Disclaimer: Mostly JK Rowlings characters with my own spin.

A/N: The story information for Elijah is at the beginning of this chapter, which breaks from my usual pattern. I'm attempting to keep chapters short, though I get urges to draw them out to exorbitant lengths.

And now...

Chapter 6 – Lover's Spat

Elijah lurched to his feet, "You saw him with a Nazi? Surely you reported that to the Ministry!" He shook a finger at Albus as he spoke and his eyes were unnaturally large.

Albus pressed his fingertips together, wondering how to explain this in a way that Elijah would be able to accept. "Yes, Elijah, we both reported what we saw. Thanks to a quick spell, I was able to keep our presence undetected and both Lorelei and myself believed that the Ministry couldn't possibly ignore what we had witnessed, though neither of us understood anything spoken between the two. I have since learned to speak German, but did not understand a word of it two years ago."

"You might recall that the Minister was in Lorelei's home and we crept back in, pulled him aside to describe the scene. But then Tavin Figg sought us out, Grindelwald and his friend in tow, and told us that a spy had brought important information straight out of the Third Reich planning office."

"Grindelwald's companion was introduced as Hans Vandenhoff, and said that he was a wizard who had been sent to spy by the German Ministry before its destruction. With the desemation of the German Ministry of Magic, and the slaughter of hundreds of witches and wizards from its ranks, it seemed logical enough that Vandenhoff might choose then to report to an old friend who had survived, and that was Grindelwald."

"But we know now that Vandenhoff was one of Grindelwald's supporters. Several aurors captured him six weeks ago," Elijah argued.

"Quite right – we know now," Albus replied. "Then, it was not so clear. Grindelwald set himself up perfectly, and left me to look like a paranoid fool in the process."

"Did Vandenhoff provide intelligence?" Elijah asked.

Nicholas nodded and answered for Albus. "Yes, he revealed that Axis Forces planned to invade Sicily in just days. On July 19th, that is precisely what took place, and British Forces were present. Our Minister talked to the other minister and passed on the information. It was a crushing blow for the Axis and led to Italy's surrender."

Elijah seemed to calm and took his seat again. "So the Ministry did the right thing," he remarked.

"Not entirely, Elijah, for they missed the obvious," Albus countered. "Here was a man claiming to be a spy within the German Army, yet he provided intelligence that more directly affected Italy. Do not forget that in two months, German forces evacuated Sicily and rescued Mussolini. Despite everything we thought we knew, Germany even managed to occupy Rome, while Britain's forces were too badly split to stop it. But more to the point, Germany managed to continue its campaign of genocide in that same summer, removing and murdering thousands of Jews who had been forced into the ghettos of Poland. We'd been too distracted to see these plans until it was too late. The muggle death toll was staggering, and our inside man didn't manage to warn us of any of it."

"Did you realize this right away?" Elijah questioned, in a such a low volume that Albus almost didn't hear him.

"No, Elijah, I did not. I did realize it before the Ministry did, but when I tried to warn them, I was told my credibility was in question and that my meddling could destroy Great Britain."

"That's quite an accusation," Elijah admitted.

"Yes," Nicholas interjected. "Albus probably won't tell you how it hurt him, but it did." Nicholas caught Albus' eye and offered an encouraging smile.

"But the worst of it did not fall on my shoulders," Albus pointed out. "It was Lorelei who felt the largest blow. Her part in questioning Grindelwald's intentions on the evening of the dinner party drove a wedge between herself and her parents, and her beloved sister by association. It was the latter that Lorelei pined for the most, having come to think of her sister as her best friend. She spent the rest of the summer with me, exchanging frigid correspondence with her father by owl, and struggling to find a way to reconnect with Arabella."

Albus recalled a number of occasions when Lorelei had burst into tears over the situation. Such an estrangement had never seemed possible to her before that time. Worse, Hogwarts, during the summer holidays, is not the best environment for someone who is a social being by nature. While Albus spent hours organizing student information and payments, and poring over curriculum changes with Headmaster Dippet, Lorelei had grown restless and sullen.

On one occasion, he'd found her down by the lake edge throwing bits of bread to the giant squid. He had known when he approached that she was in a temper, though he'd not realized it was rooted in frustration.

"Lorelei, dear heart, I've been looking for you for most of an hour," he had started. It had been the wrong thing to say.

"Had you expected me to be waiting in your office for you to light my existence with your company?" she snapped sarcastically.

He'd stopped short, unsure what how to proceed. Lover's spats were not a new concept to him, and yet at that particular moment he couldn't put his finger on what he might have done to anger her. "I never expect you to wait for me," he managed finally. "Certainly you have your own projects and you are free to move about as you please. Have I done anything to suggest otherwise?"

His reasonable tone seemed only to exacerbate her frustration. "Of course not. I think you hardly notice I'm here most of the time, and you usually don't ask how I've been occupying my days. You're busy with the running of this school despite the fact that no students are present. When it comes to Hogwarts you are completely myopic! Don't you ever go on holiday?" she demanded.

"Not often," he answered honestly, folding his hands together. "And only then at wand-point." He had thought that a touch of humor would help. It hadn't.

"All the other teachers are gone, Albus," Lorelei charged. "Even Dippet manages to escape for the majority of the week. I've grown tired of conversing with ghosts and the giant squid, not that you'd notice. I could have a sordid affair with a house elf and not manage to draw you from your endless books, notes and calculations!" She flung her hands in the air in a helpless and angry gesture.

Albus tried not to laugh, but the image of her stooping to kiss a house elf beneath his large nose was so ludicrous that he couldn't help it. To his horror, she responded by bursting into tears. He closed the distance and pulled her into his embrace, only reaching for his kerchief as an afterthought. He handed it to her.

"I have no projects, Albus, Arabella was my only one for the past two years," she whimpered. "My work in the muggle relations office was ended when the war picked up. I'm bored with reading and miss my own haunts. I had thought that exploring all the secrets of Hogwarts would be an adventure, but that dreadful Peeves shows up at every turn and has nothing better to do all day than pelt me with spit balls and insults. And I think you should know that he's far too fascinated with your anatomy to be allowed."

She'd said the whole thing so seriously that Albus again roared with laughter. This time instead of crying, she chuckled along. He kissed her cheek and stroked her hair slightly. "I'm afraid you've learned my darkest secret," he said. She lifted her gaze to meet his, confused. "While I may be able to figure out the twelve uses of dragon's blood, women remain a complete mystery to me. I had figured you'd share your adventures with me if you wanted to and I didn't pry, imagining that you would consider anything else an invasion of privacy."

She rolled her eyes and stared at him disbelievingly. "Do you mean that all I had to do was offer this information two weeks ago and could have been put out of my misery?"

"Yes, dearest, that is precisely what I mean. Very nearly all that you've told me can be fixed. I have some interesting spells that frighten the pranks right out of Peeves. There are secrets to Hogwarts that few know but myself; I could show you. Certainly you could visit your old haunts while I'm attending to tasks that I can't avoid, or wait until I'm free and let me accompany you. And I suspect that Arabella probably misses you as much as you miss her. She cannot apparate to escape your mother's consternation or your father's not-so-subtle hints about her marital status. If Wilhelm is behaving in his usual manner to her, she's probably desperately wishing we had transfigured him into a toad."

Lorelei smiled. "I hope you're right, Albus."

"Why don't we ask? I can stop being so obsessive about work for awhile. I'll accompany you. Is your family still in Manchester or did they move up to the house in Glasgow for the summer?"

"Glasgow. Father still prefers to spend the majority of each year in Scotland. Were it not for his Ambassadorial status, he probably would trade in the Manchester House. He's a bit of a snob that way."

"Let's stop by greenhouse one and take Arabella something exotic and colorful as a peace offering," Albus suggested.

"Got anything that nips German fingers?" she asked, one eyebrow cocked.

Albus laughed. "Still don't trust Grindelwald do you?"

"In my experience, those who prey on someone weaker than themselves are always bad apples."

If only she had realized sooner how very right she was.

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