Chapter 11

Opening the door, he entered the study. The arciduca looked up at the sound and a quick, intense look of relief passed across his face.

'Prozio. I am so glad you have come.'

…...

'Before you take it, however, I must know the basics of what happened. I need to know if there is anything urgent to deal with.'

'I saw a man and chased him to where you found me. He was sneaking out early in the morning. I thought he could be connected to everything. I think there were two of them and I didn't see one.'

'Did you recognize the any of them?' Severus' lips thinned and he leaned in eagerly.

'I only saw one. And no, I didn't. He vanished before I could get close enough to see him.'

His posture relaxed and leaned back. 'Take the potion. We will talk more when you wake.'

Hermione downed the potion and pulled herself further back onto his bed before drifting into a deep sleep.

The arciduca rose from his desk as his prozio gave a short bow.

'You must be tired to have arrived so quickly from so far. Would you like any refreshments?' the arciduca asked, proffering a chair.

'No, grazie,' the man responded, sitting on the edge of the chair with his hands lightly dangling off the arms. 'Tell me what troubles you so much that you would summon me.'

'I did not intend it as a summons, Antioco; I only asked.' He paused. 'It's Silvia. She has been poisoned. You must have heard.'

'I did. How?'

'We do not know. It was during dinner-'

Antioco interjected. 'We?'

'Yes. There are some acquaintances of a close friend. They have been aiding me in this matter.'

Antioco's eyes narrowed. 'You let strangers interfere in family matters now?' He stood suddenly. 'Then I cannot help you.'

The arciduca grabbed his arm. 'You must! There is no one else.'

The other man shook him off. 'Clearly, there is. I have given you advice before. It has been disregarded. And now this. Use your strangers if you must. I wash my hands of this.'

'But you know I cannot follow your advice. Please,' the arciduca pleaded.

'If you want all of this to stop, you have only to drop your ridiculous projects. You are angering many old families and they will stop at nothing to see that the old ways are preserved.'

'I have my reasons for these 'ridiculous projects'. We will keep our traditions, but it will be a better world. Imagine: harmony between wizards and muggles. Something like the British fight against Voldemort would never happen again.' The arciduca clenched his fist and turned away in sudden frustration. 'But I will not- cannot- sacrifice Silvia for this world. I am asking you to protect her until this storm passes. I trust you.'

Antioco silently scrutinized the arciduca. Slowly, he nodded. 'It is foolish and weak to trust anyone, especially family. Your father should have taught you better. Nevertheless, I will help you.'

The arciduca's eyes bore into him. 'Thank you. I will not forget this.' He paused. ' I know you are not fond of the arciduchessa.'

'No, I am not. I will only guard her within my abilities. Any other threats to you, your staff, or your...projects...are your concern.' Antioco gave another short bow and left.

Closing the door silently behind him, he beckoned to the maggiordomo.

'Signore?'

'Dario, I have been instructed by his eminence to protect his wife.' The attendant frowned in confusion. 'You will make sure the earlier incident resolves itself. I do not want to be here longer than necessary. Make sure Silvia still receives the care she deserves.'

Alarm grabbed the maggiordomo. 'But, signore, your promise-!'

Antioco wandlessly silenced him and leaned in angrily. 'Then make sure I do not violate it.' He released his silencio. 'Go.' The maggiordomo steeply bowed. 'Oh, and remember Dario, silence is a virtue.'

Hermione awoke feeling refreshed. Rolling over, she noticed an unfamiliar nightstand flooded in afternoon light.

'How is your head?'

Hermione experimentally touched her wound and was pleasantly surprised to feel no pain. 'Much better, thank you,' she said, sitting up. 'That salve is wonderful. Hopefully I won't need it again, but no guarantees in this line of work. I might have to find some way to tempt you to give me my own stock.'

'If you decide to cease investigating dangerous situations on your own without informing anyone, you most likely will not need your own stock. But I will not dissuade you from trying to tempt me,' he said, giving her a half smile to temper his words.

Grinning at him in return, Hermione shook her head. 'It didn't look that bad. If I knew what I was getting into, I would have retrieved you. As it was, had I gone back, I probably would have lost him.'

'You are sure it was a man?'

'Yes. Well, mostly sure. The person I was following had the build of a man and moved like one. In any case, I know I saw a man with said person,' Hermione furrowed her brow and her lower lip made its way under her teeth.

'You told me the second man vanished before you could get close enough to see him, but was there anything familiar about him at all?' Severus pressed her.

'No, he was gone too quickly. I only saw his hair- mostly grey, some dark brown or black. Hair colour just isn't enough to go off of. Before the ground closed over his head I managed to fire off a stupefy. He may have fallen and sustained an injury from that. We can only hope.'

Severus nodded, absorbing the information. 'Was this the same man you were following?'

Tilting her head up, more of her lower lip succumbed to her teeth. After a moment, she slowly shook her head. 'I don't believe so. It couldn't have been. The man I initially followed moved differently from the man I saw later. The first was more furtive, somehow. More...it's hard to say. I would most likely recognize the movement if I saw it again.'

He leaned back, arms crossed. 'Very well. Now, for the question of the day, how in the bloody hell did you manage to get yourself brained by pottery?'

Looking slightly sheepish, Hermione mildly commented, 'Oh, was that what it was?'

'Yes, one of the heavier planters. Have you learned nothing? Where were your defensive spells?' Severus berated her.

'I cast one!' she protested heatedly. 'I don't know how he got past. For all I know he's a very powerful wizard or I failed to focus. I did get a little preoccupied with my new disappearing target.'

'You could have been killed,' he snapped. 'It seems you fail to understand that concept since you insist on treating this so lightly. I won't be responsible for my partner's death on her first case.'

'No one asked you to be!' Hermione glared at him. 'I'm not your student anymore. I'm responsible for my own decisions.' Severus glowered at her in icy silence. Giving up, she sighed. 'I'll be more careful. Thank you for your concern, even if I suspect it to be born from the desire to avoid paperwork. Assuming, of course, that L's organization even keeps records of who dies on the job.' A lip twitch met her comment.

'Not always. The paperwork takes far too much time.'

'I'll make sure I don't die, then.'

A/N: Thank you all for reading and your wonderful, encouraging reviews. I hope you enjoyed this newest update (a little later than I had planned). Thank you so much to my beta duj for reading through this in the midst of her busy life! We're getting down to the wire now with this story. At least, I think so. Then again, this was originally supposed to be 10 chapters... Have a marvellous April!