"What do you mean?" Sirius asked him.
"You can see for yourself after we've been told everything you all know," Lucifer walked back to his chair, "Like I said, with Voldemort back, Hermione's future is at stake. If I don't have all the intel, how can I possibly keep her alive?"
"Okay... Harry," Sirius turned to his Godson, "Where would you like to start?"
"Where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news," he said, his eyes never leaving his Godfather, "and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything-"
"That's because there haven't been any suspicious deaths yet," Sirius answered, "not as far as we know, anyway... and we know quite a lot."
"More than he thinks we do anyway," Remus added.
"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.
"I think that one's a bit self explanatory, Harry," Lucifer said, "he doesn't want to draw attention to himself. The Ministry doesn't want to believe he's back, because his return... he messed it up, you surviving, let us bear witness and reveal what happened."
"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," Lupin said, "and you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."
'That's what they believe, anyway... and if they want to believe that, I say let them', Lucifer thought to himself.
Harry sat quiet for a second, "But... How has that helped?"
"Are you kidding?" Bill asked incredulously, "Dumbledore was the only one he was ever scared of."
Lucifer didn't miss the glance Harry gave him, "Thanks to you," Sirius said, "Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned."
"So what's the Order been doing?" Harry asked, looking around at them.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," Sirius said.
"How d'you know what he's planning?" Harry asked quickly.
"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea," Lupin said, "and his shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate..."
"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"
"I would imagine the first thing he'd want to do is build up his army again," Lucifer said, "back when he was still reigning terror, he commanded large numbers of witches, wizards, and dark creatures. The Giants will just be one ally he will try to regain. He's not stupid to try and take the Ministry with only a handful of Death Eaters."
Harry turned back to Sirius, "So you're trying to stop him from getting more followers?"
"We're doing our best, or they are at least since I'm stuck in this House," Sirius answered him.
"How?"
"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," Bill said, "it's proving tricky, though."
"Why?"
"The Ministry obviously," Lucifer said, "Fudge was furious and staunchly refused to believe that Voldemort came back. It's going to be great when it comes back to bite him in the arse."
"But why?" Harry asked desperately, "why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore-"
"Ah well you've put your finger on the problem" Arthur said with a wry smile, "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," Tonks said sadly.
"Frightened of Dumbledore?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Frightened of what he's up to," Arthur said, "You see, Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister of Magic."
"That's ridiculous! Dumbledore doesn't want-"
"Of course he doesn't," Arthur said, "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."
"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful Wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," Lupin said, "but it seems that he's become fond of power now, and much more confident. He loves being Minister of Magic, and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."
"Typical politician," Lucifer scoffed.
"How can he think that?" Harry asked incredulously, "How can he think Dumbledore would make it all up - that I'd make it up," He was visibly angry.
"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry has not had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," Sirius said bitterly, "Fudge can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself that Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."
"No way that can backfire... like I said, this is going to come back to bite him on the arse," Lucifer said casually, "You don't ignore a tumor and pretend like it isn't there, you do something about it to prevent further damage. Yeah it's gonna hurt to remove it, but it'll be better in the long run."
'When it's out that Voldemort is back, Fudge won't be Minister for much longer after that.'
"So you see the problem, Harry," Lupin said, "while the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report anything
on what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor- mongering, so most of the Wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."
"So not only is Fudge's denial of Voldemort's return going to make things worse, not letting people know he's back will allow him to grow Army back to size through use of Magical influence... this shit just gets better and better," Lucifer said sarcastically.
"But you're telling people, aren't you?" Harry asked as he looked around at Arthur, Bill, Sirius, Remus, Mundungus, and Tonks, "You're letting people know he's back?"
They all smiled humorlessly.
"Harry, think about it for a moment before speaking," Lucifer said, "Sirius can't tell anyone because he's still wanted by the Ministry and has a price on his head; Lupin is a Werewolf, they are not popular among Witches and Wizards, even if they take the Wolfsbane Potion every full moon cycle; Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they just randomly interweaved into the conversation that Voldemort was back."
"And it's very important for us to have spies in the Ministry, because you can bet your last Galleon that Voldemort will have his own in there," Sirius said.
"We've managed to convince a few people, though," Arthur said, "Tonks here, for one - she was too young to be in the Order last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage. Kingsley's been a real asset too. He's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information on him being in Nepal."
"But, if none of you are putting out the word that Voldemort's back-" Harry began.
"Who said none of us were putting the news out?" Sirius asked with a smirk, "why do you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked them.
"They're trying to discredit him," Lupin said, "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation. of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but that's simply not true, he was voted out by Ministry Wizards after he made a speech about Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot - that's the Wizard High Court - and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."
"What about the chocolate frog cards....." Hermione said so quietly, only Lucifer heard her, and he merely glanced at her, she looked down in response with a tinge of pink.
"Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do so long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards," Bill said while grinning.
Hermione tried her best to keep a straight face.
"It's no laughing matter," Arthur said shortly, "if he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could end up in Azkaban and that's the last thing we want, Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to, he's going to go cautiously for a while. If Dumbledore's out of the way - well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field."
"Not if I have a say in it," Lucifer said, straining to sit up.
"Do you mind?" Sirius looked at him.
"I'm not afraid of Voldemort or his followers... I killed many of them last summer, that's already set him back on getting the old crew back together. I'm not going to let him run freely if something does happen to Dumbledore... I'll make sure he falls before the Power of Destruction, as well as anyone who stands with him," Lucifer said in a dark, grim voice.
No one really knew what to say in response.
Hermione figured no one wanted to try and contest Lucifer, because they knew they wouldn't win in power or wits.
"So... what is he after?" Harry asked Sirius.
"We don't know, but it has to be something he didn't have last time... we just-"
"That's enough," Molly's voice rang out from the shadows beside the door. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious, and Lucifer didn't care at all, "I want you in bed now, all of you," Molly looked at Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione.
"You can't boss us-" Fred started to say.
"Watch me," Molly snarled, she was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius, but before she could speak, Lucifer spoke up.
"With all due respect, Molly, you are not my mum, so don't pretend like you are...She is the reason Dad did not kill me when I was young, and banished me from his home instead. I haven't seen her in Eons, and she is as good as dead to me. So, don't pretend you are her," Lucifer said calmly, or as calmly as he could.
Molly's lower lip trembled as she rounded on her children, "You three in bed, NOW!" She turned to Hermione, "I want you-"
"No," Hermione cut her off, "I'll go up to bed when Lucifer does."
Molly looked like she couldn't stand her authority being contested, and after her children left, she stormed out of the kitchen.
"That was oddly satisfying," Sirius said.
"I doubt that was necessary," Remus said.
"Molly needed the reality check, I feel..." Lucifer said, "she's used to her authority being challenged by her kids, but this has made her realize she can't boss around everyone still in Hogwarts."
"At any rate, that's really all we know, so it is probably best if you go up to bed anyway," Remus said.
"I'll go up in a minute..." Lucifer said, finding himself having a hard time getting up.
"I've got to see what you did to the portrait," Sirius exited the Kitchen and a moment later, he was heard letting out a cheerful sound.
He was heard running back to them, "You got rid of it! How?"
"A secret as old as time itself," Lucifer said, but after a moment couldn't hold his laughter anymore, "I quite literally turned it to dust and Scourgify'd it away."
Sirius looked like Christmas came early, "And you got all the other portraits! Lucifer, you are welcome at Grimmauld Place any time you want to visit."
Lucifer smiled as Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Mundungus, and Harry all left the Kitchen, leaving Lucifer and Hermione alone.
"Are you okay enough to walk ?" She asked him, sitting so she was facing him while he still faced the table.
"Yeah... with some help..." he held out his right arm and Hermione grabbed it, helping him stabilize on his feet, "thanks... I'm glad you stayed down here..."
"I am too," Hermione let go of him and looked up at him, "so... Sirius helped me with testing my mental shields."
"Really? How?"
"It turns out he's a natural Legilimens. Don't worry my shields held up, I had nothing... that we did at Lux on the surface of my mind as he was testing me..."
'And I had none of my lewd thoughts about you either, Lucifer, don't worry, those are also kept safe.'
"I'll need to thank him tomorrow," Lucifer said as they left the Kitchen and went up the stairs to the floor where their rooms were.
He stopped outside of Hermione's room she shared with Ginny, "I'll see you in the morning," he smiled and leaned forward.
Hermione met him halfway and they shared a kiss for a few seconds before just staring into the others eyes, "I love you, Lucifer," she whispered.
"I know," Lucifer whispered back.
Hermione watched him go into his room and she turned to go into her own, ready to tell Ginny everything they talked about. 'I can at least wait until you recover....'
xxxxxxx
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