Chapter 3

I got Tonks properly settled in at Grimmauld Place, a dram of Ogden's Old and one more cigarette edging her toward sleep. Once she was comfortable upstairs, I sat on the couch in the living room, sipping my own Firewhisky and looking at Cecily Abbott's name. I'd met her once or twice down at the Leaky. Nice girl, if a bit vacuous, but Hannah had bragged about her ability in Potions a few times.

I knew it was late, but it couldn't wait. Grabbing a bunch of Floo powder, I stuck my head into the fireplace and called out "The Leaky Cauldron."

"Harry?" Neville's face appeared in front of me.

"Hey, Neville," I apologized. "I know it's late, but I just have a quick question. Is Cecily with you?"

"Of course. She's been here since the end of the lunch rush, just like usual. Why? Is something wrong?" Hannah's face appeared beside Neville's.

"Just checking. Listen, will you be around tomorrow? I need to stop by. And make sure Cecily's there."

"Sure, of course. We'll be here all day," they said, and with a pop, I pulled my head out of the Floo. Seems her story checked out. For the life of me, I couldn't think of a single reason why she'd want to hurt Teddy. Waving my hand, I reset my wards and went upstairs.

In the morning, Tonks stumbled blearily downstairs. I hadn't slept much, despite a second Firewhisky and a halfway decent wank. I had her tea ready for her.

"Irish Breakfast," she said, a ghost of a smile on her face. "You remembered."

"Old routines die hard," I grunted, pushing the milk and sugar toward her as though we were doing nothing but preparing for another Order meeting. I downed my own cup, hissing as the strong brew burned my tongue. "You remember what to do when you get home?"

"I've done this before, Harry, just ... not for myself, y'know?" she whispered.

"Just checking." I poured out another cup for myself, stirring in some extra sugar and a dollop of milk. "I'm going to pop over to the Leaky and check on Cecily today. When you're done cataloguing your house, come meet me at my office. But if anything important comes up, you send me a Patronus straightaway, alright?"

"Harry, Cecily's lovely. Teddy really likes her ... has a bit of a crush, if you ask me. She might not be the brightest girl, but she's genuinely sweet," Tonks said.

"And you know as well as I do that anyone even close to being involved has to at least be questioned, if not formally investigated," I replied.

"I know that," Tonks said tersely. "I just can't believe she'd have something against Teddy. Or me."

"Yeah, well, let's just take things one step at a time. Now go home and see what you can find, alright? I'll send Ron over to help you out."

"Thanks, Harry. I'll see you this afternoon," she said and Apparated to her house.

I grabbed a piece of toast off the rack and Flooed Ron quickly. Once he was on his way to Tonks's, I headed to the Leaky.

"Harry, thank goodness," Hannah greeted me as I stumbled out of their Floo. "We've been worrying all night. Why on earth were you asking about Cecily?"

"Sorry, Hannah. Neville," I said as Neville joined us, wiping his hands off on a bar towel. "Look, is there somewhere we can go that's a bit more private?"

Once we were safely ensconced in their back room, I motioned for them to sit down. My fingers were itching for a fag, but it would have to wait. "I don't want to keep you; I know you have to get ready for lunch. I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Of course," Neville said.

"How long has Cecily been sitting for Teddy Lupin?"

"Teddy? About two years, I suppose, just during her breaks from school. She started when she was fourteen, and she'll be sixteen next month. Is everything alright?" Hannah asked, rubbing her hands together nervously.

"Has she ever complained about it? About Teddy, or Tonks for that matter? Ever given you any reason to suspect that things may not be going well there? That he was giving her trouble?"

"Cecily dotes on him, Harry. Just adores him, and he likes her right back. He's come here with Tonks on occasion to visit, and he just runs straight into her arms. He's a bit more bashful about it now that he's getting older, but the affection's still there," Hannah said with a smile.

"Yeah, Harry, she's always talking about how much fun they have whenever she sits for him," Neville agreed. "She can never get over how much control he has over his 'morphing. It's always 'today Teddy did this,' or 'today Teddy did that'."

"And was yesterday any different?" I pressed.

"Not that she mentioned, no," Neville said, looking at Hannah for confirmation. "She was back here by three-ish, just like always." Hannah nodded.

"Why doesn't she stay until Tonks gets home? Isn't that a bit odd?"

"She used to, when Teddy was younger," Hannah explained. "But Teddy was complaining that he was too old to need a sitter all day long, so Tonks said that he could have the last hour to himself, as long as he followed their ground rules. Cecily worried about it at first, that maybe something would happen after she left, but they've been on this routine now since she was last home over the winter hols, and it's never been a problem."

I sighed. Well, at least her leaving early was explained. "Could you ask her to come in here, please?"

"Harry, what on earth is going on?" Hannah asked worriedly. "All these questions ... is Cecily in trouble? What happened?"

"Hold on, here she comes now," Neville said. He motioned Cecily in and pulled up a chair next to them.

I threw Neville and Hannah a pointed glance, hoping they'd keep quiet for a moment, and then turned to face Cecily. "Hi, Cecily. Remember me? Auror Potter?"

"Of course, sir, everyone knows who you are," she said with a smile.

My jaw clenched involuntarily. "Look, Cecily, you were sitting for Teddy Lupin yesterday, yeah?"

"Sure. I was there from nine til about three or so when I came back here," she answered readily.

"Was everything normal? I mean, did anything out of the ordinary happen?"

Her brow furrowed. "I don't ... think so, sir," she responded slowly.

"You're not sure if anything unusual happened?" I asked skeptically.

"No ... I mean, I can't ... it's so strange, Mr. Potter! I remember getting there, I remember playing in the morning, I remember fixing lunch ... but all of a sudden I can't remember anything about the afternoon!" Cecily said in a panicky voice, her eyes growing wide. "Aunt Hannah, why can't I remember?"

"Cecily, can you remember coming back here to the Leaky?"

"Yes! I can remember Flooing back here just fine," she said, eyes filling with tears. "But I can't remember anything between lunch and then!"

"You're sure you don't remember anything? No one suspicious came by, no odd food or drink in the house, no unusual Floo calls or owls?"

"No. No, I can't remember anything!" Cecily began to cry in earnest. "I would have remembered if I had blacked out or something ... but I didn't know I couldn't remember until just now! What's happening?"

I looked up at Hannah and Neville grimly. They were staring at Cecily in shock, Hannah wrapping her arms around her niece to comfort her.

"Harry, what in Merlin's name is going on?" Neville demanded.

"Teddy was poisoned yesterday," I said quietly. "He's at St. Mungo's. They're not sure if he'll survive. If Tonks hadn't come home early ..."

Cecily gasped and began wailing. "No! No, Aunt Hannah, Uncle Neville, I didn't do it! I swear, I couldn't have done it ... could I? No ... I love Teddy, Mr. Potter, you have to believe me. I'd never hurt him, I promise!"

"Shh, Cecily," Hannah said. "We believe you. We know how much you care for Teddy."

"Someone must have done something to her, Harry," Neville said earnestly. "There's just no way that she could have done this. Please believe us. It's just not Cecily."

"I'm inclined to believe you, really," I told Neville. "But what will help the most is if you go to St. Mungo's immediately and get her checked out, alright? Have the mediwizards do a full body scan, test for any Dark spellwork, Memory Charms, hexes, as well as potions or even poisons. Don't let them skimp on anything. If someone were after Teddy so badly, they may have done something to her to incapacitate her."

Hannah gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. "Come on, Cecily, let's go," Neville said. "We can close the Leaky for the day. Harry, you'll hear from us the minute we know anything. Please, just believe us. It couldn't have been her."

I nodded, my fingers tapping impatiently on my leg. "Get her checked out, and let me know everything they have to say. We'll figure out what happened, I promise you."