Kaleidoscope || t. scamander

Letting Go, Beginning Again

"We found him under rubble at the British Ministry. He was still breathing but he hasn't woken up since." 

Theseus took a step towards the bed with the hesitation of a child. He was shaking, Roo realized, as she stared at the broadness of his back, that same back that was holding so much of the weight of their world. 

The monitor beeped quietly in the corner, the only indication that Hawkes was still alive. They had wheeled him into one of the French Ministry's emergency hospital wings and had patched him up as best they could. They reported a few broken bones and a blow to his head, but yet could not identify the cause of his indefinite sleep.

"His wounds state that he's been fighting for a while." The wizard in charge of the medical wing stated, "His unconscious state might be because of his head injury, which seems to report signs of shock. But it was mild and he should've been awake by now if that was the only cause."

"What about spells?" Theseus asked, almost as though he was asking himself for his voice was so soft, "Maybe a hex made him like this." 

"There are no actual spells that can knock you out for good, Mr. Scamander. And if curses had been used then they would've killed him instantly."

"Maybe he was hit indirectly." Roo spoke up, realizing that she had been victim of the curses and had still managed to survive.

All eyes turned on her. "How?" Theseus asked.

"Maybe through a reflection, or a mirror of some sort." Roo motioned towards her arm, "I got hit on the shoulder, twice, and we managed to heal it. It's still sensitive but nothing I can't manage. So maybe it happened to Hawkes too, except that they managed to get to his whole body through that interrupted space."

The doctor frowned before scribbling down in his notes, "we'll run a scan again. See what we come up with. It might be plausible that he did get hit through another space."

The door slid open then and in came Coraline with her black dress shimmering in the artificially bright light of the room. Her face dropped with shock when her eyes laid on Hawkes and she mumbled out a "oh mon dieu."

The room was still as she moved towards the said unconscious man. "This is a sign." She murmured as her fingers went to find a pulse under Hawkes' neck.

Coraline turned towards the group of aurors, "I shall give order to lock down the French Ministry. If you'd help us."

Theseus nodded.

"Let me know when the scan results are ready. Now," her gaze turned to the group of aurors, "follow me."

Roo shot one last glance at Hawkes's figure. She was not used to seeing him look so pale, fragile, so breakable. She forgot that beneath that auror title and that place of authority he'd harboured in the Ministry, Hawkes was merely just an old man that could've been friends with her grandfather. That thought made her heart squeeze. She almost jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go." Tina's lips lifted in a half smile before she ducked out into the corridor. Roo followed with the heavy feeling of worry sitting in between her ribs, and the group silently marched towards their destined locations, as per the French auror's words.

By the time they were done conjuring up a barrier strong enough to give them time to retaliate, the Ball had long ended. Roo trudged back to her room, her heels clicking a little too loudly for her liking on the marble floor leading up to her makeshift room. All the magic she'd used up for thr barrier left her worn out and tired, as if she'd been doing an intense workout.

As she turned the corner, she spotted Theseus by the end of the corridor, probably waiting up in case she got lost and accidentally opened up another room, and sent him a weary smile. Flashbacks of their bodies pressed up together and their noses brushing each other sparked a chill down her spine.