#lisasu

        The Boots fared no better. "Hold on, Zelda," Terry's mother said to Lisa's mother. "Terry, your smock's askew—fix it before I do it for you."

        Terry released a long, slow breath but kept his temper in check on Lisa's right. "It's not my fault these ugly things they give us trainees for the first year are impossible to keep in place," he grumbled.

        "What was that?" his mother asked. "Do you need help after all?"

        "I'm great, Mum!" Terry quickly called.

        Lisa stifled a snicker. She'd take her own mother's nitpicking over Seraphina Boot's micromanaging any day, no question.

        Terry glanced down at her, as if he wanted to comment on Lisa's amusement. But he delayed too long and the moment escaped them, replaced by the awkwardness of their current predicament and the past summer overall.

        Lisa tensed and wished his mother would hurry up, or that their fathers (happily chatting in the background) would intervene. The longer she and Terry waited, the more out of place Lisa felt—not standing here in front of St. Mungo's on their first day of training this last full week of August, but beside Terry. Even if it had not been Terry by her side but Michael or even Padma, Lisa wouldn't've felt any better.

        The four of them were friends…again…sort of…maybe? Lisa wasn't certain. Ever since she'd written to Flitwick last Christmas break, disclosing she'd, indeed, survived the battle and then she'd eventually gotten back in touch with Padma and met up with her and the boys, things had felt stilted to Lisa. Mostly she blamed herself. She'd stayed away for so long, focused on her family and yet also using her family as an excuse not to show her face in front of friends who thought they'd lost everyone. Of course, meeting up with the trio had done them all some good, and Lisa had continued her letters to Padma and even sent a few each to Terry and to Michael, but it all—it all felt so forced. Lisa frowned at that thought. She hated the idea that she wasn't exactly friends with these three despite their efforts.

        Her frown caught her father's eye, though, and he interrupted his chat with Terry's father. "Lisa, sweet pea, smile," he reminded her.

        Oh, Revered Rowena, he was not helping the situation at all!

        Terry coughed and pointedly averted his eyes, and Lisa's cheeks flushed with color. She would've fixed Terry with a glare if their mothers hadn't declared them ready and Seraphina chimed, "Three, two, one—"

        Lisa's father gave her a thumb's up, but at the last second Terry made matters worse, wrapping an arm around Lisa's shoulders as if they were best friends. The flash went off, dazzling the two Healers-in-training's eyes, but, judging by the satisfied coos of the parents, the elder Turpins and Boots were happy with the picture.

        Lisa scowled now that the attention was no longer on her, but she willed her expression into something milder when Terry groaned and ducked his head her way. "Sorry, Lisa," he apologized. "That—that was weird, and I know it."

        She internally sighed and adjusted her smock (the belt on these things really didn't do a damn to keep the smock in place). "…it's all right, Terry. They're happy," she added with a jerk of her head towards their parents. "That's what matters, right?"

        He answered her with a squiggle-lipped smile. How apt.

        Not wanting to extend this parting, Lisa gave her parents a curt nod and a wave and headed for the safety of St. Mungo's lobby before they could waylay her. Smartly, Terry followed her example, and the pair sighed when they found the trail of other trainees to follow past the intake counter.

        "It's nice to do this alongside a familiar face," Terry commented as they marched towards trainee orientation.

        "Agreed," Lisa answered without hesitation. She blinked. That caught her by surprise. Many things hadn't gone right today: Going against her mother's suggestions and wearing a long-sleeved top in this end-of-summer heat, her father's unhelpful advice to smile for the camera, Terry acting too buddy-buddy with her.

        But this—this surprisingly felt normal. It felt natural. Perhaps, Lisa realized, a wealth of today simply could be chocked up to nerves and, with the troll in the room addressed, they now could breathe a bit easier.

        An older witch at the head of the trainee group cleared her throat, catching the attention of a few trainees who had wandered from the group to peek into nearby rooms and departments. The woman had dark skin and dark curls, providing extra contrast for her lime-green Healer robes which made them appear to glow. She smiled at the group and spoke in a booming voice, "Welcome, future Healers! I am Healer Williams, Head of Training and Transfers at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

        "She seems nice," Terry remarked to Lisa in undertones.

        "For the next five years, you are mine—if you make it that far."

        Lisa's hands turned clammy. She heard Terry swallow the lump in his throat as he mumbled, "…never mind."

        Healer Williams narrowed her eyes at the group, and Lisa wondered if Williams had caught Terry's whispers at the back. Regardless, Williams continued. "I won't lie to you—that is the kindness I offer you. Your first year will be the hardest. If you've had any preparation before your training today, I hope it brings you something, but I cannot guarantee it will; that is why St. Mungo's does not require any prior formal training or studies, not to mention to this day still we have no standardized Healer Studies instruction across the international Wizarding curriculum…"

        Lisa furrowed her brow. These sounded more like the grumbles of a would-be politician, a future Minister for Magic, than the words of a Healer trainer.

        Williams cleared her throat and slapped on that bright smile from before. "But I digress. As I said, year one is always the most difficult. That is why, as a reward, you will be offered the option of moving into the Healer dedicated housing complex upon completion of your first year of training. Healers are not required to live there, but it's a nice place and a nice option for any of you interested."

        A nice perk, indeed, but Lisa doubted she'd have a say in being allowed to move there once given the chance. That aside, Terry politely jostled her arm to grab her attention again as Williams began the walking part of the tour so the trainees could begin to familiarize themselves with particular locations.

        "Five years is a long time," Terry observed.

        "I'm fine with it," Lisa said, some of her tiredness leaking into her tone.

        He fixed his periwinkle eyes on her face long enough that Lisa shot him a look. "You are?" he asked when their eyes briefly met.

        "Why wouldn't I be?"

        "It's just the time you spent learning under Madam Pomfrey in our seventh year—I heard what Williams said just now, but Pomfrey's word has to count for something, especially during wartime. Like Minister Shacklebolt waiving the training period for Harry and some others to become Aurors because of the battle. Same thing." Terry raised his eyebrows. "You know, I bet if you wrote her, she'd vouch for you and sign off on a year of training already. You'd be ahead of the game, Lisa."

        Lisa suppressed a growl; she didn't know if this were Terry's idea of efficiency or what. "I refuse," she replied. "You said it yourself: That was wartime. I want a proper education." She left out another thought, that she envied him the full year of Healer Studies, a program Pomfrey had had time to prepare for and teach him instead of cobbling together this and that under duress and behind the Carrows' backs when Lisa demanded one day in late 1997 that Pomfrey teach Lisa whatever the matron could, in order for Lisa to save if not help her friends in the reconstituted D.A.

        Terry, for his part, went oddly quiet. He seemed lost in thought when Lisa stole a peek at him, or perhaps he were paying attention to Williams' lecture on clogged corridors during the holiday season.

        By the time William's lecture turned to common sense things like calling for security or senior Healers when overwhelmed, Lisa's curiosity won out and she looked up at Terry. "Did I—did I say too much?" She wouldn't know. Had she ever known such things like boundaries? How had she used to interact with her fellow Ravenclaws? She couldn't remember; that felt like a lifetime ago.

        But Terry gave her the slightest shake of his head and an encouraging smile. "No, you're good, Lis. You just reminded me why I constantly compared myself to you…no, looked up to you this past year. It's healthy to admire one's rival." He covertly held his hand out to her and grinned as color returned to her cheeks. "I'm looking forward to making it through training with you, future Healer Turpin."

        Embarrassed but chuckling, Lisa shook on it. "The sentiment's all mine, future Healer Boot."

        Griselda Turpin's nitpicking had lessened by the time Lisa and Terry had a week under their proverbial belts. Instead, Lisa's mother now took to asking her daily how work was going. "And? What did you learn today?"

        Lisa took the dishes from the kitchen cupboard and went about setting the table by hand, without magic, as she ran through the day's activities in her head. "Week one was spent showing us around and letting us ask all the various questions that came to mind. But now Healer Williams wants us to start taking notes—both on what we hear and whatever comes to mind to ask later."

        "Yes," Zelda said, "but what did you learn today?"

        "The St. Mungo's way of notetaking," Lisa answered. "The hospital has a unique shorthand employed in handwritten notes, and sometimes the staff speaks it, as well, so we're being taught it right now." She couldn't help but smirk. "Terry and I have an advantage, actually, having Pomfrey mentor us for the time she did. She revised our coursework using most of the shorthand, so we're familiar with quite a bit already."

        Her father clapped his hands and tugged on the right end of his wiry, Chevron mustache. "Marvelous! Our Lisa, already at the top. Not surprising, you know."

        "Of course not, dear," Zelda said. She did a double-take, catching her husband's fiddling with his facial hair. "Ashley! We're about to sit for supper, darling…! Go wash up again, please."

        He opened his mouth to debate—Lisa knew he had his usual argument on the tip of his tongue, that he kept his mustache as clean as his hands—but he promptly shut it. He gave Lisa a wink on his way back into the kitchen to the sink.

        Zelda turned to her daughter. "Thank you for setting the table, as always, Lisa. You washed up, yes?"

        "Of course, Mum."

        Zelda's eyes lingered on the cuffs of Lisa's long sleeves. "Did you wash up past your wrists? You know how ink splatters. It might be easier if you just wore shorter sleeves," she stated, reaching for Lisa's left arm as though she wanted to roll up the cuffs for her.

        Being treated like a child was one thing. But Lisa darted to the right, just out of her mother's reach, leaving her sleeves alone. "I prefer long sleeves, Mum, and I can assure you that I'm squeaky clean."

        Her mother shrank back, her face crumpling, but Zelda didn't cry. Instead, she waited for Ashley to join them once more and, after she dished up tonight's roast, she resumed her previous line of questioning about Lisa's current tasks at St. Mungo's. Lisa, for her part, did nothing more to upset her mother at dinner and participated in the conversation as close to normal as she could manage. But she was grateful to kiss them each goodnight and escape upstairs to her room after dinner.

        A full belly filled with delicious food did nothing to settle her jumping stomach. Lisa quickly changed into her nightgown, closing her eyes at the exposed skin, and let her eyes wander over her room as she went over a mental checklist of things for in the morning.

        Her trainee's smock hung on the hook on the back of her bedroom door, on top of her two main travel cloaks, the heavy navy one she favored and a pale lilac one that her parents had gifted her a few months ago but she couldn't bring herself to wear. Her shoes were lined up against the wall inside the door, and her purse, spelled with both an Expansion Charm and a Shrinking Charm so it could fit in her pocket, sat atop her work shoes.

        Most of the rest of her room was undisturbed, untouched as if the Turpins never had vacated this home and gone on the run. She still had a worn reading chair by her wardrobe, upon which sat a grayed teddy bear, and stacks of books surrounded the foot of the chair. Her curtains were the same yellow, polka-dot monstrosities she'd grown up with, and her bed was the same princess-embellished frame; at least the dressings were more neutral these days, soft cream instead of bright white or garish pink. Her desk was the same birch set, too, though now it was laden with St. Mungo's-related work and research.

        The only true changes to Lisa's childhood room were the storage of clothing that didn't cover her from the neck down and the disappearance of any and all mirrors, no matter how big or small. She didn't need a reminder of what her skin looked like these days.

        However, on that note, Lisa decided to do part of her new nighttime routine on the early side. She went to her desk and reviewed yesterday's notes, including the scribbles and scratches in the margins. Following along with her written brainstorms, Lisa pulled from the storage bin under the desk two bottles and a phial. The empty bottle she placed in the middle of her desk, and she poured the contents of the other bottle and the phial into it, in a one-to-four ratio. Setting the premade potions aside, she rummaged and found her silver stirring spoon, bewitching it to stir the new concoction for fifty complete revolutions.

        Lisa got up from her wooden desk chair and paced her room as the creation came together. But, the moment the spoon clinked against the bottle's lip, she was back at the desk like a light. She sat, poured some of the cream-like substance onto her fingertips, and slowly coated her left leg from ankle to hip. She coated her right leg next and then, pushing up her sleeves, her arms. And then—

        Lisa squeezed her eyes shut. Her limbs were always easiest. But tending to her chest, to her torso, to her back… She couldn't escape seeing the marks. Not now, applying yet another experimental salve, and not in the morning when she checked the results and recorded the data to see if there'd been much improvement.

        Funnily enough, by the time she finished and had buried the nightmares of last year so she could sleep, Lisa climbed under the covers and thought that this particular potion mixture smelled a bit like lilacs…and that she hated the cloak from her parents a little less as a result…and that she knew, honest, she knew that her parents meant well, even if they were trying to recall how to be a family in this post-war life….

        Training to be a Healer at St. Mungo's—or, really, to be a Healer in general—wasn't all notetaking. Before the end of their fourth week, now partway through September, Lisa and Terry were given assorted training details. But the tasks were news to them.

        "Damn!" Terry said on their lunch break. He had their assignments lined up side by side on the tiny table they shared today in a staff break room since the hospital had no official cafeteria—most Healers went home for meals, Williams had told them during week one.

        "You can't honestly be overwhelmed by your list or mine?" Lisa retorted. She set her fork down in her salad bowl. "Pomfrey had me study a million things under the sun. She even had me read up some on Muggle medicine. You?"

        He nodded distractedly and ran a hand through his choppy brown locks. "That's not it, Lisa. I'm just surprised that you and I have barely any overlap, especially so soon."

        She blinked. A pleasant warmth filled her cheeks, and she resumed eating. "That's not unreasonable, Terry. Certainly if, later on, we discover there's anything in which we'd like to specialize." An even, logical response from levelheaded Lisa Turpin, she liked to think. On the inside, though, she felt eleven, twelve again, befriending her fellow eagles… It was nice to be wanted.

        "No, I know. Merlin, I hadn't even given specialization any thought," Terry added, casting their assignments aside in favor of his sandwich.

        "You'll be fine, Terry."

        He squinted at her but didn't agree.

        "And if you're still putting up with Michael teasing you about who's the more competent Healer, then stop it. Or let Padma and me handle him," she said with a smirk.

        Terry gave a nervous little laugh. "Uh, no, no… I prefer my best mate not filleted, thanks."

        Lisa shrugged, though she was mildly curious if she'd been right on the mark. When the trio had thought they'd had no one but themselves after the war, even Michael had matured. But Lisa vividly recalled Michael's remarks the night Lisa finally had joined those in the Room of Requirement, meant as a lighthearted ribbing of Terry but only somewhat accurate as Lisa had been imparting some of Pomfrey's teachings to Terry in secret. She wouldn't encourage Terry now if she doubted his talents or tenacity.

        With the slow start behind them and the new assignments fast approaching and paced to be ever-changing, Lisa didn't linger long on the reminiscing of yesteryear. She didn't have the time to afford on reminiscing, after all.

        Her first assignment took her and another trainee, a reed-thin man a few years her and Terry's senior by the name of Frampton, to the Quidditch pitch. Yes, it was no outing to Hogsmeade, least of all when Lisa and Frampton were assigned to the Wimbourne Wasps' home pitch, but it was an interesting outing nevertheless.

        She and Frampton arrived via Portkey directly from St. Mungo's. Lisa landed on her feet outside the yellow-and-black stands, but Frampton nearly stumbled into her. Lisa side-stepped him and threw out an arm to catch him so he didn't crash instead into Wimbourne's yellow-clad team Healer.

        "We're from St. Mungo's," Lisa said to the team Healer as Frampton righted himself. "Healer Williams' year-one trainee class."

        Wimbourne's team Healer pulled a face at Frampton but nodded at Lisa. "Kendall Frampton and Lisa Turpin?"

        "That's us."

        "I'm Hotchkiss. I'll be showing you around today. But—" He cut himself off and eyed Frampton again. "Do us all a favor and try to keep your wits about you, yeah? The Wasps are an extremely focused team, and I can't have you disrupting their practice."

        Lisa heeded the warning and Frampton had the decency to blush, but they followed Hotchkiss into the facilities without further incident.

        Hotchkiss gestured to the left and then the right. "You've got your meeting rooms and public areas off to the left. On the other side are the lockers, showers, and loos. If anything serious happens, mostly I do my work right there on the field or on the sidelines. Anything worse and we bring the player indoors into the locker room. Anything worse than that, and it's time to get them to St. Mungo's after stabilization."

        Lisa took brief notes. "Healer Hotchkiss—"

        He groaned and shook his head even though he wasn't facing them. "Don't call me that. I go by 'Hotch' here. Write this down, both of you: Formalities are wasted in the sports world. That nonsense may stick in St. Mungo's, but the pitch is a different world."

        Lisa tried again. "Hotch, then—what's the worst or the most difficult work you've had to do in your tenure as team Healer?"

        They arrived at the entryway to the field proper, and Hotchkiss turned to face them. He gave Lisa an appraising look and scratched the black stubble along his jaw. "Good question. Well, we haven't lost anyone in years."

        "Death, you mean?"

        "That, too, but no, I mean misplaced. Flies off into the unknown. Still happens in Quidditch sometimes, you know." He laughed darkly. "Worst I've had to do so far is fix a skull fracture midair."

        They gaped at him. "You can do that?!" Frampton gasped.

        "If I didn't, he would've hit the ground and splattered his brain everywhere. So, yeah, I can do that."

        Both of them made a note to ask for further details, but Hotchkiss took them out onto the field then to observe practice. For a time, the Wasps kept rotating sets of seven players. Hotchkiss explained that they were practicing general formations.

        "Nothing much tends to happen during formations and warmups. Oh, here we go," he grumbled as fourteen players took to the air and split up on the field. "With a practice match, that's a different story. You two know your Shield Charms?"

        Lisa did a double-take. "Of course, but—"

        "Cast them now. Bludgers never stay where you want them, and one of the reserve Chasers the Wasps acquired a while back hasn't shaken some old habits."

        Lisa cast the spell immediately and worried Frampton might bumble this, too, but his magic settled into place as they took in the first practice match of the day. And, as promised, a muscly Chaser wearing a black practice jersey with yellow stripes on the shoulders missed a Quaffle shot and subsequently turned his broom until he zeroed in on the nearest Beater on his team. He sped off after the Beater, who flew away as fast as he could while holding his bat ahead of him, further out of the Chaser's reach.

        "Oh, for the love of Merlin… The captain's gonna have Flint's arse for this."

        The name "Flint" tickled a memory in Lisa's brain, but she and Frampton watched as another player flew straight for Flint and the Beater. It would've been a crash had yet another player not intervened, a blond man who threw a hand up at the presumed captain and then turned and gestured wildly at Flint. Flint halted, barked something at the blond man, and flew straight at him and grabbed the front of the blond's matching black practice jersey. There were shouts all around, and it clicked with Lisa.

        "Revered Rowena! Do you mean to tell me that that's Marcus Flint?" she exclaimed at Hotchkiss with a recoil.

        Hotchkiss lazily slid his gaze her way. "It's a Marcus Flint. Why, do you know the prick?"

        Frampton winced at the language, but Lisa had heard worse from one roommate in particular during her Hogwarts years. "I never really paid much attention to the Quidditch matches during school and skipped them when I could. But, in my early years, he captained the Slytherin team. He always gave Gryffindor the most trouble, but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff weren't safe from his tactics either. Wimbourne signed him?"

        Their guide nodded. "He's a hell of a Chaser when he's behaving. It pays to have a Flint keeper, too, in the form of Higgs." He gestured back to the ruckus up in the air.

        Lisa couldn't fathom Flint behaving—he was the sort who liked hurting others for fun—and she wondered why the name "Higgs" sounded familiar but summoned no further recollections. She studied the commotion, realized Hotchkiss had meant the lowercase "keeper" this time, and watched as Higgs swatted at Flint and things died down before everything truly came to blows. Then practice resumed as normal.

        Before the day was out, one of the other Chasers caved in to the impulse to throw a punch at Flint, and it connected. Flint didn't fall off his broom, but the punch seemed like a hard one. Practice ended on that note. Higgs and Flint trailed the team as they passed by the Healers on the way inside to the showers.

        "Hotch, isn't our assistance required?" Lisa asked. Part of her itched to do something today since all they'd done was observe. She didn't want to go home having only cast a mere Shield Charm.

        Hotchkiss ignored the trainees for the moment and met Higgs' and Flint's eyes as they came within earshot. "Sometimes the simplest solutions are best, Turpin. Wash a scrape off, let the scab form. Put ice on a lump or a spot that's going to bruise…"

        Flint snarled at the team Healer, but Higgs rolled his eyes and took half a step in front of him. Higgs settled Hotchkiss with a dry stare.

        "But," Hotchkiss said, producing his wand from his sleeve with a flourish, "it would be a waste for you two to have come here and not see any action. It's your lucky day, Flint. I'll mend that black eye in the making. Now, Turpin, Frampton, care to tell me which comes first: the Scanning Spelling to see if DeMille broke Flint's nose or the Numbing Charm?"

        Lisa began humming to herself and did so often these days, primarily under her breath and when no one was around. She became aware of this when recording her thoughts in the wake of the outing to Wimbourne that night and the day after, but it didn't bother her, even though she'd never been much of a hummer to start.

        The thing was, she thoroughly enjoyed Healer training. It wasn't just that she'd answered Hotchkiss' trick question correctly—"The Scanning Spell, of course; if we numbed the pain first thing, we could miss another problem entirely"—but that she enjoyed the various outings altogether. First was Wimbourne, next was heading out after patrol with the Aurors and Hit Wizards, then came being taken out after the Obliviator Squad had performed their task. Aurors did their best to minimize damage while Hit Wizards lacked the Aurors' finesse, but Lisa knew well how to Heal physical damage. Evaluating witnesses post-Obliviating before they were released back into the Muggle world was an entirely new adventure.

        And that was it: These were adventures that a younger Lisa couldn't've fathomed. Not that she fancied herself the adventurous type to start, but… This was different. Not only did she enjoy her work and feel glad to have chosen this vocation early on, but she returned home happy each day, thinking about what new assignments Williams would think up for her. Lisa's focus was firmly on her future, her mind rarely lingering these days in the past.

        Her parents kept quiet after the Wimbourne outing, but they trembled with concern when Lisa delayed until the end of the month to tell them about both the post-Auror patrol and evaluations after the Obliviators well after those outings occurred.

        "Obliviating…that's…that's delicate work," Ashley began gingerly that Sunday afternoon. He lowered his copy of the Prophet to his lap and glanced to his wife with wide eyes.

        But Zelda didn't hold back. "Aurors! And Hit Wizards!" Whether she realized it, she palmed her wand as the color drained from her face.

        Lisa held up calming hands towards both of them. "Please, you two, just hold on. It's necessary experience. And I wasn't in the line of danger," she insisted, even mustering a smile for her mother.

        That did nothing to calm Zelda's fear. "Again," she said.

        "I'm sorry?" Lisa's smile faltered.

        "You weren't in the line of danger again," Zelda said, close to crying.

        Lisa looked to her father for help, but Ashley shook his head, a mixture of grief and disappointment in his expression. At a loss, Lisa dropped her hands to her sides and cleared her throat. "…I'm not having the argument over the goddamn Battle of Hogwarts with you again." She disappeared upstairs to her room for the rest of the day afterwards, making corrections to her experimental salve and reviewing her quickly filling trainee notebook. (So much for not lingering often in the past anymore.)

        When she recounted that exchange with her parents to Terry the next morning, he blew out a long breath. "Nice to know you get short with everyone, then," he quipped in undertones.

        She didn't have it in her to glare at him, but she did groan.

        "Do they resent you having fought that much? You helped loads! You got Seamus and Neville back in fighting shape literally the night before—and it's history-making, the things those two did during the battle," Terry reminded her with a furrowed brow.

        "I've heard. Given the choice, I would take seeing the bridge blown up to Nagini beheaded, but…" She trailed off.

        Terry frowned, and he stared at the ground as they did the supply checks on the first floor. "I know. You weren't there for that, but your actions before and during the battle mattered, Lisa. You helped make history. You made history."

        Lisa winced and tried to smile at Terry's attempt to comfort her. "I'm looking forward to moving into the housing next year," she thought aloud.

        "Feeling bold about completing year one, are you? That's because you got to hang out with Aurors and Obliviators instead of being attached to the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad for one of your Ministry assignments."

        But Lisa shook her head, her blond locks tickling her nose in the process. "I'm serious, Terry! When Williams first mentioned it, I thought, 'Ha, my parents will never let me out of sight again, so fat chance of that.' Then I got to hoping that maybe they won't mind… Now I find myself thinking that I've got to go ahead and move anyway and worry about hurt feelings later."

        Terry cocked his head to one side and tugged on her sleeve to pull her to the side of the corridor, out of the way of traffic. "Lisa, what…?"

        She sighed. "Recall that I told you, Padma, and Michael that my family went missing last year? Dispersed, scattered all over the place, and I had to find the clues and piece my family back together myself?"

        He nodded.

        "They knew before seventh year that I wanted to become a Healer. It took them time to get comfortable with that idea, and they had to grow comfortable again this past year with the idea of me going into training soon. They were so frightened in the post-war tumult, even though the rest of my family has come around to common sense." She gritted her teeth when she thought of all the instances of her mother babying her the last few months—hell, even the past few weeks!

        "That explains a lot," Terry remarked. He dragged a hand over his face and jerked his head at the corridor for them to resume their rounds. It was another minute before he spoke. "Listen—" He paused as a hunched wizard hobbled between them with a clipboard in hand. He caught Lisa's eye again after. "Since my birthday came and went already this month and Padma's is next month, I and the others were thinking of getting together tonight. Nothing big or quite special, really, just seeing each other and catching up since work has been so busy."

        Lisa felt her frown coming before Terry even finished.

        "And, even though you and I don't have the exact same tasks, our days do finish at the same time, so…" He shrugged but gave her an encouraging smile. "You should come out with us, Lisa. I know they've loved your letters; I have. But all of us hanging out in person is different."

        "Terry…"

        He switched tactics. "Then how about this? Just tag along and you can turn around after you've said 'hullo' to Padma and Michael if you like. Hmm?" His smile was big, friendly. It didn't make it seem like too much that he was asking of her.

        So…Lisa nodded. "All right. I can manage that."

        "Fantastic! That is, as Williams would say, if you and I make it through the day."

        Lisa stifled her laughter. Partly because she couldn't let Terry know how much he'd won today and partly because she feared Williams might be lurking around the corner….

        "Are we going far?" Lisa asked when their shifts ended early that evening. They stepped outside, and the fresh air was welcome after the potion- and creature-heavy smells that tended to permeate the hospital halls.

        "Not exactly," Terry replied. He yanked his smock off, folded it, stowed it in his pocket, and offered Lisa his arm. "Just take it," he said with annoyance and a shake of his elbow after she remained still.

        She pursed her lips and prepped herself for the Side-Along Apparition. They were gone in the blink of an eye and landed steadily, though Lisa took an extra moment to quell the odd movement in her stomach and throat.

        "Oh—you all right?" Terry gently squeezed his arm, locking her hold on him in place. "My bad. I should've asked if you had a problem with Side-Along Apparition."

        Lisa shook her head. "I don't, not really. Regular Apparition's fine, too. It's just…" Another breath, and she was fine. She smiled at Terry to convince him, and finally he released her hand from his elbow. "I spent a good chunk of last year hopping from place to place, Apparating. It's just been a while."

        Terry pursed his lips. She could see the question forming in his blue eyes before he even asked it.

        "…I know you three are curious about that part of my life, and I'll likely share more about it, but another time, mate," Lisa said. "Just not now."

        He raised his eyebrows, but Terry nodded in response, satisfied with that much.

        Now that she had her bearings, Lisa realized they were not all that far from Diagon Alley and Charing Cross Road. She grimaced. If they were meeting at the pub, then they might as well have popped right over to the Ministry and collected Padma, Lisa thought. But Terry led her into a nearby Muggle restaurant with a dimly lit interior, perfect for cozy meals and drinks for the busy Muggles bustling around the noisy neighborhood.

        Padma and Michael, as it turned out, had grabbed a table already, off to the side and towards the back. Padma spied the Healer pair first, and her eyes lit up as she stood to greet them. "Lisa! You're here!" she exclaimed in as quiet a voice she could manage so as not to disturb the other diners.

        "I'm here, too, thank you," Terry pointed out with a pout. But he didn't wait for Padma to make good with him before he slid into the booth across from Michael, who spared him a commiserating glance.

        "Terry, you Floo-call me every week, sometimes multiple times a week. I'm beginning to see you more often than I see Parvati," she bemoaned.

        Lisa stood awkwardly with Padma, ready to dodge a hug that seemed likely. Instead, Michael's eyes alighted on her. "Are you joining us, Lisa?" he asked.

        Padma hissed at him, Lisa hesitated, and Terry caught Lisa's eye and patted the open seat beside him. The others came to a halt when Lisa caved. "I…suppose I could stay for a drink, perhaps. Though my parents will expect me home to have dinner with them."

        There was an odd beat of silence. Then Padma broke into a grin and nodded. "That's fine. We're having dinner, so you're welcome to stay if you change your mind."

        Lisa smiled but didn't make any promises as she and Padma finally sat with the wizards. That's when she realized that, despite how quiet they'd been, they still had some diners' eyes on them regardless. "What on Earth are they looking at?" she wondered aloud.

        "You've still got your trainee smock on," Michael pointed out.

        She blushed and pulled the pale green-striped thing over her head in haste. "Why didn't you say anything?!" she whined to Terry.

        "I thought you'd take it off before we came inside!"

        Michael laughed while even Padma stifled a giggle. "And to think—five years from now, you'll be donning something even more eye-catching."

        Lisa groaned, suddenly regretting having sat down…

        A waiter came and took their orders, and Michael opened his blazer the moment the waiter walked away. "By the way, since you two are going down this Healer road together, I whipped up a little something interesting," he said. He pulled from an inner pocket two square cards and slid them across the table to Lisa and Terry.

        "A bingo card?" Terry asked dryly. "Michael, what the hell?"

        "Healer Bingo!" the shaggy-haired wizard said with a snicker. "Don't worry: I'll give you two all five years of training to fill them out. I spent a while perfecting these cards, I'll have you know."

        Lisa skimmed the squares on the card and recoiled in disgust. "You have far too much free time on your hands," she groused. She and Terry put the cards away when the waiter brought everyone water and the others their drinks.

        His swagger faltered. "Yes…well… You know." He gave them half a shrug and a mediocre roll of his eyes.

        "Good Merlin," Terry huffed. "You're still dawdling, aren't you?"

        "I'm not dawdling. I'm…"

        "You can't even finish your sentence. That's dawdling," Padma cut in with half-lidded eyes.

        Michael's face flushed with color.

        Terry sighed. "Michael, it's clear you have more interest in Ministry work than in Healing. So get off your arse already and apply to the Office of Misinformation."

        Michael frowned. "That's…"

        "Michael, you're a fantastic bullshitter—that office is where your smirk belongs."

        Despite the backhanded compliment, Michael still didn't bite, lending to Lisa's curiosity. Michael cocked his head Padma's way. "Well…I might feel more confident if a friend supplied a recommendation…"

        Padma did a double-take and blinked at him. She put down her glass of water. "Why on Earth should I recommend you? I had no one do that for me!"

        "Yes, and look where you landed: in the Ludicrous Patents Office."

        Padma's right eye twitched, which caused both Lisa and Terry to sit back more and straighter in their booth. "…I'm sorry, you said you wanted a recommendation, didn't you?"

        Michael took the hint. He audibly swallowed the nervous lump in his throat as he realized his mistake, but, when he tried to explain and/or apologize, all that came out was a string of incoherent syllables. Terry laughed, and even Lisa couldn't help tittering.

        The evening passed with this lighthearted mood, and Lisa knew she managed only because the focus tonight primarily remained on Michael and his employment woes. Since Terry had gotten her here and Padma been the one to welcome her, she wondered if Michael might've purposefully kept the attention on himself to make Lisa feel comfortable…then again, they did know Michael had some narcissistic tendencies, so Lisa didn't wonder too much. Either way, she had a pleasant night.

        The quartet exited together, laughing at Padma's story of a man coming into her office looking to apply for five patents that already existed. "I only got him out of there by suggesting he take a look at what Muggle patents he could rip off next," Padma said with an embarrassed glance at her shoes.

        "No, that's exactly the right thing to do, Pad," Terry assured her as their group turned up the street, drawing near the Leaky Cauldron from across the way. "Let him spin his wheels for a bit before he comes ruining your workday again."

        "Oh!" Lisa piped up. She grinned. "Something Healer Williams said gave me an idea: Take a photo of him and post it prominently around the Ludicrous Patents Office."

        Padma gaped at her. "Ban him completely?!"

        "No, not a ban. Just caption it something like, 'Known to plagiarize prior pat—'" Lisa stopped mid-sentence, her smile frozen as her eyes locked on to something across the street.

        "Lisa?" Padma asked. But she wouldn't be curious for long when she, Terry, and Michael turned their heads and saw what Lisa did:

        Exiting the front door of the Leaky Cauldron was Su Li.

        Seeing her… It were as though time had stopped. The noise on the street faded away, and nothing much else seemed to exist on the street with Su, older and rougher, standing there by the kerb.

        "For fuck's sake," Michael cursed, though it came out half as a growl the longer they stared at their former classmate.

        Padma frowned, but Terry bumped his shoulder with Lisa's and gave the petite blonde a slight shake of his head. "We don't have to confront her if you don't want to," he mumbled.

        "Too late," she wanted to say, because Su spied them at last.

        Su observed the quartet rather carefully, studying them, perhaps weighing her own options. If she needed an exit, she had plenty, yet she remained stationary, oddly satisfied with watching her old friends so long as they did nothing but the same in return.

        Lisa bucked up the courage to break the stalemate, though, and crossed the street by herself and to the protests of her friends between traffic signals. She reached the pavement but hesitated to draw much further than within earshot, within an acceptable distance for Su to hear her over the hubbub of their surroundings. And, even though she were close, it took another moment for Lisa to say anything, a moment which she allowed herself to take in the sight before her: Su, clad in denims and a fitted russet travel cloak and looking far too casual and not like the Su Li that Lisa had known. "…you're back," Lisa finally settled on, her words little more than an exhale.

        Su's neutral expression didn't budge, but she did nod.

        "You didn't tell us. We heard from Professor Flitwick." A hollow accusation—the same had been thrown at Lisa months ago by the eagle trio waiting for her across the street …but that was different. Lisa had come back to them; Su had stayed away.

        The Asian witch paused and then licked her lips. "Hogwarts," she said, her voice that same husky tone, a near-rasp thing that made Lisa's stupid heart skip a beat even now, "will always have ears."

        Lisa frowned, both at her heartbeat and at Su's words. There was something else said at the same time as Su's sentence, she knew. "You're not staying," she inferred. The tightness in her shoulders faded a little at the disappointing realization.

        Su jerked her head behind her, in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. "Needed to replenish some supplies from Diagon Alley."

        "Right."

        Su, one still frugal with her words, continued to stand there. She didn't claim to be in a hurry, nor did she make it apparent whether she drank in the sight of the new Lisa or wondered what had happened to the witch she'd claimed to love. At least she didn't turn Lisa's attention away, even though Lisa took in how long Su's hair had gotten (past her waist now) and how rough her skin looked (like textured parchment), as if Su had been all sorts of places…

        Lisa didn't ask about it, though she dearly wanted to.

        "Lisa!" Michael's voice rang out.

        She glanced back at the others. Padma had a worried pinch between her brows, but the boys were primed to step in. Michael glared past her, and Lisa turned back—

        —only to find Su gone. Again and without a word.

        Her heart sank, and Lisa sullenly returned to her friends on the other side of the road. This time she didn't turn away Padma's affection, leaning into a hug from the older witch.

        "Wait, where is she?" Terry asked. "She had been there two seconds ago!"

        "Damn bus drove past," Michael growled. "She must've Disapparated at that exact moment when we couldn't see."

        Padma gave Lisa a squeeze. "Revered Rowena… I'm so sorry, Lis. Are you—are you all right? Did she say much?"

        Lisa shook her head. She went to answer—but she found that her words stuck in her throat…no, wait. They weren't words but tears. If she tried admitting that Su had not returned for her, for them, and had no plans to say, then her words would come gushing out as tears. In the end, she could only hiccup and bury her face against Padma's collarbone, tucking her head under her friend's chin, trying to let go of the hurt as Padma held her, another hand came to rest on her shoulder, and yet another rubbed comforting circles on her back….

        Lisa stopped humming after Su's return. Work wasn't enough of a distraction as it occurred to the group of friends that they could cross paths with the taciturn eagle again at any given point, and who knew where? Did she stop by only the pub and Diagon Alley? What about the Ministry? Mandy had told Terry, Padma, and Michael about Su's letter to Flitwick; in it, Su had asked whether the Ravenclaw Head of House knew whether one needed the Ministry's permission when pursuing unusual occupations, so it wasn't unreasonable to believe they might find Su at the Ministry on occasion.

        As the weeks wore on, the trio became more protective of Lisa, as well. She'd had Terry with her at work from the start, but seeing Su had given Michael the final kick in the pants to submit his work application, so he was now also nearby, too. Terry at St. Mungo's, Padma and Michael at the Ministry of Magic—they gave her safe places to go that didn't question her tear-streaked face the way her parents did the night she came home after chancing upon Su more than a year after the battle.

        Still, perhaps the supportive network was going overboard, as the holidays neared and they saw hide nor hair of Su. This was on Lisa's mind even when she and Padma went Christmas shopping around London, ending their day out in Diagon Alley.

        She didn't realize how long she'd been quiet, her mind elsewhere, until she caught Padma glancing at her numerous times. They were walking past Mulligrubs Materia Medica when Lisa realized she had her friend's scrutiny. "Er, sorry," Padma mumbled. She tugged her scarf up higher over her chin.

        Lisa stared at her. "Is something the matter, Padma? I'd rather you say it, you know. It's all right to be direct with me; I just prefer directness with a touch of tact, something on which Michael ought to work."

        Padma smiled briefly at the friendly jab. Then her eyes went back to darting around. "Um… Well, I've been wondering, and you can always stop me if I'm just sticking my foot in it like Michael, but—" She took a breath, which fogged up immediately in the chilly December air. "Lisa, you and Su really did seem close, like girlfriends, in our last couple years at school." Padma furrowed her brow. "Were we mistaken? Or was it, um…?"

        Lisa raised her eyebrows. "One-sided?" she supplied.

        Padma's brown cheeks turned a berry color that went well with the cobalt of her old Ravenclaw scarf. She winced at Lisa's word choice but nodded. "Well, yeah… Su's favorite pastime was staring at you."

        The observation made Lisa laugh. It didn't come as a surprise; she'd often felt that dark-eyed gaze on the back of her head, but she'd come to regard it as a comfort in her sixth and seventh years, so much so that Lisa had forgotten what Su's actions might look like to the other girls. Rather, to Padma and to Mandy—Morag always had been better at sussing them out. At those memories, Lisa's laugh faded into a mildly happy, bemused sigh. "Honestly, I dunno if I like girls, like Su or…" She trailed off, short of mentioning Morag aloud. She looked up at Padma. "But maybe it's for the best, her treating me as a near stranger. I don't know how she survived, but that's not a story I'll get to hear." Lisa shrugged. "And I'm not training to treat hurt feelings. I'm training to Heal, so I'd rather focus on that. And on my family. Both families," she added as she looped her arm through Padma's.

        Padma smiled at the gesture and the words. She leaned her head against Lisa's. "Glad to hear it," she whispered.

        Ah, Lisa realized. All the other nonsense in her life aside, maybe she did know how to be friends with these three again…

        It was a small notion, but it was something uplifting nevertheless, and it was Lisa's favorite gift that Christmas. The idea that she might be in better standing with Padma, Terry, and Michael than she thought was a large enough happy thought that she found it easier to distract herself during her nighttime routine, and she was almost back to humming to herself.

        But that was before she received any post.

        Right before the New Year—in fact, it was that Friday evening, New Year's Eve, 1999—Lisa sat in her birch desk chair with a mug of pumpkin cider, mulling over how her skin had improved just a fraction the last three, four months with her new concoction. She turned her head to the right, glimpsing the desaturated sky outside her window, wondering if Whitby might have one of its rare white Christmases.

        Something whizzed by her window, causing Lisa to jolt and spill a bit of her drink on her top. She cursed, grabbed a napkin to blot the stain, and scrambled for her window just as something slid under the lower sash and flew half across her room. Lisa turned on her heel, but the item had flown too far for her to catch out of the air. It landed on the round amber rug by her bedroom door.

        Lisa approached it carefully, her mind catching up as she realized someone had owled her a…postcard, it seemed. The Healer trainee knelt and debated picking it up. Following the war, post had gone back to normal and was no longer censored, but there was the tiniest part of her that still feared it might be tampered with somehow, that it might not be entirely safe… With that concern in mind, she cast a Levitation Charm on the postcard and twirled it around—and she immediately wanted to set it on fire without reading it.

        It was from bloody Su, of all people!

        There was no return address. Su had written Lisa's name and address in her pretty, spidery script on one half. Beside that, her message was even simpler: A lone Chinese character written in delicate calligraphy, signed underneath by Su.

        Lisa frowned and furrowed her brow, her temper cooling into confusion. Was this meant to impress Lisa? She couldn't fathom Su's logic. Lisa didn't know any Mandarin or Cantonese and, last she knew, Su knew little Mandarin despite having grown up with her grandmother at home. So this message was quite literally lost on Lisa without the blonde looking up the symbol. Or even knowing where to start.

        Just as befuddling: The postcard's photo. Lisa turned the card around and studied the picture of sandy, clay-like structures that appeared to have been carved out of a mountain. They could be miniature houses…but Lisa learned that they were, in fact, real houses when she flipped the card once more and read the printed caption along the bottom: "Cliff of Bandiagara / Dogon Cliffs, Land of the Dogons (Timbuktu, MALI)."

        Lisa lowered herself into her desk chair once more, now with Su's postcard in hand. She closed her eyes and pictured her years at Hogwarts like boxes from a card catalogue, and she mentally flipped through all seven years, searching for any clues, any hints… But she came up empty. Lisa had no understanding of a Su who now travelled, let alone to far-off places like Mali.

        Now she faced a new dilemma. The New Year would be here in a few more hours, and she could start fresh, with a clean slate, if only she would toss Su's postcard. All she had to do was crumple it up (if not set it on fire) and stow it below her other refuse in the waste bin between her desk and her nightstand. Just. Crumple it up. Toss it. Out of sight, out of mind.

        The Cliff of Bandiagara called out to Lisa, with its charming ruddy façades.

        She frowned. But, just as she saw the reason in tossing it, she saw no harm in keeping it, either. She stood, rummaged under her bed for a rarely touched box, and threw it inside, tucking the box back under her bed to be forgotten.

        (But it wasn't forgotten for long when the next postcard, a capture of Seoul's nighttime skyline, arrived two weeks later, yet again with nothing more than another mysterious character written on the back.)

        The postcards became a minor annoyance which Lisa attempted to tuck into the back of her mind while at work…although, as the postcards piled up, the harder it was to keep her annoyance from showing on her face.

        "That…is one scary look you have on you," Terry said partway through a rare shift together on the third floor in March.

        Lisa pretended to ignore her friend, instead choosing to focus on Healer Sombra's actions as the elderly wizard bent over a potion setup to make a solution to counteract one of the many fake Protective Potions still hawked by counterfeiters these days. She grimaced when Terry's wary stare didn't let up and, since Sombra was hard of hearing with all that gray hair coming out of his ears, she ground out to Terry, "It's nothing."

        "You're going to scare Somby's patient when the potion's ready to be drunk."

        She flicked her icy blue eyes to him. "I've just—been receiving junk post, is all," she confessed.

        Terry narrowed his eyes at her.

        But that was all Lisa had to share about the topic. It wasn't far from the truth. Su's non-messages certainly felt like a kind of junk to her, and yet Lisa couldn't bear to throw them away. Any of them.

        Alaska.

        Ontario.

        Greenland.

        Svalbard.

        The weeks of the new millennium passed by and Lisa never knew from where the next postcard would come. Expansive glaciers, wide-open cities, cozy farmlands, adventurous terrains… Lisa had thought she was the one having all the adventures, but Su's postcards rather proved her otherwise.

        Lisa tucked the envious part of her away as April rolled in with Easter not far off later in the month. Though Terry had only bothered her the one time about her attitude, she had grown irritated with his watchful eye as of late, so today she sought to spend her lunchbreak outside the hospital. It felt strange, of course, to leave the hospital in the middle of the day when there could be important work that arrived and cut her lunch short, but Lisa needed the breather from the overanalyzing Terry Boot and found herself making a path towards the Ministry to surprise Padma and Michael at lunch.

        Lisa's route to the visitor's entrance to the Ministry took her past the Leaky Cauldron, half out of curiosity, half daring Su to show her face again. The blond witch frowned to find the pub's door unimpressive as ever, and she put her head down to continue her walk to the Ministry.

        Yet, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar long-haired witch just then crossing the street to make for the Leaky Cauldron's door.

        Lisa changed courses without a second thought. She hurried across the street, ignoring some Muggle's blasted horn as he nearly hit her with his damned vehicle, and intercepted Su before the latter reached her destination. Lisa darted her left hand out, but she didn't grab hold of Su, who stopped in wide-eyed surprise. Instead, Lisa simply blocked her way and looked up at the taller witch.

        "We need to have a talk," Lisa informed her. She held Su's gaze steady and thought of the postcards piling up; that made it easier not to swoon in the least bit this time around Su.

        Su blinked. She stood another half beat frozen before nodding.

        A tad afraid Su might pull another runner, Lisa got the door for her, and she followed the other girl inside. They took up a corner table inside, with Su in the booth seat facing the door and Lisa with her back to the exit. Neither of them were in a hurry to flag Tom's attention and demand the barman rush over to take their orders. Lisa wasn't even certain she wanted to be around Su long enough to order.

        Su's imperceptible expressions were plainer to Lisa today, though: Su frowned outright. "You wanted to talk," she reminded Lisa softly. She drew her ponytail over her shoulder, but that was the only nervous signal she gave, for she then folded her hands on the tabletop. Her student-like posture almost made want Lisa to laugh. Almost.

        Lisa frowned, too, and struggled not to let her eyes drop, struggled to keep her gaze fixed on Su's face. "You're not being fair, you know."

        Su didn't so much as twitch.

        The Healer gave half a sigh. "I've received all of them. But I have no clue what I'm supposed to do with these postcards, Su. Did you ever stop to think how I might feel? It's terribly perplexing, these mixed messages you're sending by brushing me off one moment and leaving only to send me postcards I can't even read the next." Lisa hated the whiny tinge to her voice and wondered if that lessened the impact of her disapproving frown, turned it into a jilted lover's pout.

        Su kept still for another minute. But very slowly her cheeks pinked, and she couldn't keep her hands in place. She fiddled with the end of her ponytail before nodding.

        Lisa furrowed her brow. "Are you nodding because you agree or because you hear me?"

        Su simply nodded. But her pale beige cheeks were fully rose-hued now.

        Lisa huffed and slouched back in her seat. She tugged on her Healer's smock and glanced again at her companion. That reminded her… "What is it you're even doing these days? That's one thing I've absolutely no idea about."

        With the topic changed, Su regained some of her natural color and lessened her hair fiddling. "Oh," she said. "I'm…entertaining being a Wizarding naturalist."

        "You never expressed an interest in that during our school years."

        Su shook her head slightly. "Plans change, Lisa. I've been travelling and trying to live like a Muggle. To…make it by, mostly without relying on my magic."

        That was nearly the opposite of what naturalists did, to Lisa's knowledge. But perhaps Su wanted to experience the other side before settling on her vocation. Either way, it was a lot to mull over, especially as Lisa knew the Li family to have been half-bloods for generations; by contrast, the Turpins had some Muggles and a few Muggle-borns in more recent branches, though mostly that was very distant and not immediate family…and didn't comprise the bulk of Lisa's personal losses almost two years ago.

        But when Lisa raised her eyebrows, hoping for some elaboration, Su didn't explain. Instead, she cleared her throat and parted her lips. "Do you want me…"

        Lisa's pulse picked up.

        "…to stop owling you?"

        Just as quickly, her pulse skipped, and her heart ached. Lisa studied the timid expression on Su's face—the almost-frown, the bit of lost puppy in those jet-black eyes—and…Lisa caved. She ducked her head as she shook it no.

        With her eyes averted, Lisa heard Su's happy sigh. "I'll continue to practice my Mandarin then," she said. There was a lilt in her voice now. Su was close to chuckling.

        Lisa raised her head at that and cocked her head to one side. "Are you ever going to tell me what the cards say?" she asked in exasperation.

        Su's lips curved up ever so slightly—the precursor to the rare Su Li smile. "One day," the Asian witch replied. It was on those two words as parting that Su excused herself and slipped out the back to go to Diagon Alley, leaving Lisa at the table to replay their conversation in her head over and over until the Healer trainee ran out of time and ordered something to go and eat on her mad dash back to St. Mungo's before her lunchbreak ended.

        There were no more postcards between that meeting and the second war memorial.

        That suited Lisa just fine. The previous one—from Portugal—had come a few days before Lisa and Su crossed paths again in April, and Lisa had given in to the temptation of looking over her growing collection in the weeks leading up to May 2nd. It was a silly thing, but the cards transported her mind to other places, places not ravaged by You-Know-Who's ideologies.

        Lisa, Terry, and Padma met up at Michael's family home to the northeast in Durham, from which the foursome would have the shortest flight since they didn't have access to a Portkey and since the others were mindful of Lisa's preference for flight over Apparition if she had a choice. It was a brief stop since Michael's parents didn't plan on going, but they did wait outside to watch to the Ravenclaw group take flight.

        "I've never met your parents before now," Lisa said after the group cast Invisibility Charms before they were too far and too noticeable above the city housetops. "Your mum's gorgeous," she blurted, still amazed by the curly-haired woman who'd fed them each a knish before letting them so much as kick off the ground.

        Michael puffed up his chest and beamed at Lisa. "You sound so surprised! Isn't it obvious where I get my good looks from?"

        The others laughed in response. Even in bragging about his parents, Michael did things the Michael way…!

        Despite the lighthearted afternoon, the laughter died down as the flight got underway. With their current broom models, they had a few hours ahead of them in the air, but there were a few hours ahead of them on the ground, too, once they arrived at the castle and wound their way down the hillside, towards the Black Lake…

        Lisa hadn't come last year. No, with everything that had transpired—the [suspected] loss of Su, rounding up what remained of her family, befriending these three again—Lisa couldn't bear the thought last year of being surrounded by the pain and the grief. But this time? This time was different. She felt less like an outsider looking in. She felt more as though she belonged here.

        …nevertheless, that didn't make it any easier to experience the service.

        The Ravenclaw quartet sat with the Goldsteins, Terry sandwiched between them and Michael, and Lisa was glad to be on the opposite end of that, with Padma in the seat between her and Michael. Before she knew Su was still alive, Lisa had empathized with Terry's loss of Anthony. But today she sat uncomfortably during the service, both hurting for Terry and hating herself for wishing for that kind of love.

        After the reading of the names and the flower ceremony, the service wrapped up and the visitors and students were dismissed, though the visitors were welcome up at the castle for a remembrance feast. Lisa made a face at that.

        "I can understand eating before a long flight," Lisa griped as they trudged up the hillside along with the crowd, "but a feast? After this? How can anyone eat?"

        The other three shared a look. Terry, whose eyes were red but cheeks were dry now, mustered a smile. "Funny, we thought along the same lines last year. But it's not terrible."

        "Actually," Padma said, "I'm not quite hungry yet. Anyone up for a detour?" She took a step to the side and, when they joined her, she tilted her head up in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower.

        Terry grinned. "Hell, yes."

        With the whole school preoccupied downstairs, no one gave mind to four war heroes spiriting themselves up to their old haunt to find an otherworldly friendly. Truly, though, she must've seen them coming, because they heard Mandy's thrilled shrieks before they even saw their friend's ghostly form shimmer in the early evening light.

        "You came!" Mandy exclaimed. She threw her arms wide, as though to hug each of them. But she dropped them after she passed through Terry and he shivered. "Oops, sorry. Old habits die hard."

        "No, it's fine," Terry insisted. "It'd be hugs all around if we could, Mandy."

        She beamed at him. Then she faced Lisa and squealed, nearly jumping on the blonde, as well. "My goodness! It's about time you showed your face around here, Lisa! I've missed you, you know." She emphasized the last part with an overdramatic wagging finger pointed Lisa's way.

        Lisa's shoulders sagged slightly. "I'm sorry, Mandy. Life— Things—" No matter how she tried, the words wouldn't come out.

        But Mandy shook her head. "Nope, I understand." She quickly stuck out her tongue, the imp. "After all, I'm sure the others blabbed, but I, uh, did read your letter to Flitwick…"

        Oh, how glad she was to have chosen to wear the lighter, lilac travelling cloak her parents had gifted her! Lisa's cheeks and neck flushed with heat, and she fixed Mandy with a disapproving glare typically reserved for Terry when he did something incorrectly or took a shortcut at training. "You ought to break yourself of the habit of hovering in the teachers' offices, Mandy. That's an invasion of privacy."

        "That's what I've told her," another familiar voice piped up further up the stairs leading to Ravenclaw Tower. The ghostly form of Gryffindor's Jack Sloper rounded the corner, and he waved to the eagles. He smiled at Lisa. "Nice to see you again."

        Lisa blinked. She vividly recalled Mandy and Jack leaning on each other and growing closer in the girls' seventh year and Jack's sixth, even though Lisa had never known how the two befriended one another. She also vividly recalled the similarities between Mandy and Jack and herself and Su, but those were things Lisa shoved down right now. "Hello, Jack. Um…"

        "It's all right, Lisa. We know we're dead, so we can handle your surprise or 'nice to see you, too,'" he stated.

        Refusing to let reality keep anyone down in the dumps, Mandy huffed, "Yes, yes, we're ghosts, you're not, time moves on—now can we please talk about how cute Lisa looks with a bob?" Mandy floated past Lisa and curled around her like a wisp of smoke; the motion caused a subtle breeze to lift the curled ends of Lisa's coif. "Ohhhh, so adorable, especially with your heart-shaped face, Lis!" Mandy slid an unimpressed stare Michael's way. "Speaking of Ravenclaws and haircuts… Someone ought to take shears to Michael's, too," she bitched.

        Michael shrieked as Mandy floated near him, pantomiming cutting his hair with her fingers. The others and even Jack laughed.

        "But new looks aside, what brings you up here?" Mandy asked them. She hovered back to Jack's side, since they never could stay parted for long as they came as a set (they called themselves "The Lovers," according to Terry, but he and Padma had doubts as to whether the ghost moniker would catch on).

        Terry's smile faltered. "Well…you know. Second memorial…"

        Mandy froze and flickered. "Oh," she said, her smile cold for a split-second. Then she shrugged. "Well, I'm glad you chose to come up here instead of partaking in the feast—that's going on right now, I presume?"

        "Yes," Lisa answered. Her stomach quietly rumbled. "Can't eat, though."

        Mandy went back to beaming at them. "It's much more fun hanging out with us, anyway. By the way, did I tell you the last time you came up? Jack and I have started sitting in on Sir Nick's Ghoul Studies classes, learning a little here, sharing a little there, and it's fascinating, I tell you; honestly, I wish I'd taken the class as a student back when I was alive, and…."

        "Mandy talks faster in her unlife than she did in life," Michael stated as the quartet made their way out of the castle and across the grounds an hour and a half later. He shook his head. "And how dare she! There's absolutely nothing wrong with my hair. I've always gotten compliments on it. I'll have you know that I've never had any girlfriend desire to chop it off," he added with so much vehemence that his wounded ego was apparent to them clear as day.

        "Not that they told you to your face," Terry quipped under his breath. But both Lisa and Padma heard him and had to stifle their snickers before Michael heard.

        As they pushed on towards the Stone Circle, where they'd arrived, Lisa's stomach did an unpleasant flip at the sight of the lake far, far below them and now cloaked with white roses from the ceremony. She slowed at the back of the group.

        Terry turned to her, Padma and Michael following suit. "Lisa, you all right to fly?" he asked.

        She didn't need him offering to give her a ride home, so she nodded. "Yes, of course. Let's go."

        They made it to the Stone Circle without further delays, each producing their broom and prepping to mount. But they stopped short of departing when they heard panting and footfall coming up towards the circle.

        Su's head appeared over the crest of the hill, and then the rest of her followed. Whereas until now she'd always appeared casual, Su turned up completely disheveled and out of breath. She hastily stuffed her broom into a charmed pocket on the right-hand side of her travel cloak. Only after was she aware she had an audience.

        Su looked at each of them in turn, maybe embarrassed or likelier flushed with color from a hard flight. She blinked as it hit her they were leaving and she had missed the ceremony. She opened her mouth to speak…but then she shut it and dropped her eyes to the ground.

        As the foursome had planned to fly back in a diamond formation with Michael at the head and Terry at the back, same as they'd flown in, Lisa caught full view of the sneer that settled into place on his features the longer Michael stared Su down. But Padma elbowed him in the stomach before Lisa could act, and Terry stepped forward, closer to Lisa. "The feast is still going on if you want to catch up with anyone else," Terry offered, speaking directly to Su. "But we need to head back. We've work in the morning."

        It was subtle, Su's flinch at being excluded. But, for Lisa, there was no missing the little twitch of her cheeks, right below her eyes.

        How long would this continue? Them versus Su? Keeping separate because Su had done just that?

        Faced with another stalemate, Lisa lifted her head and hoped Su would lift hers, catch Lisa's eye, wish as Lisa did to snag a bit of the goodness the two witches had shared a few weeks ago. "I can spare an hour, if you'd like to go for a walk?" the blonde suggested.

        Su nodded gratefully.

        There was no ignoring her friends this time. Tonight Lisa returned Michael's glare, though she knew not to hold it against him simply because he didn't know and didn't understand.

        Terry frowned. "Just—fly back in time for a good night's rest before work, yeah?" he reminded her.

        Padma had no words for her. There was some sparkle of curiosity in her dark brown eyes as she glanced between the other two witches, perhaps as she thought about her conversation with Lisa from around Christmastime. But Lisa gave Padma's hand a reassuring squeeze before the trio flew back towards home without her.

        Lisa and Su stood for another minute together in the Stone Circle, Lisa watching until her friends weren't even specks in the darkening sky. Then she faced Su. "Did you really want to head into the castle?"

        Su slowly shook her head.

        "Then let's have that walk, shall we? I hope around the grounds is all right."

        "That's good."

        Wending their way back through the grounds, Lisa felt oddly calm. The castle looked so much the way it had back in 1997, 1998…and yet there was more life here now. She didn't feel scared; this was just a walk with a former classmate, a former… Not a cat-and-mouse game of hiding in the shadows so the Death Eaters wouldn't discover Madam Pomfrey was teaching Lisa in secret.

        "I was in France," Su said suddenly when they strolled out onto the paved courtyard. It explained her delay tonight.

        Lisa glanced at Su on her right. "You were fairly local this time," she commented.

        Su tilted her head this way and that. "But I've decided French food is not for me. I miss my grandmother's cooking too much, and the pace… It's not quite right for me."

        Lisa softly snorted but smiled. That—that made sense to her. Outside of battle, Su Li was an even-paced, deliberate personality. Befriending each other, causing Lisa to fall for her, muddling with Lisa's affections even now: Nothing Su ever did was without some planning.

        Earthiness gave way to floral fragrance as they traipsed down past Hagrid's hut. It was the only head's up Lisa received that she was back at the Black Lake with its fresh blanket of roses, but her mind had wandered far to happier memories of sixth and even seventh year, so they were only a few paces from the water's edge when she finally came to her senses.

        Lisa instinctively clutched Su's arm, the nearest thing she could find to pull herself away from the water. She had one second to be relieved that all she had in her stomach was Mrs. Corner's pre-flight snack. The next second, she was aware of her clinginess, and she released Su as though she'd been caught red-handed with exam answers. "I'm sorry," she apologized, taking three, four steps away from the water's edge. There, that was better.

        "Why?"

        Lisa swallowed the sick lump in her throat. Despite all the headway she'd made with Su, she couldn't meet her eyes now as she said, "…not even they know."

        Su didn't press. She didn't have to ask Lisa to know the Healer trainee meant Terry, Padma, and Michael.

        But…was that a terrible thing? Would it be so terrible, Lisa realized, if Su learned the truth first? There'd always been things Su knew that the others didn't, before; Lisa had been good friends with Padma and Mandy, yes, but…Su had always been that one person so assuredly in her corner, even when they butted heads over how Lisa took care of herself (rather, choose not to). And Padma, Terry, and Michael—they had lost and seen death, but Lisa knew she had not experienced the war, the final battle the same way they had.

        But Su…

        Lisa took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry for holding on to you," she explained, "because I fear the Black Lake."

        Quiet. Su listened.

        Lisa, eyes still on the ground, turned back Su's way a bit more. She also pulled her parents' gift tighter around her, the lilac cloak a sudden comfort. "A part of me wishes I'd stayed on land to fight the Death Eater who chased me after—" She swallowed another lump and didn't mention Su's disappearance. "Because if I'd stayed on land…the Merfolk wouldn't've attacked me and chased me to the point of exhaustion."

        She took two steps back, closer to Su. Her eyes shut tight, Lisa unfolded her arms and pushed up her sleeves for Su to see what only Lisa's parents had seen until now. Lisa even tugged up the edge of her blouse, pulling it free from where she'd tucked it into her skirt, allowing Su to glimpse the scarring Lisa couldn't forget no matter how hard she tried to avoid looking.

        Puckered blisters. Like scars from burns and slashes. Rippled, fleshy bits that looked like freshly closed wounds, not marks well past a year of healing… And they dotted her entire body from the neck down.

        Thinking of the scars made her think of the pain back then and fresh tears fought to break free, so Lisa hurriedly tucked her shirt back in.

        She broke into a wet smile. "It's fading," she assured Su, "but…very slowly. I've tried some of what I'm learning and some of my own making on the marks, but their weapons—" Her smile collapsed. "Well, Merfolk have magic we don't." Through bleary eyes, she saw Su reach out a hand, and she was glad to have covered up before Su could touch her, otherwise—who knew? "But, Su… Did you really want to come here today?" Lisa asked, in an effort to turn the spotlight back on the other witch. "Neither of us went last year."

        Su nodded. With her hair free, it could act as a curtain to hide her face—or frame it, as happened now. "It's because I didn't go last year," she said.

        "Ah."

        "And…because I hoped I'd see you."

        Lisa blinked the tears from her eyes and wiped the rest away, frowning. "Su…"

        They locked eyes, sky blue and endless black.

        "…what even are we?" Lisa gestured vaguely between them, offhandedly noting their opposing styles, as well: her in pressed, professional attire, Su in sturdy, drifter materials. "Are we exes? Friends? Acquaintances?"

        For the infuriating umpteenth time, Su nodded…but this time it came with a frown and a furrowed brow. "…I'm not sure either. But—"

        "But?"

        Su closed her eyes and jammed her hands in her cloak pockets. "I'm willing to tell you what happened to me."

        Lisa gaped at her. She hadn't meant to share with the intent to coerce Su into sharing, too. "Su, you don't have to—"

        But the taller witch marched forward, back up the hillside, towards the castle and away from the lake. Lisa kept pace with her, and the boathouse's silhouette came into view in the distance. They veered left and made for the entrance courtyard, though they didn't approach it as people began to leave the feast in the Great Hall.

        Lisa wondered if Su had changed her mind. Lisa was about to propose they fly back together or partway since she didn't know to where Su was off next when Su finally piped up:

        "The spell the Death Eater hit me with two years ago was a Forced Disapparition Spell."

        Su said it so quietly, her voice barely more than a whisper, that it was a minute before the words registered with Lisa. When they did, her eyes widened in horror, and the witches came to a halt outside the courtyard, looking in.

        "I'm…not even certain it's official, known magic," Su continued, her eyes stuck on some fixed point on a nearby arch. "It might've been a creation of the Death Eater. But it sent me out of Hogwarts, three towns over. And it was excruciating." Her voice rang hollow against the backdrop of visitors saying their goodbyes and making their journeys home every which way. "Being…forcefully transported without notice made my body feel as though it were being shredded and pulverized all at once."

        Lisa's stomach dropped. A flash of blinding light and Su had disappeared from sight two years ago—but this…

        Su closed her eyes again and turned around, beginning a slow saunter back down the hill until they were halfway between the castle and the lake. "That initial pain didn't last, so it wasn't the worst," she continued with a scoff. Her shoulders sagged. "Not to be indelicate, but…I kept vomiting, nauseated, when I arrived at my unknown destination. Worse was that magic made me feel disconnected and in pain." She withdrew her wand from her cloak's inner breast pocket. "So much as picking up my wand made me feel sick."

        Su put her wand away, and the witches knelt and sat down on the late springtime grass as though it were any other school day and they had free time to spend together and chat instead of bothering with their studies…really, Lisa would've preferred studies to this. She knew how to handle school or work. "How did you manage?" she whispered.

        With the castle lights behind them, Su's face was in shadows, but Lisa knew that frown hadn't disappeared when Su shrugged. "Hogwarts wasn't an option. Even if the battle had ended, I knew in that moment I stood no chance returning to a school full of magic if I could barely handle my wand. So I had to wend my way back home to London the Muggle way." She exhaled slowly and hung her head between her drawn-up knees. "But, without resources and being practically unable to use any magic, it took me a whole week to get home."

        Lisa bit her tongue. A part of her commiserated, having to go it alone…although their circumstances clearly were different. Nevertheless, she tucked her legs under her in a way that let her scooch closer to Su, a gesture of comfort.

        "By the time I got home," Su continued, half mumbling with her face hidden, "my grandmother and parents got to cast aside their old worries for new ones when they learned of my predicament. …I couldn't stay home, Lisa. No matter the techniques Grandma tried or spells Dad recalled from their side of the family, my symptoms never abated."

        Lisa waited for the rest of the story. And waited. And waited. When still nothing but the distant sounds of the Forbidden Forest existed between them, Lisa craned her neck, trying to peek at the girl. "Su?"

        Su had folded her arms atop her knees and properly buried her face there, hidden from sight. But her shoulders gave a telltale shake, and her knuckles were white as she gripped the fabric of her denims. "It was shameful," Su said, her voice thick. "My shame became their shame. All they could do was prep me for the Muggle world and turn me loose, hoping that the symptoms would fade with time."

        That was the final straw. Done being aghast, Lisa leaned over and wrapped her arms awkwardly around Su's curled-up form, crushing her in a hug. No matter what they were to each other, Lisa still knew how and when to show compassion, and it pained her physically to see stoic Su shaken beyond belief. "I'm so sorry," Lisa uttered, her lips buried in Su's hair.

        Su darkly chuckled. "Why?"

        Lisa held her tighter in response. "Because of everything, dammit! That you experienced that. That I couldn't share that burden with you. That I won't ever fully understand the shame. That I don't think you should feel shame, because it wasn't your fault, Su." She paused for breath and to rein in her temper (really, her irritation—Su truly was the same as ever, always able to get under her skin). "I'm not sorry for holding you, though, and I'll hold on for as long as you have more story to tell," Lisa finished.

        Su picked her head up, just enough for Lisa to make eye contact. Su's eyes were glassy, but she wasn't crying, not yet. She nodded her thanks. "The rest is self-explanatory, though," she said. "This is all why I can't stay in one place for too long."

        The trainee quirked an eyebrow. "Because of the magic?"

        Su released a drained sigh. "Sometimes…magic builds. Or sometimes I cross paths with too many others. I honestly make my Diagon Alley trips as brief as possible," she added hastily with a flick of her eyes to Lisa. "Sometimes, an old place is too ancient and possesses too much natural magic. Regardless, I can't handle too much. That's also why I flew today. It's not just the distance."

        The answer dawned on Lisa, who knew this experience quite well herself. "You flew all the way from France…because you can't Apparate? At all?"

        "It's not 'can't.' I don't know if I can, actually. I daren't Apparate anywhere, though. I've gotten quite used to Muggle modes of transport."

        Either way, Lisa no longer begrudged Su the travelling now. But she did have more questions left. "So, Wizarding naturalist—perhaps your travels will allow your body to accept magic fully again someday?"

        Su let the silence linger between them. But finally she replied, "Someday."

        Lisa's heart lodged in her throat. "And you'll—you'll come home? I mean go home," she corrected. "To London. Someday?"

        "…someday." This time, though, Su gave her a tiny smile. "Flying's a big step, you know. Couldn't really do it until last year."

        Lisa nodded. She knew all about baby steps (healing after the Merfolk's attack) and big steps (reuniting with the trio after getting her family back), so there was no one better to understand Su than Lisa.

        And yet a longing, hopeful part of her wondered, as she sat there awhile longer with her arms wrapped around Su and fingers partly caught in familiar blue–black tresses, what postcards she would see through her window next…

        "That's all that happened?" Padma asked when Lisa met the other three that weekend at the Corner home to celebrate Michael's belated twentieth birthday. "Just a walk and a chat? I'm surprised you didn't go inside and get something to eat." Padma frowned at her fellow witch. "Honestly, Lisa, you know better. It's a good thing Mrs. Corner fed us before we flew up to the school, but to think you flew back on an empty stomach…!"

        Michael snorted from beside Padma on the sofa. His eyebrows shot into his fringe as he added, "You're lucky Mum and Dad stepped out for a walk so we could hang out for a bit, just the four of us. If Mum heard, you'd be force-fed, Lis."

        Lisa's cheeks flushed with color. "I was completely fine on the flight home…!"

        "You dozed during Sombra's mini lecture the morning after," Terry piped up unhelpfully. He sipped his cup of coffee when Lisa glared daggers at him from across the room.

        The blond witch huffed and threw a hand in Michael's direction. "Aren't we here to celebrate?! Can we please do that instead?"

        But Michael grinned. "I'm the Birthday Boy, and this is delightful. Not that I don't appreciate the Think-About-It fountain pen, Lisa—having my pen question whether I really want to write or say something is akin to having one of you three in my pocket all day, really, and that's likely to help me keep this Ministry job—but it is my day…and I want to know more about what happened after we took off." He finished with a glint in his brown eyes that made her uneasy.

        Lisa turned sideways in the armchair on Michael's right, facing away from him and Padma, and pulled a pastry apart on her plate. "It's as I said. Su resumed her travels." She pointed a sticky finger at Michael. "And why do you care so much? You seem to despise her since she returned."

        That sobered him up some. "Yes, well…" He scoffed. "You can't blame me for getting angry on your behalf as well as ours." He pouted, which Lisa glanced out of the corner of her eye. "She did hurt all of us, behaving the way she did, staying away. Then coming back. Then going and coming and again with this back and forth." He paused. His brow pinched together as he thought aloud, "Say, you seemed all right with her last time. Just how many times have you run into her anyway?"

        Lisa dodged the question by shoving the whole pastry into her mouth. After she swallowed, she answered a different question of theirs. "Look, just as you each have your own secrets and stories and I've mine, Su has hers. I won't disclose Su's story because it's private." Not to mention Su never had said whether Lisa could or should share it with these three.

        No, the rest of the night had been a little lost. Lisa's arms around Su. A lot of gazing into each other's eyes after two years. Helping each other up to stand…and holding on to hands for just a tad longer than necessary until they decided to part and fly their separate ways. Nothing to read into, of course, no, certainly not.

        Lisa brushed some crumbs off her lightweight turtleneck (oh, how she wished for her potion to work faster—turtlenecks were not summer fashion!) and fetched another pastry from the festive spread on the table in front of the quartet. "Look, Su has her reasons for travelling, and that's Su's life. We all have our own lives, and that's all right," she finished. She quite liked the kind tone she had just now as she scanned the other three faces.

        Michael, Padma, and Terry mostly nodded. "True, yes," Michael began, leaning Lisa's way with narrowed eyes, "but tell us: Did you two at least have a shag on the Quidditch pitch to get rid of the tension between you two?"

        She settled him with a dry stare in response. That sent Padma and Terry into peals of laughter.

        Although Lisa didn't blame Michael for his curiosity, even if she disliked him asking. In the days that followed the remembrance ceremony, Lisa kept replaying those quiet moments of that evening shared with Su, wondering if she'd imagined the spark that still existed between her and Su…wondering if she'd misinterpreted what it could be, as well.

        Days, unsurprisingly, matured into weeks. Lisa's wishes for more postcards came true, and she added her newest treasures—a riverside café shot in Sweden, from the last week in May; a bakery and street scene in Brussels, in mid-June; and an old church-turned-government building that put Lisa in mind of foreign Ministries of Magic in Prague, in early July—to her collection, which she had moved from its hidden-away spot under her bed to a smaller box she now kept atop her desk. This way Su's postcards were always within reach whenever Lisa needed them. Er, needed to add new cards to the collection, that is. Of course.

        But year one of training concluded with practical exams in early July, and Lisa's focus briefly changed course in the days after she and Terry received their fantastic marks. She told her parents about the housing complex the day her marks came, choosing to wait until they'd had their fill of looking over her near-perfect report.

        Her father's eyes—the same sky-blue ones he'd gifted his only daughter—lifted from the parchment. "And you say St. Mungo's evaluates similar to Hogwarts?"

        Lisa internally sighed and leaned back in her chair at the family dining table. "Dad, you've already asked that. It's right there in the letter," she said, waving his attention back to the post. "And St. Mungo's scale is stricter than Hogwarts', grading on a four-mark scale instead of six."

        "And our Lisa got nearly all Masterfuls," Ashley said to his wife, as if he hadn't heard half of what Lisa said.

        Zelda sniffed. "Yes, I can see that, dear. Then what's an NT? 'Needs Training'?" She frowned at Lisa.

        "It's a passing mark, Mum, but I assure you that is only because Williams is a tough trainer. 'Grievable' and 'Stiff' are failing marks." Lisa took a breath as her parents quadruple-checked her report to ensure that, no, their daughter had none of those. Then… "Actually, there's some other news I wanted to discuss with you two."

        Both of them looked at her expectantly.

        Lisa shifted in her seat. "Um. Since I completed year one…I actually have an offer."

        Zelda furrowed her fair brow. "What kind of offer? You said Healer training takes five years. That hasn't changed, has it?"

        Lisa gave them a smile, though it was small and tight. Suddenly she wished she hadn't cut off her hair; she understood now Su's urge to fiddle with her hair during awkward conversations. "St. Mungo's has living space for their Healers and trainees, and I can move in there with my first year under my belt."

        The Turpin household went deathly quiet for a full minute. Stunningly, it was Ashley who spoke first. "But…we just…got the family back together, sweet pea," her father said.

        His words weighed on her more than any other objection she had imagined from them. But Lisa quickly recovered, thinking on her feet and refusing to give up on her plans. "…no, Dad," she said softly, "we didn't just do that. It's been almost two years." Lisa reached out and caressed the back of his nearer hand in an effort to comfort him.

        "Not really. We only found your Uncle Willem shortly after Halloween," Ashley feebly protested. His shoulders sank.

        Zelda grasped Lisa's hand. "Don't you want us to stick together?" she implored her daughter. "The war could've been so different, Lisa. We were lucky enough as it was."

        Lisa nodded. "I don't disagree with you about our luck. But there's still a world out there, after the war, Mum, Dad." She looked between them and, slowly and reluctantly, took her hand away. Then she pushed up the sleeve of her blouse to show them the ever-familiar puckered scars dotting her left arm. "With time and effort, these are fading. Someday, this will be all but gone. And I want to be a different, grown Lisa then. Not the same Lisa reliving the horror of the war and the hunt for my family. And my plans…my plans don't include living in my childhood room for the rest of my life."

        Again, silence settled not only in the dining room but in the house. If Lisa strained her ears, she could hear the waves crashing against the cliffs of the town's coastline a few streets over.

        Lisa covered up her scars the longer the silence lasted. She debated what else to say. Despite her bold words to Terry back in September, she had no desire to hurt her parents' feelings.

        A sharp intake of breath drew Lisa's and Ashley's attention to Zelda. But Zelda, lips parted, said nothing. She dropped her eyes to the dining table and fiddled with the old family locket she wore around her neck.

        Lisa stood, understanding there weren't any further words in this moment. She would ensure they wouldn't be the last she ever exchanged with them—no, she planned to come home often and dine with them and spend time with them because they were her parents and she still loved them very much—but Lisa nevertheless stood and walked past her mother to head upstairs and finish packing.

        Zelda caught Lisa's wrist. Wordlessly, she drew her daughter to her and embraced her, her arms tight around Lisa's middle like a snug blanket.

        And Lisa returned the embrace, placing a soft kiss on her mother's head, knowing this was as close to acceptance she could expect.

        A new flat was cause to celebrate, of course, but Lisa didn't let her friends interfere. At most she let Terry swing by, since he was moving into a space upstairs on the seventh floor, but he wasn't much help.

        "I won't hide it: I'm envious you snagged this spot on the second floor," he said by the stack of boxes by the door. He kept thumbing through her texts and favorite novels instead of actually helping to arrange anything.

        "Yes, well, it's a matter of seniority, I've heard—and some thought Frampton was going to pass," Lisa remarked, walking up to Terry and plucking a rarely touched copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard from his hands. She put it on her new bookcase in her new living room since she wouldn't need it often. "Poor bloke would've been all right with mostly NTs and two Gs. But I heard he got two Stiffs, as well." She paused there, and her cheeks warmed the longer they lingered on her words.

        Finally, Terry laughed, his face red, too. "Clearly the original examiners had been thinking of dead bodies and had no clue how modern slang would evolve when they came up with the system."

        Lisa shook her head with the slightest groan. "Unfortunate phallic jokes aside, I don't trust what Williams said, with year one being hardest." She took yet another book, this time a magiomedical text, from Terry's hands and settled him with a reproving look. "We cleared one hurdle, but we've still four more years to go. Every year, we're only three Gs or a single S from failing, Terry."

        But he shrugged. "You worry too much, Lis. As hard as the two of us work, I don't doubt us at all." He held out his arms. "Now c'mon. Load me up. I'm here to help to heft things and get you settled."

        She snorted. "Don't you mean pick through the rest of my belongings? And I have magic to do all the heavy lifting."

        "Yeah, but it's nice to do some things without it sometimes."

        True. Though his words brought Su to mind, and Lisa left Terry in the living room to arrange a box of books on the shelves so she could check on one belonging in particular in her bedroom.

        She spied the small wooden box on her vanity by the window, right where she'd left it. The idea of a vanity still terrified her—just as with her childhood room, her new home had no visible mirrors…for now—but she'd been playing around with the idea of taking Su's postcards out of their box and covering the mirror with them instead of the cloth she currently draped partially over the glass, making a collage of sorts. Lisa much preferred to look at the images and Su's messages than her reflection…

        Lisa glanced at her window. The postcard from Prague had come a few weeks ago, and she wondered if there would be more. She also wondered if she should've tried to write Su somehow, perhaps leave a message for her at the Leaky Cauldron, that she'd changed addresses, but, no, Lisa's parents would redirect any owls for her, surely. Lisa's Su concerns aside, work remained as large a presence as ever in her life, and training would resume in little more than a month from now.

        She returned to the living room to find Terry perusing her books once again, and Lisa sighed. Honestly, this wizard…! "Terry, if there's something you're interested in, I might be persuaded to let you borrow it. And read it. When we're not busy doing something already, mate."

        Terry at least had the decency to blush, being caught. "That, uh, that would be nice…" He surveyed the rest of the flat from their vantage point. "Hard to believe our places are around the same size, though. What did you ask them for when they offered to Expand things?"

        "Not much. I asked for my bedroom to be a tad larger, and this time I'm keeping my research out of my room, so I had them put in a separate study." She cocked her head in the direction of her kitchen. "And I asked for a proper dining room, too. Can't get around that, with my family."

        Terry whistled. "Don't I know it. That's precisely why I didn't ask for one myself. Imagine all the Boots crowding into this bloody building…" He shivered.

        But Lisa snickered.

        Terry pouted at her. "What did I miss?"

        "I didn't have only Turpins in mind, Terry." She smiled at the redness of his cheeks, and she laughed and linked her arm with his as he spluttered that he promised he and Michael would always be on their best behavior when visiting, since, of course, Padma was a polite given.

        The third week of July passed without a postcard. July closed out without another single word from Su, actually.

        Another few weeks flew by, and Lisa's anxiety grew as she realized the postcards must've stopped midsummer, right before her move. But…it couldn't've been only the address change. There were so many ways for Su's messages to reach Lisa regardless of where the trainee lived. And Lisa spent her last few weeks and days worrying instead of prepping for year two.

        After all, was Su all right? Had she ridden on one of those Muggle contraptions and been hurt?

        Had Su's symptoms unexpectedly worsened?

        Lisa decorated her vanity with Su's postcards anyway, but they didn't cover the entire mirror, not yet. And she hated the worry she saw lining the face that stared back at her from what mirror peeked through.

        Year two began quietly in contrast to year one's introduction. Lisa and Terry had advanced with little more than half their fellow trainees, but Lisa had done enough preening about her successful start around her parents.

        The primary highlight of that last week of August, the first week of year two, was the unexpected owl Lisa received one evening after work.

        It'd been redirected from her parents', as indicated by her father's quick scribble of "Sorry—thought we'd bring the first along when we came to see you next. Love, Dad" tied to the owl's other leg. But Lisa freed the tawny owl's legs of both deliveries: her father's note and the thin bundle tied with twine.

        Inside the bundle were two more postcards. The first was from a week and a half ago, from Ireland. And the second…

        "London," Lisa breathed, her eyes wet as she stared at the familiar city skyline lit up at night.

        Her pulse quickened. Was it all right to be excited? To anticipate Su? To have some hope that perhaps Su had, at last, come home? That she would be all right at home now?

        Or was this a message within a message? Was Lisa supposed to have seen this and gone out to meet her? She would've guessed at the Leaky Cauldron, but Lisa frowned at that, believing the two witches had come along a lot further than this by now.

        She didn't let her confusion keep her down, though, least of all as September began and, with it, another work week arrived. Lisa was better at compartmentalizing this time around, putting Su things in their own mental box to worry over later, and Williams praised her focus that Monday as Lisa headed home after a day's training on the fourth floor up in Spell Damage.

        "Good work today, Turpin," the dark-haired witch said, never pulling her eyes from her clipboard.

        Lisa blinked and forced herself not to do a double-take at the strict trainer. "Th-Thank you," she bumbled. "Have a good night, Healer Williams."

        Williams nodded, and Lisa thought she hallucinated then, thinking Williams chuckled in response to Lisa's reaction as the elder witch walked away to wrap up duties elsewhere.

        The blonde nearly burst onto the pavement in front of the hospital. Praise! From Williams! It was unheard of, as far as Lisa knew. Oh, it made Lisa want to find Terry and go grab Padma and Michael—drinks were on her tonight! Or even…

        Lisa's feet hadn't taken her far from St. Mungo's dingy-looking façade, the one that always tricked Muggles into looking elsewhere. But Lisa was far enough away from the hospital to call it Muggle London. And she saw another face that made her heart go light.

        "Oh, Su, what are you doing here?" Lisa mildly prodded after she walked up to the Asian witch and stood within arm's reach of her. She gave her a small, worried smile.

        Even in the early evening glow, Su's cheeks were tinted green. She had the tiniest crease between her eyebrows, as well, and a hard edge along her jaw, indicating clenched teeth.

        Lisa shook her head and gently turned Su away from the vicinity of St. Mungo's. "If you're pained, you shouldn't push yourself," she lightly chastised.

        Su didn't refute her. But, after a few minutes walking through the throng of Muggles, Su regained her color. "I'm all right," she insisted, and they slowed their pace from brisk walk to lazy stroll.

        "I didn't expect to see you outside St. Mungo's," Lisa thought aloud. "But it's nice," she added quickly. She smiled so Su knew she meant it. "It was good timing, actually. A nice way to end a good day."

        Su blinked, once, twice. Then she smiled softly with half-lidded eyes, giving Lisa the impression of a content cat…ah, some things really never changed with Su Li.

        "So," Lisa said, tearing her eyes away from the lovely sight, "to what do I owe my good luck?"

        "I'm back, Lisa."

        The war could've been going on all around them once more, and Lisa would've heard none of the cacophony for Su's husky voice. She stopped in the middle of the pavement, glued to the ground and afraid to look at Su for fear that this had to be a dream.

        Su drew closer, whether to be heard better or simply be nearer Lisa, the blonde knew not. "I'm working on the larger things," Su continued. "Being around primary magical places, for one; I never did enter the castle proper back in May… And Apparition, too. It hurts a lot, but it's not so bad if it's a short distance."

        Lisa focused on the edge of her trainee's smock below the belt, but Su's mention of pain again got her to force her gaze up and meet the other witch's eyes. She furrowed her brow. "But—why? If it hurts you so much, why, Su?"

        The taller witch cocked her head just so, allowing her blue–black hair to offer them a curtain of privacy with Su's face so close that all Lisa had to do was reach up to touch her cheek… "Of course it's because I want to be back here, Lisa. Back home." And she said this while looking into Lisa's eyes, her gaze unwavering.

        There was no misunderstanding Su's message this time.

        Standing this close, so close to having Su back in her life, a million things ran through Lisa's mind then. There was the promise Su wanted them to make before they lost each other in battle. There was Padma's question of whether Lisa even was a lesbian. And, of course, there also resurfaced the old doubt that perhaps Su had loved her more all this time than Lisa ever had loved her, but—

        "Not for a return of affections," seventeen-year-old Su had said to her in the heat of battle. No, Su had never asked much of Lisa. "A little down the road," she had continued, "I want to meet with you again, and I hope you'll have weighed what you do and don't feel so that you can give me an answer: Do you love me back?"

        With how much of her energy and thoughts were wrapped up in Su…ah, she really might love this girl after all.

        Lisa snapped out of it when a Muggle businessman jostled her from behind, bumping her practically into Su's arms. Su caught her and steadied her, and Lisa raised her head to thank Su, although now they had even less distance between their faces. Lisa debated kissing her—it would be so easy with those familiar, thin lips right in front of her—but Lisa squared her shoulders and pushed away from Su. No, she wouldn't kiss her…yet. This was a fresh start for them, so they needed to take it from the top. Lisa cleared her throat. "Well, then…"

        Su quirked one slim eyebrow.

        "If you're back home, you should know I just moved, myself." Lisa adjusted her smock before realizing, too late like last time, she ought to remove it while out in Muggle London. She pulled it off from over her blouse.

        "Mm?"

        "Up the road from St. Mungo's," Lisa clarified as she folded the uniform piece and stuffed it into her purse. "I'll give you the address." They resumed walking, although at the faster pace from before when getting away from Wizarding London.

        "But—"

        Lisa's cheeks pinked and she rounded on her companion. "Su! My address. For future reference. Such as walking me home. Or picking me up. For a. A date." Oh, how she hated that she stumbled over her own words!

        Yet Su smiled. Not her imperceptible smile, but a full-on, pleased expression. It reached her eyes. Her content, catlike expression was near gloating now, a sight Lisa had never witnessed on Su before.

        Lisa tore her eyes away again, partly embarrassed and mostly exasperated. She fought the urge to roll her eyes (hmm, Michael's influence or Terry's? Damn those two!). "Yes, I'm asking you out. But only because you're—you're a handsome stranger I've seen around a few times."

        With her long legs, Su had no trouble keeping pace with the far shorter Lisa. She angled her head the blonde's way, revealing yet another quirked eyebrow in response.

        "Don't look at me like that!" Lisa hissed. They came to an abrupt stop with the crowd at the Muggle light signal. She faced Su. "You did act like a prat," Lisa pointed out. She held up a hand so she could tick off on her fingers. "So I want a fresh start. A terrible first date. Flowers and chocolates to make up for it. A sloppy first kiss—"

        Su softly snorted. "But we're both good kissers."

        Lisa's collar grew incredibly warm, and the temptation to kiss Su anyway returned, but she tamped it down once more. "Let's just try to do things properly this time, all right?!" she retorted, her voice a tad shrill. Her own tone made her wince, and Lisa sighed because only she and Su could muck things up this terribly and, quite honestly, they were lucky they weren't on The Daily Prophet's radar or they might have someone like Rita Skeeter or her compatriots hounding them with cameras, ready to plaster their foibles all over the newspaper's front page for the entire country to mock.

        But it didn't seem so bad with Su right there by her side, nudging Lisa's arm with hers. In fact, it felt like the right thing to do, relent and let Su hold her hand the longer they walked together… And holding on to Su made sense and gave Lisa the confidence to start a new conversation with Su, as the two witches stopped looking at their past and instead made plans for a possible future that was anything but set in stone.

OH, HEY. Look at all that world-building! :'D When I originally drafted my notes for this oneshot, I didn't realize how much world-building it would include and exactly how Lisa-centric this would end up being, but I quite like the details added here. I've been thinking a lot about the eagles the last couple of yrs thanks to the Maydayverse (MDV), and it's been super fun filling out my MDV timeline as well as detailed notes for my overall headcanon. There are several things that carry over from past fics I've written (even a nod to the cryptic use of postcards from my HQ!! oneshot, "Today I eat alone"), with a little bit of quoting coming at the last minute from "Don't You Know There's a War Going On?" since that was necessary. Funny thing is, I actually find LisaSu of this era, this in-between time, rather difficult to write; older LisaSu who've been together for a while and are comfortable in their own skins and in their relationship is much easier, even tho I have my hcs for their personalities. I think it's just that their personality types fight me a bit, *lol*. Let's see… Yes, there are some OCs here, mostly new and one familiar (Williams :3), but I'm glad I kept the focus primarily on the Ravenclaws in the Golden Trio's year (also I love Mandy; she practically writes herself). I didn't expect the time in this story to cover more than a year, but I think it worked, and it still hurts to think about my hcs for how Lisa and Su barely survived the war…but I think they're fairly original? OH! And St. Mungo's grading system is meant to mimic Hogwarts', but it's also based on the consonants in "Mungo's": M, N(T), G, and S. XD Poor Frampton who failed…which reminds me: I had a Marcus Flint and Terence Higgs cameo for purely self-indulgent reasons! :P (Well, also headcanons, BUT I DIGRESS.) Lastly: The title for this story comes from the song "FIRE WATER" by CODE KUNST featuring G.Soul & tablo, because the chorus and the hook fit the theme/mood SO WELL; the song's about a couple whose love makes sense only to the two of them, and the line "Have you ever loved someone to death?" feels rather fitting, too. (Other inspo: "About Time" by Cosmic Boy featuring Giriboy & THAMA, and "Heaven" by Ailee.) And final note: Every iteration of "Lis" is not a typo, I swear; that's just Lisa's nickname (pronounced like "Leece"/"Lease").

Anywho! If you need more eagle friendship, then please peruse my other stories, esp "A Fuller Nest," "the broken ones" (Michael's bingo cards make a return here XD), and "yours, mine, & ours," tho note that the last two chronologically come yrs later after this story, so there are some [happy] spoilers. If you need more LisaSu, then please check the "lisasu" tag on my camelliacats tumblr! If you need more MDV, then search for "Maydayverse" on my FFN profile, click on the "Maydayverse" tag on AO3, or click on the "maydayverse" tag on my camelliacats tumblr! And, as always, feel free to message me about the story, the charries, and my headcanons!

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

               She internally heaved a sigh, but there was no use fighting Su on this. Everything had changed after Michael's torture by the Carrows in November, and now rarely any of them went anywhere alone.

               Still, that was perhaps only half of Su's reasoning for being up at this hour and sticking to Lisa's side as they slipped out of Ravenclaw Tower, careful not to wake Padma, Mandy, or Morag.

               The pair exited the seventh-year girls' dorm and tiptoed downstairs into the bookcase-lined common room of Ravenclaw Tower. Lisa's heart pounded in her ears when a cobalt-hued tapestry rustled off to their left, and both she and Su froze. But nothing emerged. So, the Carrows had not strong-armed their way into the dorms tonight. It was therefore safe to leave.

               Lisa took a shaky breath, which steadied with Su's hand on her back before they left and braced the cold to descend the outer staircase that wound around the tower. They weren't exposed to the elements for long, and the blast of chill was more welcoming than the empty halls and stairwells as they stole across the castle, minding every shadow and holding their breaths at every small sound.

               The frightening journey was worth it, though, as it had been all these past weeks (save, of course, for the holiday break, when Lisa had been forced home in anything but a celebratory mood), when the doors to the Hospital Wing came into view. And, as Lisa knew they'd be, they were currently left unguarded.

               The two witches scurried to the doors. Lisa slipped a scrap of parchment from her bag, cast the Color-Changing Charm to shift the beige hue to yellow and dark blue, and slid the parchment under the doors. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey cracked one door open for the girls to squeeze inside. After, the matron Sealed the doors shut.

               "As always, I feel like a spy out of a Muggle novel, doing that," Lisa declared as she shed her bag and cloak and stowed them in Pomfrey's office.

               "No trouble today, Miss Turpin?" Pomfrey inquired.

               Lisa shook her head. "No. Just—" She swallowed the lump in her throat, thinking the Carrows might've been lying in wait in the common room. She forced a smile when Pomfrey stared at her with wide eyes and a concerned frown. "No, nothing. What's in today's cram lesson, Madam Pomfrey?"

               Pomfrey pursed her lips. Her eyes darted briefly to Su, but Su, standing guard by the doors and out of Lisa's sight, must've given nothing away, because she caved and pressed no further. "Today's lesson is in poison work. Reversing it as well as speeding it up."

               Lisa swallowed another lump in her throat. This time, she did allow herself to steal a peek over her shoulder at Su.

               If Su had heard exactly what Pomfrey had said, she gave no indication whether she approved. All this time, each time, from the first instance Lisa had marched up here and demanded Pomfrey begin training Lisa as a Healer to every other time Lisa had woken early or had taken the odd lunch or managed to use her free period here or split her weekends between here and the library, Su had come along. No questions asked and no warnings heeded. Certainly no opinions given.

               Lisa appreciated that, she decided as she turned to Pomfrey and tied back her hair to work. Su did, on certain occasions, have an opinion, but she was otherwise the most even-tempered of the five eagle girls in their year. Su was more the wait-and-see type, except when it came to—

               "Pay attention to the way the dye travels through the celery stalk, Lisa," Pomfrey insisted, pointing to her edible demonstration on the metal tray on the nurse's desk before the seventh year. "Follow the way the dye moves. Poison moves much the same way in a body, and I can teach you a spell to reroute it, as long as you've been studying your circulatory diagrams."

               Lisa nodded, humbled. "R-Right. Please, Madam Pomfrey. Show me."

               They only had little more than two hours before breakfast, so Lisa stowed all other thoughts away in order to focus. With today's session, Lisa could now stop poison from spreading or make it pool in one limb, but she couldn't grasp the rerouting spell. Studying Pomfrey's technique didn't help; there was some force behind the elder witch's magic, and Lisa feared that perhaps having survived one war already gave her the strength to wield such dangerous magic…

               Lisa didn't want that experience. And, if Harry's having been spotted over the Christmas break were any sign of luck, current events wouldn't blow up into an all-out war. (But, a tiny part of Lisa admitted as she loosed her hair and gathered her things, hadn't the war begun nearly two years ago with the taking of hostages? Though these were things a Healer-in-training ought not to dwell long on…)

               Madam Pomfrey joined the girls at the door and looked them over, still pursing her lips. She frowned at Su. "You really mustn't increase your risk and join Miss Turpin every time, Miss Li," she chided. But it was a gentle reprimand. Pomfrey wrung her hands in her apron while she said it.

               Su simply shook her head. She never offered Pomfrey an explanation, and Lisa had never bothered to explain that Su wasn't exactly her bodyguard. All they could do after Pomfrey's initial surprise after agreeing to train Lisa was amend the signal—no longer could Lisa slip a simple yellow-colored piece of parchment under the door to indicate fair-haired Lisa had arrived. Nowadays Lisa sent Pomfrey a two-colored signal to prepare her for the pair of them, so that Pomfrey could prep to hide two students…or to cover for them, no matter the situation.

               Madam Pomfrey never let them stay during breakfast or dinner; that was too risky, whereas the occasional skipped lunch was expected from fifth years and up, given exams and coursework. But now Lisa and Su found themselves skulking about, wending their way back to the staircases to tuck themselves into a spot they'd found the Death Eaters never checked on the ground floor while the girls waited for more students to wake and head to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was better to blend into the throng of students than to arrive early and draw attention.

               After they settled behind a brazier to listen for the heavy footfall of lions coming downstairs from Gryffindor Tower, Lisa turned to Su on her left. She raised her eyebrows. "Pomfrey has a point," she whispered. "Every time we set foot outside the dorms is a risk."

               Su said nothing and kept her gaze forward on the back of the staircase that half hid them. Nevertheless, she frowned. Ah, yes. The taciturn girl's way of saying, "We've had this discussion before." As if to emphasize her point, she found Lisa's hand on the cold stone floor beside her. Easily, too—no need to grope blindly for it. Her pale tan fingers were a bronzed beige in the soft candlelight as they wrapped around Lisa's hand.

               Lisa's face flushed with heat. It boggled her that this, of all things, would make her blush; after all, they'd kissed plenty of times before and even cuddled during these past two years. So they'd most certainly acknowledged their chemistry. They'd just…never named it.

               Su's black eyes slid towards her, as though she knew what Lisa's silence meant. Her lips began to curve up slightly, the precursor to her smile.

               At that moment, the stairs began to move. Voices echoed in the hall as students waited, and the din grew closer once stairs locked into place. With the possibility of an audience, Lisa yanked her hand away and stood, wiping barely any dust or dirt from her robes. "We should get going, join the others at breakfast," she rushed.

               Su paused but eventually nodded. She didn't comment on Lisa's abruptness, but, Lisa noted as they lost themselves in the sea of students clamoring for the morning meal, Su stayed an extra half step ahead of her, her eyes peeled and aimed at the shadows, likely hoping for no more scares today.

               Breakfast that day was like many others the rest of the month. Given that Luna Lovegood had been kidnapped straight from the Hogwarts Express at the start of Christmas break and that Michael's torture was still fresh in many of their minds, January felt rather subdued.

               "They think they've got us demoralized," Padma spat under her breath one morning with a furtive glance to Alecto and Amycus up at the faculty table. She kept stabbing her fried eggs but hadn't quite eaten anything, Lisa saw.

               "Isn't that the case?" Morag prompted in a monotone. She leaned on the Ravenclaw table with her elbows and pushed a hand into her dark tresses. She gritted her teeth, looking ready to cry.

               Mandy and her newfound Gryffindor pal, Jack Sloper, exchanged a look before Mandy leaned over and wrapped an arm around Morag, a sight that would've made Lisa smile any other day given that she and Mandy were tiny compared to Morag's tall, willowy presence. "Hey, come on, now. That's no way for a future Auror to talk."

               "Maybe I don't want to be an Auror anymore," Morag hissed.

               Mandy flinched. So did Lisa, and Su and Padma whipped their heads in her direction. Further up the table, Kevin and Stephen had stopped chatting and turned their attention the girls' way. Had Michael, Terry, and Anthony stayed instead of flying through breakfast and disappearing to Merlin-knew-where, Lisa imagined they would've also been listening in. Hell, Michael might've spoken up finally after the months of silence in the wake of his experience.

               Morag glowered at each of the girls and even gave poor Jack a dose of her ire before shoving her plate away and sniffling. She grabbed her bag and hopped up from the bench, all in an attempt to storm out, but Lisa knew she heard a sob before Morag was all the way out of the Great Hall, and then Morag broke into a sprint as she rounded the entryway.

               Mandy's face crumpled, and Jack reached across to pat her hand as Lisa said, "Hey, you know Morag's just lashing out. If anything, that's a good sign. We haven't seen that sharp tongue of hers in ages. It's a peek of her old self, Mandy."

               "No, I shouldn't've said anything. I—"

               But Lisa shook her head. She was exhausted herself. Between classes and Pomfrey's training, she had little time for extra study…but one thing Lisa had learned on her own and not from Pomfrey's Healer studies was how to take care of her friends as best she could. So, as Mandy was a hugger, Lisa leaned over and pulled Mandy in. It worked in a way that Mandy's for Morag hadn't, and the effect was doubled when Padma walked around to Mandy's other side and they made a Mandy sandwich.

               Mandy hiccupped and laughed at them. "All right, all right, I concede," she said. When they pulled away and breakfast wound down, she added in undertones, "So, if things have changed for Morag…should I expect any other changes around here…?" Her eyes darted between Lisa and Padma prominently, but they flicked to Su, too.

               Lisa shook her head. "I'm not skipping a single class, Mandy." Su nodded along with her.

               They all glanced at Padma.

               Padma shrugged. "They think they've got us demoralized," she repeated. "But we'll prove them wrong," she added cryptically.

               Not that it was much of a secret to Lisa or to the others. Lisa had some of the same classes with Padma and other former members of Dumbledore's Army, and they'd been mysteriously not around throughout the year and occasionally skipped a class or two. Lisa and Su had come to the same conclusion that they'd most certainly reconstituted, but they didn't know what that meant, given that the Room of Requirement wasn't secret anymore…although no one had stumbled upon it since fifth year for sure.

               "Does that mean you'll join, if it comes down to it?" Su asked Lisa as they took a rare walk outside the first weekend in February. They walked along the shore of the Black Lake, looking for white skipping stones an inch across—an assignment from Pomfrey, for a potion she'd next teach Lisa.

               Lisa pursed her lips and brought her scarf up to hide most of her expression while she dwelled on her answer. "…Michael's not the only one who's been hurt," she reminded Su.

               Su nodded.

               "Padma. Mandy. Neville, Seamus, Parvati, Ginny, Luna… Countless other underclassmen." Lisa sighed. "Susan and Hannah have lost family, even. And we—who knows what's really going on out there, in the real world? What with our post being read and censored…" She knelt amongst the lake stones, her robes pooling around her, and finally her parents' paranoia began to make sense to her. She hoped they were still alive.

               Su joined her and bumped her shoulder against Lisa's right one. Her blue–black hair fell over Lisa's arm as the Asian witch nodded for Lisa to continue thinking aloud.

               "Mum and Dad didn't want me to return after break, you know. Same as Mandy's family. But mine are so terrified out of their minds, I've honestly been thinking this whole time that they're borderline paranoid…" Her words trailed off, and Lisa chewed her bottom lip. "Now, I'm not so sure."

               Su frowned. Her face was barely an inch away, but the proximity didn't make Lisa's heart race. If anything, it was a comfort, more so when Su rested her forehead against Lisa's. "You want to leave," Su surmised.

               Lisa hummed. "Mm, maybe. Maybe not. Join the D.A.? Dunno. But it's what I've told Pomfrey—if her hands are tied in Healing students under the Carrows' reign, then I'll do it in her stead."

               "Terry…"

               "I know he wants to be a Healer someday, too. I'm surprised bothering Pomfrey didn't occur to him first. But maybe he's got other worries. You've seen him: He and Anthony have been like guard dogs around Michael. But I wouldn't be surprised if Terry's worried for Anthony even more. First his best mate—his boyfriend could be next." Lisa shrugged. "Add in D.A. concerns and he really does have a full plate, so maybe this is something only I can do…"

               Su furrowed her brow.

               "Would you feel better if I managed to share the burden with Terry somehow?" Lisa asked, not entirely expecting an answer.

               Su hesitated, the middle of her thin, bottom lip caught between her teeth for a few seconds. Then she said, "…perhaps. But I'm more concerned that your priorities are out of order, Lisa."

               Just like that, Lisa's face fell. What had been—well, not a nice mood, but at least an all right one had gone in a flash, as if Su had pushed her into the lake's icy February waters. She rocked back on her heels and pulled away from her companion. "Excuse me?"

               Su frowned at her. She reached for Lisa's cheek and cupped it in spite of the blonde trying to push her hand away. There, Su ran a thumb under Lisa's left eye. "You have such lovely, pale blue eyes, Lis. A wintry sky blue. I love them, I do. But the circles under your eyes… They're as dark as our cloaks. You've barely put yourself first these past few months, Lis."

               Lisa knew that. It was one upside to dressing in the dark; if one dressed in the dark and didn't bother with the mirror, then one didn't have to see one's horrid reflection staring back, looking like a walking corpse. Last she'd checked, she'd even lost some of her rosiness, traded for a tired pallor. Pink-cheeked Lisa Turpin looked like Death warmed over these days.

               It didn't hurt that Su had noticed this. It aggravated her that Su had an excellent point and had decided to bring it to Lisa's attention.

               Lisa grimaced, or she tried, but her body ached with a lack of energy now that her tiredness had been brought up, as if her body had been reminded that, ah, yes, it was running on fumes. In the end, her grimace turned into a pout. She focused her eyes on the skin of Su's wrist. "How can I give a damn about myself with everything else going on?" she huffed.

               Su sighed and patted Lisa's cheek. She lowered her hand then, catching some of Lisa's hair until she had the curled end wrapped softly around her fingers. She leaned forward and brought the lock to her lips, giving it a soft kiss. Then she gave Lisa a tiny, sad smile. Her eyes said it all: "If you won't give a damn, then you won't mind if I do, will you?"

               Lisa thought back to that morning last month, when Su had taken her hand so easily, so simply. The color came flooding back to her cheeks, worse than if Su had kissed her outright. But she was at a loss for words again, flustered, so all Lisa could do was dumbly shake her head, that, no, she wouldn't mind.

               That appeared to satisfy Su. She leaned forward again—be still Lisa's heart!—but she merely placed another of the white skipping stones in Lisa's lap. Then she stood, a mischievous little smile on her lips, and held out her hand to help her fellow Ravenclaw stand and finish their errand for Pomfrey.

               Despite that little butting of heads, Lisa and Su got along better throughout February. It were as though, since Lisa had relented, Su were allowed to be the one to care for Lisa since Lisa couldn't be bothered to care much for herself.

               Should Lisa fall asleep in class, Su was right there to ensure Lisa had perfectly detailed notes, down to the precise way Lisa made outlines. Of course, this only worked when not dealing with Snape, Alecto, or Amycus, but the rest of the faculty had been turning a blind eye all too happily all year in order to protect students, both physically as well as mentally.

               Should Lisa be too focused on revising her coursework during meals, Su was right there by her side not with unhealthy candy but something taken from the lunch or dinner table. Lisa began to wonder if Su had befriended a house-elf or two, as well…but then she'd push the thought aside and remind herself to list all the bones in the body, something on which Pomfrey regularly quizzed her.

               Should Lisa barely stumble in and out of the shower at the end of a long day, Su was right there to towel the blonde's head mostly dry before casting a nonverbal Heating Charm. She even took to brushing Lisa's hair while the other girls chatted and got ready for bed, though Su had nothing to contribute and Lisa wasn't much of a conversationalist on such evenings. And, actually, those evenings she had no strength to crawl into her own bed, so Su hefted Lisa into hers instead. Lisa could rest easy those nights, snug as a bug in a fleece nightgown and buried under Su's duvet and half wrapped in Su's arms.

               But, in the morning after a good night's rest such as that, Lisa would wake with clarity, and a pang of guilt would hit her. It always hit when she watched Su, still asleep. Lisa drew up her knees to her chest and frowned at her bedmate.

               She was selfish, wasn't she? Yes, this month had been lovely, and she rather liked it when Su kissed her goodnight behind the curtains of the four-poster, but Lisa couldn't shake the feeling that this was not quite right, that this was not how things were supposed to work out.

               Just because someone took care of your basic needs…that didn't mean it was love. Or rather, perhaps it was, on Su's part. But Lisa couldn't be certain that was the same for her. Hence her guilt.

               Su sighed in her sleep and turned so she lay on her back. Her hair puddled around her face like spilled ink, a deep and entrancing color that made Lisa want to reach out and touch just to see if it could be bottled. Lisa snapped out of her reverie when Su sighed again and her hair moved, showing her neck and shoulder, so Lisa forced herself to relax and took the invitation, sliding back under the covers and tucking her head into the crook of Su's neck.

               She…did like Su. She did care for Su. And she did find Su attractive.

               But that all seemed like small nothings compared to the fact that, essentially, Lisa was using Su for self-care. And this was the one non-Healing topic Lisa allowed to preoccupy her mind….

               "Never did I think I'd be teaching anyone anything, let alone these kinds of things…," Pomfrey muttered under her breath as February melted into March.

               Lisa had heard the elder witch say this on multiple occasions, but she never pointed it out. Instead, she preferred to ask, "Do they really leave such things out at St. Mungo's?"

               Pomfrey paused handing Lisa Muggle science texts to fill the pocket of her bag (expanded with an Undetectable Expansion Charm cast by Madam Pomfrey herself) and removed her bonnet. She wiped a nervous bead of sweat from her brow, tidied her coif, and replaced the item. "You'd be surprised. I'm only as good as I am because I was taught by those 'on the fringe' of Healing, you know. But Wizardkind and Muggles—we have so much in common. Healers do themselves a disservice not to learn Muggle science, because there's so much biology that overlaps. Especially internal chemistry."

               Lisa frowned. "But… We live far longer than they tend to…"

               "True. And gestation in pregnant Wizardkind fluctuates and is highly dangerous because there's magic involved. But read these with an open mind, Miss Turpin. Go into this unknown holding no assumptions, and you might be stunned by what you learn."

               Su knocked once on the inside of the door, drawing their attention. "Footfall. Heavy." She narrowed her eyes. "Alecto," she hissed.

               Lisa tensed. Beside her, Madam Pomfrey swished her wand, flinging all evidence of their lessons into hiding, going so far as to Vanish some of it. Then she shoved Lisa into Su, who pulled her through the crack between the doors before Alecto rounded the corner and spied them.

               The girls hastened to the fourth-floor corridor, not daring to peek behind them to see if they'd been spotted. No, that temptation was never a good idea. Keeping one's ears pricked was the best decision when traipsing through Hogwarts.

               As it was a Sunday afternoon, they had plenty of cover in terms of other students being out and about, though few milled around in the corridors this school year. They slowed their pace once they reached the staircases, and they had to wait for a change to reach the third and second floors. But then they were home free to the first floor after, and Lisa and Su made for the ground floor and took audible breaths once they exited the Entrance Hall and took clumsy steps into the courtyard.

               Su released a shuddering laugh, a huffy, shaky sigh-like noise that was so close to a sob that Lisa had to do a double-take. But, no, Su wasn't crying. Su followed Lisa with her eyes. Her smile was anything but relieved. Her black eyes were wide and frightened. Translation: "That was too close for comfort."

               "You're telling me," Lisa quipped, as if Su had spoken aloud. She walked over to one of the few stone benches and dropped down. She didn't have to look up to know Su would join her. "I worry that I might not be able to keep this up. If there's anything Alecto sees—the slightest thing out of place that Madam Pomfrey missed—"

               Su shook her head. "You can't fret about that." She covered Lisa's hand with her own; the blonde's hand stopped shaking in her lap as she began to take some of Su's warmth.

               "I can't?" Lisa prodded. Her smile was gentle, easy.

               Su shook her head. "You're our Healer. Who knows when Neville or Seamus might next be in need and they finally block Pomfrey from helping at all?" She placed a soft, lingering kiss on Lisa's forehead. "Let me handle the worrying," she finished.

               Their worries over being caught by a Carrow actually seemed small when Lisa heard those words. Su's comment brought to mind her guilt, and she fidgeted in turn. Lisa flipped her hand over to lace her fingers with Su's. But when she tried to look at Su and open her mouth, suddenly addressing…whatever this was between them seemed like another monster hurdle in their seventh year.

               Su cocked her head. Her hair fell over her shoulder like a curtain giving them privacy from prying eyes and ears. She raised her eyebrows, curious and patient.

               Lisa bit her lip. Damn. What was it Pomfrey had said? It was best to rip the bandage off, wasn't it? So Lisa took a breath, trying to find the kindest words to describe how one-sided her and Su's relationship was…

               But Su stopped her with a finger pressed to her lips. She exhaled slowly, her eyes half-lidded, her lips a rather straight line that, to anyone else, seemed to be expressionless, but Lisa could spot the imperceptible smile there. "If it's something hard to say, then don't say it," Su told her.

               "But—"

               "Let me handle the worrying," she repeated. "I can shoulder more than you think."

               Lisa furrowed her brow. Su's words left her mystified, even as Su pulled her to her feet and they took up a calmer pace to head to lunch and spent the rest of the day and evening in the library. Lisa tried to broach the subject again as they sat reading near the Restricted Section, but again Su would hear none of it.

               And still Su would hear none of it as the month persisted and Lisa seized every serious mood between them in an effort to set expectations. A tiny part of Lisa sat in Arithmancy beside the taciturn girl, fed up and nearly ready to give up and let Su have her way. Yet another part of her wondered if Su perhaps had realized things plain as day without Lisa having to explain them…

               She stopped her musing (truly, fretting) long enough to prick up her ears when she thought she heard footfall outside the classroom. No…not the footfall of someone walking…someone running. Students running?

               Su grimaced, and they both shared a look with Kevin as Professor Vector told the lot of them to quiet down. The three eagles shifted uneasily in their seats, though, as their schedules had landed them in this block with a handful of Slytherins: Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, and Emma Runcorn. Kevin sat with the bespectacled and more reserved Emma, because she'd always been all right to Oliver Rivers, a former Arithmancy classmate of Lisa and Su's, though the mandatory Muggle Studies and Dark Arts lessons for everyone this year had screwed things up and kept him and fellow Hufflepuff Megan Jones out of the class. That said, Emma still made Lisa nervous because her father worked for the Ministry. As for her fellow snakes…that was self-explanatory.

               Vector glared at the door as the din out in the halls grew. She placed her text down on her teaching desk and palmed her wand as she headed for the door. Each student turned in their seat to follow her with their eyes.

               Kevin sprang up from his seat to join Lisa and Su. "You don't think—?"

               "If it were something that big, we'd definitely hear it," Lisa whispered to him.

               He frowned as he thought, and the smallest dimple formed on his left cheek as he did so. "…if it's not that trio, then…" He ran a hand over his reddish–brown curls—and blanched. "Oh, Merlin. Steve. And Tony and them." He locked eyes with both girls.

               Su clenched her jaw. But she nodded.

               Panic welled in Lisa's chest. "Let's—let's not get ahead of ourselves," she told Kevin. "Just because their study block turned into Muggle Studies with Alecto doesn't mean…" But she couldn't bring herself to finish her thought, especially not as the noise outside turned to shouts.

               Vector, having checked on the situation, came back to her audience in a few hurried strides. She shuffled the things on her desk before she realized they were waiting for her guidance. The witch flicked her eyes to each of them. "Back to your dorms! Quickly, and with no detours."

               Daphne gaped at her. "But, professor, there's a class left to go, and supper—"

               "Not a top priority, Miss Greengrass, and supper will be arranged as needed. And I never permitted students to leave their seats, Mr. Entwhistle," she added with a pointed look to Kevin, though the fear in her tone made it less a reprimand and more a statement of fact. "Now off, the lot of you."

               The Slytherin boys didn't need to be told twice, and it was their efforts that finally dragged Daphne from her studies, though Tracey pulled up the rear of their quartet, Emma following at a separate distance. Lisa, Su, and Kevin left after them, but they were in silent agreement not to head straight back to Ravenclaw Tower.

               The shouts told them little else other than the Death Eaters skulking about the castle were mad. Rather, madder than usual. But…if that were the case…

               Lisa picked up the pace, Su instinctively guessing her destination as they headed for the Hospital Wing, tiny Kevin scrambling to guess their route and struggling to keep up since he was left out of the girls' loop.

               Outside the doors, the trio nearly crashed into Stephen and Professor McGonagall. Stephen caught Kevin by the arm to steady him, and McGonagall pressed a hand to her heart, seeing this convocation before her. "Turpin! Li! Entwhistle! What on—?!"

               "Someone's hurt, aren't they?" Lisa burst. "Who is it? I can help. Honest. Just ask—"

               McGonagall held up a hand, stopping her before she could incriminate Pomfrey. "That is precisely why I am here, Miss Turpin. Mr. Cornfoot knew Madam Pomfrey could use some assistance. But you four need to make yourselves scarce. Quickly, now." And, in a rare display of fear, McGonagall glanced over her shoulder. She ushered the four of them together and away from the Hospital Wing. "To your dorms—and keep your heads down."

               The entire way there, Kevin pestered Stephen to impart some piece of what had transpired. But Stephen gritted his teeth as if waiting to snap at the smaller boy, though he never did.

               They made it to Ravenclaw Tower without trouble. Lisa expected to find the Carrows waiting for them, considering the mystery surrounding the evening. Instead, a terrified Mandy met them in the common room. She seemed pale, as pasty as Morag, when she threw her arms around Lisa in a giant hug. Over Lisa's shoulder, Mandy said to Stephen, "Thank Merlin you left when you did!"

               Lisa disentangled herself from the brunet witch and looked between her and Stephen. "What the hell happened?" She grunted when Su tugged on her sleeve.

               But Su tipped her head to the underclassmen still in the common room. Too many cast curious eyes and ears their way.

               "…right." Lisa raised her eyebrows at the boys. "Upstairs. Now."

               Lisa had never had any reason to enter the boys' dorm before. She was delighted to find it rather tidy—to an extent, tidier than the girls', she realized as she thought of her reference materials piling up, Mandy's fashion strewn about, and Morag's disaster known as a trunk.

               Stephen spoke first, looking to Mandy. "Was it bad?"

               Mandy shook her head. "Not terribly. It was just Seamus and me left, and that boy had the best idea: Run like hell." She grimaced and drummed her fingers along her arms. "…if Amycus punishes the entire class, at least I'll know what to expect."

               Lisa's temper flared. "They've used the Cruciatus on you, Mandy. That's not something to sit back and take." She didn't even mention Amycus using Imperius on her…no, that would be taking it too far.

               But Mandy shook her head and covered her mouth with her hand. She choked back a sob. "Lisa—you didn't see. What she did to Neville…" She went to the nearest bed—Terry's, judging by the embroidered "T.S.B." on the underside of his scarf atop the covers—and dropped there, leaning her elbows on her knees while she processed things.

               Lisa turned to Stephen. Su and Kevin also presented him with equally frustrated and confused expressions.

               "Alecto… Neville got mouthy with her. Again. And she changed the bones in his left arm to glass."

               "Glass?" Kevin echoed. "How the hell is that even possible?"

               But Lisa and Su exchanged the smallest of grim looks. There was much Pomfrey had been passing along to Lisa. Some things she'd taught Lisa directly; others Lisa had guessed were possible and even probable. Some magic was more possible than Kevin could dream, they knew.

               Stephen shook his head; his normally slicked-back style hung loose, his hair now partially in his eyes. "That's not the worst part. She broke his arm after that."

               Lisa's hands flew up to her mouth as she gasped. "No!" She pulled her hands away. "Just the one break or…?"

               "If she'd been hoping to shatter it entirely, then Anthony distracted her from doing so," he replied. He mustered a dark grin. "And Terry made sure she couldn't. Full-Body Bind," he hastily added when Kevin frowned at him.

               Despite the clarification, Lisa felt the bottom of her stomach drop out, and Su steadied her as the blonde wobbled. "Revered Rowena…," Lisa rasped, staring at the carpet. "They—they attacked a teacher?"

               She sensed rather than saw Stephen stiffen. "She's no teacher, Lisa."

               She nodded automatically, but it was still a lot to take in. All these years, being in a class with the likes of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and even Ron Weasley seemed to have finally rubbed off on them. That, or… Perhaps it was time for the most drastic of measures. Nearly.

               Lisa felt Su's hair brush against her head and shoulder as the taller girl looked around the dorm. "Speaking of the others…," she began, offering the rare word to someone outside the girls' dorm.

               Stephen sighed and Mandy sniffled, drawing their attention back to her. "I don't think they're coming back," she said.

               "What?" Lisa asked. "But they've—"

               "Padma said the You-Know-What is home now," Mandy stated, raising her eyebrows and hoping they'd catch on just in case the walls had ears. Stephen nodded to confirm that he'd heard the same.

               The other three shared a minute of silence. So. The Room of Requirement was not only back in action but actively shelter now. Perfect.

               Kevin stared up at Stephen for a while. "…what's the final tally then?"

               Stephen's shoulders, straight as they'd been since their walk from the Hospital Wing, slackened. "Ernie left to find Hannah, tell her about Neville's condition. And you heard Mandy—she and Seamus ran. So I don't know if Ernie and Seamus will go into hiding yet, but…" He paused. "Terry, Anthony, Michael, Padma, and Morag aren't coming back to Ravenclaw Tower."

               This time, the silence stretched on for what felt like forever. Mandy pulled her legs up under her, trying to make herself into a tiny ball of anxiety at the foot of Terry's bed. Lisa remained standing only with the support of Su at her side. Even Stephen fidgeted where he stood by his bed near the door.

               The silence only broke when Kevin slipped off his bag and marched to the far side of the room and began rummaging through a trunk and setting something up against the wall. Stephen furrowed his brow while Kevin had his back turned. "Kev, what…?"

               "They're insane," Kevin declared to the room.

               Stephen gave the girls an apologetic look and held up a hand to let him handle this. "Your point?"

               "They're insane, but they probably saved Neville's life and will probably save others'." He pulled out bottle after bottle after phial and piled them high in his arms, careful not to drop them until he could set them down on a swath of velvet.

               Stephen froze. "You're not thinking of joining them?"

               Kevin shook his head, making his curls bounce. "No. But they're going to need all kinds of potions to weather these next few months." He tapped his wand on his materials, and the potion-making setup assembled itself as he turned around. He caught Stephen's eye and dragged his gaze away to meet Lisa's eyes. "If there's anything you can share from Pomfrey's lessons, let me know. Otherwise I'll be visiting Pince to get ideas." He chewed on his bottom lip, thinking aloud, "…I wonder if Hagrid might spare some supplies…and how well the greenhouses are guarded right now…"

               Lisa nodded, and Stephen took another minute before he sighed and gritted his teeth. The next thing they knew, he said, "…you won't be going to Pince on your own, at least. There have to be spells in the Restricted Section they could use."

               Mandy looked around the room at each of them. Her cheeks were blotchy and her pale brown eyes were still round and terrified. "You're all bloody serious, aren't you? Even though you have no idea how you'll even get these things and this information to them?"

               Su gave her a soft smile. "We're Ravenclaws, Mandy. We'll solve that riddle simply enough."

               Mandy bit her lip, likely biting back a retort, as well. But she nodded, and these five eagles who were not in Dumbledore's Army began work to support them regardless.

               Before March even ended, meals at the Great Hall seemed smaller and simpler. Likely due to the fact that the tables began to empty. Ernie, Hannah, and Susan moved into the Room of Requirement next. Lavender, Parvati, and surprisingly Seamus held on a little longer before they, too, went into hiding. This didn't mean that the "missing" seventh years stopped going to all classes, but they did so sporadically and without notice, and there were not enough Death Eaters the other side was willing to spare at Hogwarts to leave to patrol each and every class in order to catch truants. Alecto mended just fine, unfortunately, but rumor had it that Amycus advised her to delay resuming the class for now, not only to avoid another surprise attack but also to make the students wary of what the sibling Death Eaters might have in mind for a punishment….

               April kept Lisa and the rest too busy to worry what things the Carrows' tiny brains planned for them. She hadn't been back to the boys' dorm since weeks ago after Neville's attack, but she rarely saw Kevin these days outside of class and meals, so she deduced he'd built up his makeshift potions lab and had a decent inventory building up. With Stephen, she surmised he'd concluded correctly about Pince helping them; it didn't hurt that Pince was a former Ravenclaw herself, but Lisa was curious if Pince had set aside her OCD in following checkout rules to help Stephen spirit away certain Restricted books since this year one needed the approval of Snape or of one of the Carrows to do so.

               Mandy eventually came up with her own way to fight back and help. That took the form of spiriting extra food from the Great Hall when she thought Jack and the others weren't looking, though Lisa wondered if Mandy didn't give the poor sixth-year Gryffindor boy enough credit. Mandy didn't even keep her plan secret long when she passed along a note from Terry to Lisa and Su one evening at bedtime.

               "He wants us to what?" Lisa grumbled. She showed Su the note.

               "Practice conjuring birds," Mandy said. "Just as the note says. I mean, the incantation doesn't get much simpler—" Mandy pointed her wand, though she didn't bother muttering the word "Avis" as a bird emerged from the blue light her wand produced. "Terry says it's a D.A. signal system. Like a Patronus, the spell produces a bird unique to the caster, and they've organized a color-coordination system to warn of different issues, usually with string tied around the bird's leg."

               Su stroked the bird's head while Lisa read over the table Terry had scribbled down. "And no one thought birds flying around the castle might be, I don't know, noticed?"

               Mandy shrugged. "Most of the birds are small. They've taken turns up on the seventh floor, guarding whereabouts the entrance is, so I couldn't chat with Terry for long. But he said his great blue heron is an exception. Most of the birds are nothing bigger than what we typically find around here, and they all fly, so there've been no issues so far."

               Lisa frowned and eyed Mandy's goshawk. Then she read over Terry's note again. "This is sixth-year work."

               "Yep. That's why I picked it up so fast."

               "Do we have to?"

               Mandy terminated the spell, and the bird disappeared in a flurry of pale gray feathers. "It's an added layer of security. I showed Kevin earlier, and he memorized it and said he'd tell Stephen, so you two can do the same and burn that when you're done."

               Su nodded, and the girls tucked in not long after, though Lisa's mind was full of Pomfrey's lessons, birds, and fears that they might not see the end of the year…

               Despite her complaints, Lisa practiced the spell along with Su over the next few days, even when with Pomfrey. Su managed to conjure a bird first, a little egret, which gave the matron a right fright until Su terminated the magic, and thankfully Pomfrey didn't ask why the girls were bothering to master the spell.

               The Easter holiday came and went. Most students stayed, though rumors circulated that Ginny Weasley had gone home and not returned to Hogwarts. That only made sense since, after all this time, Ron actually had been spotted helping Harry on the run. Lisa hadn't believed that spattergroit story about Ron anyway…and she wished them the best of luck in whatever endeavors they sought in lieu of a hellish seventh year.

               Lisa multitasked on occasion, reading one of Pomfrey's personal magiomedical references as she and Su sat in the Stone Circle and practicing the Bird-Conjuring Charm at the same time. Su would only huff to indicate she didn't approve of Lisa trying to split her attention, but she'd go silent once Lisa lost enough light to read by. Lisa internally groused that Su had won this one, because finally the spell had Lisa's full attention, and she produced an armful of feathers, a cuddly sora that reminded her of a duck and a chicken all at once.

               Su tittered as they headed up the hillside for dinner and the sora waddled behind them, its bright yellow beak like a beacon set against the blue feathers on its face. "It's cute," she remarked.

               "At least it's compact," Lisa retorted with a dry look at Su. But she felt the heat in her cheeks, so she wasn't surprised when Su laughed.

               At the Ravenclaw table, Su sat across from her, and Lisa sat beside Mandy, both of them continuing to pretend not to know that Mandy was hiding food like rolls and crackers in her napkin-lined, magically expanded pockets. It was hard not to notice, with how much food disappeared around her, but Lisa figured it best not to make a deal of it so long as—

               "Amanda."

               Lisa stopped midsentence reminding Su that tomorrow morning would be an early one. She turned to gawk at Jack on Mandy's other side and, surprisingly, Su gaped at him, too. No one, literally no one, called Mandy by her full given name.

               Mandy stared at him, but Jack pushed on with a brave calm Lisa admired. "I know what you're doing."

               Mandy bristled, her face flushed bright red. "How dare you call me that! I told you months ago that—"

               "Don't keep doing it," he interrupted with an even tone.

               She closed her mouth, possibly at a loss for words.

               "Please, don't." Jack shook his head, a sigh caught somewhere in his motions as he plucked the roll from her hand and discreetly returned it to the dinner table. To keep her from continuing in her mission, he held her hand and laced their fingers together, keeping Mandy's hand occupied.

               Mandy ducked her head afterwards and ate silently for the rest of dinner, and Lisa and Su couldn't bear to watch anymore. Yes, Mandy didn't pocket anything else that night for the D.A., but it was painful to watch her snatch her hand away from Jack when supper ended. She darted out of the Great Hall ahead of the rest of them.

               Jack stood awkwardly with Lisa and Su. "…sorry for ruining supper," he apologized to them.

               Lisa frowned. "You didn't, Jack. I bet Mandy understands, actually. And you're not wrong for feeling the way you feel. You're allowed to love her."

               Jack's cheeks pinked, complementing his green eyes, and he nodded slowly. "Even if it makes her mad?"

               Lisa nodded. "That frustration of hers and your caring—they're two sides of the same Galleon, really." She smiled then, feeling the truth in her words. "Just give her a little bit. I'll talk to her, too. Have a good night, Jack."

               He nodded again, to the both of them, and they left ahead of the Gryffindor boy.

               Their walk back to the dorms was a quiet one. Lisa wondered if Su's mind were on Mandy and Jack, as well. She snuck a few glances to the dark-haired girl, finding a small smile toying with Su's lips, but Su said nothing and probably wouldn't even if Lisa prodded.

               Up in Ravenclaw Tower, they found Mandy crying on her bed. Lisa sighed, Su shook her head and went to her own four-poster to change, and Lisa went to their friend to remedy the situation. She didn't know how Mandy and Jack had befriended each other, but inter-House bonds were cropping up often this year, and they'd grown so close, and Lisa hated to see her friend troubled and maybe even at risk of losing one of the few good things she had right now.

               "Don't be mad at him," she offered, leaning against the far post of Mandy's bed.

               Mandy didn't roll over. She kept her face buried in her arms atop her pillow, but her shoulders shook with another sob.

               Lisa bit the inside of her cheek. Had she been too bold, promising Jack she'd speak with Mandy? Surely he hadn't inferred Lisa would help smooth things between them… Either way, she tried again, an echo of what she'd told Jack: "He cares for you. A lot. He doesn't want to see you hurt or in any sort of danger." She stopped short of adding the obvious, that the Carrows were bound to catch Mandy at some point, simply because that seemed to be how the stars had aligned against the D.A. and its supporters.

               Mandy shook her head in answer to Lisa's words. She wouldn't hear any of it. She also didn't budge even when Lisa drew closer to rub soothing circles on her back, but eventually she cried herself to sleep.

               Lisa drew Mandy's curtains closed and kneaded her palms before prepping for bed—who knew comforting someone could make you ache? She shook her head on the way to her bedside, knowing a pair of black eyes followed her. "I know, I know, I need to get to sleep if I'm to see Pomfrey in the morning. I'm on it," she said to Su.

               "That wasn't what was on my mind," Su corrected.

               Lisa glanced at her. "It wasn't?" she asked, and she hung up her bag and cloak.

               Su drew her right leg up and rested her cheek against her knee. Her eyes closed partway, content, catlike. That smile was back on her lips. "…if I say it, you'll only be upset with me."

               "Now you've got me intrigued."

               Su rolled her head, a lazy gesture meant to point in Mandy's direction. "Your advice to her and to Jack. It was kindhearted."

               Lisa flushed with pride and ducked behind her curtains to slip her nightgown over her head and shove the rest of her uniform, ready to be grabbed at first light, into a ball in front of her stack of references. Not that she needed anyone's praise, but from Su—

               "It was also extremely hypocritical."

               The blonde yanked her curtains open and threw a glare at Su, who shrugged. "Excuse me?!" she hissed. She calmed only when Mandy tossed in her sleep, but at least Mandy was exhausted enough not to wake and play audience to their spat.

               "Just go over what you said to them, Lisa. It doesn't sound at all a little familiar?"

               Lisa furrowed her brow, replaying tonight's meal in her head. "No…it doesn't."

               Su got to her feet and closed the distance between them. She held Lisa's face in her hands and tilted the smaller girl's head up. "Someone who can do nothing but care on the sidelines. Someone who grows frustrated with that caring. And you said their feelings are the same."

               Lisa pursed her lips so tightly that Su would've had to pry them apart. But she absolutely refused to draw the same connections Su saw in Lisa's advice. Instead, she said, "You've done anything but be on the sidelines."

               "Perhaps," Su conceded. Her long fingers moved over Lisa's face, past her ears, behind her head. That was always her move before she kissed Lisa, though she kept herself in check tonight. No, tonight she brushed her nose with Lisa's and laughed darkly. "Rather, I'm actively on the sidelines. …but only because you've let me."

               Lisa struggled to find the right words—sweet Merlin, how was it that Su Li of so few syllables always made Lisa feel like the mute?!—but Su dropped the topic, just as she dropped her hands from Lisa's hair. Her hand fell to Lisa's side, though, and she gave Lisa's hand a squeeze before returning to her own four-poster and pulling the curtains shut.

               Even if Lisa were a hypocrite and truly felt like one every time they saw Mandy and Jack and Su would send her a knowing little look complete with quirked eyebrow, these thoughts took second place in Lisa's mind. They had to as April wound down and Kevin began to hide in the dorm to make potions nearly 'round the clock and Stephen missed more and more meals to free specific books from the Restricted Section and Lisa spirited herself in and out of the Hospital Wing best she could when Alecto and Amycus weren't prowling in order not only to learn from Pomfrey but to do some proper Healing as the Carrows' tempers flared more often towards underclassmen. And, on days when the Carrows did have the way blocked, Lisa detoured and made for the seventh floor and sent her sora out to signal Terry and meet with him, that way he could start his informal training somewhere and so the Room of Requirement wouldn't be without some type of Healer, trainee or not.

               Yet everything changed the last week of April.

               Perhaps they'd gotten lazy. Perhaps they'd gotten overconfident. Perhaps Jack's change of heart after making right with Mandy was wrong, and his helping slip her provisions for the D.A. had become too much a game to the pair.

               Lisa and Su didn't even realize something took place until Alecto already was upon Mandy at the end of supper. Lisa thought she heard Alecto call Mandy "Porky" again, same as earlier in the year—a dumb thing for a lump of flesh like Alecto to call curvy Mandy.

               "No, Professor Carrow," Mandy said to Alecto.

               "Your pockets," Alecto hissed. "Empty them."

               Jack stood behind Mandy, the two primed to leave like most of the students. His eyes widened with fright as Mandy replied, "No."

               "What?!"

               Mandy fixed her posture until it was ramrod straight. "I said, no."

               "Did you just say 'no' to me?" Alecto's voice was so shrill that the few around them who hadn't been paying attention to the spectacle now stopped in their tracks. It made Lisa push off the table, but Su grabbed her wrist before she could get to her feet.

               "Yes," Mandy said. "I told you 'no.'"

               "I order you to empty out your pockets!" Alecto screamed into her face, spittle flying. "You're taking food to traitors!!"

               "And I won't empty my pockets," Mandy replied as simply as pointing out nice weather. Su's grip on Lisa's wrist tightened painfully.

               Alecto's growl was the only warning they had before she pointed her wand at Mandy and used the Cruciatus on her. Mandy's shrieks filled the Great Hall and echoed, rebounding every which way and reminding Lisa of the Caterwauling Charm in Hogsmeade that could be heard all the way to the school.

               Lisa wanted to vomit. A Healer's duty was to Heal the sick and the wounded. Not be on standby. Not sit and twiddle her thumbs. But, between Mandy's screams of pain and Jack's sobs and begging Alecto to stop, Lisa finally realized that Su stopping her was keeping Lisa alive—and keeping her around to do the work she craved another day.

               Alecto stopped, only to haul Mandy up by her hair and use the curse again, and Lisa flinched and looked away. Mandy screamed again until she couldn't anymore, and only then did her friends risk another look.

               But when Mandy stopped screaming, Alecto released her of the curse. And Mandy had enough energy left to break free of her then.

               These last few minutes were nothing to the next few seconds. Mandy met Lisa's and Su's eyes and gave them a nod by way of goodbye. She turned to Jack last, and then she bellowed into the room, "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!" And then she ran.

               The students had been filing out after dinner and paused only for fear of punishment during this altercation, and they parted to let Mandy pass and closed the gap after her to impede Alecto. It was the strongest showing of school unity since Dumbledore's funeral nearly a year ago—

               —and it would not be the last.

               Lisa and Su skulked about the fourth floor the next morning, having barely slept last night after Mandy left for the Room of Requirement and on edge now as a Death Eater patrolled the entrance to the Hospital Wing. There would be no secret lessons today, so the girls made their way to breakfast and ate silently and by themselves, as Kevin and Stephen had forgone the meal and the Great Hall seemed far emptier than usual, even compared to these last few weeks.

               They went to half their classes, and again Lisa felt her friends' absence in spite of the mandatory attendance order every student had been made acutely aware of at the start of each term. But, after lunch, Su followed an angry Lisa back to Ravenclaw Tower.

               "How can the teachers go about the day as if everything's the same?!" she hissed into the emptiness of their dorm. She threw her bag on the floor, knocking her books and Pomfrey's over and sending parchment flying.

               Su exhaled and didn't offer any platitudes.

               Lisa pushed her hands up into her hair, fighting back angry tears, at last understanding, perhaps, Morag's frustration. The only difference was that Lisa's frustration bolstered her to chase her dream, not throw it away. And, with a huff, Lisa sat on the floor and scrabbled together her materials, attempting to compile another list of magicks to pass along to the D.A.

               By evening, there was a knock on their door. Su answered it, and a note from Stephen flew in:

 Meeting with us in ten. Join? —SC

                 "Coming for potions, maybe," Su suggested by way of explanation.

               It turned out Su was right. They joined Stephen and Kevin in the seventh-year boys' dorm, and Anthony met them along with, stunningly, Ginny and Susan. Lisa's heart nearly burst, seeing these old faces, and she gave Anthony's an arm a squeeze, half to convince herself the blond wizard was real.

               Anthony beamed at his fellow eagles. "Good to see you lot well. Almost makes me wish I'd taken that bet with Michael over which of us had the best temperaments—considering how you four have held up, I knew it was an easy win."

               "Trust me," Ginny interjected with a shake of her head, "no one wins in a bet with Michael Corner."

               "Are you all right?" Lisa asked the youngest Weasley. "We'd heard—your family—"

               But that renowned fire in her made Ginny smile. "My family's doing what they need to be doing. Harry's doing what he needs to be doing. I'm here where I'm needed."

               At that, Kevin began passing out bottles of potions to her, Anthony, and Susan. "That's all I need to hear. The more arms, the better. Unless—Expanded pockets?"

               Susan shook her head. "Haven't had the time to charm much. Do you have a bag you could loan us?"

               The curly-haired boy frowned. "No, just mine, and I've already put a Cushioning Charm and an Anti-Shatter Charm on it…" He didn't say why, but it didn't have to be said: Kevin was prepping for the eventuality that he and Stephen would leave the safety of the dorms.

               Lisa broke the awkward silence by clearing her throat. She unfurled a foot of parchment and held it out to Ginny and Susan. "Look, I've a list of spells here, and I thought I might try teaching you two so you're not relying on Terry only," she said.

               Anthony and Stephen shared a look, and the latter passed Anthony a crumpled note. "My research probably isn't as detailed, but if you want to go over the pronunciations…" He shrugged.

               "Might as well give it a go," Ginny said to Susan. Their shoulders fell. "Seamus is laid up again, and Nev's practically another person, his face is that bad," she explained after an odd beat.

               Lisa nodded to the boys, thankful they didn't mind her prolonging the meeting, and then got to work with the lioness and the badger. That said, even after Ginny and Susan set aside Kevin's potions and devoted their attention to Lisa, this was not an easy task. Lisa fretted that Pomfrey maybe made teaching look easy, and she was grateful when Su assisted her in correcting the redheads' wandwork.

               But the better part of an hour passed without luck. Ginny turned red in the face, not unlike Ron when mad on the Quidditch pitch. Susan furrowed her brow angrily, but her eyes were glassy, as if she cried easily like her friend, Hannah.

               "Ahem," Anthony interrupted, coughing politely. He gave them all a tight grin and faced Lisa. "Might I try, Healer Turpin?"

               Lisa settled him with a dry look but nevertheless next tried to teach Anthony. She hoped he might've picked something up, being Terry's boyfriend. Alas, he wasn't much better than either Ginny or Susan.

               "That's it," she groused, snatching her notes off Stephen's bed and rolling the parchment back up to tuck into her cloak. The sharpness of her tone made the others jolt—well, except Su.

               "Lisa," Anthony began, "you can't blame us… We're brand-new to this. You've been at Madam Pomfrey's side for months. That's—"

               Susan glanced at her wristwatch and squeaked. "Ginny, Anthony. Oh, holy Helga. We've been here more than two hours! We've got to go."

               "And I'm coming with you," Lisa declared.

               Six pairs of eyes flew to her. Anthony gaped at her. "…you're certain?"

               "As certain as rain in England."

               Ginny snickered at that and raised her eyebrows at Anthony. Then she settled Lisa with a more serious stare. "Are you ready as-is? We can spare one minute more, and even then that's…"

               Lisa didn't need to hear more. She left Su with them and ducked to the girls' dorm, cramming all of Pomfrey's things into her bag's Expanded pocket and fitting what else she might need until—shock of all things—her bag actually couldn't fit anything else. Lisa reluctantly set aside a book on counter-curses, hoping instead that Stephen had done enough reading and passed enough knowledge along to the others to cover what Lisa couldn't bring. She returned to them a minute later and left with them in seconds, leaving Stephen and Kevin behind, spying a scared hug between the two boys as the door closed behind the group.

               It was no surprise that five, not four, of them sped across the castle to the seventh floor and entered the Room of Requirement that evening. But it seemed deafening after the quiet of the castle to be greeted by the noise inside the hideout, and they were rushed by the likes of Terry, Michael, and Parvati—Dean and Justin, as well, had made it back to the castle, even though Justin was a Muggle-born and everyone in their year had heard the rumor behind Dean's family that had led to him being on the lam.

               "What's going on?" Terry asked Anthony, since Lisa and Su were at the back of the group.

               "You didn't run into any more trouble, did you?" Dean asked. But he was the tallest in their year and spied the new additions before they had the chance to catch up, and relief flooded his features in the form of a bright smile.

               Ginny shook her head at the gaggle. "No, it's—" She gestured exasperatedly and glanced to Lisa. "Well, Lisa, you can explain," she offered, stepping aside for the blonde to take the floor.

               Lisa ignored the surprise evident on Terry's and Michael's faces. "I decided," she began, "it was high time for me to join you lot down here." She squared her shoulders. "At first, I was just adding to Stephen's list of helpful spells for everyone, but, when Ginny and Susan told us about Seamus and Neville, I couldn't sit still any longer. So, I'm here."

               Her audience nodded and/or whistled appreciatively, and Justin's friendly smile was just as welcome as Dean's. Michael, however, eyed Terry and snickered. "Nice to know we've a competent Healer now," the shaggy-haired eagle teased. Some color dusted Terry's cheeks at the ribbing.

               Lisa grimaced. "Joking aside, I'm here, so let me put to use the skills Madam Pomfrey has risked her life teaching me in secret this year," she huffed, not partaking in Michael's teasing and saving her remarks about Terry's skills (or lack thereof) for later. She spied Seamus resting in one of the far hammocks then, and she cut across the room with Su on her heels and the others' eyes on her back, no doubt wondering where the formerly polite and sweet Lisa Turpin had gone in the tumult called their seventh year.

               Lavender stepped aside when they reached Seamus. "Oh, he's—" she began.

               Lisa shook her head. "Asleep or not—doesn't matter."

               Lavender made a face. "No need to be rude. I was going to tell you what happened."

               "I don't necessarily need that yet," Lisa added. She was vaguely aware of the impressed look Su gave her when Lavender scowled, but Lisa had to concentrate. One of Pomfrey's first lessons was to teach Lisa the Scanning Spells, and Lisa went through them one by one, from outer layer to inner. And these were not yet things she had mastered nonverbally… "Dermispecto," she muttered under her breath.

               Seamus had some minor cuts and old bruises which the spell allowed her to pinpoint beneath his filthy uniform and under makeshift bandages. Those were easy enough to fix, and the next Scanning Spell showed her no broken bones, just old breaks that had mended all right after being set correctly. Another scan—no vessel issues or blockages. Another scan—ah. No bleeding, but had Death Eaters stopped wielding magic and begun kicking students while they were down on the floor?

               "…oh," Lisa said quietly. She lowered her wand and met Lavender's stare.

               "Yeah, 'oh.' Not all of the Death Eaters know the Carrows' tricks, Turpin. Some of them are plenty content to beat the shit out of us the good, ol' Muggle way." Angry though she was, Lavender's eyes were puffy, and she leaned, tired, against the edge of Seamus' hammock.

               Lisa shared a look with Su, who nodded. Then she looked back to Lavender. "Look, he'll be all right. But take one of Kevin's potions, for the internal bruising, and Seamus will be back on his feet in no time."

               Lavender pouted at her and squinted her eyes, as though trying to decide whether to snap at Lisa again or to drop the subject. "…thanks," she said after an odd beat.

               They left her to tend to Seamus then, and Lisa knew she still had Neville on her list. But they saw his face and Lisa realized working on him would sap her energy, so she made a detour when she and Su caught sight of Mandy and Jack by one of the windows.

               Mandy almost squeezed the life out of her. "It's so good to see you again!"

               Lisa hugged her back, lingering. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the others, even if they'd only been separated from Mandy for barely twenty-four hours. When Mandy pulled away, Lisa gave her a smile. "I can't just keep passing on my knowledge to Terry," she said. She thought back on Michael's teasing and realized that there probably was an ounce of truth in them. "Someone who knows what she's doing had to come down here and heal victims when needed."

               Mandy grinned at her uncharacteristic cheekiness, and even Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise.

               But that was all Lisa could spare herself a break. Afterwards, she and Su took up post by Neville, who faded in and out of sleep while Lisa worked her spells and rationed some of Kevin's potions to try and make the D.A.'s de facto leader recognizable again. By the time Neville had just a black eye and a dozen cuts across his face (there was nothing she could do about a missing tooth), Lisa collapsed against Su's chest and fell asleep late that morning the first day of May.

               "How did we get to May like this?" Lisa mused as she and Su made the rounds in the Room of Requirement and checked on the inhabitants later in the day. Mandy, Lisa had glimpsed last night, did a headcount before she calmed down; Lisa preferred to check in with every student and ask if anything hurt and Healed them as needed and called Terry over if there were anything she weren't certain he knew.

               Su slid a supportive arm around Lisa's waist and tucked the blonde's head against her shoulder. "Surviving is all that matters right now," she said.

               Lisa sighed and nodded. It was a good reminder, and it was a nice one to hear in Su's husky voice. Even with the room full and still some underclassmen trickling in, Lisa knew she could pick this voice out of a crowd. It was a comfort, a rare sane thing in this insanity.

               Speaking of insanity—Neville and some of the others seemed to be in…well, not in top shape but at least in a good mood today. Neville kept going on about something good happening today, though none of them had the foggiest what that might be, especially since Mandy could no longer spirit them extra food and they had to rely solely on Aberforth's unique cuisine again.

               But perhaps Fate rewarded the hopeful. After all, later that night, Harry, Hermione, and Ron returned to the castle via the Room of Requirement—that very portrait passageway bringing them mildly edible rations brought them a fighting chance.

               No sooner did the trio return than was there a clamor in the school and a closer commotion directly outside the Room of Requirement. But, much to the seventh-year Ravenclaws' delight, that was Anthony and Terry on watch and letting Stephen and Kevin inside. Stephen and Kevin had not sent an avian signal this time; instead, Stephen had conjured his red-winged blackbird and the pair had followed the bird to the Room of Requirement.

               "About time you blokes showed up!" Terry said when he and Michael closed the door behind the newest arrivals. "You had us worried there, wondering if you'd be trapped up there in the dorm or trapped in the Great Hall with Snape."

               "Is it true, that Harry's back?" Stephen asked. Beside him, Kevin took in not only the expanse of the Room of Requirement but just how many people it had come to protect.

               "Yes," Neville answered him, and he motioned to others as he spoke. "And he's got a job to do, so let's do ours."

               Lisa initially missed what the Golden Trio's objective was—she thought someone mentioned Ravenclaw's diadem—but Su caught her up after Lisa looked Kevin and Stephen over briefly to ensure for her own peace of mind that, yes, both were unharmed. No sooner had Harry, Hermione, and Ron left than did Ginny, Neville, and Luna on their own mission (or missions), and Seamus, Parvati, and Dean went about organizing the remnants of the D.A. and the older students who could fight. It was a boon that some of Gryffindor's former Quidditch players had returned to join the fight.

               But whatever plans Seamus and the rest had, Michael felt the need to pull aside his Housemates. His raised his eyebrows at the nine others. "Anyone have any suggestions?"

               Stephen frowned and looked around their little circle. "The spells I sent—has anyone practiced them?"

               Padma frowned, and Lisa shared in Stephen's grimace, that their classmates had not quite been up to the task… "A few have," the Indian witch admitted. "Just the wording. I wish we'd had time with a real teacher to teach them…"

               Lisa quashed an urge to yell at them; she was already fed up enough from yesterday, trying to teach Anthony, Ginny, and Susan. (She also tucked away a mental note to work on her bedside manner, whether showing someone else the ropes or working on a patient.)

               "I've at least got potions," Kevin piped up. He opened his satchel and rummaged around, pulling out two in each hand. "In general, blue is poison and/or acts like an acid, green will explode, purple will cause side-effects, and red will make the pain go away."

               "That's brilliant, Kevin!" Mandy chirped. She took one of the red phials and looked expectantly at him. "Got any more for healing?"

               He nodded. "Orange—a few." He glanced at Michael. "If we're splitting up into teams, I'd suggest one of the orange ones per team, though each is about only two servings."

               Terry gawked at Kevin's inventory. "Merlin! And to think I've had Lisa helping me with Healer spells!"

               All right, now that was just a low blow. Lisa raised a disapproving eyebrow at Terry and cleared her throat. Was he or was he not dedicated to becoming a Healer?!

               All the praise went right to Kevin's head, and his cheeks were rosy as he smiled at the lot of them. It was rather infectious. "It's all right. Steve helped."

               Not even Su could help herself when all eyes landed on Stephen, whose face flushed with brief color. But then Stephen cleared his throat. "I guess we're not all going to be on one team, yeah?"

               The question was a sobering one. There were several averted gazes in the group, and the tension didn't break even when Anthony spoke. "Safer…," he said, "…that way, for some." There was no missing the look he gave Terry.

               Despite that and a bad joke about a double civil ceremony after from Morag, poking at both pairs, the Ravenclaws got back on track, with only Michael pausing to converse with some of the other D.A. members. With the extra input, they split up, mostly into groups of four.

               "You can't seriously think everyone's got to be on the frontline?" Lisa asked Padma and Michael before they left with Ernie and Leanne to defend Ravenclaw Tower. "I'm not a soldier—"

               Michael pried her hand from Padma's arm, though. "Tonight, we are whatever we have to be, Lisa."

               Padma frowned at him and patted Lisa's hand sadly. "We'll see you on the other side of all this. Promise." Her smile was big…and brittle.

               That was the last Lisa could dawdle. Su tugged her back to their group, the sole Ravenclaw-only one with Stephen and Kevin, and Lisa realized her luck as the quartet headed to the kitchens to alert the house-elves as the battle began around them. She was lucky, because she was not scared out of her wits like Kevin, who looked ready to cry as they ran in the corridors, and because, even though she'd had to set aside her Healer duties to fight, Su was by her side without Lisa even asking, without it even occurring to Lisa to consider all the ramifications of them being in the same squad.

               Another stroke of luck: The house-elves already knew what was going on. Laughter bubbled up in the back of Lisa's throat, seeing the creatures fight Death Eaters with their own magic and with anything edible on hand, though she swallowed her laughter as she and her friends made a detour.

               They changed course, heading back upstairs to make better use of themselves. "Stick together!" Stephen shouted from the head of their group.

               Though the battle had just been beginning on their way down, it was in full swing as they emerged upstairs. They encountered three Death Eaters who were not interested in chasing underage students fearful of fighting back. No—these Death Eaters wanted to play with their food.

               Stephen froze. Kevin was useless at his side. Su possessed an odd sort of calm that flowed into Lisa when the girls' arms brushed.

               In the blink of an eye, their opponents began casting magic, all of it nonverbal, giving them the element of surprise. That made this challenge reek of impossibility, but Lisa and Su met them head on, and Stephen and Kevin fought back once they gathered themselves.

               The thing was, Lisa and Su also knew their share of nonverbal magic. Their House was well-known for producing students who could do it by sixth and seventh year, even if they couldn't master it for every little spell. Additionally, Madam Pomfrey had insisted that so many of her spells Lisa learn nonverbally, so Lisa had had extra practice. Su—well, Su was a natural, Lisa observed.

               The witches took on two of the three Death Eaters, one each, and Lisa felt surprisingly calm as if she were Healing. She and Su fought, backs together, and they held their own, no matter how fast the curses and hexes and jinxes came at them. Lisa deflected and rarely ducked, but she literally felt Su's movements with their backs flush and knew that, no matter how she moved, they wouldn't make a mistake and be caught by each other's opponent.

               A crash sounded, and one of the Death Eaters shrieked. Kevin jumped for joy, one of his experimental potions having done wonders on his and Stephen's foe. But that caught the attention of the burly Death Eater facing Su, and he stalked after the boys.

               There was a break in their fight now, with two against one. However, the remaining Death Eater realized the circumstances and began a fresh attack. Each spell came faster and did more damage, raining pieces of the castle around them in the process…though he could not be solely to blame, Lisa acknowledged as she rubbed a knot of dread in her chest and opened her ears to the explosions happening all around them now. Near, not far.

               Lisa and Su tried to find Stephen and Kevin, but they'd lost sight of them, and their own duel turned desperate. Su snatched Lisa's right upper arm in time for them to dodge a bolt of neon red light. Then, with her eyes on their opponent, Su licked her lips and said, "Hear me out, Lisa."

               Lisa did a double-take and ducked as another spell flew overhead. She glared at Su for trying to converse now of all times. "What? No! Just duel, you fool!" When they could, they broke into a sprint and crossed the corridor, where more of the wall remained and provided better cover.

               "Lisa. Please."

               Another double-take. But now Lisa furrowed her brow, frightened not only by the plea in Su's voice but by the girl's horrendous timing. Lisa opened her mouth to protest, but they both held a Shield Charm in place for a moment as dozens of spells pelted them.

               When there was an opening, Su pushed Lisa down behind a broken column—no, not a column but a broken doorframe to an empty classroom. "I know we're barely adults," she said while they caught their breaths. "But hear me out: I love you, Lisa Turpin. I've been gobsmacked since I first met this angel-haired roommate of mine, to the point where I've been almost mute these last seven years."

               Lisa stared at her as though Su had two heads. She was panting—why wasn't Su? And, really, saying all that all at once—how did Su have any breath left? Something else clicked, too, and Lisa blushed furiously, embarrassed that she realized this last. "Wait—you mean you normally talk as much as the rest of us?!"

               That damnable small smile of hers graced Su's lips. "I'm a little chattier around Morag," she confessed, "because she had some expertise in picking up on my feelings for you."

               Oh. Oh, Merlin. Lisa felt a headache coming on. Too much heat was flooding her cheeks as she grasped that likelihood because they all knew Morag was, at least to their dorm, an out and proud lesbian. Lisa shook her head and kept herself from sighing or snarling. "Why bring all this up now?" she asked, almost too softly given their current setting. "It's not the time for doom talk, Su." As if to help prove her point, the Death Eater's latest hex sent a shower of stone pebbles over Lisa's back.

               But Su only pulled Lisa closer, further from danger. "Because," she said when Lisa looked up at her, "I simply want a promise."

               Lisa swallowed a lump in her throat. Promises were never a good idea in wartime.

               "Not for a return of affections," Su assured her. She rested her forehead against Lisa's and closed her eyes briefly. "Not for a rejection. Just for an answer. I've read that, for some, 'love' is a heavy word. It doesn't mean the same thing to everyone." She met Lisa's eyes. "So, after all this is over, a little down the road, I want to meet with you again, and I hope you'll have weighed what you do and don't feel so that you can give me an answer: Do you love me back?"

               "Su, I—"

               But the bombardment of spells interrupted them. It was too much, too rapid-fire, and their cover would bury them if Lisa and Su didn't come out of hiding. It was also the first time Lisa had ever seen Su irate: The peaceful witch literally growled as she stepped out from behind the crumbling doorframe, returning fire with hexes of her own and attempting to advance on him with each spell. One of Su's spells managed to connect with one of the Death Eater's, and the remnants of the corridor flashed with bright light.

               Lisa whipped her arms up to cover her eyes. The connection broke, and Lisa and Su noticed that half a beat after the Death Eater did. And that half a beat allowed him to react faster than either witch.

               He aimed his wand at Su, and again there was bright light, but it was blinding white this time, and Lisa had not been quick enough to shield her eyes. She kept blinking, trying to regain her sight, but all she saw were stars and stars and stars and stars…

               …the stars faded.

               Lisa's stomach dropped.

               Su was nowhere to be seen.

               No body. No blood. Nothing.

               Lisa's mind worked overtime, flipping through a mental card catalogue of information, thinking that perhaps the spell had been nastier than she could've imagined. A part of her froze with fear, recalling Pomfrey explaining the different types of matter to her, explaining a little bit of Muggle science because who knew when you might need it when Healing out there in the real world? And all Lisa's mind could do was circle back to the different states of matter and come back to vapors and even dismiss herself because what if she were recalling incorrectly that vapors weren't a type of matter…but, no, vapors…vapors counted, vapors were gas, and people could be vaporized since people were mostly water…and, therefore, in conclusion, she had reason to fear the existence of a spell that could've literally vaporized Su Li from existence. (Never mind that there ought to be some sort of evidence—no, that part of Lisa's rationale would not be heard right now.)

               Her brain processed this in mere seconds. And those seconds were all the Death Eater needed to gather himself and turn his attention on Lisa. The screech of stone on stone as he shuffled through rubble and took a step towards her was all the warning she'd get.

               And it was enough to snap Lisa out of her daze, assess her chances, and choose to run for her life, forgetting any hopes she might've had of surviving this war….

               It was humid for the middle of summer. But, standing here, outside of Dumbledore's old office, the weather wasn't much of a concern.

               McGonagall and Flitwick turned when they heard his footsteps coming up the stairs on the right. Both of them tipped their heads to Harry in greeting, and he did the same, though he and McGonagall shared a brief embrace, as well, making Flitwick smile. Then the three of them stared at the spiral staircase.

               "New year soon," Harry prompted.

               McGonagall sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. "It still feels too soon…," she remarked.

               His eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he glanced down at Flitwick. "Is there something the matter? Hogwarts has always, um, run in spite of everything." He scratched the back of his head, making his hair more of a mess. He winced. "…I figured you were done with Ministry involvement. But if you think Kingsley has the sway, I'm sure he'd push the term back for you if asked."

               She shook her head. "No. Nothing of the sort, Potter. We're restructuring the faculty list—there are still kinks to work out. We can't even have all the classes anymore and this—" She stopped, gesturing to Dumbledore's office. But she lost steam and dropped her hand. "…I may be headmistress now, but…I can't find it in myself to move in here yet." McGonagall frowned and shook her head again, passing by the two wizards. "Excuse me."

               They watched her leave, but Harry and Flitwick remained there awhile longer. When Flitwick felt the timing was right, he turned his more cheerful countenance on his former student. "And how go things, Mr. Potter, out there?" he asked, tilting his head up.

               Harry smiled wanly and stuck his hands in his denims pockets. "Professor Flitwick…"

               "Hmm?"

               "Have you done any more searching on the grounds? Or in the surrounding areas?"

               Ah, yes. Not an unexpected question. Flitwick shook his head and clasped his hands in front of him. He dropped his gaze. "…no, Harry. Minerva called off the searches. We had to, in order to focus efforts on finishing castle repairs for the incoming school year." He clenched his jaw. "All we've done is to presume Stephen Cornfoot dead, but—" Flitwick squeezed his hands until his fingers hurt. This was not supposed to be a part of teaching.

               "Professor." Harry waited until he had Flitwick's attention and then he offered the Charms professor a compassionate look. "I'll personally keep feelers out regarding Morag, Lisa, and Su. Unlike with Stephen, there's no evidence to rob us of hope, so—" Harry nodded, believing in his own promise. "Professor, until every person…or until every body…makes it home, we don't have to give up. We won't."

               All this from the Boy-Who-Lived…now the Boy-Who-Won. So, of course, Flitwick nodded, wanting to believe him—though the stark reality of months of dead ends left the Head of Ravenclaw House sad and unconvinced and wishing to stop wondering what had happened to his students.

B) Following that epilogue, I'm ready for the feels, *LOL*. Looking over old art from 2013 and working on a timeline for the Maydayverse (my overall HariPo headcanon) helped me to flesh out this idea, which had v loose bones from yrs ago. Even tho its sister stories "Zugzwang," "if you fall at midnight," and "A Life Well-Lived" have been complete for ages, getting the record straight about LisaSu has been a challenge for me, esp when rereading "No-Fly Zone" lead me to the discovery that (tho it has great inspiration) that LisaSu story is not, in fact, MDV. There are just too many inconsistencies. So fast-forward to 2020 and I write "yours, mine, & ours" (after some other MDV Morildas) and FINALLY write "the broken ones" and LisaSu clicks into place for me (esp regarding Healer stuff and the world-building that goes hand-in-hand with that, magic and whatnot). Now, if you have read my grown eagle fics, you know not to despair here for LisaSu; if not, then please go read "A Fuller Nest" and await the forthcoming "fire in the water," set some time after this. I honestly never thought I'd write so much about the eagles in Harry's year, but…here we are. *LOL* ALL that aside, my only LisaSu commentary is that theirs is a shown love more than a talked-about love, until Su professes, which felt like a nice change compared to some of my other fics. If you're wondering about Mandy & Jack Sloper, then go read "Zugzwang." If you're wondering about Stephen & Kevin, then go read "if you fall at midnight." If you're wondering about Terry (and Anthony), then go read "A Life Well-Lived." P much everyone named in this fic is not an OC, until we count Emma Runcorn, who I consider to be the bespectacled Slytherin girl in the Golden Trio's year (since I gave her a name, I sorta treat her as an OC—oof, so messy, ah, well). About classes: It makes sense to me that Oliver Rivers & Megan Jones would be forced out of a class they might want/need, given that the Death Eaters prolly would've given preference to Slytherins first and then perhaps Ravenclaws and then Hufflepuffs if absolutely necessary; obvo no accommodations would be made for Gryffindors if they could help it. :O (Or at least that's how my headcanon works for classes this year. XD) And an interesting note: The song "Zero" by Bump of Chicken played while I was working on this; and BOY that Final Fantasy Type-0 theme song is way too apt for a wartime fic, *LOL*.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

                They were so black and shiny and innocent that Lisa was reminded of a doe. She never could strike that image of Su Li from her mind.

                When Su first saw her, she was struck by her hair.

                It looked so soft and light and gorgeous that Su was reminded of an angel on earth. Angels didn't exist, so Su tried to discard the idea. But, somewhere in the back of her mind, she always acquainted Lisa Turpin with the term "fallen angel."

                With those thoughts in mind, Lisa and Su kept to themselves, friends but not friends, Housemates but not classmates. Lisa hung out more with Mandy Brocklehurst and Padma Patil. Su spent much of her time with Morag MacDougal. It was some kind of dance, with them dancing circles around each other, never to meet in the middle.

                First year was the start of the dance just for having met each other. But Lisa told herself she ought to open her eyes to the world around her. Su told herself the same thing, that Hogwarts was a new experience to be fully tested. And so they prepared to dance.

                Second year was a trifle frightening. Students went out to into corridors, and they were Petrified! Fear united the second-year Ravenclaw girls just a wee bit more. Su and Lisa took one step forward when they briefly spoke.

                "At least we won't be attacked," Su surmised.

                "The five of us are all half-blood, so you're right," Lisa remarked. Su didn't correct her; Morag was a pureblood, but that didn't really matter. Nothing much mattered when people were getting hurt.

                Third year was more terrifying. The realization that a killer was on the loose, the chance that he was at Hogwarts since the Dementors had made an appearance—Lisa hated all of it. She really wished that school life could be normal; all she wanted to do was study and do her best; Su agreed. And so they twirled.

                Fourth year brought them some normalcy in the form of change. The Triwizard Tournament was something to which they all could look forward. Not only did they get to interact with other schools—Durmstrang and Beauxbatons!—but the school year wasn't a usual one. Even though Harry Potter was disliked by about half the school for a while, Su and Lisa ended up supporting him as the tasks wore on. The girls even went to the Yule Ball, Lisa in a glimmering bronze gown, Su in a midnight blue dress… Su loved Lisa's angel hair flowing freely. They literally danced circles around each other that night.

                Fifth year was…strange. Hormones were hitting Hogwarts. Lisa went through a dating phase—Terry and Michael and Anthony. Su watched on, watched by Blaise Zabini, but that was nothing more than a passing fancy. Long before fifth year was over and Umbridge had been chased from the school, Lisa and Su found themselves chatting again, more often this time. They spun on their heels around one another.

                Sixth year was ridiculous. It could've been so much more. It was almost a hazard-free time until the end when Dumbledore died. Lisa hadn't seen Su cry before. Those doe eyes were not doe eyes, Lisa understood. They were Su's beautiful eyes made ugly by having wept red and raw… Lisa held Su for the first time that night, and they cried together. The dance continued, but at least their hands were joined now.

                Seventh year. Everyone would remember it.

                It was a time of panic and strife and secrecy. Lisa and Su did their best to get by. On one occasion, when they were almost caught out of bed in the library by Alecto and Madam Pince wasn't there to vouch for them, the same thought occurred to Lisa and Su: Do I save myself or her? Lisa even asked, quietly, Padma what she would've done, and Padma stared at the both of them, agape.

                "You two are best mates, aren't you?"

                It was an absurd idea. Lisa and Su, best friends? Neither of them had considered it before…but now the idea took root. Okay. Perhaps they were best friends. Lisa knew she didn't get along with the other girls the way she did with Su, in some ways. Su knew she didn't get along with the other girls the way she did with Lisa, in some ways. They were a…peculiar pair. But yes. Perhaps that made them best friends.

                That was tested in the Battle of Hogwarts.

                Amidst the spells, the blood, the rubble, Su and Lisa tried to figure out a plan. Everyone else was fighting, but this one time too few Ravenclaws were using their brains to come up with a proper tactical strategy. Not Lisa and Su, though. They wanted to help win the fight, but they wanted to survive, as well.

                "There's the tower—we should protect the tower—"

                "—if a spell hits us at the joint, the tower will crumble—"

                "—should do what we can to keep the stronghold up, and the castle is the stronghold—"

                "Fine. But we'll need more than a couple of wands for this—"

                A few of them went downstairs. The rest stayed in Ravenclaw Tower. Booms, crashes, and bangs—it all happened around them until it came to them, right on their doorstep. One, two, no, three Death Eaters were more than enough of a challenge for the students. Down, Mandy went. Morag was Blasted out of a new hole in the tower. Even Anthony failed, his dueling skills no match for a Dark Wizard.

                Su grabbed Lisa's hand and pulled her to her, and they faced a Death Eater together. Lisa said a silent prayer, and, by Merlin, it must've worked, for the Death Eater in question was not very good at fending off two girls' rapid-fire hexes and jinxes. Good thing, too—they had almost fallen through the same hole that had claimed Morag's life moments before.

                After more fighting, more death, more destruction, the girls found a spare minute in the following, eerie silence to cry for their friends and schoolmates. Su left then, Lisa following suit shortly afterwards.

                The war was over, but the dance was not.

                The days, the weeks, the months, and the years after the war were painful reminders of all that had been. Lisa became a Healer to busy her hands since she couldn't busy her mind. All she saw was a pair of glittering black eyes anymore.

                Su travelled, living without magic to see what it was like. But how could she forget magic when one angel—a magical being—constantly appeared in her head? Sometimes she heard the flapping of wings, but Su convinced herself it was a mirage. It was merely the flutter of her heart.

                The dance was slowing down.

                Someone—neither of them was sure who, exactly—came up with the idea to have a Ravenclaw reunion. Lisa liked the sentimentality of it, but Su thought it didn't really matter. Only about half of them were left, anyway. But her perspective changed with one letter, one tentative missive that she could've discarded and disregarded if she'd had the will to stand up to her feelings.

      Su—

                      Are you going to reunite with our fellow eagles?

                                                                                                                —Lisa T.

                "Lisa T."—as though Su knew that many Lisas! But Su gave in to her heart's funny beats, deciphering them after all this time. And, really, she was Sorted into Ravenclaw House?

                The dance picked up speed, and they dipped, but they were swaying closer together this time.

                Lisa didn't know what to expect when Su was there that day, standing outside St. Mungo's, waiting, when Lisa left after a day's work. Lisa had meant to go home, change, meet her old friends at the Leaky Cauldron for a drink or two. She was not expecting to see her favorite set of eyes on her, right then. She was lost in them, and her feet moved on their own at the same time that another set of feet carried those eyes closer and closer and closer to her—

                With a crash, Su had Lisa in her arms, and she was determined never to let her go again. She brushed that downy golden hair—angel hair—out of Lisa's pink face and kissed her. Lisa's face was pinker, and Su's matched, when they entered the Leaky Cauldron. But Su refused to let go of her hand.

                Padma stopped bickering with Michael when Terry dropped his firewhiskey on their booth's table as he spied the two women walking towards them. Terry blinked a few times, Padma gaped at them, and Michael smirked. But they all had one thing to say: "FINALLY!"

                Su grinned as Lisa, embarrassed, turned and hid her face in Su's shoulder. It was all as it should be.

                The dance was over, and the applause was deafening. They took a bow, wondering what to do for an encore.

:D ENCORE! OMG, I wasn't expecting them to turn out so well, so I slept on it and woke up only to have my fingers write this for me, so YAY! :3 They are cute together, and I love that Pad, Mike, and Terr all knew it had to happen. XD Lisa&Su do need an encore, Merlin! :}

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew