“I did everything it says to do here.”
“You did it in reverse order.”
Kamen groaned as he cast the book aside, “I’m not ready for this.”
“You’ll do fine, you just need to stop trying so hard. Once you pass your written exam tomorrow you’ll get to start practicing on real people. You’re lucky in some ways, with the current state of politics…”
“You mean the war…”
“I was trying to be optimistic. As I was saying, with the current state of politics they’ve accelerated training. Which means you get to learn nearly everything hands on, which I think is really the best way to learn. However, it means you get to learn nearly everything hands on, and get almost no time to learn what the actual procedures are.”
“I’m just glad I have you around to get me caught up in all this. Why don’t I get us something to drink and we go over that chapter on treating pixie and gnome bites again.”
“Sorry,” Beth rose and reached for her cloak, “I have to be in early tomorrow. Besides, you’ll be better off if you don’t study anymore tonight, trust me. You should think about which of the girls at the hospital you want to take out to celebrate. Every female healer under the age of seventy is in love with you.”
“I know, and if Hecate makes a move at me one more time I’m going to transfer to another ward.”
Beth laughed at the reference to the supervisor of the ward where they were both currently interning, she had to be at least a hundred and twenty. “Will you at least be a gentleman and walk me out so that I can apparate. I don’t enjoy going past that cheeky statue on my own. The things that come out of her mouth sometimes would make a veteran prostitute blush.”
“That’s my girl, I can always depend on Anastasia.”
“Before you start defending her you should hear what she said to me on my way in.”
“Don’t take it personally, she’s only really nasty to the people she likes.”
They stopped in a spot of moonlight in the courtyard. “Kamen, I need you to be serious for a minute.” Beth looked up at the young man who towered over her, “I need your help.”
“What is it?” Kamen’s eyes shifted to Anastasia, who he could tell was listening with interest.
“St. Mungo’s may not be safe for you anymore, or for me. There’s a distress code that Administrator Granger-Weasley gave out to a select few of us, the one’s who joined the Order of the Phoenix that is. It was activated this week. It means we’ve been infiltrated to the point that our hands our tied.”
Kamen stiffened slightly. He wanted to believe Beth, but one could never quite tell who was a friend, and who was an enemy pretending to be a friend these days. “What is it that you want me to do?”
“I have no place to go. Everyone else has a safe-house set up, a place to go into hiding, or an alibi. I have nothing and no one. I want you to convince Headmistress McGonagall and Madame Pomphrey to let me come to Hogwarts as a healer’s apprentice. As soon as you pass your written exam you should get them to admit you as an apprentice as well.”
“Beth, I’m not sure…”
“She’s telling the truth!”
Kamen spun around to face Anastasia. “What?”
“She’s telling the truth. Listen to her. Trust her.”
Kamen had never seen Anastasia so serious. Of course she was there for a purpose, which was to protect him and other members of the Order.
“I’ll do what I can,” he promised.
“Thank you,” Beth squeezed his hand before slipping out into the night and apparating away.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Severus, is it really asking too much what I request that you at least pay attention at staff meetings?” Minerva scowled at her colleague as she stacked her notes together.
“I would consider apologizing if there was any chance that I actually missed something of importance.”
“Severus! You’re lucky I don’t box your ears for that!”
“Minerva, someone has been getting into my private stores.”
“Students try and get away with things all the time Severus, you know that. You know how often Filch has cleaning supplies go missing, which is a complete mystery to me. I can’t fathom what the students are doing with them.”
“I warded my supply room myself.”
“Oh dear,” Minerva sank down into her chair. “We do have a problem.”
“So I trust that you’ll forgive me if my attention was elsewhere,” Severus sneered as he gathered his own stack of papers.
“There’s no need for that tone Severus. You’re not the only one with problems,” Minerva snapped right back at him. “Now, who do you think it could be? I know you have your suspicions.”
Severus hesitated. “I’m tempted to say I don’t want you involved. But, I am not quite sure how this is going to play out. If you want to participate, you can keep watch from my office with me at night. I plan on staking out there until I discover the culprit.”
~~~~~~~~~
“How much longer until everything will be in place?”
“Not long, my lord. Our spy has been most helpful.” A masked Death Eater groveled on the dusty floor.
Voldemort nodded, a snake-like smile twisting his lips upward grotesquely. “Very good, you have pleased me. And the Lasas, are they cooperating?”
“Not very enthusiastically, but they obey orders for the most part.”
“If we threaten them, they will likely revolt, but they must be kept firmly in control…”
“Of course my lord.”
“Decimation, but make sure that the lot does not fall to Vanth. I want her alive. Her hatred is a powerful weapon. And remember, if at any point they turn on us, slaughter them all.”
In the aftermath, Vanth looked her fill at the spilled blood of her companions. “If the dark lord survives this,” she looked up to the heavens, her hands open in supplication, “if those followers of Dumbledore fail to kill him, I will do it myself.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’ve sat up with you for two weeks, Severus, and we’ve seen and heard nothing,” Minerva put down the novel she had been reading and glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s nearly dawn. You’d be better off in bed with your wife than here in the dark and damp.”
“I will not rest until I know who is robbing my stores. I have precious little left as it is,” Severus replied calmly as he put the stopper back in his well-used jar of red ink.
“Come now Severus, there’s nothing that we can…”
Severus held up a hand for silence.
“What is it?” Minerva could hear nothing out of the ordinary.
Severus held a finger to his lips as he slowly rose from his chair and came around to the front of his desk. He took the book that hung limply from Minerva’s fingers and placed it on the mantel above the fireplace. “Have your wand at the ready,” he whispered to her.
“What is it Severus?” Minerva demanded in a hushed voice.
“I believe our spy has decided to grace us with her presence.”
“Are you certain?”
“I can hear someone in my supply room.”
“It could just be a student trying to gather ingredients for a juvenile prank,” Minerva clung to one final thread of hope.
“A student get past my wards for the few nearly worthless ingredients that I have left? We’ve discussed this before and you know my opinion on that matter. Besides, its not just ingredients that I keep in there. There’s Veritaserum, Polyjuice, a few other more dangerous things… and some of my personal notes. A spy would want in there far more than a student.” He palmed his own wand as he crossed silently to the door, “ladies first? Or would you prefer for me to lead this one.”
“It’s your supply room,” Minerva said stiffly, but she still held her wand up, armed and ready to face the enemy.
The silently slipped from his office to classroom. From there they could clearly see light spilling from the open door of the supply room.
“Stay back,” Severus hissed as he continued to glide forward.
There was the sound of shattering glass from the store room and a muffled curse. And then the light went out, and there was the sound of feet shuffling back toward the classroom.
“Adelaide!” Minerva nearly dropped her wand in surprise and hurried forward.
“Stay back!” Severus barked, as he rounded briefly on the Headmistress. “Look at her eyes.” His hand did not shake as he kept his wand trained on his daughter. She had drawn her own wand and had it pointed at his heart.
“They’re glazed over, but it looks as though she were under the…”
“Imperius,” Severus finished for her. “Watch her carefully, if she makes any sudden moves, stun her.”
Dierna’s eyes darted back and forth between her father and the Headmistress, but there was no sign of recognition. Her wand dipped slightly as her hand shook.
“That’s it, girl, fight it,” Severus muttered under his breath. He didn’t dare speak louder for fear of startling her. No wonder Voldemort had been getting the information he had. He hadn’t planted one of his own in the school. He was using the Imperius and no doubt memory charms to control someone who had access to nearly every part of the school, and who wasn’t yet powerful enough to know what was being done to her. He realized that they should have recognized the symptoms earlier. They should have known.
Dierna’s hand continued to shake as she trained her wand back and forth between her father and the Headmistress. “Have to kill… fight… must report… the key… the key is… it’s here…the enemies of the dark lord must be destroyed… have to find the key… the key… the key or death…” more words tumbled out, many of them broken and jumbled together.
“They’ll have realized something is wrong by now,” Severus quickly darted his eyes towards Minerva, “they’ll kill her.”
“Severus, do something!” Minerva kept her wand trained on Dierna, ready to act if necessary.
Dierna’s wand clattered to the ground and she covered her ears with her hands as she fell to her knees with a blood curdling scream.
“Imperio!” Severus could immediately feel the other presence in his daughter’s mind. But it was weaker than he was. He pushed as hard as he could, battling with the unseen force for his daughter’s life. With one final push the other presence was gone. And Dierna crumpled into a heap on the floor.
Attacking him was one thing, but bringing his family into it was quite another. They had very nearly killed his wife, and had used his daughter as a tool against him. He only wished that the prophecy would allow him to personally kill Voldemort in the most excruciating way possible.
“We should bring her to Poppy,” Minerva said softly as she finally lowered her wand. “Severus, are you alright?” she looked over at her grey-faced colleague.
“Death is too good for him,” was his only reply before he levitated his daughter’s body and silently headed up to the infirmary. He sat by her as she slept and Poppy tended to her as best she could. He cursed the fact that he was powerless to protect his family.
~~~~~~~~~~
Olivia hopped from one foot to the other as she made a game of choosing which stones in the floor to step on. She was happily going from having breakfast with her mother to her lessons with Draco.
“You haven’t been to visit your friends at the lake in a long time, little snake.”
Olivia looked up to see Professor MacLeod watching her closely. She frowned, she didn’t like this woman using Draco’s pet name for her. “I’m not allowed to see them anymore,” she answered honestly.
“They miss you,” Professor MacLeod smiled warmly, “they’re my friends too. They told me that they miss you very much.”
“I miss them too.”
“If you want to see them again, I would be happy to take you.”
Olivia chewed at her bottom lip uncertainly, “I want to see them… but I’ll get in trouble if I do.”
“My offer still stands. Find me if you change your mind.”
“Olivia! Stop dawdling!”
Olivia turned to see Draco standing at the end of the hallway waiting for her impatiently. When she turned back to say goodbye to Professor MacLeod, the professor had already vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~
“You are going to be late if you don’t hurry up,” Morgan’s voice had at least grown stronger, even if she was still confined to bed.
“I know. The ungrateful dunderheads can wait for a few more minutes, it won’t hurt them.”
Morgan smiled gently. Things had changed between her and Severus. It wasn’t the same now. She just wished she knew what it was that had happened. She wanted to connect with him as she once had, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure if it was because Severus had learned that he could, in fact, continue to live his life if she weren’t there, or if it was because she had lost the will to live while she was so grievously injured.
“I should see if Dierna is awake yet…”
“Poppy will keep an eye on her,” Morgan said softly, “she’ll be fine until your classes are over for the day.”
“Morgan…”
“Severus.”
Severus sighed, “I have a class to teach. Keep resting, we’ll have you out of that bed before too long.”
~~~~~~~~~~
