Chapter 11- Clarity
When Ruby arrived back in the living room she could hear her mother screaming at her Uncle.
"…understand! You couldn't possible even…"
"Fucking stupid idea, I'm glad he's dying!"
She ran into the kitchen and saw the twins at opposite sides of the table, both red in the face and looking angry.
"We should sit down and talk about this calmly." Ruby said, trying to employ the demeanour she used with angry patients. Two apparition cracks could be heard and then her father and Uncle Ron ran into the room.
"You have got to be kidding me, Eliza!" Her father yelled.
"It's none of your…"
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT FINISHING THAT SENTENCE, ELIZA!" He roared and Ruby looked at her father, slightly scared.
"I have to go, I am going, and I don't need your permission." Her mother said, in a voice of forced calm.
"You're shouldn't go, Eliza, especially not alone." Uncle Ron said and her mother looked at him and seemed to think for a moment before responding.
"Fine."
"You're not going?" Her father said, almost sagging in relief.
"I'm going, with Ron." Her mother said and her father's head snapped towards his brother.
"Why not me?" Her father said.
"Or me?" Uncle Harry added. "He was my uncle too!"
"Exactly, you too are more likely to fly at him. Ron can come, with the cloak. Come on we need to be there in twenty minutes." The almost abrupt nature of the resolution appeared to take all three men by surprise. They all looked at each other and then Eliza, who was pulling on her coat and summoning some paper from the front room.
"How long have you known about this?" Harry asked.
"About a month." Her mother said.
"Why didn't you say anything? For Merlin's sake, Eliza I've been worried sick!" Her father said, walking up to his wife and standing in front of her.
"What was I supposed to say, Fred? What would have made you understand?" She said, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Because I need to show him that I'm stronger than he is, I need to show him that I'm not scared of him, that I'm not colour-blind anymore." Ruby saw her Uncles look confused at the colour-blind reference and she didn't understand it herself but it seemed to have a significant effect on her father, he pulled his wife into a hug and whispered something that Ruby didn't hear in her ear.
"Come on, Ron, Harry give him the cloak." She said, as they broke apart.
"I haven't got it, I'll just…"
"Liar, it's in your pocket and if you even think about running to get Minerva or even telling her about this I will hex you into next year." She said. Her brother rolled his eyes and then pulled the silvery cloak out of his pocket and handed it to Ron, muttering about the bond that had betrayed him.
Her mother and Uncle Ron left the house and her father walked over to the window to watch them apparate before flicking his wand towards the kettle.
"You staying, Harry?" He asked.
"Yeah, wouldn't be able to concentrate anyway, can't bloody believe this." He said, sitting down at the table. Ruby sat down as well and her father made them all drinks and then sat too.
"How did you find out, Ruby?" Uncle Harry asked and Ruby bit her lip, wondering how they would take it.
"I…I already knew he was dying." She said, taking a sip of her tea and wishing it would make her feel better.
"How?" Her father asked, and she could tell that he thought that her mother had confessed it to her, and not him.
"I'm sorry, dad." She said, feeling exactly the same as they time that she had had to tell him what had been going on with Dean in her first year of healer training.
"Ruby, just tell me." He said, the childish part of her wished that he would have added something along the lines of, 'I won't be cross'.
"I saw a letter at Aunt Petunia's from the prison…"
"She knew about this?" Uncle Harry said and she could tell that he also felt betrayed.
"I don't know, I don't think she opened her letter and I didn't ask her about it. Anyway, I was worried that they were letting him out or something so I asked Granddad to look into it…"
"Christ, dad knew?"
"He found out he was dying and then we weren't sure what to do, I didn't know that mom had had the letter until yesterday…"
"How did you find out?" Her father asked,
"It was stuffed between the sofa cushions and I lay on it, I didn't open it because you came back so I just shoved it back. Anyway this morning mom said she had the day off and she was going to see an old friend, I asked her and it all just tumbled out."
"You're leaving something out, Ruby." Her Uncle said and she felt herself squirm under his professional gaze.
"Ruby?" Her father asked and she sighed, knowing she couldn't protect her godmother from the fall out anymore.
"We…me and Granddad didn't know what to do so we asked…"
"Minerva?" Uncle Harry said and Ruby nodded, her father swore and Ruby felt the need to defend her instantly, especially as she wasn't even present.
"She wanted to see how mom was before she decided what to do, but then mom got foggy so…"
"Nothing was said." Her Uncle finished and again she nodded.
"I'm sorry, dad. I didn't know what to do, and…"
"Okay Rubes, I understand." He said and he patted her back, she put her head in her hands and then looked back up.
"What a bloody week!" She muttered and her Uncle smiled slightly. "She will be okay, won't she?"
"She'll be fine with Ron. He always did have a different way of handling Eliza, it's always been the same." Uncle Harry said and her father nodded.
Two hours later her mother arrived back and the change in her was remarkable. Her face had more colour and she was smiling and joking with Uncle Ron, she shut the door behind her and then looked at her husband, smiling widely.
"Red is red and blue is blue." She said, grinning. He crossed the kitchen quickly and pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly and whispering again. Ron moved past them and shook hands with Harry.
"She needed to do it mate." He said, Harry nodded and then hugged his friend. Ruby slipped back up to her room feeling quite out of place.
When Ruby arrived for the night shift at eight o'clock she was quite relieved to be back at the hospital. She entered the office and to her surprise Scorpius was sitting at his desk, playing with a muggle electronic toy that she had seen Dudley play with once.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, sitting at her desk and pulling out her things.
"You're not the only one who needs to avoid the press now, Weasley." He said, not taking his eyes off the toy.
"Look, I'm sorry about that, Scorpius. At least you got the retraction, I'm still the wicked witch of the west." She said, moving to the kettle and making them both a drink, Kyle was not in his office so Ruby suspected that they would automatically be assigned low risk cases by the on-duty healer.
Scorpius didn't respond to her words but did grunt in gratitude for the tea she placed on his desk.
They didn't speak for thirty minutes, Ruby was reading her textbook with her mind still with her mother, and Scorpius continued to play his game.
"Case for you two." Came a familiar voice, Ruby looked up and saw that Penny Shacklebolt was the on-duty healer.
"Penny! I didn't know you covered emergency healing." Ruby said, picking up her wand.
"I've got some hours to make up for when I was…foggy last year." She said and Ruby nodded, knowing that Penny had struggled for a few months last year after having a series of flashbacks brought about by a patient who had also been an inmate of Azkaban.
"Oh, well it's nice to see you. What's the case?" She asked as they walked to the room. Scorpius followed behind grumpily.
"Fall from a treehouse, he was building it for his daughter."
"Oh, dad built the twins a treehouse one year." She said conversationally as they entered the room.
The wizard looked to be in his early thirties and was accompanied by his very pregnant wife and his distraught six-year-old daughter.
"Hello Mr Smith, I am trainee Healer Weasley and this is Mr Malfoy and…"
"Malfoy! I've not being treated by him! Bloody Death Eater!" The man shouted, looking horrified.
"Mr Malfoy is a first year trainee and he will be assisting." Ruby said firmly. Scorpius had flushed and Penny was looking down at the little girl.
"How about we go and find you a Mummy a nice drink?" She said, leaning down to the girl, she nodded and took Penny's hand.
"Are you sure he'll be okay with…?" The wife indicated at Ruby and Scorpius.
"Both trainee Healer Weasley and Mr Malfoy are perfectly capable of looking after your husband, I will sign off any treatment that is above their abilities should it arise. It would be better for you and your daughter if you waited in a relatives room. Mr Malfoy will come to collect us when you can see him."
"Alright, see you later Bob." She gave her husband a quick kiss on the cheek and then followed Penny out of the room.
"So Mr Smith, where exactly does it hurt?" Ruby asked briskly.
"My back and hip, landed on my side."
"And how far did you fall?"
"Only about six meters, I was going to add safety charms before Belle used it but…" He stopped talking and winced.
"Okay, Scorpius what do you think?" Ruby asked, she usually didn't ask his opinion but she was trying to score some brownie points.
"Oh…pain potion F4, or 5. Diagnostic charm on his back and hip."
"Which diagnostic charm?" She pressed.
"Standard bone charms, the muscle scan one too."
"Correct, first could you prepare potion F5, ten ml drip in one hundred ml of T3."
"Why T3?" He asked as he moved to the potion cabinet.
"Because of the height of the fall, it will bring out any other injuries." Ruby conducted the diagnostic charm and then discussed the treatment with Scorpius and Mr Smith and then Penny brought his family back in and they transferred him to a ward.
Back in the office Scorpius seemed marginally warmer towards Ruby and even made her a cup of tea.
"So, did you talk to Chang then?" He asked, as she filled out the paperwork.
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"He said…I don't want to talk about it." She said, pushing the paperwork away and pulling out the letters from her family. The first one was from her grandmother.
Dear Ruby,
Don't you start feeling sorry for that boy, he shouldn't have embarrassed you in front of everyone, especially with your mother there! You come to the Burrow as soon as you're feeling better and I'll make Waffles.
Lots of love,
Grandma and Granddad
Xxx
The next one was from Aunt Ginny.
Dear Ruby,
I hope you're feeling okay? I can't believe he did that! I spoke to my friends at the gossip pages and they said that Henry approached them in June and they've been paying him for tip-offs, I'm so sorry honey, I had no idea! Audrey doesn't really talk to them so she didn't know either. I hexed them for you, it's absolutely despicable! Just because you're of age now doesn't mean you can have your privacy invaded. Let me know when you're free and we'll have lunch, we still haven't given you your birthday present!
Lots of love,
Aunt Ginny
Xxx
Of course Ruby knew about the payment now but it didn't help to know that Henry had approached the paper. That was really hurtful. She tried to think back to June to see if there had been any change in Henry's behaviour but she couldn't think of any. The next letter was from Annabel.
Rubes,
OH MY GOD! I can't believe what happened at the Ball, Uncle Charlie came and told us yesterday so we didn't find out from the papers. I know Henry is an absolute god when it comes to looks but seriously Rubes, you can do better, he obviously doesn't know you at all. I can't believe he proposed in front of everyone you know, and mom, what a knob! Immy was annoyed that Uncle Charlie hadn't woken us up when you came to the wall but I knew that you wouldn't have wanted to be crowded. I've got some gossip too but I'll wait till you're feeling a bit happier.
Love you loads,
Annabel (Immy has just read this over my shoulder and she said she'll write to you at some point as well)
Xxx
Ruby smiled at the thought that her sister had reframed from sharing her own gossip; that must be hard for her. It would definitely be about a boy. Annabel and Immy, although identical to the last freckle, were very different and Annabel was much more into boys than Immy.
"Letters from your family?" Scorpius asked.
"Yeah, this one's from my sister, she hadn't seen yesterday's paper when she wrote it so I'll probably get another one soon."
"At least your Aunt managed to get the retraction on the front page, dad said she was amazing."
"She said your dad was pretty good too."
"He takes privacy really seriously."
"I know the feeling. The prophet have been paying Henry to give them information about me, and about where we go." She admitted, trying to hold back tears.
"Fuck, seriously?" He asked,
"Yeah, since June, my Aunt Ginny found out."
"Sorry, Ruby, that's deplorable."
"Yeah, it is." She said quietly, she heard Scorpius get up and walk over to her.
"Look, I got you a birthday present, I was going to give it to you yesterday but I didn't get chance and then I was pissed off." He passed her a small parcel.
"You didn't have to." She said, taking it.
"I know, I wanted to." He smiled and then moved back over to his desk.
Ruby hated opening presents in front of people but she felt it would be rude not to. She opened it up and found a blue-feathered quill in a box.
"Thanks, it's lovely." She said, honestly.
"It's a special one, I noticed that you write on your hands. With that quill only you will be able to see what you've written." Ruby was quite touched that he had noticed.
"Thanks, that's really kind of you. I have a shocking memory."
"I guessed."
"When's your birthday then?" She asked.
"New Year's Eve." He said, smiling slightly.
"That's a good birthday, my Aunt's is on New Year's Day and she hates it, she says everyone's always hung-over."
"They could just take a potion."
"Oh, my muggle Aunt, Aunt Petunia."
"The one your mom grew up with right?"
"Yeah, at least everyone will be up for a party on your birthday."
"Exactly, you should have another birthday."
"Alistair said we'll have a big party when he comes home for Christmas, he loves parties."
"Shacklebolt right?"
"Yeah, we've been best friends since we were kids, and Alice Longbottom, Penny Shacklebolt is my sister's godmother."
"Her and your mom were in Azkaban together, right?"
"Yeah, they're pretty close."
"I imagine that that kind of thing brings you together or tears you apart."
"Yeah, Xenophilius Lovegood was in with them as well but he couldn't cope after the war, he killed himself within a year."
"Bloody Voldemort." Scorpius muttered and Ruby nodded.
"Yep, bloody Voldemort."
A/N So Henry is officially off the scene and Scorpius is moving in! Let me know what you think.
Next chapter; After a rough day for Amber the trainee healers have another night out, flirting ensues!
Thanks to mozie for beta-ing!
witchprincess33- Thanks!
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Thank you!
LUG-14- So Eliza didn't go alone, Ron went with her- what did you think?
- That's a bizarre thing to say! I have no plans to kill Hagrid but I'll try and give him more page time at least.