Hey! It's been a while, I know. Sorry! Finals and family issues have kept me from you, but I'm back. Here's a new chapter! I'm not going to explain it because you'll see what goes on for yourself, but the big confrontation between James and "Lady" will happen next chapter with the family reunion. *suspenseful music plays* This isn't a filter chapter, more of a set-up one. Enjoy! I do not own Harry Potter. I have been rewatching it lately though.

Sirius spoke up when he saw his best friend was incapable of saying anything. He also recognized the alluring green eyes, the eyes that Lily and Callie had shared, but he also knew they could be fake, the result of a spell or potion. Many prostitutes did what they could to alter their appearance for customers. It was a reason Metamorphoses like his cousin Tonks were so highly coveted in the sex trade. "We need to see Madam Rostov."

Lady, as their guide had called her, settled back in her perch behind the desk and studied them, no expression on her beautiful face. Better lighting and a closer look revealed that Lady was wearing dark red lipstick and smoky eye shadow but very little in the lines of foundation. It was hard to believe anyone working here had such nice skin, especially as a seasoned "whore". Most of them were diseased or drug addicted. It was a tragedy that didn't change Muggle or magical. "You two are not from around here."

"Why do you assume that?" Sirius asked smoothly.

Lady raised an eyebrow. "This is a very small neighbor, sir. I would know you." Looking them over, she spoke again. "If you're not from around here, you're not here for business. And Madame doesn't take clients as young as you two." She mumbled something in a language neither man recognized. "That just leaves... Aurors."

That statement managed to shock James out of his daze. "We are going to see your boss whether you like it or not," he asserted.

To the Aurors' surprise, Lady laughed. Her laugh was pleasant, like music, but also haunting. "You think I care about Madame?" She looked up at the two men. "No. I care about these girls." Sirius snorted. "Is something funny, Auror...?" Her tone hardened.

"Black," he replied. "And I find it hard to believe that a person in your-"

"My what?" Lady interrupted. "My profession? Well, let me tell you something, Auror Black. I've worked here since I was eleven years old. I've seen girls beaten down both physically and mentally by this job. I've had friends die of diseases they didn't even realize they had caught. I've seen girls overdose on anything they can possibly get their hands on just to end the nightmare they were living. The girls that took care of me when I started? None of them are still working here. Only one is even alive."

She looked Sirius in the eyes, her blazing green ones not leaving his determined grey ones. "So yes, I do care about these girls. I want them to escape this life because I know it is not an easy one to live, which is why I am willing to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" James repeated, immediately suspicious even if Lady might be his daughter. People in Knockturn weren't known for their love of or cooperation with the Aurors. They hadn't even mentioned crimes against Madame Rostov yet. "What kind of deal?"

"I'll take you to Madame's office," Lady stated calmly. "I will show you where she keeps all of her correspondence and any other paper pertinent to your investigation. I will also let you have our client ledger on the off chance it could prove useful. In exchange, you will take these girls to the Ministry and find them safe, normal homes away from this neighborhood. Some of them were taken from their homes. You will return them. If their families are gone or unwilling to have them back, you will find good homes for them. No charges will be pressed against any of my girls."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "We need probable cause to search through your boss's papers. Can you give us that?"

Lady smirked. "I can state for a fact that three of the men on your Most Wanted posters have been in to visit her in the last week, Mr. Yaxley several times. Several of the girls would be able to confirm this."

James, believing the information to be solid, nodded to Sirius, who gestured for Lady to lead the way. She smiled coquettishly, hopping off her stool and stepping out towards them. If Sirius wasn't half-convinced this girl was his long-lost goddaughter, he would have been staring. She was in a simple one-armed black dress that clung to her body and hit just below her butt. Spindly heels that neither man could imagine being comfortable in clinked on the floor as she walked forward. The little girl playing on the floor made a noise. Lady turned to her and said something in another language. The little girl then picked up her toys and scurried upstairs.

They walked down a long, dark hallway, only a few candles on the wall illuminating their faces. Finally, the three came to a large, dark door. Lady pulled out a set of keys and opened the door, stepping aside to reveal a more brightly light office. Sirius went in first, eager to finally shut this case, but James lingered, letting Lady step in before he did.

She seemed to know what they were looking for, pointing out drawers and files they couldn't possibly have found so fast on their own. This caused Sirius to sort in amusement as he looked through one of the files. "Doing a little investigating of our own, are we?" he jested much to the dismay of James.

Lady didn't seem to mind the light jab, choosing to laugh. "It's always good to have blackmail on your boss," she countered.

Sirius seemed to nod in agreement, which made James elbow him. Neither man missed the slight smile that appeared on Lady's lips because of their antics. James leaned back, letting Sirius do the "menial" work. He turned to Lady. "What do you get out of our deal?" he probed, genuinely curious. She hadn't mentioned herself once in her negotiations.

Lady raised an elegant eyebrow. "Why is it that I have to get something out of our deal, Auror...?"

"Potter," James answered. "And it's not that you have to get something out of the deal, it's just that most people would want something."

Lady shrugged. "I want nothing from you."

For some reason, this bugged the seasoned Head Auror. "What about reuniting you with your family?" he tried. "You must have family."

Lady shook her head. "My family is dead. They died in a fire six years ago."

"Then why don't you let us find you a home?" James offered, his heart seemingly breaking at not being able to help this girl, his daughter or not. "A normal one, away from all of this."

Lady smiled a genuine smile this time. "Thank you for the offer, Auror Potter, but I am seventeen. This neighborhood is my home. I grew up here, and no matter how bad it can get, my heart is here."

James nodded, capable of understanding her loyalty to the place she lived. It was the same kind he felt to a Ministry that disappointed him more often than not, but that he still worked tirelessly for anyway. "Well, I had to offer. Thank you for your help, Lady."

Lady made a face. "Please don't call me that," she requested. "That's the name I use for clients. My name is Callista, Callista Gerszewski."

Once again, James faltered. Before, he couldn't really believe it, couldn't believe that this girl was his Callie, but this was getting too big to ignore. After all, how popular of a name was Callista?

Sirius spoke up, saving his best friend yet again. (As far as Sirius was considered, the git could add it to the list.) "What time will your boss be home?" he asked.

Callista smirked. "Long enough for you two to get a search warrant to cover your arses and set a little trap."


It didn't take long for the extra forces to arrive. Callista had instructed her girls to pack quickly, and most had followed that instruction without question. There were a couple of odd looks thrown at the Auror forces taking over Madam Rostov's rooms, but James's gut told them there would not be many problems with these girls. They seemed to trust the beautiful blonde girl, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. Seeing some of the other girls, he had guessed Callista to be the most senior amongst them in both age and experience.

One girl, short with cropped black hair, did ask Callista something. "What about Collette? I have packed her things, but she cannot walk. She is too weak."

Callista considered this. She turned to James, who was giving orders to his team nearby. "Auror Potter?" she asked politely, diverting his attention away from his men. "Is there any way you can arrange a stretcher to transport one of my girls? Colette has been very sick."

James nodded and ordered one of his men to arrange a stretcher and a Healer on standby at the Ministry.

It seemed that Colette's health wasn't the only thing on the cropped hair girl's mind. "Lista, Teufel is not going to like this," she warned. "You're making yourself and Grace a target."

Callista smiled at her friend. "Becks, let me worry about Teufel. Just be happy you're free now."

Becks frowned, and her hair turned gray, shocking most the Aurors around them and causing to Sirius to laugh. "Conrad won't like this."

Callista laughed, but it was a bitter sound. "Con's probably shooting up as we speak," she sniped. "He'll never know." It was clearly the end of the argument to her, but Becks still looked worried. "Go make sure the younger ones are ready," she requested softly. Becks nodded and scurried up the stairs.

It wasn't clear who Conrad was, but every Auror in the room knew Teufel. He went by many different names: Dämon, Machthaber, and sometimes Scheißkerl in the privacy of people's homes. His true identity wasn't clear, but everyone knew he ruled Knockturn Alley. His gang was powerful, well-trained, and equipped with wands and Muggle weapons. Outsiders were rarely welcomed, making it nearly impossible to get a mole inside. Some would say, perhaps correctly, that Teufel was a bigger threat than Voldemort because, while you always knew when Death Eaters strike, Teufel's men were nearly untraceable.

Callista, despite her reassurances to her friend, also looked worried. Having secured the Floo network, James walked over to the blonde girl. Sirius was escorting the first group of girls into the Floo. "You'll be safe now," James promised. "If we can link your madam to Teufel, it will be enough to convince the Head of the DMLE to track him down and bring him in."

Callista didn't say anything, only smiling sadly. The little girl, Grace from what he had heard, tugged at her hand. Callista squeezed it reassuringly and stepped into the Floo with some of her girls. "We are never safe, Auror Potter," she said before it was activated. It wasn't her words that haunted him, but her startling familiar emerald eyes. In all honesty, it would be easier for him to imagine his daughter dead. At least then Callie would've remained young and innocent, happily playing with flowers in some greater beyond. Alive, she was worn down, men constantly forced on her, the witness to the unspeakable horrors of humanity every day. Horrors that, James vowed, she would never have to see so much of again. That was a promise.