Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

19 September, 1995 - Inspection

Within a few weeks of the start of the school year, it became very apparent to anyone paying even the slightest attention that things were changing at Hogwarts. And Lavinia, for her part, wasn't at all convinced that they were changing for the better.

The letter she had sent to Jasmine had been answered with a near essay about the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts installment: one Dolores Umbridge. Lavinia had been shocked by the name because she knew the woman it belonged to. Or more specifically, she knew of her, mostly thanks to the woman's frankly backwards attitudes towards werewolves that had resulted in legislation that had left both Lavinia and Remus near steaming with rage. And that was even with the attempt to reclassify werewolves as magical creatures - rather than humans - removed.

So perhaps she was just prejudiced against the woman, or perhaps Jasmine's account really was quite persuasive, but either way, Lavinia found herself rather displeased with Dumbledore's teaching choice. Until, that was, Remus pointed out that if Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, then the Ministry had the power to intervene. And apparently they had. Which explained what Kingsley had meant by "a foot in at Hogwarts."

And speaking of things Kingsley had said, Lavinia had been rather glad for his warning, even if, in the long run, it didn't change much of how she went about her life. The hit wizards, it seemed, were suddenly much more inclined to ask questions of their healers and a supposedly 'routine' Ministry inspection was launched that Lavinia knew full well was far from routine. She had, after all, been working at St. Mungo's for more than fifteen years and anything routine, in her estimation, ought to have happened at least once in that time span.

This view was backed up by the silent glare Elias had pinned the inspection officials with for their entire walk around the room, staring at them with a gaze that was borderline menacing until Lavinia had pulled him aside under the guise of checking on a patient and pinned him with a glare of her own.

"Play along," she hissed as she bent over the unconscious woman on the bed in front of them.

Elias merely looked at her, his brows raising in evident skepticism. Lavinia sighed, rubbing her temples. "This isn't a routine inspection," she pointed out, an observation that was met with a single flick of a brow that told her he knew that plenty well. She huffed, glancing back at the room as she pretended to check the information sheet on the patient's bedside table. "This isn't bureaucratic nonsense either," she informed her coworker a bit tartly. "They're trying to root out Ministry opposition."

And now Elias's raised brows showered pure shock. "How do you know?" he asked carefully, leaning across her, apparently to check the info sheet as well.

"Friends in the Auror office," she informed him. "So please, for the love of Merlin, play along. It's not worth giving them any fodder."

Elias stood up straight and nodded. "Just a typographical error," he said a bit more loudly and Lavinia blinked, shocked by how... normal he sounded. Because it was so wildly not normal for Elias.

But she paused for only a beat before she realized that Elias was doing precisely what she'd asked and nodded. "Just fix it," she replied lightly, gesturing vaguely at the sheet. "No need to confuse the morning shift too."

Elias smiled, an easy, simple gesture that utterly horrified Lavinia because it was simply not something she saw very often. She blinked, instinctively leaning back slightly, then shook herself. "No need to lay it on thick," she whispered as she moved past him, headed towards the inspection official who was now looking over their potions room.

Elias sniffed slightly and didn't respond, which Lavinia supposed meant that he had taken that suggestion as well. Not that he had really been laying it on thick and, she knew, to someone who had never met him, it probably wouldn't have seemed at all out of the ordinary. But if he was on shift with one of the others and they asked... well that would certainly raise suspicions. Plus, she didn't particularly like the idea of making Elias put on a mask all day. Not glaring was enough for her. Especially since she knew exactly how exhausting masks could be.