The first week of Easter break was tense. It was a powder keg. Everyone was on edge when Aurora and Harry were in the same room together. They bounced back between being cordial, even friendly sometimes, and sitting in uncomfortable silence in the other's presence.

Tonks spent most of her time at work. She was up to her neck in her work with the cult. They'd all but gone underground since Odessa Silverling committed murder. Hearing that Aurora had actually encountered one of these cultists in the wild shortly before the murder happened was also concerning. Hogwarts was being watched, not only because Voldemort and his Deatheaters wanted Harry, but because the Servants of Pythia wanted Aurora.

Of course, Tonks had no idea what the cult would do when they got their hands on Aurora. But they did know that Aurora was in danger of well and truly being on Voldemort's radar if an entire cult knew who she was and planned on putting her into play to kill him.

None of it was good.

So they were waiting until the end of the holiday to tell Aurora about this. Because hopefully, she could find some way to relax at least a little bit while she was here.

Which is also why the skeleton crew that currently made up the Order had also gone out of its way to put every spell, charm, and ward they could manage on Remus' flat so Aurora and Harry could be away from each other for a little while.

"I think the stress of all this is getting to them," Sirius said. "Beyond the obvious teenagers dating and being stupid stuff."

"Although that's stressing me out," Remus said.

"Has she talked to you about it at all?" Tonks asked.

"No," Remus said with a shake of his head. Harry had talked to Sirius, but so as not to spread gossip and because Rory didn't want to talk about it, they decided to just wait it out until Harry or Aurora brought it up to him. Harry likely never would, but Aurora seemed to bring it up and then change her mind.

"All the same, taking time to decompress away from Hogwarts and each other might calm them down a bit," Sirius said.

"As long as neither of them sees Voldemort try to kill anyone in the interim," Tonks said.

"Not outside of the realm of possibility, unfortunately," Remus said.

"Hope the best, expect the worst and all that," Sirius said. "It'll be worth them feeling safe for a little while."

Tonks agreed. "It'll make me feel better to know that they feel safe as well. Plus keeping an eye on Aurora will distract me from work."

"Servants of Pythia giving you a hard time?" Sirius asked.

"I wish. It's actually Levi that's the headache," Tonks said.

He was being shifty. Tonks had talked to him several more times and continued to come up empty. Aurora said that she exchanged letters with her uncle a few times a month, but they were hardly about anything important. Mostly they talked about school, his family, and Theodosia-the general things you'd expect when getting to know a distant relative.

But he seemed delighted to give Tonks a hard time whenever they crossed paths. And the newest development wasn't much fun either and it left her with even more questions.

"I've found the girl he ran away with," Tonks said. "Anna Crosby."

Recognition flashed in both Remus and Sirius' eyes.

"I vaguely remember Theo mentioning her once," Sirius said.

"Don't worry," Tonks assured him. "Even if either of you had remembered her name it wouldn't be much use. She won't talk to me."

"Why not?" Remus asked.

"She won't say," Tonks said. "She just asked that I not contact her about Levi Goldfinch and his sister again."

"I wonder if she knew about Theo and wanted to distance herself from that situation," Sirius said.

"That's my gut instinct. Unfortunately, I have to continue to bother her about it. There's a reason neither of them wants me to speak to her," Tonks said. "Srimgeour is considering giving me leave to travel to the States to get to her in person."

"That's drastic. You're certain he's up to no good?" Remus asked.

"At the very least he's hiding something," Tonks said. "The ministry isn't saying so, likely on account of the breakout from Azkaban that you're supposed to have orchestrated, Sirius, but they know those photos he gave Fudge are the real deal."

"Yes, the suggestion that I might be innocent would be difficult to spin if I am also to have orchestrated a break out from Azkaban," Sirius said. "It's kind of flattering they think I'm capable of it."

"You literally are capable of it," Tonks said. "You're the only one who's done it before."

"Because I'm an unregistered animagus," Sirius said.

"As if that's not also a feat," Tonks said.

Sirius sighed. "It's not as if it's difficult to hold a leaf in your mouth for a month," Sirius said.

Tonks rolled her eyes as the kitchen door opened. Matilda and Aurora walked in. Matilda grabbed a book from the edge of the table.

"Why is everything always in the last place you look for it?" Matilda asked.

"Because you never look for anything after you've found it," Remus and Aurora said in unison.

"If anyone ever wants to do a study on 'nature versus nurture' these two are a perfect case study," Sirius said.

Aurora walked over and gave her dad a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. It always made Tonks smile to see how much Remus's daughter loved him. She loved Sirius too, without question. But it was clear that no one held a candle to her dad.

"What are you girls getting up to this evening?" Sirius asked.

"Studying," Matilda said. "OWLs and all that."

"There's a lot of history in History of Magic," Rory said. "There are only a few of us who seem to pay attention in that class."

"Rory and Hermione. End of list," Matilda said.

"Yes. Our backs hurt from carrying the entirety of the fifth-year class," Aurora said.

"Hey, it's not just you two," Matilda said. "I mean, Harry did almost get expelled for running an illegal defense against the dark arts club."

"I also helped him with that," Aurora reminded her.

"And was also nearly expelled," Remus added.

She shushed him before walking back to her friend.

"True, but he did patronuses all on his own," Matilda said. "Even got you to produce your fancy corporeal patronus."

Aurora tried to shush her friend, but it was too late.

"You never mentioned that," Remus said.

"It was no big deal," Aurora said dismissively.

"No big deal?" Remus asked.

"It's fine, Dad," she insisted.

"She probably doesn't want to talk about it because it was-."

"Shut up," Aurora said, smacking her friend on the arm.

Tonks was kind of stunned. The form your patronus took was always something to be boasted about even if the form it took was silly. Being able to produce one at all was an achievement.

"You're really not going to tell us what form it took?" Remus asked.

"You should ask Harry," Matilda said.

"If Harry Potter likes his teeth in his mouth he'd better keep his mouth shut," Aurora said.

"Aurora," Remus admonished her. "You're being awfully defensive for it to not be a big deal."

"Interesting that you would notice that and still make an effort to bypass the very clear boundaries I'm setting," Aurora said.

That was all it took for Remus to back off. She bid them all goodnight and walked out of the room.

They waited until they were sure that the girls were gone.

"What was that about?" Tonks asked.

"I have no idea," Remus sais. "I'm used to her not sharing as much, but her patronus."

"Patronuses are kind of your thing," Sirius said.

"She seemed very irritated when Matilda brought up Harry," Tonks pointed out. "Don't think it's something to do with him, do you?"

"Wouldn't be surprised," Sirius said.

He was clearly baiting them. Tonks and Remus exchanged glances.

"Why?" Remus gave in. "Why on Earth would her patronus-."

"Lily's was a die," Sirius said casually. "Just throwing it out there."

"That's so obnoxiously beautiful," Tonks said. "But Aurora-."

"Is definitely, one hundred percent over Harry," Sirius said, his sarcasm palpable.

"Sorry, but are you rooting for them to make up?" Remus asked.

"And let me tell you why," Sirius said, reclining back in his chair. Remus sighed. It was a particular sigh saved just for Sirius when Remus wanted to say "Here we fucking go."

"You think I'm off my rocker, but let me tell you, I have more insight on the situation than either of you has," Sirius said.

Remus scoffed. "Even so, you seemed convinced that Harry does deserve to be on Aurora's bad side."

"Certainly," Sirius conceded. "However, I have some of Rory's side and all of Harry's side. I can be certain there are no innocent parties in this relationship."

Again, Remus scoffed. Aurora was heartbroken and Harry was the reason. How could any of this possibly be her fault?

"Aurora is a gem. But she's a jealous little gem," Sirius said. "Not that Jarry isn't dumb in a way that's almost admirable if I'm being honest, but at the end of the day I think it all came down to one thing."

"Bonding over shared trauma?" Tonks said.

"Lack of communication," Sirius said.

"All Aurora seems to do is communicate," Remus said.

"Yes, she talks. But is she ever actually saying anything?" Sirius asked.

"I'm sure they've asked the same question of you," Remus said.

"Exactly. Poor girl didn't stand a chance," Sirius said. "But, I bet if we can get them talking again it'll all work itself out."

"I'm of the opinion neither of them should date anyone at the moment, least of all each other," Tonks said.

"You'll see I'm right," Sirius said.


Rory was thrilled about spending a week at home in her own flat, in her own bed. Even more excited that Matilda and Neville would be with her. Things with Harry were still rocky. She seethed when she saw Ginny chatting with him and tried to keep it to herself, tried to convince herself not to feel anything at all. But she knew getting away from him for a while would help.

Now that everyone was mostly under the impression that Rpry and Harry were trying to get along, the adults finally took the opportunity to lay into them about Dumbledore's Army.

"I don't know if you've ever been knocked unconscious by Dumbledore, but it's not fun and could have possibly been avoided entirely," Tonks said.

"To be fair, you've probably knocked yourself out accidentally on account of not being able to stand on your own two feet very well," Sirius remarked. Tonks leered at him. "But I do agree, perhaps some tact was called for."

"Tact?" Mrs. Weasley scoffed. "I said from the beginning they shouldn't have started that club in the first place. I remember stating this very specifically."

"Yes, and I very specifically passed that message along," Sirius said. "Didn't I, Ron?"

"Yes," Ron said.

"And you promptly ignored him, I see," Mrs. Weasley went on.

"Well, what'd you expect mum?" Fred asked.

"If Harry's getting into shenanigans, we can't let him off on his own," George said.

"Wouldn't be proper," Fred replied. "You want us to look after him as same as we would Ron and Ginny, right?"

"And I can guarantee he was properly looked after when we were helping him with his illegal club," George said.

"Oh, why do I even bother," Molly said dismissively.

"I was also wondering, which of you hexed that Edgecombe girl," Tonks said.

"That was a joint effort between Rory and me," Hermione said. "Rory came up with the idea of the sign-up sheet being a sort of contract so that when you sign it, you agree to the very simple rule of not telling anyone about it."

"And Hermione made it so that everyone would know who ratted us out if they broke said contract," Rory said.

"Did you tell anyone that they were signing a contract and that they would be hexed if they broke it?" Remus asked.

"We couldn't have them come to the meeting and not sign up and then go around and tell people what we were up to," Rory said.

"That seems rather sneaky in itself," Tonks said.

"Well, so is trying to get everyone expelled for no good reason," Rory replied. "No one else said anything."

"I was sure Lavender was going to break," Matilda said. "Especially since she spent all of September antagonizing you."

"She just lives for drama. I knew she'd get over it eventually," Rory replied.

"The point that needs addressing is that you hexed one of your classmates," Remus said.

"You only got hexed if you were being a backstabbing turncoat, which she was," Rory replied. "You're all upset that Dumbledore took the blame for our club when really it's Marietta Edgecombe's fault we got found out."

"There'd be nothing to get caught for if you'd just not formed that club in the first place," Mrs. Weasley reiterated for what felt like the one-hundredth time.

"I think we only ended up back on her radar because that article in The Quibbler set her off," Hermione said.

"To put it mildly," Ron said. "And wasn't it your idea for Harry to do that?"

"I still stand by that interview," Harry said.

"Well, that doesn't mean anything. You stand by everything you do whether or not it's a good idea," Ron said.

"I might walk some things back," Harry said.

"Like what?" Ginny asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "Well, I can't think of anything right now, but I'm sure that there's loads of time I could've saved myself some trouble by using common sense."

Rory could think of a few hundred examples of times when Harry could've used some common sense.

Matilda gently elbowed Rory. "You might not be talking, but your face is saying tons right now," she whispered.

"I can't be held responsible for what my face does when someone talks," Rory whispered back.

Matilda snorted in an effort to hold back a laugh, which caused both girls to giggle quietly.

Rory glanced over to Harry who quickly looked away from her and back to Ginny. It wasn't Rory's problem, she reminded herself. Harry could do whatever he wanted, even if she absolutely hated it. And there was nothing to hate because Harry didn't like Ginny anyway. And if he did it didn't matter because she was not his girlfriend. How many times was she going to run through these circles in her head about this?

When lunch was over, she went to her room and grabbed the few things she wanted to take with her back to her flat. She was just shoving her potions book into her bag when a voice at the door called out to her.

"Um, sorry."

Rory turned her head and saw a rather annoyed-looking Harry standing there.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Have I done something wrong?" he asked.

Rory should have expected this. She did have an unnecessarily hostile reaction to Harry's throwaway comment at lunch. She needed to explain herself.

"Sorry. No. I'm just... I took it kind of personally that you couldn't think of a single thing off the top of your head that you might have second thoughts about doing," Rory admitted.

"It was a joke," Harry groaned. "Besides, as far as bringing up anything that happened with us, I'm not really in the mood for public humiliation today."

Rory told herself to let it go. There was no point in arguing with him. But...

"A room full of your closest family and friends isn't public humiliation. If you want to be publicly humiliated, try sitting in a tea shop for half an hour waiting for your boyfriend who isn't going to show up because he's off chatting with some other girl while everyone in the shop looks at you like you're an idiot," Rory said. She was trying to sound casual, but she was bitter. Those thirty minutes invaded her nightmares relentlessly.

"You're exaggerating," Harry said.

"Harry, I literally heard Roger Davies call me an idiot. And Malfoy and Parkinson were a treat and a half when they came in too. I went straight to the castle after they came in."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You went straight from the tea shop to the castle? I thought you went to the pub to look for me."

That's what he assumed happened, Rory realized. Because she never told him about seeing Malfot in the teashop.

Rory shook her, almost guiltily. "I never actually saw you with Cho on Valentine's Day. Malfoy and Parkinson did, and he decided to tell me, and everyone in the tea shop, why you hadn't shown up," Rory said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I wanted to be wrong. I knew Malfoy wouldn't lie to me about it, but on the off chance that he did I... I wanted you to be confused and not have any idea what I was talking about," Rory said. "And after you didn't fight me on it, I knew you were going feel guilty enough about standing me up anyway, and I didn't have the energy to listen to you give me another apology that you didn't mean and then immediately redirect your anger toward Malfoy, when there shouldn't have been anything for him to throw in my face in the first place."

Harry looked guilty, but he let out an exasperated sigh. He was about to tell her something she wasn't going to like. It wasn't going to be like the time he'd told her that he was dating Cho, or that he was going to break up with her anyway. This was a different kind of honesty.

He reached out and grabbed her hand. Rory froze, but he looked into her eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"I know I screwed up, maybe unforgivably so," Harry started, "but you weren't perfect either."

"Are you going to call me a jealous crazy person again?" she asked.

"No but..." He paused for a moment, and Rory appreciated that he was trying to think through his words this time. He didn't often do that. "Rory, can you honestly look back at every argument we had about Cho and tell me that you were mature about it?" he asked.

That felt a little like a slap in the face. "Did you just call me immature?" she asked.

"Yes," Harry said firmly.

Rory was stunned. She had no words. She snatched her hand away.

"You kept telling me you didn't care who I talked to, but every time Cho even said hello to me you got upset. You didn't tell me with your words that I couldn't talk to her or be around her, but you made it perfectly clear with the way you acted," he said. "You were being immature. And every time we got into an argument about Cho it just never made sense to me, because you said you trusted me, but you didn't. Not really."

"I did trust you," she insisted.

"No, Rory, you didn't. Not about this at least. And I know it doesn't change anything, but you made me feel like I was just screwing up so much that there was no real way I could tell you how irrational it seemed like you were being. How could I?" Harry said. "I don't know when you stopped trusting me, but you did. And I'm not saying I didn't deserve it. I definitely don't deserve your trust after all this, but I hate that you didn't. And that I proved you right to not trust me."

Rory didn't know what to say. She didn't trust him now, no. But had she always distrusted him? Was she irrational about her reaction to Cho? Rory said so herself that she didn't know why Harry kissed Cho. She knew Harry didn't like Cho. Harry was a lot of things, but he wasn't a cheater or a liar. He'd broken up with Cho, but had he ever really liked her?

"When you broke up with me, I told you that I loved you and you said you didn't believe me. And it... It haunts me. The worst thing I've ever done in my life is make you believe I don't love you. Because I do. Even when you were frustrating and jealous and immature. I knew we could make it work because you said you trusted me," he said. "But we weren't going to make it, even if I'd never kissed her. Not if you didn't trust me. And I mean it when I say that I wish I'd never made you feel like that."

Seldom, was Rory at a loss for words, but she could not think of a single solitary thing to say to Harry right now.

"Anyway... I have second thoughts about a lot of things. And most of them are about us," he said. "Don't think that I've ever put us out of my mind. Not for a moment."

She couldn't bear to be in the room with him for a second longer. She didn't know what she would say. What she would do.

"I'll see you in a bit, Harry," she said instead. She walked past him and headed toward the dining room where Neville, Matilda, and her dad were waiting. And she bit down everything she was feeling inside.


Rory never had company over to her house, ever. At least, not her own company. Dumbledore had visited her old flat when her dad was in the running for his position at Hogwarts, and Sirius had stayed a few nights before moving into Grimmauld. But this was the first time Rory was having her own friends over to her flat.

Both Neville and Matilda lived in much nicer houses. Matilda, in particular, lived in an honest-to-goodness mansion. But Rory was proud of her home. It was normal and nice, and she had her own room with her own bathroom.

"Swanky," Matilda said. Then she gasped. "Is that a real television?" She walked over to the TV in the living room. "Neville look at it!"

"I've seen a television before, actually," Neville said. "And remember we saw one—"

"On 'the tube' in the summer," Matilda said. "But I've never seen it up close. Can we watch something? What's that baking show you're always on about?"

"It's off-season," Rory replied, grinning, "but we can watch-."

Matilda gasped again. "That Mama Mia shit you're always going on about?"

"Absolutely," Rory replied.

"This is so cool. I've never seen so much muggle stuff before," Matilda replied. "Do you have a telephone?"

Rory pointed to the kitchen counter and Matilda walked over to the cordless phone on the counter.

"Are you happy?" Remus asked Rory as her friends gawked at the apartment.

"Quite," she replied. "Thank you. I knew I was going to be miserable hanging out with Harry all day, and then I got there and I thought, maybe it won't be so bad, and then…"

"No explanation needed," Remus replied. "Enjoy yourself."

"Where's your bedroom?" Matilda asked.

Rory led Neville and Matilda past the kitchen and down the short hallway to her bedroom. She pushed open her door and turned on the light.

"It's so cute!" Matilda said. Then she gasped. "Is that a COMP-pewter?"

"Computer," Rory replied. "And yes. It's a laptop. A small, portable version of a computer."

"Wicked," Matilda said. She plopped down onto Rory's bed. "This is so cool. I'm not being too extra, am I?"

"You always are, but that's why we love you," Neville said.

Rory sat her bag down at the foot of her bed and looked over to her desk where he laptop was. It wasn't just her laptop that was there, but there were pictures. They weren't framed, just sitting in a small stack on her desk. Almost every single one of them was a picture of her with Harry.

Her heart sank and sat down on the bed beside Matilda.

"What's the matter?" Neville asked, noticing the shift in her mood.

Tears swam up to her eyes as she remembered what Harry said to her before she left.

"Sorry. I'm fine," she said, swatting her friends away just as they leaned forward to check on her. "It's just that stupid Harry Potter."

"Did he say something out of line?" Matilda asked. "I'll march over there and set him straight. No dark wizards are after me. I don't care who sees me on the street."

"No, it's not that," Rory admitted. "He apologized."

"He has a lot to be sorry for," Matilda said.

"He told me he loved me before we broke up. I told him I didn't believe him," Rory said. She remembered that moment. She remembered feeling so sad and so hopeless. Harry's words seemed so hollow and meaningless. He said he loved her every day, but he never showed it anymore. He never treated her like he loved her.

"Understandable," Neville said.

"He apologized because he said it felt like the worst thing he's ever done in his life is make me feel like he didn't love me," Rory said.

"Why does that make you upset?" Matilda asked.

"Because," she sniffled and wiped her eyes again, "It feels like the Harry I knew, that I loved, came back just as I went away."

"You don't know what you've got until it's gone, as they say," Neville interjected.

"Sure," Rory replied. "Maybe for him. But I knew what I had. He just… disappeared."

"I'm sorry," Matilda said.

Rory glanced over to her desk and the pictures of Harry. He'd probably apologized a million times in the last few months for a million different things. But today, that apology had been real. That "I love you" had been real. Rory was shaken.

"Are you thinking about getting back together with him?" Matilda asked.

"No," Rory said reflexively.

"Look, Fred never cheated on me," Matilda started, "but he did blackmail a government official who then went on the run, so I have obviously not made the best dating decisions in the past," Matilda said. "But I got back together with Fred."

"And he broke up with you," Neville said. "So is this a cautionary tale?"

"Maybe?" Matilda said. "But also, the heart wants what it wants. Sure I broke up with Fred and got back with him and it blew up in my face. But sometimes you break up because you need to come back together as different people."

Rory thought about her earlier conversation with Harry.

"Was I always jealous of Cho? Like from the beginning?" Rory asked.

"Yes," Matilda said quickly. "Do you remember the fit you had telling me how she ignored you on the train? You kind of sounded like a crazy person."

"Jealous crazy person." Rory shook away the memory.

"I didn't think she was going to be an issue. And neither did you," Matilda said. "Besides, everyone gets a little jealous sometimes. It's normal."

"Sure, but was I jealous to the point of being irrational?" Rory asked.

Neville and Matilda exchanged looks. A rock sank in her stomach.

"Oh no," Rory said.

"Harry being flirty in the DA and the whole argument you had at Hogsmeade were both justifiable reasons to be irritated in my opinion," Matilda said. "Other times... I dunno. Just because she was being bitchy about you didn't mean you had to take it out on him if that makes sense."

"Cho was always just hunting for him and Harry went out of his way to avoid her. And every time he wasn't successful you kind of bit his head off," Neville said.

"Not that that's any excuse to go around and kiss her," Matilda said.

"One thing I can say about Harry is that he was not a particularly jealous person," Rory said.

"Yeah he was," Neville said. "Not like you were, but he was not a fan of how much attention you always got."

Rory scoffed. "What attention?"

"I know you never paid attention to other boys because you were so doe-eyed and in love with Harry, but it's like I told you last year. Glow up," Matilda said. "Plus you were dating Harry and therefore unavailable and people always want what they can't have. Take Zach Smith for example."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but Zach's an idiot."

"Who else have I heard talking about you through the rumor mill?" Matilda said, placing a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Lee."

"Lee Jordan?" Rory asked.

"And he is well fit if I do say so myself," Matilda added.

"Good for him," Rory replied.

Matilda deflated. "So zero interest in alternative prospects?"

"Zero," Rory confirmed.

"Not even... Stephen?" Matilda asked.

Rory sighed. "I mean I like Stephen. And sure it could work out but... Doesn't really seem fair to think about anyone else while I'm sitting in my bedroom still crying about my ex-boyfriend."

"I'm just saying, a good rebound might-.."

"Nope," Rory said. "Not even entertaining the idea. It's super unfair to date someone just to help you get over someone else. Especially someone who's a friend."

"What about Harry?" Neville asked.

"What about him?" Rory replied.

"You really don't want to work things out with him?" Neville asked. "I'm not saying that you should, but is that what you want?"

Rory wanted to say no again, but that was a lie. Instead, she shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't know anything anymore."

"If you want my opinion," Matilda said.

"I'm not going out with anyone else, Mattie," Rory said.

"My opinion that does not at all require you to put yourself back out there," Matilda said, "but I think you should make up with Harry. Not romantically, unless you want to, but like, as friends. You're both dealing with the same dark wizard and murder bullshit and half the stuff you predict is about different ways people are trying to kill him, and you guys were friends before you started dating. And you were friends while you were dating, at least at the start. I think you'll do well as friends."

"Maybe," Rory said. "But also I just see Ginny in the same room as him and my brain is like 'actually go fuck yourself.'"

"Since you want us to be honest with you about it, that's a bit of an irrational reaction," Neville said.

"We just established that she didn't know how jealous of a person she could actually be. She's learning," Matilda said.

"I guess I just have to talk to him, don't I?" Rory asked.

"Afraid so," Matilda said. "And then you have to actually, you know, make an effort to…"

"To get over him?" Rory asked. She knew it would be for the better that she made up with Harry, that they found some way to be friends. It was likely they were going to spend the summer stuck together at Grimmauld again, but sooner than that, they had the train ride back to school, DADA class, and the common room. She was going to have to see and be around Harry no matter what. And Matilda was right. With everything going on with Voldemort and Hogwarts, Harry would need her help.

She would need his help.