|| Star-Crossed ||

88

MAX DIGGORY

I laid her down on the gurney and checked my watch. Her time of death was exactly 6:24. It's now 6:41. That means I had 43 minutes to pull this off. The last time Snape and I practiced, it took me 57 minutes. So this was not ideal. I set a timer and began. I started by separating her mind. I'd had enough practice and it was easier than I thought. When I checked her brain activity, it said it was active. That meant I was successful. I checked her pupils and her heart rate. Her pupils were dilated and her heart was racing. I ran a diagnostic and the knife had punctured her lung and it was filling with blood. I had 38 minutes to fix it. I pulled off her coat and cut off her t-shirt. Then I pulled the knife out of her chest, drained her lungs and repaired the hole. Then I sewed her up. I gave her a blood replenishing potion and a pain potion and ran a diagnostic. I sighed in relief when I saw she was stable. Her heart rate was normal, her blood pressure was normal and she was resting comfortably. I cast the spell that resets her mind and checked her vitals again. Everything was normal. I jumped when the time went off and I quickly shut it off. I exhaled a heavy breath. I did it. She was alive. There's no way to know if her mind was affected until she wakes up. But hopefully I didn't screw anything up. I went into the other room and went into her trunk. I brought it here so she'd have clothes. I pulled out some pajamas and changed her clothes. I cast a cleaning charm on her hair and braided it out of her face.

Then I placed a cold cloth on her face and waited. I sat back in the chair and looked down. My hands and wrists were covered in her blood. My sleeves were dirty and bloody, even though I rolled them up to my elbows. I was sweating and my clothes were dirty and bloody too. I probably have time to clean myself up. She won't wake for a while. But I don't want to risk being gone when she does. Snape warned about the time she woke up. She's going to be panicked, disoriented, very fragile and weak and in a lot of pain. The last thing she will remember is dying. And the worst part is I can't tell anyone where she is. She can't see Harry, Draco, nobody. Snape was very clear on that. In fact we argued about it quite often.

FLASHBACK

"I said no!" he yelled. "Are you mad?! She's going to wake up after dying and you want me to keep it a secret!" I yelled. "You are rather good at keeping secrets, aren't you?" he snapped. My face fell. "You told me not to tell anyone about this," I said. "Well what happened to your Hufflepuff loyalty. Shouldn't you at least tell Miss Weasley or Mr. Longbottom? They are the leaders of your little club, aren't they?" he said. "How do you- you know?" I asked. "Of course I know. Who do you think has been covering for you? I'm the one who assigned the Carrows to patrol on the opposite side of the castle so you can all sneak into that secret room?" he said. My jaw dropped. "You? You've been helping us. Why?" I asked. "I have my reasons," he said. "Why? Why help us? Why help Caroline or Harry? Why do any of this? You are a death eater!" I said. "Why don't you just be grateful?" he snapped. "Fine. But when can I tell Harry that his sister is alive? Or Malfoy?" I asked. "You have to wait until all the death eaters have been put in Azkaban or are dead. And you have to wait until Malfoys trial is over," he said. "Why?" I asked. "Because if even one death eater finds out she's alive before this war is fully ended, it will all have been for nothing," he said. I sighed. "Fine. I won't tell them until I can." I said. He nodded.

A few hours passed and I fell asleep. Then I heard her. She began to stir. Her eyes opened and she looked around. I stood up quickly and walked over to her. "Oh no, Max. They got you too. No," she said as tears filled her eyes. "No, Caz. I'm alive," I said. She looked so confused. "I don't understand-" she started. "You are alive too," I said. Her eyes widened. "What?! No! I died, I'm dead! Where am I? Who are you?" she yelled. She stood up and cried out in pain. "Caz, sit down. You are going to tear your sutures." I said. She grabbed a scalpel from the table and held it out. Shit. "Where am I? What did you do to me?" she yelled. I put my hands up in surrender. "Caz, it's me. Maximus Fitz Diggory." I said. She shook her head frantically as she clutched her side. "No!" she yelled. "I'm 17 years old. My mothers name is Freya Diggory and my fathers name is Amos Diggory. My brother is Cedric Diggory and he died on June 24, 1995." I said. "Tell me something only Max would know!" she said. I grinned. "You lost your virginity to me and I lost my virginity to you," I said with a chuckle. She stared at me in shock. "Max?" she said. I smiled. "Please lay back down. I didn't bring you back to life so you can tear your stitches and bleed out again," I said. She laid down hesitantly. "I know you're scared and confused. I'll explain everything." I said. She looked at me with fear in her eyes and nodded.