Shake
"I put in the pictures, you put in the time
You put all those memories so deep inside my mind
Now the wind, yes, the wind keeps
Pushing you to me
Time in time out
I know when it's time to leave."
-The Head and the Heart
Sometimes I wake up, and there are people in my flat.
This came with being the girlfriend of a boy with one million family members and four younger siblings myself. It's all part and parcel. But I don't like it when this happens, because my boyfriend, beloved though he is, often leaves our bedroom door open, and the voices of our many relatives wake me up.
I frowned into my pillow, wondering if I could block it out, then I heard the low tones of Albus's brother and Al's light laughter, and I rolled onto my back, glaring at the ceiling. I wanted to know what they were talking about—Albus and James rarely laughed, mostly just clashed. But I also wanted to stay in bed. Today was Saturday. I didn't have to work, today. And I really didn't have to work today; while Alpha was theoretically supposed to have all weekends off, this was not usually how it shook out. We did, this time, though. And I was taking advantage of it. Even if it meant that we wouldn't find out what happened to Basil Nejem until Monday.
I rolled out of bed and grabbed a sweatshirt to throw on rather than navigate finding a bra. I tugged it on over my head and then exited my bedroom, crossing my arms over my chest sleepily.
I stepped into the doorway to my kitchen; there were five boys in there. James Potter, Fred Weasley, Louis Weasley, Wes Finnigan and Teddy Lupin. I hated everything. "G'morning." I mumbled sleepily, and Albus held up his arm; I burrowed into his side, pressing my sleepy face into his shoulder. "People." I mumbled.
"She's so cute when she's tired." Albus said in an indulgent voice. I grumbled incoherently, and he press a kiss to the top of my head. "We're famous this morning, love. We're on the cover of the Conjurer's Chronicle, and Witch Weekly." I pulled back to squint up at him unhappily, and he beamed down at me.
"Noo." I grumbled, pressing my face back into his shoulder. "Your fault."
"He winked at you." Albus said mournfully above me. "I had to make sure you had not been lured away by his charms."
"Your charms are better." I assured him sleepily, patting his chest with one hand.
"Well, thank goodness for that." Albus said heavily.
"Anyway," James said irritably; I felt Albus's chest expand as he took a breath to defend himself. We didn't have to wait for James to speak to know he'd be mean. "I didn't want to have this meeting but Albus insisted. So. Here you are. The groomsmen."
"For what?" That was Fred's voice.
"My wedding." James said, as if this were obvious; it wasn't. In their sixth year, James had pseudo-proposed to Sera. Sera had said yes. There hadn't been a ring. I hadn't noticed a ring since, but I wasn't sure I would have been told there was a ring. But I supposed they were engaged.
"Are we treating the whole engaged thing as real now?" Fred asked James skeptically, and I peeked out to see James scowling while Fred eyed him.
"Did you get Sera a ring?" I asked sleepily. James flushed, turning his glare on me. I raised my eyebrows.
"Oh man." Teddy muttered. "You gotta do that, James. Are you kidding me?"
"Selma would have killed me." Wes agreed, hopping up on the counter and kicking his legs back against the cabinets, scuffing it. I turned my frown on him, and he smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry, Molly."
"I'm sorry, so does this mean Albus got a ring before James did?" Fred asked, delighted at this revelation. I lifted my shocked gaze to my best friend, staring at him.
"If we could not talk about things I haven't yet spoken to Molly about that would be great, thanks." Albus cut in sharply.
I pulled enough away from Albus to frown at him, unimpressed. "You basically told everyone there was a ring before me." I said flatly, remembering how at dinner he'd called it the ring. "Mrs. Longbottom. Fred."
"In the interest of full disclosure—Nate." James informed me, feeding the fire.
"You told Nate?" I demanded, offended, now. "My little brother gets to know before me? Why would you ever ask him for—" I sucked in a breath, realizing exactly how that sentence was about to end. Why would you ever ask him for permission? Because my dad was in jail and Nate was my oldest male relative. And because it used to be the fashion that you ask a father for permission to marry his daughter, and when there wasn't a father, brothers sometimes stepped in.
Woah.
I sucked in a breath, staring at Albus; he finally let his reluctant gaze land on me, panic in his eyes. "Okay." I said after a beat, my voice a little softer than I intended it to be. Uhoh. I didn't want to have this conversation in front of all of these people. I had to move this along. I swung my gaze to James, forcing my lips to pull upward, into a small smile. "So it seems that I, unengaged, have a ring before Sera." I crossed my arms. "You have to get your girl a ring, Jamie."
"Subtle attempt at changing subjects, Molls." James fired back. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I don't need subtlety, Jamie, because Albus has a ring." I smirked. "You're like one of those boys who claim size doesn't matter." I tilted my head to the side ten degrees, keeping my eyes on the boy. "That's just because they can't live up to the hype."
"Yikes, guys, everyone calm down." Teddy said, shooting me a look. "That escalated quickly." He shook his head. "Jesus." He rolled his shoulders. "Molly, if you can't play nice, you can't be here."
"This is my flat." I said to him shortly. Teddy considered this for a moment, then turned on James.
"If you can't play nice, you can't be here." He informed his godbrother. James stared at Teddy, then glared lethally at me.
"Anyway." Albus began behind me loudly, and I let out a breath. Albus hated it when his brother and I didn't get along. Which was always. "James's getting married. I'm his best man. You guys are the groomsmen." I spun to face Albus, slipping back under his arm, and he cupped my shoulder, while I rested my head on his chest. It was too early to be arguing with James.
"When's the wedding?" Louis asked; Albus reward him with a grin.
"April 21." Albus said easily.
"Where?" Louis continued. Albus glanced at his brother.
"Wes offered us the castle." James said, nodding to Wes, who nodded, flashing a grin at his soon-to-be brother-in-law. "Sera's deciding whether she can…" James's voice hardened in anger. "Get over what else happened there."
"You kept it?" Louis demanded, glancing at Wes, his face grim. I also stared at Wes. The castle was the one that Sera and Wes and their father (though at the time, they hadn't known it) had been kept in by their grandmother, who had died last year. She'd left it to Wes, much to his chagrin. I had assumed he had sold it, or something.
"We filled in most of the cellar, changed what remained into a wine cellar, and turned the library into a room for Dorothy." Wes explained. When Louis frowned, Wes grinned. "Dorothy was she-who-must-not-be-named's house elf. We freed her." Wes rolled his eyes, still smiling. "Not that she wants to be paid or even understands how payment really works, but whatever."
There was a knock at the front door, and I sighed as I pulled away, turning my back on the boys to go discuss. "Molly." James said my name reluctantly, and I glanced back at him, my arms crossed. "Sera says you're in the wedding party. Maid of Honor."
I blinked at him, groaning internally. I didn't want to be Sera's Maid of Honor. I didn't really even like Sera. But Sera didn't have girl friends, or a sister. So theoretical, future sister-in-law would put me high on the list.
"Tell her thank you." I forced a small smile; despite my displeasure, Sera was still painfully nice. Being mean to James to be mean to her would not help me.
I turned away and went back to the front door and opened it, reaching up to run my hand through my hair as I did.
My eyes landed on the man before me just in time for him to smirk at me, setting off sparks of recognition and terror pouring down my back. "You forgot your glass slippers, Princess." He informed me in a low voice, and I swiped out, trying to grab a part of his jacket, but he disapparated with a crack. A sharp pain in my hand indicated he took a piece of me with him.
I cradled my hand to my chest, wrapping my other hand's fingers around my wrist in a make-shift tourniquet. There was a box on the ground in front of me, and I stared down at it, then balanced on one foot, toeing it open. My black, peep-toe pumps—the same ones I had kicked off at the raid that had gone so very wrong—were in the box. Along with a picture that was face-up—I crouched down, unwilling to touch them lest they be cursed. The photo was of hanged man. I recognized him; Basil Nejem.
I crouched there dizzily as a bead of blood trickled down my hand and over my other fingers. They knew where I lived. They knew where Albus and I lived.
"Albus!" I shouted, panic evident in my voice, launching to my feet as my boyfriend appeared in the hall, his eyes wide. "You have to call your father—"
"Are you bleeding?" Albus asked, striding forward; I shook my head, stopping him.
"Stay back." I ordered, and Albus hesitated a step, then shook his own head, coming forward to stand beside me. He looked at my hand, frowning at it, then his gaze dragged down to the box. The black shoes. And the photo of the hanged man.
"What the fuck is this?" Albus demanded, reaching down.
"Don't touch it!" I snapped, grabbing his arm with my bloodied hand; the cut wasn't that bad, I could already tell, more a scrape than a cut, but the blood still transferred to his arm. "It's cursed probably."
"Someone sent us shoes and a picture of a dead man." Albus said to me plaintively, his eyes wide. "Does this have to do with that fucking raid?" His voice took an angry edge. I swallowed.
"He was here." I admitted.
"Who was?" Albus asked me, catching my anxiety.
"The guy who was—he was at the raid. They're my shoes." I admitted shakily; the adrenaline was beginning to hit me, and it was making my heart bounce off the walls in my chest. Albus stared at me. "I left them at the raid. I wore them that night—to dinner—and had to take them off when I got there because Halley was dead and Liam was—" I fell silent, feeling my face go white, and panic entered Albus's face.
"Wes!" He called back. I turned in the direction of the kitchen and realized that the boys were all in the hallway, staring at me. Wes fought past them, coming up beside us. "James, call Dad. And Uncle Ron. And Liam Fitzroy." Albus shuddered, reaching up to run a hand over his hair as he backed up a step, looking at me; he was panicking. "They know where we live?"
I was physically shaking from the sheer adrenaline in my system. This was fucking unsettling. Wes grabbed my hand, frowning at it. "I don't know how, I didn't tell them—"
"I know you didn't, Love, but—" Albus threw a hand out towards the box we couldn't touch, as if that explained his point. It kind of did. "He was here. Holy shit. He was at our door."
"This is shallow. Barely deep enough to bleed. I can fix it here." Wes said in a very calm voice; I looked up at him, surprised. I'd forgotten he was holding my hand. Jesus, I needed to get my act together. "What happened?"
"He disapparated. I tried to grab him—" I admitted.
"You tried to grab him?" Albus demanded angrily. I swung my gaze back to him.
"I'm an auror!" I protested edgily. "I'm supposed to grab the bad guys—"
"HE SHOWED UP AT OUR DOOR WITH A PHOTO OF A DEAD MAN AND A PAIR OF SHOES YOU LEFT AT A FUCKING MURDER SCENE, MOLLY! DON'T FUCKING GRAB THOSE GUYS!" Albus roared, and I flinched, turning my face away from Albus instinctively and squeezing my eyes shut. Albus never yelled at me. Albus never roared at me. Albus and I had arguments, but no yelling allowed, because not everyone who yelled at me had stopped there.
"Hey." Fred Weasley said quietly, slipping between us and facing Albus, and I forced my whole body to un-tense, opening my eyes. Fred had inches on Albus, something I barely noticed—until Fred was towering between us. "Don't yell at her." This was the most serious I'd ever heard him. I swallowed.
"It's okay." I muttered. Fred twisted just enough to shoot me a look, and I shook my head once at him. I'd reacted badly, but that was because of the past. Albus was not my dad. Albus yelled out of fear. Not out of anger. "Fred, seriously, I just overreacted—"
Fred looked reluctant, but fell back a step. Albus had turned away from him, was running his hands through his hair over and over again. He turned back to me, and I met his gaze, feeling guilt well in me to mirror the guilt, anxiety and panic in his eyes. He ducked forward, wrapping his arms around me to press his lips to the top of my head. I pressed my face into his shirt, sucking in a deep breath as the same thought raced round and round in my head.
They knew where I lived.
Five minutes later, Mr. Potter strode out of the floo in our living room, his eyes dark as he swept the room. I'd levitated the box into the living room, and was now sitting in front of it, Albus beside me, his hand tight around my good one. My bad hand had been healed, and I'd washed off the blood; it looked normal enough, now, for all that there was a little pink scar. Fred was leaning against the wall next to the couch. James was seated on the couch catty corner to us, and Wes, Louis and Teddy were standing across from us.
"What happened?" Mr. Potter asked as the floo lit and Mr. Weasley stepped through; I glanced, distracted, past him as the floo lit once more after Ron Weasley. Liam appeared, his gaze dark, and I straightened up when I saw him, my stomach churning.
"What the hell—" Liam said, approaching me, and I shook my head once, pointing to the box.
"Don't touch it, but that's Basil in the photo, right?" I asked him; I wanted confirmation on this before all else, even if that meant I ignored my boss. Liam went over to the box and peered inside, pulling a pair of leather gloves out of his pocket and slipping them on. He stared down at it, and I saw the tendons on his neck stand out before he nodded jerkily.
"Fuck." He said lowly. "So Basil's dead."
"You know that guy?" Albus demanded, and I felt his accusatory gaze on me.
"We've been looking for him." I said quietly to my boyfriend, looking up at him. "He was my main source for the raid. He disappeared the day I talked to him." I shook my head.
"Molly, I need to know what happened." Mr. Potter said quietly. I glanced up at him.
"Someone knocked on the door." I said carefully, trying to sound like I understood the urgency of this without crying. "And I opened it and there was a man outside, one of the men from the raid. He…" I hesitated; I hadn't yet mentioned this part to Albus. "He said 'you forgot your glass slippers, Princess' and then disapparated, and I grabbed for him but he disapparated, and I got spliced a little. And then I opened the box." I glanced at it. "Those are my shoes. The ones I left at the raid. And that's Basil Nejem in the photo. He's…" I shook my head.
"Which guy from the raid?" Liam asked. I swallowed, looking up at him.
"One of the guys in the main area. I think he was the one who—" I opened and closed my hand to mime grabbing.
"What does that mean?" Albus asked. I glanced at him. He was watching me. I swallowed. I wasn't supposed to talk about this. But this room was only people I trusted. And I couldn't not explain this to Albus.
"One of the guys tried to grab me." I admitted shortly; horror twisted Albus's features. "He grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I fought back, lost my wand, found my phone. Scratched Liam accidentally." Albus's lips parted in shock.
"What?" He asked lowly. "Does grab mean kidnap to you?" I swallowed, and Albus shook his head, releasing my hand and standing up. He turned away from me, reaching up to cup the back of his head with both of his hands. He stood there, staring at our wall for a moment. "Did you know he knew you? Did he know your name?" His voice was low and dangerous. I stared at his back. I didn't want to answer that.
But lying to Albus was bad. I didn't lie to Albus. "He called me princess. He didn't say Potter, or Molly. I thought—I showed up wearing a dress and earrings, Albus. Calling me princess in that context could have been a total nonissue."
He shook his head once. Then he turned back around, his gaze fiery and landing on me. Then his gaze slid up to his dad, and then back to me. "There's no point to quitting now, is there?" He said sharply. "You're already a target. They've already come to our home." I swallowed, looking up to Mr. Potter, who shook his head once.
"I suspect you're right." He admitted lowly.
Albus swore. "Fucking hell." He shook his head, swinging his gaze down to me for a moment. "You are—impossible, you know that, right?" I swallowed. Albus pressed his lips together, sweeping his eyes over the other boys. "Molly and I are moving. Tonight. We'll get a secret keeper or something—" He met his father's gaze. "I can't believe you." He hissed at his father. "I can't believe you did this. You hired my girlfriend—the girl I've loved since I was fucking fifteen-years-old—and now you've put her in the line of fire?" He stared at Mr. Potter, who was gaping, open-mouthed. "What gave you the right to do that?"
"Albus—" I stood up shakily, taking a step towards him, and Al stepped back from me; I felt hurt bounce through me. Albus never stepped back from me.
"Don't." He said angrily. "You know how crazy your job makes me. You know. And you got involved in this anyway." He shook his head. "You aren't the only one who carries around fifth year, Molly! I was in that fucking courtroom too. You just wanted to save your siblings? Well, I just wanted to save you. And you've gone right back into danger." He stared at me. "How could you do this to me? I lose sleep, I lose games, and I don't give a shit about any of that as long as you come home at night but today—with my brother in the house, no less, and our best friend—a criminal came to our door! What if he'd wanted to kill you? What if I'd come to the door and you were dead? What if he had kidnapped you?" He stared at me. "How could you do this to me?"
I sucked in a breath, tears building in my eyes as I fell back a step from him. I couldn't cry. Crying is shitty when people are yelling at you—they're angry. Crying would make this about me, and it wasn't about me, it was about Albus.
Fuck, I just wanted to cry.
Albus's chest rose and fell with the words, and I shook my head. "I'm sorry." I said in a small voice. Albus made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. He didn't say anything, though, and I reached up, running a hand over my forehead and pushing my hair out of my face. My eyes burned. I turned to James and Fred, who were both watching us avidly. "Guys." I said in a voice tight with tears. "Can we have the room?" I felt a pleading, manic smile work its way onto my face. This was a disaster.
"No point." Albus muttered, even as Fred and James stood up; they both stopped at his short response.
I tried not to let this amplify my panic, but it did, ten fold. I turned to watch him, and Albus met my gaze, then let out a breath, his shoulders dropping. I stepped forward, and he let me; I stopped about a foot in front of him, my arms crossed against my chest, watching him nervously.
"You can't move in a night." James said quietly; we both looked at him, and he met my gaze sympathetically for the briefest of moments before looking to his brother. Albus was watching him sharply. "You and Molly need somewhere to stay, tonight. Come to Shell cottage. It's basically the end of the earth, it still has all of those wards on it from Bill and Fleur."
Relief crashed like a wave on Albus's face; he glanced at me, and I nodded once. Anything to get out of this.
"Albus…" Mr. Potter murmured, and his younger son didn't look at him. "Can we speak for a moment?" Al shook his head, and I swallowed, looking down.
"Collect your evidence, take away that photograph and those goddamned shoes, and get out of my flat." Albus growled at his father, then turned away, leaving the living room. I heard my bedroom door slam. I reached up to cover my face with my hands.
"Shit." Liam murmured.
"Molly?" Fred's voice was closer, now, and I felt his big hands land on my shoulders. "Are you all right?" I dropped my hands, applying all of my willpower to muting my tears. I nodded, looking up at Fred. "Molly." He said lowly.
"He hates me." I said shakily, pulling back a step and crossing my arms against my chest; Fred's arms fell to his sides. "I fucked up—"
"You couldn't have known this would escalate." Fred pointed out firmly. "Your job is dangerous. That's how it works. You do it anyway. Albus just lives in denial about it most of the time. Today, he couldn't." I shook my head once.
"Fred." I said plaintively.
"And he doesn't hate you." Fred said, rolling his eyes as if this was the most ridiculous thing I had ever proposed. "You know as well as I that this is all from concern." I pressed my lips together doubtfully, looking past Fred to James, who was watching me somberly.
"Thank you for inviting us to stay with you." I forced a half smile for my boyfriend's brother. "Unbelievably generous. I don't know what we would have done."
James sighed. "It's okay." He said quietly. "You guys are family."
I felt my eyes burn again at that, and I reached up, rubbing my forehead. "Okay. I should go after Albus." I said thickly. "Shit." I walked around Fred and passed James on my way out of the room.
I passed the silent kitchen, deliberately avoiding the gazes of Teddy, Wes and Louis. I crossed to my bedroom door, hesitating before it—did I knock? It was my bedroom, too. But Albus clearly wanted the door to be closed to everyone, including me.
I reached for the doorknob and, after a beat, turned it with a thought prayer to whomever was listening. I entered quickly, closing the door behind me. Albus was lying on the bed, his legs below the knees hanging off, his feet on the floor. All of the fight was gone from his limbs; now, I realized, studying his expression, he just looked miserable. I had done that.
I crossed to him and sank down beside him on the bed, then followed his lead and laid down. He slid his arm under my shoulders, curling me into him, and I did so immediately and gratefully, ducking into him and resting my cheek on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." I whispered.
"It's not your fault." Albus rumbled tiredly, sounding as if this was a refrain he had been trying to convince himself of. He reached up with his free arm, covering his eyes with his forearm. I closed my eyes. "Fuck, Molly, how could you not tell me a guy tried to kidnap you?" Albus's voice arched with helplessness. "You can't lie to me about shit like that. That shit is too serious." Albus sucked in a sharp breath. "Should we be getting a place with a fidelius charm?" He asked. "Are you going to get hurt if we don't? Will there be people at James's place, next? Because I can't just—bring that to James."
I closed my eyes. "We don't have to go there. Or I could stay here." I murmured. Albus's arm tightened around my shoulders. I let out a breath, letting my eyes open. "I don't want you to get hurt." I told him softly. "You could go live with James. You'd be safe there—"
"What in the history of our dating," Albus began lowly, "has made you think that I would ever consent to that?" I lifted my head to look down at him, sliding my hand up his chest comfortingly.
"I just want you to be safe—" I interrupted, feeling his anger return.
"I don't give a fuck about my own safety, Molly!" Albus exploded, pushing himself up. I scrambled to the side of the bed, my eyes wide on him. "I care about you, and all you have to tell me is that I should go live with my brother so I don't get hurt?" He pushed himself to his feet, running his hands over his hair again, his back to me as his shoulder rose and fell heavily. "I'm trying to be good about this, I really am, but what am I supposed to do? You're the only thing I care about—we can sell the flat and I can lose my team, and all I need is you. But you're the only thing that you won't let me have!" He shook his head. "I can't fucking do this anymore. I need you to reign in your need to put yourself behind everything else on earth, for me. I need this not to be the rest of our lives go. Because when guys come to the door, you have to shut the door in their faces again. And when they've murdered people—three people, Molly—then you have to turn and run." Albus sucked in a shaky breath. "I have a dad who is a hero, and it sucks, Molly, because one day he isn't going to come home. The boy-who-lived can't live forever. You can't do that to me, too. Because I won't leave you, but I will probably lose my goddamned mind."
I stared at him. Albus and I had this one, awful, weird, defining thing in common; our dads had left gaping holes in our lives. My dad because he was abusive, but Al's dad because Harry Potter was like a cat with nine lives; the rest of the wizarding world thought he was immortal, but Albus knew better. Albus's mum knew better, his siblings knew better. Because Harry Potter was the first to run into the building on fire and the last to run out; he was the first to leap in front of a younger auror, and the last to let a healer check him out. That made him a hero, but Albus knew—James knew, Lily knew, Ginny knew—that it meant that one day, something that didn't have to kill him, would. And the list of things that did have to kill him—did have to kill me—was long enough. If Harry Potter made it to 70 years old, it would be a miracle.
Albus didn't want that again.
"I'll put myself on desk duty until the end of the case, and then I'll quit." I offered after a beat; Albus stared at me. "I can't quit now. Not in the middle of this case, not when your dad said it wouldn't help. But I will go on desk duty, and quit once this is done." Even though Liam will be the only person with more than 2 years of experience on Alpha. Even though Jessie and Ryan and Will might get hurt for it. "You're right. I don't close the door on the bad guys. I don't know how. So they'll have to stop coming here." I shrugged as if this were simple, as if I couldn't already imagine the look on Liam's face when I told him he was going to be alone in the field. Fuck.
Albus stared at me. "Seriously?" He asked softly. I nodded. Albus's eyes softened impossibly, and he leaned back against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the ground, his knees up in front of him. He extended his arms out, looking up at me. "Thank you." He said sincerely, his voice rough.
I forced a smile for the boy I loved. He returned it shakily.
"For you, anything." I murmured.
At least that was true.
"Settling in alright?" James asked me, and I twisted look at my boyfriend's brother, smiling slightly at him. It had been just an hour since the bedroom, since I'd promised Albus I'd give up the job I loved because sometimes murderers showed up at our door.
Seriously, though, what was wrong with me that I had taken this job?
"Yeah." I smiled a little for James, letting my wand arm drop to my side. I was trying to unpack without having to touch things, but it was proving difficult. Al's trunk was remaining stubbornly full.
Al and I had just thrown all of our clothes into his old trunk from Hogwarts. I'd gone ahead to the house to unpack while Albus figured out what of our other possessions we needed and talked to the letting agency about renting out the apartment.
"Albus didn't mean any of the shit he said today." James said to me after a beat, taking a step past the doorway tentatively. I blinked at him. "He's—listen, it's hard. Being in love with someone who—" He let out a breath. "I know, this is absolutely none of my business. But I just…" He shook his head. "I can't let him screw this up for himself. He just loves you and you're a little self-destructive. Don't let his anger make you think he doesn't love you."
I stared at James. What was happening? This was the boy who had said he hated me in fifth year; the boy who could not stand to see me near his little brother. Now, James was giving me advice on Albus? Trying to get me to forgive him?
Was this really so bad that James felt like he had to intervene?
"I'm going on desk duty until the end of the case and then quitting." I told him quietly. "He did mean what he said. And he's right. I don't—my instinct isn't to run away, ever, because…well, just because." I felt a flush on my face, and James had the grace to look embarrassed. James. With grace. What new world was this? "He can't handle that I'm working there, so I won't make him."
Frustration made James's mouth tight. "He's wrong." He said lowly. "You shouldn't quit. You love that job."
I swallowed, staring at James. "Albus tried to deal with it. He couldn't. That means I have to." I stared at James.
"That's not how it works." James protested. I frowned at him. "He doesn't care that his job is dangerous and you worry about him—"
"He does care." I snapped at him. "And if I asked him to quit, he would, in a heartbeat. But I won't do that, because he loves his job—"
"You love your–" James said, stepping forward.
"Yes, but today my job put him in danger." I cut him off. James stared at me. "I don't give a fuck about my own safety, as has been previously pointed out to me by everyone and their brother. But today, Albus might have been the one to answer the door. Or Fred, or you! And I can't have that. I can't. I won't. So, my job has to go. Albus isn't being selfish; I was selfish, and then I got lucky as hell that today, I was the one that answered the door." I shook my head. "What if it had been Al? What if someone had hurt him? What if someone had kidnapped him or killed him?" I stared at James. "Albus is the boyfriend of the head of Alpha team and the son of the head of the whole department. He is probably a target to someone, and I didn't even think about it. If I can't anticipate that, than I can't have that job. End of story."
James stared at me silently, and I swallowed, turning back to my bags and tossing my wand on the bed, grabbing a sweater and folding it silently. I got through four pieces of clothing before I heard my bed creak. I glanced back; James was sitting on it, watching me. I held his gaze.
"Good for you." He said finally. "Because Dad never quit. Neither did Uncle Ron. And we've had a few midnight trips to St. Mungo's. Mum's cried a lot. Hermione almost left Ron the year you were fifteen. And it's not because no one loves anyone else. It's because they're dedicated, and brave, and selfish." James stared at me. "Someone needs to do these jobs. The really shitty ones that keep you up all hours and drag you into work all the time and sometimes kill people. But I don't want it to be Albus's girlfriend. It's too hard on the spouses. I've seen it." James stood up, brushing off his pants. He took a deep breath. "That said, if one of those guys shows up at our front door, I'm kicking you out. Sera can't be in danger."
I flashed him my teeth in something that would have been a smile from someone less miserable. "Gotcha." I turned back to my closet. I heard James leave, and once the door closed behind him, I closed my eyes and leaned forward, pressing my forehead to my wardrobe. This goddamned family was going to be the death of me.
Of course, the other option was my being the death of them.
A/N: Oh hey there. Six reviews this time! Thanks guys :)
Fionamoi (you are tres loyal, thank ya!)
dislikethou (I hope this chapter cleared up some stuff! you're right that I left it a medium amount of open-ended in Left Unsaid. Sorry bout that)
Auzie Ninja (more Al in this chapter, as ordered)
Lucy Greenhill (thank you for reviewing every chapter! so encouraging)
ink2parchment (hope you like this one as well!)
Kaylee13133 (you're so sweet! thank you so much.)