Glasshouse

Acknowledgement

The loud plops of almost all the people around her disapparating reached Jo belated and distorted. She knew that phenomenon, of course. Knew that she was close to dissociating completely, but she tried to hold on to reality with everything she got.

Her family needed her now and she would NOT let her past, her trauma, win.

"Mama?", Emmy's hand slid into view, as the girl put her hand on top of Jo's clasped ones, "Are you with us?"

There was a note of fear in her voice. She sounded small. Helpless.

Her girl needed her.

The thought of her poor girl needing help and Jo letting her down was just... too painful. She couldn't do anything to help Lily and Harry, but she could be there for Emmy.

Carefully she raised her head and focused her eyes onto Emmy's face, while opening her hands to hold on to Emmy's.

"I'm here.", she said, slowly. Struggling to find the words.

Then everything rushed back with too much force. All the fear and pain her brain had tried to shield her from. She looked around Harry's empty office and apart from Emmy, only Audrey and Percy had remained.

"Do we have a plan?", Jo asked and got up.

"Yes. We're taking you both to St. Mungo's.", Audrey explained.

"Everyone who didn't go to fight already went there.", Percy explained quietly, "We stayed. Thought you'd probably appreciate the option of apparating."

"I do.", Jo agreed, got up and tugged her clothes back into place. She couldn't let people outside this room see how stressed and scared she was. People might not know what was happening yet, but all of them at the hospital would be noticed and she really didn't need another nasty article about how she was too weak. Too muggle. Too... insufficient.

Emmy smiled at her shakily and reached for her uncle's hand as Jo did the same with Audrey.

Apparating didn't help with her nervous nausea, but the two Weasleys got them through the foyer and up the stairs before too many people had the chance to notice them. When they reached the floor Kingsley had closed for them, people were just everywhere. Some of them were friends, others obviously healers, aurors and everyone in between. Still, people opened a corridor for them and Jo was still holding Emmy's hand, when she noticed Teddy standing in the middle of a group of healers, holding a very unhappy looking Lily.

Jo couldn't really describe the sound that left her throat, but she stormed forward, pulling Emmy along and all but crashed into her two kids standing together.

"Mama!", Lily sobbed and let go of Teddy's neck to throw her arms around Jo instead and bury her wet little face in Jo's sweater.

"Oh, Baby! Du bist okay... ihr seid okay!", Jo found herself sobbing right alongside her youngest and pulled Teddy down into a hug with them.

"Daddy is hurt.", Lily whispered into her ear and Jo felt her insides freeze, her eyes meeting Teddy's terrified gaze.

"You guys are okay, right?", Jo told herself as much as she told the kids, "You're okay and we can deal with everything else."

"Coming through!", someone shouted behind them and everyone began to shuffle aside. Jo, too, turned around and for a solid second, she didn't recognise the bloody, mangled figure on the stretcher surrounded by healers.

Not until a horrified Emmy yelled "Dad!", and tried to let go of Jo's hand still clasping hers tightly.

"Emmy, no!", Jo managed to wrestle down her terror, "We need to let the healers do their magic. Come on, darling. Let's... let's sit down and find everyone, yes?"