Characters: Amarissa Cross and Andromeda Black-Tonks Location: St. Mungo's Date: Thursday, August 21 Time: Early Afternoon Rating: G
In all honesty, Amarissa hadn't even been certain that she was going to be able to find the hospital that her sister was in again. She hadn't been there since Sofia had been brought to St. Mungo's, after the attack. The stay had been excruciatingly long during that time when everything had been in such a constant state of disarray. There had been the Ministry to contend with, who kept showing up to ask questions in a sort of disinterested way. They were in the middle of a war, and these kind of attacks weren't quite normal yet they had been increasing in numbers and it was difficult for anything to be done. The arrangements for her brother's funeral had been underway. She remembered fumbling to try and get everything in order while her mother numbly stood by, not quite able to deal with the knowledge that, essentially, two of her children were gone forever. And of course, there had been the existence of Brandon to deal with, the small child that seemed to glean so much of her sister's looks. He had been thrown into their care while his mother was placed within the hospital with the hope that her mind would recover.
But it didn't, Amarissa reminded herself as she recalled the hours spent by Sofia's bedside, only to watch her sister's pale, unmoving figure. She had woken up, certainly, but she wasn't herself anymore, only a pretty shell with no mind left. All these thoughts made it difficult to enter St. Mungo's once again. They had received the occasional comment about her sister's health, but her mother hadn't returned to England since the attack, and this was the first time that Amarissa had been back. She had put off visiting her sister, pushing it to the back of her mind as she let herself be consumed with work. But it had been quite some time since her arrival now and she couldn't plausibly ignore the issue any longer. So, she had set out, halfheartedly hoping that she wouldn't be able to find the place once again. But it wasn't difficult to find, not really, and before she knew it, she was standing out the door to where her sister now lived, was now confined, looking in through the tiny window.
It took a bit more courage than she would have thought to enter the room. Sofia was asleep when she slowly walked in, the sound of her shoes echoing throughout the entire room. Amarissa smoothed her hands self-consciously over her robes, suddenly more aware of the jeans that she was wearing underneath as she gazed upon her sibling, the one born without any magic, sandwiched between a witch and a wizard. She sank slowly into the chair that was next to the bed, unable to take her eyes off of her sister's face. It was changed, but only subtly, slightly aged and a bit slimmer than the last time that Amarissa had seen her. It made her feel strange inside.