Leah tasted salt.

A tear slid down her face, barely visible as it blended in with the rain, which had gotten heavier in the last minute. She could barely see in the storm; her vision was blurry. The rain pelted down around her like sharp rocks, arrows in a battlefield. And yet... Leah barely noticed. In her eyes, there was only Shelby, who shone brighter than the brightest star. Without a care in the world, Leah stood in front of Shelby. Her breath was stolen away. She felt alive—more than she ever had been.

Butterflies flooded her stomach. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to burst into a million fireworks. She welcomed the feeling, smiling the widest her lips would allow. A sob was caught in her throat. She held a breath.

Shelby's voice was quiet. "Leah?"

Leah nodded. She brought her hands to her face, trying to stop the tears in vain. She covered her mouth as another sob threatened to sound. Her body shook. "It's me," she whispered, wheezing out what little she could. "It's me."

"I—" Shelby stared at Leah. She took a step backwards and turned away. She muttered something under her breath. When she turned back, she seemed surprised Leah was still there. She rubbed her eyes, blinked. "Wait... You're here? Like actually here? How are you here? You're not supposed to be here. Leah?"

Leah couldn't hold back anymore. She pushed forward, throwing her arms around Shelby and holding her as tightly as she could. Shelby was real, and she was there in her arms. She wasn't a memory, she wasn't an illusion, and she wasn't a picture on paper. She was flesh and bones, her sister. Leah couldn't breathe. Her heart fluttered.

Shelby stiffened underneath Leah's embrace. She clenched her fists. Her eyes were wide, mouth wide open as she attempted to form words. Her face was pale as if she had seen a ghost. After a moment, she slowly returned the hug. "Am I dreaming?" she said as she rested her chin on Leah's shoulder. "This has to be a hallucination."

"Not a dream," Leah replied. "At least, I hope not."

"Are you sure?" Shelby untangled herself out of Leah's arms. She stepped back. "Pinch me."

Leah laughed quietly. She reached out to pinch Shelby's cheek, just like she had done when they were younger. "See?" she said. "This is real."

Shelby touched her cheek. She bit down on her lip and nodded. "Yep," she said. "Definitely real. I don't believe it. This—we—I—what—" Shelby sucked in a breath. "I don't know what to say. It's been so long."

Pulling Shelby into another hug, Leah shut her eyes and breathed in. She didn't know how long they stayed like that for, but no amount of minutes would have been enough. No amount of time would have made up for the fifteen years they spent apart. Even the time they had together now was stolen.

"I missed you," Leah whispered into Shelby's ear, choking back tears. "So much."

"I still can't believe this is happening," Shelby said. "They said—the Ministry of Magic told me that you had escaped, but I couldn't wrap my head around it. It was just... I don't know. This is weird. Is this weird?"

Leah pulled back and nodded. Her chest felt light. "Yeah," she said. "This is weird. I mean... look at you! You're taller now!"

Shelby let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "Not tall enough," she muttered. "Why am I still shorter than you?"

"I don't know why you're complaining. That's a good thing."

"Uh-huh," Shelby said. "Agree to disagree?"

Leah couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out of her. She tore her eyes away from Shelby, a hand over her mouth in a desperate attempt to stop. But she couldn't. It was as if she was eleven again. Her head was in the clouds, and her feet were planted in the sea. She was floating, living. She was more than surviving. She was happy.

"Are you cold? It's raining pretty hard, and you're still wearing that Azkaban uniform." Shelby wrapped the silk scarf that she had been wearing around Leah's neck. She shrugged off her leather jacket.

"No, I'm good," Leah said as Shelby shoved the jacket into her hands. "You don't need to worry about me."

Shelby stared at her. "Then, you shouldn't have found me," she said. "Take it. You need it more than me."

Leah pressed her lips into a thin line, but she gave in. "Fine," she said, sighing. She put on the jacket. "Only because it's you."

Falling into silence, Leah watched Shelby. She felt a swell of pride well up in her chest. She had been seventeen the last time she saw Shelby. Leah was thirty-three now, and Shelby was thirty-one. Long was an understatement of the amount of time they had spent apart. It had been an eternity and longer. So many things had changed about Shelby, and it wasn't just her height.

Somehow, Shelby seemed to have grown even more confident. Her eyes burned with a new passion, unfaltering and fierce. She sported the brightest of red lipstick, something Leah hadn't known was possible. Her hair was longer than before, bleached at the tips, and her skin seemed to glow. Even in the rain, she was stunning.

It wasn't even just her face that glowed. She wore a pink blouse with ruffles along the sleeves and black pants that made her seem taller. Her boots went all the way up to her knees, and it was a mystery as to how they weren't being ruined in the rain.

Despite it all though, her eyes were still the same. No amount of makeup could have hidden them—the innocent chocolate brown eyes of the past. No matter how much she changed, she would always be her Shelby. Her sister.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Leah looked down at her feet. She smiled. "It just hit me how much you've grown," she said. "You look good. Better than good."

"And you look..." Shelby eyed Leah in distaste. "You look like you need a long bath."

"I wouldn't mind a bath," Leah said. "It's been awhile. Ocean water or rain isn't the same."

"Oh, I know," Shelby said. "You smell terrible. It's like..." She made gestures with her hands, trying to come up with a good enough way to describe the smell. "It's like... I don't know... bad."

"Shelby!"

"You know what I mean."

Bzzt. Bzzt.

Leah jumped at the buzzing noise. She looked around wildly. Her fists were raised, eyes widened as she searched for the intruder. She couldn't be caught. Not there, not now. Not when she had finally found Shelby. A hand landed on her shoulder. She froze.

"Relax," Shelby said. She held a rectangular black box with what looked to be number buttons on the front. "Just my phone."

"Phone?"

Shelby grinned. "It's a muggle invention," she said. "Telephone booths but mobile. Almost like magic."

"Does it work the same way?"

Shelby held up a hand to shush Leah. She pressed a button and turned away. "Hello?" she said into the strange device. Leah gasped when a voice came out of it. She slapped a hand over her mouth at the look Shelby shot her but not before mouthing sorry. Shelby spoke back. "I'm still in the same place; where are you?"

Leah watched curiously as Shelby continued her conversation with what seemed to be another muggle. Her mind raced. Surely, it was magic. It couldn't have been anything else. Nothing but magic would have made something so remarkable. Yet Shelby had said it was a muggle invention. Muggles, as far as Leah was concerned, had no idea magic even existed.

"Okay, you need to get out of her."

It was a few seconds before Leah realized that Shelby was addressing her. She blinked in surprise. "What?" she said. "But I have so much to tell you! We've only just met!"

Shelby grabbed Leah by the arm and pushed her back into the shadows of the alleyway. "You're still a wanted criminal," she said. "If you don't go now, you'll be caught. My ride back to my office is only five minutes away."

"I'll go with you."

"No!" Shelby said. She audibly gulped down at the confused look Leah gave her. "I didn't mean it like that," she whispered. "It's just too dangerous. You'll be caught if you come with me, and I won't be able to stop security from dragging you to another prison cell."

Leah scoffed. "I'm a witch. No muggle is going to catch me."

"You don't know that." Shelby frowned. "They're smarter than you give them credit for."

"I'm an animagus, remember? They wouldn't suspect a blackbird."

"Still, I rather you be safe than sorry."

"The danger's never stopped the two of us before," Leah said. "We'll be fine."

"Yes, but..." Shelby crossed her arms. "The stakes are higher this time. A lot higher. We can't risk it. I can't risk it."

"Please?"

Shelby shook her head. She sighed. "No," she said. "You should go back to Ainsley."

"But I—wait... Ainsley?"

"Huh?"

"I haven't seen Ainsley yet."

"What?" Shelby gasped. She bit down on her lip. "Leah, are you out of your mind?" she hissed. "What did you think I could do? I'm basically a muggle. You should have gone to Ainsley. She has the magic and resources to help you."

"I wanted to see you," Leah said. "Besides, Ainsley's too stuck up. She wouldn't take me in."

"What made you think I would?"

"What?"

"That—I should have worded that better."

"Shelby?"

Shelby sighed. She buried her face in her hands. "The risk is too big," she said. "I could lose my job! You could go back to Azkaban! Ainsley—she has a home where there's no one looking over her shoulder. She doesn't share her place with a million other government officials. You'll be way safer there."

"But—"

A black car pulled to a stop at the curb. Shelby spun on her heels. Leah ducked down behind a dumpster before the driver could see her. She held a breath when she heard the door click open.

"Hey, Josh." Shelby's voice floated into Leah's ears. "You got here quick."

"Weren't you wearing a jacket before you came out?"

"I think I would know if I was missing something," Shelby said as she climbed into the backseat. "Come on, we should go. I'm soaking wet."

The door slammed shut, and Leah listened as the car sped away, taking Shelby with it. She closed her eyes, inhaled. For a moment, she was tempted to turn into a blackbird and follow the car. She almost did.

But she didn't. Shelby didn't want that. She didn't want Leah to follow back to wherever she was staying. Instead, she had prioritized her job. She had left her. She had told her to find Ainsley.

Pushing herself off the ground, Leah wandered deeper into the alleyway. She looked up at the sky. The last of the raindrops fell onto her face, seeping into her skin. A faint rainbow stretched across the sky. The sun was emerging.

It was almost as if fate had brought her to Shelby. Without the rain, Leah would have never found her sister. Who knew how many more weeks she would have spent searching if not for the weather?

And now, with the skies clear, fate seemed to be telling her to find Ainsley. Shelby had told her to find Ainsley. But that was harder than said.

Yes, it made sense. It was the most logical thing to do—Shelby was right about that. But this was Ainsley they were talking about.

Ainsley wasn't the type of person to let criminals into their home. She always abided by the law and needlessly so. There was no way she was going to take in Leah. It was against her very being.

But Shelby seemed to trust her—surprisingly so. And if Shelby trusted Ainsley, then Leah should too.

Leah had to find Ainsley.

Only thing was... That meant she had to break into the one place she should be avoiding.

Leah had to break inside the Ministry of Magic.

<><><>

Looks like Shelby's a dead end... but fear not, we still have one other sister! We'll be seeing Ainsley soon (in the next chapter), and hopefully, she'll agree to let Leah stay at her place for awhile. Then, maybe we'll start getting closer to figuring out who actually killed Leah's family. I'm so excited for this. 

I do have a bit of bad news though. I severely underestimated how much work I would have now that I'm back at school. Junior year started four days ago for me, and I already have so... much... homework... I'm also planning on taking the SAT in like two months, so that's also a thing I have to study for. Not to mention my classes this year. They are harder than I expected (pre-calculus is gonna kick my butt), and I already have several quizzes and tests coming up. All this is to say that I'm going to go back to monthly updates(there will hopefully be a chapter in two weeks before that though). 

Anyway, hope y'all don't have nearly as much work as me. Have a lovely day. :)