After Harry had mastered his first word, other ones started to come to him easily. ‘Dad,’ ‘woof woof,’ and ‘choo-choo.’ However, not everything was going do well in the Potter household. Marie was stopping by more and more for her ‘little naps,’ but each time she woke up she’d come down looking more tired than when she left.

Marie was fixing to leave when I hugged her.

“Ow,” she cried, and her eyes swelled up with tears.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” she said, shaking it off.

“No. Marie, why… why did it hurt when I hugged you?”

“It wasn’t that. I… er… I bit my tongue.”

“Open your mouth,” I said, and when she didn’t, I grabbed her arm.

“Ow,” she cried, and her tears turned to sobs.

“Marie, what’s going on?” I asked, my own eyes swelling with liquid. I couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain.

“I don’t know!” she finally wailed, breaking down. “At first… at first it was just a sore throat, a fever, a headache, and my heartbeat sped up. I figured that maybe it was just a cold or something… that would explain why I was so tired… but then I began sleeping heavier and heavier, and there was times that Peter would band on my door so hard that it left indentions, and I didn’t even hear it… so he’d come in and wake me up, and I’d just be sleepy… and now… Now it hurts when anything touches me, and I don’t know what to do. Just wearing clothes feels like knives are being pushed into my skin!”

“Oh, God, Marie. Oh God. JAMES! JAMES!”

He rushed into the foyer, eyes alert. “What is it?”

“Get… call Dumbledore, now! Tell him that we need him here; it’s an emergency. Stay with Marie, I’ll be right back.”

I ran up the stairs, grabbed a few books off my shelves, and returned to find Dumbledore at the base of the stairs.

“You called?”

I hurriedly explained Marie’s symptoms and Dumbledore listened with fierce interest.

“…And now she’s in extreme pain at the slightest touch.” I cried exasperatedly, flipping through the last book I’d brought. “I know it’s none of my business, but this is vitally important. Has she gone to Africa at all in the past six months?”

“Yes, a couple of times,” he replied. “Why?”

“We need to get her to the hospital, sir. If we’re not careful then-”

But it was too late. Sudden cries swept through the house and I heard James panicking. “Lily, she’s going into shock! She’s having a seizure!”

I raced in the room just in time to find Marie on the floor, thrashing about wildly.

****

“It’s called the sleeping sickness,” I told Remus softly. “It’s one of the most underreported diseases in Africa. The parasites cross over the blood and brain barrier, and since Marie had a seizure, it’s pretty accurate to say that she’s pretty far into it… I just wish that she wasn’t.”

“Why didn’t she say something?” groaned Remus, running his fingers through his hair. He’s returned as soon as we sent an owl to him, telling him that she was hurt. Luckily, his cover wasn’t blown, but he didn’t seem to care about any of that.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I think she believed that we already had enough going on without us fretting over her. She seemed guilty that she had to come over just to sleep.”

“Always thinking about other people… I love her so much, Lily. I love her. What am I supposed to do?”

****

“I have some bad news,” a man said, walking out of Marie’s room. “While we were treating Miss Newcomb, she slipped into a coma. I am truly sorry.”

Remus’ jaw dropped open and his hand sought mine. I let him hold it to find that his were cold and clammy.

“We have treatments, though, to hopefully at least regain her to her natural health,” the Healer said, looking down at us remorsefully. “However, both are very dangerous and more than likely to fail.”

“What are they?” I whispered, looking at James, who was staring intently at the floor.

“Melarsoprol, which is the only arsenic drug in the world… it’s dissolved in antifreeze. It lasts for twenty-one days, but painful for the patient. There’s also eflornithine, which is much safer, but harder to come across because it’s been deemed ‘unprofitable’ by the people that patents it. It’s now very rare to come across, and it could take months to receive some.” He looked at us expectantly, waiting for an answer.

Finally, I spoke up. “Can you give us some time? We need to discuss this.”

The Healer nodded and left, leaving us to make the biggest decisions in our lives- and Marie’s.