Chapter 9:
Iris could hear low, frightened whispers from down the hall as she approached Grindelwald's cell. She could not make out the conversation, but the tone struck a nervous chord in her. Making her way through the maze of brick columns, she strained to hear what was being said. She could only make out two muffled voices; the frightened one from before and another calm and charming.
Arriving at the jail cells, Iris saw Warren practically kneeling before Grindelwald's iron barred door. It looked like the only thing holding him up was his white-knuckle grip on the bars. She could hear Grindelwald talking to him from the other side, his voice somewhat muffled.
"Can you imagine what one could do with an entire army of them?"
Warren sputtered, "No... it sounds-"
"Warren!" Iris barked.
At the sound of her voice, he violently pushed himself away from the door as if it were suddenly scalding hot. He looked at her in shock, his face twisted in both terror and embarrassment.
"Stop talking to that man now," Ordered Iris. She stormed towards him, her ivory heels cracking on the ground. Warren jumped up immediately, his white pallor overtaken by a mortified flush of red.
"Ma'am, I was just..."
"I suggest you return to your desk, Warren," Iris all but commanded.
Warren nodded, his eyes downcast before scrambling out of sight.
Once he was gone, Iris approached Grindelwald's cell. Her gaze narrowed on the silver-tongued demon before her. He lay reclined on the bare cot against the back wall, looking just as pleased with himself as ever.
"Your man, Warren, is quite the skittish fellow for an Auror."
"He's new," she stated bluntly. "But he will learn."
Grindelwald's eyes came to life then, a quirk of a smile tugging at his lips as he realized she was already comfortable enough to cut the formalities with him.
"Ah, well you're doing a great job teaching him. A firm hand- that's how they taught us at Durmstrang," said Grindelwald, smiling coldly. The life from his eyes had dissipated, returning to their eerie stoniness.
"If you're the result of strict teaching, I'll be sure to modify my methods." Muttered Iris. Grindelwald couldn't help but smile at her witty response. "I thought you'd be interested in knowing that Picquery and I have just begun negotiations with Russia to halt your prison transfer."
"So, Graves is still alive then?" He asked, seeming somewhat surprised by the notion.
"Yes," Iris affirmed.
"I'm impressed to see that you got through my basement unscathed. What did you think about my Inferi?" He asked, truly interested to know her thoughts. He'd been experimenting with them for some time now but he had yet to test them out on a group of trained Aurors.
"I think you should and answer the questions my men posed to you," she told him. Iris would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how much the Inferi disturbed her team as well as herself.
"And what did you think of my handiwork with Graves?" Grindelwald asked, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.
Iris leveled her gaze at him. Grindelwald could see a spark light behind her eyes. "I think he gave you a hard time."
"He was more powerful than I expected him to be..." Grindelwald admitted before his lips curled into a wicked grin; his eyes coming to life once again. "But not anymore."
Iris sprang forwards then, grasping hold of the bars of his cell door and giving them a hard shake.
"What did you do to his hands?" Iris demanded, her composure broken. "What was the spell you cast?"
Grindelwald sat up then and clasped his hands together. He had finally found her wound and was going to proceed digging his thumb into it.
"It's dark magic far beyond your capabilities. Even if I told you, the effects are irreversible," he informed her, hardly masking the enjoyment her pain.
"Every curse has a counter, Grindelwald; you better believe I will I find the counter to every one of yours."
The white-haired wizard merely sniffed, "That's a tall order, Miss Faeborn."
"I'm not adverse to a challenge," she told him, having reigned in some of her anger. "One of our public defenders will be down shortly to go over the proceedings of your trial. I have no need to question you further, so the next time I'll see you will be in court. Have a good day."
"One word of advice before you go," said Grindelwald, stopping her from leaving. Iris's grey eyes tentatively met his once more, wishing to be free of him. "Love, despite all its flowery pretenses, is your enemy, Miss Faeborn. You should learn to abandon it before it destroys you. Take it from someone who's known it," he replied. There was a touch of solemnity in his voice that, if she weren't so shaken, would have given Iris pause.
"Good day, Mr. Grindelwald." She said before turning away from the cell door and leaving.
Grindelwald closed his eyes and listened to her even gait as she walked down the hall. A smile formed on his lips. There was something about their conversations that he enjoyed. It had been along time since he had found someone who could be on equal footing with him. Well... almost.
Twenty four hours had passed with no news on Percival. Iris had hoped for at least an update, yet there was nothing. When evening at MACUSA came, Iris decided it was finally time to go home. She'd run out of clothes to change into in her office and had been working nonstop on finding Grindelwald's US imbedded supporters since her talk with him. It seemed the more she dogged, the larger the problem revealed itself to be. Grindelwald's following in America was much larger than what was previously assumed. Raids would have to be conducted on known meeting places in the city, and all MACUSA employees would have to be background checked. At this point, Iris was so tired she could barely think straight.
Stepping out of the elevator and into the lobby, Iris was stopped by Manny who bounded up the stairs from the first level of the basement to meet her. Clutched in his fist was a crunched-up mouse origami memo. He seemed pretty anxious to talk to her. She'd noticed the little bit of exercise had all but worn the veteran out.
"Iris... Ma'am, I just received this from the ladies down in communications. They said it was urgent."
Iris took the note from him and unfolded it. Turning it right side up she began to read. "It's from the hospital. They say Mr. Graves has just woken up," she said, before shoving the slip of paper into her coat pocket. "I'm going there now. Please inform the President."
"You don't want me to maybe wait on that?" Asked Manny, talking low so he could be discrete.
Iris shoved her hands in her pockets, her brow furrowing in contemplation. Manny could tell she was fighting a war within her.
"No," she said, finally. "We can't keep this from Picquery."
Iris knew Manny had suggested waiting to be considerate to her, but there was no possible way to withhold such important information.
"Alright," Manny nodded, pulling his coat around him and summoning his hat from the cloak room. The black bowler flew from across the lobby and into his hand. "I'm going on lunch right now, should take an hour, no, make it an hour-and-a-half. I'll be sure to tell her after I get back."
"Thank you, Manny," she nodded, an appreciative grin tugging at her lips. Despite his gruff nature, he was a true friend.
When she arrived at the hospital, visiting hours were long since over. It took some convincing, but she managed to talk the attending nurse into letting her see him. It certainly helped hat she was the acting head of the DMLE.
"Alright, fine," the nurse conceded. "But only for a little while. He needs his rest."
Coming up on his room, Iris grew stiffer and stiffer, her nerves slowing her pace. She couldn't help but fear how he'd react to her. They were not on good terms before Grindelwald had taken over his identity. Once she reached the door, she held her breath before finally forcing herself to open it.
She saw Percival sitting up in bed, a book resting open in his lap. A small lamp on the bedside table was the only light in the room. His dark eyes met hers and as her name formed on his lips Iris rushed to his bedside and threw her arms around him.
Though he was unable to fully hug her back, Percival immediately relaxed into her embrace. He rested his broken hands limply on her back as he buried his head into her neck. She was the first friendly face he'd seen since he'd woken. He needed her there with him, to ground him after all that had happened. It seemed a year of contention between them had melted away in an instant.
"Im sorry, I didn't mean to attack, I am just glad to see you," Iris told him, pulling away and sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Did he hurt you?" Percival asked.
There was an urgency behind his dark, shadow ringed, eyes that told Iris there was reason for him to think Grindelwald had.
Percival remembered hearing her screams in the darkness. But she looked like she didn't know what he was talking about. Maybe it was a hallucination, another one of Grindelwald's tricks.
"No, I'm fine," she answered. "He did break my wand, though."
Iris held out her new wand for him to see. It was crafted from light Birchwood with silver inlays in the handle.
"Thunderbird feather core?" He guessed.
"Of course, Wampus Cat," she replied, feigning prideful glance down her nose at him. It was an inside joke they shared due to their Ilvermorny houses rivalry. "How are you feeling?"
"Rough." He answered honestly. "Reading has become more difficult," he said, referring to how hard it was for him to turn pages.
Iris knew he was trying to joke but knowing the severity of his injuries, she could only force a grin. Gingerly picking up the book, she flipped it over in her hand to look at the cover.
"Call of the Wild. I've never read it."
Percival arched a thick brow. "It was required reading in school."
Iris offered an unapologetic shrug. "I must have been absent that day."
Percival shook his head. "Some professor's daughter you are."
Iris merely smiled before looking at the back of the book jacket. It was a story about survival. Iris's expression brew gloomy, her gaze flickering to his.
"I've been asked to collect your memories from your time in captivity." She told him. There was no good time to say it.
"Who will be reviewing them?" asked Percival.
Iris had thought he'd linger more on the fact that they were to be reviewed at all. To her, the request felt like an insult. She supposed Percival had come to know what to expect from someone as careful as Picquery.
"I will," answered Iris, somewhat embarrassed.
Percival paused for a moment, his expression unreadable, before stiffly nodding, "Okay."
Iris knew he wouldn't want her to be the one to do it. In fact, she was dreading it herself. But there was no choice in the matter. She had to do her job and, more importantly, she had to clear Percival from any alleged wrongdoing.
Pulling Percival's wand from her pocket, she gently handed it over to him. It felt like she was offering a piece of himself back to him. Sadly, Iris would have to take it away once the memory was collected. Until he was fully cleared, he wasn't allowed to have access to a wand.
"Do you have an ampule?" he asked.
Iris nodded, fishing in her other pocket for the small glass phial she'd brought with her. Percival closed his eyes and proceeded to extract the memory. A thread of milky white light was pulled from his temple and gracefully spooled around the tip of his wand until the very last bit dangled in the air. Iris held out the ampule for him. He closed his hand over hers to hold it steady and carefully eased the thread of light inside until it detached from his wand.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"Iris-" he said, his hand lingering on hers.
He wanted to warn her about the things she might see, the things she might hear, but he couldn't. She would see for herself and be the judge of his actions.
Looking down at his scarred hand in hers, he felt a stab of pain. Pulling away he finally muttered, "I'm sorry."
"Don't say that," she told him, holding the phial so tightly, she thought she'd crush it. I'm the one who should be sorry, she thought bitterly. "I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow with a change of clothes for you. Can I get you anything else?"
Percival thought about asking her to stay, but he knew he couldn't.
"No," he said quietly. "Thank you."
Iris's footfalls sounded hard on the sidewalk as she briskly made her way back to MACUSA from the hospital. Rain began to come down softly and Iris pulled her coat tighter around her, quickening her pace. As she did, she felt the urge to keep moving forwards, to go faster. And so she did. Iris ran until her lungs ached and her muscles were all but played out and even then, she kept on going. The soreness in her throat and the straining of the bruises on her neck seemed like nothing at all.
She knew she would have to look at the memory Percival had given her, but she was so frightened to do it. She'd have to see everything exactly as it happened- as if she were there watching Percival be tortured. She didn't think she could get through it.
AN: Hello everyone, please review, favor, or follow! I'm back... that's all ;)
