Glasgow
"Hey," Claudia mumbled, as she walked through the door of the flat. "I need to talk to you." There was no point skirting around it.
"What have you done?" Sirius barely looked up from whatever it was he was reading.
"I need to go away to Glasgow for a few days," Claudia began. "Nothing too dangerous, just to track Mulciber."
"Nothing dangerous?" He jumped up from the sofa. "You're tracking a murderer!"
"It's my job!" Claudia snapped but then took a deep breath. Getting angry was not going to help. "Besides, all I'm supposed to do is to find him and then call for reinforcement."
"I'm coming with you."
"You can't, I asked," she whispered. "Taking an Order member would jeopardise the case if this ever got to trial."
"It didn't matter in Manchester."
"This is a formal investigation. Sirius, please be reasonable."
"Reasonable?" he barked. "Is it unreasonable that I don't want you to die?"
"What do you want me to do? Quit?"
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "Of course not." He paused. "I just can't stand the thought something could happen to you."
Claudia walked over to him and hugged him. "We're all in danger all the time. The only way out of this is to end the war."
"I know you have to go…" Sirius sighed. "But please take the notebook with you, I don't care about the risks. And if I don't hear from you every couple hours, I'm coming to find you."
"I don't threaten you with this kind of crap when you go on a mission," Claudia grumbled.
Sirius eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth.
"Alright, alright…" she interrupted him again. "I'll write to you all the time." She placed her head on his chest and mumbled. "I'm exhausted… And starving." It was four o'clock and she did not have anything to eat since breakfast.
"More exhausted or more hungry?" Sirius said softly, with a hint of a smile.
Claudia hummed for a moment. "More exhausted."
"Let's go to sleep for a bit and then we can make some dinner," Sirius mumbled.
They crashed into bed, cuddled under their thick duvet and were asleep in minutes.
When Claudia woke up, it was getting dark. She glanced at the alarm. Six o'clock? It should've been dark for ages now.
Sirius stirred too. "How long did we sleep for?"
Claudia looked around again. "Honestly, I have no idea whether it's Saturday evening or Sunday morning."
It was Sunday morning. Claudia took a shower and packed, while Sirius made some breakfast, which they ate almost in complete silence.
"How are you getting there?" Sirius asked.
"Floo to the big wizarding pub in Glasgow and muggle transport from there."
"Do you have muggle money?"
"The Ministry is very generous when it comes to expenses, in any currency."
"Be careful, okay?" he mumbled finally as he pulled Claudia into a tight hug. They were standing by the front door, all ready to go.
"I will," she replied. "And I'm sure I'll be home soon, I promise."
But the moment Claudia arrived in Corsock Street, she knew that was a promise she might not be able to keep. Number ninety-one was boarded up and the window and door frames were all scorched. She sighed. Either Mulciber set his house on fire, or someone was after him.
For a moment, she stood rooted in the middle of the street, wondering what to do next. Until-
"Yer no from round 'ere!" someone shouted in a thick Scottish accent, interrupting her train of thought.
Claudia turned like a weather wane caught in a sudden gust of wind. She saw a short, dark woman scowling at her through thick spectacles. "No," she said, maintaining a firm grip on the wand that was concealed in the pocket of her coat. "I'm looking for a friend, who used to live here."
"Ye English?"
"Is that a problem?" Claudia asked, with a hint of a smirk.
"No for me, my dear," the woman replied. "But I wouldn't go around 'ere broadcasting it… Anyway, I cannae help finding yer friend," the woman said. "Used to be a lodging house. New tenants in and out every week."
Claudia's heart sank. This was quite possibly the worst lead she ever got. "Who ran it?"
"Auld Fenn Campbell," the woman replied. "But she's in th' hospital right now. Almost burned tae death in that fire."
"Which hospital?" Claudia asked, perhaps a little too eagerly.
"They won't let ye in, dear. We were all turned away, we are no family. Auld Fenn didn't have any. Well, there was 'er daughter Glenda but she hadn't visited fur years."
"Which hospital?" Claudia asked more sternly.
"Glasgow Royal Infirmary."
Claudia did not even thank the woman and run down the road towards where she saw the bus stop earlier. As she stood there, she wondered how she could get access to that place since they were only letting in family. She could pretend to be Fenn's daughter, but would the hospital not need proof?
These were the moments Claudia regretted not having Lily's or Remus' upbringing. They would know what kind of documents a muggle would have, or what excuse was plausible for not having them. Or if she got a driving licence like Sirius, she could alter it in this Glenda's name. Or a passport…
Then, it struck her. She did have a passport. The one she got so that she could go to Italy. Maybe, just maybe, she forgot to take it out of her bag before going to Scotland.
She dropped her bag to the floor and manically started to look for it. And there it was, hiding in the front pocket.
Now, for the alteration... She closed her eyes to think. They did not cover it in auror training yet, but maybe McGonagall did in Transfiguration… If only she could remember. Then, she recalled something Sirius mentioned years ago, when forging the reference about Slytherin's artefact in the necromancy book. There was a magical way to forge documents, and he knew how to do it.
"Do you remember when you mentioned magical forging. How do you change a text with a spell?" she wrote into her two-way notebook.
Within minutes Sirius replied.
"Interpono. The wand movement is just a straight flick over the passage you want to falsify."
"Lifesaver."
"Take it your trip is going well…"
Claudia chuckled, then looked around to make sure no one was watching her. She reached for her wand and pointed at the passport.
"Interpono." Her own name had dissolved, and 'Glenda Campbell' appeared on the page.
Within minutes, delighted and armed with her altered passport, Claudia was on a bus heading in the direction of the Royal Glasgow Infirmary.
"I'm here to see Fenn-" she asked the receptionist in the hospital.
"Visiting 'ours are over," the receptionist barked even before Claudia managed to finish the sentence.
"But-"
"Come back tomorrow."
Claudia scowled and for a moment contemplated using the Confundus Charm to get past this obstacle. But she thought better of it. She was not going to find Mulciber today. And the risk of breaking the Statute of Secrecy in the middle of a busy hospital was too high. She needed to find a place to stay.
Claudia took another short bus ride to the city centre to look for a muggle hotel that would have a free room. She knew Moody would have suggested pitching up an invisible tent in the middle of a park, or sleeping rough, but Claudia knew she had a much better chance blending in with the muggles. The hotel she managed to find was not especially nice, but it would have to do.
She got few hours sleep and the following morning, was back at the hospital. "I'm here to see Fenn Campbell," she said to the same receptionist who turned her away last night.
"Are ye family?"
Without a word, Claudia took the passport from her pocket and held it in front of the receptionist's eyes.
"Very well," the receptionist said and looked through a thick book on her desk that looked like it had all the patients' names. "Up the stairs, turn right into recovery, room seven-three-two."
Claudia gave the receptionist a fleeting smile and run up the stairs.
Once in recovery, she found a nurse, explained she was here to see her mother, and within minutes found herself standing above Fenn's bed. The nurse had left them alone.
"Who are ye?" Fenn asked in a heavy Glaswegian accent.
"I'm looking for one of your lodgers. Young man, dark hair, dresses funny."
"I know exactly wha ye mean."
"And?"
"Wha do ye want with 'im?"
"Would you believe me if I told you I was with the police?"
Fenn looked Claudia up and down, and smirked. "No. Polis don't look like ya."
"Fine, he's my old boyfriend and he owns me money."
"Men are bastards," Fenn growled. "My first 'usband was just like that- Bruce was 'is name."
"That's very interesting-"
"We married at eighteen-"
"This lodger of yours. Where can I find him?" Claudia interrupted and spoke through gritted teeth. She was trying to be pleasant, but it was getting harder and harder every second. She had to get out of there before the nurse came in and told Fenn how nice it was that her daughter was finally visiting. She could not afford to have her cover blown.
"Try the pawn shop 'e used to work in. Perkins' at Westmuir Street. In Parkhead."
"Thank you," Claudia smiled. "And get well soon."
"Thank you, dear… The doctors say my leg is no-"
"I'm sorry. I really need to go," Claudia mumbled.
Claudia run out of the hospital as fast as she could. She took the first bus back to Parkhead, asked around where to find Westmuir Street and then walked up and down until she found Perkins'. It was a horribly looking shop, with windows half-boarded up, dirty curtains on the inside, and graffiti all over the front door.
Claudia glanced at the shop window and saw some dirty and cheap-looking jewellery. She took a deep breath and opened the door. She knew from training that she ought to have watched the place for a few hours before barging in, but she did not have the time.
"Wha do ye want?" an old man, who looked like he could use a bath and a fresh shirt, barked.
"I saw this necklace in the window," she casually pointed behind her. "How much?" She was gripping her wand with her other hand, hidden in the coat pocket.
"Ten quid."
"I'll take it," Claudia said and watched the man shuffle from behind the counter and take slow steps towards the window. He was walking with a distinct limp. "Do you get any help around the shop?" she asked as innocently as she could.
"Sometimes, a young-" he stopped abruptly. "If yer looking for a job, I don't need yer kind round here. Bloody English…"
"Sure you don't," Claudia smirked and placed a ten pound note on the counter. In return, the shop owner gave her a paper back with the gold necklace. "Goodbye then," she said as she placed it inside her coat pocket.
Even before she closed the shop door behind her, she could hear that the owner started dialling one of those muggle telephone things. Claudia shut the door but did not leave. She pressed her ear against the door and mumbled a spell to amplify the sounds coming from the inside.
"Ye were right," he said. "The polis might be after ya. Lay low for few days and come back Thursday."
Claudia shut her eyes so firmly it nearly hurt. Thursday was when their flight was leaving for Italy. She should have waited. She should have been more patient. But she was not and now the shop owner was spooked. It must have been Mulciber on the other side of that phone. But instead, she would have to keep this damn place under surveillance. Slowly, she walked back to her hotel, trying very hard not to burst into tears.
She sat down on the bed, took out her two-way notebook, and picked up a quill.
"How are you doing?"
She waited for half an hour with bated breath until Sirius finally replied.
"I'm alright. I'm not sure I should be telling you this, but Alice's mum had a breakdown. She's in St Mungo's. Gideon's treating her, but she's in a bad way."
Poor Alice, Claudia thought. First her dad died, now this. If only there was something she could do to help… She sighed. She had to catch Mulciber, if nothing else just so she could get a spot on the Geneva investigation to find out who was responsible for Mr Adler's death. Although, it would take a lot to convince her it was not her father.
"Send my love to Alice please," she scribbled and wiped her eyes. Holding the tears in was no longer possible…
Then, she hesitated for a long time.
"Sirius. I don't know how to say this. But I can't come back home any time soon. Mulciber is only going to re-emerge on Thursday. I feel terrible but we might need to go to Italy some other time. I'm sorry."
There was no response. Claudia stared at the notebook for good fifteen minutes, and nothing happened.
In an attempt to stop herself from crying again, she walked over to the sink to get a glass of water, but it slipped between her fingers and smashed on the floor. Claudia dropped to the ground and leaned against the wall, suddenly acutely aware she was failing everyone that mattered to her. She couldn't even manage to get her own drink… That's how useless she was these days.
She was half-tempted to abandon Glasgow and go home. To get on that flight to Italy and never come back. But the thought that it was her father who may have killed Mr Adler, that Mulciber almost murdered Ted… These thoughts brought her back to the reality of this chilly Glasgow hotel room. She could not leave her post and let all these murderers get away with it. No matter how tempting the thought was.
Claudia crawled across the floor to find her notebook again.
"Please say something…"
The notebook was empty for a couple more minutes before a few words appeared.
"What can I say? I'm going to bed. Let's talk tomorrow."
Claudia shut her eyes again. She failed Sirius. She failed Alice. But she was not going to fail this mission. She had no choice but to catch that bastard.
She woke up at five o'clock in the morning, after few miserable and cold hours in the uncomfortable bed. First, she checked whether she got a message from Sirius, but there was nothing. Then, she showered and went back to Westmuir Street. She had a breakfast in a café and browsed some shops, all the while keeping a clear sight of Perkins' door to see if Mulciber made a surprise appearance. But he did not.
Mid-morning, she spotted a noticeboard in one of the shop windows, with an advertisement for a studio to rent. It was right opposite Perkins' shop. It would have made an amazing vantage point, so she went to meet the landlord first thing. She could not shake off the feeling that he reminded her of Filch, which could not have been good news. He did not even want a contract, just rent in cash for the first two weeks. The flat was tiny, filthy, with a barely functioning bathroom. But the location was perfect. Claudia handed over the money, got a key and then went to get her things from the hotel. Once she was back, she put every single protective charm she knew on that door and sat by the window.
"I got lucky this morning." She started writing in her notebook. She did not know what else to say, but she desperately wanted to say something, however mundane. "Managed to rent a flat opposite the shop where Mulciber is working."
She waited anxiously, but finally three words appeared on the page.
"Is it safe?"
"It's rented from muggles. I can easily take them."
Sirius did not reply, and Claudia spent the rest of the morning hiding behind the curtains and watching the shop. There were a few people coming in and out, so she went out and bought a polaroid camera to take pictures of all of them, and a pen to write a date and time she saw them.
But Thursday was still a long way away, and she was already bored out of her mind. She found a couple of books on the otherwise empty bookshelf, and picked up the first one, anything to kill time.
'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' by John le Carré.
"What a weird name for a book," she mumbled but opened it on the first page.
It was a story about a spy and a mole. It was riveting. She only managed to put the book down to go to the bathroom, go buy herself a sandwich from the café, and to update Sirius and her colleagues that she was still alive. Although, she did not get anything meaningful back from either of them. At two in the morning, her eyes were finally too tired to keep reading, she unrolled her sleeping bag, checked her protective charms and fell asleep.
She was in a black hallway, walking, but she had a sense that something or someone were following her and broke into a run. Running as fast as she could, she turned left, then right, then left again. And then, illuminated by a beam of bright light, she saw Sirius body. She glanced at her tattoo. The Sirius star was gone. "No!"
Claudia jerked awake. She was sitting in her sleeping bag, covered in sweat. Her hand shaking, she found her sleeve and rolled it up. The star was still there.
"Just a nightmare," she mumbled. "Just a nightmare."
She laid back down, brought her knees close to her chest and tried to steady her breathing. Eventually, she fell asleep again.
The next two days were identical. Claudia watched the shop, ate greasy food from a paper bag, and binged-read muggle spy novels. Her sleep was being interrupted by awful nightmares from that manor mission. Moreover, she still struggled to get more than a mere 'hello' out of Sirius, but at least he was responding and – judging by her tattoo - alive.
On Thursday morning, Claudia's waiting finally paid off. At eight in the morning, Mulciber entered the shop. Her heart was pounding. There he was. The man who tried to kill Ted and was probably responsible for Buttons' death. What to do now?
Claudia stood in front of the mirror and altered her appearance a little, just as she learned in her disguise classes. She hoped that with blonder and longer hair and a slightly different eyebrows and nose, neither the shopkeeper not Mulciber would be able to recognise her if she had to follow them. But before she could type a message into the medallion to ask for reinforcements to arrest him, Mulciber walked out again, holding a small package.
There was no time to send message. She had no choice but to follow him on her own. She run down the stairs to the street, gave him a head start, and then discreetly trailed him through the streets of Glasgow. Luckily, he did not apparate. He walked and walked for over half an hour until he got to a large open space. There was a narrow road leading towards a housing estate and a couple of bare trees. Nothing to provide cover.
"Shit," Claudia cursed under her breath. There was too much open landscape, and no way she could follow Mulciber without being noticed. Her invisibility charms were not anywhere this advanced. So, she dropped back and watched from distance, as Mulciber disappeared among the high-rise buildings.
Claudia hid in a nearby bus shelter and waited for him to re-emerge. She glanced at her watch. It was eleven o'clock. They flight to Italy had just gone. Claudia sighed and dropped to the bench.
She waited for hours but Mulciber was nowhere to be seen, giving her plenty of opportunity to assess the situation. There were eight separate buildings, each with fifteen floors that probably housed three or four flats each. There were too many flats to just go knock on the door. And she could not just start asking around for him. He would get spooked and disappear forever.
There was only one thing for it. To admit she lost him, and try another day.
The night started to fall, and the atmosphere became uncomfortable. Groups of kids were shouting at each other in the streets. Men were walking up to her and making lewd remarks. Arguments were coming out of flat windows.
Angry at herself for losing Mulciber while she was so close, Claudia had no choice but to go back to the place she was staying at. She contemplated calling the other aurors but decided to against it. They were all far too busy with Anderson to worry about her. She would just need to come back tomorrow and try her luck again.
After another night filled with tears over their missed trip, and nightmares about Sirius' death, she was back in Mulciber's neighbourhood. This time, she was hiding behind a parked van with a relatively clear view of entrances to all the eight buildings. To her huge relief, she saw Mulciber walk out from one of them at around eight in the morning, and walk towards the corner shop. He was wearing his dressing gown, so she assumed he was coming straight home.
She snuck into his building and hid under the stairwell next to the lift, trying her best not to dip her coat in the puddle of foul-smelling water. No wonder the walls were covered in black mould.
It was not long before Mulciber came back, with a semi-transparent bag full of shopping. Claudia felt almost sorry for him. Given he spent a lot of time in the company of Claudia's brother, this must have been a far cry from what he was used to before he went on the run. No more opulent houses, no more fancy food, no more champagne. Just a muggle high-rise, tinned fish, and a couple of cans of cheap beer.
She watched him walk into the lift and press a button for the seventh floor. Once the lift was gone, she crawled from under the stairs and started to climb.
There were three flats on the seventh floor and Claudia quickly realised she had no way of knowing which one he was living in. There were no names on the doors, no personal items outside, no defensive charms in sight. But before she could come up with a new plan, one of the doors flew open and there was Mulciber.
He just stood there, with a rubbish bag in his hand. Like a muggle who did not know how to vanish their garbage into nothingness. He was completely motionless and his eyes were fixed on Claudia.
Claudia was faster to recover. "Freeze," she hissed and pointed her wand at him.
Mulciber did nothing, just stared at her. "Do I know you?" he mumbled after a while.
"You're under arrest," she blurted out. She did not quite know what else to say, it was not as if she had a lot of experience doing this. "Impedimenta," she added to bound Mulciber. He still did not flinch.
When Claudia was sure he was secured, she grabbed his arm and apparated them both into her crappy Glasgow apartment. Once he was tied to the radiator, she took out her medallion and typed.
"Got Mulciber. Need to arrange transfer from Flat 2, 54 Westmuir Street, Glasgow. ASAP." She glanced at the main wall of the living room. "There seems to be a usable fireplace. Muggle property."
"What have I done?" Mulciber asked when she finished typing and sent the message. There was no anger or fear in his voice. He was asking it in a tone of a child who wanted to know what he was going to have for dinner.
"What do you mean, what have you done? You've been running from us for months!" She did not want to get into it, this was not a formal interrogation, that needed to wait until they were at the Ministry.
"Who are you?"
"I'm an auror. And you're under arrest for the murder of Phillip Buttons and attempted murder of Ted Tonks."
Mulciber blinked three times. "Yes," he said slowly in a much deeper voice. "I confess to those."
Claudia narrowed her eyes. That was weird, and far too easy. Could he have been under the Imperious Curse, or had his memory modified?
But she did not get the chance to ponder this for much longer, as the fireplace suddenly emitted a burst of green flames and Moody, Barraclough and Ewan walked right out of it.
"You were not supposed to arrest him!" Moody barked without even greeting her, let alone congratulating her. "You were supposed to find him and then call us!"
"Trust me," she whispered. "I didn't mean to, but he's completely out of it. He just confessed to everything."
"He did what?" Moody barked again, but in a slightly less scary way.
Claudia grabbed her boss' arm and dragged him into the bathroom, out of earshot. She did not want to speak in front of the prisoner. "I think there's something wrong with him. Maybe Imperio, maybe his memory has been modified."
Moody frowned. "Wouldn't surprise me. Let's get him to the Ministry to get the confession on paper. We can worry whether he's fit to stand trial later."
Without another word, Moody walked back into the living room, untied Mulciber and dragged him towards the fireplace. "Ministry of Magic, holding cells," he yelled and disappeared.
"Well done, Claudia," Barraclough finally said as he was about to step into the fire to follow their boss. "Really impressive."
"Thanks."
"We're opening the good booze when we get back," Ewan grinned and patted her on the back. He too was soon gone.
Claudia stayed behind, collected her things, stole those John le Carré books and followed them.
Once back at the Ministry, Mulciber was shoved into an interrogation room, still not exhibiting any sort of emotion about what had happened to him. He repeated what he said to Claudia in that Glasgow living room and signed a written confession saying exactly the same. Then, he calmly asked to be escorted to his cell.
"This is good," Moody mumbled. "We can charge him now. And get the prosecutors on this by Monday."
"You don't think he's acting weird?"
"Oh, he's acting weird alright... But that's the prosecutors' problem now. They'll probably get a healer to look at him too."
Claudia was too tired to ask Moody what any of that meant. Together, they took a slow walk through the Ministry corridors back to their office. It was then, it finally hit her. She caught Mulciber.
But it did not feel as she expected it to. She should have felt proud, but she did not. The guilt she felt in that Glasgow flat about letting everyone down was still there.
But her colleagues were in a mood to celebrate. Even before she stepped over the threshold of the office, she heard the unmistakeable sound of champagne cork being popped. Everyone was there, ready to celebrate. But Claudia could barely raise a glass or a smile.
She drained what Ewan poured her and put her glass down. "I'm going home," she mumbled.
"Come on!" Ewan protested. "We have to celebrate!"
"I haven't showered in four days, I barely slept. I need to go home."
"Weakling," Ewan smirked.
"We can celebrate at the Christmas party on Saturday!" Oscar jumped in. "You should bring that boyfriend of yours."
"Are we allowed guests this year?" Ewan asked. "Moody banned me for taking my girlfriend to the party every single year I've asked."
"Girlfriends…" Oscar corrected him. "I think he would've said yes if you could remember their last names."
"Shut up."
"Bring Sirius," Barraclough said and put his arms around her shoulders. "Now go get some rest. You deserve it."
Claudia gave Barraclough a brief hug and set off for the Ministry's atrium from which she was going to apparate home. When she was walking into the lift, she was too tired to properly notice the person who was already standing there.
She only looked up once the lift started to move, and the moment she saw it was her brother, her hand shot towards her wand.
"One step and I'll blast you to smithereens," she hissed.
"Give it a rest," Marcus sighed.
"What's wrong with you? Too scared?"
But Marcus did not react in the slightest. He slowly walked out of the lift when it next stopped without raising his voice or wand.
She found that very strange. He must have known at this point that one of his school friends just got arrested for murder. He was probably also aware she was the one who arrested him. So why act like this? Why not lash out like he always did? He did hurt her before… Why hold back now?
Once out of the lift, Claudia managed to put both Mulciber and Marcus out of her mind, and apparated home. She run up the stairs to the flat as fast as she could. She could not wait to hold Sirius in her arms.
But her stomach turned when she saw the state that the flat was in. There were dirty dishes and clothes everywhere, and several empty drinks bottles all over the living room.
"Sirius?" she asked tentatively when she did not see him anywhere.
All she heard in response was a kind of low growl from the direction of the fireplace, which did not sound like a human made it. And when she turned in that direction, she understood who did. Padfoot was laying on the rug, curled up in a little ball.
Claudia crossed the living room and sat down on the floor next to him. Tentatively, she lifted her hand and scratched the dog in between his ears. "Everything alright?"
The dog transformed back into her boyfriend, who looked like he had not slept, eaten, or showered for days either.
"Why are you being Padfoot?" she whispered in a low, gentle tone. "Was there a full moon?"
Sirius shook his head. "It's easier to cope this way," he mumbled. "What are you doing home?"
Claudia reached for Sirius' hand and squeezed it. "I caught him," she replied now on the verge of tears. Any joy she had left over her success in Glasgow evaporated when she saw Sirius like this. All she had left was that guilt.
"You should've written. I'd have tidied up."
Claudia was not sure why, but those words broke her. She flung her arms around Sirius' neck. "I'm so sorry about cancelling our trip," she mumbled through her tears. "I should've just let someone else deal with Mulciber."
"You did what you had to do." Sirius squeezed her in his arms. "You caught the person who tried to kill Ted. That's a good thing."
"But what about you?"
"You are here now." He attempted a smile. "Let's just take a shower and go to bed. I can't remember the last time I got any real sleep. I was so worried…"
"That's a good plan," she replied and wiped her eyes.
Once they were in bed and Sirius' warm body was wrapped around her, Claudia teared up again. This time just out of sheer relief that they had this moment. She clutched onto Sirius' arm and let the warm tears stream down her cheeks. But she was too tired to cry for long. And Sirius was too tired to notice. She could feel his slow breath on her neck, and knew he was asleep.
Claudia did not wake up till the morning, her neck slightly stiff by sleeping on Sirius' shoulder all night. But it was worth it. Despite her physical pain, she felt at peace.
"I don't ever want to leave this bed…" she sighed and kissed him.
"Do you have to?"
"Probably. I have no idea what happens next. I'll go in, see what's what but will try to leave at lunch. I also need to go and look in on Alice." She kissed him again. "Are you going to be ok?"
Sirius smirked. "Have faith in me. I can survive few hours on my own…"
"We can go to Diagon Alley after to buy some Christmas presents."
Sirius groaned.
"I don't want to do it either, but we don't have a choice. We can't show up to the Potters' empty-handed."
He sat up. "I hate shopping. Besides, I just think it's too many people. We'd be an easy target."
Claudia exhaled to think. "You're right. Why don't you go, pick up a few catalogues and we order everything by post?"
"Sounds marginally less awful."
Claudia gave Sirius another kiss, got dressed while he made her a coffee, and left for work. The sooner she was there, the sooner she was home again. And she could not wait. Her time in Glasgow was the longest her and Sirius were apart for in years, and it only just hit her how much she missed him.
Her team's usual office was still deserted, so she made her way to the Operations Room.
"Are you better?" Barraclough asked but continued before she could answer. "You disappeared so fast last night I didn't even get a chance to tell you to come in later today to recover."
Claudia smiled. "I was actually thinking of taking the afternoon off, if that's ok."
"You deserve it."
"So…" Claudia began and tentatively looked around. "What now?"
"Now, you have to organise all the evidence we have, compile the timelines, prepare list of witnesses, and wait for the Wizengamot Administration to assign you a prosecutor. They'll lead the trial preparations."
"I don't think I've ever met a prosecutor."
"Yeah," Barraclough mumbled. "Just remember, their job is to win the case in front of the Wizengamot and the biggest part of that is that our evidence holds up… So they can be a little, er-"
"Little what?"
"Little tough on you…"
"But we're on the same side."
"At the trial we are," Barraclough explained. "Doesn't always feel like it beforehand."
With a slight lump in her throat, Claudia went back to her office to start organising her things. She thought the hard part of her job was done, but Barraclough scared her.
But no matter how hard she tried to work out the timeline or remember what happened, she was too tired to focus on any of it and ended up just putting everything on a huge, disorganised pile and shoving it into the safe. Surely, she had plenty of time to get all this sorted.
While she was closing the safe, she got a note from the Wizengamot administration that the first meeting with the prosecutors will be first thing Monday morning. For a second, she contemplated opening that safe again and getting a head start, but eventually decided just to come in early on Monday and deal with it then.