A big thanks to TheMaximumExperience and mmauney12 for their review on the last chapter - so glad you're enjoying this story! Your reviews completely made my day - it's because of readers like you that I'm motivated to write. I know both of you guys mentioned wanting more Remus/Lina (because who doesn't, right?!) and I promise there will be plenty of it next chapter (which is going to be from Remus' POV).

TheMaximumExperience's review also reminded me of something I wanted to address: I do not want to make Messalina a Mary Sue. I'm trying really hard to make her feel real. In the original version of this story I posted, Lina was a quidditch star, got along with everyone, and was all around not a very realistic character. So if you ever read that story and were wondering why there have been some changes in her character, that's why. Also, I promise I did not make her the best at DADA in her year for no reason, it's vital to the post-Hogwarts chapters I have outlined.

Sorry for this super long A/N! Huge thanks to everyone who has favorited/followed, let me know what you're thinking of it so far!

Previously on Above All Others: After a night of extra DADA lessons with the new professor and Graham Pucey, Messalina stumbles upon Remus in the Common Room and asks if he wants to be friends. The next day our favorite band of seventh years attends the first quidditch match of the year and Messalina worries she might want to be more than friends with Remus.

The week between the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff quidditch match (Mary and Potter were an unstoppable duo and had proved so to the whole school by winning by almost 200 points and throwing a surprisingly tame party in the Common Room under Lily's watchful eye) and the first Hogsmeade trip felt like a lifetime. As is often the case when someone is wishing for time to go by faster, the days seemed to move as slow as molasses and Messalina found her constant schoolwork made the days never ending.

She spent nearly every night doing homework in the Common Room until almost one in the morning, straining to fit in as much as possible so she could enjoy a guilt-free day with the twins in the quaint village. She had regretted not being on top of her essays the weekend before when she heard the music from the victory party from the desk in her room, bent over a rather complicated essay on the theory behind human transfiguration and cursing her procrastination. Determined not to repeat her mistake, Messalina found herself as the last one in the Common Room for several days, an occurrence that made her miss Fabian and Gideon even more than before.

The three had never gone this long without seeing one another since they had met and Messalina was fairly certain if she didn't see them soon she would go insane. The twins were self-proclaimed night owls and believed firmly in doing their homework at night when the rest of the Common Room was emptying and there was a sense of urgency in the air. And while they swore up and down that this was the best system for them, Messalina knew from years of experience that the truth was rather the opposite. They would get a good few hours studying in after dinner, but some time around 11:30 they would start yawning and before midnight rolled around, they would be facedown in their textbooks snoring. They would sleep for as long as it took Messalina to finish whatever she was working on and she would wake them by closing her textbook as obnoxiously as possible and laughing at the disgruntled looks on their faces. The pair would grumble about having to wake up early to finish their work, complaining the whole way to the staircase about how they should never have brought her home if she couldn't wake them up when they died of boredom periodically before climbing the stairs and declaring they would never slack off again. As much as they liked to pretend they were night owls, they were far closer to the early birds as most mornings they would have their homework done and packed up by the time the girls descended.

And so, sitting in the Common Room alone was a bittersweet feeling for Messalina. She missed her brothers terribly and found herself wondering what they were doing just about every spare second. She prayed they were safe - their letters weren't as common of an occurrence as they had been at first but she knew they were getting busier as they earned more responsibilities as Aurors in training. Her adoptive parents, Gwen and Samuel, wrote often to make up for the relative silence of their sons, but it wasn't the same as spending day after day with two boys who understood her better than anyone else. She had grown so used to their presence over their years together that so much time apart felt like she was being punished for something.

There was also an underlying level of fear she didn't like to think about that revolved on them realizing they didn't care for her so much now that they were living their own lives and she was just a kid in school. She tried to assuage the feeling by concentrating on the memory of holding Charlie in her arms when he was declared her godson and had spent more time gazing at the polaroid of the moment than she had in recent years. It soothed most of the tension, but some nights as she laid in bed willing herself to go to sleep, the anxiety rose up and became almost unbearable. She hoped it would go away the moment she saw the boys - she wasn't sure she could continue in this perpetual state of uncertainty forever.

On Saturday morning, Messalina was up before any of her roommates (a rarity considering Marlene had just gotten a new face potion that could only stay on for eight hours before it started burning the top layer of your skin on and Messalina was fairly confident she had gone to sleep more than eight hours ago) and actually spent the time getting ready. N.E.W.T. year was not friendly to those who wanted to spend hours getting ready (Marlene had taken to reciting passages from a textbook as she did her makeup) and most of the seventh year girls had completely given up on trying to look presentable for class. Hogsmeade, on the other hand, was a special occasion and the school had been buzzing about it all week. Messalina had heard the third year girls talking animatedly at dinner the night before about what they were going to wear and where they wanted to go, clearly excited to be able to visit the village for the first time.

Messalina was just putting the finishing touches on her makeup when Marlene walked into the bathroom, blinking sleepily and yawning. She hadn't worn her new potion the night before thankfully as her skin was burn-free. Her eyes widened dramatically when she saw Messalina standing in front of the mirror and instantly went into panic mode, yelling for the other girls to wake up because they were running late on Hogsmeade day of all days! It took several moments to assure Marlene that she was not running late before it seemed to sink into the girl's brain and she relaxed, but not before shooting Messalina a suspicious look. Mary yanked the curtains around her bed back and did her best reenactment of McGonagall yelling at the Marauders and Messalina was surprised the girl's face was capable of turning such a vivid red color. If she hadn't been screaming, Messalina might've told her it was a rather nice to see someone else turning such a shade, even if it was from anger rather than embarrassment.

Breakfast would have been an all around unpleasant affair if Messalina wasn't nearly bursting with excitement to see her brothers. Marlene's pronounced scowl and Mary complaining loudly about being woken up too early barely phased her. If ever she had had tunnel vision, this was it. Every thought revolved around reuniting with Fabian and Gideon. Eating breakfast and making the walk to Hogsmeade were means to an end and she would tolerate them because there was no way around them. The boys wouldn't be in Hogsmeade until 10 and she counted down the moments on the watch of the sixth year boy beside her. She barely heard her roommates' teasing comments about her acting like a five year old who had been promised anything in Honeyduke's they wanted, too focused on eating her breakfast as efficiently as possible while maintaining the manners that had been beaten into her as a child. There could only be one blood traitor who ate like a pig after all and Sirius Black was the proud holder of that job.

She was so lost in making a mental checklist about things she wanted to be sure to talk to the twins about (are they really going from a three year training period to one? how is the family? what's Moody like?) that when an owl perched itself on the bowl of fruit in front of her, letter clasped in its beak, it took a moment for her to register its presence.

"Am I the only one that sees the owl?" Mary asked, eyes wide with concern as she looked around the table. Mary had always taken Divination rather seriously and whoever the professor was had her convinced she had the Inner Eye and Mary was determined to find some evidence that the professor was right. She had a history of making wild predictions and Messalina had always assumed she did so in hopes that she could be certain she had the Eye when one of them came true. She was, after all, still convinced the DADA professor was a werewolf.

"Lina, you have an owl," Lily said cautiously, looking as though she was bracing herself for a tirade. Mary visibly deflated at not being the only one to see the owl and bit viciously into her toast, scowling. She had predicted several weeks ago that she would be visited by someone unseen by others. Messalina reached out and took the letter, a strong sense of deja vu settling over her as the owl flew off to find itself some treats. A sense of foreboding in her stomach reminded her all too well of the feeling she had when she had received the owl telling her she had been disowned years and years ago. Before the fear could find a true home in her guts, she ripped the envelope open and pulled the parchment out as quickly as possible. She frowned upon recognizing Gwen Prewett's neat handwriting on the parchment and wished that the owl had been temporarily maimed by the Whomping Willow on its way to deliver the letter.

My darling Lina,

I hope you're well and that your DADA professor has yet to seriously cause you injury (you would write if that had happened, wouldn't you?). I'm terribly sorry to tell you that Fabian and Gideon will not be able to meet you at Hogsmeade today. They were called off for an emergency in the wee hours of the morning and did not have time to write you before they left, but they've assured me they would both send letters as soon as they got home. They are tentatively hoping to be able to see you on the visit before Christmas - I know how you all were looking forward to your reunion. I'm so sorry my dear. I'm sure the boys will find some way to make it up to you and I expect a letter if they do not. There's always the next visit unless you have a gentlemen in your sights, then you have my permission to tell Fabian and Gideon to sod off and leave you to it. You can tell them I said that too.

Speaking of gentlemen, I got to see the Weasleys last weekend and Charlie asked that I send these pictures to you. One is for his beloved godmother (him and Bill had dozens of questions about how you were doing by the way, Merlin bless those boys), another for a certain redhead that puts up with all my son-in-law's questions, and the last is for a new friend that apparently knows about dragons. Charlie didn't remember his name and I'm not sure who he is talking about, but I hope you do. And by the by, Molly just went to St. Mungo's the other day and (in case she writes you about it please act surprised, this is supposed to be a secret) it looks like she's having twin boys! Like mother like daughter I guess! I also have it on good authority that a very special seventh year at Hogwarts is to be their godmother. You didn't hear this from me!

I'm so sorry again for the boys being unable to come today, I hope the Molly news helped just a bit. Please know the boys were so excited to see you - it's all they've talked about for ages. We cannot wait to see you for Christmas.

Grateful for you as always & loving you from afar,

Gwen

P.S. I hope you like our new owl - Samuel picked him up just the other day and named him Chudley (I bet you already know what I think of that name).

P.S.S. Samuel is reading this over my shoulder and is complaining that there's not enough about him in here - please write him soon. He's going mad without you kids in the house all the time. He got too spoiled this summer. He also says to tell you he loves you too and can't wait to see you.

Messalina lowered the letter, the feeling of intense disappointment that had built up in her upon reading the first paragraph dulling significantly as she read the news about Molly. Twins. More godchildren. She was still a part of the family even from so far away and she wondered if her allergies had chosen to act up despite being inside in the late fall as her throat felt like it was closing. With a jolt of surprise, she realized she was on the verge of tears. Lily, who was sitting beside her, leaned over in alarm and skimmed the letter quickly, a comforting hand on Messalina's back.

"I'm so sorry they can't make it, Lina, I know how you were looking forward to seeing them."

"I'm going to be a godmother again," Messalina said at the same time Lily spoke, looking around the table in awe. She shifted through the parchment for the pictures Gwen had mentioned and smiled at the rather good drawings Charlie had done of different types of dragons. She recognized Molly's looping handwriting at the top of each piece of parchment with the name of each type of dragon (Hungarian Horntail, Norwegian Ridgeback, and Romanian Longhorn) and smiled at a heart with M&C written in it at the bottom of the Horntail's drawing in Charlie's crude handwriting. Lily's Longhorn was recognizable by the 'Lily' scribbled at the bottom in huge lopsided letters with what appeared to be a massive crayon and Messalina nearly choked as she realized Charlie had been talking about for the last drawing.

"And who is that last one for?" Lily asked as she snatched the Longhorn from Messalina's hands to examine what Charlie had drawn for her.

"I think you know," she replied loftily, refusing to look further down the table to where the Marauders typically sat. What were you supposed to do when your godson draws a picture for a boy you're trying very hard to suppress your crush on? Do you give them the drawing or just pretend it was meant for you? She could picture the conversation in her head and how awkward would it be to have to go up to Remus and say hey I know you met Charlie once but you've had a profound impact on his learning and obsession with dragons, do you want this picture ? What am I supposed to do with it? Yeah, I have no clue, sorry.

"Is it for Remus?" Marlene said in what she thought was a whisper but was more like a hushed shout. Messalina aimed a kick at her under the table in response but Marlene dodged it and she ended up kicking Mary in the shin and earning herself a glare. "Too bad he's not here right now, you could've professed your family's love to him in front of the whole Hall."

"It's not love - wait, what do you mean he's not here?" Messalina asked, risking a glance down the table to see the other Marauders slouched over looking exhausted as they shoveled their breakfast in their mouths as if afraid it would be taken away from them. But Marlene was right, there was no Remus to be seen.

"He headed off to the Hospital Wing after Care of Magical Creatures, said he wasn't feeling very well. Poor guy is always sick." Marlene commented, eyeing Messalina with amusement. And here Messalina had prided herself with being capable of not staring at the boy all the time, but that satisfaction deflated as she realized she hadn't seen Remus since Thursday night. They didn't have any classes together on Fridays (she and Lily were the only ones still in Potions and she didn't take Care of Magical Creatures or History of Magic) and Messalina had been trying with all her might to not think 'non-friends' thoughts towards her newest friend. But if he wasn't there to gawk at, she couldn't exactly be proud of not ogling him could she? "Wait a second, did you say Fabian and Gideon aren't coming?"

"They have to work."

"Looks like you'll have to hang out with us all day, what a disappointment," Marlene teased good-naturedly, offering Messalina a sympathetic smile. "Besides, I was supposed to be set up with one of them so it looks like you'll have to do it through the mail instead of in person."

Messalina laughed as she thought about Marlene's crush on the twins. Marlene had broken up with the French wizard she'd met on holiday several days ago, declaring he was too boring to write to for a whole year, and had set her sights on the twins once again. The pair had been her go-to crushes when she wasn't in a relationship and upon inspecting a picture of the twins and Messalina in their bathing suits at the Weasley's pond from the summer, Marlene had been frothing at the mouth in hopes of catching a glimpse of them in Hogsmeade. When Messalina asked which she would prefer, she had said whichever would have her, sending Messalina into a fit of giggles. "Please don't date either of them, their egos are too large to begin with. It would just be 'I'm dating Marlene McKinnon' all the time."

"We would have the most beautiful babies," Marlene fawned, staring dreamily at a spot in the air above the Hufflepuff table as her dorm mates giggled at her.

"They would terrorize me," Messalina said, shuddering at the thought.

"Was it a full moon last night?" Mary asked suddenly, staring down the table past the Marauders to the Head table where Vector was absent as always. The three Marauders there turned to look at them and Messalina noted they all looked a bit pale and peaky. Maybe Remus had given them whatever ailed him. Messalina made a mental note not to get too close to the little group. She'd spent enough of her life in bed, she didn't need to get sent to the Hospital Wing for whatever it was.

"Yeah, it was," Messalina replied offhandedly, tucking the letter and pictures of the two remaining dragons into her jacket pocket.

"Why do you know that?"

"We could hear the wolves howling at it in the DADA classroom. And Jenny Connors is in N.E.W.T. Astronomy apparently, Pucey said she was helping Sinistra manage the first years 'cause they were looking at it for the first time."

"Was Vector there the whole time?" Mary asked hopefully, but she frowned when Messalina nodded solemnly.

"He's definitely not a werewolf, sorry Mary."

"I saw a werewolf in Divination though! There's got to be a werewolf here!"

"I think it lives in your head," Marlene joked, tapping on the side of Mary's head as Mary glared at her.

"You'll all feel stupid when we found out there's a werewolf in this school!"

"What are you on about, Macdonald?" Black called from down the table, an amused grin on his face. The group of sixth years that usually separated the two groups of seventh years had gotten up as Mary started raising her voice and Sirius Black had taken advantage of the large gap between them to lean forward and socialize. Messalina wondered if it would be considered rude to just get up and leave.

"Nothing," Marlene called back, rolling her eyes. "Mary's taking Divination very seriously this year."

"It's a noble art, you wouldn't understand," Mary said haughtily, sticking her nose in the air as Messalina resisted the urge to laugh at her antics. "Not everyone has the Eye, it's a very rare ability."

"Can the Eye show you when my robes are coming?"

"Seeking your robes out using the Eye would be a waste, Marlene."

"I predict a week, she's been running behind all year. If I'm right, do you reckon I have the Sight too?"

"You never even took Divination, Marlene, it would be very impressive," Messalina added, ducking a piece of bacon that Mary chucked at her head.

"I am not going to sit here while you mock me," Mary declared as she stood and glared at her dorm mates. Down the table, the Marauders were chuckling and she shot them a dark look.

"Are you going to stand there while we mock you?" Marlene asked innocently, laughing wildly when Mary groaned with exasperation.

"No, I am going to Hogsmeade and anyone who shuts up about the Eye gets a free butterbeer."

"Forgive me my insolence," Messalina exclaimed as she stood up to join Mary as Marlene and Lily scrambled to do the same. A free butterbeer was not to be scoffed at after all.

The walk to Hogsmeade was spent speculating wildly about what unexpected drama would result from couples flocking to the village, many on first dates. Marlene guessed at least three girls would be spotted crying before the day was done, Lily bet them each two sickles that Ravenclaw prefect Montgomery would try some grand theatrical gesture to ask Jenny Connors (who was in a very committed relationship with Graham Pucey's cousin John Higgs) out and would accuse her of not appreciating nice guys when she said no, and Mary theorized they would count a minimum of six couples engaged in overly wet snogging. Messalina said they were destined to see Black and Amelia Bones on the verge of shagging at some point. She thoroughly enjoyed making these ideas up - it was a particularly effective way of forgetting how disappointed she was that the twins weren't coming. Doubtlessly, she would have a bit of a cry in the shower later but it was difficult to be upset with the twins even when they deserved it let alone when they were trying to make the world a better place.

Just as the entered the village and stopped their game lest anyone overhear, but giggling amongst themselves, Messalina screamed. Beside the sign that declared you were entering Hogsmeade (Welcome to a quaint historic village!) stood Fabian and Gideon Prewett in all their glory. Their Auror robes had seen better days and both appeared on the brink of exhaustion, but they were here.

She took off at a dead sprint away from her friends and towards her brothers, nearly barreling into a third year boy that was admiring the village with his friends. Shouting a 'sorry!' over her shoulder, she launched herself into Fabian's arms and knocked him back several steps. She squeezed him as tightly as she could, breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne and burying her head into his neck.

"Did you two shack up and not tell me? Where's my hug, kid?" Gideon's voice joked from somewhere behind her and she detached herself slowly from Fabian, swatting at Gideon's chest before hugging him just as tightly. She only let him go when he complained loudly that she was breaking his ribs and even then she refused to be farther than step away from the boys.

"Gwen said you couldn't come!"

"Things are complicated," Gideon told her in a low voice that Messalina knew meant 'be quiet, I'll explain later'. She turned to see what he must've seen as a source of potential danger and saw the rest of the Gryffindor seventh years with the exception of the ill Remus making their way up the path. Potter looked overjoyed, whether it was from the prospect of spending a little in Hogsmeade with Lily by accident or from seeing the twins Messalina didn't know.

"Good to see you both," Marlene called, a smile lighting up her face. Fabian elbowed Gideon behind Messalina's back and waved enthusiastically to the girl.

"Looking as perfect as ever, McKinnon."

"I knew you were coming, I had to look my best!" She exclaimed, laughing as Fabian wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground. Messalina noted the gleam in her brother's eye as well as the slight scowl on Black's face and Peter's averted eyes. Marlene was breathless when Fabian put her down, her cheeks tinged red. Interesting. Very interesting.

It took roughly twenty minutes to get through the obligatory hugs and to make a plan to all meet up at the Three Broomsticks for lunch later to catch up. The whole time Messalina was shifting on her feet at the edge of the group, willing them to hurry up so she could get figure out what was going on with the twins. Peter chatted with her for most of the time as he wasn't close with Fabian and Gideon like the rest of their year was so once he had waved hello there really was nothing for him to do but wait for everyone else to be done.

"What is going on?" Messalina hissed the moment she was alone with Fabian and Gideon, watching as the rest of the seventh years made their way into the village. Lily was talking to James somewhat civilly from what Messalina could gather and she made a mental note to think about that as well.

"Hold on," Gideon murmured, grabbing her elbow and leading her off to the Shrieking Shack. The most haunted place in Britain was usually only crowded near the end of the visit when people ran out of things to do and sought out ways to tease one another and so as they approached there wasn't a soul to be seen. When the twins seemed sufficiently satisfied that they were alone, they turned to face Messalina again. "We're doing more than just Auror training, Mum and Dad don't know though, and we didn't know how to tell them we knew the 'emergency' would be done before we were supposed to meet you."

"What does that even mean?" Messalina asked, looking warily at the twins. They looked quite solemn and serious, but there as a glint in their eyes she recognized and her stomach clenched. "What have you two gotten yourselves into?"

They shared a secret look in that Messalina always thought of as the 'we're twins, you wouldn't understand how interconnected our amazing brains are' expression and she felt the giddy mood she had been in evaporate. Gideon leaned forward so close she could feel his breath on her ear and whispered, "the Ministry and the Aurors aren't going to be the only ones fighting the Death Eaters soon."

"Who else is?"

"We can't say much about it, but it's real. And it's going to start very soon," Fabian muttered. Messalina had to strain to hear him over the distant chatter of her schoolmates and suddenly she wished she could be amongst them rather than hearing about whatever they were talking about.

"How come Gwen and Samuel don't know about it?"

"Wanted to wait to tell them until we're already officially in. Because they'll want in but we're not at the stage where we're actually ready to open up to new members yet, you understand?"

"You're putting this together?" She asked incredulously. Messalina loved her brothers but she could not picture them organizing a dinner let alone a secret organization. Especially not one that was preparing to enter the War against the most evil and dangerous wizard in recent history. "You're already Aurors, what are you doing this for?"

"Merlin no, you insult us, we're too handsome to be spending so much time in the dark plotting."

"And sometimes we need to do things the Ministry doesn't need to know about."

"It's a handpicked group, though. Not just Aurors either."

"You two are part of an exclusive group?"

"Well, we were chosen by someone who was part of the first group," Fabian replied, puffing out his chest and grinning at her. The prideful expression on his face didn't do anything to ease her discomfort. "Dear sister, have you forgotten how talented we are?"

"Just why are you telling me this? Not much of a secret organization if you're telling me about it."

"We're gonna need a new class of recruits by the time you graduate. People we can trust above everything else. We kind of know the people in your year but not enough to make the decision of who to ask to join. So we were told to find someone who does know that kind of information. And does anyone the stench of a pureblood fanatic or a coward better than you?" Gideon asked, his voice light and humorous but Messalina noted his adam's apple was quivering ever so slightly. With a start she realized he was afraid or at least nervous and she regretted eating such a large breakfast as it was likely about to stain the grass around her feet. She shifted, staring down at her feet and wishing the ground would swallow her up.

"Why are you going to need new recruits?" She knew the answer before she even asked but for some unknown reason, Messalina needed to hear it come from the mouth of someone she trusted more than anyone.

"This is dangerous, Lina. More dangerous than being an Auror probably."

"When You-Know-Who figures out what's going on, people will die. Probably a lot of people."

"So if you don't want to do it, you just say the word and we'll forget about it."

"We won't be upset, we promise. It's a lot to ask."

"I'll do it." Grateful that her voice came out with more confidence than she felt, Messalina looked up the twins and met their eyes. She was shocked by how young they looked. It felt as though she was seeing them for the first time in the Gryffindor Common Room all those years ago, two cocky twelve year olds ready to take on any injustices they saw. Braver than anyone else she'd ever met despite their age. They were so young to be putting their lives on the line for the betterment of the world, but that was just who they were. It was who she had always wanted to be. She swallowed, wishing her mouth didn't feel as dry as the wall of the Shrieking Shack looked, and nodded. "Of course I'll do it."

"That's our girl!" The twins exclaimed in unison and she cracked a smile at them, the feeling of discomfort in her stomach amplifying as the conversation sank in.

"Look, this isn't the place to be talking about this but we needed to figure out if you were in or if we had to figure something else out. We'll talk more at your Christmas break, Mum and Dad will know by then so it'll be safe to talk at home." Messalina nodded at Gideon's words, grateful that they were done talking about this.

It was so easy to forget the War was raging outside of Hogwarts even with Professor Vector telling her and Pucey horror stories every week and the Daily Prophet listing people who had been attacked, killed, or gone missing every day. She had known of the realities of the War her whole life but it always felt like real life was ages away and she had years to prepare to face the world. But they were at the end of October and she was graduating in June. And she had never felt so ill prepared or overwhelmed. How was she supposed to know who was trustworthy? She'd thought Dearborn and Fenwick had good characters when she'd started dating them and both had blown up completely in her face. If she couldn't tell who was going to turn out to be an arsehole boyfriend, how could she decide who was good enough to be in this organization?

"I saw Antonin on the platform when I left for school," Messalina revealed, instantly feeling guilty at the look of concern the twins shared. "It was him, Lucius Malfoy, and Thorfinn Rowle. They were with the Blacks, seeing Regulus off."

"They've never done that before, have they?"

"No, but Sirius left this summer so they couldn't very well have talked about Death Eater affairs with him in the house."

"Did you have to interact?" Fabian was careful with his wording and Messalina shook her head gratefully.

"No, I didn't see them until after I was on the train."

"Were they talking to Sirius' little brother?" Gideon - ever the more concerned, responsible twin - was staring at her intently, his brows furrowed.

"I don't know, not that I saw at least."

"Okay, thanks for letting us know. We'll pass this on."

"How's training?" She asked after a pregnant silence fell over them. Quiet was rare for them, usually at least one of the twin was cracking some kind of joke, and it made the interaction feel even more surreal. And if it already felt like it wasn't actually happening, why not throw in a conversation she had been dreading and get it over with?

"They're going to change the three year training period to one year."

"An 'accelerated program' so we can get into the field by ourselves even faster."

"Means we're working three times as much as you usually would've, we're lucky to see Mum and Dad for a couple hours a week."

"The things we've seen...the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who need to be stopped. Doesn't make you complain as much about the hours as you might think."

"They go by fast, that's for sure."

"But it feels good to do something. To be able to look at the Daily Prophet and think 'I'm trying to stop this everyday'."

"We won't blame you if you decide not to be an Auror, Lina," Gideon interjected suddenly, shooting his brother an annoyed look and the concern was evident in his voice. "Mum's already beside herself with two of us as Aurors, you'd be saving her a lot of stress doing something else."

"I've wanted to be an Auror since I came to Hogwarts," she said slowly, kicking at a pebble under her shoe and refusing to look the twins in the eye. Messalina wanted terribly to tell them about what Vector had said after she'd successfully conjured a Patronus - that regular wizarding society wouldn't reaccept those who killed on their behalf. She'd kept the encounter to herself, telling Lily and others that Vector had just wanted to know about the memory she'd chosen. Even though she felt the words bubbling in her throat, she swallowed them down. "Since I figured out what my last name means to actually decent wizarding families. I want nothing more than to be able to look myself in the eye and say I did everything to stop people like the Luciens and the Dolohovs. To make even the smallest difference."

"Then we'll just have to tell Mum to suck it up and get used to three of us as Aurors," Fabian said, drawing her into a tight hug that made tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "She's had years to prepare herself."

"That poor woman, birthing two twins as handsome as ourselves."

"Okay, enough of this talk. I didn't come here to see you cry. I'd rather talk about how Fabian nearly blew a load when Marlene hugged him." Messalina laughed at Gideon's statement and leaned against the fence as Fabian attempted to tackle his twin to the ground. It felt good to see they were still capable of such tomfoolery despite everything that they had seen and discussed, but Messalina couldn't help but wonder sickly if this was an act to try to make her feel better. It worked only partially if that was true and they needn't have gone to all that effort and certainly did not have to get grass stains on their robes.

The intense feeling of nausea didn't subside even as the twins stopped fighting and turned the conversation towards lighter topics. Chatting about Molly's kids and Fabian's adoration for Marlene felt hollow and odd in comparison to the news they had dropped on her and Messalina knew her brothers felt the strain as well. Their laughter sounded forced and by the time they made it to the Three Broomsticks to meet the rest of the seventh years for lunch, Messalina's cheeks ached from faking smiles for the better part of an hour. She felt detached as she sat down between her brothers, so lost in her thoughts that it took nearly twenty minutes for her to notice James and Lily were sitting next to each other talking quietly. Any other day, Messalina would've elbowed Marlene or made a mental note to ask Lily about it later, but it felt silly and childish. It felt the same way with Fabian and Marlene who were trading quips about the state of wizarding customs. She couldn't even be bothered to worry about Peter or Black seeing Marlene openly flirting with someone else. Who cares about relationships when there's a War going on? At least she'd be able to tease them back when they inevitably returned to the topic of Charlie drawing a dragon for Remus. Maybe they'd shut up for once.

Messalina was so deep in her own mind that when the rest of the group got up to leave, it took Gideon tapping on her shoulder for her to notice. She followed her friends out of the Three Broomsticks trying to force herself to stop dwelling on the negative when Merlin knew when she would able to see the twins again. It wasn't wise to not take advantage of their company when she had a whole afternoon with them. The girls and the Marauders split off from the Prewett-Lucien trio as they left the bar, the boys declaring an urgent need to go to Zonko's and the girls heading down the lane to get Mary some new quidditch supplies.

"So, Lupin, eh?" Fabian asked after a moment and Messalina jerked her head to look at him. He was trying hard to not to laugh and he lost his battle with himself after several seconds, chuckling to himself as Gideon coughed in what he probably hoped was an inconspicuous manner.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she declared, sticking her nose in the air. For the first time all day, she felt somewhat normal if not embarrassed and almost relished in the feeling.

"Better than Caradoc or Fenwick, that's for sure."

"Might actually have an average person's sized ego."

"Be careful that he's not gonna croak on you, kid's in the Hospital Wing once a month, I swear."

"Yeah, what's that about anyways?"

"I'm not commenting on these rumors, Merlin knows where you heard them," Messalina announced, scowling at their cheerful faces. How they could be so cheerful when they had just been talking about joining a secret organization to defeat the Death Eaters, she had no clue but had to acknowledge that they hadn't changed too much.

"Not rumors, I saw that kid go to the Hospital Wing more times than anybody else."

"Hopefully whatever it is isn't transmitted sexually." That was the last straw for Messalina, who elbowed Fabian in the ribs and whacked his twin's arm.

"You two are insufferable, did you know that?"

"You have our blessing, dearest sister."

"Just promise us you'll name your kids after us. Even if it's a girl. Fabianna you could call her."

"Merlin, we're just friends. Not sure we're at the stage of naming our children yet. I think that might come in the second week of friendship, though," Messalina grumbled, surprised by how close she was by scowling and stomping her foot like a child. "How do you even know about this?"

"A most precious little bird told me."

"Okay, so it looks like I'll have to kill Marlene."

"She's a rather spectacular girl, don't you think?"

"I think Fabian is in love. Promise to name your daughter after me?" Messalina jumped out of the way as Fabian lunged towards her, arms outstretched and a glint in his eyes that told her it was on. She took off running back in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, her lungs aching from the effort of propelling her body forward as fast as possible while laughing. Fabian tackled her when she was just within view of the building and she had to concede her defeat, cursing herself for not taking up a sport like quidditch that could keep her stamina up.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a suitably normal manner with plenty of gossip and catching up shared between the trio and by the time Messalina made her way back to the castle alone, she was feeling much better than she had that morning. She had wanted to be able to do something, anything, to help with what was going on in the outside world. And now, she had a new responsibility in addition to her weekly training sessions with Professor Vector and Graham Pucey. She could make a difference before she even left Hogwarts and when did did graduate, she would be ready for it. At least, she might be prepared if she started paying attention to her surroundings. How had she missed a boy she had harbored a crush on for longer than she'd like to admit was missing at least once a month? She'd have to start being more observant. For professional purposes of course. It had nothing to do with the fluttering feeling she felt when he looked at her. Nope. Not at all. Don't be ridiculous.