September 12

Oi, Freddie,

It's been two weeks and you haven't sent a single letter. Are you still alive? Leah says to leave you alone, but I refuse. Leaving a friend in distress alone is not the James Potter way.

How's the shop? How's Hogsmeade? It's not too late to leave it all and come join us in Mumbai, you know… it's beastly hot here but so fucking fun. Lots of mischief to get into. Al says they've got a Hogsmeade weekend coming up. Tell all of them hi from me!

It's weird, travelling all alone. I feel like I'm a proper adult now, and it's terrifying. Yesterday, Leah caught me calculating our budget and the conversion rates for all the countries we're planning on going to. Don't tell anyone, it's fucking embarrassing.

Jamie

September 15

Jamie –

All good here. There's not much to say, honestly. I'm sorry for not writing, but it turns out unpacking your belongings into a small, dusty flat, and selling fake wands and Fever Fudges all day is weirdly exhausting. It's weird, being in Hogsmeade but not at Hogwarts. Think I'm getting used to it, though. It's quiet, but not too bad.

Oh, Al and Scorpius came by the shop last weekend. They're as in love as ever. Lily and Roxanne and Hugo stopped by, too. She seems to have a lot going on, so try and come home for Christmas so you can grill her properly.

Oh, and Dani says hi, and to bring her back some alcohol from India. Tell me more about Mumbai! It's good it's hot, you and Leah could both use a bit of a tan. Dani and I both think so, you're both far too pale. I promise not to tell anyone about how proper and adult and responsible you've become, although I am disappointed. What would your namesake – and my own! – have to say?

Freddie

September 20

Freddie,

Watch who you're calling pale, dickhead. Or who you're calling responsible. I'm grievously offended. I'll have you know that I am just as irresponsible and fun as ever, which is more than I can say for you, Head Boy.

We're not in Mumbai anymore. We've gone south. We're spending the week in Chennai, but we think we'll go to Sri Lanka after there. It's funny – Leah made all these plans, but now that we're here, we think it's fun to just kind of abandon them and fuck around here. It's fun! We've bought so many souvenirs we can't really travel light anymore, so we're going to stop by the Ministry in Colombo in Sri Lanka to see about getting them sent home.

What's all this about Lily? You can't just leave me hanging like that! Don't tell me she's gone and found herself a boyfriend. Who's the poor bloke?

Jamie

October 5

Freddie,

Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me about Lily if you don't want to. I'll get it out of her when we come home for Christmas – if we do. We got to Sri Lanka a couple of days ago. Dropped off everyone's gifts at the Ministry in Colombo – who knew international postage is that expensive? We're in Galle now. It's amazing, and has a surprising amount of wizards here. You know, it's not too late for you and Dani to join us here…

Jamie

October 17

Freddie,

Did something happen with the shop or something? Or… or with Anna? I'm starting to get worried. Just let me know if everything's okay. You can tell me, you know.

If disappearing is a prank, then it's definitely not one of your better ones. Write to me, idiot.

Jamie

"We should – call someone. Aurors," Danielle said.

Freddie couldn't tear his eyes away from the ring in the man's hand. Thomas, he remembered suddenly. That was the man's name. Benjamin Thomas. It'd been scrawled on the parchment that the man had handed him. He didn't know why he remembered it only now, at this precise moment, when the old man was sprawled out on the floor of the shop – his shop, his family's shop. The man, illuminated in wandlight. The light around him was wavering, but – no, that was his own hand, shaking as he held the wand aloft. He wished Jamie were here. Or his dad, he would know what to do. Mum, too.

"Freddie?" Danielle asked, sounding unsure.

"Right," Freddie mumbled to himself, and then, again, "Right. Okay. You're right. We should call the Aurors."

He looked nicer like this. The man. Freddie thought it, and then instantly felt guilty for the thought. He had been grumpy when he came to the shop last week. Not very nice at all. His face had been furrowed into a frown, and he'd called Freddie son in a way that had annoyed him instantly. Now, though, he looked peaceful. Like he was sleeping.

"I'll go do it," Danielle said. Freddie had the distinct impression that, more than anything else, she wanted to leave, and to tear her eyes away from the sight. "Can I use your Floo?"

"Yeah, of course. Wait – hang on," Freddie said. He forced himself to take a step closer, and then another, until he was right next to the man. He squatted down, transferring his wand to his left hand and pressing two shaking fingers to the man's neck. The first thought he registered was that he was

A moment.

Another.

And then Freddie felt a wave of relief wash over him. He turned to look at Danielle, still crouched down on the floor.

"Well?" she said.

"Alive," Freddie said. "His pulse is weak, but it's there. We should get him to Mungo's."

"I'll Floo to the Ministry first. The Aurors will get him to Mungo's," Danielle said.

Freddie took a moment or two, and then stood up, putting his hands in the pockets of his pyjamas. "Alright," he said. "I'll stay here. Just in case I see anything."

"Smart," Danielle said, and took a deep breath. "It'll be okay. We'll get him to Mungo's. The Aurors will find out what happened. He'll be alright. Everything will be. Right?"

She sounded… frazzled. Unlike her usual self. Freddie couldn't blame her one bit. He felt oddly disconnected from himself, and his usual sense of calmness seemed to be evading him entirely.

"Right," he said slowly, forcing his gaze away to look at Danielle.

"Right," she repeated, and exchanged one last look with him before she walked back upstairs.

Freddie wondered if she was trembling like he was, if she didn't know what to do with herself. He was alive, he told himself. He was alive, and he would stay that way until they got him to Mungo's. And then, like Danielle said, they would get to the bottom of it.

He could have conjured himself a chair. Instead, though, he sunk down onto the ground, right there, and smoothed his hand over his pyjamas, trying to ignore the way the ring in his pocket jostled as he did.

October 20

Jamie –

Sorry I didn't write to you or Leah. Something insane happened at the shop last night. I can't say more about it, because I have to deal with it now, and go speak to Uncle Harry and the other Aurors.

I do wish you were here, though. The Aurors are threatening to close off the shop while they work on the case, and I am very annoyed by them. They're all twats. Well. Not Uncle Harry, to be fair, or Teddy, but the rest of them.

Have fun in Sri Lanka – I'll try and write soon.

Freddie

"But what could that mean?" Jamie said, frowning at the piece of parchment that had appeared – like magic, ha – on his bedside table that morning. "Something insane happened, he says. Doesn't say if it's good or bad. What could it mean?"

Next to him, Leah furrowed her eyebrows in thought, peering over Jamie's shoulder at the letter as if hoping to get more information the second time around reading it. She was wearing a strappy dress and spreading sunscreen on her arms. "Maybe something insane… is something good?" she said.

Jamie turned to look at her, and lost track of his thoughts for a moment as he watched her slide the strap of her dress down her shoulder so she could apply her sunscreen there, too. "How could something insane be something good if the Aurors showed up?"

"I don't know," Leah admitted, and then tugged the strap of her dress back up. She ran a hand through her hair; it was usually sleek and smooth, but the humidity made it thicker and wavier than usual. It hit her shoulders, and Jamie had the sudden urge to lean over and tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear, so he did. She brought her hand up, holding onto his own and giving it a squeeze. "Are you worried?"

"Yes," Jamie admitted. "I mean… who knows what Freddie's gone and got himself into without me? Or Dani. You know what they're like. No sense at all between the two of them."

"You're one to talk," Leah said, amused, and then, "We should wait. We can send Freddie another letter. And maybe write to Dani, too."

"Right," Jamie said slowly.

"Maybe you should write to your dad, too," Leah suggested, getting to her feet. "Freddie said the Aurors were involved. He'll know, won't he?"

"I'm sure he will," Jamie said, gloomy in the way he only was when he worried about the people he loved, "but when does he ever tell me anything? And how are we meant to have fun when Merlin knows what is happening to Freddie?"

While Jamie was talking, Leah walked to the little kettle on the desk in the hotel. She peered distrustfully at the plug socket, and then tapped it with her wand instead. "Surely he wouldn't have told us to have fun if it was something very bad," she said.

"It's Freddie. He'd tell us to have fun no matter what," Jamie pointed out.

Leah returned to the bed, and handed Jamie a cup of tea, cradling her own in her hands once he'd taken it from her. Ceylon tea: both of their new favourite kind. Jamie's had milk and far too much sugar in it, just how he liked it, and he took a grateful sip from it.

"That's true," Leah conceded. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves, right? We'll write to him and Dani. I'm sure we'll hear from them soon."

They hadn't brought parchment or paper, but the small Muggle hotel they were staying at in Galle had a pad of paper and pen on the bedside table. Jamie grabbed it now, setting his tea down to do it, and wrote out two letters very quickly, his handwriting scrawly and messy in his haste. "There," he said.

Leah tapped the letters with her wand, one after the other, and they disappeared in a flash of purple light. "There. Now we'll see if we hear back by tomorrow," she said, calmly. "Should we go see the fort now?"

They still hadn't heard anything by the end of the day. Or by the next morning. Or by the night.

"Did you get anything back from your parents?" Leah asked, the next night, once they got back from dinner.

"No," Jamie said. "Well, I did, but all my dad said was that he can't reveal any more details of what happened, but Freddie and Danielle are fine."

"That's something, isn't it?" Leah said.

"Yeah," said Jamie, "I suppose."

There was a pause, as they both met each other's gaze. And then, Leah nodded, as if concluding a conversation. "Alright," she said. "So we're going back, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Jamie said. "I mean… unless you don't want to cut our trip short…"

"Don't be stupid," Leah said. "Of course we're going back. I'll set up the Portkeys if you pack."

"I love you," Jamie said fervently, as they both got to their feet.

Leah winked at him. "I know," she said. "Now come on. We've got work to do."