This Time, Last Time (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

5.

Am I in your head,

half as often as you're on my mind?

-"Lost My Mind," Alice Kristiansen

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June 2018

"Essentially what you need to know," said Gillespie who had - for once - arrived early to work and was not seated at his desk, but bustling all around the office, opening drawers and pulling out files in a way that seemed to James to be characterized by a forged sense of purpose, "is that Finster was chatting with one of the obliviators in the elevator this morning about a minor incident with a muggle who caught sight of someone disapparating and she seemed to think it was on purpose. It's only a tip off we're going on, but she did get the name of the person, we think."

    "You think?" asked James, struggling to fill in the gaps of Gillespie's typically scatterbrained version of events. He'd only just arrived in the office on the Friday of his first week, expecting to be sent out after Anniston again. James had tailed him all week long, only discovering the logistics of his schedule, that his daughter was either working part time or interning at the bank because she came with him Tuesday and Thursday morning and left at lunch, and that Riglock and Grapfort seemed no more or less charmed by Anniston's constant attempts to seduce them into conversation or friendship or trust or whatever it was he wanted than they had the first day James had eavesdropped on their conversation. His week had been quite boring, excepting the occasional rush when he thought the goblins recognized him even through the polyjuice potion he had taken.

    He didn't think his work was doing much good, so he hoped that whatever it was that had everyone running around chaotically this morning would be something he could actually make some progress on.

    "Well she gave him the name that the person told her before she obliviated him. Said it was Samantha Higgins. She'd just dropped her daughter off at a summer camp up in Glasgow. American-style summer camp. Only thing is, it's so easy to fake a name isn't it? And I'm not sure I've ever heard of a Samantha Higgins now I think about it, so I'm guessing we don't know who it is at all. Definitely a woman though, unless that was a disguise too."

    "So basically we know nothing," said James, running two fingers down the length of his wand. He frowned down at his shoes.

    "Not nothing," he said. "We know it's called Camp O'Reilly and we know she actually did drop off a kid there."

    "Well have you sent anyone up there?" James asked.

    "We've sent Finster to try and track down Samantha Higgins, if there really is a Samantha Higgins, and Walsh and Potter both headed straight to the camp, but I think we'd better send you... maybe Taylor, Hawthorne..."
    "Alright," said James, neglecting to mention the fact that he didn't think Elise would be particularly thrilled to see him there. Gillespie had gone on the whole week assuming nothing had ever happened between them and they were still close as ever. James had given up his attempts to correct him on day two. It wasn't worth the effort. Besides, he was still hoping he could get back in her good books. "Can you tell me what you think is going to happen? So I know what we're looking for?"

    Gillespie looked up, frowning. "How the heck am I supposed to know? Magic where it shouldn't be, I suppose. Send Taylor and Hawthorne in here on your way out, will you?"

    James paused for a beat. "Alright," he said. "Well let us know if you find out the name's different."

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