The Prophecy

"Ready to go?" Alice popped her head into Claudia's office.

"Where are you two off to?" Ewan asked.

"Girl problems," Claudia said with a faked frown. She knew that would deter Ewan more than the real place they were going to, which was a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.

"How's work?" Claudia asked as the two friends were walking down a long Ministry corridor.

"I'll need to tell Shacklebolt soon about this" Alice sighed and pointed at her slightly bulging stomach. "He bought my request to get transferred to records because of 'backpain', but I'm starting to show and soon there will not be robes broad enough to hide it."

"Do you think he suspects anything already?"

"Nah," Alice chuckled. "He's smart but he's still a man."

"Who did you tell?"

"Not many people yet. But I think both Lily and I are going to tell the Order tonight. Don't want everyone to think I stopped going on missions because I got cold feet."

The meeting was not especially interesting, and Alice and Lily left their announcement for the end. After a round of enthusiastic congratulations, Dumbledore silenced everyone and spoke.

"If I may be so bold," he said. "I'd suggest keeping this news to yourselves."

"I agree," Moody barked. "This will make you into more of a target. You have more to lose. The more you have to lose, the more likely it is they'll go after you." He paused, then leaned forward and spoke in a much lower and slower voice. "The more likely it is you'll give them what they want…"

"If you think-" Frank was now on his feet and nearly shouting. Claudia had never seen him like that. "If you think that just because we're going to have a family, we'll sell out the Order, you're very very wrong."

"Frank," Dumbledore jumped. "I assure you. That's not what we are thinking. That's not what Alastor meant."

Moody mumbled something under his breath that, to anyone who knew him as well as Claudia did, sounded very much like that was exactly what he meant.

Dumbledore shot him a warning look and continued. "When are the babies due?"

"Both at the end of July," Lily jumped in. "What a great coincidence. Sounds like they could even share a birthday!"

Dumbledore looked at Moody again. This time not as a warning, but as if he was confirming something. "Well, I think we're going to leave the meeting here. But you four"- he gestured to the expectant parents – "you stay here. I need to talk to you."

"What do you think he wants?" James leaned over to Claudia and whispered, as the rest of the Order packed up their things and began to leave. "Tell us off for having sex during a war?"

"It's more likely to be some kind of security briefing," Claudia smirked. "Get ready to spend the next week running around your house chanting incantations over and ov-"

"Avery," Moody interrupted her. "Out."

Claudia sighed and reached for her jacket.

"Look," Alice jumped in. "Whatever you tell me, I'm going to tell Claudia later, so she might as well stay."

Moody opened his mouth to protest but Dumbledore spoke first to agree to Alice's terms.

What followed, however, was neither a lecture on safe sex, nor a security briefing.

"I was a witness to a prophecy," Dumbledore began. If Claudia did not know better, she would have thought his voice sounded almost uncertain. "It concerns Voldemort and the one who can defeat him."

"Who is it?" James jumped in.

"The one will be born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..." Dumbledore said slowly and deliberately.

"You mean," James stuttered. "One of these babies could have the power to defeat Voldemort? How long is this fucking war going to go on?

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Dumbledore said. "Can you think of the times that might count as defying Voldemort?"

"Well, there was the mission in November," Lily began. "I'm pretty sure I threw a hex at him. And then, there was the time when James and I refused to join the Death Eaters."

"Could joining the Order count?" Alice asked.

"Possibly…" Dumbledore replied. "But in itself, it doesn't really mean much."

"Seventh year?" Claudia mumbled. "Snape was acting on a personal order from Voldemort. You trying to stop him must count."

"But Voldemort doesn't know about that one," Lily said.

"That may not matter…" Dumbledore said. "What about you Alice, Frank?"

"I came face-to-face with him when I was a trainee auror," Frank began.

"I was on the same mission as Lily," Alice said. "And if the seventh year counts, then so does the artefact…"

"What artefact?" Moody asked.

"Not the time, Alastor." Dumbledore whispered. "But maybe you should vet your staff more thoroughly before you hire them."

Claudia looked away before Moody had a chance to shoot her another look that could kill. But also because she did not was to see anyone how worried she was. She felt for her friends. It was stressful enough having a baby, but being told that your baby is going to dragged into the war, to carry the expectations of the whole community. It must have felt awful.

"But nobody else know… Right?" James was the first to recover his composure.

"It's possible," Dumbledore said very slowly. "Possible that Voldemort knows."

Claudia swallowed dry. It was more than possible. This is what Marcus must have been talking about. Voldemort was going to hunt that baby down before it grew big enough to hurt him.

"How?" Alice whispered, her voice was quivering a little and her hands were resting on her stomach, as if she was desperately trying to shield her unborn child from this fate.

"A Death Eater was caught eavesdropping on the conversation when the prophecy was made," Dumbledore explained. "But the person apprehending him did not realise what was happening, and let him go."

"Which Death Eater?" Claudia uttered, wondering whether that was how Marcus got the information.

"From the description I was given," Dumbledore said with a barely noticeable side-glance at Lily. "It was Severus Snape."

Dumbledore was not the only one glancing at Lily once those words left his lips. They all were. She just closed her eyes so tight her whole face shrivelled. James had enough sense to pull a chair right behind her and helped her sit down.

"I cannot believe it," Lily whispered. "He wouldn't… We used to be friends." She was now crying openly. "Even in seventh year, he gave me the antidote. He wouldn't hurt me like this. I refuse to believe it."

Claudia bit her lip. She knew that Voldemort knew. But she could not quite bring herself to say. It would take any remaining hope anyone had.

"But-" James trailed off and took a deep breath. "He doesn't know it's you Lils, does he? Do you think he would hold back for anyone other than you?"

Lily sighed. "No, he wouldn't…"

"But this does not mean Voldemort definitely knows." Frank spoke for the first time. "Snape could be keeping this to himself."

If Claudia was to speak, it had to be now. "He knows. I had an informant warn me that anyone pregnant should watch out, that Voldemort is looking for a baby."

"Why didn't you say anything? What informant?" Moody barked.

"Anonymous tip off," Claudia lied. "And I didn't say because it sounded like complete bollocks."

Silence fell as the young couples embraced and looked at each other.

"Do we believe this prophecy?" Frank finally asked.

"Doesn't matter…" Moody growled. "What matters is that Voldemort does." He shot an angry look at Claudia. "Which clearly is the case."

"What should we do?" James whispered.

"Keep the pregnancies secret, hide from the world," Dumbledore said. "Then, hide until the babies are old enough to disguise the time of their birth. No-one can know these babies are going to be born in July."

"You mean full hiding?" Alice asked. "My mum is in St Mungo's… I can't abandon her there."

"You should speak to Gideon," Claudia said. "Maybe he could continue to treat her if she's at home."

"I also want your homes secured," Moody said. "Put up extensive protective charms, disconnect from the public Floo network. No one but you should be able to get in."

No one said anything.

"Go home," Dumbledore finally whispered. "Talk it through. Then let me know if you want to talk more." He paused, then looked to Moody. "Let's go, Alastor."

Claudia watched them leave, still surrounded by total silence. When she turned back, she saw both couples in an embrace. They were all whispering reassuring words to each other. Sensing that Alice and Frank, and Lily and James wanted to be alone, Claudia went home. She could not have even imagine what they must have felt like. War and pregnancy would have been bad enough on their own. But this? This was beyond awful. Knowing your unborn child might end up caught in a fight to the death with the most dangerous dark wizard that ever lived.

Still shaken, she entered the flat to find Sirius horizontal on the sofa again, drinking and smoking. She missed the days when he was angrily poking around the engine of his bike when he needed to let off steam.

"How was your precious meeting?" he growled.

"Not great actually," Claudia whispered, sat down next to him and snatched the whiskey out of his hand. It was her turn to drown her sorrows. "Lily and Alice will need to go into hiding… There was some dumb prophecy about a child being born to people who thrice defied Voldemort. Even specified it was due at the end of July. Voldemort knows about the Prophecy and is going to come after them."

"Sure you aren't pregnant?"

"I'm sure."

Sirius took the whiskey back and stared into the fire.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Claudia hissed. "Your best friend and his pregnant wife might be in mortal danger!"

"Aren't we all?" he mumbled, put the whiskey down and walked towards the bedroom. Claudia just about caught a sight of a black bushy tail disappearing under the bed. He must have transformed into Padfoot again.

A wave of resentment washed over Claudia. She was sick of him. He clearly had been through something on the mission. But instead of talking about it, he made her life hell and pretended that nothing other than his misery mattered. She took another sip of the whiskey and stood up.

She had to get out of there. But where to? No way she could disturb Alice or Lily. There was always work… But it was late, almost nine o'clock. Maybe a walk was a better idea.

Aimlessly, she walked into the street. It was pouring down with rain and after a few seconds, Claudia was drenched and frozen to the bone. There was no way she would be able to go for walk tonight. It had to be work. Once hidden from the view of the other flats on their road, she apparated to the Ministry.

As she managed to dry herself and approached her office, she was surprised to see there was a light on. She was even more surprised to see it was Barraclough, who was slouching over his desk and burning the midnight oil.

"What are you doing here?" he asked when he spotted her. "Did something happen?

Claudia was just too tired to pretend everything was alright. She walked across the office and sat down at a chair opposite Barraclough with a loud thud. "My boyfriend saw someone die in the hands of the Death Eaters." She paused and bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from crying. "And…" she wiped her eyes, "and he's struggling with that. It's hard, you know? I just needed to get out of the flat before I yelled at him..."

Barraclough put down his quill and leaned forward. He spoke in a voice that was soft, gentle and very unlike his usual stern tone. "The boss told me about it… If you ever wanted to talk."

"What is there to say?" Claudia shrugged. "The war sucks."

"It's happened to me before," Barraclough whispered and paused, which made Claudia look up at him. "I saw some things on a mission. Must have been about your age. Took me years to come to terms with it."

"How did you?" she mumbled. "Because I really want to help him." She paused and rubbed her shaking hands. "But I don't know what to do…"

"Just be there. Be there if he wants to talk, but-" Barraclough said significantly as Claudia was getting ready to interrupt. "Don't pressure him into talking. Let him do it at his own pace."

Claudia sighed. "But I worry he's going to kill himself before he's ready to talk… Between the drinking, the smoking, and the fucking motorcycle. I don't even want to know what'd happen if he went back into the field."

"Allow him to be upset. He needs to know it's fine to be upset about it."

Claudia grimaced. "He'd be happy to hear that. Anger is all he has these days."

"And if he ever wants to talk to anyone, I'm here, alright?" Barraclough said. "I can help. I've been there."

"Thank you," she whispered. "I feel bit silly now."

"Please don't." Barraclough reached across the table and squeezed Claudia's hand. "It's as hard on you as it's on him. You're doing the right thing by giving him space."

Claudia smiled. Barraclough was the first person to give her encouragement, to recognise how she was feeling. "I know I don't say it often enough, but I'm so glad I work for you." She paused and took a deep breath. "I've never had someone care about me in this way. I guess that's what having a genuine parent must feel like."

Barraclough smiled. "Off with you, you're going to make me cry!"

"Thank you."

"Anything for you, Claudia. Anytime."

Claudia took a deep breath and stood up. "I need to get going." As quickly as she came, she apparated back home to find Sirius laying under the bed still in his dog form. She got a bowl from the kitchen, filled it with water, and placed it on the floor.

She kneeled next him. "Is this helping?" she whispered. "Being Padfoot?"

Padfoot let out kind of a low grunt, which Claudia assumed signified agreement.

She scratched the dog between his ears. "I'm going to brush teeth now, but I wouldn't at all be upset if Padfoot slept at the foot of the bed today. The floor must be cold."

The dog closed his eyes and rubbed his head on Claudia's leg. She patted his head and then went to the bathroom. When she got back, ready for bed, Padfoot was indeed curled up on top of the duvet.

They had been laying in the dark in silence for some time before Claudia found the strength to speak. "I'm not mad at you," she whispered. "I just want to be here for you. And sometimes I don't know how." She paused and felt Padfoot shift a little. Through the dark, she could see the outline of his head against the window. His head was raised, and he was listening to her. "I feel so hopeless," she continued. "And put of this frustration, I sometimes just snap."

The dog lowered his head again, this time laying down on top of Claudia's legs. She took her arm from out the duvet and rummaged through the covers until she found Padfoot's snout. She could feel the rough texture of his tongue against her hand. She did not know much about dogs, but this must have meant affection.

Claudia forced herself to close her eyes. This was not what she imagined living with her boyfriend would be, but it was better than sleeping in the office, while he drunk himself to death. Anything was better than that. Feeling Padfoot's breath against her hand, she fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning, Padfoot was gone but Sirius was in the kitchen making coffee. "Thank you for last night," he mumbled.

Claudia came near him and gently reached for his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "Once you're ready to talk, I'm here. I hope you know you can trust me."

"Yeah, I know," he whispered and forced a smiled. "I think I'm going to go and see James and Lily today. To make sure they're alright."

"That's a good idea," she whispered. "I should go and see Alice too."

They kissed. Must have been the first time since Sirius came back from that mission. It was brief and almost felt platonic, but it was progress. A signal that the wall that had built up between them was scalable. That they would be able to get through this.

They had coffee together cuddled up on the sofa, before Claudia got dressed and went to the office again. When she got there, everyone was standing up with their eyes fixed on the door of Moody's office. "What's going on?" she asked the stone-cold silence.

"Crouch's in there," Oscar replied.

"That can't be good," she mumbled.

And it was not. Claudia did not even get a chance to take her coat off before the door few open and Crouch stormed out, red in the face. He froze when he saw everyone had their eyes fixed on him. But there was someone else coming out of the office, which made Crouch move again to get out of the way.

"Good morning," this mystery man began. "I'm Maynard Carmichael. You may know I have recently replaced Alvin Anderson. I came here with Barty to thank you all for your hard work on the case."

"Lies!" Moody, who was still hiding in his office, yelled. "Tell them the truth you cowards!"

Crouch shifted uncomfortably. "We received a report that the junior official from the International Cooperation Department had unfortunately passed away." Crouch nodded. "Yes, very sad… But it was your last lead. And so it's the view of the Ministry-"

"Don't hide behind the Ministry, you power-hungry bastard!" More yelling came out of Moody's office.

Crouch continued through gritted teeth. "It is the view of the Ministry that the Anderson case needs to be dropped."

"What?" Oscar barked. "No way! You can't do this!"

"Calm yourself, Fernsby," Crouch hissed. "The investigation is simply taking too much resource. And we have other cases-"

"But what about Mr Adler," Claudia jumped in. "He was one of us."

"Yeah," Oscar exclaimed. "You can't make us drop this!"

"I can, and I will," Crouch was now even redder. "I am your superior. And if you don't like my decisions, you know where the door is." With those words, he marched out of the office followed closely by Carmichael.

"Get in here, all of you," Moody barked, still hiding in his office.

"What are we going to do?" Oscar said. "They can't… Just can't."

"I recon we have few weeks before Crouch really shuts this down," Moody groaned. "We give every lead one last try."

"What about the junior official?" Claudia asked. "Do we know how he died?"

"I spoke to Gideon Prewett, one of the healers-" Barraclough began.

"And member of the Order…" Oscar interrupted bitterly.

"Shut up," Moody barked.

"Gideon said there was nothing wrong with him other than his memory," Barraclough continued. "They were trying to restore it. And then one day, his heart just stopped beating. They still have no idea why. Gideon thinks the restoration was just too much."

"Are you saying the healers killed him trying to get his memory back?" Ewan asked, looing somewhat disgusted.

"But they are healers…" Ewan said in disbelief. "They would not push it so hard, would they?"

"Crouch!" Claudia and Oscar said almost in unison. Oscar gestured at Claudia to continue, so she did. "Crouch was pressing them to get his memory back. And he wouldn't care less what it does to the patient."

"We should talk to the healers," Moody said. "In a low-key way."

"I'm going to St Mungo's today anyway," Claudia said. "Helping Alice Adl- Longbottom," she corrected herself, "with something."

"Good," Moody mumbled, and everyone began to get up. "Let's all get to work."

"Can I speculate?" Claudia mumbled.

Moody frowned. "If this is about your father…"

"It is," Claudia said resolutely and stared at him, unflinching. "We know he's a Death Eater, probably the highest ranking one at the ministry. We know he'd stop at nothing. Shouldn't we be doing something about that? Following him? His department is where the leak happened, right?"

"The rest of you, out…" Moody said. "I want to talk to Avery in private."

Grudgingly, the other aurors all left.

Moody spoke slowly and deliberately. "I know this is hard to hear, but we need to be extremely cautious. We have no evidence, and he has powerful friends. Rattle the cage now and he will make sure we never get him. We need him complacent. We need him to think he's getting away with it."

"But how many people is he going to murder in the meantime?" Claudia was suddenly overcome by emotion. "Alice is my best friend… If he killed her father…" Her voice began to break. "What am I supposed to do? How can I even look at her?"

Moody shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not cut out for this."

"Never mind," Claudia sighed and got up. There was no point having this conversation with someone as unfeeling as Moody. He could never understand.

Just as she was about to open the door, she heard his voice again. "You aren't responsible for his actions. You don't have to make up for it."

She turned, the tears flowing down her cheeks. She was glad to have misjudged him. "I know."

"I'd tell you to sit out the St Mungo's visit," Moody said. "But I have a feeling you aren't going to listen."

Claudia chuckled though the tears. "No, I'm not. I'll let you know if the healers say anything interesting."

She wiped her eyes and left Moody's office to find Alice sitting on her desk in a pair of flowing robes that just about hid her growing stomach.

"What are you doing here?" Claudia whispered urgently. Alice was supposed to be in hiding, not wondering around the Ministry of Magic. "I thought we were meeting in St Mungo's…"

"I've just had to come and pick up some things and actually resign."

Claudia dragged Alice to the corridor. "Resign?" she whispered. "You're pregnant, you shouldn't have to resign…"

"Well, I can hardly tell them the real reason why I can't show up for work anymore, can I?" Alice sighed. "Frank and I talked about it for hours, I don't have a choice."

"I suppose not… Shall we?"

They walked down the Ministry corridor to the atrium, where they would take the Floo network to St Mungo's.

"What did Gideon say?" Claudia asked. "Is your mum well enough to be released?"

"No, but I can hardly leave her there and not be able to visit. Can I?" Alice sighed. "Gideon will come every day to check up on her. I'll be at home, and Frank's mother promised to help too. We'll be fine. We have to be fine."

Claudia attempted a smile. "You will be fine." She was not sure she believed it, but what else was she meant to say?

Once they got to St Mungo's, Claudia helped to pack Mrs Adler's things. Alice mum was barely awake, but Gideon seemed to know what he was doing and soon Alice and her mum were on their way.

"Gideon," Claudia mumbled once Alice and her mum vanished into the fireplace. "What do you know about the deceased witness?"

"Nothing," Gideon said in a hushed voice. "Just rumours. The two healers and the trainee who worked on it have all been send on leave."

"Can we track them? Ask them questions?"

"I'm sure the Ministry can-"

"Unofficially…"

Gideon stared at Claudia for a moment. "I can ask about the healers," he said slowly. "I don't know them but the trainee worked for me for a bit. Callahan. Can't remember the first name; maybe something French? I think his mother was French Moroccan."

"You mean Emmanuel Callahan?"

"That's the one. You know him?"

"Same house, same year. We used to be really good friends until-" Claudia trailed off. There was no need to relive any of that.

"Until?" Gideon asked, somewhat cheekily.

"Doesn't matter," Claudia said with an awkward smile. "Anyway, thank you. That will give me something to go on."

Claudia said her goodbyes to Gideon and found the nearest reception to ask for Emmanuel. She felt a little guilty. She did not even know he was a healer. But the receptionist was no help. There was apparently no Callahan working in St Mungo's. She left a note for the Chief Administrator, asking them to contact her in relation to Emmanuel. Rather than saying the real reason, however, she said that she was trying to organise a school reunion for them all and could not find Emmanuel's address anywhere.

About half past five, Claudia made it back to the office, ready to give Moody her non-update. But before she got there, she noticed a note on her desk in Marcus' handwriting. It was not long:

"Six o'clock, same place."

'Shoot', she thought. She was late. For a split second, she contemplated sending Remus an owl so that at least someone knew where she went but decided against it. There was no time, and it worked out alright last time.

Claudia rushed to Flourish and Blotts and made it just on time.

"What is it?" she mumbled, still a little out of breath once she found herself alone in the Potions aisle with her brother.

"I heard you're working on the Geneva case."

She scoffed. "If that's what you think is going to happen… Me telling you things. You've misjudged this situation."

"I just need to know whether you are suspecting father."

"Why? Are you?" she asked, as nonchalantly as she could. Of course, she was suspecting him, but she sure as hell was not going to tell Marcus about it.

"I don't know anything." Marcus shrugged. "He just seems really nervous, snappier than usual." Marcus paused and leaned back to check no one was hiding behind the bookshelves. Claudia could not remember ever seeing him this uncertain. "It's clear someone from our department helped the assassins... I just don't want to find myself being sacrificed like the others, you know."

"I shouldn't be telling you," Claudia paused, trying to work out how much she should tell him. It was hard. She needed to tell him enough so that he grew to trust her, but not anything that would actually jeopardise the situation. "We don't have anything. Definitely not enough to arrest father, or you."

"Would you tell me?" He paused. "If I was in danger?"

Claudia took a deep breath. Seeing him like this, nearly begging, was strange. This was not the same Marcus she grew up with. This was not the same Marcus who regularly threatened her. And certainly not the one who tried to get her killed. "What are you up to? I don't get it…"

"Never mind," Marcus sighed. "I need to go. I suspect he might be having me followed."

"You might be right," Claudia whispered and looked behind the bookshelves herself. "In which case, we should start meeting somewhere other than this bookshop. It's an immediate give away that you're up to something suspicious."

"Why?"

"Has anyone ever seen you read?" she smirked.

Marcus shook his head. "When did you turn into such a bitch?"

"I've always been a bitch," Claudia smirked. "You were just too busy playing a Death Eater to notice."

"You and Black had really found each other," Marcus scoffed. "Find another place to meet then," he added and was gone.

Claudia sighed. Her and Sirius did indeed used to make a good team. Same upbringing, same attitude, same goals. And for three glorious years, they were happy. But now, the war was threatening to ruin it all.

Emotionally exhausted, Claudia apparated home.

"Where have you been? It's late," Sirius hissed instead of a greeting. "I was worried something happened to you."

Claudia thought about it for a moment. There was no way Sirius would understand. It would have been a stretch to get him to listen and understand why she was doing this, even if all was well. And now? She did not dare to think what he would say or do. "Nowhere," she mumbled.

"Right," he scoffed. "Be like the rest of them and hide things from me."

"I tell you things!" she replied defensively.

"No, you don't. You used to tell me when something worried you." He lit a cigarette and slumped into the sofa. "But now, I know you're hiding things from me. I can tell. I'm not an idiot. It's like living with a fucking statue."

Claudia had to take three deep breaths not to hex him. How dare he? The anguish, the pain she had been keeping on the inside to protect him. And he accuses her of not having feelings? But he was clearly in pain, and she had to be patient. She took another deep breath. "I promise it's nothing. I've just been to St Mungo's with Alice. Her mum isn't well, that's all."

Sirius grumbled something under his breath and picked up a book. Claudia reheated a bit of yesterday's dinner and ate it alone at the dining table. That was that. The extent of their interaction that evening…