AN: Hi everyone, sorry for the breaks between chapters lately. There's a lot going on in my life for the next couple months, so everything has been a little crazy! I am still writing, albeit at a slower pace. But thanks for your patience. Enjoy!
Moving Lily in turned out to be the most fun I'd had in ages. James, Remus, and Sirius showed up to "help," though more than once I had to insist that Sirius stop trying to lay traps for us. With five of us, the move took no time at all. We also got to meet my downstairs neighbor, a crotchety old lady who accused us of trying to steal her cat. We all protested that we had no need to steal her cat, but after that I kept an eye on the boys who looked like they would take the cat just to make a point, now.
Lily and I made dinner for the boys, our thanks for them showing up. It was an Italian pasta dish Lily said she'd been wanting to try. It did come out very nice, and even James and Sirius belching at each other couldn't ruin it.
"Not joining the contest?" Lily asked Remus while her boyfriend and his best friend tried to out-belch the other.
"I couldn't win if I tried," Remus said with a grin. Sirius's next belch was so loud I was afraid the window panes might shake loose.
"I like your flat," Sirius told me before he left. "It feels safe. Except for that broad downstairs."
"Thanks," I said in surprise. "I like it, too."
James and Remus stuck around a bit longer. It was a bit weird. We'd all been together at Hogwarts, but somehow at the flat it seemed more couple-y and less like hanging out. Still, I was never going to turn down time with Remus, and it appeared Lily felt the same way about James.
"By the way," James said to us, "the Marauders are all going to be at my place this week."
"Full moon?" I asked weakly.
Remus nodded. He had been looking a bit wan today, but somehow it had escaped my mind that once again the full moon was coming up.
"Be safe," Lily said before I could. Then, she stretched on tiptoes to kiss James firmly on the lips. "Now, shoo. Genre and I have stuff to do."
"Come by whenever," I invited James. Remus, obviously, already had a standing invitation.
"Thanks," James said gratefully, "I will. Anything is better than visiting Lils at that madhouse she called home."
"That much fun?" I asked Lily.
"Petunia's been in rare form," she grumbled.
I said my goodbyes to Remus too, and then it was finally just me and Lily.
I cleaned up the kitchen while Lily went into the bathroom to arrange her toiletries, something she hadn't wanted to do while the boys were around (not that I blamed her). Then, she came into the kitchen to help me dry the last of the dishes.
"Do you want to run an errand with me tomorrow?" I asked her. "It involves being in a muggle area, so I may need help."
"Sure," Lily agreed immediately. "Do we need back-up?"
"No. I think it'll be safe." I did think it would be safe, too. After all, who would think twice about two muggle girls walking into a muggle shop?
Travelling to Dorset in daylight, and not on four paws, was quite an adventure for me. We dressed in denim trousers and Lily tossed me one of her shirts to wear, saying mine weren't quite in the muggle style. Lily also called a muggle-taxi for us once we apparated to a secluded area near Dorset and I watched with great curiosity as the muggle drove using weird levers and wheels and the like until Lily told me I was being weird. After that, I made myself focus on her instead. There was something we could safely talk about in the presence of a muggle - boys.
"Genre," Lily said after I'd told her about what I felt after the kiss that had been so different, "I'm so happy for you."
"When did that happen for you and James?" I asked softly.
Lily smiled, her eyes glazing over as she thought back to the exact moment.
"Just after his parents died, actually. He was in rough shape; I was almost afraid he might snap. But then, after what happened to you and Octavius that same day, he just...I don't know how to explain it. He grew up, practically overnight. I mean, we all saw that the boys were maturing these last few years. I was crying for him, and he just grabbed my face and kissed me and told me that as long as he had me, he'd never feel weak again. It felt exactly like you described."
"Oh, Lily," I sighed, "that's so sweet."
"Hard to imagine it coming from that toerag, isn't it?" she giggled.
"A few years ago it would've been impossible to imagine," I said. "Now? At least it's plausible."
We both laughed a little at that.
"Have you asked Remus if he felt it too?" Lily wondered aloud.
"Not yet," I admitted. "I'm almost afraid he hasn't."
"Hmm," Lily said thoughtfully. She didn't look as worried as I felt, though.
It was hard to find the magic shop without sniffing out the proper trail. Lily used the telephone after shoving me out of the booth for pushing too many buttons and got the exact address once the taxi dropped us off in the heart of Dorset.
When we stepped into the shop, which was quite clean and also quite empty of any customers, the dumpy witch greeted us cheerfully (though she didn't look quite so dumpy from a human angle).
"Hullo, dearies," she called from behind the counter. "Beautiful day for shopping, inn't it?"
"It is beautiful," Lily agreed.
It was, in fact, a beautiful day outside. I don't know that I would generally use a beautiful day for shopping as opposed to lounging outside, but I could appreciate the sentiment. I would have said that, but my eye was caught by a box labelled "magic wands." When I looked inside, though, it was fully of oily-feeling, thin black tubes with white caps at either end. The caps looked to be removable. I popped a cap off curiously and peered inside. Nothing was there but empty air - no core or anything! I wasn't quite sure what I was holding, but it certainly wasn't a wand.
"What is this?" I asked, brandishing the black tube. Lily's lips twitched, but she turned away and let Gabby answer.
"It's a magic wand," Gabby said, bustling around the counter.
"But it's not," I said, confused.
A muffled explosion of sound came from where Lily was standing.
"It is," Gabby insisted. "I'll show you."
She took the black tube from me. Then, with great gravity, she lifted it and twisted it between her fingers so I could see all sides.
"Behold," she said gravely.
Then, with a great flourish, she tapped the white tip against the counter and tiny foam balls exploded around it. I narrowed my eyes at it. I was pretty sure it was some sort of trick, though I couldn't see how quite yet.
The muffled noises Lily was making increased in volume.
"You alright, then?" Gabby asked, looking concerned as Lily's shoulders shook. I took the proffered wand once more and tried tapping it against the counter. Nothing happened. I waved it in the movements for wingardium leviosa. Still, none of the foam balls even twitched. Definitely not a real wand.
"Sorry," Lily coughed and flapped her hands at Gabby. "Sorry, I'm fine."
Lily was not fine. Her face was red from the effort it took to hold in the laughter. Now, as I glared at her, getting a good look at her face, her cheek twitched as she bit back even more laughter.
"We're not here for wands," I said firmly, "even if I'm not sure how you made those little balls appear. Could I speak with Leticia, please?"
"Not here for wands?" Gabby asked, her eyes narrowing. Her fingers pressed to her hips. I bet her wand was tucked away there, sticking out of her skirt hem or something. No witch would be without her wand, even in a muggle area.
"No," Lily said. "We came to speak to you and your partner, if we may."
I don't think Lily realized yet how suspicious the network of witches and wizards who fought against the Death Eaters were. Her words, though harmless enough for our purposes, put an unhealthy dose of fear into Gabby, and suddenly we were confronted with the tip of a very short black hawthorn wand - a real one.
"Stop!" I said urgently, lifting my hands. Lily did the same after a brief moment of hesitation. "You've met me before. We're not here to hurt you."
"Met you before?" Gabby sneered. "I never!"
"I may have been a bit shorter," I said, "and kind of ginger. But it was still me."
The taller witch, Leticia, was suddenly in the doorway with a bag in her arms. She must've been shopping, since apparently it was a beautiful day for it.
"Oh, my," she said, startled. "A bit of thievery, Gabby?"
"They say they want to talk to us," Gabby told her.
"Talking, is it?" Leticia said. The bag dropped with a shatter and clash, whatever she had inside it breaking, and then her wand was pointed at us also.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," I said. "I picked up the report last week. If Dumbledore trusts me, I should think the two of you could, also."
"How do we know it was really you?" Leticia asked suspiciously. Her wand hadn't yet wavered. Lily was looking at it with great interest, probably wondering if she could dodge whatever curse blasted out and get her own wand in time. Since Gabby seemed to be the more vicious of the two, I kept my eye on her.
"You," I nodded to Gabby, "didn't want to let me in even though it was raining, so I shook water all over you." (Lily snorted at that, and I did blush a little. It had been a pretty petty reaction.) "Leticia told you to get me a towel while she finished writing. You also tried to feed me cat food, which by the way is very insulting, thanks for that, and then Leticia put the report in my pouch. She also said 'Godspeed' when I left, though I don't entirely know what that means."
"It's a muggle thing, a religious blessing people used to say before long journeys," Lily answered promptly. "You don't hear it so frequently nowadays," she continued thoughtfully. "I believe it started in the middle ages, long after the rise of Christianity, and then -"
"Are you a walking encyclopedia?" Gabby demanded, cutting Lily's explanation off. She didn't tuck her wand away, but at least it was no longer pointed at me.
It was my turn to snort now at the affronted expression on Lily's face.
"You're not supposed to be here," Leticia said from the floor where she was sweeping up her mess. Gabby walked around her and peered out the door before locking it against any other surprises. "Our pain in the arse spymaster usually warns me."
"If the pain you speak of is who I think," I said calmly, "he is currently being watched. But I'm not here for another report anyway."
"What, then?" Gabby demanded. "You're not here for reports, you're not here for wands -"
"Those aren't real wands anyway!" I said hotly.
"Of course they aren't!" Gabby all but roared. "They're muggle playthings!"
"Hush," Leticia said calmly. Gabby snapped her mouth shut, her neck and cheeks flushing an interesting shade of maroon.
"All I want," I said, "is a way to get to the refugee camps. I have a delivery for them."
I wish I could say it was as easy as that, just telling them what I needed and then being on my way, but in the end it became a sort of haggle. Luckily, with Lily on my side, I didn't get taken in too badly. When Gabby and Leticia pushed for twenty protective charms and a share of the delivery I had for the refugee camps, Lily firmly told them that under no circumstances would that be happening, and didn't they know they were talking to the spymaster's protege? (I doubt anyone, Funke especially, would consider me a protege, but I kept my mouth closed.)
For the hefty price of seven charms, that I was to drop off by the end of this coming week, Leticia revealed the location of two of the camps to me, and only that. Let me revise that - she gave me the future location of two of the refugee camps since they all made a point of moving every few weeks to reduce their chances of being stumbled upon. She said she didn't know where any of the others were, but there was a cunning look in Gabby's eyes that made me think that wasn't entirely true. Still, I took what I could get, and then Lily and I escaped before they could make any more demands.
"They didn't seem so horrible last week," I grumbled. "At least, Leticia didn't."
Lily grinned at me, looking oddly exhilarated.
"We got more in the bargain than they did," she told me.
"They're getting seven charms," I pointed out. "There's only two of them. They're probably going to sell the rest."
"Let them," Lily shrugged. "Genre, your charms are excellent boosts for protective magic. All of us have tried using them for other magics and it just doesn't work. So if they sell the charms and they end up in the wrong hands...well, at least it won't help anyone hurt someone else."
That was a fair enough point, though of course a strong shield charm could help either side of this war. But if someone held the shield up, they couldn't cast dark magic (or any magic, really) at the same time. So there was that.
"Plus," Lily continued. "You know both their names. You used both their names. It bothered them, they didn't like you knowing who they were and where to find them." When I would have interrupted, Lily held up a finger to waylay me. "And," she continued, "they didn't get our names. All they know is that you are likely the fox who picked up the report. They don't even know Funke's name. I think they would have name-dropped if they knew it."
"Hm," I said thoughtfully. I hadn't considered that. But obviously information was power - that's the majority of what my tasks were, making sure information got into the right hands. They had traded me information for nothing more than a handful of protection-boosting charms, a minor monetary gain in the scheme of things.
"Maybe you should run my business," I told Lily. "You're quite clever, really."
I dodged her annoyed swat and thought some more while she did her best to flag down another taxi-cab for us. We rode the taxi to a new town and had lunch in a little pub there before finding a private place to apparate back home.
Information was power. I knew information was important, of course, but why had it taken Lily to put it into perspective for me? (Besides the fact that she was brilliant, I mean.) With the right information, I might even be able to start stemming the flow of information that was being passed between Death Eaters. Maybe. I'd have to look into that.
