New Lives
It had been two months since graduation, but to Elizabeth, it had felt like years. She had gotten a job working as assistant to the only woman on the wizangomat, Sally Jones. It was fairly easy work, writing letters, responding to the press, scheduling appointments and dinners, but Elizabeth finally felt like she was getting somewhere. Sally was constantly giving her advice on how to rise up in the political world, and gave her lots of opportunities to make herself known.
Another perk to Elizabeth's job was that she was able to work on Regulus's situation. She wanted him to be able to go to Beaxbatons or Durmstrang with Henry and Anne in just a few weeks, and had been spending all of her free time working on the case. She felt like graduating school had been the best thing that could have happened to her. She was finally getting where she wanted to go and making a difference in the world.
The only downside to her new, busy life was that her schedule was so packed that she didn't have time to hang out with friends and enjoy her new freedom. She hadn't seen Remus, Peter, or James in a little over a month now, and had only seen Regulus and Sirius to work on the case.
It was hard not being able to see James for such a long time, but it had gotten a little easier when they agreed not to get back together until they had the time for a relationship. They were still on good terms, in fact, nothing had really changed between them besides a label, but just that small change had eased Elizabeth's mind a bit. Knowing that James was also incredibly busy, and that they both respected the other's wish made her feel better about taking on so much work.
Elizabeth pulled out another file and flipped through it, pulling out the paper she was looking for and clipping it with another cluster of papers. Being an assistant was overall boring work, but it paid well, and she was glad to have a job in the ministry.
As she was going to put the file away, her door opened and Sirius walked in.
"Sirius! What a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked, closing the file cabinet.
"Regulus got disowned."
"He got cut off?"
"Not completely. My lovely parents decided he had been acting out too much. They gave him his inheritance and told him to leave." Sirius said bitterly.
"Was this over a letter?" Elizabeth asked, pulling a book from the shelf.
"Yeah, they sent him a key to the Gringotts vault that they transferred his money into. What are you looking at?" He asked, peering over her shoulder.
"I want to make sure they can't force him back into the home. When is Regulus's birthday again?"
"In a week and a half."
"As long as they don't change their mind before then, Regulus can go into guardianship with my parents until he leaves for school, and then he doesn't have to think about them ever again."
"What if they try to manipulate him back? They're pretty big on mind games?"
"We'll make him unreachable. He can change his name if he wants, he'll be across the world, it shouldn't be a big deal. And I trust Regulus. He can make decisions for himself."
Sirius sighed.
"You're right. Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to tell you. You have to get back together with James. You guys made each other happy, and now you're both immersing yourselves in your work, which isn't healthy."
"We agreed that-"
"I know, but now you should agree to get back together. Please, Elizabeth. You haven't seen each other in a month, and it shows."
"I'm doing fine." Elizabeth argued. Sirius raised his eyebrow.
"What was the last thing you ate?"
"It was a piece of bread."
"Gross. And how well have you been sleeping?"
"Not super well." She admitted. Sirius held his hands up.
"I rest my case. Just talk it out with him, please."
"Fine."
~~~~~~~~~~
"It's been so long! I have so much to catch you up on." Lily said, hugging Elizabeth tightly.
"Me too! You won't believe who I met! I was at a dinner party with Sally, she goes to a lot of those, and-" Elizabeth trailed off when her eyes landed on James. He walked into Sirius's apartment, wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of khaki pants. Lily followed Elizabeth's gaze and rolled her eyes, pushing Elizabeth towards him.
"You know what? The night is young, we'll catch up later. How about you go talk to James?"
"Okay." Elizabeth said, walking towards James. She heard Lily start a conversation with Edmond about how 'blind' she and James were.
"Hey James." She said, approaching him. James turned towards her, a smile coming to his face.
"Hey Lizzie. How have you been?" He asked, coming closer to her. Elizabeth shrugged.
"Busy. Luckily, things eased up a bit on the Regulus situation. We might not have to take anything to court, so I've had a bit of free time. What about you?"
"My load's been easing up as well. I finished my training, so now I'm just shadowing for a bit."
"Sounds exciting." Elizabeth offered. James nodded.
"Yeah, it is."
"Listen, I've been meaning to talk to you about what we said before. I-"
"Hey you two! Get over here, we're playing truth or dare!" Sirius called. Elizabeth looked back at James, who shrugged.
"After?" He asked. She nodded and followed him to the group that had already sat in a circle.
The game went by without much excitement, the dares being rather dull and the truths being things people already knew. Just as Elizabeth was going to stand up, Sirius said her name.
"Elizabeth, truth or dare?"
"Truth." She sighed, sitting back down.
"Do you still have feelings for James?"
"Obviously. It's not like we broke up on bad terms."
"Okay, do you want to get back together with James?"
"You only get to ask one question." Elizabeth pointed out. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"We'll take a vote. All those in favor of Elizabeth answering the question."
All the hands in the circle except for Elizabeth and James went up. Elizabeth glared at Edmond, who shrugged.
"Yes, I would like to get back together with James when we're both available more." Elizabeth said, looking straight at Sirius.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sirius asked. "Now, your turn!"
As the party died down and people started leaving, Elizabeth found herself talking to James again. They had avoided the topic of relationships since the game of truth or dare, but Elizabeth felt the urge to bring it up again.
"So, have you seen your parents recently? I suppose moving out affected that quite a bit." She mentioned. James nodded.
"I go over to their house for dinner on Sundays. Anytime I see them aside from that is pretty rare. Are you planning on moving out soon?" He asked.
"I figure when the school year starts I'll find my own place."
"Is there a specific area you're looking for?" James asked. Elizabeth nodded.
"Near the ministry. Somewhere in London ideally."
There was a beat of silence, before Elizabeth and James spoke at the same time.
"I want to get back together."
"You could move into my apartment."
They stared at each other briefly, before a smile came to their faces.
"I'd like that."