After Alice and Frank told Moody that they would join the Order, and the man passed that information to Dumbledore, the Aurors had multiple meetings with other members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Finding out that some fellow Aurors were trying to capture Dark Wizards should have not come as a surprise, Alice hadn't truly expected to be the first Auror recruited by Alastor Moody.

Caradoc Dearborn and Edgar Bones were already working in the office when Alice and Frank joined, and they were on the track to become Sargent soon. She had offered them a bitter cup of tea as payback for keeping such a secret.

The Prewett Twins had been Frank's roommates in school as well. Oh, that had made her husband madder than their Auror colleagues. The Slytherin had laughed so hard at her husband reaction. Absolute denial, he just couldn't believe that his so-called friends would keep such a big secret from him.

They were spending an evening at Fabian and Gideon's apartment, on the outskirts of muggle London, preparing themselves for their mission later that night.

"I still can't believe you two jerks kept this from me!" Frank complained, for the hundredth time, over another slice of egg custard pie that they had brought.

"You need to let that go, Longbottom." Gideon rolled his eyes.

"We are all sworn to secrecy, like the two of you are now. So I don't know how you thought we could tell you." His brother completed.

"Well, you could have invited me to one of these impromptu dinners. And I would just knock on the door and oops, you would be here having dinner with other members planning a mission." Alice stroked her husband's hair, rolling her eyes.

"We're not late for the party, Frank. The party only starts when we arrive!" She whispered with a smirk.

"Just eat your pie, Longbottom, so we can go. It's almost time." Fabian said.

"If for some reason any of us needs assistance, remember that we cannot go to St Mungo's." The other Prewett brother said, tying his long red hair in a ponytail. "It was smart of you to cut your hair, Alice."

"Not the reason I did it, if I'm being honest. I was longing for a change for some time, even before Moody approached me." She confessed. "But if you want to finally part ways with your hair, I will cut it for free. I'll even keep a strand as fond memory" She teased.

"No, no. You rock the short hairstyle, but I would not" Gideon said, and Alice felt the hold of Frank's arm around her waist, tightening. The woman squeezed his thigh, reassuring him, even if he had nothing to worry about. She would rather kiss Linden Parkinson, and she hated the man with all her magic than ever touch one of these ginger menaces.

"So… let's get over the plan once more," Alice said, hoping to change the subject.

"Are you sure that MacNair's Floo is down?"

"Yes, he was in the Ministry yesterday, screaming that he needed the Floo to be repaired because he would have an important meeting happening at his house," Frank informed. "And there's an apparition point close by. That was one of the reasons why it wasn't so high on the repairing list."

"This is a recon mission, Gryffindors, do you hear me?" Alice pointed a finger at each of them. "Our only job is to watch who arrives and identify them. And sent that information to Dumbledore."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The twins said in unison.

"That means that we won't engage in any form of an active duel." She added.

"But… you two are Aurors, you could just arrest them if it was necessary!" Fabian pouted.

"No! Alice and I are not working at the moment. They don't go to Azkaban when we arrest them as Aurors, either way." He shrugged.

"Fuck the Ministry" Gideon whispered, but it was loud enough to show his disdain.

"Don't say that… they're doing their best. They don't want to spread the panic, they don't want people to be afraid." Alice sighed, she had had this conversation before.

"Yeah, muggleborns, don't be afraid. You might just get killed tomorrow just because you exist." Fabian rolled his eyes and Alice flinched once he threw the glass he was holding against the wall.

"Take it easy, Frewett! And don't come on his aid, Grewett" Frank said. "You don't work on the ministry. You don't know what's happening there."

"Corruption is what's happening there. Corruption and Influence. And you go free." Fabian complained. "You two are only less angry than us because you have lost no one close to you! Yet. You have surrounded yourselves with pureblood friends and so everything is okay."

Alice could feel the tension in the room, it was terrible. Frank had been so excited about having dinner with Fabian and Gideon, and now, now she was almost certain that this night would end with some hexing between them.

"I think we should go, Frank. Let's apparate a little bit early and take a walk to check the zone." She said, getting up and holding her hand out for him. "You two give us five to ten minutes just to make a quick patrol, check for any nefarious or warding spells, and then apparate."

"We know how to check for wards, Alice." Fabian rolled his eyes "We have been members of the order for almost 3 years. We probably know more spells than you ever learn on Auror Training."

"Now, there's where you cross the line, Prewett! Don't you dare even try to insinuate that our training is not worthy? Frank and I worked very hard to become Constables. We trained under Moody himself. Are you saying that he doesn't know what he's doing? That he lets everyone join the Auror Office even if they're not worthy?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow and hands on her hips. "Don't answer that!"

"Let's go, Lissie," Frank said, taking her hand and leading her out of the door. Her husband would always be a Gryffindor, but the loyalty to her, to his family, was even more important than some friendships. He wouldn't have done too bad in Slytherin. They walked in silence until the nearest apparition point. And just a few seconds later they were in Canterbury.

Alice found a little alley and pushed him through. Casting a silencing charm around them.

"How could they say those things? They're my friends!" He complained, and Alice was imagining the way that he would punch a wall and probably bruise or break his hand. And hot-headed like he was, it would probably be his wand hand.

"They're just nervous, darling. They didn't measure the words they said." She said, holding his hands between hers, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "They didn't mean it. They know we're not on the bad side."

"We shared a dorm for years, and now… now, what? They don't believe in me. Don't believe I'm capable of doing my job. They think that if it was for me, I wouldn't have filled Azkaban with all the Death Eaters that I have stunned?" He said.

"We will just need to prove to them how committed we are to the Order. To the Light. That the fact that we are Purebloods changes nothings." Alice said.

"And the stupidest thing, Lissie, is that the two of them are purebloods as well." He chuckled. "They're just so stupid."

"It's not you, love. It's me. They never really enjoyed the fact that you had fallen head over heels with a snake." She winked, trying to light the conversation. She hated to see him hurt.

Those words always made him stop in his tracks. "Oh, Lissie. I wouldn't change you for anything in the world, you're my one and only."

"You'll see, love. I will just show them that I'm focused on being part of the solution and not the problem." Alice whispered, pecking his lips.

"You don't need to change, Lissie."

"I know, but once I'm transformed, once I'm reborn, they will see how wrong they truly were about me, and there's nothing I like more than ripple other people's misconceptions!" She winked. Frank laughed, wrapping his arms around her, and spinning her around. "Shhh, you'll get us caught!"

"If for some reason, someone tries to catch us, we will just… have a great snog session, and they look away." He explained. "No one likes public displays of affection."

"A great snog session on a dark alley! I'm a married woman, sir! I cannot indulge in such activities," She faked being scandalised, slapping his arm.

"But, my lady, are you certain there's nothing I can do to convince you otherwise?" He asked, a smirk on his face as he wrapped his arm around her middle and led them back to the main street.

They found the Prewett twins, and the mission was a success. They couldn't be sure that all the men and women present at the party were Death Eaters, but either way, they were supporters. It was not a surprise to see Lucius, with his sister-in-law, Bellatrix, her husband, and her brother-in-law. It was just the confirmation she needed. She had made peace with it a couple of months ago.

Goyle and Crabbe were also not a surprise. Where Lucius went, they followed like cruppies. It had been like that throughout Hogwarts. The Carrow Twins, now those two she wasn't expecting, and from the grin on Alecto's face, one would think she was going to the theatre.

There was a man that she had never seen before. She didn't remember him from Hogwarts, even though he was around their age. She wondered if that meant that Voldemort had supporters out of the continent, and that could only mean bad things. That his ideology was spreading through Europe like what had happened decades before with Gellert Grindelwald.

And the last to arrive, Snape, Regulus Black and Barty Crouch Junior.

"Fuck. I will kill that little shit!" She heard Frank whisper beside her. "I will raid the Crouch Manor tomorrow and hex that child until he understands what's happening in the world."

"Shhh," Alice said, squeezing his hand. "Don't get us caught."

He nodded, just turning around, and leaning his forehead against the pipe behind him. Alice stroked his back, but her eyes were still on the street that led to the house, just in case someone else appeared, like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named itself.

When they reappeared on the Prewett's flat for a cup of tea and some biscuits. Gideon and Fabian had seen other wizards and witches. Linden Parkinson, Evan Rosier, Catherine Dobbs and Patricia Zeller. It was terrifying how the pureblood elitist ideology was even spreading to half-bloods. How was it possible?

Well, Alice knew how it was possible, Voldemort himself was, after all, the son of a muggle man.