Chapter Thirty-Five
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteMarch 23-26, 1998
"You had enough responsibility to be going on with"
It had taken two months, several dozen witches and wizards, and enough spell energy to set the entirety of a medium-sized country on fire, but the Order of the Phoenix's new Headquarters is done.
It's a modest enough structure on the outside, nestled out in London suburbia between well-manicured brownstones with over decorated gardens. It would fit right into the Muggle neighborhood Kent and Willow had selected weeks before when construction had begun, only none of their new neighbors can actually see the HQ building.
It's not Grimmauld Place, Kent can admit that, and if things go wrong in just the right way the house can be seen by people who don't necessarily know that it's there. However, the chances of that are low and most Order members are just glad to once again have a safe place to retreat to and share information and aren't too hung up on the chances of being found out by the Muggles surrounding them.
Theo had moved into the HQ as soon as it was set up, along with a couple other couch-surfing Order members who had the unfortunate luck to have been in England just as everything fell to the Dark and had ended up stuck on the island, unable to return to their home in South America. Kent hadn't minded Theo living with him and Willow, and Jemma had repeatedly pointed out (on the rare occasions she was home) that she always crashes on the couch anyway and thus didn't mind Theo using the guest room, but Theo had insisted on not "taking advantage" of their hospitality.
Kent does wonder if his partner regrets that choice, considering his roommates now are Paulo de Souza and Ryuunosuke Abe. Paulo had been a pen pal of Bill Weasley's while the two were in school and while no one is refusing his offer to help he's a bit of a chaotic character. His boyfriend Ryuu is frankly no better, though he's less chaotic and more quirky, but either way it means no one is keeping Paulo in check. Kent can only imagine how hectic the HQ must be on a day-to-day basis, though he himself has been holding back from visiting too obsessively - he wants to give Theo space if the other man needs it.
Willow is still living in his room, and they're still not really talking about what exactly their relationship is other than colleagues who kiss and also sometimes do a lot more than that, but she hasn't brought up labelling it since that first morning and Kent hasn't either. He figures if they both survive the war there will be plenty of time to work things out then.
They have talked about Theo though, at length and in detail. Willow doesn't trust his former partner, despite Theo having been entirely cooperative with sharing everything he knows about the Snatchers (or the Fugitive Recovery Unit as it's known in the Ministry) leading to the Order staging several successful attacks on the Snatchers before the other group had a chance to change tactics.
"How are we so certain he isn't feeding information back to them?" She asks again after the two of them have dinner at the HQ are are back in Kent's flat getting ready for bed. "His information went out of date pretty quickly but we're still giving him access to our newest secrets?"
Kent sighs. He gets why Willow is suspicious, knows she isn't the only one questioning his decision to bring Theo into the fold so quickly, but she doesn't know him the way Kent does, so it's been difficult to explain his choice to her - and to most of the Order. He's just lucky Kingsley had backed him up when he'd first told the leaders of the Order about Theo joining, otherwise Kent is pretty sure he'd've been booted from the Order alongside Theo.
"Just, can you trust me on this? And if not me, Kingsley?" He says pleadingly, not wanting to get into it tonight. "Theo's a good guy, just came from a bad situation."
Willow grimaces. "Right, because that excuses his actions. He still made his own choices Kent."
"And some of them involved sabotaging the Snatchers from the inside for as long as he could so you of all people don't really have a leg to stand on here." He snaps, because he's tired and they keep having this same argument and he's getting sick of it.
Willow just stares at him quietly for a long moment, and then sighs. "Fine, I'm sorry. I'm just worried is all. I don't want to see anyone else hurt."
Kent sighs. She's right, and he'd taken that too far, but she's already getting into bed and pulling the covers tightly around herself which is a good sign at least. If she was really upset she'd go sleep in Drake's room, or on the couch. The fact she's staying with him means he didn't break anything.
So he lets it drop and gets into bed as well, though sleep doesn't come easily.
The next morning he wakes up early and decides to make breakfast in bed for Willow as an apology for his comments. He won't get another chance until tonight since he has patrol with Laurel and Hestia Jones and she's going to be working with Kingsley at the HQ sorting through some information a raid a few days earlier had managed to steal from a Deatheater's home. It's possible neither of them will make it all the way back to the flat - Kent has started joining Drake in crashing at the Tremlett's empty home if patrols go later than expected and since the HQ is specifically built to be able to house several people at once Willow will sometimes just sleep there if meetings go long. So breakfast needs to be perfect.
Willow ruins the surprise a bit by waking up before he's finished cooking, but when she comes up behind him and leans her head on his shoulder while winding her arms around his waist he figures this isn't bad either.
"What's all this then?" She asks, still a bit sleepy but still scanning the food critically. Willow, Kent has learned, doesn't really have a phase in between being asleep an awake, jumping straight from one to the other, so once she's up she has little trouble processing her surroundings. "Did I forget an important date or?"
"I feel bad about what I said last night." Kent replies honestly - Willow won't appreciate anything else. "And everyone needs breakfast so." He shrugs and Willow buries her face in the back of his shoulder, where he can feel her smile. All is definitely forgiven, even if he knows Willow would insist there was nothing to forgive. But he also knows she still hasn't really forgiven herself for those early months of the war, and throwing them in her face was dirty and uncalled for and Kent would have felt bad about it for the rest of the day if he didn't do something to make her smile before they both leave for 'work'.
"I'm still impressed that you're a decent cook." Willow comments once the food is finished and they're both seated at the kitchen table.
"I'm still appalled that you don't drink coffee." He shoots back, and she laughs.
"Such a stereotype, that lawyers all need coffee to function. Yours is pretty good though, I'll give you that. But it's still unhealthy bean water."
"And you like your 'healthy leaf water'." He teases, and she laughs, and that right there will be something to hold onto to get him through whatever today brings.
He goes with Willow to the HQ and leaves her to chat with her sister for a bit, going further into the house to look for Theo, who had been unnervingly quiet at dinner the night before. Kent wants to make sure he's settling in alright.
He knocks on the door to what he knows is Theo's room, and a moment later it swings open to reveal sleep-mussed platinum blond hair and a bleary glare.
"What do you- Oh." Theo blinks. "Hey Kent, you're here already?"
"Late night?" Kent guesses, and Theo groans.
"I'm moving to a room not next to the lovebirds." He grumbles. "It's already ten though, I should eat. Thanks for the wakeup."
Kent stands in the doorway, feeling dismissed but not wanting to go just yet. For the first few days things with Theo had been amazing, like old times. Kent had chatted about anything and everything and Theo had made his dry quips and Kent felt like a piece of himself he hadn't even known was missing had fit back into place. And then Theo had very abruptly pulled back into himself and Kent was left wondering if it was something he'd done.
Willow had told him to give it time, that if Theo really had switched sides then he probably had a lot to process. But Kent has never been the most patient person in the world and he's getting rather fed up with waiting for Theo to come to him.
"Soooo, other than the neighbors everything is alright? You're settling in well? You can still have the guest room if you want, Jemma can take Drake's room since he's never home these days." Kent says, feeling like he's rambling, like it's the first day of his and Theo's partnership when he still didn't really have any idea how to act around his school-time quidditch rival. It's weird, feeling like that again now, years after the initial awkwardness had faded into a comfortable companionship.
Theo rolls his eyes. "I'm fine Kent. Don't you have a patrol to get to?"
"You could come with." Kent offers, impulsively, knowing logically that it's probably an empty offer, that Kingsley or Laurel will nix the idea in a heartbeat, but much as he's grown to trust the other Order members Kent thinks that having Theo by his side out in the field will feel safer despite everything. And maybe the familiarity will break down this sudden wall between them.
But Theo is shaking his head. "Can't, I've got chores." He says with something that borders amusement but is a bit too tired to fully commit. "I'll see you around though."
And with that Kent is ushered back into the hallway and Theo's door closes firmly behind him. Kent frowns at it for a long moment before reluctantly returning to the meeting room, where he knows Laurel and Willow will have gone after he'd headed upstairs.
Kingsley and Hestia are present as well, and they greet Kent politely and cheerfully respectively. He nods to them both, and then Kingsley and Willow head out to leave Laurel to explain the patrol plan.
"According to our intel a new section of the woods was just being establish for Snatcher patrols two months ago, but it wasn't until last week that we actually saw people in that area. The three of us are going to take a closer look and see if the people spotted were Snatchers or Fugitives, and if it's the former try to work out their patrol patterns."
Kent nods along with Hestia. It's standard faire, and the mission will likely wrap up sometime in early afternoon assuming nothing goes drastically wrong. Maybe he can get in some more time with Theo in the evening.
As expected the patrol is generally quiet - they determine that the people spotted were indeed Snatchers and take note of their exit and entry points so they can tell the twins, who will lay traps later in the week, time permitting.
Kent knows, as they Apparate back to HQ, that he should be pleased by the successful mission, but if he's honest he's starting to get twitchy again. The Order has fallen into a routine, and even if it's a routine that's doing more to help than the old one was Kent can't help wanting to push things even further. But with the HQ finished he has no idea what 'further' could even mean.
"You look ready to jump out of your skin." Laurel comments as they step into the main entrance. Hestia has headed out - she's got a dinner date, apparently, so hadn't apparated back with Kent and Laurel - so it's just the two of them in the cavernous entry. "What's up?"
Kent shrugs. "Just want to do more I suppose."
Laurel laughs outright at that. "You know I said the same thing to Eric yesterday, and you know what he told me? He said that if we did anymore we'd probably end up killing the Healers from sheer exhaustion."
Kent snorts at that, but definitely sees her point. Not all the Order members have left their jobs (yet - Kent is certain it's only a matter of time) and all the Healers are still on call at St. Mungo's. He thinks of Jemma collapsing onto the couch at three in the morning only to drag herself back out to work five hours later - and that's when she gets any sleep at all - and he definitely starts to feel a little bad about wanting to do more.
Laurel elbows him lightly. "Hey, I didn't say that to make you feel bad, jeez. Just, you know, remember to think past the immediate. Bad Gryffindor habit, I'm told." She adds with a sparkle in her eye that tells Kent it's definitely her husband who made that remark. "Speaking of school-time nonsense, I wanted to talk to you about Yaxley."
Kent doesn't bother holding back a sigh. Laurel may technically be his superior within the Order, but she's only a year older than him and their relationship has always been one of equals, even back on the Quidditch pitch in school.
"What about him?" He asks, resigned to yet another lecture about him trusting too quickly and too easily because of his past working relationship with the former Snatcher.
But Laurel surprises him. "I believe you. About him. Just wanted you to know that you've got me and Eric in your corner in all this."
He stares at her for a moment and he's pretty sure his jaw is hanging open and he looks like an idiot, but he can't help it. Nearly a decade they've known each other - this shouldn't be as shocking as it is. Laurel laughs.
"Hey, I remember how much you two hated each other back in school - something had to majorly shift for you to trust him that much. I mean, don't get me wrong I still think you're biased, but if he managed to turn you then there's definitely good in him. We just have to give him a chance to show us as well."
Kent hugs her. "Thank you for that." He tells her solemnly as he pulls away.
She waves him off. "We're friends Kent. I'll see about talking to Willow as well, I know she's a lot more jittery about this than I am and I can't imagine that's great for your relationship."
"She has her reasons." He says firmly, feeling the need to defend his... well, whatever he and Willow are, even from her own older sister.
Laurel laughs. "I grew up with her Kent, she always has her reasons. Sometimes she forgets to think about other's reasons though." She pauses, and then continues. "I guess I'll stick around until she and Kingsley are done - wanna toss a Quaffle around in the backyard? I've got practice tomorrow and I haven't been on a broom outside of patrols all week."
Kent grins. "I forget that the Quidditch season is still going sometimes." He admits as they make their way towards the back.
Laurel smacks him. "For shame! Leona does a great job commentating them, you should tune in to the match on Saturday."
They don't chat much once they're in the air other that yelling insults and trying to bait each other into losing focus. It's relaxing and enjoyable and for a few hours Kent isn't hounded by the constant nagging feeling that he could be doing more. Then he spots Willow standing below them, shielding her eyes from the setting sun and grinning, and reality closes back in.
They land and Kent gives Willow a quick kiss before she pushes him away and insists he shower. He laughs and acquiesces, leaving the sisters to talk.
He runs into Paulo as he gets out of the shower, and the other man grins and slaps his back like they're old friends instead of near-strangers.
"Kent! You are staying for dinner again?" He says with a bright smile.
Kent hesitates. "Well we weren't planning on it but-"
"Theo talks more when you're around." Ryuunosuke appears from behind his boyfriend, startling Kent and looking far too pleased about it. "Just so you know."
"Well, I'll have to ask Willow, obviously." He says tightly, and Ryuu pouts far too dramatically for someone who's supposedly the same age as Kent is.
"Ugh her. Fine." He flounces off, ignoring his boyfriend's attempt to give him a pointed look.
"What was that about?" Kent asks, fully ready to deck the Japanese man if he just insulted Willow. Paulo just sighs.
"Nothing nothing, he's just excitable. Why don't you and I go grab Theo, tell him dinner is ready? I'm sure Willow will be fine with it, you two ate here yesterday so why would today be different?"
Because her sister is probably talking to her about Theo right now and I'd like to be able to talk to her about it afterwards, but that's a private conversation we can't exactly have here? Kent thinks, though of course doesn't actually reply. He doesn't know Paulo or Ryuu well enough to explain something that personal (and frankly doesn't think he trusts Ryuu very much). So he just stays quiet and follows after Paulo.
They don't end up staying for dinner - Willow sites an early morning at work, reminding everyone in the process that she's one of the people that still has a job, and they excuse themselves from the HQ.
"So Laurel talked to me about Theo, which you probably know." Willow says almost as soon as they're home, and this is one of the moments that Kent likes how straight-to-the-point she always is. "And I get it a bit better now, I think. You tend to be biased - and yes so do I, I know," She adds with a smile when he opens his mouth to point out that exactly, "But I'll try to curb my bias a little more with him from now on."
Kent just smiles at her. "That's all I ask." He says, and that's that. As they make dinner together that night Kent thinks he should send Laurel something nice as a thank you. And also consult her a lot more when he's having trouble figuring Willow out.
Willow is already gone when Kent wakes up the next morning, which isn't uncommon on days she has cases. Kent likely won't see her again until tomorrow or even Friday depending on how long it take the Wizengamot to come up with a verdict. He himself doesn't have anything to do so he decides to lie in for a bit longer - at least until he hears the front door open and close. He knows it can't be Willow, so it must be either Drake or Jemma, neither of whom he's seen much of recently.
He stumbles out of bed and pulls on a shirt before padding barefoot down the hall to greet whichever of his elusive roommates it is.
Jemma blinks at him blearily from the kitchen, where she's brewing some tea. It takes a moment but she eventually finds her voice. "Good morning Kent. Drake around?"
"Not that I'm aware of, though you can check his room." He replies, his own voice still heavy with sleep. "You back for the day?"
She hums. "Wednesday. I'm off shift." She says simply. "And I unexpectedly had last night off too, so I might actually be awake for some parts of today." She adds with a smile that's clearly supposed to be wry, but ends up more twisted and numb than anything else.
Kent blinks, processing the words, then finally puts together what they mean. "You were here last night too?"
"Got in a little before you did, but I didn't hear anything if that's your concern." She says as the kettle starts to whistle. "I knocked out basically a minute after I heard you two Apparate in. Saw Willow this morning though, she left about an hour ago." She raises an eyebrow as she grabs the kettle. "Want one?"
He shakes his head. "I'll make some coffee, thanks."
She shrugs and pours herself a mug. "Suit yourself." She settles at the table and watches him quietly as he moves around the kitchen to start brewing his coffee. "Things going well with the Order?" She asks after a moment. "You finished the HQ, right?"
Kent hums, responding distractedly as he focuses on measuring the beans. "Yeah, couple weeks ago. Kind of bored now if I'm honest."
Jemma snorts into her tea. "I do seem to recall this place being an endless hive of activity when I was actually around, so that's not surprising. You're right though, there isn't much going on at this point - most patrols are turning up very little, though I do think the Snatchers are getting more violent since your friend left."
Kent grimaces, remembering belatedly what Laurel had said about his feeling restless. "Right, sorry I shouldn't-"
"Don't apologize, I get it." Jemma cuts him off with a smile. "I'd suggest finding something else to plan, though. I'd rather not have more work if possible."
Kent laughs weakly. "Fair enough. I'll think on it. So you planning to sleep today or?"
She shrugs. "Probably? I'm not sure what's going on tonight to be honest - I'm on call but I may not need to go in so. I'm thinking we should drag Drake out of my house and have a game day or something. I could use it."
Kent thinks they all could. The day is spent lazily (once they manage to wrangle Drake into submission, that is) and Kent is almost feeling good when Willow slams open the door around eight o'clock, causing Drake to jump and spill their Jenga tower across the coffee table.
"Damnit!" He shouts as Jemma laughs and claims her (fifth) victory. Kent is too focused on Willow to really take note though - she looks absolutely furious.
"They're dismantling the court system." She growls. "All the defense lawyers on the Wizengamot payroll - the ones who represent people who can't afford to hire private attorneys - were given their two week notice today." She groans and collapses onto the couch. "They're finally doing it. They're going to completely reverse all the human rights the Ministry is supposed to protect."
Drake and Jemma are quiet now, watching Willow as intently as Kent is.
After a moment, Jemma speaks up. "Well Kent, I think your new goal just dropped itself into your lap, don't you think?"
Kent looks at her in confusion, as do the other two, and she sighs.
"Obviously we need to get the Deatheaters out of the Ministry, retake control of the government? Kingsley and Theo both worked indirectly with the administration and Willow's seen it too - between them you can likely begin working out where the best places to strike would be." She hesitates, and then adds, "And there are probably people on the inside who would be willing to help out too, they just aren't out in the open with their unhappiness like we are."
Kent looks around at the group, and then nods. "I think you're right Jemma. I'll send a Patronus to Kingsley and get a meeting set up for tomorrow. Willow are you-"
"Still working. I'll be good for Friday though." She says firmly. "And I'll keep an eye on things tomorrow, see if I can't start reconnaissance a bit early."
Jemma does end up going out that evening after a snake Patronus informs her she's needed, but Drake sticks around for once and the house almost feels full for the first time in a while. Kent still has trouble falling asleep though, his mind swirling as it tries to put together a rough outline for their possible Ministry reclamation.
He's awoken in the morning by a Lynx patronus sitting on the end of his bed - a response from Kinglsey to the request Kent had sent off the night before.
"We'll meet at one in Headquarters." The wild cat informs him before vanishing. Kent yawns and stretches, finding the bed beside him unsurprisingly empty yet again. He takes his time getting dressed, and checks Drake's room on his way to the kitchen only to find it disappointingly empty.
Kent makes his coffee and then decides to go to HQ a bit early - it's not like he has anything else to do.
He's surprised to find the door answered by one of the Weasley twins (he ascertains that it's George with a quick and hopefully subtle glance at his ear) who beams.
"Hey Kent! Welcome to Mi Casa! That's spanish for my house." George says cheerfully, ushering Kent inside and closing the door. "Paulo is teaching us!"
Kent raises an eyebrow. "That's nice of him, but if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here?"
"Potterwatch setup!" Lee Jordan shouts from somewhere in the house. He appears a moment later with his hair up in a bun and looking a bit frazzled. "The sticking sound projectors are acting up and I have no idea why. When is Leona getting here again?"
Kent blinks. "As in Leona Poole?" He double checks. Despite having known from the start that his sister's old classmate is a member of the Order, he hasn't actually ever seen the young radio reporter at any meetings.
"Yup." George confirms, popping the 'p' "She pulled a grand exit from her job a week ago so she's assisting full-time with Potterwatch now, which is great - she's brought a bunch of professional equipment so we should have fewer sound issues."
"Assuming we can get the dang stuff to work." Lee grumbles. "But why are you here Kent? I didn't think there were any patrols leaving from here today?"
"There aren't." A new voice pipes up, startling Kent (again). Ryuu grins sweetly from the staircase where he's suddenly appeared. "So Kent must be here for a different reason." He sing-songs the last few words and Kent sighs.
"I have a meeting with Kingsley later about a possible attack on the Ministry." He says evenly, not wanting to deal with the odd Japanese man longer than he has to. "Figured I'd just hang out here until then since I don't have anything else to do."
Ryuu pouts. "Oh poo. Well I'm going to get Theo anyway."
Kent just sighs and turns back to George and Lee as Ryuu flounces back up the stairs. "Anything I can help you guys with in the meantime?"
Ryuu returns about a half hour later with both Paulo and Theo, the latter of whom looks incredibly put-upon, enough that Kent can't help laughing at the sight.
"Guest room is still open." He says, and Theo rolls his eyes but does smirk slightly all the same.
"I hear we've got a meeting with Kingsley later?"
Kent nods, easily falling into work mode with his former partner. "We're hoping to stage an attack on the Ministry, take it back from the Deatheaters. We're hoping you'll be able to help us isolate the power structures and the best people to take out to unbalance them"
Theo hums. "Probably a good idea. Obviously my uncle needs to go down but Kingsley definitely already knows that. Runcorn and Umbridge as well maybe? I admit I don't know much about the workings outside of the people who worked with the Unit, and Zara isn't really a force to be reckoned with. Just put her against more than one person and she'll be overwhelmed." He speaks of Wong with a clear distaste, but Kent does note the first name use.
Theo blinks after thinking a moment longer. "Oh, and there's Yurina Nakayashi too, but she doesn't really do much?"
"Wait what? Who?" Ryuu interrupts, and Kent is ready to snap at him until he turns and sees that the other man has gone wide-eyed and pale. "Did you... is she a small Japanese woman who looks like she wants to eat you whenever she smiles?" He asks, his voice, for once, not lilting or mocking. If anything he sounds scared.
Theo frowns. "Yeah, that would be her. She mostly just goes around scaring people, but she's pretty harmless as far as I can tell - she doesn't really care about the Ministry so I don't think-"
"That's what she wants you to think." Ryuu cuts off, his voice firm and urgent. "Look, I know Nakayashi. Well, know of her, anyway. Every wizard in Japan does - she was the first person in decades to be expelled from Mahoutokoro in decades, and it was for extensive use and practice of Dark Magic. She's infamous for being utterly ruthless, merciless, and cunning." He's shaking slightly, and Paulo quickly slides an arm around his waist to offer some support. Ryuu takes a few breaths, smiles weakly at his boyfriend in thanks, and then continues.
"If Yurina Nakayashi doesn't want you to know something then you won't, and I can guarantee if you try to take back the Ministry without neutralizing her first anything you do is going to fail."
Kent frowns. "Come on, no one is that good."
Ryuu shakes his head. "Maybe not, but she comes close. I can guarantee everything she's doing has a reason behind it - we just can't see her big picture. Not yet. But I'm telling you, get her or give up."
Kent glances over at Theo, frowning. This may be a lot harder than he'd originally anticipated.
Author's Note: Oh Kent, always wanting to do more xD May have your hands full here though my friend! Next chapter sees the end of March! Then it's one more month before the final battle begins~ We're close to the end game now!
Next Time: She loves her boss, but this is a little overblown in her opinion
So I'm thinking I might do a final 'afterwords' chapter to share my thoughts and feelings on writing this story, if that's something people would be interested in? I'm also open to answering any lingering questions people might have there as well!
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