Order of the Hidden Dragon

Sophia didn't know what to think when she saw Mary coming back from her meeting with the Minister for Magic with a look of having gotten bad news. What more could have happened? She ran over to her, anxiously. Mary had received the summons just an hour after Albus had left. Sophia had offered to go with her, but Mary said she would go alone. It was about Logan's funeral, so Mary wasn't worried that the Minister would press about the events of the day before. But she might try to corner Sophia, if she came with her.

"What is it? Was she still angry with you? What did she say?"

"No, nothing like that. The meeting went well. Logan apparently had a pension, and since I am his next of kin, it will all go to me. That's not the bad part."

"That doesn't sound bad at all. What else is there?"

"I heard the news just as I left. The Minister received an urgent message, and told me about it, since it concerns us in a way. They found the location of the other group using our name. They have already gone there to clear it out."

"Again, isn't that good? What's bad about it?"

"I don't think she intended for me to hear the last part. She said it to her secretary as she ran out the door."

"What?"

"Albus was injured by something during the raid and is now in severe condition at St. Mungo's."

Sophia felt the world stop at that moment. She hadn't wanted to think about Albus. That whole situation had become so complicated, she didn't even know where to begin to sort it out. What would she do if he died? Their last parting had not been good. He had come to apologise, and she hadn't even said a word!

"Breathe, Sophia," Mary said. "I'm sure he will be fine. You know St. Mungo's can heal almost anything."

"But if it had been just a small injury, would the Minister hurry to the hospital?"

Mary didn't reply. She knew the answer as much as Sophia did.

"We won't be allowed to get into his room. His family is going to be there. They don't know us." Mary said. It was only then that Sophia realised she had started packing her field kit. It had been automatic.

"I can't just stay here. I need to be there."

"There's nothing we can do."

"I know."

Mary sighed. "I'll go with you," she said. "To prevent you from being arrested for bursting into his room or something."

"Why would they arrest me for that?"

"They might misunderstand again and think you're attacking them?"

Sophia doubted that, but she felt better knowing Mary would be there too.

They spent most of the rest of the day lurking outside the hallway where Albus' room was, trying to hear news of his condition. A series of people came and went, many dressed as Healers, but also people she vaguely remembered from photographs as members of the Weasley family. She was glad that Mary had found Logan's invisibility cloak, or some of them would probably suspect that they were journalists or annoying fans. Albus had mentioned that his family had security measures on their residences to prevent unknown visitors from breaking in. And if the Healers saw Mary there, she would probably be put to work. Mary had briefly left to go to the break room to find something to eat, and to eavesdrop there as well, but only succeeded in the first task. No one talked about Albus Potter where they could be overheard.

Finally, around 10pm they saw Ginny Potter leave the room, and they dared open the door. They saw Scorpius Malfoy still there, but he was fast asleep. Sophia took the cloak off and looked over at Albus. He was startled as he saw her, but then he smiled.

"I shouldn't be surprised that you knew I was here. You always seem to manage the impossible."

Sophia didn't say anything. She hoped the room was dark enough that neither of them noticed her blush. Albus looked out the window.

"Why did you come in the middle of the night?"

"Well, there were a lot of other people here during the day. Most of them would have no idea who we are. We thought this was a better idea." Albus just shook his head but didn't protest.

"How long did you hide outside to wait?"

"No idea. We got here as soon as we heard."

"How did you hear?"

"I was called in to talk to the Minister about my brother's funeral." Mary said. "She got the message just as we finished. I didn't hear many details, but "Albus" and "hospital" were enough to deduce the rest. What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I remember we found a Porlock stuck to the wall, and I went in to check another room and then everything went black and cold." Sophia shuddered.

"We heard them say that the wound has some poison that prevents it from closing. They don't know what it is."

"I'm not surprised. Do you remember I told you about secret labs? This wasn't the worst one I've seen, but it wasn't pretty. Have you heard if they found the Auror?"

"No. Was this the group that used our name?"

"Yes."

"Did you at least defeat them?"

"Since I am here, I presume so. At the very least, we know that it is a different group now. They put up quite the fight, but they were no match for a whole group of us."

Sophia was relieved to hear that, but she worried that this could still have negative implications for them. And she did agree with Albus that the name was not a coincidence. They had to have done that on purpose.

"Are you going to be, okay?" she asked. Albus didn't answer for a while.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to any Healers yet. Honestly, I just woke up, so you know more than me. This is the best hospital in the country though, so I'm sure they will figure it out."

It was the only magical hospital in the country, but Sophia didn't want to argue about semantics. None of them dared to ask what the alternative would be. Sophia also grimly thought that if they hadn't provided the evidence that cleared Albus for the death of Logan, he would not have been part of that raid. She knew she shouldn't think that way, and that it would then be another Auror, possibly Rose who would be here instead. But the thought wouldn't go away.

As they talked, Sophia noticed that Albus was getting tired, but he was too polite to say it.

"We really should go now," she said to Mary. "It's getting late, and we all need some sleep."

Mary looked at Albus, then her, then nodded. "We'll try to get back another time, if you're still here," she said.

"Please do. I'll tell my mother about you, so she won't be hostile towards you. Besides, most of my family like you, since you helped me get cleared for the death of Piers."

Mary nodded, but Sophia didn't want to face the Minister just yet. She probably wouldn't mention getting her help again, not while Albus was ill, but it would still be hanging in the air.

As soon as she was back in her room, she collapsed in a chair. Seeing Albus with heavy bandages and unable to get out of bed had been strangely draining. Why did he affect her so? She barely even knew him! Yet she found that she missed him, even though he had barely been here a week.