Jax headed down the mostly deserted London street. He didn't anticipate it would be deserted for long with work ending soon and the dinner rush about to begin. Keeping that in mind, Jax hurried his steps. At the end of the street, he could see the dark red phone booth.
When he reached it, he swung the door open before reaching into the pocket of his jeans for his muggle money. He was about to put the money in the slot, but something caught his eye down the street. Thea was approaching the employee entrance, but then she stopped, spinning on her heel to head away from it. She made it about five paces before stopping again. She took a breath, turned and headed back toward the entrance, before freezing again.
Abandoning the phone booth, Jax headed over to Thea. "Thea?"
Thea jumped, pressing a hand to her chest. "You scared me. How long have you been standing there?"
"A minute or two." Now that he was closer, he could see the tension in her face, the redness in her eyes, and the tears that still stained her cheeks. She wasn't crying now, but she had been, and that pulled something in him. "Come on," he said softly, gripping her arm and leading her down an alleyway. She didn't fight him.
Diagon Alley was quiet, as the London street had been, but that wouldn't be the case for long. Even now, people were starting to arrive on the alley. Jax pulled Thea into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Why are we here?" Thea asked.
Jax just shook his head and steered her over to a table. "Because I'm going to buy you a meal, and you're going to tell me what happened."
Thea just gave him a look.
A waitress, with dark hair the same color as Jax's, came over offering menus, but Jax shook his head. "I'll have the fisherman's pie, and she'll have the soup and salad. Butterbeer for me, and gillywater for her.
The waitress hurriedly took that down and then left them, and Jax turned to focus on Thea, who was glaring at him. Jax shook his head. "You and I both know that was what you would have ordered."
"So, why not let me order it?" Thea asked him.
Jax didn't really have an answer to that. "So, what happened?" he asked instead.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Jax waited a beat. "I'm in town for at least a few days-probably a few weeks, and you know I'm patient. Do you really want our time together to be awkward because I know you're keeping something from me?" There had only been one time she had ever kept anything from him-and that had been just after his parents had taken her in and she had become his sister in every way except for blood.
Thea sighed. "I'm thinking about breaking my vow."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "And why would you be thinking about that?" Thea took her vow very seriously, and she wouldn't consider breaking it unless...
Before Jax could voice that, the waitress returned with their drinks. He waited until she left, and then asked, "What did Liam do?" It was always about Liam-or at least it seemed to be.
Thea shook her head again.
Jax sat back. She might have been considering breaking her vow, but she wasn't ready to do the actual breaking of it just yet. "But it was Liam, wasn't it? Whatever it is that has you upset...it comes down to him again, doesn't it?"
Thea bit her lip. "It's not that simple."
"Isn't it?" Jax asked.
"No, it's not." Thea turned to the side, pressing her back against the wall. She stretched her legs out just enough that he could see her feet just beyond the edge of the small table. "It's not just Liam. I walked out." She turned her gaze and stared out into the rest of the restaurant. "I walked out after what I saw him do, and I wound up here in Diagon Alley. I..." She took a breath. "I ran into an old classmate from Hogwarts. I didn't break my vow, but he figured out that something had happened." Absently, she rubbed her right foot against her left ankle. "It came up...what happened before."
Jax cursed under his breath. "Who were you talking to earlier?" It was bad enough she had had to deal with all of this back then, but for someone to...
Thea shook her head. "He believed my side of the story."
Jax let out a breath. If anyone else had made that claim, he would have questioned it, but if Thea was saying that this person believed her, then he did. It was that simple. "Well, at least we know Liam didn't kill someone this time."
Thea looked away.
He had killed again? "Thea, if he's killed again, you have to tell someone." Like she should have before. Granted, she had, to a point, but no one had believed her.
"Yeah, that's been pointed out to me already." Thea slumped a little in her seat.
"Well, then why don't you listen?" But Jax was watching her, and he knew exactly why she was hesitant to say anything. What was the point in saying anything if no one would believe her?
Thea straightened. "Because he killed a house-elf," she said softly. "It's different. They didn't take me seriously then, and this is nothing compared to what he did before."
"It won't be like before." And he'd buy the stupid Daily Prophet to be sure if it came down to that.
The waitress appeared again with their plates, and this time Thea waited for her to leave before continuing.
"Who exactly am I supposed to tell?" Thea looked away, but Jax thought he saw tears welling up in her eyes before she did. "Even if he doesn't make me out to be crazy...would the ministry even care? This isn't exactly something you go to Aurors with."
"So maybe you don't go to an Auror," said Jax. "Maybe you go to someone who does care about what happens to house-elves." Although if he could convince her to talk to Aurors, he would. Liam belonged in Azkaban, and the only way that would happen was if Aurors were brought in. But he also understood why she was reluctant.
"And who..." She trailed off.
Jax didn't know anybody that would care, but given the way that Thea had trailed off, he was willing to bet she did. "You know of someone, don't you?"
"Hermione Granger works in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures Department at the ministry. She was handing out pamphlets about house-elf rights or something." Thea pulled the pamphlet out of her pocket and unfolded it. "Here it is-she's trying to get better treatment for them." There was a black and white drawing of a house-elf on the front cover with the words I Will Support S.P.E.W., with society for the promotion of elfish welfare written in tiny writing underneath. "All I have to do is talk to Hermione, and then we can fix this whole thing."
"And how exactly do you plan on getting ahold of Hermione?" Jax was thrilled she was going to take action, but it wasn't as if she could approach Hermione at the ministry.
Thea stood and headed for the door.
Jax dropped a handful of galleons on the table to cover their meal and hurried after her.
"The person I was talking to earlier?" said Thea. "The old classmate? He offered to help me."
"He offered to get you in touch with Hermione? Who is this guy?"
Thea stopped and turned to face him. "George Weasley," she said reluctantly, continuing on before he had a chance to say anything to that. "And technically, he offered to get me in touch with his brother and Harry Potter, but that's almost the same thing."
Jax raised an eyebrow and was about to question her further, but Thea had started walking again. He grabbed her arm to slow her down. "And how did all of this come up?"
Thea shrugged. "We were just talking-and having tea when Ron and Harry showed up. I was afraid that Liam suspected I was considering breaking my vow and had sent them so I disillusioned myself until they had gone."
Of course, she had. Only Thea would have used magic to hide from Aurors when she had done nothing wrong. "And so, let me guess? He was suspicious then?"
Thea nodded. "Pretty much. He figured out who I was and told me that he had believed me, even back then. Then he offered to get me in touch with Harry and Ron when I was ready to turn Liam in. I mean, I hate to get him involved, but if he can get me in touch with Hermione..."
Jax watched her for a moment. There was something else, something she wasn't saying. "Was there something else that happened when you talked with George this afternoon?"
"No, of course not." And she turned to lead him to the door of the shop.