A/N This is a Re-Upload, the chapter I put up on April 4th was the wrong chapter... Oops. Not that Conviction doesn't stand on its own, but it'll make a lot more sense after reading the REAL 42 and 43.

Chapter Forty-Two

Back to Work

When Ivano arrived back at Hogwarts, Jennifer was already setting up test phials for their experiments. Her office was immaculate and the shelves were lined in nice, organized rows.

"I take it the Headmaster has been in here again," he noted with a chuckle.

"Hm? Oh the shelves, yes, but more than just that. He actually helped me get the Hospital Wing order done early and do inventory as well, that's why I've had time to set this up," Jennifer said brightly. "From now on, every time we make a change to either formula, we need to monitor how it's reacting to all of the blood samples. That will prevent us from accidentally improving it for one and making it weaker for another. I know up to this point it seems to work the same for all of them, but that isn't necessarily the case with some of the experiments we were running."

"A reasonable precaution," Ivano agreed. "Let me put some things away in my office and I'll be in to help you."

"Of course! There's no rush, do get settled first. The students won't be back until tomorrow and we have two days until classes begin, so we have time to make some progress before then," Jennifer said, checking the temperature on a small cauldron she had going. "Severus had an errand to run, but he'll be back to help after lunch."

"How does he find the time?" Ivano exclaimed.

"Oh, he's not going back to the Ministry the rest of the year. He's going to stay close to the castle," Jennifer explained. "But that means I won't have to worry about administration other than security, so we'll have a lot more time to work on these modifications."

"Ah, good!" Ivano said. "I'll be back before lunch."

"Lovely! Bring some coffee if you like."

"Of course," Ivano agreed with a chuckle, going over to his office with a frown. It was good that they were going to have more time to work on the research, of course, but it also sounded likely that Severus was going to pop in more often to assist. Ivano had been looking forward to the lunches, shopping trips, and impromptu picnics that he had with Jennifer before. Now he was quite sure those brief moments where he could simply enjoy her company was now going to be rare at best.

Severus keyed into the castle with a large, heavy tome in hand. After a quick inquiry from his secretary, he walked down to the library. Next to the main desk was Laura and Boulderdash, as he showed her the finer points of listing and coding new books. The two of them both glanced up at the first sign of movement.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster. Back from the shop, I see," Boulderdash said, noticing the tome in hand.

"Yes, Gemshard and your brother did a splendid job putting it together," Severus said. "Do you know where Icarus is lurking?"

"I believe he is in the staff library again," Boulderdash said.

"Thank you," Severus said, and strode to the back room.

Icarus was sitting at the middle table with several books and a stack of magazines, the one he was reading floating in air as he had faded out.

"Good afternoon, Icarus," Severus said, Icarus immediately reappearing. "Getting ready for classes?"

"No, I finished that earlier. I am getting caught up on the latest Alchemy journals," Icarus explained. "You did suggest that you might allow me to substitute in the lab once in a while, after all."

"If the need arises. However, I think it's about time you told Jennifer and I your theories on the different blood types you were suggesting during our last conference," Severus suggested. Icarus sighed.

"You know perfectly well I want to confirm my hunch first. Have you gotten those notes of Flammel's back so I can look at his Healing Potion research?" Icarus asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Severus said, putting the tome on the table.

"Now why didn't you say that from the start?" Icarus asked.

"I just wanted to be sure you remembered the conversation," Severus said.

"You were the one who forgot that I requested it in the first place," Icarus retorted.

"Yes, so I did. But I've gotten it bound now, so you may borrow it. I don't have to warn you not to let anyone else use it, do I?" Severus asked.

"Of course I won't. I'll return it as soon as I can," Icarus said.

"Yes, well, don't rush. I'd rather you be thorough if you find anything. And if you do find something, come to me, and if it's promising, we'll both go down and tell Jennifer and Ivano about it together. That will keep Jennifer from attempting to reject it," Severus said.

"Jennifer and I have been getting along much better lately," Icarus protested. "But I appreciate the precaution, nonetheless."

"Just make another appointment when you're ready... the same time you have been lately is fine," Severus said.

"Thank you, Severus," Icarus replied, then eagerly began combing through the notes.

Severus stepped out of the room, glancing at the time and making a note in his new journal before going back to Jennifer's office.

Laura was feeling a strong mix of excitement and anxiety on her first full day and ended up coming to school much earlier than her scheduled time. When she walked over to the desk, Boulderdash didn't seem surprised; but he was too busy reading to do more than look up.

"If you'd like breakfast before you start, try the Owl Room," he suggested.

"Oh, alright, that's probably a good idea," she said, realizing she hadn't eaten.

When she stepped inside, she was quite surprised to see that someone was already there. Maurice Craw was sitting at the table with a coffee, an empty plate, and a paper in hand.

"Wow, you're here really early," Laura said.

"I have a class with my sister in a little while... Items. I always make it a point to get up early on days when I have class with her so I can have a chance to read the paper," Maurice explained.

"Items? Strange start to the week," Laura said, walking over to the table to get a breakfast sandwich and some tea.

"Jennifer's classes are always like that in the morning. She either has her easy classes first bell, or they don't start until second. It's part of a compromise having to do with the breakfast cart in her room," Maurice explained.

"That's a compromise?" Laura said skeptically.

"In reference to any situation where one of the arguing parties is a Craw, the word "compromise" typically means that the Craw won without bloodshed," Maurice explained. Laura grinned at that.

"That sounds about right," she said, sitting down at the desk. "While I was at the Ministry, I never saw your Father back down to anyone, including the Minister of Magic. I've never seen him lose to anyone."

"In my entire life, I've only known three people who could get my father to back down; his best friend, my mother, and my sister," Maurice said.

"Oh, not you?" Laura asked.

"I've never had reason to try," Maurice admitted.

"Just wait until you get out on your own, then there will be reasons," Laura chuckled.

"Well, I'll find out soon enough," Maurice said, getting up to refill his drink. "If you don't mind my asking, have you been keeping up with current events at all since you were let go from the department?" Laura frowned at the way he worded that.

"How much do you know about that?" Laura asked.

"All of it," Maurice admitted, Laura feeling a flush in her face. "And personally, I don't blame you. If my sister had been standing there in front of that vile wretch, she'd have tried flattening him too... and probably would have succeeded, bird or no bird. Craws are not known for their restraint. Aurelius obviously got his from his father's side of the family."

"Do all the students know about this?" Laura demanded.

"No, just me... it's classified," Maurice explained. "I don't think anyone else in the entire castle know the specifics other than my brother and sister... unless you told your father, of course."

"I haven't and I'd appreciate it if you didn't," Laura said firmly.

"I won't... as I said, it's classified," Maurice reiterated. "I have DV Ministry clearance." Laura's jaw dropped. "Anyway, I was just wondering if you had anyone keeping you up on current Ministry events. For example, did you know that the ringleader of that Muggle trafficking ring was just caught?"

"No," Laura admitted.

"Apparently it was a member of the Bridal Clan named Lady Ana Mesar, who was operating in areas along the channel, originally. The Grimshaws were one of several cells that were at the bottom rung of the operation. One of the other groups, it seems, was burglarizing houses if they couldn't find someone in the house to nab," Maurice explained.

"So that's it," Laura replied.

"The Bridal Clan is currently the largest and wealthiest vampire clan operating in Europe and the Middle East, so she had plenty of operating money to set up shop here, skimming some off the Muggles off to keep her personal needs met. Vampires are experts at navigating the Muggle world and hiding their tracks... there were plenty of missing persons reports, but none of them that were on our radar. It's a good thing that one of the groups got greedy like that, or this may have gone on a lot longer before we caught on what was really happening," Maurice said. "We were too busy investigating the missing wizards, after all, the LE Department and the Mystery Department were so wholly focused on that and getting them processed that it very well could have slipped under the radar. We were lucky."

"Those Muggles sure weren't. What's going to happen to them?" Laura snapped.

"BELA has teamed up with a few outside Muggle agencies they're connected with to see to their rehabilitation. And the LE department especially is putting in overtime rounding up all the wizards who bought servants and making sure they're arrested as well," Maurice said, Laura growing quiet and thoughtful. Maurice looked at his watch. "Anyhow, I thought you'd like to know about it. And don't worry about what happened with Jeff Grimshaw. Considering what's all come out, any complaints his counselor's have to his treatment are going to be met with deaf ears. None of them are getting off."

"Thanks Maurice, for telling me," Laura said sincerely.

"No problem," Maurice said, getting up and taking his tray to a bin. "I'd better get to the dungeon. I'm helping Cain develop a watch-compass combo that is blast proof, water proof, and uses astral and sun positions to triangulate one's position on the planet. I'm in charge of finding a way of making it blast proof."

"Good luck," Laura chuckled watching him go and picking at her sandwich.

What a massive operation that must have been, Laura mused. Aurelius was the one who probably uncovered it from what they had learned from the Grimshaw gang... and then it would have taken tremendous effort to find out who all it was involved and break it up. They would have started that night, and they had probably been working at it all holiday and were still working on it, and yet... despite that... Harry and Aurelius had gone to the Christmas party, even though the department was short two Aurors. Mike probably was on the flag board, she supposed, or even Tonks or Jamie. Anna and Thomas were directly involved in that case as well and had still gone... only Alex hadn't, although she had shown up at the Willowby's the night before.

Suddenly Laura felt incredibly silly. She had only meant to stay a year. But she had stayed an Auror because she felt that she had become completely irreplaceable; they were desperate for help, they were always short-handed. She felt they had needed her too much for to leave, despite hating the job, despite knowing, deep down, that she had gotten burnt out on it long ago. And she even went back after her trip, despite how hard it was to return after the tragedies she had witnessed in the Otherworld. She wasn't indispensable. No one was, she realized. It might seem that way at times, but no matter what the job, if someone leaves, the work gets done anyway; regardless if a person quits, gets sacked, or dies. So what was a job, then, if it wasn't vital for her to do? What was a job then, if she wasn't truly needed? And who was she when she wasn't tied to a job?

Boulderdash walked into the Owl Room, then immediately stopped just inside the door, realizing that Laura had grown incredibly depressed in the short time that she had been alone with herself. Then she finally noticed him standing there, looking a bit startled.

"I'd like you to start by taking over the front desk this morning so that I can get ready for my first class," the librarian said. "Students won't be making their way in here until lunchtime at least, but there will be plenty of faculty coming in to drop off their suggested book lists for research papers, to give permissions, or to pick up a book or two for themselves."

"All right," Laura said, downing the tea. She was feeling like sludge as she stood up, walking out the Owl Door to the desk.

"What the craters did Maurice say to her?" Boulderdash growled to himself, going to his office and signaling a painting.

Laura had just gotten settled when the Headmaster came in with a scrolls in hand, walking straight over to the desk.

"Good morning Sev- Headmaster," Laura corrected herself.

"Whichever name makes you feel more comfortable is fine," Severus said unconcernedly. "I have a couple of lists to drop off, one for my classes and one for Jennifer's which list authorizations for our majors to use the Restricted Section, and the specific sections they're allowed to read books out of."

"Oh! All right," Laura said, taking the scrolls.

"Also, do you happen to have the latest Dark Wizard Quarterly and Alchemist Review magazines? Jennifer has made off with mine and lost them again," Severus said with exasperation.

"I'll check," Laura said with a grin, going over to the stacks of periodicals that had yet to be put on the shelves and pulled them out. "Yes, here they are... oh, but I haven't categorized them yet..."

"It's quite all right, I won't even leave the library. You can have them straight back when I'm done," Severus said.

"It'd only take a moment..."

"It's no trouble. It'll be nice to read for a while without someone bursting in on me with some trivial matter or another," Severus said, walking over the nearest desk by a window.

Laura frowned, knowing that was simply an excuse for staying, wondering what the real reason was. In fact, it was rather hard to concentrate on anything knowing he was sitting there reading in plain view of the desk. Reluctantly, she picked up the scrolls and began adding them to the permissions list, but she was still very conscious of his presence. Someone else walked in, and Laura looked up to see Anna Black walking over carrying a large stack of books.

"Good morning, Laura. I have some books to donate... the top four need to go to general literature and the others to the Muggle Studies section," Anna said.

"That's right. Boulderdash said something about these coming in a couple of days ago. I just figured he took care of them already."

"No, I'm just running a little bit late that's all," Anna said, glancing at the table where her brother sat. He was staring at her critically as if he wanted to talk to her. "I've been having to work over at the Ministry."

"You mean to help those kidnapped Muggles? Are they going to be alright?" Laura said with such deep concern that Anna turned her attention back to her.

"It's going to take a long time," Anna said quietly. "Some of them have been through a lot, and these sorts of traumas aren't easy to overcome." Laura nodded at that. "But this is the sort of thing BELA was founded for, and all my agents are trained for this sort of thing. What's important now is that they're out of danger and are being taken care of."

"Yes, that's true," Laura agreed.

"I'd better go see Severus. He seems to be chopping at the bit to ask me why I was late this time," Anna said.

"I can see that," Laura said with a slight grin, curiously looking over the books she had brought in. Anna walked over to Severus' desk and sat down.

"You're late," Severus murmured.

"Thanks, I already noticed. You didn't need to point it out," Anna said flippantly back. Severus squinted at her. "Don't worry, I already turned all my paperwork in with Hermione and I am two weeks ahead on my lecture planning... I did that during my dinner breaks. Do you have any idea how many hours Hugh Writ and I have been putting in lately?"

"I can imagine, especially after having to go back and forth from the Auror department for the last four months. I can say I have a deeper appreciation for what you do between two jobs, and I understand why I have such a hard time getting you to have lunch with me any more," Severus said. "But if you knew you were going to be late, you should have given notice. I was about to call Essie in to cover for you."

"Actually, I wasn't on time," Anna said evenly. "And we will have lunch together today to discuss my not being here on time." Severus blinked. Then he frowned and pulled out his journal, noting the time.

"What time did you get here this morning?" he asked.

"Five past seven, exactly," Anna said.

"Fine. We'll discuss this at lunch," Severus said critically. "And don't you dare run into yourself in the halls."

"I won't. I'm not here yet," Anna said with a shrug.

Laura watched the heated discussion with interest, but it ended rather quickly with Anna striding confidently towards the door while the Headmaster was shaking his head with a disapproving expression on his face. He put a small journal back in his pocket and turned his attention back to his magazine. It was just before lunch when he finally left, walking over to Boulderdash as he was coming in and having a word with him before leaving.

"I'm back. Slow morning?" Boulderdash asked as he walked up.

"Very, just some books and lists dropped off," Laura agreed.

"Let me pop into my office for a quick lunch and then you can have yours. You can have it in the staff room near the Great Hall if you like, or there will be plenty of food in the Owl Room, that's where Ambrose used to eat lunch at. Most of Owls are likely to be here and their conversations are entertaining at times," he explained.

"It sounds noisy," Laura commented.

"Why do you think I had that door soundproofed?" Boulderdash replied, going into his office.

Laura chuckled as she thought back to why they met back there in the first place, then went back to categorizing the new books, opening the covers to get the edition and to convert the ISBN numbers to Wizard Standard. But she wasn't at it very long before Andrew came in, taking long strides as he walked. He did a double-take when he saw her, then stepped over to where she was.

"What are you doing here?" Andrew asked in confusion. It was only then that Laura realized he hadn't been to any of the holiday parties she had gone to.

"Working. I'm the new librarian assistant," Laura explained.

"Really? Why did you quit?" he asked curiously.

"Did you need something?" Laura snapped.

"Oh. I have my permissions list for my majors here..." Andrew explained and she snatched it out of his hand.

"Thank you, let me know if you need anything else," Laura said curtly, putting it with the others and pointedly opening the book back up.

"Wow. I don't know what I said, but they should have called you Laura the Sensitive instead of Laura the Kindhearted," Andrew decided. "If you decide to take that chip off your shoulder, I'm going to go have lunch with Danny in the staff room if you'd like to come. You know, just in case you haven't had a chance to snap her head off too."

"Thanks, but I'm eating here. Have a good day. You can Owl your lists down from now on," Laura suggested curtly.

"I'll see what I can do," Andrew said, storming towards the door.

Icarus quickly moved out of his way as Andrew made his exit, with a very irritated expression on his face. Glancing back at Andrew, Icarus watched with fascination.

"So... the war has begun," Icarus observed, then floated towards the Research Library.