Shea managed to untangle herself from Tyreese and his sheets. Despite all of his pleas that neither of them had to get out of bed yet, she softly kissed her boyfriend and searched for her heels from the night before. With the summer beginning, she had an internship at The Daily Prophet and she was finally away from the life she had been brought up in. No more did she have nightmares about her father grabbing her in the middle of the night. She just thought about this bright future that was right in front of her. If she had Tyreese by her side, or Alya on her other, she was going to make it. She knew that. More importantly, for the first time in her life she was sure that if they all fell apart. Her brothers went off to have their lives, she would be able to be on her own. She would be more than someone's wife or some masked Death Eater, it was what she wanted.

She giggled and indulged Tyreese in some kisses before she realized that she was running late for her meeting with the head editor of the Daily Prophet. Even with floo or apparating she was going to cut it close.
"I'll be back after this meeting, I promise." She placed a final kiss on his lips and slid her Jimmy Choo heels on her feet. Well, they might have been Alya's, but that didn't matter too much. The girls maintained a friendship based on their mutual hatred of their families, their passions for journalism, and the very beautiful fact that they were the same sizes in clothes and shoes. Moving in together successfully doubled their already impressive closets.

The young blonde stole a final glance at her boyfriend, addicted to the feeling that he gave her. It was something that she was sure she was always supposed to have but never did. Not when she was with Alex, or any of the others. She was sure that this was what it was supposed to feel like. Almost like she was falling asleep. It was slow at first, just the two of them feeling each other out, figuring out what it was like to be around each other. Then all at once she couldn't go a single day without thinking about him. When she heard him say Starshine, he could pretty much wrap her around his finger. It was addictive and impossible to resist.

Shea walked out of the apartment and saw a familiar brunette man waiting by a lamp post. She knew him anywhere and thought that he was one of the most deplorable people in the world. She turned on her heel towards the subway, glancing over at him,
"Leave me out of your war." She didn't want anything to do with any of this. The death eaters, the fighting, the death. She had seen enough of it in her time that she didn't need Parker Ludo trying to bring her back into it all.

She would be lying if she said that she never saw this happening. She knew that once Alex was taken away by the Ministry that she would have to deal with the Death Eaters barging down her door. She wanted to make sure that Tyreese was safe, and knew she would have to start bringing him to her apartment. He was older than her, and physically stronger than she ever would be, she still wanted to make sure that he was alright. Tyreese meant the world to her and she wanted to be able to know that nothing bad would happen to him.

Shea thought about all of the things worse in the world than keeping Tyr locked away in her bedroom until Parker was back in America. She rolled her eyes when the older male started to walk besides her. Shea wanted to get to her job and keep away from the Lestrange lapdog.

"If I shove them up your ass, I'll clean them off when I shove them down your throat." She knew that her parents had been loyal to the cause. Their obsession with blood purity was enough to rot their brains from the years of inbreeding. Probably why her father had been so alright with slipping into her bed all of those nights. She had been sold to the Yaxley's for an arranged marriage and knew about a plot for them to be killed. The Death Eaters lost two of their most loyal lackies when Alex tore them to pieces.

"He got what he deserved." She walked with him, stopping at the red light to wait to be able to cross safely. She just wanted to get to the tube and get away from Parker. Tyr didn't know about her family, about the darkness that they basked in and she wanted to keep it that way.
"Shouldn't you be back in America panting at the feet of the Lestranges?" She asked, giving him a bored look. She just wanted to get him away from her so she could double back and convince her boyfriend to hide out with her.

"What do you want, Parker?"

Shea would never understand what made Alex do what he did. How he could hold her close after what happened to her, look at her with those wide eyes and horror when he found out that his father held her down while her own flesh and blood gouged out the growing fetus, and then kill a child. Multiple children even.

"I've been dealing with his mistakes since he was taken away." She could tell that he didn't want to be here, and hoped that he would consider his job over with her as soon as he got the information he wanted. She wanted to tell him that she he spilled all of the Death Eaters secrets to the Ministry. That if they didn't go under forever, that they would all be wiped out for good. That anyone who bore the mark of stupidity would be erased from the world. Alex held the mark. He told her that it was forced on him, but she had a feeling that was a lie.

If he ever told her a single truth since they got back together. If she even wanted to know what was the truth and what was a lie. His love for her, his horror over losing their baby, his agony over her abuse. If he even had enough humantity inside of him to care about those things or if he really was the frozen homicidal man who the ministry accused him of being.

She turned on her heel and looked at Parker.
"Can we go somewhere to discuss this? I really don't want my job to know about this." Working as an intern with the Daily Prophet was hard enough, add in the infamous Avery surname and people were already having a hard time trusting her. She sent a quick text to Alya about covering for her and walked towards a cafe with outdoor seating. If he wanted to act like a lapdog she was going to make him follow her like one.
"I didn't tell them anything. They were more concerned about the pile of dead bodies."

If Parker wasn't so serious all the time about this cause, she would think that he was cute. Not that he could even compare to her Tyr, but he came close. She made some unforunate choices when she was younger, thinking that Alex was a good guy to be with was high on that list. Sleeping with her best friend's brother was even higher on that list. Being with Vance had been such a mistake, she wasn't even sure if Nellie knew about it, or if it was something that she was going to have to take to her grave. Nellie and Vance had such a wonderful relationship, she didn't want to come between it when it had been years ago.

Shea took a seat at the cafe, looking over the menu so something in this could feel normal. That she wasn't sitting down with a Death Eater discussing the horrors about what her scum of an ex-boyfriend did to some defenseless children. As if this was just two friends catching up about recent events. Shea sat, her back straight and her heels crossed at each other, the definition of grace despite what was happening. If she learned anything from her heartless mother, it was that Chanel covered all sins, and that even when being interogated, look like a lady.

When the waitress came around, she ordered a vanilla latte and one of the almond biscottis she saw earlier. Shea looked to Parker, giving him a moment to order whatever he wanted before they started in on this horror show. She was sure that they would be able to stay civil with each other, they had to. They were in public and if they got too out of hand, people would be able to hear them. She had only just gotten out of that life, she wanted to keep it that way.

"Always the charmer, Parker." She had a feeling that he was more than willing to come after her and spend the day trying to get all of the information possible out of her, but there was something about him being a devoted lapdog that was an absolute turn off her her. On a romantic and a human level.

"When they scooped us both off, Alex started yelling about being proud about it. They gave us both Veritaserum. They asked me what I knew about the murders of the children. I could just hear him screaming about doing it for the cause." She smiled at the returning waitress and took a sip from it.
"I'm going to need a promise from you if I'm going to continue with this little story."

At least they sent Parker and not some of the others. She really didn't have the mental fortitude to deal with Sevrin or even any of the Lestranges another time in her life. The levels of insanity in those people was enough to consider forcing some blood diversity in their line. There was no way that their brains weren't completely fried by the copious amounts of inbreeding that they encouraged to ensure the purest blood line.
"At least it was you and not some of the others." She was sure that he could find the compliment in there somewhere. She meant it as one.

"Thank you." She nodded her head and took the seat that he pulled out for her. Hostility didn't get them anywhere. She had to figure out what he wanted, how she could get rid of him, and keep it that way. It wasn't like she was asking for the whole world, just a chance to have a normal life. A life where she wasn't some Dark Arts princess, sitting on a throne of corpses.

From a young age, she learned how to make people believe what they wanted about her. She learned how to manipulate a room and make the weak minded masses do that she wanted from them. As she grew older she added other skills to that repertoire. She learned how to use makeup to cover a black eye when she was in a pinch. She learned how to survive relentless sexual abuse. She learned how to make deals involving lives over her Sunday morning breakfast. Things that could make her exceptionally volatile if messed with. She had very little to live for anymore. A dangerous thing to be.

Shea smiled at the waitress, then looked over at Parker. She could have easily been stuck with someone less humane than him, so there was that.
"No idea how you can drink that." She made a little face that the idea of a black coffee and knew that it wasn't something that would be her taste ever.
"You have to understand my lack of desire to deal with this anymore, but that is no excuse for being rude or for calling you a lap dog, my apologizes Parker."

She was sure that he had been called much worse in his lifetime, but there was something to the whole catching more flies with honey than vinegar. She smirked back at his wink and couldn't help but roll her eyes a little at him,
"Always incorrigible." She took a sip from her drink when it was placed in front of her and saw that Parker was doing the same. Might as well have some caffeine before starting this nitty gritty business.

"I want to be left out of all of this. Me, my brothers, their wives. No one with the Avery name is to be brought into this mess. Our parents are dead, they were the only tie to the Lestranges and that cause. Are we understood?"

Damn she hated that smug smile on his lips. She never should have apologized to the American, it would go straight to his head and she was going to have to deal with it for the rest of their time together. At least they could have a bit of a meal together, some coffee and pretend that this was even a little bit normal. Like two old friends who just happened to bump into each other on the street.

Sure they didn't spend a childhood together, but she knew him most of her life. She knew him by name, by reputation and then when they got older by face. As they aged, he grew to be a thorn in her side and this bright and sunny afternoon was no different. All she could think about while she sat in the iron chair was that she tore herself from her boyfriend's strong arms for this.

Something about that just felt gross. Tyreese didn't know about her life before they met. At least not all of the details. He knew that she was a witch, that her parents were killed and that she had two older brothers. Sure they would talk about their futures, about their passions and their fears. She just stayed away from the topics that could potentially end the budding relationship. All of those lies, all of the hiding, she knew that it would blow up in her face eventually.

"Just don't let it go to your head, Ludo." She sipped her drink and waited to see what he would say about her terms. She set her cup down and wiped her red lipstick from the rim of her cup and looked up at Parker when he insisted that he would see what he could do about it. It wasn't a promise, but it was close enough for Ludo.

"Good enough." She pushed the coffee cup aside for a moment so she could recall everything that happened that insane afternoon.
"Middle of the Hogwarts courtyard, a swat team of Aurors came busting in. The arrested both of us, brought us back to the Ministry. We were put in separate areas, but I could hear everything. Alex was screaming about being proud of what he did. That the Dark Lord would have thanked him for it." She felt sick remembering that day.

"When the Aurors came back, I was given veritaserum. They asked me if I knew what he was doing, they asked me if I knew why he did it, they asked me if I knew about any other murders he committed. I had to tell the truth. I didn't know what, I didn't know why, I did know he killed my parents. Surprise." That little detail had been kept out of the news, apparently the ministry wasn't big on having the world known they hadn't been able to catch a seventeen year old killing four notable adults.

"Last I heard from Alex, he was screaming that the Death Eaters would rise under a new power. I have no idea what else he said to them." She watched the brunette man, waiting for some sort of reaction out of him.

"I was let out when they found out why he killed my parents. Figured I had every reason to keep my mouth shut about suspecting Alex."