October 2nd, 1995
Hogwarts

"Is that paint under your eye, Catherine? Or more potion residue from your cleaning duties with Potter and Lovegood? You should prepare yourself for more of that, given that you're probably going to end up as useless as your mudblood mother."

Cat whipped around and pulled their wand on Draco before he had even finished speaking. He kept stepping towards them, unintimidated by the eighteen year old considering they were seven inches shorter than him. He rolled his eyes when he saw Eddie, Harry, and Luna approaching them. Just behind him, Crabbe and Goyle had their wands drawn, too, though neither of them looked particularly intimidating. Cat's hands were badly shaking, and their jaw was clenched, as if they were expecting to have a hex or curse thrown at them at any second. Apart from a few other, curious students, no one was watching them. Harry and Luna moved to be behind Cat, pointing their wands at Crabbe and Goyle respectively while Eddie half heartedly tried to hold his sibling back. Crabbe looked around, and Goyle took a few steps back, neither of them seeming particularly keen on the idea of duelling either Harry or Luna. Draco was laughing, still doing so when Cat all but shoved their wand under his chin.

"Go ahead, throw some jinxes at me," Draco jeered. "I'm sure you'll enjoy another few months of detention with Potter."

"You're a whore, Draco," Cat snapped. "As if you know anything about painting, too."

"I know enough, that you don't like being social and sit alone and paint instead," Draco rolled his eyes. "If only you weren't a recluse half the time. You could have potential."

"As if you're worth shit," Cat shot back. "And if we're going to talk parents, yours don't work. All your dad does is hand money over to parliament as philanthropy, and your mother presumably gossips and –"

"Your parents could never get away without working," Draco smugly reminded them. "Pity. You don't seem like the type that would handle work well, and your parents won't be able to get you out of that. Maybe you can –"

Cat suddenly shoved their wand in their ponytail. Then, they grabbed his arm and twisted it back, yanking him harshly, and pinning his arm behind his back while they continued to twist it. Among the few students who had gathered, Ron tapped Harry on the shoulder before the two of them cheered. Luna pulled Eddie back so he wouldn't accidentally get hit by his sibling. Draco yelped, dropping his wand and struggling to pry the petite seventh year off of him. Crabbe and Goyle started towards them, too, though Crabbe got kicked in the balls by Cat and fell to the floor, screeching in pain. Goyle moved quickly back from them, and, Draco, still held back by Cat, started yelling for someone to get Cat off of him. The only one who did was Daphne Greengrass, who had been passing by and grabbed Draco's wand off the floor before snapping at Cat to let him go. They did not, however, until they kicked Draco in the shin and pushed him to the floor, scowling the whole time. Harry and Ron smirked at each other, sharing a look, though they quickly jumped out of the way when the click of boots against the ground and the sudden fall of silence announced Professor Tonks' interrupting of the fight.

"Mister Malfoy, what on earth are you doing on the floor rather than already in the classroom? Class started five minutes ago."

"And you weren't there," He muttered, pointing at Cat, pushing himself off the ground and indignantly brushing himself off. "Catherine attacked me, professor!" He held his arm, looking distressed. "They were trying to duel me! Potter and Lovegood were their seconds, and –"

"Did I really kick you that hard, Draco?" Cat muttered, adjusting their glasses. "Pussy."

Tonks glanced at them, an eyebrow raised. "I'll only ask once: Catherine Fudge, did you attempt to duel him?"

Cat shook their head. "Does twisting someone's arm count as duelling them?"

Tonks frowned. "And why, pray tell, were you fighting someone in your brother's year rather than being in your study period?"

"He was being a little bitch," Cat replied.

"He called their mother a mudblood," Luna chimed in, sending Draco a dark look. "We saw it, and heard it. It absolutely wasn't nargles."

"Really?" Tonks turned disdainfully towards Draco as Harry, Ron, and Eddie scuttled into class. "Is that true?"

"Well, it is true about their mother," Draco coldly replied.

Tonks narrowed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "I think that's a week of detention for you," She said, matching his tone perfectly.

"But –" Draco exclaimed in disbelief.

"Continue arguing with me, and I'll add another week," She waved him into the classroom. "You've held up class enough already."

The room fell completely silent as she walked into the room.

"Open your books to page thirty one," She said, sauntering towards the front of the room. "We have to address introductory advanced jinxes and counter jinxes today."

October 5th, 1995
Manhattan, New York

"I just got off the phone with Lia," Victor Picquery said, sitting down across from Allison Kowalski and passing her a drink. "She's not looking forward to coming back next week for the meetings between department heads. From what I understand of it, I don't blame her."

"I don't either," Allison shook her head. "I'm hoping we've gotten those of us in our areas in line enough. Things have been exhausting enough, and I can only imagine how much more exhausted she is than us."

The two shared a knowing look before awkwardly smiling when the red headed English woman returned from getting her drink at the hotel bar and sat down with them.

"So, you said you're a friend of Lia's?" Victor said once she was settled. "That the two of you work together?"

"Technically, Delia worked for me," She replied. "But, yes, we work together insofar as I'm an auror and she's an auror. I was surprised the two of you wanted to meet with me."

"Well, Victor hasn't met you before, now has he, Lily?" Allison lightly teased. "In all seriousness, after you called me last week, I thought we needed to talk."

"We do," Lily shook her head. "It's about prophecies. I found out, recently, that a prophecy still exists about my son, and I need to know more about their reliability. To build a case for it to be heard. It's the only lead I've heard in months since the man who killed my husband returned. The same man who wants to kill my son."

"Grim, isn't it?" Victor frowned. "What is your current understanding about prophecies?"

"Incredibly limited," Lily replied. "Is that a problem?"

"No, though it means you're going to have to sit through a lot more of explanation," Victor shared a knowing look with Allison. "But that can wait. You seem exhausted, and no one can be productive in a state like that."

"It was a rather long flight," Lily agreed, taking a sip of her drink. "Allison must have told you a great deal about me over the years. I can't quite believe we hadn't met until now. Now might as well be a good a time as any for introductions."

Victor nodded. "So," He said with a laugh. "How exactly did a sweet woman like you become friends with Cordelia? Last time any of us checked – from me, my wife, Allison, her husband, and her brother – Lia's not very nice to most people."

Lily shrugged. "She's not that bad. How did the three of you meet? I had forgotten you're both older than she is."

"You're six years younger than her," Allison said. "She's three years younger than me, four years younger than Vic. We only finished Ilvermorny together because Delia's family never…she never went home after leaving Ilvermorny, and –"

Victor subtly kicked her under the table, and she paused, sipping her martini.

"That's awful," Lily sighed. "But I'm unsurprised she finished early. She was cold when she was assigned to be my and my husband's guard. She wasn't particularly sociable to begin with, granted. But I will say she was one of the only people who was honest with us. I hadn't realised things were quite that bad for her, though. The whole time I've known her, Delia hasn't talked much about her family. Cornelius seemed to know everything, of course, but…"

"Delia was practically adopted by my family," Allison reassured her. "When we had school holidays, most of them, that is, she stayed with us. She was rather close with my grandfather, actually, and she risked getting into legal trouble with MACUSA by delaying going to the UK to…"

"Lia was by their side when Jacob died," Victor said, briefly patting Allison's hands. "He passed about three weeks before Delia was given the order to the UK. She stayed an additional week after that order to help the family and attend his funeral. January the 12th, 1976. It was the first time I had seen her cry."

"It wasn't mine," Allison put in. "She and I had…let's just say I helped her with –"

"Allison helped her a lot in the immediate years after we finished at Ilvermorny and went into auror training together," Victor said quickly. "Lia was only sixteen when we graduated, after all."

Allison rolled her eyes at him when she was sure Lily wasn't looking. I'm the one who helped her, was with her, when she pulled off the paper trip. I'm not going to spill now. If Lily knows, Delia already told her.

"But, to sum up, we've been close for years," Allison said. "My husband, Victor, his wife, and my brother were the only people who were at Delia's wedding. And Vic is Catherine's godfather!"

"Although she did get mad at me when I told her that she was going to look like a disco ball if she wore a sequined blouse to a meeting," Victor smirked. "It was after I had told her she shouldn't wear that when she has a small baby, only to learn my godchild was averse to putting even food in their mouth. According to Lia, the only odd thing Catherine ever ate as a baby was sand. Which apparently lulled her into thinking her other kids wouldn't do that until Shyanne teethed on some of her heels, and Eddie nearly swallowed one of her car keys."

Lily laughed. "My son was a relatively chill baby, too. My daughter, on the other hand, put so many odd things in her mouth that I couldn't let her leave my sight. The worst was when she swallowed some bracelet beads she found on the floor. She was perfectly fine, but I was not until I was sure she wasn't going to be sick."

"So, Lia did get the easy babies," Victor elbowed Allison. "Your kids were significantly more hyper, mine tried to get into everything, and hers seem to be in the middle."

"Catherine was afraid of grass," Allison reminded him. "And would cry unless either Delia or Cornelius were holding them."

"You would have enjoyed our parents wine night," Victor teasingly told Lily. "Once a month, all of us with kids would sit down and have some wine and talk about being parents. It was fun."

"I'm sure it was," Lily winked. "And, just so you know, Delia still gets angry at people who joke about her love for sequins and glitter.

October 9th, 1995
Ministry Of Magic

"I hate to be the bearer of more bad news," Amelia Bones stepped into Fudge's office, sighing when she saw Delia. "But it seems I have no choice in the matter."

"If it's about the attacks on no-majs in Nottingham, Kingsley is already looking into that," Delia paused when Amelia flinched. "It's more than that, isn't it?"

"Well, it does seem Death Eater activity is largely in the Midlands, at the moment," Amelia said, looking rather drained. "But that isn't the only issue. There has been…a breach of Azkaban."

Cornelius paled. "Again?"

"It seems to be a…test run of sorts," Amelia explained, glancing to Delia who raised an eyebrow. "I don't suppose you've heard of Rodopholus Lestrange?"

Delia scoffed. "Old, wealthy French family? I vaguely recall hearing the name from a conversation I had with New Scamander a few years ago."

"Sums it up, just about," Amelia confirmed. "He came to the UK to join the Death Eaters in the early 60s, from what is known."

"He was also one of the several people – including his wife – convicted in '82 of the brutal torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom," Cornelius said tiredly, resting his head against the palm of his hand. "Suffice is to say he and the others were convicted on a multitude of other crimes, but that was arguably the most gruesome."

Delia grimaced. "Right," She said. "Of course it happened while we were living in Virginia."

"The primary concern is that, with Lestrange out, he'll eventually return to release his…allies, and, of course, his wife," Amelia frowned. "Frankly, I'm more worried about Bellatrix Lestrange than Rodopholus. She always seemed to be the one managing everything in that relationship, with him taking on tasks that required a bit more physical brutality than she could lay out herself. Regardless –"

"Make sure Shacklebolt has the Malfoys under close supervision," Cornelius cut in, glancing between his wife and Amelia. "Given that Lestrange's wife is Narcissa Malfoy's sister."

"I'll ensure that gets done by the end of the day," Amelia said, starting to pace. "I understand you have to be diplomatic with people like them and, I'm sure, it is easier considering they are richer than God himself and parliament needs families like theirs, but I've never liked them much. I'm very much unconvinced Lucius was ever under the influence of the Imperius curse. Given some of the things he has said about your wife, Minister, I'm quite sure you understand why I don't think he ever needed a reason to work with You Know Who."

"There's not enough evidence to prove it in court, or it would have been done at the time," Cornelius mildly replied. "But I agree that they can be a bit…high minded."

He reached over to take Delia's hand, sensing her tension. She was shaking, and Cornelius gently squeezed her hand, hoping to reassure her, even a little. Delia slowly steadied herself against his desk, but did not object when he stood up to hold her. Amelia shook her head, looking to Delia every so often and feeling nervous, as if she shouldn't be there. Which is a ridiculous notion. I'm the head of the Department Of Magical Law Enforcement and have been for over a decade. There had been a tension growing around the Ministry for months. Better than anyone, she believed, she knew how unlikely it would be to relent. Amelia shoved down thoughts of the Order meeting the night before, and the letter she had received from Lily. She can't possibly be putting any value to prophecies of all things, can she? And why is she going to the States to pursue the possibility? She sighed. There was another issue at hand, one that Lily would, more than likely, have to hear about when she returned if she did not demand it. She is relentless, I will give her that. But is Lily relentless, or is she reckless?

"A body was, also, found stuffed in a tree a couple miles outside of Coventry," Amelia broke the silence. "A wand was found with the body, so, presumably, that will identify the victim. Still…it's jarring."

"In a…tree?" Delia stared at her in disbelief. "Is that ritualistic sacrifice, or something else?"

"Perhaps they're getting bolder," Cornelius paused for a moment in thought. "They must be," He mused. "I can't imagine there aren't more discreet ways to kill a person, For years…"

"Where is it?" Delia suddenly said, stepping towards Amelia as she grabbed her cloak and pulled it over herself.

"Delia, you can't be –" Cornelius began, stopping her by the door.

"I would like to see this for myself," Delia said, lightly kissing him. "I've dealt with worse, Neil. I'll be alright."

Amelia hesitated, but then nodded curtly towards her. "I'll come with you," She said. Delia mumbled in agreement, seeing no room for protest. "It's for the best that none of us get caught off guard, especially right now."