Author's Note:

Hi, everyone! I was feeling inspired so here's another chapter. The next one won't be here until late October/first week of November, but I hope you enjoy this. I wanted to take a look at Fred's dynamic after surviving the war and the scar it left behind on him. I go into that a bit in this chapter, but I will definitely be expanding on it in future chapters.

WARNING: There will be mentions of rape in this chapter. If you feel uncomfortable, please proceed with caution.

Laila,

I never honestly thought I would ever get to see you marry, that too an ocean away with a random British guy and because of a marriage law. But here we are, and I don't know whether to be happy that you didn't get stuck with a former Death Eater and pureblood fanatic or cry because you didn't get a chance to fall in love and instead made all of your Indian ancestors proud in getting an arranged marriage.

Either way, if you need a getaway car (I know how much you love broomsticks!), you know where to find me: right next to you when this wedding is happening. Adrian and I will see you very soon! And as I'm writing this, your idiotic best friend is reading over my shoulder. God bless you for tolerating this eejit. And as much as I love him, my offer still stands if you want me to dump him on you. Take care, and if everything goes according to plan, we'll see you this weekend!

Lots of Love,

Mila

P.S. We are going wedding dress shopping! Don't you dare try to convince me otherwise, or you will not like the consequences my Russian ass has to offer.

Laila chuckled as she folded the letter her owl Posideon had just delivered to her. He cooed quietly as she absentmindedly stroked his feathers.

"No reply as of yet," she informed him. "But then again, Mila's letters rarely warrant one."

She fed him a treat and opened the window of her office, watching as he flew back to her flat with a sigh. The next few hours were going to be full of reviewing witness testimonies and meetings. Mila's letter had been a nice break. She had met Mila and her future husband Adrian as a first year in Ilvermorny. As fate would have it, three completely separate personalities had merged to become best friends, and they had been there for each other all throughout their individual trials and tribulations. She had Peter, her new family, and her work, but she was longing for Saturday when she would be able to see her close friends again. Of course, it was still the middle of the week, and Wednesdays always seemed to go by the slowest, even when compared to Mondays.

Glancing at the clock, Laila realized it was still mid-morning. Rising up from her chair, she strode out of the office and headed to Auror section of the Ministry.

A few people passed by her and offered her brief nods and smiles. Some faces were familiar and others completely unknown. In the past few days, she had had run-ins with Mr. Weasley, Percy, and Hermione. But she was heading a different direction this time.

Finally, she came across a small door and knocked briskly before entering.

"Laila!" Harry looked up in surprise as she entered. "Nice to see you. Everything okay?"

Laila smiled at Harry before speaking. "Good to see you as well, Harry! I actually have a strange request if you wouldn't mind humoring me."

Harry nodded and gestured for her to sit.

"I need you to be my Auror escort to Azkaban."

Harry raised his eyebrows, "Come again? You want to go to Azkaban?"

Laila gave him a grim smile. "I've had a letter from Lucius Malfoy. As you know, he's serving a reduced sentence because he cooperated with the Ministry, and in the end his family turned against Voldemort in the last few seconds to help us. He wants to meet me in person, but I'm not sure why."

Harry leaned back in his chair and pursed his lips slightly. "I'm not the biggest fan of the Malfoys, but they did help us towards the end, which counts for something. May I ask, why me?"

Laila laughed, "Besides the fact that Percy insisted I need an Auror escort before I head to Azkaban?"

She sobered after a few seconds. "No but seriously, it's because I think you can be the most objective because of what you've been through. I would really value your advice."

Harry listened intently for a few moments before replying. "If you think it will help, then I would be happy to come with you."

He glanced at the clock. "It's almost half-past ten. If we head out now, we can make it back in time for lunch at noon if you're free now."

Laila smiled, "Tell you what, I'll take you to lunch, my treat, after this visit. After visiting a place like Azkaban, God knows we'll need something to get our minds back in a happier state."

"Deal," Harry grinned.

Even though the dementors were long gone, Azkaban still commanded an eerie presence. Laila shivered as she walked through the dark corridors with Harry in front of her. The entire prison was swarming with guards and Aurors alike. Each corner was shredded in darkness, and the fear and depression the dementors had created still reeked from the stone walls.

It's like going back into the medieval ages, with a magical twist, Laila thought. Like a much worse Tower of London.

"Name?"

An older, gruff looking guard was seated behind a security post. He had just finished checking in Harry, and was now staring at Laila in bored contempt. Clearly, he must have repeated her name a few times and had become annoyed with no response.

"Oh," Laila flushed slightly. "Sorry, it's Laila Vikander."

He grunted in response. "Wand?"

Laila dug into her robes and fished out her wand, handing it gingerly to the guard, who snatched it up and examined it with a similar looking device to the one Miranda had used a few days ago when Laila began her job at the Ministry.

"All set," the guard handed Laila her wand back. She struggled not to wipe her wand in front of the guard after she had received it back.

Save it until after you're out of here, idiot. Last thing you need to be doing is making enemies of the people who are on the same side of you by implying they're not clean.

"Ivashkov," the guard barked.

A thin, dark-haired young man appeared from around the corner, looking pale and tired and taking in Harry and Laila with mild interest.

"Escort these two to the back room. Malfoy should be waiting there."

Ivashkov nodded. "Right behind me please. It's easy to get lost here."

He gave a slightly savage grin. "Wouldn't want you to end up in a cell begging to be released just because you wandered off."

Laila exchanged a concerned look with Harry. Most of Azkaban was occupied by former Death Eaters, many of them who had committed horrible crimes. But the guards in the prison seemed to be on the same level. As much as she hated to admit it, Laila worried if the prisoners were receiving fair treatment given the appalling conditions of the place.

The guard Ivashkov escorted them to the back, opening the door to a room before locking it behind them.

"Holler when you're done," he stated briskly before walking off.

Laila rolled her eyes and took in the table and two chairs facing her. On the other side of the table, sat a man with disheveled blonde hair and a face that seemed to have aged beyond his years.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Laila cautiously approached and extended her hand.

Lucius Malfoy looked up, scrutinized Laila, and glanced down in surprise at Laila's extended hand before reaching out with his own.

"Miss Vikander," he returned quietly. "Please sit. Nice to see you as well, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded politely before seating himself next to Laila.

"You're entitled to have counsel present, Mr. Malfoy," Laila began.

"Thank you, Miss Vikander, but having someone use legal technicalities to get me out of my past is how I ended up here in the first place. I am fine."

Laila nodded before wracking her brains on how to start this strange conversation. She finally settled on,"What can I help you with?"

Lucius leaned forward, placing his chained hands on the table.

"Just a moment," Laila interrupted. She jumped out of her seat and headed towards the prison door.

"Mr. Ivashkov," she called out.

The willowy guard appeared upon hearing her voice. He sure moves fast.

"Could you please unlock Mr. Malfoy's handcuffs please?"

Ivashkov raised his eyebrows, "You want me to unlock the chains of a convicted Death Eater serving a prison sentence?"

"Yes," Laila replied unflinchingly, refusing to break eye contact. "He is serving his time, and he requested a meeting with me. I am asking you politely to please unlock his handcuffs for the sake of human decency."

Ivashkov gazed at her in astonishment before shrugging. He unlocked the prison door and approached Malfoy, before using his wand to remove the chains.

"It's your funeral," he mumbled before slipping out of the door and locking it behind him.

Harry's face remained impassive throughout this ordeal, but Lucius couldn't contain his surprise at Laila's request.

"I'm sorry about that, Mr. Malfoy. Please go ahead."

"I-uh," Lucius cleared his throat. "Miss Vikander, as you and Mr. Potter already know, one of my plea arrangements focused on cooperating and providing as much evidence as I know to help convict all those who supported the Dark Lord in the war. And in exchange my family would be spared."

Laila nodded encouragingly, urging him to continue.

"I know you will be looking into the all the torture and punishments the Carrows inflicted on the students of Hogwarts, given many of them were still underage when all of this happened. Hypothetically speaking, if my son Draco has knowledge of what was going on, would you be willing to spare him? If he tells you all he knows?"

Laila exchanged a surprised glance with Harry. She struggled, deciding what to say.

"Mr. Malfoy, your son wasn't underage when the Carrows were teaching. But I cannot promise you anything until I know the full extent of his involvement and what he knows-"

"Please, Miss Vikander." Lucius hand's trembled slightly as his voice broke. "My son has suffered because of the choices I made for him. If he has turned out for the better in some ways, it is because of my wife. I do not wish to see him punished for his father's mistakes."

Laila blinked as an unexpected surge of emotions flowed through her. Harry looked equally surprised.

"Mr. Malfoy," Harry began. "I don't know how involved or complicit Draco may have been in what was going on, but he would still need to be held accountable if-"

"What about adding onto my sentence?" Lucius probed. "If Draco is honest and tells you everything he knows, and you feel he deserves to be punished, could you tack that time onto my prison sentence instead?"

Laila clasped her hands. "Mr. Malfoy, I cannot promise you anything. I will have to bring this up with my team. Our investigations are still pending, and we are getting new evidence everyday. Can I ask you for a week's time to see what we can do about your request?"

"That should give us enough time to get more details about the Carrows and what we may need from Draco," Harry added.

Lucius nodded fervently. "Time is all I have," he laughed dryly.

"Thank you," he added. "Thank you."

As Harry and Laila exited Azkaban, they remained silent until they apparated back into Harry's office at the Ministry.

"What do you think?" Laila asked, finally breaking the silence.

Harry didn't reply for a long time. "I think," he spoke slowly, trying to collect his thoughts.

"I think it's up to you. You're going to be pulled in many different directions as it is, but you should always go to the facts and determine your decisions based on that. And the good thing is, you're part of a team. Don't place the entire burden on your shoulders."

Laila gave Harry a half-hearted smile, "Thanks, Harry. And thanks for coming along with me today."

Harry nodded. "I can kind of understand what you've been through. The Weasleys are great, but it isn't always easy integrating into their family. Don't get me wrong! They've always been wonderful to me, but sometimes I still have this feeling of being sort of separate from them, if it makes sense."

Laila listened thoughtfully. "Like you should feel like you completely belong, but except you don't because there's something there keeping you apart. Trust me, I can't even count the number of times I've felt like that. And same goes for you, if you ever need a listening ear, I have two round ones at your service."

Harry laughed in response.

"Come on then," Laila stood. "I promised you lunch."

As evening approached, and Laila left the Ministry, she paused at a nearby corner of London before pulling out her phone.

"Hey, Laila." Patrick's voice rang out. "This is a welcome surprise. Teresa is craving some absurd ice cream flavors, so I've spent the better part of my day thus far hunting down what she wants."

Laila grinned, "Hit me, I bet I can save you some time."

Within a few minutes, Patrick had loaded his cart and exclaimed, "Thank the lord. All right, what did you call about?"

It took a few minutes as Laila haltingly explained what had transpired during her day. By this time, she had arrived back at her flat, and when she finished, she waited with bated breath for Patrick's response. There was a clear silence ringing in the air for some time before he finally replied.

"I think you know what to do, and you called me because you needed to hear it from me."

Laila groaned, "Please stop with the riddles. I called because I value your advice."

"And I know I trained you well," Patrick gently chided. "You're quite capable of thinking by yourself, but it scares you because you know your decisions will impact multiple lives and can set a precedent for future legal decisions."

She pursed her lips, but she knew Patrick was right. And as she hung up the call and weighed her options carefully, she knew what the first step was.

Checking the time to make sure it wasn't too late, she dialed Peter's number, expecting it to go to voicemail. And when it did, she recorded her message.

"Hey, Peter. Don't call me back, I just wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind organizing a meeting for this upcoming Monday with all the advocates and Aurors that are a part of these trials. It'll be a good way to get to know everyone and also get a feel for what we're working with. That's it, I'll see you tomorrow!"

With a sigh, she dropped her phone on the couch as she plopped down on it. She still had a lot of reading to get through before she could go to sleep.

"And miles to go before I sleep," Laila groaned before forcing herself to get up, take a shower, and drown in caffeine for the next few hours.

The week went by faster than she had expected, and before she knew it, Friday was here. And that too Friday evening was almost coming to a close, and a part of her was dreading meeting Fred's friends while another was strangely excited.

What are the chances they'll think 'oh so this is the American!'. What if I say something dumb? And what the hell are you supposed to wear for something like this where your introduction is, 'oh, hello! I'm marrying one of your really good friends, but I barely know who the hell he is, and I barely know you! Isn't life great?'

"Fucking hell," Laila muttered under her breath. Finally, she decided on a peter pan collar dress that hugged her slim figure well enough, looked nice, but something she could still happily fall asleep in. The color was dark enough to bring out the contrast of her light eyes, but most of all it made Laila feel content as the dress had been a gift from her mom. Granted, she would be technically too big to fit into it now, but that was the beauty of magic. She had been able to adjust the size and add a few tweaks to make the dress feel like new.

Her hair was out and wavy, doing its usual thing. It was almost nine o' clock, and Fred had said they would be meeting at the Leaky Cauldron around ten.

"I could get some work done, or I could read, or maybe unpack some more things," she mumbled to herself. But neither happened. Her recollections of visiting Azkaban continued to haunt her. Over lunch, Harry had told her since removing the dementors, there had been many improvements. But Laila had only seen a small section of the prison, and based on Lucius Malfoy's appearance, she worried about how other prisoners were being treated.

As she mulled over her thoughts, she heard a knock at her door, to be met with Fred smiling back. An enormous smile crept up on her face before she had a chance to even think of hiding.

"Hey," he grinned. "Can I come in?"

"Oh yeah, hi!" She snapped out of her reverie and gestured him inside. "I'm so glad to see you," she blurted out.

Fred raised her eyebrows at her outburst, but before she could panic, he replied, "Calm down, Vikander. Geez you look like I'm about to give you the biggest exam of your life."

"Says the guy who never even sat for his NEWTs," Laila shot back. Fred's relaxed demeanor brought her back down to her normal self, and she felt herself slipping into the comfortable back and forth banter she and Fred had established.

"Oh please," Fred smirked. "I reckon you sat for your NEWTs, but I still have a greater fortune than you."

Laila smiled genuinely, "I won't disagree with that. Honestly, I don't think people give you and George enough credit. It takes hard work and talent in Charms and a business savvy to set up your shop the way you guys did. Academics isn't always everything."

Fred looked surprised before replying, "I wish I had recorded that. Now you just need to go back into the past for me, and repeat the same words to Mum when she thought George and I had gone bonkers."

Laila chuckled before settling down on the sofa opposite of him. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"Nah," Fred waved his hand casually. "I'm tired from this week and seriously looking forward to dousing myself in Butterbeer. The bloody Pygmy Puffs have been driving me up the wall. Not to mention all those bloody Stink bombs that we have to get the timing right on still. I've taken more showers these past few days than I ever have my entire bloody life."

Laila's laughter boiled over as Fred continued to speak, and it took her a few decent minutes to calm down.

"Oh lord, this is just precious," she gasped out before doubling over in laughter again.

Fred smirked, "Anything to please my lady."

Laila glared at him, "Stop calling me that. You sound like a wannabe Viscount or something."

Fred gazed at her shocked, "But isn't that what all Americans dream and hope of? That a royal prince will whisk them away. And if not a prince, then at the bare minimum a member of this country's distinguished nobility?"

Laila grinned, "Everyone except me, I think. I'm very happy just the way I am, thank you very much."

Silence lingered between them for a few minutes. Just last week, the silence had been awkward, and Laila would struggle with saying something that sounded mildly intelligent. But today, the silence didn't run over. She felt comfortable in being able to enjoy a few moments with the person she could sort of see herself marrying.

"So," Fred interrupted her thoughts. "I overheard Harry telling Ron you went up to Azkaban this week."

Laila nodded, "It was….different. I mean I never went there when dementors still ruled over the place. But it is still so depressing. I only saw a small portion of the prison, but the guards just didn't seem to care, and the prisoner we met with looked like he didn't even have a chance to wash."

"Is that a bad thing?" Fred asked bluntly. "Don't get me wrong, I get why hygiene and proper living conditions are important. But most of those people are convicted Death Eaters or waiting to be tried for committing horrific crimes. Azkaban is a palace compared to the shit they did to their victims."

Laila bit her lip. "I understand, but there has to be a line for human decency. Just because they did horrific things doesn't mean we should stoop down to their level as well."

Fred shrugged, "They hurt a lot of the people I cared about. Frankly, how they're living right now is the least of my worries."

"I get it, but I think I want to look into their conditions a bit more. I'm hoping to get a staff meeting together on Monday, and maybe I can add this on the agenda-"

"Do you hear yourself?" Fred interrupted her speech in slight anger. "You want to give these monsters a better living environment because Merlin of course they shouldn't suffer. Who gives a bloody damn about the people they hurt."

Laila was taken back, "Fred, I only meant-"

"No you keep saying you understand, but do you really? You're from across the fucking globe where the Death Eaters barely made a mark on anything. And then the Minister of Magic appointed the bloody American to decide how much we suffered and how those Death Eaters should be punished. Real swell."

He yanked at the leg of his trousers to reveal an angry scar that had healed over. It looked as if much of the skin had been peeled off, leaving an indent on Fred's left leg.

"This is what happened to me in the Battle of Hogwarts. I almost died when a wall blasted next to my ears. If Percy hadn't dragged me out, I would be dead. Lucky for me, my leg was only partially damaged."

He laughed bitterly, "I still have nightmares about almost dying and seeing my friends getting killed in front of me. So I drink sometimes to wash that pain away. But hell, what would you know? If you had any idea of the pain we've been through, giving those traitors better living conditions is the last thing that would be on your stupid agenda."

Laila stared, her eyes watched with seeing. And she couldn't physically bring herself to speak after hearing the pain and frustration in Fred's voice.

"I'm sorry you went through that," she began quietly. "But that does not give you the right to scream at me for doing my job. Nor does it give you the right to assume anything about my past."

She paused again. She had planned on waiting, but this was as good as any moment.

"Four years ago when the war was still at its height, several Death Eaters came to the United States to set up an invasion of MACUSA and begin the process of cleansing Muggleborns and half-bloods from society."

Laila straightened her back and her voice began to take on an emotionless tone. This was the only way she could speak about what happened without completely falling apart.

"They set up a registry of all wizards and witches who were not pureblood, much like they did here in Britain. My name was on that list, naturally, and I was dismissed from my job. I had two options, go underground and keep fighting or move on and save myself."

Laila turned her bright eyes to Fred before continuing to speak. "I was old enough to understand what was happening, and I was terrified. But I knew I could help. I sent my family away for their own protection before I began working with several of my former professors at Ilvermorny to evacuate students who were bound to go on the registry. Many of them were separated from their families, but I couldn't just hand them over to their deaths, even if it meant I would be staring my own death in the face."

"We worked to evacuate them to safe houses before getting them out of the country, following a similar plan that Harriet Tubman set up when she helped slaves escape to their freedom via the Underground Railroad. One day, when I had finished one of the trips to a close safe house, I was walking home when I bumped into three Death Eaters."

Up until this point, Fred's face had been controlled tightly with anger. But as Laila had continued speaking, slight realization had begun to bloom on his face as he started to get an inkling of where this story was heading.

"Everything was out in the open at this point. They were freely targeting Muggleborns and murdering in the streets. They-they knew who I was when they cornered me. All of them were drunk when they forced me to apparate into a dark warehouse."

"Someone had given me up. The Death Eaters wanted more information, but I refused to talk. Before that moment, I thought I would be ready for anything. The Cruciatus curse, Death, or something worse. But-"

A tear escaped her eye, the first sign of her anguish becoming physiological. "They said as a Mudblood, I deserved to go down the way my ancestors did."

Laila shut her eyes tightly and turned her head towards her shoulder, a forceful breath escaping her mouth. "I'll spare you the details, but they took turns. It took me a long time to process what happened to me. At that moment, I toned out everything. Everything felt like an out of body experience."

She refused to look at Fred, choosing to look straight ahead at the wall in front of her. "There was an electric lightbulb on the ceiling that kept on constantly flickering. It was just easier to focus on that while all of this was going on. I don't know how long they kept at it. I just kept counting the number of times the bulb flickered. It seemed like hours."

Laila scratched her nose to give herself a moment, wishing all of this could be over with already. "By the time they were finished, I was prepared for them to kill me. But they just apparated and left me there, thinking I was worse off than dead anyways."

She closed her eyes before continuing. "Believe me, I wanted to be. I still don't know how I managed to pull myself up and send my Patronus for help. I just remember it taking so many tries before I could conjure up a single thought of happiness to send out a message for help. The adrenaline rush certainly helped. My body was in shock so I could get out of that warehouse alive."

She shook her head with a sigh. "The nightmares still come often, but they've been better since I've been getting help-". Laila paused when she noticed the look in Fred's eyes. She had prepared herself for sympathy or at the worst, pity. It had taken many years before she stopped considering herself a victim and instead a survivor, before she had stopped blaming herself for the hell that she went through that night. But this wasn't a feeling most people could process immediately after hearing her story. So when Laila looked at Fred, she was surprised.

His eyes were full of complete vulnerability and raw pain. For a long time, he did not speak. But he did not need to. His face said it all, and Laila understood. They maintained their eye contact for a while, before Laila felt herself beginning to collapse. The strength she had gathered to tell everything about her past to Fred had drained her energy. The tears she had buried underneath a cold, neutral tone rushed out all at once as she felt a sob break through her chest.

Fred reacted, gathering her into his arms as Laila buried her face into his neck, breaking out into tears that she had held back for so long. Finally, she could let go of the worry of pretending to be fine for the sake of her family, for the sake of her job, for the sake of all the victims who needed her to be strong when she spoke out for them and convicted their wrongdoers.

She didn't know how long she cried, only that the sobs shook through and tore her apart. It was tiring, but also a relief to let all that pain out. When Laila slowly started to regain consciousness of her surroundings, she felt Fred stroking her back as he gently rocked her. She struggled to regain her breath, taking in a few deep heaving breaths to stabilize herself before she spoke, her face pressed against Fred's neck.

"For the longest time, I couldn't talk about it." Her voice was low and garbled, evidence of the tears that were still clogging her throat.

"Baba had his own troubles. Losing Mom nearly killed him, so he would drink to forget. When the Aurrors arrested my rapists, I was fine. I was on autopilot during that whole trial, and when they were convicted, I could finally breathe. But then the nightmares came into my life. If it weren't for Peter encouraging me to speak to a therapist, I would have fallen apart by now."

She forced herself to meet Fred's eyes, "That's why I brought up you possibly seeing one, and why I was a bit worried when you came out this past Sunday from a hangover. I don't want you to drink yourself to death. You survived. We survived. Promise me if you ever get the feeling to drink yourself to a stupor to block your nightmares, you'll call me or owl me first."

Fred didn't respond for a few seconds, maintaining eye contact before nodding. "Alright," he replied quietly.

Laila grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. "I want this to work," she continued with renewed fervor. "And I get we're going to have arguments and things we disagree on, but that's okay, as long as we support and confide in one another."

Fred nodded. "Thank you for telling me. I still don't understand why you're determined to reform prisons for these monsters, but I will give you my support in any way that I can."

Laila shot him a bleak smile before reluctantly extricating herself from him and sitting down on the opposite couch. She hunted down a tissue and wiped her eyes before beginning to speak again.

"I wanted to wait a bit longer to tell you, but what happened to me is one of the reasons I'm so invested in fighting for justice. But that doesn't mean I can turn away if these people are being treated unfairly. Believe me, I want to see them punished. But this-"

She paused and composed herself. "I'm not going to give them a reason to push back the trial or get off on technicality. And prison conditions can be included in that. And if they tortured people, I don't want to stoop to that same level.

They didn't speak for a while until finally Laila broke the silence. "Give me a few minutes to look presentable, and then we can head out.

Fred met her eyes in shock. "We don't have to go. I can-"

"No," Laila interrupted. "Umm, I mean I want to meet your friends. It'll take my mind off some things. And the stuff I told you, I planned on doing that this weekend, but it is important that you know this about my past."

She took a deep breath. "I still struggle with any kind of physical intimacy, obviously. When all this transpired, I was seeing someone, but he couldn't handle it."

Fred's eyes darkened in slight anger as he interrupted, "Any bloke who can't stick around to support you when you need it the most doesn't deserve to be a part of your life."

Laila smiled sadly, "Thank you, but I was at fault too. I didn't open up to him, and I didn't want to make that same mistake with you. But I just….I don't know why it felt so much easier telling you all of this, even more when I spoke about it in court."

Fred gazed at her before responding, "You're not the only one who feels that way, about opening up I mean." He clarified a bit hastily, the tips of his ears turning bright red as he ran his hand through his hair.

"We should um-"

"I think that-"

They both stopped and laughed and gestured at the other to go first. Fred gave in first. "We should head out soon, whenever you're ready."

Laila smiled and nodded, "Just give me a few minutes."

When she emerged from her bedroom with eyes looking a lot less puffy and her dress looking a little less wrinkled, the pair left her flat. Without thinking, Laila wove her arm through Fred's as they headed out, and he looked down at her in surprise before they apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Whether the two were ready to admit it or not, something had changed that night between them. A spark hadn't necessarily been lit, but a channel had opened up between them, and Laila felt hopeful for this first time.