Chapter 412: Sirius Black's Love
Chapter 412: Sirius Black's Love (Please subscribe, favorite, and vote!)
Entering Mr. Weasley's hospital room, Liam saw him leaning on the bed, flipping through one of the English versions of the "Why?" series that Liam had given him. At the time, Liam thought this set of books was the perfect introduction to the Muggle world for Mr. Weasley, and it seemed he was right. Mr. Weasley was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't even notice Liam and the others come in.
"Arthur, how are you doing?" Sirius Black asked.
"Very well, and Healer Smethwyck says the antidote I took this morning worked wonderfully. They checked this noon and said the snake venom is completely gone. I can leave the hospital this afternoon", Mr. Weasley said, putting down the book. "Liam, Hermione, I really appreciate you both coming to see me during your Christmas break."
"No problem, you and your children have helped us a lot in the past. It's the least we can do", Liam replied. He then took out a newly made bracelet and handed it to Mr. Weasley. "This is my latest product. Its defensive power is several times stronger than before. With this, you won't have to go through such a close call again. You and the others on duty can take turns wearing it. I'll make a few more in a while."
"Thank you", Mr. Weasley said, accepting the bracelet after hearing it was for the duty staff. "This time, I owe my survival to you."
Before he could finish, someone walked in. Mr. Weasley immediately fell silent, as the details of the Order of the Phoenix were not something to be shared with outsiders.
"Excuse me, everyone, please step aside. I need to check the wound, and then you can be discharged", a middle-aged male healer said as he entered. The name tag on his chest identified him as Healer Smethwyck.
Mr. Weasley's examination took some time, so to avoid a boring wait, Sirius Black led Liam and the others upstairs. He mentioned that there was a tea room on the top floor, and it was just the right time for afternoon tea at three o'clock.
"There's a tea room here?" Liam followed Sirius Black through one door after another in the corridor, where the sounds of patients groaning could be heard. "This is clearly a hospital ward!"
"I must have made a mistake", Sirius Black said, seeing a sign at the corner. "This is the fifth floor. We need to go up one more level. St. Mungo's has six floors."
Hermione and Liam exchanged a helpless glance, just as they were about to look for the stairs, a door at the other end of the corridor opened, and a middle-aged man rushed out, mumbling something incoherently. Liam stepped forward, placing himself in front of Hermione, and then used a Grapple Spell to pin the man against the wall.
"What's going on?" Sirius Black was also taken aback but quickly regained his composure as a middle-aged healer, wearing a gold and silver floral wreath, hurried over with a worried expression.
"Oh, Mr. Bode, why did you suddenly run out?" she said, then turned to Sirius Black. "You must be Sirius Black. Thank you so much for catching him. It would have been a hassle if he had run to another area."
"Ah, ah, it's my pleasure", Sirius Black said, suddenly sounding more gentle. He and Liam then followed the healer, holding the patient.
"Please follow me. He's in a secure ward and must have slipped out while I was fetching the medicine. The door is usually locked. He's not dangerous, just occasionally loses control", she whispered. "Thank you for your help. It's not easy to bring him back without using magic in the corridor."
The healer used Alohomora to unlock the ward door and then pressed the patient into a chair. "This is our long-term ward. The patients here have suffered permanent spell damage. With intensive treatment and a bit of luck, some can improve. Mr. Bode, for example, has made significant progress recently. His speech has improved, even though we can't understand what he's saying. He's the most likely to recover in this ward."
Soon, Sirius Black was chatting warmly with the healer, and the idea of going upstairs for tea was forgotten. Bored, Hermione and Liam looked around the ward. It was clearly a place where patients lived long-term. There were more personal items around the beds than in Mr. Weasley's room. Liam's attention was drawn to a pot of ugly plants with long tentacles on a bedside table.
"What is this thing? Do wizards really like such ugly plants as decorations?" Liam poked Hermione's arm lightly and pointed to the plant.
"It's probably a Crab Claw Orchid, but a Crab Claw Orchid should be greener", Hermione, who was bored, leaned in to take a closer look at the plant. "It could also be Devil's Snare. The book says Devil's Snare sometimes disguises itself as other plants, but that's easy to verify."
With that, Hermione pulled out a powerful flashlight from her spatial bag and shone it on the plant. The plant's tentacles quickly started to retract, trying to avoid the light.
"It's confirmed. This is a young Devil's Snare. It can't entangle people yet, but it still hates light." Hermione then called out to Sirius Black, who was chatting enthusiastically with a healer, "Sirius Black, do wizards really like to keep Devil's Snare on their bedside tables as decorations?"
Sirius Black turned around and replied, "Who told you that? Putting a Devil's Snare on your bedside table? Does he want it to strangle him in his sleep?"
"But, but there's a Devil's Snare right here!" Hermione pointed to the plant on the bedside table.
"Isn't that a Crab Claw Orchid?" the female healer asked. "I saw someone send it as a Christmas gift, so I just put it on the bedside table."
"We already tested it with a strong light. A Crab Claw Orchid wouldn't avoid the light", Liam explained.
Sirius Black immediately stood up solemnly and used his wand to conjure a flame, bringing it close to the plant on the bedside table. Sure enough, the plant's tentacles recoiled from the flame.
"Ms. Strow, I think you need to inform the others in the hospital. A Devil's Snare should not be on a patient's bedside table", Sirius Black said sternly to the wide-eyed healer.
Soon, a group of healers arrived at the ward. Liam and Hermione knew it wasn't their place to get involved, but Sirius Black volunteered to stay as a witness. Liam and Hermione had to go downstairs to find Mr. Weasley.
"Mr. Weasley, who has been cleared to leave, looked curious when he saw Liam and Hermione return. 'Weren't you going upstairs for tea? Where's Sirius Black?'
"He has his own business to attend to", Liam explained while helping Mr. Weasley pack. "So Sirius Black is staying upstairs for a bit. He told us to go back first."
"That's a good thing", Mr. Weasley said. "Sirius Black is getting older. I think it's time for him to settle down and start a family."
"Healed! Completely healed!" As soon as they returned to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Mr. Weasley loudly announced the news to everyone. At the same time, the news that Sirius Black was in love spread throughout the building.
"Oh, the young master is finally in love. I will make sure to raise the young master to be a true Black", Kreacher reacted most strongly to the news. It seemed even though he had reconciled with Sirius Black, he still wasn't satisfied with him and now placed his hopes on the next generation of the Black family.
It wasn't until it was completely dark that Sirius Black returned home. As soon as he walked in, he was cornered by Mrs. Weasley, who demanded to know what had happened that day.
"Alright, you're right. I am in love. I think Healer Milly is a wonderful woman, and we suit each other very well", Sirius Black said confidently.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
