Per the instructions Funke had sent me, I apparated to a neglected park in France. I'd been here once before, though a portkey had been my method of transportation then. After I scanned the park to ascertain I had no unwanted audience, I tucked my wand into the pouch around my neck and called on my body to transform.
It had been several weeks since my last transformation. Not once during those weeks had it occurred to me that I missed transforming, but now that I stretched four legs and swept my tail to ease out a kink in my bum, I realized that it had felt like I was missing something. Or maybe it was more of a feeling that I had a muscle I needed to stretch but didn't realize it. Regardless, I took off a quick trot and enjoyed the feeling.
The same wizard from a year before waited at the corner of St. Michael and Rue Laganne. I gave him a happy fox grin, which included its fair share of sharp teeth, and crept into the shadow between him and the alley corner.
"Bonjour," he greeted me softly. I lifted one paw in as best a greeting I could give as a fox.
Politely, the wizard removed the pouch from my neck and pulled the parchment from it. I had also knotted one of the finished charms Lily and I had found in Octavius's old library to it in case he didn't have one yet.
"For me?" he asked, gesturing at the charm. I nodded.
"Merci, cherie," he grinned.
I waited, peering out about the cobblestone square while he squinted over the note. Funke had coded it once for me, and then I had rewritten it as instructed for this man. It was still in code, just a bit easier to read.
Lion advances. Two snakes under watch. Six deliveries expected this month.
"I 'av no news," the wizard told me quietly. "It 'as been very quiet and they know someone is watching. Can you report that for me?" I nodded again. "And say merci for the deliveries?" he asked. I nodded once more.
"Merci," he said again, and tucked the pouch around my neck.
I waited until he lit the note on fire, and then made my escape back to the neglected park to return home. It was nice to get started back on this type of work with such an uneventful trip. It was also nice that I was trusted as an adult and could apparate now, instead of getting motion sickness from those dreaded portkeys.
At home, I blew out the candle in the window, and then lit another candle at the kitchen table so I could scribble a quick note to Remus. Fluffy, seeing me pull out the parchment and quill, did her odd hop-step over to preen my hair while I wrote.
Dear Remus,
I went on a rather boring trip recently. Happy to be home.
Can you come visit again soon? Or can I visit you? It's not that I miss you or anything, it's just that I one hundred percent entirely am lying and I really miss you.
I love you, Remus.
Sincerely,
Genre
At Fluffy's insulted hoot, I hastily added and Fluffy.
Mollified, Fluffy let me attach the letter to her foot and give her a quick scratch on the fluffy down below her feathers before taking off. I cast a Patronus in the cover of the dark and whispered the French wizard's messages for Funke. The silver fox slipped away silently. I fell asleep that night dreaming of the French wizard, a braided dragon heartstring, and Remus writing a letter. It was an oddly mixed dream that did me no favors when I woke up still exhausted.
I put together all my tiny cauldrons beneath my bed, stirring together the solution and pouring it into each of them. At this rate, I would be over an hour late to work. I'd have to dock my own pay. Still, I wanted to get the charms I'd whittled into the solution to start soaking. Only when that was done did I apparate directly into my workroom.
Pavi greeted me with coffee. I'd never quite gotten the taste for it at Hogwarts, but now I accepted it gratefully and went straight to work. Judging by the noise in the shop proper, Pavi had a family he was working with. I smiled a little wistfully. I loved watching people meet their wands for the first time.
While Pavi took care of the family, I sipped my bitter coffee and considered my options for the core I'd made the day before. Black spruce, with its spicy, piney scent, seemed to be a good match, so I pulled out one of my blocks of working wood. Spruce was a type of pine, as I knew from my old wand, pines could be fickle and splintery wand casts. This could be tricky. I considered the braided core again. It didn't do anything but sit on the table.
"Waiting for it to do a trick?" Pavi asked, stepping into the workroom.
"So far it only knows 'sit'," I complained.
"The father has a damaged wand. Wanted to know how much it would be to repair it," Pavi told me. He held out the wand to me.
I took the wand, turning it slowly to observe the damage. A crack was forming from the base and working its way up to the tip. The wood had been water-damaged, I realized, and when the wood dried it had split. Whoever made the wand the first time hadn't cured it properly.
"It'll take me almost a week," I told Pavi. "The wood needs to be cured properly before its mended. I'll do it for fifteen knuts."
"I'll see what he says," Pavi said and disappeared out front.
The heartstring and spruce on my table mocked me before an idea popped into my head. What if I cured the wand and then thinly coated it in the same resin I'd used around the core of the unicorn wand? I could even give it the texture of bark without the rough edges. As quickly as the thought struck me, I was reaching for my knife and gently coaxing the shape of the wand from the block in front of me.
Toulouse was waiting at my flat for me when I got home; he looked nothing short of harried as Fluffy tried in vain to get the letter from him. When I absentmindedly passed them both a treat, he turned his back on me.
With a bit of bribery (several more treats and putting Fluffy in her cage for a few minutes), Toulouse deigned to let me retrieve Remus's letter from his leg. I decided to keep Fluffy locked up for a few minutes more so he'd have a chance to drink some water without her harassment.
Dear Genre,
I'm glad you had a safe trip. Thanks for letting me know you made it home okay.
Of course I'll come visit again. And I'd love for you to visit as well. Would that be weird for you - meeting my parents? If not, perhaps you can come visit this Thursday? That way you'll have an excuse to leave early if (when) it gets a bit overbearing. Believe me, it will get overbearing. If we're lucky, my parents will wait until after dinner to start the inquisition.
I was also thinking I would try to break away from my parents again this weekend. Lily told James she was moving in with you Saturday, and he told me. Do you think you could use a hand? I'll use any excuse to escape at this point, even if it does mean lugging boxes or something.
There was something written here, crossed out quite a bit. Since I couldn't make it out, even after squinting and holding the paper to a lamp, I continued on.
I've got some news I'd like to share with you, but it'll do better in person I think. Let me know about Thursday!
Love,
Remus
Wondering what his news was, and why he'd had to cross something out so thoroughly, I wrote back that Thursday sounded great and asked what time I should arrive (and what I should bring). I missed Gran even more than usual as I wrote that, because undoubtedly she would have a list of proper hostess gifts I should bring along. If Remus didn't have a suggestion, I'd have to do something cheesy like a candle. Or maybe flowers. Even though they were cliche, everyone liked getting flowers - right?
When I arrived at work the next morning, Pavi seemed more upset than he usually did at waking up so early. I silently set about making us some tea, hoping the caffeine would soothe him.
"Someone came by asking about you late last night," he said. "Two someones."
I swallowed the shot of fear. We had expected this, sooner or later. I'd hoped for it to be later - much later - but Pavi was still in one piece, so it had apparently gone better than expected.
"Did they want charms?" I asked. "Or did they ask after a witch named Jacqueline?"
Pavi gave me a weird look and said, "No. They asked for you - Genre, you."
Odder and odder. The only people who would know to ask for me by name at this wand shop were my friends, and they already knew how to find me.
"Did they leave their names?" I finally asked.
"No," Pavi said, sounding troubled. "And believe me, I pressed for their names as best I could while pretending I'd never heard your name before."
"Did they say what they wanted?"
"No, just that they were looking for you."
We paused long enough for me to pour the tea.
"What did they look like?" I finally asked. I was getting a suspicion that I didn't enjoy. There was a pretty fair chance that it had been my siblings. Now that I was no longer at Hogwarts and Gran was in hiding, they would have no idea how to find me. Even if they managed to find Finn again, he didn't know where I lived or worked either.
"It was dark, so I didn't get a great look," Pavi warned me. "One was a shorter woman, with kind of dark blonde, curly hair up to here." He used his hand to show a hair length equal to the lobe of his ear. "Couldn't tell you the eye color. Kind of bland, but not an ugly bird. The other was almost as tall as me, thin as a weed. He could've been your cousin, to be honest. Same dark eyes and hair. But a longer face, and a missing tooth."
"A missing tooth?" I said incredulously. I had been half right, at least. One of the late-night callers had been Stan. Even though he and Cadie were the twins, Cadie had lighter, curlier hair. Stan and I were cursed with the dark, straight locks. But the blonde? Obviously not Cadie. I wondered if Felicia was still following them around. I'd never thought she'd let them talk her into trouble.
"You know them?" Pavi asked warily.
"I think," I said honestly. "I think one was my brother. The other could have been one of my siblings' old friends."
"Should they be able to contact you?" he asked carefully. He looked troubled. Whatever vibe he'd gotten off Stan, he clearly hadn't liked it.
"No," I said firmly. "They've been up to something since they graduated. Near as I've been able to figure out, they're dealing in creatures as weapons and selling contraband."
Pavi whistled; it was, I had noticed, a habit of his.
"And I thought I was trouble," he said.
"Don't let them get you down," I said kindly, "you're trouble, too."
Since I couldn't figure out who to notify about the intrusion (McGonagall no longer was my House head, so it felt childish to write to her about it), I asked Pavi just to keep playing dumb if they showed up. He agreed, still looking troubled.
To make that day better, I received another missive from Funke to get my rear in gear and pick up a message in the southern part of England from a pair of witches who ran a muggle magic shop. When I got ready to head out, it started drizzling, and then pouring rain. I arrived at the back door of the magic shop in the form of a sopping wet fox, and had to scratch at the door for almost two minutes before one of the witches opened it.
"Leticia," the witch called into the shop, "are we expecting a new pet?"
"What?" Leticia called. I glared at the dumpy witch who blocked the door. Another witch trotted into view, this one tall and slender. She looked a bit confused at my appearance and then understanding dawned on her. "Let the poor beasty in, Gabby," Leticia ordered.
The dumpy witch stepped aside. I entered the shop, and then, because the dumpy witch was plugging her nose against the smell of wet fox (I couldn't help it - I couldn't quit being wet and I wasn't going to transform into myself again just to appease her), I shook myself dry right then and there. Gabby shrieked in dismay.
"Calm down," Leticia scolded. "Go get a towel for her, will you?"
"Whatever for?" Gabby demanded.
"Because I have to finish writing our report," Leticia said dryly, "and I don't suppose she's enjoying having wet paws."
Gabby did bring me a dry towel. She also brought me a bowl of cat food. I couldn't decide if that was meant to be an insult or if she was just a bit ignorant, so I turned my back on it and curled up on the towel. Inside the hall was nice and dry and warm.
I accidentally nodded off while I waited; the stress of Pavi's announcement earlier that day preyed on my mind and worn me down. Leticia woke me with a gentle shake, and asked where she should put the report which appeared to be several pages, all tightly rolled. I nosed the string that my pouch was tied to, trying to get it off my head. Finally, Leticia understood and undid the strings to tuck the report away.
"Godspeed," she whispered to me, opening the door to the rain once more.
I wondered at that farewell for the entire jog back to a safe apparating place (I didn't want to draw attention to the shop by apparating there). Godspeed. Was that a muggle term?
I probably shouldn't have read over the report myself. But I had just spent the last half the year learning to snoop and creep. Information was a weapon in these hard times. So, feeling only a little guilty, I pondered over the pages.
The report ranged from things like detailing the deliveries made to France (mostly food and potions for those who had been forced into hiding) and where several of the refugee camps were headed. The information in the report hit me like the Hogwarts Express. Was that what Gran meant when she said she had to go back into hiding? Was she in a refugee camp, depending on deliveries to stay fed and healthy? The entire last page of the report was a list of healing potions that were running low in multiple camps.
There were a few things I was certain, or as nearly certain as made no difference, about: the messages about the lion were in reference to the Order's main offence, whoever they were, and the snakes were in reference to known dark wizards. Neither was the cleverest of code names, but it was vague enough that anyone who intercepted them wouldn't have names.
I wondered what kind of divide there was in information. I assumed Funke received all of it, since he was the one who I reported my messages to and took my orders from, but did he know where these camps were? Because I now had it in my mind that I needed to make a special delivery to each of these camps with things like foe glasses and probity probes. I almost added sneakoscopes to the list, but then realized the shrill whistling would give away a camp's position if nothing else.
I asked Pavi to arrange a meeting with Funke in the coming days, however necessary. He gave me an assessing look, but agreed to make the arrangements. Somehow, overnight he'd acquired a scab on his arm. When I asked about it, he'd grinned a bit wolfishly and said, "Order business," which I took to mean none of mine. Yet. But I vowed to keep an eye out for any missives detailing a skirmish.
"Could you get foe glasses?" I asked Pavi later that Thursday. "Ones small enough to fit in a pocket?"
"Foe glasses?" he said, eying me. "You know they're not entirely reliable."
"But they work," I argued. "Better than nothing, anyhow."
"Better than nothing," he agreed. "How many are you thinking?"
"How many can you get?"
We got in another stare-off. His cheek twitched, though I couldn't decipher the reason why. It could have been anything from laughter to annoyance.
"Does your boyfriend know you're this stubborn?" he finally asked.
"Her boyfriend is on the receiving end of that stubbornness, more often than not," a familiar voice said from the fireplace. I turned in surprise - I had been sure that our fireplace was not on the floo network. But sure enough, that was Remus, wiping ashes off his cloak.
Pavi's wand was out before it occurred to me that he wouldn't know who Remus was. I yelped, dodging forward to grab his arm before he cast anything nasty.
"Wait!" I said.
"How did you get here?" Pavi growled.
Remus raised an eyebrow. "I should think that's fairly obvious," he said with a nod towards the fireplace.
"Pavi, stop it!" I said. He wouldn't lower his arm.
"And you always sneak around and arrive to places unexpected?" Pavi snapped.
"Remus," I said warningly, abandoning Pavi's arm (since I couldn't make it budge anyway) and advancing on my boyfriend who was now scowling at the larger man.
"You don't know it's him," Pavi snapped, jerking me back.
Remus snarled, and jerked forward towards me.
"Let go of her!"
"Prove your identity!"
Sick and tired of this manly display of territoriality (over my body and my shop), I pulled out my own wand and petrified both of them. Despite being frozen, both of them managed to look quite affronted at my actions.
"The two of you are like junkyard dogs," I snapped. "Now hush, and let the adult do the talking. When I release the jinx, you will both put your wands down. You don't have to put them away, but they will be at your side or I will make you wish they were." The both looked even more affronted now. "And," I added, "you will both shut up long enough for me to ask the questions, which you may then answer. Agreed?"
I waited an extra four heart beats (easy to count - my heart was thundering in surprise and anger) and then released the jinx. Both men lowered their wands slowly, glaring at each other.
"Now," I said. "Remus, where did we first kiss?"
His scowl cleared, for a brief moment when he glanced at me.
"Great Hall at the dance this last December," he said. "Flitwick caught us and asked that we behave with more decorum."
"Thanks," I said, and turned to Pavi. "There, it's him. Are you satisfied?"
Pavi was still scowling. "How did he get here?" he demanded.
"If you had waited a moment before manhandling my girlfriend," Remus said a bit churlishly, "I would have told you. Dumbledore requested that the floo be set up under your name."
"I didn't know that," I said, trying not to be angry that Remus knew something about my shop that I didn't. Pavi was probably even more peeved than me, since it was his home, too.
"It was just done today," Remus told both Pavi and me. Pavi still looked ready to murder him. "Da and Flitwick get tea together every few months - Da was a Ravenclaw - so it's making its way through the grapevine right now. They asked me to test it since I was meeting with Genre anyway. Funke is being watched so they wanted another way to contact you."
"Watched?" I gasped. "By who?"
"They wouldn't say," Remus shrugged grimly.
"Guess that's why he hasn't been responding," Pavi muttered. "I swear, I sent at least five owls to the castle."
"Merlin," I said, shocked. Remus, casting a wary glance at Pavi, stepped forward and pulled me into a one-armed hug.
"He's still alive and safe," he told me softly. "Flitwick assured us of that much."
"For how long, though?" Pavi grumbled. Remus glared at him and jerked his head at me, a clear, "is that supposed to make her feel better?" motion if I'd ever seen one.
"Do you want to put off dinner?" Remus asked me. "You've got enough stress right now."
Pavi made a rude noise. I flipped him off and he flipped me off right back.
"No, if you still want to do it tonight I'd like to meet your parents. I'll be less nervous if I just get it over with." I smiled despite myself and repeated something someone had said to me, though by now I couldn't remember who: "At least you won't have to get nervous about meeting my parents."
"No, I've just got to watch out for your siblings and any dragon heads they send my way," Remus joked.
"Dragon heads?" Pavi said, sounding less like a jerk in spite of himself.
"Long story," I said.
"That weedy man the other night got a hold of a dragon head?"
"Your brother was here?" Remus demanded, turning to me.
"Oi," I said. "You two are giving me a headache. Later. To both of you. Remus and I have a dinner."
"Later, then," Pavi said. He turned to Remus and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, kid."
"He calls me kid, too," I hurriedly said before Remus could take offense to it.
