For the 10 Characters, 10 Prompts Challenge (3/10, Augusta Longbottom, separate)
Augusta is absolutely fuming when she bursts into the ward at St. Mungo's. She had tried to keep it in, had tried not let it bother her, but the thought had kept her up all night, knotting her stomach and making her blood boil.
"What is this rubbish about keeping them separate?" she demands, resting a shaky hand on the desk.
Of course, she doesn't have to explain who she is or about whom she's referring. Her son and daughter-in-law's fate is already well known throughout London.
The Healer swallows dryly. She makes him nervous. Good.
"Mrs. Longbottom," he says carefully, "we felt that it would be best for them to be separated."
"You don't know what's best for them," she says, trying and failing to keep her voice calm.
"As the Healer in charge of their well-"
"As his mother, I think I know what's best for him. For both of them."
The Healer sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. Augusta wonders if he's struggling to keep his composure just like she is. "They don't even remember each other now," he explains, his tone much more tense than it had been moments earlier. "They won't notice."
She shakes her head. Once, when Frank and Alice had been about fourteen, she might have agreed that they shouldn't be together. Alice had been such a flighty girl, neither here nor there, and Augusta hadn't though much of her. But she had changed, had grown into such a strong, determined young woman, and she had made Frank happy. That had been enough for Augusta in the end.
"Because their minds are compromised..."
But Augusta isn't listening.
No, they don't really know each other anymore. They don't remember that they have loved each other for years or that they have a beautiful son together.
But Augusta had been the one to find them. Eyes blank, minds gone, they had been together. Alice had been curled into Frank's side like a frightened kitten, and Frank had slumped against her.
They had been through hell together, and she would be damned if she even considered letting these people keep them apart.
"Listen," she says sharply. "Those two are heroes. Do you know what they have been through? Not just that night, but so many other nights before? Fighting the good fight to keep your sorry backside safe. And you never knew, did you, sonny?"
The Healer fumbles nervously with his tie, unable to meet her gaze. "I- Well, you see-"
"What I see is someone doing a poor job repaying these people for their sacrifices. They belong together. Always together. Now, can you really justify keeping them separated just because they don't remember each other?"
"It could help with their-" he begins, but a stern glare from the woman makes him stop. "Gladys! Arrange for Alice Longbottom to be moved."
Augusta smiles, smoothing out her robes. "Smart choice," she says before turning on her heel and marching off to see her son.