Tuesday evening. Two days before Christmas. Some of the wizarding folk still had that bright-eyed, optimistic cheer about them as they drank cocoa, milled about the stores, and took the whining and laughter from children hyped up on sugar with good-natured smiles.

Then there were, well, the last minute shoppers. Those stressed out by the holiday deadline, tired of the crowds, and ready to punch anyone who thought 'ho ho ho' was still hilarious. Unfortunately, Fauna fell into this group. She no longer grinned at the sights and sounds of Hogsmeade, but instead tried to go about her business as unobtrusively and quickly as possible.

When the third shopping bag of the evening bowled into her legs and almost made her lose her balance (an easy feat, but still), Fauna gave the offender such a dirty look that the 'sorry' died on the woman's lips. She felt a touch guilty about it a moment later, but that faded fast as someone cut in front of her in line.

Fauna gritted her teeth, clutched the ornament in her hand, and resisted the urge to scream.

Finally, she reached the clerk manning the booth outside, paid for the gift, and moved out of the way so that the ones behind her in line could pay for their things. See! Consideration. It wasn't so hard.

That was when the back of her neck itched and she got the funny feeling that someone was watching her. Reminded all too easily of Creepy McCreepster (otherwise known as Kronos Malvivicus), she straightened and glanced around, eyes landing on a familiar face. An unwelcome familiar face. In fact, Fauna almost preferred running into Kronos.

Kitty Li was staring at her. Probably critiquing her winter outfit. Fauna sent a glare in her direction, adjusted the hat on her head, and looked away again, not in the mood to face Kitty's insults or superiority complex tonight.

(This post is flagged for one expletive.)

Kitty felt sick. She'd left St. Mungo's and waited around for Devlin around the corner in London, hiding her wand and merging with the muggle crowds. He never came. He never messaged her. Nothing. Kitty had returned to her usual lifestyle of fashion and fucking other peoples' lives up. Dev must've got his job done and had a thousand others to tend to: that's why he hadn't got in touch. Kitty maintained this notion, until she had a rare occasion around the Li dinner table, her ridiculous sister, Violet, was present. As usual, both parents asked Violet about her work in the Ministry, how her Auror training program was going, and how fabulous it was that she was changing the world. Please. Kitty didn't even bother looking interested, until Violet explained how a Hogwarts seventh year student had been kept in the Ministry cells; she wasn't on the case but knew a few details.
"Who on earth could that be? Some ruffian?" her mother asked.
"No," Violet replied. "It's Devlin Matthews."

Kitty's heart was in her throat. It had to be related to the St. Mungo's incident. It just had to be. Ever since, Kitty could think of nothing else; what was he doing in the hospital? Why hadn't he told her that her involvement was serious enough to constitute being withheld in the Ministry? If she knew the seriousness of her actions, Kitty would never have agreed to it in the first place. No matter what, Kitty was out to save her own skin. What if he cracked under the pressure? What if they tortured him until they got a name from him? What if that name was... Kitty Li? She couldn't sleep, she couldn't eat. She couldn't even shop.

Aiming to clear her head once more, Kitty took a stroll around Hogsmeade, alone. There was no way she could tell any of the girls this; they'd immediately judge her for aiding someone like Devlin, and if anybody found out, she would fall. No more queen. No more crown. Back to the bottom of the hierarchy. Everything was on the line. Kitty walked down the busy Christmas-shopper filled streets, her own daze so consuming that she hardly heard the hustle and bustle around her. She wore no makeup, her hair was straight, uncurled and hanging limply around her shoulders. There were no bows, no high-heels; just a beige trench coat and black tights. The Slytherin princess was hardly recognisable.

And then she saw the last person she wanted to see. Kitty stared, stopping dead in her tracks. Fauna Blake. Devlin's girlfriend, and one of the people Kitty's involvement had affected the most. Through her own selfishness, she'd landed Dev in jail, and what of Fauna? Kitty needed to say something. She needed to find out Devlin's fate.

Taking a few hurried steps over, Kitty elbowed a large wizard who accidentally whacked her with his truckload of shopping bags, and she merely placed a hand on Fauna's arm. Kitty's eyes were large, innocent and racked with guilt. She could've cried just being this close to Fauna.
"I need to talk to you," she finally muttered, the words a struggle just to formulate. "It's serious."

The hand on Fauna's arm jolted her from her thoughts about Kitty, only to come face to face with... Kitty. Great.

She narrowed her eyes at her. What, was she in her way? Well, she wasn't moving. Not this time. This time Kitty could take her attitude and stick it-

"I need to talk to you," she finally muttered, the words a struggle just to formulate. "It's serious."

Fauna stared back into Kitty's eyes, searching her face. She seemed troubled. Vulnerable. For a second she almost imagined the two of them had switched bodies.

Because Kitty looked horrible. Fauna was shocked at first, then smug, thinking that perhaps there was a reason the ice princess was so heavy handed with the makeup. But it wasn't just the makeup. She recognized the signs of weariness: the lack of color in her face, the circles underneath her eyes. Something was wrong.

And even Fauna noticed Kitty had done nothing with her hair and that her figure was lost in a shapeless trench coat.

What was this? Would Kitty go this far to screw with her head?

The answer came quickly: No. Kitty Li was far too vain to do this to herself willingly. There was no way.

Fauna glanced around, relieved that at least Maeve and her cronies didn't seem to be lurking anywhere. "If this is some trick just to make fun of what I'm wearing, I swear..." Fauna muttered under her breath, taking Kitty's arm and heading towards an alley off of Hogsmeade. She stopped right on the edge, close enough that she could escape if she needed to, but far enough away that they no longer stood in the direct path of the bustling crowd.

"What?" Her tone was not encouraging, but she waited, eyeing Kitty suspiciously.

"It's not, Fauna, I swear," she muttered, her voice shaky and distant. Keeping a hand rested on Fauna's elbow as the two walked to a nearby alleyway, Kitty took a deep breath. She need to know. She needed to know now. There was no scathing iciness in her voice, and no heavy-lidded fluttering of the eyelashes. This was Kitty at her most defenceless, and it was one of the first times in her life that she had truly nobody in the world to confide in. Being Queen was a title with its drawbacks, and these had become more and more apparent as Kitty ascended into womanhood.

As the two faced each other, Kitty looked away as she felt Fauna's eyes burn into her. She was lucky that Fauna was even giving her the time of day; their last conversation had involved Kitty mocking Fauna's footwear, Fauna's style, and everything about her. What Kitty deserved was a slap in the face and a good hex, and she knew it.
"Look, I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now," she finally began, the hustle and bustle of Christmas shoppers some distance on the main street.

Placing both hands in her pockets, she bit down on her bottom lip and closed her eyes momentarily, hoping that her fears won't be confirmed. She wanted things to be like it was, before she'd got involved in this hideous, all-consuming mess. This illegal mess.
"Is it true what they're saying about Devlin?" she asked, barriers of water forming on her narrow eyes. "About being held in the Ministry?"

Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

For years, Fauna had entertained fantasies that one day, all the mean, popular girls in school would understand where she was coming from. They'd run out of makeup. Or, gasp! Lose all their shoes. But the point was, something would click in their minds and they'd come up to her and apologize. Tearfully. Maybe grovel at her feet a bit.

Fauna called them 'useless daydreams' for a reason. Yet looking into Kitty's red-rimmed eyes, Fauna felt a smug sort of satisfaction and hope. Was this the part where Kitty Li would admit to being wrong, tell her she was sorry?

She nodded. Fauna didn't want to see her, not unless she had groveling to do. When Kitty's eyes filled with tears, she glanced down, uncomfortable. In her daydreams she was confident and all-knowing while bullies like Kitty and Maeve blubbered at her. This just felt weird.

"Is it true what they're saying about Devlin?" she asked, barriers of water forming on her narrow eyes. "About being held in the Ministry?"

Fauna looked up and stared at her in disbelief.

What the fecking hell! This was about Devlin?!

Face flushing, both from the mention of her boyfriend and the idea that she'd hoped, actually hoped that this was some sort of apology, Fauna glared at her and shook her head.

Her eyes widened in indignation as she realized why Kitty would care about that. "No. No," Fauna repeated, stepping forward. "You don't get to like him! I like him. So too bad," she told her, chest rising and falling more quickly as anger set in. "I like him. Just because you think you're better than me... and Merlin, Kitty, if you have a thing for him I'm not the person to run crying to!"

Fauna frowned at her, "Where have you been? Yeah, he's at the Ministry. I saw him yesterday. I don't know when or if he'll be able to go home."

If she'd been talking to a friend or confidant, or even a complete stranger, Fauna might have expanded on that, and confessed how worried she was and how alone she felt. It seemed like she was the only one, aside from Greyfriar, who cared about what happened to Devlin. She highly doubted any of his good ol' chums had visited him, and there was a part of her that still suspected he hadn't gone after trouble alone.

Fauna didn't say any of that, however. This was still Kitty in front of her, even if she looked like Moaning Myrtle's malnourished cousin. Ugh! Of course Kitty liked him. Fauna glanced away, disgusted with herself and the situation.

"No Fauna, it's not like that!" Kitty explained, her eyes frantically wide, shaking her head in confusion. "It's more serious than that, far more serious!" This wasn't the case, and Kitty could've died when Fauna thought it was something as trivial and pathetic as playground sweethearts. And besides, Devlin? Kitty couldn't believe what she was hearing, her hands on her face in frustration.

Then Fauna answered. And it was everything that Kitty didn't want. Falling back against the wall, she sunk to the floor, hands in her face as tears began to stream out of her vulnerable and guilty eyes. He could be in there for life. Tortured probably by some corrupt Auror. And she'd helped in this - no, she'd guaranteed this with her involvement. Devlin! Why didn't you just say how serious this was?!

"It's my fault," Kitty sobbed uncontrollably, grey tears bouncing down her soft, round cheeks. "I can't believe he didn't tell me how dangerous this all was. He should've said, Fauna, and I would never have got involved, I wouldn't, I just wouldn't!" The waterworks, unlike her fine act in St. Mungo's, were genuine, and Kitty   wept, thoughts flooding to her mind as swiftly as the tears the fell from her eyes. What if was sent down forever? What was he doing in there? Would she be dragged into the Ministry when he cracked under the pressure?

Her grandfather would disown her. It'd be Kitty's fall from grace.

Fauna's assumptions had been dead wrong. She was still struggling to wrap her mind around Kitty's insistence that she didn't have feelings for Devlin, and that this was more serious than that.

She stared at her in suspicion and frank confusion as Kitty sank to the ground, weeping. Fauna glanced nervously out of the alley, wondering how long it would take before someone noticed and scolded her for doing something to cause Kitty's distress. She hadn't even raised her wand! Or her voice! Good Merlin, Kitty must be faking the tears for some reason. If not Devlin, then what?

Then came Kitty's confession: "I can't believe he didn't tell me how dangerous this all was. He should've said, Fauna, and I would never have got involved, I wouldn't, I just wouldn't!"

Fauna finally connected the dots. Devlin. Plus Kitty. At St. Mungo's.

Her eyes widened. Fauna had thought one of Devlin's male friends had influenced him. If Kitty was telling the truth, they'd gotten involved in something big and dangerous together, and Devlin was protecting Kitty Li. Not one of the boys.

On top of that, both Fauna and Kitty knew that Devlin had taken all the blame. Fauna pushed the irrational sense of jealousy out of her head for the moment and focused on this: Devlin was stuck in a holding cell while Kitty was safe and sound out here. Here, wailing about it!

After a long pause, she knelt in front of Kitty but didn't offer any comfort or reassurance.

"Kitty," she said evenly, looking her in the eye. "How, exactly, were you involved?"

A part of Fauna wanted to burst into tears alongside her. Or scream at her. But that wouldn't offer any answers. "And why," she continued angrily, in a low voice. "Why aren't you in a holding cell with him?"

She needed to know. She needed to know before Kitty could twist this around and make her feel sorry for her. Merlin, she'd give her a reason to cry!

Kitty burrowed her face into her arms, knees up and the rest of her face shielded by long, jet-black hair. Fauna, surprisingly, was the only available confidante right now. Her mother would've gone insane, her father would've shipped her off to Korea to face her Grandfather. And Kitty didn't even want to know how the great patriarch would punish the Li daughter that brought shame upon their clan. She just wanted to disappear. Now.

As Fauna knelt in front of her, she lacked warmth and comfort, and who could blame her? It was only a few weeks ago that Kitty's venom-tipped tongue had reduced the poor girl to tears - in fact, Kitty and the girls had gone out of their way to make people like Fauna miserable. How the tables had turned, and how Kitty was paying for it.

Kitty clenched her teeth, halting the streams of guilt. Looking up, she could barely make eye contact with Fauna. It was as if her very gaze would burn a hole straight through Kitty's vicious little face.
"He asked for a favour, and I obliged," she finally managed to speak after minutes of irrational and uncontrollable weeping. The silence between them that followed was horrifically tense. "We needed an alliance. He wanted a girl, somebody unconvincing, somebody that wouldn't run with that sort of crowd." Even when extremely emotional, that elitist streak would rear its ugly head.

"I needed a source of intimidation. With Devlin on my side, nobody would dare try challenge my leadership. It was a win-win situation." Kitty shook her head, closing her eyes. It was getting harder with every breath. "He asked me to take him into St. Mungo's in my purse, to kick up a fuss about a scratch so he could get into the locker room. I just thought it was some mindless prank, I didn't even think it would be illegal. The orderly took my bag, and then I played my part - getting to a nurse and getting patched up."

Kitty recalled standing around St. Mungo's afterwards, smoking a cigarette and gazing around every five minutes. She recalled how he never turned up, and how she'd trotted off home not evening thinking that anything could've gone wrong.
"And then my sister said he'd been put inside, and I haven't got a clue why. I don't understand what he could have been doing in there," she almost whispered, her eyes staring into Fauna's as if searching for some sort of answer. "I can't go to the Ministry, Fauna. You don't realise what could happen."

A favor. He'd asked Kitty because she didn't run with his crowd and could act innocent, Fauna thought.

He hadn't asked Fauna, his girlfriend, for help. Though Fauna knew (or hoped) she would have said no, and realized that he probably hadn't wanted to get her into trouble, it still hurt. She could have done something, convinced him not to do it. Kitty had her own reasons for agreeing, it seemed.

To hide the emotion welling up in her, Fauna broke eye contact and sat down next to her on the cold, wet ground. She gave her a funny look when Kitty mentioned something about her purse, and a scratch. Fauna thought there must be some mistake, but Kitty mentioned the bag again, clearly indicating that was how Devlin had made it further into St. Mungo's.

"Wait a minute," Fauna shook her head, ignoring Kitty telling her that she couldn't go to the Ministry, and that she didn't know what Devlin had been up to. That made two of them.

"Your... purse," she said, looking befuddled. It was probably the one and only time Fauna had ever brought up a fashion item in Kitty's presence. "He was in your purse, so he could get into the locker room. That's pretty advanced Transfiguration," Fauna frowned. Turning a flower into a feather was one thing. Turning a human into something tiny enough to put inside a purse was another.

The orderly had taken her bag while she'd gotten patched up, so she wouldn't have been able to cast a spell on him to turn him back. Another awkward, heavy pause settled around them.

"What did he transform into?" Fauna looked at her, a resigned weariness in her expression. Her stomach sank. She didn't want to know. Yet she had to know.

"I just don't get what he was doing in there," she muttered through swollen, puffy lips and reddened tearful eyes. "Maybe some petty theft or a vicious prank, but not something to constitute being arrested, surely?" Kitty thought out loud, steadying her own nerves. If she were to join Devlin inside the holding cells of the Ministry, she could honestly state that she didn't know what he was doing; she was just doing him a favour. Smuggling a rat in your purse was hardly a crime worthy of Azkaban.

Was it?

Fauna slumped down next to the anxiously unnerved Kitty, and the two girls gazed at the wall opposite, both a contrast in emotions. Kitty could only feel guilt for Devlin and fear for herself. There was a dash of curiosity involved, but underneath it all, Kitty wasn't so sure she wanted to know what he was doing in the locker room.

"Trasnfiguration?" Kitty said, her voice confused with a raised eyebrow. "I don't study Transfiguration." There was a moment of silence as the two girls attempted to piece together this puzzle Devlin had left for them. Each seemed to be lost in translation, until Kitty frowned in thought, turning to Fauna once more.
"He's an Animagus, Fauna. That's how he got into my purse." Surely, he'd told her? It was his girlfriend. She had the right to know her boyfriend was an unregistered Animagus (or at least that's what Kitty assumed was the situation).

"He can turn into a rat, at will," Kitty explained, pitching her knees up further and hugging onto them in the cold. The tears still ran down her face, pondering over her comrade's fate. "That's how he managed to fit inside."

Fauna was silent for a long moment. She sat next to Kitty numbly, staring off into space. Devlin. A rat animagus. She wanted to shout at her, tell her she was lying, that this was one of her stupid tricks and Fauna wasn't going to fall for it this time.

And yet... it made sense. Merlin, the egg project! She'd even suspected that one of the nasty fifth-years had taken the time to train the creature and set it loose on the egg, but no, it had been Devlin acting alone. The jealousy and rivalry between Chance and Devlin had existed even then.

The same rat had been in her room last year. Late April. He'd been there that one time she and Ollie had kissed. Had she made him jealous then too? It had happened so long ago she barely felt embarrassed about it. What was his motivation, pretending to be something else? Could she flatter herself and think he'd just wanted to get to know her?

Because it had to be that rat. The one who randomly appeared whenever she seemed to need a friend and couldn't talk to anyone. The one that looked well fed, like someone's pet, but she'd never seen it with anyone else but her. Her pet Bernie, who was normally so playful with the others, had given that rat space. Ignored it as if they were different from each other.

Though it shocked her, she didn't feel angry at him. They'd only been dating since the beginning of the month, so he didn't have to tell her everything. She hated that Kitty had known before her, but at least she was aware now.

Fauna rested her head on her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. A seventh-year animagus. She'd known he was smart, but she'd never expected him to pull this off. And why, she wondered, why. Keeping it secret from the  Ministry was a major offense. He had to know that. There had to be some reason, beyond spying on girls, that he had chosen to do this.

She lifted her head up and looked at Kitty. "I didn't know," she said bleakly. "I didn't know he was an animagus."

A few moments ago, Fauna had wanted to order her to the Ministry, to prove that Devlin shouldn't take all the blame.

"You can't tell anyone else," she said suddenly, shifting her body to face her a little more. "Not your friends, not your parents, not the Ministry. You can't. If they find out he's unregistered..."

A horrified voice screamed at her in her head, telling her she was going too far. Not only did Fauna know the truth, but she was hiding it. Asking Kitty to do the same.

"It shouldn't be too hard, you know," she remarked, a bite to her voice. "Looking out for yourself is what you do best."

She'd never spoken to anyone like this before. It felt foreign to her, wrong. There were days where Fauna had imagined putting Kitty in her place, making her feel as bad as Kitty made her feel. She thought insulting her would be this final step to feeling liberated, happy.

But Kitty was already down. Tears trickled down her face and she had none of her defenses up. Literally- no makeup, no fancy clothes. Fauna stood up, feeling sick inside. She glanced out towards the crowd and didn't bother offering her a hand up.

"Nobody will ever find out," Kitty replied, taking a moment to compose herself. Dabbing her eyelids on the backs of her sleeves, the tiny Slytherin princess took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling. "Ever." Getting to her feet, Kitty brushed a hand through her limp and uncharacteristically dull hair. It was time for composure, to forget that this whole thing had ever happened. This conversation with Kitty, it never happened. The tears, they never happened. And Devlin? Kitty bit her bottom lip; life dealt its losers, and fate had dealt Jack Spade his final hand. She was lucky to get out alive. Somehow, she'd contact him.

"Looking out for yourself is what you do best." Kitty turned to Fauna, the emotion draining out of her eyes in mere seconds. Taking a step forward, her nose inches from Fauna's, Kitty took on that usual sneer, a pretty little face covered in all sorts of vileness and hatred.
"If I were ever implicated in some sort of crime, Fauna," she began, her words a hushed snarl. "Then do you realise the consequences? I would no longer be part of the Li family, and Devlin's life would not be worth living either. Before you provide me with a half-hearted, pathetic attempt at an insult on my character, you'd do well to remember that you do not know a thing about my life, the people who control it and my actions as a result."

She noticed how Fauna had given her the cold shoulder, and Kitty knew that she deserved it. Wiping her eyes for a final time, she took a few steps out of the alleyway, her usual strut back intact. The woman who gained was the woman who faced the world. Underneath the damp alleyway, Kitty turned on her heel, as if remembering something.
"Tell Devlin that Heart will get in touch with him soon," she quietly murmured, loud enough for Fauna to hear but quiet enough to remain ambiguous. "And consider this a ceasefire. Keep out of my way, and I'll keep out of yours."

In seconds, Kitty had reverted back to her spiteful self, walking out into the Christmas crowds of Hogsmeade. Her face, however, was still empty. The shoppers that surrounded her wore smile of Yuletide cheer, excitement and celebration; Kitty seemed to float through them, her eyes empty and listless. It was time to go home.