A/N: Hello everyone, I'm super sorry that this update has been so late. I'm staying at home during this quarantine, and even though I'm laid off my mother is still working from home and I've become her unpaid intern/tech support/assistant. She doesn't require my help all the time, just each time I try to get back in the flow of writing. Although as far as inconveniences go, I'll take it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Warning: There's a little bit of language in here. Also, it takes a hard turn towards drama.
Recap: Vic and Dom got arrested in France for trying to help a man who'd been attacked and then arrested. Greg Line got them out of holding and then he and Colton got all of their charges dropped. Dom flirted with Greg only to find out she wasn't his type, and then she tried to set him up with someone else. Teddy and Jilly are still training their trainees and an author named Orrel Combs is spending time with Teddy because he plans to write a novel about a metamorphamgus auror. Louis and an MLE agent named Westcott had a cross-over a few chapters back with Kurt and Hayden as they all ended up addressing a call about a werewolf who apparently went through the last full moon without having access to the wolfsbane potion.
Strong Emotions
Tuesday, April 30th 2024
5:53 AM
"Can I get like triple the caffeine in that?" Victoire asked the guy in charge of the beverages at St. Mungo's canteen and tea room.
The man looked down at the cup of tea he had in his hand and frowned, "It's not even six am yet Healer Weasley."
"That's why I need at least double the caffeine, I need to make it seven more minutes until my shift is over," She explained as she took the cup from him.
He nodded, "Ah, night shift. My next question would be how you've made it through the night without visiting me until now."
Victoire tapped her fingers against the cardboard cup, "I've been trying to cut back on my caffeine consumption."
The man raised an eyebrow at her and gestured to the cup of tea she'd –only somewhat jokingly– asked to be infused with extra caffeine.
"Obviously it's been a rough road," Victoire continued.
He laughed with her and then wished her good luck with the rest of her shift. Victoire turned to take her cup of tea back with her to her ward floor when the door to the canteen opened and she ended up coming face-to-face with Healer Spencer Green.
"'Morning Spence," Victoire greeted her friend from healing school in between a loud yawn.
Spencer Green snapped his fingers, "Beauty Queen, just the incredibly smart part-veela I was looking for. Why did I get a really weird text from your sister yesterday at like three o'clock in the afternoon? I was in the middle of my shift so I didn't see it until later and by then I was worried about how I should reply."
Victoire groaned when she realized that even though she had convinced Dom to let Greg travel back to France without getting set up on a date, Dom still wasn't going to let the issue go.
"What'd the text say?"
"How would you feel about moving to France?" Spencer recited without having to even pull out his mobile phone to read it.
Victoire was grateful at least that Dom didn't come out too strongly in her message, "The truth Spence, is that Dom's got it in her head now to set you up with a bloke who lives in France."
"Is he cute?" Spencer asked idly.
"Extremely attractive. Do you remember Kyle Line's cousin Greg from Kyle and Sandra's wedding? The guy you and Dom were drunkenly fighting over at the reception?"
Spencer's eyes squinted a little as he tried to think through his memory to Kyle and Sandra's wedding from a few years ago, "Tall, blonde, strong jawline, spoke English without an accent?"
"Yes."
"I'd consider a first date but I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say I'd move to France for him without at least finding out how much he likes early 2000's muggle pop," Spencer told her after he considered it for a few seconds.
Victoire shrugged, "Fair enough."
"Why would she assume I'd move to France anyway? I'm the healer that only speaks one language. He speaks English, why can't he move here?" Spencer asked dramatically.
Victoire pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why don't you ask him on your date?"
"Because that would make me seem clingy," Spencer replied as if it should be obvious.
"I've got two minutes left in my shift, I don't have the brain capacity to work in bizarre hypotheticals at the moment," She told him.
He pouted, "But I thought you were trying to hook me up?"
"Wrong sister. You'll want to speak to the redhead about it," She replied, "I don't have the time for one more thing on my plate."
Spencer looked at her worriedly, "Are you so sleep deprived that you're delirious? You love getting involved in everybody's business."
"I'm trying to avoid some of those bad habits," She told him.
"You definitely need sleep," He assured her with an authoritative nod of his head.
Victoire glared at him, "Don't worry, I'll definitely get some at some point today."
"Excuse me?"
"I need to do some research into dark magic that could cause a man's internal reproductive system to essentially liquefy in his body; slowly sterilizing him and potentially killing him in the process," Victoire described.
Spencer automatically flinched upon hearing her words, "Who are you planning on getting revenge on?"
"It's for academic research," She replied with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm definitely missing something here. This is what happens when we don't get the chance to speak to each other for like three days in a row," He mused.
Victoire took a sip of her tea, "Did Cassidy or Sarah not tell you about my getting arrested on Sunday?"
"No!" Spencer cried, "I'm definitely missing something. What are you even-"
She sighed and interrupted him, "I'm not in the brain space for this right now Spence. Ask Cassidy or Sarah about it, both of them know enough about it to clarify it for you."
"Fine," Spencer pouted, "But you need some sleep before you start looking into dark curses that should never have been invented in the first place."
"Fine," Victoire agreed.
As much as she wanted to find out what spell caused Jérôme's injury –and whether there was a counter-curse for it that didn't involve her own spell– she had promised Teddy that she'd start taking better care of herself, and that involved getting at least a few hours of sleep in after she'd completed an all-night shift.
9:38 AM
Teddy glanced at Jilly and they shared a look and a sad nod before going back to watching their trainees duel each other. Since their practice the day before had been so abysmal, they had scrapped most of their classroom lessons for the rest of the week so that they could get their trainees the practice they so desperately needed. At the moment they made the trainees switch their duelling partners every ten minutes to keep them engaged and active.
"What do you think about making them duel in pairs, and then in uneven numbers next?" Jilly asked Teddy as she idly watched a pair complete a few minutes of duelling that contained mostly stunning and shield spells.
Teddy pursed his lips, "That sounds good, only I think we should make everybody else stand back and watch the groups that go up. It'll-"
"Put pressure on them to know that they're being watched and they'll work harder," Jilly finished for him, "I'm on the exact same page."
"Excellent."
"Would that not also put added anxiety on the duelers though to know that their peers are watching them?" Orrel Combs asked the pair of aurors curiously.
The author had asked Teddy if it was possible to shadow him a bit to get a feel for what he does on a daily basis. Teddy had explained to him that at the moment he was training the younger aurors-in-training and that it wasn't necessarily his normal routine, but Orrel didn't seem phased by that and asked if it was possible to watch. After getting permission from Auror McKenny –and Jilly, since Orrel would technically be watching her as well– Teddy invited the author to watch their duelling practice.
Orrel was very excited to be able to watch the duelling practice, specifically since he figured that it was the closest he would get to witness an actual auror fighting in the field. He also seemed to enjoy meeting Jilly and picking her brain on what it was like to be a female auror.
"The additional pressure is a good indicator of how they would react in the field when there would be a lot more pressure placed on them," Teddy explained to the author.
Orrel nodded understandingly and then wrote down some of his thoughts in the little notepad he had brought with him and hadn't yet closed during the entire duelling session. He then turned to Jilly, "So as far as being assigned desk duty because you're pregnant goes, how does training aurors rank on the list of desired assignments?"
"I was surprised to hear that this was an option, but I like the challenge that it represents. It also allows my mind and body to stay active which I would have missed being immediately assigned to desk duty," Jilly explained, "Working with Ted as my partner in training this lot is also a plus. We were in the same training courses and we've worked closely together over the years so we know we work well together."
"And how did you end up teaching the trainees Auror Lupin? Did they decide that they needed you more here than in the field?" Orrel asked Teddy.
Teddy smiled wryly at Orrel, "Actually I've been regulated to training duty because I'm getting married at the end of June and my supervising aurors wanted to ensure that I didn't get hit with an active case that could take me away for the next few months. They also wanted to keep the danger level at a low until after I get the chance to say 'I do'."
"That's very thoughtful," Orrel remarked.
"Or controlling," Jilly muttered under her breath only loud enough for Teddy to hear.
"Would you two mind dearly if I asked you some personal questions? I always wondered how aurors are able to fit romantic relationships into their lives since they have such busy schedules," Orrel asked the pair of aurors.
Jilly glanced at Teddy and told him that it was up to him to answer the questions first.
"Of course Mr. Combs," Teddy told Orrel.
Orrel smiled, "So you're engaged then Auror Lupin?"
"Yes."
"Do you find that keeping up a relationship is more difficult as an auror than it would be if you were in a different profession?"
Teddy pursed his lips, "Being an auror is a very big commitment and hard on the aurors and their families. Long periods of separation like my sixth month stint undercover was difficult, but I believed that we could survive it, and we did."
"Have you been with your fiancée long?" Orrel asked.
Teddy smiled softly, "We've been dating for seven years."
"That is quite a long time," Orrel remarked with surprise, "So you've both spent a lot of time in your relationship growing together?"
Teddy nodded, "Yes, and we were friends before we were in a romantic relationship so we've been through a lot together."
"That's very sweet," Orrel remarked, "Although not exactly dramatic or novel-level captivating. Is it too much for me to hope that your fiancée's got a glamourous occupation like being a Siren's Secret model?"
Jilly held in a snicker and Teddy smirked, "Unfortunately no. She's a full-time healer at St. Mungo's."
"So she's a smart cookie then?" Orrel queried with a friendly smile.
"Very smart," Teddy replied lovingly.
Orrel turned to Jilly this time, "And how do you and your husband make it work?"
"My boyfriend's almost as busy as I am with his job so there's no angst over my having strange work hours," Jilly explained.
Orrel jotted her words down on his notepad, "Interesting. Both your significant other and Auror Lupin's significant others work jobs where they're very busy in addition to your own busy schedules. Very interesting."
Teddy and Jilly shared a bit of a worried look, but before they could get too worried about what Orrel might do with their words, their attention was called back to their trainees as it was time to inform them of the slight changes they were going to make to the training exercise.
11:45 AM
Louis was just on his way to the floor's lift, so he could leave the ministry, when Agent Westcott happened upon him.
"Taking an early lunch Weasley?" Westcott asked in a tone of voice that Louis couldn't exactly decipher. It didn't sound accusatory, but nor did it sound completely nonchalant.
Louis figured it was best to be completely honest, "I'm actually heading out to a couple apothecary shops. I wanted to check in with them and see about Mr. Smedley's claims about wolfsbane potions going up exorbitantly in price."
"I thought I we officially closed that case last week when you finished the paperwork?" Westcott asked with another perfect poker-face.
The younger MLE agent nodded unabashedly, "We did, and I don't have any plans to reopen the case . . . but I thought that if I had a bit of extra time once I'd finished my morning paperwork that I could just do a bit of research at the apothecaries on Mr. Smedley's claims."
Agent Westcott pursed his lips, "Hmmm, that's a very straightforward notion. Would you mind if I joined you?"
Louis was slightly taken aback by Agent Westcott's question; he didn't expect to get in trouble for his actions –there weren't any rules against his plans, they were just a little unorthodox– but he also didn't expect Agent Westcott to suggest he join him.
Any personal feelings Louis might have felt for Agent Westcott aside, he knew that if an agent above him in the MLE hierarchy asked to accompany him on a task related to a case they shared, he didn't really have the option to say no. Louis nodded at Agent Westcott and they were both nearly silent as they travelled to the first apothecary on Louis's list.
There was a little tinkling bell above the door to the first apothecary door they opened, and it echoed loudly as they both walked through the front door. Louis introduced himself and Agent Westcott to the woman manning the front counter of the shop; Westcott seemed to have chosen to watch and stay out of Louis's way.
"Do you have a few moments to answer some questions for me?" Louis asked the lady after he slipped his badge back into his pocket.
The lady nodded and Louis jumped right into his questioning.
"I've heard that lately the price of Wolfsbane potions has gone up, is that true?"
The lady let out a long sigh, "We tried to only raise the price as much as was necessary, but it has increased by about fifty percent."
Louis's eyes almost popped out of his head, "By fifty percent? That's several galleons. Why has the price increased so much?"
"Last month our supplier for several of the plants needed to create the potion had a shortage. It cost much more money to receive the little that we would could get, so we needed to increase the price of the potion to account for the more expensive ingredients," The lady replied soundly.
"I understand," Louis began, it wasn't difficult to grasp the concept of supply and demand, "But was it not possible to get the ingredients from another supplier?"
The employee frowned, "That would have been easier, but unfortunately all of the other suppliers we were able to contact also had a shortage and they had a difficult time supplying plants for the contracts they already had let alone extra for us."
"So other apothecaries had the same issues?" Louis asked.
"Yes, as much as the price of our potion went up all of the other apothecaries in the area also increased their potion by that much because they also had trouble getting the same ingredients. The supplier said something about there being a difficult season for most of the plants necessary for the potion," The lady explained.
Louis collected all of this information in his mind, "What about this upcoming month? Will you be able to get more plants for the potions now?"
"No, unfortunately my supplier has even less than last month. I checked with all of the other suppliers and they're almost at zero as well. I've resorted to finding a new supplier from America, but it will cost more because I have to get them flown in and everything else," The female employee complained.
The blonde MLE agent hid his look of surprise much better this time, "Were there no suppliers in continental Europe that would be cheaper to get materials from?"
"Most suppliers in Europe gave me the same responses, their supplies had dwindled and whatever they had available was already spoken for. It seems that the shortage is going to be long-lasting."
"But these American suppliers are not having the same issues as the European ones are?" Louis questioned.
The lady sighed, "Some of them sounded as though they had problems as well, but one in specific said that their plants were still in good condition and that they would ensure to supply me with the amount I need, even though it might cost more."
"May I ask the name of this one supplier from America?" Louis asked curiously.
"I don't know if I can quite remember the name . . . but there's a business card here somewhere from them," The lady mused as she opened a drawer behind the counter and kept searching through it, "Ah, here it is."
She handed Louis the business card, and he read the words Nova's Magical Conservatory. The name rang a few bells in Louis's head, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint why. He made a duplicate of the card and shoved it into his robes before thanking the lady for her time and taking leave of her.
Agent Westcott followed after him quietly, and they apparated to another apothecary on Louis's list so that they could cross-check the first apothecaries claims with another one. It only took a few minutes within the second apothecary for Louis to realize that the owner had been in the same situation as the lady from the first apothecary: a dwindling supply of plants to make the Wolfsbane potion, an increase in the market price of the potion, a continued plant shortage for the upcoming batch of the potion, and no suppliers able to offer them the plants needed except for one Nova's Magical Conservatory from America. Louis and Agent Wesctcott visited five more apothecaries, all of them describing almost identical stories, before Louis decided to stop and assume that all of the other apothecaries in Wizarding England were having the same issue.
In the alleyway next to the last apothecary they visited Louis pulled out his mobile phone and searched through his contacts for a specific name.
Agent Westcott leaned against one wall of the alleyway and watched Louis interestedly. Even though he'd been a constant physical presence during Louis's investigation, he had yet to intervene in any specific way.
"What are you doing now?" He asked curiously.
"I'm going to call my cousin Ally. She works as a potioneer at St. Mungo's and if St. Mungo's is also having a shortage of plants needed to make the Wolfsbane potion she would know," Louis explained before pressing the 'call' button on his phone.
Luckily for Louis, back at St. Mungo's Ally was in the middle of her lunch break so she had her mobile phone on her.
"Hi Louis."
"Hey Ally," Louis replied, "I've got a few questions for you, which might sound weird, but I'd appreciate an answer either way."
"I'll do what I can," Ally's voice on the other end of the line replied.
"Is there a shortage of plants needed to make the Wolfsbane potion at the hospital?" Louis asked.
"You're right, that does sound weird. My answer however, is no. We don't have a shortage, our supplier sent the exact amount we needed for this month," Ally responded.
Louis pursed his lips, not that Ally could see, "And what supplier does the hospital receive their plants from? I've visited some apothecaries today and it turns out that a lot of them are having difficulty getting those specific plants from their own suppliers."
"St. Mungo's has their own greenhouse suppliers that only supply healing hospitals and clinics. They don't supply commercial apothecaries," Ally explained.
Louis thought that that was something at least, that St. Mungo's would be able to make Wolfsbane potions without the same problems the apothecaries were having.
"Alright, one more question. Have you ever heard of Nova's Magical Conservatory in America?"
There was a pause on the other end of the mobile before Ally replied, "Oh yes I have! One of our potioneering students Kelly Green –she's actually Spencer Green's cousin from America– used to work there before she started potions school here."
Louis thanked Ally for her help and then hung up. Despite the new addition of Spencer Green's cousin having worked at the conservatory in America, Louis couldn't pinpoint why he'd heard the name of it before. Westcott couldn't give Louis any answers as to why he'd heard it before, but the younger MLE agent was still wracking his brains as he and Westcott apparated back to the ministry. They had just entered he lift to take them back to their floor when Louis's mobile phone began ringing.
He noted Ally's name on the caller ID before answering the call, "Ally did you forget some-"
"Why were you asking about Nova's Magical Conservatory Louis?" Ally's voice snapped in a tone that sounded incredibly stressed out.
"It has to do with this shortage of plants to make Wolfsbane potions, why?" Louis asked.
He could hear a very heavy sigh issue from Ally's end of the phone, "This isn't good."
"What isn't good?"
"I just asked Kelly about the conservatory, since you'd brought it up and everything, and as she told me stories about how she used to work there she mentioned that a very rich and powerful family were silent owners of the conservatory, and that that family is named Holmwood."
Louis closed his eyes and groaned before they snapped open again and he moved his hand to press the lift button to take him to the Auror Department instead of the MLE offices.
"Don't worry Ally, I'm on my way to the Auror Department now. Is Kelly suspicious about the questions you were asking?" Louis said into the phone.
"No," Ally's voice replied with a smidge of relief even though she still sounded tense, "She didn't seem to realize the significance of the family's name, and then she went on to tell me a humours story about a tourist who got too close to the Brugemannisia."
Louis saw that the lift had almost taken them to the Auror Department, "Thanks for letting me know about this Ally. I'll call you later."
"You better," Was all she said as a goodbye.
His mobile was barely in the pocket of his robes before Agent Westcott finally started asking questions.
"Why are we on our way to the Auror Department now?" Agent Westcott asked with a raised eyebrow.
Louis met the gaze of the agent and remembered that the other man was only about six years older than her was, "You don't have to come with me, I've just discovered something from Ally that might mean this case is now Auror Department territory."
"If this case is now something important enough that you want to clue in the Auror Department than we can't just hand it over to them," Westcott argued.
"We don't need to argue about jurisdiction, this could be important-"
Westcott frowned, "Has anything happened that could be considered dark magic?"
"Not exactly–but if these certain people are involved then-"
Agent Westcott interrupted him, "Until dark magic has been confirmed it is still our jurisdiction. You're allowed to inform the Auror Department of information that may pertain to their own cases, but I think I should be with you to supervise."
Louis frowned but knew better than to argue with the more senior agent. The doors of the lift finally opened to the busy Auror Department and Louis stepped off onto the floor with Westcott following close behind him. Louis avoided the front desk that was placed just across from the bank of lifts and walked further into the department. He knew exactly where he needed to go.
When he got to the closed office door Louis knocked quickly two times and waited for one of the people inside to open the door.
Auror Hayden Summers opened the door and immediately looked at both Louis and Agent Westcott in surprise, "Something I can do for you?"
"I just found out about something that's connected to the Holmwoods," Louis told him without preamble.
Hayden's eyes hardened upon just hearing the name of the extensive wizarding crime family, "Come inside."
Inside the office already, and doing paperwork at his desk, was Auror Kurt Williamson, the other two desks in the room were empty. Kurt glanced at the two MLE agents with mild surprise as Hayden closed the door behind them.
"Give Kurt and I the details," Hayden told Louis as he grabbed a piece of paper off his desk and began writing down a quick note.
Louis cleared his throat and summarized, "I visited a couple apothecaries earlier today to see if there was any truth in Mr. Smedley's claim from last week that the price for the Wolfsbane potion went up. Almost all of the apothecaries told us that there is a continuing shortage of the plants necessary to make the potion, and that there are very few suppliers left in Europe that still have those plants in stock. Almost all of the apothecaries have needed to go to an American source to get their ingredients now, but it will keep the potion twice as expensive. This American supplier is called Nova's Magical Conservatory."
It didn't shock Louis to see that both aurors recognized the name of the conservatory before even mentioning its connection to the Holmwoods. Kurt frowned and muttered something under his breath upon hearing the name of the conservatory. Hayden had finished his note, folded it up into the shape of a paper aeroplane, and then sent it off out of the office to whoever was to be the recipient. It wasn't until the aeroplane was already gone that Louis realized that he might be sending a note to Teddy.
"I called Ally to see if St. Mungo's was also having a shortage of these ingredients, but she said that St. Mungo's has their own suppliers that are different from the commercial suppliers and that their stock was fine. I also asked her if she ever heard of Nova's Magical Conservatory, and she said that they have an American potions student at the hospital right now who used to work there, but that was all. She called me back only a few minutes later to tell me that she'd found out from that student that Nova's Magical Conservatory is owned by the Homlwoods," Louis continued.
Both aurors grimaced once more at hearing the Holmwood name, and Kurt asked, "What else does Ally know about it?"
"Nothing else; the minute she heard their name she called me back. She won't dig anymore into it, probably, but she does expect me to contact her later and tell her that there's nothing to worry about," Louis said.
"Of course," Kurt muttered, "Bloody nosy Weasleys."
Agent Westcott, who had been quiet since they saw the two aurors, pursed his lips in curiosity, "What's so important about this conservatory and that name?"
"How long have you been an agent with the MLE?" Hayden asked Agent Westcott.
"Seven years," Agent Westcott replied quickly.
Hayden nodded, the only MLE agents who knew about the Holmwoods were the ones who were involved in the case back during Victoire's last year at Hogwarts. Agent Westcott would have been in his first year of training with MLE and wouldn't have been involved in the case.
"The Holmwoods are a family that we aurors keep an eye on, any information about them comes directly to us," Hayden explained.
Westcott glanced at Louis peculiarly, "How come Weasley knew to come here and tell you?"
Before anyone else could respond the office door opened and Teddy walked into the room, "Jilly and I played Rock, Paper, Scissors over who would have to stay behind and wrap up the trainees' duelling practice for the morning. She'll be here in about twenty minutes when she lets them go for their break-"
Teddy shut the door behind him and then his words cut-off as he eyed all of the people in the room, his gaze locked on Agent Westcott, "Westcott."
The pure disdain in Teddy's voice as he said the MLE agent's name shocked the other two aurors in the room, but it didn't surprise Louis.
Agent Westcott sent Teddy a matching glare to the one he was receiving from the metamorphmagus and folded his arms across his chest, "Lupin."
The MLE agent said Teddy's name with the same amount of derision as Teddy had, and the two entered a staring contest.
Kurt and Hayden shared a confused look and then they glanced at the only person in the room who didn't seem puzzled by the waves of contempt rolling off of both men.
"Did we miss something?" Kurt whispered to Louis.
Louis let out a short sigh, "Westcott is Victoire's ex."
"What?" Kurt asked a little too loudly while Teddy and Westcott continued to glare at each other in silence. They were measuring each other with their gazes.
"By ex you mean . . .?" Hayden trailed off.
"Victoire and Adam dated when she was in her fifth year. She fell hard and he broke her heart," Louis summarized quietly.
Kurt's eyes bugged out of his head, "What? She was in love with someone before Ted?"
"She thought she was," Louis replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
Hayden and Kurt had barely a few seconds to grasp what Louis had told them before Teddy and Adam Westcott finally decided to end their direct staring contest.
"What are you doing here?" Teddy asked Westcott curtly.
Louis supplied an answer before Westcott could say something that might anger Teddy, as pretty much anything he might have said probably would have, "Since he was my partner for the case we worked on together last week he came with me during my research trip. Have you been read in on our inter-agency adventure last week?"
"Hayden and Kurt told me about it yes . . . they neglected to mention who your partner was though," Teddy told Louis but not without sending Westcott a glare at the end.
Kurt shrugged, "Couldn't remember his name and didn't think it was important."
Louis then went on to explain his and Agent Westcott's morning excursion, complete with his call to Ally and Ally's call back.
"Is that all Ally found out about the Holmwoods? She didn't do any more digging did she?" Teddy asked Louis concernedly once he heard the whole story.
Louis shook his head, "According to her, Kelly Green mentioned the Holmwood connection in passing and Ally pretended not to care about it until she could slip away and give me a call."
Teddy let out a worried breath of air, at least he knew that Ally was, at the moment, avoiding getting into the mess, "And this is all the information you know at present?"
"Yeah, I know what's happening doesn't sound like much –or even anything illegal– but when I heard their name I figured that chances were they had to be up to something," Louis explained.
Hayden nodded, "Always a good assumption. It might be something as innocent as sabotaging plant yield in Europe to increase the demand and cost for their own supply of those plants, or it could end up being something more complex that could endanger a lot of people. We'll have to look further into it and see."
"But who are the Holmwoods?" Westcott tried again to get more detailed information out of the group.
Teddy replied quickly, "That's above your security clearance."
"But it's not above Weasley's?" Westcott asked as he glared at Teddy.
Louis tried to calm their tension, "I found out about it on my own."
Which was somewhat true, everyone in their family knew about what actually happened to Victoire during her seventh year and the crime family that was behind it. She didn't want anybody in the family to be unaware of how dangerous the organization could be in case the Holmwoods still held a grudge against her for not being as easy to kidnap as they thought she might be. Which Teddy and her uncles didn't find to be too crazy of an idea.
"So no one's going to tell me why this is so serious?" Westcott asked petulantly.
Teddy rolled his eyes at him, "No."
Hayden and Kurt shared a look that said that they were both concerned with how the normally cool and collected Auror Theodore Lupin was showing so much obvious anger towards the MLE agent. The only other person they had seen him act quite so callously towards was Richard Lassoder once they'd found out that he was actually J. P. Holmwood.
Westcott glared at Teddy again, but before the room could completely fill up with the tension radiating off of the two men there was a brisk knock on the closed office door. Hayden frowned at the door and muttered something under his breath about 'how weird it was for Jilly to be knocking on her own office door' and skirted around the stiff forms of Teddy and Adam Westcott so he could open the door.
Hayden's eyes widened in shock at who was standing on the other side of the door, but somehow his brain sent the signal to his body to make him shuffle away from the door so that the politely smiling woman in front of him could step into the room.
After sending Hayden a tired but cheery smile in greeting Victoire Weasley's gaze began a sweep of the room so that she could look for her fiancé. Since Teddy was the closest person to Hayden she spotted him right away and her inspection of the room didn't go much farther than that. Victoire skipped the few feet towards him and immediately began babbling.
"Hey Babe, remember that book on medieval healing I got from Grimmauld Place that you confiscated from me a year and a half ago?" Victoire asked Teddy with a single-minded determination that he was immediately suspicious of.
"The one that held that spell you wanted to use to help Cecilia out with her– problem?" Louis asked aloud as he vividly remembered Victoire discovering an old healing tome that contained the painful spell she had –only somewhat jokingly– offered to cast on Elijah Martell after she'd found out that the man had tried to assault Cecilia.
Victoire's head twisted around with an audible crack when she heard her younger brother's voice, "Yes, exactly that one. What are you doing here?"
Before Louis had the chance to reply Victoire's gaze shifted to take in the other occupants of the room that she might have overlooked. As her blue eyes swung passed Kurt there was expectation in them instead of surprise at seeing the other auror, but they widened with disbelief and shock once they rested on Adam Westcott.
Victoire's body spun around so she could directly face Westcott and she pointed her finger accusingly at him.
"You."
The tone of pure hatred in Victoire's voice made a shiver of fear travel down Hayden, Kurt, and even Louis's spines and her hands started to emit a pale blue light that was quickly amping up into flame.
"Hello Victoire," Westcott said in a plain tone of voice as he nodded nonchalantly at her.
"Don't you ever say my name again," Victoire warned the man as the small licks of flames on her hands began to turn into a roiling blaze that was slowly beginning to make its was up her wrists towards her forearms.
Louis took a few steps towards his sister, he figured he was probably the most flame-resistant of the group, and reached for his sister as if he was ready to pull her arms back in case she started to accidentally –or on purpose– shoot flames at her ex-boyfriend.
"Vic maybe-" Louis's warning was drowned out by Westcott.
"I think you're being a little dramatic right now," Westcott told Victoire in his same tone of forced nonchalance as his eyes switched between looking at her flaming hands and her face.
The blue fire on her hands increased in intensity as she heard Westcott's words, "You think I'm being dramatic do you?"
Louis eyes her hands worriedly and glanced at Teddy, he caught the metamorphmagus's eye and mouthed the words 'a little help here?' and nodded his head towards Victoire. Teddy folded his arms across his chest and shook his head minutely. Louis narrowed his eyes at Teddy and let out a huff of exasperation.
"If you want to see me being dramatic, I'll show you dramatic," Victoire very clearly threatened Westcott. She turned to fix her stare on Hayden and Kurt, "Hayden, Kurt, what would you do if your mothers met me for the first time and called me an 'attention-seeking slut'?"
For once Hayden was speechless and Kurt knew the correct thing to say, "I'd tell her that she was being ridiculous and that you're one of the most clever and upstanding people I know."
"Ditto," Hayden was finally able to add.
Victoire spun back around, the blonde hair of her ponytail flying wildly, and went back to glaring heatedly at Westcott, "See. Even they know what the correct thing to say would have been, and I've never even snogged them!"
Since Kurt had just won some good-will with Victoire he decided to see how far he could push his luck, "So what exactly happened then? Could we take a time-out so that everyone in the room can get on the same page?"
Westcott glared at the nosy auror but Victoire, who was still feeling both irate and vindictive, freely explained, "Adam was my boyfriend in my fifth year. At Easter break I went to meet his family for the first time, and directly in front of me his mother said that she thought I was a slut, and that I'd end up cheating on him. He's such an easily swayed momma's boy that it was easy for her to convince him to chuck me because of her hateful words."
"Pathetic dude," Kurt told Westcott with a slow shake of his head, "Truly pathetic."
"And grossly hypocritical," Teddy snarled not-so-quietly as he continued to glare at Westcott. His gaze had darted every few seconds towards the steady blue embers of anger on his fiancée's hands, but he didn't seem too worried about the relatively high chance there was of her throwing a fireball at her ex-boyfriend.
Westcott scowled at Teddy with a harsh expression, "Well it certainly cleared the way for you didn't it? I made it very easy for you to swoop in and become her prince charming."
"Teddy sincerely cared about me as a person and my wellbeing. He didn't make me fall in love with him while at the same time only thinking about how quickly he could convince me to jump into bed with him," Victoire said with such a chilling ferocity that it made Hayden and Kurt take an automatic step away from her even though they were far from the subject of her ire.
Westcott glared imperiously at her, "Are you quite sure about that?"
Victoire's mouth popped open, "How dare you. I can't believe I actually spent even one minute crying over you all those years ago!"
"He's not denying it," Westcott said as he pointed arrogantly at where Teddy stood.
Teddy scoffed, "I'm not rebuffing your claims because Victoire knows better than to believe them and her opinion is the only one that matters to me."
"How sweet," Westcott sneered, "You weren't quite so level-headed back when you attacked me after Victoire and I broke up."
"What?" Victoire asked, the flames around her hands and wrists suddenly disappearing with her surprise upon hearing what Westcott had said, "What are you talking about?"
Westcott glanced at Victoire, "Oh, did the love of your life not tell you that he attacked me unprovoked just a few days after our breakup when we were back at Hogwarts?"
Victoire turned her gaze to Teddy confusedly, "Is he lying?"
"No," Teddy replied with an eerie calm that bordered silent fury, "He's mostly correct, although I'd debate the 'unprovoked' part."
"I didn't do anything to you," Westcott argued.
Teddy glared at him, "It's not what you did to me –besides breaking my best friend's heart– it was what I overheard you bragging about to your friends just before I broke your jaw."
Kurt muttered the word 'whoa' upon hearing Teddy freely admit that he broke Westcott's jaw, and Westcott himself looked frightened. It was the first time he had allowed himself to express dread since Victoire had walked into the room.
"What? Not going to try to defend yourself?" Teddy asked sarcastically.
"Oh are you actually giving me a chance to now?" Westcott spat angrily.
Teddy glowered at him, "I gave you a chance to take back what you said, you decided to be a prat instead."
"What was he saying?" Victoire demanded to know as she turned back to Teddy. This was the first she'd ever heard about Teddy getting into a physical altercation with Westcott around the time of their breakup.
"Oh, has Lover Boy never told you about this before?" Westcott asked Victoire condescendingly, "I'm shocked. I would have figured that he would have gone running to you every chance he could to get on your good side."
Victoire narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her fiancé, "What happened?"
Teddy kept eye contact with Victoire even though he knew he might regret it, "I overheard Westcott bragging to his friends that even though he'd been forced by his mother to break it off with you, that you were still so infatuated with him that he'd be able to convince you to see him in secret and that he'd be able to, in his own words, defile you before the end of the school year."
"What?" Victoire repeated in a tone that could only be described as biting. She turned back to glare at Westcott, "You said that about me?"
She didn't give him time to reply before she spun back around and pointed her finger at Teddy, "And you knew he was going around saying things like that and you didn't tell me!"
"I'd coerced him into stopping before any more rumours could spread so I didn't see the point in telling you and making you feel even worse about the situation when you were already at the lowest I'd ever seen you," Teddy told her guardedly.
"Oh, so you thought I was too delicate to know that my ex-boyfriend was going around making claims about how he'd easily be able to seduce me?" Victoire asked Teddy as she moved her hands to her hips.
Teddy pinched the bridge of his nose knowing that this was going to turn into a bigger argument before it was over, "I thought you were in a precarious state and that a delay in you finding out about the added parts of the situation would be for the best."
"So when were you planning on telling me then? It's been eight years already, did you think I was still in a precarious state all this time and that I was still infatuated with him and at risk of having my heart broken again?" She shot back.
He sighed heavily, "Of course not. It just didn't seem important by the time you'd gotten over him. I thought why drag it up if it was already in the past?"
"You thought that did you? Well as long as you're around to make decisions on what I should know and what it's best that I don't know, then I guess everything's alright!" Victoire proclaimed with biting sarcasm.
Kurt glanced worriedly at Louis, "Did she forget that she's supposed to be angry with her ex instead of Ted?"
"Nah, lately she's had enough anger and mood swings to go around," Louis explained as he decided to stay out of his eldest sister's argument with her fiancé.
"You know that's not what I intended-" Teddy tried to defend himself only to be cut-off by Victoire who was starting to –literally– get fired up again.
"Do I know that? Because making poor decisions on my behalf and keeping me out of the loop on them because you think I'm not fully equipped to handle them seems to be rather a trademark with you."
Westcott smirk as he heard the couple's quarrel, "Well Lupin, if this is what happens when you get to tup her I'm glad you saved me from that fate."
Victoire spun around and slapped Westcott hard across the face before even Teddy could react to the other man's vulgar statement.
Westcott made a pained grunting sound and automatically held his cheek and lower eye socket where Victoire had landed her hard blow.
"You're lucky we're in the Auror Department right now or I'd be hexing you into something that only my colleagues from the Dark Arts Reversal ward would be able to undo," Victoire announced as her hand twitched towards the pocket of her coat that held her wand.
"Are you seriously threatening me in a room full of aurors?" Westcott asked her disbelievingly.
Victoire scoffed at him and crossed her arms over her chest, "Nobody here would rat me out if I decided to give you what you deserve."
"We really wouldn't," Kurt added helpfully while Hayden nodded next to him.
"Which reminds me," Victoire said as her gaze shifted from Westcott back to Teddy, "What's he doing here anyway?"
Louis answered for his sister, "Unfortunately, I've been working with Westcott lately and we were following up a loose end from a seemingly benign investigation that ended up providing me with information I thought it was important for the Auror Department to know."
"How fun," Victoire replied sarcastically, "I'll leave you to it then."
She turned towards the door but Teddy stopped her by saying softly, "Vic, it's about the Holmwoods."
Victoire stopped and turned to face her fiancé. She took a deep breath and swallowed thickly, "Any immediate danger?"
"Not that we know of," He told her slowly.
She glanced over to Hayden and Kurt, "I assume I'm not allowed to know much more than that?"
"I probably wouldn't have even told you that," Hayden admitted freely.
Victoire looked back to Teddy. Even though she had just been accusing Teddy of keeping secrets from her and that making decisions that concerned her without her knowledge was his trademark, she knew that he'd moved on from that as their relationship grew just as she had tried harder to make less impulsive and potentially dangerous choices.
"I thought you weren't supposed to be taking on active cases for the next two months," Victoire reminded him.
Teddy's lips twisted a little wryly, "Hayden and Kurt get to do most of the footwork on this one. I'm here right now to consult."
"Alright," She responded plainly, she moved to walk towards the door again, giving Westcott another harsh glare as she walked by him, but was stopped again by the metamorphmagus.
"Didn't you say something when you came in about needing a book I confiscated earlier for being too dark?"
Victoire glanced back at her fiancé, "I know there's a spell in there about very painful castration, so I'm also wondering if there's a similar spell in it that would agonizingly liquefy a man's internal reproductive system while alive."
Hayden, Kurt, and Louis all flinched at just hearing her words while Westcott immediately scampered several steps away from her. Teddy on the other hand stood his ground and didn't even cringe.
"And you're looking into a spell like that for purely academic purposes?" Teddy asked with a hidden smirk.
Victoire raised an eyebrow at him, "Of course."
"I'll write a note for you so that you can get it out of confiscation," Teddy told her easily as he summoned a piece of parchment and a pen to him and began to jot down a few lines.
"Are you sure you want to allow me to have those kinds of spells in my possession right now?" She asked him severely.
He smirked again and finished the note, "I'll take my chances."
Teddy took a few steps towards her and handed her the note. He told her that any of the younger aurors in the open cubicle office space would be able to help her, and then he caught her eye and held her gaze.
"I love you."
Victoire stretched up onto her tiptoes and pressed a quick but firm kiss to Teddy's lips, when she pulled away she told him, "I love you too. But I'm still mad at you."
"I know," He pressed a kiss to the freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose, "Now go get your reference book, go home, and try to get a little bit of sleep in before your night shift tonight."
She reached up to give him another swift kiss on his lips, "I'll see you later." She threw a general wave of goodbye over her shoulder to Hayden, Kurt, and Louis before exiting the office.
Once she was gone Teddy noticed that the four other men in the room were watching him with disbelieving expressions.
"What?"
"I'm just trying to grasp how you were in the middle of a heated argument and now she's kissing you goodbye and skipping off to find a restricted book with dark spells in it," Kurt explained on behalf of both him and Hayden.
Teddy shrugged, "She has delicate feelings but she always puts the concerns of others above her own."
"Delicate feelings?" Westcott scoffed.
Teddy turned on him and only just stopped himself from drawing his wand, "You're lucky that I never told her what you were saying about her all of those years ago. Contrary to what you may think I was protecting her from doing something to you that might have gotten her expelled from school."
"I thought you said she was delicate?" Westcott retorted scathingly.
Teddy scowled at him, "She's a multi-faceted person with complex emotions, not that you ever thought of her that way."
"She wasn't complex when I dated her."
"Oh she was, you just wouldn't have noticed because you never even saw her as a person," Teddy berated him.
The metamorphmagus then walked over to the door of the office that Victoire had closed behind her and he opened it up and gestured towards Westcott, "Now I think you'd better leave before someone with a looser control on their temper than me finds out about what you've said about her, both in the past and just now."
"I'm not worried about your goons," Westcott pointed over his shoulder to Kurt and Hayden, "Or Weasley there. I'm his superior in the MLE hierarchy after all."
Teddy rolled his eyes, "I wasn't talking about anybody in this room. I was referring to the fact that two of Victoire's uncles and her godfather are all veteran aurors and that I'm sure they'd love to avenge their niece even though it's been years since you wronged her."
Westcott blanched and then glanced at Louis and muttered, "It's time to go anyway."
Louis rolled his eyes but moved so he could slowly follow after Westcott. He knew that not returning with the more senior MLE agent might get him in trouble in his own department. Before he left the office he turned to look at Teddy.
"Promise to keep me in the loop about the Holmwoods?"
Teddy crossed his arms over his chest, "Only if you promise to keep Westcott out of the loop."
"Deal."
A/N: Well look at that! The Holwoods are back and so is their connection to Nova's Conservatory, Kelly Green, and a shortage in plants needed for wolfsbane potions, who could have guessed that?
Also, did I just introduce a character you've never heard of before in an overly dramatic way? Yes, yes I did. Will this end up being important later on? It'll actually be sooner than you might think.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter despite its tardiness, and I hope that everyone is doing their best to try to stay safe and healthy.
Next Update: Hopefully sooner than the time was between this update and the last one.
Next Chapter: Victoire and Teddy try to discuss some things, Vic does a bit more research into the spell used on Jerome. We get a bit of Baxter and Eliza interaction, as well as some Benjamin/Eliza, and Teddy and James have a heart-to-heart.
I want to thank everyone who has followed, favourited, read, and especially reviewed this story.
BIGGEST thank yous to:
ASlytherinGal, audrey3horses, Elora Donovan, HufflepuffDADA, Norway, no cure for crazy, NicoleTheSmith, Guest (1), Guest (2), Lenkner0407, Guest (3), Break This Spell626, rosesnlilies, and Guest (4).
ASlytherinGal: I'm glad that you can still get some joy from this. I feel so very bad for you and everyone else who were in their last years of schooling before graduating to the next stages, I can't imagine how all that added stress is making you feel.
Elora Donovan: Just imaging Siri trying to read out the accents I write makes me laugh and brings a funny imagine to my mind, so thanks for that.
HufflepuffDADA: Thank you very much. As for seeing more of Greg, it seems as though its out of my hands now and all up to Dom and Spencer ;)
NicoleTheSmith: I really feel for anybody who's supposed to be graduating from one stage and moving onto another right now, I remember the stress I felt coming upon university graduation and i can't imagine the added stress of a world-wide pandemic. I thank you for your words, at the moment all of my family is safe and their respective occupations have been very lenient and have been taking the situation very seriously, so for that I'm grateful. In general I'm very happy with how Canada is handling all of this right now.
Lenkner0407: Those are very kind words, and it does make sense thank you. The reason why I started writing these fics all those years ago was because there weren't many Teddy/Vic fics out there to begin with and none that really encaptured what I thought they'd be like, so that's why I started to write my own. I'm just glad that others are enjoying my characters and the little sub-world I've created.
Guest (3): Don't worry, there will be plenty of interaction between James and Selene going forward.
Break This Spell626: Your review and summary made me smile, so thank you. That is essentially what Victoire did, but yes, Fabius did deserve it.
rosesnlilies: So many Weasley AND the veelas, don't forget about them ;)
I'd like to take this moment to deeply thank from the bottom of my heart anybody reading this who might be a front line worker or someone who's been deemed an essential service. I understand and greatly appreciate that you go out every day to do your jobs even though there is a chance you might contract COVID-19 (whether or not you use or have access to proper PPE). I want to acknowledge and thank all of you for everything you are doing for your fellow human beings, and I want to thank everyone who is following their government's advice to stay at home and physically distance. It really makes a difference and will continue to make a difference for the next several weeks and most likely months to come.
All right, off my soapbox now,
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter,
Please let me know what you thought of this chapter,
If you have any questions or concerns about anything you can mention them in a review or a PM,
I hope everyone stays healthy, and until next time,
Wash your hands for twenty seconds, stay home, physically distance for 2 metres, and DFTBA ;)