Chapter 25- Chasing the Dragon

December 1926

Minali was pacing their shared hotel room, fuming as Laura had never seen. Minali was very good at keeping calm, a trait that Laura admired.

But calm Minali was gone and replaced with a woman that could bring down the worst dark wizard, if need be.

"He just tosses us aside like a bad problem. And Picquery does nothing!" Minali grumbled.

"She was proud of him, I think," Laura said quietly, sitting on the edge of one of the beds. "She used to like me, I thought. Maybe not?"

"There's something wrong with both of them," Minali snapped, still pacing.

"He was fine before Europe, wasn't he?"

"He thinks he can just toss me aside? After everything I've done for him? For MACUSA?"

"I know losing the Aurors in Europe was tough, but it doesn't explain his behavior," Laura mused, her chin leaning on her hand.

"And why would he need to get rid of us? Just for disagreeing with his surly attitude? What a pompous prick."

Laura looked up at Minali, realizing that both women were talking to themselves. She smiled, but the smile faded quickly.

"How are we supposed to find out what's going on from San Francisco?" Laura asked loudly, interrupting Minali's stream of consciousness.

The older Auror stopped pacing and looked at Laura. "How indeed?"

The two women stared at each for a moment and then a sly smile slowly crept across Minali's face.

"Oh, you know what we need?"

Laura shrugged. They needed a lot of things, mainly answers.

"We need a friend."

Laura blanched and stood up from the bed, shaking her head. "No, no way!"

"Come on, Laura, please! This is important! We need to pretend we're still here in San Francisco, working, but really head back to New York to investigate. We need someone on the inside to cover for us, just in case."

Laura shook her head even harder, her hair swatting her in the face. "No way. There is no way I'm even going to try to ask!" She stood up from the bed and walked over to the window, looking out onto downtown San Francisco. What Minali was suggesting…

There was just no way.

"I'm not going down that road, Minali," Laura huffed. She turned back to look at the Auror. "He has no reason to help."

"He has every reason to help, Laura. I don't have to remind you of what happened. I don't have to remind you that you could have ruined him. He should help us." Minali lifted her chin. "He will help us."

"Not to help him." Laura crossed her arms. It made her so uncomfortable to talk about this subject. She didn't even realize Minali knew. Did everyone back in New York know?

How did she come to have so many secrets?

"It's not really helping him, though, is it? We may just very well be bringing Graves down. I'd imagine he'd probably like to help achieve that?"

Laura sat back down on the edge of her bed, her head dipped as she wondered how in the hell she ended up here. Three years she had lived in America. Things had certainly not turned out every remotely close to what she expected.

"I just don't understand what is going on with Graves," Laura whispered.

Minali sat on the other bed, concern etched over her face. "Look…I don't want to be nosy, but I noticed…you and the Director." She gave Laura a knowing look.

Laura blushed, her cheeks growing so hot. "No…I mean, no!" Someone had noticed? Laura was mortified.

"I saw the looks! You two were very careful doing whatever it is that you were doing, and I suppose it helps that Graves is hardly the kind of man that would unfairly rise up someone just because he was…friendly with them, but I saw the looks. There was definitely something going on between you two," Minali poked, albeit carefully.

Laura gritted her teeth. Did anyone else notice? "It wasn't…we're just friends."

Minali nodded. "Okay, fine. But he cared about you. And you care about him. So when…when did you notice his change?"

"He was fine before Europe," Laura said. She closed her eyes and pictured their last meeting. She could remember it all so well. The way he smelled. The way his eyes roamed over her body, taking her in as if he hadn't just seen her a few hours before. "We spoke briefly before he left. He explained why he wasn't taking me with him-with them. With the Aurors," Laura stuttered over her words. Her eyes shot open and she found Minali giggling at her. Laura blushed.

"What about when he came back? I didn't see him until the next day and he was immediately rude."

Laura frowned. "I was in the office when he came back. It was wrong from the start. I thought…I thought he'd be happy to see me," she said, the disappointment dripping in every word. "He seemed lost, but not emotionally. Just…lost." She sighed heavily as she remembered the crushing heartbreak she felt the first time she saw him after he, and only Percival, returned from Europe.

"Something happened in Europe. Something other than the attack. There is no way that Percival Graves would change so drastically just because a few Aurors were killed. Not like this."

Laura nodded. "But what would change Graves so much?"

Minali shrugged. "I don't know. So…let's make a friend and then go back to New York." A smile crept on her face.

"No way." Laura shook her head once again. "No way are we going to talk to that bastard Dougal MacLeod."