Tides of Fate | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ᴇʀᴀ

22 | Inconvenient Truths

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-- MUGGLE PUB

They had a celebration for their victories that very same weekend- or as was known to the majority of the Order, victory. Only a handful of people knew about the horcrux hunt that had nearly taken both Gideon and Carina's lives. But as it turned out, their smokescreen mission turned out to be a huge success, and the Order's abrupt attack on the Greengrass gala had scared off most of Voldemort's undecided supporters and funders.

Sirius insisted they get together to celebrate and invited his supervisors to their little get-together. After all, they had a lot to celebrate. Not only was the mission as a whole a success, but it had also been Alice's first major operation as the aurors' charms expert. She'd been partnered with Fabian because he had much more experience while she was still new, and she wasn't allowed to partner with her husband. Nonetheless, the seasoned wizard learned very quickly that the little newbie had tricks up her sleeve. Alice thought very differently from the rest of the aurors because she primarily had a charms background. While aurors might typically attempt to blast their way through or choke out an operation, Alice was quick with innovative solutions and diversions.

"I swear, we were about to be found out just as we were securing the perimeter, and this one," Fabian pointed to Alice, "decides to charm napkins into singing birds to put on a show. Obviously, the hosts didn't want to admit they hadn't known- foolish snobs- and just claimed it was part of the program!"

"To Alice! The best thing to happen to your department!" Lily toasted, smiling proudly at her best friend.

"To Alice!" Everyone echoed.

Celebrating at muggle pubs was a new habit of theirs. With the war picking up, Moody had warned them to not gather in groups in public places because it could compromise their covers and put them at risk. While Carina's year of friends had an excuse to gather anyway, any celebrations extending to the Prewetts or other Order members were just implausible.

It was actually Lily who suggested they switch to muggle pubs, randomly chosen the hour before they were meant to meet. The system had been working really well, and it was a wonder what a muffling charm could do even in public places. They were able to smoothly blend into the crowds.

"Where were you during the mission?" Sirius asked Carina curiously. "I was trying to find you, but I couldn't."

"I don't do combat missions, you know what," Carina rolled her eyes.

She glanced across the table and caught Gideon's gaze just as he raised an eyebrow. Both their minds flashed back to the mission they'd been on. Carina shrugged humbly as Gideon gave her a look that said, yeah, right. But Carina knew herself- their success had not been due to her skill or finesse but rather her sheer will to survive.

"Your debriefs are like the group's pre-mission blessing," Frank added. "I think we all missed that."

"See, Carina?" Fabian said gleefully. "We'll recruit you to our department, yet."

"Keep on dreaming, Prewett," Carina smiled indulgently.

While half their group was very active during missions as trained aurors, the other half was not. James and Remus had been allowed on this particular mission as back-up, but it didn't seem like they saw much of the action from their silence. Peter hadn't even been on the mission as his primary role was surveillance within the ministry. He kept his ear to the ground and eyes sharp for any subtle changes in power or staffing. And Lily, who was only halfway through her healer training, was not yet qualified enough to be the primary mediwitch for mission support. Though, she would be allowed to start shadowing as medical support for missions soon. Alice and Carina both knew how excited she was to begin applying her knowledge.