Taste of Youth

“I can not believe you sent two trainee’s, one of whom is under age, to a home that was a known risk! And you omitted the fact that you were looking for a child!”

Lena’s voice exploded down the hallway. I could see some of her from my perch behind one of the cubical walls, her arms were thrown up, her face was red. I’d made Lena mad plenty of times in my training but I had never once seen her this upset. I felt bad for whomever she was screeching like that at, and I had a guess who it was. After worrying over the fact that yelling at the Minister of Magic would probably lose Lena her job, I got up from my hiding space and headed over to where Lena was flinging her arms and insults about.

“Healer Delano,” I said leaning against the nearest wall and not bothering to glance at the Minister, “the Weatherly girl should get a professionals help now. Would you like a run down on her medical report?”

“Of course, Rein. We’ll talk about it on the way to my office.” She said primly giving the Minister one last withering sneer, “You endanger anyone in my department again and I will destroy you.”

Lena and I walked back to her office in silence, Lena already knowing everything about Ariana’s medical report having done them herself. I didn’t open my mouth against anything that she had just done and she didn’t rip my head off for ignoring her orders to stay inside her office while she was gone. We passed a furious looking Moody who was heading in the direction we’d just come, he stopped in front of me looking me up and down inspecting for any other visible injuries.

“Everything in working order, Rein?” He growled out in his usual manner.

“Yes, sir.”

Moody nodded once, “Better be. Lena, send the kid home. Kid, I expect you and Liddel back here at 8 sharp.”

I nearly raised an eyebrow at the off date but nodded all the same. Moody grunted and patted both Lena and I on the shoulders before stalking his way toward the Minister. I watched him go for a moment feeling bad for the poor man who had and would receive both Moody and Lena’s wrath in a single hour. Ariana was waiting for me to come through the door behind Lena and slammed herself into my stomach nearly sending me back into the hall. I caught myself on the door jam while Eben laughed at the two of us. I stuck my tongue out at him and squeezed the girl in my arms.

“Hey, Ariana. Did they get you all fixed up?”

Her dark head nodded eagerly her voice muffled from being pressed into my shirt, “Yes, they did. Thank you for saving me.”

I felt my cheeks warm, “I didn’t really do anything you know but thank you.”

“You got me out of the closet, that’s something.” She told me and pulled away to give me a big smile, “You’re supposed to say you’re welcome.”

I laughed ruffling her hair, “You’re welcome.”

Ariana’s smile grew and she caught sight of something behind me crying out, “Mum!”

The small girl let go of me and charged the crying woman standing in the hall. They clutched each other sobbing and a wiry looking man joined their group crying as well. I smiled at them and stepped quietly farther into the office closing the door. Lena was already behind her desk watching Eben and I with her knowing eyes. Eben and I sat down and listened to everything she had to say about our reckless behavior and lack of abilities and how we should had disobeyed a direct order. When she was done both of us were shrunken in our chairs head hanging low.

“With all of that idiocy aside,” Lena said a little smile on her face, “you handled the fact there was a possibility of a child being in danger better than most of our official Aurors. If you would have followed orders we would have never found the Weatherly girl and there is a great possibility that she would have died before we figured it out. Both of you have done well, Liddel you take Rein with you to the dorms for now and get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

After she dismissed us Eben offered to show me the place where all the trainee’s stayed, there was a party or something going on. I glanced at the time and agreed aware that I should probably go back to Hogwarts. We took the Floo to what Eben refereed to as the barracks and walked a good mile to get there. The place was like the circus before it set up, there were tents stacked upon tents and the sounds of laughter and cheered came from a single building on the other side of the tent field.

The inside of that building was a single room, like a mess hall, and was filled to the brim with trainee’s. I stopped at the door Eben at my back frozen and staring in awe. There were bottles of Firewhiskey and Butterbeer soaring through the air, small bouts of fireworks going off just under the ceiling and an overall sense of friendship in the room. Eben’s laughed was low just above my head and he gently pushed my shoulders to get me to move forward.

“It’s okay, most of them don’t bite very hard.”

I scoffed and hit him with the back of my hand laughing. My partner grinned widely and tugged me toward a group in the back doing shots of a brilliant green liquid. Several people in the group shouted Eben’s name and tugged him in for hugs and back slaps. I moved back smiling a little at the sight and it wasn’t until Eben had wrestled his way out of a headlock that anyone noticed me.

“Hi!” A pretty girl with a head of black hair greeted me excitedly, “You must be Eben’s partner, the Healer right?”

“That’s me.”I smiled warily and she took a hold of my hand shaking it up and down.

“It’s good to finally meet you! Wow, you’re bigger than I imagined you’d be.”She waved her hands hurriedly like she was worried I’d been insulted by the comment, “Not that you’re very big,, I mean you’re really tiny actually like a pixie or something! It’s just that I tend to imagine all the kids from Hogwarts to look like first years.”

“Alright, McKinnon, stop hogging Eben’s partner from the rest of us.” The man smiled widely as he ruffled her hair and stuck out a hand to me, “Names Benjy Fenwick, how do you do.”

I took his hand and we shook, “Luciana Rein, nice to meet you.”

“Rein?” McKinnon popped in again, “You’re Leon Rein’s sister?”

I smiled again this time a bit strained, “So our mother tells us.”

“Wow! He was a real great Auror, you know. Except now the think he’s not dead and working for the Death Eaters but that's all bull anyway.”

Benjy cut in before she could say anymore, “McKinnon did you even tell the poor girl your name before you pounced her?”

“Oh! No, I didn’t did I?” She laughed brightly, “They call me Marlene McKinnon, pleased to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too.” I smiled a little and nearly got bowled over for the second time today by a happy looking Ebenezar.

“Having fun, Luce? McKinnon didn’t try anything did she?” He laughed squeezing me.

“No but you are, you lump. Lemme go before I die from the lack of oxygen.” I wheezed out elbowing him in the stomach.

Eben’s laughed exploded in the room and he gave me one last squeeze before releasing me. Benjy shook his head at us, clapping Eben on the back in greeting and headed further into the crowd. Marlene caught my arm and tugged me along as well, chattering excitedly in my ear. After being passed around from person to person, learning names that I knew I’d forget by morning. I ended up back with Marlene, Benjy, Eben and a guy named Edgar Bones if my memory served right laughing as the three boys played a drinking game.

The lot of them didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I was so much younger or that I was still going to school or that I denied every drink they offered me. Marlene was telling me about an incident that had happened in the tent she shared with another girl and had me laughing so hard I was breathless. The party ended when sunlight started filtering through the windows and the crowd moved out of the building and into the tent field like sludge. Marlene tugged me to her tent and we waved to Eben and Benjy as they slumped toward their tent singing something that I couldn’t understand for the slurring.

Marlene was giggling hanging off of my shoulders more being dragged that walking on her own. She had me laughing over her incredibly lame wizarding jokes about Muggles. I managed to get her into her small cot of a bed, her still giggling manically and I was shaking my head tugging one of her blankets off of the bed and curling up next to her cot. Marlene’s room mate came in and greeted me with a dull slur slipping into her own cot. I shook my head and huddled in the blanket I’d taken from Marlene warm and comfortable.

“Luce?” Marlene’s voice traveled down from her cot, “Are you awake?”

“Yeah, I’m up.”

“I’m glad you came tonight.” She murmured, “Eben wouldn’t stop talking about you after you two got paired up and everyone really wanted to meet you. It was really nice that you came. Everyone seems to like you.”