That was their first real Order mission. After that, there were many others. They came face to face with Riddle once or twice, and there were no doubts on her mind that the man was a powerful wizard. He was so full of himself that he tried to recruit them in the middle of a duel, saying he didn't want to spill precious magical blood.
"Thank you for coming so quick, Kenna. I don't know…" Alice was panicking as the Auror Healer came out of the Floo. They were back at their apartment in London. Because if she had brought her hurt husband to his ancestral home, her mother-in-law would kill her. So instead she brought him to the home where they had not slept in months.
"What happened?" The red-headed asked, quick, and expert hands putting her hair into a French twist.
"I- Can't you just help him?" Alice asked, leading the woman to the bedroom.
"Alice, I don't care why, I care about the how," Kenna said, her red lips in a tight line. "You're my Aurors, I will always heal you, no matter if you get hurt in the job or out of it."
"It wasn't supposed to be a confrontation, it was a recon mission. But somehow they found us, even under the disillusionment spell." Alice was rambling, her eyes moving around the room, and even if she was holding tightly onto her wand, she could feel her hand trembling. She had failed. She had failed her husband.
"Werewolves…" Kenna sighed, discarding her Healer bag and instead of summoning something from a little purse, she kept it in an inside pocket of her robes.
"What?" Alice felt her legs go weak, and not in a good way.
"That's how they knew you were there, Alice." Kenna said, cleaning the wound and then covering it with powdered silver and few drops of dittany serum."
"Salazar Bollocks." The Slytherin cursed, letting herself fall into the armchair by the window.
"He will be okay. We're still far from the full moon, the chances are very small." Kenna assured. "And lucky for him, the scar is not somewhere visible, it will be hidden on his calf."
Alice nodded, looking at her unconscious husband, laying on the bed, so still, so pale. "Why isn't he waking up now that you treated the wound?" He had been feverish and burning when Alice apparated home, but now she was even more scared. Only the fact that his chest was rising slowly made her believe he was alive.
"Give me just a few more minutes." The other woman said, casting diagnosis charm after charm, different colours and shapes surrounding Frank. "Not this curse, I swear to Rowena, if I ever come face to face with Severus Snape I might forget that I made an oath of doing no harm…"
"What? How can you be so sure it was Snape?" Alice asked. She knew the boy from school, he was Lucius protégé and he had been on the meeting in Canterbury.
"I've seen this handiwork of his before," Kenna explained, murmuring something under her breath. "Can you get me two bowls? I don't want just to summon them in case they're breakable."
Alice had no doubts that the Auror-Healer had only asked that of her to make her busy, to lessen her worry and to get her out of the room, but she was thankful for the distraction. "Yes, of course. Be right back."
"Good, and some towels or rags."
Alice came back with the large bowls and the kitchen rags that were easier to reach than the towels back in the bathroom. She stopped at the door, trying to understand the sight in front of her. She always felt in awe when she saw Kenna at work. "Put the bowls on the bed and fill them both with water." The auburn-haired woman instructed, and Alice would be more than pleased to assist in saving her husband.
"Good, now I need you to freeze one and to boil the other."
"Why?" Alice asked, raising her wand as she changed the temperature of the bowls of water.
"It's a dark curse, I want to study it better but if I waste a minute studying it properly, it might be a minute too late to save someone's life," Kenna said, as she manoeuvred the bowls, so Frank's right hand was on the cold water and the left one on the warm bowl. He tried to pull his hands away, but a sticking charm kept the bowls and his wrists in place.
"It must hurt! There's nothing-"
"I'm sure it hurts, but I will tend to his hands later," Kenna said, and then she raised her wand and started murmuring something under her breath. It didn't seem English or Latin, maybe French? Alice watched the magic flowing from her wand and around Frank's body. After some long minutes, the Auror healer pulled away, and Alice rushed forward to steady her before she could fall.
"C'mon, Kenna. Sit down." Alice said, leading her to the armchair.
"Just need a moment to rest. I'll be okay, don't worry." She said with a tired smile. "You can vanish the bowls now."
Alice did just that, vanished the water and took the bowls to the kitchen. She brought a glass of water with some sugar. They were supposed to have chocolate around, but it was not in their usual hiding place, so she settled for sugar. "Here, Kenna, drink."
Before Kenna could even mutter a thank you, there was a groan from the bed and green eyes found her. "Love! You're awake!" She said, throwing herself into bed beside him and watching him wince.
"Careful!" Kenna said from her armchair. "He's weak… and his body is still in a lot of pain…"
"What? No! I'm good!" He winked, but Alice could see the lines around his eyes, and how he flinched while breathing.
She kissed his forehead as she pulled away. "Never get in front of a spell for me, Frank Longbottom! This is why people who are married or blood-related can't be partners on the force."
"That's smart of the Auror Office but glad the Order doesn't have those rules." He said, his eyes closing. "Can I have a pain potion, I don't think I will be able to sleep without one."
Kenna summoned a yellow vial from her bag, and Alice quickly helped Frank drink it. "Sleep well, love." The Slytherin whispered, tucking the blanket comfortably around him. Then she turned to Kenna. "Shall I call Bethany to come to get you?"
"No… no need to worry her like that!. I just need to rest for a minute and then I will be on my merry way." She said with a smile. "Is this a safe place for him to recover?"
Alice nodded. "I'll add some more wards after you go home, but it's safe. It was our home before we moved back to Longbottom Manor."
"Why do I have a feeling that means you won't sleep through the night?" She asked.
Alice just smiled. "I didn't find the chocolate, but I know where the coffee is because hubby dear doesn't like it, so it's all mine. Would you like a cup before leaving? I have a muggle espresso machine in the kitchen, and I do make a great little cup."
Kenna got to her feet, rolling her eyes. "I'll just cast a couple more diagnostic spells, and I'll find you."
The Slytherin nodded, kissing her sleeping husband's forehead, and leaving the bedroom. She ground the coffee with magic and then turned the little machine. It had been a wedding gift. At the thought of her wedding with Frank, her eyes travelled to the portrait across the hallway. What happened to those two fools in love, ready to take the world and so carefree, so young and wild. How much had changed? She would never confess it but now she was almost always terrified. Terrified for her, for her husband, for her family, for their friends.
She had just poured the coffee when Kenna appeared. "I left three more potions on the nightstand. Two drops of the blue one in case he gets feverish, another pain potion and one dreamless sleep, in case he wakes during the night."
"Thank you," Alice said, placing both cups and a plate of cookies on the table. "And sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night… I didn't know who else to call."
"It was smart to send me a Patronus. If you had ended up in St Mungos, they would have called me as well," Kenna said. "This is some excellent coffee, thank you."
"Oh, this was stupid of me, I shouldn't have offered you coffee, you're probably going back to bed." Alice covered her face with her hands.
"It's okay. I have an early shift in the Hospital." Kenna assured. "Coffee will do me good, and it's better than the one they serve there."
"Don't remind me… The days I stayed there last year, coffee was the only thing I missed. I begged Frank to sneak me a nice cup, but he was adamant in following the healers' rules about not giving me caffeine." Alice complained.
Kenna chuckled and finished her cup. "I'll be going, contact me if anything changes."
"I will. And I don't think I will ever be able to thank you properly, Kenna, you saved our asses so many times." Alice said, leading the Auror-Healer to the Floo.
Kenna just winked. "That's my job, and what I love to do. Always here if you need me." And then she disappeared in a swirl of green flames.
The Slytherin rushed to the bedroom, carefully laying beside her sleeping husband. "I'll rise up to the sky. You threw me down but I'm gonna fly and rise like a phoenix out of the ashes…" Alice sang, barely above a whisper. "I will always save you, love. Never doubt that." She said, stroking his cheek.
They would pay. Severus Snape would pay for almost killing her husband. She would do everything in her power to personally get him behind bars with the dementors because she was seeking something rather than vengeance, she was seeking retribution. And she would watch him pay, even if it was the last thing she did with her life.
She and Frank were Aurors, and they had been hurt multiple times before, but never like this. Alice didn't sleep that night, she kept her wand in reach and pointed to the door just in case. Her husband got a little feverish during the night, so Alice gave him the potion and kept a wet cloth on his forehead.
"You will be okay, my love." She whispered. "Never doubt that. As long as we have each other, we will be okay."
