Enchanté

One thing about werewolves, with the big W, is that they are underestimated and overestimated at the same time. Peter would have never thought that he will be somewhat comfortable about this subject at any point in his life. As a child, he learnt to be cautious and to stay away from werewolves as far as possible without looking back.

Now he knows better since he became friends with Remus back at Hogwarts. Peter hasn’t been popular at all but to his luck he got roomed with one joyful James Potter, who didn’t ask before pulling him into pranks, and one recluse Remus Lupin; they were supposed to have a fourth roommate, but the free bed disappeared after the first week with no explanation. They only figured out that their shy roommate is a werewolf during their second year, and it offered a lot of perspective to Peter. No one would assume that Remus is a werewolf and it’s understandable. He is kind, friendly and offers comfort rather than the supposed fear and blood-thirsty aura werewolves are supposedly known for.

Werewolves are dangerous during the full moon - so far nobody can face one and hope to be recognized as a friend or more, even as animagi they aren’t sure that they would be safe if they shifted in front of the werewolf. Outside from this time though, they are mostly not dangerous though Remus can quickly become cranky if he doesn’t get chocolate. Most laws about werewolves are unfair and is no help to them, only feeding their persecution and the lack of understanding that they are still human.

Since their days back at Hogwarts, nothing has changed but Peter wants to keep hope even if he can see that Remus has almost none, if any, about it. It’s not their dreams to become Aurors but it would be weird to not be with each other; especially when Remus had been thrown in it without any other option given by the Ministry. Peter is convinced that Hogwarts would have accepted him as a professor, McGonagall had been particularly upset at this news, if the Ministry had not interfered.

Thankfully, Remus has made a sort of peace with his lycanthropy even if it’s still painful to him. Peter has observed his various moods depending on the moon cycle and more, which is probably why he knows that Remus needs as much space right now as possible. What upsets him the most is the lack of control over his own self and as he explained to him and James, it’s as if he has a gnawing shadow fighting to get in control before kicking him out every full moon. His mind healer has advised him to not fight the wolf as much as he used to do, which he has refused for an eternity before giving it a try. It’s not easy and Peter can see that this option doesn’t fully please him, but he is also conscious that the wolf is also a prisoner, just like him, in the same body.

Whatever happened with Sirius Black definitely roughed him up. James is keeping his comments to himself, but he is obviously enjoying the idea that for once he isn’t the one getting into troubles - over one of their targets to protect or arrest - and for Remus ‘clean and studious’ Lupin to be the one fooling on the job. He doesn’t mean anything by it, but Remus has never liked to lose control over himself. Which is apparently exactly what happened with Sirius Black from the few words they got from him.

Remus hasn’t wanted to share anything about it, immediately closing himself off in his room when they got home, and his mood at the Ministry scared enough people to not come near him. They all decided to omit how Remus lost the trail of Sirius Black, which he thanked them for before James snorted at the reminder of what happened.

“I have checked, there is no discovery about any sort of werewolf stimulant or catnip version for wolves.”

Remus only deepens himself in his hiding spot at his desk. Lily gently smiles at the sight before rolling her eyes at James biting on his amused grin. She digested the news that her loyal and most competent friend, her words, got played by a ‘pretty boy’, though it has been a surprise to all of them but it’s not worth mentioning it. Lily and Remus share a strong companionship that mostly consists of teasing the rest of them and rarely each other.

Peter clears his throat. “So, either they knew about us and Remus, which is probably the worst option considering that no one outside of us knows, or— er, they got lucky.”

Lily glances at them. “Remus, are you certain that something pushed you to-”

“Snog.”

Remus glares at James from his hiding spot.

Lily sighs. “Perhaps you just wanted to kiss someone and… he was there.”

“I would never.”

Peter purses his lips at Remus’ answer and shares a pitiful look with Lily. It’s true that any other day Remus would stay professional and even less embracing their biggest suspect and a wanted man. From what he knows, he has never gotten a reaction like that though Remus would probably not be comfortable sharing about the wolf having any control over who he might snog or not.

“Do you think someone spiked your drink? Maybe some amortentia got in there. You looked a little loony.”

“Mary made the drinks right in front of us. No one else went near it,” Lily thoughtful says. “It’s still possible but would it get a reaction from the wolf?”

Peter’s eyes drift back to their current assignment board when Remus stays quiet. He cannot say that he fully understands the feeling but the thought of losing control of himself is uncomfortable. Sirius Black is not hard on the eye but still. It’s not enough to ignore their ongoing case, especially after being creeped out by the Black family.

“No,” Remus says and straightens up on his seat but keeps his eyes closed. “It was like a fever. I couldn’t tell where my left or right were, only this— this smell. It didn’t come from the drink. I would have noticed it.”

“Maybe some kind of perfume,” James supposes. “I saw how suddenly you were anywhere else than our table and it happened when everyone came down from the scene.”

“It has to be something specific,” he insists, leaving his chair in frustration as he storms to the corner of their office dedicated to tea. “It pulled me and the wolf wouldn’t leave me alone until I found him, alright? It cannot just be amortentia. There must be something else. For the wolf. Not me.”

They observe him angrily prepare tea before sharing a look between themselves. James knows to not joke about it again, even if it’s not meant in a mean way, as he goes through their documents.

“What about Pandora? Did she help Sirius sneak in the Chimera?”

“She doesn’t have access. She is a client and Valer- Sirius was seen coming in by the employee’s door.”

“Did you really see through the disillusion charm?” Lily asks when Remus comes back with the fuming teapot and the cups. “No one else noticed anything different from Valeria, even Mary was fooled.”

“Not right away but I could see him here and there. I don’t know if I stared too much or— the wolf’s eyes. He didn’t seem to really hide himself either.”

“It was risky of him,” James comments. “A disillusion charm can be cancelled easily and affected by a lot of things. The Chimera has tons of customers, lights, and magic flying around which means that Sirius must have felt really comfortable or insane to come in with just this as a cover. It could have dispelled many times with all the activity around or be weird enough to catch someone’s attention.”

“The Black family is apparently known to be mad,” Lily points out before sighing. “Alright well— we can figure out when we catch him if he knew about you Remus and what he did to lure you.”

He huffs and angrily sips his tea, not firing any complain about it. Peter eyes him worriedly. They don’t have much to go on, outside from Sirius cornering him with someone else and vanishing afterwards.

“Any idea on who was with him?”

Remus needs a second before he shakes his head. “I didn’t get a look at them and I never heard their voice before. They sounded close and both spoke French a bit which doesn’t mean much if he disappeared in France all these years...”

“If they spoke mainly in English— did they have an accent?”

“Not really,” he says. “Sounded British to me.”

“Sirius doesn’t appear to have any contact with anyone in Britain, Scotland or Welsh,” Peter reminds. “Not even his family. Whoever was with him probably comes from his time in France. Perhaps someone from here who went living there for a while if they sounded British.”

Lily nods and stands up. “We know he isn’t alone. It’s something. Now, what were they doing at the Chimera? Mary told me nothing is missing but she is still checking to be sure. Regulus is already reported missing but perhaps Sirius hoped to find him there? I can’t see why he would risk to go out like this. We also don’t know if he really has his brother or not, if he does why would he expose himself like that? It’s not like their parents would ever step there.”

“Well, there was Pandora.”

Peter glances at James. He only got a quick look at her before he disappeared through the Chimera. She hadn’t appeared guilty or suspicious back then, merely enjoying The Chimera. Though now she is apparently nowhere to be found as all the owls return to them with the envelopes untouched. He would have stayed with them if he didn’t go through the whole place to detect any traces of magic that could belong to Regulus or anyone who could relate them.

Everyone leaves a trail, be it small or big even without using magic. It’s Peter’s area of expertise and it’s incredibly satisfying to figure them out. From that, they can easily track someone but also figure out if there is any accomplice even if they are hidden through various means. Regulus’ room was clean of any of magic except for a dust of elf’s magic. To get rid of these trails is a very slow and excruciating process and frankly a bit endless to try in a room so often used by the same person. Houses often adopt their owner’s magic and it can’t be untied.

The Chimera doesn’t have this much intense cleaning which leaves many trails of magic mixed but regulars’ always have the upper hand so Peter has tried to find something there - anything that might fit with what he felt around the Black house. Regulus is supposed to have spent time at the same table, from Mary’s information, so there was a chance to find a speck of it. Magic isn’t completely similar but a family, especially one such as ancient Purebloods, can have similar figments. Since he hasn’t found Regulus’ magical trail he needs to go in blind and try to piece it together through his family’s.

Lily taps her wand against her elbow, arms crossed, before casting them all a look. “I went to check on Pandora’s place this morning with patrolling Aurors-”

“Did you sleep at least?” James asks.

“Yes but something kept bothering me. Anyhow, her place is oblivious used but there was no food or any sign that she lived there recently. As if she disappeared a while ago. There are still clothes and many things there so someone is going to check on it if she ever comes back there. We could try to track her down,” she says with a look at Peter, “but this shouldn’t be our priority, only if we have nothing else to do.”

“That’s suspicious but we have other leads,” Peter agrees. “Did she mention a trip last night? I don’t honestly see why she would harm Regulus and work with Sirius. But she didn’t reply to our official calls for information either.”

“Exactly. And how did Sirius know about The Chimera? Why go there if Regulus is already missing? Perhaps Sirius was looking for her. But by the state of her place, she didn’t come back a while ago so we can’t omit that she also a victim of kidnapping.”

James nods. “She did mention that she met Sirius in France during a trip with Regulus and their friends. Though she also implied that she wants Regulus’ child so-”

“She wouldn’t kidnap Regulus for that,” Remus argues with a slight scoff. “Pandora probably meant to joke.”

“But she also didn’t look that worried, did she?” He counters, balancing himself on his chair after grabbing his cup of tea. “She must know more than she told us, otherwise she would be more panicked about Regulus’ whereabouts. Maybe she didn’t kidnap Regulus, but she knows who has him or where he is. We don’t know him but going to the Chimera is incredibly risky considering his parents so maybe Regulus simply ran away.”

“And his parents accused his brother? Do you think Regulus would let them do that to him?”

James shrugs. “I’m only trying to put all our pieces together.”

“She was alone all night, right?” Peter remembers. “Maybe she was the one planning to see Sirius there, but we botched her plan. She immediately left when the whole place got overwhelmed with magic, right? She probably saw that Remus left too, heading in the back after Sirius and took the opportunity to leave.”

“Regulus and Sirius were in contact at some point despite what their parents said, that’s something,” Lily muses. “They might have been met at The Chimera before which would explain why Sirius risked showing up there. But this doesn’t quite make sense if he already has Regulus.”

“And there was another person, right?” James asks with a glance at Remus. “Pandora might not work with Sirius but someone else is. If she doesn’t reappear today, then maybe they took her too.”

“I doubt the Black family would care about her,” Remus comments. “But she could be leverage for Regulus to do as they say— Pandora is honestly full of surprise from what I recall but I can’t see where the abduction of Regulus would help her.”

Lily sighs with an exasperated look at their case board. “We need more information. We have too many-”

A knock interrupts them and Peter straightens up in fear that Crouch Sr., head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, storms in to ask for any progress. They have made the mistake to ask him about any whereabouts of his son, since he is apparently friend with Regulus, but it has not pleased him. Peter feels like he is better off as a rat rather than crossing his path again. His son has some criminal records that were better left hidden; probably for his father’s reputation and they have stayed in the dark up until they requested it.

Mary peeks into the room with a curious look before walking in with Marlene. “Hullo,” she greets and pecks Lily. “Didn’t want to interrupt any important business.”

“A break would actually be good,” James cheers. “Hey Marl’, how was your week off?”

Marlene’s hair has been shortened but her wolf-cut is still as perfectly tossed and timeless as ever, freshly bleached. She greets them with a joking regal before her smile grows slyer with her focus on Remus, who quickly catches on but he looks away too late.

“Apparently I missed tons of fun,” she breezily comments as Mary purses her lips to hold back a giggle. “Wanna tell me more about it, Rem’?”

Remus has the kindness to not push them, but he doesn’t hesitate to walk out of the room with a pinched expression and his teacup. Marlene is genuinely surprised and gapes at his exit before taking in their looks.

“He still… He hasn’t digested it,” Lily explains with a soft look.

“What? Is he going to get in troubles?” She asks confused.

James shakes his head. “No, though we didn’t mention it officially. He just likes to be, er, in control. Yesterday wasn’t as enjoyable for him as we thought.”

“Oh. Crap. I better go talk to him then, I only meant to tease.” Marlene quickly walks out with a worried look.

Mary glances at them. “Is he really taking it that badly?”

Lily softly drags her to her desk. “You know him, he overthinks. What is more surprising is that it wasn’t James.”

Mary chuckles. “True.”

“Is everything alright at The Chimera?” Peter curiously asks.

She settles against Lily’s desk. “Yes, well we found out what completely busted The Chimera yesterday. A concentration of magic, harmless but enough to disrupt all the spells we had placed. It’s deliberate. Marlene came back early to help me with checking over things and we also went to check on Valeria. She stayed at home yesterday, completely sick and still is a bit today, though it’s only a harsh cold.”

“Sirius Black didn’t use a Polyjuice potion so hopefully he didn’t cause it,” Lily says. “Remus could see through it and the disillusion charm shimmered off when he— confronted him.” She shots a nasty glare at James’ snort.

“Alright but doesn’t a disillusion charm ask for an accurate idea of what you want to show?” She says with a small frown. “This means Sirius would need to have seen Valeria up close for the charm to be good enough and I talked with him without realizing it wasn’t Valeria. It was a great spell.”

“It’s a bit far stretched but he could have an access to Regulus’ memory, if he did kidnap him,” Peter mentions. “Or anyone else who has seen Valeria might have cast it on him.”

“Like Pandora.”

Mary glances thoughtfully at Lily before bringing up their tangled hands to kiss it. “Well after this we should take a break, you deserve it.”

She sweetly smiles. “Right?”

“Oh, by the way,” she recalls and straightens up with a look at James. “Did you bring Remus’ and your glass back to the bar at some point?”

“Uhm… No.”

She frowns. “Well, I think they were stolen.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You two always take the same drink and depending on the drinks we have specific glasses. It gives us a style, you know? What’s funny is that one of your usual and Remus’ kind of glass vanished yesterday. If it had been just one, I would assume someone broke it and weren’t polite enough to tell us but this is a funny coincidence, isn’t it?”

James nods at her words before his eyes widen and he straightens in his seat. “I left Pandora at the table to look for Remus and our glasses were still there. She might have taken them.”

“What for?”

“They aren’t many things you can do with saliva,” Lily mutters with a squint. “If there is any that isn’t mixed with the drink.”

“She mentioned to us that she works with potion,” he points out before groaning. “Oh Merlin, you don’t think that she would try to make Polyjuice of us?”

Peter widens his eyes at him. “Didn’t Remus say that Sirius and his partner touched his hair— Oh great, he is going to be in a worse mood once he hears this.”

Lily hastily goes through her desk. “We need to warn the Ministry about it. Polyjuice is serious business and if they walk in here looking like either of you then who knows what it would be for! I’m going to report it and you both will need to go through the Polyjuice tests until we catch him.”

James groans out and crosses his arms. Peter glances at him pitifully. These check-outs are annoying but have been so far efficient. Once the Ministry is notified, every time you come in to work you need to meet up with someone ready to quiz you about embarrassing and awful details; things that no one would know about but they have been asked to share to the Ministry with a code, just in case someone has an access to their secrets. If someone is crazy enough to try to come in the Ministry by using Polyjuice, when it has been notified, they have always been caught on the spot.

“Do you really think they would do that?”

“Who knows but like you said, the glasses went missing plus Remus did mention that they took a bit of his hair. That’s too many coincidences and I think we can consider Pandora as Sirius’ accomplice now. It could be someone else who took the glasses but with Pandora disappearing? It’s highly suspicious.”

“We still don’t know who the third person is. But I agree that it’s starting to be a lot for Pandora especially if we can’t find her anywhere at this point,” Peter agrees and leaves his chair to go pick up the letter from the board that he found in Regulus’ room.

“Thoughts?” James asks.

“Do you think the Blacks would have let Pandora in their house?” He wonders with a frown. “You said something about her being a Rosier, didn’t you? They’re Purebloods.”

“She is a what?” Mary gasps. “Rosier as in Evan Rosier?”

“Yeah. She told us that they’re twins but their father only wanted one heir.”

Peter frowns. “But it’s a secret which I doubt the Blacks know about so they wouldn’t let her in, would they?”

James snorts. “I doubt they would like her even if it’s proved. Pandora doesn’t exactly fit in the Pureblood’s tradition and even less the old Blacks, so no they probably wouldn’t like her in their house. Why?”

There is something odd outside from how clean Regulus’ room was, even with the trashing, which he hasn’t paid more attention up until now. It’s only a vague feeling, nothing concrete, and they already have many loose ends that sound more appealing than his dubious idea. Marlene storms in the room, startling them both, and flattens herself against the door she just slammed close.

“Merlin, what is wrong with you?”

“Dorcas Meadowes is right outside,” she hisses out with red cheeks.

Mary bursts out laughing before everyone else follow and Lily shakes her head fondly. “Right. She is apparently one of Regulus’ friend and the only one who replied to us when we contacted them for information about Regulus.”

“She is hot.”

“You can snog her in the interrogation room,” James jokes like the forever wingman he is.

“Can I?!”

“No snogging in there,” Lily argues with a suspicious look at him. “If she is innocent then maybe you can ask her out after this.”

“Are you kidding? I can’t talk to her!”

“That’s true,” Mary wisely reminds. “Remember at Hogwarts? You two just argued all the time like some kind of weird foreplay because you’re a disaster and kept putting your foot in your mouth around her.”

“Oh, like you were any better!”

A knock makes Marlene jumps away from the door and Remus walks in with a curious glance, a half-eaten chocolate frog in hand which is definitely the best kind of apology to him.

“Who is going to talk to Miss Meadowes?”

“I will do it,” Peter offers.

“Pete’, didn’t you have a theory before we were interrupted?” Lily curiously asks.

“I’m not sure, I still need to think about it. Give me some time.”

Remus is in a better mood and glances at him with an approval in his eyes. Peter thinks it’s better that he takes it easy today which is why he offered to do the interrogation.

“Let me join too. She was fun and a menace on the Quidditch’s field,” James says.

“Marl’, did she see you?”

She blinks, clearly anxious with how she twirls a strand of hair around a finger. “I don’t think so… I need to check my hair first before talking to her. She looks amazing.”

Remus snorts at her and returns to his desk. Peter and James leave their office, Marlene trailing behind them with the excuse of going to the bathroom even though it’s an obvious lie. Hopefully, Lily breaks the news of the perhaps-Polyjuice to Remus and he will have the time to digest it. He has always been stricter with himself than anyone else has ever been.

Thankfully, they don’t cross anyone’s path who might question the presence of a civilian back here - though Mary has a pass by being Lily’s girlfriend who is definitely the Auror you don’t want to get on bad terms with. Marlene likes to tell she is their third part of the couple and grates people’s nerves by asking if they are homophobic; most people ignore her now to avoid these awkward moments again.

Dorcas Meadowes is busy knitting in one of the waiting seats. Her fingers are fast and precise which leaves Peter reeling because it looks so easy to her when he can’t even see which hand she has moved. She was already knitting back in Hogwarts, often wearing her own creations which Marlene more than often complained and complimented at once.

“Miss Meadowes, sorry for the wait,” James greets as Marlene slips past behind Peter to look at her. “Thanks for answering the call.”

“Hi, let me just finish this row and I’m all yours,” she replies without disturbing her focus.

“Oh. Yes, of course.”

It takes her mere seconds before she looks up and tidies whatever she is creating, Peter truly can’t tell but the mix of colour is soft, in her bag. He doesn’t remember her much if he is honest, unlike James he has never played Quidditch and only paid attention to it to make him happy, but she hasn’t changed much from the picture found in Regulus’ room.

Her hair appears longer and all her braids are meticulously paired with a few jewelleries. Outside from her coat, everything else she wears appears to have been knitted, and her rings softly chimes together. She is taller than he thought but her eyes are gentler than you would expect from a former Slytherin who used to slam people off their brooms.

She frowns curiously and Peter side-steps to glance at Marlene who stares right back at her.

“McKinnon.”

“Hello.”

Her croaked answer makes James’ lip twitch in a smile. Peter opts to politely look away.

“Were you arrested? I doubt you passed the Auror school, no offense.”

“No offense?” She scoffs back and Meadowes only smiles innocently. “I’m doing great, thank you for asking. I don’t need some silly badge to prove that point.”

“Hey.”

Marlene ignores James. “Still knitting uh? Didn’t grow up from school.”

Peter tries to direct their attention toward the door of the interrogation room but James is enjoying the show as Meadowes straightens up with a scowl.

“At least I know what to do with my hands and that other haircuts exist.”

“Alright!” James interrupts despite the blasphemous gasp Marlene blurts out. “Marl’, you know where the toilets are, right? Miss Meadowes if you don’t mind, we can start now.”

Peter eagerly nods and opens the door for her when Meadowes glances at them with a last check on Marlene. She follows them inside and Peter is about to close the door when he sees Marlene signing at him.

“Ask her if she is single,” she whispers.

She can’t eavesdrop on the room but she will certainly try. Meadowes seems pretty happy with herself because of the small but clear smile despite the setting. Peter briefly studies at her before sitting down.

“Bit weird for a school reunion,” she comments with her eyebrows amusedly raised. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come by before, I have tons of work that I couldn’t cancel until now. That’s why I didn’t reply to your letter before.”

“It’s alright,” he reassures. “You’re actually the only one who replied to our calls.”

“Mh.” She settles in her chair with her bag on the table. “It’s about Regulus, isn’t it?”

Peter nods. Meadowes doesn’t seem surprised or distressed but her expression turns serious.

“We’re looking for him. Which lead us to this picture,” James explains as he brandishes the photo Peter found in Regulus’ room. “We wanted to know if you have any information about him or his brother, if you were still in contact with him before he vanished.”

Peter glances at him with a frown before leaning a bit to whisper. This picture is still on the board in their office which means— “did you duplicate it for the case or for you?”

James shushes him, squinting, and smiles at Meadowes who looks at the picture.

“We were still in contact up until a week ago or so. Regulus might look unfriendly, but he actually likes company as long as you let him be in his little bubble.”

“Do you have any idea of where he might be?” Peter asks. “Or anything about his brother or his abduction?”

She frowns and purses her lips. “If I think Sirius abducted Regulus? I only meet the oldest Black once, so I don’t exactly know him. Though if he is anything like Reg’ then sure he could have kidnapped him, but I don’t see why.”

“Money is often good enough,” he points out.

Meadowes shrugs. “Sure, yeah.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“Look.” She slips her hands together on the table. “I really doubt Sirius would actually harm Reg’, especially over money. He never got along with their parents from what I know but he is also not puny enough to use his brother to get back at them.”

James nods. “When did you meet Sirius?”

“Er, last year?” She frowns with a glance at the picture before placing it down on the table. “February something, we went to France. Regulus’ parents sent him there for family tradition or something like that and we all jumped on the moment to go with him.”

“His parents were alright with that?”

She snorts. “No, absolutely not. They didn’t know. We rented a small place all of us outside of Regulus and we helped him ditch his guards most days. That’s how we met Sirius by chance in Paris.”

“Did Regulus know that he might be there?” Peter asks.

“No, or at least he didn’t tell me,” she replies. “At first it was really awkward— frankly, they fought and Reg’ tripped Sirius at some point and they didn’t talk that much. Bit weird to find your brother who was sent to an awful school, ran away from it and was assumed dead.”

James looks at her, obviously trying to find something else. Peter doesn’t think she is lying and the story makes sense with what they have gathered.

“Did they stay in contact after that?”

“No. Regulus didn’t want to risk it or didn’t want to. It’s really messy and with their parents… Well, you must have met them.”

“Charming, yes,” James deadpans and she chuckles.

“Yes, that’s them. From my own point of view, Sirius seemed like a nice guy but very different from Reg’. I think they care for each other but are too— stupid or stubborn to properly act on it.”

Peter glances at the picture. “You don’t believe that Sirius would abduct Regulus?”

“Mh, no.”

“Then where is Regulus now?”

Meadowes isn’t taken by surprise, but she doesn’t talk right away. “I don’t know. I’m ready to help you as much as I can but I honestly have no idea. Last time we talked it was the usual, nothing weird. I learnt about him missing from the newspaper.”

“We believe you.” James smiles. “So, everyone in the picture are still friends with Regulus?”

She nods. “Yup. Though Emmeline wasn’t here but she counts too, even if her career takes all her time.”

“Emmeline Vance?!”

Peter glances at him, surprised. Meadowes proudly grins. “The— Quidditch player?” He clumsily recalls since the only time he learns about the sport is through James’ excited blabbers.

“Yes! And don’t say it with that tone, she is brilliant! One of the best,” he exclaims. “She has been unstoppable since she started— do you think you can get me an autograph?”

“Probably.”

“But… I don’t recall that she played in the Slytherin team.”

“That’s because she never did,” James says and looks even more excited. “This is why she is so famous, she came out from nowhere and trashed everyone. People say she is a whole team just in one body and they are not wrong.”

Meadowes laughs. “She is brilliant. If she had played back at Hogwarts, I’m sure we would have won all the cups.”

“I could keep her in check.”

She rolls her eyes. “You weren’t bad Potter but compared to Emi? You’re nothing. I wish Reg’ went to Hogwarts too because I have never seen a better seeker than him.”

“He likes Quidditch?”

Peter clears his throat, fully aware that he needs to cut him before he gets too far. “So, everyone on the picture plus Emmeline Vance were still in contact with Regulus?”

“Yes. Evan and Emmeline are the only ones his parents somewhat accepted though. Purebloods you know.”

He nods. “About Evan. Is it true that Pandora is his twin?”

Her eyes widen in surprise, taking them in with a dubious squint before exhaling through her nose with a slight smile. “Sounds like you spoke to Pandora. Thought only I answered to the Ministry?”

“We met her by chance at The Chimera actually.”

“Oh. And she told you that she is Evan’s twin?” At James’ nod, she slightly shakes her head and tilts it. “Yup, that’s her alright. If she told you then— yes, that’s the truth. Didn’t think she would flaunt it left and right yet.”

“Are they any proof of that?”

She frowns at Peter. “Why?”

“Er, we need to check the facts. And it’s a bit of a surprise to hear that,” he says as he tries to put his thoughts together. “It’s simply that it’s a big deal for a Pureblood family to suddenly have another child, especially if they were hidden on purpose. We need to investigate everything.”

James shares a glance with him, a proud smile on his face. “Exactly.”

Meadowes looks at them. “Well, Evan did need some proof. He adores Pandora but at first, he was very reluctant to believe her. You have seen her, so picture her coming up to you saying ‘hi, I’m quite certain that you and I have an incredible bond. Actually, you look like my perfect twin’,” she tells with a joyful impression. “This went down horribly for Evan and he did all tests during the spring break of their fourth year. I don’t have them though.”

“So, their father knows?”

“No, no. Evan kept it to himself and us,” she hastily says before glancing them at with steel eyes. “Wait, you didn’t contact the old Rosier about it, did you?”

“No, no,” James promises. “We just wanted to check it and we assumed that it’s something kept hidden. Evan your friend, Rosier, didn’t answer us when we tried to contact him for Regulus so we couldn’t ask him directly.”

Peter still hasn’t concluded to a precise read about her. Underestimating anyone is often a flaw, he tries to get enough information before really drawing a picture of their character. He wants to believe in Meadowes’ words - she is witty and funny but not in a mean way, without needing to take people down with her. She is confident enough to make her words sound like the truth with enough blanks to not feel rehearsed.

“I barely can’t follow all Evan’s life, so I feel for whichever poor unlucky owl has to track him down.”

“Is he travelling for business?”

“Family yes,” she answers. “Though he is trying to put more thoughts into it and do his own side business.”

“He wasn’t in Britain over the last few weeks?”

“Nope.”

James glances at the picture for a second. “What about Barty Crouch Jr.? He is the only one we couldn’t find at all.”

Meadowes’ face ticks completely with a strong rictus but she holds it back before chuckling. She needs a moment before she can articulate a comprehensive word.

“Barty?”

“Yes?”

“You will find him up Evan’s arse.”

Peter freezes and cautiously looks at her amused, yet nonchalant look, before checking on James who is amusedly confused.

“You mean..?”

“I mean it literally and figuratively,” she answers and pushes a strand of hair away. “It’s gotten worse after Hogwarts, or better depends on how you look at it. Anyway, if Evan didn’t get your letter, then Barty probably didn’t either. If he even looked at it. He would rather get a creepy letter of some madman than an official letter of the Ministry, this would make him laugh at least.”

He warily checks on Crouch Jr’s face on the picture. It’s true that he had quite the reputation during Hogwarts as a wild dog that might jump on you out of nowhere. Nothing bad happened, at least officially, but Peter still feels slightly relieved that he never responded to them. If at least Rosier comes with him, which Meadowes sounds certain of, then they might be able to talk to him without many troubles. Though as a Pureblood, Rosier will probably be far shiftier but they are looking for their friend which must mean something.

“Well, you are at least giving us more insight. We were getting desperate,” James says.

She smiles almost softly at them and reaches out to take the picture in hand to look at it. “I’m really not sure whether I can help you out or not. I have been really busy with my work especially with the ball coming up, but I saw the news… I tried to contact him when Pandora didn’t answer me. But his family doesn’t like me, so my actions are limited.”

“Does Pandora usually not answer?”

“Er, well, she likes to speak face to face rather than letters. She often takes it as an invitation, which we never mind, but no, so far nothing. If she went to The Chimera alone, it’s probably because she knew I was busy with work like the everyone.”

“What do you do?” Peter asks curiously. “You host events like a ball?”

“The Noble Ball?” James inquires. “That’s the only ball that I can think of at this time.”

Meadowes nods. “I’m an architect, adept renovator too. I’m working on a old wizard crypt to restore it but I had to work on the ball’s new location for this year. There aren’t many people as good as me, or at least care enough to study the original characteristics of the edifice to work as closely with it. Magic sometimes don’t mix well with old buildings, especially when they were left abandoned for a long time.”

Peter has no idea if she fits the job, but she does sound confident in her knowledge. He doesn’t know much about this field of magic and craft, but he is aware that the Noble Ball is a very big event hosted by Purebloods in the name of ‘history’ and ‘magic’.

“Wouldn’t Rosier be at the Noble Ball?”

“He will be, yes. It’s hosted in only two days but I managed to do my part, that’s the only reason I’m here now,” she explains. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let me go until I finished.”

James appears to understand what she means, glancing at Peter. “They try to bring up old vestiges that we lost when most wizards went into hiding because of the witch hunt. This year it’s an old sacred building that was used to concentrate various magical energies— I think. It was only discovered a while ago. My dad was fascinated by the news.”

Peter sometimes forgets that James is a Pureblood, quite famous, since his family seem to barely remember it too. He must have been invited to the event. Some Pureblood witches during Hogwarts tried to get his attention only because of his family. Though at that time he only swooned over Lily until she offered him a chance to realise they are better off as friends.

“That’s right. The building went unnoticed, adopting our strategy of hiding from back then, and it’s only a few years ago that it was found again. As many magic it might have contained, at some point it runs out of it without care,” Meadowes says with an inspired look, probably picturing everything that she did. “I managed to renovate it to something stable but it’s only recently that they decided to transform it into a monument and hold this ball, which asked for more works. Aesthetically and to be sure it’s up to host it. The building could have not reacted well to our current magic.”

“I didn’t realise that it would imply so many parameters,” Peter admits with a thoughtful frown. “And now you have finished it?”

“Decorated and everything for the ball, though they might ask for my service again after that. The ball will have a lot of wizards and witches, even if we won’t be able to bring our wands inside. It might affect some things we better check earlier rather than later… They have invited me to it despite my status as a thank you, but I only want to be sure that they won’t cause anything to my work.”

“No wands?”

James glances at him. “It’s meant to put everyone on the same level, plus you shouldn’t need to use your magic there. I actually think we might have to go to this event as security, but we have been busy with the Black’ case—” he trails off with a frown and glances at Meadowes. “Do you think Regulus’ parents will still attend to the Noble Ball despite their son missing?”

She isn’t impressed, eyebrows raised and eyes empty of humour. “They are definitely coming. It would be a sign of weakness if they don’t. To them— I disagree but what else Purebloods do if it’s not showing off?”

Somehow, it doesn’t surprise him. Purebloods are a weird bunch, but the Blacks might be even more peculiar which Peter has no idea how to deal with.

“So, you have been working on that and a crypt,” he resumes. “And your last contact with Regulus was a week ago or so? A normal one?”

“Yes. Reggie and I were talking about the upcoming ball, plus some gossips about Emmeline. She will come to the ball too so we were wondering how many fans will try to break in.”

James snorts. He seems to trust her and Peter doesn’t find a reason to argue. Though, it would still fit with his theory, which is more convincing minute by minute. Meadowes doesn’t appear to panic about what’s happening to her friend, but she is still anxious and confident. It could be simple: that she believes Regulus can figure a way out from whatever is happening but still worrying about him.

“Alright,” he concedes and retrieves the picture before James can. “Thank you for coming here and talk to us. We are looking for as many information as possible to figure out where Regulus is before it’s too late.”

She smiles, albeit it’s a bit small. “Thank you. Honestly… I feared who might be on the case. But I know you are alright lads. Despite all the pranks during Hogwarts.”

“You can’t blame us,” James cheekily says. “Slytherin is just so easy to trick.”

“Oh, I suddenly remember why I loved playing against Gryffindor— I sent you flying into one of the towers. Good times.” Peter laughs and James doesn’t take offense, joining her joke, as she stands up to slip back on her jacket.

“We will keep you updated if we have any development,” James promises as they lead her out of the room.

“Thank you. And I promise I will talk to Evan and Barty, they will be at the Noble Ball so I will take care of them if they are being difficult with any of you,” she adds. “Though I can promise that if they knew something about Regulus then they would have either brought him back or are trying to do so.”

“Maybe we will see them there too,” James comments. “We might have to attend for security.”

Peter smiles at Meadowes. “Thank you for taking the time to come here.”

“Of course.” She smiles and adjusts her knitted scarf around her neck, eyes curiously wandering around. “I’m curious though— who else became Aurors from our year? Can’t say I expected you two to work here. And that the Ministry would be standing.”

“You can thank Remus for that.”

Meadowes blinks surprised at Peter before chuckling incredulously. “Lupin? How did you drag him there?”

“And Lily too.”

“Well.” She shakes her head. “I hope she doesn’t get too many white hairs because of you three. I wouldn’t stand a day before begging St. Mungo’s to hold me in some kind of room.”

“Don’t worry, she is having fun. Even if she doesn’t admit it.”

They would have probably been good friends with her back then if their houses weren’t so much fighting. Peter can’t deny that they mostly targeted Slytherin, though Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff got their share of pranks too, but more than often they had the most obnoxious and nastiest people that needed to be pushed down from their pedestals. Meadowes was a fury during Quidditch but outside from that she was alright.

She follows them toward the exit, chatting about the recent gossips of Quidditch players with James, but they slow down when they notice the small group in front of their shared office. They have the space to walk past them but they can hear Lily arguing with the Auror and a woman steps up to join the argument. Only one glance is needed to catch on the manic and powerful stance of this witch who only strengthens the fire in Lily’s voice.

“No,” Meadowes weakly blurts out, freezing in her steps, “Merlin and Morgana— bloody not her.”

Peter checks on her, surprised by how pale her dark skin turned, before looking ahead again to be sure that he didn’t imagine this sudden burst of terror. The witch is tall despite of how her shoulders are hunched like a weapon ready to burst. Her hair are deep black, curls taking space with no shame, and her face is so ivory that every features feel like they are aggressive and fighting to get out of there.

“Is that Bellatrix Lestrange?” James whispers in shock.

“This the worst,” she hisses under her breath.

The Lestranges were well-known, but Bellatrix is twice as renowned by being a Black but also rumoured to be the Dark Lord’s apprentice except that they haven’t managed to find concrete proofs yet. Peter doesn’t need them though - a simply look at her clears up any doubts he might have had. Bellatrix is dangerous and by Meadowes’ frightened stance, she knows it.

“Is everything alright?” James speaks up, cutting short the ruckus, as he steps up before freezing. “Snivellus?!”

Severus Snape’s nostrils flare and eyes them with disgust. “Potter. Pettigrew.”

Lily doesn’t seem happy that he is here. He hasn’t changed much with his hair still longer than his chin and looking greasy. It’s not a real surprise that he is beside Lestrange’s side though what for is still unclear. Another woman is at their side with wavy ivory long hair. She looks like like Bellatrix albeit with more manners and with less danger - though it’s probably only an appearance. Peter needs another second before recognizing her as Narcissa Black.

“What are you bloody doing here?” Meadowes spits out.

Snivellus appears surprised of her presence but quickly cover it. Bellatrix steps up, sending the Auror to the back. Peter checks on Meadowes as he sides with James, she is clutching her bag’s handle with a stern face.

Lily steps away from the closed door of their office, to let Remus open it and watch the scene. Snivellus’ face shifts into a sharper disgust at that but Lily shots him a raging glare before shifting it on their colleague. “Auror Lafay suddenly thought that they were in control of our investigations.”

“This is not what I said,” Lafay hisses.

Bellatrix scrutinizes them all with wide, violent eyes. Peter’s training almost leaves him but he stands his grounds - she sees something in him that makes her smile in an unsettling way but he tries his best to ignore the chill running down his spine.

“What do you want?” Remus asks.

“You know what we want,” Lestrange spits.

“Bella— we are here for Regulus,” the softest-looking woman says. “We are family.”

“Miss Malfoy, it doesn’t matter as I just said,” Lily politely replies. “Because of the case and your connection, you can’t be involved except if you have any informations to share with us. Not the other way around.”

“Are you saying that you won’t give us what you know about Regulus?” Bellatrix hisses.

She takes another step and comes too close than needed. Lily squares her shoulders just as Remus slightly puts himself between them and James’ hand fly to his wand. Lafay glances unsure at all of them, clearly starting to realise his mistake.

“It isn’t our choice. It’s the protocol and Ministry’s rules, we do not make them. Even if you were Regulus’ direct parents, we wouldn’t give out any informations. Lafay should have known that when he thought bringing you here was a good idea.”

“Do you even have a lead?” Snivellus asks. His eyes almost soften on Lily but it doesn’t shake off his whole aura.

“Severus,” Lily articulates with a warning look that surprises him, which shouldn’t be one as she buried their relationship back in the middle of Hogwarts. “You are not a part of the Black family, are you? You have no business here.”

“Lil-”

“We are also looking for Regulus,” Malfoy says. “Walburga and Orion told us that you would share what you have so far.”

“We can’t do that,” Remus replies. “No matter who you are. It would interfere with our work.”

Lestrange’ eyes zero on him but he doesn’t show any reaction. Malfoy grabs her before she can make another move. James quickly clears his throat to step in.

“You have to understand that we are doing our best and if we had any clear insights then we would have informed his parents right away.”

Snivellus squints at him and Peter feels like they are back at Hogwarts. “So you have no lead.”

“We do,” Lily cuts in with an impatient sigh. “But it’s protocol that we can’t share it to the public-”

“Public?!” Lestrange hisses. “Who are you to decide that?”

“I understand that you’re scared for Regulus but we can’t do that. It’s not up to us.”

“You filthy liar-”

Lafay hastily walks between them with a sorry look. “Come on, I know you must have something concrete already— they only want to help.”

Peter would have resigned right away if Lily threw this lethal glare at him. Mary and Marlene crept up at the door to see what’s going.

“Do you want a reminder of our rules and why some of them are necessary?” She sweetly cautions him. “Perhaps I should call Alastor Moody to remind them to you.”

“No, no that would be fine,” he quickly says in panic, stepping back under Lestrange’s disbelieving eyes.

Malfoy clears her throat and offers a polite smile. “Then do you have anything about Sirius’ whereabouts?”

Peter doesn’t know if he should be surprised that they walked in here and expecting them to make all their wishes come true. The more he observes them, the less weird it becomes. They stare down at them like they are mere tools, ready to snap to their words. Snivellus has adopted it though he oozes more of sly manipulation rather than a full confidence of being better than all of them compared to the two Black sisters.

“It’s one of our cases too,” Lily replies. “They might be linked so we are looking into both of them, but we are making sure to be thorough and completely objective whether he is involved or not.”

“He is,” Lestrange spits. “Cursed Sirius and his little spineless lunacy.”

Malfoy cooly looks at her before glancing to each of them with an eyebrow continuously rising. “And I suppose you stick to your— rules?”

She smiles back with a sharp edge that could compete with Remus’ when the moon is full. “I’m truly sorry but we wouldn’t to cause problems to our case and risk Regulus’ life.”

Lily’s words appear to seal the deal as Snivellus finally glances away from her. Lafay is still trying to make himself small and would probably take any chance to flee from the scene. Marlene and Mary stay behind Lily and Remus, glancing at James and Peter - who only remembers now that Meadowes is still right behind him. She is on high alert by the look of it as her eyes stay sharp on the three of them.

“Listen, it’s very thoughtful of you to come all the way here to try to— help,” James articulates with a wary glance at Snivellus. “But we promise we will contact you once we have progress. For now, we should get back to work. Lafay do you help to lead them outside?”

“No, no.”

“I told you,” Lestrange snaps at his sister who doesn’t even flinch at her sudden turn. “They are useless.”

“Bella,” she admonishes. “Enough.” as I do Cissa, Sirius has always been the runt of our family without a proper fight in his bones. If he had any sense into him, he would have not known that he was better off dead-”

Lily frowns at her but the two sisters are in their own world. Snivellus appears to know to not step in and Peter swiftly turns away from his eyes. He can picture what he would like to say, and he doesn’t need any of it.

“Erm, if you don’t m-”

“I need no one to track down this filthy blood traitor,” she spits but contrary to her previous fury, she is now animated with some psychotic glee.

“Bella!” Malfoy exclaims, losing a bit of her composure which she tries to cover but her eyes betray her by glancing at them.

“Do not worry sweetie, I will correct his mistake. This coward always grovelled when I faced him.”

“Are you implying that you will go after Sirius Black?”

Peter glances at Remus and Meadowes abruptly steps at his side as if ready to jump in a potential fight. Lestrange doesn’t appear fazed by his words, but she does slowly turns with eyes probing at him with no shame. To everyone’s disbelief, she smiles but it’s anything but one.

“You. You smell— funny.”

Remus holds his ground, but Peter can see the shift in his shoulders. He is himself on his guards and he can see how James takes a grip of his wand from his back pocket just as Lily’s face morphs to her serious blank expression that she uses for any fight.

“Bella,” her sister cuts with her delicate visage shifting through a quick and painful looking flashes of emotions; her eyes stay strong to look at all of them though. “We shall go now. We’re slowing them down.”

She tugs on Lestrange’s arm before turning to Lafay who straightens up, spluttering, and directs them to the exit. Peter and Meadowes steps away to clear their path. Thankfully, they all follow Malfoy’s lead though Lestrange shoots them a last look, pausing on Remus.

Peter tries to not flinch or show any other reaction when Snivellus’ head dives to whisper to him. “Still a stooge?”

It doesn’t even last a breath but it’s enough for him to feel like rushing away as a rat to disappear for a while. He never thought they would ever cross paths but somehow it makes sense to considering that Snivellus obviously plunged headfirst to the dark arts and their promised leader— a path that Peter had considered at the end of Hogwarts.

“Peter?”

“What?” He blinks furiously, trying to shake off the vivid memory of meeting with Snivellus and hear all his promises: power and control.

James frowns at him worriedly, Remus is by his side with a glare shifting from their retreating figures to him with an anxious purse of his lips. Lily is less kind with a thunderous expression, but she drops it once they must disappear to look join their concern. Peter swallows and shakes his head.

“Did he say anything to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Pete’…”

“Just the usual insult, only took me by surprise.”

Lily is sorry and the slight melancholy is quick but noticeable. Peter doesn’t hold it against her, none of them are, and Mary quickly slips in to grab her hand. Snivellus was an important friend to her who, she always insisted, became a completely different person once they started attending Hogwarts.

“That was… something,” Marlene says. “Did she smell you like some kind of pervert?”

Remus’ face hardens and glances at her before dropping to the floor. “She probably tried to scare me.”

“Purebloods are bloody freaks,” she replies with a snort before looking at James. “And don’t think you’re out of this category yet, who knows what you will ask as a thank you if you save Reg-”

“Hey!”

“Regulus?” Meadowes interrupts with a frown and surprises most of them. “What did I miss?”

James glances at Peter for some help, as Remus steps back in their office by himself, but Lily is faster with her roll of eyes.

“He was smitten by a portrait when we went to talk to his parents. Don’t worry though, we know how to deal with his usual show.”

“I-”

“He talked about it for hours and I’m surprised he didn’t speak about it in his sleep.” Peter glances at Meadowes who looks deeply amused.

“For little Reggie, uh?”

“I think that’s sweet,” Mary encourages as James turns redder, clears his throat and slips back in their office.

Lily laughs and smiles at Meadowes. “Anyway, sorry about— this. We usually like to keep this kind of chaos when we invite a witness over. Thank you for coming.”

She appears to recall of who were just here because her smile isn’t fully up. “It’s my pleasure. Really. Anything to help Reggie… Though I’m not sure on how much I managed to help.”

“You did,” Peter confirms. “We aren’t asking for the world really. But you certainly helped clear us a path toward a solution.”

Her surprise is quickly replaced by a small grin when she nods. “That’s great. I should go, I still need to check on that ball to prepare backups to not have any more crazy Purebloods breathing down my neck.”

“Ball? What ball?” Marlene asks, taking in a second before realising that she spoke directly to her.

The blush that overcomes her face appears to please Meadow as she nonchalantly crosses her arms. “The Noble Ball.”

“Wha- you are dating one of these stuck-up Purebloods?!”

“Well, you can say that it is a date, yes.”

Lily takes in the wide eyes of Marlene before quickly smiling to Meadowes with a sign. “Let me walk you out, we don’t want to bother you anymore.”

“Thank you,” she says with a smile and look at the rest of them. “And it was a nice reunion. Goodbye.”

Marlene glares at her with her cheeks still flushed but she doesn’t speak. Peter watches her, exchanging an amused glance with Mary, as Lily walks with Meadowes toward the exit.

“She has a date,” Marlene hisses under her breath. “Bloody— slag.”

“Marl’ come on.”

“And she said it on purpose! Did you see that? She is mocking me! What is even that stupid ball uh?”

“I really don’t think she meant it like that-”

Mary clears her throat. “Did she help?” She quietly asks.

Peter purses his lips and glances at the office’s door before opening it for them. “Well, she said that Regulus was like usual before the kidnapping,” he explains and closes the door after himself. “And that she has big doubts that his brother would do it. They aren’t close but she doesn’t believe that Sirius would use him.”

“And that’s— good?”

“It’s something.”

“It probably means that something else is going on,” James says from his desk and Remus mirrors him but appears deep in his thoughts. “If she is telling the truth but we can’t be sure of that.”

Marlene’s arms are crossed and her frown deepens as she scans the room. “She isn’t really the type to… lie. I mean not for something serious at least, right?”

Mary softly smiles at her. “She has always been rather fair even back at Hogwarts.”

Peter sees that the picture of Regulus and his friends are still on their case board, which means the one he took is probably a duplicate James made - they have done it before to use it depending on the situation plus who they met with and hopefully James only did it with that idea in mind. He returns it.

James grins at him and folds it. “Just now, it was really weird, wasn’t it? Snivellus? Did he know that we were the one on Regulus’ case?”

“He was following the Blacks,” Remus dryly comments. “I doubt he has a say.”

“Alright but that confirms that the Blacks are on the side of that lunatic high on dark magic?” Marlene asks. “Snivellus obviously is into that but what does it mean about the rest of them?”

“Do you think Regulus is like them?” Mary anxiously whispers.

“I would assume he got kidnapped by people like them to be honest,” James says. “Who knows what really is happening in their family.”

“Their house is full of dark magic,” Remus recalls. “I’m sure we all felt it.”

Lily is probably fishing for more information since she hasn’t returned yet. The exit isn’t that far. Peter returns to his desk because his mind keeps running around - what if it’s all orchestrated? There have a wide array of options here but there are elements that keep surfacing without quite making sense. He could picture all of it and perhaps Snivellus is right— Peter hasn’t changed from his Hogwarts’ days. This could all be some kind of dream that he might have found something before any of his brilliant friends did.

“I recalled something,” Mary says, glancing between James and Peter who quickly tries to smile encouragingly. “When I explained the glasses missing to Remus, he mentioned that someone else was there, right? They must have used the back door which means they are familiar with The Chimera— but I got notified whenever someone use it. Sirius slipped in with everyone for the shift, his accomplice probably did too. But why did they come?”

“Well, you just said that Remus’ glass and mine went missing so it’s probably to use something of us, isn’t it?”

“But the person who joined Sirius, it wasn’t Pandora, was it?”

“No.”

“Right so let’s say Pandora took your glasses, weird, but we aren’t sure she works with them either. Maybe she wants to copy one of you to look for Regulus.”

Remus sighs. “It would make sense. That would be an idea of her.”

“Alright. Well, I didn’t think it would be relevant because nothing was stolen but something went missing in one of our changing rooms.”

Peter frowns. “Really?”

“Money?” James asks.

“No. A bag.”

“What bag?”

“That’s the thing,” Marlene replies, sitting on Peter’s desk. “No one knows what that is. No one. But we knew it was there.”

“Did you check it?”

“Of course, we did. It was nothing special, clothes, personal items. Which didn’t seem cursed or be hiding anything else,” Mary explains. “But we still had no clue whose it was. So, we thought that someone forgot it - you know Sal is at the other side of the world to catch a break? We figured he forgot his bag, that’s his style.”

“So, you left it.”

Marlene nods. “Yes, it’s been like at least a month? It fits with Sal forgetting a bag or whatever. But then I remembered that someone was waiting for Pelkie: Barty Crouch Junior.”

James leans in his seat with a frown. “He was in the back? By himself?”

“It’s not that weird,” Mary mentions. “I mean, he is a regular like the rest of Regulus’ friends so it’s not a stranger in our eyes. He chats and flirts with a lot of people. Pelkie probably wanted to shag him that’s why he was brought in the back, it’s not unusual. Plus, we have spells to protect our stuff and I would felt it if one charm was broken.”

“He is the one who left a bag?” Peter asks. “You wouldn’t have felt that. It’s not changing any spell.”

“That’s what we think,” Marlene confirms as Mary nods. “I needed to pick something up and that’s how I found him sitting there. He seemed normal so I never thought about it until now.”

“Did you ask Pelkie about it?”

“They didn’t shag in the end. I remember because I asked Pelkie the next day how was it but they said that Barty’s boyfriend showed up out of nowhere, so they flew before getting sucking into their fight.”

“You think it was Barty who was with Sirius?”

“Well, the bag is nowhere to be seen now.”

“That’s what they were looking for,” Peter realises.

James frowns. “So, Barty is helping Sirius? But you checked the bag, didn’t you? You would have known if it was magical items or potions. They are bound to be noticeable at some point.”

Lily walks in their office and glances at all of them before frowning on Mary who smiles at her. “Hey, what did I tell you about not playing Aurors?”

“We’re helping!”

“You would be stuck without us,” Marlene scoffs, crossing her arms.

“We might all get in trouble for that.”

“Who cares?” James says. “Didn’t you see what happened Lil’? They are hunting Sirius down and I’m really worried about what will happen if one of them gets his hands on him. Even his parents asked us to kill him. This wanted poster isn’t because they worry about Regulus, is it? They want to get rid of Sirius even though we don’t know why he would even kidnap his brother.”

She shakes her head with a deep sigh. “I’m perfectly aware of that. And it’s exactly why I think we need to be more careful than we ever were. If we are dealing with dark wizards— then we have to be cautious because we don’t know who we can trust! Am I the only one realising that the supposed better wizards are all into the dark arts?”

“Love-”

“We can’t attack them directly if it comes to that point. Look at Lestrange— she sounds bloody insane but somehow, it’s Sirius Black who is the problem in their family? He ran away and if it’s because he isn’t like them then we must help. I wouldn’t be surprised if their parents actually have Regulus hostage somewhere-”

“I don’t think they do.”

To Peter’s relief, Lily doesn’t seem pissed at him but she is puzzled. They are all looking at him, curious and probably trying to figure out everything that she just said and what he might said. He swallows a knot in his throat.

“Pete’, what’s on your mind?” Remus asks.

His exhale finally lets his words come together. “I think this is a set-up.”

“For what?” She asks.

“Maybe I’m— I’m overthinking.”

“No, no, go on,” Lily insists with a small smile as she steps to her desk.

Peter gnaws on his bottom lip before he steps up to their case board to take the letter. “This. I found this in his room, right? The one perfectly clean of his magic and trashed, by his parents from what the house-elf muttered. But this was perfectly untouched and you would only need to open a drawer, not locked, to see it.”

“His parents would have found it.”

“Yes exactly. But it was the only letter that you could found, which is weird, because we know that they wouldn’t have approved of The Chimera so why was this letter around? Meadowes said that Regulus and she wrote, which means there must be other letters but better hidden or thrashed,” he flatters off, realising that everyone is staring at him. James nods with a small smile and Peter takes a proper breath. “I think it’s supposed to be a hint for us.”

“To go to The Chimera?” Mary wonders. “Why?”

“Er…”

Only Lily knows that James and he are animagi and Remus’ condition, which is an advantage for this kind of case but now he can’t really say that the Blacks never allowed them up in his room so Peter sneaked around. This also confuses his story because how come the letter was there at the right time when it had to be hidden from his parents?

“It’s the place Regulus and his friends have in common,” Remus mutters. “They must have felt safe and met up there. Without it we wouldn’t have known where to look for any of his friends, even when we got the picture.”

“The picture wasn’t as hidden,” Peter explains. “It’s the house-elf who brought it up, cursing over it about Regulus’ friends and their bad influence. This elf is the only one who would know all his secrets and I think that he hide them from his parents.”

“So he would have left it for us?”

Peter nods, meeting Lily’s frown with the hope that she understands that the elf must have known he was around as a rat. House-elves are often underestimated which is probably why their magic is more than often a mystery. But surely, he must have known and left it there for Peter to see them? Maybe he heard his scramble with that black cat outside when he tried to find a way in.

“What does it mean? The house-elf is the one who is behind all of it?” Marlene asks with a tilt of her head. “Does that mean it’s a fake lead or a real one?”

“I think Regulus ran away and that his house-elf knows where he is but can’t speak to his parents, or don’t want to. He must have known that we were going to come and prepared this for us. Even if I haven’t found them, he could have slipped in one of our pockets.”

“And Regulus framed his brother?”

“No, I think Lily is right,” he says. “They are trying to get rid of Sirius but think about what Meadowes said!”

“Er, they fought?” James recalls. “That she thinks they care about each other but don’t know how to?”

“Don’t you think Regulus would have asked Sirius, who already ran away before, for help? What business does Sirius have to come back here? He must have known how his family would react but the only reason he might be here, especially if they only reconnected last year, is his brother.”

“This would fit,” Lily admits with a frown. “It’s true that the letter and the picture are important. His parents would have taken them either to destroy it or— they would have gone after Regulus’ friends but they came here which means they have no clue on what’s going on.”

Peter nods. “Regulus covered his tracks by cleaning his magic, probably with his house-elf’s help. His magic must be at least somewhat compatible with his parents, which can be partly used to find his, but it’s not as effective as the original magic,” he explains. “His parents wouldn’t have done that.”

“But this doesn’t clear out the possibility that his parents kidnapped him,” Remus points out. “It could be so we can’t track him down because they are hiding him too… But it wouldn’t explain his brother coming here. They wouldn’t contact him. The letter and picture could have been anything else to lead us to the family rather than his friends.”

James nods. “Peter’s theory is the most plausible one when you take everything in consideration. But then— if the house-elf wanted us to find his friends… Doesn’t that mean they are hiding Regulus?”

“Everything that Meadowes said make sense, but she never gave too many details. I think she lied and told the truth here and there. It’s only a vague idea but considering Pandora, and now Barty, plus what she said— there is definitely too many coincidences.”

“The house-elf knows that Regulus ran away but he doesn’t tell his parents, instead he helps us to know where to look for him,” Lily resumes. “But if Regulus is with his friends, why would he need us to check after him? Why not leave us without any hints if he means to help Regulus? Telling his parents would have brought it home.”

Peter blinks and turns back to the case board. “I’m not sure…”

No one seems to have an idea which he supposes is not so bad or good. It’s still a fresh case, albeit urgent considering it’s still an abduction case, and they are considering different options with as much proofs as they have but it’s not enough. Peter is still pleased that his hypothesis isn’t as crazy as he thoughts.

“Well, I vote for Peter’s case,” Marlene declares. “It’s the most interesting one. Plus, I don’t want Regulus to be saved if he is a piece of work like that crazy woman.”

Mary laughs along with James and Lily chuckles with a shake of her head.

“We don’t vote and I already told you that you don’t work here!”

“I could but I’m not a prick.”

“Thanks.”

“It was easy for you James, you were already a pain in the arse back in school.”

He flips her off and she returns it.

“I agree though,” Remus says, looking at Peter. “What you said makes sense and could link everything together.”

“Meadowes was very spooked by Lestrange being here,” James says. “She must have known her, either from Regulus or Sirius. This totally fits with the idea that she is hiding Regulus with the rest of them.”

“You are brilliant Pete’, this actually clears up a lot of things,” Remus says with a smile that almost swipes off his tiredness. “The Chimera, the reason behind it and— erm, anyway. What do we do? Do we still try to find Regulus?”

Lily loudly breathes in. “I like this theory but what if he is running away from something specific like his family? And there is still people going after Sirius. If all of this is because they are trying to survive then— we have to help.”

“Of course.”

“Yes.”

“I think something might happen at the Noble Ball,” Peter admits. “They are all going to be there. Meadowes, Rosier with Crouch Jr, even Vance.”

“James, aren’t you invited to that?” Marlene asks.

“Hum, yeah. My parents too but they are still out of the country. And we might work as secu-”

“I’m going to be your date.”

“What?”

She jumps off Peter’s desk. “I want to see who is Meadowes’ date plus this whole case? Lil’ is right, it stinks. So better have more on your side than none.”

“Marl’, you won’t be able to bring your wand.”

“I have a mean hook. And if you get in my way, I will punch you too James.”

He raises his hands apologetically with a chuckle. “Fine, fine. I will be your wingman.”

Lily rolls her eyes at them two. “I really don’t think you realise what’s going on.”

“We do!”

Remus clears his throat with a frown. “Maybe… We should keep an eye on Meadowes.”

“Are you worried that she might disappear like Pandora?”

“She can’t miss out on the ball,” James points out. “She helped make the whole thing and she seemed to really care about it.”

“No. I mean it about her reaction with Lestrange. If they are running after Regulus and Sirius, who knows if they might not go after her,” Remus explains. “We didn’t say anything about her, but Lafay might have mentioned it if he saw the logs.”

“They might try to make her speak,” Lily realises. “Crap, I didn’t think of that— I will ask Frank and Alice to watch over her. You’re right. They gave me the creeps just by coming here.”

Peter glances at Remus, remembering how Lestrange smelt him like some kind of beast. His friend avoids his eyes.