Chapter Text
“Ms McGonagall? May I come in?” Lily knocked on the office door, and stepped inside when a sound of affirmation followed.
“Miss Evans-Lupin, what can I do for you? Is there something you need?” Minerva asked. She was Lily’s boss at the Daily Prophet, and had been a journalist for years; she was Lily’s idol all throughout her childhood, and she still couldn’t quite believe that she was working for her.
“Just Evans is fine, thank you. I have an idea for a story, and I was hoping you’d approve it.” Lily ventured cautiously. She didn’t want to be shut down immediately, so she needed to present her idea slowly.
“Well, you’re an extremely capable writer, so as long as the topic is respectful enough, I don’t see why not. What are you hoping to write about?”
Lily paused. This was where she had to be delicate.
“Well, as you probably know, it’s coming up on the 3 year anniversary of Andromeda Tonks’ death, and given how little closure there was regarding that case, I thought I might try and look into it a bit, try and bring some peace of mind to the town. I completely understand if you don’t think this would be an appropriate topic, but-”
“Miss Evans,” Minerva interrupted, “I would love to approve this story for you, it could be very good for the paper and your personal career, but you need to make sure it follows the guidelines of the paper. I would ask that you don’t interrogate people; interviews are fine, but don’t grill them for information. We can’t risk being shut down just for one story. Oh, and try not to bring personal bias into the story either.”
“Of course, Ms McGonagall, I wouldn’t dream of it. I will be as respectful and tactful as I can with anyone involved, and I’ll make sure it’s completely by the book. This piece is important to me, I won’t let it fail. I promise.”
Lily turned to leave, and had just placed her hand on the cold brass doorknob, when McGonagall called out to her.
“Miss Evans, one last thing,” Minerva said, “Be careful writing this piece. I have no doubt that it will be excellent, and that you won’t set a foot out of line, but there are people out there, even some people who work here at the Prophet, who would stop at almost nothing to take down their rivals. If anyone from another newspaper, or even our own colleagues, feel threatened by you and this piece, then… well, I have no idea what they might do. Try not to make enemies with this, because if you do, I don’t know if I'll be able to help you.”
“You don’t need to worry about me, Ms McGonagall. My friends would do anything to protect me, and besides, I'm pretty tough myself.” Lily assured her. It all seemed rather dramatic, though she supposed Minerva had far more experience in this industry than Lily, given that Lily hadn’t even been working at the Daily Prophet for a year, only about 10 months, while Minerva had been working there since the 80s. She’d written eye-opening, groundbreaking pieces that no one else would ever have dreamed about publishing in a mainstream newspaper- she had written about queer rights, about the AIDS epidemic, its effect on queer men, how lesbians had played a huge role in helping those infected with it.
That wasn’t all, though, because she kept writing pieces like that, pieces that challenged how everyone thought, pieces that made their little town into a safe haven for queer individuals and communities. Section 28 had changed a lot, and made it much harder for Minerva to publish these pieces, but she tried nonetheless. She wrote in code, or in metaphors. She wrote for underground magazines, and she helped so many people. Minerva McGonagall was a hero to many, and Lily was proud to say that she was one of those people. If Minerva McGonagall had no one who looked up to her, Lily was no longer alive. Minerva was the main reason Lily had gotten involved in journalism. She had inspired her to bring change into the world, and god, was Lily going to try.
One day, she would bring such a change into the town of Hogsmeade that Minerva McGonagall would be proud of her.
One day.
###
“You didn’t have to come with me. I could’ve gone alone.”
Pandora looked at Regulus in frustration. Really? Reg had been anxious about this visit all week, and while Pandora may be terrible at reading social cues, she could read Regulus like a book.
“Don’t be stupid. I’m your best friend, I’m not letting you visit her on your own.”
“Pan, I’ll be fine alone. Besides, your dad won’t be happy that you’re out for so long, even if you are with the heir of the most Ancient and Noble House of Black.”
That was true. Father would be very upset with her if she didn’t make it back on time. She was sure to be punished for being out so long, and yet, that didn’t matter as much as staying with Regulus.
After all, even Regulus got upset in graveyards.
“Reg, frankly, I don’t care if my dad’s happy or not, I care if you’re okay. I mean, we’re literally going to your cousin’s grave, a few weeks before a huge faux-emotional memorial is thrown for her, which, for some reason, you can’t go to. Are you going to tell me why you can’t go? Or just let me guess? Because I’m about 95% confident I can guess correctly, and I’m 96% sure you’d rather just tell me yourself.” Pandora looked at him pointedly. Regulus was the most stubborn person she had ever met, and while she loved that part of him as much as the rest, well, it could get quite annoying.
“Pan, what happened to hating eye contact? Why are you staring at me? I feel like you’re stabbing me in your mind, are you trying to use telekinesis on me? I thought we established when we were 12 that it doesn’t work.” Clearly, Regulus was trying to get her away from the subject at hand. Well, he underestimated her ability to hyperfixate on the smallest of small things. (Of course, this somehow never ended up being anything remotely useful, but oh well. You win some, you lose some.)
“Regulus.” she rumbled, her voice at its most ominous. She may just be an eccentric weirdo, but she could be a scary, eccentric weirdo when she wanted to.
They held eye contact for another few seconds, time seeming to slow, until the second Pandora saw Regulus’ eyes growing more and more resigned and finally breaking eye contact. Phew. Another few seconds and Pandora would have had to look away and risk losing their staring contest. Eye contact was… uncomfortable at best.
“Fine. Oh my god, fine.” Regulus huffed out a breath, clearly frustrated that he had lost the battle between them. “Mother won’t allow me to go to the memorial. She feels like Andy was tainted by her husband. It was bad enough in her eyes that she had married for love, but if he had been rich then she may have stomached it. But a love match and poor? Not to mention he's not white. Outrageous. When Andy left Cygnus and Druella’s, Mother burned her off the family tree, and now she won’t even tolerate hearing her name, let alone actually mourning her. If I try to go to the memorial, I don’t know what she’ll do, but I know it will be bad. Worse than most of her punishments.”
“Could you sneak out, maybe? Say you’re meeting up with me, or with Evan?” Pandora asked. Surely it couldn't be that hard to evade Walburga, Reg had always managed to hide his friendship with Dorcas from her.
Regulus shook his head in defeat. “No, she's not taking any risks. She's filled my day with plans and events, stupid shit, and I won't be alone at all. I won't be able to escape or slip out.”
“That sucks. Sorry, Reg.”
Suddenly, there was a flurry of motion not far from the bench they were sitting on. Pandora flinched before realising that it was only a group of birds: crows, specifically. It seemed appropriate, given that they were in a graveyard, and crows make up a murder. Well, maybe it was only funny in her head. Note to self, don’t tell Reg that joke.
“I want to talk to her. Before we have to leave. Let’s go see her now.” Reg decided. Finally, Pandora thought. She may love him like a brother, but Regulus was stubborn, and he was emotionally stunted. With good reason, of course, but still, it got annoying sometimes.
They both stood up and slowly made their way over to the gravestone. ‘ Andromeda Tonks. Gone too soon. ’ read the inscription on the slab of granite. Pandora couldn’t help but agree. While she may not have spent any time with Andromeda, they were still technically cousins; Andy’s mother was Pandora’s aunt. She wanted to get to know Andy, to bond over wanting to escape the rigid lifestyles of their families, and she will never be able to. And yet, that was nothing compared to how Reg felt.
Looking at him solidified that for Pandora. Regulus didn’t often express much emotion in public, but he looked… broken, almost. Like he was cracked all the way through, and the slightest pressure would shatter him into a million pieces. It had been 3 years since Andy had died, but he still felt the pain as if it was yesterday.
Pandora couldn’t stand seeing him hurt. She knew she had to do something to help him, but she didn’t know what. His grief soaked into her like a bloodstain, and they were drowning.
“Hey Andy, it’s Reg. I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you lately, but it’s harder getting away the closer we get to the memorial.” Reg started. “I miss you. I know we didn’t exactly hang out, but I do. I know Narcissa does too, not that she can admit it with our stupid, horrible family around. It’s been so hard without you, but sometimes it feels like you never left. It’s like it was after you left home,; erasing you from the house, being punished for even mentioning you, but at least I had Sirius then. It’s nearly his birthday, and I know it’s going to be awful for him, he won’t be able to stop thinking about you, he’ll blame himself…”
Was she intruding? Should she be here? This was Reg’s moment with her, Reg’s grief. Pandora shouldn’t be here, who was she to witness such a personal thing? She should go, she should give him some privacy, she should-
“-and Pandora’s here too, Andy. She came to talk to you too.” Regulus glanced sideways at her. “Do you want to talk to her?”
Pandora scrunched her face in confusion. “Who, me?”
Reg rolled his eyes. “No, the person in the grave behind you. Yes, you, you absolute spoon. She was your cousin too, even if you weren’t close.”
“Yeah… um, yeah, I guess.” Pandora turned to face the grave. May 12 1994 - November 3 2021. Poor Sirius, his cousin being killed on his birthday. Pandora had never liked her own birthday, but she knew she was in the minority, so she could assume that Sirius enjoyed his, but he likely hadn’t had a good one since what happened to Andromeda. “Hello, Andy. How are you doing? Well, I guess you’re not doing much of anything except lying in your grave, seeing as you’re dead. Wait, I didn’t mean that. Or- well, I did, but that sounded bad. Sorry, I'm bad at this. You know what I mean, though. Actually, no, you don’t. You don’t know what I mean, because you didn’t know me. I wish you knew me. I wish we could have known each other, so that if I said the most random things that no one else would understand, you would. I wish you knew me, so that if I was upset, you’d know how to comfort me. I wish you knew me, because I wish I knew you.”
“Damn, Pan, that was deep.” Regulus chuckled and then looked down. “I wish you’d known each other too. I think you'd have liked her.”
Silence. They stood there together, leaning on each other for support, sadness bleeding out of them both.
“I just wish I knew who it was.” Regulus’ voice was no longer soft and sad, but angry and hard, laced with uncried tears. “I wish I knew who it was so that I could find them and make them pay. The police won’t do anything, they're incompetent, but Andy deserves justice. She deserves peace.”
Pandora was usually quite peaceful, but there were times when her rage was white-hot, and she couldn’t restrain it. There had been a time in school when a group of boys from the year above had been trying to bully Reg, and he was dealing with it fine until they started talking about Sirius. They had told him that he was worthless, that no one loved him, not even his own brother, so what was Pandora meant to do? Stand there and let them say that to Reg?
Even if Reg hadn’t been grateful, it would’ve been worth it for the satisfaction of getting away with it. Those boys ended up in the nurse’s office with deep scratches down their cheeks and bruises over their eyes, and Pandora ended up stealing Barty’s drinks and hanging out with Reg all night. Reg had been very grateful, and that night was the first time he properly opened up to her about his parents, his brother, the pressure that was on him to be perfect. They were family, technically, but had never been very close until they attended Hogwarts together. Regulus was the most private person Pandora knew, after herself, and Pandora couldn’t resist a challenge. Nine years later, they were inseparable.
Point being, if someone messed with Pandora’s friends, especially Regulus, they faced the consequences.
“I’ll find them,” she blurted.
Regulus looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Pandora swallowed her anxiety about what he would say, took a deep breath, and said, “I’ll find them. Whoever killed Andy. I’ll investigate, I’ll find out who did it, and we will take them down. Together. For Andy.”
Regulus stared at her. Oh God. Was he mad? Did he think she was mocking him? What if-
“You would do that for me?”
Now it was Pandora’s turn to stare. What? Did he not know how much he meant to her? She felt like she could lose everything else in the world, even Evan or Dorcas or Barty, and she would be alright as long as she had Reg. She had protected him, and pretended for him, and lied for him. She would hide a body for him, kill for him, die for him. Did he not know that?
“I would do anything for you.”
At that moment, the sun shone down on them, as if Andy was saying ‘ Thank you ’ from beyond the grave. As if she was grateful to Pandora.
Regulus looked her in the eye and said, “Then let’s get started.”
###
“I’m sorry, you’re writing a story about what?” Remus asked incredulously.
“About Andromeda. I’m going to try and find her killer.” Lily replied.
“Right, let me get this straight. You mean Andromeda as in our best friend’s cousin Andromeda? As in the person Sirius has massive trauma about? As in the reason he’s in therapy, the reason he has a breakdown every birthday? That Andromeda?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Yes, that Andromeda. Look, Remus, Sirius hasn’t gotten any closure. It’s been three years, and yes, he has massive trauma from her death, but solving it, finding her killer? That could help. Besides, he can be as involved or uninvolved as he wants. I know it’s hard for him, but… this could make it easier.”
Remus sighed and leant his head on Lily’s. “I know, Lils, I just… I just worry about him, is all. And about you. What if you get too close to something, or someone, and you get hurt or killed? I would not be able to deal with being an only child. You would always be the favourite because you’d be dead. Do not do this to me.”
Lily laughed. “Don’t worry, Remus, I won’t leave you to suffer the favouritism of the Lupin household on your own. Besides, I’m not just going to go up to someone and accuse them of being a murderer, I don’t have a death wish.”
“So,” Remus started, “How are we starting? Social media stalking? Interviews?”
“I’m sorry, what do you mean ‘we’? This is my story, and I don’t want you to get mixed up in it in case it gets… I don’t know, dangerous or something.”
Remus raised an eyebrow and gave Lily a look that said Bitch, please.
“Lil, for such a smart person, you are incredibly dense sometimes. If you'll be fine, l think I'll manage. I’m helping you with this, non-negotiable. I will annoy you into submission so that you have no choice but to let me help you. How about I start by insulting your favourite books? Percy Jackson is wildly inaccurate to Greek mytho-”
“Shut up!” Lily lobbed a book from her bed stand at Remus. “Okay, I get it, you can help me! But don’t you dare talk about Percy Jackson that way ever again, or gods help me, I will bash your head in with a hardback of Percy Jackson. Understand?”
“I understand, Lil. We’ll be Artemis and Apollo, or, um, who else is there?”
“Well, if you count the characters that are only in the books, not in mythology, then Bianca and Nico, though that didn’t exactly end well. Ooh, maybe Hazel and Nico? I mean, they’ve got enough trauma between them to fill a book as tall as Mount Olympus, but they’re as clever as Athena, and they’re tough as Tartarus.”
They carry on like that for a while, Lily’s not sure how long. She loses herself in brotherly love and bickering, and fictional Greeks (Remus is absolutely a cross between Annabeth and Leo, while Lily is clearly Percabeth’s child), and she knew that, no matter what would happen, she would always have this space with Remus.
Well, thank goodness for that, because she was going to need it.
###
Pandora opened the door and willed her father not to hear her as she closed it as silently as she could. The door clicked closed, and one second passed, two seconds, three-
“Pandora, come in here, please. Now.”
Well, fuck. This wasn’t going to go well.
Pandora walked into the next room to face her father. He sat at the head of the table, Evan on his right, Mother to his left. Mother didn’t look up when she walked in, presumably trying to avoid her husband’s wrath. Evan glanced at her fearfully, as though he knew what Father was planning to do; well, let’s be real. Father wouldn’t have told him, but he didn’t exactly change his favoured forms of discipline.
Father made eye contact with Pandora, his steely grey eyes making her extremely uncomfortable. She never liked eye contact, but Father made it unbearable; painful almost, and yet impossible to look away.
He took his time before he began his lecture. He liked drawing out the silence, tormenting her and Evan, before the respite of his punishment. That was how bad his silence was; she preferred the punishment to the build-up.
“You’re late home. You were meant to return an hour ago, and yet, you didn’t. Are you planning on making a habit of disobeying me, or do you plan on doing as I say from now on? Because I don’t appreciate your attitude, Pandora. It’s not becoming of a young lady in a family such as ours.”
Pandora looked down to her feet in embarrassment. Even when she felt no remorse, Father had a way of drawing out shame in a person. If it didn’t feel so horrible, she might almost be impressed.
“Of course, Father. I’m sorry I was late home. It won’t happen again.”
He nodded sagely, then continued to speak.
“Of course, you understand that I cannot allow this to go unpunished, or you may feel as though you can get away with disobeying me. You are Pandora Evelyn Rosier, and you will not embarrass me. Now, come and stand here.”
She obliged. She knew what came next. She just hoped that Evan could cover his ears before she started screaming.