all together. All your memories of that time got put away to the furthest corner of your brain, and in all probability, contains even more horrible memories..."
♠️♠️♠️
There was only one place and one person Salem currently wanted to be with and thus with quick determined steps made her to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
She knocked loudly on the oak door and heard the soft patted footsteps of her uncle a few seconds later. He opened the door with a frown, his hair slightly ruffled on top of his head.
He had went to bed early that night, Salem noticed. She forgot that it was almost the full moon and that it was taking a toll on him. She instantly felt guilty for interrupting his sleep.
His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the girl that he considered to be his daughter. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet from fresh tears. He quickly opened the door wider and pulled her inside gently. He steered them to his office, setting her down on the comfortable couch he owned, conjured two mugs with hot chocolate and handed her one.
"Salem? What's going on sweetheart?" He asked with a concerned laced voice. Just that question alone made fresh tears roll down the girl's cheeks and she took a shuddering breath.
"Uncle Remus... I–, I'm not quite sure wha–, what's happening to me. Madam Pomfrey was going o–, on about memories that were so traumatic for me that my own body forced me to forget about them. One could say that it had to do with my age as well, bu–, but it obviously had left such a trauma behind tha–, that I just–, I just forgot about it all together.
"I feel terrified of something I can't even remember, I don't know what's going on Remmie. I'm scared..."
It had been a long time since she had called Remus anything other than 'uncle Remus' and Remus obviously noticed as well, because he had more difficulty swallowing after hearing the nickname he had grown quite fond of over the years.
It brought him back to when she had just turned five years old and had come running down the stairs to the living room, telling him that there was a monster in her closet. She had been just as scared as she was now, but the difference with then and now was that the things his little girl currently was afraid of, were a whole lot scarier for him too and way more realistic.
He noticed Salem's tearstained cheeks and quickly sat down next to her, taking her in his arms. He rocked their bodies slowly and kissed the top of her head. "It's alright Sallie, we'll figure out what's going on. I promise, we'll find out what's going on."
♠️♠️♠️
An hour later Remus and Salem stood together in front of the big oak door that led to Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door and waited for the Headmaster's answer.
Mere seconds later the door was opened by Dumbledore with a cute sleeping hat on top of his white hair. He was just about to head to bed.
"Remus, Salem," he held open the door and stepped aside to let them inside. Remus steered them both inside and rubbed Salem's shoulder comfortingly. "What can I do for both of you at this hour?"
Remus licked his lips nervously and glanced at Salem for a few seconds before returning his gaze to Dumbledore.
"As you know, Minerva wanted Salem to go to Poppy for another checkup... But Poppy found something that I wasn't able to find.
"Salem's body apparently forced itself to forget certain traumatic events from her past and the dementor opened a small gate of sorts to that specific part of her brain.
"But we have no idea of how to get access to them and I think that we can all agree that it's quite important that she gets those memories back in order to answer some other big questions we still have after all these years."
Dumbledore nodded gravely and stroked his beard while being deep in thought.
"This is certainly a matter of great importance, thank you for coming to me immediately. I will think this over the next few days and I will inform you of a solution when I have found one. But for now, both of you need some sleep, it's been a long day and you both will need all of your energy tomorrow."
They nodded in understanding, bid their farewells to Dumbledore and silently left his office.
Remus walked Salem up to the Gryffindor Tower and smiled softly at her. He sighed deeply and took her in his arms once more. He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.
"Everything will be alright Sallie, don't worry. If you need anything you know where to find me alright? For now, have a good night of sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."
She smiled at her uncle and hugged him a little bit tighter before turning around and muttering the password to the Fat Lady.
She looked over her shoulder and grinned at him. "Goodnight Remmie, you're gonna kick ass tomorrow!"
Winking she turned back around and walked inside the common room.
What would she do without him? She hoped she would never have to answer that question.