Chapter Twenty-Three
Caught Red-handed
Aurelius stretched and tried to turn away from the sunlight, pulling his covers around him and shivering as he began to wake up. It was the day before Christmas, and Aurelius was contemplating staying in bed all day until Achilles, who had been sleeping in a coil at the bottom of the bed started, slithering about and it was driving him crazy.
"What are you doing?" Aurelius hissed.
"Hunting," Achilles said.
"Didn't I feed you yesterday?"
"Yes, but I smell something interesting," the snake replied. Aurelius sat up and looked over at Heph's bed, frowning. He had woken a couple of times that week to find it unkempt, and considering he was the only one in his dorm that stayed over the holidays, couldn't help but wonder how it got that way. Slipping out of bed as quietly as possible, Aurelius tiptoed over and pounced… but fell onto an empty bed, rolling over.
"For a minute there, I thought… no, but he couldn't get in, because he doesn't know the password, right?" Aurelius said to himself. Suspiciously, he went to his cloak and got out the parchment and was in the process of speaking the words when he heard the sound of a knock on a door. Peering out of his room, he heard it again… this time it sounded like it came from outside of the common room. Glancing at the map, he squinted suspiciously at it and put it in his pocket, going over to answer the door.
Andrew jumped back in surprise when Aurelius popped it open.
"All right, how did you do it?" Aurelius demanded.
"Do what?" Andrew said with a puzzled expression. "It's time for breakfast. Father is wondering why you're not in the Great Hall yet. He sent me down to see if you weren't feeling well or something."
"Oh come now, the bed next to mine looked as if it had been slept in," Aurelius said. Andrew shrugged.
"It's probably one of the ghosts. You know how they get sometimes, and they're probably lonely with everyone being gone," Andrew said. "Come on. I'm starving, and I don't know where to get into the passage from this direction." Aurelius sighed.
"Hang on," Aurelius said stepping back in, quickly getting dressed and coming back out to find Andrew gnawing on a breadstick he had found in his pocket.
"You could have waited a few more minutes," Aurelius said grumpily. "I really shouldn't show you the way in from here. It's a Slytherin secret."
"Fine, we'll take the long way around, but if I faint from starvation, you have to carry me," Andrew decided. Aurelius gave him a dirty look and pressed the eyes of an owl statue in the wall and let them in. But once they were inside, Aurelius found that Andrew had actually learned the passages better than he had, quickly pointing out the fastest way to the Great Hall from there. "I always make it a point to find the fastest way to a full stomach," he said cheerfully.
"Maybe we ought to try the needle and tube in the stomach approach and be done with it," Aurelius said sarcastically, as the two of them stepped into the hallway just past the staff room and slipped in the back door. Various students were scattered in groups at their tables, and Aurelius saw that Alex and Alicia had settled down at the Hufflepuff table. But Andrew went straight to where his parents were sitting, and neither of their plates looked touched. In fact, their mum was busy stirring her coffee with a distracted look on her face, while their father seemed to be talking quietly to her. But as they approached, Andrew glanced over at them, nodding.
"See? I found him, he just overslept," Andrew announced.
"Well then its good that it isn't a school day, isn't it?" Severus said. "Thank you, Andrew, get something to eat."
"Gladly! Come on, Rel," Andrew said cheerfully, sitting beside the girls as Aurelius reluctantly followed behind.
"What was that all about?" Jennifer asked.
"School business," Severus said. "Are you ever going to drink that coffee?"
"No, it's cold," Jennifer said. Severus sighed.
"You know, this depression of yours is really starting to depress me," Severus complained. "It's been nearly two months since we've lost the house and you've done nothing but sulk, and yet you don't seem to be a bit interested in doing anything to solve it."
"There's nothing to solve, Severus," Jennifer said. "The Broom Closet is gone and this is our home now. I just miss my coffee."
"Do you want to go to New York for a few hours?" Severus suggested.
"I'd rather stay here in case Corey needs us. Do you suppose he got the shop open in time?" Jennifer asked worriedly. Severus looked thoughtful.
"Why don't we go see right after breakfast," he suggested, tapping her plate. "Eat something," he ordered, getting up and going over to the children. "We're going to Hogsmeade directly after we finish. You are to stay with us… regardless of what a familiar does," he added, squinting at Aurelius, "and you will not cause even the slightest ripple of descent today if you want to see anything under the tree tomorrow. Your mother isn't in the best of moods, and I would rather that no one in this family does anything to make it any worse. Is that clear?" They all nodded but he didn't leave until he heard a firm answer from each of them, walking back up to the main table.
Jennifer was relieved to find the corner shop freshly whitewashed when they arrived, and garlands of evergreen, mistletoe, holly and fresh herbs decorated the windows. She wrapped on the door and Joe came to answer, letting them all in.
"Good morning! Happy Christmas!" Corey said as he rolled a barrel out from stock and sat it up.
"Corey!" Jennifer said, going over to help him open it. "You shouldn't be doing that!"
"Mom, if people think for a minute something is wrong with me today, it's all going to come out," Corey said. "As it is, I've just now managed to set up my fresh stock. I haven't even begun to start on stuff that needs brewed daily yet. I figure if they come up, we'll just brew as we go."
"Corey? Can we help you in the shop today?" Andrew asked, ignoring the look that his father was giving him. "We can help, really! You have this shop basically set up like the old one, so it wouldn't be hard for us to figure out where everything is. We could help stock and stuff, just like old times!"
"I'm not about to ask any of you to spend your Christmas Eve cooped up in here," Corey told him, throwing some clean scoops in the bins.
"But we want to! Really!" Andrew said. "And it'd be for free, too, Christmas spirit and all that."
"Uh huh. Girls?" Corey asked, looking at them speculatively.
"I can help! I'm good with labels!" Alicia said.
"Can I help wait on customers?" Alex offered.
"I think you'd be safer sweeping the floors," Aurelius put in. "In fact, I think that's the only time you'd be safe with a broom, come to think of it."
"Aurelius? You want to help too?" Corey said skeptically.
"Well, maybe just to get you open. After all, I think I owe you that much considering that Ciardoth thing," Aurelius said, and then realized that both his parents and Corey were looking at him in astonishment. "Besides, it's Christmas. But I still want paid."
"Aurelius!"
"It's all right, Mom," Corey chuckled. "Okay gang, you can help. You can start by clearing the floor and opening what needs opened, we're supposed to open in half an hour."
"I don't suppose you could use a couple more alchemists too?" Jennifer asked.
"Jennifer, if Corey needed our help, he would ask for it," Severus scolded her. But Corey only smiled and shook his head at that.
"Okay, I'm asking," he said.
"Do you have a list of what you need?" Jennifer asked as she and Severus immediately headed behind the counter.
"In my head," Corey said.
"Then start reciting," Severus suggested. "In order of priority."
It was chaotic for a minute or two while everyone tried to figure out who was going to do what. But soon it all came together, and Aurelius himself couldn't happen to be but a bit amazed at how quickly the unpacked crates and nailed shut barrels got put away and the shreddings, shavings and water got quickly cleaned up or disposed of. Every now and again a query from the lab got answered by Corey calling out some of the strangest named concoctions Aurelius had ever heard of, mixed in with an occasional one that he actually recognized.
But the ringing of a chime signaled the time to open. Joe wiped his hands on his apron and opened the door, smiling broadly for there had been quite a number of people waiting. Some were merely curious townsfolk, others actual customers tired of the hassle that had come with the closing down of the other shop. There were also quite a few friends; Danny, Taylor, Doug, and Essie being nearly the first ones in the door.
"Well! This doesn't even look like the same store anymore!" Taylor said, impressed.
"Nice paint job, too," Doug said.
"Considering you're the one that painted it," Essie said chidingly, hitting him. "Corey! Need any help?"
"I think I got about all the help I can handle, thanks though," Corey chuckled. "Welcome, everyone! Everyone with doctor's notes to the left, special ingredients to the right, and my assistants will be right with you. Good morning, Professor Dumbledore," he said cheerfully, accepting a tray of bottles from Jennifer before turning to one of the shelves behind the counter to put them in place.
"I see you have my Potion Master moonlighting for the day. And perhaps an ex-Potion Master as well?" Dumbledore asked.
"Highly likely, sir," Corey grinned.
"Might I drop off a list with you? No rush at all," he insisted, Corey taking it from him and glancing at it.
"I'll have it ready by this afternoon, sir," Corey promised.
"Thank you. And Happy Christmas," he smiled. "Welcome to the neighborhood."
"It's good to feel productive again," Corey admitted with a smile as the crowd stepped aside to let the Headmaster out.
"Isn't this great? I don't remember ever seeing the Haven shop this busy," Alex said as she swept near where the others were putting up bottles of Feel-Me-Not Draughts.
"All about location, you know. Hogsmeade attracts all sorts of wizards right before Christmas," Andrew said.
"Yes, but whoever heard of spending their Christmas money in an apothecary?" Aurelius asked.
"People still get sick at Christmas," Alex chuckled at him. "And since they'd be here buying presents at the other stores, it'd only make sense to drop by here to pick up some potions on the way out."
As lunchtime grew near and the crowds hadn't abated, Corey quickly sent Joe off to Dragonwing Deli, running back with sandwiches for all and quickly sending the kids to eat in a small kitchen that he had upstairs. His living quarters had truly yet to be touched; but the grey boards had at least been cleaned and stripped of cobwebs, and he had a table, some crate-transformed chairs and a small bed. Cheshire, Corey's orange striped familiar, slipped out from under the bed when the children sat down, arching and stretching before casually coming to sit by the table to claim the share which inevitably got passed down to him.
"You don't expect us to actually believe you're starving," Alex scolded him as he pawed her again, and rolled her eyes after hearing the cat's reply. "I hardly think the area lacks mice. I think you're just a lazy cat," she scolded him.
"Yes, I know at least one you can find downstairs," Aurelius smirked.
"I think the cat knows the difference between food and an Animagus, Aurelius," Alicia said. "How much longer do you suppose we'll be here?"
"Funny, I was expecting Aurelius to be the one asking that question," Andrew grinned.
"Oh lay off, will you?" Aurelius scowled. "Look, he would have had his shop open before now if he hadn't been injured trying to save me. I figured I owed him a cease fire."
"All the same, it was very nice," Alex said. "To tell you the truth, we've all been kind of worried about you, the way you've been avoiding us and all."
"I've just had a lot to deal with lately," Aurelius said, quickly feeding the rest of his meat to Cheshire and gathering up his trash. "I'm going to get back to work."
"Yeah, me too," Andrew said quickly, reluctantly putting his sandwich down and following behind him.
"Oh well, at least he seems all right now," Alicia said, eating quickly so she could join them.
"No, something's still wrong. Something's very wrong," Alex said with a frown, grabbing her arm and pointing. "Andrew left half his sandwich on his plate."
"Maybe he wasn't hungry," Alicia said, her sister staring at her. "Okay, there is something wrong," Alicia admitted.
"And maybe Andrew knows something we don't," Alex said, getting up. "Let's go corner him."
But as they started down the stairs, Alex heard a sound above the talking of the store and stopped to listen a moment.
"Sounds like carolers," Alicia said, "Let's go watch a moment."
"But break is over," Alex reminded her.
"But we're not getting paid!" Alicia argued.
"Oh, right," Alex agreed with a grin. "Got a couple sickles?"
As they came out the door, the two girls ended up stopping to stare in surprise at the group, not being able to believe their eyes. Dumbledore, leading the carolers, merely turned and winked at them, gesturing them to the door.
"Corey!" Alex shouted, dashing inside. "Corey! Come out and see the carolers!"
"Alex," he laughed, glancing at the counter full of people, "I don't have time for that."
"No, please! You've got to come see, really!" Alex insisted. Jennifer and Severus peered out of the back, wondering what all the fuss was about. Sighing softly, Corey humored her by taking a glance at the window and then a double take in surprise.
"Mom! Get out here!" Corey shouted then burst out the front door. Jennifer immediately followed and pretty soon the entire family were standing agape at the group assembled in front of them singing a good round of old fashioned jingle bells, and very badly at that. But Corey immediately forgave them, so astounded was he to see that Father Pachem, Eliza Dimple, Bart Dimple, Jack Martin and his family, The Parkers and the Scotts were all there… some of his closest friends from Haven's Bluff. Rosmerta was there too, grinning like the cat that ate the canary, and Dumbledore, who merely smiled contentedly when he saw the expressions on Corey, Jennifer, and even Severus when they came out of the shop. Jennifer suddenly burst into tears, hugging Eliza and Pachem with Corey going over in disbelief to shake their hands and greet them.
"What are you doing here? How are you here? How did you find us?" Jennifer asked in amazement.
"We're sorry we didn't come by sooner, but we've been busy moving, don't you know," Eliza said.
"Moving? Where?" Jennifer asked.
"Here, of course!" Eliza said cheerfully. "Surprise!"
"I used the address you gave me to track this place down, Corey, and believe me, it wasn't easy. But I was finally able to locate Essie, and she gave us directions," Pachem said.
"How many of you live here now?" Corey asked in surprise.
"All of us present, Corey. I thought of staying at the Bluff, of course, but one tends to move with one's flock," Pachem winked.
"Did the Clemmons move too?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Ah, lass, they moved before the rest of us did, they're in London somewhere now," Jack said. "Sarge might know where, if you ask him. But anyhow, after what happened, quite a few people started moving out on their own. Things just weren't the same anymore."
"It was downright dull is what it was," Eliza said. "It's hard to be loyal to a town that doesn't exist anymore."
"And what were we going to do, pretend that Haven never happened at all?" Dale Parker added. "We wanted our town back."
"We wanted our tea with wizards back," Eliza laughed. "Normal gossip just isn't the same unless you can put in an occasional, 'guess what I got turned into last week' now and again." Several of the others laughed, agreeing. "Then we find out that you live here in a real haven, protected from the outside world and all that, and I says to Bart, now that sounds like our sort of place. And then before we knew it, the others were thinking the same thing. What did I have to look forward to if I stayed there, sitting on my front porch until they finally put me in a home? Here I can be useful!"
"Just what Hogsmeade needs, eh? Another set of ears," Rosmerta said dryly.
"And lungs," Severus added, getting a good-natured punch in the arm from Eliza, another round of laughter erupting when he let her get away with it without comment.
"What can I say, really? I can't believe you all did this," Corey said, overwhelmed. "Welcome to the neighborhood!"
"Just one minute!"
Aurelius instinctively froze when he heard Lucius Malfoy's voice, his fury unmistakable as he, Rummert, and several men in Council robes stepped up. Immediately, Corey, Dumbledore, Jennifer, and Severus took a protective stance in front of the carolers, and in front of them stepped Rosmerta, looking ready for anything.
"This is an all-wizard town! The all-wizard town, by charter and decree. Those Muggles cannot stay here!" Malfoy snarled.
"And just who are you to say who can and can't live here?" Rosmerta challenged him. "You're not a resident of Hogsmeade, and for your information, they are allowed here by our charter," she said, holding her hand out. Dumbledore immediately put a scroll in her hand, which she rolled out and recited. "Hogsmeade is to provide a home for witches, wizards, and those born of non-magical tendencies that know of and have become accustomed to the presence of magic."
"That is speaking specifically of squibs and you know it!" Malfoy snapped.
"Really? Are you sure? Because I don't see the use of any derogatory comments anywhere in this charter…" Rosmerta said puzzledly, shaking her head.
"Muggles born to wizard families then!" Malfoy said.
"Well that's not specifically stated either, Lucius," Rosmerta said firmly. "And from speaking to these people at quite some length when they came to visit my establishment, they've proven to me, the current mayor as I'll remind you, that they have definite knowledge of and have become accustomed to the presence of magic. So, unless the town council votes to have it amended, which I don't think that's likely because the majority of them hate you and are sympathetic to their situation… or, if you convince the Council of Wizards to ban non-magic folk in general from the town… which I am certain will not go over well with the Committee for Squib Rights... I suggest you leave these good people alone," Rosmerta said.
"I see," Lucius said in a soft tone. "But are you willing to take the responsibility of protecting them? Because when word gets out that there is a group of Muggles living in Hogsmeade, there are some, I fear, who would go to great lengths to correct what they would see as a very serious problem."
"Well, I believe everyone here will know exactly where we should start looking, won't we?" Rosmerta said with a thin smile.
"We don't need any protection. We can protect ourselves," Jack Martin said proudly.
"I'm sure there will be many chances to prove that too," Lucius said almost casually. "At least one, at any rate," he added.
As he turned around to walk away, he briefly made eye contact with Aurelius as he left. Aurelius remained expressionless, fairly sure that none of the adults had seen the exchange. Then as if by some unseen cue, everyone took a deep breath at once, talking about what had just happened.
Reluctantly Aurelius used the opportunity to slip away, despite the fact that part of him was screaming not to. What was he doing? But then, what would happen if he didn't? The fact that he didn't know the answer to that question was perhaps the scariest part of all, and that was when Aurelius realized how completely he wasn't in control of his own life anymore. He turned the corner and pulled up his hood the moment he was out of everyone's view, fixing his cloak so it draped over his clothes. He slipped on his gloves, entering the Pig's Pannage and walking straight to the back, the bartender opening the door for him.
The others in the back room scrambled to hide their faces in surprise of another arrival. Only Malfoy was expecting him, nodding as he came in.
"Do not speak, please," Malfoy ordered him, turning his hand over and taking out a tiny phial from the wrist of his glove.
"Who is this, my Lord? A child in your service?" one of the figures whispered.
"Someone under my protection and guidance, that is the most you need to know," Malfoy said curtly. "You will take this phial and empty its contents into one of the bins in the Willowby shop. It will insure that his shop gets closed down permanently and his license revoked. However, I would warn you not to let anyone in the Snape family come in physical contact with it." He put up his warning hand as Aurelius began to ask. "Do not betray yourself by speaking. They need not know who you are. I will stay to make sure you complete your task. I will send you a letter tonight with further instructions. Dismissed."
Aurelius nodded reluctantly, putting the phial away, backing into the door which refused to open, forcing him to turn around. He turned his back on them long enough to push it open and stepped out, hurrying through the smoke filled room. Could there be any doubt in his mind that the substance in the phial was anything if not harmful? It was the only reason that Malfoy would ask him to make sure that his family didn't touch it.
Slipping behind the back of the apothecary, Aurelius pulled off his hood, sinking to the ground, gazing warily at the red powder in the glass phial, trying to decide what to do. At last he came to a decision and forced himself onto his feet, putting it in his pocket and heading to the front of the shop. He went inside, his two sisters looking up at him almost accusingly.
"And where have you been? Father told us not to leave," Alex scolded him.
"All of the Muggle camaraderie was sickening. I decided to take a walk," Aurelius said.
"Great, our brother disappeared again," Alicia sighed.
"Speaking of which, where's Andrew? He wasn't with you?" Alex asked.
"What?" Aurelius said with a frown, wondering if he could have been followed. But just then, Andrew burst in the door with several bags of candy, a bit out of breath.
"Anyone hungry?" Andrew asked.
"Andrew and Aurelius!" Jennifer, who had been helping Corey and Severus stock more of the potions, came out from behind of the counter, looking annoyed. "I'm quite sure we told both of you not to leave!"
"I was just getting some candy. Father said it was all right," Andrew said, handing some out. Jennifer looked over her shoulder accusingly at her husband, who nodded to Andrew before quickly going back to the lab. Squinting, Jennifer went to follow him. "Where did you go, Aurelius? Get any butterbeers?"
"No, of course not, and stop being so blasted nosy. I can take care of myself," Aurelius said irritably.
"Except against dragons, apparently," Alex said.
"Oh, shut up and get back to work," Aurelius said, grabbing his bag and putting it behind the counter.
"Not all that much more to do out here, Rel. Do you think we should go help out in the lab?" Andrew asked.
"You can do what you want. I'm going to refill the bins," Aurelius said, getting a set of keys out of one of the registers and went into the stock room.
Andrew shrugged and decided to help Alicia stack up potion kits, still watching his brother as best he could as he came back up with a bag. Andrew had only turned around for an instant before he heard a yelp of pain and saw his brother on the floor beside a bag of white sleep sand… that was not completely white at all.
"Aurelius!" Alex called out, Corey looking up and jumping off the ladder he was on to get to his side.
"Stay back!" Aurelius rasped. "Something's wrong with the sand!" he said, cringing from pain from the red-tainted sand in his hands.
"Quick! Let's get it under water! Stay back!" Corey ordered the others, pulling Aurelius into the bathroom as Severus and Jennifer came running out of the lab. "There's some sort of contact poison in the Sleep Sand bin," Corey explained as he tried to get it off Aurelius. Quickly Severus went over to take a look, Jennifer staying with Corey to get a look at Aurelius' blistering hand.
"Stay back, keep everyone away from it! Clear the shop of customers until we have this cleaned up," Severus snapped, slipping his gloves on to pick up a sample, spreading it out and sniffing it. "Sulfur, perhaps potassium hydroxide, freeze dried dart frog oil, maybe even a bit of powdered Festerfowl liver," he informed them as he headed to the back room with a sample.
"Needs Bat Butter Balm," Jennifer and Corey murmured at once, Corey immediately going to the shelves to grab some, pouring it liberally over Aurelius' hand, while Aurelius still cringed in obvious pain. Finally, the pain soothed to what felt like a severe sunburn, and Aurelius relaxed a bit. Jennifer loosened her hold on him when she saw it was healing.
"What happened? How did you get this on you?" she asked.
"I was filling the bins and noticed something red in the mix, but it was too late," Aurelius explained, allowing Corey to put a loose bandage over his hand.
"Well, you should have been paying more attention then! You know better than to touch components that don't look right with your bare hand," Jennifer chided him gently. "Come sit down for a moment."
Just then the bell above the door rang, and Jennifer heard Alex groan loudly. Curiously Jennifer looked up, and resisted the urge to groan herself when she saw that Ederick Thurspire was standing in the doorway.
"And what exactly is going on here? How come the store was cleared? Is there trouble?" Ederick asked. Aurelius peered over from where he was sitting on the stairs.
"There wasn't until you showed up," Corey said. "What are you doing here, anyhow?"
"An emergency at the Pig's Pannage. What is this all over the floor?"
"Sleep sand, obviously. Now if you don't mind…" Corey said.
"Since when is Sleep Sand pink?" Ederick asked, kneeling beside it.
"I wouldn't touch that stuff if I were you," Corey said. "It seems somebody thought it would be amusing to contaminate it, and considering that Malfoy was in the area earlier, it wouldn't be too hard to figure out who."
"You know, it's interesting that you mention that," Thurspire said thoughtfully. "Considering that it was Lucius Malfoy who just collapsed. Another heart attack from the looks of it."
"Is he dead?" Corey asked brightly.
"No, no, emergency assistance made it in time," Ederick said casually.
"Great. Why is it that the one time I don't want you to be efficient is the only time that you are?" Corey asked. Ederick pretended not to hear him, smelling the sand, contemplating tasting it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Severus said in a rather reluctant tone. "That's Burning Tongue Twenty-Nine, a nasty mix of poison and acid that will make even the strongest of men die a painful death within twenty-nine minutes, and considering your current relationship with the three alchemists present, I wouldn't put any coin on whether or not we actually manage to get all the way to where you're sitting to give you the antidote."
"What? That substance is illegal!" Ederick said, quickly dusting it off his gloves.
"Yes. Pity," Severus mused, Jennifer nudging him in the arm.
"Severus, this is serious!" Jennifer hissed. "The other 'contaminants' before now were fairly harmless spells and easily curable. This one could have actually killed someone!"
Severus glanced behind him at where Aurelius sat still staring at his bandaged hand silently. Corey shook his head.
"I had hoped that moving here would solve all of that," Corey sighed.
"But don't you see, this just proves now that someone is out to try and get you!" Jennifer said. "I demand a Ministry investigation!"
"No! Jennifer, please, we will handle this," Severus protested quickly.
"I'll just move all the bins to the back, and from now on we'll just have to get it ourselves, it's as simple as that," Corey replied.
"Simple, perhaps," interrupted Ederick, "if there hadn't been an illegal substance involved. But now it is my duty to intervene. So you might as well tell your customers to go home. This store is closed until the investigation is over."
"What?" Corey said. "But the day's barely half over!"
"I'm sorry, Corey, I have no choice. I must find out where this substance came from," Ederick said. "I'll be right back. I'm going to go get my men."
"Swell, just abso-bloody-lutely fantastic," Corey said, pulling off his apron and sitting it down on the counter.
"Relax, boss. The drawers are full, we can easily make next month's rent now," Joe pointed out, popping the drawers open.
"A lot of good that will do us if the bad publicity keeps people out of the shop after today," Corey said with a sigh, and then suddenly stopped Joe from closing them, staring in one of the drawers. "Wait, what is that in the rolled knuts compartment?"
Joe looked at it thoughtfully.
"An empty phial, sir. I wonder how that got in there?" he said. With lightning speed, Severus immediately leapt over, snatching the phial in his gloved hand and putting it in his pocket.
"I don't think we want the Ministry to see this in here," Severus murmured to Corey in a low voice. "It would look slightly incriminating, don't you think?"
"Dad, that couldn't be the phial to the poison if that's what you're implying," Corey said. "Nobody could possibly get that close to the drawer except for my clerks and family, and none of us would be stupid enough to leave it there even if we did do it."
"Unless perhaps one of us wanted to be caught," Severus said in a low voice. Corey looked a bit startled, glancing back at where Jennifer sat talking to Aurelius.
"If what you're saying is true," Corey said slowly, "then why don't you want him to be caught?"
"Maybe what you ought to be asking is why it just so happened that Malfoy collapsed when Aurelius quite intentionally put his gloveless hand into that mess." Severus whispered back, Corey shaking his head in horror.
"You shouldn't have told me. I'll never be able to hide this from Mom if she sees my face," Corey admitted, slowly closing the drawer.
"I will try to get us all out of here as quickly as possible," Severus said, but Corey grabbed his arm when he began to turn.
"He's going to be all right, isn't he?" Corey asked.
"I don't know," Severus admitted, Corey growing even more worried and deciding perhaps he should make a show of being cooperative with Thurspire. Right now, Ederick was much preferable than dealing with his mother right now.
Severus walked over to Aurelius, asking to see his hand.
"It appears to be doing better. All the same, I think we ought to leave now so Sagittari can have a look at it," Severus told Jennifer. "There's not much we can do here now since he's going to have to close down for the day."
"I can't believe this is happening. It's been one thing after another all year," Jennifer said with frustration.
"Well, let's do our best to put our faces on. It's still Christmas Eve and the children need not be exposed to all of this. Best we get them out of here," Severus advised. Jennifer saw the sense in that, pulling herself back together and coaxing the children to get their coats.
"Wait a minute, where do you think you're going?" Ederick demanded.
"Thurspire, my son needs medical attention. I'm not about to stand here while you attempt to interrogate him or any of my other children. As I understand it, Law Enforcement aren't allowed to stand in the way of health concerns, but to save you some time… did anyone here see anyone suspicious around the bins?" Severus asked, the four kids all shaking their heads. "Yes, and Jennifer and I were in the back, so that covers it. You know where to find us if you want to harass us on the matter further," he added curtly, ushering Aurelius out, Jennifer and the other three following behind.