Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tick. Tick. Tick. 

The clock on the wall counted the minutes as they ticked by. 

Swish. Swish. Swish. 

Owls swooped by the open window, basking in the moonlight. 

Bang. Bang. Bang. 

The floor of the office shook slightly from the spells being fired in the classroom below. 

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. 

The phone on the desk vibrated with three texts, the first asking about dinner plans, the second complaining about the police ordering a raid on one of his warehouses, and the third was a picture of blue haired baby covered in cake batter. 

Wait, shit, I should back up. 

——

The little girl with long black hair watched from a distance, frozen in terror. 

Where a moment ago a man had stood, face tilted up to the full moon, now there was a wolf, hideous and snarling. It sniffed the air and let out a bloodcurdling howl. It was hunting for something. For someone. 

It should've been her. It should've gotten her. But it found her brother first. Her twin. Too small and scared to fend off the beast. 

They could only ever find pieces of him. 

Never mind, too far. 

——

A red haired man in white robes stood at the makeshift altar, shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously. The young woman with long black hair, who was officiating, pinched him lightly and shot him a small smile, which he returned without effort. Then, they both turned their attention to the figure walking down the aisle. 

Wait, you don't know about this yet. 

——

A little girl with long black hair ducked as a bottle flew at her face and shattered on the wall behind her. The thrower, her mother, grabbed the girl by the hair, screaming that it was her fault. That her brother was dead because of her. She threw the girl to the ground in favor of downing the rest of her drink and- 

No, not there. 

—— 

A shotgun-ax sliced the alien's head clean off, splattering blood all over the young woman with long bla- 

Definitely not there. 

—— 

The handler nodded, and the girl with the long black hair snapped the other girl's neck. 

Maybe I should just... 

—— 

"You're a witch, Manya." 

"We are sending you to a school in Britain, where you will train these new skills. Don't disappoint us." 

"And Manya. Choose a new name. And change your accent. You sound too much like a spy." 

—— 

"Hi, I'm Lee. Lee Jordan. My mates Fred and George are around here somewhere. Just listen for the sounds of havoc being reeked." 

"They sound like just the kind of people I like. And my name's Autumn, by the way. September." 

"I think we'll get on well, Autumn September." 

—— 

"September, Autumn!" 

"An odd mind you have here, Ms Volkov. Such cunning and loyalty, but stubborn. And, what's that I detect? Oh yes, you want a family. Well, if that's what you wish for... 

GRYFFINDOR!"

Chapter Text

Autumn awoke suddenly and abruptly, precisely at 5:30. 

She didn’t have an alarm clock, she had no need for one. One of the things she had been trained to do was to set an internal alarm and be awake, out of bed, bed made, ready to go, in under 30 seconds. 

She knew that without her regular training, she would need to find a different way to stay in shape, so she set her internal alarm very early, her first class started at 8:30, so she got up 3 hours early, then she got dressed and went for a 30 minute run. On her way back she somehow found a room on the fifth floor across from a tapestry of trolls in tutus. 

The room was perfect for her training, it had a punching bag, targets, weapons, ballet shoes, pointe shoes, weights, all sorts of things. 

She stayed there for an hour and a half, then headed back to her dorm to shower, change, do her hair, pull on her boots, and get ready for the day. She was done in fifteen minutes, and by that point Angelina was up as well. 

It took both of them to get Katie up, but once she was awake and ready, the three headed down to the common room where they met Fred, George, and Lee, and they all headed down to breakfast. They ate, laughed, talked, joked around, Autumn and the boys came up with a bunch of prank ideas, then they left for their first class, Transfiguration.

It was near the end of class when Lee passed her a piece of parchment with a question written at the top. 

‘Do you want to do the glue prank or the flamingos?’

’What about the bananas? I thought we were going to do that.’

’We were, but then we realized we would need a lot of bananas for that, and we can’t just take every single banana from every house table, it’ll look suspicious.’ 

‘You’re probably right, wish we could find the kitchens though... Anyway, I think we should do th-‘ 

“Ms. September! Mr. Jordan! What are you doing?”

Autumn and Lee looked up at the same time to see McGonagall standing behind her desk with both of her hands on it, palms flat on its top, looking glaring at them. 

Lee, of course, panicked and instantly stuttered out, “N-Nothing! Nothing at all!”

If it had been someone else, Autumn might’ve laughed at the expression on Lee’s face. He looked like he wanted to puke, scream, run out of the room, and hide all at the same time. As it was, she was mentally face-palming and wishing he had stayed quiet for a moment longer, so she could spout out the completely plausible lie that she had come up with in 0.2 seconds. 

Unfortunately for both of them, Lee had spoken first and McGonagall was glaring daggers at them. Autumn’s eyes flashed dangerously as she felt the urge to protect Lee, although she knew it was for nothing, McGonagall wasn’t going to hurt them. 

The professor walked up to their table, picked up the piece of parchment they had been writing on, and burned it in front of them, thankfully without reading it. “Ten points from Gryffindor for interrupting my class.” She then turned back to the front, and five minutes later, the lesson was complete, and the twins ran over to where Autumn and Lee were about to exit the classroom. 

Before they could exit however, McGonagall called after them, “Jordan! September! Back in here please.” Autumn and Lee uneasily turned around, and walked back to McGonagall’s desk. 

“I’m going to give you both a detention, as well. Don’t think I didn’t see you fooling around after you transfigured your needles.” The two glanced at each other guiltily, they hadn’t realized she had seen, “Mr. Jordan, your detention will be here this evening before dinner, yes, I’m separating you. Ms. September, yours will be tomorrow evening. That will be all, I suggest you hurry to your next class, Professor Snape does not appreciate latecomers.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” They chorused, then rushed out of the classroom. 

They had to sprint across the castle, stop an older student to ask for directions, run/trip down a flight of stairs, end up in the wrong corridor, backtrack, and finally, finally, they saw their class, waiting to enter the potions classroom. They had arrived just in time to enter the class, but they didn’t get a chance to talk to the twins. 

After what felt like years, the class was over, they copied down their homework, and ran to lunch, where Autumn was grabbed by Angelina and Katie, while the twins were pulled into a conversation with another readhead, and Lee was unfortunate enough to be given a stern talking to from Percy, who had somehow learned about the detentions before anyone else. 

Lunch ended and the six first years sprinted to their next class. The rest of the day went similarly, then it was at last time for dinner. They entered the Great Hall. Lee said goodbye after grabbing an apple. The twins and Autumn saluted and wished him luck, then they sat down laughing. Autumn put pork chops and gravy on her plate, along with some green beans and an apple. 

As she ate, she talked to the twins, telling them about her detention and laughing at Lee’s terrified face, ‘like a sick deer caught in headlights,’ were George’s words. Eventually they decided to head back to the common room. 

Somehow along the way, the trio got turned around. They found themselves walking down an unfamiliar corridor. As they walked, they passed a statue of a witch with one eye, and Autumn, always on alert, stopped and started checking the statue all over. Of course, the twins were extremely confused. 

“Uhhm, Autumn, what’re you doing there?”

”I feel a draft.” Was her reply. 

“Like a breeze?”

”Yeah.”

“It might be one of the secret passageways out of school! Letting in air from the outside!” 

“Hold on Fred, I think I found where it opens! But I... urgh... Can’t... urgh... Get it!”

“Nice find George! I think one of the older students mentioned some spell or something... Here, move over for a mo’.” George backed up, quickly followed by Fred, as Autumn tapped her wand on the spot that George had found while trying to figure out the word, “Dis-dissindarium. No, Descent-eno? No... Come on... Come on...” Her eyes were flashing, when suddenly, “Oh! Dissendium!” She said, and the statue opened up a space that looked large enough for the three to squeeze through. 

The corridor was suddenly filled with Fred and George’s whoops and cheers. Autumn punched the air in celebration. 

”Come on lads! Let’s go see where it leads!” The twins shouted their agreement and Autumn led the way with George following close behind and Fred just behind him. 

They walked for what felt like hours, but was probably only 30 minutes. They joked around and laughed as they walked, occasionally running or rolling if they felt like it. Eventually, when Autumn accidentally said something in Chinese, George asked, “So, you speak Russian now, huh?”

Neither of them understood why she started laughing at that until, “That wasn’t Russian.” She explained with an amused expression. “It was Chinese. I do speak Russian though.”

The twins shared identical dumbfounded expressions. “You speak Russian and Chinese?!” 

“And about 30 others, I grew up bilingual. My Dad’s a diplomat so we move around and hear a lot of different languages.” Autumn lied easily. ”Ooh, I think I see a door!”

The three stopped and attempted to open the trapdoor. It was old, rusty, and heavy, looking like it hadn’t been used in years. Eventually, they realized it was locked shut, and after several minutes of searching for a key, with no success, Autumn grabbed the handle that was hanging down, used it to support her weight, pulled herself up, and kicked the lock off, successfully opening the door. 

“Look Georgie! Our little Autumn kicked that big, bad, nasty, wasty lock right off the door!” Fred said in a baby voice.

”Indeed she did Freddie! And where did our itsy bitsy little September learn to do that?” George responded.

”I’ve no idea Georgie Porgie! Do you?”

”Neither have I Dear Brother!”

”Perhaps we should ask her?” 

“An excellent idea Freddikins!”

George’s statement was followed by silence. Until, “What are you waiting for Fred? Ask her!” George’s stage whisper was probably still audible back at the castle. 

“We agreed you would ask her!” Fred said in the same tone.

”We never agreed that!”

”Oh yes we did!”

”Oh no we didn’t!”

”Oh yes we did!”

”Oh no we didn’t!”

“Oh ye-“

”For Merlins sake!” Autumn interrupted. “Do we want to check this out or not?” She asked with an air of false impatience.

The twins grinned at her, but she just rolled her eyes and pulled herself up through the trapdoor.

Chapter Text

Autumn straightened up and surveyed her surroundings. She was in some sort of cellar; the room was dimly lit and full of boxes. 

She walked over to examine some of the boxes while the twins, rather noisily, pulled themselves through the trapdoor. The label on the top package was a light shade of pink and had pictures of little bubbles along with writing that said 'Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.'

"Oi! Either of you lads heard of this?" She called, holding up the small box to show the boys, who had spontaneously begun wrestling, which they did surprisingly often.

Two heads popped up to look at her, then Fred answered, "Yeah, Drooble's, Bill loves this stuff."

"Wait a minute, we must be in Honeyduke's!" George announced.

"Wait another minute, that means we're in Hogsmeade!" His double continued.

"Wait another 'nother minute, have you not heard of Drooble's, Autumn?"

"No, is it popular?" She replied.

"Only one of the most popular candies in the wizarding world!" They responded in unison.

"Oh, well, guess that explains it then. I'm Muggleborn, remember? Don't know squat about wizarding candy." She answered, reiterating her cover story that she'd told them on the train.

"Forgot about that. Sorry, Autumn."

"It's alright, no harm done. Now, George you said we're in Honeyduke's? What's that?" She questioned.

"Wizarding candy store." Came the reply, in unison, as always.

"Ah, makes sense, let's go check it out." With that the three headed towards a set of stairs in the corner. When they reached the top and saw an old door Autumn waved at the twins to get their attention and motioned to them to stay quiet. 

She then carefully opened the door, glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then grabbed the boys by their shirt collars and almost tossed them out, while they tried to stay quiet. The three met up again at the back of the store, and decided to check out Zonko's Joke Shop while they could.

They walked down the street, after asking a shop owner for directions, and eventually found Zonko's. They stopped before entering, just gazing at the majestic building, before the three turned to each other with identical smirks and said, "Wicked," then dashed inside.

*****

The trio met up about 30 minutes later at a section filled with dung bombs that Fred and George had been admiring. Autumn grabbed several and headed up to the counter to pay, while Fred and George protested that she didn't need to spend her own money on it. 

Unbeknownst to the twins, Autumn had simply pickpocketed a snooty looking lady on their way to the shop, and was using some of that money, as she had never had any of her own.

After their purchases had been made the group decided to head back to the castle. After sprinting through the passageway, they decided to have a little fun. George hid a few dung bombs in his jacket, while Autumn and Fred each grabbed one. 

The three split up, each walking down a different corridor, until they heard screams from George's corridor, then Autumn pulled her hood up, opened the nearest classroom door and tossed in the dung bomb, while keeping her face covered. 

She heard yells and commotion from Fred's classroom as well as hers, and she sprinted to their meeting place, an unused classroom near Gryffindor Tower.

*****

When the black haired girl arrived, she was surprised to see that neither of the boys were there yet. She decided to take the opportunity to look around the classroom. 

The wall directly across from the door was almost completely destroyed, like someone had accidentally blown part of it off and left a large hole that looked out upon the grounds, forest, and sky. Autumn walked over to the hole and sat on the edge with her legs dangling over, simply breathing in the fresh air. 

A light breeze blew her hair around and the sunset warmed her face. She sat thinking about her new friends, and how odd it was to be able to say that she even had friends. Eventually, her train of thought drifted away, and she was left with simply the peaceful sounds of the Hogwarts grounds. 

She leaned back and closed her eyes, finally feeling at peace.

"GET BACK HERE YOU RUFFIANS!"

Well, that peace didn't last long. Autumn snapped up, opened her eyes, rushed to the door, and yanked it open. The moment she did, two red heads came hurtling in and slammed the door behind them. Then, they burst out laughing.

"What the bloody Hell did you two do?" Autumn asked, watching them laugh, with an incredulous expression. They both started talking and overlapping each other, but she got the general idea. George had thrown a few more dung bombs and Filch had noticed, and promptly started chasing him. Fred had managed to distract him and sneak George away. Then the duo managed to sprint to the meeting place.

"Wait a minute!" She raised her voice over the boys'. "If you ran away being as loud as you are now, Filch has gotta be right on your tail." 

As her words sunk in, the three looked at each other for a few seconds. Then George grabbed the door handle, letting Fred and Autumn out first, then following. 

The three ran full speed to Gryffindor Tower and had almost reached it when Autumn, who was in the lead, suddenly screeched to a halt, right in front of Filch, who had just appeared from seemingly nowhere, and was looking at them with an expression like he had been sucking a sour lemon, while smelling rotten eggs, and then finding out Christmas came early. 

In short, they were in trouble.

*****

Once the caretaker had dragged the three to his office, he started threatening them with what seemed to be his usual: detention, dismemberment, delectation. 

Autumn was pretty sure he didn't know what the last one meant. 

While Filch was ranting, she took the opportunity to examine his office, and her eyes fell on a drawer labeled, 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.' She then nudged George, who saw it, smirked, and nudged Fred, who nodded. 

George dropped another dung bomb to create a diversion, while the now green eyed girl dropped to her knees and picked the lock. Fred reached in and grabbed the first thing he came in contact with, then he slammed the drawer shut, and followed George and Autumn in sprinting out the door and all the way to Gryffindor Tower.

******

When Autumn rejoined the boys in the common room, they had found Lee, and were sitting at a table in a corner of the room by the window.

"Hello boys." She greeted as she pulled a chair around to face her and sat down. "How was detention Lee?"

"Very dull. McGonagall had me write lines. 'I must not disrespect my teacher' about a thousand times." He replied while leaning back in his chair and shaking his hand trying to get rid of its cramp.

"Too bad. Well, let's see the loot, boys!" Her statement was greeted by cheers from two of the boys and a confused look from the third.

"We nicked something from Filch's 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous' drawer." Said Autumn, answering Lee's expression.

"Seems like I missed all the fun then." Laughed the dark boy.

"You have no idea." Came the response with identical smirks from the others.

"Alright, alright. So what'd you get?" Lee asked excitedly. Fred then dramatically withdrew from his bag an old piece of parchment.

"Disappointing..."

"What the bloody..."

"Can it tap dance?" Asked Lee, George, and Autumn respectively.

After they had finished laughing at Autumn's comment they each took a turn examining the parchment. It made its way around the circle, and found itself in the center of the table.

"Why would anyone lock up a bit of old parchment?"

"Maybe there's invisible writing on it."

"Maybe there's an invisible map on it."

"Maybe there's an invisible tap dancer trapped inside."

"Maybe it's Filch's diary."

Fred and George burst out laughing at their own jokes, while Autumn and Lee looked on with bemused expressions.

"Shut your pie holes boys! It's writing something." Autumn ordered as she grabbed the parchment and hopped up to sit on the table. The boys all crowded around, so they could see what was happening to the parchment.

Mssrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Ms. Quill would like to say a few words to the young jokesters who have found their map.

"So it is a map!"

"Shut up Lee."

Mr. Moony would like to congratulate you on finding this map.

Mr. Wormtail would like to inform you that there is a password to be able to see this map.

Mr. Padfoot would like to inform you that Mr. Padfoot is the best looking marauder.

Mr. Prongs would like to inform Mr. Padfoot that Ms. Quill might have him beat in that category.

Ms. Quill would like to thank Mr. Prongs and she would also like to add that the password has something to do with mischief.

The four then turned to each other with identical smirks. "Wicked." And they set about guessing the password.

*****

Three hours later, most of the common room had gone to bed, so their little group had migrated. Autumn was lounging on a cushy armchair by the fireplace, while Lee laid on a couch near her, and the twins were sprawled on the floor in front of the fire.

"Why. Is it. So. Damn. Hard."

"Language, Autumn." George scolded playfully.

"Почему. Это. Так. Чертовски. Сложно." She answered.

"Did you just say the exact same thing in Russi-"

"Yes I did."

"Okay."

Then Lee sat up, stretched, yawned, and announced that they should all go to bed and they could work on the map more in the morning. The group agreed and they said goodnight and separated to their dorms.

*****

Later that night, when she was sure her roommates were asleep, Autumn lit a candle and investigated her own loot...

Chapter Text

The next few months were fairly uneventful. They went to class, pranked a lot, Autumn continued training, and each night she sat down with the boys to try and guess the password for the map. 

So far they knew it was a phrase and that it had 10 letters, but they didn’t know much else. It was during one of these guessing sessions that Autumn’s phone started ringing. 

The twins jumped about a foot in the air, while Lee just looked surprised. They all relaxed after Autumn took out her phone and showed it to them. She answered it while she stood up and left the common room to go to their meeting place so she could have some privacy. 

As soon as she answered it a voice came over the line. 

“13114251.” The voice said.

”221512111522.” Was Autumn’s reply. 

“You have a mark.” Continued the voice. “We will come retrieve you at the coordinates that we have sent. Then you will complete your mission and we will return you there.”

”I understand.” 

“Good.” Click. Autumn let out a breath that she hadn’t known she had been holding. Talking to her superiors seemed more difficult now than it had before. But before what? Had coming to this school changed her in some way? 

She shook off the uneasy feeling and headed back to the tower. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, said “Carpe Diem,” and entered the common room. She quickly fixed her posture to portray sadness and worry. She let her shoulders slump slightly, turned down the corners of her mouth, and walked a little slower than usual, with her head marginally bowed. 

George was the first one to notice she was back, and greeted her cheerily, to which she responded with a quick, sad smile. Lee hopped up, put an arm around her shoulders and asked if she was alright. She took a deliberately shaky breath and answered.

”No.” She swallowed. “Not… Not really.”

”What’s wrong?” Asked the twins.

”My… My Gran… Well… she’s sick… and she’s in… she’s in the hospital.” At this point Lee had steered her over to a comfy armchair while Fred and George joined him in comforting her. “The… the doctors… they aren’t sure if she’ll… if she’ll make it.” She allowed her voice to break slightly. “My mum… wants me to come see her, in case… in case…” She trailed off, but she had gotten her point across.

George was the first to speak up. “Do you want us to go with you to ask McGonagall?” 

“I think I’m alright. If she agrees then I’ll leave tomorrow morning, so, uh, I-I guess I’ll see you.” 

The boys crowded in to give her a giant hug, with, “Bye Autumn” “See you A” and “So long September” heard. 

She waved to the boys as they headed up the staircase and she exited the common room. As she walked to McGonagall’s office, she thought about how she felt lying to her friends. 

It didn’t make her happy, but it was how she was raised, so she didn’t really see much wrong with it. She wondered how they would react if they ever found out she had lied. They would probably be angry, feel hurt, and not want to see her again. 

“Well,” She thought, “I guess they never need to know then.”

******

Katie Belle was almost asleep when she heard her roommate enter their dorm. She rolled over and glanced at Angelina Johnson in the next bed over. She hadn’t noticed anything. Quietly, Katie sat up and asked, “Autumn? Where were you?”

The black-haired girl looked up and gave her a sad smile, quickly explaining her grandmother’s situation, Autumn’s soon departure, and her late night visit to McGonagall’s office. 

The two sat talking until Katie fell asleep mid sentence, then Autumn, who had become quite accustomed to their late night talks, softly padded over to her own bed, after tucking Katie in and drawing her and Angelina’s curtains, and she got a few hours of sleep herself.

Chapter Text

Autumn awoke at exactly 5:30, as usual. She decided against wearing her Red Room uniform and changed into regular clothes instead. She had already arranged transport with McGonagall, so once she was packed and ready to go, she headed to the Deputy Headmistress's office. Arriving promptly at 6:00, she knocked on the door three times. The tired professor let her in, explained how to use the Floo Network, and sent her on her way.

After a journey through a fireplace, a quick change, and a short hike to the proper location, Autumn was met by the sight of a black helicopter, sitting in a clearing. She was greeted by the cold, unsmiling face of Anastaia Balakov, who remained silent and stoic throughout most of the ride, only speaking to give the girl information on her target.

*******

By the time they landed it was already dark out, although that might have been due to the time change. It was clear by their surroundings that they were in Afganistan, which made sense as her target was a pararescue. She had considered how to kill him and had decided that an RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade) would be best for the job.

She once again reviewed her target's information. Something wasn't quite sitting right with her. She had been getting those feelings more and more recently and she didn't understand why.

She eventually buried her emotions and got back to looking over her mark's life story. He was a pararescue in the 58th rescue squadron with the United States Air Force. He was also a test pilot for the EXO-7 FALCON, an experimental flight contraption. He was ordered to apprehend Khalid Khandil, an ally of the Red Room.

Autumn was ordered to eliminate him, but not his partner, they were very specific about that.

As she glanced over the bio one last time she realized one crucial fact was missing, specifically her target's name. At last she found it, at the beginning of a redacted file. Just his first name. The name of the man who was about to die. The man she would kill in an hour's time.

Riley.

*******

Autumn had a cramp. She had been perched in a tree with the RPG launcher resting partially on her shoulder and half on a tree branch, for over five hours, without moving. And she was very sore. Finally, she saw what looked like a bird, way up above her. She adjusted her grip, aimed carefully, and fired.

She hit her target. Dead center.

*******

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

From 300 ft. in the air, Sam Wilson watched his wingman get hit with a grenade. It hit his pack. Riley was freefalling. His chute wasn't opening. He was going to die. Sam was diving after him. He just needed to go a little faster. He was speeding straight down. He would make it. He had to make it.

He didn't make it.

Riley hit the ground.

He was dead.

******

Autumn knew he was dead. She didn't know why she stuck around, though.

She watched, from a distance, as the other man dived after Riley, even after he had hit the ground.

She watched, as he checked for his pulse.

She watched, as he fruitlessly tried to stop the bleeding.

She watched, as he attempted CPR.

She watched, as he failed.

She watched, as he realized that fact.

She watched, as he hugged the other's lifeless body and cried.

She watched, as Sam Wilson mourned his best friend on the battlefield.

******

When she arrived back at the castle, around 9 o'clock, almost a day had passed since she'd last been there. She hadn't expected to miss it nearly this much. She found her way to the tower, told the Fat Lady 'Carpe Diem,' and scrambled through the portrait hole. The boys were in their usual spot. In the middle of the room, causing as much chaos as they possibly could. She couldn't help smiling at how crazy her friends were.

"Oi! Idiots!" She yelled. "I'm back!"

"Summer!" Lee called.

"Spring!" George exclaimed.

"Fall!" Fred copycatted.

"None of those are my name, y'know." Came her reply.

"Winter!" All three chorused.

The trio began laughing, while Autumn rolled her eyes, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the grin on her face. The other three continued chuckling until George sobered up enough to ask. "How's your gran?"

She proceeded to explain her grandmother's 'miraculous recovery.' Once she'd finished and the boys had expressed their enthusiasm, they all decided it was time for bed. They said goodnight and went up their respective staircases. In her dorm, Autumn explained what had happened with her gran to Katie and Angelina, then they all clambered into their beds and drew their curtains.

As she was lying on her mattress, looking up at the canopy, Autumn thought about the Red Room; her missions, her training, she knew something was off, she knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what to do about it.

Chapter Text

Autumn awoke with a feeling of dread growing in her stomach. She allowed herself an extra minute to lay in bed wallowing in her thoughts and memories. 

She felt like crying. 

She felt like wailing and screaming and vomiting and jumping off of the Astronomy Tower. 

‘NO.’ She told herself firmly. 

‘I’m not going to do any of that. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going to act like anything is wrong. I’m not going to die. 

This stupid day isn’t going to ruin my life.’

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a small voice reminded her that it already had.

*****

March 18. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal. 

March 18. It’s only a day. 

March 18. But it’s so much more than that. 

March 18. Because it was the last day she ever saw him alive. 

March 18. At least it was a Saturday, so she didn’t have to sit through classes.

March 18. But that didn’t matter. 

March 18. Nothing mattered. 

March 18. Certainly not her.

March 18. She had no right to be alive. 

March 18. Not on the day she’d lost her other half. 

March 18. Not on the day her twin had died. 

*****

That morning she skipped her run, and instead spent over two hours beating up punching bags. Thanks to her Asgardian strength, she had broken through several bags and had hit a couple off the hook and across the room. It was after she had finished that she realized she’d forgotten to wrap her hands, which were now extremely bloody and bruised. 

She jogged up to Gryffindor Tower, ignoring the few early risers who greeted her along the way, and ran straight up the stairs, grabbed some clothes, and took a quick shower. She quickly made her bruises go away, but the pain still lingered. 

‘It doesn’t matter.’ She thought bitterly. ‘I deserve it.’ 

Her eyes fell on one of her knives and, after a moment of consideration, she turned away from it. Determined not to hurt herself anymore. 

She pulled on her outfit for the day, it was much more casual than usual seeing as it was the weekend. She had on black jeans, a short sleeved black shirt with a purple and gray flannel over it, a black leather jacket on top, a black beanie, and her usual black boots. It was a bit darker than what she usually wore, but she didn’t care. She didn’t even bother to tie her hair back, instead letting it hang limp. 

‘Why does this day have to come? Why can’t the universe just remove it from existence? The world just keeps moving as if nothing ever happened. No one even knows. And those who do don’t care.’ At this point she was holding back tears, and she couldn’t take it anymore. 

She ran. 

She bolted through corridors, out the doors, and she didn’t stop running until she found herself on a small hill, covered in trees, overlooking the entirety of the Hogwarts grounds. She looked at the trees around her and picked one. Walking over to it, she examined its trunk. It wasn’t young or old. It just seemed healthy. She began climbing and, before she knew it, she was about halfway up. She settled into a branch, leaning her back against the trunk and tucking her knees up to her chest. 

She stayed there for a few hours, until she noticed a lone figure walking down to the quidditch pitch, with a broomstick over her shoulder. Autumn watched the girl mount the broom and take off. What she didn’t realize was that she was clearly visible from the other’s vantage point. 

“Oi! What are you doing up there?” That voice sounded very familiar. 

“Are you alright?” She knew that voice. It was! But it couldn’t be… But it sounds?…

“Sammy?” 

“How do you know my…” The girl trailed off before asking. “Cuz? Is that you?”

“Sam!” Autumn replied joyously. “Yeah, it’s me!” 

Samantha flew down to the branch Autumn was siting on and stepped off the broom to pull her cousin into a hug.

“I haven’t seen you in so long, Waterlily! How are you?” Sam asked as she pulled away from the hug to take in her younger cousin’s appearance. 

“I’m doing alright. How about you?” 

“Wait a minute, if you’re here, then that must mean Tom is, too! That’s so wonderful! I’m so happy for y-”

“Sam,” Autumn paused to steady her breathing, “Tom died.”

“… What?” 

“Six years ago, today.” 

This was clearly a lot for the older girl to take in, so the two sat down on the branch again. Autumn took this opportunity to look at her cousin. It had been six years ago, to the day, when Autumn had last seen her and a lot had changed. Her hair had gotten darker and her eyes a more vibrant green. Her slight Irish inflections remained, but her occasional Spanish twang was gone. 

“How did it happen?” Samantha whispered. 

“An animal attack.” She lied easily. 

“I’m so sorry Waterlily. It must be hard for you.” 

“Only every time I look in the mirror.” She joked, with no laughter in her tone.

“So,” The younger girl cleared her throat awkwardly. “What are you doing here?” 

“I was just getting an early warm up for the game today.”

“Oh, you’re playing? I’m assuming you’re Ravenclaw then.” 

“Yeah, and you are…” Sam paused, thinking. “Slytherin?” 

Autumn let out a laugh. “Close, but no.” 

The two sat laughing and talking until the rest of the Ravenclaw quidditch team came out and they decided to separate. 

“Alright,” Sam started, “I’ll see you later L-”

“Autumn.” She interrupted. 

“What?” Samantha questioned. 

“My name.” Autumn explained. “It’s Autumn, now. September.” 

Her cousin shot her a curious look, but didn’t question it. 

“Well, I’ll see you later then, Autumn.” 

“See ya ‘round, cuz.”

*****

Autumn caught up with the boys, who had apparently been searching the castle for her, and they all went to get an early dinner. They were about halfway done when another redhead, one that she didn’t know, walked into the Great Hall talking to Sam. They sat at their own tables, but still relatively close to each other.  

The twins also saw the redhead and started clapping and cheering. 

Autumn and Lee glanced at each other, then at the twins. 

“Umm.” Began Lee. “Who’s that?” 

“We haven’t introduced you yet?!” The redheads chorused. 

“Charlie!” “Charles!” “Charlington!” “Charlemagne!” 

“What?” The taller redhead yelled towards them. 

“Get over here!” 

‘Charlie’ grudgingly stood up and walked over to them. 

“Meet our best friends! This is Lee Jordan and Autumn September!” 

Autumn and Lee nodded and smiled. 

“Oh, well nice to meet you. I’m Charlie, the twins’ older brother.” 

“They seem to have a lot of those, don’t they?” Lee asked jokingly. 

Once the laughter had died down, they finished their meals and Charlie grabbed a quick dinner. Then they all made their way down to the quidditch pitch. They said goodbye to Charlie, who was the team captain and seeker, and they climbed up a bunch of stairs to reach a viewing box. They slid into their seats and waited for the match to start. 

*****

“GO CHARLIE!!!” 

“GET IT!!!”

“IT’S RIGHT THERE!!!”

“COME ON CHARLES!!!”

Charlie was neck in neck with the Ravenclaw seeker, both hurtling towards the ground, chasing a small golden ball. Charlie leaned further, stretching his arm out as much as he could, until the Snitch suddenly changed directions. The Ravenclaw seeker didn’t turn in time and ended up crashing into the bottom of the stands. But Charlie didn’t stop. He was still chasing after the Snitch, until…

‘CRACK’

A Bludger hit him in the back of the head and he was knocked off his broom. Luckily, he wasn’t too far off the ground, so it didn’t seem that bad.

Madame Hooch, the referee, called a timeout, and the players flew to the ground to check on their teammates. Autumn saw Sam checking on her seeker, and Charlie getting yanked up by his keeper. 

“Oof, that must’ve hurt. And the score is currently 80-10 to Ravenclaw, thanks to Rodriguez’s amazing chaser skills!” Came the commentator’s voice. “Of course, Wood of Gryffindor is a very skilled keeper, and has blocked over a dozen attempts from Ravenclaw, but can he keep it up? We’ll find out once Weasley of Gryffindor and Elliott of Ravenclaw return to their brooms.” 

“I want to try out for chaser next year.” Said Angelina from Katie’s right. 

“Me too!” “Same!” Came Autumn and Katie’s responses. 

“We want to try out for beaters.” Chorused the twins from Lee’s left. 

Everyone looked at Lee, who put his hands up in mock surrender and said, “Don’t look at me! I want to be the commentator next year, since McNullys leaving.” 

“You’d be good at it, Lee.” 

“Yeah.” “You really would.” “Definitely.” “I can see it.” 

“McGonagall would be telling you to stop swearing all the time.” 

Lee glared at Autumn while raising his middle finger at her. She simply smirked. 

“Lee! There are children present!” Angelina hissed.

“We’re literally the youngest students here, Ange.” Katie stated. 

“B- I- Th-“

“What was that?” Autumn asked innocently. 

Angelina glared at her.

The commentator announced that they would resume playing, and the first years turned back to the game. 

*****

“AND CHARLIE WEASLEY OF GRYFFINDOR GETS THE SNITCH, BUT ITS A TIE! 160-160!” The commentator screamed over the cheering crowd. “THIS MEANS A REMATCH WILL BE SCHEDULED. THANK YOU FOR COMING AND GOODNIGHT!”

Autumn, Lee, and the twins sprinted down the stairs, and out to the field. The boys running to the Gryffindor team, while Autumn ran to congratulate her cousin. 

“Sammy!” 

Sam looked up just in time to receive an armful of Autumn, knocking them both over. 

“That was amazing Sam! You’re really good!” 

“Thanks Waterlily! I’m just surprised it was a tie!” She laughed as they stood up. “I knew Charlie would get the Snitch, so I tried to score as many times as I could.” She explained. “I just didn’t expect it to work.” She added under her breath. The two laughed together until two redheads popped up on either side of Autumn. 

“Autumn!” They chorused

“Hello, boys.” Autumn answered in a false bored tone. 

“Autumn! How do you know Ms. Rodriguez here?” 

“She’s my cousin.” Sam answered for her. 

“Well then! I’m Fred Weasley!” George exclaimed.

“And I’m George Weasley!” Said Fred.

“And we believe you’re dating our brother.” They finished together. 

“Oh?” Autumn said, raising an inquiring eyebrow at her cousin. 

“Charlie and I are just friends.” Sam assured defensively. 

“They never said which brother.” Autumn replied in a sing-song voice. 

Sam opened her mouth to defend herself, but eventually closed it, muttering. “Shut up.” 

The three first years grinned smugly. 

*****

The Gryffindor team collectively decided to invite the Ravenclaw team back to Gryffindor Tower for an after party, and Autumn, Lee, Fred, George, Sam, and Charlie were sitting in front of the fireplace, talking about the game. They joked and laughed until finally, they called it a night. The boys said goodnight and went up their staircase. Then Sam hugged Autumn and they said goodnight. Autumn was walking up the stairs when Sam called out to her. 

“Oh, Autumn?”

She stopped and turned to face her cousin, “Yeah?” 

“Happy Birthday.” 

Autumn’s breath caught in her throat. 

“Thanks, cuz.”

Chapter Text

"So." Started Lee.

"So?" Interrupted Autumn.

"Soooo..." Fred joked.

"Soooo?" George copied.

Lee rolled his eyes at his friends and continued.

"So, it's our last day of our first year. Have any of you thought about that?"

The group went quiet, thinking about the previous year.

"Has it really been that long?" Autumn spoke.

"It's gone by so fast." George continued.

"I'm going to miss it." Lee whispered.

"We've still got next year." Fred finished.

They all smiled quietly, until Autumn smirked. "Want to go out with a bang, boys?"

The three boys glanced at each other, then answered. "Is there any other way to go?"

And with those words Hogwarts suffered the wrath of the four pranksters.

Oh, they were looking forward to next year alright...

*****

Several hours later, Autumn, Angelina, Katie, Lee, Fred, and George were all piled into one compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Eight rounds of Exploding Snap, three choruses of the Hogwarts School Song, and a couple of Chocolate Frog debates later, the train pulled into the station. Autumn looked out the window sadly, thinking about how long it would be before she would get to go back.

"Cheer up, Autumn!" Said George cheerfully. "We'll see you in a few months."

Autumn nodded. "Yeah, it's just... I'm gonna miss you all."

The six crowded in for a giant group hug, then they left the train and darted off in different directions.

Autumn calmly scanned the crowd, zeroing in on the face of her handler, Anastasia Balakov. She strode towards the woman, and came to a stop right in front of her.

"Come, Manya."

Autumn was almost surprised by the Russian, but she quickly got back into her old rhythm, not responding and simply following.

As she sat in the car on the way to the airport, one thought remained in her mind.

'How did I ever manage to do this?' 

Chapter Text

We didn't have tests in the Red Room. Well, at least not your typical ones. 

For us, every day was a test. 

A test to survive. A test to make sure any ounce of mercy we had was gone. A test to make sure our consciences were drowned out by our training. 

If the 'teachers' thought one of us was too soft, the girl in question would be forced to fight the best student in the Red Room: me. 

They called these fights, 'Выживание сильнейшего', which means, 'Survival of the Fittest'. How it worked was, the two girls, me and whoever was failing, would face each other on a large mat and fight until one of us was dead. As you have probably guessed, I never lost, but I did have my problems with it. 

The first time, I refused to kill her. 

I was dragged away to the one of the small cells. They beat me; threw me against walls, broke my fingers, whipped my back to the bone (I still have some of the scars), all the while I stayed silent. I didn't scream. I didn't wail. I didn't beg. 

I didn't make a sound. 

Once they'd finished, they left me there. In that cell. In the dark. Without food. Or water. Smelling my own blood. And drenched in it, too. I also had to deal with a full moon on the fourth day.

They didn't come back for two weeks.   

After that I learned not to rebel against them.

I did whatever they told me to. No hesitation. No questions asked. It didn't matter if they wanted me to kill a fellow student. Or an unknown soldier. Or a mother. Or the mute girl who slept in the bed next to mine. Or if they wanted me to slip into a hospital and plant a bomb. Or a police station. Or an orphanage. 

I was their perfect little soldier, but what I didn't realize, was that I wasn't the only one.' 

-(Excerpt from 'Vita Mea')

*****

Autumn had been readjusting to life in the Red Room. 

It was much harder than she'd expected. She had forgotten how painful it was to sleep with one wrist handcuffed to her bed, and how little she was supposed to speak, and how she wasn't allowed to ask questions. 

She had expected the issues to go away, but after two weeks the doubts were still in her head. 

"Manya!" 

Autumn looked up at the sharp voice. She had been on her way to her sparring session with Madame Balakov when someone stopped her. 

"Come, Manya." The woman called her. 

'I'm not a dog.' She thought bitterly. 'I shouldn't have to come when my owner calls.' 

She went anyway, of course, and followed the woman to the mat usually used for 'Выживание сильнейшего'. 

The woman turned to her. "We have brought in the two best fighters from the other branches of the Red Room. You will fight both. You will not kill them. Don't disappoint us." 

She stood next to the mat, silently observing and deducing. 

She was sure that the fight had something to do with the three branches of the Red Room. 

Hers was located in Nizhny Novgorod. They called it the NN Branch. 

There was also the M Branch in Moscow. 

Then the K Branch in Kazan. 

Each of the branches was closely tied with an outside organization. The K Branch with the KGB. The M Branch with an unknown organization they called 'Ular Naga', and the NN Branch was mostly standalone, but they did occasionally join forces with one or both of the other branches or organizations. 

She caught sight of a man with dark hair and a red beret, Vasily Karpov, from the M Branch, talking idly with Madame Balakov and a man with brown hair in a sleek ponytail, Alexander Cady, from the K Branch. 

What really grabbed her attention were the two people standing near the group. 

There was a woman with curly dark red hair, maybe in her mid to late twenties, looking around, several feet away from the group on one side. 

And a burly man with shoulder length brown hair and a metal arm, also in his mid to late twenties, glaring at a spot on the wall, standing very close to the group. 

She studied the man first. 

'Not looking around... Standing very close to his handler... Ah, he's got it worse than me, a dog kept on a very short leash... Because... They're scared. Of what though?... He's their operative.' 

Theories popped into her head, but the man shifted his gaze to her and she understood. 

'Winter Soldier.' 

They held eye contact and she contemplated smiling or glaring, but eventually settled for a small nod. A sign of respect. He nodded back slightly, then went back to staring at the wall. 

'Mind control. That explains it.'  

She then set her gaze on the woman. 

'Looking around, but not at her handler... Standing very far away from him... Some sort of subconscious avoidance, possibly trauma...' 

After puzzling over that for a while, she focused on fighting styles. 

'Suit seems very flexible, probably uses gymnastics a bit... But that looks more like inexperienced wushu... The stance seems like Russian traditional...' 

She eventually came to the conclusion that the woman knew a lot of different styles, and she turned to figure out the man. 

'Brute force, most likely... Definitely wasn't trained in Russia first... Possibly, American?... Still hard to beat.'  

"Shadow." Called Madame Balakov. 

Autumn looked at her, slightly surprised, but never showing it. She wasn't called by that name very often. 

She quickly got the message and stepped up onto the mat, she saw the man doing the same thing on the other side. 

They both moved into their fighting stances and waited for a signal. 

There was a bell sound, and the fight began. 

Autumn instantly leapt into action. 

She swiftly kicked out his knee while nailing him with a left hook. But he was ready for her. He grabbed her around the throat and tried to smash her into the ground, but she turned it into a back handspring and was back up in an instant. 

They slowly circled each other, trying to anticipate their opponent's next move. 

Autumn suddenly struck, using a mix of karate and wushu to weaken the Soldier. She moved too fast for him to catch her, until she went to kick his knee out again. He caught her leg and twisted it, trying to dislocate it. Instead, she let the rest of her body spin with it, using the Soldier to support her full weight. 

He quickly pulled her into a headlock with his metal arm, slowly cutting off her oxygen supply. She punched him in the face and elbowed him in the abdomen, but his grip didn't loosen. 

'Well, what's the NN Branch motto, "We don't fight fair; we fight to win."' 

Something in her mind settled and she brought her foot up between his legs as hard as she could.

It hit its target. 

The Soldier loosened his grip just enough for Autumn to grab his regular arm and use her Asgardian strength to flip him over her head, onto the ground. She kept a tight hold on his arm and placed one foot on his shoulder, then yanked backward on his arm until she heard a crack. 

He let out a yell of pain and she quickly shifted her position to grab his head between her hands, ready to break his neck at any second. 

He tried to grab her and throw her over his head, but she caught his metal arm with one hand and grabbed his hair at the back of his head with the other. Then she smashed his head onto his metal arm. Hard. 

Then again. And again. And again. 

Once she decided he was weak enough, she put him back in the previous position, ready to snap his neck. After a few seconds, she looked up at Madame Balakov. The woman paused, then shook her head. 

Autumn released the Soldier and stepped away, facing the three handlers. 

She stood stock still, waiting for the Soldier to stand up as well. Once he did, their handlers nodded to them, and they exited the mat. 

*****

Natalia Romanova was slightly anxious. 

Her handler had explained that the three branches of the Red Room were meeting to essentially show off their best students. He hadn’t told her why, but she had a few guesses. 

She and her handler had been the first to arrive. They were greeted by a woman with impeccable posture and a blond bob. She introduced herself as Anastasia Balakov, the handler for the NN Branch’s champion. 

A few minutes later, the representatives from the M Branch showed up: Vasily Karpov and a brown haired man with a metal arm. Last, a woman with brown hair in a tight bun entered the room. She seemed too scrawny to be NN’s champion, but she wasn’t about to underestimate her. 

While she was busy with her psychoanalysis, she almost missed the little girl walking behind the woman. Once the girl was fully in the room, the woman turned to speak to her, and Natalia examined the girl. 

She couldn’t have been older than 12. She had long black hair in a French braid down her back and calculating brown eyes. She didn’t say a word while the woman spoke to her, merely nodding at the end of her spiel. 

‘She reminds me of…’ Natalia began to think, but she cut herself off. ‘No. Don’t get attached. You’ll have to fight her.’ She scolded herself. ‘I know I’ll win against her, it’s the man I need to worry about.’ 

“Shadow!” 

The black haired girl, or Shadow as it seemed, looked up at Anastasia Balakov. She quickly stepped up onto the mat and drew back into a fighting position, while the man did the same. Then they fought. 

It was brutal. And painful to watch. 

The man had been relying on brute force mostly, while the Shadow had countered it with her own, almost inhuman, strength and a mix of several different fighting styles. It was only when the Shadow kicked him in the groin that Natalia remembered the NN Branch’s motto. 

‘They don’t fight fair; they fight to win.’ 

The Shadow was going to be harder to beat than she’d thought.

Chapter Text

When the Winter Soldier had been told to fight a little girl, he was confused, to say the least. 

He knew better than to underestimate her, the Red Room started agents very young after all, but he had surmised that this ‘event’ was for the best of the best. A child was not what he immediately thought of as the best. After all, she wasn’t nearly as strong as he was. He could probably just hit her in the head once and she’d be dead. It didn’t seem like a fair fight. 

He knew that thought was a mistake the moment they started fighting. 

She was extremely fast, incredibly strong, and cunningly brutal. Every time he went in for a hit, she would dodge it and use it to her advantage. It was like trying to fight wind. You can’t hit it, but it can kick your ass. And she did. 

He wasn’t exactly surprised he had lost. He knew his handler would be dissatisfied, the M Branch strived to be the best, but there was no way he could have won that fight. Now, he was just interested to see what would happen when the red haired woman met the black haired girl on the mat. 

*****

Their fight was almost too fast to see. 

They were punching, deflecting, kicking, and redirecting so quickly that almost no one could tell what was going on. Until they both stopped.

The Shadow was standing behind the woman, who was on her knees. Both had cuts and bruises on their faces, but neither seemed to care. The Shadow had one hand ready to snap the woman’s neck, while her other arm was restraining the redhead. 

He supposed it must have been pretty easy for her. The K Branch strived for perfection. The NN Branch fought to win. 

The woman struggled for a few moments longer, but it was clear that the Shadow had won. 

The girl’s handler shook her head slightly at her, and the Shadow released the woman. They both stood up, nodded to their handlers and exited the mat. 

Then it was the Soldier’s turn to fight the woman. 

***** 

The third fight lasted much longer than the other two. It was about seven minutes after they started that the Winter Soldier put her in a choke hold that she couldn’t get out of. 

The Black Widow had lost twice in one day. Her handler would not be happy. 

They both stood up and walked off the mat. All three handlers left the large area, entering a smaller office-like room and closing the door behind them. 

Natalia knew she needed to treat her injuries, but she didn’t have anything with her. She looked around for some sign of an infirmary, but she didn’t see anything. She suddenly felt someone’s eyes on her and she turned her head to see the Shadow watching her, silently. 

They locked eyes for a moment longer, then the girl walked to a door and opened it. She looked back over her shoulder and motioned for the others to follow her. 

Natalia considered it, then walked after her. The heavy footsteps from behind her told her that the Soldier had come too. 

They strode down hallways, turning every so often, until the Shadow came to a stop in front of a door. It looked just like the others, but when she opened it, it was very apparent that it was the infirmary. There were white medicine cabinets along the walls, a sink, and a table with several chairs. 

The Shadow opened a cabinet, pulling out some bandages and rubbing alcohol. She placed them on the table and they all silently cleaned their own wounds, Natalia bandaged the cut on her arm, the Soldier stopped his nosebleed, and the Shadow cleaned the scratch on her cheek. Once they’d finished, the black-haired girl put away the supplies. 

“What’s your name?” Natalia asked, surprised at her own forward ness. 

Both of the other fighters looked up at the sound of her voice, but her eyes were on the little girl. 

The Shadow paused before answering, studying the redhead. 

“They call me Volkov here.” The black-haired girl responded quietly. 

Natalia leaned forward, offering her hand. “Romanova. It’s good to meet you.” 

The girl hesitantly took her hand and they shook. Then they both turned their heads to the Soldier. 

“What about you, Soldier?” Asked the woman. 

The man made no reply, just shifted his gaze from the table to the wall, no longer glaring at it. 

Volkov understood instantly. “You don’t know, do you?” 

His eyes met hers, and he nodded silently. 

***** 

Six hours later, the assassins finally learned why they had been brought together. 

After the three fights, they had been tested in many areas: archery, sniper rifles, pistol shooting, strength, knife fighting, martial arts, kickboxing, jiu jitsu, wushu, karate, throwing knives/hatchets/ninja stars/blades, etc. They all felt like they would collapse at any moment. 

The Shadow could feel blood trickling down her back under her shirt, where a shooting range gone-slightly-wrong incident had mutilated part of her back. It would definitely leave a scar. But she stood stock still anyway, waiting for her handler to speak. 

The Soldier could feel his arm pulling itself off. It had been partially sliced by a knife, where it met his skin, and the nerves there had already been damaged a long time ago. He felt like someone was cutting his arm off again. But he bit his tongue, literally, and kept quiet, waiting for an explanation. 

The Widow could feel her broken bones poking through her skin. It was taking every ounce of strength that she had not to throw up or cry out, but she stayed quiet, silently begging the handlers to hurry up and explain so she could treat her arm. 

Finally, Anastasia Balakov stood up from the table that the handlers had been sitting at and faced the three assassins, who were standing in a line. 

“You have all been brought here today, because we are forming a team of the most elite assassins in the world. Unfortunately, none of the other candidates have survived up to thi-” 

Vasily Karpov stood up, slamming his hand on the table. “GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!” 

Madame Balakov turned back to face him. “Perhaps you would prefer to tell them, Mr. Karpov.” She spat, annoyed by the interruption. 

“Perhaps I will.” He growled back. Then he moved to stand in front of the assassins. “As she said, this group is the best of the best. Take a look around everyone. 

“We’re in the presence of the three best assassins on the planet.”

Chapter Text

1 Month Later

SCREECH!

A green SUV raced around a corner, the smell of burning rubber and the sound of squealing tires following it.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A pistol fired from somewhere inside of it, aimed towards the three black cars speeding after it. Two of the shots hit their target and one of the drivers slumped over in his seat, dead, while his car continued on its path until it ran off the road and into a row of parked cars, flipping onto its side before catching fire.

“Nice shot Sarge!” The driver of the SUV called out to the man in the backseat.

“Just get rid of them! She’s losing a lot of blood!” The man yelled back.

The driver made a sharp left turn, running a red light and losing another one of the cars.

“Pass me a gun and take care of her!” The driver ordered.

The man obeyed instantly, tossing a handgun into the front seat before turning his attention to the bleeding woman in the backseat.

The driver stuck her left hand, holding the gun, out the window, carefully took aim using the side mirrors, and fired three times with one hand. She hit her target and the last car was off their tail.

“How’s she doing back there Sarge?”

“Lost a lot of blood, but I got the bullet out so she should be- SHIT!”

The woman in the backseat screamed and the man cursed loudly.

“WHAT HAPPENED?!” The driver yelled. “SARGE?! NOVA?!”

“HE STABBED ME!” The woman answered.

The driver almost slammed on the brakes. “HE WHAT?!”

“NO I DIDN'T!” Defended the man. “I’LL EXPLAIN IN A MINUTE, JUST GET US BACK!”

The driver slammed her foot down on the accelerator, and they sped off.

*****

Ten minutes later, they pulled into an old, abandoned parking garage.

The driver unbuckled and turned around, moving to sit on the center console, facing her two teammates in the backseat. “So.” Autumn began calmly. “What. The Hell. HAPPENED?”

Natalia Romanova tried to sit up, failing due to the bullet wound near her stomach. “He was trying to bandage my wound, but you made a sharp turn and I got thrown into the knife he was holding.”

Autumn turned to the Soldier. “Really, Sarge? Of all the ways to stab your teammate in the back, you had to do it literally.”

“Oh shut up.” The Soldier glared at her.

“Don’t talk back to your captain, Sergeant.” She teased, emphasizing their ranks.

The redhead in the backseat rolled her eyes and spoke up. “Hey Cap?”

“Yeah Nova?” Autumn answered, still locked in a staring contest with the Soldier.

“We still need to make the drop.”

“…Shit.”

Autumn slid back into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking garage, blowing through a stop sign.

“Hey! No one’s chasing us, at least use your blinker.” The Soldier scolded her.

“Right.”

She stared at the steering wheel and the levers, a quizzical expression on her face.

“What’s the problem, Cap?” Natalia sat up, wincing as she did, and slid up to the front seat.

“Uh…” Autumn began nervously. “So, funny story. When we were assigning jobs, you know I got stuck as the getaway driver.”

“Get to the point, kid.” The Soldier ordered form the back.

“Thing is, I don’t exactly know how to drive.” Autumn spat out in a rush.

The car was dead silent.

“…You. WHAT?!” The Soldier growled.

“They never taught us!” Autumn said defensively.

The Soldier sighed. “Why are you the captain, again?”

“Can it, Sergeant.” She spat, emphasizing his rank. “You know why.”

“Yeah,” The Soldier scoffed. “Because apparently a twelve year old is the best assassin in the world.”

“You mean a twelve year old is better than you.” Autumn taunted.

Natalia sighed. “That one’s the blinker, now drive. We’re losing daylight.”

They all settled into their seats, Natalia occasionally reminding Autumn what button to press or where the speedometer was.

“Hey Cap, quick question.” The Soldier piped up.

Autumn rolled her eyes. “What now?”

“You don’t look twelve.” He stated.

“No shit Sherlock.” She said sarcastically. “I’m a metamorphmagus, idiot, we’ve been over this.”

“Right. And you’re a witch, too.” He said disbelievingly.

“I didn’t want to tell you.” Autumn reminded him. “It wasn’t my idea. I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”

The Soldier scoffed. “Why should I?”

“Why should I believe you don’t remember your own name?” She shot back viciously.

“That’s ENOUGH.” Natalia cut in, ending the conversation. “I swear, you two act like children half the time.”

Autumn snorted. “Well, we’re the three best assassins in the world. You really expect us to be professional? Come on Nova.”

The redhead chuckled, lightly shoving the black haired girl.

“Alright, I gotta ask.” The Soldier started.

“Great, another question.” Autumn groaned.

Natalia shot her a look. “What’s your question Sarge?”

“Where did the whole ‘Nova’ thing come from?”

“Oh.” Autumn said, surprised. “It’s because her last name’s Romanova. You know, take off the ‘Roma’ and you get ‘Nova’.”

He nodded slightly. “But why not ‘Nat’?”

Autumn thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I guess Nova just sounds… better, to me.”

They fell into another silence, until they pulled off the road and into the parking lot of a little roadside inn.

“We’re here.” Autumn stated, her professionalism returning. “You got the package Sarge?”

The Soldier, also regaining his rectitude, silently handed her a small, silver flash drive.

“All that work for one little flash drive.” She noted, almost disgustedly.

The three exited the car, each with their singular bags, and entered the building.

*****

An hour or so later, the drop was complete and the three assassins headed up to their rooms.

Autumn set her bag down, checked her room for bugs, both the literal and mechanical kind, then layer down on the bed, asleep in an instant.

Natalia also checked for bugs, then set up her laptop and started doing research for their next job.

The Soldier set his bag down and pulled out a small, journal-like book, trying to remember something. Anything. He was close to remembering his name. He already had his initials, J.B.B. He scribbled down some possibilities, crossing out a few that didn't quite sound right.

Eventually, all three were asleep, one slightly peacefully, one plagued with nightmares, and one bogged down in confusion.

None of them wanted to get up the next morning.

But they did, because they always did.

Besides... they had a job to do.

Chapter Text

"Target's name is…” Autumn paused, uncertain, trying to read the name. “Ch-cherls D. Gran-grantaire." Autumn announced to her teammates. The name reminded her of something, she just couldn’t remember what. 

“It’s pronounced like Charles.” The Soldier spoke up. “And the last name is like Grant-air.” 

Autumn nodded gratefully. “Simple extraction and desecration, at least thirty armed guards. They're providing us with a van and a motorcycle. Nova, since you're out of commission for a while, you're getaway driver." 

Natalia huffed and rolled her eyes from her spot, sprawled out on her bed. 

"Hey!" Autumn chided, ceasing her pacing. "You want to participate in missions then don't get shot." 

The redhead muttered something that sounded like, “Didn’t choose to…” 

Autumn rolled her eyes and the Soldier snickered slightly from the chair in the corner. 

“Anyway…” Autumn emphasized. “We leave in two hours. Deadline’s tomorrow.” 

There was a long silence, punctuated by the rattling air conditioning turning itself on. 

The Soldier stood up and crossed to the door, turning to face his teammates. “You going to sit there and brood or are you going to get packed?” 

Autumn smirked and Natalia threw a pillow at him. 

***** 

A little after sunset, the trio pulled up in a parking garage and got out, instead climbing into the large black van that sat there, waiting for them. 

Autumn opened the back and wolf-whistled at the sleek, dark motorcycle sitting inside. 

“Oh yeah.” She nodded, walking around it. “This is totally mine now.” 

Natalia laughed and hopped into the driver’s seat, while Autumn and the Soldier sat in the back, a map on a screen between them. 

“Alright,” Began Autumn. “She’s gonna drop me off here. So, if you hit the breaker and I come in through that window,” She marked a spot on the map. “Then I can gas out these two rooms, and you can slip in this way and meet me in this room.” She pointed out places on the map. “You grab Dr. Gredfbnkinbg-“ 

“Grantaire.” 

“And meet Nova here in the van. Then you guys head to the rendezvous here, while I place the bombs and get out on the bike.” 

“You’re really attached to that bike.” The Soldier stated. “Sounds good, usual signals?” 

“Yeah.” Agreed Autumn. “One for something went wrong, two for kill, three for abort.” 

“Right.” The Soldier cocked his gun. “Let’s do this.” 

*****

Thirty minutes later, the van pulled up next to a barbed wire fence at the edge of a property line. 

Autumn finished off the long french braid in her hair and pulled on a mask and goggles. 

“Sarge, you better not be taking my gun again!” Came Natalia’s voice over their coms. 

The Soldier looked up, clearly holding the redhead’s gun. “Of course not. I would never do that.” 

The Widow huffed impatiently. “Just get on with it.” 

Autumn could practically see Nova rolling her eyes as she hopped out, climbed on top of the van and jumped over the fence, somersaulting upon landing. 

“Clear.” She said over her coms. “Get going.” 

The van pulled away, and Autumn took off, darting across the grounds like a fox. 

***** 

“In position.” Autumn stated quietly into her earpiece. “Sarge, what’s your status?” 

“En route.” The Soldier responded. 

The Shadow adjusted her mask and turned on the night vision function on her goggles. 

“In position.” The Soldier said in a low voice. 

Autumn gave a small nod. “Commence in three…” 

The Shadow pulled out the gas canisters and drew back into position. 

“Two…” 

The Soldier pulled out a knife and identified the breaker. 

“One…” 

The Widow tightened her grip on the steering wheel, watching her teammates through a pair of binoculars. 

“Initiate Phase One.” 

The man cut the power, plunging the building into darkness. 

As disgruntled cries rang out in every room, the Shadow slipped in through a window and landed lightly on the floor. 

She flicked off the covers and silently placed one in the air vent and the other by the door, closing and locking it behind her. 

“Phase One complete. Initiate Phase Two.” 

On the other side of the building, the Soldier crashed through a window into an empty room. 

“On my way.” He murmured. 

He walked around a corner and, upon seeing the swarm of guards congregated there in panic, he stepped back around the corner. 

The Soldier tapped his earpiece once, letting them know about his situation. 

He contemplated his next move for a moment, then tapped his earpiece twice, cocked his gun, and stepped into the hallway. 

***** 

When Autumn heard the first tap over her coms, she’d frozen, then sped up, trying to get to the target faster. She had just snapped some guard’s neck when the two taps came. 

‘So much for stealth.’

At the sound of gunshots and fighting, she sprinted down the hall, directed by Nova, until she reached a brown door. She stopped, steadied her breathing, and kicked it down, the sheer force propelling it across the room and taking out several guards. 

Before any of the others even had time to react, she’d pulled out a gun and fired four times. 

Two of the guards stormed her, trying to knock her down, but she punched one in the face, knocking him out, and shoved the barrel of her gun in the other one’s neck, burning him. 

She grabbed the second one by his shirt and threw him at the remaining guards, rendering them unconscious, before she strode over to the man tied up in the corner, with a bag over his head. 

“Target located.” She informed her team. “Sarge, where are you?” 

“I’m…” The man’s voice crackled through the coms. 

‘Thump.’

“A little…” Autumn could tell he was spitting out blood.

‘Crack!’ 

“BUSY!” He finished with an aggravated yell. 

The Shadow was unimpressed. 

“Ya done?” 

There were several bangs, crashes, and a couple of screams. Then the door opened, and the Soldier walked in, covered in blood. 

“Shut up, Cap.” 

She just smirked. 

“Alright, you get him out of here. I got most of the bombs planted; let me add the others, then I’ll be right behind you.” 

The Soldier nodded. 

“Pretty sure he’s been sedated, by the way.” She added. “You might want to keep the bag on his head so he doesn’t puke on you when he wakes up.” 

The Soldier chuckled and tossed the target onto his shoulder, fireman style. 

“See you Cap.” 

***** 

Autumn raced through the building, placing small detonators in strategic places. 

She screeched to a halt in front of another door, marked ‘Possessions’. 

‘Dr. Grgcchjls’s stuff is probably in here.’ 

She dashed inside, took out the guards, and glanced around for anything that caught her eye. 

The Shadow spotted ‘Grantaire’ on a strange brown bag and quickly grabbed it. 

Riffling through it, she came across several odd crystal bottles with strange liquids inside. 

‘That’s not alcohol… What the bloody hell?’ 

She shoved them back in the bag, slung it over her shoulder, and dashed out of the room, heading towards the exit. 

As soon as she had reached the bike, she hit the button for the detonators and sped away. 

The black haired girl drove through the city, remembering what her teammates had told her about speed limits. She kept an eye on her speedometer, making sure she was going about seven miles over the speed limit. 

But something wasn’t right. 

Autumn knew it. 

But she didn’t know what it was.

She just couldn’t shake the weird feeling she had. 

Cherls D. Grantaire. 

The name seemed to trigger something in the back of her mind, she just couldn’t figure out what. 

She frowned in concentration, rearranging the letters in her mind. 

‘Arther Cidlangres. That can’t be a real name.

Carsen Rider Galth. No.

Carter Glen Shadir. Huh. Sounds more like a real name.

Chandler Trage Sr. Possibly

Charles Tidranger. Oof. Feel bad for him if it is. 

Charles Artreding… Just no. 

Charlie Narrdgest. NO. 

Dr. Nicales Rathger. No one spells Nicholas like that. 

Dr. Alestair Chreng… Maybe.

Leonard G. Richstar. I hope not.

Lester Archarding. That’s a terrible name. 

Raiden Charlstreg… Meh. 

Richard Legrantes… 

Richard… 

Wait.’

She suddenly pulled off the road, digging through the bag until she spotted what she was looking for. 

A thin stick of wood. 

The world seemed to stop as she stared at the wand. 

‘It can’t be…’ 

But it added up. The wand, the crystal bottles in the bag, the strange quality of the bag itself…

They had a wizard on their hands. 

‘Richard… 

Shit.’ 

The Shadow took off again, speed limits forgotten, tearing up the pavement in her rush to get to her team. 

*****

Natalia paced worriedly, wincing anytime her wound moved, when the Soldier re-entered the room. 

The redhead turned to him. “Did you find her?” 

The man shook his head dully. “She did make it out, right?” 

“Yes.” Natalia nodded her head. “She had the bike, remember? She should be fine. I just don’t know why she’s not back yet…” 

They returned to their silence, worry filling the air, until there were two knocks on the door and it opened, revealing Autumn. 

“Cap, there you are!” The Soldier said, not quite taking in the meaning of the two knocks. “We were getting worri-“ 

But Autumn didn’t give him a chance to finish. 

She strode purposefully towards the man in the corner, yanked the bag off his head and pulled out her handgun, firing three times. 

Directly into his chest.

Chapter Text

The room erupted in chaos. 

'Mr. Grantaire' let out a strangled yelp, staring at the bullet holes in his shirt. The Soldier was yelling, "CAP, WHAT THE HELL?!" Natalia had leapt forward to grab the gun out of Autumn's hand and was almost screaming. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" 

But the black haired girl ignored them, her piercing, angry gaze fixed solely on the captive. 

The man met her eyes and slowly, agonizingly slowly, he stood. He let out a horrible chuckle, more like a cruel scoff, and slow-clapped as he moved to face the black haired girl. 

She spoke first, her voice quavering and her posture defensive. "Bullet-proof vest?" At her words, her teammates shared a worried glance. They had never seen Autumn nervous or scared before. 

The captive man laughed cruelly. "Of course, little one." He said in a false baby voice. "Bullets can penetrate shield charms, remember?" 

Autumn was shaking. From what, no one knew. Maybe fear, maybe anger, or repressed sobs, or maybe something else entirely. "What," Her voice was low and harsh. "Are you doing here?" 

"Tut tut." The man replied. "You shouldn't be focused on me when you have your own problems to deal with." 

The black haired girl pulled out her knife and pointed it at him, slowly regaining her confidence. "Answer the question." 

"Why," The man pulled out a pair of glasses, wiped them off and put them on. "I'm just a poor scientist, m'dear, and I haven't the faintest idea why those people kidnapped me. Speaking of which, if you would allow me to leave now, I have a family back at home and my wife is making a pie." 

"So she's still alive." Autumn murmured, more to herself than anyone else. 

"Despite your, rather gruesome, attempts, yes." The man replied. "She's alive." 

Natalia took a step forward and cleared her throat. "Cap?" Autumn turned slightly to her, eyes still on the captive. "Cap, can we talk to you for a second?" 

The man laughed. "Oh, I'm afraid she doesn't exactly want to ta-" He was cut off by Autumn's knife hurtling towards him and pinning him to the wall by his shirt. The black haired girl turned to him briefly. "Shut up." Then she grabbed Nova's arm and pulled her out of the room. "Sarge, watch him." 

Once the two were safely down the hallway, Autumn began pacing, running a hand through her hair. The redhead turned to her. "Cap," She said cautiously. "Who is he?" 

Autumn stopped. "His name is Richard Lestrange." She spoke in an almost disbelieving tone. "He's a wizard." 

"Who is he to you? And who's 'still alive despite your attempts?'”

The black haired girl still didn't look at her. "He's my father. We were talking about my mother, who is unfortunately still alive. And-You know what, no.” She shook her head. “I’m not dealing with this shit right now. I'll explain everything in the morning." 

"Autumn!" Natalia shouted. "Stop for a minute!" 

The black haired girl looked up at her with sympathetic eyes. "I'm so sorry Nova, but-… please. Just let me sleep, and I'll explain tomorrow." 

Natalia's expression didn't change until she sighed and pointed at Autumn. "I'm holding you to that." 

The ghost of a smile flickered on Autumn's face. "Good." 

The redhead hesitated, eyes full of worry, before she locked the door and slid down against it with her eyes closed, trying to let everything sink in. 

"Natalia." 

Her eyes opened and she looked up to see the Soldier sticking his head out of a door down the hall. She stood and walked over to him. "What is it?" 

The Soldier glanced back into the room where Autumn's father was tied up in the chair in the corner again. "He wants to talk to us." 

She looked up at him. Both were wary, but their combined curiosity quickly overcame that. "Let's see what he wants then." 

***** 

The man chuckled evilly and motioned for Natalia and the Soldier to come closer. 

"Sit down, make yourselves comfortable!" He urged with false earnestness. Once they had seated themselves, his smile turned almost senile. "Now, what would you like to know?" 

The two exchanged a confused glance before Natalia answered, "I'm pretty sure you wanted to talk to us. Not the other way around." 

The man's face fell and he waved his hand like he was swatting a fly. "Unimportant," His expression suddenly turned diplomatic. "But still, you are correct... I believe now is the time for formal introductions, as we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Richard Lestrange, you might have heard of my family? The Lestranges? No? Not even my sister-in-law, Bellatrix?" At their evident confusion he smiled manically. "Not wizards then. No experience with it magic al-" 

"Hang on a second," The Soldier interrupted, speaking in front of the captive for the first time. "We were told your name was Cherls Grantaire-" 

"Cherls D. Grantaire." 

"-Why were we lied to?" 

"Why," The captive man, Richard, looked down his nose at the Soldier. "Because I can't have my real name floating around out there. You're both professional assassins, you should know that walls, not only have ears, but have pretty capable mouths, too, and names..." His eyes glinted dangerously. "Are powerful things." 

"Okay," Natalia began in her most diplomatic voice, eyes nervously darting between the two men, desperate to avoid a fight. "Richard, er, Mister Lestrange, you said you had something you wanted to tell us." 

"Yes, yes, of course." Richard continued, rubbing his hands together like he couldn't wait to start his story. "Straight to business!" He eyed Natalia up and down appreciatively, a move she had become very familiarized with over the years. "I knew I liked you, pretty girl." His words weren't as unpleasant as others she'd heard, but his tone suggested a darker meaning that made her stomach tighten and churn with nausea. 

The Soldier shot him a withering glare, strong enough to scare off many of his other foes, but Richard simply smiled madly. The sight made the Soldier want to punch something. "Get on with it!" 

Richard laughed, eyes glittering with abhorrent malice. "Of course..."

Chapter Text

Richard cleared his throat and pretended to think. “Where to begin, where to begin…” 

“How about the beginning?” The Soldier suggested frostily, frown firmly set and glare fixed on the captive. 

“No, no.” The man waved his hand as if he was swatting a fly. “That would confuse you too much, besides, Heimdall said not to tell anyone and I don’t go back on my word…”

Richard seemed to have forgotten they were there, so, after a silent collaboration with Natalia, the Soldier slammed his metal arm down on the arm of the chair. The sound reverberated around the room, snapping Lestrange back to his senses. 

“Ah! Yes, that will do perfectly!” He continued as if nothing had happened. “When was… it was March 18th, I believe, 2003. My son’s birthday.” His face was nostalgic and almost… normal for a moment, but it passed quickly. “It was all that girl’s fault.” 

“What girl?” The Soldier narrowed his eyes. 

Richard waved a hand at the door. “The one that was just in here!” 

“You mean Autumn?” Natalia’s eyes held a murderous glint. “Your daughter?” 

“Yes, her! She got my precious son killed, she left him to die at the hands of a filthy beast!” Lestrange was more angry than remorseful. “Then she had the audacity to play the victim, when she killed him!”

The Soldier’s fists clenched. “Autumn wouldn’t do that.” 

“Oh?” The mad man challenged. “Wouldn’t she? You trust her and yet she hasn’t even told you her real name.” 

“Neither have you.” Natalia cut in fairly, sensing a fight. “Why should we believe what you say over what she says?” 

Before he had a chance to answer, the Soldier stepped in with his own question. “Why are you here?” 

“I believe I’ve already stated this.” Richard said through gritted teeth. “Those people kidnapped me, then you came to my rescue.” 

The Soldier strode up to Lestrange’s chair and slammed it back until it forcefully hit the wall. “Not good enough.” He growled out. 

Natalia stood back, watching the scene play out, unconcerned. “I’d answer him if I were you.” 

Richard clenched his jaw, keeping his silence. 

The Soldier looked back at the woman, a silent question in his angry eyes. 

She nodded, and he drew back his fist only to slam it into Richard’s face. 

He cried out in surprise as blood streamed out of his nose, quickly soaking through his shirt. The sight of his own blood seemed to sober him up. 

“They told me to get it!” He sobbed hysterically. “They told me to get it or die trying! I have to find it! I have to bring it back!” 

Natalia was growing frustrated, but she kept her poker face firmly intact. “Get what?” 

“They said it was at Hogwarts.” Lestrange continued rambling. “They thought it was damn near impossible because Dumbledore had it, but it was right under that old geezer’s nose and he didn’t even notice. No, Filch took it from a student, and he didn’t realize either. Then she stole it.” 

“She?” Natalia cut in coldly, stopping the man’s rant. “Who- Autumn?” 

Richard sneered. “Who else? That selfish bitch.” He spat angrily. “She’s taken everything from me! My son, my wife, my dagger, and now she’s trying to to take my life! WELL I WON’T HAVE IT! I. WILL. NOT. HAVE. I-” 

Lestrange was abruptly cut off by the Soldier punching him again, and knocking him out. 

“Sorry.” He glanced over at Natalia, no remorse in his eyes. “He was getting on my nerves.” 

“Yon need to learn to control that temper.” She chided, but her eyes said plainly that she wholeheartedly approved. “Come on, leave the wizard and let’s get some breakfast. Autumn’s got a lot of explaining to do…” 

The Soldier nodded and followed her out of the room. 

“Wait,” He paused, confused. “Wizards are real?” 

He stood there for a moment, more confused then he’d ever been in his life. 

“Natalia!”

Chapter Text

Autumn awoke abruptly, as usual, and memories of the day before flooded her mind. 

She pushed herself off her bed, grabbed her bag, and headed for the adjoining bathroom. After quickly showering and changing, she softly padded down the hall to the kitchen. 

As she walked, her mind swirled with thoughts, jumbled and disjointed from her restless night. ‘Did he say anything? Did he talk about Tom? Are they still my friends? How’s Lee doing? Whose house is this this? One of the Red Room’s? Where’s my knife? Should I kill him? How do I expla-’ 

“Autumn!” A voice startled her out of her reverie. “You’re awake!” 

The sight before the black haired girl almost made her laugh; it was so domestic that it was nearly comical. 

Natalia was in what were clearly pajamas (sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a messy ponytail) and was pouring three glasses of orange juice by the kitchen table. That in and of itself was enough to make her think she might be hallucinating. 

But it was the Soldier’s appearance that really took her by surprise. He was standing by the stovetop, an apron around his waist, a bit of flour on his shirt, hair pulled back in a little ponytail, and a spatula in his hand as he made a huge stack of pancakes. 

They both seemed… relaxed. It was odd. 

“Uh… Morning?” Autumn replied. 

The Soldier glanced up from his pancakes and gave her a small nod. “Morning, would you mind setting the table?” 

“Not at all…” She replied faintly, pulling three plates out of a cupboard and grabbing some silverware. 

It was an odd feeling, this domesticity. It felt more like the three were a family, rather than a group of assassins who were told to work with each other. 

Once they’d all sat down and started eating, the conversation took the inevitable turn. 

“Cap,” Began the Soldier. “Don’t want to pry, but you said you’d give us an explanation, and some of the things your father said were… interesting.” 

Autumn let out a breath and looked between her teammates, trying to read their expressions. “I’m guessing he mentioned Tom.” She glanced between them, looking for some sign of confirmation. “My twin brother?” 

Natalia’s eyes widened in understanding. “He didn’t tell us that.” 

“Which part?” The black haired girl let out a dry chuckle, which sounded more like a half-sob than anything else. “His name, or that he was my twin?” 

“Both.” The Soldier answered solemnly. 

“That makes sense.” Autumn grimaced and ran a hand through her hair to distract herself. “Well, I’m not sure exactly what he said, but I’m going guess that he blamed Tom’s death on me.” 

“He said you ‘left him to die’.” The Soldier stated, tone plainly saying that he didn’t believe that. 

“It is my fault,” Autumn admitted, head bowed in shame. “I practically got him killed, but it wasn’t intentional.” 

She took a deep breath before continuing. “It was our fifth birthday at the time, and our mother wanted us out of the house for a while, so we played in the woods. Eventually, we got separated, and I ran into a man. He told me it was dangerous to be out at that hour, so he took me home, but I still hadn’t found Tom. I ran back outside and I heard a shout. I thought Tom might be hurt, so I ran towards it.” 

The black haired girl leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling, trying not to cry as she continued her story. “Turned out, the man was a werewolf, and when he turned, he attacked Tom. And I just stood there, and did nothing. Once the man woke up, my parents erased me from his memory, and we’ve all been living with the consequences of that night ever since.” 

There was quiet for a few moments, then the Soldier spoke. “Well… thank you for the… horrible story…” 

Autumn nodded in acknowledgment, and the room was filled with a laughably awkward silence before Natalia cleared her throat. 

”Anyone want seconds?”

Chapter Text

After breakfast had finished, Natalia insisted that she and Autumn would clean up, and together they forced the Soldier out of the kitchen, telling him to sleep, while they cleaned up. 

They were standing in front of the sink, washing dishes, when Natalia cleared her throat. 

“I have a sister.” The words seemed to hand in the air a moment before she continued. “Or had. I’m not even sure if she’s alive anymore.” 

Autumn was silent, waiting for her teammate to continue. 

“Her name is Yelena. Yelena Belova.” The redhead smiled minutely. “You remind me of her a bit.” 

“Can I ask what happened?” The black haired girl asked cautiously. 

The woman looked down at the plate in her hands. “We aren’t technically related… but we were stationed together as children with two others, pretending to be a family. And when the operation ended,” Natalia looked up again, eyes on the wall. “We were separated, and I haven’t seen her since.” 

“An innocent?” Autumn inquired. 

Natalia laughed. “Weren’t we all?” 

The black haired girl looked back down at the dish in her hands, scrubbing harder. “Not all of us.” 

“Autumn,” The redhead spoke gently. “What happened to your- what happened to Tom was not your fault.” 

“It was.” The Shadow’s Russian accent grew thicker the longer she spoke. “All I ever do is cause problems. And this life, the pain it brings…” 

Natalia stared at her captain, the girl she’d grown so attached to, as she seemed to rethink her entire life. 

“Nova.” Autumn said quietly. “If you had the chance to get out- out of this life… the fighting, the-the wars in the shadows, all of it… would you?” 

Her expression was so broken that the woman couldn’t help reaching out to take the young girl’s hand. 

The redhead chose her words carefully before finally responding. “Only if you got out too. I’m not leaving you behind too.” 

Autumn looked up at her, tears glistening in her eyes. “Could you… Could you tell me about her some more?” 

Natalia smiled, a small, but warm one, and gave the girl’s hand a squeeze. “Of course.” 

*****

The two spent most of the morning exchanging stories about their siblings, and once the Soldier woke up, he sat and listened to their stories, eventually confessing how much he missed his old life, and how little of it he remembered. 

“Do you know where you’re from, Sarge?” Autumn inquired. 

The Soldier slowly shook his head. “I- I think maybe somewhere in America.” 

“That would make sense.” Natalia agreed. “You fight a bit like an American.” 

“I figured out my first name.” The man confessed. 

Autumn’s face broke into a grin. “Really? That’s great Sarge! What is it?” 

“James.” He said slowly, like he was unused to the word. 

The girl whooped happily, causing the other two to smile. “Nice!” 

“So,” The redhead began. “It’s Sargent James, hu-” 

“Buchanan Barnes.” The Soldier sat up abruptly. “Sargent James Buchanan Barnes. I was in the army. The American army. But- but he called me something else.” 

The other two exchanged wide eyed glances before Autumn spoke up. “He? Who’s he?” 

“I- I can’t- I don’t-” The Soldier stumbled, desperately trying to remember. 

Natalia was out of her seat in a flash. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Take it easy.” 

“No- no he was important.” The man insisted. “He- I-…” 

“James.” Natalia said authoritatively. “Breathe.” 

The Soldier listened to her, calming down before continuing. “He… he meant something to me.” 

“A brother?” Autumn asked cautiously, an idea loosely forming in her head. 

The man considered it. “Maybe… something like that.” 

*****

The three eventually migrated to the living room, not necessarily talking to each other, just reveling in the knowledge that they were together. They stayed there for hours, until Natalia stood up and stretched. 

“It’s been a long day. I think I’ll turn in.” She turned to the Soldier. “You did good today, James. I’m proud of you.” 

The redhead gave him a small smile and ruffled Autumn’s hair, then headed down the hall to her room. 

Once she had gone, the Soldier’s gaze returned to the opposite wall, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed in concentration. 

Autumn studied him, thinking deeply. “The guy you mentioned earlier,” She chose her words carefully. “You know what he was to you, don’t you?” 

There was a moment of quiet, punctuated by the shower turning on down the hall. 

“Yeah,” The Soldier finally answered, avoiding her gaze, eyes glazed over with nostalgia. “I was in love with him.”

Chapter Text

August 20th, 4:59 A.M. 

Autumn awoke with a start to the sound of her phone ringing. 

She scrambled out of bed, grabbing for the device as she fell, and answered it. 

“13114251.” The voice of her handler came through.

Dread curdled in the pit of Autumn’s stomach. “221512111522“

“You have a mark.” Anastasia Balakov stated. “We have recently learned that one of our own agents is corrupted; you must eliminate her.”

Autumn heard her voice respond like it was apart from her. “I understand.” 

“Your target is Natalia Romanova. Eliminate her by any means necessary.” Balakov said unemotionally. “Do you understand?” 

The black haired girl was frozen. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t. 

“Shadow.” Balakov spat. “Do you understand?” 

“I understand.” Autumn replied, trying to stop her shaking. 

There was silence for a moment, in which Autumn feared she had said something wrong, which resulted in her hands shaking even more, then Balakov continued. “You have forty-eight hours.” The woman hung up. 

Autumn untangled herself from the bed sheets, and stood up from where she’d been laying on the floor. She was too distracted to make the bed, so she left it unkempt, sitting on it and thinking harder than she’d ever thought in her life.  

She put her thoughts on hold when there was a knock on her door. 

“Come in.” 

Natalia stuck her head inside. “Morning Cap, Barnes is making breakfast, how many eggs do you want?” 

“Two’s fine.” Autumn answered. “Thanks Nova.” 

“Alright.” The redhead lingered in the doorway. “Are… Are you okay, Autumn? Did you sleep alright?” 

Autumn waved it off. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind.” 

Natalia crossed to sit next to her, tentatively opening her arms for a hug. Autumn silently answered the unasked question, leaning into the comfortable embrace. 

The redhead hummed slightly before speaking. “If you ever need to talk about it, I’m right here.” 

The girl burrowed into her teammate. “Thank you, Nova.” 

*****

Thirty minutes later, Autumn was on her laptop, going through every scrap of information she had on Natalia Romanova, trying to figure out a way to avoid killing her friend. 

‘Mission Success Rate: 100%. That’s not helpful.

Kills:… Sweet Jesus, that’s a lot. 

Okay…

Next mission. 

Departure: August 20th, 10:15 A.M. local time

Arrival: August 20th, 3:15 P.M. local time

Location: Budapest, Hungary 

Targ-… Wait a second.’ 

An idea was loosely forming in Autumn’s mind, and she quickly hacked into several government databases. 

KGB- Bad idea 

CIA- No jurisdiction  

MI5- They’d need warrants and such, we don’t have time for that’ 

She knew what kind of organization she needed. 

One that thought outside the box. One with well-trained agents, who could tail a professional assassin without them knowing. One that wouldn’t wait for warrants or paperwork. 

‘Ah,’ She thought. ‘Of course. SHIELD.’ 

*****

Director Nicholas Joseph Fury was majorly pissed off. 

One of his newest recruits, a former circus member with an affinity for a bow and arrow, had disobeyed his direct orders. Again. 

His second in command, Maria Hill, wanted to get rid of him. ‘What good is a soldier who doesn’t follow orders?’ She’d said to him. 

‘We’re not soldiers, Hill.’ He’d replied decisively. ‘We’re agents.’ 

He was thoroughly regretting every decision he’d ever made when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID before answering: Phil Coulson. What did he need now? 

Fury leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk, as he answered. “Agent Coulson, what do you need now?” 

There was silence on the other end for half a second, then an English-accented woman’s voice came through. “Director Fury.” 

He froze. “Who is this? How did you get this number?” 

“That’s not what’s important right now.” The woman replied evenly. “What is important is that at 3:15 P.M. local time, a woman will arrive in Budapest, Hungary. I’ve emailed you her file; everything you need to know about is in there.” 

Fury switched on his laptop, opening his emails and looking through the new ones. “Why are you telling me this?” 

“Because she’s in a bad situation.” The woman’s voice held a twinge of emotion. “And you, Director Fury, are able to get her out of it. Good day.” 

“Wait!” He called out. 

There was a pause. “What?” 

“The email isn’t showing up.” He said grumpily. 

She sighed. “Check your spam folder. If that doesn’t work, try turning it off and turning it back on again. Good day, Director Fury.”

*****

Five minutes and a quick online DIY email retrieval guide later, Fury had found the file. 

The first picture was of a woman with red hair, the name Natalia Romanova written underneath. He continued picking through the file. She was a Black Widow assassin, taken from her parents as a baby and raised in the Red Room. Everything in him screamed to save her, but he knew his resident brain cell, Maria Hill, would not agree. 

He pulled his phone out again and dialed her number. 

“Hill, I just got a tip on the location of a high level threat. I need you in here as soon as possible.” 

***** 

A few minutes later, Maria Hill stood in front of Fury’ desk, clicking through the file on his computer. 

Once she’d finished, she stood up straight, eyes alert. “Who are we sending, sir? Agent May?” 

“No,” Fury replied. “She’s taking some time working a desk after that incident in Bahrain.” 

“Agent Morse, then?” She suggested. 

Fury shook his head. “I was thinking…” He handed a file across the desk to her. “Him.” 

She flipped it open and raised an eyebrow at him. “Really, Nick? He’s not very good at following orders.” 

“Let’s give him a chance.” He insisted. 

Hill sighed. “I’ll assemble him a team-” 

“No.” Fury interrupted, sitting back down. “He works better alone.” 

She clenched her jaw, rubbing her temple. “You can’t be serious.” 

“Oh I am.” He sat back down. “Now, please inform Agent Barton that he needs to get his ass on a quintet to Budapest by 3:15 P.M. local time.”

Chapter Text

Budapest, Hungary, August 20th, 3:15 PM

A man with brown hair, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap, strode down a busy street to a bus stop, a phone held under his ear. 

“Orders?” He asked quietly. 

Fury’s crackling voice came through. “Get rid of the threat.” 

There was a slight pause where Fury was sure he was going to argue, but he simply said, “Yes sir.” 

The man hung up and stepped onto a bus, sitting mid-way back and scouting out the area through the window. 

*****

Budapest, Hungary, August 20th, 3:21 PM

A woman with red hair was sitting at a desk in her hotel room, reviewing her target’s file. The usual: wealthy old man, running an operation that was getting in the Red Room’s way, seduce him, find out who else is involved, kill them all. 

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of her phone buzzing. 

She glanced at the caller ID and a smile flitted onto her face as she answered. “Cap.” 

“Nova.” Autumn’s rushed voice came through the speaker. “Remember our conversation yesterday?” 

The redhead’s smile faded at the urgency in the girl’s voice. “Yeah.” 

“I’ve been ordered to kill you.” She said in a rush. “And I won’t do it. I’m getting out.” 

Natalia blinked in confusion. “Wait- what? Slow down.” 

“I can’t, I’m sorry, Nova.” The girl’s voice was growing more distraught. “Please get yourself out of this. It’s a mess. And it’s deeper than we thought. Just get away from it.” 

The redhead suddenly jumped in. ”Wait, Autumn, what about Sarge?” 

“They dragged him off this morning.” She said quickly, voice quietly distraught. “Apparently, he was ordered to kill me and he refused.” 

Natalia took a calming breath. “Do you know if he’s alright?” 

“I have no idea. He just told me to go.” Her voice broke slightly. 

Natalia sighed, wanting to comfort the girl. “Okay… okay… wait, you said he was told to kill you? And you were told to kill me?” 

“Yup.” She gave a false chuckle. “Bet you ten sickles you were going to be ordered to kill him next.” 

The woman shook her head. “This is a mess.” 

Autumn snorted sarcastically. “Understatemen- Oh shit, I gotta go.” Her voice was somehow calmer and more panicked. “Get out of this, Nova.” She said urgently. “Get out of this and I swear I’ll see you again someday.” 

Nova almost smiled. “I’m holding you to that.” 

“Good.” 

*****

Natalia needed to think. 

She had left her hotel in favor of sitting on a park bench down the street. There were big decisions to be made, choices that would change her whole life, and she really needed to think about them. 

So she sat, and thought, trying to make sense of all this confusion. 

*****

He had her in his sights. 

His bow was drawn, target in clear sight… but something made him stop. 

He’d seen many high profile targets fake panic to try to save themselves, but the look on her face… that was the kind of desperation you can’t fake. 

Suddenly it clicked as to why Fury sent him of all people. The director wanted her out of this just as much as he did. 

After a moment of hesitation, he sheathed his arrow, collapsed his bow, and climbed down from his perch, cautiously approaching the woman on the bench. 

He sat on the same bench, a respectful distance away from her. “I’m Clint. Clint Barton.” He held out his hand. 

She regarded him cautiously before taking it. “Natalia.” 

“Natalia.” Barton repeated. “Is it alright if I call you Nat?” 

The woman nodded hesitantly. 

They sat quietly for a few moments, watching the people around them. 

“Are you going to kill me, Agent Barton?” The redhead asked softly, a Russian accent barely legible at the ends of her words. 

He looked at her, studying the absolute calm she portrayed. “No.” 

“But that’s what you’re supposed to do, isn’t it?” She persisted evenly. 

Barton nodded. 

“And you’re not going to?” She asked again. 

He leaned back, clasping his hands in his lap. “That’s right.” 

“Why?” 

He turned his head to meet her eyes again. “The way I see it, you have three options.” He held up one finger. “One, you give me a reason to kill you. If that’s what you want, you’ll find a way to get me to do it.” He put up a second finger. “Two, you knock me out and run back to the Red Room. I don’t think either of us wants that to happen.” He put up a third finger. “And third,” He paused for effect. “You come back to SHIELD with me. No Red Room. No killing each other. We can get you into SHIELD.” 

Natalia was silent, eyes on the scenery, but not really seeing it. Clint could practically see the gears in her head whirring. 

“That third option sounds pretty good.” She said casually.

Clint grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.” 

*****

“Agent Barton.” Fury’s voice crackled through the speaker of Clint’s phone. “Is your mission complete?” 

“Yes sir.” Barton replied formally, legs up on the table of his hotel room. “She’s right here. Say hi, Nat.” 

Natalia hesitated, then spoke. “Hello.”

There was a considerable pause before Hill’s voice joined in. “What is she doing there, Agent Barton?” 

“Well, ma’am,” Hawkeye started, while Natalia crossed to look out the window at the street. “Director Fury told me to get rid of the threat; she’s no longer a threat.” 

“Fury.” Hill prompted. “You planned this, didn’t you?” 

The director’s voice cut in once more. “If Ms. Romanova had no choice in her interactions with the Red Room-”

”She’s a Black Widow assassin, Director.” Hill stated coldly. “Not just a Black Widow assassin: the Black Widow assassin. Think this through, Nick.” She argued. “We have no way of knowing if we can trust her.” 

“I can tell you where the leader of the Red Room is.” Natalia said, not looking up from the street. 

Barton looked at her in confusion. 

“Oh really.” Hill said skeptically. “Where?” 

“I’m looking right at him.” 

Barton scrambled over to the window, looking down at the street to see a heavyset man in a suit and glasses climbing out of the backseat of a car. 

“That’s him boss.” Barton confirmed. “Dreykov.” 

Silence on the other end. 

“Director,” Hill said. “A word.” 

There was a hushed conversation in which the words, ‘no, Nick.’, ‘opprutunity, Hill!’, and ‘prove herself’ were clearly heard. 

“Agent Barton,” Fury’s voice said clearly. “Ms. Romanova is temporarily in your charge. If anything happens because of her, it’s on you. Understand?” 

Barton nodded. “Yes sir.” 

“Good. Ms. Romanova,” He began. 

“Romanoff, sir.” She cut in. “Natasha Romanoff.” 

“Ms. Romanoff,” Fury corrected himself without hesitation. “Eliminate Dreykov and get back to the States, and you’ve got a spot with SHIELD.” 

She glanced at Barton in surprise, the latter giving her a ‘what did I tell you’ look. “Thank you, sir.” 

“I hope we’ll see you soon.” Fury stated. “Ms. Romanoff. Agent Barton.” 

*****

The rest of the day was spent entirely on recon. Natasha scouted out practically the whole city, while Barton scoured the rooftops, looking for a good angle. They reconnected later that evening to form a plan. 

“I can’t find a single spot that gives me eyes on Dreykov.” Barton was saying as they pored over a map. “The only way we know he’s in there is from when we saw him go in. And for all we know there’s a secret exit and he’s long gone.” 

Natasha shook her head. “No, he’s in there.” 

“How do you know?” Barton asked, genuinely curious. 

She handed him her phone, on which there were pictures of a little girl in a school uniform. “That’s his daughter. I accessed the security camera across the street. She left that building this morning, driven out in one of Dreykov’s cars, and returned this afternoon. I couldn’t see where she went, but if you have a way to do that…” 

“She’s our ticket in.” Barton finished. He nodded appreciatively. “Not bad, Nat. Not bad at all.” 

They shared a grin, then returned to their work. 

Budapest, Hungary, August 21st, 4:17 PM

Everything was set. 

The explosives were placed. Barton was on a roof, looking out for trouble. Natasha was in a car on the street below, the only place they found where they could see through Dreykov’s window. 

“Natasha,” Clint’s voice crackled through the walkie talkie. “We clear?” 

She looked up at the window. A little girl with two braids was facing it, spreading something out on a table. 

‘If that was Yelena… or Autumn…’ 

“All clear.” 

The explosion shook the ground, passers-by looking around in terror. 

The only people who seemed to be keeping their heads were four men, bodyguards she’d guess, standing near one of Dreykov’s cars. One of them looked her dead in the eye, and she realized a moment too late that she hadn’t put down the walkie talkie.

“Shit.” She muttered, turning it on while the man alerted his friends. “Barton, they spotted me. Where are you?” 

When his voice came through, it sounded like he was running. “I see you. Get to the end of the street and head right. There’s a lot of traffic, it’ll be faster on foot. I’ll meet you there.” 

She followed his instructions, bolting through the stopped cars and dodging bullets. She spared a glance back and realized there were a lot more than four men chasing her now. She snapped her head forward and a bullet grazed her shoulder. She would’ve gone down if it wasn’t for Barton showing up out of nowhere and supporting half her weight. 

“Took you long enough.” She muttered. 

He pulled them behind a parked car, grabbing some sort of collapsible weapon. 

“What is that?” 

Barton grinned, making some sort of motion to release it from its collapsed state. 

The redhead’s mouth fell open. “You brought a bow to a gun fight?” 

“No,” He paused. “I brought some arrows too.” 

He could practically hear the face palm in his voice. “Barton.”

“Call me Clint.” 

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, grabbing two of her pistols and crouching next to him. 

They stood at the exact same time, firing over the car at Dreykov’s men until there were none left. 

“Well, I’d say we make a good team.” Barton said brightly, retrieving his arrows from inside people’s heads. 

Natasha almost smiled. “Come on, we've gotta get to the subway.” 

SHIELD Headquarters, August 23rd, 11:38 PM

When Barton and Romanoff arrived at SHIELD, Fury and Hill were standing next to the landing pad, ready to welcome them. 

They disembarked, stepping out of the vehicle and standing at attention in front of the other two. 

“Agent Romanoff,” Fury handed her a small badge. “Welcome to SHIELD.”

Chapter Text

Platform 9 3/4 was bustling with people again. Autumn bobbed and weaved through the crowd, duffel bag - much more mobile than a trunk - thrown over her shoulder. She caught snippets of conversations, and saw friends reuniting happily, then she finally made it onto the train. 

She strode down the corridor, looking around for her friends. She stopped at a compartment with three occupants: a black girl with a warm smile by the window - Angelina Johnson -, a fair-skinned, brown-haired girl with kind, dark eyes opposite her - Katie Bell-, and a heavy-set girl with tan skin and a nervously excited expression next to her. 

“Autumn!” Exclaimed the girl sitting closest to the window. 

The newcomer grinned. “Hello Ange, Katie, person I don’t know.” 

“This is Alicia Spinnet.” Katie introduced. “She’s a first year. Alicia, this is Autumn.” 

Alicia smiled and stuck out her hand. “Hi!” 

“Nice to meet you Spinnet.” Autumn responded with a grin. She tossed her duffel into the luggage rack and lounged on the seat next to Angelina, feet propped up on an empty spot on the opposite bench.

“Seen the boys yet?” She asked the compartment at large. 

Katie and Angelina shook their heads. 

“Who?” Alicia inquired. 

Angelina jumped in. “Fred and George Weasley. Twins. Trouble-makers.” She said with a false warning tone. “Stay away from the- Mrgmff!” 

“They’re not that bad.” Autumn scolded, muffling her friend’s mouth with her hand. “And you’re forgetting Lee- ANGELINA JOHNSON DID YOU JUST LICK MY HAND!?” 

Autumn whipped her hand away, wiping it on her shirt, while Angelina stuck her tongue out childishly. 

Alicia giggled at their antics and Katie gave a small, true smile. 

The compartment door suddenly slid open. 

“Hello everybody!” 

Autumn was out of her seat in a second. “Lee!” 

“A!” He copied, hugging his friend. 

“Hello!” Angelina greeted. “‘Licia, this is Lee Jordan. Lee, Alicia Spinnet.” 

Lee grinned happily and plopped down next to her. “Good to meet you, Alicia!” 

The younger girl blushed a light pink and smiled back. “You too.” 

Autumn exchanged a look with Katie that was interrupted by the - ever dramatic - entrance of two redheads. 

A little firework crackled to life and zoomed over their heads, making colorful little shapes and designs in the air. 

Knowing the twins, Autumn grabbed Lee’s discarded jacket and draped it over head. She nudged Alicia, gesturing for her to do the same. The younger girl opened her mouth to question, but Autumn put a finger over her lips in a scolding manner that didn’t match the mischievous grin on her face. 

She counted down on her fingers, mouthing the numbers to Alicia. “Three, two, one-”

The firework exploded into a goopy, blue substance that spattered all over the windows, the seats, and Lee’s, Angelina’s, and Katie’s faces. 

Autumn tossed off Lee’s jacket, erupting into laughter, and was quickly joined by the twins’ evil cackle. 

“Fred! George!” Angelina scolded. “Look at this mess! It’s all over everything!” 

George flopped down next to Autumn. “Don’t worry about it, Angie!” He said with a grin. 

“It dissolves!” Fred continued. 

“You’ll be all clean momentarily.” George finished. 

Autumn gently nudged Alicia’s foot with her own. “Spinnet, Fred and George Weasley. Boys, Alicia Spinnet.” 

Alicia smiled and tentatively put out her hand. George leaned forward to shake it, but was cut off by Fred knocking him out of the way. 

“Now now, Georgie Porgie,” Fred mock-scolded. “I’ll say hello to the lady first.” 

“But Freddykins,” George fake-protested, “I think she’d want to meet the better twin first.” 

“Precisely!” Agreed Fred. “So step aside.” 

This continued for a while until Fred, sitting on his twin, shook Alicia’s hand with a fake-posh smile. “Ever so pleased to make your acquaintance ma’am.” 

George stick out his arm at an awkward angle and shook her hand too. “Mgrmmfff… jeregrrrff… reddssdmmffff.” 

“Fred, put the poor boy out of his misery!” Angelina ordered. 

The older twin got up with a laugh, flopping down next to Lee instead. “So Alicia, what house are you hoping for?” 

“Uhm… either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw I guess.” She answered thoughtfully. “Hufflepuff wouldn’t be bad either.” 

“The Puffs are great.” Autumn nodded. 

Katie raised an eyebrow at her. “Who do you even know in Hufflepuff?” 

“Cedric.” She answered simply. “Diggory.” 

Lee nodded, the tips of his ears faintly pink. “Yeah, he’s nice.” 

“And Towler, too.” Angelina chimed in. “Kenneth Towler.” 

“Are there any girls?” Alicia piped up. 

Katie laughed sweetly. “Not in our year, but probably in yours.” 

“If I end up there, then I hope so.” The younger girl stated. 

Fred leaned across Lee to lightly nudge Alicia’s shoulder. “Well, I hope you’re in Gryffindor.” 

“Are there any girls?” She joked. 

Autumn fake gasped. “‘Licia, how could you say such a thing! Lee is right here you know.” 

The compartment erupted in laughter. 

“So,” Angelina started once everyone had quieted down. “Fred, George, I didn’t see your brother on the train. Did he graduate?” 

Fred leaned forward to answer. “Charlie’s off in Romania now. Mum, Dad, and Bill went to see him off.”

”What’s he doing in Romania?” Katie asked incredulously. 

George chuckled and answered. “Studying dragons, believe it or not.” 

“Wow…” 

Lee turned to Autumn. “What about your cousin, A?” 

“Sam?” A smile lit up her face. “She’s interning at St. Mungo’s, training to be a healer. Or at least that’s what she told me last year.” 

Angelina addressed her. “You two keeping in touch?” 

“Yeah, but not with owls.” She clarified. “We just text.” 

“What’s that?” Alicia asked curiously. 

Autumn faltered. “Uh… it’s like sending a letter, but you don’t need paper. And the mailbox is in your pocket.” 

“That’s odd.” The younger remarked. 

The older smiled. “Yeah, I… I suppose it is.” 

”So, did you go anywhere this summer A?” Lee asked in the silence.  

She shrugged. “Here and there. Back and forth. The usual crap.” 

“Next summer you need to give us your address so we can write.” Fred stated. 

She half nodded. “Yeah alright. We’re on the move quite a bit, but I’ll try.” 

“So, Ange,” Katie began. “How’s your brother?” 

*****

“Abberly, Roland!” 

Autumn watched the little boy walk up to the stool, the hat falling over his eyes. About thirty seconds passed and then the hat cried-

“Slytherin!” 

Fred and George slumped in their seats. 

After four new Ravenclaws (Belby, Carmichael, Chang, and Edgecombe) another Slytherin (Daisy Corran) and one Hufflepuff (Craig Dunn), Carl Hopkins sat on the stool and became the first new Gryffindor, followed by a - somehow arrogant looking - eleven year old boy called McLaggen, who also joined the Gryffindors. Then it was finally Alicia’s turn. 

She walked up to the stool on shaky legs and the hat fell straight down to her shoulders. 

There was barely a moment’s pause and then- 

“Gryffindor!” 

Alicia took off the hat and ran to the table, tackling Katie in a hug. 

Autumn tuned back in to hear Tintwhistle, Isabella sorted into Hufflepuff, and then Professor Dumbledore was on his feet with his arms outstretched, a warm twinkle in his eye like he couldn’t be happier anywhere else. 

He gave his regular speech - ‘to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back’ - yada yada yada, warned them about the Forbidden Forest - she exchanged a smirk with the boys - and invited them to enjoy the feast. 

*****

As they climbed the stairs to the dormitory that night, yawning and dragging their feet, Katie suggested that Alicia stay in their room, seeing as she would be alone on her dorm. Autumn and Angelina instantly agreed, and Alicia succumbed with a smile. 

When they entered the room they found her trunk already up there, along with another bed, between Katie’s and Angelina’s, ready for her. 

Katie didn’t even bother changing, opting to flop on top of the blankets in her bed and promptly fall asleep. 

Alicia had enough energy to crawl under the covers and close the curtains, but her instant light snores showed she was dead asleep. 

Angelina put on her pajamas and crawled in bed, a ‘goodnight’ mumbled to the room at large. 

Autumn pulled of Katie’s sneakers and covered her up with her blanket, getting a sleepy sigh in thanks, then drew her curtains and got ready for bed. She glanced out the window and smiled, then burrowed under the blankets and fell right asleep.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks went on pretty normally. 

Mornings were normal. 

‘“Katiiieeee,” Angelina would groan, tugging on one of Katie’s arms while Autumn and Alicia grabbed her legs to yank her off the bed, “get up!” The sleepy girl would just mumble something incoherent and fall back asleep until Autumn tossed her over her shoulder fireman style.’  

Breakfasts were normal. 

'"How can you possibly eat so much food?" Lee asked as he watched Autumn and the twins load up their plates. "Hungry." "Food." "Nourishment." Lee just shook his head. "Ok."'

Classes were normal. 

‘“Weasley! September!” McGonagall had said sharply after the third time George and Autumn had burst out laughing. “Five points from Gryffindor for disrupting my class!”’

Evenings were normal. 

‘“Are we sure it can’t tap dance?” Fred asked as they pored over the ‘Marauders Map’ that wasn’t really a map yet. "Pretty sure." Lee would yawn, then call it a night and they'd all go to bed.' 

It was a cold evening in mid-December, and Autumn, Lee, and the twins were sprawled out in their usual places by the fire, trying to figure out how to open the Marauders Map. 

“I promise that I’m up to mischief.” Lee guessed, tapping the parchment with his wand. Nothing happened. 

He passed it to George. 

“I promise that I’m up to no good.” George tried. Still, nothing happened. 

He passed it to Autumn. 

“I swear that I’m up to no good.” Again, nothing. 

She passed it to Fred. 

“I solemnly swear,” he said in a ridiculous accent, placing his wand on the page, “that I am up to no good.” 

And to their immense surprise, words started blooming on the map. 

‘Msrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Ms. Quill are pleased to present the Marauders Map.’ 

In the side column, more little words appeared. 

‘Took you wankers long enough! -Prongs’ 

They were all still for a moment, then Fred let out a whoop of delight and George hugged Autumn in celebration, Fred and Lee joining in quickly. 

“Alright boys,” Autumn said with a grin, “let’s check out this map.” 

 They opened it and spread it across the table. 

“It’s Hogwarts!” Lee exclaimed. “There’s a label for the Great Hall right here, then it leads down to the lake, then to the Forbidden Forest!” 

The twins grinned. “Wicked.” 

“Hold on a-“ Autumn started, leaning over the map and looking at a moving label. “Look at this! I think it’s got everyone in the castle on this thing.” 

The boys scrambled to her side of the table. 

“Yeah, there’s McGonagall.” George pointed. 

“And there’s us!” Fred exclaimed, pointing at four labels in Gryffindor Tower. 

“This is bloody awesome.” Lee breathed in ecstasy. 

Autumn suddenly laughed. “We can prank anyone we like now. Without Filch or one of the teachers getting in the way.” 

The twins’ eyes lit up and Lee shook his head fondly. 

“This is going to be bloody amazing.” 

They all grinned.

Chapter Text

It was the day before they were all supposed to go home for the summer when the twins made an invitation. 

*****

“Autumn!” 

The black haired girl looked down from her perch in her favorite tree, noting the slight rip in the bag the redhead was carrying. 

“Hey Fred!” 

The boy stopped at the bottom of the tree, putting a hand over his heart in mock indignation. “Autumn, how dare you betray me like this!” 

She rolled her eyes fondly. “Sorry. Hello George, why do you have Fred’s bag?” 

“Must’ve grabbed the wrong one.” George shrugged. “Mind if I come up?” 

“No problems here!” She called down. 

A few minutes later, the redhead had pulled himself up onto the tree limb next to her. 

“Fred and I wrote mum yesterday to see if you and Lee could stay the summer, or at least part of it.” He informed, shifting around to try and get comfortable. 

Autumn raised an eyebrow. “What’d she say?” 

“She said she’d,” he cleared his throat and put on a high voice imitation of his mother, “‘love to have you and can’t wait to meet you’. Lee too.” 

The black haired girl laughed. “Alright. Well, I’ll ask my dad and get back to you later.” 

“Great!” George grinned, climbing back down the tree. “If he says no, we’ll just kidnap you!” 

She rolled her eyes. “Sure you will.” 

*****

The next day, once they were all packed up and piled into a compartment on the train. 

“So what’re you all doing for the summer?” Angelina inquired. 

The twins grinned. “Bill and Charlie are coming home for a bit.” 

“And Lee and I!” Autumn added in mock offense. 

Alicia smiled. “That’s fun!” 

Fred suddenly leaned forward. “Guess what.” 

“What.” Katie smirked from her seat. 

George grinned at her. “Our little baby brother is starting next year.” 

“Oh, that’s great!” Angelina clapped her hands together. “He better be in Gryffindor, we need a full set of Weasleys.” 

“If he’s half as much trouble as these two,” Katie said, gesturing towards the twins, “I’m switching schools.” 

The compartment roared with laughter. 

“Hang on,” Autumn blinked in confusion, “there’re other wizarding schools?” 

“Right, you’re muggleborn.” Katie smacked her own forehead. “I always forget.” 

Angelina leaned forward. “Yeah, there are eleven. There’s Hogwarts - of course - Beauxbatons in France, Castelobruxo in Brazil, Durmstrang somewhere in Northern Europe - no one really knows where, Ilvermony in North America, Mahoutokoro in Japan, Uagadou in Uganda, and Koldovstoretz in Russia.” 

Fred’s mouth fell open. “How the bloody hell do you know how to pronounce all those names?” 

Angelina just smiled and took a bow. 

They had just settled back down when Lee cleared his throat. “I have… something I need to tell you all.” 

Autumn studied her friend for the first time in a while. 

He was fidgeting, picking at his fingernails while his hands were clasped tightly in his lap. He glanced at Katie for a moment and she sent him an encouraging nod. 

“I’m-… I’m bisexual.” 

There was silence for a moment, then Autumn wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Good for you, Lee!” 

“Yeah!” The twins affirmed in unison, half hugging, half dog-piling on Lee. 

Angelina joined the hug. “I’m so glad you told us!” 

“What does that mean?” Alicia asked Katie quietly. 

She smiled softly. “It means he likes girls and boys.” 

“Oh.” Then Alicia joined in on the dog-pile/hug. 

Katie shot Lee a grin and stood up. “Told you they’d be fine with it.” And she jumped on top of the pile, hugging Lee around the neck. 

And if he shed a few tears, well… he wasn’t the only one. 

*****

“Fred! George! Percy!” A plump woman with fiery red hair greeted her sons, pulling each into a bone-crushing hug. “And you must be Lee Jordan and Autumn September! It’s lovely to meet you, dears.” She pulled them both into hugs of their own. “Everyone got your trunks?” There were general noises of affirmation. “Good. Let’s go meet your father in the parking lot.” 

They loaded their trunks into Mr. Weasley’s powder blue Ford Anglia, Autumn took a few seconds to admire it, then they were off. 

The ride was slightly cramped, but altogether uneventful, not quite what Autumn had expected from a wizarding family. Fred and George cracked jokes, and Mrs. Weasley asked how their year was, then they pulled up in front of… it felt wrong to call it a house. It was more like several houses stacked precariously on top of each other, with a little sign in the front yard that read ‘the Burrow’. 

The moment they were out of the car, the twins were tackled by a ball of fiery red hair. 

“Ginny!” Mrs. Weasley scolded half-heartedly. “Don’t hurt them!” 

The girl, Ginny apparently, eventually retracted from her brothers and waved shyly to Lee and Autumn. 

“Come on inside,” Mrs. Weasley beckoned, “I’ll start dinner soon.” 

Lee’s eyes lit up. “Mrs. Weasley! Could I- would it be alright if I- can I help you? I love cooking.” 

“Of course dear.” She gave him a warm smile. “You go get set up in the twins’ room and I’ll meet you in the kitchen. Oh, and Autumn? Would you prefer to stay in the twins’ room or with Ginny?” 

“Twins’ is fine!” She called as they all bounded up the stairs. “Thanks, Mrs. Weasley!” 

They dumped their trunks in the twins’ room and Lee ran back downstairs to help Mrs. Weasley make dinner while Fred, George, and Autumn sprawled across the floor, telling jokes. 

“Ooh!” George sat up suddenly. “We should play Quidditch!” 

“YES!” Autumn jumped to her feet. “We need to practice if we want or be on the team next year!” 

They ran down the stairs again - ignoring Percy’s call of ‘would you quiet down?,’ - and stopped in the kitchen to tell Lee where they were going and ask if he wanted to come with them. He declined, content with cooking, and the other three began traipsing outside. 

Autumn stopped in the doorway to the kitchen — watching some knives chop potatoes on their own while Mrs. Weasley showed Lee how to peel the, without cutting himself — and smiled genuinely. 

“I bloody love this place.”

Chapter Text

It only took two days for Autumn to decide she loved the Burrow. 

It was unlike any place she’d been before. Overflowing with magic in ways she’d never seen, from the bottom to the top. Loud in the best possible way, not like the Great Hall which was always filled with the deafening chatter of students, just a warm, happy… chaos. And so full of the feeling of home. 

But by far the best part of the Burrow was the people. 

The twins were, of course, her favorites - though she’d never let them know that. Fred was always up for a race or game, and George had one of the brightest minds out of anyone she’d met. And they were both always up for some mischief. 

Mrs. Weasley was the kindest woman in the world, with a strict tone that warned no nonsense, but a warm demeanor that seemed to say some nonsense would be alright after all. 

Mr. Weasley was a bit eccentric, and fascinated when Autumn told him she was muggleborn. He asked hundreds of questions and held onto every word of her answers until Mrs. Weasley dragged him away so she could eat in peace. 

Bill, who had shown up on their second day of summer break, was awesome. He wore some sort of fang for an earring and a jacket made out of some kind of leather that Autumn knew she’d never find in a muggle shop. He was laid back and always ready to tell them a story about his work as a curse breaker for Gringotts bank. 

Charlie was just a genuinely good guy. He had an easy smile and a friendly demeanor, and he loved talking about his work with dragons. (And, if the look on his face was anything to go on, Autumn was pretty sure Lee had a little crush on him.) He played Quidditch with them in the orchard at the bottom of the hill whenever they wanted, and gave them all pointers, while Lee kept up a fun commentary that had them laughing throughout their game. 

Percy was… a buzzkill. He really was. And he wouldn’t shut up about making prefect all summer. 

Ron, who would start his first year at Hogwarts that September, was a bit different. He was quieter than his siblings, but by the end of the summer Autumn and Lee had managed to befriend him and tell him about how great Hogwarts was. 

Ginny. Where to start… Autumn quickly discovered that despite her first impression, the young girl had a personality more fiery than her hair. She loved hearing about Hogwarts, but she also wanted to know about the real world. What problems the wizarding world had. What problems the muggle world had. How those problems related to each other. How they could easily be solved if the minister of magic pulled his head out of his ass. (Autumn’s eyebrows had shot up her forehead when Ginny had said that one, but one fierce look from the girl made her grin and agree.) 

In short, the Burrow was amazing. 

And that’s why, when she got a call in mid-July from a potential client, she almost didn’t want to take the job. 

She still took it of course, using the codename: the Fox, but it was hard to bring herself to leave the Burrow. 

She made up an excuse for the Weasleys, something along the lines of, “My father wants to see me.”, but she also asked if she could come back. Mrs. Weasley agreed enthusiastically and offered to drive her to and her pick her up from wherever she needed. 

So that’s how, in early August, Autumn ended up on a train to a bustling city in France. 

She was hired to take out two people: the chief of police, and an Interpol agent. She didn’t ask questions, and three days later she was $90,000 richer, and Monaco had a gruesome headline. 

And she went back to the Burrow, and carried on as she had, feeling only the slightest bit guilty about what she’d done.

Chapter Text

The Weasleys, Autumn, and Lee arrived to King’s Cross early, which never happened, and Autumn noticed something peculiar as they walked in. 

“Er, Mrs. Weasley?” She got the woman’s attention. “The boy over there with the black hair. Does he look a little lost to you?” 

She turned to where Autumn was looking, at a skinny boy with messy black hair, a trunk, and an owl. 

“Probably a first year.” Mrs. Weasley reasoned. “Come along everyone!” 

She organized the group and they passed by the boy, loudly talking about muggles and Hogwarts. 

He didn’t notice. 

They went by again. 

He still didn’t notice. 

They went by a total of eight times before the boy noticed them. 

“Er, excuse me!” He said timidly. 

The whole group turned to him, aside from Percy, Fred, and George, who had already gone through the barrier in an attempt to show the boy what to do. 

“Oh, hello!” Mrs. Weasley greeted, like she’d just spotted him. “First year? Ron’s new too.” 

“Yes,” the boy nodded politely, “but I don’t know how to- how to-“ 

“How to get to the platform, dear?” Mrs. Weasley supplied warmly, and the boy nodded in relief. “Well that’s easy. All you have to do is walk straight into the barrier between platform 9 and platform 10. Here, watch Autumn and Lee.” 

Autumn flashed the kid a grin and Lee waved, then they walked casually through the barrier together. 

Platform 9 3/4 was packed, as always. People were yelling, greeting each other, getting scolded by relatives. They’d lost the twins already, but a loud cry of —

“Autumn! Lee!” 

— drew their gazes to Angelina Johnson, who grabbed them both in a tight hug. 

“How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in so long!” She pulled back with a smile. 

Autumn grinned. “Pretty well. How about yourself?” 

“Excellent now that you two are here.” She declared with a smile. 

“Hey Ange,” Lee said conspiratorially, “wanna see something?” 

Angelina looked skeptical. “Is it one of your pranks?” 

“Nope!” Lee grinned. 

“A tarantula!” Autumn declared, with a grin identical to Lee’s. 

“A what?” A voice behind them asked. 

They all turned to see Cedric Diggory and a group of Hufflepuffs standing there, looking curious. 

“A tarantula.” Lee repeated, pulling a cardboard box with holes poked in it out of his trunk. “Giant spider.” 

“Can we see?” Asked Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw a year below them. 

The others nodded in agreement. “Come on, Lee. Give us a look!” 

Lee, never one to deny an audience, opened the box just enough for one hairy leg to poke out. 

Almost everyone shrieked, including Autumn — despite having already seen it twice. Zacarias Smith jumped into Cedric Diggory’s arms, and Terry Boot hid behind Cho Chang. 

Lee just laughed and took a bow. “More later, folks! Let’s get on the train now.” 

The group mumbled their agreement and generally dispersed, except Lee, Autumn, Angelina, and… Katie Bell, who’d come out of nowhere. They greeted her with a hug, then climbed into the train, picking out a compartment. 

Fred and George came in a little after the train started moving, accompanied by Alicia Spinnet, who waved at everyone. 

“Alicia!” Katie jumped up to hug her friend. 

Alicia’s face split into a wide grin. “Katie!” 

“Fred!” George cried dramatically. 

Fred pulled George into an over exaggerated hug. “George!” 

Autumn threw Lee’s shoe at them. 

“You’ll never guess who we met on the platform!” Fred sat across from Angelina, leaning forward with a conspiratorial grin. 

George lounged next to his brother. “We were just telling Alicia on the way here.” 

Alicia rolled her eyes in a very Katie-like way. “I don’t believe it.” 

“Alright,” Angelina leaned against Autumn, “I’ll bite. Who’d you meet?” 

The twins smirked at each other and leaned towards her in unison. “Harry Potter.” 

The compartment burst into laughter. 

*****

“Potter, Harry!” 

Murmuring broke out through the hall and Fred and George turned to their friends in perfect unison. 

“Ha! Told you so!” 

But no one was really listening. 

Autumn might not have been raised in a wizarding family, but there was no way you be in the wizarding world for almost three years and not have heard of Harry Potter. The boy who inexplicably conquered You-Know-Who as a baby. His story was told everywhere. And here he was at Hogwarts, being sorted into- 

“GRYFFINDOR!” 

The Sorting Hat’s loud announcement silenced the murmurings, replacing them with cheers from the Gryffindor table. 

Percy stood up to shake Harry’s hand, frantically introducing himself while Fred and George made faces behind his back. Seamus Finnigan, a dark haired boy who’d sat next to Alicia at the very edge of their group, leaned over and smiled at Harry, introducing himself hastily, and Hermione Granger, a bushy haired girl who’d been talking to Percy quietly about homework, waved at him slightly. Harry waved back, but quickly turned back to watch the sorting. 

All in all, they had eight new Gryffindors: three girls and five boys, including Ron, who Autumn and Lee waved merrily at while Fred and George tried to convince whoever was nearest that they weren’t related. 

They struck up a good conversation over dinner, where Autumn introduced herself to Dean Thomas, a muggleborn, and she explained that she was raised in the muggle world too, and he would have no trouble catching up, mostly be a they were all at the same level. Aside from Hermione Granger, another muggleborn, who’d seemed to make it her mission to memorize every textbook they had and recite them perfectly. 

Eventually, Dumbledore stood up and made a few announcements. Quidditch tryouts — Autumn, Angelina, Alicia and Katie grinned at each other, the twins had been able to get on the team last year as beaters, but Wood had chosen three seventh years as chasers. 

Dumbledore introduced their newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Quirrel, a nervous man with a large turban, then sent them all off to bed after a rousing chorus of the school song. 

All in all, a good first day back at Hogwarts. (Even if the summer had been a little rushed)

Chapter Text

The crowd at the Quidditch tryouts was smaller than Autumn had anticipated. 

There were about 35 students standing around, from their small group of third years, to seventh years who looked down at them like they were worried about stepping on them. Katie was looking a little green from nerves and Alicia seemed a little jumpy. Angelina, confident as ever, was looking at the people around them, trying to figure out who was playing what position, while the twins cracked jokes at Katie behind her. 

Finally, Wood pulled out a megaphone. “Anyone here to try out for seeker better go back up to the castle, because an eleven year old rode a broom for the first time and McGonagall gave him the position without asking me or ever seeing him play. Sorry guys.” 

There was a chorus of murmurs and groans, and a few people traipsed back up to the castle. 

“What…” Angelina trailed off. 

“The shit?” Katie finished. 

Autumn turned to the twins. “Did you two know about this?” 

“Yep,” Fred admitted, “Wood told us earlier.” 

“Harry must be pretty good,” George continued, “Wood was nearly skipping.” 

“Hold on.” Katie interrupted. “Harry? As in Harry Potter?” 

“The one and only.” Fred confirmed dramatically. 

“Alright!” Wood spoke into his megaphone. “We’ve only got two positions to try out for, so let’s have Chasers on my right and Beaters on my left.” 

Autumn and the twins mock saluted each other, then Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Autumn split off to one side, and the twins to the other.

A few people went to the wrong side, and were promptly kicked out. (“I thought you meant my left, Wood!”) (“You said right, so clearly I was right.”) (“Right is right, no matter where you stand. That’s what my mum always says.”) 

A few more were there for the wrong position, and were sent back to the castle. (“I thought you were joking about the Seeker thing!” “I never joke about Quidditch, Remorez!”) (“Come on, I’m clearly better than whoever you’ve already got as Keeper!” “I'm the Keeper, McClaggan!”) (“What the hell is a quarter back?!”) 

And still more were dismissed due to sheer annoyingness. (“No, Lockely, I don’t need anymore strategies. I’ve got it all worked out.”) (“Again, McClaggan, I’m the captain!”) (“Ferez… just bugger off.”) 

Eventually, the group was narrowed down to 11 potential Beaters, and 12 potential Chasers. 

There was a quick fly around the pitch, which eliminated 4 Beaters and 6 Chasers. 

Then they finally got to the actual trials. The 6 remaining Chasers went first, playing a scrimmage with Wood as Keeper. Angelina scored five goals, Autumn and Alicia scored four each, and Katie scored three. The other two Chasers scored two and zero. 

Then it was the Beaters’ turn. Fred and George had already been on the team the year before, so they were already far more likely to get on the team than any of the others, but after watching the tryouts — like good, supportive friends — none of them knew why Wood had even bothered with tryouts, as the Weasley twins were the only ones to match the Bludgers’ energy. 

Finally, once the had Beaters joined the Chasers in the stands, Wood walked over to a certain redhead with horn rimmed glasses and began deliberating with him. 

Autumn turned to the twins. ”Does your brother know anything about Quidditch?” 

“What, Percy?” 

“Yeah he knows a good bit.” 

“He used to play with us all the time—”

“—and he was pretty good, too.” 

“Not as good as Charlie, mind you—“ 

“—but still pretty good.” 

“Well, it looks like he’s helping Wood make the decision.” 

Angelina snapped up from where she was talking with Katie. “He what?” 

“They’re in the same dorm.” Fred informed them. “My guess is Wood wouldn’t shut up about tryouts, so Perce came down to see what all the fuss was about.” 

Autumn glanced down at them again, clocking how close they were standing, and the flush growing up Percy’s neck. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it, Fred.” 

“Alright, everyone!” Wood yelled into his megaphone. “If you’ll all come back down here!” 

The students filed down from the stands, clumping together on the pitch. 

“For Beaters,” Wood began, “we’ve got Weasley and Weasley. Again. Sorry to the rest of you.” 

Fred and George high fived while the other tryouts traipsed back up to the castle. 

“And Chasers,” Wood continued, “we’ve got Johnson, September, and Spinnet, with Belle as alternate.” 

Angelina let out a squeal and hugged the person standing next to her, who happened to be one of the Chaser rejects. Alicia’s smile looked a little dazed, and she turned to Katie as if for confirmation it was real. And Katie looked… well, a little disappointed, but she smiled and thanked Wood before the six of them made their way back to the castle. 

“First practice is in two weeks.” Angelina informed them. “Think we might have a shot at the cup this year?” 

The twins grinned identically. “Definitely.” 

And maybe, for once, they were right.

Chapter Text

Fighting depression. 

Sorry.