"Where then?"
"Not on this Earth."
Hattie Black is the daughter of Sirius Black. Growing up she never had a set home, her parents weren't together and that meant she had to change between houses all of the time. Even during school holidays when she...
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Remus waited for for Hattie to fall asleep again but he didn't follow suit. He kept hold of her, running his fingers through her curls just as the door creaked open and Sirius slipped through the gap tiredly. He spotted Remus awake and raised his hands in surrender.
"Look, I have every right to see my daughter," he whispered, "I just wanted to check on her."
Remus nodded, "she's asleep. She really wants to die, Pads, it's scaring me how she talks."
"What was she saying?" Sirius asked sitting on the other side of Hattie.
He held onto one of Hattie's hands which felt cold and fragile. It was then that he really took notice of how skinny she was. Her fingers were narrow and small, her legs the same along with her arms. Her cheeks are hollow and eyes dark, her skin much more pale than it used to be. This was not his daughter. This was monsters called depression and anxiety possessing her.
Sirius had a tear slip down his cheeks. "I wish I could change everything. She's my baby. I should have protected her from it all. I tried protecting her but I protected her from the wrong things. I protected her from swear words, from the ideas of sex and other things like that but not from herself."
Remus looked at Sirius, "you couldn't have helped her. I don't think anyone could have except Charlie. Whatever he does, it helps. I asked her if she has actually felt any happiness lately and she said yes; when she was with Charlie. Pads, I don't know what he does, how he does it but he might be our only hope."
"But he can't leave work and he can't have the stress of looking after her and work. A week was fine but there is no way he can look after her longer than that."
"Then why don't I go with her? It's not as if I work, that way she can be with Charlie but Charlie won't have to be a parental figure at any point."
Sirius sighed, "maybe, Moony, but she's in hospital right now. So who knows."
The two men continued to stay awake, making sure Hattie was still sleeping soundly and a few hours later, Peter woke up as well."
"She woke up didn't she? I thought I was dreaming it but now I see you two awake I'm sure it was real." He said stretching, a yawn slipping from his lips.
Sirius and Remus nodded their heads silently. Hattie muttered incoherently in her sleep, shifting and curling up into Remus' side just as James, Lily and Harry entered the room. It was later in the morning than they had thought but it was still classed as early.
Lily placed down some sandwiches she had made for them all knowing full well that hospital food was far from nice. James placed down a couple of bags he had brought with him with fresh clothes and sanitary items for the men and Hattie. Harry approached the bed and Remus slipped off letting the boy to sit beside his god-sister and cuddle up to her.
The adults observed as Harry presses small kisses to Hattie's head as his eyes filled with tears. He and Hattie are far from religious so that made them just siblings. He couldn't sit there day after day and watch her decrease in health further. He was angered by himself for not realising what was happening to her and the fact part of it was because he was taking her dad away from her.
His fingers ran through her hair much like Remus' ones did during the night. When she was younger this was joe they got her to sleep. She loved her head being rubbed and her hair played with. He hoped that it would soothe her as she slept.
"Hattie, I don't want you to die. I want you here with us. I want us to play games and laugh like we used to do. I want to bug and annoy you and force you to play quidditch. I want to have you in school with us. I don't want a life without you in it." He whispered into the crook of her neck.
Lily pressed her head into James' chest as she cried as well. Hattie embarrassing everything to these people and she didn't even realise it. She didn't know how much her pain hurt everyone else.
James seemed to be the one who was staying strong for the group. He was the one to hold everyone and anyone. Someone had to. Yes, he was hurting, heck, every time he was alone he cried over the girl, but to the face of everyone else, he stayed strong. He held his wife in his arms rubbing her back as he made eye contact with Peter. Peter looked down and shook his head wiping his cheeks.
No one spoke, even Harry stopped his whispers . The only noise made was when a healer came in to check Hattie and ultimately woke her up.
Hattie sat up, brushing her hair out of her face and making little eye contact.
"Morning, Harriet, how have you slept?"
"..."
"Okay then... I'm just going to check your bandages and change them." He received no reply once more so went ahead and did as he had said.
Hattie watched the healer, she looked at the red lines on her wrists that she had given herself. At the sight of them the urges came back and she started to wriggle about trying to stop the healer from covering them.
"Harriet, please you need them covered," Said the healer.
Hattie continued to wriggle and writhe, kicking her legs to try and make everyone back away. "No!" She shouted. "No! No! No!"
"Hattie!" Cried James, "stop!"
"No! No! No!"
The girl continued to kick, Harry ending up in the floor in a heap, his glasses crooked on his nose and his hair even more disheveled than it usually was. Sirius also ended up the floor as Hattie kicked and her foot connected with the healers genitals.
Doctor Mosby lurched over from the impact and everyone's eyes widened. He groaned and was about to stand up when Hattie pushed him over fully and unexpectedly bolted out of the hospital room.
James broke off into a run after the girl leaving Lily to ask Doctor Mosby if he was quite all right. (He groaned in response).
"Hattie!" Called James following the mess of black curls and hospital gown down the corridors.
For a small girl who barely ate anything she was a fast runner, her fathers genetics shining through even more. A crowd of doctors came out of a room in front of him and James lost sight of Hattie.
Once he pushed through people he raced down the hall to where he had thought she had gone. But he had lost her.
