Shadow & Love

2* Fortaleza

The sun tinted the beach with the rose of the nightfall and the black of the night swallowed it gracefully. Brazil offered a hearty hospitality. The delegation of British healers sat amongst the people of Fortaleza enjoying a fabulous evening. Local crabs crowned the meal like every Sunday and the inevitable faded temporarily. The beautiful weather made every weekend special, an oasis of peace before returning into the white of the hospital. It was May 1996 and the delegation of British healers achieved a lot of research results within the last ten months. Moreover, they made new friends and supported fellow countrymen who fled from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. All found a temporary new home in one of Fortaleza's high-rise apartments just some storeys above the most important magical hospital in South America.

Leonor watched Brian with a side glance; it was only a few more gulps of sweet wine until he would suggest bringing the dark-haired witch home. The company of the handsome wizard consoled the insecurity. She just smiled about the conversations, the jokes and the plans for evenings and free periods — Brian talked and organized the group of St. Mungo's staff easily. Leonor contributed very little apart from that smile; more wasn't necessary. There wasn't much difference between pleasure and isolation to her. Obviously, nobody noticed the feigned outside happiness, at least not Brian. The situation was rather convenient; no one asked why Leonor joined the team so late and in a budding relationship with Brian her grief and bitterness disguised itself masterly. All the work and stress did the rest. Why couldn't she find a loving man and forget what father, brothers, Daniel and Severus did to her? Was she really supposed to live alone? Taking in the long view — it was a bad mix of high hopes and repeated undamped fall.

The forty-year-old wizard was rightly the chairman of the British healers while they supported the Ministry of Magic in South America to fight the terrifying disease. The Russian delegation, who helped before the British arrived, found an elixir that slowed down the symptoms of the illness, but they couldn't find the origin nor heal the infected people completely. Patients still suffered and died in the last state by a muggle disease, like influenza. The abilities to react on magical or muggle medicine decreased until the person could no longer be healed. Soon after the British arrived, Brian proved that the origin of the symptoms could not be a virus or a bacterium. The assumption was that a toxin crippled the body's immune system. The newspapers reported about it and set a reward for useful information leading to solving the case. After that new patients with the illness became less and less. Somebody or something feared the increased publicity and it confirmed the conclusion about a poison as the source of the malady. Rumours about dark magic complemented the wish to just identify a single evil individual once and for all.

The culprit had not been found yet, but the team was close to a remedy after many forensic examinations. Leonor and a potions mistress of the 'Hospital a Magia' modified the initial elixir in endless working hours. Leonor went underground in the laboratory. The isolation of the restricted area in the hospital was welcome to the witch. It was gloomy, chilly and close to the morgue where the sad victims sacrificed their blood to help to cure the wizarding world. Brian pulled Leonor out of it after a couple of months to join one of those meals at the beach. He begged until Leonor was unnerved, and she followed the invitation. Brian was right; a change of scene saved her, or she would have died a workaholic's death.

Leonor stared into the distance. The sky was now black and only the dimmed light of the barbecue coal illuminated the beach. The waves whispered peacefully. Brian spoke animated to a busty woman. Leonor didn't know her name, but she was a nurse of the intensive care ward and often talked to Brian. Leonor decided to return into the small flat alone. It was later than usual, and it felt not right to pull Brian out of the conversation when she was sad as always. She draped herself in a large square scarf and moved quickly into the direction of the hospital. Leonor passed more groups of revellers, averted the eyes from snogging couples and was finally blinded by the strip lighting of the hospital's reception. She entered the elevator when a familiar voice called.