She checked her wristwatch, first of all. It said the time was a little after ten, but she wasn't sure if that was morning or evening. It couldn't possibly be that late in the evening, could it? The room had two windows that looked out on a sunny country garden. It looked as fake as a screensaver. So that was no use for telling the time.

Oh, God, at least she needed to find something for this headache.

She wandered around the infirmary, checking all the bottles, hoping against hope that there was one labeled "Ibuprofen." But no luck.

She heard voices. Someone was coming down the hallway, towards the infirmary. Audrey immediately ran to the last bed and crouched underneath it. She wouldn't take a single chance…

The door opened, and a crowd of people shuffled in – all either injured, or supporting someone who was. There were creaks as bodies were lowered onto hospital beds, pops, gurgles, and clinks from the medicine bottles, and a lot of voices, at least until a man's voice hollered for quiet. Audrey wondered who these people were. Were they in league with that horrible, pink-clad woman – Audrey went cold just remembering her. Or were they the sort of people who would help a Muggle?

As feet gradually approached her end of the ward, Audrey realized she wouldn't do herself any favors by waiting. But she might be able to take advantage of the confusion…

"Wait – someone's already there!"

Audrey crawled out from under the bed and looked up. Three people in long, dove-grey robes loomed over her. Some of them were spattered in blood. She swallowed.

"What are you doing in our infirmary?" asked one of them, a bespectacled woman with wavy blonde hair.

"I needed it," Audrey said. She would not be cowed. She would not be afraid. "I had a spell done to me, and I was in terrible pain, and a friend brought me here."

"She's right!"

Audrey wasn't the only one surprised. The other two Grey-robes looked in surprise at the third. Audrey vaguely recognized him – emphasis on the 'vague.'

"Two head honchos brought her in, threatened me with trouble if I didn't opened up the infirmary for her." He was very pale, and so young he still had some acne.

"Who was it?" asked the blonde woman.

"Junior Undersecretary Weasley, and Department Secretary Zab… Something with a 'Z.'"

"But she's a Muggle," said the third Grey-Robe with an air of authority.

"Percy Weasley!" said Audrey. "Percy! I need to find him! Where is he? I'll leave you in a minute – " she got to her feet, and everything spun around her.

"Whoa, there." The blonde woman caught Audrey. At this height, Audrey realized she was actually very short, but held herself like she was taller. "What spell did you say they did to you?"

"A spell that made me feel –" Audrey didn't want to remember, so she spat out the words as quickly as possible – "made me feel all the pain in the world, all at once – "

"Cruciatus" muttered the woman.

"And a spell that made me so badly confused, I couldn't even walk. I don't remember you very well," she said to the man who'd recognized her.

"And who did this to you?"

"Umbridge."

That name got an instant reaction. "That settles it," said the short woman. "Any enemy of Umbridge's is a friend of mine. Sit down, on that cot."

"But Percy – I need to find him – "

"If he left you here, he's probably expecting to find you back here, right?" asked the woman briskly. "Call me A.T, by the way. And you are?"

"Audrey." A.T. – just her own initials. Easy to remember. "I'm Audrey."

"Nice to meet you. You'll stay here until the room stops spinning."

"And I have a headache," Audrey said. As long as she had to be in an infirmary…

"Well," Amity smiled, "that at least we can fix."

"Amity!" came a voice from down the infirmary. "I'm sorry, but I need you."

"Don't be sorry, dear," she called back. "N.P., take care of Audrey here." She hurried down to the other end of the little infirmary. Audrey turned to look, then wished she hadn't – the grey-robed woman stopped in front of a black-haired man in a grey robe, with bloodied bandages over his eyes.

Audrey tried to forget that image, and looked around, only to see more dreadful injuries wherever she went. Now the smell seemed to settle in – a filthy mixture of blood, sweat, smoke, and a variety of foul odors that Audrey could only assume were magical in purpose. It made her head spin again.

N.P. came back to Audrey, apologized for being torn between duties, and asked if she wouldn't mind a Headache Relief spell. He said, "Potions are sometimes chancy, with Muggles."

She didn't bother asking how he knew. She said sure. He tapped her forehead, and the headache went away, but he said she still had to wait there.

"But wait," she said to him. "Tell me what's happened."

"What do you know?" N.P. asked.

"The last thing I heard was something about Hogwarts," she said. "And Harry Potter… and a dragon."

"Oh." He swayed from side to side. "Well, we don't know for sure ourselves. You missed a hell of a skirmish. There was… well. L.O. got us all in trouble." He gestured to the man with the bandaged eyes. "Someone put it together that he's been assisting the Order of the Phoenix. And they decided to make an example of him. That's what the general assembly was for. Then the word got out that You-Know-Who and his followers were at Hogwarts, along with Harry Potter…"

Audrey considered mentioning that she didn't know who, but then put it together. At some points, Fred and George and their gang had mentioned the Dark Lord, the man pulling the strings, the Man In Charge. That must be him.

"… And it turned into a riot. You're lucky you were up here." He shuddered, hard. "I think we won. There were messages – the fighting stopped at Hogwarts. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work…"

Audrey nodded, and tried hard to think, while the room gently rocked around her. She asked N.P. – what strange wizardry was this? Were they trying to protect their True Names or something? – what the time was, and he told her it was ten in the evening, May 2nd. So she had slept through an entire day, and still she felt the sting of that torture spell.

An excruciating half-hour passed, and Audrey no longer had attacks of vertigo, and things had quieted down. She sought out A.T., who – shudder – was still sitting by the man with the bandaged eyes. ('Missing eyes? Oh, Audrey, for the love of God don't think of that…')

"Hello. Ahem. Please. Those paper airplane messenger things. How do I get my hands on one of them?"

A.T's face was deliberately blank. "You have to make one. By—"

"By magic, alright, I was afraid you'd say that. Could you make one for me?"

"Where do you want it to go?"

"I want it to find Percy Weasley."

"He's probably in Hogwarts," said N.P, who was standing nearby.

"And where's that?" Audrey asked testily.

"Scotland."

"Well, I don't see what the problem is. It's magic, isn't it?"

N.P. and the other two Grey-Robes laughed, and Audrey's hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"Cut that out!" said A.T. "She doesn't know any better. You wouldn't know the front end of a car from the trunk, so shut it!"

The others stopped laughing at once. A.T. twined her hair out of her eyes with a finger. "If we're going to find a real peace," she said, "We've got to stop treating Muggles like dirt. And all four of my grandparents are Muggles, so don't laugh at her without laughing at me. Do you hear me?"

There were vague mutterings of yes, and some shocked staring at the confession. A.T. looked again at Audrey. "What you want is an owl. And I still recommend that you stay here."

"I can't do that," Audrey said. "My family and friends have no idea what's happened to me. I've been missing for over two days. I need to send a letter to Percy, and then I'll be out of your hair. I really must insist."

"Alright. N.P., lead her to the Post Office – "

"You want to take one of our men out just for her?" said another Grey-Robe.

"I have a better idea," said the man with bandaged eyes. He struggled to sit up.

"Linus, just say it, don't try to sit up."

"Okay," he said. "Paper. Snapper. Enchant that to direct her. She can figure the rest out on her own…" He sighed. "Good luck."

"Just rest now, Linus," said A.T.

"Why doesn't he go by his initials?" Audrey asked. "Why do you all go by your initials?" She bit her lip, realizing she was being rude, and Linus – quite obviously – needed his rest.

After a pause, it was A.T. who spoke. "We're Obliviators," she said. "Modifying memories is our specialty. And being anonymous is one of our traditions. Keeps us apart from the rest of the Ministry."

"Spies," Audrey said.

A.T. shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

"And you erase Muggle's memories."

"That we do. But memories aren't really erased – they're just buried. They can be recalled again, with the right spells…" A.T. trailed off. "We're wasting time. Here." She pulled a piece of paper – also spattered with blood – out of her pocket. "I need to change out of this robe," she muttered. She tapped the paper with her wand, and it formed into a perfect paper airplane, one that any Muggle schoolchild would have been proud of.

"Thank you," Audrey said. "Thanks to all of you."

She turned on her heel and left, the blue paper airplane floating ahead of her.

As she walked, she tried to make sense of the story she was in. She was in a war story, now. She was surrounded by veterans. She had slept through a battle – just like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit – but Percy had lived through one, awake. This was a war story, and she had to be ready for anything.

And she almost was.

But when she stepped outside of an elevator, and the doors slid open – she was not ready for Percy to be standing there.

Audrey almost didn't recognize him. And he almost didn't recognize her.

She was so intent on getting on the elevator and to the Owlery, but the shock of red hair caught her eye, and she cried, "Percy!"

He jolted at the sound of his name. He looked and saw her. "Audrey?" He asked, with eyes that couldn't believe what stood before them.

"Percy! It's me! I remember you!" For a moment, those three words became sacred, the most powerful magic spell in the world.

She held out her hands to him, he took them and then he was holding her so tightly, so tightly, and she was hugging him back and only got the dimmest realization that there were other people around.

"Percy, I remember you," she repeated. "I remember you."

"How?" she heard him say through the cloud of her hair.

"My duster." She pulled back enough and showed him her sleeve. "It's enchanted. Repels memory magic. It was Penelope Clearwater's idea."

He stared, and swallowed hard. "Bless her," he said. His arms were around her again, and people were just moving aside around them. "I thought I'd lost you."

"You never did," she said. Then, pushing herself away from him – and how, she hated to do it – she said, "But I have to leave. Now. I have to find my family. I've been missing for two days now, they'll be worried sick."

She was surprised to see him nod, and even more surprised when he asked, "Can I come with you?"

"Of course," she replied. "Always."

As they passed into the Atrium, Audrey said, "Are you going to have to Apparate me out of here?"

"You know Apparation? Well… yes. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just have to be prepared." She looked up at him. "Percy, what's the matter? There's something you aren't telling me. Tell me, quick."

He looked down at her and swallowed hard. "Quick," he repeated. "It's Fred. My brother Fred – at Hogwarts – "

"No…"

"He's dead," said Percy. "And I barely got to see him – my stupid pride cost me –"

Audrey shook her head, and looked down. "George must be…" she choked up. It was too much. "Oh, God."

He put an arm around her, and she leaned into him, crying into him as he cried, and after a while she said, "You did get to see him before he – before – "

"Yeah."

"Oh, God. I can't handle it. I can't imagine how you're doing."

Percy shook his head. His face was set. No more tears fell.

She took a shuddering breath. "Please take me home."

000

Audrey's own neighborhood was strange to her when she and Percy arrived there. Everything was exactly where it was when she had left it – the same motorcycle, the same garbage cans, the same graffiti, the same spindly tree putting out blossoms. How could it be just where she'd left it, when so much had happened? The last time she'd been here, Fred had been alive.

"It's surreal," she said to no one in particular, staring at the too-bright lights of the Indian restaurant.

"Are you hungry?" Percy asked.

"I'm just so tired," she said. "Well, maybe yes, a little hungry. But… Percy, you…"

"What is it?"

"You'll go home, as soon as you can. I can see it on your face. That's alright. You need to be with your family."

His set, weary demeanor cracked. The tears threatened to make a comeback, and he just nodded, forcefully. "I'm sorry, but I have to."

"I understand. Please… give George my love."

"It needs to be just us."

"I know." Tears started to pour from Audrey's eyes. "He was my friend, too," she said, trying to keep her voice gentle. "If there's a funeral, I want to go."

"There'll be one. I'm sorry. You must hate me for telling you this."

"I don't hate you, Percy. Go and be with your family. I'll be here, waiting for you."

He didn't smile, but his face relaxed slightly. "I know you will."

She stood up on tiptoes, and was going to kiss him when the door opened, and she recognized who was coming out. Audrey turned, surprising Percy greatly. "Elena!" she cried.

Elena, Audrey's stepsister, was carrying two big bags of takeout, and she almost dropped them when she saw Audrey. "Audrey!" she cried. "Audrey! Where have you been? We've all been out of our minds with worry! Where have you been?" she asked again, as she looked Audrey once over. Audrey considered she must look a fright: tears, pallor, dark circles, mud – the works. And then Elena looked up at Percy.

"I'm home now," said Audrey. "This is Percy, my friend. He brought me home."

"I have to go," Percy said, almost robotically.

Audrey found his hand and squeezed it. "He brought me home," she repeated.

"You look dead on your feet," Elena told her. "Oh, Audrey, we're not mad, we'll all be happy to see you. Come on."

"I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Don't be. Percy – " Audrey half-turned, and Percy was still there, as she knew he'd be. "Goodnight. We'll talk soon."

"Yes."

And he was heading down the street, and turned back once to look at her. Audrey knew, because she turned around to look at him. And Elena, who was shedding her own tears of relief, ushered Audrey through the door, where her family was waiting for her.