"So what did you want to talk about? You've been acting- strange."

Privacy wards, first. As many as she can cast. 

"About Dumbledore's death and - some things I learned from him."

"Oh?"

"...After he was injured he handed off everything to me, in case he didn't make it."

"One of the things I learned - led to me killing him."

Hug?

Hug.

"I - "

"He wasn't even planning on anything yet, but - "

"He thought it seemed likely that Voldemort - made you into a horcrux, the night your mother died. He was - very sure there was no way to remove it without killing you."

Tight hug.

Small distressed noise.

Such tight hugs. "We still need to confirm, but - I'll find a way to remove it safely, I promise."

"I'd rather leave him alive and just let him have this continent than hurt you."

"Don't want him to win."

She pets Ellie's hair and kisses her forehead. "We'll find a way."

"Yeah." Weak laugh. "We're good at that."

"We are."

"The Deathly Hallows might be a lead - I've got the Elder Wand now - and I can sound out my contacts about possible solutions."

"What my mother said..."

"That you need to die and not stay dead, and - it sounded like she felt the Hallows would help."

Nod.

Pet. "We'll figure out how to transfer the wand to you, then."

"'M not gonna kill you for it."

More hair pets. "It accepts non-lethal defeat, too."

"We'll do that, then."

Snuggle.

"We can set up a spar."

"And - it's up to you what and how much we tell the others."

"Let's- let's not tell them."

"Alright. I won't."

" - Even Anathema?"

"I don't want her to worry about it."

She nods.

"Is it alright if I ask Bellatrix about the wand? She won't mind or ask why I killed Dumbledore, and - we already decided in the summer to try to get you all three Hallows."

"I think so, yeah. Just- don't mention me. Other than how you have been."

"I won't."

"Ellie, if - this makes you worry, if it's hard to resolve this with no side effects - it'll be cruel to surprise Anathema with that. She'll know if you're feeling stressed. She deserves to be able to stand with you."

"I know, but-"

"I can't tell her. Not yet."

"I understand."

Hugs.

So many hugs.

Ellie takes some time to compose herself.

"Okay. Guess we should get to work, then."

"Let's."

"There's more to do than just this, too - last war Voldemort targetted pre-Hogwarts students, and McGonagal's agreed with me that no matter what the Ministry says, bringing in any muggleborn and their family is worthwhile. We're altering the wards so muggles can stay here, but - "

"I'd like you and Anathema to learn to Apparate as soon as possible, and, if you're willing, to help bring people here."

"We're definitely on board with that."

"Alright."

Off to find Anathema, then?

Yep.

And a hug, when she sees her.

Hug!

"Everything alright? What did Fay want to talk about - ?"

"Just some- stuff Dumbledore said before he died. I'll tell you later."

"Fay wants us to learn to Apparate, so we can help with bringing muggleborns and their families to Hogwarts."

Serious nod. "Yeah. We're almost done with NEWTs, so - let's."

"Knew you'd say that."

Small kiss. "Learn magic, help people, spite Voldemort... A good combination."

"Perfect for us."

"Yeah." Another kiss. "The hardest part will probably be convincing the families..."

"You're getting good at talking to people."

"Yeah... I think we need to present it as something exciting and desirable too, not just - there's a scary threat, you need to run, my words are your only proof?"

"Hogwarts is a fun place to stay at."

"It's an ancient castle! That's magic!"

"And there's a lake and gardens and really good food."

"A free vacation... Though if anyone's missing work we'll have to account for that..."

"That'll probably be the biggest objection, actually, since we don't know how long they'll have to stay."

"Yeah... And wizard cost of living's super low, so while Hogwarts has a massive endowment to us, I dunno it goes far enough in the muggle world to cover Hogwarts' usual costs plus everyone's lost salaries... And even if we just pay people to stay here, that won't cover like job advancement or resumes or anything... And it's illegal to hire muggles, though the Headmistress might just ignore that, but - I dunno what we'd hire them for."

"Have you come up with ideas?" she turns and asks of Fay.

"Some... But not many. It's a difficult problem to solve in the first place."

"Still, we returned Gryffindor's sword to the goblins and have been getting enough good will from them that they might be willing to give us a generous loan or otherwise help on the financial side - it's an open secret they ignore the laws against employing muggles, and they have several points of contact..."

"We also can hire muggles for some things - I've been talking to McGonagal, and quite frankly we'd like to update Hogwarts' defenses in case Voldemort successfully forces a siege. Any metal workers, chemists, engineers, or weapons specialists could help with that. We want to find out why Hogwarts interferes with electronics and undo that - most anyone with scientific training could help there. We'd like more teachers, especially since it's likely our more experienced professors will get drawn into the war, and we're expanding classes over the summer and to younger students now. We need child minders."

"We could use medical professionals, too - St. Mungo's is already frequently at capacity, and we're arranging to set up overflow medical care here as soon as we can do so safely. We don't have enough trained healers, and muggle medicine has techniques and knowledge we don't."

"We need legal specialists, political specialists - anyone who could plausibly help us prepare for any fall out if this war reveals magic to the muggle world. That nearly happened with the war against Grindelwald. We weren't prepared then. We aren't prepared now."

"We need people with experience as organizers or managers to help with all this. People with financial experience. We could also use gardeners, farmers, and landscapers - magical plants can be safely handled by muggles given some basic safety training, and we're trying to increase the output of the greenhouses."

"Just about everything, really, and we can train people into a lot of miscellaneous positions. The main problems are paying for it and convincing people we're legitimate."

"Right. At least we've got some options to try out."

She nods. "And even if someone won't move... We can hopefully talk them into letting us put up alarm wards so we can respond to attacks."

"Hopefully in time to matter."

"Hopefully - we've set up rapid response teams already, but..."

"He works quickly."

"And he'll work faster once we start interfering regularly."

"Mm."

"We'll do as much as we can, though."

"Yeah."

Hug?

Hug'd be good.

Anathema too.

Three way hugs are the best.

All the snugs.

"We can work on Apparating today, at least, even if everything else will take more time."

Nod nod.

"Where do we start?"

They need to get out past Hogwarts' wards, first - she gives the initial safety lecture on the way over, then they can start feeling out the space around them, start noticing details that are important for Apparition, without actually casting the spell - Fay lets them read her mind if they feel comfortable with that to get what it actually feels like from her...

It's actually usually a pretty quick thing to learn, once you have a general background in magic.

Not as tricky as the Animagus.

Certainly not, and often similarly done between wizards - making sharing experiences over legilimency a good way to speed things up and increase safety.

Assuming, of course, you're any good at legilimency.

Well, fortunately Fay's teaching Ellie and Anathema today...

And Fay is naturally the best at everything. Except for being a dragon.

Ellie is the most excellent dragon, it's true. 

Hee.

And Fay's pretty good at teaching. Ellie thinks she's ready to try soon.

Anathema too!

Fay smiles.

They should try one at a time, at first. The safest beginner's method is to stand where they want to Apparate toward, back up a good bit - keeping their target in their line of sight - and then just Apparate forward to where they started.

Destination, determination... deliberation!

She succeeds with a loud crack, appearing (a bit dizzyingly so) precisely at her target. 

Fay laughs, clapping. "Well done!"

She catches her balance, turns and grins back at Fay and Anathema.

Anathema laughs. "Me next!"

"Alright."

Anathema's just as successful as Ellie, and she even resists bouncing until after she's Apparated for the first time.

Applause!

Delighted bouncy hug. 

"We did it!"

"We did!!!"

Fay grins at them. "Notably well and quickly, too."

"Now it's mostly a matter of practicing and stretching yourself - you'll want the basics to become second nature before you use this in any stressful situation, so you're less likely to splinch yourself. Occlumantic exercises help there as well, of course."

"Seems like they help with just about everything."

"They do. It's a pity we don't teach Occlumency as its own class, honestly - at least in first year."

"I think the average first year would struggle with it a little more than we did."

Considering nod. "Most eleven year olds - and even small children - can learn meditation and visualization, though, which is the most important part of it for daily use."

"Could swap it in for Orientation in the second half of first year."

"Or take up the empty slot from Flying being only one semester."

"Think the people who'd have the most trouble with it would also complain the most if it replaced Flying."

She laughs. "Technically it'd be replacing a free block... But I suspect students would complain about that, too."

"Of course they would. Not everyone has our boundless thirst for knowledge."

"A great pity for the scientific community."

"I think we make up for it in quality, though."

"Very much so."

She Apparates back over to Fay to hug her.

She laughs, returning the hug. "You'll be an expert soon."

"Flying teleporting dragon, the terror of the skies."

"Your enemies will fear the open sky."

"Though Apparating in your Animagus form should come after you have a solid grasp of the basics."

"Makes sense that it'd be harder."

She nods. "Splinching's more likely, mostly, or coming out of the Apparition stuck between the two forms."

"More to keep track of, right?"

"Just so - if you're accustomed to your Animagus form it's easier, but that essentially requires viewing it as your natural form... But for instance with Grim, I'd be more concerned about him Apparating while distracted as a human than as a dog."

Nod nod.

More practice, then? They can start working on going farther, then out of their line of sight...

Sounds like a plan.

Fay supervises the whole time, offering corrections here or there - but Ellie and Anathema really are doing very well.

They are the best at learning.

They'll be the best at magic soon enough.

The very best, like no one ever was.

She laughs. "Yeah. We'll blow them all away." Kiss.

Kiss.

(They're good kids.)

Even advanced Apparition is fairly easy to pick up, and as final exams conclude Fay sets them to visiting various pre-Hogwarts muggleborn households - they can't actually Apparate straight to most of them, not having a good visualization or any sort of homing beacon, so Fay takes them on a tour of the Isles to get a solid number of Apparition points. They can fly from those to most other places, using the Invisibility Cloak or Disillusionment, or simply traveling at night. She gives them anchor stones to drop on the edge of the properties that Fay and anyone she entrusts can use as beacons later, and teaches them the basics of setting an initial alarm ward - the kind that doesn't need the property owner's permission.

And then she and Headmistress McGonagal put together lists of children for the girls to investigate.

And the girls get to work. Visiting families and talking and demonstrating magic and convincing mothers and fathers of the threat and placing ward basics.

They're reluctant, a lot of them. But - some can be convinced, though nearly all require multiple visits. The only two families that take them up on a transfer right away are one that had been living in a homeless shelter and one mother who'd been trying already to flee a broken household with her son. 

It's slow, exhausting work, but so far they haven't arrived just to find people dead.

And then they Apparate back to Hogsmeade Station after a follow up visit with one hesitating family, to find Hogsmeade abuzz with near panic, people in the streets - some making the trek up to Hogwarts - and the station master watching the arrival Apparition points with his wand out.

He flinches a bit when they arrive - then recognizes them and lowers his wand. "You need to get to Hogwarts," he says, voice urgent and clipped.

"What happened?"

" - We're not positive all the details, but the wireless said the Ministry's fallen."

"Oh no."

They hurry up to the castle.

The crowds from Hogsmeade are being processed through the Great Hall initially, though it sounds like the castle's house elves are rapidly clearly out some of the larger, unused lecture rooms to move people into, and taking inventories of the bedrooms available.

A house elf spots them, tells them that Professor Reynolds is in the Headmistress's Office and will want to know they're okay.

Up to the office, then.

Fay turns to them as soon as they enter. Her expression is drawn, stressed, but it relaxes when she sees them, and she excuses herself from a hushed conversation with McGonagal and an Auror the girls haven't met. 

"Ellie, Anathema, I'm glad to see you're alright," she says.

"We just got back. Came straight here."

She nods. "We're trying to coordinate right now - we don't know exactly what's going down at the Ministry, but we're arranging for any wounded who're recovered to be evacuated here. We're also arranging to preemptively evacuate at-risk patients from St. Mungo's - I'd like to have you two on that."

"I won't be around for a while - I'm about to join one of the groups staging for a counter-assault."

Nod.

"Stay safe."

"I will."

"Take care of each other."

"Always."

"I promise."

She nods. "Thank you."

"We're not ready to receive people yet, but - the house elves who assist Poppy are coordinating that. Head to the Hospital Wing, tell them I sent you to ferry patients. Madam Pomfrey might send you over to St. Mungo's right away..." Deep breath.

Quick hug.

Tight squeeze.

"We'll all be back before you know it."

Small smile, and one last squeeze. "I trust you."

Then off to their respective duties?

Off.

Fay turns back to the Aurors.

"Come on," she says to Anathema, and makes for the hospital wing.

Onward.

Madam Pomfrey does indeed send them straight to St. Mungo's to help with triage and with getting patients ready - the ones who can be floo'd in will go straight to the Hospital Wing, but some need to be Apparated, some need to be prepared to be moved on the Knight Bus... 

They get the go ahead to start Apparating fairly soon, at least, bringing the patients to a staging area at the edges of the wards and handing them off to the house elves - staying with them if no one's there to immediately hand off to, until someone can be found.

And - 

The work load doesn't drop. Wounded start coming in from the Ministry, from Diagon Alley - they're triaged as quickly as possible, all of them rushed to Hogwarts - almost all of them can be safely Apparated, at least, being the ones who found their own way here - 

They don't hear much about what's going on outside the controlled chaos in the hospital. Snatches. Murmurs. 

It doesn't sound like their side is doing well.

(It's exhausting work. They've never Apparated this much back to back, under this much creeping dread and fear.)

They've just got to keep going. This is how they're helping, for now.

Yeah.

It's better than waiting.

Much.

The rush slows, eventually. They're put on moving medications, especially those they'd rather deny the Death Eaters, as the medical staff get the last few patients ready for transfer. 

The news seems increasingly final, and the hospital head made the call to evacuate everyone who doesn't refuse to go. 

They were getting a lot of critical injuries for a while there, though - just a trickle, now. 

And as it gets down just to moving stock and equipment -

The hospital head tells Ellie, Anathema, and the other students who were recruited to help to take their last load and then help at Hogwarts. She'll keep a skeleton staff here in case more patients come in, but -

The evacuation is over, by and large.

(Anathema's shaking a little.)

They haven't seen Fay come through, at least.

Hug.

Let's go home.

It's not the final word. Anathema won't feel - settled, until they see her in front of them

(There's more things they can help with. A constant swirl of activity. A pressing need for every hand.)

(Anathema is exhausted.)

She gets their supplies unloaded and starts the long climb back to Fay's quarters, feeling almost numb. 

They'll be of more help if they take some time to rest now.

Yeah.

Fay's not back yet when they get to her rooms, though Scarlet's lurking unhappily. Anathema sits on the couch, pulling the kneazle into her lap and rubbing their ears.

Ellie plops next to her and cuddles.

They'll just wait up til she's back.

She nods, curling into her wife.

Hug.

Snuggle.

Fay returns eventually, near midnight. She looks uninjured - and also the tiredest they've ever seen her. 

"Girls..." she says, seeing them still on the couch.

"You're okay."

"I am."

"Are you two alright?"

"We're fine. Just tired."

Anathema nods.

Fay comes to sit on Ellie's other side, joining the snuggles.

"I have to stay at Hogwarts in case someone needs me," she says. "But you two should be able to go back to the house - it's still under the Fidelius - though you'd need to floo from the Headmistress's Office to Grimmauld Place and then home."

"...Wanna stay with you."

"Yeah. Here."

"...I should be able to Transfigure the couches," she says, in the tone of someone who's so far beyond exhaustion it probably doesn't matter if she keeps casting spells.

"No. You should sleep. We'll be fine."

She's silent for a bit, and then: "The couches really aren't comfortable to sleep on."

"My bed's big enough to share if we shove some pillows to the floor. You two should get sleep, too."

"Okay."

She yawns, standing and transferring Scarlet to her shoulder. "Sounds cozy," she mutters, yawning again. 

(Ugh, they're still in their day robes and shoes... Not very cozy pajamas. Whatever.)

Shoes they can take off.

At least their outer layers, too. Three in a bed is going to get toasty.

Yeah. And helping Ellie out of her robes doesn't require that many higher brain functions.

Fay had already discarded any outer robes she may have worn in the fight before coming up.

(She hadn't wanted to alarm the girls.)

Still, she toes off her shoes as she leads them into the bedroom - large, walls painted a cheery bright green, ceiling a dark purple with enchanted glowing stars. The bed's huge and piled high with a possibly obscene number of pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals (the ones Ellie's gotten her in prominent spots). The extra pillows and blankets she shoves to the floor, though she treats the stuffed animals more gently, simply rearranging them on the bed with a tired wave of her hand.

She crawls into bed with an exhausted sigh, curling around one soft pile. (The bed's not big enough that they can all definitely avoid touching each other, but, well. Fay's too tired to care.)

A bit of touching is comforting after a long, stressful day.

'A bit of touching' implies that Anathema isn't a limpet given human form, especially when stressed and tired.

...It's nice.

Fay relaxes more, almost imperceptibly, with the girls draped over or beside her.

Maybe they can all get some good sleep tonight, then.

Maybe.

Fay falls asleep first, face going slack, body unwinding a bit.

Ellie's not long after.

It's nice.

They're not woken up in the middle of the night, and when they finally start drifting awake it feels later than it usually does. Fay's curtains block the worst of the outside glare, but the angle of the light through them doesn't look very morning-ish.

Mmrph.

If there was anything really bad going on someone would have come to get them...

Tired mumble.

(It's possible there's only bad things they can't do anything to affect, but... Fay doesn't want to go find out, right now.)

So they might as well just stay in bed a while longer...

Mmmm yeah. (Snuggle.)

Cuddles.

Eventually their bodies want attention, though, even if the world outside is content to let them sleep.

Mmmrr bodies are inconvenient.

Guess they gotta get up, then.

It seems so.

Fay's efficient about getting her body's initial demands satisfied, though, and quickly sets to making Ellie's favorite kind of morning tea.

Best Fay.

Sip. "Thanks."

Anathema gets a cup of her own, leaning sleepily against her wife.

"It's no problem, Ellie."

Soft smile.

"We probably need to get to the kitchens for food..." Anathema says. "And we might want to - ask what's been going on."

"Time to face the world again."

"Yeah..."

They have a bit of a delay getting dressed, of course, then - out into Hogwarts.

And hopefully nothing's caught on fire overnight.

It doesn't seem so - or, at least, no new fires. They fortunately emerge during a lull in the kitchen's constant efforts to feed Hogwarts' suddenly expanded population and can get food brought out to them fairly easily. (The house elves look incredibly stressed, and there's new elves mixed in with the usual staff.)

It sounds like the Ministry is now firmly under Death Eater control, though there's still pockets of resistance - the Death Eaters have been having trouble exerting full influence overnight on the rest of magical society, apparently more so than they expected, but there have been moves for mass arrests of 'suspected traitors.' Minister Bones is missing, as is the majority of her closest staff. The Death Eaters did seize the press and have declared her guilty of crimes against the people, but - the veneer of a legitimate revolution is thin. There's at least one wireless station still not under Death Eater control, and it sounds like the staff there have successfully gone into hiding.

St. Mungo's is under Death Eater control (no surprise there). More people have been making their way to Hogwarts, especially anyone who fears retaliation from Voldemort's forming regime - which is safe, so far, though they're having to screen everyone coming in for polyjuice, Imperius, or any hidden items, and they're housing all the refugees in groups by origin, away from the main workings of the castle proper, until people can be confirmed safe and placed somewhere semi-permanent.

Hogwarts can hold nearly the entire population of the Isles' wizarding world if they're willing to squeeze a bit - or live out on the grounds away from the castle, if they can get the old cottages repaired or new housing up - but nothing's prepared, and apparently Headmistress McGonagal's been deputizing everyone good at permanent Transfiguration to help her and the house elves get more beds in, if nothing else, while it sounds like Professor Sprout is rushing to increase the food being grown even more than she already had. Voldemort's currently too busy cementing his hold on the Ministry to bother them - but it sounds like Hogwarts is settling in for a siege.

Relatedly, once the girls are rested - Headmistress McGonagal is asking everyone trained in Defense and Apparition and capable of navigating the muggle world to go buy food, medicine, supplies... She's already gotten some emergency funds from the goblins, moving a large fraction of Hogwarts' accounts into the castle itself in the form of muggle currency.

(And a message is passed to them, quietly, from a tired house elf - Headmistress McGonagal wants them to know that their house is secure, the inhabitants alright.)

They can go check on the house, then see about buying some supplies.

Yeah.

Safest way is probably waiting for the Headmistress's floo to be free, heading through there to Grimmauld, from Grimmauld to home - Anathema's reluctant to Apparate close to their house right now, though that might be silly, no one's tracked them doing that before...

There hadn't just been a successful military coup at the Ministry before. Safer is better.

Yeah.

It sounds like there's a bit of a lull right now, too... And they can bring messages back from anyone at Grimmauld.

They'd better get going, then.

Yeah.

They're able to get through fairly easily - Grimmauld Place is a whirlwind of activity, and it turns out where Minister Bones retreated to - and then home.

Where Bellatrix is sitting at the kitchen table, wireless on, a transcript spell running and a notepad out. She looks up when they floo in, face drawn.

"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."

"We need to go out and get some supplies first."

"In the muggle world?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I figured out how grocery shopping works, so I can help with that - though the stores in town aren't the most thoroughly stocked."

"We can spread out a bit, if you're coming too."

"Voldemort's probably not checking on the muggle world, but, yeah, we don't want to attract a lot of attention."

"We got some money changed from the Hogwarts fund to use, and we have a list..."

"Alright." 

She pulls out some paper to copy it to. "We should avoid any towns near magical settlements... Still leaves a lot. Money seems like it'll go farther in smaller towns, ideally some of this we can buy in as much bulk as possible..."

The list is dominated by things like flour and yeast (a huge bulk of it, to be bought first; any calories at all are more important than varied calories), cocoa powder, dried fruit, dried beans, nut butters, bandages, muggle over the counter medications (to save potion stocks for more serious ailments)...

Small towns might trade off against bulk or availability, but they can try.

There's a few stores that specialize in selling bulk items - it might be best to start at one of those, actually.

Probably, yeah.

Fay also wants to make another pass at convincing her father to move to Hogwarts, or at least their house - and he'll know good stores in his area. 

So should they split up two and two, since there's four with Bellatrix?

Fay nods - that makes sense to her. Cover more ground, stay safer.

She thinks Ellie and Anathema should be in separate groups - their mirror-necklaces will be good for coordinating, here.

Nod nod.

Fay and Ellie, Bellatrix and Anathema?

Works for her. 

Cool.

Shall they get started, then?

Alright. 

She wishes Bellatrix and Anathema well, then side-alongs Ellie to an alley a block's walk from her father's home (she has at least convinced him to let her ward the property).

"You haven't really gotten to see him in a while..."

"Yeah. We've been kind of busy."

She nods. "I've grown distant, too. It'll be nice having him close."

(Unsaid is that her father is getting pretty old, and even magical interventions can't expand a muggle's life very far.)

"Definitely."

And to her father's front door. 

He opens it shortly after they knock, greeting them both warmly and inviting them to his living room, where Fay explains what's going on. 

Malcolm Reynolds frowns. "Well, shit," he starts. Then: "Your list isn't enough for a siege. Not a long one."

Fay bites her lip. "We're - scrambling, somewhat."

He sighs. "I can see that... Food will help. Tide you over. But you need seed. Livestock - hens are pretty damn easy to get and keep in bulk, everything else a bit harder."

"We have some seeds," Fay says, "But it's all magical varieties, and they're not actually very productive."

A hum, and: "Get what's on your list. I've barely spent my retirement. I'll get the rest - unless you've got an objection to me spending down your inheritance?"

Fay smiles a little. "I'd rather never inherit. You know that."

He chuckles, and - "Let's keep your castle alive now, little bird. We'll fist fight death later."

And he gives them a list of stores to hit in the area - grumbles, but grudgingly accepts Fay's insistence they stick together, then offers the use of his car to make getting to the stores possible and then Apparating with large loads easier. "We'll wanna make multiple trips to different towns anyways, with a population that big."

And then he glances more at Ellie as he's standing to go. "You doing alright?"

"For today, anyway."

"A good enough start," he says with a smile. 

"Come on, let's get moving," Fay says, leading the way out to her father's car. She sits in the back with Ellie, and - "Do you want to split up in the stores?"

"Seems like that'd be more efficient. Store's a small enough area it shouldn't matter too much."

She nods.

There's a series of stores - the same store can get them a massive load of nonperishables, and a call to Anathema has them deciding that Anathema and Bellatrix should focus on the medical supplies, and Malcolm takes them to a farm store then... They have to Apparate the truck to Hogwarts after that, get an expandable trunk to supplement their bags, then back out to another town Malcolm and Fay both know - to an old farm, apparently converted into an animal rehabilitation center by the signage. ("Old family farm," Fay explains, "Spent first few years I was with dad here.") From there, it's a short drive to places selling massive piles of excess produce for cheap - which magic can trivially preserve - and then to another seed store...

They're out all day, moving fast. They spend down the money McGonagal gave them partway through, and Malcolm insists on covering everything after that. Anathema checks in a few times - she and Bellatrix are doing okay, it sounds like, though not moving as efficiently as Ellie's group. 

There's no sign of the Death Eaters catching up to them, and by the time the sun starts setting they've gotten everything on their list and then some.

Seems like a day gone right.

Is Mr. Reynolds returning to Hogwarts with them?

Yes. With minimal grumbling about it, even. (He parks his car within the wards, in case they need it again.)

Good.

Anathema returns soon after them, Bellatrix present as a cat on her shoulder.

"Any trouble?"

"Muggle stores are confusing, but, other than that, no."

"Good." Hug.

Tight hug. "You guys do okay?"

"Yeah. Got a bunch of farm stuff with Fay's dad. Chickens and seeds and things. He's here too."

"That's good." Squeeze. "Maybe we can get them to expand Fay's quarters or something. Just - have our whole family stay together."

"You could just do that yourself, with the Chamber."

Small smile. "Yeah, but it might go less messily if I at least warn the Headmistress."

"Well sure, if you want to be all considerate about it."

She giggles, kissing Ellie. "Well, she probably is very busy... Might be best to leave an apology note in her inbox."

"We should redo the lecture halls too, while we're messing around. And maybe consult if we can add extra fortifications..."

"Oh, yeah - that'll be something worth consulting about, though it'll take us extra time... Messing with the grounds will be harder, too, but I bet we can get up some out buildings if we play with it enough..."

"Should be time well spent."

She nods. "It'll be something local, too... I'm kind of getting exhausted from Apparating so much."

"Like a squeezed-out tube of toothpaste, right?"

She laughs. "Pretty much."

"It's not a great feeling."

Snug.

"Let's go get our rooms set up, then. We can talk to McGonagal about the rest of the castle in the morning."

Nod.

One more night won't hurt. Off they go.

An advantage to redoing Fay's suite is they can connect it to the Chamber while they're at it, too - and make it easier for Sirius and Bella to stay with them... And once she talks to McGonagal she can maybe just make a hidden passage to the Headmistress's office - it'll give McGonagal a way to retreat if she needs to, and it'll give Sirius and Bella a way to sneak over to Grimmauld for meetings... Assuming they don't just start having meetings in Hogwarts.

That would make sense to Ellie, given that it's not really a secret society anymore. But she's not the one in charge of the Order.

And they're letting so many people into Hogwarts - and also moving so many of the Order or their allies to Hogwarts anyways - and probably adding everyone now openly pissed at Voldemort to it...

Hogwarts meetings are probably okay to plan around.

She nods.

So passage to the Chamber in a couple places, expand Fay's quarters, rearrange the lecture halls. That'll do for a start.

Yeah.

They can get everything but the lecture halls - which'll require some planning - done before bed, and they can probably get the lecture halls done in the morning.

When they answer to McGonagall for their crimes, yeah.

She giggles.

Better forgiveness than permission and all that.

Words of wisdom.

They can tell that to the adults when they get caught. 

Bet that'll go over just swimmingly.

But hey, another month or so and they'll be adults themselves, so.

That'll be exciting.

Maybe they can get Minister Bones' government in exile to register their marriage properly.

Submit the paperwork, at least.

Maybe since the Ministry is in exile they can make special paperwork accommodations. Like allowing it to be filled out in sparkly gel pen.

What she admires most about her wife is her boundless optimism.

She laughs. "A woman can dream..."

"Can and should." Kiss.

She kisses her most excellent wife. "We should submit the paperwork on your birthday. Or sign it, at least, even if Minister Bones isn't accepting anything."

"That sounds like a great present."

Giggle. "And while we can't run off to French beaches this time... It'd be nice to have at least a one day honeymoon. Maybe curl up in the Chamber with some books we haven't read."

"There should be less stuff actively on fire by then."

"Hopefully!"

"Cross your fingers." And cross her tongue with Anathema's.

Excellent plan.

(Probably they should stop kissing in time to reorder the bedrooms... Bella's already run off, so might tell Fay the plan, but Anathema does still need to do it...)

Eventually, yeah.

Actually it would be better if they did have a proper bedroom so Anathema should go ahead and start now.

She giggles, starting toward the suite.

(So Ellie doesn't want to just kick Fay out of hers?)

She clearly had a bit of a set-up going on in there.

Fair. It'd be very rude to steal all her stuffed animals and pillows. Especially the ones that were gifts from Ellie.

Anathema has her own collection of those.

Which is why it's rude! Anathema should share.

They will assemble the finest plushie collection this side of the Atlantic.

Excellent! 

Kiss.

Kiss!

Oh wait they were gonna rearrange the school. Can't get sidetracked.

Good thing she has Ellie here to keep her in order.

So: first things first, they should probably check that the suite's empty of people before rearranging the walls... Just so no one's very alarmed. Or at least warn the inhabitants.

Quick scope through, no Fay no Grim no Bellatrix no Scarlet...

No Malcolm or Elodie...

Seems like they're good to go!

...Hm, what're their design goals here... For room sets, there's Ellie and Anathema; Bellatrix and Elodie - Elodie's often really busy lately, Bellatrix will probably join her now she's at the same risk as every other Order member; Fay; Fay's dad; Grim, though he needs a dog sized bedroom basically... Scarlet usually sleeps on top of Fay or the Potter-Cantas... They might want to move some of their stuff from the house, and it'll be nice to have their own office or lounge thing, since with the castle a lot fuller than it normally is other people might pass by the Dragon Room more often... So keep Fay's office, add another office slash library, add a dining room? So they can eat here less awkwardly. And the dining room can have enough space for their own kitchenette, or just have a separate kitchen, so they're not bothering the house elves every time they want to eat.

Seems like that covers all the bases.

Yeah. And they can always rearrange later if they need to - oh, also, bathrooms, they should have their own bathrooms...

Anathema checks the nearby rooms - she can do a bit of permanent space-warping by now, Hogwarts really likes her, but it's more graceful to not make room shapes too weird. There's mostly weird storage rooms with old desks or bizarre stuff they're not using, that she thinks can be recycled for materials or stored elsewhere with no issue, and actually if she cannibalizes those she can get Fay's suite some super nice windows. Probably mostly for the main rooms, though if she's clever she might be able to get some natural light into the other rooms... Hogwarts is more reluctant about bizarrely warping rooms with windows, though.

...Hm, maybe steal this entire row of unused classrooms and workshops, and Fay has a separate Defense office she never actually uses except for designated office hours, Anathema can steal that, just have it be part of the suite, still accessible to students during the school year. And the row has a bunch of windows. Keeping a good flow within the suite is still pretty hard, though, even if the bathrooms don't need sunlight... Maybe actually steal some of the floor above, it's currently weird roof-loft-attic space - Hogwarts is willing to put in some dormers... So Defense classrooms where they normally go. Lecture room's on the window wall - they can have the library-office next to that, with nice glass doors with glass you can make frost into Fay's office, accessible from the Defense hall... Bathroom on other side of that. Living room past that along the window wall, opening into a different hallway... Combined dining room and kitchen past that, stairs on the outer part... Part above can fit three bedrooms along the window side, Grim's smaller bedroom, another bedroom, and a bathroom on the other. They can space-warp the three bedrooms on the outer wall to have room for bathrooms, too, fairly easily. Fay's bedroom, theirs, and Grim's are decided ahead of time, Malcolm and Bellatrix can decide between them who gets the other two.

Anathema seems to be having a ton of fun doing magical architecture and interior design.

She could make a career of it, after this is over.

That'd be amazing! She hadn't really thought about it before...

She's good at it.

Heee. Thanks.

Before they can get distracted, she sets up for the shuffle, then starts hissing at the walls - and the stones flow around in front of them for a little bit...

The door vanishes and reforms, a lot nicer, with a dark rich wood with light carvings (currently not very detailed) and a lovely little window of stained glass that, like the other glass in the suite, can be make opaque or transparent as they want.

"Fancy."

Heee.

"I'll do more detail work later... And the others might wanna do some, too."

Into the living room, then? (To make sure nothing ended up weirdly squished.)

Obviously her wife did a perfect job... but they can check.

They can bask in how awesome it is, then.

Sounds good.

Into the room!

It's a lot larger than it was, with a ton of evening light from the windows - it'll be even brighter when it's properly day - and more light. There's the same amount of furniture as earlier, so it feels sparse, but the stonework and woodwork are blended together nicely. Anathema even gave them a majestic fireplace with a large wooden mantle against the outer wall. There's a good sized opening with French doors into the dining room to the right, and three smaller doors along the wall to the left. Fay's artwork and knickknacks are undamaged, though they're not arranged - everything's in a tidy set of piles around the furniture.

It's plain, still, though it's a really well made base.

"It's really nice!"

She giggles. "Thanks! We should check the library - and our room - "

Yes they should!

Library: contains Fay's original office's bookshelves, the reading chair from their old living room, and not much else yet. 

Bedroom: lacks furniture right now but Anathema shifted some of the scrap from storage into it so they can permanently Transfigure a bed and other things. 

Seems like they should get on that Transfiguration, then.

Yeah. 

Their own bed is the most important bit, of course, but it might be polite to go ahead and set up the others' beds...

They are the living space decoration fairies.

Giggle.

They'll probably have to do Grim and Malcolm's decorations, neither really has a sense of style, but Anathema's fine leaving Bellatrix's room more of a blank slate... With stylish foundations, of course. 

Yeah, she and Elodie could have some fun with it. A bit of relaxing recreation.

Share some of the joy of interior decoration. 

They are generous fairies, after all.

She giggles, kissing her wife. 

And after a bit of generous fairying... Well, it'd be a shame not to check if their new bed works...

And that the door locks.

Both very important qualities. 

Very.

Kiss! And tumble into bed. 

Sadly, they still haven't finished all their tests when there's a faint sound of movement from downstairs, and a voice calling, "...Girls?"

Ellie extricates herself.

"Just a minute!" she calls back.

Anathema starts giggling and tries to figure out where she dropped her clothes.

Fay's voice sounds much more amused when she calls back, "Alright!"

And a decent few minutes later they can go see Fay.

Who's waiting for them in the living room. "I see you two did some interior decorating."

"Proof of concept for converting the lecture halls to extra dorms."

She laughs a little. "Hopefully nothing was broken in the making of?"

"Not as far as we can tell."

"Alright."

"I'm fine with the changes, but I wouldn't mind some warning next time."

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission."

"As Anathema said."

She laughs. "What about asking for feedback?"

"And sacrifice my artistic vision? Never!"

"Never get in between an artist and her vision," Ellie says sagely.

"But often feedback is useful for refining and improving that vision, or your ability to execute it."

"I'll let you tell her that," she says, taking a dramatic step away.

Fay turns to Anathema with her eyebrow raised.

She's giggling. "You're right about beginner artists, but I'm perfect."

"Is that so?"

"I believe I'm contractually obligated to agree with her; my wife is perfect."

"Well... You do have excellent judgement."

Smug smile.

"Do you two want help filling our new suite with furniture?"

"Sure. We have a pile of junk to transfigure, and we got most of the basic pieces done..."

She nods and sets about helping them fill up the downstairs as well, then some of the details - more bedding, especially, towels and supplies for the bathrooms, utensils for the kitchen...

They can easily busy themselves until the others arrive (including Bellatrix and Grim in their Animagus forms, courtesy of a Patronus Fay sent out). 

Then they can offer input on the design of the things for their rooms.

Bellatrix does actually want to do a lot of the detail work on her room herself, but Malcolm and Sirius are generally less picky. Still, opinions can be pried out of them.