A/N: Sorry, everyone. It's been brought to my attention that this chapter hasn't been showing up, so I've deleted and reposted. Let me know if you have any problems. Thanks to gypsyfurface for letting me know!

missalex3030: Thank you! I'm so glad you like the Order scenes! I'm always worried they're a little on the dry side, but I like filling in the behind-the-scenes of the Order that we don't see in the books. And yes, Umbridge! She really is the most hated character in literature, isn't she? I haven't read a more vile villain yet in all my reading. I'm glad I could do her terrible personality justice haha. Merry Christmas to you too! That was so nice of your boyfriend haha. I feel like it's a present to me too b/c you get to read my story on a bigger screen! Tell him thank you from me hahaha.

Eirithdiel: Hello! Thank you for the review! I had a hard time writing the reactions from Remus and Rowan in that last chapter, so I'm glad they came across okay. And yeah, I'm actually starting to feel bad about making Tonks so immature. I feel like this is turning into a Tonks-bashing fic, which wasn't my intention. Hopefully she'll come across as more admirable as the story progresses. I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well!

Marylin C: Hi! Hmm, yes, Will is coming across kind of like James, isn't he? I guess that's to be expected since he admired James and Sirius so much as a kid, but I'm hoping he'll make a name for himself as the story continues. I'm glad you had a wonderful Christmas! I spent mine with my family as well, and it was strangely unstressful for once! My grandfather gave me a bad case of the flu though, which wasn't a gift I was anticipating. I hope you're doing well and ringing in the new year with your friends and family!

Nikos Pyrr: Ahhh I'm so glad Rowan's feelings towards Tonks aren't coming across as just blatant bitterness. I don't want Tonks to be a target, but I haven't been too kind to her as of late. And we can always depend on Mina to tell it like it is haha. Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying the holiday season!

gypsyfurface: Good to see you too! Thank you so much! I'm so happy Claire's becoming a favorite for everyone. She's really beginning to take shape for me too. And not jealousy, no... You'll see in this chapter! Thank you so much for the review! I hope you're doing well!

Disclaimer: I own none of this!

Source: Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Scholastic: New York.

June 12, 1982

Dear Rowan,

Do you remember Nancy Dougherty? Blonde curly hair, Ravenclaw? She used to date Watson Grimmage in the year above us. I ran into her yesterday in Diagon Alley, not too far from your shop actually.

I was grabbing lunch with Kingsley on our break when I nearly collided with her while turning a corner. She was holding a bunch of shopping bags, and I tripped on one like a right idiot. I felt a bit like you actually, you klutz. Anyway, I recognized her nearly right away. It'd been so long, and I've been so starved for social interaction lately that I probably looked desperate. I tried asking her how she was, but she completely recoiled, like I was some sort of snake or cockroach in her sink. I'd never seen her look so scared. She sputtered some sort of garbled hello and poor excuse for leaving then practically sprinted away from me. She even left one of her shopping bags with me. I ended up throwing it in the dumpster angrily after.

This is the third time this has happened since you've left. I run into this person or that person from school, and they all react the same. It's like they're afraid I'm going to curse them in broad daylight or that I'll dirty them in some way. I thought maybe they just didn't like me from Hogwarts or something, but Nancy and I always got on fine when we were in school. I thought about it some more and discussed it a bit with Molly, and I think I've finally figured it out.

They all think I'm like Sirius, that I'm some sort of Death Eater. It's like they're afraid I'm going to blow up the entire street like he did. I caught some of my officers gossiping about me the other day, even, saying I'm probably like the Malfoys in that I bribed my way out of prison. I couldn't even reprimand them, I was so ashamed, which just made me look worse, if possible. Even Scrimgeour is treating me differently now. Every time I see him, he's incredibly cold, as if I managed to finagle my way out of a conviction despite never committing any crime.

I can't stand it, Winnie. I'm trying so hard to move on, but no one else seems ready to let me. Haven't I suffered enough? Haven't I earned my right to a normal life beyond him? Why does he keep haunting me even now? I just want to move on with my life. I want to forget him. I want his name to disappear into the pages of history books. I want to be able to stand alone and not feel his shadow pressing into me.

I'm sorry for such a dreary letter, but I'm missing you terribly today. I just want to crawl into my couch with you and drown myself with butterbeer until we're both too drunk to function. I sincerely hope you're having a better week than I am. Please unlock all the secrets to your silly flowers soon so you can come home and hate everyone else with me. Say hello to Amrit and Lescos. Molly and Arthur and the children send their love.

Love,

Mina

Chapter 36: Banishment

I.

It was a bright and cold, a harsh wind blowing through the streets of Hogsmeade. October had passed quickly and quietly with rain and an early chill, and November had settled in without much notice. Rowan was still waiting for word from Harry on when his next Hogsmeade visit would be, but since she hadn't heard anything bad or urgent from him since his last visit, she could only assume that no news was good news. Rowan nervously rolled up the sleeves of her chunky jumper as she moved through the apothecary laboratory with the tall thin man beside her.

Remus had been kept busy with Order work over the past month or so. With Hagrid's prolonged missing status, it seemed that Remus was constantly disappearing to Merlin knows where in search of him. It seemed that Rowan was always just missing him whenever she stopped by Headquarters. On the day that she finally managed to run into him, he told her and Mina that he'd been reaching out to the Order's various east European contacts for word on where their Half-Giant comrade could be, only to return empty-handed each time.

But finally, Hagrid had returned to Hogwarts, looking battered and bruised. Rowan still wasn't sure where he'd been – she imagined Hagrid would tell the story in full at the next Order meeting – but she was just glad he was home. She imagined Harry would be very glad to see the groundskeeper as well.

But with his assignment finally fulfilled, Remus could return to his other obligations. Rowan was both relieved and filled with dread at the thought, for she'd now feel a bit of relief from the strains of work, but it also meant long interactions with Remus. She wanted to be excited, but her nerves were getting the best of her again. He'd barely even been there half an hour, and she was already beginning to regret this decision.

"This is where we keep the vials and cauldrons. The darker bottles are for the more caustic potions. I like to switch those out every couple of months or so into new vials because some of them tend to eat through the glass. The darker ones should all be dated on the shelves," she said anxiously, gesturing to a few rows of dark glass. Remus nodded, writing all of her comments down quickly into a small notebook. She then turned and looked up at him with a flourish.

"And that's really it, I suppose. It's all pretty straight forward. I can't imagine you'll have a hard time sorting things out," she said. "Do you have any questions so far?" He smiled but shook his head.

"No, you've been pretty clear about everything so far I think. I'm just worried I'll muck up one of your potions like I did when we were in school," he said with a comical grimace. Rowan laughed, feeling some of her anxiety lift.

"Don't worry. I won't ask you to make anything too advanced, just simple stuff. And with enough practice, I'm sure you can move up to the tougher stuff with time," she said. Remus didn't seem to believe her, but he smiled all the same. She led him back out to the front of the shop.

"Well, I guess the first thing to do today is monthly inventory. I've been pushing it off for a few days because I'm lazy, but with you here, we can probably get it done quickly," she said. He nodded, following her over to the shelves.

"Okay, I usually start from this point and check the account and storage logs. Then I work my way-"

Ring.

Rowan and Remus looked up to see two mops of red hair.

"Professor Lupin! What're you doing here?" cried George Weasley, rushing into the shop to shake Remus' hand.

"Yeah, what a delight to see you! We thought we'd only get to torment Rowan this morning!" said Fred, also shaking Remus' hand now. Remus laughed.

"I'm actually working here part-time from now on to help take some of the load off Rowan. It's my first day," he said. The twins looked between the older man and Rowan with a curious look before grinning broadly.

"Interesting," they chorused. Rowan rolled her eyes and moved for the counter.

"Damn it, I'm never going to get that inventory done at this rate," she muttered. The twins both grinned and skipped towards the counter merrily. Remus followed, joining Rowan on her side.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in class right now?" asked Remus. The twins shrugged.

"We're beginning to see that our strengths are perhaps not of the academic kind," said Fred. Rowan snorted.

"'Beginning' to see?" she asked with an arched brow. They grinned.

"Well, let's just say we probably won't be subjecting ourselves to Umbridge's rule much longer," said George. Rowan and Remus eyed them warily.

"What are you plotting?" Rowan asked. They shrugged.

"Nothing yet, but you can rest assured that it will be phenomenal," said Fred.

"Spectacular!"

"Unlike anything you've ever seen!" they sang.

"Do we need to buy tickets in advance?" Rowan asked sarcastically.

"Ha-ha," said Fred, waving off her disbelief. "Just you wait. You'll see, and then you'll feel ashamed for ever doubting us." Rowan rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. What're you doing here anyway? You didn't sneak out of the castle just to brag about your future exploits," she said.

Fred and George looked at each and then at Remus. Rowan frowned, glancing between them. Remus looked at them quizzically.

"You've got to promise not to tell Mum," said Fred to Remus.

"Yeah, Row's already in on our plan, but we've got to be sure you're not going to get us in trouble," said George. Remus smirked.

"You forget whom you're talking to. Mssr. Moony, remember?" he said. The twins' faces lit up.

"Oh yeah!" cried George.

"Oh, never mind. Forget we said anything."

"Yeah, it's just because you were a professor that we forget, you know?"

"How shameful of us to question one of the original Marauders!"

"Oh my god, just get on with it already!" Rowan groaned. The twins blew a raspberry at her.

"Well, I guess the theme of our visit today is 'Banishment!'" said Fred dramatically.

"Banishment?" echoed Remus. George nodded.

"Yeah, we've been banished from experimenting in the Common Room," he said. Rowan frowned.

"How were you doing that?" she asked. They both shifted guiltily.

"Well," whined Fred, "we might've broken our promise to not test our stuff out on First Years," he said quickly. Rowan's expression darkened.

"But no one got hurt! We made sure the stuff worked out on us first before trying it out on anyone else! And we paid all of them for their work!" George added.

"But they didn't know any better! What if someone had an allergic reaction to something? What would you have done? You could've been expelled!" Rowan scolded.

"Yes, well, there's no need to worry about that anymore," said Fred.

"Yeah, like we said, we were banished – Hermione said we can't test anymore or she'll write to Mum," said George, scowling.

"And she's absolutely right. You don't know if someone will have a poor reaction to something unknowingly," said Remus evenly. The twins nodded.

"Yeah, we realized that after, and since we can't recruit First Years anymore, we need new test subjects," said George.

"Yeah, we've been testing on ourselves, but since we're genetically the same, there's not much variation, is there?" said Fred.

"Lee's helping too, but a subject pool of three isn't really advisable, is it?"

"So you want me to help you find test subjects," said Rowan knowingly. The twins nodded eagerly.

"You don't need to find them for us, just tell us how to go about applying for grants and stuff, you know?"

"Yeah, we can figure out the details on our own. We just didn't know where to start." Rowan nodded thoughtfully.

"I've got some information packets from the Ministry and a few private organizations upstairs somewhere. I'll send them to you later after I've found them," she said. The twins whooped victoriously.

"Thank you, Rowan!" they cried. Rowan waved off their cheers with exasperation.

"Yeah, yeah. I can't promise anything though. The Ministry probably won't fund the stuff you're doing, but some of the private orgs might. I'll write you an explanation with the packets," she said. Fred nodded.

"Yeah, we didn't figure Fudge would give us anything anyway, not with our family's reputation as Dumbledore supporters."

"Yeah, and with Percy there," spat George, "there's no way he'd let us get any sort of funding. He'd know right away what we were up to." Rowan smiled sympathetically. It seemed the third Weasley brother was still not budging on his allegiances.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something," she said. "Now is that all? You two need to be getting back up to school." Fred and George paused thoughtfully, looking at each other with a dark look.

"What's happened?" Remus asked, frowning.

"Well, it goes back to our theme, doesn't it?" said Fred.

"Banishment?" echoed Rowan. They nodded.

"Well, we had our first Quidditch match the other day."

"Against Slytherin."

"So you can imagine it was quite a heated match."

Rowan's expression darkened with every bit of information added to the picture. She knew how this was going to end.

"You two got into a fight, didn't you?" she asked. They looked at each other shiftily again.

"Harry, too," said George. Rowan's eyes widened.

"What?" she exclaimed. She scoured her mind for a reason Harry would fight. He was quite angry nowadays, wasn't he? But she'd told him to keep his head down! What was he doing, fighting at Quidditch matches?

"What happened?" asked Remus calmly. She felt him press his hand to hers beneath the counter consolingly.

"Well, we won," said Fred.

"No thanks to Ron," muttered George.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on with him. Quidditch should run in his veins."

"Making our family look bad."

"George!" scolded Rowan. He grimaced contritely.

"Sorry, Row. Well, anyway, we won, so obviously the Slytherins weren't pleased."

"Malfoy started saying all these terrible things about Ron, and then he started digging into Mum and Dad, about how we're poor and all." Rowan felt her face melt into a dark glower. It seemed the Malfoys were foul through and through.

"Harry and Angelina were doing a good job of holding us back."

"Yeah, we kind of lost our tempers."

"But then he said something really awful about Harry's mum, too."

"So obviously, he lost it."

"Punched that slimy git right in the gut!"

"But because he let go of me, I was able to throw in a few jabs as well," said George.

Rowan glowered. She felt her own fists wanting to sink into Lucius Malfoy's stomach as well for raising such a terrible child.

"So you two got into trouble. How long are you suspended?" asked Remus, cutting Rowan from her dark brooding. The twins scowled.

"For life," they chorused monotonously.

"What?" Rowan shouted. Remus cringed at the sudden volume. She looked to him contritely before turning on the boys again. "For life? What's Minerva thinking? She'd never do that for just a stupid fight! This is-" she stopped, realization dawning on her. "Umbridge," she said simply. They nodded.

"Yeah, McGonagall was just going to give us a week of detention, but Umbridge stepped in – some new Educational Decree or something. Banned George and Harry for life," said Fred dully.

"And then she banned Fred too, 'for good measure,'" spat George.

Rowan stared dumbly between the two of them. Banned for life? She thought of her godson and the joy in his face as he flew. He must be devastated right now! She suddenly had a painful urge to see him.

"What's the team going to do then?" asked Remus quietly. Rowan shot him a quick glance from the corner of her eye. His face was drawn tightly, the anger swirling there, but it wasn't the same rage as she'd seen the month before.

"We've got a few reserve team members that are decent," said Fred.

"Yeah, Ginny gets to play now, which is pretty cool," said George.

"Yeah, she's actually really good. I don't know when she managed that," said Fred. Rowan snorted.

"Well, I taught her, didn't I?" she said.

"What? When?" they asked.

"Probably when you two were blowing crap up in your room," she said. They both paused thoughtfully.

"That makes sense," they chorused. Rowan rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you've beaten Slytherin already, then you're 1/3 of the way there," said Remus encouragingly. The twins nodded.

"Yeah, but Ravenclaw's our real competition this year. We'll see how Ron handles himself against Davies," said Fred.

"It also depends on if we can find a good enough Seeker to match up against Cho. She's not looking great this year though, what with all that crying of hers," said George. Fred grinned.

"Yeah, well, Harry doesn't seem to mind it, does he?" he said. George grinned as well.

"Maybe it's not so bad that he's not playing against her," he said. Rowan frowned.

"Who?" she asked. The twins grinned leeringly at her.

"Cho Chang," they chorused.

"Ravenclaw's Seeker."

"Sixth year. We reckon Harry fancies her quite a bit." Rowan raised a brow at this.

"Really?" she asked. They nodded.

"It's complicated though."

"Yeah, she was dating Diggory last year when he died."

"Makes their situation pretty awkward to say the least."

Rowan took all this information in slowly. She thought back to Harry's reluctance to ask a girl to the Yule Ball and his admittance that there was someone he would've liked to have asked: No one. No one that matters, at least. I barely even know her, and she's seeing someone else already. It's really not a big deal. She wondered if it was the same girl.

"Interesting," mused Rowan. "I'll be sure to ask him about it next time."

"I'm amazed he didn't tell you already," said George.

"Yeah, we reckoned he told you everything," said Fred. Rowan smiled warmly at the thought.

"He tells me a lot, but I suppose it's tough for teenage boys to tell their mother-figures about their love lives. You're not exactly going and talking to your mum about that kind of stuff, are you?" she teased. They both grimaced.

"Oh, God, no!"

"Can you imagine the conversations?"

"I'd rather swallow bubotuber pus!" Rowan laughed.

"Okay, I get it!" she cried, gesturing for them to stop. They both grinned. She sighed. "Okay, so you two need help finding test subjects, you've been banned from Quidditch, and you don't talk to your mum about your love lives. Anything else?" They looked at each other thoughtfully before turning back to Rowan and shaking their heads.

"No, that's about it I reckon," said Fred.

"Yeah, the first thing was really our main reason to come see you," said George.

"But this has turned out to be an illuminating day for all parties, hasn't it?" said Fred, grinning leeringly at Rowan and Remus. Rowan frowned at the scheming look at the boy's face. But he and his brother hopped to their feet before she could say anything.

"I guess that's it!"

"Yep, we'd best be getting off to class!"

"Bye, Rowmus!" they sang. Rowan's eyes widened, face burning.

As the door swung shut, there was the light tinkle of the bell and then silence. Rowan felt her head scream at the pairing name. Those idiots, she thought. I'm going to fucking kill them. She then hazarded a glance up at Remus, who was gazing after the teenager dazedly.

"You okay?" she asked quietly. He gave a stiff nod.

"Yeah, I'm all right," he said softly. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them back up, revealing a cloudy torrent behind his gaze. "I just hate her so much." Rowan nodded, giving him a soft, sympathetic smile.

"I know. I do, too," she said. He nodded, taking another deep breath. His eyes trailed over to the shelves along the wall. Rowan followed his gaze, glancing over at the inventory book that still lay on the floor. She sighed and looked up at him.

"Well, nothing we can do about it right now, right?" she said, forcing a smile to her face. Remus stared at her searchingly for a moment before also smiling softly.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's get to that inventory, eh?" he added with a smirk. Rowan groaned.

"Fucking inventory," she grumbled. Remus laughed and gave her a slight push towards the shelves. She grumbled as they both plopped down on the floor and resumed their instructional session.

The tone of the room lifted significantly as they pushed through the remainder of Remus' first morning. Rowan supposed that it was a very unconventional way to begin his first day at the apothecary but mused that nothing about their dynamic had ever been conventional. Didn't it seem appropriate that this phase of their friendship, too, began strangely?

II.

Like Hogsmeade, London was blindingly bright on this November morning. Claire had closed the blinds of the shop to alleviate some of the stinging light that spilled into the shop. Like her master, she, too, had been pushing inventory off out of laziness and was finally forcing herself to trudge through the tedium. She sat on the floor in front of one of the shelves, perusing through the various vials and ticking down numbers.

"Need to refill the Sleeping Draughts," she mumbled to herself, scribbling down a note. She then looked up again. "And Cough Suppressants," she added.

Ring.

Claire groaned inwardly. She just wanted to get through this without interruption. She pushed a smile to her face, mentally preparing herself for interacting with a customer.

"Hi, Verloren!"

Claire looked up from the account work to see Will Surrey grinning down at her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks immediately.

"W-Will! What're you doing here?" she sputtered.

"Meeting up with someone in a bit. Got here a bit early, so I thought I'd stop by and say hello!" he said cheerily. Claire nodded quickly, leaping to her feet.

"Um, can I get you anything to drink? Tea? Water?" she asked quickly. Will grinned but shook his head, sitting down at the counter across from her.

"No, no, I'm fine. Can't stay long," he said. "So what're you working on nowadays? Anything exciting?" Claire shifted nervously.

"Erm, no, just the usual," she said. Will looked at her thoughtfully.

"You and Row have been working on that for quite a long time. Aren't you guys close to a cure yet?" Claire shrugged.

"Yes, but now with the Ministry coming down on suspected Order members, we're having a hard time getting research grants or test subjects. We've just applied for some private funding, but it's been slow," she explained. Will scowled.

"Fucking Fudge. I can't believe he's being such a prat about all of this. I mean, going after Dumbledore is one thing, but preventing critical research is a real dick move," he said. Claire shrugged.

"Well, Rowan seems confident that we'll manage, so I'm sure we'll be okay," she said. She smiled at the Auror, who smiled back. She was thrilled at the realization that her stomach only jumped slightly.

"So, um, how's Mina, and um, Tonks? Are they doing well?" she asked. Will nodded.

"Mina's the same as always – busy. Tonks is good. A little worried about her though – I think she's taken a fancy to Lupin," he said, rubbing at his jaw thoughtfully. Claire felt her entire body recoil in response.

"What? But she hardly knows him!" she argued. Will grinned.

"Yeah, well, attraction knows no bounds, right?" he said, grinning at her. Claire's face burned, insides screaming. Did he know?

"Well, it doesn't matter either way. We all know Lupin's head over heels for Rowan," he said flippantly. Claire couldn't help the smile that broke across her lips. Her mouth twitched upward and pulled on its own accord until she was giggling quietly to herself. Will grinned amusedly.

"You're really rooting for them, aren't you?" he asked. She nodded happily.

"I didn't used to," she said honestly. "After all the ways he's hurt her over the years, I wanted to hate him, but he's just such a nice man. And they just seem to go together, don't they – like… like toffee and chocolate," she said. Her cheeks burned again at her silly analogy, but Will simply laughed.

"I suppose so. Yeah, I guess they are like that," he said mirthfully. She looked up at him with a careful gaze.

"Are you hoping to see your sister and Snuffles together again, too?" she asked.

But her surprise, Will didn't grin. Instead, his face pulled downward into that dark, angry look once more. Claire's eyes widened at the frightening expression.

"I don't want that bastard anywhere near my sister," he seethed. Claire's eyes widened even further.

"Why?" she breathed. He turned his dark look on her, almost accusingly. She drew back and felt herself backstepping. "I-I mean… Well, you two u-used to get on so well, right? I-I just thought… well, with him free now-"

"I don't care if he's innocent of the crime he was convicted for," said Will bitterly. "His innocence doesn't excuse all the loneliness and hardships Mina's had to endure since then. If he'd confided in her like a real partner should, none of this would have happened." Claire frowned.

"She didn't know?" she asked. Will shook his head.

"No one did. He didn't tell anyone. If he had, he might have avoided imprisonment. If he'd just trusted my sister, he wouldn't have gone to Azkaban, Wormtail wouldn't be missing right now, and she wouldn't have had to go through all the isolation and questioning after."

"She was questioned too?" Claire breathed.

"It wasn't just the questioning," said Will. "That's nothing for Mina. She's more than tough enough to deal with that crap. No, it was the whispers, the accusations and isolation after. She was passed over at work for years because of her involvement with him despite always being the most qualified. Hardly any of her old friends speak to her anymore, and then Fudge had her followed for nearly a year after he was appointed Minister just in case she'd been working alongside him during the war," he spat.

Claire listened in awe. She'd never even considered the hardships Mina might have undergone after Sirius' convictions. The pain of losing her fiancé was one thing, but the public shaming after – how had she managed to come this far? How could she have stuck with her job for so long?

"And with Rowan gone for the two years after the war ended, she was pretty much all alone. Thank Merlin Moody and Kingsley were around, or else I don't know if she'd have been able to stick it through at the Ministry," Will continued. His lip curled into a snarl. "And then what would have Black-" Claire couldn't bring herself to correct him, "-have done after escaping? It's because of her that he's gone unnoticed all this time. She's given up practically everything for him, and he can barely even keep his temper under control, like some fucking spoiled brat who isn't getting his way. He should be helping her, not making her life more difficult! I can't stand even looking at him!"

Will's chest rose and fell in waves, heaving with his anger. His face was red from his rant, now cooling down slowly as he breathed deeply. Claire couldn't find the words to say. She had no place to offer him any advice or consolation. She didn't know Sirius nearly well enough to be able to speak on his behalf, and she didn't know Will enough to know how to alleviate his resentment. Hesitantly, with a trembling hand, she reached out and touched his tight fist.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. He squeezed his eyes shut and took another deep breath, deflating slightly as he opened his eyes once more. He gave her a tight smile.

"It's okay. Sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to unload all of that on you. I just get so angry when I think of how easily she's let him back into her life after all the shit he's put her through."

"Have you told her this?" she asked.

"Of course. As soon as he escaped from Azkaban, I told her that I didn't want her on the case, but she won't listen to me. Once she gets an idea in her head, it's nearly impossible to convince her out of it," he said. Claire gave him a tiny smile.

"Seems hereditary," she said. He gave her a sort of lopsided grin.

"Are you calling me pig-headed?" he asked. She blushed pleasurably but smiled.

"Your words, not mine," she countered. He laughed.

"You've got a lot more bite to you than I'd thought," he said fondly. Her blush deepened, as did his smile. "Thanks, Verloren. You're a good listener." She nodded, turning away quickly.

"A-anytime," she said shrilly. He smiled and glanced up at the clock.

"Oh shit! I didn't mean to stay that long!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. "Sorry, got to go! I'll see you later, Verloren!" he cried, running for the door. Claire waved weakly as he shot down the street.

"It's just 'Claire,'" she mumbled to herself. She sighed but then smiled happily to herself. "I'm a good listener," she whispered, holding a hand to her chest. She wanted to press those words into her heart until they seeped into her very bloodstream.

She thought of the handsome Auror and the fond smile on his face as he gazed at her. She felt another layer of the tall pedestal upon which he stood come down. He was still so much higher up than she, but perhaps one day she'd be able to stand on the same level.