Chapter Forty-Six

Fight Another Day

No one ever knew what to expect when they had dinner at the Willowby's house. Any number of Corey's children and their families could show up during any given day, not to mention any of their friends or other siblings.

But fortunately for Alex, that night seemed to be rather quiet. Destiny was at the table, along with Rose and Ryan.

"What, is that it?" Alexandria asked out loud.

"So it would seem," Corey said. "Have a seat, Alex." He walked into the kitchen to get a few things for the table.

"I already said grace," Ryan informed his aunt.

"Sorry I'm late then," Alexandria said.

"Just barely," Destiny said. "And the reason I'm the only one here is everyone else is working. Since we have to double up shifts at the department, just about everyone has to be there for captures. I was one of the few who got out of it because I had a long flag board shift this morning. When are we going to go back to regular security levels?"

"I am sorry. Grandfather said the main offices are almost done, so it should be back to normal by the end of the week," Alexandria said.

"That's what you said last week," Destiny pointed out.

"Well, this time, I mean it," Alexandria reassured her, glancing up as Corey came back with rolls in one hand and containers of jam and clotted cream in the other. "The last door should be finished within a day or two. After that, all that's left is security checks to make sure it all went in properly."

"Are you going to have the Dashing Doppler try and break in again?" Destiny asked curiously.

"No, I'm not. That would break the conditions of his probation. Besides, I'm not speaking to him," Alexandria said.

"But you talked to him long enough to sign the probation papers, right?" Corey asked for clarification.

"Yes, they're done," Alexandria confirmed.

"Personally, I don't think it'd hurt his probation to break in when it's his job to test security, but if you're still not talking to him, I guess that's another thing," Corey said, sitting down. "I admit that I'm a little surprised. I thought the two of you would probably work things out the moment you found yourselves in the same room together."

"No, we didn't work things out. He's completely impossible... and incomprehensible. I just don't understand him at all. Not to mention the fact that from the moment I spoke to him, he was asking for an apology! Can you believe that?" Alexandria asked indignantly, accepting one of the rolls that was passed to her.

"Why didn't you just give him one?" Destiny wanted to know.

"Because he was the one who messed up, not me," Alexandria informed her.

"Come on, Alex, surely you were married long enough to know how to apologize for the fight itself, even if the two of you still disagree about the topic," Corey said.

"Ben and I never fought like this," Alex protested. "Even when we weren't getting along, he only raised his voice once, and that was to get me to leave the house when I was in danger. We had no trouble talking things out when we did have a disagreement."

"You mean because he always gave in," Corey said bluntly. "Well, for some reason, I don't think the Magician is going to let you get out of it that easy, Alexandria. It's time you learned to how not to have the last word, as well as learn how to agree to disagree about some things."

"We wouldn't be disagreeing at all if he actually consulted me before he did anything risky..."

"Alex! He's not going to fall in line like one of your Agents. He's his own person who has been living on his own for years. Of course he's independent, and he's not used to compromising any more than you are. Aren't you latching on to him pretty tight considering the two of you just started dating? Give him some slack," Corey advised, and there was a hint of amusement in his smile. "You're going to squeeze the stuffing out of the poor guy."

"Me? He's the one that's been telling me that I'm his family now. I'm not the one being domineering. He is. He even went to the school's fair because he wanted to get to know Jay better... without my permission at that!"

"He snuck into the school?" Rose repeated with raised alarm. "Does anyone know about this?"

"He said Mum that caught him and decided to give him permission to stay, but I don't know if I can believe him or not," Alexandria said.

"Easy enough to clear up. Let me have a quick word with a painting," Rose said, excusing herself to the living room.

"Let's just assume for a moment he was telling the truth," Corey said. "Alex, I don't think Mum would have let him stay if she thought there was something nefarious to his request, nor would she allow it if she thought Jay would have any sort of setbacks if he met him. Even if you have no reason to trust the Magician, you can at least trust Mum to judge whether it's safe for Jay or not. You trusted her enough to be his guardian after all."

"Only because I had no choice," Alexandria said. "I don't like situations where I don't have a choice... it's all very worrying."

Before Corey had a chance to question what brought that on, Rose came back inside and sat down.

"It's alright, the school knew about it. Apparently he did go the festival, and Jennifer had Jay escort him around and make sure he left by the gate at the end," Rose said. "There you see? Nothing to worry about."

"I still think he should have come to me first," Alexandria said firmly.

"But the festival was last weekend," Corey pointed out. "How could he have asked you about it when you were refusing to see him at that point?"

"How come he tried to get to know Jay at all when we broke up?" Alexandria asked.

"Sounds like the break up was one-sided," Destiny ventured.

"Oh, what would you know about such things?" Alexandria challenged her.

"Aurors sometimes get called in on domestics when they start throwing Dark Magic at each other," Destiny explained with a shrug.

"I think Destiny's right," Corey intervened. "It sounds like he felt you were simply overreacting and decided to be patient and wait for you to cool down, rather than believe this was permanent. You have no idea how many times I saw Mum and Dad have those sorts of arguments when I was in school. They left each other more times than I can count."

"I remember some of them, but most of those spats didn't last this long," Alexandria said.

"Like heck they didn't. Sometimes they lasted weeks, with one or the other sleeping in their office," Corey replied. "But even if they might have been upset enough to attempt to break up with the other initially, I'm pretty sure that deep down they knew it wasn't over. And of course, the person at the receiving end always knew it wasn't over. It just resulted in them giving each other some space for a while."

"That's different. They were married. I doubt they did this while they were dating," Alexandria said.

"Yes, they did," Corey confirmed. "But they'd always come together in a crisis. It's what two people who love each other do. And since I can assume he loves you just by the fact that he considers you a part of his family, the question is, do you love him?"

"Love him?" Alexandria exclaimed, appalled by Corey's serious expression. "Of course I don't love him! I don't even really know him! How could I possibly love someone when I don't even know his name?"

Immediately she heard a snorting laugh beside her. By the time Alexandria realized it was Rose and looked in her direction, Rose had lost all control and had burst out laughing.

"Alex, I believe your sister-in-law would like to remind our match maker just how it was that Rose and I got together in the first place," Corey informed Alex, only holding his serious expression a moment more before breaking into an amused grin.

"Oh. Right," Alex replied sheepishly. "But why won't he tell me? It's not like he's some countryside vigilante like you were!"

"How do you know?" Corey challenged her. "We already know he's a master shapeshifter and information broker, and anyone capable of tracking down Bagman in his lair is talented enough to do anything. He may be secretly working for a government and sworn to secrecy for all you know... or maybe he's like I was, and just a normal guy who's just terrified to tell you the truth." Rose gave him a knowing smile. "It's likely to be one or the other. He's doing it to protect someone, or he's doing it to protect himself."

"Fine, I'll accept that. But I'm still angry with him for visiting my son without my permission!" Alexandria said firmly.

"As is your right as a mother, I'd say, but try not to condemn him for it forever," Corey advised.

"Well, maybe I'd forgive him if he was up front with me about who he is... or at least tell me the reason. Maybe if he had a good reason, I could accept it. But he's so hard to talk to! A lot of the things he says don't make any sense to me," Alexandria complained. "Of course, he often tells me he doesn't understand some of the things I tell him either, despite the fact that my answers are perfectly plain."

Rose, Corey, and Destiny all stared at her. Ryan, noticing everyone's expressions, decided he finally had a chance to say something.

"Maybe you could try using small words, Aunt Alex. And less of them," Ryan advised.

"And words that express what's in your heart," Rose added with a smile, giving Ryan's shoulder a hug.

"Just remember to take deep breaths and reign in that Snape temper, Alexandria. Especially considering he's an outsider from another country. Poor guy probably doesn't know how to handle it," Corey added with a chuckle.

Alexandria grew thoughtful, turning her attention to her meal and listening to other conversations. A secret identity would explain a lot, and so would the fact that he was secretly working for another country. Perhaps that also explained why he behaved so oddly? It was a cultural difference of some kind, she decided. If only she had some hint to what culture he came from, it would help her to understand him better.

"Okay, Alexandria?" Rose finally asked, not used to having her friend be so quiet at dinner.

"Yes, I'm... I'm problem solving," she admitted at last.

"Hey! No work at Sunday dinner," Corey protested, pointing to her plate. "It's supposed to be a day of rest. Of course, I doubt God had to deal with Ministry hours," he added dryly.

"You know what they say. No rest for the wicked," Alexandria pointed out with a thin smile, but turned her attention to Ryan's boast that desert was going to be the best every since he helped make the toffee pumpkin pudding.


Alexandria found herself lying in bed thinking for half of the night, so she wasn't surprised when she woke up feeling worn out and with another headache. She had even slept in; apparently both of her familiars had gone to the office without her. She sighed in annoyance, getting a quick cup of peppermint tea to soothe her stomach before getting dressed and stepping onto the Portkey pad, working her way into her office.

Austere was there, but Wilder had already dropped off her paper and her post and had gone off to run other errands.

"Good morning, Austere. Why didn't you wake me up when you saw I was running late today?" Alex asked critically.

"If you needed a wake up call, you should have gotten yourself a toad," Austere hissed.

"Give me a break, Austere, you're more than capable of waking me up before you head to the office. Where's Wilder?"

"He went to see if he could be useful elsewhere," Austere hissed.

"You know, you could learn a lot from him," Alexandria pointed out. "Like being a bit more cooperative."

"Being cooperative is his job. My job is to inform you that your coffee and breakfast should be ready behind door three," he hissed.

"Thanks," Alexandria said, pulling it out. She took a bite of the toast before setting it down. "You know, I think I'll skip breakfast. It's already gone cold, and I need to go talk to one of my teams about a new mission. Any idle cells around London?"

"Most of them are already in the Ministry because of the Dragon level security," Austere reminded her.

"Oh. Right. Well, fortunately, that should be ending as soon as last checks are done," she said. "I guess I'll head to the LE Department to see what they came up with to test it. If any flyers come in with reports or post, ask them to wait."

"Very well," Austere hissed, pleased with the easy assignment as Alexandria stepped back out again.

On her way to the LE Minister, she paused at the third guard station to talk to the Agent sitting there. Despite the fact that he was in his smokey black Agent cloak, she could tell he was bored.

"Good morning. How would you like a paper dive?" she asked.

"Anything's better than this," he grumbled.

"Well, don't worry, we should be taking it down a notch very soon. Meet me in my office, I need you to flesh out a file for me... might involve some traveling too," she added.

"Fine by me," he said, and Alexandria continued down the corridor. But when she finally stepped into the LE department, she couldn't help but blink in surprise to see the Magician standing in front of Delia's desk, talking to Thomas.

"What in craters are you doing here?" Alexandria exclaimed in surprise.

"Ministry decorum, Alex," Thomas said critically.

"Because we all know you care so much about that..."

"Shut it, Cheeky," Thomas warned Delia, who smirked softly.

"I'm here on business, as you can plainly see," the Magician told her evenly.

"I hired him to test the security again. Now that he's on probation, I figured he'd be a good person to call in as a security expert when I need one," Thomas informed her. "He could probably make a business out of it if he wanted."

"He's a drifter, businesses are too permanent. And since when do you care about money?" Alexandria challenged the Magician.

"Since you told me twice that you didn't want to see me again, without apologizing might I add, I really don't see why I would have to answer any personal questions," the Magician said coolly.

"Bin it! I don't have time today to hear the two of you go at it! Alex, the Magician pointed out that some of the Justice Department offices that deal with sensitive files as well as two in the Treasury department that deal with payroll have windows in the room. In fact, I think it's obvious that's how they got all of those personnel files in and out of there so quickly," Thomas said. "They'll need to be moved to internal rooms."

"That'll be easy enough to do in the Treasury department, they have the space. But is it really necessary in Justice? It'll be an absolute pain moving those tight rooms around without adding more rooms to the department itself, and the flyers that can actually land on that window sill successfully are on a very small list of approved carriers," Alexandria pointed out.

"An open window is an open invitation no matter how small the list. Even one flyer is one too many if it leaves that window open, no matter what sort of barriers or conditions you throw on it," the Magician said firmly. "Not to mention that a talented shapeshifter can reduce themselves into a form that can easily get through the post."

"We have the windows charms to alert anyone if there's anything alive in a package or envelope," Alexandria said impatiently.

"But do you check the envelope itself, in case the shape-shifter can take an inanimate form?" he inquired.

"Can you do that?" Alex parried.

"No," the Magician said calmly. "But Bagman's personal bodyguard can."

"Yeah, the point is, I'm changing them no matter what the inconvenience," Thomas said, putting a hand on both of them to force them to take another step away from each other. "The good news is that since it's the last thing that needs to be done to step down security, I'm ordering the affected departments to move all sensitive files to the already secured areas. Once that's done, we should be able to step down security before we go home tonight."

"Can we at least keep the guards doubled up overnight just as a precaution?" Alexandria protested.

"Fine. We'll step it down first thing tomorrow morning, then," Thomas decided. "Anyway, what was it that you wanted when you walked over here, Alex?"

"Nothing important," Alex replied, frowning at the Magician irritably. He simply kept looking at Thomas, ignoring her completely.

"Good, we'd better get on this then," Thomas said, stepping out of the department with the Magician following behind.

Growling softly to herself, Alex went back to her office. Neither of her familiars were there; instead, a number of Agent and Ministry owls waited on the tree, looking at her expectantly when she came in.

"Where's Austere?" she asked with exasperation.

"He went to hunt. He put me in charge and told me not to let any of the others leave," a black banded owl reported, the other owls hooting in agreement.

"Well, at least you're dependable, Purgatory. Do you have a message for me?" Alexandria asked the Ministry Owl.

"Yes, a verbal one," the owl confirmed. "My wizard wanted you to know that there has been movement. Ludo Bagman has informed him that he has changed the doors on his revolving house and his office after the Dashing Doppler discovered a way to track him down. Ludo has now added other security features to the door to prevent another occurrence."

"What!" Alexandria flailed, but apparently wasn't wanting a reply. She strode back out again, glancing down each corridor before finally catching the Magician walking with Thomas and Delia on their way to Treasury department.

"Hold it right there!" she shouted as she stormed towards them. Thomas simply sighed with exasperation and pulled up another Sonorous Shield, conveniently leaving Delia and her Quills on the outside. Delia put her hands on her hips.

"Just what are you shouting about now?" the Magician asked with open exasperation.

"Bagman just updated his security. Apparently you told him exactly how you tracked him down. Are you insane?" Alex snapped.

"Oh that..."

"Why did you tell him how to fix his security? And furthermore, why didn't you tell me that you told him?" Alexandria demanded.

"Because when I attempted to do just that, you shouted at me that I wasn't an Agent and wouldn't let me get into any details... and then you threw me out," he reminded her. "Surely someone who is capable of becoming the Minister of Mysteries can understand what someone like Bagman would do had I not divulged the means of my entry. He would have likely ordered his men to dispense of me, and I would have had quite the battle getting out of there. Someone would have gotten hurt."

"But not you, because apparently you're impenetrable," she glowered.

"Not entirely, but close enough," he replied.

"You could have told me that you had a way to find him before you went on your one man mission!" she snapped. "I could have had a team in there to arrest him!"

"And in the process, it would have started a second spy war, which will without a doubt be even bloodier than the first one," the Magician informed her sternly. "I don't know if you're aware, but Bagman has stated on more than one occasion that he has a right to defend himself if a Snape comes after him. Since that is the case, he will do everything in his power to insure that he is put in a position of distress, just so that has the justification of getting you out of the way once and for all. Whether you like my methods or not, I will do whatever is in the best interests of your security whether you approve or not."

"Stop! Stop! I've heard enough! Back to your corners! One more word and I'll mute the both of you!" Thomas finally snapped. "Alexandria, he's right on all points."

"You're taking his side over mine?" Alexandria gawked.

"Not only that, but I agree with his unspoken point as well," Thomas went on. "Ever since the holidays, you've been displaying irrational behavior and overreacting to everything. As much as Draco and I tolerate occasional hiccups when it comes to how you handle things, it is imperative for a Minister of Mysteries be able to think clearly under stressful situations and regardless of what is going on in their personal lives. It is quite clear to me that right now you're incapable of doing so, and I think it's time you took a medical leave of absence. Why don't you go to your office for now and spend the day getting it in order for someone to come in? Once I've escorted the Magician to the Treasury to let them know he is cleared to help them with security arrangements, I'll head to Draco's office so we can sign paperwork off and get a Minister pro tem in place. I'll send whoever we get to take over to your office after lunch and you can give update them on your whatever your priority cases are."

"Do you honestly think you can find someone to take over my job that quickly?" Alexandria asked in shock.

"Yeah, I already have a list. It won't take long," Thomas said unconcernedly. "I'm releasing the Sonorous Shield now; Cheeky looks bored. Bet she won't be when I tell her why we're going to Draco's office, though. Once you're done today, Alex, don't return until both Bliant and Donovan have signed off that you're ready to return to work," Thomas added for good measure.

Alexandria gazed at her grandfather unsurely as he dispelled the Sonorous Shield. She glanced towards the Magician, who certainly wasn't going to come to her rescue after that fight. He seemed quite calm and serious, apparently in agreement with Thomas that taking her out of the Ministry chair was the right thing to do.

"So who won?" Delia blurted out the moment they could hear her.

"I did, who the hell did you think?" Thomas replied bluntly.

"Oh yeah, that's true. You win every argument you're in," Delia said with a chuckle.

"Just about," Thomas grunted. "See you later, Alexandria. Come to the Mansion any time you like for dinner or to stay over or whatever. Let me know if you want to do any excavation work or anything while you're out of work."

"What's that's supposed to mean?" Delia wanted to know, wide-eyed.

"I'll explain later. Come on," Thomas said, continuing down the corridor.

The Magician glanced at Alex with a frown, but then turned and followed Thomas and Delia, leaving Alexandria standing there by herself, still trembling and numb. Go on a medical leave of absence? Replace her just like that? Already had a list for her job? Surely not. She was irreplaceable, she thought to herself, turning and storming in the other direction. No one can do her job as well as she can, no matter what Draco had said in the past. In fact, Thomas' threat to have someone take over for her that very afternoon was probably quite an empty threat indeed, she decided, following the pattern to get to her office. No one would get rid of her when Bagman was on the move. She was the only one who could keep him in check no matter what. This was some stunt by her Grandfather to get her to straighten up, and that was all. More than likely, he would be back in her office after lunch to give her a long speech that reminded her of her responsibilities and how her job at the Ministry should be her highest priority no matter what was going on in her life. She needed to set all of that aside... her commitment to serving the country was more important because no one else could do the job like she could. No one.

She was so certain that her scenario was the most logical scenario that she carried on as if nothing had happened at all. So when the bell ringed that alerted her that someone was approaching, she looked up expecting to see her grandfather.

Instead it was her father, wearing the plain black robes he often wore at home. He was accompanied by Corey, their expressions unusually serious as they stepped into the room.

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Alexandria asked with an alarm.

"I am your temporary replacement," Severus explained, causing Alexandria's jaw to drop. "And since I know from being a cell leader that a great deal of your correspondence is verbal in nature, I brought Corey along to speed up the briefing process, as well as to act as my secretary while I'm here."

"But... what about Hogwarts? What about the shop?" Alexandria stammered.

"Jennifer has matters well in hand at the school, and Corey has always had plenty of assistants capable of taking over," Severus explained. "It is no trouble. I consider this a family matter rather than a Ministry one, and as you well know, family is always our main priority. As such, I should point out that making family a priority also includes taking care of one's own needs as well. That is something that all of us have struggled with at one time or another, just as we've all had times when we've struggled to separate our professional lives from who we really are, which is why such sabbaticals are important. Of course, it's more preferable to take it before it's forced on a person, one way or another, including reaching one's breaking point. But few of us have actually managed that."

"Just Andrew," Corey offered.

"Really," Severus mused, and Corey nodded. "Apparently we need to work on our family track record. Anyway, since I expect this is going to take a while, shall we get started?"

Alex frowned, unsure of where to start, so simply decided to decode the messages on her desk for them. She was numb from the start, and became more numb through the process. She felt disconnected, as part of her wondered if she was even coming off as coherent as she babbled on about what the different cells were working on and who the main contacts were and how to get in touch with them. She paused now and again to introduce different Agent Owls as they came in to drop off post or hang out. Fortunately, her father had been prepared for all of the Agent Owls coming in and had borrowed one some of Sagittari's translation devices.

Finally they reached the point where Severus was comfortable enough to dismiss both Corey and Alex, ordering coffee and settling in with a stack of files that Thomas had sent over for the LE Department before telling them goodnight.

"Do you want to have dinner at our house tonight, Alex?" Corey asked when they finally made their way through the foggy maze and into Alex's flat.

"I'm not sure I'm feeling it," Alexandria replied, debating simply going to bed.

"No problem, how about we go over to Aurelius' house?" Corey suggested Alex made a face that seemed to be stuck between a cringe and confusion. "Okay, then Alicia's? We could go to her island... or maybe Andrew's island. Lucky's house? Leu and Diana's boat? No wait... I've got it... let's go to Para. Room enough for everyone there."

"Oh, Craters. Dad pulled the net on me," Alex realized flatly. Corey clapped.

"Brilliant deduction! I don't know how you do it. Total mystery..."

"Now you're being brutal," Alex complained.

"Sorry," Corey said. "So, now that you know you're not going to get out of it, where are we going for dinner? If you don't like the choices, you can always pick a special 'surprise me' category."

"Fine. Surprise me," Alexandria said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"You hear that, Sis?" Corey asked, then glanced over at the nearest painting.

"Yeah. Give me your hands... and don't put down your cloak, Alex, you might want it," Alicia advised from where she stood in an Egyptian scene.

"What, right now? Wait, how did you know I'd pick 'surprise me'?" Alex asked, squinting.

"Because it's you. Come on," Alicia said and grabbed Corey's hand first, pulling him in. Sighing with exasperation, Alex followed suit, and it wasn't long before she found herself staring out of a dusty painting into a spare room with rickety wooden floors and a bed with a carefully mended quilt.

"Why, we're at the Burrow!" Alex exclaimed as they stepped out, looking out into the yard to see that a table had been set up. Several of her siblings were out there mingling with a wide range of Weasleys that had showed up for the occasion. "What are we doing here?"

"It was Dad's idea," Corey explained. "When Dad came and got me, he said that Grandfather and Draco showed up at the castle and told them what happened. He said that he remembered how he felt the first time he was away from a job he felt shackled too, and how helpful it had been for him to return somewhere from his time as a child to try to figure out who he was without that job."

"This was a second home to us, after all. Molly and Arthur practically raised us through most of primary school," Alicia commented. "So we ran and set this up for you, and we're even going to spend the night just like old times. What do you think?"

"I've been too numb to do much thinking. And I don't expect it'll go away anytime soon," Alex warned. Alicia nodded solemnly at that. "Still... I must admit that I could use a bit of old fashioned comfort right now, food and otherwise."

"If you can't get that here, you can't get it anywhere," Alicia said. "Come on! Let's go downstairs so Molly can fuss over you! You know she will, right?"

"Oh no," Alex said with a faint smile, and they opened the door and made their way downstairs.