~Wren~

When I told her that James and I would be leaving in the morning, Cassie cried so hard she nearly made herself sick. I ended up having to let Victoire and Teddy take over, because I had no idea what to do after giving her a hug didn't seem to calm her down. To my surprise, that didn't make it worse; in fact, when Teddy picked her up, she clung to him, crying into his shoulder.

Eventually, her sobs quieted into hiccups, and Teddy set her back down on the couch. He spent the next few minutes making jokes, which at first hardly brought a smile, but pretty soon Cassie was laughing hard enough that it would've been hard to tell she had just been crying.

They made me tell her again why I was leaving, which was a little difficult. I didn't know how to explain all of this to a child in a way she could grasp. At least, not without scaring her. I had to settle for saying that I had to, that James and I wanted to stop the scary man, and this was the only way. That didn't completely tide her over, but at least she seemed to understand.

I also promised to come visit soon. That actually did help. Teddy had already cajoled James into agreeing to spend Christmas with the Lupins, so it wasn't an empty promise, either.

That afternoon, Victoire insisted I help her take Cassie clothes shopping, considering they had exactly nothing for a six year old girl to wear. As much as I didn't really want to do that, I knew Cassie would have a much harder time in public with a near stranger than she was having here in their apartment. James didn't like the idea a lot, but we kept to muggle shops. I was less concerned about safety than I was about the sheer amount of people.

It was fine. Horrible, but fine. I hadn't seen this many people in months, and every time someone bumped into me on the sidewalk or brushed past me in a store, I felt a wave of anxiety building up in my chest. But Victoire seemed to be keeping as close an eye on me as she was on Cassie, and always managed to draw my attention to something else quickly.

The Ministry was going to be worse, I reminded myself. Much more crowded than these little stores, and full of people who knew who I was. At least in these crowds, there was anonymity.

The rest of the day, Cassie didn't let me out of her sight. When we got back from shopping, Charis had just woken up from her nap, and Cassie dragged me over to play with her. That really meant I sat next to them, watching them play, because I still didn't know how to interact with Cassie very well, let alone an even smaller child. Luckily, Charis seemed content as long as I pretended to eat whatever toy food she handed me and told her it was yummy.

Teddy was puttering around in the kitchen, making dinner. I think Victoire had gone to go reorganize Charis's wardrobe and drawers, to fit the new things we'd bought for Cassie. James had been trying to get in contact with Astra before we'd left, and I assumed he was still working on that. That's why I wasn't really expecting it when he suddenly appeared behind me. I started as he put his hand on my back and sank down next to me, and he pulled away. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's all right." I reached out for his hand, wishing I could turn this off, this part of me that was always on edge. I didn't want it to hurt James. "I'm all right."

He studied me for a moment, only stopping to grin at Charis as she handed him a wooden carrot. "Oh, thanks, Char," he said. He pretended to gobble it down, slipping it into his sleeve as he did.

Charis's eyes widened as the carrot disappeared. "No eat! Toy!"

James laughed. "Oh, whoops! I thought it was real!" He pulled it back out of his sleeve and handed it back to her. "It was the best carrot I've ever had."

As Charis dissolved into giggles, Cassie called over to her, "Charis! We need all the vegetables for the soup!"

"Vegble?"

"Carrots are a vegetable," Cassie explained in her most grown-up manner. She pointed excited at a toy pot full of the other wooden vegetables, sitting on Charis's little kitchenette. "Just like all of those! We can make a soup with the carrot, okay?"

"Soup!" Charis toddled over to the pot to throw her carrot in, Cassie right behind her. I couldn't help smiling as Cassie started asking her the names of all the vegetables, clapping her hands as the little girl got each one right.

James scooted a little closer to me as the girls kept chattering. I glanced up at him. "Did you manage to talk to Astra?"

"Yeah." James chuckled as Charis knocked the whole pot over and Cassie gasped as if an actual pot full of very hot soup had just been spilled on the floor. "Well, with Ciara. Astra refused to apparate, and I guess they're worried Artemis Wu is staking out Malfoy Manor, so her uncle wouldn't let her go any other way. But we got our story figured out. We met up, got in an argument about the DA, and went our separate ways."

"What's their plan?"

"Astra's going into DA hiding. Though I guess it's going to be a little more active than just hiding." He shrugged. "There wasn't a lot of time, so we didn't talk about that much. Turns out they got ambushed by Artemis Wu yesterday."

My breath caught. "What? They did?"

"They're fine. Ciara didd some quick thinking, grabbed Astra and apparated to Malfoy Manor. They haven't seen Wu since, I guess."

"Oh... that's good." I tilted my head. "What's Ciara doing?"

"She didn't say." James frowned at me. "I assumed she was going into hiding with Astra. She didn't say anything to the contrary."

It occurred to me that she wouldn't, either way. I supposed it didn't matter that much. If they'd gotten to see Haverna yesterday, then I could rest assured that both Astra and Ciara were making wise decisions.

Cassie and Charis had piled all their vegetables back into their pot, and now Cassie was handing Charis bowls. She brought one to me. "Soup!"

I couldn't help smiling as I reached up for the bowl. "Thanks, Charis." I pretended to sip it, then nodded. "Wow, really good."

Charis giggled, then pulled the bowl back from me and handed it to James. He took it without seeming to think about it. Instead of paying attention to Cassie, he was staring at my arm, a concerned look on his face.

"What?" I asked, glanced down at my arm as well. At first, I couldn't tell what could be wrong. It took a moment to notice that my sleeve had slipped down a little, and the scar across my wrist, which had become very normal to me, was visible when it wouldn't normally be.

As I slowly raised my eyes back to his, I felt my chest tighten. James was frowning, a deeply sorrowful look, and I almost had to look away again as he asked, "What's that from, Wren?"

I glanced at the girls, but Charis had already lost interest in James's lack of response. They were clattering around in the toy cabinets, pulling out more dishes and completely ignoring us. Even so, I lowered my voice. "I... well, I mean..."

"Did you do that to yourself?"

Slowly, I nodded. He had to know what that meant, what I'd tried. And... though I didn't really get why, I felt a sense of shame rising up in me. Shame that was only intensified when I met James's eyes for a moment, before having to look away again. "I'm sorry."

"Merlin, Wren, don't be sorry." He scooted closer, our knees touching now, and reached to take my hand in both of his. "You've been living through a nightmare. It's... it's understandable."

It had seemed so at the time, but now... I closed my eyes, conflicted on so many levels that I couldn't even tell what I was feeling. It was like I'd told Astra the day before. I didn't wish she'd been able to kill me, but I'd die before going through any of that again. I couldn't make that make sense.

I opened my eyes again, looking up at the ceiling in an effort to keep from crying yet again today. "It was right after I'd been caught," I explained quietly, though James hadn't asked for an explanation. "That was... that's from the time I got closest."

He nodded. When I turned to look at him, he was still gazing at me, expression still full of sorrow. But I didn't let myself look away this time. I blinked, searched his face for anything else. Underneath the sorrow, causing it... concern for me. Care. Love.

Gently, he lifted my wrist to his lips and kissed it. As my stomach suddenly filled with butterflies (just what I needed in the midst of all this emotional confusion), he met my eyes again. "I love you. And I swear, I'm never going to let them hurt you again."

I smiled a little at the sheer absurdity of that statement. "You can't control that."

"Try me."

He seemed completely serious. I couldn't imagine what gave him that sort of confidence, but I desperately wanted to believe it, even if only for a moment. I just nodded. "I love you, too."

James's expression grew softer at that. He was still holding my wrist; now, he kissed my palm. I smiled, but before I could say anything, we were interrupted by Cassie asking, in a mildly disgusted tone of voice, "Why's he kissing your hand?"

We both burst out laughing at that. Cassie was watching me in concern though, so I made an effort to stop. "I'm sorry, Cassie. We can go somewhere else, if you'd like."

The little girl frowned at me, then at James. She looked puzzled, but after a moment her eyes widened. "Is he your boyfriend?"

James wiggled his eyebrows at me. "Ooh, there's an important question, hmm?"

I stifled another bout of laughter and turned back to Cassie. "Yes, James is my boyfriend. I'm sorry, I guess I forgot you didn't know."

Cassie clapped her hands together in excitement. "You're like Anna and Kristoff!"

"Who?"

"From Frozen!"

I glanced at James, but he seemed equally as confused. "Isn't that some old Disney movie?" I just shrugged in reply.

"Fwozen!" Charis had caught on, it seemed, and was now pulling several bins of toys onto the ground, spilling everything in them in the process. She seemed to find what she was looking for, and waved a blonde doll in a blue dress through the air. "Elsa!"

"Exactly!" Cassie grinned, then her eyes widened. "You have a TV, Charis! Do you have the movie?"

"Fwozen!"

She turned back to us. "Can we watch it? Please?"

James chuckled. "I'm sure if they have it, Teddy and Toire would be fine with us watching it tonight." He leaned back to yell at Teddy across the room. "Hey mate, you have the movie Frozen?"

"Which one?"

James glanced at Cassie, who held up two fingers. "Um, the second?"

"Of course we do!" Teddy laughed. "That's Charis's favorite."

"Mine too!" Cassie exclaimed. "I haven't seen it in so long! Since... since..." Suddenly, her smile had faded, as had her enthusiasm. She stared at a spot in the distance for a moment, seeming to be having some sort of crisis. "It was before," she said finally, glancing up at me. "Not supposed to talk about before."

I bit my lip. "You can talk about before here. It's allowed."

"But... but it's bad to talk about before."

For a moment, I hesitated. I knew the brainwashing ran deep. Cassie didn't remember much about before anyway, and it had been so thoroughly ingrained in her that if she so much as thought about what had happened before she'd been kidnapped, what little she actually could remember, there would be horrible consequences. I didn't know what to do about that.

James was the one who answered. "No, it's not. You know how I know? That scary man's the one who said it was bad. And we both know he's really the bad one, right?" Cassie nodded uncertainly. "He was wrong. He thought it was bad, but it isn't. You can talk about it now, all right?"

She seemed very unsure as she slowly nodded. However, Charis had toddled up behind her, two dolls in hand. "Elsa?" she asked, holding the blonde one out to Cassie.

Cassie smiled again, then turned to me quickly. "Frozen isn't bad, is it?"

"Not at all," I said, smiling encouragingly. Her smile grew, and she took the doll Charis was handing her. Though she didn't bring up before again, I felt like the fact that she was even willing to play Frozen with Charis was probably a step in the right direction.

~~~~

Apparently, Charis was too big for a crib, and instead had two twin beds in her room. Victoire managed to convince Cassie to sleep in there instead of with me. She told me it was to help ease the transition of James and I leaving tomorrow for Cassie, but what she told Cassie was that Charis was very little, and sometimes got scared during the night, and wouldn't it be wonderful if some older friend would be able to sleep in the room with her? Such a big, grown up responsibility, but did Cassie think she could handle it? I felt like that was such an obvious ploy that she would see through it, but somehow, it actually worked. In fact, Cassie came and told me she was very sorry, but she wanted to make sure Charis was all right, so she wanted to if I would be okay with being alone.

I won't lie and say I wasn't worried about leaving Cassie here. I had no doubt that Teddy and Victoire would take good care of her, of course. They'd both already proved that they could be sensitive to what she needed, even if it was different from your average six-year-old. But I didn't want Cassie to feel like I was abandoning her. She had enough issues as it was, without adding that to it.

Realistically, though, I knew it had to be this way. Even if things were different, and I hadn't had to leave so soon, Cassie needed to be with a family right now. A real one, not like my mother. She needed people like Teddy and Toire who could take care of her and show her what a normal life should look like, so that when all this was over and something more permanent could be arranged, she would be ready for that. It might hurt her at first, but ultimately, this was the best thing.

That's why, though Cassie cried again the next morning and begged me not to leave, I still did. Of course, I hugged her and told her I loved her and I'd be back in a few days, and Teddy and Victoire would take good care of her. But I ended up having to let James kneel down next to her to explain that this was very hard for all of us, and though we didn't want to go, we had to in order to make the scary man stop scaring people. He asked if she could be a big girl and help us by staying here, which somehow helped her tears wind down to just sniffles. She ended up nodding and waving a little as we left.

We disapparated from the landing outside their front door to the Potters' house. We didn't go straight to the Ministry for a number of reasons, the first being that I thought it was best not to ambush Russey unannounced. James preferred that, as it gave Russey less time to think, but I thought he'd be interested enough in what we had to say to not set a trap immediately upon our arrival. All we needed was an audience with him, after all.

First, of course, James cast several protection spells on the property, since no one had been in here in months and we couldn't trust that the ones his mum had left would have lasted this long. I took that moment to stare around at everything. It almost felt like I was seeing it for the first time, the bare branches of the tree in the front yard where creaking in the wind, the windows reflecting the colds above us, snow just barely starting to fall. I shivered a little, but found myself smiling anyway.

It wasn't like I was seeing it all for the first time, actually. No, I definitely felt like I was coming home.

James chuckled when he turned around. "You don't want to go inside, then?"

"I was waiting for you." I looped my arm through his as we mounted the steps to the front door.

James was being remarkably patient, but I could tell he didn't get what the big deal was as I slowly walked through the house. I didn't know how to explain it, really. I couldn't just run upstairs, though, as if nothing had happened since I'd last been here. The house felt so very empty and cold, but I couldn't tell if it had changed, or if I had changed. I blinked and realized my eyes were wet. I hadn't thought I'd ever be back here.

Eventually, James decided to take the opportunity to turn the heating on, start fires in the fireplaces, and set the house back up for people to live in it. Our plan, if everything went well at the Ministry, was to stop by Hogwarts later this afternoon and hopefully convince Lily to come back with us. Best to have the house at least not as cold a freezer if she did. James was already sure it would be hard enough to even convince her to leave school.

Finally, I had to take a breath and walk upstairs. Walk past both Albus's and Mr. and Mrs. Potter's doors without looking at them, then I'd reached mine. I closed the door quietly, then turned around to lean against it.

My room was exactly how I'd left it nearly a year ago when we'd gone back after Christmas break. Even my trunk was sitting at the foot of my bed, as if it was waiting for me. I blinked, tears clouding my vision a little more now. Who'd thought it bring it home? James? Albus? Who had been hopeful enough that I'd come back for that?

I heard James's footsteps on the stairs, heading to his own room. I really did need to change. Victoire had lent me a sweater of hers so I wasn't wearing the clothes I'd been wearing for two days. The problem now was simply that they looked like they were several sizes too big on me, which made sense, since Victoire was at least six inches taller than me. It was also a very vibrant red, which was a little too bright for my tastes.

The clothes and books in my trunk were very jumbled up. I smiled faintly, imagined Astra and Colette tossing everything in there haphazardly, trying to get it done. I could unpack it and straighten everything up later. If our plan worked, that was. For now, I sifted through the mess until I found the clothes that were still folded at the bottom of my trunk (they were less wrinkled than the others). Underneath them, tucked inside the sleeve of a sweater I never wore, was a little muggle flip phone.

When I walked back out, James was in the hall already, leaning against his door frame. He smiled at me, raising an eyebrow. "You're looking very cute."

I felt my face heating up as I smiled self-consciously. "Oh, um, thank you."

He pushed himself off the wall, growing serious again. "Are you ready?"

"I... I think so." I held up the phone for James to take, but didn't meet his eyes.

He frowned at the hesitation, but stepped forward to take the phone anyway. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, Wren. If it's too much for you, or feels too dangerous, we can just go back to Teddy's."

I glanced up at him in surprise. He'd spent months working towards this, cut himself off from nearly all of his friends and family, just so that he'd be able to make a difference at the Ministry. And now he was offering to give all of that up if I felt overwhelmed?

Well, I certainly did feel overwhelmed. Terrified. As confident as I'd acted, I wasn't sure that Russey would actually be willing to make a deal with us. I didn't know anything concrete about what his agenda might be, after all. Our only leverage was that threat. What if he didn't feel threatened by that?

But I shook my head. "No. We're doing this."

"All right. If you're sure."

"I am."

James nodded, then glanced down that phone. "So... do you just call him?"

"I guess so." I'd never used the thing, but apparently the number to his private cell phone was saved in it. We spent several minutes trying to figure out how to find the contacts; apparently, James's recently acquired skills with smartphones didn't help him with this. Eventually we figured it out, though. I held the phone up to my ear, holding my breath as it rang on the other end.

A click, followed by silence. He was waiting for me to speak, it seemed. I took a breath, then mustered the most confident voice I could. "Hello, Pollux."

A chuckle that I recognized, then the Minister's voice saying, "Well, well, it really is Wren Predatel. I must say, I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

"We need to talk."

"Do we, now?"

"Yes." My eyes were closed, but I felt James slip his hand into mine and squeeze it. "I believe I have something that could be of value to you."

"Is that right?" Russey sounded amused. Not ideal, but better than suspicious. "And what is that?"

"I'd prefer to tell you that in person. I don't suppose you're free for a meeting today?"

"At the Ministry?"

"I wouldn't trust you anywhere else."

That got a laugh from him. "Fair enough, I suppose. Eleven o'clock, then, but feel free to act like you've surprised me."

"Of course." I almost smiled, but I was struggling to not let my relief into my voice. This was the easy part, after all. "We'll see you then."

A click, and the line was dead. I opened my eyes to see James grinning at me. "That was great, Wren! You're amazing!"

"It was just a phone call," I protested, aware that my face was growing hot again. "We haven't gotten to anything difficult yet."

"And I'm sure you'll be amazing at that, too. What time did he say?"

"Eleven."

James checked his watch. "All right, so we've got twenty minutes till we should leave, then. We can prepare more, if you need to."

I shook my head. Teddy and Victoire had made us talk through every detail of our plan last night, including all possible outcomes. We were thoroughly prepared, and I was worried that if I started overanalyzing, I might psyche myself out. Or, more likely, psyche James out. The thing that was going to sell this would be our acting far more than anything else. That was more of an in-the-moment thing. "I think we're prepared."

"Cool," James said, nodding, "Then, um, I suppose we could—"

He cut off as I darted forward to hug him tightly. I buried my head against his chest, clinging to him as if I was scared he might drift away.

James let out a laugh that sounded mildly confused and concerned before he brought his arms around me. "Are you all right?"

I nodded quickly, which didn't feel like a lie. I'd been on the verge of tears all morning, after all, so there wasn't a reason that should be different now. "I've just missed you," I whispered.

It took a moment for him to answer. "I've missed you, too, Wren."

I pushed back just enough to look up at him. He was smiling at me, still seeming a little confused. The amount of times I'd dreamed of this over the past six months, and had to wake back up to a nightmare. I could hardly believe I wasn't dreaming now.

"Are you sure you're all right?" James asked, an amused smile on his face.

I nodded. My heart was beating faster than it had been, but not in a bad way. I hesitated for a moment, then, "Can I kiss you?"

James raised an eyebrow, seeming both pleasantly surprised and confused now. "You're welcome to do that whenever you'd like. But... I mean, are you sure? You don't... I mean, don't feel like we... you have to... if you're not ready..."

I shook my head emphatically. "No. I'm sure." I reached up to put my arms around his neck, smiling. "I said I've missed you, didn't I? That includes how good you are at kissing."

He blushed at that, but smiled, too. "You don't have to stoop to flattery to get me to snog you, Wren." My breath caught as his fingers brushed down my cheek, then gently lifted my face. I closed my eyes as he leaned down, and when our lips meet it was like a spark travelling through my whole body.

In that moment, nothing else mattered. The house could have been burning around us, the apocalypse could have started, Stillens could have won. It didn't matter. James and I were both alive, both safe, and both here. Together.

~~~~

Of course, we did eventually have to leave. That involved quite a bit of laughing, trying to straighten up and fix our hair to make it look like we hadn't actually just been making out when we showed up at the Ministry. It also involved taking a moment in the kitchen to take a deep breath and calm down, to grow serious again.

James insisted on flooing first, just in case there was anyone dangerous waiting at the Ministry. Though I really didn't think we needed to worry about that, I didn't care whether I went first or second. When I emerged from one of the large black fireplaces in the Ministry lobby, I found that James was waiting for me. Beyond him was the normal bustle of the Ministry. Very few people seemed to have even noticed him, and those who had were just staring at him curiously.

I got a few more stares than that. Lucky thing I'd gotten very used to that, over the years.

With its ridiculously tall ceilings and black brick, the Ministry's lobby was made to feel intimidating. The only mildly comforting thing in it had been a statue in the fountain, one that had portrayed Mr. and Mrs. Potter along with several other heroes from the last war. Of course, that had been destroyed when my parents had attacked the Ministry a year and a half ago. I'd never seen what they'd replaced it with, and now I wished I still didn't know. It was a very imposing, enormous statue of Russey, holding a wand in one hand and a scale in the other. I looked down as we passed it, but couldn't shake the feeling that it was watching us.

We boarded an elevator with several other witches and wizards who openly stared at us the whole ride. No one spoke a word, and no one moved as we got out at our stop.

Two aurors that I didn't recognize were guarding this hallway, a man and a woman. "Hey," snapped the woman, "this floor is closed to the public."

"Do you know who we are?" James demanded. I took a step closer to him. We'd decided to lean into the idea of me being scared, and James being defensive. It wouldn't fool Russey, but we weren't trying to fool Russey with it. We were trying to make him think we were dropping an act and being ourselves in a few minutes.

"Doesn't matter. You're the public."

"Oh, shut up. We need to talk to Russey."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," the woman said, rolling her eyes. "This floor's closed to the public."

"So you said." James reached for his wand. I tried not to look alarmed; hexing the aurors hadn't been part of the plan. "Listen, you go see if Russey's free, and we won't have any trouble, all right?"

"Are you threatening us?"

"I'm giving you a choice."

The two aurors exchanged a glance, then they burst out laughing. "You've got to be joking. You're a kid."

"All right." He shrugged. "Just remember, it was your choice."

James pulled his wand out. Before he had time to hex them, before the aurors even had time to react, a voice from down the hall stopped all of us. "Wren Predetal? And James Potter?"

I forced a relieved look onto my face at the sight of Russey. "Minister! We were hoping to talk to you."

The aurors had backed down, and James slowly put his wand back in his pocket as Russey walked toward us. The Minister seemed confused, as if he hadn't been expecting us to show up. An act, of course. That made me feel better. All three of us were playing a game, and he was going to think it was the same one.

"Talk to me?" Russey shook his head, seeming confused. "Why?"

"I believe you can help us," James said, crossing his arms. "We'll only be a moment."

Russey seemed to consider that. I did my best to look nervous (more difficult than I'd expected), though he'd already agreed over the phone. Finally, he sighed and shrugged. "I suppose I do owe Harry Potter's son that, at least. Come on."

I slipped my hand into James's as we followed him down the hall. So far, so good.

Russey motioned to the two chairs facing his desk before closing the door. I sank down into one of them, shooting what I hoped was a frightened glance at James.

"So," Russey said, crossing the room to sit down behind his desk. He frowned at me. "What do you want?"

"Well, um, we—"

"Drop the act," he snapped. "Do you take me for a fool?"

"Apparently not." I took a breath, then flashed a smile. Take off one act, put on another. Calculating. Confident. Mature.

Russey was watching me with a raised eyebrow. He nodded after a moment, seeming satisfied. "Right. Well, I suppose now's as good a time as any to let you know that you're an idiot."

"Excuse me?" James asked, eyes narrowing. "Are you insulting my girlfriend?"

"Oh, please, you can drop that little tough act, too, Potter." Russey rolled his eyes, then turned back to me. "What's stopping me from turning you in right now, Predetal?"

"Oh, I don't think you want to do that," I said, raising my eyebrow. "It would be an absolute shame if I had to tell Stillens what I know about you, don't you think?"

That made him pause. After a moment, he tilted his head. "And what do you believe you know about me?"

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and held it up. "I don't suppose a loyal follower of my uncle's would have felt the need to give me this, do you?" I shrugged lightly. "It's not like you've told me you have an agenda of your own, after all. How terrible if Stillens were to hear about that..."

Russey was glaring at me now. "What is this, baby's first blackmail?"

"Not at all." I smiled sweetly again. "I'm on your side, Pollux. I really do think we can help each other."

"What, I give you some sort of immunity, and you don't tell Stillens about your little speculating?" He scoffed. "He would never believe you."

"I think we both know he would. But, I suppose, if you want to take that chance..."

He studied me for a moment, as if watching for me to crack, but I wasn't going to. I'd faced far worse than him, after all. Besides, I really did think Stillens would murder Russey if he thought there was an ounce of disloyalty in him. This was a real threat.

After a few moments, he shook his head. "How am I supposed to know this isn't some DA scheme? Don't try to tell me you weren't working with them."

James scoffed. "The DA abandoned us. What would we want to do with them?"

I nodded, expression hardening. "They left me for dead. We got here on our own."

"Our only goal is to get rid of Stillens," James added. He sat forward in his chair. "I don't care that much about who ends up on top after that man is gone, got it? We're willing to help you get there."

Russey frowned at him. "I have to say, James, I'm surprised to hear that. Don't get me wrong; I have a great respect for your father. But he was much more noble-minded than you, I take it?"

"Being noble-minded only gets you so far," James said with a shrug, though there was an edge to his tone that was frankly a little frightening. "It got my father killed, after all. I'm not planning on letting that happen to me or Wren."

"We could be valuable allies, Pollux. We're willing to support you, after my family falls. And you can't deny that you won't gain any public support from having Harry Potter's son on your side."

He seemed intrigued, which was exactly where I wanted him. Still, though, he asked, "You don't have any ties left to the DA?"

"I've got an idiot sister who idolizes it, but she's a kid," James said, shrugging. "Other than that, no."

The Minister turned his gaze on me. and I shrugged, trying to look bitter. "If I ever had any loyalty to the DA, you can rest assured that it's long gone."

Slowly, he nodded, seeming to take all that in. I couldn't tell if he believed us, but at least he didn't seem like he was about to throw us out.

"Well," he said after a moment, "I suppose I can hear you out, then. What is it you want from me?"

And we were in. I could tell he didn't trust us, not yet, but you didn't have to trust someone to work with them. You just had to believe they didn't have enough incentive to double-cross you. Or, alternatively, enough incentive not to.

James explained our terms. For him, a Ministry career, preferably one with a little job security. In fact, it would be best if it was something at least semi-public, if Russey wanted to take advantage of having a Potter on his side. I wanted to return to school and be assured safety from any of Stillens' workers there. After I graduated, we could discuss a strategic role for me to grow Russey's influence in the wizarding world even more. We would give him our full support publicly, however he wanted. James would be Russey's man wherever he was working, and I could be a sharper eye within Hogwarts than Kimmel was capable of, and far more reliable than any of Stillens' plants.

Russey took several minutes to think about that. He asked only two questions. First, he wanted to know exactly what had happened with Astra Lestrange (I'd had a feeling he would've heard about that). Luckily, we'd rehearsed our story enough that it seemed effortlessly believable. The second question was what I supposed he would tell Stillens about all this, when asked. I shrugged and said that was up to him.

Finally, he nodded. "Well, I did just lose my head of public information services." He raised an eyebrow at James. "Just so you know, it wouldn't be wise to cross me."

"I don't see a reason to," James said smoothly. "After all, I believe our agendas are lining up beautifully."

That seemed to be the right answer. Russey smiled. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Potter, and what you put out. This is a place in Parliament, too."

I could tell James was masking surprise. "Oh, is that right?"

"It'd be nice to have a strong supporter in Parliament who I can count on to back me completely," Russey said, raising an eyebrow. I got the hidden meaning: he couldn't trust the others Stillens had in Parliament, not completely. And though he couldn't trust James either, at least James wouldn't be reporting on him to anyone higher up.

After a moment, James nodded. "I'm your man."

"And I don't suppose it'll be too difficult to threaten those imbeciles at Hogwarts into leaving you alone," Russey said, turning to me. "I'd like press releases from both of you, though, in the next few weeks. A few interviews with the Prophet, as well. I'll send you some talking points."

"Wonderful." I smiled warmly. "I'm so glad we could find something that works so well for all of us."

"Yes," Russey said, nodding at me. I felt like he was looking at me like an equal for the first time since I'd met him. "I look forward to doing business with you both."

It took everything in me not to sag with relief after we'd left his office. I wanted to yell, or dance around like a little kid, but that wasn't professional or mature and I was trying to be both of those things. Though James didn't say anything, he grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

That had worked. It had actually worked.

"You were great," James whispered as we boarded the elevator, which was empty this time. "Absolutely fantastic. I was a little afraid of you, honestly."

"So were you," I said, smiling up at him. "And you can be terrifying, when you want to be."

"I suppose we make a good pair, then." James threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. "I never knew what a rush you could get from lying through your teeth, by the way."

"It's acting," I corrected, laughing. "And I wouldn't say I get a rush every time."

The elevator doors opened, and we both grew more serious as we stepped out. Probably best not to look too giddy. James took my hand and led me towards the little café in the lobby so we could get something to eat before heading to Hogwarts.

Before we'd made it that far, though, I noticed a group of aurors across the lobby staring at us and whispering. That wasn't super unusual; we'd been getting stares this whole time, and for the most part I'd been tuning them out. But these three weren't just confused or curious. They looked troubled.

"Um, James..." I tugged on his arm to point them out, but they were already heading over to us.

It was two women and a man, all looking roughly Teddy's age. The guy had reddish brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a smile plastered on his face, and was leading the way, with the two girls trailing behind. The one with wavy brown hair looked more familiar, actually; she'd been headgirl my first year, now that I thought about it, though I couldn't remember her name. She looked concerned. The Asian girl next to her was regarding us coldly. Warily.

I'd seen all three of them before, I realized. At the DA raid on the manor. They'd been the three with Mrs. Potter who'd given us a chance to get out. 

James had come to a stop and was watching them approach with pursed lips. Without thinking about it, I reached for his hand, feeling a little uncomfortable. We hadn't planned for this, these people who apparently knew James and seemed to be in the DA. I didn't know what to expect.

"James Sirius Potter!" the red-headed auror exclaimed. He sounded happy, but I could tell it was forced. "What a surprise seeing you here!" he continued, coming to a stop in front of us. His smile seemed too wide still. "How have you been?"

I glanced at James uncertainly, but he was watching the aurors. He was hesitating, I thought, but doing a remarkably good job of making it seem like he meant to coldly stare them down for a moment. Finally, he shrugged. "I've been great. Better now, of course." He nodded in my direction, a smile slipping onto his face. "This is Wren Predetal, by the way. My girlfriend."

"Oh, we've heard of her," the Asian girl replied curtly, crossing her arms. She didn't sound mean, necessarily. Just cold. I frowned at her for a moment, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but drew a blank.

"Alex, don't be rude," the other girl chided. She flashed a smile at me. "Nice to meet you again, Wren. I'm Elinor Scott. I was a seventh year at Hogwarts during your first year."

I nodded. "Headgirl. I remember." I managed a smile, though I still felt uncomfortable. I hardly remembered this girl, after all. Besides that, only knowing me in first year likely hadn't given her the best impression of me.

James nodded, not smiling. "Right. And this is Charles, and Alexis." He pointed at each of them in turn, then glanced back at me. "They were headboy and girl my first year."

"Nice to meet you," I said automatically.

"Nice to meet you, too," Charles said, grinning widely. "I've heard a lot about you." What on earth did that mean? I felt my smile disappear, and try as I might I couldn't keep the confusion and concern off my face. He must have noticed, because he clarified, "From James, I mean. All good things."

I blinked, unsure exactly how to respond to that. I'd expected the angry treatment Victoire and Teddy had given James from most DA members we ran into. Not this weird, pseudo-polite small talk. James squeezed my hand, and I managed a weak smile. "Oh. All right."

For a moment, there was silence. Just as Charles had opened his mouth to say something else, though, Alexis interrupted, "You know, it's interesting that you're here, Wren." She tilted her head. "Especially considering I thought you'd been kidnapped by Stillens."

I faltered for a moment. What was she implying? Was that a reason for suspicion? "I... yes, I was. Obviously. But I escaped." And came here. Which... admittedly, didn't make a lot of sense, I'm sure. But I didn't really want to explain why I would've come to the Ministry knowing how many people here worked for my uncle. Partly because there wasn't a satisfactory answer without telling the truth, and partly because this might be a place where speculation would work in our favor.

"You must be grateful," Elinor said, smiling. "I mean, to have escaped that lunatic twice now? You're very lucky."

Though she seemed perfectly innocent and kind, I got the feeling that there was a bit of an implied doubt in her words. I smiled uncomfortable and stepped a little closer to James. "Lucky. Yes."

"Luck, and some decent planning on my part," James corrected, frowning at Elinor. "Are you trying to imply something?"

"Not at all," she said, quickly enough that I almost believed her. She laughed nervously, then glanced back at the other two. Charles stepped in quickly.

"So, what've you been up to lately, James?"

"I've been in France, taking care of my mental health and making preparations to rescue my girlfriend, since the DA didn't feel like it." He shrugged. "I guess you probably knew most of that already, though, from the tabloids."

"Yeah," Charles admitted. He glanced around, but there wasn't anyone within hearing distance. Even still, he took a step closer. For a moment, he looked like he was about to put his hand on James's shoulder, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he leaned forward and lowered his voice. "It's just... you know, there've been a lot of rumors about you going around, and we've been concerned."

"Have there?" James deadpanned. "What, that I've turned my back on my family and the DA? Don't worry, none of that's true." A look of relief crossed both Elinor and Charles's faces (though not Alexis's, I noticed). It only lasted a moment, though, before James continued, "they turned their backs on me. I don't want anything to do with the DA anymore, after that."

"Then it's a good thing we're not talking about the DA," Alexis said calmly. I got the feeling that she didn't have the highest opinion of James. She cast a slightly concerned glance at me, though.

The other two seemed too shocked to respond for a moment, but when Alexis nudged Charles with her elbow he blinked and shook his head. "Right. Yeah. What are you doing here, then?"

"Just a meeting with the Minister," he said, shrugging. "Job hunting, I suppose."

Now all three of them when frowning at him, exchanging looks of confusion. "Job hunting?" Elinor echoed. "With the Minister?"

"Yeah," James said, as if there were nothing odd about that at all. "You're looking at the newest head of public information services."

Charles's mouth dropped open. Elinor seemed to grow a little paler. Even Alexis looked surprised. "Doesn't that come with a spot in Parliament?"

"Yes, it does." James smiled. "Exciting, isn't it?"

The look they exchanged was far from excited, but Elinor did manage a rather strained, "Congratulations."

"Well," Charles said, "I guess we'll be seeing you around, then." He chuckled a little, then turned to me. "So... are you returning to school?"

I nodded, smiling as if this were a normal conversation and not possibly the most awkward experience I'd ever had in my life. "Thankfully, yes. Russey said he'd be able to smooth it over with the headmistress. I'll probably just have to do some make-up work over the holidays."

"Well, I hope that goes all right," Elinor said, somehow sounding genuine. Charles was also nodding and smiling; I got the impression that they were glad the conversation had veered back into a safer realm. Alexis was still studying me, as if she couldn't get a read on me, either. Good. I wasn't particularly sure I wanted her to, not if I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Anyway," Alexis said after a minute, "we should get back to the auror office."

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," James agreed.

"Oh, first, um, I heard about your brother, mate," Charles said. "Just wanted to say I'm sorry. That's got to be rough."

"Yeah." James nodded slowly. "Yeah, thanks." He paused, then shook his head. "I mean, I guess he deserves it, but I suppose the DA's going to leave him for dead, too?"

That caught even me by surprise. I stared at him for a moment before I recovered. That was a little more harsh than necessary.

Elinor was blinking at him, a shocked expression on her face that would have been just as fitting if someone had stood up at a baby shower and announced that they couldn't wait to kidnap the child. Alexis was glaring at him. Charles's eyes had grown wide, and after a moment he spluttered, "I... excuse me?"

James shrugged, a cold scowl on his face. He didn't address the first part of his own statement. "I mean, that's what they're best at, isn't it? I don't suppose they're actually planning on rescuing him, are they?"

Charles and Elinor exchanged an unsure glance, but Alexis let out a sharp sigh. "We wouldn't know, Potter," she said, in what seemed like a warning tone. "Why would we know about the DA?" She met my eyes for a moment, and it hit me that James might not know for sure that they were in it. He hadn't been there. He hadn't seen them. And it seemed that Alexis wanted to keep it that way.

"No, I don't suppose you would," James said, rolling his eyes. "My bad. You three certainly aren't in the DA, of course."

"Of course not," Charles said tightly. He frowned at James one last time, shaking his head in disbelief and disappointment.

James just rolled his eyes and turned towards the café again. "Come on, Wren. I'd like to get to Hogwarts while it's still light outside."

I shot a small smile at the three aurors. "Um, it was lovely to meet you. Have a good day."

"You too," Elinor said, smiling at me. Charles didn't manage a smile, but he at least nodded at me.

Alexis, though, reached out to shake my hand. I hadn't been expecting that,and hesitated just long enough for her to reach out and take it. "It was nice to finally meet you, Wren," she said, staring intently at me behind a polite smile.

"You as well." I was aware of James, a few paces away, stopping to wait for me.

She leaned in a little closer and whispered. "Listen, if you ever need to get away from him, let me know."

I stared at her for a second as what she was saying hit me. Did she think James was forcing me into this? I found myself frowning in confusion. "Um... right. I don't think I need that. But, um, thank you, I guess."

Alexis frowned, and for a moment she looked like she was going to say something else. The moment passed, though, and she didn't press me. Instead, she nodded and let go of my hand reluctantly. I shot one last glance at the three of them, then slowly turned back to James.

I could hear them whispering, just before I'd gotten out of earshot. Charles, saying he couldn't understand, it was like James was a different person. I tried not to wince at that (because that's honestly what it had felt like) and cast a puzzled glance at James.

He didn't respond until I'd reached him and he could turn around. "Sorry. I just... I had a feeling they were in the DA, and I had to sell that I wanted nothing to do with it."

"You might have sold it a little too hard."

"No. Alexis didn't believe me until the end. That bit about Al." James closed his eyes tightly and took a shaky breath, but waved my hand away when I reached out for his arm. "It's fine," he said softly. "They all believe it now."

I glanced over my shoulder just as they were disappearing into the elevator hall. Well, that was likely true. I slipped my arm through his and laid my head on his shoulder. "They'll understand someday, James. Really."

"Yeah, sure," he said with a sigh. "Provided we all make it that long, I suppose they might."

Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any better light to paint that in that wasn't a lie.

~~~~

Yesterday marks Star of Gryffindor's sixth birthday! Wow! It's nearly as old as Cassie!

To those of you who know who Alexis, Elinor, and Charles are (hint: go read The Golden Lock), how did I do in portraying them? No joke, you can ask inked_depths, but I've had anxiety about this for literally months.

Question of the Day: I've been having some trouble constantly having to say "Charles, Alexis, and Elinor" (and often including Teddy and Toire) because there isn't any easier way to refer to them. Any ideas on a name for Alexis & Co.?

Answer: inked_depths suggested "ACE" (for Alexis, Charles, and Elinor), but I feel sad that Teddy and Toire aren't represented...

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 8624