~Wren~

Lily and James really threw themselves into the work of acting like they hated each other. They argued the whole walk back to Hogsmeade, and Lily nearly dueled him once we reached the Three Broomsticks. After we'd flooed back to the Potters' house, Lily stormed outside, James on her heels, and screamed at him for nearly ten minutes before stomping back through the kitchen and up to her room.

People were probably watching the house, we'd determined. Stillens' people, Russey's people, maybe even DA people. It was best to put on a show, if we could. Lily was frighteningly good at it. Some of the things she said, about James abandoning their family, about him being the reason Albus had been arrested, about how she'd rather be in a detention center too than stuck here with us—those things seemed like they really did cut deep, even if Lily wilted and apologized as soon as the door was closed. James just gave her a watery smile and told her to keep it up.

The next few days were a little chaotic. Lily and James argued at least once a day, often ending with one of them storming off. Lily would floo to Eviana or Pip or Elmer's house for the rest of the day, or James would apparate to a pub or go outside and kick the burned tree stump in the back yard until Lily left. It would have been completely unbearable if I hadn't known they didn't really mean it. Even as it was, I felt like I was constantly on edge, and I wasn't even participating in any of the arguments.

Russey had several things he wanted from James and me. He fast-tracked me an apparation license with the express understanding that I was to report to him in much the same manner I'd been reporting to Stillens before, but this time I'd be reporting on Stillens' own agents at Hogwarts. He sent a reporter from the Daily Prophet over to get an interview with us about why we were supporting him and his Ministry. He'd practically written a script for us, which was just fine. All about how he was the wizarding world's best hope, very trustworthy and upstanding and had the people's best interest at heart. Ridiculous things that felt wrong in my mouth, but came out beautifully because they had to. At least the reporter didn't seem like a terrible person. She was nearly moved to tears as we explained the official, publicly sanitized version of how we'd ended up here and gotten away from Stillens.

As the head of public information services, James was going to be spending a lot of time editing down reports to be safe for public view, as well as giving press releases about what was going on in the Ministry. A lot of lies and propaganda, of course, but James was determined to win Russey over completely before he started trying to be sneaky with his actual job duties, and slip things in there that the Ministry might not want anyone to know.

It was the place in Parliament that he was more worried about, he told me. After his first day going in to the office, which was mostly spent being trained by Russey on what a Parliament member did, he seemed completely exhausted. "It's a lot of talking that doesn't mean anything at all," he explained. "No one says what they really want, and nothing means what it sounds like."

I chose not to remind him that that was probably just politics in general. Just laid my head on his shoulder and told him he'd do great.

Once James started going in to work every day, Lily stopped leaving. Often, she invited her friends over to the Potters' house, though occasionally she asked if I wanted to come with her to theirs. We decided that probably wasn't a good idea, though; didn't want anyone to think I was getting too friendly with DA sympathizers behind James's back. When we were at the Potters, though, we could draw the curtains and spend the afternoon pretending no one was watching the house at all.

Elmer, Pip, and Eviana didn't know what to make of me, I could tell. They were all angry at James, and spent a lot of time ranting with Lily about him. I seemed to be in a weird place where they weren't quite sure of me, whether I was fully on board with James or fully against him. I made a point not to talk about it myself, though I never interrupted their ranting. After a day or two, they seemed to have decided that I was at least all right to hang out with, in a weird, tiptoeing-around-subjects kind of way. It was almost funny, after having spent a year playing a similar game when I was a spy, to find that I was now the one they were keeping DA-type secrets from. I acted like I couldn't tell.

Two days before Christmas, Russey called an emergency session of Parliament (James's first, as they weren't supposed to resume until the new year). Lily and I spent an hour after James was gone trying to figure out what it could be about, but the Quibbler was so full of bad news and the Prophet was so full of nothing that we couldn't decide whether it was granting the Minister more emergency powers, or dealing with a group of DA members who had been found out when their secretkeeper broke. It didn't really matter; either was awful, and it might have been both, and James would tell us all about it when he got home.

We spent most of the afternoon wandering around a no-maj mall in Bristol, doing our Christmas shopping where it was likely no wizarding eyes would be watching us. Lily was ecstatic at the idea of visiting Teddy and Victoire for Christmas, and even more excited at the prospect of meeting Cassie. She spent a ridiculous amount of money on presents for the two little girls, then claimed she hardly had any left for James so he'd have to make do with a pair of socks covered in quaffles that she'd bought for his birthday and then left at home last year.

James was sitting at the kitchen table when we walked back in, presents shrunk down small enough to be concealed in our coat pockets. He hardly glanced at us as I closed the door, and I felt the smile on my face fade. "Was it bad?"

He started, as if he hadn't realized we'd come in at all, despite the fact that Lily had plopped into the chair right across from him and had already begun emptying her pockets. I sank down beside him, frowning in concern as he gathered his thoughts. "Oh, yeah, I suppose it was. The Parliament stuff, that is. All expected, of course."

"What happened in the session?" Lily asked. She pulled her wand out and started unshrinking the packages she'd laid out on the table.

He shrugged. "A lot of posturing, sucking up, arguing. We were determining the punishment for some members of the DA who'd been caught somehow. Russey claimed they'd committed horrible crimes against the public, but I don't think anyone ever clarified what they were."

I bit my lip. "What was the sentence?"

"Someone suggested life in Azkaban." James looked down at the table. "Russey told me to suggest the detention centers, to be merciful."

Lily squinted at him. "Why would he want you to suggest being merciful?"

"So he could look good when he agreed?" James shrugged, suddenly looking miserable. "I don't think there's a lot of mercy in it, honestly. He told me afterwards that they'll get something much closer to what they deserve there, which can't be good. I think... I'm afraid the detention centers might be made to be worse than Azkaban."

I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head. I'd spent too much time in my uncle's mini Azkaban for that to make sense to me. "What could be worse than Azkaban?"

"I really don't want to know."

Lily had grown pale. "Does that mean... Albus and Colette..."

"I'm sure they're fine," James said quickly. He flashed a smile that only seemed marginally forced. "I'm sure it's not so bad for them. Just... actual DA members, you know?" Lily nodded, seeming entirely unconvinced.

"Who was it?" I asked quietly. "Did you know?"

"They weren't there." He shook his head. "Russey claimed they were trying to protect their privacy, but I think that just means it was someone well-known, and he wants to avoid the public outcry." He pursed his lips for a moment, then continued, "I might be able to find out, eventually. I have a little more access to information than most people, you know. I'm basically a glorified filter. I decide what the rest of the Ministry and the public get to know, and what they don't. I think Russey's testing me now, not letting me see the bad stuff just yet, but... eventually, I'm sure..."

He trailed off, leaving a silence that seemed tangibly heavy. I glanced over at Lily, staring off into the distance with a distressed expression. Many of the more well-known DA members were also members of their family, I knew, and I could imagine the wheel of possibilities spinning in her mind. Though I wanted to comfort her, tell her that her loved ones were surely all safe, I had no idea. We wouldn't know until we saw someone from the DA again, or Elmer managed to smuggle us another copy of the Quibbler. Or we got back to school.

"Something weird happened today, though," James said, cutting through the silence and somehow easing some of the tension. I shot a curious look at him, and though he still looked like there was a lot on his mind, it was less of a depressed expression than a simply perplexed one. "Honestly, it might have been more confusing than the session..."

Lily tilted her head, seeming glad for the distraction. "Weird like, magically weird? Or people acting weird?"

"People. Eris Prince dragged me into a broom closet—"

"Ew!" Lily exclaimed, before pretending to gag.

"Not like that!" James made a face, then shivered a little, as if he couldn't stand the very thought. "No, she just wanted to talk."

"Eris Prince wanted to talk to you?" I asked faintly.

"I guess she's some sort of assistant to the assistant of someone, and said she'd seen me there before? It felt like she'd been watching for me." James shook his head.

Well, that might be understandable. Eris had had such a problem with me last year, that maybe she'd cornered James just to make him miserable? It seemed like a risky move for her, though, accosting a parliament member. "She... was she angry about something?"

"No, that's the weird thing." James ran a hand through his hair, seeming at a loss. "She said that she couldn't imagine what I was doing here, but she wanted to help."

"What?" Lily's eyes widened. "Help? Are you sure she wasn't trying to trick you?"

"I have no idea. I asked her what she meant, of course. She just said something about how I had to know the Ministry was super corrupt, and if I didn't, Wren must, so that meant we had to have some other motive for supporting it."

"I mean..." I frowned, surprised at how close Eris had managed to get. People much closer to us had completely fallen for our act. "I suppose she's not wrong."

"Well, of course she's not. I just want to know who she thinks she's kidding." James rolled his eyes. "I don't see why she'd care if the Ministry's corrupt."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her to screw off," he said with a shrug. When he noticed my mouth drop open, he quickly added, "I had to see if she was being serious, or if someone had just put her up to it, to try to trick me into outing myself."

Lily leaned forward on the table. "Did she screw off?"

"No, shockingly. She did hesitate for a moment, like she was rethinking it all, and I asked what she thought I was doing, anyway. What she was implying. And she said that she wasn't sure. Hopefully nothing with the DA. But she's heard and seen a lot of very concerning things since she started working at the Ministry, I guess, and she's sure Wren and I have to know about at least some of it, so we can't be here knowingly supporting Stillens."

"You didn't tell her anything, did you?" Lily asked.

"Well..." James winced. "Not really. But... I guess I did admit that I wasn't totally on board with the Ministry, since I'm fully against Stillens. And... maybe I was trying to fight him from a different angle than the DA. But she guessed all of that, so I didn't really tell her much, all right?"

"Are you absolutely dense?"

"I'd like to see you react to that, Lily! If I'm dense, you're—"

"Okay, let's not fight about it," I cut in, trying not to cringe. "What did Eris say, in the end?"

James shot a nasty glare at his sister, but ended up turning to look at me without continuing the argument. "She still said she wanted to help, actually."

"You told her no, right?"

"I didn't tell her anything, Lils." James rolled his eyes, then shot a worried glance at me. "Well, I... I might have told her to go get a phone, and owl me her number. I told her I'd think about it, if she did. Do you think that was a bad idea?"

"Obviously!"

I pursed my lips, ignoring Lily's outburst. "I... I don't know. I mean, I suppose you could just deny everything if she tried to turn on you with any of this, at this point."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I got the impression that my word would probably far outweigh hers, anyway."

"Do you want her help?"

"Of course not. I only told her to owl me so you wouldn't be angry. I hate her, and she hates both of us, and she's a prat and a suck up and a hypocrite. I don't want anything to do with her."

"But..." I tilted my head, trying to put my thoughts into words that he wouldn't shoot down immediately. "It sounds like she's also on our side."

Lily made a face. "We can find better people on our side, can't we?"

"I'm not sure." I frowned. "I think it might at least be worth it to talk to her. Eris Prince is far from the worst person in the world, after all. Maybe, with a common goal, she wouldn't be so bad?"

James let out a groan. "How did I know you were going to do this?"

"It might at least be worth talking to her some more. Just to see if she's really willing to help."

James considered that for a moment, eyes cloudy with frustration. I tried not to hold my breath. I didn't like Eris either, after all, and I couldn't blame James for wanting nothing to do with her. She'd seemed like she was making it her goal to make Albus and me miserable last year, and James had been putting up with her in class for long before that. But I'd seen other sides to Eris Prince than the power-crazed, bullying headgirl, and I wasn't convinced that she was a thoroughly despicable person. At the very least, there could be hope for change.

But James always told me I was too optimistic about people. Not everyone was redeemable, apparently, even girls whose worst sin was pettiness. I still hoped he might listen to me, this time. I was more sure than normal that I might be right.

Finally, he let out a resigned sigh. "Fine. If she sends me her number, I'll call her. We can meet her at some muggle café and talk, all right? You're coming, too."

I managed to not let out a sigh of relief. "Great."

"You've both lost it," Lily announced, shaking her head. She seemed less adamant than before, at least.

~~~~

Two days later, the three of us showed up outside Teddy's apartment building, arms full of presents. Lily nearly bounced up the stairs, and dropped all of her packages to launch herself at Teddy when we rounded the last staircase and found him waiting for us on the landing. Astra's note worked perfectly well to let Lily in the apartment, and then it was all the noise and bustle you'd expect. Lily kept squealing over how big Charis had gotten, and was talking so quickly with Victoire that I could hardly understand what she was saying. Mrs. Tonks was there, too, lecturing James as if he were her own child. I almost didn't notice Cassie coming up behind me and slipping her hand into mine, seeming overwhelmed by the noise.

Luckily, Lily did calm down (and Mrs. Tonks reached the end of her lecture) when James cleared his throat and mentioned that she hadn't met Cassie yet. We'd warned her that Cassie would probably be scared of her, and I could tell she was making an effort to be quiet and gentle despite the fact that her self-proclaimed style of interacting with children was "loud and entertaining." It didn't help that much, but Cassie at least didn't hide behind me when Lily knelt down to introduce herself.

Apparently, in the two weeks since we'd been here, the Lupins had watched several Christmas movies and Charis had become absolutely obsessed with Santa Claus. She dragged Lily and James around the room, pointing out the stockings that Santa had filled (hanging from the windowsill, since they didn't have a fireplace), the cookies he'd eaten, the footprints he'd left next to the Christmas tree that was overflowing with presents. Cassie watched them from the couch, cuddled against my arm.

Teddy plopped down on the couch on the other side of her, raising his eyebrows at the little girl. "Happy to have Wren back?"

Cassie nodded and actually smiled at him. I couldn't help smiling as well. That was progress, wasn't it? Being able to respond so easily? Smiling? She seemed more comfortable here, as well, even if she hadn't left my side since I'd walked in.

I gestured to where Charis was trying to point out which presents were from Santa himself for Lily and James. "Do you believe in Santa, Cassie?"

The little girl tilted her head and thought about it for a few seconds. "I... I don't think so?"

"You don't think so?" Teddy chuckled. "Have you heard of him before?"

"Yes..." Her expression clouded over. "But it was before, I think."

"That's okay," Teddy said quickly. "You don't have to tell me about that. But why don't you think you believe in Santa?"

She thought about that again for a moment, then glanced uncertainly between both of us. "I don't remember..."

I pursed my lips. That made sense, actually. The memory was probably linked to her parents, which meant it had likely been affected when she'd been brainwashed. "It's okay. You don't have to believe in Santa. Totally reasonable."

Teddy grinned. "Remember how we were acting like we believed in him last night?" Cassie nodded. "Well, Victoire and Gran and I don't actually believe in Santa either. We're playing along for Charis, though, because she does believe in him. Think you're big enough to help us out?"

Cassie's eyes lit up. "Yes!"

"Great!" He held up his hand for a high five, which Cassie gave with a wide smile. "Okay, I've got to go help Gran finish up prepping the meal, but we'll be ready for presents pretty soon."

It was a very sweet time. Charis almost seemed to have more fun unwrapping presents than she did seeing what was inside them, which led to me, Victoire, Teddy, and Mrs. Tonks letting her open all of ours for us. Cassie didn't like everyone looking at her as she opened anything, so James and Lily traded off opening presents at the same time as her.

James had gotten Cassie a child sized broom, along with a promise that as soon as it was safe, he'd teach her how to ride it around more than just the living room. Apparently, it was charmed to only go a foot off the ground, but the charms could be changed once she got better at flying. That got him and Teddy into a good-natured argument over whether they'd be training up the next star of the Hufflepuff or Gryffindor Quidditch team, which led to explaining the Hogwarts Houses to a very fascinated Cassie. By the time Lily had finished her impassioned defense of Slytherin's future in Quidditch (especially if our budding Quidditch star ended up there), lunch was ready.

Victoire had seated Cassie between the two of us. Charis was only making a little bit of a mess with her mashed potatoes across the table, and Lily was entertaining everyone with her impressions of every single professor and staff member at Hogwarts (and being very patient when we kept having to stop to explain to Cassie what transfiguration or divination meant). Everything was going so well, and was such a contrast to meals with my parents at the manor, that I almost didn't think anything of it when Cassie, reaching for a roll, accidentally knocked over her glass of water.

"Agh, towel!" Teddy exclaimed, jumping up to grab one from the kitchen. Victoire pulled Cassie's chair out from the table, so the water wouldn't drip on her. While I set the cup upright, she grabbed their napkins to start mopping the water up as it pooled around our plates. Then I glanced at Cassie. She was frozen in place, looking like she was about to cry.

Victoire seemed to notice this, too, and her brow furrowed in concern. "Cassie, it's all right."

That made her burst into tears. "I'm sorry!" She buried her face in her hands and said something else, which I think might have been that she didn't mean to do it.

"Oh, dear, I know. It was an accident." Victoire reached out to comfort her, I guess, but Cassie flinched away.

As Victoire hesitated, glancing up at me uncertainly, I tried not to sigh. Maybe Cassie wasn't doing as well as I'd thought. "Um... my mother's response to Cassie spilling her water was to... well, to beat her..."

Victoire's eyes grew wide, and she glanced across the table to Teddy and Mrs. Tonks, who had paused in the scramble to move things around and stop the water. They both looked equally shocked. For a moment, the only sound was Cassie's attempts to stifle her crying, wiping at her eyes and staring at the floor.

I pursed my lips, then leaned towards Cassie. "Hey, it's okay."

Cassie actually looked up at me, blinking quickly. "I didn't mean to be bad."

"You weren't bad. It's all right."

"But... Aunt Katreena said..." A sob cut her off.

I didn't really know what to say to that. I shot a helpless glance at Victoire, who was watching us with a concerned frown. After she caught my gaze, she stood, pulled Cassie's chair around a little so it was facing her, then knelt down in front of it, peering up into the little girl's face. "Cassie, look at me." She did, seeming tensed for Victoire to scream at her. Victoire did not do that. "It's all right. I promise. It was an accident, and you're not going to get in trouble for an accident here, all right?"

Cassie didn't say anything, but she was still looking at Victoire, not flinching away from her voice. Victoire took the girl's hands in both of hers, and Cassie didn't pull away. "I know Aunt Katreena wasn't very kind, or forgiving. She did a lot of very wrong things. She shouldn't have been hurting you, and I'm sorry that she did. I know it was scary. You don't need to worry about that anymore, though. We're not going to hurt you."

Teddy had moved around the table, and now crouched down beside Victoire to smile up at Cassie. "Accidents happen, right? No one's angry with you. I promise. Okay?"

Cassie glanced between them for a second. I could tell she was struggling to believe them. After a moment's hesitation, I reached over to pat her shoulder. "It's all right, Cassie. They're not like my mother. They really won't hurt you."

She glanced at me, eyes wide, then back at Victoire and Teddy. After a moment, she nodded a little. For once, I felt like she might actually agree, instead of just saying what she thought we wanted to hear. At the very least, she smiled a little as Teddy and Victoire stood back up. Teddy leaned over the table to grab the towel, and in the process managed to accidentally knock over the gravy boat.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands to his face in an exaggerated fashion. "I spilled the gravy!"

"Teddy!" Victoire exclaimed, a broad smile on her face. She made a show of rolling her eyes and laughing, which made Cassie giggle a little. "I guess we'll have to clean that up, too, won't we?"

Teddy laughed, as well, then glanced back at Cassie. "Want to help, Cass?"

She glanced at me, then nodded shyly. Teddy grinned and passed her the towel as she pushed herself out of her chair. He accio'ed another from the kitchen, then talked Cassie through moving all the plates around to clean up the spill, then showed her a spell that could clean the tablecloth after the gravy had been mopped up. By the time everything was clean and we'd all sat back down to eat, Cassie seemed even more at ease than she had before.

~~~~

Cassie didn't cry when we left this time, just hugged me tightly and asked if I could come visit again. I wasn't sure when I would be able to do that, but when I explained she just nodded seriously and asked if I could send her letters from Hogwarts. She was getting better at reading, so maybe she could read them? And Teddy could help her write me back? I told her I'd love that.

James was making plans for the new year, too. Once Lily and I were back at school, he was going to move in with Fred, who had an apartment in Diagon Alley. Apparently, he'd been having a tough time since his girlfriend had disappeared, and was more than happy to pretend that was a reason he would cut off ties with the DA. Of course, he hadn't really cut off ties with them; that was part of the ruse. The DA was going to think that James didn't know that, and Fred was keeping an eye on him. In reality, Fred wasn't going to be telling them the truth, either.

When Fred came over to finalize he and James's plans, I did ask if he'd heard how Ciara was doing since she and Astra had left, wondering briefly if he even knew she'd escaped. He wasn't caught off guard by the question, at least. He said he had, and he'd even been able to see her, but acted very evasive when I asked him anything beyond that (such as how she was actually doing). I gave it up. I supposed I wasn't in the DA anymore, so it was fair if he didn't want to tell me anything about someone in DA hiding. I could find out from Haverna once school started, I was sure.

To James's annoyance, we got an unfamiliar owl with nothing but a phone number a few days after Christmas. James spent fifteen minutes rolling his eyes and huffing about it, but he did end up calling. Eris Prince picked up, and though she seemed a little skeptical about the idea of going to a no-maj café, she ended up agreeing with very little name-calling all around.

Two days later, after Lily had stormed out of the house to yell at James then flooed off to Elmer's, James and I apparated to an alley in London about ten blocks from the café. As we walked there, James kept reminding me to keep my hood up even though I had no intention of pulling it down, and was glancing around enough to clearly mark us as paranoid or suspicious. Luckily, it was a cold and rainy day, and this street seemed to be filled with tourists, so James's odd behavior went unnoticed.

The café itself was dimly lit and full of people. Slow jazz music could be heard over the rumble of voices all around. I stuck close behind James as he wove through the tightly packed tables of laptops and lattes, papers and pastries, and ended up at a table in the far back corner, nearly concealed by a large, modern statue that kind of just looked like squiggles. In the dim light, I could make out Eris Prince sitting across from us.

"Ah, you brought your little pet," was her greeting. She eyed me with an unamused frown.

James had barely sat down; at that, he jumped back up, grabbing my arm. "All right, we're done here."

"James, hold on..." I managed not to wince as I glanced over at Eris, who looked only mildly repentant. "Hear what she has to say, at least."

For a long moment, he glowered at her. Finally, he shook his head and muttered something that sounded obscene before sitting back down. "Fine. Just remember, I could easily get your fired, so try not to insult my girlfriend, will you?"

Eris did not seem particularly worried by that threat, judging by her bored frown. I sighed. "What do you want, Eris?"

"I'm pretty sure I already told Potter what I wanted."

"Why don't you tell her, then, Prince," James suggested, a hard edge to his voice. "Everything you told me."

She rolled her eyes as if that were a childish request. "Fine, Predetal. I have to admit that at some point I got the impression that you aren't a complete idiot, so please don't disappoint me in that department now."

I saw James bristle at what was nearly an insult, and put my hand on his leg under the table. Just let her talk. When neither of us rose to that, Eris raised an eyebrow slightly, as if surprised at the restraint, then continued. "I told your boyfriend here that I know you can't possibly be supporting the Ministry, considering how corrupt it is. Don't bother acting like you don't know, either."

I didn't bother. Instead, I tilted my head quizzically. "What makes you think it's corrupt?"

She paused for the first time, hesitating. Uncertain. I got the feeling that she'd expected that alone to be enough to call our bluff, without risking incriminating herself for treason. But after a moment, she looked down at her mug of tea. "I work in the Improper Use of Magic Office," she explained. "An unimportant enough position that people hardly seem to notice I'm there. And I've heard the head of the office, Cecilee Hardins, talking with the Minister a few times. Arguing, mostly. About how to please Stillens."

My eyes widened. That was far more than I'd expected. While I wasn't totally surprised those conversations had happened, since I'd known Hardins worked for my uncle too, I couldn't believe Eris had managed to overhear them. How had that happened? Did she realize how much danger she could be in? "You heard them say that?"

"The Minister only mentioned him once," Eris admitted, "and Hardins shushed him immediately. But it fits the context of the other times."

"So, you heard that and you didn't tell anyone?" James asked incredulously.

"Who was I to tell?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. I had a feeling he'd been about to say the DA before thinking better of it. After a moment, he shook his head. "Fair point, I suppose."

"Did you know the Minister was working for Stillens?"

Now I glanced at James. Too long of a hesitation would tell her the truth anyway, but this was his call. For a moment, he pursed his lips, then slowly nodded. "Yeah. We did."

"And you're still here."

"We have our reasons."

Eris leaned forward, eyeing us both with interest. "I would love to know what they are."

"I'm sure you would." James crossed his arms. "I suppose you spend a lot of time spying on the Minister, though? I'm not sure you're the safest person to be around."

"I wasn't spying. I didn't even want to hear them." She rolled her eyes as if the concept was beneath her, then sighed. "They didn't notice I was within earshot, I'm pretty sure. I was just sitting at my desk."

"That's not surprising," James said nastily, "considering how utterly unimportant you are as a person."

"James." I closed my eyes, feeling a headache forming. He huffed, but didn't say more, and when Eris didn't retaliate, I opened my eyes to see her watching me with a frustrated look. "What is it that you want, exactly?"

"To do something. Anything." She shook her head. "Even if it means dealing with a prat like James Potter. I don't want to sit back and watch the whole world fall into the hands of your family, Predetal. I didn't realize it was this bad until recently, but I know you've both known about it for longer. So the only logical conclusion is that you're either fully in support of Stillens, which Potter already confirmed isn't the case, or you have some plan to work against him. I want to help."

"I suppose your parents are on board with this?" James asked, rolling his eyes.

She hesitated. "What they don't know won't hurt them."

"Might hurt you, if they find out." I couldn't tell if James was being cruel or trying to get her to see outright something that could end up being an issue down the line. Either way, Eris's eyes had narrowed into a glare as he continued, "Listen, I know they're not Stillens' sympathizers, but plenty of people fully support the Ministry and wouldn't believe you if you told them they shouldn't. You sure they're not some of those people?"

It took several moments for her to answer, and she looked away when she did. "They are. It doesn't matter. I don't care."

"They were ready to disown you over that rumor Ciara and Wren let out last year."

"I'm fully aware of that. Do you think I haven't thought this through?"

"Just checking." James glanced at me, a cue to take over again.

"Okay. Good. Now... what is it that you think we're doing?"

"I don't know," she snapped. "Listen, I've said my bit. You can rest assured I haven't enjoyed it, either. I hate you both. You're stuck-up and entitled, and I want nothing to do with either of you. I'm pretty sure you know that, though, and feel the same about me. If that's the case, then I'm sure you can imagine how much I've absolutely despised this whole thing. Do you think I would do this just for fun? To catch you in some act of treason? Who would take my word over yours?" She shook her head. "If you don't believe me, fine. It's your choice to be an idiot, Predetal. Just tell me now and we can be done."

"Stop calling my girlfriend an idiot."

"Tell her to stop acting like one, then."

James narrowed his eyes, and I was almost surprised that he didn't reach for his wand. "You know, Prince, you're really not doing a good job of convincing me that you want to help me with whatever you think I'm doing."

"Good thing I don't have to convince you of anything, then," she said, rolling her eyes. "Just her. You'll do anything she says."

James sat back in the seat and rolled his eyes, but didn't deny it, which made me shift uncomfortably. He crossed his arms before continuing. "You really think you're convincing her?"

"Yes, I do." Eris glanced back at me, losing the hardness of her glare as she did. It became almost a question in her eyes, even though her words weren't asking. "I think she sees the logic in what I'm saying."

I was glad the dim light hid my face growing hot as both of them turned to look at me now, waiting on my verdict. Eris was right; I could see the logic. She hated us, and swallowing her pride to ask to help us couldn't have been easy, no matter the circumstances. Russey would definitely take our word over hers, as well, taking away any leverage she could possibly have in this situation. And she certainly wasn't acting any nicer than normal, which made it less likely that she was hiding something. Eris had never struck me as a very practiced liar.

And if she had enough access to overhear conversations like that between Cecilee Hardins and Pollux Russey, and was still flying so far under the radar that they had no idea she'd even been there, Eris Prince could end up being an invaluable alley.

I winced a little as I glanced up at James. "I'm sorry... I do think she's telling the truth. And she could be useful. Helpful."

He frowned at me for long enough that I thought he was about to prove Eris wrong right here and disagree. But finally, he sighed and shook his head. "Fine. All right, then." He turned back to Eris. "Honestly, Prince, I'm not sure what any of this is going to look like. We want to find more people like us, the ones seeing the corruption, who want it to end."

"You're definitely not with the DA?" she asked, seeming wary all of the sudden.

"Screw the DA," James said, shaking his head. "We'll make our own society. I suppose you're the first official member. Wouldn't have chosen it that way, but that's how it's happened, I guess." He frowned at her for a moment, then held his hand out across the table. "Welcome to... name to be determined."

Eris eyed his hand distastefully for only a moment before taking it. "Thanks, Potter. I suppose we figure it out as we go?"

"I suppose. The only condition is that you stop being such a bitch."

"Absolutely not."

James narrowed his eyes, but it was a different sort of glare than it had been a few minutes ago. This one may have been tinged with respect. "Fine." When he glanced at me a moment later, and I shot him an uncertain smile, he returned it. I thought that this might just work. 

~~~~

Hi everyone! If you're not following my dear and lovely friend inked_depths, you should be. On the off chance you're not, though, I'm here to tell you to go check out her new project! It's called Tales from the Auror Office, and it's going to be a collection of short stories and one shots about the Lock Crew after they graduate Hogwarts (so concurrent with this series!). Once again, I fully endorse everything she writes as canon, so if you don't go read this, you'll be missing out! Also, you may or may not be getting some more Teddy content thrown in with the Alexis, Charles, and Elinor stuff, and maybe if you're lucky even some Victoire? Who knows, you'll have to find out! Go check out the first installment now!

Question of the Day: Explain your WIP in the cringiest way possible.

Answer: Okay, so, it's a James Sirius love story—

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 6534