'Cafe Fight'
"What about all the people at the wedding?" Harry asked, the five of them sat around a table in an empty cafe, "Do you think we should go back?"
"They were after you, mate," Ron said, "we'd put everyone in danger by going back."
Both Lori and Cedric nodded as the waitress, and the only other person in the cafe, strolled over to their table, "Coffee?"
"A cappuccino, please." Hermione smiled slightly.
"What she said." Ron added, getting three nods as well, the waitress nodding in acknowledgment before disappearing into the back of the cafe, "So, where do we go from here? Leaky Cauldron?"
"It's too dangerous, if Voldemort really has taken over the Ministry, none of the old places are safe." Lori explained.
Hermione nodded, "Everyone from the wedding will have gone underground, into hiding."
Harry groaned, his head falling onto the table, "My rucksack with all me things, I left it at the Burrow."
Two men in blue overalls strode into the cafe, Lori watching them pass with vague recognition of one of them. Hermione passed the bag over the table, Harry looking at it incredulously, "You're joking?"
"I've had all the essentials packed for days, just in case."
Lori glanced curiously at the men as they fished something from their pockets, realisation swimming over her face in the brink of time as she yelled, "Down!"
Glass shattered behind them as spells mingled in the air, all of them finding cover behind different tables, Cedric leapt up, "Expulso!"
His spell narrowly missed one of the Death Eaters as he dived behind the till, rising to shoot a hex at Lori. She dodged it, Hermione shooting another spell back, "Petrificus Totalus!"
He landed with a grunt, his companion falling to Cedric as the waitress emerged from the back room, dropping their drinks in fear.
"Go!" Hermione instructed, "Leave!"
Without another word, she raced out the back door, Ron whipping out the Deluminator and bathing the cafe in darkness as Hermione and Cedric magicked the blinds down.
Lori was crouching beside the older man, "This one's called Rowle. He was on the Astronomy Tower the night Snape killed Dumbledore."
"This is Dolohov," Ron pointed at the other, "I recognise him from the wanted posters. So, what we gonna do with you, hey? Kill us if it was turned around, wouldn't you?"
Lori straightened as Cedric answered, "If we kill them, they'll know we were here."
"Ron?" Hermione asked, sadly watching him glare down at Dolohov.
He shot her a look, "Suppose he did Mad-Eye. How would you feel then?"
"It's better we wipe their memories." Lori said, getting a thoughtful nod from Cedric beside her, "Hermione, this one's on you. You're the best at intricate spells."
She tentatively stepped behind the counter, glass crunching beneath her shoes as she slowly raised her wand, speaking barely above a whisper, "Obliviate."
*
The five of them strode along the concrete below an overhang, all thoroughly shaken up after the Death Eaters found them so quickly.
"How is it they knew we were there?" Harry asked as they walked.
"Maybe you still have the Trace on you?" Hermione wondered.
Cedric shook his head, his hand laced protectively with Lori's, his voice slightly croaky, "Can't be, the Trace breaks at seventeen. It's wizarding law."
Hermione groaned a few moments later, "We didn't celebrate your birthday, Harry! Ginny and I, we made a cake. We were going to bring it out at the end of the wedding."
"Hermione, honestly, I appreciate the thought, but really, given the fact we were almost killed by a couple of Death Eaters a few minutes ago..."
"Right, perspective."
Ron looked at them as a police car whizzed by, siren reverberating off the overhang, "We need to get off the streets, get somewhere safe."
Both Cedric and Lori stopped in their tracks, looking to each other as the other three slowly gathered around them, "Well, there is one place."
Lori nodded, her hands already grabbing with Ron and Hermione, Cedric taking Harry as they simultaneously disapparated, appearing in front of the wrought iron fences of Grimmauld Place mere moments later.
The row of houses shifted outwards, the black brick of Number 12 sprouting forward before lurching to a halt, the gate springing up.
Hermione filed in first, deadened silence falling over the empty house, a thick layer of dust coating every inch of every available surface.
Along the corridor, grey specks were whirling into a plume that resembled a person, before a ghostly Dumbledore raced at them and vanished in a puff of dirt, Hermione letting out a shriek.
"What was that all about?" Ron asked nervously, looking to the older two.
Lori turned to him, "It was Mad-Eye's idea, in case Snape decided to come snooping. Homenum Revelio. We're alone."
*
In the dusty kitchen, Lori and Cedric busied themselves with knocking together a basic breakfast, with what little food was still edible in the sizable pantry.
The others were still asleep in the drawing room, Ron graciously giving up the sofa for Hermione as the couple took the downstairs bedroom.
Even though they were alone, they felt like they were intruding, every wallpapered inch of the house seemed to carry Sirius's laugh, his smile, his dying grimace.
It seemed almost natural to cook the Muggle way, needing to take their mind off the previous day's events, and near death sentence.
Lori sighed over a pan of sizzling bacon, screwing her eyes together and exhaling slowly as she plated the first two portions. Cedric looked up from his eggs, "You all right, love?"
She nodded, still with her eyes closed, "Just all the people we've lost: Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye. They were such great wizards and they're all gone."
He moved over, wrapping his arms around and pulling her into his chest, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. Lori's hand grabbed at his shirt as she looked up at him, "And now, they've left the Order to me? It's stupid."
"They seemed to think you were up to it, you're not calling them stupid are you?" he smiled.
She chuckled slightly, standing up to press a kiss to his cheek, "Wouldn't dream of it."
Suddenly, raw egg hit the side of her face, dribbling down her cheek and dripping onto the floor. Her mouth fell open at Cedric, before she reached into the bowl and coated him in yolk.
They looked at each other for a moment, both scoffing and reaching for the bowl at the same time, egg yolk flying through the kitchen as Lori took cover under the table.
Cedric continued to pelt her with egg as she darted out, diving towards the pantry and locking herself in, trying to quiet her hysterical laughter so she didn't wake the others.
Her eyes fell on a bag of flour, her lips curling into a mischievous smile.
"Come on!" Cedric chuckled quietly, "Let me in!"
The lock slowly clicked, Cedric smiling before he was engulfed in a cloud of white powder, coughing to get it out of his lungs.
Flour stuck to his skin and every part of his mouth, Lori smirking as the cloud cleared, her hands on her hips, "One-nil to Gryffindor!"
Clearing his eyes, he glared at her, "You're so gonna get it!"
She squealed as he raced to catch her in the kitchen, before trapping her against the wall, his arms either side of her, "To quote you, I think you got your houses mixed up there, buddy."
Quirking a brow, she quipped, "Oh really?"
Her hands lightly pressed against his chest, before he moved closer and captured her lips, his fingers trailing down her side to settle on her hips.
"Jump." he whispered.
Smiling against his lips, she hopped into the air, her legs wrapping around his waist as her hands threaded through his brown hair.
"You know," she laughed, "I don't even care that you're covered in flour and egg."
He chuckled, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "Maybe we should shower it off?"
Lori moved to connect their lips as he guided them back towards the kitchen door, Cedric waving his wand behind his back so the pans automatically emptied their contents onto clean plates and began scrubbing themselves.
Halfway up the stairs, Cedric pulled away, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he pointed at the door. Lori followed his gaze and dropped to the floor, the name 'Regulus Arcturus Black' stamped onto the green wood in gold lettering.
"R.A.B." he muttered triumphantly.