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It was a chilly November afternoon and Gwendolyn was in London, on her way to the Ministry. Since the Prophet and the Ministry were so intertwined, it was very often that they were sending workers to and fro. Her superior had sent her to leave some paperwork with a man called Yaxley.

The Ministry was a grand, shiny building, filled with people. She really didn't know where Yaxley's desk was, or he was, but she knew where Kingsley's was. She went on the lift to his floor and found his nice, tidy office.

"Gwen, what are you doing here?" he asked, standing up to greet her. She liked his office. The walls were dark blue and the desks and frames were a dark wood. His office reflected him. One of her goals was to be given an office instead of a silly little cubicle.

"Hi, Kingsley," she said grinning. "I need to drop off some papers with a Mr. Yaxley. Can you show me his office?"

"Yaxley?" Kingsley seemed concerned.

"Yes, that's who I was told to see. Why? Don't you know him?"

"No, I do, it's just…." He faded off for a second, then whispered in her ear. "He's a Death Eater, Gwen."

Her eyes widened. "Is he… will he…"

"I don't think so," Kingsley said softly. "They don't want to be revealed just yet. But be careful what you say around him."

"I will be."

"Then right this way." Kingsley led Gwen through the Ministry. Everyone seemed to know and like him, for everyone stopped to say hello and shake his hand. Kingsley introduced her to some people and they all seemed very nice. But she had to remember that these people would hate her, and Kingsley, if they knew what they stood for.

She had thought about if often. Mr. Cuffe knew Voldemort was back and so did Betty, but they would never say it out loud. They just said things like, "We can't always publish what we want to say." How she wished the Prophet would rebel! The majority of opinions being formed on the topic were based on what the Prophet was publishing. But if anyone admitted that they believed he was back, they were shunned. All because of stupid Fudge and his stupid Ministry.

They reached Yaxley's office and the man stepped outside when Kingsley knocked. "Good day, Mr. Shacklebolt," Yaxley greeted.

"Hello, Mr. Yaxley," Kingsley replied in his deep, hearty voice. "I have a woman here from the Prophet who needs to see you." He turned to me. "This is Miss Gwendolyn O'Shea."

The man called Yaxley looked at her and gave her a grotesque smile. There was an air about him that she did not like and it did not surprise her that he was a Death Eater. "Hello, Miss O'Shea, how may I help you?"

"Good day, Mr. Yaxley," she greeted, giving the smallest of smiles so she didn't seem rude. "I have some paperwork for you from Mr. Cuffe."

"Ah yes, I was expecting those. Come inside and we can sort them out." He opened the door for her and she turned back to Kingsley.

"Thank you, Mr. Shacklebolt," she said with a smile. They shook hands and Kingsley went back to his own office while Gwendolyn went inside Yaxley's.

Yaxley's office did not have the warm vibe of Kingsley's. It was darker and while it did not look slimy, it had a creepy quality to it. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat. He took the paperwork from her and started to look it over.

"You are a reporter for the Daily Prophet, Miss O'Shea?" he questioned. Gwen mentally raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Mr. Yaxley," she responded, almost curtly. He continued to look at the papers.

"And tell me what your most exciting story has been."

She remembered Kingsley's warning. But then again, perhaps this Yaxley already knew what she had written and wanted to see if she was being especially cautious. "The third task of the TriWizard Tournament," she said sweetly. "And an article about Knockturn Alley." Yaxley's eyes seemed to widen as he stayed focused on his papers.

"How very interesting." He looked up and reached for a quill, then signed the papers and handed them back to her. There was a knock on the door and Lucius Malfoy walked in before Yaxley could let him. She had never seen him before in person.

"Hello, Yaxley, I hope I'm not interrupting," Malfoy said, his voice like that of a snake. Gwendolyn was suddenly intimidated. Two Death Eaters in one day.

"No, no, we've just finished. Miss O'Shea was it? This is Lucius Malfoy." Gwendolyn stood up, clutching her papers.

"Hello, Miss O'Shea. It's a pleasure to meet you, though I believe, we have met before."

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I'm afraid we haven't met before," Gwen said quickly, smiling slightly. She turned to Yaxley, who still seemed rather taken aback by her comments. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Yaxley. I'm sure Mr. Cuffe will be very pleased."

"As he should be, Miss O'Shea," he said shortly. "Good day." Gwendolyn was about to leave, when Malfoy stopped her.

"I'd be very happy to walk you out, Miss O'Shea."

That was the last thing she wanted to do. But he was staring at her intently and she was mildly afraid to see what would happen if she said no.

"Very well."

"Was there anything you needed, Lucius?" Yaxley called out.

"It can wait," he said, slimily and Gwendolyn was revolted. He opened the door for her and led her down the halls of the Ministry as Kingsley had done not long ago. But people seemed to be afraid of him and the few that greeted him called him by his last name. "I believe I have you seen you upon my visits to Hogsmeade. That is where you work, is it not?"

"Yes," Gwendolyn said cautiously.

"Wonderful, wonderful. I am very involved with the going ons at Hogwarts, you know."

"Interesting," she said in the most uninterested voice.

"You know, Miss O'Shea, these are very pressing times," he drawled on. "I've seen you with some company that ought to be avoided."

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure I am capable of knowing who ought to be avoided or not," she said with the most false sweetness she had ever used. He was quiet for a moment, then continued.

"You are quite right. I have seen you with a good friend of mine. You do know Severus Snape, do you not?"

"Yes," she said slowly. Everyone knew that Snape discussions were not to occur outside the Order. He was in a very delicate position.

"I believe I saw you with him one night in the village."

Gwendolyn's mind went racing. She didn't know what would happen if Snape started getting questioned about her. "You must be mistaken," she lied smoothly.

"Then how do you know him?" Lucius countered.

"He was my professor when I was at Hogwarts," she said, her voice raising slightly. She saw Tonks pass them and Tonks gave no indication of knowing her. She would see her tonight at the Order meeting.

"I have see-"

"You seem to have seen quite a bit, sir, but unfortunately, we are at the exit," she said quickly. Malfoy looked at her with his eyes slightly squinted.

"Indeed," he muttered. "Very well, Miss O'Shea." And he walked away abruptly. Gwen sighed with relief at his departure and quickly went back to the Hogsmeade Office.

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Immediately after the Order meeting, Gwen hurried over to Snape before he left. "Snape, I need to ask you something." He didn't reply but merely looked at her. "I saw Lucius Malfoy at the Ministry today," she explained and he raised his eyebrow. She had his attention. "He said he saw us that day in Hogsmeade and I told him he was mistaken, but I'm not sure he believed me. Will you get in any trouble?"

"The Dark Lord won't mind if I was seen with a woman that is not officially associated with the Order," he said, sounding bored. "But since you have denied it, I will as well, though I doubt it will be brought to my attention. The Dark Lord has much greater things to be concerned with than who I was seen with for three seconds."

"Oh," Gwen muttered, realizing she was being sort of silly and overdramatic. "Well, that's good."

"Anything else?"

"No." Without a goodbye, he turned and went down the hall and the front door could be heard closing. Suddenly, Sirius and Tonks rushed over to her.

"Why were you talking to Snape?" Tonks asked, hitting her lightly on the arm.

"Because… ugh, it's a long story. Do we have to talk about it here and now?" she whined. Her feet hurt and she was hungry and the smell of Molly's spaghetti was going to make her drool.

"Didn't realize you were friends with Snape," Sirius huffed roughly and Gwen groaned and rubbed her temples.

"We can talk about this later, okay? It's not a big deal."

"As long as you're sure?" She looked at Sirius and saw he was concerned for her. He didn't trust Snape.

"I'm sure."

"Then we're off to dinner!" Sirius took her arm and Tonks's and they went into the kitchen to devour the supper Molly had prepared.

That night, Bill was working, so Gwen stayed with Tonks, Remus, and Sirius at Grimmauld Place and again, the question of why she was talking with Snape came up.

"Well, a while back, I had an assignment for work in Knockturn Alley."

"I hate Knockturn Alley," Tonks moaned, slouching further in her seat at the thought. "I have to patrol there all the time and it's just dreadful."

"Well, nobody was patrolling when I went!" Gwen huffed. "Anyway, some guys were bothering me and Snape was there, so he sort of saved me from them and took me home."

"Snape was in Knockturn Alley?" Lupin asked. "Why?"

"He said Dumbledore ordered him to be there."

"The greasy git's probably lying," Sirius said. "Dumbledore wouldn't want him around dark things."

"This doesn't explain why you were talking to him today," Tonks pointed out.

"Well, you saw that Lucius Malfoy was talking to me at the Ministry? He was saying that he saw Snape walking me home and I denied it, so Snape wouldn't have to answer questions. I just needed to warn Snape in case something happens."

"Nothing'll happen," Sirius waved it off. "Honestly, Gwennie, I didn't think you cared about Snivvykins."

"I don't," Gwen said. "But it'd be my fault if something were to happen, so I figured I'd at least let him know."

"I think we need to trust Snape more," Lupin said, like he said every time Snape was brought up.

"I think we need to stop talking about Snape, it's so boring!" Tonks cried, pulling out her deck of cards.

"Again? I'm so sick of cards," Gwen whined.

"I have wizard chess," Sirius suggested.

"For four people?"

"I also have liquor."

Nobody complained.