"With me on the case, there is a good chance we'll actually catch Lilith's killer," he pressed. "I can help with other things too, without exposing the details of the pack. Just tell me what is going on with the smugglers. The Ministry doesn't have to know it came from you."

Kamya raised an eyebrow, her expression otherwise unchanged. "Right, I'll just entrust all my secrets to the government snitch."

Teddy knocked back the rest of his whiskey in one swig. He set it down, careful not to slam the glass, while his throat burned. "I'm not a snitch," he said, trying to be calm. "I became an Auror to help people." He winced as he remembered Lilith. He met Kamya's gaze. "Or at least avenge them when I cannot," he said with a tone much more steely than he had meant.

She regarded him coolly for a moment. "Well, I hope you do that, Teddy, but you can't ask me to sacrifice everything for that vengeance."

Teddy reeled back at that. "I'm not asking you to."

"And what do you think will happen if it gets out that I became a government snitch? Most of the Wizarding world already hates me and now you want me to turn on the people who are helping me?"

Teddy poured himself another glass of whiskey so as not to have to look at her face. "I can't cover up the smuggling. And if I'm not one on the case then it will be someone else even more unsympathetic to your plight. You have to give me something, Kamya."

She watched with tight lips as Teddy winced through his sip of the cheap whiskey.

"You know anyone classified as a magical creature is not going to get a fair deal, even if you are the arresting Auror," she said.

Teddy grimaced, knowing she was right. Harry would kill him for suggesting what he was thinking... but Teddy had spent too long in the Ministry to have too many delusions about the varying ways it treated it's criminals. "You have any pureblood arseholes you'd be willing to let take the fall?"

Kamya raised an eyebrow. "Auror Lupin, I thought you were trying to follow in the steps of the great Harry Potter."

She didn't sound disapproving and now Teddy wondered if at least some of Kamya's antagonism towards him was actually bound up in her distaste for his godfather. It made him curious about what Harry might have done to set her off like that. He shrugged. He didn't really want to explain that he had felt at loose ends at the of his seventh year when Harry had suggested becoming an Auror. It had sounded nice to have some kind of purpose, only he had learned too late that most of the time he was just someone else's tool for their own purposes. He took a long drink as he considered his response. He knew she needed some kind of honesty if he was going to get anywhere with her. "I'm sick of playing by their rules," he finally said. "I don't mind breaking a few if the game is rigged."

When Kamya's posture became a bit more relaxed, Teddy knew that he had played his cards right. She smiled a little, though she still looked tired. "Teddy, I didn't know you still had it in you."

Teddy frowned at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Kamya raised her eyebrows. "Just that you had a lot more spirit when you first joined the pack. I thought the Ministry had managed to iron you out into a good little drone."

Teddy felt another flash of anger, but Kamya's words didn't have the same heat as when she had accused him of being a government snitch. Instead he shrugged and took another drink.

Kamya poured herself another small portion, which seemed to indicate at least a willingness to continue the conversation.

"So, you'll think about it?" he asked.

She nodded grimly. "I've actually got a few in mind that I'd be happy to cut out of the operation."

That wasn't what Teddy had in mind. "If the smuggling doesn't stop then the DMLE will-"

"We'll be careful," Kamya said dismissively. "I think these idiots are the ones that tipped the DMLE off in the first place."

Teddy stared at the bottom of his glass in indecision. If it wasn't convincing then Teddy wouldn't be able to wrap up the case to Hasan's satisfaction, let alone their superiors'.

"The smuggling is key to making sure the pack gets the ingredients they need for our potions," Kamya said, a little more steel coming back into her voice. "Which you are happy enough to take every month."

Teddy looked up in surprise. The Ministry knew about the pack, why would they need illegal potion ingredients?

"And, we supply the needs of other magical creatures that the Ministry is happy to overlook." She met his eyes with a steely look. "Or do your morals only bend for your own convenience?"

"Oh fuck off," Teddy said, grabbing for the whiskey bottle again so he didn't have to look at her. "That wasn't even my objection." He poured out the whiskey and took another drink, trying to ignore the sting from how close Kamya's words had hit their mark.