PRINCESS † PERCY WEASLEY

o. lest we forget

IVY CAME HOME. Within three weeks, she had handed in a letter for transferral, packed her bags and ended up on the doorsteps of Remus Lupin's little cottage. After another letter from Leo that had left her more concerned than anything, Ivy knew she couldn't stay galavanting around Egypt whilst Luke was missing and Leo was a mess. She knocked on the door, but before it was opened, she was questioned.

"Who is it?"

"Ivy Parry." She replied.

"Where did we first meet?"

"At the Three Broomsticks, in Hogsmeade."

"What was the last thing you said to me in Egypt?"

"Remus you're a lunatic if you think I'm going to listen to you."

The door opened and she was pulled in for a quick hug before the door was hastily shut. He looked her up and down, noticed the bag in her hand and sighed deeply.

"You really didn't listen to me then did you?" said Remus, taking her bag and leading her into the kitchen. "Tea?"

"Yes, thanks." Ivy replied politely. "And of course I didn't listen to you, as if I'd stay in Egypt whilst Leo is distraught because Luke's decided to disappear too. Not when we're so close to finding Nikol." She jumped up and sat on the counter as the kettle finished boiling.

"Milk and three sugars?" And when Ivy nodded, Remus continued. "It was safer for you in Egypt."

"I'm going to lay low as much as I can. They've given me two months to reorganise myself here before I start work in Gringotts. It's nowhere near as exciting as Egypt but I'm closer to home." Ivy old him. "I didn't want to hide. I want to help in any way I can."

Remus handed her her cup of tea and she slid off the counter and sat with him on his slightly battered sofa. "We found some more potential leads but none of them are willing to cooperate."

"Death Eaters?" Ivy asked solemnly, eyes averting his gaze.

"Death Eaters." He confirmed. "More and more have been showing up especially since the breakout."

"Speaking of, how are you holding up? About Sirius?" Ivy whispered carefully. "I know we didn't really discuss what happened but, are you okay?"

"It still hurts, I thought I'd finally had him back." He explained. "But, Harry. He had lost so much and finally he had someone who was there for him and that was ripped away too. I had to hold him back, physically."

"Was he going to?" Ivy didn't want to assume.

"He wanted to kill her and I didn't blame him."

__________

"I need to limit my interactions with almost everyone." Ivy realised. "If I spend too much time with a Weasley, I could be in danger. I need to be able to gather intel without that kind of restraint."

"You need to stop acting suspiciously. That will get you on a watch list faster than talking to any Weasley." Remus reminded her.

Ivy huffed, and crossed her arms childishly. "I don't even know what is and isn't suspicious anymore. I could go take a nice stroll through Knockturn Alley, see if I can find anything or anyone useful to me there." 

"Knockturn Alley is highly unsafe, especially now. It's crawling with Death Eaters. You can't go alone."

Ivy tutted and wagged a finger at him. "You couldn't go with me Remus, it would instantly blow our cover and I'd be put on a watchlist. Nobody else I know, knows I'm here, I should be safe on my own. I'm a curse breaker, I can protect myself."

__________

Ivy could not, in fact, protect herself. She had been in Knockturn Alley for close to two minutes when she had been ambushed by some slow crooks shooting jinx after jinx in her general direction. She was almost backed into a corner and done for when suddenly a cloud of grey smoke shot down through the sky and appeared before her, scaring the five crooks away before the smoke disappeared too.

It appeared that it was her lucky day, but Remus was not going to let that one go so easily. However, she had gathered some valuable information in the two minutes she had managed to stay alive. Voldemort wasn't just gathering witches and wizards, he was gathering magical creatures, including a large group of werewolves.

That thought made Ivy feel very, very sick.