~Wren~

Lacy looped her arm through mine on the way to breakfast on the first day of class, startling me out of my thoughts. I glanced over at her in surprise, but she just smiled warmly at me. "So, I'm guessing you don't consider the Quibbler a reliable source of information?"

She'd said something last night about proving Russey worked for Stillens, but I hadn't thought she'd really meant it. I blinked at her for a moment, wondering if I'd have to put up with this all year, then tilted my head. "Has the Quibblerstarted citing its sources?"

"Fair enough, I guess." Lacy frowned thoughtfully. I half expected her to remind me why the Quibbler couldn't cite it sources, since that would be putting countless people in danger, but I suppose it was clear that I understood that, too. After a moment, she smiled at me again. "I'm going to convince you, though. I'm being serious."

I laughed weakly. "That's not necessary, honestly..."

"Oh, it certainly is. What if you're wrong?" Lacy shook her head, expression as serious as she was claiming to be. "No, we've got to prove it. There's too much at stake."

My only consolation was that, as far as I knew, the DA only knew for a fact that Russey worked for Stillens on my authority, which made it highly unlikely that Lacy would be able to find anyone to back up what she was saying. She wasn't an idiot, either, so I wasn't super concerned about her, Iris, and Rose getting into trouble to prove it. If anything, it seemed like I was just doomed for many more conversations like this. At least she was talking to me.

When we reached the Great Hall, I managed to extricate myself from Lacy and the other Gryffindors by heading over to the Slytherin table. Poppy and Ciara were already there, watching curiously as I walked over to them. "Was that Lacy?" Poppy asked. "Talking to you?"

"Is she giving you trouble?" Ciara's tone was significantly more protective than Poppy's. "We can do something about that, if you want."

"No, it's fine." I sat down, reaching for an apple as I did. "They're actually being... I don't know. Friendly? Lacy's trying to convince me to join the DA, but she's also being really kind about it."

"Really?" Poppy blinked in surprise. "That's good. Arthur Longbottom told me he was really disappointed in me for talking to you at all."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's all right." She shot me a very bright, almost-believable smile. "I meant what I said last night. If you're putting up with all of this, you won't be doing it alone." She glanced at Ciara. "Did you have any awkward conversations last night?"

Ciara shrugged. "Thyme Lowell asked if I'd take over as Quidditch captain again, because apparently she's done a horrible job. Other than that, people have just been avoiding me, I feel like."

That made sense, though I didn't say it. I always seemed to come back from horrible things shrouded in controversy, but even after people had warmed back up to me, I'd always gotten the feeling that (outside of my closest friends) people didn't know how to talk to me about what had happened. I wouldn't be surprised if people just didn't know what to say to Ciara, how to treat her, on top of being wary of anyone connected to James Potter and me.

"We should probably go see your heads of house before class to get your schedules," Poppy suggested. "And maybe check in with Haverna? Make sure you've done everything you need to?" I already knew I'd done everything she'd asked, caught up on all the work to make up for last term. But an excuse to go say hello to Haverna sounded great, so I agreed. We hurriedly finished breakfast and rushed off to find our professors

Lockley took two minutes to find Ciara's name in a file and pull out her schedule. He handed it to her with a benevolent smile that grew a little harder as his eyes flicked over me and Poppy. As we walked out, Ciara rolled her eyes and muttered that he almost made her ashamed to be a Slytherin.

Edwards was far less organized, and far more anxious, which was not surprising. She flipped through several different piles of papers before admitting she had no idea where my schedule could possibly be, and perhaps it would be better if I just went to see if Professor Haverna had one on file. I couldn't tell if she was just generally anxious, or if it was my presence that was so upsetting to her. As far as I knew, she wasn't in the DA, but she'd been a Gryffindor under Mr. Potter, which seemed like about all it took to be sympathetic to it. Hard to tell.

When I knocked on Professor Haverna's office door, there was no answer for long enough that I wondered if she'd left her light on and already gone to class. That would have been fine; other than Astronomy, Ciara and I had all the same classes, so I already knew where I was going. But I'd still wanted to check in with her this morning in general.

Just when I was about to step back and say we might have to check back in later, the door opened without warning. Haverna peered out at me, holding the door nearly closed, but seemed to relax at me when she saw it was me. "Ah, Wren." She glanced at Poppy and Ciara, still keeping the door from opening. "Is it just the three of you?"

I nodded. "I was just wondering if you had a copy of my schedule? Professor Edwards couldn't find one."

"I should, yes." She glanced over her shoulder, as if she was talking to someone, then opened the door a little wider. "You three can come in, quickly."

We slipped through the door that Haverna was still holding firmly, and I was surprised to see Nico Jasper sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk. He raised an eyebrow at me as I frowned at him. "Hey. Just getting chewed out."

"I'm doing nothing of the sort," Haverna corrected, narrowing her eyes. Without taking her gaze off him, she grabbed Ciara's shoulder and steering her back into the room before my friend could march out in a huff. Then our professor closed her door again. "I'm simply reminding you that having Miss Stevens tell me that you're fine does not count as checking in with me. I was concerned."

"I couldn't do much else!" Nico protested. "Not with Katreena breathing down my back. It took a week of planning to sneak out to see Poppy for five minutes. It's not like I have money for the bloody owl post."

"You could have given her a note."

"I was a little preoccupied."

Poppy winced. "Oh, I'm sorry, that's my fault," she cut in. "We were both so distracted by Albus and Colette, I didn't even think of giving you a message until Nico had to go."

Haverna sighed and shook her head. "I suppose it doesn't matter. The important thing is that you're safe. All of you are, and that's a blessing." She walked over to a file cabinet and began rifling through it. "On that note, I did want to talk to you four about safety." She cast a significant glance at Ciara, who was still glaring at Nico. "I completely understand that some of you might have personal issues with one another, but I need you to know that this a lot bigger than you. Keeping each other's covers isn't just protecting each other, but countless other people, both in the DA and outside of it. All right?"

Poppy, Nico, and I all nodded without hesitation, but Ciara just rolled her eyes. Haverna seemed unamused. "Ciara Malfoy, I am not joking."

She shot another swift glare in Nico's direction. "I didn't say you were."

For a moment, Professor Haverna frowned at her, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Nico was staring at the ground, looking both remorseful and frustrated. Ciara had leveled her glare at our professor, and I found myself shifting uncomfortably, glancing unsurely at Poppy as the clock on the shelf ticked away the silent seconds.

Finally, Haverna glanced at Nico. "We can finish this conversation later. You don't need to be late for class." She waved him off, then glanced at me and Poppy as he slipped out the door. "If you two will give us a moment, I think Ciara and I need to have a chat."

Ciara rolled her eyes again, but didn't say anything as Poppy and I stepped out to the hallway. The door swung closed behind us, and I found myself glancing back at it, biting my lip. This was a natural response, of course, and I couldn't blame her for it, but it hadn't occurred to me that she might actually put Nico (and by extension, the DA) at risk.

"Give her some time." Poppy put her hand on my shoulder, and when I turned to look at her she was watching me with concern. I could see Nico leaning against the wall behind her, studying us both.

Poppy had tilted her head thoughtfully. "You know, it took Albus all of last term to even get used to the idea that he'd have to be around Nico at all. You can't just expect Ciara to forgive him and move on after one afternoon."

"I know that." I pulled back, trying to figure out why I still felt... frustrated? Worried? Upset? I honestly didn't know. "It's just... I don't know. Nothing I've said has helped."

"Then leave it alone." Nico pushed himself off the wall to walk up to me. "Seriously. You meddling with this isn't going to help."

"They're different people, in different situations," Poppy agreed. "It's not going to look the same."

"If it took Albus three months just to stop threatening to kill me every chance he got, how long do you think it's going to take her to work through several years' worth of anger?"

I shook my head, fighting the urge to shrink back with them both standing over me now. "I understand that. I know it'll take time."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" He sighed, then shook his head, finally looking away. "She's going to do what Haverna asks her to do, all right? She's not stupid. You don't need to worry about that. But that's all you can expect from her. Ever."

"That seems a little pessimistic." I didn't manage to get the edge in my voice that I'd meant to, so it came out slightly more pathetic than I'd hoped.

"I'm being realistic," Nico corrected. Now he turned his gaze back on me, eyes narrowed. "You're the only person I've ever heard of who throws second chances out so recklessly, Wren. Ciara's not like that. She holds grudges, and I feel like you're forgetting that I definitely deserve this grudge."

"But you're making up for it!"

"That's not going to matter to her! Ciara and I have a lot more in our past than you and I ever did. So, I'm just trying to warn you now—unless you really want to piss Ciara off, and make all of this more of a mess than it already is, do notpress her."

None of the arguments against that that were whirling through my head seemed like they. Had formed enough to latch onto. Instead, I glanced at Poppy, hoping she might agree that Nico might be going a bit too far, not giving our friend enough credit. But she was just watching me with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but you know he's right. If Ciara comes around, it'll be in her own time. You pressuring her isn't going to help."

It seemed I was outnumbered. I let out a sigh that was closer to a huff of frustration. "Fine. I'll leave it alone."

Apparently, that wasn't good enough. Nico took a quick step toward me, putting his hand on my arm and leaning forward so that his eyes were nearly level with mine. "And if she doesn't come around, that's her right. She doesn't have to. She's not wrong for being upset about it all."

I frowned. "Okay, I get it."

"Do you really?" His grip tightened. "I need to know you understand that."

Honestly, I didn't see what the big deal was. But it was clearly important to Nico, so I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. What did he mean, exactly? He wanted me to know that he was all right with her not coming around, not forgiving him. Or, at least, he thought he deserved that. And... it wasn't a moral failing on Ciara's fault if she didn't ever forgive him? Is that what he meant? If she was frustrated about this situation forever, that wasn't wrong of her, even if it was inconvenient and painful for the rest of us?

Her feelings were valid, too, and likely a lot more complicated that Albus's had been. She didn't have to speed up the process of working through them just because Nico had started fighting Stillens. And me not letting this go would be trampling all over that idea. That's what he was saying, what he was trying to get me to see. In whatever form it was, Nico cared too much about Ciara to put his own feelings over hers. And if I was going to be a good friend to them both, I needed to do the same thing.

"I understand," I said softly, opening my eyes. Nico peered at me for a moment, as if trying to confirm that in my expression, then nodded slightly and stepped back, letting my arm fall. For a moment, none of us spoke. The halls were really quiet, a good signal that classes had already begun. Nico and Poppy both seemed a little unsure of what to say, now that the intensity of the moment had suddenly faded.

"I guess I just don't know how to handle this," I admitted quietly, the silence of the halls suddenly seeming to press in on me until I couldn't breathe. "It was easier to keep everything separate before. I don't know how to deal with it all coming together."

Poppy smiled slightly. "Don't worry about that. I think Nico and I have plenty of experience with dealing with tension, wouldn't you say?"

"Ciara hasn't even threatened to murder me yet," Nico pointed out drily. "Really, though, you don't need to worry about it. It's not your job to make sure everyone gets along."

"Exactly." Poppy put her arm around my shoulder. "You're not responsible for that."

That didn't exactly help, but before I could figure out why, Haverna's door opened once more. We all turned to see Ciara walking out, clutching a paper and seeming very frustrated. At the sight of Nico, her eyes narrowed. "I'll be off, then," Nico said quietly, slipping off down the hall before I had time to even turn around.

I expected Ciara to make some snippy remark about us talking to Nico, but when I glanced back at her she just shoved the paper she was holding towards me. "Here's your schedule. We're going to be late for Potions."

"Oh." Poppy winced. "Marvelous."

"It's fine. I'll tell Lockley it was my fault, and he'll let you both off." She rolled her eyes and started walking towards the stairs quickly enough that we nearly had to sprint to catch up.

As we walked, I stole a few glances at Ciara. She was acting calmer than I'd expected her to, honestly (though I suppose angry outbursts were more Astra's thing than hers). But I could still tell that she was angry, under the surface, even if she wasn't acknowledging it. Probably at Nico, and maybe Haverna too. Understandably, I knew, but I still wished I could do something about it.

Suddenly, she sighed and turned to frown at me. "Wren, what is it?"

"What?"

"You keep looking over at me like... I don't know, I'm some puzzle you're trying to work, or something you need to fix. And I wish you'd stop."

"Sorry..." I looked down, feeling heat rising in my face. "I wasn't... I mean, I'm not trying to fix anything. I'm sorry."

"Good." Ciara frowned at me for a moment, as if she could exactly what I was thinking. I had the disconcerting feeling that she actually could. "I don't want to talk about it, or him. It's stupid, and ridiculous, but if it'll make you feel better I'm not going to go turn him in, all right? I'm not an idiot."

"I know." I managed a smile at her. "I'm sorry you're having to deal with him."

She blinked, seeming surprised. After a moment, some of the tension in her shoulders seemed to release. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks." She shook her head. "I.... um... yeah. I don't want to talk about it."

"We don't have to," Poppy said brightly. She looped her arm through Ciara's and leaned forward to grin at me, too. "I'm just so glad you're both here."

Ciara's smile seemed faint, but she agreed. Poppy somehow managed to smoothly change the subject from there, dragging us down to the dungeons as she did.

Lockley did indeed let Poppy and I off when Ciara took the blame for our being late, then ushered us to a table at the front where Rose was sitting alone. As Poppy slid into the seat beside Rose, and Ciara and I sat down across the table, Ciara leaned over to me. "I'm sorry if you're upset with me, but I can't... I don't know. I just can't do whatever it is you want me to do."

"I don't want you to do anything," I whispered back, smiling slightly. "It's okay. I'm not upset."

She didn't seem convinced, but nodded anyway before turning her attention to Lockley. And after that, we didn't talk about Nico again.

If I'd felt weird during dinner, or in the common room, that had nothing on classes. While Rose was being friendly enough, as were Lacy and Iris in our classes with them later, nearly everyone else seemed to be watching both Ciara and I warily. I caught Arthur Longbottom frowning at me a few times, though he looked away as soon as I'd noticed him. Luke and Eric weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were definitely whispering about us in Transfiguration, even though Iris kept leveling death glares at her boyfriend. Between classes, people stared, people whispered, and once or twice I blocked an unknown hex that definitely came from the direction of the Ravenclaw seventh year girls.

Poppy seemed to hardly notice, somehow, though I was pretty sure she'd never been a social outcast before. She walked around with an unflappable smile and made a point to wave at her other friends whenever we passed them, even if they didn't wave back. On top of that, she waved me off whenever I tried to bring it up.

I was used to this, of course, so I can't say it bothered me too much (except maybe the other Gryffindors, but there wasn't anything I could do about it). Ciara didn't seem very upset, either, though she was certainly more willing to glare back at people who shot spells at me, or made faces as we walked by.

The afternoons, after our classes were over, was a relief, even if it meant walking into a completely different kind of discomfort. Nico and Poppy wanted to look through all the files Nico had manage to copy from Stillens, and Ciara refused to let us go without her. She also refused to acknowledge Nico's presence, though, so she generally sat on the floor of the room of requirement, reading a book as the rest of us flipped through the ghostly blue papers and compared notes between them and Poppy's research.

Often, Professor Haverna joined us. I was glad she was there, because it seemed to keep some of the tension in the room down. Of course, it occasionally caused other issues, like when she found out that two of the missing children had been at Hogwarts for a full term and Albus, Colette, and Poppy had never bothered to tell her (Nico was shocked, and Poppy seemed a little ashamed as she admitted that Colette and Albus had outvoted her). Haverna seemed entirely unamused, and added copies of their files to the ever-growing report she was sending back to Mr. Longbottom from Nico's findings. She told us not to engage with them anymore than we already had, because our goal for now was to make sure they stayed at school, where she could keep an eye on them. No approaching them, no jeopardizing their safety by making their fake families suspicious.

Nico did argue with her on that, claiming that the Slytherin first year, Ryder, had really taken a liking to him, and it wasn't like he was a person that might make Ryder's adopted family suspicious, after all. I don't know if Haverna noticed the death glares Ciara was shooting in his direction, or if she simply didn't want to deal with the matter right then, but she told Nico they could discuss that later.

It was honestly really interesting, flipping through all these files, even if it was intensely sad. I found a file on Zaria Hempsey. She'd been five when they'd killed her entire family right in front of her (which was described in gruesome detail), and they'd tried to use her as an experiment to see if the brainwashing techniques they were using would take away the need for obliviating the children (a delicate and time-consuming process, it seemed). It hadn't worked, and apparently even after they'd eventually obliviated her, the trauma had still affected her.

Magnus Caldwell also had a file, as did Artemis Wu and Professor Rinduli and several other people I'd run into during my time with my family over the years. It was a confirmation of what we already suspected, of course, but somehow seeing it written down, documented with such scientific accuracy as if these weren't the lives of children being ruined over and over again, made it so much more real.

Speaking of Professor Rinduli, Wednesday was our first period of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I can't say I'd been looking forward to it. Though Nico had never told me much about our new professor, Poppy had spent the past three days trying to prepare us for her, which mainly consisted of telling us in hushed, rather horrified whispers about the way she was running her class. The fact that she often invited the very shifty-looking librarian who also worked for my uncle to join in was not encouraging.

Add that to the fact that I'd caught Professor Rinduli watching me during meals two or three times, always with an intense expression I couldn't read, and I think it's safe to say that I might have been fully dreading meeting her for the first time.

The lesson was far less horrifying than I'd been prepared for, honestly. It was a review of nonverbal defensive spells. Was a little unnecessary to make us push all the desks against the wall and practice nonverbally dueling with one another? Possibly, but it wasn't something I would've considered a red flag all on its own. Rinduli fixed up the few people who got injured pretty quickly, and no one even had to go to the hospital wing. Still, though, I was on edge throughout the class period.

For good reason, it seemed. As we were packing up our things, Rinduli called across the room to ask if I would stay after class for just a moment.

Immediately, Poppy shot me a concerned glance. "Do you want us to stay too?"

"It's okay." I set my bag back down on the table and looked over towards our professor, who seemed to be answering a question about homework for Trevor Haspin just then. I wasn't sure what she wanted to talk to me about, but I had a nagging feeling that it was something that she wouldn't want Ciara and Poppy to hear, something about my uncle. It was probably best not to push her on that. Not yet. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Ciara and Poppy exchanged an unconvinced look before Ciara leaned forward on my desk. "She works for Stillens, Wren," she said under her breath. "I'm not so sure it'll be fine."

"I know. But I can handle myself." I forced a smile, though really my stomach was doing flips. I could handle myself. Really. "I'm not afraid of her. I'm sure that's all she's wanting to know, if she can intimidate me or not. Really, you guys can go on. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

Another glance at each other, then Poppy sighed and nodded. "If you're sure. We can wait in the hall."

As the last students filed out of the room, I swung my bag over my shoulder and trudged to the front of the room. When I came to a stop in front of her desk, Rinduli gave me a warm smile, which I just returned with a frown. Before I could say anything, though, the professor's eyes flicked to something in the back of the class. "Can I help you, Nico?"

I glanced over my shoulder to see Nico sprawled on a chair in the back corner of the room, feet propped up on a desk. He raised an eyebrow at her. "No. Just hanging out."

"You can hang out somewhere else," she said, a bit of ice finding its way into her tone that sent a shiver down my spine. "I need to speak to Wren."

"And there's nothing you can say to her to that she wouldn't mind me hearing. Right, Wren?" When I nodded hesitantly, he waved a dismissive hand in our direction. "See? Proceed. Pretend I'm not here."

Rinduli wasn't having it. "Would you like detention?"

"Oh, scary." He rolled his eyes. "Give me all the detentions you'd like. I'm not leaving."

I cast a grateful smile at Nico, who returned it with a terse nod. When I turned back to Rinduli, she was shaking her head and muttering something about stupid kids.

"I know you work for my uncle," I said, before she had a chance to get her composure back. "And I'm not afraid of you."

Rinduli blinked at me in surprise before frowning, seeming almost confused. I took the moment to study her face. She was young; according to her file, about Teddy Lupin's age. But her eyes, peering back at mine, seemed older than that. I couldn't figure out why.

"Well, that's good," she said after a moment, expression unreadable now. "It'd be a problem if you were afraid of your professor, Wren."

I couldn't tell if she was covering well, or if she really hadn't meant to intimidate me. I couldn't imagine why else she would have held me back after class, though. "You don't need to worry about me turning you in," I said carefully. "I won't."

"Oh? And why not?" Rinduli tilted her head, eyes narrowing in thought. "If I work for your uncle, why wouldn't you want to turn me in?"

I shrugged. "I don't care about the war. I just want to be left alone. So I'd suggest you do that."

She studied me for a moment. "Are you trying to threaten me?"

Was I? I mean, yes, a little bit. Imply a threat, I guess. I pursed my lips. "Only slightly."

That brought an amused look to her face, though she almost seemed disappointed, I felt like. "You realize that I was an auror in America for four years, right? I really don't think your little party trick with the cruciatus curse is enough to intimidate me."

I flinched involuntarily, which made her frown at me, like she was confused again. Before I could respond, though, I heard Nico's chair hitting the floor and his footsteps crossing the room. "Leave her alone."

She glanced at Nico, seeming suddenly annoyed. "Or what?"

"I can make you forget everything you've ever known."

"Somehow I doubt that." She frowned at him, then at me. "I was just trying to make sure Wren and I were on the same page. As it seems like we're not, you can feel free to go." Without waiting for us to leave, she picked up the pile of parchments on her desk and headed for the stairs. I stood there blinking after her until the door that had belonged to Mr. Potter's office swung closed with a bang.

"She's going to drive me mad," Nico muttered, glaring at the closed door. With a huff, he turned and started across the classroom.

I hesitated a moment before following. "What did she mean, we weren't on the same page?"

"Hell if I know." Nico paused, waiting for me to catch up. "Honestly, Wren, don't worry about her. Just avoid being around her alone, and everything should be fine."

Before I followed Nico out the classroom door, I cast a glance over my shoulder to the office. That hadn't been what I'd expected. Maybe it had just seemed off because Nico being in the room had kept her from trying to scare me like she'd wanted to. I shrugged, then walked out into the hallway to join Poppy and Ciara, determined not to worry about it. I almost succeeded, too.

~~~~

Question of the Day: If you could fire Kimmel and hire anyone else in her place, who would you hire?

Answer: Neville would be the obvious choice if I hadn't made a stupid rule about him not being able to be the headmaster if his kids were at school. Anna and Alyssa are in River's year, so he wouldn't be able to do it for at least another year. Haverna is the next obvious choice, but I feel like she would say no somehow. And the last choice I can think of is Harry, but he is no longer with us and probably also would not want to do that anyway. So... uh... I don't know? 

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 4980