AN

Having read a diverse selection of fanfics over the last 2 years I felt compelled to try my hand in creating something myself. I had a lot of fun writing this first chapter and even though I am motivated to continue, I also want to caution you that this is the first time I am attempting such a project. I have no experience with maintaining this motivation over a long period of time. You are warned :)

Also, I discovered that I am a very slow writer, this chapter alone took several weeks to finish. Bear with me please if it takes a little while until I can update again. I'd also like to give a big thank you to my fiancée who is kind enough to act as my beta. If it weren't for her, my language would be noticeably worse.

Please note that Harry Potter and The Big Bang Theory are property of their respective owners. Who I am not. I just use their work to play around. That applies for the entirety of this story so don't be surprised if I do not repeat that again in every chapter.

So, enough of my babbling. Please have fun and if you feel like letting me know how you liked it, you'd be doing me a big favor.

Edit March 19th,2018: Hikari Nova was so kind to call attention to a small blunder I made when writing the story. I got the time difference between the US and the UK wrong by counting into the wrong direction. Stupid mistake, really. In any case I fixed that, along with a couple minor mistakes or changes in language, none of which changes anything in the story, so, no need to reread, it's still the same.

/AN

Chapter 1 - The Great Escape

THE GIRL-WHO-LIVED MISSING IN ACTION?

by Lavender Thomas for the Daily Prophet, November 1st, 2007

According to multiple reports from members of the Ministry Of Magic, it is possible that Ava Renée Potter was killed in a battle that took place yesterday evening on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. Auror Potter and Auror Finnegan were the first to respond to an emergency distress call that reached the Auror Headquarters shortly after 10pm. Another team of four Aurors arrived several minutes later on site, to a scene that showed the signs of a heavy struggle.

The leading investigator Auror Weasley confirmed that four bodies were recovered from the site of the battle, but refused any further comment at this point. Eye witnesses claim that they recognised the body of Auror Finnegan as one of the casualties that was removed from the scene. Ava Potter has not been seen since. Numerous members of the wizarding society expressed their concern for the wellbeing and safety of their idol and organized a permanent vigil under the monument in Godric's Hollow that was erected in memory of James and Lily Potter and as a tribute to Ava Renée Potter after the end of the First Wizarding War in 1981.

Ava Renée Potter is known to be the first person in written history to survive the Killing Curse and is well regarded for her accomplishments in the Second Wizarding War. During the Battle of Hogwarts she engaged and subsequently killed the Dark Lord V******** in duel. After the war she publicly lent her support to several reforms, that were introduced by Minister Shacklebolt to 'undo the damage done to our society by pureblood supremacy'. Potter joined the Auror Corps where she quickly made a name for herself. One of her biggest successes in her Auror career were the apprehension of the feared werewolf Fenrir Greyback in 2004 and the infamous Death Eater Rabastan Lestrange in 2005. Ava Potter is generally regarded as one of the most powerful and popular witches of our time, and well respected as one of Europe's foremost specialists in Defense against the Dark Arts. Miss Potter is currently unmarried and childless, and although numerous rumours regarding her love live are in circulation, none have ever been confirmed.

For a more complete survey of the life of Ava Renée Potter, please read Page 3.

Also in this issue:

Recent attacks on muggleborn - A new generation of Death Eaters? (by Morris Greenbridge) Pg.5

Hundreds celebrated Halloween in Diagon Alley, (by Mikasa Waterlog) Pg.6

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It was with a tired grunt that Ava finally allowed herself to settle down on one of the three dozen moving boxes that littered her new apartment. Just a few moments ago she had bid the people of the moving company goodbye. They had done the lions share of lugging her new furniture and the tightly packed boxes up the two flights of stairs, and while Ava was glad that she didn't had to do it all by herself, she much prefered the solitude of her uncrowded apartment to the busy bustle that had been the rest of her day.

Taking the departure of the movers as her cue that the coast was finally clear, she could hear Wookie scrambling her way out from under the bed. The dog had spent the last few hours in her hiding spot from where she had observed the workers busying away while they assembled and erected what little furniture Ava had picked out at the local IKEA this morning. While the dog was usually a friendly and social animal, she had always been wary of people she didn't know, and the loud noises that accompanied their work did little to endear them to the animal. So Wookie had taken the first opportunity to hide herself away and wait out until the ruckus had died down. Ava just wished she could have done the same.

With the telltale clicking of nails on parquet floor Wookie made her way into the living room to settle down next to her mistress, her size allowing her to lay down her head into the woman's lap. With a tired smile Ava ran her fingers through the thick fur of her companion.

"Finally, just the two of us, huh, sweetie?" Ava murmured "How about this? I'll give a quick call to Hermione and then you get something to eat."

Fishing for her mobile phone in her jeans pocket, she quickly dialed the familiar number. Half a minute later her call was answered.

"Ava, that you?" a happy voice called out.

"Hi Mia, yeah it's me. I'm finally settled in, or at least halfway there. I hope I didn't wake you, I know it's the middle of the night for you." she spoke into her mobile.

"Yeah, that time lag will need some getting used to, but don't worry you didn't wake me. I was up anyway. And I told you I wanted to hear from you, regardless of the time." Hermione answered "Did the move go ok? How is your new flat?"

"Well first of all, they call it an apartment here. Nobody understood me when I called it a flat." Ava huffed "But it's rather nice actually. Pretty big, bigger than I expected anyway. It has two bedrooms, so I guess I can use one of them as an office or so, don't know yet. The move though, urgh, don't get me started. The lease said the house had a lift, guess they forgot to mention that the blasted thing was broken. If I hadn't hired that moving company I'd have been screwed."

"Ava, language!" Hermione remonstrated, though she sounded more amused than stern "You could have hired that magical contractor I found for you in Los Angeles, that probably would have been much easier."

"You know why I didn't choose them, Mia." she sighed tiredly "I didn't want the media to find out where I am. I'm trying to get away from all that shite. Actually, I'll probably go full muggle."

"Hm, I actually suspected as much when you rented that place under your mum's maiden name. Guess I'll need to call you Ava Evans now, huh?"

"Renée."

"Huh?"

"I'll go as Renée Evans here. Ava Evans just sounds terrible." she replied with a smirk "Also it should be more common. I checked the telephone book, you know. There are about a dozen Renée Evanses in the area here. LA is pretty big."

"Hmm, ok." Mia hummed non committedly "But even if you 'go muggle', as you so aptly put it, please promise me that you'll carry your wand regardless, ok? I worry about you, you know, we all do."

When Ava didn't answer immediately, Hermione continued.

"Nev and Ron, are both morose about you leaving. Ron actually started smoking again. And George,..." she hesitated "He looks terrible. I haven't seen him like that since Fred."

"I know it's terrible, Hermione! That's why I left! I…." Ava snapped her mouth shut, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Mia. It's just … I …." She continued in a broken voice.

"I know, I'm sorry, too. Shouldn't have brought it up." Her murmur carried her own sadness. It sounded as if she wanted to start speaking again, but was interrupted by a grumpy whining. Probably the reason why Hermione was up in the first place.

Ava heard the sound from the other end of the line, and immediately felt a new wave of shame and guilt. She knew that it belonged to Rosie, Hermione's one year-old toddler. She hadn't seen her for over 3 months now, since Halloween. More honestly, she had avoided the child like the plague. Some godmother she made. She had decided to go and see the kid probably a dozen times already, but always chickened out, when it came to actually going through with it. The first time she tried, her frayed nerves actually made her throw up her breakfast. Hermione, Merlin bless her soul, seemed to understand though and didn't push her. It didn't save her from feeling disgusted with herself though.

"Erm, listen Hermione, I'm pretty beat." she quickly spoke in a quivering voice, that she was pretty sure Hermione could hear clearly "So, I'm gonna go to bed soon. Probably gonna soak in the bath a bit.

"Alright Ava, just…" Hermione's worried voice answered "Don't be a stranger, ok? With you so far away, I don't want to lose contact. Promise me, we'll speak in a few days."

"I promise, Mia." she said in a defeated voice. "Give Nev and Rosie a kiss, alright."

"I will. I hope you get better, Ava. Love you."

"Love you too."

With a heavy swallow she terminated the call and leaned her head into her hands, startling Wookie up from her place where she still lay in her lap.

"I'm such a fucking coward." she moaned.

A moment later she got up from her place, to look for the box she had marked with a scribbled dogs head before. After a short search she found it in the kitchen area, and opened it to take out two bowls and a bag of kibble. She filled one of the bowls with tap water and the other with the kibble, placing them next to the kitchen counter. She smiled when Wookie immediately and loudly began to devour her food, you could think that she had been starved for a week. Always the same. She patted Wookies side, which prompted the dog to briefly look up to her and then immediately dive back into her bowl, realising that her mistress held no additional food.

With a sigh, Ava went to the bathroom and started to fill the tub. Waiting for the water to fill up, she hesitated for a moment and then went back to the moving box and fished for a moment, producing a glass and a bottle of her favorite whisky. A glass or two would hopefully help her to fall asleep. In any case it was worth a try.

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There was tentative light falling through her window when Ava opened her eyes. Grunting she moved her hand over her mattress hoping that she had remembered to take her phone into the bed with her, sighing relieved when she found it without knocking it to the ground. She activated the display and cringed when the brightness hit her unprepared. 6.30 am, she read on the display. A little surprised she thought back when she she had the last full night of uninterrupted sleep but came up blank. Apparently there was nothing better than absolute exhaustion and a spot of alcohol to get some shuteye. Remembering that for the future, she contemplated staying in bed for a while but eventually swung her legs from the bed and sat up.

Swaying a bit from sudden vertigo and blinking away the spots in front of her eyes, she gave a small glare to the bottle that was noticeably more empty than it was yesterday. Alright, maybe she would go a little lighter on the booze next time.

Switching off her nightlight while lifting herself of the bed, she made her way into the living room and leaned against the doorframe to take in the scene. Wookie had made herself comfortable and lounged sleepily on her new couch, but perked up a little when her mistress entered the room. Most of the new furniture had been assembled yesterday, but with no concept on where to put any of it yet, the pieces had been carelessly shoved to the side. Along with the forty or so moving boxes which waited to be unpacked, she had her work cut out for the day. At least the flat had a built-in kitchen, so all she had to do on that front was unpacking.

But first things first, she decided and resolved to take a shower before she started into her day. She produced a big towel from a box labeled 'Bedding, Towels, Blankets' and found herself fresh clothes in another. Emerging from the shower 20 minutes later she snorted when she saw herself in the mirror. The outfit she had haphazardly picked up had ended up being horribly mismatched. Oh well, she could always change again, when she had to step out. Resigning herself to get started on making her new place liveable she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Later that day, Ava was exhausted and hungry and when her stomach began to make increasingly irritated noises she figured that she better stop and began to think on how to get something to eat. She had nibbled two of the nutrition bars that she always carried in her jacket during a short break earlier today, but that would not carry her much longer. At least she had made good progress on her apartment today.

She had started on her bedroom. Figuring that she wanted to avoid sleeping in a bare and unmade bed again, she put fresh linen on and then began to push and pull her furnishings from one place to the next, contemplating what setup would be the best fit and would look nice. Some back and forth later, she had decided on one and began unpacking the boxes with clothes that were not blocked by the myriad of other cartons. Curtains and lamps were next.

The whole procedure had taken a surprising amount of time, and figuring the task would be more straightforward, she had switched her attention to the kitchen. She had just finished stocking the cabinet with pans and pots when her hunger became annoying enough to do something about it. Unfortunately she had nothing in the house, so that meant either grocery shopping or eating out.

Not wanting to sit alone in a restaurant she decided on cooking for herself. She would have to get groceries soon anyway and it would be a good way to get a feeling for the area. Having quickly changed and looked up the way to the nearest supermarket, Ava remembered Hermione's plea and fastened her wand holster to her forearm. She was sure she wouldn't need it, but it would ease her guilty conscience for leaving her friends in Britain behind. At least a little.

Since barely anyone knew where she was, it was highly unlikely that she would have to defend herself against a magical threat here in the States, and more than nine years in the Auror Department and her training regimen made her confident in her abilities to defend herself against mundane attackers. Most of the opponents she had faced that had tried, had scoffed at her small size and her deceptively slim frame and thought that they could simply overpower her. A few of them had even had the opportunity to revise that opinion.

Unlike most Auror recruits that went through their training who believed their wand was the only weapon they could ever need, Ava had requested that elements of muggle police training be incorporated into her drill instructions. So Ava had received training in hand-to-hand combat, how to wield and defend against both blunt and sharp weapons and also how to handle and shoot firearms. She was also schooled in muggle police procedures.

Beside the resulting bruises that came from the demanding training, she had received general incomprehension and disapproving looks for that decision, but it had proven an invaluable extension to her repertoire and she had taken to never leaving her house without a knife in her boot and carrying a concealed gun. More than one attacker had thought her helpless when he had managed to separate her from her wand and went in for the kill, only to find themself facing a still formidable enemy. The surprise alone made sure that the rest of the fight was usually one-sided and quickly finished. The additional training had also allowed her to easily blend in with the muggle authorities and pose as one of them, should it prove necessary.

Bracing herself to not waste anymore time, she made sure her weapons were in place, signalled Wookie to follow her for a walk and left the building hunting for food.

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Laundry was without a doubt one of Pennys least favorite chores of all time, so it was no wonder that she was grumpy while she moved through her bedroom to throw each piece of white cloth into the basket she was carrying upon her hip. She had indulged in a bit of laziness for a while but now found herself in the situation that she had to wear her last clean jeans-and-sweater-combo. So she either had to pick herself up to get some housework done or risk looking like a slob. Or go to buy new clothes, but her financial status unfortunately did not make that an option. It had been a close call but in the end her sense of propriety had won out.

Also, it wasn't like she had anything better to do today. She had the weekend off from work and with absolutely nothing to do she was bored out of her brain. Without anything better to do, she had taken to just go and hang out at the guys. They usually had their attention on some kind of project or so and while it rarely was something that got her excited, their permanent squabbling was often entertainment enough. Alas, they had some kind of thing that required them to spend the day and evening at the university today.

Absentmindedly, she wondered when she had gotten so dependent on the guys that her first thought had become to go across the hall into their apartment, as soon as she had no other matters to attend to. It had been less than half a year since she moved in and basically from the get-go, she had been sucked into their orbit. Of course she had also made a few other friends. She was friendly with most of the people at the Cheesecake Factory and there were two girls that she kept in contact with that went to the same acting classes she did. But with none of them she spent the same amount of time. Of the people that she had hung out with, before she had to break it off with Kurt, she hadn't kept in contact with a single one.

Banishing that thought for later, she gathered up her things and quickly descended the stairs into the laundry room, to get this nasty chore behind her. If at least the elevator would work, she wouldn't have to take the stairs all the time. Well, it couldn't be helped.

When she had finished her laundry and therefore having put this annoyance behind her for the moment, Penny climbed the stairs into the lobby in a decidedly better mood than earlier. Rounding the corner and spotting the entrance, she halted her step for a moment to take in the woman who had just arrived at the door to the building.

The first thing she noticed was that the woman was short, like barely scratching the 5 feet mark short. She had jet-black hair that she wore in a messy pixie cut, framing a delicate face with a button nose and bright green eyes. She was dressed in form fitting jeans and a short black jacket over a simple white button-down blouse, her outfit revealing a somewhat boyish, but lean and athletic stature. If she had to voice her first impression, Penny would have gone with 'cute'. Even though she wasn't a classic beauty, the woman was pretty in an effortless way that no elaborate makeup or elegant clothing could mimic. She was still young, but the faint lines in her face indicated that she was probably a few years older than Penny herself.

Next to her she could see a thigh-high pile of shaggy dark hair that couldn't decide if it was more brown or black. The dog would look a little intimidating by its sheer size, but the trusting big brown eyes and the excited open-mouthed panting, gave the impression of a cuddly teddy bear.

Seeing that the woman was struggling to open the door with two heavy looking shopping bags in her hands, Penny quickly closed the distance and opened the door for her. She was greeted with a slightly surprised look that formed into a tentative smile.

"Oh, thank you. I appreciate that." The stranger said in a hesitant voice that carried a distinct British accent.

"You're welcome, come in. Are you visiting someone?" Penny asked. It wasn't really any of her business, but the day was boring and she was curious, sue her. The woman quickly crossed the threshold, the dog hot on her heels. Penny and the dog both eyed each other appraisingly for a moment, before she extended a hand for it to be sniffed. She gave a startled 'Eep!' when instead of the expected sniff, the dog decided to lick her hand enthusiastically.

"Sorry about that, she's usually more shy towards strangers." The woman gave an apologetic smile. "But no, I live here. Just moved in yesterday in fact." She seemed to hesitate for a second. "You are actually the first resident I'm meeting. My name is A...erh, Renée."

"Really? That's so cool!" Penny exclaimed excitedly. Except herself and the guys, all the other tenants in the house were just some old people. Another girl that was so much closer to her own age certainly couldn't be a bad thing. "Welcome to the house! I am Penny, I live in 4B."

"Thank you Penny." Her smile seemed to be a little more open this time.

Taking her first step onto the stairwell, Penny gestured towards one of the bags. "You want me to take one of those? They look kinda heavy."

"What? Oh, no you don't have to…"

"It's no big deal, I can just, urff!" Penny had just taken hold of a bag and hadn't expected it to be quite this heavy. Disbalanced by her load she nearly slipped from the step, but one of Renée's arms shot out and grabbed her arm with startling strength. "Oh wow, erh, thanks." Penny murmured embarrassed.

"I can take…" She gestured to the bag in Pennys hand.

"It's alright, I got this. Sorry, that was embarrassing." Penny reaffirmed her grip on the handle and slung the other hand under the bag for a better support. "Damn, this feels like you have bricks in here." She gave her bag a quick shake for emphasis.

"Oh, erh... I had absolutely nothing in the house after the move you know, so I kind of went on a shopping spree." Renée's cheeks took on a faint pink hue. "I guess it's true what they say, never go shopping while you're hungry."

"Yeah, I know that problem." Penny let out a low chuckle. "So anyway, you said you just moved in? Where did you come from? Straight from England?"

"Yes, that's right." Renée seemed to give her an cautious look, as if she was appraising her. "How did you know?"

"Your accent."

"Oh." Now she looked sheepish. "Is it that bad? I didn't realise…"

"No no, it's not bad at all." Penny was quick to assure her before she could stutter on. "I mean yeah, it's noticeable. But the accent is cool, you know. Not many Brits around here, that's all."

"Oh." She repeated, apparently at a loss of what to say to that. "Erm anyway, this is my door. Thank you for your help. I guess we'll see each other around?"

"Yes of course, uh say, Renée?" Penny hesitated, unsure if she should say something. Renée was nice and Penny kind of liked her, but the other woman was clearly a little on guard around her which was fair enough. After all, she was virtually a stranger that she had run into in the hallway.

"Yes?" The Brit prompted, so Penny decided to just go for it.

"Would you like to get together sometime? I often hang out with the guys that live across the hall from me, but I'm kind of the only girl there. Don't get me wrong, they're good people but I could use some girl time sometimes, you know."

"Oh." Came Renées answer again, and she visibly cringed at her lack of eloquence. Whatever Renée seemed to have expected, that was not it, going by the look of open astonishment on her face. She looked to the side at her apartment door and seemed to come to a decision.

"You know what, let's do that." Penny received the first real smile from her new neighbor. It suited her much better than the polite half smile from before. "Actually, erm, I was going to cook something. Would you like to join me?"

"Really? I'd love to!" Penny was kind of excited about the invitation. Not least because she barely had anything to eat in her own place. Since she had fallen in with the boys, she so often ate at their place that she had gotten into the bad habit of only stocking some essentials, if even that. "Are you sure that's ok though, I mean, you're only just settling in aren't you?"

"Don't worry about that, it's fine. Well," Renée began to stammer. "That is, if you don't mind the mess. There are still moving boxes everywhere and I don't have a dining table yet and, oh bugger, I don't even have chairs and…"

"Relax, it's perfectly fine." Penny chuckled. "How about this, instead? You just come up to my place and we can use my kitchen. Or you can, I'm a terrible cook, really. That way we don't have to eat from one of the moving boxes. I think I still have a bottle of wine that we can open."

"Are you sure? I really don't want to intrude." She began to shift nervously.

"Nah, you're not. As long as you don't mind my own mess, we're good." The blonde said with a smirk. "Been kind of lazy lately." She added a little abashed, by way of an explanation.

"Not at all." Renée shrugged. "I have to put these away first though." She said with a glance at her full shopping bags.

"Sure, you do that and I'll go ahead. That way I can put away some of the worst stuff that's lying around. When you're ready just come up, yeah? It's up the stairs and to the right."

When the black-haired woman nodded her consent, Penny started to climb the last flight of stairs, turning around when she remembered something and yelled "Oh, and you can go ahead and bring the dog if you want." Then she hurried up the stairs, she should at least throw the pizza cartons into her bedroom or something.

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Mentally checking if she really had everything she'd need, Ava - no that's wrong, it was Renée now - was standing in the hallway in front of apartment 4B. She was feeling decidedly nervous and apprehensive about spending time with the other woman and couldn't help worrying her bottom lip.

She had left Great Britain and her friends behind because she could no longer stomach them treating her like she was made of glass and could shatter at a moments notice. Not that their fear was unfounded, mind you. After the terrible debacle that had been kicked off last Halloween, she had been a mess. Still was, if she was being honest with herself, even if the worst seemed to be over by now. She felt wretched and for weeks afterwards couldn't help to burst into tears at a moments notice. She had developed a crippling fear of the dark and her ever present aversion to being touched by anyone but her closest friends, had become so bad that she regularly flinched at any unexpected - and way too often at expected - contact.

Her friends had taken up the self-appointed challenge of taking care of Ava, and soon she could barely so much as cough without setting one of her babysitters into hovering-mode. Not that she didn't appreciate their help and attention, it meant a lot to her, more than she could ever possibly articulate. It was just that Ava had always been uncomfortable with this kind of positive attention because she didn't know what to do with that. When she had said as much, it had set Hermione off on one of her These-Terrible-Dursleys-Are-Monsters!-How-Could-They-Treat-A-Child-Like-This-Oh-If-I-Ever-Get-My-Hands-On-Them-I-Tear-Them-A-New-One-And-Don't-Even-Say-That-It-Wasn't-So-Bad-Ava!-It-Was-And-It-Is-Unacceptable-And-It-Is-Nothing-Short-Of-A-Miracle-That-You-Became-Such-A-Wonderful-Person-Rants. Appropriately cowed, she had ceased complaining and endured the Avasitting.

Eventually the hovering had winded down a bit, when - with the help of a muggle counselor, that Hermione had finally convinced her to see - Ava had slowly regained a semblance of control over herself. In the course of her therapy, Ava had come to a few decisions on how she wanted to continue with her life. She had known for a long time that she did not really want to be an Auror. She was good at it, sure - very good in fact - and that was one of the reasons why she had pursued this career. It gave her a goal. It gave her the opportunity to hunt the Death Eaters, the very people that were responsible for her own pain and the pain of her loved ones. And with every fugitive Death Eater that she had stopped, she came closer to her own personal closure. She had dedicated the last decade of her life to that venture, but it had never been something to give her peace. It was time for her to pursue that peace instead.

She did not really have an idea how to do that, but she did know that she would not find it while every time she looked at her closest friends, she saw them look at her with sympathy. It reminded her of what she had lost and her guilt and pain would resurface anew. So Ava had made a decision. She might not know how to find her peace, but until she did, she would dedicate her time to something that she had indulged in far too rarely: a hobby. And she would go somewhere where she'd have the breathing room to do it without constant scrutiny. So, she had prepared and planned and then finally arrived here, in Pasadena, California. It seemed perfect for her needs. No one here knew who she was, even if she would venture into the wizarding districts - which she had absolutely no intention to do - it was unlikely that anyone would recognize her in passing. Wizarding transportation made it possible for her to quickly return to Britain in case she became homesick or simply wanted to see her loved ones. Also she would not even need to familiarize herself with another language, even though she somehow had not realized that her accent would set her apart.

That was how the Brit had found herself in this newest dilemma. She had fled the Isles because she wanted to gain a little distance and breathing room, and now that she stood in front of Penny's apartment door - a woman who was basically a complete stranger to her - she felt guilty as if she had in some way betrayed her friendship to those she had left behind in Britain. It was ridiculous. If she were here, Hermione would scold her for being so melodramatic. Or laugh herself silly about the absurdity, it was a toss really. With a huff she gathered her courage and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" came the instant reply, and two heartbeats later Penny's face appeared in the door crack. "That was fast, come in." she said and stepped to the side to let Ava and her wagtailing shadow into the residence. "Please ignore the clutter here, yeah? I had not enough time to tidy up."

Stepping over the threshold, Ava let her gaze quickly wander through the room, taking in details with a practiced eye. The apartment seemed to be smaller than her own by a margin. While it had an open floor plan like hers, the living room had maybe about half the floor area. She could make out a closed door that probably led to an adjoining bedroom, and since she saw no other door that indicated a bathroom, it was likely connected to the sleeping area. The furniture was a veritable explosion of mismatched styles and bright colours that would not be out of place in Luna's home. Renée approved.

There were pieces of discarded clothing spread throughout the apartment and she could see a pile of unwashed dishes in the sink. The place was indeed in a bit of disorder but it was manageable. "Don't worry about that. I lived in a dorm with a couple of other teenagers for several years. Believe me when I say that I've seen worse."

Compared with the amount of clothing that Lavender and Parvati were able to spread around, this was indeed relatively tame. Ava always suspected that the House Elves of Hogwarts were under strict instructions not to clean up the living spaces of the students in order to teach them self-reliance and independence and all that. It must have been torture for the poor buggers witnessing the battlefield that was the girls dorm and not being allowed to do anything about it.

Renée made her way into the kitchenette and put her bag down, studiously avoiding to look at the sofa where something that looked suspiciously like black lace was wedged into the corner. "So, I didn't feel like making anything fancy today. I hope you like pasta?"

"Yes! Of course. You know, it's been forever that I had a home cooked meal, so I'm basically on board with anything you want to make. Since I came here, I am basically living off takeout."

"Huh," Renée replied, bemused. "Well, let's shake that up a bit. How about you set up a pot to boil some water and I begin preparations? Do you have a cutting board and a sharp knife here somewhere?"

"Sure, in the cupboard to your left." Penny pointed to the door in question. "But, erm, maybe I can help you preparing instead? I'd rather keep away from the stove." She made an uncomfortable grimace.

"Are you saying … you don't know how to boil water?"

"Once my mom wanted to show me how to cook spaghetti. I set them on fire." came the deadpan answer.

There was a dumbfounded silence. Then Renée began to snicker slightly and a moment later Penny fell in, both descending into slightly hysterical laughter.

"Oh, wow." She said a little out of breath, while she brushed a tear out of her eye. "You weren't kidding when you said you were a terrible cook, huh? OK, I'll keep you away from anything that can catch fire then."

"Wise move." Penny said with a nod. "Now, what needs to be cut? I can do that at least."

"Right." Renée snorted amused. "In my bag you'll find carrots, those need to be sliced. Than take a chunk of the salami and some mushrooms, those diced please. I'll set up the pot and then take care of the onion and the tomatoes." She reached for the pot on the drip tray and hesitated. "Erm, I haven't asked. Is meat alright? We could substitute with some more of the mushrooms if you'd rather have no meat in it."

"No, no. That's alright. I tried to go vegetarian but that was kind of a failed attempt, so I settled for 'only sometimes meat'." The blonde gave a little self deprecating smile. "Turns out, I can't go without the occasional steak."

"Who could, really."

"True."

Opening the promised bottle of wine, the two women set to work while Wookie bustled around their feet, hoping to catch some dropped morsels. Penny kept up a steady chatter, talking about this and that and between the blonde's easygoing nature and the influence of the alcohol, Renée could feel herself letting go of her guilty conscience a little. Penny told her about how she had come to California with the ambition to become an actress and how she was working as a waitress while trying to get a shoe into the business. She also recounted how she had moved into her new apartment, after her boyfriend turned out to be a jerk and and how he still kept trying to get her back by impressing her. Renée snorted when she told her how he had turned up at her Halloween Party 'dressed' as a caveman to show off his muscles.

"Seriously? He sounds like a git. I hope you turned him away."

"Yeah I did, just a shame it took me so long to realize this."

Renée all the while had her attention split between Penny's chatter and her cooking. Having made it countless times before, she was familiar enough with the recipe to follow it on autopilot. First frying the onion slivers, then adding the salami and champignon dices. A moment later came the tomatoes to make an actual sauce and at the end she added the carrots. Let it simmer, taste and add seasoning. Repeat as necessary. Seeing as she was nearly finished she had already thrown the spaghetti into the boiling water and all that was left, was waiting until those were ready.

Wiping her hands, Renée gave a small smile and said "There. We're nearly done, give it another two or three minutes for the spaghetti and we can eat. Can you get the plates?"

Penny, who had been leaning against the work surface of her kitchen and watched Renée working with wide eyes, hastily straightened herself. "Yeah, coming right up. You know, you're really good at this." the blonde said, as she sidestepped the begging dog to reach the correct shelf.

"Thank you, but it's mostly just practice. It helps that I enjoy cooking. Haven't had a chance to do that in a while, though." she said, accepting the offered plates and began to fill them when the pasta was done.

"Still, that looked really professional. Every time I see people cooking, it's usually a terrible mess."

Carrying their plates over to the small dining table on the wall, Renée saw Penny discretely snatch up a bra that had been lying on the upholstery of one of the chairs to drop it onto another pile of clothing, where it would be less noticeable. Seeing that her dog had followed the movement as well, she quickly spoke up "Oh erm, you might not want to do that. Wookie has a bad habit of chewing on bras. Maybe throw it into your bedroom or something?" She could feel the embarrassment colour her cheeks.

"You're kidding me, right?" The blonde countered incredulously. "Your dog chews on your bras? What the hell?"

Renée raised a hand to scratch her neck, abashed. "She's terribly stubborn, I swear it's like she's punishing me sometimes. Like when I leave her alone too long or something, she goes ahead and steals something. Food that's been lying around or my clothes, whatever. For some reasons she always goes for the bras. I can't find a way to break that habit." She palmed her face in an attempt to hide her blush. "Don't laugh about that!" she sputtered indignant when Penny broke down cackling. "Have you any idea how many I had to throw out because they were torn or because the fastener was chewed up? I swear that one sales lady looks at me like she thinks I'm some kind of deviant, by how often I turn up there."

That cracked Penny up even more. Renée pouted.

It took a while for Penny to get her bearings again. "Oh boy, that's hilarious." she gasped, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at me. See if I cook for you again."

"Aw, don't sulk! Lingerie is made to be drooled over. Most women just don't take that quite so literal." the blonde threw over her shoulder while she quickly gathered her clothes to put them on her bed.

Mature and dignified person that Renée was, she stuck out her tongue.

Still grinning, Penny gestured to the dining table with the steaming plates. "Should we go eat then?"

They sat down at the table, refilled their glasses and their conversation was on hold while both of them were digging in. Finally, scraping the last pieces off her plate, Penny let out a satisfied sigh. "That was awesome. Thank you so much for cooking, I haven't eaten that good in forever. You know you could make some good money with that." she added in jest.

To her surprise her last remark prompted an amused grin from the Brit. "As it happens, that's the plan."

"Wait, what? Really? You're looking to be hired as a chef? That's so cool, you need to tell me where you end up, so I can drop by and mooch off you."

"Not quite. Actually, I'm going to open my own restaurant." Seeing Penny's wide eyes at her statement, she continued to explain. "Before I moved here, I got in contact with an agent over in LA. I hired him and he has been scouring the real estate here in Pasadena. He found a vacant premise a few streets over, that's why I moved here, because it was so close by. I haven't seen it yet though, only on photos. Who knows, depending on how smooth everything goes, I might be able to open in a month or two."

"Damn girl, you don't do things by halves, huh? Isn't that a huge risk, though? I mean that can't be cheap. Did you work in a restaurant before?"

Renée chuckled a little at Penny's incredulous face. "Well, it's not cheap, that's true, so sure it's a risk. As long as I don't bollocks things up completely, though, I'm pretty confident I can do it." Actually from a purely financial point of view, Renée had little to worry about. She had taken the necessary funds out of the Potter vaults in Gringotts, and while her family was no longer one of the so-called 'sacred twenty-eight', a name that the old British wizarding families had given themselves, the Potters regardlessly had a very old and prestigious heritage, as well as the wealth that usually came with that. While she could not compete with most of the other ancient houses in regards to pure monetary value, she could afford to live an extravagant life without worrying about money. So, if the worst should happen and her endeavour fail, the most that would happen was a scolding from her goblin account manager to be more careful with the gold she had entrusted them with. Of course none of that was something she could disclose to Penny, without inviting a whole host of questions she'd rather not answer. So she remained silent.

"Huh. Well, I hope you make it. You certainly have the cooking down."

"Thank you!" she gave Penny a smile. It always felt much better to be complimented for things that she actually did well, instead of some glorified image that people create for themselves through inaccurate newspapers and badly written fiction.

"Did you though? Work in a restaurant before, I mean."

"Oh, erh, no. Never." A little embarrassed she scratched her neck. "In fact, I have worked in Law Enforcement."

"Law Enforcement? You're a policewoman?"

"Mhm." Renée hummed agreeingly. "I worked in SOCA, I guess you could say it is the British equivalent of your FBI." Renée had specifically chosen the SOCA as her muggle-cover while she still worked in the Auror Department for their similar range of responsibilities in identifying, investigating and apprehending potential highly dangerous targets. If you changed the Aurors domain of anything involving the Dark Arts for the SOCA's organized crime, you would not be too far off the mark in saying that they were basically the same thing. In fact if she would show her badge to a muggle, it would identify her as Assistant Chief Constable Potter, along with the Agency's emblem. Since she very much disliked the use of memory charms that some of her Co-Aurors were so fond of, it had come in very handy lots of times.

"Wow. Don't you have to be, like, really good for that?"

"Well, erh, it is pretty demanding." she replied a little bashful.

"No kidding." Penny grinned at her teasingly. "I guess you should never judge someone by their appearance. You are so small, but in that line of work you probably pack a punch, huh?"

"You're not wrong. But don't tell anyone, to be underestimated is pretty much the best thing that can happen to you when you are at risk of running into trouble." The Brit answered her new neighbor with a wry grin.

"My lips are sealed." The blonde made a zipping motion over her mouth. "But you have to tell me, how do you go from catching baddies to opening a restaurant. Did you quit or something?"

"Hmm, no." Renée considered her answer carefully. "No, I did not quit. There was ... well, I guess my point is that in this kind of job you can get hurt. And I got. Hurt, I mean." She fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Were you shot or something?"

"Or something, yes." She winced, when her reply came out sharper then she had intended. "Sorry, I'm not mad at you, it's still a sore point and pretty personal." She saw Penny's eyebrows rise at her declaration but she nodded her understanding. "Anyway, erh, it took a while but I am better now. I don't think I can go on as I have before though, so I came here to build something that I enjoy and lets me get my bearings back. I have always loved cooking, so the idea to do that professionally came naturally. Luckily I have some influence and so I could convince my boss to put me into the reserve so that I could move here."

"Damn, I'm sorry. You know, for bringing that up. And for whatever happened to you. Sounds like it was bad."

"Yeah..."

"But wouldn't it be better to just quit properly instead of doing this reserve thingy? Whatever that is."

"Politics." Renée shrugged half heartedly as if that explained everything. Which it did, not that Penny had any insight into the workings of the Ministry of Magic. "It was the easiest solution for all parties involved. I got what I wanted and could leave to do my thing, and they can still call onto me, should there be some kind of crisis." Seeing that Penny still looked at her with incomprehension, she continued to explain. "I am important for the department for a number of reasons and my leaving completely would have created quite a stir. I am well connected in the departments of several countries and I specialise in aspects that are hard to come by because barely anyone has the required clearance."

After the war, specifically after the affair that involved Riddle's Horcruxes, Ava resolved to be better prepared should the need ever arise again. There were quite a few issues that could be raised with Dumbledores particular style of leadership, but if it had not been for him, Ava would never have found out about the objects that Tom Riddle had used to anchor himself to this plane of existence. Even if they - against all odds - would have managed to 'kill' him a second time, it would have bought them nothing but a brief respite, before he invariably returned. Yet again. The first and the second Wizarding War had been disastrous upon the British wizarding society. A third might just have been fatal. This was just another reminder of a lesson she had witnessed repeatedly: That knowledge and information were invaluable and indispensable. And far too often shortsightedly discarded.

So, she had set out to learn all that she safely could about the more unsavoury, esoteric and obscure aspects of magic. She studied what she could find about the magic behind parsel, about the power that resided in blood and the human soul and how they could be applied. She learned about the different kinds of ritualistic magic and even a bit of necromancy and several other arcane arts. It was difficult to find materials that provided what she sought but her own popularity and the ministers approval and support opened her a lot of doors. She had the chance to learn from scholars and even a few of the more trustworthy practitioners of obscure magics from around the world and became an often seen guest in the Department of Mysteries, where she consulted with the Unspeakables. The most expansive compilation of source materials was collected from the confiscated assets that came out of the possession of Voldemort's more notorious supporters like the Lestranges, Malfoys and Notts.

Aware that such a collection of Dark Arts inspired desires she had worked with the Unspeakables to secure them from unwanted access with multi-leveled failsafes. Only those with the approval of Britain's Minister of Magic and two foreign representatives of the International Confederation would be able to enter the newly erected archive and they further took a page out of Dumbledore's book and used the Mirror of Erised as a gatekeeper to only admit those who would never want to employ the powers that they had secured. Currently the Unspeakables were developing a runebased and modified variant of the Fidelius charm that would work without an explicit secret keeper to prevent the information from being further distributed due to extortion, careless word of mouth or invasion via legilimency.

Her studies and the heavily restricted nature of the information quickly made Ava one of the foremost specialists for the identification and defense against the Dark Arts through all of Europe. While the occurences where her in-depth-knowledge was required were thankfully very rare, it had happened several times that foreign wizarding nations had asked for her assistance, when their own Aurors had hit a dead end in their investigations. Minister Shacklebolt was all too happy to use these opportunities to make an effort to repair Britain's foreign relations after years of negligence and outright sabotage and assigned her as a consult.

Her leaving the Auror Corps completely, would have put both her and the British Ministry in a difficult situation, because the Ministry was understandably hesitant to have this kind of know-how in the hands of a civilian. Due to her credentials and popularity she might have successfully forced the issue, but it was generally wise to let sleeping dogs lie. So they had struck a deal. Ava would remain as a member of the Auror Corps but was relieved from active duty and would remain as a reserve member, that would only be reactivated if shit really hit the fan. Any requests for consults had to be approved by both her and Minister Shacklebolt.

None of that was something she could explain to Penny, but the little that she had said had already prompted her new neighbor to look at her with wide eyes. "I feel like I am repeating myself here, but damn girl! Sounds like you are a big shot."

Not feeling like delving even deeper into the topic, Renée settled for a noncommittal shrug. Penny apparently had understood and both descended into silence.

A moment passed, and then the blonde spoke up again. "Soooo … Wookie, huh? Nerd much?"

Renée snorted at the 180° turn and smiled, thankful for the change in topic.

"What? It suits her. She looks like a Wookie. Except cute."

Understanding that she was talked about, the dog in question quickly rose from her place to her mistresses feet and settled in her tried and tested begging stance. Hunched shoulders, hanging ears, body pathetically crouched into herself and wide, hopeful eyes glued to Renées leftovers.

Reaching out, Renée put her hand on Wookies head and tousled her hair. "Ugh, no you don't get anything from my plate, you big shaggy suck-up."

"Aw, how can you say no to that face, she looks like a big, fluffy Teddy Bear." Penny cooed.

"Yes, and she knows it. Don't let her get to you or you're gonna go hungry yourself."

"I'll remember that. Sorry Wookie, your mommy is mean and says you're not allowed to get our food." The blonde snickered at the animal, she never knew dogs could look so betrayed. "Hey Renée, if you like this Star Wars stuff, I should probably introduce you to the guys across the hall."

"Oh?"

"I kind of started to hang out with them when I moved in here. To be honest, half of the time I don't know what they are even talking about, but that's ok. It's still fun, at least as long as Sheldon isn't throwing a tantrum about something." Obviously having something specific in mind, Penny started to giggle.

"Well, I'm not exactly the biggest fan ever or anything, but erh, sure I guess I can meet them." Renée said, surprising herself a little with her easy acquiesce. It might be the wine talking, but against her expectation the evening with Penny was actually a lot of fun. The girl was easygoing and likeable, surely her friends couldn't be half as bad. "Why are you laughing, though?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm just kind of looking forward to this. The guys are a little socially awkward you know, and Sheldon is basically a manchild. He is either going to be over the moon because you called your dog 'Wookie' or he is going to freak out because there is a dog in the house." If anything her grin grew even wider.

"Erm, Penny, maybe then this might not be such a good idea..."

"Oh, relax, he is not malicious or anything but he kind of lives in his own world. An occasional dose of reality won't hurt him. He is a little standoffish but he grows on you. The big baby."

"I'm not sure…"

"Don't worry yourself. If he goes overboard I'm gonna take him to task."

"Erm, right. Beware the manchild. Got it. You said there are more?" Renée shifted nervously.

"Yeah, Sheldon and Leonard are living across the hall, but Raj and Howard are over so often that they could be living there and you wouldn't really notice a difference."

"Mhm, what are they like?"

"Well, let's see. They work over at Caltech, that's the university here. They are all, like, really smart geniuses and each is some kind of scientist, but awkward as hell when they actually have to talk to people. It's hilarious." She smiled and paused a moment, before she continued. "Sheldon and Leonard are roommates. Leonard is an experimental physicist and is as good-natured as they come. The only time I have seen him lose his temper is when Sheldon annoys him with his antics. He is also really nervous about talking to people, and then he starts to stammer and babble. It's kind of cute."

Renée thought that Penny's demeanor softened a little when she talked about Leonard. Maybe she liked him. If the feeling was reciprocated, it might also explain Leonards apparent tendency to stammer around her. If it was, Penny didn't seem to be aware of that though, and Renée wisely chose to say nothing on the matter.

"Then there is also Raj. He moved here from India to work as an astrophysicist. Erm, to be honest I can't really tell you much about him because I can't talk to him."

"Huh? He doesn't speak English? Isn't that a little difficult, you know, if he's working here and all?"

"Oh no, he speaks it just fine. It's that he can't talk to women."

"Err, …"

"It's true." Penny snickered. "As soon as I enter the room he clams up and is all tongue tied."

"Is that some religious thing? You know, this 'women should be seen, not heard'-nonsense?"

"No, no, at least I don't think so. It's more of a shyness-thing, like some kind of disorder or something." She shrugged.

"I never heard of something like this. Is that common?"

"I didn't either, so I guess that it's not."

"Huh. Weird."

"Yeah. Well anyways, the last one is Howard, he is an engineer. He is constantly hitting on me, god it's the worst. It's like he thinks of himself as this suave and irresistible womanizer and then comes on to you with the worst pick up lines that you have ever heard. And then he has the weirdest relationship with Raj. I swear those two bicker like they are an old married couple."

"Are they together or something?"

"Nah, just friends. But I swear, I would not be surprised if one day they just go ahead and elope." Penny said with a chuckle. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? Maybe we can all get together?"

"Err well, for the time being I don't really have a schedule. I guess I'll spend some time with unpacking and arranging all the stuff in my flat. Everything is still scattered around, you know. Also I barely have any furniture, so I might do some shopping. I only got the bare essentials and I've seen that the IKEA opens on Sunday."

"Want some company? Maybe afterwards we can meet with the guys and eat dinner, they're probably meeting anyway to play games or something."

"Are you sure? You probably have things to do."

"I have the whole weekend off and it's so boooring! Also I love shopping, you'd be doing me a favour."

"Right. Sure. Why not. Just come down when you're up and we can go."

"Alrighty! ...more wine?"

####################

Two hours and a second bottle of wine later, the two girls called it a night and Renée tipsily descended the stairs to return to her own home, a grumpy and hungry Wookie by her side. When she had invited Penny to dinner it had been a spur of the moment thing, because the blonde she had met in the hallway seemed like pleasant company. The words had barely left her mouth when she could have slapped herself. She was in America to get away from people, why the hell had she just invited a virtual stranger?

Her momentary lapse in judgement had luckily worked out, and she had genuinely enjoyed her time with Penny. They had eaten together and the provided alcohol had helped Renée over the initial awkwardness until she had relaxed in the others presence. They had chatted through the evening and thankfully her new friend had provided the lion's share of the talking. Whether that was because Penny had seen that Renée was a little uncomfortable with talking about herself, or if she was just talkative by nature, remained to be seen.

Penny had spoken about this and that, leading the conversation and not leaving much space for awkward silences. About how she came to LA hoping to find a place as an actress, her work in this Cheesecake Factory place, that seemed to be somewhat popular, or a few tales about her childhood in Nebraska. But most of her stories were centered around 'the guys', as she had taken to call them.

And then Renée had - in another moment of temporary insanity - agreed to meet them. What the hell was wrong with her. No, better not answer that, actually. Her meeting with Penny had gone so well that she had become careless and opened up. This just begged for a disaster. Her life was reliable that way. Oh, probably not the 'let's-hunt-a thousand-years-old-monster' or 'we-need-to-break-into-a-high-security-bank' kind of trouble, but she just knew that somehow this would come back to bite her.

She wished she could just get her hands on a time turner and make the last few months unhappen, so she could go back to the life that she had spent so long to build herself. When she still had been ignorant of her future and just enjoyed the closeness to her friends and pseudo-families. She could play with Teddy again and hold little Rosie. Or lounge about in the various Weasley households, spending her free time flying and enjoying Molly's cooking and Arthur's unbroken enthusiasm for all the different contraptions he could take apart and fail to put back together. She missed just sitting on the patio of Longbottom Manor with Mia, simply reading and talking, while they watched Neville tinkering in his greenhouses. Renée wanted to spend another evening with Hermione and her parents watching movies and waiting for the inevitable fierce discussion whether Star Wars or Star Trek was the better Science Fiction. The correct answer, by the way, was clearly Star Wars. For sentimental reasons, she was unashamed to admit, but still. Maybe she could even meet up again with George and Angelina and they could … ah, no, better not go there.

But even if going back would have been a viable option, her memories would stay with her and it wouldn't be the same. Her therapist had put her problems into more technical terms. Posttraumatic stress disorder, unresolved loss and grief and a couple of other ridiculously long words that were less clear to her. And even though she had resisted at first, in retrospect she had to admit that he had actually been helpful. It had taken many grueling sessions, but eventually Renée had broken out of her crippling stupor and, for lack of a better expression, rejoined the land of the living.

She was not ok, of course, but she also no longer felt quite so helpless and suffocated. That was when she had decided to gain a little distance and find a place where she could find her equilibrium again. Her decision had not found much favour, her friends clearly fearing that she would run away to hide herself away from the world. Which was a fair concern, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't still struggling to avoid doing exactly that. But she had promised them. She had promised she would keep in contact and would visit them regularly. And also that she would not stay away from people and be lonely. Right now, she was cursing herself for that last one, especially. At least she could tell them all 'I told you so' when this would all inevitably blow up in her face.