Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character, story element or plot item originally published in the Harry Potter books or movies that I may refer to in this story. I'm merely playing in the sandbox.

Brahm was less amused, sitting on the couch in his tent with Sarah sitting next to him, than he was with the last meeting with Algie. He held a bundle of mail, the latest from Gringotts, as the older man paced. "You nearly broke cover."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"I want to be mad at you and I want to understand that about close proximity to a Dementor, but I don't know what to do with you." Algie turned from Sarah to Brahm. "You basically handed your identity to Bones."

"You want to hear what happened or do you want to go on complaining?" Algie froze as Brahm glared back at him. Sarah reached for his hand and squeezed it, shaking her head slightly, but he continued.

"First thing, we're not Unspeakables or Hitwizards. Second, we were in the middle of an emergency. Third, you gave my identity to Bones. Brahm Evans was the cover name her husband used at one time while working with you. Do I need to go further, or can we actually discuss what happened two days ago?"

Brahm thought again of the conversation with McGonagall yesterday and Neville's response to it. He was definitely getting to where he fought back, but he wasn't doing so well choosing his opponents.

Algie nodded, conjuring a chair, and sitting. "Okay. I had forgotten that. I had chosen the last name for your mother, but I didn't know why I selected Brahm for your first name. It had just sounded right at the time."

This actually disappointed Brahm. He'd almost hoped the idea that his name was a clue to Amelia Bones was true, but it was just a fluke. "All right, so we all screwed up. Now, let's move on."

The pair began to detail what happened, up to the point where Sarah was affected by the dementor. She fell silent and leaned against Brahm. As the story wound up with him assisting with the rescue, Brahm sighed. "We did what we had to do. There were mistakes, but we had to do something."

The tent was almost silent, only broken by the crackle of the fire in the fireplace. "You're right. You had to act. You protected the students. I overreacted and I apologize."

Brahm ignored the apology. "I know we did. Look, everyone knows that you trained us. The teachers have mentioned it in class and some of the students knew of you as a Hitwizard." Brahm kept his eyes on the man. "Now, how about we drop the 'handler' part of the job and you comfort your niece…if she is your niece."

Algie's head darted up. "What do you mean?"

"I said it to Madame Bones yesterday. I don't know if you're really her uncle or just a family friend." It was the conversation he'd often thought about having with him, but never was sure if it was appropriate. Slapping the older man down one more time seemed like a good idea, to get him out of the mission and into the moment.

"Her mother was my sister." Algie said, moving to sit on the other side of Sarah, hugging her. "I am sorry."

Brahm stood and walked into the kitchen, thinking he would make a pot of coffee. Dobby was already doing that, waving him away. He sat at the table, giving the pair some time. He took that time to flip through the mail, finding a letter from the Dursleys. They were doing well, Dudley making new friends and enjoying his new school. He smiled and made a note to write back a generally vague letter to them. Something similar to what they did with Ginny every week. Had he been told before that he would be happy for anything positive that happened to the Dursleys, he would have wondered about the person's sanity. After a few minutes, both the coffee was ready and he was being summoned. Dobby carried the tray in, and he walked in behind the elf.

"Thank you for the reminder. Sometimes, I forget."

"I understand that." Brahm frowned. "You have real family, Algie. You need to remember that and not take it for granted."

The room was silent and Algie stood again, motioning for Harry to sit as he moved back to his conjured chair. "So."

Brahm was uncomfortable suddenly. He sat next to Sarah, who took his hand. "Oh. We're doing this now?"

Algie met his gaze, expression stern, before relaxing. "We've already done this, so why don't we talk about what finally made you realize how you felt?"

Brahm exhaled loudly and Sarah laughed. "Nearly losing what you care about makes you realize how much you need it," she said, slipping under his arm and hugging him tightly.

"I'm still working on it, trying to understand things."

Algie nodded, smirking. "Fine, I'll leave you two be. I do want to talk about the next Horcrux."

"You found it."

"We have. We're stationing a group in a hidden tent near the location, just outside of the detection wards that are there. Next month, when you have a Hogsmeade weekend, I'm going to come get you for a family emergency. Then we'll break in and deal with the item."

"What is it?"

"The scanner isn't that detailed, but it lists as a mix of metal and stone. I'm thinking another piece of jewelry."

Sarah shook her head. "As long as it isn't like that pendant."

Brahm snorted, laughing quietly. "We won't take it lightly and we'll make sure that we're rested before we go."

Algie nodded. "Okay, I'm going to leave. You two…behave yourself." He grinned. "I'm not ready to be a great-uncle yet."

Before either could respond other than a panicked squawking sound, the man had activated his return portkey and Brahm shook his head. "I really don't like that man, sometimes."

Sarah was quiet, then elbowed him. "So, you don't want to make him a great-uncle?" Brahm turned to stare, but she burst out laughing. "You…I wish I had a camera."

"I hate everyone." Brahm said but didn't continue his grumble as she kissed him.

"No, you don't. You told me you love me."

That weekend, some of students were outside, enjoying what might have been the last temperate day of the year. Harry sat under a tree, watching as some of them were flying, racing around in the air and diving, playing some kind of obstacle run with magical flares.

"Hey, Brahm. You fly. Why don't you give it a try?"

Brahm shrugged. "I don't have my broom. I left it at home."

Ginny landed. "You can use mine. It's not a Firebolt like one of my friends had, but it's hard to go wrong with a Nimbus 2001." She held it out to him. "My brothers bought it for me. They own WWW in Diagon."

"I saw that place when we were shopping. It looked completely insane. Perfect for a joke shop." Brahm spoke lightly but looked to Sarah who leaned against the tree next to him. She was writing another Emma and Aaron letter.

Sarah misinterpreted the look, but he was sure it was on purpose when she winked at him. "You don't need my permission. Go play with your friends but be careful." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, whispering. "Remember, Brahm, you're not a Seeker."

"I know," he said, rolling his eyes for the show, but nodding to her last.

He stood, thanking Ginny as he took the broom. He had to admit, those pickup games three repeated summers ago had been nice, but they'd kept to slower brooms back in the States. The Nimbus hummed in his hand and he smiled, dropping the broom to hover next to him.

He climbed over and rose slowly, savoring the feel of the ground dropping away from him. He remembered what he'd told the guys a few months before about his affinity for birds in wands because of liking flight. As he rose, he realized that he felt better on a racing broom. Phoenixes, thunderbirds, and racing brooms. He had an affinity for fast birds and fast brooms.

He managed to keep his speed down as he followed the course, easily memorized by his observations of the others. It was freeing. He could let it all slip behind him, Riddle and Dumbledore, the betrayals, the pain, the fear.

As he swooped down for a landing, he had a broad smile on his face. Ginny whistled. "I better take that back. You might get the idea to try out for Hufflepuff Chaser next year. Fly like that and run up a score and I'll have to catch the Snitch in the first minute to keep Gryffindor from losing."

He went to get off, then spied Sarah watching him. "Can I take one more run? Someone missed out."

Ginny saw him glance over at Sarah and grinned. "One more, but you have to promise not to try out."

"No problem, I want to keep my grades up. I don't promise I won't get my own, though, if I can afford it."

She laughed and Brahm floated over to Sarah. "How about a ride, milady?"

Sarah laughed. "Really?"

"Sure. I promise to go easy on you." He slid forward and she climbed on behind him, hugging tight to him.

As he started to raise them in the air, she whispered. "I know holding back is hard on you."

He was quiet for a second as he thought. "The speed was freedom for me. I was confined all the time. In a broom closet. In a small bedroom. In a classroom. Suddenly, they hand me a piece of wood with some straw and spells on it and I can just go."

They moved to the agreed upon starting line. "I get that. I felt that way when I went home. Behind closed doors, we were our real selves." They were still quiet, not that anyone was listening. "I'm glad the charade is over, despite what it cost us. Being the real me is like breathing fresh air after being underwater for a long time. I wish he could have been here for it."

She held tight around his waist, laying her head against his back. "Let's fly."

They did, a nice long lap around the track, before landing on the ground. As they did, Ginny was feeding Hedwig a treat. Brahm smiled at the sight, feeling Sarah slip an arm through his. "That's a beautiful owl," he said.

"Yeah, she's a friend's owl. I'm taking care of her for him. Her name is Hedwig."

Sarah nudged him and he smiled. "I'm sure he appreciates it."

"It's funny, she usually stays in the Owlery."

Sarah walked over and stroked the snowy owl, followed by Brahm at a slight distance. He would have sworn Hedwig winked at him. He reached out and stroked her head gently. "I'm sure you and Ginny are taking good care of each other." Hedwig's head bobbed and Ginny laughed.

"I swear, she's the smartest owl I've ever seen."

As if in response, Hedwig stepped over onto Sarah's arm and nudged her with her head, holding a leg out as though to take a message. "How did you know I had a letter to send?"

"Like I said, very smart."

This had Brahm worried, but Hedwig winked again. He watched as Sarah's letter was tied and the owl took off, heading in the direction of London. He smiled. Gringotts. Good girl.

"Well, I'll take this and show you how it's really done."

He laughed and they sat back down, watching the flyers again. "I needed this today."

"No more nightmares?"

"Not until next month."

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. No one was looking forward to the next horcrux.

"I've got another letter from Harry," Vernon said as he walked in the door.

"Really?"

"There was an attack at the village near the school. He was involved."

"Is he all right?"

"Yes. Luna was hurt, though." He read the letter. He knew their names and the house had been warded against eavesdroppers, something he was grateful to his neighbor for. The neighbor was a member of the Unspeakables who looked in on them from time to time. He didn't know how much was to report on their recovery or make sure that they didn't do anything to risk the mission their nephew was now on. "Apparently that was enough to get him to see he cared about the girl." Vernon grinned.

"Oh, that's wonderful. I worried…"

"Yeah." He sighed. Both worried about the long-term effects of their forced abuse. They were meeting with a counselor next door one night a week while having dinner with the neighbor, them kindly volunteering their house for that. In return, Petunia cooked. Winky would pop in on occasion and help and they'd begun trading recipes. Soon, several other elves would join them as they taught each other. It led to some interesting evenings.

"Apparently some of his old friends caused him some troubles…and he's having issues with an old teacher of his."

"Shame, that. I remember in his last letter he'd commented that his old Head of House seemed more like an enemy than Snape…and now Snape is becoming decent." She frowned. "I remember the Snape boy. He had a darkness in him."

"The trend seems to be carrying on." He smiled for real. "Funny how everyone changed when Dumbledore's meddling was pulled out of the way."

"Hey, Dad, some of the mates and are going jogging. Want to come?" Dudley walked in and was dressed for a run.

Vernon looked down at his receding, but still not where he wanted it stomach. "I think I will, for a few blocks. I'm not as young as you are."

He watched his son as he stepped out the door, calling out to a few teens outside. The change in him had been the most noticeable. He was glad to see it. "We all changed," Petunia hugged him, then pushed him to the door. "Go get dressed. I'll have dinner ready when everyone is back. Winky said something about teaching me a stew recipe tonight and I think I'd enjoy stew tonight."