ghosts of our fears and worries

Wolf | First Aid Kit

It was comforting to know that they would be going in together. He actually believed himself when he said two would be better than one. The rapid fire questions stumped Augustus for a moment. He stopped to think, trying to remember each of them before he started answering them. “You don’t have to be sorry.” He said, smiling at her. He started with the first question since it was the easiest one to answer. “We should clear it with someone higher up. I don’t think they would be opposed but it’s still better to be safe. Plus, we’ll need to let someone know what we’re doing in case we get caught in a sticky situation. As for when, I would need to give a weeks notice for work. I can get someone to cover my shifts pretty easily. How much time would you need?” He asked, countering her questions with one of his own. 

She nodded along as Augustus answered her questions. Her mind ran through a series of things to say back to his replies to send Augustus’ way once he was finished answering. A little silence to ensure he was finished before she opened her mouth again. “Not as high as Lauren, though, but someone closer – right? I think. I mean, I don’t know exactly how important we are to –“ Grace stopped. She needed to be positive; otherwise she risked bringing down both her mood and Augustus’ mood, which wasn’t fair. “Okay. I’ll find someone to speak to because I have more free time than you. As for my job, I’m able to get time off quicker than that but I’ll put a notice in too so I can do extra shifts to make up for it.”

That wasn’t the big concern though, it was the danger they would be in. He hunched over the map, already thinking of the possible dangers and troubles they could come up against. For one, they would need to be able to shift and stay in control. It was possible that it could even come to a fight if they needed to prove their worth. Augustus had no idea how these places ran or what went on there. Just as Gus opened his mouth to say Grace didn’t have to go with him, she was offering him the same deal. He smirked, feeling a little bemused as he watched planning out the entire thing internally.

There was no way Augustus was going to come up with a mission for them and then not go along with Grace. Of course, getting off work wouldn’t be easy but they had given him exceptions in the past because of his “condition”, as they liked to call it. Besides, he had worked hard for the past seven odd years, they could handle it if he took a break for a few weeks, or however long it took them. “I’m not that important. Besides, there are plenty of other mediwizards at St Mungos. If I ask for the leave, I can get it.” He assured, straightening up.

“I’m more concerned about how dangerous this could be. We don’t know what we’re going to go up against. I’ve never been in a werewolf den and I’m assuming you haven’t either?” He ended his thought as a question. It would be rude to assume either way about Grace but they didn’t really know each other like that. They primarily focused on their research when they were together. There was no room for idle chit chat, especially when Augustus ran to strict schedules to make sure he slept enough for his shifts at work. “I do trust that you’ll tell me everything once you get back. It’s just… I want to do this.” He finished, lamely.

“I, uh... no?” She replied, wondering if that was the answer he wanted to hear from her. It would have been easier if either of them had experience in this area, but Grace knew it wasn’t exactly fun to be surrounded by other creatures when you shifted. There was a constant worry of harming another, though Grace suspected werewolves may not have attacked each other in dens otherwise they wouldn’t exist. Still, she’d gotten this far without belonging to any sort of pack and never planned to do so in the future either. But that probably wasn’t why she had been hesitant to tell Augustus. Neither of them spoke much on a personal level, which made Grace realise she didn’t actually know too much about Augustus other than the basics. Not like she wanted to, it was his business, but it seemed odd to trust a stranger as much as she did. “No, I understand. That’s fine. As long as it won’t be a hinder to your work.”

His work was a subject usually left at work because it was uninteresting lately. More often than not he was off-duty, which was hardly surprising. People were more afraid of getting caught than they ever had been, reducing crime as well as criminals incredibly. That or the fact criminals were getting incredibly brilliant at their activities, concealing any trace that they’d even been present. The former was most likely, though, because there wasn’t much that got past the Ministry. It wasn’t exactly a blessing when you were in cahoots with the opposition. But no action had been taken against him yet which meant he was safe.

“We can talk about both, seeing as they run into each other.” Teddy explained, taking a moment to re-position himself on his seat. “Work’s generally okay, it’s better than I had imagined it to be but it’s also incredibly time-consuming and stressful. There are times when the aurors don’t get called out on a job in weeks, which decreases pay and some of them end up dropping out of the job because the department can’t pay for people they aren’t sending out. I’m not too bad, I get called out more often than a few of my co-workers, but I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or not, you know? They’re my friends; it’s tough to see their career dissolving in front of their eyes. They know it’s happening. You know it’s happening. Everyone else knows it’s happening. It sucks so damn much, and you feel useless because you can’t do anything to help them in anyway. You can’t give them your job, otherwise you’re out of one and it’s only postponing the day till they have to leave.” He rambled on, ending in a heavy sigh and taking a large sip of apple juice from the carton.

It felt wrong to just let him go while he was feeling down. “Or we could go out somewhere.” She suggested, shrugging gently and pushing herself back up from her leaning position on the bar. There was a lot of cleaning up to be done, especially if she wanted to go out after closing up. Her boss wouldn’t be too pleased with a messy place. “As soon as I clean up this place, of course. I don’t want to leave it a pig-sty for tomorrow’s opening.” After everyone had left, cleaning up and packing away happened within ten minutes thanks to knowing the right spells. Grace placed her wand back into her belt as soon as she was pleased with the condition of the place. “It’s pretty dark but I promise I’ll return you home before it gets too late.” Grace laughed lightly, picking her coat from the stand and opening the door for Teddy to leave before her so she could lock up.

I wish I knew at least a little bit about my birth parents.

Again, Augustus was nodding. Grace was right. The werewolves that they could gain access to were probably just henchmen in the scheme of things for the Ministry. They needed to find a higher ranking member but they weren’t easily accessible. Even if they were, they didn’t know who they were or what their names where. “Maybe if we can get through to one, we can get some more information. We need information and books aren’t helping us. Going straight to the source seems like the only option we’ve got left, really.” 

Surprisingly, Augustus did have an idea where they could start. There had always been whispers of underground dens where werewolves would live. The past prejudices had stuck with them and they stayed away from the wizarding world. “I’ve got a few ideas actually. Most of them are just whispers though.” He said, pushing his book to the side. Instead, he reached out and grabbed a map that was in the pile of their notes on the desk. When he had first heard about the different dens, he began plotting them down for reference, knowing it would come in handy later. 

“This one...” Grace said, pointing to the Central London area. “If we know about it, I don’t doubt it’s already been checked it out. So we can skip that for now. But we can come back to it if we’ve still got nothing.” She pushed her chair away from the desk and got to her feet. There were a few questions she needed discuss with Augustus. About work, mostly. Her work was going to be easy to get away from – you can be a bar-maid down without a problem. Augustus, however, not so much. She felt bad already for taking up his free time, especially with a schedule she assumed was hectic.

“I’m going to need to tell my boss I need to go away. He’ll understand and when I’m done my job will still be there for me. Hopefully. But you’re going to have a tough time getting away from your responsibilities.” Grace commented, even though Augustus likely already knew this. “I can go alone, if you need to stay. I think you should stay, because people need you and you’re very important. I’ll try to be as thorough as I can with questioning and getting close to the werewolves, don’t worry. And as soon as I’m back, I’ll be sure to tell you everything.”

Perhaps he’d wanted to be a part of this, seeing as he suggested it, which was fine by Grace. On the other hand, Augustus had a large job on his hands and getting time off might not be for the best. If she were to go at this alone, it would be easier for him. Or so she thought. How well did she really know Augustus other than the basics and his time schedule? Not well. Maybe he felt like this was the best thing for him. It was probably best she leave the decision up to him. “That was very forwards, sorry. You can make your own choice; I just want you to know that you are not obliged to come with me just because you suggested it.” Did she need to pack? Unlikely. A change of clothes was all she really felt she needed, maybe her toiletries. The werewolves weren’t going to be bothered about her hygiene or appearance, but she couldn’t say the same for Augustus and being unappealingly smelly often bothered her too.