Chapter 26

The very much ungolden trio arrived on Dawn's doorstep; a small rural cottage with a crumbling stone wall outside. Paige reluctantly held up her jelly legged mentor while Dawn got the door open and let them in.

It was rustic inside yet comfortable, with old fashioned furniture and fittings. With some assistance the girls helped Magus across to the horribly aqua, floral-patterned two-seater. The style seemed to be like that one would find in a pensioner flat.

Weakly he slumped back into the furniture in obvious discomfort at its rigid sides and sparse cushioning. His eyes had languidly slid shut at some point in the journey from St Mungos and only now cracked open to peer about.

"Huh why are we stopping at a retirement home?" He mumbled in some confusion, before catching a large painting on the wall of a younger Dawn in formal dress robes. Someone had ridiculously drawn a large bushy moustache on her face to alleviate the dull seriousness of the picture.

Dawn put her hands on her hips and looked unimpressed at his comment.

"Oh wait we are just at Dawn's place!" Magus amended dozily and tried to smile, but instead began to retch violently. Dawn summoned a large bowl to her immediately and shoved it under his chin before the first drop of blood tainted vomit could hit the carpet.

Paige watched on dubiously at her still obviously unwell mentor and began to doubt their decision to remove him from the magical hospital. His skin had faded to a sallow dusky colour and he was sweating profusely again. Finished with the bowl, Dawn vanished the contents and mopped his mouth with an old tea towel.

"If it is all the same to you girls, I might get a bit of shut eye." Magus murmured feebly and promptly passed out.

Paige turned to Dawn in alarm, the older girl eyed him with barely concealed concern.

"Are you sure he should be out of the hospital so early? Maybe we should take him back?" Paige voiced her reservations.

Dawn took her fears on board with a thoughtful silence. She tenderly reached out a hand to rearrange his head on the couch so he wasn't snoring. It improved his breathing only a little, a man with a nose broken as many times as Magus would always snore.

"If Magus believes he is well enough to leave, then he is. He seemed confident he could manage the rest of his healing himself." Dawn reminded her stubbornly but chewing her lip in anxious contradiction of her words.

"Yeah, but he was also possibly sober when he said that." Paige added uncertainly, it was after all possibly the first incidence she had seen of her mentor when he undoubtedly had no alcohol on board.

"Magus is tough, so am I. He can stay here and I'll care for him until he is able to look after himself." Dawn decided, jutting out her chin determinedly.

"You won't have to do it alone, just let me know how I can help." Paige resolutely offered when she saw her friend wasn't budging.

"Thanks, Paige. You've already helped a bunch." Her friend assured her, as she mopped at a sleeping Magus's brow with her cloth.

The large carriage clock chimed noisily, and Paige's head snapped up at the sound and the realisation that it was now late morning. Magus didn't even stir.

"Sorry, I almost forgot that I must get to Christmas lunch with my parents. I'll come by this evening and bring a potion or two from my mum to help." Paige told her, reluctant to leave but with an essential prior engagement to keep.

"You are brilliant, Paige. Thanks for your help." Dawn glowed, pulling the younger witch into a constricting hug.

On the couch behind them Magus mumbled something in his sleep about 'squaring up his tab' and demanding that 'the lobster paid for his own drinks'.

The two girls smiled and shook their heads affectionately.

Lunch with her parents was a Christmas tradition in the Calamisi family and typically a highly enjoyable affair. This Christmas was a departure from that tradition, while Paige was delighted to see her younger sister and to hear about all her news from Hogwarts, it was her older sister who was the trouble.

Already offended that her delinquent on and off again boyfriend was not invited, Maggie was short with everyone and kept shooting her parents dark looks at the exclusion. This was a look that Paige got to share too the moment her parents asked her about how things were going in the department and praised her for the heroics that had filtered down to them from the wizarding rumour mills. Paige carefully held her tongue at the mention of Noel, who owed her his life due to the binding magical contract that he no doubt couldn't remember.

"A werewolf!" Her father had exclaimed loudly in astonishment, his beard quivering with outrage.

"He transformed right in front of us, it was terrifying." Paige confessed reliving the story for her parents benefit and to put the rumours to rest.

"My own daughter facing a werewolf! You could have been killed!" Her mother gasped in horror, white as a sheet. Her hands shook as she served up Christmas ham to each of their plates.

"So what did you do?" Her younger sister Imogen demanded, hanging on the very words of her story, her meal completely untouched.

Mr Calamisi's narrowed expression told them that he was wondering the exact same thing.

"Well… Magus sent me to get help and stayed behind to protect the two muggles.." Paige recounted her role and went on to tell them about her return to his aid.

"Magus must be mad; plain and simple to try and hold off a full-grown werewolf on his own." Her father grumbled in amazement and incredulity.

"He is a bit mad." Paige was honestly glad to be able to agree with her father.

"He always was, never shied from a fight though." Her older sister piped up to everyone's surprise. At some point she had become interested in the story too, rather than shooting dirty looks at relatives.

"I thought you didn't really know him at Hogwarts?" Paige demanded once she comprehended what her sister had said.

Maggie snorted at her derisively.

"Maybe I didn't know him, but I knew OF him. He was a year ahead of me at Hogwarts. He was this rough, bad boy from Hufflepuff who almost lost an eye playing Quidditch. Got suspended for fighting in the library. Almost got expelled breaking into Dumbledore's office. That sort of thing."

Paige didn't feel stupid very often, but at this point she did for not considering that her older sister must have attended school around the same time. She made a mental note to press her for stories later.

"And is the young man alright now? Still in St Mungos I expect?" Donatello Calamisi enquired staring over his bushy eyebrows.

Paige tried very hard not to flush under his intense gaze and truth sniffing ability. Carefully she composed her answer and wished that her father didn't have such an effect on her.

"Actually he self-discharged today. Me and Dawn helped him get home." Paige settled on the truth as the safest option.

Donatello Calamisi accepted this answer in silence with only a slight nod in acknowledgment and a raised curious eyebrow.

"He's still in a bit of a bad way actually. Mum I was hoping that you might have some potions that I could take round to aid in his recovery?" Paige added turning now to her mother, who had remained oddly silent for a while.

"I might have a few useful draughts.." Her mother pondered internally her catalogue, before awkwardly asking what was really on her mind.

"He wasn't .. bitten.. was he this partner of yours?" She tentatively spoke, not meeting Paige's eyes.

"No! They don't think so, he didn't react to any silver or wolfsbane at St Mungos." Paige quickly assured her.

Mrs Calamisi looked saddened by her insistence.

"Dear, you know that isn't always definitive as to whether contamination has occurred or not?" Her mother slowly told her as if having to break the news that Christmas was cancelled.

Paige felt her mouth dry out horrendously at the thought of the curse her mentor might now be under.

Paige was so concerned after lunch that she immediately made her way to Dawn's with the potions her mother had wrapped for her as well as generous portions of leftovers from their meal.

Nervously Paige knocked on the door to the rural cottage and after a series of clicks Dawn let her in from the cold. Paige was delighted to see Magus sitting awake in a comfortable armchair near the fire with a blanket on his lap, slippers and a small grey cat settled on his knee. Albeit, he still looked drained with his sunken face resembling a stubbly skull more than a face, but at least he was awake.

"Merry Christmas, Slim." He cheerfully called to her in a croaky voice without getting up and Paige thought while his colour hadn't improved his mood had.

"I thought my condition in bailing you out of the closed ward was no more nicknames?" Paige reminded him cagily and effectively concealing her relief at his more conscious state.

Magus shook his head in feigned disappointment and swilled the small glass of mulled wine in his hand, the aromatic smell filling the small room.

"Nuh uh. You made me promise not to call you Rookie, Kid or New Girl. Nothing mentioned about other nicknames or new ones I might make for you." He pointed out with the cunning contractual awareness of a goblin accountant.

"Dammit." Paige cursed, seeing her downfall and gratefully accepting a glass of mulled wine from her host. Only now did Paige realise that the pair were wearing extremely colourful Christmas sweaters. Dawn's had a knitted Santa Claus playing electric guitar and Magus's one seemed to be covered in dancing Werewolves in festive stocking hats.

Dawn noticed Paige's gaze and handed her a large scrappily wrapped squashy present.

"Merry Christmas Paige." She cheerily chirped and pulling a third chair up by the fire. Colourful decorations had been hastily erected around the room and a small tree was even propped in one corner.

Paige loved opening presents and ripped into the wrapping with vigour, she was of course unsurprised to find a third Christmas sweater as gaudy as the other two. It was patterned with broken broomsticks and falling witches, another topical joke from the pair it would seem.

They both wore comically large grins at the snort of amusement she made on seeing it and eagerly urged her to try it on.

For the rest of the afternoon Dawn and Paige worked away in the kitchen together putting together a Christmas dinner fit for a king. Meanwhile the 'king' in question got quietly day drunk on homemade mulled wine and intermittently napped in front of the fire with Sooty the small grey cat. In his defence he had almost been mauled to death by a mythical beast less than two days earlier. As if he needed an excuse.

When dinner was finally ready, Paige levitated Magus's cosy chair up to the dinner table and they commenced their own feast to rival the Hogwarts house elves. There was roast beef, chicken and lamb, roast potatoes and yams, salads in all varieties and even a fruit cake for dessert. The three started loading their plates high in a companionable silence passing plates back and forth.

Finally, Dawn cleared her throat and stared pointedly at Magus's plate.

"No salad, Medicine Man?" She asked sweetly in honeyed reprimand.

"Looks good, don't want it." Magus mumbled petulantly without meeting her eye, instead stabbing a slice of roast beef with his fork instead and stuffing it into his mouth whole. He chewed savagely for a minute before noticing that the girls were staring at him.

"What?" He snapped pausing mid mouthful and looking between the pair in mild confusion. This was not too dissimilar from his usual table manners.

Dawn put down her knife and fork to look across the table at him critically with a troubled expression on her face.

"You were never the biggest fan of salad before, but you would at least eat roast potatoes and my yams were always one of your favourites." She pointed out nodding at his completely meat laden plate.

Paige watched the two contemplatively before choosing her moment to speak up.

"So this is a recent change then? Since your attack the other night?" She clarified.

It took Dawn a minute to catch on to what she was getting at.

"No! No way!" She cried in protest, pushing away her seat from the table in upset.

"There is no way that he is infected, the silver nitrate test was negative!" Dawn hissed shrilly at Paige.

"That test isn't a hundred percent accurate, I should know…"

It was Magus who spoke this time at a morbid croak, and it made Dawn deflate like a punctured balloon.

Paige and Dawn both glared at Magus awaiting further explanation.

Magus gave out a long-suffering huff of a sigh, before settling back in his ostentatious chair to explain.

"It was one of the tests I helped develop, before they kicked me out of St Mungos. An intravenous infusion of low dose silver nitrate to observe for physiological response in the patient."

"Physiological response?" Paige enquired curiously.

"Well that was putting it kindly, sprouting fur and almost biting through their tongues in pain was how I would describe it." Magus darkly elaborated; his gaze distant as he looked off into his jaded past.

"And we still use it to test for lycanthropy?" Dawn exclaimed in horror.

Magus chuckled grimly in response.

"Well no one likes it much, least of all the patients, but the healers hate it because it combines muggle and magical medicine, courtesy of this monster here." He jabbed two bandaged thumbs at himself and grinned crookedly.

"With those opinions aside it did have about a 90% accuracy for predicting lycanthropy in most… wizards." Magus clinically added.

Paige gaped in wonder, she had of course read of the procedure in one her text books Modern Magical Malady Diagnosis, but she had no idea that her unconventional preceptor had been complicit in developing it.

"I've read about the test." Paige mumbled stupidly, not sure what else to say.

"Yeah well, they left a few things out in publication didn't they?" Magus growled.

"Like the fact that the procedure is tantamount to torture and the prediction value is only relevant in a very small certain patient cohort group."

"The irony of it is the number of patients that cussed out my name and wished I could go through the test myself… They would have been chuckling away, even a negative response burns like fuck. I seriously reckon it just about finished me off last night!"

With great effort he managed to roll up his right sleeve, wincing at the effort.

Dawn and Paige gasped in shock at the sight that he presented them.

From the crook of Magus's right arm a large purple bruise had formed and tracked up the arm following the path of the veins in a crisscrossing vivid silver pattern. It had been difficult to spot earlier among all the bandages that he was sporting, but now that they saw it, they couldn't look away. On impulse both girls reached out to touch his arm and he grimaced as their fingers caressed the narrow silver trails. Paige was shocked to find them ice cold to touch and hard under the skin.

"Fucking hell!" Dawn breathed in horror.

"Does it hurt? Do they… get better over time?" Paige awkwardly asked.

Magus brusquely brushed them off and hurried to drop his sleeve again. Paige now noticed that the pain was obvious really in the way he favoured his left arm.

"Never seen any that did get better and I saw a few.." Magus muttered discarding his fork and picking up a chicken leg to tear at it with his teeth.

"Oh Magus!" Dawn gave her usual lament, sitting down abruptly once more and simply staring at her cooling plate of food.

"So yeah in summary not a fun test and not overly reliable now. It's still viewed as controversial in its application. My final legacy for our already fucked 'medical system'" Magus summarised sardonically with finger quotation marks.

"So it isn't a reliable test for all patients?" Dawn picked up on the last salient point.

"It often came up with false negatives in Muggleborn and muggle patients." Magus admitted.

"So that means.." Paige started slowly and despondently.

"About 50/50 I'm teenwolf." Magus softly answered in the jovial quiet way he wore so well in moments of seriousness.

The small cottage fell into silence as they digested the information.

Dawn silently started crying and Paige felt her own tears falling under their own accord.

Magus unable to get out of his chair yet, simply gestured to Dawn to come over to him instead. Slowly and swooping like a sad little owl she settled to perch on the edge of his chair and huddled into the less bandaged of his two shoulders.

Paige wasn't sure what to do herself and she stupidly plopped down into her own chair opposite Magus.

The emotional part of her had wanted to accept the test result as negative, but the intellect in her challenged the statistical likelihood and the apparent symptoms her mentor was displaying. Even as she tried to talk herself out of it, she couldn't help but notice the almost wolfish way that he tore at his food earlier.

"Given your injuries there was always likely a degree of contamination from the wounds." Paige murmured almost to herself.

Dawn gave her a sour look through her tears as if the commentary was entirely unnecessary.

"Ah well I've always been a bit of a lone wolf.." Magus joked lightly and was rewarded with a derisive snort from Dawn beside him.

"Like you needed anymore chest hair!" She added flatly but starting to buy into his humorous take.

Paige still couldn't bring herself to joke about any part of the whole affair though.

There was a certain issue she had to address with him about it all and that she thought he may unaware of.

"Magus.." She started uncertainly and sombrely.

"Wait. I thought you liked all my chest hair?!" He interrupted accosting Dawn.

"Magus!" Paige stopped him sharply.

"What is it Wonderbra?" Magus finally relented, looking irritated at her grounding.

Paige frowned at him sternly, she should have added that nickname to her list. She took a deep breath and told him.

"You do understand that if you are a werewolf that there is no way you can keep your job, right?"

Magus clearly hadn't considered this repercussion and his face dropped in an instant.

Beside him Dawn had straightened up from his shoulder and was now sitting bolt upright in tension.

In a quiet, fragile voice she spoke.

"She's right Magus… I was talking to that Lupin guy at an order meeting and the law makes it very difficult for werewolves to have jobs and especially not within the ministry."

Magus remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout, his gaze distant.

"Well that is fucking super." He sardonically muttered, pushing his plate of food away and draining the last of his mulled wine in one gulp.

"Magus.." Paige started but as usual he interrupted her.

The Irish wizard petulantly threw his stout wine glass against the opposite wall, where it shattered in a fantastic hail of glass.

Dawn quietly slipped off the arm of his chair and cast a muffled repairo, restoring the wine glass to its former glory. She replaced it on the table without a word, but carefully making sure it was outside of Magus's reach.

Magus had sunk back into a despondent silence once more as Dawn came to sit next to him again and tenderly took his nearest hand. Paige noticed how it trembled slightly in her friend's gentle grip.

They waited slowly for Magus to talk again or for him to break something else.

"Okay so when will we know? When is the next full moon?" He asked, directing his gaze at his intelligent student.

"The night before New Years Eve." Paige told him mechanically, having already worked it out in her head as the issue had developed.

"Well I guess that's D-day then." Magus firmly accepted his face tightening in a combination of pain and frustration.

He turned to Dawn, who watched him with unbridled concern and tears still marking her beautiful face.

"Don't worry about me Sweets, I'll be out of your hair by then. I'll lock myself up safely at home and we'll soon have our answer."

Dawn's face went purple at the suggestion and she told him how it would be in a frosty dangerous tone that was not to be argued with.

"Like hell you will! You are going to stay here where I can keep an eye on your dumbass. We will work out a way to keep you safely here for that night."

Paige nodded her agreement at that idea, it seemed safer for him to have supervision.

"But it's not going to be safe." Magus protested the point weakly.

"You think?!" Dawn snorted derisively.

"Like knowing you has ever been safe.." She pointed out callously.

Magus almost looked ashamed at this point.

Paige couldn't deny that claim, since she had met him it seemed like every day brought a new danger and more than a few of them he had created himself.

Dawn put a hand under his chin and lifted his head to look her in the eye.

"But it's also never been boring and I wouldn't trade our life together for anything." She promised him.

To everyone present but no one readings surprise, she then leaned forward and sealed the promise with a slow, sweet kiss on his astounded lips.

Paige quickly averted her gaze like she was watching her siblings kiss not two close friends who had always had a spark and chemistry.

"Do I get to remember this one?" Magus whispered softly when he finally had breath to answer.

Now it was Dawn's turn to look abashed, but she pushed through it and twisted it into a sweet smile.

"Until your dying days, Medicine Man." She assured him.

"Which may not be much longer if you continue to sass me and bring up ancient history." Dawn pointed out in light rebuke and reinforcing the message by flicking his one unbandaged ear.

Paige cocked her head in curiosity at this exchange; there was clearly something here that she hadn't heard about and was probably none of her business.

"Ouch kick a man while he's down why don't you Sweets?!" Magus complained lightheartedly.

"It is the best time to kick them." Dawn agreed with fake cheer in her voice.

"Right, maybe I should get going!" Paige declared loudly to break up the flirting as she stood.

"Nah stay, finish dinner and have a few drinks. Fuck it, it's Christmas right?" Magus countered.

"I never thought I'd say it, but I'm too badly injured to throw a leg over Dawn anyway." He added.

The flick that struck his ear from the blushing girl beside him could be felt reverberating from across the room.

"It was a compliment!" He screamed in protest, trying in vain to protect his ear from follow up attacks.

So together the three of them ate, drunk and were merry until the fire was reduced to just embers in the grate and their eyelids were heavy with sleep. Paige decided to stay the night after much urging about the dangers of drunk apparation from Dawn and hypocritically Magus. The spare bed was insistently made hers by Dawn and Paige carefully didn't comment when the pair said goodnight and slowly left for Dawn's room together. She had to stuff a fist in her mouth to prevent herself from giggling at the glare Dawn sent her as she quietly shut the door behind them.