The door rattled ominously.

"At least he can't apparate out of there." One of the apothecaries said to the other, their wands drawn.

A queue of people had formed at the counter at the front of the St Mungo's apothecary, waiting for their prescriptions to be fulfilled, but their wait was now a little more entertaining as they stood on tiptoes and craned round each other to try and see past the long shelves and racks of bottles in behind the counter.

At the very back there was a sturdy looking door with a brass handle that led to the dark storeroom. These were the items that had to be kept in more protected conditions away from sunlight and day to day disturbances. It wasn't an enormous store room, perhaps ten-foot square, with tall cupboards and shelves and had to be lit by wandlight.

It was not possible to apparate in and out of the room itself to prevent any thieving and further magical disturbance. So it was rather fortunate their intruder had ended up in there in the struggle.

"At least the aurors are on their way." The second apothecary agreed, glancing at the time on the wall.

"Mordent better get back from Creatures soon."

Inside the dark store room, a wand tip lit two faces who stared at each other in almost equal shock at first. Neither could hear the voices outside, but the first broke away to rattle the door in desperation to get out.

"They'll have sealed it." The second spoke as calmly as she could, though in honesty she was wondering how the heck some stranger had managed to get in there with her, and felt rather vulnerable. She'd been in the middle of collecting the ingredients for a specialist potion for a patient when he had come barrelling in. Him with the twitchy eyes and the desperation to get out.

If she had to hazard a guess at motive at this early stage - he was ill and needed something, otherwise who in their right mind would be attempting to swipe ingredients from the hospital apothecary at this time of the afternoon?

"Get me out of here then!"

Was the anguished response to the door being sealed. She raised her hand to her eyes as he threw curses at it, trying to break it down from inside. The bright light of the magic burst colours all over the room which was otherwise in pitch blackness.

It was quite a sturdy door on its own, but if it wouldn't open, undoubtedly it was due to outside influence. Which meant she was very unlikely to be able to open it either.

"I can't."

"You will!"

Elixa was hauled across the room by unseen forces towards the door. She was thankful her hands were empty apart from her wand.

"Open it!

Not for the first time in her career, Elixa wished very hard that a dashing auror would burst through the door and save her - for absolutely legitimate reasons this time.

Zeke was just filing some paperwork when the call came in. He dropped the manilla folder unceremoniously into the “in” basket and aparated to Mungos. He dashed through the doors, his red cloak flowing behind him. The apothecary would be up on the third floor. Zeke spotted an old witch getting on the lift, and sprinted for the stairs, taking them two steps at a time. Seeing the long line of people near the apothecary, Zeke slowed down a bit, but kept a brisk jog.

“Everyone, please move away from the counter.” A few mumbles were heard as the crowd split for him to pass through. He lept over the counter and landed with heavy footfall on the other side. Two other apothecaries stood by the door, looking at him expectantly. “How many people are in there, and how long have they been in there?”

“Two, one of them is Eliza Mordent, Healer in Training, and a random patient. He burst into the store room and locked them in about ten minutes ago.” The young woman said

Zeke nodded. “Alright, please step back.” He asked, even though it was more of a command. “Can we clear everyone from this corridor?” He added, looking at the numerous amounts of people around, waiting and watching for something exciting to happen. The apothecaries nodded.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! I would like to ask that all of you move to another floor, whether it be the tea room or down into the lobby. It’s simply a safety measure and you may return as soon as the area is secure and our suspect is in custody. Thank you.” Zeke announced in the loudest he could without disturbing the floors above and below him.

“Have you heard anything else?” Zeke asked before dismissing the apothecaries.

“The door is thick, we couldn’t hear much. Here’s the key.” The male handed the auror a key, dangling from a chain.

“Thank you.” Zeke said, and they went to help usher people out of the corridor. Now he was alone, without back-up.

He walked up to the door stuck the key into the lock.

To the onlooking patients, the arrival of a scarlet robe intensified the curiosity. The neat line to the counter had begun to muddle as people tried to see, and a little old wizard grasped an ear-trumpet from his cloak to hear better.

At the request to clear everyone away, the expectant gaggle of bystanders shuffled reluctantly away, casting glances towards Zeke and the St Mungo's staff.

Within the store, Elixa was faced with the door, her other arm grasped forcefully behind her back by the desperate wizard with the twitch who had barged in there.

As she raised her wand, there was a click and a rattle of the door handle, just visible in the light from her wand tip. It was unmistakably from someone outside the door and she took a sharp intake of breath.

Unfortunately 'twitchy' saw it too, and he yanked her arm up her back, causing her to yelp involuntarily and fold forward slightly, before his arm encircled her neck tightly. He was a foot taller than she was, and for a moment they wrestled over her wand while she gasped for breath.

By the time the door came open, and the light from the main apothecary room burst into the dark store room, Elixa had lost her wand somewhere into the dark corner behind the door, and had an arm wrapped around her neck, and a wand poised over her shoulder.

It wasn't all bad though, she thought as she struggled against the grip, because the other side of the door was possibly one of the better looking aurors she'd had the fortune of clapping eyes on.

With fear in her eyes she raised both her hands in surrender, and squeaked:
"Help!" as Twitchy readied himself to fight his way out, his wand poised first at the auror, and then to Elixa's regret, straight at her right temple.

"Oh Merlin." She whimpered, despite herself, trying to tilt her head out of the path of the wand, while desperately imploring the auror with her eyes, the heel of one of her boots trying to find where Twitchy's feet were, in the hope of being able to slam a foot down on his toes. 

Zeke threw open the door and pointed his wand into the small storeroom. The suspect held Eliza Mordent across the shoulders with one hand, a wand was pointed at her head with the other.

“Stand back!” The wizard with the shifty eyes squeaked, “I’ll do something terrible! Don’t think I won’t!” The wizard’s hand was shaking at he pressed the wand into Elixa’s hair. Zeke kept his wand level and steady, quickly giving the hostage a quick once-over to make sure she wasn’t physically injured.

“Drop the wand and release the Apothecary!” Ezekial shouted forcefully, aiming the tip of his wand between the suspect’s eyes.

“Stand back!” The wizard shouted again. Zeke stood his ground and continued to speak in a soothing, yet firm voice.

“I will open fire if you don’t let the woman go right now!” The Auror threatened, readying a spell in his head.

“You don’t understand! I never wanted this!” The wizard was crying now.

“It doesn’t matter now! What’s done is done! This can all be over if you drop the wand!” Zeke said, his voice growing in aggression. The wizard looked at Zeke with the worst possible expression; the look of someone who had nothing to lose.

“I’m not letting her go until I get what I need.” The wizard’s voice quivered.

“I’m afraid that’s not an option.” Zeke replied, a spell firing from his wand tip.

Much as she'd kicked shins and hexed all she could at school to get back at bullies, and then roughed about with her brothers growing up, without a wand and with one pressed into her skull by a complete stranger, her usual pluck and quick tongue were replaced with fear.

"I will open fire if you don't let the woman go right now!"

Much as she hoped the auror had good aim, this didn't instil a great deal of confidence in the apothecary. Elixa's eyes were already wide as they could go. Then Twitchy started to cry.

She hoped he was softening, that he'd let go of her, but his little sobs over her shoulder only had the arm tighten round her neck.

"I'm afraid that's not an option." Seeing in the nick of time, Elixa flung herself with all her might down to her feet, forcing her hands up and past her head, in an attempt to get free of the arm. Zeke's spell was on them in an instant, stinging - it was there to stun and break Twitchy's grasp for all Elixa could tell, not that she was considering it at that moment.

There was a horrible howl, followed by a yelp from Elixa as Twitchy's attempt to block the auror's spell sent her flying forwards into one of the long shelves in the main apothecary room. At least she was free.

Glass shattered, more spells flew, and she curled into a ball with her hands over he head as it peppered down from above, peeking out to see Twitchy bracing the doorway they'd just come through with one hand, trying to stay on his feet while flinging spells back at the auror.

Raking her gaze back, she saw the bottles on the top shelf of the rack nearest the auror tottering off, about to overbalance onto his head with the disturbance. Extending her own arm, forgetting she hadn't got her wand (it was in the dark room) she instead yelled in a panic,
"Mind your head!" Just as three heavy bottles full of alcohol pickled ingredients launched off the shelf and down towards Wingate.

The spell stunned the hysterical wizard as Elixa threw herself to the ground. The wizard convulsed and quivered as he fell to his knees. Glass shattered within the small store room. Zeke rushed at his stunned criminal and bound him with a paralyzing jinx.

“Mind your head!” Elixa shouted, lunging towards him. Ezekial side-stepped and missed one bottled of pickled something and it smashed onto the tile, splashing his boots and soaking the lawless man laying on the floor’s cloak. The second bottle hit Zeke’s shoulder and cracked, sending slimy orange goo down his red robe.  He cringed, and was met with the last bottle, shattering on the base of his neck. Zeke doubled over and his free hand flew to the painful source and was glad to feel that there were no massive pieces of glass protruding from his brain stem, although his glove did come back red.

Looking up at the shelves to make sure nothing else would fall off, Ezekial pushed the stunned man’s shoulder out of his path with the toe of his boot and lit the tip of his wand, peering into the store room.

“Ms. Mordent?” Zeke pulled off his bloodied glove with his teeth and held out a hand to the witch surrounded by shattered glass and ruined potion ingredients. He whisked the glass into a pile in the corner with a flick of his wand. “Are you alright? You’re safe now.”

SMA-SMASH - - SMASH!

Then all of a sudden it was over. Twitchy was on his knees, and then down - unable to move and held by magic.

The auror had taken one of the glass bottles to the back of the neck, the other to his shoulder, and as such there were picked exotic snail entrails all down his robes.

Even with that drooling down his shoulder, he pulled off his glove with his teeth and extended a hand to her. She wiped her own on her apron and shakily reached out, seizing his and found herself hauled to her feet.

She may have tottered a few paces accidentally-on-purpose close to the auror, still grasping his hand and found herself looking up into beautiful sapphire-blue eyes, her lips falling open in surprise.

"Oh!" Was all she managed at first, amongst the shattered glass, aghast colleague onlookers and the bound and desperate wizard who had caused it all.

Her other hand had reached his shoulder without thinking, wrapping an arm round him with relief… straight into the snails. She cringed automatically.

"Thank you, Merlin, goodness, thank you. Gosh, are you alright? You're covered in- oh goodness you're hurt!" She let go of his hand and shook her sticky one free from his shoulder and wiped it again on her apron before tugging him gently round on the spot a little to try and see the back of his neck.

"Sit - sit down, sit down. L-let me look at it …"

"We can get a healer to do that-." One of her colleagues protested.

"No! You just clear up the place, s-sort the patients!" Elixa retorted, a little sharply, still somewhat dazed from the whole episode herself. It was probably an idea that she sat down herself to let the room stop spinning - but it wasn't every day you had a gorgeous auror save your life.

"S-Sorry, sorry about that." She soothed, though her voice was a little shaky, as were her hands, "What was your name?"

Elixa grabbed his hand and put her hand on his shoulder. Zeke was familiar with the ritual of being clung to during times like this and gave the witch a small smile. Her hand squished into the orange mess of snail guts oozing over his shoulder and she pulled back, wiping off her hands. Zeke bit his lip, resisting the urge to chuckle. She released his hand and turned him about, trying to get a good look at his neck.

“It’s no problem really. I’ll be-” Zeke was backed into a rolling office chair, turning to face the apothecary. She barked at her co-workers and they scattered to go help patients and reorganize after the entire ordeal. Zeke really should have been bringing in the criminal back to headquarters, but Ms. Mordent was very persistent on keeping him there.

Zeke grabbed the other chair neck to him and rolled it over to Elixa.

“Auror Wingate, er, Zeke. I’m Auror Zeke Wingate” The blonde flim-flammed, a bit tongue tied at the victim's concerned and attractive face, and a bit dizzy from losing blood, the adrenaline wearing off slowly but surely. He put out his hand for her to shake.

“No need to apologize. It’s just another day in the life. Here. If you’re okay to do so, I’d like to ask you a few questions. For paperwork’s sake.” He unclipped his robe from his shoulders and carefully folded it over his knees, noticing the copious amount of blood on the hood. He pulled off his other glove and placed it onto his folded cloak with the other. He reached over and found a blank sheet of paper and a quill.

Wingate - Zeke Wingate. That wasn't a name she'd forget in a hurry.

"Questions, you can, wait - let me sort you out first…" Even though her voice shook, and her hands found no wand - it still somewhere in the dark store, she held herself together as best she could, cloth to the back of his neck firmly.

"Can I borrow your wand?" She asked, though the way she held her bloodied hand out was less of a request more of a demand not to be disobeyed. "If I don't close your wound, you won't be conscious enough to ask me questions."

Her hands were steadying, as she sought the permission to do her work. She wasn't calling a healer, she was going to be one in if she got back into training again soon.

"Hold still, I'll have you fixed in no time. L-least I can do." She shot a glance to the guy bound on the floor. If he was injured then good for him, she wasn't going to help.

"Thanks, by the way, thanks for coming to my rescue."

Perhaps her least conventional chat-up routine ever, but ... oh well!


End