She left the meeting with Rutherford, fully informed on the current status of the case he was calling the Bringer case. It needed her attention, and it couldn't wait. For a moment, she stood outside Rutherford's office, taking in the current state of the department from her vantage point. She saw the light still on in her office, the door open. Anne was hard at work, paired with Houston on getting files updated.
She glanced towards the opposite corner of the room, where Harry's office was. He was in the office, though it looked like he was alone. He didn't usually leave his door open if he was meeting with someone, though she couldn't see perfectly through the blinds he had hanging up.
She glanced towards where the Aurors under him sat, with Holly's back towards her. She looked pretty absorbed into what she was doing. Not wanting to alert Holly to her presence, or availability, Liv quietly walked towards Harry's office. She didn't bother knocking before stepping in and closing the door behind her. She paused, considering the lock, before pressing it in.
"Trying to ambush me?" he asked, a rather bemused look on his face. He shut the office's blinds and sat back, stretching his arms from where he'd been hunched over a desk. He smiled at her, and she considered her desire to kiss him.
But she remained professional, and leaned against the side of his desk instead. "I'm hiding from Holly."
"Ah," he said. "What's going on?"
"Rutherford needs me in the field this afternoon," she said. "Last minute thing with this Bringer case. I may be home late, I just wanted to let you know."
He reached out and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers between his. "Okay. I've got things pretty under control, I don't see why I won't be home on time to intercept Ted. We'll be waiting for you."
His hand in hers distracted her. His touch was… hard to ignore. She still longed for him in a physical way, but hadn't been able to act upon it yet. Now, knowing his door was locked, and the blinds were shut, it was so tempting to lean into his embrace and snog him…
"You alright?" he asked, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His finger was cool against her blushing cheek, imagining the heft of his arms around her. "You look a bit distracted."
"I'm fine," she said, standing up. Removing herself from the embrace made it easier to clear her head. "I'll see you at home."
"Good luck."
She tried to leave his office as quietly as she'd entered, but had attracted a particularly unwanted shadow on her way back to her office to grab her jacket.
"Y'know, boss," Holly said. "It's starting to look real suspicious the amount of times you're in a closed office with him."
"I do not have time for this," Liv said, gathering up her work bag. "Don't you have work to do?"
"Maybe Rutherford would be interested to know what's going on…"
Liv turned on her, quickly. "Are you threatening me?"
The confident look on Holly's face wavered, as if she internally registered that she had gone too far. "I—"
"No, you know what? It's fine," Liv said, "Do whatever you feel like doing, Holly. Truly. But I'm being genuine in not having the time to have this conversation. I have to get to work."
And she was off, and headed out of the department. She needed to be across London, looking into things. But first, she needed a cigarette.
In the peripherals of his vision, he saw Liv leave the department in what he could only describe as a frenzy. When she'd left his side, only a few minutes before, she'd seemed fine. He didn't like this.
He pushed back from his desk, standing up to see what was going on in the department. He leaned against his doorway, crossing his arms over his chest.
In Liv's wake, Holly was walking back to her desk from the direction of Liv's office. He had no doubt she was the cause of this.
Evanson looked up, her clear eyes meeting his. A look crossed her faces like she knew he'd seen her upsetting Liv. She moved her glance down, looking sheepish instead of inflamed.
"A word, Evanson?" He asked, when she had to walk past him to get to her seat
She did not look pleased. "I'm quite busy, actually-"
"Then you best get to work," he said, sternly. "I expect a report on what you've done before you leave for the day."
Liv was tired and her feet hurt when she turned on to Grimmauld Place. The sun was starting to hide behind the trees, night was coming. She had been working so close to home that there was no reason to travel any other way.
She imagined Harry and Teddy were probably enjoying a pizza and a Muggle movie after this long week, but as she came through the wards, the house was quiet.
"Harry?" She called up the staircase, slightly confused. He should have been home over an hour ago, and it seemed unlikely he would be anywhere but home.
"Liv?" A small voice asked from upstairs.
"Teddy?"
He bound down the stairs. "I thought you forgot about me!"
He crashed into her, wrapping his arms around her waist in a tight hug. She noticed his normally sandy hair was a dark, inky blue, and could only imagine it was unbridled sadness. His hug erased all the hardships of her day, but he seemed quite upset.
"Where's your godfather?" She asked, growing concerned. "How long have you been alone?"
He looked up and had tears in his unusually blue eyes, and she didn't blame him. He furiously tried to pretend it didn't happen, but she's seen it, and hugged him tighter. "Oh, Teddy. I'm so, so sorry. Let's go in the living room."
"Nan said she spoke to Harry this afternoon and he was planning to be home on time but she was running early so then neither of you were, but she left me because she had to get to her friend Dresden's place and we figured that at least one of you would be home soon but then-"
"Take a breath, Ted," she nudged him, smoothing his hair. All the words just fell out of his mouth at once, it was a challenge for her to keep up.
"But then," he said, a slight bit slower. "Neither of you showed up and I figured maybe Harry forgot I was coming-"
"Oh, darling," she murmured. She felt so awful. This poor, scared little boy. Normally she was impressed by how mature Teddy was, but today he looked so little to her. And something about him thinking he was forgotten spoke to the darker spots of her own childhood. When she'd decided to stay at Harry's, she had agreed to take a role, however small, in the upbringing of Teddy. He would not feel abandoned on her watch.
"We're going to order takeaway," she said, in the most soothing voice she could muster. "Anything you want. And maybe look into where your godfather is, yeah? This has all been a misunderstanding, Teddy. It won't happen again, I promise you I will make sure of that."
She went into the kitchen, grabbing the folder of takeaway menus Harry kept in a drawer. Her mind raced- what could possibly have happened for Harry to be running so late?
"Here, figure out what you'd like," she said, passing the folder off to Teddy. "I'm just going to run upstairs, I'll be back down in a moment."
Teddy nodded, and she bounded upstairs. She shed her stiff shoes, and once she was in their bedroom, traded her trousers for a pair of pajama bottoms. She threw her hair up, because it kept sticking to the back of her neck.
Her eyes scanned the room for a letter, because it simply didn't make sense that Harry would neglect to come home without letting her know. If he'd been caught up at work, she really thought he'd have written her. It made her antsy.
She needed a distraction, for both Teddy's and her sake. She glanced at the quilt, discarded from the bed she shared with Harry. He hadn't bothered making the bed this morning, but that piece was usually the first to go in the summer heat. She picked it up.
Then, she dashed across the hallway into "her" room, and opened the wardrobe. A blanket fort and a little astronomy show would suffice. She grabbed one of the few tangible items she had from her childhood. She considered, for only a brief moment, sticking her head out the window to smoke a quick one. But she reminded herself that Teddy needed her more than she needed a cigarette.
Teddy was exactly where she left him, still visibly upset. "What's all this?"
"You'll see," she said. "Did you decide what you wanted?"
He handed her the menu for the closest Thai place, and she went and placed their order. Liv ordered a bunch of food, so Teddy didn't have to choose between his favorites, and they would have plenty of leftovers for when Harry showed up.
"We," Liv announced. "Are going to make a fort."
"What?" Teddy asked.
"Yeah, c'mon. Get up and help me." She had him help her push the armchairs into better spots so she could string the quilt between them. She threw all the pillows in underneath the canopy, satisfied as she watched his hair lighten up to its normal color.
"Go get the food, will you?" She asked Teddy, handing him a wad of Muggle money. She was sure the delivery boy was wandering the block aimlessly.
While he was gone, she turned on the projector, and saw the stars come into focus. This was the perfect distraction.
"Liv, you got so much food!" Teddy exclaimed, at which point she realized she might have gone overboard. She spread everything out on the dining room table so they could make plates for themselves. He was starting to let his guard down, to put what happened this evening behind him; she could see it all over his face. But Harry's absence was still felt.
She crawled, like a child, under the blanket, and got comfortable. She used a few pillows to prop herself up, but was at an angle where she could still see the stars. He was hesitant behind her, but eventually had settled in next to her. He was quietly devouring his huge plate of Pad Thai, while his dark eyes were fixated on the swirling constellations over his head.
"This is really cool, Liv."
"Thanks," she said. "When I was little, I used to love watching this. It's kind of nostalgic."
For a few minutes, the only sounds were of their forks against the plates, shoveling noodles and rice and shrimp into their mouths. She didn't realize how hungry she had been.
"Are you excited for the wedding next weekend?" Liv asked.
"You're coming with us?" he asked, a little perked up. He was trending in the right direction.
"Of course," she said, trying not to let him know that she was easily rustled.
"Is it going to be a little weird?" He asked, incredibly innocently. "Being around Ginny, and stuff?"
"It might be," Liv admitted. "But the Weasley family has been very good to Harry, and I care about him a lot, so I think the risk of weirdness is worth taking."
Teddy nodded, mulling over what she said. "Family isn't always blood."
"Exactly," she said. "I knew you'd know what I was talking about."
He smiled out of pride, and that had been her intent. The Floo rattled, and she sat straight up in time to watch Harry tumble through.
His afternoon had been entirely derailed by an emergency Wizengamot trial that Rutherford had insisted he sit in on. Artemis Junger-Pex's trial had been pushed up and he needed to be there.
He had watched the second hand on his watch speed past five o'clock, and worried about Teddy. Liv had been prepared for Harry to be home on time, and gone out in the field. He hoped he hadn't inconvenienced Andromeda too much, or that Liv had made it home earlier than she anticipated.
When the trial finally let out, he practically sprinted to his office to collect his belongings. He needed to get home. Luckily, there was no line at the Floo- it was nearly eight o'clock, on a Friday, no less.
He came through the fireplace, stumbling through because he was so rushed. Liv and Teddy lay on the living room floor, the quilt from his bed hanging between the two arm chairs. Liv's star projector was turned on, the fan whirring loudly. He could smell curry, they must have ordered dinner.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," he said.
Liv had stood up, ducking from underneath the blanket canopy. Teddy followed suit, before crushing Harry in a hug.
Recognizing that he needed a few minutes alone with his godfather to recalibrate, Liv took Teddy's plate and went to the kitchen. She charmed their plates to wash up, but left the food spread out on the dining room table, so Harry could eat when he felt like it. She ran upstairs, quickly, to give Teddy and Harry a few minutes of privacy. She washed her face, scrubbing it with a wash cloth until it felt smooth, then slathered herself in moisturizer.
Harry came through the bedroom door a few moments later, his arms full of work he'd brought home for the weekend. "Andromeda just left him here?"
"Yeah," Liv said, crossing her arms. "What the hell, right?"
"She's never done that before," he said. "That's just… I don't know. I don't like it. I'm going to have to talk to her about that."
"If I'd known…" she trailed off. "I mean, I was traipsing all over London, but, I would've tried, or—"
"I know," he said. "Rutherford pulled me into a Wizengamot trial at the last minute and I was stuck down there until it was over, I would've written if I could—"
"I know," she echoed. "I know."
"So how long had he been alone when you got here?"
"An hour and a half, I think," she said. "He was… very shaken when I walked in. His hair was dark as squid's ink and his eyes were blue, too. It was an awful sight. I had him pick out what he wanted for dinner and then we made a blanket fort and looked at the stars."
"Thank you," he said, shedding his work clothes. He'd gone to his wardrobe and exchanged them for a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt. "Thank you for taking care of him."
"Of course," she said, like there'd been any other option. "Now c'mon, let's spend some time with him together."
Author's Note: I am so incredibly sorry for having missed Friday's update! My travels took some unexpected turns and posting it completely slipped my mind. Thank you so much to all the kind folks that have reached out, I will post a chapter tomorrow (so three days in a row this week!) to catch us up to speed. I'm incredibly grateful for all the support this story has received, and appreciate each and every review and PM. Evergreen gratitude to my beta, potter-reading-coastie