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Chapter 41



Reluctant Patient





Anna sensed, rather than heard, someone standing next to her bed. Her brain had been spending the last few minutes doing a lazy inventory of her injuries and reported - well - nothing; no sensations at all. Now she felt someone leaning over her. Tentatively, she opened her eyes. Gwen drew back in surprise.



"Oh! Anna. I'm sorry, did I wake you?"



"No," she croaked.



"Wait. Here, take a sip."



Gwen picked up a glass from the night table and held the straw to Anna's lips. Taking a drink of the cool water did a lot to relieve the dryness in her throat.



"Better?"



Anna nodded and immediately regretted moving her head, as pain exploded inside her skull and a kaleidoscope of colors bloomed on the inside of her eyelids as she winced.



"That was a singularly bad idea," she whispered, for fear of starting an avalanche inside her brain.



"Well, you do have a rather nasty concussion and a laundry list of other major and minor injuries. Let's see; arm broken in two places, wrist sprained, elbow neatly dislocated, several bones in your foot and ankle broken or cracked, three ribs cracked, two broken, assorted cuts, bruises, abrasions and some minor blood loss.



"I can tell I'm the poster girl for 'Witch Health Weekly'. I don't feel too bad, except for my brain imploding."



"That's because I hit you up with some pretty heavy duty pain killers while Artemus Pye healed you. We compromised, medically speaking, but your head will hurt for a bit, I'm afraid. Can't be helped, really; brains heal at their own speed. You've been knocked out for thirty-six hours; it's Monday morning, for your information."



"WHAT!" Anna lifted her head up and gasped as her brain reminded her of its internal condition. She fell back and then turned and glared at Gwen.



"Don't give me that look! You know I can't give you anything for the pain from that concussion; you have to rest some more. If you must move, do it slowly/...in fact, just don't move...period. You'll be fine in a couple of hours anyway, according to Artemus, /if you just rest."



"I can't just lie here, Gwen, I have to..."



"/What/? What do you have to do, except get well? I'm your doctor and I say /stay put/!"



"But..."



"No but...rest. Questions and answers can wait. I'll make sure of that."



"Why, what's going on?"



Gwen crossed her arms and shook her head.



"But..."



"No/, and if you don't be quiet and lie still, I'll give you a shot and knock you out again. /That'll get you to rest!"



"You are a despicable, low-down, bossy doctor with the bedside manner of a troll..."



"And you are a miserable, mouthy, un-cooperative patient and my bag is right over there," Gwen pointed, "so do as I say /or else/."



"Mean, mean, mean is what you are," muttered Anna, but she felt herself starting to drift off to sleep, despite her best efforts to stay awake and argue. "Ok, fine, I'll just close my eyes to humor you."



"You do that and then I'll come back in a bit to...Anna?"



Gwen leaned over her, smiled and then closed the curtain slightly to darken the room and walked out, shutting the door quietly behind her.



X # X # X



"How is your patient this evening, Doctor?"



"A bit more cooperative, Professor Dumbledore, and recovered almost completely, thanks to Healer Pye."



"And yourself, Doctor." Artemus Pye blushed.



Dumbledore sat on a chair next to Anna's bed and took her hand in his. Gwen gave Artemus' sleeve a tug and they headed for the door. As the latch clicked, signaling their departure, Anna heaved a sigh.



"How bad is it, Albus? Have I single-handedly started the war?"



"Surprisingly; no. There was a bit of backlash toward the Ministry for the fact that those Death Eaters hadn't been recaptured before this. The fact that you single-handedly..."



"Winky helped."



"Ah...that you, with Winky's help, subdued three of them and then faced Lucius, even with your injuries, has made you quite the heroine."



"Some heroine...does anyone know my injuries were sustained because I was ambushed by a grandfather clock?"



"Well...no. How you were injured, specifically, was not discussed. Just that you are in St. Mungo's recovering." Dumbledore smiled and chuckled. "With your reputation, being attacked by a clock would be a bit embarrassing, to say the least."



"I'll never live this down." Anna put her hand over her eyes. "When the D.A. hears - I'll tell them myself, of course - at least it'll help give them a good laugh and relieve the stress of knowing they left just moments before everything started."



"No doubt the Death Eaters had been watching and waiting until the students left, to launch their attack. Six or seven students to one Death Eater probably weren't considered good odds."



"Four to two wasn't too good either, come to that." Anna smiled, and then turned serious. "So, what's happening?"



"No one has the whole story, yet, except you, Winky, Mad-Eye, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Christopher. And myself. Winky listened to you and Lucius talking; she heard you try to stop him, heard you beg him not to do anything that would force you to use your gun. That he started saying the killing curse, which left you no choice but to shoot him. It was self-defense, there's no doubt.



"And because of your actions, four Death Eaters are out of the equation. Voldemort has suffered a setback; you have disrupted his plans and he'll have to rethink and regroup," Dumbledore added.



"I bet I'm not on his list of favorite people anymore. There goes the invitation to Draco's marking ceremony." Anna shook her head.



"Draco is joining the Death Eaters?" Dumbledore sat up straight.



"According to Lucius. His plan was to take me to the ceremony as a gift to Draco and Voldemort. I was to be the target of Draco's first killing curse. I don't know if Draco knew or it was all to be a big surprise."



"If he didn't have any idea perhaps this will turn him away from Voldemort," Dumbledore mused.



"Or, I've made Draco's decision for him by killing his father...Oh, Albus, I didn't want to shoot Lucius...I tried to talk him out of it...I begged him..."



Anna's eyes were brimming with tears. The flood of emotions she'd been holding back was close to spilling out. Dumbledore stood and sat on the edge of the bed to gather her in his arms, but only three or four sobs escaped her before she pushed away from him and reached for the tissue box on her night stand.



"NO, no/...I'm /not going to waste tears over Lucius Malfoy." She blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Albus."



"That's quite alright, my dear. Any time you want to borrow a shoulder, though, feel free to use mine."



Anna nodded her head, looking down at the balled up tissue in her hand, and heaved a big sigh.



"It's just...I've never killed anyone...it's awful. What else could I do? Draco already heartily disliked me, but this will push him right into Voldemort's arms. I'm afraid we've lost him, Albus."



"Not necessarily...Severus is with him and Narcissa at their Manor House, helping with the arrangements. He'll persuade Draco to come back to school, out of Voldemort's reach and influence, for the next few months, anyway."



"/Severus/! Oh, my God, he must be worried sick! Does he know I'm alright?"



"Yes, Remus and I informed him of what had happened as soon as we could. Then I sent him to Malfoy Manor to break the news to Draco and Narcissa. By the way, you should know that apparently Lucius had viciously beat Narcissa prior to coming to your house and Draco found her that night, just before Severus arrived."



"What! No! Oh, poor Narcissa, is she alright?"



"Yes; recovering at their house, as she refused to come here to St. Mungo's. He beat her, apparently, when she told him that she is pregnant."



"Pregnant? Dear Lord! You know, Albus, the more you tell me about Lucius, the less guilt I'm feeling about killing the bastard."



"Guilt or no, what's done is done and you're safe and sound and that's all anyone cares about at this moment."



"Right. Well...oh, oh; I just thought of something... does Severus know I got hurt by a clock?"



"No. I thought he should hear that from you."



"Thanks, that'll be fun."



"I truly wish I could be there, as I've never seen Severus fall down laughing." Dumbledore smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.



"Oh, great! You're no help, Albus," replied Anna, smiling back at him. "Actually, that's quite a picture, though, isn't it? He will never let me forget this, either. Probably buy me a new clock for my birthday."



"Perhaps a grandfather clock shaped pendant for a necklace?"



"Albus! Don't you go giving him ideas!"



"I promise to keep it to myself, 'for future reference'."



"You are a brat, Albus Dumbledore! I don't care what anyone says about 'dignity' and 'wisdom'...you are a brat!"



"Guilty."



They both laughed.



"So, has the 'you know what' hit the fan? Am I in trouble? Am I fired/? What's going on out there? No one will tell me anything. I /do know that Rita Skeeter is here, begging for an interview. I don't think so, but if we need a story put out there to calm down any rumors, I'd maybe consent to giving a statement."



"Perhaps later." Albus nodded. "First, there will be a hearing, well, inquest, at the Ministry of Magic. Strictly a formality, as you were the victim, not the perpetrator and self defense has been established."



"Even with a gun?"



"A gun, a cricket bat, a frying pan, rope, string, several bottles, a computer, stereo system, rubber balls, jungle bells and a fair amount of treacle on the back stairs, according to Winky. Did I miss anything?"



"Well, we didn't use everything we had planned out, so I'm not telling. Speaking of which, where's Winky?"



"I was wondering when you'd ask."



"Oh, Albus, she was so scared, but so brave. I'd not have made it without her. Honestly."



"She's fine. She was here with you for the first twenty-four hours, and then Gwen and Tonks persuaded her to get your things packed, ready to go back to Hogwarts, and then get some rest herself. She should be back soon, as she's determined to stick by your side. By the way, who is Kevin?"



Anna laughed. "He's a ten year old Muggle, who taught us how to be safe at home, alone."



"I know the explanation is a bit more detailed, but I'll get the whole story at a later date."



"You'll love it, trust me."



"Splendid! Well, I must be off. Your hearing is tomorrow morning. I will accompany you, as will Winky and Remus. Tonks, Mad-Eye and Kingsley will meet us at the Ministry. Then, you'll be spending a few days at Gwen's houseboat before returning to Hogwarts on Thursday; so you may have some time and privacy to be with Severus, before the students return on Sunday."



"Thank you, Albus."



Dumbledore gave her a kiss on the cheek.



"See you in the morning."



"I'll be ready in plenty of time, /promise/!"



X # X # X



"How'd it go?"



Gwen stepped back, opening the door wide as Anna, Winky, Remus and Tonks filed into the living room of her houseboat.



"Rather well, actually. I managed to maintain my dignity while the entire committee spent a good three minutes in roaring hysterics over the fact my injuries were due to a falling grandfather clock."



"They wanted to give Anna an Order of Merlin commendation, which she refused, flat out," Remus added, giving Gwen a kiss on the cheek and putting his arm around her.



"I couldn't accept that and you know my reasons, so drop it." Anna plopped down on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her for Winky to take a seat. "Winky, was the star of the show, though. She soon set those pompous windbags straight, didn't you, Winky?"



"Yes, Miss. Silly old wizards. Humph!" The house elf crossed her arms and nodded.



"What happened?" asked Gwen, as she and Remus settled on the love seat and Tonks perched on the ottoman. "Tell me!"



"Well, they called Winky to testify and one of the Chief Wizards very patronizingly told Winky 'not to be afraid'. Well, she sat up straight, looked him in the eye and said 'Missy Anna and Winky not afraid of three bad wizards who tried to hurt my Mistress. Winky is not afraid of /you/!' I thought I would die! It was all I could do not to jump up and applaud. As it was, Winky just turned to me and we did a high-five and that was that! They took her seriously from then on."



"It wasn't totally out of control," laughed Remus, "but I'll bet there's never been a hearing quite like it. When they heard how Anna and Winky had rigged the house with all of those Muggle booby traps, I think a lot of those old fogies had second thoughts about badmouthing Muggles."



"Rita Skeeter was beside herself," added Tonks, "because it was a closed hearing, and I know she could hear the laughter. But Anna had waved to her and said she wanted to talk afterward. By the way, what did you say to her? She didn't look too pleased when she was leaving."



They all turned to Anna, who grinned wickedly. "I just said Hi from a mutual friend. Must have reminded her of something. Who knows?" Anna shrugged and looked around in wide eyed innocence, which didn't fool anybody.



"What does that mean? Come on, spill the beans."



"Hermione Granger told me how to rein in Miss Skeeter, so that she wouldn't speculate or misquote or take things out of context, in order to embellish her report. We'll see. I gave her an exclusive statement I had written out, that she could use in her article about the attack, without mentioning how I sustained my injuries."



"Ok, I'm not going any further in that line of questions, myself. If you know something about Rita Skeeter that can keep her under control, more power to you." Remus rolled his eyes and held up his hands in surrender.



"Amen!" Tonks added. "Well, I have to get back to the office. You'll be ok here, Anna?"



"Just fine, Tonks. And thank you, again, for being there with Winky when I was out of it."



"Yes, Missy Tonks, thank you," Winky agreed, jumping up and hugging Tonks, who laughed and hugged her back.



"We could use you as a secret weapon in the Auror office, Winky, how about it?"



"No, thank you, Missy Tonks. I is Missy Anna's secret weapon; that's Winky's job!"



They all laughed.



"Then we're lucky to have you on our side, anyway," said Tonks, as she stood up to leave. "Later, people!"



"Bye!" "See you later, Tonks." "Thanks, Tonks."



X # X # X



"Ok, Anna, let's get you settled. You're resting for the next couple of days." Gwen stood in front of Anna, hands on hips, laying down the law. "No arguments and I'm going to spoil you rotten. You, too, Winky."



"She's a mean old Muggle, isn't she Winky?" Anna whispered out of the side of her mouth.



"Yes, Miss, but I is liking being spoiled."



"You traitor! You're supposed to help me bust out of this joint!"



"Oh, /no/, Missy Anna," replied Winky, moving to stand next to Gwen, folding her arms and looking at her Mistress. "We's promised to stay here and I is going to make you be good. You is bad at listening to people who wants to help you, you is!"



Anna was open mouthed, sputtering. "You cheeky little thing! I... you...Oh, sod it, I give up. Go ahead, spoil away." She swung her legs up onto the sofa and folded her arms. "Humph!"



Gwen and Winky shook hands and Remus threw back his head and roared with laughter.