Saturday 4th December 1981

Marauder Flat, 09:00

Marlene rolled over on her bed and tried not to sigh when she didn't collide with anyone. Namely, Sirius. Yes, she should be used to it by now but she wasn't. Having all of this space on the bed was weird and empty and she didn't like it. She couldn't get used to it. She didn't want to get used to it. Not that she had to be worried about that right now because it still very much felt weird and wrong and she didn't want to feel like this anymore. But, of course, she didn't have a choice in the matter, did she?

Why did Sirius have to get himself in trouble? Why did the legal system not work for him? Why did he do something so apparently heinous? What was she missing? No. Wait. Scratch that last thought because she had promised herself that she wouldn't think about anything to do with his case at night. Or else she would never get sleep.

She groaned and rolled onto her back. There was a suspicious dark mark on the ceiling. What were the people above her doing? Would she have to contact the landlord? She supposed that she should be grateful that no one had figured out where she and Sirius lived or else, she probably would never have peace. Small mercies. Though the peace and quiet wasn't something she wanted right now.

Was it weird that she almost wanted Cassie to cry out or something just so she had something to do? Being here, staring at the ceiling with just her thoughts was extremely unpleasant. Why was it that only horrible and invasive thoughts came to you in the middle of the night?

Ministry Canteen, 12:30

Dora was sick and tired of listening to him. He was pompous and obnoxious and cocky and just downright annoying. And the worst thing is that je didn't even seem to realise any of that. No matter how many people pulled faces at him. He didn't even seem to realise that no one wanted to even sit with him in the canteen, he was that oblivious. He didn't seem to care as long as he could talk. And, trust her, he talked and talked and talked and talked. He really liked the sound of his own voice, that one.

Timothy Gladstone was his name, by the way. Not that it was that important because, no matter what he thought, he wasn't that important. He was a new Auror just like the rest of them. Nothing more, nothing less. Didn't matter how up himself he was, not how far the stick was up his arse (which was really far). No. Nome of that mattered at all because he was the lowest on the totem pole just like the rest of them. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to realise this and thought that everyone ought to hear everything that he was thinking. Everything. Talk about her not having a filter? Gladstone definitely didn't. Merlin, he didn't even seem to have any common sense!

What was worse that he was even more up himself than usual because he had been allowed to go to Azkaban, of all places, to get some experience with security. Not that that was somewhere that she would be bragging about going. The thought of the place gave her the creeps. Good thing she actually wasn't allowed there currently. Something about having a relative incarcerated in there making you invalid for security purposes. Apparently, the risk of smuggling someone out was too great a risk. She had to be honest the thought had crossed her mind. But only briefly. A fleeting thought. It wasn't like she was ever going to act on it. That would be incredibly stupid. And she was a lot of things but she wasn't stupid. Unlike Gladstone.

Of course, this was the time that he actually paid attention to his surroundings.

"Am I boring you, Tonks?" Gladstone sneered.

"You are a bit, actually," she admitted readily.

Which she immediately realised was a bad thing to say. She blamed the fact that she was exhausted. Hence the yawn, see? Tiredness made her lose whatever appearance of a filter she had. Not that she had much of one in the first place but normally she didn't even bother trying to engage with him. It was always a recipe for disaster so she just didn't bother.

"I would have thought that the topic would be something you would be interested in," he sneered (was that the only way he knew how to talk?) "You know, because that's where your whole family belongs."

She reflexively clenched and unclenched her fists as he basically slandered her family. Sirius. Her mum. Her dad. None of them were safe. She wanted to punch him. She wanted to punch him so bad. Technically she was slandering her dear aunties as well but she couldn't give a crap about them. They weren't family.

Just as she was about to do just that, Moody appeared. And he looked furious. As in, even Dora recoiled because he looked downright terrifying sort of furious. And she had been in the Order with him. Sort of. They hadn't really interacted with each other but still. She had seen him be quite scary but this was something else. This was raw fury.

Dora, along with her fellow new Aurors, watched on as Moody basically tore the kid apart in all ways but physically. He was terrified. She kind of was as well when he finished even though none of it had been directed at her.

"With me, Tonks," he grunted as he walked past without even looking back at Gladstone.

After that little display, she certainly wasn't even going to think about disobeying him and scrambled after him. She didn't catch up quite as quickly as she wanted to because she tripped over her own feet in her haste. Twice.

"You alright, lass?" He asked under his breath as they walked along the corridor.

She shrugged and his eyes narrowed at her.

"Words."

He was one to talk. Mr I-talk-in-grunts-and-minimal-syllables.

"I'm fine."

Because she was. Fine that was. Bright and cherry and all that. Anyway, what did he care? No one around here cared. Not about her, anyway.

"I know I haven't been around a lot-" he began only for her to interrupt him.

"You've been busy with the whole hunting down Death Eaters."

That wasn't exactly something she could complain about. Especially since he was involved in the inner circle ones. The Lestranges. Avery. Yaxley. Karkaroff. She was just a lowly Auror. A Junior Auror. Just higher than the Trainees. Barely at that.

He frowned at her but nodded.

"Exactly."

She shrugged. "I understand. It can't be helped. And you do teach me when you have the chance."

It was fleeting and sometimes confusing but it did happen. Kept her on her toes.

"Well, that's about to change. Come on."

She gave him a confused look.

"What?"

"Come on," Moody repeated impatiently.

Then she realised that he was pointing at a door. And that they were in a corridor she didn't recognise. The door had his name on it. Was it bad that she forgot that he had a first name? He was always just Moody.

Hesitantly, she walked into his office. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it wasn't this. It was immaculate. Like he didn't use it. Weird. But her attention was soon grabbed by Moody sitting behind his desk. Automatically, she stood in front of its almost at attention.

He stared at her for a bit, just enough to make her feel uncomfortable, before asking, "What did you say that stopped me from teaching you?"

"Hunting down Death Eaters," she said slowly.

What did this have to do with anything? And why was he looking at her like that? It was creepy. She hadn't known that he could smile.

"Why don't I teach you how to do just that?"

Monday 6th December

The Burrow, 14:00

Peter was exhausted. Exhausted and bored. His days had been filled with eating and running and running and eating. It was boring. There was no change to his days. Weeks, even. Weeks had gone past. As in, multiple weeks. He hadn't thought that he would still be running at this point. He thought that he would have found a place to stay. But he hadn't. Because he didn't know what he was supposed to do! Where exactly was he supposed to stay? He wasn't good at this planning thing. That was more Sirius and Remus' forte. Not his. He was good at looking for risks in plans. Not the plans themselves!

It was winter now, as well. Which meant it was getting cold. And in the damp sewers, the cold was even more unbearable than simply being outside. It was getting harder and harder to find warm and dry pockets. Case in point, last night he was not successful in finding either of those things so he was feeling particularly miserable today.

He shuffled across some leaves; he had found that they weren't as difficult to walk across when it was frosty and icy. And he could sort of half bury himself under them as he walked along so he kept a little bit warmer. Not warm, just warmer. But he would take what he would get.

Wait, was that a shed? An outhouse of some sort? He didn't care. It was shelter. And it looked a bit worse for wear. Talk about luck! Maybe he could stay there for a while! Throwing all caution to the wind, he darted across the grass. Or rather, he tried to.

Suddenly he found himself in the air. His stomach lurched dangerous and he tried to fight but whatever it was had a tight grip on him.

"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" The child shouted, running. Peter felt like his whole insides were being shaken about.

"What is it, dear?"

"I found a rat!"

"You found a what?"

Disgust. Utter disgust in those few words. That's how everyone sounded like when they talked about rats. Why was it? They were fluffy and smart like other animals? Why were rats so hated and dogs so well liked? Was it because of the size? It didn't make sense and Peter didn't think that it was very fair.

"A rat! Can I keep him?"

And with that, he was thrust upwards and he couldn't help but squeak loudly in fright. The new face was awfully close to him.

Potions Laboratory, 16:00

"You are playing it safe," Severus got scolded. "Where is your inspiration? Your love? Your passion? Your fierceness?"

Potion Master Andrews hand gestures were getting bigger and bigger as he spoke. Severus did not think the man was in any way Italian but he was starting to doubt that now.

Severus didn't even have an explanation for the man. Not one that he could actually tell him. Saying that he was spending a lot of time researching how to get a criminal out of Azkaban probably wouldn't go down well. Even though he hadn't been convicted. Even though Severus was nearly one hundred percent sure that he was innocent.

It turned out that be didn't have to have an explanation at the ready because Andrews went on and on and on, not needing any input from him at all. He did nod at what seemed to be the right moments and make agreeing noises.

"I will get your inspiration back," he eventually said with a nod, ignoring Severus trying to explain that he hadn't lost his inspiration. "You need something new. Something fresh!"

Seriously, in his two years of Apprenticeship, Severus had never heard the man talk so much. Honestly, it was a bit awkward. He was used to short, sharp instruction. Direct conversation. Jed liked that. Enjoyed it even. It was the best sort of environment for him to work in, if he was being honest. And now there was all this talking? About helping him?

And great, now he was feeling guilty. Andrews didn't have to do anything. Severus' current lack of intensity had nothing to do with him. Absolutely nothing. It had everything to do with his personal life but he wasn't about to share that. No way.

Longbottom Manor, 21:30

She was safe. They were safe. Neville was safe. Everyone was safe. That's what she had taken to repeating to herself every night when she went to bed. When she was lying there and not feeling tired and her mind went over every little thing that happened during the day. Not that that was ever a lot because they really didn't do much during the day. There really wasn't anything to do no matter how hard they tried. They had fallen into the trap of basically doing the same thing every day so it was easy to remember.

Tonight, was a bit different though. Her mantra wasn't just because she needed a reminder of why they were doing this, why they were in hiding despite everything moving on around them. No, it wasn't as simple as that anymore. And it wouldn't be.

Because, you see, her worst nightmare had come true. Well, one of them anyway. There was that one about a Devil's Snare and her baby that made her shudder but she tried not to think about that one too much. Always put that one down to being a new mother. A young, new mother. Something that was kind of silly and definitely wouldn't come true so it wasn't even worth thinking about.

No, this other nightmare that she had was a hundred times worse. A thousand times. A million. Because it had the opportunity to come true. Terrifyingly, devastatingly true. Alice swallowed heavily, glad that Frank was still in the bathroom getting ready for bed so he didn't hear it. He was worried enough that he didn't need to other have the burden of her worry as well. She just had to regain control of herself. Yeah, that's what she had to do.

Except that was pretty hard when you took into account the current state of things. Putting it lightly, it was not going well. She swallowed heavily.

The Death Eaters were getting desperate. That was the most recent update from both Kingsley and Moody. Not just any Death Eaters but the more high-ranking ones. The dangerous ones. The clever ones. The ones that the Order had focused on making them become targets in turn. Bellatrix Lestrange. Rudolphus. Rabastian. Yaxley. Avery. Those Carrow twins that she could never remember the names of. They were getting restless. Worried. Apparently, it was starting to dawn on them that their Master truly wasn't coming back. That the Ministry was finally being successful at tracking their colleagues down and punishing them like they deserved. Well, almost like they deserved.

Desperate, worried Death Eaters were rather like starving, stray dogs, it turned out. When you started backing them into a corner they didn't calm down and realise that you had the upper hand or were trying to help (though, in the Death Eaters' case it was definitely more of the former than the latter). No, they didn't realise any of this. Instead, they snapped. They fought back. But not rationally or coherently. They did it without thought. Erratically.

Why did any of this apply to her and Frank when they were safe and sound under the wards of Longbottom Manor? When they didn't even risk going out directly to someone else's home? When they hadn't been out in public for nearly a year now. Or had it been a year already? It was hard to know. Everything was starting to blur together. That's how long this had been going on. And they had been safe. So safe. Safer than other people; friends, family, who should have been even safer than them. They had survived. They were fine. Except not they weren't going to be.

They were targets now. Oh, they had always been targets, don't get her wrong. Defying Voldemort would always get you that dubious title. But with Voldemort gone they had remained in hiding in case any Death Eaters realised how big a threat that Voldemort had deemed them. They weren't stupid. And nothing had happened to them. Her own mother had gotten impatient with them because they were being stupidly cautious. That it was safe and that they were being paranoid. Even though they had Neville and were operating under the idea that it was better safe than sorry. No matter how frustratingly exhausting it could be sometimes. Because it could be. The days were long. And not always exciting. But that wasn't the point. Oh, no, that definitely wasn't the point.

Except they weren't. Safe that was. Not anymore. They couldn't pretend to be. Because they had got proof, actual honest to Merlin proof, that they were now being hunted down. Just like... just like... Alice swallowed heavily. Just like James and Lily were. Except that it was Death Eaters now and not Voldemort. Which was almost as bad. And surely wasn't going to end well?

She couldn't control the sob that escaped her. Instantly, Frank was by her side, toothpaste still around his mouth. Something that usually amused her because she had no clue how her husband brushed his teeth but no matter how he did it, toothpaste always ended up on his face. But even that didn't help. The tears kept coming down.

"Hey, we'll be okay. We're safe," he soothed, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

He wrapped her in a hug but she pushed him away, shaking her head.

"You can't promise that."

"But we are safe. We've been safe."

That wasn't helping. James and Lily had been safe. Then it turned out that they weren't. Who was to say the same wouldn't happen again?

Again, Frank seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

"We aren't using the Fidelius Charm," he reminded her.

"We aren't using the Fidelius Charm," she repeated.

Somehow, that didn't have the calming effect she wanted it to have.