"He wants to join us."

"Absolutely not."

"And deprive of me having this miscreant be part of our team, I'm shocked," Laverna deadpanned as she moved around the soggy cereal in her bowl.

"You can't meet him," Grace said decisively. She paced back and forth in front of the kitchen dining table. Laverna had been watching her go back and forth for the last thirty minutes.

"I don't have much of a choice do I, he's holding my wand hostage," Laverna pointed out. The shrieking had come, as she knew it would, as soon as her sister found out how much of a disaster the previous night had been. Her ears were still ringing with Grace's increasingly catastrophic scenarios which started with James Potter and ended with all of them being hanged in Azkaban or something equally grim. They had all been delivered at decibels only dogs could hear.

"We'll get you a new wand!"

"Do you have a wizard in mind for me to fist fight in an alley? That will definitely not attract exactly the kind of attention we're trying to avoid."

Although truthfully, they were already on their way to being past that. Catching the attention of the son of the saviour of the wizarding world was not low-key.

"Is this funny to you?" Grace snapped, her face now alarmingly close to Laverna's, eyes bulging out of her head. Right now what was more concerning was Grace's oral hygiene.

"I hope you're amused when the dementors feed on my carcass!"

"Dementors don't eat people."

"It's called evolution."

Laverna would rather be dealing with the blackmail portion of the day. Things did not get any better after she told her sister to go brush her teeth again.

"This is a bad idea," Grace insisted as the two sisters passed into Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron.

"Your concern has been noted, for the love of Merlin put a cork in it," Laverna griped. Things were already bad enough but to have to emotionally manage her sister on top of it all was too much.

Laverna had no disguise on, there was no point when James already knew what she looked like.

Grace gripped her by the head and planted a moist kiss on Laverna's cheek which she knew Laverna hated. "If you need me, I'll be nearby."

The further away the better as far as Laverna was concerned.

Laverna kept walking as Grace melted into the shadows. As she approached the Bull and Blossom, her eyes scanning the patrons for James Potter's face, she felt a cat rub up against her ankles and trot alongside her. Laverna looked down at the calico who stared back and gave a chirp.

Nearby indeed.

The Bull and Blossom was a tearoom first and foremost, but the folks behind the bar were amenable to providing Laverna her black coffee after her and her family had run off a little problem that the owners were having when they first opened. It was worth noting that if you were trying to harass and intimidate people into closing up shop, you should at the very least never do anything with your legal government name attached to your paperwork. Or your goons.

The place was decorated in a rustic, barn style. Exposed wood, exposed brick, white salt-worn tables. A lot of beige and a lot of brown. It was horrifically American in her opinion.

James Potter had seated himself in the only corner in the room cast in shadow. Close to the toilets, generally unappealing to most people who didn't want to hear the toilet flush or be hit with the stench of sewage once in a while. Laverna was charitable enough to consider that maybe the boy might have at least one cotton ball floating around that thick skull of his instead of just air.

"Well, well, well, aren't we a little eager today," Laverna said as she settled into her seat, black coffee in front of her. She was early to their meeting because she was early to everything. Her expectations for James were much lower. The punctuality was another pleasant surprise.

"I didn't know what to expect, I've never done this before," James replied, fidgeting nervously. His shoulders were tense, the grip on his cup of tea tighter than it needed to be, eyes darting around, difficulty looking at her. Good, so she made him nervous. It was always easier when people thought she was much scarier than she actually was.

"Could've fooled me."

"I have a lot of cousins."

"Absolute nightmares aren't they?" The two of them sat in agreement for a moment. Grace bit her ankle under the table and hissed.

When Laverne looked down she could swear her sisters cat form was glaring at her. She pressed down on her ankle and hoped there wouldn't be any blood staining her trousers later.

"How did the cat get in here?" James asked confused.

"They really love strays here. Anyway," Laverna continued before James could think too hard, or at all. "We both know what I came for now, hand it over."

"I want to join you." This was most definitely not handing it over.

"No that won't be happening but I appreciate the enthusiasm."

"I won't give you your wand back if you don't let me." If she listened closely she could hear a tinge, just a tinge, of a whine in his voice. Immediately her irritation ratcheted up. There were many things Laverna couldn't abide and a whiny man was near the top.

"You don't even know what I'm doing!" Laverne couldn't help but exclaim. She looked around quickly to make sure no one else was paying attention. Her outburst earned her another bite from her sister. She hissed in pain and gave the calico a dirty look.

"All you know is that I was trying to steal from you." She leaned forward and hissed. "If you wanted to convince me you weren't some pretty boy rich idiot, you're doing a poor job of it."

"You think I'm pretty," James grinned at her, fluttering his eyelashes as he leaned across the table. Laverna's eyes rolled so far back in her head she thought they'd stick like that. She wanted out of here, she was not built to be a diplomat, she was annoyed, it smelled like piss and she did not want to deal with this.

Grace was sitting at James's feet, staring up at him patiently, tail swishing back and forth. He bent down to scratch her head and Laverna had to bite back a warning about her sister biting his fingers. Grace bumped her head against James's knuckles and chirped. He picked up her sister and set her on his lap. The whole thing was a little surreal and a lot ridiculous.

"Your lack of self-preservation is alarming and I have no use for someone who's good judgment I question," Laverna went on. She watched her sister push her face in front of James's nose, her paws clinging to his sweater. She moved from one shoulder to the next, sniffing around his neck, her paws digging inside his jacket.

"Whatever it is, I can help, my father's the saviour of the Wizarding World, I'm your get out of jail card," James insisted, eyes hopeful and pleading. His father was an auror and Laverna didn't like aurors or cops.

Quickly and quietly, Grace leapt from James's lap, Laverna's wand stuck in her mouth and trotted out of the shop. James jumped to his feet, let out a startled, "Hey!" and pointed accusingly after the cat.

"If this was an exam, you'd have failed. Take it from me, you're not suited for this line of work." Laverna pushed back her chair and stood up. James's hand was inches away from latching onto her arm when she turned on the spot and disappeared into thin air.

Anticlimactic and annoying. Over in under twenty minutes.

"We can always do it the muggle way and use liquid latex," Grace said as she and Laverna browsed through Homesense. Now that the threat was over and dealt with, her sister was back to her usual charming self, flexing muscles and all.

Laverna had procured a large shoulder bag from somewhere and was slowly but surely filling it with every box of pastels and paints she found in the art supply aisle.

"We're going to need a lot of liquid latex," Laverna agreed with a nod.

"Why are you even taking all of this stuff anyway, you're a shit artist," Grace asked as she picked up candles at random and sniffed them.

"Scratches an itch," Laverna replied and dropped a 12 piece pack of watercolours into the tote. And it made her feel better about the circus that had been the past few days.

"Art is not about only making good work," Laverna went on in a mysterious voice, trying her best to look down her nose at her sister. "It's about the human spirit and giving breath to your emotions."

"Shut up," Grace said with a laugh and gave her a light push. Except Grace was a walking wall of muscle and it sent Laverna stumbling a few steps.

They should've been back at the house, Laverna knew this, it was where they were safest, and where they were least likely to run into James Potter again. But Homesense served just as well, Laverna doubted James Potter even knew what Homesense was, let alone where to find the nearest one to the Bull and Blossom in London.

The two sisters casually made their way around the store, touching things, commenting on the fabrics and the patterns before meandering out the doors and back into the street. They blended easily with the crowds outside, it was one of the good things about London, there were so many people everywhere, it was easy to get lost. And easy to lose a tail.

"Do you think he'll show up again?" Grace asked as they began walking, the wind blowing through their hair as the sky became greyer with every passing second. Laverna cast a glance up, willing the rain to hold on until she and Grace were safely inside. She hated being wet.

"Maybe, but he'll have a hell of a time trying to track us down until then," Laverna said with a shrug. This whole thing with James Potter was over, better to leave it in the past and forget about it. A minor blip in their workings.

"You know, it might've been nice to have somebody on the inside for once, it would make it a lot easier if we were to get caught," Grace said.

"We're not going to get caught," Laverna insisted, shooting her sister a sideways glare.

"But if-"

"We're not going to get caught, so there's no 'if,'" Laverna insisted. She would never admit that a part of her thought Grace might have been right. Grace shot her a look but didn't say anything.

"And besides, why do you even want him to join, last night you were ready to dig your own grave and throw dirt on yourself just at the fact that I'd been caught," Laverna said.

"Catastrophizing is part of my charm. Anyway, he seemed pretty harmless today, couldn't hurt-"

"Harmless," Laverna snorted in disbelief. They were one degree separated from the person who could arrest them.

"I've just realized, do we even have any food in the house?" Grace asked, changing the subject. She stopped in the middle of the street. A man passing behind them had to swerve around the two at the last minute, swearing under his breath and shooting them dirty looks.

"I don't think so," Laverna answered slowly. She tried to think, the cupboards had been empty, and there was nothing on the stove, unless someone had gone to the shops at some point. Unlikely.

The two of them stared at each other and then Grace said, "Eating out?"

"Yeah," Laverna immediately agreed.

"We should bring Ceilia with us," Grace said as they turned down a corner and started down the street, keeping an eye out on the restaurants they passed by. Laverna couldn't stop a groan from coming out.

"Do we have to?"

"Be nice."

"Ugh, fine."

"You know there's a therapist out there who can help you with these feelings of inadequacy." Laverna decided not to dignify that with a response.

Ceilia met them at a Thai restaurant. The place felt stiflingly hot and Laverna refused to shrug out of her coat. None of this was at all helped by her cousin's line of questioning, none of which had anything to do about the job they had to pull off.

"Is he as hunky as he looks in the magazines?" Ceilia demanded. Laverna took this opportunity to shovel in as much of her pad thai into her mouth in one go to avoid answering. Realistically, it didn't matter at all what James Potter looked like. But the answer was yes.

"He has respectable sized arms," Grace answered, nodding. "I feel no shame in saying I quite enjoyed having him hold and pet me."

Laverna continued to say nothing.

"And does he have those big chocolatey eyes?" This one was aimed at Laverna as Ceilia stared her down, unblinking.

"He does, he reminds me of a cow," Laverna said dryly and stabbed aggressively at her noodles, hoping the questioning would end there.

"You should have let him tag along," Ceilia said as she drank her broth. "It would be nice to have some eye candy around for once."

"I wish you'd free yourself from the shackles of male attention," Laverna said.

"Excuse you, I am objectifying him, that's totally different. It's equality."

It was unfortunate that the universe was on Cecilia's side this time around. As it usually was, much to Laverna's chagrin.

Once they were back at the house and Laverna was unpacking her art supplies and quietly admiring them in her room. It was almost totally dark out, the wind was slowly picking up, bringing the storm that had been threatening all day no doubt about to start.

She liked to hoard art supplies, she wasn't sure why. Painting, drawing, sculpting, portraiture, none of these were skills that had ever made it to Laverna. Her mother had been able to forge the master's with the best of them before she'd passed.

Looking at the different types of pastels and paints gave her a sense of satisfaction. Laverna cycled through fixations, sometimes it was notebooks, they were stacked somewhere in some corner of her room, and sometimes it was household plants. There would always be a period where she itched to own multiples of whatever had caught her attention.

And feeling the texture of the pastels and the silence of the house as everyone settled in for the night helped Laverna relax. If Grace had asked her earlier if she felt anxious or nervous, the answer would have been an immediate no. Never show fear. But it was the kind of nerves that were unconscious, Laverna didn't know she had them until she had a moment to sit with her thoughts.

Night time was the only time when it was truly quiet and peaceful, when no one needed anything from her and she could simply exist. Along with the anticipation of bad weather, she couldn't wait to be under her covers, her window cracked open to let in the cool breeze and listen to the patter of rain against the roof. It was why she had been willing to take the attic room, aside from the massive space it afforded her and the spiders that came along with it.

"You'll never guess who's outside."

Except for tonight. Normally, night time was when everyone left her alone. Except for tonight. Laverna's dreams of peace and quiet evaporated into thin air at the sound of Ceilia's voice.

Ceilia hurried to Laverna's window and pushed aside the curtain, peering out onto the street. Laverna had a brief flash of irritation but settled for sighing instead. The howling of the wind picked up.

"I suspect you're going to tell me anyway."

"Loverboy," Ceilia said, waggling her eyebrows at Laverna. Laverna frowned at her and finally got up from her bed.

"Who are you-" She began, craning her neck around her cousin's to get a glimpse before she stopped mid sentence. "What is he doing here?"

James Potter was standing on the street, staring up at a house that he shouldn't have been able to see. How had he found them? Her irritation was mounting but deep down there was also grudging respect. He was craftier than she'd given him credit for.

"Oh my god, did you see-" Grace burst in and then stopped when Ceilia and Laverna both turned to her from their cramped spot by the window.

Laverna didn't get to say anything as Hamish wandered into the room, toothpaste foaming around his mouth, toothbrush in hand. "Lav, there's some bloke outside, have you seen that?"

"Yes Hamish, thank you," Laverna said as she pushed past everyone and hurried down the stairs.

"Oi, Lav, there's some-"

"I know Angus," she cut him off as she barreled past her remaining cousin, flattening him against the railing.

"What's wrong with her?" she heard him ask the rest of their entourage as they hurried after Laverna..

"Many things," Ceilia answered, hot on her cousin's tail.

Laverna whipped open the front door and stared down James Potter who looked back at her. A strong gust of wind accompanied her entrance,lifting her hair and blowing it wildly around her as if for dramatic effect.

"How did you get here?" she demanded. Her mind ran through the list of people who knew the place even existed but it was a frustratingly short list and included only blood relatives. Definitely couldn't be Uncle Felix, he was in prison.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," James called out smugly.

"Is this where I start unbuttoning my shirt?" Ceilia asked, poking her head around Laverna's shoulder.

"No, Ceilia," Laverna said through gritted teeth. "But your sacrifice is noted."

"You were looking for this, weren't you?" James asked, holding his hand out, seemingly nothing hanging from it but Laverna knew what it was. The invisibility cloak. "It's the real one this time!"

She wanted it. She wanted it very bad. She did not want to use liquid latex. Laverna crossed her arms and sized up her opponent. James did the same, arm still held out as he held her gaze.

"It wouldn't hurt to have someone who's dad can get us out of jail if things go tits up," Grace said quietly so only the family could hear. "And he's a lot smarter than you give him credit for. I mean, he found us, after all."

"Besides, this would be so much easier if we had one more person," Ceilia added. "I mean he can't be any worse than Hamish and Angus."

"Hey I heard that," Hamish whined.

"Yah, I said it out loud." Ceilia rolled her eyes at them and then turned back around.

"He's bound to smell better than Hamish too," Angus threw in.

"I know you're not the one talking, skidmark," Hamish yelled. There was a yelp and then the two of them went racing off upstairs, to pull each other's hair or whatever it is boys did when they fought.

Against her wishes she was outnumbered on the matter. James hadn't moved. The rain had started coming down, she could hear the pitter patter on the porch roof. Against her better judgment, Laverna finally called out,

"Well come in then."

a/n: two updates this quickly? unheard of. it only got written because i'm avoiding studying for my lsat.