She'd just finished a loop of the offices and cubes in her department, and was looking forward to a quick lunch break. Everyone's status had been satisfactory. The department was running smoothly.

"Wellwood."

She was so thoroughly invested in going through the open cases that she didn't hear her name being called.

"Hey! Wellwood!"

She turned, startled, to see Harry leaning out of the Alpha conference room. She furrowed her brow, unsure of what he was up to. She had grown unfamiliar with hearing him call her by her last name.

"What's up?" she asked, from ten paces away.

"I could use your help," he said, gesturing towards her. "Come here."

She did as he asked, ducking into the conference room to see the eight Aurors on his team sitting around the table, with a few interns standing along the back wall. She avoided making eye contact with Holly, who was staring her down from across the room.

"What's going on?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip. She didn't feel comfortable having this many eyes on her at once.

"Dodger case," he said. "We've all examined these magical activity maps and we're stumped. Care to take a look at them and see if there's something we've all missed?"

She nodded, trying to spread them out on the table, before deciding it was too much to look at like that. She waved her wand, sending them all to stick against the wall.

The room was painfully quiet as she walked along the wall, tracing the activity with a finger. This particular corner of the Forest of Dean had some wacky patterns in the magic.

"Quill?" she asked, reaching her hand out in Harry's direction, without taking her eyes off the map. He handed her one, and she began to circle anything she found suspicious, working her way across the wall and around the corner. Then she walked back, ripping down every piece of paper she hadn't marked up.

She blindly handed the stack of irrelevant papers to Harry. "I need a calendar."

"Casali," Harry said, indicating one of the interns. "Grab Wellwood a calendar from my office."

The scrawny, scared looking intern moved quickly, though Liv didn't take her eyes off the wall in her absence. Her mind was turning.

The girl returned with the calendar off Harry's wall, and she accepted it before comparing it to the movement on the wall. She made more notes as she consulted the calendar. She pulled down a few of the lesser important papers, but didn't discard them.

"Do you see it now?" She asked, stepping back as they all peered at the papers. They were silent for a few minutes while she stood awkwardly in front of them. Fucking hell, she hated standing in front of a group.

"It's a cycle," Harry said, after it was clear no one on his team had a clue.

"Yes!" She said. "It directly reflects the lunar cycle of the last two and a half months."

A few members of his team got up to see her notes up close, cursing themselves for not thinking of the pattern in front of them.

"I told you," she said, pointing to Harry. "You Aurors could use more education in astronomy and divination."

He didn't respond, not in front of his team. "So the full moon corresponds with the peak of suspicious activity?"

"Yes," she said to him. "Your next full moon is next week, so I would expect things to start picking up the closer we move to Sunday, if these are any indication of what to expect."

"Great. Thank you, Wellwood."

She nodded, before taking that as a cue to leave the crowded conference room, and headed back towards her office.

He looked particularly worried over the dinner she had cooked. His brow was furrowed, with his eyes gazing loosely behind her. She had made a simple stir fry, and she had followed the directions explicitly from the cookbook, and it wasn't burnt…

"Is my cooking that bad?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh, no!" he said, focusing on her. "You're a better cook than you give yourself credit for."

"So what's troubling you?"

He sighed, finishing the bite that he had just put in his mouth. "This Dodger case is just complicated."

"Can I do anything to help?" she asked. "Reallocate some of my department to assist your team in getting ready?"

He shook his head, putting his hand up. "Research has been done for awhile now. You helped us out immensely the other day. It's just ground work."

"Are you going to be in the field this weekend?" She asked, though she was afraid of being alone in the house.

He nodded. "At least Saturday, but possibly all weekend. And I told Andromeda months ago that I would take Teddy this weekend so she could visit her sister, but now that I have no idea how long I'll be gone, I've got to cancel on her and I hate doing that."

"I'll be here," she said. "If Teddy's comfortable staying with me, I don't mind if he's here."

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking skeptical.

"Look," she said. "I have no experience with kids. And I'm not particularly sure I'll be the most exciting caretaker. But I would love to not be alone while you're gone, and I'm pretty sure I can keep the kid alive for a day or two."

"Yeah?"

"I like Teddy," she said. "He's a good kid. So if he's comfortable, and you're okay with it, I absolutely don't mind making sure he's clean and fed."

"Great!" Harry said, shoveling the last bite of his dinner into his mouth. "Let me pop over to Andromeda's place and make sure there are no issues with that."

She cleaned up the dinner mess as he was gone, pondering exactly what she could do with a thirteen year old for a whole day. Take a hike? Let him try and teach her chess? She chuckled at what a mess that might be.

Harry was only gone a few minutes, before she heard the familiar pop in the entryway.

"Everything all good?" She asked, hand drying a dish as she poked her head into the hallway.

She was expecting Harry, but froze when she saw it was not him in the foyer. "Oh, hi Weasley."

The stocky man looked just as confused to see her there. "Wellwood?"

For a moment, there was silence as neither of them knew what to say.

"Harry stepped out, for a few," she explained, talking quickly out of nerves. "Had to go speak to Andromeda."

"Ah," he said. "I just came to drop something off for him."

"I can take it," she offered. "Or he should be back any minute."

"I'll wait."

She couldn't discern his tone, but it wasn't overly friendly, and she was just unsure of how to proceed. "I was about to make some tea, would you like a cup?"

"Uhm," he said, looking about as uncomfortable as she felt. "Yeah, sure."

She went back into the kitchen, sliding the plate she had been drying into its home in the cabinet. She put the kettle on the stove, cranking the gas heat all the way to high.

In the meantime, he had gone to grab teacups for her, which she appreciated. He seemed very familiar with the house. "Mind grabbing a third one? In case Harry wants some when he gets in."

He set three cups on the counter next to her before taking a seat at the kitchen table. Just when she thought that she might have to make actual conversation with him, she heard another pop in the hallway. She knew that this time it would definitely be Harry.

"Liv-" he said, rounding the corner into the kitchen. He cut off as soon as he saw Ron. "Hey, mate."

The tea kettle was beginning to steam, the topper just barely lifting off where it rested. She shut the gas off and poured hot water into the three ceramic cups.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything-"

"You didn't," he said, sitting down across from Ron. "We just finished dinner and I had to step out for a moment. What's up?"

She set two cups of tea on the table in front of them.

"I just wanted to drop off some things from 'Mione," Ron said, handing him a package. "Some propaganda for the new campaign she was telling you about. Wanted to get your thoughts on it before it goes live next week."

"Oh, of course," he said, tugging at the strings tying it together.

Not wanting to intrude, Liv took her cup of tea to the living room. The previous day's Daily Prophet was on the table, a half done crossword begging to be completed. Harry must have gotten distracted. She immediately saw that he'd misspelled the Hogwarts motto, which was complicating finding answers to the remaining numbers.

She dipped her quill into the pot of ink, tapping the excess ink off before trying to turn the "e" and "n" that Harry wrote into an "a" and "m". She crossed her legs, pulling a knit throw over her, and leaned the crossword against her lap. The cup of tea balanced precariously on her left knee, the familiar, scent wafting into her nose.

She was nearly done with the crossword when Harry joined her in the living room. "Sorry about that."

"No worries," she said. "Nine letter word, starts with C, third letter l, changes colors."

"Er," Harry said, thinking for a moment. "Colovaria fit?"

She traced out the letters. "Yep, that's it."

"That's OWLS level spell work, Liv."

"Which was still before I gave a shit about school," she said, not looking up. She admired the entirely complete crossword. "What's up with Ron?"

"Oh, Hermione wanted me to look at some things she's going to begin distributing next week as part of a new campaign for underprivileged Muggleborns," he said. "She kind of has… a lot of causes."

"Interesting," she said. "Can I read?"

"Sure, if you'd like. I'm sorry if Ron was awkward," Harry said, moving towards her on the couch.

She shrugged. "He was perfectly pleasant."

"He'll warm up to you," he promised. "Ron still struggles with the fact that Ginny and I aren't together."

She furrowed her brow, looking up at him over the rim of her tea cup. "But, why?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Let's not get into that now, yeah? Teddy is quite excited to spend time with you this weekend."

Hearing that warmed her heart almost enough to distract her fully from whatever he didn't want to discuss with her. "Great!"

She lay in bed Saturday morning, keenly aware of his presence next to her. The thought of him not sleeping next to her that evening made her a little twitchy. She didn't want to get up, knowing that it would disturb his sleep. She wanted to soak up as much of his presence as possible.

Their legs were entangled, his skin comfortably warm against hers. She rested her head close to his, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.

She peeked over his figure, at the clock on his bedside table. They had at least an hour before he had to collect Teddy. She moved towards him, wrapping her right arm around his middle. She liked how he was solid within her embrace, but not too rigid.

"Mmm," he said, his eyes fluttering.

"Good morning," she murmured.

"Good morning, beautiful."

She blushed, but couldn't help but smile. The way he treated her- with copious respect, admiration, and kindness- was still unfamiliar but thrilling to her.

He looked at her, and she could see the desire in his eyes. Something in her clicked. She shifted, pressing her lips against his with a sense of urgency.

He woke up quickly, one hand in her hair, the other around her torso. He maneuvered himself on top of her, blindly unbuttoning the flannel shirt she'd been sleeping in.

Feeling his eagerness in embracing her was worth waiting for. He was gentle with her, but not hesitant. He moved like he knew exactly what he was doing. She tugged at the hem of his old, faded Chudley Cannons shirt, wanting to pull it off him.

For a moment, he sat up, bearing his weight on his knees as he took it off. From that vantage, he grasped her hips, tugging them down, closer to him. He hooked his fingers in her shorts, and she wiggled her way out of them.

"I've wanted this for so long," he said, leaning in to kiss her tenderly. Her fingers knotted themselves in his hair as she pulled him closer to her. She dwelled in the passionate embrace, soaking in how wonderful it felt.

"I want you inside me," she pleaded, her voice thick with a mixture of emotion and desire.

He nodded, and lined himself up to enter her. She bucked her hips toward him, her soft moans encouraged him.

As he was just about to thrust into her, the chime of a visitor entering the wards sounded throughout the house.

His half closed eyes focused quickly on her face, as the look of excruciating disappointment caused her features to crumple. For a moment, he was distracted by the beautiful, vulnerable, naked woman in his bed who he so badly wanted. He had been seconds away from taking her, as he had desired for weeks, and that was now dashed.

"Someone's here," he said, moving backwards.

"Fuck them," she whined, trying to pull him back into the embrace. "They can wait."

"Liv..." He said, putting his feet back on the ground and tugging his boxers on. "I'm sorry."

She pouted, propping her head up on her elbow. She made no motions to get dressed, instead trying to distract him with her body. He knew she had wanted him just as much as he craved her. Out of necessity, he forced himself to think about miserable things that weren't the beautiful, naked woman he fancied laying in his bed.

He opened up the door, peeking out to the ground floor, where he could see Andromeda waiting in a traveling cloak. He shut the door slowly, making certain it didn't make a noise. "Teddy's here. Why don't you shower?

She nodded, swinging her legs over the bed to stand. She said nothing, but she didn't have to. Her disappointment was palpable in the air between them. She wiped at her shiny eyes, and headed for the bathroom.

There was no way for him to make her happy. Andromeda had shown up nearly an hour early, and he needed to get Teddy settled before he could head out and meet his team. He took a second to try and clear his head, slipped on a pair of flannel pajama shorts, and headed downstairs.

She was frustrated, pent up, and emotional. She wanted nothing but Harry, nothing but an entire day to lay in bed and be an absolute heathen with him.

And that was entirely out of the question for the foreseeable future. She felt vulnerable, and exposed, by the abrupt end of their fun, but tried to squash those feelings down further. They could be dealt with later.

After a quick rinse in the shower, she found herself dressing for the day and joining the blokes downstairs. Harry had breakfast cooking in the kitchen, which eased her mood... slightly.

"Liv!" Teddy said, between bites of toast.

"Good morning," she said, slipping into a seat across from him.

"You excited to spend the day with Liv?" Harry asked from the stove, where he was cracking open an egg over the hot griddle.

"Yep," he said. "I've got all the things we're gonna do written down."

"Oh?" Liv asked, amused. "What are we going to do?"

"Well," he began, taking a folded up piece of parchment out of his pocket. "Harry said we have to go preorder my text books then go to Madame Malkins and get my school robes fitted."

"September's coming sooner than you think," he said, flipping two eggs into a plate for her. She used her fork to break the yolk before dipping her toast in it. "Just want to make sure you've got what you need."

"Then we're going to order pizza and I'm going to teach you how to lose at chess."

She laughed, feeling her frustration easing slightly. It made her genuinely feel good that Teddy seemed to be excited to spend some time with her. She couldn't really put her finger on anyone ever being so eager to spend time with her. When it came to Harry though, she was still a bit miffed, though it was dissipating as she regained a clear head.

"She'll be better than you anticipate, Ted," Harry said, sitting down with them finally, to eat his own breakfast.

"I guess it's that Ravenclaw thing," Teddy mused, picking a few green grapes out of the fruit basket between them.

Harry ate quickly, and she knew that meant he had his mind on the work. She didn't want him to leave. Rationally, she knew this was his job- this would always be their job. But it didn't make it any easier.

She took the plates from breakfast and charmed them to clean themselves, keeping busy so she couldn't fret about his imminent departure. As she tidied, she heard Harry and Teddy in the living room as he set up the radio to play this afternoon's Cannons game.

Harry returned to the kitchen alone. "Come upstairs for a moment?"

She put down the plate she was drying and followed him, wordlessly. He said nothing until they were in his bedroom with the door shut behind them.

"I'm incredibly sorry," he said, sitting down next to her on his bed.

"It's okay," she said, letting out a deep sigh. "I wasn't being my most rational self."

"It's not ideal," he said. "You were in a vulnerable position and I'm not sure I did right by you-"

"Nonsense," she said, shutting him down. "We can pick things back up where we left off as soon as you're home, yeah?"

His lips curved upwards, slightly. "That would be nice."

"So you," she said, poking him square in the chest. "Best come home in one piece, yeah? Because I have plans for you."

His features melted into a happy grin, and he leaned in to kiss her. As tempting as it was to try and pull him back into bed, she knew it would just be delaying the inevitable departure. She stood up, grabbing his rucksack from the foot of the bed.

"Trying to get rid of me?" He asked.

"No," she said. "But the whole process of you leaving is slightly easier if I have a semblance of control over it."

He nodded, unable to argue with her eloquently stated self-awareness. "I should be home by morning, if all goes well."

"And I hope it does," she said.

He moved to his wardrobe, pulling the bottom drawer out and selecting a navy blue cloth pouch. From the metallic clinking when he picked it up, she knew it was holding money. "Use this for Teddy's robes today?"

"Oh, sure," she said, taking it, feeling the weight of the bag between her hands.

"You can use it on dinner too if you'd like-"

"I think I can afford a pizza," she said, sarcastically. She didn't want to burden Harry, and she could certainly afford to feed them for a night.

"It's money I set aside for Teddy every month," he said. "His Nan's not got much these days. I don't want him to go without."

The sentiment behind his actions had been warming, and she felt a bit guilty for her retort. Instead of apologizing, though, she opened the bedroom door.

They walked downstairs, so he could say goodbye to Teddy. Teddy surprised her by being incredibly blasé about his departure. He was too busy focusing on the game, which was tied.

"Shall we wait til the end of the game to head to Diagon Alley?" She asked, settling in to the chaise section of the couch.

"Nah," he said. "Cannons are gonna win, I know it."

She smirked at his confidence. "We'll see about that. Now c'mon, let's get going, yeah?"

He nodded, turning the radio off and grabbing his shoes. They took the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron, the most convenient way to get where they were going. It was a bustling Saturday, the pub full of families grabbing lunch. Liv tried to escort Teddy through as quickly as possible, not wanting to attract any attention.

"Teddy!" She heard someone call, and turned around to see Neville was hanging over the bar to greet her companion. "Oh, hello Liv."

"Hi Neville," she said, keeping her arm on Teddy's back.

"You know Liv?" Teddy asked, innocently.

Liv really didn't want to get into the gray area that she and his godfather had inhabited over the last... weeks, especially not in the crowded restaurant.

"Of course," he said. "Harry's brought her round a few times for dinner, innit right?"

"Something like that," she said, nervously. "Can't argue that you guys don't have the best Shepherd's pie this side of Hogsmeade."

He grinned. "And what are you two up to today, where's your godfather?"

"He had to work," Teddy complained. "But Liv and I are running errands and then I'm going to show her how to lose at chess."

Neville chuckled at Teddy's confidence. "Good luck with that, mate. Feel free to stop on in for a butterbeer on your way out, on me."

"Thanks, Neville," Liv said, trying to move Teddy along. She couldn't quite put her finger on how interactions with Harry's friends made her feel, though they felt easiest with Neville.

"What would you like to do first?" She asked. "Flourish and Blotts or Madam Malkins?"

"Let's do the books," he said, wrinkling up his nose at the idea of being measured for robes. So they headed towards the bookstore. Their adventure today was reminding her a lot of her own childhood, when her mother brought her to Diagon Alley to see what she could scrap together for Liv's school supplies.

Once they made it inside the bookstore, Liv went to lead Teddy upstairs.

"Only the used books are up there," Teddy said. "Harry wanted me to get the new ones."

"Right," she said. She wasn't much of a reader- of books, anyways- and had never purchased a new book for school. Even her later years in school, when she'd held a job during the summers and had some spending money, she'd only had used textbooks. This was all entirely foreign to her.

They got in line behind about eight other families, all here to do the same thing. As she waited in line, Teddy darted in and out of the aisles, picking out books. When he joined her as she was second in line, he had about six books stacked high in his arms. They ranged from Bartemus the Bat Boy's Brave Adventures, to Chess for the Beginner.

"That one's for you," he said.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Very gracious of you, Ted."

"Next in line!" a perky voice called, leading them over to a cashier.

Liv's eyes moved upwards, to the girl calling them over. Her eyes widened when she saw Marina Evanson, Holly's little sister. She blinked really quickly, trying to think about the best way to handle this encounter.

"Liv!"

"Hello," she said. She saw Teddy glance at her, curious of how this girl knew her. He placed the books he had been carrying on the counter for her to add up.

"I'm so sorry to hear about things with Ames," she said, as she added up the totals of the books.

"I'd really rather not talk about it," Liv said quietly, feeling her face grow warm. "Can we get Teddy here preordered for all these textbooks?"

"Of course," Marina said, with a familiar confused expression that Liv usually saw her sister wear. "Used?"

"New." She said, enjoying how the word sounded coming out of her mouth. She grabbed the coin purse that Harry had given her, counting out the heavy, shiny coins for Marina.

"Here's your receipt," Marina said, handing her the piece of parchment and a paper bag full of books.

"Thanks."

"See you around."

Liv put her arm around Teddy and led him out of the packed bookstore. She could feel his eyes on her, full of questions. He didn't talk right away, instead staying quiet as they walked down the alley.

"I guess Ames is the guy that didn't treat you very right?" he asked finally, as she fretted about how to address it.

"Your godfather told you about that, did he?" She asked, staring at him. His eyes were surprisingly sympathetic for a kid.

"He mentioned it," Teddy said quietly. "When you just showed up out of nowhere that day."

"Ah," she said.

"He was a Chaser for the Tornados, wasn't he?"

She nodded. "That's him."

"I never liked them anyways," he said.

She couldn't help but laugh at Ted's simplistic thought process. In front of her, she spotted the ice cream parlor, and was fairly sure Teddy would be game for anything that delayed a robe fitting.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, waiting for his brown eyes to light up at the sight of Florian Fortescue's ice cream shop.

"Really?" he asked.

"Why not?" she questioned, reaching to open the door for him. If she was going to have to be unpleasantly reminded of Ames and have to deal with the questions Marina left in her wake, Liv was at least allowed a milkshake.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the support, everyone! I should be getting around to responding to all the reviews/PMs tomorrow. Thanks for your patience in me getting these installments up! One more chapter tomorrow, and then we will be back on pace. Thanks to my beta, potter-reading-coastie for all his help.