Chapter Eight

17th November 1980

The Ministry of Magic had decreed that Aurors shouldn't travel to and from the Ministry in their work robes, having decided that the easily identifiable silver edged uniform put them in danger of an attack, so Lyra turned up that morning in her Muggle skirt and blouse, a bag containing the robes on her shoulder, feeling woefully unprepared but also raring to go. Frank had been in touch the previous evening to let Dorcas know what she would be doing, but Lyra hadn't received anything from Mason, so hadn't really known what to bring with her.

She knocked on the door if his office, biting her lip and hoping he was in a good mood today.

"Come in."

"Uh, hi, it's me," she smiled, poking her head around the door. "I was wondering where the nearest toilets are? I need to change. And where do I put my stuff?"

Mason looked up from his desk and smiled tightly, taking a deep breath. "Stuff goes here, I've cleared some space in for your things. And toilets are just back out in the main corridor."

He could tell that she'd been stressing about what to wear – he was pretty sure the white blouse had been ironed with an actual iron it was that crisp – but she needn't have bothered. She looked lovely (as always) and however unprofessional the thought was, he was rather sad she was going to have to change into the baggy robes.

He took a large gulp of coffee, draining the mug, and leaned back in his chair. "Don't rush, it's been a slow morning."

"Thanks," she smiled, vanishing quickly to change.

Mason leaned his head in his hands and took a deep breath, willing the caffeine to work faster. He'd been at the Order headquarters all night dealing with new information there, had crashed on his sofa for an hour and then come straight here, needing to get even more done before she turned up and no doubt slowed things down. He'd told a tiny white lie just there – it had not been a slow morning; there was a pile of things to do and he really hoped she wasn't expecting a glamorous first day arresting Death Eaters and duelling in the streets.

"Are you alive in there?" she drawled, smiling slightly as she reappeared, the Muggle clothes now folded neatly into the bag, the Auror robes on in their place.

He looked up and managed a smile back. "Oh, yeah, just tired, you know." Tired and over worked and now he had to spend all day with her and he wasn't sure he had the energy.

"Right," she mumbled, eyes flicking around the room, and Mason cursed under his breath – he really wasn't trying to be a dick but he knew how he was coming across.

"Uh, so I wasn't joking about it not being a busy day. We've just got a lot of paperwork to get through, if that's okay?" he said, clearing his throat and handing over the file on the top of his tray.

"Is it just a case of filling out the boxes?" Lyra checked, raising an eyebrow as she opened the folder and scanned the documents inside.

"Yeah, sorry, hope your brain doesn't go to mush too quickly," he laughed, managing a grin.

She grinned back and the burst of energy that it gave him was enough to get him up out of his chair and over to the pin board on the far wall. Scanning the photographs and scraps of reports that were already pinned up, he hunched his shoulders up and then tried to relax them again, lancing between the bits and pieces and hoping for a breakthrough.

"Merlin, are you /okay/?" Lyra said quietly from the desk, lowering the file in her hand.

He could feel her eyes on the back of his neck and he turned, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well that's a big fat lie," she scoffed. "I can practically see the knots in your back, you've been glaring at the board for, ooh, five minutes now, and you look like crap."

"I look like /crap/?" he snapped.

She raised an eyebrow slowly to match his.

Mason grumbled and looked away. "Okay, you may have a point."

"Action plan," she said firmly, getting up and going over to him, "Because I'm pretty sure I can't have done anything to piss you off, I'm going to assume you're just burning out. I know the symptoms plenty well enough, so don't even try and tell me it's not that."

Mason opened his mouth to protest but she held up a finger and continued.

"I'm going to get you another coffee after you tell me where the coffee station is, then you're going to sit and close your eyes – not even sleep if you can't manage that – for at least half an hour while I get on with the shitty paperwork. Then you're going to find Dorcas and ask her to work some of the tension out of your back because you're standing like you're an eighty year old man."

"Bossy, aren't you?"

"Exhausted, aren't you?" she retorted. "I don't know what it is you do other than work, but have you maybe considered dropping it?"

Mason laughed breathily. "I wish I could. It's too important for that."

Lyra watched him for a moment, mentally filing the comment away because it wasn't the first time her friends had hinted at doing something 'more important'. "Well whatever it is, I would rather if it didn't kill you."

Mason gave her a look and she just gave him one back.

"Sit back down. Where's the coffee?" she sighed, grabbing the chipped mug off his desk.

He grumbled under his breath but licked his lips, "Opposite end of the floor, head towards the windows."

"Hold tight," she smiled, vanishing quickly.

Mason chuckled slightly and slumped back into his chair to wait for the coffee, trying not to feel guilty.

When she returned his eyes were closed so she set the mug down quietly and eased herself back into her chair, grabbing the file and her quill. She opened the folder and then paused, letting her eyes run over him: the dark circles under his eyes were larger than she'd remembered and she suspected he was running on a very empty tank. Her chest tightened slightly and she bit her lip hard, dragging her eyes away.

"I'm not normally this shit," Mason mumbled, not moving from his chair and keeping his eyes shut.

"I should hope not, Youngest Auror in Half a Century," she teased, starting to fill out the forms carefully, making sure the ink didn't drip.

Mason sniggered slightly and wrapped his hands around the hot cup gratefully. "Sorry I was a dick yesterday."

"Oh what, the meeting? Forgotten," she promised, shrugging. "I did think you were being uncharacteristically twattish but I think you just get like that when you're tired."

Mason's heart jumped at the realisation that she had to be paying a decent amount of attention to him to pick up on that. "Oh yeah?" he said casually, trying to play it cool.

"Yeah," she grinned, "It was the same in training. You'd not be around in the evening doing whatever it is you do, and the next morning you'd be back with a coffee insulting my pull ups."

"You are spectacularly shit at pull ups," Mason countered.

Lyra rolled her eyes and laughed. "Go to sleep."

"Yes, boss," he smirked, taking a gulp of coffee and then setting the mug back down. "You sure you're okay with the filing?"

"I'm sure I'll manage," she said sarcastically.

Mason wanted to roll his eyes, but they were so very heavy and he really didn't want to open them. He made a vague noise and nodded, but before he could reply he was already asleep.

Lyra chuckled to herself and shook her head before she focussed her attention on his in-tray, sorting through what she could peacefully, giggling at his slight snoring.

The knock on the door woke him up again, but Lyra wasn't too annoyed – he'd been asleep for nearly an hour and she had a feeling that that was more sleep than he'd gotten the night before – so she went to answer it as Mason started groggily behind her and rubbed his eyes.

"Hello?" she smiled, seeing an older Auror that she didn't recognise holding the thickest file she'd seen yet.

"Hello, Black, is it? Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt," he smiled, shaking her hand warmly.

"Nice to meet you, is this for Auror McKinnon?"

"I am awake," Mason said firmly, standing up and raking a hand through his hair, heading over to join her at the door.

"The file you wanted," Kingsley chuckled at the younger man, "With everything signed off. Once you have your plan, you're good to go. I made sure it went through myself."

"You're a star, Kingsley," Mason grinned, eyes brightening. "I'll let you know how it goes."

"How what goes?" Lyra asked, looking between the two of them curiously.

"Ah, I take it your intern will be joining you? Should be a good test for her."

Mason pulled a face. "We'll see. Thanks again, mate."

Kingsley winked at Lyra and stepped back. "No problem, thank /you/."

Lyra watched him head back to his own cubicle and shut the door with a frown. "What's a good test?"

Mason cursed his colleague under his breath. He'd wanted to keep her out of this mission, even if Moody had said she would be going to every one with him. This one was just… unpredictable and if she got hurt, he knew he'd feel responsible.

"We've got some potential Death Eaters under watch. They've been missing for a few weeks but this is proof that they're back in town, and we want to follow them and get enough evidence to make an arrest."

"And I'll be coming with you?" she grinned.

He groaned internally – how could he say no now when she looked so thrilled? He reminded himself that she was more than capable, and he couldn't keep her out of everything. Better to have her do something risky when he was there too rather than in three months when she was on her own.

"I guess so."

"Can I see the file then?" she beamed, "Do you know how you're going to find them?"

"Not yet, no."

"Why are they back in town?" Lyra asked, flicking through the pages of information.

Mason finished the rest of his now cold coffee and beckoned her over the cork board of information he'd tried to look at earlier. A combination of the coffee, the sleep and her infectious energy was making it seem less overwhelming.

He waved his hand at the photos. "We're pretty sure they're trying to pick something up from Borgin and Burkes, which obviously is not illegal in and of itself so we have to wait until we have more evidence that it's something that could be connected to Death Eater activity so we have a reason to make the arrests," he explained. "And we need to try and identify as many of them there as possible."

She nodded and bit her lip as she studied the wall too. "And they'll want to make the transaction in person, to stop it being interrupted, right?"

"Right," Mason said, folding his arms across his chest, "But we can't walk up to them and ask them when they're going, or who is actually going with them."

"Everyone has to go through the Leaky Cauldron," Lyra shrugged, "I guess we just camp out in there and wait for them, then follow in disguise?"

Mason blinked. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're exhausted?" she retorted. "And because that's far too simple for you. I bet you had a really elaborate first idea."

Mason rolled his eyes because she was absolutely right. "Maybe."

She looked smug. "We either get some Polyjuice potion and become random Muggles, or if they can't give us permission for that, we just transfigure our faces until we're not easily recognisable – perhaps easier for me than for you – and then we go and pretend to have a drink."

"I like it," Mason grinned, nodding as she finished her explanation. "You're good at this."

She looked smug and curtsied jokingly. "You're /so/ welcome."

Laughing, he turned back to the desk and shrugged. "I guess I need to go and speak to Moody about whether we can get our hands on some Polyjuice potion or not."

"Go for it," she said, cheeks flushed happily. "Although he's stingy as anything so good luck with that."

"You say that like I don't know it," Mason smirked, backing away from her, a spring back in his step.

She tipped her head to the side as she watched him, "Make sure you tell him this was all my idea."

"Oh you can fuck off," Mason grinned lazily, heading towards Moody's office with the sound of her laughter following him.

Moody had, predictably, denied them use of the Polyjuice potion for the mission, saying that Transfiguring themselves and then casting disillusionment charms was more than sufficient without wasting the scarce resources the department had left. Even so, Lyra wasn't any less optimistic about the mission.

Dorcas was practically green with envy that Lyra was involved in such a big mission so soon (even though Mason had reminded her that she had Order work all the time and this was just more of the same) but she knew that Lyra was thrilled at the prospect, even if the thought of an evening alone with Mason, on official business or not, was unnerving.

This was mostly due to the fact that as they were posing as a normal couple on a normal date (Lyra had tried to stay casual when he suggested this so as not to go too red in front of him) they would need normal clothes. Which meant Mason would see her in casual clothes again. Which meant she had to look nice, but also be ready for the actual mission.

Mason was meeting her at her flat and then they were apparating to the Leaky Cauldron together so that no one was left standing outside potentially vulnerable, and Dorcas was seated on the sofa, hiding her smirk behind her book when the doorbell went.

"It's Mason," he called from the corridor. "What's the safety question?"

"What part of training did you insult me on yesterday when we were planning?" Lyra smirked through the peephole, trying not to laugh despite the seriousness of the event.

Mason grinned. "Your push ups, but normally it's your pull ups."

"Correct," she grinned too, opening the door and inviting him inside, her heart pounding in her chest: Mason was in her living room. She knew he'd been there before a few times to see Dorcas, but this felt different.

Dorcas winked at her from her seat and Lyra shot her a glare.

"Are you ready to do this?" Mason smiled, zipping up his jacket and getting his wand out. They were going to perform the changes on each other, with Dorcas there to make sure they really didn't look like themselves.

Lyra nodded and grabbed her wand off the sofa too. "Let's go."

They both set to work with the enchantments, changing the face of the other just enough that it no longer looked like them, even to someone who knew them well. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable, and after a few minutes, they both lowered their wands. Dorcas stood up to inspect the work.

"Mason, I could pass you in the street and not know it was you, nice one, Ly," she grinned, ruffling Mason's now dark and much curlier hair. "Lyra, you look… not that different?"

Her hair was a honey blonde and her skin much more tanned, but most of her facial features looked identical to her normal face. "Mason, what the fuck, dude?"

"She looks nothing like herself!" Mason protested with a huff, "Her eyes are completely different!"

Dorcas and Lyra exchanged a look.

"Look, they're a completely different shape, and they don't sparkle now!"

Dorcas laughed slightly and hid a smile – how the fuck did he know what her eyes looked like so precisely? She watched Mason for a moment until he began to squirm, the tops of his ears turning red with embarrassment.

Lyra glanced between them and shifted on the spot, smoothing her hair down and laughing awkwardly. "Uh, I think I missed something here but can we just fix this? We need to move."

Mason's ears flushed a deeper red and he nodded his now much rounder chin quickly, ignoring Dorcas' giggles so he could finish changing her appearance.

"Much better," Dorcas concluded, still laughing but nodding quickly once her friend no longer looked like herself. "Now get a move on!"

Mason pecked Dorcas' cheek quickly. "I'll bring her back later, don't wait up for us."

Dorcas waved him off easily and pulled Lyra into a hug. "I expect not a single scratch on you or I will kill you both myself! Good luck, babe, you got this!"

Lyra laughed and kissed Dorcas on the cheek too. "I love you, Doe."

Mason held the front door open and they both headed out, Dorcas locking the door behind them firmly.

The crack of apparition echoed slightly in the London street but wizards had long since learned that muggle assumed it was just a car backfiring, so the pair paid it no mind. For the mission, they were no longer Mason and Lyra, Aurors, they were just a young couple heading to the popular wizarding pub for a drink after a long day at work, so Lyra slipped her arm into Mason's easily, striking up mindless chatter like she was a born actress. Mason kept half an eye out on the street around them, but there was no sign of anyone until they got inside and found a table in the corner.

"We'll have to order a drink, even if we can't drink it," Mason smiled, easing his jacket off and dropping it over the back of his seat. "What do you want to 'drink'?"

"Just some pumpkin juice please," she smiled, sliding him the money across the table, "Even fake me doesn't drink."

"You don't drink?" Mason said, surprised. He straightened up. "But sure, yeah, one pumpkin juice coming up!"

Emboldened by the new appearance and the fact that she, Lyra Black, was out on official Auror business, she leaned over and grinned. "Thanks, babe," she joked.

The startled look on his face was hilarious, and her grin widened until he clocked on to what she was doing and grinned too, disappearing to get their drinks and leaving her to watch the pub.

Lyra had memorised the faces of all the potential men they were following tonight – there were up to five that the department considered highly suspicious, and any one, or all five, of them, could be involved in the trade tonight in Knockturn Alley. There was nothing out of the ordinary yet though: the Leaky Cauldron wasn't the most upmarket of the wizarding pubs, but it was certainly one of the most popular, and most of the booths and tables were full with patrons, the brightly coloured robes and hats marking it out as a magical place. The lighting was low, but not too low that it was impossible to make out people's faces – great for them, but also the reason the disguises had been so important. If they were sat here for too long then they'd have to sneak out and check up on the spells as you could never be sure how long they would last for and it wouldn't do for them to suddenly return to looking like themselves – especially Mason, who these days was fairly recognisable.

Mason returned with a goblet of pumpkin juice for her and some sort of beer for himself, which she felt was a bit of a waste seeing as they couldn't drink, but she supposed it would look odd if they didn't have some alcohol on the table.

"Any sight of them yet," Mason muttered, pretending to take a gulp of his drink and letting her scan the room again.

She shook her head. "How long should we wait here, do you think?"

"As long as we need to. This is the boring part," he chuckled. "But in the meantime, we can talk about something fun!"

"Let me guess, this won't be fun at all," she said dryly.

"Why don't you drink?" he grinned.

"I was right, not fun," she huffed, drinking her pumpkin juice seeing as she was actually allowed to – one more perk of her choice.

Mason nudged her side. "Come on, tell me!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's not some complex thing, you know? I just never liked the taste, and I don't like the idea of not being in control of my actions! I saw all the bullshit people got up to at school sneaking Firewhiskey into the common rooms and I just didn't fancy it," she shrugged.

"But drunken parties are the best when you're with your mates just messing around! Have you /ever/ been drunk?"

"You really think between my mother, Robert and my cousins at Hogwarts that I was ever allowed enough alcohol to get me drunk?" Lyra laughed. "Never going to happen!"

"Eh, you missed out," Mason smiled, "I miss school. Gryffindor would hold these massive parties-"

"Oh believe me, I know-"

"And we'd all get smashed and play truth and dare, someone would end up snogging on the sofa, you'd sit and chat shit about each other and then we'd all crawl out of bed and get breakfast the next morning," he said happily. "We kinda can't do that anymore, being responsible adults takes too much time."

"That's a shame," she smiled, propping her elbows up on the table and resting her chin in her hands. "I kind of missed out on all of that, alcohol or not. Most of my friends were Avery's friends, or girls in the same kind of position as me. Their idea of fun was to see which first years they could terrorise that night or sit around the fire place and make fun of people."

"Thrilling," Mason snorted, stealing a gulp of her juice and vanishing some of his beer with a flick of his wand so it didn't look too odd that the level wasn't going down.

"Why do you think I studied so much? The Library was tonnes better! I used to have a spot in the corner by the Magical Creatures section and no one ever went down there," she laughed.

Mason blinked. "Wait, that was you? I always saw-"

She kicked him gently under the table and flicked her eyes towards the door, licking her lips. Right after, she winced. "Sorry, was that super obvious? I should've let you continue talking," she said, her voice much lower now. "I think they've walked in."

"It's okay, we'll just talk normally for a minute and watch what they do. They'd be idiots not to suspect some Auror interest in their movements. They could be in the pub for a while yet. If they move out, we'll follow, okay?"

She nodded, smiling at him blithely and trying to relax her shoulders so she looked more like a girl out with her crush and less like a trainee Auror trying not to fuck up a mission.

Mason mirrored her movements naturally, leaning in and whispering in her ear with a smirk to cover what he was really saying. "You follow my lead, okay? Whatever I say. I mean it, joking over now – you follow my orders. Lean back and act like I've said something horrifically inappropriate."

She didn't have to pretend; the feeling of his breath on her neck made her shiver and she flushed anyway, the colour showing up far less on her now tanned skin as she nodded, laughing.

"You're good at this," Mason grinned, running a hand through his hair. "A natural actress."

"I've spent eighteen years acting," she smiled, tilting her head to the side and letting her hair fall back from her neck. "Pretending to be on a date is the easiest thing I've done so far."

"What else have you had to do?" Mason said, an eyebrow quirking up as he kept his attention on the men at the bar easily.

"That's not a question for right now," she said easily, not being able to manage a smile but covering her mouth with her goblet so he didn't notice.

He furrowed his brow slightly but nodded, letting it go. They were hardly in a position for a deep talk.

"Tell me something about you!" she smiled, "I feel like you know way too much about my personal life and I know nothing about yours!"

Mason laughed slightly and shrugged draping his arm around her shoulder to half cover her from view as the tallest man turned to survey the room. The less attention they paid to her, the better; in his opinion she looked far less beautiful with her features tampered with, but even the transfigurations couldn't quite mask that magnetic quality about her and it was both common sense and also jealousy that made him hide her as best he could. The last thing they needed was someone approaching them and getting a proper look at either of their faces. Lyra realised her behaviour was less pretending to be on a date and more just forgetting that /he/ was acting and that they weren't /actually/ on a date, because the weight of his arm over her shoulder was making her heart beat far faster than was respectable.

"Are you nervous?"

"I'm fine," she promised, "Go on!"

"I dunno what there is to say," he snorted. "What do you want to know? You know about my siblings and you've survived meeting Marlene!"

"Marlene is lovely," Lyra said sincerely, "But that's not about you! What was your favourite subject at school? Did you have any pets as a kid? Favourite food?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, cliché I know but it's true. Not as a little kid, but we got a puppy for Mark about a year ago, and now Marlo is as much a part of the family as any of us. My favourite food is lasagne, but only the way my mum makes it," he smiled softly.

Lyra nearly forgot that they had a job to do, but she realised with a jolt that the men had moved away from the bar, leaving the empty glasses behind them for Tom, the bartender, to clear up.

"Mason," she whispered, "They're heading out."

Mason's body tensed up and he nodded his acknowledgement. "Towards the alleyway?"

She let her gaze swing around the pub so she wasn't just staring at them. "Uhuh. Out the back door in just a few moments."

"Okay, we need to go pretty quickly. Grab your jacket," he smiled calmly, reaching into his own pocket and pulling out a packet of cigarettes to use as a cover for them suddenly heading out to the back yard too.

Lyra slipped her coat and smiled at him happily as he slung his leather jacket on and took her hand, nodding at the bartender lazily as he laced his fingers through hers, guiding her through the barstools and crowded tables, twirling a cigarette in his other hand so it was clear to anyone looking what their plan was. She was practically holding her breath at this point, mentally cataloguing spells and exit routes just in case, reassured by feel of her wand strapped to her waist.

Holding the door open for her, Mason smiled and glanced around the area just in case, putting the cigarette away quickly once they were alone and creeping towards the alleyway with the gateway into Diagon Alley. There was no tell-tale sound of bricks scraping against bricks, but they also couldn't hear anything to say where exactly the Death Eaters were either. Nervous but refusing to admit it, Lyra stuck close behind Mason, casting a non-verbal spell at his nod to enhance their hearing for a few minutes.

Still nothing.

"We'll head towards the gateway, okay?" Mason breathed, reaching for his wand.

"Who's there?" a voice hissed, only audible because of the spell. "Find them, kill them if it's anyone you don't recognise."

There was the sudden sound of footsteps approaching and Lyra pushed all the air in her lungs out in fear, the cold winter air steaming in front of her as she yanked Mason backwards; there were five of them and only her and Mason, no matter how well trained they were, they couldn't fight their way out of this one and continue the mission.

"Lyra, what-"

"Trust me," she hissed frantically, pushing him against the wall by the door and kissing him firmly, her hand closing over his wand hand to stop him raising it in defence just as a figure appeared around the corner of the alleyway.

Floored, Mason automatically lifted his other hand to cup her cheek, tangling it in her unfamiliar blonde hair and wrapping his other arm around her, pressing her against him. The heat of his lips was searing against the cold and she shivered, managing to focus enough to slip her wand out of its holder and gripping it, hiding it between them by resting her hand on his chest. Mason, suddenly realising where they were and what they were doing, flipped them over so her back dug into the brick, hiding all of her behind him; he kissed her again, unable to stop himself and also realising what she had done – the cover was genius, her logic flawless, and despite the danger he couldn't believe he was actually kissing her. And more importantly, disguise or not, she was kissing him back. It didn't matter that she didn't look like herself, it didn't matter that it wasn't her usual dark messy waves he was running his fingers through, it didn't matter that the cheekbones he was brushing with his thumb weren't as sharp, it was still her and it was still her heart rate racing in time with his.

She kissed him like her life depended on it, which he supposed it yet could, running her hands down his chest and tugging him closer with his jacket, unable to hear anything over the thundering in her ears.

"Nah, it's just the kids from the pub."

"Forget it, they've got no idea what's going on, they're practically undressing each other out here!"

There was a rough laugh from further away.

Lyra pulled away slightly from Mason and stared up at him from under her eyelashes, her chest heaving. He didn't move, knowing full well that they weren't in the clear yet, and he wasn't sure if he could move anyway: his gaze was still on her lips, which were still very much her own – he hadn't felt brave enough to admit earlier that to him she still looked like herself because he knew the shape of her lips, of her whole face, well enough to pick her out anywhere – and which were now looking rather swollen. She licked her lips nervously and it took all of his self-control to remember that they had a job to do and not push her up against the wall again.

The voices of the Death Eaters faded and was replaced by the sound of the door to the shopping street opening.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, shaking slightly, "Sorry, I didn't think, I just didn't know if we could fight them off, and now we can continue the mission, and-"

"Don't apologise," he said, his breathing ragged and his voice hoarse. "No, that was… very smart. Yeah."

"Okay," she said weakly, shifting slightly to peer over his shoulder. "We… we should follow them, right?"

"Shit. Yeah, right," Mason said, letting his hands drop from her cheeks and clearing his throat hastily. "Let's move."

"Mason, really, I know that was very out of the blue, if I fucked up you can-"

"Afterwards, Lyra," he said with a thin smile, trying to compose himself as he stepped backwards and turned to face the alleyway the men had vanished down.

She nodded and tugged on the end of her hair awkwardly, taking a deep breath in and letting the cold air drag her focus back to the task at hand.

"Fun fact," Mason said carefully, taking a breath to compose himself as they slipped down the alleyway, "You don't need to use the gateway, the wall is pretty easily climbable, wizards are just dramatic."

Lyra raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Much quieter."

"Precisely," he said, quickly levitating himself up to the top of the wall and then casting the disillusionment charms that would keep them hidden from everyone – including each other. "Stick close or you'll lose me."

She nodded and then realised that he could no longer see her so she just lifted herself up and over the wall after him, feeling around until she caught the edge of his jacket. "Okay, ready."

He led the way towards Knockturn Alley, keeping their pace slow so the footsteps weren't audible. They had a Muggle camera to actually get the evidence they needed and Lyra had a potentially useful spell up her sleeve in case the suspects were gone by the time they arrived.

Mason stopped in his tracks as they neared the entrance to the side street, the gloomy shadows seeming to engulf even the light from the gas lamps overhead. "Ready? If anything goes wrong, we apparate out, okay? Straight home," he breathed.

"Understood," she replied just as cautiously, her wand ready. They'd left the wands out of the invisibility charm so they could keep track of each other now it was more dangerous without holding onto each other and Mason shifted on the spot, his wand bobbing ahead of him.

Creeping down the alley, Lyra found herself holding her breath as the sound of rough and hurried voices drifted into hearing.

"Borgin, do you have it or not?"

"I have it, of course, but that does not mean it is yours by default, sir. I am no fool, and regardless of my inclinations in this /dispute/ with the Ministry, I tread the lines of the law carefully. This would tip me far too far into one camp."

There was an angry growl and the cloaked figure that Lyra assumed was Borgin took a step backwards onto the step of his shop.

Abandoning the secrecy they had been keeping so far, the Death Eater pushed his hood down and jabbed his wand into the shopowner's chest. "You will hand it over!"

"Rookwood," Lyra breathed. That was the first of their suspects confirmed. Next to her, Mason muttered a spell and then pulled the camera out, having masked the flash and the noise, raising it to take the photo. It was pretty dark, the photograph would be grainy, but it would be enough to secure an arrest warrant – the Aurors didn't need much these days when they were so desperate to make arrests.

Another man stepped forwards and Lyra recognised the set of his jaw and his nose before he even removed his hood.

"Avery Senior," she breathed in Mason's ear.

He hadn't been on their list of suspects but it was still a name and a face, and they would take anything.

"I recognise her too," she added, nudging his camera around to the woman at the edge of the group, "That's Snyde's wife, I can't remember her name. Her husband won't be far away, he never lets her out of his sight."

Mason privately thought it was very useful having an Auror who knew all these names and faces instinctively through years of dinner parties with them, but he would never say it to Lyra in case she was offended at the insinuation of closeness to the Death Eaters. He kept snapping photos, taking as many as he could without leaving their cover behind the crates. The conversation was now solely threats against Mr Borgin and his shop, and the man seemed to realise that he would end up missing or dead if he continued to protest. Mason was fairly impressed he'd put up even this much of a fight, but the man disappeared into the grimy store, returning with a velvet scroll bag. He handed it over with a trembling hand and then wrapped his robes tightly around himself.

"What is that?" Lyra hissed. None of their information said anything about what it was the Death Eaters wanted.

Mason shook his head slowly. He didn't know.

"Now that had better be everything," Borgin said sharply, glancing around the circle of Death Eaters with a plainly terrified expression. "I have nothing more that your master wants."

"Not yet you don't," Avery grinned, baring his teeth slightly. "We shall let you know if he requires any more assistance."

"Of course, of course," Borgin murmured, nodding sharply. "I understand. You would be wise to advise him of what the scroll can do…"

"The Dark Lord knows and is not scared of your /ancient curses/," he sneered.

Borgin looked sceptical but said nothing else, bowing slightly.

"We should leave, there were too many people in the Leaky Cauldron and we've lingered here too long."

The group seemed to agree, and pulled hoods back up, fastened robes, Avery still watching the man carefully as Borgin retreated into the relative safety of his shop, the sound of the locks and bolts sliding shut seeming to echo down the cramped street.

Mason and Lyra instinctively slid back against the wall. Their job was done, they didn't need to engage with the Death Eaters and they needed to wait until they were gone before the pair could head back to the Leaky Cauldron themselves. Like before, Mason positioned himself between the cloaked figures passing them and Lyra; feeling her stiffen as Avery Senior moved past their hiding place, like the memory of his son was there too, Mason fumbled for her hand and gave it a sharp squeeze, which he felt her return. The contact was still heated, as if reminding them both of what they'd been doing previously, but the genuine concern and desire to comfort was obvious in the gesture and she appreciated it immensely.

They stayed silent and unmoving like that for several minutes until the hushed voices had long since faded and there was no sound except for the creaking of the shop signs overhead.

Mason ended their disillusionment spells, securing the camera in his pocket and turning to face her, dropping her hand quickly once they could see each other again; holding her hand when they weren't invisible felt far too intimate.

"You okay?" he smiled, standing up and straightening his back.

"More than," she promised, her cheeks flushing again. The time they'd spent hiding and watching had meant the transfigurations they'd done earlier had mostly worn off with the exception of their hair colour, the easiest thing to change with a spell and so the longest lasting, and she was forcibly reminded of everything that had happened.

Mason caught her eye and went pink too, turning purposefully to look up and down the alley. "I think we're safe to head back. I'll take the camera back to the Department early tomorrow and get the photographs developed, we've got a guy, Jon, who specialised in Muggle tech to do that," he explained, rambling to avoid having to discuss anything else. "I'll make sure you're back at yours first though."

"Thank you," she smiled. "I think for a first mission we did really well!"

"Moody will be very impressed," Mason agreed, cracking his knuckles and rolling out the last of the tightness in his shoulders. "Three confirmed, one pretty much guaranteed and a photograph of the last one that we should be able to enhance slightly and work it out. Then we'll get a team together to actually arrest them if we can. You should be proud, the plan worked beautifully."

Apart from the bit where she kissed him, though Mason couldn't say he hadn't liked it.

"Why thank you," Lyra grinned, tucking her still blonde hair behind her ears. "Do you reckon it's safe to head back?"

"Safer than standing in the middle of Knockturn Alley, yes," Mason chuckled, zipping up his jacket and picking a path back out from the boxes and heading for the exit, his wand still out just in case.

Lyra followed quietly, watching the back of his neck where the dirty blonde colour was creeping back in, trying not to think too hard about the feeling of him pressing her against the wall. She licked her lips and forced herself to focus on making as little sound as possible so no one, not just the Death Eaters, knew they were there. There were plenty of people who privately agreed with the Death Eaters even if they'd never join them, and Aurors had to be careful especially in a seedy street like this one – their authority wasn't as absolute as it had once been.

Once they were back, this time going through the brick gateway, they headed straight through the pub, not bothering to keep up the disguise. The Leaky Cauldron was safe enough and it had been a long night – they both just wanted to get home – but Mason still glanced around for any last signs of the group.

"I'll apparate back with you, just so Dorcas can't have a go at me for leaving you," Mason grinned, pausing once they were back on the Muggle street.

"She really would have a fit," Lyra agreed, laughing now the last of her fear was leaking away. Not that she had ever been /that/ scared: she had been right next to Mason the whole night and it was hard to feel overwhelmed with his presence nearby.

"I'll be a good mentor and drop you off," Mason teased, although the word mentor stuck in his throat – they'd been kissing less than two hours ago.

Lyra fluttered her eyelashes and pretended to swoon. "Take me home then."

He laughed and caught her arm before they both disapparated back to her flat.

Dorcas had evidently been waiting for the noise despite their instructions not to wait up, because the door was already open when Lyra and Mason made it up the stairs to the flat.

"Are you both okay?" Dorcas gushed, flinging her arms around them both.

"We're completely fine, Doe, promise! No scratches as agreed," Mason laughed, hugging her back. "I return your flatmate in one piece."

"How did it go?" Dorcas asked, glancing at Lyra.

"We got all but one person confirmed and the photos look promising, so I'd say a success," Lyra laughed.

Mason nodded. "Definitely. She's a natural!"

Lyra blushed and dumped her jacket on the sofa. "Thanks."

Dorcas winked at Mason and went to lock the door but he stopped her.

"I can't stay, I need to get some sleep or someone will tell me off in the morning," he smirked, glancing across at Lyra who just rolled her eyes. "I'll catch up with you soon," he promised, kissing the top of Dorcas' head.

"You'd better," she grinned, punching his shoulder jokingly. "See you soon."

Lyra felt his eyes burning into the back of her head but he grinned at Dorcas and then left quietly, leaving the two girls in the living room.

"So, tell me everything, I need to-"

"We kissed," Lyra blurted out, biting her lip as she looked across at Dorcas. "I kissed him."

"W-w… WHAT!"

Lyra laughed hysterically. "We were posing as a couple, and the Death Eaters came back round the corner so I kissed him to hide us and it worked, they just thought we really were a couple on a date, it was just a cover, but it was /incredible/ and now I'm pretty sure he hates me, I just grabbed him and did it and…"

"Oh. My. God," Dorcas breathed, face splitting into a massive smile. "Was it good? Did you enjoy it?"

Lyra flushed the darkest red Dorcas had ever seen her go. "I spent far too much of the mission thinking about it, if that answers your question."

"Oh my /God/ I'm so excited, did he say anything?!"

"Nothing! Nothing about it at all, he just said he was glad it worked to distract them from checking who we were!"

Dorcas cursed. "I hate that man, I really do."

"I /kissed/ him!"

"And you liked it! And I know for a fact he did, I knew there was something different about him when you guys came in!" Dorcas crowed.

Lyra buried her face in the sofa cushions and screamed slightly. "How am I supposed to go in tomorrow and sit next to him and say /nothing/?!"

"I don't know, honey, but we're going to make you look incredible."

"That's not an answer for everything!" Lyra huffed, rolling onto her back and watching her friend pace the room.

"It's /my/ answer for everything," Dorcas smirked.

Mason kicked his shoes off, dumped his jacket and continued to strip down on his way to his bedroom, leaving the clothes on the floor where he dropped them. Flopping face first onto the duvet, he grabbed the covers and let out a yell, muffed by the pillow. Despite the high stakes mission, despite the success of it, despite the fact that they had the evidence for four, potentially five arrests – an unprecedented amount – he couldn't stop thinking about /her/. Her lips, her hands on his chest, her little gasp of surprise when he'd turned them around (to protect her, only to protect her), her heartbeat spiking. He yelled again and then rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling, breathing heavily.

Fuck.