Satisfaction

The busy nature of Claudia's job soon meant that the matter of Voldemort, his horcruxes and his probable immortality was pushed further and further back in her mind. All the heads of the Department of Mysteries' rooms were trying to finish as much work as possible before the Ministry quietened down for the summer, and they flooded their bosses' desks with reports to comment on, proposals to approve, and galleons to spend.

But Claudia had no intention of falling apart again, so she forced herself to stop working for half an hour each day to eat lunch and read the Daily Prophet. Usually, she read it to keep up with public mood on where the Ministry (and Fudge) stood. But today, a different sort of article caught her eye-

'SENIOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL ADMITTED TO ST MUNGO'S'

The former candidate for the post of the Minister of Magic, Frederick Avery, was admitted to St Mungo's this weekend. The family is tight-lipped about the causes of his admission.'

Less tight-lipped and more completely clueless. Claudia smiled to herself. Her job was done. At least this part of it… Her father has paid for his crimes in a way that he would hate the most – powerless, dependent on others for the basic tasks, and robbed of his intelligence and influence.

Auberon stuck his head through the door, interrupting Claudia's satisfied contemplation. "Remember you have that fitting at one o'clock."

"Of course," she mumbled and shut the papers. That was a lie, it had totally escaped her mind that she was due at Madame Malkin's for the fitting of her Wizengamot robes. "I'll get going."

Deciding that a walk would do her good, she set off towards the Leaky Cauldron. The pub was packed with lunching witches and wizards from around Britain, all enjoying a deliciously-smelling pies and butterbeer. Claudia nearly sat down on the last free table and ordered a pie herself, when she spotted her brother sitting in the corner of the pub, alone. An empty plate lay in front of him, as did a couple bottles of butterbeer and an empty whiskey glass.

Before Claudia knew what she was doing, she was towering over him. "I read about father-" she mumbled, wondering what possessed her to approach her brother like this after over a decade.

Marcus looked up at her with a vacant expression in his eyes, then blinked a few times as if he had trouble recognising her. "Didn't expect you to care," he finally said.

"Did I say I care?" she smirked. "And neither should you, after what-" Claudia supressed her anger over her brother's betrayal and weakness. "After what he did to both of us."

"I'm nothing without him," Marcus sighed and raised a butterbeer to his lips. "Every day that-"

The grandfather clock in the pub struck twice and, involuntarily, Claudia glanced at it- Was it half past already?

"Rather be somewhere else?" Marcus growled.

"I have an appointment at Madame Malkins'."

"You take after mother, then," he sneered. "Don't let me delay you."

"Fuck off, Marcus." Claudia's temper had risen beyond repair. He knew just how she hated their mother, and what that remark would do to her mood. "If you must know, it's a fitting for my Wizengamot robes," she hissed. "Yeah, that's right… Your little sister is now on the Wizengamot, while you stuff your face with pie and mope after our father, who – let's not forget – did not think twice before sacrificing you to save his own skin."

"You're such a bitch."

"And you're a sad looser."

Perhaps a little sore after Marcus' remark, Claudia was in an out of Madame Malkin's as quickly as she could. And, within a week, her shiny new robes were hanging on the back of her office door, and she was staring at a stack of paperwork that came with the honour of serving on the Wizengamot. There was no getting away from it. She had to read all that before the meeting took place in a week or so.

Not that she mind… But it was all a little bittersweet, as she struggled to keep her mind off the time when Sirius was preparing for his first Wizengamot meeting. He would tease her about being too Slytherin for her own good, worry that she was working too much. But most of all, he would have been proud of her.

But there was not enough time to be sentimental, as there was a lot to read. The papers suggested that the first thing on the agenda would be a wide-ranging update by the Minister. Great, she thought, now I have to listen to him drone on at the Wizengamot as well as the Board.

If the sheer amount of parchment was a good indication of an importance of an item, it looked as if the bulk of the meeting was going to be taken up by debate on two pieces of legislation. The first was a law proposed by the Ministry to regulate and curtail the breeding of several magical creatures. Claudia could see the benefits of that and had no qualms voting in favour of it. The less of these things around, the better.

The second piece of legislation came from a Wizengamot member, who managed to get the required twenty sponsors to get his bill debated. And the more she read about the proposal, the more she liked it. The idea was to create a Ministry fund to establish a number of small schools for wizarding children under the age of eleven, catering to those working parents who did not want to send their children to a muggle primary school and did not have the money to pay for a private tutor.

The last part of the folder was still empty with the exception of a short note, which read:

"Materials for the criminal cases brought before the Wizengamot will become available during the session."

Having read the entire Wizengamot folder three times to make sure she did not miss anything, Claudia called it a day and went home. But rest would have to wait… There was no time to sleep in tomorrow, as she was meeting Oscar for the Harpies game bright and early.

Claudia woke up at seven, still half-asleep, took a shower and, within half an hour, was standing by the gates to the Harpies' stadium, quite unable to contain her excitement. Whether she was more excited to see a Quidditch game, or spend a whole day in the sun with Oscar.

But as she waited, time passed, and nearly all the crowd entered the stadium to find their seats, the joy drained from Claudia's face. Oscar was still nowhere to be seen. He probably had to work, she thought, or more likely find himself with better plans on Saturday morning than going to see Quidditch with a friend. Struggling to supress all kinds of emotions about the fact he likely ditched her to spend the morning with whoever he hooked up with last night, Claudia took the tickets out of her pocket and turned to go into the stadium. She was mad at him, but not mad enough to waste these tickets and go sulk at home-

"Claudia, wait!" a voice rang around the now empty square.

She turned, ready to berate him for being late, when she saw he was not alone. Running with him, and holding his hand, was a little girl…

"Sasha's mum had a wedding planning emergency," he said, panting. "So, here we both are."

Claudia stared at him, frozen-

"We need to go get an extra ticket," Oscar said and looked around. "Looks like that kiosk is still open."

"Alright," Claudia stuttered and, unable to process any of this, she mindlessly followed Oscar to the ticket office. And soon enough, they were all sitting in the stands, watching as the game kicked off.

The Harpies were on good form, with their chasers not giving an opposition a single touch in the first few minutes.

Oscar, who was sitting in the middle of the odd trio, leaned towards Claudia. "I'm really sorry about this," he whispered in her ear. "It was so last minute. I didn't know what else to do. Didn't want to just leave you here, waiting."

She turned to him and attempted a smile. "It really is alright-" she paused and leaned forward to look at Sasha, "she seems to be enjoying it."

"She loves the Harpies."

In fact, Sasha was enjoying the Harpies' early dominance so much, that she slipped of her seat. "Ouch!" she cried, holding onto her knee. "It's bleeding, dad."

Oscar was on his feet faster than Claudia had ever seen him. "Alright, that's easily fixed," he reassured Sasha, waved his wand and the gash on Sasha's knee had closed.

"But it still hurst," the girl said, trying desperately not to cry.

"I know," Oscar uttered and began rummaging through his bag. "Where are the damn cold drinks I brought?"

"Dad," Sasha said. "You know what mum said… About language."

"Damn isn't a swear word!" Oscar smirked and then triumphantly lifted a cold bottle of butterbeer into the air. "You can use this to ice your knee."

With Sasha's knee fixed, and the game having settled into a rather chaotic mess where no team was able to keep possession for longer than three passes, Oscar's next distraction was a welcomed one.

"Claudia-" he whispered again.

She turned to him and smiled. "Yeah?"

His eyes were boring into hers. "I heard about your father."

"Tragic-" She turned away. They were sitting so close to each other that he would be able to spot even the slightest sign she was hiding something from him if she maintained eye contact.

"Rumour in the Auror Office is that dark magic was involved," Oscar continued. "Dumbledore was sniffing around there too."

Claudia shrugged and continued to watch the game. The opposition had just scored, making the scoreline that little more interesting.

But Oscar was not deterred. "Please tell me you had nothing to do with it."

"What would you do if I did?" she uttered and lifted her eyes to meet his. "Arrest me?"

"For fuck's sake, Claudia…"

"I shouldn't have said anything…"

"You should've said something much earlier," he hissed. "I would've helped. We could've done this properly."

"We tried doing it properly, remember? Didn't work."

"I cannot-" Oscar began to berate her again.

"Dad?" Sasha interrupted the inaudible argument. "It's getting really hot here, do we have some water?"

Oscar stood up. "I think we could all use some cooling down," he said through gritted teeth and stormed off towards the drinks cart.

Sasha and Claudia were left alone, staring at each other, over the empty space vacated by the only thing they had in common. If Claudia could run away too, she would.

"Do you like quidditch?" she said hoarsely after a while, unable to come up with anything better.

"Are you my dad's girlfriend?"

"No," Claudia shook her head so violently that it made her dizzy. "No, just a friend, we used to work together."

"Hmmm… mum says he needs a girlfriend."

Claudia could not help but chuckle. "Your mum is probably right…"

"And I do like quidditch!" Sasha finally answered Claudia's original question. "Did you play at school?"

"I did. I was a chaser."

"Were you good?" Sasha asked.

But Claudia did not get to answer.

"Showed me up the one and only time we played against each other-" Oscar had returned with three bottles of water. Gave one to Sasha and passed another, rather forcefully, to Claudia.

Sasha took a few sips and then returned to the game. The Harpies had regained their composure and only something spectacular by the opposition seeker could have ruined their day. Or the weather, Claudia thought, as she spotted that rain clouds have started to assemble.

Oscar was also focused on the game. So focused, in fact, that it made Claudia wonder just how much he was going to yell at her later.

She sighed and leaned towards his ear. "There is no proof."

He turned towards her. "What I'm yet to hear is a denial," he hissed and bore his eyes into Claudia once more. They were full of fire. Whether it was anger or something else altogether, Claudia did not know. But she was brave enough to find out- She raised her hand and placed it in the crook where Oscar's neck met his strong shoulder. Then, slowly, she leaned towards him until her lips were almost touching his sweltering skin.

"He killed Aidan," she whispered. "He had to pay."

For a second, she though he might yell. But it was not to be. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

A raindrop landed on Claudia's nose, and then another, and another.

"It's raining, dad!" Sasha's voice interrupted the moment that's developed between Oscar and Claudia. "Do we have a brolly?"

Without a word, Oscar handed over his umbrella to his daughter.

By the time the Harpies' seeker caught the snitch, not another word had past between Oscar and Claudia. They were however both soaked to their skin. It was right time to get home.

"Come to mine," Oscar said as it was their turn to enter one of the fireplaces in the nearby tavern. "So you don't have to walk through the Leaky Cauldron looking like this."

Claudia looked down. The t-shirt she was wearing was stuck to her, revealing every line of her body. She hugged her torso to protect what was left of her dignity, and followed Oscar into the fireplace.

Sasha's mum was already waiting for her in front of Oscar's flat when they got there.

"Mum!" Sasha exclaimed when she saw her. "The Harpies won. It was amazing!"

"Thanks again for taking her," she said to Oscar once they were all inside the flat, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sure it was not quite the outing you've had planned," she added with a side-glance at his rain-soaked companion.

Sasha leaned towards her mum. "Claudia isn't dad's girlfriend," she said in a whisper, trying and failing not to be heard. "I've asked."

"I'm sure you have," the mum chuckled and squeezed Sasha's shoulders. "We should get going. Rob's made dinner and he will want to hear all about the game!" With those words, she nudged Sasha towards the fireplace, and they were both soon swallowed by green flames.

"I'll make some tea, so you warm up a bit," Oscar said and made his way to the kitchen. Claudia followed him.

"Your ex is really nice," she said, leaning against the doorframe. She was very glad they left the topic of her father behind them.

"You should meet the guy she's marrying," Oscar said with a laugh. "The nicest man I've ever met. And he's so good with Sasha."

"You're good with her too…" Claudia uttered as she watched him wave his wand about until he was holding two mugs of tea in his hands, and gesturing towards the living room sofa. Being a dad, making tea – she saw sides of Oscar today she had never seen before. Sides she did not even know he had. Her willingness to fight the inevitable was slowly dissolving.

"What about you?" Oscar asked as they sat down. "Did you and your girlfriend ever patch it up?"

Claudia shook her head. "She's much better off without me," she whispered. "And it wasn't the lies, for your information-" she said, remembering the somewhat heated conversation they had over Christmas. A conversation that now felt like a lifetime ago. "She broke up with me because I'm an emotionally unavailable nightmare, apparently…"

"I think I've heard that one too in my day," he smirked.

"Never sleep with anyone you actually care about?" she quoted his own words back to him.

That made Oscar laugh. "Was I really that obnoxious?"

"Yeah- You were…"

He chuckled to himself and then paused, as if he was in thought. "I just want someone who I can vent to after work, that I can have an intelligent conversation with, and who would occasionally sleep with me. Is that too much to ask?" He took a sip of his tea. "Someone who'll take me for me, you know... Someone I can trust-"

"Rules me out then-" she whispered.

"The trouble is-" he reached for Claudia's mug and set it on the coffee table before reaching for her hand. She could barely hear him over the sound of her heart. "That deep down, I do trust you. I wouldn't have been so pissed off for so long if I didn't… It just makes me feel like a fool."

"You're many things," Claudia said and gripped his hand. "But you're not a fool-" She bit her lip in a desperate attempt to control herself. But with every breath she took, it was becoming harder and harder. But before she could do anything-

"Oh, fuck this…" Oscar sighed, grabbed the back of Claudia's neck and pulled her closer to him. He paused for a second – as if to give her a chance to protest – and then he kissed her.

Before she even understood what she was doing, her shirt was off and her back pressed against the sofa. There was no point fighting it. She wanted him, without a doubt. She pulled Oscar's t-shirt over his head and threw it down on the floor.

"Why is your arm so fucking cold?" Oscar uttered, leaning over her.

It was as if someone had turned on the lights.

Claudia's body went rigid. What was she thinking?

She could not do it. Not here. Not with him.

"Please stop, please…" she mumbled and tried to push him off.

"What's wrong?"

Claudia nudged Oscar to sit up and grabbed her t-shirt from the floor. "This is wrong."

"What are you on about?"

She jumped to her feet and pulled the top over her head. "I can't do this. It feels like I'm cheating, and I can't stand that-"

Oscar was now sitting up with his shirt still off, looking completely perplexed. "Cheating on who?"

"Who do you think…" she whispered, trying very hard not to stare at his naked and rather well-defined torso.

"Give me strength," he sighed. "Still? How many people have you slept with since he's been in Azkaban?"

"This is different, and you know it. "

Oscar stood up and went to a shelf to fill himself a glass with whiskey.

"Please say something," Claudia interrupted the awkward silence. "Yell at me. Anything…"

Oscar finished his glass in one large gulp. "I'm tired of yelling at you. I feel sorry for you."

"I prefer yelling over pity," she growled. "Best if I go home, I think."

"Wait," Oscar said with a sigh. "Look, I know that you still love him, and I don't care. I'm way past looking for someone who'd make my knees wobble. I just want a friend-"

"I can be a friend," she whispered and raised her hand as if she was to place it on his chest. But she stopped herself just in time. He was still half naked, and mixed signals would not have been helpful in this situation. Her hand firmly behind her back, she resumed. "But I can't do this… Anyone else would've been fine, but not you-"

"Why?" Oscar stuck his chin out.

"You know why…"

"No, I don't."

"Because Sirius has always been just a little bit jealous of you. And if he ever-" she trailed off.

"You know he isn't coming back from there, right?"

"Don't say that-" Claudia bit her lip to prevent a flood of tears. "I have to believe this is not the end."

Oscar turned away and poured himself another whiskey.

"I'm sorry-" Claudia whispered and took a few steps towards the door.

"So am I…"

Claudia apparated home and the moment the door was closed behind her, her resolve to stop her tears have completely abandoned her.

With her whole body shaking, she went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. But as she stood there, waiting for the hot water to run through the filter…

Drip, drip, drip…

She growled in frustration and swept the coffee maker off the counter.

It landed on the floor and shattered into a thousand little pieces.

A loud scream filled the whole flat, bouncing of the walls, making it sound like it would never end…

Claudia dropped to her knees and sunk her fingernails into her tattoo until the pain was unbearable. Why would he leave her like this? Why would he let her live her life in limbo, not knowing if she was ever going to see him before she died?

He should have told her about the Fidelius Charm, he should have told her when he went after Peter.

That's all it would have taken…

'Claude, Peter's responsible for James' and Lily's death. I need you to come help me catch him.'

That was it.

If only Sirius could stop being a complete idiot for five minutes, and bring himself to say these words… They would be sitting in their home right now, sipping wine, and helping Harry and Neville with their summer homework. But no, he had to play the hero… And fuck up both of their lives.

Claudia looked at her tattoo. Her fingers were still digging into her skin. Blood began to seep into the gaps behind her fingernails.

"Ouch," she hissed and let go.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. "I know I shouldn't blame you… With where you are-"

She dragged her heels into the living room, wrapped herself in a blanket and cried her eyes out until she fell asleep. This was it. She was either going to be alone or in shitty relationships for the rest of her life.

What followed were an utterly miserable two weeks. Claudia reverted to sniping at anyone who dared to ask her a question and hiding from the world. The episodes brought about by the tattoo had gotten more severe. She forced K.P. to teach her all the enchantments to enter Division Twelve and the Inner Sanctum, so he did not have to escort her every time she wanted some peace. The bed in her office was slept in once more.

But Claudia had learned from her last near breakdown. She knew that she needed to talk to someone, anyone… But she also knew she was out of options. Édith used to be her confidant before Claudia torpedoed that relationship. And she suspected that if she went to Moody, he would offer to officiate hers and Oscar's wedding right there and then. What would have she given to have Alice around to help. Instead, all she could do was to visit her best friend in St Mungo's.

Realising she had not been in a while, she went.

As she dragged herself though the corridors of St Mungo's towards Alice's and Frank's room, something one of the healers said made her slow down and listen.

"Of course, I will get these potions to Avery in room seven…"

There was only one Avery likely to be in this wing of St Mungo's, and Claudia just about knew how he ended up there. She waited for a few seconds and then followed the heeler who was meant to deliver the potion towards the door of room seven.

Once the potion was administered and the coast was clear, Claudia tiptoed into her father's room and found him, sleeping, in the very last bed.

'Hello, father-' He was not alone in that room, so using anything other than telepathy would have drawn attention. 'Ever wondered who did this to you?'

Frederick's eyes opened so quickly that Claudia jumped back a little. For a second, she thought her father would be able to get out of bed and strangle her. But alas, he seemed incapable of that. In fact, he seemed incapable of anything.

'It was me,' she continued.

Her father's eyes, watery at first, have sharpened. No matter how much damage she did to him, he was still there, listening. It was clear who Claudia got her brains and determination from-

'I despise you, for who you are, what you did. You took everything away from me. And now I've had my revenge.'

Claudia smirked and, not willing to be caught staring at her father like that, she left the room.

For a moment or two, she felt better. Who needed a boyfriend when she could exact her revenge quite this well. But the closer she got to Alice's room, the darker her mood became again. Even with her father right where she wanted him, this Oscar thing was weighing her heart down more than she would have liked.

Alice was, as usual, sitting in an armchair and looking out of the window.

"Hi," Claudia mumbled and slid to the floor. "I need some advice."

But all Alice did was to straighten the nightgown that lay over her knees.

"No, I don't know what I'm doing here either, but I have nowhere else to go, so here we go… Remember Oscar? No, of course you don't…" She trailed off and then sat in silence for a while, trying to formulate the right words in her head. "It's been nice, talking to him again, you know, familiar, comfortable. He knows me pretty much better than anyone at this point."

"But-" she played with her engagement ring- "I don't know what to do… It's been so long. But I'm still not ready to give up on Sirius. I don't think I'll ever be ready."

Alice turned her head towards Claudia but, as usual, it was as if she was looking right through her.

"I know, I know…" she continued. "Letting myself live doesn't mean giving up on Sirius… But it sure feels like it." She dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her temples. "Especially with Oscar." She paused, as if she was expecting Alice would ask her if she was in love with her old colleague. "There is nothing romantic in it, not really. He's mostly a friend, who just happens to be a little attractive." She had to laugh a little. Objectively speaking, Oscar was more than just a little attractive. "Why am I only attracted to arrogant egoists? What's wrong with me?"

Then, all of a sudden, she heard a noise, the tiniest of creeks.

Claudia jumped to her feet and ripped open the curtain that was providing some privacy for Alice. Blood rushed towards Claudia's cheeks. Of all people in the world, why did it have to be Andromeda Tonks' face that was staring back at her?

"I volunteer here, bringing patients tea-" Andromeda stuttered, nodding towards the tray she was holding. "Didn't mean to. Sorry." She seemed totally lost for words.

Claudia's heart sank into her stomach. She did not dare to ask how much of her pathetic monologue Andromeda has overheard. "I've got to go," she mumbled and made her way out of the room.

"Claude!" Andromeda shouted after her. "He would want you to be happy. And if this Oscar-"

That answered Claudia's question then. Andromeda had heard it all. "I really don't think Sirius would see it that way, if he ever-" tears were forcing themselves into Claudia's eyes. "I have to go."

Claudia stumbled home and onto the sofa, reaching instantly for a pack of cigarettes only to find it empty. With a growl, she got up and searched every cupboard for more, but with more luck.

As she stood in the middle of the living room, hands on her hips, and wondering where could she had hidden more, she cursed the day when she decided not to touch drink again. Then, it occurred to her – sleeping draught!

"Don't know what I'd do without the stuff," she mumbled to herself as she took the flask from one of her kitchen cupboards and drank a rather large portion.

In the morning, Claudia's head was clearer after the long sleep, but not clear enough to know what she was actually going to do about her Oscar problem. Luckily, her job provided her with a good distraction.

There was a short knock on her office door, which then flew open almost immediately.

"Minister!" she exclaimed and jumped to her feet. "What are you- Sorry, I would've come to you if you sent a message."

"How many times do I need to tell you to call me Cornelius?" he replied and closed the door behind him. "I needed to ask you something."

"Please sit down," she pointed towards the sofa.

"I'm sure you've read the creatures bill," Fudge began and seeing Claudia nod, he continued. "We are banning one particularly dangerous creature, and someone in the Prophet said something odd. As if the Ministry was responsible for this thing being in Britain?"

"And you want to check if we were…"

"Ideally before I make a fool of myself at the Wizengamot meeting."

"No problem. I'll get right on it."

"Thank you, here is the details," he said and passed her a folded piece of parchment. "And be discreet."

"Discretion is my middle name, Cornelius."

Fudge laughed and disappeared, while Claudia got herself ready to go to Division Twelve.

It did not take her long to find the creature Fudge was referring to. And if the size of the box in which the information about it were contained was anything to go by, all she would have for the Minister were bad news. And she was right-

Within two hours, she was at Fudge's door, waiting to catch him between meetings.

"That was quick," he said. "Judging by the look on your face, it's not good news."

There was no benefit of hiding the truth from Fudge, not if the Prophet knew. She had to come clean. "I'm afraid not. The short story is that you cannot put the name of the creature in the bill without it backfiring."

Fudge sighed. "But we can't just let it roam around the country. It's killed a few muggles!"

Claudia thought for a minute. "Well, it's similar enough to the manticore which are also named in the bill. Get someone to submit an amendment to change it to 'manticores and similar' and these monsters will be covered too without being explicitly mentioned. That should make it less of a story."

Fudge scratched his chin. "That could work."

"It will."

"I'll get Dolores onto it. See you at the Wizengamot!"

And Wizengamot came soon. On the day itself, Claudia carefully undid Madame Malkins' packaging and run her fingers across the silky plum fabric. Feeling a lot like when she put on her Slytherin Quidditch robes for the first time, she lifted the robes and threw them over her head. She stuffed the papers under her arm and went to knock on Agrippa's door. It was time to go-

"Suits you," Agrippa said when he saw her. "Let me just-" he gestured towards some half-filled vials on his desk.

"We aren't going to be late. Come on, your experiments can wait."

"Fine," Agrippa sighed, put on his own robes and they set off.

"Read all the papers?" Agrippa asked as he led Claudia towards the Wizengamot chamber where the meeting was to take place.

"Of course."

"You're already doing better than I am."

They sat down towards the back of the chamber, and watched as members flooded in. The majority of them were Ministry officials. Like the Department of Mysteries, many of the other big departments had two seats (with the exception of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which seemed to have at least five). With Umbridge also present, it very much felt like the Board if everyone was allowed to bring a deputy or two.

"And there sit the posh ones," Agrippa mumbled and gestured, rather discreetly towards a group sitting on the side. "The hereditary seats."

Claudia examined the little cabal of about eight members, led by none other than Lucius Malfoy. That was where Sirius would have sat, except he must have looked so out of place among them. She recognised a few others – Neville's uncle and one of Julius' old relations. It was a select group, and not even being from a Sacred Twenty-Eight family guaranteed a place. The Averys were a proof of that.

The last group of Wizengamot members were life appointees by the Minister. Unlike the Ministry seats, that went to whoever occupied the position at the time, and the hereditary seats, that went to whoever was the head of a particular family, these appointment were made for life and could not be passed on. They were appointed at the discretion of the Minister of Magic and served until they died. The group consisted mostly of retired ministry officials or experts, and a few individuals handpicked from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. To Claudia's great surprise, she saw sitting among them her old Potions Master. Of course, he managed to manipulate his way onto the Wizengamot.

Bang on two o'clock, the grand door of the chamber opened and in strolled Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, and Albus Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

"Those two presiding over these meetings together is a joy to watch," Agrippa whispered. "Fudge cannot hide the fact he resents sharing power, and Albus does like to twist in the knife."

In line with the Wizengamot's first purpose to advise the Minister, Fudge opened the meeting by giving a brief and rather uninformative update on the situation at Hogwarts. Then, he asked the members of the Wizengamot to provide any reflections. Few, however, were willing to raise their hand and accused the Minister (or Dumbledore) of mismanaging the situation, so the discussion has soon moved onto the first substantive item – the proposed legislation.

The Ministry's proposed legislation (and Claudia's suggested face-saving amendment) passed without much debate, and soon enough one of the life appointees was justifying their proposal for pre-Hogwarts education.

"I was actually surprised how sensibly this bill was written," Claudia whispered to Agrippa.

"You can't possibly be thinking about voting for it," he replied. "Not if your mad plan to keep Fudge on side is to work!"

"Why not?"

"There is an expectation that all the Ministry people vote against these private bills. Fudge is allergic to them… Something about it undermining the authority if the Ministry if other people are allowed to have good ideas." He pre-empted Claudia's next question.

And with the school bill voted down, the time had arrived for the Wizengamot to consider the appeal in the criminal case. The prosecutor presented the case against a twenty-something kid that got caught red-handed selling dark artefacts to two undercover Ministry operatives. But Claudia struggled to listen to the detail because of the identity of the auror sitting right behind the prosecutors.

In an attempt to do anything but stare at Oscar's face, Claudia leaned closer to Agrippa. "Why is this even at the Wizengamot?" she whispered. "I know the war is over, but surely there is still more dangerous dark wizards about…"

"Because he's rich," Agrippa mumbled. "Sometimes, if the defendants have enough influence, they push the case to the Wizengamot and the aurors and prosecutors run scared and drop it." He paused and scratched his chin. "But not this Fernsby fellow. He's here quite often, pursuing every last one of them. He's relentless."

Claudia's eyes have involuntarily travelled to Oscar again. "I'm aware."

"You know him?"

"Yup." She paused, then quickly clarified before Agrippa got any ideas. "We used to work together."

Soon enough, it was time to vote. Desperately avoiding Oscar's eyes, Claudia surveyed the chamber during the vote to see who had their hands up. Barty Crouch's hand was so high up in the air that he must have been in a real danger of dislocating his shoulder. Of course, he would not have missed a chance to send someone to Azkaban.

I was meaning to get to you, you bastard, Claudia thought and discreetly reached into the sleeve of her robes to get to her Legilimency wand and, hiding her hand under the little shelf for her papers, she pointed it at him.

All she managed to get was a picture of some shockingly dull breakfast before Crouch began to rub his temples. Claudia knew in that instance that she did not have much time, so she dived in… One picture of Crouch's son trial flashed in front of her eyes before Crouch's mind began to close. The connection was broken.

Crouch started to look around the chamber, and Claudia knew that it was time to retreat. Crouch was no slouch when it came to Occlumency. This was going to be a lot harder than her father. She was sure she could break him eventually, but it would be risky. Her best bet was to find another way to punish him.

The votes were now counted, and Oscar's gamble paid off. The Wizengamot voted, rather overwhelmingly, to uphold the conviction.

Sea of purple had risen around Claudia and she allowed the current to carry her towards the door while she thought up ways to make Crouch pay for what she did.

Outright murder was always an option. And a rather easy one at that. All she needed was an invisibility cloak, a stolen wand, and thirty seconds alone with the man. One quick curse and no one would ever be any wiser. But it was too crude, she thought, and she did not really want him dead… She wanted him to suffer.

What Crouch valued the most was clearly his career. If only she could find a way to get him fired. That was surely the way to go. Claudia was nearly out of the Wizengamot chamber, all keen to go home, lock herself in the attic and come up with a plan that would mean Crouch's downfall… But then, her plan was put on hold-

"Miss Avery!" someone exclaimed and grabbed her shoulder.

Claudia recoiled at the stranger's touch and turned. Fucking Slughorn. That was the last thing she needed.

"Why am I not surprised to see you in these robes?" He beamed, before turning to the two older man who accompanied him. "I always knew she would make it far."

"Did you?" she said through gritted teeth.

"Of course! You were one of the best in potions and alchemy I ever taught. And what a quidditch player." He looked over Claudia's shoulder. "Cornelius, you should have seen young Claudia on the quidditch pitch."

Claudia sunk her fingernails into her palms. She wanted nothing more than to remind Slughorn he took her captaincy away from her and let the others chuck her off the team- But it would have probably led to a discussion about why that happened, and she really did not want to have that one in front of the Minister.

"I need to borrow her, Horace-" Fudge said and steered Claudia away.

"Anything wrong with our plan?" Claudia asked once they had some privacy.

"No," Fudge shook his head. "I just needed to get away from him."

"From Slughorn?"

"You aren't his only student he's trying to brag about," he said with a sigh. "If I had a drink with him every time he had invited me for one, I would've turned into a pickle."

Claudia laughed, genuinely this time. "Happy to be of service."

"And I wanted to thank you…" he added. "For helping me save this bill."

"Don't mention it."

In the week following the Wizengamot meeting, Claudia spent a fair few long evenings in the attic, going through all the possible ways she could sabotage Crouch's career. She was just about to leave work one day and continue, but when she entered the Ministry lift to take her up to the atrium, she found herself alone with the person she simultaneously was desperate to talk to, and had absolutely no idea what to say to.

But just seeing Oscar straining his eyes over a piece of parchment made her heart jump with happiness. And she just knew what to do. Right there and then.

She stood next to him, staring at the door as it closed. "I've been an idiot," she mumbled.

"You'll need to be more specific than that."

Claudia looked at him and chuckled. "I'm talking about the most recent incident-"

But before Oscar could respond, the door of the lift had opened again and a dozen Ministry officials flooded in, nudging Claudia close and closer to Oscar. Claudia swallowed dry; the physical proximity was making it more difficult for her to think straight.

The lift moved suddenly, and she crashed into him. She would have fallen if he had not caught her around the waist.

"I want to pick up where we left of last time," she whispered. "Pretend the last few weeks never happened."

He lowered his head until she could feel his lips hovering over her ear. "You aren't going to run out on me again, are you? My ego couldn't take it the second time."

Claudia felt a nudge on her back. The lift was getting fuller, and she was pressed even closer to Oscar. It was nearly unbearable. She would have sex with him right there and then if it was not wildly inappropriate and get them both arrested. "I will do my best not to freak out again."

"Take this," Oscar mumbled and pressed something metal into her palm. "I need to interrogate one more prisoner. Go to my flat and make yourself comfortable."

Claudia looked into his eyes and smiled. She could feel Oscar's grip on her waist tighten. The lift had stopped. They were at the atrium level now.

Oscar closed his eyes and slowly let go off her. "Go," he uttered, "before we start a rumour."

With a laugh, Claudia put Oscar's key in her pocket and left him in the lift.

But making herself comfortable in Oscar's flat was easier said than done. Between her desires, nervousness, and impatience, Claudia was finding it increasingly impossible to keep still. So, she began pacing around the flat.

There were a few empty coffee cups still left on the dining table. How easily could it be double the number of cups. She chortled to herself. They could live on coffee and never clean up together. She walked past the sofa where they were making out the other day, and just the mere memory of that made her feel like she was on fire. And then, she caught a sight of herself in the mirror. She frowned a little and messed up her short hair. It could really use a wash, she thought. Oscar did say she should make herself comfortable…

Claudia tiptoed into the bathroom to run herself a warm bath. She poured a generous helping of the first bath liquid she could get her hands on, and climbed in. Her soul and body were both melting in the hot water, so much so that her eyes began to close.

She blinked a few times and pushed herself out of the water. She was pretty sure that the last thing Oscar wanted would be to find her drowned in his bathtub.

Her body now wrapped in one of Oscar's towels, she stepped out of the bath. Coffee, that's what she needed to keep herself awake.

When she walked out of the bathroom to obtain the coffee, however, Oscar was leaning against the back of the sofa with his arms crossed.

"Done with the prisoner?"

"Fastest interrogation I've ever done," he said and pushed himself to standing. "You had more clothes on two weeks ago," he added softly.

"And you a lot less-"

But before she could say anything else, Oscar scooped her up and lifted her with such ease Claudia let out the tiniest of shriek. They tumbled into bed.

"I'm still wet…" she laughed as Oscar sunk his hands into her skin and began to move her body at will.

"I don't care-" he whispered, threw her over and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I'm not waiting for this for another second."

And Claudia did not want to wait either. Her needs have taken over her brain. And she was not disappointed. Being with Oscar was like being caught in a thunderstorm – exhilarating and overwhelming in equal measure.

If Claudia felt like her soul was leaving her body when she was submerged in the hot bath, it was nothing compared to how she felt when they finished. If it came to it, she would probably struggle remembering her own name.

Oscar was lying on his back, stretching. "We should've done this years ago…"

"No argument there-" She could not even remember the last time she has sex this good…

"That must be a first." He rolled over on his side with a loud yawn, and soon Claudia could feel his palm resting on her lower back. "Got some potion in the bedside table," he added nonchalantly. "Want it?"

"You're well prepared," she smirked. "Yes, please."

"I've learned my lesson the hard way," he chuckled and watched Claudia as she struggled to prop herself up on her elbow and drink the vial. "Do you want anything else?" he added in a whisper once she collapsed into the bed. The simple act of drinking the potion had taken her remaining strength.

"Sleep," she mumbled in response, with her eyes closing.

"Sleep it is."

Claudia could feel her consciousness slipping to the sensation of Oscars' fingers drawing circles on her lower back.

The sun was already up when Claudia woke up, wrapped in Oscar's warm body. She could barely keep her eyes open as she squinted towards the alarm clock. She tried to get closer to see the time without her glasses, but Oscar purred and hugged her even tighter.

Claudia gave up and crashed back into bed. She felt nearly giddy and warm… Her eyes shot open. Too warm in fact- What the- She grazed her left forearm to confirm her suspicion.

It was warm!

For the first time in twelve years, the tattoo was warm!

She pushed herself up to sitting and looked at Oscar, who groaned in his half-asleep state and rolled over. Has sleeping with him broken the soul bond with Sirius? No, it could not have. Yes, she cared for Oscar more than anyone else she had been intimate with since Sirius went to Azkaban, but she did not love him. Not really. In any case, not enough for it to end the bond!

"I need the toilet," she mumbled and jumped out of bed, almost tumbling to the ground with tiredness. But she recovered and steadied herself. What to do?

But her brain was getting distracted. She could smell Oscar's cologne on her skin, which itself was sticky with his sweat, not to mention…

She had to get all of it off her. Now!

Claudia ran the shower and dived under it. She rubbed and rubbed her skin until it was red but it made no difference. The tattoo was still intact, suggesting Sirius was alive but it was warm. Undoubtedly, something had happened to the bond. And she was sure it had something to do with her ending up in Oscar's bed.

She had to get out of here.

Wrapped in a towel, she exited the bathroom once more. This time, she found Oscar pacing around the living room, holding a piece of parchment. His demeanour could not have been more different from when she left him sleeping in his bed.

"What happened?"

Without a word, Oscar handed her the parchment.

'Black escaped from Azkaban. All inspectors to be briefed in the Operations Room at 9am. Attendance compulsory.'

It felt like an eternity had passed before Claudia managed to comprehend what that parchment was saying.

Sirius was free.

That was why her tattoo stopped freezing her from the inside. That was why she felt lighter.

She raised her eyes from the parchment and looked at Oscar-

His eyes were like two daggers piercing into her heart. He took a few deep breaths. "Now you've shagged me for an alibi," he hissed. "Are you at least going to tell me how you broke him out?"