Angelinus

Chapter 20

Serendipity

Hermione and Remus apparated into Malfoy Industries and were greeted by Draco's personal assistant, Trent Kinnsey a young man who reminded Remus forcibly of Percy Weasley. He escorted them to a comfortable office with two terminals set on modern space age desks surrounded by the latest in Muggle and wizarding technology, including a small fire connected to the floo network. As soon as Hermione remarked that Remus was not familiar with Muggle computers, a smartly dressed young woman was ushered in and introduced as Miss Jo-Anna Mortdale, the trainer. She was very competent and soon had him using the mouse and making stabs at the keyboard. Shaking his head, Remus set out his favourite dicta-quill and parchment and proved he could take notes faster than she could type. After that the girl confined herself to teaching him how to navigate the Internet. After only an hour, she had to admit that Remus was as competent as need be and only practice would give him any further advantage.

As soon as she left, Hermione laughed at him and passed him over a large bound book that Hermione called a professional directory. "These are the names of the companies Draco wants us to find out about. He hasn't said what he wants to know but, well, I guess we had better see what we could find. You take the first two and I'll take the next two and so on."

Remus carefully typed the name of the company onto the search engine and pressed enter as if he had a grudge against it. Hermione giggled at his vehemence and set about tracking her own companies down. They worked in pleasant companionship, the gentle murmur of Remus taking notes adding a soft accompaniment to the click of keys or mouse buttons and the hum of the air conditioner.

The first company was of very little interest to Remus as its website was more an advertisement of its products than anything to do with its company structure or employees. He dutifully made a note of the products it sold just in case then moved on to the next company Hermione had assigned him. It was more interesting and spoke of the research grants that were being serviced at their laboratories and where they had come from. One of the main axioms of business life was 'follow the money', the same axiom that ruled Auror training which he had helped coach Harry and Ron through until he knew as much about the subject as they did.

One of the grants mentioned the Human Genome Project and out of curiosity, Remus followed the links and was immersed in a foreign world of DNA coding letters and spirals and the fascination of the broken gene links. He learned how hereditary diseases and strengths could now be formally mapped and, in the case of fatal defects, the children in the womb tested for signs of carrying the disease or defect. One scientist even speculated that in the future the children could be gene tailored so as to eradicate the faulty gene and replace it with a good one.

This fascinated him and he pursued a couple of key words and ended up at a site that spoke of clone technology and the research that was going into it. He learned about Dolly the sheep who was cloned and stem cell research, which horrified many members of the medical community. He learned about women of sixty and older having babies. Since a lot of witches were in their late eighties before they stopped having children, he wondered about that until he read that Muggle women stopped at about forty-five to fifty-five on average.

There was also some speculation on one website that human cloning had already taken place in Asia. Remus sat very still, his chin tucked up into his chest and allowed his keen and insightful intelligence a chance to absorb and store the wealth of information he had just received. He checked back and forward between the web pages, checking and comparing the information for accuracy and depth. Finally he recalled the task in hand and guiltily returned to the lists Hermione was obviously still working hard on.

For three days they researched the lists, gathering facts and compiling profiles on names they could run to ground. They charted the names and companies then drew lines to show connections, blue for conglomerates, red for money, green for personnel. Slowly they built up a structure that was more complex than a molecule model. The three-dimensional representation floated in the middle of Draco's office, suspended in midair by a controlled levitation charm. Hermione sat in one chair and Remus sat in the other studying their creation between them for the thousandth time with no more insight than they had for the last twenty-four hours.

"You know, as a piece of modern art it's really special but as a piece of information, it sucks," Hermione said on a deep sigh. She paused as a knock at the door heralded the arrival of Trent Kinnsey who smiled and indicated the phone.

"There is a call from a Mrs Potter for you Madame," he announced, picking up the cordless, retrieving the call and handing it over.

"Ginny! How are you? Lunch? Er, I'm working with Remus Lupin ... hang on." She covered the mouthpiece and grinned across at her professor. "How do you feel about lunch in the company of ladies?" she asked her colleague who smiled and nodded his agreement. "Include two more," she told Ginny before hanging up.

"So, where are we lunching?" Remus asked in amusement as the personal assistant hurried over to take the phone and put it back into its cradle.

"Ginny has 'discovered' a fantastic place somewhere near Guy's Hospital. We're to meet them near the London Bridge station. In translation it could mean a dingy little cafe or a restored Cordon bleu cuisine bistro. Yes, I know, not possible." Hermione laughed at his odd look. "Oh and Desiree will be there too, she has time off from lectures."

~~<*>~~

The four met up outside the tube station and surprisingly, Desiree led the way to a small footpath cafe near the embankment. They sat at a small round outdoor table shaded by a large striped umbrella and covered by a red and white checked tablecloth. Hermione grinned at the old wine bottle on the table with the old candle wax dribbled artistically down the sides. The waiter dressed in black with a long black apron and an inappropriate moustache hurriedly brought out a basket of bread and four menus.

Eyeing the silverware, Remus did a quick spell then relaxed when he realised it was just stainless steel. "So, where are we supposed to be here?" he asked, settling back in the surprisingly comfortable chair.

Desiree grinned. "Bohemian Paris, I think," she giggled. "There's an Eiffel Tower printed on the menu. Oh, I know it's tacky but they do some fantastic sandwich and quiche plates and their coffee is to die for. A lot of the doctors from Guys come here for lunch and some of the people from the college too. So, what have you all been up to?"

"Shopping!" Ginny declared, patting her pockets suggestively, "some of it is not really exciting but I found this little...."

Remus grinned at the enthusiasm of the three young women for their pastime, or was it classifiable as a sport, or possibly an obsession? They discussed it the same way many wizards tended to discuss quidditch or chess, with descriptions of past plays, near misses and.... "Good lord, how can one be injured when shopping?" he was moved to exclaim in surprise.

They looked at him as if he had three heads. "Remus, have you never attended a Spring Sale? Or perhaps you've been to a Winter Sale? Ah! That explains it. You have to be quick on your feet, agile enough to weave through the crowds and lightning fast with the elbows and knees if you don't want to lose a prize piece of merchandise."

"You should see some of the Midlands Housewives who come down on bus trips just for the sales. I swear they would make formidable beaters or keepers, all shoulders, hips and biceps like legs of ham! Get a couple of those old biddies parking themselves in front of a table and it takes a very solid Banishing spell to move them out of the way, I can tell you!" Hermione declared in all seriousness.

"Stiletto heel to the instep moves most of them along, too," Desiree put in knowledgably as their waiter delivered a platter of sandwiches and bite sized quiches to the table. The ladies were quick to investigate the goodies, pointing out choice titbits to Remus who was soon overloaded with delicious little delicacies. Once his plate was catered to, he was amused to see the other three dived in and grabbed what they fancied, all the time declaring that it was going to ruin their diets but since the morsels were merely bite sized, they probably didn't count!

"Yes, but shopping in stilettos is a whole new level of danger," Ginny remarked, returning to topic and making them all laugh.

"And here was I thinking we turned our students out well prepared to face a potentially hostile world." Remus smiled. "Perhaps we should introduce 'Shopping, a Sales Guide' to the curriculum."

"Oh no, just add a new module to Muggle Studies," Hermione teased. "Maybe you could add a few 'Defence Against the Outraged Sales Shopper' hexes to your curriculum, humm?"

"Stone Foot hex sounds like a winner."

"Hey, I forgot about that one. Thanks Remus, I'll try that next time." Ginny giggled then frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I heard something." Remus frowned, glancing around, his nose wrinkling as he at up straight. "Something is wrong." The hair on the back of his neck was rising, a sure sign of impending disaster.

For Desiree it seemed as if the wiry man suddenly levitated out of his seat and sprinted toward the road. She had never seen anyone move so fast or jump so far as he sprang into the road, swept something up and sprang back onto the pavement a second before a truck thundered through the space, horns blaring. Ginny was beside her, a hand on her arm, her wand drawn inconspicuously. Hermione was running toward where Remus was now crouched on the footpath, what looked like a bundle of rag in his arms. People around them were only just beginning to react to the crisis as Ginny began to haul her forward.

"Who is she?" Hermione asked as she knelt down beside the werewolf.

"I think its Louise Anderson; she's in my fourth year class, Gryffindor of course." Remus held a knowledgeable finger against her jugular then blinked. "She stinks of direstium and exhaustion but I dare not cast Acclaro here. She is still alive but she is very weak and her heart is missing beats. Let's get her out of here."

"That might be a trick," Hermione muttered as the crowd began to gather around them, spectators pushing and shoving for a better view. Speculation was rife over what had happened and why. "Move back please; let the poor child have some room."

"Oh My God! Lillian! Oh, thank you sir, I thought she was dead! I have told her again and again to watch where she's going but no; head in the clouds too busy day dreaming to consider mundane things like trucks and cars," Desiree wailed, kicking up enough fuss to make the crowd forget about the main participants. A couple of the women nodded agreement and many began to drift off now that the main excitement was over. A careless teenager was not a very exciting incident at all! "Our car is just over there. I'll take her straight to the doctor's."

"I took care of the bill," Ginny commented reassuringly as Remus picked the girl up again. "No loose ends, we can get straight out of here."

"If we move over to the far corner then we can apparate straight out to St Mungo's. Has Ron apparated with you before Desiree? Oh good, that will be easier then," Hermione said decisively, leading the way.

Once out of sight of the main thoroughfare and any curious eyes, all four adults vanished with a slight pop, taking the unconscious girl with them.

~~<*>~~

St Mungo's was always a bustling hive of activity when the group apparated into the foyer, a medi-witch hurrying across to help them. Remus hung back uneasily as he knew quite a few of the staff at St Mungo's still didn't like to have werewolves on the premises but the new Director was slowly having an effect on the hospital policy. At least they didn't throw his kind out on their ears any more and they did offer some limited treatment.

The girl in his arms began to stir, blinking awake and struggling against him. "Shush, it's all right, you're safe Louise," he murmured.

"Professor Lupin? Oh thank God! I thought the truck had me for sure. I'm not very good at apparating and I miscalculated. I'm so weak, they've been draining my blood for ages and I had to jump out the window and I feel awful!"

"Who has been draining your blood, child?" a new voice asked and she cringed, burying her face in Remus' jacket. "Hi, I'm Scott Robson, a medi-wizard here at St Mungo's. Who are you?"

"Her name is Louise Anderson and she is a fourth year student at Hogwarts. Remus pulled her out from in front of a truck when she apparated into the wrong place," Ginny replied when the girl refused to lift her head.

"And you are?" the young man asked with a touch of arrogance.

"Ginny Potter and that is Desiree Weasley, Hermione Malfoy and Remus Lupin-Snape. Is Danny Halvorsen around? I think this may be a case for him."

"Doctor Halvorsen is in the special medicines unit," the intern answered a little more politely.

"Well, one would expect so, at this time of day. Call him please; there is no time to waste!"

Ginny on her high instep was a force to be reckoned with and she knew how to use her power and influence when she needed to. The young medi-wizard hurried over to the small floo and made the call in seconds, Daniel Halvorsen apparating in a few seconds later to hug Ginny exuberantly. "How's my favourite cousin, then?" he asked, pushing her back to arm's length and studying her face intently. "You're looking too good to need me."

She giggled. "Not me, silly. Remus rescued one of his students from a truck a few minutes ago. We think she's been hit with direstium." She pointed to the girl and her cousin turned immediately serious as he cast the relevant Acclaro spell. "You were right Remus; she's all lit up like a fireworks display."

Studying the spell field, Halvorsen looked through it at the man holding the girl and frowned slightly. "Are you alright? Looks like you might need a bit of treatment too."

Blinking, Remus shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he assured the medi-wizard who continued to shoot him curious glances as they hurried through the corridors leading the bevy of young women in their wake.

"Well, there are a number of spells and some sort of pervasive infection in your tissues, very intertwined and probably untreated, that's all."

Remus sighed resignedly. "I'm a werewolf," he mumbled quietly, blushing bright scarlet, but he refused to be ashamed. If nothing else, Severus had taught him that.

"Oh. Sorry. No wonder it's all-encompassing, and untreated, untreatable really. Well, that explains how come you can be carrying her for so long without collapsing at the knees," Halvorsen added on a lighter note, to cover his gaff. "But that doesn't explain the Life Force tap on your chest, now does it?" he added shrewdly.

"You're very good. Not many spot that. It's there for a very good and wholesome reason and it stays in place while it is needed."

"Intriguing, but here we are, the Special Unit."

The ward was divided into two halves; the full treatment area and a convalescent care area that included an outdoor patio garden and lots of comfortable lounging furniture, a Muggle style private kitchen and house area for retraining, and a large counselling room. Daniel directed them straight into the first treatment room and Remus arranged the girl on the bed carefully before drawing back a little. He didn't get far before Louise grabbed his sleeve and wouldn't let go.

"Don't leave me!" she wailed and Remus shook is head.

"It's alright Louise, you're at St Mungo's and they are going to treat you for your addiction now."

"I'm not an addict. They did this to me! I fell asleep in the car and when I woke up I was strapped down, me and all the others, but I escaped! They didn't find my wand; they thought I didn't have it. They thought I was as helpless as the others but they didn't realise we figured out how to apparate last year. We have to get help or they'll kill the others too."

"Easy Honey, it's alright, it's just one of the..." Halvorson began soothingly but the girl was having none of it. She struggled up onto one elbow to glare at him with hot; derisive eyes so unlike the usual addict's dull, thin drawn gaze.

"No you stupid man, it's not an addict's hallucination. I was going to my aunt and uncle's house for a visit and then I woke up in a kind of hospital. It's like a factory for producing direstium! They're using our blood to make it," she screamed frantically. "Professor Lupin! You have to believe me. Please! They're taking Muggle-borns as well as purebreds, tying us to beds in an old factory, poisoning us and milking us to make more of the stuff for distribution."

Hermione and Remus exchanged slow, horrified looks. "No maker's mark, lives in a magical field, needs a living body to breed in. So use magicals to breed it. Merlin Forefend! It makes a sick, twisted sense. Daniel, start treatment immediately, I'll get Ron, Severus and Draco," Hermione declared firmly. "Better get Harry too, his name carries weight."