July 31, 1996

The world might be in flames, but I am now in my own place.

It has one bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen and it is just the right size for someone starting out in life. I dropped the bag on the floor and giggled like a child while I spun around the room. Yes! I felt like a real adult!

With a few waves of my wand I pulled the furniture out of my suitcase and began to place it in an assortment of places, trying everything that came to mind until I found a layout I liked. The couch against the wall. A small table in the middle of the room within view of the fireplace so I could host floor calls and have social events with my friends now that it was dangerous to go to bars. And outside in general.

It was for the best really.

Misty, Zara and I had decided to rotate our Friday hangouts now that I was living in my own apartment. If we had a fourth person in our lady crew we could be at a different apartment every week, but we agreed that that was not a luxury we had right now and we would figure that out as we went. They were going to come over tonight to bless the place with a nice wine.

My first attempt at being a hostess would be a massive success if I had any say about it.

I levitated my bag and wandered down the hallway to the bedroom to remove the heavier items from the bag, such as the bed, mattress, headboard and armoire that I could hear falling around inside of my bag. The bedroom was small, it was not spacious but by my measurements the right size for what Lucinda had given me and for what I had purchased myself.

I have never bought furniture before, I picked up most of it second hand from a resale shop except for the mattress and couch, which I had bought new for a perfectly reasonable fear of strange human devouring insects.

A perfectly reasonable fear, Zara had told me with a sage nod. Then she told me about a speedy hotel her family had stayed in on vacation when she was around nine. Apparently bedbugs travel on a person and did not just stay in one place.

I spent the next thirty minutes trying several different ideas for how to situate the room, I liked the wardrobe in the corner and the bed needed to be in the center but the issue was getting just the right amount of space on both ends. It was not like I was going to have…. Overnight guests, but it was about the look of the room and the utilizing of the available space.

I soon moved on to the kitchen, which was quite small and placed a small square table against the wall. I may have people over for dinner or we would chill in the living room on the floor like the little heathens we are. Depends on how mature we were feeling that night, but I did like the idea of options.

The silverware and cookware came out next, flying into open cabinets and to hooks over the stove as the clock chimed five times to mark the hour, giving me a sudden giddy excitement as everything settled.

I was going to cook! This would be amazing. I had never actually cooked a meal before. I summoned a cookbook out of my bag, bouncing on the balls of my feet like an eager child as I turned to the simple appetizer recipe I had picked out and pulling the ingredients out of the bag, they had been placed inside of a box with a cooling charm to keep everything fresh and cold.

"Tinsy and Barry do this all the time. How hard can it be?"

An hour later I sat against the refrigerator, my knees to my chest as I put out the small stove top fire with an aquamenti charm from my position on the floor.

That did not go as expected.

The last of the flames were doused and I began to blow the smokey air out of the open window while I took in the mess on the countertop.

"Guess I'll make sandwiches."

My thoughts were interrupted by three quick raps on the door.

"Audie, we're here!" Misty's voice followed three more rapid taps on my front door. I backed towards the door, using a wind charm to make sure the smoke smell was going out the window, praying I did not have nosy neighbors.

"Just a minute!"

I pressed my back against the door. "Misty, what was the name of the book I gave you for your birthday?"

"The Time and the Night, which was amazing by the way! What did you say to Weasley at New Year's?"

"Really?"

I could hear Misty and Zara laughing from the other side of the door while my face flushed.

"That he had pretty hair!" I said so quickly it came out as a single word. "Zara, what was that stupid thing I said about Quidditch?"

"That it looked boring because the balls don't explode. That concerns me and we need to get you to a match!" Zara took a deep breath. "What kind of candy did you get me from the American candy store in Diagon Alley? The one with the greasy chocolate?"

"A Screaming Eagle, and all American chocolate is greasy."

Zara had a point, the chocolate here was different then it was back home.

I threw the door open and welcomed them both inside. Misty held two bottles of wine, Zara a type of firewhiskey I was unfamiliar with. I had some butterbeer and a peach wine in the cabinet next to some packs of crackers along with some nice cheese in the fridge.

"Aud, the flat looks great! I love the sofa, but why does it smell like smoke in here?" Zara asked as she examined my apartment with a raised eyebrow. "Is something burning?"

"Not anymore."

Misty had popped her head into the kitchen where I had hidden the evidence of my kitchen sins in the trash can. "Oh, what were you trying to make?"

"Cookies. Biscuits I mean. It was bad."

They looked at me incredulously, I felt my face flush in embarrassment.

"You still have some batter?" Misty asked as she pulled out her wand to help push the remaining smoke out of the open window.

I pulled the bowl out of the fridge with a grin. There was not a lot left in the bowl, I held it out to show Misty who peered in with a look of interest before looking over to the stovetop where a collection of strange black lumps sat in an eerie, mocking silence.

"Those chocolate chips deserved a better end."

"They deserved to be eaten and appreciated, not to end their sweet lives as charcoal."

Zara dumped the charcoal lumps into the trash can and summoned three spoons from the silverware drawer with a flick of her wand and held them out to us as she took a seat at the table. "I think there's enough dough left for the three of us."

The three of us sat at the table talking about the news and the goings on in the Ministry while Zara complained about new Quidditch restrictions imposed for safety and security. Misty regaled us with the latest news from the Accounting Office, which wasn't much as they were number people and people who did math for a living tended to be low drama. Though she did say that she heard a rumor about Nobby Clark Junior being seen talking very affectionately with a pretty young woman in the Ministry Law Library.

Good for him.

The pair of them both looked at each other with dreamy expressions and announced to me that they were going to move in together by the end of next month. Misty's flat had enough room for a second person and it felt safer to live together then apart at this point. Misty extended me a permanent invitation to enjoy her sofa should I ever need it, which I was quick to agree too.

In turn, I spoke of the latest news from the Minister's Office. That Scrimgeour had finally decided to move into the Minister's office at last after a few weeks of running a sizable portion of the administration from the Auror Office and had announced the return of Dolores Umbridge as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. I got the reactions I was expecting, Misty looked disgusted and Zara looked offended on Misty's behalf.

"I hate that woman," Misty's voice was firm. "I've got enough goblin in me that people can see it if they look and she hates half-breeds."

Misty had spoken about her goblin heritage in passing, but never in much detail. I knew it was about four generations back, goblins had incredibly long lives so it was hard to keep straight unless one was deeply involved in a community. Misty spent a lot of time with her elderly relatives and spoke fluent Gobbledegook as a result, a fact she had let slip after a couple drinks too many a few months ago. She spent her early years learning how to identify craft works made by goblins in an uncle's antique shop, she claimed the metal tended to sing in her hands if it was actually made by goblins, something about the enchantments that went into the crafting leaving residual magic behind.

"If she starts up on another goblin regulation bill, I'll wring her neck. I barely qualified to be counted as a witch, let alone be trusted with a wand and if she moves the goalposts and gets my wand snapped there will be hell to pay."

"I'll keep you informed, you have no worries there."

"Thanks, Audrey. What did Weasley say about it?"

I tilted my head slightly in confusion, Misty did not really care for Percy's opinions as a general rule.

She shrugged in response. "I'm nosy."

"Er… He sang her praises. He says she's good to work for, very by the book. Pleasant. Personable. Generally what he admires in a manager."

Misty looked disgusted. "Can't believe Scrimgeour welcomed her back with open arms."

"She's due to start in a couple of weeks, intensive therapy for a… fear of horses."

Misty wore an expression that was like Christmas and a sickle beer night happened at the same time. "Really?"

I told them the rumors I had heard about Umbridge's last days at Hogwarts, how she had been kidnapped by centaurs and either dumped outside of the castle or that Dumbledore had gone to retrieve her himself after his return to the campus. She had been in the hospital for almost two months recovering from the trauma of the experience.

Misty made clip-clop sounds with her tongue that sounded so like there was an invisible horse in the kitchen. Zara cackled.

"Practicing?" I asked, a wry smile pulling at one side of my mouth.

"Oh, yeah. I'll find a herd of horses if I have too! If she has anything made of iron on display-"

"I'll bring it to your eager hands."

"Thank you!"

The clock chimed eight times to mark the hour. The three of us sprung up in unison, Zara moving the drinks and glasses into the living room with a flick of her wand. Misty putting the dirty dishes in the sink while I grabbed the cheese and cracker plate I had thrown together from the fridge and followed them to the small table in the center of the room where we we had an unspoken agreement to sit on the floor.

The radio clicked on with a flick of my wand and a soft feminine voice echoed through the room announcing the start of the program. During the last couple of weeks of meeting at each other's apartments, we had all gotten hooked on a radio drama program about interoffice romance and political intrigue called Office Matters. It was easier to take them the news at points and sometimes we tired of political talk. It was far more… risqué then my usual fare.

"I can't be with her. She's my secretary, but the connection we shared that night is indescribable."

"Because of the ethics violation!" Misty said loudly, causing Zara and I to choke on our drinks.

"And the age difference!" Zara added as she leaned against the couch, "Seriously she's half his age!'

"The affair!" I squeaked, "What an ass! She needs to run off with the clerk!"

"What! They have no brew!" Misty chimed in incredulously.

The wine made my sway slightly, "He cheats once, he'll cheat again! At least the clerk is harmless and well-meaning."

"If that's your view of romance, Aud, I'm concerned!"

I was not going to bring up the obvious parallels to my own life. That was way to much baggage to dump on what was supposed to be a fun night.

Misty changed the subject quickly, "How was that sex scene allowed on the air? It was so bad!"

"Sex scenes in general or just bad sex scenes?" Zara finished the rest of her firewhiskey and set the glass on the table with a clink.

"Bad sex scenes. I know some people like doing that on desks, but save that for the home office, not your workplace!"

"They knew each other for three months!" I rolled my eyes and helped myself to a piece of cheese.

Zara and Misty exchanged a look that I could not decipher, it seemed almost amused and like they had been waiting for this kind of topic.

"So, what do you like?" Misty asked, her eyes gleaming like a cat's.

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Men, non-binary, creatures, nothing at all? We don't think you're into women. You just don't give off the aura. So, no judgement."

"If you were, I know a few." Zara smiled and brushed her violet hair from her face. "They all play Quidditch though and would disagree with you about Quadpot."

Ah. Romantic inquiries. I had dealt with these in school, it was the downside of not openly dating or dating at all. In a school full of hormonal teenagers, not dating was an anomaly that few people could really wrap their minds around. I was good at making up excuses and lies about the matter, nervous about things of that nature in general, word of a beau getting to my father or the press somehow. I told one girl when I was thirteen that I was in an arranged marriage to the son of my mother's childhood friend per her family's Magi Orthodox religion. She believed me and it was all over Ilvermorny in two days. Magi Orthodox was not a religion of any sort. The matter was eventually cleared up, though a few people continued to believe my impulsive lie throughout the rest of my schooling.

My classmate Chastity thought it was hilarious. More-so because her father was a No-Maj southern preacher, so she studied a lot about magical religious practices to talk to him about something from her school life and not her revolving door of boyfriends. I believe she once told him that there was a contemplative religious group called the Sisters that she was considering joining, the Sisters were actually a group of women who focused on sex education and wellness.

"We know you like redheads, is that gender specific?"

I shook my head, my face growing warm. I thought it was pretty on most people, but… well, I had put those fleeting ideas to thought long ago.

"I think it's men, Misty."

"I hope so, we're endangered you know." Misty twirled a strand of her own copper curls around her finger which made me giggle. "If you want to help us repopulate, good on you!"

A huff of laughter flew from me before I could stop it. "I've never put much thought into children, I think I would have to actually have dates before that happens in any case."

"WHAT?" Misty and Zara exclaimed in unison, both leaning over the table to look more closely at my face.

"You have been on a date right?" Misty asked, pulling herself tiger more quickly than Zara who was now settling back to eat crackers and watch the show.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure Gavin really just did it on a dare though. I should have said no, but it was my last few months of school and I was curious. He took me for a walk in the Rose Garden, shoved his tongue down my throat and never spoke to me again."

The room was silent, even Zara's crunching had ceased.

"Oh my God."

"You deserve better than a spit swap!" Misty exclaimed. "You're a babe in the woods!"

"Bad date, worse boy!" Zara added, shaking her head as she poured more wine into our glasses. "Listen Audrey, if you start dating please tell us so we can help you. You're really smart, but sometimes you need other people to look through the fog and tell you if something is wrong."

"And we'll have a girl's night to talk about sex so you don't have a wartime baby."

That sounded… intriguing. The first part, not the baby bit.

"Sex should be fun, but it carries a lot more risk for women then it does for men."

"We just got the abstinence talk at Ilvermorny per MACUSA requirements," I said slowly, revealing in the increasingly horrified expressions of my friends. "Poor Coach Herman and Nurse West had to give that lecture every year. No real talk about pregnancy prevention, but the Sisters organization was good about sneaking pamphlets in for Nurse West to leave out for reading in her infirmary or casually drop in our dormitory when giving annual shots to students a few times a year."

I recalled the talk Nurse West and Professor Tully had with the girls when we were eleven about periods and puberty. MACUSA and many school board parents tied their hands about what they could discuss with us. I learned that little tidbit later from Chastity when she got her hands on a Sisters pamphlet a year later. During that awkward meeting, most of the girls were periodically asking if it was time to leave. That was the only bit of information I got about my changing body, Vanessa never had that talk with me in any capacity, my father just told me to stay away from boys, and not to bring home any babies. Aunt Araminta took me shopping for my first bra before my third year, when she realized the extent of my neglect in regards to early womanhood and made sure to take me school shopping with Quincy and Zuri after that. Quincy put a bra on over his clothes to make Zuri and I laugh before Araminta shooed him away to the men's department. Chastity and our other roommate, Freida, helped me through my first period when I bled through my uniform and stained a chair, making sure no one saw me or the evidence while hustling me to the bathroom at the end of the hallway past groups of students.

"I'm so glad I'm into women," Zara muttered as she took a sip of wine. "There's still hassle, but a lot less long-term worry. It means we get to become parents on our schedule. No surprises. No entrapment."

"Are children something you both want?"

Misty and Zara nodded, Misty speaking for the pair of them. "Someday, far in the future. If we're still alive and together after the war. We have other things we want to do in the meantime."

"I think I'd be a good parent," Zara's voice was low, "I like children. They're funny and I don't find it hard to love them. My parents were not okay with me being a witch, but they tolerated it, they kicked me out when they found out I was gay. Wizards don't understand same sex relationships, there are not a lot of wizards out there, but being gay is generally accepted. Muggles don't even have that."

I… I had never heard this story. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

Zara finished her wine and grinned, "Don't be, if I were straight, I'd still have to see them in that mining town!" She began to laugh. "Imagine! Me spending my life in a dead coal town! What a nightmare!"

No. No, I couldn't see that at all. Zara was too lively, too worldly in ways that I struggled to pin down. She was not hard that way in the way I had seen from the Appalachian representatives from MACUSA. They had a fighter look to them, tough, firm and unshakable. Zara was tough emotionally and soft at her core, but she knew when she needed to put down the wall for her own wellbeing.

"Anyway, the bar for family is in hell but I found my own family in you two."

I wiped my eyes and my mouth pulled back in a watery smile.

Misty took Zara's hand and kissed the back of it swiftly with a soft smile. "You should meet my parents. Officially. I'll introduce you to my other relatives too. They'll all like you, but we need to discuss a lot of complicated goblin customs first." Misty turned her attention back to me. "If you go on a date let us know and I'll set everything up for a girl's night of educational discussion about debauchery."

If I find a date in wartime, that would be the most shocking thing about that discussion.

Oo0o0

Author's Notes: An early chapter for reasons. Next one's on the 3rd.

Misty and Zara are out living their best lives, being happy and well-adjusted as Slytherin and Hufflepuff pairings can be.

The greasy American chocolate this is something I heard from exchange students in college and some of my European cousins. There is a real difference in the quality.

I have thoughts about the US and its relationship with sexual health and education, it's nice to put some of that out for public thought and spoof it a bit. I think in a lot of ways the wizarding world is a lot more progressive, but at the same time it's regressive in so many others. Thematically, I think of this section as being about womanhood, its trappings and those first real bits of adulthood as a contrast to the Strange New World theme of the first section.

Slang Note- I don't think the Wizarding world has a concept on chemistry as a general, slang terminology for human connections, so I used brew instead as flavor text. Something more general than the complexities of something that may only be brought up at the equivalent of a Potions Doctorate or something.