January
"Don't judge me." Harriette said to the cat perched at the foot of her four-poster bed. She licked the treacle tart crumbs from the corner of her mouth. "I know it's my third one, but I don't judge you for how much you eat." Krishna stared at her blankly before turning away from her witch to groom her tail. "I'm just incredibly hungry!" She said in defence, but the cat ignored her and continued to clean her fur. With all the stress and guilt lately, she has been eating a lot more than usual, especially treacle tarts and other pastry desserts. Sighing, Harriette returned to the scattered newspapers all over her bed.
Lately, she has been using her research as an excuse not to come out of the infirmary. She was adamant about avoiding Sirius since their… encounter on Christmas Eve. The few times she absolutely needed to venture out of the medical wing, she was lucky enough to have not run into him. It had been three weeks and she still shuddered at the memory of him holding her up against the- no. She shook her head to clear the images from her mind and then took a bite of the half-eaten treacle tart in her left hand, as she flipped the page from the Daily Prophet with her right. She needed to finish her research.
She skimmed the pages of the newspaper but nothing stood out to her, so she picked it up to move it to her finished pile revealing the next edition underneath. Immediately, she saw an enchanted photograph of Ludo Bagman surrounded by Aurors, Hit Wizards, Witch Watchers and the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol. Just the photograph alone shocked her and she hadn't even read the article yet. There was rarely any need for the whole department to apprehend one man unless he had done something incredibly vile and unlawful. From her understanding, Ludo Bagman has only ever had a gambling problem. She quickly discarded her tart and snatched up the article before her. It read:
Ludo Bagman Arrested for the Murder of the Minister of Magic
After nearly a week, officials in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were tipped off to the whereabouts of the missing Minister of Magic. Upon arrival at an abandoned cellar just outside of Little Hangleton, a known headquarters of the fallen Dark Lord, officials found Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, attempting to dispose of the body of our beloved Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Upon Bagman's arrest, he could be heard shouting, "It was Bellatrix!" over and over.
Magical Law Enforcement Patrol officials state that Bagman claims he was coerced into helping the notorious Bellatrix LeStrange into kidnapping and imprisoning the Minister of Magic under the guise that his debts owed to the goblins would be paid off. He also claims that he did not harm the Minister, nor did he kill him. After investigating, it has come to light that Ludo Bagman was the one who alerted the Magical Law Enforcement to the whereabouts of the Minister and had planned on turning himself in.
Trial will be held next week to determine the fate of Ludo Bagman. This story is still in development and will be updated with the release of more information. Please alert Ministry Officials if you see Bellatrix LeStrange.
Snippets of Kingsley chained to a dingy wall in the dream she had more than six months ago swirled in her head while reading the article. She now believed that her dream was not just a dream. It had all been the reflection of true events. Tears welled in her eyes for the loss of her friend. If she never went into hiding, he wouldn't have lost his life. A heaviness settled in her heart as a knot formed tightly in her stomach. She wept aloud, feeling slighted by fate and it's cruelty. Why must she continue to lose those she loved?
She pushed the articles and forgotten snack away and planted her face into her pillow. She screamed. She screamed for the unjust. She screamed for the beaten and broken. She screamed for the forgotten, and she screamed for the damned. She screamed until an overwhelming wave nausea came over her and she had to empty her stomach into a nearby bin, and then, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
The corridor coming from the Great Hall was crowded with kids making their way to lunch. Harriette had stuck her head out of the door of the medical wing, hoping that she couldn't see Sirius Black anywhere. It was amazingly inconvenient that the infirmary didn't have it's own set of bathrooms. She hadn't gone since earlier that morning before the start of school and she was seriously considering conjuring up a bedpan and then vanishing it away just to avoid Sirius. She would rather retain what was left of her dignity so it was luck that the first floor bathrooms weren't very far.
Thinking that the coast was clear, Harriette stepped out of the doorway and walked to the end of the short corridor, parallel to the hall that would lead to the bathrooms. She looked down that hall to the right at the crowd of students entering the giant open doors to the Great Hall and didn't see him. She turned her head to the left which would lead to the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief. Sirius wasn't around and she could go to the bathroom. She smiled to herself and stepped into the corridor. As she did so, a small group of students veered to the side, stopping to talk and leaving a void in the crowd where she could see Sirius casually strolling towards her.
Drat! Her stomach tightened and she wrung her hands together frantically, looking around for a way to dodge him when suddenly she felt a gentle tugging on her robes. A small first year student with tears in her eyes held up a bloody finger to her. Thankful for the distraction, but more concerned for the girl, Harriette knelt down in front of the student.
"What happened?" she furrowed her brows, scrutinizing the wound. It wasn't very deep, but the poor girl was dripping a lot of blood all over the place.
"I dropped a tube-thingy in potions class and it broke. I cut myself when I picked up the pieces."
"Oh, sweetie. Why didn't you tell Professor Slughorn so he could help you?" The girl shrugged. "Well that's okay. Why don't I make this all better for you? Episkey!" Harriette tapped her wand to the girl's finger and the wound sealed itself shut. The girl examined her healed finger with wide eyes and beamed at Harriette.
"Thank you!" her little voice squealed.
"You are very welcome. Wash your hands and go eat. I bet you are starving." She winked at the first year and the student took off to the bathroom.
"Ten points to the healer." said an amused voice from behind her. She turned her head only to see Sirius' cloak billowing behind him as he walked toward the Great Hall.
Harriette paced the floor back in her chambers a few minutes later trying to convince herself to get over her anxiety about Sirius. The room was empty except for her and her pet cat, yet she ranted openly to the room as if she was having a conversation with someone.
"Yes, he is Naos' father and my best friend's godfather." She said out loud. Krishna's eyes moved back and forth as she tracked Harriette's movement from the bed. "Is it awkward that I shagged him? Yes. But we are adults. I am an adult. Two adults can have sex and move on. Can't they?" She paused mid-rant and bit her lip remembering her beau. "Well, we aren't exclusive but things between us are going well. How would Mickey feel? Perhaps I should write him a letter and tell him everything."
She walked her favorite spot by the window and sat at the small table. Lately she had been stockpiling it with her favorite treats so there was barely any room to fit parchment to write the letter to Mickey, but she managed. She picked up a deluxe sugar quill from her tray of sweets and dipped it into the ink but paused before she put the tip to the paper. What exactly was she going to say? She stuck the quill into her mouth and the taste of icing instantly coated her tongue. The sweetness instantly relaxed her and she was able to think better on how to start. She redipped the quill and wrote:
Mickey,
I am writing to you with a confused, yet heavy heart. I am unsure where we stand in our relationship but there is something I need to get off my chest. I know we have been enjoying each other's company and I always look forward to hearing from you. I have grown fond of you, that much I am sure of, but I do know that we never discussed whether or not we are an exclusive item. That being said, I recently had relations with someone else. I have no intentions of seeing this person. It was a one-time thing, but I understand if you would like to stop whatever it is we are doing because of this. I am truly sorry if this letter causes you any heartache.
Not knowing what else to say, she signed and sealed the letter. It would have to do. She looked at the clock on the wall. Half past one. She still had time to make it to the owlery before meeting with Neville at the greenhouses. His daughter Stella was going to be there so she decided to bring Naos along as well. She grabbed her coat and her letter. On her way out, she told her interns to watch the ward.
"I'll be back in an hour. Come get me if you need me before then, I'll be in Greenhouse five."
Since her time at school, either Pamona Sprout or Neville added two more greenhouses, she was unsure which. The Ministry of Magic made it mandatory to add twenty more plant species to the Herbology curriculum for various careers after Hogwarts. Harriette remembered the potion shortage after the war against Voldemort and his followers. Many people died or had to wait for treatment while more potions were being made and at the time, there weren't very many potions masters left. Apparently it was their hope that if they added more ingredients to the class curriculum, more students would know how to make salves and poultices that would help in a pinch. It was a scary but necessary addition to the course, but it still saddened her, especially now that she had her own child to care for. She couldn't imagine Naos needing to use a limb or life saving measure in any scenario. She shuddered at the thought.
Harriette was winded after her trek up to the owlery in the west tower, then back down through the castle all the way to the greenhouses. She would have liked to have sat for a moment to catch her breath but she could hear chatter from inside the fifth greenhouse. Everyone was already there. She sucked air into her lungs deeply, exhaling slowly to try and steady her breathing before opening the door.
Inside she saw Neville pointing out his favorite plant, the Mimbulus Mimbletonia, to Naos and Teddy Lupin. Harriette was a little taken aback. She didn't expect to see the bright blue-haired boy today. Despite him being a metamorphmagus like his mother, Harriette could tell he still looked like his father. He could have easily changed his plain brown eyes, round nose, thinner lips and long face, but the only thing he changed was his dark brown hair to the vivid sapphire color it was now.
She also didn't expect to see Sirius Black in the greenhouse either. He stood next to the boys as Neville explained about the boils on the cactus-like plant.
"This plant is very important while growing other sensitive or fragile plants. You line them in front of others as a form of ward off animals and bugs that would try and eat from the others. See these small pulsating spines?" He pointed to the pimple-like buds on the cacti. "These are filled with a pus called Stinksap. When predators get too close they-" Suddenly, Teddy yelped as one of the pustules burst all over his hand. "-explode." A chorus of "oohs" sounded around the indoor garden with sour faces to match. Stella was the only one with excitement on her face as she whispered "Wicked!"
Harriette rushed to Teddy, pulling the medical kit from her satchel and got to work cleaning up the boy and examining his hand. Stinksap was generally harmless. It usually just presented an offensive odor but in some cases, the sap could cause burns depending on how long the sap remained in the pustule for, so she wanted to make sure he didn't have any burns.
"Stick out your hand, that's it." Teddy held his right hand flat and she used the aguamenti charm to wash the Stinksap from his skin. After she was certain he didn't have anymore sap on him, she placed her palm upside down under his to examine it more closely. As their hands touched, she noticed the boys muscles grow slack. She looked up, concerned that he may have fainted, but instead, she noticed the questioning look on his face, and the color of his hair slowly transform from blue to soft brown waves.
Emotion overcame her as she remembered the sweet babe she used to look after when his parents would go to work. She would hum lullabies to him as he slept on her chest. Once again, she was reminded of how she wasn't there to watch him grow up. It amazed her that his hair could still do that after all these years, especially while she was under the guise of a different identity. Did he know who she was, simply from a small touch?
"You are fine. I suggest washing with soap later." She patted his hand and stood up.
"You keep this up, and you will win the Housecup all by yourself, Kitten." A voice whispered in her ear. "Neville, do you have that monkshood?" Sirius squeezed Teddy's shoulder. Harriette had to turn away. She was sure her face was a deep shade of red that would rival the Gryffindor colors. She had forgotten all about Sirius standing there. He must be gathering ingredients for Remus' Wolfsbane potion.
"Ah, yes Mr. Black." Neville turned to the tables in the center of the greenhouse where lovely purple flowers grew inside various pots.
"Neville, it is okay to call me Sirius."
"Sorry, force of habit." Neville trimmed a few stems from the potted plants and handed them over to Sirius. "There you are, Sirius." He emphasized the name and smiled. Sirius chuckled and nodded.
"Alright, Teddy. I am off to take these to Professor Sprout. Are you going to be alright here or are you going to be attacked by another plant?" He teased.
"Ha, ha." The boy said dryly. Harriette couldn't help but smile at the banter between Harry's godson, and his godfather. Get togethers at Twelve Grimauld Place must be full of laughter. She hoped some day she and Naos could be a part of it.
After Sirius left, Neville took her hand and dragged her to a section of saplings growing on the far side of the greenhouse. A small note under the collection read "Salazar Snakewood Saplings." She couldn't believe how much they had already grown! They stood about two feet tall and were starting to thicken around the base. Their coloring was rich green, but the leaves were a brilliant white. They were breathtaking.
"They are doing so amazing, Neville! Great job!"
"That's not even the best part of it. I didn't say anything sooner because I wanted to be sure, but I think I have stumbled onto something that has the potential to be great!"
"Go on then!"
"On the night of the Winter Solstice, it also was a new moon. I don't know why but I had an inkling to eat from the leaves of one of the baby saplings. Since then I haven't been forgetful at all. I was able to remember so many things." His eyes were wide and he smiled so bright while talking. Harriette was mesmerized by his excitement and she couldn't help but be excited too.
"When I was a young student I received a Remembrall from my gran. Everyone knew how forgetful I was so she figured it would help. The only problem is I didn't know what it was that I forgot when the ball swirled red. Since eating the Snakewood leaf, I now remember that it was my cloak! I didn't wear it that day and had left it in the Gryffindor common room."
"No way!"
"Yes!"
"Neville this isn't just great, this is huge! Do you know what this means?"
"We've discovered a possible cure for memory problems that can not be fixed or reversed by other magical healing means." He stated.
"Exactly. We just have to figure out the best way to turn it into medicine. Would it be better as a tea, a potion, or is it best to serve raw?"
"The problem is, only the leaves plucked on the moon of the Winter Solstice have that property. None of the others help me remember. I managed to cut one leaf from each sapling but that couldn't possibly be enough to test and then make enough to distribute later." He frowned.
"Well from what I know of the Salazar tree, a little goes a long way so maybe it does in this case too. We will get started on this right away, Neville." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Have hope."