A/N: I'm not sure where this chapter came from. It definitely wasn't what I had planned to write – at least not for an entire chapter -, but once I started writing, this is what happened. I hope you like it!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I don't own the Potter universe.

Adjustments

I can't believe I'm here again.

Olivia looked at the broken Fountain of Magical Brethren and took a deep breath. She was walking back into a world she thought she had left behind forever when she moved to France: the British Ministry of Magic Auror Division.

"I can do this, I can do this, I can do this," she whispered to herself. Taking a second deep breath, she stepped onto the lift that would take her to her once and future office.

When she stepped off the lift, it was like stepping back in time. The department was just as she remembered. The decorations placed on the various desks and pictures of wanted criminals splashed across the walls had changed, and some of the faces that walked past her were different, but, for the most part, the offices had not changed in the nearly fifteen years she had been gone.

"Olivia!"

Olivia looked around, taking care not to jump at the sound of her name. She doubted that the rather feminine voice she heard belonged to Moody, but she had learned enough during her training not to show surprise. She looked at the woman walking toward her with a beaming smile, and felt a grin spread across her own face.

"Stephanie!" she exclaimed. Stephanie Webster had been inducted as an Auror with Olivia; they had shared an office when they first began working.

"I can't believe you're back!" Stephanie exclaimed, hugging Olivia close. "I had heard you were coming back from France, but I almost didn't want to believe it. I was afraid that it was just a rumor, and I would have gotten all excited over nothing."

"Nope," Olivia grinned. "I'm really back. I'm so excited to see you, Steph! We're going to have to go out for lunch every day for a week to catch up on everything."

"Definitely," Stephanie beamed. "It's going to be so good to have you back, Liv. I've missed working with you." Her smile faded. "And we're certainly going to need someone who works at your level now."

Olivia nodded grimly. "That's why I came back." She sighed. "After all I did to fight him before, I couldn't stay in France. Not now."

"Well, I'm glad," Stephanie replied. She grinned. "Maybe John will even let us share an office again."

"You don't have a partner?" Olivia frowned. Aurors always shared their offices with their partners.

"John's splitting everyone up," Stephanie said. "Dawlish and I never see one another anymore."

"Wow," Olivia said. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah," Stephanie nodded. "It's sort of interesting … stressful, but interesting."

"So, what are you doing now?"

"Hunting down the escaped Death Eaters."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "That's a tall order."

"It's rather tedious, to be honest," Stephanie replied. "We get a lead, follow it, and find another dead end. It can be a bit disheartening."

"How long have you been searching for them?"

"Since John took over. He took me off my previous assignment for this."

"What was your previous assignment?"

"Prisoner interrogation," Stephanie said with a smile. "I was good at it, too. I could always tell when they were lying."

"Webster! We need you over here!"

Stephanie looked down the hall, where another Auror was waiting for her. "Coming!" She turned back to Olivia with a smile. "Sorry. Duty calls."

"No, don't worry about it," Olivia said. "I need to find John, anyway."

"We'll get together to catch up soon," Stephanie promised. "I'll see you, Olivia!"

After bidding Stephanie farewell, Olivia made her way down the hall toward her brother's new office. She had to admit that it felt strange to go the Head's office to look for John. She reached the room, and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Olivia pushed the door open, and saw her brother seated at his desk, his eyes locked on the parchment in front of him. Papers were piled up all over the top of his desk and several memos zoomed around his head.

"Bad time?" she asked.

John looked up, his eyes widening. "Livie!" he exclaimed. "Welcome back!"

She grinned. "Thanks for giving me my job back."

"As if you were ever afraid I wouldn't," he grinned. "It's great to have you back. We need more Aurors like you."

She smiled, and sat down across from him. "What are you working on?"

"Trying to get through my memos," he replied. He waved his hand to indicate the ones that were still flying around the room. "As you can see, there are quite a few."

"I see," she nodded. "Should I come in to talk to you later?"

"Of course not," he said, pushing his parchment aside. He plucked the flying memos from the air, and put them down on his desk. "So, tell me what you want to do. Where do you want to be assigned?"

She raised her eyebrows. "From what I've heard, you're not giving anyone much of an option on that."

"The Head of Department always assigns missions as he or she sees fit," he said dismissively. "Of course people are going to be upset if they aren't given the mission they want. They'll just have to deal with it."

"I'm more surprised that you're splitting up the teams," Olivia said.

"It had to be done," he said a bit defensively. "Look, Liv, I know that it's weird to work with new management. I know that people hate change. But, the fact remains that You-Know-Who came back while we were doing things as they had always been done. Something obviously had to change. We had to make big adjustments to fight this. It took us eleven years to get rid of him the first time. I do not intend to have that happen again."

Olivia shook her head. "But isn't there some good in working with a partner? Particularly one you've worked with for years? You get to know your partner. You get to the point where you can tell what's happening just by hearing the tone of his or her voice. And, honestly, John, I think that's a good thing."

"Liv, I don't need you to tell me how to run my department."

Her eyes widened at the harshness of his voice. "That's not what I meant by what I said."

He shook his head. "Where do you want to be assigned?" he asked again.

"Hogwarts," she said without a moment's further hesitation.

"Done," he replied. "Report to the school on 26 August. Tonks is the lead Auror. You'll take your orders from her once you get there."

"And until then?" she asked.

"Day to day surveillance," John said. "I have a schedule posted in the lounge; I'll add you to it."

"Thanks," she said, getting up from her chair.

"Livie," John said, stopping her before she could walk out the door.

"Yes?"

He smiled, his features softening as he once again became "brother" rather than "Auror." "It's good to have you back."

"I'm glad to be able to help."

"No, not that. I mean, I am glad to have you back as an Auror, but I'm also glad to have my sister home again."

She smiled. "I'm glad to be back, too."

"Uncle Remus?"

Remus looked up from the maps of the werewolf colony he had been poring over as Laura peeked around the corner of his door. He gave her a smile.

"Hi, Laura."

She took this as an invitation to enter, and stepped fully into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing more important than you," he said, putting the maps away. "What can I do for you?"

She sighed and sat down on his bed. "I'm bored."

"You're bored?" Remus repeated. "How can you be bored? You just spent the entire morning looking at houses with your mother!"

"I know. It was exhausting."

Remus smiled. "No luck?"

"No."

"Well, finding a house takes time," he said easily. "Just be patient."

"I really just don't want to live in this hotel anymore."

"Understandable." Remus stood up, and reached out to pull her to her feet. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked, already smiling.

"You said you were bored. We're going to change that. We're going out for a bit."

She grinned. "Where are we going?" she asked again.

"On a tour of Diagon Alley. Go tell your mother that I'm kidnapping you for a couple of hours."

"Oh, thank you!" Laura exclaimed. She ran off to find her mother.

Remus smiled to himself. After spending the entire morning studying his werewolf notes, he was more than ready for this break.

Laura was back in a matter of minutes with Dana's permission to spend the afternoon with Remus. They set off together, Laura already talking excitedly about all that she wanted to see and do. Remus laughed at her.

"I think you've planned enough to keep us busy for the next week!" he said. "Slow down, little girl. Diagon Alley isn't going anywhere, and neither are you."

Her face clouded momentarily, but she brightened up again as she watched Remus tap the bricks to make the gateway to Diagon Alley appear.

"That is so cool," she said.

Remus grinned as they walked through to Diagon Alley. "So, where are we off to first?"

"I need some parchment," Laura said.

Remus smiled. "I thought you had something more exciting in mind."

"We have to get the things I need before we can play," she stated.

Remus shook his head, surprised by how responsible she was being. "All right, let's get you some parchment."

After spending what felt like hours poring over the selection, Laura chose some lilac colored parchment with a border of daisies. They were about to pay and leave the store when she spotted a huge display of ink in various colors.

"Oh, I need ink to match my parchment!" she exclaimed.

After deliberating for quite some time, she selected two bottles of ink. Because making a final decision was nearly impossible, she chose one bottle of green ink and one bottle of yellow.

"Okay, I think I'm ready now," she said at last.

Remus eyed the stack of parchment and two bottles of ink that she carried. "Are you planning to write a novel?"

"No," she replied. "I need it to write to Pierre."

"Ah, yes. Of course."

"Mum said that I can invite him to visit when we have a house."

"Really? That's great."

"Yeah. I can't wait for you to meet him."

"Is your mum excited to meet him?"

She rolled her eyes. "No."

They reached the cash register, and she stopped talking so she could pay for her purchases. Remus decided to shelve his curiosity and not probe for more information about Dana's reaction to Pierre. He knew that Laura would tell him when she was ready. And if she chose not to talk about it, he could always ask Dana.

They wandered around Diagon Alley for over an hour, window-shopping and chatting about mindless topics. Laura didn't go back to her mother's reluctance to meet Pierre, and Remus did not try to steer her in that direction. Rather, he allowed her to direct the conversation, listening patiently to her concerns about living in a new country.

"How about some ice cream?" he asked as they approached Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor.

"Oh, yes!" she said, changing in an instant from mature young lady to excited little girl.

Remus smiled at her, and led her to the ice cream shop. Laura chose a table outside in the bright sunshine while Remus bought them each a sundae.

"Thank you," she said as he sat down with their treats.

"You're welcome," he replied. "You'll have to tell me what you think of it. I know you haven't had one of Florean's sundaes before."

"I mean, thank you for all of this," she clarified. "Thank you for taking me out when I was bored. This was just what I needed."

He smiled. "You know, what, Laura? It was just what I needed, too."

"And Diagon Alley is really nice."

"You didn't think it would be?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I didn't know," she shrugged. "Everything here is so different from France. I wasn't sure if the shopping areas would be different, too."

"Worse, you mean," Remus teased.

She smiled. "Well, I like it here. Isn't that enough?"

"It's perfect," Remus grinned.

"Hi, Remus!"

They both looked up to see Tonks coming toward them. She was wearing her Auror robes, and looked, in Laura's opinion, completely different than she had the last time they had met.

"Hello, Tonks," Remus smiled. "You remember Laura, right?"

"Of course," she grinned. "She's my new favorite fellow Weird Sisters fan."

Laura smiled. "Hi, Tonks. Can you stay to have some ice cream with us?"

Tonks gave Remus a wink. "I'd love to, but, unfortunately, I can't."

"Are you here on official business?" Remus asked. "Or are you just afraid that we'll eat you under the table?"

"You'll never defeat me!" Tonks laughed. "No, I'm here for work. The students haven't gotten to Hogwarts yet, so John decided that he can put me where he needs me until the week before school starts." She made a face. "It's irritating, to tell the truth. I was supposed to use this time to get to know the school and grounds, and to figure out my game plan. But, I suppose patrolling Diagon Alley is important, too."

Remus smiled and winked at her. "Well, I think that we all feel safer knowing that you're here."

"Yeah, I just wish he would stop messing with my schedule." Her eyes widened. "Oh, Remus, I forgot! I'm so glad I ran into you."

"Forgot what?"

"My entire week has been rearranged. I can't move on Tuesday anymore. How does Thursday work for you?"

"Thursday is fine," he replied.

"You're sure? If it's a problem, I understand. I can do it without you if I need to."

"No, Tonks, really, it's fine," he assured her. "I really don't have any plans for Thursday."

She smiled. "Excellent. Can you come over at noon, then?"

"Such an early start?" he teased.

"Well, we do have a lot of work to do," she grinned. "That'll work for you?"

"That's fine. I'll be there at the crack of noon."

"Thanks," she smiled. She glanced around. "Well, I'd best be off before someone reports the Auror who's standing around instead of working. You two take care, all right? Make sure you report any suspicious activity."

"We will," Remus smiled. "You be careful, too."

"I always am." She gave them both a grin. "I'll see you Thursday, Remus. Laura, I'm sure I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Tonks," Laura smiled.

"Good bye," Remus said.

She walked away, and Laura looked at Remus.

"How long have you known her?"

"About a year, I suppose. Why?"

"I don't know," Laura said. "When you guys talk, it's like you've known each other forever. At first I thought she was a friend from school or something, but Mum and Aunt Olivia didn't know her …" She trailed off, and her eyes grew round. "Oh! Is she your girlfriend?"

Remus choked on his sundae. "No, Laura, she is not my girlfriend."

"Are you sure?"

He laughed. "How could I be wrong about something like that?"

"I don't know," she said slowly. "There's just something about the way you talk to one another and look at one another…"

Remus smiled. "That's very sweet, love, but I promise you, we're not dating. I'm far too old for her, don't you think?"

She cocked her head to the side to look at him. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Age is just a number, right?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Exactly how old is Pierre, again?"

She laughed. "That's not what I meant. He's the same age as me. I was talking about you and Tonks, not Pierre and me."

"Well, good. You're not allowed to date an older man."

She giggled. "I'll try to avoid it."

"I'd appreciate it."

"But Tonks is allowed to date you," she said.

"Laura, we're not dating. We're not going to date. End of subject."

"You can say that all you want, but I know that something's going on."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's get you home before Dana starts to worry."

Dana had not yet begun to worry when Remus returned Laura to her room. After greeting her mother, Laura immediately sat down to write a long letter to Pierre. Dana watched her for a moment, then followed Remus back to his room.

"How did everything go?" she asked, entering the room.

"Fine," Remus replied. "Laura seemed to have a really nice time. She even told me that she likes Diagon Alley."

Dana raised her eyebrows. "Well, that's some serious progress. What did you do to make her say that?"

Remus shrugged. "I took her shopping and bought her ice cream."

"Ah, the way to every girl's heart."

"Shopping or ice cream?"

"Both."

Remus grinned. "Well, feel free to thank me whenever you're ready, then."

"I am grateful," Dana replied. "I'm glad she's finally starting to see that this is a nice place to live."

"Don't go too far too fast," Remus said. "She might just think it's a nice place to shop." He paused. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Of course. You know I always have time to talk to you."

Remus decided to get straight to the point. "Laura said that you're not excited to meet Pierre."

Dana sighed. "She said that?"

"She told me that you had said that she could invite him to visit, and that she can't wait for me to meet him. I asked if you were excited to meet him, and she said no."

"What else did she say?"

"Nothing. She dropped the subject, and I didn't want to bring it up again."

"I never said that I wasn't looking forward to meeting him."

Remus looked at her evenly, but remained quiet.

"But I never said I was looking forward to meeting him, either," Dana admitted.

"You're still not okay with her dating him, are you?"

"No," she sighed, sitting down on the bed. "It's not that it's him, either. I don't know Pierre, so I can't sit here and tell you that she's gotten mixed up with some horrible boy. For all I know, he's exactly what she needs. It's the idea of her dating at all that bothers me."

Remus smiled. "She's old enough, you know. I was her age when I started dating Laura."

"I know, I know," Dana said. "I was dating when I was her age, too. It's just … fifteen seems much younger now that it did then."

"That's true."

She looked down at the bed, watching her finger trace senseless patterns. "It's just really hard to do this without Aidan," she said quietly. "I mean, I've been doing this without him for her whole life. And I'm not saying that it's been easy, or that I haven't missed him before, but … I just wish that Laura had a father right now. I wish she had someone to interrogate Pierre when he walks into our house. Someone to threaten her with a horrible punishment if she comes home after curfew. Someone to show her how a man should treat her." She looked up again, her eyes bright. "I just really wish that she had him right now."

Remus sat down next to her and put his hand over hers, stilling it. "Dana, you know that I have always been extremely honored to be Laura's godfather. It has always meant the world to me to have such a place in her life. And you know that I have never, never tried to take Aidan's place, or to be her father. But, darling, if you need me to do anything more than I have, please know that I'm here for you and for Laura. I'll – I'll be whatever you want me to be for her."

Dana looked at him for a moment, then threw her arms around him, hugging him close. "You are too wonderful, Remus. You know that, don't you?"

He smiled, hugging her back. "You're a wonderful mum, Dana."

She pulled back and smiled ruefully. "I hope she agrees with that after I've met Pierre."

"Everything will be fine," Remus said.

"You'll be there with me, won't you? You'll be there when she brings him to the house?"

"If that's what you want."

"It is," Dana said firmly. "She needs a father figure, Remus, and I need someone to go through this with me. I can't do this alone."

"Then I'll be there for you," he said simply.

Dana hugged him again. "You are the best friend I could ask for."

Late that night, Olivia knocked on Remus's door. He put his maps aside once again, and called permission for her to come in.

"Hi," she said, sitting down on the bed.

"Hi," he replied. He looked at her closely. "Are you all right?"

"Frustrated," she admitted.

"Why?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid my brother is destroying the Auror department," she said in a rush.

Remus looked at her in shock. "Why would you think that?"

"He's splitting up the teams!" she exclaimed. "I understand wanting to reassign everyone. That's the Head's job. But to break up the teams? That just seems ridiculous."

"Sometimes it's good to work with new people," Remus said slowly, feeling somewhat compelled to defend John.

She shook her head. "I can't see any good in what he's doing."

"Olivia," Remus said leaning toward her, "there's nothing you can do about it. You can't stop him. Even if you tell him that it's a bad idea, he's not going to listen to you. You're just going to drive yourself insane worrying about it."

"I know," she sighed. "I just wish there was something I could do to stop him before he drives the department into the ground."

"Maybe it'll be fine," Remus said encouragingly.

She smiled at him. "Stop being so optimistic."

"One of us has to be."

She looked at him for a moment, then fell silent. Remus watched her for a moment as she looked down at her hands.

"What?" he asked.

"I didn't say anything," she said, her head bobbing up to look at him.

"I know," he said. "That's the problem. What don't you want to say to me?"

She smiled nervously. "It's more something I want to ask you."

"You know you can ask me anything."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just worried about the answer you're going to give me."

"Well, neither of us will know until you ask."

She nodded, and took a deep breath. "John assigned me to Hogwarts, like I asked."

"Good," Remus said, wondering what this had to do with him.

"So, I'm thinking of looking for a flat in Hogsmeade."

"That makes sense."

"Yeah." She paused, and took another breath. "Remus, will you live with me?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "Live with you?" he repeated.

"I mean this in a completely platonic, nonsexual way," she said quickly. "I just – I don't want to live alone. Not that close to Hogwarts. Not in that village where Sirius and I spent so much time. And Dana … she's done so much for me already. I know that she wants a house she can share with her daughter, not a flat she can share with her friend. I don't want to make either of us go back in time. We don't need to relive our past."

"You want me to live with you in Hogsmeade?" Remus asked, still trying to process all that he had heard.

"It's a terrible idea, isn't it?" she asked, her face flushing. She looked back down at her hands. "I should never have said anything. Forget that I said it. Never mind. It's not –"

"Olivia," Remus said, cutting her off, "look at me."

She reluctantly brought her eyes up to his face.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," Remus smiled.

"You do?" she asked, a smile breaking out across her face.

"I do," he affirmed. "Only …"

"Only what?"

Now it was his turn to blush. "I don't have much money …"

"Don't worry about it," Olivia said firmly. "Being an Auror pays quite well, especially when you're chasing Voldemort. I think we all got a pay raise when he came back into the open. I'll have to remember to thank him, if I ever get the chance."

"Liv, I don't want you supporting me."

"I won't," she said. "You'll pay as much of the rent as you can, and deal with your share of the food and other bills. We'll work it out, Remus. I promise."

He smiled at her. "When do you want to start flat hunting?"

Two days later, Remus sat in his room reading when Laura burst through the door. He looked up in surprise as the door banged against the wall.

"Guess what?" she cried.

"What?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"We found a house!"

"Did you really?" he exclaimed, putting his book down. "That's wonderful news!"

"Yes, it is," Dana said, coming in behind her daughter.

"Where is it?" Remus asked.

"Here in Diagon Alley," she replied.

Remus nodded. "Two bedrooms?"

"Three, actually," Dana said. "We wanted to have a guest room."

"For when you come to stay with us," Laura said, sitting down on his bed with him and hugging him. "You will come and stay with us, won't you?"

"Why will I need to?" Remus laughed. "We're all here together now."

Laura looked around. "You're not going to live in this hotel forever, are you?"

"I hadn't planned on it."

"Uncle Remus and Aunt Olivia are looking for a place in Hogsmeade, darling," Dana said. "They'll probably be out of here before we are."

"I don't know about that," Remus grinned. "We haven't had much luck so far."

Dana shook her head. "That's because you're both so picky."

"We have to be happy with it," Remus said defensively.

"You'll still come to visit us, won't you?" Laura asked.

"Of course," Remus smiled. "I can't wait to see your new room."

Laura's eyes lit up. "I can't wait to start decorating! I think I want to have a lavender and yellow theme. Wouldn't that look nice?"

"It will be lovely, I'm sure," Dana said. "Now, let's go to bed, darling, and leave Uncle Remus alone."

"All right," Laura agreed. "Good night, Uncle Remus."

"Good night, little girl," he said, giving her a hug. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Dana smiled at him, and ushered her daughter out of the room ahead of her. "Good night," she said.

"Good night," he replied with a smile.

As the door closed behind them, Remus realized that the purchase of their house meant that Pierre's promised visit could not be far off. He hoped that the fragile peace between Dana and Laura could stand the strain.