*crack*

Two witches appeared in a dark lane at the end of a small pathway. The blond, slightly taller of the two, was dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a white blouse. She wore a pair of simple black heels and was wrapped up against the cold in a long green wool coat and a scarf. She was gripping the hand of the dark-haired witch.

As they were about to push open the gate, Eva pulled the dark-haired witch back closely to her and their lips brushed gently.
“Those boots.” She whispered, biting her lip. At least Elixa had chosen to actually wear some clothing tonight. They would make things considerably less awkward. She still looked pretty fit. They lingered for a moment before Eva released her grip and glanced to the house. In her spare hand was a bag with a few bottles of champagne, various other drinks, and some takeaway Chinese. Not that food was a priority. It was New Year’s Eve. Drinking was the priority. And Celebrating.

“Don’t be shocked if she’s in her pyjamas.” She muttered, before her eyes widened marginally with sharp realisation, and her finger flew to Lix’s lips in an attempt to silence her. “Don’t. Just…don’t talk.”

Elixa was fun. Eva thoroughly enjoyed the fun and the never quite knowing what was going to happen next. But it also what set her on edge, and reacquainting her girlfriend with her girl friend always made her pretty nervous after their first meeting[1]. Elixa was unpredictable and spontaneous while the most spontaneous Evangeline tended to be was to take Chou Fleur for a walk in the morning instead of the evening. Elixa was the kind of spontaneous that was terrifying but exhilarating.

“Just…behave.” She cast a lingering glance at those dark eyes before turning and heading up the garden path to knock on the door. "Hermit! Party's arrived! People! Alcohol! Chow Mein!"

1.	The Unexpected but Delightful Guest

“Behave!” Lix scoffed. “You don’t normally like me to behave.” She prided herself on getting the serious lawyer to misbehave. Evangeline Kuester spent her working life being straight-laced and professional, so it was only fair that behind closed doors she was something else.

But she took her point on Harper’s doorstep. The last time she’d met the red-head lawyer, there’d been more than a simple misunderstanding. It had been rather awkward! Well, as ice-breakers with your lover’s friends went, it certainly smashed through.

“Hermit! Party’s arrived! People! Alcohol! Chow Mein!”

Elixa leaned up against the wall beside Harper’s front door, crossing her legs in those boots, arms loosely folded above. She was wearing a claret red winter coat, which was rather more conservative. Her sparkly black dress beneath, not so, but Eva had to have something to enjoy if she was mute and obedient all night.

“What if she’s not in?” Lix asked, “What if she’s whisked off to save a dangerous criminal, or…” she lowered her voice suggestively, “… gone out and got a social life?”

It had been some years now since Harper Graves gave up on the ceremony of New Year's night. She wasn't averse to parties - once upon a time they were preferable - but after a while the routine grew weary. Crowds, strangers bumping into each other, noisy fireworks, stumbling home half drunk in the light of a new dawn. So, much like last year and the year before, the lawyer was spending the evening at home with her field spaniel George. They were going to ring in the new year over a hot meal and the Wireless.

Or at least this was the plan, until a knock disturbed the peaceful countryside cottage.

Harper was heating up a pot of chili when she heard it. George reacted first, cutting through the cosy kitchen and the living room. He barked excitedly even as the muffled words reached her ears. She'd recognise Eva's voice anywhere. The stove was abandoned, and she pulled on a pink headband as she followed after the dog.

"Hold your horses!" Harper called out; she was trying to psych herself up for whatever her old friend had waiting on the doorstep. "Okay," the redhead threw the door open and the warm light of her living room cut a square in the dark night outside. "Couldn't you have owled ahead at lea-- oh."

It wasn't just Eva. "Hello Elixa," Harper looked at the other witch and willed her awkwardness away, trying not to picture the last time she'd seen both these women together. "Is it my turn to forget we had plans or is this payback?" her lips twitched into a dry smile before she stepped aside to let them in out of the cold.

George was already pawing at her guests.

Elixa, stood there in her boots and coat, made a ridiculous suggestion of Harper Graves actually having a social life.
“Social life?” The Lawyer grinned across at her friend, “You’re funny.” And deliciously appealing when one couldn’t see beneath the coat. It still remained a bizarre feeling, to be so on edge and attracted to a woman. She’d had plenty of flings and relationships with men, but nothing to make her feel like this. It hadn’t even come close to this with her ex-husband. Perhaps that was why it hadn’t worked…amongst many other reasons.

“But…if she has…” Her eyes scanned down to Lix’s legs and she bit her lip. “We can go home and you don’t have to behave.” Probably the more exciting option, but Eva wasn’t about to let Harper sit at home alone on New Year’s Eve, and of course it hadn’t exactly taken any coaxing for Elixa to agree.

Behind the door, Eva first heard the barking of Harper’s pooch, George. Moments later, the door was pulled open, and there was her friend, as predicted, in her pyjamas. Eva grinned and glanced sideways to Elixa with a knowing look. Still, Harper was better dressed than either of them had been the first time she’d met Elixa.

“It’s hardly payback. You’ve got clothes on.” Months had passed, Eva could now just about laugh at the incident. But she didn’t even want to think about the fact that she was basically now Harper’s boss and they’d been in that situation. Nope. Didn’t need to think about that.
Eva stepped her heeled foot over the threshold and into the cosy cottage. George excitedly started to jump up, and Eva bent down to give him a good friendly fuss and scratch behind the ears. “Well, pyjamas. You’re in your forties, not your seventies, Haich. We’ve come to rectify the situation.” She frowned. The situation of the clothes? “Of the age. Your old lady situation.”

“Couldn’t you have owled ahead at lea— oh. Hello Elixa. Is it my turn to forget we had plans or is this payback?”

Harper Graves was smiling! It was sarcasm. Good, Lix had worried ever so slightly that she’d be uncomfortable given their earlier meeting. She couldn’t deny the prospect of Harper not letting them in, or being out for the night sounded more fantastic. Eva was cruel for dropping that in a moment before the door opened.

Elixa returned the grin with a more suggestive one.
“It’s hardly payback,” Eva replied on their behalf. “You’ve got clothes on.”

“Me too,” Elixa interjected quietly flashing Harper a view of her shimmering black dress underneath the claret winter coat.

She slipped into Harper’s cottage behind Eva, pulling the front door to in her wake. Cosy. Harper Graves liked to escape to the country when she wasn’t at home. A suggestion of money, and well if you were paid to be Lawrence Musgrave’s defence, you’d have to be reimbursed well by the country. She reminded herself not to hold that against the other witch. Eva had defended her fair share of dodgy characters too, and Lix in turn had treated some in the last year.

Once Eva had fussed George he eagerly scampered to Lix who greeted him with all the gusto of meeting an inquisitive small child for the first time.
“Who’s this, who’s a fluffy dog, oh hello,” she crouched, perched on tiptoes, boots creaking, to stroke George’s friendly head.

“Looks like you’ve got it all, Harper.” Lix remarked, straightening up. She let George dash away, reporting back to his owner on who had arrived. “Cute cottage, darling dog, and lording it up in London by day. I can see why Eva likes you.” She winked at the blonde and bumped hips on her way past. There was no censorship in where she peered as she prowled further into the house.

"I like the dress," she gave Elixa a look, admiring it. Harper herself wouldn't dare... sparkly wasn't her, as good as it looked on Eva's girlfriend. "And shoes."

So the couple had come to liberate Harper from a boring New Year's eve. She knew better than to protest: they were both lawyers at heart and that argument wouldn't hold water anywhere. If she was being honest with herself, it was nice to have company over tonight. The faces she saw at work, day-in and day-out, were getting old. And she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable, knowing that somebody on level two had left those handcuffs in her office.

            "Looks like you’ve got it all....Cute cottage, darling dog, and lording it up in London by day..."

"I guess I'm pretty lucky," Harper smiled dryly as she showed them through the living room and into the kitchen, where the cold chili was still on the stove. "But nobody's got it all. Do you guys want some food? That isn't takeout?" she glanced at Eva this time. "My grandad's chili recipe. I got plenty."

As she talked, she opened a cupboard above the counter to fetch out glasses for the inevitable drinking ahead of them.

Elixa Mordent didn’t fail to amaze Evangeline. The witch was oozing with confidence and seemed to not feel it necessary to even consider censoring herself. It was refreshing for a witch who’d spent her life striving for a professional perfection which had seeped into her personal demeanour as well. She’d found herself focusing on work and getting that right, so now Elixa was showing her that there was more.

This confident witch winked, bumped past her, and then made no secret of the fact that she was admiring and snooping. Eva couldn’t help but smile as she followed the pair through to the kitchen. From the fact that Harper was in her pyjamas so early on New Years Eve, Eva guessed that she would benefit from a bit of the Elixa spark too (although perhaps not in the same manner!).

Harper’s home was much more of a home that the house Eva lived in. There were signs that someone actually loved the place and was well settled. Her personality was in the decoration and furnishings. There was always food in the fridge and her crockery actually matched. Eva’s little house was quite different. The furniture was mismatched and brought in a rush, it was neat but not lived in, her kitchen cupboards were full of odd crockery, and she rarely had food in.

Case and point in the enormous differences between the two friends, was the chilli heating on the stove. Home made by someone that actually knew how to cook.
Eva’s eyes lit up at the offer, and she dropped the bag of booze on the kitchen table.
“Answer’s always yes.” She opened the bag and pulled out the champagne bottles and the bottle of firewhiskey. The Chinese food was left at the bottom. “Breakfast?” she muttered to Elixa with a smirk. Chinese food in bed with a hangover sounded perfect for the following morning.

Also, out of the bag, she pulled a brooch[1]
“Before we start drinking, I want to show you something.” Her voice was quieter than before, slightly anxious. “It’s pretty…ah…well, I want your advice on what I should do with it. It's pretty damning of Edwin Glass.” Eva may have been the new Deputy Head of Law Enforcement, but Harper had been in that department for much longer. She’d know how this sort of information was likely to be taken, and who to take this info to.

An uncomfortable smile was cast at Elixa. She’d mentioned it the day of, all too aware of her distant family connection. Elixa was also sworn to secrecy.

1.	Used to record an interview taken place between Evangeline and William Shufflebottom at Azkaban Prison – He Sings Like a Bird

“Thanks,” Lix replied with a smile. Her expression indicated she was flattered, but that she also expected to look amazing. One might have wondered if the boots were charmed to give such confidence to the wearer each time she encountered the likes of Harper Graves.

“You can come take a look at my wardrobe some night, if you like.” It was an honest, kind offer rather than a proud one.

They followed from the living room to the kitchen, and Lix’s eyes swept over the room, absolutely intrigued by how others lived. She shared a space with Arc and he didn’t share her taste of furnishings. When he’d been away so long in Malaysia, she’d tried to apply a bit, but since he’d been back it had crept back into something neutral. The perils of an extrovert and introvert living in the same two-storey flat above a divination shop.

Eva eagerly accepted the offer of the chilli and Lix nodded along in acceptance.
“Yeah, sure, sounds lovely.” She could smell the faint whiff from the cold pan but it would be rude not to accept.
“Breakfast?” 
“Totally.” She agreed, and mouthed after I’ve had you with a suggestive wink.

The moment passed fleetingly, as Eva couldn’t hold on any longer to share her latest development in her distrust of the Minister for Magic. She’d just moved jobs back to the same floor as Harper, Lix understood, no longer an advisor, but a senior post with Law Enforcement. It seemed to please her, but if anything, Evangeline talked more about the Minister now she wasn’t working on the same floor.

“He’s not my favourite cousin.” Lix agreed, hands up in defence. It made her uneasy though, though she’d not admit it to Eva. Edwin was still family, had still given her a place to stay when she’d first arrived. Since he’d become Minister they’d barely been in touch, but that didn’t mean she wanted his career over because an Azkaban low-life said something.

Harper raised an eyebrow at Elixa's wardrobe offer, and smiled gratefully at the other witch. Dress up? Why not? It would be way more fun than dressing up with her own wardrobe; she had the odd risqué dress, plunging necklines deep enough to distract, but far from stylishly adventurous.

             "Before we start drinking, I want to show you something... pretty damning of Edwin Glass."
      "He’s not my favourite cousin."

As she tapped the stove with her wand to get the fire going, Harper looked over her shoulder at the brooch Eva was holding up. She hadn't realise Lix was related to the Minister of Magic - it was a small wizarding world, though. Especially in Britain. Harper left the pot to heat up and joined them at the kitchen table.

"Recording?" she pointed at the brooch, exchanging a look with her friend. "Hold on a second. Let me just-" the redhead gave her wand a twist, casting a privacy charm around the kitchen: it was a specialty spell, one that attorneys were very good at casting. "- okay, there, just to be safe."

With both Lawrence and Greer as her clients, not to mention Katapodis, Harper erred on the side of caution. She always assumed she was being watched, even in the privacy of her own home. George wasn't around for company alone after all. He had a good nose for people nosing around.

"Give me a quick briefing and let's have a listen, then."

“He’s not my favourite cousin.” Elixa said with raised hands. Eva glanced away, her expression uncomfortable. She knew it wasn’t an easy position for her girlfriend to find herself in. But, as she’d stated, Glass was distant family. And, family or not, he was shifty.

A quick briefing. Right.

“Did you know Glass and Musgrave were friends? I couldn’t help but find it striking how personal Musgrave’s messages were for Glass. It was more than him being the minister.” She frowned and shook her head. “Anyway, I went to Azkaban the other day,” A pretty big thing, Harper would probably have noted, given her history, “to see William Shufflebottom, Musgrave’s friend. He basically blurted out that Glass isn’t so squeaky clean. Shufflebottom worried that Glass had hurt Musgrave.” A quick raise of her blond eyebrows showed just what she thought of that. She placed the brooch on the kitchen table between them.

“I know this doesn’t count legally, I’m pushing some boundaries here. But it’s reason enough to investigate.” She sat down and tapped her wand to the brooch. It began to play the recording.

---

When Eva heard her own voice state ‘It’s pretty serious.’ followed by a scraping chair, she tapped her wand to the brooch to silence it.

Cautiously, blue eyes watched her friend.

            "They’re trying to fix him. But, I don’t know, if I’m honest. It’s pretty serious."

Yes. It was pretty serious.

Harper did not know that Lawrence was friends with the Minister - and having listened to the entirety of her friend's interview with Shufflebottom, she wasn't sure if 'friend' was a good word for whatever transpired between those two men. An alliance, maybe. Her expression had been even throughout the recording, thanks to Eva warning her about Edwin's involvement. Now, she simply stared at the brooch on the kitchen table as if though it were still speaking.

Her mind was in another place and time. It was in a cell on level two, on August 23rd[1] last year. A Tuesday.

The day she broke the law and did something even William Shufflebottom would know not to do: she lent an untraceable wand to a convicted felon, in the confines of a locked room. A memory she was willing to take to her grave, alongside many others. Well. Now she had a vague idea of what might be in those five vials.

"We're the only ones who have heard this?" she heard herself ask Eva, eyes still on the brooch. "Shit."

Her minor swear was unrelated to the question. Harper pulled off her head band, letting her red hair come down in waves, and she ran her hands through it before finally looking up at her guests. The kitchen smelled like chilli, hot and delicious, though her appetite had abated. "You're right, this doesn't count legally. We need more. I think I may have more."

But before she could discuss that, they had other things to hash out.

"Tell me your thoughts."

1.	23rd August - In Safe Hands

During the recording, Elixa had slinked off, clearly not eager to listen. It wasn’t a comfortable topic, for sure, and Eva’s girlfriend was a healer rather than a lawyer. She wasn’t going to question where Elixa had wondered off to because she had a fair idea. Being nosy, finding out who Harper Graves really was, no doubt. Probably wondering if dear vanilla pyjama clad Harper had any kinky skeletons in the closet. Elixa, Eva could have told her, would be disappointed.

Regardless, it gave Eva and her friend a chance to talk.

Surprised eyebrows shot up when Harper suggested she may have more, partly because Eva had no idea that Harper would even have any reason to suspect their big boss.

She needed a drink!

It felt rather inappropriate to be diving into the champagne when discussing the possibility that the head of the wizarding world was corrupt, but she needed something in order to manage with the situation at hand. So, Eva pulled the bottle of the bag and uncorked it as she spoke.
“I think that we’re up shit creek. He’s corrupt but I don’t know to what extent and we need to tread mighty carefully.” ‘We’ because Harper was involved now she’d heard the recording.

“What do you think you have?” She asked as she summoned three glasses over and started to pour the drink out.

Shit creek wasn't an understatement.

That the most politically powerful figure in Britain's wizarding society happened to be corrupt... it didn't surprise Harper. People expected these things in small doses. A blind eye turned here and there, a quiet bribe accepted, the odd wink and handshake. But this level of corruption was different. Edwin Glass had colluded with dangerous men. Men who kidnapped and murdered children, men who held audiences with Dementors.

            “What do you think you have?”

Harper reached for one of the glasses, glancing at Eva but not quite meeting her eye. Elixa wasn't in the vicinity so if she was going to tell her friend about what happened in the cells on level two, now was the time for it.

"I have five vials worth of memories from Lawrence Musgrave," she spoke in a whisper, leaning in, fingers wrapped delicately around the stem of her glass. "And I'm fairly certain these are the memories Glass had obliviated from him before he could be sent to St.Mungo's for treatment. It was one of the stipulations."

At the time it had seemed a reasonable stipulation. Lawrence knew things that couldn't be known to civilian eyes and ears, not even to Healer Storm. Tonight, however, the brooch changed things. She felt like she was looking at the past few months from a different angle. From the point of view of a Minister of Magic trying to protect himself from the past.

"I don't actually know what's inside them," Harper explained with a sigh, sipping her wine. "But I think it's time we had a look."

Evangeline had been about to take a sip of her champagne, but she froze, glass to her lips. Harper had Musgrave’s memories? Why in Merlin’s name would she? The glass was lowered as the blond listened intently. This was new and surprising information. Glass has insisted on memories being obliviator?! Eva briefly considered how her old boss had in fact been an obliviator in a previous life. Had he been the one to do it? Well, after Musgrave had somehow given them to Harper?

“*#&@.” Eva muttered, sitting back in the chair, now taking a much-needed gulp of alcohol. She glanced behind her. Elixa was long gone, probably being extremely nosy around Harper’s house. It wasn’t that Eva didn’t trust her girlfriend. It was quite the opposite; but she knew how awkward this was when it was Elixa’s relative being discussed.

“Holy crap, Haich. We’re talking about impeaching the most powerful wizard in the country. Whatever memories these vials hold, they won’t stand up. Just like my interview won’t.” It was like teaching her grandmother how to suck eggs. Harper, too, had been working in law since she left school. They both knew it wouldn’t work. “But, do you have them here?”

Her quiet little cottage in Surrey seemed like a very unlikely venue for this conversation to be taking place - and yet here they were, discussing the odds of impeaching the Minister of Magic himself. Harper was relieved to see that Eva was as affected by how significant this might be; how difficult, to pull it off without putting themselves directly in the line of fire.

           “But, do you have them here?”

A quick nod as she set aside her wine glass. "Yeah. I know it won't stand up in court but it's a start. We'll know who to question, who to watch. Maybe figure out who we can trust." Harper glanced over her shoulder but Elixa was nowhere in sight.

Who could they trust? Was Carstairs on Edwin's side? They seemed to socialise in the same circles, wield the same kind of assured authority that wizards took for granted. What about the other department heads? The obliviators, the aurors?

"Should I get them out?" she turned back to Eva, hesitant. "Do you trust Elixa entirely? Not just with your secrets, but with mine?" Harper watched her friendly carefully - taking Lawrence's memories could ruin her practice if it was made public and official. That was another reason she knew they couldn't present it in court.