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Iris didn't get a chance to bask in her success before her eyes instead rolled back in her head, her vision going out like a light as she toppled toward the floor.

She woke up minutes later in a cold sweat on Alice's bed. The woman and Neville were both leaning over her looking concerned. The boy was glancing at his mother every other second looking like he was scared to be near her. It was strange — this was the first time Iris had ever seen him crying.

What had she done?

Alice gave Iris a relieved smile when she saw her eyes opening, "Are you alright?"

Iris noticed Neville flinch at her unfamiliar voice.

She could only stare at the woman who had been completely vacant the last time their eyes had met. There was life in her brown eyes now — actual emotion.

"I'm..." Iris' words died out as a sudden urge travelled upwards in her stomach and throat.

The brunette lurched forward, sitting up and throwing her legs over the edge of the bed. She looked around anxiously before her eyes settled on a small trash bin sitting on the floor a metre away. Iris shot toward it, her knees meeting the floor as she bent her head down into the empty bin and emptied the contents of her stomach into it.

"Oh my!" Alice said in shock, hurrying over to help the girl.

Iris was feverish and her face was damp with tears and blood from her nose. She looked up at the mother and son who both stared back with worry — Neville more so with fear.

"You can't tell anyone it was me," she begged.

Iris knew, most unquestionably, that she would be hunted to the ends of the Earth for what she could do. The kind of power she could possess at the peak of her ability... It was nearly unheard of. Restoring someone who had been tortured to insanity had never been done before, and it would draw plenty of unwanted attention.

Though she looked plenty confused, Alice nodded.

"Do you remember anything?" Iris asked her quietly, rolling over the side of her legs to sit on the floor. She tried to wipe the blood and tears from her face.

Neville's gaze shot to his mother.

Alice hesitated in thought before she said slowly, "Mostly stuff from before... some things from in here." She turned to look at Neville with tears growing in her eyes, "Every time you came to visit me... I knew." Alice sniffled. "I couldn't do anything, I was my own prisoner, but I wanted so badly to tell you how beautiful you are and how proud I am."

Alice was fully crying now. Neville was too, and Iris watched their first real moments together with something flowering in her chest, and she decided she didn't truly care about the consequences of her actions.

"Mum..." Neville said in tears, not quite sure how to interact with her. He took a sharp step toward her and she met him halfway, each wrapping their arms around the other tightly.

The sudden sound of china breaking made them pull apart. All their heads turned to see Neville's grandmother standing just a few feet away with an expression of absolute shock. A broken teacup was on the floor at her feet.

"Godric!" she said aghast.

Her stuffed vulture hat wobbled dangerously on top of her head as she stumbled forward toward Alice. Augusta Longbottom's hands, wrinkled from age, landed on either side of her daughter-in-law's face firmly, inspecting it as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Are you really..."

Alice nodded, wetness streaming down her face. Augusta quickly then looked to her son, a tortured hopefulness on her face, only to see Frank still sat by the window, unmoving. Iris stood with difficulty, guilt twisting in her gut as she breathed raggedly. All of their faces deflated at Frank's unchanged state, but when Alice glanced at her, Iris saw her shake her head ever so slightly, a sad smile barely pulling up her lips as she understood Iris' exhaustion. There was no way Iris would be able to help him too — not today.

Mrs Longbottom took Alice's hands in her own, questioning seriously, "But how? How is this possible?"

Neville's mother hesitated, respecting Iris' plea as she lied, "I... don't know... I just woke up and suddenly everything was clear..."

Augusta wiped her face hastily before backing up and saying sternly, "I'm going to get a healer. Don't go anywhere!" She then hurried out of the ward, her pointed hat threatening to topple off of her head at any moment.

Once she was gone, Alice turned to Iris and upon seeing her leaning heavily against the wall looking ready to faint again at any second, walked over and helped her stand straight. Her skin was more pale than usual, and her breathing was laboured.

"You should go before people start asking questions," Alice said, to which Iris nodded.

The girl then shook her head, "No, I can't leave you two here right now."

"Yes, you can," Neville said, looking very concerned about how sickly Iris was appearing.

His mother watched him for a few seconds longer before she turned back to Iris and said gently, "I'm not entirely sure what's just happened, or who you are even, but I'm going to be fine," Alice looked her closely in the eyes, "Go take care of yourself."

Iris gave in quickly. Though she wanted to stay with her and Neville and help them both adjust to the unimaginable situation, she knew she had to get out of St. Mungos before people started asking questions that she didn't want to answer. Iris left Alice's grasp and brought Neville into a tight hug, hoping to give her friend the last bit of comfort she could share. She then started to walk away, feeling horribly nauseous.

"Wait —" Alice said, and when Iris turned around she saw her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, "You're Lily's girl, aren't you? You look just like her and James... you talk like her too."

Iris' lips turned up at her words, a warm feeling rising in her chest at being compared to her parents. She nodded in confirmation before quickly leaving the ward, sure she would be seeing Alice Longbottom again very soon.

On their journey back to Grimmauld Place Iris noticed that she wasn't the only one unusually drained. Harry was lost in his own thoughts the entire ride, a dull troubled expression occupying his face. Everyone else kept glancing at him with mixed emotions: nervousness, confusion, sadness. Iris was glad they were ignoring her for the most part because then they weren't questioning why she looked one step from death. Unfortunately, Mrs Weasley was a mother before all other things.

"Are you all right, Iris, dear?" whispered Mrs Weasley, leaning across Ginny to speak to her as the train rattled along through its dark tunnel. "You don't look very well. Are you feeling sick?"

They were all watching her now. She shook her head violently and was met with instant regret as it pounded worse than ever.

"Iris, dear, are you sure you're all right? You too, Harry," said Mrs Weasley in a worried voice, as they walked around the unkempt patch of grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place. "You both look ever so pale... Are you sure you slept this morning? You two go upstairs to bed right now, and you can have a couple of hours' sleep before dinner, all right?"

She nodded; here was a ready-made excuse to crash into her bed and not to talk to any of the others, which was precisely what she wanted, so when Mrs Weasley opened the front door she proceeded straight past the troll's leg umbrella stand and up the stairs and hurried into her bedroom.

Iris eased herself onto the bed, laying on her back as her head throbbed. She wanted nothing more than to finally sleep, but just as her eyes started to close they shot open again. Harry. Mrs Weasley sent him upstairs to sleep as well. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes at the realisation that she once more would have to reject the opportunity to sleep to keep watch over her brother's mind. Iris reached out, slithering her way into his subconscious thoughts to see if he was still awake, but as soon as she made contact a splitting dart of pain resonated through her head and down into her body, severing the tie.

Iris groaned, pressing her palms against her temples in an attempt to relieve the pain. She knew she was pushing her own boundaries; after whatever she did to Alice Longbottom, it had ripped every bit of energy from her and left Iris sickly and unable to use her magic properly.

She resigned to lying on her bed, panic creeping up her throat as she thought about what would happen if Harry dreamt of Voldemort's thoughts again. Iris stewed in her worries for hours, unable to let herself sleep even though her body yearned for it. All she could think of was her brother and how much of a massive let-down she was. One job — she had one job: Protect Harry.  Nothing else in the world was as important to her, but now left in mental torture with her body rejecting itself, and unable to complete her assignment, Iris was only left to her own thoughts of self-doubt and hatred.

Giving up, Iris let her eyelids fall closed. For the first time in what felt like forever, she had no dreams; just conscious emptiness. As her mind painfully drifted, Iris was suddenly met with the stern face of Audrianna with a look that said 'Actions have consequences,' written all across it.

Iris jolted awake to the sound of someone knocking on her door.

"Come in," she rasped, tumbling into a series of pitiful coughs.

The door opened and in walked Sirius, who was looking quite jolly before his eyes actually landed on Iris. His smile fell looking at her small form buried in blankets. She was unusually pale, and the bags under her eyes were nearly bad enough to imitate black-eyes. Her skin looked clammy and her whole body shook slightly as if she was somehow freezing even under all those layers.

Sirius sat on the side of the bed, watching her with deep concern as he asked, "What happened at St. Mungos?"

"I did something..." Her breaths were coming out in quiet wheezes, her dry lips parted as her lungs begged for air.

"What?" Sirius said with a fearful edge to his voice.

Iris' own face shown with dread as she whispered, "Alice..." Her godfather looked confused, but Iris' wide eyes bore straight into his with a warning of unspoken terror. The Longbottoms had only been discussed briefly at the reformation of the Order to offer condolences, but her next words left no room for other interpretation in Sirius' mind, "I saved her."

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sorry this chapter is shorter than usual! i felt so bad about taking so long since the last update that i just wanted to put something out for you all. I've since moved into uni and have been so busy making friends and in classes, and of course moving into an entirely new town basically, that i haven't had much time to sit down and write, but i'm hoping that will change soon!

hope everyone's doing well! <3