Elliott had been at work, lounging behind the counter and debating on whether or not they could get away with breaking out their song notebook when their phone went off. The first buzz of the phone inside of their pocket was easily ignored but the second and then third were too insistent and Elliott chanced a glance around.

Not seeing their supervisor and fairly certain she was in the back of the store, Elliott slipped their phone from their pocket, unlocked the device and promptly opened the texts. Three new messages, all from Unique.

[From: Unique]

Have you seen the late edition of the Prophet?

[From: Unique]

They’re saying Matt helped McCoy raised the creature that attacked Spencer. 

[From: Unique]

You don’t think he’d really do it, do you? That that’s why he’s on the run?

Elliott’s blood ran cold at the sight of them, and immediately they were tapping out a quick response. They’d tried to get a hold of Matt, had tried every way they could think of, and he hadn’t answered. Him being on the run would make sense, of course. But they knew he wasn’t a part of this. He never would have been.

So they told Unique as much, tapping out a quick text without missing a beat.

[To: Unique]

Of course not. They just accused him of being involved in such shady shit. I’d run too, if I was in his shoes. I’m sure he’s innocent. But I haven’t read the article. Talk about it later?

And with that, Elliott pocketed their phone, knowing they couldn’t afford to be distracted. They’d need to do this just right, to get out of work early. No one would be happy if he happened to leave early. And they were in a Muggle shop, of all places. They couldn’t exactly explain.

What they could do was lie through their teeth, tapping out a few quick texts to themself, deleting where necessary and easily changing the name in the contacts. It took just a few moments, but soon enough it looked like a conversation staged between them and their mother, that their sister was in the hospital and Elliott was needed immediately.

Elliott was an actor, and damn good at making things up on the fly after a year with Umbra. It was easy to channel their distress and their worry, to seem the picture of the concerned big sibling as they chanced a glance around. They could do this. If Matt was in danger, then they needed to.

“Katie? You back here?” Elliott called, voice low and jaw tight with worry that wasn’t quite faked. “So uhh, I know we’re not supposed to have our phones on the floor.” The woman didn’t look impressed, as she looked at Elliott, “But let’s pretend that I did. And I- My mom text me. My sister’s sick and I-”

They broke off, dropped their gaze and blew out a shaky sigh. “She’s in the hospital and she’s asking for me and I’d literally give anything right now if you maybe wouldn’t kill me for leaving early?” Her gaze softened, seeing how worked up Elliott was getting on their ‘family emergency’. “I know you don’t like being short staffed, but I won’t be able to focus if I don’t know she’s okay. And it’ll drive me crazy, having to wait on another text.”

There was a long moment’s pause, and finally she nodded, “Get out of here. And call tomorrow afternoon, you might have to come in this weekend to make up for it.”

Elliott nodded once, letting gratitude show on their features, “Thank you. Thank you so much,” They whispered, backing out of the room. “You have no idea how much it means to me.”

They were backing out of the room before she could change her mind, snagging their jacket and their bag before they were out the door. Immediately they had their phone out again, firing off a quick group text, not to any of Umbra, but their next commitment for the night.

[To: Kyle, Autumn, Nate]

Bad news guys. Something came up- family emergency. Can we meet tomorrow before the gig? I can’t do tonight, I’m sorry. 

[To: Kyle, Autumn, Nate]

This isn’t actually a request by the way. Whether we can meet tomorrow or not, I can’t meet at all tonight. I’ll explain tomorrow, I promise.

And then their phone was being turned off and shoved into their bag, as Elliott ducked into an alley. They didn’t think, but waited until they were out of sight from everyone, disapparating only to arrive safely inside the apartment they shared with Quinn.

“Q? You here?” Elliott called, only to hear silence. She was at the Ministry, then. Or maybe at Hogwarts. Somewhere more useful than here, at least, they decided as they strode to their bedroom. The window was open, letting Inej fly too and from the bedroom as needed, and letting the owl that delivered the Daily Prophet in as well. 

The owl had been here, the paper on their bed, and Elliott eyed it warily as Mercury jumped off the char that sat at their desk, rubbing against Elliott’s legs.

“Hey Merc,” Elliott murmured, unfolding the article carefully and beginning to read. It was an effort to pace themself, to actually take in everything that was being said, to fight the need to do something. Anything, really.

Matt was suspected of breeding illegal creatures, but he’d gotten away. He’d gotten to safety. And Elliott had a damn good guess of how he’d done it.

After all, they’d both broken the same law, though Elliott had never actually admitted as much. But it would have been the one thing no one would expect. The one thing that would let Matt move undetected in the place he knew best. It wasn’t guaranteed, of course. But it was worth a shot. At least that would let Elliott know if he’d been in the forest lately at all. Was Matt really on the run? Or was he in prison, locked away with the Ministry lying yet again? Had the Ministry killed him, and they were just waiting to flaunt his ‘capture and necessary death’ at a later day? Elliott couldn’t trust anything they said, they knew that much.

Carefully, they pinned the article next to the other’s on their wall. It had started with Kurt’s, but Elliott had begun putting the ones that mattered next to it. And then they’d gone back and dug up the important ones about Fran’s mom, and Lily. It was a reminder of what they fought for, and Elliott was reminded not for the first time, that they wanted nothing more than to stop before they could paper their walls in articles.

They felt shaken on the inside at the thought of what had happened at what might come, but Elliott’s hands were steady as they stripped down, pulling on the sturdiest jeans they could find, a long sleeve shirt and boots, all of which were dark. They drew a breath, charming their hair to be dark, transfigured it shorter, and then changed their eye color to be brown.

Knowing they wouldn’t be completely unrecognizable, but that it would at least throw off anyone who might see them, Elliott knew they were done. They tucked their wand into it’s holster, and carefully began removing their piercings and jewelry, unwilling to leave behind any evidence of what they were doing.

Grabbing a small handbag, Elliott strode out of their room. It was instinct, tucking as many first aid supplies as they could into it, before moving to the kitchen. Any food that would be easily prepared was stuffed into it, and Elliott muttered the spell for the undetectable extension charm and then stuffed it into their pocket.

Food and medical supplies. Clean clothes were tempting, of course, but a part of Elliott doubted above all else that Matt would be spending much time human over the next few days. Or weeks.

Scrawling a note to Quinn saying not to expect them home, and pinning it to the refrigerator, Elliott cast a Disillusionment Charm on themself, focused and Disapparated away.

A breath later they were on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, far enough away from the forest that Elliott hoped no Aurors would be able to hear the sound of it. At least if they did, Elliott would be near impossible to see, especially in the dark. So they moved towards the forest, relaxed and confident, body dropping once they were past the tree.

The disillusionment charm faded away as Elliott’s form shifted, body shrinking and morphing until they were smaller. Their vision was different like this, but their vision and hearing so much sharper and Elliott remembered what they’d said to James about a trip as Koja and Skriker, to try and hunt down any members of the Brotherhood by scent alone.

But now, instead of focusing on that thought, they focused on Matt’s, concentrating as they sprinted through the forest, more agile and adapted for this than they ever would have been as a human. This was why they’d taken to the gym, to keeping in the best shape possible. As a human, it was of questionable importance. Now though? Now it made all the difference.

Elliott didn’t know how long they’d run before they started to tire, but they ignored that feeling, focused instead by the burning need to protect Matt, and the rest of the group. They needed to know Matt was okay, needed something other than the faint, stale scent that lingered amongst the trees.

Finally they caught it: Matt’s scent, fresher than before and Elliott felt renewed energy at the prospect of finding their friends. As a lion, he’d be able to get places Elliott probably couldn’t, but they wouldn’t let that deter them. They needed to find Matt, to confirm the fact that they couldn’t smell blood, at least.

Finally, they found him, the lion staring at him, probably having heard the way Elliott had bolted through the forest. They couldn’t speak to each other, per say, but there was no missing the distrust in his eyes, or the threat in his posture as Elliott yipped a greeting.

Instinct had Elliott lowering themself to the ground, clearly stating that they weren’t a threat as the lion growled. Elliott just twitched an ear in response, managing to look sheepish for a moment before their body was shifting slowly, growing as their body changed, and they were human again, crouching on the ground. Their hands and shoes were muddy, the were exhausted from the run, breathing hard, but it was nothing compared to the relief at the sight of him.

“It’s me, man. Just me. I promise, I’m still on your side. i just- I had to know that you were alive, Matt. That ‘on the run’ wasn’t code for ‘we’ll announce his death at a later date for leverage’ or something.” There was a moment that Elliott almost wanted to laugh at the look of a stunned lion of all things, before Matt was shifting back too. “Sorry for the surprise. But the look on your face was worth it.”

“You’re an animagus too,” Elliott just nodded once, flashing him a sheepish smile. “Illegal?” Another nod, and a long pause, before Matt laughed just once, still looking strained. “No wonder you weren’t shocked.”

“Well, y’know...” Elliott trailed off with a shrug, “Sorry I didn’t tell you.” And really, there had been no reason, except for the fact the thought alone made them freeze up. That they’d only done so now because there would be no other good way to find him. In too many ways it had been a necessity for the safety of their group, that was why. But Elliott lied yet again that night. “I didn’t trust Macnair not to root around your head. And I’m going to use this for the element of surprise for as long as I can. The only person who knows what I am is James.” Matt nodded once, understanding, and Elliott fished the bag from their pocket, tossing it to him. “Brought you food, and first aid stuff, to make up for it?”

“Believe it or not, I can hunt.” Still, Matt was rummaging around in the bag, and he pulled out a granola bar after a moment. “What are they saying about me?”

“Oh you know. You and McCoy raised illegal creatures together. One killed Sebastian and tried to kill Spencer. ‘‘Most dangerous criminal since Sirius Black’, which really, considering he was innocent too, thank you very much…Is probably more accurate than they intended.” Elliott scoffed at the thought, made the mental note to check in on the Potters, but kept speaking, elaborating on the article and clearly disapproving of it. “I’m trying to do damage control but well-”

“There’s nothing to be done without proof,” Matt concluded, “And there’s no proof when they can control it all.” He sighed heavily, “What happened to Spencer?”

Elliott explained that too, first with Dominique’s story, and then what the Ministry was feeding the public. Matt looked tense from it, and Elliott found they couldn’t blame him at all. His home had been taken from him, his name was being dragged through the mud, and there was too much. He would never really be able to recover from this completely. The damage was done.

“Shit,” Matt breathed, “There’s really not-”

“Hey,” Elliott cut him off, inching closer to their friend and dropping next to him. “You’ve gotta lay low. But you’ve still got us. I’ll pop in here every once in a while, if you want. Obviously we can’t write, just in case but...This is something, right?” 

Matt shrugged, “It’s better than the alternative.”

Azkaban, at best. Locked away with McCoy, and unable to make a difference in the slightest. The thought was a little dizzying to Elliott, and they couldn’t imagine how Matt felt. There were no words for that.

So instead, Elliott just squeezed his arm, offering the only comfort they could. “We’re still here. We believe you. And I’m going to fight to make everyone else I can think the same, I promise.” Matt offered him a tight smile at that, “James will too. You know, for what it’s worth.”

“Right now it’s all I’ve got, so it’s worth more than you know.” Matt admitted quietly, leaning back against a tree. For a moment, it was all Elliott could do to look at him, heart aching. There were no words of comfort for this. Nothing to do.

But Elliott could offer him one comfort, they decided, as they bumped their shoulders together. “Yeah well, I’m a stubborn ass. You’ve got me as much as I can manage it. Including tonight.”  Matt looked a little surprised at that one, as Elliott pulled out their wand and settled in. “Get some damn rest, man. I’ve got no problem with pulling an all nighter, and I was gunna skip my classes tomorrow anyways. The least I can do is let you sleep without worrying about someone getting the jump on you.”