The Secret Cousin

Chapter Ten: St Mungo's Hospital

Emalia spent the next few days drifting in and out of consciousness. She was unaware of where she was, as every time she was conscious she experienced the most excruciating pain, both physically and emotionally. The only thing that she was faintly aware of was when someone was holding her hand gently.

Emalia continued through the cycle of pain repeatedly for what seemed like forever. Until, she felt nothing. She was empty. At least she felt empty, and for the first time in four days Emalia Potter remained conscious for more than three minutes.

Albus was sitting beside her, gently holding her hand. A faint smile spread across his lips, but it did not reach his eyes. She could tell all was not right, there was concern and worry hidden behind Albus's smile. Emalia could see it in his eyes. 

She was slowly starting to become aware of her surroundings. She definitely was not in Beauxbatons anymore. It looked like she was in a hospital of some sort.

'What is wrong with me Albus?' Emalia asked with a flat lifeless voice. 

Albus flinched, it was subtle and if Emalia did not know him as well as she did, she would not have noticed it. Albus was always hard to read, his face rarely betrayed him. Yet here they were in a hospital room, and Albus's face was betraying him, although he did recover quickly.

'What's wrong with me Albus?' she repeated. Albus gently squeezed her hand and smiled sadly. 

'My dear child, I am afraid that I do not have any good news for you' he said. Emalia looked at him her face unchanged, emotionless. Emalia knew that she should be feeling scared or apprehensive about what Albus was about to tell her but she felt nothing.

Albus proceeded to explain how Corisande Guinevere had cursed her, using a blood curse. The sure was old and very little was known about it. Albus explained that he had a general understanding of the curse as most blood curses follow the same pattern. The mixing of blood and the sacrifice of a life for the curse. In this instance, Corisande sacrificed her own life.

Albus continued 'Corisande cursed you to a life where your emotions rule you Emalia. Every emotion you have is displayed to the world, and feel an emotion too intensely...' he trailed off and hesitated. 

Albus was still unsure about whether or not he should tell Emalia the extent of the curse, at least not until he could find a way to help her. 

'If your emotions overwhelm you, it would cause you to experience pain. Love, happiness, anger, sadness... All of them would cause you pain if you feel them too much.' Emalia looked at Albus, blankly.

 'How come I do not feel anything right now Albus?' she asked he voice devoid of emotion.

Albus looked at the little girl lying in bed in front of him. He squeezed her hand again, out of concern but also hoping she would feel something and squeeze his hand back.

'My dear, this is only a temporary respite from the curse. It is a draught that the healers at St Mungo's have given you, and it does not last forever. It is not a cure, nor is it to be used frequently. It is highly potent and can be dangerous.' he said. 

There was sadness in his voice, anger too. Emalia thought as well that she detected a bit of guilt, but she wasn't sure. Not being able to feel anything made it harder for her to recognise the emotions of others, a side effect of the draught she wagered.

Emalia did not care though; she did not feel anything expect for extreme tiredness. 'I want to sleep Albus, please leave.' she said bluntly. 

Albus flinched slightly once again. Just for a split second before regaining his composure. He got to his feet 'Of course my dear, sleep well. I will be here when you wake.' and he left the room.

Days seemed to go by for Albus before Emalia woke once again. This time however it was not as quiet. Albus had refused to give her any more of the draught the healers had made. 

It was dangerous magic suppressing one's emotions like that. It was easy to fall into the trap of nothingness. The feeling of nothing when you feel everything so intensely. Albus did not want Emalia to run from her problems, her fears and every obstacle she encountered. Her parents would not have wanted it either.

Albus had just managed to drift off to sleep in the chair beside Emalia's bed when Emalia woke. All of her emotions, that had been suppressed by the draught came back all at once hitting here like a tonne of bricks.

 She screamed out in pain, tears began to stream down her face and her grip on Dumbledore's hand tightened like a vice grip.It was as if a dagger of ice had slowly begun to pierce her heart, but the rest of her body was on fire. 

'Albus!' she screeched out in pain, emotions flooding her. All that had been repressed came crashing back, her memories of what happened only adding to her emotions as she tried to comprehend what was happening to her.

Her screams became noise as she began to shift in form. Her skin began to shimmer, blazing light as she began to change. It was slow at first, a dim glow until it became a piercing light.

 Her features began to shift. Her highly emotive state had triggered another part of the curse. Emalia shifted into the harpy-like Veela form.

Albus was stunned into silence. 'This is not possible. Only full blooded Veela can change shape' he whispered to himself. 'And it should not be painful... What is this curse?!' Albus wondered to himself. 

As Emalia completed the shift to the harpy-like creature she passed out from the pain she was feeling. In doing so she shifted back to her original form. In doing so she shifted back to her original form.

Albus called for the healers and asked them to administer a sleeping draught to keep Emalia unconscious, so she wouldn't have to feel that pain again. At least not until he had some grasp on a cure.

 As the healers administered the sleeping draught, Albus was busy scribbling on a scroll, and went off to search for an owl to deliver the very important message.

Elsewhere on the fourth floor of St Mungo's the pale ghost of a woman sat looking out the window. This time however she wasn't just a waif of a person, there was more colour in her face. The light in her eyes was becoming brighter and she had etched a name into the window frame in front of her.

'Albus'.