FIC: Aftermaths, Part 76

[geri_chan]

Title: Aftermaths, Part 76
Rating: NC-17 overall, but most chapters are closer to PG-13
Pairing: Snape/Lupin, Theodore/Blaise, and a few other minor pairings
Word count: ~9,280
Warning: AU; written pre-HBP
Author's notes: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, Phoenix Rising
Summary: Aric receives disturbing news from his family.

Part 75 (Previous chapters can be found under the aftermaths tag.)

***

Aric received a message to report to the Headmaster's office in the middle of Potions class one afternoon. Snape dismissed him curtly, his face as sour as ever, and Aric couldn't tell whether he knew what the message was about or not. He entered the office with a bit of trepidation, wondering what he'd done to get into trouble this time. But Dumbledore merely looked worried, not stern or angry, and Aric felt a sudden wrench of fear in his heart that had nothing to do with being worried about getting detention or even being expelled.

Dumbledore spoke in a very gentle voice--another bad sign--and confirmed Aric's fears. "Your parents sent me a message that your grandfather is at St. Mungo's, and they asked me to send you there as soon as possible."

"What happened?" Aric cried. "Is he all right?"

"I don't have all the details, Aric," Dumbledore replied, still in that gentle voice. "The message said only that he collapsed at home, and was rushed to the hospital. I'm sure you'll be able to get more details from the Healers. You may take the Floo directly to St. Mungo's. Please convey my sympathy to your family, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

Aric nodded, barely listening to the old wizard's words, and grabbed a handful of Floo powder and stepped through the Headmaster's fireplace into the St. Mungo's reception room. The receptionist directed him to the proper ward, and he found his family gathered inside a private room around his grandfather's bed. Aric's mother and grandmother sat beside the bed, weeping, while his father paced around the room nervously.

"Ah, good, you're here, Aric," Karl said, sounding relieved. "Father has been asking for you."

Aric stepped forward, saying, "How are you feeling, Grandfather?" Roderick tried to smile at him, but it came out rather lopsided; only the right half of his mouth curved upwards, while the left remained still. Roderick had always seemed hale and hearty, and quite capable of literally throwing Aric out of the house, as he had threatened during the Easter break, so it was a shock to see him lying in the hospital bed, looking ashen and frail. "What happened?" Aric whispered.

"He collapsed at lunch," Aric's grandmother wept. "One minute he was fine; the next he just keeled over face first into his plate!"

"The Healers say that he had a stroke," Karl said quietly.

"But...he'll be all right, won't he?" Aric asked--or rather, practically begged, as if his father had the power to make Roderick be all right, which Aric knew was rather silly of him. But he just couldn't help himself.

"I'm not dead yet, boy," Roderick said, his voice slightly slurred, as only the right half of his mouth was working. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here."

"I'm sorry, Grandfather," Aric said contritely, and Roderick weakly gestured with his right hand, motioning for Aric to come closer. Alison vacated her seat so that Aric could take it, and Aric sat beside the bed and clasped his grandfather's hand; he felt it tremble a little, and clasped it more tightly.

"Looks like Karl might become Lord a little sooner than I expected," Roderick said, with that lopsided smile.

"Don't say that, Grandfather!" Aric protested. "I'm sure that the Healers--"

"Which means that you might become heir sooner than expected also," Roderick continued, ignoring the interruption.

"But Grandfather--"

"Boy, will you shut up and let me finish?" Roderick scolded in a voice that, although testy, was barely above a whisper, as if speaking was an enormous strain. Aric instantly fell silent, blinking back the tears that were stinging his eyes. "I hope to be around awhile longer, but I want to ensure the future of the Dietrich family...just in case." Roderick nodded at Karl, who handed a roll of parchment to Aric.

"What is this?" Aric asked in confusion.

"A betrothal contract between the Dietrich and Tierney families," Karl replied.

"But...but...the Tierneys are in France!" Aric stammered. "I thought the negotiations were on hold!"

"We've been carrying on the negotiations by mail," Karl said. "A much slower process, to be sure, but Edward is eager to make this alliance, and we were able to reach an agreement. We were going to wait until you graduated to formalize the betrothal, but..."

"But I may not have that much time left," Roderick finished. "Will you grant an old man's last wish, Aric?"

"Stop talking like you're going to die!" Aric shouted, on the brink of hysteria.

"I'm being a realist," Roderick said. "Of course I hope to live to see your wedding, but if the worst happens...I at least want to die knowing that the future of the clan has been ensured. Promise me, Aric, that you will seal our alliance with the Tierneys and restore the Dietrich family to its former glory."

Aric turned a tearful gaze upon his father, who bent down and whispered into his ear, "The Healers nearly lost him when he first arrived. Things have been very touch and go. I know this is a great burden that we are placing on your shoulders, son, but we need you to assume your responsibilities as heir."

"Please, Aric," Roderick whispered. "Sign the contract."

Aric felt trapped, like a fox surrounded by hounds or a rat backed into a corner by a cat. "Give me a quill," he said in a hollow voice. There was no quill or ink in the hospital room, but somehow Aric was not surprised when his father managed to produce a fountain pen from his pocket. Aric unrolled the sheet of parchment and signed his name at the bottom. His hand was shaking so hard that the signature was a near illegible scrawl marred by blots of ink where he had been unable to hold the pen steady, but it was done. He was now legally bound to marry Miranda Tierney. He closed his eyes for a moment, and silently said goodbye to Takeshi. The idea of leaving his family to live with the mediwizard had been a foolish dream; he could see that now. But Merlin, it hurt so much to give up that dream. Now there was nothing left to him but duty.

He no longer tried to hide his tears; his family would think that they were for his grandfather, not for the lover he would never have. Aric stood and bowed to Roderick. "I swear that I will uphold the honor of the Dietrich family and fulfill my duties as heir, Grandfather."

"Thank you, Aric," Roderick whispered with a smile. "I will rest easy knowing that."

A nurse opened the door and said kindly but firmly, "Excuse me, but Mr. Dietrich should get some rest now. You can visit him again a little later."

Karl picked up the contract, and carefully rolled it up and slipped it into one of the pockets on his robe before leaving the room. Once they were out in the hall, he told Aric, "Why don't you go back to school, son? We'll call you when we know more about your grandfather's condition. There's nothing you can do for him right now, anyway."

{Nothing but sign my life away,} Aric thought despairingly. He nodded and gave in without even a token protest. He should probably remain by his grandfather's side in case "the worst" (as Roderick termed it) did happen, but right now he didn't want to be anywhere near his family, who had no idea of what they had just asked him to give up.

He was about to leave when he suddenly realized that one member of his family was missing. "Where's Erika?" he asked. "Didn't you tell her what happened to Grandfather?"

"We sent word to her, of course," Karl said. "But as she isn't able to Apparate that far, and the Floo system isn't linked to Germany, it will take some time for her to get to England. She'll be here as soon as she can."

So Aric left St. Mungo's, but he didn't go back to school right away. Instead, he stopped at a liquor store first, because he intended to get blinding drunk tonight, and he didn't give a damn if Snape caught him and gave him detention until graduation day.

***

Erika arrived at St. Mungo's about an hour after Aric left. The receptionist recognized the family resemblance without having to ask her name, and directed her to the proper ward; Erika looked much like her brother (and her father and late uncle), with the black hair, brown eyes, and good looks that were characteristic of the Dietrich clan. The features which looked so handsome on her brother, though, were perhaps a little too strong for feminine prettiness, although she was still an attractive woman. Or perhaps it was merely that she projected an air of intimidation that most people did not expect from a young pureblood woman, and it made them uneasy, especially the pureblood men. Today, though, she looked more anxious and concerned than intimidating as she hurried to her grandfather's room.

"How is he?" Erika immediately asked the Healer who was tending to Roderick, not bothering to greet her family first.

"He had a stroke, which is a serious matter," the Healer, a stern-looking woman, replied. "However, your family got him to the hospital in time. There is some paralysis on the left side of his body, but fortunately, it should be only temporary. It will take him several weeks to heal completely, but if he takes the potions I've prescribed, he should make a full recovery. He'll need to remain in the hospital for about a week. If his recovery continues at the expected rate, he can go home after that, providing that he takes his medication and follows my instructions regarding his diet and exercise routine." The Healer smiled at Roderick, the stern expression on her face softening a little. "You should be well in time to see your grandson's wedding, Mr. Dietrich."

"What?!" exclaimed Erika.

"Oh, didn't you know?" the Healer asked cheerfully. "Your grandfather told me that your brother has just gotten engaged. Please offer him my congratulations. Well, I need to continue my rounds. Please call for a nurse if you need anything."

The Healer left, and Erika crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her grandfather. "All right, what have you done? What's this about Aric getting engaged?"

"Well, you know that we've been negotiating a betrothal with the Tierney family," Alison said.

"Yes, and I know that Aric isn't happy about it," Erika retorted.

"It's only natural for a young man to get cold feet at the prospect of a wedding, but Aric is second in line to inherit the title, and he will do what is best for the family," Karl said firmly.

"What did you do?" Erika demanded of Roderick. "Don't tell me that you told him you were dying and that it was your last wish for him to marry that spoiled brat Miranda!" Her parents and grandmother smiled at her sheepishly, and her grandfather grinned slyly and unrepentantly. "You did," she said, sounding disgusted. "And Aric was stupid enough to fall for it. What's going to happen when he finds out that you're not really dying?"

"I'm sure he will be overjoyed to learn that I've made a miraculous recovery," Roderick replied. "Poor boy, he was so concerned about me that he was practically in tears."

"I love you, Grandfather," Erika said, glaring down at Roderick. "But you are a wicked old man."

"You're a clever girl," Roderick said, not sounding in the least offended. "I could never have tricked you as easily as your brother. It's a pity that you weren't born a boy."

"There's nothing about my gender that renders me incapable of leading a family!" Erika snapped; it was a sore point with her, that she was denied the heirship simply because she was female. "The Blackmores and the Donners have always been ruled by women, and they're two of the most wealthy and powerful families in Britain!"

"It's tradition--" Karl started to say.

"I've heard that speech a million times, Father," Erika said irritably. "Save it for Aric; he's the heir, after all." She turned back to her grandfather. "You're obviously not on death's door, if you have enough energy to be scheming like this, so I'm going back to Germany. Unlike you, I have work to tend to."

"Protecting my family is my life's work," Roderick replied.

"Wait, dear," Alison said nervously. "You're not going to say anything to your brother about this, are you?"

"It would serve you right if I did and he broke the contract," Erika retorted, and her family looked alarmed. "But he's always been a dutiful pureblood heir, and he'll consider himself honor-bound to go through with it, even if he was tricked into signing it. So for Aric's sake, not yours, I won't tell him that his family conspired to deceive him and make a fool of him."

"We weren't trying to make a fool of him," Karl argued. "We only wanted what is best for him and this family."

"You wanted to serve your own ambition," Erika said coldly. "You might not have been wrong to ask him to make this alliance, but you were wrong to trick him into it. If he is to be Lord someday, he will have to learn to make decisions on his own--without being manipulated." Her parents looked abashed, but not her grandfather. "Did you even have a stroke at all?" Erika asked him. "Or did you fake it in order to get Aric to sign the betrothal contract?"

"I really did have a stroke, Erika," Roderick said. "Maybe I could have deceived Aric about it, but I could never have fooled the Healers. But I saw no reason not to take advantage of the situation. Life gave me lemons, and I made lemonade, you might say."

Erika shook her head. "You really are a wicked old man," she said, her voice filled with disgust and a hint of grudging admiration. Then she left, slamming the door behind her.

"Thank you, dear," Roderick said to the closed door.

***

Theodore lingered behind after class was over and asked Snape, "Father, what happened? Why was Aric called away? Did something happen to his family?"

"I don't know," Snape replied. "I'll talk to the Headmaster and find out."

Later, in the Potions Master's quarters, Snape reported back to Theodore, and also to Lupin and Dylan, who had by now heard the news about Aric being called away from school. Lupin was worried about Aric, while Dylan was merely concerned about Theodore.

"It seems that Roderick Dietrich, Aric's grandfather, is seriously ill and was rushed to St. Mungo's earlier this afternoon," Snape said.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Lupin asked anxiously. "Will he be all right?"

"The initial message that the Headmaster received said only that he collapsed and was admitted to St. Mungo's," Snape replied. "However, Dumbledore has made a few discreet inquiries since then, and it seems that Roderick suffered a stroke. His condition is serious, but he is expected to recover eventually."

"Thank goodness," Lupin sighed. He hesitated, then asked Theodore in a gentle voice, "Roderick is your grandfather, too, Theo. Do you want to go visit him?"

Theodore shook his head. "No, I'm glad that he'll be all right, but I have no wish to see him, and I doubt that he wants to see me. He never seemed to like me or my mother very much, even before my father killed Rafe." Theodore looked a little wistful as he said, "I don't know why. He always loved Uncle Rafe and Uncle Karl, and Aric and Erika. I know that some pureblood families don't value their daughters very highly, except to barter off in marriage alliances. So I thought maybe it was because Mother was a daughter, not a son, but he loves Erika. Of course, Erika used to behave more like a boy than a girl when we were small; Grandfather used to be amused when she got into fistfights with Aric."

Snape didn't know Roderick very well, but he suspected that it probably had something to do with the fact that most Slytherins admired and respected strength. And of course Marta had been anything but strong--she had always been meek and submissive, even before she married Thaddeus. But Snape doubted knowing that would make Theodore feel any better, so he said nothing.

Lupin, of course, knew exactly what to say. "I don't understand why your grandfather acts the way he does, Theo," he said gently. "But you do have a family that loves you very much. I am so glad that you are my son now, Theo. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you and Dylan in it."

Theodore smiled warmly at Lupin. "Thank you, Remus," he said softly. "I'm glad that you and Father and Dylan are my family, too. I wouldn't trade that for anything, not even if the Dietriches wanted me back."

Dylan smiled, throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders, and Lupin, sentimental Gryffindor that he was, hugged them both. Snape leaned back in his chair, able to relax now that everything was right with his family. He personally couldn't have cared less whether Roderick Dietrich dropped dead or not, but since his death might have caused Theodore distress, he supposed it was just as well that the Dietrich Lord had survived.

"I wish my parents had lived long enough to meet you," Lupin said, looking a little wistful himself now. "I'm sure that they would have loved having grandchildren."

Theodore and Dylan exchanged a slightly skeptical look. "I'm not sure that we would be exactly what they had in mind when they thought of grandchildren," Dylan said with a wry smile.

"They would have loved you," Lupin assured him, then smiled at Snape. "And Severus, too."

Snape wasn't so sure about the latter, but he kept his doubts to himself. He did silently concede that since the Lupins had wholeheartedly loved their son despite his lycanthropy, they probably would have accepted two adopted grandchildren who were the orphaned sons of Death Eaters. They might, possibly, even have accepted their son's former Death Eater lover. But Snape had always hated sharing Lupin with the Marauders and then Potter junior, so a small, selfish part of him was glad that he didn't have to share Lupin with his family as well. And then he felt a bit guilty for being glad that Lupin's parents were dead.

Meanwhile, Lupin was saying, "Do you think that we should send flowers?"

"What?" Snape asked, startled out of his morbid train of thought.

"Do you think that we should send flowers to Mr. Dietrich at the hospital?" Lupin repeated patiently.

"Not unless you want to finish Roderick off," Snape said sardonically. "Receiving get-well flowers from his grandson's werewolf teacher might give him a second stroke."

"I didn't think of that," Lupin said sheepishly, and Dylan and Theodore laughed.

"I am sure my mother will send something appropriate, on behalf of the Snape family," Snape said dismissively.

But Lupin was still concerned about Aric, and Theodore seemed to be, too (although Snape wasn't sure why, considering the way that his cousin treated him), so they went to the Slytherin common room to await Aric's return.

Aric walked into the room, looking extremely upset, which puzzled Snape, since the Headmaster said that Roderick was expected to make a full recovery. Perhaps he had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, but in that case, Snape would have expected Aric to remain at the hospital.

"Aric?" Theodore asked. "Is everything all--"

"Don't. Say. Anything," Aric said, pausing between each word for emphasis. His dark eyes were glittering with both sorrow and anger. "Just don't, Theo." That last sentence sounded more like a plea than a demand, which perhaps was why Theodore looked more concerned than angry as he watched his cousin hurry into the dorm without waiting for a reply.

"I don't understand," Theodore said to Snape. "I thought you said that Grand--that Aric's grandfather would be all right."

"That's what Dumbledore told me," Snape said. "Let me check with St. Mungo's to see if anything's changed." But when he contacted the hospital, he learned that Roderick's condition was serious but stable, the same as before.

"Do you think that we should talk to him?" Lupin asked.

Snape shook his head. "I think you'd better give him some time to calm down first. I doubt that you'll get anything out of him right now." And Lupin, having seen how defensive Aric had just been, reluctantly agreed.

***

Later that evening, Aric's family sent word to him that Roderick's condition had improved slightly, and that the Healers said he was "stable," whatever that meant. Aric supposed he should feel happy, but he just felt numb and hollow, as if he would never feel happy again. He couldn't even summon up enough energy to feel angry or resentful that he had been trapped in this betrothal. He was sure that Dumbledore would have given him permission to go back to the hospital to visit his grandfather, but Aric did not ask. He didn't want to see his grandfather or anyone else in his family.

All he wanted to do was to get drunk and try to blot out his misery, which he set about doing as soon as everyone in Slytherin had turned in for the night. He guzzled Firewhiskey straight from the bottle, and it took effect quickly, as he had eaten almost nothing at dinner, so there was no food in his stomach to slow the effects of the alcohol. He wept as he drank, thinking of how much he was going to miss Takeshi--not just as a hypothetical lover, but as a friend. He would miss working on potions with him, miss being able to confide in him. He would miss Takeshi's smile and the way his glasses always slid down his nose. He would even miss the way that the mediwizard would gently--and sometimes not so gently--scold him for behaving like a bigoted pureblood.

By the time the bottle of Firewhiskey was half-empty, Aric was filled with an overwhelming compulsion to see Takeshi one last time. Surely that wasn't too much to ask, to at least be able to say goodbye to him? To have one last memory of his love, to sustain him through his marriage to Miranda.

He staggered out of his room, still clutching the bottle of Firewhiskey in one hand. He needed to get to the clinic, and for that, he needed a working Floo. In his inebriated state, it didn't occur to him that Takeshi might not be working at the clinic this late. He had come to associate Takeshi with the clinic and vice versa, so when he decided to seek out the mediwizard, he automatically thought of the clinic.

Aric stumbled not-very-quietly down the hall, awakening Draco, who still slept very lightly because he was often troubled by dreams about either his father or his mother and the werewolf. So he jumped out of bed and peered out the door. "Dietrich!" he hissed. "What are you doing?"

For once, Aric was glad to see Malfoy, because he wasn't sure which fireplaces in the castle were connected to the Floo Network, but Malfoy probably knew. "Hi, Draco," he said, giving him a friendly grin. "Wanna drink?"

Draco felt his stomach roil in revulsion at the thought. His last hangover had thoroughly squelched the notion that getting drunk was "fun," and he had no desire to repeat the experience a second time. Dietrich must be a slow learner.

"Are you crazy, Dietrich?" he asked. "What's the matter, two weeks detention wasn't enough for you? If you want to get killed by Snape, be my guest, but don't get me involved."

Draco was about to close the door and go back to bed when Aric pleaded, "Please, Malfoy, I need your help."

Draco suddenly noticed that Aric's face was streaked with tears. That made him curious enough to cautiously ask, "What kind of help?"

"I need to find a working Floo. Tonight. Right now."

"Forget it," Draco said firmly, and started to swing the door shut, but Aric flung his body against the door, preventing it from closing.

"Please!" Aric begged, his voice rising. "It's really important!"

"Shh!" Draco hissed. "Do you want to wake up the entire dorm? Oh, dammit, come inside." He pulled Aric into the room, shut the door, and cast a silence spell for good measure. He was still reluctant to get involved, but he had no choice, since Dietrich was going to get them both in trouble if he started shouting in the hall. It was better to calm him down and hear him out, and if that didn't work, Draco intended to hit him with a Stupefy spell.

Draco listened while Aric poured out a tearful and somewhat incoherent story about being forced into a marriage alliance when he was in love with someone else. He babbled something about being forced to sign the contract because it was his grandfather's dying wish, only his grandfather maybe wasn't dying after all. Draco found it a little confusing, but he managed to get the gist of it.

"So there is a girl you like, after all!" Draco said. "You weren't just upset about having to go work at the Ministry instead of becoming a mediwizard. Who is it, someone from Slytherin? Yvonne, maybe?"

Aric hesitated. As drunk as he was, the part of him that was a well-trained pureblood heir retained enough presence of mind not to reveal the name or gender of his beloved. And especially not to a member of the Malfoy family, who were famous for blackmailing, bribing, and manipulating their peers to get ahead. "It's not a girl from this school," he hedged, evasively but truthfully.

"A girl you left behind at Durmstrang, then?" Draco asked sympathetically, and Aric just made a noncommittal grunting noise, allowing Draco to think his assumption was correct.

"I need to see...this person...one last time," Aric said. "To say goodbye, and to tell them about the betrothal. And for that I need a Floo."

"Does the Floo Network even connect to Durmstrang?" Draco asked doubtfully.

"My...friend...is no longer a student, and is, um, currently residing in London," Aric said, again sticking to the bare facts without revealing the entire truth.

"An older woman, huh?" Draco asked with a smirk. "I'm impressed, Dietrich."

"Please help me, Malfoy," Aric begged, struggling to think of a bribe that might appeal to Draco. "You can have the rest of the Firewhiskey," he offered, holding out the bottle.

Draco shuddered. "No thanks!"

"Well, what do you want, then? Money?"

The Malfoys were disgraced, but they were still wealthy. "Nothing so crude as that, Dietrich," Draco said disdainfully. "Let us just say that you will owe me a favor." It would not be a bad thing, to have an ally who worked at the Ministry of Magic. "Maybe someday when you are working at the Ministry, you can put in a good word for me."

"I'll only be an apprentice..." Aric said uncertainly.

"I don't mean right away, Dietrich," Draco said patiently. "I'm thinking long-term, after you are established in your career, and after the memory of my family's disgrace has faded from people's minds." Draco felt quite proud of himself for thinking so far ahead; his father always used to scold him for acting without thinking. He wistfully wondered for a moment if Lucius would have been proud of him, then quickly banished that thought from his mind.

"All right," Aric promised recklessly, although he knew it was dangerous to commit to such an open-ended favor. But right now, he didn't really care; all he wanted was to see Takeshi.

"Only the fireplaces in the teachers' quarters and offices are connected to the Floo Network," Draco explained.

"Great, so I need to break into a teacher's office," Aric said glumly.

"Obviously you don't want to try to break into Snape's office," Draco said. "It's protected by some nasty warding spells. And Lupin's a soft touch, but he's an expert in Defensive magic; his office is likely to be well-protected, too. Hmm, let me think...Trelawney's office would probably be the best bet. She's the careless type, and from what I've seen, she has almost no real magical ability at all." Draco snorted contemptuously. "She probably just relies on her 'mystical powers' to protect her, and you've seen how accurate a Seer she is."

"But she lives in the North Tower next to her classroom and office, doesn't she?" Aric protested. "What if she hears me breaking in?"

"She picked up a habit of hitting the sherry bottle every night, ever since she got temporarily sacked by Umbridge a couple years ago," Draco assured him. "She's probably passed out cold by now."

"All right," Aric said, filled with a sense of determination. "I'll do it!"

"Don't forget your promise," Draco said.

"I know, I know," Aric said. "I owe you one. I won't forget." Aric headed off to the North Tower alone, since Draco didn't want to risk getting caught, but that was fine with Aric. It wasn't as if he wanted Draco tagging along with him when he went to see Takeshi. Somehow he managed to make it out of the dungeon and into the Tower without being seen. He heard loud snoring as he passed by Trelawney's quarters, so it seemed that Draco's information was correct. The office door was locked, but it was child's play to open with a simple spell; there were no magical wards on it at all. He grabbed a handful of Floo Powder from a jar on the mantle and said, "The charity clinic in Diagon Alley."

***

Takeshi had spent the entire day at the clinic, and it had been a very long and trying day. The clinic was beginning to receive threatening letters in the mail accusing them of "sheltering murderous beasts," and there were similar letters to the editor printed in the Daily Prophet. This morning someone had tried to throw a rock through the front window of the clinic, but the protective wards set on the building by Dumbledore caused it to bounce off harmlessly. A few hours later, someone--Takeshi wasn't sure whether or not it was the same person who had thrown the rock--hurled rotten eggs at the window, which did no damage but left behind a sticky, smelly mess. The warding spells apparently did not consider the eggs a threat and so had not repelled them, but even if they had, the eggs still would have left a mess on the sidewalk in front of the clinic, anyway.

Takeshi reported both incidents to Tonks and Kingsley, but there was little they could do, since the culprit or culprits had fled before Takeshi could get a look at them. To make matters worse, people were beginning to harass the werewolves at their places of employment. Katherine, who worked as a seamstress at Madam Malkin's, had just been fired from her job. Malkin had been apologetic about it, because Katherine was talented and a hard worker, but she said she could not afford to offend her clientele, and people had been threatening to take their business elsewhere when they learned that there was a werewolf working at the shop. Katherine was quiet, kept a low profile, and did not seek out attention, so not many of the customers had noticed her previously, let alone been aware that she was a werewolf, and Takeshi wondered if Dawlish or Williamson had deliberately leaked out the information.

So far, she was the only werewolf to be fired, but Takeshi was sure that she wouldn't be the last. After one customer had spat on Rachel and called her a beast while she was working at the Leaky Cauldron, she was transferred to the night shift, when there were fewer people around and fewer chances of further altercations. Working the night shift meant that Rachel wasn't able to be home to tuck Max into bed at night, and had to leave him with Katherine, who had plenty of time to baby-sit now that she was out of work. Max loved Katherine and her children, but he missed his mother's goodnight kisses and bedtime stories. Rachel was worried about Max, but she was even more worried about what would happen if she lost her job entirely.

Many of the businesses who made donations to the clinic had ceased their contributions because of the unfavorable publicity, at a time when those donations would be needed more than ever. A further indication that the werewolves had fallen from grace was the fact that Cassidy Sinclair's toy wolves were no longer selling well, and were either gathering dust on the shelves of the toy stores, or had been pulled off the shelves altogether. The wolf good-luck charms that had been so popular had also vanished from store shelves, even from the art gallery that was owned by the Snapes. It was bad for business to be seen as supporting werewolves at a time when werewolf attacks were making headlines in the paper. And Sirius reported that many of the other Department Heads were making noises about cutting the budget for Werewolf Support. Naturally, Arthur would oppose this, but Arthur's popularity was waning as swiftly as the werewolves'; in fact, many people blamed him for the attacks, because his policies had led to the werewolves being "set free" to "run rampant" on the streets (or so one letter to the Daily Prophet had stated). And of course there was no more talk of Lukas being awarded the Order of Merlin for saving Sally Peasegood. A little surprisingly, though, Arnold Peasegood remained staunch in his defense of the werewolves in general and Lukas in particular. He firmly stated that he did not believe that a man who would risk his life to save a little girl would attack innocent people. Unfortunately, not many of his peers listened to him.

Lukas's trial had been put on hold until Elias Pritchard could make a full recovery (in other words, until after the full moon so that they could be sure he hadn't been turned into a werewolf). Takeshi wasn't really sure if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, Lukas would probably lose if a vote was called for now, but unless they could discover the true perpetrator of the crimes very soon, the hostility against the werewolves would only increase. At this rate, he would be in danger of losing his freedom as well as the estate.

Snape had consulted with Kamiyama and the Kimuras, and Takeshi's parents had agreed to use the Portkey to help the werewolves escape if the very worst should happen, but that was no real solution. It would be extremely difficult for the British werewolves to make a new life in a foreign country where they couldn't even speak the language, and if the Ministry discovered what they had done, the Kimuras and the staff of the Sakura would probably have to flee, too. Takeshi had been toying with the idea of returning to Japan, at least for a few months and possibly permanently, in order to escape his memories of Aric. He had hesitated mainly he had not wanted to abandon his werewolf friends and leave the clinic short-staffed. But now, faced with the prospect of being forced to leave, he found that he did not really want to leave his adopted homeland, and besides, he knew deep down that those painful memories would follow him no matter how far he fled.

Takeshi sighed. The full moon was coming up in a few days, and he had been busy distributing Wolfsbane Potion, comforting distraught werewolves, and dealing with the never-ending paperwork required to keep the clinic running, not to mention cleaning up the rotten eggs. He really should have gone home hours ago, but he was reluctant to return home to an empty flat. And lately he had been having more disturbing and tantalizing dreams about a black wolf who turned into Aric (his face no longer hidden) and made love to him. He both dreaded and yearned for those dreams, so his solution was to work himself into such a state of exhaustion that he would drop into bed and immediately fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Rubbing his bleary eyes, he finished the last piece of paperwork, and set it to one side in a neat stack, to be owled to the Ministry tomorrow morning. He rose from his seat behind the desk, yawned and stretched, and was heading towards the fireplace to take the Floo home when it suddenly burst into green flames and Aric stumbled into the room.

"Aric?!" Takeshi exclaimed, lifting his glasses to rub his eyes again, wondering if he had been working hard enough to start hallucinating. Had his longing for Aric conjured up a vision of the boy? But as Aric moved closer, Takeshi caught a whiff of his breath, and he doubted that a hallucination would smell so strongly of Firewhiskey.

"'Keshi," Aric said in a slurred voice, reaching out towards him; the mediwizard nimbly avoided his grasp.

"You're drunk!" Takeshi said accusingly. "How did you get here?"

Aric blinked, looking confused by a question that had such an obvious answer. "Through the Floo," he replied.

"I know that!" Takeshi snapped. "I meant, what are you doing out of school? I'm assuming that Professor Snape didn't give you permission to leave, which means that you must have broken into a teacher's office to use the Floo."

"My grandfather's dying," Aric blurted out. "Or he was dying. They say he's stable now. Stable but serious, whatever the hell that means."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Aric," Takeshi said, in a much more gentle and sympathetic voice. "I didn't know."

Aric blinked again, looking puzzled. "You didn't hear about it at St. Mungo's?"

"No, it's my day off," Takeshi replied. "I was at the clinic all day. What happened?"

"He had a stroke," Aric said, and suddenly began to weep.

"I'm so sorry, Aric," Takeshi repeated, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But if they're saying that he's stable, he should be out of danger. I can try to find out more from the Healers at St. Mungo's, if you like."

"I thought he was dying," Aric said, still weeping and not sounding at all reassured. "He looked like he was dying, and my mum and grandmother were crying. He begged me to sign the betrothal contract, said he needed me to ensure the future of our family if anything happened to him."

Takeshi was hit by a sudden feeling of despair and anger, as strong and painful as a physical blow; he gasped for breath as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. He thought he had been prepared to lose Aric, to give him up to his family, but some small part of him must have been secretly holding out for a miracle, and now the full force of reality hit him, and his pain was redoubled as his last shred of hope was taken from him. And beneath the despair, he felt anger towards Aric's family for manipulating their son and using his love for them like a weapon against him. Takeshi had grown up in a loving family, and it made him sick to think that someone could use their own child this way, that the head of the Dietrich family could continue calculating and scheming even while supposedly lying on his deathbed. He wondered just how serious Roderick Dietrich's illness was, if he really had been dying, or if he had just let Aric think that.

Meanwhile, Aric was sobbing, "I'm so sorry, Takeshi, but I couldn't say no. I didn't want to do it, but I had to, for my family's sake. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

"It's all right," Takeshi whispered, although his heart was breaking. "There is nothing to forgive; you haven't done anything wrong." Nothing except, perhaps, to be loyal to a family that didn't deserve it. But right or wrong, they were Aric's family, and he loved them. Takeshi wasn't sure if the Dietrich family had deceived Aric, and he wasn't sure that Aric would believe it even if they had. Aric wasn't in any state to hear such a thing right now, anyway, so Takeshi concentrated on trying to comfort his friend.

"I'm sad," Takeshi said gently, "but I'm not angry. I know that you're doing what you think is right. I..." In spite of his good intentions, his voice trembled a little. "I just want you to be happy, Aric." He reached up with one hand to brush the tears from Aric's face.

Aric laid his hand over Takeshi's, holding it in place against his cheek. "I don't think I can be happy without you, 'Keshi," he whispered.

No one else had ever called Takeshi by that particular nickname before, and he found it endearing, but also heartrending at the same time, because he doubted that he would ever get to hear it again after tonight. It was obvious that Aric had come to say farewell to him, and maybe that was just as well, because Takeshi didn't think that he was strong or selfless enough to be able to maintain their friendship after Aric was married. It would be much too painful for both of them.

And since this was probably the last time that they would see each other, Takeshi finally said the words he had left unspoken up until now. "I love you, Aric," he said softly. "No matter where you go, or who you are with, I will always love you. I hope you will find happiness in whatever life you choose."

Aric just stared at him for a moment, tears still running down his face, then suddenly he pulled Takeshi into his arms and kissed him fiercely.

And Takeshi felt the some sense of completeness that he had felt in the first dream he'd had about his black wolf lover, the same sense of joy that told him he had found his mate. He returned the kiss hungrily, overcome by a primal, almost animal-like desire that swept away any protests that the rational part of his mind might have made.

Aric kissed him with such force that it was almost painful, but Takeshi didn't pull away. Instead, he eagerly parted his lips, allowing Aric's tongue to demandingly thrust into his mouth. As their tongues entwined together, Takeshi was dimly aware that Aric's mouth tasted of Firewhiskey, and that reminded him that something was not quite right about this...

But then Aric pushed him up against the desk, and Takeshi felt the edge of the desk digging into the small of his back, and Aric's hips pressing firmly against his own. He was forced to lean back, bracing his hands against the desk to keep from falling backwards. Meanwhile, the lower half of his body was trapped between Aric and the desk, and couldn't help but respond to Aric's obvious arousal. Aric began to grind his hips against Takeshi's in earnest, rubbing their erections together, and Takeshi moaned into Aric's mouth, unable to keep his hips still as they began moving against Aric's. A small but increasingly frantic part of his mind began to clamor that this was wrong, that they should not be doing this, but his body didn't care, and continued writhing against Aric.

His glasses, which were completely useless right now anyway as they were fogged up, began sliding down his nose, and Aric plucked them off his face, carelessly tossed them onto the desk, and began planting kisses all over Takeshi's face. Takeshi shivered with pleasure as he tried to remember why he was fighting with this...

Aric began fumbling with Takeshi's robes and shirt, tugging impatiently at buttons and fastenings. Takeshi continued leaning against the desk, dazed and unresisting until the touch of Aric's hands on his bare skin jolted him into awareness again. And then he remembered it all: Aric showing up at the clinic drunk to confess that he'd signed the betrothal contract.

Takeshi gasped as Aric's hands stroked his chest, brushing against his nipples, and he was sorely tempted to just give in to desire. Wasn't he entitled to at least one night with his mate before he lost him forever?

No. Not like this. Not with Aric too drunk to be fully aware of what he was doing. And not when Aric was legally bound to someone else. He would not, could not share Aric with anyone else. It went against everything that he believed in, everything that he was. He wistfully thought of the fairy tale his mother used to tell him about the Star Lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi. He had always thought it a sad story, but now he envied those lovers for remaining faithful to each other even though they could only meet once a year. He would give anything to be able to be with his mate, even if it was for only one day out of every year.

"Stop," Takeshi whispered, but Aric did not hear him. "Stop," Takeshi said in a louder voice, but Aric ignored him, kissing him and pushing him back until he lost his balance and fell across the surface of the desk as Aric fell on top of him. That sent a fresh wave of lust surging through his body, and Takeshi knew that he had to end this now, before instinct conquered his resolve and they ended up having sex right on top of the desk.

{Would that really be so bad?} a little voice whispered in his head. He allowed himself to be tempted for just a moment, long enough for Aric to kiss him deeply, their tongues entwining again.

Then Takeshi forcibly wrenched his mouth away from Aric's and gasped, "No!"

***

His brain befuddled by both alcohol and lust, it took a few minutes for Takeshi's protests to register with Aric, and he stared at the mediwizard in confusion. His words said "no," but his body seemed to be saying the opposite. Aric experimentally ground his hips downwards, and Takeshi moaned loudly, his body jerking upwards to press more closely against Aric's.

"N-no, Aric," Takeshi panted, his face flushed. "We can't...we can't do this."

"But I want you and you want me," Aric protested, and tried to kiss him again.

Takeshi placed his hands palm-down on Aric's chest, and at first Aric thought it was meant to be a caress. But then Takeshi chanted something in a language that Aric didn't understand, and he could feel heat forming where the mediwizard was touching him, a faint warmth at first that rapidly grew uncomfortably hot. Aric glanced down and saw that Takeshi's hands were glowing, and his eyes widened in alarm. And then he found himself hurled across the room as if he had been hit with a full-strength Expelliarmus spell. He crashed into the shelves that lined the opposite wall and heard the sound of breaking glass. He felt something wet stain his robes, but by the pungent smell, it was Wolfsbane Potion and not his own blood. He was probably going to have a number of interesting bruises on his back by tomorrow, though.

"Takeshi..." he said, feeling hurt and confused.

The mediwizard climbed off the desk, straightening his robes, and he looked angrier than Aric had ever seen him before, even when Aric had been gloating about Theo kissing Blaise at the Yule Ball. "I told myself that I wasn't going to do this," Takeshi said in a low, taut voice. "I told myself that I wouldn't give you an ultimatum, that I wouldn't force you to choose between me and your family, but now you have given me no choice. I love you, Aric, but I will never sleep with you as long as you are engaged or married to someone else."

"But...but I didn't have a choice!" Aric protested.

Takeshi's brown eyes were hard and cold, in a way that Aric had never seen before. "You have a choice, Aric," he said firmly. "I won't blame you if choose not to be disowned by your family, but don't tell me that you have no choice."

"But..." Aric said in a pleading voice, not sure what argument he could make.

Takeshi didn't give him time to come up with one. "I know that many of the purebloods take lovers even after they are married. That was the way it was done in my country once, too. Lords would take wives to seal political alliances, and keep concubines for pleasure, and sometimes, for love. But I will not be your concubine, Aric. I will not be your plaything." Tears filled his eyes, and he shouted, "I will not be your whore!"

"I-I'm not...th-that wasn't what I..." Aric stammered. He swallowed hard, staring at his friend's anguished face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know I could never ask that of you. I...I only came to say goodbye tonight. I didn't mean for this to happen. I...just got carried away. I'm sorry."

"Please go, Aric," Takeshi said, tears streaming down his face. "And if you're determined to go through with the marriage, I think it would be better if you didn't come back."

"I'm sorry," Aric said once more, then fled through the fireplace. He somehow managed to make his way back to his room without being discovered, although he was stumbling through the halls without trying very hard to be quiet, his eyes blurred with tears. He felt so ashamed of himself for hurting Takeshi that way; he should never have gone to the clinic. He wondered if more alcohol would help obliviate his pain, but then realized that he had left the bottle of Firewhiskey in Malfoy's room. And Malfoy was probably asleep and would be pissed off if Aric woke him up now. Besides, it was the Firewhiskey that had gotten him into this mess in the first place.

So he crawled into bed and cried himself to sleep. His chest still stung a little where Takeshi had touched him, but it was more uncomfortable than painful, sort of like having a mild sunburn. He certainly deserved far worse for what he had done to his dearest friend. It was only as he was finally drifting off into slumber that it occurred to him to wonder how Takeshi had managed to cast such a powerful spell without a wand. But he slipped into unconsciousness before he could ponder that question for long.

***

Williamson was very pleased when he received the Dark Magic books from Stewart. He wished that he could have gotten Stewart to steal some hair or clothing from Snape to further implicate him, but that would probably be pushing his luck. Sneaking into the restricted section of the library was one thing, but while Stewart was a clever lad, he was no match for a paranoid Death Eater, and Williamson's scheme would be ruined if Snape caught on to what he was doing. They would have to rely on circumstantial evidence for now, but it shouldn't be hard to build up a convincing case against the Potions Master, with his past history and sinister manner.

"Merlin's Beard!" Amos exclaimed, leafing through the books with an expression of combined horror and fascination on his face. "What on earth do you intend to do with these?"

"Make people think that Snape is practicing Dark Magic in secret, of course," Williamson replied. "Now there are a few ingredients we'll need..." He took one of the books and opened it to a particular page. "Boomslang skin--expensive, but not difficult to obtain. Aconite and henbane--readily available, but only a registered potion-brewer or Healer can purchase them, since they're poisonous. And of course getting the werewolf blood will be a bit tricky."

"Where on earth are you going to get werewolf blood?" Amos asked.

Williamson grinned. "You'd probably like me to take it from your nephew, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be wise to physically attack the werewolves right now. We want them to remain suspects, not victims."

"Then where are you going to get it from?" Amos demanded impatiently.

"Where else does one go to obtain substances of dubious legality?" Williamson asked in a logical tone of voice. "Knockturn Alley, of course."

So Williamson ventured into Knockturn Alley the next day, in disguise, of course. He wore a hooded cloak with the hood pulled low over his face, and he also used an Illusion spell in case one of the other Aurors traced the ingredients back to this shop. He gave himself a big nose and long, greasy black hair. Now if anyone should question the shopkeeper, he would describe someone who resembled Snape.

Williamson entered the apothecary shop, a much seedier looking establishment than Slug & Jiggers. However, it also carried a number of substances that were not available at Slug & Jiggers--at least, not without written permission from the Ministry and a number of inconvenient questions being asked.

"Werewolf blood, eh?" the shopkeeper said when Williamson made his request. "You're in luck; I've still a got few vials left. Our supply has been dwindling since the equal rights bill was passed. Now that the werewolves can get work, not many of them are desperate enough to sell their bodily fluids. Of course, that might be changing soon, if the rumors I've been hearing are true. Word is that the Ministry might be revoking the equal rights bill and restoring the anti-werewolf legislation."

Williamson silently gloated, but aloud he said mildly, "Perhaps. But for now, give me all the werewolf blood you have left. Also some aconite, boomslang skin, and henbane."

"I have some werewolf fur and claw tips, too," the shopkeeper said.

"Excellent!" Williamson said. A few minutes later, he left the shop, both he and the apothecary feeling very satisfied. Williamson because he had gotten the ingredients he needed, and the shopkeeper because Williamson had not haggled over the cost as most people did, and had immediately paid the apothecary's exorbitant asking price. The Auror had not bothered, since he was paying with Amos's money. Since Amos was too cowardly to enter Knockturn Alley himself, he had given Williamson a bag of Galleons and entrusted the task to him.

***

Not long after Williamson's trip to Knockturn Alley, the townsfolk of Hogsmeade began seeing strange lights and hearing strange noises from the Shrieking Shack late at night. Most of them still didn't know the true story behind the Shrieking Shack, so they began whispering that perhaps the ghosts had returned, although things had been quiet there for the past few years. Then, on the night of the full moon, they heard howling and loud crashes--the sound of wood splintering and glass breaking, as if someone were wrecking the place. Eventually, the Aurors were called in to investigate.

Part 77