A/N: Hi everyone, I know this chapter is late, but it turns out that several of my family members had health issues just before Christmas time, which added to the holiday busyness. I am sorry that this was late though for those of you who were waiting on it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Recap: The chapter before was the full moon. In the last story Vic was working with Healer McDavid to create a spell to heal scars caused by dark magic, and she had just devised a spell that healed her own scar as well a one of Bill and Harry's scars. Louis works for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Teddy and Jilly have more time on their hands now because they're training the trainee aurors.
A New Wrench
Thursday, April 25th 2024
6:25 AM
The first thing Louis Weasley noted when he slipped out of dreamland into the world of the awake was that his body hurt a lot less than it had the day before. The second thing he noticed was that he was alone in his bed, which was weird because he could have sworn that Cecilia Wood had been practically on top of him when he had fallen asleep the previous night.
Louis cracked an eye and was met with the entertaining sight of his half-dressed girlfriend waving a wand at a blouse that sat on the top of his dresser. The blouse changed colour each time she waved her wand over it. He took a minute to appreciate the scene of Cecilia standing a few feet away from him in a tight pair of navy trousers and a black bra before he slowly sat up on the bed.
"What's got you up and practicing your colour changing charms so early?" Louis questioned her as the blouse changed from a deep emerald green colour to a light pale pink.
Cecilia swore under her breath in Gaelic at the shirt, "I promised Malcolm I'd stop by his place this morning before work and proof-read the announcement he wrote for Nadia's pregnancy. It's due today so that it can be in the papers for Saturday. And I think this shirt's going to need more than just some colour-changing charms."
She kept the pale pink colour on the shirt and then started to alter the shape of the fabric with a bit of transfiguration. She vanished the buttons down the front and the scalloped collar, and made the sleeves a little more billowy. When she was finished it didn't even look like the same blouse that she had worn the day before.
"You still haven't explained why you're trying your hand at clothing design so early in the morning," Louis said as he scratched at his head. He still made no move to get out of bed.
Cecilia set her wand down and then shrugged into the newly altered blouse, "I don't have time to go home this morning before work because I need to go to Malcolm's first, and I don't want to go to work wearing the same clothes as yesterday. I wasn't exactly planning on staying over here last night in case you've forgotten."
A stupid smile slipped onto Louis's face as he remembered how he'd convinced her to sleep over the night before, "Yeah. It was definitely worth it though, eh?"
"I just don't want it to be obvious that I'm doing the walk of shame," Cecilia said with a bit of a blush as she tucked the bottom of her blouse into the waist of her navy trousers.
Louis slipped out of bed and walked towards her, "If you started bringing clothes to leave here for occasions such as this, it'd be less obvious."
Cecilia rolled her eyes and continued to fiddle with her tucked blouse, "And what do you think my father would say to that?"
"Nothing since most recently Oliver seems to be suffering from blissful amnesia every time you stay over. Which is much better than how he could be reacting of course," Louis reminded her with a charming smile as he inspected her blouse and her spell work, "Your Dad's been fine with this for over a year Cee-Cee, I don't think he'd care if you started to leave a few changes of clothes here."
She pursed her lips and started to pull her dark hair up into a ponytail, "I'll think about it."
Louis smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her towards him until their bodies were pressed together, "There's one more thing."
"What?"
He conspicuously looked down at her chest, "While I appreciate the little show you're giving me, you might want to charm your bra another colour if you don't want everybody from your office to know that you're partial to lace."
Cecilia glanced down at herself to see that her black bra was indeed very visible from underneath the pale pink colour she had transfigured on her blouse. She sighed, grabbed her wand again, and then magicked her bra the same colour as her shirt so that it was no longer conspicuous.
"Better?"
"Not really, no. I actually think I preferred it the other way."
She rolled her eyes at him and pressed a quick kiss to his chin, "Get some trousers or pyjamas on and then you can make me some breakfast before I have to head out."
Louis kissed his girlfriend's nose, summoned a pair of pyjama pants to him, and once he had them on he grabbed Cecilia's hand and dragged her out of his room and to the kitchen of his flat.
"Toast? Oatmeal? Cereal? Eggs? Fruit?" Louis asked as he gestured for her to sit on a stool at the kitchen counter while he headed towards the cupboards and refrigerated cabinet.
Cecilia smiled at her boyfriend as he looked through his cupboards sans-shirt, "Some toast with jam would be enough."
"Coming right up."
The toast was just popping out of the toaster when the other renter of the flat exited his room; he was wearing a completed set of pyjamas at least, which Cecilia wasn't sure if she appreciated or disliked. Baxter's red hair was messy from sleep and he still had creases from his pillow on his left cheek. He glanced blearily between Louis and Cecilia before taking a seat on a stool next to the latter. The first words out of his mouth were to ask Cecilia where she had to go so early in the day. She repeated her statement about needing to stop by Malcolm's; but made sure to keep the details as to why vague since Baxter did not yet know about Nadia's pregnancy.
Louis set a plate piled with toast and a pot of jam on the counter between Cecilia and Baxter, and then he started making tea for the three of them.
"So any new wedding date prospects?" Cecilia asked Baxter cheerily as she began spreading jam on a slice of toast.
Baxter rolled his eyes at her and took a piece of toast, "Not since the last time you asked, no. And why exactly would you think that my response would change in two days?"
"You work in Diagon Alley, which is full of witches and wizards. I'm sure there's lots of lovely women out there who would be ecstatic if you asked them out on a date," Cecilia clarified.
The redhead rolled his eyes for the second time that morning, "It seems like you've got at least one specific witch in Diagon Alley in mind for me Cee-Cee."
She shrugged, "Anybody who shoves their tongue into your mouth when you get stuck under mistletoe with them is probably amenable to going on a date with you."
"And you would consider somebody who would shove their tongue into my mouth when I get stuck under mistletoe with them as an appropriate date for Victoire's wedding?" Baxter retorted before taking a large bite of toast.
"I think Victoire would agree that anybody you choose to bring as your date will probably act appropriately enough during the night," Cecilia told him with a smug smile.
Baxter rolled his eyes for the third time, "And I think that you're nosey."
"Last week I was nosey," Cecilia agreed as she accepted a cup of tea from Louis, "But since Victoire gave me veto power on yours and James and Freddie's dates, I am now just trying to complete the very important job the bride has entrusted upon me."
"You may be letting the power get to your head Love."
"Piss off Louis you already have a questionably appropriate date for the wedding. We're talking about Baxter right now," She chided her boyfriend before turning from her boyfriend and rounding on said boyfriend's cousin again.
Baxter snorted and glanced at Louis, "And people wonder why I don't want to follow in your footsteps my dear cousin, and find myself a meddlesome young woman like yours."
"I think a little meddlesomeness is exactly what you need," Cecilia told him as she ignored his dig at her.
Louis finally sat down on the stool on the other side of Cecilia, "I agree Bax, I think finding someone who will turn your life upside-down is exactly what the Healer would order."
"Well not all healers are as prying as Victoire is," Baxter muttered as he picked up his mug of tea and took a long drink.
Cecilia picked her mug up as well and eyed Baxter overtop its rim, "You've got sixty-five days and counting Bax."
"Thanks for the reminder Cee-Cee."
9:15 AM
Victoire Weasley would have been bouncing on her toes if the expensive-looking ankle boots she was wearing on her feet didn't make that particular action almost impossible. As it was she was still too hyped-up to sit still so she was spending her time pacing a short distance up and down the hallway to try to use up her excess anxious energy.
The two men sitting down in chairs next to the empty seat that was meant for her, did their best to hide their indulgent smiles as they watched her work out her anticipated nerves.
"Everything will go fine Victoire," Healer Shawn McDavid reminded his protégée kindly as the younger Dark Arts Reversal healer kept up her circuit of pacing, "If they were going to tell us to take all of our work on our spell and jog on, they would have told us that a year ago when we started this whole process. They're not going to do it now when we're so close to the end."
Over the past almost year and a half Victoire and Healer McDavid had made a lot of headway in what had started out as a research project to create a spell to heal scars caused by dark magic. Through their hard work they had created a spell that not only made the healing of previously unhealable scars possible, but they also discovered that the spell might be able to be put to use to heal a wide range of injuries caused by dark magic before the scar had time to set in. It took a while to sort through all of the legal issues and spell certification steps required by the Ministry of Magic, but together Victoire and Healer McDavid put the work into jumping through all of the hoops the ministry had set out.
They were there that day to get their spell finally certified for use for healing scars caused by dark magic, and to see about issuing a new proposal to study the use of the spell in healing injuries caused by dark magic during the initial healing process instead of after scars had already formed. They knew that their new additional proposal would take a lot more time to push through, and would require several more years of trials, but they believed that their spell could be used for more immediate care than they had originally intended it for in their original proposal from more than a year ago.
"But they could still certify our spell for use on scars and allow us to complete more widespread clinical trials on it while also denying our second proposal to research the use of the spell during immediate healing emergencies," Victoire reminded Healer McDavid.
"If the ministry can't see that your spell works wonders for healing a wide range of injuries caused by dark magic than they're fools. Not that that revelation would surprise me at all," Draco Malfoy told Victoire with an expression that was somehow both supportive and imperious.
It never ceased to amaze her that there was such a wide variety of facial expressions that it seemed only people who had been sorted into Slytherin were able to utilize. She wondered if the skill was some sort of Slytherin rite of passage that was passed down throughout the descendants of the house and only taught to the students of said house.
Victoire nodded at her fiancé's cousin, "Thank you again for joining us today Draco. You didn't have to."
"Despite how brilliant you are Victoire, you are wrong about that. A few hours of my time is a small price to pay for what you've given me . . . or more accurately, what you've taken away," Draco said in a quiet tone.
Healer McDavid pretended that he couldn't hear the exchange going on between the two as he knew first-hand how difficult it was for certain Slytherins to thank someone they didn't want to feel dependant on. Victoire smiled softly at Draco but chose not to spend too much time on his gratitude as she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately they were soon called into the office of the ministry official they were there to see, and it didn't take the three long to get settled into the official's office, or for Victoire and Healer McDavid to start discussing their projections and plans for when their spell would get past the latest hurtle.
"So once you give the spell its final authorisation today, we can move to our next stage of widespread trails which –as you can see by the paperwork we have here– has already been green-lit by St. Mungo's Dark Arts Reversal ward," Healer McDavid was explaining as he handed several documents over to the ministry official.
The official took a minute to scan the paperwork Healer McDavid gave him, "Everything looks like it's in order for that . . . it says here that Healer Weasley will be mostly in charge of recruiting subjects for the test trails completed at St. Mungo's?"
"Yes, Healer Weasley is in charge of arranging test trials at the hospital while I will be focusing on searching for unique cases to test the spell on to ensure that it will be functional on a variety of dark magical injuries," Healer McDavid added.
Victoire handed the official another sheet of parchment, "Since I still have daily full-time responsibilities in St. Mungo's D. A. R. ward I will perform the majority of the healing spells and fill out the initial paperwork for the test trails at St. Mungos', while Healer McDavid will be in charge of analyzing the majority of the data and checking in with the subjects at a later date to record possible after effects."
"Sounds like everything is in order here then," The ministry official said with a nod, "Will you also be training other healers to be able to use the spell during this test trial phase?"
"We think more consistent trials need to be conducted before we can determine what would be the best way to teach other healers how to utilize the spell properly," Healer McDavid explained.
The ministry official nodded again, wrote a note down for himself, and then asked if there was anything else either healer wanted to address.
Victoire shared a look with Healer McDavid, and then the latter handed the official the paper proposal for getting their spell clearance to be used in dark arts healing situations prior to scar production.
"So you believe that this spell could be used in many cases to heal injuries caused by dark magic directly after the injury occurs?" The ministry official asked them.
Victoire thought her next words over very carefully, "We believe that it could be very helpful in situations where it's difficult to pinpoint the exact dark magic used or for curses where there are no direct counter-spells."
"Do you truly believe that the spell is strong enough to work on recently created injuries?"
Healer McDavid and Victoire were prepared for a question the question. They began pulling out the visual documentation they had of their spell's effectiveness. Healer McDavid made a point to show that the spell was proven to work on healing scars caused by many different dark magics, and Victoire made eye contact with Draco and gave him a light nod.
"We have also had success with the spell working on magic as malevolent as a dark mark," Victoire told the ministry official as she pushed a previously taken picture of a dark mark on a pale arm across the surface of the table.
Despite the photo being just that, a photo, the official gave the slowly moving image of a skull and snake a cautious look.
"Your spell made a dark mark disappear?"
Victoire cleared her throat quietly and Draco held his left arm out and pulled up his sleeve to show the bare skin of his arm. Expecting a few moles on his pale skin that exactly matched the photo, Draco's forearm was clear of scars of any type.
The ministry official swallowed thickly and looked at Draco without making direct eye contact, "That was your arm?"
"Yes, Healer Weasley cured the scar more than a year ago and I've yet to have any adverse after effects because of it," Draco explained in his usual authoritative tone that still also somehow sounded slightly bored.
The official nodded his head and looked through the other visual evidence of the spell's success, glancing back at the picture of the dark mark and at Draco's bare arm every once in a while as he did so.
"This proposal of course would require a similar process as to what you've already completed with the original iteration of the spell. It could fast-track towards clinical trials quicker of course, but final spell approval to allow it to be used throughout the continent may take longer as identifying all possible side effects of the spell being used in drastic emergencies situations will require many more trials," The official warned them, it seemed that their evidence had convinced him to at least give the new proposal a chance.
Neither healer seemed surprised by his announcement. Healer McDavid pursed his lips, "We had presumed as much. Although we would like certification to allow both myself and Healer Weasley to be allowed to use the spell in emergency situations for this suggested new iteration of the spell so that we can start gathering basic data for this new proposal. We will of course have potential emergency subjects sign informed consent waivers as we would with any of the test subjects who would encounter this spell for scar-removal use."
"I believe I should be able to push that type of emergency experimental spell use paperwork through rather quickly since it is only asking for permission for two healers to be allowed to do so," The ministry official explained.
Healer McDavid smiled brightly, "Brilliant!"
9:47 AM
Louis glanced at his partner to make sure that he had followed him to the right house after they had apparated to the street a few seconds before, seeing as Louis was the one that had the address of the house they were interviewing at in his possession. Agent Westcott was about five years older than Louis, and even though Louis had seen the agent around the Department of Magical Law Enforcement several times over the last two years, he had never had the opportunity to work with him until they were paired together that morning to look into the owled-in-complaint they had been assigned.
As Louis had just finished training less than a year ago he was still always paired with a more experienced M. L. E. agent whenever he was allocated an assignment, so he figured it was only a matter of time before he'd be assigned to work with Agent Westcott.
"Would you like to take the lead?" Louis asked Agent Wescott as the younger man came to a stop just at the front door of the house.
Agent Westscott, who was only about an inch or two shorter than Louis and who also had blonde hair, shook his head, "No, you can go ahead and take the lead. Owled-in complaints like these are usually pretty simple and by-the-book."
Louis nodded and then knocked on the door twice. The owner of the home answered it right away, he must have been waiting for them, and invited them inside after Louis introduced himself and his partner as Agents Weasley and Westcott from the department of Magical Law Enforcement and showed him their badges. Once inside the home Louis efficiently explained the reasoning for their visit and re-read note they had allegedly received from the home owner via owl earlier that morning to make sure that they were all on the same page.
"Yes that is correct," The home owner said once Louis had finished reading the note, "There were a lot of loud screaming and growling noises coming from my neighbour's house last night. It was a full moon last night, and I am aware that Mr. Smedley is a werewolf and that he usually transforms in his home in some sort of safe-room."
"Then may I ask why last night in particular caused you to contact MLE if this happens every month?" Louis enquired of the home owner.
The home owner nervously rung his hands together, "Well, you see usually the house is rather quiet on nights with a full moon. This was the first time I heard such noises and I was understandably worried about Mrs. Smedley and their children."
"Are you suggesting that Mr. Smedley might have injured some of his family members last night?" Louis asked in a no nonsense tone.
The neighbour shook his head, "I don't know if I'd go that far . . . I saw both Mrs. Smedley and both the children outside at some point already this morning and they all seemed fine. I just can't get the noises from last night out of my head they seemed so . . . unnatural."
Louis shared a look with Agent Westcott, who nodded and then addressed the home owner, "Thank you for your information Sir, we will perform a welfare check on your neighbours to make sure that everything is fine."
They exited the house soon after and as they crossed the street to get to the Westcott's house Louis spotted two very familiar aurors leaving a house directly to the right of the Smedley home. Louis waved his arm in the air to get the aurors attention and they met him and Agent Westcott at the mouth of the walkway that led to the Smedley home.
"Hello there Weasley," Auror Hayden Summers addressed Louis cheerfully as his partner nodded at the younger MLE agent, "What brings you to this neighbourhood?"
Louis gestured to his partner, "Agent Westcott and I were assigned to inspect a complaint from across the road. The neighbour's worried about the Smedley's here and wants us to essentially do a welfare check."
"Interesting," Kurt Williamson said with pursed lips, "We were also assigned to inspect a neighbour complaint about the Smedley home. Did your neighbour mention ominous sounding screaming and animalistic growling from the night before? This neighbour's worried about dark magic of some sort."
Agent Westcott folded his arms across his chest, "It seems that our neighbour was more well-informed. The neighbour said that Mr. Smedley is a werewolf and that the screaming and growling is not usually ordinary even during a full moon. He said that the other members of the house seemed fine upon first glance but he still wanted us to check it out."
Hayden nodded, "That makes sense. If sounds like that aren't normal for Mr. Smedley something else might have happened last night. Although it is also likely that the man just went through a difficult transformation."
"In that case we can always just hand this case off to MLE and have them send us their follow up notes when they're finished," Kurt suggested with an easy going shrug.
Hayden rolled his eyes at his partner, "You really dislike this grunt work don't you? We're not just going to hand off our assignment to Agents Weasley and Westcott just because we're rather certain that nothing concerning dark magic has occurred. We still need to know for sure that nothing else happened, and then we can leave the case to MLE."
"Why not?" Kurt asked, "MLE agents are used to boring assignments like these since they're unqualified for much more." The last part was said with a teasing wink in Louis's direction.
The part-veela MLE agent rolled his eyes, "Ha, ha, ha. As if that trope hasn't already gotten old from all the times I hear it from Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron during Sunday night dinners. I chose to apply for the department of MLE instead of applying to the Auror Department on purpose, not because I tried and failed at the latter."
"I still don't know how Shacklebolt let you get away with not sending at least one application to our department," Kurt told him.
Louis shrugged, "Kingsley's nowhere near as frightening as he makes all of you think he is."
"Anyway," Hayden said coming back to the main case at hand, "Kurt and I'll join you two in checking in on the Smedley's until we figure out who'll get final jurisdiction. Teamwork and inter-department cooperation's been a big theme that Jilly and Ted have been trying to drill into the trainees recently and she'd probably have our heads if we acted in a way that they're trying to stamp out of their trainees."
Agent Westcott nodded and gestured for the aurors to lead the way. At the front door Louis and Hayden stood closest while their partners stood behind them. Hayden knocked on the door and after a few moments a tired looking woman answered the door with a slightly guarded suspicious expression on her face, "Yes?"
Hayden introduced himself and Kurt as Aurors Summers and Williamson from the Auror Department, while Louis identified himself and Agent Westcott as agents from the department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hayden explained that two of the woman's neighbours had owled in reports to their respective departments about hearing worrisome noises coming from the house the night before and that the neighbours were concerned for the occupants' welfare. Louis asked if they could come in to further discuss the issue, and Mrs. Smedley let them in even though she looked rather harried.
She politely offered them tea which all four declined, and she left the room for a moment to collect her husband as she knew that they would want to talk to him. When Mrs. Smedley came back with her husband Louis tried to keep his expression cool. Mr. Smedley looked drawn, sickly, and he had wounds on the visible skin of his hands and face that looked as though they had only just closed up a few hours prior. It looked as though just breathing was hurting the poor man, and if they hadn't had the tipoff about Mr. Smedley suffering from lycanthropy Louis would have been able to figure it out just from seeing the man's condition so soon after a full moon.
"Mr. and Mrs. Smedley we will do our best to make this quick, some of your neighbours have expressed their concerns for members of this household because they heard a lot of screaming coming from this house last night," Louis said gently but with authority, "Now, Mr. Smedley we were told that you suffer from lycanthropy?"
Mr. Smedley nodded mutely.
"How long have you suffered from the disease Sir?" Hayden asked the man as Kurt pulled out a notepad to make begrudging notes.
"It's been just over three years now," Mr. Smedley explained in a hoarse voice that was barely more than a ragged whisper.
Louis nodded and wrote a few notes of his own, "One of your neighbours also said that you usually transform in your home Mr. Smedley."
"Yes," Mr. Smedley coughed to clear his throat but he only succeeded in making his voice sound raspier, "When I first . . . contracted the disease the ministry's Lycanthrope Support Services division of the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures came here and helped turn the basement into a protected transformation space for me to use. They followed all of the rules required to create one, and I've used it each and every month since."
"Good," Louis said with another nod, "Mrs. Smedley do you and your children stay here during full moons while your husband's transformed in his safe-space?"
Mrs. Smedley shook her head, "No. Lycanthrope Support Services explained that it was safe to do so, but our children and I always spend the night away at my husband's parents' home. We don't come home until the next morning after the sun's risen."
"Are your children here now? Just so that we can ensure that we saw all of the residents of the house with our own eyes?" Hayden asked the parents.
Mrs. Smedley nodded hurriedly and left the room to find their children. She came back not two minutes later with a five-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl. Both children seemed shy but Kurt had soon charmed them enough to allow him to get close enough to them to do a cursory inspection that was enough to confirm that both children were in good health.
"Your neighbours originally owled our departments because they were concerned after hearing the noises that they did last night. It's obvious that the noises came about from your transformation but they indicated that noises like that weren't common even during full moons," Louis explained.
Here Mr. and Mrs. Smedley shared a guilty look and Mr. Smedley frowned, "Last night's transformation was worse than the others . . . that is probably why the noises were so conspicuous to our neighbours."
"Is there a reason why your transformation last night was more difficult for you?" Hayden asked with just the right tinge of curiosity.
Mr. Smedley coughed again, "Last night was the first time since I contracted lycanthropy that I did not consume a Wolfsbane potion."
"Is there a particular reason why you did not take the potion? It couldn't have been because you preferred not to," Louis asked boldly. He knew that there were a very select few lycanthropes who preferred not to take the potion for their own (and in Louis's opinion ridiculous) reasons, but Mr. Smedley was a family man who didn't seem as though he would chance risking the pain or his family by not taking the potion.
The husband and wife shared another guilty look, "This month was the first time that my potions' insurance company has refused to pay for my Wolfsbane potion. I get mine and my family's potions' insurance through my work and it usually covers everything we need; it's covered the potion for the past three years in fact. About a week and a half ago we received a notice from the insurance company that they were no longer going to cover the expense of the potion."
"What about the ministry's Wolfsbane subsidizing program?" Westcott asked. It was the first time he'd spoken since they entered the house.
"Our household income is too high to qualify for the subsidizing program," Mr. Smedley explained.
Hayden titled his head a little, "Were you unable to purchase a potion from an apothecary?"
"We tried to, but all of the apothecaries we visited told us that the price of the potion had risen because of added expenses and the potion was too expensive. Normally we'd scrounge up the money and make some sacrifices, but we had issues with our heating earlier in the month that was an unexpected expense, and then both the children hit a growth spurt and needed new shoes and cloaks . . ." Mr. Smedley's words trailed off and he looked down at his feet. He seemed ashamed to admit that they'd been unable to afford the potion that month.
"Circumstances and unexpected expenses happen," Louis told Mr. Smedley sympathetically, "Do you be believe you'll be able to access the potion for next month?"
Mr. Smedley shrugged his shoulders, "Hopefully whatever shortage the apothecaries had that raised the price will be solved. Unfortunately I missed work yesterday, today, and probably for another day at least because of my injuries from the night before, so there will be a few less days on my paycheck this month."
"I've also had to take some time off to care for my husband," Mrs. Smedley admitted sadly, "But I'm sure we can make it work. We've got twenty-nine days to figure something out."
She was trying to be optimistic because in their situation it was either that or getting a head start on worrying for another month.
Hayden thanked the couple for allowing them into their home and answering their questions, and then he and Agent Westcott handed Mr. Smedley their business cards and contact information. After the four men exited the house Kurt glanced at Louis questioningly.
"How much exactly does a dose of Wolfsbane potion cost from an apothecary?"
Louis frowned as he considered his words, "I'm not exactly sure actually. Every few months we all give Ally a bit of cash when she needs to buy a new stock of ingredients for it. I'm sure she makes it at cost though and doesn't take into account the cost of her work or time."
"Good point," Kurt said with a nod. He reached out to shake Louis and Agent Westcott's hands, and at his side Hayden did the same and stated, "Since this case is not directly related to dark magic, you guys get to write up the report and file it. You can send us a copy when you're done so that we can file it away with the original complaint we received."
The two aurors apparated away soon after that and Louis told Agent Westcott that he'd write up the report when they got back to the ministry.
10:45 AM
"Alright," Jilly called out to the room filled with the assembled group of first-year auror trainees. The trainees, who had been working on an assignment in small groups and who had been creating a fair amount of noise fell silent upon hearing her voice, "It's a little early but we're going to take our break right now so that when we come back we have the rest of the day left for uninterrupted work."
The trainees trailed out of the room in only a slightly quieter fashion, and Teddy noted that the younger O'Toole seemed to be much more popular with his fellow trainees that day ever since it had been announced that he had been the only one to complete the exercise from the day before without getting caught by muggle agents. O'Toole had successfully talked himself into the muggle intelligence building without using any magic on any muggle, and in doing so he had not only earned the respect and envy of most of the other trainees, he had also been put on record as the only person to complete the exercise twice in one single attempt.
Teddy waved his wand to erase the words written on the board behind them and then he and Jilly then escaped the 'classroom' so that they could grab some tea and go back to their shared office where they wouldn't have to stare at their trainees for at least an hour.
Their partners Kurt Williamson and Hayden Summers were already in their shared office space when Jilly and Teddy walked in, and as Teddy sat down on his chair Jilly asked the other pair if they had gotten up to anything fun yet that morning.
"Not really," Kurt replied with a shrug, "Just practicing out inter-department cooperate with MLE."
Teddy rolled his eyes, "That doesn't sound very encouraging."
"Actually-" Before Hayden could announce that the endeavour had been completed rather successfully because of Louis's presence the door to their office opened and Auror McKenney and an unfamiliar man about a decade older than Teddy entered the office.
"Lupin excellent, just the person I was looking for," Auror McKenney announced pleasantly with a nod to the metamorphmagus.
Kurt pouted at the older auror, "How come I'm not the person you're looking for?"
"Williamson no one ever purposely goes looking for you," McKenney told him with a roll of his eyes, he then turned to face Teddy specifically, "Auror Lupin I'd like to introduce you to Orrel Combs, Orrel this is Auror Ted Lupin."
The man with Auror McKenney –Mr. Orrel Combs apparently– smiled brightly at Teddy and reached forward to shake his hand enthusiastically, "It's an absolute pleasure to meet you Auror Lupin."
"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. Combs," Teddy replied politely but with a lot less enthusiasm than the other man had displayed.
"Wait," Hayden interrupted as his face took on a slightly dazed expression, "Are you the Orrel Combs? The author?"
Mr. Combs nodded at Hayden, "I take it you've heard of me?"
Hayden started nodding his head rapidly, "Your books are brilliant. My favourite is your Solomon Sophus the Seer series."
Upon hearing the name of the titular character in Mr. Combs's most famous literary series, a memory of the name on the cover of a book Victoire had bought for Molly that last Christmas flashed through Teddy's mind.
"Isn't that the series where the character is an obliviator and can see the future?" Teddy asked Hayden.
"So you're familiar with my work as well?" Mr. Combs questioned Teddy excitedly.
Teddy put a neutral expression on his face, "I believe one of my cousins is a big fan, although I can't claim to having read any of your books yet."
"That's quite alright Auror Lupin," Mr. Combs said cheerily, "I'm actually rather pleased that you don't have any preconceived notions about me or my writing one way or another."
Teddy wanted to give the man an odd look because of his weird words, but he refrained since the author seemed to be a friend of Auror McKenney's.
"Perhaps you could explain to Auror Lupin why I've introduced him to you Orrel," Auror McKenney said in a brisk tone that was meant to remind his friend that all of the aurors were still officially on the clock.
"Yes, of course," Mr. Combs said as he clapped his hands together in glee, "Since I've finished the Solomon Sophus the Seer series I've been looking for inspiration for my next novel series. I decided that I wanted to do something about an extraordinarily talented auror. I met your supervisor Auror McKenney years ago when he was scheduled to be my security for a function of some sort and we've been friendly ever since. I contacted him when I decided on creating an auror character and began asking him for advice on how best to develop my character. My first thoughts were to write about an auror who was extremely talented at Legilimency, then one who was an animagus, I even contemplated someone who was half-vampire and had all of the power and speed but none of the blood-lust until I came upon the perfect character trait: a metamorphmagus."
Even though Mr. Combs didn't need to explain much more because Teddy knew now why Auror McKenney had decided to introduce the author to him, Mr. Combs continued on in his same delighted tone of voice.
"So when I mentioned wanting to write about an auror who was also a metamorphmagus and asked McKenney how a person like that would fit into that position, he very helpfully explained that he actually had a colleague who was both a metamorphmagus and a brilliant auror and I became intrigued. I asked him if he would do the honour of introducing us so that I could ask if you would allow me to interview you once or twice so that I could ask you about your abilities and how they coincide with your position in the Auror Department."
Mr. Combs took a breath and then sent Teddy a hopeful smile, "So, would you be amenable to helping me flesh out my character Auror Lupin? I would be very grateful for the help and I would of course officially recognize any help or support you give me during this writing process."
Teddy took a few minutes to consider Mr. Combs's words. While he did have a bit of a healthy if not slightly irrational fear of agreeing to be interviewed by authors about his own life and exploits (something Harry had always warned him about even though Ginny would argue that not every author was as despicable as Gilderoy Lockheart) he would rather Mr. Combs's write about a metamorphmagus auror factually than just with whatever stereotypes were flying around about people with his abilities. He also realized that he had a lot of extra time on his hands in the upcoming months while he was assigned to training duty, so he figured that a few interviews with Mr. Combs about his powers might break the monotony a little.
"I'd enjoy answering your questions and helping you create your character Mr. Combs," Teddy told the author politely.
Mr. Combs reached out to shake Teddy's hand again, "Oh thank you, thank you Auror Lupin! This is wonderful!"
11:14 AM
After Victoire and Healer McDavid's successful meeting with the ministry official, Victoire profusely thanked Draco for coming with them to help convince the officials that their spell was valid. Her fiancé's cousin waved off her thanks a little embarrassedly and then quickly left the ministry. Healer McDavid and Victoire shared a high-five, and then the elder healer left to file the paperwork the official had given them during that meeting. Victoire made to go with him, but Shawn insisted that she go on and spend the rest of her day off getting caught up on paperwork for her full-time job, or even on a few last minute wedding planning details.
The mention of the words 'wedding planning' had Victoire frowning and dragging her feet as she wandered through the ministry towards the general direction of the building's exit. When she got into the lift she only travelled down one floor before the doors opened up and let a sour-faced employee into the gilded box. As the person took their sweet time to enter, Victoire curiously glanced out of the lift and into the hall. When her gaze caught sight of an absolutely humongous line of people on the floor she instinctively stepped out of the lift and onto the floor that held the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
The large line of people were waiting outside the open door of the division that held Lycanthrope Support Services, and Victoire slowly walked towards the large cluster of tired looking people. Being the day after a full moon, several of the people lined up must have suffered from lycanthropy themselves as they had an exhausted look about them that only someone who had turned into a werewolf the night before could have. Others in the line didn't seem quite as fatigued or beat-up, but from the worried looks on their faces it was obvious that they were no less invested in whatever they were there to do than if they themselves had lycanthropy.
Just before Victoire was able to enter the office that held Lycanthrope Support Services, the door swung wide open and a woman in her thirties stalked out. Victoire jumped aside so that she wouldn't get into the woman's way, but upon a second look she realized that she recognized the woman.
"Mrs. Norton?"
The woman stopped at hearing her name and automatically turned to glance at Victoire.
"Healer Weasley?"
Victoire nodded at the woman. Mrs. Norton was the wife of a patient with lycanthropy that Victoire had met with the week previously, and Mr. and Mrs. Norton had discussed with her, among other things, the unfortunate circumstance that the ministry's Wolfsbane subsidising program was changing and had made it difficult for people from a lower level of income to obtain the potion every month.
"Hello Mrs. Norton–," Victoire started in a conversational tone only to stop once she saw the completely broken look on the woman's face, "Is there something wrong?"
Mrs. Norton took a deep breath, "It's–it's nothing you need to worry about Healer Weasley."
Victoire didn't buy it, "If there's something wrong that will end up affecting Mr. Norton's health I would like to know."
Mrs. Norton looked very worried. She glanced over her shoulder as if to make sure that there were no ministry employees around, and then she said quietly to Victoire, "My husband has prescription potions and salves that we use on him the day after a transformation to help with the injuries he accumulates and the sore muscles, and we get them with funding that Lycanthrope Support Services gives out specifically for post-moon treatment."
Victoire nodded at her words, she was very familiar with the system after all.
"After I helped patch him up from last night I ended up using all of the after-care potions and salves we had in stock so I came here to request more," Mrs. Norton continued, "However after standing in line almost all morning and waiting until I finally got the chance to speak to someone they told me that the department is reassessing how they are going to fund potions and such for post-moon treatments and that until they made an official decision about it they are suspending all funding for the program."
Victoire had started grinding her teeth together before Mrs. Norton had even finished her explanation. Once the lady was finished Victoire began to ask her a few more questions that Mrs. Norton unfortunately was unable to answer. She did however find out from several people standing around in line near them that many of them were also there to discuss the rumour about the funding for post-moon treatment being cut-off. Many others were there to complain about their eligibility for the Wolfsbane subsidising program being changed, and after only about fifteen minutes of discussion with those poor people Victoire excused herself and marched her way into the office and to the front of the line.
She interrupted the ministry employee who, by the sound of the bits of the discussion Victoire had gleaned upon her arrival at the front desk, was just about to tell the man standing in front of her the exact same and unhelpful spiel about the temporary block on funding that Mrs. Norton had been given.
"Excuse me," Victoire said without an ounce of apology, "But could you please explain to us why the department has decided to cut this funding?"
The man standing next to her seemed shocked at her sudden appearance, but judging by the scars and premature lines and wrinkles on his face, he was too tired to question what she was doing. The ministry employee across the desk from the man on the other hand looked both shocked and immediately had their guard up. Which, all things consider, Victoire thought a good position for the employee to take since she was definitely ready for a fight and that the employee would be stupid to not recognize the look on her face.
"Is there something I can do to help you Miss-"
"Yes," Victoire said doing her best to hold back an eye roll, "There is. You can answer mine and this fine man's previous question about why the post-moon treatment funding has been cut off."
The woman frowned and swallowed thickly, "The funding hasn't been cut off. The funding has just been frozen until the department head can reassess and redistribute-"
"And how long will that take?" Victoire interrupted the woman again.
The employee scowled at Victoire and gave her a hard stare, "I can record down your name if you would like to file some sort of complaint Miss-"
"Healer Weasley," Victoire supplied for her as she crossed her arms over her chest, "And I would like to know exactly when your department decided to freeze the funding and when you expect it to be back. This is information that is imperative for myself and other healers at St. Mungo's to know since it directly interferes with us providing care to our patients. I'm shocked that nobody from your department has informed us about this yet."
She knew that she was laying it on a little thick considering that she hadn't been to the hospital yet that day and didn't know for sure that the Ministry hadn't informed her ward or another yet about the changes. However, considering that all of the people in the very long line she had skipped were unaware until they got to the ministry about the change in funding, she was fairly certain that the ministry department had yet to inform anybody about the funding changes.
"If you would like to make an appointment with one of my superiors, Healer Weasley," The ministry employee said with a bit of a sour look on her face, "And come back at a later date to discuss the particulars of these funding changes, please feel free to. Unfortunately this is all of the explanation I can offer you or anybody else at this time."
While Victoire would have liked to make an appointment for the very next day, she knew that she would have to wait until Monday at the earliest. She was to work a full day in the D. A. R. ward on Friday, and during the weekend she had her bridal shower in France to deal with. On Monday she worked the evening shift at St. Mungo's so she'd have time during the day to attend an appointment at the Ministry.
After making a very firm appointment to speak to one of Lycanthrope Support Service's higher ups, Victoire turned her back on the poor employee at the front desk and huffed away. She found Mrs. Norton again at the door that functioned as both the entrance and exit for the office.
"Does Mr. Norton have any particular complaints about his body post-transformation? Perhaps I could offer a different type of post-moon treatment that is more cost-effective," Victoire inquired.
Mrs. Norton looked thoughtful, "I know that a lot of his pain stems from his scars and that most of the potions and salves we used the funding for was to address those pains. I don't see how you could come up with an alternate treatment course for those."
Victoire did her best to hold in a huge smile upon hearing Mrs. Norton's words, she didn't want the woman to think that the idea of her not being able to treat her husband made her happy. Or that she just had a habit of smiling at weird times.
"Treatments are continuously evolving Mrs. Norton. I'd think it would be very beneficial for your husband if he contacted the hospital to make an appointment with me sometime in the next week. I even work a few night and evening shifts this week if that makes it easier," Victoire suggested helpfully.
Mrs. Norton nodded but Victoire wouldn't leave until she made the woman promise that she would ensure that her husband do so. On her way out she distributed some business cards with her name and the department she worked for at St. Mungo's on it, out to some of the people waiting in line who seemed to be the most in need.
6:59 PM
"SHIFT YOUR CENTRE OF GRAVITY AND ADJUST YOUR POSITIONING FIVE DEGREES TO THE LEFT!"
"OKAY, NOW EXTEND YOUR RIGHT ARM HIGHER AND BEND YOUR ELBOW MORE!"
"WHEN THE QUAFFLE COMES TO YOU THE NEXT TIME TRY A GRIERSON-HOBBS CATCH!"
Katie Bell-Wood lightly drummed her fingers on the quaffle she was holding and turned to face the woman who, even though she was almost a whole foot taller than her, seemed to have been yelling in her ear for the past half hour at least.
"Cassano, you do realize that it is practically impossible to complete a Greirson-Hobbs catch with the magnitude of arm extension you just suggested, right?"
Nadia Cassano took her eyes off of the flying form of their newly minted starting centre chaser who was currently idling forty feet in the air above them and glanced at the other woman, "But he needs to be able to do both at the same time to make up for the deficiencies caused by his bad catching habits."
"Right-wing chasers are taught to catch differently than centre or left-wing chasers, his skills are not bad habits," Katie reminded Nadia for what felt like the sixth time that day, "Once he gets better at catching across his midline and works on strengthening his throwing from his non-dominant arm he'll get better. This is only his second day training in the position."
The tension in Nadia's shoulders released a little with Katie's reminder, but she was still rather stiff as she said, "But until those abilities strengthen he'll need to master a Grierson-Hobbs catch with that arm extension-"
"When was that last time you ate Nadia?" Katie asked her, switching to using her first name to indicate that she was wearing her friendly façade and not her professional one.
Nadia frowned in confusion, "Noon. But I don't see why-"
"You're hangry right now Nadia, and if you aren't the baby definitely is," Katie explained with an indulgent smile, "And we've been at this for six hours straight. Everyone else went home an hour ago when normal practice ended, and James has been here at the pitch for over twelve hours already today. I think we're done for now."
"But-"
"And you're getting frustrated and stressed, and stress is not good for you or the baby. It's time call it a day. And you and Malcolm are travelling to Italy to tell your family about your pregnancy tomorrow, and I'm not going to allow you to delay that because you were out too late the night before and were too exhausted to portkey," Katie added.
Nadia didn't exactly agree with the first part of Katie's statement, but she couldn't ignore that she was tired, hungry, and that the shouting voice necessary to communicate her advice to Potter up in the air was starting to make her blood pressure rise. The Nadia Cassano from a month before would have been insulted to have someone insinuate that she didn't know her own feelings or limits. The Nadia Cassano who was presently a human incubator and who was filled with so many more hormones than normal didn't quite know how to react. She wasn't used to having such quick mood swings and the idea that she wouldn't be able to control them for the next several months scared her.
The only thing she thought she could do at that moment was to take a deep breath and think about things sensibly. Katie had spent much more time training players to play the position of centre-chaser than she had, and while Nadia wasn't dim in any sense, coaching someone to play a position was very different from actually playing that position. If Katie's advice was that everyone was finished for the day, than that was probably the best call that could have been made.
She did her best to ignore Katie's jibe about her uncanny ability to find excuses to not travel back to Italy and tell her family about her pregnancy. Her original plan had been for her and Malcolm to travel to Italy on Tuesday directly after they announced her pregnancy to her team, but she convinced Malcolm that they should push their travels back a day so that she could see James's first practice in her position and give him some starting advice.
Her second excuse to push their travel day all the way to Friday had been more flimsy, but Malcolm had acquiesced because he was honestly too frightened of her aforementioned mood swings to argue with her about it. He finally put his foot down about ensuring that they'd portkey to Italy first-thing Friday morning though, to at least inform her parents and her friends Dante and Annalisa Azzarà about her pregnancy if only because his article announcing her pregnancy to the wider wizarding world was due to be published in Quidditch Weekly's next issue which was slated to be published that upcoming Saturday.
Neither Nadia nor Malcolm wanted her close family and friends to find out about her pregnancy via the media, and as nervous as the couple was about telling her family (and Dante) and about it they knew that things would go much worse if they didn't inform her family about the pregnancy in person. Nadia was, understandably, worried about her parents' reaction to her unintentionally getting pregnant, while Malcolm was most worried about Nadia's childhood friend Dante's reaction to him having been the one to unintentionally knock Nadia up. In the past his girlfriend would swear that Dante was only ever putting on a disapproving façade just to get a rise out of Malcolm, but a part of Malcolm was always worried that there was some sort censure that ran deeper than that of a man just taking the piss out on an English bloke who was dating his childhood best friend.
Katie put her whistle to her lips and blew out a high-pitched sound that signaled to James Potter and Eason above them (the second-string left-wing chaser who had been recruited to help James practice by continuously lobbing the quaffle at him in an easy arc) that practice was done for the day.
Eason was grateful to be given an out and he scurried away quickly, James on the other hand looked tired but seemed to be fueled by a single-minded determination that both Katie and Nadia had to respect.
"I'm still good to go for a little while longer," James told both women ingenuously.
Katie patted the dark haired young man on the shoulder, "And we appreciate that dedication James, but it really is time to pack it in. I've got to get home to make sure that Oliver didn't poison Brogan with whatever he made for dinner tonight, and Nadia needs to go home and get ready for her trip tomorrow."
James nodded and eventually sauntered away of the pitch and into the locker room. He showered quickly, changed into street cloths, and then pulled his muggle mobile phone out of his locker as he thought about how quickly he could scrounge up something to eat. Fortunately, his phone contained a text message from Freddie from about an hour earlier explaining that he was going over to Baxter and Louis's flat for take-out, and that if he (James) could pry himself away from his broom at some point before eight o'clock that they'd save him some. James immediately sent Freddie a message saying that he had just finished and would meet him there.
It didn't take long to apparate to the building that held Louis and Baxter's flat, and when he got inside and knocked on the door of his cousins' flat he wasn't surprised to see Cecilia Wood open the door.
The dark haired girl, who really did look a lot like her mother, smirked when she saw the exhausted Puddlemere player, "Finally escaped Nadia did you?"
James stepped into the room and removed his muddy trainers, "Your mother convinced her to end our practice before her rising blood pressure could become dangerous for the baby."
Cecilia noted the wry sarcasm in James's tone, but she knew that there must be a ring of truth in it.
"Did your practice not go well?" She asked as she led James out of the small foyer and into the open concept living room/kitchen space.
Louis, Baxter, and Freddie were sitting in the living room and were in the middle of a conversation but they all sent him some sort of wave as Cecilia further led James into the kitchen where they were keeping food under a warming spell for him.
James picked up the take-out container his cousin's girlfriend had gestured to and opened the lid to peek into it while he answered, "I'm exaggerating a bit. It didn't go poorly, it just didn't go as well as either myself, or Nadia it seemed, wanted it to."
"It's only your second day of practice in that position," Cecilia reminded him in a manner that was scarily reminiscent of Katie, "And Baxter and Louis both had a hankering for Greek, so that's what we ordered. I hope that's okay."
As a professional quidditch player James had quickly learned that after a long day of practice there was no such thing as being picky when it came to food. He would have eaten anything at that point, but was quite glad to see that they had order Greek and that someone had very thoughtfully (either Baxter or Cecilia he guessed) ordered him something healthy with lots of vegetables and only a moderate amount of empty carbohydrates.
"I know, I just thought I'd be showing more improvement by now. And thanks, I love Greek food," James told Cecilia as he accepted a fork from her.
Cecilia rolled her eyes at him, "Sounds like you've been taking advice from my father."
"I just want to do a good job," James defended after he finished chewing his first bite of food, "I'm young and I've got the energy to practice hard, I just need the guidance and the time to practice."
His cousin's girlfriend summoned a glass and began to fill it with water, "Are my mum, Nadia, and the other coaches not giving you enough of that?"
"They're amazing, as expected of course, I just know that I can do more."
"You need time to rest too," Cecilia reminded him as she handed him the glass.
James took another bite of food and chewed thoughtfully, "I know that. And I will have more time to rest once I get my catching across my midline up to scrape and get better at throwing with my non-dominant arm. But until I get there I need to practice three times as hard, and unfortunately I need to be coached as I do it so that someone can pick up on the mistakes that I don't notice I'm making."
"Which I totally get, and I'm sure both Mum and Nadia understand that too."
"But your mother has a five-year-old at home to worry about and Nadia's growing a new human being. They don't need any more on their plates than they already have," James said as he stared down despondently at his take-out.
Cecilia pursed her lips as she inspected James, "Forgive me if this sounds too obvious, but why don't you ask your mother for help with extra practice. Ginny also played centre-chaser professionally for years and your parents have a regulation-sized quidditch pitch in their backyard."
James groaned at her suggestion and set down his take-out, "We've tried that every night since I found out that I was being given the chance to play Nadia's position. I know that it's only actually been two nights, but I think she would agree with me in saying that that experiment was doomed to failure and that it would be best for our relationship if we never attempted it again."
"That bad huh?" Cecilia asked sympathetically. She knew better than anyone how hard it could be taking direction from a parent about quidditch or how to do better at their job. She could only imagine how difficult it would be to take direction on both at the same time.
"I love Mum," James stated sincerely, "But we are way too similar of personalities to be able to work with each other like this. It seems that I don't take direction well from her, and she does not take suggestions from me well."
Cecilia snorted and effectively lightened the mood, "That's understandable. I get it. Trust."
And she did.
The only reason she preferred to play the position of chaser, even when it was for fun, was because she got much more out of Katie's quidditch teaching style than she did Oliver's. In fact, both Cecilia and Oliver were amazed that Cecilia could play the position of keeper so well considering that each keeper training session her father had tried to implement over the years for her had ended so disastrously. Just like Cecilia had difficulty taking direction from her father because their personalities were so similar, James seemed to have the same problem with Ginny. Unfortunately for James, his other parent was not a centre-chaser with the experience to give him the right direction and advice, but a seeker whose quidditch experience was completely different and unhelpful for the specific task ahead of him.
"Thanks . . . but I'm still in the same situation as before. I need additional practice on top of my Puddlemere practice, but I need someone to train with who knows the position intimately," James explained as he picked his take-out back up.
Cecilia pursed her lips and seemed thoughtful for several minutes as James scarfed down half of his meal.
"I have a suggestion that might help you . . ." She said slowly, her eyes shewed that her mind was still busy with whatever she was plotting, "But it might take a while to put into effect. I'll look into it and then text you about it later."
James swallowed a mouthful of food, "Are you going to tell me what this suggestion is?"
"I'm going to find a new person to coach you on how to be a proper centre-chaser, preferably someone who doesn't have young or unborn children to worry about, or any life at all actually," Cecilia mused as she started to tap her fingers on the kitchen counter.
"You don't have to do that for me," He told her quietly.
She shrugged, "I don't mind helping. Especially if it means keeping Nadia's blood pressure below boiling and at a safe level for the baby."
"Fair enough," James said with a nod.
Cecilia gave him a smile, punched him lightly on the shoulder, and then he followed her out of the kitchen –the remainder of his take-out in hand– and into the living room where Baxter, Louis, and Freddie's conversation had somehow (but not exactly surprisingly) turned into an argument.
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, please leave me a review to let me know what you thought of this update.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas/Holiday season!
Next Update: Not quite sure, I have to finish writing it first.
Next Chapter: Victoire's bridal shower takes place in France, so we get to see lots of her family members.
I want to thank everybody who has followed, favourtied, read, and especially reviewed. Just a little reminder for those who review anonymously, if you leave me a question in your review I'd like you to attach some sort of pseudonym or identifier to it so that it's easier to reply to you here.
BIG thanks yous as always to:
carbo21, Break This Spell626, Jily71102, TheAmazingElle, Saagarika, lovelyjello, CrackHeadBlonde, Guest (1), HufflepuffDADA, Guest (2), Guest (3), MF, bookstar97, audrey3horses, Guest (4), LilyGinnyLunaMcGonagall, Izzy, Guest (5), Chikthepotterhead, rosesnlilies, Guest (6), and Guest (7).
Break This Spell626: Yes, well judgy is one of Linkwell's main character traits.
Jily71102: NAdia's pregnancy will be publicized by the next chapter. In the story she had only just announced to Puddlemere that she was pregnant on the Monday, and the chapter of the kids in Hogwarts was on that next Wednesday.
TheAmazingElle: Don't worry, I totally understood where you were coming from :)
lovelyjello: And thank you for the lovely review.
audrey3horses: Since next chapter is Vic's bridal shower, I'm sure we'll see Eliza and Rowan pop up for a little bit.
LilyGinnyLunaMcGonagall: Welcome to my wizarding world, I hope that you enjoy the ride!
Izzy: Thank you for another wonderful review! And I think you know me well enough to trust that any dangling plot threads leftover from previous stories will be addressed one way or another at some point in this story ;)
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter,
I want to thank everyone for waiting patiently for this update,
Please leave me any questions or comments you have in a review or PM,
I'm wishing everyone a happy and safe end of the holiday season and a Happy New Year,
Until next time, DFTBA!