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Chapter Text

Claudia opened her eyes and glanced at the little alarm clock on her bedside table. It was barely five in the morning. With a sigh, she turned over and watched her sleeping boyfriend’s chest rising peacefully with each breath, hoping that it might send her back to sleep. It did not.

She turned back and looked at the clock again. It was now a quarter past.

Claudia tossed around for twenty more minutes before finally giving up. She made coffee, then took a shower and put on her new work clothes - black tailored trousers, brogues, and a lilac button-up shirt. Despite her upbringing, she was not one for formal robes.

She paced around the apartment fully dressed, occasionally taking a sip of her second cup of coffee, trying to read some book, washing the dishes, and eating a tasteless piece of toast… Nothing helped to distract her. She still felt more on edge than ever.

Trying to keep herself busy, she heard a slight noise from the bedroom. She looked through the open door and saw Sirius sitting up in bed and yawning. “Nervous much?” He asked sarcastically.

“Sure. Mock me!” Claudia scoffed. “What if it’s horrible? What if it’s boring? What if I mess something up?” she manically hurled out her anxieties and took another sip of coffee. “It’s been my dream for years!”

Sirius got up from their bed, walked over to his girlfriend and took the coffee mug out of her hands. “How much of this have you had?” he chuckled when he looked inside.

“Not enough,” she said and reached to get it back.

“Absolutely not,” Sirius laughed and lifted the mug high above her head. “I don’t want you to combust spontaneously,” he added and brought the coffee to his own lips.

Claudia looked at him menacingly as he drank it.

“You’re going to be brilliant,” he whispered once he finished, sounding rather earnest for a change.

Claudia gave him a meek smile before checking her watch again. “I should go. I don’t want to be late.”

“It’s not even seven!” he smirked.

“I’ll walk.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“You’re just coming to make sure I have no more coffee on the way,” she rolled her eyes, as she watched him dive back to the bedroom and pick up a t-shirt from the floor.

Soon, they set off from their flat in Gower Mews towards the Ministry of Magic.

“What are you going to do today?” she asked just as they were about to cross Shaftesbury Avenue.

“Waiting for Dumbledore’s owl, like every bloody day,” Sirius mumbled. When their former Headmaster recruited them and their friends into his secret organisation, he said he would be in touch soon. But it had been four weeks since they left Hogwarts and they heard nothing.

“I’m sure it’ll come any day,” Claudia whispered, more in hope than expectation.  

They walked around central London for a good half an hour before it started to rain, and they went to hide in the Leaky Cauldron.

“Coffee?” the barkeeper asked as he approached their table with a steaming pot.

“We’ll have tea,” Sirius jumped in before Claudia had time to say a word. When he saw her frown, he laughed. “You know, some people like it when their partner orders for them.”

“I’m not some people,” she mumbled and opened a copy of the Daily Prophet that was lying on the table, hoping that the papers might keep her mind off things. “Don’t you dare do it again,” she added with a chuckle.

The smile was wiped from her face when she read the front-page headline, which read:

‘MUGGLE-BORN CRIME ON THE RISE?’

Claudia shuffled her chair closer to Sirius’ and opened the papers properly in front of both of them. They huddled over it.

‘A muggleborn wizard was found guilty of torching an apothecary and destroying the livelihood of his well-respected neighbours. This is just the latest in a series of violent crimes committed by muggleborns. Is there a link? Is their magic ability making muggleborns unstable? Find out in the special issue of the Daily Prophet next month!’

“Such bullshit,” Sirius said before Claudia even finished the first paragraph. “I just don’t get how they can get away with printing garbage like this.”

“Because people read it,” she sighed and looked at her watch. “I need to go. Really don’t want to be late on my first day.”

They said a brief goodbye and at twenty past eight, Claudia was standing in a telephone box, ready to use the public entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Once in the atrium, she walked up to the front desk.

“Today is my first day.” Claudia blurted out toward a blond witch that was manning the reception desk. “I was supposed to come at half eight.”

“Name and wand, please?” the witch asked without lifting her head from her papers.

“Claudia Lavinia Avery.” Claudia replied and handed over her wand.

“Make?”

“Cedar with dragon heartstring.”

The receptionist took the wand and put in on tiny golden scales, before looking through a thick folder. “There you are,” she said finally, reached into a drawer and pulled out a golden badge, which she handed over to Claudia. “Take this – it will get you access to the right bits of the building - and wait over there for Mr Barraclough.” She added, pointing towards a waiting area.

Claudia walked across the atrium as instructed, paying no attention to anything else other than the gleaming golden badge, which read:

Claudia L Avery

Rank: Trainee Auror

Service No: 079 226

She barely noticed that there was someone else already standing in the waiting area.

“First day”? they mumbled.

“Yeah.” Claudia whispered and looked up to see that the person talking to her was Hugo Green, the former Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. “With the Auror office.”

“Me too.” Green mumbled.

They stood around awkwardly and waited. Despite being in the same year at Hogwarts, they barely knew each other. Or rather, they knew and liked each other about as well as the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch captains would.

After five minutes of awkwardness, Claudia was hugely relieved to see a familiar face. Frank Longbottom, her best friend’s boyfriend and a fully-fledged auror, was slowly walking towards them.

“Are you Hugo Green?” he asked and, seeing Green nod, continued. “You’re on my team, so come with me.”

“Am I on your team too?” Claudia asked.

“I don’t think so,” Frank replied. “Didn’t the receptionist say who was supposed to pick you up?”

“Can’t quite remember, sorry,” Claudia shrugged nervously. “Barrymore?”

“Barraclough?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, boy.” Frank whispered. “Come with us, I can take you up.” He added, turned on his heel and began walking towards the lifts unusually briskly.

“Oh, boy?” Claudia ran after him. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Frank avoided her gaze. “Look, the lift is here.”

Frank launched into an elaborate explanation of how the Ministry’s lifts worked and continued to ignore Claudia’s badgering about the mysterious Barraclough.

“Your office’s through there,” Frank said when they were half-way down the second-floor corridor. “Green and I are further that way. And good luck.” He added and was gone before Claudia could reply.

She took a deep breath and stuck her head through the door. There were four men huddled over something in the corner of the room. One of them noticed her and shushed everyone else. They all turned and stared at her without saying a word.

“Hello,” she finally managed to whisper. “I’m Claudia.”

“You lost, sweetheart?” asked a young man. He had slick brown hair and was very handsome. And obviously knew it.

“No,” she replied, frowning slightly. She hated being called a ‘sweetheart’.

“Claudia Avery?” barked another man before she had a chance to elaborate. “How did you get here? You were supposed to wait for me downstairs.” He had a square face, stocky built, and light brown hair that was falling just over his ears.

“Longbottom picked me up,” Claudia said defensively. “I take it I’m in the right place.”

The square-faced man did not move a muscle. “I’m Barraclough,” he finally introduced himself.

“This is Dankworth,” he pointed at the handsome man who spoke first.

“Adebayo,” he waved towards a black man in his thirties.

“And Fernsby,” he finally pointed at a younger man with a high ponytail. The sides of his head were shaved, and he had an eyebrow piercing.

“Avery, you said?” Fernsby grumbled and shook his head. “Fucking fantastic,” he added and picked up a leather jacket from the chair. “I’m out of here.”

They all watched in silence as Fernsby walk out of the office. Then, Barraclough, Adebayo and Dankworth returned to their mysterious object, and began talking again in hushed voices.

Claudia stood rooted in the middle of the room, watching them. This is not how she imagined her first day in the Auror Office going. She had no idea what she was supposed to do and, given how well the last five minutes just went, did not dare interrupt them and ask.

“Are you Claudia?” she heard a gentle voice behind her. “Let me get you settled.”

Claudia turned around and saw a pretty, young, blond woman smiling at her. She had not been this pleased to see a human being for a long time, if ever.

“I’m Primrose,” the women added. “And I look after these clowns. Let’s get your paperwork.”

Primrose led Claudia to the Auror Office administrators to sign her contract. Then, they went to pick up her uniform – a long black coat with the Auror Office logo in silver embroidery. Within the hour, they were back in the office.

“Take the coat off before the boss sees you.” Barraclough mumbled even before she was through the door. “He doesn’t let us wear them. Civilian clothes only.”

“The boss?” Claudia asked.

“Alastor Moody,” Barraclough said. Claudia was getting the sense that he was not one for using unnecessary words. “He isn’t in this morning. Should be back later.”

“Constant vigilance.” Dankworth added in a theatrical and slightly deeper tone. “It’s like wearing target on your back.”

“But doesn’t that get you into trouble?” Claudia asked. She quite liked the coat and did not fancy taking it off just yet.

“Trouble.” Someone snorted from the direction of the door. Fernsby was back.

“Your desk is over there,” Primrose pointed towards a corner of the room. It was tiny and covered in boxes. “I’ll help you clear it out,” she added somewhat bitterly and shot the other aurors an annoyed look.

“Alastor Moody is in charge of this lot. He’s an inspector,” Primrose explained. “Barraclough and Adebayo are Senior Aurors. And Dankworth and Fernsby are just plain old Aurors.”

“And I’m the bottom of the food-chain,” Claudia smirked. “Got it.”

Once Claudia’s desk was clear and she finally managed to sit down, Barraclough came over and dumped an enormous pile of papers in front of her. “Read these and summarised them in a report. Want it on my desk tomorrow afternoon.”

Claudia dived into the paperwork. As far as she could see, the papers related to six separate cases – ranging from minor misdemeanours, muggle harassment, to more serious cases of theft and suspected use of the Imperius curse. She found an old quill in the desk drawer and wrote up a quick summary of each of the cases on a piece of paper. Then, she began sorting the documents into six separate piles.

“Hey, how is the first day?” Claudia heard a familiar voice and looked up. The round face of her best friend Alice Adler was smiling down at her. “How’s the team?” she added and grimaced. Claudia was not sure whether her face was projecting pity or worry. Possibly both.

Claudia looked around to check who was within earshot. “You tell me,” she hissed.

Alice giggled nervously. “Come to the pub tonight. We can chat more.”

“I’ll see when I can get out of here,” Claudia sighed and pointed at the piles of papers in front of her.

Alice patted her on the back and vanished again.

Not an hour later, Claudia was on her way back from the bathroom when she noticed Dankworth grinning at her.

“What?” she sighed.

“The boss is back, sweetheart,” he smirked and pointed towards a door positioned in the corner of the office that Dankworth and the others occupied. It was clearly a separate room, just for Inspector Moody. “You should go and introduce yourself. He’s expecting you.”

Claudia walked over to the door, full of anticipation of meeting her new boss, knocked and entered.

She scanned the office but could not see her inspector anywhere. It was terribly messy. Papers, clothes and random objects were scattered everywhere. Suddenly, a gigantic pile of brown clothes moved, making Claudia jump.

“What do you want?” a man’s growl echoed through the office. “Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m just here to-“

“Get out!” the man yelled, interrupting her.

Claudia backed out of the office as fast as she could, horrified. When she shut the door behind her, her eyes landed on Dankworth and Fernsby who were both in stitches. Even Adebayo raised a corner of his mouth, although he at least had the decency to pretend he was not finding it funny.

“Bastards,” Claudia whispered under her breath.

Moody had not emerged from his office all day. Claudia was relieved. She hid behind the paperwork and counted down the minutes. At six, Adebayo took mercy on her and sent her home. The others were already long gone.

Claudia had never been more relieved to see Alice than that evening in the Leaky Cauldron. She dropped into the seat next to her, and Alice passed her a drink.

“Good day?” Alice asked tentatively.

Claudia shook her head and drained her drink. “What have I done,” she mumbled and scanned the pub. Dankworth, Fernsby, and Barraclough were all in the pub too, sitting alone. Fernsby got his feet up on a free chair.

A colleague of Alice noticed Claudia was looking in their direction. “They’re right assholes,” he mumbled. “Thinking just because they work for Moody, they are the dog’s bollocks.”

“Who’s Moody?” Green asked.

“Just the best auror of all times, a legend,” Alice’s colleague replied. “As mad as a box of frogs, but brilliant.”

Claudia remembered the cloaked men on the sofa. He did not seem especially legendary to her. Or brilliant.

Alice’s colleague was on a roll. “That team though, all assholes. I was assigned there when I first started. I lasted three weeks, which is about as long as anyone manages,” he paused and look at Claudia, his eyes were full of pity. “You can ask for a transfer, you know. There is no shame in that.”

Before Claudia could say anything, Alice chuckled. “Right. That would be a first.”

“What would be a first?” Claudia hissed.

“You giving up.” Alice whispered so that only her friend could hear her. It made Claudia laugh a little.

“I’m exhausted,” Claudia sighed. “I’m going to go home.”

“I’ll come with you,” Alice mumbled. “I need the walk and can apparate from there.”

They walked out of the pub together. When they were squeezing past the table where Claudia’s delightful colleagues sat, there was a lot of sniggering. She could swear she heard the words ‘pureblood princess’ coming out of Fernsby’s mouth.

“I’ll show you who’s a fucking princess.” Claudia muttered to herself and left the pub in a huff.

“How’s Sirius?” Alice asked casually when they were walking up Charing Cross Road towards Gower Mews. Alice tried to sound casual, but Claudia noticed a slight edge in her voice. Something was not right.

“Bored,” Claudia sighed. “He’s fixing that damned motorbike he found in the garage,” she added, remembering the pile of metal that came with Sirius’ flat. A pile of metal that was allegedly going to come together in the form of a functioning motorcycle. “Hopefully Dumbledore will be in touch soon. Otherwise, Sirius will implode.”

“Has he not said anything, yet?” Alice inquired.

“No. I promise I’ll tell you.” Claudia shook her head.

“And put a word in for me?” Alice said with a cheeky smile. They walked for a while in silence.

“How’s Frank?” Claudia asked automatically, but then remembered that she had seen him earlier that day. “Actually, tell him he could have warned me earlier. About what my team is like.”

“You’ll probably see him before I do.” Alice frowned slightly. The unusual edge was back in her voice.

“Everything ok?”

“How do you trust Sirius?” Alice said instead of replying.

“I don’t know,” Claudia shrugged. “I just do. Can tell when he’s hiding something from me.” She paused, remembering how weird Sirius was acting when he was keeping the fact Remus was a werewolf from her. “It works both ways, though. I can’t lie to him either.”

“Yeah,” Alice sighed. “It’s not hard to tell something’s wrong, is it?”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” Alice mumbled and looked away. “Frank’s been bit distant lately, that’s all. Anyway, I should go.” She added. They were nearly at the flat.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come up?” Claudia asked.

Alice shook her head. “Goodnight,” she whispered, walked into a dark alleyway and apparated.

Claudia made her way home. When she opened the door, she saw Sirius lounging on the sofa and frowning over his motorcycle manual.

“Whole fucking day,” he mumbled, “and the engine still wouldn’t start.”

Claudia crashed into the sofa too and, without a word, sunk into his embrace. He put the book down and kissed her.

“Drinking on the job already?” he smirked as their lips parted.

“My team are a bunch of assholes.”

“What kind of assholes?”

“Do you remember you and James circa three years ago?”

“Oh, that’s…” Sirius squinted. “Bad.”

“They’re about ten times worse,” Claudia sighed. When she saw Sirius was chuckling, she shot him an annoyed look. “Yeah, it’s hilarious,” she barked.

“You’ll be fine,” Sirius replied casually and kissed her again. “You’re very good at handling assholes.”

Claudia had to smile. “Did you spend all day on the bike?” she asked, her mood improving.

“Pretty much,” he shrugged. “And James stopped by, needed help with something.”

“What is he up to?”

“Never mind that… Dinner?”

They ate some weekend leftovers, and Claudia recounted every detail of her first day in the Auror Office. That night, she did not have any trouble sleeping again. She was shattered.

The following morning, Claudia started where she left off the night before. She found an old display board in the storage cabinet and dragged it next to her desk. She pinned all her notes on it and then began to add more detail about the evidence, the suspects – their physical description, magical signature. It took her two hours before everything was on the board and resembled a giant web. Once she was done, she sat down on her chair and stared at her creation.

There was a suspected break-in at Borgin & Burke, although it was not formally reported by the owners.

A known black-market trader was found stunned. His flat was turned out.

There were reports of some muggles getting harassed in Muswell Hill, London. Use of dark magic was alleged.

This made no sense whatsoever.

Claudia’s time was running out. The report was supposed to be with Barraclough in two hours. And so far, she had nothing.

She squinted at the board again. Muswell Hill sounded familiar. She went back through her notes. That was where the nephew of the shop’s owner lived. Could there be a connection?

Could he be the burglar? Testing whatever was stolen on some unsuspecting muggles?

And the black-market trader. Maybe he was just in the way. Or maybe he was the one who burgled the shop, and the nephew went to get the things back?

“This is so confusing,” Claudia sighed but forced herself to pick up the quill. She was out of time. If she wanted to get that report finished on time, she needed to start writing.

“You done?” Barraclough mumbled the moment he walked through the door, following his lunch break.

“Yes,” Claudia replied and waved the parchment in the air to dry the ink.

Barraclough snatched it out of her hand and skimmed it. “Very well,” he said and dropped it into the tray on Primrose’s desk marked ‘IN’. “The boss will get to it this afternoon.”

Claudia swallowed dry. She went back to sit at her desk and watched as Primrose took all the documents from the in-tray and carried them into Moody’s office.

After an hour or so, which Claudia’s spent glued to her chair with her eyes firmly on Moody’s door, it finally flew open and the legendary auror burst into the room.

“Dankworth, Fernsby!” Moody barked. “Bring the shady bugger that runs Borgin & Burke for questioning. And his nephew too.”

“What charge?” Dankworth asked, as he jumped up from his chair, standing to attention.

“Just a friendly chat. No charge,” Moody’s face twisted in a smirk. “Yet…” He paused, and his magical eye swirled and turned to Claudia. “And take Avery with you.” He added, turned on his heel and slammed his office door shut again.

“Does she really have to come?” Fernsby growled in Barraclough’s direction. “We don’t have time for babysitting.”

“Just once in your life, do as you’re told,” Barraclough mumbled and returned to his paperwork.

Claudia was allowed to tag along for the rest of investigation. It did not last long. The following day, she watched in amazement as Fernsby and Dankworth dismantled the proprietor’s nephew in an interrogation. It transpired that he had hidden an illegal artefact among the store’s merchandise, which was taken when the black-market trader robbed the store. The poor old nephew tried to retrieve it, causing the other offenses along the way.

“Impressed?” Dankworth winked as he and Fernsby left the interrogation room, and the suspect was being led away by officers from the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol.

She was impressed but was not especially keen to give him a confidence boost. He clearly did not need it. “Where are they taking him?” she asked instead.

“Azkaban,” Dankworth explained. “He’ll stay there until we prepare the trial.”

Out of nowhere, Primrose appeared in the door. “You done?” she asked. “Crouch has called a briefing of the whole Auror Office.”

“When does it start?” Dankworth asked.

“Five minutes ago.”

They all followed Primrose briskly, and she led them to the largest courtroom that the Ministry had.

“Who’s Crouch?” Claudia asked Primrose as discreetly as she could.

“Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Department is huge and the Auror Office is part of it.”

They all squeezed in through the door of the courtroom as silently as they could. Barraclough, who was standing near the door, was the only person who noticed them come in. The room was packed, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on a raised platform at the front.

“As I was saying,” a short grey man with a moustache, which Claudia presumed to be Crouch, bellowed from the podium, “from now on, qualified aurors are authorised to use Unforgivable Curses in exceptional circumstances.”

A murmur swept through the courtroom.

“These circumstances include self-defence, but also – importantly – when the adversary poses a severe threat and would get away if only conventional means were used.”

In the crowd, a couple of hands went up.

“I do not have time for questions,” Crouch said. “Your inspectors have been fully briefed and will give you more detail.”

“Great,” Fernsby sighed. “The boss is going to love this…” His tone was full of sarcasm.

“You’ll need to wait to find out for sure,” Barraclough replied. “He’s gone on a mission and won’t be back for few days. However,” he paused and turned to Claudia, “before he left, he said you are to help me with a case we just got.”

“What case?”

“A murder.”

Chapter Text

After five busy days in the Auror Office, Claudia finally got to appreciate what it meant to have a weekend. Sure, some Aurors still worked at the weekends, and her turn would come too, but for now, she was free. On a warm Sunday afternoon, she found herself lounging on a picnic blanket at a packed muggle lido with Sirius, Remus and Peter. They were waiting for James and Lily, who were unusually late, to get there too.

“How’s work?” Remus asked. He, just like Peter and Claudia, was sitting with a t-shirt over his bathing suits and pressing his knees tightly against his chest. Being half-naked in front of hundreds of strangers was not exactly any of their idea of fun. Sirius, on the other hand, was in his element. He was in tight swim trunks and sunglasses, lounging on the ground, his hair in a fashionably high bun. Not a single person could walk by without staring at him.

“Work’s been interesting,” she replied. “There was this case I’ve been working on. The guy who owns Borgin-“ Claudia stopped abruptly when a random girl walked up to their group.

“Do you have a lighter?” she asked in Sirius’ direction, twirling her hair a little around her index finger.

Sirius shook his head. “Sorry. That guy over there does though,” he said, pointing towards a group of young muggle men sitting under a large tree.

The girl hesitated for a moment. “Thanks,” she whispered, and walked away.

Claudia took off the t-shirt she was wearing, which was Sirius’ anyway, and threw it at his head. “Enough, this was the third one,” she laughed. “It’s impossible to have a conversation here.”

Sirius pulled the t-shirt from his face to reveal a cheeky grin. “Prude,” he said, chuckling, and sat up. “Besides, we could talk about something other than the war for a change,” he whispered, and shuffled to sit behind his girlfriend.

As Sirius brushed her shoulder and planted a kiss on the side of her head, Claudia saw Peter nod in agreement. He did not, however, say anything to contradict her directly. Ever since their altercation in the spring, he barely spoke in her presence. She could not work out whether he despised her or feared her. Probably both.

“Want to talk about the motorbike again?” she rolled her eyes at Sirius, not quite able to suppress a chuckle. Before Sirius came up with a comeback, Claudia noticed Remus was staring at her back. Her back that was covered in scars from the attack in sixth year.

“Snape really crossed a line,” Remus mumbled. “These scars look worse than mine.”

Claudia and Sirius looked at each other, the grins wiped off both their faces. It was time to tell the truth.

“About that,” Claudia sighed. “We’ve been meaning to tell you-“

But before either of them had a chance to explain, they were interrupted.

“Hi, guys!” Claudia could hear James’ voice from behind her.

“We have some news,” Lily squealed in an unusually high-pitched voice and outstretched her left arm. On her ring finger was a gleaming diamond ring. “We’re getting married!”

Remus and Peter jumped up to congratulate them, but the other two took a second too long to recover from the memory that haunted them both.

“What’s up with you two?” James frowned when he realised his best friend was not the first one to celebrate.

“Nothing.” Sirius jumped to his feet, clearly not wanting to ruin the announcement. “So happy for you, mate,” he added, and gave James a big hug.

“When is the big day?” Remus asked as they all said down.

“We haven’t had time to talk about it,” Lily looked dreamily at James, reached for his hand and squeezed it. “But probably next summer. So that we have time to plan everything properly.”

“Is there a lot to plan?” James asked somewhat tentatively.

“Well, we need to set a date, find a venue, get invitations.” Lily began. “Then, there is the food, flowers, band, photographer...”

“Do we need all of that?” James winced. “I was kind of thinking we buy some good booze and have a party.”

Lily did not have to answer that, as her face was very clear. They did need all of that. “My mum suggested this hotel in Birmingham where she and dad got married. It’s close to where we live,” Lily said. “It looks quite nice, but I always thought I would want something more rural. Maybe a little manor in the country.” She paused and sighed. “I guess we could have the engagement party in Birmingham to see what it would be like.”

Claudia could see James’ eyes widen. He clearly was not aware that there was to be an engagement party, but did not dare to say another word.

A gigantic cloud covered the sun, and the wind had picked up a little. Claudia could feel little goose bumps forming on her skin. It might have been nearly August, but it was still England.

“You seem to have a pretty good idea what you want,” Claudia smirked. “For someone who hadn’t had time to plan it…”

“My sister and I have been planning our weddings since we were little,” Lily replied. “That’s what girls do,” she added when she saw Claudia had her mouth open to speak again.

“Be nice,” Sirius whispered in her ear and hung his arms over Claudia’s shoulders, so they were now sitting in an embrace.

“Shut up,” she scoffed so quietly that only he could hear her and leaned against his chest. She was warm again.

Claudia tried tuning out the next half an hour as the boys continued to ask all sorts of questions about wedding planning. It reminded her too much of those torturous hours her mother tried to make her spend party planning.

Besides, even if she wanted to concentrate, Sirius was making it impossible. He kept playing with the fastening of her swimsuit, running his fingers up and down her arm, caressing her leg. There were sitting in an embrace, half-naked, their bodies sticky with the thinnest layer of sweat (the sun came out again). There was only one place her mind was ever going to go…

“I’m going for a swim,” she said once she could take neither the wedding planning nor Sirius’ teasing.

“Please don’t go,” her boyfriend uttered with a hint of desperation in his voice, and pressed himself even tighter against Claudia’s back.

Claudia had to chuckle a little once she felt the fabric of his bathing suit against her skin. She understood instantly why she was not allowed to leave. “You’re impossible,” she smirked, and turned to kiss him.

“Not helping,” he uttered.

“What are you two whispering about?” Remus asked, interrupting their moment.

“Nothing.” They replied in unison, which must have made them look rather guilty.

“I was just asking if he knew,” Claudia lied. “About the engagement.”

“Of course, he did,” James scoffed. “He was the one who picked out the ring!”

“It’s beautiful, Sirius,” Lily gushed and examined her finger.

“Blacks have an eye for expensive jewellery,” Sirius shrugged.

“And you didn’t tell me?” Claudia shook her head, faking disapproval.

“I was sworn to secrecy.”

“I wasn’t all that sure Lils was going to say yes.” James jumped in. “Didn’t want anyone’s pity.”

“I wouldn’t have pitied you,” Claudia said.

“But you would have mocked him.” Remus laughed. “I can hear you already.”

“Are you going to let him talk to me like that?” she turned to Sirius and asked in jest, barely able to keep a straight face.

“Yes. Because it’s true,” Sirius said laughing. Slowly, his laugh dissolved into a smile and then his lips parted slightly as he looked deep into Claudia’s eyes. That look told her everything she needed to know.

“We should go home,” she said and turned back to the group. “I’ve got work tomorrow. Early start…”

Claudia and Sirius did another round of congratulations and said a brief goodbye, before using the cover of the changing rooms to apparate to the doorstep of their flat. She stuck the magical key, courtesy of the previous owners, one of which was a muggle, into the lock. It was sticking, and always needed a bit of jiggling before it opened. Sirius was standing behind her, stroking her shoulders with his palms.

“I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” he uttered, and pulled the string that was holding Claudia’s bikini top in place.

“Patience,” Claudia chuckled as she was jamming the key left and right. Sirius was now sliding his hand down her waist and over her hips.

“You know I don’t have any of that,” he whispered in her ear. It looked like he was working his way towards the button on her shorts.

“Stop distracting me, then.” The lock finally clicked, and they fell over the threshold. “I need to take a shower,” Claudia uttered as she managed to find a second between the kisses.

He groaned and in one fell swoop took off both her t-shirt and swimsuit. “No, you don’t,” he whispered between heavy breaths.

“Come with me.” She dragged him to the bathroom, run the water and helped him out of his clothes. Sirius gladly returned the favour.

What followed was more foreplay than an actual shower. Every touch was deliberate and sensual. They knew exactly when and how to trace their partner’s body to drive each other out of their minds. Every time one of them submerged into the water to rinse off, the other pulled them out for another kiss.

Neither of them could take it any longer. They were kissing deeply when Sirius reached behind Claudia and turned off the water. He grabbed a towel and rubbed it in his hair. Then, he gently dried her off before stepping out of the shower and sweeping Claudia off her feet.

“Put me down,” she chuckled.

“I will,” Sirius said with a wry smile, his eyes full of yearning. “Just not here.”

Carrying her in his arms, he took the few steps between their bathroom and bedroom and then threw his girlfriend into their bed.

Laughing, she lazily turned over on her stomach. Sirius kneeled over her and started kissing her lower back, working his way up along her spine. His long, wet hair was leaving a trail of cold water on Claudia’s back. It made her tremble with anticipation.

She tried to turn over to draw Sirius on top of her and kiss him, but he put his palm on her shoulder and pinned her to the mattress.

“Oh,” she tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a moan. “You think you’re in charge here?”

“Today I am,” he uttered, and slid his hand between his girlfriend’s leg.

They made passionate love. Twice, Sirius stopped just at the right moment to prolong the pleasure for both of them. Twice, Claudia lifted herself a little more until she was nearly on her knees with Sirius towering over her.

He began to slow down once more.

“If you stop again, I’ll kill you,” she uttered. The pleasure was becoming overwhelming, and she knew she could not take it much longer.

Sirius laughed and sunk his fingers into her hips. He did not stop and soon collapsed on top of her, panting. “We’re so good at this,” was all he managed to whisper as he squeezed her in his arms.

They lay on top of each other for some time, completely drained.

“You’re squishing me,” Claudia finally uttered and nudged Sirius to get off her.

He rolled away with an exhausted sigh. Claudia could not even move.

“Still can’t believe those two are getting married,” Sirius whispered once he recovered and gently stroked his girlfriend’s side.

“Don’t you think it’s too soon?”

“It’s way too soon,” he replied. “But they love each other. I suppose that’s enough.”

“But they’re so young, and such idiots.”

“James is an idiot,” Sirius smirked. “Lily’s sensible enough for both of them.“

Claudia scoffed at the mention of Lily’s name.

“Don’t tell me you still hate her?”

“I’ve never hated her,” Claudia defended herself.

“Right…” Sirius laughed. “You used to grind your teeth every time she spoke. Called her a ‘ginger nightmare’. Do you really want me to go on?”

“Fine.” Claudia rolled her eyes. “I used to hate her, but I guess she’s alright.”

“I think you even like her,” he mocked her.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Do you like anyone?”

“I like you,” she said as innocently as she could, and kissed him. They barely got out of bed for the rest of the day.

The next morning, Claudia was still pleasantly tired on her way to the office, when she bumped into Dumbledore in a Ministry corridor. She just about managed to suppress a yawn by uttering a ‘Good Morning’.

“Hope you had a pleasant weekend,” the Headmaster quipped.

“Yes,” Claudia replied somewhat tentatively, hoping that there was nothing behind Dumbledore’s remark.

“Tomorrow, seven o’clock at Aldgate East Station.” Dumbledore whispered as they passed each other. “Don’t be late and take the muggle train.”

“Finally,” Claudia exhaled as she strode down the corridor towards her office. She could not wait to tell Sirius and the others.

“There you are,” Barraclough said the moment she walked through the door. “The Magical Law Enforcement Patrol are here to brief us about the murder case,” he added and turned towards two men in blue uniforms. “Continue…”

“The victim was a female in her early twenties,” one of the enforcement patrol officers gestured towards a picture of a young woman. “We found her last week in St James’ park.”

“Is there a suspect?” Claudia asked.

“Yes,” the second patrol officer said. “Benjamin Colten, the Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office. We found him standing over her body.”

Claudia’s eyes widened. She was not naïve. A high-ranking Ministry official accused of murder? This was going to be a huge case. “What motive would he have?” she asked.

“We presume sexual,” the patrol officer replied. “But the body was not in a state to tell.” There was no emotion on any of their faces. Claudia could feel her skin crawl.

“How did he kill her?” Barraclough took over the questioning.

“It didn’t look like the killing spell. Her skin looks damaged as if by a curse,” the officer said, pointing towards more pictures on the table.

Claudia's stomach turned. She was staring at photos of a mangled corpse.

Barraclough did not seem phased in the slightest. “Looks like dark magic to me,” he said without flinching. “Never seen a spell that would do this though.”

“Us neither.”

“That’s not surprising,” Fernsby, who was sitting nearby, smirked to visible displeasure of the two patrol officers. “Maybe you should ask Avery here to join your stellar crew”, he said mockingly. “She would fit right in.”

“How did he get her there? Did they know each other?” Barraclough asked, ignoring his younger colleague.

“He had an appointment in his diary, at a private members-only club on Pall Mall. The girl worked there as a hostess, and served him that night,” the officer explained. “Several witnesses saw them leave together. Half an hour later, muggle police found him standing over her body?”

“Muggle police?” Claudia asked.

“Absolute pain when they get involved,” Barraclough sighed.

“We had to call the obliviators,” the patrol officer said, “to modify everyone’s memory.”

“Right, we’ll take it from here.” Barraclough said resolutely. “Goodbye.”

“I really don’t see why you’re taking this case over,” one of the patrol officers said, frowning. “It’s a clear-cut case.”

“None of your business,” Barraclough snapped. “You can leave now.”

Muttering under their breath, the patrol officers began walking away. “Bastards just want the glory.” Claudia could hear one of them say as they walked through the door.

She turned to Barraclough. “Why are we taking over the case?” she asked. “It does seem rather easy.”

“The boss thinks it’s too easy,” he mumbled.

“What are you saying?”

“Moody’s theory is that it’s staged,” Barraclough whispered as he looked around. “Part of the effort to build ill will against muggleborns,” he paused. “Now, Colten is in Azkaban and the trial has been set for November. We have until then to investigate. If we don’t find anything, he’ll stay there for life.”

“Where do we start?”

“I’ll start with re-interviewing his colleagues. You’ll start with that stack of papers over there,” he replied. “And keep your mouth shut about this.”

Claudia could barely focus on the paperwork for the following two days. Much like Sirius and the others, she could not wait to find out what would happen at the first meeting of Dumbledore’s secret society. They were all to gather at the Gower Mews flat at six o’clock that evening.

At five-thirty, just as Claudia got back from work, there was a meek knock on the door. She opened the door to find Remus standing there, his shoulders slumped.

“Sorry I’m early,” he mumbled. “I just couldn’t be at my father’s anymore.”

“What happened?” Sirius appeared by the door too.

“Just the usual,” Remus replied. “He barely looks at me, drinks constantly. Earlier, he told me I killed my mother.”

“You can’t keep living there,” Sirius said and dragged Remus inside the flat by his arm.

“I have no choice.” Remus shrugged and slumped onto the sofa. “I refuse to live in the hovel where I transform.”

Claudia sat down next to him.

“I’m no stranger to daddy issues,” she said, and made Remus smirk. “Anything I can do?”

“This is different,” Remus sighed. “My father isn’t a bad person. He blames himself for my condition. He used to work at the Ministry and passed an anti-werewolf law. I got attacked as revenge.”

For once, Claudia was speechless. She stared at Remus with her mouth slightly ajar. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed to mumble.

“What’s done is done,” Remus said. “If only I could get a job and a place on my own, it would be easier on everyone.”

Claudia glanced towards Sirius, who was returning from the kitchen with a cup of tea for their guest. “You can stay here if you want.”

“Right,” Remus smiled. “That would make me feel like less of a nuisance,” he added sarcastically, and sipped on the tea Sirius had prepared for him.

Peter was the next to arrive.

“Are you sure we should be doing this, Sirius?” he hurled out when he finally got out of his jacket.

“Come on, you little coward,” Sirius laughed while Remus shot him a disapproving look. “Don’t tell me you want to be running around your dad’s shop all day. I’ve seen that place.” He paused and smirked. “It doesn’t exactly scream excitement.”

“I suppose not,” Peter replied uncertainly. “But-“ he began to say but was saved from more of Sirius’ mocking by the arrival of the soon to be Mr and Mrs Potter.

“Let’s go,” Sirius said and grabbed his jacket. “I don’t want to be late.”

Claudia wanted to follow him out of the door, but Remus grabbed her arm and drew her back into the flat. “Can you please tell Sirius to take it easier on Peter? I know he is like this with all of us, but Peter is actually bothered by it.”

“You think he’d listen to me?” Claudia scoffed. “And besides, Peter isn’t the angel you think he is. He can be pretty nasty.”

“What do you mean?”

“He told me to disappear and never come back,” Claudia replied. “Called me a toxic bitch.”

“What did Sirius say to that?”

“I didn’t tell him,” she shrugged. “Don’t want Peter’s blood on my hands.”

“Smart.” Remus smiled feebly. But Claudia could see the whole thing was bothering him.

They followed the others towards Euston Square Underground Station, from which there was a direct train to Aldgate East.

As they got off the train, Claudia spotted a familiar figure standing on the platform.

“What do we do?” she whispered urgently to Sirius. “Mundungus is here!”

“Where?” Sirius barked and began manically looking around. “I’ve been wanting to get my hands on him ever since –“ he began but did not get to finish the sentence.

“Long time no see!” Mundungus charged towards them with a grin on his face.

Claudia instinctively reached for the wand in her pocket. Her boyfriend had chosen a more direct method of confronting the problem. He grabbed Mundungus by the arm, dragged him around the corner to a more secluded tunnel and pinned him against the wall.

“You almost killed us, you bastard,” he growled into Mundungus’ face.

“Don’t be dramatic, mate,” Mundungus smirked, but Claudia could see in his eyes that he was just that little bit scared. “Besides, Dumbledore sent me to fetch you,” he added in a whisper.

“Fine,” Sirius sighed. “But one misstep, mate, and you’re mincemeat.”

“Follow me,” Mundungus said as she brushed off his robes. “Inconspicuously.”

“Care to explain?” James hissed at Sirius when Mundungus was out of earshot.

“Not now,” Sirius replied. “We have no choice but to trust him,” he added when it looked like James might protest.

Mundungus led them out of the station and down Whitechapel Road and they followed about fifteen yards behind him. Soon, the crook turned left and let them down a road packed with curry houses. Then right, then left again until he dived into a bin shed in front of one of those new, muggle high-rise building.

“Fifth floor, flat fifteen,” Mundungus mumbled and, with a loud pop, apparated.

“Are you absolutely sure it’s not a trap?” James asked.

“We’re about to find out,” Sirius shrugged, drew his wand, and set off up the stairs. Claudia followed him, and so did the others. Their eagerness to see this secret society with their own eyes was stronger than their mistrust of Mundungus.

Sirius tiptoes towards the front door of flat fifteen, where he stopped and nudged Claudia to stand behind him.

“Come on, really?” she hissed. “I’m the auror here.”

“Not the time, Claude.” Sirius replied.

She ignored him and moved stealthily to stand on the other side of the door. That way, if someone wanted to attack Sirius, she could stun them from the back.

He smiled.

She nodded and mouthed, “Go.”

He knocked.

After a short while, the door opened and there stood Frank Longbottom, his wand also drawn. He looked at Sirius, then at Claudia, and his faced dropped. He ushered them inside.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Claudia smirked, and folded her arms against her chest.

Frank did not immediately reply. Instead, he pulled her aside. “Alice doesn’t know.”

“I know that,” Claudia said. “She’s been begging me to tell her about this. I was going to do it tomorrow.”

“Please don’t. I will tell her, but in my own time.”

“Fine.” Claudia exhaled. “But the longer you wait, the more upset she’s going to be.”

“I know.” Frank sighed. “But it’s safer for her this way.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. What was it with men and their stupid instinct to protect their loved ones from things they did not want protecting from?

“Anyway,” Frank spoke again in a much louder voice. “Everyone is expecting you. This way…”

When the six of them entered the packed living room, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at them. Claudia surveyed the room. At the head of the table was Dumbledore. Along the side, a bunch of people she did not know. Some young, some old, mostly men.

And then she saw someone she was not expecting.

Her boss, Alastor Moody.

He was sitting at the opposite side of the table from Dumbledore, scowling at her. This can’t be good, she thought to herself.

“Welcome, welcome!” Dumbledore beamed. “This is the Order of the Phoenix,” he added, and gestured around the room. “Young Fabian here has just been telling us about the goings in the Daily Prophet.”

Claudia and the others walked over to a row of free chairs lined up against the back wall and sat down as quietly as they could.

“As I was saying,” a young man with longish ginger hair said, “there are a couple of journalists that just keep submitting article after article accusing muggleborns of all sorts. It can’t be a coincidence…”

“Who do you think is behind it?” someone asked.

“No idea,” Fabian shrugged.

“I have a potential source on this,” Frank piped up. “I’ve been trying to organise a meet-up but so far, without luck.”

“Keep at it, Frank,” Dumbledore said. “And Fabian, see what you can do to get through to the editor. I think these articles are starting to change the public mood.”

“Sure thing.” Fabian said. Frank merely nodded.

“Any other business?” Dumbledore asked. “If not, the next meeting will be at six as usual on 1 September. I will pass on the location as normal,” he added, and everyone began to get up from the table. “And let’s all stay behind and meet our new recruits!” Dumbledore’s voice carried over their heads.

He did not have to encourage Moody to do that. “Avery!” he growled and strode towards Claudia. “I don’t like this. I don’t let my team moonlight for the Order.”

“Alastor,” Dumbledore, who followed him, said in a soft voice. “I’m sure you can make an exception.”

Moody scoffed. “The job always takes priority, understand? You get caught doing Order things and you’re on your own.”

“I understand,” Claudia whispered, but Moody barely paid attention. He moved over to Sirius.

“And who are you?”

“Sirius Black,” Sirius mumbled. If Claudia did not know better, she would have thought he was scared. It was rather funny.

“Dumbledore told me about you,” Moody hissed. “The black sheep of the Black family. Why are you here? To have a bit of fun? Kill time?”

Sirius frowned. He no longer looked scared, he looked annoyed. “I just want to make sure that at least one Black is fighting on the right side,” he snapped.

Moody stared into Sirius’s face for a good half a minute, examining his every feature. “Very well,” he uttered and then walked over towards where James, Lily, Remus, and Peter were standing.

“What the fuck is he playing at?” Sirius whispered.

“Let’s go and rescue them,” Claudia chuckled and gestured towards their friends. “He’s going to make Peter cry.”

“You two are engaged? Are you mad?” Moody’s voice rang around the room before Claudia and Sirius joined the group. “There is a war on!”

“All the more reason to celebrate love,” Dumbledore, who had appeared out of nowhere, said and began dragging Moody away. Claudia’s eyes followed them.

“Crazy kids.” She heard Moody complain. “They’re too young for this. Will get us all killed.”

Dumbledore replied something inaudible.

“You better know what you’re doing, Albus.” Moody growled and disappeared out of the flat.

“Who the hell was that?” Lily scowled.

“That charming man was my boss,” Claudia smirked. “You’ll get used to it.”

She looked around the group. Sirius was still clearly annoyed. Peter knew that and looked like he was trying to make himself disappear to avoid being the target of Sirius’ foul mood. Remus and Lily were watching everyone else leave the room, with their mouth slightly ajar. And James looked like he had seen a ghost. And not one of the friendly Hogwarts ones.

“Grab a curry while we’re in the neighbourhood?” Remus asked as they were descending down the stairs.

“Sure,” the rest of them mumbled in unison.

“Exactly the level of enthusiasm I was looking for…” Remus smirked.

Once they were seated at a corner table in one of the curry houses they passed earlier, they finally had a chance to talk.

“That was a bit…” Lily began.

“Underwhelming?” Remus finished her sentence.

“Boring,” Sirius corrected him. “The most excruciatingly boring half an hour of my life. And that includes the detention I got with Binns.”

“That’s because the meeting was over before we got there.” Claudia shrugged. “Dumbledore said the usual time was six. But only told us to be there for seven.”

Everyone looked up from the table, smiling a little. Maybe this was going to be exciting after all.

Chapter Text

Work continued to give Claudia mixed feelings. The Colten case was interesting, albeit slow. Neither the initial interviews nor the case papers provided any new leads or clues. But, despite his constant barking and stand-offish nature, Barraclough was clearly exceptionally good at his job and she learned loads from him.

The rest of the team, however, continued to be a pain in Claudia’s backside. Moody did not speak to her since the Order meeting and looked like he had not quite decided yet whether he was going to make her choose between her job and Dumbledore. Dankworth kept calling her ‘sweetheart’ which made her blood boil. Fernsby made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a groan every time he saw her and refused to speak to her at all. Adebayo continued to burry himself in work and barely interacted with anyone at all. But she would never give them the satisfaction and ask to be reassigned. She survived seventeen years with her family. This was nothing in comparison!

After yet another monotonous day, Claudia came home late. She was looking forward to crashing into the sofa and sharing some leftover dinner and beer with Sirius, but instead she found James pacing around the flat. He was fidgeting with his hands and was white as a sheet of parchment.

“What happened?” Claudia hurled out. James was barely ever panicking and seeing him like this worried her. Something must have happened to Sirius.

She exhaled when she saw her boyfriend emerge from the kitchen, seemingly in one piece, and smiled at him. He was fine.

“Nothing,” James mumbled, answering a question Claudia forgot she asked. “Let’s go for a walk,” he added towards Sirius and left without as much as another look towards either of them.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

Sirius walked up to her and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. “He’s freaking out,” he uttered. “Having second thoughts about the wedding after the things your boss said at the meeting.”

“Are you sure it wouldn’t better just to let this be?” Claudia smirked. “Can you even imagine how annoying their kids will be?”

“Hilarious.” Sirius scoffed with unmistakable sarcasm in his voice. “But now is really not the time. He’s been freaking out for the last five hours. I need to sort it out.”

“Good luck then.” Claudia kissed him back, and Sirius walked out after James. She waited for a while, but the boys were still out at eleven, so she went to bed.

The next morning, she was woken up by Sirius whispering something. “So, it’s all good, yeah?” she heard him say. “No more doubts?”

“James, you better not be in our bed,” Claudia mumbled and turned over.

It was somewhat of a relief that James was not there. But Sirius was sitting up, half naked and holding something up in his hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked sleepily.

“Talking to James.” Sirius chuckled. “Do you want to say hi?”

Claudia scrambled to sit up. “Hang on.” She frowned when she saw what Sirius was holding in his hand. “Are you telling me that James got a mirror to talk to you, and I got a bloody notebook?”

Sirius blinked a couple of times. “Your handwriting is more legible than his?” he said tentatively.

“We both know that’s a lie.” Claudia smirked and jumped out of bed. Mildly annoyed, she walked over to the kitchen, made some coffee, and wolfed down a piece of toast. “I need to get ready,” she hissed as she stuck her head back through the door of the bedroom. “Can you put that thing away so I can get dressed?”

“I’ll just move to the living room,” Sirius said. Whether he was talking to her or James, she was not sure.

Within five minutes, she was out of the flat and on her way to the Ministry. But she was not going to her usual office today, because today was the first day of auror training.

Claudia knew from Alice that trainee aurors spend pretty much every Friday locked in one of the Ministry’s training rooms. What she did not know, however, was how exactly the timetable worked and what was being covered. Mr Smiley was not exactly forthcoming at the interview.

She was two minutes late by the time she found the right training room, which earned her a raised eyebrow from the old lady who was standing near a blackboard at the front of the room. There were only two other people there, Green and a blond guy she did not know.

“As I was saying,” the lady said. “My name is Miss Sachs, and I will be your instructor for today.”

“Where are the other trainees?” Green asked. “I was told that all the trainees will be taking these courses together.”

“We are doing some basics today,” Miss Sachs replied. “So, it’s just the three of you. The others will join from next week.”

“And what are we going to study?” Green spoke again. Claudia had to chuckle. Once a Ravenclaw, always a Ravenclaw.

“I was going to tell you at the end of the day,” Miss Sachs said somewhat sharply. “But if you must know. This year, you will do two modules – Poisons and Antidotes, and Forensics. Next year, you will have Concealment and Disguise, and Advanced Duelling. In your final year, if you get that far, you will have Stealth and Tracking and Memory Charms, Legilimency and Occlumency.” Claudia glanced at Green, who was writing everything down manically. The other guy just sat there, smiling.

Green’s hand shot up in the air.

“You don’t have to put your hand up, Mr Green,” Miss Sachs said. “This is not Hogwarts.”

“Sorry,” Green mumbled. “But how come we are all doing these together. Wouldn’t the older trainees already have done Poisons and Forensics?”

“No,” Miss Sachs said through gritted teeth. Her patience was clearly wearing thin. “We rotate the courses. Every intake does them in different order.”

“That makes sense.” Green nodded, finally satisfied with the answers.

“I know,” Miss Sachs smirked a little. “I designed the curriculum.” Green’s face went bright red, and the instructor continued. “Now, if you allow me, I will explain what we do today. You have a good basis from Hogwarts but there are some things that you need to know that no sane teacher would show you. We will start with the Unforgivable Curses.”

Claudia’s eyes widened. Start with the Unforgivable Curses? If that was the start, what on Earth were they going to teach them for the next three years?

“Obviously, I am not going to teach you how to cast them yet.” Miss Sachs clarified. She must have seen the mixture of shock and excitement on Claudia’s face. “I’m going to teach you how to recognise they’re being cast at you and what to do.”

 “We’ve done these at Ilvermorny,” the blond guy said with a yawn and a slight American accent. “Do I have to be here?”

“Yes,” Miss Sachs said sternly. “American spell-casting is rushed at best…” She drew her wand and rolled up her sleeve. “Let’s start with the killing curse. Watch my wrist.”

Claudia watched carefully as Miss Sachs waved her wand to draw a shape of a lightning bolt.

“I presume you all know the incantation,” the instructor said and the three auror trainees nodded. “Now, wands out and repeat the hand movement. Do NOT say anything and, for the love of Merlin, do not think about killing each other. The intent is key with all the Unforgivable Curses!”

They all stood around like complete idiots for ten minutes, drawing little lightning bolts in the air.

“Now, who can tell me what one can do to protect yourself from the killing curse?” Miss Sachs asked.

“Nothing,” Claudia mumbled, remembering her DADA revision.

“Actually,” the American jumped in. “At Ilvermorny, they told us there was this new spell. I can show –“

“No.” Miss Sachs said resolutely. “She is right. Do not attempt to block the killing curse. You duck and hide. Understand?”

With no further protestations from the man from Ilvermorny, they moved onto the Cruciatus and Imperius curses. To Claudia’s slight disappointment, learning about the Unforgivable Curses was the most interesting part of the day. For the rest of it, Miss Sachs went through Auror office procedures in mind-numbing level of detail. There were so many forms that needed filling out for every interrogation, arrest, the most mundane piece of evidence. Claudia would have to lie if asked whether she paid attention throughout. She would just need to ask Green about what was covered. He used several roles of parchment, scribbling everything down.

“We weren’t introduced,” the American beamed and extended his arm towards Claudia at the end of day. “My name is Newton Sanders.”

“Claudia,” she replied.

“I transferred to Ilvermorny after three years at Hogwarts,” Newton continued. “My father moved to New York for work and wanted me to experience a different culture.”

“Good for you,” Claudia said, wondering whether he had to mention Ilvermorny every time he opened his mouth.

“Do you want to go for a drink?” he asked.

“Not really,” Claudia replied. “I’m busy… But I’m sure Green here would love to go with you,” she uttered, and walked away as fast as she could, leaving Newton frozen in the middle of the room.

The auror training marked the end of the working week and it was finally the weekend again. Sirius was occupying James in the garage, and Claudia set off to Diagon Alley to do some clothes shopping. Moody’s refusal to let his team wear the auror uniforms meant she needed more clothes for work, as stealing the contents of Sirius’ wardrobe was sadly not going to cut it.

The moment she set foot in Madame Malkin’s, she noticed Lily in a heated discussion with a shop assistant.

“You said last week that you’ll have them today!” Lily said, gesturing wildly.

“I’m sorry,” the shop assistant mumbled. “There was a stock issue.”

“Stock issue?” Lily barked. “What stock issue? This is simply unacceptable!” Lily’s usual, sensible mannerism has completely disappeared.

Claudia had never seen her this worked up. She walked up to Lily and grabbed her by the arm. “Let’s go get some tea.”

Lily blinked a few times, uttered an apology towards the shop assistant, and allowed Claudia to usher her out of the shop.

“What’s got into you?” Claudia asked.

“It’s the wedding…,” Lily sighed. “And James. He’s been so useless lately. Refuses to talk about the wedding, didn’t want to come today,” she paused and frowned, “all he wants to do is spend time with Sirius and drink.”

“They aren’t drinking,” Claudia said, trying to sound patient. “He’s helping him fix the bike.”

“I bet Sirius is trying to talk him out of the wedding,” Lily said sharply, seemingly ignoring what she had just been told.

“You’re so wrong.”

“Am I?” Lily’s voice was rising again. “He doesn’t believe in marriage, does he? Probably just wants James to stay single forever.”

“Oh, shut up,” Claudia snapped. “If it wasn’t for Sirius, you wouldn’t even be getting married.”

“What do you mean?” Lily whispered icily, her anger all gone and replaced with cold fury.

“Nothing,” Claudia mumbled, regretting her words already. But Lily’s eyes kept boring into her, so she continued. “James may have freaked out a little last week, but,” she reached for Lily’s arms to stop her from running away, “Sirius’ sorted it.”

“Sirius did what?” Lily gasped. “He wants James to get married? He doesn’t think he’s too young or whatever?”

“He said that you have enough sense for both of you.”

“Did he really say that?”

“Yes.” Claudia nodded and even managed a smile. “He really likes you!”

“I’ve been a real cow, haven’t I?” Lily sighed.

“Let’s go get that tea.” Claudia nudged Lily in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

“I’m sorry,” Lily whispered once they were sat down, and the tea was ordered. “I’m just freaking out because,” she paused and took a deep breath, “maybe we are too young.”

“So what?” Claudia shrugged. “You are good together.”

“Not as good as you and Sirius,” Lily said with a weak smile.

“Oh, come on,” Claudia chuckled. “We’ve got nothing on you. The Head Girl and the Head Boy, the star couple of Hogwarts?”

Lily smiled and looked at her watch with a sigh. “I need to go. I’m meeting the woman planning the engagement party.”

“Have fun,” Claudia smirked, but froze when she noticed Lily was looking at her with a hint of excitement on her face. “No,” she whispered. “You can’t make me.”

“Please,” Lily pleaded with her. “It would be a tremendous help. And you’ll be back in a couple of hours. There is a wizarding pub close to the hotel, we can get to Birmingham that way.”

“Birmingham?” Claudia gasped, but it was too late. Lily was dragging her towards the gigantic fireplace in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron.

“My family is from Cokeworth,” Lily explained. “It’s not far from there.”

Before Claudia could recover or run away, she was standing in one of the smaller function rooms in Grand Hotel Birmingham.

“Remember,” Lily whispered urgently. “This is a muggle hotel. This woman has no idea who we are.”

“Sure,” Claudia sighed. That was the least of her reservations, however. She could not take her eyes off the place setting that the party planner had prepared. Everything was purple – the table runner, the napkins, the napkin ring, the flowers, the chair covers. It made her want to vomit.

“What do you think?” The party planner beamed.

Claudia looked over at Lily, who was gasping for air, seemingly unable to speak. “Help!” the red-headed girl mouthed.

Claudia closed her eyes, sighed, and began to speak. “We will need to throw in a contrast colour. This just looks bit sickly,” Claudia said slowly. “Maybe bit of green.”

“I disagree,” the party planner said with a slight frown.

“Disagree all you want,” Claudia smirked. “Where is your storeroom?”

Clearly annoyed, the party-planner pointed towards a door in the corner of the function room. Without a word or a look towards Lily, Claudia ran off in that direction. She rummaged through the boxes for good twenty minutes before emerging with her loot - a napkin ring made from green glass to replace the hideous purple one, some beautiful vintage glasses rather than the pure crystal ones, and much more toned-down napkins.

Under the watchful eye of the party planner, Claudia replaced the purple items with the ones she picked out. Then she took off the chair covers to reveal pretty wooden chairs.

“We’ll also need wilder flowers. These purple lilies are just too much,” she grimaced.

“But we got them dyed especially,” the party planner protested. “Since the bride’s name is Lily.”

Claudia ignored her. “What we want are verbenas, cornflowers, maybe a white rose here and there,” she paused. “If you want lilies, we should try freesia. It’s more delicate and natural.”

“I’ll go get some,” the party planner finally gave up and ran off.

“What do you think?” Claudia finally turned to Lily.

“How? When?” Lily stuttered with her mouth ajar. “I don’t understand.”

Claudia smiled weakly. “This was supposed to be my life,” she whispered. “Planning parties, picking flowers. That was all I was ever meant to be good for.”

“What do you mean?”

“My family is very,” Claudia paused, “traditional.”

 “I know nothing about your family,” Lily whispered. “Other than your father being, you know-“ she grimaced.

“Trust me,” Claudia smirked. “You want to keep it that way.”

They stood around awkwardly for a minute or two before the party planner got back with a much wilder bouquet of flowers. Claudia rearranged it a little before placing it in the middle of the table.

“I have to admit,” the party planner said. “This does look rather fresh! Let me bring a camera so I can take a picture.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lily exhaled. “Thank you.”

“Glad to be of service.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon picking the menu, pairing the wines, even tasting some… Claudia did not even realise how much of this nonsense she absorbed growing up. She was very relieved, however, to leave both Birmingham and place settings behind and return to normality. Even auror paperwork seemed exciting by comparison.

A week or so later, the first of September had arrived. Normally, they would be getting on the Hogwarts Express. But this year, they were all on their way to the second meeting of the Order.

James and Lily arrived not two minutes after Claudia and Sirius got there. Lily’s face was full of thunder.

“The party planner went rogue again?” Claudia smirked.

“James tried to help?” Sirius added, which made them both chuckle.

“I wish,” Lily scoffed. “Your brother’s mate just came to the apothecary where I work and tried to recruit us to join the Death Eaters.”

Claudia stared at Lily with her mouth open. It made no sense. The Death Eaters wanted to eradicate muggleborns, not recruit them.

“You’ll need to specify which brother’s mate,” Sirius said icily.

“Claudia’s brother,” James whispered. “Mulciber. But apparently it was Snivellus’ idea.”

“Can you not call him that?” Lily barked. “This is not a joke. It’s disgusting. How could he ever think?!”

“How do you know Snape was behind it?” Claudia asked, trying to bring the conversation back to what really mattered.

“Because Mulciber said so,” Lily explained. “He said that Severus told him I was smart and gifted and that they needed people like me in their ranks.”

“Then, I walked in, so he tried to recruit me too,” James pitched in.

“Never tried to recruit me,” Claudia said bitterly, just as the rest of the Order began to trickle in.

“Right,” Moody said when he barged into the room. “Dumbledore has school business and said not to wait for him. Any urgent matters?”

James raised his hand.

“Potter?” Moody barked.

“Someone just tried to recruit Lily and me to join the Death Eaters,” he said.

“Did they actually use these words?” Moody asked sharply. “Death Eaters? Or Voldemort’s supporters?”

“No.” Lily shook her head.

“Then it’s a worthless testimony. Next time, get them to be specific,” Moody replied. “Anyone else?”

“Next time?” Lily whispered to James.

“Anything you want to share with the class?” Moody groaned.

Lily went bright red and shook her head. It was just like being back at Hogwarts again.

“Good,” Moody said. “Now, I need two volunteers for a mission.”

Claudia had never seen James and Sirius move quite so fast. Their hands were up in the air before Moody even finished the question, and a lot earlier than Claudia managed to volunteer herself.

“Put your hand down, Avery.” Moody clearly was not too impressed. “You have plenty to be getting on at work.”

Moody scanned the rest of the room. Remus had his hand up too, as did a couple of others. Peter was fidgeting and Claudia could not quite tell whether he was volunteering or scratching his head.

“Potter and Black.” Moody said finally. “You’ll do just fine. Longbottom will brief you and tell you what to do.”

Few days went by, and it was finally time for Sirius to meet up with James and Frank in Frank’s flat to get briefed and go on their first mission for the Order. It was late and Sirius was just about to leave.

“Wait,” Claudia whispered urgently as they kissed each other goodbye, “I want to give you something.”

She run over to the bedroom and took out her precious French Resistance insignia souvenir from the bedside table. She bought it on a holiday in France to remind herself of what was at stake, and to remember she needed to be brave.

“For good luck,” she said as she pressed it into Sirius’ palm.

“I didn’t think you were superstitious,” he smiled.

“Just shut up and take it!” She kissed him again.

Sirius placed the insignia safely in the breast pocket of his leather jacket. “I love you,” he uttered and was gone before Claudia could tell him she loved him too.

The young auror struggled to concentrate on anything that evening. Cooking, reading, work. Nothing held her attention for more than two minutes. All she could think about was Sirius. She was cursing him for being overly cautious and not taking their two-way notebook they used to communicate in case he was caught.

Claudia’s heart jumped when there was a knock on the door. Could they really have been back already?

They were not. It was Lily.

“What are you doing here?” Claudia asked, nearly forgetting they were on better terms since their trip to Birmingham. It was still very weird after three years of bickering.

“I couldn’t be at home,” Lily said. “And I thought you might understand why.”

“Drink?”

“Please.”

They sat down on the sofa, a bottle of wine in front of them.

They chatted about anything and everything and drank. But none of that was sufficient to keep their minds off where their boyfriends were.

“How am I ever going to be ok with this?” Lily sighed as she poured herself a third glass of wine.

“I don’t know.” Claudia replied, drained her own glass, and extended her arm to signal she wanted a top up too.

“It’s scary. The Death Eaters don’t seem to hesitate for a second,” Lily said. “It’s vile.”

“Tell me about it.” Claudia smirked. “I grew up in a house full of them.”

“That must have been awful…”

“My father likes to pretend that I don’t exist,” Claudia began. “So as long as I kept my head down, it was fine. My mother, on the other hand…”

“Is your mother a Death Eater too?”

“No.” Claudia shook her head. “But she’s more awful than You-Know-Who himself. I never fitted into the box she made for me, and she made damn sure I knew that.”

“She sounds just like my sister,” Lily replied. “Everything has to be just right. No one can be different.”

“What problem she could possibly have with you?” Claudia smirked. “The perfect Lily Evans.”

“I’m a witch, a freak,” Lily paused. “Bigotry works the other way too, you know.”

“You can’t win, can you?”

“No, I really can’t,” Lily laughed and took a long sip of the wine.

They looked at each other for some time.

Finally, Claudia laughed to herself and smiled. “I used to be so jealous of you. Slughorn liked you. You got to be the Head Girl. Everyone was in love with you.”

“Do you know how annoying that is?” Lily exclaimed, a little louder than Claudia was expecting. “Everyone treated me like some kind of prized possession, chasing me around. Even James. It was just a game to him.”

“James loves you.”

“Not as much as Sirius loves you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Claudia scoffed.

“He’d do anything for you.”

“Yeah, I know…” Claudia sighed. Occasionally, few months back in Slytherin’s Apartments, for instance, that thought terrified her. But Lily did not seem to have picked up on Claudia’s slight change in mood.

“And the others. You’re like one of them,” Lily continued. “I’m just James’ girlfriend.”

“It takes time,” Claudia said as encouragingly as she could. “James used to hate me, and Peter still does.”

“Does he?”

“Apparently, he thinks Sirius deserves someone nicer.” Claudia smirked.

“I thought that too!” Lily laughed. “I was so wrong, though. You’re so good together. Neither of you let anything hold you back.”

“What do you mean?”

“This!” Lily gestured around the flat. “You don’t care what people think, what they expect of you. I envy you that.”

“My parents made it very easy.” Claudia said with a sad smile. “They made me choose, and no one in their right mind would choose them.”

“My parents are making it very hard,” Lily sighed. “They treat me like a child.”

“More wine?”

At around one o’clock in the morning, the door creaked open.

“Quiet, Prongs. Claude’s sleeping.” Sirius’ hushed voice was coming from the hallway.

Both of the girls jump up from the sofa on which they were desperately trying not to fall asleep, and startled James and Sirius by flinging their arms around their necks.

“Lils, what are you doing here?” James gasped.

“I was freaking out,” she replied, and kissed him. “I couldn’t just sit at my parents’, so I came here. Claudia’s been so good looking after me.”

“Are you ill?” Sirius whispered in his girlfriend’s ear.

“Shut up,” Claudia whispered back, and pressed her head against his chest. It was so good to have him back.

“Do you want me to take you home?” James asked.

Lily shook her head. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.” She paused. “Let’s do it. Let’s move in together.”

“But what about your parents?”

“They’ll get over it.”

“If you don’t want to go home,” Sirius began and looked at Claudia, who nodded, “you can stay here.”

Lily and James seemed overjoyed by the suggestion, so Sirius and Claudia got out the spare bedding and made up the sofa. Soon after, they were laying in their own bed. It was very dark, but their faces were so close to each other, Claudia knew Sirius was still awake.

“How was it?” she whispered.

“Boring,” Sirius sighed. “Just sat around for hours, waiting for this guy to turn up with a package. When he did, Frank took it, and we went home. I don’t even know what was in it.”

“I hope all your missions are this boring.”

“I hope they’re not. Or I might as well work at the Owl Post Office.”

Chapter Text

“Come with me,” Barraclough said to Claudia one slow morning in late September.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she run out of the office after him.

“We’re going to interview Colten’s deputy,” he replied, “I’ve tried once already but I though it’s worth another go.”

“And you are taking me with you?”

“Don’t make me regret it.”

Claudia run after the Senior Auror all the way to the Improper Use of Magic Office. She was nearly out of breath when they got there and Barraclough knocked on a door with a golden label that read, ‘Deputy Head, Miss D Umbridge’.

“You can smell the stench of bigotry and careerism all the way here,” he said and, with a sigh, knocked. “Brace yourself…”

Before Claudia could ask why, she heard a high-pitched voice through the door. “Enter!”

Barraclough did as he was told and entered a round office that looked nothing like the rooms in the Auror Office. It was covered in fluffy cushions and, on the walls, there were several decorative plates with kittens on them. At a large oak desk sat a short, broad woman with a pale face.

“I told you everything I knew, Aiden,” she said overtly sweetly. But Claudia could also hear a hint of viciousness in her voice. She recognised that duplicity. It was exactly the tone her mother deployed when talking to Claudia in front of any company.

“Just double-checking couple of things, Dolores.” Barraclough replied resolutely and sat down at the chair opposite their witness, who Claudia assumed to be Miss D Umbridge. “And I brought my trainee. This is Claudia Avery.”

“Avery?” Umbridge asked and sat up just a little straighter.

“Yes,” Claudia said through gritted teeth.

“Take a seat dear,” Umbridge beamed and pointed at a free chair next to Barraclough. “Are you Frederick Avery’s daughter?”

“Sadly-“ Claudia began but stopped abruptly when she felt a very sharp pain in her calf. Barraclough had kicked her. Suddenly, it all made sense. He did not bring her so that she could learn. He brough her because if there was someone this woman was to speak to with respect, it was Frederick Avery’s daughter. “Sadly,” Claudia continued, shooting Barraclough a furious look. “I don’t see my father much. He is very busy at work.”

“That is a shame,” Umbridge said with a smile, “your father is a great man, an example to us all.”

“He is indeed,” Claudia said slowly. “May I ask you a few questions?” she added tentatively with a side glance at Barraclough, who gave her a barely noticeable nod.

“Of course,” Dolores said. The change in her mannerism could not have been more obvious.

“We are trying to build a better picture of Mr Colten’s life,” Claudia began.

“But why, my dear?” Umbridge interrupted her. “From what I have read in the Daily Prophet, he is as guilty as they get.”

“The Prophet shouldn’t be reporting any of it,” Barraclough barked, “it’s an active investigation.”

Claudia jumped in before either of them could continue. “I know,” she said with a smile. “But his defence is going to call a lot of character witnesses to say he was a law-abiding and upstanding wizard. It would be rather helpful if we could line up few witnesses on our own,” she added significantly.

“Oh,” Umbridge said with a smile. “In that case, you might want to speak to aurors Magpie and Poisonwood. Them and Colten had several disagreements.” She paused and lowered her voice to a whisper. “And once, I found a note on his desk. To meet a certain Mrs Rosier in a nearby hotel.”

“Thank you,” Claudia said as sweetly as she could. “I’m sure all of this will be very helpful.”

“We better get going,” Barraclough said and stood up abruptly. “Good day, Dolores.”

“Likewise, Aiden.” Umbridge replied, and returned to her paperwork.

“Impressive,” Barraclough whispered as they shut the door behind them.

“Thanks,” Claudia smirked. “Glad my family connections are finally good for something,” she said with a degree of bitterness in her voice, before continuing. “Is Aiden your first name? Do you know that woman?”

“We were in the same year. In Slytherin.”

“You were a Slytherin?” Claudia beamed. “I thought I was the only one.”

“Now there are two of us,” he replied, and a faint smile crossed his face. “We should go interview Magpie and Poisonwood straightaway,” he added.

“And Mrs Rosier?” Claudia asked.

“There, we need to be careful,” Barraclough sighed. “If she is the wife of the Rosier I have in mind, we need to be very careful indeed.”

“Is he a Death Eater?”

“Who knows,” Barraclough whispered. “Probably. He keeps popping up in investigations but so far we did not manage to pin anything on him.”

Unfortunately, talking to Magpie and Poisonwood led to nothing. All they had against Colten was that he did not want to hand over some juicy cases to the Auror Office. Rosier was the only lead they had.

Before they had time to investigate any further, the weekend arrived and with it, Lily’s and James’ engagement party.

Claudia found herself, yet again, in the Grand Hotel Birmingham. She was just checking in on the party-planner to confirm everything was in order, and when she was satisfied it was, she went up to the room where Lily was getting ready to tell her. Lily, Marlene, Mary were all there, as well as a girl that Claudia did not recognise. She was thin and blond.

“This is my sister, Petunia,” Lily said to Claudia and turned to the blond girl. Claudia narrowed her eyes and measured her. She remembered all too well who Lily compared her sister to when they got drunk a few weeks back. “And this is Claudia, my friend,” Lily added. Claudia had to smirk. It sounded strange when Lily called her that.

“Nice to meet you,” Petunia said flatly.

“Likewise,” Claudia mumbled and then addressed Lily, “everything is ready. You four have fun, I’ll see you downstairs.”

“Get ready with us,” Lily pleaded. “Tuney is great with make-up and hair. She’s doing all of ours.”

“I’m not sure…” Claudia whispered.

“Come on, bridesmaid,” Lily smiled. “Get on with the programme.”

“Bridesmaid?”

“Of course.”

“Fine,” Claudia sighed. “Where do you want me?”

Petunia pointed towards an empty chair and got to work. There were no mirrors, and Claudia had no clue what Lily’s sister was up to. She could feel a lot of pulling in her hair and smell some kind of foul spray, before Petunia even moved onto the make-up.

“Close your eyes,” she said. For the next twenty minutes, Claudia sat rigid in the chair while this stranger touched her face with fingers and brushes. She winced at every touch. Finally, she applied the mascara and lipstick. “All done.”

Claudia opened her eyes and looked into the mirror that Petunia was holding up.

She barely suppressed a gasp and stared at her reflection in horror.

Her short hair was back-combed so high it looked like a motorcycle helmet. When she touched it, she realised it was about as stiff too.

Her eyes were so heavy with purple eye shadow she could barely keep them open, and her lips were bright red. She hardly recognised herself, and not in a good way!

“What do you think?” Petunia asked.

“It’s different,” Claudia uttered, the shock still making it impossible for her to speak properly.

“I think you look pretty,” Mary said. Claudia could not help but notice Lily’s friend was also sporting the same eyeshadow and lipstick. But, somehow, it looked alright on her.

“Thanks,” Claudia replied. “I’m going to get changed,” she added and headed back to her and Sirius’ room.

The moment Sirius set eyes on his girlfriend, he burst out laughing.

“That settles it,” Claudia scoffed. “I knew I look like someone put lipstick on a ghoul.”

“What the fuck’s happened to you?” Sirius asked, trying and failing to suppress giggling. “I’ve never seen anyone look this uncomfortable in my life.”

“Lily’s sister happened.” She sighed and looked at her watch. “People will start arriving soon. Can you go downstairs and greet everyone? I need to wash this off.”

“Sure,” he smiled. “I’d kiss you but…”

“Just go,” she scoffed, and marched into the bathroom.

Claudia had to use all the cotton pads she brought to get rid of all that make-up. She used Sirius’ conditioner and brush to get her hair back to normal volume. And after a quick shower, some gentle blow-drying, a bit of eyeliner and lip gloss, she was ready to get dressed. She threw on her dress and set off downstairs.

“Is everything ok?” she asked when she found Sirius.

“Now it is.” He smiled and kissed her. He reached towards a bouquet on a nearby mantelpiece and broke off a single purple blossom. “You aren’t a ghoul,” he whispered, placed the flower behind Claudia’s ear and kissed her again. “You’re beautiful.”

“Ehm, ehm,” someone cleared their throat next to them. Claudia grudgingly parted with Sirius’ lips and turned her head to see Lily’s sister. “My sister was wondering if you knew what time the toast was supposed to be,” she said icily.

“Tell Lily I’ll be right there,” Claudia mumbled, hopeful that she could steal another kiss before duty called.

“Tell her yourself,” Petunia hissed and marched away. The absence of her handy work on Claudia’s face was clearly bothering her.

Claudia went to find Lily.

“Back to being a tomboy, I see.” Lily smiled when she spotted her. “You really did look pretty, you know.”

“Your sister seems really annoyed,” Claudia grimaced, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Lily said, “there was a bit of a kerfuffle at her wedding. She’s been on edge since.”

“What kind of kerfuffle?”

“Her husband is a patronising ass, and James was bit drunk.”

“Say no more,” Claudia chuckled. “Anyway, toast is at eight.”

“Thank you,” Lily said with a smile. “I meant it with the bridesmaid, by the way. I would be honoured.”

“Thank you.” Claudia smiled and brushed Lily’s shoulder.

“Now, let’s get these animals to sit down for dinner before we run out of canapes.”

The dinner that followed was a bit awkward. Lily and James took the opportunity to tell everyone that the times had changed, and they were moving in together. James’ parents took it well enough, but you could see it on Lily’s family’s faces that they were horrified.

Alice seemed little annoyed too. But Claudia suspected that had more to do with the fact that there was an empty seat next to her, rather than James’ and Lily’s living situation. Frank had not shown up.

Claudia and Sirius were finally in their hotel room, lying exhausted on the bed, fully dressed. Neither of them could face getting up, even to brush their teeth when they heard a tentative knock on the door.

“It’s your turn,” Sirius said. “I got up to get us water.”

“Hero of our generation you are,” Claudia scoffed and got up. She picked up her wand from the night table and walked slowly and silently over to the door.

Through the spyhole in the door, she saw Alice. Her face was all puffy, and she was desperately trying to dry her eyes.

Claudia swung the door open. “What happened?” she gasped. She could barely remember the last time she saw her best friend cry. This must have been bad.

Alice walked in without a word and dropped to sit on the bed. She looked at Sirius, then at Claudia.

“I need the bathroom anyway,” Sirius said and got up. It was clear that Alice wanted to talk to Claudia alone.

“What’s going on?” Claudia whispered when it was just the two of them.

“I think Frank’s having an affair,” Alice replied. Her tears were now flowing freely again. “He’s distant, like he’s hiding something from me. He never has time, and his excuses are pathetic. We work in the same office, for Merlin’s sake. I know when he’s working late!” she added and put her face in her hands.

“I’ll get you a tissue,” Claudia said and walked over to the bathroom, where Sirius was sitting by the door, clearly eavesdropping.

“No way Longbottom is having an affair,” he mumbled. “Got to be the Order –“

“Shush!” Claudia hissed and put a finger across her lips. “You’ve been to his house, right? Could you see if he’s there?” she whispered to Sirius as she bent over to get a pack of tissues from the drawers. “He needs to come clean.” With those words, Claudia shut the drawer and returned to the bedroom, tissues in hand.

“Alice, Frank’s just not the type,” she whispered. 

“You don’t know that,” Alice replied angrily, but stopped when she noticed Sirius walking past.

“Don’t mind me,” he mumbled. “Just going out for a walk.”

“I don’t even know that,” Alice resumed. “We’ve spent no real time together. We’re supposed to go on holiday next month but who knows.”

Claudia tried her best to distract Alice for the next twenty minutes. Just as she was running out of things to say, Sirius came back, trailed by Frank.

Alice shot Claudia a very annoyed look.

Claudia put her hand on her friend’s arm. “Trust me. You do want to hear this.” She walked over to Sirius and dragged him away. “We’ll be in the corridor.”

They sat on the floor by the door. Claudia put her head on Sirius’ shoulder and they waited.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” they heard a raised voice coming out of the room, few minutes later. “You had me thinking you were having an affair!”

“I would not want to be in his shoes right now,” Sirius mumbled.

“Speaking from experience, Alice can be terrifying when you try to hide things from her. She’s going to kill me when she found out I knew.”

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Alice’s voice carried through the thin walls again. “How is not knowing keeping me safe?”

“I see why you two are best friends,” Sirius smirked. Claudia poked him with her elbow playfully.

The argument between Alice and Frank dropped into an inaudible mumble again. But not for long.

“What do you mean?” Alice yelled. “Not appropriate for a married man? Are you married?”

“Uh oh,” Sirius whispered. Claudia jumped up, and they both rushed to their room to help prevent the impending bloodshed.

“No. Of course, not!” Frank quickly defended himself. Alice was standing in the middle of the room. She was bright red in her face and her fists were clenched. “But I was hoping to be married quite soon,” Frank added.

“What are you saying?” she said, her voice now much softer and breaking slightly.

“This isn’t exactly how I planned it,” Frank mumbled and glanced at Sirius and Claudia, who were both standing on the threshold of the room, completely frozen. “But what the hell.”

Frank dropped to one knee and rummaged through the breast pocket of his jacket. “Alice Adler.” He finally said and produced a ring. “Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

“You have a ring,” Alice stuttered.

“Had it on me for months,” Frank said, blushing. “I just saw it one day and knew it was the one I would want to give you.”

“I don’t feel like we should be here,” Sirius uttered and took few steps back into the corridor, dragging Claudia with him.

They grinned at each other and kissed.

“We better get going,” Claudia heard a faint voice behind her. She turned. There were Frank and Alice standing in the door, holding hands and smiling coyly.

“I said ‘yes’,” Alice whispered.

Claudia flung her arms around her best friend.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you,” she uttered in Alice’s ear. “Frank made me swear.”

“I thought of a perfect punishment for you,” Alice chuckled. “You’re going to plan my wedding.”

Claudia opened her mouth to protest, but Alice cut her off.

“Lily told me who really planned this party,” Alice chuckled. “So don’t even try to weasel your way out of this one.” She added, and let go of Claudia.

“This is what I get for being nice.” Claudia scoffed.

Frank and Alice disappeared down the corridor, and Claudia and Sirius finally managed to get to bed. At breakfast the following day, Claudia was chatting with Lily when she spotted something unusual. Mary and Remus were coming down to breakfast together, walking perhaps a foot closer to each other than one would expect.

“Are those two a thing?” Claudia whispered in Lily’s ear.

“I do hope so,” Lily giggled. “Mary wanted to ask him out for ages. She desperately wanted to go with him to that ball when he asked you. “

“I didn’t make many friends that evening, did I?” Claudia grimaced. “Marlene still hates me.”

“Nah,” Lily reassured her friend. “She doesn’t. She’s over her crush on Sirius.”

They had to stop gossiping as Mary and Remus joined them. Remus was smiling shyly, and Claudia knew exactly what that meant. She was glad he finally managed to find a little bit of happiness for himself.

Barely a minute later, James, Sirius and Peter turned up. “Can we borrow him?” James asked.

Claudia and the other girls watched as James dragged Remus to the other corner of the room and handed him what looked like a key. There was an animated conversation. It looked like Remus was trying to give it back and James and Sirius were having none of it.

“What do you think is going on?” Claudia asked.

“I’m sure Sirius will tell you.” Lily smiled.

“Tell me!”

“I was sworn to secrecy.”

But Claudia did not have to wait for long to find out, as Sirius told her on their way home. James and Sirius decided to rent Remus a studio in Camden, so that he could finally move out of his father’s house and did not have to live in the hovel on the moor that he used for his transformations since leaving Hogwarts.

Just as they got home, a small owl landed on their windowsill. It brought a brief note that read, ‘Warehouse C, Canal Reach, King’s Cross’. It was the location of the next Order meeting that was due to take place in two days’ time.

It took them ages to find the warehouse. When they finally got there, Frank was already up and speaking.

“Few weeks ago, James, Sirius and I met with a source who passed on some further findings of that research Daily Prophet began spouting,” Frank explained.

“How bad is it?” Fabian asked.

“You’ll have a job on your hands, trying to balance it out,” Frank replied. “It’s obviously bogus, but convincingly written.”

“More importantly,” Moody jumped in. Claudia was getting the sense her boss was not a patient person. “We know who’s funding it. Lucius Malfoy.”

Sirius groaned and so did a couple of the others. Claudia was pretty sure she knew why. She met him once at the Blacks’ Christmas party and he looked like a right asshole.

“He was in my year at Hogwarts,” a young man, who Claudia was pretty sure was Fabian’s brother Gideon, pitched in first. “From what I remember, very rich and very opinionated. He once tried to recruit me into a secret Sacred Twenty-Eight club he was running.”

“Did it turn out to be the Death Eaters?” Fabian chimed in jokingly.

“We will never know,” Gideon replied. “Should’ve joined, really...”

“Anything to add, Black?” Moody asked. “Since you’re related?”

“I don’t know him.” Sirius said through gritted teeth. Clearly, he did not enjoy being reminded of his family in front of everyone. “My cousin married him around the same time I’ve left home.”

Sirius was spared further interrogation as Dumbledore walked into the meeting at this precise moment.

“We’re just talking about the propaganda campaign,” Fabian explained as Dumbledore sat down.

“Good timing,” Dumbledore said and reached into his pocket. “These started appearing around Hogwarts,” he added and threw a bunch of leaflets on the table.

Sirius picked one up, and Claudia peeked over his shoulder to read it. It was the same garbage she read in the Daily Prophet few months back. Muggleborns were not born strong enough to contain their magical powers. They were unstable. They needed to be tightly monitored and controlled.

“Any idea who’s behind it?” someone asked.

“I have a hunch,” Dumbledore whispered and looked towards Sirius, who has been staring at the leaflet and crunching the edges in his hands.

“Are you going to stop him?” he said through gritted teeth. “This is vile.”

“Frankly, I am somewhat relieved that this is what they have chosen to spend their energy on this year.” The Headmaster said and gave the new recruits a knowing look. It was true. Handing out some leaflets was a lot better than trying to eradicate all the muggleborns of Hogwarts. “Moreover, it had inspired bit of a response from the rest of the students.”

“Heart-warming… Can we move on?” Moody barked sarcastically, but did not wait for an answer. “Prewett, report back next week on any developments at the Prophet.”

With that, the meeting moved onto the next agenda item, You-Know-Who’s attempts to recruit dark creatures into his ranks. Claudia found it hard to concentrate on the account of Sirius sitting next to her, clearly fuming. He was breathing heavily and tearing the leaflet into dozens of little pieces.

“Are you alright?” Claudia whispered as the meeting was breaking up.

“I’m not alright,” Sirius hissed. “Reminds me of what happened. Shouldn’t have let him get away with it.”

“Come on,” Claudia replied and tried to touch his arm, but Sirius pulled away. “We’ve been through this,” she added in a tired voice.

“I don’t want to talk about it, alright?” he snapped. “Can we just go?”

Sirius had not said a word the entire way home.

“I’m going to the garage for a bit,” he finally spoke when they were standing in the mews in front of their building.

“It’s late.”

“Don’t wait up.”

Claudia sighed, but made her way upstairs. They had been dating for over a year and a half, and friends for much longer, and she knew by now when best to leave him be. When he was ready, he would talk to her.

Chapter Text

When Claudia woke up in the morning, she stretched in the bed trying to find Sirius’ warm embrace, but he was already gone. Or perhaps he never came to bed in the first place. She got dressed for work and, on her way out, found him in the garage with his head buried in the motorbike manual.

“I’m off,” she said.

Sirius did not look up, just mumbled something incomprehensible.

“Bye then.”

Sirius was attacking some bolt with a wrench, still avoiding eye contact. Claudia sighed, turned on her heel, and left him to it.

The moment Claudia stepped into the office, she knew her day was going to be interesting. Barraclough was standing in front of a wall, which was newly covered in photos from the crime scene.

“Did we get more evidence from the patrol officers?” Claudia asked when she looked at them. Her memory was pretty good and some of them looked new.

“No,” Barraclough said. “These are from the muggle police.”

“Muggle police?” she said with a slight frown. “I thought the obliviators modified their memories. Or are they still investigating?”

“They are not,” Barraclough uttered.

Claudia waited for an explanation, but none came. She rolled her eyes. It really was like trying to get blood out of a stone. “How did we get these, then?”

“The obliviators messed up,” he said. “They forgot to take the film. They retrieved it few days later but only now decided that we ought to see the photographs.”

Claudia walked closer to the wall and began examining the recent evidence. “This is new,” she said, and pointed at a picture of the victim’s leg. “These spider-web marks all over the skin. I don’t remember seeing these in the pictures we had.”

Barraclough walked over to his desk and open a file. “You’re right,” he whispered after a while. “Something doesn’t feel right. We better ask internal affairs to look into those patrol officers. If they tempered with the crime scene…”

Adebayo, the second Senior Auror in Moody’s team, strode into the office, cup of tea in his hand. He stopped by the photographs and zoomed in on the same one that Claudia was looking at. “I’ve seen these before,” he said with a slight frown, and pointed at the marks.

“Do you remember when?” Barraclough asked.

“No. But I remember describing these exact same marks in the crime scene report.” Adebayo shook his head. “It was two or three years ago. Someone should go through my old cases to see if they can find it.”

Both of the senior aurors looked at Claudia.

“Great,” she mumbled, and grabbed the photograph. “I’ll be in Records.”

She shuffled towards the very end of the corridor that housed the aurors’ offices, cursing under her breath. “Why does it always have to be me… Doing the most boring stuff.”

There was no one manning the front desk in the Records room, so she rung the little bell that sat on the counter for such instances. Then she rang it again. And again. Until an old wizard emerged from among the filing cabinets.

“Adebayo asked me to go through some of his own case files,” she said before he had an opportunity to speak. “Where can I find them?”

“All the cases are sorted by numbers, dear,” the clerk explained. “You can find which auror worked on what in those ledgers over there.” He added, pointing towards a vast room where ceiling-high shelves were creaking under the weight of chunky volumes.

“Ever considered using magic to sort these damn things?” she asked once she realised how impossible this task was going to be.

“Obviously,” the clerk smirked. “But that would make the system too easy to temper with.”

Claudia sighed and dragged her heels towards the ledger room.

“How do they pick them?” she heard the clerk whisper after her. “Each year, they get more arrogant.”

One by one, Claudia started going through the ledgers, containing information about the cases investigated by the Auror Office. Each line contained a case number, the lead investigating auror, date of the crime, brief description of the case, the perpetrator (if known), and a location of the file. She took out a piece of parchment and began writing down the case numbers and locations of all the files that had Adebayo down as the lead auror.

She had been at it for an hour or so and was just contemplating going to the bathroom when her eyes widened upon seeing the description of the next case.

Case number: 001 284 981;

Investigating Auror: Samuel Adebayo;

Date: [Redacted];

Description: Ministry security (details withheld);

Perpetrator: Linda Yates;

File Location: Room A, Aisle 2, 12.1.

“Linda,” Claudia whispered. It was an unusual name for a witch. It must have been her! The Minister’s former Principle Private Secretary that her father framed for the kidnapping of the American potioneer.

Claudia scribbled down the case number and location of the file and run out of the ledger room as if it was on fire. She paced through the maze that was the Records department, looking manically for Room A. Soon she found it. She yanked on the door handle, but it did not move. When she stopped trying to force the door open and looked up, it was suddenly clear why. There was a huge sign hanging above the doorway that read:

‘RESTRICTED FILES – NO ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORISATION’

Without thinking, Claudia made her way to the front desk. She needed to know what was in that file, and she needed to know now.

“I need access to Room A,” she mumbled when she found the clerk manning the reception. “Please.”

“You need authorisation from your inspector for that, dear,” the clerk said.

Claudia sunk her fingernails into her palm. Why did he need to call her ‘dear’ all the time?

The clerk then opened a drawer in the filling cabinet behind him and took out a blank form. “Get him to fill out this.”

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth, and went back into the ledger room. She would need to finish going through these before asking Moody for authorisation. She needed to make it look like a coincidence. There was no way she was ready to share with her Ministry bosses what she knew about Linda.

Luckily, there were three more of Adebayo’s cases that were located in the same room as Linda’s file: Loriss, Cerbus and Persimmom were the perpetrators.

After lunch (and armed with a filled-out form), Claudia summoned enough courage to go knock at Moody’s door.

“He isn’t there.” Barraclough said when he saw her. “What do you want from him?”

“I need him to sign this,” she waved the form in front of Barraclough’s face, “some of the files you want me to read are in Room A.”

“Show me the list,” he said and outstretched his arm. “I wouldn’t worry about any of these. None of them are murders,” he added as he scanned the list.

“But-“ Claudia began. She needed to get her hands on Linda’s file, and was not going to give up without a fight.

But Barraclough interrupted her. “Go through all the others and if you don’t find anything, then I’ll ask the boss to sign this.”

“Fine,” she mumbled, and dragged herself back to Record.

Claudia spent the next few days buried under ledgers and case files. Usually, she stayed late, as there was not much reason to go home. Sirius was still sulking and was working on the bike when she went to bed, and when she woke up. Claudia was not even sure whether he slept at all.

When she woke up on Friday, about a week after the Order meeting that ruined Sirius’ mood, she finally felt his warmth. His legs were stretched over to Claudia’s side of the bed and their feet were touching. Smiling to herself, she turned over to see his face. Sirius was also slowly opening his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I know it sucks,” she replied, and brushed the side of his face with her fingers.

“I know you do.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Sirius sighed and paused. “Not yet.”

Claudia shuffled closer to her boyfriend and gave him a long hug.

“I need to go to work,” she whispered into the crook of his neck.

“I need to get back to the garage,” Sirius replied, with a slight chuckle.

“Do you really –“

“Don’t,” he jumped in before she could finish. “It’s making me even more tetchy than thinking about Regulus.”

“I’ll try to be back early,” she whispered.

After that simple interaction, the hours spent in the Records room did not seem quite so bad. And after lunch, she finally found what she had been looking for - a reference to the spider-web marks. The case was unsolved, but there was a suspect called Rosier. The same name that the Umbridge women mentioned. That could not have been a coincidence!

Claudia flicked over a page and sighed. She had never been more disappointed to find an answer to anything. She was never going to get access to Linda’s restricted file now.

She flipped over another page, and her eyes landed on something.

There was a name of a possible associate in the file. One Horatio Cerbus. The surname sounded familiar.

Suddenly, she realized. It was one of the other Adebayo’s files in the restricted room. That was her way in!

Claudia ran the length of the corridor and begged Barraclough to make Moody sign off the authorisation form. Barraclough agreed, Moody was in, and within the hour Claudia was sitting on the floor of the Restricted room, holding Linda’s file in her hands.

She opened the first page, and a frown appeared on her face. Over half of it was blacked out. Claudia got over her momentary disappointment and began to read.

‘There were only three people that knew that the [redacted] was part of the delegation: [redacted].

Summary of the case:

-       Motive – Clearly done on YKW instructions. Unclear whether willingly or under the Imperious Curse.

-       Means –The suspect did not act alone. Witnesses describe several hooded figures ambushing [redacted] on the way to [redacted].

-       Opportunity - [Redacted] presence was kept secret. The suspect was the only person who did not offer an alibi.’

Claudia did not get to read any further.

“What did you find?” someone asked, startling her.

“I was just…” Claudia began and looked up. It was Barraclough “Got stuck looking at this case.”

Barraclough took the file out of her hand and his eyes narrowed.

Claudia quickly continued. “I did a summer placement in the Minister’s office last year, and her name was mentioned. Sorry, I got curious.”

“Put it away.”

“It doesn’t seem like a lot of evidence,” she whispered, testing the ground.

“It wasn’t,” Barraclough said with a frown. “But sometimes things get taken out of our hands. Sometimes, orders come from up high to stop an investigation and send the suspect to Azkaban.”

“Without a trial?” Claudia asked. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“Politics.” Barraclough mumbled. “Just get the Cerbus case file and let’s get out of here.”

Grudgingly, Claudia did as she was told.

Once back in the office, it quickly became clear that the Cerbus file was of no use. He was long dead. That meant, unfortunately, that there were not going to be any more trips to the room that housed Linda’s file. Claudia would need to find another way to keep digging.

As she was packing her things that night, she noticed Dankworth and Fernsby whispering in the corner.

“Do you like Quidditch, sweetheart?” Dankworth asked her out of the blue.

“Yes,” Claudia replied tentatively.

“Every year, there is a Quidditch tournament between the different auror teams,” Dankworth explained the meaning behind his question. “I commentate, and Oscar here,” he pointed at Fernsby, “captains our team. We won the last two years!”

“Good for you,” Claudia said flatly, and continued to pack her things.

“Do you want to come and watch?” Dankworth asked. “You can keep me company in the commentator booth.”

“I rather play,” Claudia said. Even just saying those words gave her butterflies. She missed Quidditch so much.

“Right. Sorry.” Fernsby scoffed. “We only needed one chaser, and I already asked Green.”

“Come on, Oscar, let her come,” Dankworth pleaded with him. “If she wants to play with the big boys.”

Fernsby stared at her for good twenty seconds, before letting out a huge sigh. “Do you have your own broom?” he finally asked.

“Yes,” Claudia said and rolled her eyes. “I have my own broom.”

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow at eight,” Fernsby sighed. “It’s at the Wimbourne Wasps grounds. Take the Floo.”

With those words, Fernsby was out of the office and Dankworth followed him like a puppy dog.

Claudia practically danced through the door to the apartment that evening and was pleased to see that Sirius was inside rather than in the garage. He was sitting in one of the armchairs and chatting to James, bottle of beer in hand.

“What made you so happy?” Sirius asked with a hint of a smile when he saw the expression on Claudia’s face.

“I’m just glad to see you out of the garage,” she said, and walked over to sit on his lap.

“Really?”

“And there is an Auror quidditch tournament tomorrow,” she whispered, and a huge grin appeared on her face. “And I’m playing.”

“Good grief. I thought Quidditch was behind me.”

“Shut up,” she laughed. “Want to come and watch?”

“I would.” Sirius sighed. “But I have to go and sit by a drop site all day. Again.”

“Are the Order missions really duller for you than watching Quidditch?” James asked. That was quite hard to believe, as Sirius hated watching Quidditch.

“Yup.”

“It’s just because they don’t trust us yet,” Claudia tried to reassure him. “I’m sure it’s going to get better.”

“Not sure how much longer I can take it,” Sirius growled.

James stayed over for dinner, and they spent the entire evening reminiscing about the Quidditch games they got to play while they were both in Hogwarts. The only person who did not have fun was Sirius. He did not enjoy the Quidditch rivalry between his best friend and his girlfriend while they were all at school, and he was not enjoying it now.

When Claudia arrived at the Quidditch grounds the following morning, Green was the only other person there. That was not surprising since she was half an hour early.

“Do you know how the tournament works?” she asked in an attempt to kill time.

“It’s a knock-out between the different Auror office teams,” Green replied. “Each division has two or three teams, and the patrol officers have a team too.”

That made sense, Claudia thought, and remembered her induction. The Auror Office had three divisions. Division A, where Claudia as well as Frank and Alice worked, was the Investigation Department. It comprised teams investigating serious crime relating to dark magic, as well as teams specialising in dark substances and magical fraud. Division B was called ‘Special Operations’, was housed in a separate wing of the building, and everything around it was always hush hush. They collected and analysed information, and also protected foreign diplomats and high-profile magical and muggle folk. Mr Adler, Alice’s dad, worked in the protection team. Then there was Division C, which was mostly composed of aurors towards the end of their career. They did internal investigation and run the evidence inventory and the records room (where Claudia spent so much of her time recently).

“Games are limited to sixty minutes. So, the tournament is all over in a day,” Green added, interrupting Claudia’s train of thought.

“What about the snitch?”

“If you catch it, the game is over as normal,” Green said. “If no one catches it within sixty minutes, the game stops and whoever has more points wins.” He looked towards the clubhouse. “Here comes the captain.”

Claudia turned her head and saw Fernsby marching towards the centre of the pitch with Dankworth and a group of people she did not know in tow.

“Here you are,” he said to Claudia when he was within earshot. “Patrol team is short of a chaser and I said you’ll play for them.” He paused and pointed to the group he came with. “The captain is over there.”

“Fine,” she scoffed and walked over to her new team, hoping with all her heart that she will be playing against Fernsby’s team and will get to knock him off his broom.

“Patrol are notoriously awful,” she heard Fernsby say mockingly. “I bet she’ll fit right in.”

And by a stroke of luck, their first game was indeed against the team her favourite colleague captained. Unfortunately, Fernsby was playing keeper and, therefore, knocking him off the broom was out of the question. It would get her disqualified.

“And they are off,” Dankworth’s voice carried across the pitch. “Avery’s got the quaffle under her arm. She dodges one chaser, then another… She is now one-on-one with Fernsby-yy!”

“Aaaa-nd she scores!!!”

Claudia punched the air in triumph.

“You got lucky,” Fernsby growled and got back to the centre of his hoops.

“I don’t need luck,” Claudia scoffed and flew back to join her team again.

She scored another goal, and then another. Fernsby was a decent keeper, but his chasers were not giving him a chance. They made too many mistakes and the keeper could not deal with the barrage that followed.

“And Fernsby lets in another.” Dankworth laughed loudly. “I can hear the ego shattering all the way over here.”

Claudia glanced at the keeper. He was bright red in the face and huffing. “Time out!” he screamed. It was now half-way through the game.

When Fernsby’s team emerged from the timeout, Green was in the keeper gear.

“I see Fernsby is going to try his luck as a chaser now.” Dankworth's mocking tone was cutting through the heavy air. “Watch out Avery!”

Fernsby’s switch did make it a lot harder. He was good. The barrage of goals slowed down. The opposition even managed to claw something back, but ultimately it was not enough. The final whistle went, and the patrol team had their victory. When they were celebrating on the ground, Claudia looked over and saw Fernsby throwing a fit. She was pretty sure she saw him snap his broom in two.

Dankworth found her in the crowd. “I think I may have misjudged you, swe-“

“Call me ‘sweetheart’ one more time and I will kill you,” she growled, her confidence sky-high after that performance.

“I believe you.”

“Good.” Claudia smiled, and they both burst out laughing.

Unfortunately, Claudia’s good mood did not last for much longer. The patrol team crashed out from the tournament in the next match.

The following Monday in the office, Dankworth finally treated Claudia like a human being. He certainly did not try calling her ‘sweetheart’ again. Fernsby has dropped the groaning and mocking. Claudia could even swear he went a little red every time they made eye contact. But she did not get to enjoy the improved atmosphere for long, as Barraclough pulled her aside.

“I’m going to Azkaban to question Colten, and you are coming with me.”

“When?”

“Now.”

“How are we getting there?” she asked.

“A portkey from a secure area in the Ministry,” Barraclough uttered. “Follow me.”

Claudia followed Barraclough to a secure area on the lowest floor of the Ministry. They had to walk through several gates, each guarded by a pair of aurors, until they reached a small office. There was a middle-aged witch manning a desk.

“Hi Aiden,” she smiled at Barraclough. “Long time no see.”

“I know,” Barraclough whispered. “I’ve been avoiding this for weeks.”

The witch picked up a quill and a long piece of parchment. “Who are you going to see?”

“Benjamin Colten. I’ll need an hour.”

“Can I have your names and service numbers?”

Barraclough handed over his badge, and Claudia copied him.

“Wands please,” the witch said once she took note of the information on Barraclough’s and Claudia’s badges.

“I thought they were going to change the regulations, and we could keep wands on us,” Barraclough sighed.

“I’m afraid not yet,” the witch said.

Their wands confiscated and their persons thoroughly searched, Barraclough and Claudia were shown trough yet another gate and towards a portkey.

“It will leave in one minute, and travel back in one hour,” the witch said. “Good luck.”

Claudia gripped the portkey in anticipation. She had never been to Azkaban before.

“Have you ever met a dementor?” Barraclough asked.

“We studied them at Hogwarts,” she said. “Are they really as bad as the books say?”

“Worse,” Barraclough replied. “Just remember the effects are temporary.”

With those words, the room around Claudia swirled and soon she landed on her knees on a cold, stone floor. She did not even have a chance to look up before she felt a horrible chill. An image of her mother flashed through her head. ‘Stand straight and smile, you worthless squib!’ It was as if her mother was there. Her voice was all Claudia could hear. ‘You’re an embarrassment to all of us!’

Before Claudia could relive any other heart-warming memories from her childhood, a door creaked open, and an ageing wizard entered the room. He was accompanied by his horse patronus, whose aura immediately illuminated the room. Cassandra’s screaming was gone in an instant.

“Let me take you to the interrogation room,” he mumbled. “And stay close to my stallion.”

He led them down a corridor of the Azkaban fortress. Everything was made of stone, and you could smell the sea air. It was so overpowering. It felt like breathing in ocean water. But Claudia barely took any of that in. All she could focus on were the desperate shrieks and cries of the inmates that pierced the heavy air.

“Through there,” the guard said and pointed towards a rusting door. “It’s charmed so you should not feel the dementor’s effect too strongly, and I will come and get you once you’re done.”

Barraclough opened the door to the interrogation room and stepped in. For the briefest of moments, Claudia was neither in the relative safety of the interrogation room, nor under the protection of the guard’s patronus as he began walking away. But even those two seconds were enough. The chill and the screams were back. ‘You’ll pay for this!’ Cassandra’s voice echoed through Claudia’s mind again. Instinctively, the girl grabbed the back of her head to stop her mother yanking on her hair.

“Get in here,” Barraclough barked, pulled her into the room and shut the door behind her. Claudia could feel her chest unclench a little.

The aurors pulled up a couple of chairs and sat down behind a long table. Moments later, the door opened again for a second and a thin figure in tattered robes stumbled inside. With some difficulty, this person – who Claudia assumed to be Colten – gripped a free chair with their bony fingers and crashed into it.

Claudia did not know where to look. She remembered Colten’s picture. He used to be very handsome. Yet, after barely three months in Azkaban, he looked worse than a ghost. This could not have been right. Not if he was innocent.

“What’s your name?” Barraclough began.

Silence. The figure simply hummed.

“Do you know why you are here?”

More humming.

“This place makes them useless,” Barraclough sighed and reached into his breast pocket. “Managed to smuggle this in. It usually helps.”

“Chocolate?” Claudia whispered.

“The only thing that gets them talking.” Barraclough replied and passed Colten a sizeable piece. The detainee took it with a shaking hand and began to chew on it.

After a minute or so, he looked up at the aurors. “Who are you?” he croaked.

“We are investigating your case,” Barraclough replied. “Came here to ask you a few questions.” He paused to see if Colten said anything else. He did not. “Who were you meeting in the club?”

“An old school friend,” Colten replied slowly.

“Mrs Rosier?” Barraclough asked.

Colten shook his head. “Not that night, no.”

“But you were having an affair with Mrs Rosier?”

Colten nodded. “But that night I was meeting Oleander Mulberry.”

“What do you remember?”

Colten took another large bite of the chocolate. A little bit of colour returned to his face. “He was acting strange, as if he was in a haze.” Colten paused. “Until the very end. He gripped my arm tightly and whispered, ‘watch out for Rosier, he is out to get you’.”

“Was there anything else strange about his behaviour?”

“I’m so tired,” Colten whispered.

“Please, anything else you remember?”

“Tired.”

“Anything else you can tell me about Rosier?”

No more words came out of Colten’s mouth. He was back to humming.

“Great,” Barraclough scoffed. He stood up and walked over to the rusting door and banged on it twice before returning to his seat.

Minute or so later, a tall, hooded figure floated in. Instantly, the room went cold, and the water that condensed on the walls froze. A new image flashed through Claudia’s head. Her mother was gone. This time, she saw herself sobbing in the showers after she lost her head with jealousy during the final Quidditch game in fifth year, and cost Slytherin the cup. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on something good, anything good. But to no avail. ‘He doesn’t love you.’ She heard her own voice say inside her head. ‘Why would anyone love you?’

She heard the door shut, and the room warmed up instantly. The memory was gone.

“Do you think Mulberry might have been under the Imperius Curse?” she asked Barraclough when she recovered her composure.

“I think so,” Barraclough replied. “First, the marks, and now this? We really should find Rosier.”

“Should we head back?” she asked.

Barraclough did not answer immediately, just stared at her. Claudia could practically hear the cogs in his brain turn. “No,” he whispered finally, and stood up again. He walked over to the door, opened a latch to reveal a small window, and yelled into it. “Bring us detainee MM 047.”

“Who’s that?” Claudia asked as Barraclough returned to the table.

“Linda Yates,” he whispered. Claudia did not say anything, just stared at him with her mouth open, so Barraclough continued. “The boss is still mad about the orders we got to drop the investigation. And I could not stop thinking about her since you found that file.”

Few minutes later, another ghostly figure in Azkaban’s prison robes entered the room. Like with Colten, Claudia would not have recognised Linda from the pictures she had seen – she was hunched over, had sunken eyes and paper-thin skin.

Barraclough took more chocolate out of his pocket and passed it to Linda.

“I’m Aiden Barraclough and this is Claudia Avery,” the senior auror introduced them. “We wanted to ask you a few questions about your case. Is that ok?”

But Linda did not reply to his question. Or any other of the questions he asked her.

“This is pointless,” Barraclough sighed after ten minutes or so. “I’ll get the guards.”

As he got up and walked towards the door of the interrogation room, Linda finally looked up. “Avery?” She whispered.

“Yes,” Claudia replied.

Linda wrapped her own arms around her torso and looked away, rocking slightly. “Frederick…”

“Frederick’s my father,” Claudia muttered. She saw Linda bite her lip and stare at the wall with renewed determination. The young auror continued. “I know what he is. And I know what he did to you.” Linda did not move a muscle. “And I will prove it.”

Slowly, Linda turned to Claudia. “I was with him that night,” she whispered. “That’s my alibi. Talk to my flatmate.”

“Did he know about the potioneer?” Claudia asked.

“He knew everything.”

With those words, the door flew open again, and a shriek filled the room. This time, the shriek was not inside Claudia’s head. It was Linda’s. The dementor floated over to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her out of the room.

Claudia tried to fight her own terrible thoughts, but it was a fight she was rapidly losing. ‘He will never love someone like you!’ Her voice echoed through her head again. ‘You are an ugly, worthless ghoul.’ Mercifully, the auror stationed in Azkaban appeared, and his patronus lightened up the room.

“What was that about?” Barraclough whispered as they were leaving the room. “What did she say to you?”

“A lead,” Claudia whispered. “She told me her flatmate can confirm her alibi.” She paused, wondering for a second whether she should tell him about her father, his role in the kidnapping, and his affair with Linda. But, for reasons she did not entirely understand, she chickened out.

“Good. Well done,” Barraclough attempted a meek smile. “At least it wasn’t an entirely wasted journey.”

They took the portkey back to the Ministry. Claudia went straight home. It was late, she was exhausted, and a little shaken.

Without a word, she snuck into the apartment and, still in her coat, sat down on the sofa. She could not get Linda’s face and shrieks out of her head. She was in that horrible place, all alone. The dementor’s nasty hands gripping her shoulders and dragging her away…

Just as she was thinking about that grip, she felt someone touch her and jumped up from the sofa. Her heart was in her throat, and she felt like throwing up.

“I’m sorry,” Sirius mumbled. “You ok?”

Claudia dropped back down into the soft cushions.

“Barraclough took me to Azkaban today,” she whispered. “To interrogate Colten,” she paused and took and deep breath, “and Linda…”

“Was it as bad as they told us?”

“It was so much worse,” Claudia sighed. “The cold, the shrieks, all those awful memories just flooding back. Every doubt that you ever had, just amplified…”

“Did the patronus not help?”

“We weren’t allowed wands,” she explained. “The interrogation room was ok and we did have a guard with us… But even for those few moments, when we were unguarded.” She shuddered, and Sirius squeezed her in his arms. “I don’t understand how someone can take it for months, years even,” she added.

Sirius whipped out his wand, closed his eyes, and - with a smile - uttered, “Expecto Patronum.”

A silvery dog shot out of the end of his wand, circled around the sofa, and finally put his head on Claudia’s knees, wagging its tail.

She closed her eyes too, thought about the trip they took on her seventeenth birthday, and produced her own patronus - a little nimble fox.

The foxed skipped towards the dog and nudged him away from Claudia’s legs. Then, they proceeded to chase each other around the living room.

“What’s your memory?” Claudia whispered as she relaxed into Sirius’ embrace. She could feel warmth and happiness spreading through her body again.

“Not going to tell you.”

“Come on,” she gently poked Sirius in the ribs.

“When we made the map work. Maybe when I transformed for the first time.” he said seemingly as in a dream. “Or when James ate that vomit-flavoured bean.”

“I hate you.”

“Fine.” Sirius chuckled and pulled Claudia even closer to him. “When I woke up after that New Year’s Eve party at James’ house and watched you sleep in my arms. That is the happiest I’ve ever felt,” he added softly, and kissed her. “You?”

“When we won the Quidditch Cup,” she smirked.

Sirius’ eyes narrowed. “Now I don’t know whether you are joking or not.”

Chapter Text

This chapter contains major spoilers from the first story. If you ever had an intention to read that, now is the time. This chapter contains a description of canon-typical violence and recreational marijuana use.

“Listen up.” Barraclough’s voice echoed around the office. It was five thirty and Claudia was about to go home after a relatively uneventful day. “The boss wants to talk to Rosier. We’ve got an address in Holloway.”

“Talk talk?” Dankworth asked. “Or ‘question-under-caution’ talk?”

“The latter,” Barraclough smirked. “Let’s go.”

Barraclough, Adebayo, Fernsby, Dankworth and Claudia took the Floo network to one of the auror safe houses in North London, which was only about ten minutes’ walk from Rosier’s hide out. It was getting dark, and they set off to find it as inconspicuously as they could.

Claudia tried fighting it, but to no avail. The knot in her stomach was staying. Her first auror mission!

“We shouldn’t all be going through this alleyway,” said Barraclough. Pointing at a narrow path between fenced-off railway tracks and some industrial buildings. “You two,” he gestured at Fernsby and Dankworth, “go on the main road, walk around and signal once you’re at the other end of this path.”

“It’s twice as long,” growled Dankworth. “That alleyway is barely fifty yards, and they don’t know we’re coming.”

“Don’t go all Moody on us, man,” Fernsby added.

“Fine.” Barraclough sighed. “But wands out,” he added urgently, and walked into the alleyway first.

It was dark, and the path was barely lit.

“What was that?” Claudia whispered when she heard a something rustle.

“Calm down,” Fernsby hissed. “It’s just a tree. The wind is picking up.”

Claudia took a deep breath. Her nerves were just getting to her.

The aurors made it about half-way down the alleyway when Claudia heard a different sound. A familiar loud hiss. Before she could quite recognise it, a black ball landed right among them.

In a split second, Claudia remembered. It was the same bomb Mundungus threw at her and Sirius when he panicked under their interrogation.

“Take cover!” she yelled, but it was too late. Before she knew it, a powerful force threw her against the wall.

Claudia had no idea how much time passed before she managed to open her eyes again. When she did, she saw her fellow aurors scattered on the ground.

None of them showed any sign of life.

Claudia began to fumble around for her wand. They better not be dead, she thought. But before she had a chance to check, a jet of green light hit the wall next to her.

“Fuck,” she hissed. There was only one spell she knew that looked like that.

Claudia jumped out of the way of another spell. Something rolled under her feet, and she came crashing to the floor. It must have been her wand. She picked it up. It was.

“Expelliarmus! Stupefy!” she yelled in quick succession.

Another jet of green light shot from the end of the alleyway.

“Impedimenta!” she retaliated. Nothing.

The attacker cackled and shot another killing spell, this time in the direction of one of the lifeless bodies. He missed, just.

“Stop it!” she screamed. “Petrificius Totallus.”

More cackling came out from the dark end of the alleyway. Then another green jet of light.

It was only a matter of time before he hit her.

She had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

Claudia gripped her wand with everything she had. “Avada Kedavra!” she yelled, but nothing came out of the end of her wand.

She took a deep breath, remembering everything Miss Sachs on said on the first day of Auror training. ‘Intent is key.’

She needed to kill him. It was either him or her.

“Avada Kedavra.” A pathetic green cloud puffed out of the end of her wand.

She wanted to kill him.

The rage that has built up inside of her over the years was boiling over. She hated You-Know-Who. She hated the Death Eaters.

Rosier deserved to die.

“Avada Kedavra,” she yelled again. This time a powerful jet shot from the end of Claudia’s wand, and she heard a thud. The attacker was down.

Claudia fell on all four. Her whole body was hurting. She could see blood dripping on the floor. She must have got a cut when she was first thrown against the wall.

She crawled to the body nearest to her. It was Fernsby. He was still, his eyes were shut. He definitely looked dead.

Claudia put her hand on his chest. It took an age for it to rise, but it did. He was breathing. He was alive.

“Rennervate,” she mumbled, and Fernsby’s eyes began to open.

She heard a slight noise behind her and turned abruptly, ready to strike again. But it was just Adebayo, waking up. Together, they revived the others.

“Where did he go?” Barraclough, who was the last one to regain consciousness, barked.

“He’s dead,” Adebayo said from further away. Claudia turned and saw him standing over the corpse. “It’s Rosier.”

“How?” Barraclough asked. “What happened?”

No one replied. The wind had stopped. The alleyway was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

“Killing curse,” Claudia whispered. “He was going to get us all.”

They all turned to her and stared, with their mouth slightly ajar. One by one, their facial features hardened. They understood.

“You three stay here and clean up the scene. You come with me,” Barraclough said and gripped Claudia’s arm. “We need to get back. You’re in so much fucking trouble.” With those words, he apparated with Claudia in tow. Before she could reply, she landed hard on the tiled floor in the Ministry’s atrium.

Barraclough dragged her through the corridors towards Moody’s office.

“What do you mean?” she whispered.

“Later.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Shut up,” Barraclough hissed and gripped Claudia’s arm even tighter. “Not another word before we get to the boss’s office.”

Claudia did not dare disobey. And soon enough they were through the door of Moody’s office.

“What happened?” Moody barked when he saw them. “Where are the others?”

“They’re fine,” Barraclough replied. “Rosier isn’t though. He’s dead.”

Moody’s nostrils widened. “I told you not to kill anyone. I refuse to take part in Crouch’s vendetta.”

“We were ambushed-“ Barraclough began to explain.

“It was self-defence.” Claudia jumped in. “I was the only one conscious, and he was casting one killing curse after another.”

Moody and Barraclough look at each other. A rather large vein has appeared on Moody’s forehead. “It was you?”

“Crouch said it himself.” Claudia continued to defend herself. “We are authorised-“

“You’re a bloody trainee!” Moody yelled, interrupting her. “You’re authorised to do fuck all!”

“But-“ Claudia tried to protest, but Moody did not let her.

“Do you understand what’s at stake here?” He shook his fist. “You’ll go to Azkaban! For life!”

“Alastor-“ Barraclough interjected just as Claudia’s eyes were beginning to fill up. She remembered the slimy walls, the shrieking, the misery.

“Don’t you Alastor me!” Moody barked at Barraclough, ignoring Claudia’s tears.

But before Moody got to do any more yelling, Fernsby burst through the door, followed closely by Dankworth.

“Get out!” Moody shouted at them.

“No!” Fernsby said resolutely and stood right next to Claudia. “None of us would be here if it weren’t for Claudia.” Claudia looked up at him. She struggled to understand the words coming out of his mouth. He used her actual name. Was he on her side?

“We were dead, boss.” Dankworth added and flanked Claudia from the other side. When she looked at him, he gave her an encouraging smile and squeezed her shoulder.

“I really had no choice.” Claudia finally recovered her composure enough to mumble. “Send me to Azkaban if you want but I saved five lives today.”

“We’ll say it was me.” Fernsby said. “I’m authorised to use Unforgivable Curses.”

“No.” Moody said after a long pause. He was still breathing heavily but had least stopped yelling. “Internal affairs would figure it out… Smiley’s good.”

Claudia swallowed. Azkaban, here we come.

“There would need to be a hearing first,” Moody said. “If they found you guilty, then there would be a full criminal trial.”

“If we get Crouch to chair the hearing, he will never punish her for this.” Barraclough said calmly. “He’s been trying to give us more powers. He’ll use this to strengthen his case and Claudia will be free.”

Moody stared at them all for a good minute.

“Fine,” he finally growled and turned to Claudia again. “You’re suspended until the hearing. You leave your wand here,” Moody sighed and grabbed something from his desk, “I need to go talk to Crouch.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Claudia whispered as she watched Moody walked out of the office.

“Go home. And stay there,” Barraclough said before outstretching his arm. “Wand?”

“Is this really necessary?” Claudia sighed. But when Barraclough did not move, she relented and gave up her wand.

“Do you want us to walk you home?” Dankworth asked.

Claudia shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she mumbled, desperately trying to keep the tears in. The relief of not being sent to Azkaban straight away was slowly wearing off, and the reality was hitting her. “My boyfriend is picking me up,” she added, hoping that lie would stop any further discussion on the matter.

She walked out of the office and the building as fast as she could. Once on the street, she finally stopped to look around. The streets were deserted. It was dark, cold, and it started to rain.

She was finally alone. She could not keep it in any longer and began to cry.

Slowly, Claudia set off toward home, her mind swirling. She wondered what Moody might be saying to Crouch, how Crouch was going to react, what would the hearing look like. She saw the Wizengamot, sentencing her to life in Azkaban. She remembered the Dementors…

Claudia could not take her thoughts any longer and began to run. Her heart was pounding in her ears, pushing out her thoughts. The icy rain was hurting on painfully hitting her face. And finally, she crashed through the door.

“You aurors drink like fish…” Sirius’ voice came from the kitchen. “Do you want me to heat you up dinner?”

Claudia did not get a chance to say anything before Sirius’ head appeared in the doorframe.

“Why are you covered in blood?” he barked and run towards her.

“Rosier attacked us,” she began, and crashed into the armchair.

“Are you ok?” Sirius kneeled in front of her and helped her out of the soaking wet coat. Claudia was grateful. She could barely move.

She shook her head. “I got suspended.”

“What that has to do with Rosier?”

“I killed him.” She whispered and averted her gaze. “If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here…”

Sirius squeezed the top of her shoulders. His mouth was slightly ajar and eyes full of dread.

“There’s going to be a hearing,” she mumbled. “Moody mentioned Azkaban.” Just mentioning that name made Claudia tremble.

“That’d be ridiculous.” Sirius whispered and hugged her. The warmth of his body, the closeness between them. It almost made things ok again. “It was clearly self-defence!”

“I hope you’re right,” she mumbled into Sirius’ chest.

Claudia did not move for the rest of the evening. She explained what happened and then just laid down on Sirius’ lap and stared into the fire. She could not pay attention to what he was saying. Her mind kept jumping around – the alleyway, the unconscious bodies, Moody’s threats. Eventually, she dozed off while Sirius played with her hair.

When she woke up the following morning, she found Alice already sitting at the dining table.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Alice whispered, and pulled Claudia into a tight hug. “Moody told Frank what happened.”

They drank tea and chatted. Claudia did not really know what or for how long. Her body was aching, and her mind was numb. All she wanted was to crawl into bed, pull the duvet over her head, and pretend the world did not exist.

“At least I’ll make it into the history books,” Claudia smirked as they were saying their goodbyes. “The shortest auror career in history of the Ministry.”

“The hearing will be fine.” Alice attempted a meek smile. “Moody’s got your back, you say you regret it, it’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah…” Claudia sighed.

“I can come back tomorrow afternoon,” Alice said. “I need some help with the seating chart. That would keep your mind off things.”

“Sure,” Claudia whispered absentmindedly as she shut the door behind Alice.

“Do you want anything to eat?” Sirius asked.

Claudia shook her head.

“Coffee?”

“No,” she sighed. “I’m going back to bed.”

The rest of the day was just a blur. Claudia felt nauseous. All she managed to get down was a bland toast and some tea. Sirius tried his best to keep her spirits up, but all his efforts were in vain. Nothing could distract her from her thoughts.

She was still in a foul mood when there was a knock on the door the following afternoon. She looked at her watch. Alice was not supposed to come for another hour.

Claudia got up from the sofa and slowly made her way towards the door. She opened it and came face-to-face with Alice, who was pale as a piece of parchment.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

“Sorry for-“ Claudia began to ask but Alice jumped in.

“This is Mrs Longbottom,” she said and pointed towards the stairs, where a tall, thin, and bony witch just emerged from behind the railings. “Frank’s mother. She came to help with the planning.”

“Are you going to offer me some tea, dear?” Mrs Longbottom asked sternly when Claudia showed her to the sofa and took her coat.

“A moment,” Claudia said, grabbed Alice by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. “What is she doing here?”

“I’m so so so sorry,” Alice whispered. “She insisted on coming. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“This is the last thing I need right now.”

“I know, I know. I’m so sorry.”

Claudia turned around to make the tea, but before she even filled the kettle with water, she heard a scream coming from the living room.

“Intruder!”

Both girls run back.

Mrs Longbottom was towering over the sofa, her wand drawn. She was pointing it towards the door to the bedroom, ready to strike.

Claudia could not help but snort when she saw what startled Mrs Longbottom. Sirius was standing on the threshold of the room, wrapped only in a towel. His hands were raised in the air, signalling surrender.

“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” he barked.

Claudia glanced at Alice. She stood frozen in the middle of the room and was no longer pale. Instead, she was bright red. No wonder. Sirius was still wet, drops of water were travelling down his body. The only things that disrupted his perfect ivory skin was a thin line of body hair travelling down from his belly button.

“Mrs Longbottom.” Claudia jumped in to save her friend. “This is Sirius.”

“Alice didn’t mention you were married.” Mrs Longbottom frowned.

“They are-” Alice was clearly panicking in front of her soon to be mother-in-law.

“Living together-“ Claudia cut her off before she uttered such an unsustainable lie. She was certainly not going to get married for the sake of Frank’s mother. “We’re living together.”

“We’ve got wedding planning to do and need to get cracking.” Claudia said as she walked over to Sirius and began ushering him to the bedroom. “Please put some clothes on,” she whispered, unable to resist a little chuckle.

“I’m glad this amuses you.” Sirius smirked, allowed Claudia to push him through the door to the bedroom and to shut the door behind him.

“Alice,” Claudia turned to her friend, who was still completely static. “Feel free to set up the seating chart on the coffee table over there,” she pointed towards the table in front of the fireplace, “and I’ll finish the tea.”

“Yes,” Alice whispered and cleared her throat. “Of course.”

Sirius hid in the bedroom, and Claudia and Alice spent the afternoon talking about which aunt did not get on with which uncle.

“Again,” Alice said as she was closing the door behind her. “I’m so sorry.”

“You know what,” Claudia smiled. “It did help take my mind off things.”

And just like that, the worst of the fog had lifted. Claudia finally managed to eat a whole dinner and fall asleep before her train of thought made it all the way to Azkaban. “The hearing was going to be fine,” she kept repeating to herself. “It was self-defence. Moody has my back.”

The days dragged on, one as monotonous as the next. Without work and unable to leave her flat, Claudia soon ran out of things to do. The fact that chores took her twice as long because she could not use magic did not make up for that in the slightest. If anything, it made it worse.

On the morning of the third of November, Claudia opened her eyes to see Sirius was already awake and smiling at her.

“Happy Birthday,” she whispered and kissed him. “Though, I didn’t manage to get you anything before I got trapped here.”

“I don’t care about presents,” he smiled and brushed the side of her face.

“I was going to make you a cake.”

“I do care about cake.”

Claudia could not help but laugh a little. She slid her hand down Sirius’ back and under the waist of his boxer shorts.

“Are you sure?” he whispered. “We don’t have to.”

“Shush,” she uttered, and kissed him again. This was the longest they went without having sex, and Claudia was burning up on the inside.

As they were laying tired and naked in bed, Claudia sighed. “I’ll miss this in Azkaban.”

Sirius raised himself on his elbow. “Listen to me,” he began with unusual steeliness in his voice. “I’ll never let that happen. Do you understand?”

“What can you do?” Claudia attempted a feeble smile.

“We’ll live on the run. We’ll go underground.” Sirius began. “I’ll go anywhere in the world to keep you safe. Even that Japanese cat island.”

“What island?”

“Remus mentioned. Doesn’t matter.” He paused and kissed her again. “Say a word and we can leave now.”

“I think I’ll take my chances on the hearing.” Claudia wiped her eyes, that were rapidly filling up with tears. “But thank you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered, and kissed him back. “But now you need to get out of here. I want the cake to at least be a surprise.”

“I’ll be in the garage,” Sirius said with a chuckle and rolled off the bed.

“Obviously.” Claudia laughed and pulled him back for another kiss.

It took them a while yet to get out of bed. Sirius went down to work on his motorbike and Claudia went to the kitchen and opened the cookbook.

“First time for everything,” she sighed, remembering her missing wand, and began reading the instructions.

An hour and a half later, the kitchen looked like it had been the scene of one of those explosives that people seemed to enjoy throwing at Claudia. But there was a cake. It had a sponge, filling, icing. It was perfect. Happy with the morning’s work, Claudia went down to the garage.

What she saw surprised her. There was no longer a pile of unrecognisable metal. It now looked like a bike. Sirius was leaning over a workbench, scrubbing something.

“What are you doing?” she asked and walked across the garage to peak over his shoulder.

“Wet sanding the tank,” Sirius sighed. “It’s taking hours.”

“Can I help?”

“Sure.” He smiled and gave her a brief kiss. “You smell like chocolate,” he whispered, and kissed her again. This time for longer.

“The bike…” Claudia chuckled and pushed him gently away.

“Right… Take this,” he passed her a piece of rough paper, “and rub it on the bodywork until it all looks like this.” He added and pointed at a smooth, grey circle amid a sea of dark grey paint that was all cracked and rusting.

Claudia took the sandpaper out of his hand and began. It was fun for about five minutes before it became monotonous, and her arm started to ache. But Sirius was organising some pins, which looked even less fun, so she continued.

At one o’clock, she finally managed to pry him away on the promise they would have the cake for lunch. Soon after, they started cooking for the little birthday party they were hosting that evening.

One by one James, Lily, Remus and Peter trickled in.

“Is Mary coming?” Claudia whispered in Sirius’ ear when Remus walked in alone.

“I wouldn’t know,” Sirius whispered back. “Every time I bring her up, he tells me to mind my own business.”

They had their food, drank, and gave Sirius their presents. It was freezing, so they lit the fireplace and sat around it. James and Lily were sitting on the sofa. Peter occupied one of the armchair. Claudia and Sirius were sitting on the floor next to each other, leaning against the other armchair. Remus was also on the floor, wedged between the sofa and Peter’s chair. A bottle of fire whiskey was going around.

“The last time we were all sitting like this, we were in our dormitory on the last night in Hogwarts,” Remus said with a smile. “Wondering what life outside of school was going to be like.”

“I thought the Order missions would be more exciting,” Sirius sighed.

“I know,” Remus replied. “I thought it would feel like having a job. Instead, I’m stuck at home all the time, waiting to get a message to go wait somewhere else. And nothing ever happens.”

“You could come and help me in my dad’s shop.” Peter piped up.

“That sounds truly exhilarating,” Sirius scoffed.

“I would love to,” Remus replied, shooting Sirius an annoyed look.

“We can’t pay you, though,” Peter whispered and looked away. “I don’t even get enough money to move out of my parents’ house.”

“Tell us about it,” Lily sighed. “We’ve been looking for a place to live and it’s a lost cause. They only place we liked was this cottage in Godric’s Hollow and it was way too expensive.”

“Too expensive?” Sirius chuckled. “Aren’t you marrying him for his money?”

“We don’t want to be relying on our parents,” Lily said with a slight frown. “Not that they would give us the money anyway. They hate the idea.”

“I thought I would have a Quidditch contract by now,” James interrupted the awkwardness. “I was only offered a second try-out by the Canons and had to miss that because I got stuck on an Order mission.”

“Dodged a bullet there, mate,” Claudia said. “The Canons are awful.”

All James managed was a feeble smile back. “I hate being unemployed.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to go to work every day and face your bigoted boss who tells all the customers you’re a muggleborn.” Lily whispered.

“Does he, really?” Peter asked. “That’s awful.”

“There was a woman this week who refused to buy the potion I made. She was worried it might explode, because of how unstable muggleborn magic is.”

“Bloody Daily Prophet…” Sirius mumbled.

“I’m sorry, Lily.” Remus said and touched her knee.

Mercifully, the fire whiskey arrived again, and Claudia took a large swig.

“Could be worse,” Lily whispered.

There was a long silence.

Claudia stopped drinking and looked at her friends. There were all staring at her, quietly.

“How are you holding up?” Lily finally spoke.

“I’m fine,” Claudia hurled out without thinking and then paused. “Actually, I’m not fine.” She squeezed the top of her nose between her fingers and felt Sirius’ hand on her shoulder. “Being an auror was my dream.”

“I don’t even imagine what it would be like,” Remus whispered. “Having to make a decision like that in a split second.”

“Wasn’t hard,” Claudia mumbled. “This is hard. Not having my wand, not being able to go anywhere. Having Azkaban hang over me.”

“You must feel a little conflicted about it,” Lily whispered.

“Why?” Claudia barked. “You all know what these people are capable of. Even in school, they proved they’re capable of murder.”

“I forgot about what Severus did to you,” Lily said meekly. “I’m sorry.”

Claudia briefly looked at Sirius, who sighed, closed his eyes and gave Claudia a barely noticeable nod.

“It wasn’t Snape,” Claudia whispered. “I found out at the end of last year.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” James jumped in.

“To give me time to process who did do it,” Sirius whispered. It was Claudia’s turn to put her hand on his shoulder. But Siris did not say any more.

“Regulus,” she said instead of him. “On my brother’s orders.”

Nobody spoke.

Sirius looked up. “Surprise!” he said, with a mixture of sarcasm and pain in his voice.

“I’m s-“ Lily began to say.

“Yeah, sorry. I know,” Sirius growled. “Can we please not talk about it?”

There was more awkward silence.

“Pads-“ James began.

“Please,” Sirius sighed. “Not tonight.”

“Fine,” James said, and shot Lily a weird look. “I wasn’t going to give this to you in the end, but I feel like we all deserve some fun,” he added, and threw a small plastic bag on the coffee table.

“What’s that?” Peter asked, and picked it up.

“Weed,” James said. “You smoke it, and it does things to you,” he added when Peter looked none wiser.

“Happy Birthday to me,” Sirius grinned and snatched the bag out of Peter’s hand. He kneeled in front of the coffee table, and James dropped to the floor to join him.

James produced some filters and cigarette paper from his pocket, and they got to work.

“You two look like you’ve done this before,” Claudia smirked after watching them for a minute or so.

“What goes on in the Gryffindor dormitory, stays in the Gryffindor dormitory,” James said and licked the cigarette paper. His joint was done.

“I bloody well hope so,” Claudia mumbled, remembering the few times Sirius smuggled her into the dorm. And he clearly remembered too, as he gave her a devilish grin.

Sirius found a lighter in his bag and was the first one to take a puff. And then another. “I bet you anything the Death Eaters don’t get to do this.”

“Can you imagine?” Claudia chuckled as he passed her the joint. “You-Know-Who and my father, just smoking some weed.” She put the joint in her mouth. It felt just like any other cigarette. Except it smelled different.

They smoked and waited. Claudia was not quite sure what was meant to be happening, or how she was supposed to be feeling.

“You-Know-Who is such a dumb name,” James said after he blew out a rather thick cloud of smoke out of his mouth and gave his joint to Peter. “What was it that Dumbledore called him?”

“Voldemort,” Remus mumbled. “Can I have some too?”

Claudia took another drag and then leaned over the table to pass the joint to Remus. “Voldemort is also a dumb nickname.”

“Is that not his real name?” Remus asked.

“No.” Claudia shook her head. “His real name is Tom Mar-“, she could not help but giggle a little, “Marvolo Riddle.”

“Marvolo?” Sirius roared, the joint back in his hand. “You’re messing with us!”

“I’m not! Alice told me.” Claudia defended herself. “And I saw it in Hogwarts’ records with my own eyes.”

“With a name like that,” Sirius said, laughing. “No wonder”, more giggles, “he’s got such delusions of gran-“, Sirius stopped abruptly. “Gran-“

“Grandeur?” Remus smirked. He too was now red in the face and unable to hide a grin.

“That’s the one!” Sirius roared and pointed at his friend. “Ten points to Gryffindor!”

“I bet you he has a small knob too,” James shrieked.

Claudia began to laugh uncontrollably, and so did the others.

“Oh my god,” Lily sighed. “Give me some of that,” she added and took the join out of Peter’s hand. When she saw James’ face, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, she scoffed and took a drag. “You said we all deserved it.”

That made Claudia laugh. “Lily Evans smoking weed. Who would have thought?” Giggles came at her from all directions.

“They drove me to it!” Lily gestured at the boys. “They and the size of You-Know-Who’s,” she took a deep breath and whispered, “knob.” Everyone laughed but her. “I don’t think this is working. I don’t feel anything,” she mumbled, turning the joint in her hand.

“I don’t get it,” Peter uttered. “Why would the size has anything to do with-?”

“Of course, you don’t,” Sirius cut him off and smirked into the bottle of fire whiskey.

Lily shrieked with laughter and immediately put her hand on her mouth. “Sorry, Peter,” she mumbled.

“The weed isn’t working, you said?” James chuckled.

Claudia glanced at Peter. He was red in the face and looked like he wanted to die. She did not care. He deserved it after the awful things he said to her. Claudia slid down to rest her head on Sirius’ lap. Everyone’s words were slipping away from her. All she could hear was laughter. All she could feel were Sirius’ fingers in her hair. All she could see was Sirius’ face leaning over her. He was smiling. The lamp was shining from behind him, making it look like he had an aura.

When Claudia woke up in the morning, she was in her bed, still wearing yesterday’s clothes and having no idea how she got there. Sirius, as ever, was sleeping next to her with his arm over her body. Normally, it made her feel safe. But today, it made her sweat and worsened her nausea. She tried to move Sirius further away but could not. When she sat up, she understood why. Remus was sprawled on the bed on the other side of him.

“Coffee,” she uttered to herself, and made her way to the kitchen. In the living room, James and Lily were sleeping on the sofa and Peter was on the floor, covered in his overcoat.

Before she finished making the coffee (it took forever without her wand), Remus and the living room gang were also up. Claudia poured them all a cup. They all sipped it in silence, unable to speak.

“I better get going,” Remus mumbled and put his empty cup down. “I’ve got that Order mission tonight.”

“I need to go sleep somewhere more comfortable,” James said and stretched his back. “Give our regards to the birthday boy.” he added, as he and Lily put their coats on.

Peter was still sitting in the armchair with a half-full mug in his hands. He looked green and not at all like he could move.

“You’re welcomed to stay,” Claudia uttered as the other three left the flat.

Peter did not even look at her. He downed the coffee and jumped up from the chair. “Wait for me!” He shrieked and was out of the door too.

“Can’t believe he’s still scared of me,” Claudia whispered to herself.

She climbed back into bed and noticed that Sirius’ eyes were opening. “Do you want some coffee?” she asked.

“Just let me die in peace,” Sirius growled and turned over.

Chapter Text

It was the evening before Claudia’s disciplinary hearing, and she was bouncing around the flat like a loose bludger. One minute, she was standing by the fridge, eating ham straight out of a packet. The next, she was trying to read a book. Then, she tried to play Sirius’ piano but did not even manage ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. Nothing was enough to distract her.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Sirius asked, as he was packing his bag for an Order mission.

“I’ll be fine,” she tried to reassure him.

“I can ask Peter to go with James instead of me.”

Claudia shook her head.

“Positive?”

Just as she was about to admit that she would rather he stayed, there was a knock on the door and Claudia went to open it.

“What are you guys doing here?” she nearly gasped when she saw Fernsby and Dankworth standing on the threshold. “How do you even know where I live?”

“He’s been flirting with every single girl in the admin department for years,” Fernsby gestured towards his companion. “It’s finally paid off.”

“Came to check on you,” Dankworth said with a smile. “And to celebrate. Colten got acquitted today.”

“Glad someone gets to be happy.” Claudia sighed and attempted a smile. “Come in,” she added, and stepped out of their way.

Fernsby’s eyes narrowed the moment he entered the flat. “I know you,” he mumbled in Sirius’ direction. “I’m sure I’ve met you before.”

“You questioned me last year,” Sirius smirked. “When you came to Hogwarts to investigate the mysterious sickness!”

“You were that cocky bastard!” Fernsby exclaimed.

“Takes one to know one,” Dankworth mumbled.

“I’ll be off then,” Sirius said and brushed his girlfriend’s shoulder.

Claudia walked him to the door. “Be careful,” she whispered, and gave him a brief kiss.

Sirius disappeared, and Claudia joined her fellow aurors around the coffee table.

“That was a weird case,” Dankworth said. “Half of Hogwarts gets sick, and then… Nothing.”

“What was the Ministry’s explanation?” Claudia asked as innocently as she could.

“Initially, we thought someone was targeting muggleborns,” Dankworth replied. “There was this weapon-“

“Shut up,” Fernsby jumped in. “Remember what Adebayo said. We’ll all get thrown into Azkaban if we tell anyone.”

“Do you mean the weapon that can target muggleborns?” Claudia whispered. She was done pretending she did not know what was really going on. “The one that got stolen from the American talks alongside its inventor?”

“How the fuck do you know about that?” Fernsby said with a frown. “That’s top secret!”

“Someone at the Ministry told me,” she replied. “And I also know who really did it.”

“Yeah, we all know.” Dankworth said. “Linda Yates.”

Claudia stood up, walked over to the bookcase, and took out a bottle of fire whiskey and three glasses. “It wasn’t her.”

There was silence. Dankworth and Fernsby were both staring at her, their expressions unreadable.

She walked back to where the men were sitting, poured out the whiskey, and took a rather large sip. “It was my father,” she whispered. “He was the one who kidnapped the potioneer. He was the one who gave it to one of my classmates to test at Hogwarts.”

It took a while before anyone spoke. “Why would your father do that?” Fernsby whispered.

“Because he’s a Death Eater,” Claudia said. “Him and You-Know-Who were in school together. Stayed closed since.”

Dankworth’s whistle pierced the silence.

“You didn’t know?” Claudia asked, and they both shook their heads. “So why did you hate me so much?” she added.

“Well, we know he is a jumped-up bigot who keeps interfering in our cases,” Fernsby said. “You can’t arrest them, they have diplomatic immunity,” he mimicked Frederick’s severe mannerism.

“You aren’t wrong,” Claudia smirked and took another sip of the whiskey. “He is a jumped-up bigot.”

“Do you have any evidence?” Dankworth asked.

Claudia shook her head. “Not as such, but I’m sure.” She paused and looked at her colleagues. They were both looking at her a little sceptically. “I’m sure. He’s been doing You-Know-Who’s dirty work in Hogwarts for years. Dark Arts research, recruiting Death Eaters, and,” she paused again and took a deep breath, “I saw You-Know-Who in our house once. I was fifteen.”

“Good enough for me,” Dankworth said.

“Are you really sure about this, Claudia?” Fernsby asked. “Can I call you Claudia? A don’t really want to call you Avery anymore…”

“Can I call you Oscar?” she asked, instead of replying.

That did something she was not expecting. Fernsby’s face changed entirely as he smiled at her. “Sure.”

“I’m Ewan,” Dankworth interjected, not wanting to be left out.

Claudia smiled and then remembered the original question. “I’m sure. Hundred per cent. I’ll tell Barraclough after the hearing tomorrow,” she sighed. She knew Barraclough was not going to be impressed that she kept this to herself.

“Let’s get him, then,” Oscar said. “Let’s build a solid case and throw that bastard in Azkaban where he belongs.”

“Thank you,” Claudia whispered.

“We should be the ones thanking you.” Ewan smiled. “And let’s get Yates out of Azkaban.”

“Is she a muggle born?” Oscar asked, and seeing Claudia nod, he continued. “Makes sense they tried to frame her. Just like with Colten.” Then he paused and scratched his chin. “Hang on, if it was that weapon they were using to make everyone in Hogwarts sick. How come you got ill? And your boyfriend? You’re both purebloods.”

“That’s a story for another day.” Claudia grimaced and glanced at her watch. There was no way she was about to confess to poisoning half of Slytherin to a couple of aurors who have just started to treat her like a human being.

“It’s late,” Ewan said. He must have noticed she was looking at the time. “We should go, and you should go to bed.”

“I don’t mind,” Claudia replied with a shrug. “I’m going to wait for Sirius anyway.”

“Lucky boy,” Ewan chuckled. “Having someone to tuck him in once he gets home from the pub.”

“I wish,” she sighed.

“He’s working for the Order, isn’t he?” Oscar asked out of nowhere.

“How do you know about the Order?” she whispered.

“One of my old schoolmates wanted me to join, but Moody put a stop to it,” Oscar replied.

Claudia did not have to say anything. She gave Oscar a feeble smile, and he knew he was right.

“We’ll keep you company,” Ewan whispered.

The three aurors sat around the living room and drank their whiskey. Claudia told them all about her father – how he made Marcus look for the artefact, how he tried to send her to Durmstrang, and how he threw her out of the house.

“Neither of us knew our fathers,” Ewan whispered, looking at the fire whiskey he was swirling in his glass.

“How come?”

Claudia was a little surprised that it was the usually closed-off Oscar who answered her question first. “My dad was killed when I was five. He was an auror.” He paused for a sip. “And my mum died giving birth to me. I was raised by my dad’s sister, Ewan’s mum.”

“I didn’t know you two were family,” Claudia said.

“Yeah. Just the two of us and my mum.” Ewan replied. “My father was a cheating dirtbag who left when I was seven.”

It was now almost one o’clock in the morning. The key rattled in the door and Sirius tiptoed inside.

“We should go,” Oscar said, jumping to his feet. He was a little unsteady but still managed to pull Ewan up to standing.

“Good luck tomorrow, Claudia,” Ewan said, as they were getting on their way.

“And thanks for the drink,” Oscar added, and shut the door behind them.

Sirius took off his jacket and sat down next to Claudia. “Why are you still up?” he whispered.

“I didn’t want to go to sleep until you were home,” she replied and run her finger along his face. Suddenly, she froze and pointed at his cheek. “What’s that gash?”

“It’s nothing,” Sirius replied and took out his wand to heal his injury.

“Did you get into trouble?” she asked. “Were there Death Eaters?”

“Just a little scrap.”

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because it finally got interesting.”

“You’re insane,” she barked. “Getting injured is not interesting!”

“Come on,” Sirius said and squeezed her in his arms. “You can’t have all the fun.”

“I supposed not,” she whispered, and rested her head on his shoulder. He was right. It was important work and Sirius deserved to feel useful. Within seconds, she was asleep.

At eight o’clock in the morning exactly, Claudia found herself sitting on a hard bench in front of a small courtroom in the basement of the Ministry of Magic. It was eerily quiet, the walls were dark and Claudia’s chest was tight. It all felt like a strange prelude to what was waiting for her in Azkaban.

The door creaked open and a young man’s head had appeared through the door. “Avery, they’re ready for you.”

With a sigh, Claudia got up and dried her sweaty palms on her trousers. “Wish me luck,” she whispered towards Sirius and took a step towards the courtroom.

Sirius jumped up from the bench, caught her arm and spun her around to face him. “Remember what I said,” he whispered. “It’s going to be ok.” He drew her close and planted a kiss on the top of Claudia’s head. “You aren’t going to go to Azkaban.”

“Yeah,” she uttered absentmindedly, and walked into the courtroom. There were two long tables facing each other in the middle of the room. At one of the tables sat Crouch, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Orpington, the Head Auror, and Smiley, the man who interviewed her for the job at the Ministry and the Head of the Auror Office’s Internal Affairs Division.

Crouch pointed at an empty chair in the middle of the table opposite, in between Moody and Barraclough, who were already there, both of their faces unreadable.

“We know why we are all here,” Crouch started. “Tell us what happened from your perspective, Miss Avery.”

Claudia cleared her throat. “We got ambushed by Rosier in a narrow alleyway. He used a stunning bomb to incapacitate everyone, but I got lucky and remained conscious.” She noticed her voice was trembling a little and paused to regain her composure. “He began casting the killing spell, so I retaliated.”

“You do not deny using the killing spell?” Crouch asked.

“No.”

“Do you have any regrets?”

“No.”

“Care to elaborate?” Smiley pitched in with an expression of a sphinx. Claudia had absolutely no idea what he was thinking and somewhat regretted dropping that chandelier onto his head during her interview. That could not be helping her case right now!

“It was self-defence,” Claudia said with a shrug. “We would have all been dead of I haven’t used the killing curse.”

“How does it make you feel?” Smiley continued.

“Like I said, it was self-defence.” She said, perhaps a little more sharply that she was intending to. “I’m not going to feel guilty about that!”

“What about other spells? Did you try them?” Crouch resumed the interrogation.

“I tried several – expelliarmus, stupefy, impedimenta, petrificus totallus - but none were getting through.”

“Why not just protect yourself?” Crouch asked. “Block the killing curse?”

“You can’t block the killing curse,” Claudia said. She was not sure whether Crouch was testing her, or genuinely did not know that. “There was no cover. And besides, he started to aim at the others, who were all knocked out.”

“Very well,” Crouch sighed. “Any other questions?” he looked first at Orpington and then at Smiley, who both shook their heads. “Alastor, you’re her superior. Anything to add?”

Moody turned to Claudia and hissed. “Give us privacy.”

She swallowed dry and briefly looked at Barraclough, who gave her an encouraging nod. She muttered a thank you and dragged her heels back to the corridor.

“How did it go?” Sirius jumped to his feet the moment she stepped out.

“They’re still going,” Claudia replied and dropped back to the bench.

Five minutes had passed. Then another ten. Still nothing. Half an hour after they asked Claudia to leave, the door finally flew open, and Moody strode out of the courtroom.

He walked right up to Claudia and threw a wand at her, which she just about managed to catch. “Get out of my sight,” he barked, and walked away.

Claudia looked at the wand and felt her chest unclench. It was hers. This must have been good news. “What happened?” she whispered towards Barraclough, who emerged out of the courtroom behind Moody. “Is he firing me?”

“I don’t think so,” the senior auror said tentatively and turned his head to the side to watch their boss walk away. “He just saved your butt in there. Take few days off and back to active duty after Christmas.”

Claudia let out a sigh and grinned at Barraclough. Then, she remembered what she wanted to do right after the hearing and the smile was wiped right off her face. “Do you have five minutes?” she whispered. “I need to talk to you about something.”

They found an empty meeting room and sat down. Avoiding eye contact, Claudia began to speak.

“There is a reason I was looking at Linda Yates’ file,” she began. “I know why she is in Azkaban. I have known for a year. They were testing the weapon at Hogwarts but me and my friends made them think it was not working.” She paused but did not dare to look at Barraclough. “I do not know for sure that Linda is innocent, but I know who is really behind it. My father. He was the one who planned the kidnapping. He was the one who was sleeping with Linda and framed her.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?” Barraclough asked, sounding more disappointed than angry.

She finally looked up at him. “I suppose I was ashamed.”

“Let’s find that flatmate,” Barraclough said. “It’s our only lead.”

“Do we need to tell the boss?” Claudia asked, grimacing. She did not particularly fancy facing Moody’s wrath again.

“I’ll tell him. Although…” Barraclough said and frowned. “Thinking about it now, I’m pretty sure he already knows.”

“Dumbledore knows.”

“That would explain it.”

Claudia found Sirius in the corridor again and finally had a chance to savour the moment. A huge weight had lifted off her shoulders. They stood there in an embrace. Claudia was grinning with relief, but for some reason, Sirius was wearing a rather sombre expression on his face.

“It finally got to me,” he whispered, and wiped his eye. “That you could have gone to Azkaban. Or worse…”

“Only now?”

“I was trying to keep your spirits up before,” he mumbled. “And now it finally hit me.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Claudia whispered, grabbed Sirius’ hand, and dragged him out of the Ministry.

Few days went past. Sirius’ mood had gradually improved, and Claudia was becoming increasingly restless. She could not remember the last time she had this long off work or school, and it was getting to her.

It was the morning of Christmas Eve and Claudia was sitting on the sofa, reading the Daily Prophet. Just after eleven in the morning, Sirius came up from the garage, where he was still spending most of his free time. He was grinning and carried an enormous box wrapped in Christmas paper.

“Merry Christmas!” he said, beaming, and put the box down on the coffee table.

“Is that for me?” Claudia asked.

“No, it’s for Voldemort,” Sirius smirked. “Come on, open it.”

Claudia pulled on the bow, and the wrapping paper fell apart revealing a simple cardboard box, which she somewhat tentatively opened. Inside were a black leather jacket and a dark green motorcycle helmet with a grey stripe down the middle.

“No,” she gasped. “It can’t be!”

“Yes, it can!” Sirius exclaimed and grabbed the helmet out of her box. He lifted it above Claudia and gently placed it on her head. “Let’s go and try it.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now!” He chuckled and fastened the helmet strap under Claudia’s chin. He grabbed her hand and start dragging her into the garage. She just about remembered to take the new jacket with her too.

Once in the garage, she finally saw it - the Triumph in all its glory, with its huge headlamp, gleaming fuel tank and long black leather seat. It looked nothing like when they first saw it, rusting and disassembled.

“Is it really working?” she asked.

“Y-eees.” Sirius prolonged the word to give it a distinct mocking tone. “I took it for a ride yesterday.”

“And you know how to drive it?”

“Y-eees. I took the muggle test and got a licence.”

“And do-“ she began to speak.

“Enough excuses!” Sirius laughed, put on his own helmet, and threw his long leg over the seat to sit on the bike. “Get on the back.”

Claudia tentatively put on the jacket (it was a perfect fit!) and climbed on the motorbike to sit behind Sirius.

“Put your feet on those foot-pegs over there,” Sirius said, pointing to two little metal pegs on the side of the bike, “and hold on tight”.

Then, he started the motorbike. It was loud, repulsively so. Claudia gripped Sirius’ jacket, and they set off down the mews.

“Let’s do a lap of Regents’ Park,” he shouted over his shoulder and turned left into Gower Street. They crept along the busy roads and in five minutes or so, they arrived at Regent’s Park Outer Circle.

There was less traffic, and Sirius picked up speed. The faster he went, the more he leaned into the corner, the more Claudia gripped him. It was not fun or pleasant. In fact, it was terrifying. “You’re going too fast!” she yelled into his ear.

Sirius stopped by the kerb. “What did you say?”

“I said you’re going too fast,” she whispered, somewhat relieved that she had firm ground under her foot again.

“I’m going about half the speed you fly on that broom of yours.”

“That’s not the same,” Claudia hurled out. “The broom is safe if you know what you’re doing.”

“And I don’t know what I’m doing?” Sirius asked rather sharply.

“It’s just-“ Claudia grimaced.

“Claude!”

“I don’t like not being in control,” she snapped. “Ok?”

Sirius laughed. “Of course, you don’t,” he smirked. “But I’m not letting you drive this.”

“You’re going to make me walk home, aren’t you?”

“Get back on that bike,” Sirius said with a smile. “My little weirdo.”

Claudia did climb back on the bike and rested her head on Sirius’s back. “Please be careful,” she whispered.

“And we are driving it to Winchester tomorrow,” Sirius added. “I promised James that I’ll bring it and he can have a go.” Then he turned the key and started the engine again.

“No, we are not!” Claudia protested loudly.

“Can’t hear you over the noise of the engine!” Sirius yelled. But she knew he heard every single world she said. He just chose to ignore her.

The following morning, they were all packed and ready to go to the Potters for Christmas.

“It’s too cold to drive,” Claudia tried bargaining with Sirius again, as they emerged from their front door. “Let’s just go to the Leaky Cauldron and take the Floo network.”

“It’ll be fine.” Sirius laughed off his girlfriend’s concerns, and got the motorbike going. “Let’s go.”

Claudia sighed but eventually zipped up her jacked and hopped on the back of the bike.

Forty-five terrifying minutes later, they were on the outskirts of London, buying some more petrol for the thirsty machine. Sirius was jumping up and down next to the petrol pump, blowing hot air into his hands.

“Admit it,” Claudia hissed. “It’s too cold for this.” She was shaking, not sure whether from the cold or the fear.

“I’m fine,” Sirius whispered, but Claudia could hear the faint sound of his teeth cluttering against each other.

“Right,” she muttered. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

They went to pay for the petrol and then got back on the bike. As they turned onto the motorway, Claudia suddenly had a thought. She took out her wand and tapped Sirius’ back to cast the warming up charm. Then she did the same on her shoulder. The relief was instantaneous.

As they got out of London, the traffic calmed down too, and the further they went, the more enjoyable the ride was becoming. By the time they got to Winchester, Claudia was no longer scared. It was a little bit like flying her broomstick after all.

The moment James opened the door to the Potter’s house, Claudia knew they were not in for a fun Christmas.

“Save yourselves!” James whispered urgently. “Mum has gone crazy.”

“Why?” Sirius laughed and pushed past him into the warmth of the hallway.

“Because Lily’s parents are coming for Christmas lunch,” James explained. “She had not stopped cleaning for days.”

Claudia had instinctively taken a half step back, but it was too late to run away.

“James!” Mrs Potter’s voice had carried through the hall. “What did I say about the candlesticks?” Before James could reply, Mrs Potter’s head appeared through the door. “Good, you two are here. Come help me in the kitchen.”

All three of them went to help, and by one o’clock in the afternoon, everything was ready for the important visit.

“One more thing,” Mrs Potter mumbled and reached into a side table in the hallway. She took out a small jar, opened it and dipped her fingers into a thick black paste. Without warning, she stretched herself on her tiptoes and run her hand through James’ hair. “We need to get this under control.”

“Mum!” James shrieked, and jumped away. “I’m eighteen! Leave me be!”

Sirius started to giggle manically, but his laughter was drowned out by the sound of the doorbell. The Evanses had arrived, and it was time to greet them.

“Ah, yes.” Mrs Evans smiled when Claudia gave her an awkward wave. “You were at the engagement party.”

“Yes, I was. We are friends from school.”

“Were you in Lily’s house?” Mr Evans jumped in.

“No,” Claudia replied. “I was in Slytherin.”

“With Severus?”

“Yes,” Claudia mumbled. “With Severus.”

“He was such a sweet boy,” Mrs Evans gushed. “What does he do now, anyway? He was good at chemistry, wasn’t he?”

“Potions, mum,” Lily forced a chuckle. “He was good at potions. I don’t really know what he is up to. I think he went travelling.”

“Travelling…” Claudia scoffed. But before she could ask whether that was what Lily called the Death Eaters, James jumped in.

“This way,” he said unnecessarily loudly and ushered Lily’s parents into the sitting room.

Claudia and Sirius wanted to follow them, but Lily caught their arms and drew them back.

“Please,” she whispered. “No talk of the Death Eaters, the Order, or the war.”

“You haven’t told them, have you?” Sirius mumbled, his eyes suddenly very narrow.

“They would freak out,” Lily replied. “You don’t mind, do you?” she added uncertainly.

“Keeping secrets from parents?” Sirius smirked. “Of course, I don’t mind.”

“We’ve had a lot of practice,” Claudia said with a chuckle.

Lily looked somewhat relieved and the three of them joined the rest of the party in the sitting room before lunch was served.

Just as Mrs Potter started serving desserts, Mr Potter looked mischievously at Lily’s dad and whispered. “Shall we?”

Mr Evans smiled and nodded. “Lily, James,” he began. “There is something we wanted to talk to you about. I know we said some things at the engagement party that were insensitive.”

“We know the times are different now,” Mrs Evans jumped in. “You were right. Even Erica’s daughter is moving in with her boyfriend.”

“Who’s Erica?” Claudia whispered, but Sirius only shrugged in response.

“I guess what we are trying to say is that we are sorry and that we support you.” Mr Evans added.

“Thank you,” Lily whispered, and reached over to hold her mother’s hand.

“We all talked, and decided to surprise you,” Mrs Potter said. “Fleamont, tell them!”

“Do you remember the cottage you were looking at in Godric’s Hollow?” Mr Potter spoke as he was instructed. “Well…” he said slowly, as a broad smile appeared on this face. “It’s yours.”

“What?” James and Lily said in unison. “But it was so expensive!”

“It’s an early wedding present,” Mr Potter replied.

James and Lily jumped up from the table and began hugging and kissing both sets of parents. Everyone was either laughing or crying.

Claudia sat at the table, smiling nervously. This was not the sort of family gathering she was used to, and she had no idea whether to congratulate James and Lily or to join in with the embraces and celebrations.

“Nauseating, eh?” Sirius whispered in Claudia’s ear and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Who would want to have a relationship like that with their parents?” she replied sarcastically. “Much rather not have one.”

“I’ve got all the family I need,” Sirius said and kissed her cheek, which finally brough a genuine smile to Claudia’s face.

Later that evening, full of wine and delicious food, Claudia and Sirius found themselves on the threshold of Sirius’ old room. Laughter and Christmas music were still coming from the direction of the sitting room. The rest was staying behind to play charades.

“Been a while since I’ve been here,” she said, and leaned into his body. “Almost two years.”

“Shit. Two years we’ve been together?” he replied. “I still remember it like it was yesterday.”

“Do you? Tell me exactly what you remember.” Claudia was grinning now. Thinking back to the first time they were together still made her giddy.

“I can do better than that.” Sirius whispered and kissed her neck. “I can show you.” He took the pile of presents out of her hands and spun her around. “First, we stumbled toward the bed.”

“You forgot the bit when you were making fun of me,” she mumbled as they were making out, and Sirius’ hands started to remove his girlfriend’s clothes with nearly military precision. “Asking if I wanted some more time to think about us.”

“You mean when you told me to shut up and lock the door?” Sirius chuckled. “I remember that very well.”

Claudia kissed him again and helped him to get rid of his t-shirt.

“Hang on,” Sirius laughed and found his wand between the covers. “Let me actually lock the door.”

“I remember this bit.” Claudia lifted herself onto her knees once he was done with the formalities, pressed her naked torso against Sirius’ chest and kissed him.

Sirius closed his arms around her, leaned forward and lowered Claudia on the bed. He kissed her on her lips, on her neck, on her shoulder… She found Sirius’ belt and undid it. Sirius disappeared to the foot of the bed to get rid of his jeans, but he did not come back up. Instead, he took off Claudia’s shoes, undid her trousers and slowly took them, and everything else she was wearing, down.  

She could feel Sirius’ hands running up her body again. First, her legs and torso. She was expecting him to move further up still and kiss her, but he did not.

“Oh,” she cried with pleasure, and buried her fingers in his hair. “That’s different.”

“Couldn’t resist,” Sirius raised his head and smirked.

He slowly crawled back up again, interlaced his fingers with Claudia’s and she wrapped her legs around him. They were together, just like they were two years ago.

“And then you said you loved me for the first time,” he whispered.

“I still do, you know.”

Sirius smiled, and they both began to move in unison, and lost track of time.

Just like two years ago, Claudia was laying warm and naked in Sirius’ embrace after they made love. She was not sure why, but she had to fight back tears. Good ones, this time. The relief from the hearing, the memories of being back here. She finally felt like she could relax and closed her eyes.

Claudia found herself in the Potters’ sitting room again. But the atmosphere was no longer festive and jolly. Her mother’s face was right in front of her, full of fury.

“You’re an embarrassment.”

Cassandra got even angrier.

“You don’t belong here!”

As suddenly as Cassandra came, she was gone, and something even more horrifying took her place. A Dementor.

Claudia looked around. The sitting room had dissolved, and she found herself in a dark cell.

There were screams again.

She must have been in Azkaban.

The dementor came nearer. Their blistered arms reached out from under the cloak.

“Claude, Claude,” the Dementor began to whisper and shook her.

Their hands were almost at her throat. This was it. She was sure. This was how she was going to die.

“Claude!” A familiar voice pierced the air.

Claudia jerked, and everything disappeared in an instant. She was back in Sirius’ old room. The fireplace was still crackling.

She was sitting up. She was sweating and felt nauseous. Her heart was beating in her ears.

“Claude.” Sirius was up too and holding her by the shoulders.

She closed her eyes again. “It was just a nightmare,” she whispered.

Sirius squeezed her in his arms. “It’s ok. I’m here.”

Claudia lowered herself back into the pillows. Within minutes, Sirius was gently snoring next to her, but her mind was fixed on Azkaban. She knew she would not end up in that place over what she did to Rosier, but what she saw was going to stay with her forever.

Too scared to sleep, but too tired to keep awake, she tossed about semi-conscious till the morning.

Chapter Text

Christmas festivities were over, and Sirius and Claudia left the Potters’ house well before daybreak to make sure Claudia was not late on her first day back at work after her suspension.

Sirius slowed down the motorbike as they approached the Ministry’s entrance.

“Good grief,” Claudia mumbled when she spotted who was standing right in front of it. Her father, talking to some foreign dignitary.

“Hang on,” Sirius replied and sped up a little, right into a big puddle of sludge by the kerb, and accidentally splashed Frederick’s robes.

“Cursed muggles,” Frederick mumbled, and brushed the sludge off with his gloves. “Apologies, Your Excellency,” he added with a slight bow.

Claudia jumped down from the bike, took her helmet off and kiss Sirius goodbye. “Morning, father!” she said with a smirk towards Frederick and rushed towards the Ministry’s entrance.

“Was that your daughter?” She could just hear a faint voice coming from where her father was standing. There was a hint of an Italian accent. It must have been the dignitary speaking.

“I don’t have a daughter,” Frederick replied.

“You wish,” Claudia muttered under her breath and sped up, so that she was out of earshot before Frederick said anything else, and hurried into the Ministry.

She rushed through the corridors in a huff, still fuming about the encounter with her father. She could not even remember the last time she saw him. Could it have been the altercation in the Minister’s office? Nearly a year and a half ago?

“Welcome back!” Ewan beamed when he spotted her standing in the door.

“You have a motorbike?” Oscar asked, looking at the helmet she was still holding in her hand.

“Sirius does,” Claudia replied and plonked it on the desk.

“He’s way too cool for you,” Oscar chuckled.

“I thought you were supposed to be nice to me now?” Claudia said with a smile.

Ewan laughed. “This is him being nice.”

Before either Oscar or Claudia could respond, Barraclough emerged from Moody’s office. “Enough chitchat,” he said. “Avery, we’ve got a job to do. Let’s go.” And without another word, he walked out of the door.

Claudia trotted after him through one of the long Ministry corridors. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“To see Linda’s flatmate.”

“You waited for me?” she asked in amazement.

“It’s good to have you back,” Barraclough whispered, his normally harsh face breaking into a smile. “Although…” he paused, as if he was choosing his words carefully. “You have not been cleared for combat missions yet. Just desk work and witness interviews, not if they’re a suspect though.”

Claudia frowned. “So, I am being punished after all…” she growled.

“Anyway…” Barraclough was not going to legitimise Claudia’s outburst with a response. “I did some digging while you were suspended. The flatmate’s name is Olivia Reed, also a muggle-born, and she lives in Bayswater.”

They were now in the Ministry’s atrium. Barraclough outstretched his arm, Claudia grabbed it and soon, they found themselves standing among rubbish bins in a narrow alleyway behind some shops.

“Great place to apparate,” Claudia scoffed and brushed the garbage off her clothes.

“This way,” Barraclough said, walked out of the alleyway and towards the main road. “It’s just down this way.”

Few minutes later, they were walking up the stairs of Burnham Court, a big apartment block on Moscow Road. Barraclough stopped on the third floor and knocked on the door.

Soon, a young woman with dark skin and curly hair opened the door. “May I help you?” she asked.

“We’re friends of Linda’s,” Barraclough said. “Are you Olivia Reed?”

The woman narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly. “You don’t look like friends of Linda’s to me. You look like a pair of aurors.”

“We’re reviewing her case.”

A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. “Is there a chance she might get out?”

“We have a reason to believe that Linda has an alibi,” Barraclough explained. “And we think you might be able to confirm it.”

“How should I know?” Olivia scoffed. “No one told me anything. I don’t even know what she was supposed to have done and when. How am I supposed to tell you if she has an alibi?” Her voice was rising. “God, you aurors are thick…”

Barraclough looked around to make sure their conversation was not being overheard. Talking about aurors was risky in the corridor of a muggle apartment block at the best of times. And especially when they were digging into a case like this. “It was the Friday before she was arrested,” Barraclough said, keeping his own temper under control and his voice down. “We are interested in the time around eight o’clock in the evening.”

“It was two years ago! How am I supposed to rem-“ Olivia suddenly frozen. “Friday, you said? Before she was arrested?”

“Yes.”

“Linda’s boyfriend came that evening,” Olivia whispered. “I remember because we were supposed to go out, and we had an argument when she ditched me for him. I remember because that was the last time we really spoke.” She paused and sighed. “Last time we spoke, we had a stupid fight,” she added with her voice breaking. “Over some bloke.”

“What do you know about him?” Claudia joined in with the interrogation.

“Nothing,” Olivia shrugged. “I don’t even know his name.”

“Do you remember what he looked like?”

Olivia shut her eyes and twisted her face as if she was trying to remember something. “Older, light hair, always frowning.”

“Would you recognise him?” Barraclough asked.

“That brooding old fox?” Olivia smirked. “Any time...”

Claudia’s stomach turned. How could anyone see her father in that way was beyond her? Mercifully, a loud buzzer sounded from inside of the flat, so she was spared any further thoughts Olivia had on the subject.

“Excuse me,” Olivia mumbled. “I need to take my breakfast out of the oven. You should come inside.”

“Do you have a picture of him?” Barraclough whispered when they made it into the sitting room, and Olivia disappeared into the kitchen.

“No.”

“Really?” Barraclough asked, somewhat deflated. “He’s your father!”

“If you had a father like that you wouldn’t have a picture of him either,” Claudia scoffed. Then she paused and looked to the corner of the room, where she spotted a gigantic pile of old Daily Prophets. “Hang on,” she added, and went to rummage through them. “He’s bound to be here somewhere.”

And she was right. Few minutes later, she was looking at a picture of Frederick Avery shaking the hand of the French Minister of Magic.

“What are you doing?” Olivia asked as she returned to the sitting room.

“Is this him?” Claudia shoved the paper under Olivia’s nose.

“Yes,” Olivia replied. “Who is it?”

“Frederick Avery,” Barraclough interjected, clearly worried that Claudia was about to reveal more than was necessary. “A Ministry official. A married one.”

“That explains the secrecy,” Olivia said. “Do you want me to testify? Would Linda be free if I did?”

Claudia and Barraclough exchange a look.

“It’s not that easy,” Barraclough said.

“Why not? She could not have done it…” Olivia replied, her temper rising again. “Surely she could get a trial. I’m happy to testify!”

“You’d be dead before you set foot in the courtroom,” Barraclough said. “It suits them Linda’s in jail.”

“Them?” Olivia whispered. There was no need to explain. Everyone in the room knew who ‘them’ were.

“Them…” Barraclough and Claudia muttered in unison.

“But what’s going to happen to Linda?” Olivia was not easily deterred. “Is she going to stay in Azkaban forever? For something she couldn’t have done?”

“We’ll find a way,” Barraclough said. “Thank you for your help. We won’t disturb you for any longer.” He added and nudged Claudia towards the front door.

“What now?” Claudia asked once they were out on the street. She could contain herself no longer. “Is that enough?”

“Let me talk to Moody,” Barraclough said. “Alone might be better. He’s more sensible without an audience.”

“I want to come,” Claudia protested.

“Trust me. It’s better this way.”

Grumpily, Claudia apparated back to the Ministry and sat in front of the door of Moody’s office while Barraclough spoke to him. She hoped to overhear something, but they must have cast a spell to make sure they had privacy. An hour or so later, both Moody and Barraclough emerged from the office.

“So?” Claudia jumped up.

“Not enough,” Moody said.

“So, you are just going to let an innocent woman rot in Azkaban?” she barked. “That’s not-“

“Let me finish,” Moody cut her off.

Claudia frowned and crossed her arms.

“It might be enough to free her,” Moody explained. “But it’s bloody not enough to get your father convicted. We won’t be able to get her a trial either. No, that would be too dangerous. I’m going to talk to Crouch about it to see if there is anything else we could do.”

With those words, Moody vanished down the corridor with Barraclough in tow. Claudia looked around the office. The others were gone, so she just dropped into the chair and waited.

She waited for twenty minutes, then forty. She looked at her watch. It was five thirty now, and she needed to get going if she wanted to make that Order meeting in time.

When she got to that day’s venue (a disused factory of some kind), Moody was already there. He pulled Claudia aside just in front of the room where the meeting was just starting. “I’ve come straight from the meeting with Crouch.”

Claudia swallowed dry. She still struggled to read him and had no idea what he was going to say. “And?”

“He agreed to release Linda, in secret. We will give her a new identity and move her overseas. That’s the only way she’ll stay safe.”

“And my father?”

“Crouch buys they had an affair,” Moody said. “I floated the possibility that he was corrupt or a Death Eater, but Crouch shut it down. Apparently, I’m paranoid and seeing Death Eaters everywhere. Would you believe it?”

“Eeerhh…” Claudia had no idea what to say. Even Moody’s own team, who adored him otherwise, thought he was paranoid.

“That’s a joke, Avery,” he snarled. “Get used to it.”

“Phew,” Claudia smirked, and theatrically brushed her forehead with her palm.

Moody let out the most terrifying laugh Claudia had ever heard. “Now,” he said and his face dropped again. “Take this file and hide it at home. He cannot get a whiff that we are onto him. Anything to do with the Avery investigation is off the books.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank me once he’s in Azkaban,” he sighed. “Now, meeting time.”

They walked into the meeting side by side.

“Who’s that?” Claudia indicated towards a man that was speaking. He was middle-aged, with greying short hair, and enormous glasses that covered half his face.

“Edgar Bones,” Moody replied. “Been an Order member for years. He’s the Head of Department of Magical Transportation. Useful guy.”

Claudia’s eyes travelled to a young woman sitting next to Edgar. A young woman she instantly recognised.

“And this is our new recruit,” Bones said. “My very able private secretary, Marlene McKinnon.”

Marlene gave everyone a fleeting smile, but Claudia could not help but notice that it did not seem particularly earnest. Marlene also glanced towards where Lily was sitting, and her brows immediately came together in a frown.

Claudia tiptoed towards a free chair behind Lily and sat down.

“Why’s Marlene glaring at you?” she whispered when there was a brief interruption in the proceedings while they waited for some late arrivals before moving onto the next topic.

“Because I didn’t tell her about the Order,” Lily sighed. “I should’ve, really. She’s my best friend.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“She quit as my chief bridesmaid,” Lily whispered.

The eagerly awaited Order members arrived, and Dumbledore moved the meeting on, so Claudia did not really get a chance to reply properly to Lily. “Drink on Friday?” she mumbled.

Lily initially nodded, but suddenly stopped. “Oh wait… I’m working late on Friday.”

“Pick you up from work?” Claudia whispered to Lily’s apparent delight.

Time flew until Friday and before Claudia knew it, she found herself walking down Diagon Alley towards the apothecary, where Lily was serving her potions apprenticeship. She was passing a group of women standing in front of Madam Malkin’s when she heard someone mention a familiar name. A name that made her jump.

“Cassandra, isn’t that your daughter?”

Claudia closed her eyes and sped up. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk to her mother. But she did not manage to get away in time.

“Yes!” Cassandra exclaimed. “Come here, dear.”

Claudia felt a hand on her arm and was dragged to stand with the group of her mother’s friends. As ever, her mother’s touch made her skin crawl.

“Didn’t you say she was staying with Frederick’s aunt in Germany again?” one of them asked in Cassandra’s direction.

“No, that was earlier.” Cassandra said with a smile. She was a good liar. Claudia had to give her that. Pretending like everything was fine. But Claudia also noticed Cassandra drawing her gaze from her daughter’s face to her feet and back. The oversized t-shirt, shorts and half-torn trainers. It was not what Cassandra wanted to see.

“I heard you are dating Walburga’s boy,” the same friend asked Claudia. “A little bird told me you were living together.”

“They are not!” Cassandra laughed heartily, but her eyes were narrow and glaring at Claudia, who knew instantly her mother wanted her to behave. But she was not that little girl anymore. Her mother had no power over her.

“Yes, we are living together. And before you ask… No, we are not getting married,” she said to audible gasps from her mother’s friends.

“Such a shame. You are both from such good families…” another woman pitched in. “If we don’t keep up the traditions, who will?”

“If you mean pureblood families, say it,” Claudia hissed.

“You’re quite the little radical, aren’t you?” one of the women chuckled. “We’ll leave you to talk,” she added with a look of pity towards Cassandra, who was now openly seething.

“Do you see what you are doing to our family’s reputation?” Her mother said when her friends were safely out of earshot.

Claudia could not believe her ears. “Reputation?”

Her mother continued. “Being with someone like that. Living with him, unmarried.”

Claudia sniggered. “Do you know what’s bad for the family's reputation? Your husband and son being Death Eaters.” When she saw the shock on her mother’s face, she continued with a smirk. “And don’t pretend you don’t know. Even you aren’t that stupid.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Pathetic,” Claudia scoffed and began walking away.

“I just think about your future. Someone has to!”

Claudia closed her eyes. There was no point engaging with this. None at all. But she could not help it and turned back. “And by future, I presume you mean a good husband, big house, and a flock of pureblood children.” Cassandra did not have to answer. That was exactly what she wanted for her daughter. “Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t want that?” Claudia added, now nearly shouting.

“One day you will, and it will be too late.” Cassandra recovered her composure somewhat.

Claudia rolled her eyes, turned on her heel, and walked off. There was really no point continuing that conversation.

Still furious, Claudia burst into the apothecary. “Ready to go?”

Lily nodded and began undoing her apron.

“Not so quickly. I need to talk to you,” an old wizard said, walked over to Lily, and put his hand on her shoulder. “Lily, sweetheart. I’ve been thinking that it’ll be better if from Monday you just stay in the back. I don’t know whether I want you interacting with customers anymore,” he paused and moved his face even closer to Lily’s. “We’ve had more complaints about… Well, you know what about.”

“Fine,” Lily growled, took off her apron and threw it on the counter. “Claudia, let’s go,” she added and marched out of the shop. “I can’t take it anymore,” she nearly screamed once they were on the street. “He’s a bigoted, misogynistic idiot. It’s unacceptable. I should quit.”

“You should,” Claudia nodded vigorously, now outraged by both the interaction with her mother and what she had just seen.

Lily stopped in her tracks. “You really think that?” she said much more quietly.

“Is there anyone who does not think that?”

A tentative smile appeared on Lily’s face. “I’ll be right back.” She turned and ran back to the store.

Within minutes, Lily was back and beaming, and led Claudia towards the Leaky Caldron.

“What are you going to do?” Claudia asked once they were sitting down. “Look for another job?”

Lily shook her head. “You know what. I think I’ll do more Order stuff like the boys. I was getting sick of mixing potions anyway while you all do your bit.” Suddenly, a shadow crossed Lily’s face. “Bloody Order...” she whispered.

“What’s up?”

“Marlene is still really mad. I need a new chief bridesmaid.”

Claudia’s eyes widened a little, but Lily paid no attention to that. She was on a roll.

“You’re shorter than Marlene. But the dress can be easily altered to fit you.”

“What dress?”

Lily rummaged through her bag and took out a polaroid photograph. “This dress. The one for the chief bridesmaid,” she said. “Madam Malkin’s are making it to order.” The dress was long, blue with a white lace trim and very girly neckline.

“That’s a lot of dress,” Claudia uttered.

“It’s the same material and colour as James’ and Sirius’ ties and pocket squares. I want everything to match.”

“I really think you should talk to Marlene,” Claudia whispered.

“You just don’t want to wear the dress, do you?”

“Come on, Lily. You’ll regret it if you don’t,” Claudia said. But Lily was right, she did not want to wear that dress.

Lily sighed, “You’re right. I just hope she can forgive me.”

“I’m sure she can.”

Lily looked a little embarrassed. “Enough about me… How was your day?”

“Fine,” Claudia began to lie, but stopped abruptly. There was no reason to do that anymore, not with Lily. “I bumped into my mother. Got told I need to get married. The usual.”

“I’m sure she’ll come around,” Lily said. “My mum did about the whole living together thing. Now, she’s helping me to pick out furniture.”

“I don’t want her to come around,” Claudia said and run her finger around the rim of her glass. “I want her out of my life.” She looked at Lily, who was slowly opening her mouth as if to speak. “I mean it. I never want to see her again.”

“Claudia, that is quite –“ Lily began to say.

Claudia lowered her head and cut Lily off. “She used to belittle and manipulate me every day. And when I wouldn’t let her, she’d beat the crap out of me.” Tears were falling down Claudia’s cheeks. Every time she even mentioned this, it happened. She had no control over her emotions.

When Claudia finally looked up at Lily, she saw her eyes were filling up too. “I’m so sorry,” Lily whispered, and put her hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “And so happy you managed to put that behind you and become the good person you are. Not everyone I know was quite that strong.”

Claudia had no idea what Lily was talking about. And she must have looked it because Lily continued.

“Snape’s father was abusive. And we all know how he turned out.”

Claudia stared at Lily with her mouth slightly ajar. Suddenly, a lot of things about Snape made sense. The need to make himself feel worthy, the need to fit in with the strong crowd. It was all a little too close to home for comfort.

“We aren’t all that different, Snape and I,” Claudia whispered finally. “We both rebelled against the people who hurt us. If my family weren’t Death Eaters, who knows who I’d be fighting for right now.”

“Give yourself some credit,” Lily smiled and squeezed Claudia’s shoulder. “You’d still be on our side.”

“Thank you for saying that,” Claudia whispered and picked up her glass. “Another drink?”

The rest of the evening was somewhat hazy. Lily and Claudia chatted about work, what it was like living with a boyfriend, and Lily’s wedding planning. When Claudia finally made it home that night and was falling asleep, she had to laugh. Even a year ago, she would never have thought that Lily and Claudia could be friends. But they were. Good friends.

On Sunday, the event that Claudia had been looking forward to had finally arrived -Alice’s and Frank’s wedding. Full of anticipation, she apparated to the little hotel near the village that Alice grew up in. The plan was to have an intimate ceremony in the garden, followed by a small reception. Alice spent most of her childhood among muggles (and her mum was a muggleborn), so it was no surprise that she decided to mostly have a very muggle wedding.

Alice was nearly ready. She was wearing a beautiful knee-length dress made entirely of lace. It was the same dress her mum got married in.

“How are you feeling?” Claudia asked and gave her a hug.

“Honestly?” Alice said with a smile. “I thought I would be nervous. But I have never been calmer in my life. I’m so ready for this.”

“Frank is one lucky guy.”

“Frank is the love of my life,” Alice beamed. “I can’t believe I still have an hour and a half to wait before we get married!”

Claudia had to smile. It made her so happy seeing Alice like this.

“Chop, chop.” Alice chuckled. “Get changed.”

“You said we have an hour and a half,” Claudia protested.

“I have that long,” Alice replied. “You need to go check on the cake and then meet with the registrar to make sure he has all the necessary documents.”

“Fine,” Claudia said through gritted teeth. “But I thought we should chat, reminisce, talk about your old boyfriends.” She paused and grinned. “Remember Joseph?”

“Oh, my god!” Alice exclaimed but could not help but laugh. “Why would you bring him up? You’re a terrible person!”

“Not as terrible as he was,” Claudia mumbled and began to change.

“One word for you, sweetie,” Alice smirked. “Julius!”

“Alright, alright.” Claudia giggled. “Let’s call a truce. I’ll do as I’m told.”

An hour later, she was done checking on the cake and was just waiting in one of the side rooms for the registrar to arrive when a young man walked into the room to join her.

“I’m Henry,” he said. “Frank’s best man.”

“Claudia, chief bridesmaid.”

Henry’s eyes widened a little. “Are you a trainee auror by any chance?”

“Yes,” Claudia replied slowly, unsure as to why he was asking that.

“Are you that Claudia?” Henry asked. “The one that ‘avada kedavra’ed’ that Death Eater?”

“How do you know that?” Claudia barked. The hearing was supposed to be held in secret. No one other than Crouch, Smiley and Moody’s team were supposed to know.

Henry smiled, and Claudia realised immediately she should have denied everything. Pretend she was a muggle or something. Instead, she just confirmed his suspicion.

“I heard it from Newton, my trainee,” Henry replied. “Apparently, the trainees figured it out when you suddenly stopped showing up at auror training.”

“Whatever.” Claudia tried to brush it off, but it bugged her to no end. She hated being a centre of attention at the best of times, and certainly did not want to be the target of jibes about one of the worst things that ever happened to her.

“Not how I imagined you,” Henry smirked. “Thought you’d be taller.”

Claudia shot Henry an annoyed look. But before she could send him to hell, he lifted his arms above his head, signalling surrender.

“Fuck off,” Claudia hissed.

“Come on, I’m just messing.” Henry said and extended his arm as if he wanted to touch her shoulder.

“Don’t care.” She said and took a step back to avoid any physical contact. Just at that moment, the registrar turned up and began talking them through the ceremony. Not ten minutes later, it was time to get into positions. The ceremony was about to begin.

Claudia could hardly concentrate on what was happening. She thought that this whole thing was behind her, but she was wrong. This gossip was going to spread like wildfire. Everyone was going to know, including her father! What was he going to do? Him and Rosier were bound to have been close. She needed to think, but there was no time. There was a wedding ceremony in progress! And once it was over, everyone wanted to talk to her!

It was not until after the reception when Claudia managed to catch a minute of quiet in the corner and breathe. What calmed her down was the realisation she was not in this alone. She was going to speak to Moody and Barraclough on Monday to see what could be done. And if she got her hands on Newton… He was going to pay.

Then she saw Remus approaching with a glass in his hand. He too looked exhausted by all the social interactions and sat down next to his equally introverted friend.

“Still no Mary?” Claudia asked, desperately trying to keep the conversation focused on him rather than herself.

“We broke up,” Remus whispered. “And she went to stay with her aunt in America.”

“Not because you told her, surely?” she whispered. “About you know what.”

“No,” Remus shook his head. “I couldn’t. It’s for the better anyway.” Claudia just about managed to open her mouth before Remus continued. “Don’t you yell at me. Lily already did.”

“I wasn’t going to yell at you.”

“Really?” he asked, sounding somewhat surprised. “You don’t think I need to realise people love me for who I am? That I need to open up? Give them a chance to prove they want to be around me?”

“Look, I get it,” Claudia shrugged. “Do you remember when I was dating Julius?”

“I remember Sirius growling a lot.”

Claudia had to chuckle. Neither of them had covered themselves in glory over those ten months or so. “I thought he should’ve known how I felt, and what I wanted. And I got frustrated when he didn’t. Never thought to give him a chance and tell him.”

“Are you saying that I should’ve given Mary a chance?”

“I’m saying it doesn’t have to be that hard,” she replied with an unintentional glance and smile toward Sirius, who was laughing with James and Lily on the other side of the function room. “With the right person… Maybe Mary was your Julius.”

“How did you know Sirius was the right one?”

Claudia thought about it for a moment. “Because I never have to watch what I say, what I do. Never have to explain or pretend anything.”

“Really?”

“Well, I had to pretend for a while that I wasn’t in love with him,” she said with a laugh. “And that was hard.”

Remus laughed with her and then put his hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For not yelling at me.”

At that moment, Claudia spotted Mr Adler. He was making his way towards them and looked a little unsteady on his feet.

“There you are!” he exclaimed, and hugged Claudia. “I’ve been meaning to tell you. I’m so glad you hadn’t quit. We need aurors like you.”

“Why would I quit?”

“I’ve had a friend who went through the same thing,” Mr Adler ignored her question entirely. “He couldn’t cope with the guilt. He quit and went to work in Flourish and Blotts.”

“I don’t feel –“ Claudia began to defend herself.

“Timothy!” Mr Adler shouted across the room. “Excuse me,” he added in a mumble and vanished into the crowd.

Claudia looked awkwardly at Remus. “I’ll find you later,” she whispered. “I’m going to get some air.”

She walked out of the reception, walked through the garden and sat down on a low stone wall that run around the hotel. First Henry and now Mr Adler. She would never be able to shake it off. Claudia sighed and dropped her head until her face rested in her hands.

Few minutes of sulking later, she felt a hand on her shoulder and a whiff of a very familiar cologne.

“Hiding from people again?” Sirius whispered as he sat down on the wall next to her. His eyes were twinkling, and the corner of his mouth was twitching. Oh, how he liked to make fun of his girlfriend’s quirks.

Claudia sighed. “Just frustrated. First, they take me off combat missions at work-“

“Is that a bad thing?” Sirius asked tentatively, all the mischief gone out of his eyes in an instant.

Claudia shot him an annoyed look. Of course, it was a bad thing. It meant she was not a proper auror. “Don’t start…” she mumbled. “And everyone keeps banging on about Rosier.” She paused and started playing with the hem of her dress. “I’m not like you. I don’t like the limelight. And besides –“ she stopped suddenly.

“Besides what?” He reached out for her hand and squeezed it.

“They’re sort of implying I did something wrong. Like I should be feeling guilty.”

“That’s rubbish.”

“Is it?” she whispered and fought back the tears that started to appear in her eyes. “I killed someone…”

“Claude, listen to me,” Sirius said firmly, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards him. “You would’ve been dead otherwise.”

“I suppose.”

But before either of them could say any more, and to Claudia’s great annoyance, James run out of the hotel too. “There you are,” he said, sounding totally out of breath. “Lily and I have to go. Her parents were in a car crash.”

“Is it bad?” Sirius jumped up.

“Yeah.” James sighed in response. “We don’t have much detail. Lily’s sister just left a message at the local post office. We got lucky the postie was still there.”

“I’ll come with you,” Sirius said, before pausing and turning to Claudia. “Do you mind?” He gently touched her shoulder, clearly torn between helping James and continuing the conversation they just had.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Go. I’ll help Alice sort everything out and see you at home.”

Chapter Text

Few weeks after Alice’s wedding, Claudia was settled back into the normal rhythm of her life. She was just back home from work and was staring into the open fridge (again, curtesy of the previous muggle owner), working out what to make for dinner. Her cooking got little better since she left Hogwarts but still only stretched to making simple pasta or an omelette. Sirius was the one who picked up cooking much faster. After all, he had plenty of time to practise when waiting for orders from Dumbledore, while Claudia spent most of her time in the office surviving on stale sandwiches.

Claudia’s rummaging through the fridge was interrupted by a meek knock on the door. It was James.

“Sirius home yet?” he asked the moment Claudia opened the door.

“No,” she replied. “He’s gone on that Order mission.”

“I don’t think so,” James said with a slight shake of the head. “I was supposed to meet him here, and we were going to go together.”

“I’m sure he won’t be long, then.” Claudia said. “You can wait here if you don’t mind watching me burn down the kitchen.”

“I really can’t.” James said flatly and continue to pace awkwardly on the threshold of the flat. “I thought it would be alright by now, but I can’t leave Lily alone.”

“How is she doing?”

“Not good,” James whispered. “I think she kind of blames herself.”

“What for?”

“For not making it in time,” James sighed. “They died of muggle injuries. She thinks that if we got to the hospital earlier, she would have been able to heal them. But we were at the wedding, so…”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. But she won’t listen to me.”

“That’s rough,” Claudia mumbled. She felt a little guilty about not going to see Lily more often over the last few weeks. But it made her so uncomfortable, watching someone grieve. She never knew what to do or say and always made everything worse.

“Do you know what’s rougher?” James smirked but stopped abruptly and almost put his palm to his mouth. “I shouldn’t have…”

“Come on.” Claudia chuckled. “Dumb jokes are the best remedy for grief.”

James smiled. “Apparently, Lily’s mum dying wish was for Lily and her sister to get on better. So, we are going on holiday with them in May. To Margate.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Claudia said, trying to suppress a laugh.

“You know what...” James’ eyes lit up. “You and Sirius should come with us!”

Claudia remembered Lily’s sister from the engagement party and immediately regretted pressing James for an answer earlier. “I don’t know. I don’t think having us there will help.”

“It’ll make it bearable,” James whispered. “Come on. Please. For Lily.”

“Fine,” she uttered, remembering her earlier bound of guilt.

James smiled and hugged her. “I have to go. Please tell Sirius I’m sorry and that Peter is covering for me. He’s going to meet him there.”

Sirius arrived home about fifteen minutes later but rushed out of the door again to meet Peter the moment Claudia gave him James’ message. She had neither the time nor the courage to tell him about the holiday.

Claudia watched out of the window as Sirius got his bike out of the garage and drove off into the dusk. She returned to the kitchen to resume the cooking. The onion was not going to cut itself. She put on the radio that Sirius bought so that they could listen to modern muggle music he adored.

‘But now, it is time for a travel update...’ A woman’s voice came out of the radio, just as a song finished. ‘There are traffic jams on the North Circular because of an earlier accident.’

“Ouch,” Claudia hissed and put her finger into her mouth. The mention of the traffic accident made her jump, and she cut herself. She always got nervous when Sirius went on a mission. And since her own encounter with Rosier, it became even harder to keep a level head.

To take her mind off things, she abandoned the cooking and decided to go back to the office to get ahead of her work. Each morning, she had to go through a bulletin of all the cases that came in the previous day across the Auror Office to see if there were any links to any of Moody’s cases. The Head Auror’s Support Team was supposed to do that, but they once made a mistake and Moody had not trusted them since. The report was bound to be on her desk by now.

The journey to the office was distracting enough, but once at her desk, Claudia yet again struggled to keep a clear head. She was only half reading the file. Something about a murder. Something about a St Mungo’s healer being fired. She paused when she saw it was assigned to Shacklebolt, Alice’s boss. Something about a theft. But for the most part, her brain kept wondering whether Sirius was back home. Claudia tried concentrating on the file for another hour so, but to no avail. At about ten o’clock, she gave up and went home, convinced Sirius must have been back by now. It was not supposed to be a long mission.

But he was not. When she opened the door to the flat, that was still dark and empty, she felt physically sick. She paced around the apartment nervously, flinching at every creak of the floor, thinking it was Sirius coming up the stairs. Never before did she realise how close to a hospital they lived; the sirens of the ambulances were ever present. And Sirius could have been in any one of them, his bike a heap of scrap metal on any the thousands of roads in London.

She made herself a cup of tea and sat down on the sofa, practically trembling with fear. “It’s just because of Lily’s parents.” She kept repeating to herself and finished her tea. “He’s going to be fine.” Mumbling these words, she started to doze off. As she did, she could not help but imagine what it would be like to get the news he was gone… She pushed that thought out of her mind and pulled the throw over her head. Eventually, she managed to fall asleep.

“Let’s get you to bed.” Claudia heard a soft whisper in her ear and instinctively reached around Sirius’ neck and hugged him tight.

“I love you,” she whispered into the crook of his neck. “Please don’t die on that stupid bike.” She was half-asleep and her eyes were still shut.

“I’ll try…” she heard Sirius smirk.

Claudia was suddenly wide awake and fighting tears. “It’s not funny,” she barked. “You drive like a maniac. It’s just a matter of time.”

Sirius looked taken aback by the outburst of emotions. “I’m sorry,” he whispered and hugged her. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

Claudia exhaled and allowed Sirius to shepherd her to bed. She fell asleep again, almost instantly, while clutching his arm.

Sirius was already awake when she opened her eyes in the morning. “Feeling better?” he asked and kissed her forehead.

Claudia felt a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Hey, don’t apologise,” Sirius replied and reached out for her hand. “I know it’s hard.” He gave her an encouraging smile.

“You do?”

Sirius’ face dropped for a moment, but his smile quickly recovered. “Your job isn’t exactly safe, is it?”

“I guess not.”

“Let’s go get breakfast before you go to work,” he whispered. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

They showered, got dressed and before long were sitting in a nearby cafe over a plate of bacon, eggs, and beans.

“How was the mission?” Claudia muttered with her mouth full. “Boring again?”

“Not exactly,” Sirius said. “We were watching this guy’s house. He’s at the centre of some conspiracy. And then this angry mob turned up. We couldn’t hold them back – well, Peter couldn’t hold them back - so had to put both of them on the back of my bike and make a run for it. He’s in a safe house now.”

“What conspiracy?”

“Something in St Mungo’s,” Sirius shrugged. “He made allegations a healer tried to kill him because he was muggleborn. It kicked up a storm.”

Claudia froze. “Alice’s team just got that as a case. I was reading about it last night.”

He frowned. “Why is the Order protecting him, if you’ve got the case?”

“Beats me.” She glanced at her watch. “Shit. I have to go.”

Sirius leaned over the little table and kissed her. “Don’t go.”

“I really have to.” She mumbled and just about managed to let go of him, and leave.

Once at work, she continued where she left off the night before. Just as she finished flicking through another case report, she noticed a shadow over her desk. Expecting it to be Barraclough with new orders, she lifted her head up. But instead, saw her mother’s face.

Her face immediately shrunk into a frown. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see your brother,” Cassandra said with a smile, and reached for Claudia’s hair in an attempt to straighten it. “And thought we could get some tea.”

“No,” Claudia said resolutely, caught her mother’s wrist just in time, and threw it off her. “I’m not thirsty.” That was a lie. She was just about to go and make a cup herself.

“I just want the best for you,” Cassandra hissed.

“Clearly.” Claudia could not resist an eye roll.

Cassandra looked around. It was only at that point Claudia realised they were alone.

“I’ll speak to your father.” Cassandra whispered urgently. “If you marry Sirius, you can be part of the family again. We’ll even pay for the wedding.”

“No!” Claudia said loudly. “I don’t want to get married. I don’t want you to pay for the wedding. And I certainly don’t want to be part of the family again.”

“Why do you have to be so angry all the time? Your father would forgive you. I already have.”

“You forgave me?” Claudia roared. “Get out!”

Claudia was reminded of where she was by a loud crash from the corner of the office. Moody’s door flew open and hit the wall. She looked over at him. The glass was still rattling in the frame, and the inspector stood on the threshold, looking bewildered.

Claudia’s eyes travelled back to her mother, who was clearly seething at the public display.

“One day you’ll realise that marriage is sacred,” Cassandra barked. “One day he’ll leave you with nothing and you’ll be damaged goods.”

“You should ask your husband about the sanctity of marriage,” Claudia hissed. Momentary expression of utter shock appeared on Cassandra’s face, so Claudia knew she struck gold. “Ask him about Li-”

“Avery!” Moody yelled across the room, cutting her off. “That’s quite enough. We have work to do.”

Claudia froze.

“Evil, bitter child.” Cassandra recovered her composure. “Your father is a great man.”

Before Claudia could as much as sneer, Cassandra floated out of the office.

The young auror shut her eyes. “Stupid. That was very stupid,” she muttered to herself.

“In here. Now.” Moody barked and gestured towards his office.

Tail between her legs, Claudia did as she was told. She barely managed to get inside before he shut the door behind her.

“Are you insane?” he yelled. “You’ve put the whole operation in danger.”

“Sorry, she just knows how to get under my skin,” Claudia mumbled, her eyes fixed on her shoes.

“Pathetic excuse,” Moody yelled. “You’re an auror now. You need to learn discipline! Control! Not to shoot your mouth off to our prime suspect’s wife!”

“I know that!” Claudia yelled back. “And besides, my father knows that I know about him and Linda.”

“How?”

“I told him last year. Hoping it might inspire him to leave me alone.”

“You mean like blackmail?”

“Kind of.”

“You’re even crazier than I thought,” Moody mumbled, and shook his head. “Anything else I ought to know about?”

Claudia was relieved he stopped yelling and shook her head. This was probably not the time to tell him about the earlier blackmail relating to the artefact.

“Good,” he said. “Now, I need you to do a few things before we’re good we get her out. First, you’ll need to pick up a fake passport from Mundungus... Take that boyfriend of yours. You can never be too careful with that crook. Then, you use it to buy a plane ticket for New York for the fourth of April.”

“How do I do that?” she asked.

“Don’t you know?” Moody asked. When Claudia shook her head, he continued. “Ask some of your muggleborn friends then.”

“You don’t know either, do you?” she smirked.

“Get out!” Moody barked, but she could swear she saw him smile a little.

Few days later, Claudia and Sirius met with Mundungus in a muggle pub in East London and he handed over a fake muggle passport for one Emily Robertson. That was to be Linda’s new identity once she was whisked away from Azkaban. Next stop was to head to a travel agent’s office to get her a plane ticket. For this one, Remus came with them, so they did not look like complete fools. He used to fly on holidays with his late mother when he was a child and kind of remembered how it all worked.

It was nice running these auror errands with Sirius. It reminded her of all the times they skulked around Hogwarts together, looking for the artefact or stopping the Death Eaters from making that horrifying weapon work. And she did not have to worry where he was. He was with her, and he was safe.

Everything was sorted and the day before Linda’s flight was to depart, Claudia was sitting in an empty house by Heathrow Airport. She got there earlier to make sure the safe-house was indeed safe and was just about getting a little worried that something went wrong, when two figures materialised right in the middle of the sitting room, holding onto a portkey.

Moody and Linda in her tattered prison robes.

Linda looked around before her eyes landed on Claudia. “I’ve seen you before,” she said in a barely audible whisper.

“I came to see you in Azkaban,” Claudia explained. “We talked.”

“You’re Frederick’s daughter,” Linda mumbled, looked up and slowly scanned the room. “Why am I here? What happened?” Her gaze finally rested on Moody.

“The Ministry had agreed to release you. But-“ he said when a tear appeared in Linda’s sunken eyes. “-we did not catch the real perpetrators. So, you will need to go into hiding.”

“What kind of hiding?” Linda asked. Her voice was becoming louder and clearer with every word she spoke. Claudia started to see glimpses of the confident young woman she heard about during her time in the Minister’s office.

“We got you new muggle papers and a plane ticket to America,” Claudia explained. “We also have some traveller’s cheques you can cash when you get there. Enough for a fresh start.”

“Can I say goodbye to my family? My friends?”

“Not if you want to live,” Moody growled. Linda stumbled upon hearing that, but Claudia managed to catch her.

“The reason why we made these arrangements,” Claudia explained patiently. “We think they’d come after you if they found out you were released. The safest thing is for everyone to think you’re in Azkaban.”

“Or dead,” Moody pitched in again. “In a few months, we’ll make it look like you’ve died in there.”

“I don’t want my family to think I’m dead,” Linda spoke, her voice faint again.

“If you don’t go, you really will be,” Moody muttered. Claudia was not sure whether Linda heard him or not. She hoped with all her heart that she did not.

“We can talk about it later,” Claudia whispered to Linda. “But now, we have some clean clothes for you and I made replenishment potion.”

“Alright,” Linda said, clearly out of strength to argue.

Claudia helped her up the stairs and into the shower. Before Claudia managed to shut the door, she caught a glimpse of a bony and bruised back as Linda took off her prison clothes. It made her stomach turn. It was not just psychological torture that Linda had been through in Azkaban.

Washed, dressed and full of replenishing potion, Linda stood in the bedroom of the safe-house, towering over a bed.

“You can have a rest,” Claudia whispered. “Your plane does not leave until tomorrow evening.”

“I don’t remember what it’s like to fall asleep without the dementors in my head,” Linda uttered, staring motionlessly at the bed.

Claudia put her hand on Linda’s shoulder. “I’ll be downstairs. Let me know if you need anything,” she said, and set off downstairs.

“Where is she?” Moody asked the moment she entered the sitting room.

“Sleeping,” Claudia barked back, wearing a slight frown.

“What is it?”

“Do you really need to keep telling her she’s going to die? I think she’s got enough to deal with right now.”

“What’s the point of sugar-coating it?”

“I’m not saying we should lie to her,” Claudia replied with a slight eye roll and crashed into an armchair.

“I thought you had a stronger stomach than that,” Moody scoffed, took off his shoes, and put them on the table.

Claudia grumbled. No matter how strong her stomach was, she would rather not have to look at his patched up, smelly socks. They sat in silence for a while.

“Want some?” Moody asked, and pulled a hip flask from his coat pocket.

Tentatively, Claudia reached over and took a sip. The sensation that hit the back of her throat was horrendous. She did not mind proper firewhiskey; she drank it often enough. But this cheap knock-off her boss was drinking really did not agree with her palette.

She passed it back to him, and they sat in silence. The wind was blowing outside, and raindrops started to splatter on the window. The miserable weather on the outside was a good reflection of the mood in that living room.

‘Stronger stomach.’ Moody’s words rung through Claudia’s ears. She could not help but cast her mind back to Rosier. And what everyone said… Maybe Moody would know. He must have been in the same situation. She shifted uncomfortably and tugged on the sleeve of her jumper. But he was terrifying. How would she even go about bringing it up?

“Why are you fidgeting?” Moody asked sharply.

Claudia paused. This was as good as opportunity as any. “I wanted to ask you something,” she mumbled and tugged on her jumper again.

“Spill it!”

She took a deep breath. “Have you ever killed someone?”

Moody lowered his feet from the table and sat up straight. “Is this about Rosier?”

“Everyone keeps telling me I should be feeling guilty.”

“Do you?”

Claudia paused for a moment. “No, I don’t.”

“Good.” Moody passed her the hipflask again. “I wouldn’t want someone crippled with guilt on my team. You did what needed to be done, kid. You did well.”

Claudia’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. She did well? Did Moody really just say that? She collapsed into the sofa cushions and took another sip of that firewhiskey. It tasted as good as anything now.

They drank in silence for a while longer, but the atmosphere of the room had changed completely. It was no longer dreary and cold. Claudia felt happy and proud. Proud because they saved Linda. Proud of what she did that day in Holloway. She even managed to summon enough courage to tell Moody his whiskey was terrible. He called her a pureblood snob, and they both laughed.

They were nearly finished with that hipflask when a chilling scream filled the house. Both Moody and Claudia run up the stairs as fast as they could to find Linda throwing herself around in bed. Her back was arched, her eyes were shut, her fists clenched. She must have still been sleeping and having some horrible nightmare.

Claudia quickly whipped out her wand. She could only imagine what that nightmare was about. “Expecto Patronum!” she said, and a silvery fox shot out of the end of her wand. The animal jumped onto the bed and poked Linda gently with her nose. Linda stopped tossing about almost instantly and fell silent again. Her chest settled into a gentle breathing pattern once the fox rested its head across Linda’s stomach.

“When did you learn that?” Moody whispered.

“Sirius did it when I came back from Azkaban. It helped. I thought it was worth a shot.”

Moody gave an appreciative growl of sorts.

“I need to stay here to keep the connection,” Claudia said. “You should go downstairs and have a rest.”

“Rest?” Moody scoffed. “I need to keep guard.” He muttered something incomprehensible and disappeared down the stairs.

Claudia curled up in the armchair and kept the connection to her patronus as long as she managed to keep her eyes open.

She woke up as the first rays of sunshine began to trickle in through the gap in the curtains. Linda was fast asleep. The flight was not until the evening, so Claudia left her there. She waited with Moody and went up every half hour or so to make sure Linda was still breathing.

Around noon, Moody went to a nearby chippy to pick up some fish and chips for lunch. They ate it as Linda still slept. The food was greasy and way too salty.

“Go wake her up,” Moody growled around three o’clock.

Claudia went upstairs and gently poked Linda’s shoulder. Linda barely moved, so Claudia nudged her again. And again. Eventually, Linda turned over and her eyes began to open.

“I’m sorry,” Claudia mumbled. “But it’s time to go.”

“How long have I slept?” Linda mumbled and stretched her back.

Claudia smiled. “There is a suitcase with clothes, toiletries, some books,” she said and pointed to a corner as Linda slowly got up.

“Who picked out these clothes?” Linda asked, holding up a brown baggy dress with an old-fashioned flower pattern.

“Not me,” Claudia chuckled. “I suspect they’re from evidence, or lost and found. But we can hardly put you on a flight without a suitcase. It would be suspicious.”

“I’m still not wearing this,” Linda mumbled and dropped the brown dress back into the suitcase.

“I’m sure there is something better in there,” Claudia said, slightly puzzled by Linda’s priorities right now. “There is some food downstairs once you’re ready.”

Ten minutes later, Linda joined Moody and Claudia downstairs. She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a purple blouse. Her long Azkaban hair was combed back into a tight bun.

Linda sat down at the battered kitchen table, and Moody pushed a bag of food towards her. “Eat.”

Linda tentatively opened it and picked up a chip between her bony fingers. Her face melted into a smile for the first time when she put it in her mouth. “I know this is cold and disgusting, but nothing ever tasted so good.”

Now on her fourth chip, Linda shivered. “You don’t happen to have any more of that potion? I think it’s wearing off.”

“One for the road,” Claudia said and went to the kitchen to pour a cup of the replenishing potion she made the day before.

“Let’s go,” Moody grumbled when Linda finished the drink.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, boss,” Claudia said and looked over Moody. He was wearing an old, leather tattered coat, half-torn boots and a flat cap that definitely seen better days. “But you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. I’ll take Linda and you can wait by the entrance in case something goes wrong.”

To Claudia’s enormous surprise, Moody agreed to her proposition.

Within half an hour, the two women were standing in the middle of the departure hall. Mercifully, Linda knew what to do. She put on a brave face, but Claudia could see that she struggled to lift the suitcase and was out of breath even after climbing a small set of stairs. It was going to take a long time until she was fully recovered. If she ever managed to recover at all.

“Thank you,” Linda whispered once she went through something called ‘check-in’ and handed over her suitcase.

“Please don’t thank me. It’s my duty to correct what…” Claudia tailed off, unable to even finish that sentence.

Linda put her hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “It’s not your burden. Not your responsibility to fix all the things he’d done.”

‘Passengers for the British Airways Flight number 8345 to JFK, New York please proceed to your gate.’ An announcement sounded over the departure hall.

“That’s me,” Linda mumbled.

“Thank you,” Claudia whispered, remembering Linda’s kind word earlier.

“Thank you,” Linda replied, and launched herself toward Claudia. Before she knew it, Linda was gripping her and giving her the longest hug.

Linda looked over the Heathrow departure terminal one more time before turning around and as walking as resolutely as she could towards her gates. Her eyes were gleaming with tears. She must have known, just as Claudia did, that as long as Voldemort and his supporters were at large, Linda would not make it back to England.

Claudia found Moody, and they went back to the safe house. They threw out the food and apparated back to the Ministry, just as the others began to leave for the day.

“I’m going to head to the pub,” Claudia mumbled in the atrium. It was not as if she would be able to focus on work. She walked the short walk to the Leaky Cauldron and looked around the crowded pub for Alice and other trainees, who were usually there on a Thursday.

Before she found them, she saw Ewan waving her over. He was sitting at a table with Barraclough and Oscar, just like they did on Claudia’s first day. But there were no more jibes about pureblood princesses. Oscar lowered his feet from the chair, put them on the floor, and kicked the chair away from the table so Claudia could sit.

“Where did you and the boss go?” Ewan asked. “We were starting to worry.”

“Clearly,” Claudia smirked and pointed at the two rounds worth of empty glasses that decorated their table. “I’m not supposed to tell you...”

“Come on, Claudia –” Oscar began to plead with her, but stopped abruptly and turned his head slightly to the side.

Claudia turned in the direction he was looking at and spotted Newton, that insufferable American trainee, towering over her.

“I figured it out,” he beamed. “It was you, wasn’t it? The Rosier thing.”

“Mind your own business,” she replied and picked up the drink that has magically appeared in front of her.

“Tell me! The others don’t believe -” Newton began.

“Who are you again?” Oscar asked lazily, interrupting him mid-sentence.

“Newton Sanders,” the trainee replied earnestly. “I work in foreign intelligence.”

“Foreign, you sound,” Oscar smirked. “Intelligent… Not so much.” Claudia and everyone else laughed.

“There is no need…” Newton protested.

“Take a hint, boy!” Barraclough barked. “And go away.”

Grudgingly, Newton went back to his table. Claudia could not help but glance his way for the rest of the evening. He was whispering with the other trainees and looking in her direction. She could only imagine what they were saying about her and her companions.

“Benjy, my man!” Ewan sudden exclaimed and jumped from his chair to hug young man who was just walking past. “How have you been?”

They began chattering. This Benjy looked a little familiar, but Claudia could not place him.

“Who is it?” She leaned towards Oscar and asked.

“He was in my year in Hogwarts, but in Hufflepuff, like Ewan. He’s an auror too, in Division B.” Claudia knew there was no point asking any further questions. Division B were special operations, and whatever Benjy was working on was likely to be a secret.

After a pint or two, Claudia went home. She got to sleep like a baby that night. Linda was finally free and on her way to her new life. It felt like a long time since she got one over on her father.

Couple of days later was another meeting of the Order. Finally, the venue was big enough for Claudia and her friends to sit at the table, rather than in a second row or on the floor. She scanned it and saw Dumbledore, Moody, Fabian, his brother Gideon, Benjy (that was where she knew him from!), Bones, Marlene… And countless others. This was the Order at its full strength.

“Who wants to start today?” Dumbledore asked in a gentle voice.

As ever, Fabian put his hand up but began to speak even before Dumbledore called on him. “Colten’s release did not go down well. The Prophet are preparing a big expose on the case, making it sounds as if Rosier was plain murdered by the aurors to create doubt about Colten’s guilt.”

“Do they know who the auror was?” someone asked. “I heard there was a hearing…”

“No.” Fabian shook his head, to Claudia’s great relief. “The hearing was very hush-hush and for once Rita didn’t dig anything up.”

“Good,” Moody said, as if nothing had happened.

But Claudia’s heart was pounding in her ears. Sirius must have sensed her distress, reached under the table, and squeezed her knee. Claudia’s pulse returned to normal.

“Who was it, Alastor?” Fabian asked cheekily.

“None of your business!” Moody barked.

“And, of course, it all comes back to the campaign against muggleborns,” Fabian continued. “They’re going to run with it as a conspiracy at the heart of the Ministry to hide the truth about what muggleborns are really like.”

“I’ve had a lot of that at work before I quit,” Lily said, and recounted the episode that made her leave her job at the apothecary. She was still pale and her usually assured voice was trembling a little. It had only been a few weeks since she got that devastating news.

“My condolences, Miss Evans,” Dumbledore said once she finished. “For the death of your parents.”

“Death?” Moody piped up. “How?”

“A car accident.”

“There are no accidents,” Moody barked. “We should look into it. It could be revenge for when the two of them sent the Death Eaters packing.” He added, manically jabbing his finger in the direction of James and Lily.

Claudia glanced at them. Lily had tears in her eyes and James looked like he was about to jump on the table and murder Moody with his bare hands.

“I’ve already looked into that, Alastor,” Marlene’s boss, Mr Bones, explained. “We have a division in the Transportation Department to look into suspicious muggle accident. This was just it, an accident.”

Moody was getting ready to speak again, but Dumbledore jumped in an attempt to get the meeting back on track. “Anything else?”

“The mood has changed in St Mungo’s too,” Gideon said. “We’ve had patients refusing treatment from muggleborn healers. We had healers borderline neglecting injured muggleborns. One healer got fired for it last week, it got so bad. There are allegations he tried to kill a patient.”

Claudia and Sirius exchanged a look. That must have been the same thing they talked about earlier.

Alice spoke up. “We were supposed to look into that. But the case was shut down even before we got to speak to the accuser. Shaklebolt said that the brass did not want to go against the public mood on this.”

“Pettigrew is protecting him,” Dumbledore said and turned to Peter. “It looks like it might be quite a long mission, my boy.”

“It’s the same at my work,” a young witch with piercing eyes and dark hair said. “Over the last year, I’ve seen people disinherited for marrying muggleborns. I’ve seen people cite blood status as a reason for divorce... I’m Emmeline Vance by the way. I work as a legal assistant at Gringotts,” she added, and gave everyone an awkward wave.

No-one else spoke. They were all looking at Dumbledore, who was cleaning his glasses and looking down at the table. Claudia was not sure whether he was going to speak at all.

“It seems to me,” he began, “that Voldemort is winning the battle for hearts and minds, as they say. But this battle is not lost yet. We must continue. Fabian, I want you to organise a campaign. Letters to the Daily Prophet, articles to balance out the vitriol. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus can help.”

“Letter campaign?” Moody scoffed. “Is that the best we can do?”

“He’s got a point, you know.” Sirius mumbled in Claudia’s ear.

“I say give this one up and start focusing on security,” Moody continued. “Protect these damn people. Voldemort is not going to stop at tarnishing their reputation.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

“I mean that he won’t rest until all the muggleborns are dead.”

Chapter Text

Claudia and Sirius were sitting at their little dining table, eating cereals for breakfast. It was a lazy Sunday morning in early May; they had their window wide open for the first time in months, and it felt like the spring. They split the Prophet in half, Claudia was reading the Quidditch pages and Sirius got the politics.

“You know what,” Sirius mumbled and squinted at the papers. “I think your mad boss may have been right. A muggleborn Ministry official was found dead. Looks like he was quite high up.”

“Show me,” Claudia said and threw the Quidditch pages away. She leaned over and scanned the article that Sirius was pointing at.

‘Philip Buttons, a muggleborn Head of the Census Office, was found dead in Hampstead Heath last week. Buttons was about to go on trial for bribery. The allegations, which the Daily Prophet can report are very convincing, centred around Buttons taking bribes for falsifying family heritage of muggleborns to show a true wizarding blood line.’

Claudia groaned. “Do you think he was set up? This sounds just like something out of their playbook. Remember Colten?”

“Keep reading,” Sirius said, and Claudia submerged herself back in the article.

‘There was a suicide note found next to his body. Daily Prophet has exclusive access to its content! Buttons confessed to the bribery allegations, said he could go on no longer, and apologised for bringing shame on his family.’

‘An unnamed senior Ministry source observed that suicide by hanging was an exceedingly muggle way out. A true wizard would fight for their honour at the trial. The Prophet could not agree more.’

“Just disgusting,” Claudia sighed. “The Prophet could not agree more,” she repeated the last line with a mocking voice.

“And all Dumbledore wants to do is a letter campaign,” he scoffed. “I’m starting to think all this Order stuff is boring out of sheer incompetence. All we do is talk about how we’re losing the war.”

“We’ve been one step behind all along, that’s all,” she replied and squeezed his shoulder. “We just need to figure out what Voldemort is up to.”

“Right, seems easy.”

“There are literally dozens and dozens of aurors work in intelligence, trying to figure this out.” Claudia tried to reassure him. “They’re bound to dig something out soon.”

That did not seem to calm Sirius down at all. He grumbled about the incompetence of the Order of the Phoenix for the rest of the weekend.

Early the following week, on the tenth of May, Claudia was buried under old case reports, counting down the minutes until her workday was over, when she heard a familiar voice. “Afternoon,” they said. “Does Claudia Avery work in this office?” 

“Ted?” she asked and raised her head from the paperwork. Indeed, it was. Ted Tonks was standing on the threshold of her office, looking around.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked tentatively and looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “I don’t know whether you’ve seen the Prophet, but it’s about Buttons.”

“Let’s find a meeting room,” Claudia whispered and ushered Ted towards the door. “Primrose, is 301 free right now?”

“Should be,” Primrose replied, and she flicked through the notebook where she was keeping a record of who was using what meeting room and when.

Claudia led Ted down the corridor. “What is it?” she asked the moment they were in room 301 and she shut the door.

“I don’t know if you know,” Ted began and sat down at the table. “But I am… Sorry, I was Buttons’ lawyer. And an old friend from school.”

“Sorry he’s gone.” Claudia sat down at the table to join him, listening intently.

“We had a really convincing case that the allegations were bogus.” Ted continued and paused. He straightened his tie and Claudia noticed his hand shaking a little. “I think he was murdered. The suicide was faked.”

“Can you hold on for a second?” she asked. “This is way above my paygrade.” Claudia noticed Ted was shifting slightly, so sought to reassure him. “My boss can be trusted, I promise. He’s in the Order.”

Ted gave a slight nod, and Claudia stood up.

“I’ll be right back,” she mumbled, and darted out of the room.

Claudia jogged towards Moody’s office and poked her head in. Both Moody and Barraclough, as well as Adebayo, were there. “Buttons’ lawyer is here. He wants to talk to us.”

“Can’t you handle it?” Moody barked. “We’re busy.”

“I could,” Claudia replied impatiently. “But since he thinks Buttons was murdered, I thought you might want to hear it for yourselves.”

All three of the older aurors jumped up.

“Tone it down with the sarcasm,” Moody growled, as he rushed past her out of the door. “We already have Fernsby on the team. We don’t need another one like him... Where is this lawyer?”

“Room 301.”

“Adebayo not coming?” she whispered to Barraclough on their way there.

“None of your business,” he barked, but then dropped his voice to a whisper and continued. “He’s taking a step back, going undercover.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know,” Barraclough said. “And-“

“You wouldn’t have told me anyway,” Claudia finished his sentence.

“Quite right.”

When they got to the room, Moody and Barraclough sat down opposite Ted and Claudia pulled up a chair next to him, to make the whole setting less intimidating, and passed him a glass of water. Ted gave her a feeble smile and uttered. “Thanks.” He clearly appreciated the gesture.

“How do you two know each other?” Moody began the interrogation.

“My wife is Claude’s boyfriend’s cousin,” Ted replied with a slight shake in his voice.

Moody grimaced. “Claude?”

“Family nickname,” Claudia explained with a smile. That’s what Sirius always called her, and it must have caught on with the only family he had.

“What makes you think he was murdered?” Moody asked.

“The allegation was that he took bribes from muggleborns to falsify birth record to fake pureblood heritage,” Ted began. “Aside from the fact, he was a proud muggleborn and would never do something like that. I have a signed confession from one of the junior staff in the department that it was indeed them that falsified the records. I tracked down couple of the people who paid the bribe to get their records altered. Couple of them had no recollection of ever doing it - I suspect they were under the Imperius Curse. Couple died five years ago, before the request supposedly came through. Some said they were threatened into doing it a young man.” Ted paused and rummaged through his briefcase. “It’s all here.” He passed a thick file to Moody.

“What young man?” Moody asked, as he opened the file and began flicking through it.

“I got a vague description from the victims. Early twenties, well-spoken, tall, with light brown hair. Bit of a thuggish demeanour.”

That sounded familiar to Claudia, but surely, it could not have been...

“We’ll look through the usual suspects. To see if anyone turns up,” Barraclough said. “Anyone else we should speak to?”

“Talk to Buttons’ wife. You’ll see why he wouldn’t have a reason to take his life.”

“Thank you. We will,” Barraclough replied with as much courtesy as Claudia had ever seen.

“Thank you. I’ll show myself out,” Ted said and promptly left the room.

“Thoughts?” Barraclough asked.

“I know it’s a long shot,” Claudia whispered. “But that description kind of sounded familiar.”

“Anyone you know from Hogwarts?”

“Not exactly.” She paused and took a deep breath. “My brother. He’s been doing our father’s bidding for years. No reason he would’ve stopped after graduating.”

“I’ll do some digging into that, re-interview the witnesses.” Moody said. “You two go talk to the wife.”

“But I want to join the real investigation,” Claudia protested. “You can’t freeze me out forever.”

“You still haven’t been re-certified for combat missions,” Moody explained. “And going after suspected Death Eaters is dangerous.”

“I’ve learned my lesson,” Claudia whined. “I’m starting to feel really useless.”

“Fine,” Moody sighed. “I’ll push it with Crouch. Whatever gets you off my back. But you aren’t to do anything without an explicit order, understand?”

“Yeah.”

So instead of going with Moody after the person who could have been Marcus, Claudia went - rather grumpily - with Barraclough to speak to Buttons’ wife. At least she saved them an awkward trip on the tube. Claudia knew a good spot to apparate into Hampstead Heath, having grown up roaming it, and it was just next door to Highgate where Buttons’ now widow lived.

Mrs Buttons was a red-headed woman in her mid-thirties, who had just come back home from picking up their two children from school. They spoke to her for over half an hour but it revealed nothing - they seemed happy, well-off. There was no obvious reason for him to either take the bribes, or his own life.

“Back to the office?” Barraclough asked, as they left Buttons’ house. “We should write it up and see what the boss dug out. And think about whom to speak to next.”

Claudia glanced at her watch and suddenly remembered she had somewhere to be. “Shit,” she mumbled. “I need to go. I’m meeting some friends.”

“It’s barely five!” Barraclough said with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I know, I know,” Claudia exclaimed. “But it’s my birthday and they’re taking me to dinner.”

“Birthday? Why are you even at work?”

“It seemed important.”

“Get out of here,” Barraclough laughed. “I’ll do the report.”

Claudia thanked him and apparated home. She threw on a fresh shirt, and then walked straight to the nearby Chinese restaurant where they were all meeting.

“Sorry, I’m late,” she mumbled as she dropped at the table. “I got caught at work.”

“Take my beer,” Sirius smiled and slid his glass in front of her. “You look like you need it.”

“We just got a new case in,” she replied, and took a sip. Then she looked around to make sure no one could hear them. “Did you read about the suicide of the muggleborn Ministry official? We think it’s murder.”

Everyone looked at each other. Sirius’ eyes were twinkling with curiosity, Remus’ had narrowed, and Peter’s were wide with shock. Lily looked like she was fighting back tears and James was looking at her with a slight line between his eyebrows.

“What makes you-“ Sirius began, but did not get to finish his question.

“No,” James said resolutely. “No murders tonight. Let’s do presents!” He reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. “Here, this is from me and Lily.”

Claudia ripped it open to discover two tickets to see the Holyhead Harpies. “Thanks,” she beamed. She had not been to see Quidditch for months and could not wait.

“Really?” Sirius groaned. “Why am I being punished?”

“Who said you were invited?” Claudia smirked and looked at James. “Want to come with?”

“Sure,” he chuckled. “It’s a date.”

Claudia then got a lovely, personalised notebook from Remus and a box of chocolates from Peter. Last was Sirius, who reached into his pocket and took out a small jewellery box.

“Gosh, is this really happening?” gasped Lily, and clapped her hands.

Claudia’s stomach turned. After all of her mother’s nagging, this could not be.

Sirius looked at Lily, then at Claudia. His eyes were wide. “Good grief. No!” he shrieked and hastily opened the box. “It’s just a pendant. No proposal!”

Claudia’s heart rate returned to normal. “Phew,” she chuckled, and picked up the pendant with her fingers. She was genuinely relieved. The pendant was vintage silver, with a female figure holding up a scale. “Who is it?”

“Themis,” Sirius replied. “The Greek goddess of justice. I thought you might like it.”

“It’s perfect,” Claudia said with a smile and gave him a kiss.

“Did they not have the goddess of revenge?” James asked, tongue-in-cheek.

Claudia kicked him in the shin. “Shut it,” she hissed, and put the pendant around her neck. “It’s beautiful.”

Soon after, the noodles arrived, and they ate and chatted. Despite it being Claudia’s birthday, she never quite got into the celebrations. Her mind kept flicking between the Buttons investigation and the earlier scare about the proposal. Both reminded her too much of her parents. She was normally fine being estranged from them, but on a day like this, she sometimes could not get out of her head that it would have been nice to have a family of some sort. To get a present, or even a card…

“Bar?” Sirius asked once he paid the bill.

“Full moon is in couple days,” Remus said. “I think I’m going to head home. I’m exhausted.”

“Thanks for coming,” Claudia said and gave him a hug.

“Anything for you,” Remus mumbled. It was so much like him, to go out of his way to be nice. Sometimes, Claudia envied his ability to do that.

The rest of them made their way to a nearby muggle bar. They fought through the crowd to find a free couch in the corner. The music was loud, and the drinks were flowing. Soon, the last thing Claudia remembered was her parents. Soon, she was having fun.

Lily and James went for a dance, and Peter disappeared too. He often did when he was in danger of finding himself alone with Sirius and Claudia.

Finally alone, Sirius put his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders and pulled her towards him. Instead of whispering, he yelled. Even then, she could just about hear him over the music. “The thing with Lily was a bit awkward. I hope you didn’t think...”

Claudia had to chuckle. “Wouldn’t even occur to me. Really, it’s alright.”

“Are you ok though?” Sirius asked. “You didn’t look like you were having too much fun.”

“I’m ok. It’s just...” she replied. “I bumped into my mother few times recently. She said some things about us not being married.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to talk about it,” Claudia said and rub her palms with her fingers. “I know she’s wrong. Just because we aren’t married doesn’t mean this is not real.”

Sirius stared at her for a little while without speaking, so she actually caught some of the music that was playing.

Whatever this world can give to me. It’s you, you’re all I see.

“This...” he said finally and made a gesture to encapsulate the two of them. “You are by far the most real thing that’s ever happened to me. Nothing could ever change that.”

The music was becoming harder and harder to ignore. It was perfect.

You’re my sunshine, and I want you to know.

That my feelings are true.

I really love you.

Claudia sunk her fingers into Sirius’ hair and kissed him. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Sirius whispered. “Now, let’s go dance.”

“I can’t dance,” Claudia protested.

“I know you can’t, and it’s adorable,” he said and pulled her up to standing.

They danced, drank, and laughed. At some point, James, Lily, and Peter went home. Claudia did not know when, and she did not care. Being with Sirius right in this bar was the best birthday she could ever wish for. There was no pretence, no fuss, no expectations. It was just the two of them, and nothing else mattered.

Claudia’s magical alarm clock woke her up at seven the following day. It was magical because it would not stop ringing until she was truly awake. No matter what she threw at it. Claudia vaguely remembered going home. There may have walked or taken a taxi, she was not quite sure.

She crawled out of the bed and into the shower. Her head and stomach were making her painfully aware that she had too much to drink. She just about managed to put on some clean clothes and get out of the flat. Sirius was still fast asleep.

It was very windy and the fresh air on Claudia’s way to work helped somewhat, but her brain was far from fully functioning when she got to the Ministry. It was very unfortunate that Barraclough dragged her immediately to interrogate Buttons’ secretary.

“You can take this one,” he whispered just before they entered the meeting room. “You’ve watched me enough times. It’s not hard.”

As she pulled up her chair to begin her very first interrogation, Claudia cursed every single drink she had last night. “When did you last see Mr Buttons?” she began.

“He was going to a meeting,” the secretary replied. “Something to do with helping a country somewhere to set up their own wizarding census. He was supposed to come back to pick up his papers for the following day, but he never did.”

Claudia struggled to think of the next obvious question, but it came to her just in time. “Do you have a record of the meeting? Who it was with?”

“Yeah, let me get the diary,” the secretary said and vanished.

“That could be promising,” Claudia whispered.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Barraclough groaned. “Probably had one drink too many at that meeting of his and forgot to come back.”

Claudia’s stomach turned somewhat by the mention of one drink too many. Luckily, she was spared further thoughts of alcohol as the secretary came back into the room, clutching a huge leather volume.

“Here it is,” she said. “The meeting was about a Polish census... And it was with some people in the International Magical Cooperation Department: Mr Jones, Mr Cartwright, and Mr Avery.”

Claudia did not say anything. She was now properly nauseous and desperately trying to keep the contents of her stomach inside.

Barraclough looked at her, and when her lips did not move, he spoke himself. “Frederic Avery?”

“I think so,” the secretary replied. “I don’t think there is another Avery working in that department.”

“There is,” Claudia whispered with difficulty, remembering the description of the suspect that Ted mentioned. “Marcus Avery, Frederick’s son.”

She felt another bound of nausea and clutched her stomach.

“Sorry,” the secretary whispered. “I don’t remember which one it was.”

“Don’t worry,” Barraclough said. “This has been very helpful.”

The secretary picked up the diary and disappeared, and Barraclough and Claudia were left alone in the room again. She was slightly embarrassed by what just happened.

“Are you ok?” Barraclough asked. “I know it’s a lot, having to deal with relatives like that. It’s ok to feel overwhelmed.”

“That’s not it,” she mumbled. “I don’t care if they end up in Azkaban. I’m just...”

“Just what?”

“It was my birthday yesterday, remember?”

“Hangover?” Barraclough said. “Unbelievable.” His eyes twinkled a little though, so Claudia knew he was not as outraged as his words would imply. “The boss and I will go and interrogate them.”

Claudia opened her mouth to protest. She wanted to go and face Marcus and her father! That was the reason why she studied so hard to even get this job!

Barraclough took one look at Claudia’s face and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it. You being there is not going to help anyone, sober or otherwise.”

“Fine.”

“Now, go get some bacon into you and write up the report from this.”

“Bacon?”

“Trust me,” Barraclough smirked. “Bacon helps.”

An hour or so later, and fuller by the sum of two bacon sandwiches, Claudia was pacing the office, waiting for Moody and Barraclough to come back.

“It was your father that Buttons met with,” Barraclough said with a slight sigh.

From his tone, Claudia sensed that they got nowhere. “But?”

“But he has an alibi for after the meeting. He was with the Minister. Alibis don’t get more solid than that.”

Claudia turned to Moody. “Maybe it was my brother. Did you find anything about him?”

Moody shook his head.

“It’s just early days. We’ll need to be patient,” Barraclough said. “Work it hard and something will turn up.”

Claudia sighed. “I’m going away this weekend. I’ll give you my address, if something does turn up and you need to reach me,” Claudia said anxiously.

“I’m starting to think they should test patience when picking these new aurors,” Barraclough smirked.

“I’m serious,” Claudia said with a frown. “I don’t want to miss out just because I’m being forced to go away this weekend.” The weekend away with Lily’s sister and her husband was finally upon them, and Claudia was not looking forward to it.

On Saturday morning, Claudia and Sirius took the motorbike to a coastal town called Margate, where Lily’s parents used to have a holiday cottage. It was now Lily’s and Petunia’s to share, and they were all to spend a weekend there together.

When they arrived, they realised with horror that James and Lily were not yet there. So it was Petunia who showed them to their room up in the attic.

“Twin room?” Claudia mumbled quietly, so that Petunia could not hear her. “You’ve got to be kidding.” She was standing on the threshold looking into a room that house two tiny beds and was furnished almost entirely in pink.

“This used to be mine and Lily’s room.” Petunia explained loudly, although no explanation was required. The flowers on the wallpaper said it all. “Vernon and I have my parent’s bedroom and my sister will be in the guest double.” She added with an air of someone who was rather uncomfortable about all of this. “I’ll knock on the door when the tea is ready.”

Sirius fell onto the bed with a thud the moment Petunia shut the door behind her. It was not even long enough for his feet to stay on. “I cannot believe James isn’t here yet.”

Claudia took out her wand and tapped the bed Sirius was lying on. “Engorgio,” she mumbled, and Sirius’ feet fell off the headboard as the bed got bigger. She climbed in the bed to join him. “Can we stay here for the rest of the weekend?” she mumbled and cuddled up to him.

“May I remind you that you were the one who agreed to this? I did not want to go.”

“Like you would’ve been able to say no to James.”

“On this occasion, most certainly.”

Claudia slid her hand under Sirius’ t-shirt. “I can make it up to you,” she whispered and kissed him.

He grabbed the belt of her jeans and pulled her towards him. “You can try. But I am very upset about all this,” he whispered and kissed her back.

Their passionate kiss was interrupted by a knock on the door. “The tea is ready.” Petunia’s high-pitched voice carried through the room.

Sirius groaned and threw his head back into the fluffy pillow. “No amount of sex could ever make up for this.”

“Be right down,” Claudia shouted and extracted herself from the bed.

“Why?” Sirius pleaded with her. “Why do we have to do this? She clearly hates us. I can see it on her face, and I know you can too.”

“Come on,” Claudia said with a little smirk. “For James and Lily. This is important to them.”

“Why do you care?”

“They’re my friends!”

“You changed your tune,” Sirius scoffed, but then he smiled, got up and hugged her. “It’s nice when you say that.”

“Let’s go then.”

They made it down to the kitchen. Petunia was fussing over the tea service, and a rather large man with a huge moustache was spread across the sitting room sofa, watching the television.

“This is my husband Vernon,” Petunia said. “Vernon, dear, please turn that off and come have tea with us.”

Grudgingly, Vernon complied. “Are you also...?” he asked, his face twisted with disgust.

“Also what?” Sirius snapped.

“You know what,” Vernon growled. “One of their kind.”

“Oh, you mean this?” Sirius smirked and took out his wand, which made Vernon jump back a little.

“Put that away!”

“Alright, alright.” Sirius said with a slight eye-roll and they all sat down to tea.

“So, you know my sister from school?” Petunia tried to make the conversation more pleasant, as she passed around little sandwiches with tuna and cucumber.

“James is my best friend.” Sirius explained.

Everyone was chewing on their sandwiches extraordinarily slowly, perhaps hoping that James and Lily would get there before they finished. Alas, they did not.

“And what do you do?” Petunia asked in Claudia’s direction.

“I’m an auror,” Claudia said but, judging by Petunia’s and Vernon’s expressions, that did not seem to ring any bells. “I think Lily once described it as our version of a detective.”

Again, Claudia’s remark was met with silence and more excruciatingly slow chewing.

“And you?” Vernon asked Sirius.

“Nothing much. Just a few things here and there.”

“That’s what a criminal would say,” Vernon mumbled, and Claudia distinctly saw that Petunia kicked him under the table.

There was more awkward silence. But this time, it was interrupted by a loud pop from the outside of the house and within seconds, James and Lily stumbled through the door.

“Thank fuck,” Sirius whispered. “This was the most painful ten minutes of my life.”

“Exaggerating much?” Claudia whispered back. To which Sirius made the same grimace a three-year-old would make if they did not want to eat any more of their vegetables.

“Put your things into the downstairs room,” Petunia ordered the new arrivals. “And then come and join us for tea.”

James and Lily did as they were told, and the rest of the group continued to sit around the table in silence. Sirius kept glancing towards the door to the guest room. Claudia could see in his eyes just how desperate he was for James to come back.

“You aren’t staying in my old room, are you?” Lily said to Sirius and Claudia when they finally emerged. She could barely suppress laughter. “The beds are tiny.”

“We made one of them bigger, don’t worry,” Claudia smirked.

From the corner of her eye, she could see that Petunia shifted uncomfortably.

“Oh, come on Tuney.” Lily laughed. “They live together anyway. And so do James and I.”

“At least the two of you are engaged...” Petunia whispered through lips so tightly pressed together, it was a miracle she was making any sound at all.

“Let’s go for a walk!” Lily said in an unusually high voice.

“What about your tea?” Petunia protested.

“We’ll have it when we’re back,” Lily replied.

“But it will get cold.”

“I can warm it up. Magic, remember?”

That last remark from Lily was met with stone-cold silence from Petunia. Vernon clearly was not the only one who had a problem with magic. Petunia walked over to the door, picked up a coat and set off down the path from the house, ignoring her sister and everyone else.

The walk itself provided little bit of reprieve, as Vernon struggled to keep up so they did not have to talk to him or his wife, who stayed by his side.

Once they were back, it was time to start on lunch. Sirius was helping Lily and Petunia to cook, and the rest of the group were sitting at the dining table.

“He’s getting quite nifty in the kitchen,” James said. “When you two moved in, I was worried you might starve. Now you just have to master cleaning spells, and you might pass for actual adults.”

The thought of her and Sirius passing as actual adults made Claudia laugh…

“It’s very strange,” Vernon mumbled. “A man in the kitchen. Didn’t your mother teach you how to cook?”

“My mother doesn’t cook either,” Claudia replied, extremely curious about where this conversation was heading.

“Typical,” Vernon scoffed. “This country is going to the dogs. One minute, there is no family dinner on the table, the next... Proper values are not passed from generation to generation. It all ends in debauchery.”

“Oh, we had dinner. The servants cooked it.” Claudia smirked. “The debauchery is all my own doing, I’m afraid.”

Vernon went all red and flustered. He started mumbling something, but not a coherent word came out. He clearly was not expecting someone like Claudia to grow up in a house with servants and had no idea what to say.

He was saved by an owl landing on the window. James got up to pick up the message. “It’s for you, Claudia.”

Claudia took it out of his hand and unrolled it.

‘Got a missing person case on our hands. You’re cleared for combat missions. Get to the office now. AB’

Claudia jumped up from the table, her heart racing. She was cleared for combat missions! Finally! “I have to go,” she said and handed Sirius the note.

“You’ve been cleared already?” he whispered with a slight frown.

“Apparently so,” Claudia replied with a grin.

“Do you have to go?” Sirius growled before nudging her away from the crowd in the kitchen and dropping his voice into a whisper. “You can’t leave me here with these people. Please!”

Vernon, who had now recovered from his previous setback, spoke again. He was clearly eavesdropping. “That’s why you should get married. Then, she could quit her job and have her husband provide for her. It’s a proper way of things. Not something a ruffian like you could ever understand.”

“Shut your mouth.” Sirius barked. “Claude’s saving all our skins here, including yours!”

Claudia grabbed Sirius’ arm and dragged him even further away from Vernon’s prying ears. “I’m sorry,” she uttered. “I really have to go.”

He sunk his fingers into her shoulder in a way that was almost painful. “Please be careful,” he said urgently.

“I promise. Don’t wait up,” Claudia said, kissed Sirius and apparated to the Ministry.

What took you so long?” Moody barked when she finally made it to the office.

“What’s going on?” she asked, somewhat out of breath. She ran there from the atrium as fast as her legs carried her.

“Remember your friend, Ted Tonks? He’s gone missing.”

“What do you mean, missing?”

Before Moody could growl any kind of disparaging response, Barraclough and Oscar run through the door. “We found a suicide note in his office. He admits that he was Buttons’ co-conspirator and that he was going to go the same way,” Barraclough blurted out.

“It makes no fucking sense,” Oscar mumbled. “Why bring it to us in the first place, if the allegations were true?”

No one replied. It was not necessary, as everyone knew it was another setup.

“Hampstead Heath...” Claudia whispered. It had to be. If they wanted Ted to go the same way as Buttons.

“There is no way to be sure,” Barraclough said.

“It’s the only shot we have,” Moody growled. “Where is Dankworth?”

“Useless...” Fernsby smirked. “Last time I saw him, he was going into his room with a lady and a bottle of champagne.”

“I’ll deal with him tomorrow,” Moody barked. “Let’s go.”

“Do you remember where to apparate?” Claudia asked Barraclough.

He nodded, grabbed Moody’s arm, and they both vanished. Claudia did the same to Oscar and followed them.

They rushed up Hampstead Heath. Moody and Barraclough went to the place where they found Buttons and sent Claudia and Oscar to check a nearby wood just in case the murderer got innovative.

The younger aurors run towards the wood, and once on the edge of it, they moved through the undergrowth as silently as they could.

Few yards in, Oscar outstretched his arm to stop Claudia in her tracks. “Shush,” he hissed. “I think I can see something.”

They hid behind a trunk of an old tree and watched. Out of the shadows emerged a figure holding a rope in their hand.

Claudia strained her eyes to see what was going on. “It’s Ted,” she whispered.

They watched in horror as Ted tied a noose out of the rope and threw it over a thick tree-branch. Then, he began to put it around his neck.

“I think we’ve seen enough,” Oscar barked and jumped out from behind the tree. “Mr Tonks, stop whatever it is you’re doing.”

Ted did nothing. He did not even acknowledge Oscar’s existence and continued putting the noose around his neck. Oscar run towards him to wrestle it off him. “Mr Tonks, listen to me. We’re with the Auror Department. You’re to stop now.”

In the corner of her eye, Claudia spotted something move in the nearby bushes. She turned her head and saw a hooded figure pointing a wand in Ted’s direction. Before she could raise her wand and stun them, there was a loud ‘pop’ and they were gone.

“Shit,” Claudia cursed. She did not get a glimpse of their face. Although they did seem shorter than her father and brother. Claudia looked back at Ted, who was now being supported by Oscar.

“What am I doing here?” Ted whispered and dropped the noose.

Claudia and Oscar looked at each other. “Looked like the Imperius Curse,” she whispered. “But they’re gone now. You’re alright.”

Ted looked at Claudia, then at the noose that was now lying on the floor. “This is how they killed Buttons too, isn’t it?” he whispered. “Made him commit suicide under the Imperius Curse?”

“What did you say?” Barraclough’s voice sounded from behind Claudia. There was an unusual tremble in it. He was always so assured, but not now.

“If it wasn’t so horrifying, I’d be impressed,” Moody, who came with Barraclough, said.

To hell with horrifying, Claudia thought, she was impressed. It was a genius way to dispose of someone.

Moody ordered Barraclough to take Ted to the Ministry to see if he could remember anything, and Claudia and Oscar were to thoroughly search the area for anything that could indicate the identity of the assailant.

For hours, they crawled through the undergrowth until…

“I’ve got something,” Oscar exclaimed, and emerged out of the bush. He outstretched his arm and dropped something into Claudia’s palm.

“A key, with Voldemort’s mark on it,” she whispered.

“That has to be good enough,” Oscar said, and stretched his back. “My knees can’t take any more crawling.”

They went back to the Ministry. Ted was sent home with some patrol officers who were to guard his house twenty-four hours a day. Moody disappeared to see Crouch and, as ever, came back in a foul mood. Claudia spent hours looking through evidence records to see if there was a mention of a key similar to the one they found on the Heath, but to no avail.

“You should both go home, get some sleep,” Barraclough finally said, when Claudia threw another old file to the floor in frustration.

Oscar’s head popped over the barrier separating their two cubicles. “I’ll speak to some locksmiths tomorrow. Maybe they recognise it,” he said. “Drink?”

“It’s two in the morning,” Claudia replied with a yawn.

“So?”

“I’m supposed to be in Margate with some friends. I should get going.”

“Suit yourself.”

Claudia locked all the files up for the night and walked through the deserted Ministry corridors to the atrium from where she apparated back to Margate.

When she walked into the cottage, she spotted Sirius sitting on the sofa in the lounge. He was slouching and there was an empty bottle of something in front of him.

“Why are you still awake?” she whispered and dropped onto the sofa next to him.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Sirius growled. Then he sighed, closed his eyes, and dropped his head back. “I’m not sure how I’ll ever be ok with this. I never again want to see you stumble into the flat covered in blood. I never want you to be in a position where you have to kill someone to save your own skin.”

Claudia remembered how panicked she got when Sirius went on the Order mission just after Lily’s parents died. “I worry about you too.”

“I don’t just worry,” Sirius snapped. “I hate it! With every fibre of my body!”

“What do you want me to do? Quit?” Claudia barked. She was getting little agitated too. He was putting himself in danger all the time and had no right to lecture her about her own job.

“I don’t know,” Sirius said and put his hands over his face.

“Well, I’m not quitting,” Claudia said and put her arms against her chest. “And if you love me, you’ll accept that.” She added abruptly and stood up. She was tired and more than ready to go to bed.

“Claude, I do love you,” Sirius whispered, reached for her hand, and pulled her back to the sofa. “And you do an amazing job.”

“Speaking of.” She replied, her temper returning to normal. “We might want to swing by Andromeda’s on our way home. The missing person was Ted.” Upon seeing a horrified expression on Sirius’ face, she hastily added. “But he’s alright now.”

“What happened?”

Claudia recounted the events of the previous night.

“They used Imperio to make that guy commit suicide?” Sirius whispered. “That’s twisted even for them.”

Claudia looked him in the eye. For the first time during this war, she saw a hint of fear. “If we got there five minutes later, Ted would’ve been gone.”

“I really hate this...” Sirius sighed. “I know you need to keep working, but I really hate it. What if you are next? It’s not like they don’t have a reason!”

Claudia reached out for his hand and squeezed it. She hated it too when he was on a mission. There was no getting around that. Sirius had a point. They were both a target. “What do we do?” she whispered.

“Well, if we can’t stop... We’ll just need to find a way to make it survivable for whoever is left behind.”

“Maybe we could convince Moody to let us do the odd Order mission together.” Claudia raised a smile, remembering how fun it was to run those Linda-related errands earlier.

Sirius nodded. “And we should start taking the notebooks too. I know we said we wouldn’t in case we get caught, but I think it’s a risk worth taking.”

Claudia leaned over to Sirius and kissed his cheek. “Alright.”

Sirius wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so exhausted,” he whispered. “First, whole day with those morons… Then, the waiting.”

Claudia had to laugh. That sounded even worse than crawling through bushes in Hamstead Heath. “Go upstairs?”

“Way too comfortable here,” Sirius mumbled, pulled a throw over them, and lowered himself to lay on the sofa. Claudia followed suit and fell asleep in his embrace within five minutes.

Claudia was woken up by a commotion. She sat up on the sofa and rubbed her eyes. Vernon and Petunia were coming down the stairs, dragging a huge suitcase rather loudly behind them. Vernon had a swollen eye and a little cut on his cheek that he certainly did not have when she left the night before.

“Forgot to mention something?” she asked Sirius, who was just waking up too. She continued to watch Petunia and Vernon as they got into the car and drove off.

Before Sirius could explain, James and Lily emerged from their room.

Sirius jumped up and briskly walked over to Lily. “I’m so sorry, Lily. I know this was important to you,” he said and hugged her.

“It’s ok. He deserved it. Now get to bed, you look like hell.”

Sirius glanced and Claudia, as if to ask if she was coming too.

“I’ll just have something to eat and be right up,” she said, suddenly feeling very hungry. She had barely eaten anything since breakfast the previous day.

Sirius dragged his heels up the stairs, and the rest went into the kitchen. Claudia buttered some toast and turned to Lily. “Will someone please tell me what happened?”

“Vernon happened,” Lily sighed.

“Well, I figured that out,” Claudia smirked. “He’s a delight.”

“He was shooting his mouth off about you surely being just some secretary who was needed because the real police wanted their tea made,” Lily explained. “And when Sirius told him it was more dangerous than he could even contemplate, Vernon said that Sirius should feel ashamed for letting you do it.”

Claudia sighed. That was the reason behind Sirius’ foul mood and anxiety. Stupid Vernon…

“So, he did what Sirius does and punched him. Really hard.” James finished.

“Deservedly so,” Lily nodded along. “I don’t think they’re coming to the wedding now.”

“Can I be a little relieved?” James smirked.

Claudia suppressed a chuckle and her eyes darted towards Lily to make sure she had not crossed some sort of line. She knew her sister was important to her. But even Lily had to laugh at James’ remark.

Claudia finished her toast and came up. Sirius was nearly asleep in the enlarged pink bed, surrounded by fluffy cushions with rainbow unicorns. She was contemplating taking a picture of him to ruin his rebellious reputation.

“One more thing...” Sirius mumbled, as she climbed into the bed and wrapped her arms around his torso. “Thanks for saving Ted. I’m proud of you.”

Chapter Text

Oscar had been working that Death Eater key for a few weeks before he finally got a lead. A magical locksmith up in Manchester recognised the craftsmanship as belonging to a slightly shady colleague operating out of Paltry Place, Manchester’s equivalent of Knockturn Alley.

“We can’t just barge in there though,” Oscar said once he stopped retelling everything the locksmith told him. “It’s a maze, that shop. They would destroy any evidence before we found it.”

“Informal reconnaissance might help,” Moody said.

“Might it?” Oscar asked, tongue in cheek. “Who would do that informal reconnaissance, boss? Any friend of yours might volunteer?” He was clearly talking about the Order.

“Shut it,” Moody growled, unimpressed. “Let’s get back to this in a few days. I’ll have something for you by then.”

Moody strode back into his office, and the other aurors scattered to hide in their cubicles.

“If only he let us join that damn thing...” Oscar protested as he said down.

Ten or so minutes later, Moody popped his head out of his office. “Avery, a word.” he hissed.

Claudia got up and walked across the room, fully aware that Oscar’s eyes were following her.

Moody held the door open for her and shut it the moment she was over the threshold. “Can Black do this?” he asked.

“Do what?”

“Break into the shop and tell us where the keys are before we barge in tomorrow.”

“I’m sure he can,” Claudia smirked. “He’s had plenty of practice sneaking around and going places he isn’t supposed to be. Just ask Professor McGonagall.”

“He’ll need someone else to come with him. It’s a two-man job,” Moody said. “Is Potter back on duty? Or Lupin?”

Claudia thought about it for a few seconds. This was her chance. “I can do it.”

“Out of the question. You know what I said.”

“You’ll have to let me take a mission eventually,” she protested. But Moody did not seem convinced by that argument, so she changed tactics. “I’m the best person for the job. I know where to go, I know what to look for.”

“And if you get caught?”

“As you said, if I get caught, I’m on my own,” she said, sensing that victory was within reach. “I’d say I was abusing my position at the Ministry to rob them.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “Here’s a map of where it is. Number seven, Paltry Place, Manchester. Get in after dark.”

“Really?”

“Get out before I change my mind.”

Ecstatic that Moody finally relented, Claudia emerged from his office. But Oscar and Ewan blocked her path towards her desk.

“What did you and the boss talk about?” Oscar teased her.

“Nothing.”

“Really? Are you sure it wasn’t about that light reconnaissance?” Ewan pitched in.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re forgetting we’ve met your boyfriend and we know what he does,” Oscar hissed, but to no avail. Claudia kept her mouth shut. There was no surer way to get fired than telling those two she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Under the watchful eye of her two colleagues, Claudia packed her bag and got ready to go home.

When she got there, Sirius was out, but there was a note on the kitchen table.

‘Needed to clear my head. Gone for a ride.’

Claudia’s stomach turned a little. She still was not sure about that bloody motorbike and every time Sirius was riding it, she felt nervous. She certainly did not like the sound of Sirius going for a ride to ‘clear his head’.

But she not needed to worry. About twenty minutes after she got home, he walked through the door. But Claudia could tell he was not quite right. He was slouching his shoulders and barely raised a smile when he saw her.

“What’s up?” she asked and gave him a hug.

“Last day of Hogwarts’ term today,” Sirius mumbled into her hair. “Regulus is graduating, straight into the arms of the Death Eaters.”

Claudia knew that there was absolutely nothing she could have said about Regulus that would improve Sirius’ mood, so decided to change the subject. “I’ve got something that will cheer you up. Moody’s got an Order mission for you.”

“What is it this time?”

“We need a maze of a store searched for a key,” she said and took out a sketch from her pocket. “It’s the key we found at the scene where Ted almost... you know what. We think there are more of these keys in the shop, but we need to know where to look before we barge in there with the full force of the law.”

Sirius took the piece of parchment from Claudia’s hand. “Is this what I think it is?” he pointed at the key. “The Dark Mark?”

“Yeah. We don’t know what the key is for though, but it’s the only link we have to whoever tried to kill Ted.”

“And Moody is ok with me doing this?” he asked. “Not worried I’ll mess up the precious investigation?”

“I’ve got the impression that this is not the first time he’s using the Order to do the aurors’ dirty work.”

“It’s a good plan,” Sirius nodded. “If it goes wrong, he can’t be accused of doing something illegal. And if it works, it works…”

“You in?”

“Of course I’m in,” he smirked. “Just tell me the time and place?”

“Tonight,” she said. “And I’ll show you the place. Moody’s letting me come along.”

“Is he?”

“Yup. I couldn’t quite believe it myself.”

“Our first Order mission together.”

“It’s like Christmas. Better actually,” Claudia whispered and kissed him. “We should get to Manchester now and then set off for the store after dark.”

They packed a few things and left for the Leaky Cauldron almost immediately to make use of the Floo Network connections between all the main wizarding pubs. It was the easiest way to get to places that were either too far to apparate to, or previously unseen. Once in Manchester, they went for dinner in a muggle pub to avoid attracting unnecessary attention and waited.

Around nine, they made their way to Paltry Place. It didn’t take long to locate the locksmith.

“Seems empty,” Sirius whispered. “Lights off, shutters down.”

“I’ll keep watch here,” Claudia pointed at an alcove that would keep her hidden, but gave her an excellent overview of Paltry Place. The little square was framed by run-down shops with their shutters closed and covered in garbage - old newspapers, food remains, rags were scattered everywhere.

“Few windows still have their lights on,” Sirius said and pointed at a house on the other side of the square. “We might need to wait a little longer.”

“Should’ve borrowed James’ cloak again,” she said.

“Remus has it for something he’s doing for the Order,” Sirius replied solemnly, but almost immediately grinned. “I bet you a thousand galleons a straight dog wouldn’t get noticed.”

“I think you’re right,” she whispered. It was a good plan, to make use of Sirius’ animagus abilities. “We need a signal,” she paused a looked around. “Use that window to get in and keep it open. I’ll topple that flowerpot if someone is coming. Hopefully, that’ll give you enough time to get out of there.”

Sirius gave her a brief kiss. “For good luck.”

“Good luck, Padfoot, or whatever they call you,” she said and watched her boyfriend transform into a large, black, shaggy dog.

Claudia watched him sling through the shadows until he was seemingly unnoticed by the window she pointed at before. She could not see him properly from where she was, but few minutes after he left, she heard a faint sound of shutters being rolled up. Sirius must have successfully broken in.

She sat down in the alcove and waited. For five, ten, thirty minutes, nothing happened. The time move at a glacier pace. She was trying to figure out how long it might take Sirius to search one cupboard, how many cupboards there were per room, how many rooms the shop had. All in an effort to figure out how long was too long, a sign that something went wrong.

“Bang-“ Claudia jumped up, clutching her wand, and looked around the square.

A stray cat was searching through garbage, pouring out of a bin that was upright just moments ago.

“You better not be a bloody animagus too,” Claudia mumbled and sat back down. Her heart was still in her throat. She began to wonder whether she should abandon her post and go look for Sirius.

Just then, a couple in dark robes emerged from one of the houses and began walking across the square.

Claudia watched them walked straight towards the locksmith’s workshop. “Shit,” she mumbled, and jumped to her feet. She raised her wand and waved it in the direction of the window. A second later, a flowerpot landed on the ground with a loud thud. At least that worked, Sirius was warned. But that feeling of slight relief did not last long.

“What was that?” asked one of the figures, a woman, and changed direction toward the window.

Claudia’s heart jumped. What she just did was the stupidest signal ever. She sent them right where Sirius’ escape route was. He had no way out.

“Why is the window open?” the same woman said.

“Wands out,” growled the other figure, and approached the front door. “You stay there, I’ll go through the here. Whoever it is has no chance of escape.”

Claudia rolled up her sleeves. She could stun them from here. But she needed the element of surprise, something to distract them. She needed someone to make the first move. Otherwise, she was outnumbered and a sitting duck.

Few seconds later, she had her distraction. The woman shrieked and fell over, and out of the darkness bounded a black dog.

“What was that?” The man yelled and run around the corner towards the opened window. Before he made it to where his toppled accomplice was, however, the black dog reached Claudia’s alcove.

“A bloody dog,” the woman growled. “I told you to close the windows, you idiot! You forgot again!”

Sirius, still in dog form, snatched the leg of Claudia’s trousers between his teeth and began dragging her out of there.

 “I haven’t,” the man’s voice carried from behind them. “I swear-“

“This is the last time,” the woman yelled. “One more time, and I’m divorcing you. It’s like you don’t know what’s at stake.” She mumbled some more, but Claudia was now out of earshot.

Sirius transformed back before they made it onto the main road, and they run back towards the wizarding pub and took the Floo Network back to London as soon as they could, in case the couple realised something was not quite as it seemed.

Only once they were out of the Leaky Cauldron and on Charing Cross Road, Claudia dared to speak.

“That was close,” she said, slightly out of breath. Her heart was still racing.

“It was not,” Sirius laughed. “Padfoot got me out of much stickier situations before.”

“Did you find anything?

“Yup,” he said with a grin. “A small room half-way down the stairs to the basement. There is a shelf there full of little ornate boxes. And among them, a small chest with a bunch of your keys. Dark Mark and all.”

“That’s fantastic!” Claudia exclaimed, the nerve-raking episode forgotten in an instant. “We do make an excellent team.”

Sirius put his arm around Claudia’s shoulder. “Can I come on the official version tomorrow?” he smirked.

“Not unless Moody gets hit on the head with something.”

They walked hand-in-hand for the rest of the journey and went to bed like this was any other day.

At noon the following day, Claudia was back in Manchester. The aurors made a show of clumsily searching the whole place, while Moody, Barraclough and Claudia rushed straight to the room Sirius found the night before. And they got there just in time. The female proprietor was just shrinking the incriminating boxes into miniatures and throwing them in between the floorboards.

“Stupefy,” the three aurors yelled, and she keeled over. They collected the evidence, bound their suspect and, together with her husband, took her to the Ministry for interrogation.

They questioned them separately. Moody and Ewan spoke to the woman, while Barraclough, Oscar, and Claudia got the man.

“Who asked you to make these?” Barraclough began and placed one of the Dark Mark keys on the table of the interrogation room.

The proprietor barely looked up. “They always been at the store. Since we bought it years ago,” he whispered.

“So why was your wife trying to hide them?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Excuse me,” Oscar said, and left the room.

“Where is he going?” the suspect asked.

“None of your business,” Barraclough barked.

Ten more minutes of interrogation led to nothing. The man looked uncomfortable but denied any knowledge of the boxes, the keys, or what his wife was up to. Then Oscar came back.

“Shouldn’t take long,” he said to Barraclough. “I think we can leave this here.”

“Alright,” Barraclough exhaled, picked up the key, and stood up. “Anyone for coffee?”

“What shouldn’t take long?” the man asked, looking around perplexed.

“Your wife is about to confess,” Oscar said.

“Is she?” the man asked uncertainly.

“Well, she’s about to confess that it was all your doing and that you forced her to assist the Death Eaters. She’ll go free and you’ll go to Azkaban.”

“But,” the man gasped. “That’s not true!” He paused for a moment, his eyes darting around the room. “She was making me do it! Her brother is one of them. Her entire family supports the Dark Lord. You have to believe me! I had no choice.”

Barraclough threw the key back on the table. “What are these?” he asked, his expression unreadable. You would not be able to tell that he just had a major breakthrough.

“They open these boxes, which are all connected to each other. The Dark Lord wanted them made to pass messages. It’s much faster and safer than owls.”

“How many have you made for him?”

“Seven. They take forever, you see. But so far only three men came to pick theirs up.”

“I’ll need their names, descriptions.” Barraclough said.

“I don’t know,” the man replied. His voice was now trembling. “My wife dealt with them.”

Barraclough turned to Claudia and Oscar. “Put him to the holding cell and make sure he doesn’t get a chance to speak to his wife.”

They did as they were told.

“That was lucky the wife was about the confess,” Claudia whispered as they were walking away from the holding cells back to their office.

“She really wasn’t,” Oscar smirked. “Barely said a word.”

“You lied to him to get him to talk?”

“It’s a tactic as old as interrogation itself.”

All the aurors were having a little breather, drinking strong coffee Primrose procured for them, and munching on English muffins.

“What now?” Claudia asked.

“We wait,” Barraclough said with a little yawn. “We keep working the missus, and see what move the Death Eaters make. They’ll be rattled now we have them.”

Claudia frowned a little. “Shouldn’t we go after them? Be more proactive?”

“No. We don’t want to show our hand.” Barraclough shook his head. “It’s late. Let’s all go get some sleep and come back first thing tomorrow.”

Claudia went home, crashed into bed, and took out her two-way notebook. Sirius should have it with him now.

‘You were right. We got them.’

She wrote into the notebook, set her alarm for five thirty in the morning and fell asleep within minutes. In the morning, she exchanged few words with barely awake Sirius and set off for the Ministry, just as the day was breaking.

The second shift was just like the first one. Moody went to see Crouch to give him an update. Barraclough tried to break the woman in interrogation, to no avail. And Claudia and Oscar got buried under the mountains of records they found in the workshop to see if there was anything useful at all. She doubted very much she was going to find an invoice in the name of Lord Voldemort, but kept going.

“Morning everyone!” Ewan was standing in the door with a tall, blond girl on his shoulder. “This is Tracey Holt, everyone!” he said cheerfully. “Our new trainee. Tracey, let me introduce everyone…”

“He didn’t welcome me quite this jovially last year,” Claudia grumbled to Oscar, who was sitting next to her in her cubicle.

“Well, you aren’t a five-ten blond bombshell,” Oscar smirked. “This is Ewan we’re talking about.”

“Shut it.” Claudia poked him with her elbow.

“What are you two whispering about?” Ewan said as he approached them, before turning to his new trainee. “Tracy, this is Oscar and Claudia. Be careful, they both bite.”

Tracy looked at Claudia, and her eyes narrowed slightly. “You used to date Black, didn’t you?”

“Still do,” Claudia replied, looking at the new trainee equally sceptically. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember you.”

“You might remember my sister…” Tracey whispered with a smile. “Leanne Holt.”

Claudia grimaced, remembering the fifth year Slytherin-Hufflepuff game, and its aftermath.

“Don’t worry about it.” Tracey laughed. “We don’t really get on.”

Ewan was looking from one trainee to another, his mouth slightly ajar. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Claudia mumbled, a little embarrassed. “Look at the time, I need to get going.”

“Where?” Oscar asked, also clearly enjoying the awkwardness.

“None of your business,” Claudia barked when she could not think of a reasonable excuse.

“Let’s go get your paperwork, Tracey,” Ewan smiled. “And let’s have a chat.”

Claudia grimaced. It was only a matter of time before they found out what happened, and they were going to mock her mercilessly. But before she could leave for her made-up errant, Moody stormed into the office. “Avery!” he growled. “My office, now!”

“What have you done now?” Oscar smirked. “Killed another Death Eater?”

“He’s always like this when he goes to see Crouch.” Claudia rolled her eyes and followed her boss into his office, a little worried about what was coming.

“I just went to see Crouch,” Moody began.

Claudia had to chuckle. Of course, she was right about the cause of his foul mood.

“He’s sending his brat to spend six weeks here on a summer placement,” he continued.

“Why?”

“To spy on me, of course,” Moody growled. “He’s not to know a thing. Understand?”

“Boss, why are you telling me this?” Claudia asked, somewhat perplexed.

“Because you’ll be in charge of him.”

“Why?” Claudia exclaimed. Baby-sitting Crouch’s kid was the last thing she wanted to do. “Can’t Ewan do it? He’s good with people.”

“He’s good with the ladies,” Moody corrected her.

“Oscar?”

“He’d kill him.”

“And I won’t?”

“You better not. Now get out. He starts tomorrow.” Moody turned towards his cabinet and started to rummage through it. “Two new people in one day. It’s all going to the dogs.”

Moody did not look like he was going to discuss the matter any further, so Claudia sighed and left him in his office. She was dreading this extra responsibility. When she came out of Moody’s room, Ewan was back. He was sitting on her desk and grinning.

“Attempted murder during a Quidditch game? Who would have thought?” He beamed. “And your boyfriend... Impressive form. I should get some tips.”

“Drop it...” Claudia hissed and pushed him off her desk. She spent the rest of the day hiding in her cubicle and went home physically and emotionally exhausted.

“We have a new trainee at work,” she said as she walked through the door to the flat. Sirius was on the sofa, reading.

“Someone we know?” he asked casually, barely looking up from the motorcycle magazine.

“Someone you know.”

“Oh, no.” Sirius was now on his feet and grimacing. The magazine laying on the floor. “Althea?” he asked tentatively. “Wait, she wasn’t smart enough to be an auror... Vivien?”

“No!” Claudia exclaimed with a slight chuckle. “Tracey.”

“Did I date a Tracey?”

“Tracey Holt,” she replied with somewhat of an emphasis on Tracey’s last name.

“Holt does ring a bell...”

“Leanne’s sister!” Claudia finally snapped. “For crying out loud! How can you not remember Leanne?”

“Oh, that’s alright then.” Sirius dropped back onto the sofa and picked up the magazine again. “That’s a lot worse for you than for me. You did try to k-”

“I did not try to kill her! Why does everyone keep saying it?” she yelled, interrupting him. Then she remembered that fateful Quidditch game and dropped her voice into a whisper. “It was an accident.”

Sirius was chuckling into his magazine, so Claudia threw off her coat and marched into the kitchen, looking for something to eat.

He followed her. “Since you’re already annoyed, there is something you should know.”

“What did you do?” Claudia said with a frown and looked back at Sirius, who was now standing on the threshold of the kitchen, leaning against a doorframe.

“Me? Why do you assume it had to be me?” He laughed when he saw Claudia’s sceptical expression. “Nothing this time. Your mother sent this,” he added and threw a small jewellery box at his girlfriend.

She caught and opened it to find a gleaming vintage diamond ring. “My mother sent me an engagement ring?”

“No, your mother sent me an engagement ring.”

“How?” Claudia said with a frown, still staring at the ring. “How does she know where we live?”

“She sent it via Gringotts...”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Claudia sighed, pushed past Sirius, picked up her jacket and strode to the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Claude, wait! We can sell it.” Sirius said, but Claudia did not turn around. “Be careful!”

Claudia pretended she did not hear him and run down the stairs to apparate right in front of her parents’ house. She would have normally been more careful, but today, she was too angry to care if she was seen. She banged the door with her fist a few times until Sky opened it.

“Young mistress,” the house-elf whispered and smiled. Claudia suddenly felt a flood of guilt in her stomach. She did not even want to imagine how Sky got treated since she left.

“Is my mother home?”

But Sky did not have to answer. Claudia spotted Cassandra descending down the staircase. Without thinking, she launched the ring box at her with all the force she could muster. And being a former Quidditch chaser, it was a lot of force!

Cassandra shrieked and ducked, and the box narrowly missed her head. Instead, it landed right in the middle of a family photograph that hang in the hall. A family photograph that Claudia hated. She got a right beating not five minutes before it was taken because she got her dress dirty. Yet, her mother was all smiles. She must have been around ten when it happened, but Cassandra’s hypocrisy still annoyed her. The glass shattered, and the photograph came crashing to the floor.

“For the last time,” Claudia yelled. “Leave us be!”

She did not wait for an answer, turned on her heel and apparated back home.

“You alright?” Sirius asked. He was standing in the middle of the living room, his mouth slightly ajar.

Claudia crashed into the sofa. “I’m alright. I think she’ll drop it now.” When she saw Sirius’ uncertain expression, she hissed. “No, I did not kill her. Not that anyone would blame me if I did...”

Sirius sat down next to her. “I know I’m the last person who should be saying this, but try not to let her bother you.”

Claudia smiled at Sirius and kissed him. “You really are the last person who should be saying that.”

“Let’s go get some dinner.”

The following morning, Claudia found herself in the Ministry of Magic’s reception looking for her intern. The spat with her mother was now a distant memory, as her mind was busy with something else. It was almost a year to the day she stood in the reception herself, waiting for Barraclough to pick her up. And what a year it had been – Rosier was dead, Linda was in America, and Ted’s life was saved.

A lanky teenager was sitting in the waiting area, picking up fluff from his robes. That must be him, Claudia thought, and approached him.

“Please do not call me Barty, that’s my father’s name,” he said and extended his arm. “I go by Bartemius.”

“I’ll call you Crouch,” Claudia replied curtly. “I’m Claudia Avery,” she added. “And I’m going to be supervising you for the next six weeks.”

Crouch frowned slightly. “You don’t remember me?”

“Should I?” Claudia sighed, remembering the almost identical conversation she had with Leanne just the day before.

“I am on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team,” he replied. “I played against you, twice.”

“Well, you couldn’t have made much of an impression,” she smirked. “Let’s go.”

For the next week or so, Claudia truly discovered the joys of management. Looking after Crouch was an absolute nightmare. He showed no interest whatsoever in the work. All he wanted to do was to chat up Tracey and Primrose. Claudia asked him to sort out some case files; they were even more messy than when he started. She told him to write up a report; he did nothing, left work at two o’clock and went to the pub.

At six, Claudia and the other aurors from the office went the same way. It was just the four of them, Barraclough, Oscar, Ewan and Claudia, each holding a pint of beer in their hands, when Bartemius approached their table.

“Is that what you are drinking?” he smirked. “They can’t be paying you very well.”

“True that,” Ewan sighed, and took another long sip of his pint.

“I’ll have a word with father,” Crouch said and leaned close to Claudia. “If you ask nicely,” he whispered into her ear.

Claudia pushed him away in disgust.

“Fuck off, you little pest,” Oscar growled before she had a chance to say anything.

“Didn’t Moody tell you?” Crouch smiled. “You’re supposed to be nice to me. Father said-”

“Yeah?” Oscar stood up abruptly. “Is he going to stop me from beating the shit out of you right now?”

Claudia noticed a slight look of panic in Crouch’s eyes. But before Oscar could make good on his word, Barraclough grabbed his arm and dragged him back to sitting.

“Do what’s good for you,” she hissed at her intern. “And get out of here.”

“But I wanted to sit with you,” he protested petulantly.

“Just take a hint, will you?” Barraclough lost his patience too. “And fuck off.”

Crouch snorted, but did as he was told. It was four against one and he would not last a second if wands were drawn. Or in a fistfight.

“I need the bathroom,” Claudia sighed after a few minutes of silent drinking, and stood up. “If he comes back and tries to take my chair, you have my permission to punch him.”

“With pleasure.” Oscar raised his glass and grinned at her.

Claudia was fighting through the crowd towards the bathroom when Alice caught up with her.

“They’re always causing trouble, those three,” she shook her head. “Such assholes. I don’t know how you manage it.”

“They aren’t assholes,” Claudia replied and looked back at her colleagues with a smile. “They’re actually quite nice.”

“You say that because you’re now one of them,” Alice said with a frown. “They are still assholes to the rest of us.”

“Are you calling me an asshole?” Claudia asked and folded her arms across her chest.

“Come on,” Alice sighed. “Be sensible. You know what I mean.”

“Oh look,” Claudia said sharply, as she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. “There’s Eleanor. See you later.” She added and set off to speak to her old school friend, which she had not spoken to since Hogwarts. She felt a little guilty about that, but also thought she had a good reason. Eleanor was dating her ex-boyfriend Julius, after all.

“How are you doing?” Claudia asked and gave Eleanor a brief hug.

“Good. Good,” Eleanor replied. “I’m actually going to a muggle university to study music from September. I had to do a lot of tuition this year to make up for all the things they did not teach at Hogwarts, but I made it.”

“Is university the school you go to after school?” Claudia asked.

Eleanor nodded, and they stared at each other awkwardly for a while.

“How’s Julius?” Claudia asked, hoping that tackling the awkwardness head on was going to make it easier.

“He’s good,” Eleanor said, and quickly took a sip of her drink to avoid Claudia’s eye.

“But?”

“But I met his family the other week, and it did not go well.”

“That’s not a surprise,” Claudia shrugged. “They’re awful bigots.”

“I wish he was able to stand up to them.” Eleanor mumbled. “Do you think he ever…” she trailed off.

“Do you want an honest answer?”

“Please.”

“I think he just wants an easy life. And doing what his parents expect him to do is part of it.”

Eleanor did not reply, just stared blankly over Claudia’s shoulder. The young auror turned to see what her friend was looking at and spotted her ex-boyfriend walking towards them. When their eyes locked, Julius froze as if he had seen a ghost.

“I better make myself scarce,” Claudia mumbled and patted Eleanor on the shoulder. “I’ve been meaning to go to the bathroom for ages.”

“Is that why you broke up with him?” Eleanor whispered, seemingly ignoring the last two minutes ever happened.

“I broke up with him because I was in love with someone else,” Claudia quickly replied and disappeared into the crowd. Talking to Julius was even lower on her list of priorities than Crouch.

When she came back from the bathroom, there was a fresh round of drinks on the table.

“You know what?” she mumbled. “You have it. I’m going home. I’ve had enough of people for the day.”

“Charming…” Ewan smirked, and pulled Claudia’s new pint in front of him.

“See you tomorrow.”

Abandoning the drinking earlier turned out to be a wise choice. The moment Claudia stepped into the office the next day, she knew something was wrong. There were law enforcement patrol officers running all over the place. Barraclough was standing on his chair, barking orders at people left, right and centre.

“What happened?” she asked when she found Ewan in the crowd. He was pale and clutching onto a coffee cup for dear life, trying to ignore Crouch, who had clearly forgotten last night’s altercation. He was all smiles and telling Ewan all about the girl he hooked up with.

“The woman we had in custody got murdered last night,” Ewan whispered, completely blanking Crouch. “Right under the Ministry’s noses.”

“Right.” Moody’s loud voice carried over the crowd that assembled in their office. “Listen up. I just finished talking to the other detainee we had. He heard his wife shout the name of her attacker just before she was struck down.” He paused and took a deep breath. “We are looking for a Mulciber. Avery, take Crouch and go through all our records. The rest of you, speak to your informants. I want this man brought to me now!”

“Let’s go,” Claudia sighed and turned to where Crouch was standing seconds ago. But he was gone. “Workshy bastard,” she mumbled and left for the records room herself.

Claudia did not even get half-way down the corridor before she heard quick footsteps behind her. For a split second, she wondered whether Crouch saw sense, but it was not to be.

“Claudia!” she heard Oscar’s voice. “Come back. We’ve got him!”

Claudia turned back. “That was quick,” she uttered as she jogged past Oscar back towards their office.

“An informant mentioned this Mulciber to Ewan maybe a month or so ago. He was seen in some dangerous company.”

They got back to the office to find Ewan sitting on the floor, surrounded by dozens and dozens of pieces of paper, his desk drawers turned out. Moody was standing over him, shouting profanities about the inadequacy of Ewan’s filing system.

“Here!” Ewan screamed triumphantly. “Thirteen, Lonsdale Square Gardens, N1.”

“I’ll get the order to the Hit Wizards,” Claudia said.

“No time.” Moody grabbed the paper out of Ewan’s hand and stormed out of the office. “Let’s go.”

The aurors ran to the atrium, discussing the best place to apparate to in the vicinity of Mulciber’s residence, and not fifteen minutes later, they were standing in front of the door to his flat. They kicked it down to reveal a messy living room.

“Everything is turned out,” Barraclough sighed.

“Did someone get here before us?” Claudia whispered.

“No,” Barraclough replied as he opened the half empty wardrobe. “He knew we were coming.”

“Fuck,” Moody yelled, and kicked over an armchair. “Whoever leaked this is going to spend the rest of their life in Azkaban.”

Claudia spotted something. She walked over to Mulciber’s desk and picked up a photograph from his Hogwarts days. “How did I not realise?” she uttered. “He was in my brother’s gang at school.”

“That would explain how he got to the Ministry,” Barraclough said. “And how he knew we were coming.”

Chapter Text

For three more weeks, Moody’s team of aurors look for Mulciber. They spoke to every informant, combed through all the domestic intelligence reports that Division B kept producing, and visited every known dark wizards’ pub or hideout. But no one had seen or heard anything about Mulciber since he disappeared. They were quickly coming to a conclusion that he was gone.

“It’s a dead end,” Moody proclaimed one morning when the whole team was sitting around, trying to work out where to look next. “We’ve got other cases piling up. Let’s keep our ears to the ground if he turns up, but for the time being-” he paused and sighed. “We’re dropping the investigation.”

“There was this one pub in Manchester we should go and see-” Claudia began to protest. They got so close. They could not stop now!

“Avery, it happens,” Moody said.

"Just one more lead, it looked so promi-"

"Drop it," Moody barked. "It's a waste of time."

"But Ted-"

“Claudia, please," the old auror said almost gently. "Tidy up the file and take it to records. We’re dropping this.”

Moody did not give her an opportunity to respond, and left.

Claudia plonked down onto her chair and pulled a huge pile of papers in front of her. They were reports from the investigation, evidence records, and witness statements. She took out a fresh case file form from her drawer and began to fill it in. She logged every report and statement in chronological order, and took it to Barraclough to sign.

“It really does happen,” he said as he circled ‘unsolved’ on the form just above his signature.

“I know, the boss said.” Claudia paused. "I just hate losing."

“Get that intern of ours to take it to records, and go home,” Barraclough said. “You deserve a break. You did well.”

“Right,” she said sarcastically. “So well that a murderer is free roaming the streets.”

“Go home.”

“I can’t go home,” Claudia replied with a sigh. “My boyfriend is a best man to a friend of ours and they’re having the stag do today. So, I’ve been evicted.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Normal people would stay with their parents,” Claudia smirked. “But I don’t have that option. I’ll stay with friends.” It had dawned on Claudia at that moment that nothing was arranged. She was meant to ask Alice if she could stay over but forgot. In fact, they had not spoken since their weird interaction in the pub. Maybe Lily would welcome the company...

“Crouch!” Barraclough yelled and interrupted her thoughts. “Get this to the records room,” he added when Bartemius made it over to the senior auror’s desk.

“Sure,” Crouch said casually, grabbed the file and walked out.

“He’s so useless,” Claudia sighed. “Makes my blood boil that someone like that gets to be an auror just because his father heads up the department.”

“He isn’t the first one like that, and he won’t be the last,” Barraclough sighed.

“Great,” she replied and wondered back to her desk. She sat down and stared blankly at the wall, having no strength to figure out what to do tonight. There was always the option to sleep in the office. Or just work through the night.

Eventually, Oscar dragged her out for lunch. The moment she settled back at her desk, her stomach full of a lovely pork pie, Frank appeared with a file in his hand. “I don’t think this should be lying around in the men’s toilets,” he said and plonked the file down on Claudia’s desk.

She blinked twice to make sure she was not seeing things. It was the Mulciber file that she just finished earlier “Where did you get this?”

“As I said, in the men’s toilet,” Frank said. “It was tucked behind the rubbish bin.”

Claudia looked over her shoulder and saw Crouch sitting at his desk, feet up on a filing cabinet, and looking out of the window. “Can you please go and stand by the door for me?” she whispered to Frank. Then, she picked up the file and stood up. “Crouch!” she yelled.

Crouch rolled his eyes, slowly got to his feet and dragged his heels across the room. “Yes?”

“Did you take the Mulciber file to record?” she barked.

“Yes,” Crouch sighed. “Obviously.”

“So how come Frank found it in the men’s bathroom?” she asked and folded her arms across her chest.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Someone must have taken it out again.”

His coolness infuriated her. “Do you think I’m an idiot?” Claudia yelled at him.

This had drawn Moody and Barraclough out of Moody’s office. “What’s going on?” Moody barked.

“I asked him to take the Mulciber file to Records,” Claudia said and gestured towards Crouch. “But Frank just brought it from the men’s bathroom.”

“What?” Moody growled and strode across the room until his face was about an inch away from Crouch’s. “Who are you working for?” he yelled, grabbing him by the collar.

“I’ve lost it, ok?” Crouch barked. “Happy now? I went to the bathroom and left it on the sink. Once I came back, it was gone!”

“Get out of here, your useless piece of shit!” Moody yelled.

“You can’t fire me!” Crouch smirked. “My father-”

“I don’t care one bit about your father!” Moody barked. “Get out!”

Crouch looked at everyone else, but not a single person had an ounce of sympathy on their face. He scoffed, picked up his jacket. “You’ll regret this, Longbottom,” he hissed as he passed Frank who was still guarding the door.

Claudia walked over to Frank to thank him.

“What a prat,” Frank said and shook his head.

“Thank you,” Claudia said with a soft smile. “I should’ve taken the damn thing myself.”

Claudia saw Frank look to the side, down the corridor, and smile. She turned to see her best friend approaching.

“What are you two talking about?” Alice asked.

“Frank just saved my butt,” Claudia said. “Remember my trainee? He left a file in the bathroom, and if Frank hadn’t found it, all the work on the Mulciber case would have gone to waste.”

"Sounds like he was indeed a piece of work." Alice looked momentarily at her feet. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier. You aren’t an asshole.”

“Well, if you wanted to make it up to me... Can I stay at yours today?” Claudia asked, relieved her row with Alice seemingly forgotten. “Sirius is having everyone over for James’ stag do and I’ve been banished.”

“Isn’t that normally the night before the wedding?” Frank asked sceptically. "At least mine was."

“It is,” Claudia smirked. “But Lily made it clear she wanted James conscious when they got married. So they are doing it today.”

After a pleasant evening at Alice's, Claudia tiptoed into her flat to quickly change before heading back to work. It must have just been approaching eight in the morning.

“Claude!” Sirius yelled jovially and startled her. “Welcome home!” He was sitting with his feet up on the dining table and grinning.

“Are you not hangover?” she asked, somewhat surprised to see him awake and this cheerful.

“I am not,” Sirius beamed. “For I am still drunk!” He lifted his arms theatrically.

Claudia chuckled and looked around the rest of the flat. Peter and Remus were passed out on the sofa and armchair respectively, and James was just coming back from the bathroom.

He sat down next to Sirius and pulled up a greasy paper with leftover fish and chips. “Breakfast?” he asked.

“No, thank you.” Claudia’s stomach turned when she saw James get stuck in. “I’m just getting changed and will be out of your hair soon.”

“Don’t go,” Sirius said, jumped up from his chair and, stumbling slightly, grabbed Claudia in his arms.

“Your breath is terrible,” she grimaced, held onto his forearms and was about to push him away, when he screamed with pain.

“What happened?” she gasped and took a few steps back. Remus and Peter were scrambling to their feet, and looked like they were expecting a couple of Death Eaters.

“I was only going to show you once these clowns left,” Sirius said and started to roll up his sleeve to reveal his left forearm.

Remus and Peter collapsed back into the cushions. They both looked half-dead.

“Did you get the Dark Mark?” Claudia smirked at Sirius who was still wrestling with his shirt. She knew of the tattoo Voldemort imparted on his followers.

Sirius laughed. “Not quite.” He revealed a fresh tattoo, still wrapped in a clear film.

“What is it?” Claudia squinted to look at an animal’s head. It was rather cool and very pretty. “A wolf?” she asked and held onto Sirius’ arm.

“It’s a fox.” Sirius beamed and brushed her hair with his free hand. “Or it will be a fox once the swelling goes down.”

Claudia looked up at him and smiled. “I didn’t think these would hurt,” she said softly and with a slight crack in her voice.

“Of course, it did!” He replied. “They kept poking my skin with a needle for two hours!”

“A needle?” she gasped. “Where did you go?”

“Soho. Where else?”

“The magical tattoo place in Diagon Alley?”

“You bastards!” Sirius shot James a look that could kill, and all the three boys started to laugh manically. ”You said I had to go to the muggle place! That magic couldn’t do them!” Sirius roared.

“And I cannot believe you fell for it!” James laughed. “You’re so dumb when you drink.”

Sirius took half a step towards James and looked like he might punch him. But Claudia drew him back and kissed him. “You’ve been very brave,” she whispered. His terrible drunken breath did not matter anymore.

“Are you mocking me?” Sirius hissed.

“Obviously,” she laughed and placed her hands on his chest. “But I do like it. I really do.”

“I hoped you would,” he whispered and kissed her again. His hands travelled down her back and across her hips. “Get a room!” James screeched.

“We have one!” Sirius barked back. “You just happen to be fucking in it.”

Claudia took her boyfriend’s hand and led him to their bedroom.

Sirius may have misread her intentions and collapsed into the bed. “Come here,” he whispered, his eyes dancing.

“I really have to go back to work,” she replied. “And you need to sober up.”

“I don’t want to,” Sirius moaned. “I’ll feel terrible!”

“Just go to sleep,” she laughed lowered herself on all fours, kneeled over him and kissed him. “I’ll look after you when I’m back?”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

She shook her head, smiling. Then, she grabbed some fresh clothes and made her way to the shower. By the time she got out of there, Sirius was already asleep.

The last few days before the wedding were filled with last minute preparations and made Claudia regret ever volunteering to help. Lily’s hen do actually came the day before the wedding, and it was tamed accordingly. Lily, Marlene, Claudia, Alice and two of Lily’s friends, Emily from the apothecary, and Meadow from Hogwarts were in attendance. The girls stayed in James’s and Lily’s wedding suite, had pizza and drank some pink wine. Then, they started to paint each other’s fingernails.

Claudia sat in the corner of the room, her knees pressed against her chest. This was not exactly her scene. Just as she thought that, Alice came over and shook light pink nail polish in front of Claudia’s face.

“In your dreams,” Claudia smirked and took another sip of the overly sweet wine.

Emily finished on Lily’s toes and looked up. “I don’t know much about you and James. How did you meet? What was your first kiss like?”

“It was our second date,” Lily said tentatively as she was trying to remember. “We went for a butterbeer in Hogsmeade. I wanted to kiss his cheek but he sort of turned awkwardly and I kissed his chin instead. He went red, began apologising profusely. So, I kissed him again to shut him up.”

“Sounds like a right mess. I would never have thought. He seems so confident.”

“He was a mess!” Lily laughed. “He barely put together a coherent sentence the first month we were together.”

“And your first time?” Meadow said, hiding a cheeky smile behind her wine glass.

“I’m not telling you!” Lily said and went bright red.

“Come on!”

“No!”

“I know!” Claudia chipped in with a little smirk.

“You keep your mouth shut, if you know what’s good for you,” Lily chuckled.

But Claudia was undeterred. She sat down properly and began. “There was this one evening. Was it Valentine’s Day? Where James kicked all the others from the Gryffindor dorm,” she paused to judge Lily’s facial expression. She was smiling and blushing, so Claudia deemed it safe to continue. “And in the morning, you two came down holding hands and smiling like idiots.”

“No comment,” Lily laughed.

“What about you?” Emily asked Claudia. “You’re dating the best man, aren’t you?”

“There is nothing to tell,” Claudia chuckled. “We were friends. There was a party and drink. And we kissed.”

“And your first time?”

“Allow me,” Lily jumped in. “A year after that first kiss, I believe? You were still friends, you were at a party and there was drink. Am I right?”

“Yes,” Alice replied before Claudia had a chance to stop laughing. “Two and a half years ago.”

“Except they didn’t tell anyone they were together for over half a year!” Lily exclaimed.

“I even went with him to that stupid ball!” Marlene said.

Claudia looked at her, alarmed. This was the first time Marlene brought it up. But she was relieved to see that the chief bridesmaid was laughing. Lily must have been right, she was over her crush on Sirius.

“That was such a mess,” Lily laughed. “I said I’d only go with James if Sirius took Marlene. Which he did, but was already with Claudia, who – if I remember – went with Remus as friends. And Mary, who wanted to go with Remus in the first place, was stuck with Peter.”

“Oh, to be seventeen again!” Marlene proclaimed and all the girls laughed.

“Who’s Mary?” Emily asked.

“It was our other friend from school.” Marlene explained. “She’s moved to America and said she couldn’t make it.”

Lily sighed and took a large sip of the pink wine. “No Mary, no Tuney, no parents… It’s almost as if I have no family anymore.” The mood in the room changed in an instant. Everyone fell silent.

“You have us,” Alice whispered.

“And James,” Claudia added. It nearly took her by surprise that her tone was earnest. “He’s going to be your family from tomorrow. Just like Sirius is mine.” She paused. “Just like you’re my family, actually, my strangely upbeat sister.”

Lily crossed the room to where Claudia was sitting. “I would never have thought it would come to this…” she whispered and hugged her. “I love you.”

“Hold your horses, Evans,” Claudia laughed. “You’re marrying James, remember?”

“Oh, shut up.” Lily laughed and held Claudia firmly in her arms.

Once Lily finally released her, they had more food and drink. And Claudia even let Lily paint her toenails. In black, mind you. That was their compromise.

Just after midnight, the girls climbed into their sleeping bags and went to sleep. But Claudia was uncomfortable on the floor and after a few hours of tossing around decided to bail on the hen do and go back to the room where Sirius was sleeping. In a bed which was so much more comfortable.

She snuck into the room, took off everything but her knickers and climbed into bed. Sirius stirred, turned over and wrapped his arms around Claudia.

“Why are you naked?” she whispered.

“Do you expect me to dress when you aren’t here?” he mumbled half-asleep.

“Do you have an alarm?”

Sirius groaned and started to breathe softly again. Claudia set her own alarm and passed out within seconds, the warmth of Sirius’ naked body was always the best sleeping draught.

When Claudia woke up, Sirius was already sitting up in bed, scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

“What are you doing?” she asked and stretched her back. It was still sore from the sleeping bag earlier.

“Polishing the speech.”

“You prepared it?” she smirked. “That's very unlike you.”

“This is the sixth draft!” Sirius scoffed. “Have some faith in me.”

“Well, in that case.” Claudia whispered, lifted herself on her knees and threw one of her legs over Sirius, so that she was kneeling over him. “You don’t want to over prepare.” She reached for the speech, took it out of his hand and threw it onto the pillow where she slept moments ago.

Sirius did not take long to catch on. He buried his fingers in the back of Claudia’s hair and kissed her. His hands travelled to her shoulders, the top of her arms. “I’m so glad you like this,” he whispered and moved his finger across her chest to the pendant he gave her for her birthday. “Bit of a risk, trying to buy you some jewellery.”

“I love it,” she mumbled and kissed him. She felt his palm move over her sides and down her hips. Sirius slid her underwear over her knees and threw it away.

He stayed sitting, leaning against the headboard and Claudia pressed her body against his. They kissed, completely losing track of time. Their hands began to wander until...

“You’re right," Sirius exhaled, his eyes firmly shut. “This is much better than working on the speech.”

Their foreheads were together while they started to move slowly.

“You mention that speech one more time,” she whispered in response. “And-”

“And what?” he smirked, grabbed her hips even tighter and pulled his girlfriend closer to him. As close as he could. A wave of pleasure shook Claudia. And she was not alone struggling to finish a sentence. All he managed was a groan and a little bite on Claudia’s shoulder.

Her whole body quivered. “And I’ll stop,” she mumbled. But it was getting too much. She dropped her head on Sirius’ shoulder. “Who am I kidding,” she exhaled. “I can’t stop. I don’t want to.”

Sirius laughed and kissed her. “You’re just... perfect. Almost as perfect as that speech.”

Claudia lifted her finger and placed it across Sirius’ lips.

He grinned at bit it.

Claudia no longer cared. She did not know if it was the angle or the way their bodies rubbed against each other in this position, but she was about to explode.

“Please,” she whispered between the heavy breaths. “I’m begging you.”

Sirius did not need a lot of convincing. He sunk his fingers even deeper into Claudia’s legs. Then, his body twitched, and movements slowed down.

Claudia collapsed on top of him like a marionette that got her strings cut and rested her head on Sirius’ shoulder. She could feel his heart pounding against her chest.

“I don’t want to say it,” he whispered after a few minutes.

“Then don’t,” Claudia moaned. She knew what was coming.

“We need to get ready.”

Grudgingly, Claudia got out of bed and began searching through her bag.

“Shit, I forgot my potion,” she uttered in frustration. “I need to swing by home.”

“I’ll get it,” Sirius said and began a feeble attempt to get dressed.

“Isn’t it too far to apparate?”

“I’ll be fine. Go to the shower.”

“It’s in the-“ Claudia began to give him instructions as to where to find it.

“We’ve lived together for a year,” Sirius said with a laugh. “I know where it is.”

And he was right. Few minutes later, he was back, potion in hand.

Showered and with the potion safely in her stomach, Claudia was looking at herself in the mirror. She was overjoyed that she managed to convince Lily to wear a white blouse and tailored trousers in the same dark blue colour that the other bridesmaids wore. Her case was helped significantly when the bridesmaids could not agree on a style, and Lily agreed to Claudia’s suggestion to let them wear mismatched dresses (not realising at that point what Claudia’s idea for her own dress was).

Sirius was wearing a traditional suit with a waistcoat. His tie and pocket square were the same blue as Claudia’s trousers.

Hand in hand, they walked over to the venue to help set up. They sat on an empty crate, drank coffee and had some toast.

“I need to go help James,” Sirius said as he glanced at his watch. It was nearly ten.

Claudia kissed him.

As their lips parted, Sirius picked up the pendant that was just visible on Claudia’s chest. “I think it looked better with the shirt off,” he whispered.

“Get out of here,” Claudia smirked and pushed him to standing. “We have a wedding to run.” But she agreed and would have happily go straight back to their room and prove his point.

Sadly, there was no time and Claudia got to work, checking that everything was ready. James and Sirius arrived just under an hour later, wearing matching suits. Claudia was not quite sure how Sirius did it, but while James managed to look stiff and uncomfortable, Sirius looked like he stepped out from one of the magazines Claudia’s mother liked to read.

“Where is Remus?” Claudia asked.

“Lily had a little wobble earlier about not having her dad here,” James explained. “So, Remus volunteered to become the Father of the Bride for the day. He’s there to take pictures while she gets ready, walk her down the aisle, do the speech.”

“People are starting to arrive,” Peter mumbled and looked towards the garden gate that led from the car park.

Claudia barely managed to turn before she heard a loud shriek. “Cousin Sirius!” A little girl ran the length of the path and jumped into Sirius’ arms. The Tonkses were here.

“Cute hair,” Sirius laughed and messed up Nymphadora’s bob. It had streaks of every colour in the rainbow.

“Do not get me started!” Andromeda sighed. “She learned how to control her metamorphogus abilities. “There is nothing I can do.”

“Cousin Sirius said it’s cute!” Nymphadora shrieked, her arms still clutched around Sirius’ neck.

“Thank you for inviting us, James,” Andromeda said.

“My pleasure,” James grinned and then looked at Sirius. “He’s like a brother to me. So, his family is my family.”

“Claude,” Ted said and grabbed her arm with both of his hands. “Good to see you. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said with a smile. “I’m glad I could help.”

“Ehrm, ehrm,” someone cleared their throat behind the Tonkses.

“Grandma Edith!” James said, his voice a little high-pitched.

“Who’s grandma Edith?” Claudia whispered in Sirius’ ear.

“Lily’s grandma,” he whispered back. “James is terrified of her.”

A short, stocky woman in a huge pink hat emerged from behind Ted. “You scrub up alright,” she said and straightened James’ tie. Then, she looked towards Sirius. “Couldn’t you have found an uglier best man? No sane woman would pick you when you’re standing next to him.”

Claudia let out a little laugh, which attracted grandma Edith’s attention. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re new… Are you a boy or a girl?” she asked. “It’s so hard to tell these days.”

“Does it matter?” Claudia smirked.

“I suppose not,” Grandma Edith sighed. “But if you are a boy, I hope you’ve got a jacket somewhere. And a tie.” She did not even let Claudia answer. “Show me to my seat, James,” she said and extended her arm so that James could lead her to the front.

“We better get going too,” said Ted. “See you later.”

The ceremony was beautiful, if a little too long, and soon, everyone found themselves sitting down for the meal. Sirius, Remus and Marlene sat with the Bride and Groom at the long top table, alongside James’ parents and Grandma Edith.

As the best man, Sirius was sat on the far right end, a couple of yards from Claudia’s seat at one of the round tables where the rest of the guests were sat. To Claudia’s right was Peter, and to her left Ted, Andromenda, Frank and Alice. The table also sat the other two bridesmaids and a couple of James’ Quidditch friends.

Throughout the starters, Peter was trying to flirt with Meadow, and it was excruciating to listen to. Not least because she was clearly into James’ Quidditch friend who was sitting on the other side of her. Claudia thought his name was Chester, but was not quite sure. What she was sure about though was that if Meadow was going home with anyone, it was this guy rather than Peter.

Ted tapped her arm and she had to stop observing and judging people for a moment. “I meant it earlier. Thank you.”

“How has it been?” Claudia asked.

“Getting used to living under official Ministry protection. Can’t even go to the park with Dora without the patrol officers following me.”

“Sorry he slipped away,” Claudia uttered. “We really should’ve caught him.”

“He was a Death Eater, right?” Ted quipped. “Send to kill Buttons and later me under You-Know-Who's orders?”

“Yes.”

“Then someone else would come if you caught Mulciber. And then another, and another,” Ted said. “So, don’t be sorry. I knew what I signed up for. Although it is harder with Dromeda and Dora.”

Just on cue, little Nymphadora ran to the table. “Daddy, what food do you have?”

“Steak.”

“I want a steak. My food is-” Nymphadora blew a raspberry to show her displeasure with the food served at the children’s table.

Claudia chuckled and tuned out the rest of the conversation to go back to observing people. Meadow was telling Chester about her travels and twirling her hair, but he did not seem that keen. He was exchanging side glances with James’ other friend and Claudia would bet anything those two were an item.

The dinner was now over, and Claudia went to chat to Sirius for a bit. She leaned against his chair, just as he was talking to Mrs Potter who was sitting next to him. Sirius wrapped his arm around Claudia and hung his hand on her belt.

“Are you enjoying yourself, dear?” Mrs Potter asked.

“It’s been great,” Claudia said.

“I do like a wedding,” Mrs Potter smirked. “I hope to get invited to another one soon,” she added and tapped Sirius’ arm. She did not have to explain whose wedding she meant.

Claudia looked at Sirius, who froze with his mouth a little ajar.

Mrs Potter laughed. “I’m only teasing. One of my sons getting married is plenty for me.”

Sirius blushed and squeezed Mrs Potter’s hand. But before he could explain that there would be no wedding, Remus stood up and tapped a piece of cutlery on his glass. It was time for the speeches.

“As you have all probably realised by now, I am not Lily’s father.” Remus began speaking to soft chuckles around the room. “But it has been my greatest honour being by Lily’s side today as her father could not.”

“Lily,” he said and turned to his right where the bride was sitting. “I’m sure your parents are watching you tonight and they are so proud and happy for you. You look beautiful.”

“I was told that as the honorary father of the bride, I need to do three things in this speech.”

“First, compliment the bride,” Remus said. “Done.”

“Second, tell heartfelt stories about her.” Remus paused and looked at Lily. “I have plenty of those.” He began recalling a story of Lily noticing in second year he was not feeling to well and following him for two days - against his wishes - to make sure he was alright. “She even spiked my pumpkin juice with pepper-up potion, something she only confessed to last year!”

The room burst into laughter. Remus added couple other anecdotes for good measure.

“Lastly, I’m supposed to talk about how much of a great couple those two are.” He said with an awkward grimace. “That’s going to be a lot harder,” he added to raucous laughter.

“Oi!” Sirius shouted. “Leave the jokes to me!”

Without warning, Claudia was nearly knocked over by little Nymphadora who ran towards the top table and jumped onto Sirius’ lap. That interruption meant that Claudia missed the rest of Remus’ speech.

It was now the groom’s turn.

“Thank you all for coming,” he began. “And to everyone who made this wedding happen.”

“Thank you to all the bridesmaids. Marlene,” James said and raised his glass. “Claudia… Get back to your table. Good grief, can’t you two stay apart for five minutes?” he chuckled before moving onto the other bridesmaids. “Emily,” he raised his glass again, “Meadow” and again.

Nymphadora jumped down from Sirius’ lap, grabbed Claudia’s hand and loudly proclaimed. “Let’s go. James is mean.” The whole room laughed.

“I wouldn’t try to resist,” Sirius whispered and let go of Claudia’s waist. “I gather she knows her mind.”

Claudia sighed and let Nymphadora drag her back to their original table.

Andromeda looked a little embarrassed. “Do you want to go back to sit with the other kids?”

“No!” the girl shrieked. “I want to sit with Claudia!”

Ted got up, brought a chair over and stuck it between himself and Claudia. James was still talking. What about, Claudia had no clue. And she was not going to get an opportunity to find out.

“What’s your favourite colour?” Nymphadora asked the moment she climbed onto that chair.

Claudia had no idea. But the room was all blue so that's what she was going with. “Blue.”

Nymphadora rolled her eyes. "What kind of blue? Navy? Sky? Turquoise?"

"Sky."

The hair on the girl’s head turned a bright shade of light blue.

“Well done,” Claudia clapped tentatively.

“Did it work? Is it sky blue?” Nymphadora picked up a spoon and looked. It was and she cackled. “Tell me another colour!”

They had gone through powder pink, dark green, bright purple and gold before Nymphadora got bored.

“Now,” Nymphadora said. “I want to try to change my face.”

“Dora, sweetheart,” Ted said softly. “Cousin Sirius is about to speak.” He pointed towards the top table, and Nymphadora sat up straight to listen. “Distraction always works,” Ted whispered to Claudia with a wink.

Sirius stood up. His jacket was now off, sleeves were rolled up, and tie was loose. His tattoo was on his forearm for everyone to see. Grandma Edith did not seem impressed. Claudia on the other hand, could not stop smiling.

“I haven’t really prepared much,” Sirius began.

“You had six drafts!” Claudia said just loudly enough so Sirius and the rest of the top table could hear her.

“Heckled by my own girlfriend,” Sirius smirked. “Don’t believe anything Claude says about me. Understood?”

“James has been my best friend since the moment we met. So, it was only natural, I was there when he fell in love for the first time.” Sirius smirked at James. “Every time he thought about her, he smiled absent-mindedly. He dreamed about her every day. Would not shut up about her...” He paused and took a sip of his champagne. “Her name was Quidditch.”

The whole room burst into laughter.

“Most of you will know James as this happy, laid-back guy... Let me tell you, that is not what he’s like when he’s playing that wretched game. I cannot even remember the number of nights he spent in his bed crying over it. First, because he wasn’t on the team. Then, because they kept losing.”

James muttered something incomprehensible, clearly not particularly impressed that his Quidditch failures were being brought up on what was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.

“And when I started dating Claude, he tried to break us up,” Sirius continued. “It was hell. I hate that game... I almost ended it with both of them.”

Claudia could not help but laugh with everyone else. Those early days were quite strange for everyone involved.

“But if you think his moping about Quidditch was bad, you cannot imagine what he was like about Lily!”

“I don’t know whether you know...” Sirius took a dramatic pause. “But James can be quite competitive.”

The room erupted again.

“Oh, so you do know!” Sirius smirked. “I believe he asked Lily out for the first time in third year. I also believe she laughed in his face.”

Claudia took her eyes off Sirius to look at the bride. She was giggling.

“If she only said yes, went for a butterbeer and blew him off, it would have ended right there. I would have saved myself four years of watching him mope. And we would not be here.”

James opened his mouth theatrically to fake outrage, and then leaned to Lily and whispered something. They both giggled.

“He asked her again, again and again,” Sirius continued. “It was sad to watch, actually... Pathetic even. By fourth year, Lily stopped laughing at him and started to shout. I swear I saw her jinx him once.”

Lily shrugged innocently.

“To this day, I don’t know what made her say yes.” Sirius chuckled, then paused and looked at James. “That’s a lie actually, I know what did it. James is the most amazingly loyal, loving, smart guy I’ve ever met. You need to get through a lot of dickishness, but he is-“

“What’s dickishness?” Nymphadora grabbed Claudia’s attention just as everyone laughed again. Claudia pretended she did not hear. There is no way she was answering that.

“Besides he’s kind of handsome,” Sirius continued. “Rich and, if he’s to be believed, amazing in bed.”

Claudia laughed but shortly got interrupted by yet another of Nymphadora’s questions.

“Does it mean he sleeps a lot?” the little girl asked Ted, who was trying desperately hard to keep a straight face. Andromeda leaned back into her chair and poured herself a rather large glass of wine.

Claudia looked back at the top table. Lily put her face in her hands, her shoulders were shaking. It was unclear whether she was laughing or crying. Sirius spotted this and smirked.

“Mummy, why is everyone laughing? Sleep isn’t that funny.” Nymphadora interjected again. Both of her parents were now spitting their drinks.

“Not that Lily would ever confirm or deny this,” Sirius continued the speech. “And I’m pretty sure there is no one else we could ask.”

James was redder than Claudia had ever seen him be. Grandma Edith, who was sitting next to him, was glaring. Claudia enjoyed watching everybody squirm and hoped this speech would never end. But Sirius was on the last stretch.

“James,” he said suddenly looking very serious. “You’re my brother. It’s been my greatest honour to be standing here, giving this speech. I love you and wish you all the happiness in the world.”

He raised his glass, and everyone cheered.

When Sirius sat back down, Mrs Potter playfully slapped his arm and laughed. Then, she gave him the sweetest motherly kiss Claudia had ever seen. Sirius blushed and giggled. He looked so happy, and Claudia could feel a tear in her eye.

James walked over and hugged Sirius from the back. “You better get married too. I want my revenge speech!”

Sirius looked at Claudia, their eyes locked, and the time slowed. The thought of having a wedding did not momentarily seem quite so terrible. Sirius was blushing and Claudia was pretty sure she was too.

“Could’ve mentioned me at least once,” Peter interrupted Claudia’s train of thought.

“Grow up, today’s not about you,” Claudia hissed.

“Nothing is ever about me.”

Claudia rolls her eyes. The moment was gone. This is what weddings really were. Just pointless drama.

But the wedding only got better from there. There was dancing, singing and garden games – croquet, high striker, and a booth where you could knock over a tower of cans by throwing a ball at it.

Claudia and James, the two former chasers, went head-to-head. Every time they knocked the tower, they took a step back. Finally, they were about ten or twelve yards away.

Claudia threw first and missed by a mile.

James screamed in triumph and punched the air. He readied himself to throw, and he too missed.

They tried again and again, getting increasingly more frustrated. After about five minutes of fruitless competition, Claudia heard a giggling from behind her. She turned and saw Sirius and Lily with their wands out, aiming at the cans.

“It’s been you all along!” she yelled. “I hate you!”

“What?” James asked and turned around. He folded his arms when he saw them. “Really? On my wedding day?”

Sirius and Lily again collapsed in a fit of giggles.

“Sorry,” Lily said. “Do try again.”

James exhaled, picked up a ball and threw it. It was right on target until it suddenly changed course and crashed into the back wall of the booth, leaving the can tower intact. “Sirius!” he yelled.

“It wasn’t me!” Sirius defended himself. “It was your wife!”

“Too soon to ask for a divorce?” he growled.

Lily walked up to him and kissed him. “Better?”

“Maybe a little,” James mumbled. “Try again?”

Sirius brushed Claudia’s shoulders with the palms of his hand. “Should we get out of here?” When he saw a hint of hesitation on Claudia’s face, he laughed and shook his head. “If you chose this game over me, I want a divorce too.”

Claudia smiled and took his hand. “Let’s get out of here, then.”

They walked past the bar to pick up a bottle of champagne and bumped into the Tonkses. Ted and Andromeda came to say goodbye. Nymphadora was passed out on Ted’s shoulder. Sirius gave them both the longest hug and they were on their way.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy,” Claudia whispered as they walked towards a lonely tree in the grounds of the house where the wedding was taking place.

“I realised something today,” Sirius replied. “I do have a family that loves me and is proud of me.”

“The love you so much.”

They sat down by the foot of the tree and Sirius popped open the bottle of champagne. He passed it to his girlfriend to take the first sip. As he did, she caught a glance of his forearm.

Claudia ran the fingers over his new tattoo. “I can’t believe you did this. It’s so...” she paused for a moment, looking for the right word. “Permanent.”

“Just because we aren’t getting married, doesn’t mean I won’t love you for the rest of my life.”

Claudia wrapped her arms around Sirius’ neck and kissed him. “I want one too,” she uttered.

“A fox?” he asked but Claudia shook her head. “Or my patronus? A dog?”

"Hate dogs," Claudia smirked and turned her head slightly to look at the stars. “What about the Canis Major?”

Chapter Text

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Sirius asked, as he and Claudia were walking up a central-London street hand-in-hand.

“How many times are you going to ask me?” she scoffed in response. “I’m sure.”

“It’s going to hurt.” Sirius’ voice was dancing, making it clear he thought Claudia was going to chicken out.

“I know!”

“Especially if you’re going for the forearm!”

Claudia stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips. “You said,” she barked and frowned. “Yours is much bigger and in the same place. So, stop patronising me!”

“Well, then.” Sirius chuckled. “Here we are.” He gestured towards a muggle tattoo parlour.

There was something hugely satisfying about doing all kinds of things the muggle way – using a lighter rather than a wand to light a cigarette, having flat with electricity and a fridge. Every one of those things was like a little rebellion against how they were raised.

And a muggle tattoo was up there with running off to join a travelling circus.

That thought brought a smile to Claudia’s face. “Are you coming with me?”

“So, you are scared?”

Claudia rolled her eyes and sighed. “Maybe a little.”

Sirius laughed and grabbed her in his arms. “I was thinking about getting another one myself,” he whispered and kissed the top of Claudia’s head. “Something simple, like the uruz ruin on my wrist.”

“Symbol of freedom?” Claudia asked, remembering her studies of ancient ruins.

“And strength, tenacity, courage...”

“You think a lot of yourself,” she laughed, freed herself from her boyfriend’s embrace and pushed open the door to the tattoo parlour.

Sirius followed her. “And that’s news to you?”

The tattoo artist, a burly man covered head-to-toe in ink, shoved a thick book of designs into Claudia’s hands. “In ten minutes, we start.”

Claudia manically flicked through the pages until she stumbled on an intricate design of a star that she liked. She picked that one for the biggest star in the Canis Major constellation (the one her boyfriend was named after) and then a simpler design for the other stars. Sirius helped her draw the Canis Major on a piece of paper, and they were good to go.

“Ready, Miss?” the tattoo artist asked, and when Claudia nodded, he showed her towards a curtained-off area. “Bobby’s going to sort you out,” he added towards Sirius. “Wait here.”

Claudia swallowed dry when she saw all the instruments lined up, and she was right to be worried. The whole thing felt like an army of cats was trying to scratch her to death. But an hour or so later, it was over. It may still have been little red and swollen, but she felt so proud.

There it was. A constant reminder of the most important person in her life.

It was better than a wedding. And most importantly, her mother would faint if she saw it.

“How’s the pain?” Sirius popped his head in through the curtain, his own wrist wrapped in a clear film.

“What pain?”

“Don’t be a hero,” Sirius said with a smile.

“If I say it hurts, will you take me to dinner?”

Sirius chuckled and kissed her. “You’re a piece of work, Avery.”

“Takes one to know one.”

Couple of days after getting her tattoo and stuffing her face with some Chinese food, Claudia was at work again. The tattoo stopped bleeding, but it was now itching like crazy. She could barely concentrate on whatever it was she was supposed to be doing and had to keep repeating the tattoo artist’s words. “Do not scratch it, do not scratch it.”

Claudia’s mumbling got interrupted by the arrival of someone unexpected, her fellow Order member, Fabian Prewett. He was dressed in black jeans and a tweed waistcoat, his long red hair swept into a messy ponytail.

“Fabes!” Oscar ran over to him and gave him a hug. “What are you doing here? It’s too early for the pub.”

“I need to talk to your boss.”

“Oh,” Oscar smirked. “And here I was thinking you came to have a beer with your best friend.”

“Don’t get jealous.” Fabian poked Oscar with his elbow. “I came to talk to Moody about Rosier.”

Oscar’s smile had vanished in an instant and his eyes immediately travelled to Claudia, as did Fabian’s.

She slowly stood up. “Come with me,” she mumbled hoarsely. Her throat was so tight she could barely hear those words herself. “He’s in his office.”

“What’s going on?” she whispered nervously to Fabian just before she knocked on Moody’s door. They barely spoke to each other until now, but she could tell from all those Order meetings that Moody trusted him. And besides, what she had to lose by asking. There was no need to be nervous.

“Remember the Prophet exposé I mentioned on the Rosier case?”

“Enter!” Moody’s voice carried through the door.

Claudia ignored him. “Yes.”

“It’s being published tomorrow,” Fabian replied. “It took longer-“

“Are you going to come in?” Moody roared from the inside of this office so loudly, it startled Claudia. She sighed and opened the door.

“Fabian says the exposé on the Rosier case is being published tomorrow,” she explained and shut the door behind the both of them.

“What does it say?” Moody asked.

Fabian looked at him, then at Claudia and took a deep breath. She feared the worst. “They found out who was the auror that killed him…”

And there it was. Rosier coming back to haunt her.

Moody scoffed and leaned over to rummage through the drawer of his desk.

“Can we stop it?” Claudia asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“No.” Fabian shook his head. “But you can manage it. You should take few days off. Don’t walk from the Ministry home, or Prophet people will follow you. Apparate everywhere and don’t answer any questions.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“If you don’t give them anything, the story will die down in a few days,” Fabian explained. “But if you keep feeding it, it will never go away.”

That made sense. Claudia noticed that Moody stopped rummaging through the cupboards and looked up at Fabian.

“Who leaked it?” he growled.

“I don’t know,” Fabian replied. “Rita’s good and she never reveals her sources.”

“If I get my hands on them…” Moody hissed and resumed his rummaging.

Claudia watched him, expecting (or at least hoping) he was going to say something to make this better. But he did not.

“I should take my leave,” Fabian whispered. “If you need anything, just ask.” He put his hand on Claudia’s shoulder and squeezed it.

“Thanks,” she mumbled absent-mindedly, still watching what Moody was up to. His lack of concern was really starting to bother her. As she heard Fabian close the door behind him, she could not take it anymore. “Is that all you got to say? Worry about who leaked it?”

Moody did not look at her. He pulled a book out of the drawer, clutched it victoriously, and smiled. “Here it is.”

Claudia scoffed, turned on her heel and was planning to walk out and smash the door on her way out…

“Avery!” Moody shouted and it made her turn back to face him. “Catch this.”

In a split second, Claudia had the book between her palms. She turned it and looked at the cover. ‘Advanced protective spells for all types of dwellings.’

“Use them,” Moody said. “All of them.”

“Why?”

“Because this means you are a target.”

“Thanks,” Claudia mumbled, her anger gone. “But I don’t know. They already have enough to make me into a target, but they haven’t come after me yet. I think that’s my father’s doing.”

“You killed one of them, you will be a target.”

“I really don’t think so. No one is going to go behind my father’s back.”

“Don’t be naïve,” Moody said. Claudia could almost see his eyes roll. “Voldemort is going to order your father to kill you. Do you really think he’s going to say no?”

Claudia swallowed dry. If it was anyone else, her father would not hesitate, she was sure.  But the things she knew, about the artefact, about Linda. She told her father that if he harmed her, all his secrets would be spilled. But was that still enough to keep her alive?

“Just be more careful,” Moody interrupted her train of thought. “Enhanced protection on your place. No unnecessary trips. You know the drill.”

“I really don’t think-“

But Moody ignored her. “Does your father know where you live?”

Claudia shook her head, slowly losing the will and the energy to fight Moody on this.

“Is your fireplace secured against unauthorised travel?”

“We aren’t connected to the Floo Network.”

“Smart,” Moody nodded. “Very smart… And you relatives? Or Black’s? Any of them you speak to? Or have over?”

“I really should go home,” Claudia mumbled and began to back out of Moody’s office again. She was not sure how much of this she could take. She had to keep telling herself that Moody meant well, and this was his way of showing he cared. He surely was not trying to scare the shit out of her on purpose.

“Change the address on all your subscription. No one must know where you live.” He paused. “And ask Primrose to change the address on your employee record. She changed mine years ago.”

“To what?” Claudia asked, suddenly curious. “I have no other address I can put down.”

“None of your business.”

“Helpful.” She rolled her eyes. “Why bring it up, then?”

“Oh no,” Moody chuckled. It was weird. Claudia was not sure whether she had ever seen him laugh before. “My address with the Ministry is ‘none of your business’.”

Claudia had to laugh too. “I’ll do that,” she said, still on her way out. But then, she paused and turned back to face Moody properly. “What about work?” she asked tentatively, remembering the time she was forced to sit on the side-lines in the aftermath of the Rosier incident. “You aren’t going to make me take it easy again, are you? Suspend me?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, all serious again. “This office is probably the safest place you can be right now.”

“Good,” Claudia said, packed her things and apparated home with a little smile on her face. She would be at the centre of a media storm from tomorrow, but at least she was not staring down the tunnel of another suspension.

But all positive thought abandoned her when she entered the empty and cold flat and realised, she would not have anyone to help her process it all. She had completely forgotten that Sirius was on a mission tonight.

She dug up her two-way notebook, wrapped herself in a blanket and sat down on their bed, Moody’s book on advanced protective spells also in her hand. Her wand was within reach, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

“When are you going to be home?” she wrote, her fingers stiff and her chest tight. She did not often feel anxious, so when she did, it was always very noticeable and extremely uncomfortable.

It had only been few minutes before Sirius’ response appeared. She did not even have a chance to open Moody’s book.

“Benjy’s taking over the guard duties tomorrow morning. Can’t really leave before then. Everything ok?”

Claudia had no idea what to write. If she told him, he would rush home and whoever he was guarding would be in danger.

“Where are you?” She wrote in the end. Maybe she could go and see him. Moody would not like that, but it was better than being alone.

“You know I can’t write that down, sorry.”

Claudia shut the notebook in anger. Sirius was right, of course, but it was still infuriating. When did he get so sensible? She pulled her knees close to her chest and reached for the book. She tried to read it but could not. All the words merged into one and not a single one of the spells stuck in her mind. So, she opened the notebook again and saw more of Sirius’ handwriting. It looked rushed.

“Is everything ok? I could leave Tony here alone. It should be fine.”

She took a deep breath and picked up her quill again. “No, please don’t do that. Just come home as soon as you can.”

“You’re freaking me out, Claude.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry. Please don’t leave Tony in a lurch.”

She put the notebook down and crawled out of bed to pour herself a glass of fire-whiskey. Standing by the window, glass in hand, she struggled to understand why she was freaking out about this.

She did not much care if Moody thought it put her in more danger. And she certainly did not care that Rosier was dead. Or that her father might try to kill her. What else was new? He threatened her and then his son tried to finish the job.

So why care that everyone knew? The fire-whiskey was burning the back of her throat as she struggled for answers.

Claudia walked over to the drinks shelf and topped up her glass. Then, she crumbled on the sofa. She sipped her drink until her eyes began to close. Fighting it was pointless.

“Claude,” she heard a whisper and jerked awake.

“What time is it?” she hurled out. “You didn’t leave Tony there, did you?”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Sirius whispered and stroked her hair. “It’s nearly five and Benjy’s there now.”

“I must have fallen asleep.” She looked down to see an empty whiskey glass that was still in her hands. “What time is it?”

“Five.” Sirius prised the glass out of Claudia’s hands. “What is going on?”

She sat up in the hope it might make her more awake. “The Prophet knows it was me who killed Rosier. And they’re going to publish it tomorrow.”

Sirius sighed and sat down next to Claudia. “What does it mean?” He rubbed his palms.

“I don’t even know,” Claudia sighed. “But Moody thinks we need to start being more careful.”

“What else is new…” Sirius smirked.

“He thinks the Prophet article makes me into more of a target. That the Death Eaters might try to take revenge.”

The smirked was wiped off Sirius’ face by those words. “He isn’t wrong…”

Claudia pinched the bridge of her nose. “It all depends on whether it suits my father more if I’m alive or dead.” She paused and sat up straight. “I think alive for the time being. I don’t think he would want to-“

“Claude,” Sirius interrupted. “Do not try to rationalise this. I’m not going to bet your life on a whim of your father. We’re going to be careful.”

“It’ll mean a lot of changes. For both of us,” Claudia whispered. “No more muggle tattoo parlours or Chinese food. No more pub!”

“I’ll survive without going to the pub,” Sirius tried to laugh it off and wrapped his arm around Claudia. “Well, I’ll give it a go...”

Claudia dropped her head on Sirius shoulder. “Should have known it would always come to this, that we would live in the shadows like criminals.”

“Let’s go to bed,” Sirius said with a yawn. “And deal with all this in the morning.”

“I’m so tired,” Claudia mumbled and let Sirius help her off the sofa. She crashed into bed and did not remember anything other than Sirius pulling the blanket over her and kissing her forehead. She was out before he managed to lay down next to her.

When she woke up, Sirius was sitting at the dining table and frowning over a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Claudia grimaced as she remembered Moody’s instruction to change her address on the subscription. She really ought to have done that last night, if they were going to take this seriously. “What’s the damage?”

“They tried to get a comment from your father.”

“What?” Claudia jumped up from bed, half-run across the flat and snatched the paper out of Sirius’ hand. She scanned the article and there it was, right at the bottom.

---

Miss Avery’s father is the prominent Frederick Avery of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. When asked for a comment, Mr Avery said that he is not going to comment on any matters relating to his estranged daughter.

However, the Prophet understands from a source close to the family that Miss Avery is a troubled young woman and has been formally disowned by her parents. It is unclear whether that is in relation to the murder of Mr Rosier.

---

“I’ll give them a troubled young woman,” Claudia growled, scrunched the paper, and threw it into the bin. “I hate this.”

“Why?” Sirius shrugged. “No one believes this garbage paper anyway. Not after they printed all that crab about muggle-born magic being unstable.”

Claudia closed her eyes. Sirius was right, no one who mattered believed the Prophet anymore. It was something else… And then, she realised.

“It’s the pity. That’s the thing that annoyed me the most last time.” Claudia sighed, finally feeling like she figured out her anxiety. “All these people asking me how I was doing, implying I should be feeling guilty. Everyone wanting to talk about it, all the time.”

“Anyone who tells you to feel guilty is an idiot.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’m going to work.”

“But Fabian said-“

“I don’t care what Fabian said,” she barked. “I need to do something useful.”

Claudia showered, threw on some fresh clothes, and stormed off. Sirius clearly knew better than to stop her.

She kept her head down as she run through the Ministry corridors. She did not make eye contact with anyone, but was convinced they were all staring at her, whispering even. When she finally reached her office, she smashed the door behind her so hard that the glass nearly fell out.

“You are supposed to be at home,” Barraclough began.

“I want to be useful.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “A fresh batch of intelligence reports just came through. You can check them for anything that might help our cold cases.”

“Mulciber…” Claudia whispered.

“All of our cold cases,” Barraclough said, his eyebrow slightly raised. “You know what the boss said about Mulciber.”

Somewhat relieved that she had something to occupy her mind, Claudia started to make her way towards her desk. Then, she caught sight of Oscar, who was folding the Prophet in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“No jokes?” she smirked.

“Not today.”

“I must really be in trouble,” Claudia attempted to make light of the situation, but it did not seem to reassure Oscar in any way.

He got up, followed her to her desk, and leaned over the walls of her cubicle. “It doesn’t look pretty now,” he began. “But it will blow over. Fabian said so. In a few months, no one will even remember.”

“Thanks.”

“In the meantime,” Oscar smirked. “I’ll curse anyone who comes in here to snoop.”

“Your services are greatly appreciated.”

The fact that Sirius, Barraclough and Oscar all had her back made Claudia feel heaps better, and she got stuck into the intelligence reports.

An hour in, there was absolutely no sign of Mulciber, or anyone else the team was trying to track, in any of them. At least Oscar managed to scare off couple of people who came and poked their heads into the office to see what Claudia looked like.

But Oscar went to the bathroom just before lunch, and one visitor did manage to get in.

“I need to talk to you,” a familiar voice sounded over Claudia’s head.

With a sigh, she looked up to see her ex-boyfriend towering over her. “What do you want?” she barked.

“I want you to tell me what you said to Eleanor the other night,” Julius said. “She’s been weird ever since and last night, she broke up with me.”

“Do you really want me to explain by anyone would break up with you?”

“I knew this was a mistake,” Julius said rolled his eyes. “Still cannot have an adult conversation with you.”

“Well you shouldn’t have chosen today of all days to try…”

“Why?”

“You really are thick… Don’t you read the papers?”

“Of course, I do. Normally-“

“Just get out.” Claudia growled.

“Tell me what you said to her!” Julius was clearly getting quite agitated. “I want to fix this.”

“Then stop being a fucking coward and stand up for her.”

Before Julius had a chance to respond, the door creaked open, and Sirius walked in.

Julius made a frustrated gesture. “Last fucking thing I need,” he mumbled, pushed past Sirius, and vanished.

Sirius followed him with his eyes, looking very much like one more word from Julius might cost him his life.

“What did he want?” he hissed.

“Never mind that…” Claudia did not particularly feel like re-living her Hogwarts years, the mutual jealousy between Julius and Sirius still very fresh in her mind. She did not blame either of them but still… “What are you doing here though?”

“Figured you won’t be able to go out to lunch,” he smiled and lifted a brown bag above his head. “Brought you something… Do you have some place here we could eat?”

“Well, there is always my desk,” Claudia said and scooped the intelligence reports away to make some space.

“Very sophisticated. You aurors really know how to live,” Sirius smirked as he pulled up a chair, sat down next to Claudia and opened the bag to reveal a couple of sandwiches. Claudia grabbed a piece and got stuck in.

Sirius picked up the file from the top of the pile. “What are these?”

“Every now and then, we go through all the intelligence reports to see if there is anything on our cold cases,” Claudia explained. “Don’t tell Moody, but I’ve been particularly looking out for Mulciber.”

“Your idiot ex reminded me,” Sirius mumbled. “Did you see in the news who replaced Buttons as Head of-“ he paused. “Well, whatever he was head of.”

“Head of the Census Office,” Claudia replied with her mouth full. “And no, who replaced him?”

“Nott,” he smirked. “Presume they are related.”

“Better not be his uncle,” Claudia whispered remembering what Julius said just before they slept together for the first time. “He has a dubious loyalty,” she added significantly.

“Of course he does…” Sirius opened one of the intelligence reports and began to read. “These really are quite dull,” he mumbled after a few seconds.

“Stop reading them,” she laughed and shut it in front of him. “Moody’s going to kill you.”

“She’s right,” Oscar said, standing in the door. Claudia turned and saw Ewan was now with him.

“I once had a girlfriend visit me here and he nearly hexed us both,” Ewan said.

Oscar laughed and punched his cousin on the shoulder. “That’s because you were making out with her on his couch!

“Same difference,” Ewan smirked. “In any case, you better hide him.”

Sirius picked up another intelligence report. “Not scared of Moody,” he mumbled and got reading again.

Claudia smiled at him and finished her sandwich. Then, she grabbed an intelligence report herself.

After ten minutes or so, Sirius raised his head again. “Julius didn’t bother you, did he? Because I-“

“I can handle Julius,” Claudia mumbled.

“I know you can. But-“

“It was nothing like that. He thinks Eleanor broke up with him because I put her up to it.”

“And did you?”

“I don’t think she needed any encouragement…” Claudia chuckled.

Sirius’ eyes narrowed. “You did break up with him before we, you know...” He trailed off and looked around. “Before we got together properly.”

“I thought I did.” Claudia grimaced. “But he didn’t think so. He bought me a Christmas present, tried to give it to me on the Hogwarts Express back to school. It was not pleasant.”

“No wonder he hates your guts.”

“It’s not like you’re blameless,” Claudia smirked. “I was still with Julius when you told me you loved me and kissed me. Remember?”

Sirius smiled and slid his hand around Claudia’s waist. “I remember,” he whispered. “I also remember you kissing me back.” He leaned in to kiss her.

“Not here,” Claudia giggled. She looked around nervously and pushed him away. “If you want to stay, read these and look for Mulciber.” She reached for a stack of files and dropped them in front of her boyfriend.

Sirius rolled his eyes but opened the first report. For ten minutes, he managed to stay silent. “What about this?” he asked and pointed at whatever it was he was reading.

Claudia leaned over and skimmed the passage.

“Nah,” she shook her head. “He’s an Imperio specialist. This is way too gruesome for him.”

Just as Sirius picked up another report, Moody walked in.

“Oh, shit,” Claudia gasped and start pulling the papers away from Sirius.

“Black,” Moody mumbled and continued towards his office without as much as a proper look towards Sirius.

“Afternoon,” Sirius said, shooting Moody a smile and watching the old auror disappear into his office.

Claudia sat at her desk frozen, looking from Sirius to Moody’s door, then at Oscar and Ewan who were both peaking from their cubicles looking somewhat disappointed.

Then, without warning, Moody’s door crashed open. “Black!” he yelled. “You don’t work for me. Get out of here!” He turned and shut the door behind him again.

Claudia could hear giggling from the direction of her colleagues. They were always insufferable when proven right.

“He didn’t mind me when I was snooping around Manchester for him,” Sirius smirked and closed the file he was reading. “I better go,” he added, kissed Claudia, and set off before Moody decided to seal his fate.

“See you at home.” Claudia shouted after him.

Sirius flashed her one more smile and he was gone.

The improvement to Claudia’s mood caused by Sirius’ visit did not last long. More and more people came peeking into the office, coming to see who was the auror at the centre of the media storm. Even Oscar shoving a filing cabinet in front of the door did not help. You could still hear the humming through the door.

“Claudia.” Barraclough sat down next to her at the end of the day. “This is not a punishment, but-” he began.

Claudia rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”

“I want you to take a few days off. Just until this calms down. It’s impossible to do any work here.”

“Fine,” Claudia growled.

“Please understand.”

“I don’t.”

Claudia picked up her jacket and stormed out. It was not fair. All she did was to do her job, everyone told her that. Moody even said she did well. But now, she was being punished again.

Her sulkiness did not get better for the next few days. Claudia sat at home again, bored out of her mind. Her tattoo was still itching. She did all of Moody’s protective spells twice over, and even started cleaning the flat and sorting out her clothes and papers. That was how bad it got.

One evening, Sirius was on a mission and Claudia just about had enough. She needed to get out of there for a bit.

“Screw the enhanced security protocols,” she mumbled, threw on her old Slytherin Quidditch training top and her trainers and went for a run, wand safely tucked in her sleeve.

She groaned as she turned up Primrose Hill. She would normally avoid running this way because it was a steep climb, but tonight, she wanted it to hurt.

At the top of the hill, she bent over, her hands on her knees. Her lungs were burning with the cold October air. She was panting. It was already getting dark, and the crowds had disappeared. Claudia tilted her head to the side to see there was no other person for miles.

Out of nowhere, she heard a noise and shot up, her fingers instinctively gripped around her wand.

A figure moved out of the shadows. They were dressed in a cloak and not like any muggle Claudia had ever seen. This was no time to take any chances. Without warning, she hit them with the stunning spell, and they tumbled to the ground.

“Expelliarmus!” she mumbled over the lifeless figure, and then waved her wand to slide their hood off.

Her stomach did a somersault when she saw the face of the assailant.

It was Regulus.

She had no idea how long she stared at him. What was he doing here? Was he trying to kill her again? Who sent him? These questions must have swirled around Claudia’s head for a while, as Regulus’ eyes were just beginning to open.

“I just want to talk,” he mumbled.

Claudia kept aiming her wand at him, remembering the second wand trick all too well from her auror interview. Her mind kept looking for an explanation. Why would Regulus want to talk to her? What did he want?

“Move and I’ll blast you into the sky,” she growled.

“Claudia, please. Trust me.”

She scoffed. “Are you out of your mind? How could I possibly trust you?”

Regulus sat up under Claudia’s watchful eyes. “I suppose,” he mumbled. “But I’m trying to sort out a few things. And I wanted to apologise.”

“For what exactly?”

Regulus took a deep breath. “It was me who attacked you. Not my idea, but I was the one who did.” He paused. “And I’m sorry about it.”

Claudia did not flinch. Her brain was still in overdrive trying to figure out what was going on. What brought this on? And her lack of reaction must have thrown Regulus off.

“You already knew…” he whispered.

“Put two and two together a while back.” She had enough presence of mind not to tell him how she knew and undo all the hard work back in seventh year. He may have been acting weird but he was still what he was, a servant to the Dark Lord.

Regulus looked away and began to rub his palms. Claudia bit her lip when she realised that it was the same thing Sirius did when he was upset.

“Does he know?” he whispered.

There was no need to say who he meant by that. “He does.”

Regulus dropped his head in his hands and his shoulders began to shake.

Claudia watched him, all crumbled on the ground. This was not the brazen teenager who threw her off the Quidditch team. He looked completely broken. “Reg, what’s going on?”

He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. “It’s so much worse than I thought it would be.”

“What is?”

Slowly, Regulus pulled up his shirt sleeve. Claudia stopped breathing for a moment in anticipation.

A there it was. The Dark Mark. With the skull, the snake, the lot.

Claudia had never seen one in real life. It was huge. She finally understood why she never saw her father or brother in a t-shirt. It was just at that moment, Claudia’s own left forearm itched. That’s where her Canis Major tattoo was. As was Sirius’ fox... The irony was not lost on her.

“I thought it was a sure way to be great…” Regulus continued. “Not to be ordinary. But-“

“That’s the dumbest reason I’ve ever heard to join the fucking Death Eaters,” Claudia snapped, interrupting him. “You knew what they were like. You knew my brother! You knew what they were capable of.”

“I realise that now,” Regulus barked. Then, he sighed. “I should go. This was a bad idea.” He began to get up.

There was something about him though, something that made Claudia find that smidgen of empathy that she had buried deep in her heart. “Reg, wait…” she whispered.

Regulus froze and dropped back to the floor.

“If you really mean it, having second thoughts.” Claudia was hesitating. It was a big risk. “The Order can protect you.”

“I doubt anyone can protect me. You have no idea what he does to people who have doubts.”

“We can try.”

“I don’t want to hide. I need to do something. Something to make this right. Can I-“ he stuttered. “Can I have my wand back?”

Claudia thought for a minute. The idea she would hand a wand back over to a Death Eater was ridiculous. She ought to have arrested him right there. But she just could not do it. “There you go,” she whispered and tossed it at his feet.

Regulus bent over and picked it up. “Tell Sirius I’m sorry.”

“You can tell him yourself.” She tried getting through to Regulus for the last time. “He’s going to be home by now. You can come with me. You two can talk.”

“I don’t feel like dying just yet,” Regulus smirked but you could hear the sadness in his voice. “Besides, I have things to do.” He pulled his hood over his head. “Goodbye Claudia. And do be careful, that Rosier stuff riled them up.”

And with a pop, he was gone.

Claudia gripped her own wand and apparated home too.

“Where have you been?” Sirius barked the moment she opened the apartment door.

“Went for a run.” Before Sirius could yell anymore, she explained. “I had to get out of here for a bit.”

“You should’ve waited for me. The Death Eaters could be looking for you. You could’ve bumped into any of them.”

For a split second, she wondered whether she should tell him but quickly realised she had no choice. The last time she tried hiding something from Sirius about his brother, they nearly hexed each other. “I did bump into Regulus.”

Sirius’ face twisted into an angry grimace. “This is why you weren’t supposed to go anywhere! You could’ve died.”

“It wasn’t like that…” Claudia said as calmly as she could. “He just wanted to talk. He’s scared, and he wants out.”

“I bet he does,” Sirius scoffed, his arms now folded firmly across his chest.

 “I think Voldemort might kill him...”

“I don’t care.”

“Sirius, listen to me. He’s your brother.”

“He’s not,” Sirius barked. “He stopped being my brother when he tried to kill you.”

“Please, listen-“

“Just drop it,” Sirius yelled. “Unless you want me to kill him myself...”

“Fine,” Claudia snapped. “Have it your way, then.”

Claudia went to the shower and when she got back, Sirius was sitting on the sofa reading a book. He stayed like that for the next two hours, his brows furrowed. But not once did Claudia see him turn a page. She had some leftover dinner and eventually went to sit down next to him.

Sirius pretended for another twenty minutes that he was reading, but then shut the book and lowered himself to lay on Claudia’s lap.

She started to stroke his hair. Maybe he had cooled off enough to listen to her. He needed to go after his brother. He was the only one who could bring him over. And it was not just sentiment and her old friendship with Regulus that was driving Claudia here. He would have made a valuable source. He would have known at least some of Voldemort’s plans… She took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“Still don’t want to hear it,” Sirius growled.

Claudia chose not to press it. He had not cooled off enough after all. Once he wanted to talk about, and she was sure he would want to at some point, he would open up. Pushing him into it now would just make him angry and meant he would never be able to have a proper conversation about it.

“I have an idea,” Sirius said suddenly and sat up. “It’s genius.” He jumped to his feet, took out a box from the bottom of the bookshelf and started digging through it. There were old books, pieces of parchments, quills.

“What’s this?” Claudia asked, completely in the dark about what he was up to. She hoped that it was something to do with Regulus, maybe a way to contact him.

“All the stuff we used to make the map,” he said not raising his eyes from the box. “I thought, maybe- There it is!” he exclaimed.

“Want to make a new map?”

“Not exactly,” he finally looked up and smiled. “I thought that we could enchant something to always know that we’re ok, or at least alive.”

This did not sound like Sirius was trying to find Regulus. “And the map helps how?”

“When you got hurt, I was just looking at the map, remember? And your label flickered,” he explained. “Something in here can determine if someone is dead or alive. If we can use that spell on something, we will always know.”

“The tattoos,” Claudia was on her feet too. “We could enchant my Sirius star, so it disappears if something happens to you!”

Sirius grinned at kissed her. “It’s late. Go to bed and I’ll have it figured out by the morning.”

“Alright.” Claudia kissed him back. She brushed her teeth and climbed into bed. She watched Sirius for a while through the gap in the door, until her eyes began to close. She wanted to do something about Regulus, but it needed to wait till tomorrow. The earlier run did take it out of her.

When she woke up, she could see Sirius was still in the living room. She yawned and made her way over.

“Have you slept?” she whispered and squeezed his shoulder.

“Not quite… But I got there,” he said and shoved a piece of paper into her hands.

“That’s a long incantation,” Claudia mumbled, still too sleepy to take in the three words. There was something about souls and symbols.

“It needs to be cast by the person whose life you want to track. And you need to think about what you want the spell to do as you do it. We didn’t use exactly this on the map, but it came up in our research.”

“Alright.” Claudia smiled and extended her arm. “Do it.”

“Anima Symbolo Impartiri.” He said, the tip of his wand resting on the part of Claudia’s tattoo that was supposed to represent him. A small glowing circle appeared, rounding the star for few seconds and then disappeared.

“Did it work?” Claudia uttered.

“No idea,” he shrugged. “Let’s hope we only find out when we’re hundred…”

“Good point,” she said, examining her now enchanted tattoo. It looked exactly the same as before. “I suppose there is no way to test it.”

“Not unless you kill me,” Sirius said with a laugh. “Now, my turn.”

“Do you want the whole fox to disappear?”

Sirius thought for a moment and then shook his head. “No,” he said. “Just like yours I want at least some of it to stay, to remember you forever.”

“We could deca-“

“Please don’t say decapitate it,” Sirius jumped in before Claudia could finish her thought. It made her smirk; he knew her too well. “I know,” Sirius said after a short pause. “Make it close its eyes.”

“Perfect. Less gruesome.” Claudia smiled and picked up the parchment to memorise the incantation.

Few seconds later, she pointed her wand at her patronus tattooed on Sirius’ forearms and visualised it with its eyes closed.

“Animam Symbolo Impartiri.”

This time, two glowing circles appeared and rounded the fox’s eyes.

“Now, we will always know.” Sirius said rather solemnly for a change and wrapped his arms around Claudia.

“I should see if Barraclough lets me back,” she sighed and glanced at the clock. It was nearly eight. “I can’t stay at home anymore.” That was of course only part of the reason she wanted to get back… Last night, just as she was falling asleep, she had a thought.

“Please be careful.”

Claudia nodded, deciding that she was not going to tell him about the last thing Regulus told her. That the Rosier stuff riled the Death Eaters. If she did, she was pretty sure Sirius would never let her out of his sight.

Barraclough just laughed when he saw her enter the office. “I thought it would be too much to ask to keep you away for more than four days.”

“So, I can come back?” Claudia asked hopefully.

“I suppose,” he sighed.

Rather happy with herself, Claudia sat down at her desk. There was still the pile of unfinished intelligence reports. She opened the first one, but she was no longer only looking for news about Mulciber. She was desperate to find any sort of clue about what happened to Regulus to set him on the path of regret.

After few fruitless hours, it struck her. There was a better way. She stood up and looked around the office. And she got lucky, because Oscar was the only one there. He was the one person unlikely to get mad at her over that run.

Slowly, she walked over to his desk. “Don’t be mad,” she whispered.

Oscar looked up from his own work and grinned. “I’m listening…”

“I went for a run yesterday-“ she begin and Oscar theatrically shook his head in disapproval. “Yeah, I know. Spare me the lecture,” she sighed. “And I bumped into an old friend from Slytherin, who I lost touch with.”

Luckily, Oscar picked up on her significant tone. “An old Slytherin friend who turned out to be a Death Eater?”

Claudia nodded. “He seemed really scared. Like he wanted out.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I was wondering if there is any way, informants maybe, to find out whether he’s ok.”

Oscar’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you care?”

“It’s Sirius’ brother.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…” Oscar exclaimed. “Did he put you up to this?”

Claudia snorted. “The exact opposite actually. You aren’t to mention this to anyone, ok? Especially not to Sirius.”

“Fine.”

“His name is Regulus Black.”

“Leave it with me,” Oscar replied. “There is someone who might know.”

Chapter Text

It had been a couple of weeks since the Prophet published the article about her and Oscar’s promise to ask around about Regulus’ whereabouts, and the new security arrangements were just beginning to get to Claudia. She missed her old life. Whenever her head needed clearing, she used to go out for a walk with Sirius and end up in a pub somewhere, have a beer, share some chips. But all of that was gone. Instead, they had a hundred protection charms around their house and strict order not to wonder around. Instead, she had a boyfriend who too was going stir-crazy.

“I’ve got to go to work,” she mumbled as she popped her head into the garage one morning. “What are you doing to that bike? I thought it was done!” she added when she saw what he was up to.

“I’m trying to make it fly?”

“Why?” she gasped.

“I figured you might be less scared if it’s in the air,” Sirius smirked but quickly returned to fiddling with the engine. “It might feel more like a broom.”

“Is that even legal?”

“Probably not.”

“That’s just great,” she uttered. “First, an unregistered animagus and now, meddling with muggle technology. You’re going to get us both arrested…”

“I’d hope the Ministry has bigger problems to worry about.”

“They sure do,” Claudia sighed, remembering the ever-growing pile of unsolved cases. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Sure.” Sirius did not even turn back. There was no hug, no kiss, not ‘stay safe’.

Claudia was distracted from her work all morning, and counted down the minutes until she could get out of her office and buy some lunch. Sirius’ demeanour in the garage earlier was bothering her. He had not been this cold since the last time he tried hiding things from her, before Remus finally came clean about his secret.

“Miss Avery!” she heard as she was crossing the atrium with her stomach full of sandwiches and tea.

Before Claudia could identify who it was that called on her, she was shoved towards the wall by a short, blond woman that she instantly recognised as Miss Skeeter, that sharp-tongued Daily Prophet journalist that busted her when she was trying to blab her way to some information in her office back at school.

“I thought it was you,” Miss Skeeter said with a falsely sweet smile. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you.”

“Miss Skeeter, I don’t know-“

“Oh please, dear.” Miss Skeeter continued. “Call me Rita.”

“Rita?” Claudia hissed, remembering what Fabian said when he came to tell her about the Prophet exposé being published. He said that Rita never revealed her sources. “You’re Rita? You’re the one who published that garbage about me?”

“Do you have any comment about what your father said?” the journalist asked, completely unfazed.

“Who told you it was me?”

“Never reveal your sources, honey,” Skeeter said with a wink.

“Coward. You’re jeopardising an investigation.”

“Blah, blah, blah…” Skeeter rolled her eyes. “You sound just like Moody. You aurors need to be held accountable, not just going around murdering people.”

Claudia could yet again feel fer fingernails piercing the skin on her palms. “Lucky for you, we don’t just go around murdering people,” she said through gritted teeth.

“I’d be happy for you to try,” Skeeter smirked.

But before Claudia could react either with worlds or a hex, Oscar pushed Rita Skeeter to the side, put his arm around Claudia’s shoulder and walked her towards the Ministry exit.

“You know how you’re supposed to keep a low profile,” he whispered when they were out of earshot. “Threatening a journalist in the Ministry’s atrium isn’t what Moody had in mind.”

“Yes, yes. I know,” Claudia sighed. “I’ll get back to the office like the obedient trainee I am.”

“Right,” Oscar laughed. “Come with me, obedient trainee. I’m meeting one of my informants.”

“Who?”

“Some low-level Death Eater. He isn’t in it because he believes in it, just for the money. Gets money from the Death Eaters for running their errands, and from us for information…”

“Charming.”

“He’s many things but he isn’t that.”

They travelled to a very shoddy pub in East London. Claudia was half-expecting to meet Mundungus in there.

“You aren’t to mention your real name to him, understand? Would spook the shit out of him…” Oscar whispered as he made his way through the empty pub. “What’s your middle name?”

“Lavinia.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Oscar rolled his eyes. “Could you be any posher? You’re Glennie Twigs for today.”

“Glennie? How did you come up with Glennie?”

But Oscar did not reply. Instead, he approached a small table on the back wall of the pub where a solitary figure wrapped in a black coat and wearing a very out of date flat cap was sitting.

“Who is she?” he barked.

“My colleague, Glennie.” Oscar replied and said down. “What do you have?”

“I’m not talking in front of her,” the Death Eater smirked.

“Yes, you are,” Claudia hissed, her adrenaline still high following the encounter with Rita Skeeter earlier.

The Death Eater’s eyes travelled to Oscar, who was unyielding. “Fine,” he said after a while. “I know you’re looking for Mulciber. I heard he’s up in Scotland, hiding among muggles.”

“That’s not very specific,” Claudia said and folded her arms across her chest.

“It’s the best I have right now.”

“It’s useless.” Claudia stood up from the table.

“Hold your horses, young lady,” the Death Eater said. “I’ll get you more specifics-“ he turned to Oscar. “For the right price.”

“Get more specific and we’ll talk,” Oscar said. Claudia stayed quiet, her blood still boiling from being called a ‘young lady’.

“I need time.”

“You know when to find me,” Oscar said and got up from the table. “Come on Glennie, time to go.” They just about turned and took a step or two away from the table when the Death Eater spoke again.

“You wanted to know about the Black kid.”

Claudia’s eyes darted to Oscar, who put his hand across her back and prevented her from turning around. “Patience,” he mouthed.

“And?” he asked as he slowly turned around. Claudia was too anxious to play along, so allowed Oscar to take the lead.

“It’s going to cost you…”

“How much?”

“Twenty galleon.”

Oscar laughed and turned away again.

“I really want to know. I can pay,” Claudia whispered, still rooted to the spot.

“It’s part of the dance, just follow my lead,” Oscar whispered back and nudged her out of the pub.

And as sure as day, the Death Eater’s voice followed them. “Fine, fifteen!”

Oscar looked over his shoulder. “Five.”

“Twelve.”

“Eight.”

“Ten.”

Oscar smirked and slowly walked over to the table. “Deal. Now, tell me what you know.”

“Money first.”

Oscar reached into his pocket and handed over five galleons. “Half now, half after.”

The Death Eater reached across the table, grabbed the money and safely tucked it into his pocket. “The kid’s dead.”

“What?” Claudia barked. “Dead? How do you know?”

“He wanted to make an example made of out him. I heard this from my handler. He said Black was a traitor, and that whoever brough the Dark Lord his head would earn a place in the inner circle.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s dead.” Oscar said.

“It does,” the Death Eater replied. “Few days later, the Dark Lord was apparently boasting the mission has been completed, making an example out of Black. As a deterrent to the rest of us.”

Claudia stood as if she was frozen. It was as if all the sounds of the pub died down, and everyone’s movements became painfully slow. Part of her wanted to run out of the pub and scream. But a bigger part of her did not want to show this Death Eater how much she cared.

Without a word, Oscar reached into his pocket and slid five galleons across the table. The sound of the golden coins screeching against the wooden table woke Claudia up from her trance. She took a deep breath, and walked out of the pub with as much composure as she could muster.

“I’m so sorry,” Oscar mumbled once they were out of the pub. It was now dark and pouring with cold October rain.

“I have to go home,” Claudia whispered without even looking at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow-“ she paused to wipe the rain off her brows. “And thanks.” She gripped her wand and apparated home.

As she walked down Gower Mews in the rain, she saw a light coming out of Sirius’ garage. There were also the barely audible sounds of muggle rock music complemented by the tapping of his tools.

Twelve, thirteen, fourteen… She counted the steps until she was by the door of the garage. Then, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Want to take it for a test run?” he asked without really raising his head. “I think I’ve cracked the flying thing.”

Claudia swallowed dry. “I need to talk to you.”

Her voice shook enough for Sirius to stop tightening the screws in his engine and turn around abruptly. “What happened?”

She bit her lip. There was no point delaying it or sugar-coating it. Whatever she said, the reality would still be the same. “Regulus is dead.”

Sirius’ face did not change. There was no emotion. He looked like a statue. Then, he turned back and continued to poke around in the engine. Claudia watched him, unsure what to do next. Surely, this could not have been it.

“Fuck!” he screamed after a few seconds and the screwdriver came clattering to the concrete floor.

Claudia took few quick steps towards Sirius and saw him holding onto his left palm, blood streaming from between his fingers.

“My hand slipped,” he uttered through gritted teeth. “Stabbed myself with a fucking screwdriver.”

Claudia took out her wand, crouched next to him and aimed at the fresh wound. “Hold still,” she whispered. “I can close a simple wound,” she added when a shadow of scepticism crossed Sirius’ face.

They sat on the floor of the garage, their hands covered in blood, while Claudia muttered healing spells to stop the bleeding. Whenever she glanced up at Sirius, he looked away.

“There,” she said when she was done and put her wand away. “About Reg…”

“Serves him right,” Sirius growled and freed his hand from Claudia’s grip.

“Sirius…”

“What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry?” he barked and stood up. “Well, I’m not. I’m going to the shower.” And he was gone before Claudia managed to say anything else.

She sat on the floor of the garage, wondering what she could have said to stop Sirius from hurting himself or storming out. She remembered the very first conversation they ever had about Regulus. Regulus – who was in his third year then - just wanted to be Sirius’ friend, but Sirius could not do it, and they grew apart.

She collected herself and went upstairs. She washed her hands, changed into some dry clothes and went to sit on the bed, watching the door to the bathroom, waiting for Sirius to come out.

Every time they discussed Regulus since that first time, Sirius lost his temper. There were plenty of people Siris disliked, his parents, Snape, and yet, he never lost his cool when talking about them. He mocked them. But not Regulus, there was something different about him.

Claudia’s train of thoughts got interrupted by a crash from the bathroom, swiftly followed by a loud scream. She was on her feet and way to the bathroom before she realised. She barged through the door and saw Sirius sitting on the floor in his underwear, surrounded by hundreds of little pieces of shattered glass.

“I dropped-” he sobbed and wiped his eyes. “I dropped my cologne.”

“Reparo,” Claudia whispered, and the little shards of glass flew towards her hand and re-arranged themselves into the flask just before they reached her palm. She gripped it firmly between her fingers.

Then, she dropped to her knees next to Sirius and pulled him into a tight hug. He was completely rigid. “Come on,” she whispered after a minute or so. A minute that they spent in silence, bar Sirius’ desperate effort to supress his tears. “The smell cannot be making you feel any better.”

Sirius went to get dressed and Claudia went to make him some tea. She knew he was always going to crack and allow himself to grieve for Regulus at some point but did not think it was going to be quite so soon.

But the moment she stepped back to the living room, she knew she read him wrong. Only few minutes had passed since she left him alone, but he was a completely different man again. He was sitting in an armchair staring into a fire he had just lit. His frown was back.

“Still don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled the moment Claudia passed him the tea.

“Fine,” Claudia sighed, suppressing the urge to yell at him. It was taking all the resolve she had. “I’ve got work to do.”

She sat on the sofa, facing Sirius and reached into her bag to take out some reports she promised Barraclough she would read by tomorrow morning. It took her forever. She kept glancing at Sirius, who was still staring into the fire, or thinking about Regulus. The time they played Quidditch in his parents’ garden, and Claudia crashed into the gazebo. Or their first game on the Quidditch team together. It seemed like a world away. She threw the report on the floor and lowered herself on the sofa. If she was only to close her eyes for one minute, she would be able to concentrate better.

When she opened her eyes again, the fire was out. She must have fallen asleep. She glanced towards the chair where Sirius was sitting earlier, and found it empty.

Claudia climbed over the sofa to scan the rest of the living room; he was not there either. Now in a slight panic, she turned.

“Shit-“ she gasped. “You scared me.”

Sirius was standing in the dark by the kitchen window, staring into the street. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Claudia got up and crossed the apartment. She took the glass our of Sirius’ hand, filled it from the nearly empty whiskey glass on the kitchen table and sat down.

Slowly, she brought the glass to her lips.

As she put it down, Sirius sat down to join her.

Finally, she managed to catch the sight of his face in the light of the streetlamp. His eyes were red, and fresh tears were still visible on his cheeks.

“How did he die?” he whispered and reached for the glass Claudia was gripping in her fingers.

Seeing the tears on Sirius’ face brought some to Claudia’s eyes too. “I don’t really know,” she replied, watching him take a sip before getting her glass back. “Oscar and I met with this low-level Death Eater. He said Voldemort made an example out of him. For trying to defect.”

Sirius sighed and blew his nose on one of the few tissues scattered around their dining table. “I want to hate him so bad for what he did to you.”

“I don’t want you to. He made a mistake. He said so.”

“It’s all my fault,” Sirius uttered, looking into the street again. “I should’ve kept a better eye on him when he came to Hogwarts, I shouldn’t have run away from home. None of this would’ve happened. He wouldn’t have been dead, and you wouldn’t have the scars…”

The guilt. This is why Regulus was different from the others. “Look at me,” Claudia whispered, her tears now falling down her cheeks, and her chest physically hurting from the sight of the person she loved the most in the world torturing himself like this. “He didn’t want to kill me, Marcus did. Regulus was just a pawn.”

“Regulus has always been just a pawn. For my mother, for the Death Eaters… I should’ve been there for him. I shouldn’t have left-” Sirius could not even finish that sentence. Instead, he picked up another tissue.

“Do you think you would’ve been able to help him if you stayed at home? You’d be a wreck. Or your mother would’ve killed you.”

Sirius filled up the glass again and drained half of it. “Then, I should’ve taken him with me when I run away.”

“You’d have to kidnap him.”

“Then, I should’ve kidnapped him.” He took another sip of fire-whiskey. The glass was now empty.

Claudia glanced at the bottle. It was a lot fuller the last time she remembered them drinking from it. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“You aren’t supposed to.” Sirius glanced at the clock. “And it’s three in the morning.”

“I’m not going to stay indoors for the rest of my life. Let’s go.”

They threw on their coats, tucked their wands in their sleeves and set off. They walked towards Regent’s Park, only stopping to buy a pack of cigarettes on the way from a twenty-four hour off-licence.

Neither of them could find the words to describe what they were feeling at that moment. So, they smoked and walked hand-in-hand through the park and up Primrose Hill until Claudia abruptly stopped and stared at the bushes on the top of the hill. The same bushes where…

“This is where I saw him last,” she whispered and pointed in their direction. “Right there. Right before he run off who knows where-”

Sirius took a long drag of the cigarette and blew the smoke high in the night sky. “I’ve spent weeks looking for him. It’s like the ground had swallowed him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t even know,” Sirius sighed and dropped on the bench they were standing next to. Claudia joined him. The wood was freezing cold and she shivered for a second or two. “Shame I suppose,” he mumbled and kept looking at the spot Claudia pointed out earlier.

Sirius lit another cigarette and put his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders.

“Would you grieve if Marcus died?” he whispered after a while.

“Regulus isn’t-“ Claudia paused. “Wasn’t Marcus.”

“Right…”

“Marcus is just vile,” she explained. “Regulus was-“ Claudia stopped abruptly. She was going to say he was just a good kid with a dark side. Just like couple other people she knew. Couple of people who were sitting on that bench.

Claudia put her own cigarette to her mouth, hoping it would warm her up and give her the time to find another second to compose a coherent sentence. Sirius stared at her, waiting for her lips to move again.

“Regulus did have a good side too,” she finally mumbled.

Sirius sighed. “It could’ve easily been me. He’s always been kinder than me.”

Claudia remembered the conversation she had with Lily about Snape. “I worry about that too…”

“That I would have turned out to be a Death Eater?” Sirius snapped. “Thanks for that.”

“No, you muppet,” she grabbed his face and slowly drew it towards her to plant the most gentle and fleeting kiss on his lips. “That I would’ve turned out to be one.”

Sirius pulls her close to him, and for a minute, they both smoked in silence.

“No one is good all the time,” Claudia continued. “We all got light and dark inside of us.”

Sirius raised a corner of his mouth. “I guess-“ he paused. “I guess it’s what you choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

“Yeah,” Claudia mumbled as her mind travelled back to Rosier. Was that who she really was? A murderer who acted on her dark side? Rita Skeeter clearly thought so. But she forced herself to stop the self-pity and looked at Sirius, who was in tears again. “Let’s go home.”

“I don’t want to,” Sirius whispered and buried his face in Claudia’s hair.

She had to laugh. “That’s exactly what you said the first time we were sitting on the top of a hill in the middle of the night.”

“Don’t remind me…” Sirius sighed. “If Regulus haven’t told my mother about us that night…”

“All seems bit silly now, doesn’t it?”

“There are a lot of things I wish I handled differently…”

“Promise me you won’t blame yourself.”

Sirius let out sort of a growl that Claudia chose to believe constituted a half-hearted promise. It was the best she could have hope for.

“Let’s get home,” she said. “It’s late, and I don’t particularly want to be here when the early-morning dog walkers turn up.”

They apparated home and slipped under the duvet to hide from the elements. Between the whiskey and middle of the night hike up Primrose Hill, it did not take Claudia long to fall asleep.

In a few hours, she woke up snuggled up against Sirius back. The alarm was beeping like it was the end of the world before she stopped it. She perched herself up on her elbow and leaned over him to see he was already awake.

“Are you going to be ok today?” she asked with a yawn. “I could take a half-day off or something.”

Sirius turned over to face her and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m fine. Besides, I’m meeting James later.”

“Do you want me to wait until he’s here?”

“Claude?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she mumbled and brushed his hair “You’re fine.”

“Exactly,” he said with a smile and kissed her.

Claudia managed to make it to work on time but for most of the morning kept nervously glancing at her notebook to see if Sirius wrote to her. At ten, he finally did.

“James is taking me on a mission. I’ll be home late.”

Claudia exhaled through the corner of her mouth. She was not sure how to feel about that. It was good to take his mind of things, but he was bound to be distracted by what happened yesterday, which could put both him and James in danger.

“Is it one of those mission where you get to sit around all day and talk?”

“Hope not.”

Claudia closed her eyes and bit her lip. He needed time. Yelling would not help the situation.

“Take it easy, alright?”

There was nothing further from Sirius for the rest of the day, and Claudia found herself checking her tattoo more often that she would have liked. But Sirius seemed to be alive at least, so she managed to get through her workday without losing her mind.

Once she got home, she did not have to wait for long to hear what happened on that mission. James and Sirius burst through the door barely twenty minutes after she did.

“Can you take this seriously for one second?” James barked. “First, we got chased by the muggle police and then by some Death Eaters.”

Claudia’s stomach turned. This was exactly what she did not want to hear.

“Relax,” Sirius laughed. “At least we know the motorbike flies.”

“Yeah,” James grimaced. “And so does the muggle police.”

“No one will believe them. It was dark.” Sirius threw his jacket off. “I’m going to the shower.”

“Wait!”

But Claudia grabbed James’ arm and pulled him back. “It’s his favourite new excuse to avoid talking about things.”

“What’s wrong with him?” James snarled. “I’ve grown to expect certain amount of crazy from him, but this? This was reckless even for him.”

“Wait…” Claudia paused, and her eyes narrowed. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Regulus is dead. We found out yesterday.”

James closed his eyes and exhaled. “Bloody hell. No, he didn’t tell me.”

“I found out at work. Voldemort’s made an example of him.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

Claudia forced out a smile and squeezed James’ shoulder. “He’s going to be alright. Just needs to process it all.”

“Alright,” James mumbled. “Let me know if you want some company though.”

“I will.” Claudia gave him a hug.

“I mean this, Claudia.” James slowly released her. “I know you have each other, but we’re all here for you, alright? I know it hasn’t been easy with Rosier, then the Prophet and now this.”

“He’ll be ok,” Claudia repeated. Maybe if she said out loud often enough, she would believe it herself.

“Alright then,” James mumbled. “I’ll see you at the Order meeting on Saturday.”

Claudia walked him to the door and gave him another hug. In a way she was glad he was gone. His mention of Rosier and the Prophet made her thin James thought she was the one struggling. And she did not need him to patronise her. Not tonight.

Few minutes later, Sirius emerged from out of the shower, towel around his waist and his hair dripping with water. “James still around?”

“Gone home.”

He pulled the towel down and run it through his hair, as he slowly walked towards Claudia. The slightest of grins was flashing across his face.

“You seem happier.”

“My motorbike is flying, I’ve got you.” He pulled her close to him. “Why wouldn’t I be happy?” Sirius’ hand wondered down Claudia’s body and under her t-shirt.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” he whispered, pulled her t-shirt off, and kissed her.

There was only as long as Claudia could be sensible under these circumstances. Whenever they were intimate together, it always felt very raw. Like they could not hide anything from each other. Like all their emotions were for once up on the surface. Maybe this was going to be good for them both.

She kissed Sirius back and helped him get her clothes off her.

Twenty minutes later, as their bodies were contorted with pleasure, she definitely agreed with Sirius. This was a fantastic idea.

But then, she realised something was off. Normally just after they finished, Sirius would sort of grin at Claudia then bit either his lip or hers when he kissed her. Then, he would drop his head on Claudia’s shoulder or forehead, and kept grinning and breathing heavily. Often, he would say something silly that either made her laugh, or pinch him.

But today, it felt different.

Sirius shut his eyes and gripped Claudia’s so tight in his arms she could barely breathe. And instead of a dumb joke, his breath was quivering.

“You’re going to squeeze the life out of me,” she whispered.

His eyes still shut, Sirius loosened his grip a little and dropped onto the mattress. “Sorry.”

Claudia turned towards him and could swear there were tears in his eyes. She buried her fingers in his hair and pulled his head against her chest.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“You didn’t squeeze me that hard.”

Sirius let out a brief laugh, but that only seemed to free some of the tears. “You know what I mean.”

Claudia kissed the top of Sirius’ head. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but you know that’s not true.”

There was no point telling Sirius he should not blame himself for what happened to Regulus. Claudia knew he would, for the rest of his life. They just needed to figure out how to live with that.

“I love you,” she whispered instead.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Text

The Saturday’s Order meeting was now in full swing, and some Ministry official, whose name Claudia could not quite remember, was talking about rank-and-file Death Eaters. She was barely paying any attention.

“Their morale is as strong as ever,” he finished and shook his head. “We were hoping that by this point, people will start deserting him, but they seem to be holding up just fine-“

“That’s not true,” Sirius mumbled and slowly raised his head. “I know someone who just got murdered for trying to defect.”

Claudia glanced at James, who was staring at her. And so were Lily, Remus and Peter. They were all clearly thinking about the same thing. Sirius talking about Regulus in front of the whole Order was a recipe for disaster.

“Well, we had intelligence-“ the Ministry official continued.

“Wasn’t very good intelligence then.” Sirius barked.

“Gentlemen,” Dumbledore jumped in, his voice carrying a gentle yet insistent tone. “Let’s put a pin in that. Maybe wait until the situation has settled before we decide on whether we need to take any action.”

“But,” Sirius jumped in again. “If the morale is really crumbling-“

“It’s not crumbling!” the Ministry man yelled.

“Gentlemen,” Dumbledore intervened again, this time even more forcefully. “Alice, please. You had something to raise.”

“Thank you.” Alice said and shuffled on her chair to straighten her posture. “There is a prisoner being held in one of the Death Eater hideouts. He’s just a low-level Ministry-official, so the security isn’t great. But we need to get him out.”

“Why can’t the aurors do it?” James asked.

“We suspect he was under the Imperius Curse and committed some crimes at the Ministry,” Alice explained. “We suspect it was mostly leaks, but worry that if we went in with the aurors, he’d end up in Azkaban. But if we rescue him and protect him, we can get more information out of him about what the Death Eaters made him do.”

“How do we know where he is?”

“Auror intelligence.”

Sirius scoffed. “Hope it’s better than his intelligence,” he said and gestured towards the man he argued with beforehand.

“Alice,” Dumbledore ignored him. “I presume you’ll take the lead on this. Who else is in? James? Lily?”

James shook his head. “Remus and I are still on that guard duty.”

“I’ll go,” Lily said.

“I’ll come too,” Sirius growled. Everyone looked at him again, Claudia included. She was not sure this was such a good idea. Between the broken cologne glass, his recklessness, and the arguments at the Order meeting, she was not entirely sure he was in the right frame of mind.

Dumbledore took a moment, but eventually he nodded. “Very well-“

“Avery,” Moody barked from the other side of the room. “You go with them.”

“Really?” she asked. “Finally letting me go on a proper mission?”

“Do you want me to change my mind?” her inspector growled.

Claudia did not and kept her mouth shut. Dumbledore brought the meeting to a close, and they all started to collect their things.

“What did you tell Moody?” Sirius barked at Claudia.

“Nothing.”

“So why doesn’t he trust me? Couldn’t be more obvious he’s sending you to babysit.”

“Might have something to do with your outburst earlier.”

“The guy was talking bullshit. That’s nothing to do with me.”

Claudia sighed. She did not want to ask this. “Are you sure you should be going on that mission?”

“Don’t you start.”

“Sirius-“

“I’m heading home. It’s not far, I’ll walk.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“No, you apparate. It’s safer for you that way.” Sirius said those last words over his shoulder. Before Claudia could find her bearings, he was gone.

It was only after Sirius had left that Claudia had realised all their friends were staring at her. “He’s fine,” she mumbled before any of them spoke. “It’s just a lot.”

“Claudia, do you want to come to ours?” Lily asked with a soft smile. “Talk?”

“No, I’m going to get some sleep. Where should we meet for the mission?”

“Let’s meet at ours,” Lily said. “It’s almost walking distance. At noon?”

“Alright.” Claudia gave Lily a slight nod and left the meeting venue to apparate home.

As she cut up the vegetables for a simple soup, she could not help but worry about Sirius. She knew she needed to give him time, that what he went through was traumatic. But part of her just wanted to yell at him. For bottling up his emotions, for blaming himself for Regulus’ death, for volunteering for that stupid mission he was not ready for.

“Stupid onions,” Claudia mumbled as she wiped her eyes. “Making me cry like a moron.”

Once the soup was safely simmering, Claudia heard the door creak open.

“Nice walk?” she asked more sharply than she intended to.

“I’m sorry,” Sirius whispered. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You’re the only one who isn’t treating me like a basket case.” He crossed the living room to the kitchen and hugged Claudia.

“Soup?” she mumbled.

“Soup.”

They sat down and the dinner table over couple of steaming bowls.

Just before Claudia tucked in, she took a deep breath. “I just want you to know that no one is going to blame you or think less of you if you sit this mission out.”

“And if something happens to you? Or Lily? Or Alice? Do you think I can cope with loosing anyone else?”

“You know we can’t always be there for each other. Not if you’re off with the Order all the time, and I’m at work.”

“I know.” Sirius sighed. “That doesn’t mean I like it.” An innocent smile appeared on his face.

“Eat your soup.” Claudia chuckled. “We’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

They slept in and left for James’ and Lily’s house before the clock struck half eleven. They had some coffee, waited for Alice to turn up and then set off. Lily showed them a little hill in the distance to which they all apparated. It was a two hour walk through a forest from there.

They walked largely in silence, with Sirius few yards in front of everyone else.

“How’s your dad?” Claudia asked Alice in an attempt to talk about anything but her moody boyfriend. “I haven’t seen him around the auror office much lately.”

“There’ve been a lot of meetings overseas, so he’s been travelling and heading up the protection teams.”

“That sounds quite exciting. Better than reading intelligence reports all day and getting growled at by Moody.”

“You love it,” Alice raised a corner of her mouth. “Admit it.”

“Maybe,” Claudia smirked.

But Alice did not reciprocate, she looked away and let out a barely noticeable sigh.

“What’s up?” Claudia asked, mentally preparing for more questions about Sirius. But it was not to be.

“My mum is struggling with it all,” Alice mumbled. “She hasn’t been well for months now. I think she always found dad’s job, being an auror’s wife, stressful. And me and Frank being aurors too, it got too much.

“What do you mean?”

“She keeps having nightmares,” Alice explained. “She came to work to check on me in the middle of the night, the slightest thing startles her.”

“You worry about her.” Claudia tentatively put her hand on Alice’s shoulder. “And that’s alright.”

Alice sighed again and pointed discreetly towards Sirius. “Like you worry about him…” Then she paused for a moment and gave Claudia an inquisitive look. “Are you two alright? I haven’t seen you bicker for ages. And after that meeting-” she trailed off. There was no need to explain.

“I don’t know. It’s been over a year since we left school and we’ve been so good this whole time. I know there is a war on an all, but somehow it didn’t affect us. It was bound to, right? At some point?”

“You’ll get through it.” Alice just about had time to say before Lily slowed down and dropped back to join them.

“Is Sirius alright enough to be here?” Lily whispered.

“Yeah, he’s fine.” Claudia replied, catching an uncertain look from Alice in the corner of her eye. A wave of anger washed over her. Neither of them had the right to doubt him. Neither of them had any idea what he was going through. But then, she took a deep breath. They just wanted him to be alright, and who could blame them. Claudia wanted him to be alright too.

“There is the manor!” Sirius shouted from the front of the group. “Let’s wait for it to get dark.”

Calling it the manor was a bit of an understatement. What was in front of them was a long-forgotten country house, no bigger than five or six bedrooms. The windows were boarded up and half the roof had collapsed on itself.

“Nice hide out,” Sirius smirked. “I thought the Death Eaters were supposed to be rich.”

“I can’t see them wasting money on prisoners though.” Claudia replied.

“Do you see that window on the first floor?” Lily pointed towards the side of the house. “I bet we can climb up that fallen beam and get in through there.”

They waited for the moon to be covered by a thick cloud and then run as quickly as they could towards the foot of the house. One by one, they climbed up the beam and in through the window.

“I think the dungeon is our best bet,” Alice whispered and set off first.

“Is it just me,” Claudia asked as quietly as she could. “Or is the lack of any protective charms really unusual for a prison?”

“This is not the time,” Alice hissed and continued down the stairs.

Once in the dungeon, they peeked into every cupboard and pantry, until they came to a large door with a sliver of light shining through the gap between the door and the stone floor. No sounds were coming out of there, however.

“There is probably a silencing charm on it,” Sirius whispered. “To keep the prisoners quiet.”

“Wands up,” Alice said and slowly opened the door.

But there were no prisoners.

Instead, Claudia found herself staring at four figures in black hoods sitting around a small table. The figure facing the door stood up so abruptly their hood fell off to reveal an ageing but handsome face.

“Get them!” he barked.

Claudia shivered. “Fuck.” She knew that voice. And instantly, she knew where from. From when she was fifteen, hiding in her room and watching her father’s mysterious visitor through a keyhole. “Let’s get out of here, now!” she yelled and kicked the door shut.

She gripped her wand and focused on that hill they apparated to. Nothing.

She tried again, and again. Still nothing.

“There is an anti-apparition jinx on this place,” Alice shouted what they were all thinking, and started running down the corridor.

Just as they turned the corner, Claudia heard a blast from behind them and sounds of running feet.

It was not long before spells started to crash into the walls around them. But they were almost up on the first floor.

Sirius stopped in his tracks on the top of the stairs and turned around. “You go ahead,” he yelled. “I’ll hold them off.”

Lily stopped too. “No! We’re all getting out of here.”

“Lily, go!” Claudia nudged her long. “The window is just there.” She gestured towards the end of the corridor. “We’ll cover for you and follow in a minute.”

“Claudia-“

“Please!” Claudia shouted in desperation. She was not sure if any of the others recognised the man in the basement.

“Claude, you-“ Sirius began to protest as he nonchalantly blocked another spell fired at them.

“Shut up and focus,” she hissed and threw a powerful stunning spell at the Death Eaters pursuing them.

They were in a good position, having the high ground on the stairs, and could easily hide behind a wall if she saw a green jet of lightening.

“What’s the plan?” Sirius yelled and ducked. A spell took out a huge piece of plaster next to him.

“How should I know?”

“Watch out!” Sirius yanked on Claudia’s arm. Soon, she understood why as half the arch they were standing under collapsed right where she was standing seconds ago.

They looked at each other and both nodded. Here it was, the plan.

Claudia raised her wand and pointed it at the ceiling. “Bombarda Maxima!”

Dust and overwhelming noise filled the corridor.

Sirius grabbed Claudia’s hand and they started to run.

It was ten yards to the window.

Then five.

They were nearly there when the window exploded right in front of them. Before Claudia found her bearings, a jet of red light crashed into the wall next to them. The window frame collapsed and there was now a giant hole in the wall. She turned and saw the Death Eaters emerging from the dust cloud.

The one at the front raised his wand, and she immediately recognised the hand movement. There was no blocking this spell, and there had nowhere to hide. All she could do was to jump out of the way and wait for a miracle.

But she did not get the chance, as Sirius stepped right in front of her.

“No!” she yelled and threw all her body weight at him to topple him over.

She did not know whether he was alive of dead when they landed on the ground.

“Sirius!” she yelled out and shook his head, but he was not responsive. It could not have hit him. It just could not have.

“Protego!” she cast a spell at the Death Eaters. “Stupefy!” “Avada-“

Claudia looked at her hand. It was covered in blood. She looked at Sirius again and saw a crimson streak running down the side of his face. His head was against some rocks. Maybe he was just knocked out.

“Stupefy! Bombarda Maxima!”

She managed to hit a couple of the Death Eaters, but that bought her just a few seconds. More were coming and she needed to get herself and Sirius out of there.

Claudia glanced at the window, or rather the large hole in the wall that the window had turned into. For a split second, she wondered how far the anti-apparition jinx extended. But there was no point wondering, it was the only shot they had.

She crouched to the ground, slid her hands under Sirius armpits and lifted his torso of the floor. She was near the edge. Once step and they would both be tumbling down for a great height.

“I hope this works,” she mumbled, closed her eyes and jumped.

They could not have been in the air for more than half a second. She gripped her wand and focused on James’ and Lily’s garden. Her insides turned over and almost instantly, she felt impact.

Her fist realisation was that she was wet.

Her second realisation was that Sirius’ eyes were starting to open. “I’m in pain,” he whispered hoarsely.

“And you’ll be in lot more pain when I’m done with you,” she barked at him. “What were you thinking?”

Sirius was saved by Lily and Alice running towards them from the back of the house.

“We saw you fall out of the window,” Alice cried out. “Thank God you’re alright.”

“Sirius, you’re splinched.” Lily gasped, as white as a sheet. “Let me get you inside.”

Lily and Alice got Sirius into the house and put him on the sofa. Lily took out her wand and began to heal his injuries.

Claudia stood in the middle of the living room, soaking wet with water from the fishpond. Her fingernails were digging into the centre of her palms. What was he thinking? Jumping in front of the killing spell like that? She had it under control!

“Alice,” Lily said quietly. “Can you go to my bathroom and bring me my healer’s kit? It’s under the sink.”

Claudia admired Lily’s composure right now, as she was very close to losing it. The pain from her fingernails was not doing it anymore, so she started to pace around.

“Is this better?” Lily whispered at Sirius, who smiled at her and nodded.

That was it. Claudia was not going to be able to hold this in for any longer. “Why would you do something like that? I was fine.”

Sirius looked somewhat taken aback. “Right, like I was going to let them kill you,” he mumbled.

“So you thought that rather than help me get out of there, you’d get yourself killed,” she barked.

Sirius turned away and groaned in frustration.

“I can’t do this right now,” she hissed.

“Thank you might be-“

“You want a thank you?”

Lily abruptly stood up. “Hey, both of you,” she interrupted the fighting. “You need to lie still,” she said pointing at Sirius. “And you go to the shower.”

“I have to go to find Moody,” Claudia sighed. “Warn him the intelligence was bad, in case they were planning to act on it again.”

“I’ll go tell him,” Alice said just as she came back to the living room. “It’s not great but it’s not a disaster. So, we found a couple of random Death Eaters instead.”

“Those were no random Death Eaters,” Claudia sighed and looked around the faces of her friends. They all looked at her, completely still. Even Sirius stopped scowling. “The one whose hood dropped off in the basement was Voldemort.”

“Fuck,” Sirius whispered.

Lily gasped. “How do you know?”

“I saw him in my parents’ house once. Don’t ask-” Claudia was in no mood to reprise the events of her childhood.

Alice closed her eyes. “I’m going to find Moody now.”

“I’ll come with you,” Claudia said but before she could follow her best friend, Sirius had gripped her wrist.

“Ouch,” he whimpered instantly and collapsed back into the cushions. “Please don’t go.”

“I’ll leave you two,” Lily mumbled. “I need to prepare the healing solution anyway.”

Claudia finally had a chance to look at him properly. Skin on most of his thigh was missing from the apparition and blood was still streaming from his head. It was a miracle he was still conscious, or not screaming in agony. Whatever Lily was doing must have been working.

“That’s a lot of splinching,” she whispered awkwardly. There was no way she could have been angry at him anymore. “But Lily looks like she knows what she’s doing.”

Sirius reached out for Claudia’s hand again. “How did you get me out of there?”

“Jumped out of the window and apparated. Got lucky the anti-apparition jinx did not extend past the walls,” she replied, then paused and sat on her heels. “Sirius, you could’ve gotten yourself killed,” she whispered.

“Rather me than you…”

“Please don’t say crap like this.” Claudia took a deep breath. “There was a moment there I thought you were gone. You have no-“ She wanted to say he had no idea how much it would hurt if she lost him. How she felt in the moment when she thought she did.

“I have no idea?” Sirius scoffed, interrupting her. “Of course, I have an idea… I was there when you-“

Claudia shut her eyes. She forgot what happened in their sixth year, when the tables were turned.

She felt Sirius’ hand on the back of her neck, as he pulled her head closer to him. “And I never ever want to be in that situation again,” he whispered. “I’m not going to let you down again, or anyone else…”

Claudia slowly opened her eyes. Of course, this is what it was about. “You aren’t going to make up for your brother dying by killing yourself too.”

Sirius shifted and looked away. “This is not what this is about.”

“You sure?”

“The pain’s coming back,” Sirius said. “Can you ask Lily to finish dealing my leg?”

“Sirius, you have nothing to feel guilty about.”

“Can I have some tea too?”

Claudia sighed and stood up. “Sure. I’ll get Lily.”

Slowly, she walked over to the kitchen, where Lily had her cauldron running.

“Almost there,” Lily said and poured few drops from a vial into the cauldron.

“Thank you,” Claudia mumbled.

Lily stopped mixing her potion and looked intently at Claudia. “Everything ok?”

Claudia nodded. “It’s just been a lot lately.”

“You can always talk to me. If it’s hard.”

“It’s ok,” Claudia sighed and took a few steps towards the stove. “Do you want some tea? Sirius asked from some…”

“Please,” Lily said and hesitated for a moment, as if she was trying to decide what to say next. “What do you think happened back there?”

Claudia shrugged. “I have no idea. Either someone fucked up really really badly, or it was a trap.”

“Trap? Why would they want to trap us?”

“Maybe they thought someone more important was coming?” Claudia paused and filled up the kettle with water. “But it did not look like he was expecting us. He looked genuinely startled.”

Lily snorted.

“What’s so funny?”

Lily recovered her composure a little. “The idea we startled Voldemort, just walking into his secret meeting.”

“I know.” Claudia chuckled and pointed at the kettle to boil it.

“One to tell the grandkids.” Lily was now done with the potion. “I’m going to repair his leg and then give him some sleeping draught.

“Thank you,” Claudia attempted a smile. “Genuinely.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Claudia spent the rest of the afternoon drinking tea and watching Sirius sleep. Before he woke up, Alice was back with Moody in tow.

“Sorry about all this again,” Alice began with a sigh. “It was an intelligence mix up. Winchmore Hall was where the prisoner was being kept. Not Wycombe Hall…”

Moody grumbled at the mention of a mix up.

“You disagree?” Claudia asked her boss.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” he replied. “In any case, we sent another team to Winchmore Hall once Alice told me and we got the prisoner.”

“Was he useful?” Claudia said. “I hope all this was not for nothing.”

Moody shook his head. “He isn’t in a state to be useful, yet…”

“Do you want me to look after him?” Lily, who was coming from the kitchen again, a re-filled potions tray in her hands, asked.

“Gideon is healing him, and Fabian is with them too.” Moody mumbled. Then, he turned to Claudia. “Avery, a word…”

He gestured towards the hallway and Claudia followed him.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill anyone this time,” she mumbled. “I think…”

“Not what I wanted to talk to you about.” There was a hint of amusement on Moody’s face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. “The reason why we wanted to get him out-“ Moody stopped and drew in a deep breath. “He used to be one of the Azkaban guards. We didn’t want him helping Voldemort to access it to recruit…”

Claudia tried to understand where he was going with this but could not. “And?”

“He was the one who checked out Linda when I went to pick her up.”

And then, it clicked. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Claudia hissed. Linda was as much of her case as Moody’s, if not more.

“Because I didn’t know until I saw his face an hour ago.”

“Do you think he told them? That she’s free?”

“I don’t know.”

Claudia swallowed dry. “What do we do?”

“Nothing. We must do absolutely nothing.”

She shook her head slightly. “But if he told them…”

“They’ll be watching. If we try to contact her, she’s dead. We must just leave it and hope-“

“Hope?” Claudia interrupted. The disgust was palpable in her voice. “We must be able to do better than hope!”

Moody sighed. “I’m afraid we can’t. America is a big country. And they have no idea where we hid her…”

“This just keeps getting better and better,” Claudia scoffed and crossed her arms against her chest.

“Claudia!” Lily shouted from the living room. “Sirius is awake!”

She was glad. At least she did not have to continue this conversation with Moody until she said something she would inevitably regret.

Sirius seemed better and begged Claudia to take him home as soon as he could stand. Lily was a very talented healer, but her techniques did not allow Sirius the freedom he was used to. A few days after the mission, she finally relented, and he was allowed home.

Claudia was glad, she needed his help not thinking about Linda, about the fact her work was getting nowhere, or the fact that she could no longer wing her auror training. They were learning to change their appearance this year as part of the Disguise and Concealment course, and Claudia was not exactly a natural. She just about managed to make herself look like a teenage boy by subtle temporary changes to her hair and colour, making her jaw stronger. She never managed to learn to transform her hair into a proper haircut, so looked like a street urchin. Luckily, she already had the clothes to match.

Sirius’ Birthday fell on the eve of a full moon this year, so they decided to pretend it was a week later. Padfoot deserved a bit of fun. It actually seemed to have helped, to get him out of his head for a bit. He did not have to worry about Regulus or the war when he was running around a Scottish moor in his dog for. And Claudia was glad too, for she got an extra week to figure out his Birthday present.

With each Birthday or Christmas, it was becoming harder and harder to buy a present for him. A book would just be another excuse for him to ignore the world. His trendy muggle fashion sense went way over her head. Normally, she would have taken him out somewhere, to a dinner or a bar, but all of that was out of the question. Unless… That was a thought. Unless they went somewhere they would be hard to recognise. Somewhere where the war could not get them. That was it, that was the way for them to get away from it all!

The next day, she spoke to Barraclough, and got a couple of days off in early December. Then, she went to a muggle travel agent and booked a four-day trip to Italy. It was going to be warm and dry, there was going to be food and wine, and a nice hotel. Which they probably will not get to leave. Just to thought of that warmed her heart. They will be able to get away from it all. Talk, laugh, make love. Like they used to before the world around them went to shit.

That gave her something to look forward to, and her days became just that little bit easier.

The week after Sirius’ birthday, Claudia woke up, searched the bed around her to give Sirius a kiss but it was cold and empty. She sat up and saw Sirius in the living room putting his jacket on.

“Happy fake Birthday,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Thanks.” Sirius was getting dress. “I’m going to the garage.”

Claudia hesitated. “I thought the bike was done.” She was little grumpy. It was the day for his birthday celebrations, not hers, but still…

“I’m looking into invisibility spells. James was right last time. Don’t want to see anyone else flying it.” He said on his way out.

Claudia grudgingly got up and went to make coffee. She looked around to see where the Daily Prophet was. Following Moody’s warning, they got it delivered to the garage under a false name. Eventually, she found it scrunched in the bin.

She straightened it on the kitchen table to find it was open on the announcement page.

---

Orion Arcturus Black, 50, of Islington, London died suddenly on 3 November 1979.

He is survived by his wife Walburga and will be remembered as a beloved husband to his late son Regulus.

The funeral service was held in private on 8 November, and Mr Black has been buried in the Black family tomb at the West Cemetery, Highgate.

---

“For fuck’s sake,” Claudia mumbled and threw that paper back into the garbage. She threw on her jacket, grabbed the steaming mug of coffee she just made and went down to the garage.

Sirius was leaning over some parchments laid down on his workbench.

Claudia walked up to him and shoved the coffee into his hands, before placing her hand gently on the middle of his back.

“I saw the papers,” she whispered.

Sirius brought the mug to his lips and took a sip. “So what…”

“Your father’s dead,” she repeated the obvious.

He put the cup down and continued to read the parchment. “I don’t care.”

Claudia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Here we go again… “Do you want me to cancel the Birthday party? Tell people not to come?”

“Why?” Sirius barked.

“Because…” Claudia said calmly. There was absolutely no point getting mad at him. “You know, Regulus is dead, and now your father.”

“And is my life just supposed to stop? Do you think they’d extend me the same courtesy if I died?” Sirius picked up the mug again and angrily drained it. “I’m going for a drive.”

“Come on, Sirius.” Claudia tried to make him see sense. “It’s freezing outside, and it looks like it’s going to rain… The road will be slippery.”

“I won’t be long,” he said with little less anger in his voice, and kissed the top of her head. “I just need to clear my head.”

He put on his helmet, zipped his jacked and hopped in the bike.

“Please be careful,” Claudia whispered, and her eyes were started to fill up. She was so tired of walking on eggshells around him. But it was his Birthday, and he just found out his father had died. What else was she supposed to do? Yell at him? Make him talk to her?

Sirius started the bike and drove off. Claudia wiped her eyes and went back upstairs. She made the bed, washed yesterday’s dishes, and collected all the dirty clothes that were lying around the apartment.

“Good,” she sighed. “I killed half an hour.” Even alone, she could not help but be sarcastic.

She killed another half an hour showering, and then decided to start on the cake. Still having no idea how to use any baking spells, she decided to do it the muggle way. She whipped up the eggs until her arm was aching, mixed them with flower, cocoa powder and melted butter, and off to the oven the cake went.

Thirty minutes later, it was time to take it out. Claudia spent these thirty minutes pacing around the flat and looking out of the window to see if Sirius was coming back. But she should have spent those thirty minutes looking after the cake… Because when she did take it out of the oven, the edges were black, and it had not risen at all.

A flood of frustration washed over Claudia. It was useless! Everything was just useless! And how could this dumb cake make this any better?

It could not. It was burnt and stodgy.

She had enough.

With one swing of her arm, the cake – still in its form – flew to the direction of the garbage bin.

Claudia slid to the ground, leaned against the warm oven, and began to sob uncontrollably.

Everything, just everything was falling apart.

Mulciber was gone.

Half of Sirius’ family was dead.

Her name was all over the papers.

It was barely three months since they were lying in the grass at James’ and Lily’s wedding, looking at the stars. Barely three months since Sirius gave that speech.

How could everything go to shit quite this quickly?

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“Who’s there?” she said but her voice betrayed her, barely a whisper came out. “Who’s there?” she repeated, this time more loudly.

“Remus!”

Claudia waved her wand to unlock the door.

“What happened here?” he asked when he saw Claudia sitting on the floor and the cake splattered against the wall.

“The cake and I had a disagreement.”

“I can see that,” Remus whispered and looked around. “Where is the Birthday boy?”

“Out… he went for a ride.”

Remus looked around the flat again. “Is everything okay?”

“Couldn’t be better,” she mumbled and stood up. “Would you mind popping to the bakery across the road and getting something edible?”

“Sure,” he said hesitantly. “If you’re sure you don’t need help.”

“I know some cleaning spells, Remus,” Claudia tried to brush it off. “Have faith.”

“Alright then,” he replied and left the flat again.

Claudia dropped back onto the floor. She should have cancelled the party. Even if Sirius had strength to do it, she certainly did not.

Remus brought with him not only the cake but also Peter. James and Lily were not far behind. Their hands were full of beer and games. That was supposed to be their day – drink and play games, drink and play games. That was all they really could have done under Claudia’s virtual house arrest. Then, in the evening, a few more people were supposed to come for drinks.

“We saw the Daily Prophet,” Lily whispered when she gave Claudia a hug. “Is he alright?”

“He went for a bike ride,” Claudia repeated for what felt like a millionth time.

“What happened?” Peter asked.

“Sirius’ father died last week,” Lily explained patiently. “It was in the papers today.”

“He died on his actual birthday…” Claudia mumbled.

Peter’s jaw dropped, and Remus did a double take. “What?” they both said in unison.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Claudia sighed. “Let’s just sit down, have something to drink and wait for him.”

“I’ll make tea,” Lily said and started to walk to the kitchen.

“I want something stronger than tea,” Claudia grumbled.

“Which is why I’m making you all tea…” Lily reprimanded them. “I’m not letting you drown your sorrows.”

They all sat awkwardly around the coffee table while Lily made the drinks. Not knowing where to look, Claudia kept glancing at the door, then at her tattoo, and back at the door.

James finally broke the silence. “Do you know where he went?”

“No idea,” Claudia replied.

“Do you want us to go look for him?” he asked.

“He’s fine,” Claudia sighed, looking at her tattoo again. “Can’t we play a game? To kill time?” The waiting was unbearable.

“How do you know he’s fine?”

“Just leave it, okay?” Claudia barked. “I know this is not the party you came for, but either we play a game, or you all go home!”

James was about to bark something back at her, when Remus put his hand on James’ leg.

“Let’s play a game,” Remus whispered. “I brought Risk.”

“How does it work?” asked Peter.

“I need the bathroom,” Claudia stood up and sighed. “But do go on explaining, I know how it works. I played it with Eleanor’s family.”

Desperately trying not to worry about Sirius, Claudia took her time in the bathroom. She was anxious and painfully aware just how noticeable her anxieties were to the others. They knew she was panicking, which made them panic too.

“Your turn,” Remus said when she sat down back on the sofa. “We set it up for you.”

Claudia moved couple of the little plastic soldiers into Peter’s territory. Then, she picked up the dice and threw. Two and one. That was both of her soldiers gone. She tried again and again, until she had nothing.

This encounter was indicative of the rest of the game. And barely twenty minutes later, she lost her last figurine to Peter, and she was out.

“I won!” Peter squealed as he moved the soldiers into the last of Claudia’s stronghold.

“You haven’t,” she snapped. “You still got to beat the other three.”

“But I beat you,” he smirked. “And I bet it hurts.”

“I really don’t give a shit.” Claudia stood up. “You can finish your game, but I’m going to write messages to the others not to come tonight.”

She ignored her friends protests and went to the bedroom. Luckily, the owl Sirius occasionally looked after for one of the Order members was sitting by the window.

---

Sorry for the short notice, but the party tonight is cancelled. We’re under the weather and don’t want to infect you all.

Alice, once you read this, please send it to Marlene. Marlene, please send this to Eleanor. Eleanor, burn this.

---

Just as she finished writing that note and attaching it to the owl’s foot, she noticed Remus standing in the door.

“I lost too,” he whispered.

“I know I’d normally care about a stupid game.” She attempted a smile. “But I really can’t today.”

“You don’t have to keep telling me you’re fine,” Remus said and sat down next to her on the bed. “No one expects you to be fine. No one expects Sirius to be fine either.”

“I’m handling it…” she mumbled. “Just take the others and go home.”

“We’ll wait with you.”

“No. I’ll let you know when he comes home.”

They sat on the bed for a while yet. Eventually, Remus took a deep breath. “Fine. The moment he’s home, you’ll let us know.”

“I promise.”

“Do you want to say bye to the others?”

“Not especially.” Claudia sighed and crashed back into bed.

She heard the others leave, but barely moved. It was starting to get dark outside, but she did not even have the energy to turn on the lights. She just laid still in the dark, listening out for the slightest noise to indicate that a motorbike was turning into Gower Mews, and looking at her tattoo. At least he was still alive. Or the tattoos did not work. That too was a possibility.

Claudia was not able to lay in that bed motionless for long. She got up and paced the apartment for a while, before taking a fork out of the drawer and sitting down on the sofa with Sirius’ cake in her lap.

About an hour after everyone’s gone home, and half the cake vanished, the sounds that Claudia had been waiting for had finally shook her windows.

She ran towards the window to look out into the street. It was him.

Claudia opened the door to the flat and waited, and in a minute or so she heard Sirius’ heavy steps on the stairs. As he turned onto the landing, he stumbled a little and had to steady himself on the banister.

“Where have you been?” she asked as calmly as she could.

Sirius did not say anything. He seemed very focused on trying to get his keys out of the pocket of his leather jacket. When he finally got them, they slipped between his fingers and clattered onto the floor. “Shit,” he hissed, leaned on the banister again and bent over to pick them up.

“Are you drunk?” The calm tone was gone.

“Just a couple…” he mumbled, still trying to collect his keys. “I’m alright to drive.”

“Clearly,” she hissed. “Just get inside.”

Sirius straightened his back and, tracing the wall with his fingertips, walked into the apartment.

Claudia bent over to pick up the keys that were still laying on the floor and snatched them. As she closed the door to the apartment behind her, Sirius dropped into the sofa with a thud.

She had no idea what to say to him. Whether to yell for driving his motorcycle drunk. He could have killed himself, or someone else. Or whether she should pity him for losing his father so soon after Regulus’ died. Or whether she should just hug him and hold him until he got better. So, she just stood there, glaring at him, and taking quick shallow breaths.

But Sirius spoke before she had a chance to decide. “I couldn’t face being around people… It’s too much.”

Claudia sighed and sat down on the sofa next to him. Yelling was out of the question. “They all just want to help.”

“There is too much pity-“ he paused and reached for a glass of water that was on the table and drained it. “Pity in everyone’s eyes… I can’t bear it.” He paused. “I don’t deserve it.”

“It’s ok to grieve.”

“I really could not care less that my father is dead,” Sirius mumbled. “And this time I actually mean it.”

“Is that my cake?” he whispered and pointed and the half-empty cake box. “The one you made?”

“The one I made is in the bin…” she mumbled, then paused for what felt like a minute and sighed.

Yelling at him was out of the window. All she could do was to try to make him better.

So, she pulled him into a tight hug and began to whisper. “But I got something else for you. A trip to Italy for a few days. To get out of here. Away from everything and everyone. I need it. You need it…”

Sirius freed himself from Claudia’s embrace. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered and leaned in to kiss her.

But a second later, he froze. “I need the loo,” he uttered, jumped to his feet and run towards the bathroom, clattering a chair and a doorframe on his way.

“I’ll tell James you’re home,” she uttered after him.

Just as Claudia picked up Sirius’ two-way mirror to put James at ease, she understood why Sirius was in a such a rush to get to the bathroom.

Retching sounds filled their flat.

Claudia bit her lip. It was not a surprise that Sirius’ Birthday party ended like this. What was troubling was how he got there. Drinking alone somewhere while all his friends worried about him. And no matter what Claudia said to them earlier, she was very worried too. Maybe she could not make any of this better. Maybe he was not going to be okay.

Chapter Text

November was nearly over, and Claudia and Sirius arrived a little late to the latest gathering of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore kept changing the location of the meeting every time and the latest one, an abandoned cottage in the middle of nowhere in Herefordshire, was nearly impossible to find.

“I’m so very glad to see you all safe,” Dumbledore said the moment they stepped over the threshold of the room where the meeting was taking place. “It was an intelligence failure of the greatest magnitude. We are exceptionally lucky that there are no consequences.”

Claudia glanced at Moody who was sitting by the fireplace with his shoes off. He must have been drying his socks. Moody raised his eyebrow at Claudia and gave her the slightest shake of the head. Now was not the time to discuss the potentially disastrous consequences for Linda. Not in front of the whole Order.

“Speak for yourself, old man,” Sirius uttered under his breath.

“Now,” Dumbledore spoke again, seemingly unaware of Sirius’ complaining. “We were just about to discuss the upcoming meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards in Geneva. I spoke to the Minister the other week and he’s hoping to use it to rally international support to fight Voldemort.”

“Is the Minister going himself?” someone asked.

Dumbledore shook his head.

“Who’s he sending?” Fabian inquired before Dumbledore got a chance to reply properly. “The official sources are being unusually tight-lipped about this.”

“You didn’t hear it here,“ Dumbledore replied. ”But Alvin Anderson is heading up the delegation.”

“Really?” Fabian exclaimed. “Why him of all people? Isn’t he the Under-Secretary responsible for election matters, or whatever?”

“The Confederation are electing a new chairman and he’s overseeing it,” Dumbledore explained. “I think it’s good news. He’s well-respected. He’ll have sway.”

“My dad is going with Anderson,” Alice added. “He’s heading up the protection team.”

“I don’t want to be negative about this,” Claudia said. “But I’m not sure that plan – to get support to fight Voldemort - is going to work, especially if my father is organising it.” There was stunned silence around the room. She never spoke about her father at an Order meeting. In fact, she rarely ever expressed her true opinions. But it finally felt like she was not the kid in the room anymore. She knew things and was not going to pretend otherwise.

“What do you think he might do?” Dumbledore asked. “To scupper Anderson’s efforts?”

“The best way to undermine the cause would be to make the British delegation look like fools.”

“How would he make them look like fools?” Gideon piped up.

“I don’t know.” Claudia said and paused to think about the things she would have done if in her father’s position. “I’d draft a fake memo to say the threat is not all that bad, but we should use the international sympathy to get money pouring in. Or spread rumours that the Minister is just doing it to increase his grip of the country, and fancies himself a dictator.

“I know I might just be a humble healer,” Gideon said sceptically. “Do you really think that would work?”

Claudia shrugged. “Just throwing in ideas.”

“I don’t think-“ Gideon began.

But he was interrupted by Marlene’s boss, Edgar Bones. “It’s perfectly plausible. The Minister is not exactly popular among his counterparts, and they will be looking for any sort of excuse to say no to him.” He turned to Marlene. “Let’s see what we can dig out about Avery’s exact role in that trip.”

Dumbledore nodded and moved the meeting on. Fabian spoke about the continued sour mood in the Daily Prophet, Benjy gave a summary of the latest intelligence so vague it was basically meaningless, and Emmeline Vance promised to look into any unusual transactions coming in or out from the know Death Eaters’ Gringotts accounts. After that, Dumbledore brought the meeting to a close and sent them all home.

Claudia wanted to go and speak to Moody about Linda, as it was safer than doing it at work, but her path was blocked by Edgar Bones.

“I was impressed,” he said and shook Claudia’s hand. “You have a good head for this.”

“Thank you,” Claudia mumbled.

“And if you ever get bored of the Auror Office-”

Claudia caught a sight of Sirius standing in the corner of the room. Lily and Remus were with him and gesturing wildly. He had his arms folded and a slight frown on this face. If she did not know better, it looked like he was getting a telling off.

“What do you say?” Mr Bones interrupted. “Interested?”

“Sorry,“ Claudia mumbled. “I didn’t hear you too well with all this noise.” She gestured vaguely around the room. “What am I supposed to be interested in?”

“I said that if you ever got bored of the Auror Office, you should let me know.” Mr Bones repeated with a smiled. “I’m sure we could make something happen in my Department.”

But even at the second try, Claudia did not get to answer the question.

“Bones!” Moody roared. Claudia turned in his direction and saw him walking across the room, still in his socks. His big toe was poking through a rather large hole. “Stop trying to pinch my staff!”

“Alastor,” Bones said with a little laugh. “You do need to stop being so paranoid.”

“I think this time he has a reason,” Claudia smirked. “Excuse me,” she added and made her way towards Sirius, leaving the two seasoned Ministry officials to glare at each other in the middle of the room.

“It’s ok to grieve,” Lily said to Sirius, just as Claudia joined their little group.

“I know it’s ok to grieve,” Sirius barked. “I just don’t feel like it. I don’t give a shit that he’s dead. And I hope my mother joins him soon.”

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Remus said little harsher than there were all used to. “Not in front of people who don’t have their mums anymore…”

“Well, neither of you had my mother.” Sirius was clearly not letting this go, so Claudia grabbed his hand and squeezed it in an attempt to calm him down. But it did not help. “So stop trying to tell me how I should be feeling,” Sirius continued.

“I know you’re hurt-“ Lily began, her voice breaking slightly.

But Sirius was not listening. He leaned towards Claudia and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Can we please go home?”

“Are you-?” she tried asking whether he was sure.

“Are you going to bug me too?” he mumbled and let go of her hand. “I’m going to get the bike ready. You don’t have to come with me.” With those words, he strode out of the sitting room.

Before either Lily or Remus could speak, Claudia gestured for them to keep calm. “I’m handling this. Please, just try not to make a big deal out of it, okay?”

“I don’t know whether this is the right call.“ Lily began. “I did just lose my parents and it was so helpful to talk it through-“

“Lily, I’m sorry,” Claudia said as delicately as she could. “But this is different. You don’t know half the stuff that’s happened to him when he was a kid-“

“But he should talk about-“ Lily tried her luck again.

“Trust me on this, please.” Claudia interrupted her and glanced over her shoulder. Someone had started a motorbike engine outside. “I have to go.”

She run out of the door and jumped on the back of Sirius’ motorbike. They barely said a word to each other during the journey home. And by the time Claudia brushed her teeth, Sirius was asleep – or pretending to be.

For the next few days, Claudia felt like she was walking on eggshells, and overanalysed everything in an attempt to find any sign that Sirius’ mental state was changing. But he continued to be in a weird limbo, where she would either find him staring glumly into the fire, calling half the Order stupid, or angrily barking insults at anyone in his path.

When she had to go to work, Claudia did not like leaving Sirius at home, but neither did she feel like asking any of their friends to spend time with him would help. On the Friday after the Order meeting, she was even more apprehensive because she was on a night shift. For an auror trainee like Claudia, a nightshift happened every few weeks. She did not spend it with her usual colleagues, but in a special room attached to Head Auror office. It was called the Operations Room and was used in emergencies, or for night shifts. There was usually one auror from each team on duty, in case something happens, or they were needed on a raid.

On her way up to the Operations Room, Claudia bumped into Oscar.

“My source we went to see few weeks back got in touch. He wants to talk about Mulciber.” He was practically beaming.

Claudia returned his smile. “Should we go now?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“I can go now,” she insisted. “This is more important than a night shift.”

“You’ll need to wait till tomorrow, he’s away.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

“Enjoy the night shift. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“Drink myself under the desk, you mean?” Claudia smirked.

Oscar grinned at her and playfully punched the top of her arm. “Good night.”

“Night.”

The moment Claudia stepped into the Operations Room, she came face to face with the most impressive piece of kit she had ever seen at the Ministry. Every time she saw it, she could not help but to stare at it in awe. It was a big metal wall covering the entire side of the large room, with a hundred slots on it, each had its own number in golden letters.

Each one of the slots corresponded to a medallion that aurors took overseas, or places that were too far to apparate from. They could record a message in the medallion, and it would pop out of the slot on a piece of parchment.

Claudia picked one of the free desks and sat down, her two-way notebook carefully hidden under the pile of reports and forms she had with her. Often, the night shifts were quiet, and she could catch up on paperwork.

“Everything alright?” she messaged Sirius just as the clock struck nine, hoping to relieve some of her anxiety, and waited for a response. But none came, which made her feel even worse.

“I’m bored,” one of the other aurors on the night shift sighed. “Two galleon to anyone who can guess the next number that will spit out a message.”

“Be glad this is boring,” the duty inspector reprimanded them, and everyone else turned their eyes to whatever reports they were working on.

Fifteen minutes later and Sirius still had not written.

“I bumped into Oscar earlier,” Claudia wrote again in an attempt to elicit some kind of a response from her boyfriend. “We might have a bit of a breakthrough on the Ted case.”

Just as she finished writing that message, the duty inspector got out of her chair and left the Operations Room.

“Thirty-two,” someone said. Claudia did not even see who. But it did prompt a response from all the other aurors.

“Fifteen.”

“Ninety-two.”

It went on.

Claudia did not want to feel left out. “Forty-six,” she mumbled.

And they did not have to wait long to see if anyone won those two galleons.

At about eleven o’clock, slot number forty-eight lit up.

“So close,” Claudia sighed.

“You were the closest, Avery,” the instigator of the game quipped. “You go pick it up.”

“If I do,” Claudia with a cheeky smile. “Do I still get my two galleons?” She walked over to the board and picked up the message.

The smile was wiped from her face the moment she glanced at the message.

“Anderson struck down dead. Adler too. Multiple perpetrators. Dark Mark above the scene.”

Claudia stood there, frozen. The parchment was shaking in front of her eyes and was becoming blurrier and blurrier.

“What’s the message?” someone barked.

Claudia could not even say. Adler was dead. For a split second, she thought it meant Alice. But it could not have been, she took Frank’s name. It was her dad. He was the one who was dead.

She did not even notice the duty inspector coming back to the room until she snatched the message out of Claudia’s hands.

“Right,” she barked the moment she skimmed it. “Gosling, wake up Crouch’s private secretary and get them and Crouch here. Spindle, same with the Head Auror. Avery, get in touch with the rest of your team, Alastor should be on this.”

Claudia wiped her eyes, nodded and run to the Ministry’s owlery to send messages to Moody, Barraclough, Oscar and Ewan.

“Extreme emergency. The Operations Room, now.”

Claudia just about had time to come back from the Owlery when everyone started arriving.

“Do we know what exactly happened?” Crouch was the first one to get there. He was wearing a dark cloak, but you could see a distinct stripey pyjamas pattern underneath.

“This is all we have,” the duty inspector replied and handed him the message.

“This is an international incident,” Crouch mumbled. “We need to notify the Head of International Cooperation, and the Minister himself.”

“I did a placement in the Minister’s office.” Claudia piped up. “I know the emergency protocols. I can get them to get a message to the Minister.”

“Good,” Crouch mumbled. “The rest of you, find me a way to speak to someone in Geneva. We need to start piecing together what happened.” He paused and scratched his head. “Anyone been in touch with their next of kins?”

Claudia set off for the Minister’s office.

“Onto it,” she just about heard on her way out.

Claudia ran towards the lifts. She remembered there would always be one private secretary on duty, who would be able to get a message to the Minister within minutes. And she remembered right.

It did not even take ten minutes, and the Minister of Magic stepped out of the fireplace.

“Everyone is in the Operations Room, Minister,” Claudia said.

“What happened?”

“Mr Crouch is there, he should be the one-“

“If you know what’s going on, tell me now,” the Minister interrupted her.

“We had a message from Geneva.” Claudia began. “Someone had murdered Mr Anderson and his protection team.”

Any remaining colour in the Minister’s face had washed out. “Murdered?”

“There was Dark Mark above the scene.”

The Minister took a deep breath. The air of authority he usually emitted was gone and he looked just like any other tired old man. “We know it was coming, and here it is. Another high-ranking muggleborn… They made their first big move.”

The Minister walked swiftly through the corridors to the Operations Room, and Claudia followed him.

“Should I know you?” he asked her as they stood in the lift.

“I did a summer internship in your office few years back,” Claudia said with a meek smile.

“Oh, yes,” the Minister nodded. “Avery, right?”

Claudia nodded and nearly blushed. This was the Minister of Magic, remembering who she was.

“So we didn’t scare you off?” The Minister said. “You came back to the Ministry?”

“I’m a trainee auror now,” Claudia said.

With those words, the lift arrived at their destination, and they rushed to the Operations Room.

Moody and the rest of the team were already there, huddled in the corner.

“Right,” Moody mumbled when Claudia joined them. “I need all of you to clear everything else you’re doing. Park what you can park and reassign what you can’t. Crouch just put us in charge of this investigation.”

“What about Mulciber?” Oscar asked in a whisper.

“We cannot park that,” Moody sighed. “And I really don’t want to reassign it either.” He looked around his team. They all watched him intently, waiting for a verdict. “Avery, Mulciber is all yours.”

“What does that mean?” Claudia said with a slight frown.

“Go home-“

“I don’t want to go home!” she interrupted, perhaps louder than their huddle required. “This is Alice’s dad we’re talking about. I want to stay.”

Moody growled and elbowed Barraclough in the arm. “You deal with this. I need to speak to Crouch.”

Claudia could feel her temper rising. How dare Moody just dismisses her like this? But Barraclough did not give her a chance to retaliate, grabbed her by the arm and nudged her into the corridor.

“Please talk to him,” Claudia pleaded with him. “Alice is my best friend. This is the biggest case in months-“ she frowned. “Even bloody Tracey is going to be working on it. And she barely got here!”

Barraclough sighed. “Do you know how many second-year trainees get to run their own case? A murder investigation, nonetheless?” But he answered his own question before Claudia could speak. “None. You should be gripping this with both arms.”

“But the Minister is here…”

“Trust me, Slytherin to Slytherin…” he said and put his hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “A trainee on a case like this will get to make the coffee. Too many high-ranking people involved. I’ll be lucky if I get a look in. But your own investigation…”

Claudia took a deep breath. Maybe Barraclough was right. “Fine.”

“I’ll tell Oscar to leave the contact for his informant in your in-tray tomorrow.” Barraclough let go of Claudia’s shoulder and took a step back towards the Operations Room. “Go get some rest, you’ll need it.”

Claudia hesitated for a moment, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed. “What if I mess it up?” she whispered.

Barraclough gave her a fleeting smile. “Don’t.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” she uttered and looked to her feet. All the confidence she felt earlier after speaking to the Minister suddenly drained out of her.

“The boss wouldn’t have suggested it if he didn’t think you could do it.”

“Thanks… I guess.”

Barraclough gave her one more smile and then walked back into the Operations Room. Claudia started at the now empty doorframe. Maybe he was right, maybe this was going to be good for her.

She should go home and get ready. She took one step towards the lifts and then froze.

“Shit,” she mumbled. “Alice.”

Alice was probably her dad’s next of kin, Claudia thought, given the state Mrs Adler was in. A wave of guilt washed over her. She should have gone to speak to Alice, not worry about her career. She should have been the one to tell her what happened, not let the duty inspector do it.

Somewhat frantic, Claudia went to get her notebook to tell Sirius she was going to be late. But when she opened it, she saw his handwriting.

“Everything alright. I really hope you catch that bastard who tried to kill Ted.”

Claudia’s stomach unclenched a little. At least he was alright. She kept reading.

“How is it going? Bored again?”

“I guess you aren’t bored then… Stay safe.”

The last message must have been written after Claudia did not reply to the initial ones. She quickly picked up a quill from her desk.

“Got some bad news. Alice’s dad’s died on duty. I’m going to see her before heading back home.”

She shoved the notebook into her bag and legged it to the atrium to apparate to Alice’s flat. She knocked on the door, but there was no response. She knocked again. Still nothing.

Eventually, she realised they were probably at Alice’s mum. It was little far to apparate but Claudia had to risk it. There was no time to go to the Leaky Cauldron, and she did not even remember the name of the place where Alice’s parents lived. She gripped her wand and focused her mind on the faint memory of their front garden. The last time she was there must have been nearly five years ago.

“Ouch,” she hissed when she landed there and reached for her upper arm. The sleeve of her jacket was nearly torn off, and her skin was grazed. It was little too far to apparate after all. But luckily, she got away with it. Just.

Claudia ignored her injury and knocked on the door.

Frank opened it.

“How did you get here? Did you take the Floo?”

“Apparated.”

“But it’s too far!”

“Tell me about it,” Claudia said and gestured towards her shoulder. “Is Alice here?”

“Come in,” Frank sighed and showed Claudia into the sitting room.

Alice was sitting on the sofa, with her face in her hands. She lifted her head a little when Claudia entered the room. Her eyes were full of tears, and her face all puffy.

“I’m so sorry,” Claudia mumbled, sat down on the sofa next to her and gave her a hug.

Alice did say a few words but none of them were comprehensible. She gave up and dropped her head on Claudia’s injured shoulder. Claudia gritted her teeth and held Alice even tighter. It hurt as hell.

“I’ve heard Moody’s got the case,” Frank whispered and sat down on the coffee table. It was the only place he could sit now and still reach for Alice’s hand. The mention of Moody made Alice raise her head again.

“I’m not going to work on it though,” Claudia sighed. “He gave me something else.” Before either Frank or Alice could say anything, tears forced themselves into Claudia’s eyes. “I wanted to be on the case. I wanted to help, I swear.”

The three of them sat in an awkward silence, with Claudia fighting back the tears.

“I’m going to make some tea,” Frank whispered after a while, squeezed Alice’s hand and shuffled into the kitchen.

Claudia did not know what to do or what to say. Seeing Alice like this was a lot harder than she was expecting. “Where is your mum?” she finally mumbled.

“Frank gave her the sleeping drought, she’s not well,” Alice managed to say with difficulty.

“I’m sorry.” That was it. That was all Claudia had. And it made her feel foolish. She wanted to reassure her friend but could not find the words.

She looked around the living room for some kind of inspiration about what to say next. But all she noticed was her two-way notebook, that had half fallen out of her bag. It was covered in leaves, which meant there was a new message. She excused herself and opened it.

“I’m just at their flat, but you aren’t here. Where are you all?”

Claudia heart jumped a little. This would not have been the reason she would have chosen to get him out of the flat. But it made her mood little brighter regardless.

“Can I borrow a quill?” she asked. “Sirius’ at your flat.”

“You can ask him here. He can take Floo. It’s Adler’s Cottage, Box.”

“Thank you,” Claudia said and picked up the quill.

“We’re at their mum’s in Box. Adler’s Cottage, Box is the Floo connection.”

Within seconds, Sirius replied. “I’ll take Floo from the Leaky Cauldron.”

Claudia shut the notebook and looked back at Alice. “I want to say it’s going to be ok, but-“

“But it’s not.” Alice wiped her eyes. “It’s never going to be ok. My dad’s dead.”

“In a weird way… I owe your dad everything. He was the one who made me realise what my father was. That dinner we had over Christmas.”

The tiniest of smiles appeared on Alice’s face. “He was always telling me more than he should have-“ she trailed off and burst into tears.

As Claudia was reaching for Alice’s shoulder to comfort her, something occurred to her. What if… She bit her lip in disgust. What if it was her own father who was responsible for Mr Adler’s death. He was bound to have known the plans for the Geneva trip. He could have easily been behind it. In fact, no other Death Eater was in a better position to orchestrate the attack.

Frank was now back with the teas.

Claudia picked up the hot mug and squeezed it between her fingers. It hurt but she paid little attention. The thought of her father being responsible for killing her best friend’s dad was too much. The pain from the hot tea helped numb that.

“Your aunt sent an owl, sweetheart,” Frank said and sat back down at the coffee table. “She’ll come by tomorrow. She said she’ll help with the funeral arrangements.”

Claudia hissed and put down the tea. Finally, the pain got too much. “I can help with the wake.”

Just at that moment, the fireplace flashed green, and Sirius emerged out of the flames.

He gave Alice and Frank a hug and then he came to sit next to Claudia and briefly squeezed her in his arms. She flinched, told him about her splinched shoulder and he healed it with one flick of his wand.

They sat and talked for a while, but Claudia was taking little of it in. She could not stop wondering about her father’s role in Mr Adler’s death, about what was happening in the office…

She was glad to have her own case, she really was, but she also wanted to contribute to the Geneva investigation. She would have been lot more useful there than she was here. Here, she felt completely and utterly useless.

“I’m hungry,” Alice finally mumbled.

“I’ll make something,” Frank replied softly.

“No,” Sirius jumped in. “You both go try to get some rest. We’ll make you something. Alright?”

“I could use a shower,” Alice added and slowly got up.

Claudia and Sirius watched her go up the stairs. She moved like a broken, old woman.

The moment they were alone in the kitchen, Sirius grabbed Claudia in his arms and hugged her. “This sucks,” he whispered.

“I feel so-“ she paused. “Useless, you know?”

“You aren’t useless.”

“I don’t know what to say, I don’t know whether to touch her.” Claudia sighed. “It’s impossible. I feel like- I can’t relate to what she’s going through.”

Sirius pressed Claudia’s head against his chest. “You underestimate yourself.” He kissed the top of her head. “You’re here for her. You’re here to listen once she wants you to. Once she is ready to talk about this properly…”

Claudia got the distinct impression they were not talking about Alice anymore. “Are you ready? To talk about what happened?”

Sirius shook his head slightly, and tears forced their way into Claudia’s eyes again.

Sirius saw this and brushed her hair. “But I will be. You’ll get sick of me talk about how I feel, I promise you.”

That made Claudia smile a little. “I can’t wait for Italy. Just one more week before we can get away from this all.”

“We were planning on doing much talking in Italy?” Sirius smirked and planted a gentle kiss on Claudia’s lips. A kiss that lingered just long enough to make it abundantly clear what would be stopping them from doing a lot of talking on their holiday.

Claudia let out the tiniest of chuckles. “Get cutting those onions, and stop distracting us both,” she whispered and nudged Sirius towards the kitchen counter and started to prep the other vegetables for their soup.

Claudia woke up the following morning on Alice’s and Frank’s sofa. The first thing she saw was Sirius’ sleeping face. For the first time in weeks, he looked like he was dreaming about something pleasant. He was breathing softly and nearly smiling. It gave her a little hope seeing him like that again.

She glanced at the clock. It was nearly seven. She needed to get to work and find out what instructions Oscar left for her. Gently, she moved Sirius’ arm away from her body as not to wake him and got up.

Her jacket was still torn after last night, but there was no time to go home and change. She must have had some spare clothes in the office, or at least she hoped she did.

With her tattered jacket on, and a warm mug of strong coffee and a piece of toast in her stomach, she kneeled in front of the sofa, tenderly shook Sirius’ shoulder, and waited for him to open his eyes.

“I have to go to work,” she whispered. “Can you please tell Frank and Alice, and tell them that if they need anything, all they need to do is ask.”

Sirius scrunched his eyes and yawned. “Please be careful.”

“Promise,” she said and kissed him.

Claudia took the Floo to the Ministry of Magic. Being in the office all alone was strange. The others must have still been in the Operations Room, and it was likely they were going to stay there for some time. On a case like this, the Head Auror would want to keep them close. She needed to get used to the solitude.

She found a short note on her desk. “I’ll come down at eight to tell you where to go. Not a good idea to write it down. O.”

Claudia sat down on her chair, put her feet on the desk and picked up Mulciber’s old file. She better memorise everything in it.

Very soon the door to the office creaked open, but Claudia found herself disappointed. It was just Tracey.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were here. I’m just fetching some things for the boss,” the younger trainee spoke first. “I thought we were all in the Operations Room now.”

Claudia frowned and dropped her feet from the desk. All the resentment she felt last night was back. “I’m not on the case.”

“I’m sure that’s just a mistake. Moody said we were all on it.”

“Well, it’s not a mistake,” Claudia growled. “You get to work on the most exciting case the Auror Office ever had, while I rot here by myself.”

It was Tracey’s turn to frown now. “How can you call it exciting when so many people died?”

“Don’t you dare lecture me. My best friend’s dad died there!”

“I’m so sorry,” Tracey whispered, her tone suddenly tender. She took a few steps and opened her arms as if to give Claudia a hug.

“Don’t touch me,” Claudia barked. “Take what you came for and go.”

Tracey’ froze and her frown was back. “My sister said you were a piece of work.”

“I thought you said you didn’t get on with your sister.”

“My sister and I are starting to find a common ground.”

Claudia did not get a chance to respond, as Tracy rapidly crossed the office and slammed the door behind her.

She just about cooled down following her interaction with Tracey, when the wizard bringing the post threw the Daily Prophet into her in-tray. It was just before eight. She did not even need to unwrap to read the headline on the front page.

“You-Know-Who Strikes at the Heart of the Ministry.”

Claudia sighed. Well, she was wrong about the tactics her father might adopt at the meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards. They did not try to make the UK delegation look like fools; they chose to put the fear into anyone who would even contemplate supporting the Minister.

Ten past eight, Oscar finally emerged through the door. “Sorry, I’m late.”

“I suspect you’re too busy working on the most high-profile murder in a decade.” The jealousy was dripping from Claudia’s tone of voice.

“Oh, stop sulking!” Oscar said dismissively.

“I’m not sulking.”

“Right…” he smirked. “And I’m not afraid of commitment.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “What do I need to do?”

“Same road we met him last time but a different pub. It’s called ‘The Rose’. He’ll be there at ten.”

“Fine.”

“Please be careful, alright?”

“Sure…” Claudia mumbled and returned to stare at Mulciber’s file.

“I’m going back upstairs,” Oscar said and began to walk away.

“Oscar, wait,” Claudia exclaimed as he was nearly out of earshot. “Anything we know about the attack, if you’re allowed to tell me?” she asked when he turned around and took few steps back inside the office.

His usually mischievous mood turned instantly. “We know very little, I’m sorry.”

Claudia looked to the floor. “Would you tell me if it looked like my father had anything to do with it?”

Oscar took a deep breath. “I keep forgetting about that…”

“About what?”

“That he’s your father.”

“I wish I could forget…”

“I promise I’ll tell you, alright?”

“Even if the boss tells you not to?”

“Even if the boss tells me not to…” Oscar smiled. “But now I really have to go. Good luck.”

With those words, Claudia was left alone in the office again and then at nine-thirty, she set off for East London.

The pub was not as empty as last time, but it still did not take Claudia long to find Oscar’s Death Eater. He was sitting in a corner sipping from a small glass.

“Where’s your boss?” he barked the moment he laid his eyes on her.

“He’s not my boss,” Claudia said and sat down.

“I am not talking to you.” He folded his arms across his chest.

“Yes, you are.”

“Or what?”

Claudia sighed and observed him. There was a half-pint of shandy, the cheapest drink on the menu, in front of him, his fingernails were dirty, and the edge of his shirt collar was tattered and yellow. “Because otherwise you aren’t getting paid. That’s why you’re here, right?”

The Death Eater mumbled something under his breath and took another sip of his shandy. “I want fifty galleons upfront this time… It’s big news.”

“You’ll get fifteen and we split it as usual.”

He laughed. “Come back when you’re serious, girl.”

“Fine, twenty.” She said through gritted teeth. The word girl still ringing unpleasantly in her ears.

“I know where Mulciber is. And if you want to know too, you’ll take this more seriously,” he smirked.

“I’m not letting you blackmail me,” Claudia said and stood up. “Twenty galleons is my final offer. If – and I mean if – he gets convicted, you get another fifteen.”

The Death Eater hesitated for a moment. “Fine.”

Claudia reached into her pocket and took out a small bag full of galleons. She carefully counted out ten coins and slid them across the table. “You get the rest once you tell me where he is.”

“Glasgow.”

“Not good enough.”

“He’s renting a room at 91 Corsock Street, in Haghill.” The Death Eater spoke quickly and quietly. “Is that good enough?”

Claudia took out a small piece of parchment from her pocket and a portable quill and wrote down the address. “How do you know that?”

“My cousin does some business in the area.”

Claudia sighed and reached into the money bag again. “If I ever find out you lied to me, you will regret it for the rest of your miserable life,” she said and slid the money across the table.

“Your boss is nicer.”

“For the last time, he isn’t my boss…”

For the entirety of her journey back to the Ministry, Claudia was dying to tell the others that they got a lucky break, but her heart sank just a little when she stepped into the office and realised it was still empty. However, this news was important enough to go and interrupt Moody and the others in the Operations Room.

She went up there and it took her good five minutes to find Barraclough in the crowd.

“How did it go?” he asked, dark circles under his eyes. It must have been a long time since he slept.

“I’ve got his address,” Claudia replied. “In Glasgow. I’m going to go and check it out.”

Barraclough took a deep breath. “Normally, we would send someone with you,” he paused. “But we’re so stretched. I can ask someone from another team, but it might be another trainee-”

“I rather go by myself.”

Barraclough scratched his head. “I’m not sure.”

“I could take someone from the O-“ she stopped abruptly. She has slept only for about three hours and momentarily forgot that Moody was the only one from her team who was in the Order.

“No,” Barraclough shook his head, taking Claudia’s indiscretion in his stride. “If there was ever a trial and it transpired that they were conducting official Ministry business, the case would fall.” He paused again to scratch his head. “I know. You go to Glasgow, confirm he’s there and track him.” He walked over the wall with the communication medallions. “But you’ll send a message before you engage him and we’ll send reinforcements, understood?”

“Understood,” Claudia replied and gripped the medallion between her fingers. For the first time, she felt like a real auror.

“Go home, get some sleep and set off tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“And use that,” he pointed at the medallion, “to send us a message every six hours. We want to know you’re alright.”

“Understood.”

“And good luck.”

Claudia gave Barraclough a brief smile and, clutching the medallion, left the Operations Room behind.

She dreaded telling Sirius what she had to do. Ever since Regulus’ death, his overprotective instincts were out of control. She was not going to forget in a hurry that he jumped in front of the killing curse just a few weeks ago.

Chapter Text

“Hey,” Claudia mumbled, as she walked through the door of the flat. “I need to talk to you.” There was no point skirting around it.

“What have you done?” Sirius barely looked up from whatever it was he was reading.

“I need to go away to Glasgow for a few days,” Claudia began. “Nothing too dangerous, just to track Mulciber.”

“Nothing dangerous?” He jumped up from the sofa. “You’re tracking a murderer!”

“It’s my job!” Claudia snapped but then took a deep breath. Getting angry was not going to help. “Besides, all I’m supposed to do is to find him and then call for reinforcement.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t, I asked,” she whispered. “Taking an Order member would jeopardise the case if this ever got to trial.”

“It didn’t matter in Manchester.”

“This is a formal investigation. Sirius, please be reasonable.”

“Reasonable?” he barked. “Is it unreasonable that I don’t want you to die?”

“What do you want me to do? Quit?”

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Of course not.” He paused. “I just can’t stand the thought something could happen to you.”

Claudia walked over to him and hugged him. “We’re all in danger all the time. The only way out of this is to end the war.”

“I know you have to go…” Sirius sighed. “But please take the notebook with you, I don’t care about the risks. And if I don’t hear from you every couple hours, I’m coming to find you.”

“I don’t threaten you with this kind of crap when you go on a mission,” Claudia grumbled.

Sirius eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth.

“Alright, alright…” she interrupted him again. “I’ll write to you all the time.” She placed her head on his chest and mumbled. “I’m exhausted… And starving.” It was four o’clock and she did not have anything to eat since breakfast.

“More exhausted or more hungry?” Sirius said softly, with a hint of a smile.

Claudia hummed for a moment. “More exhausted.”

“Let’s go to sleep for a bit and then we can make some dinner,” Sirius mumbled.

They crashed into bed, cuddled under their thick duvet and were asleep in minutes.

When Claudia woke up, it was getting dark. She glanced at the alarm. Six o’clock? It should’ve been dark for ages now.

Sirius stirred too. “How long did we sleep for?”

Claudia looked around again. “Honestly, I have no idea whether it’s Saturday evening or Sunday morning.”

It was Sunday morning. Claudia took a shower and packed, while Sirius made some breakfast, which they ate almost in complete silence.

“How are you getting there?” Sirius asked.

“Floo to the big wizarding pub in Glasgow and muggle transport from there.”

“Do you have muggle money?”

“The Ministry is very generous when it comes to expenses, in any currency.”

“Be careful, okay?” he mumbled finally as he pulled Claudia into a tight hug. They were standing by the front door, all ready to go.

“I will,” she replied. “And I’m sure I’ll be home soon, I promise.”

But the moment Claudia arrived in Corsock Street, she knew that was a promise she might not be able to keep. Number ninety-one was boarded up and the window and door frames were all scorched. She sighed. Either Mulciber set his house on fire, or someone was after him.

For a moment, she stood rooted in the middle of the street, wondering what to do next. Until-

“Yer no from round ‘ere!” someone shouted in a thick Scottish accent, interrupting her train of thought.

Claudia turned like a weather wane caught in a sudden gust of wind. She saw a short, dark woman scowling at her through thick spectacles. “No,” she said, maintaining a firm grip on the wand that was concealed in the pocket of her coat. “I’m looking for a friend, who used to live here.”

“Ye English?”

“Is that a problem?” Claudia asked, with a hint of a smirk.

“No for me, my dear,” the woman replied. “But I wouldn’t go around ‘ere broadcasting it… Anyway, I cannae help finding yer friend,” the woman said. “Used to be a lodging house. New tenants in and out every week.”

Claudia’s heart sank. This was quite possibly the worst lead she ever got. “Who ran it?”

“Auld Fenn Campbell,” the woman replied. “But she’s in th’ hospital right now. Almost burned tae death in that fire.”

“Which hospital?” Claudia asked, perhaps a little too eagerly.

“They won’t let ye in, dear. We were all turned away, we are no family. Auld Fenn didn’t have any. Well, there was ‘er daughter Glenda but she hadn’t visited fur years.”

“Which hospital?” Claudia asked more sternly.

“Glasgow Royal Infirmary.”

Claudia did not even thank the woman and run down the road towards where she saw the bus stop earlier. As she stood there, she wondered how she could get access to that place since they were only letting in family. She could pretend to be Fenn’s daughter, but would the hospital not need proof?

These were the moments Claudia regretted not having Lily’s or Remus’ upbringing. They would know what kind of documents a muggle would have, or what excuse was plausible for not having them. Or if she got a driving licence like Sirius, she could alter it in this Glenda’s name. Or a passport…

Then, it struck her. She did have a passport. The one she got so that she could go to Italy. Maybe, just maybe, she forgot to take it out of her bag before going to Scotland.

She dropped her bag to the floor and manically started to look for it. And there it was, hiding in the front pocket.

Now, for the alteration... She closed her eyes to think. They did not cover it in auror training yet, but maybe McGonagall did in Transfiguration… If only she could remember. Then, she recalled something Sirius mentioned years ago, when forging the reference about Slytherin’s artefact in the necromancy book. There was a magical way to forge documents, and he knew how to do it.

“Do you remember when you mentioned magical forging. How do you change a text with a spell?” she wrote into her two-way notebook.

Within minutes Sirius replied.

“Interpono. The wand movement is just a straight flick over the passage you want to falsify.”

“Lifesaver.”

“Take it your trip is going well…”

Claudia chuckled, then looked around to make sure no one was watching her. She reached for her wand and pointed at the passport.

“Interpono.” Her own name had dissolved, and ‘Glenda Campbell’ appeared on the page.

Within minutes, delighted and armed with her altered passport, Claudia was on a bus heading in the direction of the Royal Glasgow Infirmary.

“I’m here to see Fenn-“ she asked the receptionist in the hospital.

“Visiting ‘ours are over,” the receptionist barked even before Claudia managed to finish the sentence.

“But-“

“Come back tomorrow.”

Claudia scowled and for a moment contemplated using the Confundus Charm to get past this obstacle. But she thought better of it. She was not going to find Mulciber today. And the risk of breaking the Statute of Secrecy in the middle of a busy hospital was too high. She needed to find a place to stay.

Claudia took another short bus ride to the city centre to look for a muggle hotel that would have a free room. She knew Moody would have suggested pitching up an invisible tent in the middle of a park, or sleeping rough, but Claudia knew she had a much better chance blending in with the muggles. The hotel she managed to find was not especially nice, but it would have to do.

She got few hours sleep and the following morning, was back at the hospital. “I’m here to see Fenn Campbell,” she said to the same receptionist who turned her away last night.

“Are ye family?”

Without a word, Claudia took the passport from her pocket and held it in front of the receptionist’s eyes.

“Very well,” the receptionist said and looked through a thick book on her desk that looked like it had all the patients’ names. “Up the stairs, turn right into recovery, room seven-three-two.”

Claudia gave the receptionist a fleeting smile and run up the stairs.

Once in recovery, she found a nurse, explained she was here to see her mother, and within minutes found herself standing above Fenn’s bed. The nurse had left them alone.

“Who are ye?” Fenn asked in a heavy Glaswegian accent.

“I’m looking for one of your lodgers. Young man, dark hair, dresses funny.”

“I know exactly wha ye mean.”

“And?”

“Wha do ye want with ‘im?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I was with the police?”

Fenn looked Claudia up and down, and smirked. “No. Polis don’t look like ya.”

“Fine, he’s my old boyfriend and he owns me money.”

“Men are bastards,” Fenn growled. “My first ‘usband was just like that- Bruce was ‘is name.”

“That’s very interesting-“

“We married at eighteen-“

“This lodger of yours. Where can I find him?” Claudia interrupted and spoke through gritted teeth. She was trying to be pleasant, but it was getting harder and harder every second. She had to get out of there before the nurse came in and told Fenn how nice it was that her daughter was finally visiting. She could not afford to have her cover blown.

“Try the pawn shop ‘e used to work in. Perkins’ at Westmuir Street. In Parkhead.”

“Thank you,” Claudia smiled. “And get well soon.”

“Thank you, dear… The doctors say my leg is no-“

“I’m sorry. I really need to go,” Claudia mumbled.

Claudia run out of the hospital as fast as she could. She took the first bus back to Parkhead, asked around where to find Westmuir Street and then walked up and down until she found Perkins’. It was a horribly looking shop, with windows half-boarded up, dirty curtains on the inside, and graffiti all over the front door.

Claudia glanced at the shop window and saw some dirty and cheap-looking jewellery. She took a deep breath and opened the door. She knew from training that she ought to have watched the place for a few hours before barging in, but she did not have the time.

“Wha do ye want?” an old man, who looked like he could use a bath and a fresh shirt, barked.

“I saw this necklace in the window,” she casually pointed behind her. “How much?” She was gripping her wand with her other hand, hidden in the coat pocket.

“Ten quid.”

“I’ll take it,” Claudia said and watched the man shuffle from behind the counter and take slow steps towards the window. He was walking with a distinct limp. “Do you get any help around the shop?” she asked as innocently as she could.

“Sometimes, a young-“ he stopped abruptly. “If yer looking for a job, I don’t need yer kind round here. Bloody English…”

“Sure you don’t,” Claudia smirked and placed a ten pound note on the counter. In return, the shop owner gave her a paper back with the gold necklace. “Goodbye then,” she said as she placed it inside her coat pocket.

Even before she closed the shop door behind her, she could hear that the owner started dialling one of those muggle telephone things. Claudia shut the door but did not leave. She pressed her ear against the door and mumbled a spell to amplify the sounds coming from the inside.

“Ye were right,” he said. “The polis might be after ya. Lay low for few days and come back Thursday.”

Claudia shut her eyes so firmly it nearly hurt. Thursday was when their flight was leaving for Italy. She should have waited. She should have been more patient. But she was not and now the shop owner was spooked. It must have been Mulciber on the other side of that phone. But instead, she would have to keep this damn place under surveillance. Slowly, she walked back to her hotel, trying very hard not to burst into tears.

She sat down on the bed, took out her two-way notebook, and picked up a quill.

“How are you doing?”

She waited for half an hour with bated breath until Sirius finally replied.

“I’m alright. I’m not sure I should be telling you this, but Alice’s mum had a breakdown. She’s in St Mungo’s. Gideon’s treating her, but she’s in a bad way.”

Poor Alice, Claudia thought. First her dad died, now this. If only there was something she could do to help… She sighed. She had to catch Mulciber, if nothing else just so she could get a spot on the Geneva investigation to find out who was responsible for Mr Adler’s death. Although, it would take a lot to convince her it was not her father.

“Send my love to Alice please,” she scribbled and wiped her eyes. Holding the tears in was no longer possible…

Then, she hesitated for a long time.

“Sirius. I don’t know how to say this. But I can’t come back home any time soon. Mulciber is only going to re-emerge on Thursday. I feel terrible but we might need to go to Italy some other time. I’m sorry.”

There was no response. Claudia stared at the notebook for good fifteen minutes, and nothing happened.

In an attempt to stop herself from crying again, she walked over to the sink to get a glass of water, but it slipped between her fingers and smashed on the floor. Claudia dropped to the ground and leaned against the wall, suddenly acutely aware she was failing everyone that mattered to her. She couldn’t even manage to get her own drink… That’s how useless she was these days.

She was half-tempted to abandon Glasgow and go home. To get on that flight to Italy and never come back. But the thought that it was her father who may have killed Mr Adler, that Mulciber almost murdered Ted… These thoughts brought her back to the reality of this chilly Glasgow hotel room. She could not leave her post and let all these murderers get away with it. No matter how tempting the thought was.

Claudia crawled across the floor to find her notebook again.

“Please say something…”

The notebook was empty for a couple more minutes before a few words appeared.

“What can I say? I’m going to bed. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

Claudia shut her eyes again. She failed Sirius. She failed Alice. But she was not going to fail this mission. She had no choice but to catch that bastard.

She woke up at five o’clock in the morning, after few miserable and cold hours in the uncomfortable bed. First, she checked whether she got a message from Sirius, but there was nothing. Then, she showered and went back to Westmuir Street. She had a breakfast in a café and browsed some shops, all the while keeping a clear sight of Perkins’ door to see if Mulciber made a surprise appearance. But he did not.

Mid-morning, she spotted a noticeboard in one of the shop windows, with an advertisement for a studio to rent. It was right opposite Perkins’ shop. It would have made an amazing vantage point, so she went to meet the landlord first thing. She could not shake off the feeling that he reminded her of Filch, which could not have been good news. He did not even want a contract, just rent in cash for the first two weeks. The flat was tiny, filthy, with a barely functioning bathroom. But the location was perfect. Claudia handed over the money, got a key and then went to get her things from the hotel. Once she was back, she put every single protective charm she knew on that door and sat by the window.

“I got lucky this morning.” She started writing in her notebook. She did not know what else to say, but she desperately wanted to say something, however mundane. “Managed to rent a flat opposite the shop where Mulciber is working.”

She waited anxiously, but finally three words appeared on the page.

“Is it safe?”

“It’s rented from muggles. I can easily take them.”

Sirius did not reply, and Claudia spent the rest of the morning hiding behind the curtains and watching the shop. There were a few people coming in and out, so she went out and bought a polaroid camera to take pictures of all of them, and a pen to write a date and time she saw them.

But Thursday was still a long way away, and she was already bored out of her mind. She found a couple of books on the otherwise empty bookshelf, and picked up the first one, anything to kill time.

‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ by John le Carré.

“What a weird name for a book,” she mumbled but opened it on the first page.

It was a story about a spy and a mole. It was riveting. She only managed to put the book down to go to the bathroom, go buy herself a sandwich from the café, and to update Sirius and her colleagues that she was still alive. Although, she did not get anything meaningful back from either of them. At two in the morning, her eyes were finally too tired to keep reading, she unrolled her sleeping bag, checked her protective charms and fell asleep.

She was in a black hallway, walking, but she had a sense that something or someone were following her and broke into a run. Running as fast as she could, she turned left, then right, then left again. And then, illuminated by a beam of bright light, she saw Sirius body. She glanced at her tattoo. The Sirius star was gone. “No!”

Claudia jerked awake. She was sitting in her sleeping bag, covered in sweat. Her hand shaking, she found her sleeve and rolled it up. The star was still there.

“Just a nightmare,” she mumbled. “Just a nightmare.”

She laid back down, brought her knees close to her chest and tried to steady her breathing. Eventually, she fell asleep again.

The next two days were identical. Claudia watched the shop, ate greasy food from a paper bag, and binged-read muggle spy novels. Her sleep was being interrupted by awful nightmares from that manor mission. Moreover, she still struggled to get more than a mere ‘hello’ out of Sirius, but at least he was responding and – judging by her tattoo - alive.

On Thursday morning, Claudia’s waiting finally paid off. At eight in the morning, Mulciber entered the shop. Her heart was pounding. There he was. The man who tried to kill Ted and was probably responsible for Buttons’ death. What to do now?

Claudia stood in front of the mirror and altered her appearance a little, just as she learned in her disguise classes. She hoped that with blonder and longer hair and a slightly different eyebrows and nose, neither the shopkeeper not Mulciber would be able to recognise her if she had to follow them. But before she could type a message into the medallion to ask for reinforcements to arrest him, Mulciber walked out again, holding a small package.

There was no time to send message. She had no choice but to follow him on her own. She run down the stairs to the street, gave him a head start, and then discreetly trailed him through the streets of Glasgow. Luckily, he did not apparate. He walked and walked for over half an hour until he got to a large open space. There was a narrow road leading towards a housing estate and a couple of bare trees. Nothing to provide cover.

“Shit,” Claudia cursed under her breath. There was too much open landscape, and no way she could follow Mulciber without being noticed. Her invisibility charms were not anywhere this advanced. So, she dropped back and watched from distance, as Mulciber disappeared among the high-rise buildings.

Claudia hid in a nearby bus shelter and waited for him to re-emerge. She glanced at her watch. It was eleven o’clock. They flight to Italy had just gone. Claudia sighed and dropped to the bench.

She waited for hours but Mulciber was nowhere to be seen, giving her plenty of opportunity to assess the situation. There were eight separate buildings, each with fifteen floors that probably housed three or four flats each. There were too many flats to just go knock on the door. And she could not just start asking around for him. He would get spooked and disappear forever.

There was only one thing for it. To admit she lost him, and try another day.

The night started to fall, and the atmosphere became uncomfortable. Groups of kids were shouting at each other in the streets. Men were walking up to her and making lewd remarks. Arguments were coming out of flat windows.

Angry at herself for losing Mulciber while she was so close, Claudia had no choice but to go back to the place she was staying at. She contemplated calling the other aurors but decided to against it. They were all far too busy with Anderson to worry about her. She would just need to come back tomorrow and try her luck again.

After another night filled with tears over their missed trip, and nightmares about Sirius’ death, she was back in Mulciber’s neighbourhood. This time, she was hiding behind a parked van with a relatively clear view of entrances to all the eight buildings. To her huge relief, she saw Mulciber walk out from one of them at around eight in the morning, and walk towards the corner shop. He was wearing his dressing gown, so she assumed he was coming straight home.

She snuck into his building and hid under the stairwell next to the lift, trying her best not to dip her coat in the puddle of foul-smelling water. No wonder the walls were covered in black mould.

It was not long before Mulciber came back, with a semi-transparent bag full of shopping. Claudia felt almost sorry for him. Given he spent a lot of time in the company of Claudia’s brother, this must have been a far cry from what he was used to before he went on the run. No more opulent houses, no more fancy food, no more champagne. Just a muggle high-rise, tinned fish, and a couple of cans of cheap beer.

She watched him walk into the lift and press a button for the seventh floor. Once the lift was gone, she crawled from under the stairs and started to climb.

There were three flats on the seventh floor and Claudia quickly realised she had no way of knowing which one he was living in. There were no names on the doors, no personal items outside, no defensive charms in sight. But before she could come up with a new plan, one of the doors flew open and there was Mulciber.

He just stood there, with a rubbish bag in his hand. Like a muggle who did not know how to vanish their garbage into nothingness. He was completely motionless and his eyes were fixed on Claudia.

Claudia was faster to recover. “Freeze,” she hissed and pointed her wand at him.

Mulciber did nothing, just stared at her. “Do I know you?” he mumbled after a while.

“You’re under arrest,” she blurted out. She did not quite know what else to say, it was not as if she had a lot of experience doing this. “Impedimenta,” she added to bound Mulciber. He still did not flinch.

When Claudia was sure he was secured, she grabbed his arm and apparated them both into her crappy Glasgow apartment. Once he was tied to the radiator, she took out her medallion and typed.

“Got Mulciber. Need to arrange transfer from Flat 2, 54 Westmuir Street, Glasgow. ASAP.” She glanced at the main wall of the living room. “There seems to be a usable fireplace. Muggle property.”

“What have I done?” Mulciber asked when she finished typing and sent the message. There was no anger or fear in his voice. He was asking it in a tone of a child who wanted to know what he was going to have for dinner.

“What do you mean, what have you done? You’ve been running from us for months!” She did not want to get into it, this was not a formal interrogation, that needed to wait until they were at the Ministry.

“Who are you?”

“I’m an auror. And you’re under arrest for the murder of Phillip Buttons and attempted murder of Ted Tonks.”

Mulciber blinked three times. “Yes,” he said slowly in a much deeper voice. “I confess to those.”

Claudia narrowed her eyes. That was weird, and far too easy. Could he have been under the Imperious Curse, or had his memory modified?

But she did not get the chance to ponder this for much longer, as the fireplace suddenly emitted a burst of green flames and Moody, Barraclough and Ewan walked right out of it.

“You were not supposed to arrest him!” Moody barked without even greeting her, let alone congratulating her. “You were supposed to find him and then call us!”

“Trust me,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to, but he’s completely out of it. He just confessed to everything.”

“He did what?” Moody barked again, but in a slightly less scary way.

Claudia grabbed her boss’ arm and dragged him into the bathroom, out of earshot. She did not want to speak in front of the prisoner. “I think there’s something wrong with him. Maybe Imperio, maybe his memory has been modified.”

Moody frowned. “Wouldn’t surprise me. Let’s get him to the Ministry to get the confession on paper. We can worry whether he’s fit to stand trial later.”

Without another word, Moody walked back into the living room, untied Mulciber and dragged him towards the fireplace. “Ministry of Magic, holding cells,” he yelled and disappeared.

“Well done, Claudia,” Barraclough finally said as he was about to step into the fire to follow their boss. “Really impressive.”

“Thanks.”

“We’re opening the good booze when we get back,” Ewan grinned and patted her on the back. He too was soon gone.

Claudia stayed behind, collected her things, stole those John le Carré books and followed them.

Once back at the Ministry, Mulciber was shoved into an interrogation room, still not exhibiting any sort of emotion about what had happened to him. He repeated what he said to Claudia in that Glasgow living room and signed a written confession saying exactly the same. Then, he calmly asked to be escorted to his cell.

“This is good,” Moody mumbled. “We can charge him now. And get the prosecutors on this by Monday.”

“You don’t think he’s acting weird?”

“Oh, he’s acting weird alright... But that’s the prosecutors’ problem now. They’ll probably get a healer to look at him too.”

Claudia was too tired to ask Moody what any of that meant. Together, they took a slow walk through the Ministry corridors back to their office. It was then, it finally hit her. She caught Mulciber.

But it did not feel as she expected it to. She should have felt proud, but she did not. The guilt she felt in that Glasgow flat about letting everyone down was still there.

But her colleagues were in a mood to celebrate. Even before she stepped over the threshold of the office, she heard the unmistakeable sound of champagne cork being popped. Everyone was there, ready to celebrate. But Claudia could barely raise a glass or a smile.

She drained what Ewan poured her and put her glass down. “I’m going home,” she mumbled.

“Come on!” Ewan protested. “We have to celebrate!”

“I haven’t showered in four days, I barely slept. I need to go home.”

“Weakling,” Ewan smirked.

“We can celebrate at the Christmas party on Saturday!” Oscar jumped in. “You should bring that boyfriend of yours.”

“Are we allowed guests this year?” Ewan asked. “Moody banned me for taking my girlfriend to the party every single year I’ve asked.”

“Girlfriends…” Oscar corrected him. “I think he would’ve said yes if you could remember their last names.”

“Shut up.”

“Bring Sirius,” Barraclough said and put his arms around her shoulders. “Now go get some rest. You deserve it.”

Claudia gave Barraclough a brief hug and set off for the Ministry’s atrium from which she was going to apparate home. When she was walking into the lift, she was too tired to properly notice the person who was already standing there.

She only looked up once the lift started to move, and the moment she saw it was her brother, her hand shot towards her wand.

"One step and I'll blast you to smithereens,” she hissed.

“Give it a rest,” Marcus sighed.

“What’s wrong with you? Too scared?”

But Marcus did not react in the slightest. He slowly walked out of the lift when it next stopped without raising his voice or wand.

She found that very strange. He must have known at this point that one of his school friends just got arrested for murder. He was probably also aware she was the one who arrested him. So why act like this? Why not lash out like he always did? He did hurt her before… Why hold back now?

Once out of the lift, Claudia managed to put both Mulciber and Marcus out of her mind, and apparated home. She run up the stairs to the flat as fast as she could. She could not wait to hold Sirius in her arms.

But her stomach turned when she saw the state that the flat was in. There were dirty dishes and clothes everywhere, and several empty drinks bottles all over the living room.

“Sirius?” she asked tentatively when she did not see him anywhere.

All she heard in response was a kind of low growl from the direction of the fireplace, which did not sound like a human made it. And when she turned in that direction, she understood who did. Padfoot was laying on the rug, curled up in a little ball.

Claudia crossed the living room and sat down on the floor next to him. Tentatively, she lifted her hand and scratched the dog in between his ears. “Everything alright?”

The dog transformed back into her boyfriend, who looked like he had not slept, eaten, or showered for days either.

“Why are you being Padfoot?” she whispered in a low, gentle tone. “Was there a full moon?”

Sirius shook his head. “It’s easier to cope this way,” he mumbled. “What are you doing home?”

Claudia reached for Sirius’ hand and squeezed it. “I caught him,” she replied now on the verge of tears. Any joy she had left over her success in Glasgow evaporated when she saw Sirius like this. All she had left was that guilt.

“You should’ve written. I’d have tidied up.”

Claudia was not sure why, but those words broke her. She flung her arms around Sirius’ neck. “I’m so sorry about cancelling our trip,” she mumbled through her tears. “I should’ve just let someone else deal with Mulciber.”

“You did what you had to do.” Sirius squeezed her in his arms. “You caught the person who tried to kill Ted. That’s a good thing.”

“But what about you?”

“You are here now.” He attempted a smile. “Let’s just take a shower and go to bed. I can’t remember the last time I got any real sleep. I was so worried…”

“That’s a good plan,” she replied and wiped her eyes.

Once they were in bed and Sirius’ warm body was wrapped around her, Claudia teared up again. This time just out of sheer relief that they had this moment. She clutched onto Sirius’ arm and let the warm tears stream down her cheeks. But she was too tired to cry for long. And Sirius was too tired to notice. She could feel his slow breath on her neck, and knew he was asleep.

Claudia did not wake up till the morning, her neck slightly stiff by sleeping on Sirius’ shoulder all night. But it was worth it. Despite her physical pain, she felt at peace.

“I don’t ever want to leave this bed…” she sighed and kissed him.

“Do you have to?”

“Probably. I have no idea what happens next. I’ll go in, see what’s what but will try to leave at lunch. I also need to go and look in on Alice.” She kissed him again. “Are you going to be ok?”

Sirius smirked. “Have faith in me. I can survive few hours on my own…”

“We can go to Diagon Alley after to buy some Christmas presents.”

Sirius groaned.

“I don’t want to do it either, but we don’t have a choice. We can’t show up to the Potters’ empty-handed.”

He sat up. “I hate shopping. Besides, I just think it’s too many people. We’d be an easy target.”

Claudia exhaled to think. “You’re right. Why don’t you go, pick up a few catalogues and we order everything by post?”

“Sounds marginally less awful.”

Claudia gave Sirius another kiss, got dressed while he made her a coffee, and left for work. The sooner she was there, the sooner she was home again. And she could not wait. Her time in Glasgow was the longest her and Sirius were apart for in years, and it only just hit her how much she missed him.

Her team’s usual office was still deserted, so she made her way to the Operations Room.

“Are you better?” Barraclough asked but continued before she could answer. “You disappeared so fast last night I didn’t even get a chance to tell you to come in later today to recover.”

Claudia smiled. “I was actually thinking of taking the afternoon off, if that’s ok.”

“You deserve it.”

“So…” Claudia began and tentatively looked around. “What now?”

“Now, you have to organise all the evidence we have, compile the timelines, prepare list of witnesses, and wait for the Wizengamot Administration to assign you a prosecutor. They’ll lead the trial preparations.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a prosecutor.”

“Yeah,” Barraclough mumbled. “Just remember, their job is to win the case in front of the Wizengamot and the biggest part of that is that our evidence holds up… So they can be a little, er-“

“Little what?”

“Little tough on you…”

“But we’re on the same side.”

“At the trial we are,” Barraclough explained. “Doesn’t always feel like it beforehand.”

With a slight lump in her throat, Claudia went back to her office to start organising her things. She thought the hard part of her job was done, but Barraclough scared her.

But no matter how hard she tried to work out the timeline or remember what happened, she was too tired to focus on any of it and ended up just putting everything on a huge, disorganised pile and shoving it into the safe. Surely, she had plenty of time to get all this sorted.

While she was closing the safe, she got a note from the Wizengamot administration that the first meeting with the prosecutors will be first thing Monday morning. For a second, she contemplated opening that safe again and getting a head start, but eventually decided just to come in early on Monday and deal with it then.

Chapter Text

There was one more thing that Claudia had to do before going back home. She needed to go and see Alice.

They had lunch together, eating the soup that Frank left in the fridge, and Claudia updated her friend on everything that happened in Glasgow. But she got the distinct impression that Alice was not really listening. The soup seemed to have taken all of Alice’s attention. She ate a small bite every now and then, but mostly just kept stirring it with a spoon. It must have been stone cold by now.

“Hang on,” Alice said and slowly got up. She gripped the back of the chair to steady herself. “I got something for you,” she added and shuffled out of the kitchen.

Soon, she was back, but there was no sign of whatever it was she was meaning to bring.

“What is it?” Claudia asked.

“What’s what?”

“The thing…”

Alice was staring at Claudia with her mouth slightly ajar. “What thing?”

“You were going to pick something up for me.” Claudia was getting ever so slightly worried. Alice was a mere shadow of her formal self, and there was only as much as she could explain away as shock.

“I forgot…” Alice mumbled, shut her eyes and sighed. “I can’t remember what it was I was going to get you.”

Alice dropped to the chair and yawned. “This happens to me a lot these days. I’m so tired all the time. I can’t even imagine going to the office Christmas party. I’d fall asleep.”

At three o’clock, Alice (true to her word) dozed off on the sofa. Claudia put the throw over her and went home. She hoped with all her heart that Alice was going to be fine. It was hard seeing her like this. Like she was here, but not really. Like her essence had disappeared.

The moment Claudia stepped through the door of her home, Sirius pointed at a pile of magazines on the coffee table. “I have catalogues from Flourish and Blotts, the joke shop, Madam Malkin’s, Quality Quidditch Supplies-“ he theatrically blew a raspberry –“Hate that game… Scribbulus Writing Instruments, and the sweet shop.”

“I think that might be enough,” Claudia smiled and drew in a deep breath. Sirius was in a jokey mood, the flat smelled like food. For a second, everything was good. “What are you cooking?”

“Just some sausages and mash. Couldn’t be arsed doing anything more complicated.”

While Sirius finished the food, Claudia collected the dirty clothes from the living room, took the rest of the used dishes into the kitchen and dropped them into the sink. They could deal with those after they ate. Then, she returned to the living room and waved her wand around long enough for the apartment to feel a little cleaner. She promised herself that one day, she would learn the household spells properly.

“Alice doesn’t seem well at all,” Claudia mumbled as she ate her sausages of the now clean dining table. “I’m worried about her.”

Sirius reached across the table and held Claudia’s hand. “I think being worried about people we love is the new norm,” he mumbled.

They sat in silence for a while, neither of them quite able to say just how hard it was. They were barely out of their teens, worried about death on a daily basis.

After a while, Sirius grinned. “Let’s forget all this crap for a bit and shop.” As Claudia settled herself on the sofa and Sirius took their plates back to the kitchen, she heard him shout. “Oh, and there is something else I got in Diagon Alley – mulled wine!”

Within twenty minutes, the flat smelled like Christmas, and they were sitting on the sofa, a cup of mulled wine each.

“James first,” Claudia said and reached for the Quality Quidditch Supplies catalogue.

“Really? Do we have to?” Sirius sighed. “He can’t play anyway. Even the Auror Quidditch tournament got cancelled.”

“I know,” Claudia sighed. “I’d pay good money to be able to play just one game,” she mumbled and flipped through the catalogue. “They have so much useless shit. He’ll love it.”

Claudia was now browsing the miscellaneous section. She had to laugh when she saw what they had on offer. Underwear covered in quaffles for both men and women. Bra with cups that were golden and carried the same markings as the snitch. They had every single conceivable Christmas decoration, candles that smelled like Quidditch changing rooms, and much more-

“Look, a miniature beater’s bat!” Claudia exclaimed.

Sirius pulled the catalogue from her hands. “What is it for?”

“Decoration?” she shrugged.

“I can think of few other things…” he said suggestively.

“Should we get it for James?” She could feel the mulled wine rising to her head and started to giggle.

“No,” Sirius interrupted her and threw the catalogue towards the direction of the rubbish bin. “We’re going to be nice. Let’s look at something else.”

“They wouldn’t use it anyway. They’re prudes,” Claudia smirked, and Sirius burst out laughing.

They drunk some more wine, and Sirius picked up the Madame Malkin’s catalogue and started to flip through the pages. Claudia rested her head on his shoulder.

“I think this one would suit Remus,” Sirius said and pointed at a cardigan.

“It’s a bit dull,” Claudia mumbled.

“Well, Remus is a bit dull,” Sirius smirked.

Claudia sat up straight and snatched the catalogue from Sirius’ hand. “Then, we need to buy him something that gets him out of his shell,” she said and turned over few more pages. “Like this!” she shrieked and pointed at a dazzling set of robes that shimmered in all the colours of the rainbow.”

“I cannot believe I’m the one saying this,” Sirius laughed. “But that’s a bit much…”

“Fine,” Claudia threw that catalogue back on the table and drained her mug. “We can come back to Remus.” She dropped back to the sofa. “I hate shopping.”

“I think we need more mulled wine,” Sirius said with a smirk, and filled up both of their mugs.

They drunk, laughed and flipped through the catalogues for the rest of the afternoon. By seven in the evening, they had drunk so much mulled wine that they could barely put together a coherent sentence, but still have no presents.

“You know what,” Claudia giggled. “We should get Lily that Quidditch underwear.”

“As a present for James?” Sirius laughed.

Claudia tore out an order form from the Quality Quidditch Supplies catalogue. “What’s her size though?”

Sirius closed his eyes and scrunched his eyebrows together.

“You stop trying to picture Lily’s bra size, or I’ll kill you right now.”

Sirius, his eyes still closed, burst out laughing. “I’m trying to picture what size she might be in few months, once the-” he laughed and trailed off. He froze, and blinked three times.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh shit.” Sirius’ eyes were not only open now; they were wide open. “I wasn’t supposed to say. They were going to tell everyone at Christmas.”

“Tell what?”

“Oh come on, you can work it out-“

“Are they pregnant?”

“Yes,” Sirius mumbled. “But Lily doesn’t even know that I know, so act surprised when they tell us.”

Claudia exhaled. “Oh shit, indeed… A baby?” she asked. “Really? Now?”

“It was sort of ‘if it happens, it happens’ scenario,” he said. “Or so I’m told.”

“James as a dad, that’s going to be weird.”

“Yeah.”

Claudia paused, she was out of things to say. The idea that James Potter was going to have a baby was so ridiculous, her drunk brain could not make any sense of it. “Do we need to get them nicer gifts?”

Sirius laughed. “Nope. We can’t let them grow up too much.” But then, his face dropped. “I don’t understand why they would give themselves even more to worry about,” he mumbled in a much quieter voice. “If you could lose everything in minutes.”

Claudia stared at Sirius. The thought that she could lose him haunted her. She still had nightmares about that mission when he stepped in front of the killing curse. She had no words to express how she felt about the possibility he would just… Not be there one day. So instead, she hugged him. “I love you,” she whispered.

But they were too drunk to dwell on the war for too long. They filled out few more order forms, and giggling went to bed. As they were falling asleep in each other’s arms, Claudia could not help but remember all the other evenings they spent together laughing and having a drink. These sorts of evenings had been sparce since Regulus died. But seeing Sirius cheerful again really was the best thing ever. The thought brought a smile to her face, and she fell asleep.

In the morning, Claudia’s head was a little sore. She shuffled to the kitchen and held onto a coffee cup that Sirius poured for her with dear life.

“So glad we didn’t send off those orders,” she mumbled. “Did we really try to order a rat training wheel for Peter on top of everything else?”

Sirius bit his lip. “I have some bad news. The owl got back in the middle of the night, woke me up and I may have sent it all off.”

“You did what?” Claudia straightened her back so suddenly, that some of the coffee spilled onto her t-shirt. “But we got Remus those glowing robes!”

“He’ll cope,” Sirius smirked and took sip of his own coffee.

“We need to get it all back!”

“And I think,” Sirius paused and scratched his head. “I think I ordered it all to James’ house because I didn’t want to put down our address.”

“Sirius! Get it back!”

“And I think I added the miniature beaters’ bat too.”

“Sirius!”

“I’ll get them back,” he giggled and gave Claudia a hug. She could not help but laugh with him.

But Sirius’ good spirits did not last past the next day’s Daily Prophet. Between reports of a dead auror, his mother appearing in the society pages, and news of a fresh attack on muggleborns, his mood was well and truly ruined even before he got out of bed. The previous day’s cheerful shopping spree only served as a reminder of what their life together used to be like. The care-free life they no longer had.

Claudia watched him throw the papers on the floor and glanced at her watch on the nightstand. It may have been a miserable Saturday and almost Christmas, but it was time to go to work. “Don’t forget we got the Auror Office Christmas Party tonight.”

Sirius groaned. “Do we have to go?”

“I have to go,” Claudia said. “And it would be so much more bearable if you came with me.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“That’s alright,” Claudia said and slid her legs down from the bed. It was not like Sirius to avoid socialising. “Just message me if you change your mind.”

“Are you going somewhere?” Sirius growled.

“I might have to go-“

“Into the office…” Sirius interrupted and finished her sentence with a groan.

“It’s either this or I sleep there on Sunday night. I got a meeting with the people prosecuting the Mulciber case on Monday morning.”

“Fine,” Sirius sighed and pulled the duvet up until it covered half his face.

“Please don’t give me a hard time about this,” Claudia sighed.

“I can’t help how I feel.”

“I thought you felt a little better.”

Sirius shrugged. “Just go. I’ll be fine.” He grabbed the packet of cigarettes on the nightstand and lit one.

Claudia got dressed, packed some nicer clothes for the party, and set off.

She spent the day in front of a huge whiteboard building a timeline of the Mulciber case and piecing together everything they had. Then, writing it down immaculately on a very long roll scroll of parchment.

At five, she got interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

She turned around to see that it was Sirius, and he was wearing a tie!

“You changed your mind!” she exclaimed.

“I know I’ll regret it,” he grumbled but eventually forced a small smile. “Shall we?”

Soon enough, Claudia and Sirius were standing on the threshold of one of the ceremonial rooms of the Ministry that had been turned into a party venue for the night. Several huge Christmas trees, tall windows (although everyone knew that was not a real scenery outside), chandeliers, music, waiters in formal robes. The war suddenly felt million miles away.

They fought through the crowd until they found Claudia’s colleagues in the corner. They were all sitting around a tiny table with a couple of bottles of champagne, at least one of which was empty. Tracey was laughing as her fingers were resting on Ewan’s arm.

“Wasn’t expecting the party to escalate this quickly,” Claudia mumbled, pointing at the empty bottle, and sat down on one of the empty chairs next to Oscar. She also raised her eyebrow and made a slight movement of her head towards Ewan and Tracey who were still laughing manically.

“Don’t even,” Oscar whispered, but then gestured towards the champagne bottles, and spoke in a much louder voice. “The bartender insisted we drink by the glass, but we found a way…”

Sirius laughed, which made Claudia’s heart jump with joy. She was so much more aware of his mood these days and noticed every single laugh. “This is a party I might be able to survive,” he said and took the other chair.

“Still cannot believe you are here,” Ewan pulled away from Tracey and gestured theatrically towards Sirius. “Moody wouldn’t let me bring a girlfriend…”

“You have a girlfriend?” Tracey asked, her voice unusually high-pitched. Claudia had to try very hard to supress an eye roll. She did not think much of Tracey since their row the other month, and this rather obvious crush on Ewan made Claudia dislike her even more. How could she not know what Ewan was like?

“I could’ve had a girlfriend if Moody allowed me to bring one to this bloody party,” Ewan replied nonchalantly.

That made Oscar laugh. “And you wonder why he isn’t letting you… You’re a security risk!”

A bit of an awkward silence ensued, and Sirius turned to Tracey in an attempt to break it. “Don’t think we met.”

“Tracey Holt,” she said in a slightly bitter tone, and extended her hand. “My sister says hi.”

Ewan and Oscar both grinned. “Oh, yes, we heard about that… He dated your sister, didn’t he?”

Sirius was spared further blushes by the Head Auror taking the stage to give a toast.

“This isn’t over,” Ewan whispered in Sirius’ direction but was swiftly shushed by everyone else.

“They say that Christmas is the season to be jolly,” the Head Auror began and then took a solemn pause. “Never before did these words sound hollower that this year. We lost too many valued colleagues.”

“Neville Adler, Alabaster Dovetail, Lavender Fledgling, Ernest Horn, Susan Ironwood, Willow Mallard, Marshall Silverberry, and Shelly Sweetleaf. I want us to take a moment to remember them all.”

He lowered his head and closed his eyes, which brought the room to a complete standstill. There was stone cold silence, and no one dared to move.

“Thank you,” the Head Auror finally mumbled, struggling to control his voice. “Many others were also injured, some permanently. Many of you are carrying scars that cannot be seen-“

Sirius leaned over to Claudia. “Is Alice here?” he whispered.

“No, she’s not. Not feeling up to it.”

Claudia started to listen to the Head Auror again. “I would also like to pay tribute to your spouses and loved ones. As many of you will know, my wife is an auror too. I know what it is like to sit at home in the middle of the night and worry if the person you love is ever coming home again.”

Claudia could feel Sirius’ hand placed around her shoulders to grip her a little tighter.

“You want to be proud of them,” the Head Auror continued. “You are proud of them. But you are also scared.”

Claudia glanced at Sirius, but his eyes were planted firmly on the speaker.

The Head Auror gripped the glass of champagne that someone had passed him. “I’m not asking you to forget about our fallen colleagues tonight. I’m not asking you to forget about the war. But everyone deserves a little bit of respite. So, please, do enjoy yourself. You have all worked incredibly hard this year, putting your lives on the line every day. And I, and the rest of the wizarding population of this country, are very grateful.” He raised his glass. “Cheers… Oh, and Merry Christmas!”

“Cheers,” the whole room said in unison, and everyone took a sip or two of their champagne.

“Well, that was depressing,” Oscar mumbled, picked up for the bottle, and filled up everyone’s glass.

“Has it always been like this?” Sirius asked and reached into his jacket to light a cigarette.

“This is the most deaths we’ve had since I’ve been here.” Ewan mumbled.

“Hey, hey, hey-“ Oscar interrupted. “You heard the boss. This is supposed to be a party.” He looked at Sirius, who opened his mouth as if to ask more questions, and then spoke in a more serious voice. “Look, try not to worry. We care about this one.“ He gestured towards Claudia and, taking her by surprise, pulled her into a hug. “We wouldn’t ever let anything happen to her.”

Claudia chuckled. “Careful, people might think you care.”

“Or worse, that he’s in looooove.” Ewan roared, which made everyone laugh.

“Right, that would be a first.” Claudia smirked.

“Don’t worry, brother,” Oscar said to Ewan. “Our deal still stands. Single until our last breaths!”

Tracey cleared her throat. “So-“ she mumbled and looked at Ewan. “You don’t have a girlfriend either?” she asked and the noise levels at the table dropped considerably.

“No,” Ewan said.

Claudia exchanged a look with Oscar, who finally released her from the hug and filled up everyone’s glasses again. “New subject – I want to know about your mission to Glasgow, Avery.”

“Have you not read my report?”

“I have… It’s thrilling,” he snorted. “But I want to know what’s not in that report. How did you get access to the hospital to talk to that landlady?”

“Power of persuasion-“ Claudia paused and chuckled. “And a slight tweak to the name on my muggle passport to convinced them I was her daughter.”

“Is that allowed?” Tracey asked sharply.

“Who cares,” Ewan chuckled. “What I want to know is how you did it! Sounds exceedingly useful…”

“I know a skilled forger,” Claudia said with a smile and a side-glance at Sirius.

“I knew it! There was no way you were leaving that mission with a clean conscience.” Oscar laughed and playfully punched her upper arm.

“You didn’t say that’s why you needed to know that spell,” Sirius briefly leaned in to mumble in Claudia’s ear. His hand lingered on her shoulder.

“Anything else you didn’t like in that report?” she asked cheekily of Oscar, and leant against Sirius, who had hugged her so tightly, his arm was now falling over Claudia’s shoulder and across her chest.

“Nor for now. But I’m sure it will come to me,” Oscar said.

“In all seriousness though,” Ewan said. “We were all well impressed. Even Moody, and he doesn’t say that often.”

“Thanks,” Claudia said and could feel the blood rising to her cheeks. She was not used to praise.

“I don’t know if you realise, being a civilian,” Oscar said toward Sirius, “but your girlfriend is awesome. Tracking a Death Eater like that. More experienced aurors would –“

“Of course I realise!” Sirius snapped, interrupting him. “It’s not like I sit on my arse at home all day.”

“Oh, you mean your little club?” Oscar smirked.

“Fuck off,” Sirius growled and straightened up his posture. Every muscle Claudia could feel because she was leaning on him had tensed up.

Claudia looked at her boyfriend and rested her hand on his leg. He seemed to loosen a little. For a moment, Oscar looked like he was contemplating responding but thought better of it and poured another round of drinks.

“He’s just jealous,” Ewan spoke to diffuse the tension. “He’s been trying to join since the start, but Moody won’t let him.”

Join what?” Tracey asked.

“Nothing,” they all mumbled in unison.

Sirius took out another cigarette and lit it.

The rest of the party went about the same. They talked about work, the war. Ewan and Tracey were inching closer and closer to each other. Barraclough came to have one drink with them before disappearing again. Moody was too busy to turn up at all.

“I think it’s time to go home,” Claudia uttered when the music stopped, and the lights were turned up. It was not the most subtle sign that the Christmas party was over.

Claudia hugged all of her colleagues, got a kiss on the cheek from Oscar, and she and Sirius were on their way.

“You all seem very close,” Sirius said as they were walking through the empty Ministry corridors, his hand firmly around Claudia’s waist.

“We spend a lot of time together.”

“Yeah,” Sirius hissed. “Didn’t quite know kissing was part of the job description.”

Claudia stopped abruptly and a broad smile appeared on her face. “Good grief,” she chuckled. “You are jealous!”

“I’m not jealous,” Sirius protested with a slight frown.

“You know there is no reason to be…” Claudia said and placed her hands on his chest. “You’re the only person I ever wanted to be with.”

“I know that…” He paused and his frown deepened. “Does Oscar though?”

“What are you talking about?” Claudia said with a slight chuckle.

“He had his hands all over you all night. Both laughing at each other’s dumb jokes!”

“We’re friends!”

“Right…”

Claudia could not help but laugh again.

“Are you laughing at me?” Sirius seemed really annoyed now. There were now at the Ministry lifts, and he was angrily jabbing the button to call it.

“Yes, I am. You’re being ridiculous.”

The lift had arrived, and they stepped into it in silence.

“Do you trust me?” Claudia asked slowly. “Because if you don’t after everything we’ve been through...” she trailed off.

Sirius sighed. “Of course, I trust you. I trust you with my life.”

“Then, why are you this jealous?”

“I know I’m being ridiculous…” he mumbled. “But we haven’t really seen each other all that much lately, and-“

“I know. I’m sorry,” Claudia said and run her finger on the side of his face. “I shouldn’t have.” All the guilt about the Glasgow mission came flooding back.

Sirius brushed Claudia’s hair. “You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s your job…” he whispered and kissed her. “And your boss was right. I really am proud of you.”

She lifted herself on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I love you.”

Sirius slid his hands down Claudia’s back and hooked his thumbs on the back of her trousers. “I love you too,” he mumbled and pulled her into another kiss. This time longer.

“Should we get home?” she whispered and tugged on his tie.

Once in their flat, they stumbled towards the bedroom. By the time they got there, half their clothes were already gone. They fell into the covers, and expertly got rid of the rest of them, while never quite letting each other’s lips be.

“I have an idea-“ Sirius said with a broad grin before sliding both of his hands in between Claudia’s legs. She had no idea what he did with those long fingers of his. She only knew that it nearly made her loose her senses. Repeatedly. She lost count how many times, before Sirius slowed down and kissed her again. Claudia found enough strength to wrap her legs around him, and they joined to peak again, this time together.

“This was just-“ she whispered when they finished, barely able to catch her breath.

Sirius kissed her again, stroking her side so gently it almost tickled.

“Just unbelievable,” she finished the thought. “Maybe you can get a little jealous more often.”

Sirius buried his face in the crook of Claudia’s neck and laughed. “I promise I’ll try.”

After a Sunday spent in a haze caused by the slight hangover, and tiredness from their late-night love making, Claudia found herself back in her office almost unreasonably early on Monday morning.

Oscar was there too, brewing some coffee.

“Don’t they have coffee in the Operations Room?” she hissed, perhaps a little more icily than she intended to. Sirius’ jealousy may have been ridiculous, but Oscar did not exactly help. He was all too aware of how to push Sirius’ buttons.

“They do. But it’s disgusting…” he smirked.

Claudia kept frowning.

“What?”

“Did you really have to be such an arse to Sirius?”

“I wasn’t –“ he began but stopped abruptly when he saw the expression on Claudia’s face. “Fine. I’m sorry. Nothing personal, you know what I’m like…”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t kill you to be nicer sometimes.”

“Noted… Anyway,” he said with a grin. “You missed quite the end to the party.”

“What happened?”

“Moody found Ewan and our esteemed trainee in a compromising position in his office.”

Claudia was not surprised. It was clear that was where it was heading. “How compromising?”

“Compromising enough to get Tracey reassigned and Ewan suspended for two weeks. The boss is furious.”

“Does it mean you need more help on the Anderson investigation?” Claudia asked.

Oscar smirked. “Oh no, Oscar,” he said in a voice clearly designed to imitate Claudia’s. “That’s terrible for both of them. Poor Tracey, having to do the rest of her traineeship in the admin division.”

“Yeah, yeah… Whatever,” Claudia said with a slight eye-roll. “She’ll be fine.”

“Didn’t you try telling me not five minutes ago I should be nicer?” Oscar roared.

“Shut up. The Anderson case?”

“Talk to Barraclough about it.”

“Will do,” she sighed. “But now, I have to meet my prosecutors.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said and patted her on the shoulder. “Just keep your cool and don’t yell at them.”

“Why would I yell at them?”

“You’ll see…” Oscar smirked and slid out of the door.

Claudia watched him leave. He was smart and funny. He was confident. He was tall. But Sirius was being ridiculous. They were just colleagues, and friends. That was all. He did not feel that way about her. With that thought, Claudia collected all her papers and slowly made her way to the meeting.

Huge pile of documents in her arms, she walked into the room to find two people sitting there. A middle-aged woman with narrow glasses and a high bun, and a younger man with a fresh roll of parchment in front of him.

“Good morning,” she said through the huge lump in her throat. Her nerves had finally caught up with her. “I’m Claudia Avery, the auror on the Mulciber case.”

“I’m Romilda Goldhorn,” the woman said and pointed at her colleague. “And this is Cyrus Mallard. Take a seat, we’ll begin.”

Claudia run both of the prosecutors through the timeline of the case. Mallard wrote down everything she said, while Goldhorn asked the questions.

Five minutes in, Goldhorn raised her hand to indicate she wanted Claudia to stop, just as Claudia was getting to the bit when she travelled up to Scotland. “How did you find out the address?” she asked.

“A confidential informant told me.”

“Did you pay them for that information?”

“Yes.”

Goldhorn frowned. “I understand that sometimes this is necessary, but I need you to tell me exactly what they told you in exchange for the money.”

“He told me Mulciber’s address in Glasgow. I have no idea how he got it. But it was the right address-“

Goldhorn raised her hand again. “Did you tell this informant why you were after Mulciber?”

“No.”

“Did you encourage him to provide a false testimony?”

“No!” Claudia barked. Her blood was rising now. “Of course not!”

“Very well,” Goldhorn said. “Keep going.” She let Claudia continue until Mulciber’s arrest before jumping in again. “What do you mean he was out of it?”

“I don’t know. It was just way too easy. He didn’t fight back, he didn’t try to hide anything. He just stood there and confessed.”

“Remember at the trial you will be under oath.”

“And?” Claudia barked, fully expecting another lecture.

“Think of this as practice… Did you, or did you not give any substances to Mulciber? Or-“ she gestured at Claudia, who had opened her mouth to protest, to keep quiet. “Meddled with his mind in any other way? Modified his memory or the Imperius Curse, for instance?”

“I did nothing of that sort! I have not yet learned how to modify memories, and I’m not authorised to use the Unforgiveable Curses.”

“That did not stop you before.” You could hear the pin drop in the meeting room.

“I did that in self-defence!” Claudia’s voice was raised again, but she remembered Oscar’s advice not to yell at the prosecutors. “And I was cleared!” she added as calmly as she could.

Luckily, Goldhorn chose to ignore Claudia’s outburst and leaned closer to Mallard. “Let’s get a healer to look at him before the trial starts. The defence will surely exploit this.”

“Anything else?” Claudia said through gritted teeth.

“You tell us,” Goldhorn said significantly. “Is there anything else the defence could use against you?”

Claudia hesitated for a moment, remembering Oscar’s teasing from the party earlier. “I forged a muggle passport to get access to the hospital when I questioned Mulciber’s landlady.”

“Typical aurors,” Goldhorn mumbled. “Nothing we had not dealt with before.” Then she pushed the pile of Claudia’s evidence in front of Mallard and adjusted her glasses. “Now, there are few more things I need you to do,” she continued. “First of all, I need you to write down your own account of what happened. Something along the lines of what you said earlier would do. But please try to use more precise language.”

Goldhorn’s tone made Claudia scrunch the tip of her nose.

“Secondly, you will be called as a witness. I do not suppose you’ve done that before.”

“I have not.”

“Ask Barraclough, he knows how to do it. Do not ask Moody. We don’t need him leading by example, yelling at anyone who dares to ask a question.”

“Understood.”

Goldhorn nodded, then looked at Mallard and gestured at him to collect the papers. “We will be in touch with questions,” she added and floated out of the room. Mallard followed her like a puppy.

Claudia soon followed and went to the Operations Room to find Barraclough.

“How were the prosecutors?” he asked nonchalantly once she finally found him hiding in a cubicle, looking through staff profiles.

“Alright,” Claudia mumbled. “But it doesn’t seem like they need so much more from me. Do you want any help with those?” she added, pointing at the pile of paperwork.

“No,” he said resolutely. “I know you want to be on the case, but I need you focusing on the Mulciber trial. I don’t want him slipping through our fingers now.”

“Fine.” The disappointment was apparent in Claudia’s voice. “Goldhorn also wants you to tell me how to be a good witness.”

“Be factual, don’t make any assumption,” he began. “Do not express an opinion or get angry under questioning. Worst thing you can do is to get angry.”

“Anything else?” Claudia sighed.

“That’s it,” Barraclough said and picked up one of the staff reports. “And I really need to get back into this.”

Claudia left him there, muttering under her breath. She could have handled both cases. They were all just too blind to see it.

Exhausted, Claudia went to bed almost as soon as she got home. It was Christmas Eve. The following morning, it took both her and Sirius ages to get out of bed.

Claudia used her auror training to disguise herself and pop into Diagon Alley for some very last-minute Christmas shopping. Most shops were shut but she managed to get some books for Remus and Peter, Quidditch-themed Christmas decorations for James, and a beautiful quill for Lily.

When they got to James’ and Lily’s house, Claudia found Alice standing in the hallway.

“What are you doing here?” Claudia said with a smile and gave her a hug. She was so happy to see Alice out an about. Her face looked fuller than last time.

“Lily invited us. Mum is still in St Mungo’s, so we thought it would be nice to be with you guys.”

“Are you feeling any better?”

“Not really,” Alice sighed. “I’m still tired all the time. Can barely look at food. The stress is just…” she paused. “Dad’s case is either getting nowhere, or they aren’t telling us.”

“I am trying to get myself on that investigation.”

“Don’t you have that Mulciber trial?”

Claudia nodded. “But that will be over soon.”

“It’s a lot of work, trial and an investigation like that.”

“Come on, I need to do something to help you, and this is the best way I can help,” Claudia protested. “You know how useless I get saying the right things, comforting you-“

Alice gave Claudia a hug. “You’re my best friend. I know you miss my dad too-“ she paused. “But you don’t have to kill yourself at work over it.”

“It’s ok-“

But Alice interrupted her again. “These few months really showed me what’s important. Please remember that you don’t have to prove anything to us. We all love you anyway.”

“I-“ Claudia stuttered. “But I want to do this.”

At that point, they all got called in. The lunch was starting.

“We all love you anyway,” Alice repeated in a whisper as they walked into the dining room.

Before James carved the turkey, he squeezed Lily’s hand and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“We have a bit of an announcement,” James mumbled uncertainly. Then he looked at his wife again and smiled. “Lily and I are going to have a baby.”

Claudia pretended that she did not know and congratulated them as heartily as everyone else. Except Sirius, who was sitting with his arms crossed and staring at the bottom of his glass. Gradually, everyone fell silent and looked at him.

“Sorry… I’m really happy for you both,” he mumbled. “Just don’t have the energy to pretend I haven’t known for weeks.”

“How?” Lily asked, her eye so narrow she looked like Professor McGonagall again.

Claudia could see James looking daggers at Sirius.

Lily clearly spotted this. “You told him?” she hissed.

But James did not have to defend himself as Sirius got up from the table and mumbled. “Going for a smoke.”

“Is he smoking again?” Remus asked in Claudia’s direction, the judgement dripping from his voice.

“Clearly,” Claudia sighed. Everyone was looking at her and it was making her uncomfortable. “How are you feeling, Lily?” she asked in an attempt to deflect.

Lily hesitated for a moment, as if she was weighing up whether to move the conversation on. “So tired,” she said finally. “I need to have a nap at three o’clock every day. Two days ago, I didn’t wake up till the morning. And ‘morning sickness’? It’s not just the morning. It’s constant nausea, all day long.”

They chatted about pregnancy symptoms for a while yet, and Sirius finally came back to the table and poured himself another glass of wine.

“Any weird cravings?” Frank asked.

“No!” Lily shook her head. “Just lot of food that turns my stomach. I can’t even look at a fish.”

“Excuse me,” Alice said suddenly. “Bathroom.” She got up from the table and walked out into the hallway. Through the gap in the door, Claudia could see her best friend gesturing her over.

She excused herself too and followed Alice out of the dining room. “What’s going on?” she asked, once they were both in the hallway and out of earshot.

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?”

“These symptoms Lily’s describing.” Alice’s voice shook as she spoke. “I’ve been feeling just like that. I haven’t had my period in ages. I thought it was just the stress. But come to think of it…”

Claudia supressed a grimace. “Were you trying to get pregnant?”

“Of course not. Not now,” Alice mumbled. “I thought we were being careful…”

“I need to know which potion you were using,” Claudia uttered. She had no idea what to say to Alice, who was clearly in shock. They both were.

Alice sighed. “Just how much are you judging me right now?”

“Trust me,” Claudia smiled awkwardly and put her hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “I would be judging you a lot more if I thought you did it on purpose.”

That made Alice chuckle through the tears that had now formed themselves on her lower eye lids. “What am I going to do?” she whispered.

“You’ll go to St Mungo’s first, ok?” Claudia replied. “To make sure it’s actually true. You can panic after that.”

“What do you think Frank will say?”

“Frank?” Claudia said with a smile. “Frank is going to be there for you. Frank would be there for you if you turned into Voldemort.”

Alice smiled, her tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. She hugged Claudia. “I need my mum,” she whispered. Claudia did not know what to say. She could fell her whole body tensing up at the thought that anyone would want to talk to their mother about something like this.

Alice was a little subdued for the rest of the lunch, and they exchanged a look every time someone mentioned Lily’s pregnancy.

After the delicious food, everyone sat around the Christmas tree while Claudia tried to explain the rushed presents she bought earlier, and why there were a few more delivery boxes that were to remain unopened.

“You did do-over presents? James laughed. “I’m opening the original ones right now.”

“No!” Claudia laughed. “We were very drunk.”

“They can’t be that bad!”

“We got you a miniature beater’s bat,” Claudia sniggered. “It was very suggestive.” She laughed and her eyes darted towards Sirius.

He was sat like a statue, staring at the wall. “Sorry, I need a glass of water,” he mumbled and promptly left the room again.

Everyone felt silent and looked at Claudia again. She could just imagine what they were all thinking. What they were all going to say. They were worried about him. Something had to be done. They would all probably have fifteen different, and equally useless, suggestions for how Claudia should be handling all of this. She could not take their judgement, stood up and followed him.

She found him pouring a large glass of firewhiskey in the kitchen. It was eerily quiet, bar the faint sound of Christmas music coming from the living room.

“Sorry…” Sirius mumbled the moment she walked through the door.

“Are you ok?”

“I don’t feel like celebrating,” he sighed and took a sip from his glass. “Came here to think…”

“What are you thinking about?” Claudia took another glass from the cupboard and poured herself some whiskey too.

“Regulus…” Sirius whispered and reached into his back pocket for a cigarette.

“Lily wouldn’t want us to smoke here.”

“True…” Sirius opened the back door and went to sit on the stairs that led down to the garden. Claudia sat down next to him and took a cigarette too.

“The last Christmas I spent with Regulus,” Sirius began slowly and quietly. “He told my parents about us. It still makes me mad-“

“He wasn’t entirely to blame for what happened then, was he?”

“I guess not,” Sirius chuckled a little.

They smoked in silence for a while.

“How do you think it would’ve turned out?” Claudia asked. “If Regulus hadn’t told them. If we didn’t break up.”

Sirius shrugged. “I think I needed to make that mistake, to realise just how much I love you.”

“Every cloud…” Claudia smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

But Sirius turned away. “I don’t even have a present for you.”

“I don’t mind-“

Sirius kept avoiding her eye and fiddled with the cigarette in his hand. “Just couldn’t find anything that would make you happy. I’ve been to so many shops… Nothing was good enough.”

“Oh, come on,” Claudia whispered and reached out for his hand. “Who cares about a fucking Christmas. You are the only thing that matters to me.”

Sirius wrapped his arm around Claudia, and she dropped her head on his shoulder.

“Besides,” she whispered. “I got a present for both of us.” She reached into her sleeve and took out her wand to summon Sirius’ gift. “Merry Christmas,” she mumbled when the present landed in her hand.

Sirius unwrapped it to reveal a travel guide to Italy.

“Let’s reschedule that trip.”

He smiled squeezed Claudia so firmly in his arms he nearly crushed her. “I love you so much,” he whispered into her hair.

Chapter Text

Few days after Christmas, Claudia’s alarm woke her up to nearly complete darkness. She was so exhausted her eyes would not open properly, and her feet felt cold.

“I don’t want to get up,” she mumbled. She must have only fallen asleep a few hours ago after much tossing and turning. It was not the first time that happened to her over the last few weeks. Her mind just would not shut up.

“Well, that’s the one advantage of being frozen out by the Order,” Sirius said and turned over with a groan. “I don’t have to get up at all.”

Claudia reached over and gently rubbed his shoulder. “It’ll pick up. You’re one of our best fighters. They won’t keep you out for long.”

“Yeah,” Sirius sighed. “Can’t wait.”

Claudia gave him a quick kiss and climbed out of bed, regretting it instantly. It was freezing. She wanted nothing more than to climb back under the duvet and sleep for the rest of the day, but she did not have that option. She forced herself into the shower and got ready for work.

Once in the office, she downed a couple of cups of coffee and headed for her final meeting with the prosecutors.

“We had a healer look at him,” Goldhorn spoke the moment Claudia closed the meeting room’s door behind her. “They could detect some sort of damage, consistent with a memory charm. But they can’t restore it.”

Claudia took a deep breath, unable to hold her tongue any longer. “I know I’m not supposed to speculate-“

“You’re not,” Goldhorn said but trailed off, making it clear that she was willing to listen.

“But,” Claudia continued tentatively. She’s been holding onto this thought for weeks. “I don’t get the sense this was Mulciber’s idea. Why would he go after Buttons and Ted? Why choose such a stealth way of murdering them?”

“You don’t think he did it?”

“No, I do,” Claudia shook her head. “I think he did it at his own free will. I just don’t think he acted alone.”

“It’s your job to find them, it’s our job to make a strong case. The evidence is there to convict him.”

“Maybe we should wait-“ Claudia jumped in, not really understanding what came over her. She worked so hard on the case. Why try to throw it away? “To see if Mulciber remembers something else.”

The prosecutors looked at each other. It took a while before Goldhorn finally spoke. “That’s not either of our decision. Crouch is not going to let us postpone it. Not if he thinks he’s got an easy conviction.”

“Doesn’t he care we catch who’s really responsible? Rather than just some pawn?”

The prosecutors looked at each other again. “No…” they said almost in unison.

“Great,” Claudia mumbled, far from convinced. “I’ll see you at the trial then.”

Somewhat disheartened, Claudia walked through the Ministry corridors back to her office. It finally dawned on her that the trial was tomorrow, and she was feeling quite nervous now. There was very little time to find more evidence to implicate someone other than Mulciber. Maybe if she- But her train of thoughts got interrupted.

“Avery, my office!” she heard someone yell.

She turned to see it was Crouch, peering through a heavy mahogany door.

The office of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was grand. It had large windows, looking over the Ministry’s atrium. Everything was either a deep shade of green or dark solid wood. Claudia may have had her reservations about Crouch, but he did know how to make a room look imposing. She could not help but feel that she would quite like an office like that one day for herself.

“Tea?” Crouch asked.

“Coffee, if you have some…” she mumbled.

Crouch shouted at his assistant to bring some coffee and gestured towards two antique armchairs in the corner of the room. “How are the preparations for the Mulciber trial?” he asked, even before he sat down.

“Good, we have a good case.” Claudia paused. “Although, there may be more accomplices, masterminds even,” she added slowly. She needed to know if there was a chance that Crouch might be willing to hold off on prosecuting Mulciber.

“Let me stop you right there,” Crouch said and passed her the coffee cup that had materialised on the table between them. “Mulciber is guilty, I’m sure of it. We are not postponing the trial.”

“But-” Claudia mumbled.

Crouch interrupted her again. “I’ve been looking at the papers, however… All the evidence is circumstantial.”

Claudia could feel her heart rate increase. Her hands trembled and she folded them in her lap to steady herself. She was not expecting to have to personally answer to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on the merits of her case. “The prosecutors seem to think it’s enough, and we have his confession too.”

“And there were no other witnesses?” he asked and casually picked up some memo.

“No.”

“No one who could testify they recognise Mulciber at the scene of the crime?” Crouch was speaking so quietly she could barely hear him.

Claudia shook her head. “It was just Fernsby – he’s also on Moody’s team - and me.”

“You must have seen something…”

“Well, I saw a hooded figure in the dark, that’s it. No way I could identify them.”

“Think again,” Crouch said significantly. “It would really help the case.”

Suddenly, Claudia understood. He was not asking her to remember. He was asking her to lie.

“Think again, see if you remember his face,” Crouch implored her. “It must have been Mulciber.”

Claudia finished her coffee and stood up. “If that’s all, Sir. I’ll take my leave.” She mumbled and walked out of there. Furious that Crouch would dare ask her to perjure herself during a full Wizengamot trial, Claudia apparated straight home to find Sirius was still in bed. He was clutching a closed book.

“What are you reading?” she whispered and collapsed into the bed next to him.

“Scamander’s memoirs,” Sirius said after glancing at the cover.

“Anything else you were up to today?”

“This or that.”

“Did you have dinner?”

“I’m not hungry…”

“Come on, I’ll make you something.” She gave Sirius a brief kiss and jumped out of the bed again. “I’m also going to make some light sleeping draught. Trial is tomorrow and I need to get some sleep. Haven’t slept properly for weeks.”

“You nervous?” Sirius asked and slowly followed her out of bed and into the kitchen.

“A little,” Claudia sighed. “But mostly just pissed,” she added and went on to recall the conversation with Crouch. By the time she finished, both the food and the draught was ready.

“But he did do it, right?” Sirius shrugged. “Mulciber is guilty.”

“That doesn’t mean I should be lying during a trial!” Claudia exclaimed, annoyed Sirius would take Crouch’s side. “The rules-“

“Oh, fuck the rules…” Sirius interrupted her. “Why spend so much time on this bloody trial if everyone knows he did it?! I'd thought you have better things to do.”

Claudia just stared at him. She was not annoyed anymore. Instead, it hurt. How could he, after so much work… Tears were forcing their way into her eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ Sirius mumbled.

“Don’t bother coming tomorrow if you think my work is a waste of time…” Claudia snapped and put a bowl of food on the kitchen table in front of him with a loud thud. “Enjoy your food. I’m going to the shower.”

She stomped off towards the bathroom and turned on the hot shower. But the moment she was in the tub, she crumbled to the ground and started to sob. Whether it was exhaustion, nerves, or just frustration, she had no idea. She wanted nothing more than for Sirius to come into the bathroom and hold her. But she had too much pride to tell him that, or to hug him herself.

Eventually, she managed to get out of the shower, drank her sleeping draught and went to bed. Just before the sleeping draught took hold of her, she could feel Sirius climbing into bed to join her.

“I promise to be there tomorrow, alright?” he whispered and kissed her hair.

With her last remaining strength, Claudia shuffled closer to him to feel his warmth, he just about managed to wrap his arms around her before she fell asleep.

By nine in the morning, Claudia found herself in the public gallery of one of the Wizengamot’s courtrooms. Sirius was still sleeping when she left and was bound to come later, but Barraclough was with her, which had calmed her nerves somewhat.

Ted was the first person to give his testimony, but it was no use. He did not remember where and when he was placed under the Imperius Curse, and neither had he any recollection of what happened to him after that.

The next witness up was the surviving locksmith. As expected, he kept denying everything and blaming his wife. Until, about ten minutes into his questioning, something unexpected had happened. When asked if he knew Mulciber, the locksmith took a long pause.

“Yes,” he mumbled and glanced at Crouch, who was presiding over the trial. “He came to the shop often on the orders of the Dark Lord.” He took another long pause. Another glance at Crouch. “He mentioned he was an Imperio specialist.”

Claudia could feel Barraclough’s whole body had tensed up. She could swear there were gasps in the gallery from the other people familiar with the case.

“Why didn’t the bastard say anything before?” Barraclough hissed.

“Well,” Claudia whispered bitterly. “I suspect because Crouch only told him to say this very recently…”

“Crouch wouldn’t have.”

“He did ask me to say I saw Mulciber on the scene just yesterday.”

“Why the fuck-“ Barraclough barked but stopped abruptly when people turned and shushed him. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he continued in a whisper.

“I didn’t realise he’d take it any further.” She paused and sighed. “What do we do?”

Mercifully, this question became arbitrary the moment Mulciber’s defender began to cross-examine the locksmith. His account of meeting Mulciber was so inconsistent that even Crouch had to ask the Wizengamot to disregard it.

Moody and Oscar were questioned too but it did not reveal anything new. Claudia was the second to last witness to go. Her stomach felt like it was weighted down by a huge stone, and her throat was closing. As she sat down on the stand, she glanced around the room. Sirius was still nowhere to be seen, but Oscar and Ewan had taken seats in the back row. Even Moody took Claudia’s old seat next to Barraclough.

“You were one of the two aurors that interrupted the attempted murder of Edward Tonks, correct?” Goldhorn began the questioning.

“Yes.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw a hooded figure pointing a wand at Mr Tonks as he was tying a noose. My assumption is that he was under the Imperius Curse, because once the assailant vanished and his wand’s connection was broken, Mr Tonks' state of mind altered. He became alert and began wondering where he was. He showed no intention to continue the suicide attempt.”

“Did you recognise the assailant?”

“No,” Claudia said resolutely, her eyes planted firmly on Goldhorn. It made her feel a little warm on the inside to defy Crouch in this way.

“What happened next?”

Calmly and factually, Claudia recounted the rest of the case. How they found the key in the bushes and traced it to the store in Manchester. How they learned the proprietors were murdered by Mulciber. How they went after him, but he was gone, until he resurfaced in Glasgow. With that, it was the defence’s turn.

“All of the evidence is circumstantial,” the defender began. “All they have that ties the defendant to these murders is a one scream of a dying woman. Or do you have any actual evidence?” he asked aggressively.

“A box matching the key found at the scene was found in the defendant's apartment-“

But the defender jumped in. “Anyone could've placed-“

“Sir,” Claudia turned to Crouch. It was her turn to interrupt. “I haven't quite finished. And we have a verbal confession immediately after his arrest, and a signed one upon return to the Ministry.

“Yes, the defendant's arrest,” the defender went on. “You were the arresting auror, correct?”

“Yes.”

“How did you find the defendant?”

“I obtained a tip from a confidential informant with the address that Mulciber was hiding at. I visited the address, but the property was burned down. The muggle landlady gave me an address of the shop where he worked, and I followed him to his new place of residence from there.”

“Who is this confidential informant?”

Claudia did not get to answer that question as Goldhorn objected, arguing that revealing the identity would put their life at risk. Crouch agreed.

“Fine, a different question.” The defender was visibly annoyed. “The search of the shop in Manchester where those keys were found. It was a big place but yet, I understand that the key was find within minutes. How?”

Claudia bit her lip to make sure she did not lose her composure. This was not something even Goldhorn picked up on. She must not mess this up. “I was not the one who found it.”

“So you are just saying you got lucky?”

“I’m saying I was not the one who found it. Inspector Moody did and you already questioned him about it.”

“Who tipped you off?”

“Do you need me to repeat it again?” Claudia hissed and caught a glimpse of Oscar and Ewan giggling together. “I was not the one who found the key. I was conducting a search in a different room when Inspector Moody made the discovery.”

“But how did-“ the defender began but did not get to ask his question.

“Move on,” Crouch growled.

“Fine…” The defender grumbled. “This Muggle landlady. Did you tell her who you were?”

“Of course not. I’m well aware of the Statute of Secrecy.”

“So what did you do?”

“I told the hospital I was her daughter, but told her I was from the police.”

“So, deception...” The prosecutor smirked.

“What was I supposed to tell them?” Claudia lost her temper properly for the first time. “And what difference does it make? If I was from the muggle police, they would've let me in.”

“Do you often lash out in anger, Miss Avery?” The defender said silkily.

Goldhorn was now on her feet again. “How exactly is this relevant?”

“We are trying to establish a pattern of behaviour. Miss Avery has previously been disciplined.”

Claudia caught Moody in the crowd. He looked like he was getting up to clobber the defender to death with his chair. Bit Barraclough dragged him down to sit again. That cheered her up. She took a deep breath.

“So, what’s your answer?” The defender insisted. “Do you have a temper-problem?”

“No,” Claudia said with a forced smile. “I would consider myself very even-tempered.”

“But Rosier-“ the defender kept pressing.

“Enough!” Crouch roared. “Move on. This is irrelevant.”

The defender was visibly annoyed, having his third line of argument blocked by Crouch. It occurred to Claudia that having Crouch, who was in charge of both the Auror Office and the prosecutors, presiding over the trial was not exactly fair.

“Can you tell us what state of mind Mulciber was in when you arrested him?” The defender sounded almost resigned now.

“He was calm. He didn't fight back. And he confessed immediately.”

“Did you find that an unusual reaction?”

Claudia did not find it just unusual. She found it fucking weird. But she could not say that. “Well, he was the first person I ever arrested so I don't have much to compare it to.”

Crouch was getting fidgety again. “Wrap it up,” he barked at the defence. “If you still want to interview that healer. He’s the last witness, correct?”

The defender sighed and nodded. “No further questions...”

Relieved it was over for her, Claudia sat back down in the gallery. All her colleagues patted her on the back, but she did not much care. The only person she wanted to see there was missing. She wanted to write to him, to tell him just how much it hurt that he would just ignore something she worked so hard on. But she did not dare open her notebook right in between Moody and Barraclough. It was still an illegal artefact.

“Is Mulciber not going on the stand?” Barraclough whispered, leaning over to her.

Claudia shook her head. “Goldhorn thought the signed confession was good enough, and his defence are not putting him up.”

“That does not bode well for Mulciber.”

Claudia was so torn between wanting to feel sorry for Sirius and yelling at him for not caring about her, that she barely listened to the healer’s testimony. All she remembered was that they examined Mulciber and were fairly certain part of his memory was erased. But, importantly, they thought none of it was altered.

The prosecutor quizzed them whether that wiped memory could somehow be recovered, but the healer did not think so, not without risking permanent damage. On the back of the healer’s testimony, the defence made the case that Mulciber was not in the right state of mind, and thus his confession was meaningless. And without the confession, the prosecutors had nothing. But Crouch ruled that the confession stood, and it was time for the Wizengamot to vote on the individual charges.

“Murder of Philip Buttons?”

Claudia held her breath as she watched a sea of hands fly up.

“Guilty.” Crouch ruled, and every muscle in Claudia’s body unclenched. She sunk to her seat and smiled like an idiot as all her colleagues turned to mouth a ‘well done’.

And on it went.

Murder of the locksmith? Guilty.

Attempted murder of Edward Tonks? Guilty.

Use of the Imperius Curse? Guilty.

“Archibald Barnaby Mulciber,” Crouch said after all votes have been completed. “You have been found guilty of all charges, and I sentence you to life imprisonment in Azkaban.”

Barraclough dragged Claudia to her feet and hugged her. “Well done, kid.”

The rest of her team followed suit. Between the hugs, she managed to catch a glance of Mulciber. He was being led away by a couple of patrol officers. He was pale and needed to be supported. For a split second, Claudia felt bad for landing him in Azkaban for the rest of his life. But then she remembered what he did and began to celebrate again.

“Pub?” Oscar asked as the court room emptied.

“Am I allowed to the pub?” Claudia asked Moody, remembering his instructions to be careful and to keep a low profile.

Moody did that strange thing with his face that looked like he may have been smiling. “You have four other aurors with you, I think you’re alright.”

“Are you coming too, boss?” Claudia asked him.

“I’m buying.”

Claudia laughed. “You go ahead. I just want to quickly go and speak to Goldhorn.”

She exchanged few pleasantries with the prosecutor and then sat down alone in the gallery again. She looked around the now empty court room. She did it. She caught Mulciber and got a conviction. An actual, dangerous Death Eater was put away because of her. This is why she joined the Auror Office. She felt proud, like all the hard work worth it. But she wished from the bottom of her heart that Sirius would be here to celebrate with her.

She looked around again to make sure the coast was clear and took out the notebook.

“We won! We’re going to celebrate in the Leaky Cauldron. Not suppose you’re coming.”

Sirius handwriting appeared shortly afterwards. “You’ll barely notice I’m not there… I bet Ted is pleased.”

Claudia shut the notebook and threw it in her bag. Of course, she was going to notice he was not there. And a ‘well done’ would have been nice too.

But she did not have long to contemplate Sirius’ message. The moment she left the court room, she spotted her brother in the deserted corridor. He was standing in a dark alcove, only few yards away from her. Instinctively, Claudia drew her wand.

“Blast me into smithereens of you must,” Marcus said with his voice breaking. His eyes were all red and puffy.

“Are you crying?” Claudia gasped, her wand still pointing at him.

He wiped his eyes. “Leave me alone.”

“I know he was your friend. But-“

“Stop trying to guess my motives.”

Claudia sighed. She was going to regret this. Slowly, she lowered her wand. “What is it then?”

For a long while, Marcus stared a Claudia’s wand that was now dangling by her knee. “They sacrificed Archie,” he said finally. “They wiped his memory and gave him up. Killed Regulus too.”

“You surprised?” Claudia asked. “You know father has no remorse. You know how he treated me.”

“I thought that if I did everything he asked, he'd –“

“What?” Claudia interrupted. “He'd love you?!” The mocking was clear from her tone of voice.

“This was a mistake...” Marcus sighed. “Forget you ever saw me.” And he was gone before Claudia could reply.

Between seeing Marcus like this and Sirius’ absence, Claudia’s desire to celebrate had evaporated completely. She went to the pub but apparated home after a drink or two and kept the conversation with Marcus to herself.

When Claudia got home, Sirius was fast asleep, and there was a half-drunk bottle of firewhiskey on the bedside table.

She took off her clothes and climbed into bed. Sirius stirred but did not wake up. Even when he was asleep, his expression was pained. Claudia found his hand among the covers and squeezed it. Tears started to flow down her cheeks, but she supressed her sobs so not to wake him.

When Claudia woke up the following morning, they were still holding hands. Her eyes were all puffy from crying herself to sleep the previous night.

“When did you get back?” Sirius asked. He was squinting. “My head is fucking killing me.”

“You should probably drink less.”

“Probably,” Sirius sighed.

She managed to get him into the shower and tidy the flat up a bit. She was so busy with her trial, she barely noticed it was in complete disarray.

“James came by yesterday,” Sirius said as he emerged from the shower. “With orders from Dumbledore. I seem to be back in favour.”

Claudia would have not expected to be pleased that her boyfriend was going to go back to risking his life on a daily basis. But she was. At least a little. Anything to get him out of the horrible rut he had been in since that failed mission that they all went on.

They spent most of the day sleeping. Claudia tried to recount the events of the trial, but Sirius did not seem that interested. He kept changing the subject and getting distracted by the most pointless of things. This annoyed Claudia to no end, but she bit her tongue.

The following morning, Claudia was getting ready for work when Sirius woke up.

“Where are you going?”

“Work.”

“But the trial’s finished.”

“Mulciber’s trial,” Claudia corrected him. “But the Geneva case is still going, and I have a lot to catch-up on.”

“Would it kill you to take a break?” He was now slowly getting out of bed too.

“I need to do this for Alice…”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Sirius was now on a threshold of the bathroom. “I know full well you rather spend time at work than with me.” He slammed the door behind him, and Claudia could hear the faint sound of a running shower through the door.

She bit her lip to stop herself from crying again, grabbed her coat and set off for the Ministry. There was no point barging into that bathroom right now. She would only say things she would regret later.

By the time she got to the Operations Room, Claudia was almost calm again. She walked over to the desks that Barraclough and Oscar were occupying and threw her jacket on a free chair. “What did I miss?” she mumbled.

“Absolutely nothing,” Oscar sighed.

Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been investigating for two months.”

“Yeah, and we got nothing.”

Barraclough nudged Claudia towards a door in the corner of the Operations Room. “I’ll brief you.”

He then spent the next hour updating Claudia on the case. Anderson’s trip to Geneva was organised by his private secretary and a junior official from the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Them, Adler and the two junior aurors accompanying him were the only people who knew the itinerary.

“So, one of them had to be in on it?” Claudia interrupted Barraclough’s account.

“The two junior aurors did not actually find out until few minutes beforehand that he was going to take that route. Adler kept it to himself. So, the likelihood it was them is small.”

“Well, it wasn’t Mr Adler. He was the straightest man I now. And he died…”

“Oldest trick in the book,” Barraclough replied. “If someone is passing information to you, kill them to cover your tracks.”

“You cannot be serious,” Claudia barked. “Mr Adler would never-“

“Just playing devil’s advocate…” Barraclough interrupted. “But no. We don’t think so. The Private Secretary definitely had the opportunity, but we couldn’t find any motive. She’s well-off, so no financial incentive, muggle-born…”

“Which leaves the International Cooperation guy. It’s got to be him.”

Barraclough sighed. “Well, he’s in St Mungo’s under twenty-four hour guard with no memory.”

“Wiped memory?”

“Got injured in the attack. It could be deliberate, or it could’ve been an accident.” Barraclough paused. “I don’t want you to overreact… But he was in your father’s division.”

Claudia’s eyes went wide. “Have you interrogated my father?”

“Yes, but he denies any knowledge. He says that itineraries are confidential these days and even he doesn’t get to see them.”

“So, he’s basically saying that the junior official must have done it of his own accord?”

“Basically…”

“Not like my father to throw someone under the bus like this,” Claudia smirked.

“In any case, the junior official was not the one who did the killing. At most, he passed the information.”

“But if his memory has been wiped… We will never know.”

Barraclough glanced towards the door. “This is top secret. Crouch had ordered the healers to get it restored. At any cost.”

“But that could permanently damage him!”

“I don’t think Crouch cares. But it’s going to take time in any case… In the meantime, we have agents in Geneva talking to every single witness they can think of. The area was tightly controlled – no unauthorised portkeys, anti-apparition shield around the complex. It’s bit of a mystery how the Death Eaters got there.”

“Any theories?”

“Someone authorised a portkey or they stole identities of some other delegates to get in.”

“Or they were the other delegates.”

“Edgar Bones and his private secretary were the only other two people attending for the UK.”

“Oh, so that’s out of the question…”

“Why?”

Claudia froze. “No reason. I’ve just heard he’s got a lot of integrity. Oh, and my friend works for him…”

“Right...” Barraclough smirked at her. “Nothing to do with him being an Order member, then…”

Claudia went bright red. Of course, Moody told him… “What can I do?” Claudia asked in an attempt to change the topic.

“You can sign up for the St Mungo’s guard shift.”

“Aren’t patrol doing it?”

“For a suspect like this? Fat chance…”

Claudia did as she was told and went to sign up for the guard duty. She spent rest of the day reading up details of the case, witness testimonies, reports from searches. She needed to catch up if she wanted to be useful.

Her mind, however, was drifting back to the fight with Sirius this morning. One minute, she was mad at him. The next, she felt a little guilty. She knew he was not well and that he spent a lot of time on his own. And there were enough warning signs over the last few months to suggest that was not always a good thing.

So, she went home early. Sirius was collecting things around the flat, scowling.

“Are you going on the mission?” Claudia mumbled. “Be careful, okay?”

“Right.” Sirius snapped and raised his head. “Would it be too much of a nuisance for you to take time off for my funeral?”

“Is that really fair?” Claudia hissed. “I’ve been waiting around for months for you to talk to me. For months I watched you retreat into your shell. And you give me a hard time because I worked a lot for a week?”

“Right, a week…” Sirius scoffed. “You’ve been avoiding me for months. Glasgow, the trial, and now that’s over, you jump straight into a new thing.”

“Let’s talk now then. I want to. I’m here.”

“I can’t… I’m late for a mission.” Sirius stood up and crossed the living room.

“When are you going to be back?” she meekly said after him.

But Sirius slammed the door without another word.

Claudia spent the next hour stomping around the apartment. How dare he? She gave him so many opportunities to talk to her. She put up with his moping and moods. And just because she was not there for him every second of every day! How dare he?

But then, she remembered everything he had been through. Regulus, Orion, James having a baby. That will change things from him too. She remembered how much she put up with her – how she looked after her when she was not well, when she was depressed after her suspension, the Daily Prophet’s revelations.

Maybe she overreacted. Maybe it was all just cry for help.

The Italy travel guide was still on the coffee table, so she picked it up and began to read. Naples had the best pizza in the world. Sirius was going to like that. And there was a special museum with all the wizarding things that were dug up in Pompeii. It made her remember all the good things about their relationship. They had to be able to fix this.

She decided to wait up for him. It was a long night, wondering whether he was alright, running through all the things she was going to say to him. That she loved him. That she was there for him.

In the early hours of the morning, Sirius finally stumbled through the door. Claudia felt momentary relief. He was alive. He was ok. She run across the room to hug him, but he did not even move. It was like hugging a statue.

Claudia took a step away from him and began to notice things. He was covered in blood, he was pale.

She touched his arm, and he took a step or two back.

“What happened?”

Sirius did not say anything. He walked over to the bookshelf, grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey and dropped to the floor.

“What happened?” Claudia was panicking now.

Sirius sighed and took a long sip of the firewhiskey.

“Sirius, you’re scaring me.”

“Tony’s dead, the guy we were guarding got kidnapped. I barely got out of there alive.”

Chapter Text

Claudia sat down next to Sirius. The water from his overcoat, tinted with blood, was dripping on the hardwood floor.

“Are you hurt?” she mumbled.

Sirius shook his head and drunk some firewhiskey.

“Do you want to take your coat off? Shower? Eat something?”

Another shake of the head. Another sip of firewhiskey.

She took a deep breath. “Who’s blood is it?”

Sirius did not raise his eyes from the floor. “The guy we were guarding,” he whispered. “ He tried to kill himself before they took him, but they got him alive.”

“Who was it?”

“That prisoner we were supposed to get back in the autumn. Seems he really didn’t want to go back.”

 Claudia bit her lip. That was the prisoner that knew about Linda. She stretched towards the coffee table and picked up a pack of cigarettes. She lit one but before she got to smoke any of it, Sirius took it out of her hand and brought it to his own lips.

She lit another one for herself and shuffled closer to him. She reached for his leg but froze mid-movement as Sirius drew away.

“I’m sorry,” he uttered. “I’m all wet.”

Claudia made another slight movement towards him. “I don’t give a shit.”

“Claude, please.”

Her heart ever so slightly broken, Claudia moved back to give Sirius some space. He was still avoiding her eye contact, focusing on the firewhiskey he held in one hand, and the cigarette in the other.

She watched him with a huge lump in her throat. He was not well before this happened, blaming himself for Regulus’ death, and dealing with his father’s passing. The thought of what this might do to him was making her want to cry.

“I need to send Moody an owl, to tell him what happened.”

“Can’t it wait till the morning?” Sirius growled. “I don’t want him barging in here right now.” He drunk some more. “I could do without the bollocking.”

What Sirius was asking her to do went against all of Claudia’s training and common sense. The sooner they got on the trail of the kidnappers, the more chances they had finding the Azkaban guard. The longer there was a scene of a deadly duel, the more chances the muggles would find it.

“What about Tony’s body?” she whispered.

“They blasted him to bits.” Sirius brought the whiskey to his lips again. “I would’ve brough him back if there was anything left of him.”

“Hey,” Claudia whispered and slowly reached for the bottle. “I think you had quite enough of this.”

But Sirius moved the bottle out of Claudia’s reach. “Leave me be,” he barked.

“At least give me a sip,” she mumbled and extended her arm. This time, Sirius did pass her the bottle and their fingers briefly touched as he did. For a moment, she hoped he would let her hold his hand. That everything would be alright…

But Siris withdrew his hand, closed his eyes and wrapped himself even tighter in his bloodied coat. “It should’ve been me,” he mumbled and dropped his head into his hands. “It should’ve been me.”

"He's not the first person to die, and he won't be the last. You - we both - need to learn to live with that..."

“Thanks,” Sirius grumbled. “That really cheered me up.” The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

They sat largely in silence and smoked until the sun started to rise. The firewhiskey bottle lay empty at their feet. Sirius was leaning against the wall and Claudia could see he was fighting sleep. His eyes kept closing and occasionally, his head would drop before he jerked awake again.

“Let’s go to bed,” she said.

“I don’t want to.”

Claudia took a deep breath. “Do you at least want to lie down here. You won’t be able to stay awake forever.”

He hesitated for a moment, but eventually lowered his body and rested his head on Claudia’s lap. She sunk her fingers into his hair, which was all sticky. It did not take long for Claudia to understand why. Within seconds, her fingers were covered in a half-dried blood residue.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks just as Sirius’ breath deepened and slowed down. He must have succumbed to sleep.

How did they get here? What have they ever done to deserve this? Sitting on the cold floor covered in someone else’s blood!

Claudia used her forearm to wipe her eyes. She could not break down, not now. Sirius needed her. She dried his clothes with a spell and summoned a blanket to cover him up.

Claudia was in pain. The weight of Sirius’ head was pressing against her ankle, and her back was hurting from being pushed up against the cold wall. But for an hour or so, she did not move for the fear of waking him up. At least the physical discomfort took her mind of the shitty situation they found themselves in.

But with every passing minute, Claudia felt more and more guilty about keeping the fact Sirius’ mission had failed from Moody. And at about seven-thirty, she could not take it anymore. She summoned a large sofa cushion, gently lifted Sirius’ head and freed her leg. Then, she lowered him onto the cushion. He stirred but did not wake.

Claudia limped on her now dead leg to the dining table, where she found some parchment and scribbled a message to Moody. Then, she hobbled to the bedroom window, and attached it to that owl they had now basically adopted.

She washed the guard’s blood off her shaking hands and went to the kitchen to brew some tea and made toast.

Twenty minutes barely passed since she sent that owl before Claudia heard loud steps on the stairs, followed by several deafening bangs on their front door.

“Open up,” Moody’s voice carried through the living room.

Sirius scrambled to his feet and steadied himself against the wall. “Shouldn’t have drunk all that whiskey,” he mumbled leaning over.

Claudia was convinced he was going to throw up, but somehow, he did not. “Moody’s here,” she whispered.

Sirius shot her an angry look. “Fucking hell. Why did you have to tell him?”

Claudia crossed the room to open the door. “Because I had to.”

“Teacher’s pet.” Sirius just managed to utter before Moody burst through their font door.

“What the fuck’s happened?” Moody barked. “Where is Tony? And the guard?”

“The guard’s been kidnapped,” Sirius said through gritted teeth. Before closing his eyes and dropping his voice to a barely audible whisper. “And Tony’s dead.”

“What happened?”

“We got outnumbered. They were everywhere.”

“How?”

“I have no fucking clue!” Sirius barked. “I have nothing else to say. They knew we were there and now everyone’s dead. That’s all.”

“But-“

“I’m going to the shower,” Sirius interrupted him and stormed out.

Moody turned towards Claudia who had watched their previous exchange with a bated breath. “Did he tell you anything else?”

“Not much more than he told you,” she mumbled.

“When did he get back?”

Claudia swallowed hard to prepare for the inevitable resumption in shouting. “Few hours ago.”

“And you didn’t-“ Moody started in a raised voice, but Claudia jumped in.

“I thought he might tell you more if he had a chance to cool down,” she gestured at Moody to keep quiet. “And there was no point looking for Tony’s body. Apparently, they blasted him to bits.”

“The guard?” Moody whispered.

“Tried to kill himself before they took him but did not quite manage it.”

“Stay with him,” Moody said, seemingly back to his rational self. “I need to go and see if any of this can be salvaged.”

“Wait,” Claudia exclaimed. “What does this mean for Linda?”

“We can only pray…”

“I don’t pray,” she mumbled. Religion was not something she grew up with.

“You might want to start.”

Sirius did not emerge from the bathroom for a good hour. When he did come out, he wanted neither the tea nor the toast that Claudia made and went straight to bed. But Claudia could see he was not sleeping. He lay motionless, staring into space. Eventually, she got him to eat some eggs for lunch and drink some light sleeping draught.

Once he was asleep. Claudia crawled into the bed next to him. She tried her best to wrap him in his arms, but he was so much taller than her that her efforts were almost laughable, her feet came barely to Sirius’ knees. But he purred like a cat when she hugged him and gripped her wrist to hold her hand close to his heart.

She could feel his heart beating in his chest. He seemed so fragile.

The idea that she was few missing beats of that heart away from losing him forever was just too much.

She gripped Sirius even tighter and could not quite get Moody’s last words out of her head. Linda was not the only one who needed a prayer. For the first time in her life, Claudia wondered if there was any omnipotent being... Maybe Death? Or fate? Or that God muggles talked about… Anyone that she could plead with to keep him alive. In this moment, she would do anything to protect him. There was no line she would not have crossed.

The next few days were all identical. Sirius barely spoke, smoked like a chimney, and drunk. He spent most of the days in bed, staring into the ceiling, and refused to talk about the mission. All they managed was stupid small talk about who won the latest Quidditch match, what they were going to have for dinner, and most tragically the weather…

Through all of this, Sirius could barely look at her, let alone touch or kiss her. It was like living with a ghost. This half-existence was driving Claudia out of her mind. But she could tell Sirius was in shock and kept her mouth shut. She worried about how he would react if she asked him about the mission. She worried about him just walking away, and never coming back.

Eventually, Claudia had to return to work. She felt a little ashamed that she was actually looking forward to it... She needed to be somewhere, where she could speak her mind. James, Lily, Remus, and even Peter volunteered to pop in on Sirius while she was away to make sure he was not alone or drinking too much.

But work was not exactly keeping Claudia’s mind busy, as she had another boring shift in St Mungo’s guarding the International Cooperation official who was still in a coma. All day she had to sit at his bedside and cast all kinds of revealing charms on every healer who approached him to make sure they were not a Death Eater. The hardest thing about it was not falling asleep.

At the end of her shift, as she was walking through the deserted hospital corridors, she heard a familiar voice coming out of one of the rooms.

“It’s going to be alright mum, just get some sleep.”

Claudia stuck her head in there. “I didn’t know you were visiting today. I’ve been here all day on guard duty.”

Alice gave her best friend a feeble smile. “I just stopped by after work.”

“How is she?” Claudia nodded towards Mrs Adler.

Alice sighed. “She’s got so many potions inside of her, she barely knows who she is. She won’t be up for hours now.”

“Want to go get some coffee?”

“Can’t drink coffee, remember?” Alice reminded her, with a hint of jealousy in her voice. “But I wouldn’t mind a tea… Where should we go?”

“I’d say we could go to mine, but-“ Claudia trailed off. “It’s not a particularly cheerful place right now.”

“Let’s go to mine then.”

Once settled in Alice’s living room with mugs of tea in their hands, Alice gave Claudia the latest on her pregnancy. The baby was due at the end of July, and all was going well.

“How did Frank take it?” Claudia asked and sipped her tea.

“He took it well,” Alice smiled. “Until his mother threatened to move in with us.”

“Does he want that?”

“No, but he’s too terrified of her to say no. So is his father. But between us,” Alice paused and looked around. “I really don’t want her here. She’s terrible… Everything is just ‘you need to be tough’, ‘the nausea is worse if you want to feel ill’. I genuinely want to kill her sometimes.”

Claudia chuckled. “You shouldn’t be telling an auror that.”

Alice gave her a fleeting smile but then froze. “I really miss my mum… She always knew what to say, how to make everything better. I don’t want to go through this without her.”

Claudia looked away and bit her lip. She drank some more tea and avoided eye contact until Alice spoke again.

“I know it’s uncomfortable for you to see her like that too.”

Claudia shook her head. “That’s not it.” She could feel the tears coming into her eyes. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. This is not about me.”

“Claudia, please. I’m sick of being the basket case. Talk to me…”

Claudia drew in a deep breath. “The last few months have been hell. I have no one to turn to with Sirius the way he is…” She paused and wiped her eyes. “Hearing you say you miss you mum. That you wish she was here to help you, guide you… While mine-” The image of her mother flashed through Claudia’s head, and all she could feel was disgust.

“You have me. You can always talk to me.” Alice put her hand around her best friend’s back. “After all, I have been your mother since you were eleven,” she added in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“But compared to your problems, mine are so pathetic.”

“You always do this,” Alice whispered and rubbed Claudia’s back. “Thinking everything is on you. I’m here to help. We are all here to help you. There is no shame in that.”

“I don’t want to worry you.”

“Fine,” Alice sighed. “But you will let me know if you need something, alright?”

Claudia nodded. “More tea would be nice.”

“I’ll make some more then.”

Eventually, Claudia stopped crying, said goodbye to Alice and set off home. She relieved James from Sirius-duty and cooked some dinner. As ever, Sirius barely said a word and they went to sleep.

For a week or so, that had become their routine. Claudia would go to the office while one of their friends popped in on Sirius to keep him company. They all had same kind of luck getting him to talk; anyone who tried, got their head bitten off.

“Where is Peter?” Claudia asked as she came home from work one Friday in early February.

Sirius was lying on the sofa in the dark. The only thing that was illuminating the room was his lit cigarette. “Ran away like the coward he is…”

“What happened?”

“He kept annoying me.”

Claudia took a deep breath. With Sirius in this mood, Peter never stood a chance. “Let’s go to the Order meeting.”

“I’m not going…”

“You can’t stay in this room forever.”

“Watch me.”

“Sirius, please…” she sighed. “It’d do you good to see everyone. Besides, Moody might know what happened at your mission by now. You would find out how they knew you were coming.”

“What good is that going to do?” Sirius growled. “Just leave me be.” He got up and walked towards the bedroom. “And stop asking the others to babysit me. I’m neither a child, nor an invalid.”

“Fine. But I’m going to the meeting.”

“Do whatever you want,” Sirius hissed. “You always do anyway.”

Without another word, Claudia slammed the apartment door behind her. She felt sorry for Sirius and was worried about him. But she was sick and tired of being the person he took out his frustrations on. The distraction of the meeting was going to do her good. Or so she thought...

“Where is Sirius?” Remus asked the moment she found her friends at the Order meeting.

“Is he doing better?” Lily added.

“Did you manage to get anything out of him about the mission?” James said, without giving her the opportunity to respond to the others.

Claudia took a deep breath and gestured at them all to shut up. “He’s not coming.”

“I’ll go and try convince him to come,” Remus said.

“You think you can convince him if I can’t?” Claudia barked.

“I didn’t mean…”

“Whatever,” Claudia hissed and crossed the room away from them all. “Anyone sitting here?” she mumbled but dropped to the seat between Benjy and Fabian even before either of them had a chance to respond.

The reprieve that gave her was temporary.

“Where’s Black?” was the first thing that came out of Moody’s mouth.

“He’s not coming,” Claudia said through gritted teeth.

“What do you mean he isn’t coming?” the old auror barked.

“Well, he’s not coming.”

“But we can’t go on without him! We need to talk about the mission.”

“I know as much as anyone about what happen, you can pretend I’m him if that helps.”

“Remind me to fire you tomorrow,” Moody grumbled but got on with the meeting. No one had any new information about what happened. No one knew how the Death Eaters new where the safehouse was. No one knew where the Azkaban guard was taken.

Claudia barely paid attention to what happened for the rest of the meeting. She kept glancing around the room. James, Lily, Remus and Peter were all looking at her like she had lost her mind.

After the meeting was over, James and Lily took another opportunity to have a go at her.

“Claudia, we’ve seen him like this before,” Lily began. “We have to do something.”

“He’s fine,” Claudia sighed unconvincingly, too tired to pretend she actually believed it. “He just needs time, ok?”

Lily and James exchanged a look.

“He’s clearly not well. We think someone needs to talk to him about all this properly,” James was the first to speak.

“We think he’d feel better if he got things off his chest,” Lily pitched in.

Claudia had had enough. “Give him a break. He just seen someone die in front of his eyes. Neither of you have any idea what it feels like!” she barked and stormed out.

Once in the street, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Remus trying to catch up with her. “Don’t you start as well,” she hissed.

“They’re just worried about him.”

“They’re out of line.”

“They don’t really get it.”

“Get what?”

“What it’s like to be a tortured soul.”

“No, they don’t.”

“I do though. And I’m here to help. I’m not going to judge you or him.”

Claudia took a deep breath, which seems to have dissolved some of her rage. She sat down on the kerb, and Remus joined her.

“The thing is,” she whispered. “I would love to talk to him, but-“

“But he’s not letting you.”

She shook her head. “No, he’s not.”

“Listen to me, Claudia. We both know that if there is one person he listens to, the one person that can help him, it’s you.”

“I know, which is why it’s so hard…” She paused and started to draw circles in the dirt of the kerb with the tip of her finger. “I feel like a failure-“

“That’s not what I meant,” Remus patiently explained. “It’s not on you if he isn’t talking, or getting better. It doesn’t say anything about you as a person, or about the love he has for you.”

Claudia swallowed dry. “How could it not? What good is love if I can’t help him?”

“I don’t know-“

“Well, thanks for the pep talk.”

Remus smiled. “I know it sucks. And that none of us chose this…”

“No… We didn’t.”

“I’m not going to interfere. Just whatever you need, ask, alright? I trust your judgement completely.”

Claudia tilted her head towards Remus. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You’re the only one.”

“Do you want to go get a drink?”

Claudia shook her head. “I’m going to head home.”

But when she got there, Sirius was out.

Still in her coat, she dropped to the sofa and just sat there. All alone in the dark and cold flat.

And then, completely out of the blue, it just became too much, and Claudia started to sob.

Finally, she did not have to pretend he was ok, or that she was strong. Finally, she could just let it all out. The one person. The only person she ever loved was crumbling in front of her eyes. And it was all her fault. She should have been able to help him.

Around midnight, Claudia heard a key in the door and jumped up from the sofa.

“Where have you been?”

“Fresh air,” he mumbled as he walked through the door. But he marched right into the doorframe and stumbled.

“Fresh air in the pub?” She bit her lip. Maybe that was too sharp.

“What’s the big deal.” Sirius shrugged. “I went to the pub.”

“No one knows anything new about the mission,” Claudia attempted to change the conversation.”

“I don’t care.”

“Everyone was wondering where you were.”

“I don’t care about that either.” Sirius tried to take his coat off but let out a sharp scream when he touched his chest.

“What happened?” Claudia gasped. “Are you ok?”

Sirius slowly undid his shirt to reveal a fresh tattoo just above where his heart was. It was a grim reaper.

“Does it hurt?” Claudia asked. It was the best she could come up with. The tattoo may have been beautifully done but it was horrifying. A grim reaper, what was he thinking?

“Probably less painful than dying.”

Claudia paused. She had to ask. She could not keep it in any longer. “Is this about Tony?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Please. I want to hear it. I want to help you.”

“You can’t help me. No one can. No one would understand…” Sirius mumbled, transformed into Padfoot and slunk into the bedroom.

Claudia took a deep breath and slumped back into the sofa. She tried and she failed. She had to give him space, that was what her gut was telling her. So far, he had always come around. He was bound to this time too.

As she stared into space, she noticed a scorched book on the edge of the fireplace. She forced herself to get up and push it back in to avoid it spreading a fire. It was just about possible to make out the cover of the book. It was their guide to Italy, the one she gave him for Christmas.

There was nothing that Claudia could have done to stop the fresh wave of sobs that brought on. She crawled back to the sofa and pulled a throw over her and lied down.

Despite everything that had happened, there was only one thing she wanted in that moment, for Sirius to come out of their bedroom and talk to her. To tell her whatever was on his mind. To hug her. To kiss her. But he did not and eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

She had no choice but to go into the bedroom as she got ready for work the following day. Sirius was still Padfoot and lied motionless on the floor.

“Can you transform back for a bit, please?” she whispered.

Sirius did but stayed sitting by the foot of the bed and avoiding her eye contact.

“We’re supposed to be going to Italy next week, but-“ she took a deep breath that shook a little. “But I found the travel guide. So I was wondering-“

“I can’t go,” Sirius mumbled, his eyes still planted on the floor.

She walked over to him and crunched down. “I think it would be really good for you,” she whispered. “I think it would be really good for both of us. To get away from things. Forget-”

“Do you think I can forget?” he barked. “Do you think I can ever enjoy myself again?”

“Think about it.” She reached for his hand, but he snatched it away.

“I don’t have to think about it. I’m not going.”

“Fine,” Claudia mumbled and stood up again. She knew it was much more likely for Sirius to change his mind if she let him stew on it, rather than push him. He never did what he was told. Normally, she loved that about him. She loved he knew his own mind, the strength of his personality… But right now, she wished he was capable of taking advice.

“Feel free to go without me. I’m sure you’d find someone to go with you,” he added bitterly.

Claudia bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something ungenerous and, feeling rather helpless, left for work.

Work was not bringing her any joy either. The Anderson case was stalling. The witness interviews brought nothing, the junior official from the Department of International Magical Cooperation was still in a coma. Moody’s team even got kicked out of the Operations Room, and all the surge staff they had helping on the case left. Even the number of Division B agents running around Geneva looking for information dwindled. It was very much starting to feel like the deaths would remain unsolved.

Claudia hated the idea they would never find Mr Adler’s killer. Or rather, confirm her worst fears. She really did not want to add Alice to the list of people she let down.

Desperate to find anything that was missed, Claudia was browsing through the witness statements. So far, she had been through them six times and found nothing.

“I brought you some coffee,” she heard Oscar mumble. Once she looked up, he passed her a steaming mug and perched himself up on her desk.

“Why are you nice to me?” she smirked and took a sip.

“You look like crap.”

Claudia chuckled. “And he’s back… I was worried you wanted something.”

“Shut up and drink your coffee.”

Claudia took another sip and resumed looking through the witness statements. But Oscar was still hovering over her.

“You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”

She looked up at him again, wondering for a moment whether to come clean or not. “I’m alright… Just tired.”

“Get some rest.” He squeezed her shoulder and hopped down from the desk. “You do have the look of someone who’s about to burn out.”

Claudia smiled to herself and opened the stationary drawer of her desk. She needed to file these worthless witness statements and get them out of her sight before she lost her patience and tore them to pieces.

But she did not get to it, there was a little envelope laying on top of the filing forms with her name on it. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and ripped it open. Her eyes landed on a note.

“I need to talk to you. Pick time and place. Marcus”

Claudia felt as if her heart had stopped. She stared at the note, wondering why she had not ripped it into pieces and threw it in the bin.

Her brother was a cruel thug. He was a Death Eater. He did order Regulus to kill her, to actually kill her. She still had the scars to prove he nearly succeeded.

But, then again… The last time she saw him, he was crying! Genuinely crying. She had never seen him express any kind of remorse, let alone cry. What if he needed help?

No, she shook her head in silence. It would be stupid thing to do… Marcus did not need her help. He did not deserve it. Then, she froze.

The Anderson case was stalling. Claudia was still convinced her father was responsible, and Marcus might know something.

Was that worth the risk?

Slowly, she picked up her quill and a spare piece of parchment. She needed to pick a public place, that had to be the safest way of doing it. And she could hide for a while to see if he was coming alone.

“I’ll meet you in the Potions aisle of Flourish and Blotts at twelve-thirty today.”

She folded the note into a small paper airplane and enchanted it to fly out of her office and land on Marcus’ desk in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

As the minutes ticked over and Claudia’s lunchbreak was edging close, she began to wonder whether she should tell someone about this. She glanced towards Oscar’s desk. If she should tell anyone here, it would be him. He would be the most likely to go along with it.

But even Oscar’s benevolence had its limits. And no one else saw Marcus the other day. If Claudia had not seen him with her own eyes, she would not have gone along with this plan either. Anyone she told would tell her it was a terrible idea. Everyone would try to stop her.

At twelve o’clock, she casually announced she was going to run an errand over her lunchbreak and set off for Diagon Alley. Once there, she slipped into Amanuensis Quills, just opposite Flourish and Blotts, and stood by the shop window, pretending to look at some quills.

“Anything I can help you with, love?” asked the old wizard who run the place.

“Just browsing,” Claudia mumbled and continued looking at the front door of the bookshop.

“Fancy seeing you-“ she heard someone else behind her.

“I said I was just brows-“ she trailed off as the person speaking came into view. Her stomach did a summersault. “Remus, what are you doing here?”

“Shopping… You okay?”

“Ah,” Claudia stuttered, her eyes darting towards the window every second to make sure she did not miss Marcus. “Yes, of course… I’m shopping too. For work.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Remus whispered. “But I don’t believe for a second that you’re shopping. What are you up to?”

Claudia looked around and dropped her voice to the quietest whisper she could manage. “Fine, someone got in touch with me. Confidential informant if you want to call him that, and I’m meeting them at the bookshop. Waiting here until they come in.”

“Who is it?” Remus mumbled, but there was no need to answer. Claudia saw the unmistakeable figure of her brother crossing the street and disappearing into Flourish and Blotts.

Remus sighed, he must have seen him too. “Please tell me you don’t mean him.”

“I know it’s hard to believe. But I think he can be turned.”

“Does Moody know about this?”

Claudia grimaced. “Technically it’s not work…”

“Sirius?”

“Right,” Claudia scoffed. “Because he’s in a state to have a rational conversation about something like this.”

“You need to tell him.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will when I get home…” she said absentmindedly, her eyes firmly planted on the street. Marcus seemed to have been alone. “I’m going in. You can either stay here and keep watch or try to stop me and get stunned.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand how someone as smart as you can be this stupid.”

“Sure you do,” Claudia said with the smallest of grins. “You’ve been friends with James and Sirius for years.” With those words, she slipped out of the quill shop, quickly crossed the street and found the familiar potions aisle in Flourish and Blotts.

Marcus was already standing there, his wand drawn but not raised. She drew her own wand and waved it around. Marcus flinched.

“Relax, just a silencing charm,” she explained, and lowered her wand again.

They stared at in each other in silence for a considerable amount of time. He looked exactly the same – tall, strong, his eyebrows furrowed. Claudia was trying to work out when was the last time she saw him. And she could not even remember…

Marcus shuffled uncomfortably under Claudia’s intense gaze. “Any of your friends expecting a kid?” he mumbled, and his eyes travelled towards Claudia’s stomach. “Or you?”

That was the weirdest attempt at small talk Claudia had ever witnessed. “Why?” she mumbled.

“I heard something,” he began. “I heard them talking about a baby that-“ he paused and swallowed dry, “that needs to be hunted down. I just wanted to make sure that-”

“That it wasn’t mine?”

“Yeah.”

Claudia’s brows were now just as furrowed as her brother’s. “Why the hell do you care?”

“I-“ Marcus sighed. “Never mind…“

“Look,” Claudia hissed. “You cannot send me a note out of the blue and then expect me to trust you. After everything that you-”

“This was a mistake…” He looked like he was about to turn around and leave.

“Marcus… Stop!” she exclaimed. “Why the hell do you care about some dumb baby?”

There was a long pause. Claudia could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

“You don’t know this,” he mumbled finally. “But in my final year in Hogwarts, I got a girl pregnant. I would’ve married her, but she disappeared.”

Claudia’s jaw dropped. “What? Who?” she stuttered.

“She was a year older than me. You won’t remember her.”

“What happened to her?”

“All I got was a letter. The baby has been put up for adoption, and she moved to Russia or somewhere. She could not bear the scandal…”

“You think father had a hand in it?” Claudia was reaching. But if she wanted to get Marcus on the subject of their father, this was her chance.

“I did not until Archie,” Marcus sighed. “Father would do anything, eliminate anyone if the plan dictates it. She was not part of the plan, and neither was Archie anymore. Or Reg…”

Claudia forced a smile. “Well, I’m not pregnant.” There was a long pause while she contemplated what to say next. “And I’m sorry about the girl, and-” she trailed off.

“It was a boy. Apparently, she named him after me.”

Claudia paused, measuring up her brother. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I guess, I know you’d believe me. Everyone else would either tell on me, or think I’ve lost my mind to paranoia.”

Claudia chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?” Marcus hissed, with a hint of his usual threatening demeanour.

“I cannot believe it took you twenty-two years to figure this out.”

“Everyone always said you were much faster learner than me…” he whispered.

“Even our tutor?”

“Especially our tutor,” Marcus smirked. “I hated you so much. You have no idea what it was like to have a younger sister that found a solution to every problem, before I even understood what question I was meant to be answering.”

They both smiled awkwardly.

Marcus glanced at his watch. “I have to go. Just be careful, okay? And warn anyone who’s expecting a baby.”

“Do you know why they’re after this baby?”

“No idea. But it won’t be good.” With those words, Marcus turned on the spot and disappeared as fast as he came.

Claudia stood in the bookshop for a while longer, trying to process what just happened. Was he genuine? Or was he playing the same game she was? And the baby? Why would the Death Eaters be after a baby?

It was too much information and talking to someone would probably help. She was glad Remus had caught her earlier. None of her other friends would ever understand.

And she was sure as hell that she was not telling Sirius about any of this. Not while he was like this.

Chapter Text

“Ready to go?” Alice popped her head into Claudia’s office.

“Where are you two off to?” Ewan asked.

“Girl problems,” Claudia said with a faked frown. She knew that would deter Ewan more than the real place they were going to, which was a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.

“How’s work?” Claudia asked as the two friends were walking down a long Ministry corridor.

“I’ll need to tell Shacklebolt soon about this” Alice sighed and pointed at her slightly bulging stomach. “He bought my request to get transferred to records because of ‘backpain’, but I’m starting to show and soon there will not be robes broad enough to hide it.”

“Do you think he suspects anything already?”

“Nah,” Alice chuckled. “He’s smart but he’s still a man.”

“Who did you tell?”

“Not many people yet. But I think both Lily and I are going to tell the Order tonight. Don’t want everyone to think I stopped going on missions because I got cold feet.”

The meeting was not especially interesting, and Alice and Lily left their announcement for the end. After a round of enthusiastic congratulations, Dumbledore silenced everyone and spoke.

“If I may be so bold,” he said. “I’d suggest keeping this news to yourselves.”

“I agree,” Moody barked. “This will make you into more of a target. You have more to lose. The more you have to lose, the more likely it is they’ll go after you.” He paused, then leaned forward and spoke in a much lower and slower voice. “The more likely it is you’ll give them what they want…”

“If you think-” Frank was now on his feet and nearly shouting. Claudia had never seen him like that. “If you think that just because we’re going to have a family, we’ll sell out the Order, you’re very very wrong.”

“Frank,” Dumbledore jumped. “I assure you. That’s not what we are thinking. That’s not what Alastor meant.”

Moody mumbled something under his breath that, to anyone who knew him as well as Claudia did, sounded very much like that was exactly what he meant.

Dumbledore shot him a warning look and continued. “When are the babies due?”

“Both at the end of July,” Lily jumped in. “What a great coincidence. Sounds like they could even share a birthday!”

Dumbledore looked at Moody again. This time not as a warning, but as if he was confirming something. “Well, I think we’re going to leave the meeting here. But you four”- he gestured to the expectant parents – “you stay here. I need to talk to you.”

“What do you think he wants?” James leaned over to Claudia and whispered, as the rest of the Order packed up their things and began to leave. “Tell us off for having sex during a war?”

“It’s more likely to be some kind of security briefing,” Claudia smirked. “Get ready to spend the next week running around your house chanting incantations over and ov-”

“Avery,” Moody interrupted her. “Out.”

Claudia sighed and reached for her jacket.

“Look,” Alice jumped in. “Whatever you tell me, I’m going to tell Claudia later, so she might as well stay.”

Moody opened his mouth to protest but Dumbledore spoke first to agree to Alice’s terms.

What followed, however, was neither a lecture on safe sex, nor a security briefing.

“I was a witness to a prophecy,” Dumbledore began. If Claudia did not know better, she would have thought his voice sounded almost uncertain. “It concerns Voldemort and the one who can defeat him.”

“Who is it?” James jumped in.

“The one will be born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...” Dumbledore said slowly and deliberately.

“You mean,” James stuttered. “One of these babies could have the power to defeat Voldemort? How long is this fucking war going to go on?

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Dumbledore said. “Can you think of the times that might count as defying Voldemort?”

“Well, there was the mission in November,” Lily began. “I’m pretty sure I threw a hex at him. And then, there was the time when James and I refused to join the Death Eaters.”

“Could joining the Order count?” Alice asked.

“Possibly…” Dumbledore replied. “But in itself, it doesn’t really mean much.”

“Seventh year?” Claudia mumbled. “Snape was acting on a personal order from Voldemort. You trying to stop him must count.”

“But Voldemort doesn’t know about that one,” Lily said.

“That may not matter…” Dumbledore said. “What about you Alice, Frank?”

“I came face-to-face with him when I was a trainee auror,” Frank began.

“I was on the same mission as Lily,” Alice said. “And if the seventh year counts, then so does the artefact…”

“What artefact?” Moody asked.

“Not the time, Alastor.” Dumbledore whispered. “But maybe you should vet your staff more thoroughly before you hire them.”

Claudia looked away before Moody had a chance to shoot her another look that could kill. But also because she did not was to see anyone how worried she was. She felt for her friends. It was stressful enough having a baby, but being told that your baby is going to dragged into the war, to carry the expectations of the whole community. It must have felt awful.

“But nobody else know… Right?” James was the first to recover his composure.

“It’s possible,” Dumbledore said very slowly. “Possible that Voldemort knows.”

Claudia swallowed dry. It was more than possible. This is what Marcus must have been talking about. Voldemort was going to hunt that baby down before it grew big enough to hurt him.

“How?” Alice whispered, her voice was quivering a little and her hands were resting on her stomach, as if she was desperately trying to shield her unborn child from this fate.

“A Death Eater was caught eavesdropping on the conversation when the prophecy was made,” Dumbledore explained. “But the person apprehending him did not realise what was happening, and let him go.”

“Which Death Eater?” Claudia uttered, wondering whether that was how Marcus got the information.

“From the description I was given,” Dumbledore said with a barely noticeable side-glance at Lily. “It was Severus Snape.”

Dumbledore was not the only one glancing at Lily once those words left his lips. They all were. She just closed her eyes so tight her whole face shrivelled. James had enough sense to pull a chair right behind her and helped her sit down.

“I cannot believe it,” Lily whispered. “He wouldn’t… We used to be friends.” She was now crying openly. “Even in seventh year, he gave me the antidote. He wouldn’t hurt me like this. I refuse to believe it.”

Claudia bit her lip. She knew that Voldemort knew. But she could not quite bring herself to say. It would take any remaining hope anyone had.

“But-“ James trailed off and took a deep breath. “He doesn’t know it’s you Lils, does he? Do you think he would hold back for anyone other than you?”

Lily sighed. “No, he wouldn’t…”

“But this does not mean Voldemort definitely knows.” Frank spoke for the first time. “Snape could be keeping this to himself.”

If Claudia was to speak, it had to be now. “He knows. I had an informant warn me that anyone pregnant should watch out, that Voldemort is looking for a baby.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? What informant?” Moody barked.

“Anonymous tip off,” Claudia lied. “And I didn’t say because it sounded like complete bollocks.”

Silence fell as the young couples embraced and looked at each other.

“Do we believe this prophecy?” Frank finally asked.

“Doesn’t matter…” Moody growled. “What matters is that Voldemort does.” He shot an angry look at Claudia. “Which clearly is the case.”

“What should we do?” James whispered.

“Keep the pregnancies secret, hide from the world,” Dumbledore said. “Then, hide until the babies are old enough to disguise the time of their birth. No-one can know these babies are going to be born in July.”

“You mean full hiding?” Alice asked. “My mum is in St Mungo’s… I can’t abandon her there.”

“You should speak to Gideon,” Claudia said. “Maybe he could continue to treat her if she’s at home.”

“I also want your homes secured,” Moody said. “Put up extensive protective charms, disconnect from the public Floo network. No one but you should be able to get in.”

No one said anything.

“Go home,” Dumbledore finally whispered. “Talk it through. Then let me know if you want to talk more.” He paused, then looked to Moody. “Let’s go, Alastor.”

Claudia watched them leave, still surrounded by total silence. When she turned back, she saw both couples in an embrace. They were all whispering reassuring words to each other. Sensing that Alice and Frank, and Lily and James wanted to be alone, Claudia went home. She could not have even imagine what they must have felt like. War and pregnancy would have been bad enough on their own. But this? This was beyond awful. Knowing your unborn child might end up caught in a fight to the death with the most dangerous dark wizard that ever lived.

Still shaken, she entered the flat to find Sirius horizontal on the sofa again, drinking and smoking. She missed the days when he was angrily poking around the engine of his bike when he needed to let off steam.

“How was your precious meeting?” he growled.

“Not great actually,” Claudia whispered, sat down next to him and snatched the whiskey out of his hand. It was her turn to drown her sorrows. “Lily and Alice will need to go into hiding… There was some dumb prophecy about a child being born to people who thrice defied Voldemort. Even specified it was due at the end of July. Voldemort knows about the Prophecy and is going to come after them.”

“Sure you aren’t pregnant?”

“I’m sure.”

Sirius took the whiskey back and stared into the fire.

“Is that all you’re going to say?” Claudia hissed. “Your best friend and his pregnant wife might be in mortal danger!”

“Aren’t we all?” he mumbled, put the whiskey down and walked towards the bedroom. Claudia just about caught a sight of a black bushy tail disappearing under the bed. He must have transformed into Padfoot again.

A wave of resentment washed over Claudia. She was sick of him. He clearly had been through something on the mission. But instead of talking about it, he made her life hell and pretended that nothing other than his misery mattered. She took another sip of the whiskey and stood up.

She had to get out of there. But where to? No way she could disturb Alice or Lily. There was always work… But it was late, almost nine o’clock. Maybe a walk was a better idea.

Aimlessly, she walked into the street. It was pouring down with rain and after a few seconds, Claudia was drenched and frozen to the bone. There was no way she would be able to go for walk tonight. It had to be work. Once hidden from the view of the other flats on their road, she apparated to the Ministry.

As she managed to dry herself and approached her office, she was surprised to see there was a light on. She was even more surprised to see it was Barraclough, who was slouching over his desk and burning the midnight oil.

“What are you doing here?” he asked when he spotted her. “Did something happen?

Claudia was just too tired to pretend everything was alright. She walked across the office and sat down at a chair opposite Barraclough with a loud thud. “My boyfriend saw someone die in the hands of the Death Eaters.” She paused and bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from crying. “And…” she wiped her eyes, “and he’s struggling with that. It’s hard, you know? I just needed to get out of the flat before I yelled at him...”

Barraclough put down his quill and leaned forward. He spoke in a voice that was soft, gentle and very unlike his usual stern tone. “The boss told me about it… If you ever wanted to talk.”

“What is there to say?” Claudia shrugged. “The war sucks.”

“It’s happened to me before,” Barraclough whispered and paused, which made Claudia look up at him. “I saw some things on a mission. Must have been about your age. Took me years to come to terms with it.”

“How did you?” she mumbled. “Because I really want to help him.” She paused and rubbed her shaking hands. “But I don’t know what to do…”

“Just be there. Be there if he wants to talk, but-“ Barraclough said significantly as Claudia was getting ready to interrupt. “Don’t pressure him into talking. Let him do it at his own pace.”

Claudia sighed. “But I worry he’s going to kill himself before he’s ready to talk… Between the drinking, the smoking, and the fucking motorcycle. I don’t even want to know what’d happen if he went back into the field.”

“Allow him to be upset. He needs to know it’s fine to be upset about it.”

Claudia grimaced. “He’d be happy to hear that. Anger is all he has these days.”

“And if he ever wants to talk to anyone, I’m here, alright?” Barraclough said. “I can help. I’ve been there.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I feel bit silly now.”

“Please don’t.” Barraclough reached across the table and squeezed Claudia’s hand. “It’s as hard on you as it’s on him. You’re doing the right thing by giving him space.”

Claudia smiled. Barraclough was the first person to give her encouragement, to recognise how she was feeling. “I know I don’t say it often enough, but I’m so glad I work for you.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I’ve never had someone care about me in this way. I guess that’s what having a genuine parent must feel like.”

Barraclough smiled. “Off with you, you’re going to make me cry!”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Claudia. Anytime.”

Claudia took a deep breath and stood up. “I need to get going.” As quickly as she came, she apparated back home to find Sirius laying under the bed still in his dog form.  She got a bowl from the kitchen, filled it with water, and placed it on the floor.

She kneeled next him. “Is this helping?” she whispered. “Being Padfoot?”

Padfoot let out kind of a low grunt, which Claudia assumed signified agreement.

She scratched the dog between his ears. “I’m going to brush teeth now, but I wouldn’t at all be upset if Padfoot slept at the foot of the bed today. The floor must be cold.”

The dog closed his eyes and rubbed his head on Claudia’s leg. She patted his head and then went to the bathroom. When she got back, ready for bed, Padfoot was indeed curled up on top of the duvet.

They had been laying in the dark in silence for some time before Claudia found the strength to speak. “I’m not mad at you,” she whispered. “I just want to be here for you. And sometimes I don’t know how.” She paused and felt Padfoot shift a little. Through the dark, she could see the outline of his head against the window. His head was raised, and he was listening to her. “I feel so hopeless,” she continued. “And put of this frustration, I sometimes just snap.”

The dog lowered his head again, this time laying down on top of Claudia’s legs. She took her arm from out the duvet and rummaged through the covers until she found Padfoot’s snout. She could feel the rough texture of his tongue against her hand. She did not know much about dogs, but this must have meant affection.

Claudia forced herself to close her eyes. This was not what she imagined living with her boyfriend would be, but it was better than sleeping in the office, while he drunk himself to death. Anything was better than that. Feeling Padfoot’s breath against her hand, she fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning, Padfoot was gone but Sirius was in the kitchen making coffee. “Thank you for last night,” he mumbled.

Claudia came near him and gently reached for his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. “Once you’re ready to talk, I’m here. I hope you know you can trust me.”

“Yeah, I know,” he whispered and forced a smiled. “I think I’m going to go and see James and Lily today. To make sure they’re alright.”

“That’s a good idea,” she whispered. “I should go and see Alice too.”

They kissed. Must have been the first time since Sirius came back from that mission. It was brief and almost felt platonic, but it was progress. A signal that the wall that had built up between them was scalable. That they would be able to get through this.

They had coffee together cuddled up on the sofa, before Claudia got dressed and went to the office again. When she got there, everyone was standing up with their eyes fixed on the door of Moody’s office. “What’s going on?” she asked the stone-cold silence.

“Crouch’s in there,” Oscar replied.

“That can’t be good,” she mumbled.

And it was not. Claudia did not even get a chance to take her coat off before the door few open and Crouch stormed out, red in the face. He froze when he saw everyone had their eyes fixed on him. But there was someone else coming out of the office, which made Crouch move again to get out of the way.

“Good morning,” this mystery man began. “I’m Maynard Carmichael. You may know I have recently replaced Alvin Anderson. I came here with Barty to thank you all for your hard work on the case.”

“Lies!” Moody, who was still hiding in his office, yelled. “Tell them the truth you cowards!”

Crouch shifted uncomfortably. “We received a report that the junior official from the International Cooperation Department had unfortunately passed away.” Crouch nodded. “Yes, very sad… But it was your last lead. And so it’s the view of the Ministry-“

“Don’t hide behind the Ministry, you power-hungry bastard!” More yelling came out of Moody’s office.

Crouch continued through gritted teeth. “It is the view of the Ministry that the Anderson case needs to be dropped.”

“What?” Oscar barked. “No way! You can’t do this!”

“Calm yourself, Fernsby,” Crouch hissed. “The investigation is simply taking too much resource. And we have other cases-“

“But what about Mr Adler,” Claudia jumped in. “He was one of us.”

“Yeah,” Oscar exclaimed. “You can’t make us drop this!”

“I can, and I will,” Crouch was now even redder. “I am your superior. And if you don’t like my decisions, you know where the door is.” With those words, he marched out of the office followed closely by Carmichael.

“Get in here, all of you,” Moody barked, still hiding in his office.

“What are we going to do?” Oscar said. “They can’t… Just can’t.”

“I recon we have few weeks before Crouch really shuts this down,” Moody groaned. “We give every lead one last try.”

“What about the junior official?” Claudia asked. “Do we know how he died?”

“I spoke to Gideon Prewett, one of the healers-“ Barraclough began.

“And member of the Order…” Oscar interrupted bitterly.

“Shut up,” Moody barked.

“Gideon said there was nothing wrong with him other than his memory,” Barraclough continued. “They were trying to restore it. And then one day, his heart just stopped beating. They still have no idea why. Gideon thinks the restoration was just too much.”

“Are you saying the healers killed him trying to get his memory back?” Ewan asked, looing somewhat disgusted.

“But they are healers…” Ewan said in disbelief. “They would not push it so hard, would they?”

“Crouch!” Claudia and Oscar said almost in unison. Oscar gestured at Claudia to continue, so she did. “Crouch was pressing them to get his memory back. And he wouldn’t care less what it does to the patient.”

“We should talk to the healers,” Moody said. “In a low-key way.”

“I’m going to St Mungo’s today anyway,” Claudia said. “Helping Alice Adl- Longbottom,” she corrected herself, “with something.”

“Good,” Moody mumbled, and everyone began to get up. “Let’s all get to work.”

“Can I speculate?” Claudia mumbled.

Moody frowned. “If this is about your father…”

“It is,” Claudia said resolutely and stared at him, unflinching. “We know he’s a Death Eater, probably the highest ranking one at the ministry. We know he’d stop at nothing. Shouldn’t we be doing something about that? Following him? His department is where the leak happened, right?”

“The rest of you, out…” Moody said. “I want to talk to Avery in private.”

Grudgingly, the other aurors all left.

Moody spoke slowly and deliberately. “I know this is hard to hear, but we need to be extremely cautious. We have no evidence, and he has powerful friends. Rattle the cage now and he will make sure we never get him. We need him complacent. We need him to think he’s getting away with it.”

“But how many people is he going to murder in the meantime?” Claudia was suddenly overcome by emotion. “Alice is my best friend… If he killed her father…” Her voice began to break. “What am I supposed to do? How can I even look at her?”

Moody shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not cut out for this.”

“Never mind,” Claudia sighed and got up. There was no point having this conversation with someone as unfeeling as Moody. He could never understand.

Just as she was about to open the door, she heard his voice again. “You aren’t responsible for his actions. You don’t have to make up for it.”

She turned, the tears flowing down her cheeks. She was glad to have misjudged him. “I know.”

“I’d tell you to sit out the St Mungo’s visit,” Moody said. “But I have a feeling you aren’t going to listen.”

Claudia chuckled though the tears. “No, I’m not. I’ll let you know if the healers say anything interesting.”

She wiped her eyes and left Moody’s office to find Alice sitting on her desk in a pair of flowing robes that just about hid her growing stomach.

“What are you doing here?” Claudia whispered urgently. Alice was supposed to be in hiding, not wondering around the Ministry of Magic. “I thought we were meeting in St Mungo’s…”

“I’ve just had to come and pick up some things and actually resign.”

Claudia dragged Alice to the corridor. “Resign?” she whispered. “You’re pregnant, you shouldn’t have to resign…”

“Well, I can hardly tell them the real reason why I can’t show up for work anymore, can I?” Alice sighed. “Frank and I talked about it for hours, I don’t have a choice.”

“I suppose not… Shall we?”

They walked down the Ministry corridor to the atrium, where they would take the Floo network to St Mungo’s.

“What did Gideon say?” Claudia asked. “Is your mum well enough to be released?”

“No, but I can hardly leave her there and not be able to visit. Can I?” Alice sighed. “Gideon will come every day to check up on her. I’ll be at home, and Frank’s mother promised to help too. We’ll be fine. We have to be fine.”

Claudia attempted a smile. “You will be fine.” She was not sure she believed it, but what else was she meant to say?

Once they got to St Mungo’s, Claudia helped to pack Mrs Adler’s things. Alice mum was barely awake, but Gideon seemed to know what he was doing and soon Alice and her mum were on their way.

“Gideon,” Claudia mumbled once Alice and her mum vanished into the fireplace. “What do you know about the deceased witness?”

“Nothing,” Gideon said in a hushed voice. “Just rumours. The two healers and the trainee who worked on it have all been send on leave.”

“Can we track them? Ask them questions?”

“I’m sure the Ministry can-“

“Unofficially…”

Gideon stared at Claudia for a moment. “I can ask about the healers,” he said slowly. “I don’t know them but the trainee worked for me for a bit. Callahan. Can’t remember the first name; maybe something French? I think his mother was French Moroccan.”

“You mean Emmanuel Callahan?”

“That’s the one. You know him?”

“Same house, same year. We used to be really good friends until-” Claudia trailed off. There was no need to relive any of that.

“Until?” Gideon asked, somewhat cheekily.

“Doesn’t matter,” Claudia said with an awkward smile. “Anyway, thank you. That will give me something to go on.”

Claudia said her goodbyes to Gideon and found the nearest reception to ask for Emmanuel. She felt a little guilty. She did not even know he was a healer. But the receptionist was no help. There was apparently no Callahan working in St Mungo’s. She left a note for the Chief Administrator, asking them to contact her in relation to Emmanuel. Rather than saying the real reason, however, she said that she was trying to organise a school reunion for them all and could not find Emmanuel’s address anywhere.

About half past five, Claudia made it back to the office, ready to give Moody her non-update. But before she got there, she noticed a note on her desk in Marcus’ handwriting. It was not long:

“Six o’clock, same place.”

‘Shoot’, she thought. She was late. For a split second, she contemplated sending Remus an owl so that at least someone knew where she went but decided against it. There was no time, and it worked out alright last time.

Claudia rushed to Flourish and Blotts and made it just on time.

“What is it?” she mumbled, still a little out of breath once she found herself alone in the Potions aisle with her brother.

“I heard you’re working on the Geneva case.”

She scoffed. “If that’s what you think is going to happen… Me telling you things. You’ve misjudged this situation.”

“I just need to know whether you are suspecting father.”

“Why? Are you?” she asked, as nonchalantly as she could. Of course, she was suspecting him, but she sure as hell was not going to tell Marcus about it.

“I don’t know anything.” Marcus shrugged. “He just seems really nervous, snappier than usual.” Marcus paused and leaned back to check no one was hiding behind the bookshelves. Claudia could not remember ever seeing him this uncertain. “It’s clear someone from our department helped the assassins... I just don’t want to find myself being sacrificed like the others, you know.”

“I shouldn’t be telling you,” Claudia paused, trying to work out how much she should tell him. It was hard. She needed to tell him enough so that he grew to trust her, but not anything that would actually jeopardise the situation. “We don’t have anything. Definitely not enough to arrest father, or you.”

“Would you tell me?” He paused. “If I was in danger?”

Claudia took a deep breath. Seeing him like this, nearly begging, was strange. This was not the same Marcus she grew up with. This was not the same Marcus who regularly threatened her. And certainly not the one who tried to get her killed. “What are you up to? I don’t get it…”

“Never mind,” Marcus sighed. “I need to go. I suspect he might be having me followed.”

“You might be right,” Claudia whispered and looked behind the bookshelves herself. “In which case, we should start meeting somewhere other than this bookshop. It’s an immediate give away that you’re up to something suspicious.”

“Why?”

“Has anyone ever seen you read?” she smirked.

Marcus shook his head. “When did you turn into such a bitch?”

“I’ve always been a bitch,” Claudia smirked. “You were just too busy playing a Death Eater to notice.”

“You and Black had really found each other,” Marcus scoffed. “Find another place to meet then,” he added and was gone.

Claudia sighed. Her and Sirius did indeed used to make a good team. Same upbringing, same attitude, same goals. And for three glorious years, they were happy. But now, the war was threatening to ruin it all.

Emotionally exhausted, Claudia apparated home.

“Where have you been? It’s late,” Sirius hissed instead of a greeting. “I was worried something happened to you.”

Claudia thought about it for a moment. There was no way Sirius would understand. It would have been a stretch to get him to listen and understand why she was doing this, even if all was well. And now? She did not dare to think what he would say or do. “Nowhere,” she mumbled.

“Right,” he scoffed. “Be like the rest of them and hide things from me.”

“I tell you things!” she replied defensively.

“No, you don’t. You used to tell me when something worried you.” He lit a cigarette and slumped into the sofa. “But now, I know you’re hiding things from me. I can tell. I’m not an idiot. It’s like living with a fucking statue.”

Claudia had to take three deep breaths not to hex him. How dare he? The anguish, the pain she had been keeping on the inside to protect him. And he accuses her of not having feelings? But he was clearly in pain, and she had to be patient. She took another deep breath. “I promise it’s nothing. I’ve just been to St Mungo’s with Alice. Her mum isn’t well, that’s all.”

Sirius grumbled something under his breath and picked up a book. Claudia reheated a bit of yesterday’s dinner and ate it alone at the dining table. That was that. The extent of their interaction that evening…

Chapter Text

Few days went by. Claudia spent most of them keeping herself busy running around the office and waiting (so far in vain) for an owl from St Mungo’s administrators about Emmanuel’s whereabouts.

It was getting warmer, and Claudia threw caution into the wind one night and walked home. It was April now, and she hoped that the milder weather would also bring Sirius some joy. But it was not to be.

He was nowhere to be found when she got home. His notebook was laying on the coffee table, and there was no note. His two-way mirror was there too. James’ face appeared in it just as Claudia was beginning to panic. Luckily, James remembered that Sirius had some kind of plans with Remus, a mission of some sort. Claudia relaxed a little that there seemed to be an explanation for his absence, although the idea of Sirius going on a mission in his current state horrified her.

She jumped into the shower, letting the hot water hit her head and shoulders as she sat huddled in the tub. Eventually, she summoned enough strength to get out, put on some clothes and went to make an omelette, one of the few meals she knew how to make. Just as she cracked the eggs into the pan, she heard a knock on the door. To her absolute horror, it was Remus.

“What are you doing here?” she gasped. “Where is Sirius?”

“I’m picking him up. Is he not here?”

Claudia could fell the tears forcing their way into her eyes. “No, he isn’t. I thought he was with you.”

“We are supposed to go on guard duty,” Remus whispered and glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry, I can’t really stay. Are you going to be alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” she mumbled. “Are you going to be okay on your own though? I can come with you.”

“You should stay here,” Remus whispered and rubbed her shoulder. “It was supposed to be a one-man mission anyway, sitting around in a safe house. I just thought it might do him some good to come with me.”

“Stay safe, alright?”

Remus scrunched his nose. “What’s that smell? Something burning?”

“Shit!” Claudia exclaimed. “My dinner.”

They briefly hugged and Claudia run back into the kitchen. The omelette was burnt to the crisp. Claudia pushed the pan into the sink and turned on the tap. The moment the cold water hit the hot surface, Claudia was hit in a face with a foul-smelling steam. Disgusted, she turned off the water and went to see what else was in the fridge, only to find it empty.

“Peanut butter sandwich will have to do,” Claudia mumbled, took the jar out of the fridge, and spread the mixture over some stale toast.

Then she paced around the flat and waited. First, she ate her sandwich, then she cleaned, even did the laundry. All the while, she felt like there were stones in her stomach. She kept glancing at her tattoo every three seconds. At least he was alive.

Well after midnight, Sirius had finally stumbled into the flat. He could barely stand.

“You were supposed to go on a mission with Remus tonight!” she snapped the moment she realised he was unhurt, just reeking of alcohol. “He had to go without you.”

“It was a pity mission…” Sirius mumbled. “He doesn’t need me. No one does.”

“Where have you been?”

“Out with Benjy,” Sirius shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”

Claudia clenched her jaw. “The big deal…” she began, barely able to get the words out through the anger that came over her. “The big deal is that I’ve been sitting here like a moron again, worried sick about you!”

“No one’s asked you too… I don’t need you to wait for me.”

“And what about me?” she snapped. She was done holding back her frustrations. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I need you? Do you have any idea how hard work’s been lately? In what state Alice is? What mood you’ve been in?”

Sirius scoffed. “If I’m such a burden –“

“Oh, shut up,” she yelled, interrupting him. “You know you aren’t a burden. I just wish you’d let me help you.”

“I’m past help.”

Claudia shut her eyes and dropped her voice into a whisper. “Just tell me what happened on that mission. What happened to Tony.” She was desperate now. “I know there is more to it, I’m not an idiot.” Tears were now forcing their way to Claudia’s eyes again. “Please, I’m begging you.”

“Forget about it.”

“I can’t. I know it’s bugging you. And I worry you’re going to do something stupid and kill yourself.”

Sirius snorted. “So what?”

“How can you be so irresponsible? So inconsiderate?”

“You’re not my mother, so stop nagging me!” Sirius yelled back, then stopped abruptly and took a few quick breaths. “Kind of remind me of her right now though,” he added in a hiss.

“Go to hell,” Claudia barked, picked up her coat and stormed out.

The moment Claudia left the flat, she felt terrible about snapping at him, Barraclough’s words ringing in her ears. Let him be angry. Do not pressure him into anything.

She stood on the stairs for a while, contemplating whether to go back. But she could not, not without yelling at him some more. She had no strength left to keep it all inside.

So instead, she went to the office. She sent one of the Ministry owls to Remus’ flat, telling him that Sirius was home and asking him to go check on him when he was back from his guard duty. Then, she found a sleeping bag in her locker and went to sleep on Moody’s couch.

It took her a while to remove all the crap that Moody left there. But it took her even longer to fall asleep. She had no idea how long she lay in the office crying in the dark, before finally managing it.

She woke up to see Barraclough’s hard face leaning over her. “That’s never a good sign. Let me take you to breakfast before the boss gets in.”

Once she was munching on a bacon sandwich in the Ministry cafeteria, and had some coffee in her, Claudia finally had enough strength to explain just why she was sleeping in the office. “I snapped at him. I know I have to give him time but it’s so hard. I just feel… If he were to tell me what’s bothering him.”

“You cannot be so hard on yourself,” Barraclough replied and took a bite of his own sandwich. “It’s hard. And everyone is allowed a mistake under pressure.”

“I’m not sure how much longer I can do this.”

“Go to the training ground,” he said. “I can spare you. Throw some deadly spells at the dummies, fly around a bit, get out of your head. I promise you’ll feel better.”

“I do have some duelling to practice for my exams.”

“Go,” Barraclough said and slid a paper bag with an extra sandwich over to Claudia’s side of the table. “Eat this on the way, you look truly terrible.”

Claudia picked up the bag, thanked Barraclough and made her way to the training ground. He was right, it did help. She practiced some duelling, flew for hours, throwing quaffle after quaffle through the Quidditch hoops until her shoulder nearly snapped.

Exhausted, she took a shower and made her way home in late afternoon, hoping with all her heart that Sirius would be home and sober. They had to talk. They had to work it out.

She was relieved to see Sirius on the sofa, but the relief was short-lived. He was scowling and scoffed the moment they locked eyes. She could barely remember ever seeing this much anger in his eyes.

“Remus was here,” he barked without warning. “He had some interesting things to say.”

“What are you talking about?” Claudia asked, trying as hard as she could to keep her cool. Another yelling match was not likely to help them.

Sirius took a few deep breaths. “Have you been meeting with your brother?”

Claudia swallowed to buy some time. “He had no right telling you.”

“He thought I knew!” Sirius yelled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Are you surprised?” Claudia scoffed. “All you do is drink. How are we even supposed to have a conversation?”

“I’m still your boyfriend.”

“Are you?” she mumbled. “Sure doesn’t feel like it lately.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell me? Really?”

Claudia looked away. “You would've tried to stop me.”

“And rightly so! Do you remember the inferi dog? The guy he murdered in Hogsmeade?”

“The war did things to him-“ Claudia tried to reason with Sirius but was soon interrupted.

“He's a monster!” Sirius was shouting again. “He tried to kill you! And you would’ve been dead if it wasn’t-“

“If it wasn’t for you?” Claudia shouted back. “Doesn’t mean you own me now.”

“From all the stupid things you’ve ever done. This is by far-“

“I thought he deserved a chance.”

“Deserved a chance?” Sirius scoffed. “After everything he’s done?”

“He's my brother. And-“ Claudia stopped abruptly. Sirius face had twisted with such grimace, she thought he might start throwing furniture around. But he did not. He dropped his voice into a deep, cold tone.

“Say it!” he hissed.

“Say what?”

“Say why you really did it,” he continued in a tone that could freeze over the Black Lake. “To not be like me. That you think I've killed Regulus! That you’re just trying to avoid the same mistake.”

“That's not what I meant…”

But Sirius was not listening anymore. He stormed into the bedroom and smashed the door behind him.

Knowing this was her one chance to fix this, Claudia followed him. “Sirius, please-“ she said and opened the door.

“You're just like the rest of them!” Sirius voice was shaking now. “Cannot believe I've ever trusted you.”

“Oh, so you don’t trust me now?” she snapped and then threw her arms around in frustration. “I can't do this anymore…”

“Fine… Leave me, like everyone else.”

Claudia walked over to her wardrobe, pick up a travelling back and threw a few t-shirts, underwear and some trousers into it. She did not know why, or where she was going. It was her anger driving her actions now, not her head. “Have you ever thought that maybe you're the problem?”

“Just go.”

“Fine.” She stuffed a couple of jumpers into the now overflowing bag.

“And don’t bother coming back.”

“Don’t worry about that.” She forced the bag closed.  “I’m done. This is over.” She turned on her heel and marched out of the bedroom and towards the front door.

“I could not care less!” Sirius’ voice carried after her.

Claudia did not respond. She did not even look back. She shut the door behind her and run down the stairs. But even before she got to the bottom, it hit her.

It was over and she had nowhere to go.

She crumbled to the floor and started to sob.

It took her a few seconds to collect herself and walk out into the street. As she did, she heard a crash through the closed window in their flat, followed by Sirius’ loud cursing.

But she was not going back there. No matter how much he acted out. She gripped her wand and apparated into Godric’s Hollow. She crossed the high street as stealthily as she could and knocked on James’ and Lily’s front door.

“What happened?” James exclaimed the moment he opened the door.

“No one’s died,” Claudia tried to dismiss his fears. “I don’t want to bother you. But can you please go check on Sirius in the morning?”

“I can go right now if you need me to.”

Claudia shook her head. “If you go now, he’ll know I’ve sent you and you’re going to end up just like me.”

“It’s going to be ok…”

“It’s not.” Claudia was on a verge of tears again. “It’s over. I can’t do it anymore.”

“Do you want to stay here? It’s late…”

“No, I’m going to stay at Alice’s,” she said while wiping her eyes. “He needs you more than I do, no offence. And if I stay here, he’ll never speak to you again.”

“No offence taken,” James said and pulled Claudia into a tight hug. “And I’m really sorry.”

She could not even remember the last time someone held her, and she broke down completely.

James squeezed her shaking shoulders even tighter. “You should stay here tonight. I mean it.”

“No, it’s best if I just go…” Claudia mumbled into his chest, before extracting herself from James’ embrace. “Can I use your Floo though?”

James led her towards their fireplace and Claudia was gone as quickly as she came. After the Prophecy, Alice and Frank were staying at Alice’s family home and had it had restricted access to the Floo Network so that travel was possible only from a handful of places. And James’ and Lily’s house was one such place.

When Claudia emerged from the fireplace in the Adler’s cottage living room, she found only Frank with his feet up on the table, and a huge Herbology volume across his lap.

“Claudia!” he exclaimed and jumped up so quickly the book fell on the floor. She must have startled him.

“No one died. I was just wondering if I could stay here tonight.”

“Alice’s already in bed.” He paused and picked up his book. “But, of course, you can stay here. The spare room has fresh sheets.”

“Thanks.”

“What happened?”

“Sirius things. I don’t want to talk about it… Sorry.”

Frank nodded. “In that case, why don’t you go straight to bed. Alice should be up early.”

Claudia forced a little smile and a thank you. “Oh, Frank,” she added when they were parting ways in front of the guest room. “I have couple days off, so please don’t tell anyone at work in the meantime. I don’t think any of them are capable of cheering me up, and it would just be so awkward. I don’t want them to know.”

“Sure. I won’t tell anyone.” Frank mumbled. “Have a good night.”

Claudia tucked herself into the creaky single bed.

Finally, she had time to pause and think about how she felt.

She was still seething. How dare he say all those things? That he did not trust her. That she was like everyone else. She replayed the last six months in her head in excruciating detail. All those times she told him she was willing the listen. All those moments when she tried to make him feel safe. And what for? She tossed around the bed, cried and cursed him, all in equal measure, for hours.

Claudia was not sure she slept at all before someone knocked on her door when the day started to break.

“Come in,” Claudia mumbled and sat up in bed, running her hand through her hair to get it at least a little under control.

“I’ve made you tea,” Alice said and placed a mug on the bedside table. “Let me get some fresh air in here,” she added and opened the window to let in a freezing gust of wind.

Claudia shivered, pulled the blanket over her shoulders and picked up the hot tea between her palms. “Thanks,” she whispered.

Alice sat down on the bed next to her. “What happened?”

“The usual,” Claudia whispered and took a sip of the tea. “Except this time, he took it too far… I had to get out of there.”

Alice sighed and wrapped her arm around her best friend’s shoulders. “I don’t even know what to say…”

“That you were right all those years ago? That I should’ve known better than to fall in love with him?”

“Let me make you some breakfast,” Alice whispered, nudged Claudia up to standing, and they both made their way to the kitchen.

Claudia sipped her tea and watched in silence as Alice cooked some bacon.

“How did it all go so wrong?” she finally mumbled. “Half a year ago, we were getting matching tattoos. And I really thought that nothing in the world could ever break us apart.”

Alice put a plate of food in front of Claudia and sat down. “Are you sure this is it? It’s not like you haven’t fought before.”

“This is different,” Claudia mumbled and shoved a piece of bacon into her mouth. “He doesn’t trust me anymore. That’s the one thing we always had.”

“What happened?”

“It’s about Tony dying. And Regulus. He blames himself.” Claudia sighed. “And now he thinks I think he killed them too.”

“Do you think that?”

“No,” Claudia paused and took another bite of the food. “But it doesn’t matter. He isn’t listening to anything I say-“

Suddenly, Claudia heard the front door creak and jumped up, nearly flipping her breakfast over. Could it be? But it was not, it was Frank.

Without warning, Claudia dropped back to her chair and started to cry. “I thought,” she sobbed. “I thought it was him. Coming to apologise.”

Alice reached across the table and squeezed Claudia’s hand. “It’s alright to miss him… No matter what happened between you. You are allowed to miss him.”

Claudia wiped her tears. “I haven’t gone a week without talking to him for four years. Hell, I haven’t gone a day without talking to him, or seeing him for that long.” She had to take a few deep breaths as her voice shook. “I don’t have a family I could talk to. He’s all I got.”

“Come on, you have me… I’m here for you.” Alice walked across the table and hang her arms around Claudia’s neck.

Claudia sighed. “Do you have a sleeping draught? I think I need to get a rest.”

Alice did have some of the potion, which Claudia took and went back to bed. She huddled under the duvet and folded her left arm under her head. Her Sirius tattoo was pressed against her face. She gripped it with her right hand to cover it up. But it was too late, she was in tears again.

If it was possible to physically feel your heart shattering into a million pieces, this would have been it. She felt so small, so alone, so hollow. Like a fragile shell that would crack under the slightest of pressures…

Mercifully, the sleeping draught too hold of Claudia in a few minutes and put her out of her misery.

“Claudia!”

She jerked awake. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Alice’s hand was on her shoulder. “You’ve been asleep for twenty-four hours. I was beginning to worry.”

Claudia’s stomach growled. “That’s why I’m starving.”

“Go take a shower,” Alice said. “You can have breakfast with the rest of us.”

It felt good to wash away the dried up tears that were covering Claudia’s face, and get the grease out of her hair. Even brushing teeth felt like a revelation. She put on some fresh clothes, run the towel through her hair until it stopped dripping.

Alice, Frank and Alice’s mum were already at the table. Gideon was also there.

“Good morning,” Claudia mumbled.

“Has the sleeping draught finally wore off?” Gideon asked in a soft voice. “We were all wondering what happened to you yesterday.”

“Just exhaustion from work…” Claudia whispered. “What happened yesterday?”

Silence fell on the dining room. Once look at Alice’s face made it clear to Claudia that the answer would have to wait.

They ate rest of breakfast practically in silence. Claudia could not help but keep glancing at Alice’s mum, who was even clumsier than usual. Cutlery kept falling out of her shaking hands, and she kept apologising for no reason. It was heart-breaking to watch.

Once they all finished, Gideon helped Mrs Adler to the living room and Claudia found herself alone with Frank and Alice. “What happened?” she mumbled.

“Mum went into the village,” Alice began to explain. “We thought she was going to buy some stamps, but the locals found her standing on top of a bridge, looking like she was going to jump. They called the muggle police and she got take into care…” Alice paused and wiped her eyes. “If it wasn’t for Gideon and his brother, who got her out, she’d be in a muggle psychiatric hospital right now.”

“That reminds me,” Frank whispered and glanced at his watch. “I should go to the Ministry, make sure they aren’t planning to charge her with a breach of the Statute of Secrecy.” But before he could get up, the fireplace emitted a huge green flame and out to the living room stepped out Mrs Longbottom in all her horrifying glory, with a rather large suitcase in her hand.

“Mother,” Frank exclaimed and run into the living room. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” Mrs Longbottom said and brushed the soot of her robes. “You clearly need my help, so I’ve decided to stay for a while.”

Claudia could hear Alice curse under her breath.

“But-“ Frank stuttered and glanced over his shoulder at Alice. “But what about dad? Won’t he miss you?”

“He will be just fine,” Mrs Longbottom replied.

“Bloody relieved, I imagine,” Alice mumbled and rather loudly threw some dishes into the sink.

But Frank’s mother either did not hear her or was not listening. “Take my things to the spare room, Frank my dear.”

“We don’t-“ Fran turned towards Alice again. “We don’t have a spare room at the moment. Claudia is staying here.”

“Well, then I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Mother, please!” Frank tried to insist. “It really is alright. Please go back home.”

“It’s not up for discussion.” Mrs Longbottom took off her hat and set it down on the side table. “I shall have some tea now.”

Sheepishly, Frank made his way into the kitchen.

“She can’t stay here,” Alice hissed at him.

“We both know she isn’t going to take no for an answer,” Frank shrugged.

“Have you seen the size of her suitcase? We can’t have her sleeping on the couch for God knows how long.”

“She should have the spare room…” Claudia whispered. “I can find somewhere else to stay.”

“Please-“ Alice said. “Don’t. I’ll need you if she’s staying here.”

“Come on,” Claudia replied. “I’ll come whenever you want me to. But you don’t need me in your hair here on top of everyone else.”

“Where would you go?” Frank finally found his voice again.

Claudia shrugged. “I’ll send an owl to Remus. Maybe I can stay at his.”

“Does he have a spare room?” Alice asked.

“Frank, dear!” Mrs Longbottom booming voice had carried from the living room. “Are you bringing the tea?”

“He has a couch,” Claudia smirked. “But most importantly, he does not have a mother-in-law.”

Claudia sent an owl to Remus and packed her things the moment she got and answer from him saying she was welcomed to stay. Then she spent the rest of the day helping Alice around the house and avoiding Mrs Longbottom, because if there was one person who was sure to ask her about her boyfriend, and who would not be deceived by evasive answers, it was Frank’s mother. But avoiding Mrs Longbottom was a job requiring full concentration, which had the nice side effect that Claudia did not spend as much time thinking about Sirius as she would have done otherwise.

In the evening, she travelled by Floo back to London and then apparated to Remus’ place, a modest studio in the heart of Camden.

The room was quite sizeable. Remus showed Claudia past the couch (covered in a clean but a slightly tattered duvet set) and into a corner closed off with an antique room divider.

“You can take the bed,” he mumbled and pointed at the single bed at the corner. “I also cleared out half the dresser for you.”

“Are you sure? I can take the couch.”

“It’s the full moon soon, and I’m going to be away a lot. Dumbledore is sending me on some long mission.”

“What long mission?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Claudia looked around Remus’ studio. She could tell it was freshly tidied and cleaned up. “Thank you.”

“I know it’s not much.”

“It means a lot that you’re letting me stay here,” Claudia said with a smile. “You have no idea.”

Remus made both of them a cup of tea, and they sat on the sofa for a bit in silence.

“I’m sorry I told him about Marcus,” Remus finally spoke. “I really thought he knew.”

“You weren’t to know. And I probably should’ve told him...”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Claudia shook her head. “Do you happen to have any sleeping drought?”

“I think I have the ingredients. I was going to make it at some point but never got the chance.” He stood up and walked over to one of the cupboards. “How long does it take?”

“About hour and a half,” Claudia replied. “Which is less time than it will take me to fall asleep.”

Claudia took out all the ingredients and got to work. She was a much better potioneer than Remus so it only made sense. He spent the time preparing them some dinner on his tiny stove. They ate, and Claudia downed a portion of the sleeping draught.

“When should I wake you?” Remus asked as she was climbing into bed, her eyes already closing under the effects of the potion.

“Seven o’clock,” Claudia replied. “I need to go to work tomorrow.”

Claudia was somewhat relieved that she was going back to work. Using sleeping draught to avoid thinking about Sirius could only get her so far. She put on a long sleeve shirt to hide her tattoo from view, downed a cup of tea Remus had prepared for her and was on her way.

In the office, she found a letter on her desk from the St Mungo’s administrators. Emmanuel had resigned his position a few weeks ago to take up a role in Hôpital Flamel in Paris. They did not have his forwarding address, but recommended she got in touch with the French.

Claudia picked up a fresh parchment and, continuing the pretence she was trying to get her Slytherin year back together, she wrote Emmanuel a letter and addressed it to his new place of employment.

She just about finished that when Barraclough called a meeting on the Anderson case.

“Let’s take stock of where we are,” Barraclough began. “Claudia, you went to the hospital this morning to speak to the consultants. How did it go?”

Claudia stared at him with her mouth slightly open. “I don’t remember saying I’d do that, sorry.”

“It’s ok. Can you go this afternoon?”

“Sure, sure.” Claudia whispered, still trying to remember when Barraclough asked her to do this, but her mind came up blank.

Barraclough moved on. “Ewan, you were looking at the witness-“

Claudia zoned out. Her eyes landed on a picture on the wall. It was a painting of Edinburgh castle, which reminded her of the time her and Sirius snuck out of school on her birthday to spend the night in the city. Don’t cry, don’t cry. She was repeating in her head, as her eyes filled up with tears.

“Claudia!”

“Yeah?” she mumbled and tore her eyes away from the painting.

“You were going through the security arrangements in Geneva. Was there another way they could’ve gotten in?” Barraclough spoke, now with a slight frown.

Claudia blinked. She had no idea what any of them had been talking about. “Portkeys, Floo, and apparition,” she mumbled, hoping that would be enough for Barraclough not to realise she was miles away.

“Wasn’t there an impenetrable anti-apparition jinx around the whole place?” Oscar asked.

“There was,” Claudia mumbled, realising her mistake.

“OK, that’s enough for today. Back to work.” Barraclough paused. “Claudia, can I have a word?”

Claudia swallowed hard. She knew she messed up. “I’m sorry,” she began to apologise instantly and got up. “I’ll go and review those security arrangements right away-“

“Sit back down,” he whispered. “I’m not going to tell you off. I just want to know if you’re alright.”

Claudia collapsed back into the chair. “Sirius and I broke up.”

“I’m sorry to hear-“

“I pushed him too hard.” She paused and blew her nose clean. “Everything I do just makes him worse. I think he’s better off without me.”

“You should go home.”

“I really want to stay…”

“Fine, stay… But why don’t you study for you exams?”

“Do you really think I can take any of it in?

“No.” Barraclough shook his head. “But at least it will keep you away from live investigations…”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” she smirked.

“Anytime.” Barraclough gave her an encouraging smile. “Also, know that you can talk to me any time.”

“Thanks.” Claudia got up and started to make her way out of the room.

“And…” Barraclough paused, as if he was weighing his words carefully, “I might know someone that Sirius could talk to. Someone who could help. Someone who does it for a living.”

Claudia froze mid-step and turned to face Barraclough again.

When she did not say a word, he continued. “Would it be too weird for you if I reached out to him anyway?”

“No, it wouldn’t be weird,” Claudia shook her head. “But I wouldn’t expect a response if I were you.”

Claudia spent the rest of the day staring into the notes from her auror training. There was little she could study for Advanced Duelling, but there was a few things from the Concealment and Disguise course she still needed to master. But predictably she did not make any progress that day. She only managed to do something so awful to her hair that Primrose, Moody’s secretary, had to help her restore it to its original state.

Once she had her short messy bob safely back on her head, Claudia went home. Or rather, back to Remus’. She found her new flatmate sitting on the sofa and holding a bag of frozen peas against his face.

“What happened to you?”

“Your delightful ex punched me…”

Claudia cursed and sat down next to Remus. “Why the fuck would he do that?”

“Well, technically, he wanted to punch the wall,” Remus explained. “But I flinched, and he got me instead.”

“But why?”

“He misunderstood our living situation,” Remus sighed. “I tried to explain to him we weren’t together, but he isn’t exactly easy to reason with these days…”

“He has no business being jealous.”

“I’d kind of understand if he wanted to kill me if something happened between us.”

“I suppose…”

“Do you want some dinner?”

“I guess.”

Remus dragged Claudia to the kitchen, and they fried up some fish and chips.

As Claudia was cleaning Remus’ dining table to set the table, she picked up a familiar book. “Are you reading Le Carré?”

“My dad’s favourite books. Surprised you know it.”

“I found some in the flat I was renting in Glasgow. Was barely able to put it down.”

The spy books have given them enough to talk about for the rest of the evening. At about ten, Claudia headed for the bed and Remus made up the sofa.

“Night,” Claudia mumbled as she turned down the lights.

“Night.”

Sleep had, however, eluded her. Every time she tried to close her eyes, she saw Sirius’ face. Sometimes he was happy, sometimes he was not. But both of those images brought tears into her eyes. She bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from crying. There was no point. He did not deserve it. She wanted to be mad at him. That was what he deserved. Not tears and misery.

So the days went on. Claudia tried as best as she could to focus on work, and not to make any more mistakes. She popped in to visit Alice every now and then. Even living with Remus was getting less awkward.

By the end of the first week, Claudia managed to complete a shift without messing up. By the end of the second week, she managed not to cry for a whole day. And by the end of the third week, she went whole twelve hours without remembering Sirius at all.

In the last week of April, it was finally time to stop hiding from the world and to go to the first Order meeting since the breakup.

Claudia was purposefully late (she did not want to risk running into Sirius) and walked in just as Edgar Bones was describing the internal problems at the Department of Magical Transportation.

“It’s not surprising, is it?” she said the moment she sat down. “That internal problems get brushed under the carpet. No one wants to investigate anything for real. We got two Death Eaters we know of working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and no one is doing anything about it. Meanwhile, Mulciber can barely remember his name and gets chucked into Azkaban for life.

“He was still a Death Eater-“

Claudia closed her eyes for a second. She knew that growl. “I now that,” she hissed at looked up at Sirius, who was looking at her defiantly. “I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy.”

“Are you sure he doesn’t deserve a second chance?” Sirius said and folded his arms against his chest.

“Shut up-“ Claudia snapped.

But before she could say any more, Remus leaned in and put his hand on her shoulder. “There is no point.”

What followed was the most deafening silence Claudia ever experienced at an Order meeting. She was too scared to look up and know that everyone is staring at her, so she stared at her hands.

“Anyway…” Dumbledore broke the silence. “Let us move on. We have heard from Alastor last week that the Anderson case is stalling. But there is a window of opportunity. Alastor-“ she turned to the seasoned auror.

“Right,” Moody began. “The daughter of the head of the French delegation to the Confederation is getting married in a few weeks. Most people who were in Geneva will be there. We cannot do a formal investigation but can send a couple of people undercover… We need volunteers. Anyone speaks French?”

Just as Claudia half-heartedly put her hand (she remembered few bits from her governess), she noticed that Sirius’ hand was up in the air.

“Good,” Moody said. “That settles it. Avery knows the investigation. Black can go with her.”

“Fat chance,” Claudia mumbled. “I’m not going with him. Besides, my French isn’t that good.”

“I’ll go with Sirius,” Benjy said and shot Sirius a cheeky smile. “We can pretend to be a couple for a week.”

Dumbledore looked at him with an amused expression. “I don’t think French purebloods are as liberal as you think they are, Benjy.” When he looked around the room and saw no one else was volunteering, he continued. “We’ll pick it up next time…”

“Someone better learn French till then,” Moody grumbled.

With that, the meeting finished, and everyone started to collect their things. Claudia was no longer interested in avoiding Sirius, she was too mad for that. She spotted him alone in the corner of the room, collecting his jacket, and marched right up to him.

“Are you proud of yourself?” she hissed. “What the fuck was that about?”

“Did you expect me to hold my tongue when I don’t agree with you? Didn’t do it when we were together, certainly not going to start now.”

His insolence was making Claudia’s blood boil. “And Remus? Did you really have to punch him?”

“Did you expect me to be happy paying for a flat so that you two can shack up together?”

“Oh, grow up!”

“So you aren’t denying it.”

“You’re insane!”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Sirius mumbled and glanced at the door. When Claudia followed his gaze, she saw Benjy waiting. Without another words, Sirius walked towards him, and they left together.

As if by magic, right at this moment, Remus materialised at Claudia’s side.

“I see that those two are still drinking buddies,” she mumbled grumpily.

“That’s one word for it,” Remus whispered and looked away. “I shouldn’t’ve said anything, sorry,” he quickly added.

The subtext of that statement was immediately obvious to Claudia. “I don’t care,” she scoffed. “He can sleep with whatever he wants.”

“They aren’t in a relationship, it’s just-“

“Whatever.”

“Besides,” Remus continued to try dig himself out of the hole. “It’s just a stupid rumour. It’s probably not even true.”

“Didn’t you hear the part when I said I didn’t care?” She dug her fingernails into her palm to regain her composure. No matter what she said to Remus, knowing that Sirius was with someone else hurt. Deeply. “I’m going to Gringotts tomorrow. Start paying for the flat myself.”

Chapter Text

The night of that Order meeting was not the only night that week that Claudia cried herself to sleep. But as the days passed, her determination to stand on her own two feet and to move on only increased.  

On Friday, she finally popped into Gringotts to transfer Remus’ rent payments to her account. Her errand meant she was a little late for work and missed the nine o’clock rush in the atrium. It meant that when she stepped into the lift, there was only one other person there, her brother Marcus.

“I was going to write to you today,” he whispered the moment the door shut, and the lift started to move. “But maybe,” he looked around and rubbed his arms as if he was cold, “maybe this is safer. That guy from father’s division who died in St Mungo’s… It was not an accident.”

“How do you know that?” she whispered, trying to stay as calm as possible. Marcus seemed nervous enough and she did not want to spook him any further.

For a long time, Marcus just stared. Then, he looked at his feet and sighed. “Because father ordered me to go and kill him. To cover his tracks, presumably.”

Claudia supressed a gasp. Not that she did not believe her brother was capable of murder, she knew he was. But she was not expecting him to confess, especially not to her. “You killed him?” she managed to utter.

“No.” Marcus shook his head. “I’m sick of sticking my neck out for him. I made some excuse and he asked Wilkes instead.”

“Did father buy your excuse?” she asked without thinking. “Or is he onto you?”

“I think I’m alright for now.” Marcus scratched his head. “He once told me that he’d kill me if I turned out like you. And I’m still here, so…”

“He’s such a stellar father,” Claudia sighed and studied Marcus’ face. He looked utterly broken. “Marcus-“ she began, wanting to reassure him. But he interrupted.

“I can get you Wilkes.” He paused and shifted a little. The lift was still moving. “I will also-“ he whispered but trailed off before taking a deep breath. “I will also testify against father. I’m ready to help you put him away for good.”

Before Claudia could respond, the lift came to a sudden holt and the door slid open. Half a dozen Ministry officials flooded in and squeezed themselves in between Claudia and her brother, making further conversation impossible.

Claudia’s brain was racing. Was this really happening? Would Marcus really give their father up? He certainly looked like he was at the end of his tether. Before she could even look at him to see if his facial expression gave anything away, the lift came to a stop again and it was Marcus’ turn to get out. Claudia followed him out of the lift with her eyes, but he did not even look at her. She did not blame him; he was right to do that. Any one of these officials could have been their father’s spy.

Unsure of how she got to her office from the lifts, Claudia sat down at her desk. She absentmindedly brushed the papers that accumulated there to one side and found a report about the junior official’s death that Marcus mentioned earlier. She flicked through it, looking at any sort of indication that he was murdered, that Marcus was right.

But it was nearly impossible for her to concentrate. And what if he was right? Was it a proof her father was behind Anderson’s murder? That he used this official to do it? And if so, what then? Should she be trusting Marcus to deliver Wilkes, and genuinely testify against their father? Suddenly, it hit her. All of this could have been a trap, her father’s scheme. But that thought got interrupted by the booming voice of Alastor Moody.

“Are they in the holding cells?”

“Who is?” she exclaimed, looking at her boss with an expression that must have been rather startled.

“I left a statement on your desk this morning, asking you to go and speak to the suspect first thing!” Moody thundered. “Don’t tell me you didn’t.”

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t see it. What suspect?”

Moody leaned over her desk and pulled out a thin folder from the pile that Claudia pushed aside. “Sort it out,” he barked. “Now!”

“Is it for the Anderson case?”

“No.” Moody’s face twisted with a new level of anger. So much so that Claudia instantly regretted asking him that question. “Crouch assigned us some new cases. Dullest cases I’ve ever seen. It’s a punishment.” Moody spoke without properly catching his breath. “We have no time to work on the Anderson case. And we have to deal with all this shit…” He picked up the case file again and started to wave it around. “This one is about some old hag with a cursed necklace. Allegedly, she tried to use it to kill her daughter-in-law. We are at war for fuck’s sake. Who cares?”

Claudia did not know why but when she pictured this woman in her head, she looked remarkably like Frank’s mother. “I’ll be on my way,” she said, supressing a chuckle.

“You better,” Moody barked, dropped the file on her desk again and stormed into his office.

None of her colleagues were in to vent about Moody’s latest mood, so Claudia decided to leave straight away to avoid further yelling. And by lunchtime, she found herself in the middle of Surrey, walking up a country lane to the address she found in the file. She had to take a muggle train, as there were no publicly accessible Floos for miles and she had no idea where to apparate to.

But she was glad for the long walk from the train station, as she had more time to think of all the possible reasons Marcus would have to rat out their father. She tried to remember if there were any signs at school that Marcus would be prepared to stand up for himself like this. But she came up short. The war must have really changed him.

Claudia barely noticed she was now standing by the front door of the cottage where the old woman lived.

With her mind still on Marcus, she knocked. Or maybe it was the baby, she suddenly remembered. Maybe Marcus did really want to do good by that-

Out of nowhere, Claudia was thrown off her feet.

She felt an impact and then her whole worlds disappeared into darkness.

The first thing she noticed was her eyelids fluttering. It was dark. She tried opening her eyes more to see what happened but to no avail. The world was still submerged in darkness. Was it possible that the night had fallen already?

“Ouch,” she stifled a cry. The pain she just felt in her leg was overwhelming. There was also something rather large and heavy laying on her chest. Has she been captured? Tortured? On the verge of death?

Her eyes were heavy and began to close again, but the pain kept her awake. She forced her eyes open again and this time managed to look around. Everything was blurry, but she could just make out the cottage and now recognised the thing on top of her chest as the front door.

Claudia cursed and with all her strength pushed the door off her. She tried to stand up, but her body would not obey. She barely managed to lift herself a couple inches. When she looked down, she understood why. Her knee was on the side of her leg, horribly dislocated.

Her stomach turned at the sight, and a little vomit came into her mouth. The pain was becoming stronger and stronger with each second.

But then, a minor miracle.

She spotted her wand a few yards away. That was her ticket to safety. With all her strength, she pulled herself on the ground and gripped it.

St Mungo’s, she thought and shut her eyes.

The next thing Claudia felt was agonising pain as she apparated. The moment she managed to compose herself, she hit the ground again and screamed out in pain. Her body was already bruised. Her insides contracted and the content of her stomach splattered on the floor. Right in the middle of the St Mungo’s reception.

She spat in a useless attempt to get rid of the horrible taste of vomit in her mouth, before she even became aware of about half a dozen people, some of them in lime green robes, running towards her.

“Aid-“ she choked on her own words. “Barraclough. Auror Office.” She managed to mumble.

“Is he your next of kin?”

“Boss.” Claudia’s stomach turned and she threw up again. “Siri-“ she stopped herself. “Remus Lupin is my next of kin,” she just about whispered before everything went dark one more time.

When Claudia regained consciousness, she was in a bed and Barraclough’s face was staring down at her.

“How long was I out?” she asked hoarsely and tried reaching for a glass of water on the bedside table. But her arm would not move. It turned out it was wrapped tightly against her body in a sling.

Barraclough took the water glass and supporting Claudia’s head brought it to her lips. “Couple of hours,” he whispered.

Claudia took a few sips and Barraclough put the glass down. Most of her pain seemed to have gone.

“What the hell happened?” he asked.

Claudia blinked a few times. Everything seemed like a distant dream, and it took her a few moments to remember how she got to the hospital.

“I went to see this suspect, knocked on the door, and the next thing…” She paused and scrunched her eyebrows together as if that was going to help her remember. But it only brought on an excruciating headache. “All I really remember is waking up under a pile of rubble, and apparating here.” She rubbed her temples.

“You just knocked?” Barraclough hissed. Even in her current state, she could tell Barraclough was finding it very hard not to yell.

“I know,” she mumbled, knowing full well how stupid that sounded. She should have taken back up, or have checked the house first, put up some charms to protect herself.

“I know you’ve been distracted, but-“ Barraclough paused, pulled up a chair and sat down. He reached for her hand. “You cannot let some guy get to you this much. You could’ve died, Claudia.”

“Please. Don’t…” she whispered, feeling rather stupid. “This isn’t about Sirius.”

“What is it then?”

Claudia hesitated. She did not know herself what to do about Marcus, and she was no way ready telling Barraclough about it. But maybe she had no choice… It was better than him thinking she lost her mind over a breakup. Mercifully, Remus’ head emerged through the door and bought her more time.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Barraclough whispered. “I’m glad you’re alright, but I’m not having you back in the field until you are hundred percent. Physically and mentally.”

Claudia sheepishly stared at him until he left.

“He’s right, you know,” Remus mumbled and took the seat Barraclough vacated on the edge of Claudia’s bed.

“Spare me the lecture, Remus.”

“Do you need anything?”

“Just sleep.” She paused and closed her eyes. “And don’t tell any of the others.”

“Not even-“ Remus paused. “Not even Sirius?”

“Especially not him,” she sighed. “I don’t want him to feel sorry for me.”

“Alright. Should I stay with you?”

“Please,” she whispered with a yawn.

“Have a rest.”

It did not take Claudia long to fall asleep. When she woke up, it was the middle of the night again and the hospital was eerily quiet. The silence was only interrupted by an occasional patient’s scream. Or the occasional healer walking through the corridor. There was also a patrol officer outside of her door, who grunted and sighed, as he turned the pages of a newspaper. But Claudia did not want to talk to him. If she learned one thing from Oscar and Ewan, it was that most of the patrol officers were morons.

Claudia’s eyes landed on the empty chair by the bed. Remus must have gone home. Even a month ago, it would have been unimaginable that Sirius would not be in the chair next to her bed. There was no way he would have obeyed the healers’ instructions and went home like Remus did. Just like he ignored Madame Pomfrey when she tried to kick him out of the hospital wing. He stayed by Claudia’s bedside for days, and they were not even together then.

Claudia could not help but imagine what Sirius might be up to right now… But it was too hard. She wiped her eyes with her uninjured hand, determined not to think about him.

Instead, she continued to wonder what to do about Marcus. If she could get landed in the hospital by some old woman, what would happen to her once she tried facing Death Eaters again? She could die.

She could die lone and miserable.

With that, her mind turned back to Sirius. She was left alone, laying in the hospital bed, while he was just a ten-minute walk away in their flat... She rung the bell for the nurse. He would come if she asked him to. One owl was all it would take.

The nurse emerged almost instantly. “What do you need, dear?”

“Could you please-“ she whispered hurriedly but stopped mid-sentence, before sighing. “Could you please bring me some sleeping draught?”

By the time Claudia woke up the following day, she felt surprisingly fine. Her pain was gone, and so was her desperation to call Sirius. And by ten o’clock in the morning, she was released on the understanding that she used a cane for her knee, sling for her also dislocated shoulder, and that she did not apparate or do something equally stupid until she was healed.

Remus sat with her at home, but Claudia was so bored of him treating her like an invalid by the early evening that she hobbled to the nearest public Floo connection (wizarding pub about five minutes from Remus’ flat) and went to the Ministry.

“The hero returns!” Ewan exclaimed the moment Claudia stepped through the door.

She was sure he was mocking her. But before she could mock him back, Oscar was squeezing her in his arms.

“Ribs…” she hissed in pain. “Bruised. Shoulder’s fucked too.”

“Sorry,” Oscar whispered and let go off her. “So glad you’re ok.” He put his arm around her and flashed her a smile.

“We found your assailant!” Ewan resumed his taunting. “She was utterly terrifying. Hundred and two years old, five two. It needed six of us to overpower her.”

“Fuck off,” Claudia could not help but laugh. “It was not her that did this. It was her front door!”

“She did confess to trying to kill her daughter-in-law,” Oscar said. “So it’s going to go to trial. We charged her with your attempted murder too.”

“Can’t believe you’ll need to testify at the trial,” Ewan snorted. “For the rest of your career, you’ll be known as the auror who got nearly killed by an old lady.”

“You’re having way too much fun!” Claudia hissed at him but could not help but raise a corner of her mouth. This is exactly what she needed.

“He’s being all brave now,” Oscar whispered in Claudia’s ear. “But you should’ve seen him when you were in the hospital. Nervous wreck he was.”

“Don’t tell her that!” Ewan exclaimed. “I’ve got a reputation to maintain.”

Claudia stayed for a while longer and chatted to them. Moody and Barraclough were out somewhere, so she did not have to worry about being sent home, or yelled at again.

When she eventually got to Remus’, however, there was already a note from Barraclough waiting for her there.

“I am glad you are feeling better. But please do have a proper rest. I spoke to the healers, and you are not to come back to work till the Monday after next.

AB

1. This is a direct order. If you come by the office again, I’m firing you.”

“Snitches,” Claudia whispered upon reading the last line but had to smile. She never would have thought that Barraclough, her cagey supervisor would become so important in her life. All the encouragement, his help with Sirius’ problems. She only met him few years ago, but she did not trust the judgement of a single person more than she trusted Barraclough’s.

Few days went by in a complete monotony. Claudia was feeling physically better by the day, even if her emotional scars (and her pride) were much slower to heal. Ewan was right, the mocking was going to stay with her for some time. Remus did the best to cheer her up with books and tea, but on the thirtieth of April, the full moon came, and Claudia was left alone with her thoughts.

She was desperately trying to keep her thoughts off Sirius by reading one of Remus’ war novels, when someone banged on the door.

“Open up, Remus!” She heard Sirius’ voice carry through the door.

She sighed, picked up her cane and hobbled towards the front door. “What do you want?” she shouted on her way.

“Is Remus here?”

“On a full moon, right…”

Sirius growled. Admitting a mistake was not his strong suit at the best of times. “Come on, open up. There’s been a problem with Remus rent. My cheque bounced.”

Claudia opened the door a little and stuck her head through the gap. “There’s been no problem. I’m paying the rent.”

Sirius took half a step back. “Why?” he hissed. “No one asked you to do that!”

“Really?” Claudia barked. “You’ve made it very clear you weren’t going to pay for it if I lived here.”

Sirius’ face twisted in a nasty grimace. “So, you are sleeping with Remus?”

The door flew out of Claudia’s hand as she gestured wildly. “I really don’t have to answer to you!”

Sirius eyes were full of fire, until they travelled down and towards Claudia’s hand. “Why do you have a cane?” He whispered and looked up again. “And what’s that sling for?”

Suddenly very conscious the door was no longer concealing her injuries, Claudia pulled her cardigan tighter around her. “None of your business,” she mumbled.

“What happened?” Sirius insisted.

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Fine. Don’t tell me,” Sirius growled. “What about this rent though?” he added, in a slightly less angry tone.

“I don’t need your charity. I’m more than-“

“You really could’ve told me about getting injured,” he jumped in.

“Why?” she hissed, the matter of rent forgotten in an instant. “You are not my boyfriend, and we aren’t friends either…” She bit her lip to stop herself from crying. “And you really should go,” she added and slammed the door in his face.

The tears started to flow the moment she heard his steps going down the stairs. Part of her wanted him to run back up, hug her and never let go. Part of her never wanted to see his stupid face again.

Claudia used her time off work to revise for her second year auror exams. The St Mungo’s healers allowed her to put her cane aside just before her Advanced Duelling test, which she managed to just scrape through. It was the same story with the Concealment and Disguise exam. With the tests over and out of excuses to bury her feelings under her revision, it was time to face reality again.

Well up to a point. The Order was having another of its regular meetings on the tenth of May, but Claudia could not bring herself to go and went to hide at Alice’s instead. It was her twentieth birthday and the last thing she wanted to do was to sit across the table from Sirius and have the whole Order watch as they barked at each other again.

“I’ve made you cake,” Alice said with a smile as they settled themselves on the sofa. Mrs Adler was under sleeping draught, Mrs Longbottom had mercifully moved back home, and Frank was at the meeting. And as a consequence, the two old friends found themselves alone with a glass of juice in their hands. It was not Claudia’s usual choice of a birthday drink, but sadly it was all Alice had these days. She was now nearly seven months pregnant and was getting quite giant.

“I don’t really feel like celebrating,” Claudia sighed and sipped her juice.

“I didn’t make it so you can celebrate. I made it so that you can eat your feelings.”

Claudia wanted to laugh at Alice’s joke but simply could not. “I’m sorry… I’m not going to be much fun tonight.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to be fun…” Alice replied with a gentle smile. “Why don’t you tell me about work? I miss it. How did your exams go?”

“Alright. Nothing spectacular, but given the circumstances…”

“Frank said there was a rumour was going around that the examiners were not allowed to fail any of you because-” Alice stopped abruptly and looked away.

“Because of what?”

“Because they need all of you to fight.”

“Sounds about right,” Claudia said with a grimace. The auror office could not really afford to lose anyone right now, given the rate people kept dying in the line of duty. “On another note…” she tried to change the subject to something marginally less grim. “Marcus wants to defect,” she hurled out desperate to talk this through with someone.

“Which Marcus?”

“My bro-“

“Are you kidding me?” Alice interrupted. “Your brother wants to defect? How do you know? What does Moody say?”

“I haven’t told Moody yet that Marcus approached me. Or rather that we’ve been in touch a few times…”

“Claudia!” Alice exclaimed, wearing the same expression she wore a million times before. The expression that made it clear Claudia was not going to like the conversation that followed.

“I know, I know…” Claudia whispered. “I’ll talk to Moody about it.”

But that did not seem to have calmed Alice down. “What on Earth would’ve possessed you to talk to him in the first place? And not to tell anyone?”

“You sound just like Sirius…” Claudia sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“That was the final straw. He found out I’d been meeting with Marcus.” She paused and sighed. It was still hard to talk about it. “And he was furious. Between that and the fact he still won’t tell me what happened at that fucking mission, we were doomed.”

Alice stayed silent. Just stared at Claudia with her mouth slightly ajar.

“What?” Claudia hissed. She wished Alice would just come out with the bollocking. The sooner it would come, the sooner it would be over.

“I just realised something…” Alice whispered. “All your fights have been over keeping some kind of secret.”

“What?” Claudia gasped. “That can’t be.”

“Think back.”

“I don’t want to.” But Claudia’s mind wondered anyway. Sirius did not tell her why he freaked out after they first kissed. And then got mad himself when she did not tell him about Marcus being a murderer, or that it was Regulus rather than Snape who attacked her. It drove her mad when he was covering for Remus’ condition. Claudia swallowed. Alice was right. It all fit. “There were few fights when he got mad because I wanted to use dark magic…” she tried to deflect.

Alice gave Claudia a fleeting smile. “Don’t take this the wrong way. But I really thought you would’ve worked it out by now…”

Claudia could feel her eyes flood with tears. “You weren’t there… It was just awful. And not just the breakup. It’s been hell for months.” She wiped her eyes. “I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to get past it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me how awful it’s gotten?”

Claudia shrugged. “I got so caught up trying to help him, pretending in front of everyone that he was fine so they’d give him space. I can’t-“ Claudia wiped her tears again, but it was pointless. “I just can’t…”

“Have some cake,” Alice mumbled and cut Claudia slice. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.” Claudia picked up the cake and shoved a big bite in her mouth. It was delicious and for a moment her woes had vanished. “There isn’t really that much to talk about… I think it might actually be over, for real…”

Alice’s eyes were now full of tears too. She took Claudia’s cake away and pulled her into a hug.

“This is not how I imagined my twentieth going…” Claudia mumbled.

“Change of topic?” Alice asked and let go of her friend. “I have a favour to ask you.”

“Good,” Claudia said and reached for a tissue to blow her nose. “Anything. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

Alice took a couple of breaths, while her eyes were overflowing with excitement.

“Please tell me you didn’t set me up on a date,” Claudia whispered.

Alice chuckled but soon, she was as composed as Claudia had ever seen her. “I want you to be the baby’s godmother.”

“What?” Claudia gasped. “Are you serious? Me? Why me?”

“Of course, I’m serious,” Alice said and smiled broadly. “You’ve been my best friend for nearly a decade. Who else did you think we were going to ask?”

“But doesn’t godmother,” Claudia paused, trying to get her head around this. “Doesn’t godmother mean I’d look after them if something happened to you and Frank?”

“Yes, it would…”

“You trust me to look after your baby?”

“Of course, I trust you!” Alice laughed. “And there is always Frank’s mother to help out.” She paused and dropped her voice into a whisper. “And hopefully mine… But in the long-term, Frank and I would want you to be his guardian if something happened to us.”

“His guardian? It’s a boy!?”

“Damn!” Alice shrieked. “I wasn’t supposed to tell! Frank doesn’t want to know. You cannot tell him!”

“Noted.”

“So?” Alice asked after a while. A while that Claudia spend staring at her. “Will you do it?”

“Of course, I’ll do it.” Claudia whispered. “I’ll do anything for you.”

Alice wrapped her arms around her best friend again. “Promise me one thing…” she mumbled as they were still in an embrace. “You aren’t going to make him play Quidditch against his will.”

Claudia had to laugh. “I’ll do my best.

Not long after, Frank came home from the Order meeting and Claudia got out of their hair. When she got to Remus’, he was sitting on the sofa drinking tea.

“Happy Birthday!” he said as she sat down next to him. “How was Alice?”

Without even looking at him, Claudia let out a sigh. “Alice asked me to be their baby’s godmother…”

“You?” Remus said with a slight chuckle.

“Don’t laugh!”

“I’m not laughing…” Remus tried to defend himself, but his face betrayed him. He briefly squeezed Claudia’s shoulder. “You’ll be great. Maybe not at the touchy-feely stuff, but I pity anyone who ever tries to hurt them.”

Claudia could not help but chuckle too. It was true. She could be a scary godmother. Maybe that was what the kid would need. “How was the meeting? Who’s going to France in the end?” Seeing Remus’ face freeze, she continued. “Come on, I’m going to find out anyway.”

“Sirius and Marlene…”

“How’s Benjy feeling about it?” Claudia smirked, desperately trying not to think about the pain she felt the moment those words left Remus’ lips.

“I don’t think it’s that sort of relationship…”

Claudia ignored him. “What goes around comes around, I guess. He cheated with Benjy, now it’s Marlene’s turn…”

“Do you really think he cheated?”

Claudia shrugged. For weeks, she tried not to think about it. “Wouldn’t be the first time. I was with Julius when he told me he loved me and kissed me remember?”

“That was different! He loves you!”

Claudia stared at the floor for a long time, then sighed. “Loved… He loved me. Some of the things he said, Remus.” But she could not talk about it again. Not twice in one night. So, she stood up. “I need to go to bed.”

She brushed her teeth and tucked herself under the duvet. It was now dark (Remus must have turned down the lights) and Claudia was staring at the ceiling. But she could not help but to think about Sirius, Benjy, Marlene… And just how much it hurt, physically hurt, her heart that he was with someone else. She could not keep it in anymore.

“Well, this is Marlene’s chance,” Claudia mumbled in a very bitter tone.

“I don’t think she-“

“Oh please,” Claudia scoffed. “She’s had a crush on him since fifth year.”

“Who didn’t,” Remus said with an awkward laugh. “I imagine she grew out of it. Just like me.”

“I’m sorry…” Claudia mumbled. “I forgot, I completely forgot-“

“That’s alright…” Claudia could not see Remus’ face, but she would swear he was chuckling a little. “Nearly forgot myself.”

“I appreciate you looking after me, rather than taking your chance on him, you know” she replied in an equally light-hearted tone.

Remus now laughed openly. “I don’t think that would be a good idea… Besides, James and I made a deal – he’s got him to look after, and I got you.”

“Poor you,” Claudia smirked.

“Oh stop, I definitely got the better side of that bargain.”

Claudia relaxed into the pillow. “Has there been anyone else, since Mary?”

“Don’t remind me of the Mary fiasco, please!”

“Come on. You can’t stay single for the rest of your life.”

There was a very long pause before Remus spoke again. “There is someone I like.”

“Who?” Claudia asked excitedly. It was certainly making her feel better to dwell on Remus’ love life rather than hers.

“Good night!”

“Remus!” Claudia protested. “It’s my birthday!”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You’re supposed to be nice to me! And do as I say!”

“Fine,” Remus laughed. “You know Gideon from the Order, right?”

“Yes-“ Claudia grimaced. “He’s did call me stupid once. I won’t forget that in a hurry…”

“Is he on some sort of a list now?” Remus chuckled.

“Everyone is on some sort of a list,” she smirked. “He isn’t bad looking though, I give you that.”

“No, he’s not,” Remus whispered. “And he’s smart and nice. We did a couple missions together. I don’t really know what to do though. I never really dated anyone, not in a grown-up way.”

“Don’t look to me for advice,” Claudia mumbled. “I’ve been in love with the same person since I was fifteen… I don’t know how any of this stuff works.”

“I know, right?!” Remus exclaimed. “Like am I supposed to ask him for a drink? Dinner? I don’t even know for sure if he’s into guys.”

“At least you can go for a drink or dinner…” she sighed. “I can’t even go anywhere outside of work and here.”

“And an Order meeting…”

“Right,” Claudia scoffed. “What a great dating pool.”

“Is there really no one you’d be interested in?”

“I don’t know…” she shrugged. “I know it sounds pathetic, but I haven’t really thought about anyone other than Sirius in this way for a long, long time.”

“Give it time.”

“Yeah.” Claudia sighed. Remus was right. But she was in no mood to think about it. Besides, she was exhausted. “Night,” she said through a yawn.

“Night.”

But no matter how tired she was, she could not sleep. She could not help but remember her previous Birthdays, Edinburgh in particular. The dinner they had at the top of the hill, the broken bed, the undiluted happiness of turning seventeen and finally having the freedom to be together. And now, she had to do all that moving on to try to find the same happiness without Sirius.

Claudia turned over and buried her face in the pillow to stifle her sobs. How will she ever be able to move on? But eventually, the tears stopped. There was more to life than romance. She had her job, and she was good at it. Her father still needed to pay. And what Alice asked her to do before gave her hope. Maybe there was some sort of future for her, where she could have a decent life. Even if that future did not have Sirius in it.

When Claudia entered her office the following morning, she was desperate for a distraction, and her wish was granted. The moment she sat down at her desk, she found a note from Marcus.

“Wilkes and I are going for a drink on Saturday, 6pm. The Feathers country pub near Maidenhead. You should join us.”

Coded message? Claudia thought, ever so slightly impressed. Marcus was finally getting smart.

She stared at the note for a good minute, then took a deep breath and, still gripping the piece of parchment in her hand, knocked on Moody’s door. She felt physically nauseous by the mere thought how Moody was going to react to what she had to say, and was a little relieved when she opened the door to see Barraclough was with him. Moody was unlikely to actually murder her if there were witnesses, and if there was one person that would stick up for her, it was Barraclough.

“I need to talk to you both,” she mumbled and closed the door behind her.

“Yes?” Moody barked when she immediate did not offer up a reason for interrupting their meeting.

“My brother-“ Claudia’s throat had closed up. She cleared it and forced herself to continue. “My brother got in touch with me, and he wants to testify against my father.”

“Bollocks,” Moody mumbled. “Why would he? It’s a trap.”

“I don’t know…” Claudia said, still somewhat sheepishly. “I’ve spoken to him a few times lately, and he seems genuine.”

Both Moody and Barraclough were staring at her wearing the exact same expression; a mixture of disappointment and alarm. Claudia tried it not to bother her and continued to explain. She told them about how hard he had taken Mulciber’s conviction and about the baby.

Barraclough was the first one to speak. “Do you really trust him?”

“If you asked me few months ago, not a chance,” she said. “I don’t know if Dumbledore told you, but he murdered someone in Hogsmeade and tried to get me killed too. But-“ she continued (now with full confidence) when both Moody and Barraclough looked like they wanted to jump in. “But he seemed different lately. Like he regretted it. Also, I think he’s scared.”

“Scared people don’t make reliable informants,” Barraclough reminded her.

“He also says,” Claudia waved the note, “that he can give us Wilkes, the Death Eater who killed that St Mungo’s patient.”

“Claudia,” Moody finally spoke in a voice that was almost soft. “I know you want to see you father in Azkaban as much as anyone. And trust me, he deserves it. But this is too much of a risk.”

“We can get reinforcements in case it’s a trap. Between us and the Hit Wizards-“

But Moody interrupted her. “And let everyone here know your brother might be defecting? That we are after your father? Not a chance. It’d ruin everything.”

“But-“

“Claudia,” Moody cut her off. “Do you think your father would try to set a trap like this to kill you? To get us all off his scent?”

Claudia swallowed. “Yes, he would.”

“Then, there is nothing more to discuss.”

“But-“

“No.”

Claudia sighed. Maybe Moody was right. Maybe this was all too good to be true. Maybe she was blinded by what happened to Regulus. He may have deserved a second chance, but that did not mean everyone else did too. She crumbled the parchment in her fist. “So do we just ignore this?” she whispered.

“It’s not worth the risk…” Moody said.

“If you say so,” she uttered and took a step or two towards the door.

“We will find a way to get him.” Barraclough interjected before she got to the door. “Just don’t do anything on your own bat, ok?”

Claudia turned and gave her mentor a faint smile. “Even I’m not that stupid.”

Chapter Text

Just as Claudia was packing her things on Friday night, Oscar came to her desk. “Any plans tomorrow?”

Claudia shot him an annoyed look. “Funny. Gather they told you-”

“They told me,” he uttered. “I need to go watch a house of some dark potioneer. Want to come with? I could use the company.”

“What about the others?”

“Ewan has a date, and Barraclough’s still away with the boss.”

"Where have they gone anyway?"

"Somewhere in Scotland. One of those dumb Crouch cases, apparently."

“When were they supposed to be back?”

“Haven’t said.” Oscar frowned a little and Claudia knew why. It was quite common for Moody not to leave any kind of instructions. As the war went on, he spent more and more time outside of his office. Barraclough, on the other hand, was usually left in charge. “You in?”

“In what?” she asked, her musing about Moody’s whereabouts made her forget Oscar’s original question.

“The stakeout?”

“Oh, yeah…” Claudia mumbled. “Fine, I’ll come with you.”

“Meet you here at lunchtime, then?”

“Alright…” Claudia sighed. “But I know what you’re doing. I know the boss asked you to keep an eye on me tomorrow.”

“He cares-“

“He doesn’t trust me.”

Truth to be told, Claudia did not blame Moody for not trusting her. She was tempted to go meet Marcus, arrest Wilkes, and get the testimony she needed to put her father away for good. Maybe a few weeks ago, she would have gone. But no longer; she may have not had Sirius in her life anymore, but she was not alone. There were others who cared, and she had things to live for. She was going to be a godmother. So, she decided to go on Oscar’s dumb stakeout and to stand up Marcus.

A few hours in and the dark potioneer still had not done anything remotely suspicious.

Claudia sighed as the clock on a nearby church struck six.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Oscar.

“I wasn’t…” Claudia lied.

“Look, I’m the last person who should judge you for doing something rash.”

“Then come with me,” Claudia smirked.

“Don’t fancy dying yet-“

“He might be genuine.”

“Even if he was genuine, Moody and Barraclough would kill me if I let you go,” he replied. “I know it’s hard, but they do have your best interest at heart. You need to trust them”

“I know…”

“You can talk to me if you want. You never really told me what was the deal with your brother.”

Claudia though about it for a second. It would have been nice to get things of her chest, but she chickened out. “Nah,” she sighed. “I don’t want to think about it.”

Nothing of note happened at that mission or for the rest of the weekend. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday had all gone and there was still no word from Moody or Barraclough. 

“Are they still not back yet?” Oscar asked on Thursday morning as he walked into the office. Barraclough’s desk was still untouched and was beginning to gather dust.

Claudia shook her head. She was starting to get worried. “Where in Scotland did they go?”

“I want to say the Highlands...”

“Should we do something?”

“We could ask patrol to look out for them. Maybe ask around if anyone has seen them.” Just as those words left Oscar’s lips, an owl flew into the office. “What the fuck is an owl doing here?” he barked. “I thought they replaced these with memos!”

The owl landed on Claudia’s desk and outstretched its claw. “It’s from St Mungo’s, addressed to ‘Alastor Moody’s team’.” Claudia whispered as she saw the logo on the envelope. Her hand shaking, she ripped it open.

“Inspector Moody is in St Mungo’s in a critical condition. Come now. G Prewett.”

Claudia stared at the page. She was barely aware that Oscar took the note from her hand. It could not have been, not Moody. He was always so careful-

“Hey,” Oscar barked and shook her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

They run through the Ministry corridors to the atrium, and apparated the moment they were out of the range of the anti-apparition shield.

Gideon was already waiting for them in St Mungo's reception.

“What happened?” Oscar spoke first as they followed Gideon up the stairs.

“We got a report of magical activity in a muggle hospital. It sometimes happens, muggles find an injured wizard and bring them to their hospital. All hell breaks loose.”

“So, he could use magic? He’s alright?” Claudia pitched in, slightly out of breath from all the running. “He’s not dead?”

“He got hit with a curse,” Gideon replied. “His leg was all damaged, and the muggles-“ he paused and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “The muggles cut it off, thinking it was gangrene.”

“What?” Oscar gasped. “Can you fix it?”

Claudia stared at Gideon with her mouth open. This could not have been happening. Moody out of action. What was everyone going to do? His team, the Order…

“We can’t grow his leg back,” Gideon sighed. “Bloody muggles. We can give him a decent wooden one, that’s about it.”

Claudia’s eyes were full of tears now. “Can we see him?”

Gideon nodded. “He woke up just before I came to get you. Not for long though, he needs rest.”

“Hey!” someone yelled. “You didn’t wait for me!” It was Ewan. He must have seen the note when he came into the office and followed them.

All three of them walked into the patient's room. Moody was lying on a bed. He was dressed in a white gown, which nearly matched the colour of his skin. A thin blanket covered his body, making it very clear there was no leg from the knee down. He did not even turn his head when they walked in.

“How are you, boss?” Claudia whispered.

There was no response from Moody. He did not even move. Just continued to stare at the ceiling.

“Is he alright?” Oscar whispered to Gideon. “Like aware who he is and stuff?”

Moody must have heard him, as he shut his eyes and a single tear rolled down the side of his face.

“Boss,” Ewan was the next to find enough courage to speak. “Where’s Aiden?”

“Dead.” Moody’s mouth barely moved but the meaning of his words was clear.

Aiden Barraclough was no more.

Those words rang in Claudia's ears for what felt like an age. Barraclough was dead.

She suddenly felt small, like the world was about to swallow her. Every sensation was dulled. The only thing she could think was that this could not have been true. It just could not have been. Moody must have still been confused. He looked like he lost a lot of blood.

“No,” Claudia whispered. “He can’t-“

“What happened?” Oscar hissed. “How? Who did it? Which bastard did it-“

“We’ll get them-“ Ewan pitched in.

“STOP!” Moody roared.

Claudia froze, and so did the others. No one dared to say another word.

“Get out,” Moody groaned, clutching his side. “All of you... Get out!”

Claudia stared at him. He looked broken. Out of breath and clutching the side of his torso.

“I said, out!” Moody huffed, clearly in pain.

But Claudia could not move. This could not have been happening. Moody was wrong. He had to be. She stayed completely still until she felt a hand on her arm and was dragged backwards out of the room.

“He lost a lot of blood,” Gideon mumbled once they were all in the corridor. “I’m sure he’ll come around once he feels a little stronger.” Gideon patted Claudia’s shoulder. “I’ll send another owl. You don’t have to stay here.”

“I can,” she mumbled. “I have nowhere else to be.”

“I’m going to find the bastard who did that,” Oscar said, his voice trembling. “And kill them with my bare hands.”

“I come with you,” Ewan whispered.

“I can too-“ Claudia began to say but did not get to finish.

“None of you are going anywhere,” a strong voice beamed from behind them. It was the Head Auror, with some of his staff in tow. “Internal Affairs are handling the investigation. I don’t want you three anywhere near it.”

“Try to stop me!” Oscar growled.

“I’m warning you, Fernsby.” The Head Auror was having none of it. “I find you investigating, and your arse is going to get suspended.”

“You ba-“ Oscar began to yell, but Claudia yanked his arm.

“Oscar,” she whispered. “There is no point."

Ewan too was gripping Oscar’s arm. “It’s not going to bring him back.”

“Bring him back?” The Head Auror’s expression had changed in an instant. “Moody’s dead? They just told me he was injured,” he gasped.

“No,” Ewan shook his head. From the three of them, his mind seemed the clearest. “Barraclough is.”

Hearing it again was like another kick in Claudia’s stomach. She did not want to believe it. But the more people said it, the more real it became.

The Head Auror shut his eyes. “I’m sorry. I promise you we will do everything we can to find whoever did this.”

“Like you did with Mr Adler?” Claudia hissed, suddenly unable to contain her anger. 

“That was way above my paygrade, Avery.” The Head Auror sighed. “Go home, all of you.”

The Head Auror left to talk to Moody, and Claudia, Oscar and Ewan found themselves sitting on the hospital’s cold, hard floor. The silence was deafening. Pictures of Barraclough were through Claudia’s head. Every smirk, every laugh, every time she knew just how much he cared…

Claudia was the first one to start crying. The thought of never seeing him again. Never speaking to him, it finally got to her.

Then Ewan.

Oscar, who was sitting in the middle, was hugging them both.

Resting her head on Oscar’s shoulder, Claudia could not help but relive everything Barraclough had ever told her. His guidance, compassion. The more she thought about it, the more intense her tears became. 

“Does anyone have anything to smoke? Drink?” Oscar finally mumbled.

“No,” Claudia wiped her eyes. “Although, I wouldn’t say no to either right now.”

“Then, let’s go to the pub.” Ewan mumbled.

Few hours in, Claudia was on her second beer. She just did not feel like getting completely plastered, but the same could not have been said about the other two.

She swirled the last bit of her drink. “He was like a father and brother rolled into one. He always had patience for my nonsense. Like he tried to understand me.”

“He adored you,” Ewan mumbled. “You were like his little Slytherin pet-project. Like he finally had someone he could bond with.”

That brought both more tears and a little smile to Claudia’s face. “That’s why he always understood when I fucked up.”

“You always fuck up in such a special way.” Ewan said with a chuckle. “I think he actually found it quite adorable.”

Claudia glanced at Oscar but he seemed miles away, staring across the pub.

“He paid off my gambling debt,” Ewan interrupted her train of thoughts, and Claudia turned back to him. “Your fuck-ups did not even scratch the surface of how understanding he could be. And if it wasn't for him, Moody would’ve transferred me after that Tracey incident.” Ewan picked up his drink and drained it. “But then, you’d see him yell at a patrol officer because he put a wrong label on a report. I dreaded the day when I found myself up against him on a different team.”

Claudia’s eyes drifted back to Oscar again. “What about you?” she whispered and touched his shoulder.

But Oscar did not say. He brought his drink to his lips and downed it.

“Out, everyone!” The pub landlord yelled, startling them all. “Closing time!”

Claudia glanced at her watch. “How is it ten already?” she mumbled before they stumbled out of the pub and stood awkwardly outside.

“I don’t want to go home,” Ewan sighed.

So, they decided to buy a bottle of Aiden’s favourite whiskey in the nearby off-licence and walked down to the riverbank. They all sat, like birds perched upon a tree branch, on the concrete wall above the river, passing the bottle back and forth.

The tide was falling. So much so you could see the rocks on the bottom of the riverbed., and tonight’s full moon reflecting in the little water that was left. Full moon, Claudia thought to herself. Remus would not be home…

It seemed that Ewan also ran out of words for now.

“Right,” he eventually sighed and jumped from the wall. “I’m going to find someone to shag tonight. Either of you want to come with me to the bar?”

Claudia shook her head. Watching Ewan pick up girls in a loud, muggle bar was the last thing she needed right now. And Oscar must have had the same thought as he did not even move.

“Your loss,” Ewan mumbled and strode across the strip of grass towards the main road. How was he still standing, let alone walking, Claudia did not know.

And then, there were two.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Aiden,” Oscar finally mumbled. “He saved my life.”

“You’re a reckless idiot,” Claudia said as gently as she could. “We all saved your life at one point or another.”

“This was different...” Oscar trailed off. “When I first started on the team, my girlfriend died in action.”

“What? Why did you never tell me?”

“Because I don’t tell anyone that. I was in a deep hole and Aiden got me out of it.”

“He gave me some good advice about trauma too,” she whispered. “When Si-“

But before she could finish that sentence, the whiskey bottle slipped out of Oscar’s hand and got smashed on the top of the wall.

“Fuck,” he screamed and clutched his hand. It was dripping with blood. “Must have caught a shard- Fuck.” Oscar continued to curse.

Claudia took her wand from out of her sleeve, looked around and reached for Oscar’s hand. Her simple spell stopped the bleeding almost instantly.

Slowly, Claudia let go of Oscar’s injured hand and looked up at him. She could feel his breath on her cheek; they were that close. She reached out for the side of his face. “You’re going to be okay. I know he was like a brother to you. But he would want you to be okay.”

Claudia could feel Oscar’s hand clasp her own. She half expected him to move it off his face, but he did not. He just held it tight.

He shut his eyes. “Shouldn’t you go home?” he whispered. “Won’t your boyfriend be worried about you?”

“We broke up,” Claudia whispered, shuffled even closer to Oscar, and used her hand to pull his face so close to hers their lips were nearly touching. “And I rather not be alone either…”

“Are you saying Ewan had the right idea?”

Claudia smirked. “He’s got to be right sometimes.”

The next thing she knew, Oscar held her tightly in his arms and they were kissing.

“Is this a good idea?” Oscar whispered between the kisses.

“Probably not,” Claudia mumbled. “But I want to do it anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

She was sure. She was sick and tired of being alone, and the idea she would have to go home to an empty flat. No. This was her life, and she could do whatever she pleased. She did not owe Sirius anything.

She shut her eyes and kissed Oscar again. The world spun around them.

It got all a bit hazy after that.

When Claudia woke up in the morning, her head was in tatters. It took her a while to open her eyes and realise she was in an unfamiliar room. She turned her head to see naked Oscar passed out next to her.

Snippets of last night started to come back to her. Heavy breaths, sweaty skin, Oscar’s hands all over her.

“Oh, crap,” Claudia mumbled and leaned over the edge of the bed to see where her clothes were. She nearly threw up when she stood up, but managed to collect all her clothes and somehow put them on. Then, she tiptoed out of the bedroom towards what she assumed to be the front door.

“Claudia?” Someone said, or rather shrieked, judging by the sharp pain that sound caused inside her head. She turned.

“Ewan?”

It was indeed Ewan. “What the –“ he gasped.

“Shut up!” Claudia hissed and rubbed the side of her head. The pain was getting worse. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here. What are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Leaving.”

But before Claudia made it all the way to the front door, the bedroom door creaked open and Oscar emerged rubbing his eyes, dressed only in his boxers.

Everything had seemingly fallen into place in Ewan’s head. “I cannot believe you two!” he barked.

“Stop overreacting.” Oscar yawned. “We’re all adults.”

“Overreacting? It’s yucky.”

“Yucky?” Oscar scoffed. “Are you eight years old?”

“I feel like you’ve fucked my sister.” Ewan barked and stormed into his own room, smashing the door behind him.

Claudia and Oscar were left standing in the living room.

“I’m sorry about him,” Oscar began.

“You live together?” she mumbled. “Could’ve mentioned…”

They looked at each other.

“Oh boy, this is weird-“ Oscar was the first to find the words.

“Please, don’t say anymore,” Claudia winced. “We were both upset, drunk. Mistakes happen.”

“Forget this ever happened?”

“Please.” Claudia paused for a minute to see if there was anything else that had to be said. “I’ll get going.”

She was nearly at the door when she heard Oscar mumble. “I hope you don’t feel like I took advantage-“ he trailed off.

Claudia turned so quickly it nearly toppled her over. “No. Please, stop-“ she said earnestly. “Nothing like that…”

“I’ll see you at work, then.”

“Good luck with Ewan.”

Oscar grunted but gave her a faint smile. With that, Claudia left and apparated to Remus’ place. As she was walking up the stairs to the tiny studio, she pondered whether she should have a coffee or a shower first. She was still undecided when she stuck her key into the door.

“I was getting worried-“

Claudia’s heart was in her throat. “Remus, what the fuck!” She took a few deep breaths. “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?”

“Just got back. It’s more comfortable to sleep it off here than in the hovel where I usually transform.”

“Is there coffee?” Claudia mumbled and made her way toward the kitchenette.

“What happened? You look dreadful.”

Claudia froze. Barraclough. She had completely forgotten. But now she remembered, she began to tear up again.

“Claudia?” Remus slowly got up and walked over to her. “What happened?”

“Moody’s in St Mungo’s, and my boss-“ She paused and wiped her eyes with a hand that shook. “He died on duty.”

Remus took a few steps closer to her as in to hug her. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t touch me.” She jumped away. “I smell terrible.”

“How much have you drunk?”

“Enough to be very stupid,” Claudia sighed. “I’m going to the shower…” The coffee would have to wait.

Claudia dragged herself into the bathroom. The more water washed over her, the more her senses returned, the more she wanted to cry again. Never again was Barraclough going to walk up to her desk and give her an order. Never again was he going to try to patiently explain to her exactly why she was being an idiot. Who was she going to turn to? No one…

Time had lost its meaning, and she sat on the bottom of the tub and sobbed.

There was a gentle knock on the door. “Are you alright?” Remus asked.

Claudia forced herself to turn off the taps. “Yeah. I’m coming…”

She drank a vial of the contraception potion, put on some fresh clothes, and made her way back to the kitchen where, mercifully, Remus brewed a fresh pot of coffee.

“Are you going to tell me where you slept?” he mumbled when he passed her the cup.

“I’d rather not…”

“If you and Sirius are back together-“

“Not that,” Claudia sighed. “One of my colleagues. We were all just drinking, remembering Aidan. We got very emotional. Emotional and stupid.”

“Who?”

Claudia downed her coffee and then poured herself another. “I need to go to work.”

“Should you?”

“What do you want me to do?” she hissed, her temper rising. “Sit at home and have a nice chat while Aiden’s killer walks free?” She drank the second cup and ran out of the flat even before Remus managed to find a response.

Claudia nearly threw up the moment she got down the stairs. She just about made it to the café at the end of the road. She needed to get something salty and greasy into her stomach and fast.

She looked at the menu board.

‘Bacon sandwich.’

Claudia burst into tears again. It was Barraclough who took her for bacon sandwiches when she first turned up to work hungover. And then again when he found her sleeping in Moody’s office. She could almost hear his kind voice. “Have some food. You look terrible.”

With some sandwiches in her stomach, Claudia wandered into the office.

“Who are-“ she began when she spotted a black man leaning over Barraclough’s desk. “Adebayo? You’re back?” she gasped. It was Adebayo, the other senior auror on Moody’s team who left about a year ago to do something hush hush.

“The Head Auror assigned me back,” Adebayo said and straightened his posture. “Given the circumstances…”

Claudia bit her lip. “That’s Aiden’s desk,” she hissed and gestured to where Adebayo was standing. The idea that Adebayo would just look through Barraclough’s papers like that infuriated her.

“I promise to leave it as it is,” Adebayo whispered with an understanding smile. “I just need this casefile.”

She could not bring herself to say anything, so instead she just glared. He looked thinner and greyer than she remembered. But he was alive, so hardly had a right to complain.

Before long, Ewan wandered into the office and was as surprised to see Adebayo as Claudia was. “Where have you been?”

“Classified, I’m afraid.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about Aiden. He was a good bloke.”  

Ewan walked up to their new boss and gave him a big hug. Claudia dug her fingernails into her palms, not entirely sure why all of this bothered her so much.

“Where’s Oscar?” Adebayo asked.

Ewan’s face twisted in disgust. “He’s going to be late.”

“Rough night I guess.”

“That’s one word for it,” Ewan smirked and shot Claudia an annoyed look.

“Drop it,” she hissed back as Adebayo disappeared into an adjacent meeting room and Claudia and Ewan followed him.

“I wish I could.”

Adebayo sat down and sighed. “I know this is the last thing you want to talk about. But I need to know what you are working on, what we need to reassign. I don’t expect you to just keep going…”

“Then you don’t know us too well,” Claudia barked. “Of course we’re going to keep working!” She folded her arms across her chest.

"Fine, tell me about your cases then…"

Ewan went first. He talked about his case, but Claudia struggled to listen. She was exhausted, hungover, and constantly on the verge of tears. Every time she saw something that reminded her of Barraclough, tears forced themselves into her eyes. Just as Ewan was wrapping up the overview of the open cases he was working on, Oscar came in and took the only free chair, the one next to Claudia.

“Who’s next?” Adebayo asked after exchanging pleasantries and condolences with Oscar.

“You go-“ Oscar mumbled.

“No, you go-“ Claudia replied, looking away.

“Please-“

“I insist-“

“Claudia, why don’t you start,” Adebayo interrupted the awkwardness.

“I don’t really have much on. I’ve mostly been on desk duty since…“ she paused and sighed. “Since my own time in St Mungo’s.”

Adebayo moved on but Claudia was too hungover to even listen to the rest of the briefing. Until the very end that was.

Adebayo took a deep breath. “It goes without saying, but you know what the Head Auror’s orders were.”

“To sit on our arse and do nothing?” Oscar mumbled. “Yeah, we’ve heard…”

“Look, I’ve known you long enough to know what you are about to do, Oscar.” Adebayo explained. “But let me just tell you this. You are not just going yourself fired, but Moody and everyone in this room too.”

“I don’t care-“

“Care about the war. About all these cases. They’re Aiden’s legacy.” With those words, Adebayo left them all in the meeting room.

“He’s right,” Ewan mumbled. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but he’s right.”

Claudia did not know what to say. All she knew was that she needed to get out of the room. She reached for a folder to take it back to her desk. But Instead of the report, she found herself grabbing Oscar’s hand.

“I’m sorry – I thought,” she mumbled.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s your file-“

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Ewan exclaimed. “Is this what you’re going to be like? It’s unbearable.”

Claudia grabbed the folder as quickly as she could, mumbled something about needing to get another coffee and ran out of there.

The days after Barraclough’s death felt like a long, monotonous nightmare... Oscar kept disappearing. Claudia knew exactly where to, but had neither the energy to stop him, nor to join in. Moody was still in hospital, refusing any visitors. They all tried to go but got turned away at the door. Claudia was still spontaneously bursting into tears whenever she thought of Barraclough. And there was little distraction at home too, as Remus was mostly asleep, still recovering from the full moon.

But every cloud had a silver lining. Barraclough’s death put Claudia’s moping over Sirius into perspective. If it was not meant to be, it was just not meant to be. There were greater tragedies in life than breaking up with a boyfriend. And despite the awkwardness it created, that one night stand with Oscar helped too. She knew nothing would ever come of it, but it did feel like it helped her move on a little.

One morning, about a week after Barraclough had died, Fabian Prewett burst into the office and quickly shut the door behind him.

“What’s going-“ Claudia blurted out only to realise Oscar was asking Fabian the same question. She forgot they used to be best friends at school.

“I need your help,” Fabian explained. “Something weird has been going on at the Daily Prophet. Sources getting their memories wiped. Research disappearing. I need someone to look into it, discreetly.”

Oscar sighed. “I can take a look.”

“Hang on,” Adebayo interrupted. “You can’t just decide to jump on that case. You’ve got that torture investigation. Avery will do it.”

Claudia’s eyes narrowed. Torture investigation? Sounded a lot more interesting than what Crouch gave them these days. “I can take on the torture investigation, if Oscar-“

“No,” Oscar and Adebayo said in unison.

Adebayo continued. “That needs a qualified auror. You take the Daily Prophet complaint.” Anticipating protestations, he continued. “I don’t want to hear more of this. I’m late for a meeting with the Head Auror.”

“I could fucking handle a torture case,” Claudia grumbled once he left. “Can’t wait for Moody to get back and put this stickler in his place.” She sighed and turned to Oscar. This was probably the first time she made eye contact with him since that night they slept together. And it was much less weird than she feared. “Do you just want to switch anyway?”

“It’s alright. The torture case is dull. It wouldn’t be a fair switch.”

“Right.” Claudia mumbled, suddenly realising why Oscar was being so evasive about this, before turning to Fabian. “So, I guess you’re stuck with me. Shall we?”

Fabian smiled. “I don’t mind being stuck with you. I know I’m in good hands.”

Oscar’s eyes narrowed. “Do you two know each other?”

“No,” Claudia jumped in. “Of course, we don’t.”

“Actually, we do.” Fabian corrected her. “I came to warn you about the Daily Prophet article last year, remember?”

“Yes, of course, I completely forgot about that.” But Claudia’s desperate scrambling was not enough to deceive Oscar.

“Fucking hell,” Oscar said then folded his arms against his chest. “You're in the Order!”

“No, I’m not.”

Oscar turned to his best friend. “Fabes?”

“What Order?” Fabian smirked.

“Unbelievable…” Oscar scoffed. “The moment the boss is back from St Mungo’s, I’m resigning… He lets a trainee be in the Order.” He strode towards the door and stormed out.

“Let me talk to him,” Claudia sighed and ran out of the office after him. She caught up with Oscar down the corridor and dragged him into an empty meeting room. “I was in the Order before I worked here. Dumbledore recruited me before I left school. Trust me, the boss was not happy about it.”

“I still cannot believe it–“ Oscar hissed. “Wait until Ewan…”

“Please keep it to yourself.”

“Keep a secret from Ewan?” Oscar smirked. “You think just because of-“ he stuttered for a moment. “Because of the other night… I’ll do things I’d otherwise not do?”

“Well. I’ve got your back too, remember?” Claudia hissed back, suddenly very aware of his cologne. He was wearing the same one when they slept together. Few more snippets from that night popped into her head. “I would have known if you had a torture case. I know where you’ve been disappearing. But I am not going to say, am I?”

“Fine. But I want to know everything that happens at those meetings!”

“Sure.” Claudia smirked, knowing full well her tone made her real intentions clear. She was not going to tell Oscar a thing. Even if Moody did not fire her for being in the Order, he would certainly fire her for leaking information.

Claudia left Oscar in that meeting room and went to find Fabian again. Together, they went to the Daily Prophet offices.

“Sorry about that,” Fabian grimaced as they were walking up the stairs towards his office. “He’s been desperate to get into the Order ever since we left school-“

“Don’t worry about it, he were bound to figure it out at some point.”

“And sorry about this office,” he mumbled when they made it to his room. Or rather a broom cupboard which barely fitted a small desk. Every free inch its surface was covered in papers or empty coffee mugs. There was not even enough space for both of them to sit down, so they stood there, Fabian slightly hunched over because of how low the ceiling was. “What do you need to know?”

“Start from the beginning.”

“Well,” Fabian began. “I was working on this investigative piece; and when I went to double check with one of my informants, they changed their mind. Denied ever knowing me. And my colleague had some leaked documents from the Ministry that had gone missing. He had to pull the whole article.”

“You think someone is sabotaging the investigations?”

“Yeah. And we work on some pretty sensitive stuff – if we do have a saboteur or a leak, then it’s just a matter of time before someone ends up dead.”

“What have you been working on?”

“I can’t tell you that-“

Claudia’s eyes narrowed. People who did not want to tell her things were usually criminals. “Why?”

“Because it’s about your boss.”

“Moody?” A wave of anger washed over her. “You need to lay off him, he’s been taking Aiden’s death really badly. He’s still in St Mungo’s, won’t see any of us. Apparently, he barely eats.”

“I don’t mean Moody, I mean Crouch…”

Claudia smirked. “Oh, you can publish whatever you want about him.”

“Is that right?” Fabian said with a wry smile. “Can I get my pen and paper? Get some dirt.”

Claudia could not help but smile a little. “Is that why you lured me in here?”

“I wish,” he paused. “But I’m actually worried about his leak.”

“Let’s get started then. I will need to interview the other people whose articles got sabotaged. Anyone who was helping them. Anyone who has access to their offices.”

“Well,” Fabian glanced at his watch. “That sounds like a lot, and we have to go to the meeting.”

Claudia looked at her own watch. “Shit,” she sighed. “Yeah, I don’t want to start now and give anyone a heads up that it's being investigated. I’ll come back tomorrow?”

“Monday. There are different people working on the Sunday issue.”

“Really?”

“Never noticed it’s much more about recipes for Sunday roasts, and gossip?”

“I suppose.”

They set off to the Order meeting. The meeting venue for the day was not far from Diagon Alley, a basement of a closed-up building near Holborn. They were still on their way when they ran out of things to talk about. Desperate to fill the awkward silence, Claudia remembered Remus’ agony from the other night.

“Can I ask you something…” she mumbled. “Is your brother single?”

Fabian stopped in his tracks. “Are you interested?”

“No, no.” Claudia shook her head. She could feel her cheeks burning. “A friend was wondering…”

“Well, unless your friend is a bloke,” Fabian grinned. “They’d be very disappointed.”

“They might be a bloke,” Claudia whispered.

“Then, he’s single.” Fabian opened the door to the meeting, and smiled. “Are you single?”

Claudia’s stomach did a somersault. “I guess,” she mumbled so unconvincingly that Fabian must have thought she either did not know or was lying. She felt like such an idiot. But there was no time to explain. The door was open, and they found themselves in the middle of a chatty scrum of Order members.

First person she spotted was Peter. He was talking to Remus and was laughing. She felt huge, sudden resentment towards both of them, or anyone in the Order, who all seemed absolutely fine. But then, why would not they be? None of them knew Aiden. None of them were going to miss him. He was just another war death to them.

Claudia walked towards Remus. When Peter saw that she was approaching, he whispered something with a giggle and left.

"Sorry about him. He’s taken the breakup news rather-" Remus trailed off.

"Oh, I’m under no illusion,” Claudia replied. I know he hates me."

"He doesn’t-"

"Of course, he does. But I don’t care."

"You don’t have to be brave about this…"

Claudia snorted. "I really don’t care what he thinks of me. You should try it sometimes. It’s liberating."

"You're mean."

"Mean, but right…" They went to sit down together. "Oh, and I asked Fabian about his brother, for you…"

"You did not!"

"Yes, I did. And he is single, and gay."

Remus was still blushing. "Why would you do that?"

"You’re welcome."

Few minutes later, Claudia's mood was utterly ruined again when Sirius and Marlene, tanned from their trip to France, walked into the Order meeting together. Neither of them noticed her, as she was sat in a dark corner of the room.

Marlene whispered something into Sirius’ ear and brushed his back in a way only a lover would, before disappearing towards what Claudia assumed to be the toilets. Claudia’s stomach turned. She knew this was going to happen. She just knew!

She averted her gaze to make sure he did not see she was looking at them. And the fact there were tears in her eyes.

“Evening everyone,” Dumbledore’s voice echoed around the room. Claudia was glad, the sooner the meeting started, the sooner it would be over, the sooner she would be out of here. “As many of you know, Alastor is in St Mungo’s. Do we know any more, Claudia?”

She was forced to raise her head and look at him. “No,” she mumbled. “We weren’t even told how it happened.”

"I heard he was investigating a murder in Scotland," Dumbledore said. "And got ambushed."

“I’ll let you know if they tell us anything. In the meantime, Barraclough’s funeral is on Saturday if any of you knew him,” Claudia added, her voice completely breaking by the end of that sentence.

“What?” A voice carried from the other side of the room. A voice she knew all too well. “Barraclough’s dead?”

Slowly, Claudia turned her head and looked at her ex-boyfriend, ignoring whatever it was Dumbledore was saying…

“You okay?” Sirius mouthed.

She turned away in anger. Of course, she was not okay. How could he even ask that? What right did he have to ask that? She forced herself to listen to Dumbledore to calm down.

“Sirius,” Dumbledore said. “How was France?”

“The mission was a complete bust,” Sirius said, with a frowny glance at Claudia, his voice still shaking a little.

“We spoke to at least a dozen people who were at the Geneva meeting, and no one remembers anything.” Marlene, who was now back, added.

Even the sound of her mellow voice made Claudia want to pick up her chair and beat Marlene to death with it. She resisted that urge, but eventually it became too much. She jumped up from her chair. “Sorry, I forgot I needed to do something,” she mumbled and ran out of the meeting. When she got to the street, she could not hold her tears any more.

She ran and ran until she found a deserted alleyway and apparated to Remus’ apartment. She dropped to the bed and started to sob hysterically.

Somehow seeing Sirius with Marlene was so much worse than seeing him with Benjy. It brought back every dark emotion she ever felt while still at school. All these pretty girls hanging on Sirius’ arms. People mocking her when they started to date. They would all be having a field day now.

No matter how long she cried, she could not stop imagining Sirius’ face mouthing the ‘you okay?’. She was being fanciful if she thought for a moment that she was over him. What would she give to have him hug her right now? To have him take her to Barraclough’s funeral. Someone to hold her so she did not have to be in this cold and uncomfortable bed alone.

Claudia had no idea how long had passed before the key rattled in the door.

“Claudia?” she heard Remus whisper. “Are you asleep?”

She did not say anything and pretended she was. No way did she want to talk about any of it. Not about Barraclough. Not about Sirius. Not about anything else that was happening in this shitty world.

“I’m here if you want to talk…” Remus added.

She pressed her face even deeper into the pillow to silence a new wave of sobs. There was nothing to talk about. Everyone that ever mattered to her was gone. One way or another.

Chapter Text

Claudia was staring into a mirror.

She was wearing the best black clothes she could muster. A pair of slightly worn pants, and a borrowed black cardigan from Remus. The alternative was to summon courage to go and pick up rest of her clothes from Sirius’ flat; courage she did not have.

Her hair was just ever so slightly overgrown, falling annoyingly into her eyes. She needed to do something about that, it was making her look like a scarecrow. She also needed to do something about the Canis Major tattoo that was shining on her pale skin.

“What the fuck am I going to do with you?” she mumbled and pulled down the sleeve of her cardigan to hide it.

She took one last glance in the mirror and took a deep breath. It was time to go.

After a quick trip on the Floo network, she arrived in the little town where Barraclough’s parents lived. It did not take her long to find the church where the funeral was held. All the witches and wizards that assembled for the service stuck out like a sore thumb in this mostly muggle town.

Oscar was already there, standing on the steps of the church, staring at the door.

“I fucking hate funerals,” he mumbled when he noticed Claudia at his side.

Claudia reached for his hand and briefly squeezed it. “I don’t want to go in either.”

“I wish we had that option…”

She sighed. “I know it’s weird, given the times we live in, but he’s the first person who died that really meant something to me. I’ve seen my friends’ parents die, and Sirius’ brother. But none of it hurt quite like this.”

“It sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Tremendously.”

Claudia heard someone scoff behind them, let go off Oscar’s hand and turned abruptly. Ewan was scowling at her.

“So, you two are like a couple now?” he hissed.

Without responding, Oscar grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him towards the church. “Inside. Now.”

A little worried for Ewan’s well-being, Claudia followed them. Oscar opened the door leading to some kind of a meeting room. But that was not enough privacy for him, he dragged Ewan towards yet another door and then pushed him through it. They all found themselves in a tiny church kitchen.

“We are not a couple,” Oscar hissed right into Ewan’s face. “And you will shut up about this.”

“It was just a mistake,” Claudia pleaded with him.

“Mistake? And the holding hands just now?”

“We are at a funeral… Aiden’s funeral.” Oscar was speaking through gritted teeth and shaking with rage. Claudia was certain that if they were not raised as brothers, Oscar would have punched him right now.

They both stared at each other, breathing heavily.

In the silence, Claudia could hear the door to the meeting room open and peeked through the glass slit in the kitchen door. “Shit, it’s Moody with some woman,” she whispered and ducked.

Oscar turned and looked through the slit too. “Aidan’s mother.” His eyes narrowed. “Are they- Are they hugging?”

“You said you’d be able to protect him,” Aidan’s mother’s voice carried through the door.

“He can’t see us here,” Claudia hissed and tugged on Oscar’s sleeve and all of the three aurors dropped to the floor. It was very cosy. Their knees almost pressing against each other while they all sat on the floor.

“I’m so sorry, Freya.” Moody replied. They could not see them but heard them clearly.

“Did you ever…” Her sentence got interrupted by a sob. “Did you tell him?”

“No. I promised you I wouldn’t.”

They heard another sob, and then another. “Maybe, I should’ve been honest with him. Told him the truth.”

Claudia raised her eyes from the floor and looked at Oscar and Ewan. They were both staring back at her with their mouths slightly ajar. Neither of them seemingly had any idea what the conversation was about. They did not realise Moody even met Barraclough’s mother, let alone knew her as well as the conversation would suggest.

“We missed our chance for that…” Moody replied. “He worked for me for over ten years.”

“I just hate the idea that he died in a lie.”

“Freya, don’t beat yourself up. The truth is that Gordon was his father. I was just his boss-“

Aidan’s mother did not reply immediately. Claudia was straining her ears. Where was this going?

“You know you were more than that,” she finally spoke again in a voice that was shaking. “And he deserved to know.” She sobbed again. “He deserved to know you were his real father.”

Claudia clasped her mouth to supress a gasp. It was clear from Oscar’s and Ewan’s expressions that they did not know either.

“What?” Ewan whispered but Oscar kicked him to shut him up.

“And I thought about it every day.” This was unmistakably Moody’s voice, but it did not sound like Moody at all. It was soft and breaking. “What would’ve happened if you left Gordon and we ran away together. Raised him like our son, away from this all.”

“I was a coward-“

“No. You gave him the life he needed. Love, stability… Aidan was a testament to that.”

“Alastor…”

Then, a long silence ensued. The three aurors hiding in the kitchen were completely paralysed. What the hell had just happened? Barraclough was Moody’s son? How did Moody managed to keep this a secret for so long? And why?

Claudia wanted to burst through the door and ask him all these questions. Ask him if it was really true. But she managed to restrain herself. If Moody found out they overheard him, they would be minced meat, Claudia thought.

“The service is about to start,” Aiden’s mother said. There were then footsteps and the door creaked again.

After a minute or so of complete silence, Oscar slowly got up and peeked through the glass slit. “All clear.”

“What the hell?” Claudia hissed.

“He can never know we know. He’d kill us all,” Ewan whispered.

“We need to go,” Oscar mumbled and led the way to the church itself. “We can’t miss this…”

Claudia, Oscar and Ewan sat down in a pew just behind the family. She was sat in the middle, unable to take her eyes off Barraclough’s parents. They were comforting each other like that overheard conversation never happened.

“Can I join?”

Claudia jerked and tore her eyes off the front row. Adebayo was standing above them, gesturing for them to scooch over. But Claudia’s gaze landed on someone else.

Behind Adebayo stood Moody.

Thinner than when she saw him in the hospital, completely expressionless, and… Claudia looked at his feet. His trousers were rolled up, showing an artificial leg.

“What?” Moody hissed. “Don’t you all like the new leg?”

“Sorry…” Claudia mumbled, nudged Ewan to move to the end of the pew and moved a seat to the right too. Oscar and Ewan were also muttering apologies for staring.

The music started to play, and a priest emerged to read some barely understandable passages. Eventually, it was time for the eulogy given by Barraclough’s father. Well, his presumed father.

Claudia glanced to her left. Moody was sitting there, stone-faced. She could not begin to imagine what he was going through. His son, his protégé, the person he trusted the most in the world was being buried, and he was not the one giving the eulogy. He had to listen to another man, speaking of his own love for Aiden.

It was impossible to watch, and tears started to flow down Claudia’s cheeks.

“He was a brave young man, a fallen hero.” Barraclough’s father was barely able to get the words out. “His service to the population of this country-“

Claudia’s eyes drifted to the coffin. It was covered in flowers and atop it stood a framed photograph of Aiden.

He was smiling. He rarely smiled.

Claudia could not take it anymore. She dropped her head into her hands and started to sob. His dead body was just mere feet away from her. This was it. She was never going to see him again. Or talk to him. Or see him smile.

She could feel a hand on her back. It squeezed her shoulder and slowly lifted her up to sitting. It was Ewan. He pulled her close to him and Claudia dropped her head on his shoulder.

Oscar reached for her hand and squeezed it.

They stayed like that for the rest of the service, all three bawling their eyes out.

Eventually, the service finished, and people left the church.

“I’m sorry,” Ewan mumbled and wiped his eyes. “For being angry. I’m just trying to distract myself. I don’t mind if you two date. Actually, I think you’d be good together...”

It was Claudia’s turn to squeeze his shoulder. “We really aren’t going to date…”

“We should go,” Oscar whispered. “Give our condolences…”

They walked out of the church to join the line. Everyone was waiting to shake Barraclough’s parents’ hand. Claudia could barely watch as Moody shook the hand of both Barraclough’s father and mother. You would not be able to tell from his face how much anguish that must have been causing him.

It was now Claudia’s turn.

Barraclough’s father gave her the faintest of smiled. “He talked about you three all the time. Bane of this existence, he called you. But I know he loved you.”

“And we all loved him,” Claudia uttered, her voice shaking and her eyes full of tears once more.

Then, there was only one thing left to endure. To watch Barraclough’s coffin being driven away to be cremated. Claudia pushed the image of her mentor’s dead body lying in that coffin out of her mind and wiped the last of her tears.

With that, the funeral was over. Moody did not talk to anyone and just left. Ewan and Adebayo followed soon after.

“You heading back to?” Oscar asked. “Or are you going to the wake?

“Haven’t decided yet,” Claudia sighed. “I’m going to sit outside for a bit.”

“Can I join you?”

“Sure…”

Side-by-side, they walked across the graveyard and took a seat on a bench in the shadow of an oak tree.

“You didn’t know either, did you?” she whispered.

“I had no clue,” he sighed. “But in a way it makes sense. There was a resemblance…”

“And they can both be so grumpy.”

Oscar smiled. “I just thought it was because they worked together for so long. And were both Scottish…”

Claudia sighed. “I so want to get drunk and-“

But Oscar interrupted her. “We can’t. It would get messy. Feelings would be hurt.”

“No, I didn’t mean that… I just want to forget today ever happened.” Claudia paused and gave him an awkward smiled. “But for the record, I could handle a casual relationship, you know…”

“I know you could. This is about me. I broke my rule that night Aiden died.”

Claudia scowled. “What rule?” She was suddenly feeling very self-conscious about what happened. She knew she was not the prettiest, but still… Oscar could have at least pretended he was interested.

He sighed. “Never sleep with anyone you actually care about.”

“Why on Earth not?” she whispered, somewhat relieved that she was not the problem here.

“Why do you think all of us are single? Ewan, me, Aiden. Why do you think the boss didn’t tell Aiden he was his father? Makes you care too much...”

It was twisted, but in a weird way, it made sense. “Alice once gave me good advice,” Claudia whispered. “You can’t be happy if you’re scared to make yourself vulnerable.”

“Do you remember the girlfriend I mentioned earlier?” he whispered without looking at her. “I never want to go through something like that again… Not caring is so much easier.” Before Claudia could tell him he was being dumb, Oscar continued. “You remind me of her in a way. She was smart, funny, brave…”

“What was her name?”

“Rosie.” Oscar pinched the top of his nose. “She was brilliant. I miss her every day.”

“Doesn’t sound like you don’t care,” she mumbled. “Sounds like you just don’t want to move on.”

Oscar looked at her, frowning. But then he sighed, and the frown was replaced by sheer resignation. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I should know…”

He paused, as if he was measuring his words. “I don’t know what happened with you and Sirius but-”

“Oscar, please.” She interrupted him. “I don’t want to talk about. Things happened. We weren’t happy anymore.” Tears forced themselves to Claudia’s eyes again.

“I’m not saying get back together with him right now. Just don’t do anything too permanent you might regret later.”

“Like what?”

“Like marrying someone else or shagging his best friend.”

“Well,” Claudia smirked through the tears. “There is very little chance of me shagging his best friend, let me assure you.”

Oscar laughed. “Good.” Then, his face dropped, and he shifted awkwardly. “I hope you don’t regret what we did... Well, not too much anyway.”

“Nah.” Claudia shook her head. “I was always going to do something incredibly stupid that night. I’m kind of glad it was you.”

“Are you calling me stupid?”

They shared a laugh. But right in the middle of it, Claudia froze. Suddenly, it occurred to her that she could be sitting at Oscar’s funeral at any point. He had always been reckless, and she knew what he was up to these days. She sighed. “Please be careful.”

“Careful with what?”

“You know full well what I mean…”

“I’ll be careful.”

“And I want to come with you.”

“Absolutely not,” Oscar said resolutely. “Anyone else gets involved, and they’ll be onto us. You need to keep working the cases we have.”

“I hate this.”

“I know you do.”

“It’s not fair.”

“I know,” Oscar whispered and put his arm around Claudia’s shoulders. “Life isn’t fair. If it was fair, we would not be burying Aiden today…”

“Not while there are so many people who actually deserve to be in that coffin,” Claudia mumbled in a shaky voice, thinking of her father, and dropped her head on Oscar’s shoulder.

Eventually, they left the bench and on Monday morning, Claudia was back at Fabian’s office. She was glad to be out and about. Moody had disappeared again on a mission, this time taking Oscar with him. It still upset Claudia they would go hunt Barraclough’s killer without her, but at least she did not have to look Moody in the eye, for which she was grateful. She had no idea what to say to him, how to act around him, now she knew what he had been through.

“How was the funeral?” Fabian asked as they met in reception and walked towards his office.

“Well, it was a funeral,” she mumbled but quickly changed the subject. She knew that if she talked about it, she would cry. And she was done crying. It was not going to bring Aiden back, and it only made her feel stupid. Especially in front of someone she barely known. “Any developments since last time?”

Fabian shook his head. “No. Nobody knows anything. But there have been more leaks; on so many different things, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s definitely not coming from a single office.”

Claudia paused for thought. “Is there someone who has access to it all? Records department, or admin staff?”

“Hmmm…” Fabian hummed. “Let me think.”

They walked a few more yards in silence until Fabian stopped abruptly. He looked to his left, towards an open door. “Research,” he whispered and nudged Claudia to go in. “Whenever we need to find something out and don’t quite have time. This kid here finds out the answer.”

“So, he knows about a lot of things different journalists do?”

When she saw Fabian nod, she poked her head through the door. “Can I ask you some questions?” she began with a faked smile. “I’m with the Auror-“

The young man raised his head, his eyes darted to the side door and then, without warning, he run out of room like the building was on fire.

“Crap,” Claudia scoffed and followed him.

“I guess we have our man,” Fabian quipped as he caught up with her, running down the hall.

They chased him through Daily Prophet’s corridors, shooting one restraining spell after another. But it was no use. There were too many corners, too many staircases, and every time Claudia got a clear shot, someone got in the way.

Finally, he turned into reception. It was now or never. The moment he was on the street, he would apparate and no one would ever see him again.

“Get out of the way!” she yelled at the bystanders. Most did, and she managed to knock off the few stragglers to the side with a well-measured knockback jinx.

Finally, she could get him.

“Incarcerous!”

The fugitive collapsed on the floor, bound tightly with a thick rope.

Claudia skidded to halt next to him and dropped to her knees.

“I didn’t do anything!” the young man yelled and struggled against his restraints.

“Yeah,” Claudia smirked. “Because this is how innocent people act.”

“It was all her. She made me do it! I swear!”

“Who did?”

“Rosanne.”

“Who the hell is Rosanne?” Fabian pitched in, now standing over both Claudia and her detainee.

“My girlfriend,” he barked.

“What-“ Fabian started to ask a question, but Claudia jumped in. After all, it was her job to ask the questions.

“What’s her last name?”

He shook his head.

“Address?”

Another shake of the head.

“Was she way out of your league?” Fabian smirked.

The researcher nodded.

“Must have been a serious relationship,” Claudia said and dragged the detainee up to standing. She got Fabian to watch him as she sent an owl to the patrol officers to come and pick him up.  They would put him in one of those nice Ministry holding cells, take a statement and tomorrow morning, it would be on Claudia’s desk.

The patrol officers came and went, and Claudia and Fabian found themselves alone.

“I think finding ‘Rosanne’ is going to be bit tricky,” she mumbled. There was literally no chance that was her real name. “It very much sounds like he was being used…”

“It doesn’t matter, we stopped the leak!”

Claudia scowled. “Of course, it matters. The kid we caught was clearly just some useful idiot. I want to get the real culprit.”

“You’re right…” Fabian said. “And I’m sure if anyone could find her, it’s you.”

Claudia shuffled on her feet for a few seconds. “Well, I guess this is a good-bye then,” she said with an awkward smile.

Fabian raised his hand to waive, but before Claudia could leave, he recovered his composure. “Can I buy you a drink? Dinner? As a thank you…”

Claudia shrugged. “I’m not really meant to be going out. Not since Rita’s article…”

“I have some very nice whiskey in my office.” Fabian replied innocently.

That was an offer Claudia was never going to turn down. So, she agreed and they made their way back upstairs and squeezed into Fabian’s tiny office.

“It’s not the best place for entertaining,” he mumbled, took a cushion from his chair and threw it on a crate of documents by the door. “Please, take a crate.”

Claudia chuckled and sat down.

Fabian took couple of glasses and a bottle from his desk and poured out some whiskey. Then, he sat down on the floor opposite Claudia.

“This is very cosy,” she smirked.

“We do have a bar, we could-“

“No,” Claudia shook her head. “I’m just kidding. Crate and firewhiskey is all I need.”

Fabian smiled. “Cheers.” He leaned forward to toast her.

Claudia took a sip. “How does a journalist join the Order?”

“My brother roped me into it. He was the one that Dumbledore recruited straight out of Hogwarts. I think I was little bit of a late bloomer.”

“He recruited a bunch of us straight from school too. Me, James, Lily, Remus, Peter and-“ Claudia took a deep breath – “Sirius.”

“I’m sorry about that by the way. About the break-up.”

Claudia took another sip. This time more as an excuse to avoid eye contact. “Were we that obvious at the last Order meeting?” she mumbled into her glass.

“Oscar told me.”

“I keep forgetting you two are friends.”

“It’s not the end of the world to be single, you know,” Fabian said with a hint of a smile. “I know it can seem like it. Everyone getting married all the time, having kids. My sister just had her sixth one!”

“Sixth?” Claudia gasped.

“All boys.”

“That sounds-“ she grimaced. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Horrifying?” he chuckled.

Claudia could not help but laugh with him. “That… Definitely that.”

Fabian topped up their glasses. “So nice to talk to someone who gets it. None of the usual…” He sat up straight and started to speak rather theatrically. “You will change your mind once you meet the right girl. You’ll regret it if you don’t have kids. Blah, blah, blah.” He paused and drunk a bit of whiskey. “That was meant to be my sister.”

“She sounds just like my mother…” Claudia whispered and glanced at her watch.

“Do you need to be getting back?”

“I should, I really should,” she sighed but did not move an inch. She did not want to go. Talking to Fabian was comfortable, and the whiskey was good.

“I still want you buy that dinner, you know.”

“And I still can’t go out.” She did not want to sound like Moody, but the target on her back felt bigger than ever and taking this risk would be foolish.

Fabian swirled the drink in his glass. “What if I cook?”

“You cook?”

“Come to my flat on Saturday and you’ll find out.”

“Alright,” Claudia smiled and finished her whiskey before glancing at her watch again. “I really do need to run. We have a staff meeting.”

Fabian took the empty glass out of her hand. “See you Saturday.” He made an attempt to reached for the door. “I’ll send you a note with my address.”

But Claudia got to the door first and opened it. “See you Saturday.”

Staff meeting was dull, Moody and Oscar were still out, and Claudia spent the next week doing dull tasks that Adebayo assigned her. She begged him to let him at least continue to work on the Daily Prophet case, but Adebayo had different ideas. He was convinced patrol would be able to handle it.

On Saturday afternoon, on the way to Fabian’s, Claudia popped in to see Alice. As ever, the extended leave was getting to Alice. She interrogated Claudia about details of every case Claudia worked on, to keep her brain cells alive.

“How is it?” Alice whispered suddenly. “Without Barraclough around?”

Claudia shrugged. “I miss him so much, Alice.” She rubbed her palms. “But I don’t want to talk about it. No way am I ready to talk about what he really meant to me without breaking down. And I don’t want to break down.”

“When you are ready…”

“I know… You are here.” Claudia attempted a smile. “Did I tell you about the Daily Prophet investigation?”

“You did not!”

Claudia went on to explain, but this time Alice was less interested in the crime, and more in Fabian.

“He invited you for a dinner to his flat?” she exclaimed when Claudia got to their conversation in Fabian’s office.

“Yeah, you know, since I can’t go out-“

“Like a date?”

“No!” Claudia scoffed and burst out laughing. “It’s not a date!”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I forgot how useless you were at this… What exactly did he say?”

“That he would like to buy me dinner, and since I can’t go out, he’ll cook for me in his flat.” Claudia explained, suddenly sounding a lot more uncertain.

“That’s definitely a date,” Alice chuckled.

“What am I supposed to do?” Claudia sighed. “I don’t want a date. I don’t want a boyfriend.” Then, she looked up at Alice and saw her best friend was struggling not to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re just so terrible at this!”

There was no point denying that. “Please help,” Claudia said meekly.

“Look,” Alice said in her maternal voice again. “You’re an adult now. If you aren’t sure if it’s a date, or you don’t want to go on a date, you just have to talk to him.”

“Talk to him? I hate this stuff…”

“I know you do. But the first guy after Sirius-”

Claudia bit her lip. “He’s not the first guy…”

Alice’s eyes widened. “What?” she exclaimed. “Who? When?”

“No one must ever know.”

“Tell me now!”

Claudia took a deep breath. “Oscar and I got bit drunk the other night… One thing led to another.”

Alice now looked like her eyes might pop out of their sockets. “That Oscar? Your Oscar?”

“Yup… That Oscar.”

“And?”

“And nothing,” Claudia shrugged. “We both know what it was. A drunken one-night stand. That’s all.”

“That’s probably for the better-“

“I know. Can you imagine?” Claudia chuckled. The thought of actually dating Oscar was laughable and horrifying in equal measure. “He’s a good friend though.”

“How was it? To be with someone else after so long?”

“I wish I remembered…” Claudia mumbled and looked at her watch. “Well, thank you for freaking me out… But I have to go now.”

“Don’t forget to buy him flowers on your way!” Alice smirked as she released Claudia from a good-bye hug.

“Shut up!”

“Actually,” Alice reached into a nearby cabinet. “Take this wine. You can’t turn up empty-handed, regardless if it’s a date or not.”

Claudia grimaced. “I hate these rules…”

Claudia took Floo back to London. Not knowing the precise location, she had to walk from the Leaky Cauldron for about half an hour. Once she got there, a flat on the top floor of a Victorian terrace house, she hesitated for a long time before finally ringing the bell.

“Come on in,” Fabian said as he opened the door.

“I brought wine,” Claudia mumbled and outstretched her arm. Her movement were so rigid, it felt like she was wearing a suit of armour.

Fabian took the wine and walked towards the door to the kitchen. Claudia watched him, motionless.

“The food isn’t going to take long.” He popped his head back into the hallway, Claudia’s bottle still in his hand. “Want a glass of wine?”

“Hang on,” she whispered while rubbing the palms of her hands. “I don’t want you to give the wrong impression. If you thought this was a date, I don’t-“

Fabian put down the bottle he was holding on the side table and walked closer to her. “I confess, I hoped it could be a date.”

“I see,” Claudia sighed. “Maybe I should go. I can’t deal with dating right now. I don’t really want to have a relationship-“

“I don’t really want one either…” Fabian said hurriedly.

Claudia finally summoned enough courage to properly look him in the eye. “I’m very confused...”

Fabian shrugged. “I like you. I want to have a dinner with you. It doesn’t have to be a date. We can just have a good time; not think too much about it.”

“Alright,” Claudia said with a smile. She liked Fabian too. “I’ll take that wine then.”

He found some glasses and poured out some wine. “I need five minutes in the kitchen. Why don’t you go to the living room…”

Claudia took the glass and wondered down the hallway. The living room was small, and on every conceivable wall surface was a bookshelf. The dining table was covered in papers. Claudia leaned over it to read what Fabian was working on.

There was Crouch’s biography, his speech when he took over DMLE, and some Ministry reports that Claudia was pretty sure were meant to be confidential. She was about half-way down the one about some disciplinary issues that Crouch hushed up when he started at the Ministry, when Fabian joined her in the living room.

“Should’ve tidied this up,” he mumbled.

“Don’t worry,” Claudia smirked. “I’ll pretend I haven’t seen these.”

“I would appreciate that.”

“He’d send you to jail if he knew…” she smirked. “Do you want to know something? Off the record?”

“Always!”

“I can’t be sure because he never really straight up said, but I think he was asking me to lie on the stand, to secure a conviction.”

“I wish I could say I was surprised…”

“I know, right? He’s a nightmare…” Claudia chucked, and then brushed her fingers over Fabian’s half-finished draft. “I think it’s very cool, having so many people reading what you write. You get to change their mind about things.”

Fabian laughed. “Not with the articles I write. I’m lucky if ten people read them. No one cares about proper journalism anymore. It’s all about Rita and her scandals.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.”

“Right,” Fabian mumbled. “I’m sorry that happened.”

“It’s alright,” Claudia shrugged. “Worse things happened since…”

“Right.” Fabian cleared the table and few minutes later brough out a casserole filled with lamb, carrots, and potatoes. It was delicious.

“That’s a really nice meal,” Claudia mumbled, her mouth still slightly full.

“Can I confess something?” Fabian said with a chuckle. “I burned what I was making and had to beg my sister for this casserole.”

Claudia laughed. “You made a woman with six kids make you food so that you can impress me?”

“Did it work?” Fabian asked before bursting with laughter and dropping his head into his hands. “I know. I’m terrible.”

“No, it’s nice. To have a family you can call on.”

Fabian looked up and smiled. “Yeah, Molly is a few years older. She has always been like a second mum to me and Gideon. And when our own mum died few years back, she’s the only one I have left.” Rain clouds outside covered the setting sun, and Fabian’s face was now illuminated mainly by the soft light of the candles on the coffee table. You could tell from his eyes how sharp he was. And how much he cared about doing the right thing. His nose was covered in freckles, and his lips…

“You’re all quite different, aren’t you?” she whispered, tearing her eyes away, regretting a little that she told him she was not interested in dating.

“Molly is the family type, Gideon has always been super studious, and I’m the family disaster.” Fabian reached for the wine bottle and filled up their glasses. “Our father nearly fainted when I said I wanted to become a journalist.”

“Well, we have that in common.” Claudia took a sip of wine, all too aware her cheeks were burning a little. “Being the family disaster, I mean…”

“Indeed,” Fabian took a long sip of wine. “When did you realise about your father?”

Claudia thought for a minute. “I started to suspect in my fourth year… So, fourteen? But I really knew the summer after.” She paused and drank some more of the wine. “When I saw Voldemort in our house. As much of a proof as anyone needs, really.”

“And your brother?”

“My brother has always been deep in Death Eater shit. He would do anything to please our father. Always had been like that...” She paused to think. She had nearly forgotten about Marcus’ offer given everything else that was going on. It was weird Marcus had not been in touch again. She must try to reach out to him-

“It must have taken so much courage to become an auror, join the Order…” Fabian interrupted her train of thought.

Claudia shrugged. “It doesn’t feel like courage. It just feels like something I have to do. I can’t let them get away with it.”

Fabian looked at her for maybe a second longer that she was expecting. “You’re amazing, you know that, right?”

Claudia could feel herself blushing and laughed awkwardly. But Fabian did not join in. He kept staring into her eyes. His arm found its way around Claudia’s shoulder. It felt warm. It made her feel calm. And she wanted more.

She closed her eyes and surely, within the second, she felt Fabian’s lips on hers.

Slowly, she peeled off. “I thought this wasn’t a date,” she whispered with a chuckle, her eyes still shut. It felt good.

“Sorry if I misjudged this-“

Claudia opened her eyes and smiled at Fabian. “You haven’t misjudged this.  But-“ she paused and caressed his arm. “I really don’t want to have a relationship. My life is too crazy right now for anything like that.”

“I’m not big on relationships either. Doesn’t mean we can’t – If you want, you know- Every now and then.” Fabian’s eloquence had momentarily abandoned him, and Claudia would swear the colour in his cheeks nearly matched his red hair.

“Do you mean just a casual thing?”

“If you want to put it that way.”

Claudia looked into Fabian’s eyes for a second or two. They were twinkling with curiosity. He was bright, he could be funny, and she could do a lot worse. She was sick of being the only one who was alone all the time. The only one who had no one to hold them after a tough day.

She shuffled even closer to him. “I can get on board with that,” she smirked and kissed him.

Claudia allowed herself to get lost in the moment. Smell of fresh rain was coming through the window, Fabian’s lips made her momentarily forget about the war, as did his hand was brushing up and down her leg.

Then, something occurred to her and brought her back to reality. She had a very similar conversation about casual relationships before, with Oscar. Who just happened to be Fabian’s closest friend…

She pushed Fabian gently away. “Did you talk to Oscar about me?” she asked, perhaps a little sharper than she intended to. But if Oscar told Fabian she was looking for someone, or encouraged him in anyway… He would have crossed a line. There were friends, but still… He would have crossed a line.

“No, I’m too scared.”

Claudia chuckled, very relieved. “Why?”

“He gets so weirdly protective about all of you. He’s going to kill me if he ever finds out about this.”

“You’ll be fine,” she smirked and kissed Fabian again.

With every touch of his hand, Claudia’s insides were burning more and more. No one could blame her if something happened with Fabian right now. She had not had sex she remembered since Christmas. And half a year was too long. She found Fabian’s belt and undid it.

At first, it was weird. She was all too aware of every strange sound their bodies made, every weird grimace on Fabian’s face. But it was not bad. Fabian knew what he was doing, and once she closed her eyes and let go, it was nice. Exceptionally nice, actually.

It felt good to be wanted. To have a man of Fabian’s intelligence crumbling in her arms under the weight of his own desire. And it felt good when he held her tightly in his arms afterwards to the sound of a summer thunderstorm outside.

Fabian fell asleep much faster than Claudia did, and she was left staring at the ceiling with Fabian breathing softly next to her.

But she could not help but think how weird it was to be with someone other than Sirius. It felt good, but it did not feel quite right. Like something was missing.

Sirius knew every inch of her body. He knew exactly where to touch her. He knew that one kiss right where Claudia’s shoulder met her neck was enough to send her trembling. He knew that she loved when he buried his finger into the hair on the back of her head when he kissed her.

She remembered how he used to guide her body when they made love, like they were dancing. He knew how she wanted to move even before she did. He knew when she wanted him to be intimate, gentle, when every fleeting touch showed her how much he loved and cared for her. She could practically feel his fingers stroking the side of her face and placing her hair behind her ear. He used to do that just before he whispered in her ear how much he loved her.

And he knew exactly when she wanted him to take charge, to show how much he wanted her. He knew exactly when to switch pace. And she loved when pleasure and desire made him lose control… Claudia closed her eyes. She could feel her body throbbing at the mere thought.

“Stop it,” she mumbled to herself and put her arms across her face. Pining over Sirius was not going to do her any good. She had to fight hard against her brain bringing up memories of all the things Sirius used to do in bed for a good hour before she finally gave up and snuck out of bed to collect her clothes. Just as she was about to leave the bedroom, she looked back at sleeping Fabian, but-

“You don’t have to go,” he mumbled sleepily, half sitting up.

“I have to work early,” Claudia replied and hesitated for a second or two before walking back to the bed and sitting down on the edge of it. She leaned in and gave Fabian a brief kiss.

“We should do this again sometimes,” Fabian whispered as their lips parted.

“Are you going to do the cooking yourself next time?”

“I think you might need to help me.”

“You picked the wrong girl for that.”

Fabian laughed. Claudia brushed the side of his face and gave him another kiss. This time longer, and it nearly made her change her mind.

“I really have to go,” she whispered before sneaking out of Fabian’s flat and apparating home. She took her shoes off before she opened the front door, but the creaky floorboards gave her away anyway.

“I take it your date went well?” she heard Remus’ voice from the direction of the sofa.

“Wait…” Claudia barked. “You knew it was a date too?”

“You’d need to be a right idiot not to realise it was a date.”

Claudia smiled to herself. Maybe she was a right idiot. “Whatever. Go back to sleep…”

“I can’t…”

“Why not?”

“Because I finally summoned enough courage to ask Gideon for a drink.”

Claudia did a double take. “And?”

“And he said yes… And I’ve been freaking out ever since,” Remus sighed. “You don’t think it’s going to be weird if we end up dating two brothers?”

“Fabian and I aren’t dating...”

“I was trying to be polite…” Remus smirked. “I’ll try again. You don’t think it’s going to be weird if we end up sleeping with guys who are brothers?”

“Go back to sleep, Remus!” Claudia said with a laugh.

“It’s good to finally see you laugh.”

Claudia turned back. “It feels good, although…” She contemplated for a minute whether to tell him how she really felt about sleeping with Fabian, and why she could not fall asleep there. Whether to tell him Moody’s secret and just how much she missed Barraclough. But she decided against it. She liked Remus, she really did. But he was not the one she wanted to be telling these things to.  

“Although?” Remus asked in an encouraging tone.

“Although, I do need a shower,” she mumbled and shuffled to the bathroom, all her thoughts and secrets piling up in her chest. They would need to stay there a while longer. Maybe forever even.

Chapter Text

It was now July and the dreaded trial of the old lady with the cursed necklace had finally arrived. Claudia did not watch the trial like she had with Mulciber. She snuck in, gave her testimony, avoiding all eye contact, and run out of the courtroom to what she would swear were loud sneers as soon as she could. She spent rest of the morning crying in a Ministry bathroom out of sheer embarrassment.

She did not want to go back to her office. They would laugh at her, they said as much. The only person she wanted to talk to in that moment was Barraclough… And he was gone. Forever.

Eventually, she managed to summon enough courage to slip out of the Ministry and went to see Alice. When Claudia walked through the door to Alice’s house, she saw Lily was there too. They were both huge at this point and were sitting on the sofa with their feet up. Claudia had to bring them water and a couple of sandwiches before she was even allowed to sit down to join them. For a good hour, Claudia listened as they talked about their pregnancy, prospective birth and everything they needed to get ready. If it achieved anything, it entrenched Claudia’s view that she did not want to have children. Sounded like way too much work.

“It feels weird not seeing each other as much,” Lily finally changed the subject and spoke directly to Claudia.

“It’s for a good cause,” Claudia shrugged. “It’s good James is looking after him.” She took a sip of her tea. “Although he does have Marlene now…” she said bitterly before trailing off into complete silence.

“Claudia, please don’t do this to yourself,” Lily whispered.

It’s fine… He’s moved on. So have I…”

“Have you?”

A little, I guess.” Claudia was suddenly not feeling too certain. It felt uncomfortable, like she overstepped some sort of a mark. “Maybe. It’s not really a relationship.”

“Remus?” Lily asked with a wry smile.

“Why does everyone jump to that conclusion?” Claudia exclaimed. “No!”

“Who then?” Lily chuckled.

Claudia had not seen her this excited for a while. Alice seemed to be having time of her life too. She, of course, knew but was clearly enjoying the spectacle.

Claudia took another sip of the tea and whispered into her mug. “Fabian.”

“Prewett?” Lily gasped.

“Do you know any other Fabians?”

“Are you dating?” Lily was clearly very excited about it.

Claudia’s mind invertedly travelled to two nights ago, the last time she spent time with Fabian. They cooked some risotto together, according to a recipe Fabian’s sister gave him. Apparently, it was impossible to mess up. While the risotto simmered, Claudia got to read an early draft of one of Fabian’s articles. She fixed a few things he got wrong about the Auror Office procedures. Their second date ended the same way the first one did… Although, it was slightly harder to get out of bed and slink back home.

“Not exactly dating, no,” Claudia finally spoke. “We’ve slept together a few times. That’s about it. But it’s nice, not to be alone all the time.”

Alice finally decided to pitch in. “Needless to say, you have a type.” The corner of her mouth was twitching.

“What type?” Lily asked.

“Tall, long hair, brains…” Alice began.

“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Claudia defended herself.

Alice laughed. “Then, there is the wit, sarcasm, arrogance…”

“Oh, stop it!” Claudia scoffed. It was not lost on her that Alice was not talking only about Sirius and Fabian, but also about Oscar. But she could hardly deny it, so she shrugged. “What do you want me to do? It’s not as if he’s waiting for me…With that-“ she trailed off again. Out of the corner of her eyes, Claudia noticed that Lily’s smile dropped, and she shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry. I know Marlene’s your friend,” she added in a whisper.

Lily gave her a feeble smile. “She might be my friend. But she isn’t Sirius’ soulmate.”

“I don’t believe in soulmates,” Claudia sighed.

Neither of her friends said anything. Lily was staring at her feet, and Alice was grimacing and rubbing her lower back.

“You alright?” Claudia asked her best friend after an awkward pause.

“Yeah,” Alice mumbled. “My back is killing me. I might need to go lie down for a bit. You two have more tea if you want.”

With Alice waddling towards her bedroom, Lily was holding her tea close to her mouth and was strangely quiet. She kept glancing towards Claudia, but every time they made eye contact, Lily turned away.

“What is it?” Claudia asked, not able to take it anymore. She knew something was up.

Lily took a deep breath. “I really shouldn’t.”

“Come on, spill it…”

“I feel awful asking you this.” Lily paused. It was not usual for her to be so tentative, so fidgety. She was usually so confident in personal interactions, that it was almost annoying. “But I need to talk to you about Sirius…”

Claudia sighed. “What has he done now?”

“He was always supposed to be our baby’s godfather. But maybe it’s a mistake. Given how-“ Lily sighed. “Given how he’s been.”

Claudia did not flinch. Her chest tightened, however, and she bore her eyes into Lily. If Lily had something to say, she better come out with it.

Finally, Lily whispered. “Do you think he’s going to be ok?”

“Why are you asking me?” Claudia said slowly, her face completely devoid of emotion. Or at least she hoped it was.

“Claudia, please, you know full well why. No one understands him better than you do.”

“How about asking his best friend?” Claudia scoffed. “Or his actual girlfriend? You know, your best friend?

“I know it’s a lot to ask…”

“It’s not fair to ask me this!” Claudia barked and stood up. “I know you’re worried about your baby. But that does not give you the right…”

“Clau-“

“I have to go,” Claudia mumbled and ran out of Alice’s house, only realising it was too far to apparate home when she stepped out of the door. The last time she tried, she got splinched. And she did not want to go back to use the Floo and face Lily again. So, she set off to the train station.

How could she? Claudia was full of rage as she walked down the country lane under the stormy sky. Lily always liked to pretend how sensitive and considerate she was. How she understood others. But instead, all she cared was about herself.

Claudia walked so quickly, that she was completely out of breath by the time she got to the station. She just about managed to buy one of the remaining first-class tickets and slump to her seat, before the train started to move and the rain started to fall.

She watched the countryside run past, her head resting on the window. The further she got, the more tears filled her eyes. How the fuck could Lily be asking her this? Asking her to dredge up her feelings about Sirius like this. To make a judgement whether he was good enough to be that dumb baby’s godfather. When she had no idea what was actually wrong with him. Because he fucking refused to tell her!

By the time the train stopped in the next station, however, Claudia was having second thoughts. There was a war on, and Lily looked scared. Maybe she ought to have stayed, talked it through with her. After all, she was eight months pregnant and only wanted the best for her baby.

In a way, it was good of her to seek Claudia’s counsel. She did Sirius better than anyone else, there was no denying that.

Two more stops had passed before Claudia came to the realisation that she could not just leave the situation as it was. She waved the conductor down to ask for some paper and a pen and began writing.

---

Dearest Lily,

I’m sorry for blowing up on you earlier.

I have not really stopped to think about Sirius since we broke up. I cannot think about him at all, you see. Whenever I do, my heart breaks all over again.

And you were asking me to imagine him as a godfather to your baby. As someone who would raise them if something happened to you.

---

A tear landed on the paper, dissolving some of the ink. When she was with Sirius, it never crossed her mind they would get married and have children. But she suddenly felt differently. The thought of Sirius raising a kid with someone else. It physically hurt.

For weeks she had been trying to ignore the fact Sirius seemed better. He was back at Order meetings, taking missions. She hated that he was better with someone else. It should have been her. He should have gotten better with her.

But Claudia wiped her tears, focused on Lily, took a deep breath, and continued…

---

To answer your question… I do not know if and when he is going to be back to his old self. I know that is not what you wanted to hear.

But I can tell you that this is not him. The sulking, the aggression… Alright, it is a little bit like him. But he’s kind, gently, loving. And that could never go away, no matter how deeply he is burying that part of himself right now.

---

Claudia wiped her eyes again and brushed the word ‘loving’ with her fingers. How was she still writing this? How could she possibly still think that? But it was true. She did not want to admit it to herself, but she did not hate Sirius. She missed him. With every fibre of her body, she missed him. With her hand ever so slightly trembling, she resumed writing.

---

He needs something to live for. Someone to keep going for. I am sure if you made him godfather, he would snap out of this state he is in.

And he would be great. You know he would run into a burning building for the people he loves. He would be so desperate to prove he is not his mother, he would shower the kid in love and move the Earth for them.

Claudia

---

Claudia had to drop back to her seat as to not flood the paper with more tears. Just about, she managed to scribble her name and stuff the paper into an envelope, already provided. At Waterloo Station, she posted it to Lily’s Godric Hollow’s address and apparated home.

She had to resort to drinking sleeping draught again that night, otherwise she would not have been able to fall asleep. It had been months since her and Sirius broke up, and yet… It did not hurt any less than it did the morning after.

Claudia dragged her feet to work the following morning. She did not want to be mocked over the old lady trial, but she wanted even less to mope around Remus’ flat. So, she pulled the collar of her leather jacket close to her face, and with her head down nearly run through the Ministry atrium. She only looked up once she was in the lift, once it was too late.

Two fellow auror trainees were standing right next to her. Hugo Green, the former Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, and that annoying American bloke whose name she successfully forgot. She scoffed at turned away, fully expecting a barrage of facetious questions and snide remarks about her professional failure. But none came. The lift stopped at the Auror Office floor and they both scuttered off.

Somewhat puzzled, Claudia set down the corridor towards her office. But it was the same story there as in the lift. No one said a word. No one acted any differently than they would have on any other day.

“Why is everyone being so weird?” she mumbled as she stepped over the threshold of her office.

“Weird?” Oscar asked sharply. “How? Did anyone say anything?”

“No,” Claudia shook her head. “That’s the weird part. Everyone’s acting like I haven’t made a complete fool out of myself in front of the whole Ministry.”

“Good.” A smile flashed across Oscar’s face, and he returned to his paperwork.

Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?” she whispered. But no response came, so she turned to Ewan. “What did he do?”

Ewan smiled too. “We had a little word with people. Anyone making fun of you will have to answer to us.”

Claudia did not know what to say, so she just stood there. “Does it mean-“ she clear her throat. “Does it mean you wanted monopoly on the jibes?”

“No monopoly,” Ewan said. “No jibes.”

Claudia’s body unclenched and she went to sit down at her own desk. She felt more relieved than she expected to be. Clearly, this whole thing was causing her more anxiety than she expected to. She was just looking at some fresh intelligence when a loud crash and groan came out of Moody’s office. Claudia jumped up and made her way to the door, to see what happened.

But Oscar stopped both her and Ewan and went to the door himself. “Let me handle this…” He knocked and without waiting for an answer from Moody, stepped in and shut the door behind him.

Claudia tried to listen but all she could hear were undistinguishable hushed voices. “Is he alright?” she whispered to Ewan instead. The only thing on her mind was her brother. She needed to go talk to him again, as his silence was getting weird.

“No. He’s still completely out of it. Barely leaves his office.” But before Ewan could say anymore, the door flew open.

“I’m going, and that’s final-“ Moody was growling at Oscar and putting his coat on.

“Boss,” Claudia jumped to her feet and blocked his path.

“Get out of my way!” Moody barked, but Claudia stood her ground.

“I think I should follow up with my brother,” she said. “To see if the offer is still good.”

Moody did not say anything, just blinked twice. But the lines on his face were getting more prominent and Claudia could swear he was getting redder too. “You will forget about your brother, do you understand?” he hissed.

“But-“

“NO!” he yelled. “Forget it. You as much as breathe his name in here and you’re finished.”

“But-“

“DO YOU KNOW HOW TO FOLLOW A FUCKING ORDER?” Moody was now louder than Claudia had ever heard. A whiff of whiskey was coming out of his mouth. “You are just a fucking trainee. I can get you kicked out of here in minutes, after everything you put me through.”

Claudia bit her lip. She felt like yelling too, but just about managed to restrain herself. The whiff of whiskey at nine in the morning was not a good sign.

“I mean this, Avery.” Moody spoke in a low threatening tone. “Drop this, or you’re getting fired. I’ll move you to Records for the rest of your life. Don’t think I wouldn’t-“ With those words, he pushed her aside and stormed out of the office.

Oscar sighed and put his hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “I need to follow him before he disappears. But please listen to him. Don’t make this worse for us than it needs to be.”

Wearing a frown on her face, Claudia shuffled to her desk and dropped to her seat. She did not want to feel angry, but she could not help it. She liked Moody, and she knew that he was hurting and why. But there really was no need to yell at her like she was a child…

“It’s going to get easier,” Ewan interrupted her train of thoughts.

“Bloody well hope so.” Claudia glanced at her watch. “I totally forgot I have classes today,” she mumbled. “I’ve got to go.”

That was a lie. She did not forget, and she had at least another hour before she had to report for auror training. She popped into the cafeteria to get a bacon sandwich. It still brought a tear to her eye. What would she do to have Barraclough with her right now.

Within the hour, she found herself in the classroom, fully expecting to spend a day staring out of the pretend window and finding a way to convince Moody to let her talk to her brother. She did manage to convince him before… But it turned out she was wrong. The class was a lot more exciting than scheming.

“Legilimency is a bit like sex,” Miss Sachs opened the class. “It’s legal to do it as long as the other person tells you they want you to,” she said to stifled chuckles across the room. “I’m only going to teach you the spell, so you know how it feels and what it’s like. The main point of this course is to learn Occlumency. To block someone from trying to read your mind.”

“Is Legilimency Dark Magic?” asked some fresh trainee.

“What even is Dark Magic,” Miss Sachs shrugged. “If you misuse any magic, it’s dark. If you used Legilimency to read or alter someone’s mind to your own gain? Yes, it’s dark magic. If you’re using it to heal them, not so much…”

“You can alter someone’s mind?” the trainee spoke again in a voice that trembled slightly.

“You can plant visions if you’re good. Some can even learn Legilimency telepathically, enabling them to plan visions across long distances. But talent like that is rare.”

“Is it admissible in evidence?” Claudia interrupted. “Not the visions of course, but if you were to read someone’s mind to learn the truth.”

“Don’t even think about that,” Ms Sachs said curtly. “Use Legilimency on a suspect and you’ll find yourself without a job in a matter of hours. It used to be legal, but there were just too many inaccuracies-”

“So, we can torture them for information, but not actually read their mind,” Claudia interrupted with a grimace, pointing out this obvious flaw in the Auror Office procedures. Well, obvious to her anyway.

“I will choose to believe you are being facetious, Miss Avery. And that you know that you cannot torture someone for information. Especially given your disciplinary record-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Claudia mumbled and recited the regulations. “While the use of the Unforgivable Curses is being permitted on official duty by qualified aurors, it needs to be in circumstances prescribed within this guidance. So far, no permissible use has been identified for the Crutiatus Curse.”

“Well remembered,” Ms Sachs said and swiftly moved on. “Now, I will need a volunteer.” She looked around the room and pointed at one of the other first year trainees. “You… Now, empty your mind of all emotion.” She pointed her wand at his head and for a minute or so, started intensely into the trainee’s eyes, while he squirmed. Eventually, Ms Sachs lowered her wand. “How did it feel?”

The trainee shuddered. “Invasive. Like memories were flashing through my head; and I knew you were seeing them, and I could not quite stop you.”

“Right. Remember. You must clear your mind of all emotion, and focus! Who’s next?”

Claudia slowly raised her hand. She wanted to try. She closed her mind and imagined herself flying above the Great Lake. She emptied her mind, emptied it of all her emotions. It felt good.

“Ready?” Ms Sachs asked.

Claudia, with her eyes still shut, nodded.

It felt like the Great Lake in front of her eyes was suddenly drawn on a curtain that someone was pulling on, trying to get it down. Waves were rising high, trees on the shore were bending under the force of strong gusts. But Claudia kept breathing deeply and did not allow her concentration to break. Eventually, the tugging stopped, and the Great Lake was peaceful again.

“That was very good, Miss Avery.” Ms Sachs mumbled, and Claudia opened her eyes. “Do you want to have a go at me?”

Claudia gasped. “Can I?”

Ms Sachs explained the hand movement and the incantation. “Show me what you can do.”

Claudia pointed her wand at Ms Sachs, focused all her energy on looking through her eyes and muttered the spell. Nothing happened for a while, but then, just for a second, a few random images flashed in front of her eyes – a little girls playing on the swings, being sorted to Ravenclaw, kissing a boy under the Quidditch stands.

“Stop!” Ms Sachs barked, and Claudia dropped her wand immediately, a little petrified of what just happened.

“Did I do it wrong?” she whispered.

Ms Sachs was gasping for breath. “How did you- Have you ever done this before?”

Claudia shook her head.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ms Sachs whispered. “You have such raw talent.”

Claudia blushed. Never in her seven years at Hogwarts had a teacher told her she had a real talent for anything. Sure, she studied hard and was good in most things. But a real talent? A prodigy? Maybe in Potions and Alchemy, but Slughorn was so blinded by his obsession with Lily that he could not quite see it. Claudia spent the rest of the lesson sitting on a cloud and afterwards, Ms Sachs caught her.

“I meant what I said,” the instructor said. “I have never seen anyone do this well on their first try.”

“I’ve had a lot of experience blocking my emotions,” Claudia smirked.

“I have a friend who’s an expert Legilimens,” Ms Sachs said. “If you want, I can arrange for you to meet him. Maybe learn something. This course isn’t quite going to do it for you, I’d think.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“He’ll be in touch.”

“See you next week.”

Claudia practically skipped to Fabian’s that night. They had dinner, she told him all about Legilimency, and afterwards they settled down on the sofa with a bottle of wine.

“Now,” Fabian whispered and brushed her arm. “Will you promise me not to sneak out at four in the morning again? I want to make you breakfast.”

“Do you make a good coffee?” Claudia smirked.

“Only one way to find out,” he whispered and kissed her.

Claudia laughed. He was so easy to talk to, to joke around with. It felt good to have this time together.

“Oh,” Fabian mumbled when their lips parted, and he reached for the bottle of wine to fill up their glasses. “I think I know which of your friends you’ve been talking about when you asked about Gideon.”

“Really?”

“I gather they’re going for a drink.”

“I’m glad,” she said and took a sip of wine. “Remus is a good guy, and he deserves a bit of happiness in his life.”

When Fabian and Claudia were lying in bed that night, their pulse returning to normal, she had to admit sex was starting to feel like they knew each other. Like they knew what the other liked. It was not awkward at all anymore.

“Do you want some water?” she whispered. It was getting dark, almost pitch black now. But Fabian did not respond. Claudia lifted her head to see if he was sleeping, but he was not. He was staring at her tattoo.

“It’s-“ she began.

“You don’t have to explain,” Fabian said slowly, his face unreadable. “I was good at astronomy.”

Claudia gave him an awkward smile. “I don’t know what to say…” she mumbled after a long pause.

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s clear you still care for him, and that’s ok. We both know what this is.”

“That’s not all,” Claudia sighed and retracted her arm to hide the tattoo under the blanket. “It’s enchanted. As long as Sirius lives, the tattoo is intact. If he dies, the star will disappear. So if I was to get rid of it-“ she trailed off.

“It would mean it’s over?”

Claudia shook her head. “It would mean I no longer care if he’s dead or alive. And I will always care.”

Fabian let out a long sight. “This war sucks… You’re twenty, for fuck’s sake. You shouldn’t have to think like this.”

Claudia cuddled up to Fabian and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “Thank you for making it just that little bit more bearable.”

She could feel Fabian’s arms closing around her. His hand sunk into Claudia’s short hair. It was heavenly, until-

“Ouch!” she screamed, as sharp pain engulfed most of her skull. “Your watch. Tangled. Ouch.”

“Stop wriggling,” Fabian mumbled and slowly stared to extract his wristwatch from Claudia’s hair. Eventually, he succeeded.

“Give me that,” Claudia hissed, rubbing her skull, and took the watch off his wrist and turned over to drop it on the nightstand. But she misjudged the height of the table, and both the watch and her hand crashed right into the sharp corner. “Shit!” She sat up abruptly and switched on the bedside light. There was throbbing pain in her hand, but that was least of her concerns.

To her relief, the stars were still moving around the clockface of Fabian’s watch at the usual speed. “It’s not broken.” She turned the watch over in her hand. “Although it seems little dented. Let me fix-“ she reached for her wand.

“Leave it,” Fabian mumbled and dragged Claudia back in bed. “Will remind me of you…”

Claudia chuckled. “Sounds about right. A dent to remember me by.”

Fabian wrapped his arms around her again. “I said remind, not remember. I won’t need any help remembering you, ever.”

“You’re good with words.”

“Should I write for a living?”

They laughed, kissed, and with Fabian’s deadly watched safely away from Claudia’s hair, they fell asleep. It was strange to wake up in the morning in the arms of someone who was not Sirius. But Fabian’s bed was warm, and his coffee was nice.

Unfortunately for Claudia, that fresh cup of coffee Fabian brought to her in bed was the highlight of her week. It was very clear that Moody’s team were still being punished by Crouch and were being given the most pointless missions and tasks. Moody barely ever showed his face, and no one could quite look him in the eye when he did. After this slow and painful week, it was time for the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, this time taking place in a disused office building in South London.

Claudia was standing in the lift, watching the door shut, when someone stuck a leg in. Claudia’s heart sank a little when she saw it was Benjy.

“I’m sorry about Barraclough,” he mumbled as they both stood rigid on the opposite sides of the lift. “He was a decent guy.”

“Yeah, he was,” Claudia whispered, not especially grateful for the reminder. Most days, she managed to go a couple of hours without remembering him, maybe even half a day. But every time she did remember him, it still made her profoundly sad, and she did not need that right now. Not when she expected another awkward Order meeting. “Thanks.” She folded her arms across her chest and continued to stare at the door, hoping it would open soon and save her this awkwardness. She never did well around other people Sirius was involved with, and Benjy was no exception.

“I just want you to know. Sirius and I-” Benjy spoke again to Claudia’s absolute horror. “It didn’t start until after you broke up, I swear.”

It felt like a stone had fell of Claudia’s chest (a stone she did not even realise was crushing her), and her eyes darted towards Benjy.

“I wouldn’t. And he certainly wouldn’t either,” Benjy said with a soft smile.

“Thanks, I guess?” Claudia stuttered. They were still not up on the floor where the meeting was, so she attempted to change the conversation. “What have you been working on?”

“I’ve been assigned to the Ministers office for a few months. They’re trying to get a couple of aurors to work there as private secretaries, for additional security.”

“That sounds interesting, I did a summer placement there when I was still at school.”

“You should definitely give it a go, then!”

“I don’t think it’s the right time,” Claudia said, attempting a smile herself. And with those words, the elevator stopped, and the door slid open.

Leaning on a radiator by the window was Fabian, reading the papers. Claudia walked over to him, and when she saw Benjy disappear behind a door, she gave Fabian a quick kiss. “Anything good in there? And by that I mean yours…”

“Nah,” Fabian sighed. “Editor’s giving me a hard time over the Crouch article. Wants me to do more research…” Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for another kiss.

“Someone will see,” she chuckled as their lips parted.

“Do we care?” Fabian whispered.

“I guess we have a little more time before the lift makes it down and up again,” she mumbled and sunk into Fabian’s embrace, giving him another kiss. She did not know what it was about him, but every time they kissed, her anxieties and worries had gone for a second or two…

But the relative peace did not last long. There was a loud thud, and their kiss was ruined.

Claudia jumped away from Fabian and turned to the source of the noise.

It was worse than she could have possible imagined. There was Sirius, staring at her with his fists clenched. He must have taken the stairs.

“I care is he finds out…” Claudia mumbled to herself.

Fabian patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll see you inside. In case you two want to talk.”

Sirius and Claudia stared at each other in complete silence until Fabian was gone.

“Him? Really?” Sirius scoffed.

“What do you expect me to do? Stay single forever?”

“I’m not jealous,” he barked defensively.

“Didn’t say you were.”

“Whatever,” he hissed and strode towards the meeting.

Claudia sighed and, in a few seconds, followed him. While this could have gone better, it could have also gone a lot worse. For a start, nobody got punched…

When she sat down, Fabian was asked to update the Order on the Prophet investigation. “The patrol officers weren’t able to track down Rosanne-“ he began. “We have this pretty decent sketch, but no one recognised her…”

Claudia leaned closer to Fabian to look at the sketch of a young, pretty woman with long flowing hair that was lying in front of him.

“Shock horror.” Sirius interrupted Fabian. “What has the Ministry ever done that was useful?”

Fabian shrugged. “I kind of get it. It’s just not a priority-“

But Sirius was not deterred. “You should’ve gone after her yourself then!”

“I’d lose my job if I did-“ Fabian said through gritted teeth. Claudia had never seen Fabian angry, but she had a sneaking suspicion he was getting close.

“Coward,” Sirius mumbled under his breath, and folded his arms across his chest. But he did not aver his gaze. He started at Fabian so defiantly as if he was daring him to fight.

“Some of us need a job,” Fabian said icily. “Can’t just live on family money.”

That was a low blow from Fabian, and Sirius reacted to the mention of his family allegiance about as well as Claudia expected him to. He jumped to his feet and leaned across the table, his eyes flaming. But James, who was sitting next to him and was used to controlling his best friend’s outbursts, dragged him back to the chair. Claudia wanted to sink into her seat and disappear but manage to take a little bit of pleasure in watching Marlene attempt to touch her boyfriend’s arm, only for Sirius to flinch and move away.

“Anyway,” Fabian said, his voice still shaking slightly. “If any of you ever hear of a Rosanne – a tall blond with an Irish accent, let me know. But in the meantime, patrol are dropping it. I suggest we do the same.”

“Like we drop everything else…” Sirius mumbled. “This is all just pointless.”

Claudia caught Lily’s eyes. She looked alarmed. She must have been wondering the same thing Claudia was. Has Claudia changed her mind over what she said to Lily earlier? Was Sirius in the right state of mind to be anyone’s godfather?

But Claudia had no idea what to think anymore and spent the rest of the meeting only half listening to reports about Death Eater activities, avoiding both Fabian’s and Sirius’ eye contact. Muggle-born harassment, Pertinger, Crutiatus Curse, Carmichael, East Midlands… That were the only things that she could remember by the end of the meeting and none of them made any sense at all.

Just before heading home, she popped into the toilet but on her way out bumped into Peter.

“What are you looking at?” she barked when she noticed a loathsome look on his face.

“Even when you’re finally gone, you can still ruin everyone’s mood,” he hissed. “But not for long, let me assure you. You have no idea how happy everyone is now you are gone.”

“Yeah? Feeling brave again?” she smirked and stuck her hands under the tap to wash them. “Didn’t you learn not to cross me?”

“Expelliarmus!”

Claudia was totally caught off guard and her wand flew out of her pocket before she could react. Peter, clutching both of their wands, walked up so close to Claudia she could smell his stale breath. The tip of his wand was uncomfortably near her chest.

“With you out, we’re all closer than ever,” he hissed. “You’ll never get between me and my friends again.”

Claudia took a few steps back but there was only wall behind her. And Peter took those steps with her…

“With Marlene-“ he continued, closing in.

The mention of that name was too much for Claudia. She lost her composure. “What about Marlene? Does she make you all cookies? Tugs you into bed?” She made a desperate attempt to snatch her wand back, but Peter was faster

“You make jokes, Avery,” he said with a hollow laugh. “But you are Death Eater scum, always have been. You have no place here-“ he took yet another step closer. “And I’m so glad Sirius dumped you-“

Claudia was just about ready to kick him in the balls, when the door to the toilet flew open.

“What the fuck?” Sirius barked, grabbed Peter by the back of his sweater and dragged him out of the bathroom. Before Claudia unfroze to follow them, he was back. “Your wand,” he mumbled. “Are you alright?“

Claudia snatched it from him. “Don’t you dare play a hero.”

“What did he say to you? Sounded out of line…”

“He’s just talking to people the same way you and James always do,” Claudia scoffed. “What did you expect? He is not a nice person… Never was.”

“Claude- I want to-“

“Leave me alone,” she interrupted him. “And Fabian too!”

“I’m sorry…”

“Take your sorry and shove it up your arse.”

She pushed past Sirius and went to find Fabian in the dispersing crowd of Order members (Peter had since disappeared).

“Do you want to come to mine?” Fabian whispered. “I don’t have to work tonight.”

Claudia sighed. She wanted to, but there was something she needed to get off her chest first. “I’m sorry about him…” she whispered, unable to look at Fabian out of sheer embarrassment.

“Don’t-“ Fabian shrugged, got up and offered Claudia his hand. “I know what it’s like seeing your ex with someone else. And he’s just a kid- he’ll grow out of it.”

“He’s not a kid, he’s older than me,” Claudia said, her eyes narrowing

“Well, I don’t see you yelling at his new girlfriend.”

“No, my rage is much more internal…“ she smirked.

Fabian laughed and put his arm around her. “Let’s get out of here.”

Claudia woke up in the morning, just as Fabian sat down on the bed next to her, this time with a bacon sandwich for breakfast. She remembered Barraclough. But all it did this time was to bring a smile to her face. This was the first time, she looked at a bacon sandwich without bursting into tears.

Claudia threw on the first t-shirt she found and took a bite.

 “When do you have to go to work?” Fabian asked as he lazily dropped back into the bed.

“I don’t, got a day off today,” she mumbled with her mouth full of sandwich. “I was planning to go to Diagon Alley to find a present for Alice and Lily. They’re both due in a week.”

“I can come with you. I have a bit of time before I have to be at work.”

“You want to? Go shopping for baby stuff?”

“My sister had six of them, I know my way around a baby store.”

And Fabian’s guidance had proved to be essential. They had everything there – self-rocking cribs, self-cleaning nappies, bottles that you never have to fill up – and Claudia had absolutely no idea where to start.

“Why is everything either blue or pink?” Claudia grimaced.

“You get used to it. Do you know whether you are shopping for boy or a girl?” He continued but Claudia was no longer paying attention.

“There is a Quidditch section!” she exclaimed and started walking over there so rapidly, she knocked down a tower of baby bottles.

“Did James play Quidditch?”

“Not well,” she smirked. “I got twice as many cups than he does.”

“You played?”

“I was a chaser and the captain, before it all got a bit political-“ she trailed off and picked up a tiny broom. “Toy broom?”

“Might be bit early for that…”

“Fine,” Claudia rolled her eyes and started looking elsewhere. They had everything! Soft-toy quaffles, baby grows in the colours of all the Quidditch teams, blankets with the golden snitch on it…

She decided on a Quidditch peek-a-boo book for Alice. Fabian had also forced her to buy a blanket with moonclaves on it, pointing out that Alice and Frank did not even seem to like Quidditch. But there were no such restrictions for James and Lily, as there was a good chance that baby would be Quidditch-obsessed (if James had anything to do with that). Claudia stuffed a baby grow in the colours of James’ favourite team into her shopping basket, before adding a mobile to go over the cot with bludgers, quaffles and golden snitches. A simple spell, and they would detach themselves from the mobile and started flying around the room.

“I’m sure this is all going to be very useful to the new parents…” Fabian said, with the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Oh, shut up,” Claudia said with a smile, shoved one more set of Quidditch-themed bedding into her basket, and passed another baby grow to Fabian. That kid deserved a Harpies shirt too, even if it would drive James’ mad.

Fabian laughed, placed his free hand on the small of Claudia’s back, pulled her close to him and kissed her. His fingers lingered on the bare skin between her jeans and t-shirt.

“Fabian, is that you?” a loud voice carried through the store and Fabian jumped away like he was struck by lightning.

Claudia looked up and saw a short, red-headed woman in a dress covered in flowers. She then glanced back at Fabian, who just stood in the middle of the shop completely frozen.

“Are you going to introduce me?” the mystery woman asked.

“Mo-“ Fabian cleared his throat. “Molly, this is Claudia.” He looked back at Claudia, with his eyes ever so slightly wider than usual. “Claudia, this is my sister Molly.”

Claudia raised her free hand in an awkward wave.

“Where- Where is little Ronny?” Fabian asked.

“Arthur is looking after him. And Gideon is there to help with the others-“ It was hard to miss the somewhat accusatory tone in this woman’s voice. “You should come to dinner on Saturday-“ she paused. “Both of you,” she added with a broad smile.

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Claudia mumbled.

“Nonsense,” Molly exclaimed. “Fabian’s girlfriend is always welcomed in my house.”

Fabian and Claudia looked at each other – they did not know what they were but would certainly not call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. And a family dinner at Fabian’s sister sounded a little too much even if they were in a relationship.

“We can talk about it later, Molly…” Fabian said sternly. “I don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“Oh, I won’t interfere, Fabian… I’m sure Claudia is a nice girl, in which case you have nothing to worry about,” Molly said with a high-pitched laugh and casually waved her hand as if she was dismissing her brother’s fears. “I need to run but it was very nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Claudia grimaced, hoping it came off as sincere.

“And Fabian.” Molly nodded towards the baby grow Fabian was still holding in his hand. “This suits you. Very, very much…” She did not wait for a response and turned on her heel. “I’ll see you on Saturday,” she shouted over her shoulder.

Claudia glanced at Fabian, whose cheeks were red, and teeth clenched.

“What happened last time? Claudia whispered.

Fabian sighed. “The last girl I brought to meet Molly run off half-way through dinner because Molly wouldn’t shut up about marriage. She never spoke to me again.”

“You do realise I am not going on Saturday, right?”

“I’ll fix it, I promise-“ He looked at his watch. “Shit, I need to get to the office.” He pulled Claudia in for another kiss. “I’m sorry, I really need to go.”

“Claudia reached for his hand and drew him in for another kiss. “Don’t be sorry. Just get me out of that dinner.”

“I promise.” Fabian laughed and kissed her again.

Claudia and Fabian said their goodbyes, she finished her shopping and walked toward the exit of Diagon Alley. As she was almost out, a little jewellery store caught her eye. She instinctively reached towards her neck. She was still wearing the necklace that Sirius gave her for her birthday last year. It was time to find something else to replace it.

She pushed the door to the store open and stumbled in. She looked for a good ten minutes before she spotted a single thing she liked. Everything was too shiny, too polished, too delicate.

“You like that one?” the shop keeper asked and reached into the display cabinet for a rough rhombus-shaped piece of black rock, encased with a thin copper wire. It was hanging on a long, silver chain.

Claudia nodded.

“It’s made from a meteorite-“

“I’ll take it,” she interrupted the shop keeper. She did not care what it was. It was pretty.

She paid and finally set off home. When she got there, she carefully put Sirius’ necklace into a pair of socks in her dresser and put on her new buy. Just then, it hit her. Did the shopkeeper said it was made from a meteorite? Meteorites were shooting stars. Claudia gripped her new necklace between her fingers and sighed. So much for moving on… But she did not take it off. She could not.

At that same moment, she noticed a letter on her bed. Judging by the handwriting on the envelope, it was from Lily.

---

Dearest Claudia,

Thank you for your letter. And apologies for not handling the whole thing better the other day, I cannot even imagine how hard this is for you. I am sorry for forcing you to dig up feelings you would have rather kept to yourself.

The truth is that your words are the only thing that is bringing me any sort of comfort. You are right, he would walk through a burning building for the people he loves. And he would spoil that baby to death. I am sure about that.

---

Claudia had to pause and laugh. She was sure that would happen. Sirius would not be able to enforce any sort of discipline. He could not even keep himself under control. With a smile, she continued to read.

---

But the outburst at the meeting. I really do not know what to do.

I probably should not say… But I really wanted you and Sirius to raise this baby together if something happened to me and James. I could not imagine a better home for them. And now I really do not know what to do.

Yours,

Lily

---

Claudia sighed. It meant something that Lily would write she wished they were together. After all, Sirius was currently dating her best friend. But there was no point dwelling on it. Sirius and Claudia were not together. And no matter how much Lily wished they were, it was not going to happen.

But for the first time since the breakup, Claudia perhaps felt a little guilt herself. Sirius was trying to apologise earlier, and she just blew him off; run off like she always did when she did not want to hear what was being said. Or was too scared to hear…

Claudia promised herself not to do that again, picked up some parchment and began to scribble.

---

Lily,

Talk to him. I know he is not always the easiest person to get through, but he has more sense that he would let anyone believe.

Just talk to him and you will see. Tell him you love him no matter what. Tell him that you want to trust him with the life of your baby. Be honest. I guarantee you will know instantly what the right decision is.

Claudia

---

Chapter Text

It was very nearly August and on one bright Wednesday morning, Claudia was woken up by an owl tapping on the window of Fabian’s bedroom. She thought it was probably Lily, telling her that she talked to Sirius, and that everything was fine, and he was definitely going to the godfather. She threw on his t-shirt and lazily walked over to read the message.

But it was not from Lily, it was from Claudia’s other pregnant friend.

“Gone into labour. So far so good. Except for the fact that Frank’s mother is here, trying to be helpful. I’m begging you, come here and get rid of her! Now!”

Claudia had to laugh. Labour could not have been too bad if Alice was still making jokes. Unwilling to risk her godmother status, however, she took a quick shower, kissed Fabian goodbye and soon was on her way.

When she got to Alice’s house, it turned out that labour was no laughing matter and Alice was actually serious in her desire to get rid of Frank’s mother.

“I’ve heard-” Claudia began and dragged Mrs Longbottom out of the room where Alice was in labour. “I’ve heard that the best way to help new parents is to load their fridge with food.”

“Unhand me,” Mrs Longbottom insisted and threw Claudia’s grip off with surprising ease. “That is my grandchild being born, and I am not-“

“You are coming with me,” Claudia hissed and pushed Mrs Longbottom in the direction of the kitchen. “We are going to cook them some nice stew and leave them alone for a while. You would not want them to starve, would you?”

For about an hour, the strategy worked. Mrs Longbottom bossed Claudia around the kitchen, disapproving of nearly everything the young auror did.

But soon enough, the stew was cooking, and Mrs Longbottom looked at her dainty golden watch. “I better go and check how they are getting on.”

“Tea!” Claudia exclaimed, somewhat at her wit’s end about what to do. “Let’s make Alice some tea.”

“Can you manage that?” Mrs Longbottom asked in a manner that could have only been described as patronising.

“I can manage tea.”

“We will see.”

Claudia turned her back to Mrs Longbottom and walked towards the cupboards where she assumed the mugs and tea to be. “Can you manage that?” she mouthed mockingly. She opened the cupboard and her eyes had immediately landed on a bottle full of sleeping draught. “Would you like a cup too?” she asked.

“Why not.”

“Why not indeed,” Claudia whispered to herself and discreetly poured a generous helping of sleeping draught into a mug for Mrs Longbottom. She promised Alice she would keep her mother-in-law out of the birthing room, and she was going to keep that promise whatever it took. “Sugar?” she asked loudly.

Within five minutes, Mrs Longbottom was sprawled on the living room sofa, snoring noisily. Claudia was sitting in an armchair opposite, sipping her own tea, and wearing a satisfied smirk.

She finished the stew, read the papers, and at around six o’clock in the evening, she finally heard a loud cry from the room where Alice, Frank and the midwife spent all day. They baby must have arrived.

Tentatively, Claudia knocked and opened the door. Alice was sitting in the bed, holding a bundle closely against her chest.

“Your fridge is full of food,” Claudia mumbled. “Your mother-in-law is full of sleeping draught. I’m going to leave you to it and go home.”

“Get in here,” Alice said with an exhausted smile. “And come and say hi to your godson.”

Claudia sat down on the edge of the bed and could finally see what was wrapped in the blanket that Alice held onto with dear life. There was a tiny baby, looking very red and very squished, and fragile.

“Neville, this is your godmother,” Alice whispered to her son. “If anyone ever gives you trouble, she’s the one to go to for help,” she added and looked up at Claudia, her eyes full of love.

“Neville?”

Alice nodded. “After my dad… If you want to hold him, make sure you support his head.” She leaned over to Claudia and outstretched her arms.

“Hold him? Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

Tentatively, Claudia took little baby Neville out of his mother’s arms and brought him closer to her. She could not take her eyes off him. He slowly moved his head and then opened his eyes. Then, he closed them again. Claudia watched him, mesmerised. “This is very weird,” she whispered.

“Did you say Frank’s mother was full of sleeping draught?”

“It was the only way to keep her out of here…”

“You poisoned her?”

Claudia shrugged and kept staring at baby Neville. “You told me to do whatever it took.”

The midwife came back into the room. “Let me put him into his crib.” She took Neville from Claudia, who, for a moment, did not feel like she wanted to let go off him. “A Quidditch baby book?” the midwife added bitterly once she noticed what was attached to the side of Neville’s crib. “Why am I even surprised… I see this all the time. The fathers always think that if they cover the nursery in Quidditch paraphernalia, the baby will play for England.”

“That has nothing to do with me,” Frank, who came in with the midwife, chuckled and went to kneel by Neville’s crib. “That’s his godmother’s doing.”

“Sorry,” Claudia shrugged. She crouched next to Frank and put her finger through the bars to stroke Neville’s hand. He gripped it with surprising amount of force. “I have to go little one,” she whispered.

“I’ll walk you out.” Frank said.

Claudia gave Alice a brief hug and then let Frank walk with her to the fireplace, past Mrs Longbottom who was still out cold.

“Thank you for all your help today,” Frank mumbled.

“Sorry about your mother,” Claudia said with a grimace. “I didn’t know what else to do. She’s quite relentless.”

“Tell me about it.”

Claudia laughed. “I’ll check in on you tomorrow, make sure you all eat.”

With those words, Claudia entered the fireplace. When she got home, she just crashed into bed and instantly fell asleep. When she woke up in the morning, she was trying to find a piece of parchment to send a note to Fabian. But instead, she stumbled upon her two-way notebook that she did not even remember taking with her when she left. It was covered in leaves.

She took a deep breath and opened it, not knowing how long had the new message been in there.

“Lily and James had their baby this morning, a boy called Harry. I thought you ought to know. Oh, and they made me his godfather. He has no idea what they got him into.”

Claudia stared at the page. She was glad Lily had listened to her. But she also wondered what all this meant. A message like this after months of nothing but arguments. It sounded almost normal, like none of the awful stuff happened between them. She picked up her quill.

“Alice had her baby last night. And I’m a godmother too.”

She waited, not really sure what she thought might happen.

“I presume you’re responsible for Harry’s Quidditch presents?”

“Did he like them?”

“The only person who played with that mobile was James.”

“Well, it does suit his emotional age.”

“I haven’t slept for twenty-four hours, but you still make me laugh. You should come and visit. Lily says it would be lovely to see you.”

“I’ll stop by.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Claudia put the notebook away before she said anything she would regret and hurried to the kitchen to make herself a coffee. She decided to make James and Lily some pasta, partly so that she did not come empty handed, and party because she needed a little bit of time for her hands to stop shaking. When they did, the pasta was finished ,and Claudia was on her way.

“I’ve brought some pasta,” she mumbled and shoved the container into Sirius’ hands the moment he opened the door. She did not even say hello.

Sirius grabbed it out of her hands. “You’re a lifesaver. James’ parents were supposed to help, but they got sick.”

Claudia looked around the empty living room, hoping for literally anyone to save her from this awkwardness. “Where is everyone?” she whispered.

“James is trying to get some sleep,” Sirius replied. “And Lily is in their bedroom with Harry.”

“Harry?”

“Harry James Potter.”

“Oh, that Harry.” Claudia laughed nervously and darted towards the door to James’ and Lily’s bedroom. She gave a huge sigh when she left Sirius’ field of vision, wondering if this was ever going to get easier.

Slowly, she opened the door and crept in. “Hey,” she mumbled.

Lily raised her head and smiled. “It’s so good to see you.”

Claudia tiptoes towards a Moses basket on the side of Lily’s bed. A baby with a full head of black hair was sleeping peacefully inside. “He’s got James’ hair,” she whispered.

“He does.”

Claudia stood around awkwardly for few more seconds. “Sirius said you made him godfather.”

“He’ll be great,” Lily whispered. “All thanks to your letter. You were right. We had such a good chat. He would do anything for Harry.”

“He would-“ Claudia said but stopped mid-sentence when Lily yawned. “Have some rest. You must be knackered.”

Lily nodded. “But I can’t fall asleep unless James is watching him breathe. He just seems so small. And he didn’t have to breathe before.”

“I’ll watch him,” Claudia said and sat down on the floor next to the Moses basket.

“Would you?” Lily mumbled and lowered herself into bed. “Wake me up if anything doesn’t look right to you,” she added already half asleep.

Claudia sat on the floor watching little Harry breathe, when Sirius opened the door, a couple mugs of tea in his hands. Claudia put her finger across her lips. “Lily’s sleeping,” she whispered.

“I guess I’ll have the second one, then,” Sirius replied. “Do you mind?” he added and gestured towards the floor next to Claudia.

“Not at all.”

Sirius sat down next to Claudia and sipped the hot tea. “I’m sorry how I reacted at the meeting the other day,” he said, avoiding her eye-contact.

Claudia swallowed dry. “It wasn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

“I want you to be happy. And if Prewett makes you happy, I’m glad.”

Claudia looked towards Harry, pondering for a moment what to say. Did Fabian make her happy? Was that what it was? “He makes it easier for me to cope with this bloody war. It’s hard having to deal with it alone,” she mumbled finally, with her eyes still on Harry. For a good few minutes, they sat in silence and Claudia did not even dare look at Sirius. The tension caused by having him this physically close to her was nearly unbearable.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Sirius was the first one to speak. “Knowing we have this responsibility for these kids, if something was to happen. They are so little… So defenceless…”

“So weird,” Claudia said, relieved Sirius moved onto another subject and sipped her tea.

There was another very long pause. Unbearably long pause.

“Why would they make me godfather?” Sirius mumbled. “I’ve made so many bad decisions...”

Claudia took a deep breath and finally looked at him. “Because your heart is in the right place.”

“How can you still say that?” he gasped.

Before Claudia knew what she was doing, she reached for Sirius’ hand and squeezed it. “It puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?” she whispered. “This fight is stupid… Maybe we should just try to get on.” She had no idea how or why these words came out. They just did, and it felt like she was outside of her body watching herself say them.

Sirius smiled. “Be friends?”

“Well, we should at least try.”

Right at that moment, baby Harry started to cry. Sirius jumped to his feet and picked him up. “Oh, I see why you’re crying, little one.” He scrunched his nose. “We can go to daddy, and he’ll change your nappy.”

Claudia watched Sirius float out of the room and knew that it was time to go home. If she had to watch him carrying around a new-born baby for even five more seconds, her heart would explode. She stood up and Lily stirred.

“Sorry if I woke you,” Claudia whispered.

“Are you going?” Lily said sleepily.

“Yeah, I can bring you some more food later, okay?” Claudia began to walk towards the door. But Lily’s voice followed her.

“You still love him, don’t you?” the new mum whispered.

Claudia froze. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough.”

Claudia sighed. “We didn’t break up because we stopped loving each other.” Lily opened her mouth, but Claudia cut her off. She did not want to hear it. Nothing has changed between her and Sirius. “Have some rest, Lily-“

She took the Floo home and spent the rest of the day in a haze. She could not get Sirius face out of her head. But she had to. He was still with Marlene, and she was with Fabian. It was so easy with her new boyfriend; there was no drama, no big emotions involved (good or bad). She would hate for anything to ruin that.

A few days went by in relative peace. Claudia kept popping in on Alice, bringing her food, and giving her a break from Mrs Longbottom. Occasionally, she went to see Lily and James too, never quite sure whether she wanted Sirius to be there or not. She missed him more than ever now that they managed to have a civilised conversation again. But it was also hard, especially when Marlene was there also.

But about week after Harry was born, something felt different in the Potter’s house. James was sitting at the dining table, pieces of parchment spread all around him, and he held his head in his hands.

“What’s going on?” Claudia whispered.

“My parents aren’t getting better,” he sighed. “They have Dragon Pox. They’ve been taken to St Mungo’s but given their age…”

Claudia sat down next to him. “I’m sorry… What do the healers say?”

“Not much over owls. And I can’t really go there, as it’s so contagious. And with the new baby…” James removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “They haven’t even met Harry. What if they never do?”

Claudia looked around at the table, thinking she should have gotten better at consoling people who are facing a parental loss – after Mr Adler, Lily’s parents, Sirius’ father… “And what’s all this?”

“My dad’s too ill to run the business. His accountant came by, wants me to file some form with Gringotts. I have no idea what he’s on about.”

“Do you want help figuring it out?”

“Please. Do you know anything about accounting?”

“No, but I have slept in the last three days…” Claudia drew a chair and they started to go through the papers together.

Three hours in, they managed to figure out what the accountant was asking. He wanted an overview of the company’s income in both America and the UK, as the company was being checked by the Ministry to make sure no illegal activity was taking place there.

“I think that’s all,” Claudia said and turned to James, who was now resting his head on the pile of parchments they managed to assemble. But his glasses were all crocked and his eyes were shut. She put her hand gently on his back. “James,” she whispered.

He jerked awake. “What happened?”

“I’m done with all the American papers. Can tackle the British ones tomorrow…”

“Thank you,” he sighed. “Do you want to stay for dinner? Sirius and Mar-“ he stopped. “Sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I forgot… I’m so tired…”

“I better get home then. I’ll come back tomorrow to tackle the rest of it,” she said, gesturing at the papers.

“I hate this.”

“It’s going to be alright.”

“I miss you.”

Claudia put her hand on his shoulder again and squeezed it. “Look, we managed to be in the same room for whole ten minutes last week. It’s going to get better, I promise.”

“Then stay…”

“Have dinner with Marlene? Unlikely…”

James sighed. “I get that. I’m sorry.”

“Tell Lily I said hi. I don’t want to wake her up.”

Claudia opened the front door, just as Sirius and Marlene were materialising there. They awkwardly passed each other on the porch and Claudia went home.

Few days later, she got the news. James’ parents had died. She was in the office and could not get to his house immediately, so she picked up a quill to send him a note. She offered to organise the wake, anything to be helpful.

She fought an urge to write to Sirius also. He must have been taking it hard. The Potters gave him a sense of what it was like to have a home. She planned to stop by their house after work, but before she managed to leave, she got a response back.

“Thank you, Claudia. Please do come by when you can, but don’t worry about the wake. Lily and friends have it under control.”

Claudia scrunched the note and threw it into the bin. She could just imagine what ‘friends’ were helping Lily with the wake, as Lily only had one friend since Mary run off to the States, and it very much felt like that friend was stealing Claudia’s life.

The funeral was taking place in Winchester. Claudia got to the old Potter’s house with only few minutes to spare.

Claudia gave James a long hug before noticing Lily, who was standing in the living room. Her eyes red and puffy, and some random Order member was holding Harry who was screaming his head off.

“He just won’t calm down,” Lily sniffed. “I can’t miss the funeral, and he screams every time anyone else comes near him. And I can’t take him with me, or…” she trailed off into a wave of sobs.

Claudia walked over to Lily and took her scarf. She then wrapped it around herself and rescued Harry from the embrace of his tormenter. Instantly, the baby dropped his head on Lily scarf and stopped crying.

“Brilliant,” Lily whispered and wiped her eyes. “Just brilliant.”

“I’ll stay,” Claudia replied and hugged Harry tighter in her arms. “You go to the funeral, and I’ll look after him.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“There is some milk in the fridge if you need it. And he should fall asleep in like twenty minutes. And there is his blanket-“

“Lily,” Claudia said patiently. “You’ll be back in like an hour. Harry and I are going to be fine. Go.”

Lily planted a quick kiss on her son’s head, and without looking back run out of the door. James followed her, his shoulders unusually slumped.

Claudia walked around with Harry for a while, but his eyes were wide open, and he showed little interest in closing them and going to sleep. So, she settled herself on the sofa, picked up a tattered copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and began reading the first story, the one about the hopping pot. Claudia’s parents did not much read to her when she was growing up, but she remembered this story because it was a bit weird. Her overriding memory was that a hopping pot protected an innocent wizard from an angry horde of muggles.

But as she read the story to little Harry, she became more and more unsure whether she remembered it right. The story seemed to be about an abnoxious wizard and the muggles were coming out of it quite well… No surprise her parents did not tell it that way.

Claudia read in a low, quiet tone, and soon Harry’s eyelids began to flutter and eventually he fell asleep, his head resting right in the middle of Claudia’s chest. She sat on the sofa, petrified to move and wake him up. She passed the time by watching Harry sleep, and in just over an hour, everybody started to come back.

Lily was the first through the door, looking panicked. But she broke into a huge smile when she saw Harry was happy and asleep. She rushed towards Claudia and extended her arms towards her son to pick him up.

“Why don’t you go get something to eat and drink,” Claudia whispered. “We’re happy here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Lily disappeared as quickly as she came, and Claudia got a chance to survey the room. James was standing in the corner by himself, staring into space. She had never seen him this disengaged from life. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of Sirius too. James’ parents were the closest thing he had to parents himself, and Claudia would be prepared to bet a lot of money that he was not handling this at all well.

But she did not get to people watch for long, as Harry woke up and started to squirm in Claudia’s arms. She got up and crossed the room to where Lily was standing. Remus, Peter and Marlene were all there with her. They chatted, but everyone felt silent the moment Claudia joined the group.

Lily took Harry into her arms. “Can someone get me the milk from the kitchen?”

“I’ll do it,” Marlene jumped in before Claudia could volunteer. “Sirius is hiding somewhere anyway. Maybe he’s there.”

“Do you want me to look for him too?” Peter asked.

“Leave him be,” Marlene said. “I’m sure he’s in the kitchen. And if not, he’ll stop sulking and emerge eventually.

Claudia bit her lip. How could Marlene say this? Did she not know how important James’ parents were to Sirius? Once Marlene left, Claudia whispered to Lily. “Trouble in paradise?”

“I really shouldn’t…” Lily whispered.

But Peter was not quite so restrained. “This is all your fault. Marlene said-“

“Peter,” Lily hissed. “Not the time…”

“Excuse me,” Claudia mumbled and left them… It suddenly occurred to her that she knew exactly where Sirius was.

Peter’s faint voice followed her. “I don’t see why she shouldn’t know. Marlene wants her crap out of Sirius’ flat… She said she can’t even step foot in there.”

“It’s none of our business, Peter. It’s Sirius’ decision…” Lily reprimanded him.

With a little spring in her step and a hint of a smile, Claudia went down the corridor and slowly opened the door to what used to be Sirius’ room. Sirius was sitting on the bed, with his back to her. His shoulders were shaking with silent sobs.

Claudia walked around the bed and sat down next to him. Painfully aware that this was the same bed when they made love for the first time. Where she first told him she loved him.

“I didn’t want anyone to see me,” he sniffled.

“It’s a funeral, it’s ok to cry.”

“But they were not my parents, were they?” Sirius tried to wipe his eyes but to no avail. “I can’t be there sobbing while James is trying to hold it together.”

Claudia put her arm around his back and rested her chin on his shoulder. It was sort of a hug, but one that still kept good few inches between them. “It’s still ok to be sad, to grieve for them.”

“I wish it was that simple.” Sirius looked at her and sighed. “Oh, what the hell… If anyone is going to understand, it’s you.” He rubbed his palms for a moment, before resuming in a low whisper. “I look at James, grieving, and all I can think of is that,” he paused and took in a deep breath. “That this is what it’s supposed to feel like when your parents die.”

“This isn’t about the Potters, is it?”

“Partially it is. I can’t stop thinking about how good they were to me. Mr Potter showing me how to manage my Gringotts account. Mrs Potter stuffing me to death with crumble.”

“Crumble?”

“She made the best crumble I’ve ever eaten…” Sirius trailed off.

“And what about the other part?” Claudia whispered. “If it’s only partially about them.”

“Do you know what I felt when my father died?” Sirius sighed and dropped backwards into the bed. “Nothing.”

Claudia lowered herself next to him and propped herself up on her elbow. His handsome face was all red and blotchy. But it was still hard not to just brush it with the tips of her fingers, like she did a million times before.

“I mean I felt nothing. And I don’t mean like when I said I didn’t care that Regulus died.” Sirius attempted a chuckle. “I genuinely mean it. I felt nothing. And all these people were expecting me to grieve and be sad…”

“I know exactly what you mean.” Claudia could not bear keeping her distance from him any longer and squeezed his shoulder. “I’d trade my parents’ lives for literally anyone – Lily’s parents, James’ parents, Alice’s dad… Even Regulus.”

“And Tony…” Sirius put his hands over his face.  

Claudia laid down next to him and brushed his hair with her fingers. “What about Tony?” she whispered, in the hope he would finally say. That the thing that had been standing between them for months would finally fall down. “I know you weren’t ready to talk then, but if you are now…” she said hopefully.

“I should go and help James out,” Sirius whispered, avoiding her eye contact, but did not move an inch. They stayed like that in silence for a good while.

Claudia’s mind was swirling with the things she wanted to tell him. That it was good for him to grieve. That he could talk to her if he wanted. That she would always be there for him. But this moment was so precious to her, she did not want to ruin it. So, she just lied there, watching Sirius stare into the ceiling, and fighting the urge to sink her fingers into his hair again.

“Claude…” he whispered, his eyes still planted on the ceiling.

“Yeah?”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t handle it at all well. If I could turn back the clock-”

Claudia took a deep breath. “I don’t need you to be sorry. I need you to tell me the truth about what happened.”

Before Sirius could say anything, the dook creaked and Sirius shot up and turned. Claudia sat up too to see Marlene standing in the doorway.

“Everyone is looking for you,” Marlene said icily.

“I- I- I don’t-“ Sirius stuttered for a split second, which made Marlene frown and she slammed the door shut.

“Go,” Claudia nudged him. “If you want, we can talk later.”

Sirius stood up, stared at her with his mouth open for a moment. “Thank you.” And followed his girlfriend out of the room.

Claudia dropped back into the bed. She brushed the bedspread with her fingers and could not help but smile a little. That felt like a glimpse of the olden days, when Sirius sought her advice, and they comforted each other… The days when they were the only people who really understood. And to think it was to happen in this room of all places.

It took Claudia good ten minutes to recover and make her way back to the sitting room. Most of the guests were now gone, and it was just Lily, James, Remus and Peter, playing with little Harry. They were casting patronuses and he was trying to reach for them. Sirius and Marlene were still talking somewhere. Claudia’s body recoiled at the thought that someone other than her would be trying to console him right now.

“Did you find him?” Remus whispered when Claudia slumped on the sofa next to him.

“Found who?”

“I’m not an idiot. I know you went to look for Sirius.”

“He’s alright. Just talking to Marlene…” Claudia sighed.

“Claudia-“ Remus paused and looked around the room. “Promise me you aren’t going to do anything stupid. You’ve just managed to-“

“Stop it!” Claudia hissed. “None of you understand the pain he’s in. Least of all Marlene.”

“You just going to get your heart bro-“

“I’ve got a question,” Claudia said loudly over Remus and stood up. “I was reading Hoping Pot to Harry earlier and it’s different than I remember.” She walked over and sat in a different chair, far away from Remus’ nagging. “I thought the wizard was the good one, and the muggles were persecuting him.”

“That’s the pureblood version of the story.” Claudia heard Sirius’ voice from behind her and turned. “Same one I grew up with… Didn’t you know it wasn’t the real one?”

“Not until I was reading to Harry earlier!”

Sirius gave Claudia a faint smile. “What’s going on here?” he asked and looked around the room. She was finding it very hard to peel her eyes of him.

“Harry loves looking at our patronuses,” Lily explained. “And we all need a little bit of positive energy.”

“Who’s next?” James asked in a hoarse voice. It was the first time Claudia heard him speak today. “Let’s give Harry something new to look at”.

Claudia took out her wand from her sleeve. She closed her eyes and pictured the moment when her and Sirius were talking earlier. She remembered the texture of his hair. The smell of his cologne. “Expecto patronum,” she said, and a small fox shot out from the end the wand. She had to smile to herself. It was not imagined happiness she felt in that room, it was real.

The silvery fox slunk across the room and Harry, who was in Lily’s arms perched up to see everyone, stared at it intently. Once the fox was near him, he made some uncoordinated movements to try and reach it.

“I think he likes it.” Claudia said.

“I think his hand stretched further when he was playing with the stag,” James mumbled and came to sit down next to his wife.

Claudia had to supress a laugh. She wanted to tell him to never change. To never stop being this stupidly competitive over every single thing. But it was his parents’ funeral, and her heart was breaking for him. So, she reached for his shoulder and squeezed it. “Of course, he does, he knows his dad will always protect him.”

Those words brought tears into James’ eyes.

“Who’s the fox patronus?” Marlene’s voice carried through the room.

That startled Claudia, making her break the connection, and the silvery fox vanished into thin air. She saw that Marlene shot Sirius an unmistakeably annoyed look, and he absentmindedly pulled down his shirt sleeve, covering his fox tattoo.

“I think I’m going to get going,” Marlene mumbled to deafening silence. But she did not move.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Peter whispered. “None of us should be walking around alone.”

But Marlene did not respond. She kept boring her eyes into Sirius, who (after the longest thirty seconds Claudia ever experienced) sighed and got up. “I’ll come with you,” he mumbled.

Marlene said nothing.

They both said the briefest of goodbyes to James and Lily and walked towards the door. Claudia watched Sirius leave, biting her lip. She did not want him to go, certainly not with Marlene. He shot her one last look before he closed the door. She was probably imagining the look in his eyes, but she was sure he did not want to go either.

When the front door shut behind them, everyone looked at Claudia.

“Why are you all looking at me?” she asked, when no one showed the slightest indication they were going to speak. But they all stayed silent. There was no need for them to say, she knew why they were all looking at her.

Claudia sighed and began to explain. “Sirius and I were talking, and it may have looked worse than it was-“

“Of course it’s your fault,” Peter said grumpily and folded his arms across his chest.

“You were talking? Genuinely talking?” Lily whispered with a hint of a smile, taking no notice of Peter’s grumbling. “At least something good came from this awful day.

Chapter Text

For a week or so after the funeral, Claudia was preoccupied with avoiding Remus. She could tell he was preparing a lecture, which she did not want to hear. So, she stayed at Fabian’s and worked. Adebayo was out again, which provided a significant relief to Claudia. His presence was a constant reminder that Barraclough was dead, and Claudia hated him for it. She knew it was not fair, but she just could not help it.

She was just pondering whether to ignore one of Adebayo’s instructions he had left for her, when Gideon, dressed in healer robes, ran through the door again, giving her a strong sense of déjà-vu. 

“What happened now?” she jumped to her feet. If something happened to Adebayo, she would feel rather awful…

“Moody’s in the hospital again,” Gideon sighed. “He-“

“How is he?” Claudia exclaimed, with her heart in her throat. Not Moody, she could not lose Moody too.

“Better than last time. He’s got some superficial injuries to his face, but nothing life threatening.”

“What kind of injuries?” Oscar caught up with the conversation. Both him and Ewan were on their feet too. Both looked horrified. 

“Lost his nose and an eye.”

“Bloody hell,” Ewan uttered. “He’s going to be even more terrifying than before.” He tried to make light of it but his voice shook. He dropped to his chair and grabbed his face in his hands. “I can’t fucking take this anymore…”

“Where did they find him?” Oscar asked Gideon, while gently resting his hand on Ewan's shoulder. “I didn’t even know he was out…” There was a hint of bitterness in Oscar's voice and Claudia was pretty sure she knew why. Oscar thought he was their boss' new confidant, whereas this showed that no one could ever really replace Barraclough.

“Maidenhead…” Gideon replied. 

Claudia bit her lip. Maidenhead was where Marcus said Wilkes was. Could this have been a coincidence? It must have been… There was no way, surely.

“Let’s go,” Oscar said, interrupting the horrifying thought she had, grabbed Ewan by the shoulders, and they all made their way to the hospital.

Within minutes, they all stood around Moody’s bed once more. He was sitting up this time, but his face was all bandaged up. Claudia’s mind was working at a million miles per hour. Why would Moody go to Maidenhead? Was he trying to catch Wilkes?

“Who did this to you?” Ewan asked, nearly on the verge of tears.

“I found Aiden’s killers…” Moody spoke quietly, unable to move his mouth to articulate properly. 

“And?”

“Let’s just say they aren’t going to be doing any more killing…”

“Who were they?”

“Remember old Rosier?” Moody smirked. “His son… And Wilkes.”

“Wilkes killed Barraclough?” Claudia uttered hoarsely. Her throat was closing. This could not be. “Wilkes? That Wilkes?” Tears were forcing their way into her eyes. It all made sense now. “You went there, didn’t you? You just went there?”

“Went where?” Oscar asked.

“The two of you, out,” Moody grumbled. “I want to talk to Avery alone.”

Claudia could barely restrain herself long enough for Oscar and Ewan to leave. “I can’t believe you would do that to me!” she yelled. “I can’t believe you would tell me to drop it, and then…”

“Sit down and listen...”

“Was it a trap?” she hissed, ignoring Moody's plea.  “Or did it just go wrong?”

Moody sighed. “You shouldn't feel guilty.”

“I don’t feel guilty. I’m mad!”

“We had to try.”

“I know we had to try!” she yelled. “That’s why I wanted to go!”

Moody was clearly not too keen on being yelled at by a trainee. “Well, then you would’ve been dead too!” he barked back.

Claudia took a few deep breaths. She was done. She could barely look at him. “I’ve heard they’re taking aurors to work in the Minister’s office,” she hissed. “I want to go.”

“Claudia- please, it was the right decision,” Moody’s tone was calm again, weirdly calm. “Don’t rush into anything.”

But she was not rushing anything. She was sure. “Either you sign the transfer,” she spoke coldly. “Or I quit.” She turned on her heel and strode out of the room.

“What was that about?” Oscar asked when she slammed the door to Moody’s behind her.

“None of your business,” Claudia hissed and ran out of the reception, apparating the moment she was out of range of the anti-apparition spell.

She landed in the Ministry atrium and sprinted towards the lift, jabbing the button for the fifth level. She had no idea where exactly her brother’s office was, but she ran through the corridor of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, looking for his name on the door.

Eventually, she found it. “M. F. Avery,” written in large letters on a brass plaque. She gripped her wand and burst through the door, ready to throw at him whatever spell she knew.

But Marcus was not there.

“Where is my brother?” she hissed at a middle-aged wizard who was collecting himself from the floor. Whether he was taking a nap at the end of the working day or fell down when she burst in, she would never know.

“He isn’t here. In fact, he’s resigned. No one had seen him in weeks.”

Claudia growled and rushed back to the atrium. She was so determined to grab Marcus’ neatly combed hair and drag him to Azkaban, that she apparated without thinking and found herself in a street that she had not seen in three years, Frognal Gardens.

She stared at the house she grew up in, all the worst memories running through her head. The yelling, the violence, Voldemort… She imagined bursting through that door, and finding all three of them, calmly eating their dinner. She fantasised about dragging their stunned bodies to Azkaban. She fantasised about killing them, after all, she knew how. They deserved that and worse for what they did to Barraclough. 

She crossed the street and banged on the front door. Blood was racing through her veins. They killed Aidan. Her own flesh and blood killed Aidan.

But there was no response. So, she hit the door again and again. But with each knock, she was getting weaker. And it was harder and harder to hold the tears in.

Eventually, she crumbled on the ground and broke down. It was her fault. She should have never told Moody about the tip off.

She kicked over a flowerpot and screamed out in pain.

But just as the flowerpot landed on the pavement and shattered, the door creaked. Claudia jumped to her feet, ready to strike. But it was only Sky…

"Young mistress," the house elf said, her bulging eyes even wider than usual. "You must leave. You are in grave danger. The things he says-" she stopped abruptly, unable to continue.

"Are they here?"

"Please, don't-" the elf trailed off again.

"Sky, please…"

For a long time, the elf said nothing. She played with the hem of the tea towel she was wearing. "They're away. Won't be home for days. Weeks maybe…"

Claudia took a few deep breaths and dried her tears. "Thank you." 

"Young mistress," Sky whispered tentatively through the slightest crack in the door. "Please be careful. The things he would do to you…" The house elf shuddered and shut the door. With that, Claudia realised she had been rash. That she should not be here. They were going to pay for what they did, but not like this. She collected herself from the doorstep and apparated home.

Half-way up the stairs, she bumped into Fabian. He was sitting on the steps, twirling his wand in his hands.

“Shit,” Claudia sighed. “I totally forgot we were supposed to meet.”

He jumped to his feet. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled, looking at her shoes. “Can I take a raincheck? Rough day…”

“Do you want some company?”

“I need to go for a run.”

“I can come with you. Could use the exercise…”

Claudia dug her fingernails into her palms. “I really rather go by myself,” she said through gritted teeth. “I need to get out of my head.”

“It’s late- You shouldn’t-“

“STOP IT!” she yelled. “Just let me be.”

Fabian took a step back, saying nothing.

Claudia sighed and shut her eyes. She realised she crossed a line. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”

“Alright,” Fabian relented. “I got the morning off. Are you free for lunch?”

Claudia nodded. “I can be at yours at half twelve.”

Without as much as a hug or a kiss, she climbed the rest of the stairs to Remus’ studio, shut the door and leaned back against it. She waited until Fabian’s steps were no longer audible, before throwing on her running clothes.

Remus emerged from the bathroom wearing his chequered robe, startling her a little. She did not realise he was home.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Claudia sighed. “I just need to go for a run.”

“Are you sure? You look like you could use a cup of tea and a good chat.”

“I’M FUCKING SURE!” she snapped again. She dropped to her bed and started to put on her running shoes. “It’s either that or crawling under my duvet with a bottle of whiskey.” The latter would have been the more attractive option if it was not for Remus’ hovering, she thought but did not say. 

“Claudia-“

She got up and crossed the apartment. “Don’t wait up.” 

Claudia did not know where she was running or for how long. But no matter how fast she ran, or how far, she could not run away from reality. Barraclough was dead and it was her fault. She was on the bottom of Primrose Hill, and tears started to fly off her face. She pushed harder and harder up the hill. It hurt. But it was good. The pain in her muscles masked the pain in her heart. If she was in agony, that was what her brain had to focus on instead of her guilt. But as ever, she took it all too far, and on the top of the hill, she collapsed on the bench.

Her legs were burning from the effort. It felt like something corrosive was spreading through her veins. But as the pain went away, it became harder and harder to stop her tears.

The wind had picked up too, cooling the sweat on her skin. She was freezing. Shivering, she glanced at the bush. Had it moved? She probably imagined it… But even if it did move, she did not have the strength to stand or to draw her wand. For a split second, she did not have the will either. She did not care if it was a Death Eater who came out of nowhere and just point blank murdered her. At least her nightmare would be over, and she could talk to Aiden again.

“Hey.” Someone said behind her, making her jump. 

But it was no Death Eater. It was just Sirius. She put her wand back into her sleeve, somewhat relieved she did not get her death wish, dropped back to the bench, and hugged her knees again. 

“What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“I walk here every night to clear my head.” Sirius replied. “Can I join?”

Claudia nodded without even looking at him. But the fact it was Sirius who found her made her feel a little warmer on the inside.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered, as he sat down next to her. “Are you alright?”

There was no point pretending in front of him. “No,” she mumbled. “Nothing is alright. Not work. Not-“ she trailed off, still staring into the night’s sky.

“You can still talk to me about things. I miss when we used to talk.”

Claudia wiped her eyes. “What would Marlene say to that?”

“Marlene dumped me.”

Claudia finally looked at Sirius and inadvertently smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“I can see that.”

She could not help but raise another little smile. “What did you do?”

“Hey, give me some credit…” Sirius attempted to defend himself. “How do you know it was something I did?”

Claudia smirked. “Just a hunch.”

Sirius chuckled too but did not say anything. He took out a cigarette and lit it. He smoked for a minute or so before finally speaking. “She realised I will always be in love with someone else, and apparently she has too much self-respect to ignore that.”

They locked eyes and smiled. It would have been so easy to kiss him right there. It would make everything better, at least for a while. But nothing had changed between them. So, she looked away again, and hugged her knees even tighter.

“When was the last time you ate?” Sirius mumbled and passed her the cigarette.

Claudia took it and blew out smoke into the dark night. “I don’t even know. I don’t think I’ve felt hungry for weeks. Ever since…” She drew in a sob. She could not even say it.

“I’m really sorry about Barraclough. I know how much he meant to you.”

Claudia bit her lip. She could not even talk about it. Since she found out why he died, it was too hard. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrecked in my life…” she mumbled and wiped her eyes.

“Can I buy you dinner?" he said and took off his jacket. "You look like you need it, and we can talk properly.” He threw the jacket around Claudia's shoulders and wrapped her in it. 

“I’ve got running clothes- and I’m all sweaty.” She tried to make an excuse.

“There is this dingy Chinese place nearby,” Sirius said. “The food’s amazing. And no one is going to care about your clothes." He stood up and extended his arm to pull Claudia up to standing too.

She gripped it and let him help her. They were standing so close. “Let’s go then,” she whispered before she did anything she would regret.

They walked down the hill in silence. Even with Sirius’ jacket, Claudia was feeling cold. You could feel September approaching. 

They sat down in this tiny Chinese restaurant, in a little booth facing away from everyone and Sirius ordered a mountain of noodles. While Claudia just sat there, huddled in his jacket, trying not to cry.

When the waiter left, and they were finally alone, Sirius leaned toward Claudia and whispered. "Please talk to me. And if there is anything I can do… I'll do anything."

“You were right about not trusting Marcus,” Claudia mumbled.

“What happened?”

Claudia picked up a prawn cracker and crumbled it on her plate. “We got some good intel out of him, for a while.” She paused and sighed. “And then he came in with an offer.”

The waiter brought a plate of noodles and put it in the middle of the table.

“What offer?” Sirius asked and put a generous helping of the noodles into a bowl and passed it to Claudia.

“That he had evidence to put my father away. I told Moody and Barraclough, and they told me it was too good to be true.” She could hardly get those words out. She picked up her chopsticks and took a mouthful. The noodles were warm and melted in her mouth. For a second, everything was alright.

“Please tell me you didn’t go after him yourself…”

“I didn’t.” Claudia’s voice was shaking. “But they did.” The chopsticks fell on the table, and she dropped her face to her hands. “That was the mission,” she sobbed. “That was the mission where Barraclough died.”

“I’m so sorry, Claude.” Sirius rubbed her back. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he whispered in her ear.

“I just found out. Moody just told me…” She wiped her eyes. “I got so mad at him. I yelled at him… He was in a hospital bed, and I yelled at him. And then I tried to find Marcus, but he’s disappeared. I don’t know what to do.”

“This is not your fault-“

She raised her head and looked into those big, familiar grey eyes. “Of course it is my fault. If I haven’t trusted Marcus, or if I haven’t told them.” Her voice shook as she spoke. “Barraclough would still be here.”

“Listen to me, Claude–“ Sirius shuffled closer to Claudia and whispered. “Moody is the best auror there is. Barraclough too. If they choose to take the risk, that was on them. You told them everything you knew, right?” He was now gripping her in his arms. It steadied Claudia. 

She nodded and looked away. “Everything. About Hogsmeade, about the attack… Everything.”

“Then, there is nothing to feel guilty about. You can be sad, and you can miss him. But this is not your fault.”

Claudia forced a smile. “Nice of you to say. But that’s not how it feels.”

Sirius brushed her hair out of her face and forced her to look at him. “You spent months telling me I shouldn’t feel guilty over Regulus’ death, right?”

“And I meant it. I really did.”

“Well,” Sirius said with a smile. “Don’t you see? It’s mad for you to blame yourself for this…”

“I wish you were right.”

“I am right.” He squeezed her ever tighter and whispered in her ear again. “The only people to blame for this are the people who did it. Not you. Not Moody. Not Barraclough. But your father. And brother. And these Death Eating fuckers. And I will help you get them if it is the last thing I do.” He kissed her head, before letting go of her. “Now, eat your noodles. You look terrible.”

Claudia smiled a little and finished a bowl of two. Sirius was right, the food did make her feel better. Maybe he was right about the other thing too. After all, she really did not think he was responsible for Regulus’ death. That thought brought her mind back to the fight they had when they broke up, however, and she felt wretched again.

“So, you aren’t still mad at me for not telling you about Marcus?” she whispered. “For going to meet him behind your back?”

“Claude, please… Don’t.” Sirius shook his head. It was now his turn to avoid eye contact. “I don’t blame you for that. Or anything else. I acted like an arse…”

Neither of them said anything for a long time. Claudia did not know what to say, and suspected Sirius was in the same boat.

“If you are ready to talk about Tony…” she finally mumbled. “I’m here. I want to help, but I don’t know how, unless you tell me. I’m not a mind reader.”

“Aren’t you doing Legilimency this year?” Sirius smirked. She knew that smirk well. It meant Sirius was deflecting.

But she knew better than to push him again. It felt good to have him around and she did not want to ruin it by forcing another argument. “Just had my first lesson. Apparently, I’m a prodigy.”

“Good to know,” he said with a smile.

“Sirius…” she trailed off.

“Eat your noodles,” he pointed at the half-eaten plate. “I’m going to get us more spring rolls.”

Claudia watched him leave the table. It was so easy to talk to him, to confess everything. She knew he would not judge. She just wished he would trust her too, and talk to her about Tony. 

Claudia picked up her chopsticks again and suddenly became very aware that the radio was on full blast. A beautiful, familiar voice filled her ears.

It started off so well

They said we made a perfect pair

I clothed myself in your glory and your love

How I loved you

How I cried

The years of care and loyalty

Were nothing but a sham it seems

Sirius was back, interrupting the song that felt way too close to home. “Want some?” he offered her a plate of fresh spring rolls.

“Sure,” she mumbled and reached for one, but she could not help but listen to the radio some more as she bit into it.

To start again with somebody new

Was it all wasted

All that love?

Claudia felt her eyes watering and dropped the half-eaten spring roll back on the plate. This was too much. It was torturous. “I should head home.”

“Claude, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head and stood up. “Nothing. I’m sorry.”

“Can I walk you home?”

Claudia shook her head again, and hesitantly dropped Sirius’ jacket from her shoulders. “Thank you for the talk though.” She squeezed out of the booth and made a run for it.

Each night I cry I still believe the lie

I love you 'till I die

Save me save me save me

“Claude!” He shouted after her. “Remember I’m here for you… Your happiness is all that ever mattered to me-”

“You have a funny way of showing that-” she smirked and ran out of the place. Anything not to hear any more of that song. The cold air hit her in the face like a Dementor.

Mercifully, it was not far from the bistro to Remus' flat and Claudia ran fast. When she got back, Remus was pacing around the living room. 

“Where have you been?” he barked.

“A run. Like I told you.”

Remus glanced at his watch. “Where did you run to? Manchester?”

“Stop exaggerating,” she said with an eye roll.

“I was worried about you.”

“I just went for a run…” Claudia kicked off her shoes. “And now I’m going to the shower. Good night.”

She stayed in the bathroom until she was fairly sure Remus was asleep, before sneaking into her bed. But sleep eluded her. She spent half the night lying awake, thinking about Sirius, desperate to rationalise why she should not just go over to his flat and tell him how she really felt. That she missed him more than was humanly possible. She ran through dozens of scenarios in her head. But every single one of those ended in a fight, because she knew he was not being completely honest with her. She needed to know what happened with Tony. Their relationship was built on trust. And Alice was right all those weeks ago. When either of them held something back, it never worked. 

When Claudia woke up, after a couple hours of light sleep, she realised she had three days off work, which meant that there was absolutely nothing to distract her from her thoughts. Normally, she enjoyed these extended periods to recover, but not this time. Remus scowled at her for most of the morning, but mercifully had to leave on an errand for Dumbledore by about ten o’clock.

Free from his judgmental gaze, Claudia made some coffee and went to read the papers. She flipped through the pages aimlessly. Sirius really did seem better, and he was there again – he wanted to know what was happening in her life. He cared. It was like the time before the descent into hell. The talk they had was just what she needed. And he was right. She should have to feel guilty. She was not the one who killed Barraclough.

She put the papers down, none of it was sinking in anyway. Instead, she decided to go wash some of her clothes. The coffee was now cold, but she drank it anyway as she put her clothes in the bath and cast a spell to get them to swirl around.

And he was single again… And the moment they had. They were so close. So agonisingly close to being together again.

She left the laundry behind, walked over to her drawer and dug out the necklace she got from Sirius for her nineteenth birthday. It was the only thing she had with her that really reminded her of him. She sat on the sofa, turning it in her hand.

No one understood her as well as Sirius did. Ever. She sighed. But she had to be strong. She could not just blindly stumble into the horrible situation they found themselves in before, no matter how much she wanted to.

“Crap,” Claudia jumped up, her thoughts interrupted by Remus’ annoyingly loud clock. It was one o’clock. She was supposed to be at Fabian’s half an hour ago!

She put the necklace over her head, got dressed in haste and apparated.

“Sorry I’m late,” she mumbled when she stumbled through the door.

“Don’t worry,” Fabian said with a smile. “Just finished the cooking.”

Claudia helped Fabian set the table but when he put some of the pasta he had made on her plate, all she could do was to sit there and poke it with her fork. 

“Is it no good?” Fabian asked.

“It’s great. I’m just not that hungry.”

“Would’ve thought the late-night run would give you an appetite.”

“I had a big dinner,” she replied mindlessly, still looking at her plate, and playing with her necklace.

“You cooked?”

Claudia abruptly raised her head. “I- I,” she stuttered wondering whether it was worth trying to look for an excuse. She decided it was not. “I ran into someone, and we went for some noodles.”

“Who?” Fabian asked casually and shoved another spoon of pasta in his mouth.

“Sirius…” Claudia whispered, realising the least Fabian deserved was the truth.

Fabian looked down at his plate. “So, you blew me off to spend time with your ex?” he mumbled and scooped up another spoon.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Claudia hurled out. “And nothing happened- We’ve been friends long before we dated- And it was nice to talk to someone I’ve known for so long.” She took a deep breath to continue her defence. “We didn’t really-“

“Claudia,” Fabian said with a soft smile, interrupting her. “I’m not accusing you of anything… I was joking.”

She laughed nervously. “Very funny.”

“But,” Fabian began with a sigh. “This is as good of a segway as any… I do want to talk about us.”

Claudia stayed silent. Not because she wanted to. She just could not find words for the situation she found herself in.

Fabian filled the awkward silence. “I like you… I really do.”

“I like you too,” she replied hastily. It was true. Being with Fabian was easy, fun…

Fabian smiled. “And I think all this made me realise that I do want more from a relationship. Not to get married and stuff, no... But to have someone in my life that I care about, you know. Someone I can have some kind of future with.”

“And that someone isn’t going to be me-“

“I could very well imagine it being you- But I know you don’t feel that way about me.”

“But I really do like you.”

“But you love someone else.”

“I don’t-“ She tried to deny it, but there was no point. What Fabian was saying was the truth. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Look, I knew what I was getting myself into. Everyone knows you two are soulmates.” He reached over the table and held her hand. She stared at it, too scared to look him in the eye. “We might all be dead soon, Claudia. So, if there is any chance, any chance at all, that you can be with the person you love, don’t waste it.”

Claudia’s eyes darted to Fabian. He was smiling. And her eyes were suddenly full of tears. “You’re much nicer than I deserve,” she whispered.

“Nonsense!” Fabian said. “I’m the one who broke our pact. This was never meant to be serious…”

Claudia started to get up. “I better get going.”

“Please finish the food…” Fabian paused and ate another mouthful. “Gideon’s going to hate me,” he added, mumbling. “I think he was planning to use us as a buffer to avoid having to talk to Molly about his own love life.”

“I gather his love life is going alright though…” The change of subject was welcomed.

“It won’t be once Molly gets involved.”

They both laughed, finished lunch and parted ways with an awkward hug. It was Claudia’s first break up that did not end up with slamming of doors. And it felt a little strange, but very grown-up.

The rest of the day went about as well as Claudia’s morning. She tried to go for a walk, to do some exercise, to read, to browse catalogues full of muggle clothes. Nothing worked to distract her. She barely slept that night and realised in horror the next morning that she still had two more days like this!

Remus was still out, and Claudia attempted to get a lie in, but instead of sleeping, she tossed around in bed all morning, unable to stop thinking about Sirius. His face was the only thing she saw when she closed her eyes. She struggled not to keep picturing him ripping her clothes off. 

But she fought those feelings with everything she had. He still did not tell her what happened. And he did not look like he wanted to. It would just end the same way. She needed to be stronger than that. Not just for her, but for him too. They could not go through the same hell again.

When sleep failed to distract her, she tried to read again, then cook, and even clean. But by midnight, she could take it no longer. She threw on her jumper, jeans and trainers and ran out of the flat. Without thinking, she ran south. By the time she got to Euston Station, everything started to hurt. Her muscles had still not quite recovered from the earlier excursion up Primrose Hill. She thought for a minute to apparate the rest of the way, but realised she left her wand at home. Oh well, no point coming back, she was already halfway. So, she pushed harder.

Out of breath, she crashed against Sirius’ door and hit it hard with her fist again and again.

Eventually, he opened it. “What happened?” he gasped, still in his day clothes.

Claudia stood there frozen for what felt like an absolute age. “I just-“ she mumbled. “I just had to see you… I can’t stop thinking-“

Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her into the flat. Then, he buried his fingers in Claudia’s hair and kissed her. 

It took absolutely all resolve Claudia had, but she bit her own lip and pulled away. “Please stop,” she whispered and led Sirius towards the sofa. “We have to talk.” They sat down, cross-legged and facing each other. 

Claudia reached for his hand and spoke first. “I love you. I want to be with you. But-“ she trailed off.

“But you can’t…” Sirius grimaced.

“But you have to tell me what happened on that mission.” She drew in a deep breath. “I wish I was able to forget about it, I really do, but I’m not. I need to know before anything happens between us again.”

Sirius looked down and extracted his hands from Claudia’s grip. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

Claudia could nearly hear her own heartbeat. It was that quiet. Whatever he had to say next, was the difference between happiness and misery, likely for the rest of her life.

“Because you’ll hate me,” he finally whispered.

She leaned closer to him. “Do you really think I’d be here right now if I was capable of hating you?”

“Well, you ought to hate me,” Sirius grimaced. “I hate myself.”

“Sirius, please.”

He took a deep breath and, with shaking hands, lit up a cigarette. “Nobody else knows.”

“I promise not to tell anyone.”

“I don’t care about anyone else. I care what you’ll think of me.”

“You know you can trust me. Please!”

“Alright.” Sirius started to speak slowly, turning the cigarette in his hand. “We were supposed to fly the guy out on brooms, but we got ambushed. Pinned down in this little ravine, surrounded by Death Eaters on higher ground. The guy was panicking, trying to slice his own throat. Getting blood everywhere.” Sirius paused to smoke and to wipe his eyes. He was still avoiding Claudia’s eye contact. And his hands were still shaking.

Claudia did not dare to interrupt, and he continued. 

“Tony had this idea that we should just get on the brooms and try to fly out of there using protego. But I thought I knew better. I remembered this spell.” He paused to wipe his eyes again. “Kind of circular blast. I thought it was worth a shot. But I either didn’t remember it right, or-” he trailed off.

Claudia was getting a horrible feeling that she knew where this was heading. 

 “I need a drink,” Sirius mumbled.

Claudia reached for his hands and gripped them tightly. Sirius looked up at her. He was biting his lip and tears were now flowing freely down his cheeks.

“Nothing you can tell me will make me think less of you,” she whispered. “Ever. Do you understand?”

Sirius took a deep breath. “It blew up in my face. When I came around, everything seemed to be in slow motion. I saw the Death Eaters waking up and running down the slope to pick up the guy we were guarding. I tried to get up to fight but my body just would not move. And Tony-“ he sighed. “Tony was just lying there. He was dead. By my spell.”

“Sirius- That’s not-“

“That’s not all,” Sirius mumbled, interrupting her. “He told me earlier that night he had a muggle girlfriend. That she was pregnant, just about to give birth. She did not know he was a wizard or what he was involved in. She probably does not even know he’s dead.” With those words, Sirius dropped his head into his hands.

Claudia moved right up to him and wrapped her arms around him with all the strength she had. “Listen to me-“ she began. “You made a split-second decision to try and get all three of you out.”

“I was being cocky. Tony’s plan...” he mumbled into her chest, his shoulders shaking.

“Tony’s plan may have backfired too. You can’t block the killing spell and you’d be sitting ducks on those brooms.” She lifted his chin and looked into his eyes. “This is not on you. It’s on this war. On Voldemort. On those Death Eaters who were trying to kill you. Blame them! Not yourself.”

“You forgive me?” he whispered.

“You’re an idiot…” She stroked his hair. “You don’t need my forgiveness. Just yours.”

“Do you really mean that?”

Claudia reached for Sirius’ face and cupped it with her hands. “I really do.” She leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss.

“And you still love me?”

“Of course, I still love you.”

Sirius sighed with relief and dropped his head into Claudia’s lap. She played with his hair. 

"I feel so-" Sirius whispered, with his eyes closed. “Can't find the word. I was so scared you'll walk out on me. That you won't be able to love me anymore."

"I will always love you."

He opened his eyes and attempted a smile. "I should've just told you there and then."

"You should've. Now, scootch.” 

Sirius lifted his head for a moment, and Claudia lowered herself on the sofa, wrapping his arms around him. She could feel his heart beating against her forearm. "I'm so tired…" he whispered sleepily. Slowly, Sirius’ breath slowed down. “I love you.” That was all he managed to add before falling asleep. 

It did not take long for Claudia to fall asleep too. 

She woke up just as the light started to come through the curtains. Her stomach was rumbling. Slowly, she got up so as not to wake Sirius and pulled the throw they were sleeping under over his chest. She tiptoed into the kitchen to find it completely empty. After unsuccessfully rummaging through the cupboards for a sign of anything edible, she grabbed Sirius’ keys, a spare wand, scribbled a note on the kitchen counter and crept out to buy some breakfast.

Twenty minutes later, she was climbing up the stairs again, this time with the broadest smile she managed for months. She stuck the key into the lock, but before she turned it, the door went flying out of her hand. Sirius was standing in the door, looking completely possessed.

“I thought you left,” he exhaled, took a few steps towards Claudia and grabbed her by the shoulders. Their faces were barely an inch apart as they stumbled back into the flat.

“I left you a note…”

Sirius shut the door behind her, and then ran his palms down Claudia’s arms. "I thought you left," he repeated and took the shopping out of her hands. 

“Be careful,” Claudia whispered. Her foreheads were now touching. “There are eggs in there.”

“I don’t care,” Sirius uttered and with a bang, the shopping landed on the floor.

In a flash, Sirius’ hands were buried in the hair on the back of her head, and his lips were brushing against hers. She closed her eyes and hung her arms around his neck. She could not even remember the last time she wanted something this much.

“I can go to the bathroom,” she whispered against his cheek. “If you need two minutes to sneakily change the sheets-“

“No one else was ever in here,” he mumbled and kissed her. “I would never do that... This is our home.”

Claudia laughed. "You are making it so hard to be mad at you."

With that, they tumbled towards the bed. They never stopped kissing and their clothes flew off one by one.

Once they were on the bed, Claudia finally took a moment to take in what was really happening. Sirius was naked, lying on top of her and staring into her eyes with such intensity it made her insides burn. She did not have a single doubt about what she was about to do.

Sirius kissed her lips, then her cheek, neck, shoulder… Claudia shivered with desire. This is what she missed. Only Sirius knew how to make her feel like this. And without warning, she burst into tears.

Sirius froze. “Claude-“ he whispered and brushed the side of her face. “Are you alright? We don't have to…”

“Happy tears,” she said with a smile but gave another little sob.

“Are you sure?”

Claudia smiled. “It’s just. When you kiss me right there,” she whispered and pointed at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “It does things to me.”

“I know it does,” he uttered and kissed her there again.

It was as if a little lightning bolt ran through Claudia’s body. She laughed again and tipped him over on his back and slid one of her legs over his body. “We were being so stupid.” She swept his hair off his face and kissed him.

“I was being stupid,” Sirius whispered. “I love you. I love you so much. More than I ever thought possible-”

Claudia, her tears now dry, kissed him to shut him up. “I love you too.”

They kissed again and again, and caressed each other’s faces the whole time they made love. This was not about pleasure. This was about being together again. Sirius slid his hands down Claudia’s waist, and his fingers sank into Claudia’s hips. Knowing what was coming, she chuckled and shut her eyes, letting the moment take her away. Maybe it was a little bit about pleasure after all…

“Shit, I missed you,” Sirius whispered, as he dropped back into the pillows. He barely got that sentence out between the heavy breaths.

Claudia laughed again and lowered her head on Sirius’ shoulder, as he ran his fingers up and down her spine. More tears fell down her cheeks.

“Still happy tears?” he said as he wiped them with the tip of his thumb.

She nodded. “I can’t help it,” she chuckled. “I’ve spent months trying not to feel things. And now, it’s all just coming out…”

“I promise never to let you down again. I couldn’t bear losing you a second time.”

“Third time.”