Chapter Sixteen
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteDecember 15, 1997
"No good sittin' worryin' about it. What's comin' will come"
Lucas Elstewart wakes up every morning dreading the appearance of a Ministry owl at the window of his room. He knows it has to be coming - he's seen the Prophet, heard about the trials from people at work. And yet every morning the window stays empty, no one breaks into his mother's Muggle bookstore which she had inherited from her parents, and he gets through his work day with no more scrutiny than what he's already used to from his overly intense supervisors.
He'd mentioned his concern to his friend Audrey Blishwick over lunch once, how his mother is Muggleborn, how he's as-good-as, how his Muggleborn father and little brother had been killed in the last war, and how he's worried the Deatheaters will finish the job this time around.
Audrey, in that blunt way she has, told him that worrying about it won't really change anything and all he's accomplishing is giving himself a stress aneurysm that'll kill him faster than the Deatheaters will.
She's right, of course, she's often right about these things, but he can't help worrying still. The way he sees it he can either be worried or angry, and anger has never gone well for him.
He wakes up Monday the fifteenth of December and goes through his usual morning routine of getting dressed, brushing his teeth, and picking up his old cat Holly when she demands her morning cuddle while repeatedly glancing at his window for any sign of the feathers and wings that signal the start of his family's doom.
It doesn't come this morning, but his eyes keep straying to the glass as he eats breakfast with his mother, who happily chats about the new shipment of books coming in to the shop. She pauses when Lucas only hums distractedly in reply and sighs.
"Lucas, nothing is going to come. If they could find me they would have by now." She says briskly. "We didn't survive the first war on luck alone you know."
He smiles wanly, finally looking over at her. Amelia Elstewart has pudged up as she's aged, and combined with her short stature the overall effect makes her look incredibly unintimidating. But Lucas knows better than to judge a book by it's cover - his mother is one of the toughest people he knows.
Still, he worries. He barely remembers his father, but he remembers how much it hurt when he was gone. Lucas can't do that again with his mother.
He still tries to push on a smile that's obviously strained if his mother's amused huff is anything to go by.
"You let me fret about this hun, you just go to work and save lives, okay?" She says firmly. "And say hello to Jun for me, he hasn't been by in months."
Because we're at war and he's worried about his own family's diplomatic status getting revoked. Lucas thinks quitely but he doesn't voice the thought aloud - his mother knows anyway.
He leaves for work shortly after, Apparating from the secluded alleyway behind the bookshop so as to avoid Muggle notice. He lands about a block away from work, and he does his best to shake off any sign of his nerves before striding down the road to St. Mungo's.
He steps through the Department store window and is immediately greeted by Isabella Brown, the ever-cheerful receptionist for the Hospital.
"Good morning Healer Elstewart!" She chirps. "Are you still assigned to assist in the Dagworth Ward this week?"
"The whole month Ms. Brown." He responds with a smile that feels much more natural. Isabella is a beacon of sunshine - it's impossible to stay gloomy around her. "I need the experience for my Trauma certification."
"Ooh that's right!" She exclaims. "You're really so kind and brilliant for stepping up and getting that certification, so few mediwitches and wizards do. I really think you'll do amazing things Healer Elstewart, and I hope I get to be around to see them."
Lucas blushes and waves her off. "I can't imagine them ever finding anyone who does your job as well as you do Ms. Brown - they'll be replacing me before they could even dream of replacing you."
She giggles. "You flatterer. Go on then, I don't want to make you late! Have a good day Healer Elstewart."
Lucas returns the sentiment and heads up to the third floor feeling much better. Thank Merlin for Isabella Brown and her undentable cheer, he can't imagine how much harder the start of the workday would be without her.
He takes the lift up to the third floor, where they treat victims of potions gone wrong as well as plant poisoning. He thankfully has finished with the plant part of his training though - it's downright horrifying what simple leaves are capable of.
He makes his way over to the closest supervisor to collect his assignment list for the day. The woman isn't one of their usual supervisors - he thinks he's seen her before but he can't quite place where. It needles at the back of his brain as he strides over with an easy smile.
"Healer Elstewart reporting in." He says as he approaches her, and she turns storm gray eyes on him which seem to peirce straight through his skull to stare into his soul. It's rather unnerving, and definitely memorable. Where has he seen her before?
"You're partnered with Healer Hanamori today." The supervisor says after a moment. "He already has your assignments. Report to room three-oh-six."
He tilts his head in a slight bow - a habit he's picked up from Jun probably - and hurries off to find his partner for the day.
"Hey Lucas!" Jun Hanamori grins as Lucas enters the room indicated by the supervisor. The two of them have been best friends since Hogwarts, and when Jun decided to stay in England to work as a Mediwizard instead of going home to Japan Lucas had followed him. Now that they're both getting their Trauma certifications they've been spending a lot of time together at work, which Lucas appreciates.
"Hey Jun, mom says hi." He replies easily. "What's on the docket today?"
"You and your weird expressions." Jun mumbles to himself with a grin before raising his voice to directly address Lucas. "We've mostly got clean up this morning, there was a mass exodus yesterday-"
"You mean people got better Jun, don't make it sound like something terrible." Lucas interjects midly and Jun shrugs.
"What did I say? Anyway, mostly cleanup, and then there's a little girl in three fifteen who drank her mom's unfinished love potion yesterday and needs some good beside manner while it wears off so I volunteered us for that." He thinks for a moment, and then nods. "And tell your mom I say 'hi' back. Ready to go?"
Lucas smiles and grabs the cleaning supplies that Jun holds out to him. They never use magic to clean things up in Mungo's - there's too much risk that the magic will interact badly with a cure or leftover potions and create more patients. Lucas rather likes cleaning the Muggle way though, it's soothingly repetitive.
They clean two-oh-six in about thirty minutes and then move on to the next room on Jun's list. The supervisor Lucas had met with earlier is just stepping out of one of the patient's rooms as they pass, and Lucas can feel her steely eyes tracking him down the hallway.
"Is today's supervisor freaking you out a little?" He asks Jun in a low voice as they get started on reorganizing and cleaning room three twelve.
Jun shrugs. "She's down from the Golpalott Ward, so she's professionally a potioneer, not a Mediwitch, but we're shorthanded so everyone is taking shifts everywhere. I imagine she's not happy about being here rather than creating potions, but Healer Smethwyck says she's a good worker."
"When did you talk to Healer Smethwyck about her?" Lucas asks, confused.
Jun grins. "You know old Hippocrates, he'll talk about everything if you let him go on long enough. I recognize her from his description. She's our age, you know. We probably went to school with her."
That's when it clicks. "Audrey! Audrey Caldwell." He exclaims, and Jun gives him an odd look.
Lucas laughs and clears his throat. "She was Head Girl our year. I never really talked to her, but yeah, she's a good worker. She and Perce were ruthlessly organized, I don't think the prefects had ever run that smoothly."
Jun chuckles. "I'm calling bias on that considering your massive crush on-"
"Hey there's a spill here and I can't tell of what." Lucas interrupts him briskly, aware of his bright red cheeks.
Jun laughs openly now but he lets the topic drop, walking over to examine the spill and declare it Pepperup.
"Makes sense, I think the former occupant of this room was making some and it melted through the pot onto her foot." Jun observes as they scrub it up. "This must have been spilled back when she was first admitted, pepperup usually takes a few days to spoil."
"We need to hire janitors." Lucas sighs. "Alright, that's this room I think. Next?"
Jun leads them and Lucas easily follows, waving and greeting the other mediwizards they pass on the way. Just before Jun pushes open the door to their next room Lucas once again feels Audrey's eyes on him. He glances over at her and she keeps his gaze until he looks away and hurries into the next room.
"Audrey is definitely staring at me." He says nervously. He doesn't know what that means, but he does remember she was a Slytherin in school, and had made some crass comments about Muggleborns in her time (less so when she became Head Girl, but Lucas remembers their first patrol perfectly well thank you). Maybe doom doesn't come in feathered form, maybe it comes in gray eyes and flat blonde hair.
"So say hi. You two knew each other in school right? She probably just feels awkward since you didn't recognize her at first and doesn't know whether to speak up or not."
Lucas snorts. "Yeah, that's not Audrey, but thanks for trying. I dunno, maybe I'm imagining it."
Three hours later he can most definitely say he is not imagining it. Audrey is staring at him like she's looking for something, and Lucas is pretty sure he's going to be arrested and killed over the lunch break.
He keeps these thoughts to himself though, maintaining a cheerful exterior as he follows Jun around and chats with their coworkers all morning. He gives Audrey a smile at one point and she an eyebrow but doesn't reciprocate.
He can admit he stalls a bit on heading out to lunch, which means his lunch partner will probably beat him to the pub for once. Assuming he makes it to the pub.
"Off to get lunch with your mystery girl?" Jun asks slightly teasingly as they take the lift down together. Lucas huffs out a breath.
"She's not a mystery girl, she's someone I met a couple months ago who happens to have the same lunch break as I do."
Jun shrugs. "Sure, that's not mysterious. Have fun, see you in an hour." He waves and makes his way towards the wizarding exit of Mungo's while Lucas ducks back out the disguised front door, smiling at Isabella's greeting as he does. He hopes they pay her well.
Lucas is tense for the entire short walk to his usual pub, but no figures leap out of the shadows to drag him off to Azkaban, so he makes it to his usual seat in the back of the pub safely. He does still beat Audrey - Blishwick, oh man that could get confusing considering who he's just bumped into at work - though not by as much as he usually does.
"Hey Lucas." Audrey Blishwick (he'll call her Audrey, he'll call the other one... HG. That'll work) greets tiredly as she slides into the booth across from him.
"Hey. How's work?" He asks, hoping she'll have a lot to say so he doesn't have to talk much. He knows it's a hollow hope though. Audrey isn't much for idle chatter.
"It's fine, it's fine. Same as ever." She smiles slightly. "Percy is working on some new legislation pertaining to the retrial and release of criminals in Azkaban. Did you know there was nothing in the books for that? People were just sent to jail with no hope of trying again, regardless of how poorly the trial was conducted."
Lucas can't help smiling as well. It's just like Percy to do that - he'd been the same back in school, when he and Lucas patrolled the halls together. He always dreamed big, and Lucas wishes he could be the one Percy is telling all about his new ideas. But Percy had given him that chance, and Lucas had driven him off with his emotions and his temper. So now he only gets to hear about his old friend through Audrey, who he'd met entirely by accident but he's glad of it. He's glad Percy still has someone he can talk to.
And he can tell that Audrey likes Percy, even if she's never said as much. The way she talks about him is... well, it's reminiscent of how Lucas talks about Percy. So.
"Sounds like his kind of project. I remember all the reforms he talked about wanting to implement back in school, it's great he finally gets to create some." He ignores the fact that Percy is creating the reform for a government that will use it to release Deatheaters. Lunchtime with Audrey is a sacred time of his day where negativity has no seat at the table.
Audrey raises an eyebrow and that's enough to get him talking about all the plans Percy used to lay out while they were on patrol together, often resulting in them moving far slower than they should have been and dragging out the patrol length by several minutes. Lucas never minded the fact they were technically breaking the rules by being out later than they were scheduled to be - he likes hearing passionate people talk about their passions, and Percy Weasley has always been the living, breathing personification of passionate.
He's partway through a story about the time the two of them had caught Oliver Wood out after hours with a girl from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team (and how he'd gotten to this topic he has no idea - Audrey is very good at getting people to talk) and the ensuing childish bickering between Percy and Oliver the entire way back to the dormitory when he realizes that it's probably getting close to when he needs to head back to work. Which means having to walk back. Alone. Possibly to be arrested and sentenced as a Muggleborn.
Audrey clearly catches his shift in mood but politely doesn't comment on it, instead offering to pay if he needs to get going.
"Same time tomorrow then?" She adds as he grabs his work bag.
He hesitates, and then nods. "Of course. Where else would I be?" He adds a smile for effect and she hums in acknowledgement.
He heads out shortly after and if he walks a little faster than normal to get back, well, who can blame him for that?
But he gets back to work safely, and a greeting from Isabella and a reminder from Jun that they're on what's commonly called "bedside duty" - or checking in on patients and keeping them updated on their condition - does quite a bit to relax him back into his work environment.
Honestly getting to chat with patients is his favorite part of the job, especially the younger ones. Adults often get caught up with worry about their condition, but kids seem to be far more comfortable with their own death and suffering than adults, which means they're up to chatting about any random topic Lucas comes up with.
Today's patient is a nine-year-old hyped up on a half-finished love potion her older sister had been trying to sneakily brew while she was home for the holiday break.
"Hi Kaitlyn." Lucas smiles as he takes a seat next to her, letting Jun grab her diagnostic chart from the end of the bed. "I hear you went nosing around your sister's room."
Kaitlyn is a stringy little brunette with a pug nose and big eyes and she giggles drunkenly at the comment. "Cassie was hidin' somfn'!" She says, flailing one arm to try and bat at Lucas' nose. He leans just out of the way and catches the flopping extremity.
"And you found it? You're quite the detective there." He praises her, ignoring Jun's snort from the end of the room.
They keep Kaitlyn company until it's safe for her to sleep off the rest of the potion, at which point Jun administers a small dose of Sleeping Draught and she's out like a light.
"You're insanely good at that." Jun comment. "I think I'd have lost patience at the third retelling of her family picnic this summer."
"She's cute." Lucas replies lightly. "And letting people talk isn't hard Jun, you would have done just as well if you'd been in the chair."
They Floo-call the parents to confirm that Kaitlyn is fine and will need one more night under observation but they can come take her home in the morning. Then it's time to head home, and all Lucas' concerns from earlier flood back to him.
Jun either doesn't notice or doesn't comment, as he heads out with a simple, "See you tomorrow Lucas!" and Lucas is left to dither until the rest of the mediwitches and wizards get off shift and he can blend in with them.
Unfortunately his attempts don't work - as soon as he turns into a quiet alley to Apparate home, thinking he's in the clear and was just being paranoid, a hand clamps around his bicep and the world twists as he's Apparated away.
His wand is up and pointing wildly into the air as he and whoever grabbed him arrive at their destination, but a moment later the wood has been magically yanked from his hand and is being snagged out of the air by his kidnapper.
He spins to face them, and blinks when he makes eye contact with storm grey eyes.
"Head Girl Caldwell?" He stutters out uncertainly, and she smirks.
"I wondered if you recognized me Elstewart. And it's Python here. I have a proposal for you."
Lucas eyes her warily, but she hasn't attacked him yet despite his being unarmed and it's not like he's really in a position to do anything but listen right now. "Fire away." He gestures broadly around him and finally takes in the room they've arrived at.
It's a small, dingy room with two deflated armchairs and a bare worn-out mattress atop a metal-framed double bed. It stinks faintly of ale, but the dust is bothered enough to indicate it probably gets a decent amount of visitors despite the state it's in.
Audrey - Python? - holds his wand out to him. "Here, so you know you're not trapped." She says simply, waiting for him to take it and then take a seat on the worn mattress before she continues. "You should know that your mother's name came up in the Muggleborn Registry. The letter was to be sent today, but you know how bureaucracy goes, things get lost or put off for a few days while other things are handled."
Lucas doesn't know what to do with that, so he just waits for her to continue. Something in his gut does twist at the knowledge his mother will have to close up shop and go into hiding though. She's done everything she can to keep away from the Wizarding world, it's not fair that it's upending her life all over again years later.
Python raises an eyebrow at his non-reaction. "I forgot how annoyingly blank you can be." She grumbles, "Alright, look. I'm part of an organization called the Underground. We've been working since September to help Muggleborns avoid the Registry Commission either by losing their papers in the system or forging documents. Occasionally we can't do either without raising suspicions so we just warn people ahead of time."
"Is that what this is?" Lucas can't help asking. If it is then he really needs to get going, warn his mother, figure out where they can go to lay low for who knows how long.
Python tilts her head slightly, dangerously. "Perhaps. But we could get you two lost in the system, never to be questioned or looked at again. You wouldn't have to hide, your mother wouldn't have to give up her store-"
"How do you know about that?" He asks, guard instantly up. He's fairly certain he never told Python anything about his family during their patrols together - they hadn't exactly been friends.
Python rolls her eyes. "Down boy. I collected information on you before deciding to make this offer. We don't let just anyone in you know, security reasons and such."
Lucas blinks. "I'm sorry... 'let anyone in'? Is this a job offer?"
Python grins ferally. "Got it in one kid. We can vanish you and your mom for the low low price of you helping us out when we need you to."
Lucas shifts on the bed, staring at his feet uncertainly. It would protect his mom, but what exactly would they be expecting him to do? Helping them out could very easily get him in trouble anyway, and everything would be for nothing in the end.
Python seems to understand his hesitation. "We're good at what we do, your mom would be completely safe. We can destroy her files in front of you, if you like." She offers. "Look, we just started a new branch of the Underground and we really need Healers - we've only got one on staff at the moment and Setter can't always be available."
Lucas assumes 'Setter' is a code name, though an odd one. He continues to maintain his silence - Python hasn't actually told him yet why they need the Healers.
She continues. "In the past month we've started recruiting people for what Lion likes to call our 'Field Agent Branch'. Basically we have people who go into the woods to find Fugitive Muggleborns and we relocate them to safehouses owned by other Underground members. We've got three houses active right now, and we just got confirmation from two people outside Englad that they're ready to take in the Fugitives once we can work out a safe way to evacuate them off the island."
Lucas is admittedly impressed - and now he has an idea of where he'd fit in. "And you need Healers to care for the Field Agents and the rescued Muggleborns before they're moved into the safe houses?" He guesses, and Python tilts her head in confirmation.
"You'd be on call most nights but it's still generally slow." She says. "We have two Agents at the moment, and of course I technically have some Healer training but I can't handle the heavier cases. You're halfway to a Trauma certification and Setter already has one, so between the two of you we'll be able to handle more dangerous situations. Currently our Agents have to avoid head-on confrontations since we don't have the means to properly heal them afterwards."
Lucas rolls the offer around in his head. His mom being safe is a very tempting bribe, that's for sure. Python's homework was very well researched. But at the same time this is obviously dangerous. One wrong move, one wrong person brought in and the whole thing goes over like a line of dominos. He wouldn't be put in Azkaban if he was caught helping this lot - no, he'd be dead, no questions asked. And then his mom would be alone.
"Where are we right now? Is this one of the safe houses?" He asks, to stall for time. He figures Python will want an answer before he leaves, but he can't give one just yet.
Python raises an eyebrow, clearly catching on to his intent - she's a Slytherin, he reminds himself, of course she noticed the avoidance - but she surprises him by answering honestly. "It's not. This is our meeting point, secured by a modified Fidelius Charm. You might remember my sister Saundra from school, she was Head Girl our fifth year. She's the one who invented the modifications. Once you know about this place you can take people here and tell them about it if you trust them. If you don't clearly indicate where you are to that person then they won't be able to remember afterwards."
"Smart. That's how you keep this safe even if someone says no?" Lucas realizes, and Python looks proud.
"Yeah, my sister thought of everything. Anyway, we're in the Hog's Head. Aberforth was one of the first people we recruited - technically his code is Goat but no one uses it."
Lucas hums slightly, not missing the fact she'd just shared their location with him after clearly indicating that she would only do that with someone she trusted. "So you think I'm not going to give you away."
"I don't. And beyond that, the person who recommended you doesn't, and I trust them implicitly. Even if you walk away - and trust me, I know you're considering it - you won't rat us out. You're a good person Lucas Elstewart, and people like that are in short supply these days."
Lucas is honestly a little stunned by the short speech. He isn't... Anger, shouting, doors slamming, people not coming back- "I'm not a good person." He gets out weakly. "I just... try to do good things?"
Python snorts. "If you say so. That still makes you better than most. Look, I'm going to need an answer before you leave today, and preferably sooner since I have to teach you the messenger spell and get you set up with a code name. You in or not?"
Lucas hesitates briefly once more - but finally he nods. "You can make sure they never come after my mom?"
"I'm serious about burning the files in front of you. I'll make an Unbreakable Vow to do so if you like." Python says with a dark grin.
Lucas flinches. "I'm good, I believe you." He says quickly. Unbreakable Vows are never things to get tied up with. "I'll do it."
Python's grin shifts into something like relief and she drops onto the bed next to him. "Great, thanks. Alright, so first things first, you get to choose your own code name. Any animal you can think of, most of them are still available. I'll tell you if you ask for a code that's already in use."
"Animals huh? Um, badger?" He says uncertainly. It's a little lazy considering it's just his House but-
"Taken." Python says, and her tone is just dark enough that Lucas doesn't ask.
Of course that leaves him in a bit of a lurch as to what animal to use. His mind goes blank and he stares at his hands, fidgeting nervously as he feels the time pass by.
"Hey, no pressure on this." Python says after a moment. "I picked mine from a nickname. Is there an animal in your life you like? A pet maybe? Beagle chose his code after his family's old dog."
Pet. Holly. His mind latches on. But 'Cat' is probably taken, isn't it? Something that simple? And it's a girl's name too so probably for the best. Then he remembers that 'Beagle' is a breed - so why not use Holly's breed?
"Birman. Like the cat." He says out loud.
Python grins. "Thought that might get your gears moving. Is that cat of yours still around? I remember her following us on patrols, it was pretty cute."
Lucas wouldn't have pegged Python as a cat person, but she obviously is if she remembers Holly that well. "Yeah, she's still kicking. About fourteen years old now though, mom says we should probably brace for her passing soon."
Python snorts. "Cats who live with witches and wizards have longer lifespans on average, your girl probably has a good six years or so left I'd say. Anyway, Birman is definitely available, you and Setter with your weird breed choices though." She says with a smirk. "Alright, let me show you the messenger spell."
It takes a few (dozen) tries - Lucas' magic has never been particularly strong so even a knock-off Patronus is a challenge - but eventually a little silvery-blue version of his cat is bouncing around their feet, waiting for instructions.
"The main people you'll need to communicate with are Setter and the Field Agents, including Lion since she's in charge of that group. I'll put myself in there as well in case you need to contact me about anything." Python says briskly. "The Field Agents are Hawk and Panther, they'll message you if they need any help. They work in the evenings so you shouldn't be at work, but we're working on a way to pause messages so no one gets outed on accident."
Lucas nods on auto pilot, even if he doesn't really know what she's going on about. He figures as long as he has the messenger and knows how to summon it he's good to go.
Python sends him home soon after that after giving him a time and location to 'get a new wand', whatever that entails, and he walks in to find his mother pacing the length of the kitchen and Holly mewling pitifully by the window. The cat notices him first and leaps halfway across the room to latch onto his pants.
"Ow! Ow, hi Holly I missed you too." He grunts, dislodging the cat so he can cradle her in his arms. "Hey mom."
"Lucas! You're over an hour late!" His mother scolds, the effect lessened by the fact she still sounds worried. "What happened?"
Lucas hesitates, and then gives a half-grin. "I, uh, signed up for some extra work hours actually. They're a little random, but it'll speed up my certification and help ease the workload for some of the night shift - they're brutally understaffed so I figured it wouldn't hurt to help."
His mother blows out a breath. "That's just like you. Well, I can't say I'm not proud, but do tell me next time you're staying late? Holly nearly clawed through the door worrying."
Lucas grins down at the cat in his arms. "Is that so? Naughty girl." He laughs, now more certain than ever he made the right decision.
His family will be safe, and he'll be helping save lives. What was he ever worried about?
Author's Note: Famous last words Lucas. Anyhow, I hope you all have enjoyed this little update extravaganza! It's back to the norm from here on out~
Next Week: Life on the inside is worse that you'd think
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