Emmeline jumped as a pair of gentle hands brushed her shoulders. That initial fear turned to relief when she saw Severus leaning over her worriedly. She only held his gaze for a moment, however, before her gaze turned back to the small girl in the hospital bed.
"How is she?" Severus breathed as quietly as he could.
"She's still struggling to remember what exactly happened. She told the healers the only thing she could remember was how badly she needed you." Emmeline turned to look at the man's reaction as she said that he was staring at the hospital bed with a pained expression.
"Emm… I think this is my fault." Severus admitted with a slight choke in his voice.
"Severus Snape, you are the world's worst martyr!" Emmeline hissed in frustration. "How on earth could this be your fault?!"
"Because… because I think Delores did this."
Time froze.
"What?" Emmeline whispered, lips thin with rage
Severus ran a hand through his hair.
"Lucy had a detention with her last night. When I first f-" he paused in the need to swallow the lump in his throat. "found her, I hadn't thought about any culprits. I just brought her to Poppy as fast as possible. But this morning, Harry reminded me and suddenly… well it all makes sense." Emmeline was shaking, hands clutching her shawl so tightly she was in danger of ripping it to shred. She took a shuddery breath to regulate her temper.
"How on earth would that vile woman's actions be your fault?"
"Because I walked Lucy to her detention! Harry warned me that others who had detentions with Umbridge tended to act strangely afterwards, including memory issues. And despite that, I just… let her stay. I should have said something! I should have tried to pull that parent policy! I'm her dad!" Severus cried furiously. Emmeline looked at her fiance with a painful expression. The amount of self-loathing on Severus face was giving her almost physical pain. Suddenly a groan from the bed made both parents' heads twist at near inhuman speeds.
"Dad?" Lucy sleep feebled voice called with bleary-looking eyes. In a flash Severus was at her bedside, clutching her hand as if she were a fragile porcelain doll. A few pats on her head accompanied their met eyes.
"Iss alright love," Severus crooned softly, making Emmeline's smile grow a bit happier. That was one heck of a Yorkshire drawl "Close your eyes."
"Was that you shouting?" The girl asked through a jaw-cracking yawn.
"Ah… yes. I apologize. Heat of the moment."
"This wasn't your fault." The girl blurted out suddenly, with surprising conviction for someone so tired, and momentarily giving Severus pause. "I…I don't remember who did this. I but I know it wasn't you. It couldn't be you. Cause it would never be you." the girl's eyes had begun to droop closed as she spoke. Severus looked a bit awed as Emmeline smiled and stood up to lean over the other side of the bed, brushing out Lucy's rather musty curls with her fingers
"Of course dearest. Now hush. Get some sleep."
"Yes mmmm," Lucy trailed off, face gaining a very slight frown before settling into the stillness of sleep. As she did Severus stood up.
"That vile woman hurt our little girl Emm…" Severus murmured after the silence had stretched for a while. Emmeline looked up to see Severus' expression stony. "I'm going to make her pay."
"Don't be reckless Severus," Emmeline admonished even as the wheels in her brain began to turn. As the ideas swirled about the tall brunette gained a subtle smile on her face. "After all. In these cases, there are official channels that must be obeyed."
"What do you mean?" Severus asked with narrowed eyes. The way Emmeline was speaking gave him pause.
"Never you worry my darling," Emmeline insisted as she came around the bed to hold his face gently before pulling him down for a soft kiss. "Go back to Hogwarts and get some rest. I think I have a way to have this all sorted by Friday."
"Friday?! It's only Wednesday now!" Severus blurted out in awe.
"Hush!" Emmeline admonished even as Lucy made a groaning noise and turned in her sleep. The potions master had the decency to look back at his future wife with a touch of sheepishness in his eyes. "Go. And trust me."
"Always," Severus promised solemnly as he leaned his forehead against hers. Then once again they parted, though neither wanted to. But by then Emmeline already had her plan. And she was more than prepared to set it in motion
Lucius Malfoy emerged from the foyer floo at lunchtime to the sound of his wife's girly laughter and instantly made a face. Then he took a deep fortifying breath and stretched a gentile smile over his irritation. Now He loved his wife dearly. There was no sarcasm in that fact. She was easy to get along with and had a knack for spotting people's weaknesses, always useful at dinner parties.
The problem was, she was just so irritatingly sociable!
Of course, back when his father had been picking through all the available girls for him to marry, he'd found it to be a big plus. After all, he was sure to never be bored.
But as time went on it had begun to grate on his nerves a bit.
The last thing he wanted to do after a long day at work was pretend he wasn't tired because he had to play the part of the gracious host for his wife's surprise dinner guest.
Thankfully this was just for lunch. Probably just tea. All he had to do was pop in and then say he was only there for a moment before heading to his office for his afternoon lounge by the fire with a bourbon and a good book.
"Oh, that is positively evil!" Narcissa cried merrily, laughter carrying out of the room. Lucius sighed under his breath before he tapped his cane against the door.
"Narcissa my love?"
"Lucius! Oh my darling do come in!" Narcissa cried. "Oh goodness! Why I don't think you've ever met my husband, have you?" The woman in the armchair facing the door locked eyes with the tall blond and smiled as innocently as the glint in her eyes would allow.
"No… I don't believe we have." Emmeline purred.
Lucius was frozen in the doorway, gripping the handle so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
"Darling this is Emmeline Vance. She and I were dormmates at Hogwarts. She sent me a letter last night. She's on a sabbatical and wanted to catch up. We were just reminiscing about Hogwarts."
"Indeed," Lucius said evenly.
"Well don't just hover darling, come and join us!" Narcissa insisted. "Emmeline is a runic master you know. And she's an architect of some skill. I've been meaning to call on her about the west wing. It's in dire need of repair."
"Is that so…" Lucius said casually as he could, given the tension between the pair.
"Actually," Emmeline suddenly piped up with a small smile. "I've recently stepped away from architecture."
"Oh," Narcissa began with a somewhat slumped posture. "What a pity…" she perked back up after the moment of melancholy. "What is it you do know then?"
"I was teaching actually," Emmeline murmured.
"Oh? For which institution?" Narcissa asked happily.
"Hogwarts," Emmeline said matter of factly. Narcissa nearly choked on her tea.
"Hogwarts?! Goodness, I had no idea! Which subject? Did the ancient runes professor retire?"
"I was teaching history." As soon as she said this Narcissa's eyes lit up.
"No wonder our little dragon's marks have improved so much!" Emmeline's expression went bland.
"You'll soon find them back the way they were before, I'm afraid."
"O-oh?" Narcissa began with a frown. "Why is that?"
"I have been banned from Hogwarts grounds."
"That's ridiculous!" Narcissa cried, giving her husband an indignant look. After all, he was on the board of governors. Such things rightly fell under his jurisdiction.
"On whose authority?" Lucius responded with a touch of anger in his voice, to make it clear to his wife that he had no hand in this. That just made Narcissa's expression harder, but not directed at him.
"Delores Umbridge." Emmeline declared
"What?!" Narcissa cried, looking disgusted. "What balderdash! Lucius, you told me Cornelius appointed her as a consultant!"
"That is what he said," Lucius began with narrowed eyes.
"She's also be going around implementing various rules and regulations, such as mandating when staff can go on holidays, and banning quidditch."
"What?" Lucius demanded, really fury leaking into his voice. "what do you mean she banned Quidditch?"
"Our dragon is on the team! Oh, but you knew that already! Darling! Does Cornelius know about this?"
"I'm afraid," Emmeline began softly. "That is not the most worrying thing she may have done."
"What do you mean?" Narcissa asked.
"One of the students was recently hospitalized. She has a wound on her hand which is quite cursed. The most worrying thing however is that she cannot recall how she got the wound. She cannot remember anything for that night, save one thing…"
"What one thing is that?" Lucius asked slowly.
"That she was meant to be serving a detention with Delores Umbridge." Emmeline finished coldly. Narcissa looked a bit pale then and turned to her husband.
"Lucius! You simply must do something!"
"I will discuss it with Cornelius tomorrow."
"No, my love! You have to go to Hogwarts directly! You are the head of the board! You should be in charge! And if what Emmeline says is true, it cannot wait! Think of the students! How old is this student? The one in the hospital?"
"Eleven."
"Eleven?! Lucius! You have to check!"
"If I might take a moment to calm your hysterics a bit dearest," Lucius began, eyeing Emmeline with disdain "it sounds to me like this woman might hold a bit of a grudge against Umbridge, and might benefit from such accusations." Narcissa frowned before she huffed.
"Oh darling, you really are being ridiculous! Emmeline has always been trustworthy! Besides! It's just a visit. A little … informal inspection. It couldn't hurt. Won't you please? For my peace of mind?" Lucius stared at his wife who was begging with those big blue eyes in a way he could never resist. Finally, he let out a sigh and drew his wife's hand up to his mouth.
"Very well my dearest."
"Wonderful! Now! If you excuse me! I am going to write our dragon a letter! He didn't tell us quidditch was banned after all! I really must know why! Oh! Could you be a dear and see Emmeline off? Sorry to cut our tea short darling."
"It's quite alright Narcissa. It was wonderful seeing you again!" Emmeline cried with a genuine smile.
"You as well darling!" Narcissa replied before she left the room and the tension which had retreated somewhat returned. For a few moments, the pair just sat in silence, staring at each other.
"So…" Lucius finally began, steeping his fingers. "you want me to get rid of Delores Umbridge?"
"I want you to investigate her." Emmeline clarified. "I do not know if she is the one who hurt my little girl, but she was the last person to be alone in a room with her as far as we are aware. Students don't just stumble upon curses like that one. Not even at Hogwarts." Lucius narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Don't you have friends in the auror department?"
"If I asked them, they would need to write a formal report. Which would have the investigation immediately thrown out. As you said Mr. Malfoy, Umbridge and I have a score to settle. I'm not ignorant of the optics." Lucius scoffed slightly, but could see the logic. "however… all this being said… I do have a favour I would ask of you."
"The inspection is not favour enough?" Lucius demanded.
"You're not doing that for me," Emmeline reminded him smugly "You're doing that for your dearest wife's 'peace of mind'."
"Don't test me, Vance!" Lucius snarled furiously. The woman sighed and leaned back into her armchair.
"The favour I ask is this. When you go to investigate Umbridge, I would like to accompany you."
"I thought you said you were banned."
"Oh, I am. But I made a promise to that toad that I would be there when her day of reckoning came. And I oh so hate breaking promises."
"What shall our excuse for you being there be?"
"Hogwarts has many runic keystones throughout the building. In the walls, over doorways, and even in some of the courtyard paving stones. Several of those should have protected little Lucy from the kind of curse she was subjected to. If someone has tampered with those protections it could affect the very integrity of the building itself. As a runic master I can of course inspect the keystones for any signs of tampering. It could also be age of course, in which case, I can assist with repairs."
"Isn't there already a runic master at Hogwarts?" Lucius argued.
"Yes. But seeing as tomorrow is a school day, she'll be quite busy with classes. Draco takes ancient runes yes? I would hate to interrupt his studies for such a thing." Lucius actually looked a bit impressed underneath his disdain.
"You really have thought of everything," he remarked.
"We're Slytherins Mr. Malfoy," Emmeline reminded him. "It's par for the course." he pulled a face at the muggle saying before taking a deep breath.
"We'll meet at the Hogwarts front gates tomorrow at 8 am. Hopefully, we can have this mess sorted before lunch."
"Agreed." Emmeline then stuck a hand out. Lucius tightened his grip around his cane on instinct before he released it and reached forward to shake on their agreement. His silver eyes locked with Emmeline's hazel ones and he smirked. There was a bit of fear underneath the surface of her eyes. Then he withdrew his hand and stood.
"Allow me to show you our Miss. Vance."
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Emmeline replied with all the grace her parents had taught her, and all the false politeness her grandmum had taught her as well.
