April 27, 1998

The Hogs Head pub rested before me. My chilled fingers and toes begged for the respite offered by a warm drink. It was among the simplest of human pleasures to have warm, dry, extremities was the only thought in my mind as I opened the door, wincing at the sound of the bell above me as I stepped inside.

Aberforth was not a friendly sort of man, but he had alcohol and that elevated him profusely in my eyes at the moment. I was quick to come to the bar and ask for a butterbeer, sliding Aberforth a couple of sickles to cover the cost before taking my glass to a barstool at the far end of the bar. I had no care for the state of the glass, the act of drinking from a glass was a startling sensation after being away from civilization for so long. I enjoyed the warm sensation of butterbeer moving down my throat.

I watched Aberforth behind the bar, talking to his goat while he cleaned glasses – with no real success – it was far from my home, but strangely homey. Warm, not really safe, but it was comfortable.

I had not seen the wraith in days and it was such a relief!

There had been freedom in my detached wanderings. I had turned my attention from Voldemort to Harrow – who seemed a more manageable sort of evil and a potential lead to Voldemort. It was easier to trust the fear that Harrow would have that could be manipulated to my own ends – even of those ended in a ghastly way.

I put my head in my hands as I sat at the bar, trying to ease this headache from the last few days. The ongoing chaos I had been sowing and the dead end I had found in regards to tracking my prey had left me tired. All of these roads had led to dead ends and I found myself almost missing the wraith. I still saw it in my dreams, never staying long, but always at the edge of my consciousness as I rested.

A goat bleated nearby from under the bar. I stuck my head up to look for the goat. It was wearing a little hat with holes for its ears and horns. I took a sip of butterbeer, letting the warmth of it flow through me as I acknowledged how cute that was. That little spark of joy.

"Do have a newspaper laying around?"

Aberforth heaved an annoyed sigh and pulled a newspaper out from behind the counter. The Daily Prophet was not a true source of information, but it was something to read. They would hit the headlines anyway, the important stuff that still helped craft the image of a functional country.

A smile crossed my face as I saw the main headline.

STRING OF ARSONS ON MINISTRY HOMES CONTINUES

Hm, being in the paper was a nice change of pace.

The homes of multiple prominent Ministry of Magic officials have been burned by an unknown arsonist.

"There is no doubt that these attacks are targeted!" Corbin Yaxley, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement stated in an interview with Daily Prophet reporters. "These are targeting Ministry leadership and the perpetrator is engaging in terrorism against the Ministry of Magic itself!"

Aw! Yaxley's educating himself in political theory. How precious!

"None of these addresses are listed for public access, so we have a very short list of suspects. All efforts are being made to find this criminal and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law!"

Catch me if you can, Yaxley.

The article went on, describing the damage done to the homes of several separate Ministry officials. I allowed myself a grin as I flipped through the list of names and the extent of the damage. The Yaxleys had to fully replace the roof of their home, the outer garden and various shrubs – I had sent Yaxleys pathetic little wife screaming out the door. The Avery's front door and a sitting room window that I had broken to start a proper fire deep inside the house in hopes of chasing out Harrow if he had decided to hide out at home – I had only managed to run out his mother. Umbridge has lost her entire roof and the entire front section of her own home at the start of my fire spree. Pius Thicknesse's home at been burned entirely to ash, leaving only the charred skeleton of the frame behind.

Funny how these were all people who felt so safe they did nothing about leaving fleeting gaps in their home protection enchantments. I had to twist around Yaxley's work when I went after his home, warping around them with my own spells to better get close enough to his home for a clear, distanced shot of his very large house. Getting to that had felt very vindictive and satisfying.

I set the paper down slowly and drank my butterbeer with a calm sort of satisfaction. My life was miserable, but there was something to be said for spreading some of that discomfort around.

But despite all of these successes, I felt like this was a miserable sort of life. The noble thing was justice for my brother – I was a Graves and warring was what we did. There was honor in it, honor I never understood until all of this happened. I understood better what it was to spellsling over engage in things like diplomacy – diplomacy was complicated, battling an enemy in the field was a much simpler matter.

It was nice to be inside and out of the cold.

I pulled the galleon Colin had left for me out of my pocket and examined the edges. There had been vague chatter on the edges of the coin for several days now. All mentioning a Room in some way or another.

'Coming to the Room!'

'Need food for the Roomies!'

'Room for 2 more?'

What did it all mean?

There was the sound of the bell at the door and I found myself turning slightly out of curiosity, unsure if anyone else would want to be out at these unnatural hours before the curfew spells activated. I reached up to move my hood further down to make sure my face stayed hidden. The charms that made me look like cousin Audrina had faded, I was sure it only affected my hair at this point and not even the right shade. I would have to find a mirror to fix them soon, but judging by the state of Aberforth, I doubted he had ever seen one in his life.

Two of the figures that entered the pub were identical in height, wearing cloaks with similar shades of gray. They moved through the place confidently as if they had been here before, both were holding large bags and I struggled to see their faces. The third was trim and slight, even under the black cloak, despite my inability to see his face – he was a little taller than the other two, though not by much – maybe an inch.

"Abe!"

Aberforth popped out from the floor where he kept his extra beer, looking very angry as the trio of young men placed their bags on the bar and leaned over for a better look.

"Don't call me that!"

The boy furthest from me ignored that and gave the bag another nudge. "We've brought the delivery. New beer glasses."

Aberforth made an annoyed noise that seemed to please two of the men who followed the bartenders' directions to put the boxes in the back of the pub, while Aberforth glanced over at me and went back to cleaning the glasses he already had in hand. It was the sort of thing that made the place seem normal – it was like a time before the chaos.

I took another sip of butterbeer and averted my eyes slightly as the remaining cloaked man looked over in my direction. His brow furrowed, but I did not get a good look at his face, due to the heavy shadows of the hood beyond the freckles at the tip of his nose. His eyes were carefully hidden and barely visible if they were at all.

My hand moved to rest on my wand handle in the holster at my wrist. I traced the familiar sensation of the mother of pearl inlay on the handle, quietly ready to draw the wand if there was trouble as I tried to look nonchalant. Images of my cousin Quincy's cool confidence when he duelled Yaxley at the Ministry flooded my mind – if I could learn to be a bit more like Quincy, the world would feel like a safer place.

The man moved towards me, I sipped my butterbeer and did my best to look unbothered and unafraid. There was a sudden noise next to me, the sound of a barstool scrapping across the floor and the heavy sigh of a tired person sinking onto a wooden stool. I listened for the seemingly inevitable whistle from my wand, hearing no noise of incoming danger, but still feeling cautious of anything and everything going wrong in moments.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

I knew that voice. I knew it from somewhere. It sounded like Percy, but more relaxed and comfortable, loud and hitting his words in a similar manner – but more like a person and not practiced and poised in the way Percy was when he was out of the flat and being professional. I turned slightly to get a better look at the person who addressed me.

He has a broader face than Percy did, shorter and studier in the shoulders. His hair was a bit of a lighter shade but similar enough for me to make the connections. His eyes were a different color, but the same shape and I was so homesick in that moment I could have cried. I composed myself quickly – my composure was all I had at this point.

The Weasley twins were identical – but Percy had explained that the twins had slightly different freckles. Fred had one on his eyelid that one had to really sit him down and look for because it was so close to his eyelashes. Fred would never let someone sit him down long enough to look.

"I was sure you would have gone back to the states."

"Clearly not." I took another drink of butterbeer. "Seemed like a good idea to stay until they closed the border."

Fred laughed and I ignored the way it reminded me of Percy.

"I promise we're all not mad loons trying to kill each other."

"Only on special occasions then?"

Fred leaned forward on the counter and caught a mug of butterbeer that Aberforth had slide him, casual and cool about it that would make anyone both jealous and impressed at the natural athleticism and coordination.

Well, if we were going to be drinking buddies.

"I owe you an apology; I was curt with you when we last spoke. There was no reason for me to lay my personal issues at your feet that way. I hope we start over again."

Fred looked at me, a moment of contemplative surprise in his eyes before he settled to something mischievous. "Oh, well, if you feel that way I guess I have no choice in the matter. I've never been able to stay mad at a pretty girl!"

By the Twelve, you're not that slick Fred.

"And perhaps you had a very small point." Fred's voice was quiet, thoughtful. The boisterous, unfazed young man had disappeared in some sort of self-reflective thought process that I was sure was rather new to him. "Maybe we should have reached out... He's alright, isn't he?"

"He's not dead."

The torture in the Minister's Office had not killed either of us, people really need to start giving Percy and I more credit for not being as weak and spindly as we looked.

"And I'm sure he's gone into hiding."

He better have.

Fred nodded, a faint expression of relief in his eyes, his shoulders sagging slightly under the weight of it. His brows moved upwards suddenly in a quizzical manner.

"Where did you get that?" Fred shifted his attention from thoughts of Percy to me directly and I became something a little more than tired, woman who had answers to his questions. His smile had returned, flirtatious and attempting to be disarming as he leaned forward to look at the galleon I had thoughtlessly left on the counter when Fred showed up to distract me.

I looked up, an innocent expression on my face as I stared into his eyes. "From the bank. That's where the money lives."

Fred looked closer and I felt like he was judging me, picking me apart somehow for being a smart ass.

"You're lying."

"What makes you say that?" I kept my voice low and stayed still, moving it would further confirm his suspicions.

Fred reached into his pocket and pulled out a galleon, placing it firmly next to my own to reveal identical letters and numbers that would have fooled anyone into believing it to be a serial number.

I kept myself inexpressive as Fred's eyes hardened, despite his continued smile. In that moment he became truly menacing and I had no leverage but the truth.

"A gift from a friend. He didn't tell me anything about it." I smiled back at Fred, ignoring his unspoken threats. "If you know anything you would like to share, I'm all ears."

Fred seemed thoughtful, but still wary.

"You're no coward, are you?"

"I'm still here, draw your own conclusions. Too dumb to leave or too smart to die."

Fred chuckled dryly and he seemed to relax. He took his coin back and said, "Keep it. When this all blows up, we'll be the first to know."

I held up my coin to examine the edges and the fleeting words. "How are you all writing messages?"

"That's our secret," Fred winked, "you just need to keep that with you. If anything happens, that galleon will tell you faster than anything else."

I nodded; it was nice to have that clarified. I was a bit afraid Colin had just left his school gossip resource in my possession. Sliding it into the inner pocket of my robe sleeve next to my wand seemed an easy decision to make.

"So," Fred leaned on the bar and looked down at me with a cheeky grin, a sort of peace and mutual allyship falling over the interaction. "Any plans for after the war?"

Getting Percy to talk to his family so I can tell you exactly how long we've been involved – which is going to hilarious!

"I don't know." A put upon, tired sort of sigh left me. "Find a nice man, maybe?"

Fred propped his head in his hand and leaned towards me with bedroom eyes and a crooked, flirtatious smile. "I'm a nice man."

He smiles like Percy.

"Someone with a steady job that I don't have to worry over."

"Our fireworks are perfectly safe." His tone was flirtatious and he leaned a little closer to me, all easy confidence and playful smiles that both amused and horrified me in equal measure.

"Get married, have a couple of kids when things are settled."

"I'm the co-founder of the greatest joke shop in Britain – if I didn't like kids, I'd be doing something else."

"Politically minded, I think."

"The way I see it, life is too short for these kinds of trivialities." His hand fell over mine, warm and encompassing – a sudden ease to loneliness but also an unspoken offer. Suddenly, there was a warm breath on my ear as he leaned closer to whisper, "Aberforth has empty rooms upstairs."

Oh sweet baby Merlin in the cradle!

If I don't say anything and end this here, imagine showing up to meet Percy's family and letting that knowledge from this interaction hit Fred all at once. He would never be able to say a word about it – but if I told Fred now, it would give me all the power and potential to play that card of him and Percy having the same taste in women later if it was ever needed. It would be an insurance policy on Fred's pride and if I let this play out a little more, I could make it a lot worse.

Fred needs to stop giving me big openings like this. It's not good for his health.

I giggled awkwardly, the combination of the situation and all the cards being in my hands made me truly giddy for the first time in days. I noted at Aberforth had moved as far from the pair of us as possible, clear to the other end of the bar.

Fred moved away from my ear, still being too close to me to be anything akin to platonic or brotherly to better give me a very sultry look that reminded me of Percy and, yeah, fuck, I can't do this.

"You that desperate to play sloppy seconds with your brother?"

When Fred's face froze in an abject horror, I knew I had no regrets.

"Wha-?"

I watched Fred put the puzzle together, his disgust only increasing as tidbits of our conversations, both past and present, continued to sink in. His eyes widened; he moved quickly away from me as if I had just announced I had the plague as his mouth moved soundlessly in a pale imitation of a frog.

Amazing.

"Okay but which -" I could see Fred's brain working behind his eyes and waves of disgust seemed to make him physically gag. "Ugh! Really?"

Fred's face was a shocking magenta of sheer embarrassment and I knew that he would never speak of this for years.

There was a sudden noise and the two cloaked figures emerged from the back of the pub – I knew one to be George Weasley and remained unsure about the third, but it did not matter. The two were chatting quietly with Aberforth about things that were not my business. Fred looked over with interest, but also seemed reluctant to leave, despite his failures with me.

"So... How long exactly?"

"Almost two years."

"Ah," Fred nodded slowly, the disgust still writ on his mouth.

"I've been trying to talk him into leaving with me," Percy's time in the Ministry was not my story to tell, and if he reached out to his family, I did not care to tell a story to them to make them sympathetic to our plight before any reunion. Percy could tell that story himself. He would not forgive me for it, his pride would not allow it. "But he couldn't consider it until you all went into hiding."

Fred nodded slowly, something thoughtful in his eyes.

"My mum keeps talking about having a nice big family dinner when we're out of hiding and she's back in the Burrow... Knowing her, she'll probably make it a regular thing." Fred glanced over at me, his brown eyes reminding me of a friendly dog as he smiled at me. "Maybe you both should come after all of this is settled?"

I paused; the thought of large family dinners sounded lovely. The opportunity to have that large, loving family that Percy had mentioned. How his mother was an excellent cook who tended to pull food out of seemingly nowhere, often freshly picked or preserved and resourced from her own large garden. Would I still warrant an invitation after the way I had left Percy to pursue my brother? Would Percy's mom like me? Weasley family dinners sounded like a delightful sort of chaos that filled me with a sort of warmth at being with Percy and his family with no secrets, no politics and getting to meet all of these people who Percy spoke of so fondly at points when we tried to imagine what our future would be like after the war.

"I think that would be wonderful."

"Good! Looking forward to it."

George looked over at Fred and waved him over. Fred nodded and finished his butterbeer before getting to his feet, the bar stool scrapping on the floor.

"Take care of yourself, and Perce too."

"I'll do my best, Fred. See you when I see you."

I watched the cloaked trio leave the pub, Aberforth watching them leave with his arms crossed in front of his chest and the goat bleating at his feet. The pub was empty again and I knew my time was almost up and I would have to go out into the dark and the damp. It took me another ten minutes to finish my cooling butterbeer and take in my loose plans – I could not say I really had any, but I was not ready to return to Percy yet. I needed to chase this lead on Harrow – I did not like how he had disappeared the way he had.

I regretted not pursuing him first instead of being pulled around by the wraith – I understood now how the wraith had muddied my thoughts and continued to do so, even if I did not see him in the waking world anymore.

"Aberforth?"

"Hm?" His voice was more the grunt of an irritated old man.

"If anything should happen-?"

"I'll let you know."

"How?"

Aberforth tapped the horn of his pet goat and gave a grumpy sort of smile. "You'll know."

Does he speak to goats? Does he have a network of goats who can commune with people all over the country? Are the goats watching me? Do they know where I am?

I vowed in the moment, privately, that I would treat all goats I met in the future with the kind of respect usually offered only to mythic animals like the Horned Serpent.

"And... Can you tell Percy?"

"I'll tell him you're alive. He asks in his letters."

"Thank you for that, and for your hospitality."

"Anytime."

Leaving the pub to step out into the rain was a grim resignation of how lonely I had been in this endeavor – Aberforth's words and Fred's explanation of the coin offered me little comfort. Only understanding that when something happened, I would have to be there. If there was a call, it would be for something big.

I still had doubts about Harry Potter, he was just a kid. These wars were not for children and yet they had clearly become so. It was a terrible thing to feel both so old and so young.

If I was called, I would go. I had no choice. I knew Percy would. I expected no less of him, he had been too restless in recent months before my departure. I expected no less of myself.

These thoughts made the wraith audible in my ear, the raspy, angry breaths and icy breath at my back. How long had it been since I had seen the wraith in the living world? Still, a few days reprieve was better than nothing.

"You'll get yours," I muttered quietly as the finger bones dug into my skin. "Do a better job of telling me where to go and maybe I won't prioritize the living."

The wraith tightened its hold and moved away, leaving the cold promise of its return.

Yes, yes you go away. You've kept me from home and hearth long enough Alex.

I slipped into an alleyway near the Hogs Head and sat down in the driest place I could find and pressed my back against the wall. I was struck with the wraith, until it had its fill of blood, until then this twisted version of my brother was my only companion.

The pattering of tiny feet at the opening of the alley caught my attention, I looked up, fingering my wand slightly as I looked at the source of the noise. It was a small figure in a large knit hat and appeared to be the size of a very young child, but had none of the pudge I associated with toddlers. Instead, it was thin and something shiny gleamed at its waist when caught in the magelights above.

The figure looked at me with bulbous eyes that seemed to get bigger as they took me in.

Wait... I know those big bug eyes!

The House Elf bounced twice on the tips of her toes to slightly express her excitement before running down the alley at a speed I was not sure House Elves could reach – wrapping herself around my leg, her hands behind my knee and a muffled squeal against my robes.

"Miss Audrey!"

"Tinsy!"

"Tinsy has looked for Miss Audrey everywhere!"

"Please call me Audrey."

The House Elf only squeezed harder and continued to babble.

"Madam was worried – Tavish wanted to look hisself and the Weasel has a messy home!"

I was going to ignore the jibe at Percy's sudden lack of housekeeping for was a more important question in the moment. "How did you get in our flat?"

Tinsy ignored the question, "Tinsy decided to find Miss Audrey, that you would be in terrible danger!"

I never really had any control over Tinsy, the control Alex and I had over her for being our mother's children was more of an illusion. Tinsy loved us - I could only hope that she would never be arrested and I would have to explain her apparent eccentricities and stalking behaviors to the local authorities.

"I'm fine," I bent over slightly to put my hand on her head, trying to imply she could let me go but the message was not getting through. "Really, Tinsy, I'm alright."

Tinsy looked up at me with her massive green eyes narrowing in an apparent disbelief.

I spoke before she could say something about me being dishevelled and smelly. I felt grimy, despite all the walks in the rain I had taken in recent days.

"Really, you should go tell Lucinda I'm okay – and Percy too!" Tinsy made a face at the last bit. Strange, I thought she liked Percy. Oh, she's glaring at me. That's frightening.

"Miss Audrey has lost her mind. Tinsy will stay with Audrey Graves – even if she does not like it."

There was a commotion that sounded of screaming, caterwauling cats all throughout Hogsmeade that made Tinsy and I turn quickly towards the noise. It sounded like curfew was now in effect. I had lost my opportunity to slip away without triggering the charms.

"Shit."

Tinsy jumped up and grabbed my hand, the sudden rush of apparition compressed my lungs and I caught my breath once more – shrouded in trees and shadow with Tinsy kneeling beside my head as she caught her breath, the little knives in her apron pocket slightly above my line of sight. Beyond her, there was the image of the wraith in the shadows of the trees.

Oo0Oo0

Author's Note: I think if Fred had lived, he and Audrey would have been good, but antagonizing friends. We'll see more of that in the Hogwarts AU.

Yes, the third fellow was Lee Jordan.

Alright, we're going to two weeks for the next few chapters so I can get some work done on the next few chapters - next update in January 12, 2025

Happy Holidays everyone!