"You had no trouble changing the papers?" Albus Dumbledore asked, pacing the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, where he had asked Emma to meet him, one of the few places they could meet with assurance of privacy.

"No," Emma said, sitting on the table and staring at the crest-covered china. Perhaps she would ask Harry if she could have a plate or something. Sirius hated the crest, but he was the last Black. "Professor, can I ask what all of this was for?"

"There is much I cannot say," he said wearily. "One thing about war, Emma, is that the world changes, and it changes rapidly."

She carefully dusted her fingers over the wood of the table, turning these words over in her mind. It wasn't an explanation, exactly, except...

"You think the Ministry will turn against Muggle-borns."

"I think," Albus said, turning to look at her with stern blue eyes, "that we must be prepared for every eventuality, and it is highly probably that if things continue as they are, the Ministry will fall at some point. And if the Ministry falls-"

"Protection for Muggle-borns of any kind goes with it," she said, nodding. And if Severus was correct, not drawing attention to herself at the Ministry would allow her to continue to do her job, both for the Ministry and the Order, without anyone even thinking about her blood status. She would be safe, or as safe as anyone could be spying in the snake pit.

Fred would hate it, But she knew that he wouldn't go into hiding, and Arthur would probably continue going to work day in and day out as well. He couldn't expect her to back down from her duty if he didn't.

"Something is troubling you, Emma."

She shifted a little bit on the table.

"When I opened my file... It's filed under... It's..."

"Your marriage license changed the name on your file to Emma Weasley, yes."

She looked up at him, stunned. He merely smiled at her. How was it that she told absolutely no one and suddenly everyone was figuring it out for themselves. Well, she told Tonks, but still.

"When you have lived as long as I have, my dear, you noticed patterns of behavior. This is not my first war, and you are not the first young lovers I have seen elope in secret."

Emma glanced up at the plates again and felt her stomach turning slightly.

"If they start looking at files, if they know I'm a Weasley... I'm going to be high-profile, aren't I? They're going to pay attention to me regardless of the changes to my lineage."

"Emma, you work on Muggle artifacts. They were going to be keeping an eye on you regardless. But yes, it will be a difficult situation for you. However, I believe that you are certainly equal to the task."

"Fred will worry."

"I will tell you a little secret: Fred will worry regardless."

She laughed a little to herself, knowing it was perfectly true. She tapped out a little rhythm on the table with her fingernails, looking up at the plates again.

"Harry won't mind if you take a piece of china, Emma," Dumbledore said gently. "I can even mention it to him myself if you'd like, but he would understand why you wanted it. He doesn't have any use for it, after all."

"I wouldn't feel right," she said softly. "Not asking him first."

"Well, I will mention it when I next see him, and I assure you that he will say yes."

"We'll see."

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled, perhaps amused by her cautiousness. Emma thought that was very ironic, given what she was trying to get up the courage to ask him. She watched him check his pocket watch and say, "I think it's nearly time to get back to the school," before she could work up the nerve."

"Professor," she said, "wait, there was something I wanted to ask."

He seemed to expect this, turning and waiting patiently for her to spit out the words. Emma licked her lips and said, "I was wondering...is there anything else for me to do?"

His smile was insipidly patient, and she knew he wanted her to be more specific, even though she was nearly positive that he knew exactly what she had asked. With a sigh, though, she gave in and said, "I mean, missions. Is there something more I could be doing for the Order?"

"There are always things, Emma," he said. "It's a time of war. But Fred would be worried."

What Fred didn't know...

"I want to do more."

Her eyes must have darted to the plates again, because he turned to consider them and his smile faded slightly before he said, "Sirius would not have been any less proud of you or more impressed with you based on your role in missions, Emma. He knew as well as anyone that not everyone has to fight. There are other things that can be done. It just happened that his best use was always as a soldier."

His best use and his greatest love. Emma shook her head.

"This isn't about Sirius."

"Isn't it?"

She inhaled deeply and shook her head. In her mind, it wasn't about Sirius, even if it was in some small way. In her mind, it was about doing everything she could, and the rush of feeling like she was doing something important.

"Maybe I don't have to a be a solider," she said. "But there are things I can't do, aren't there, beyond paying attention at work and talking about Umbridge's terrible practices as a boss?"

Dumbledore did not answer. He simply smiled at her, shaking his head, then nodding and walking out of the kitchen.

Emma sat in the eerie silence for a while before returning to work. Her lunch break was over, anyway.

A mission was given to Emma, anyway, in spite of Dumbledore's seeming objections. Her quiet nature, her relative anonymity, her ability to be entirely unseen in a room full of people, made Emma the perfect person, Dumbledore and Mad-Eye said, to tail certain people. Her mission would start with following none other than Percy for a day, gathering what could be gathered on him until she had more experience, and then she would be assigned people who were more...important.

"Like?" she asked Mad-Eye, but he shook his head.

"One step at a time, missy. Now, you know where he works and I'm sure it won't be hard to find out his hours. What are you telling Fred?"

She hadn't thought of that. Emma came up with a story that she would drop by the hospital after work, and that she had a lot of raids, so she wasn't sure when she'd be home. Fred didn't seem bothered by this, but Emma did feel a bit bothered with the lie. Especially after the talk she had with George. But how could she just stand by and not do her part?

Her heart was pounding as she checked her watch. Percy wouldn't be getting to the Atrium for another few minutes, so she fished around in her purse for a moment, not sure how he was leaving the Ministry. If he went on foot, she could follow him out of the Floo and into the streets of London easily enough. But if he left by Apparition? Emma's mind raced at what to do then. His flat, perhaps?

Fred had mentioned that Percy had gotten a place near to the Ministry in a building the Ministry kept for workers who wanted to be walking distance from work. Chances were that he would walk. And what if he didn't go straight to his flat?

What if he did?

She could follow him into a crowded place, but his own flat...that would be too obvious. Emma was wondering why Mad-Eye hadn't prepared her better for this.

Before she could run through more scenarios and make herself utterly paranoid, Percy came out of the elevator with a few other workers, and she saw him heading toward the Floo. She was careful to take the grate two over from his, and he seemed lost in thought.

Her grate had a slightly longer line, but she caught a glimpse of the back of him turning left out of the door and onto the street, and she hurried after him. She tried to rush and yet still look casual, but she was fairly certain that she succeeded merely in looking like she very much needed to find a toilet.

Awkwardly, the cafe he ducked into was the very one she'd stopped frequenting because of her run-in with one of the employees, the one who had asked her out. Her eyes scanned the street for a place she could watch him sufficiently, but there really wasn't one, and she wouldn't be able to see very well if he stayed inside the cafe and she hovered outside of it. Bracing herself, Emma just hoped that the guy wasn't working there at that moment.

Mercifully, no familiar faces could be found as she stepped into the coffee shop. Percy had already ordered, and she stepped into line, watching him wait for his coffee, staring absently at a spot on the wall. For a moment his vacant stare reminded her of the Imperius Curse and she was worried, but when his order was ready he snapped out of it and looked perfectly normal once more.

He sat down at a small table for two in the corner and she moved forward in line, waiting for her turn and casually glancing Percy's way every few seconds, as a part of a sweep of the room. He had his head buried in a file, a disguised Ministry file. Emma was itching to see what was inside it, even if it was nothing of interest, to prove to Mad-Eye that she was more than capable of the task they were charging her with.

The question was, how to do it.

"Miss?"

"Sorry," she said, turning her head sharply to the man taking orders. "I'll have a tea, two sugars and no milk, please."

"The name?"

Her heart almost stopped. If they said her name in the cafe loud enough for Percy to hear, he would look up. He knew her well enough. That was the sort of thing people did. Especially if they were doing something the didn't want people they knew to see.

"Jessica," she said, picking up the first name that came to mind. The man scribbled the name with loose, loopy letters onto the order form and handed it to the woman who was handling the tea. Emma stood off to the side, still letting her eyes graze the room, trying to decide where to sit, how best to get a look at the files. She couldn't coax him away from the files, because Percy would never leave important documents lying around. The toilet was past him, but if she walked that close to him he might recognize her, and that would defeat the whole thing.

"Jessica," the girl behind the counter said, and Emma started, taking the tea and thanking the girl.

Emma settled in a seat across the cafe from Percy, picking up a newspaper that was sitting on an end table, then setting it down again and picking up a magazine, opening it to a random article and holding it in front of her face. She pulled out her wand and tapped the surface of the paper to make it reflective. With the help of her makeshift mirror, Emma carefully and nervously did some quick Transfiguration to her features. Percy was oblivious enough that if she didn't look like herself, he might not notice her passing by a little too closely.

When Emma was satisfied with the changes, she put down the magazine, sipping her tea, watching him. Percy seemed so engrossed in his reading that he was barely even sipping his coffee. He'd be there a while. Unless...unless he drank the rest of the coffee on the walk to his flat after reading, and he didn't have too much to read. Emma didn't want to risk it.

As soon as she finished her quickly-drunk tea, she got up and crossed to the toilet, pausing in the little hall, behind a fichus. Licking her lips, she tried to read over Percy's shoulder. He was too far away, though, and the letters too small. She licked her lips again, pulled out her wand, and did a quick Charm to cause Percy's coffee to start leaking onto his lap. The hot coffee did the trick. He dropped the file to grab napkins and begin mopping up the mess the Muggle way, as he couldn't very well use his wand in the cafe. Emma Summoned the file, made a quick magical copy that she folded and tucked into her coat, and then prayed her disguise was good enough as she moved out from behind the fichus, holding the original file closed, smiling.

"'Scuse me, sir," she said, trying to throw a dash of Welsh accent into her voice. He started, looking up at her. "This fell on th'floor."

Percy snatched the file from her and muttered embarrassed thanks. Emma then went out to the street, stood in at a bus stop, and carefully changed her disguise again, pulling a scarf out of her purse to cover her outfit and praying he wouldn't notice the clothing being the same.

Whether he wanted to change and do laundry or whether he'd finished his reading, Percy exited the cafe only a few minutes later, and Emma could stop pretending to read the bus schedule posted at the stop. She followed him to his flat, stood outside, watched his window until the light came on. She could see his shadow on the blinds, but there would be nothing more to see. She hurried to Grimmauld Place where she knew Mad-Eye would be waiting.

"Emma," Kingsley said when he opened the door for her. "You look like you've got a disguise wearing off."

His smile was amused, but she waved it off, pushing past him and hurrying down to the kitchen, where Mad-Eye was frowning over some maps Bill had brought him.

"Emma," Bill said, raising a questioning eyebrow as she set the copy of the file down on the table next to the maps. Mad-Eye looked up at her with both eyes.

"Ministry file Percy was reading in a cafe," she said, sitting down across from them. Kingsley sat beside her. "I made a coffee while he was cleaning up the coffee I made him spill on his trousers." She grinned a little. "Which was oddly satisfying. I haven't had a look, yet, at what it is."

Mad-Eye opened the file and his magical eye scanned the documents while his nonmagical one looked up at Emma. Slowly, he started to grin.

"What is it?" Kingsley asked, leaning forward.

"These are the Ministry files on the Order," Mad-Eye growled. "Now we know what they know. And we know who knows it. There's a page here at the back that has a sign-out list. Excellent work, and good job doing this Charm under pressure. You even replicated an ink smudge on page three."

A flicker of pride licked at her insides and Emma grinned. She had not only completed the mission they had given her, but she'd found a way to do it exceptionally well. And this meant that they were likely to give her more. She walked back up the stairs to the door with Bill, who stopped her on the steps outside, frowning.

"Fred doesn't know you were doing this, does he?" he asked. "I can't imagine he would approve."

Emma stiffened slightly, tilting her head up at him.

"Fred goes on missions far more dangerous than what I just did. He'd be an awfully hypocritical man if he did care."

Bill frowned at her for a moment, and the longer he looked at her like that the more uncomfortable and unconfident Emma felt. Finally, he sucked in a quick breath and said, "If Fleur told me she wanted to do missions, I wouldn't argue. I mean, I would worry about her, but it's her choice. But if she went behind my back to do them, I wouldn't be angry but I would be very upset. You can't have a relationship if you don't communicate, Emma. And over something this important... Hiding things won't do either of you any good."

Somewhere inside of herself Emma knew that Bill was right. But she also knew that this wasn't the same, this wasn't the same as with him and Fleur. Bill likely told his fiancee when he was on missions. Fred snuck out and hoped Emma wouldn't notice.

"Thanks, Bill," Emma said softly. "I know you mean well. I'll...think about it."

He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes searching hers, making her a little uncomfortable, but not judging. Nothing to prove, nothing to hide. Bill then clapped his hand on her shoulder and said, "Take care of yourself, Emma."

She said she would, and watched him leave. She knew that she should have felt more compelled to take Bill's advice, but the downer of his words hadn't made a big enough dent in her post-mission high, and she hardly spared a thought for it before heading back to Diagon Alley, only sparing attention for her own safety as she rushed into the shop, up the stairs, and taking a deep breath to steady herself before entering the flat with a smile.

She could tell him some other time.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to reader kissmyax95. Thanks for reading, favoriting, following! I hope you continue to enjoy this story! I'm having a blast writing it.

-C