It\'s So Difficult to be Mature

Chapter 6: Poisoner

Harry didn’t know how long he sat in the conference room waiting for news of Lisa. All he knew was that Sirius waited with him and they sat in silence. The seconds stretched to minutes and an hour went by before the door creaked open. Harry leapt out of his seat, but it was not his wife who opened the door. It was Jeanette.

"Harry," Jeanette said, her voice heavy with emotion, "I hate to sound so cliche, but there is good news and bad news."

Harry rung his hands. "Is Lisa alright?"

"It appears that Lisa does have Ephemeralia in her blood and a large amount as well."

Harry went pale. "What’s the good news?"

"Well," Jeanette glanced at Sirius in hesitation, "she has more than forty-eight hours to live. Unfortunately it’s only seventy-two hours."

Harry wasn’t sure what to say. "You mean, we only have three days to find a cure?"

Jeanette looked like she was about to cry. "That’s just it, Harry, we don’t know of a cure. In fact, we’re not sure there is one. Right now we have Lisa under surveillance in our hospital ward. She will be watched by many doctors including myself and she will receive the best care." Jeanette hesitated for a moment. "Would you like to see her?"

Harry nodded and appealed to Sirius, but he shook his head.

"Sorry, Harry, but I have work to do. If I don’t, then the world is likely to collapse." Sirius tried to make light of it, but Harry wasn’t laughing. Sirius had been pardoned after the huge battle Harry had fought with Voldemort and they found Peter Pettigrew’s tortured, mangled body amidst the ruins. Sirius and Remus, under the supervision of Dumbledore, had come together and created M.A.T.D.A.. Unfortunately, still after all these years many people distrusted or were afraid of Sirius, particularly those who didn’t know about M.A.T.D.A..

Harry didn’t listen to Sirius. He simply followed Jeanette out of the conference room and to another part of M.A.T.D.A. he had never been. On the way, Jeanette explained a few things.

"Lisa is in a private room. Since you are her husband we will allow you special visiting rights. As of now, because the poison hasn’t completely mixed with her blood, Lisa is fully conscious and alert. However, as the hours pass this will no longer be true. Do not be alarmed if she becomes delirious or unfocused. Just try to be there for her. We would like to keep her on round-the-clock surveillance, but if you wish to have a private conversation we will turn off the Sonorus charm."

Harry nodded and they walked through large double doors with a sign above.

HOSPITAL WARD– Poison Wing

M.A.T.D.A.

Harry took a deep breath and entered his wife’s room. It was white like the rest of the ward, Harry supposed that was for sterility. Lisa was lying in a hospital bed looking very weak and pale. The room was empty and the only light came from a single bay window on the opposite wall. Harry approached the bed quietly. It looked as though Lisa was taking a nap and he didn’t want to disturb her. Instead he just watched her.

‘She is so beautiful,’ Harry thought. Lisa might never win a beauty contest but she had a certain special something. It had to be the eyes, though they were currently closed. Her piercing blue eyes reminded Harry of Dumbledore’s though his didn’t have the beautiful brown lashes framing them. Lisa stirred and opened her eyes. She looked at Harry and smiled a genuine smile. Harry nearly leapt with joy to see that smile.

"Harry," she murmured, "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so horrible. I was a complete nitwit, wasn’t I?"

Her use of that particular word told Harry that she had been thinking of the day they met as well.

"No, you weren’t. I’ve been the terrible one and I’m sorry. We’ll get them back, I promise."

"That’s good." When she spoke again, Lisa sounded like a little girl who’s lost her puppy. "I would like to see my babies again before I–"

Harry cut her off. "Don’t say it," he commanded. "It’s not going to happen, we’re going to beat this. We have to beat this."

"Tell Hermione that she needs to do what we talked about. She’ll understand." Lisa yawned. "I’m so tired. I want to sleep."

"You just slept, Lis. Tell me, how do you feel?"

"Did I? Oh, yes, of course. I feel alright, but I’m very scared. I don’t want to lose you or the children, Harry. I’m very sorry."

Harry ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly. "I’ve already told you that I forgive you. None of this is your fault."

"But you don’t know," She yawned, "you don’t know what I’ve done."

"It doesn’t matter. What ever you’ve done, I still love you."

Lisa didn’t hear him; she was already asleep. Harry briefly wondered what it was that she felt so guilty about, but then shook his head. It didn’t matter. He pulled his chair closer to her bed and sat there. He didn’t move a muscle until she awoke again.

* * *

"Meredith, where are we?"

Ginny’s question had voiced everyone’s concern. It seemed as though Inspector Levine was leading them in circles.

"Don’t worry," Meredith replied cheerfully, "we’re almost there."

Ron shivered. It was a cold and drafty day, and the sky seemed to reflect the mood of the crowd. It was dark gray and overcast, the clouds were heavy with water and Ron knew that it would start raining any moment. He didn’t care. All that mattered was finding his children. Subconsciously he squeezed his wife’s hand. She smiled and squeezed back.

"Do you think that Lisa will be alright?" Hermione whispered in his ear.

Lisa! He had nearly forgotten that she was lying back at M.A.T.D.A. with her blood full of poison. He knew that it was terrible not to be thinking of her, but he was more concerned about his children. Though he had never said anything to Harry, Ron sometimes didn’t like Lisa very much. There was something about her, maybe it was her eyes, but something about her made him uncomfortable. But she was his best friend’s wife and therefore he always acted civil around her. Most of the time, he genuinely liked her, but sometimes...

It had been early on in their marriages, about a year before Lily and Geoffrey had been born. Harry had come over to his house in the middle of the night looking as though he had just been hit by the Knight Bus.

"Harry?" Ron asked in a daze. "What are you doing here this late?"

"Is Hermione awake?" were the first words out of Harry’s mouth.

"No, at least I don’t think so. What’s wrong, you look awful!"

"I need to talk to you."

Ron stepped back and Harry walked through the doorway. This was another thing that told Ron something was seriously wrong. Usually Harry would Apparate over; he must have been walking the streets until his feet led him to Ron’s door. They walked into the living room together.

It was decorated differently in those days. There weren’t any pictures of children adorning the mantle and the furniture had been a combination of things from their parents. A few wizard portraits were snoring in their frames along the wall, but that was the extent of decorations.

"I think that Lisa may be having an affair."

Ron’s mouth dropped open as Harry dropped this bombshell. "What?!"

"I’m worried, Ron."

"Why would you think she’s been unfaithful to you?"

"I’ve found things around the house, things I know aren’t mine. I don’t think that they could be Lisa’s either. And sometimes she goes out in the dead of night and doesn’t come back until mid-morning. She thinks that I don’t know, but I do. What should I do? Should I confront her?"

Ron sat down heavily on his sofa. "I don’t know, Harry. I don’t know. I don’t think confronting her is such a good idea, but maybe if you dropped hints that you knew something was wrong, she’d tell you."

"Maybe you’re right." Harry hesitated. "I’ve also seen her having lunch with people I don’t know. Sometimes women and sometimes men."

Ron let out a low whistle. "Maybe they’re just people from St. Mungo’s. They’re probably just co-workers."

Harry shook his head. "No, I know all of her co-workers. Something’s not right."

"Don’t do anything rash, Harry?"

"Do I ever?"

"Do you want to stay for breakfast?" Ron asked, trying to cheer him up. "I promise that Hermione’s not cooking."

That got a smile out of him. "No thanks, Ron. I had better be heading home. I’ll talk to you later."

Harry Apparated away just before Hermione came down the stairs, yawning.

"Sorry to have woken you, Mione," Ron said. "I couldn’t sleep any longer and the sun’s almost up, so I thought I’d watch."

"That’s nice," Hermione said absentmindedly, running her fingers through her hair. "Was Harry alright?"

"Yes, I think he’ll be–" There was just no point in hiding things from his wife.

Ron shook himself out of the memory as Meredith called out.

"We’re here. Come on."

"Meredith, don’t you think we should do some reconnaissance work? You know, check out the area," Ron suggested.

Meredith smiled. "We’ve already done that. She hasn’t been here in at least two days. Now are you coming or not?"

Draco followed her without hesitation and Ron felt he could do no less. They trooped into an abandoned hotel looking like a police squad, except that one of their members was pregnant. They started to look around, but the place was completely empty. Not a trace of anything remained. The only thing that showed Lucretia had been there was the faint trace of a very flowery perfume that lingered in the air.

"Hey, you lot," Draco said suddenly, "come look at this!"

They all rushed over to the corner where Draco was crouched, looking intently at the floor. He pointed to a particularly dusty patch of the floor where it looked like someone had drawn their fingers through. Everyone else bent over what seemed to be a message.

"It looks like one of the children left behind a message," Draco said dubiously.

"That’s impossible," Hermione said, "Lily and Geoffrey are only three years old, neither of them know how to write yet, and James and David are infants."

"Maybe it’s a trap," Ginny suggested sensibly. "Make us think that the children have given us clues to their whereabouts and set up some sort of ambush."

"No," Ron said as he peered at the message in the dust. "I think it’s genuine. I think that Lily wrote this."

"But, Ron," Hermione said slowly, "even if she understood that she had been kidnapped, could she comprehend enough to know that she should leave a message? She’s too young!"

"But she’s also the daughter of one of the most powerful wizards this century has ever known. We can’t possibly know how much power she has. Her mother is no slouch either," Meredith said.

"Well, what does it say?" Ginny asked impatiently.

"It looks like a riddle. Does ‘seat ot banonaded awhrseuoe’ mean anything to you?" Ron asked Meredith.

"No," she said, with a frown. "It’s not another language that I know of. It sounds like gibberish to me."

"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at her and she blushed. "Sorry, it’s just that the words are scrambled. Seat is east mixed up. Ot must be to, and banonaded is abandoned, I think. I’m not sure what awhrseuoe means though."

"It’s warehouse," Draco said quietly. "They’re always abandoned."

"So it’s an abandoned warehouse to the east. Any ideas, Meredith?" Ron asked

"I think so," she replied, pensively. "Follow me."

* * *

When Lisa woke up again, she had forgotten where she was. But when she saw Harry sitting in a chair beside her, she immediately relaxed.

"Harry," Lisa said softly, "How long have I been sleeping?"

"A couple of hours. Why?"

"No word about the children?"

"No. They’re still out looking. Do you want something to eat?"

"No, I’m not hungry. Harry, please be honest with me, how bad is it?"

Harry took a deep breath, unsure where to begin. He was about to speak when the door opened and Jeanette entered carrying a bowl of soup.

"I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s very important for you to have liquids, Lisa. Please drink this broth."

Lisa shook her head. "Not now. Please tell me. Do I have a lot of Ephemeralia in my blood?"

Jeanette nodded glumly. "Yes, to judge by the tests. I’m afraid that you only have three days to live, Lisa. I’m so sorry."

Lisa’s reaction took both Harry and Jeanette completely by surprise. She laughed.

"Three days? More like an eternity."

Jeanette glanced at Harry, as though to warn him that Lisa was becoming delirious.

"What do you mean, Lisa?" Jeanette asked pleasantly.

"I mean that I’m not dying," Lisa said as if it should be completely obvious.

"But, you have poison in your blood," Harry said worriedly. He noticed that Jeanette was silently telling him to calm down.

"Ephemeralia does not kill it’s victims. After a few days the body deteriorates and the soul is sent to Lucretia’s other realm to spend eternity as her personal slave."

Harry was astounded and he noticed that Jeanette was as well. He thought that Lisa sounded amazingly coherent for someone who was supposed to be delirious.

"How could you possibly know that?" Shock had replaced the formerly patronizing tone in Jeanette’s voice.

"Because I created it, of course."

* * *

The warehouse that Meredith mentioned was a few blocks away and it did indeed appear to be abandoned. The wooden structure was rickety and obviously unsafe. That didn’t stop them from entering. Ginny protested loudly when Draco ‘requested’ that she remain outside and keep watch, but she eventually agreed because it wasn’t so easy for her to move around.

Ginny sat down on a broken bench and sighed as it creaked under her weight. She picked up a stick and started tracing pictures in the dirt.

"Well, well, well. This is my lucky day."

Ginny looked up quickly and saw a young woman staring at her in a curious manner. Struggling to her feet, Ginny observed this stranger. She looked about the same age as Hermione with very pale blonde hair that fell past her shoulders in waves. Her eyes were a curious color, a deep purple that sparkled mischievously. Her chin was somewhat pointed, but otherwise she was very attractive in a cold sort of way.

"Who are you?" Ginny asked indignantly.

The girl smiled. "Lauren Burke. It’s nice to meet you at last, Ginny."

Ginny looked at her suspiciously. "How do you know my name?"

"Mutual friends." Lauren dismissed the question with a wave of her thin hand. "I have been very eager to meet you."

Ginny did not like the way Lauren had stressed the word eager, nor the strange, almost hungry look in her lavender eyes.

"Why’s that?" Ginny asked, sounding much braver than she felt. Those eyes were quite unsettling.

"You have something I want."

"If it’s Draco, I’m afraid you can’t have him. He and I are married and I do dislike sharing." Ginny’s attempt at joviality did not come off as intended. Lauren’s eyes narrowed.

"Oh, no, my dear. It’s something much more primaeval than that."

Ginny started to back up against the warehouse until she collided into something much softer.

"What’s the matter, love? See a snake or something?" Draco’s grey eyes searched her brown ones intently.

"The girl! Lauren! Where did she go?"

The spot where Lauren Burke had been standing a moment ago was empty. Draco looked at his wife with concern.

"What girl, Gin? There’s no one here."

"But she was here just a minute ago!" Ginny protested. "She had blonde hair and purple eyes!"

"Purple eyes?" Ron had exited the warehouse just in time to hear that statement.

"Yes, purple eyes," Ginny said stubbornly.

"No one has purple eyes, Ginny," Ron said.

"This girl did, I tell you!"

Ron was interrupted from retorting when Hermione cried out. He rushed to her side.

"What is it, Hermione?"

She pointed to the side of the barn. Someone had carved a message into the wall.

"Lily," Ron said. "What’s the message this time?"

"It says that they are being taken to a hotel, but it’s not abandoned, it’s the Madran Hotel."

Hermione looked at her husband in disbelief. He echoed that disbelief; the Madran was one of the largest wizarding hotels in the city. Lucretia had a lot of audacity to take kidnapped children there. Ron prayed that his children were safe. David was barely a year old and Geoffrey was only three.

"Meredith, what should we do now?" Ginny asked.

"We go to the Madran, I suppose." Meredith looked exhausted. In fact, Ron looked around, everyone looked tired. He assumed that the others, including himself, had not slept in nearly forty-eight hours. They were practically dead.

"The Madran it is," Ron said decisively. He wished that he could do something to raise the spirits of the group, but he couldn’t think of anything. In silence they set off.

* * *

"What do you mean, you created it?" Harry asked slowly.

Lisa sighed and turned away from him. "I didn’t want to tell you this, Harry. I wasn’t ever going to tell you, but now you need to know. Please sit down, you too, Jeanette. This information might be beneficial to you."

Harry sat with a thud. Something told him that this was not a pleasant story.

"When I was young, I was very naive and I fell in with the wrong crowd. I had been studying Advanced Potions and one day I was approached by a young woman. She said that she wanted me to create something for her, a poison. I laughed and informed her that I did not make poisons, I prevented them. But she told me that was perfect. If I knew the anecdote to most poisons I could create one to which there was no cure. I protested, but she convinced me. Lucretia was very good about spinning a story in her own way. As you know, Harry," Lisa glanced quickly at her husband, "I am a true feminist and Lucretia explained that her organization was for women who were unfairly treated because they were women. I couldn’t help but be swayed by her arguments. I created a poison that would do exactly what she wanted it to do. I named it Ephemeralia."

Lisa looked from Jeanette, who was in shock, to Harry who was beginning to get angry.

"Were you ever going to tell me that you were a, a, female Death Eater?"

"No!" A look of disgust passed over her serene features. "I may have been a lot of things, but my loathing for Voldemort was and is real. All of the followers hated him if for no other reason than Lucretia hated him. Look, I went to meetings, and I created her signature poison, yes, but I never killed with my own hands!"

"No, you just created the way for someone else to do it thousands of times!" Harry shouted. "How could you do such a thing?" An idea dawned on him. "Were you still a member when we got married?"

Lisa ducked her head. "Yes."

"How could you lie to me day after day? Are you still a member now? How can I ever trust you again?"

Lisa looked at Harry with tears in her eyes. "I’m not a member anymore. When we got married I thought that I would continue to go to meetings and such. She may be evil, Harry, but she wants Voldemort’s downfall as much as you do."

"So she can take his place!"

"I would sneak out of the house in the middle of the night, I suspect you already know that. I had to work so hard to keep it from you, Harry. I didn’t want to."

"So what changed?" Harry asked with a sneer.

"When I held Lily in my arms, I realized that I didn’t want to keep hiding. Hiding from your husband is bad enough, but hiding from your children..." Lisa took a deep breath. "I went straight to Lucretia the moment I could and told her that I was through. She didn’t try to stop me, I think she has a weakness for mothers. She let me go. I haven’t seen or spoken to her or any of the Followers since."

"I don’t know what to say." Harry ran his fingers through his hair.

"Please, Harry," Lisa said gently, "don’t be too upset. It’s in the past and we don’t have that much more time together."

"But you said that you weren’t dying!" Harry said, alarmed.

"I’m not, but in three days my soul will be taken to Lucretia’s other realm. There I’ll be her personal slave for the rest of eternity. A mindless drone."

"You don’t seem very concerned!" Harry shouted.

"I’m not. You fail to see the irony in the situation. My own poison, working against me." A shadow passed over her face. "I did so badly want to see my children again. You have to find them, Harry, you have to!"

Harry forgot his anger when he saw her distress. "We’ll find them," he said, taking her hand, "I promise."

Jeanette cleared her throat and spoke for the first time since Lisa dropped her bomb

"Lisa, there is absolutely no cure for this?"

Lisa shook her head. "No. I made it just like she asked. Incurable."

"So there’s nothing we can do?"

"Not unless you believe in miracles."

Lisa meant the statement as sarcasm, weak though it was. However, Jeanette did believe in miracles, and she knew just the right miracle maker to go to. Unfortunately, it would not be a pleasant visit.

* * *

"So, here we are," Meredith announced, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the huge hotel in front of them.

As hotels go, it was rather nice: extraordinarily large, hidden by many charms, with beautiful rooms, a terrific view, a glittering pool, and five-star dining. It was pretty fancy and generally patronized by the well-to-do. Ron and Hermione had been invited to the grand opening because of connections through Percy, and Harry and Lisa had been invited because, well, he was Harry Potter. Ginny and Draco were, of course, fleeing for their lives.

A bellhop was waiting at the door to greet them. His fixed smile faded a bit when he caught sight of their appearance. It was clear he felt they didn’t belong in a place like the Madran. Ron realized, to his chagrin, that without Harry’s prestige, they might not be treated respectfully. Meredith did not seem concerned.

"Stand aside, Charlie. We have urgent business inside the hotel."

"But, miss," stammered Charlie, "you don’t seem appropriately attired and I–"

Meredith ignored his stammering and pushed her way past, indicating for the others to follow. They made their way across the lobby and headed towards the lifts. The concierge at the front desk turned a peculiar shade of grey when he caught sight of Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy? Is that you? Sir, I, I thought you were dead."

Draco’s face became even more of an impenetrable mask. He responded through compressed lips. "I am not Lucius Malfoy. As you can see I am far too young and much better looking. Excuse me."

He hurried on. Ron stepped back and caught his little sister’s arm.

"What’s wrong with him? What was all that about?" he hissed.

Ginny pulled away from him. "Draco doesn’t like to talk about his parents." Seeing that Ron expected more of an explanation, she continued. "Ever since the Massacre when he came to our side, he just won’t talk of them."

Ron scratched his head. "But aren’t they dead?"

"That’s the point. They died at Voldemort’s right hand. They were fighting with him the whole time. You know what Dad and Percy said, there wasn’t enough left of them to make a decent burial. Draco won’t speak to me about it. I think he feels guilty."

"Why should he feel guilty? You know Gin, it’s times like this I don’t understand your marriage. You know what his parents did to our family. We almost lost Bill in that war, and he’s lucky to be alive."

"Ron," Ginny said evenly. "Shut it."

Ron fell silent. Meredith led them into the lift.

"Okay," she said. "I think I know what floor they’re on. Everyone have their wands?"

They all raised them into the air. Hermione looked scared.

"Meredith, how do you know where they are?" Hermione asked.

"They’re here. There’s a room booked under the name Thomas Rydell. It’s one of her little jokes. Come on."

They got off on the thirteenth floor. Meredith led them straight to room 1333. She waved her wand around a few times and looked wary.

"We’d better be careful. She hasn’t put up any protective charms so this could be a trap. Wands up, I’d say."

She pushed open the door and there they were, on the bed, the children. They were bound and gagged. And surrounding the children were four burly men playing poker. The group caught them by surprise and before they could move, Hermione knocked one out with a clever stunning spell. Then came the chaos.

There was so much fighting amongst everyone that it was impossible to tell who was pummeling whom. Ginny managed to hit one of them with a Jelly Legs jinx, when Meredith cried out.

"Hurry, grab the children and run!"

Draco and Ron each picked up two of the children. They ran out of the room still hurling hexes over their shoulders. Meredith and Ginny joined them and they made a run for it, finally collapsing one block away. David and James were crying, but Lily and Geoffrey were just staring with expressions of shock. Ron put them down to catch his breath and then straightened up quickly.

"No. Where’s Hermione?"

* * *

"It was foolish of you to come, Dr. Mills. I cannot help you any longer."

"I know," Jeanette replied. "I wouldn’t have come if I wasn’t desperate."

The woman materialized out of the darkness. She was no longer a young woman, but she had aged gracefully. Her back was straight and she held herself like one who had years of practice. Her hair was thinning out, but it was still the shimmery blonde it had always been. Her eyes, those hadn’t changed at all. They were a dark grey, and they shone with malice at every word that was spoken.

"I don’t know what you want from me. Why don’t you leave an old woman in peace?"

"You are far from old," Jeanette answered. There was a rhythm to their conversations; it was deadly to break the chain.

"I have seen many winters and many summers, I have seen much death. I am old. But you did not come here to listen to my complaints about age. What do you want?"

Jeanette explained Lisa’s condition. "She is in a dangerous place. There must be something you can do."

"You ask a lot. You want me to save a Potter. I don’t know if I have it in me."

"Then don’t think of her as a Potter," Jeanette said quickly, "think of her as a mother."

The woman hissed. "She has children?"

"Two. They were taken from her a day ago. Others are searching for them, but she wants to live to see them."

The woman turned her back on Jeanette. She hurried to a bookcase and pulled off a vial.

"What do you get out of this? Why go to so much trouble?"

"I’m not doing this for me. Please help her, from one mother to another."

The woman dropped the vial and a cloud of orange, foul-smelling smoke filled the cavern. "Do not compare us. My child is dead. Go. I must think about it. I don’t even know if I can do it, but I will consider it."

Jeanette bowed her head. "Thank you. Good day."

As she left, Jeanette discovered she was shaking. But she had accomplished something. Lisa would have her miracle, if anyone could do it at all.