Friday, 4th of November 2011 @ 2pm
Sellaphix Apothecary

"If you go with pre-pulverized, you can't confirm the quality," Zelda Sellaphix explained to a customer. "They can grind anything up and call it chimera. Go with the whole."

The customer responded, wondering about recommended mortar and pestle charms for bones of that size. A noise from the back of the shop caught Zelda's attention and she turned to see her oldest on his way over. He looked like a mess.

"Close the shop, ten minutes. I have to talk to you," he said. There was an edge to his voice.

In the past, she probably would have asked him to wait - the shop had just reopened and they needed the money and the community's support. But there was something wrong. Figaro was never like this. So she agreed.

In a few minutes the shop was empty of customers, the sign was flipped to closed and Figaro was locking the last of the locks. Zelda stood against the counter and asked.

"Alright, what's the mystery? What's wrong? I thought this was your day off."

M: Language

Figaro wasn't sure what he was more worried about: what the Aurors were going to do, or his mother was going to do. It was a good sign, at least, that she'd agreed to shutter up without asking him to explain. Now that they were alone, they could get this figured out.

"I just got questioned by Aurors," he said and the look, oh the look Zelda gave him, was exactly as bad as he expected it would be, but he kept talking as fast as he could.

"Just one, a trainee. She was asking me about a robbery, where I was that night, if I knew the people who were robbed. Said some of the documents stolen were about us. I told her I didn't know anything about any robbery, but this whole time her quill is going and I might have said some shit. I fucked up. I fucked up!"

Zelda didn't stop staring daggers and Figaro was immediately sure if she was angry at him or the Aurors.

"How is it possible," Zelda asked with a flattened calm, "for an Auror to do all that if you declined to answer questions without a lawyer? Because I know you didn't let them into your flat."

Her son looked at the floor. He opened his mouth to speak, but Zelda was already off.

"What did I tell you! What have I always told you!" she shouted, almost pleading.

"Don't talk to Aurors! No!" she interrupted him again. "No, I know you know, and you did it anyway. Why, Figaro? After everything that's happened, you still don't get it.  Who was it? Your friend. Blake? Your friend asks you nicely and you help her out? Figaro, that's not how it works."

It felt terrible to disappoint his mum, but everything had just gotten away from him so fast.  He found his way to the stool behind the front counter and held his head in his hands.

"No! It was Raine Almasy. She was in my year."

Fauna wouldn't have done what Raine had. And perhaps that had been the point.

"And, it's just not that simple. If I didn't let her in, she would have arrested me. If I didn't answer questions, then I'm hiding something."

Zelda leaned over the counter and held his eye contact.

      "Fine. Then make her arrest you. Make them prove it. You don't help them."

Figaro met her gaze and leaned forward as well. "Yea, but Raine Almasy hates me. Like, murderous intent, mum."

WHACK!

Zelda smacked him smartly up the side of his head.

"For shitsake, Figaro, don't be so easily intimidated. She's nothing and you have everything to lose. Act like it." She sounded almost sad.

She'd never mentioned it to Figaro, but she'd met Raine Almasy recently, just this last August when she'd come knocking on some routine check.[1] Zelda had gotten the size of her. Not worth the fuss that Figaro was making.

She shouldn't have hit him, but no more excuses.

"Understand? Good. Now start talking. Everything you can remember," she said, her voice softer. As he started in, she found her bottle of chilled ouzo and poured him three fingers.

1.	Aug 1, 2011 - Oh, yes. Quite the tragedy.

Ah, there it was. Figaro held in a hiss of indignation and let the smack ring out in his ears. How did things make so much more sense now then back there in the apartment?

He hadn't been surprised by getting smacked, but his mom sliding over a double at two in the afternoon was a new phenomenon. He put his hand around the cold cup, but didn't drink yet.

"She said they're investigating a robbery. She said the name of the place. Pilpher and Shrugg?"

        "Pilpher and Strides's," Zelda corrected quickly.

"Yea, that's right. Said they were broken into and I was a person of interest because some documents that were stolen were about our shop."

        If Zelda was surprised, she didn't show it. "What kind of documents?"

"She wouldn't say. She asked me if I knew them, Pilpher and "

        "Stride, right. What did you say?"

Figaro paused, a little unsettled that his mum seemed to know exactly who Raine had been talking about.

"That I'd never heard of them. Who are they?"

It was Zelda's turn to pause. She and Rafe had argued late into the night about how much the boys should know about the business. Rafe had always maintained that the best-loved gift was plausible deniability. It wasn't that Zelda didn't trust Figaro, but well, the kid had a big heart and a big mouth. Not a helpful combination.

Figaro interrupted before she could decide how to respond.

"Nevermind. That's when she mentioned you. Asked if you'd ever said anything about them."

        "And what did you say?"

"Nothing?"

        "Good lad. Go on," she said and gave his hand a little pat.

"Um, she asked where I was that night. Not last night, night before. The third. And I told her I was home sleeping. Before she left she did that thing with my wand, Prior Incantum --"

        "You gave her your wand! Figaro!"

"It was on the mantle and she said she was allowed. You want me to fight her? Should I punch an Auror, mum! Are we punching Aurors, now?"

        "You weren't supposed to let her in, word one, ye dimwit," Zelda said, without the ire from earlier.

"I'll write that down for next time, thank. Anyway, spell was 'Specialis Revelio'.  Used it on a book on Dementors."

Zelda was surprised. Figaro as reading obscure texts on his three-day holiday? Wonders.

        "And then what happened."

"She left. Then I cleaned the flat and came here."

Figaro had a sip of the aggressively minty liqueur and noted that he left out a rather large part of the interaction.

Zelda patted Figaro's arm.  It wasn't good, but from what he told her, it wasn't as catastrophic as she'd feared. She didn't understand why he hadn't inherited her cool-under-pressure, but what's done was done. Since Figaro wasn't drinking the ouzo, she took a sip herself.

Zelda was silent a moment, trying to piece together what might be going on. There were only two reasons the Aurors would come for Figaro if the robbery included Sellaphix documents: 1) there was something in particular that tied Figaro himself to the scene, or 2) they were using him to get to her. Either way, she could likely expect an 'interview' herself. Nothing she couldn't handle.

She was disappointed in Foy and Gio. Investigation as old as that Dramme's bullshittery, those files should have been shredded.

     "What. Mum. So what do you think?"  Figaro had been watching her think. He already seemed calmer than when he'd arrived.

"It'll be fine. Could be nothing. If they had enough to arrest you, they'd have done it already. And it's possible they still could late. If they want to arrest you, they will. No use panicking."

        "I didn't do it," he said.

Zelda laughed. "Oh, big shocker!"

Figaro feigned indignation, and the pair of them each had more of the ouzo.

Zelda, still chuckling, said, "So. Sweetheart. What have you left out?"

Figaro was somewhat comforted by Zelda no longer seeming too alarmed. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was softening the blow like she always did. When she'd told them not to panic when their dad was arrested, or how she had waited so long to tell anyone she was sick. He realized that if something really was going to shit, there might not be a way to know.

Just as he was having that thought, she accused him of the same thing.

"Puh! What? Nothing. That's everything."

        Zelda leaned over the counter again. "No, you were pretty upset when showed up. There's something else. I need to know all of it."

One of the loveliest things about her Fig was that he mostly got along with most people. And when Raine Almasy had been in her root cellar, she'd asked about Figaro as if they hadn't been in touch. Maybe as a way to deescalate the tension. But now she was hearing that Figaro was terrified of her. Something had happened between then and now.

       "What happened between you and Raine?"

"Oh, shit."

Figaro did not want to talk to his mother about his balls.

"Okay, fine, but you can't say anything until I'm done."

Zelda nodded that she agreed.

"Right, so in August I ... " How to say this without inspiring filicide.... "In August I may have showed up on Level Two asking questions as if I were on assignment from the Prophet. You, shhh! Let me finish! And I may have got into a room with Solomon Carstairs and - mum!"

Zelda had smacked him again.

"Let me finish! I said something to piss off Raine and she hexed me, mum stop!"

Figaro had to get up from the stoop to avoid being smacked a third time.

"Damnit, Figaro! Are you trying to ruin this family? Did they know who you were, other than your friends, did they know you? That you're your dad's son?"

      "Yeah, Fauna told them."

Zelda had no words. She turned away to pace along the floor rather than regret another swipe at her son. These last couple years, every shred of her energy had been spent trying to keep her family from falling apart, create the best opportunities for her kids, keep everything safe, and her oldest was sticking his head into dragons' mouths.

"Help me, Figaro. Help me. What am I supposed to do for you? When bad omens finally begin leaving our family, you go chasing after them like they were fucking butterflies!"

She sighed and massaged her temple, where some of her hair had gone white. Things were supposed to be better now.

"Finish. I'm sure there's more."

Figaro didn't know what to say in his defense. It was mistake. He wanted to tell her that it had nothing to do with this robbery, that it had all blown over months ago, that it turned out he'd been asking about Pentrals (without knowing it). All of that, it was over.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing -"

He had started to say that there was nothing else because his mum was more pissed than she'd been when he first arrived, but anything he left out he was sure would end up biting him in the arse.

"Today she got pissed again when I wouldn't take her seriously and she cut off her quill transcription thing and stuck her wand in my face, threatened to hex me again. And that's all of it."

Zelda was standing off with her arms crossed, looking at the ground, clearly furious. Frustrated? Figaro scratched the back of his neck, waiting.

Zelda felt torn apart. It rended her to be so angry at Figaro. She didn't know how to teach him to think one step ahead. Why didn't he just wait and think.  But along with her disappointment and bafflement at her son's missteps was a lurking disgust with Level Two. If he hadn't made a joke of them that day would his name even have been in their minds for this robbery? And who was watching this Almasy girl? Who was letting a first-year trainee with anger issues out off-leash.

If Figaro's sin was folly, theirs was a recklessness (at best).

He looked over. Figaro was watching her, waiting for her to say something. She sighed. She was so, so angry, but anger wasn't going to fix this.

"I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened. Are you okay?"

       Figaro nodded. "Yeah." No further details needed.

Zelda returned to the front counter and wrapped her wiry arms around her kid.

"It'll be fine. Just - "

       "Don't talk to Aurors, I got it."

"Good."

Pat pat.

---

It wasn't difficult for Zelda to convince Figaro to stick around until closing and then have a late dinner, but she couldn't talk him into staying at the house for the next few days. He did promise to stop by the shop every day until things calmed down, just to check in. He also agreed to carry the card Zelda gave him, the one with their lawyer's name and address.