Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. A/N at end.
Some Scars Never Fade
WendyNat
Chapter 6
~~~~~~~
"What are you doing here?" Hestia said, looking up from the cauldron she was stirring in one of the Ministry's Potions labs.
"Well, that's a warm welcome! Take a guess." Hermione grinned at Hestia, and the other woman smiled in response. Hestia put the glass stirrer carefully on the table, and turned around to face her.
"You did it? You guys cracked the Manere/lycanthropy mixture?"
"Yep! We did it!" Hermione said excitedly, waving a sheaf of notes in her direction. "These are the notes, and the final adjustment amounts. It was the mandrake root powder giving us the troubles – we added a bit more of that, and voila! It's done! No discernable breakdown after the 24 hour interval, none at all."
"That's great! I'm happy for you! Does that mean you're be back here, with us?" Hestia smirked at her. "Won't you miss your man?"
Hermione shook her head. "I can handle being away from him during the day, Hestia. A lot of times he was at the Hogsmeade house while I was brewing… oh, never mind. You're just trying to get my feathers ruffled." The other woman's amused expression validated her point. "I just went to see Fudge, and he wants me to work with Severus for a little while longer, until the school year begins. All the other Ministers are clamoring for stockpiles of the cure; even the U.S. and Australian Ministers have contacted him. So, he wants as much of the lycanthropy cure prepared and shipped as possible, and two brewers are better than one. "
"Especially you two. You're worth about ten of us regular Potions people."
"That's not true, Hestia," Hermione protested. "You're an excellent brewer. You just haven't worked with the lycanthropy cure yet; it takes a while to learn the process. Actually, I came down here to see if you can work solo for a few weeks on the Manere adjustments for the Skele-Gro."
Hestia's plan had worked – the previous week the two women had presented Cornelius Fudge with a list of potions that Manere adjustments had been requested for, with only one of any significance. Even Fudge had realized that the Skele-Gro potion was a priority over the other mundane potions they had placed on the list. There weren't many potions used more often that had as short of a shelf life. Hermione had often wondered whether Rubens Winikus & Company, the makers of Skele-Gro, produced the potion with a short shelf life intentionally in order to create more sales. But it seemed she was wrong – judging by the well-worded request the company sent it appeared that they sincerely wished to help Mediwitches by lengthening the shelf life.
She mentioned this thought to Hestia, and the other woman snorted. "Gryffindors."
Hermione leaned against one of the empty lab tables. "And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?"
"They wouldn't have requested we help unless there was an ulterior motive. Think about it – this way they can brew boatloads of the stuff, warehouse it, ship it using cheap methods rather than expensive apparition or portkeys… the list goes on. Trust me, it will be to their advantage." Hestia eyed her cauldron critically and gave it two more counterclockwise stirs before continuing, "I wouldn't be surprised if they sell the version with the Manere in it at twice the price, calling it 'Super Skele-Gro' or some rot like that."
Hermione laughed. "You're probably right. I don't suppose they're doing it for the good of the wizarding world."
"Of course not. Why do you think Fudge is charging them so much? Speaking of - he is giving you your fair share, isn't he?" Hestia gazed at her sternly.
"Of course, Hestia. I'm not a fool, you know." Hermione chuckled. "I would do it for free, to tell you the truth. But I know you'd kill me."
Hestia nodded decisively at that comment. "You've got that right. Don't let anyone take advantage of you, sweetie. They will, given the opportunity." With a wicked gleam in her eye, Hestia added, "Such as a certain young man in the Potions Department. It's come to my attention that he'd just love to take advantage of you in any way he could."
Hermione groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Oh, Merlin, I was hoping that Susan was exaggerating." Hestia shook her head, grinning. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Tell him you've already got a bed warmer."
"Hestia!" Hermione laughed a little. "You're outrageous! I'm not going to say that!"
"Why ever not? It's easier on him than trying some 'oh, but we're colleagues and blah blah blah' line." Hestia shook her head.
"I'm… I'm trying to keep my private life private for the time being. Viktor…"
Hestia interrupted her. "Will be fine. It's been over a month. And Viktor's been to Tonks' place a few times. She's supposed to be teaching him chess, I think. But from what she says, they end up just talking more often than playing. He'll be fine. Trust me. I don't think he's still carrying a flame for you."
"It's not that, Hestia. I… I don't want to cause him any embarrassment. You understand?"
"No. Not really, but it's your life." Hestia shrugged. "And by the way… thanks."
"For what?"
"For warning Viktor about Tonks… she said he's been a perfect gentleman." Hestia laughed suddenly. "To tell you the truth, I think that's rather frustrating her. But… he's taking it slow, which is good for both of them. I didn't want my best friend to just be a rebound shag session for ex-Seekers."
Hermione smiled slightly. "Honestly, Hestia, I don't think he would have seen it that way even if I hadn't said anything. And all I told him was that she was inexperienced. I guess Harry had indicated otherwise."
"Bastard. Maybe it was just a rebound fuck for him, but she really liked him. And he was too stupid to realize it. Or too much of a bastard to care. She's completely over him now, but for a while there…" Hestia eyes narrowed dangerously. "Forget hexing - if I could get away with it, I'd punch the little snot right in his nose. I can't imagine how nice that would feel!"
"Oh, it felt really good. Fabulous, actually. Though my knuckles took a while to recover," Hermione commented nonchalantly.
"WHAT?" Hestia's head snapped in her direction, her eyes wide.
Hermione enjoyed watching the other woman's astonishment. I don't get the chance to shock her often, that's for sure, she thought with a touch of pride. Taking a deep breath, she filled Hestia in on what had happened at Susan's place that night so many weeks ago. When she was done, Hestia was leaning weakly on the counter, laughing and wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.
"I'll never say anything about people taking advantage of you again, honey. That's precious! Can you make a Pensieve so I can see?"
"Hestia! I'm not going to do that! I did feel really bad about it, and I even healed him right afterwards."
"Pity."
Hermione cocked her head. "That's what Severus said."
"I always knew I liked that snarky bastard."
* * * * * *
Hermione stayed at the Ministry for the rest of the morning, going through the paperwork in her office. Gods, why does Fudge - or Fudge's secretary, rather - write so many of these damned memos? With a groan, she tossed a memo concerning a meeting that had taken place two weeks before into the trashcan beside her desk. And why didn't he take me off the distribution list for most of this crap?
Soon, the trashcan was overflowing. She had been interrupted a number of times by colleagues wishing her congratulations and commiserating with her over the mounds of worthless paperwork her desk had accumulated in her absence. When the reporter from the Daily Prophet came in to interview her about the lycanthropy cure and the Manere potion, she had barely been able to hold her irritation in check. Luckily for the reporter, he was respectful and even seemed to be in awe of their work, causing Hermione to warm up to him and they spoke lengthily about the subject. As it turned out, his cousin had been bitten by a werewolf the year before and was eagerly awaiting the cure. As she bade him farewell, she made a promise to send a vial of the cure to him the very next day. Never hurts to have the press on your side, she thought, remembering the fiasco with Rita Skeeter in her fourth year. Smiling a little, she went back to thumbing through the notices.
Later in the afternoon, Hestia poked her head in and informed her that she had arranged a lunch meeting with Remus and Severus the next day in Hogsmeade to go over the Manere/lycanthropy notes. When Hermione just nodded and mumbled something under her breath, Hestia looked at her curiously. "What are you looking at?"
She just shook her head in response and handed the parchment to Hestia. Scanning it, Hestia snorted. "Another request for the Polyjuice potion to be adjusted for the Manere?"
"Read further. It's the same person that wrote the last time, evidently."
Rolling her eyes, Hestia tossed the parchment into Hermione's trashcan. "Stupid. The potion's not much use to begin with, as far as legal uses are concerned, and the base has practically an eternal shelf life! Well, until you add the hair or fingernail or whatever."
"I know. I can't figure out why they keep trying. Shouldn't they have figured it out when they didn't receive a reply?"
Hestia shrugged. "Some people need a more literal approach. Wait a minute, maybe I should send a reply…" she said, bending over and picking up the parchment. "Hmm. That's odd. A Gringott's mail vault address."
"If I was asking something that stupid, I'd leave an anonymous address, too. A lot of the requests I received were from a Gringott's address."
"I didn't pay attention – just tossed the stupid ones. Maybe I should've looked closer," Hestia commented, smoothing the parchment and placing it in her robes.
"No need. But I suppose replying to that one would be a good idea. Probably some teenager trying to sneak into an overage club or something," Hermione said absently.
"Most likely. Well, I'll see you tomorrow at lunch. Have a good one!" Hestia paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, and I'd suggest you get out of here if you don't want to run into Justin. He's coming back from his LWU meeting soon." She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Or – you could take my advice and tell him that you've already got a bed warmer that makes your toes curl every night."
"Hestia, get out."
"Okay, then, don't take my advice. See you tomorrow."
"Bye," Hermione said with a smile. Packing up the papers on her desk with a wave of her wand, she took one last look around her office and left quickly. She did have a bed warmer to get home to, after all.
* * * * * *
Tonks contemplated the chessboard, her chin propped on her hand. "That was better… I see what you're planning, though, and it won't work."
"It von't?"
"Nope."
"Oh." Viktor sat back, looking at the board. "Vy not?"
"Because I'm too good," Tonks said, winking. They both laughed, and Tonks continued, "No, seriously, see-" and she explained the hole in his plan of attack.
"Ah, I see. I haff neglected to take your pawns into account vunce again," Viktor said, scratching his chin. Tonks couldn't fail to notice the slight scratching noise that his fingers made against his evening beard growth. She let out a shaky breath, sternly telling her hormones to stop hopping around.
She brought her mind back to the matter at hand, and shrugged. "It's a common mistake, even among skilled players. I've got a book, actually, about chess strategies – it's a Muggle book, but very interesting… wait a second, I think Hestia has it. I'll get it back from her and let you borrow it. At any rate, everyone ignores the pawns, uses them for sacrifices and nothing more. A truly good player always uses them to his – or her – best advantage, since most people spend too much time worrying about the 'big guys' to pay attention to the little guys who can be just as deadly."
"Hmm. Not very different from life, really."
She nodded slowly. That was true, something she had always noticed with her fellow Aurors. How many had been killed during the Last Battle, concentrating on the 'big bad guys' and neglecting to notice the young Death Eater recruits that had come upon them from the shadows? She and Ron had insisted on sending a group to fall back and circle around to handle any hidden reserve troops, against the express command of their unit leader. By doing so they had been able to save most of the unit. The unit leader had not been one of those saved. He had only been concerned about the big prize, Voldemort, and the lead Death Eaters, forgetting that even the lowliest member of a Dread Squad could possibly have the ability to cast Avada Kedavra, or at the very least, Crucio. She sighed. So now he lies dead, killed by one of the so-called insignificant players, and Ron and I have an Order of Merlin, Second Class to our names.
"Vat are you thinking about?"
Snapping out of her reverie, she looked at him and gave a small smile. "Just… considering the truth of what you just said. There was a time… it's… I… I've never really spoken to anyone about it."
Viktor leaned forward and put his hand over hers. She hoped he couldn't hear her breath catch at the contact. "I vill not ask you about it, then. But if you vould like to talk, I vould like to listen."
Surprised, and gratified, by the sincerity in his voice, she began to talk. She talked for a long while, telling him things she had never spoken of aloud. As she spoke, she was continually conscious of his hand holding hers, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb or squeezing hers in unspoken support. She spoke of her fears, her disgust at what she had seen, her frustration when she and Ron had been caught in a body bind and forced to watch their comrades fight without them at the very end of the battle. The guilt she felt for surviving, when so many others more worthy had fallen.
At this, he spoke at last. "Never say that, never. You haff done so much good… you are as vorthy as anyvun else… and-" he took a deep breath, and continued with a squeeze of her hand, "if you had not survived, I vould not haff met you."
For an endless moment, they gazed at each other across the chessboard. Her throat tightened as the tension mounted, and her lips parted unconsciously. She wondered if he would kiss her, and her stomach tightened. With a small, almost sad, smile, he reached over and stroked her fingers with his free hand and then withdrew both hands, sitting back with a shaky breath. "And then, who vould haff taught me chess?"
The tension broken, they both laughed. And when she thought about it later, she could have sworn that his laugh had sounded… regretful. But, the question was… did he regret the missed opportunity, or something else?
* * * * * *
The next morning, Tonks was at the Ministry offices hunting down her friend. She and Ron had spoken with Shacklebolt first thing that morning, and he had confirmed that no new attacks had occurred overnight, to his knowledge. More research for us, she thought, irritated. Ron had left to gather more copies of records from St. Mungo's, giving her an opportunity to find Hestia and get her book back. She and Viktor were supposed to meet again that evening.
Finally reaching Hestia's office, she saw a note on the door. Meeting – back at ten. Fine. She would wait, then. Walking to the nearest staff lounge, she caught sight of that morning's issue of the Daily Prophet and snatched it, settling down on the couch to read. The headline surprised her. No More Werewolves! Scanning the article, she smiled at the descriptions of Severus and Hermione as the two brightest minds in the field of Potions. Too true, too true, she thought. There were also comments from a few commercial firms regarding the cure and the shelf life extender – she wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to buy the patent to them both and sell them at ridiculous rates. I'm fairly confident neither of them would go for that, she thought with a snort. Neither needed the money, and she had a feeling that both were doing it for the sake of the common good. Well, maybe in Severus' case it was for the sake of research, but still… She would have to have Hestia give them a copy – Ron had mentioned that Hermione didn't receive the paper, and she doubted Severus did. She thought they'd rather like this article.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was after ten. When she made her way to Hestia's office the note was gone from the door. She's back, then. Knocking loudly, she waited for a moment before calling, "Open up, woman! I know you're in there!"
The door opened immediately, and Tonks walked in to see her friend wave the wand in her hand a second time, closing the door. "What's up? Got a stalker?" Tonks asked.
"Me? No, that's Hermione you're thinking of." Hestia laughed, and Tonks smiled. Hestia had filled her in on Justin's crush. "I'm just sick of people bugging me this morning. I'm pretending to not be here in case Fudge comes by. Prick."
"Won't argue with you there. He's still on your back about the Manere requests?"
"Nope – we've decided on the one we're going to work on next. But the company evidently is offering a bonus the quicker it's completed, so he's already been by to ask how it's going. Merlin, I haven't even had time to start it, and now he has Hermione working with Sev until school starts making more of the lycanthropy cure." Hestia shook her head and sat back. "Bastard. Can't wait till the next election."
"Me, either. I hope Arthur will run this time." Arthur Weasley had been a favorite of Tonks' ever since her time working with the Order. He had, so far, refused to run for the position but he had a number of people pressuring him this time. "Now that all his kids are grown and out of the house, he may agree to do it."
"I hope so," Hestia agreed. "Anyway – I doubt you came here to listen to me whine and complain, so… what's up?"
"I need my book back. The Muggle chess one."
"Oh, right! I'm sorry – forgot to bring that back to you. It's at the Hogsmeade house – will you be here tomorrow?" Hestia asked.
"Well… I had told Viktor I'd give it to him tonight," Tonks began, and Hestia started to chuckle.
"Ah, I see. No problem, I'll bring it by this afternoon. I've got to go into Hogsmeade to meet Remus and the other two for lunch, so I'll just have Remus meet me at the house instead of the front gates."
Tonks smiled. "Thanks, Hestia."
"No problem." Hestia looked at her seriously for a moment. "He being good to you?"
Tonks rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Hestia, you're acting like my father. He's being great. He's… very good to talk to, I… I told him things last night that I don't think I've told anyone. It was… nice."
Hestia nodded. "Well, let me know if he's ever out of line."
Tonks simply nodded and left with a wave, thinking ruefully, I wish he would get out of line!!
* * * * * *
Hestia Apparated to the front step of the Hogsmeade house an hour before their meeting at the Three Broomsticks. Not bothering to knock, since she knew that Remus was still at Hogwarts with Severus and Hermione, she unwarded the door and entered, making her way to the study where the chessboard was set up. She was fairly certain that's where she had left the book. The extra time would give her a chance to read back over some of the sections she wanted to memorize.
Entering the study, she stopped in mid-stride, eyes wide. What the… immediately whipping out her wand, she surveyed the damage.
The desk was a mess, drawers pulled out and papers strewn about the floor. The table the chessboard had been on was knocked over, pieces flung haphazardly. And the bookshelves… almost all of the books were pulled out, some torn. For a fleeting moment, she felt relieved that most of the valuable tomes were safely in the Hogwarts library or Severus' office.
She heard a small creak on the stairs, and whirled around, wand at the ready. "Remus?" she called out. She was fairly certain that it wasn't Remus – he wasn't supposed to meet her here for another half an hour and it was unlikely that he would be early and upstairs - but let whoever it was think that she was some simpering fool. She edged to the side of the doorway, back against the wall, and prepared her wand…
…and was knocked across the room as the section of wall she was leaning against was blown inwards with a roar. She landed hard, and felt something land on her before she blacked out.
Some time later, she woke slowly. Damn, she thought foggily. It appeared that she had been pulled away from the wreckage of the wall, but she was still in the study to judge by the bookshelves. A large figure moved into her line of sight as she struggled to stand, and she snarled, blinking away the blood that had run into her eyes. The figure was tall and quite large, with a mask obscuring its features. She assumed it was a man. Or a female giant.
"Hestia Jones. Member of the Order of the Phoenix. And Potions Mistress," the man – to judge by the voice, her assumption had been correct - said conversationally, circling the wreckage to stand near her, being careful to remain out of reach. She tightened her grip on her wand, but the man standing in front of her suddenly took on the Slytherin dueling stance, and with a shouted "Expelliarmus," her wand flew from her hand and she was knocked back against the floor.
"I don't think you would be able to concentrate enough to cast a spell with a head wound like that, but just in case… I'm sure you understand, Miss Jones. May I call you Hestia? No? Very well, then. Miss Jones, if you don't stay where you are, I'll be forced to put you in a body bind. Except for your mouth, of course. There are some things you can tell me, Miss Jones, to make my job much simpler. Such as… where are the notes?"
"What notes, bastard?" she answered slowly, mind working feverishly. The man must want the key to the lycanthropy cure… but why? To sell to a commercial firm? It would do no good – Severus already had a patent on it. Why? She couldn't think.
"Such foolish, useless bravery. You'd almost think you were a Gryffindor. But I know better." The man glanced at the clock on the wall, and sat down on the couch, pulling a flask from its robes. "Hmm. It seems that we have all the time we'll need, Miss Jones. Now – tell me… where are the notes?" The man lazily unscrewed the cap and took a drink of its contents, making a face as he swallowed. Probably Firewhiskey – drunk bastard. Some idiot that read the Daily Prophet this morning and thought to make a buck or two somehow.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hestia said aloud, shaking her head to try and clear it. Damn it! Of all the times to not want a fuzzy head…
"Don't toy with me, girl." Hestia remained silent, and the man sighed. "I want the notes – the final notes – of the cure. Including the extender that the Mudblood developed. The only ones I've been able to find here-" he indicated the study "-are the ones prior to the extender, and they don't include the process Snape used. I need the final notes, describing the process and the extender. And you know where those are, don't you, Miss Jones? You want to help me, don't you?"
"Fuck you. Knock me across the room, disarm me while I'm already down, and you think I want to help you?" Hestia asked, stalling for time. She also had glanced at the clock on the wall, and realized that Remus would be arriving shortly to meet her for the walk to the Three Broomsticks. If she could just stall long enough…Remus was a master of the Dark Arts, and an expert dueler…
The man stood, and gave another sad sigh. "I see. Well, it appears we got off to a bad start here. Maybe you require a little more… persuasion."
Hestia sneered, but her blood had run cold when the man stood. She was momentarily surprised that he didn't throw a hex, but then she realized he was planning a more… primitive method of persuasion. Of course, any Unforgivables would have the Aurors down on him in a minute with the new tracking wards that were placed on wizarding towns.
Now or never, Hestia. No more waiting around for werewolves to save your ass. She tensed in anticipation, planning her attack, realizing that she was woefully low on options. Back to the basics, then. Worth a try. Just a little closer… now! She sprung from the floor, uncoiling like a serpent, and grabbed his wand with her hands while raising her knee with all of her power.
The man howled and bent over, his hand releasing his grip on the wand long enough for her to twist it from his hands. She was a little surprised. Guess he didn't read the handbook about wearing a cup when you're planning on assaulting a woman, she thought.
The second she held the wand with her own hands, she could tell it would be useless. She couldn't concentrate enough right now to throw a spell with her own wand, much less an unfamiliar one. Time to bluff, she thought, raising it and focusing on holding her hand steady.
"Now, you bastard, tell me why you want the notes," she said, edging quickly towards the door and wiping more blood from her eyes. The man was recovering, and she knew she had to make a run for it before he regained his strength. When she neared the doorway, his head snapped up and he growled, pulling a knife from a belt sheath that had been hidden in his robes.
Shit. She ran. And was dragged back by two strong arms from behind, one holding the knife. The wand was wrenched from her hand, and she struggled madly, distantly hearing the clatter of the knife falling to the ground in the confusion. Finally, she succeeded in bringing her heel back hard against his kneecap and his grip loosened enough for her to slither out of his arms. She turned to run again when her hair was yanked from behind, causing her to gag with pain as the roots pulled on her injured scalp. And then… she almost sobbed with relief when her sensitive ears heard the sound of the front door opening.
The man heard it, too. With a final growl, he released her and grabbed up the notes. Then he paused, facing her for a moment, and almost as an afterthought cast a final spell.
She screamed once, and then everything went black.
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Evil cliffie, I know – I apologize, somewhat, but no story is complete without a couple ;). I promise to update very soon, before the weekend is over, I promise!
Shadow Maiden – Thanks for the review – I'm glad you like the story so far, especially since you're not a huge fan of HG/SS. Thanks for your comments about my potions "science" that I'm making up – I'm trying to make it seem real (gotta get my money's worth out of those chemistry labs from college ;) ).
Kjay – Thanks so much for reviewing! I agree – I love mysteries, too, and I hope I'm doing an OK job with it… it's hard to not just give everything away in whatever chapter I'm writing at the time ;)
Louise Luvgood – Thanks for the review, again! I love reading your reviews – here's more Tonks/Viktor action for you. I'm glad you liked it! Hope you had a great trip, and I look forward to your review :)
Klyn – Thanks! I really like my Tom, too… I didn't plan him out this way in the beginning, but he's really grown on his own as I write his dialogue. He's always fun to write.
