Chapter Thirty-Five

Scrutiny

Aurelius took a special type of wax string he had gotten from Corey and carefully began to line strips of it along the stair. Meanwhile, Adler Bosworth was too busy watching the man standing on the balcony above them to really pay attention to what Aurelius was doing.

"Do you mind going somewhere else? I'm not used to having known criminals watching me while I'm working," Adler said.

"You have deeply offended me, Deputy Bosworth. I am not at all a "known criminal' by any stretch of the imagination," John Carnegie said indignantly before a smug smile crept on his face. "I am an infamously famous criminal."

"It's all right, Adler. He's here because he was the one that discovered the step," Aurelius said calmly. "Do you have any thoughts as to how long this stuff might have been here?"

"No, not really. I'd never have seen it at all if I hadn't known something was there," John admitted. "'Tis a very subtle difference, as you can see."

"Did you question the House Elves about it?" Aurelius asked.

"Yes, and they began fretting about leaving a spot of any kind on the stairs. It became rather clear to me in that moment that none of them knew a thing at all about it," John said. "And considering you can step on the step without slipping at all unless you're jumping on it, it's hard to say how long it's been there."

"Well, let me ask this. Have you noticed my mother hopping stairs before now during this school year?" Aurelius asked.

"Since day one," John said with amusement. "I'm sure I need not tell you that she does it all the time. She hates waiting on those stairs, everyone in the castle knows it, although she does tend to look around to make sure there aren't any students around before she attempts it."

"Have you caught any of the students hopping stairs?" Aurelius asked.

"On occasion, yes, I can say I've handed out my fair share of detentions about it," John agreed. "Every now and then some of the boys especially get cocky and dare each other to jump it. It doesn't happen all that often, but it does happen every year."

"When was the last time you caught anyone doing it?" Aurelius asked.

"Just before the holidays... you know how they get that last week before they go back," John chuckled.

"Any repeat offenders?"

"Only Professor Craw," John said with amusement. "When the students figure out that punishment involves detention, an Owl home, and a mandatory conference with the Deputy Headmaster, they tend not t'do it again."

"It's rather obvious whom this was meant for," Adler said, watching as Aurelius opened potion phials and dropped different test solutions in the different sections he had made with the string.

"What bothers me is that fact that it could have been anyone," Aurelius said. "Whoever put this here must have known there was a chance that a student could have gotten hurt and yet they did it anyway."

"Perhaps they were simply betting that she was the more likely person to have found it, especially considering how many stories away from regular classrooms we are," Adler said.

"But it was still a gamble," Aurelius said. "Not to mention the fact that had my mother died, we very well may have called it an accident, and it could have happened again to someone else."

"Assuming that whoever did this didn't have an opportunity to clean it up," Adler ventured, scrutinizing John.

"Auror Snape, would you be so kind to inform Mr. Bosworth that I wouldn't ever have put a student much less a professor in danger before he dares to suggest my name in connection with this?" John said, eyeing Adler in return.

"I would never make such a suggestion," Adler said coolly. "Not unless I was ready to make an arrest, that is."

"He didn't do it, Adler," Aurelius said, turning his attention towards his work. "Whatever this stuff is, the tests aren't showing anything, and the nullifying solution I put in this section didn't work either. I'm going to have to take the entire step back with me to the lab."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," John admitted. "Let me go get a replacement step," he said, carefully skirting around them and down towards the closest maintenance closet.

Maurice stepped back from the balcony he was standing on and slipped down the corridor and behind an ornate grandfather clock into the passages. He counted the corridors and doors that he passed and then took a hard right, the passage between the wall narrowing quite a bit before he came out in one of several passages that ended just outside the Slytherin rooms.

The rest of his housemates were just starting to emerge from their rooms for breakfast, some looking dead on their feet while others sat at tables in the common room trying to finish up on some last minute homework. When he opened the door, Max and Cain looked up at him thoughtfully.

"There you are! What were you doing up so early? Did you get lost on the way to the bathroom or something?" Max asked.

"I didn't go to the bathroom. I was doing some reconnaissance," Maurice explained.

"Since when do you do your own reconnaissance?" Cain asked.

"This time it proved to be safer, actually. I don't think my nephew would have let anyone else listen in," Maurice said, digging in his desk for something.

"Are you coming down to breakfast? We have Herbology today, you know," Garvan reminded them.

"You three go on. I'm going to go visit my sister before class," Maurice said.

"Tell her we wish her well... but tell her she can take her time getting back to class," Cain added, getting a dirty look from Maurice knowing full well he simply didn't want to have regular homework again.

"See you in class, Maurice," Garvan said, and the three of them walked out.

Maurice waited until they were well out of the room before he got into the drawer by the bed and pulled out a parchment, rereading carefully before rolling it up and putting it in a scroll case.

Upstairs, Jennifer was glaring fiercely at that morning's paper, which read Monkey Paw's Curse Strikes again! Growling, Jennifer wadded up the paper and tossed it across the room. Ginny turned and put a hand on one hip.

"If I knew you were going to get yourself worked up, I would never have given you that paper," Ginny scolded her. "What's wrong this time?"

"I am not cursed!" Jennifer said angrily.

"Of course you're not!" Ginny said.

"It's bad enough hearing about it in the Oracle, must the Prophet print that as well?" Jennifer said.

"Well, if you actually read the entire article, you would see that it points out that the Ministry suspects foul play," Ginny said.

"To which Coventry replied, 'the silly allegations of foul play are simply the Ministry's way of preventing panic of having a chronically cursed professor teaching their children.' What a pain in the ass he's become! You know, I've never liked his wife. She's a bitter woman who likes to take out her frustration on others, but I must admit that I am starting to understand how she got that way!" Jennifer seethed.

"Jennifer, really! If you keep carrying on like this, I'll have to call Sagittari in. You're supposed to be resting! Here, let me get you something to calm you down," Ginny said, but then paused when she saw someone peering in the door. "Hello, Maurice."

"Hello, Madame Potter. Might I see Professor Craw?" Maurice asked.

"If you suppose it'll calm her down," Ginny said dryly.

"Craws don't like to be stuck in bed. We'd much rather be out doing things," Maurice observed.

"So I've noticed," Ginny said with amusement, and then stepped over to the other side of the room to dig into the potion cabinet.

"Come sit down, Maurice. I hope you're not skipping breakfast," Jennifer tsked openly.

"I wasn't really hungry anyhow," Maurice said, and found a plate with a crumpet in his face. Knowing better than to refuse, Maurice took the plate, but set it on the side table when he sat down. "I'd rather not get my hands buttery just yet," he explained when she squinted at him. "See, I brought you something, although I'm quite sure you won't like it. It was the only gift I could think of in such short notice... but it is a secret from Father."

"What secret?" Jennifer asked, her expression instantly changing to one of curiosity as he held out a scroll case. Studying his face, she broke out into a smile and took the case, nudging him to go ahead and eat as she pulled out the parchment.

"The winter night is cold and still; the ground and water frozen yet glistening like the surface of the moon, lifeless and silent despite its beauty. But soon the sky will turn towards dawn; and with it comes the promise of spring drawing nearer every morning, renewing the earth, and bringing us hope for the day to come," Jennifer read, stunned in spite of herself. "Wow, Maurice, that's brilliant."

"It's not really any classical form, I just matched the syllables, really, but Earsinge is always telling me that poetry doesn't have to be perfect," Maurice said.

"Well, I think it's perfect, and it's exactly the sort of message I needed right now. Perhaps it'll bring me some luck... the good kind for a change," Jennifer chuckled.

"If you ask me, I rather think you were very lucky to survive that fall," Maurice said.

"That wasn't luck, that was me."

Jennifer looked up to see Severus stepping in the door, her face brightening dramatically.

"I've always said one makes their own luck, whether it's good or bad," he added expressionlessly.

"Do you know, Severus, I think I'm finally beginning to agree with you," Jennifer admitted.

"It is high time you agreed with me on something," Severus decided. Jennifer shook her head at him with a smile. "And just what have the two of you been up to this morning?"

"Just visiting of course," Maurice said, getting up. "I suppose I really ought to get ready for class."

"Thank you Maurice," Jennifer said. "Tell everyone not to worry and that I'll be back in the classroom soon."

"I will," Maurice promised, nodding to Severus and giving a quick wave to Ginny as he walked out the door.

But Maurice wasn't planning to head straight to Herbology, for he knew he probably had enough time for one more errand. Pulling out a small book out of his pocket, he flipped through it to check his notes before making his way to the secret passages.

"Of course she's going to be all right," Lucky said firmly to Ambrose and Delia as they walked towards their History class. "The Professor says the stairs caught her as they swung around and kept her from falling any further."

"You know for someone who's cursed, it sounds like she was awful lucky to have survived that," Delia said thoughtfully.

"That's what I think, so ignore the paper hogwash. Doctor Sagittari is only keeping her there for observation on account of her having a concussion. She'll be back to work in no time, you'll see."

"So much for homework-free Potion classes," Gary said. Connie threw him a dirty look.

"Well I for one will be glad to have her back, even if Professor Willowby did turn out to be a decent teacher," Delia said.

"Me too. Even with him keeping up the breakfast cart and all, it's just not the same without Professor Craw in there," Ambrose said. "Besides, it's kind of awkward having my brother teaching class."

"How do you think I feel?" Lucky said. Ambrose grinned at her.

"Worse than that, how do you think I feel?"

Lucky and the others looked up to see Maurice, who was leaning on a statue of an old bearded wizard wearing a wide-brimmed hat filled with tiny birds.

"It feels weird, I'd bet," Ambrose grinned at him. "Hullo, Maurice!"

"Hi, Maurice. What are you doing over here?" Delia asked curiously. "I don't remember seeing you at breakfast."

"I've been visiting my sister, actually," Maurice said. "Might I see you for a moment, Fortuna?"

"Ya, sure," Lucky shrugged. "You guys go ahead."

"Well, don't be late, Lucky. Don't forget we're starting on group research papers today," Ambrose reminded her.

"Can I be in your group?" Delia asked Ambrose.

"Sure!" Ambrose said.

"Hey! They're groups of four! If Connie and Lucky join, where does that leave me?" Gary complained.

"Out of luck, I suppose," Connie teased him, but Gary wasn't amused at all.

"So what's up, Unc?" Lucky asked after the others walked down the corridor away from him.

"I thought you would be interested to hear what I learned this morning," Maurice said quietly. "See, I used the back passages to get into that section of staircases they closed off to see if Aurelius and Bosworth found anything about what happened yesterday."

"I'm surprised you weren't caught," Lucky said.

"Aurelius knew I was there, actually. I realized he had his Snoop Chain on when he started looking up the stairwell so I stepped out long enough he could see it was me," Maurice explained. "Bosworth was too busy worrying about Carnegie to notice me. He suspected that Carnegie might have something to do with the slippery step, but my nephew is convinced that he isn't involved. Aurelius seemed genuinely bothered by the fact that it might have been a student trying to jump staircases instead of my sister, rules or no rules."

Lucky squinted at that.

"And you say Bosworth thought it was Carnegie?" Lucky said.

"At first, but Aurelius was quick to assure Bosworth that it wasn't him," Maurice said.

"Yeah, but what if they had sent someone else who wasn't a Truth Seeker? They'd have brought him in for questioning," Lucky mused.

"Likely," Maurice agreed. "Look, to be perfectly honest, it could very well be someone attempting to bump off my sister again, but Aurelius wasn't completely convinced. If they were trying to kill my sister, why would you put a trap somewhere where anyone could have gotten hurt, and not necessarily your intended target?"

"I suppose to make it more believable as an accident," Lucky said thoughtfully. "I mean, if she had died, nobody would have known about the step at all."

"Until the next person slipped on it," Maurice said darkly.

"Yeah, that's not good. Whoever did this didn't care who might get hurt in the process," Lucky sighed.

"Exactly. It could have happened to anyone, which means Jennifer may not have been the actual target at all," Maurice said.

"Yeah but... well, it was more likely to be her, statistically, you know. Everyone knows how she goes up those stairs, and students who get caught doing it get in trouble for it," Lucky admitted.

"But whoever did this still took that risk, which puts the motive in question," Maurice said.

"Yeah," Lucky said. "I gotta find out who's tryin' to frame Carnegie. Whoever is doin' it has gotta be someone in the school, and so they could have had the motive and opportunity."

"Good point," Maurice agreed. "Anyhow, I thought you'd want to know about it, just in case you had any ideas. I'll let you know if I find out anything else."

"Thanks," Lucky said, and Maurice nodded, slipping back behind the statue. Curiously Lucky took a few steps forward just as one of the wooden panels slid back into place. "Man, that kid still creeps me out," Lucky said to herself before walking to History.

Out back, Max, Cain and Garvan looked up as Maurice slipped into place just as old Professor Sprout hobbled her way into the classroom in the front of the greenhouse.

"Don't tell me, more reconnaissance?" Max murmured to him.

"No need," Maurice said calmly, opening his book.

Aurelius carefully read each label in the specimen cabinet before bringing out two bottles of tea and a sack lunch, walking around Ginger who was still dropping mixtures into test phials. Setting them in the adjacent room near the sink, Aurelius grabbed his tea and one of the stools, setting it just inside the doorway so he could watch her work.

"That lab coat doesn't do a thing for you," Aurelius decided.

"Gee, thanks," Ginger said dryly, not looking up from her work. "Do you really have to be so damned honest all the time?"

"I think you like me because I'm honest," Aurelius said, smelling the tea cautiously before taking a sip. "You never have to worry about whether my compliments are serious or not."

"True," Ginger said. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep quiet when you don't have something complementary to say."

"I suppose I could try," Aurelius admitted. "But then what if I'm just not in the mood to talk? You'd probably get it into your head that I was thinking bad things about you or something, knowing how you get," Aurelius said.

"Do you mind? You could start practicing being polite right now, you know," Ginger said, pausing a moment so she wouldn't make any mistakes.

"I suppose I could, but I don't think it's going to work," Aurelius decided. "It'd go against my nature. I'm a Snape, after all."

"Don't remind me," Ginger said, setting up the last of the tests and glancing up at the clock on the wall, writing the time down. "That is a strike against you, you know."

"Good thing I have looks and a great personality then," Aurelius said, handing her a bottle.

"Your ego is the second strike," Ginger decided, getting out a sandwich.

"Good thing I've been trained to do my best under pressure then," Aurelius said. "Unless, of course, my job is the third strike."

"No," Ginger said, looking much more serious. "You know, I may not see things from the front lines like you do, Rel, but everything both the LE office and your office investigates come through here at some point. I may not see it first hand, but my imagination makes up for it considering some of what I see as an alchemist. It's nice to know someone's out there doing something about it."

"Even if you know you might wake up in the morning and I might not be there anymore?" Aurelius asked softly.

"Why would I worry? You're the best Auror in Britain," Ginger shrugged.

"Second best," Aurelius corrected automatically.

"Yes, well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion, isn't it?" Ginger said. And despite the fact that neither her expression or demeanor had not changed at all, Aurelius found himself getting lost in what he saw in her face that she wasn't saying.

Abruptly Aurelius caught himself, remembering where they were and pulling quickly back from her.

"You um... do you suppose any of those test solutions are done?" Aurelius asked.

"Oh. Probably," Ginger admitted, quickly eating and cleaning up. She put on a fresh pair of gloves and went back over to check them. "Ah ha... just as I suspected, it's a Kineflub potion mixed with a floor sealant... typical of what we use to waterproof outdoor patios and the like... no wonder it didn't want to come up."

"But it didn't react at all with the Kineflub potion?" Aurelius asked, walking over to the table and looking over her shoulder.

"It must have been bottled just around five Celsius... cool enough for the sealant to gel and to keep the kinetic potion from reacting," Ginger said. "It'd have to be perfectly calculated to keep the two of them in the same bottle without diffusing each other. In fact, I'd go so far to say it had to be made by a professional alchemist."

"A professional alchemist? Any idea who?" Aurelius frowned.

"Not without breaking this down further... let me try to separate more of the sealant. It's a much simpler formula," Ginger said. "I do know one thing, though. I don't see any of the earmarks of someone who learned potions at Hogwarts."

"Really? There can't be many of those, around, can there?"

"Well, they could have come out of Greenburrow Wizardcraft in Ireland, or they could be from some other country," Ginger said. "However, if so I can tell if it was actually created in the country or not from the components used... hang on," Ginger murmured. Aurelius found a mortar pushed at him as she got interested in one of the solutions, holding the phial up to the light as the two separated, a heavy, iridescent substance clumping at the bottom.

"Find something?" Aurelius asked, watching as she dumped out the lighter liquid to get a sample of what was underneath. In fact, it was so clumped that she could actually pick up some of the gooey sample with tweezers, so sticky that it didn't fall off. As she held it up, Aurelius noticed the silvery finish.

"That almost looks like quicksilver..." Aurelius murmured with a frown.

"That's exactly what it is, Aurelius, mercury," Ginger said, confident even before she dropped it in a water solution to test it. "It used to be used in all sorts of sealants and balms in the earlier days of alchemy because of its adaptive properties, and many used it as a base in experiments to transmute other metals. But most wizard alchemists don't use it for balms and sealants these days, and the school doesn't use it at all, since there are plenty of other alternatives for balms that are a lot less toxic. However, I do happen to know that it is still used in gold mines, and used by those who have been around it for so long... and their body's physiology being what it is... they are immune to its effects."

"Goblins," Aurelius said. "Which means this mixture must have been made by..."

"Sludgebat, thank you very much," Ginger said smugly. "In fact, I'm quite positive it came from him now. I'm seeing several other patterns to this formulat that I know he's used in the past to cure his potions."

"Not only that, Sludgebat has had a grudge against Father since before I was born. He wouldn't hesitate to help someone in something like this... Ginger, you're brilliant," Aurelius said, kissing her cheek.

"What, I'm brilliant and that's all I get?" Ginger protested, but Aurelius looked at the open doorway.

"We'll get caught up later. I need to go talk to Harry and figure out how to handle this from here, since goblins are so blasted hard to read... not that he'd be willing to talk to me anyway, being a Snape," Aurelius said.

"I have a feeling he won't be willing to talk to anybody," Ginger said.

"Well, let's see what Harry thinks. I'll see you later..."

"Dinner?" Ginger asked quickly before he could get away.

"I might be late tonight with all this, Ginger. I might not be up to heading down to Spain tonight," Aurelius said in a low voice.

"We could just eat in town for a change," Ginger said.

"Do you really want Andrew to find out about this? I thought you were against that..."

"Trust me, I still am," Ginger said dryly. "But I was thinking maybe you could come over and have dinner at my place tonight."

"Uh... no," Aurelius said, shaking his head. "I'd rather we just take it easy and go golfing this weekend."

"Honestly, Rel! You're not a school boy, there's no reason to be nervous..."

"I'm not nervous," Aurelius said in a low voice. "But I'm not coming over."

"It's just dinner, Rel."

"That's not what you're thinking, Ginger," Aurelius said evenly. "You're hoping that once you get me there, you can convince me to stay." Ginger turned red.

"Fine, be that way! But don't expect me to go out with you again, either. I have no intentions of going out with anyone who is obviously not interested," Ginger said angrily, turning back towards her desk to write up a report on her work.

"If I wasn't interested, I wouldn't have asked you out in the first place," Aurelius said, unfazed by her sudden temper.

"You certainly don't act like it," Ginger snapped, and then tried to pretend that he wasn't still standing there. Aurelius sighed, watching her silently for a moment before glancing towards the open doorway and back again.

"Fine, do you want to get married?" Aurelius asked. Ginger looked up and gawked at him.

"No! Are you crazy? Of course not! Good grief, Rel, we've only been dating for a month!" Ginger said, completely aghast.

"Funny, that's what I was thinking to myself a moment ago," Aurelius said evenly.

"Oh! Rel! Don't be so immature!" Ginger said with exasperation. Aurelius raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. "How do I explain this? I just want... I just want to get to know you better, that's all. I mean... look, it's not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be, really."

"You don't think it's a big deal?" Aurelius said expressionlessly.

"No...yes! Wait, that isn't what I meant... could you please stop looking at me like that?" Ginger said. "You make me feel like a criminal when you look at me like that. It's not a crime to want to see you, is it?"

"I never said it was. Same time on Saturday?" Aurelius asked.

"Here we go again. You just don't get it, do you?" Ginger said, pushing the report at him.

"I understand completely. I just don't think you understand me," Aurelius said calmly. "I'm not my brother, Ginger."

"Of course you're not! If you were at all like him in any way, I never would have agreed to go out with you in the first place," Ginger said.

"Then don't expect me to act like him. It's bad enough that you're always comparing us in your mind... I know very well you can't help that, but I do have to deal with it. And regardless how much you think my decision is simply because I've never done it before, it doesn't change the fact I don't want the same things out of a relationship than my brother does. I just want one girl. I want it to grow into something I feel I can commit to and with someone who truly wants to commit to me. I have absolutely no intention of going any farther until I'm certain that is where we are heading. I've waited this long, and I can afford to wait until I'm quite positive it's the real thing. And I am sorry if that isn't what you want; I was under the impression that it was, but as you constantly remind me, I am new to this sort of thing and I could've been mistaken. If so, it is rather a shame, because other than that Andrew nonsense, you are exactly what I've been looking for. But if you'd rather play his game, so be it. I only play for keeps," Aurelius said, glancing over the report. "Thanks, by the way. Send me an Owl if you decide you don't want to go this weekend," he added as he swept out of the room. Ginger stared after him for a long time.

"Wow," Ginger said at last, finally remembering to close her mouth.