Wednesday 11th November 1981

Auror Academy, 09:00

Dora sighed as she walked through the Academy. Not that she trained here anymore or anything - she was a Probationary Auror now - but she had to come in a file some paperwork and all that nonsense. Something that should have been done before she graduated but that whole period had been so hectic for the Auror Department that it had kind of slipp3d. Multiple big raids and then Voldemort getting vanquished would kind of do that. Everything was a mess. And they still had Death Eaters to round up and Merlin knows what other messes to wade through. She didn't know whether she was coming or going these days. And that wasn't even including all the emotions she felt. Grief. Confusion. Anger. Joy. More grief. Too much grief. Hope. It was all so conflicting and felt like too much.

What was also too much were the looks her fellow Aurors kept on throwing her. And the whispers. Or the not quote whispers because she thought she was deaf or stupid or something.

Oh, she was one of those Blacks, wasn't she? No, wait, her mother ran away. Yeah, but so did that Sirius one and look how he turned out. Does that mean we can't trust her? You never do know with that lot. She's a bit odd anyway, isn't she? All those colours with her hair. Maybe insanity runs in the family? It would explain a lot. I don't want her anywhere near me. Me neither. Half Black is still Black enough in my book. I don't know why she even became an Aurors. Shouldn't let someone like her or him in. Because look how that turned out. She wasn't even celebrating right. This is supposed to be a happy time. Except she isn't happy. What normal person wouldn't be happy? A Dark person, that's who. Or at least a Dark sympathiser. Same thing, really. Should just get rid of them all. No one would moss her. Did you see her fall? I bet she can't do anything right. Then how did she even become an Auror? Probably because of that Black blood. Horrible people, them.

It went on and on and on. Dora was surprised that she hadn't been accused of cursing someone het but she was sure that was coming, knowing her luck. It was stupid, so stupid. People were stupid. The world was stupid. She wasn't a Black; she was a Tonks. T-O-N-K-S. It wasn't that hard. She even went by her last name outside of work so there should be no mistake there. She had never, ever, ever brought any attention to the fact that her mother was a Black. Had been a Black. Because she was a Tonks now too. And quite proud of it. Everyone knew that. Why did people think her mother ran away? Honestly. And then why did people think that she, Dora, would ever be considered a Black by the Black family? She was a half blood. A half breed in their books, knowing them. Even a drop of muggle blood was poison, apparently. She'd heard Sirius tell them some of the more stupid things the Black Finally believed in and by Merlin some of it was so backwards...

Sirius. No. She wasn't going to think of him and his whole predicament right now. All she knew was that there was no way he was guilty. No way. And they were trying to figure it out. On top of everything else. But she couldn't be involved because she was family and apparently biased so she had to be on the side-lines while her whole world just crumbled around her and it wasn't fair...

So, she had thrown herself into her work. The harder she worked, the more tired she was which meant the less time she had alone with her thoughts. And trust her, she did not want to be alone with her thoughts. They just... They just weren't good.

She didn't think any of her friends had good thoughts these days. Which was horrible because Voldemort was gone and the world was safe again so they should all be celebrating, shouldn't they? Shouldn't they? Except they weren't. She wasn't. Because at what cost did, they get this? Friends were dead. People accused. Friends still in hiding. The world wasn't back to normal. The world wasn't right yet. She didn't think that the world would ever be right again.

She heard voices coming from behind the closed doors. Loud voices. Like they weren't even trying not to be overheard. You would have thought Aurors would be over zealous in their use of silencing charms but apparently not.

Dora wasn't sure what it said about her but she could help but start to walk past very slowly in an attempt to eavesdrop. From experience she knew it was a bad idea to crouch down at the door and do that. That was just a sure-fire way of getting caught when everyone in that room left. Which she definitely didn't want to happen. No thank you. So slowly walking past and trying to pick up everything she could was the better idea. It sounded like whoever was in there was arguing.

"Come on, there has to be someone!"

"Stop going on at me."

"I was just asking."

"Well, don't."

"Don't even bother even asking him. He never chooses anyone."

"Excuse me, I do."

"You haven't it the years I've been here."

"And what's been happening in the years you've been here?"

"A war?"

There was a thudding noise like someone had just been hit.

"Exactly, you knucklehead. A war. Which means counter terrorism work. I haven't had time for newbies."

"Other Aurors did."

There was a pause and then a roar of laughter.

"That old glare of yours still works, huh, Moody?"

"Less work for me if it does."

Dora could hear how pleased he was with himself through the door.

"Come on, you're going to have to work with the newbies at some point again."

"I'd rather not. Too eager and full of nonsense."

"Too bright and shiny, you mean?"

Another guffaw of laughter.

"Surely you're the one to knock their corners off?"

"Look, I'll work with them when I work with them."

"Touchy, touchy."

"Shut up."

How many people were even in there? She was pretty sure that she heard three distinct voices. Maybe a fourth but she wasn't one hundred percent convinced of that. She morphed her ears a bit more in an effort to try and figure this out but all she manned to hear was the people inside getting ready to leave. That was her cue to vanish.

She had just managed to get around the corner when she heard the door open. The voices were louder now that there wasn't heavy wood in the way and they were all ribbing each other. It was so strange to hear the older Aurors do that. They were normally so staid and serious and stern. She hadn't been aware that they could tease and joke around like normal people.

What was she supposed to do if they came this way? Pretend she hadn't been here this whole time? They'd see right through that. Would they think she'd been eavesdropping? What sort of punishment would she get for that?

Thankfully she didn't have to find out Because they went the opposite direction. Huh. There had been four of them. And not one of them looked back. She heaved a sigh of relief.

Auror Office 15:30

Kingsley tried to resist the urge to bang his head off the table. That would definitely garner him a few odd looks, which he could really do without.

Everything was a mess, had been a mess and was going to continue being a mess for the foreseeable future. That much was obvious and he was not pleased about it. Not pleased was an understatement in fact. Annoyed. Frustrated. Angry. Depressed. All of those would be the correct word.

And while he was feeling all of that he still had to do paperwork. Paperwork! You would think they would have less of it now but noooo. It had multiplied. By a terrifying amount. Which was just unfair. Of course, he understood why, they were starting catch a lot more Death Eaters of varying importance now that their master was gone. It was like without him a lot of them didn't know how to function properly. Which suited the Aurors just fine. Of course, the most important ones were a bit more clever but they were on their trail.

And it was that trail that had to be documented. Every step, every discovery, every bit of proof. All of it. It had to be there, on parchment. So, there would be no doubt cast on their guilt in court. Because none of them were going to get away with their crimes if the Auror Department could help it.

But that meant way too much writing things up in his opinion. Something the department had been a bit lax on over the duration of the war so they were playing catch up there as well. With all the time spent tracking Death Eaters down, there just wasn't enough hours in the working day to get the writing up done. Which unfortunately meant he had worked an awful lot more overtime than usual. He hadn't minded overtime when he was out fighting and tracking people down. Having to stay late because of paperwork was another matter altogether. It was just so boring and not at all exciting. Especially when you got paperwork back because it wasn't filled out correctly yet no one would tell you the right way to fill it out! Someone tell him how that made sense because to him that didn't make sense. And wasted even more time.

If James were here, he would go and find someone to actually explain how it was done. Or maybe Sirius would charm someone. Probably Sirius first and then if that didn't work then James would figure it out. After laughing about how Sirius failed, of course.

How weird was it going to be to not see James's pop his head around the corner along with Sirius? Oh, sure, he hadn't done that in months and months now but there was always the expectation that he was going to return and fall into old routines again. Everyone had kind of been looking forward to it. Even people who had been annoyed and James and Sirius fooling around had missed James. People were pretty silent about Sirius but that was to be expected right now, unfortunately. Kingsley didn't really know what to think about that, to be honest.

Except now that was never going to happen again, was it? No, it wasn't. It was never going to happen again. And that... that didn't sit right with him. It wouldn't be the same without either of them never mind both.

He really wanted Frank to come back don't about now. Frank and Alice, obviously. You couldn't really have one without the other. They had been partners after all. Like... like Sirius and James. Except they weren't going to get Sirius and James again, were they? Argh, he had to stop thinking like this. It wasn't going to do him any good.

Except he couldn't, could he? You couldn't just switch off and not think about your friends. You couldn't just pretend that they didn't exist even if it would be easier for you. It didn't work like that.

And who was going to be his partner now? When James was in hiding it had been Sirius, with the expectation that those two would be partners again when everything was over. Well, now it was over and they didn't have James any more. They might not even have Sirius! So, who was supposed to be his partner? Some newbie? He really hoped not.

Longbottom Manor, 17:00

Frank closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to think. Think long and hard. And to be able to think he needed a clear head but that was hard to come by these days, wasn't it? He didn't think that he had thought clearly since everything had happened.

Voldemort. Gone. Dead. By a one-year-old. That one-year old's parents. His friends. Also, dead. Sirius, another friend. Locked up because of dead friend. The world was somehow still going crazy and he was expected to be able to think clearly? He didn't think so.

Sometimes he wished he had somewhere like Alice did to get away from the world and not think about things. He would really like not to have to think about things. Even if it was just for a day. A day would be enough.

But he didn't have that privilege, did he? No. No he didn't. He was Frank Longbottom, Heir to the House of Longbottom. He couldn't hide away from his life. He couldn't take a break. He was never going to be able to take a break.

Okay, that was incredibly pessimistic. Being the Heir to a Most Ancient and Noble House was not that bad. Was it a lot of work? Of course, it was. But it wasn't bad. He was just... He was just tired. That was it. And when you were tired you didn't really think of things in the best light. Like all the political stuff you had to do. Or the accounts. Or... Or... well, there was a lot.

Everything was over, right? Voldemort was gone. Dead. Vanquished. By a one-year-old. A one-year-old. By a one-year-old who was basically his nephew. Who he had barely seen. But he should be happy for that, right? Over the moon, in fact. Except he wasn't.

Oh, he was happy the war was over. Of course, he was. The thing was that no-one ever told you about what happened in the immediate aftermath of the war. All the tidying up that had to be done.

It should mean that it was safe, right? Wrong. Voldemort might be gone but his followers definitely weren't. Oh, sure, some of them had been captured but none of his so-called inner circle. None of the high-ranking ones. The most dangerous ones.

The ones who were fully aware of how interested Voldemort had been in them. And had been involved in looking for them, if reports were to be believed. Which he did because there was no way he was putting his family at even the slightest bit of risk. It wasn't going to happen. Nothing was going to happen to his family if he could help it.

So, no, it wasn't worth the risk. Not now. He wasn't going to be taking it and that was that.

Auror Office, 18:30

"You can't be serious?" She heard someone say incredulously.

That was exactly what she was thinking herself. There was no way that this was real and actually happening. What in Merlin's name was going on? She had to be hallucinating. That was it. It was all just one big joke. It had to be because nothing else made sense.

"Nah, this isn't right."

"But it's right there!"

"It's obviously an illusion."

At least she wasn't the only one who was thinking like this. Which meant she wasn't going crazy.

There were even older Aurors crowded around, not just new ones like herself. They were all pointing and whispering incredulously too.

"Oh, ha, ha, ha," Dora said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she spun around, hands on her hips. "Very funny. Oh, it's so funny to tease the newbie."

Yeah, yeah. She understood that the newbies had to go through the whole rigmarole of being wound up and all that but This? This was definitely crossing a line in her book. It wasn't fair to her or to anyone else. It just wasn't.

"Who was it? Who did it?" She asked, not caring that she was disregarding all formalities with everyone around her regardless of their rank.

She didn't care. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

"No one did it, I saw the list go up and his name was already on it," Saunders, one of her classmates in the Academy, told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive?"

"You didn't blink? Even for a moment?"

"There's no charms or enchantments on it either," an older Auror told her, wand out. She didn't know who he was. "I checked."

"Looks like that's who you're partnered up with, " another said with a laugh. "Good luck with that."

"But he barely does normal partners! Why would he want someone straight of the Academy to basically train up?" Dora was shaking her head as she spoke, not understanding what was going on.

It just didn't make any sense!