Not for everyone, she said, but Theo didn’t know what would be hard about it. He shrugged. “Seems freeing to me.” There were some perks to his life and his job – he made his own decisions, didn’t work under anyone, didn’t get up and go to the Ministry every day – but he also couldn’t just up and leave. (His father may have, but what was Theo going to do? Fake his death too?)

Maybe that was the downside, as she said, that she didn’t have many people to check in on. Miss Sinnet – Swan – seemed perfectly fine with her lot, but maybe she wanted pity there, he wasn’t sure. And sure, it must be hard to stay in people’s lives from so far away, busy and distant. He tugged at his collar unconsciously. Not yet, she said: so presumably she would. “And while you were gone? Do you – write to, or hear much from –” Cash, he wanted to say, because he didn’t see nearly as much of Cash as he had used to, and glimpses into how he was coping were few and far between (and better avoided, after the last time). Lestrange, he tried, but it had always felt strange in his mouth afterwards – so he settled for the phrase she had used first. “those mutual friends?” He buried his tongue into his cheek before he could say anything else. How is he? How much does he tell you? Did you know his wife is pregnant?

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