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

On the first day that Theseus returned to the Ministry, he was locked into meetings from sunup to sundown. And the full scope of what had transpired back in Germany finally reached the ears of the rest of the department. 

Their original guess, that it had simply been a group of young radicals, had been correct to an extent. However, where they were caught off guard, was assuming that they were making their own decisions. The wizards that they had found in that house were operating under very clear orders and with scarily up-to-date information. The kind that had been able to warn them that Auror’s were coming to their doorstep, down to an hour before it happened.

No one had ever said it out loud, but the whispers and implications hung heavily in the air; the Ministry had a mole.

There was someone, and in Tara’s mind countless amounts of people, that were feeding information directly to Grindelwald and his followers. And the other Directors had decided that the best course of action was to continue on as if they knew nothing of it.

“We cannot let this stop us. We must push on.”

“It isn’t about stopping.” Tara had tried to argue at one of the meetings she had been required to attend. “It’s about taking added precautions. Which even before this hadn’t been common practice.”

Evidently, they hadn’t taken too kindly to her position. For she wasn’t invited to the next meeting. But Theseus made a point to sit with her in her office afterwards, filling her in on everything she had missed.

When he had finished talking, Tara angrily stood up from her chair, stalking over to the window with her arms crossed over her chest. 

Theseus had been quick to join her, his shoulders brushing up against hers as he mimicked her stance at the window.

“What are you thinking?” he asked knowingly, noticing just how tightly her eyebrows had furrowed together by that point.

“Don’t report me for sedition.”

Theseus scoffed.

“Is that a joke?”

Tara didn’t answer.

“You know I wouldn’t.” 

Tara took in a deep breath through her nose.

“I think the Ministry is compromised. I don’t think it has the capacity to move against Grindelwald anymore.” she admitted, her words hanging in the air between them for a long, heavy moment.

“I think you’re right.”

Tara glanced over at Theseus in surprise, not exactly anticipating his outright agreement. Which somehow made the situation a thousand times scarier.

“But you know we’re going to have to act like it still can.” the Head Auror had been quick to add.

Tara blew a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“To not insight panic.” she agreed.

Another long silence consumed her office.

“I might know of another way.” Tara suddenly whispered.

Theseus glanced over at her with an eyebrow raised.

“And that is…?”

Tara bit at the inside of her cheek.

“I can’t exactly tell you.”

Theseus immediately took a step forward, blocking out the light from the window as he moved to stand directly in front of her form.

“We agreed to no secrets.”

“This is an exception.” Tara countered quickly.

“How?” 

Again, the witch ground her teeth together.

“I can’t tell you.” she repeated. “You’re going to have to trust me.”

She could see the way that Theseus’ cheek dipped inwards as he clenched his jaw tightly.

“The last time you took something on by yourself-”

“This is nothing like that.” Tara interrupted. “I’m not going anywhere near him.”

Theseus didn’t respond to that, just heaved a sigh before turning his attention down to the ground beneath his shoes. His thoughts were clearly spiraling as he cycled through what he could say to make her change her mind.

Tara’s expression softened slightly upon seeing this. He had always been one to wear his anxiety on his sleeve. Reaching out her hand, she rested her palm flat against the side of his hip.

“I need you to trust me, Thees.” she implored in another whisper.

She felt the second heavy sigh travel through his body before he finally managed to meet her gaze again. 

“Fine.” he relented, briefly glancing over his shoulder back at the doorway. He then took another step forward, gently placing his hand on the back of her head.

“Just promise you’ll come to me the second things go ary.”

Tara pressed her lips together, nodding her agreement.

“I will.”

Tara left the Ministry alone that day, and did not go directly home. 

Instead, she journeyed to the complete other side of the city.

After knocking on Newt’s door, she stood mostly stationary on his stoop, anxiously tapping her foot. It took him a minute, as it usually did, but the Magizoologist did eventually pull the door open, blinking in surprise upon seeing the witch standing there.

“Can I come in?” Tara asked quickly.

“Yeah- yeah, of course.” he said, stepping aside to allow her do so.

The witch shuffled inside in a hurry, and Newt was quick to shut the door behind her.

“Has something happened?” 

Tara rubbed the back of her neck, turning to face him where they were now standing in the hallway just beyond the front door.

“Not yet.” she said. “But it will. The Ministry is compromised. There’s a spy, and I don’t believe they can actively combat Grindelwald anymore.” she explained in a rushed tone.

Newt’s eyes had widened with every word that she spoke, but ultimately said nothing in response.

Tara stared back at him with a restless seriousness.

“I can’t just sit in there and do nothing, Newt.” she added in a whisper. “I need to help. I need to…” 

The Magizoologist pressed his lips into a line as her words trailed off. And she could quite literally see the thousand different thoughts and fears flash across his eyes. And she understood why. She knew that Dumbledore trusted only him and a few others with the information that he had. And with good reason. 

She had been able to patiently stand in silence for a moment, wanting to allow him the time to think on it. But eventually, her anxiety got the better of her, her teeth taking a rather painful hold of her bottom lip.

“I’ll just start taking things into my own hands, Newt.” she whispered with a bit of exasperated urgency. “You know that.”

Newt let out something in between a scoff and a laugh.

“Yeah. Yeah I know.”

Another long silence fell over the hallway.

“The next time he reaches out…I’ll say something.” Newt finally said. “But you must understand, I don’t even know where he is half the time so-”

“That’s all I’m asking.” Tara quickly interrupted him. “Thank you, Newt.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡☆ﾟ.･ ───