~Wren~

A few weeks into the term, word reached Hogwarts that the DA had started doing these radio broadcasts about current events, the type of stuff they'd put in the Quibbler before it got banned. I heard about it through Lacy first, who somehow gotten detailed notes on everything these broadcasts had said and wanted to know my thoughts on all of it. It was the usual stuff: corruption in the Ministry, people going missing, my parents wreaking more havoc than the Prophet was letting on. The interesting part, though, was that apparently Astra was the one making these broadcasts.

I got the feeling that Lacy had been hoping that would be a very big deal to me, that I wouldn't be able to argue against it if Astra had been the one to say it. She was certainly right that it caught me off guard. I hadn't expected Astra to be involved in something so bold, especially after she'd seemed so guilt-ridden the last time I'd seen her. But at the end of the day, Astra was just a new mouthpiece saying the same things the DA had been saying for a long time. When I pointed that out, all three of my roommates seemed disappointed, but Lacy assured me she'd keep me updated on the broadcasts.

In other news, after a very long argument with Ciara that Poppy and I were not privy to, Kimmel had decided that Poppy would remain interim headgirl, rather than trying to find and train an interim headboy to help Ciara handle her duties. Poppy claimed she wouldn't have minded stepping down, but Ciara was insistent that she couldn't work with anyone else, and Poppy had been the only good choice given the circumstances.

Ciara seemed to think she was going to be the worst headgirl Hogwarts had ever seen, and I couldn't figure out why. At the end of last year, when Kimmel had asked her and Albus to fill the roles, I suppose she'd been a little doubtful of her abilities, but nothing like this. She wasn't beating herself up or anything, but every time anyone brought it up, or a prefect chased us down to ask her and Poppy a question about the patrols, she grew very pale and shaky and tripped over her words, which wasn't like her at all. The only time she'd seemed marginally okay about anything to do with our prefect duties was the one night she and I had done patrols so far this term.

I ended up asking Poppy what the problem could possibly be during Herbology a few weeks into the term. She frowned at me in surprise. "You really don't know?"

I shook my head slowly. "Should I?"

She shrugged, looking down at the dittany we were repotting. "I mean, I don't know. I suppose not. I think... I think maybe she's wishing Albus were here to help her, like maybe she's not up for the job on her own, without him."

"But she's not on her own." I tilted my head, frowning. "You're helping her."

"Oh, yes, of course, and I think that's helped some. But... I mean, she and Albus spent half the summer making plans for the year, before she was kidnapped. They'd figured almost everything out, together, and I think she doesn't really know how she's going to do it all without him. Albus went through the same thing last term. Even after Kimmel asked me to be headgirl, I don't think it completely took away the fact that I wasn't Ciara, if that makes sense."

It didn't, not really, but I nodded slowly anyway. Maybe I just couldn't understand, because I hadn't been here for any of that. Everyone had changed so much in the time I was gone, of course. There were things I just didn't get. That was okay.

Poppy had turned back to her dittany, patting more dirt down into the pot. I frowned down at my own plant for a moment, then pursed my lips. "Do you think it's going to get better?"

She blinked at me. "Better?"

"I hate seeing Ciara like this, so anxious about all of it. Is there anything we can do to help?"

For a long moment, Poppy frowned thoughtfully at the plant in front of her. I found myself tapping my fingers against the table in front of us and pulled my hands into my lap. Finally, she sighed. "I mean, we'll see how the prefect meeting goes next week. Albus felt a lot better after the first one last term. It might help her to see that she can do this, you know? I think that's the issue, really."

"Right." I nodded, saying a quick prayer that that would go well. The last thing I wanted was for Ciara's fears to be confirmed, but at this rate, I wasn't so sure she'd be able to talk if she were standing in front of all the prefects.

The meeting wasn't until the next week. In the meantime, nothing to do but to try to be encouraging. I wasn't as good at that as Poppy was, of course. I was always a little afraid of making things worse, which meant I overthought all of it. She was just an intensely encouraging person naturally, so it seemed like cheering Ciara up and dispelling her doubts about herself came a lot easier to Poppy.

Otherwise, life was settling into a rhythm. Not the most comfortable one, of course, but it was infinitely better than being at the manor. I would take classmates glaring at me across the hall or moving desks so they didn't have to sit next to me anyday. Even Rinduli and Petrov and Madam Cantha were far more manageable than my mother and father. Petrov hadn't interacted with me at all besides frowning at me when I walked past him in the library and sitting in the corner during one of our defense against the dark arts lessons, and I hadn't been to the hospital wing yet to even have a chance of seeing Cantha beyond meals.

Rinduli hadn't seemed satisfied after our first conversation, and tried to keep me after class again a few times. Nico refused to leave me alone with her, though, which always ended with Rinduli giving him detention, then waving us both off with a huff. I was beginning to be curious about what she could possibly want, though; if she was only trying to intimidate me, after all, there were much easier ways to do it. I couldn't figure her out, which was honestly kind of unnerving.

Maybe, if she wanted to talk to me alone, it might reveal a lot more about her intentions if I let her.

We had defense against the dark arts on the day of the prefect meeting. Ciara and Poppy were distracted, and didn't pay much attention when I told them I'd catch up with them in a few minutes at the end of class. I took my time putting my books away, watching for Nico to leave before I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked up to the front.

Rinduli barely glanced up as I approached her desk, but her head shot up again once she realized who I was. "Oh, Wren. What's up?"

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the room had cleared out. Even in the emptiness, I still found myself lowering my voice. "What do you want from me?"

Rinduli had the nerve to look surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You clearly want something. Nico's not here. What do you want?"

Rinduli chuckled. I might have just been projecting, but it seemed a little like nervous laughter. "I don't want anything from you, specifically. Just to talk."

I pursed my lips. This was going to be some kind of trap, or trick. I needed to stay on guard. "Well, here's your chance."

"I can see that." She smiled at me, moving the papers she'd been grading to the side so she could lean forward over her desk. "I've been really curious about you for years now, you know. Even more so now. You realize Russey works for Stillens, too, right?"

For a moment, I was too surprised to keep the shock from showing on my face. Why would she be telling me that? Assuming I didn't know, surely blowing his cover wasn't something Stillens would want her to do. Did she know I was aware of Russey's loyalties? What was I supposed to say? Would it be worse to lie, or tell the truth?

Too late, I pulled a neutral expression, trying for suspicion instead of confusion. "I did know that. Why?"

Maybe she hadn't known. She tilted her head, shooting me a confused frown. "And you're stilling willing to support him? With James Potter?"

"I just wanted to be guaranteed protection. That's what it took," I said, thankful for the rehearsed answer. This probably wasn't the best topic to be dwelling on, though. I narrowed my eyes. "It's not really any of your business, Professor."

Instead of taking points for disrespect, Rinduli just stared at me thoughtfully for several moments longer. I held her gaze, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

I was getting the impression that she saw me as a sort of puzzle, and that she was trying to put all the pieces together and failing. I mean, that made sense—she was missing pieces after all. I just couldn't tell what she thought about that, or whether it was a good thing or a bad thing if she couldn't create some kind of mental idea of me. Of course, it was good that she couldn't find the truth, but would it be too suspicious if nothing about me was adding up? What if she kept searching until she found something we didn't need her to find?

Finally, Rinduli sighed. "All right, then." She shook her head, frowning at me. "You're very different than I expected, Wren."

I almost made a snippy remark about the rumors I was sure she was referring to, about me being delusional and a pathological liar and insane. However, I'd tested fate enough today, and wasn't about to give her a reason to give me detention. Instead, I just hoisted my bag a little higher on my shoulder. "I'm going to be late for charms."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Get to class, then. I'm not the one keeping you here."

Of course, by the time I got to charms Poppy and Ciara were both furious that I'd stayed behind just to talk to Rinduli. I caught Nico glaring at me from the back of the room, too. I waved them off. Nothing had happened, not even what I'd been hoping for, which was getting a clearer idea of what Rinduli wanted from me. Still, I had to promise twice not to voluntarily spend time alone with the staff who worked for my uncle before Ciara was satisfied.

The prefect meeting crept closer and closer. With it seemed to come a rising sense of panic for Ciara. By dinner, she was pale and refusing to eat. Instead of trying to force some food into her, or tell her not to worry about it, Poppy patiently talked her through exactly what they'd planned for the meeting several times. I just sat there, wishing I knew what to say to help, too.

We walked up to Kimmel's office early. The headmistress smiled as we came in, and had Ciara and Poppy go over their notes with her. While they did that, I wandered around the room, starring up at the portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses. Many of the frames were empty; I wondered if they'd witnessed enough prefect meetings over the centuries to be bored by them.

As students started trickling in, Ciara and Poppy sat back down next to me on the front row. "Am I supposed to feel sick?" Ciara asked in a whisper.

Poppy just patted her arm. "You're going to do great, okay? It's really not as bad as you're expecting."

Ciara seemed unconvinced. She didn't argue, though. I couldn't tell if it was because she couldn't think of an argument, or if she was genuinely using all her energy on trying not to be sick. Either way, she sat in tense silence until Kimmel motioned for her to get the meeting started.

Poppy hopped to her feet, then held out a hand to help Ciara up that got ignored. With a deep sigh, Ciara stood up and walked to the podium by herself, steadier than she'd been claiming she would be just a few moments ago. Maybe having Poppy by her side helped, or maybe it wasn't as torturous yet as she'd expected.

She stood there for a moment, looking around the room, then managed a smile. "Hello, everyone. My name is Ciara Malfoy. It's lovely to meet those of you I haven't met yet, and to see you again to everyone else. I... I'm very honored and grateful to be here, though I do obviously wish some things were different. I know we all miss Albus a lot. He did an amazing job last term, from what I hear. I hope to live up to that, too. And I wish he was here."

Poppy had closed her eyes tightly at the mention of Albus, and Ciara slipped her hand into hers. "Of course, I'm very grateful that Poppy's still willing to help. Things aren't the way they should be, but we're all going to make it through together, all right?"

The meeting went perfectly, as far as I could tell. Ciara seemed collected and sure of herself the entire time, and Poppy added just the right amount of bubbly excitement to put everyone at ease. They addressed a few concerns with the patrolling schedule, how to run detentions, and the importance of the prefects being a unified front. Even if we didn't all agree with one another about certain controversial topics, we still all had to be willing to work together. That earned a few hard looks from Arthur and the Ravenclaw prefects, Jackson and Elizabeth, but everyone else seemed to agree easily enough. I wasn't sure if anyone except the other seventh years picked up on the fact that they were specifically talking about me and my controversial decisions, like publically supporting the Ministry or dating someone who the Prophet had recently called Russey's right hand man. It didn't matter.

After the meeting, as Ciara and Poppy were getting swamped by several fifth years eager to introduce themselves, I walked over to Arthur, who had been clearly avoiding me for the past two weeks. He frowned at me as I came up to him, but didn't get up to leave. I shot him a small smile that he didn't return. "Hey. How've you been?"

Arthur frowned at me, lounging back in his chair. "I was better before I found out you and Potter had become sell outs."

I pursed my lips. "That's not what's going on."

"Really?" Arthur stood up, crossing his arms and glaring at me. "Because last I checked, you're both really benefiting from this little partnership you've got going with Russey. And we all know he works for your uncle."

"I don't know that," I said quietly. "I haven't seen any proof of it."

"Course you haven't, cause you think the whole DA's a bloody joke, don't you?" Arthur shook his head, seeming almost disgusted. "Pathetic."

"I don't think they're a joke." I was twisting the sleeve of my shirt around, and clasped my hands to stop. "But... they leftme, Arthur."

"Don't even start," he snapped. "My mother died that night. If you and James think that the DA 'failing' then is a good enough reason to give up and turn traitor, then all that means is you were traitors the whole time. You were just waiting for it to stop being convenient."

I winced. There wasn't an argument for that. Not that I'd come over here for an argument, of course. I'd been hoping we could talk, and find some kind of understanding. But clearly that wasn't going to happen. Arthur was still glaring at me, as if I was personally responsible for his mother dying (which... well... I suppose it wasn't the time to spiral down. That particular rabbit hole of guilt). I blinked a few times, tried to smile but couldn't. "Well... it was nice to see you," I said softly.

"That makes one of us." Arthur rolled his eyes. I just looked down, walked away.

I hadn't made it far when someone else had come up at my elbow. Brigitte Myers raised an eyebrow at me as I started. I could only frown at her. Had we ever been friendly? I genuinely couldn't think of a time. What did she want?

She didn't waste time. "Before he got arrested, Albus Potter promised to do something for me. I was hoping you might honor that."

I blinked in surprise. What would Albus have possibly promised to do for her? "I... I suppose it depends what it is?"

Brigitte smiled. "What do you know about Adalyn Lostry?"

Oh, right. Poppy had said something about this, about Brigitte agreeing to help them talk to Ryder Portland and then turning it into a deal for information. No wonder she'd approached me by myself. I did my best innocently confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Does she work for Stillens?"

I raised an eyebrow, acting surprised. "How should I know?" A thought occurred to me, to get her to back off. "Do you think my uncle was just telling me every small detail of his plans while I was his prisoner?"

Brigitte closed her mouth with a snap, seeming taken aback. For a moment, she just stared at me, then slowly shook her head. "I suppose not. I... sorry, that is. Are you doing all right, after that?"

I frowned at her. I couldn't really tell if that was a genuine question or not. However, past Brigitte I saw Poppy frowning concernedly at me near the door. "What do you think?" I asked. Without waiting for an answer, I crossed over to my friends, leaving Brigitte to mull that over.

~~~~

That weekend was our first Hogsmeade outing of the semester. One of the first things James had asked in his letters had been when we were going to Hogsmeade next, so it wasn't a surprise to find him and Fred loitering outside the Three Broomsticks, acting surprised to see us as if they hadn't been waiting for us.

Ciara launched herself into Fred's arms with such force that they fell into a snowbank. Poppy was kind enough to help them get back up, while James just stood by laughing, arms around me so I couldn't assist them. Luckily, Fred seemed no worse for wear as he brushed the snow off, though he did mutter that if James was going to get some entertain at their expense, the least he could do was buy their drinks.

The five of us bundled into a booth at the back of the pub, where James did buy everyone a butterbeer, waving off Fred's request for something stronger with the fact that it was eleven o'clock in the morning. That didn't stop Fred from going to buy his own firewhiskey, of course (and offer to get one for Ciara, who indignantly reminded him that that was illegal).

Most of the next twenty minutes were spent listening to Fred's adventures in professional Quidditch. Apparently, he'd gotten to play in Puddlemere United's last match because one of the Chasers was out with dragon pox. They'd lost to the Holyhead Harpies, but apparently it was still the most thrilling experience of his life.

After a while, I nudged Poppy gently. She'd been listening and nodding along, but hadn't seemed fully invested in the conversation since we'd gotten here. "Are you all right?"

She blinked at me. "Of course. Why?"

"You seem a little bit... distracted, I guess?"

Poppy smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm all right."

"Is it that James and Fred are here?" I bit my lip. "I'm sorry, I don't want you to feel like you have to fifth wheel, if you'd rather hang out with your other friends."

She hesitated, betraying that that might have been part of it, but ended up shaking her head. "No, I'm fine. Really." I raised an eyebrow, and she winced. "I suppose I just miss Albus, is all. It might be a little harder to avoid the fact that your boyfriend isn't here when you're the fifth wheel."

I reached over to squeeze her hand. "I'm sorry. I know we all miss him, but it's probably not the same. Seriously, if you'd rather be with—"

"I'd rather be here," she said firmly. Her eyes darted around the table that I realized had grown still. "At least you four know the truth, after all."

"It sucks, for sure," James said quietly. I felt him shift, lean forward on the table to peer around me. "I'm sorry. But... if it makes you feel better, you're the best person any of my siblings have ever dated."

Poppy let out a laugh seemingly in spite of herself. "That's some high praise."

"I mean it!" I could hear the mock indignation in his tone. "Are you meaning to tell me Lily's last however many boyfriends haven't all been the worst? And you're far less annoying than Elmer Poe, and I know Al never dated her but I much prefer him with you to Astra."

She chuckled again. "Thanks, James. Glad to hear it."

"Not to speak ill of the incarcerated, but I've always preferred you to Albus, even," Fred said with a shrug. "Certainly got more Quidditch talent."

"Bloody hell, Fred!" Ciara playfully swatted him on the arm. "Is now really the most appropriate time for that?"

"Just saying!" He pushed Ciara off, leaning forward to get out of her reach. Poppy seemed to be smiling under the hand she had covering her mouth, at least. "Listen," he continued, "in all honesty, got something to confess. I always thought Albus only asked you out to get over Astra Lestrange, but that was definitely before I'd really spent time with you off the Quidditch pitch. Clearly, I was wrong, hmm?"

"Oh, you thought that?" Poppy laughed a little, seeming uncomfortable. "I... I mean, that's ridiculous. Isn't it?"

I managed a convincing smile and nod, but I saw Poppy's expression shift as her eyes landed on James. When I turned to him a second later, he was wincing. "Well... I mean... it's—" He cut himself off when he caught my gaze, and his eyes widened. "I mean, yes, obviously that's ridiculous. Clearly. Doesn't matter, anyway, because Albus really cares about you, right?"

It took everything in my not to wince as I glanced back at Poppy. She'd frozen, gazing at the table as if she wasn't actually seeing it. I hesitated, then reached out to touch her arm, but she flinched, then squeezed her eyes closed. "No, Wren, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry," Fred said quietly. "I didn't mean—"

"It's fine."

"Albus really does—"

"Can we talk about anything else?" Poppy asked, cutting me off. She opened her eyes again, forcing a smile. "Quidditch, maybe? Or the Ministry, or the war, or literally anything else?"

For a moment, no one spoke. I opened my mouth and closed it again, unable to think of anything except what an idiot Fred was, and how upset both Astra and Albus had been about this back in June. He'd never talked to her about it, either? It took everything in me not to groan.

"Well," Ciara said, a false cheer in her voice, "I think I figured out a way Slytherin could come back from such a terrible match against Ravenclaw last term. I might just pull out three wins in a row..."

"That's fantastic!" James exclaimed, though any other time he probably would have argued for Gryffindor's chances. "What's the plan?"

The conversation continued, but Poppy didn't end up participating much. Every time I glanced at her, she smiled at me, but I couldn't help worrying. What was going through her head? Surely she didn't think Albus had liked Astra for long, did she? She had to know he'd moved on before they'd even started dating, really. And nothing had ever happened between Albus and Astra, anyway. Poppy knew that, right?

When we got up to leave, Poppy made some excuse about needing to pick up something for a class before slipping off on her own. I wanted to go after her, but James needed to talk to me about some Ministry things. Fred and Ciara promised to keep an eye out for her, at least.

James and I started toward the Hog's Head. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer as we left the main road. "Listen, it sucks that she had to find out that way, but Albus should have talked to her about this months ago, when he told Astra."

I shrugged. I still wasn't sure whether that was something Albus should have told anyone at all. "It'll be fine. I'll talk to her about it later, when she's ready."

"She might just need to process it on her own, you know."

"I know. I won't force it."

"Good."

James came to a sudden stop in the middle of the deserted street, and I turned to frown at him. The Hog's Head was still a few blocks away. "What are you doing?"

"I need you to tell me what's going on with Nico Jasper." He put his hands up, holding off an argument that wasn't coming. "I'm sorry. I've been trying so hard to let it go, to not pry, to let you tell me when you felt comfortable, but that little prick hangs around this pub, and I really don't think I can see him again without knowing."

I pursed my lips, stomach turning with guilt. I hadn't even thought to explain any of that to James. The more immediate issue had been me breaking, and we hadn't talked about that again since we'd left the Lupins. But now, seeing that James had been restraining himself from asking, trying to honor my boundaries, I just felt horrible for not thinking about it. "I'm so sorry, James. I should've explained weeks ago..." I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to think of the easiest way to put things that wouldn't result in an angry outburst in the middle of the street.

"Nico is a spy for the DA."

I opened my eyes again to see how he took that. Beyond a deep frown, he seemed fine. "When did that happen?" he asked.

"September or October, I think. I... I'm not really sure on the time. But it was while I was at the manor, still. Colette taught him occlumency."

Now he raised an eyebrow. "Really. Colette taught him occlumency."

I nodded. "She saw that he could be useful, I think. He's trying to make up for all the mistakes he's made. And I know that's a tall order, and I'm not expecting you to forgive him or anything, but... I don't know. He's part of what kept me from going insane, at the manor. He obliviated me to protect what I knew about the DA, and he's been getting a lot of information for them lately." And he's my friend, I thought, but I didn't add that. Better not to test James's limits of self-control just then.

James was frowning at nothing in particular, seeming deep in thought though I couldn't tell what those thoughts were. I held my breath, trying not to hope for anything as the silence dragged on. Finally, he let out a sigh. "You trust him?"

I nodded hesitantly, and James let out a thoughtful hum. "Okay. And you're sure he's... I don't know, repented of it all? He genuinely feels bad?"

"Definitely."

Another sigh. "Well, then. Good to know." James shrugged a little. "I suppose there are worse decisions he could've made after everything."

"Yeah..." I looked down, my face feeling hot. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

He waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine. Wasn't on your mind. I'm just glad he didn't spend eight months making your life more miserable than it already was, I suppose." He smiled a little before holding his arm out for me to take. "If he's in there, though, I'm going to talk to him, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't intercede."

"All right," I said softly, though really my heart sunk at that. What was he going to do, that he needed to warn me off interjecting? Surely he wasn't planning on dueling him in the middle of the pub. I bit my lip, wishing I'd thought to prepare Nico for this potential interaction.

The pub was nearly empty. I guess whatever passed for a lunch crowd here had already filtered out, and it was only one p.m., so no mid-afternoon drunks had stumbled in yet. James paused in the doorway to scan the room, then strode over to a booth at the back where I could see Nico reading a book.

When he reached the table, James slammed his hand down on it. The noise made me jump, but Nico barely flinched, turning to look up at us with hard curiosity. "Potter," he acknowledged, tone quiet and sharp. The only sign that he might have been a little startled were his eyes darting between us.

"You piece of shit," James spat. Nico's mouth scrunched up the tiniest bit, and he closed his book as James leaned over the table. "You think you can kill my father and just get away with it?"

"No." The hard edge was gone, though Nico was still frowning up at him. "I don't."

"Really? Because from what I've heard, that's what's going on here."

His eyes darted to me for a moment, and I just looked down. I hadn't said anything like that. "I... It's not. And I know it won't change anything, but I'm really sorry about your father."

"Oh Merlin, isn't that nice?" James rolled his eyes. "You want a ribbon for that one? I bloody well hope you're sorry. You murdered my father!"

The next thing I knew, he had his wand out. I stifled a gasp. "James..."

He held his hand up to me, focused on pushing his wand into Nico's face. "Listen here, you little prick. You ever hurt anyone I care about ever again, and I'm going to kill you. That's a promise. Got it?"

Nico hadn't moved, but he was watching James warily. He slowly nodded. After one last jab towards Nico's face, which made him flinch, James pocketed his wand again. He stood there glowering at him for several moments before finally letting out a sigh. With it, the anger seemed to be let out, too. He shook his head after a moment, then rather reluctantly said, "I'll never forgive you for killing my father, of course, but... I suppose you've been pretty decent to Wren, and I'm grateful for that."

Nico hesitated before nodding a little. "Right. Of course."

James nodded as well, seeming awkward all of a sudden. "Well... that's it. Nothing else to say." He glanced at me, eyebrow raised questioningly. I smiled at Nico and waved a little, just grateful this was over and no one had ended up with a black eye.

Though the bartender put up a fuss about it, James wheedled him into letting us use one of the private sittings rooms upstairs for a few hours. Once we were inside, James had to cast several charms to ward off eavesdroppers before he was content to sit down and catch me up on what was happening at the Ministry. Apparently, he and Eris Prince had been working on coded messages he can put into the public service announcements he writes, to get word out quickly to people if they manage to recruit anyone else. He admitted that working with her had so far been far less horrible than he'd expected.

One perk to working with Eris was that she was thinking of things that James never would have, like collecting documented evidence against every Ministry worker they knew worked for Stillens. The thought had never occurred to James, apparently, but Eris wanted to have their bases covered so that if the war ever did end and Stillens was overthrown, it's not just their word against top Ministry officials about whether they ever sided with Stillens or not. James made Eris get a muggle smartphone and had to teach her how to use the video and voice recording apps for that purpose.

So far, they had pinpointed a few people they thought might be interested in joining them, but hadn't approached anyone yet. James was pretty sure the three aurors we'd run into at the Ministry were still watching him closely, so he was going to leave the initial recruitment interactions to Eris. He was pretty frustrated about that, leaving such an important part of their plans up to her, but I was pretty sure she was better-suited to it anyway. James was a notable public figure, after all, while Eris was just an intern who could easily slip into the background anywhere she went.

So far, James hadn't heard anything about Albus and Colette, and he hadn't felt like he'd had an opportunity to bring it up to Russey without seeming suspicious. As far as I knew, the DA didn't have any new information either, just what Nico had found.

Eventually, James had to leave for a meeting with Russey about what to tell the public about my father's latest act of terrorism. He walked me back to the main road and kissed my forehead before apparating off. I glanced around, looking for any sign of Fred and Ciara or Poppy. It wasn't late enough that I thought they would've walked back to the castle already, but it would be growing dark pretty soon.

Just then, the door of the bookstore I was standing in front opened and Poppy stepped out. She smiled and waved at me. "I thought that was you through the window. Did James leave?"

I nodded. "Are Ciara and Fred with you?"

She laughed. "Definitely not. I'm sure they're off snogging somewhere."

"Oh." I chuckled too, then looked around the street. "Is there anything else you need to do while we're here?"

Poppy shrugged and shook her head. "I'm ready to go back if you are."

A few minutes later, we were walking down the slowly darkening road, wands lit to keep the twilight at bay. The temperature was dropping as the sun set, and I found myself shivering a little. Poppy and I made some very shallow small talk about how we'd spent the day before falling silent. I couldn't tell if she was as uncomfortable with it as I was. All I was thinking about was Albus, and Astra, and the mess that was most likely going through Poppy's head about it all. But I'd told James I wouldn't force her to talk about it, and I intended to stay true to that. If she'd rather think about it on her own, that was up to her.

After a while of walking in silence, though, Poppy sighed. "I know what you want to ask, and I'm fine, okay?"

I pursed my lips. "I'm sorry, I wasn't—"

"No, you're good." She shook her head. "I just had a feeling it was on your mind. And I'm all right." She hesitated, then added, "I just... how long did it last?"

"Albus liking Astra?" I winced. "I mean... three years or so, in all, I think. But it ended in October of our sixth year. Really. Definitely by the time James and I broke up... but I think it was sometime before then, honestly."

She nodded slowly, seeming to take that in. After a few moments, she smiled a little. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you think I'm being ridiculous. Really, it doesn't matter, I guess. It's just... weird to hear. I'd like Albus for a while when he first asked me out, and I was so excited about it... and I suppose it's just... odd to think that he only did it to try to get over someone else. Like... it hurts a bit. And I know it probably shouldn't, and I'm being silly and jealous and overbearing, and being upset about this when he's in a detention center is horribly self-centered of me, but—"

"Poppy, you're allowed to be hurt," I said quietly, stopping to take her hand as I cut her off. "It's okay. It's an objectively weird situation, and it's not very fair to you to find out like this. Albus would be the first to admit he handled it poorly. You can be hurt."

She blinked a few times. In the light of my wand, I could see the mistiness in her eyes. "I... thanks, Wren," she whispered. She took a deep breath, swallowed, blinked a few more times. Then she glanced back at me. "Did Astra know?"

I faltered, and Poppy's lips pursed. "Not at the time," I quickly reassured her. "She genuinely couldn't tell. But... she did find out eventually."

A slow nod, then, "And he wasn't going to tell me?"

"I think he was. I really don't know... it all happened a week or two before the night Mr. Potter died."

"Ah." She nodded again. "I suppose that makes sense."

I hesitated, trying to think of something to make this better. "Listen, Albus adores you. Really. He might not have started that way, but by the time you two really started dated, he thought you were the most wonderful person he'd ever met. I never saw him talk about Astra the way he used to talk about you." I squeezed her hand. "I don't know if that helps, but..." I shrugged. "It's true."

"Thanks, Wren. Really." Poppy smiled a little. "We should really get back to the castle, though. It'll be completely dark soon."

Poppy didn't bring up any of that again. I couldn't tell if it was because she was really fine about it, or if she was just choosing not to think about it, but Ciara and I didn't mention it either. It eventually faded into the background, along with everything else going wrong in the world.

We were still meeting Nico in the room of requirement most afternoons to go through the files. Ciara had finally given up on ignoring us all, and was reading through the files too. Professor Haverna joined us less now than she had at the beginning, having gotten all of the information she needed to send to Mr. Longbottom immediately. That left more room for Ciara to make snippy, passive aggressive comments about Nico, but since Nico didn't seem to mind, I let that slide.

One afternoon, Professor Haverna joined us, but it was just to ask Nico something. "Do you think you could actually restore someone's memories?"

Nico let the file he'd been reading drop, raising an eyebrow at our professor. "I think so. Probably. I'd be more than happy to practice on Rinduli, if I need to."

"Absolutely not," Professor Haverna snapped, frowning at him. "That's a one way ticket to destroying your cover, on top of assaulting a professor." She shook her head. "No, Neville and I had someone else in mind. I believe you know Cassie Williams?"

"You're going to start with her?" I pursed my lips. "Isn't she a little young?"

"Why her?" Nico asked, seeming almost protective all of a sudden.

"She has several close relationships with people in the DA, so she might be a good place to start." Professor Haverna shrugged. "According to Teddy Lupin, she's adjusted very well to life with him and his family, and she knows Astra Lestrange well. She would have a good support system to process through her memories, so it might be a less traumatic experience. And if she actually knows and trusts you, Nico, this might be our best opportunity to test whether you're actually capable of restoring memories you didn't erase."

Nico seemed far less sure than he had a few minutes ago, but he nodded. "I suppose it's worth trying."

I glanced between them. "It won't happen at Hogwarts, will it?"

"Definitely not."

"Can I come, then?" I clasped my hands together. "Cassie trusts me, too."

"Absolutely not." Professor Haverna stared at me as if I'd suggested I go turn myself into my family. "Under no circumstances are you to get involved in DA business, Wren. You're trying to keep James's cover."

I wanted to argue, but couldn't think of anything to say beyond how much I wanted to see Astra. That wasn't going to be enough. As Nico and Haverna started discussing the logistics, I ended up sighing in frustration and turning back to the files. 

~~~~

Question of the Day: Who's your favorite supporting character (outside of the Gryffingang and honorary Gryffingang members)?

Answer: Honestly, right now I'm really loving Lacy. She's grown up so much!

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 6882