Coral

It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place

Except you and me

So set 'em' up Joe, I got a little story

I think you should know

We're drinking my friend, to the end

Of a brief episode

Make it one for my baby

And one more for the road--





--Awakening--





Polly's body was found that evening, tangled in marshy bed of grass, among oil spills and dirty bits of Muggle garbage. She had not floated far downstream, but she had been face down, and petrified the entire distance, so that there was no chance of her survival. Whether or not that was accidental or intentional on Demogene's part, they did not ask. The charge was murder.





Demogene's wand was recovered as well, hidden, just as she said, in Amanda's rose bush. They emptied it completely, and found it to be filled with a wonderful variety of disturbing spells and events. Edward said the instrument was an abomination and should be destroyed.





" It isn't the wand that is the abomination..." Eloise replied. Though she had regained somewhat her composure, she was still quite shaken.





" I'm losing my touch." she said to the others. " One more thing I failed to see..."





" None of us did." Stella said, listlessly.





" It was unforgivable. I should have suspected. I just didn't think it of her...I still cannot believe it.!"



Winter sniffed.



She had been sniffing consistently since being informed of Polly's death. Of the three women, she seemed to be suffering the most. Always prone to be being more humane than her elder sister, and more sentimental than her daughter, it was nearly too much for her to experience what she considered to be three great tragedies in the course of two days.



Her granddaughters accident was enough to send her into tears, the death of Polly to send her into near hysterics, and the news about Demogene to stop her crying and leave her shocked beyond words.





She had always taken great pains to be kind to her niece, thinking her simple, and meek. As attached to Polly as she was, Winter would have believed her to be a murderer before she would ever have suspected it of Demogene. Seeing her mother's distress, Stella summoned her a very strong cup of coffee, into which one of the junior healers thoughtfully mixed a light dose of a very effective nerve draught. Soon, Winter was leaned on Stella's shoulder, snoring softly, as Stella and Winter speculated softly, and thought deeply.





***





Amanda woke cold and disoriented. Two mornings had come and gone since the day she had sent Crisp with the urgent note to her mother, but she remembered nothing of that. She was aware only of a great headache, and a strange sense of stiffness, as though every fiber of her body had been painted with a thin coat of glue and allowed to dry.





The room was dark, but she could sense that something was out of place, and instinctively sought out Edwards shoulder with her hand. The bed was empty...and decidedly too narrow. Struggling, she sat, and shook her head lightly to clear away the cottony residue of slumber.





Suddenly a blinding flash of light filled the room, and she cried out as it burned her eyes,and sent shards of pain through her head.





" Oh! Oh, heavens, I am so sorry!" the light dimmed, and a figure rushed to her side.





Mother? She tried to speak aloud, but her throat felt dry and cracked, and she realized that her tongue was sore. In fact her entire head was sore.





It was indeed Stella, and she sat gingerly on the side of the bed. Amanda felt the cool rim of a glass pressed to her lips, and eagerly took a greedy gulp, only to be disappointed that it wasn't water. It tasted like spinach juice, with a coppery under-taste. She would have made a face if her skin had not felt so tight.





It was liquid however, and soothed her inflamed throat enough for her to croak out a single word.



" Water?"





" Water? Yes...of course. Here, just let me get some." Stella was away for only a minute or so, but the wait had felt interminable. Stella would not let her drink as fast as she would have pleased, pulling the glass away long before she was sated.



" Where is Edward?"



" He's here. We..we are all here." Stella answered.



" Is this a dream?" Amanda asked suspiciously.



Stella hesitated to answer. How she wished it had all been a dream!



" No. It's no dream."



" Then why is everyone here? Is this my bedroom?" the pain in head was diminishing, but it was replaced by a soft, foamy sensation that was difficult to think through.



" This is St.Mungo's."



" St....? Why are we--"



Her memory suddenly returned in ghastly clarity, the vision of Polly standing at the foot of the stairs, sending hexes at her! Hysterically, she clutched Stella's sleeve and tried to explain what had happened, even as the older woman attempted to soothe her.



" It was Polly! Mother, do you hear me, it was Polly! I...she came in...I was going...and I sent Crisp--and she tried to hex me--and..."



The door to the room opened.



" Stella? Is everything---Oh, Amanda! You're awake!" Eloise clasped her hands together under her chin.



" Aunt Eloise! Polly--"



" Sshh...we know all about Polly." Eloise said quickly. " Now just lie back. You don't need to allow yourself to become so agitated."



" But--"



Edward, Stella, and Eloise had all decided that when Amanda awoke, offering her an abbreviated version of the events would be the best course of action. This is exactly what Eloise set about doing, treading carefully as she went.



She had to repeat herself many times, as Amanda tried to fathom her words. She had become aware of her body, and the fact that it felt as though it were grinding against itself with every breath and movement she dared to take.



It was difficult to ignore it, and yet, while she was suffering, they were trying to convince her that Polly had been Demogene?



" I don't understand..." she complained after a time. " Why?"



This was also something that they decided to abbreviate. Edward's personal request to Eloise had been that no one else be informed of Demogene's involvement in the death of baby Olivia, until he himself had the chance to explain it to Amanda, and apologize.



Eloise had given her word, and not even Stella and Winter knew.



There was one truth however, that they could not abbreviate, not even for her sake.



Fortunately Healer Penny had arrived in time to ply her with a heavy dose of pain potions and spells, before Amanda thought to ask for a mirror. One look at her swollen purple reflection, and she had dropped the mirror to the floor, and began demanding to know what had happened to the baby.





Penny was one of those magical people, too rare in both worlds, who was capable of elegantly balancing sympathy with discretion, kindness with firmness, respect with frankness. In a very few delicately chosen words, she informed Amanda of what had happened, and why...her voice calm, a hand resting in soothing manner on Amanda's shoulder.





The other women were very grateful for her presence at that time, neither of them wanting to breach that awkward, uncomfortable subject. Amanda, though not blatantly hysterical, was as upset as the potions would allow her to be, and Penny was just on the verge of giving her a very large sleeping draught, when Edward, seeing the door open, had rushed in. He had, during this whole time, been with Winter, who had suggested that after nearly three days of fasting, it would not be unwise to eat something.





His first thought upon seeing the lights, the open door, and the huddle of people gathered around the bed, was that she had died during his absence, and so upset was he at thinking this might have occurred while he was doing something so mundane as eating,that it was with less finesse than usual that he barged in. He slid to a halt on the polished floor as soon as he saw that Amanda was awake; relief and disbelief simultaneously flooding his haggard features.





It was short lived reunion however, as Penny felt Amanda had experienced enough excitement too soon.All he had time to do was notice her red-rimmed eyes, the lost and hopeless expression as he caressed her shoulder...the only part of her that did not seem to bruised. He murmured promises to her that everything would be all right before Penny returned to begin administering the sleeping draught. She did this despite Amanda protesting that she did not wish to sleep again so soon.





" Your body never heals so well as when it sleeps, Amanda. Besides, it is the middle of the night. The world is asleep, everything is soft and quiet. " Penny helped her to drain the vial. " I promise, I'll let you stay awake tomorrow, if you please."





Banished to the hall once more, Edward sat beside Eloise in one of the persistently uncomfortable chairs, his hands resting on his knees, and a look of deep consternation marring his countenance. She waited patiently, knowing that he was working out his thoughts.





" Has Agnes been told yet?" he asked, at last.





" Why...no. At least not by me! Perhaps Winter had the foresight--but then, that horrid Dolores Umbridge was at the interrogation. I'm sure she shared the news with her brother. Come to think of it though, Agnes was here."



" She was?"



" Yes! I had forgotten until you mentioned it, but she said that she was looking for Demogene.Why do you ask about Agnes?"



Edward frowned.



" Did she, by any chance mention anything that Adelfried Umbridge was involved in?"



Eloise started to say no, then remembered the pamphlets that Agnes had handed to her.



" Yes! I believe she did...here hold this." she stuck out her cigarette holder towards him, and he took it before thinking. Closing his eyes a minute in affectionate irritation, he waited with strained patience as she rummaged violently through her large, woven handbag. There were many clinking noises, and the sound of crackling paper.





" So that is where that shopping list was!" she muttered. " Broken quill...Winter's comb, ha!" with that triumphant noise she pulled out several sheets of cheap paper from the depths of the bag. They were slightly crumpled, and one was smudged with rouge from a broken container, but they were readable.



" I was going to burn them." she said.



" Let's not be too hasty..." he said distractedly as he smoothed them out.



" Why this sudden interest?" she asked again as she took back her cigarette.



" It might be nothing, " he said. " But Mr. Umbridge paid an unexpected visit to my shop in December. "



" And?"





" And he gave me a vial of pills."



" He gave you pills. Now, why would he do that?"



" They pills to control Muggle wives, apparently."



Eloise tilted her head.



" Ah...those kind of pills. " she said. " And the result of using them?"



" Nothing too alarming. Memory loss, convulsions."



" Oh, that's lovely!" she said drily. " Pills eh? And what was in these pills?"



" I didn't take them out of the vial to look. I certainly wish now that I had."



" What did you do with them?"



" Burned them. I certainly had no intention of using them!" he huffed.



" I didn't assume you would! " she retorted." I thought perhaps you might have stuffed them in a drawer. I've seen your study."



" If they would just let us give Umbridge a dose of Veritaserum..." he ignored the reference to his disorganization.



" You know the Ministry would never allow for such a thing. Not without more evidence. Dolores would never allow it! Besides, if he made such a thing, why would he give it to Demogene? Wouldn't that be handing your weapon into your enemy's hand?"



He rubbed his face, thinking.



" I don't know. " he said, with a wave of dismissal. " Anyone could have given it to her.One of his supporters perhaps. Yes...that might be it. "



" Yes?"



" Well, if you gave it to a vain person, you could call it a beauty potion. So many people are searching for something...why not give to them? If someone wanted...to harm someone else, it's more logical to have someone do it for you.Use an Imperio, tell them what they want to hear. Convince them it's what they want to do."



" Maybe. I don't know. " she shrugged. " Why wouldn't they just give the pills to the Purebloods to use."



" They tried." he said, grimly, thinking of the vial. " How many?"



" How many what?"



" How many...of the women have suffered?"



Eloise sat back, patting absentmindedly at her hair.



" I'm not sure. But I could easily find out. "



" How?"



" I do have a few acquaintances too, you know. And I have been around longer than Adelfried Umbridge. Surely someone has heard a thing or two...perhaps Charles Bumpp?"



" Bumpp? He was one of those on the marriage list!"



" Of course he was, a rather reluctant participant, if I recall correctly. "she batted her eyes. " And there is Gladys Whetstone...she knows everyone. And Geoffrey Inkerbach."

Edward looked up in surprise.



" Geoffrey Inkerbach...? The author?"



" Yes, of course. "



" You don't really know Geoffrey Inkerbach?"



" Edward...I have an autographed copy of " The Black Market Strangler".



He shook his head.



" I didn't like that book. I think ' Elsewhere' was the one."



" ' Elsewhere '! Are you serious? It lacked entirely a plausible plotline-"



" It did not! The last--why are we discussing this now? " he glared at her.



" Don't look at me! I was just trying to put my social status to a good purpose."



" Do that. But first...begin by seeing if Agnes might not know anything. She seems to be the next plausible person."



" What are you going to do?"





" I am going ask Giles if he knows what Martin Ashwell is doing these days."



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One For My Baby--Frank Sinatra