There are a few parts in here that I wasn't sure how I wanted to order them. I like what I settled on, but I can see how it might be a bit disorienting at first.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Lily was having a wonderful time. She felt a bit guilty, having left James with that reporter, but she knew he could handle it, and he had been talking about finally giving in and speaking to the press. Hopefully he'd already dealt with it and was just mingling. He'd find her; she had no doubt of that.
She was thoroughly enjoying being around her friends again. True, she'd seen some of them at her own party the previous month, but there were plenty of people who didn't fit on her and James's "close personal friends with top security clearance" list whom she hadn't seen for ages. Probably since her wedding, if she stopped to think about it. Catching up was all anyone wanted to do all across Britain, it seemed, and the lot of them were swept up in it.
She'd found Audrey first, of course, and the two of them started making the rounds to see whom they could run into. Audrey at one point made a comment about how Lily "shouldn't be on your feet for so long," at which Lily rolled her eyes and scoffed.
'Honestly, you're worse than James,' she said. 'I'm barely two months along. Anything in there is the size of a fava bean. Probably the shape of one, too.'
'All right, all right,' said Audrey, relenting. 'Has anyone said anything yet?'
'I haven't stayed in one place long enough for anyone to notice I'm not drinking,' said Lily.
'Well then let's go find a spot and sit down anyway!' said Audrey. 'If not for you, for me. I foolishly wore my least comfortable pair of shoes and my feet are killing me.'
'You didn't think to charm them?' Lily asked. Audrey responded with a look that said if she had to pull her wand out, she wouldn't be using it on her shoes.
'All right, sorry!' said Lily quickly. 'I think I saw some empty chairs in the next room. Come on.'
It was a smaller room at the back of the house. Its only real function was to serve as a meeting point for the rooms around it. There was an ornate yet antique handwoven rug on the floor, a large multi-paned window overlooking the rear garden, a few paintings on the walls, some stuffed armchairs, and a small armless settee situated under the window. There was also a small staircase against the wall leading up to the first floor, but it didn't look like it was regularly used.
Lily and Audrey claimed the settee, and it was from here that they held court. People she hadn't seen since before going into hiding, since her wedding, since finishing school, kept coming by to not only say hello, but also to thank her and tell her just how much it meant to them what she and James had done for everyone. It was a little embarrassing; James had really done most of the work, but when she tried to tell people that they waved her off and insisted on hugging her again. Eventually she just started graciously accepting their thanks and expressing how pleased she was to see them.
The first old friend to stop by was Stephanie Fawcett, a friend from her year who'd been in Ravenclaw and a fellow prefect. She hugged Lily tightly and waved brightly to Audrey, whom she saw at least somewhat regularly at work.
'It's so wonderful to see you!' Stephanie said, sitting in one of the armchairs. 'When I heard what happened...naturally I was frightened out of my wits for you, but it took me nearly a whole day to process what I was actually hearing. You and James...we owe you so much, Lily. Saying "thank you" just doesn't seem like enough, but thank you.'
'It was James who did all the heroics,' Lily told her.
'Same old Lily, modest to a fault,' said Stephanie, sharing a look with Audrey. 'I heard about what happened with Frank and Alice, too. You just can't seem to catch a break! But the rest of us are lucky to have you.'
This went on for a few more minutes, during which time a few more people joined them (and Lily had to accept thanks and downplay her role many more times), before falling into good old fashioned gossip.
'Did you hear about Max Decker and Heather Brown?' Stephanie asked. She would be interested in that; Max had been in her house and very popular.
'Did we hear about it?' Audrey repeated incredulously. 'We were there to witness it, weren't we, Lily?' They told her about Heather overdressing for their party, Max's plans to move abroad, and her blindsiding him and somehow (the two of them had not shared the details, leading to rampant speculation ever since) convincing him to stay in Britain.
By the time the story was over, their little room was full. People had pulled in chairs from elsewhere (or else just conjured their own), and somehow a whole table full of hors d'oeuvres had found its way in there. Sirius and Remus had just arrived, which made Lily anxious. There was a lot of drinking going on, so Sirius was sure to do what she'd planned for him to do – a perfect setting, with so many of her friends present – but she wanted James to be there for it.
As if thinking of him had somehow summoned him, James chose that moment to appear. He looked out of breath, but she knew that was just an affectation.
'Prongs!' Sirius greeted enthusiastically. 'Where the bloody hell have you been?'
'Waylaid,' said James simply, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.
'Were you able to sort things out with Spade?' Lily asked him before Sirius could seize control of the conversation.
'Spade?' Remus asked, his eyes sharpening. 'That reporter for the Prophet who's been following you around?'
'He hasn't been "following me around",' said James. 'He's been trying to interview me, and much as I might not like it, I can't say I wouldn't be doing the exact same thing if I were him.' He turned to Lily to answer her question. 'He's agreed to leave us alone tonight in exchange for a sit down interview later this week.'
'Are you okay with that?' she asked him.
'More than I thought I would be,' he answered. 'People do want to know and they do have a right, I suppose. And talking about it now that it's all over shouldn't be so bad, right?'
'Want any moral support?' Sirius asked. Lily smiled; they really did look after each other, in their own way.
'Well, he probably won't like it if we're all there for the interview,' said James, 'but if you want to sit somewhere else in the pub until it's over I won't talk you out of it.'
'James, come sit!' Audrey said, waving him over. There wasn't quite enough room on the settee for him, but rather than make Audrey get up, he conjured himself a little chair right next to them, happily greeting everyone he hadn't seen in months or years.
'What are we talking about?' he asked jauntily afterward, ever the gregarious one.
'What else? Heather and Max,' said Audrey.
'Are they here?' James asked.
'Nobody's seen them,' said Stephanie, 'so probably not, unless they've found a room to themselves somewhere.'
'Not outside the realm of possibility,' said Sirius, grinning wickedly.
'Do we know if they were planning to come at all?' asked Amy Cooper, a former Hufflepuff and one of the few other muggle-borns from their year who, unlike Lily, did not have a pureblood husband whose name offered her at least a modicum of protection. She had spent the last eight months secluded in the muggle world with her family and only just returned to wizarding society.
'I suppose I just assumed,' said Stephanie. 'Though now I think about it, it's not as if Alice and Frank were close with everyone in our year. I was surprised to get an invitation myself.'
'So was I,' said Amy, who alone among them had never been to any such function before. 'I mean, I knew Alice from Charms Club, but it's been so long and it's not like we were best friends or anything.'
'I reckon they just wanted to see as many people as they could,' said James. 'This is a perfect excuse for it. I know we'd have loved to have invited more people if we could have.'
'Plus a good number of people who used to go to these turned out to be Death Eaters, or at least sympathizers,' said Sirius darkly. 'Getting a few new faces into some of the upper circles sounds exactly like something Frank's mum would do.'
'Well that's cheerful,' said Audrey, the sarcasm dripping out of her.
'It's what I'm here for, McDowell,' quipped Sirius, winking. He raised his glass, full of what was probably firewhiskey, if Lily knew him. 'Cheers!'
Several people drank with him, and he did not fail to notice when Lily did not.
'Going light tonight, Lily?' he asked, only mildly teasing.
Lily couldn't keep the smile from taking over her face. Next to her, Audrey hissed in excitement and grasped her hand tightly.
'Actually, Sirius,' she said, drawing it out as long as possible. 'James and I had something we wanted to tell everyone tonight.'
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Midnight was approaching, and Fudge was beginning to regret his decision to volunteer for the overnight holiday shift. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; a way to ingratiate himself with both his superiors and his peers, building the foundational relationships that would ultimately propel him to the highest office. So simple.
He had neglected to consider that this would be the first New Year's Eve celebration free of the threat of You-Know-Who in eleven years, and that people would be behaving accordingly. There were so many parties and galas and other events taking place up and down the country that he had to be one of the few dozen wizards in all of Britain to not be attending one of them. So many opportunities for networking, putting his name and face out there, ingratiating himself with the real movers and shakers of magical society.
But it was too late for regrets now. There had been concerns of a large amount of unsanctioned magic going on – it wasn't uncommon over special occasions – but no major reports had come in. It appeared as though people were enjoying themselves too much with drinking and gossiping to bother with any illicit spellwork.
The most urgent incident he'd seen so far had been a swarm of lawn chairs roaming around near Sheffield. That could wait until the morning, surely, and thank heaven for that; it would be Perkins and Weasley in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. A waste of Ministry funds if ever there was one. He often wished they could do away with the office entirely, but then cases like this would have to be handled by people like him. He could do without the tedium.
He got another alert, but it was just the Trace Office again. Really, they had to find a way to deactivate it for pureblood children; it just went off all the time otherwise. What was the point of detecting magic in a house full of people who were allowed to use it? That would be one issue he would tackle as Minister. Not the first one, of course; there were more important things. But it would be on his agenda.
Quite aside from missing out on social opportunity, being the only person in this entire division of the Ministry in the middle of the night was more than a little eerie. It was a tad lonely too, but he'd long since learned to ignore that. Even so, he vowed to himself that this was the last New Year he'd ring in here alone.
Alert. The bloody Trace Office again! Of course the other problem with being the only one here was that he had to deal with absolutely everything from every section of the division. It mostly just involved filing things to be dealt with the next day; he didn't know why they couldn't just get a house elf or something to do it. It wasn't as if any actual decisions were being made.
He stood up to stretch his legs. It was a good idea to get up and move around every half our or so, he found. Otherwise he started having hip problems, and he considered himself far to young to have to deal with that just yet.
He strode out into the corridor for a change of scenery. The windows were currently enchanted to look like a bright summer day on a tropical beach, which he interpreted as some kind of cruel joke by magical maintenance. It was disorienting, knowing it was the middle of the night (in winter, to boot) and yet looking out to see blue skies and sunshine. Perhaps a stroll through the corridor hadn't been the best idea after all.
He returned to his office to see another alert waiting for him. He clenched both his teeth and his fists. If this was the damned Trace Office again…
Storming back over to his desk, he pulled up the notice angrily, ready to shout into his empty office, and felt the blood drain from his face. This one definitely couldn't wait until morning.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Peter shivered and watched quietly from underneath the front of the small tea shop. Normally his fur could keep him relatively warm, but he'd grown accustomed to being indoors. Though of course, the cold wasn't the only reason he was shivering.
This might well be the craziest plan he'd ever come up with. He never would have risked it, except he'd been backed into a corner. Bloody Sirius just couldn't leave well enough alone. He could have been happy hiding out at the Weasleys'. The boy, Percy, had made a little bed for him and everything. He could have been content just waiting and biding his time, but no. That just wouldn't do. Sirius always had to get to the bottom of everything. He could never let anything go. He just had to track him down a second time, too thick to have gotten the hint after being framed for murder the first time.
He caught himself grinding his teeth. He hated having to come up with ideas. Back in school, he was always more than happy to let the other three come up with the plans and then just follow the instructions they gave him. Everything was so much easier when someone was just telling you what to do. When he'd agreed to join up with the Dark Lord, part of the hope was that he wouldn't need to act on his own initiative. It was just so much work and it was just so hard.
Why did everything always have to be so hard? He just wanted a peaceful, comfortable life. He thought he might have had one, too, with his friends who'd always only been in it for a laugh. But then one day they suddenly started caring about things and pressuring him into helping bloody Dumbledore, and going out and making a difference. He didn't want to make a difference! He just wanted to enjoy his life and be left alone! And now, thanks to Sirius – and James, mustn't forget James, bringing down the Dark Lord like that and making it look like he, Peter, had set him up for it – no one would ever leave him alone ever again.
Three small pops alerted him to the arrival of a trio of ministry officials. Good. This was what he had been waiting for. Strictly speaking, he didn't need to stay to watch – doing so was a risk in itself – but he had to make sure they took the bait or he wouldn't be able to rest easy.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Frank was enjoying himself immensely. He and Alice hadn't really had the opportunity to attend any functions like this since they'd gotten married, and it was always something of a different affair than attending them while simply dating or even engaged. It was akin to that feeling of being a child finally allowed to eat with the adults at special occasions.
Midnight had come with spectacular fanfare, and Max Decker and Heather Brown had arrived fashionably late mere minutes afterward. They claimed it was because they didn't want to feel pressured into anything, which Frank took to mean they were uncomfortable kissing each other in front of everyone, or else not kissing and having everyone speculate on what that might mean.
Frank didn't know either of them well, but he was friends with Heather's brother Royce, and Royce's wife Violet was one of Alice's closest friends. He knew they were still young and figuring things out, and he wished them the best.
He was about to find Alice so the two of them could go and check on Neville – who was surely still asleep just like the last time they'd looked in on him – when Tristan Thorne walked up to him, looking serious.
'We've got a problem, Longbottom,' he said. Ice shot through Frank's veins, but his training kicked in and he was all business at once.
'What is it, sir?' he asked.
'Improper Use of Magic Office was investigating an incident down in Kent, just on the outskirts of Folkestone,' said Thorne. 'All sorts of commotion.'
'You wouldn't be telling me this if it was just New Year's revelers,' said Frank.
'You're a sharp one, Longbottom,' Thorne said. 'They called for us specifically shortly after they arrived.'
'Is it Death Eaters?'
'Keep your voice down, man!' said Thorne, looking around, though there wasn't anyone particularly close by and Frank hadn't been speaking very loudly.
'Sorry, sir,' he said.
'It's fine, just watch what you say in public,' said Thorne. 'It's only been two months and wounds are still raw for a lot of people.'
'Understood, sir.'
'Listen, I want to apologize first,' said Thorne, which was odd. The Head of the Auror Office didn't typically need to apologize to his subordinates. 'I know this is your party. I wouldn't send you except that I want you to take Black with you and you know him better than anyone else I have on hand.'
'Sirius, sir?' asked Frank, flabbergasted. Why would Thorne want him to take a trainee to a possibly active danger zone? Not that Sirius couldn't handle it of course, but that just wasn't auror protocol.
'Yes,' said Thorne grimly. 'They think it might have been Pettigrew.'
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Heather was on top of the world. The last month had been like something out of a dream. Max had been so adorably awkward around her that first night – he still was, truth be told – but they had spent the entire party together, talking, and reminiscing, and she took every opportunity to touch him, whether it was casually brushing against him to allow other people to move by, or gently putting her hand on his arm to get his attention, or nudging him with her hip when he said something funny, or just sitting a bit closer to him than was necessary on the sofa.
She had asked him the next day – as delicately as she could, fearing what he might say – whether he might consider postponing his departure by a few weeks (he'd been planning to leave at the end of November). He said he'd think about it, which did nothing except tie her stomach in knots. Was he really considering it or was he just saying that to put her off?
Over the next several days, she had not allowed him any time to forget about her. If she wasn't working, she went to see him, dressed and made up as nicely as she could make herself without wearing a sign round her neck reading, 'I want you to stay for me.'
Mostly they just talked, or went out to eat, or sometimes she even helped him in getting his affairs in order. That part was painful, but if he did end up going, she knew she'd regret not spending the time with him.
After a week, he told her that maybe he could put off his departure until after Christmas. The people he was planning to work for were flexible, he said, and it wouldn't matter much to them.
This put Heather over the moon. Not merely because he would be around longer, but because she knew he was doing it because she'd asked him to, which meant that he wanted to spend time with her. That had to be what it meant.
Christmas had been the turning point. He had no family of his own to spend it with – one of the main reasons he'd wanted to leave the country in the first place – so she invited him to spend it with hers. He had made the standard protests about how he "wouldn't want to intrude," but with some carefully applied hand holding, eye gazing, and lip biting, she was able to convince him to come along. The victory she felt once he agreed had her jumping and giggling in her nightdress that night like a little girl, and she couldn't stop herself from writing to tell Joana, Audrey, and Lily about it. They later accused her of "gushing", which was a characterization she was perfectly fine with.
He came to her parents' house on Christmas morning, as he'd promised, bringing gifts and a bottle of mead. He joked with her parents and her younger sister. He sat with her on the sofa while they opened presents and didn't complain when she made him wear a hideous Christmas jumper. He stayed all day, long enough for Royce and Violet to come by with Lavender. She and Max played with her niece together. It was wonderful. And when she saw him out that evening, she'd thought for a fleeting moment that he was going to kiss her, but he ended up doing something even better.
Taking up her hands in his, and unable to quite meet her in the eye, he stammered, quite awkwardly, 'I was thinking, you know, about...about South Africa. I was supposed to leave later this week, remember? And I...well, I was just...I was just thinking, maybe I don't have to, right? Go so soon, I mean. I talked to the people I'm going to work with, and I...I told them something's come up and...and could I maybe wait and come down next quarter? They said I could, and that...that if I've changed my mind it's all right but I'll have to let them know before the end of February. At the latest, they said. I dunno, I feel kind of guilty about it, but...but there's...there's something happening here, isn't there?'
Upon posing this question he finally looked her in the eye. She nodded, terrified that if she said anything he would stop talking.
'Yeah, that's...that's what I thought,' he went on. 'And I mean, I don't know if it's something you want, but...but I just wouldn't feel right leaving without...without seeing where it goes, you know? And I was wondering...um...if you wanted to, that is...would you want to go to the Longbottoms' New Year's do together?'
She'd thought her smile was going to crack her face open. So far, any time they had done things together had been because she took the initiative. This time he was asking her to spend time with him. And he thought she might not want to? And a New Year's party, of all things?
She assured him that yes, she would very, very much like to do that. It wasn't always wise to let on to a boy just how keen you were, but with him it was simply unavoidable. Her happiness was so powerful (her cheek muscles were starting to hurt) that she couldn't have hidden it even if she'd wanted to, and she didn't want to, because she needed him to know. She wanted more than anything in the world for him to stay in England, and if he needed a reason to do that then she planned on giving him one.
They spent most of the week between Christmas and New Year's in each other's company too. Sometimes they went shopping (his flat was bare of most food and essentials since he hadn't planned on needing any), sometimes they went to eat (even in a muggle restaurant once!) and sometimes they just walked together, talking about the most trivial things.
He came to her tiny little flat on New Year's Eve at eight o'clock, looking extremely handsome in dress robes that must have been new; she hadn't seen them when they were going through his things at his place.
They were all ready to go, but naturally got to talking first and somehow the topic of kissing at midnight came up. She'd imagined it many times, of course. Dreamed about it a few times, and daydreamed too. Ever since he'd asked her a week before it had been the single most dominant thought in her mind. But it had still been one of those things you dream about, not actually expecting it to happen. Now the reality was fast approaching and her heart hammered her nervousness for all the world to hear.
Their closest friends already knew they were...something. "Together" wasn't the right word because they weren't yet. Not officially. But something about being at a society party, kissing Max in front of everyone…
He evidently shared her anxiety, which she chose to interpret as adorable, and they decided to wait until after midnight to go. It wasn't exactly what was expected for an event like this, but her priorities were set.
They went for a walk. There were a few places open in muggle London, so they bought themselves something hot to drink and sat and talked until the staff made it clear they wanted them to leave. They apparated to a park somewhere that was mostly empty, not surprising considering the time and date. They stargazed for a bit, which brought back warm memories, then went back to her flat when it started to get too cold. The clock on her wall showed it was nearly midnight. How could that be? It felt like he'd only just arrived.
'Listen, Heather,' he said, in that quiet, determined voice he used when he was trying to be serious about something. He'd taken her hands again. How her heart was not breaking a hole through her rib cage she did not know.
'They say that the person you're with at the turn of the New Year determines what kind of luck you'll have that year,' he went on.
'Uh-huh,' she murmured. It was a wonder she was able to say anything at all. Was this going where she thought it was going?
'I guess what I'm trying to say is, I could use some good luck for a change. If I...that is, if I told the folks in South Africa that I've changed my mind, would you...I mean, do you think we could see where this goes?'
'Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?' she asked. It sounded pretty clear, but she needed to hear him say the exact words.
'Yes,' he said. 'Yes, I am.'
She beamed at him. He really was terrible for her cheek muscles.
'Okay then,' she whispered. 'Yes, I'd like that very much.'
According to her clock, they were about thirty-five seconds early, but she genuinely didn't care at all.
They had gone to the party straight after that. Well, not straight after. But as soon as they managed to pull themselves together. It was truly wonderful to see everyone again, even though she didn't think it was possible to be in a better mood than she currently was. She and Max sought out their friends at once (after saying hello to Frank and thanking him for inviting them, of course). They came across Alice, who directed them to a room at the back of the house that seemed jam packed with people from their year at school or else one year above or below. Whatever they were all talking about certainly looked exciting. She couldn't wait to share the news with all of them. Judging by the way Max squeezed her hand and smiled at her, he couldn't either.
'Decker! Brown! You made it!' a loud voice barked at them when they were still only halfway across the large room adjacent to where everyone was gathered. Trust Sirius Black to be the first one to spot them.
The crowd turned almost as one to greet them. There were several people there she'd seen at James and Lily's party, but even more that she had not. It was almost like a school reunion. They were greeted enthusiastically, and people did not fail to notice their joined hands.
'Congratulations!' Lily squealed, enveloping her in a hug. Audrey was not far behind. It made her wish Joana were there; she loved Lily and Audrey very much, but she and Joana had always been just a little bit closer.
'Finally took the plunge, did you?' she could hear Lucas Shields asking Max. That caught her attention. Had this been something Max had been wanting to do for a while? He'd talked about it with his best mate? If she'd thought before that she couldn't be in a better mood, she'd definitely been mistaken.
'Does this mean you'll be sticking around, then?' Lucas went on.
'For now, it does, yeah,' said Max. All his mates responded very positively to this, for which she was glad. She wanted to be a reason for Max to be happy in Britain, but she'd never want to be the only reason. Seeing how much the other lads wanted him around warmed her heart immensely, and she hoped it did the same for him, though as a bloke he was unlikely to tell her if it did.
'It's just good news all around,' said Sirius, handing Max a drink and toasting him.
'What do you mean?' Max asked.
'Lily, tell them your news,' said Stephanie Fawcett eagerly.
'It can wait,' said Lily calmly. 'Let them have their moment.'
That wouldn't do.
'What?' Heather gasped. 'Lily, no! What's your news? If it's good I want to know!'
'Yeah, don't hold back on our account,' said Max, being forced to take another drink by Lucas and James.
'Oh, all right,' said Lily, though her smile showed she clearly wasn't put out. 'James and I...we're having another baby.'
There was a second or two while Heather processed this, then she leapt back onto her friend to hug her again.
'But that's amazing!' she said, careful not to squeeze too hard. The woman was pregnant, after all. 'I'm so happy for you! When did you find out?'
'Just a few weeks ago,' Lily said. 'We er, weren't as careful as we should have been after the whole business with You...with Voldemort.'
Heather shuddered, and she wasn't the only one. Her friend had always been a little stubborn about saying the name, though she typically refrained from doing so in company because she knew it upset people. Heather supposed now that he was gone, Lily was feeling a little more stubborn about it. Heather resigned herself to the fact that she was probably just going to have to put up with it, though she wasn't sure she'd ever truly get used to it.
'That's understandable,' said Max jovially. James and his friends were very cavalier about saying the name too, and less inclined to take other people's discomfort into account, so she supposed Max had had more time to grow accustomed to hearing it. 'So not very far along then, eh? Have you decided if you want to learn the sex beforehand?'
'We did talk about it,' said James. 'We were thinking maybe we would, just to make coming up with names a bit easier.'
'Plus, imagine coming up with two whole sets of names, and not being able to use one of them at all,' said Sirius. 'It might make them want to have another one just to make the work worthwhile, and I don't think they're ready for that.'
'Sod off, Black,' said Lily, but she was laughing.
The banter was broken up then when Frank Longbottom came over to join them, and his expression looked the farthest thing from festive.
'How sober are you, Sirius?' he asked seriously.
'Not at all, why?' replied Sirius, either failing to pick up on Frank's mood or choosing to ignore it. Either was equally possible, she knew.
'Well, you'd better get that way quick; we need to go,' said Frank.
'Go? What? What are you talking about?' Sirius asked, starting to realize Frank wasn't joking around. For that matter, some of the others were too.
'What's wrong, Frank?' asked Remus Lupin anxiously.
'Nothing's wrong,' said Frank. 'Not per se. There's been an incident down in Kent; Thorne wants me to look into it, and I'm to take Sirius.'
'Why's he dragging you away from your own party and having you take a trainee with you?' James asked, confused. 'Surely he has other people. People who're on duty tonight.'
'They're going, too,' said Frank. This definitely did not make the lead ball forming in Heather's stomach any lighter. 'He wants me to take Black because it's possible they've got a rat problem down there.'
This wiped any semblance of humor or confusion off the boys' faces.
'Let's go,' said Sirius at once. 'Can anyone here do a sobering charm?'
'I can,' said Lily to no one's surprise. 'But you'll be drowsy after half an hour.'
'No good; I might need longer than that,' said Sirius.
'I can do one,' said Max. 'I expect it's not quite as good as Lily's, but you won't get sleepy. You will have a monster of a headache tomorrow though. Worse than you normally would, I mean.'
'It'll have to do,' said Sirius. He turned toward Max and closed his eyes tight, as if he were being hit with something instead of just having a charm cast on him.
Max pulled out his wand and cast the charm. Sirius's eyes cleared up at once, and he shuddered as if he'd been dunked in cold water.
'Brr, I hate those,' he said. 'All right Frank, lead the way.'
'I'll head home and start making you a hangover potion, Sirius,' said Lily. She looked at Max. 'Will that help?'
'It should, yeah,' he said. 'Couldn't hurt, anyway.'
'Thanks,' said Sirius, and he and Frank hurried away.
'"A rat problem," he said,' Lucas repeated darkly. 'Does that mean what I think it means?'
'It sounds like Pete, yeah,' said James just as solemnly, his face contorted into one of anger and hurt. Heather's heart went out to him.
'I need to get going if I'm going to make that potion,' said Lily, getting up. 'James, you stay here with your mates; I don't want you stewing over this.'
'Lily...' James began, but she silenced him with a look.
'You know I'm right, James,' she said firmly. 'I don't need help with the potion and there's nothing else you can do right now. Stay here and keep your mind off it if you can. You know Frank and Sirius will let you know what's going on as soon as they're able.'
'I hate it when you make sense,' said James.
'You must be grumpy all the time, then,' said Lily. 'I'll see you soon. I love you.' She pecked him on the cheek and picked up her bag.
'I'm going with you,' said Audrey, getting up as well. She beat Heather to it by a matter of seconds.
'Me too,' she said. Lily spun to face her.
'Oh, Heather, no!' she said. 'You and Max, you should stay and have fun! It's your first party together!'
'Oh, tosh,' said Heather, waving her off. 'As if I could enjoy myself if I were worrying about you. Max will be fine; he needs to keep James from brooding, remember?'
'You can count on us, Lily,' said Max, grinning broadly and throwing his arms over the shoulders of Lucas and Remus. Not for a second did he look the slightest bit put out about her leaving him there. Her heart swelled with fondness for him all over again.
'There, you see?' said Heather. 'All settled. If we hurry up and make this potion we might even be able to come back before the party's over. And it's not like this is the last one we'll get to go together.'
'No, it definitely is not,' said Max, meeting her eye. She was going to have to do something about her cheek muscles. Maybe some kind of relaxing balm?
'All right, I won't argue,' said Lily. 'Let's go, then.' The three of them said goodbye to everyone quickly and strode out of the manor. Heather was sure Audrey was thinking the same thing she was: they'd been unable to be there for Lily so many times during the last years of the war; they weren't going to shirk their duty now that they could be there, no matter how small the crisis was.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Frank and Sirius appeared within sight of the coastline just outside Folkestone. It was dark and misty and they could hear the waves crashing against the shore. They walked toward a little market square just outside the town proper. Several ministry officials were already there waiting for them, their robes and cloaks marking them for what they were to anyone who knew what they were looking at.
Two of the figures started walking toward them, their wands held out. They couldn't have looked more different: one tall and well built, the other short and petite, but both walked with a confident, capable stride.
'That you, Longbottom?' called a familiar voice. That would be the shorter one, Sage, who was probably the auror in charge.
'Aye,' said Frank. 'And I've brought us someone to help.'
'Sirius?' said the second figure, a strong, deep voice. Shacklebolt, then. That made sense. On a night like tonight, the ones with least seniority would be the ones roped into helping. Though maybe he was here for the same reason Frank was: that he knew Sirius and Peter.
'How are you, Kingsley?' Sirius asked. They were close enough now that they could make out the other two aurors' faces in the moonlight, faint though it was.
'Looking forward to you getting all the bum shifts as soon as you qualify,' said Shacklebolt.
'All right, that's enough,' said Sage, though she still sounded in good humor. 'We've got us a right mess here, lads. Improper Use of Magic Office got an alert on some really weird stuff going on. Caterwauling charm, dancing dustbins, even a conjured suit of armor walking down the street, if you can believe it. Scared the local muggles out of their wits; there's a whole team of obliviators trying to settle them down now, and they weren't happy about having to come in and work on New Years Eve either, let me tell you.'
Frank and Sirius looked at each other; Frank could see his own confusion reflected in the younger wizard's eyes. What on Earth had Pettigrew been doing?
'They sent MLES too, to try and apprehend whoever was responsible – they're still skulking about somewhere, looking for any extra clues – and we've got Muggle Intermediary agents here interviewing witnesses before they're obliviated; it's a mess.'
'Why did they call us in?' Frank asked. 'Thorne said they thought it might be Pettigrew? Where did that come from?'
'Not all of the witnesses were muggles,' said Shacklebolt. 'There's a wizard who lives here, too. The current theory is that it was him who cast all those spells. Not tonight, but in advance as security.'
'He's someone we're familiar with,' said Sage. 'Deals in low level illicit objects and unsanctioned portkeys, mostly.'
'Portkeys?' said Sirius, his whole head jerking toward Sage.
'You're getting ahead of me, Black,' she said. 'Good on you. Yes, that's what this was all about. According to Bulger, anyway. He's the black market fellow. Says a man fitting Pettigrew's description came in demanding a portkey to the continent. Wouldn't take no for an answer. Well, Bulger has no love for the law, but he's heard of Pettigrew's reputation, same as anyone else. He was ready to call for help right then and there but apparently Pettigrew threatened him. Didn't say how, exactly. But he also promised that if Bulger gave him the portkey, he'd be gone and Bulger'd never have to see him again. He scarpered just before the Improper Use of Magic people started showing up. He could be anywhere by now.'
Sirius sword loudly. Sage called him down for it, but not too harshly. She probably felt like swearing herself. Frank certainly did.
'There's no sense standing around here talking about it,' Frank said. 'Thorne wanted be to bring Sirius to see if he could catch a whiff of our little rat friend. Where's this Bulger's place?'
'It's over this way,' said Sage, waving them along back into the square. Witches and wizards were swarming all over the place, and a cluster of muggles who had yet to be interviewed and obliviated where huddled around looking terrified near a fountain, being spoken to soothingly by a few wizards in cloaks that were cut in such a way that they could have passed for muggle overcoats as long as one didn't look too closely. That was the idea, anyway. He had no idea what a muggle would or would not accept as normal for an overcoat; he'd have to ask Lily or someone one day just how effective those uniforms were.
'Do your thing here, Black,' said Sage over her shoulder as she let them. 'No sense traumatizing these poor muggles any more than they already are.'
'This is my first time seeing it,' said Shacklebolt with interest as Sirius's form was replaced with that of a massive black dog loping along beside them.
'Mine too,' said Frank. 'I dunno, Sirius. You look a bit too much like a Grim for my taste. If I saw you coming at me on a night like tonight and didn't know it was you...'
Sirius barked. It sounded unsettlingly similar to his real laugh when he was in human form.
'Here's our man over this way,' said Sage. She led them to a ramshackle little shop at the end of an alley. Frank didn't have to check to know it had muggle repelling charms cast on it; there was no way it would go unnoticed by the locals without them. Outside, a stumpy little man with a bald head but with stringy brown hair starting just above his ears and running past his shoulders was being questioned by to MLES officers. He'd be getting a fine at the very least, but depending on how much useful information they got from him, he might not have to face any more than that.
Sirius barked again, and this time there was no humor in it. It was followed by a growl, and he was staring at the ground in front of the dingy little shop.
The bald man jumped at Sirius's bark, and looked round. His face went white at the sight of them; perhaps he thought Sirius too strongly resembled a Grim as well. The MLES officers called his attention back to them, however, and Sirius was already trotting off across the square, apparently expecting the rest of them to follow him. They did.
The big black dog that was Sirius came to a stop in front of a little tea shop across the square from Bulger's place. It sniffed around for a long time, to the point where Frank began to wonder if he thought Pettigrew might still be in there, but then it barked once more and bounded away again, toward the outskirts of town.
They followed a path toward the coast which wasn't very far from the one he and Sirius had walked when they arrived. They were within earshot of the waves again when Sirius finally reverted to human form.
'It stops here,' Sirius said immediately and without preamble. He changed back to human and then the trail just stops. He must have used the portkey.' He clenched his teeth and his fists. 'He was under that tea shop for a while. If he ran off right as the ministry started to arrive, he must have been there watching when they showed up! We might have bloody walked right past him when we got here!'
He was shouting now, and kicking at nothing.
'Calm down, Black,' said Sage. 'We've confirmed what we suspected. And we know where to look next. Let's go back to Bulger and see what he's told MLES about that portkey.'
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
Silent as the grave, Peter watched from his upwind vantage point as Sirius threw a tantrum right at the spot where he'd vanished from not very long ago. Pity his old friend's nose couldn't smell the difference between portkey travel and apparition. It would never occur to them to think he'd go to all that trouble to get an illicit portkey out of the country and not use it. How typical. Always underestimating him. Always looking down on him. Well, he'd have the last laugh this time, even if he did have to bide his time to get it. He'd at least accomplished his goal for the night; Sirius and the aurors were now convinced he'd fled to the continent. He could only imagine their frustration when they weren't able to pick up his trail over there. He grinned spitefully as he turned on his heel and disapparated. That ought to get them off his back for a while.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
I seriously want to write a whole separate story about Max and Heather now, though I know perfectly well nobody's going to read a story about two random OCs, lol.
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review letting me know your thoughts.