Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognise in this fictional story belonging to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Warner Bros., and whoever else…Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Some characters are based on childhood friends, I made them into this fiction therefore I own them. I also own the plot. And the dates… coz they're terribly wrong.
Chapter XI – [Media]
Being who they were and almost exactly being who the press were…
The Ministry were smart enough not to even try and conceal what happened. Too many people would talk, now that two important people couldn't walk. Ha ha! That rhymed but no one laughed at the lame humour. The ministry really had no chance unless…well; unless they placed memory charms on 600 internationally famous and respected wizards from all over the globe or their representatives. Though they *were* tempted by the idea… Seriously! They really were…
And The Daily Prophet was smart enough to know who to talk to, of course: Everyone. Ha-ha… and weren't they thrilled to be 'grilled' that way?
Special Agent Extreme Auror Lily Evans 3564758 never got to meet her new boss until 2 weeks after the incident… But when she did? At the moment she saw his face peering into hers; she screamed bloody murder, then she thrashed around like an angry bull, "YOU PUT ME HERE! WHY? WHY?!- wh…" her cries softened as the sedative settled in.
Why had he placed her into a mental institution? His plump body traced back some of his steps, after her crying over the Potter body he had decided she was just too emotional and needed help. Yet even Dumbledore was there to try to convince him otherwise, his meeting with the Hogwarts headmaster was not amusing. And of course the other Extreme Aurors didn't know of his special orders. They were checking ordinary hospitals. That was amusing.
The Daily Prophet really must have worked 24/7. It seemed that every day for three weeks there would be at least two attractive headlines about the night- which did really defeat the purpose of their newspaper name… note: 'Daily'.
Ehem…
Ministry Ball gone ballistic
Ministry Massacre- The conspiracy
Special tribute to the Potter Family
Are we safe? Double shooting under special forces nose.
Double Attempts of Assassination
Ministry Ball killing spree
Only after a high-priced negotiation did they finally cease. Oh… the world was very corrupt, money talked more than your mouth did.
Chapter 13-
A week after…
Like the Extreme Aurors weren't stressed out enough as it was, this was what they needed. A lecture making them feel even more worse then they had already felt. Except this man's words were filled with selfishness and a darker emotion none of them had experienced.
"-Not only is the Minister of Magic disappointed in you all, the whole Magical Community is! As for myself? I'm absolutely disgusted in you all! Of course, Last weeks absolute screw up is now the front page of Today's 'The Daily Prophet'!! What was that crushing headline again? Ah… ::ANNUAL MINISTRY BALL DISASTER-2 SHOT DOWN WITH MUGGLE DEVICE:: and to make things worse the two people shot were two of one of the most prestigious wizarding family's!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO OUR REPUTATION???!!!" The small fat man spat at the line of Extreme Aurors who were looking red as tomatoes.
Vanessa made a face, how could he think of their reputations?! She was too messed up with everything with Lily… they still didn't know where she was being treated. "You mean your reputation…" she muttered to the others.
Before anyone else could make their own noise of agreement, Archibald Norrick looked at her sharply. "Out," he said with a bitter tone.
"Excuse me?"
His overly large nostrils flared, "Excused you will be Extreme Auror if you don't get out of my office at this moment for your insolence! So out you go… NOW!"
Vanessa just glared; with a swish of her cloak she was gone.
Tom bit his lip, he stepped out of their line, trying to make amends "Sir, we never thought that our reputation was so much of a priority. We tried all we could that night- Our Captain was murdered recently! That case still has still yet to close… And to top it off one of our own is now lying in a hospital bed! …somewhere-"
"And that is my problem son! That's my problem… What kind of special Magical force are you?! It was only one death eater! But now many are injured! Including one of our own! What does that show? That we're weak? Yes, it does. Extreme Aurors…the elite and exclusive group of advanced trained Aurors working together on the most important missions in England defeated by one measly deatheater? That is a laugh! And now I am the laughing stock of the main ministry building down town. I will deal with the one in hospital and as for the rest of you… you will go to your offices now and fill out paperwork. Plenty of important missions that were supposed to be dealt by Extreme Aurors have now been passed over to the lowerly Auror department underground. Never in my entire life have I been so ashamed. Stay here, Tom"
One by one, the Extreme Aurors filed out through the huge French doors, they silently entered their own office, thinking of that night two weeks ago.
And as for Tom; he sat nervously in the chair opposite Archibald Norrick, the new Head of their Department and former head of investigations for Ernie's murder case "What was it you wanted me for, sir?"
"Yes, be patient," Norrick replied scribbling on a piece of parchments, signing them then inserting them into envelopes.
Once he finished he handed them over to Tom, "I have plans Tom…some you will never know, some you will find out sooner or later. I want you to send these off downstairs."
Tom nodded and started off but Norrick called him back half way, "Come back after you've sent them."
A minute later Tom came back, "Sir, I sent one of the office elves downstairs"
Norrick kept his hands folded in front of him, "Very well, as I have just said to you before Tom, I have plans for this place. Plans to make things around here better. What do you say if I put them in action at this moment? I have been thinking about these plans for months now… months."
Tom looked slightly blank, "Well, sir… if it will make our department better I would say…go for it."
"All right Tom" Norrick stood up and showed him the door, "you're excused."
Tom nodded and walked to the doors, but they didn't open… he turned around. "Er… Excuse me sir? The doors-"
Norrick looked at him queerly, "Sorry Tom, it's just that I've forgotten to tell you something. Your letter of pardon is on your office desk. Good day."
Norrick smiled and the French doors opened wide.
~*~*~*~
About less then a week before…
*~*~*~*
Flowers were sent by owls to their hospital room, each day several dozen arrive from flocks of owls or official messengers from overseas ministers
Remus winced in pain as he tried grabbing his water with his right arm, which had previously been fixed with a spell, "It still hurts Sirius…"
Sirius looked up and clenched his jaw, his face was pale and his cheekbones were quite visible, "Are you serious?"
Remus nodded.
"Where?"
Remus lifted up his sleeve, his arm was covered in bruises but it was swelling two inches past his wrist, "Ugh… not pretty"
Sirius looked over it without a blink, "I think they fixed the bone but not the nerve. Remind me never to call bone doctors ever again-"
"I'm getting Grandpa Potter to do something about it."
"Good idea" Sirius managed to offer him a small smile, "I'm going downstairs all right?"
Remus nodded. He said a small word of gratitude to Sirius as he opened the door for him and with one last look at a sleeping James, both of them left the room without another glance at each other as they went their separate ways.
Remus' head was pounding, he sat down on the white plastic seat in front of the nurses staffroom just in time to see Sirius' body go into a lift, Sirius was going downstairs to check up on Calista; who had been transferred to this magical hospital now that… damn-- he still couldn't accept it. He sighed and held his painful arm gently on his lap. After Snape and himself ran after Ana Giles, they soon were left behind. Unfortunately his ankle had twisted and he collapsed onto the rocky pavement with his arm in front of his chest, causing a fracture but that wasn't the end of it. He had also developed a magical bug in his bone. It wasn't too serious, but the healing procedure was gradual. Ana Giles had been very fast that night; Remus supposed she had been trained that way. Who had she been trying to save anyway?
The already weak Sarah Potter. If Remus had known that he probably would've already tried that little bit harder. Now she was lying in the St. Olympia's Magical Hospital down the hallway in the intensive unit in an "Enntrance". The magical term for the rare coma only Witches can get into caused by depression and fatal injury, it was all psychological. It was her mind that got her into it, and the only way she could get out was with her mind. When she got to the hospital her wounds had already closed, but the bullets were still inside… chances looked slim; the last case of "Enntrance" was in medieval times, the witch recovered after 2 years: only to up and die the next day. Remus looked down the hallway and his eyes stung.
On the other hand James was recovering gradually, his gun shot wound had been worked on with all the hospitals magic, it was healing… he would be able to start walking today.
He still couldn't accept it! It all fit in but it didn't make sense to him. Why now? Why when he has just found Lily? Remus was a person not believing in fate or destiny. Maybe it was time for him to learn. He began to think of all the possibilities…of how they might've already succeeded with Adele and why they were wanted-- why James, Sarah, Sirius, Calista and himself were wanted…dead. But by who? He didn't know… but he had a feeling it had something to do with Lily's disappearance, Lily's identity and Lily's job.
The reason Calista was transferred was because when the nurses had bathed her that night of the ball, they returned to her room to find the nurse on duty dead with a dagger stabbed in the middle of the white pillow on Calista's bed, where her head was to be placed upon.
Her parents were alerted and Calista was driven off, still in her hospital gown. After sending quick owls to Dumbledore she was taken here. Dumbledore arrived in time to see a few his former students all there for a reason or another. Remus for support and his arm, James and Sarah had been shot, Calista with amnesia, and Arabella and Sirius for them all; rushing between waiting rooms. The next morning Arabella left for work to clear her desk and ask for leave. She was now with Sarah and Remus was getting better, he could walk and all. He knew what rooms everyone was in. He was there when they announced all there condition. He comforted Mrs Potter as her family went into surgery.
Remus was pretty confused; one minor reason for that confusion was because he didn't know everything that happened that night…
He hadn't gone to the scene of where Lily tried to save her best friend, he didn't see her cry onto the medi-wizards as they trolleyed Sarah away, and then faint from anxiety and exhaustion. He hadn't seen her be taken to the same hospital for the night. Lily was unconscious in the room opposite of James'. He had wondered why Dumbledore entered that room once in a while that night but he hadn't asked, he was already stressed enough.
He did know a LOT of things at the moment… but he would.
~*~*~
Soon after Tom got out of the main office his mental state of shock and anger wore off his mind started to work, obviously he knew something wasn't right with Norrick, his name was really familiar, he didn't know where he had heard it from… he had no justified reason to be fired. Norrick just said he had plans. Everything thing about him was suspicious from the beginning; all the extreme Aurors had discussed that during private meetings. It was like what they were seeing wasn't—it was like he was wearing a mask.
Just yesterday after another unsuccessful search for Lily, Vanessa told them something, she said she was suspicious that he would do something to their tight group. She gave all of them a suspicious stick that remarkably looked like a wand.
"A new gadget of mine" she said to them, "multipurpose, it's like my gimmick wand I made last year except it has an added feature, it copies a persons memories and also emits them. It can hold 6 minds. To delete them you emit them then perform a memory erasing spell on the memory. One catch, it only takes the recent 10 years of memory and the wood is a bit splintery… sorry, I'm not Ollivander! Some muggle sand paper will fix it though-"
What a co-incidence, what a laugh… this was hilarious. Really, it was. Tom stalked to his office and started to giggle; he immediately fell to his knees behind his door and laughed hysterically. "Good day to you too Archibald!" Tears were practically streaming from his eyes.
~*~*~
How confusing? Sarah thought as she sat in the chair she had always sat in during winter in the Gryffindor Common room. It was Christmas, she could tell be the huge decorated Christmas tree beside the fire. She held up her hand and realised she was shaking, she looked up again sharply and she heard an explosion. Followed by laughter?
She stood up and walked over the spiralling stairs leading to the dorms but she heard whispering and giggling behind her, she turned to see two small kids crouching by a table, "James? Lily?" her voiced echoed. Echoed? Why was her voice echoing?
They didn't look up, so she advanced toward them, her breaths became shorter so she fumbled around her dress, oh… she was wearing a wonderful dress… it was quite lovely; fit for a queen. What was she looking for? What did she need? Her fingers uncovered a small pocket made from lace; she opened to see a small glass vial. She opened it and brought it to her lips and tipped her head back…back…back.
Oh, but it made her feel only worse. She looked at the kids just a metre away from her… James suddenly kissed Lily! Lily started to blush… Sarah gave out a giggle, James and Lily were playing tic-tac-toe. And he kissed her! Tic-tac-toe, eh? Wow, that game was for silly-billies…
Sillybillies?
Now in her home, her house; she saw her seven year-old self run around her corner with another girl chasing her. They were having a lot of fun, they bumped into a house-elf, what was the house elf's name? Billy? As they crashed into Silly Billy the other girl fell, but she didn't cry…well, that was not pleasant. It must have hurt. She hated falling…
Falling…
The crowd gasped the seeker who dived for the snitch at the Quidditch world cup that was being held in Canada. She was now standing at the top-office box. Who was that? Lily was older now, so was James… oh look! Sirius was there too! Lily had her hand clenched on James' arm when the seeker dived. Sirius was hooting like an insane person and James was trying to jump up and down… she wondered where she was.
Ooh…her head, she needed another vial, her head was droopy… Eurgh, there wasn't anymore in her dress! That was not very good. She wanted to sleep now. Aah… she felt the softness of her silky pillows. Yes… sleep would be good.
~*`*`*~
Remus took out a small vial from his pocket, there was still about half a drop of liquid left inside. Sarah had been taking these, it was very suspicious…
He suddenly heard a beeping, he looked up and saw some nurses and doctors rush into Sarah's room. Remus dashed.
He entered the room and went to Arabella's side, "what?"
Arabella was white, " I'm not sure Remus. There's something going on with her mind, there's something wrong, she started talking? Yeah… oh she started to babble about some things."
Remus nodded, his eyes watching the staff tend to her with wands out and potions being poured into her mouth. "Arabella…what did she say?"
Her lips quivered, "yeah… see that's the thing the only clear thing I got from her babble was that Lily was working her hospital. I'm pretty sure she's talking about someone other than Lily Evans-"
"Yeah… Arabella? She wasn't" Remus said without talking his eyes off Sarah, she knows something… she has a lead, I know it.
"Pardon me Remus?"
Remus snapped out of his reverie, but then something clicked--
Lily's job: an Extreme Auror equalling danger and top-secret missions, catching evil… making enemies.
Lily's identity: Lily's cover was blown to Remus… but he didn't know if anyone else knew who she really was. They could've tracked down her history and found out about her friends that were left behind! They wanted revenge for whatever Lily did in the name of justice. Someone knew that Lily was an Extreme Auror and they were trying to kill off her friends! It made sense! Well, It didn't really make sense but at least he was getting some light. But who found out? The deatheaters? Voldemort?
Lily's disappearance: that was where it all started. Remus would have to go back… to where it all started…
"Excuse me Mr. Lupin?"
Huh? Remus looked up; the doctor has an expressionless look on his face, "Yes?" Remus replied.
"What is it, doctor? Is it her anxiety levels?" Arabella questioned.
"We can't rule out anything at the moment Miss, there are still so much we need to know about Enntrance. Her anxiety levels had been regularly going up and down but now the levels have soared; we suspect she has fallen into a dream state. She went into R.E.M late last night; R.E.M. or rapid eye moment is the stage of sleep that we dream. Now, here is the most important thing you'll hear today—because Enntrance is psychological, if we could somehow tap into her dreams, it will help us a great deal. We'll know what kind of mental state she is in, we'll change treatments-"
"Is there a way?" Arabella asked.
The doctor nodded, "It's an ancient method, if you would consider it; I will get the best researchers on it today."
Remus shared a look with Arabella, "You see doctor; we aren't the ones to make this decision-"
Arabella took hold of Remus' shoulder, "We will consider it, and we'll inform the Potters about it."
The doctor nodded; satisfied.
"What treatments are you giving her now?" Remus asked curiously.
"There isn't much we can give her; we've given her potions to make her feel as comfortable as possible… along with the nutrition vials from the hospital she was in before."
So that's what they were, the small vials… nutrition shots! Remus felt shameful for thinking she had been on something…nasty.
"What brand are the vials?" Arabella asked, "I've got a friend working at a chemist in Banesusa, that small wizarding village a few miles from Godric's Hollow. He knows his nutrition and he taught me a thing or two…"
"Here," the doctor took one out of his white pocket, two little glass vials rolled out on his palm, inside were little black balls in a transparent blue liquid. "I assure you that they are the best."
"I haven't seen these before" Arabella said picking one up.
"Oh yes, only the patients here are treated with this, quite rare to find nutrition shots in a vial nowadays, no other hospital uses these… they use the muggle needle-drip"
We are thinking it was at that very moment that Remus froze, he gulped. Okay… so maybe Sarah was taking something nasty. She might have got her vials somewhere else. The doctor said they were rare to find, not impossible.
Arabella nodded and told the doctor that they would let the Potters know about his suggestion. She took Remus out of the room, stealing one last look at their friend, they sat down on the chairs outside the office, "Reckon we should do that to her? Remus? You're all pale man, what are you on?"
Ever so slowly Remus started to shake his head, "Arabella, what's this?" He held out the tiny clear vial that was in his pocket to her.
Arabella look at the vial and held it in her own palm, she tapped it with her finger nail, "Well, there's an unbreakable charm on it" she took out the little cork and smelled into it, "Remus? Where the hell did you get this?" her eyes were alarmed. "Remus?!"
"Huh?" Remus looked at her, "Do you know that is?"
"Yes!" she hissed, "I know what this is! It's 3 months in Azkaban for possession!"
"What?"
"Exactly… this is a heavy drug, hard to make…takes a year to make a batch very expensive to get-"
"Wait, how do you know all this?"
"I didn't take advanced potions for nothing! Where did you get this?"
"Sarah was taking it, the night of the ball…"
Arabella gaped, then dramatically banged her head against the wall, "She is the reason I never want to have kids…"
"She's been through a lot-"
"Yeah! So have we! Taking care of her…Yeah sure I know she was Lily's best-friend, I know she had issues when she was young and I know Lily was the one who got her through them but why won't she just grow up!? It's enough that Lily's case still hasn't been closed, half the time we were looking for Lily she was off getting drunk and telling all of her sorrowful life to Tom the bartender! And a year after she disappeared; Calista and Adele were constantly by her side helping her with her threats of suicide! She'll never grow up" Arabella snapped angrily, after she realised what she had just said her expression fell into a shock, "Oh geeze, I can't believe I just bitched about my friend like that… Sorry Remus, you didn't have to hear that."
Remus looked at his feet, he wasn't going to have an argument about this… to an extent he did agree with Arabella but this wasn't the time to talk about this. He looked to his left, there were security guards surrounding them, he couldn't remember if they were Aurors or unspeakables. But he didn't care. "You have to tell the Potters about what the doctor told us"
"Just me? Where are you going?"
"I have to sort stuff out"
"The guards'll follow you, you're in danger"
"How did you-"
"Sirius told me, be careful"
"Yeah… I will" Remus
~*~*~*~*~
"Hey Calista…" Sirius greeted as he stood by the door frame.
Calista looked up confused, "Hello…"
He sighed and looked at the nurse, she gave him a sympathetic look back, "Her memory span has improved, today I think we've had some definite progress, she recognises her parents and she knows her own name"
Sirius was shocked, "And all in a night?"
She shook her head, "we've been running over some tests, and her parents have agreed to start a whole new regime and treatment. From the tests we've put her through we know she's had a powerful memory charm on her, a dark type… not easy to overcome. Finally real help for the poor girl, the attack at that last hospital was a blessing in disguise."
"How do you know it is the dark type… all memory charms are bad"
"Cast by a dark wizard Mr. Black, her blood boiled black"
Sirius was about to reply but someone spoke up before he could.
"Nurse? Who is this?" Calista politely inquired.
Sirius looked at her, "I'm Sirius Black, I have been your friend for years"
"Sirius Black… the dog star? Have you ever read Shakespeare?"
Sirius shook his head.
"Oh…" Calista gingerly touched her head, "I am fatigued…" she looked up again, "Oh, hello… who are you?"
The nurse bit her lip and took Sirius by the arm, "I think you should go now, she's tired" Sirius couldn't help but feel hurt and the nurse saw his face, "Her memory is still not right"
She lead him out of the room, "You have friends who need you up stairs, only time will tell with her condition I'm afraid"
Sirius nodded and left for the lift, as he reached James' floor; he noticed Arabella and Remus sitting down far away. Sirius went to the toilets and when he came out Remus was gone and Arabella entered James' room, he followed her.
"Hey 'Bella"
She looked at him with tired eyes, and started to explain to him about Sarah's condition. Sirius thought the spell was a good idea, anything for the road to recovery he said.
Arabella asked him of Calista; he told her about the improvement and she was glad.
"Where's Remus?"
"Off to sort some things out, he didn't bother to even tell me what it was! He took off a few minutes ago… guards and all. Something's going on with him, Sirius"
"Something is always going on in his mind 'Bella. I know what you mean though, but everything lately has been-"
"Hey guys" a voice said from behind the curtain.
For the first time today Sirius' face lit up a bit, "James!"
Arabella yanked the curtain, James frowned slightly, "What's wrong with Remus?"
Arabella shared a look with Sirius, her voice wavered slightly, "Oh… nothing."
she smiled as Sirius grabbed a chair and sat beside him.
He grabbed a handful of blanket and pulled it back to show James his own leg, "Sorry mate, but your legs have been shaved clean…"
"Oh wow…"
"Wow? James… you have a girl's smooth and silky leg"
"No, my scar"
Arabella looked between the two friends, she was guessing they wouldn't tell James about Sarah until he was fully recovered. As Arabella noticed their conversation became softer (probably more private); she silently slipped out of the room and bumped into-- "Hi, Mrs. Potter"
~*~*~*~
She didn't understand… she didn't, how could anyone? Memories flooded back into Lily's mind as she felt her head pound as she tried to sit up. She looked at her leg that once had a cast, she didn't remember breaking her friggin'; leg! She didn't even get a scratch so why did she head hurt so badly? Why was she feeling so awful? She rubbed her eyes, they were swollen… she had been crying for the past two days. Crying for answers…when she asked them they never answered her, Was Sarah okay? Alive? How about James? And where was she? Was she still in London? Where was her wand? Why the heck was she put into a mental hospital? Where was that stupid fat man that put her here? She wanted to strangle him 'til he turned bright purple.
She breathed in but started to have another coughing fit, she nurse quickly came in and forced a potion into her mouth, Lily started to choke on it, "Swallow" the nurse snapped harshly.
Lily couldn't stand it, she pushed the nurse away violently and spluttered the potion out in front of her, coughing violently. Lily tried to get out of her bed to get to her toilet, she noticed that she didn't seem to have the same energy she used to have… Lily collapsed beside her bed before her took her second step from her bed.
The nurse looked at Lily and shook her head, she got another nurse to come in to come and help her pick the limp body off the floor, "I told you" the other nurse told her.
"What?" She snapped.
"I told you not to give her too much of the stuff, he said 10 millilitres, not 15"
The nurse looked surprised for a moment but then she replied. "What's the difference?"
The other nurse scowled, "5 millilitres is a LOT… she was complaining to me about how her food tasted even weirder than usual. Her usual dose makes her sick a couple of hours after her meal. An extra 5 millilitres made her sick almost straightaway."
"Oh shut up on the count of three we set her back on the bed, one… two THREE! Oomph!"
The other nurse gave her a look, "How much is he paying you?"
"What's it to you? You aren't involved in this"
"You aren't bothered that I know?"
"I'm a bit surprised you found out… you going to tell?"
With a glare the other nurse said, "I'm not sure… but since I'm involved with it-"
The nurse who had snapped at Lily laughed coldly, "What? You want to cash in on this do you?" she said while narrowing her eyes.
"Yer… that's a way of putting it,"
The nurse shook her head, "I'll talk to him about it…You're one nasty bitch"
She grinned, "Yeah… and proud of it"
…A few of hours later…
Lily opened up one eye, argh… headache, nausea, back ache… She opened up the other eye, she could hear people talking and her forehead was wet!
Drip… drip…
She groaned, the voices immediately stopped, the nurses faces peered into hers, "Time for your meal"
"Ugh… I can't eat"
"You have to, you can't just… starve and die"
Her nausea got worse, she head was spinning so much, the nurse saw this and shoved the bucket in her face, and she patted Lily's back while her patient emptied out her stomach.
After ten minutes the nurse wiped Lily's mouth with a warm wash-cloth and told her that she'd be back with her meal in half an hour.
She sighed and leant against her huge pillow and sighed in distress, she was fine this morning, she felt better than ever when she woke up that morning but then after her meal she starte- after her meal… they were poisoning her…
In her very vulnerable state, Lily was almost in tears. But she couldn't just jump to conclusions. She tried to clear her mind but only memories of distress back to mind. She couldn't just le someone take advantage of her like this to try and poison her to her death. She had to fight back, somehow…
Nausea waved over her. She grabbed a new bucket and heaved it all up.
~*~*~*~
"What are you going to do now Tom?" Melissa asked tearfully.
"Not sure, actually." he replied dully.
A group of Extreme Aurors who weren't on field came to visit Tom about what Norrick had wanted him for. None of them were happy about the news. Tom was alone in his office with half of the women on the team, they were all quite tearful, Vanessa had yet to get his message he left in her office to meet him here.
Augustine wiped her eyes angrily, "I knew that guy was scum… how, could he have done that? What are we going to do? Wait until he fires us as well"
Before anyone else could say anything Vanessa barged in angrily, "Guess what?! After that little back chatting today I'm officially EXCUSED! I've been suspended for two months!" she slammed a letter of parchment on his desk.
"You aren't the only one Vanessa, anyway at least yours is temporary"
"Say… what?" Vanessa said more softly, realising what he had meant. "Bu-but he had no reason to do that to you… you were the only one who pretended to like him"
"Yeah… I know" Tom said remorsefully, he carefully launched into what had happened when kept in and after he waited for Vanessa's response.
She just shook her head in confusion, "It doesn't make sense—he should have fired me… I have this really sick feeling now. What does he want with us women?"
Tom forehead wrinkled, "What do you mean?" he demanded.
The other women in his office seemed confused as well. Vanessa looked furiously to the ceiling, "I- I over heard him speaking to someone in the lobby. He said he had plans for this place. Making this place very different would be fun and exhilarating he said to this person. And here's the thing" She took a shaky breath, "he's pardoning most of the males in this division, he was listing off names. He's sending new recruits to this department too-"
"But that's breaking the whole Extreme Auror legacy, they don't recruit unless the current generation has retired! All of us being the current generation" Lauren interjected.
"Well, obviously he's putting things in this own hands…" Tom said dryly.
"And I'll bet you 10 million galleons that these new recruits are all."
"Female…" Tom completed.
"Yes," Vanessa confirmed nervously, "I have never been so confused in my whole life; he's proved to us that he isn't trustworthy. And now his actions are just screaming out that he's insane! And deadly…"
"When was this whole thing happening? Tell us all you know about what he said" Lauren said.
"I heard him talking about it just before I read my letter of suspension. He didn't say when the new recruits were coming but I think they'll get here when my suspension is done." Vanessa replied.
"What could he possible want or need with all of the females? Why do I feel like we should be afraid…"
"Maybe because we should be" Augustine said , "you know Norrick's going to want you all soon… to take your memories of this place and all of us forever"
Tom nodded.
Vanessa face grew pale, "What am I going to do during my suspension? *sigh* wandering around for two months going insane"
Lauren spoke up again, "Vanessa… chill, you can use your gimmick wand thing…"
Tom nodded.
Vanessa's face was still pale, "I'd been thinking about that… when the guys get their letters they'll think of my wands too. But I dunno… it's risky. It's not completely safe…"
"Sometimes we've got to take risks; it's the only way the guys and I can help you out. Now that we know only you women will be here. This place will go down."
"I'll ignore that… but you're right who knows what he'll do with us now"
Vanessa's face was solemn, "We're running out of time, we still don't know where Lily is. Our memories are going to be erased soon, how the hell will we know to do to regain them?"
"Yes, how indeed…" Tom said, puzzled.
"Write yourself a note." Vanessa suggested, "Seems silly but…"
"I'll kill Norrick."
~*~*~*~
"…- there's a spell that can do that. If you don't mind me saying so, I believe this is just the hope we all need in this situation. The doctor said he would send the most qualified researchers to figure out thew ancient spell tonight if you would only give permission for him to perform the spell on Sarah."
Sarah's parents looked at each other and nodded, "Thankyou Arabella…if it will lead to her recovery then we'll do anything"
She smiled and said good bye to them as they left to find the doctor, she sighed, Remus had been gone for a couple of hours now…
~*~*~*~*~
He guessed it was instincts, Remus put the key in the lock of the apartment door and pushed, damn… it reeked.
He saw a box at his feet, Sarah's hospital stay things… he picked them up and placed them on her coffee table, and he opened all of the windows for fresh air. He went into her kitchen and opened her fridge, lo and behold! There was food. He poured himself a glass of apple juice and raided through her candy stash. He felt a LOT like James or Peter at the moment…
And about Peter, he had finally called them. He had called Calista's house, her parent's picked up and passed on the message to the others. He was in Bulgaria, visiting some relatives of his. He hadn't told anyone because his mother told him last minute. His owl got sick so he couldn't send them any letters, and his relatives' owls didn't like him, they kept pecking at him. So after all that he told his cousin to drive into town (which was a 6 hour drive, his relatives lived on an isolated farm) to a public telephone. Peter was shocked at what had happened, he wished he could be there but the soonest he'd get back to England was in 2 weeks… for reasons he didn't say.
So finally, the others could rest for the sake that their friend was safe… but that didn't count for Adele. Search parties had found nothing… Adele's parents had enough to worry about, Calista and now Adele. Remus' heart really went out to them. Then it occurred to Remus, what if Adele disappeared for the same reasons that Lily had…no, couldn't be… highly unlikely seeing what Lily had done with her life. Not that the others knew, that would bring them down so hard. That's it. He had to do something about it. Who cares if he might get killed? He didn't. he couldn't live like this… he couldn't just wait until all his friends get killed off and threatened.
It was then that Remus noticed he was drinking out of a now empty candy bowl. He put it down quickly and finished his apple juice then wandered off into the guest room, which Sarah had used for a storage room. There were boxes of Hogwarts books and uniforms and clothes and pictures. But what was this? A box of books? Remus looked down and saw the first book, it has no title. Curiously, he picked it up and noticed a bookmark in it. He opened the cover, and there… in a curly flourish was the loop[y letters forming the words-
The Works of Lily Evans & Sarah Potter.
He turned the next page; it had a foreword he slowly read it out aloud to himself, "Many people underestimate the power of a magic, a lot of witches and wizards underestimate how much magic each of us have inside…"
Over our years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry we have embraced the magic within ourselves to become greater beings. During our wonderful years of Hogwarts we often made poems about what we wished about. Curses to our enemies, words of emotion for the greater good, all sorts of things, these pieces of writing we had so powerfully written in times where we could not express our own feelings openly. What many witches and wizards think to believe is that spells are just spells that were made up by whoever. They don't think that spells can be invented, they don't think that curses can be cursed with the free words coming from our own mouth.
But we did, and so we decided to put all of our work in the one place and eventually we made up our own together…
Odd… it seemed quite incomplete. Remus turned the pages skimming through each page once, the book had been hand written. Remus opened where it was bookmarked. What was this? A spell, an incantation… it wasn't in English though… Remus found a small description behind the bookmark, "To acknowledge the deceased" he murmured.
~*~*~*~
Peter was still very weak, he opened his eyes, he was in the healing chamber at his Master's house.
"Wormtail" He turned around to see Lucius Malfoy paler then he had ever seen him with Evan Rosier behind him, "Master wants you."
Peter sat up slowly and carried his heavy legs over the side of the hard bed, his body ached. Evan helped him walk out of the chamber and to his Master's throne room.
Into the throne room Evan made him walk on his own, Peters body ached less after the potion he was given by the house elves when he walked into the throne room.
The throne that his master usually sat in was positioned so he only saw the back of the throne. Peter walked forward to his master nervously, but a death eater stopped him, "Here," he said, "The master will reward you when he has fully recovered" he shoved a muggle newspaper at him. Peter held on to it with his aching arm and left the throne room to the Death Eater's quarter.
As he sat down on a couch, he read the article. The whole family-- dead… that little girl Amanda Seaford, who had died of the mysterious disease after visiting the grave yard he and the death eaters had cursed. Within days of her death, her mother got the fever and died throughout her first night in hospital. And now the rest of her family were dying…
That's why he was being rewarded, for successfully spreading the most deadly disease the muggle world will have ever witnessed. It kills within 24 hours. Many would perish… Peter's face went pale, what had he done?
-FIN-
A/N- *sighs* Soon, I'll actually have to write up the real chapter 16 which will be chapter 14 or something.
