The trip to Diagon Alley had taken a few hours. First, she'd had to convince her mum that she'd needed to go out and buy a few school supplies, and they'd gotten into an argument over why she couldn't have ordered them via owl, and then that had turned into an argument over money. So after the long bus ride, and then the floo, she was finally here, bypassing the various stalls full of silver pendants, silver switchblades, silver powder.

Fauna gritted her teeth and shook her head, walking around the disorganized queue of shoppers.

"Prepare for tomorrow's full moon! A few sickles towards silver could save your life!"

Everywhere she looked, the stores were capitalizing on people's fear. Some had practical solutions, like ways to safeguard wizarding homes. Other solutions bordered on the ridiculous, and she felt as grumpy as Bagnold trying to navigate around it.

It got more crowded as she traveled to the cheaper part of Diagon, and Fauna threw a grateful glance at the familiar peeling sign above the Fayette's Divination shop, stepping inside and hearing the jingle of bells that announced her presence.

She'd been in here a few times before, mostly for her Divination class, which she'd dropped this year to make room for private Potions and Transfiguration tutoring. It looked the same as she remembered it: crowded shelves, towers of books and boxes, and sharp, jutting table edges that one had to have very slim hips to avoid. The air smelled stuffy with incense. Fauna coughed a few times, walking past a display of crystal balls and ducking her head under hanging talismans.

"Dion?" Fauna called out, peering over the maze of obstacles and then bumping her hip against a table edge. Ow.

She found him doing inventory by one of the shelves. There might have been a few other people in the shop, but it was much quieter than it was outside.

"Hey," she smiled tiredly at him. "I got your owl. How's your holiday been?"

The shop's business was dropping off a bit; it had been busy in the morning, but now only a few older ladies were there, quietly shifting through the shelves. Dion stood in the aisle that held their crystals, sorting the things by color.

Fauna's voice preceded her arrival, and he put the last crystal on the shelf.

"Hallo, Fauna," he said, greeting the girl with a quick smile. "Disgusting, isn't it?" He gestured towards the door. "I'm not sure what annoys me more about all that; the people capitalizing off the fear, the idiots rushing to buy their lies, or the fact they've been doing it since 5am. Woke me up."

He picked up the box of crystals, drawing his wand and putting it to his throat. "The shop will be closing temporarily in five minutes," he said, his voice amplified to carry through the small space. Then he headed back to the counter, putting the box on it and casually vaulting over the counter.

"Sorry for the fuss," he said, as he drew keys from his apron and unlocked the stocking drawers. "My holiday's been about what you'd expect - non existent. Mum took the day off - she's been nagging me non-stop. How has yours been?"

Woke him up. Fauna cracked a smile and nodded. She followed him towards the counter and looked amused when he vaulted over it.

"Same. Fighting with my mum while I'm home," she shrugged, though it bothered her more than she let on. "Running around Scotland and England otherwise." She'd had fun yesterday though, visiting Akiva and baking lopsided muffins.

One of the older ladies in the shop gave her a sour look and started whispering to her friend, glancing her up and down. Fauna stared at them. Apparently her hat was extra offensive today. They walked out, she finally understood what the problem was, and her face flushed.

Deflect! Deflect!

Fauna turned to Dion and smiled, "Did Dax leave you here all alone to fend off the blue-haired ladies? Um, that apron only draws them in, you know."

If he was closing the shop, he must have something serious to talk about, and his note had been vague.  Count on Fauna to make things more awkward.

"Dax is still at the school. He and Mum don't get along, so.." Much like her, he shrugged to hide the fact that bothered him. "And the old bints come in here regardless. Mum'll have to find some other ways to get summer business though, Dax used to draw younger girls in. Anyway," his tone switching the conversation quickly.

With the shop empty, he locked the door, flicking his wand to turn the open sign to 'closed'.

"Tea?" He suggested, taking off his apron and nodding to the thin stairway that led to the floor above. "The house isn't much, but it's better than trying to talk down here. And you can actually breathe up there."

Without really waiting on her answer, he vaulted back over the counter and headed for the stairs. "Waned to talk to you about SAWs, to tell you the truth," he admitted.

Dion didn't seem in the mood to joke around (not that Fauna's jokes were all that great). She gave him a slightly concerned look, listening to him talk about how Dax had stayed at Hogwarts, and was grateful for a moment that things between her and her mum weren't that bad.

"Sure," she accepted his offer of tea, going up the rickety stairs.

As he made another leap over the counter and brought up SAWS, Fauna paused, looking back at him. She went into the living space above the shop and waited for him to appear. The place was small and cluttered, and very much what Fauna was used to in Dolton.

"Oh. Yeah... I was wondering," she glanced away, feeling uneasy. She'd been avoiding the topic of SAWS for weeks, changing the subject whenever anyone brought it up, telling club members she was still sorting things when she wasn't.

"I don't know if there's much to talk about... with that," she mumbled. Dion probably knew that if he hadn't invited her over specifically, then invited her into his home, she'd be flinging up excuses and rushing out of there right quick.

The unease in her voice was evident. He'd expected that, though he'd hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Dion slipped past her and headed to the small kitchenette at the far end of the room, gesturing for her to sit at the dining table. He's spent the month or so since the 11th trying to figure things out in his head, on his own; Ruby and Sophie's distress hadn't helped, of course, and neither had homework. But he had a general idea of what could be done, as far as he could guess.

"Mm, I think there's plenty to talk about, honestly," he said, as he got the self-heating kettle going. He fussed about getting the tea mixes out for a moment, pondering his next move.

Well, testing her would likely be best. Even if it mean being a bit unpleasant.

"Do you want to keep going with SAWs, Fauna?" he asked, levelly.

Fantastic. Right to the point. Fauna ran a hand through her hair and frowned at his back as he prepared tea in the little kitchen area. There was plenty to talk about? Now she was irritated. His cryptic letter had caused her to face her mum's wrath and rush over here, which she did not appreciate. Couldn't he have cornered her at school, or waited until the Holiday was over? Hell, they shared a common room.

She sat, glancing at the door, then at the window. Possible exits.

"I don't know," she replied moodily, crossing her arms.

"I mean..." she shook her head. "What am I supposed to do? It's just..."

Fauna shot him a resentful, yet guilty glance. "I'm trying to figure things out."

He sighed. "You don't know?" He asked, walking to the table and sitting down. He knew she was likely to be moody over this; that was fine. Moody, he could handle.

"I don't think there's anything you're supposed to do," he said, tone aggressively reasonable. He ran a hand through the front of his fauxhawk, frowning. "The question is, what do you want to do?"

He intertwined his fingers in front of his mouth, looking at her over the top of them. "Running away from it won't fix things, Fauna. Especially since the others want to know what we're planning to do. I'm not here to tell you you need to go back into it full brunt; right now, that'd be a bad idea. But..." He chewed his lip a moment. "Look, after the 11th...some of the less concrete people are leaving, and they think...some of them think you might have switched sides on us."

"Switched sides?" Fauna repeated. "It's a club, Dion! Not..." She gestured, too flustered to finish that statement.

But she understood exactly what he meant, even if he did sound a bit melodramatic. Fauna rested her chin in her hands, looking away from him.

"I haven't switched sides," she muttered into her hands. A part of her wanted to forget about SAWS, focus on her NEWTS, and finish the school year like a normal student. The other part of her felt guilty about just abandoning it. They'd worked so hard, tried to do so much. Fauna didn't know what she wanted, or how she'd feel later down the line, so she was trying to delay making any hasty decisions, but by avoiding and delaying, many had (rightfully) assumed she'd given up.

"It's not about what I want," she glanced at him. "I mean... tomorrow, I have to go back to the Ministry." Fauna wasn't sure if he knew this. "And just thinking about that, I feel..."

Terrified. She bit her lip, expression miserable.

"I see. I'm sorry, Fauna," he said, and he meant it. He stood up to get the kettle.

"Look, I'm not going to preach at you about upholding the cause," he said as he poured out the tea. "We're young, and causing a disruption right now, well..." He sighed again. "Honestly, the best thing right now is for SAWs to keep our heads down til this hysteria blows over. Acting rashly now would be as foolish as those nutjobs outside selling silver toilet seat covers so the 'wolves can't come in through the pipes."

Putting a cup on tea in front of her, he sat down heavily. "Making a big fuss right now, well. It'd do no one any good, and could nix our chances at getting hired after school," he said. "Which makes me sound like the academically focussed asshole I am, but, well."

He blew his breath out through his lips, making a 'fffbh" sound. "I'm all for fighting the good fight, but I've always felt that change from within is the best way. And to do that, we have to be able to actually get in."

Fauna stared at him, face falling when he stood up, interpreting his 'I see' as disappointment. She opened her mouth, but he went on, explaining that they shouldn't act rashly now anyway. It could put their futures into jeopardy. Fauna had never been as career-oriented as Dion, but all she could think about lately was graduating.

Looking very confused, she accepted the tea and wrapped her fingers around the cup, letting it rest on the table in front of her.

One second, Dion was talking about SAWS like she should tough it out and let people know where she stood, and the next, he was talking about careers, and now, he was talking about... infiltrating? Fauna just couldn't follow.

"What do you mean?" Fauna looked frustrated.

"Are you saying I should... make a habit out of getting myself thrown into a werewolf cell?" She said dryly. "Or sign up for the WCU and hand out bacon-flavored lollipops to the Weres they capture? That'll go over well."

Dion rolled his eyes. "I'm saying that SAWs's goals can wait," he said. "Most of us 7th years are goin' into the Ministry, right? I'm saying that we've a better chance of making change if we're employees of the Ministry with friends on the outside, not just some crazy group of nutjob students."

He sipped from his tea, mismatched eyes locked on her for a moment. "If you like being in the cells that much, I'm not going to judge you. We've all got our eccentricities, like Dax's fixation with butter. Or Toko and...whatever the hell it is he gets up to." His tone turned bitter at the mention of the other boy, the sarcastic overtones fading.

"I'm sorry to put you on the spot, Fauna," he added. "I figured it'd be easier to talk about SAWs here, rather than at the school where everyone's listening."

Fauna choked on her tea and started coughing when Dion made a comment about cells, staring at him and shaking her head as she tried not to laugh. She wasn't sure what the Dax-Toko (or butter) thing was about, but shrugged it off. He had a point. If they had jobs in the Ministry, it would be easier to affect change, though Fauna still felt that it was important for people outside of the Ministry, especially students, to have a voice. Maybe that was part of the answer. Once they graduated, she and Dion could still keep in touch with the students in the club and attempt to move things along.

He then apologized for putting her on the spot, saying it would be easier to talk here.

"I know," she sighed. "If we were in the common room, Dax would have walked in and thrown his shirt at us just to get our attention. Winnie would be talking about bases. Figaro would be coming up with a new song."

Fauna finally did laugh, giving him a look like 'see what we have to put up with'.

"And half of the other houses would be pouring in through out portrait hole. They really need to fix that thing, I think half the castle knows where to poke the pear now..." He smirked. "We didn't let a lot of the people at your party in, they got in on their own."

He reached up and grabbed the kettle, refilling his tea. She seemed in a better mood, so he pushed forward a bit. "What do you want me to tell the others?" he asked, pushing the kettle towards her. "If you want me to talk to them in your place, that is," he added. "I...don't know if Sophie and Ruby will stay. I've been avoiding the subject, with how well Ruby's coping." I.e., not well at all.

"I think - if you want to wait it out, they'll understand, most of them."

She smiled at his mention of the portrait and her party, taking the kettle and refilling her cup.

Fauna felt a little guilty that this was so hard for her. She'd been attacked, but not bitten. She would have to go to the Ministry tomorrow, but she wasn't going to transform. And she hadn't lost her mother.

"I don't blame them at all," she murmured about Ruby and Sophie. "Well, anyone, really."

She paused, understanding where his question was coming from. She didn't want to put him in that awkward position, but it seemed like it was already happening. She was in hiding, so the students had sought answers from Dion.

"I'll tell them... something." Fauna nodded, really intending to, not just putting it off this time. "I mean, I feel like I should be doing something. Maybe not now, but in a week, or a month or whatever. I just don't know what that is."