Recovery - more than skin deep.

[fallon grimwood]

It was dark with only the soft yellow glow of the street lamps and the milky white light of the moon to illuminate the pathway up to Fallon's front door. Normally she wouldn't bat an eyelash at the loneliness of the empty street or the sound of the wind rustling the leaves, but ever since her attack the slightest hint at danger made her heart leap and pound against her ribcage. Even with two aurors at her side she was still on edge, her eyes darting from shadow to shadow and every small movement around her.

She hurried up to her door and took out her keys, trying her best not to fumble and show her nervous behavior to her companions. She was the Deputy Ministress of Magic, she was capable and strong.

Once inside the two aurors did a quick scan of the house and then took up posts in the parlor and a small study upstairs where they would have quick access to all areas of the house. Meanwhile Fallon made her way to the kitchen and prepared two pots of tea for them. Alone, she allowed herself to drop her confident act and slumped against the counter momentarily. Her hands shook as she straightened a moment later and opened the cupboard, reaching for a can of loose tea on the second shelf.

What had she become? She was so tense, so scared, all the time. She was absolutely pathetic. Her hands were shaking, she wanted to cry - to hide. She was scared to be alone in the kitchen when there were two highly skilled wizards only a shout away! Worst of all, she was a mess having not seen her daughter in over three weeks. She kept wondering if Vivianne was safe, if she was happy, if she missed her mother at all. Fallon knew Aeson would take superb care of their child and his house was very well protected, but it didn't stop her from worrying.

What if that man tried to hurt Vivi? What would Fallon do then? And if he succeeded? If Vivianne was hurt - or worse - because of Fallon's position as the Deputy Ministress she would never forgive herself. If the man threatened Vivi in any way... Fallon was a very loyal woman, but her priorities were with her daughter. She didn't want to be a coward and quit the Ministry over one attack, but if it came to more than that she would do what she had to to protect her child from harm.

At the thought of the Ministry Fallon was reminded that she had much work to do. Even though she was told to take leave for a few weeks, Fallon wouldn't hear of it. Who else was best suited to handle the work associated with her attack than herself? She knew the details best and with the news report put out by the Daily Prophet she definitely had some details to set straight... or rather to reword to sound less threatening. First of all, whichever St. Mungo's official leaked the information of her stay was going to have to be dealt with. Maybe she should have just commented in the first place, but at the time she was in no state to discuss the attack and look nonchalant. For one thing her wound was still bleeding through the bandages when the reporter came to call! A good impression that would make...

Unconsciously Fallon's hand went to her abdomen and traced the path of her wound. The pain had subsided and the scarring was minimal, almost non-existent thanks to the wonder of magic, but she still felt it and she doubted that would ever change.

The two kettles set on the stove whistled, drawing the Deputy Ministress back to her task at hand. Quickly she got out two trays and prepared cups, a plate of cookies, and decorative kettles on each. She scooped some loose tea into tea balls and dropped them into the decorative pots before pouring the boiled contents of the kettles on the stove over them. Replacing the lids for ceramic kettles, Fallon grabbed a tray and brought it to the auror upstairs first, then returned and brought the auror in the parlor his share.

It was still considerably early, only dark because of the season, thus Fallon moved into her drawing room across the foyer from the parlor, grabbing some work from her desk and taking it with her to the couch where she began reading through it to determine what would be useful to the Ministry and any points within that the Minister should know of immediately - after all, this work was three weeks old now so if there was anything important it was long past due that the Minister hear of it. Being injured was such an inconvenience!

[George Adam Sparewell]

Too much paperwork. That's what all this meant. The attack, the politics, the hospital visit.. it was all too much paperwork. Sure, it sounded less humane, less caring, but god damn it, it wasn't his fault!

Well.. actually it kinda was, he sent her on assignment, he was the one who put her in harm's way. And then just to add insult to injury, he put on administrative leave.. at least for now to "recover", and so that people wouldn't question why she was alone.

Still, as he walked up the street to her home, he needed to talk to her.. ask her things that were just not very safe to discuss in the rather public walls of St. Mungos. So here he was, at her door.

He knocked once and then announced himself. "Miss Grimwood, its me, George."

[fallon grimwood]

The knock startled Fallon, causing her to jump where she sat. She heard the voice which followed and looked across the hall to the auror who sat in the parlor. He stood and answered the door, just in case. When he found the Minister indeed standing at the threshold he moved aside and allowed him to enter, nodding to Fallon to let her know it was safe. "Good evening, sir."

Fallon stood up and placed the papers she had been reading on the coffee table. "Minister, what a surprise to see you here. Please, come in and have a seat. Would you like some tea?" Proper house keeping dictated that she should make sure her guest was comfortable first no matter what; however, she really just wanted to ask why he was there. Was something the matter? Dear god, not something else this soon after her attack. She didn't need more stress, more things to worry about... but alas, that was her job so if something was in fact wrong she'd deal with it regardless of whether she wanted to or not.

With any luck she wouldn't have to ask him and he'd just get to the point of his visit. She hoped it was nothing serious and she really hoped there wasn't a lecture involved. Her parents and grandparents had lectured her enough already and despite being 28, very nearly 29, she felt like a small child who had been recklessly playing ball in the street or something even though that had hardly been the case at all. It's not like she had asked to be attacked nor had she put herself in any unreasonably dangerous situation. She had simply been on her way home from the office, taking a slight detour one street over for take-away, and everything had been quiet for so many months, not to mention the walk would have only taken a minute and no one would have known she'd take that exit from the Ministry. It wasn't very common for anyone, let alone the Deputy Ministress.

None of that really mattered to anyone though. Everyone just kept insisting she'd been foolish and reckless. Everyone kept treating her like this was her fault - almost as if she had placed that psycho at the end of the street and told him to attack. Honestly, most of the stress she felt now was due to those assumptions more than the actual stress of having been attacked! Certainly she was on edge from the attacks, but she was exhausted from being berated by everyone - co-workers, family, friends. Next Vivi would yell at her - that would be the last straw for Fallon if even her five year old daughter yelled at her...