Late morning


When mail arrived, the residents of the Radford Estate had a tradition. They'd slip away to the bathroom in the basement, to sit in the giant empty tub, and read letters, and think, while the pipes in the house groaned in the walls, the floorboards above creaked, and the portrait in the hallway called nosy questions down the stairs.

At least, that was what Fauna Blake did, whenever she received a surprising letter.

Still in her pajamas, a cup of coffee resting on the rim of the tub, she tapped a pen against the notebook resting on her knees. The cold porcelain against her shoulder blades did little to calm her thoughts.

Ollie wanted to see her. Ollie, the best friend she'd shared a common room with, and started food fights in the Great Hall with, and the friend she'd shared a first kiss with, and the friend who'd been expelled for lycanthropy, and the friend Fauna had fought for. They'd lost touch these past few years. Until this morning, when Fauna had received her letter.

Ollie had just started working at the menagerie, and would Fauna like to go with her to pick up a shipment of adorable little puffskeins and sneakily adorable nifflers and precious baby snakes? And whatever else?

Um, yes.

Fauna bent her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. Yes she did.

I'll be there, Fauna wrote back.

An hour later, she walked out of the house in her Auror-inspired red coat, faded skinny jeans, and a Mildred and the Mandrakes band t-shirt. She grabbed a cap, also red, and put it on over her long, dark hair.

The walk to Diagon from her house passed by in a blur, Fauna lost in her thoughts. Fauna wasn't sure exactly when she and Ollie had started drifting apart. It could have been during Fauna's seventh year, after the Ides of March, when they'd both suffered attacks in separate times and places, from opposite perspectives, one through human eyes and the other through the eyes of a wolf. It could have been after Fauna had graduated, when Ollie had not. It could have been because of SAWS, or after SAWS, or inevitable despite SAWS.

The door of the Magical Menagerie jingled when she opened it, drowned out by the hoots and barks of the critters inside. Her gaze darted around and landed quickly on the clerk behind the desk. Not Ollie.

She weaved past the creature habitats and pens, then stopped short.

Ollie stood in one of the aisles.

All the fond memories came rushing back.

"Ollie," Fauna called out softly, a smile inching up her face.

She held a coffee for Ollie in one hand, her other hand lifting slightly at her side.

There had been a sense of relief when she got the response back that Fauna would come. It seemed as good an opportunity as any to catch up. Ollie had wanted to for some time but there was always some excuse not to reach out. Usually, some silly dark thought like she didn't deserve a friend like that or that Fauna wouldn't want to be connected with her more than she was. It was all silly and likely not a stitch of truth to it, yet it had kept her from reaching out for some time.

When they asked her to pick up a shipment she figured it best to get someone to come along with her. It was the first time she was doing it and the full moon was a few days away. It was best for business to have some company she thought. Why not an auror trainee? Once the idea was in her head there was no turning back. No excuse seemed right. The letter was off and no taking it back. So there was relief knowing Fauna wanted to join her, reconnect. They had shared so much over the years and it was shame to lose all that.

The jingle of the door didn't make her stop what she was doing. The other clerk could handle a customer. Ollie was just finishing off an inventory count before picking up the shipment. She heard her name and Fauna's voice. It made her stop.

"Fauna," she smiled as she looked to her dear friend. It was better than she thought it was to see her.

"It's been far too long," she said as she approached. A moment of hesitation unsure if she should hug her.

Ollie didn't look exactly like Fauna had remembered her, but her smile was the same. She smiled at everyone like they really mattered.

Why hadn't Fauna reached out first? It felt like ages, and yet like no time had passed at all.

She hesitated, then moved forward to close the distance, bringing an arm around Ollie in a light, gentle hug. A typical Fauna air-hug. Her friend was just an inch shorter than she was, and Fauna neither had to stoop nor stand on her tiptoes. They'd grown up mostly at the same height, easily slinging an arm around each other's shoulders as they'd walked down the corridors of Hogwarts and the paths outside.

Fauna pulled back, feeling glad and at ease. She handed her the cup of coffee, with the 'Alohomocha' logo circling it. On the back, the name 'Faina?' was spelled.

"For you. I've had uh, two cups already this morning."

Like many other Auror trainees, Fauna become addicted to caffeine.

"I'm guessing you haven't turned into a morning person?"

Fauna chuckled with a trace of shyness. It was late morning, but still! During the weekends at Hogwarts, she'd sneak into Ollie's dormitory and wake her up in time for breakfast, usually by singing loudly or throwing a hat at her and then running out of the room.

Ollie returned the hug, it was a gesture she was relieved that had happened. She felt that it relaxed things a little and like it was old times. Though so much time had passed.

"Thank you!" Ollie said very enthusiastically after she was informed that coffee was for her. How did Fauna know that was exactly what she needed? "Nope, definitely still not a morning person," Ollie chuckled. "Made worse by the approaching full moon, of course."

Ollie reached out for the cup of coffee and took a sip. It was delicious and exactly what she needed in that moment even if she had a few cups already. Ollie was not one to refuse the help of caffeine to get through the day.

"It is really good to see you," Ollie said that and she genuinely meant it. "I hate that it has been so long." She felt guilty for letting so much time pass.

Fauna nodded, not surprised by her mention of the upcoming full moon. She never really forgot about the moon cycle these days, not since the Cold Moon ambush in December and the continued attacks in January. She made a mental note to check with Tia, Knox, and now Ollie, to get an idea of their plans this month, just to make sure they had additional security if they needed it.

She smiled though, as Ollie sipped the coffee. Some good things never changed, and that was Ollie's open, genuine nature.

"I'm really glad to see you too," her expression softened. "I'm sorry it's been-"

Months? A year?

"-a while," she finished with a grimace-smile, hugging her arms to her for a moment. Too long!

Fauna glanced around the bustling shop. There was so much she wanted to tell her, and to find out about her life and her new job.

"We could catch up on the way," she suggested. They should hang out properly after this too, sometime after Ollie had recovered from the full moon.

"Do you need a hand with anything? Are we bringing anything with us?" Fauna shot a slight grin at her. "I've got Auror training skills in manual labor."

What else was her job for?

"Yes, let's catch up on the way," Ollie agreed. There was probably alot to share more than she had realized.

Ollie looked down at her list ensuring she had finished as planned by the Fauna had arrived. "I am all done here so no hands needed. We just need to go into the back and get our crates we transport in and well of course the inventory list."

Olivia started towards the back room and gestured for Fauna to follow. "Thank goodness for magic really in times like these. We can get them all into a bag." Ollie couldn't even think how muggles could transport such big things. They could pop everything it is place in the work bag and get things back. But it was always good to have a second set of hands.

"We might have to do a bit of shifting around depending on the size of the order."

"The bag of magical holding," Fauna nodded, following Ollie into the back room. She'd learned that nerdy term from her stepbrother, who played D&D at her mum's house every Friday with his friends.

Ollie might never be a morning person, but she'd grown up over the years too, organizing and managing her job with ease. The crates folded flat when they weren't in use, and Fauna helped her stack the crates into the bag. Before tying off the bag, she peeked inside the black expanse of fabric, which tunneled down like a rabbit hole. She blinked, shaking her head. Her nose itched. She turned her head away and sneezed.

She turned back to Ollie with a sheepish smile.

"I'm thinking that this bag has been used for this purpose before," Fauna plucked a feather out that had drifted into her hair.

Glancing at Ollie, Fauna slung the bag over her shoulder. It felt light, like carrying a bundle of balloons.

"Where are we going?"

Which creatures were on her inventory list, she wondered.

Having Fauna around to help get the crates into the bag was definitely appreciated. Had it just been her it would have taken a lot longer. There were only so many employees at a time. Fauna was an extra set of hands that she appreciated and given it was her first time doing this having someone that was an auror trainee would be nice.

"Oh, it has definitely be used for that purpose." Ollie chuckled and she smiled as she watched Fauna pluck a feather from her hair. "I should make note we should probably clean it out sometime soon." Though she didn't want to be the one to suggest it so she was stuck with the task.

Ollie picked up her back and put the inventory in place and looked to Fauna with a smile. "There is a portkey set up that will take us to our location. I think it is some sort field or something, private from muggle eyes but big enough to present the many animals. I don't think we are the only people they deliver to." Ollie just saying it was pleased to have company once again, it did sound a bit odd but then again it wasn't like they could go down to the docks with all the boats and muggles and offload magical creatures to a bunch of witches and wizards.

Fauna checked her red coat, her clothes, her hair. She tucked her red hat into one of her many pockets. Portkey-ready!

"Ready," she smiled, happy to follow Ollie's lead.

It was nice to be out for the day and only marginally aware of her job, her duties, all the things that could go wrong. She was just here to help and catch up with an old friend.

She followed Ollie into the back storage room, where Ollie's boss had left the portkey on a table with a minor shield spell around it. The portkey was an old bristle brush, for horses and thestrals. It looked worse for wear.

Fauna dispelled the shield around it, and met Ollie's eyes.

3...

2...

1...

They reached for the portkey at the same time.

Her stomach lurched, and they were pulled into thin air, tumbling and spinning in a kaleidoscope of colors and noise and light.

She landed, and instinctively curled in, softening her fall. Long grasses and weeds flattened beneath her. Fauna lay there, crossing an arm over her stomach, and waiting for her nausea to settle and her heart to calm. She hated portkeys! She just remembered how much she hated portkeys. Apparition was better, more precise, and though she often felt nauseous at least she landed on her feet.

Fauna groaned and sat up, dusting off her jeans.

"Ollie?"

When she stood, she found the bag of crates. She shook her head, a bit dizzy. Birds chirped in the trees rustling nearby, and critters scurried in the underbrush.

"Er, Ollie?" Fauna kept her tone light, as she extended a hand to help her up. The field was vast, and empty.

"Does this place look right to you?"

Maybe Ollie's boss had given her directions from here. Maybe the magical creatures were just over that hill, or just beyond the grove of trees.

Boy did she hate port keys. That was all she could really think as she was being pulled through. She understood the benefit of doing port keys for this because who wants to screw up apparating and honestly she wasn't so great at it. But as she landed rather ungracefully to the ground she really wished she didn't have to do that.

She groaned herself as she sat up and slowly started to dust herself off. She was looking around herself as Fauna asked if they were in the right spot. Huh, they had to be there was no other possibility. She stood up and looked around the clearing and furrowed her brow. This was supposed to be where they were to meet. Were they early? Had they cancelled?

"This is where we were told to go," she looked back to her friend. It made her very happy she had asked Fauna to come. "This was where the port key was set up to take us." Olivia was a little nervous because this didn't seem right. "It doesn't seem right, does it?"

"Well," Fauna thought out loud, hearing the nervousness in Ollie's voice. "Someone might have moved the portkey accidentally."

A muggle or wix or one of the menagerie creatures, even. The most likely explanation was a simple one.

"If we walk around a bit, it could be a short walk away," she nodded, trying to sound positive. It all depended on the direction they went.

"Did your boss say where the field is located? Um, if it's near a town?"

If there was something fishy going on, or if they got lost, they'd be able to apparate safely as long as they figured out their current location. Fauna wanted that option, at least.

Olivia was definitely relieved to have Fauna here. Her level head was what was needed to keep Olivia come at this moment. "Yeah, that's a good idea let's see what is around." Olivia let out a heavy sigh. This was not how she wanted her first field pick-up to go.

"The field is located outside Devonshire area I am pretty sure." Olivia said, hoping she had got that right. He hadn't given her a lot of direction, just use the port key as set up, meet the transports and come back. Apparently, it was not as going to plan as easily as she had thought. At least she had Fauna to apparate them back if needed, Olivia had never been great at it.

"Maybe they cancelled and didn't say or are late themselves?" Olivia said trying to sound hopeful.

Back in school, Fauna might have gotten upset and flustered about something unexpected like this, and Ollie would have helped her out. They were more on the same page now. This wasn't one of their Hogwarts adventures, but they could pretend like it was.

Outside Devonshire! That was lucky. Fauna breathed easier, having a sense of where they were.

She smiled teasingly, "If they don't show, we can always apparate near my mum's house and stop in for a cup of tea."

Catherine Blake adored Ollie and would be thrilled to see her. The house was much more crowded than Ollie would remember, and Fauna looked forward to telling her why.

"Mmhm," Fauna agreed. Any number of things could have happened. She glanced at the hill nearby as she checked her pockets. Might as well take a look from higher ground.

Wand, keys, pocket watch, mobile, red hat. Fauna donned her red hat, stuck her hands in her pockets again, and froze.

Uh oh. Oh no.

She wiggled her fingers in her pockets. She then checked the two smaller front pockets. Empty.

Nooooo.

"Shite," Fauna muttered, turning in a circle to peer at the ground. "Er, just a second, I think I lost something."

The grasses were long. Fauna drew her wand, considering an Accio.

"It's a necklace. Um, a round pendant with a red ribbon strung through it."

She glanced at Ollie sheepishly. It wasn't valuable... it wasn't sentimental... it wasn't even hers.

It felt like hers. A noisy, nosy raven had gifted the silver pendant to her in December while she'd been out with Fig.[1] She'd carried it with her from coat to coat, pocket to pocket, ever since.

1.

The gift

That was calming. Olivia knew that they would figure there way out. This was not nefarious. It was maybe just a miss communication and this wasn't the worst thing in the world.

"That would be nice," she perked up with a smile. She would love to see Catherine, it had been a while obviously. Olivia would cherish the moment even if she was supposed to be working. Though she was sure if she told her boss what happened they would understand. Besides, perhaps it was there fault they were here.

Olivia was looking around, but then she heard the concern from Fauna and she spun around. Lost something, oh that wasn't good in this tall grass. "Oh dear." She said as she started looking through the grass.

"Is it important?" Olivia asked as she started to look for the described item. Hopefully, they could find it. "I'm sure we'll find it." Unless it fell out while they were moving through the port key.

"Yeah, it's important," Fauna answered distractedly, glad in the back of her mind that Ollie was being so patient. She couldn't explain why it was important, not even to herself, but if they didn't find the pendant soon, they'd have to move on to look for the meeting place and make sure they didn't miss the shipment of animals. She'd have to come back to this field sometime, if she could even pinpoint where the field was. Would she come back, just for the pendant?

The thought struck her as odd.

She drew her wand, about to try Accio-ing it, when she spotted a glint of silver in the grass.

Fauna bent to pick it up.

"Found it!"

She stood quickly, a relieved smile flickering over her face. Fauna wiped the pendant on the fabric of her jacket and held it out to show Ollie, the red thread loose around her fingers.

The silver pendant had a rose etched in the middle. Simple. Not valuable. Fauna, remembering Ollie's silver allergy, carefully cradled the pendant in the middle of her palm as she held out her hand.

"Sorry. Er, thank you for being patient," Fauna said sheepishly. "It's not even really mine. A raven brought it to me back in December. Her name is Trouble, and she collects shiny things."

No, it didn't sound much better said aloud! The corners of her mouth twitched. Trouble was Fig's friend first, and he had named her. Trouble did show up at the strangest times, in the strangest of places, and brought her a few of the strangest things, but what could she do?