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

The end of the week came far too quickly, and before they knew it, the small band of Auror’s were preparing to depart for Germany.

Tara had effectively locked herself in her office, filling her time with re-reading the past week’s report. Even though it had been her fourth time through, she just kept convincing herself that she had missed something important. 

And throughout the entire morning, she had refused to so much as glance at the clock on the wall.

When there came a knock on her door, she had let out a short “come in” without even thinking about it. And certainly without looking up from her papers.

Her door slowly creaked open, and footsteps approached her desk soon thereafter. But it wasn’t until they had stopped directly in front of it that she begrudgingly tore her attention away from the report. Finding none other than Theseus himself staring back down at her.

Tara blinked in surprise.

“Were you not planning on seeing us off?” the Auror asked.

Pressing her lips together, Tara quickly looked back down at the parchment clutched in her hands.

“Was I supposed to?”

Theseus let out a scoff.

“I guess not.”

Tara stole a glance back up at him, her expression purposefully blank. 

At the sight of this, Theseus nodded his head as if she had spoken.

“Right.” he whispered, promptly turning around to head back the way he had come.

When he had made it about halfway to the door, Tara suddenly called out after him.

“Be careful.”

At the sound of her voice, the Auror stopped walking. Tilting his head over his shoulder, a small smile began to tug at his lips.

“Ah. Worried about me now, are we?”

Tara immediately flushed with anger. Pushing herself up from her chair, she stomped across the room until she was standing directly in front of him. She had opened her mouth once to speak, but quickly closed it again. Her jaw instead clenched in dangerous frustration.

“I’ve always worried about you, prick.” she eventually spat.

Theseus’ expression fell as Tara moved to walk past him, and seemingly out of her office entirely. 

“Hey-” he called out after her, just barely managing to grab a hold of her arm before she could disappear. “Hey, hey, hey. Wait-”

Tara whirled back around to face him, her vicious glare not quite reaching the shine of the tears that had appeared in the bottom-most corners of her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said carefully. “I was just messing with you.”

In response, Tara tugged her wrist away from him.

“You should know better than that.”

Theseus couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped his throat.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

Smiling softly, Theseus reached out to grab a gentle hold of both her hands.

Tara allowed herself to stare back up at him, working overtime to keep her expression in check. For only a few meters away from where they stood, was the half-closed door of her office. Behind which they could hear the occasional sound of passing voices as other witches and wizards wandered down the hallway.

After a long moment, Theseus had opened his mouth to speak, but Tara interrupted him before he got the chance.

“Promise me.” she said, stepping closer to him.

The Auror stared back down at her in surprise, finding her eyes wide and pleading. It was the most vulnerable he had seen her in a while. And that- made him nervous. She wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was the strong one of the two of them. He simply pretended to be. 

But now, as he briefly lost himself in her eyes, he came to the realization that she needed- if only just for a moment- their roles be reversed.

Upon hearing the next flurry of hushed conversation out in the hallway, Theseus knew he was running low on time. With a gentle tug on her hands, he brought the witch closer to himself. The space between them becoming nothing but the width of their interlocked digits and palms. In response, Tara had not-so-subtly taken in a breath.

“I promise you, I will come back.”

The witches' tight visage instantly began to tremble.

“You better.” was all she whispered in response.

Theseus smiled sadly, dipping his head down to her height. But just as his lips barely managed to ghost across hers, louder voices arose from just beyond her door.

“Has anyone seen Theseus?”

“We need to get going. Come on.”

Tara let out a quiet sigh, directing her attention towards the carpet at her feet. And as the voices faded further down the hallway, she slid her hands out of the wizard's grasp.

“Go.” she whispered, composing herself just enough to look back up at him. “Go, Theseus.”

The Head Auror’s expression fell, as did the heart inside of his chest. And before either of them could so much as blink, he had grabbed a hold of either side of her face, binding himself to her through a rather feverish kiss.

Tara had instinctively reached up to clutch onto the flaps of his suit jacket. So hard in fact that her knuckles had turned a bright white color.

And when they eventually separated, both of them took several selfish seconds to catch their breath.

Reconnecting their gazes, Theseus looked like he wanted to say something. But Tara had been quick to shake her head.

“Go.” she repeated once more.

Theseus stood there for a moment longer before finally forcing himself to turn around and slip out of her office.

And as the door closed behind him, Tara let out an unstable breath.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───

The Ministry was quiet following the absence of the recon team.

Too quiet for Tara’s liking.

She despised having to go into work with absolutely no knowledge of what was going on outside of her own division. With only a handful of Auror’s left in the London office for her to train, she was more than often able to leave the grounds early but despised going home all the same. She would instead wander the streets by herself for hours at a time before eventually scaling the steps of a house that she had begun to visit more frequently in the last couple of years. Especially when she needed solace away from any Ministry-flavored things.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon line, Tara knocked three quick times on the door in front of her. Standing there in the silence after, she wondered, only briefly, if he would be home at all. She knew that Dumbledore had him running several strange errands as of late. But she also knew her friend. And the many, many lives that he took care of would always take precedent. 

Finally, she heard a far-off clatter come from behind the door. Followed quickly by footsteps. And after a few more patient seconds, the door creaked.

Tara pressed her lips into a thin line.

“Hi Newt.” she greeted quietly.

“Tara-” the wizard responded, his eyes and voice bright as he pulled the door open even further. “Please, come in.”

The witch whispered her thanks as she shuffled her way inside his house.

“Sorry for the mess.” he apologized, pulling the door closed behind him. “Bunty left the basement door open and a few of the Niffler’s got out.”

Tara stifled a soft laugh, plopping down in the chair that was closest to his fireplace. A long sigh escaped her throat the instant that the pleasant warmth hit her face.

“How are things at the Ministry?” he called out to her from the kitchen.

Scoffing, Tara shook her head.

“Same as always.” she replied. “They’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”

She heard Newt give off a quiet laugh, clearly unsuccessful in his attempts to muffle it and soon thereafter he had floated back out into the living room. In his hands, he was carrying two steaming cups of hot tea, one of which he offered to her as he sat down in the chair across the way.

“Thanks.” she mumbled, taking her first sip and allowing the warm liquid to sooth everything she was holding within her chest. “Have you heard from Dumbledore recently?” she then dared to ask.

Newt bashfully looked down at his lap. He had mentioned the last time she had visited that she was the only one he had had ever disclosed information to about his secret missions. Something that he clearly held a bit of guilt over. But Tara had assured him sincerely that none of his secrets would ever pass through her lips.

“No.” Newt finally answered her question. “It’s been really…quiet as of late.”

Tara hummed, swallowing more of her tea.

“How’s Theseus?”

Nearly choking on her drink, Tara looked back up at her friend in surprise.

“What?”

“Oh.” Newt said, seemingly a bit taken aback by her reaction. “My brother. I thought- you work with his department, no? I just assumed you see him more than I do.”

Tara swallowed as subtly as she could manage.

“Ah, yes.” she finally answered. “Well, the Auror’s have been very busy lately, as you can probably imagine. My training sessions have practically been shelved.”

Once Newt hummed his understanding, Tara took another sip of her tea.

“I believe he’s away on a mission, if I’m not mistaken.” she finally added, feigning a sudden remembrance. “Been hearing whispers about one for a while.”

She saw a flicker of worry pass across Newt’s expression. Though he had done his best to hide it. That caused her own carefully veiled anxiety to begin to rise once more in her chest, so in turn she had been more than quick to change the subject of conversation. 

The two friends ended up talking for several hours more, only stopping when it got too deep into the nighttime hours.

Tara stepped back outside, her boots hitting the concrete of Newt’s front stoop.

“Please apparate back home.” Newt said pointedly. “I know you like walking, but it’s much too late now.”

Tara let out an almost child-like sigh.

“Fine, fine.” she muttered, pulling her wand out from where it was snuggly tucked into her boot.

Newt smiled in response.

“And, do give my brother my best…if you ever cross paths.”

Tara looked back at her friend for a long moment, trying to determine if she did in fact see an odd sort of gleam in his eyes as he spoke. But in the end, had simply chalked it up to a trick of the streetlights.

“I will.” she promised. “Goodnight Newt.” she said, quickly swishing her wand and disappearing from his doorstep in a sharp crack of wind.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───