Order of the Hidden Dragon

Sophia groaned. Maybe it was time to let out her last secret. Only once that was all out could she probe and see if Albus was still willing to work with her.

"Mary! Would you like some tea?"

"Tea? TEA? Why would I want to come anywhere near you and the murderer over there? Have you had another love-scene in your little bubble?"

"You know perfectly well why that can't happen." Sophia said, though she blushed at the thought.

"Really. Have you told him then? Your great secret, the reason all of this happened at all? Because I think McLaggen at least suspects it and would love any excuse to use it against us. He's hinted as much already."

Albus looked very confused. "What are you talking about?"

Mary gave a shrill laugh. "So, you haven't told him. How it is practically your fault that he's even in this position?"

"That's not true!" Sophia started to feel a little panicked. Was Mary trying to make Albus angry on purpose? This was not the way she had wanted to tell him this part. The part that was even worse than her hacking. This could very well be personal. And she wasn't near her keyboard, so she couldn't place her defences without Albus noticing or being caught in it too.

"None of this would have happened if you'd done your job!" Mary shrieked.

"It was less my fault than yours! You were the one to clear the area. I just took out the cameras." Sophia said, though she regretted it the moment it was out of her mouth. Mary's anger fizzled out immediately, and sobs replaced the shrieks. Sophia ran towards her at once, forgetting her anger.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean that!"

Mary just sobbed harder.

"Yes, you did. And you're right. It's all become a big mess, and my brother paid the price for it. And he probably didn't even have to!"

Sophia held Mary for some time as she sobbed on her shoulder. Well, at least she didn't seem angry anymore. Then she felt Albus' shadow as he started coming over to them. She gulped. Had he figured it out yet?

"You were there, weren't you? That morning?" His voice was gentler than she had expected. Sophia could only nod in response.

"Was that why he attacked me? I've been trying to figure that out ever since it happened. Why did he go straight into attack mode, why didn't he just hide or at least try to talk to me, distract me so you could get away? I hadn't even seen you. Did you make that fog appear?"

"He was protecting us." Sophia said. She would have to tell him now. She hoped he wouldn't hate her when he heard the full story. "I have a program that can tell if any Muggle cameras are watching us. I found three and disabled them. Then I pointed to a fourth and told Logan to get it. Mary and I were doing some testing on the ground just as your raid started. We both lay flat and immediately began gathering our things before any of you could find us. But Logan heard you come and stood up to confront you. I don't know what he was thinking. Then that fog came, and I didn't hear what he said, but I saw the flashes from the spells. Then more footsteps. Mary wailed beside me, and I risked a quick look. I didn't see your face, but I saw Logan on the ground. I didn't know whether he was Stunned or dead, but I knew we had to get away from there. You probably didn't even hear the POP as we Disapparated. We waited to see if Logan had made it, but instead, hours later you fell down into our base and told us that you killed an Auror! I worried whether you had recognised us as well and that was why you suddenly wanted to stay."

Mary sobbed again as Sophia came to that part. Albus looked at both of them with a shocked expression.

"But why did he attack me? I didn't even see any of you, didn't see who it was, before it was too late." Sophia had wondered about that as well. Logan must have recognised Albus, why did he attack a fellow Auror like that? None of this made any sense.

"Why did you kill him though?" Mary countered. "Why not just Stun or otherwise incapacitate him?"

"That's what I meant to do," Albus said, tears forming in his eyes as well. "But my spell must have hit him straight to the heart. I wasn't even sure if I had sent out a spell, until I saw the body on the ground. It was a reflex; one I have replayed over and over in my head ever since. I don't blame you if you hate me. I know it probably doesn't mean anything, but I'm sorry. I wish more than anything that I could take back that moment's reaction and not just because of what it cost me personally."

"You still claim you weren't there for us?" Mary demanded.

"Yes. We've done raids like that for days, trying to find the Knocker, to little effect. In fact, many of us think it is counter-productive and that rather than helping, it scares other people into hiding, meaning people are even less likely to want to help us. This situation really just proves that for me. We weren't there for you, but you are paying the price for it." Mary cried as he said that but didn't say anything.

"A series of unfortunate events," Sophia said with a sigh. "And a result no one wanted."

"That sounds almost poetic."

"It's the title of a book series."

Albus just smiled and shook his head. Mary looked at her as if she was nuts. Maybe she was.

Sophia made the tea anyway. Albus didn't seem angry with her, but she didn't know him well enough to see whether he was just waiting to confront her until Mary was gone.