Threats of a Violent Kind

The next day was Saturday, which meant that Rose didn't have to go in to Hogwarts. We'd spent the majority of last night watching Muggle movies and eating cookies I picked up from the local store and hadn't gone to sleep until 3:21 AM. Needless to say, we were both exhausted.

We'd fallen asleep on the plush maroon couch, and I thus had a massive crick in my shoulder and my leg muscles were protesting loudly from the cramped position (I'd fallen asleep with my legs propped up against the back cushion and my head tilted forward against the armrest). I groaned, flopping back on the couch wearily.

"Mrow."

Well, here came the welcome committee. Right on time. I looked down at Sir Archibald's innocent eyes and scowled down at him.

"Don't act so innocent, devil cat," I said. He licked his table and meowed again pointedly, looking over at his ceramic food bowl over in the kitchen. I groaned, flopping my arm over my face. What time was it? I looked at the bacon clock; 7:21 AM.

Argh.

I glanced down again; Sir Archibald was crouching down by now, his legs bunching up as he stared at the couch. Oh no. He was preparing to pounce. I quickly jerked upwards, narrowly missing the hurled projectile that was my cat. Sir Archibald hissed from his perch on the armrest. I allowed myself a self-congratulatory smile before swinging my legs over – wincing slightly as the cold hardwood floor touched my bare feet – and padding over to the kitchen.

Screech.

A large feathered animal swung down suddenly, clawing at my hair with sharpened talons. I shrieked, collapsing to the ground as the demon owl (dear Merlin. Why do I always get the evil pets?) swooped down once more before settling next to the window, tapping it impatiently with her claw. Right. She probably hadn't liked being cooped up inside all night.

"Sorry, Lady Bacon," I said, shakily getting to my feet. I inched over warily, watching her carefully, and opened the window swiftly, jumping out of the way as she flew out in a flurry of disgruntled feathers.

"Whassat?" Rose mumbled from the couch.

"Just Lady Bacon," I answered. I walked three meters forward to the metal fridge, opening it and surveying the contents with a critical eye. Hm. We still had some blueberries and strawberries left…and some yoghurt. I grabbed the three and, balancing the food in my arms, carried them over to the Muggle blender I'd purchased with my first month's wages.

"Right. What are you making?" she asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Smoothie."

She yawned, reaching up to pull her curly hair into a pretty bun. I couldn't help but feel a pang of envy; I wished my hair was as cooperative as Rose's.

I grabbed the finished drinks and brought them over to the table, grabbing some stray pieces of bread from the loaf on the countertop.

We sat down at the table, and I was struck by how eerily similar this scene was to the one before the whole Aleksandra incident.

"What are you planning on doing today?" Rose asked between bites of toast.

"Mm…work on the Daisy case a bit more. I still need to locate old Ben," I said.

"Still no luck?"

I shook my head. "No, unfortunately," I answered. She pursed her lips for three seconds before brightening. "Hey! How about I help you today? Two is better than one after all," she said. I grinned.

"That would be great, thanks!"

She waved it off dismissively. "I've already finished my course work for the week anyway. Besides, this is important. For you and house elves everywhere." I felt a rush of affection for the Weasley across from me. Rose really was one of the sweetest people I knew. I frowned slightly, thinking of the events of last night. That reminded me; I had a Malfoy to intimidate.

A sudden tapping sounded at the window again. I looked over to see Lady Bacon's familiar tawny down. Perfect.

"Erm…Lady Bacon…I have to-" I said awkwardly. Rose raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on my discomfort.

I rushed over to open the window and, with a backward glance to make sure Rose wasn't watching, hurriedly grabbed a stray roll of parchment from the desk.

I dipped my quill – a standard eagle feather – into the black inkwell and scrawled out a hasty note ridden with underlined words.

Scorpius – or should I say the bloke who, may I remind you, obsessed over his nose for all of second year-

Hi. I hope you are well and thanking your lucky stars for the day when Rose Weasley (aka the most perfect, kind, amazing girl you will ever meet) agreed to date you.

Anyway. This has been a friendly reminder of your standing.

Love and kisses (and perhaps a healthy dose of ol' Bessie the second),

Adela

I smiled down at the parchment, rolling it up and attaching it to Lady Bacon's leg.

"Okay, time to prove your worth. Deliver this to Scorpius Malfoy – can't be very hard to find. Just look for the blonde Malfoy with the oversized ego," I whispered. Lady Bacon hooted softly before fluttering out of the window.

There.

"Adela! I think I've found something!" called Rose. I ran over, bumping my leg against the cofeetable in the process, and saw that she'd retrieved my scrolls of research.

"Look – this Freya Grey is an avid fan of football. She's sure to attend the Manchester United game later today. Why don't we go too?"

I brightened for six seconds before deflating a bit. "But it's at three in the afternoon. It's going to be near impossible to get tickets this late," I pointed out.

She frowned. "Mm…you're ri-wait. James and Seth both play Quidditch professionally. I know they're not the same sport and all, but they are both sports…so maybe they have some connections?" she offered.

Seth would probably go into hysterics if he heard her say that football and Quidditch were practically the same. But she did have a point; Seth played on the Chudley Cannons team and James for Puddlemere United. It didn't hurt to try.

"I just sent out Lady Bacon…a work thing," I lied when Rose sent me a questioning look. "Can we use Edgar?" Edgar was Rose's horned owl. She'd had him for four years now, and he was getting quite old.

She nodded. "Of course. Though I do hate to disturb him," she said. These days Edgar mostly just slept in the corner of Rose's room, subsisting on a diet of the expensive mouse treats Rose bought for him.

She got up to retrieve the owl while I hurriedly scribbled out two letters.

"Here he is," Rose said. Edgar let out a tired squawk as I tied the rolls to his legs.

"To James Potter and Seth Lancaster," I said. He blinked slowly before hopping over to the window.

The doorbell rang. "It's probably Vane. The Ministry's not letting up with the whole babysitter thing," I said, getting up to answer it.

"Mm," Rose murmured, already absorbed in the heavy law tome on the table. I yanked the door open, my mouth dropping open three centimeters as I met not icy blue but dark green eyes.

"Uh…" I said intelligently, my cheeks reddening. I was all too aware of the fact that I was wearing the quill necklace. He glanced down, his eyes lingering at the hollow of my throat. Was it suddenly hot in here? Note to self: remind Rose to turn down the thermostat. He finally looked back up to meet my eyes.

He looked a bit nervous, and he shifted his weight uncomfortably, reaching up to run a hand through his already messy hair.

"So…do you like it?" he asked hesitantly, looking down at me through thick black lashes. I reached up to grip the charm with my right hand, a broad grin stretching across my face.

"Love it," I said sincerely. "Thank you."

Then I leaned forward and hugged him. Numberita caught up to my body's actions a split-second later, and I froze in horror; dear Merlin. What had I just done? Oh no why wasn't I pulling back? Body, obey!

To my surprise, Al wrapped his arms around me, and I rested my head automatically against his chest in a move that I'd done so many times before. I breathed in deeply, relishing in the soothing pine scent of his body.

His hand was rubbing circles in my lower back, an almost unconscious movement that sent shivers up my spine. It was so easy to pretend that we were back in sixth year again.

"Adela?"

We sprang apart quickly, my cheeks burning as I saw Rose enter the living room.

"You were taking a while, what-" she paused, her eyes moving shrewdly from Al to me. I had no idea about his state, but I knew the Adela Tomato was firmly in place by now.

"Um," I said eloquently.

Al cleared his throat, and I noticed that the tips of his ears were red.

"Sorry I was late; I was…busy," he said. Rose crossed her arms, eying him crossly.

"Like you were busy when Adela got kidnapped?" she snapped. I cringed.

Al stiffened but didn't attempt to defend himself. "I had a disciplinary hearing," he answered flatly.

Rose softened, looking somewhat mollified. At the very least she uncrossed her arms.

He reached into his Auror's uniform (slim black trousers and a matching oxford – billowing robes got in the way of combat) and extracted a golden envelope.

"I ran into your neighbor in the hall. She gave me this, said it was sent to her accidentally," he said, holding it out. I took it from him gingerly, carefully avoiding brushing my fingers against his.

"James and I got one too. It's an invitation to the annual Ministry ball," he added. I ran my fingers across the smooth envelope, marveling at how sleek the sturdy paper felt, so different from the jagged metal of the springs my hardened fingers were used to.

Rose walked forward to look over my shoulder as I ripped the envelope open, sliding out the embossed invitation inside.

To Ms. Adela Lancaster and Ms. Rose Weasley-

You are cordially invited to the annual Ministry Charity Ball. You may each bring a guest. 1 September. 7 PM. Formal attire only.

Sincerely,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

"Oh, I'd forgotten about this," Rose mused. To be honest, so had I. I'd only gone once; the other years something had always come up. Hey! This year it was on my birthday.

"It's on your birthday!" Rose exclaimed. I nodded, tucking the invitation back into the envelope. "Yeah, I suppose it is," I said offhandedly.

Then I turned back to Al. "We are in need of your sleaziness," I announced.

He raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" I swallowed, momentarily caught off guard by his close proximity. Curse him and his face.

"What Adela means is that we need you to charm someone – a Ms. Freya Grey, to be precise," Rose added helpfully. I shot her a grateful look before nodding.

"Yeah, she's the director of one of the leading cancer facilities in London. She's supposed to attend the Manchester United game this afternoon, and we need to convince her to let us look at her records," I said.

"-without using magic," I hurriedly added, giving Al a shrewd look. He closed his mouth, shrugging unapologetically. "Would certainly make things easier," he muttered. Rose scowled, lobbing a red pillow at his chest.

"You are an Auror!" she said hotly.

He smirked, his eyes flicking back to me mischeviously. "And?"

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to comment on his antics.

"Right, well, Seth's probably not awake yet, but do you think James would be up by now?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I'm rooming with him. Why don't we just go and check? If he's not I can conjure up a bucket of water," he said, looking far too delighted at the prospect of dousing his brother with water. "Yeah, actually, let's go right now! It's still early; I'm sure he's still asleep," he said, a gleeful grin creeping across his lips.

I exchanged a weary look with Rose.

"Well, I'll go retrieve my coa-oh!" Rose exclaimed. Huh? I cocked my head at her, asking her silently what she was so horrified about. She looked pointedly down. Oh. Oh dear Merlin. I was still wearing my smily face footsie pajamas from Hogwarts. I resisted the urge to curl up and bang my head repeatedly against the floor.

"Erm…I'd better go-um-" I spluttered. Then I rushed out of the living room and ran into my room, flinging on the first clothes I found.

When I emerged three minutes and twenty-nine seconds later, Al was speaking swiftly into something placed in the collar of his shirt. When he noticed me, he brought his hand to his collar and pressed the piece. "It's Vane," he explained. "She's delayed due to complications with the Bulgarians."

"Vane? Why would she be with Andrei and Aleksandra?" I asked.

"Her mum abandoned her as a child and she was raised in a Bulgarian orphanage before she was adopted by an English couple. She's the only one who might be able to get through to the siblings," Al explained. Huh. Numberita filed away the fact for future reflection. I knew so little about her.

Al was watching me intently, his eyes scanning my face. I flushed, suddenly all too aware that Rose was still changing in her room and that we were alone once more.

"When did you start living with James?"

"How's the owl?"

I blinked; we'd spoken at the same moment. I laughed nervously before motioning for him to speak.

"How is the owl doing?" he repeated. I smiled. "Lady Bacon's amazing; thank you so much for giving her to me. I've sent her off to Seth and James to try and get some football tickets out of them; hopefully she'll forgive me for that, Seth's flat is a right mess-"

"Lady Bacon," Al said flatly.

I nodded, crossing my arms defensively across my chest. "Yes, Lady Bacon. Do you have a problem with that?"

His eyes flicked up as if he was about to roll his eyes, but he soon sighed and shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"No. It's perfect," he said. I beamed; Numberita could find no hint of sarcasm in his words.

"Well, it's nice that you think so because I was not about to go and change it. Besides, I think it suits her perfectly," I added loftily. Now he laughed that infectious, rare laugh of his that always filled me with warmth.

"Right. An owl named after pig meat," he said. I sneered. "Like you could come up with a better name."

He opened his mouth but shut it after a second.

"I suppose Albus Potter the Second isn't a proper name for a female owl," he said thoughtfully. I scowled, reaching over to whack him lightly with OBTS.

"Git."

He shrugged, the remnants of his laugh still shining from his eyes. Then he sobered. "So are we…okay?" he asked, clearly uncomfortable. I nodded. "Yes," I said softly. Then we were both staring again, and I was unable to look away, to tear my eyes from his-

"I'm ready!"

I sprang away from Albus Potter for the second time that day, looking horribly guilty. Rose frowned, her eyes narrowing. Shoot. My overreaction made us look more guilty than we should have been; after all, we had just been talking. It wasn't like Al was declaring his undying love for me and we were about to frolic off into the sunset accompanied by dancing unicorns or anything.

Unfortun-

MOVING ON.

"Well, let's get on with it then!" I said through an overly bright smile. Al shot me a searching look before nodding slowly.

"…Right. 15 Cunning Circle," he said. Then he stepped into the hall and turned on his heel, Apparating away with a sharp crack.

I stared at the space he had occupied only three seconds before.

"The git! He didn't even make sure we heard the address correctly," I said disbelievingly. Rose shrugged. "Scorp does that too. They're a selfish lot," she said. Then she turned and Apparated away, leaving me alone in the flowered hallway.

I sighed before picturing the address – thank Merlin I'd gone through a phase back in fifth year where I was obsessed with maps – and turning on my heel.

The familiar wrenching sensation pulled at my navel, the warm yellow of the wallpaper smeared together with the dark wood of the door, and I was off, spinning away into a blur of colours.

Author Note: I know nothing about football. I picked a random team. Anyway, thanks so much for reading! It really means a lot to me :) As always, all reviews will be returned with a teaser of the next chapter! c; 300th reviewer will get a oneshot.