Warnings: This story is set in an Alternate Universe, this means things are different. Don't assume anything. This story is rated M for mature language, explicit sexual scenes, and dark themes. It's weird and heavy with angst, but with a happy ending. Don't like it? Don't read.
Seriously - it's a weird and strange story. Please don't review/PM me and ask me to change it? It's my story, don't like it? Don't. Read. It.

This is my attempt to play around with perspectives.

This is the Prologue, you know that bit that comes before the story? It's different. The story is not told from the same perspective.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The Healer and The Lawyer

Prologue

Do you believe all the things you read?

Maybe you ought to take a second look.

Well it all started with a Healer and a Lawyer.

War was tough, and somehow no one realized how much harder it was to live with yourself after said war was over. The Healer, a brilliant and respected man in his field, had been on the wrong side of that war, many years ago. People had argued for him of course, said he was just a child. He had been influenced negatively. He had grown up in the wrong setting. Give him a second chance they cried. Especially after he had served time in prison for his wrong doings, though his sentence was shortened considerably when they took into account his age and family background.

The Healer had gone back to school after his prison time was served, his marks were excellent, and he was accepted into a Healer's program at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. He was great with a wand but even better with a cauldron his mentors quickly realized. He had a knack for brewing and they decided to help him get into the Potion's Master Program, an elite and study intensive Program that took someone who knew someone who knew someone in order to even apply. The effort, however, was worth it. After all, when the staff of Healers at the hospital had more certifications, that brought in more money. Of course, money wasn't the reason behind the potion. But it played its role like everything else does.

The Healer continued his work, first exceeding in getting his Masters in Potions, then using his old family wealth to better the community, much to the displeasure of his widowed Father, another Wrong-Sider. It was a lot of work, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. But the Healer knew it was worth it. His Father had driven their good family name into the ground, taking the Healer's Youth with him. And the Healer would be damned if that family name would only become a sad story eventually forgotten by the wizarding world. So he did it, amid the hours and hours of studying, the challenges of being a Wrong-Sider, and the long hourly workload of being a Healer, well, the Healer chose to succeed instead of fail.

He went to the charity balls, the galas, the public events. He smiled and said the right things to the Right-Siders. He moved on from the echoes of war, echoes he avoided by staying away from his childhood home, even if he couldn't avoid them out in the war torn world he lived in. Even his own body seemed a large cavern those echoes could never escape. Eventually they dulled, faded to the background, and he went on. He went on. To working with patients, working with staff, making a better name for himself as the years passed. In a few instances, just to keep up with media and the public, he even went on a few dates, making sure to flash a smile at the cameras. People didn't forget about the war, but they began to glaze over the fact that he was a Wrong-Sider in a Right-Sider world. But still… they didn't forget.

And that fact, that fact, more than anything the Healer had been through, more than the death of his Mother, more than his prejudiced Father, more than the hurt of being a Wrong-Sider, more than the struggles of trying to be a good wizard, that fact more than anything else, is what started the Healer down the path towards discovering the potion.

Now, the Lawyer. She was a Right-Sider through and through. Even better, she was one of the first Right-Siders, one of the few that were Right before people realized there was a Right and a Wrong. Even at a young age, she knew where she stood(The Right Side), knew who she stood with(The Right Siders), and refused to see it any other way. The Brightest Witch of Her Age, they called her. Even if she was a bit clumsy from time to time. Smart and logical, and so very brave, she didn't see the world in blacks or whites. She didn't accept when people said "This is how it is!". She fought for beings who weren't capable of fighting for themselves and she didn't do it for profit. She didn't do it for fame either, though eventually she had plenty of both. She fought for what she thought was right, and with that stunningly brilliant head on her shoulders, she was generally right about what exactly was right.

The Lawyer was hurt, physically and emotionally, during the war. And after… much worse had happened. Though she handled it all with her head held high, the picture of grace and courage and bravery. She wielded her wand with precision, battling against the Wrong-Siders until the very end, supporting her friends even until they had long lost hope. And there, at the very end, the Wrong-Siders thought were on the right side, and the Right-Siders thought they had lost finally… well they won. It worked out.

The Lawyer emerged with her friends, the Hero and the Soldier, and together they helped rebuild their broken, sad, war-torn world. It was a lifetime commitment and the Lawyer started by going back to school to finish her education. She even brushed paths with the Healer from time to time, but they had been on opposite sides for too long and childhood hatreds ran too deep. She got excellent marks and graciously accepted a position working at a firm within the Ministry of Magic, and slowly, ever so slowly, she began to sow the seeds of the future she envisioned.

With a case here, a case there, she worked to get rights to creatures other than wizards, who had for too long considered themselves the best of their world. She worked the system and with her Government Officials to bring legislation that not only helped the Ministry run more efficiently, but worked for the people instead of against them. Things weren't perfect, not by any means.

Politics were still dirty, people still had differing ideas on how society should be run.
But the Lawyer made a difference and at the end of the day, she loved doing her job. Burying herself in her work and research until there was hardly any time left for much else, like remembering the hurts of the war. Though she made sure to spend time with her friends, the Hero and the Soldier, she knew her job was important and that logical brain of hers convinced her to spend little time on little else. As one of the faces of the Right-Siders she made sure to make a public appearance here and there, smiling for the cameras, saying the right things to the right people at the charities and the galas. Especially those that benefited her work.

And sometimes, she even ran into the Healer. Though they tried to be cordial towards one another, it rarely ended in smiles. Their meetings only served to remind the Lawyer of the things she wanted to forget. Even with all the good she had done over the years, even with the hope of a strong future, even with that logical brain trying its best to convince her overly large heart that the war was over and it had all been worth it, she wanted to forget. Forget the pain, the death, the loss of her childhood.

So when a file slipped onto the Lawyer's desk one day, expressing the need to define the legality between a Memory Altering Potion and a new potion, created by a genius potion brewer and Healer at St. Mungo's, that hadn't been given a proper name yet. But the intent of the potion was clear: it made you forget.

The Lawyer scoffed, and swallowed her feelings when she read the name at the top of the paper.

Who would purposely want to… forget… oh… but the possibility was planted in that brain of hers and she couldn't ignore it. It was discussed heavily once the paper got a hold of the news. At family dinners and in the break room at the offices. At the school and down Diagon Alley. Why not just Obliviate ourselves, some cried. What was the difference between the Memory Charm and the potion, people demanded. We need to remember, others insisted. Those who studied History swore it was our duty to remember, lest we make the same mistakes again and again. The media scrambled to put out anything on the major issue, turning up as much information as they could.

But though the patent was filed and the Lawyer was researching into it, both at work and at home, there hadn't been steps taken towards producing the potion, nor advertising it. It had barely even been tested to the extent of being Approved, yet the population was nearly divided again, and it was no longer Right-Siders and Wrong-Siders. Some wanted the potion, though what exactly it did that was different from Obliviate hadn't been made clear by any means. The others wanted to remember the war, to honor the fallen and the sacrifices and the mistakes. It was chaos.

So on a bright but cloudy Autumn morning, the Lawyer bucked up and went to St. Mungo's, knocking firmly on the hard wooden door inscribed in bold black letters the name of her childhood enemy, wanting to get to the bottom of what exactly this potion did. The thick door opened revealing a tall and slender blonde headed figure. The Healer had pale, pale skin, and even paler blonde hair, so pale it was almost white. Almost. Though his eyes were a warm grey that broke up the paleness and stood out dramatically and his Healer's robes were a bright yellow that went well on his good posture, posture ingrained since he was a child, raised by the Elite of their society. It annoyed the Lawyer, but she wouldn't be phased. She had opened her mouth, her well recited speech on the tip of her tongue when he simply said her name. Her first name. And invited her in to talk matters over as if they hadn't been enemies since the day they met. His aristocratic voice grated on her skin, his assumption in using her first name annoyed her further, but she had come with a purpose.

"Tell me, what were you thinking filing the Patent for this potion? It doesn't even seem ready." Right to the point, the Lawyer didn't want to be there any longer than necessary.

He ignored her bluntness, instead gesturing mannerly to the chair in front of a sturdy, and surely expensive, solid wood desk with rich detailed curved legs, all polished to a crisp blackness that screamed elegance. He sat down, his back straight as a rod and gazed at her, as if he were trying to figure out the exact amount of wheels that made her mind turn.

"Is this how you always get your way in court? Straight to the point?" The faintest of sneers showed at the corners of his mouth, though she had the impression he might've been impressed by her bluntness.

"Some points need to be dragged out until I get my way, this matter however I believe straight to the point is the way to go, with the media in a frenzy as it is..."

"Very well, then I'll be straight forward in return. I did not file the patent. Nor was the potion ready when the patent was filed." He shrugged and gently folded his hands together on the top of his desk, which was well organized and clutter free.

The Lawyer wasted no time in bringing out her paperwork, noting the date the patent was filed (the 12th of August, year 2015), and grabbing her Quick Quill and setting it to begin recording everything that was said.

"Say it again then, you did not file the patent to begin with? And the potion was not ready at the time the patent was filed?"

"That is correct."

"That's not unusual for the patent to be filed before the invention is completed, but if you didn't file the patent-" she pulled out the original file. "Who did? It's signed with your name."

Before he could respond, the Lawyer brought out her wand, tapping the page with a wordless wave and they both watched as the signed name at the bottom turned into another.

"The Head of my department." The Healer informed the Lawyer before she could ask. "Though it hardly matters. It is my potion, I take responsibility for it. I have the credentials."

A single eyebrow raised, the Lawyer pushed a new patent form and a fresh Needs-No-Ink Quill towards him and notarized it once it was signed with his name.

The Healer continued, "And yes the potion was not ready at the time the first patent was filed."

"And now?"

A quick smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's in the stages of testing."

"So you can tell me here and now in an official capacity what your potion does? Because I've read more about this thing than anyone else and I still can't tell you the answer to that." More forms, an official statement, more signatures followed.

And bickering.

Then the Healer led the Lawyer through the other door in his office, the Quick Quills following closely, a door that opened to a clean, well stocked potion laboratory. She tucked her paperwork safely in her briefcase, a briefcase charmed to protect it's contents from getting wet or destroyed in any way and finally looked up to see the Healer gently pulling the lid from a small cauldron. A stream of rose colored smoke rose from the cauldron in a slow, creeping tendril.

"A selective Forgetful Potion, targets unpleasant memories, experiences, emotions, facts, and even opinions. A good bit of charm work is required to brew this potion and as the creator, I believe it should be highly regulated and offered only to those who need it. Such as trauma victims."

"That could still be opened to a wide interpretation…" The Lawyer said slowly, her brain screaming that this potion should be illegal as any Unforgivable. But the beaten, war damaged child inside was pleading, begging, screaming for a taste, just a small one. Relief from the echoes of war were just a fingertip away.

"True. But that's why you're here, no?"

She nodded, and then said, "Why did you show it to me? That was… unnecessary. You should have said... " Because now she wanted it. Even as logic ruled she was safe, and no such potion should be brought to the public, even as it told her the war was over and done with but still needed to be remembered.

The Healer turned to the Lawyer. "Because I need a lawyer on my side. I cannot get live trials going because of the very nature of this potion, and I cannot go any further without live trials."

Her Quick Quills was scribbling away, recording every word he said. But a debate was going on inside her head. Live trials? She didn't want this potion to be a thing, and yet she wanted to taste the sweet smelling potion that rested not even a foot away from her, the smoky tendrils practically beckoning her to come closer.

"What makes you think I would help you?" she asked slowly.

And then that ever so infamous smirk lit up his face. "The potion is red, that means… you want it. You want to taste it, taste it and forget. If you didn't want it, it would be blue. A little security feature I added so it would never be administered to an unwilling patient."

The Lawyer processed his words, her cheeks turning ever so pink with embarrassment. The Healer had been in Slytherin, of course he tricked her into getting information she would never have given up.

"Smart." She said, instead of beating him with the back end of her briefcase.

"So I've been told." Was his cool reply. Though it lacked the arrogance he carried when they were children.

"It was red when you opened the lid." She ventured out.

The lab was silent for several seconds. "I would take it in a heartbeat." The Healer admitted finally.

"The legality of this… I… the paperwork alone... " The Lawyer's brain jumped into overdrive, immediately making a list of the one hundred things she suddenly had to do. Because she couldn't deny what she wanted, when he had so easily tricked her into the information. The question remained whether she should.

"Yes… it'll be a clusterfuck I'm sure."

"Watch your language." She snapped at the Healer.

He ignored her and instead said, "That's why I asked for you."

"Me? A Muggle-Born?"

"You, the Brightest Witch of Her Age and the best Lawyer around."

"You flatter me."

"It's the truth."

To say he surprised her would be an understatement, the idea that this Wrong-Sider thought so highly of her… she shivered. And quite suddenly saw him in a different light. The amount of good they could do with this potion put him in that light and the faintest of appreciation made itself known at the edge of her mind.

But she had no time to think on it, as she turned slightly to open her briefcase, The Lawyer known for being a bit clumsy from time to time(or maybe it was fate shoving the poor witch), knocked the small cauldron with just the smallest of bumps. It would have easily regained it's own balance but in a panic, the Healer jumped with a jolt to wrap his thin arms around the fat cauldron and in his haste knocked it completely from its stand and brought both of them crashing to the floor, the smoky red potion falling over their faces and arms, and the flying cauldron banging harshly against the Lawyer's head with a loud noise.

Groaning, somehow suddenly on the floor and feeling soaked to her very bones, the Lawyer turned her aching head towards the other person in the room. The taste of smoke and earth roots and roses and something completely sour like bad milk but not quite filled her mouth and she had the horrible idea that she may have been bleeding from all over her face, something thick and red filling her eyes. She tried to sit up and help the other person, not really remembering what happened to begin with. She caught the blurry vision of him or was it a her? A pale head covered in red she realized. He/she was bleeding too!

But as quickly as she thought it, it was fading from her memory.

"Noo!" A person right next to her screamed and she hadn't the faintest idea where he… or maybe a she had come from and they might have been bleeding and why did her head hurt so terribly?

"Don't think of anything you don't want to forget!" A person she hadn't noticed screamed at her and jolted her with fear. Her head was hurting an awful lot and what did they mean by not thinking of anything she wanted to forget or not forgot or… ? She realized the other person was Dra- her head was pounding. And she thought randomly of having a bad hangover after her dear friend's birthday party and why couldn't she remember his name? He was too important… he was everything to her… it was just a few months ago - and going to the Ministry the day after with a headache - and … she couldn't possibly forget -

The Healer grabbed the Lawyer, yelling at her not to forget him even as he fought the same battle, he tried not to think of the things he wanted to remember, but that in turn made him think of the very things he shouldn't have. Like this potion. Like his Mother. Like all his work and how no one, not a single person was going to be able to fix this. He saw the exact moment the potion took root in the Lawyer and then she was no longer a Lawyer. Her face going slack as she sunk to the ground unconscious. It was exactly 5 seconds later that he felt his own body surrender to the potion, feeling completely desperate and then so suddenly nothing as he slipped into unconsciousness.

It was several hours later when hospital staff found the Lawyer who was no longer a Lawyer and the Healer who was no longer a Healer.

Remember what I said?

Were you paying attention?