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I wake up to pain.
Gasping in shock, my eyes fly open, and I sit up quickly only for my eyes to meet Albus's blue ones.
"Welcome back, Ms. Dumbledore." He greets me, but I'm frozen in place.
"W-what?" I ask, entirely befuddled.
"Your friend Mr. Avery set Fiendfyre alight in the tomb you were set to visit. You saved Ms. Nagini and Ms. Diggory as well as Mr. Avery." He concludes.
"Gave us all heart attacks doing it too." Madam Strout demands, coming over to check on me. "I think I lost a good couple years waking up to that screaming of yours, Valentine Dumbledore!" She scolds me.
"What? I'm sorry, did I disturb your slumber while I was literally getting roasted." I scoff, and she glares at me.
"We've dispatched of the rest of the Fiendfyre, but you broke your friend's curse. Did you know that Ms. Dumbledore?" Albus asks me and my eyes widen.
"Broke, what curse?" I sit up, groaning in pain.
"HOLD UP!!! That is newly grown skin!!! I won't have you ripping up all my hard work!!" Madam Strout screams, gesturing to the skin on my body. I must've been burnt up really badly.
"Sorry." I murmur and relax back into the covers.
"You are aware of the blood curse Ms. Nagini had to endure?" Albus asks again, from his place perched on my hospital bed.
"She's a Maledictus," I reply dryly, and Albus nods.
"Correct. Your magic infused with the powerful, uncontrollable aspect of the Fiendfyre broke the blood curse on your friend. She has become an Animagus. Able to shapeshift to her will and only to her will. That's the reason she disposed of all that blood before. She was getting rid of the cursed blood in her system." Albus explains, and I blink in shock.
"Fiendfyre can cure Maledictuses?" I yelp in surprise, and Albus shakes his head.
"No Valentine. You can cure Maledictuses. It's your magic in the end that cured her. If you hadn't, she would've been sent back to the tomb to burn to death. You severed her Maledictus curse, thus severing her connection to the tomb."
"My god." I breathe in disbelief.
"Are they alright? Abby, Nagini and Avery?" I ask, and I hear a groan from the bed beside me.
"Do you have to speak so loudly!?" Abby snaps. "I was asleep!?" She whines, making me burst out laughing.
"You're alive?!" I exclaim, and she scoffs.
"I was shot by an arrow Dumbledore. You know I need to live to show off my scars and lather in all my glory." She coughs out, and I roll my eyes fondly.
"What about Avery?" I ask, and Albus points to the bed across from mine. There he was. The blonde was fast asleep, huddled in between four pillows, looking extremely comfortable.
"Arse," Abby mutters, a fond look in her eyes. "He saved my life. Well, you did considering the big picture, but he brought me to the Infirmary and healed me enough so that he could get me to Madame Strout in time." She explains, eyeing Avery with an appreciative look.
"Yes and Ms. Nagini is asleep as well. She suffered from intense burns like yourself. Not as harsh as yours but all the same pain." Albus concludes, standing up.
"Did you do what you wished?" He asks, and I give him a deadpanned look.
"Are you serious, Albus? The whole tomb freaking exploded. Yeah, the book is gone." I announce, falling into my covers in exhaustion. A pleased smile makes its way onto Albus's lips.
"I'll get Aberforth and Ariana to come to visit?" He ponders, making me grin.
"Yes. Please. Thanks, cousin." I say, and he nods sighing.
"You are going to have to tell someone exactly what happened Valentine....how you controlled those flames as a third-year student when Aurors can't even do that....how you summoned magic that was so dark the castle was left cold for hours..... You need to tell someone. Preferably me before the Ministry arrives to take reports."
My eyes flicker up and meet Albus's cold blue eyes. Ice on ice meets becoming an iceberg of unspoken thoughts and emotions. One more word....one more statement.... was needed before the titanic slammed into it and everything would unravel and drown.
"I won't be informing anyone because I don't know. The tomb was filled with dark magic. It could've followed us here." I state calmly. Dumbledore's lips twitch upwards as if hearing my lies were incredibly amusing to him. We both knew I was lying.
"You managed to apparate into Hogwarts." He states. "How do you explain that? How can you explain breaking through the barriers?"
I blink in surprise. "I did?" I ask, honestly confused. "How?" I ask, and Dumbledore eyes me cautiously like he didn't believe that I actually didn't know.
I shake my head, eyebrows furrowed.
"Abaddon?" I whisper in my head.
He doesn't answer.
Shit.
That meant he was probably in the Underworld somewhere taking care of something. He was king of the demons, meaning he had some responsibilities to uphold sometimes. That meant once in a while, he left, and when he left... I was weakened. Great.
Maybe this was safest for right now. The Ministry was asking questions, and Abaddon wasn't around to get in the crossfire. He was safe. At least he wouldn't be screaming in my head about cutting off someone's limbs when they annoyed him. A wry smile makes its way onto my face. I always missed him when he was away. I guess he couldn't stay to say goodbye, considering I was unconscious.
"Well, get some rest, Valentine. I'll come back in a bit with Headmaster Dippet. Perhaps that will help jog your memory." Albus sends me a polite smile, and I do the same to him.
"Arsehole." I scowl, tucking myself back into the covers and downing a glass of water.
Everyone was asleep, and my mind was silent for once. Alone.
My eyes move to look at my hands. They were raw and sensitive. I stare at them silently watching in fascination as the skin mended itself slowly but surely. My gaze falls on the potted plant on my bed still and then skims around to watch Avery, Nagini and Abby silently sleep.
Sighing, I close my eyes and then reopen them, turning over to stare at the pretty plant. It was green and lively, and I hum a song under my breath, realizing it was Luna's song. "Isn't it sad," I whisper. "Isn't it sad when you get hurt so much, you can finally say 'I'm used to it.'?" My whispered words hang heavy in the room, and my eyes finally close.
"Miss you, Luna. Miss you, Harry. Miss you, Ettie." I murmur slowly, and then my eyes flutter shut, and I'm asleep.
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"She's asleep!!"
"Well, wake her up!!"
"Pardon me? Do you want to repeat that?" I hear Madame Strout snarl. "Do you want to inform me, a proclaimed healer who studied several years in the field of medicine, what to do again in my hospital, to say the least!!" She snaps like a viper. "In this room, she is my patient! Get out! NOW!" She demands.
"Madame Strout, I am a Ministry Official! Do you really-"
"Yes, I do. Get the hell out."
Damn Madame Strout was my spirit animal.
The man sighs, inhaling sharply. "Tell me when she wakes up." He snarls.
"I will not! I'm not an owl." She quips, and I struggle to try to not smile at that.
"Shall I inform Dippet?" He almost shouts, and Madame Strout unsheaths her wand.
"If you wake up my patients, I will unleash a hell on you so violet you will be crying to your mother in seconds." She hisses like a viper. "Go ahead and tell the prime minister. I won't give two hoots. I will, however, inform them how you were messing with a health professional and disregarding her patient care."
The man was fuming silently, but I keep my eyes shut. "I'll return in an hour." He seethes.
"See you then." Madam Strout says with a pleasant ring in her tone.
The man storms out, the sounds of his footsteps disappearing after a second.
"You can open your eyes now, Ms. Dumbledore." Madame Strout says dryly, and my eyes whip open in surprise.
"How'd you-?"
"You forget, I'm a healer. I know when someone is faking being asleep." She scoffs as if the very concept was humorous. "Here. Drink this up. Should finish off the healing of your skin." She cringes, staring at my hands. I take the cup from her and gulp it down in one shot, choking on the disgusting taste.
She rolls her eyes, smiling in amusement. "Best part of the job." She says sarcastically.
"What watching kids choke on medicine?" I retort, sticking out my tongue at the awful taste still on my tongue.
"Yes." She answers, making me grin. "I will admit Ms. Dumbledore. I have seen quite a few bloodcurdling, horrifying cases of dark magic before but yours..." She grits her teeth and then her eyes soften as she gazes at me. "I'm glad you're doing better, Ms. Dumbledore. I'll keep that horrible man away from you for as long as I can." She says kindly, and I smile at her.
"Thanks, Madame Strout," I say, my heart warming a tad.
"Now go back to sleep, child! I can't preach my practice to that man when you're defying my orders." She teases, and I chuckle, saluting her.
"Right away, Strout Madame Strout," I say, making her roll her eyes at me and walk away.
This Chapter is dedicated to my very first readers!! Love you all to death
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