Seven Devils ★ T.M.R ★

Chapter Fifteen

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STRENGTH OF A DIFFERENT KIND
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THE SECOND FLOOR of St Mungo's was filled with about as diverse a group of ailments Marina had ever seen. Across from her was a man who at first glance looked to be wearing a very frilly multi-layered collar but upon closer inspection was revealed to have fronds of some sort of giant fungus growing off his neck. In the bed next to him, a young girl lay groaning with huge, painful looking purple pustules across her skin. The bed directly adjacent to Marina had appeared empty at first before she realised that its occupant was hovering two metres above the mattress as Healers attempted to pull her back down. On Marina's other side was a very old man with a head so swollen it looked like a novelty balloon, and his skin had turned a pale pink the exact colour of strawberry chewing gum.

Marina found fascination each morning whilst the Healers made their rounds. The various treatments and comings and goings of the ward never seemed to have a linear explanation, the logic behind magical medicine being founded on completely different principles to anything she'd ever experienced. The man with the fungus growing from his neck was made to do a series of yoga-like poses that seemed to elicit an explosion of spores from the frills which were magically – and eagerly – collected by the Healers into small jars, after which many of the frills seemed to dry up and fall off. Meanwhile, she was surprised to see that the old man beside her had his head re-inflated every morning – it was apparently a part of his treatment, not a symptom.

Mrs Weasley quickly assumed the role of her head carer and she spent as many hours as she could in the ward. There was no doubt that this was on Dumbledore's request, but nonetheless, it was greatly appreciated since Marina was aware that Mrs Weasley had Ginny to care for as well. When Mrs Weasley was unable to supervise her, Remus often substituted, with the sporadic appearance of Moody – but Mrs Weasley was greatly anticipated because always brought her homemade meals and sweets. She flitted between Marina and Riddle and fussed over both of them in a very heart-warming sort of way. She had immediately assumed the role of attempting to dispel the shadows on Riddle's cheeks and was constantly plying him with homemade food.

Mrs Weasley spoke about Riddle very fondly to the point where Marina had doubted for a long time if she even knew of the connection between Riddle and Voldemort. Her knowledge of Riddle's original fate was only revealed after a single offhand comment about how she couldn't believe that such a nice young boy could grow up to do such horrible things. Marina had sat in uncomfortable silence at this musing, wondering if it was wrong to conceal from her what Riddle had done to Ginny in the series. Not even Dumbledore knew about that; when Marina had first explained the Horcruxes to him many months prior, she'd never said that the student Riddle had lured with the diary into the Chamber of Secrets had been the youngest Weasley.

In fact, everyone had been weirdly tight-lipped about the Horcrux plan since their initial confrontation with Marina. Remus and Dumbledore gently deflected any leaning towards that topic when Marina tried to bring it up, and Moody just straight up ignored it. Apart from Mrs Weasley's one slip up, Marina hadn't heard her ever acknowledge their plan regarding Riddle at all. Marina had her own theories as to why everyone was being so evasive. She had gone from being the integral consultant for the plan who was heavily involved in the behind-the-scenes discussions, to being stuck in a ward with Riddle completely in the dark right after she'd made it clear to Dumbledore that she wouldn't divulge Riddle's experiences without his permission. Dumbledore had apparently taken this as her declaration of where her loyalties lay. His intention seemed to be to demonstrate that she was deprived of the privilege of their discussions until she talked to Riddle and reported back to them. Marina understood why the others were going along with whatever radio silence Dumbledore had ordered, but it still hurt – especially with Remus. It was a cold reminder that when push came to shove, his alliances along with those of everyone else always fell back to Dumbledore.