you can't protect everyone.

the streets of knockturn alley reek of smoke and anxiety, and evan is sauntering down its paths with his hands dug deep into the pockets of his robe. he eventually stops in front of an abandoned store window, his feet crossing in front of him, his back leaning against the wall. hands are still hidden away from sight. the alley is busier than usual, and he doesn’t hesitate to establish himself. make it known why he’s there, how he fits into this puzzle. so he gives a nod to the person next to him, his gaze steady, showing no signs of wavering. “seems like business is booming around here, huh?” he says, voice smooth, maintaining a certain sense of warmth, but also a cruel sort of amusement lingering right below the surface. “no, really, i’m just a concerned citizen. trying to keep some peace in this world.” at that, his lips tug upwards into an agreeable grin. after all, lies are easier sold with a smile.

her hazel eyes brighten once they catch sight of her visitor, expression a mixture of surprise and joy. “oh hi, professor ! what a wonderful surprise. it’s great to see you. thank you for coming.” minerva’s visit was, in her eyes, a tremendous honor. alice is aware of how busy she was, with school and the order, so the fact that she took time out of her day to see them            well, that was a gift in itself. one that alice appreciates greatly. at her question, she just smiles, glancing down at neville who was finally sleeping peacefully. “i’m great, we’re great. just out for a little morning walk. he was a bit fussy earlier, so i was just trying to get him to calm down.” her arms move in rocking motions, careful not to disturb her son. her gaze shifts to the other woman, smile practically radiating happiness.  “how are you ?” 

“ but can you really prove it, minerva ? “ the lack of respect most old students still held for the legendary teacher was obvious, just as it had been since first year - and it sure as well wouldn’t stop when there was no chance of detention. “ it’s not like you trace the geneology of each student. how can you tell the muggleborn meadowes weren’t a lie all along ? “ 

“thank  you.”  there  was  something  about  minerva’s  presence  that  always  seemed  to  bring  lily a  surge  of  comfort  . maybe  it  was  because  she’d  always  looked  up  to  her during  and  after  her  time  at  hogwarts ,  or  because  she  simply  felt  safe  when  she  was  around  .  whatever  it  truly  was  ,  lily  was  glad she stopped  by  . “ it  was  long ,  but  overall  it  went  really  well .  now  i’m just …  adjusting  to it all .” it  was  a  big  change  for  the  young  parents  ,  especially  since lily  felt  like  she  was  still  a  child   sometimes  .  but  even  through  everything  ,  motherhood  came  almost  NATURALLY  to  lily .  either  that  ,  or  harry  was  just   a  easy  baby  .  she figured  she’d  find  out  soon  enough  .“ but harry  has  been  wonderful  so  far . really  he’s  the  sweetest  little  baby  .  and  i  think  he  must  like  you  too . ”  

“it seems you’re doing that quite well,” she says, not bothering to hide the pride in her voice. in all honesty, minerva hadn’t expected otherwise --- so much had seemed to come naturally to lily when she’d been a student. motherhood was just another thing for her to conquer. eyes fell on harry again, and she imagined the days where he’d sit in her classroom ( hopefully with a red-and-gold tie ), in which she’d owl with lily to tell him how big a troublemaker he was. there was no way he wouldn’t be, after all. “he seems like an absolute delight. i hope he’s this quiet during the night, too.” minerva tried to shake off her sentimental thoughts, knowing far well that focusing on happy futures was a dangerous thing, with everything so unpredictable. “hm, you do? that’s good to know.” she let her tone turn slightly amused. “i do live for the approval, after all.”

his cheek is leaning against a propped up fist. he can feel his nails digging into his palm. she’s right, she doesn’t know what he’s thinking. but maybe if she could she’d see exactly how stupid what she was saying truly was.

he didn’t need to look at the article face up on the table between them. he didn’t need to read any newspaper. the frantic thoughts of order members running back and forth like caged rats told him all he needed to know. 

“that’s fucking easy for you to say.” his gaze was sharp when it finally met hers but he couldn’t hold it for long. “if what they’re saying is the truth then my sister and i are the first ones they’re going after. and not just death eaters.”

it was every single enemy he’d ever managed to make around the underbelly of diagon alley. it was every tentative ally he’d made and then sold their secrets straight to the order. this was more than just burning the bridges and starting from scratch somewhere else. he was a bloody dead man walking. him and his sister both. how was the god damn order supposed to protect them from people they didn’t even know about? bloody good as dead, he was.

minerva didn’t flinch at his words or change her facial expression. she might not be able to read people’s minds like liam was, but she wasn’t daft. she knew that the other would not respond to her with gratefulness and relief. it wasn’t as simple as that. it never was.

“do you think any of this is easy for me?,” she returned, tone just as sharp, her eyes never leaving his face. how easy it was, to slip off her caring words and return to the icy professor so many were used to. “you must know that it isn’t.”

she knew her words were a tinge petty, but minerva didn’t much care; she wasn’t one for sugarcoating and holding back, anyway. “if it’s true, many people’s lives are going to be in danger --- not just those of you and your sister. look, liam, i don’t want to downplay the danger you’re in, and i see that it’s bigger than that i am in, or other order members, but still.”

he had a talent for finding the places no one really seemed to care for, to look at or make into anything worthwhile. he’d always been good at it, the one who found some abandoned hole in the wall for him and his sister to take shelter for the night. but she’d outgrown the need for places like those. he hadn’t. especially on a night like tonight.

this is where he came to escape bellatrix black. at least it was one of those sorts of places that he had in his arsenal. there were quite a few. he needed them. escaping was becoming a ritual nowadays. though this one had been leagues short of graceful. he was breathing hard as his apparition ended, as he stumbled through the doorway he all but fell into to open. his legs felt like stone. his chest still felt like it was being stabbed by bella’s favorite blade. he coughed, stumbling into the nearest chair.

the thing about places like these was that they were completely empty. completely alone. he needed that. the secrecy of it was the only thing he really did have in a situation like his. it was the only constant he had other than ‘bellatrix black was going to hurt you’. he hadn’t checked the place to see that it was still as empty as he believed it to be. he never needed to. he was still trying to catch his breath when minerva crawled out from under the chair, still trying and failing to right himself as she became herself again and spoke, didn’t move his shaky hold on the back of the chair until she touched him. he started for a moment, tried to flip himself around but for only a moment. that’s all he had in him. if there really was a threat hiding up in one of these hole in the walls he wouldn’t have been able to fight them off anyway. he shook his head, gulped down air and the blood still in his mouth, tried a thin smile. “you should see the other guy.”

a lie. he’d hardly left a scratch on bellatrix black.

she had to remind herself so terribly often that this was a war, and that in war people got hurt. that was something that was hard to swallow, though, but when you added the fact that these people were often former students, it became even harder. minerva had never allowed herself to grow stoic at that fact, to accept that --- to do so, was to turn her back on her nature. albus might be able to live with such facts, might be able to see the younger members of the order as soldiers just as much as the older ones. she did not.

every time she saw one of them bleeding, she was reminded of placing sorting hats on their heads, of teaching them in her classroom, of deducting or granting points to them. separating past from present was always hard for minerva --- a sentimental being, underneath all her cynicism --- and in this moment, all she saw was liam when he’d been eleven. 

he wasn’t even one of the younger members, and still she felt trapped in the memories. but only for a slight moment; minerva was pragmatic after all, easy to force her emotions down and to focus on the task at hand. maybe she was stoic, after all.

“ y’know, my family should be on the list. “ dorcas commented without much care at the sight of the newest edition of witch weekly and their long piece on the abbott family. “ there was this whole thing betwen the nott dude who wrote it and my family, and boom, the pevensies were out of the question. “ 

it’s early morning but alice is wide awake, strolling along the empty corridors of st mungos. the woman is physically exhausted, worn out from all the events of the past few days, but she’s never felt more CONTENT in her whole life. she’s completely mesmerized by the sleeping bundle cradled in her arms, so much that she hardly notices when she is joined by another as she rounds the corner, glancing at the familiar face with bright eyes. “oh, hi ! good morning.” she coos, voice barely above a whisper as if to avoid waking the sleeping child nestled in her embrace. it’s almost impossible to tear her gaze away from her son ( afraid she might miss something important if she did ) but she eventually manages, offering nothing short of a beam. “what are you doing here so early ?” 

“ oh please, you aren’t old. just compare yourself to albus but don’t tell him i said that. “ molly sometimes felt twenty years older, weighed down by the war and the abundance of hyper active children running through her house at a constant rate. “ with all boys ‘m afraid my patience is always needed. fred and george are always causing some trouble up, “ molly couldn’t help but smile though, knowing while her boys were a little much at times they were great none the less. “ the boys are alright. bill is a little shaken up. we’re trying to shelter them much as can be y’know? “

task 007: wardrobe

“ what i do inside my classroom is not a debate on morals and philosophies. those muggleborn students, “ the staff meeting at hogwarts had been rather focused on the letters of four sets of complaining parents over their children not being allowed into wizard art., “ couldn’t undestand the material nor could they care about it - there’s a muggle arts class right across the hall. i simply told them which would be a better fit for their abilities. “

“ i hope you don’t mind i view you more of a friend now rather than my professor. oh dear, i’m making myself feel old… ” molly trailed off with a small shake of her head not wanting to think about how despite it feeling like it was yesterday hogwarts was a little over a decade ago, a completely different chapter of her life. “ with all the boys running around my house i need the patience. i’m surviving, it’s a little stressful with the kids and the order but i’m doing well. and yourself? ”