"Ní mhaireann solas na maidine don lá." // "No morning sun lasts all day."

Theseus came into work one day, a little over a week after Dumbledore’s visit, to find a letter placed gently on top of his desk.

Shedding his overcoat and gently laying it across the back of his chair, he had gathered it into his hands, absentmindedly breaking the seal with little to no care, expecting it to be a summons from either Travers or the Minister. 

His tired eyes quickly traced over the words, and when he finally realized just what it was that he was reading, the letter fell from his hands.

He was charging out of his office and down the hallway before he knew it.

Theseus practically broke the door down, stumbling out and into another clean office space.

Immediately upon his haphazard entrance, a pair of eyes darted up to meet him in surprise, the door quietly closing back behind him.

Theseus stared back at Tara unabashedly. 

She had remained in Hogwarts for the entire duration of her recovery, so this truly was the first time he had seen her eyes since the events in the amphitheater all those weeks ago. He quickly took in the sight of her alarmingly pale skin, and the now permanent scar that encircled her neck like some sort of horrid tattoo. The areas underneath her eyes appeared to be slightly sunken in as she continued to stare back at him with apparent bewilderment.

There was so much he wanted to say to her. To list out all his worries, fears, and anger. But in the end, the only words that managed to tumble out of his throat were;

“You’re leaving?”

Tara pressed her lips together, looking back down at the leather-bound case on her desk, which up until that point she had been filling up with research documents. After a moment, she pointedly slammed the lid shut, clicking the locks into place.

“I can’t stay here, Theseus.” she replied as calmly as she could manage. “As long as I stay, people are in danger.”

Theseus quickly shook his head, stepping further into the office, away from the doorway.

“That’s not true.” he argued. “Grindelwald’s actions have nothing to do with your position. He just wants your power-”

“Then I have to face him.” she interrupted sharply. “Alone. Without the confines of the Ministry.”

Hearing her voice, Dumbledore’s words immediately resurfaced from within the confines of Theseus’ skull.

“It’s too dangerous.” he continued to try and reason. “You can’t-”

“This isn’t up for debate, Theseus.” she snapped, pulling the case off of her desk. “My resignation letter has already been sent in. All the Minister has to do is sign it.” 

“Don’t do this, Tara. Just think about it for a second. Please.”

“What’s there to think about?”

Theseus searched desperately for the words to respond.

“The Ministry needs you. The Aurors, my team, need you.”

Tara let out a bitter laugh. The sound void of any and all amusement.

“This place doesn’t need me, Theseus. It never did. And I refuse to lose anyone else because of it.”

With that she had made for the door, Theseus called out to her as she passed by his position in the center of her office.

“Tara, wait-”

The witch whirled on him angrily.

“Why do you even care?!”

“Because I need you here!” Theseus suddenly screamed. “I need you here, with me! Because- Merlin, because I can’t so much as breathe if you aren’t in my sight!”

The office fell deathly silent, his words settling heavily on both of them.

Tara watched on as his shoulders rose and fell with a kind of desperation that she had never seen before. His cheeks had quickly become flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment.

It didn’t take long for Tara to begin to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She was quick to turn around and begin moving towards the door again.

“I have to go.” she said again, her voice breaking as she spoke.

“Tara please-” Theseus whispered weakly, reaching out and grabbing a tight hold of her arm just before she could make it to the door. 

The witch stared forward harshly at the wood only inches in front of her face.

“Let go of me.”

“Don’t go.” he immediately countered.

“Let me go before I do something I regret.”

The Auror shook his head.

“I’ve taken your punches before. And I’ll do it again if it means you’ll stay.”

Tara was physically shaking by that point.

“Theseus-”

“You’re vital to this place. To the entire wizarding world. I won’t let you just throw it all away.” he continued to proclaim boldly. “You don’t have to do this alone, Tara.”

The air in the office was more than heavy at that point, borderline suffocating. That was, until Tara’s briefcase suddenly fell from her hands, crashing down onto the floor below, sharply cutting through the ever-growing silence.

Theseus blinked.

“Tara-?”

His words were promptly, and rather violently, cut off.

Yanked forward by his tie, the Head Auror felt a pair of lips crash into his with a purpose.

Theseus was stunned, the shock electrifying him right down to his bones. But in the end, his body reacted far before his mind did. His lips parted eagerly, his hands almost instantly reaching up to cradle either side of her face as he fully digested each frantic and eager kiss.

It was only when Tara’s back hit the wood of the closed door behind her that they paused, physically knocked out of their shared daze.

The two wizards parted, only inches of space in between their faces as they took several long moments to catch their breaths. Theseus continued to stare down at Tara, astronomically dumbfounded. And underneath his intense gaze, she swallowed heavily, a light dusting of red joining the shining tears on her cheeks.

Slowly, the witch shook her head.

“I have to go, Theseus.” she repeated in a whisper.

The Auror scoffed.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m just letting you walk away after that.”

Tara bit down hard on her bottom lip, more tears continuing to spill down her face.

“As long as I’m here…you’ll never be safe.” she admitted hoarsely. “And I won’t- I won’t lose anyone else, Theseus. I won’t do it. I can't. It-It’ll kill me.”

Theseus’ cheek dipped inwards as he clenched his jaw.

“And it’ll kill me if you leave.”

Tara let out a broken whimper, prompting a soft smile to appear on the Head Auror’s face. He then dipped his head back down, gently beginning to kiss her again. This time, taking his time to breathe her in, and she seemed to be doing much of the same.

When they separated the second time, neither of them spoke. When their eyes found each other again, Theseus’ hands gently slid down from her face, eventually resting on either side of her neck. She watched his expression with hesitant interest as his index fingers began to trace her burn scar until eventually finding each other back at her nape. Once there, he interlocked his hands together, tilting her head up only slightly as he secured her firmly in front of him.

“I know the danger.” he began to say. “But I accept it. I’m willing to take that risk if it means keeping you by my side.”

Tara felt as if a blade had stabbed her directly in the center of her chest.

“He’s killed everyone I care about, Theseus.” she whispered frantically. “And because of what happened at the rally…he already knows. You are never going to be safe with me.”

Theseus’ eyes danced across her face for a long moment before slowly nodding his head.

“I know,” he answered honestly. “I know. But you’ve been in danger this whole time. Facing it on your own. I am more than willing to take on some of that burden, especially if it means keeping you safe. Because I can’t…” the Auror suddenly choked on his words. “Tara when you were laying there…not moving, barely breathing…that’s the most scared I’ve ever been. I can’t imagine, let alone exist in a world without you in it.”

A tremor rippled through Tara’s body, as every cell of hers screamed and struggled to keep the remnants of whatever walls she could conjure up.

“You’re mad, Scamander.” she said. “Absolutely mad.”

Theseus slowly began to smile again.

“I am.” he said affirmatively. “And I have been since the first time you beat me in dueling club.”

Tara’s eyes widened in surprise, but by then, Theseus had already tilted her face back up towards his, pressing another feverish kiss onto her lips. The Auror let out a particularly heavy sigh as his thumbs tracked back underneath her jawline. 

Dropping the already weak hold she still had on this tie, Tara instead snaked her arms up as high as she could reach, and due to Theseus being bent forward slightly, managed to wind her fingers into the curls at the base of his neck. As her grip tightened slightly, the man let out a groan, nearly falling forward as his legs momentarily failed him. One of his hands disappeared from under her jaw in a flash, bracing himself up on the door behind her.

At that, Tara had finally managed to crack a smile. One that Theseus felt against his lips.

“You’re a mean woman.” he mumbled, chasing his own words with a few more pointed kisses.

A sudden sharp knock from the opposite side of the office door sent the two wizards practically back across the room.

“Miss Kelly?” a voice called out.

After making frantic eye contact, Tara and Theseus all but scrambled to opposite sides of the office. Picking up her case, the director all but dove back behind her desk. While Theseus took a few panicked seconds to smooth out the front of his tie. 

“Come in.” Tara finally managed to cough out.

The door promptly swung open, and Travers slowly sauntered into the office. He looked only momentarily surprised upon seeing Theseus already standing there, but nodded his greeting regardless.

“Mr. Scamander. I assume you received the same letter I did?”

Theseus stoically nodded, causing the Head of Magical Law Enforcement to turn his attention to Tara instead.

“It’s true then? You’re resigning?”

Tara didn’t respond. Her lips had parted as if she intended to, but no sound came out. Turning her head slightly to the right, she found Theseus looking back at her expectantly. 

For he too was still waiting for an answer. 

After another long bout of silence, Tara forced herself to swallow.

“I thought it the best course of action considering my history with Grindelwald and the danger it has, and could bring to the Ministry.” she replied carefully, reciting nearly word for word the speech she had been practicing within the confines of her own head for some time.

Travers nodded thoughtfully, while Theseus’ shoulders appeared to slump forward.

“But…” Tara began again. “I think that this might have been a little too rash of me. Perhaps…perhaps there is still much I can do from here to help fight him.”

Even though he had attempted to hide his smile, Theseus’ eyes were shining. While Travers just folded his hands behind his back.

“Well-” the director started. “This is good news then. Seeing as I was sent here by the Minister himself to ask you to reconsider. After all, it was a rather…complicated process to get you here in the first place.”

Theseus let out a small, good-natured laugh, as Tara winced.

“Right.”

Travers cleared his throat.

“Well, I’ll take my leave to deliver the good news then.” he said, rather flatly, before turning and disappearing back out the oak-wood door, pulling it closed back behind him.

Tara released a breath that she hadn’t realized she had begun holding.

It took a moment of standing within the festering silence for the two remaining wizards to muster up the courage to make eye contact again. 

Tara then placed her briefcase back down on the surface of her desk, clicking the locks back open.

Theseus carefully crossed the room, peering over her shoulder down at the pile of reports that were revealed upon her pulling back the lid. The one on top, just so happened to be the summary report detailing the incident at the Parisian rally. 

Shakily taking it into her hands, Tara tried not to look at the depressingly long list of the dead and the traitors.

“Where do we go from here?” she whispered.

Theseus carefully took the document out of her hands, placing it back down onto the desk instead. Tilting her head up and over her shoulder, Tara found the Auror looking back down at her with a serious expression.

“We rely on our friends.” he said wisely. “Remind ourselves every day what we’re fighting for, and why that makes us different from him.”

Her eyes traced his expression.

“And that’s how we win?”

Theseus sighed.

“Win, or lose, I can’t really say.” he admitted. “But no matter which it ends up being…we’re going to do it together.”

Tara hummed in a weak acknowledgement. Turning her attention back to her briefcase, she pulled a few more files out and plopped them down onto the tabletop with a huff.

“You know, I spent all morning gathering these. Now I have to put them back without the Researchers finding out. If they catch me with-”

A hand gently cupped her chin, slowly tilting her head back up. Seconds later, a pair of lips lightly appeared against her own, causing her eyes to instinctively flutter shut.

When Theseus inevitably drew back, he took a moment to study her expression.

“Sorry.” he then apologized in a whisper. “I just had to see if you’d let me do that again.”

The witches face went bright red as Theseus’ thumb absentmindedly caressed the bottom of her chin. He eventually broke back out into a small smile, his hand falling from her face. He instead reached down to scoop up the pile of papers left inside her case.

“Come on. Let’s get theses back to the archives.” he said, already heading for the door.

Tara let out a short breath of disbelief, before grabbing the rest and following him out of her office, suddenly getting the overwhelming feeling that everything she thought she knew about the world had changed. For better or for worse, she wasn’t quite sure yet.

But for the first time in her life, she was actually looking forward to finding out.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───