Benji Fenwick seriously considered walking away from all this madness at least three or four times a day. Why did it matter? He kept asking himself this question. And sometimes, and he found this more disturbing than anything else, there was no answer. At thirty-three, he wanted nothing more than a normal life. Benji wanted to wake up in the morning next to his wife without wondering whether or not today would begin with yet another row or just a cup of coffee. If he felt like a lucky man in the morning, he got a combination of the two. He loved his wife, Amelia. On a good day, he even went as far to admit to himself he even liked the woman.
He switched the alarm clock off and rolled back over. The bed was his happy place, and his day did not have to start until he left it. He was a stocky man with shoulder-length curly hair, not exactly what some folks considered Ministry of Magic material, though he worked there. Still tired, he seriously debated whether he ought to call in sick or fake an injury. Well, the faking an injury thing wouldn't really get him too far because he was a lawyer who was usually chained to a desk.
He shook Amelia. He had been lucky in that regard. Benji had somehow played the right hand and landed himself a pretty, intelligent girl. Benji didn't doubt her mind or anything; he meant this as two separate compliments whenever he told people about his wife. No doubt about it, Amelia was smarter than him. She didn't move after the first few tries, so Benji opted for the quick approach and smacked her with his pillow.
She had a square jaw and long dark hair. Amelia was a force to be reckoned with in the legal community, make no mistake. The day he had walked in the Ministry, people probably thought he would be gone within a year. Or maybe he'd be shuffled off to Magical Maintenance. She walked into the place and people immediately sat up a little straighter. Amelia woke up the second time he whacked her with the pillow.
Benji got out of bed. "Five o'clock. Get up, woman."
She spoke into her pillow.
"Did you just say, 'You get up?' Yeah, that's a good comeback. You'd think with two brothers, you'd have better material." Benji walked into the bathroom and left the door open. He took a quick shower and pulled on a set of black robes. When he walked back into the bedroom, he smiled at tiny fingers sliding through the gap between the door and the carpet. He stood by the door. "Who is it?"
The little boy laughed. He pulled his fingers out from underneath the door.
"Morning, Charlie," said Benji, opening the door and scooping his son into his arms. "Tell Mum it's five-thirty."
"Five-thirty!" Charlie shouted as Benji walked down the corridor with him.
Benji stopped in the sitting room and started pacing . It wasn't light outside yet, and he lived for some quiet downtime first thing in the morning. The previous night played through his mind in flashes and disconnected memories. He remembered making it to Baker Street; Benji also recalled his face meeting a brick wall repeatedly as a reward for getting Peter Pettigrew out of a tight spot. The Leg-Locking Curse honestly came as a surprise. Rosier enjoyed his games, and Benji had happened to be on the receiving end last night.
Benji patted Charlie's blonde curls and kissed him on the cheek. "Papa loves you."
"I know," said Charlie, more interested in his fingers.
Amelia walked into the sitting room and slipped on a pair of expensive heels. She wore a loose-fitting buttoned blouse over a pair of khaki slacks. She lit the candle on the coffee table and jumped back when she saw Benji's face.
Benji shook his head, silently telling her not to panic in front of their boy. He set Charlie on the floor. "Go get dressed, okay?"
Amelia waited for Charlie to disappear down the corridor before she turned back to Benji. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Boxing," Benji grimaced, giving her a half-truth. He went to the boxing centre when he got the chance, although free time escaped him these days. It stood out as more of a distant memory.
"Guard your face, Benji. What are they going to say when you start opening arguments today?" Amelia walked over and touched his bruises gingerly.
"Well, I've got this wife, you see," he said, wincing when he tried to smile at her.
"Oh, very funny. " Amelia walked into the kitchen and came back with a blue container. Sitting on the coffee table, Amelia opened the tub and smeared purple paste on his face. She fingered a stack of freshly folded laundry; a basket of dirty ones lay on the floor. "You have a nice face."
"Oh, yeah." Benji gestured at his pounded flesh. Even as he pointed at the hamburger meat on his face, he could feel it healing. It burned a little. Benji leaned over and kissed Amelia. "I love you, woman."
There was a loud popping sound outside followed by the roar of an engine. The screaming upstairs started like a revved engine, though the baby hit her stride fast. Amelia rolled her eyes and ran upstairs. Cursing under his breath, Benji met Charlie at the foot of the stairs, picked him up again, and went to answer the door. Fixing Charlie's shirt clumsily, Benji switched the overhead switch with his free hand and tapped the triple deadbolt with his wand. The locks clicked; he opened the door.
"Benji, good man." Sirius Black sat astride his stupid flying motorbike with James Potter riding as his passenger.
James had been resting his hands on Sirius's waist. Benji scoffed, thinking if he'd been on this motorbike, and he wouldn't be caught dead on such a contraption, he'd be locking Sirius in a death grip. Neither of them wore helmets. Furious, Benji slammed his front door. These fools liked like they'd just had the time of their lives.
"Morning, Benji," James said warmly as if they had been invited to breakfast. He saluted Charlie. James grinned broadly and got off the motorbike when Charlie waved back enthusiastically. "Mr. Fenwick Miniature."
"What have you done?" Benji did not really want to know the answer because he already knew his day was shot.
Desperately reorganizing his legal calendar along with the slammed docket in his head, Benji looked from one grinning face to the other. Sirius got off the bike, too. They had not stopped by for a chat. The more he thought about it, Benji wondered how they'd found out where he lived. Benji shifted Charlie in his arms. Charlie had not tied his red trainers, and his trainers were on the wrong feet anyway. Benji spotted the boys' t-shirts; they were plain white with gold phoenixes on them. So, this was a joke, was it? While the senior members of the Order ran around like madmen covering up these fools mistakes, they were strutting around like walking advertisements.
"Secret society, gentlemen, get with the program, will you?" Benji hissed at them. He threw the door open. "Get in."
Amelia sat on the couch in the sitting room nursing the baby. She had pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail while she was upstairs. She called to him over her shoulder, laying her head back. Embarrassed when she spotted the unexpected houseguests, Amelia placed their daughter on the soft green blanket on the couch and hurriedly fastened her shirt with quick fingers.
Sirius stood there grinning like an idiot. Benji punched hard him the arm. Taken off his guard, Sirius tried and failed to grin through the pain.
"Hello," Amelia, a little flushed , smiled at the boys.
"Morning, ma'am. Madam Bones," James corrected himself and shook her hand as they exchanged pleasantries. Sirius followed suit. James smiled at the now sleeping newborn. "She's beautiful. What's she called?"
"Thank you. Her name is Eleanor." Amelia reached over and placed her hand on Eleanor's stomach before she got up. Her briefcase was at her feet. "She was born last Monday."
"You should really take a couple weeks leave," said Benji, circling back to a frequent argument.
"And give Mr. Crouch the satisfaction? 'Women give birth in fields, Miss Bones, and they get on with it.' That's what he said to me last week when I went into labor during the Fawcett trial."
Benji remembered. He'd sat on the bench with her the whole time while she panted like some dog and nearly broke his hand. The trial had lasted a long three hours. He'd carried her out of the courtroom. Nobody, including Benji, told Amelia Bones to stop whenever it came to perusing balanced and fair law.
After patiently questioning them, Amelia got the story out of the boys. Apparently, there had been some misunderstanding with some Muggle police officers, and somehow Death Eaters had arrived on the scene. It hadn't lasted long, and nobody had gotten injured. Benji actually had to bite his tongue. The boys knew they were supposed to contact a senior member of the Order if they got in a tight spot. Amelia knew nothing of the Order. Benji had promised her brother, Edgar, that she would not be dragged into their secrets. She bought the story about the boys seeking legal advice in case this story hit the Muggle papers.
Saying she'd handle it and they had nothing to worry about, Amelia slipped the cotton baby wrap over her shoulder and placed Eleanor inside it. She handed Benji her briefcase and stroked Charlie's face gingerly before she walked over to the fireplace. Benji secured the flowery diaper bag over his shoulder and grabbed their other things. It wasn't until Amelia tossed a handful of Floo Powder into the flames that Benji realized he'd forgotten to contact the babysitter. They had hired a nanny, a Muggle girl, but she was off because of a bout of the flu.
"Sirius and James, can you do me a favor? Could you watch over Charlie for the day?" Benji trusted them enough to spend the day with his son. Benji loved his boy more than anything; this was common knowledge. The Order loved that he was a family man. James said yes, and Sirius shrugged his shoulders. Benji placed one foot in the fireplace after Amelia vanished. He paused, thinking this through carefully. "Charlie goes nowhere near that motorbike, you hear me? If I find you fools are galavanting around with my boy, I will find you. We're not done about earlier, either."
"Right." James gave Charlie a high-five.
Benji, satisfied, stepped into the fireplace. He doubted whether they took his threats seriously, yet this hardly mattered. Benji closed his eyes until he stopped spinning. He stepped out of the grate and dusted off his robes. Amelia had waited for him. They stepped onto the lift with five other people, and Amelia shifted the baby in her arms. The ride was rather pleasant until Mr. Crouch leaned over to speak with them.
The cool female voice inside announced they had arrived on the second floor.
"We're running a daycare centre, are we?" Mr. Crouch sneered at Amelia when the grilles clanged open.
"Mr. Crouch, you told me last Monday that I should give up and take my surging hormones home. Take my leave and drop out of the race, right?" Amelia closed her eyes for a moment as she stepped off the lift. She held a fussy Eleanor closer and started bouncing her. "You'll have to forgive my emotions here, sir, because I'm a poor, simple woman. Fuck off."
Mr. Crouch stood there rooted to the spot, speechless. Benji followed his wife, a grin spreading across his face. Elphinstone Urquart rushed over to get the door for them. Benji walked into her office with them; he set their things on the floor as Amelia sat down at her desk. Elphinstone helped himself to the baby.
"You are so my favorite person today." Benji whispered in her ear as he massaged her shoulders.
"What happened?" Elphinstone sat on her desk and rocked the baby; Eleanor calmed down in minutes. Elphinstone had no children, but he had a magic touch when it came to handling little ones. He had been the same way with Charlie three years ago. "Look at this precious face."
Amelia took notes on the incident that had happened between James and Sirius. As neither of them had a criminal record, she said they should be just fine. Amelia vetted people and learned their histories like nobody's business. As she researched a few things, Benji told Elphinstone about the pleasant conversation they shared with Mr. Crouch.
"Barty counted on at least a month of handing your cases," said Elphinstone. "The good ones hit your desk first. You've got the McKinnon appeal at nine."
"I'm on it," said Amelia, rereading over the files. She caught a zooming memo in her hand and read through the message, frowning. "He's filed a writ of error against me. He drafted this yesterday without giving me notice!"
"Give me that." Benji took the memo from here and read it, annoyed. "Yesterday, this was his case; the handoff takes place at seven the next day. He's handing you his mess, jumping over to other side, and dumping the problem in your lap. That fool!"
"That's fine." Amelia sat back in her chair. She got lost in her thoughts and read through her papers. She had been gone for eight days, but the missed work had piled up. Shortly after eight, she went into the bathroom to feed Eleanor again before handing their daughter off to Benji and picking up her briefcase. "If Mr. Crouch wants a fight, he'll get one. I'm going to kill that man. See you at lunch."
Elphinstone rubbed his hands together excitedly. Amelia was his protégée. He'd crafted her out of nothing. Although his pet project had initially been Benji and Minerva McGonagall, he had shuffled his cards and stacked the deck again. Benji was handpicked as his righthand man, though he'd stepped back a bit since Charlie arrived. Elphinstone had introduced Amelia to Benji. Always a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, Elphinstone had orchestrated their relationship. Benji had to hand it to him: he was quite the matchmaker.
"She's dangerous, your wife," said Elphinstone, reading through rolls of parchment when they entered his comfortable office next door. He wasn't meeting with clients today. He always reserved Tuesdays for research and busy work.
"It's your doing." Benji grinned at him as he closed the door. Elphinstone sat down in his leather desk chair, and Benji placed his hands on the polished desk. How hadn't he seen this earlier? Elphinstone practiced law like he played wizarding chess; he enjoyed the game. "You sly fox. You're positioning her to knock Crouch out of contention for Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Don't deny it."
"Deny what?" Elphinstone winked at him. "Oh, I am the endgame, Benji. I'm just biding my time and building my team. You can all thank me later."'
"Too bad Minerva left." Benji sat down in the chair opposite Elphinstone's desk. "Can you imagine that race for the head of the department? Damn."
"Indeed. I mentioned that to Minerva the other day," said Elphinstone, drumming his fingers on his desk.
Both Elphinstone and Benji got lost in their individual work projects over the next few hours. Benji left to file an extension and finalize an adoption. He made a court appearance around eleven. Benji was the head of the family law division, and opening arguments in a dispute really just led to the next step. He'd left Eleanor with Elphinstone. When he returned, Benji stopped outside the door and listened to Elphinstone sing Eleanor a Gaelic lullaby as the old man walked around his office. Benji felt truly blessed to have this man as his mentor and friend.
Amelia stopped by around one o'clock. She took the baby in her arms and sighed when Benji placed his hands on her shoulder. She made a face when Elphinstone cleared his throat.
He sat there flipping through a heavy volume. "What?"
"Oh, nothing." Elphinstone closed his book. "How was the hearing? Is Barty hiding?"
"No." Amelia kissed Eleanor. Some newcomer knocked on Elphinstone's office door minutes later asking for her. It was urgent. Eleanor started crying loudly, and Amelia bit her lip, blinking her eyes furiously.
"You want me to take it?" Elphinstone asked. He got up when she nodded. Before he headed out the door, he hugged her tightly. "Listen to me. You can be both. Not everything is on your shoulders, all right? You do whatever you can whenever you can. Then you go home to your family and your idiot husband here. Please let me help you. Go home, darling. Take your girls home, Benji."
Benji gathered their things. He decided on a walk, so he steered her off towards the visitor entrance. He waved to bored Eric, the security wizard, at the desk. The red telephone box was a tight fit, but they managed it. They walked down narrow streets and took a strange route because he didn't want them followed. After being in the Order for over five years, Benji considered paranoia as normal behavior.
They stepped onto Seventh Avenue and started discussing the hearing. Amelia wasn't as angry with Mr. Crouch anymore, though they would never be close friends. Benji got a funny feeling as he turned onto another street. There were no signs or loud cracks. Everything felt normal, yet something was different. Benji turned around and leaned against Amelia's back. They both drew out their wands at the same time. Benji left the diaper bag and the briefcase on side of road.
He squeezed Amelia's hand. "Trust me."
"Benji." Amelia cursed when they finally heard the footsteps.
Four men came towards them from each cardinal direction. Benji chuckled darkly. He had to hand it to these bastards: they were getting bold in broad daylight. Well, it was early afternoon. When a thin man stepped towards Amelia, she Stunned him without thinking about it. His body illuminated red for a moment before he hit the pavement facedown. She tried to ignore Eleanor's screams, though they clearly distracted her, and she nearly tripped over herself. Benji jumped aside when a flash of light got aimed at him, and he shot a curse at a retreating Death Eater. He missed because his hand was shaking with anger.
"Don't worry, Mr. Fenwick." Evan Rosier lowered the hood of his robes. His cold smile reached his eyes. Benji gasped when a well-aimed spell hit him in the back. Ropes tightened around his throat, and he dropped to his knees. "You might want to worry a little."
Amelia struck another Death Eater with a non-verbal Killing Curse. Benji saw a flash of green light, and the man fell onto the pavement, lifeless. Two other figures approached. One was smaller than the others. Rosier crushed his boot onto Benji's right hand; Benji's bones shattered. Benji cried out when Rosier cast the Cruciatus Curse on him. His body went rigid and he writhed when pain shot up his spine and coursed through his neck. Rosier, enjoying himself, cast the curse again, and slammed his boot into Benji's stomach one, two, three times.
"Call her off, sir. This is between the two of us." Rosier called to Amelia. "You want me to kill him?"
Amelia had been hit by some curse. She turned to face Rosier, her face had a deep cut, but she held her wand arm quite steady. Two Death Eaters lay at her feet, alive but injured. Except for Rosier and the short Death Eater, the others had been dealt with. "Let him go."
"Oh, I don't think so, madam." Rosier spat her title sarcastically. He picked up Benji's discarded wand and snapped it in two. Throwing the shards away, he spoke conversationally. "Tell her what you did, Benji."
"No." Benji kept his eyes on him. He turned to face Amelia. "Leave."
She didn't move. Amelia kept her eyes on Rosier, holding the baby with one arm, her expression determined.
"Benji's been playing by his own rules. Haven't you, sir?" Rosier gave him another dose of the Cruciatus Curse. Benji arched his back and felt like he wanted to claw at his eyes. "You took that filthy Squib from my sister, and you gave her to some Muggle family. You were clever, though, and forged the documents. You kept it as a closed adoption. You've been stalling every action bought by pureblood families in court."
"She's a Squib," Benji gasped. The girl had no magical blood. What did it matter?
Rosier chuckled softly. He walked over to Amelia and finally disarmed her when she hesitated. Rosier held Amelia in his arms, held two wands in his hand, and stroked Eleanor's head.
"What if I took your daughter? My, she is a pretty thing. Lovely blonde hair." Rosier jumped back, startled, when Amelia struck him with her fist. His jaw cracked. Spilling blood onto the pavement, Rosier caught her by the arm when she tried to strike him again. "Take him in the alley."
The small man walked over to Benji. He shattered the bones in his leg with a pipe, refusing to look at him. The other one was quicker work, though it was certainly no less painful. Benji desperately wished he would just pass out. Benji heard Amelia's screams as the man dragged him off, though whether it was because she had been harmed or cried out in fear, he did not know. The scent of garbage and rotting food hit his nostrils. Benji groaned when the man pressed his face against a brick wall of some establishment. Slipping in and out of consciousness, Benji thought he caught the profile of a man with a small nose and watery eyes. Gasping in sudden recognition, Benji reached out with his crushed hand. When the pipe sliced into his face, Benji crumbled onto the pavement and felt no more.