They walked. They walked for a long time. It was slowly approaching evening and they were getting more and more lost as they ventured further away to try and find somewhere new to walk to. They were trying to buy more time to talk to each other. Once Teddy cracked her shell, she started pouring out.

They talked about basic, mindless things, things like their favourite movies and books. Edith had acquired a sizable comic book collection, something Teddy was incredibly envious of. He had to borrow his from the library. Interest wise, the two seemed similar enough, with only the key differences being their accessibility to media. Edith was craftier and had inherited the artistic trait from her mum; she was resourceful and often recycled glass and plastics into new things. She showed him a colourful bracelet she had weaved from strips of plastic she had cut into thin strips. She knew how to hunker down and survive. She knew how to stretch things thin and make them last. Edith had security in reliability, acclimation, improvisation, her own talent. Teddy had seen more, gone more places. He didn't so much rely on specific hobbies as he did experiences. He had more friends, a web of social interactions. He had more security in the knowledge that he was practically safe to live his life however he wanted, and he was never going to be under direct threat of anything. He had security in his name, his friends and family, his freedom, his identity. He had a visible future.

It was easier to take a bus home than to walk. Edith was quiet, her knees pulled up to her chest in the window seat. She seemed to change, as soon as she sat down. Hours of opening up broke back down again, and they were back to not talking. She had crashed.

"So," Teddy said. "Have you decided any more on your plan?"

"I still can't decide whether you're a bigger liability or pain in my ass at the moment." Edith quipped.

Sibling animosity was starting to quickly make sense to Teddy, however he wasn't certain if, say, having one sibling inciting the foul play was a part of the game. Her behaviour had gotten cold towards him quickly, and he was desperately trying to make sense of it. For him, the novelty hadn't even worn off and yet she had grown hostile. It seemed safe to guess it was jealousy. Objectively, his life had been incredibly normal compared to hers. She was probably bitter that she wasted her one good shot only to land in a world that didn't have room for her. He watched her in real-time as she flipped back and forth between opinions of him, not prompted by anything but her own self-doubt.

"You know, I bet Mum and Dad are gonna be so excited to see you." Teddy reassured. "They won't care if you're older. They probably miss you. They'll probably smother you the second they see you."

"Sure." Edith mumbled.

"I mean, who could hate you, you know?"

"You mean like the government?"

"Okay, well, name one other besides the government that would hate you." She opened her mouth so Teddy talked over her. "Anyways, you can't think of one! Sure you've got some attitude issues and you know, maybe a brief criminal record, but other than that I think they'll like you well enough." Edith was bouncing her head off the back of the empty seat in front of her. Teddy slipped his hand between her forehead and the seat but she didn't seem to care. "Right, but like... they'll probably be so excited to see you, they'll get you your own bedroom, and you'll have your own clothes and all that. I'm sure they would vouch for you, or make sure no one catches you. Maybe if you get lucky, you'll land somewhere where the war's over and they're living in a big empty house, and all will be forgiven. Seriously, you'll probably be better off than me, won't you?" He tried to sound encouraging.

Edith had a big red mark on her forehead, her eyes glaring holes into him. "What angle are you playing at right now?"

"Angle? What?"

"Is this some kind of reverse psychology? What are you trying to gain from this?"

"I... dunno?" Teddy shook his head. "You seem like you're in a piss poor mood right now, I was hoping maybe I could cheer you up, but I hardly know the first thing about you." He confessed. "I dunno. I'm happy for you, I just... I hope you think this is worth it. You seem worn down already."

"I actually cannot believe I'm taking you with me." Edith said astonished. "You're probably the most annoying person I've ever had to put up with!"

"Fine! Well why don't you go get yourself killed trying to pull off your stupid plan!" Teddy crossed his arms and sunk into his seat. Edith didn't say anything. She was busy staring out the window and watching the city go by. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts, having completely forgotten Teddy was there. "Are we leaving tomorrow?"

"I suppose. No point in waiting. I don't know where to begin, honestly." She sighed.

"You can stay in my room tonight if you want." Teddy offered. "I'll sleep on the floor, you can have the bed."

Edith shook her head. "I have a couple things I need to take care of tonight."

"Take care of?" He asked suspiciously. "You're not going to-"

"I just need to get a couple things before I leave. Don't worry." She reassured. "I'm already too deep in this, and unless you start fucking around, there won't be any need for me to leave this early. I just need some supplies."

"Here," Teddy took out the rest of the money Andromeda forced into his hand gave him. "You're not going to use it, I know, but you need it more than me."

Edith held it in her hand. "You keep... you keep doing this. You keep giving me stuff. Seriously. Knock it off. I'm fine."

"You put literally everything you own in a messenger bag and fled an alternate reality. Of course I'm going to help you."

"But I haven't done a single thing in return! I broke into your house!"

"Yeah." Teddy sighed. "To be fair, I'm not sure I've completely come to terms with all this yet. It's like... you don't even feel real."

"Yeah." Edith shook her head. "This is... this is a weird dream. None of this has felt permanent yet. Like... I'm never going to see my grandmother ever again. My grandmother. Not a grandmother, but the one who raised me. She's going to live without me forever."

Teddy didn't say anything. He gave her a moment to mourn.

"I'm a terrible person." She said quietly. "I was so scared, I didn't think about the consequences when I ripped the door down. I tried to put it back, I swear, but it wouldn't go..." He didn't argue. What was the moral thing to do in this situation? What was good, what was bad? He just wanted to keep his sister.

"So... since I'm acting as the muscle, is there a time limit on how long I'm allowed to follow you around?" Teddy asked.

Edith shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I could do this myself, I wanted to do this myself. I thought I was being brave. I just wanted to see my parents again." Her voice was growing softer and softer. "I don't want help, Teddy, but I don't want to die. I don't really want to be dead."

"Yeah, I know. I don't want you dead either." He said.

She curled her body up, trying to make herself as small as she could. "I don't know how long I can keep doing this. What if every single reality is like this? What if this never works? I kept thinking to myself that that can't be possible, I have to be able to find one where I fit in. I'm trying to not care, you know? I'm trying, but what if I never find a home?"

Teddy nodded. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Well, you can always come back here if everything else fails."

Edith chuckled, but it sounded bitter. "Yeah."

"Speaking of here..." He patted her back gently before retracting his hand. "Do you want to come meet my friends? Don't feel pressured to say yes, but I want to... you know, say goodbye before I go away for a while."

"You aren't telling them you're leaving, are you?"

"No, of course not. Still not telling anyone. Just... have something to remember them by while I'm gone." He tried to not imagine how dangerous this was. He tried so hard not to say "have a good last memory of them in case things go bad." Just like her, he found himself thinking more and more about their parents than the actual dangerous part of getting to them. Their faces seemed clearer in his mind somehow. He imagined hugging them. He thought of burying his face in their shoulders and crying.

He was sure Edith was too.

"Yeah, I... I think that might be fun. As long as we're careful." She agreed.

xxxxx

Edith agreed to climb back up and Teddy would meet her. He was so preoccupied with spending the day with her, he seemed to keep forgetting that his sister and the terrorist attack on the Ministry were the exact same event. The two had become compartmentalizations in his mind. He'd practically forgotten the fuss from that morning.

"Teddy?" Andromeda's voice strained. He didn't realize she was in the living room waiting for him. She stood up from the couch where she had been sitting, accidentally bumping into the coffee table and knocking a dirty pair of gloves and a garden spade sitting beside the radio into the floor. Her gardening had been interrupted by the news. Nowadays, she was hardly very far from the radio. "Why didn't you tell me what's happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Teddy asked. The radio host was still rambling on in the background.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, so don't pull that with me!" Andromeda said sternly. "A terrorist! In the Ministry of Magic!"

"Oh, right, about that-"

"So you lied to me!" She had her hands on her hips. "You know that I tolerate a lot of things, I've put up with a lot of misbehavior and misconduct between you and your mother, but I absolutely do not tolerate lying!"

"I didn't mean to lie to you, I just didn't want you to worry about me!"

"Well how exactly is that working out for you, Edward?"

Teddy stared at her. He was nervously sweating, and he wasn't sure if it had anything to do with his worry over Edith getting caught. He hated hurting Andromeda's feelings. Ever. She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve the stress at the idea of her only other child being killed and lying about the fact that he had been in danger was only making it worse. "I'm sorry, Nan. I should've given you the whole story."

Andromeda took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, you should have." She simply said. When things like this happened, things this serious at work, Teddy could almost visibly see her heart skip a beat in her chest. It was going to give out one of these days from everything she had been through. A gnawing in Teddy's stomach warned that it could be him running off with Edith.

"Has there... have they released any more news?" He asked hesitantly.

"Well, there's a lot of gossip going around about the Department of Mysteries... Hell or heaven knows what could've possibly come out there. I've been talking with some of the others, Arthur Weasley was there this morning. No one saw for sure what it could've been that came out of there. Some people who stayed late last night didn't see anything, but they're pressing anyone who was surveilling the area at the time and it's just coming up... nothing." Andromeda slumped back onto the sofa, waving her hand to quiet the radio.

"They're probably following footprints. Have they found footprints?"

"Yes, but the culprit disapperated, didn't use the Floo Network. Could've gone anywhere in the world by now."

Funny how that culprit just happened to be upstairs in Teddy's bedroom. "Well that sucks." He remarked.

"I mean, some people are claiming to have seen something or someone, but who knows. Unless they saw it head on I wouldn't believe anything they say. People are saying it's something invisible. Invisible! What has the world come to that we're believing in invisible people..."

"What... what were some of the witness accounts?"

"The same usual stuff. Apparently an auror doing a late patrol last night said he saw the ghost of a dead woman wandering around." Andromeda scoffed. "Something about an old rumour about a dead girl that killed herself on that floor. A ghost. Something that can't even interact with this bloody plane of existence. I'd believe that floor is haunted, but I wish people would use their brains."

Teddy laughed nervously. "Right, right... er, what about any others?"

"All of the security officers on that floor are pointing their wands at each other. 'He did it!' 'No, he did!' That sort of thing. I heard someone say something about creature coming through a portal, big black thing that walked on four legs and had two heads or something. I don't even know." She shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's all a coverup and they already caught him. They keep making up all these absurd stories and theories, they've probably got that guy in a cell already. I'd hope not. If these are the cover stories, I don't want to know what horrible thing got out."

"Yeah." Teddy sighed with defeat. "I expected more from the Department of Mysteries."

"Considering now it's an entire Ministry problem, possibly even an international issue, you'd think they'd have enough heads put together to actually do something competent. Just dead women and evil omens..." Andromeda rubbed her face, standing back up. She seemed nervous. Nervous, but too tired to care. "I need something to drink. And this does not mean you're off the hook."

"What exact kind of hook are we talking about?" Teddy asked politely. "Am I grounded?"

Andromeda considered this. "No. Not yet. But you might be depending on the news. I expect something will break soon, probably tonight. You are not to go to work. I'd like to believe that lunatic is not there still, but I don't want to find out. Just... tell me where you're going next time, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Teddy nodded. "Um... would it... be too soon to ask to go out again?"

His grandmother exhaled, cutting her eyes at him. When she was upset, they were like black marbles. "Why? Where do you need to go?"

"Oh, um, just... Margot and Jonas and Victoire, they invited me over, but it's fine, I can say no." He said quickly.

She contemplated it. "As long as you're with them and you don't wander off, I don't want you out alone."

"We won't go anywhere." Teddy reassured. "Straight there, straight back, home by midnight. I'll apperate, it'll be fine."

"Fine. But you better make sure you're home by midnight." Andromeda wasn't happy to let him go again after worrying about him all day, but she accepted it as regular teenage behavior. He was almost twenty, but he was still very much a rebellious teen who wasn't keen on doing as he was told. "And no alcohol, and no drugs. I expect you to appetite sober, please. That wasn't a request."

"Of course, of course." He nodded. "Thanks."

"Mmhmm."

"Love you."

"Mmhmm."

Edith was struggling a bit to get back inside the house. She had mud on her jeans.

"You know usually, I can get up here on the first try." She groaned, pushing herself through the window of his bedroom. She huffed. "But also usually, I don't do it this much exercise in one day." Her arms were flimsy and wobbling as she lowered herself onto the floor.

Teddy locked the door and put a finger to his lips. His grandmother had turned the radio back up, but he didn't need her to be any more suspicious than she was right now.

"Hey." He said softly. "It's getting worse out there. Chaos. No one knows what's going on."

Edith sucked in a breath, her hand pressed against her side. "Of course it is. Shit."

"Yeah... By the way, when you snuck out of the Ministry-just curious here-did you do anything weird with your appearance?"

"Uh, you mean like polyjuice?"

"...I meant something more along the lines of like... I dunno, was there any way that you maybe possibly could've been dressed up in a way that you could've been interpreted as like, a ghost?"

There was a pause.

"I'm fucking sorry?"

"No, no, no, no, like... apparently a guard said something about some dead ghost or something wandering the Ministry last night, I dunno." She was stricken with confusion. "I pictured like a Victorian nightgown or something."

"I wasn't even there at night. I didn't make a run for it until workers started coming in. I was trying to blend in when people were already there, so I just looked like a normal employee." She explained. "Actually, they didn't even know there was a threat until they saw the box missing."

"Oh, okay, well, apparently someone saw a ghost." He remarked. "Weird coincidence probably. I'm just wondering if the Ministry is actually haunted or not. Anyways, I'm gonna... get ahold of Victoire, tell her I'm coming over. Everyone's probably bored since none of us went to work today."

Edith flopped onto his bed and spread out. "My back is killing me. Who are your friends anyways?"

"We work together. I think... hmm." Teddy wasn't great at making a patronus. He could do it, he could make it corporeal, but getting it to talk was like tuning into a radio station that was way too far away and you could only get music to cut in. Usually he would've just gone over there and said hi and they would've gone from there. Andromeda was obstinate about not getting another owl after the ancient one she used to have kept running off with important mail and scarring their arms when he got old and senile. But she tended to forget that her grandson was not as good with his patronus as she was.

He cast his patronus, something that looked something like a wolf, but more like a dog in the face. It scampered out the window with his message to get the others together. He wondered if it'd even go through, at which point, his plan was to pretend that his plan was to send that to get her to send back their owl the whole time.

"You can make a patronus?!" Edith shot up with surprise.

"Uh, well, not a great one, clearly."

"Yeah but you can make a patronus." Her jaw hung open. "Jeez, dude what else are you keeping from me? You're probably a pretty good duellist."

"Eh, I suppose. It rubs off working in the auror department."

Edith shook her head. "Maybe I shouldn't go. If they figure out my face tonight, you'll get in trouble for being seen with me. Victoire... I don't know how Victoire would react. And the others, if they work for the Ministry-"

"No ones going to rat you out." Teddy reassured.

"I'll be fine, don't even worry." She reassured. "I won't leave. I'll be quiet. I'll behave. I'll make sure Andromeda doesn't see me."

"Come on, it'll be fine. We'll make something up. Don't worry about it."

Victoire was a bit surprised that they were making plans so late, but it didn't look like the interns were going back to work tomorrow. The Weasley's moved out of Shell Cottage into a bigger house to accommodate three kids. Surprisingly, everyone agreed to meet. Usually Margot was such a stickler she would've refused on a weeknight. They four (sometimes five counting Dominique) had become a bit notorious for being in trouble together. Things from coming home smelling of pot to the one time they thought it would be funny to create a portkey, lied to their parents and about where they were going, and ended up lost in another country and missing for about three days. Their relationship had never been the same after that. For the most part, the weed smell was brushed off after that incident.

"Hey!" Victoire exclaimed. She threw her arms around Teddy's chest and kissed his cheek. He grabbed her waist, burying his face in her neck.

"Wotcher." He whispered.

She smiled and pulled away, turning to Edith. "Hey, who's your friend?"

Edith's cheeks were all pink. She tried to smile but she looked uncomfortable being here. "Hi, I'm Edi-"

"She's my cousin." Teddy interrupted quickly. This was a stupid idea bringing her here. They looked too similar. "Yeah, pretty big deal, we just met."

"Cousin?!" Victoire exclaimed. "That's crazy! Who are you related to?"

Teddy tried to say something, but Edith didn't let him. "I'm his dad's... um, his dad's cousin so I think that would make us, like, second cousins or something?" Edith explained.

"Wow! Oh my god!" Victoire gasped. "I can't believe that! I'm so happy for you guys!" She hugged Teddy again. "Come on in, you don't have to be shy."

Victoire's bedroom was in the small basement where they tended to hang out. On calmer nights where they weren't plotting to run away to Sweden, they liked watching movies from the collection they had created from thrift stores and bargain bins. Muggle movies were sometimes pretty bad, but they had charm to them. If you were looking for an explanation of muggle culture, they were a great caricature. Victoire had decorated the space with photographs they had taken and made it as welcoming as possible. Proudly displayed upon the shelf above the sofa was their shrine to an empty soda bottle, surrounded by small candles, expired snacks, and a single galleon. The lights were dim an colourful. They had even stockpiled pillows from nights when they accidentally got a bit too much in their systems and ended up with an impromptu sleepover. It was their secret hideout in a way.

Margot was there, her hair tied back up in a colourful scarf. She was in much more casual clothes than she had worn to work, but she did love to wear bright colours and sparkly makeup when she went out. She seemed to be the voice of reason for the group. She had voted no on making the illegal portkey. Dominique Weasley, Victoire's younger sister, was sitting next to her on the couch. Her parents had recently bought her one of those muggle cell phones and her eyes were glued to the thing constantly now. She was more of a tagalong to the group that was slowly being indoctrinated. There was also a boy named Jonas, who was a Hufflepuff in their first year post-graduation same as Dominique, another intern at the auror office that had made it tonight. They had been a quidditch player. They were shorter than Teddy, but a bit more muscular, with dark hair shaved short. Naturally, they were the one to create the portkey itself on impulse instead of letting Margot do it safely, thus being the main culprit of their Swedish excursion. Teddy noticed that as soon as they saw Edith, the others rushed to hide their wands.

"Ooh, who's your friend, Ted?" Jonas leered playfully.

"That's Edie, Teddy's cousin." Victoire said.

"Actually it's-"

Edith smacked Teddy in the arm to cut him off. "Hi." She smiled at the others.

Margot pushed up her glasses and held out her hand to shake. "Hullo! Margot here, that's Jonas, Dominique and Tori, of course..."

"Can you believe that?" Victoire said astonished. "His dad's cousin! That means you must have some other family somewhere, right? Now you've got family on both sides!"

"Yeah, something like that." Teddy didn't sit down yet. He was too nervous, as if he was waiting for someone to call their bluff. "It's confusing, and we're still trying to figure it out."

"Cool, cool." Jonas nodded. "You work at the Ministry?"

"Jonas!" Victoire gasped.

"No, no, it's okay! I'm a witch!" Edith explained. There was a sigh of relief that filled the room. "I don't work at the Ministry though."

"Oh shit, sorry love. Didn't mean to frighten everyone." Jonas laughed. Victoire kicked their foot as she sat down in the floor in front of him. Edith looked a little bit intimidated, afraid to sit down anywhere. "Don't be shy, you can come sit wherever." They gestured generally to the couch, specifically at his lap.

"Seriously, lay off! She's not been here for two whole seconds!" Margot rolled her eyes.

Teddy had known the group for many years now, some of them dating back to his earlier years at Hogwarts. Jonas, even being two years younger, was a familiar face from the common room, Teddy and Margot met when they were prefects, and he had known Victoire and Dominique since birth practically. Jonas was always a bit flirtatious when they were around the girls of the group, usually resulting in playful hits and kicks in their direction, but none of it was ever malicious. Their group was a healthy mix of different sexualities and they were comfortable enough to know where the lines were, but there were times where they'd playfully compliment one another. Teddy however, felt weirdly uncomfortable seeing Jonas gawk at his sister-cousin-clone-version of him. Something felt... strange. Too genuine. If Teddy had as much as changed some of his sexual characteristics, would Jonas have made remarks at him? It wasn't even a matter of being overprotective. It was too surreal to see his friends talking with someone who was basically a copy of himself and not even know it.

"I'm good standing, actually." Edith swallowed a lump in her throat. Teddy noticed that she kept glancing over uncomfortably in Victoire's direction. Edith's jaw was clenched, her face starting to blush. That was her best friend standing in front of her. Victoire had never even known her. Teddy now felt weird mix of jealousy and sympathy. Now there was two of them and one Victoire. Edith was never going to see her Victoire ever again, was she? Who knew what was going to happen once she got to the reality that she was looking for. There was no way she would be able to get all of her cake that she was searching for, much less eat it. He hoped that at least for tonight.

"Don't let Jonas scare you. They don't mean it." Margot reassured.

"Damn, you two look alike." Jonas pointed out. They were squinting and looking back and forth between them. "Nothing wrong with that! Just... wow, that's crazy. Anyways, how did you guys meet?"

"I-well, you see-"

"My dad!" Edith interrupted. "My dad's dad is actually brothers with his dad's dad or something, he started doing some digging on Lyall and you know, stumbled upon another Lupin..." Victoire and Margot were both visibly trying to do the math in their heads.

"Yeah, something like that."

"You didn't go to Hogwarts?" Dominique, who up until this point was not paying a wink of attention, chimed into the conversation.

"No, my mum homeschooled me." Edith said quickly. "We didn't have the money for me to go."

"Sweet, well, welcome." Jonas nodded, seemingly satisfied.

"Yeah, Edith's only staying for a little bit, I just wanted you guys to meet her." Teddy said. "Anyways, I know it's a weeknight like I said, but... I thought maybe we could watch a movie or something? It's not like we're going to work until they catch this guy."

"Ugh, it's terrible isn't it?" Margot remarked, standing up and going to the milk crate where they stored their prized collection. They had a wide variety: Christmas movies, awfully cheesy romcoms, slasher films, overdramatic action movies, a single porno that Jonas (says he) bought on accident that they refused to talk about after watching it. They had some that were around in Teddy's parents' lives, some that came out this year. "Hope they hurry up and catch that guy."

"Or gal." Victoire chuckled. "What! We don't even know what they did! They might even get hired as an Unspeakable. They could be useful for strengthening Ministry security."

"How do we feel about horror movies from the eighties?" Margot asked.

"I hope it's at least some one, not some thing. Merlin, could you imagine? This is all just a coverup for them accidentally releasing some kind of eldritch beast." Jonas remarked. Their face became grave. They shook it off, blinking his eyes before digging through their pocket for something.

"Come on, it's not unusual that we get some crazy death eater fanboy break in and cause havoc." Victoire said optimistically. "It'll be over and done and we'll stop talking about it this time next week."

"Yeah, unless someone dies." Jonas replied. They had a small metal container and a lighter that he took out of his pocket, taking out a cigarette and putting it in their mouth. "Or maybe they already have."

"Hey, can we not? My nan'll have both our heads if we come home smelling like that." Teddy said.

"I'm choosing a movie if you guys don't help." Margot seemed unusually calm at the discussion of the terrorist attack. She was likely trying to block it out. She was known to let things consume her like that.

Dominique excused herself, mumbling something about popcorn. Jonas went over to open the small window that opened up barely about the ground outside, lighting the cigarette in their mouth. The window was pretty narrow and well hidden by the bushes in Fleur's garden, but Teddy found that he was able to slip in and the house through it, something he found out after staying too late in Victoire's room while Bill was upstairs in the living room. "I don't get how this time is any different from last or the time before. Shit like this happens all the time. It'll pass." Victoire reassured.

Margot, probably the most competent with technology, got the movie started. It was a slasher, just like she'd promised. Jonas had to be calmed down by Victoire and the drugs. They slumped down at the end of the couch. Margot was in the middle beside Dominique. She fell asleep in the first thirty minutes. Victoire had curled up in the floor, her head resting on Teddy's shoulder. Edith was stuck by herself, leaning against the arm of the sofa, arms folded tightly across her chest. Every second here made her uneasy. Teddy's friends tried to be nice, talking with her and trying to strike up conversation. It only made her more nervous.

"Sorry, where's your bathroom?" Edith asked. Victoire pointed to the stair. "Right up and it's the first door on your left, across from the kitchen. Should be a light on in there."

"Great, thanks." She hurridly excused herself.

Victoire turned her head to Teddy. "Your cousin seems nice, but is she okay?" She whispered.

"Nervous. She didn't know about the Ministry thing and just happened to be traveling at the same time." Teddy said quickly. "She's homesick."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Well, I'm glad you guys are getting along. That's pretty great that you've got a cousin your age."

"Yeah." Teddy sighed. Victoire kissed him on the cheek. "Hey, um..."

"Mmhmm?"

Victoire was his backbone. His longest standing friend. They didn't keep secrets, big or small. He knew that if they didn't get married one day, they'd still both die happy knowing they met their soulmates. He was going to be away for a bit, and she wouldn't have a clue where she went or why. She'd be torn apart by his absence, or at least by the uncertainty of whether or not he was coming back. But his sister was clearly in more danger.

"Nothing." Teddy shook his head. "Just wanted to say I love you."

"I love you too, Ted." She snuggled up under his arm. "Is something wrong?"

"No." He said firmly. "Just... I wanted to tell you that... I'm really happy. Being here with you guys. I feel like I don't tell you all how much I appreciate you."

"Oh, well, we appreciate you too. You know that." Victoire nodded. "Is there a reason you're telling me this?"

"No, just... wanted to tell you. In case you didn't know it." He smiled, kissing the top of her head.

The combination of nerves and the fake gore was overwhelming for Edith. Upstairs, she took a couple of minutes to breathe. She glanced out the kitchen window. It was dark, but there weren't any lights on, except for the porch and the neighbours' houses. No people with wands surrounding the house that she could tell.

"Teddy? Iz zat you?" A voice asked. Fleur, dressed in her pajamas, had come into to get a glass of water. "I like ze new look."

"Oh, hi, you must be Mrs. Weasley." Edith said quickly. "No, I'm Teddy's cousin, Edith. I'm in town for a couple of days. Don't worry! I'm a witch too."

Fleur seemed relieved. "Of course, are you um, cousin on hiz mum's side, yes?"

"Oh no. Dad's." Edith chuckled.

Fleur's eyes seemed to grow a bit suspicious. "Funny, 'ou look just liek Dora. Zey were my good friend, you know."

"Nope! I'm Uncle Remus' niece." She tried to sound convincing, but Fleur wasn't buying it. Something was wrong.

"Your... accent. 'ou are from around here? It'z local." She asked, running her finger around the rim of her glass.

"No-Yes, but no. I live a bit aways. Funny how that happened. Had family so close by and I didn't even know it. Ha ha."

"Right. Yes." Fleur nodded. "We, eet was nice to meet 'ou. I don't know how long you are staying but Bill and I are going to bed. We 'ave a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow with zat mess at ze Ministry."

"Yeah, of course. Nice meeting you too." Edith kept smiling politely until Fleur left. She should've lied and said she was Teddy. Fleur knew something. Something about this conversation was going to come back to bite her in the ass. Edith wasn't sure what, but they needed to get their supplies and leave first thing in the morning. They needed to bury that box somewhere safe.