The atmosphere inside was tense.
McGonagall stood near Eleanor Vance's bed, her tartan shawl wrapped tight around her shoulders, her expression severe. Snape lurked in the corner like a disapproving shadow. Madam Pomfrey hovered near the medical cabinet, wringing her hands.
All three turned as Alisa and Tonks entered.
"Miss Novikova," McGonagall said, her voice clipped. "Ms Tonks has made some rather extraordinary claims about Miss Vance's condition. Perhaps you could elaborate."
Alisa swallowed. "The curse affecting Eleanor is the same as mine. Same magical signature, same infernal origin, same—" She hesitated. "Same physical effects."
"Physical effects," Snape repeated, his tone silky with suspicion. "How interesting. And what exactly are these physical effects?"
"That's what I've been trying to explain," Tonks cut in. "The curse causes bodily changes. Private bodily changes. The kind that a twenty-year-old girl shouldn't have to reveal to a room full of adults if she doesn't want to."
"Miss Vance is unconscious," Pomfrey pointed out. "She can't consent to anything at the moment."
"Which is exactly why we should wait until she wakes up before making decisions about her care," Tonks said. "Alisa understands this curse better than anyone. She can help Eleanor adjust, explain what's happening to her body, support her through—"
"This is a school," McGonagall interrupted. "Miss Vance is a student under our protection. We cannot simply hand her care over to a guest—despite my taking a liking to you, Miss Novikova—and an Auror, no matter how well-intentioned."
"With respect, Professor," Alisa said quietly, "you don't know what this curse does. You don't know what Eleanor is going to wake up to. If she finds out about her... condition... from someone who doesn't understand, someone who reacts with shock or horror—"
"Then enlighten us." Snape stepped forward, his black eyes glittering. "Tell us exactly what this curse does. Show us what it has done to you."
The room went silent.
Alisa's heart hammered against her ribs. She could feel the blood draining from her face.
"Severus," McGonagall said warningly.
"No. This is absurd." Snape's lip curled. "We are being asked to entrust a student's wellbeing to individuals who refuse to share basic information about her condition. If this curse is so terrible, so private, then surely we need to understand it in order to help."
"The curse causes physical disfigurement," Tonks said flatly. "Of an intimate nature. That's all you need to know."
"That is not all I need to know," Snape shot back. "That girl was attacked on school grounds. She was cursed by a demon that may have been targeting Miss Novikova specifically. I have a right—a duty—to understand exactly what was done to her."
"So you can do what?" Alisa's voice came out harder than she intended. "Document it? Report it to the Ministry? Turn her into a case study?"
"So I can protect her," Snape hissed. "Something you seem remarkably uninterested in, given your reluctance to share relevant information."
The accusation hit like a punch.
McGonagall raised a hand, silencing them both. Her face was drawn, but her eyes were sharp as she looked between Alisa and Tonks.
"It seems we are at an impasse," she said slowly. "You ask us to trust you with Miss Vance's care, but you refuse to trust us with the nature of her affliction. That is not a foundation for cooperation."
"Professor—" Tonks started.
"However." McGonagall held up her hand again. "I recognise that this curse affects Miss Novikova personally. I understand there may be... elements... she is not comfortable revealing. I am not an unreasonable woman."
She paused, seeming to weigh her words carefully.
"I propose a compromise. Either Miss Vance, once she wakes, consents to show me the physical effects of the curse, or—" Her gaze settled on Alisa. "—you do, Miss Novikova. One of you. That is my condition."
Alisa's stomach dropped.
"Minerva," Pomfrey said uncertainly, "is that really necessary—"
"It is." McGonagall's tone brooked no argument. "I will not agree to hand a student's care to outsiders without understanding what we are dealing with. One examination. Private. No one else needs to know."
Snape looked like he wanted to argue, but McGonagall silenced him with a look.
"Those are my terms," she said. "Take them or leave them."
Alisa's mind raced.
If Eleanor woke up and they asked her to show McGonagall... a traumatised fourteen-year-old, being asked to reveal something so intimate, so terrifying, to a teacher...
I can't do that to her.
But the alternative...
Alisa thought of standing in front of McGonagall, lowering her trousers, watching the professor's face as she saw her cock.
Her whole body recoiled at the idea.
But if I don't...
Tonks glanced at her, eyebrows raised in a silent question. Your call.
Alisa closed her eyes.
For Eleanor. For a girl who didn't ask for any of this.
"Fine," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'll do it. I'll show you."
McGonagall nodded once, her expression unreadable. "Very well. We'll arrange a private examination at your earliest convenience. In the meantime—" She turned to Pomfrey. "Miss Vance remains here until she wakes, but Miss Novikova and Ms Tonks are to be informed immediately when that happens. They will be present for any conversations about her condition. Is that acceptable?"
Pomfrey nodded reluctantly. Even Snape gave a curt jerk of his head, though his eyes promised this wasn't over.
"Then we have an agreement." McGonagall's gaze returned to Alisa. "I will send word when I'm ready for you, Miss Novikova."
Alisa nodded numbly.
What have I just agreed to?
Tonks' hand found hers, squeezing gently.
As they left the Hospital Wing, Alisa couldn't shake the feeling that everything was about to change.