June 30th, 1995

The girl above the hospital bed stirred slightly and let out a low moan. Her eyelids fluttered as if she were about to wake, but no one was around to see. The golden light surrounding her flickered before steadying and with a quiet whimper she fell unconscious once again.

July 4th, 1995

The comatose patients in the beds near her had not stirred once in the five days since the young girl had tried to wake. They once again remained silent and unmoving as she breached consciousness.

This time, as her eyelids fluttered, her breathing sped up and her entire body shuddered. The pale golden light bathing her features flickered weakly before disappearing all together. At last, with a heaving gasp, her eyes flew open. She jerked in midair only to fall back to her bed coughing.

Where am I? She had no recollection of being in an accident, but recognized she was in some sort of hospital. It was strange; she saw no equipment near her bed or the beds of the other patients. Not even a heart monitor or an IV. What kind of hospital is this?

She turned her head from side to side, trying to catch someone's attention – but all she saw were other patients. When it became clear that her mouth was too dry to speak and those around her were decidedly unconscious, she settled for staring at the ceiling.

She counted the cracks she could see for less than a minute before she grew bored and tried to sit up. As soon as she tensed her muscles she knew it was a lost cause. All her muscles were sore and aching with a bone-deep fatigue. The effort had tired her and left her breathing too fast for her dry throat; after another fit of coughing she resigned herself to laying quietly on the bed.

What felt like hours later a noise drew the young girl's attention and she turned her head in time to see a nurse enter the room. The nurse was a middle aged woman with light brown hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her skull. She was pushing a metal cart with numerous vials and glass jars.

"Plea… elp m…" rasped the girl on the bed. The breathy, almost inaudible words made the nurse look up from the cart. She sucked in a breath when she saw the hazy, pain-filled, but open eyes of one of the comatose patients.

"Wait right here while I get a healer!" With that the nurse spun and practically ran from the room. It's not as if I'm going anywhere. The girl lay there, somewhat bemused, for a few minutes more. Eventually the nurse ran back in followed by no less than three people wearing loose, long-sleeved dresses in lime green. Weird, she thought as she took in the black trousers and white button-up shirts underneath the lime green. It looks as though they're wearing matching robes!

"I don't know what's happened!" The nurse from before was saying as she led the doctors into the room. "All the stasis charms have dropped and the enchantments around her bed are completely gone!"

Before she could blink the girl was surrounded by the two men and one woman in lime green. The nurse stood back a ways alternatively wringing her hands and straightening her dark grey skirt. Right away the three people around the bed pulled sticks from their pockets and started waving them at the confused patient.

They looked on intently as strange colors flashed and puffs of smoke formed. The girl was too weak to do much more than gasp in shock and look between the doctors' faces for answers.

The man to her immediate left was of an average height and build with dark blonde hair. His mouth was etched into a severe frown and his eyebrows were drawn together over a pair of murky brown eyes.

At the foot of her bed was an extraordinarily tall woman – she towered over her two companions – with stick-straight brown hair tied into a high ponytail and sharp grey eyes. Her only detracting feature was her too prominent nose, though it added a certain charm.

The final doctor wasclearly older than his companions. He had wispy grey hair, a receding hairline, and deep wrinkles lined his pale skin.

Too tired to jerk in surprise or protest the strangeness of their actions the girl lay there with wide eyes. As the final lavender colored light faded the doctors let out a collective sigh of relief.

The old man looked down on his patient with a smile. "Well, it seems as though everything's in order. How are you feeling Miss Scott?" The girl opened her mouth to try to speak but nothing came out. "Forgive me Miss Scott," the old man said with a wheezy laugh. "You must be very thirsty. Does your throat hurt?" She nodded as much as she was able. "Just a moment," he patted down his person a moment before pulling out a stoppered vial with a pale blue liquid inside.

The blonde man to her left pulled her upright and she slumped against him, too weak to stay up on her own. "Once you drink this your throat will feel much better! I promise," the old man was saying as he brought the vial to her lips. She parted her mouth obediently and swallowed with a grimace as the oily liquid slid down her aching throat. Almost immediately the pain eased, she no longer felt raw and scratchy, though her mouth was still very dry.

What a strange dream… She was reminded of the world of Harry Potter, which in and of itself was not actually all that odd. She'd had plenty of dreams about fictional places and people – her imagination was always getting away from her. The only difference this time was how real it felt. Even her lucid dreams were foggy in comparison, though she supposed it would be less clear once she woke up.

She was distracted from her musings when one of the doctors spoke. "Here you are dear," the woman said in a voice that was soft and feminine, offsetting her severe appearance. She stepped forward – taking the old man's place – and pressed a glass of water to the patient's lips. The girl drank eagerly and was somewhat disappointed when the woman removed the glass.

"Thanks," she muttered with a grateful nod to the woman. Smiling in gratitude at the three strange doctors when they waved their sticks – wands she realized – and pulled pillows from thin air to pile behind her, she waited until she had been propped up to start speaking again.

"Where am I? What were those lights?" She assumed St. Mungo's since they were using wands and wearing robes – she didn't think there were very many magical hospitals that she could dream up. That would mean the lights were spells of some sort. Nonetheless dreams were always unpredictable and this one could change at any moment.

"Anderson, Nott, I'll take it from here," said the old man. "I think you should take Nurse Thomas to get some tea to ease her nerves." The girl looked beyond the healers to see that the middle-aged nurse was slightly less hysterical than before, though still distinctly frazzled.

The two younger healers and the nurse left through the same door they'd entered right after the blonde spoke in a low tone to the old man for a moment. The girl on the bed relaxed against her pillows and turned her eyes on the old man. At last the doctor turned to his patient.

"Well Miss Scott," the man began as he waved his wand through the air, collecting the pale gold dust the girl had only just noticed littered her form. "To answer your first question, you are currently at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. You were in an accident and remained unconscious until just this morning. As for the lights you saw, those were just our way of checking you out and searching for any signs of a problem. We were quite pleased to find nothing more serious than fatigue and slight dehydration."

"Oh." What does one say in a situation like this? "Excuse me," she began hesitantly, "But my surname isn't Scott." The old man looked bemused and shuffled to the foot of her bed to pick up the clipboard hanging there.

"Did we copy it down wrong?" he asked politely. "It says here your name is Julia Scott."

She opened her mouth to correct him but froze when she realized she didn't have a name to give. "Of course," she amended. "That's right. I'm just feeling a bit out of sorts Mr. –"

"Morris. Healer Morris at your service. Forgive me, I've gotten a tad bit forgetful in my old age – no matter how sharp I was in my youth. And don't worry about being disorientated – it's perfectly natural after waking up in a strange place with no familiar faces." He smiled at her before brandishing his wand and conjuring a chair. Julia blinked in awe – it was astonishing to see such magic in person rather than in a movie, even if it was just a dream. "Now my dear," he began after relaxing into his chair. "Could you tell me the very last thing you remember?"

Julia, despite knowing it was just a realistic dream, decided to play along in the hopes that she could do magic before she woke up. She'd had dreams where she could fly but never a dream where she could make things appear from thin air. So she thought back to the last thing she could remember, ignoring the fact that she'd never been able to think or see so clearly in a dream before.

"Well," she said after a pregnant pause. "I can't remember a specific event or anything at all really – everything's pretty hazy actually." And wasn't that odd? She'd actually tried to remember something but only came up with hazy faces and a swirl of colors. I suppose it's like trying to remember a dream when you're awake, she mused. I guess the conscious mind is just as hard to reach when you're asleep.

"That might be for the best, actually," he admitted. "You see, the accident was quite tragic – nothing a young girl such as yourself should have to deal with." He pinned her with an oddly grave expression. "I'm afraid I have some terrible news to give you Miss Scott."

Julia just blinked and nodded. "Miss Scott," he said in a world-weary tone. "The accident took your parents' lives." She stared at him blankly, wondering why this dream was so morbid all of a sudden. Looking pained he continued. "I'm sorry to say they died the very same day you went into your coma. What's more, it's been five years since you entered your coma," he finished quietly.

"Wait," she said incredulously. "Five years? How's that possible?" Julia looked down to see if she were bigger or looked different but if anything, she looked smaller. Must be from the coma, she concluded. I haven't been able to eat on my own in years! She caught herself before she started to panic; it wasn't real after all.

"I realize this must be a terrible shock for you," Morris said, trying to placate her. "But it's not all bad." She made to protest – even if it was a dream she still thought that was a ridiculous comment to make – but he plowed through. "In response to the stress of the accident you had a burst of accidental magic that led to your coma. We theorize that you wanted it to stop so badly that you literally froze yourself in time."

"What?" She could hardly believe how active her imagination must be if this is what her dreams consisted of. "How could I have frozen time if it's been five years?"

"Well, you really only froze yourself," he explained. "When they found you and brought you here, to St. Mungo's, you were levitating in this large golden cocoon. Nothing we did could reach you through your magic so we thought you were going to die. After months passed, we realized you remained in the exact same condition as when you arrived. You were moved to the comatose ward in the hopes that someday you would wake up."

She stared at him and tried very hard not to laugh. The things my mind comes up with, honestly! "I was in a-a… golden cocoon? That's ridiculous!"

"It's very much the truth Miss Scott. In fact, you were producing a gold dust from your pores that the Ministry's unspeakables have been collecting twice a month for their time turners. You are the single reason why Britain has the most extensive research on Time Magic and its consequences." He took out a little jar and showed her the golden dust he'd collected from her earlier. "Because of that, we had heavy wards and enchantments protecting you during your stay here – of course, those fell as soon as you'd awakened."

"Let's say I believe you," said Julia irately. "I still don't see how 'it's not all bad'!" She knew she was getting awfully worked up over a dream but she didn't much care. It was her dream and she'd act as she pleased. She treated most other dreams as though they were reality, even if this time she was aware it wasn't, that didn't mean she had to act like it. Besides, she thought, I probably won't remember this in the morning.

"Well," he began seriously. "There was a chance you'd never wake up. At first we thought you'd exhaust your magic and die when you ran out. Thankfully, that was not the case. Whatever you did that night put you in stasis for the duration of your coma." Julia merely stared at him blankly while he removed his glasses to clean the lenses on his vibrantly green robes.

"I realize this is all very sudden and traumatic Miss Scott," Healer Morris assured her. "But we'll do everything to make sure you're healthy and as happy as you can be considering the circumstances."

"What will happen to me if my parents are dead?" Julia had decided to just go along with the oddly vivid dream. No matter what I say it's all of no real consequence.

Healer Morris patted her hand sympathetically. "Let's see," he murmured as he examined the clipboard. "It says here that your contact – the one who's responsible for you should you ever wake – is Albus Dumbledore himself!" Julia blinked in surprise. Ah well, I suppose it wouldn't be a Harry Potter dream without a few Harry Potter characters thrown in. Morris leaned in as if sharing a secret. "You're quite lucky. He's a very famous and powerful wizard."

Julia held back a snort at his comment and focused on the fact that she was meeting a famous fictional character. "When do I meet him?"

Healer Morris hummed thoughtfully. "We need to send him an owl telling him you're awake first. We can let you know as soon as he responds. It may take a while," he warned her. "He's been very bust with all that's happening recently."

"What's been happening?" asked Julia.

"Nothing you need to worry about my dear," he told her. He stood up slowly and the chair disappeared with a wave of his wand. "I've got to go and start filling out some of your paperwork Miss Scott. I'll send in a nurse who will take you to get cleaned up and changed." Not knowing what else to do she nodded and he left, moving much faster than a man his apparent age could be expected to.

She didn't have long to wait at all until a young nurse came and walked straight up to her bed. "Hi Julia! I'm Nurse Willows, but you can call me Anna if you like." She winked and Julia raised a brow at the treatment. They were acting like she was a small child!

"According to Healer Morris you're suffering magical exhaustion so I'll help you get cleaned up and into your hospital robes. I'm sure you're eager to change after wearing the same thing for five years!"

Julia looked down. "Er – okay?" She had on a long-sleeved black dress that reached her knees with dark red tights underneath. Her tiny feet were clad in little black flats with tiny white bows that matched the white embroidery stitched into the hem and ends of her sleeves. The clothes looked clean and rather dressy.

Seeing her confusion Anna made to explain. "We couldn't reach you through the barrier your magic created around you. Everything in your cocoon was in stasis so it's not dirty or anything, but wearing the same dress for nearly five years still sounds pretty gross."

Julia grimaced. "Yeah, changing clothes sounds good."

"Wonderful!" Smiling brightly Anna situated an arm around Julia's upper back and another under her knees. Without any visible strain she lifted the girl from the bed and lowered her feet to the floor.

Julia took a moment to regain her balance and tried to keep upright. When she'd finally figured out how to work her leg muscles she irritably noticed that the nurse was still supporting the majority of her weight.

"Why am I so tired?" Julia demanded as Anna led her through the ward's door and into the hallway.

"I suspect that has to do with your state before the accident," said Anna patiently. "What you did takes a lot of magic. You may have been unchanging in that cocoon of yours, but it nearly killed you to reach that state." Julia only stared at the woman incredulously – she was starting to get annoyed with this dream. First off, she was not a butterfly and was sick of them calling it a 'cocoon' around her. Secondly, and most importantly, she didn't like what this kind of dream said about her state of mind.

"But what abo–" Julia froze mid-sentence. She hadn't realized anything unusual all throughout their walk until just then. She was looking up at the young nurse – not only looking up, but looking up from the height of a child! "Why am I so small?" She didn't usually have dreams where she was younger or smaller than when she was awake, at least, not that she could think of.

Anna only laughed at her as she led them around a corner and to a door on the right side of the hallway. "Don't worry poppet, I hardly grew at all until I was thirteen. Shot up five inches third year! My poor parents were buying new robes left and right!"

Still in the mindset that she should just go along with whatever happened since it wasn't real anyway, Julia looked over her body and tried to make a guess as to how old she was. She came up to Anna's belly button, but that didn't help very much. Being so small she couldn't accurately judge the nurse's height.

"Um – could you – I mean, do you know how old I am?"

Anna smiled down at her. "I'm pretty sure you were eight when you entered your coma," she paused. "You know, if you hadn't entered your coma, you would have turned fourteen this year." That's strange, I'm pretty sure I'm at least fifteen in real life…

Julia hummed and let the woman lead her to the edge of a wide bath. Anna then went about pulling her shoes and tights off, followed by her dress and underclothes. Julia couldn't help blushing at being treated like a helpless child even though she knew it wasn't really happening. The nurse waved her wand and the clothes folded themselves into a neat pile.

Before Julia could protest, she was lifted under her arms and set down on the bench lining the sides of the bath. "Don't worry Julia," said Anna. "I'll make sure you don't fall in so you can just relax."

"A-Alright," agreed Julia.

To her surprise, what followed was one of the best experiences Julia had ever had. Anna filled the tub to the brim with warm, sweet-smelling water before massaging shampoo gently into Julia's scalp. Still exhausted due to whatever happened to her in the dream, Julia let the nurse turn her about and scrub her clean as she dozed.

In no time at all the tub was drained and Anna summoned a fluffy white towel from the shelf on the far side of the room. Julia couldn't help but blink sleepily as she was wrapped up and set down on the now-empty tub with her feet dangling in. The young nurse spoke to her all the while as she used a spell to dry the young girl's hair and then sat down to braid it.

The sensations caused by the conjured comb and the gentle fingers did nothing to help her drowsy state. Julia barely noticed as a soft white gown was slipped over her head followed by a pale grey outer robe.

Sometime between being scooped up to rest on Anna's hip and going back to the comatose ward she fell asleep, sinking into a blissful, dreamless darkness.