A Wedding and a Funeral

Just as Claudia was packing her things on Friday night, Oscar came to her desk. "Any plans tomorrow?"

Claudia shot him an annoyed look. "Funny. Gather they told you-"

"They told me," he uttered. "I need to go watch a house of some dark potioneer. Want to come with? I could use the company."

"What about the others?"

"Ewan has a date, and Barraclough's still away with the boss."

"Where have they gone anyway?"

"Somewhere in Scotland. One of those dumb Crouch cases, apparently."

"When were they supposed to be back?"

"Haven't said." Oscar frowned a little and Claudia knew why. It was quite common for Moody not to leave any kind of instructions. As the war went on, he spent more and more time outside of his office. Barraclough, on the other hand, was usually left in charge. "You in?"

"In what?" she asked, her musing about Moody's whereabouts made her forget Oscar's original question.

"The stakeout?"

"Oh, yeah…" Claudia mumbled. "Fine, I'll come with you."

"Meet you here at lunchtime, then?"

"Alright…" Claudia sighed. "But I know what you're doing. I know the boss asked you to keep an eye on me tomorrow."

"He cares-"

"He doesn't trust me."

Truth to be told, Claudia did not blame Moody for not trusting her. She was tempted to go meet Marcus, arrest Wilkes, and get the testimony she needed to put her father away for good. Maybe a few weeks ago, she would have gone. But no longer; she may have not had Sirius in her life anymore, but she was not alone. There were others who cared, and she had things to live for. She was going to be a godmother. So, she decided to go on Oscar's dumb stakeout and to stand up Marcus.

A few hours in and the dark potioneer still had not done anything remotely suspicious.

Claudia sighed as the clock on a nearby church struck six.

"Don't even think about it," said Oscar.

"I wasn't…" Claudia lied.

"Look, I'm the last person who should judge you for doing something rash."

"Then come with me," Claudia smirked.

"Don't fancy dying yet-"

"He might be genuine."

"Even if he was genuine, Moody and Barraclough would kill me if I let you go," he replied. "I know it's hard, but they do have your best interest at heart. You need to trust them"

"I know…"

"You can talk to me if you want. You never really told me what was the deal with your brother."

Claudia though about it for a second. It would have been nice to get things of her chest, but she chickened out. "Nah," she sighed. "I don't want to think about it."

Nothing of note happened at that mission or for the rest of the weekend. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday had all gone and there was still no word from Moody or Barraclough.

"Are they still not back yet?" Oscar asked on Thursday morning as he walked into the office. Barraclough's desk was still untouched and was beginning to gather dust.

Claudia shook her head. She was starting to get worried. "Where in Scotland did they go?"

"I want to say the Highlands..."

"Should we do something?"

"We could ask patrol to look out for them. Maybe ask around if anyone has seen them." Just as those words left Oscar's lips, an owl flew into the office. "What the fuck is an owl doing here?" he barked. "I thought they replaced these with memos!"

The owl landed on Claudia's desk and outstretched its claw. "It's from St Mungo's, addressed to 'Alastor Moody's team'." Claudia whispered as she saw the logo on the envelope. Her hand shaking, she ripped it open.

"Inspector Moody is in St Mungo's in a critical condition. Come now. G Prewett."

Claudia stared at the page. She was barely aware that Oscar took the note from her hand. It could not have been, not Moody. He was always so careful-

"Hey," Oscar barked and shook her shoulder. "Let's go."

They run through the Ministry corridors to the atrium, and apparated the moment they were out of the range of the anti-apparition shield.

Gideon was already waiting for them in St Mungo's reception.

"What happened?" Oscar spoke first as they followed Gideon up the stairs.

"We got a report of magical activity in a muggle hospital. It sometimes happens, muggles find an injured wizard and bring them to their hospital. All hell breaks loose."

"So, he could use magic? He's alright?" Claudia pitched in, slightly out of breath from all the running. "He's not dead?"

"He got hit with a curse," Gideon replied. "His leg was all damaged, and the muggles-" he paused and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "The muggles cut it off, thinking it was gangrene."

"What?" Oscar gasped. "Can you fix it?"

Claudia stared at Gideon with her mouth open. This could not have been happening. Moody out of action. What was everyone going to do? His team, the Order…

"We can't grow his leg back," Gideon sighed. "Bloody muggles. We can give him a decent wooden one, that's about it."

Claudia's eyes were full of tears now. "Can we see him?"

Gideon nodded. "He woke up just before I came to get you. Not for long though, he needs rest."

"Hey!" someone yelled. "You didn't wait for me!" It was Ewan. He must have seen the note when he came into the office and followed them.

All three of them walked into the patient's room. Moody was lying on a bed. He was dressed in a white gown, which nearly matched the colour of his skin. A thin blanket covered his body, making it very clear there was no leg from the knee down. He did not even turn his head when they walked in.

"How are you, boss?" Claudia whispered.

There was no response from Moody. He did not even move. Just continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Is he alright?" Oscar whispered to Gideon. "Like aware who he is and stuff?"

Moody must have heard him, as he shut his eyes and a single tear rolled down the side of his face.

"Boss," Ewan was the next to find enough courage to speak. "Where's Aiden?"

"Dead." Moody's mouth barely moved but the meaning of his words was clear.

Aiden Barraclough was no more.

Those words rang in Claudia's ears for what felt like an age. Barraclough was dead.

She suddenly felt small, like the world was about to swallow her. Every sensation was dulled. The only thing she could think was that this could not have been true. It just could not have been. Moody must have still been confused. He looked like he lost a lot of blood.

"No," Claudia whispered. "He can't-"

"What happened?" Oscar hissed. "How? Who did it? Which bastard did it-"

"We'll get them-" Ewan pitched in.

"STOP!" Moody roared.

Claudia froze, and so did the others. No one dared to say another word.

"Get out," Moody groaned, clutching his side. "All of you... Get out!"

Claudia stared at him. He looked broken. Out of breath and clutching the side of his torso.

"I said, out!" Moody huffed, clearly in pain.

But Claudia could not move. This could not have been happening. Moody was wrong. He had to be. She stayed completely still until she felt a hand on her arm and was dragged backwards out of the room.

"He lost a lot of blood," Gideon mumbled once they were all in the corridor. "I'm sure he'll come around once he feels a little stronger." Gideon patted Claudia's shoulder. "I'll send another owl. You don't have to stay here."

"I can," she mumbled. "I have nowhere else to be."

"I'm going to find the bastard who did that," Oscar said, his voice trembling. "And kill them with my bare hands."

"I come with you," Ewan whispered.

"I can too-" Claudia began to say but did not get to finish.

"None of you are going anywhere," a strong voice beamed from behind them. It was the Head Auror, with some of his staff in tow. "Internal Affairs are handling the investigation. I don't want you three anywhere near it."

"Try to stop me!" Oscar growled.

"I'm warning you, Fernsby." The Head Auror was having none of it. "I find you investigating, and your arse is going to get suspended."

"You ba-" Oscar began to yell, but Claudia yanked his arm.

"Oscar," she whispered. "There is no point."

Ewan too was gripping Oscar's arm. "It's not going to bring him back."

"Bring him back?" The Head Auror's expression had changed in an instant. "Moody's dead? They just told me he was injured," he gasped.

"No," Ewan shook his head. From the three of them, his mind seemed the clearest. "Barraclough is."

Hearing it again was like another kick in Claudia's stomach. She did not want to believe it. But the more people said it, the more real it became.

The Head Auror shut his eyes. "I'm sorry. I promise you we will do everything we can to find whoever did this."

"Like you did with Mr Adler?" Claudia hissed, suddenly unable to contain her anger.

"That was way above my paygrade, Avery." The Head Auror sighed. "Go home, all of you."

The Head Auror left to talk to Moody, and Claudia, Oscar and Ewan found themselves sitting on the hospital's cold, hard floor. The silence was deafening. Pictures of Barraclough were through Claudia's head. Every smirk, every laugh, every time she knew just how much he cared…

Claudia was the first one to start crying. The thought of never seeing him again. Never speaking to him, it finally got to her.

Then Ewan.

Oscar, who was sitting in the middle, was hugging them both.

Resting her head on Oscar's shoulder, Claudia could not help but relive everything Barraclough had ever told her. His guidance, compassion. The more she thought about it, the more intense her tears became.

"Does anyone have anything to smoke? Drink?" Oscar finally mumbled.

"No," Claudia wiped her eyes. "Although, I wouldn't say no to either right now."

"Then, let's go to the pub." Ewan mumbled.

Few hours in, Claudia was on her second beer. She just did not feel like getting completely plastered, but the same could not have been said about the other two.

She swirled the last bit of her drink. "He was like a father and brother rolled into one. He always had patience for my nonsense. Like he tried to understand me."

"He adored you," Ewan mumbled. "You were like his little Slytherin pet-project. Like he finally had someone he could bond with."

That brought both more tears and a little smile to Claudia's face. "That's why he always understood when I fucked up."

"You always fuck up in such a special way." Ewan said with a chuckle. "I think he actually found it quite adorable."

Claudia glanced at Oscar but he seemed miles away, staring across the pub.

"He paid off my gambling debt," Ewan interrupted her train of thoughts, and Claudia turned back to him. "Your fuck-ups did not even scratch the surface of how understanding he could be. And if it wasn't for him, Moody would've transferred me after that Tracey incident." Ewan picked up his drink and drained it. "But then, you'd see him yell at a patrol officer because he put a wrong label on a report. I dreaded the day when I found myself up against him on a different team."

Claudia's eyes drifted back to Oscar again. "What about you?" she whispered and touched his shoulder.

But Oscar did not say. He brought his drink to his lips and downed it.

"Out, everyone!" The pub landlord yelled, startling them all. "Closing time!"

Claudia glanced at her watch. "How is it ten already?" she mumbled before they stumbled out of the pub and stood awkwardly outside.

"I don't want to go home," Ewan sighed.

So, they decided to buy a bottle of Aiden's favourite whiskey in the nearby off-licence and walked down to the riverbank. They all sat, like birds perched upon a tree branch, on the concrete wall above the river, passing the bottle back and forth.

The tide was falling. So much so you could see the rocks on the bottom of the riverbed., and tonight's full moon reflecting in the little water that was left. Full moon, Claudia thought to herself. Remus would not be home…

It seemed that Ewan also ran out of words for now.

"Right," he eventually sighed and jumped from the wall. "I'm going to find someone to shag tonight. Either of you want to come with me to the bar?"

Claudia shook her head. Watching Ewan pick up girls in a loud, muggle bar was the last thing she needed right now. And Oscar must have had the same thought as he did not even move.

"Your loss," Ewan mumbled and strode across the strip of grass towards the main road. How was he still standing, let alone walking, Claudia did not know.

And then, there were two.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Aiden," Oscar finally mumbled. "He saved my life."

"You're a reckless idiot," Claudia said as gently as she could. "We all saved your life at one point or another."

"This was different..." Oscar trailed off. "When I first started on the team, my girlfriend died in action."

"What? Why did you never tell me?"

"Because I don't tell anyone that. I was in a deep hole and Aiden got me out of it."

"He gave me some good advice about trauma too," she whispered. "When Si-"

But before she could finish that sentence, the whiskey bottle slipped out of Oscar's hand and got smashed on the top of the wall.

"Fuck," he screamed and clutched his hand. It was dripping with blood. "Must have caught a shard- Fuck." Oscar continued to curse.

Claudia took her wand from out of her sleeve, looked around and reached for Oscar's hand. Her simple spell stopped the bleeding almost instantly.

Slowly, Claudia let go of Oscar's injured hand and looked up at him. She could feel his breath on her cheek; they were that close. She reached out for the side of his face. "You're going to be okay. I know he was like a brother to you. But he would want you to be okay."

Claudia could feel Oscar's hand clasp her own. She half expected him to move it off his face, but he did not. He just held it tight.

He shut his eyes. "Shouldn't you go home?" he whispered. "Won't your boyfriend be worried about you?"

"We broke up," Claudia whispered, shuffled even closer to Oscar, and used her hand to pull his face so close to hers their lips were nearly touching. "And I rather not be alone either…"

"Are you saying Ewan had the right idea?"

Claudia smirked. "He's got to be right sometimes."

The next thing she knew, Oscar held her tightly in his arms and they were kissing.

"Is this a good idea?" Oscar whispered between the kisses.

"Probably not," Claudia mumbled. "But I want to do it anyway."

"Are you sure?"

She was sure. She was sick and tired of being alone, and the idea she would have to go home to an empty flat. No. This was her life, and she could do whatever she pleased. She did not owe Sirius anything.

She shut her eyes and kissed Oscar again. The world spun around them.

It got all a bit hazy after that.

When Claudia woke up in the morning, her head was in tatters. It took her a while to open her eyes and realise she was in an unfamiliar room. She turned her head to see naked Oscar passed out next to her.

Snippets of last night started to come back to her. Heavy breaths, sweaty skin, Oscar's hands all over her.

"Oh, crap," Claudia mumbled and leaned over the edge of the bed to see where her clothes were. She nearly threw up when she stood up, but managed to collect all her clothes and somehow put them on. Then, she tiptoed out of the bedroom towards what she assumed to be the front door.

"Claudia?" Someone said, or rather shrieked, judging by the sharp pain that sound caused inside her head. She turned.

"Ewan?"

It was indeed Ewan. "What the –" he gasped.

"Shut up!" Claudia hissed and rubbed the side of her head. The pain was getting worse. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she mumbled. "Leaving."

But before Claudia made it all the way to the front door, the bedroom door creaked open and Oscar emerged rubbing his eyes, dressed only in his boxers.

Everything had seemingly fallen into place in Ewan's head. "I cannot believe you two!" he barked.

"Stop overreacting." Oscar yawned. "We're all adults."

"Overreacting? It's yucky."

"Yucky?" Oscar scoffed. "Are you eight years old?"

"I feel like you've fucked my sister." Ewan barked and stormed into his own room, smashing the door behind him.

Claudia and Oscar were left standing in the living room.

"I'm sorry about him," Oscar began.

"You live together?" she mumbled. "Could've mentioned…"

They looked at each other.

"Oh boy, this is weird-" Oscar was the first to find the words.

"Please, don't say anymore," Claudia winced. "We were both upset, drunk. Mistakes happen."

"Forget this ever happened?"

"Please." Claudia paused for a minute to see if there was anything else that had to be said. "I'll get going."

She was nearly at the door when she heard Oscar mumble. "I hope you don't feel like I took advantage-" he trailed off.

Claudia turned so quickly it nearly toppled her over. "No. Please, stop-" she said earnestly. "Nothing like that…"

"I'll see you at work, then."

"Good luck with Ewan."

Oscar grunted but gave her a faint smile. With that, Claudia left and apparated to Remus' place. As she was walking up the stairs to the tiny studio, she pondered whether she should have a coffee or a shower first. She was still undecided when she stuck her key into the door.

"I was getting worried-"

Claudia's heart was in her throat. "Remus, what the fuck!" She took a few deep breaths. "You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?"

"Just got back. It's more comfortable to sleep it off here than in the hovel where I usually transform."

"Is there coffee?" Claudia mumbled and made her way toward the kitchenette.

"What happened? You look dreadful."

Claudia froze. Barraclough. She had completely forgotten. But now she remembered, she began to tear up again.

"Claudia?" Remus slowly got up and walked over to her. "What happened?"

"Moody's in St Mungo's, and my boss-" She paused and wiped her eyes with a hand that shook. "He died on duty."

Remus took a few steps closer to her as in to hug her. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't touch me." She jumped away. "I smell terrible."

"How much have you drunk?"

"Enough to be very stupid," Claudia sighed. "I'm going to the shower…" The coffee would have to wait.

Claudia dragged herself into the bathroom. The more water washed over her, the more her senses returned, the more she wanted to cry again. Never again was Barraclough going to walk up to her desk and give her an order. Never again was he going to try to patiently explain to her exactly why she was being an idiot. Who was she going to turn to? No one…

Time had lost its meaning, and she sat on the bottom of the tub and sobbed.

There was a gentle knock on the door. "Are you alright?" Remus asked.

Claudia forced herself to turn off the taps. "Yeah. I'm coming…"

She drank a vial of the contraception potion, put on some fresh clothes, and made her way back to the kitchen where, mercifully, Remus brewed a fresh pot of coffee.

"Are you going to tell me where you slept?" he mumbled when he passed her the cup.

"I'd rather not…"

"If you and Sirius are back together-"

"Not that," Claudia sighed. "One of my colleagues. We were all just drinking, remembering Aidan. We got very emotional. Emotional and stupid."

"Who?"

Claudia downed her coffee and then poured herself another. "I need to go to work."

"Should you?"

"What do you want me to do?" she hissed, her temper rising. "Sit at home and have a nice chat while Aiden's killer walks free?" She drank the second cup and ran out of the flat even before Remus managed to find a response.

Claudia nearly threw up the moment she got down the stairs. She just about made it to the café at the end of the road. She needed to get something salty and greasy into her stomach and fast.

She looked at the menu board.

'Bacon sandwich.'

Claudia burst into tears again. It was Barraclough who took her for bacon sandwiches when she first turned up to work hungover. And then again when he found her sleeping in Moody's office. She could almost hear his kind voice. "Have some food. You look terrible."

With some sandwiches in her stomach, Claudia wandered into the office.

"Who are-" she began when she spotted a black man leaning over Barraclough's desk. "Adebayo? You're back?" she gasped. It was Adebayo, the other senior auror on Moody's team who left about a year ago to do something hush hush.

"The Head Auror assigned me back," Adebayo said and straightened his posture. "Given the circumstances…"

Claudia bit her lip. "That's Aiden's desk," she hissed and gestured to where Adebayo was standing. The idea that Adebayo would just look through Barraclough's papers like that infuriated her.

"I promise to leave it as it is," Adebayo whispered with an understanding smile. "I just need this casefile."

She could not bring herself to say anything, so instead she just glared. He looked thinner and greyer than she remembered. But he was alive, so hardly had a right to complain.

Before long, Ewan wandered into the office and was as surprised to see Adebayo as Claudia was. "Where have you been?"

"Classified, I'm afraid." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about Aiden. He was a good bloke."

Ewan walked up to their new boss and gave him a big hug. Claudia dug her fingernails into her palms, not entirely sure why all of this bothered her so much.

"Where's Oscar?" Adebayo asked.

Ewan's face twisted in disgust. "He's going to be late."

"Rough night I guess."

"That's one word for it," Ewan smirked and shot Claudia an annoyed look.

"Drop it," she hissed back as Adebayo disappeared into an adjacent meeting room and Claudia and Ewan followed him.

"I wish I could."

Adebayo sat down and sighed. "I know this is the last thing you want to talk about. But I need to know what you are working on, what we need to reassign. I don't expect you to just keep going…"

"Then you don't know us too well," Claudia barked. "Of course we're going to keep working!" She folded her arms across her chest.

"Fine, tell me about your cases then…"

Ewan went first. He talked about his case, but Claudia struggled to listen. She was exhausted, hungover, and constantly on the verge of tears. Every time she saw something that reminded her of Barraclough, tears forced themselves into her eyes. Just as Ewan was wrapping up the overview of the open cases he was working on, Oscar came in and took the only free chair, the one next to Claudia.

"Who's next?" Adebayo asked after exchanging pleasantries and condolences with Oscar.

"You go-" Oscar mumbled.

"No, you go-" Claudia replied, looking away.

"Please-"

"I insist-"

"Claudia, why don't you start," Adebayo interrupted the awkwardness.

"I don't really have much on. I've mostly been on desk duty since…" she paused and sighed. "Since my own time in St Mungo's."

Adebayo moved on but Claudia was too hungover to even listen to the rest of the briefing. Until the very end that was.

Adebayo took a deep breath. "It goes without saying, but you know what the Head Auror's orders were."

"To sit on our arse and do nothing?" Oscar mumbled. "Yeah, we've heard…"

"Look, I've known you long enough to know what you are about to do, Oscar." Adebayo explained. "But let me just tell you this. You are not just going yourself fired, but Moody and everyone in this room too."

"I don't care-"

"Care about the war. About all these cases. They're Aiden's legacy." With those words, Adebayo left them all in the meeting room.

"He's right," Ewan mumbled. "I know you don't want to hear it, but he's right."

Claudia did not know what to say. All she knew was that she needed to get out of the room. She reached for a folder to take it back to her desk. But Instead of the report, she found herself grabbing Oscar's hand.

"I'm sorry – I thought," she mumbled.

"No, I'm sorry. It's your file-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Ewan exclaimed. "Is this what you're going to be like? It's unbearable."

Claudia grabbed the folder as quickly as she could, mumbled something about needing to get another coffee and ran out of there.

The days after Barraclough's death felt like a long, monotonous nightmare... Oscar kept disappearing. Claudia knew exactly where to, but had neither the energy to stop him, nor to join in. Moody was still in hospital, refusing any visitors. They all tried to go but got turned away at the door. Claudia was still spontaneously bursting into tears whenever she thought of Barraclough. And there was little distraction at home too, as Remus was mostly asleep, still recovering from the full moon.

But every cloud had a silver lining. Barraclough's death put Claudia's moping over Sirius into perspective. If it was not meant to be, it was just not meant to be. There were greater tragedies in life than breaking up with a boyfriend. And despite the awkwardness it created, that one night stand with Oscar helped too. She knew nothing would ever come of it, but it did feel like it helped her move on a little.

One morning, about a week after Barraclough had died, Fabian Prewett burst into the office and quickly shut the door behind him.

"What's going-" Claudia blurted out only to realise Oscar was asking Fabian the same question. She forgot they used to be best friends at school.

"I need your help," Fabian explained. "Something weird has been going on at the Daily Prophet. Sources getting their memories wiped. Research disappearing. I need someone to look into it, discreetly."

Oscar sighed. "I can take a look."

"Hang on," Adebayo interrupted. "You can't just decide to jump on that case. You've got that torture investigation. Avery will do it."

Claudia's eyes narrowed. Torture investigation? Sounded a lot more interesting than what Crouch gave them these days. "I can take on the torture investigation, if Oscar-"

"No," Oscar and Adebayo said in unison.

Adebayo continued. "That needs a qualified auror. You take the Daily Prophet complaint." Anticipating protestations, he continued. "I don't want to hear more of this. I'm late for a meeting with the Head Auror."

"I could fucking handle a torture case," Claudia grumbled once he left. "Can't wait for Moody to get back and put this stickler in his place." She sighed and turned to Oscar. This was probably the first time she made eye contact with him since that night they slept together. And it was much less weird than she feared. "Do you just want to switch anyway?"

"It's alright. The torture case is dull. It wouldn't be a fair switch."

"Right." Claudia mumbled, suddenly realising why Oscar was being so evasive about this, before turning to Fabian. "So, I guess you're stuck with me. Shall we?"

Fabian smiled. "I don't mind being stuck with you. I know I'm in good hands."

Oscar's eyes narrowed. "Do you two know each other?"

"No," Claudia jumped in. "Of course, we don't."

"Actually, we do." Fabian corrected her. "I came to warn you about the Daily Prophet article last year, remember?"

"Yes, of course, I completely forgot about that." But Claudia's desperate scrambling was not enough to deceive Oscar.

"Fucking hell," Oscar said then folded his arms against his chest. "You're in the Order!"

"No, I'm not."

Oscar turned to his best friend. "Fabes?"

"What Order?" Fabian smirked.

"Unbelievable…" Oscar scoffed. "The moment the boss is back from St Mungo's, I'm resigning… He lets a trainee be in the Order." He strode towards the door and stormed out.

"Let me talk to him," Claudia sighed and ran out of the office after him. She caught up with Oscar down the corridor and dragged him into an empty meeting room. "I was in the Order before I worked here. Dumbledore recruited me before I left school. Trust me, the boss was not happy about it."

"I still cannot believe it–" Oscar hissed. "Wait until Ewan…"

"Please keep it to yourself."

"Keep a secret from Ewan?" Oscar smirked. "You think just because of-" he stuttered for a moment. "Because of the other night… I'll do things I'd otherwise not do?"

"Well. I've got your back too, remember?" Claudia hissed back, suddenly very aware of his cologne. He was wearing the same one when they slept together. Few more snippets from that night popped into her head. "I would have known if you had a torture case. I know where you've been disappearing. But I am not going to say, am I?"

"Fine. But I want to know everything that happens at those meetings!"

"Sure." Claudia smirked, knowing full well her tone made her real intentions clear. She was not going to tell Oscar a thing. Even if Moody did not fire her for being in the Order, he would certainly fire her for leaking information.

Claudia left Oscar in that meeting room and went to find Fabian again. Together, they went to the Daily Prophet offices.

"Sorry about that," Fabian grimaced as they were walking up the stairs towards his office. "He's been desperate to get into the Order ever since we left school-"

"Don't worry about it, he were bound to figure it out at some point."

"And sorry about this office," he mumbled when they made it to his room. Or rather a broom cupboard which barely fitted a small desk. Every free inch its surface was covered in papers or empty coffee mugs. There was not even enough space for both of them to sit down, so they stood there, Fabian slightly hunched over because of how low the ceiling was. "What do you need to know?"

"Start from the beginning."

"Well," Fabian began. "I was working on this investigative piece; and when I went to double check with one of my informants, they changed their mind. Denied ever knowing me. And my colleague had some leaked documents from the Ministry that had gone missing. He had to pull the whole article."

"You think someone is sabotaging the investigations?"

"Yeah. And we work on some pretty sensitive stuff – if we do have a saboteur or a leak, then it's just a matter of time before someone ends up dead."

"What have you been working on?"

"I can't tell you that-"

Claudia's eyes narrowed. People who did not want to tell her things were usually criminals. "Why?"

"Because it's about your boss."

"Moody?" A wave of anger washed over her. "You need to lay off him, he's been taking Aiden's death really badly. He's still in St Mungo's, won't see any of us. Apparently, he barely eats."

"I don't mean Moody, I mean Crouch…"

Claudia smirked. "Oh, you can publish whatever you want about him."

"Is that right?" Fabian said with a wry smile. "Can I get my pen and paper? Get some dirt."

Claudia could not help but smile a little. "Is that why you lured me in here?"

"I wish," he paused. "But I'm actually worried about his leak."

"Let's get started then. I will need to interview the other people whose articles got sabotaged. Anyone who was helping them. Anyone who has access to their offices."

"Well," Fabian glanced at his watch. "That sounds like a lot, and we have to go to the meeting."

Claudia looked at her own watch. "Shit," she sighed. "Yeah, I don't want to start now and give anyone a heads up that it's being investigated. I'll come back tomorrow?"

"Monday. There are different people working on the Sunday issue."

"Really?"

"Never noticed it's much more about recipes for Sunday roasts, and gossip?"

"I suppose."

They set off to the Order meeting. The meeting venue for the day was not far from Diagon Alley, a basement of a closed-up building near Holborn. They were still on their way when they ran out of things to talk about. Desperate to fill the awkward silence, Claudia remembered Remus' agony from the other night.

"Can I ask you something…" she mumbled. "Is your brother single?"

Fabian stopped in his tracks. "Are you interested?"

"No, no." Claudia shook her head. She could feel her cheeks burning. "A friend was wondering…"

"Well, unless your friend is a bloke," Fabian grinned. "They'd be very disappointed."

"They might be a bloke," Claudia whispered.

"Then, he's single." Fabian opened the door to the meeting, and smiled. "Are you single?"

Claudia's stomach did a somersault. "I guess," she mumbled so unconvincingly that Fabian must have thought she either did not know or was lying. She felt like such an idiot. But there was no time to explain. The door was open, and they found themselves in the middle of a chatty scrum of Order members.

First person she spotted was Peter. He was talking to Remus and was laughing. She felt huge, sudden resentment towards both of them, or anyone in the Order, who all seemed absolutely fine. But then, why would not they be? None of them knew Aiden. None of them were going to miss him. He was just another war death to them.

Claudia walked towards Remus. When Peter saw that she was approaching, he whispered something with a giggle and left.

"Sorry about him. He's taken the breakup news rather-" Remus trailed off.

"Oh, I'm under no illusion," Claudia replied. I know he hates me."

"He doesn't-"

"Of course, he does. But I don't care."

"You don't have to be brave about this…"

Claudia snorted. "I really don't care what he thinks of me. You should try it sometimes. It's liberating."

"You're mean."

"Mean, but right…" They went to sit down together. "Oh, and I asked Fabian about his brother, for you…"

"You did not!"

"Yes, I did. And he is single, and gay."

Remus was still blushing. "Why would you do that?"

"You're welcome."

Few minutes later, Claudia's mood was utterly ruined again when Sirius and Marlene, tanned from their trip to France, walked into the Order meeting together. Neither of them noticed her, as she was sat in a dark corner of the room.

Marlene whispered something into Sirius' ear and brushed his back in a way only a lover would, before disappearing towards what Claudia assumed to be the toilets. Claudia's stomach turned. She knew this was going to happen. She just knew!

She averted her gaze to make sure he did not see she was looking at them. And the fact there were tears in her eyes.

"Evening everyone," Dumbledore's voice echoed around the room. Claudia was glad, the sooner the meeting started, the sooner it would be over, the sooner she would be out of here. "As many of you know, Alastor is in St Mungo's. Do we know any more, Claudia?"

She was forced to raise her head and look at him. "No," she mumbled. "We weren't even told how it happened."

"I heard he was investigating a murder in Scotland," Dumbledore said. "And got ambushed."

"I'll let you know if they tell us anything. In the meantime, Barraclough's funeral is on Saturday if any of you knew him," Claudia added, her voice completely breaking by the end of that sentence.

"What?" A voice carried from the other side of the room. A voice she knew all too well. "Barraclough's dead?"

Slowly, Claudia turned her head and looked at her ex-boyfriend, ignoring whatever it was Dumbledore was saying…

"You okay?" Sirius mouthed.

She turned away in anger. Of course, she was not okay. How could he even ask that? What right did he have to ask that? She forced herself to listen to Dumbledore to calm down.

"Sirius," Dumbledore said. "How was France?"

"The mission was a complete bust," Sirius said, with a frowny glance at Claudia, his voice still shaking a little.

"We spoke to at least a dozen people who were at the Geneva meeting, and no one remembers anything." Marlene, who was now back, added.

Even the sound of her mellow voice made Claudia want to pick up her chair and beat Marlene to death with it. She resisted that urge, but eventually it became too much. She jumped up from her chair. "Sorry, I forgot I needed to do something," she mumbled and ran out of the meeting. When she got to the street, she could not hold her tears any more.

She ran and ran until she found a deserted alleyway and apparated to Remus' apartment. She dropped to the bed and started to sob hysterically.

Somehow seeing Sirius with Marlene was so much worse than seeing him with Benjy. It brought back every dark emotion she ever felt while still at school. All these pretty girls hanging on Sirius' arms. People mocking her when they started to date. They would all be having a field day now.

No matter how long she cried, she could not stop imagining Sirius' face mouthing the 'you okay?'. She was being fanciful if she thought for a moment that she was over him. What would she give to have him hug her right now? To have him take her to Barraclough's funeral. Someone to hold her so she did not have to be in this cold and uncomfortable bed alone.

Claudia had no idea how long had passed before the key rattled in the door.

"Claudia?" she heard Remus whisper. "Are you asleep?"

She did not say anything and pretended she was. No way did she want to talk about any of it. Not about Barraclough. Not about Sirius. Not about anything else that was happening in this shitty world.

"I'm here if you want to talk…" Remus added.

She pressed her face even deeper into the pillow to silence a new wave of sobs. There was nothing to talk about. Everyone that ever mattered to her was gone. One way or another.