Chapter Fourteen
Violet answered her mobile quickly, even with her hands shaking so badly she almost hung up instead of answering. "Violet Evans," she said tersely.
"Ms. Evans, this is Meg Thwistle from St. Mungo's Hospital," the woman on the other end of the line began. "We've got Harry Potter here, and-"
"What's wrong with Harry? Where's Sherlock?" Violet demanded.
"Well, there's a man here, says his name is Sherlock Holmes, but he's not on Mr. Potter's charts, so we can't allow him in with Mr. Potter," the woman said hesitantly.
"Oh, merciful Merlin," Violet sighed. "Is he tall, good looking, and insufferably arrogant?"
"Um, yes," Meg answered, surprised.
"Then it's him. I give him permission to be with Harry."
"Well, um, I need to verify your identity, as well." Meg sounded uncomfortable, but resolute.
"Sweet Circe," Violet muttered under her breath. "Look, I've got Director Bones of the DMLE here. Would she be enough of a character witness, or do you require Professor Dumbledore? I've got him here, as well."
"Um, no, I suppose that's alright," she said quickly, now sounding a bit intimidated.
"May I speak with Sherlock, please?" Violet asked, but her tone let everyone know she wasn't really asking.
A bit of rustling sounded in her ear, before Sherlock said, "Vi? I'm so sorry! He went up to his room, just for a second, I swear-"
"What's wrong with Harry?" Violet interrupted his ramblings. "How is he hurt?"
He sighed, before speaking very quickly again. "He broke his arm. He slipped going down the stairs from his room, he was bringing toys down to share with Rosie and he had too many in his arms to see where he was going. And he just slipped. He just slipped, Vi. I never meant for him to get hurt."
"I know, Sherlock. I know you would never do anything to hurt him. Do you need me to come right away?" she asked in a gentler tone, now that she knew it wasn't anything too serious.
Sherlock spoke again, a bit more slowly. "No, I think it will be alright. Just finish at the Ministry. What you're doing is important. I'll just take him home once we're done here. John and Rosie are still there probably."
"If you're sure," she asked leadingly.
"I'm sure. We'll be fine until you get home."
"Alright then, go to our boy and I'll see you when I get home."
As she slipped her mobile back into her bag, Violet noticed that her aunt had a rather knowing look on her face. She chose to ignore it, however, in favor of leaving Azkaban as quickly as possible. After all, the sooner she finished with this, the sooner she could get home to her boys. "What all do we have to do to free Sirius, Auntie?"
Amelia immediately straightened, professional mask slipping into place once more. "I will need reports from you two Aurors as to your thoughts on Black's remarks, and his character during the War. Markwell, I'll need you to report on his behavior since he's been incarcerated, as well as your judgements of what we learned today. Violet, Dumbledore, Mr. Lupin, you'll need to write up your parts. But once we have all that, it shouldn't take long."
Violet spoke up again. "If you'll send me a copy of the case against him, I can have Sherlock take a look at it. He should be able to help. After all, it's what he does for a living."
Amelia nodded. "I'll send it home with you. Now, unless anyone objects, I suggest we all go back to the Ministry. I've had quite enough of this loathsome place, however nice your office is, Warden."
"I must admit that I find it loathsome, as well," Markwell agreed amiably. "I've just gotten somewhat used to it."
Amelia nodded, tapping the nameplate once more with her wand. The visitors gathered around it, touching it to make the journey back to the Ministry. Remus excused himself quickly, as did Dumbledore, while Alice and Moody waited to be dismissed by Amelia. She did so, then turned to Violet. "Eat more chocolate," she ordered. "You're far too pale still."
Violet did as she was told, knowing that no good would come of arguing. "Is Harry alright?" Amelia asked, concern coloring her words. "You're not rushing off this very minute, but you did sound rather worried on the phone."
Violet swallowed her current piece of chocolate before answering. "He slipped on the stairs and broke his arm. The Healers should have it mended in a trice, but it's still the first time Harry's been seriously hurt, at least since he's been with me. I'm a bit more of a worrier than I realized, I suppose," she said with a self-deprecating smile.
"Motherhood will do that," Amelia answered. "And speaking of mothers, mine told me to inform you that your presence is requested at the monthly family tea. She wants to meet Harry and your young man," she added, waving her wand to make a copy of Sirius's file.
"Sherlock isn't my young man," Violet argued, taking the file and slipping it into her bag.
Amelia only quirked an amused eyebrow. "And yet you knew exactly who I meant. Curious. But it doesn't matter anyway. I was merely relaying Mother's instructions. She said she's given you plenty of time to adjust, and now you must be a part of the family once again. And she wants to meet her newest grandson."
"Even though Harry isn't her biological grandson?" Now it was Violet's turn to quirk an eyebrow.
"You're raising him, so he's as good as. And I'll be bringing Susan, who she treats as her own," she reminded. "Daniel's two will be there, as well, so there will be plenty of playmates for Harry."
"He will probably be shy," Violet warned. "He's still a bit leary of strangers."
Amelia shook her head sadly. "The poor boy. But it doesn't matter. He'll get used to the family quick enough."
After assuring her aunt that at least she and Harry would attend the family tea, Violet headed out to the lifts. As she wasn't accompanied by the head of the DMLE and one of the top Aurors, she had to endure several wary side glances from those she passed. But, she admitted to herself, probably far less than if Alice hadn't spoken up for her.
She quickly made her way to the Ministry's public Apparition point, spinning the moment she reached it. She paused a moment upon arrival to Transfigure her clothes into the top and pants from earlier, then strode out to the road. A black car was idling just in front, and she grinned as she slid into the back seat. "Tell Mycroft thank you for me, will you?" she told the driver.
"Of course, Ms. Evans," he said courteously. And not another word was exchanged for the rest of the ride.
Violet opened the door at Baker Street just in time to see Mrs. Hudson start up the stairs with a large pot in her hands. "Oh, I'm so glad you're home," she gushed. "Little Harry is going to need some extra love today. I made a pot of my famous onion and garlic soup, just the thing when a little one's not feeling well."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hudson," Violet said in surprise. "That's so sweet of you."
"Oh, it's nothing," the landlady said, brushing the words aside, but Violet could see her swell with the adulation.
Once in the flat, both women immediately pushed Sherlock and John out of the way to begin fussing over Harry, who waved his magically healed arm to show them, without saying magic, of course. Mary looked on in amusement, keeping little Rosie out of their way for the moment. But Sherlock was eyeing his landlady suspiciously. "But how did you know Harry had been hurt?" he began probingly. "We never left the flat."
To which Mrs. Hudson snorted derisively. "If you think I can't recognize the sound of Apparition, you're more daft than I thought, Sherlock Holmes."
"You know 'bout magic, Mrs. Husson?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Of course I do, love," she said, smoothing his hair from his face. "I'm a muggleborn, after all. And I knew that Sherlock would only risk Apparating inside the flat if something had happened to you." She then gave a smug look to the four other adults, who were all displaying varying shades of astonishment.
"You knew, this whole time?" Sherlock finally managed to ask.
"Of course I did," she huffed.
"And you never thought to mention it?" he continued.
"I thought the great detective Sherlock Holmes could figure it out, surely, but apparently, I was wrong."
Violet laughed. "Well, I for one am never going to the Apparition point ever again. We can redo the wards to allow just us in."
After a dinner of Mrs. Hudson's soup, which worked nearly as well as chocolate to drive away the last lingering effects of the Dementors, all of them stayed close by. Violet, at least, didn't want to take her eyes off Harry, even as he played with Rosie. The adults were all rather introspective, only speaking a bit here and there, and mostly it was aimed at the children to be careful. So it came as quite a surprise when Sherlock, who had been in his mind palace since he ate three spoonfuls of soup, spoke up. What he said ended up being even more surprising. "Violet, you should marry me."
Violet simply blinked at him stupidly. "That's really not the way to do it, mate," John said lowly.
"At least not if you want her to say yes," Mary added.
That was enough to bring her out of her stupor. "Should I be expecting a daisy ring in the near future?" she teased, then clarified for the others in the room. "That's what I gave him when I proposed, at the age of eight. Though, he did turn me down for a life of piracy."
Utter confusion was written on Sherlock's face. "What? No, don't be an idiot."
"Definitely not the way to do it," John muttered, but Sherlock simply ignored him.
"No, I meant for you to marry me so I could have a legal claim on Harry, should something like today happen again. I'm not being stupidly romantic," he spat.
"Well, that's quite obvious," Mary observed quietly.
Violet, however, was processing what she'd just been told. "So you want me to marry you so you can take care of Harry, should I not be there for whatever reason?"
"Yes," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And for you, as well. I doubt St. Mungo's would allow me to help you otherwise, either."
"Alright, I'll marry you," she said, nodding once. "After all, you can't possibly be worse than my last husband," she added with a grin.
Sherlock scowled. "I'd like to think that I'm rather an improvement over LeStrange."
"Yes, you would," Violet teased. John and Mary laughed uproariously at his pout, while Mrs. Hudson happily twittered about wedding plans.
AN: I swear, I never meant to leave you all hanging this long. I really had planned on writing this that next week, but life happened. I'll be packing and moving the next couple of weeks, so I won't have much time to write, but I will write when I can. Thanks to all who followed and favorited, and a huge thanks to those who have reviewed! I love you all!