⚯͛ Unfortunate - Remus Lupin ⚯͛

66.

Remus sat beside her, his eyes red and swollen from crying. He couldn't remember the last time he had let go of her hand. He would give anything for her to squeeze back.

Sirius was in the bed beside her, a huge, painful burn on the side of his face. Dorcas was beside him, as she had broken her ankle badly and was getting it treated too. Marlene was by Dorcas' bed, and James and Lily were flitting between all three of them.

Maeve had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past week. They had been told that the trauma her body had been experiencing from the multiple sessions under the cruciatus curse became too much and her heart started to fail from the stress. Luckily, they had gotten to St. Mungo's in time, and they had managed to get her into a stable condition, but there was no telling if she would be okay in the long term.

With this in mind, Remus hadn't slept properly for about a week since it had all happened.

"Remus," Lily said gently, coming to his side,"please go home, rest, you have to look after yourself."

"I'm not leaving her, Lils," Remus said quietly, shaking his head, his eyes becoming tearful.

"I'll stay with her, okay? Just go home and sleep, have a shower, recover. Please?" Lily asked.

He stood up and looked at Maeve who was unconscious, pale, her breathing shallow. He started to cry again.

Lily pulled him into a hug and he cried into her shoulder, despite how much taller he was than her. All she could do was rub his back and tell him it would all be okay.

"Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet."

Maeve.

He looked over to her to see her green eyes slowly blinking open, wincing as she adjusted to the light of the hospital room. She turned her head and looked over to him, offering him a small smile.

"Hi," He breathed out, coming to sit beside her.

"Morning sunshine...where am I?" She asked, looking round her, "Oh shit, hey, Sirius. What happened to you?"

"Dark curse, burnt my face, I'll be okay," He said, sitting up straighter, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," She said, rubbing her eyes, "Is this the hospital wing? It looks different."

"No, um, this is St. Mungo's Hospital," Remus said.

"Why the bloody hell am I here?" She asked.

"After the battle...you...do you remember you were put under the cruciatus curse, Maeve?" Lily asked her.

"I do, why?"

"Your heart started failing because of the continuous trauma from being under the curse so much, I guess it was just one curse too many at the battle, your body couldn't handle it," said Remus, wiping at his eyes, "Merlin...you were almost dead when we brought you here."

"The fight was a week ago, you know, with the Death-Eaters," James told her.

"Wow," She let that all process, "Is everyone else okay? What happened to Dorcas?"

"Really bad breaks to her ankle, I think it was another dark curse that did it," Marlene said, gripping Dorcas' hand.

"I'm okay!" Dorcas said brightly, contrasting with the rest of the room, "Honestly, it's not that bad, Marls has just been worrying."

"Well of course I've been bloody worrying, you're my-"

"Your...friend?" Dorcas looked at her with a look that the rest of them couldn't seem to decipher.

"No...guys, me and Dorcas have to tell you something," Marlene looked at the rest of them strongly.

"You're dating?" Lily suggested.

"Oh..." Marlene's face went slack, "Yes, that's exactly right."

"How did you know?" Dorcas asked.

"It's kinda obvious, guys," James said.

"Yeah, I called it before I even called the Maeve and Remus thing, and that was in fifth year,"
Sirius said, grinning, "I'm really happy for you two, though."

"Thanks, mate," Marlene grinned.

"Remus," Maeve said quietly, grabbing his hand gently to get the boy's attention, "When did they say I'll be out?"

"Oh, I'm not actually sure, they told us it's uncertain...I hope soon, though," Remus said softly.

"Me too," She smiled, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," he laughed, shaking his head, his eyes becoming watery again, "I was just afraid...I honestly thought that I had lost you..."

"Well you haven't," she squeezed his hand and pulled him to sit beside her on the bed, "I'm right here. Always."

≿ ————————　❈　———————— ≾

Three weeks later Maeve was finally discharged from St. Mungo's, and she was extremely relieved. The healers at the Hospital were extremely helpful, but with a case like this it was a unique situation because no patient had ever gone through what Maeve had gone through and survived, so they couldn't exactly predict how it was going to turn out. Fortunately, she had made a full recovery.

She was realising her strength now, and she was proud.

"You ready to go?" Remus asked as he hauled her bag over his shoulder.

"Yes, I mean no! I forgot! I have to do something, wait here, I'll be right back," She pecked him on the lips before walking quickly out of the room.

He looked at the empty doorway in confusion for a moment before shrugging, taking the bag off, and sitting down to wait for her. What was she doing?

Maeve wandered down the hallways of St. Mungo's, really quite lost, but she knew who she was looking for. Sebastian Daley.

Sebastian and Maeve had a fling a few years back, and even though it ended pretty quickly they stayed friends. And, he owed her quite a few debts, from borrowing money to her covering for him in front of teachers and even his Mum. Now she could ask him a favour and he'd be obliged to follow through.

Now he was a trainee healer at the hospital, and she had to find him. She finally had a favour to ask.

"Excuse me," She asked at the front desk, "Would you mind helping me? I need to find Sebastian Daley, he's a trainee healer."

"I'm pretty sure Mr Daley was planning on observing healer Morgan right now. Go up to the fifth floor and I'm sure you'll find him," The receptionist said helpfully.

"Thank you," Maeve smiled gratefully at the man, before turning to make her way upstairs to the fifth floor.

"Maeve! What are you doing here?"

Sebastian had met her on the stairs...well that was easy enough.

"Seb! Hi! Long story, but I need a favour..."