Chapter 20
Summer at The Daily Prophet
The summer of 1978 was warm and sticky. Normally I would have spent half the time sleeping and the other half kicking a ball around our backyard. While that summarized my weekends, weekdays were much more exciting.
The Daily Prophet internship turned out much more interesting and fulfilling than I ever thought it would. While journalism was never a particularly solid passion of mine, having experienced the ins and outs of the Daily Prophet's business processes, it actually didn't seem half bad.
With the current war growing across Great Britain, there was a much deeper need for quick and accurate journalism within the wizarding world. As the largest newspaper establishment, the Daily Prophet was under pressure from the public to report incidents as soon as possible.
Subscriptions had nearly tripled and journalists' work multiplied with it. That explained the urgent need for interns who could offer support, especially now during the summer when families were together and everyone was back home. The threat of the war was much more prominent and public wizarding streets were practically ghost towns.
Even after the surge of public raids, the Daily Prophet relocated to an abandoned muggle building a few streets down from Diagon Alley. It was charmed not to be seen by both muggle and magical folks passing by; those who did could only recognize a dingy-looking red-brick building, left to rot by its owner.
For Daily Prophet workers, the only entrance was through an alley next to the building where there was a trap door. Only meant to be charmed open by authorized employees, a steel elevator would rise from the ground.
Of course, most workers would opt to apparate straight inside, but I wasn't too confident about my apparition skills despite earning my license weeks ago. An embarrassing splinch in front of the entire Daily Prophet team wasn't something I fancied happening.
Nearly a month into my internship, I'd gotten used to the routine of coming to work and expecting my tasks for the day. Every morning my mum would make me packed lunch and hastily stuff it in my rucksack before I headed out the door. Then I'd take a muggle bus to the street where the abandoned flat building was and take the entrance in the alleyway.
For my first week, I was assigned to help out the folks handling the sports section to draft and proofread Quidditch columns, as promised by the newspaper ad. The other sorts came in a week later – juggling me between the sports section and breaking news, the latter much more understaffed and overworked.
The breaking news team consisted of only fifteen wizards and witches, each assigned as field reporters, writers, or media. With the rising number of cases linked to Voldemort, it was clear as day how difficult it was for the smallest team in the Daily Prophet to manage the workload.
Luckily for them, they had one of the most infamous journalists of our time – one of the field reporters, Francis Lancaster. He was a tall and lean twenty-six year old journalist with flat brown hair, electric blue eyes, and rectangular spectacles. He had the charm and charisma matching a typical extrovert.
He worked for the Daily Prophet since he finished school at Hogwarts and was one of the most famous reporters in Great Britain for his daring stunts of appearing at dangerous scenes with his media partner just to catch a good story in action.
During the war, he was responsible for publishing stories that no one else dared to cover on the field due to the uncertainty of getting caught in a risky area. Unconcerned with receiving the signal from the Aurors that the scene was clear, Lancaster was stubborn and insisted that being late could risk not having a story at all.
I often found myself in the company of my fellow intern who graduated from Hogwarts three years ago. Her name was Emily Pollard and she was a bit of a free soul too, spending the past three years in North America before returning home to pursue her career dream in journalism and to be with her family during the war.
She mostly kept to herself until we were pushed together in a room to proofread a mountain of articles due the next morning. Since then, she was warmer towards me and had a dry sense of humor to her too.
On my fourth week, the office was bursting with activity at eleven in the morning when word from the Ministry got out about a brutal attack in a muggle village in Manchester. The Dark Mark was tainted in the sky and Aurors were on the scene. Lancaster disapparated to the village the moment he heard and Emily and I were welcomed by a pile of drafts to proofread for publishing that same afternoon.
That day I was invited to James and Lily's housewarming party after finally moving out together, but I was starting to wonder if it would push through given the circumstances of the day's events. All I received was a short note with the address and a particularly gruesome warning about telling anybody of their whereabouts after all.
Since I ended my sixth year at Hogwarts, I hadn't seen the seventh year Gryffindors. Sirius wrote to me a total of two times with short and vague updates. With the lack of information in his letters, I hardly knew a thing.
Lacey and I kept in touch as usual, but her parents were too strict to let her out of the house. I'd only seen her once when I visited after work about two weeks ago, but even visitors were discouraged to visit their home. Death Eaters in disguise were a common thing now, after all.
Emily was good enough company during the day without me going completely insane with the detachment from my Hogwarts friends due to the war, but I missed the comfort of the castle. Even with the strange way Sirius and I parted, I would have traded that with the current situation in London for the entire world.
On the bright side, being separated from Lacey and the Marauders allowed me to fully immerse myself in my internship. With no distractions, it was great to feel independent and explore what I wanted to do after Hogwarts.
Emily, who was older than me and much more experienced, offered useful inputs. Coming from Ravenclaw, she was quite sensible and pleasing to talk to, always ready to talk business and give advice.
As we proofread together in our shared cubicle, it was never awkward to start small talk despite the topics of conversation mostly surrounding themes of the war. Considering Lancaster had just disapparated with a loud pop, it was a particularly difficult topic to ignore.
"I heard the war was bad but I didn't expect this," Emily said thoughtfully as her eyes scanned the article she was proofreading.
"It can probably still get worse from here," I said darkly, sipping from my mug of coffee. "Quidditch's most likely cancelled this season and don't think I'm too excited to return to Hogwarts when half the students have probably dropped out by now."
"Starting to feel I should've stayed in America," Emily snorted.
"What I would've done," I muttered.
"Don't think I would've been able to pursue journalism in America though," Emily said. "Corporations there are much more modern and structured, so the people aren't exactly the most welcoming. The management there would have already told Lancaster off for going on his own to dangerous scenes."
"He'd love that," I chuckled dryly. "Don't think anyone can tell him what to do here. He doesn't strike me as the type to follow instructions."
"You Gryffindors are all the same," Emily commented with raised eyebrows. "To be frank, I never liked your lot when I was in Hogwarts. They were always so full of themselves and talked louder than Dumbledore. Can't say if it's different now."
"Not too different really," I said, tone laced with humor as I recalled the four seventh year Gryffindor boys.
Emily smiled and looked at the wall, reminiscing.
"Well, I've met a few decent ones. I dated a Gryffindor in school and he was actually quite nice. Too bad it didn't work out."
"What happened?" I asked, curiosity peaked.
"Oh, he cheated on me with another Gryffindor," Emily said, nonchalant.
"Right… " I pursed my lips. "Sounds like a nice bloke."
"We had our good times." Emily shrugged.
Eager to shift the topic away from how crappy Gryffindors could be, I briskly shifted topics.
"So what got you into journalism?" I asked curiously. "I haven't really got an idea of my plans after Hogwarts yet. Whole reason why I'm here actually."
"Oh, I didn't even know I wanted to be a journalist when I was in Hogwarts," Emily said, her words giving me comfort. "I went to America to visit some of my family and I stayed there because I wasn't really sure what to do."
She lifted her head from the parchment with a thoughtful look.
"I've always liked to write and I met a muggle at a pub who was a reporter. He showed me his pieces and I knew it was the right path to take. Though it turns out, he was just using me because he thought I was a famous muggle British actress."
I squinted at her, taking in the stringy long brown hair, cropped bangs, and hazel eyes. She did look a bit like Caroline Munro, if Caroline Munro wore jean jackets, high top boots, and didn't star in science fiction movies. The muggle might have been onto something there.
"You've got an unfortunate history with men, don't you?" I said, face twisting in discomfort.
"I know, it's a shame, isn't it?" Emily sighed. "At least he helped me realize what I want to do. Field reporting isn't really my style, so I think I'd be better off doing copywriting in the back end. I saw the Daily Prophet listing and I thought I'd give it a shot."
"Field reporting sounds the most exciting to me," I admitted. "Lancaster's actually quite inspiring."
"Like I said," Emily said pointedly, "you Gryffindors are all the same."
I laughed lightly then heard a loud crack echo in the room. The small team for breaking news stiffened at their desks, craning their necks to check who arrived. Emily and I followed their line of sight.
In the middle of the office, Lancaster appeared with his wand out, breathing heavily as blood trickled down the side of his cheek from a large gash that ran across his forehead. He stumbled on his feet and leaned against the closest office desk, blood dripping down and staining the parchment below.
The team gasped at the sight of him. Emily and I exchanged worried looks as two of Lancaster's colleagues rushed to help him stand on his feet.
The large mahogany door at the far end opened with a loud bang and an ageing woman in a pinstriped pencil skirt and fancy emerald robes strode in. The room hastily returned behind their desks and pretended to continue with their work.
I recognized the intimidating woman as Mrs. Abbey, the chief editor of the Daily Prophet. As soon as it registered, I sat back down in panic, pulling Emily with me to keep away from her line of sight. I could still observe from the edge of our shared desk, following with my eyes as she approached a heavy-breathing Lancaster as his colleagues muttered healing charms at the gash on his forehead.
"I see you're back," Mrs. Abbey said when she reached him, arms crossed and tone threatening.
"In one piece," Lancaster said, risking a large grin on his face.
Mrs. Abbey looked far from amused.
"I took some shots of the scene," Lancaster said almost flippantly, as if he wasn't bleeding his skull out on the table. He pulled out a camera from his rucksack and handed it to his superior.
"One of the photos might show the face of the Death Eater involved before he disapparated. Have it developed now and I can sell it to the Ministry before dinner."
Mrs. Abbey slowly received the camera, staring at it with her eyes narrowed. The open gash on Lancaster's head was gone, leaving a vague scar across. His colleagues hurriedly left the scene to return to their desks but everyone subtly had their eyes on the exchange between the field reporter and the chief editor.
"You could have gotten yourself killed," Mrs. Abbey spat, fist clenched.
"All for the good of wizarding kind, eh?" Lancaster chuckled.
"Don't make me laugh," Mrs. Abbey snapped. "You're doing this to print stories. For your own name. Francis Lancaster does it again! Risks his life to publish breaking news with never seen before photos of the attack!"
"Viv, I care about this war!" Lancaster said in disbelief. "I'm doing this to print stories for the good of everyone, are you serious?"
"Whether or not there's a war, you'd put yourself in these situations without question," Mrs. Abbey said, digging her finger in his chest. I nearly missed the fact that Lancaster called her by a nickname, but no one seemed as shocked with it as I was.
"I work for breaking news, Viv!" Lancaster exclaimed. "It can't be breaking news if we have to wait for a bloody signal from the Aurors every single time. By then, they'd have already searched and cleared the place."
"I can't lose an employee because of misplaced bravery, Francis." Mrs. Abbey stood her ground. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there? We wait for the Aurors' signal because they tell us when it's safe. These are mad times we're in!"
"I have to do it, Vivian," Lancaster said stubbornly. "These people need to know what we're up against. Develop the photos and you'll understand."
Mrs. Abbey frowned at the camera in her hand, silence taking over the room for a few seconds. It started to become obvious that the entire room was watching them, not a single sound of scribbling or stamping.
"Wilma, get these developed," Mrs. Abbey said, holding out the camera to her left while her eyes still seared into Lancaster's.
A plump middle-aged woman rushed forward to take the camera and scurried into the red room. Lancaster smirked in victory and strolled back to his desk, which was right in front of me and Emily's.
Mrs. Abbey's eyes followed him as he collapsed on his seat, arms stiffly crossed against her chest and clearly not done with him yet.
"I'm warning you, Francis," she said menacingly. "This has to stop."
"You know I won't, Viv," Lancaster drawled, spinning his chair around to face her. "What? You gonna sack me?"
"No," Mrs. Abbey said. "But if you must force me, I will keep an eye on you."
"And how are you supposed to do that?" Lancaster snorted.
The chief editor scanned the room with her eyes, the workers hastily looking away when her gaze passed their direction. Finally, she stopped to look in our direction, and I stared back at her wide-eyed, feeling an uncertain bubbling in the pit of my stomach.
"You, intern," Mrs. Abbey said, eyes locked on me. "What's your name?"
"Er... Monica Dyer," I replied slowly, admittedly scared for my life.
"I'm assigning you to Francis Lancaster," she said bitingly and Lancaster's face whitened in shock. "Francis, you will supervise Ms. Dyer for the rest of the summer."
"What—Viv, that is so unfair!" Lancaster cried. "I can't take her on the field! She hasn't even finished school yet!"
"Precisely," Mrs. Abbey said with a smirk. "And if you put her in the face of the slightest danger, get ready for the consequences. Ensure you only show up at the scene after the Aurors clear it, do you understand me?"
Lancaster groaned and pounded his desk with his fist in frustration. I continued to sit there, feeling my body stiffen at the events unfolding before my eyes.
"And while you're on the field, I'm assigning Wilma to you for media," Mrs. Abbey continued.
"Alright, now that's unnecessary!" Lancaster exclaimed. "I work alone, Vivian! I can do media myself!"
"Not anymore," she said shortly before turning on her heel and marching out the door, signaling the end of their heated conversation.
"Bloody hell," I heard Emily whisper in awe next to me.
The rest of the room started chatting amongst themselves as soon as the door closed behind Mrs. Abbey and a couple of Lancaster's colleagues approached him to discuss what had just happened. He seemed to be in the mood for an aggressive rant, waving his hands around like a maniac while rapidly cussing Mrs. Abbey's new assignments.
It still hadn't completely sunk in that I was newly appointed under Lancaster for field reporting. I blankly turned to Emily who was giving me a sheepish look and she patted me comfortingly on the shoulder.
"You did say field reporting would be exciting," she offered weakly.
"I didn't think I'd get into it this soon," I said breathily. "Not with a war going on at least."
"Relax, Monica," Emily said. "Mrs. Abbey knows Lancaster couldn't possibly apparate into dangerous scenes with a student tagging along. It'll be fine."
"Merlin, I hope so," I muttered helplessly, observing Lancaster continue to rant furiously about the new arrangements. "How could I have thought I'd actually be reporting about Quidditch during this internship?"
"They did indicate 'other sorts'." Emily shrugged.
"Right, you are," I sighed.
We continued proofreading for the rest of the day and eventually the office settled down from the events that morning. Lancaster was back alone in his cubicle, scribbling something down a long roll of parchment and Wilma eventually returned with the developed photos. Lancaster gleefully received them from her and scanned through them one by one, me catching glimpses of the movement in the photographs from where I sat.
When the clock reached five in the afternoon, the employees started to pack up and leave the office in groups. Everyone hurriedly went home to avoid being out too late with the war going on. I still hadn't received word about James and Lily's housewarming party getting cancelled so it was likely pushing through.
Feeling excited to finally see them after a month, I readied my things at four, Emily following my lead. As we both marched out of the room, Lancaster looked up from his parchment and raised his palm up.
"Dyer!" he called, making me stop in place right next to his desk. Emily gave me a pointed look before walking out herself, recognizing that this was probably going to be a conversation between me and my new supervisor.
"Hello," I said blankly.
He waved me over and I hesitantly walked into his cubicle, eyes running over the mess of parchment, ink, and photos all over his desk and some pinned haphazardly to his wall. The only thing lacking was the string of yarn connecting the pins to make it the most cliche sight of any muggle detective film.
Lancaster spun around in his chair to face me, tapping a quill on his wrist and his lips pursed together.
"What can I do for you?" I asked.
"Do you know what field reporting is?" he reverted with his own question, catching me off guard.
"Er…"
"It's in the name," he continued, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We work on the field. We report on events outside the walls of the office. We get photos, data from the scene, and interview victims and Aurors to flesh out the full story for the public to read. Field reporting for breaking news is the most important function of the Daily Prophet. Without us, the wizarding community in England would be walking around with no clue on what's out there."
"Right…" I said slowly, unsure where he was going with this.
"Vivian's punishing me for doing my job," Lancaster sighed, glancing at the photos pinned to his wall. "To the point she's assigned you to me so I'd stay put. That woman is ruthless."
"I can request to be placed somewhere else," I offered. "I don't have to tag along with you if you don't want me to."
"Oh, we haven't got a choice, Dyer," Lancaster chuckled. "Vivian's word is law. But my reservation isn't with you tagging along. I'm frankly not sure if you can take it."
I gulped, feeling small under his gaze despite me standing while he sat and looked up to reach my eyes.
"She may be keeping me from going to risky scenes alone," Lancaster said, "but regardless, field reporting is a dangerous profession. You have to be ready for anything."
The advice reminded me of Sirius when we had the row about me joining the Order. I had to be a tough and talented witch to be qualified; I needed to be someone who could take the pain and hardships with the job. Field reporting may have sounded interesting on paper, but there was no denying how dangerous it was during a time of war.
I felt a sense of determination in me to grab the opportunity. Like Sirius said, this was a chance to see for myself what I was actually good at, and I couldn't pass on the offer to tag along with Lancaster when each trip could potentially face the most dangerous people in Great Britain.
It was a chance to actually feel the life outside Hogwarts in the most literal way possible; it was a test for me to show how competent I could be in the face of stress and pressure.
I slowly nodded my head, gripping the strap of my bag over my shoulder. Lancaster gave me a curious look for a short while before waving his hand to signal my dismissal.
"We'll see what you can do, Dyer," he said. "We start training on Monday."
I silently made my way out of his cubicle and strode out the door, feeling a mix of excitement and doubt. Experiencing field reporting, I could finally get a taste of what's out there, something I couldn't do for the Order because I was still too young.
When I took the elevator out the trap door, the cool breeze of the approaching night nipped at the back of my neck. The sun was setting slowly, giving the sky a magical orange glow. I hastily pulled the paper out with James and Lily's address in West County. They mentioned to come by at five in the afternoon and I was already quite late.
Just as I pulled out my wand, ready to disapparate, I heard a scuffling noise by the main street, despite the area normally having no passersby because the buildings were mostly deserted and isolated from the main city.
Feeling the pace of my heart quicken, I paused in place, eyes glued to the end of the alley where it opened to the main street. Possibly one of the Daily Prophet workers had forgotten something and came back, but hardly anyone used the visitor's entrance since they preferred to apparate directly inside the building.
I had my wand out, ready to defend myself or disapparate if it was anyone unwelcome. No one could be too sure of themselves anymore. I heard the scuffle again and it sounded like someone was kicking at a pile of dead leaves. It definitely came from the main street by the real entrance of the building.
Then I heard footsteps, light against the stone sidewalk and headed towards my direction. I felt the temperature drop despite the summer and I immediately closed my eyes to focus on disapparating, cool lines of sweat dripping down the side of my head. Just as I nearly felt myself twist on the spot, a familiar cheery voice called out.
"Monica!"
I opened my eyes before I could disapparate and I was welcomed by the familiar blonde hair and wide grin of Lacey who stood on the other end of the alley. I breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Lacey ran cheerfully towards me and enveloped my limp body in a tight hug. When she released, her grin didn't falter while I breathed heavily in utter shock.
"Lacey," I said breathlessly.
"Yeah, it's me!" she said. "What's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Trust me, seeing a ghost isn't exactly the most fear-eliciting situation right now," I snapped, feeling myself calm down.
"Did you think I was a Death Eater?" Lacey laughed. "Mon, I was just waiting for you to come out!"
"Could you have waited a little less creepy, Lace?" I said, "Bloody hell, you scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I didn't know the entrance to this place and the front door was padlocked. You only ever gave me the address."
"Right, should've specified." I nodded in agreement. "How are you even here? And have you waited long? Your mum's gonna kill me if she finds out you had to wait outside alone."
"Just like five minutes, Mon." Lacey waved me off. "Don't worry about it. I'm happy she even allowed me to go to James' housewarming. When I said they were all in the Order of the Phoenix, they calmed down a bit. They don't know I went here first though."
"So your parents know about the Order?" I asked, surprised.
"Of course, they do," Lacey said. "Benjy had to tell them eventually. They would have wondered what keeps him up so late at night. As expected, my mum went full on banshee on him, but he's off age and free to do what he wants. My dad was a bit less pushy and convinced my mum to let it go."
"It's real then," I said, feeling a shiver down my spine. "He's fighting for the Order."
"More real than I ever imagined," Lacey said, looking disturbed. "It's like he doesn't live with us anymore. I hardly ever see him. He works for the Ministry during the day and he gets home when we're all asleep."
"Do you have any idea of his missions?" I asked curiously.
Lacey shook her head. "All top secret. He said he's surprised to be allowed to tell his family that he's part of it. Everything they do is kept under wraps. They can't even send letters that are too detailed. Afraid they'll get intercepted."
I recalled the short and vague notes I received from Sirius over the summer and I never received information of his whereabouts or what he was doing. If the war felt haunting ten minutes ago, it was much more mind-boggling and spine-tingling now after meeting Lacey.
I couldn't imagine how it felt to have a brother fighting in the frontlines. But when I really thought about it, the only friends I had sans Lacey were risking their lives everyday for the same cause, and I didn't know what I would do if anything happened to them.
As the sun finally cleared the sky and darkness took over, I took Lacey's hand and decided it was time to get out of the streets. The danger outside had increased tenfold since last summer and the uncertainty in the air was almost suffocating.
"We should go," I said quickly.
Lacey nodded and pulled out her wand. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, focusing my magical power on the address in Godric's Hollow. After a few seconds, I felt myself twist on the spot and disappear with a loud crack.
We appeared on a neat front yard, a single stone pathway leading straight to the front door. The house in front of me differed immensely from the last time I visited James. His new house in Godric's Hollow was a two-story that was much smaller and ordinary, likened to a quaint stone cottage. The light downstairs was on, glowing yellow from the windows through thin white curtains.
Lacey appeared next to me after a second and she gazed in awe at the simple house, probably wondering the same as me.
I thought about how soon it was before I bought my first house and moved out of my dad's. I had a feeling that James and Lily's rush to move in together had something to do with the uncertainty of the war.
It made me smile a bit, happy that they found each other at Hogwarts.
Lacey and I exchanged a nod before slowly walking towards the door. This time, it didn't magically open like James' house did last New Year's Eve, but that was probably another extra precaution now that the war was getting worse.
I rang the doorbell and it echoed inside. Lacey and I patiently waited together.
"Feels weird to have social gatherings now, eh?" Lacey commented. "Everyone I know is on house arrest."
Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door but they stopped before opening. Lacey and I exchanged curious looks and a voice spoke up behind the door.
"Who's there?" I recognized James immediately, meek uncertainty in his tone.
"It's Monica and Lacey," I replied.
"Oh," he said, but the door remained closed.
After a beat of silence, he spoke up again with a bit more cheer.
"Sorry, Mon. Hope you understand but I'll have to ask you both some questions just to be sure, yeah?"
"My mum does that too," Lacey said.
"Can't be too sure these days," James muttered. "Right, er… Monica, when you saw me in the kitchens that one time, what did I tell you that made me go there in the first place?"
I blinked, recalling the time I eavesdropped on him and Lily's row, but the reason why he went to the kitchens…
"Carter was too ashamed to go down for lunch in the Great Hall so you went to the kitchens to get lunch for him," I answered easily.
"Correct!" James happily exclaimed. "Okay, now, Lacey… Er… Oh! Why'd I want you to come with me to Slughorn's party so bad?"
Lacey snorted. "Because I'm his least favorite student and you wanted to see him sweat."
"Fantastic," James said then finally opened the door to welcome us in with open arms.
His hair was as disheveled as the last I'd seen it and he sported a cheerful grin while gesturing to let us in. He wore a simple blue tee with a pair of slacks that barely covered his ankles. I could have sworn he grew a few inches over the summer.
Lacey and I stepped in and James closed the door behind us. I felt a shiver behind my neck, feeling the magical protection on the door as it closed.
The hall we stepped into was wide and decorated with framed photographs. There was an open way to our left and once I peeked in, a small but homey living room met my eyes.
I immediately recognized Sirius sitting casually with his legs crossed on one of the couches, chatting with Remus and Lily, the former seated next to him and the latter standing with a tray of pie.
"Look who's arrived," James announced, walking into the room with Lacey and I following after him.
Sirius looked up with a strange wide-eyed look on his face but it was instantly replaced by a large grin and waved us over.
"Mon, Lacey!" he greeted us. "Nice to see you again."
"Hey, girls," Lily said with just as much enthusiasm. "Glad you could make it!"
"Thanks for inviting us, Lily," I said politely.
"Please, we're friends now." She waved me off impatiently. "Go on. Take a seat. We've snuck out to Hogsmeade together so you can make yourself at home."
I laughed a bit and took her advice, sitting on the vacant armchair adjacent to the large couch and Lacey sat on the stool next to it.
"How have you guys been?" Lacey asked the boys as Lily rushed to the kitchen to get some more food and drinks.
"Well, I'm in Auror training," James said, sitting on Sirius' other side on the couch. "Sirius is… doing his thing."
"Right, just doing my thing." Sirius nodded, pushing his hair back with a knowing smile.
"Remus is just doing his thing too," James said, gesturing to the boy who waved. "And Peter's helping Lily out in the kitchen. Er… just doing his thing… as well."
I raised an eyebrow at the vague introductions while Lacey laughed.
"So basically you're the only one with a job while the rest of them are in the Order full-time," I summarized.
"Precisely," James said shortly.
"I tried," Remus spoke up. "But wizarding corporations aren't as sympathetic to werewolves as Dumbledore."
"Oh, Remus…" Lacey said sadly.
"It's alright." Remus flippantly waved her off. "I'm happy to have finished my education in the first place. I'll forever be in debt to Dumbledore for that."
"Dumbledore's a good man," Sirius agreed wholeheartedly, patting Remus on the back.
"So how's it been then?" I asked. "You've been out of Hogwarts for a month now. How's it like?"
"Auror training is brutal," James answered first. "We're subject to three years of boot camp before we can lead teams on the field. For now, Lily and I tag along with our Head on the sidelines while we train."
"You'll get there in no time, Prongs." Sirius cheered him on, clapping him on the back. "Next thing you know, you'll be arresting Death Eaters on a daily basis."
"Well, I don't know about daily basis," James said with exaggerated bashfulness.
"Were you there this morning?" I asked, remembering James was a trainee Auror and he might have been at the scene of the crime Lancaster covered.
"Oh, Lily was," he said, looking on edge at the topic change. "They didn't catch anyone but she dueled a guy for a while before he disapparated. She said she didn't recognize him so he was probably much older. But rumor has it the Ministry bought some photos from the Daily Prophet with a pretty clear angle of the Death Eater. They've given it to the Investigation Department now to track his identity."
"Right," I said hesitantly, recalling the event from earlier that day between Lancaster and Mrs. Abbey. "I think I can confirm that rumor."
"Really, Mon?" Sirius said, leaning forward in his seat eagerly. "Hear anything from the office earlier?"
They all looked at me expectantly and I continued.
"We have a field reporter. His name is Lancaster. He has this mad tendency to go to crime scenes without Ministry clearance yet, including this morning."
"Francis Lancaster?" Remus asked, a look of revelation in his eyes. "His name's always on the front page."
"I recognize it too," Lacey added.
"He's the senior field reporter for breaking news," I confirmed. "He likes to work alone so he does the field work, writing, and media himself."
"Sounds like a git," Sirius snorted.
"He's actually quite smart," I said quickly, making his eyebrows shoot up. "He's twenty-six and he's worked at the Daily Prophet since he left school. He's the best field reporter we've got."
"Maybe he just likes to work alone because he does dangerous things," James offered an explanation. "Why would he drag anyone else along if he's visiting scenes without clearance?"
"Doesn't sound like a smart bloke to me," Sirius said critically. "Reporters don't need to be on the actual scene. They just gather information once it's done and publish it for the public's benefit."
"The Ministry wouldn't have a photo of the Death Eater if it weren't for him though," I pointed out. "It's stupid to put himself in danger like that but he thinks it's the only way to get the full story. He had the photos delivered to the Ministry on the same day. He's a Gryffindor so that might put some context to it. Think if any of you guys went into journalism, you'd be the same, don't you think?"
The three boys exchanged looks just as Lily entered with another tray of food with Peter following behind her with a tray of drinks.
"Thanks, love," James said affectionately when she placed a bowl of chips on the coffee table.
"You guys catching up?" she asked, putting the tray away and sitting next to James on the couch.
"Yeah, Mon's taking an internship at the Daily Prophet, did I tell you?" James said.
Lily clapped her hands excitedly and turned to face me.
"That's brilliant, Mon," she said. "How's that like? Journalism seems like an interesting field to get into now. With everything going on, everyone's relying on the news."
"It's… been different," I answered, unsure of how to describe my experience honestly. "They put me in sports for the first week then transferred me to breaking news 'cause they're understaffed."
"So you see a lot of the Lancaster bloke then?" Sirius asked, taking some chips from the bowl into his hand.
"As of today, he's officially my supervisor for the rest of the summer."
James, Sirius, and Remus turned to look at me in surprise while Peter from one of the stools looked confused.
"Who's Lancaster?" he asked.
"Bloke who reports on the Death Eater attacks," Sirius answered impatiently, eyes still wide looking at me. "Mon, that could be dangerous. He can't possibly bring you with him, can he?"
"Yeah, you're still a student," Lacey said in full agreement.
"Well, it was sort of a way for our chief editor to keep him in check," I explained. "They don't like him going off on his own and today he came back with an injury. Forcing me to work with him, he can't go to scenes without clearance anymore."
"But do you think that would stop him?" James asked, eyebrows scrunched together in worry. "Already sounds like a pretty reckless guy to me."
"Well, if anything happens to me, he could be in big trouble," I said. "Could put his job on the line so I think he'll be more careful. They assigned someone from media to him too so he'll be conscious of both of our well-being."
"Well, keep safe, Monica," Lily said, reaching forward to pat my knee. "You've no idea how it's like out there."
"Yeah, Mon," Sirius said darkly. "Just a month in and we've seen enough. Thank Merlin I've left Hogwarts because I do not want to see a Thestral right under my nose."
The air grew old when I realized Thestrals were only seen by those who'd seen death, something I learned from Care of Magical Creatures in fifth year. I didn't want to probe the experience because it didn't feel like appropriate party talk, but the conversation we were having was already dark enough to dull the mood.
"Lily, where are your friends?" Lacey asked after the beat of silence, as usual trying to lighten up a tense situation.
"Oh, Marlene and Mary are on duty tonight," Lily said solemnly, crushing Lacey's attempt at a lighter conversation. "They couldn't make it."
"Oh," Lacey said, her smile falling quickly.
"Dorcas should be getting off duty soon," Lily said, checking her watch with a slight frown. "She should arrive in a minute."
"She'll be here, Lil," James said comfortingly, taking her stiff hand in his. Lily gave him a tight-lipped smile, but clearly still clouded with worry.
I exchanged a look with Sirius whose eyes felt much darker than the last I'd seen him in Hogwarts. Even his aura seemed affected by the war. His usual confidence was still there but I could tell his guard was permanently up, even in the company of friends.
The fluttering in my stomach that I used to feel with him was a bit less noticeable now, but I wasn't sure if it was because I'd gotten over him like I hoped or because the situation didn't seem right to acknowledge my feelings anymore.
He was quickly merging into the role he promised himself to have after Hogwarts, and his words about being wrong for me rang in my head. While James and Lily were going in the same direction as Aurors and Order members, Sirius and I would be going opposite ways – I was going back to Hogwarts and he was fully immersing himself in this war.
Part of me wondered if my determination to prove myself to Lancaster had something to do with proving to Sirius that I was capable too. Did I want to show him that I could take it?
Suddenly the bell rang and Lily immediately stood, relief in her face and her body visibly relaxing. It must have been Dorcas and there wasn't a shred of doubt in Lily's eyes.
"You'd think after graduating you'd be free, eh?" Lacey muttered sadly next to me, eyes following Lily as she rushed to open the door for her friend.
"You must know how it feels," I said, taking her hand.
"Benjy gets home too late for me to feel the relief when he comes back," Lacey said, a smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. "I fall asleep every night wondering if he'd even come home."
The four boys seated around us watched our exchange, obviously listening in.
"Benjy's assigned a night shift," Sirius said, giving me context. "He works during the day like Prongs."
"Hey, Lacey," James called. "Lily and I work with Benjy a lot and he's bloody talented. He can find clues from a mile out. He's probably the best young wizard in the Investigative Department right now so we're really lucky to have him."
"Really?" Lacey said, perking up a bit.
"Yeah, Benjy's ace," Sirius said. "Top wizard and he's hilarious. We'd go mad without him."
I smiled as Lacey's mood visibly lifted at the words from the two boys. I rubbed her back to offer comfort and Lily reentered the room with Dorcas following behind her. The boys howled at her entrance and each approached her for a quick hug.
I wasn't sure how often they could see each other but I always assumed it was frequent considering they were part of the same rebel group. But with the working information I had about their shift schedules, it must have been more complicated than I thought.
"Hey, you two!" Dorcas said merrily to me and Lacey. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
"How are you, Dorcas?" Lacey asked politely.
"Well, it hasn't been a walk in the park," Dorcas chuckled and took the last empty stool across the couch. "The mission Dumbledore's assigned to me–"
"Dorcas," Lily said warningly, effectively cutting her off as she nudged her head towards me and Lacey.
"Right, sorry," Dorcas apologized quickly.
"Sorry, Mon, Lacey," Lily said, circling around the table to pick up the empty bowls and glasses. "Dumbledore's quite strict about the Order's secrecy. We can't divulge any sensitive information to non-members. It's already worrying that you know about it at all, but Lacey's got family in the Order and we trust you."
"Thanks," I said sincerely. "Don't worry, Lacey and I are leaving early. My parents expect me home by eight so you guys can catch up about the Order soon."
"By seven," Lacey added in with her palm raised.
"Well, we're happy to have you anyway," Lily said. "I know it's not a good time to be outdoors, but James and I were going crazy being cooped up in the house alone."
"Yeah, you guys should visit sometime," James suggested happily. "Mon, you could come by before or after work. Sirius drops by almost everyday."
I nervously glanced at Sirius who was coincidentally observing his empty glass. I nodded hesitantly, actually considering James' offer. It would be nice to see familiar faces from time to time.
"Anyway, now that Dorcas is here, let's go ahead and eat, shall we?" Lily offered with a large smile.
The room cheered their agreements and proceeded to the dining table to have dinner. The mood lightened as soon as James began to tell stories about their time at Hogwarts, finding it strange that they were eating together in their new house rather than the Great Hall.
Lily eagerly shared how they managed to find a house in a great area for an affordable price. Sirius made jokes about marriage being the next step in their relationship, while he and Remus playfully argued about who should be the first godfather of their child. Peter smiled softly to himself as the rest of his friends chattered loudly around the table.
I felt warm, enjoying the familiar presence of my Hogwarts friends and reminiscing how far we had gone since the night of the full moon. I had been confused about so many things in my life – my identity, my family, and my goals.
But one thing had been for sure since I met this group of inspiring seventh years - there was always light even in the pit of darkness amidst war. And with it, hope and ambition came, which were aspects in my life I never bothered to consider until today.
I decided it wasn't only because of Sirius. While his ambition was more intense than most, his friends complimented his persistence, and in turn, inspired me more than I ever have been.
A quarter to seven, Lily and Peter volunteered to clean up and conversations split between groups. While Lacey caught up with Remus, I returned to the living room with my third glass of red wine. No one was planning to go home completely pissed, but James had the tendency to refill empty glasses without consent.
Lightheaded, I collapsed on the sofa with no idea I was being followed until Sirius sat himself next to me a second later.
"You sure you can apparate out of here?" he asked teasingly, eyeing my full glass of wine.
I didn't have much time to recover from the initial shock of suddenly being alone with him in the room, so I pathetically stuttered out, "I–I passed my apparition test."
"I sure hope so," Sirius laughed. "Or you'd have apparated illegally earlier and Evans won't be too happy turning you into the authorities."
I blinked blankly at him as he rolled his eyes in amusement and punched my shoulder lightly.
"I meant you might be too pissed to apparate out of here, you big dolt," Sirius said with a snort. "Seriously, how many have you drank?"
"This is my third," I said defensively, cheeks burning in a mix of embarrassment and intoxication.
I seriously needed to reconsider ever drinking in front of him again. Each time only seemed to add to my list of utterly humiliating moments.
"I'm on my second," Sirius replied, raising his half-filled glass. "But considering the stress I've been under, I think my tolerance has drastically gone down."
"You think so?" I raised my eyebrows.
Sirius gave a somber nod. "Can't ever drink in Order business. Haven't picked up a bottle in weeks."
"How unfortunate."
Sirius shot me a unimpressed look and leaned back heavily on the couch.
"How 'bout you, then? You probably won't have the time to do any of this shit anytime soon, will you?"
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Working with the busiest field reporter in the Daily Prophet," he said in a level, yet edgy tone. "Job description for that can't possibly leave room for tea parties."
"I haven't even started yet," I said, feeling the ball of nerves in my stomach intensify. "But perhaps not."
"Have you really thought this through, Monica?" Sirius asked with no humor in his eyes. "They do realize you're still in school?"
"What is with all this 'you're still in school' rubbish?" I huffed, crossing my arms in annoyance. "Might I remind you all that I'm off age. And it's a huge opportunity!"
"Opportunity to risk your life earlier than you're supposed to?" Sirius shot back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was an allotted time of my life span where it's acceptable to do risky things," I snapped, quickly sobering up at the sudden aggressive turn of the conversation. "You lot turned into illegal animagi in third year!"
"For good reason!"
"And my reasons aren't good enough?" I asked, breathing heavily as Sirius looked taken aback at the question.
Huffing again, I placed the glass of wine on the coffee table, feeling a little too miffed to enjoy it. It was nerve-wracking to see Sirius again for the first time in weeks but I never expected it to result in a row about my internship role change that happened three hours ago.
"Let's hear them then," Sirius suddenly said, voice a bit softer but the intensity in his eyes never left.
I blinked in visible confusion. "Hear what?"
"Your reasons," Sirius probed. "What are they? Help me understand here, Mon, or I'm just going to keep thinking you're recklessly going into something for a career that I know for a fact you weren't sure you were interested in months ago."
"You were the one who encouraged me to take this bloody internship!" I reminded him heatedly, unappreciative of his quip about my vague career plans.
"So is it because of me? Is that why you're doing this?"
I was rendered speechless for a few seconds; not because I didn't understand the question, but because in some way, it was because of him. Yet, I didn't answer right away. I knew he wasn't getting the full picture, and I was far past the point of being utterly smitten for him that I would do anything just to get his attention.
In fact, I don't think that point of my feelings for him ever existed. That was the beauty of him being around. His friendship and him being utterly himself inspired me in more ways than just romantic hope.
It was his passion and ambition that pushed me to do more, help more, and be more. It felt offending that he would assume I would be willing to risk my own life just to prove myself to him. If anything, the past few months have all been for me.
I wanted to tell him, but my mind clearly wasn't in sync with my mouth, because I waited too long in silence that he managed to speak up first.
"It's dangerous out there, Mon," Sirius muttered, turning away from my face and fixating his eyes on his glass of wine. "You haven't got a clue."
I took a deep breath, accepting that he was just worried. Any good friend would be. But I couldn't leave him to his assumptions. Eventually I managed to speak up.
"I'm doing this for myself," I said, surprised at how firm my voice was despite the array of thoughts in my head. "I'm not going to lie and tell you that it has nothing to do with you, but in the end, I'm doing this for me. So you can believe me or not because you can't stop me from doing this, Sirius."
He stayed silent for a while, sipping from his wine glass as we both tried to relax from the tense atmosphere. After everything he has probably seen, I couldn't fault him for his questioning. And perhaps because of our history, it was difficult to stay angry at him for very long.
I was aware this might be one of the few times I would see him before returning to Hogwarts, and I wasn't happy with leaving the reunion on a sour note. But just as I was about to attempt to shift the conversation on the lighter side, Sirius spoke up again.
"You're happy, are you?" He was looking at me again, but his eyes had gone softer.
I didn't hesitate to say, "As happy as I can be in this fucked up war."
Sirius chuckled, clutching his wine glass tight.
"Good," he said.
A few seconds later, we were interrupted by Remus and James, the latter being fully supported by the werewolf as he slurred words I couldn't comprehend in his drunken state. Sirius left me on the couch to help his best friend and Lacey met me in the living room so we could go home together.
I didn't get to give Sirius a proper goodbye as he helped James up the stairs and I wasn't entirely satisfied with how we left things off, but Lacey needed to be home by seven. I bade farewell to the rest of the group before disapparating with a heavy feeling in my chest.
I'M BACK!
I'm so sorry for the hiatus but I had a terrible case of writer's block and I went through the story plan for this next portion of Monica's life. This won't drag on for too long because it's just a summer. I'm not sure if I like this chapter but it's mostly an introduction to this arc of the story. It's also a lot darker coming into this; I realized when I was trying to figure out how the chapters should go.
I'm trying to add a bit more light humor into this, but do expect chapters to have a darker tone as we're in the midst of war outside Hogwarts. No more bubble. :(
I also want to thank everyone who has stuck around and left reviews to encourage me to finish and update this. I swear I read all of your comments and thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I'm more confident now to finish this; I've written the chapters after this one already but they will undergo heavy editing. I was also thinking of editing the earlier chapters in Hogwarts, but I'm prioritizing finishing the story first.
Thank you again and do let me know what you think. 3
- Finner