Vivens cum Pericula
Chapter 7: Fiasco
By Anne B. Walsh
"To the grand opening of Camelot, tomorrow," Remus toasted, lifting his glass.
"To Harry’s homecoming, next week," Aletha added, tapping hers against his.
"To our daughter, next month," said Sirius, sliding his non-glass-holding arm around Aletha’s shoulders.
"To all our fondest dreams," said Peri, clinking her glass with her friends’. "May they come true, sooner or later, and sooner rather than later."
"Hear, hear," said Sirius.
Three flutes of champagne and one of sparkling cider were sipped from.
"So, will you be there?" Remus asked Peri. "At the opening?"
"Wouldn’t miss it, Mr. Librarian."
"Librarian," Remus repeated, smiling broadly. "I still can’t believe that."
"Believe it. The job is yours, likewise the pay and the prestige, neither of which is much."
"But still more than I’ve ever had before."
"I’m happy for you." Peri stroked a finger down Remus’ hand where it held his glass. "Save me a good seat, will you?"
"Just one, or is Ray coming?"
"He’s still little enough to sit on my lap. Or yours."
"It’d better be yours. I have to help with the ribbon-cutting."
"He’d love to help you with it..."
"Are you out of your mind? With everyone who’ll be there, and watching? Why not just go tell Lucius firsthand that you’re exposing his son to Muggle culture?"
"Hold up! I never said he should. I just said he’d love to. I know he shouldn’t, he can’t, so there’s no need to yell at me. Unless you think it’s fun."
Remus gave a stiff nod and put on a stern tone. "Yes, of course I think it’s fun. I love it."
Peri laughed.
"I want to keep yelling at you all my life," Remus went on, his voice softening. "I want to be the only man entitled to yell at you, or whistle at you, or anything else. I want..."
Peri shrank back in her seat. "Maybe we shouldn’t go there," she said. It’s happening again... why does the one thing in the world I want the most have to be the one thing I can’t have?
"Why not?" Remus leaned forward. "Peri, you know how I feel about you. You must know. And I don’t think I’m imagining that you feel the same way about me."
Peri considered lying for a moment, but discarded it. He deserves the truth. "You’re not. Imagining it, I mean. I do care about you. I do... like you a lot."
"You don’t have to be afraid to say it." Remus let his eyes wander across to Sirius, who had his hand on Aletha’s belly and a look of joyous wonder on his face. "Look what saying it did for them. I’ll start if you want. I..."
"Don’t. Please." The words hurt coming out, like biting on a sore spot in her mouth, but she couldn’t let him say it, couldn’t let it begin. If you start, I won’t be able to stop myself.
"Peri, why not?"
She met his eyes, and what she had to say was almost lost in what she wanted to say. She forced her feelings back. "I’m not free, Remus. I have an obligation. Something I promised I’d do. And I can’t do it and be with you."
"What is it?"
"It’s Ray."
Remus frowned. "But now that I have work, you wouldn’t need to..."
Peri shook her head. "You don’t understand. It’s not the money. It’s him. I... I know what he could be. What he can be, if he has the chance. But he won’t get the chance if he doesn’t have someone to help him. Narcissa’s doing her best, but she can’t do it alone. Not and keep up appearances, and she has to do that, or else Lucius will get suspicious and find out what’s going on, and then he’ll take charge of Ray himself, and..." She had to turn away to fight down tears. "It isn’t you. Please believe me, it isn’t you. If I didn’t have Ray to think about, I would have said yes a month ago."
A month ago and a world away... no. No more of that.
Remus’ voice was flat. "I understand."
"No. You don’t. I wish you could, but you can’t. But no, I don’t wish that either. I don’t want you to be where I am." Peri knew she wasn’t making sense, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. "I hope you don’t ever have to choose between two people you love, and know you’ll hurt everyone no matter what you choose."
"Don’t worry, I won’t." His voice had picked up a hint of venom. "Thanks to you, I can’t choose at all. Excuse me, I need to get home and rest up for the ceremony." Peri winced as she heard his chair scrape against the floor. "Good night, Sirius, Letha. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow."
"Of course," said Aletha, sounding confused. "But you’re not leaving already, are you?"
"That is generally what it means when a person gets up and says good night," Remus said lightly. "I’m sorry to abandon you, but I really can’t stay."
"Not even to feel your goddaughter kick?" Sirius cajoled. "Come on, you know you want to."
"Thank you, no. I’d rather not do anything else that could be misinterpreted."
Peri clenched her teeth against misery as Remus’ footsteps receded into the distance. Looking up, she met brown eyes and gray, both equally surprised.
"What on earth did we miss?" Aletha asked.
Peri forced a tiny smile. "Nothing much," she said. "I just had to... remind Remus about a few things. Excuse me, please? I should get back, it’s getting late..."
"You’re still coming to the ceremony tomorrow, aren’t you?" Sirius said, standing up as she did.
"Yes, I’m still coming."
"With Ray?" Aletha asked.
"With Ray." Peri hugged her friend carefully, and laid a hand on Aletha’s belly. "Now you be good tonight, little one," she said in mock-scolding tones. "Let your mummy and daddy love each other for a while, because your daddy will be very busy tomorrow making sure everybody is safe at the big ceremony, and your mummy won’t get to see him much."
The baby girl kicked at Peri’s hand. "I think that’s baby for, Yeah, right," Aletha said, chuckling. "If she needs to be the center of attention this much now, I hate to think of what she’ll be like when she’s born."
"Comes by it honestly, I’d say," said Peri, flicking her eyes towards Sirius.
Sirius folded his arms. "I resemble that remark."
"You most certainly do," Aletha said, threading her hand through one of his elbows. "Let’s go home, love. Good night, Peri, we’ll see you tomorrow."
"Good night." Peri watched them go, then made her way back to the ladies’ room, from where she Apparated back to Malfoy Manor. Ray was already asleep, and Narcissa seemed to sense that something wasn’t right, merely nodding to Peri before slipping out of the nursery.
Peri went into her own room, shut the door, and flicked Silencing Charms on walls, floor, and ceiling. Standing in the center of the room, she transformed, and howled grief and pain and the irreconcilable impossibility of two loves, each greater than the other.
xXxXx
Remus sank onto his couch, feeling the beginnings of a headache in his temples. Why does she have to be so damned noble and self-sacrificing?
Because if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be Peri, the back of his mind said. And you wouldn’t love her nearly so much.
Love her. He almost wished he didn’t... but no, he couldn’t unwish something that had brought so much light and joy into his life. Even if it was, at the moment, producing nothing but pain.
And let’s be fair, she is still bringing in information that couldn’t come from anywhere else. Like that tip about the Longbottoms. Thank God they were warned about that in time. I just wish they’d been able to catch the Death Eaters, rather than running them off...
Still, most of the Death Eaters were rounded up now, and the ones who weren’t had to act respectable. Like Malfoy. Why did Peri stay at that godforsaken place, anyway?
You know why. Because of Ray. You’ve seen what she’s talking about, the promise he shows, how sweet he is. You care about him yourself. And he’s bonded to Peri now. It wouldn’t be right to take her away from him, not before he’s ready.
Remus sat up straighter. Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. That might be the answer. When he’s ready. Most children stop having nannies when they’re six or seven, eight at the most. It’s a long time to wait, but I’m used to waiting for things, and it’s better than not having her at all...
He almost snatched up a quill to write to her immediately, but his good sense restrained him. You can’t write to her directly, Lucius will see the letter and want to know what she’s doing in contact with you, and there’s everything you’re working to save gone out the window without a broom. You’ll see her tomorrow. Wait until then. Wait until the ceremony’s over. And then apologize, and tell her this.
And then what? She’ll fall into my arms?
Well, maybe if you’re lucky. Remus recognized this part of his mind — it was the one that sounded most like Sirius.
And what if I’m not lucky?
She’ll slap your face, call you a selfish berk, and walk away.
Remus shrugged. I’d rather be slapped by her than kiss almost any other woman I know.
What other women do you know? That aren’t taken, I mean?
Remus laughed. "All right, I have just reached critical mass of arguing with myself," he said aloud. "Chocolate is indicated. And then bed."
After all, he did have a big day tomorrow.
xXxXx
"It’s a shame to see Remus and Peri fighting," said Aletha, snuggling down into Sirius’ arms. "I wonder if there’s anything we can do."
"Not tonight," Sirius said firmly, freeing one hand to cup Aletha’s chin and turn it towards him. "Tonight is for us. You’re not going to be pregnant much longer..."
"I thought you’d be happy about that."
"Well, yes, I’m happy for you. And it will make certain things easier. But you are so sexy this way."
Aletha shook her head. "You keep saying that," she said. "And I just can’t see it. Sirius, I’m puffy all over, I can’t see my own shoes, I can’t eat anything with salt in it or I swell up like a water bomb..."
"Mmmm."
"Get your mouth off there and answer me. What is so attractive about this?"
"Well, there’s always the fact that I got you this way." Sirius grinned. "That you let me get you this way."
"As if I knew it was happening. Go on."
Sirius shrugged. "I dunno. I just think you’re beautiful whatever way you are, and you plus one is more than twice as beautiful as before." He kissed his hand and patted her belly. "I can’t wait to meet you all on your own, little one," he said to it, then looked back up at Aletha. "We need to think about names. Girl names."
"Nothing celestial, I take it."
"No, Merlin, no. And nothing long and complicated, either. I love Andy, but how she could tag her daughter with Nymphadora I’ll never know."
"So you want something simple."
"Mm-hmm. And if you don’t mind, I think I want her middle name to be..."
"Lily?"
Sirius nodded.
Aletha smiled, and blinked back tears. "I was going to suggest it if you didn’t. But why not her first name?"
"It’s too soon. I don’t want to be crying every time I talk to her. Maybe if we have a boy next, he can be James."
"That sounds nice. So something Lily. Something short and uncomplicated."
"Yeah." Sirius snickered. "Short and uncomplicated. Unlike her mum."
Aletha bent her head and bit him on the shoulder.
"Ow! That was supposed to be a compliment!"
"And that was supposed to be a love bite." Aletha smirked. "You big sissy."
"It still hurt." Sirius pouted. "Kiss it better?"
Aletha laughed and obliged.
xXxXx
Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold sat comfortably in her chair on the dais and watched the crowd find seats.
An old Muggle shopping center. It’s perfect. Lovely open space here in the middle, two floors of shopfronts, plumbing and lights already in place... the normal Muggle-Repelling Spells had had to be altered slightly, so as not to send away the friends and families this place was for, but the alterations were simple enough, and everything had been finished by the beginning of this month.
She chuckled to herself as she thought of the way she’d come here. She’d been ready to retire from her position at the end of an exhausting war, but before she could get around to filing all the paperwork, a first year Auror had worked his way through her secretaries to an appointment with her, and spread out a proposal she couldn’t ignore. It would be a perfect cap to her time as Minister.
Another chuckle, at her own vanity. I can see the Chocolate Frog Card now. "Millicent Bagnold, former Minister of Magic. Noted for her strong leadership of wizarding Britain during the war with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Madam Bagnold also sponsored the founding of the Center for All to Magically Explore the Lifestyles of Others Today, or Camelot, Britain’s first Muggle-to-magical assistance center."
One of her aides caught her eye from the back of the space and waved. She nodded back and stood up, drawing her wand and casting a Sonorus on herself.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, Muggle and magical," her voice rang out, quieting the crowd. "It is my great pleasure to be here, and to welcome you to the Grand Opening of this Center. Here, wizards and Muggles can meet in harmony, can learn about our differing lives, and perhaps, discover that we are not so different after all."
The crowd applauded.
"We both use money to buy food and clothing and other necessities of life," Bagnold continued, waving her hand at the shops to her left. "We both communicate with distant friends and loved ones." The post office and bank of Floo fireplaces in front of her. "And we both read books to learn more about our world." The library to her right. "Now, with the opening of this Center, we can learn more about the money and stores, the communications, the books of our neighbors, and we can hope that this learning will end some of the unnecessary fear in our lives."
Still speaking, Bagnold let her mind wander — she’d rehearsed this speech a hundred times, she could have given it in her sleep. Black was standing off to one side, his eyes searching the audience, resting every so often on his wife. She was sitting in the front row of the audience, and by the looks of her, she and Black hadn’t wasted any time. Black’s friend Lupin sat beside her, listening intently.
Maybe it’s favoritism, giving Lupin the library job like this, but Black pledged a quarter of the building costs if we’d do it, and Lupin passed all the tests. Odd, though, his insisting on two extra days off a month, just the way Black said he would. Lupin was willing to take them without pay, though, and Black held out for paid leave...
Shattering glass broke into her thoughts, and her speech. She whirled, hearing gasps and screams from the audience.
Half a dozen masked and robed figures had just broken through the glass doors at her back. More were behind them.
She swore under her breath. We should have known this would bring in Death Eaters... but this might be a good chance to round some of them up...
She was already off the dais, her wand up and throwing a shield around the audience, joining several of the Aurors. "Don’t panic!" she shouted, the Sonorus still in effect on her voice. "Adult wizards and witches, wands out, please! Muggles and children stay down!"
If we can just keep it from turning into a slaughter...
xXxXx
"You get down!" Remus shouted at Aletha over the noise the crowd was still making. "Cast from down there if you have to, but don’t you dare run anywhere!"
"As if I could."
"I know you. You’d try. Don’t." Remus scanned the audience for Peri. She has to be here... she wouldn’t have stayed away just because of me, would she? Come on, Peri, we need you, every wand helps...
But wait, she has Ray to take care of. She can’t cast with him in her arms.
And — oh, God, if Malfoy’s one of them —
He spun around again, suddenly certain that Peri was here, that Malfoy was as well, that any second he was going to see his son and his son’s nurse, snatch the one and curse the other into oblivion —
Not if I have anything to do with it.
There — a flash of brown and silver-blond together, just a glimpse, but he knew them. He plunged into the crowd, still massed together in panic inside the spell-shield. "Anyone here who can Apparate but not cast?" he shouted.
Two or three hands went up, tentatively.
"Can you Side-Along?"
Hesitant nods.
"Then start getting people out!" Remus pushed through one or two more rows and was suddenly face to face with Peri, who blanched. "Get him home," he told her. "Malfoy’s got to be here, you can’t let him see you."
Ray’s face, which had been bright with welcome for Remus, suddenly shut down, and he burrowed against Peri. She was watching Remus with an expression he couldn’t make out.
I have to say something, and it has to be the right thing... "I want what’s best for you," Remus said quickly, hearing the sound of spellfire beginning behind him. "And if that’s just to be your friend, I’ll take it. You know where to find me. I hope to see you soon. Now hurry."
"Thank you," Peri said quietly, and spun in place, disappearing with a loud snap.
Remus hurried back to the front line, hearing other cracks and pops as he went. I hope the Aurors and MLE personnel can hold off the Death Eaters long enough for all the Muggles to get away safely.
And that this isn’t a precursor of things to come...
xXxXx
The Aurors had pulled the dais apart with their wands and were using it for cover, keeping the Death Eaters from circling and sending the magically unstoppable Killing Curses into the crowd behind them. Sirius hoped there wasn’t another crew ready to come in behind them.
No, there can’t be. We’ve got most of them, locked up or dead or claiming innocence. This is probably all that’s left of the "free" ones, and a lot of the "innocent" ones too...
"Hello, Sirius," a poisonously sweet voice called. "Still protecting worms in human shape, I see."
Sirius growled under his breath. "Still following your dead Master, I see, Bellatrix," he called back.
Bellatrix’s spell blasted through Sirius’ wooden shield, just to the left of his head. "The Dark Lord can never die!"
"Funny, I thought that’s what you called it when somebody’s body got blown out of existence." Sirius’ return spell forced Bella to dive for cover of her own. This place is never going to look the same... and after all the work we did on it. And I can’t afford any more gold of my own for renovations. Wonder if Narcissa’d make another anonymous donation?
He jerked back as a spell nearly took the tip off his nose. Why don’t I try surviving today, and then think about what comes next?
His awareness of the battle after that came in flashes. He was leaning out perilously far from cover to drop a running Death Eater — he was Summoning someone from MLE who’d been caught that way — Remus was beside him now, and the noise from the crowd was almost gone — the Death Eaters were starting to back up —
Are we winning? We are! We’re winning! Sirius and Remus shared a grin for a second, then leaned out around either side of their cover and fired off Stunners at the same moment. The Death Eaters shielded, but part of Sirius’ spell got through anyway, making one of them stumble and nearly fall.
"They’re tiring!" shouted a gravelly voice. Sirius snorted. Trust Moody to be here, even though he wasn’t assigned. "Keep it up, people, drop them where they stand!"
Alice Longbottom popped up, shot a spell at the Death Eaters, and spun her wand quickly towards Sirius, a tiny silver badger flying from it. It waved its front paws at him, meaning she had orders or a message.
"Good here?" Sirius asked Remus.
"I’m fine." Remus shot two spells in quick succession and was rewarded with a yelp from the other side.
"I’ll be back, then." Sirius crossed the distance between himself and Alice at a crouching run.
"A few of us are going around back to flank them," Alice said in his ear. "Are you up for it?"
"Yes ma’am."
"That’s what I thought."
Three Aurors and four MLEs congregated in a sheltered area. "We’re headed for the parking lot," Alice said. "It’s shielded, so no worries about Muggles seeing you. Get in, get cover, and don’t shoot until I give the word. Ready?"
"Ready," six voices chorused.
"Then... go!"
Sirius spun around, forcing himself through the darkness to the outdoor parking area, which had spaces for cars and sheltered racks for brooms — he wanted to arrive behind the broomracks, they made perfect cover —
He was there. His body dropped to the gravel automatically, and he peered cautiously out. The other six seemed to have arrived in good order, though he couldn’t see much of them, since he was the farthest up.
"Glory hound," Alice mouthed at him from her place behind a red car. "Wait for the rest of us."
Sirius’ instincts shrieked for him to get into the fight, to run, to strike, but he knew he couldn’t possibly take all the Death Eaters alone.
But it would be fun to try.
He pulled himself up sharply. Fun if I didn’t have people to take care of. Fun if I didn’t have Letha, and Harry, and Meghan Lily. They’d finally decided on the name after nearly two hours of discussion the night before. I will be smart. I will wait. I will —
"They’re behind us!" a Death Eater shouted.
Oh no. Sirius knew without looking that most of the group had been caught out of cover — unless the Death Eaters got a much better target within the next half second, people were going to die —
He was out from behind the racks, charging the Death Eaters, dodging left and right, jumping and ducking — Merlin, they’re lousy shots, nothing’s hitting me — he was almost to them now, he’d dropped two already, though he didn’t see Bellatrix anywhere —
A weight fell on him from above, and an arm wrapped around his throat, cutting off his air. "Go!" her voice shrieked, and the world blurred into lines of color and sound.
xXxXx
"Don’t worry, we’ll find ‘em," said Moody grimly. "Portkeys’re dead easy to trace. Else they’d be using them every time."
Aletha nodded mechanically. Meghan kicked her, but for once Aletha felt no urge to smile. Oh, baby, if you only knew what kind of trouble your daddy’s in now... if I only knew...
"I’m sure they’ll find him," Remus said, his hand over hers. "I just wish I knew what the Death Eaters were thinking, attacking this place in broad daylight."
"They were thinking they could close it down," said Minister of Magic Bagnold, overhearing. "That by attacking the opening festivities, they would send a message that Camelot would never be safe. But I refuse to bow to terrorism. The Center remains open, as scheduled." She pitched her last two sentences to carry. "If, of course, we can keep anyone employed here after that little fiasco," she added under her breath.
"You’d be hard put to find a disaster that could drive me away, Minister," said Remus. "I’m here to stay."
Bagnold looked closely at him. "Yes, but are you willing to take a pay cut for a few months, to help rebuild?"
"Yes. I’m used to surviving on very little, and the better Camelot looks, the better my chances of getting pay raises later on."
Bagnold chuckled. "I like you, Lupin. How much are you willing to give?"
"Let me think." Remus muttered to himself for a few moments. "Shall we say ten percent, for four months?"
Bagnold jotted it down on a scroll she was carrying.
"Shouldn’t someone else be doing that, Minister?" Aletha asked, finding a moment’s solace from worry in little things.
"Maybe. But if I do for myself, there’s less chance of a slip-up. It’ll go through clerks enough when it gets to the office, and I’ve nothing better to do just now. Though we could use your skills, Healer, if you think you’re able." Bagnold was not commanding, merely asking.
Work will help. Aletha rose to her feet, accepting only minimal help from Remus. "I can work."
She was wrapping a four-year-old’s sprained ankle when the commotion broke out in the main concourse. "What on earth?" the boy’s mother said, shifting the restless baby girl in her arms and peering out the front of the small café they were sitting in.
"They’ve caught one!" shouted a boy who looked exactly the same as Aletha’s current patient. "One of the Death Eaters!"
"It’s a woman," said an older boy, who looked vaguely familiar to Aletha. "She has something in her hand. It’s all bloody."
"Cool!" the youngest of the boys yelled. "Lemme see, lemme see!"
Aletha hid a smile and turned back to her work. He’s not too much older than Harry. Maybe we should get them together sometime, when we bring him home...
"Letha," said Remus’ voice from behind her. "You need to see this."
Startled, Aletha turned. She’d only heard this tone from Remus once before — on 1 November of the previous year. And his face was studiously even, but fear and sorrow showed in his eyes.
Whatever it is, it’s bad.
He crossed the café and helped her up, and led her out into the concourse, where a woman sat in the middle of a cage of wood and magic, laughing softly to herself. Aletha’s eyes narrowed. Bellatrix, what have you done?
"Sit," Remus said, and pushed her gently down onto a chair he’d conjured. "Letha, I’m sorry about this, but I can’t identify it clearly enough to be sure it is what she says it is." He picked up a small box sitting on a nearby table and handed it to her.
Aletha closed her eyes for a moment before she opened it. Professional. I am a professional. I will be professional. I will not let emotion in.
Yet.
The lid came off the box. Resting within was a man’s finger. It had been severed cleanly at the joint, probably with a spell. It was the ring finger, Aletha estimated, the ring finger of the left hand.
Of course, it helps that there’s still a wedding ring around it.
And that was where her professionalism cracked. For she knew this wedding ring, knew it as well as she knew her own, and for the same reason.
She looked up and met Remus’ eyes, and nodded once.
Remus’ face half-crumpled. He kept it straight with an obvious effort. "She said it was her trophy," he told her. "She claims... she says she killed him."
Aletha nodded again, slowly, staring at the finger. It would be so easy to give up, so easy to stop caring, with him gone.
But I can’t give up now. There’s Meghan to raise, and my life to keep living. Sirius would have wanted that.
Strange how easy it is to put him in the past tense.
She reached into the box and separated ring from finger. "I’ll keep this," she said, cradling the ring in the palm of her hand. "Can you get Moody for me? I need to ask him something."
Remus looked at her oddly, but hurried away. Aletha set the box aside. "I think you’d approve," she whispered to the ring. "I’m not breaking down or falling apart. I know how you hated that."
She knew she would pay, over the next hours and days, for these few moments of calm. But she also knew the laws by which Sirius had lived. Fire was fought with fire, prank answered prank. Bellatrix had taken a life. Aletha intended to take something in return.
Not her life, though. I won’t kill her. It’s illegal, for one thing, and it’s against my oaths, for another. But I know what I can do, and what I will. And it will cause her no pain — now — nor will it impede her survival. In Azkaban.
Moody limped over to her. "Sorry to hear it," he said. "He was a fine man. What is it you want?"
Aletha looked up at him, tucking Sirius’ ring into her pocket. "Five minutes alone with her," she said. "And no mention of it, ever again." She lifted her hand as he tried to interrupt. "On my oath as a Healer, no death,, no pain, and no illegal spells."
Hardly any spells at all, in fact.
Moody looked from her to Bellatrix and back. "All right," he growled finally. "But this gets out, I had nothing to do with it."
"It won’t get out unless you let it out." Aletha rose and turned away from Bellatrix, mentally practicing the incantation and wand movement she’d need. Dele nuntia sine dormio, she chanted. Dele nuntia sine dormio.
It was Remus who led her to the small, empty room where Bellatrix sat in the corner, tied up, her dark eyes furious. Aletha shut the door and locked it, then said her four words out loud, with a chopping motion towards Bellatrix’s neck and a swirl around her head.
Bellatrix’s eyes went wide, her mouth slack, and all her muscles relaxed. Aletha smiled slightly and untied the ropes with a silent flick. After a moment to let Bellatrix savor total helplessness, no part of her body responding to her, Aletha cast her final spell. "Trado caput."
Bellatrix blinked rapidly and licked her lips. "What — what is this?" she whispered, her eyes darting around the room. "I thought your kind didn’t torture."
"I won’t hurt you." Aletha put her wand away. "You can’t feel pain right now. You’re under a total nerve-block. We use them when we have to do major healing spells, so the patient doesn’t fight."
Bellatrix laughed under her breath. "I don’t think you’re about to do any healing spell on me."
"No, I’ll be healing you." Aletha stepped closer. "The question you should be asking me is, healing you from what?" She let Bellatrix see her smile, and had the satisfaction of watching the Death Eater flinch. As it should be.
"Healing me from what?" Bellatrix asked weakly.
Aletha closed her hands around Bellatrix’s right forearm. "You’re about to find out," she said, and twisted.