The early morning of Halloween, Harriette found herself enjoying a steaming cup of lavender and chamomile tea in the courtyard watching the sunrise. A gust of wind picked up the crisp, fallen leaves. The orange foliage tumbled in the small, invisible tornado before her. She shivered, shrugging her shawl tightly to her body. About this time in the morning Neville Longbottom would be on his way to water the freshly potted Mandrakes and she was hoping to catch him. In her pocket, wrapped neatly in kraft paper and twine was something she could only trust to him.
Like clockwork, Longbottom came jubilantly out of the castle and down the steps on his way to the greenhouses. She adored how he seemed to walk to a tune only he could hear. He was such a treasure. It was quite shameful that she didn't try to make better friends with him during school.
"Good morning, Professor Longbottom" The poor guy jumped mid-step. Apparently he hadn't seen her sitting there.
"Ah, good morning, Ms. Dahl. What brings you out here on this beautiful morning? It's still quite early." He stopped before her, putting his hands in his pockets. She noticed he wasn't wearing gloves. He probably forgot them in his chambers. She remembered how he was so forgetful that his grandmother had sent him a remembrall one year.
"Enjoying the sunrise, but I was hoping to catch you on your way to the greenhouses actually."
"Really? How may I help you?" Harriette reached into her pockets and pulled the wrappings out carefully not to bend or break it.
"I have something I thought you may be interested in, and frankly, you are the only person I trust with something so delicate and important." Neville stepped closer and brought his hand out from his pocket, accepting the wrappings Harriette offered. He carefully untied the twine and spread the paper open, to which she was grateful. Inside were a few four-inch stem cuttings. Normally, people wouldn't make such a fuss over a few simple stems, but these weren't just any stems.
"What are these?"
"These are very delicate, and very important clippings from a snakewood tree. Not just any snakewood tree-"
"The Salazar Snakewood tree from Ilvermorny? No way!" Of course Neville would know all about Salazar's tree. Any proficient Herbologist would be.
"The very same. While practicing medicine at Ilvermorny, that tree had given a few leaves that have created thousands of healing potions. We had also clipped a few stems from new sprouts to try and see what medicinal properties they may possess, but unfortunately the experiments proved unsuccessful. I brought these here, in hopes that maybe you could cultivate them and a tree or three could grow here to use. The medicine is significant in healing and that would mean-"
"That European healers wouldn't have to import the potions." Neville finished her statement again.
"Precisely. Do you think you could get them to grow here?"
"I will try my best. Thank you so much, Harriette! I'll get started straight away!"
"Don't forget about the Mandragora!" She called after the hurried man. She was confident that Neville Longbottom could get the stems to sprout their own roots and in no time, planted, resulting in beautiful Salazar Snakewood tree descendants. She couldn't wait to hear of the progress. She sipped her tea, smiling over the brim of the cup while watching the rest of the sunrise. It was definitely a gorgeous morning.
Later that afternoon, Harriette lounged in her bed, reading the 2000's editions of the Daily Prophet. She had already finished the 1999's the week prior but couldn't read the next batch until today because she had to deal with a mass outbreak of fevers among students. One of the fourth years had visited the Weasley's joke shop and purchased some Fever Fudge bars to pass around so they could avoid Care of Magical Creatures. Apparently the Attack of the great Hippogriff was a feared rumor among students and that beast was their next lesson.
So far the first few months proved to be insignificant for her research. Many deatheaters had been caught and sentenced to Azkaban or given the Dementor's kiss but none mentioned Sirius, Bellatrix, or Kingsley Shacklebolt. She was just about to give up on reading the newspapers when the next edition in the stack caught her eye.
Arthur Weasley stood next to Kingsley Shacklebolt, shaking the Minister's hand. Flashes illuminated the men as they had their pictures taken. The issue was for June 6, 1999 and it read:
Arthur Weasley Inducted into the Wizengamot
Arthur Weasley was inducted into the Wizengamot where he will help rule in favor or against cases that are related to muggle affairs. He will still partake in other Wizengamot cases of course, but this is especially significant, because muggle related instances were often ruled with heavy prejudices to date. It is with hopes that having a muggle expert on the council, these cases will be less discriminated against and those accused of crimes related to muggle injustices that are innocent or shouldn't be standing trial as they are irrelevant in nature, will lessen the traffic of mundane cases in the Wizarding Court of law and be open to more pertinent proceedings.
It is about time that the Wizengamot grow some sense in these matters and stop wasting time on such ridiculous and outdated practices. Sources say citizens across Scotland, Ireland, and the U.K. have been pushing for this change for decades and are more than in favor of the recent changes to the Wizengamot members. "No longer will our government be ruled by corrupt, pure-blood fanatics!" One Daily Prophet subscriber said. Others heartily agreed. Only a few pure-blood families remain against this notion.
A succession of taps and raps sounded on Harriette's window, interrupting her reading. Through the foggy window, a rather ruffled looking owl sat shaking the light snow from his feathers. The poor bird looked fed up and she couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. She crossed the room and opened the window but before the owl could come in, three more owls came flying through the opening, helping each other carry a rather large package. They dumped it on the bed and found a place on the overstuffed chair next to the roaring fire. They snuggled close to soak up the heat. It was quite adorable but the whirlwind of owls made her forget about the poor owl on the windowsill until she heard him hoot angrily behind her.
"You poor thing!" Harriette grabbed the owl and tucked him into her fluffy black house robe. He wasn't sure how to react to this, but after a pause, he reluctantly settled into her, content with her body heat. Neglecting her research and the large package, she closed the window and crossed to the chair that the owls perched on where she sat down. She stroked the fluffy creatures feathers inside her robe and began to hum. She never imagined she would be cuddling owls and helping them to dry off and it was quite nice at first but now she was soaked herself.
"Alright, you. Let's get you dried off a bit quicker." She took the owl from her robe and cast the drying charm. Hot air began to blow from the tip of her wand and she brushed the owls feathers down as she dried him. As his feathers smoothed and dried, she realized she had seen this owl before.
"Oh, I know you! You're Mickey's owl!" She could tell him apart from the other common owls because he had a rather unique black spot on his chest. It wasn't noticeable at first with all his feathers messy from the wind and snow. She and Mickey had been sending letters back and forth the last couple of weeks so she got to know the bird quite well. "Do you have a letter for me?" He cooed happily and stuck his little leg out for her to receive the small scroll. Despite him having been soaked to the core, he managed to keep it completely dry. She set the owl next to the others on the armrest of the chair and opened the scroll.
Dearest Harriette,
The past couple of weeks I found myself eagerly waiting for your letter every time I sent Machio to you. He is charmed by you too, it seems. He is always anxious for me to write to you and I can't help but be jealous of him. He gets to see you often and I have to sit here dreaming of your face and wondering when I will see you again. Such a silly thing, to be jealous of a bird. It got me thinking though. How would you feel coming to visit over Thanksgiving? Please say yes! I don't think I can breathe another minute without seeing you again. You have bewitched me, woman. Think about it?
Mickey-
Most girls would swoon over letters like this and Harriette did, kind of. She definitely felt acknowledged as a woman. She is seen, she is heard, and she has the attention of a charming and attractive man. What more could she want? They had passion. At least, they did back at the inn. He was romantic, that much was for sure, but something was missing and she couldn't place her finger on it. Still, she longed to say yes to him. The thought of a small weekend getaway locked in a room, engaging in unspeakable acts with a devilish man made her cheeks turn rosy. It was definitely something to think about.
She pushed herself up from her plush chair and walked to her bed, setting aside Mickey's letter. She would write to him later, for now she had to get the candies and treats she ordered sent up to the Gryffindor common room for their small Halloween party. She reached up to the chain around her neck and clutched the coin adornment. She was very fond of her coins. They were charmed to alert anyone who had one. The metal grew warm in her grasp and a few moments later, she heard a knock on her door. With a wave of her hand, the door opened to reveal her intern Nellie standing there.
"Good evening, Nellie. Everything alright out there?" The girl nodded. If she hadn't heard her speak before, she would have thought the girl was mute. She rarely spoke to anyone. "Anyone come in to be seen?" The girl's long braids wiggled back and forth as she shook her head. Nellie was such a beautiful girl and Harriette had a feeling that she wasn't aware of how pretty she was. She was very withdrawn, both physically and emotionally. She had a lot of work to do to break her from her shell and help her find her confidence. "Good. Would you mind doing me a favor? Can you and Maisie take this to Naos? Slughorn's party for fifth years and up will be starting soon, so I thought I would help him throw his own little party in his common room. You and miss Wood are welcome to go get ready for the Halloween party now."
"Yes, Ms. Dahl." She watched the girl perform a flawless floating spell, nonverbally to which she was very impressed at. Nonverbal spells were very advanced so to see a student perform one made her swell with pride and amazement. With her interns now gone, she decided to get dressed and tend to the infirmary in case anyone should need medical attention. You never know with Halloween events.
Sure enough, not even ten minutes later, a chime sounded in her chambers alerting her to the presence of someone in the main ward. She put her apron on quickly and hurried through the doors to the hospital where she saw Sirius Black fiddling with one of the dividers between the bed stations. He had touched it a little too hard and it lost its balance, nearly toppling over. From her point of view she would have thought he was trying to wrestle it. She heard him mutter something like "bloody contraption" and she burst out laughing. Sirius jumped, turning around to her in fright.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough." Harriette admitted. The grimace on his face made her laugh again.
"You find it funny, do you? Well just wait until one of these damn things attacks you. You won't be laughing then." The tone in his voice and the smile behind his eyes let her know he was teasing her. She was laughing so hard that she was nearly in tears.
"What brings you down here?" She asked after catching her breath. "You don't look like you need medical attention. Is that why you were fighting the divider? You need an excuse to avoid Slughorn's party?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I don't particularly like conversing with vampires or pretending to be interested in anything Horace talks about. The bloke drones on and on about nothing astounding and everything he says makes me want to eat slugs."
"Eat slugs?"
"It would be better than listening to how he came upon an Acromantula who offered his venom out of the goodness of its heart. It's a bunch of bollocks if you ask me."
"So you decided to visit me? How am I more interesting than giant spider venom and vampires?"
"Well for starter's you are from America. You can tell me all about that fancy Ilvermorny over drinks!"
"I hate to disappoint, but I haven't any beverages, unless you want to gamble with the variety of potions I have in my storage cupboard?"
"No need, I came prepared." He turned to the bedside table behind him and grabbed the two goblets that were sitting there. There was also a small bowl filled with amber colored liquid.
"Cider?"
"I also nicked these." He handed Harriette a plate of sweets and treats.
"Well then, our Halloween is complete. Shall we?"
"Let's." They clinked their glasses together.
Harriette and Sirius spent the next thirty minutes talking and laughing about the differences between Ilvermorny and Hogwarts. They were two drinks in and about to start their third when she noticed her head was feeling a little fuzzy. It didn't take her long to piece together that the cider wasn't just cider.
"Sirius?"
"Mmm?"
"What did you put in the cider?"
"Nothing, love. Although it does taste a bit fiery, doesn't it?" He frowned.
"Oh no! Someone's spiked the cider!"
"That means…"
"That there is going to be quite a few sick students if you don't get your arse back to the party and stop it."
"Oh."
"What are you waiting for?"
"Oh, right!" Harriette hurried to her office and rummaged through the remedies in her cupboard but only found a single bottle of antebrius elixir, known as the sober-up potion. One bottle wouldn't help one hundred people or more. She would have to rely on old fashioned pain relief and anti nausea potions to counter the effects of the alcohol. That, buckets, and cool wash rags. It was going to be a long night.
AN: Thank you again for all the likes comments and reviews. I know I said updating was going to be slow, but I couldn't wait to post this chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Thank you starlite22 for your review. I am aware that Hermione/Harriette is not American, however she has been raising Naos in America from infancy, therefore he calls her 'mom' not 'mum'. I took this into consideration when writing and ultimately decided that because he was in America, he would learn American slang over British. I hope this clears that conundrum up for you! Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you enjoy it regardless of the terminology I use!