46. Matters of the Heart

She walked into Snape's office one day and set a little green stone on his desk. When she didn't explain, he asked, "What's this?"

"It's a jade," she replied matter-of-factly.

"I know what it is," he said, "I meant why have you brought it to me?"

"It's supposed to bring good luck and protection," she explained. "Perhaps it'll be just the thing to finally break that curse."

"What curse?"

"The one on your job," she said, irritation in her voice. "Why did you take it? Are you just as reckless as Potter and me? Where's your sense of self-preservation?"

"I'll thank you not to speak to me that way," he said warningly, "I am your teacher and your head of house."

"Right, sir - for now."

He glared at her. "And as long as that's the case - be it one more year or two - you'll keep your opinions of my professional career to yourself. Is that understood?"

She held his gaze in silence for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, sir. Never mind your career." A pause. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

She showed him every Defense teacher she'd had over the last five years - Umbridge. Barty Crouch, Jr. with his soul sucked out of him by a Dementor. Lupin. Lockhart in the Janus Thickey Ward of St. Mungo's, completely out of his mind. Quirrell... dead.

To her surprise, he smirked at her. "You think my life is in danger?" he asked.

Scoffing, she replied, "You're already at risk of You Know Who finding out about your true loyalties - you said he was a Legilimens. And now you've decided to take on a job that's been cursed? What happened to not throwing yourself into the fire? You seem to have put yourself right in the middle of it."

He considered her, then sat back and said, "Never you mind, Warbeck. I'm where I need to be."

That wasn't good enough. She wanted him to tell her that he'd be fine, that he wasn't in any real danger. That Slughorn would only be here temporarily, so it would be as harmless as him simply returning to his potions master role next year. But he didn't say any of that.

"Professor?" she said, bringing his attention back to her. Hesitating, she swallowed her pride and decided to admit the embarrassing truth. In a low voice, she declared, "I'm worried about you."

Again, he studied her in silence, reading her, no doubt. But her thoughts were just as sentimental as her words had been. She could feel a blush creeping across her cheeks.

"What a surprise," he said, another smirk curling his lip. "I'd have thought you would welcome the opportunity to dance upon my grave."

She rolled her eyes, her shoulders dropping. "Well, maybe I'm going soft now, sir, but..." she shrugged "...life's a lot more fun with you in it." She held his gaze for a long moment, and then, in her signature cheeky fashion, she shot him a wink.

"Stop flirting with me," he said.

With a smirk, she asked, "Why, does it make you uncomfortable?" He simply stared at her, unamused. "I flirt with everyone," she said. "Boys, girls, teachers... don't take it to heart."

"Oh, trust me, I don't. But tell me what your father would say if he were around to see you acting so... provocative."

"You didn't know my father. He was quite the womanizer in his day, he'd probably shake my hand."

Rolling his eyes, he replied, "You're impossible."

"That's what I've heard, sir. But if it bothers you so, I suppose I can contain myself." She turned to leave, but paused in the doorway and said, "Oh, by the way - excellent class the other day. Very... stimulating."

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"Madam Puddifoot's?" Neville suggested with a smirk as he and Callie made their way down the High Street in Hogsmeade.

Callie grinned at him, and said, "I don't need another Love Potion, but I could use a good butterbeer."

They came to the Three Broomsticks, and he held the door open for her. "Such a gentleman," she teased, stepping into the pub. They grabbed a booth and ordered their drinks, toasting to Horace Slughorn. "He said he would set up a meeting for me with the director of the healer program," Callie informed Neville.

"Nice," he replied. "Guess he didn't mind that you couldn't get him backstage passes for your dear cousin."

"Well, I probably could," Callie countered. "Two hundred thousand galleons can pretty much get you anything you want."

Neville made a face and said, "Please don't tell him about that. I get the feeling fortune is just as attractive to him as fame."

"Speaking of which... I told him Dad was a banker, we got to talking finance, and he suggested I ought to look into some good investments."

"What kind of investments?" he asked, looking skeptical.

She smiled. "Well, he did have a few ideas. Said he'd be happy to go over some stock options with me. I don't know if the 'cunning Slytherin' can be trusted though." She paused. "However..."

"Yeah?"

"The whole conversation sort of planted an idea in my mind. I don't know how realistic it is, but..." She shrugged. "Perhaps I could revive Florean Fortescue's, if things ever get back to normal."

He raised a brow at her. "Really? You'd consider that?"

"Fred and George have their joke shop. They're doing well. Maybe I could go into business too."

"What about healing?" he asked.

"I'm still going to do that," she explained. "I'd be more a financial backer than anything else."

Grinning at her, he remarked, "So ambitious. Is there anything you can't do?"

"No," she replied, leaning in for a kiss. Thinking back to Madam Puddifott's, she asked, "Wanna try and fog up these windows ourselves?"

He smirked, looking at the clear glass. Then he sat up straighter in his seat and said, "Tonks."

Callie furrowed her brow. "What?" she asked.

"Tonks," he repeated, pointing out the window to a girl who was coming up the street. "She's an auror. She was there at the battle in June." To himself, he muttered, "What's she doing here?"

The girl named Tonks came into the pub, and Neville waved her over.

"Wotcher, Neville," she greeted, shaking his hand.

"Tonks, this is Callie Warbeck," he introduced, and the two also shook.

"Good to meet you," Callie said.

"Likewise," the older girl replied with a smile.

"What're you doing in Hogsmeade?" Neville asked.

"I'm on duty," she explained. "Dumbledore's got me patrolling the village."

Furrowing her brow, Callie asked, "Is that necessary?"

Tonks shrugged. "Better safe than sorry," she said. "I'm on break right now, though."

"Wanna sit with us?" Neville offered. "Buy you a butterbeer?"

"Thanks," she said, sliding into the booth beside Callie.

"So you're an auror?" Callie asked, looking over the girl. "You look so young."

"I only completed the training program two years ago. I'm a rookie."

"But you're in the-" Callie lowered her voice "-Order?"

"Yep." She smirked. "Wasn't going to let everyone else have all the fun."

"I get that," Callie said, glancing over at Neville. Then, to Tonks, "Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the Ministry."

Sighing, Neville explained, "She enjoys a good fight."

"And I'm good with offensive spells," she said. "Coulda tried that fire curse on Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Hmph," Tonks breathed. "My dear auntie," she said bitterly.

Callie did a double take. "Wait... that's your aunt?"

"Unfortunately," Tonks replied. "Don't get the wrong idea. My mum broke with the family when she married my dad... the muggleborn."

"Ooh," Callie said, both impressed and surprised, "how rebellious."

"Yes, it was quite the scandal," Tonks agreed. "Mummy hasn't spoken to the lot of them in twenty-five years. Good riddance, I say."

"So do I," Callie agreed.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Neville piped up. "We saw Lupin at the Ministry." Whispering, he added, "He's with the Order, too."

"No," Callie said. "Really?"

Neville nodded. A wide smile spread across her face as she thought about her former teacher, fighting the good fight against the Dark Side. The idea made her appreciate the man even more than she already did. "Remus John Lupin," she muttered wistfully, "my first love."

Tonks perked her head up, looking rather surprised - and a little alarmed. "What?" she asked.

"I had the biggest crush on him in third year," Callie explained. Then, to Neville, "Don't worry, darling, you know you're still my number one man."

"Right," he said.

"What's his role in all this?" she asked Tonks. "Not going to be stopping by here any time soon, is he?"

"No," she replied. "I don't know where he is exactly. Only that he's taken on a... special mission of sorts. He's agreed to spend some time amongst others of his kind, try to convince them to join our cause before You Know Who can recruit them." The girl dropped her eyes to the table, and Callie thought she had a rather troubled expression on her face.

"Should we be worried about him?" she asked.

Sighing, Tonks said, "They're not all like him. You know, civilized."

Callie considered it, and said, "He'll be all right. He knows defensive magic - he's an expert on the subject. I'm sure he can take care of himself."

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, before Neville spoke up. "You changed your hair," he said to Tonks. "I liked the pink. It suited you."

"Yeah," she said, smiling slightly. "Not particularly inconspicuous, though. Moody said I oughta tone it down."

"Moody?" Callie asked. "Alastor Moody? He's in this too?"

"Yep," both Neville and Tonks replied.

"The real one, yes?" Callie asked with a raised brow.

Tonks chuckled. "Yes. The one and only."

Callie took in the girl's mouse brown locks, thinking that she didn't seem the type to sport anything as out there as what Neville had mentioned. "Pink hair," she mused. "How punk."

"She's a Metamorphmagus," Neville informed her.

"No kidding?" Callie said. "That's fantastic! I've never met one before."

Grinning, Tonks replied, "Yes, I've gone through the whole rainbow at one time or another. Also played around with height, size... shape."

"I'm jealous," Callie said. "Must be nice to be able to customize yourself any way you want."

"You're perfect the way you are," Neville chimed in.

"You have to say that, or else I'll hex you." He smirked and shook his head. "Still, it would be fun to experiment," she went on. "Always wondered how I'd look as a blonde."

"You don't have to wonder," Tonks said. "I can show you."

Callie gave her a puzzled look and asked, "How?"

The auror held her wand out and slowly moved it around Callie's face. When she was done, she smiled and said, "There you go."

"Wicked," Neville breathed as Callie looked down at her own long locks, which were now light blonde instead of their usual nearly black color.

"I've gotta see this," she said. "I'm going to the loo."

"I'll come with you," Tonks replied, and the two girls took off.

Checking herself in the bathroom mirror, Callie commented, "This is wicked. Next time I'm in the village, we're going red."

"I can do that right now if you want."

"No, I wanna try this out for a while." Smirking at her sudden fascination with her own looks, she said, "So this is what it's like to be a girl."

"I've almost forgotten myself, I have. Hard to keep up the femininity doing what I do. The Auror Office is sort of a boys club."

"I was wondering about that. Are there many women aurors?"

"Some, but not a lot. Thinking of joining the ranks?"

"Well, I'm set on being a healer." She paused. "Shame, though. Might be fun to infiltrate the boys club. Show 'em just how bad-arse a lady can be."

"Hell hath no fury, right?" Tonks said with a smirk.

Callie returned a grin. "Right."

They were quiet for a moment, before Tonks said, "So, you knew about him? Remus, I mean?"

Callie shrugged. "I figured it out eventually. Back in third year."

"I was worried I'd let it slip," Tonks said. Then after a pause. "What did you think?"

"Honestly? I thought it was kind of hot." They both laughed, and Callie was enjoying the typical "girl moment" of having makeovers and gossiping about boys. "Maybe it's just Lupin, though," she said. "I always thought he was a real charmer."

Tonks got quiet, and Callie noted something... sad in her expression. Finally, the auror replied, "So have I."

Ah, there it is. The older girl's reaction to Callie calling him her "first love," plus the look of deep concern she'd had while discussing the man's special mission, had given her the idea that the two Order members weren't just comrades. "You like him," Callie said. It was a statement rather than a question.

Tonks gave her a look that confirmed it, and Callie smiled. "I get it. I was in love with Remus Lupin once, too."

"Suppose I've got some competition then," Tonks teased.

"Yes, as soon as I'm of age, I'm ditching Neville and... throwing myself to the wolves." Tonks chuckled, shaking her head. "Does he know?" Callie asked. "Have you told him?"

"He knows. But he wasn't quite as receptive as I'd hoped he would be. He thinks he's too old for me and too dangerous and that he has nothing to offer."

"Except for the animal magnetism."

Again, she chuckled. But then she buried her face in her hands, looking frustrated. "Ugh," she groaned. "I hate men."

"Can't live with 'em, can't curse 'em?"

"Exactly. Though a couple of Bat-Bogey Hexes might do him good."

Callie smirked. "When is he coming back?" she asked.

Tonks shrugged. "Could be any time. Could be a year from now, I don't know." She ran a tired hand over her face. "I hate not knowing how he is. Or where he is."

The old waiting game, Callie thought, remembering the worry she had felt the night of the battle at the Ministry. How she'd been terrified that Neville wasn't coming back. "He'll be all right," she assured her new friend. "He's one of them - civilized or not. And he's tough." She paused, before adding, "When he wants to be."

"Yeah," Tonks agreed. "Then other times he's..." She trailed off.

"A teddy bear," Callie concluded, smiling.

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Later that afternoon, a first-year came up to her and told her that Snape wanted to see her in the hospital wing. "Why?" Callie asked, but the boy only shrugged. She made her way down to the ward, where Snape was standing over a bed that contained, upon closer inspection, Katie Bell.

Callie had heard that the girl had been cursed on her way back from Hogsmeade. Something about a necklace. Hermione had described the girl rising up into the air and then screaming in agony when she'd touched the object. She was currently unconscious; whether that was from a coma or sedation, Callie didn't know.

"Is she all right?" she asked, coming to stand beside Snape.

"For the time being," he replied, keeping his eyes on the Gryffindor girl. "She has to be taken to St. Mungo's. A transport team is on its way."

Studying the girl, Callie asked in a low voice, "She's not going to die, is she?"

He was quiet for a moment, clearly not sure himself. "It's too early to say. I've been working to contain the curse."

"What was the curse?" she asked.

Sighing to himself, he explained, "I'm almost positive I've seen it before. She was levitated six feet with her arms outstretched, from what I was told, before the pain began. It appears to have been an old Roman curse. They call it la Crocifissione."

Callie thought about it for a second, and said, "The Crucifixion."

"Yes," he confirmed. "It's a blood curse, in keeping with the biblical theme. It's supposed to represent the desecration of the blood of the Savior."

Callie furrowed her brow. "Why Katie?" she asked.

"It wasn't meant for her," Snape replied.

If not for her, then... "Harry?"

"Dumbledore," he corrected. And then he went on, "As the curse spreads, the blood cells are necrotized, leading to tissue death." He indicated Katie's hand, and Callie saw that the tip of one of her fingers had turned black. "This is where is started," he said. "The surest way to contain it is to keep the blood from pumping - by stopping the heart."

"Can you actually do that?"

"Yes. However, it's a double-edged sword. If the blood isn't allowed to flow, it can result in more tissue damage. Heart muscle, brain matter... The treatment is potentially just as deadly as the curse. It's a last resort, but one can go perhaps an hour, possibly two, before death occurs."

Callie looked down at the unconscious girl with worry in her eyes. Katie had been one of her comrades in the D.A., and she didn't want to see her die. "Are they going to do it, the healers?"

"No," he replied, "we can't wait that long. I've managed to slow it down but it's already taking its course."

He aimed his wand on Katie, and an X-ray-like view of her chest cavity showed, just like it had on Callie the previous year when her ribs were broken. The girl's heart, lungs, and bones were all visible at first, but then Snape manipulated the image to show only her heart, and then enlarged it.

Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were standing off to the side, watching. The latter asked, "Are you sure about this, Severus?"

"I'm sure that the curse will have caused irreversible damage by the time the team arrives, if we don't try," he replied. And then, he looked at Callie, and held his wand out as though he wanted her to take it.

"What?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"Try it."

"Try what?"

"The spell. To stop the beat."

She simply gaped at him, while McGonagall called out, "Severus, I don't think..." She paused. "The girl's life is at stake, this is no time for... whatever this is."

Shaking her head slightly, Callie said, "I can't..." but she trailed off.

"You will, eventually," Snape replied. "You want to be a healer, yes?"

"I-" she began, but cut herself off as she looked down at the view of Katie's heart.

"Severus, please, we're wasting time," McGonagall pleaded.

Still with his eyes on Callie, he repeated, "Try it."

She looked from him to McGonagall, not knowing who to obey. "Ma'am, I-"

But Pomfrey cut in, "Somebody do it, already, the girl is dying!" Taking a step forwards, she said, "I'll do it."

"No, you won't," Snape said. "Take the damn wand, Warbeck, unless you'd prefer to inform the Bells that their daughter is dead."

She couldn't believe he would try to put that on her, but she took the wand and set her focus on Katie. Christ, I can't do this, she thought. But she asked, "What's the incantation?" She was not doing this in silence.

"Arresto cardia," he replied. "Speak it clearly and firmly." Callie's hand was shaking. "Steady yourself," he added.

She took a deep breath, willing herself to remain still. Once her nerves were settled, she aimed his wand on Katie's heart. He can do it if I can't, she thought, but what if I fuck something up?

The visual helped. At least she could see what was going on inside the girl, every chamber contracting and relaxing. God help me, she thought with one more deep breath. If she was successful, this would be her first ever act of healing magic. Even though Snape - and Pomfrey - was there to take over if she failed, she wanted to get it right. Not just for Katie, but for herself. "Arresto cardia!" she incanted, holding her breath.

Katie's heart took one final beat, and went still.

"Did I do it?" Callie asked.

Snape replied sarcastically, "Is it beating?"

"Is it?" Madam Pomfrey piped up.

"No," Callie replied. Then, to Snape, "You said an hour or two?"

"At the most," he replied. "Could be less."

"What happens if they don't get here in time?"

He took his wand back and said, "Then we take her out of arrest and the curse will continue to spread." To McGonagall, he ordered, "Contact them again, tell them to get here, now."

The woman went off to send the message.

Looking down at the heart, Callie explained, "I thought I should time it so she's in diastole. That way the chambers will be filled with untainted blood and ready to go when they start her up again." Raising her eyes to Snape, "Was that right?"

He studied her a moment, before he replied, "Clever girl."

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Author's note: I'm sure this doesn't need to be said, but just in case - no, you can't survive "an hour or two" without a heartbeat. In my head, this is something only magical people can do (like living for 130+ years or being immune to muggle diseases).