Disc.: Standard disclaimer about borrowed world.

Chapter Eleven

Lily leaned back in her seat, belt buckled. Her tray table was in the upright and locked position. She could feel the dip of the plane on hr last flight. She still had a long ride on the bus from the capital, but at least she'd be on terra firma again. She sighed, looking out the window as they descended.

It wasn't how she had wanted to travel to South America. She had planned to take a portkey. She wouldn't have had to spend the last day here and there, running from plane to plane. What should have been a simple form to fill out with the Department of Magical Travel turned into her quitting the ministry in haste.

Lily walked up to the wizard behind the desk, smiling. He returned her smile and asked her how he could help her. She asked him for the portkey request form. She shuffled to the side, quill in hand, and began to fill out the various lines: location, length of sojourn, purpose of travel. Once she'd completed it, she queued back up to submit it with the small processing fee, the coins jingling in her pants pocket.

"Ms. Potter?" the wizard called her name as he looked at her form. "I'm going to have to have you speak with someone from the department."

"Okay," she replied with a shrug. She didn't think anything of it. She followed him through a series of doors, until he came to a blank wall. He pulled out his wand and drew a small circle on the wall. A door knob appeared, and he turned it, the door swinging open.

"Come with me, Ms. Potter," he urged as he entered. Lily followed him out of the hallway and into the cramped office. Behind the desk was a squat witch with barely any hair. She gestured to the chair and dismissed the wizard. Lily sat in the chair.

"Ms. Potter, I see you are applying for a portkey to Argentina," the woman immediately started, not introducing herself. Lily looked at the name on the brass placard: Anya Bertrand, Head of Department of Mysteries.

"Mrs. Bertrand, why am I in your office?" Lily inquired.

"I'm investigating your request," the woman told Lily, a strained smile on her too wrinkly face. There was a coldness, a hardness, to her ice blue eyes as she looked at Lily.

"My request to go on holiday?" Lily asked.

"Indeed, holiday you say? Such a strange place for a single woman of your stature to go," Mrs. Bertrand's quill jotted notes on Lily's application folder. Lily hadn't even been aware there would be a file, she'd never applied for a portkey before.

"I hear it's lovely this time of the year," Lily lied.

"I believe it's still snowing there," Mrs. Bertrand challenged. Lily looked surprised. She had thought that with it being South America, it'd be warm.

"Well, there is the resort there," Lily dismissed. That much would probably be true, she hoped.

"Indeed," Mrs. Bertrand replied, looking over the folder. "Your father and brother were employees of the ministry, killed."

"Yes," Lily frowned.

"You have an eleven year old son that is Slytherin house, Hogwarts, for his education, correct?" Mrs. Bertrand continued on without looking up.

"Yes, but I don't understand what this has to do with my request for a portkey," Lily interrupted. If Mrs. Bertrand heard her, she made no indication.

"You're the Minister's assistant, going on nine months now, correct?"

"Mrs. Bertrand, I don't see what this has to do with my holiday travel request," Lily snapped. Mrs. Bertrand looked up finally. She took her little glasses off and placed them on the desk.

"No employee is permitted portkey travel to hostile locations," she told Lily simply.

"Hostile locations?" Lily asked.

"Hostile," Mrs. Bertrand said with a nod. "I'm going to have to deny your portkey application and strongly suggest you travel to somewhere nice, like Iceland if you're wanting to go for the climate."

"But Mrs. Bertrand," Lily countered.

"It's final. Only the minister himself could lift the travel embargo," she told Lily.

The jolt from the landing bounced Lily inches up out of her seat, just to be yanked back down by the seat belt. Lily grunted, ready to be free of the plane. It seemed to be painfully slow as it taxied to the gate and she nervously tapped her foot, waiting for the seat belt sign to turn off. The man next to her seemed just as eager to get off the plane, but Lily suspected he was feeding off her nervous energy.

It seemed like forever before the plane came to a standstill and the pilot came over the intercom, speaking first in Spanish, then in a heavily accented English. Lily wasn't sure what he was supposed to be saying, something about the weather. Lily was wearing long sleeves. It had been cool when she left London, hot as sin in Santiago, Chile when she transferred planes, and she suspected cool and damp in Ushuaia, Argentina.

She had stopped off at a muggle library, to do a little research and to find a local travel agent. The well dressed woman seemed really sympathetic to Lily's story that she needed a little pre-holiday, and booked her a flight out for that very afternoon. Lily had arrived with her roll-on suitcase and carry-on, passport tucked in her over-sized purse.

The ministry might have denied her travel through portkey from London to Ushuaia, but that didn't mean that Lily had to take the decision as her final answer. She gathered her carry-on, standing sandwiched between other patrons as they made their way from the plane. Lily thought of her final actions at the ministry with a touch of embarrassment and doubt.

Lily snatched the paper from Mrs. Bertrand, certain that she would just march up to the minister and he'd sign off on her getting the portkey. Lily stormed out of the Department of Magical Travel, heading straight to the lift. She was grateful for once that her stop took precedence over all others and she didn't have to wait long until the gilded gates slid open, allowing her access to her office.

She didn't pause at her desk, and instead she walked straight through the barrier, already braced to the light. She didn't stop short though her body did jerk slightly to see both Obadiah Parker, Minister of Magic, and Draco Malfoy, Head of the Department of Auror Affairs in what could possibly have been a heated argument. They came to an abrupt silence, both looking at Lily standing there.

"Lily, this isn't a good time," the minister told her.

"I won't be but a second," Lily told him, crossing the room and placing the parchment on the desk before him. "Just need a signature, and then I'll be on my way."

"No," the minister told her quietly after he skimmed the document.

"I'm slated for holiday," Lily reminded him.

"And that's fine, but I will not sign off on a portkey for you. Not to Argentina," the minister told her as he glanced at Draco.

"I don't see why not," Lily demanded. "I do everything that is asked of me. I want to go on one little holiday, to travel and see sights that I didn't when I was in my youth, and you're denying me?"

"My policy," the minister replied quietly. Lily frowned at Draco.

"This is your doing, isn't it?" Lily accused, turning toward Draco with her hands on her hips.

"My doing? The minister makes his own travel embargos," Draco explained.

"It's true, I make my own embargos," the minister admitted. "As long as you're an employee of the ministry, you will not be allowed a portkey to South America."

"I quit!" Lily yelled at them both. They both looked startled. "Now, sign the paper."

"You don't surely mean to quit because I won't sign off," the minister retorted, anger rising in his voice. He looked at Draco for support.

"I mean it, Minister Parker," Lily replied coolly. "I quit. I'm done."

"He's still not going to sign off on this," Draco challenged her, frowning. "Maybe you should re-think your stance on your hastily quit position."

"You know what, Draco? You and the minister both can take this whole ministry and shove it up your-"

"Lily!" Draco cut her off, clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Ms. Potter, your resignation is accepted as of this very moment," Minister Parker snapped. "Draco, have security see her out."

"I'll see her out myself," Draco promised. "Save face for all parties, as it were." Lily growled something under Draco's hand, struggling to break free as he pulled her from the room. Draco didn't take her straight to the lift, as she expected, still struggling and still kicking. For an older man, Draco was surprisingly fit and strong.

He walked as if she weren't fighting him, through the now shimmery portal that led out of the minister's antechamber. Lily continued to fight, though with less exuberance. He pulled her along an icy corridor that caused her to shiver before coming out in the back hallway of the Department of Auror Affairs. He entered the first door, an interrogation room, and dropped her on her rear end in the chair.

"I don't know what's got into you, Lily, but you're acting rather irresponsible and childish," Draco told her. He sighed. "Your actions, unfortunately warrant further investigation."

"Investigation?" Lily growled at him. "For what? I want to go on Holiday, not commit a crime. I have rights."

"Not here, you don't," Draco told her remorsefully. "You'll have to be investigated. I'll have someone come do your initial interview, then I'll personally take you home."

"I'm not going to be allowed to leave on holiday, am I?" Lily asked as Draco headed to the door.

"No," he told her with a sigh as he exited, leaving Lily alone in the room.

Lily smiled at the customs agent that stamped her passport. She thought it was a stroke of good luck that she and Theron had both gotten them to return to London after a long stint of living in Paris. It had served her well. She hailed a taxi easily, the man behind the wheel knowing exactly where the resort was without any direction from Lily.

She looked out the windows as the cab driver drove through the streets. He was talking a mile a minute in broken English, most of which Lily didn't understand, but she'd smile or nod appropriately. She loved the look of the older buildings, the rows of shops and homes, with alley ways draped with lines of laundry stretched between buildings.

"Wait! Is that a hostel?" Lily called out from the back of the cab. The startled taxi driver slammed on his breaks.

"Si, senorita! Es muy bueno!" he tossed back at her, gesturing at the original architecture.

"Do you think they'd have openings?" Lily asked leaning forward to talk to him. She had reservations at the five-star resort, but something about this almost quaint bed and breakfast hostel called to her.

"Claro que si, senorita. I can check," he offered, jerking the car out of the roadway and parking in front of the garden arches.

"Do you mind?" Lily asked. He shook his head.

"No hay problema," he grinned and got out of the cab. He opened her door and retrieved her luggage. Frowning only when she held the gate and doors open for him, respectively. A woman stood behind a small counter, her glossy brown hair long enough to make for a thick braid.

"Buenas tardes, Agosto," she offered the man. He blushed slightly.

"Senorita Gomes," he murmured with a slight bow of his head. He begun to speak rapid Spanish to the woman, gesturing to Lily while still holding her luggage. Lily stepped back once to avoid getting swiped by her carry-on case.

"A room, no?" Senorita Gomes asked Lily with a smile. Lily nodded.

"Please?" Lily replied. All those years of French had served her well when she had lived in Paris with Theron, but did her a lick of good in a country that spoke Spanish.

"I have one," the woman said with a thick accent, grabbing the key from the peg-box. "Sr Agosto, le llevará el equipaje de esta manera a la sala?"

"Si, senorita Gomes," he said with another bow. Lily followed the woman, the cab driver behind her, up to the second floor where there were six doors, each one marked with a number. The owner unlocked the door to number four, swinging it open and gesturing for Lily to enter the spacious room.

"The communal bath is down the hall," she said to Lily. "Very common here for one bath per floor."

"Okay," replied as she looked around the very comfortable room. The bed looked plush, and she could picture coming here with a lover. She blushed as the thought crossed her mind, assaulted by the distant images of both Damon and Scorpius, as if they begged for her to choose.

The cab driver placed the luggage by the edge of the bed. He grinned at Senorita Gomes and bowed his head again. Lily quickly fished around her bag, pulling free some pesos to pay him. He returned a few to her, mumbling something about too many and left, leaving Lily alone with the house-mistress. The woman studied Lily.

"You need something in you," she said and Lily's mind thought of the last time she was with Damon, her face blushing crimson. "Comida... er, food?"

"Oh," Lily blushed harder. "Yes, si, thank you."

"Come down to the cocina in a few," the woman told her. Lily nodded. Senorita Gomes left, leaving Lily alone in the room to unpack her bags. She looked to the phone by her beside and she fished the scrap of paper that had the address and telephone number for the resort written on it. After a few moments, and a fee of one night, Lily was able to break her reservations. She headed downstairs, finding the kitchen easily and sitting at the table.

"I know what you are," the woman told her as she placed a sandwich before Lily. Her English was clearer than it had been when the cab driver had been there, though it was still punctuated with the accent of the locals.

"Excuse me?" Lily choked.

"I have had many of your kind cross my threshold," Senorita Gomes explained to Lily. "I have written your ministry, forbidding any more of their operatives staying here."

"I'm no operative," Lily calmly replied as she picked up the sandwich. The woman laughed.

"Oh, that I know," she said. "Your light is white."

"My light?"

"I can read energies," Senorita Gomes dismissed. "My mother and abuela were both seers. I'm squib, myself, with just a touch of sensitivity. Your energy is pure, white. Good and honest."

"I'm not always honest," Lily confessed. The woman raised her eyebrow. "I was forbidden by the ministry to come here."

"That was probably for your own good," the woman replied darkly. "This place has a way about taking a soul and twisting it until it breaks."

"I had to come," Lily choked out. "This is the place that all of my family has had connections to that have left this world."

"If that's true, then it's possible that it could take you, too," the woman warned.

"I have to know the truth," Lily dropped her eyes. "Whatever it is, I have to know. It's been a long time coming."

"You need to be careful. There are trolls in the mountains, thus the haze that seems to hang over the city," the woman told Lily. "They rarely come down, but they do seem to have some sort of agreement with the local vampiros... uh... vampires. They're the ones you should avoid at all cost."

"Funny, I believe that's exactly where I need to start my search," Lily murmured once Senorita Gomes was out of ear-shot. She finished the sandwich, placing the plate in the sink. Lily went upstairs, grabbing her jacket and her cross-body purse. She headed back out the front door, closing it quietly behind her.

She stood outside, uncertain exactly where to start. It wasn't like there were going to be any giant neon signs that would advertise a place to look. She squeezed her purse, the slight piece of wood a comfort under her fingers. There were some upsides to having such a small wand. She had been able to tuck it into the spiral twists of her notebook and claim it was a pencil.

Shale had walked into the interrogation room, and his first action was to take her wand from her. It was protocol, he had claimed, and he looked really uncomfortable doing so to his childhood friend. He had placed it just out of her reach, on a shelf by the door before he sat down across from her.

"Hello, Shale," she murmured quietly. "I see that it's you that has to do whatever it is the DAA has asked."

"I just need to get some information," he was no-nonsense, immediately opening a thick file that Lily hadn't seen prior. She tried to read some of it upside down, but the pages were blank from her point of view and she suspected it was an enchantment.

"I honestly don't know what you hope to learn," Lily sighed. He glanced up at her, and she swore he looked sorry for her. The pity was there, just under the reflection of the almost too bright light of the room.

"You recently applied for a portkey," his voice was clipped, official.

"Yeah, like an hour or so ago," Lily laughed bitterly.

"Where did you apply for the key?"

"Um, the department of Magical Travels," Lily rolled her eyes and Shale glanced up. She bit back the 'duh' that almost escaped.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't more precise in my question," Shale replied though for a second, the corner of his mouth twitched as if he might smile. Lily glanced around the room, suddenly wondering if they might be under observation. She looked behind him where the mirror was. She'd seen enough police dramas to know it was probably a two-way mirror.

"I knew what you meant," Lily replied. He looked back down at the file.

"When you applied for your portkey, where did you list for your destination," Shale asked.

"Argentina," Lily told him. Shale glanced up, surprise evident on his face.

"And what is your purpose for going to Argentina?" Shale asked her.

"Holiday," Lily answered.

"Did anyone tell you to go there for holiday?" he asked.

"No, no one told me to go there," Lily was truthful. No one had mentioned Argentina to her.

"I see from your file that you have a brother who works for this office, is that true?" Shale asked.

"You know he does, Shale," Lily scoffed. "You also know that my other brother and father were Aurors before they died, and that I was engaged to Scorpius, who was an Auror."

"Lily, please, I'm following protocol questions," Shale implored, looking at her intently.

"How's Nina?" Lily asked. Shale sat back. Lily knew Nina was likely a sore subject for Shale, since their marriage had crumbled and failed.

"This isn't about me," Shale retorted stiffly.

"This isn't about me, either, Shale," Lily prodded. "This is about some information that the department seems to think I have, that I don't. I just want to go on holiday. I need a break. I'm alone."

"I need to get back to the questions," Shale prompted after looking at her intently for a moment. "Are you acquainted with Damon West?"

"Damon is my neighbor," Lily said simply.

"Have you had any interaction with Mr. West as of lately," Shale questioned.

"I've taken notes at meetings that he's had with the Minister of Magic," Lily explained.

"What about interactions on a non-official basis?" Shale asked. Lily squirmed slight, unable to keep the slight blush from creeping up.

"We've had dinner," Lily explained.

"What about sex?" Shale choked out. Lily felt as if her face was on fire.

"If you're asking me, or trying to get to the point of, did Damon tell me anything that would lead to my wanting to go to Argentina, then the answer is no. He has never once mentioned to me Argentina," Lily replied hotly, anger dripping from her words.

"Ms. Potter, answer the question, please," Shale ordered. There was a sharp edge to his voice, a strain as if he was beyond ready to end questioning.

"Yes," Lily hissed at him, gripping the table as she leaned forward. "Two times and it was GREAT." Shale looked a little pale.

"And during these... interactions... did he ever divulge any information about what he does or secrets of the ministry or this department?" Shale's words were clipped, stiff. For as uncomfortable as she was, Lily realized that this line of questioning was probably making him even more uncomfortable. She wondered who else was witnessing from behind the glass, if they too were uncomfortable, and she decided she didn't care anymore. She sat back a second and smiled.

"No, his mouth too busy to share secrets," she said coolly, a smirk on her face. Shale's head snapped up to look at her and his mouth hung open in surprise. Lily was studying a hangnail on her pinky finger, but she noticed.

Lily grinned as she made her way down the sidewalks, passing the pubs and small night clubs that seemed to spill light and music out on the sidewalk. People smiled as they passed her and Lily headed into one of the pubs. She supposed she could have used a divining charm, to use her wand to find under-ground clubs or magical places, but she worried that the ministry would be able to locate her that way. She didn't know if they put a magical tracer on her wand, so she wasn't going to risk it so early on, though she wasn't stupid. She knew that she was in the very city they'd start looking for her. She'd stick out like a sore thumb, but she'd deal with that when it became an issue.

Lily pushed her way to the bar, a few people glancing her way as she pushed through the throngs of people crammed into the tiny space. A few smiled at her but no one said anything over the loud music as she made it to the well worn bar. The bartender approached, rag in his hand. He was that sweet caramel coloring, his eyes light, and his muscles broad. Lily couldn't help but grin at this god on Earth.

"What'll you have?" he shouted with a smile. His accent was faint, as if he'd been a long since transplanted soul from another region.

"I don't know," Lily called over the din. "What do you recommend?" He gestured for her to lean closer, her elbow leaning against the bar. His mouth was near her ear.

"You look like a Fire Whisky kinda gal," he whispered just loud enough that she could hear him. She tripped backwards, bumping roughly into a big brute of a guy, whose hands clamped down sharply on her arms.

"Easy, sweetheart," the brute whispered in her ear as he steered her toward the door to the right of the bar. "We just want to talk."

Lily thought to scream, but the thought came too late as she passed through the swinging doors. Her ears rung in the silence, the dark hallway swallowing up almost all of the light. For as loud as the bar had been, it was a shock to her senses as she was steered in silence towards the one lone door at the end of the hallway.