The Talisman of Monguk

Chapter 9: The Ill-Fated Watch

Although the previous three nights had been rainy and warm, Halloween night was clear and cool. The waning moon was clearly visible in the cloudless sky. Angela and Lupin were making their way down the now-deserted streets of Diagon Alley toward Gringotts Wizarding Bank. They were on patrol. Angela was dressed in a heavy woolen jumper and loose cargo pants. Lupin pulled his overcoat closed over his threadbare jumper and trousers against the cold night air.

They approached the massive front doors of the bank building, looking cautiously around them. Lupin took out his wand and tapped the lock. The doors opened silently and they stepped into the cavernous foyer of the bank, wands clutched in their hands.

During daylight hours, when money changed hands, this section of the bank was guarded by goblins. But at night, all the valuables were safely stowed down in the vaults. There were protections down there too terrifying to contemplate. Most wizards knew better than to attempt to break into them, but one of Voldemort's servants had gained entry to the vaults once before.

Angela and Lupin patrolled the lobby. Their footsteps echoed eerily on the marble floors, the sound bouncing off the high ceilings and endless rows of teller windows. Angela felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. She held out her hand to stop Lupin.

"Something doesn't feel right here," she whispered.

"I know," Lupin replied. "I feel it too. I think we're being watched."

For several minutes, they stood still, their wands poised for attack. Nothing happened. The feeling passed, and Angela started to relax again.

"It must have been my imagination," she said.

"Even so, I think we'd better have a look around," whispered Lupin.

They scouted the room and the adjoining hall, but found nothing out of the ordinary. A half an hour passed. Angela sat down next to one of the teller windows, but Lupin remained standing and tense. He sensed something.

Suddenly, there was a deafening crack, shattering the silence. Angela jumped to her feet, her wand drawn. Two Death Eaters, wearing masks and hooded robes, Apparated into the room. One Death Eater went after Angela and the other after Lupin. Sparks flew from their wands as the dueling began. The sounds of their shouts, spells, and footsteps echoed off of the walls with a deafening cacophony.

For Angela, her months of practice were put to the test, but she held her own against her adversary. As she had been taught, she attempted to parry each spell aimed at her and then attack with a spell of her own. For several minutes, Angela and the Death Eater were locked in an intense battle. Their bodies moved back and forth in step as if doing some bizarre waltz. The jets of light from their wands collided in midair as they dueled.

One spell went wide of its mark. It ricocheted off of the walls. Just in time, Angela ducked as the rebounding spell whizzed past her ear. Angela recovered, sending a Stunning Charm hurtling toward the Death Eater. He dodged to the left to avoid it and stumbled.

Sensing her opportunity, Angela yelled, "Expelliamus." But the Death Eater was equally quick. With a slashing motion of his wand, he uttered his own spell. The two flashes of light crossed in midair without colliding.

"Protego," shouted Angela, hoping to shield herself from the curse. Instead of stopping the spell, the Shielding Charm merely deflected it. She was hit in the right shoulder.

However, her Disarming Charm hit its mark. The Death Eater's wand wrenched from his hand. He flew backward, skidding to a halt on the polished marble floor. His wand landed with a clatter several feet away.

For a few moments, neither one moved. Pain surged through Angela's right shoulder. Her wand began to shake. She could no longer hold it out in front of her. Her attacker slowly rose to his feet, eyeing his own wand on the ground a few feet away. Angela knew what she had to do.

The Death Eater lunged for the wand, but she ran forward and met him with a heel thrust to his chest. He flew backwards towards the wall, away from the wand. She met him again, this time with a kick to the chin. His head snapped backwards, hitting the wall with a sickening thud. His mask slipped from his face, as he slumped down unconscious.

"Boggs!" Angela hissed with surprise.

Holding her injured right arm in her left hand, Angela looked around for Lupin. But he was not in the room. Just then, she heard a woman's high-pitched laugh from the adjoining hall. It was coming from the entrance to the vaults. She ran toward the voice, through the doorway, and skidded to a halt. The scene that met her eyes was horrifying.

Bellatrix Lestrange, the women that she had seen in Moody's scrapbook, stood before her. The Death Eater was unmasked and laughingly triumphantly, her wand pointed at Lupin. He was clutching his chest with his left hand, his eyes wide with shock and surprise. He was breathing hard, but he still had his wand in his right hand pointed at his opponent.

Angela heard herself yell, "NOOOOOO!" It was as if someone else was speaking. In slow motion, the Death Eater turned to face Angela, the smile fading from her face. Angela steadied her wand in both hands. She shouted "Impedimenta." A red beam of light flew from her wand, winging toward Bella. With all the effort he could mutter, Lupin simultaneously uttered a curse. A second jet of light sped toward its target. Lupin's spell hit first, a direct hit on Bella's wand hand. The Death Eater screamed, holding her wrist, recoiling in pain. In the next second, Angela's charm flew by, narrowly missing her.

There was aloud crack and Bellatrix Lestrange Disapparated. Angela heard a second crack in the lobby behind her. She spun around and ran back toward the door. She heard Bella's angry voice coming from the lobby and a third crack, but the room was empty by the time she got there. The Death Eaters had fled.

Angela turned back to the hallway, running as fast as she could. Lupin was still where she had left him. His right arm, still holding his wand, had dropped to his side. The left hand on his chest was covered with blood. His breathing was ragged. There was a pained expression on his face. Slowly, he sank to his knees. Angela ran toward him, calling his name.

"Remus, please, hang on," she pleaded. "Put your arm around me. Please, hang on!"

She took his wand from his right hand and put his arm around her neck. She put her left arm around him and, using her good shoulder, tried to support his weight. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. Although the pain in her shoulder seared, she raised her wand in her right hand and they Disapparated with a crack.

They appeared seconds later in the midst of the emergency room of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The room was filled with witches and wizards with strange illnesses, waiting for service. Triage Healers in bright green wizard robes were bustling about, interviewing and admitting patients.

As one of them passed, Angela leaned in close and spoke urgently, "Please, I'm Angela Hawkins. This is an emergency!"

All the color had drained from Lupin's face. He was losing consciousness. Angela struggled to support his full weight and nearly collapsed onto the floor under him.

"HELP ME, PLEASE," she cried out. "HE'S BADLY HURT."

Immediately, several Healers rushed to her aid. They conjured a stretcher and eased Lupin off of her shoulders onto it. He had passed out. The first Healer spoke with Angela. A second Healer examined the wound and barked orders to several aides. They levitated the stretcher and ran along beside it down the corridor and then up to a ward on the fourth floor. Angela followed along behind. They maneuvered the stretcher into one of the rooms and transferred Lupin to a bed.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you'll have to wait outside," one the orderlies told Angela.

Then he escorted her out of the room and closed the door. Angela stood outside in the corridor staring at the door, straining to hear what was happening inside. She ignored the throbbing pain in her shoulder. It was nothing compared to the turmoil in her heart.

Over the next hour, five Healers came in through those doors. Aides ran in and out following their orders. She caught fragments of their conversations and glimpses of Lupin as the door opened and closed, but no one would give her news of his condition. Finally, one of the Healers walked out of the room.

"Please, sir, can you tell me how he's doing?" she pled, her voice breaking with emotion.

"Are you related to the patient?" he asked.

"I brought him in."

"No news yet. They're still working on him. But there's a waiting room at the end of the hall. You can wait there."

"I'm not leaving him," she insisted tearfully.

"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't stay here," he protested.

He put his hand on her right shoulder to lead her down the hall. She winced as a burning sensation shot down her arm. He stopped, took his hand off of her shoulder, and stared down at his blood-stained palm. The blood, which had soaked through the dark jumper, was now visible on her shoulder. Angela started to swoon. The Healer shouted for the orderlies. Two of them swiftly ushered her into the room and onto an empty bed near Lupin's. They gingerly helped remove her jumper and began to treat her wound.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Much later, she awoke in the now-dim light of the hospital room. It was still night. Her bandaged shoulder throbbed dully. She reached for it, feeling the sling that supported her right arm. She heard voices approaching in the hall and the click of the doorknob. Quickly, she rolled over onto her left side and pretended to be asleep. Two Healers entered the room and walked over to Lupin's bedside. With her back to them, she listened, straining to hear every word of their conversation.

"Frankly, Benedict, I've never seen anything like this in my twenty years at this hospital. I was hoping that you'd take a look and give me your opinion."

He continued, "It's a very serious case. We've tried several treatments, but nothing seems to work. The wound keeps opening back up and what is even stranger is that it keeps getting worse. He's lucky it missed his heart. Right now, we have him in a potion-induced coma. It seems to have stopped the progress of the damage, at least for the moment."

"Hmmm...Sounds like Dark Magic to me. How did this happen?"

"He was unconscious, when he arrived. That girl over there brought him in. She said that they were attacked, but she couldn't tell us what curse had been used," explained the first.

"Should we wake her?"

"No, let her sleep. She'd been wounded too...a shoulder wound...not major. She's lost a bit of blood though. It seems that she'd been left standing in the hallway for quite a while. No one knew she was wounded."

"What? Those triage Healers in admissions should have caught that! Didn't they question her? Such carelessness," exclaimed the second healer with annoyance.

"Well, I can't really say. They were extremely busy down there tonight. It is Halloween, you know. Anyway, what do you think about my patient? Do you think you might take the case?"

"It certainly is an intriguing case. I've got a few ideas that might work, but I'll need a little time. Let me explore a few alternatives and get back to you."

The door clicked shut and the Healers voices faded down the hall. Angela lay motionless for a while, turning their words over in her head. What if his wound keeps getting worse? She felt an unbearable ache in her chest. What if they can't save him? It was as if she would explode from the pressure that was building there. Please, let him live! A sob escaped from her lips and a flood of tears began coursing down her face.

Slowly, she got to her feet and crossed over to Lupin's bedside. She leaned over him and stroked his cheek gently with her left hand. One of her tears landed on his face. She brushed it away. Then she put her lips close to his ear and whispered softly, "Please, Remus, don't leave me. I...I love you."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Two days later, Lupin was propped up in bed when Angela entered his room in St. Mungo's Hospital. His eyes brightened when he saw her. But, when he spotted the sling on her arm, a worried look flashed across his face.

"Well, hello," he said.

"Hello, Remus. Glad to see you're awake. Molly told me that you were accepting visitors. I came as soon as I could. How are you feeling?"

She pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Fine," he answered, trying to sound convincing. "How's the arm?"

"Oh, it's nothing. They've patched me up pretty well. I just have to keep this sling on for a couple more days. They just wanted to make sure that I'd rest my shoulder. That means no dueling for me...or cooking."

"How are you managing then?"

"Just fine. I'm staying with my mother and brother for a few days," she replied.

She leaned forward, eyeing his bandages and looking very concerned. "And what about you?" she asked. "Have the Healers figured out how to close that wound? Is it still getting worse?"

The frown line reappeared on Lupin's forehead. He seemed unsure of what to say. "Well...it's not getting any worse." He hesitated. "But they still haven't figured out how to stop the bleeding."

The troubled look on Angela's face deepened. She took his hand in hers.

"Healer Browning seems very good," he added bracingly. "I'm sure he'll come up with something. In the meantime, they're giving me Blood Replenishing Potions."

Angela seemed unconvinced. She stared down at her lap for several minutes, thinking hard. Then she leaned forward and whispered, "Do you have any idea what curse that horrible woman used on you?"

"No," he whispered back. "It was a curse that I'd never heard before. Healer Browning asked me the same question. He thinks, and I agree, that it was some sort of Dark Magic, but that's as much as we know. It must have been a very strong one too. The Shielding Charm that I tried was completely ineffective against it."

Angela gasped. "That reminds me," she began. "Boggs also hit me with a spell that I couldn't deflect. What was it? Scal...scal...something?"

"Scalprumus?" Lupin offered.

"Yes, that's it! What's that?" she asked.

"It's a Slashing Curse," Lupin answered. "A fairly strong one too. You'll need a stronger Shielding Charm to counter that one. Remind me later and we'll go over more advanced defensive spells in our next lesson."

He was smiling now. And so was Angela. Another dueling lesson with Lupin was a comforting thought.

"I really have to thank you. You should have seen me against Boggs. It was the best that I've ever dueled. And it's all because of you." She beamed at him.

He smiled back at her, looking pleased, and replied, "I'm glad that I was able to help...And thank you for bringing me here." But his smile quickly faded, replaced by a puzzled look. "Who did you say attacked you?"

"Nebulus Boggs." Angela's face wrinkled in revulsion. "He's the one that gave me all that trouble at work. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he's a Death Eater."

The concerned look was back on Lupin's face. "Promise me that you'll be careful. This Boggs now knows that you're fighting for the Order. Things could get much worse for you at work. You should tell Dumbledore straight away."

"I will," she promised. "But I'm safe from him for a while. I'm currently working on a case file under the direction of Madam Bones, not Umbridge. It's an important case and could take months."

"What's it about?" asked Lupin curiously.

"You know that I'm not allowed to discuss active cases," she chided, the smile reappearing on her face.

She looked down at his hand in hers. Then she looked back up at him timidly. "There's something that I've been meaning to tell you." She hesitated and bit her lip. He gazed back at her curiously. She continued, "I...I lo--"

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the nurse. She was a kindly white-haired witch carrying a tray with two goblets. When she saw her, Angela broke off and released Lupin's hand. The nurse addressed Lupin.

"Hello, dear, how are you this evening? I have a Blood Replenishing Potion and a Sleeping Tonic for you." Then she turned to Angela and added, "Visiting hour is nearly over and our patient needs his rest."

"If it's all right with you, I'll just stay for a few more minutes until he falls asleep," Angela replied.

"That'll be fine, dear."

Lupin drank the two potions and lay back down on the bed. The nurse left the room, but Angela stayed behind. She arranged the covers around Lupin.

"You were saying something?" he asked.

"It's nothing. It can wait," she replied, losing her nerve.

He smiled at her and closed his eyes. She watched until he drifted off to sleep a few short minutes later. His breathing became deep and regular. The smile still lingered faintly on his lips. He was peaceful and still. She watched him for just a minute, wondering what he was dreaming. Then she got up to leave. As she approached the door, she turned back for one last look.

"Good night, Remus. Sweet dreams," she whispered softly and left.