The Unkindest Cut of All (Geoffrey/Riley, Openish)

[Riley Neves]

Riley just wasn't there. She wasn't aware of Ted holding her, of Angelique assessing the situation, or of any of the onlookers. It was just too much. She wasn't strong enough to deal with this. Her best friend just tried to kill her in cold blood... How was she supposed to handle that from someone she thought would never, ever betray her or hurt her?

Her knees were pulled up against her chest, and her eyes were closed tight against the world. She wasn't here. It wasn't real. She was dreaming. Why couldn't she wake up?

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique's brow furrowed. If he was Riley's best friend... Obviously that kind of trust had been built up over years. She agreed with Hayden and Ted that it didn't seem right.

She stood up and looked at Ted, still thinking that he had the best grasp on things. "Did you get a good look at his face? Specifically, his eyes? This is important, Ted... I need you to tell me exactly what happened between the moment he walked in the room and the firing of the Killing Curse."

[Ted Tonks]

Ted hesitated. Once she told him it was very important, he wanted to make sure he didn't get something wrong.

"I don't know. I remember thinking that it looked like he wasn't even looking at her. He looked so determined, but... emotionless." It didn't have to do with his eyes, but there was something else that Ted felt was important.

"He said he was sorry before he fired the curse."

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique closed her eyes and sighed. Ted's description was pretty much what she had expected. Which meant that her suspicion was most likely true.

She let out a low swear. "Sounds an awful lot like the Imperius Curse," she said, shaking her head. "Someone decided it would be fun to get her best friend to kill her, rather than do it himself."

She could have asked if Riley had any enemies, but the truth was, as Aurors, they all had enemies. And Riley probably had more than the average, because she'd been the only witness to Roland's death. She knew too much, and now the killers were coming after her.

She pointed her wand at Geoffrey's motionless form. "Petrificus Totalus!" she said. "That will keep him from moving once the Stunning Spell wears off. I could attempt to remove the Imperius Curse, but I want the people at St. Mungo's to do it, for official purposes. Cassidy will tell you, that's the reason we're still having trouble with Tyler's case, because we can't prove that the curse was actually removed. Even if it was removed by Albus Dumbledore himself, people are going to doubt it... it should be done by a medical expert."

[Ted Tonks]

Ted's mind was spinning. "That means it was someone who knows her... if they know whose close enough to get to her."

He glanced around the room, wondering if they had a mole in their ranks, but the truth was, very few people knew Riley very well. And he had come into their office like this... could it really be one of their own?

"I'd like to go to St. Mungos with Arthur, if that's possible," he said. He wanted to go for Riley and Geoffrey, too, but Arthur was his best friend. "And someone should notify Geoffrey's family."

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Or someone's been watching her," Angelique said grimly. "I've always said that the visitor's policy here at the Ministry is far too lax, and I intend to speak to Vincent about it again. We can't have just anyone just walking in here at any time. What department does he work in?" she asked, nodding toward Geoffrey. "I'll need to speak with his supervisors, the receptionist... anyone who might have known anything about possible comings and goings. And when the curse is removed, I want to talk to him. Perhaps he can identify his attacker. And in the meantime, Ted, Hayden... I want you to keep an eye on Riley. She should go to St. Mungo's to be checked out, but the two of you are not to leave her side until I give you the all clear."

She put her hands on Riley's shoulders, trying to get the girl to look at her. "Riley. It's going to be OK. I'm going to take care of this personally. You're going to be safe."

[Ted Tonks]

Ted shrugged, looking to Hayden. "I don't know what Department he's in," he said. He knew very little about Geoffrey, and he hoped this was where Hayden could step in. He didn't think Riley was anywhere near giving answers right now.

As she instructed them to stay with Riley, Ted nodded. She definitely couldn't be left alone right now, and the more people around her, the better. It cut down on the risk that one of them had been compromised.

"We'll stay with her," he said, sighing deeply. When they got to St. Mungos, he would sen Andi an owl. Maybe he'd ask her to come to the hospital as just another set of eyes on Riley.

[Hayden Ferrera]

"Floo network Authority," Hayden murmured numbly.

It made more sense that Geoffrey had been under the Imperius Curse, but Hayden was still stunned. To think that something like this could happen right in the Ministry, in front of all these people, he just couldn't wrap his mind around it. But he knew one thing. He was going to protect Riley with his life, if necessary. It was what Roland would have wanted.

"I'll stay with her," he said.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique nodded. "OK. I'll be contacting his head of department and the receptionist for that department. Looks like I'll be spending tomorrow interrogating witnesses. I want to talk to Arthur when he regains consciousness, and I'll need to talk to anyone in the Ministry that he might have encountered on the way up to the Auror office. And do me a favor, everyone... we need to keep this quiet to the press. The last thing we need is another Ministry scandal."

[Ted Tonks]

Ted just nodded, noting most of the other Aurors in the room doing the same. The thing about their department was that they were all family... they all watched out for each other, and he trusted that none of them were going to run off to tell a reporter or anything of the sort.

"Come on, love," he said gently to Riley. "Stand up with me. We're going to go to St. Mungos."

It was probably the last place she wanted to go, but Ted was worried about her. How couldn't he be?

[Veronica Massey]

Just then, Veronica came back in, leading a medical crew. There were three of them, and they had a floating stretcher with them.

"Right this way," she said.

Looking at Ted, she added, "There's another crew with Arthur now. He's already starting to regain consciousness, and they think he's going to be fine."

[Riley Neves]

RIley didn't hear Angelique. She didn't hear the primises that she would be okay, or Ted telling her to get up, or the suspicion that Geoffrey had been under the Imperius Curse. Deep down, she knew Geoff would never willing hurt her, but she was too shaken up right now to consider that fact.

Ted finally just pulled her to her feet. She didn't want to deal with any of this. Riley was the kind of person who saw a problem and dealt with it. But for once, she didn't want to deal with it. She just wanted... she wanted this all to be over. She wanted Roland back.

She turned into Ted's arms, burying her face in his chest so that she could shut everything else out.

[Ted Tonks]

Holding Riley, Ted smiled and nodded at Veronica. "Thank you. Can you do me another favor? Send a note to Andi at Hogwarts? I don't want her to worry."

He moved Riley towards the medical team, but stayed out of their way while they dealt with Geoffrey, and then peeked outside to see Arthur. Relief swept over him when he saw that Veronica had been right- he was starting to regain consciousness. Maybe he could shed some light on what happened, too.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique turned her attention to the medical crew that were loading Geoffrey onto the stretcher. "I think he's been put under the Imperius Curse. I have him Stunned and I also used a Body Binding Spell to keep him motionless... don't remove that spell until the Imperius Curse has been removed. I trust you have someone on staff that can verify that?"

When the crew leader responded in the affirmative, she released a sigh of relief. "Ms. Neves here was targeted for attack. I think she's unhurt, but she's definitely in shock. Mr. Tonks will follow you in with her."

[Veronica Massey]

Veronica, ever practical, nodded. "Sure. I can do that. Is there anyone else I should notify?"

She wasn't sure it was necessary to notify Arthur's family, since they didn't live close by and he didn't seem severely hurt. And Riley, as far as Veronica knew, was not close with her family. Her main concern was for Geoffrey's family, even though she did not really know Geoffrey, and had no idea exactly what had happened.

[Ted Tonks]

Once again, Ted hesitated and he glanced at Angelique and Hayden. Maybe they shouldn't tell Geoffrey's family right away? He knew Riley had been staying with Geoffrey, and what if his family blamed her for this?

"Maybe we should wait to notify anyone else until we see how Geoffrey's doing," he said cautiously, unsure how this would be taken. But Geoffrey was going to survive, so he didn't see a huge rush to notify his family that he'd almost killed a girl. But maybe that was just him.

[Veronica Massey]

Veronica simply nodded. "OK, sounds good. I'll just send a note to Andromeda, then. Do you want her to meet you at St. Mungo's? I can tell her to meet me and we can come together, if you want."

She had two thoughts in this. First off, she thought that Ted might just need to see Andi after this whole incident. Also, one look at Riley told her that the girl could really use a friend right now, and she knew Andi had been trying to reach out to her. Maybe it would help to have her around.

[Ted Tonks]

Ted just nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great, Ronnie. If you could meet her somewhere first... and make sure she knows that I'm not hurt or anything."

Andromeda had been so upset over Roland's death, he thought she might panic, thinking he was being admitted to St Mungos. And his friend was right: there was a burning need in him right now just to hold her and see her.

"We'll see you there, okay?" he said, following the medical crew out when they started to move, assuming Hayden would follow, too.

[Veronica Massey]

Veronica gave her friend a sympathetic look. Being Ted's friend and partner, she often found herself listening to Ted talk about various things going on in his life and offering up advice. So she knew about how badly Andromeda had reacted to Roland's death. She almost seemed to be handling it worse than Riley herself. Even Veronica was at a loss to explain why, but she knew that it was important to reassure her that Ted was fine and unhurt. But even Arthur's minor injury would probably not go over well with Andi.

"I'll take care of it," she replied simply. She gave him a quick smile before she headed for the door.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique let out a sigh as the medical crew carried Geoffrey out of the room. This was turning out to be a very long day. The pressure of the job was getting worse. She had already lost an auror, and she'd almost lost another today. The entire Ferrera family, with the exception of Hayden, was still on leave. It was a good thing she was getting new people, because it was getting harder and harder to hold the department together. But at least, when there was a problem, they all stuck up for their own. That was important.

"All right, Ted, Hayden, please being Riley along to St. Mungo's. At the very least, she looks like she needs some rest. I'm going to stick with Arthur Weasley and have a talk with him once he's given the all clear."

She turned to Kate, who had also helped in the situation. "Thanks a lot for your help, Kate. Can you stay here and make sure everything is secure?"