Published 9th of November, 2020
Howden Dam
20:30
Tyler was sitting in front of fireplace and red Prophet's„Extra" that had just been brought by an exhausted owl.
„In regard to mass poisonings, Minister Shacklebolt enforces Critical State!"
According to recent researches performed by Healers at the St. Mungo's and the results of the Auror's investigation, eighteen women, men and children died from poison, which was deliberately administered in a variety of food items. It causes internal tissue dissolution and internal bleeding, which leads to death within two or three days.
The poison is still in circulation, but there is no way to determine what are foot items that contain it.
As of today, Clinic has absolutely no antidote. The supply of pain-killer potions is terribly low and therefore Minister Shackebolt, in consultation with the Wizengamot and the Head of the Auror Office, allowed Healers (only and exclusively, under penalty of life in Azkaban) to use the Imperius (only and exclusively) to ease the suffering of the victims of unknown poisoner.
President of Potion Makers Council, Rufus Heahner, has called an extraordinary meeting of all Potion Makers for tomorrow morning. Its purpose is to immediately start looking for an antidote to the poison and to prepare testers that will be available in Apothecaries.
In this situation, Minister Shacklebolt decided to immediately enforce a Critical State, which is applied without the Vacatio Legis, from now on.
All wizards and witches are exhorted to:
- purchase only basic food products such as bread, milk and water
- buying fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs only from known, reliable sources (a familiar butcher, participating in slaughter, etc.)
- not using the Aguamenti and Aqua Eructo spells and using drinking water only from original closed bottles of WaterDream, Aquamagic and Cristalis, whose producers use safe water intakes
Until testers are ready, all mass catering facilities (bars, restaurants, cafes, ice cream parlors, etc.) are closed. The only exception is Hogwarts.
- an absolute ban on food testing on house elves is introduced
- admissions out of order to St. Mungo's are granted for all those showing symptoms of ingestion of the poison
- a support to the patient's family is provided
More on the Emergency, Do's and Don'ts and Investigation in Tomorrow's Daily Prophet. "
Tylor crumpled the paper and threw it furiously into the fire. The parchment immediately burst into a fiery flame and immediately burned. Only the black scraps remained, which the hot blast blew up and let it slowly fall to the edge of the hearth. Moments later, the smell of burning leather wafted through the room.
IT IS NOT HOW IT SUPPOSED TO BE! THIS IS NOT WHAT IT WAS ABOUT !
He reached for an envelope that had been brought by another owl and found in it a letter from Rufus Heahner, announced by the Prophet. Heahner scheduled a meeting at eight o'clock tomorrow at his manor.
The situation was getting complicated. Maybe he should wait a while for this all blows over? Although in a month and a half there will be a new portion of Moon Water and then anyone will be able to brew the antidote.
Or maybe...
At that moment the door opened and Gratus entered.
"Oh-oh" he said, clearly surprised. "I didn't expect... Did something happen?"
Tylor looked at Gratus and at his watch and gestured to the couch.
„Sit down and talk."
Gratus hesitated a moment, then sat up and began to pull empty bottles out of the bag. He wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't expected Tylor to be here, so he hadn't prepared any story to explain his late return. In fact, it was only when he passed the gate that he realized what time it was and was surprised that he could have forgotten himself that much!
"Well, I started with Granger, as you said. It was a bit difficult because that bitch cast protective spells all over the house to detect even a little magic in a human body, and I had to use...
„I don't care HOW you did it, but IF you did it. You did it?" Tylor interrupted him, crossed his foot and leaned back in his chair.
"Yes, of course! I poured one bottle into milk, fruit juice and water. She will… or maybe even she already used something!"
Tylor glanced at the three empty bottles on the floor.
"And you used the other two on Potter and Snape?"
Gratus hesitated only a second and decided to lie that he had dealt with Snape in exactly the same way as Potter. If Tylor had figured out that he spent two hours on having his way with the young cherry on Grimmauld Place lady instead of following his orders, he would have been mad.
„Exactly. Except for them I had to pump the potion into the tubes. You know, their homes are protected by Fidelius, so I had to find the drinking water tubes and pour the poison into. On Monday afternoon they are dead. I just hope they didn't start telling anything to anyone. Of course I will to deal with Shacklebolt, Moore or Robards, but they might say something to someone else..."
Impatient, the Old Man raised a hand to stop Gratus.
"At this time tomorrow they won't be able to talk."
„Yes?" Gratus relived. "Great! So now I'll go to take care of the other three."
And he got up to get out of his sight as quickly as possible. This time it looked like he got away with it.
"Sit down" Tylor snapped and the giant hurried back to the couch. "A little change of plans. It can wait. For now, sit here and watch the rest."
"Of course" Gratus assured him.
Saturday, May 10th,
Hogsmeade, Rufus Haehner Manor
After eight in the morning
Rufus had invited the same people to the meeting as usual, but telling the truth, he only counted on Jenkins, Tylor, Been, Powell and Alex's help. He presented the current situation in a few words and only then sent the poison ingredients to everyone.
There was silence for a moment and then someone cursed under their breath.
"Merlin, it's... It's a nightmare" Been said finally, his voice a little shaky. "It's…" He trailed off and shook his head.
"I'm even afraid to think how human body might react to something like this" Jenkins added.
„Can it be cured somehow?" Pascal asked, maker of alcohol-based tinctures.
"Maybe something would be among the Muggle drugs" muttered the young boy, looked at the list again and checked his watch.
Rufus ignored them completely. Both statements confirmed his assumptions that only "real" potion makers can help in this situation.
Alex put the paper on the table with trembling hand.
"Rufus, are you saying the Aurors haven't found the killer yet?"
„Unfortunately not. But the investigation is still ongoing."
Powell stared at his copy all the time, but when Rufus replied, he looked at it but said nothing. But Tylor snorted in disbelief.
"I'm surprised that they managed to find the poison's composition. I wonder how."
„Yeah, did they find it? In what?" Jenkins perked up and Powell looked again at the parchment in front of him. "It is not the Aurors, who found it, but the Healers," Rufus replied. "After examining the corpse and casting diagnostic spells, they delivered the results to their lab."
"Ah" said Powell aloud.
Rufus cleared his throat as if ending the discussion on the subject. That's not what they came here for. "In this situation, Minister Shacklebolt has an extraordinary offer for you. For the first to find the antidote, the Ministry is proposing 10,000 Galleons and a fast, simplified procedure of the Sixth Drop. You probably know perfectly well that the Sixth Drop is recognized all over the world, even by the International Potion Makers Research Circle and gives you the right to brew absolutely all kinds of potions."
The sudden tension in the room was almost palpable. They all went back to the ingredients list for a moment, and when they looked up again, they had expressions of disbelief and confusion at the same time.
„But ... What's Wrong with this list?" Jenkins finally, confounded.
"Will the antidote be patented?" Been said in the same time, his voice was unnaturally high-pitched and everyone forgot about Jenkins. Even Rufus.
„Yes, for ten years, no fee required. However, in this situation, you will most likely be asked to transfer the composition to other manufacturers in order to be able to produce enough antidote."
"But there aren't thousands of sick people" said Been.
Alex leaned forward and gave him a cold look.
"The point is to be able to find prophylactic antidote, not wait for people to become seriously ill. Doesn't it seem normal to you?"
"Besides, since this madman also kills Muggles, we might need a lot of doses," Jenkins added immediately.
Tylor looked at him sarcastically, but made no sharp comment about his sudden endorsement.
"Do we have our national ingredients warehouse at our disposal? I don't mean gold, but the fact that we are going to waste a lot of time for ordering and do all the shitty paperwork."
Rufus nodded immediately and remembered what Shacklebolt had told him about the ingredients.
„Of course you do. You have full access to ingredients, although of course everything will be recorded" he assured "Except that before that, an inspector from Trade Supervision Commission will come to each of you to check the stock of some of your ingredients."
Tylor shook his mane of hair in disbelief, but didn't have time to say anything when Powell spoke.
„They can come and inspect my entire Laboratory even now. Regardless of the Minister's proposal, I suspend all other research and brewing less important potions and begin my search."
"How many percent alcohol can the antidote contain?" Pascal asked.
"Zero" Rufus replied without hesitation.
Alex pushed a strand of long black hair behind her ear and straightened up.
„I think we should join our forces. Together we will find an additional ingredient sooner than looking for it separately. I propose my laboratory."
Powell gave her a thoughtful look.
„Alex, that's very kind of you, but ... personally, I only trust my lab technicians."
"Besides, we don't know your staff's working methods" Been added conservatively.
Even Jenkins hesitated, though he seemed torn between his eagerness to work with Alex and the Minister's exceedingly generous offer.
„Tell me that you do not like working with a woman!" Alex said indignantly.
"My dear, don't take it that way…" Jenkins muttered.
Tylor smirked.
„Prove that you know Potions better than we do."
"I'll be happy to join you" said Gordon, a proponent of Muggle treatments, timidly.
Alex's face darkened with anger and the woman grabbed her purse and sprang from the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, calm down" Rufus shouted.
Alex glared furiously at Tylor, Rufus and Gordon.
"Idiot!" She snorted and almost ran out of the room.
Nobody knew to whom exactly was she speaking. Gordon turned a little pale, opened his mouth, but didn't dare to speak. Tylor shrugged and looked at Rufus.
"There is nothing to worry about women's moods. She would cry it out and will get over it soon. So what, do we get to work? Gentlemen?" He added with satisfaction.
Ministry of Magic and Azkaban
From 8:30
Usually the Ministry was empty on Saturdays. There was a security guard who limited his patrols to walking through several corridors and spent most of his time in small guardian office, sometimes cleaners came to do general cleaning at a certain Level and only rarely other employees came.
There was an unusual movement this morning before nine in the morning. Gawain showed up first, at half past eight in the morning, followed by Hermione, then Harry, Klaudia, Kingsley and Roger.
Hermione, despite her exhaustion, did not sleep very long that night. Yesterday, mainly thanks to restorative draught, she still had the strength to take care of home. As soon as she lit a large fire in the fireplace to heat and dry the damp rooms, she cast refrigerating spells on Kreacher's food and cleaned the kitchen. Then she found Severus' bedroom and made his bed; she put on a flannel sheet and a pillowcase, put a coarse woolen blanket in the closet and replaced it with a fluffy, thick fleece. She bought it for her parents' return, convinced that after Australia they would be cold in England. She left her belongings in a tiny bedroom upstairs. And then she tried to clean the bathroom, but only tried. As soon as she stepped under the stream of hot water, she was overwhelmed with exhaustion and did not even know if she had rinsed the shampoo from her hair. Along with the water and foam, all the tension of today ran off her.
She went to sleep on the couch and woke up all night long, both for fear of being asleep and hoping it was already morning. Finally, the long-awaited dawn arrived; from the darkness, illuminated only by the firelight on the fireplace, the shapes of the furniture emerged and took on colors. Lying for a few more minutes, Hermione watched everything around and tried to get used to this strange house, which by force had become her refuge. Then she gathered up quickly and, glancing at the clock, finished the cleaning and Flooed to the Ministry.
Gawain, sitting in his office, came over to say hello to the girl.
"Miss Granger, I was in St. Mungo's and saw Mathias Wolf" he said, handing her a large bundle that clinked softly. "I told him about the situation and asked him to be a liaison with you. So from now on, please contact him only. Sit down, we still have some time."
Hermione shook her head and peered into the bundle. She smiled broadly at the view of at least twenty different vials of potions.
"How did he react? I know that now he is short-handed, so..."
"Don't worry" Gawain reassured her. "He is very concerned that you are involved in this story."
"I'm glad you trusted him."
"I didn't trust him. Before talking to him, I read his mind, which he did not like very much. Until he understood why I was doing this, of course."
A few long minutes later Harry came and Gawain asked him to help move the Regalium. Hermione immediately ran after them and gasped at the sight of it. The stump of the tree that was thick and straight yesterday, today was shrunken and bent in all directions and the hole in the center was as if burned at the edges.
"Merlin, is this ... normal?"
"You gave your best yesterday" Harry replied and squeezed her arm. "How are you? All right? Parting with feelings can weak very much."
The girl nodded and managed a smile.
"All right, I'm fine. And you how are you?"
"I feel the same as the day before yesterday evening. As if a road roller ran over me. Ready? Then grab that twig!"
Gawain gripped the front firmly, Hermione hugged the trunk in the middle and they picked up the Regalium.
"We can't use Locomotor or even Vingardium Leviosa?" She grunted with an effort.
"No, because magic could affect our feelings inside" Gawain objected. "It is only possible to use the spells that are not directed at the object."
They carried the Regalium to Atrium and stayed there to wait for the rest.
"I see you still have a fondness for Vingardium Leviosa." Harry pushed his hair from his sweaty forehead and smiled at the mention of the incident with the troll.
"It was very useful to us" Hermione glanced at her watch and started walking around the wood.
"And to think we thought it was Snape who wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone... How much has happened since then? And changed" said Harry philosophically and shook his head in disbelief.
"Everything."
The girl pursed her lips, unconsciously checked the time again and wrapped her cloak tightly around herself. She no longer knew whether she was shivering with cold or impatience.
When everyone else had arrived, Gawain informed them about the plan.
„Anti-Disapparition Jinx is desactivated just for a moment. I, Kingsley and Roger are Apparating with Regalium using Side-Along Apparition. Wait half a minute before you desapparate. And conjure Patronuses immediately" he advised. "Kingsley and I will go first, then Klaudia and Miss Granger. Harry, you bring up the rear. In case of dementor attack, you must desapparate immediately."
Hermione felt a sudden fear. Merlin, they can't stop us! Not now, not with Regalium ready, when there are six of us ... and not with Severus waiting for us !
"Don't be afraid, Hermione" Kingsley said soothingly, patting her shoulder. "Everything will be alright."
"Ready?" Gawain asked. "Let's go!"
He grabbed Regalium with Kingsley and Roger, they spun on their heels and they desapparated with a bang. Hermione, though she was trying to think of something happy, could only think of counting. Or rather, her mind counted for her.
She gave up, reached thirty and taking Klaudia and Harry's hands and taking a deep breath, Apparated them to a bare rock in the North Sea.
As they appeared in front of the fortress, Kingsley and Roger were adjusting the Regalium on the ground and Gawain, surrounded by three Patronuses, looked around the sky. Hermione summoned her Otter and plunged her hand into the shining light, a second later Prongs and big Dragonfly joined it. Only then did the girl dare to look above herself.
There were probably as many Dementors as yesterday. As usual, some of them drifted towards people, the rest stayed at their posts.
"Let's go" Gawain ordered, cast Lumos to Maxima and he and Kingsley had grabbed Regalium.
The girl did not let Klaudia stand in front of her; she run to Kingsley, put both hands around the trunk, locked her fingers under it and with an effort she lifted it a little. But neither the effort nor the sadness that dropped down on them from everywhere reached her, the feeling had no access. She felt as if someone had lit a huge flame within her, which engulfed her whole body and nothing could stop her. Absolutely nothing. Regalium weighed nothing, she no longer needed the wand's light or even the Patronuses.
She jerked forward urgently and they all started walking.
The narrow corridor went on forever, but eventually they emerged from it and entered the familiar, empty room.
"Holy shit" Gawain muttered from the front, seeing the devastation.
He didn't stop, but continue to walk, all the way to the far wall. There they laid the Regalium, stepped back and only then Hermione lighted her wand.
The three waiting dementors were joined by two more. Te last one moved to Regalium, put his grayish hand to it, froze for a moment and as he read their message, he straightened up in a sharp, furious motion and inhaled loudly. The others immediately repeated it.
Hermione held her breath and, trembling more and more, made her way towards Kingsley.
„Patronus Enlarge!" Gawain shouted loudly, made a complicated wand movement and pointed at each Patronus. "Statis Patronum!"
These suddenly grew larger; the mighty Bear climbed up on its hind legs, the Dragonfly spread its wings much larger then before, the Prongs raised its head and shook its big horns, the Otter straightened up and rose fur, Roger's Snake also rose on its enormous tangles and opened its mouth wide, while Lynx bristled and began to move its short tail sideways. Their glow grew stronger as well, and it became bright in the room as if several torches were being lit.
For an endlessly long moment, they all stood still; dementors hovering in front of group of people and ready to attack, Patronuses protecting them and Hermione felt that a moment more and she would suffocate.
Suddenly, from everywhere, despair rushed over them like a gigantic wave; so intense that it twisted their entrails, surrounded them and crushed them with itself. Klaudia screamed loudly and fell to her knees, Harry grabbed his head and fell to the ground as well and Hermione felt her soul just bursting from suffering. In one second, all the nightmares of her life flashed in her head, she barely had time to see the faces of her parents when she was overwhelmed by blackness, darker than anything she had ever seen and began to howl somewhere inside her. A second later a sharp pain hit her knees, the howl stopped and ... Unexpectedly, she felt gentle touches of warmth and peace on her face and hands.
She opened her tightly closed eyes and saw thousands of glittering, sparkling butterflies swirling in the air. The Bear disappeared, but the butterflies - Patronuses surrounded them, settled on their hair, faces, arms ... everywhere, illuminated them with a gentle glow and began to absorb all this overwhelming despair.
Hermione was afraid to move so as not to scare them away. They were beautiful, but most of all she felt better with each second. A moment ago everything in her was sobbing and now she was slowly seized with joy. And Hope. That they will succeed. We MUST succeed! We WILL succeed! FOR SURE!
Suddenly, the butterflies flew into the air. The shining swarm flew up high, and then ... And then they attacked the dementors!
In an instant, everything whirled in the air and a choking smell of rot was released. Torn, dirty rags swirled, mingled with thousands of bright points that turned into streaks of light and attacked them from all sides. The Dementors tried to scatter in all directions; several rose up to the ceiling with a terrible whistle that became almost to a clatter, one disappeared with a surprisingly quick movement into the narrow corridor and two followed it.
„ATTENTION!" Gawain yelled.
Kingsley instantly pushed Hermione to the ground, but she could still see their Patronus bursting from between them and lunging at Dementors.
The entire room exploded. The first, terrible bang resonated somewhere to the right, the second, ear-splitting, right next to the girl. Kingsley covered her with his whole body and stuck his face somewhere in her neck so as not to choke on the debris that immediately filled the air.
The third and fourth thumps rolled under the ceiling and echoed off the walls, a hailstone of rocks poured down on them and Hermione kicked her legs involuntarily, but Kingsley only pressed her harder to the ground.
And there was a silence that, compared to the terrible noise from before, was ringing in her ears.
"One moment" she heard Kingsley's muffled voice.
"What..."
„Hold on."
A few seconds later, black wizard rose to his feet and Hermione felt light like never before. She opened her eyes; first one, then another and in the light of the Patronuses she saw the remains of gray debris, that, whirling, disappeared into the corridor. Horrible stench faded with them.
„They es-escaped?" Hermione choked and she felt dizzy.
"They exploded. Pieces of shit" she heard Roger from somewhere else.
"We managed to shake them" Kingsley observed with satisfaction.
We did it! WE WON!
So go and free him ! What are you waiting for?!
Hermione staggered to her feet and shook her finger in her ear to get rid of the sudden squeal. "Kingsley... Mr. Robards, may I go to him?" She heard herself and her tense voice surprised her. Gawain held her in place and she realized she had already made to the stairs.
"There are no Dementors, but someone has to come with you anyway. You'll probably need some help."
Harry stood up with difficulty and dusted his clothes.
"I can go with you" he suggested.
The girl immediately protested.
"No, Harry. I don't think that's a good idea."
"Because we still don't like each other? It doesn't mean I can't help you."
"That's not what I mean. He ... is really in terrible condition, Harry. He sure wouldn't want anyone watching him right now. And as soon as he recovers, he will hate everyone who has seen him."
" And you?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Oh, he'll hate me too." She smiled sadly, grabbed Kingsley's hand and pulled him towards the stairs.
.,.
Severus was lying on his side, his head hidden deeply under a thick cloak that still smelled of flowers, sun and butterflies. Freedom. Just like its owner.
He remembered perfectly well that Hermione had told him a while ago that she would come TOMORROW and set him free. He had no idea if it was Tomorrow already, but TOMORROW and FREEDOM were still ringing in his head. He wasn't sure if he understood them well, as if they were meant for others, not for him, but he repeated them over and over.
He was no longer shivering from the cold, sometimes he was even too hot, but while he could still smell the fleeting smell, he tried to enjoy it.
Immediately after her visit, the dirty, fetid, tattered nightmares of his life came again. The whole herd. He tried to run away from them, crawled in the corner of the cell and cringed as much as he could, but they danced around him, enjoying his cries and screams. So he hid under a layer of cloaks and wrapped them around his maddened head as he ran his fingers over his rough cheek.
And he felt her touch.
They could take away his few happy moments, take away the memories of how he laughed with Griffin, how he enjoyed chopping ingredients or stirring in the cauldron, but they couldn't take the Touch away from him.
So he hid from the world under the cloaks, pressed his fingers to his cheek and felt like a little child that his mother hugged. And it was there that he found those two words in his mind.
Suddenly, far away in the darkness, there was a strong, dull thump, which seemed to make the earth and walls shake. Then came another, then two more.
He'd heard something like that before. And then Hermione came to him.
Maybe TOMORROW is right now ?!
He pulled the cloak off his head, sat up and stared into the darkness in front of him. Someone shouted in a hoarse voice, the grille clanged and suddenly he was overcome with horror. Maybe the dementors got it wrong and let someone else go ?! Or maybe Hermione joked so terribly, promised to release him and now she came for another prisoner ?!
He sprang to his feet, lunged forward and immediately staggered and fell, but he couldn't lie down! He did not have time! So he got up on all fours as quickly as possible and crept forward until he collided with the icy bars.
„I am here! Hermione! I am here! Please!" He shouted, hanging on the bars.
The darkness brightened a little, more and more and suddenly he saw a strange glow. It wasn't the glow of a torch, but a silvery glow, behind which two bright points danced. And which came closer and closer.
„I am here! Hermione, please !"
.,.
Hearing a hoarse call, Hermione raised her wand higher and started to run. Kingsley cursed under his breath and ran heavily after her.
Hands of unknown people stretched out towards her from behind the bars she passed, but she ignored them. As they reached Severus' cell, the Otter stopped abruptly, the Bear perched next to it, and in their light they saw the silhouette of a man hanging on the bars.
„Please!"
„Alohomora!" Hermione called and tapped the iron bars with her wand.
There was a click, the girl pushed it, rushed inside and lunged at the kneeling Severus.
He grabbed her hands, clung to her and pulled her desperately towards him.
"Hermione, please" he breathed, his voice maddened with terror.
„It's over now. We are going home. You're free." She took him tightly. „Come on. It's over now."
Kingsley followed her into the cell and they lifted Severus together, Hermione threw his arm over her back, grabbed his waist and dragged him into the corridor.
"We're going home" she said, her voice reassuring, though she was throbbing with emotion.
Kingsley had to support him from the other side and almost carried him down the corridor to the exit. Entering the entrance room, Hermione saw the dementor hoveringin the middle and stopped abruptly, but Kingsley pushed them to the exit.
"Go!" He ordered.
"Accio Severus Snape's wand" they heard Gawain, something wrenched from of the Dementor's hands and flew towards him.
Hermione stopped again, Gawain ran to her and pressed a thin black wand into her hand.
"Take it! And we're getting out of here!" He pulled on her arm and ran, opening the way for them.
The corridor was much narrower than the corridor downstairs, so Kingsley and Hermione had to walk practically sideways, but the black wizzard didn't slow down for a moment. He took almost all of Snape's weight on himself and run forward, Hermione barely keeping up with him.
As soon as the people and the Patronuses ran outside, Gawain stopped frozen at the sight of the entire horde of Dementors. Harry and Roger covered them from one side, Klaudia protected them with her body and Kingsley immediately dropped Severus' arm and held Hermione up.
"Run away!"
"Hurry up!" Harry yelled without looking back at them.
Kingsley grabbed the girl's waist.
"Focus and desapparate him! NOW!"
He spun her with all his force, "Spinner's End !" exploded in the girl's mind and suddenly everything disappeared, whirled around and pressed a shaky man against her...
And in the next second they both collapsed onto a worn carpet and a small wooden book table. Hermione sat on her knees and leaned over lying Severus.
"Are you finally at home."
She saved him. Now she could only pray that the rest would survive.
.,.
With Hermione's help, Severus crawled onto the couch and slumped limp on it. Immediately after that, the girl put a vial containing Restorative Draught to his mouth.
„Drink it."
In addition to this one he drank a few others, including a painkiller. Immediately afterward, Hermione brought him a cup of hot soup-cream and held him as he drank greedily, though the soup stung his mouth and tongue. After the girl was gone, Severus tried to straighten up and look around.
This was his home. The familiar bookshelves, the familiar chandelier with candles, the familiar armchairs, the familiar carpet… He ran his hand over the worn coverlet and recognized the couch. And a pillow.
There was a fire in his fireplace in front of him; logs crackled, flames roared and he could hear screeching of resin. He felt its heat on his face and hands, but only on the surface. It took a moment for the soup and the warming potion to spread heat over his chest and envelop his whole body. With the warmth came understanding and relief, so breathtaking, so overwhelming that he felt dizzy. He was free. He was in his own home. The nightmare was over.
The warmth in his hands grew stronger, so he opened his eyes and found the girl stroking them gently. No, not stroking them but looking at them carefully. They were wounded, covered with bloody and sore, so she cast a heat spell and reached for his face.
Strangely, her touch did not push him away. He had always avoided all physical contact before, but now he was hungry for it. Maybe because it reminded him of the few times he'd felt human lately.
The girl brushed his dirty hair from his face, ran her fingers over the wound on his forehead and the other on his temple and Severus instinctively leaned against her hand, looking for even a little care.
The combination of warmth, relief, safety and tenderness made something broke within him.
His throat started to burn, his chest stung and he tense in one last desperate attempt to control himself. He could not break down in front of her! He would never forgive himself if anyone saw him cry! But he felt that if he starts, he would break into a thousand pieces and sob like a little baby.
"Go take a bath before I heal you" he heard. "That will be better."
Hermione helped him up and led him to the bathroom.
"Here are clean clothes" she said, pointing to a dark pile on the edge of the sink.
And she left. In the last moment. Though maybe she had already noticed the first tears that ran down his cheeks.
The stream of water drowned out the faint sob that seized him. He sat down on his knees under the streams of hot water, leaned against the wall and, loosing control, burst into tears.
It wasn't until much later, when the water had washed away all the traces of tears, that he undressed clumsily and began washing, trying to wash away every trace of Azkaban. Dirt, stench and memories.
Hermione had time to wash in the kitchen sink, change clothes, change the coverlet on the couch and she began to worry. But as she went to the bathroom door, she heard splashes and the sound of something sliding across the floor, so she went back to the kitchen, made hot chocolate and sat down in the creaky, uncomfortable chair.
When Severus entered the kitchen, touching walls to steady himself, he wasn't yet the same Severus Snape she had always known, but he also looked much better than he had a moment ago. He hadn't shaved yet, but he brought a fresh scent with him, his skin clearly pink from the hot water and no blood on his face or hands.
„Are you hungry?" Hermione jumped up from her chair and steadied him. "Come on, take a seat. Severus shook his head and leaned firmly against the wall. He had been sitting for ...
"How long was I there?"
"Almost a week."
One week. Something terrifying.
"Who were the others? Today?"
„Gawain Robards, Kingsley, Harry and Roger White... It turned out Roger is innocent. And another girl from the Auror Office."
Severus considered this news for a moment.
"And Bryant?"
"He ran away at noon yesterday. But right after freeing you, the Aurors will try to catch him."
He nodded slowly and hung it, so the girl handed him a mug of chocolate.
"Drink it, please. Magic chocolate will do you good."
He winced, feeling sweet taste, but drank it all nonetheless. Then Hermione led him into the bedroom and waited for him to make himself comfortable in the soft blankets.
„Your wand" she said, setting it on the bedside table. "You can use it to cover the curtains if it's too light."
Severus was surprised to find that, on the contrary, he needed more light, but he only took the wand for the pleasure of holding it in his hand.
The girl cast a few diagnostic spells but found nothing that would endanger his life, so she decided to heal his scratches and cuts tomorrow when he felt better. Now he had to rest properly.
" Sleeping Draught" she handed him the vial.
He drank this too and almost immediately slumped on the pillow and fell asleep. Hermione adjusted the fluffy fleece on him and left, but left the door slightly ajar in case something went wrong.
She had a day, maybe more, until he would recover, be mad and curse her. And then she would have to tell him the Truth.
Ministry of Magic
Auror Headquarters
10:30 am
Klaudia was huddled on the floor and, hiding her face in her hands, she cried softly. Gawain crouched down beside her and squeezed her arm reassuringly, though he was still shocked himself.
„Merlin, how is that possible ?!" The girl gasped. "Why him? Not me?"
Harry slumped on the other side of the wall, rubbed his forehead and took her hands.
„Klaudia, you mustn't think that way."
"He was standing next to me... when the Dementor lunged on us! Maybe if I had thrown something at him ..."
"Stop it" interrupted Gawain. "First, you know very well that throwing anything at dementors doesn't make any sense, it won't stop them, and second, discussing it won't help any more."
"It's not your fault" Harry joined him.
"So whose?!"
"If anyone's guilty, it's me. I could not take Roger with us, I could leave him in custody, I could predict what would happen and put myself in his place."
The girl shook her head violently and wiped her tears with her sleeve.
"You couldn't have foreseen it!"
"So you couldn't do more" Gawain said seriously.
Harry raised his eyebrows and rubbed his forehead again.
"Will you send someone for a body?" He asked and added in his mind If he is still lying somewhere, if they have not torn him to pieces.
"Not now. I don't want to expose anyone. I will wait until tomorrow at least."
"Maybe the two of us could go there...?"
Gawain shook his head.
"No. Take a moment to rest and let's go after Paul. I think we'll start by going through his Gringotts account."
Klaudia looked closely at Harry.
"Harry, this has nothing to do with You-Know-Kim?"
"Of course no! Why?" The boy was surprised.
"Because you keep rubbing your scar..."
Harry reached for it by heart and ran his hand over it.
"No, don't be afraid. I just have a headache. By the way, I am so surprised that only now."
Hogsmeade, MediLab
15:00
An hour earlier, Leoncius Powell had received an urgent owl from Stefan Tylor with a proposal to meet together. He has already analyzed the composition of the poison, found the ingredients necessary to brew the antidote and because he lacked Moon Water, he had already checked in the national Ingredients' Warehouse and found out that neither they nor Carcassonne had this ingredient.
So he supposed he knew the reason for his colleague's request.
Now he was led to his office and he smirked involuntarily, seeing how MediLab neglected safety measures.
"Thank you, Anna." Tylor got up from his desk and, pointing to a small table at Powell, he sat down beside it and summoned two glasses and a half-open bottle of whiskey. "Sit down, Leoncius."
"Thanks for the whiskey, but I'd rather not" Powell protested immediately.
"Nobody came in here" Tylor assured him.
"I'm not a fan of alcohol. In add you read in Propeth - that stuff could be pretty much anywhere" Powell said in an apologetic tone. "So why did you invited me here?"
Tylor poured himself a small dose and held it up as if drinking Powell's health.
"Because I suppose you have the same problem as me. Moon water. What will we do about it?"
Powell shook his head helplessly.
„I have nothing. I hadn't needed it in years, so I didn't even try to replenish my supplies. How about you?"
„As you. I don't have it because I never ordered it."
"Seriously?!"
Tylor nodded and emptied the whole glass in one gulp.
"Leoncius, I don't make a secret of my potions, so you know what I'm producing?" He coughed and poured himself a little more. "Neither Tim, nor Barabbas, nor our dear Alex are using it either."
"And when you asked for it, you found out it was nowhere to be found?" Powell asked carefully.
„Exactly. Do you have any idea what to replace it with?"
"Unfortunately not."
Tylor leaned over to him, his expression very serious, accentuated by even deeper lines across his face.
„Look, I know I snapped at Alex, but I'd like to point out that you guys started first. But I think our goddess of beauty and sex is right and we should join forces and work together."
"Stefan, I'm serious. I have no idea what to replace it with. None of my guys know."
"Don't make a fool of me. The fact that I look like that is not old age, but the fault of too long experiments with Centennial Down. Snape will know for sure."
"Snape doesn't work for me anymore" Powell retorted and Tylor suddenly fell silent. "He ... quit his job a week ago. You know, we've a long discussion about bad behavior, and ... He quit."
"Shit. You chose bad time, guys. Do you know where he is now? Maybe you can ask him" Tylor said. "He's probably at home. But his house is protected by Fidelius, so you won't get there. And it is not he habit of him to respond to owls."
Tylor, clearly concerned, scratched his head.
"Shit" he repeated. "The Minister's proposal is one thing. Oh, sure, it means a lot, but the other thing is that people are dying!"
Powell nodded grimly.
"Now I understand Timothy's comment on the poison. I believe Shacklebolt knew there was a shortage of Moon Water and therefore made us an offer."
"I agree with you. Probably someone from St. Mungo's Lab told them about Water." Tylor studied the whiskey in the bottle for a moment, sighed heavily and added, "Well. I'll try to get Snape. Perhaps only he can help us."
Grimmauld Place number 12
After 5 pm
Terribly tired, Harry almost staggered out of the kitchen fireplace, then slumped down on the bench with a soft sigh and hid his head in his arms. The bright light of the lamps and the fire on the fireplace dazzled him terribly and caused a strong, throbbing pain in his head, that from noon became stronger and stronger. He'd already applied dragon scales on his temples, but apparently the events of the last few days must have marked him harder than he thought.
He needed a good, warm tea right now.
"Kreacher" he called the house elf and waited a moment, but the elf did not appear.
How is it that when you don't need him, he is under your feet, but when you need him because you don't have force to do anything, he just isn't there.
"Kreacher!" A minute passed, but the elf did not show up. Neither did Ginny. Weird.
He didn't know why he suddenly went looking for Kreacher instead of trying to make tea himself.
With difficulty he climbed onto the ground floor, entered the darkened living room and tripped over something on the ground. He quickly turned on the light and was struck by such a horrible view that he did not even notice the excruciating headache.
The elf was lying on his side, in a pool of black, clotted blood. The white apron enveloped his body and it sagged on his belly level, as if Kreacher had no guts. And it would be difficult to say why he died if it were not for the equally black streaks of clotted blood around his mouth and on his chin.
O Merlin. O Merlin ...! Could it be ...
No. No. NO, NO, NO and No!
Harry stepped out into the corridor and called out loud:
"GINNY!"
For a moment no one answered and terror almost made him speechless. And just as he tried to call his girlfriend again, the door to their bedroom upstairs opened and he heard her footsteps.
He could even imagine how she elegantly straighten her foot, places it on the step below...
The footsteps came closer and Harry smiled in relief.
But no one spoke.
"Ginny...?"
He saw one foot on the steps, then the other, coming down carefully and very slowly Ginny emerged.
She looked at him tearfully, pressed her hand to her forehead and leaned against the wall.
"Harry... I must be sick..."
Suddenly his whole world shattered to pieces.