Malignant ••• George Weasley

Chapter 44 - Angelic

George, Harry and Hermione had just finished explaining themselves to Jack - who seemed annoyingly blank about the whole situation, even with a hint of irritation. He did not seem to care that Juna was all but dying at this very moment, he seemed mostly exasperated that she had failed so badly and so many people were involved in her life.

With a sudden grunt, everybody peered out of Jack's office door to see the tattooed man striding heavily through the echoing dullness that was the MIU. In his arms he held Juna as if she was nothing but a rag doll. His body was now coated in her blood as it continued to flow from of her still shirtless torso. She was paler than before, almost ghostly as she flopped limply in his muscular arms.

"Is she alive, Bane?" Jack asked loudly as all of them followed him into a room on the other side of the building with a long table in it.

Bane laid Juna down on the table with surprising gentleness.
"Only just. We need the potion, now." He growled.

George found himself walking towards where she lay and smoothing her long, blonde hair from her face, the tips of it now dyed red from her blood.
It struck him that she almost looked angelic, in the sickest way. Her skin was almost transparent making her freckles and features stand out more than ever. Her eyelashes and eyebrows that were usually quite blonde, stood out almost harshly against her face. There was no doubt that she was on the brink of death, but at the same time she looked incredibly peaceful.

"Please, fix her." George spluttered, not being able to help the overwhelming emotion that brewed inside him from looking at the girl he liked so much on her death bed.

Jack appeared from rustling inside a cabinet, pulling a vial with him.
"What is that?" Asked Hermione.

"None of your business." He snapped, handing it to Bane who rolled his eyes with annoyance.

"It's a potion our small team of Healers were developing during the Second Wizarding War." Bane explained. "It's a shame we couldn't quite get it right until the War was over, it would have saved many lives."
Jack was glaring at him as he unscrewed the vial.
"We've been making use of it here, it's not perfect yet - still a few kinks to iron out. However, it saved Cove last time..."

His words trailed off as he used the dropper to drop the potion slowly and with concentration, ensuring to get the entire length of the deep and grisly wound.
Everybody watched on with bated breath as the drops appeared to sizzle on Juna's skin. For a moment nothing happened as they sunk in, but then George - who was cradling her head, felt her skin grow increasingly cold. The blood that had continued to pump out of the gash on her torso started to cease and eventually stopped.
George began to panic and placed two fingers on her neck, still shocked at the temperature of her skin, feeling for a pulse.

"I- I don't... there is no pulse!" He cried, his entire body starting to shake.

Hermione rushed forward and did the same thing.
"George's right, you have to do something!" She said to Bane with what she hoped sounded to be authority.

Bane just shook his head.
"That's the thing... it either works or it doesn't. That's the kink we need to iron out, we aren't sure of the outliers."

"That can't be..." Hermione trailed off, tears starting to well in her eyes.
"It worked last time! You just said it did!" She raised her voice.

Nobody spoke for a few moments. Time seemed to stop and the walls closed in as George gazed down at the woman who he had spent the last few months falling for. The unbelievability of the last 12 hours was started to sink in, none of this was right, none of it was fair. It couldn't be real.