As Long As You're Mine

Chapter 7: Cold Feet


Alicia did her best not to falter but drew herself up to her full height and looked at the man standing in the doorway haughtily.

"I was going to ask you the same question. You have no business to be here, on my family's property."

"Your family's property?" the man repeated, eyeing her sceptically. She looked back at him coldly. After a moment or two, he seemed to give in.

He was a short man, with unkempt dark hair and a scrubby beard. He had pale watery eyes and looked distinctly rodent-like. He was slightly stooped and had a thievish look about him.

"Well, I'm very sorry, miss. I did not mean to trespass. I was simply here to – ah – ensure that Mr Malfoy's belongings were safe and under protection."

"Well thank you for your concern, but your presence here is not necessary. I have matters under control."

The man looked at her irritably. "May I ask how exactly you are related to the Malfoys?" he asked suspiciously.

Alicia kept her tone cold and haughty, though her heart was banging painfully hard and she held her hands behind her back so he could not see them shaking.

"I am Mrs Malfoy's cousin," she replied, with as much confidence as she could muster. She did not know the family tree of the Malfoys at all well and prayed that this man wouldn't either.

"Oh really?" the man said, his eyebrows raised. "I did not know that Mrs Malfoy had a female cousin."

"Well you have obviously been uninformed, sir," Alicia replied, her haughty expression slipping slightly, as she tried to retain her cool exterior.

The man shifted on his feet and eyed her cautiously.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir," she said boldly. "This is private property belonging to my family and I do not know that you have permission to be here."

The man threw her a glare but did not say anything. He turned abruptly on his heel and marched away from the door.

Alicia took a deep breath, unable to believe she had pulled it off. She waited for a few moments, letting the shock sink in and clearing her mind.

Then, tucking the letter away in her pocket, she hurried down the stairs.


It was mid-April when Katie recovered. It was early morning and Alicia had fallen asleep on the sofa after one of her late shifts. She was suddenly jerked awake by someone shaking her roughly.

"Wuzz goin on?" she mumbled blearily, rubbing her eyes. Angelina suddenly came into blurry vision and she appeared to waving a piece of parchment in Alicia's face, looking very excited.

"It's Katie!" Angelina was saying happily. "She's recovered!"

That woke Alicia up. "What?" she exclaimed.

"St. Mungo's just sent an owl to say that she's awake and she's doing fine." There was a broad smile on Angelina's face and Alicia suddenly felt a great weight lifted off her. The dark cloud that had been hanging over her ever since Katie had been cursed had lifted at last.

"Let's go!" Alicia cried, leaping from her seat and dashing towards the door.

"Er…Alicia." Angelina stopped her in her tracks. "You're not wearing any trousers."

Alicia looked down at herself and grinned sheepishly. As she looked back up, she was hit in the face by a pair of trousers.

"Thanks," came the muffled reply, as she pulled them off her face and yanked them on. "Now, let's go!"

Within minutes, they had arrived at the foyer of St. Mungo's.

"Can I help you-" the Welcome Witch started to say, but Alicia waved her away impatiently.

"I know where to go!" she said excitedly, dashing up the stairs two at a time and tearing along the corridor.

There were several disapproving exclamations from Healers as she raced past them, but she ignored them all. She skidded round the corner and burst through the door of Room 213.

Katie was sitting up in bed and her face broke into a huge grin when she saw the two girls.

"KATIE!" the two girls yelled and threw themselves on her, hugging her tightly.

"Really!" exclaimed the Healer crossly.

"Sorry, Bertie!" Alicia apologised, grinning at Healer Anderson, who couldn't help but give a fond smile at Alicia.

"Oh Katie, thank Merlin you're better!" Angelina exclaimed. "You have no idea how worried we've been!"

"Oh I should think you've all been weeping dreadfully over my death bed, correct?" Katie grinned.

The other two girls chuckled. "Has Ollie been in to see you yet?" Alicia asked.

"Er…yes, yes he has," Katie said, and her cheeks tinged slightly pink as she did so. The other two girls exchanged amused glances.

"I suppose you two had a lot of…er…catching up to do," Alicia smirked.

Katie blushed deeper and laughed. "You could say that."

And the three of them burst into laughter, causing Healer Anderson to reproach them greatly. But they didn't care.


Charlie was in Albania. He had travelled nearly all over Europe, had visited all the wizarding towns of note and there was still no trace of the elusive Avery.

He had had word from Dumbledore saying that he was sorry to have sent him on such a difficult and endless mission, but that it really was very important that they should find him and that he should keep searching no matter what happened.

It was early June when Charlie packed up his things and left Greece, heading North. There were very few wizarding towns in Albania, so Charlie did not expect to find anything. But that was exactly what he did find.

He arrived in the small Albanian town of Ajaz to blistering heat. According to the notes he had, Ajaz was listed as one of the few wizarding towns in Albania. He began his search quickly; what he did not expect was how quickly he discovered some interesting news.

The first wizard he spoke to described a tall, thin man with dark brown hair and a pointed beard, the exact description of the Death Eater Charlie had fought that fateful day at the Ministry and said that he had inquired about another wizard passing through the area over seventeen years ago. Another he spoke to said he had come across such a man camping in the forest not far from the outskirts of the town. A third said the man had a large dark moustache and wore a cap on his head that hid his eyes in shadow.

And everyone that Charlie spoke to told him that the man had been searching for something. Something that was very important to him. And that the man would stop at nothing to find it.


Charlie sighed heavily and swirled the last dregs of his coffee around at the bottom of his cup.

It had been five days since he had arrived in Albania. That morning, he had spoken to an old lady, who had described a tall, dark haired man she had passed in the street, who had been muttering something about a tiara. This information had immediately grabbed his attention and he had plied her for more information, but the moment she began to babble away in Croatian and started swatting around his head as though she could see some sort of invisible flies, Charlie had quickly made his exit.

"Looking for someone?"

Charlie whirled around in his seat and found himself staring into the very face of the man he had been seeking for nine months. He stood up slowly, watching the man warily.

"How did you know?" he asked carefully.

Avery shrugged. "I didn't. I guessed. I didn't think it could be just coincidence that you happened to be here in the same village as me."

"Why d'you run?" Charlie asked, eyeing the man with dislike.

Avery looked uncomfortable. "I had to get out. I'd got in far too deep. Far deeper than I meant to. I hurt people I should never have even thought of hurting."

"Like your family?" Charlie asked, a bitter edge to his voice. "You're a despicable person."

To his surprise, Avery lowered his head, staring at his shoes. "I know," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to hurt them, honestly I didn't. They're my family. And I never meant for things to get so…bad. When the Dark Lord came to me, trying to recruit me, I was afraid. I was a coward. I knew I couldn't run from him, so I gave in and joined him."

Charlie watched the man, his dislike deepening. "Then why now? Why run now?"

"I had to. I couldn't stay there any longer, not after what he's been doing. I got cold feet."

"So you've really abandoned him?" Charlie asked sceptically, regarding the man carefully through narrowed eyes. "How can we believe you? After what you did last time?"

Avery thought for a moment. "I don't know how to prove it to you, but for now, if you'll let me, I'll come back to England with you. I can help you. You don't need to tell me anything. I promise. I just want to help, to fix the things I did."

Charlie thought for a moment. "It's true. We need you. We need all the help we can get. But I don't trust you. Not one bit. But you'll come anyway."

Avery nodded briefly. "I won't let you down."


A/N. This chapter was much later than I intended it to be, so apologies for that! Thanks for reading! You know what to do :)