A/N – Hi. Well now you all know that my biggest problem in life is procrastination. ;) A quick announcement, though before we get to the bit of story I have for you. Jenni and I just haven't been able to write this together like we used to (that being at 3 am on IM and on massive sugar highs) but this weekend (oddly enough) we BOTH reread the story and decided separately to do something about continuing it! This piece was something we'd started right after 22 and never finished, so I finished it off and sent it to Jenni just as she got in touch to tell me she wanted to start writing again!

Anyway, my sister (ennuieaf for those of you looking for a good serious HP story that's DONE) has volunteered to crack the whip over us and make us actually post in some semblance of regularity. So this is dedicated to Jenni, for all the fun past and future, and to Carrie for telling me that ANY time is a good time to write Weasleys, and to Starr8. (see below)

Enjoy!

Nancy glanced up blearily as the door to her office opened, offering Jenni a weak smile as she came in with two mugs of steaming... something.

"Come on, it's not that bad. At least we're not going to lose our jobs," Jenni said in what Nancy privately thought was far too cheerful a voice.

"Oh really? Is that why they called you to a meeting without me? They're probably just afraid to fire me in front of you."

Jenni grimaced sympathetically and plopped one of the mugs on top of the nearly finished Snape article that Nancy was editing for grammar. "Yes, well, it was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing so dire as all that. Here. Drink up and I'll tell you our fates."

Leaning down to sniff suspiciously at the mug, Nancy was surprised to see the vile-colored, bubbling potion smelled like...

"CHOCOLATE? Oh Jenni, you're the best. This'll keep me going through morning."

Jenni grinned, sidling around the desk to see how far her partner had gotten. She'd promised her editor in the afternoon meeting that this would be ready for the Hogwarts edition paper they were laying out tomorrow first thing in the morning. Leaning over Nancy's shoulder she scanned for the obvious errors, the ones they couldn't afford on this full-page spread.

"Wait, Nancy, which tense was-"

"Hey! Back away from the work in progress." Nancy set her chocolate down long enough to swat her friend back a few steps. "TALK! I have chocolate to drink."

Rolling her eyes, but knowing that Nancy really was very good at the details, Jenni retreated to a cushy chair in the corner to sip at her cocoa. "Fine. Basically, they're putting our partnership on hold."

Nancy choked as she swallowed the hot liquid much too fast. Once she'd finished coughing up a lung, she sputtered out, "On hold? You mean..."

"We still have our jobs, you're still a full reporter, but they're concerned that we're... a bad influence on each other." With a sigh, Jenni drained her mug and set it down on the floor. "I've been reassigned to the ministry beat until further notice – don't get jealous, they're just sending me to take notes on meetings that no one else will attend."

Silence fell for as Nancy doodled idly with her editing pencil, drawing little red skulls and sad faces that rolled around the page before she could finish them.

"And, me? I suppose if they're giving YOU such a lousy assignment, I'm the new Daily Prophet janitor."

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Jenni sighed and looked down. "I don't know, exactly. As soon as we turn in the Snape thing, you're supposed to meet with Mac to discuss it."

Nancy groaned. Mac was a good editor, not willing to just publish whatever would sell newspapers, and so had been assigned to oversee those reporters who dealt in facts and well documented exposés. He was also an 80-year-old warlock with a Scottish temper and a tendency to make his reporters earn every bit of his respect. She had a feeling he wouldn't be happy to see her.

"Right well, I'd prefer to get this over with, then." Turning back to her work with a final gulp of chocolate, a few seconds passed before Nancy realized that Jenni was hovering uncertainly in the door. "Just go get some sleep, Jenni. You probably have a bloody ministry meeting at 6 am or something."

Jenni still hesitated, "5:30 actually, but... are you sure you don't need me?"

Not bothering to dignify that with an answer, Nancy pointed her red pencil to the door and got back to checking their article.

Rolling her eyes, Jenni gave in and headed back to her own office. That had gone... rather well, all things considered. Poor Nancy hadn't been out of the building all day. Jenni had the sneaking suspicion that her best friend was planning to sleep in the office and just use her quite superior shower charm in the staff bathroom tomorrow morning. But that, at least, was normal behavior from her admittedly nocturnal and perfectionist friend. And Mac had PROMISED her that he wasn't going to fire Nancy tomorrow. He'd said nothing about the following day, but if Nancy had one clear talent it was getting herself out of trouble with authority. Jenni wasn't especially worried as long as his mind wasn't already made up.

She automatically started neatening up her desk, filing away the Snape notes now that the research and initial writing were done, and her eyes fell on the unassuming little book that Bill had given her. She was reluctant to use it, seeing as they'd created them for emergencies. Still, she wondered how Bill was going to let her know where to meet him for lunch tomorrow. She opened the blank book slowly and drew a breath, ready to say the password, when she realized that he was probably already asleep. He'd just have to get in touch with HER, she thought, closing the book and shoving it into her bag.

"Nox."

It was home time. After all, she had a meeting to attend in... oh dear lord, four hours.

Bill had been working all night on the spell combinations that Hermione Granger had put together, most of the time by himself in the living room. Charlie wasn't home yet, having been called to report at the Ministry earlier than expected. Apparently some of the filing cabinets in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had gotten into a fight over the weekend, and one from the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau had suffered almost total shredding. James Dorallan, head of the department, was "beside himself," having discovered an entire office full of Iunfiled/I paper on top of this disaster, and he had wanted his new head of Dragon R+R to come in immediately and make sense of the carnage. Percy had looked disapproving at the news that they were trusting Charlie with such important paperwork, but restrained himself to a few dark pronouncements along the lines of, "What this Ministry is coming to... not even full NEWTS!" until their mother finally glared him into silence.

Shaking his head at the memory of Percy trying to lecture Charlie, Bill shoved aside the pages of careful notes. He had to clear his head, he was stuck on the same circle of ideas. Crucio, slow-moving Petrificus, spell-melding that was so advanced that he'd only bet on Dumbledore or McGonagall's abilities to reproduce or deconstruct it.

But he didn't need to know how to CAST the spell, just how to defend against it, he reminded himself on a sigh. Bill got up to stretch his legs, grinning at the various family photos that were vying for his attention on the wall. In the sea of red heads, he spotted Dumbledore's long white beard – that must be his graduation picture! Bill stepped closer, it had been a while since he'd seen this one. Amazing how much older Professor McGonagall seemed now, though Snape had always had that yellowed, greasy snarl of a face. And there he was with the Head Girl that year, Alexis Parsons.

His younger self was waving his top marks in DADA and Transfiguration for all to see, he noted ruefully, while the more reserved Alexis had hers tucked away in her robes. What had she gotten her best marks in? As if in answer to his unspoken question, she bent down to quickly give Professor Flitwick a hug and smile as he pumped her hand up and down. THAT's right, the Ravenclaw had been a Charms fanatic. She'd always had a talent for creating unique spells that made Flitwick do backflips in excitement. His pulse increased slightly as he looked back at the notes full of dark and darker hexes – Alexis Parsons! Now there was someone who might be able to visualize the blending of spells. Where on earth had she gone after graduation?

Just then, the chimes sounded, reminding him that it was already 1 am. Dammit, and he'd promised to be in touch with Jenni about lunch tomorrow. Bill pulled a clean sheet out and made two notes in large writing.

1. OWL JENNI. Leaky Cauldron for Lunch?

2. Find Alexis Parsons – Flitwick? Mum?

He'd have to track Charlie down later tomorrow. Poor guy needed a clear head right now. The Ministry had no idea what they were getting into, he thought with a grin as he headed up the stairs to bed.

Nancy looked up as the little desk clock chided her weakly – "Dear, really, it's far past MY bedtime, never mind yours. But I don't suppose you're going home, are you?" There had been a time when it would sternly order her out of the office, but after innumerable all-nighters of perfecting the layout and grammar of their articles, the poor thing seemed to be resigned.

Lord, her back was killing her. Maybe she could talk Charlie into a backrub tonight, if he ever got back to her. She glanced over at her owl post box; it was empty, just like it had been for the last 15 hours. She would have thought that he'd have been intrigued enough to at least REPLY to her message.

The chocolate Jenni had brought in, mixed with a fair amount of nerves and adrenaline, had carried her through most of the night, but Nancy could feel herself starting to drag. With a sigh, she started to skim the article one last time, but when she had tried three different ways of spelling "supersonic" she shoved the papers away and tossed her quill back into the desk drawer.

With the ease of long practice, Nancy activated the privacy charms on the office door and charmed shut the shades on her window before balling up her robes and curling up in a fetal position on her chair. She reasoned she'd probably get an hour or two of sleep before she had to hand in the article and do a shower charm in the women's toilet. Her little desk clock was still quite good at announcing when it was time to get UP.

Charlie hated paperwork. He hated it with a fiery passion that knew no bounds, which did not bode well for the stacks and stacks of unfiled reports of dragon sightings, bites, and illegal breeding that currently occupied the entire room that was to become his office.

When the Ministry had told him that they'd only had someone in "part time" to deal with the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau, they hadn't bothered to say that the entirety of their duties had been moving paper from the postbox on the door to the various stacks in the office once a week.

The shredded papers from the filing cabinet fiasco were in a bin just outside the office; he'd sifted through them until he noticed that all the dates he was finding were 1950 or earlier. He'd been in here ever since, and had eventually determined that the stacks were vaguely organized by complaint, with the more serious ones closer to the door. One or two of his own notes to the Ministry officially explaining findings of one sort or another were still in the "to be stacked" bin directly to the left of the doorway, along with the burnt remains of some howlers and far too many unopened envelopes. The only consolation was that the single window on the back wall of the dingy room was still letting in a fair amount of sunlight. He wanted to be sure to get out of this mess with enough time to prepare for tomorrow's big meeting with Dorallen, the head of the department.

His stomach let out an annoyed growl, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since lunch. He really would have to get some kind of clock, but for now he guessed it must be about dinner time. Pulling out the little red book that was in pocket of his robes, Charlie decided now was as good a time as ever for a test run. And maybe Nancy was still working.

"Cheese Kanoodle," he said firmly, sitting down with his back to his office door. Having activated the charm, he checked the hastily written directions Jenni had given them and said "Green" to specify that it was Nancy he wanted to contact. He opened to the first blank page and watched it shimmer before the words:

Green (Nancy) contacted. Speak when ready, Red (Charlie).

appeared at the top of the page.

"Er, hi." Charlie watched as the words appeared in his handwriting below the instructions. It felt a bit more awkward to be talking to a book than he'd expected. "Right, no emergency, I just thought it was about time for some food and thought you might be working late too."

Nancy woke up in a panic. Her chair was vibrating as though London was in the middle of its first major earthquake in... ever. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she grabbed hold of her desk and tried to remember just what one was supposed to DO in the event of an earthquake, when she realized that her chair was the only thing in the room that was shaking.

"Dammit, Jenni, that is NOT funny..." she muttered, unfolding herself and fishing her wand out of her desk drawer. How could her friend have pranked her chair when she KNEW that Nancy had a really serious meeting in the morning and would probably be sleeping in her office? It really wasn't like Jenni.

"Finite Incantatum." Nothing happened. The shaking continued, and Nancy growled in frustration. It had to be 4:30 in the morning, this was NOT what she wanted to be doing right now. In frustration, she grabbed her robes, intent on sleeping somewhere ELSE in her office and dealing with the chair later, only to discover that the robes themselves were the source of the problem.

She stared at them, shaking back and forth in her hand, before it dawned on her what could be happening. The BOOK. Oh no, what if something had happened while she'd been holed up in her office...

Frantically digging around for the little green book, Nancy shoved her glasses onto her face and flipped past her notes on the trigger charm to the first blank page, where instructions had appeared.

You are being contacted by Red (Charlie). To accept, say password.

"Cheese Kanoodle!"

Nancy held her breath as Charlie's messy scrawl began to fill up the page. As she skimmed for news of injury, death, or other terrible things, her eyes caught the words "no emergency" and her heart rate slowed back to normal. Then she thumped the book down onto her desk in annoyance.

"Why in bloody hell did he wake me up if there wasn't an emergency?"

Charlie knew he was rambling, but he figured the only way he'd get Nancy's attention away from her work was to keep the book "ringing" for a while. He'd just finished explaining his theory that the papers in the room were a plot by his younger brother to teach him respect for the ways of the ministry when his book jumped in his hands.

Relieved that he could stop talking, he looked down to see what Nancy's response was.

Why in bloody hell did he wake me up if there wasn't an emergency?

"Wake you up? It's still sunny out!"

When that didn't get an immediate response, Charlie stood up and opened his office door, intent on asking the next ministry employee he saw what time it was. The windowless corridor was deserted, and all of the doors were closed. He peered into one of the reception desks at the little desk clock, which sputtered indignantly at him and said, "Don't you have better things to do in the middle of the night than to bother me? Go home!"

He stared at it for a few seconds before remembering a story his father had told him about the enchanted windows and how the magical maintenance crews controlled the weather since... Charlie wiped a hand across his face in embarrassment. Since the ministry was underground.

"Sorry," he muttered in the general direction of the still live book. "Apparently I'm a complete idiot. Go back to sleep, Nancy."

He had to get home – he and Bill were supposed to meet to talk about their plans to look around for more info on the dark wizard harassing Nancy. Damn, Bill had probably given up on him tonight and gone to bed. As Charlie started back to his office to collect his bag, the book jumped again in his hand, indicating a response. He flipped it open, just to check.

Godammit, Charlie, stop using the book! Fine. FINE. I'm reading, all right? No, I don't really feel like getting something to eat JUST now, although I did owl you about tomorrow... and, aww, have you been at work this whole time too? No wonder you didn't see it – I sent it to your house. Now good NIGHT.

With a sigh, he stuffed the book into his bag. "Bloody enchanted windows."

Charlie shot one last glare at the sunlight still streaming in his and pulled the door shut, heading for an apparition point. He was surprised when his book vibrated a few seconds later. Glancing down at it, he saw his last three words written out and then below a polite message from the communication charm.

Green (Nancy) is laughing.

Giving a tired grin, Charlie reasoned that at least she wasn't mad at being awoken anymore. Then he muttered the password again, ending the conversation and heading home.

A/N Ok, so this little bit is dedicated to the crazy people who still haven't given up on this story, despite an extended hiatus when both authors have acquired lives so busy they sometimes forget to tie their own shoes. And specifically the REVIEWERS!

Starr8 – I got this review in email form last week and felt UNBELIEVEABLY guilty. :) So congrats, you officially embarrassed me into putting together a little something that would let people know that the story WILL go on. And much more regularly.

Psiana – Aww, not their muse, just their late night writing sessions. The stinky part of "growing up" I guess.

Dumblepoo – well, I guess we didn't really come through for you, there. But still, thanks for the compliments and I will try and do better.

Fancifulsovereign – A bit of seer indeed. Hope you enjoy!

Shahrezad1 – it's always good when our funny bits actually read as funny to other people. So much of this story has been written in hilarious back and forths on IM... sometimes we wonder if it's funny to anyone else. ;)

Louisa! (huggles) Long time no see! No Harry-in-towel this chapter, but never fear! He will return!

Copperstring – good to see you! I'm glad you're still around.

Kirjava2 – most of it has been two of us, yeah. Pretty much we'll plan the plot out together and then each take whichever scenes appeal. At first we definitely were each writing "ourselves" but we've switched back and forth a lot.

Littlewolf – HI! I should check and see if your story made it back up. Hope you enjoyed!

El – yeah. Not to the kissy kissy yet, but I'm TRYING. And plot-wise, well, you've been enlisted to help with that. (this is my sister ennuieaf whose hp stories ROCK and are finished, an unheard of combination.)

Zoe – yo. We are doing all we can to ensure that the jobs are saved. Poor adulty hp denizens.

Tigger-180, Hannah C Thaw – Thanks for reviewing. Come back again!

All you people who read this and DON'T review... well that's just counter productive. I promise to do better at posting if you do better at reviewing. Ok? Ok. It's a deal. ;)