"Everyone okay here?"

"Yeah, other than stress."

Sigh.

"Good. It's a mess out there. We got most people evacuated to Hogwarts, but the castle's not set up all the way for a siege."

"...Crap, yeah."

"On the other hand, I can't imagine British wizards being good at sieges."

"That's kind of what we're banking on. At least we have a secure Floo out for Apparation."

She nods. "Point to point ones are pretty hard to crack, yeah... But the destinations can end up targets on their own."

"Grimmauld Place still has a Fidelius on it, for now."

She nods. "Thanks to some scrambling, but - it's secure at least. And last I talked to McGonagal, they'd already sealed the routes to anywhere the Death Eaters have already claimed."

"Are you and Grim going to be staying here?"

"We're not sure."

"We're most useful - and we want to be - where the bulk of activity is taking place, or where we can join the rapid response teams or help on defense."

"On the other hand, we both loathe Grimmauld Place, and stashing two convicted Death Eaters in Hogwarts might get awkward."

"We can try talking to some people, if you want."

She shrugs. "McGonagal would be fine with it, probably, it's the - " she waves her hand, "Everyone else."

"Yeah... Could get a communications mirror?"

She nods. "We can just use Elodie's, set up the other end in Fay's room... And risk Apparating from the house if we need to respond to something."

"Still won't put us in the center of the action, and I hate being idle, but - " she grimaces.

Frown.

"It's tough."

"It is."

"Maybe you guys can pick up the visits to muggleborn families? It'd be bad if that dropped off the radar entirely, and - you might be more persuasive than two teenagers. And muggles won't know about your history."

"...Possibly not Sirius, but he could come as additional protection."

"That's one thought... I'll talk to - probably McGonagal or Bones about it."

"Maybe Bones could make your pardon public for doing it."

"Could work, especially since once she's back in office there'll be so much else going on people won't have time to latch onto it."

"And people would be able to see another side of you."

She nods, slowly.

"It'd be less busywork than taking notes on the news, anyways."

Nod nod.

"It'd help people more directly, too, and - we might get pulled away from that, at least in the short term..."

Nod. "I'll follow you through when you return to Grimmauld, then."