Abe rolled his eyes. The melodrama wasn't impressing him. How had this girl passed Auror training? It was a mystery to him. "You whored yourself to survive. You're not the first, girl, and you won't be the last. You're just not very good at it. If you had bothered to start thinking and planning as every good Auror should be able to do, you'd have whored yourself into a position as a mistress to one of them. If you were really smart, you'd have whored yourself into a position of mistress with influence over one of them."
He smiled thinly. "You're not the first person to ever end up in that situation either. I saw half a hundred girls and boys... or more really... in the same situation in the Forties. Many of them were in more dire straights than you because they were barely out of childhood." Cool amusement flooded over his face. "Even I've whored myself out on occasion when I've needed information or access to someplace I couldn't get to on my own."
He raised an eyebrow. "But that's beside the point. These histrionics must stop. You'll only get yourself caught if you keep winding yourself up in a tizzy all the time. You need to be calm and collected if you're going to stay free. Most importantly you need to start thinking instead of just emoting and reacting."
He turned back to James and smiled softly as he shook his head. "No charge, my boy. Not to old friends. Besides, you'll be doing enough for me with the work. I've been lacking truly trustworthy people that I know I can rely on." He grimaced as he remembered the article in the Prophet. "As fr the Prophet, I don't believe it at all. If they'd caught Frank and Alice, they'd have displayed them in front of everyone. I'm glad to see that article though. It shows they're getting desperate. I'd like to know where Frank and Alice are though. A public appearance by them right now would do a world of good in ripping the Death Eaters' credibility to shreds."
He swept the remaining wands back into the box, shrank it and tucked it back in his coat. "Now, onto far more important business, getting the two of you somewhere safer. Now, I'm limited in what I can do. So far there's been no suspicion of who Giles Crawford actually is but I can't afford to let my cover be blown. You can bet your life that the Death Eaters want to get their hands on me, if for no other reason than to use me to draw Albus out of wherever he is." His expression became steely and grim. "I'll take my own life before I allow them to use me against my brother."
He shook his head and ran a hand down his face, wishing he dared to try and contact Albus more openly. His previous attempts had come back unanswered and unopened. "I can put you both up at my pub for a week or two but no longer than that or people will start asking questions. That's the second thing you need to learn when you're on the run. Don't do things that will make people, including Muggles, start asking questions. If they're asking question, they remember you. You don't want to get stuck in someone's mind like that."