[ Anything that's not blatant is
a riddle ]
Please read and review if you can!
Author's penname: Elixa Amethyst
Voices of the Past Part II
Written March 2002 onwards, pre Order of the Phoenix.
All characters and things you recognise, are © JKRowling, no infringement
intended.
All references to
"mediwizard" mean healer.
Read Part I at ALIGN="center">Chapter One
London
"Severus!" Peterson stood by the bar in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Claude." Severus replied in a less enthusiastic way.
"And Elixa as well, I can see the similarities now." I gave a half-hearted smile. The last time I'd seen Peterson, I'd been pretending to be asleep in my feline state. They'd managed to reverse the spell eventually, but I'd been advised to avoid cats should anything similar happen again. The dangerous magical creatures department at the Ministry had taken Acebus, their suspicions being he was either a very advanced illegal animagus or something more sinister. I didn't particularly want to see the cat again, and I was awaiting a return owl from our Muggle neighbours to see if they knew anything. Severus had been surprised when I had informed him that our Muggle neighbours knew everything, then I informed him that their daughter had come to Hogwarts. Mum hadn't spoken to Dad for a week when the letter came, she suspected he'd had something to do with the child being magical, and only now was I seeing certain similarities in the daughter to my now dead father. I drew the conclusion that my father had not been entirely faithful to my mother.
"Mr Peterson." I gave a slight nod trying to be polite.
"Can I get either of you a drink?" Severus held a hand up to signify no and backed it up with the word. "Another day then?" Peterson suggested. We moved away. Tom, the toothless barman led us up the stairs.
"Very busy at the moment Professor, terribly sorry." He unlocked the door to a room that looked out onto Diagon Alley. I walked into the room and looked round it.
"It'll do." I heard Severus say. He placed his bag beside one of the beds in the room.
"How long are we staying here?" I asked gently, drawing my eyes away from Diagon Alley.
"A few days, then we go home."
"You've never said where home is?" I commented, leaving it as a slight question. Severus looked out of the window too.
"Home is a wizarding village called Little Flumen." Little river, well, where did I really expect Severus to live…? I gave a nod, and caught sight of us in a mirror.
"I can see Peterson has a point." We were dressed in black robes; dark hair, dark eyes and a slightly weary look on our faces.
"I trust you can amuse yourself in Diagon Alley until about seven this evening? I have things to take care of." I nodded.
"Get some rest too Severus, you look shattered." I placed a hand on his shoulder briefly and passed him by.
It was late lunchtime in the Leaky Cauldron. I'd eaten enough for breakfast at Hogwarts to last me until dinner probably, so I walked through the pub.
"Buy you a drink lassie?" Came a drunken voice. I laughed slightly, seeing two wizards sitting at a table beside where I was stood.
"If you're still here tonight and standing then you can." I said and left the Leaky Cauldron and tapped at the right brick to enter Diagon Alley. I headed for Gringotts.
A couple of hours later, I emerged from Flourish and Blotts, having purchased next year's text books for Potions and then Herbology after bumping into Professor Sprout. The shop assistant had performed a shrinking spell on the books so they were easier to carry. Next I was off to Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. I had to get something other than black to wear this summer in the way of robes.
When I stood on the stool as the tape measure flew around me, taking measurements, the door opened again.
"Thought it was you I saw coming in here!" Kerry's voice exclaimed.
"Would have come to your parent's shop, but we're not passing that way as far as I know." I told her. The tape measure finished and I gave a quick hug to my friend. She'd got a slight tan since she left Hogwarts and her face looked rounder.
"What colour do you think?" I asked Kerry. She looked critically from me to the samples and then back again.
"Dark emerald green, deep purple or a storm blue." She came out with, her face deadly serious.
"Nothing brighter?" I asked.
"Hmm… not really sure you're a bright coloured person, and surely you've got lighter Muggle clothes. I think they'll look at bit odd on you, think Lockhart and you'll get the picture…?" I laughed out loud.
"True." I replied.
One dark emerald green robe later, I'd left the shop with Kerry. She dragged me down the road to the ice cream parlour, and after tucking into a famous dish of traditional ice cream, I was able to admire how good it was to see Kerry again. We talked all afternoon, eventually getting up to browse the many shops along the road.
"Want a look down Knockturn Alley?" Kerry asked, as we paused by the entrance to the gloomy alley off Diagon Alley.
"Hmm, not today, I'd rather stay in one piece to show Severus I'm capable of looking after myself."
"How is he anyway, all I can remember you writing is how he's going to kill the Weasleys one day?"
"He's fine, just a bit weary from my feline experience. He's sorting something out this afternoon." I noticed the crowds were thinning around where we were standing. Further down there seemed to be something going on outside Ollivanders. We hurried over.
"Someone's collapsed!" Kerry exclaimed.
"If only I was a mediwizard now-." I started to say. Someone overheard part of my sentence and shoved me forwards.
"This girl's a mediwizard!" I heard, and found myself being pushed out into the space around the poor wizard who was clutching his chest over his heart, his skin ashen and his lips slightly blue. He was having trouble breathing.
"Send for St Mungos!" I shouted to Kerry. I crouched down by the wizard, trying to calm my mind. Above the crowd Kerry sent out the formation of a red and green cross.
"Hello, what's your name?" I asked, putting my arm around the old wizard's shoulders.
"Arnie, it's my heart." I nodded.
"Okay, my name's Elixa, I'm going to try to get you a bit more comfortable so I can try to ease the pain." I suspected a heart attack. I managed to put the wizard into a more comfortable position, listening to my father's voice in my head, remembering the days he'd given me instructions about things like this during the long summers. I prayed that St Mungos would come quick.
