40. Chapter 40 (1/2)

previously on returning to his roots: chapter 39

justin used a quick cough to cover the small laugh that threatened to escape his lips.

hermione threw a frown in justin's direction, but continued her conversation without addressing him.

"thanks so much for your time. don't forget to have a chat with gloria about her cases."

with those last words, hermione went back to her desk to get started on the next pile of pending cases. the thought did cross her mind that magical citizens were

eaking the law so often, she was truly glad to have another prosecutor on board.

/*/

hermione was several cases in when a chuffed gloria returned to the office. not only had she been invited to join the group, but severus had acknowledged her correspondence as well. glancing at her wonder witch watch, hermione realized it must have been a very successful meeting as severus had run over his maximum time limit by at least twenty minutes.

with a bit of cherry red showing across her face, gloria entered hermione's office. "i'm ready for the review. shall i close the door?"

"by all means miss isles. close the door and have a seat."

//

returning to his roots: chapter 40

gloria seated herself and waited for hermione to speak. she wanted to fidget, but didn't want hermione to have to reprimand her again, so she waited while her boss moved papers around on her desk.

hermione realized gloria wanted to get right down to it, but she wanted her newest prosecutor to get used to being patient. it was clear gloria would make a fine prosecutor, but the witch needed to slow down a bit.

"except for the several things we spoke about earlier, your cases are ready to take before the wizengamot. once you've tied up those few loose ends, you'll need to sit down with terry and justin. i've asked each of them to assist and support you on one of the cases. take any advice they give you in the spirit it is meant. we were all beginners at one time."

gloria nodded in agreement. she didn't expect to prosecute her first cases without supervision. she was confident in her ability to present a

illiant case, but would welcome advice from her experienced colleagues. "i'll speak to terry and justin as soon as i can. i'm sure justin will be more than willing to help out the new prosecutor."

hermione didn't miss the fact gloria hadn't mentioned terry being agreeable to helping her, and questioned the omission. "are there issues between you and terry?"

gloria paused for a few seconds deciding whether to speak her mind or keep her feelings to herself. better to speak on it beforehand than down the road where it might appear to be sour grapes, she thought. "i don't have any issue with terry, but it seems he might have issues with me. terry has made condescending remarks to me in front of others which leads me to believe he has issues with me. i've spoken to him in private about respect in the workplace, especially in front of the staff. his best answer was i had landed a top position and should try to be a little less sensitive."

gloria's remarks were causing hermione's insides to churn. she knew terry thought it was too soon to be grooming gloria for a top spot. that was his opinion, and he had a right to his thoughts. however, he did not have the right to disrespect gloria or anyone else in the office. that behavior would have to be addressed immediately.

hermione didn't want gloria to think she condoned such behavior and said as much. but until she spoke to terry, hermione's only additional comment was to assure gloria she would address the issue straightaway.

/*/

after leaving hermione's office, gloria went to the ladies to decompress, wash her face and have a pee. she hadn't realized just how tense she'd been. even though she hadn't done anything other than share a concern about a colleague, gloria recognized there might be repercussions. knowing justin and terry were as thick as thieves, she hoped her revelation wouldn't put her at odds with justin as well. as she had said to severus, many wizards in a professional capacity didn't care for witches who dared try getting on equal footing with them. perhaps that was terry's issue with her. otherwise, she didn't have a clue why he had taken such an arbitrary position. well it was out there now. she had shared with hermione and couldn't take it back. for the sake of peace throughout the firm, she hoped it all could be sorted out.

no matter what she felt on the inside, gloria considered herself a survivor. she had worked hard getting her education and experience so there was no way she would let one wizard knock her off her game. as she was giving herself the mental pep talk, gloria was dashing off notes to terry and justin, who were away from their desks, requesting a bit of their time to discuss her cases.

after leaving the notes on the respective desks, gloria realized the noise she was hearing was the rumbling of her stomach. she hadn't eaten

eakfast and was starving.

before leaving the floor, gloria had a quick word with walter to let him know she was going to lunch. barely lifting his head from the documents in front of him, walter gave gloria a thumbs up to acknowledge he'd heard her.

stopping quickly at hermione's door, gloria asked if she could

ing her back something from food services.

hermione thanked gloria, but declined. food could wait. she had more important things on her mind

/*/

hermione made a trip to the ladies and to the kitchens. with a large cup of white tea at her elbow, hermione was in the midst of documenting case histories and notes for several low profile cases which she felt could be plea bargained out when terry passed her door on his way back from lunch.

gloria's comments had riled hermione, and she wanted to address them with terry straightaway. he could be ridiculous at times, even a bit arrogant, but intentionally disrespectful, she thought not. she wanted to hear what he had to say about the matter.

after giving terry a few moments to get himself settled, hermione headed to his office.

"good lunch terry?" asked hermione as she closed his office door.

"it was hermione. thank you. you've shut the door. i feel as though i'm in for a scolding."

ignoring terry's last comments, hermione took a seat. she didn't want to accuse terry, but she needed to get to the heart of the matter.

"i've had a conversation with gloria."

at the mention of gloria's name, terry put down what he had in his hand and looked directly at hermione. "is this about her contention that i've acted in a condescending or disrespectful manner? come on hermione. she's joining the big league. she has to learn not to take every comment to heart. she'll get worse from defense attorneys."

hermione was growing annoyed with terry, but managed to keep her composure. he was sitting in front of her nonchalantly admitting to harassing a colleague. the worst part was he didn't see anything wrong with his behavior. handled the wrong way, the situation could throw the office into turmoil. however, not addressing it would set an unacceptable precedent.

"let me see if i understand this," hermione replied curtly. "you work with one of the top female prosecutors in london who has proven herself quite capable, yet you sit there again implying gloria cannot measure up. i say again because we've just had a conversation about your thoughtless remarks when speaking about gloria. what is your problem with her?"

terry, who thought he'd made his position clear had stiffened at hermione's tone and replied with an acid tone of his own. "are you really chastising me like i'm some naughty little boy over my personal opinion?"

hermione snapped back. "this isn't about any bloody personal opinion. your remarks stopped being personal opinions when you chose to be disrespectful and condescending to a colleague in front of others. who asked you to be chief critic? it certainly wasn't me. would you be this disparaging if our newest prosecutor was a wizard?"

terry was now as annoyed as hermione. perhaps he had been a bit too vocal when addressing gloria in front of others, but he was frustrated over all the fuss. he couldn't believe hermione would even think he was biased against women. he'd been there at the start of granger & associates supporting and encouraging her. terry felt her accusation was unconscionable.

"i'm not now, and have never been prejudiced against witches who are qualified to take a rightful place in the professional world, and i resent your insinuation," terry blustered. "accuse me of anything else, but not that. whether witch or wizard, i have an issue with a person who has been handed nothing but accolades and walks around with her nose in the air as though she's accomplished something. respect is not given hermione. it is earned. after gloria has a few well executed cases under her belt, she'll get my respect, not before. i will apologize for being verbally a

asive. it was uncalled for. however, you might want to clarify that she's nothing more than one of the common folk until she becomes the superstar you make her out to be. maybe you should tone down the praise a bit."

terry's words sunk in instantly causing hermione to recoil as though he'd slapped her. she had been overly generous with the praise because she liked gloria and wanted to see her do well. but at what cost? terry was at fault, but so was she. she had given gloria the big build up. what she saw as self confidence, terry and maybe others saw gloria's behavior as unearned entitlement.

now that she understood, hermione felt like an arse. she had put the cart before the horse by singing the praises and extolling the virtues of an untried prosecutor which had unwittingly undermined the hard work of others. for the sake of truth and harmony, she obviously had to correct her mistake.

/*/

terry apologized to hermione on the spot and agreed to apologize to gloria as well. it was now up to her to rectify the situation.

"thank you for your apology terry. i owe you and justin an apology as well. i let myself become sidetracked by an overwhelming personal matter. i took my eyes off the big picture, but was comfortable knowing you and justin were my eyes and ears. i'm disappointed neither of you came to me to voice your concerns. in the future, i expect to be your first stop if something of this nature arises again. i'm now aware of the issue, so i'll correct it. you, justin, gloria and i will sit down this afternoon to get it sorted. please inform the others we are meeting at 5:15 in the conference room. i'll see you then."

terry was relieved. he really had nothing against gloria, but felt a meeting was needed to clear the air. as hermione stood to leave, terry apologized a second time for his behavior and assured her he would get the conference room set up for 5:15.

hermione nodded and left the office.

/*/

theo watched cely leave esther's room and decided it was as good a time as any to have a discussion with his aunt. he wanted to disclose what he'd paid conor byrne to do as well as what he planned for the future.

/*/

when theo knocked on the door, esther called out an invitation for him to enter.

theo mentally smiled as he stepped into the sweet smelling room. "i see you've taken my advice about a sweet smelling area being more welcoming than a foul smelling one. well done. i would like to share some news about declan which i hope might offer a different perspective on your relationship with him."

a different perspective? esther only had one perspective. the child of rape and incest was coming to london and she would have to adjust.

esther didn't have any idea what theo meant, so she remained silent.

"as you know," continued theo. "declan was sent to live with the byrne family which included the matriarch and two sons, mick and conor. with the passing of their mother, conor took responsibility for seeing to declan. however, because he is currently employed in the us, conor is unable to properly care for declan."

esther knew about the byrne family. just the other day she'd read through some of the paperwork that had been long gathering dust in her desk. they appeared to be a caring, loving family.

theo hadn't stopped talking and his voice

ought esther out of her reverie.

"i've been in contact with conor."

esther began to fidget.

"i've sent him a great deal of galleons to, shall we say, correct declan's history. the boy will not arrive in london thinking himself a pariah. the new history as told to him by conor byrne contains new facts. declan will be received as the son of a witch who died during the second wizarding war, and a wizard who had gone off to war never knowing his witch was pregnant."

reaching into his inside pocket, theo pulled out a magical photo of a dark haired, dark eyed lad. theo handed the photo to esther who reluctantly reached out then immediately handed it back after one quick glance.

although declan was a handsome, normal looking child, esther couldn't find the words to offer a compliment. just because the boy took a nice photo didn't mean he wasn't as mad as his father/uncle. nott, sr. had been a handsome wizard, but as evil, cruel and mad as his master. good looks were not enough to make esther coo over the boy.

theo gave esther a sharp look as he returned the photo to his inside pocket. "you will remember what we discussed esther," snapped an annoyed theo. "practice if you must, but you will be civil and cordial to declan when he arrives, or i will revoke your privileges at gringotts and leave you to survive on your own."

esther knew theo was a man of his word. if she couldn't

ing herself to accept her son, she would be out on her arse, and that was unacceptable. "it's unsettling to see the result of rape…."

"stop your whining," shouted theo, still annoyed with the witch in front of him. "i've just told you. declan has a new life story. he is not a child of rape and incest. he is a child of love who had the unfortunate luck to be born during a terrible time in wizarding history. as far as declan knows, he was sent away so he would be safe from the devils who were trying to take over our world. one more point i'd like to make, and i suggest you sear it into your memory. i have completed paperwork which clearly states i am the father who just recently learned of his son's existence, and you are his great aunt."

esther froze. her son would arrive in london as theo's son. theo was clever, cunning and deceitful, but even he might not be able to pull off such a switch. because of the granger witch, most of theo's close friends knew about declan, and the rest hadn't ever heard theo speak of a child.

a feeling of inadequacy suddenly washed over esther. here she sat whining and wailing about her lot in life even as theo was willing to accept her son as his own. she was a weak, despicable woman.

esther found herself trying to hold back sobs. "you don't have to do that theo. i have promised to accept my son, and i will. don't upend your life and reputation on mine and declan's account. with your assistance, he and i will manage."