2.| ✮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵. ✮ {𝓑. 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂}

\𝓉ℯ𝓃\

~

Eleanora rested her head in her hands and leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. She'd been waiting for the healers to come out with word on Bill for almost an hour now. She squeezed her eyes shut, not sure she could watch Mrs. Weasley pace across the floor of the waiting room one more time. She only looked up again when she heard Mrs. Weasley mutter, "Why wouldn't he tell us?" for the seventeenth time.

"He didn't want you to worry," Eleanora said, losing her patience. "He thought-" she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "-he thought he was getting better."

"Why wouldn't you say something?" Mrs. Weasley cried. "Eleanora, you're supposed to take care of him!"

"Molly..." Lupin said warningly. He put a hand on Eleanora's arm as she started to get up, her mouth open to protest. "This isn't Eleanora's fault. It's not anyone's fault."

"Remus is right," said Mr. Weasley. He'd been mostly silent since they arrived at the hospital. "What matters right now is Bill's health- ah-" He stood up as an important looking healer entered the room.

"I have news on William," he said, surveying the group. "Is everyone here family?"

"Yes," Eleanora said without hesitation, struggling to her feet. "What's the news?"

"Well..." The healer gave her a questioning look as Eleanora stumbled and Lupin had to catch her. "This is definitely one of the more severe attacks he's had, but we were able to get him stabilized. He's sleeping now."

"Can you cure him?" Mrs. Weasley asked, sounding desperate. "You can cure him, right?"

The healer hesitated. "In most cases, yes. Modern magic can cure most types of cancer very effectively. This particular strand, however..."

"I've read about it," Eleanora cut in. "Aren't there potions that can be used to-" she paused, swaying, and Lupin tightened his grip on her arm, "-potions that can be used to slow the spread of the..."

"Are you sure you shouldn't be seen?" the doctor asked. "I could put you in a room near William's-"

"I'm fine," Eleanora cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Tell us more about the treatments."

The healer hesitated, then nodded and said, "Right. Well, we're doing everything we can. There are potions and spells we can use to slow the spread, but as I was saying, this particular strand can be hard to... convince."

"But you'll be able to heal him," said Mr. Weasley. "He's strong, it's not like he's going to- I mean, he'll get better, won't he?"

The healer stared down at the floor. "I can't give you any definites right now. It's tricky with this-"

"Bullshit!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, surprising everyone. "Bullshit! Of course you can heal him- you're supposed to be the greatest healers in the world!"