Speaking in Tongues – Chapter 2 – Celticas

Reading Time:
8 Minutes

Every now and again Minerva felt every one of her seventy-four years. She was by no means old by magi standards, but sometimes her bones creaked and her heart ached. Thoughts of all the people she had loved and lost threatened to flatten her.

The night the Goblet of Fire had flashed blue for a fourth time was one of those times and had taken days to abate. Watching, helpless, as Mr Potter, the smallest of the fourth year boys, stepped out into an arena with a nesting dragon matron, she suspected she would never shake the feeling again. The burst of psyionic energy almost took her off her feet. Juno, her hen harrier spirit guide screamed from high in the air above her. Severus’ crow Convallaria joined Juno circling above the crowd. Minerva couldn’t see Bathsheda’s hare or Aurora’s squirrel in the crowd. Though the wave of energy would have brought them out.

The tiny spirit dragon was positively drawfed by the corporeal dragon. Though they seemed to understand each other. She watched breathless as the Horntail turned, carefully picked up the golden egg and threw it to Mr Potter. They boy looked confused about what was happening, but visibly relieved that he was able to clutch the egg and stagger exhausted towards the exit.

She dearly wanted to slip out of the crowd and follow Poppy when the Matron led the wobbling boy out of view. Instead she was stuck re-assuring her fearful lions that their classmate would be okay. It had been a stressful afternoon for him afterall, and completely understandable that he was a little tired with relief. They only acquiessed to return to the Gryffendor tower when she promised them that she would go to the Hospital Wing for a formal report of Mr Potter’s condition and provide it to them in the Tower. 

The champions and their Headmasters would have already moved up to the castle. Instead of wasting her time fighting through the crowd to get into the champion’s tent, she headed straight for the school. Most of the students were still gathering in clumps close to the arena stadium or tents, allowing her to lengthen her stride as she cleared them. Minera McGonagall never ran. She was stalwart and always calm. As much as her heart cried out for her to race up the three flights of stairs to her hurting lion, all she would allow herself was a slight quickening of her step.

A crowd of red clustered around the doors to the Hospital Wing. The loyality shown by her Lions was admirable, but at the moment they were in her way! “Back to the Tower.” She ordered. “I will come up with an update on Mr Potter’s condition.” It was an easy enough promise to make, having already made it.

All but the Weasleys obeyed. Four determined faces looked up at her. She wondered where Miss Granger was. Surely the girl would be right there with the youngest Mr Weasleys and Miss Wealsey demanding entry into the Hospital Wing to check on her friend.

“You all as well.” She wouldn’t move to get the information they wanted until they did as they were told.

They must have sensed that, as after a minute trying to stare her down, the Twins grabbed their younger siblings and dragged them both away.

Minera mentally shook her head at the folly of youth. Ginevra and Ronald were in for a rude awakening once Mr Potter got control of his new abilities. She always did her absolute best to stay out of the lives of her students, as long as they were safe. They needed to learn to deal with other people, to know when they are being lied to and how.

Finally, she could slip unnoticed into the Hospital Wing. It was as crowded as she had ever seen it.The three headmasters, Mr Bagman, Mr Crouch, and Percy Wealsey were standing in the middle of the large room yelling at each other. The four champions were sitting on beds, still in their battle robes. Though Mr Potter was laying down on his with his eyes closed and a wrinkle of distress between his eyebrows.

Poppy was trying to get to her patients through the crowd. A lilac pain relief potion in one hand and her sparking wand in the other.

She couldn’t hear what any of the officials were saying, their words overlapping to create a wall of indecipherable noise. Rather than trying to get in the middle of that mess, she flicked her wand to nudge Ludo and Percy out of the way and allow Poppy to hurry past to Mr Potter’s cot.

“Here, drink this.” Poppy pressed the potion into Mr Potter’s hand and helped him sit up so that he could drink it. 

“What are they arguing about?” Minerva asked Poppy once she had eased Mr Potter back down onto the cot.

Poppy threw the group a glare before answering. “That Mr Potter cheated. That his score shouldn’t count as the use of Sentinel abilities wasn’t using his wand.” She waved a hand to encompass everything. “That somehow they expected a fourteen year old forced into a death tournament against his will to not use every resource available to him.” Her spirit animal shimmered into pale existence at the end of Mr Potter’s bed. The tiny dragon appeared next and the two reptiles curled around each other until they were hopelessly intertwined. The two spirit animals watched the arguing group with slitted, suspicious eyes.

Poppy left the two spirit animals to stand guard and turned her full attention to her patient. 

“I’m going to floo the Burton Foundation.” Minerva murmured to Poppy.

Her Guide eyed her for a moment. “Use my floo it has more privacy runes than yours.” It wasn’t a guarantee of secrecy, but hopefully with Dumbledore truly distracted they would get away with it.

Minerva squeezed her hand in silent thanks and slipped away. Poppy bustled around her little kingdom without interrupting the argument. She would give Minerva as much time as possible. She was re-folding the folden laundry when Juno appeared on the metal bed foot. The little harrier hopped down the pipe until he could eye her with one bright yellow eye.

“Is Minny done?” Poppy asked. The harrier chirped at her once and then disappeared.

Right.

Time to get her hospital wing back.

“That’s enough!” She said firmly without shouting. It cut through the argument, effectively interrupting Headmaster Karkaroff swearing at Dumbledor in Russian. Or maybe Bulgarian. She had never learnt to distinguish the slavic languages. “I have patients who need their rest. If you must continue arguing, do it elsewhere!” Her glare had Bagman inching towards the door. “Unless one of you have gotten your healer’s mastery without me knowing…”

“Of course.” Madam Maxime nodded her head. “I apologise for the intrusion. Please inform me when Fleur is released.” The large woman turned and left. Dragging all of the men in her wake.

Poppy might have fallen in love with the giantess just a little for that move alone.

It was the work of only ten minutes to close the hospital wing down for the night, setting her standard notification wards and checking on her patients, before joining Minerva in their quarters.

= + =

Draco pressed himself as tightly as possible into the alcove he was using to stake out the hospital wing. The Judges were streaming out of the doors he was watching, arguing amongst themselves.

He had almost counted to one hundred when Professor McGonagall strode out of the hospital wing. He started again, and counted to three hundred before sliding into the hallway and running across to the hospital wing doors. It only took him seconds to inch the door open and get inside. He was still certain that his racing heartbeat would be audible to everyone in the castle. In the shadows of the quiet hospital wing he glanced around. Diggory, Delacour, and Krum were all easy to spot. They were all asleep in a line of cots directly to Draco’s left. Potter wasn’t as quickly visible. He wasn’t with his fellow Champions. Instead temporary walls had been put up around the farthest corner of the room. They had to be buffering the newly online sentinel though Draco couldn’t sense any wards.

Gathering his courage, Draco stepped away from the shelter of the shadows. He hurried across the open space but pulled up short outside the door into his sentinel’s room. Should he be doing this?

He couldn’t imagine that Potter was in any position to be able to have a sensible discussion about their compatibility. If it had just been his rational mind, he would have walked away and waited. Unfortunately for them both there were instincts at play here that no mundane or even latent would ever understand.

“You can come in.” A voice said from the room in front of him.

Still unsure but unable to say no now that he has been invited, Draco pushed inside. It was like every other bay in the hospital wing. A single cot with bone white linens with a small side table and a stool stood beside it.

Potter was sitting up in the bed. His green eyes were more aware than Draco was expecting. They tracked him as he crossed the small space and settled onto the hard stool as much as he could.

“You’re a guide.” Potter said.

Unable to answer, Draco just nodded.

“You’re my guide.” Potter corrected himself.

“If you want me to be.” Draco whispered. He had spent years denying himself. Denying them. He couldn’t do it now that both of their instincts were pulling at them.

“Yes.” A thread wove between them. A single ply that was fragile and would pull apart with the least tension applied to it. Potter held a hand out to him. The other boy’s hand was caloused from Quidditch and other work in patterns that Draco didn’t recognise. A second ply twisted into their thread.

A sharp tug pulled Draco off balance and a hand on the cot beside Potter’s hip was the only thing that kept him from falling bodily into the bed. The idiot Gryffendor lurched forward and buried his nose in Draco’s neck.

“Stop that.” Draco slapped ineffectually at a shoulder as another ply spun into existence.

Even as something inside of him stabilised, something else cracked. A sheet of glass he had never noticed.

“Merlin!” Potter pulled back as fast as he had fallen forward. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He sounded mortified at himself.

“It’s fine.” Draco hurried to reassure him. “We just shouldn’t finish until we have talked. And the hospital wing probably isn’t the best place for that.”

Potter’s eyes darted around as if just realising where they were. “Oh. Right. Um…” He looked confused and lost.

“Did you get enough to stabilise?” Draco asked.

“Yes.” He said slowly, assessing himself. “Yes.” He said more certainly. “When can we talk?”

“Tomorrow night. If Pomphrey has let you out. Meet in the disused alchemy classroom.”