The Godmother

48. blacked out

At first, she wasn't sure whether she was still dreaming, whether the sensation of being conscious was merely in her mind or whether it was real. When she felt her eyelids, she was able to drift them open and her sight caught the dim light of a roof. She could feel that she was laying in a bed, reclined, soft pillows holding her neck.

As she looked down, she suddenly felt the aching pain all over her body, the type that felt like she'd run a marathon and had woken up the next day to cramping legs, except all over.

A hand grabbed hers, and she saw Sirius. Everything felt a little bit better.

"Oh", she mumbled, "Sirius".

He leaned forward off the hospital chair that he was sitting in and kissed her forehead.

"You're awake, you're alright, I'll grab the nurse", he whispered.

His hand left hers, and a small flame died with his touch no longer presenting itself on her skin. He walked out of the small curtain-walled room that they were in and disappeared behind the blue thin sheets, reappearing a few moments later with a short, young nurse wearing a facemask.

"Miss Potter, how are you feeling?", she asked, feeling Elizabeth's wrist for her pulse.

"Terrible", she said, her voice croaky. "It aches".

"Alright, I'll get you some pain potions for that. Do you know where you are?", the nurse asked.

"St Mungos?", Elizabeth guessed.

"Yes, that's right, dear. Do you know the man standing next to me?", she asked again.

"That's my fiancée", Elizabeth answered.

"Wonderful. I'll get those pain potions", she said, turning and walking from the bay.

Sirius slumped down in his seat with a sigh.

"What happened?", Elizabeth asked, she could feel her eyebrows tightening as she looked at Sirius, but relaxed her face because it hurt too much.

"You blew up", Sirius said. Elizabeth could feel her face growing hot. "I don't know what happened- you just became this ball of bright white light, and then you exploded, like a bomb. It blew everyone over and knocked out a few death eaters, which we were able to take back into custody. But then you just passed out. I didn't know what had happened, I thought you had-".

"I'm fine", Elizabeth said, reaching out to grab his hand, which he took, warmly. "I'm alright. I- I don't remember what happened", she admitted.

Sirius nodded, solemnly.

The nurse returned with a flask, and Elizabeth drank from it. Immediately, she felt the effects of the potion settle in. She felt the pain in her muscles and tendons go away, her body sink into the mattress and her eyes grow heavy.

"Is everyone alright?", she asked, feeling her head rest into the pillow.

"Yes, everyone is fine", Sirius answered.

Elizabeth drew in a deep breath, relieved. She recounted the battle. All that she could remember was aparating to a forest and then running through the dark, the cold air and the feeling of being showered by a light rain.

She paused, drawing in a breath.

"Why am I here? Do the doctors know what is wrong with me?", she asked.

"They-", Sirius said, thinking, "They believe that when you blew up, it sort of released all of that dark magic that had been trapped inside of your body. Just like a bomb. You went off and then there was nothing was left. You had collapsed, I- I thought you had died", he said, placing his hand on hers and squeezing it tightly. "But you're fine now, if anything, you're better. The dark magic is gone, there's barely a trace left. Its all over now. Its out", he said.