June 24th-27th, 2005
"Katie! Where are my boots?" Lorelai yelled, hopping on one foot as she tried to tug on a sock while scanning the living room.
"By the door where you left them!" Katie's voice echoed back from her bedroom down the hall.
Lorelai spotted the worn leather boots and hurried over, nearly toppling a lamp in the process. "Shit," she muttered, righting it just before it crashed to the floor.
"Language!" Katie chided as she emerged, backpack on and smirk in place as she strode into the room. Lorelai rolled her eyes and continued pulling the boots on.
"Oh, excuse me," Lorelai said. "I'm just trying to get my shit together so we can get out of here."
Katie rolled her eyes. "You know you could have just summoned them. And you're the one who spent all morning going over case files instead of getting ready."
"Hey, crime doesn't take days off just because I have plans. I've got responsibilities!" Lorelai defended. Of course, the truth was she'd gotten completely absorbed doing research on some of the notes Bobby had sent her in preparation for their meeting next week, and she'd lost track of time.
Katie just gave her a knowing look and opened her mouth to retort when Lorelai's phone started buzzing loudly on the kitchen counter.
"Don't answer that!" Katie called. "We need to go."
But Lorelai was already crossing the room in long strides, swiping up the phone without glancing at the caller ID and holding up a finger towards Katie to indicate just a minute.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Lor." Dean's warm voice filled her ear and Lorelai instantly relaxed, a smile spreading across her face.
"Dean, hey! How's it going?" She leaned back against the counter, previous urgency momentarily forgotten.
"Not bad, just finished up taking care of a shifter in Nebraska with my dad." His voice was a comforting rumble. "Thought I'd check in; see what trouble you've gotten yourself into lately."
"Oh, you know," Lorelai laughed lightly, "the usual. Monsters, cursed objects, researching demonic omens… nothing special." These kinds of phone calls had become increasingly common over the past few weeks. Despite her continued reluctance to let Dean in, it was feeling more and more like a losing battle. Even with the physical distance, he was proving to have the same gravitational force she'd experienced in Tullahoma.
"Damn, sounds like a party," Dean joked. "Need any help?" As if on cue, Katie appeared in the doorway, sending Lorelai a pointed look before glancing at the clock. Lorelai frowned but stood up straighter, understanding the signal.
"Actually, I'm running super late. My brother's in town for the weekend and Katie and I are supposed to meet him for a Qu-baseball game," she said, catching herself just in time.
"Oh yeah? Which brother?"
"Harry – the younger one." Before Lorelai could get any deeper into her explanation, however, Katie cleared her throat loudly and held up her wrist, tapping at her watch. "Shit, okay, really, I gotta run," she finished regretfully.
"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," Dean said, a smile in his tone. "Have fun at the game and enjoy the time with Harry. We'll talk soon." It was a promise that kept the smile on her face, even as she tried to bite it back.
"Absolutely. Bye Dean." Lorelai reluctantly ended the call, the giddy feeling continuing to bubble up inside her. Katie looked torn between amusement and impatience.
"Alright stop drooling, we've gotta go!"
Lorelai felt her cheeks flush, but she quickly grabbed her bag. "I'm ready, I'm ready!"
They hurried down to the lobby of the building where the anti-Apparition wards were relaxed and Lorelai quickly held out her hand for Katie, envisioning the Quidditch stadium before gripping her wand and turning them on the spot. There was the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube, but then they were standing to the side of the crowded entrance, and Katie was staring at her with a knowing grin that made Lorelai narrow her eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing," Katie said innocently, falling into step beside her as they navigated through the throng of people. "Just think it's cute how you turn into a smitten schoolgirl whenever Dean calls."
"I do not!" Lorelai protested, but she could feel her cheeks burning again.
Katie just chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that."
"I don't."
"You do, and you're worse than my dormmates. Are you at least done pretending he's not your boyfriend?"
Lorelai huffed. "Can we talk about something else please?"
They passed through the security sensors easily enough and continued on, heading towards the box for the visiting team.
"Aw, c'mon Lai. I don't get what the problem is. He obviously likes you. You obviously like him."
"It's complicated," Lorelai said with a note of finality in her voice that was usually enough to bring an end to the conversation. Damn kid was getting older though and was becoming harder to dissuade from running her mouth.
"Only because you're making it," Katie shot back with a roll of her eyes. "You know, one day, you're gonna have to stop running scared. You might want to do that before you miss out on a chance to actually be happy."
Her words were both infuriating and a gut punch, but Lorelai was spared the trouble of responding. The entrance to the VIP section for the team member's families loomed into view, and she spotted two familiar faces waiting to the side of it.
"Harry! George!" she called, quickening her pace, Katie falling into line behind her. The two men turned, faces lighting up when they saw the sisters approaching. Harry pulled Lorelai into a tight hug.
"There you two are! We were about to send out a search party," he teased while George swooped Katie into a spinning hug, making her laugh.
"I tried to remind him you're just late to everything, but he was convinced you'd forgotten about us."
Lorelai swatted at George's shoulder playfully as she pulled apart from Harry, and she and Katie switched, George pulling her in for a warm hug next.
"Oh shut up, we're here now."
The four of them bantered lightly as they ducked through the entrance and began their ascent to the box at the top of the stand.
Despite the rush to get there, Lorelai soon relaxed into the enjoyment of the game itself and the company of her brothers. The match was fast paced as expected, with Ginny and Angelina both key players for the Holyhead Harpies. They cheered loudly whenever one of them scored or pulled off a particularly impressive move.
During timeouts and lulls, they caught up on life. George told funny stories from the shop and about the kids while Harry filled them in on Ginny's season, how James was doing, and some of his recent Auror missions. Katie was excited to tell them about her and Lorelai's recent trip to Hershey, and then about visiting her friend in California. Lorelai was deliberately vague, letting Katie do most of the talking and sticking to work when pressed about herself.
Through it all, Lorelai kept expecting Katie to mention Dean or make further comments about her reaction to his call. But her sister kept the conversation firmly steered away from those dangerous waters and Lorelai was relieved. The last thing she needed was George to get back on her case about it. Harry wouldn't hound her, but Lorelai knew his wife certainly would if she caught wind, and Lorelai wasn't ready to deal with any of that. She still wasn't sure what it was with the two of them anyway, she just knew her initial plan of no contact had been a complete failure. And that she was currently trying not to let the words of a twelve-year-old rattle her too deeply.
After the match ended with the Harpies winning by a narrow margin, they lingered outside the stadium to say goodbye to George and Angelina before Side-Along Apparating back to Lorelai's apartment. Harry and Ginny were staying for the remainder of the weekend.
Saturday morning Ginny managed to talk Lorelai into going shopping with her and taking the girls with them. The brief stop they made to Alacester Alley threatened to derail the outing when they were accosted by a reporter on their way out of the bookshop, but Ginny, having enough experience with Lorelai's short fuse, had quickly taken control of the situation, pushing Lorelai back in the store with Katie and Julia with instructions to slip out the back and meet her a few streets over in the Muggle part of NYC.
"I don't know why you don't just tell them to shove it and be done with it," Ginny muttered twenty minutes later when they reunited. "You've got no problem telling everyone else to." Katie and Julia both sniggered.
"You don't want her telling them to shove it," Katie laughed, Julia nodded emphatically next to her.
"Last time she yelled at a reporter, Dad said Lai got in trouble at work." Ginny raised an eyebrow and Lorelai shrugged.
"Apparently MACUSA frowns upon their Aurors cursing out reporters and threatening to hex them into the next century. I believe they called it a 'disproportionate response.'" Ginny shook her head, though there was a smile tugging at her lips.
"Lai, can we get milkshakes?" Julia asked, and Lorelai figured it was fine as long as she made sure they all ate lunch before they eventually made their way back to the apartment.
Later that evening, after everyone else had gone to bed, Lorelai found herself sitting at the kitchen table with Harry, empty bottles littered across the table and each of them with a new beer in front of them.
"We aren't seeing anything like it back home," Harry sighed leaning back in his chair while Lorelai nodded and sipped at her beer. She'd just finished telling him about the files she'd been working on the day before from Bobby and was only half surprised it wasn't a wider-spread issue. "I can talk to Kingsley, though," he offered, "see if anyone else is seeing a rise in demon activity."
"No," Lorelai dismissed quickly, putting her beer back on the table. "Let me work it a while first. It's not the first time we've got issues you aren't seeing in your neck of the woods. You guys don't have even half the monster or creature problems we end up with." Harry frowned but made a face indicating he was willing to concede her point before taking a sip of his own drink.
"Yeah, alright. Just be careful. You still working mostly on your own these days?"
Lorelai bit the inside of her cheek, her mind traitorously wandering back to Dean. Earlier that day he'd texted her to let her know he'd wound up in Duncan Falls, Ohio following up on a string of bodies that were drained and bitten up. He'd also said he hoped she was enjoying the time with her brother, and he'd catch up with her later. Lorelai didn't generally keep things from Harry. Still, she and Dean had only worked the one case together – she didn't count the werewolf – and so, it hardly counted as a partnership.
"Mostly, yeah," she agreed. "We just got a wave of graduates, but I'm pretty sure they've decided not to put me with anymore rookies." Harry snorted and shook his head.
"Merlin, I can't imagine why. Y'know, you used to be patient." Lorelai shrugged and took another drink.
"I used to be a lot of things," she pointed out, and for a moment the words hung between them, the truth feeling weightier than Lorelai liked.
"You seem like you're doing well out here," Harry said after a moment. "I um… I still miss you, you being so far away, but I get it now… and I'm really proud of you."
The sentiment was hitting an emotional level that Lorelai regularly floundered in, but Harry's words still touched her, and she felt something welling somewhere inside her as she fiddled with her beer bottle, her vision blurring around the label she'd been picking at. Harry had been her biggest supporter behind George when she'd decided to leave London, but it had been clear even without him saying so that he'd been hurt and sad about it too. Already long established at the Ministry at the time, he'd been quick to get a job offer put together for her, thinking it was just the position she wanted and not the change of scenery as well, and he'd had a hard time trying to understand why she'd turned it down.
"Thanks, Harry," she said quietly. "I'm um… you know I'm still not… I know I –" she couldn't find the words she wanted, or at least she couldn't form her mouth around them. She knew her head was still pretty fucked up, and she was fine joking about it… but there was something about giving voice to it in a serious conversation she was having trouble with. Harry, however, seemed to get it anyway and nodded.
"Yeah, I know. But you'll get there. I'm just saying, it's nice to see a little of that spark back. That's all."
Lorelai was relieved when they shifted back to lighter topics. Harry filled her in on the latest about their Aunt Helena and Uncle Howard, and Nolan and Jane, slipping in his own complaints about Jane that had Lorelai laughing. He saw them more regularly since they were all living in England. She in turn filled him in on what she could about Mary and Jake, feeling somewhat guilty that most of her information was secondhand through Nick and his parents, and reminded him they were having lunch with Emily the next day before he and Ginny went home.
As she was crawling into bed another hour or so later, she texted Dean back, thanking him and telling him she'd be around tomorrow night if he wanted to catch up. She had just enough energy to second guess her choice, but not enough that it kept her awake, and within seconds of her head hitting the pillow she was out like a light.
Sunday was another whirlwind that passed in a blur, and by the time Lorelai and Katie were hugging Harry and Ginny goodbye by the fireplace Lorelai was both sad and exhausted.
"I'm so glad you guys stayed this weekend," she told them earnestly hugging Ginny before moving onto Harry. "It was so good to see you."
"Of course, we're glad we could make it," said Harry. "We'll see you next month for my birthday, yeah?" Katie would be seeing them sooner as she would be going to stay with Nolan and Jane in about a week.
"Wouldn't miss it," Lorelai confirmed. With a final round of goodbyes and promises to talk soon, Harry and Ginny were gone in a flash of green fire. Lorelai and Katie both let out tired but contented sighs, catching each other's eye. The apartment already felt emptier without the Potters.
"Fun weekend," Katie commented lightly while she and Lorelai leisurely retreated towards the living room. Lorelai smiled.
"Definitely. It's always nice when they visit." She stretched her arms over her head. "I'm beat though."
"You've got an early day tomorrow, don't you?" Lorelai shrugged, waving her wand in the direction of the kitchen, setting things to tidy themselves up, before she rubbed a hand down her face.
"Sort of. I have to go into the shop to finalize some contracts before I go into work." Katie shook her head but came over to give Lorelai a tight hug.
"You're insane. I'm turning in. Get some sleep, Lai! I love you."
"Love you too, kid," Lorelai said, kissing the top of her head and ignoring the words of caution. Instead, she watched fondly as Katie trudged off towards her room before quietly going about making sure the rest of the apartment was in order.
She didn't check her phone until about an hour later when she finally got back into her own room, and she noticed it still sitting on her nightstand. There was a voicemail from Dean, and she held the phone to her ear to listen as she fell back onto her bed, fighting back a smile at the sound of his voice.
Hey, Lor. Hope you guys are all having a good weekend. Just wanted to let you know I'm almost wrapped out here. Pretty sure it's just a Vetala so it should be pretty straightforward. They work alone and go down with a silver dagger to the heart. Anyway, might not be able to catch up tonight, but I'll talk to you soon.
Lorelai found her good mood evaporated as she pulled the phone away from her ear and checked the timestamp. He'd called around noon and it was nearly midnight now. Unease trickled down her spine… he was working off of bad information, and it didn't sound like he had any backup. There was only half a beat of hesitation before she hit redial and held the phone back up.
It rang but went to voicemail and she cursed under her breath, hanging up and staring at the phone as if it would magically have answers. One missed call wasn't reason enough to panic, but her anxiety was rising anyway. With a deep breath she put the phone down and forced herself back to her feet. She'd take a shower, get ready for bed, and hopefully he'd call her back in the meantime. There were plenty of reasons beyond him being in trouble for Dean not to have taken the call. Still, she had a bad feeling about it.
A bad feeling that only got worse when he didn't call back. Not before she went to bed, not while she was sleeping, not while she was dealing with paperwork at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and not at any point during her morning at MACUSA. She tried him again, though, and by lunchtime her bad feeling had turned into a blaring alarm and her anxiety felt completely justified. Her feet carried her to Nick's office on autopilot, a grim expression on her face that caught her friend's attention immediately.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, making to stand up as Lorelai shut the door behind her.
"I need you to watch Katie for a while and I need you to move around whatever you've got on my calendar the rest of today and tomorrow. Maybe the next day."
Nick's concern immediately turned to exasperation, and he threw his hands up in demonstration.
"Lorelai! You can't just –"
"I'm not fucking around, Nick! Can you just help me out? Please?" Something in her voice caught his attention because he paused and studied her, and after a moment the concern came back, and he was frowning.
"What's going on?"
She hesitated. They hadn't explicitly discussed her personal relationship with Dean, but it was only because after so many years in each other's orbit, Nick had learned the art of waiting her out. He knew about Dean – not only did he manage all of her case files, but Lorelai wasn't stupid enough to think Katie wouldn't have said something, or even Olivia, and Nick had always been good at reading her when whatever was going on didn't involve him. She wasn't actually ready to talk about Dean, but being evasive wasn't going to help her right now either.
"Dean was hunting Vetala and went after them with some bad information, and now he's been off the grid for about twenty-four hours."
Nick's frown deepened, and she could see he wanted to press her for more information, but after a moment he nodded.
"Merlin, you know how to pick them," he muttered instead. "Go. I'll take care of everything here. Just be careful."
Ignoring the jab, Lorelai quickly enveloped him in a hug before backtracking to the office door.
"Thanks, Nicky!" she called over her shoulder and hurried back down the hallway to her own office. She was sure she'd be in for an interrogation when she got back, but in that moment, she didn't care as long as she was able to get to Duncan Falls in time and make sure Dean was safe.