Author's Notes: Certain segments of this story, particularly Fleur's encounter with Snatchers, references MandyinKC's story "Order of Mercy" and have been used with permission.

~EA

Encounters

Alicia wondered if adulthood was simply being exhausted all of the bloody time.

If she wasn't in class, she was spending at least two evenings a week trying to convince a few of the muggle-borns on Umbridge's upcoming lists to leave the country. It was a damned good thing Adrian usually went with her; the Snatchers were getting angrier because, each week, a handful of muggle-borns were fleeing the country just before they were called before the Commission. Alicia was sure the Death Eaters knew there was a coordinated effort taking place, but they hadn't been able to link it back to the Order of the Phoenix. It was becoming more and more dangerous, and yet she, Angelina, and Oliver kept on, while Percy Weasley secretly stole the lists, Fleur kept the records, and Audrey Sprayberry — a plucky, witty, fun little Ravenclaw — set up the portkeys.

Diagon Alley was getting worse, too. The very few muggle-borns that Umbridge didn't send to Akzaban were run out of their homes and left to beg for scraps, marginalized to the fringes to serve as examples to other possible muggle-borns who might be passing through.

Of course, if Death Eaters or the like happened to be in the alley and saw one these homeless and wandless, they would always kick out at them, simply because they could. Some Death Eaters would even hex them for fun if they were feeling particularly cruel. Angelina and Alicia had witnessed that at least twice. Both girls were livid and had wanted to get involved, yet they also knew better — getting involved would land them in a lot of trouble. Fred and George, however, actually did hex a possible Death Eater for trying to use a homeless wizard as their personal whipping boy, then disappeared before the arsehole had a chance to turn around and find them.

Snatchers also tried to corner Fleur Weasley one afternoon in Diagon Alley, but thank Merlin George happened to pass by as Fleur was fighting them and was able to step in and get her out of the situation. Arthur Weasley lost his temper and went off at the Ministry of Magic, using his family's pureblood status to bring awareness of the Snatchers' attempts to bully people who, by Voldemort's standards, were technically of the right blood status — ranting that that Fleur had been a Triwizard Champion, that her own family were prominent purebloods in France, and that she was married to pureblood Bill Weasley. However, Fleur ultimately had to quit her job at Gringotts, because Percy received a tip-off that the Snatchers were out for blood at being bested by a quarter-Veela witch. It was simply in Fleur's best interest to remove herself from society for a while. Bill continued to work, and in turn, Fleur threw her efforts into her garden, brewing potions, and the Order of Mercy.

Then there was Lee, who was also courting danger. Back in August, Lee had gotten the brilliant idea to start a pirate radio station on the Wireless network, which he titled Potterwatch. With the twins' help, he ferreted out what he needed in terms of equipment from second-hand shops and the black market, and set up the rig in a small apartment he'd snagged nearby in muggle London. His hope was that if he broadcast from a muggle flat, the Death Eaters might take longer to track him down — they were sure to look in places like the twins' flat first, if they caught wind of what Lee wanted to do. Alicia worried that if Death Eaters searched the twins' flat for Lee, they might also search Angelina's flat and Kenneth's flat… and if they searched Angelina's flat while Adrian was over…

Well, that was the last thing she needed: Death Eaters discovering Adrian Pucey was shacking with a couple of Gryffindor girls.

But Potterwatch proved popular from the very beginning, and Lee was enthusiastic about it. He varied the date and time of each show, and passwords were always dead members of the Order of the Phoenix to protect living members of the Order.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Angelina were just as tired as Alicia was, what with the practices they were putting in at Holyhead and Puddlemere. Kenneth was worried about Bill, who still didn't seem to fair well at the full moon, and he worried about Karen's status as a half-blood, since her mother was in Azkaban. Karen's father was barely getting through his days and was a complete wreck. Alicia knew that Kenneth and Karen tried to visit David Pickford at least once a week so he wouldn't be so alone, and Kenneth was still avoiding his own family so he wouldn't fight with his dad.

Alicia continually worried about her own parents, who were starting to ignore her even more. She checked in with them weekly, but their names hadn't come up in the Muggle-Born Registration Commission yet, and regardless, Patricia and Leslie were determined to stay in England. They kept insisting they were fine because they had little to no contact with the wizarding world, and therefore didn't believe they would be on anyone's target list. Doreen and Alicia both tried to convince them otherwise, but they refused to listen.

Alicia's rotations at the hospital also proved difficult to work around and made her even more tired, though Fleur was understanding of her situation and reminded her that learning to heal others was just as important as saving muggle-borns. Alicia had a feeling her skills were going to be tested soon enough, and she rather dreaded it.

All in all, by mid-October, she found herself crashing into bed most nights, too tired to even fool around with Adrian. She rather missed the nights back in June when they'd done nothing but shag themselves ragged, oftentimes more than once a night. Now, it was life making them ragged, and a good shag would be a welcome change. She wasn't entirely sure when they'd even last had sex, because she was so tired and her brain felt so much like mush. Maybe a week earlier? Ugh, that was way too long.

Then, one morning in late October, during rotations at St. Mungo's, Alania Pucey's prediction came true — and Alicia realized Adrian's mother had described what would happen to perfection.

He's a tall, thin man with graying hair. The sort of person who will send a shiver up your spine when you see him, Alania had said.

Eilish MacMillan had been explaining what happened when a person was exposed to the Cruciatus Curse for varying lengths of time — short doses versus longer doses — when the door at the end of the corridor opened and Cecil Vanhausen entered the Spell Damage Ward.

Alicia didn't see him at first because she was turned away from him. In fact, she first noticed the way Courtney stiffened and the way fear flashed through the blonde's striking eyes, which were looking past Alicia towards the door to the stairs. Her fear was more stark than Alicia had ever seen, but before she could ask if Courtney was okay, she heard a voice that made her very nerves tauten. It was polite, but also oddly dangerous.

"Ah, there you are, dear," it said, in what most people would assume was a courteous tone. Then, more disparagingly, "And Healer MacMillan."

Alicia's fingers curled into her palm around her wand; she did not like the sound underlying his words.

"Chairman," Healer MacMillan said. Her voice also had a hint of coolness to it.

When Alicia turned, she saw a tall man in perfect, navy robes with graying hair. His eyes were far colder than Courtney's had ever been. Alicia felt a slither run up her spine as warning bells went off in her head. She wouldn't have liked him even if she'd known nothing about him. His very presence screamed for her to be careful around this man.

"How are the lessons going today?" he asked, smiling at them — a smile that did not reach his eyes, Alicia noticed.

"Both of these young lasses are exceptional," Healer MacMillan replied. Her voice was still cool. "Your daughter, sir, is a natural. So is Miss Spinnet."

Cecil Vanhausen's dark eyes cut towards Alicia, sizing her up. Alicia straightened her back unconsciously and tilted her chin. She would not be intimidated by this man, damn it — especially knowing what little Courtney, Alania, and Kenneth had shared with her. If Courtney was to be believed, this was the arsehole who was forcing his own daughter to date Death Eaters against her will! Not to mention Alania had said Cecil probably wanted to be a Death Eater himself, and Kenneth had told Alicia that Cecil was absolutely accepting bribes from Death Eaters and their families.

"Ah yes, I remember," he said. "Our scholarship student. Your grades are impeccable, Miss Spinnet. Quite impressive for a half-blood."

Healer MacMillan interrupted in a frosty tone. "I should hardly think that matters, sir."

"You misunderstand me, MacMillan," he said, smiling genially. "I only meant her level of ability is usually associated with purebloods like yourself."

Alicia desperately tried to reel her temper in. There was absolutely no bloody difference between the two statements, damn it! However, fighting with the chairman of the board was a very bad idea, and Alania had warned her for a reason, so Alicia bit her tongue. Lashing out would likely get her removed from the program, and Dumbledore had wanted her to stay in it as long as possible. The Order didn't have anyone else right now, except Healer MacMillan, and Alicia didn't want to put the older woman in a precarious situation. No one knew Eilish MacMillan had agreed to help except a very select few people, and she could only help secretly to protect her job and position.

So, even though she absolutely hated it, Alicia forced herself to say, "Thank you, sir."

"Well," he went on pleasantly. "I won't keep you ladies. I merely stopped by to see how things were going."

"We were discussing the effects of Cruciatus," Healer MacMillan replied darkly.

"Excellent. That is certainly one you girls should learn. I'll leave you to it then." He turned for the door, but after just a few steps, he looked back at Courtney. "Oh, and don't forget dear, you have an engagement this evening at 7:00 sharp. Do not forget."

"Yes, sir," Courtney answered.

Alicia caught the distinct resentfulness and bitterness in her tone and, when her father left the corridor, she also noticed the way Courtney's lip curled in clear dislike.

Healer MacMillan was also still glaring at the door. Finally she said, "Well, back to work, then. If you'll follow me, lasses." She led them into the long-term spell damage room. A set of white curtains had been erected around two beds, like the ones that had been placed around Katie's bed back in April when she'd finally woken and the hospital had wanted to give her and her parents some privacy.

"I have permission from the family for you to visit these two patients, who are long-term residents of the hospital due to the nature of their injuries from overextended doses of the Cruciatus Curse. They are Frank and Alice Longbottom. You may recognize their names; they were well-known Aurors during the first war."

Alicia felt her stomach bottom out. Wait… Longbottom? Where these Neville's parents?

She sucked in a quick breath as Eilish allowed them to step inside the curtains, and the older woman said in an overly-bright voice, "Alice? Frank? You have a couple of visitors today. These young lasses are learning to be Healers."

Frank was lying down in bed, gazing at the wall — as though he hadn't even heard Eilish. But Alice was sitting up, looking through a picture book. The moment Eilish spoke, her gaze immediately snapped to both girls. She had protuberant, wide eyes, as though she were curious. Her hair was shock white and wispy, and her face was prematurely lined. She looked ancient — certainly not the same age as Alicia's own mum and dad.

Alicia swallowed the sob that wanted to claw up her throat. Godric, these were Neville's parents, damn it. Next to her, Courtney was as still as marble, her face a complete mask.

Without thinking, Alicia stepped forward to Alice's side and whispered, "I know your son."

The woman looked at her and blinked in confusion.

Alicia clarified. "Neville…?"

At that, however, Alice's eyes widened and she smiled and nodded. She obviously knew the name, even if she didn't know Neville was her son. The fact that she didn't know Neville was her son made Alicia want to cry all the more.

Eilish looked surprised. "You know Neville, lass?"

"A bit," Alicia whispered. "He was two years below me in Gryffindor. He's in his seventh-year, now."

She wondered, briefly, what Neville was doing under Snape's regime. Was he still that bumbling, clumsy, shy boy she'd known? Or was he standing up against Snape as he'd once stood up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione back during his first year? Neville reminded Alicia a lot of Kenneth, actually. She hoped Neville grown into himself just as Kenneth had.

Alice motioned for Alicia to come nearer and reached for her hand. Uncertain what was going on, Alicia glanced at Eilish, but Eilish merely nodded in encouragement. Alicia held her hand out, and the woman took it in cool, skinny fingers before she pressed something small and papery into Alicia's palm. When Alicia looked down, she realized it was a Drooble's gum wrapper.

"Er, thank you?" she said tentatively.

But Alice shook her head and pointed at the wrapper, then at Alicia.

"For me?"

She shook her head again.

It abruptly occurred to Alicia that Alice couldn't speak, and she realized that was an effect of overexposure to Cruciatus. Alicia would have to guess what she meant, and if she guessed wrong, it might upset Alice…! But she figured she would try, anyway.

Softly, she asked, "For Neville, maybe?"

The woman nodded and gave her another smile.

"Would you like me to make sure he gets it?"

Alice nodded again, more eagerly, and squeezed Alicia's hand in thanks while folding Alicia's fingers over the wrapper.

Alicia felt tears behind her eyes again. "I'll make sure he gets it," she promised.

"Well, we'll leave you both alone, Alice," Eilish said cheerfully. "Come along then, lasses?"

Alicia and Courtney followed her out. Courtney's face was still completely expressionless. As they moved back into the corridor, Alicia glanced at the wrapper, bit her lip, and slipped it inside her pocket. She wondered how she could get it to Neville without it being recognized in the post and thrown away. She would have to ask Fred and George. If anyone knew how to get contraband into Hogwarts, it was Fred and George. They offered an owl order service, after all.

"As you can see," Eilish MacMillan was saying in a brisk voice, bringing Alicia back to reality, "Overexposure to Cruciatus not only ages the victims considerably and completely destroys their mental state, it also eliminates the ability to speak…"

Alicia closed her eyes and recentered herself as Eilish went on about the Cruciatus Curse. It wouldn't do any good to get emotional. Adrian was right: emotions could be used against her. She needed to focus on learning to be a Healer, so she could help horrible cases like the Longbottoms if possible. Getting upset, lashing out at the chairman for calling her a half-blood in a tone that suggested he hated her, or crying because the Longbottoms were permanently damaged, wouldn't do any good and would likely hurt her in the long run. She had to be strong.

When she and Courtney were released for the afternoon however, something else occurred to Alicia — something Cecil Vanhausen had said to his daughter just before they entered the long-term residents' ward.

As she and Courtney stepped out the back door of St. Mungo's into a tiny little rear courtyard where the Healers could Apparate and Disapparate without going through the main entrance in their blinding, lime-green robes, she turned to the Slytherin and asked quietly, "What engagement did your father mean? Tonight?"

Courtney stiffened. "Nothing."

"Courtney…"

She thought perhaps Courtney would ignore her and Disapparate, but to her surprise, she didn't. Instead, her shoulders dropped and she said flatly, "I have a date with Raul Jugson."

Alicia felt as though something heavy had hit her between the eyes. Anger swept through her. Cecil Vanhausen was forcing his daughter to date a Death Eater's son. Shite. So much for controlling her emotions, she thought furiously.

"You can't get out of it?" Alicia demanded.

To her surprise, Courtney gave her a small, dangerous, almost evil smile. "Yes, but not the way you're thinking."

Startled by the expression, Alicia decided not to ask what she meant. Instead, she said shortly, "Do you need a safe place to Apparate to if you need to get away?"

At that, Courtney's expression changed. It was no longer delightfully wicked, but her mouth and eyes relaxed and Alicia saw the actual worry underneath. The fact that she was allowing Alicia to see her real emotions was a hopefully sign that they were becoming more used to each other, Alicia supposed.

In a quieter, calmer voice, Courtney replied, "Thanks, Spinnet. But I won't put you in danger like that. I can handle this."

Without another word, she Disapparated, leaving Alicia alone.

Alicia gripped the gum wrapper in her pocket and thought of Alice Longbottom: tortured into insanity, unable to speak, yet still loving her son so much — even though she didn't know Neville was her son — but loving him so much that she wanted Alicia to send a gift to him. Even if it was just a used gum wrapper. Alice had still thought of Neville and wanted to pass the gum wrapper along to let him know she was thinking about him.

And then Alicia thought of Cecil Vanhausen, who cared so little for his daughter that he insisted she date a Death Eater's son to advance his own social standing within Voldemort's hierarchy, even if Courtney didn't want to date a Death Eater's son.

Alicia felt rather sick to her stomach.

That evening, Alicia found herself at the twins' place while Adrian helped Kingsley with Order-related business at one of the safehouses. Apparently, three Order members had moved a family of muggle-borns themselves, with no knowledge of the the Order of Mercy, and were planning to move them again to ensure their safety. Kingsley wanted Adrian on-hand (and Disillusioned) because of his skill at Defense, because he was concerned Death Eaters might be trying to locate this particular family as it was two muggle-borns and their young children. Adrian didn't have a lot of details; Kingsley was keeping the family's identity secret. Alicia merely begged Adrian to be careful before he kissed her goodbye and Apparated off the landing.

It was a small crowd that night at the twins' flat — just Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, Oliver, Kenneth, and Karen. It seemed a lot of people weren't getting out anymore, not even for parties at Fred and George's place. Nor had Alicia gotten used to going to parties at the twins' flat without Chrysanthe and Danny around, and for some reason, Gilbert was absent from their ranks that evening, as well. Usually, he joined them, but it was a Friday, so perhaps he was on a date with Jane. He was spending a lot of time with her, lately. She was another one who needed to get out of the country and hadn't, yet.

Alicia couldn't focus; she was far too worried about Adrian, and something else kept gnawing in her mind, too: the gum wrapper. The current conversation was one-sided anyways — Lee was going on enthusiastically about how well the previous broadcast of Potterwatch had gone. He'd had more listeners than any previous broadcast, helped by the fact that the small group in the flat had made sure the right people knew to listen in and had covertly shared the password to trusted acquaintances.

Alicia was happy for him, she really was, but when Lee finally took a breath from his long-winded recount, Alicia looked up at the twins and interrupted. "Hey, I have a question, actually."

"What's up?" Fred asked.

"Is there any way to get mail into Hogwarts without it being searched?"

Fred and George exchanged dark glances and shook their heads. Even Lee fell silent and looked mutinous.

"Nope," Fred replied hopelessly.

"We've tried," George explained.

"It was originally part of our mail service — that we could get almost everything on our product list into Hogwarts without it being searched or confiscated. But the Death Eaters are confiscating practically everything, no matter what it is. They aren't taking any chances. We've even had to refund some people because they never got their orders, and we've had to retract that part of our ad."

"Ginny's sent us a couple of owls," George added bitterly, "but they're so heavily redacted, we can't make out anything she's trying to tell us. Even using spells to try and lift the bloody redactions!"

Fred grumbled, "Her third letter was completely blacked out. They sent it to us like that deliberately."

Through gritted teeth, George said, "Blacked out every fucking inch of it. Literally! The only things that weren't blacked out were Dear Fred and George at the beginning and love Gin at the end."

Angelina's hackles had gone back. "Bloody hell…"

Kenneth added in a very irritated, angry voice, "They do the same shite with the letters Luke sends me — black out the majority of the text. Whatever is happening at Hogwarts, it isn't pretty." He looked livid. "Pisses me off, and there's bloody well nothing I can do about it."

George gave him a sympathetic smile. "Guess this is how you felt when you were Head Boy, yeah? I used to think you were exaggerating sometimes, but I fucking hate feeling like I can't do anything to help Ginny."

Kenneth glared at the twins. "You two are insufferable, you know that? How the bloody fuck could you think I was making shite up back then?"

"Okay, we're sorry," Fred said quickly. "Better?"

"No! I still mostly want to hex both of you half the time!"

"Anyway," Alicia cut in quickly, before the three of them could start having a go at each other. "Here's my second question. Does anyone know Augusta Longbottom? I mean, personally. Not just who she is."

Everyone glanced at everyone else to see if anyone knew Augusta Longbottom, but it appeared that no one seemed to know the woman personally.

The twins shrugged and glanced at each other. "Never actually met her," Fred admitted.

"Me either," Kenneth said. "I saw her on the platform back in September when she stopped a massive battle from breaking out, but I don't know her."

Oliver was hunched over in his seat. "I don't, either. Mum might." His brow furrowed. "I can ask her."

Karen shook her head. "I definitely don't know her."

"Me either," Angelina echoed.

"Why?" Lee asked, looking at Alicia.

Alicia sighed and finally recounted what had happened at St. Mungo's that afternoon. When she finished, everyone just gaped at her for a second.

"You mean to tell us," Angelina said in a low, furious growl, "that Cecil Vanhausen is forcing his daughter to date Death Eaters against her will? Bloody fucking hell!"

Kenneth, however, rolled his eyes. "That isn't the point, Ang. Alicia needs to know how to get that gum wrapper to Neville."

"It's just a gum wrapper, though," Lee said, his eyebrows up his forehead as he tried not to smile. "It's not really a gift —"

"Not to you, maybe," Angelina snapped, bristling even more at Lee's blasé remark. "But it is to Alice Longbottom. She probably gives Neville stuff like that whenever he visits. It might boost his morale a bit if he got that from Alicia. Besides, Alicia said his mum wanted him to have it!"

"I agree," Karen said, nodding. "You definitely need to find a way to get it to him. Especially since we know awful things are happening at Hogwarts."

"Well," Fred said flatly. "Nothing's getting in Hogwarts. I wouldn't even try sending it there; the Death Eaters will just chunk it, along with your letter. Your best bet is definitely to take it to Augusta Longbottom herself, and ask her to hold it for him until Christmas break. But if none of us know her personally…"

"I'll figure something out," Alicia said quickly. "I agree, I think Neville would appreciate it."

Angelina muttered flatly, "Now that that's settled, I still think it's fucking rubbish that Courtney's father is forcing her to date Death Eaters against her wishes."

"Well, that's just it, isn't it?" Lee said. "We don't really know if he is or not. She told Alicia he was, but she could be lying to Alicia. She's a Slytherin, Ang."

"Exactly," George agreed.

Alicia sighed. "I don't think she's lying to me."

"Neither do I," Angelina answered, glowering at Lee and George. "Last year, Alicia, Karen, Chrysanthe, and I went out for drinks, and Courtney joined us. She was actually pretty fun once she'd had a couple of shots. The sort of person we'd be friends with, if she wasn't trying to be all reserved and cut off from the rest of the world, although it certainly sounds like she has plenty of reason —"

"You're both out of your minds," Fred said, shaking his head. "Vanhausen is just like all the rest of them. Snakes, through and through. Don't trust them, any of them. They'll bite you in the arse before it's over."

"They aren't all like that," Alicia said, frowning at him and thinking of Adrian. "And I don't think Courtney is like that. It's true that I would have said she was back in seventh-year, but… not now."

It was the first time she'd said it aloud, and she knew she was going to meet with resistance. Sure enough, Fred, George, Lee, and Kenneth glared at her.

"Alicia," Kenneth snapped. "For the love of Merlin, stop hanging around her at the Healer Institute, please? I'll agree with you that maybe not all Slytherins are like that, but you don't actually know if Vanhausen is an enemy or not. Her father clearly has views against half-bloods, as evidenced by the fact that he slighted you this very afternoon!"

"He did, yes, but Courtney didn't! You didn't see the fear in her eyes," Alicia snapped back. "I know you hate her, Kenneth, but I don't think she's our enemy. I'm being careful, I promise."

Kenneth opened his mouth to retort, but there was a sudden banging on the twins' door. Everyone turned; wands came out and pointed at the door, but the voice on the other side sounded panicked.

"Kenneth! Are you in there? I need you! KENNETH!"

It was Gilbert's voice, high-pitched and utterly devastated, and Alicia sucked in a quick breath.

Kenneth was already on his feet and moving across the room to the door, but two steps from it, he ran into a sudden shield and fell backwards onto his arse.

"Kenneth! Fred, George! Anyone?! PLEASE! OPEN UP!"

Kenneth twisted around and looked behind him in shock. To Alicia's surprise, Karen was on her feet with her wand outstretched and the fiercest expression any of them had ever seen on her normally sweet face.

"Don't you dare open it, Kenneth Towler!" she snarled. "Ask him at least two security questions first!"

Kenneth looked startled, but he nodded and said, "Okay, okay!"

Karen dropped the shield as Kenneth got back to his feet and put his hand on the doorknob.

"Gil?" he called through the door.

"Kenneth! Is that you?! Seriously, I need you, right now —!"

"How many chocolate frog cards do you have?"

There was a heartbeat, and the Gil yelled furiously, "Helga's arse, are you fucking serious? Three hundred and twenty-eight! Let me in, damn it!"

"Who was your first crush?" Kenneth asked, clearly desperate to open the door, as evidenced by the slight pitch of his voice. He knew Gilbert was going to be angry with a second question, but he also knew better than to test Karen's temper. And Alicia knew that, given the two options, he would rather Gil be pissed at him than his girlfriend.

"Fucking hell, Kenneth! Christy Frobisher! Open the fucking door, damn it!"

Kenneth opened it, and Gilbert burst in and grabbed his arms. "Jane," Gilbert gasped, shaking his best mate once. "They, they —"

"They who? What?" Kenneth demanded sharply.

Alicia suddenly noticed that Gilbert had tears running down his face. "They just… they arrested her! I couldn't… I tried —"

Fred and George were at their sides in seconds.

"Who arrested her?" Fred demanded.

Gilbert swallowed and broke down completely, his face buried in his hands. Through his sobs, Alicia caught the words Death Eaters and Snatchers.

"Had she received a notice from the Commission?" Angelina asked in an odd voice.

Gilbert shook his head. "No! She hadn't said anything about that! I'd been trying to get her to leave the country, but she wouldn't —"

Alicia looked at Angelina and Oliver, stricken. They looked as terrified as she felt. Jane's name hadn't been on Percy's last message at the beginning of this week. If it had, Alicia and Angelina would have absolutely gone to her together; she was in their year, after all! They would have never let her get arrested if they could have prevented it!

That meant the Death Eaters and Snatchers had gotten to her before the Order of Mercy even knew she was going to be called up!