Chapter 37: United they stand.
"Remus!" Dora bellowed as she entered Grimmauld Place, "Get your lazy arse down here!" Hearing the telltale clomping of people coming down the steps, she headed towards the kitchen to grab a bite while they discussed what her boss wanted her to do.
Sirius and Remus both started at the sounds of Dora's voice shouting up the steps. As they got up to see what she wanted, Remus muttered, "Damn that woman, she's going to give me a heart attack one of these days with that shouting."
Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Sirius replied, "If you think that's bad, wait until she…mmmffff"
Before he could finish the sentence, Remus clamped his hand over Sirius's mouth and said, "Too much information." Yanking his hand away in disgust, he wiped the drool on his pants and said, "Typical, at least it tells me that your animagus form is appropriate."
Sirius was grinning like an idiot as they entered the kitchen. Seeing Dora, he plopped down in the seat across from her and said, "Still as loud as ever, Nymphadora. What's got your knickers in a twist?"
If she were a basilisk, Sirius would be a stone pillar due to the glare she was giving him. "I'll deal with you later, doggy." Dora growled at her cousin before turning her attention to Remus and asking, "How would you feel about picking up a Death Eater supporter with the full backing of my boss?"
Remus' grin was feral as he replied, "I'd love too. Who are we going to nab?"
"We're going to grab the wand maker in Knockturn Alley." Dora supplied before continuing in a more somber tone, "Ollivander was killed and turned into an Inferius today."
Her statement immediately drove all of the playfulness from the room. When he recovered from the shock of Dora's news, Sirius asked, "What happened?"
For the next fifteen minutes Dora filled them in on everything that she knew about Ollivander, the stolen wands, and the aftermath of the battle.
~AQ~
In a dusty little shop in Knockturn Alley, Lucius Malfoy was sneering at the man behind the worn counter. "Grab your tools and pack up the wands." When the man's eyes widened at the order, Malfoy hissed, "The Dark Lord has need of your services. Report to my manor as soon as you finish packing, and leave the boxes where they are, just take the wands."
When the unkempt shop keeper was finished packing, Lucius waved Bellatrix over and said smoothly, "Please see to it that he is unharmed and set him up in the storage room in the basement."
Nodding, Bellatrix seized the man by his arm and disappeared with a pop, taking them to Malfoy Manor before the wand maker had any second thoughts.
Lucius tapped his cane on the counter idly while he thought over the rest of the plan. His goal was to kill any members of The Order of the Phoenix or the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Fortunately, the Dark Lord gave him plenty of leeway into how that was to be accomplished. With that in mind, he summoned two more Death Eaters to aid him in his endeavor.
The Carrows arrived ten minutes later and began going over the plan with Lucius. It was decided that they would take polyjuice potion and lay in wait to ambush anyone that the Ministry or Dumbledore sent to investigate.
~AQ~
Sirius was sitting in his favorite chair in the study while Dora and Remus went over the plans to snatch the wand maker from Knockturn Alley as a growing feeling of unease settled upon him. Putting his tea down on the end table, he interrupted, "I've got a bad feeling about this one."
Remus turned to look at his friend and saw the worry in his eyes and said, "What's bothering you, Sirius?"
"It's too easy." Sirius grumbled as he stood up and began pacing around the edges of the room. Absent mindedly, he plucked a book from the shelf to give his hands something to do before continuing his pacing. After a few seconds of thought, he whispered, "If I were Voldemort, I would have taken the wand maker in Knockturn first. Not many people go down there so no one would notice right away."
Dora opened her mouth to respond before clicking it shut as she realized the truth in her cousin's words. "Damn." She muttered under her breath before sitting up a touch straighter and saying, "We're going to need more people to do this the right way. The problem is that the longer we wait, the more likely that the wand maker will slip through our fingers."
"I'll quietly ask a few old acquaintances if they would be interested in helping." Remus added before getting up from his spot on the couch and looking at the door.
"Okay. I guess that I'll report into Madam Bones and get her input before staking out the shop." Dora said while turning her attention to Sirius, "Please bring my parents up to speed." Glancing down at her watch, she added, "Why don't we meet back here around five to go over everything before Remus heads to Hogwarts for his 'Secret' meeting." She finished while making quotation marks with fingers.
With nods all around, they each left to begin their assigned tasks as quickly as possible.
~AQ~
The smell of antiseptic and cleaning products assaulted her nose while she tried to figure out where she was. A slight groan escaped Daphne's lips when she tried to sit up and the pain washed over her in waves.
"Shhh. Lay still, Daphne. Your father went to fetch the healer." Her mother said softly while holding her daughter's remaining hand. Realizing that her daughter was trying to speak, Evelyn Greengrass held a cup of water to her eldest child's lips while cradling her head.
"Thank you." Daphne rasped after she swallowed some water. Confusion spread across her features momentarily as to why she couldn't move her right arm even though she could feel it. When she glanced over at her arm, she was shocked to find nothing there but a mass of bandages. Too shocked to speak, she tentatively reached her left hand over to confirm that her eyes weren't deceiving her.
Fear, anger, and despair washed across her face as she looked up at her mother momentarily before breaking into soft sobs and starting to rock back and forth.
Evelyn gently swept her daughter into a hug and began mumbling words of comfort as tears leaked from her own eyes.
After a few minutes, Daphne croaked out, "What happened to me?"
Finding it difficult to tell her daughter what really happened, Mrs. Greengrass faltered a few times before managing to say, "You were hit by debris from a stray spell." Softly, she whispered into Daphne's hair, "You're lucky to be alive."
Daphne didn't disagree with her mother's assessment at all. Especially if the injuries were so severe that she was missing her arm. Tentatively, she reached up with her remaining hand and touched the bandages on her chest and face as if inspecting the damage. "Who did this to me?" she rasped while her fingers traced the bandage on the side of her face.
"Draco Malfoy fired a spell at Harry Potter and hit the Slytherin table instead. He was expelled and turned over to Amelia Bones." Evelyn answered. "Astoria told me the details, she's fine the debris missed her." She supplied quickly seeing the mounting worry in her daughter's face.
"Was anyone else injured?" Daphne whispered fearfully, dreading the answer.
Looking at her daughter and trying to gauge her emotional state, Evelyn decided that Daphne needed to know the details to help with her own recovery, so she said, "Tracey Davis was seriously injured but Harry Potter saved her life. The complete coverage of what happened is in the Daily Prophet and Astoria assures me that it is a very accurate article for once."
Daphne began slowly running her hand across her face and body while her mother filled her in on the details of the article. It was a few minutes later when she realized that her mother had stopped talking and was watching her trace her newly acquired scars with her fingers.
Softly, she asked, "Mum, can I have a mirror please?"
Evelyn had been dreading this moment since her daughter woke up. She knew that Daphne wasn't vain, but did take pride in her appearance. Slowly, she pulled her mirror out of her purse and held it up for her to see.
The tears welled up in her eyes once the bandages were removed and she looked at her 'new' appearance in the mirror. Most of the smaller cuts had been healed and the scars were almost invisible. There was a large scar that no amount of magic could remove that ran from the corner of her mouth and down the edge of her jaw line where a piece of the table had injured her.
Terrified, she slowly undid the drawstrings on the hospital gown and let it pool around her waist so she could see how bad those scars were as well.
Silently, Evelyn enlarged the mirror so Daphne could see her entire torso. She carefully kept her sobs stifled as she too got her first look at how lucky Daphne was to even be alive.
A tentative knock on the door interrupted the silent moment. Composing herself as best as she could, Evelyn said, "Enter."
The pale form of Tracey Davis entered the room and made her way over to the now covered Daphne. Reaching out, she clasped her hand with Daphne's remaining one and whispered, "I was so scared."
Daphne pulled her best friend into a one armed embrace and sobbed quietly, "I don't have any recollection of what happened at all. I'm just glad that we're both alive."
"Me too, Daph. Me too." Replied Tracey in a choked voice.
~AQ~
Later that evening, Remus was walking up the path towards the gates of Hogwarts with Sirius by his side hidden beneath Harry's invisibility cloak. Sirius had the Marauder's Map in his hands and was busy scanning the map for Snape's name.
After searching for a bit, he finally found what he was looking for; Snape was holed up in his office. Quietly, Sirius whispered, "The greasy git is in his office in the dungeons. If I hurry, I can ambush him at the secret passageway by the hump backed witch."
Continuing their trek up to the castle, Remus nodded minutely and whispered, "Good hunting. I'll see you back at headquarters when the meeting is over."
With a gleam in his eye, Sirius headed off towards his ambush spot moving effortlessly under the cloak like he and James had done numerous times during their years at Hogwarts.
Reaching the headmaster's office, Remus gave the password and when the gargoyle slid aside, he made his way up the stone steps and into Dumbledore's domain.
Albus looked up as the werewolf entered his office. He gestured towards the refreshments in the corner while saying pleasantly, "Please make yourself comfortable. Severus should be joining us soon and then we can begin."
Snatching a sandwich and drink, Remus made his way over to where Minerva and Arthur Weasley were sitting together. "May I?" he asked while gesturing to the empty seat.
"Of course, Remus." McGonagall answered warmly before saying, "You're looking well."
"Thank you." He answered while setting his food on the table and pulling up his chair. "I've been able to find a reliable supplier for the Wolfsbane Potion for the first time since I worked here and it's made a big difference."
Smiling, Arthur happily said, "That's wonderful. If you ever need a place to recover, Molly and I would be more than happy to have you at the Burrow."
Warmed by the generous offer, Remus said, "Thank you. If I'm ever in need, I may take you up on that."
~AQ~
Sirius had arrived at the ambush point and proceeded to cast every concealment spell that he knew to hide his presence before settling down to wait for Snape to make his way up from the dungeons.
Sirius didn't have to wait long before Snape rounded the corner up from the dungeons with his black robes billowing out behind him as he stalked towards the headmaster's office. The moment that the Death Eater passed his hiding spot, Sirius struck.
The resounding whack of the beater's bat striking Severus on the base of the skull reverberated in the corridor. For good measure, Sirius kicked him hard in the chest just to be sure he was unconscious. Sure that Snape wasn't a threat at the moment; Sirius trussed him up using a few of the zip ties that John Granger had picked up at the hardware store specifically for binding prisoners.
It took him a couple of tries to make sure that the ties were nice and tight before he hoisted the surprisingly heavy Death Eater onto his shoulder and making his way down the secret passageway. The plan was to avoid using any magic because they weren't sure what Dumbledore would be able to detect.
Fifteen grueling minutes later, Sirius was breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Finally clear of the wards, he apparated back to Grimmauld Place and unceremoniously dumped Snape on the floor. The crack of something breaking when the bastard hit the floor helped ease the pain in Sirius' tired muscles and put a smile on his face.
With a sigh, he flicked his wand at the bound and unconscious man and levitated him down to the cells in the basement. Once there, he vanished Snape's clothes and bound him to the chair, naked.
Sirius was a bit surprised at the sheer amount of items in Snape's pockets. Unidentified potions, a couple of knives, two wands, a miniature foe glass, and what appeared to be a necklace with a few strands of red hair in a locket.
Confused, Sirius carefully moved everything to the table without touching anything by hand. It wouldn't do to get killed now that he had his prey trapped by being lazy. Satisfied that the items were secure and that Snape wasn't going anywhere, he settled down to wait for Remus to return from what was sure to be a very entertaining meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.
~AQ~
Dumbledore was beginning to worry. He knew that Severus was in the castle as they had spoken to each other about an hour ago and it wasn't like the young man to disappear without letting him know somehow.
Rising from his chair, Albus made his way over to Minerva and quietly asked, "Would you please fetch Severus?" At her curious glance, he supplied, "He's late and that is most unlike him."
"Of course, Albus." Minerva said and rose from her seat to fetch their errant member.
Remus looked up at the headmaster and asked the question on everyone's mind, "Is everything all right, Headmaster?"
Staring into Lupin's eyes for a moment, Albus said solemnly, "I'm not sure, actually. Severus is always punctual so either something delayed him or he was called away unexpectedly."
Neither man voiced the other option that something bad had happened to the spy. Inwardly, Remus howled with laughter because this was confirmation that Sirius had succeeded in his endeavor and he couldn't wait to get back to headquarters and question their former classmate.
A bright white tabby patronus burst through the door and said in Minerva's anxious Scottish brogue, "I can't find Severus anywhere and there are no signs of a struggle."
Headmaster and werewolf locked gazes again and Albus mumbled, "Damnation." In a stronger voice he said, "We will have to cancel the meeting and investigate this immediately. Time is of the essence."
Looking each member in the eyes, he said gravely, "Assume that Severus has been compromised at this point and take steps to protect your families accordingly."
As people began filing from the room, Albus stopped Remus and asked, "We could really use your assistance in this matter."
Remus paused a moment, sighed, and said, "Of course, Albus. I may not like the man but I respect his position and the sacrifices that he makes. What would you like me to do?"
Albus' eyes unfocused momentarily while he pondered the options most likely to provide any leads. He knew that time was of the essence if Severus had really defected or been captured by someone. "Please check Knockturn Alley, specifically the apothecary and Borgin and Burkes."
"I'll send word when my search is complete." Remus said before turning without a backwards glance at the aged wizard. Once he was clear of the wards, he apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and made his way to Knockturn Alley.
He figured that he should make an appearance in those areas on the off chance that Albus was having him followed. An hour later, Remus sent his patronus to Dumbledore stating his 'failure' and began making a few random jumps to throw off any tails before finally checking himself for any tracking spells then apparating back to Grimmauld Place.
~AQ~
While the Order of the Phoenix was searching the castle and various parts of Great Britain for their missing spy, Nymphadora Tonks was sitting down to a light dinner with her parents and the Grangers, John, and Annabelle. They were actually eating at her parent's house for a change to provide the Grangers with more exposure to the magical world and its quirks.
After watching her daughter push around the food on her plate rather than inhaling it like she normally did, Andromeda said, "What's bothering you, Dora?"
With a sigh, Dora put down her fork and looked at everyone briefly before saying, "My boss knows that all of you are guardians for Harry Potter and wants to meet with him to talk about what happened at the school with Draco Malfoy."
Frowning in concern, Ted asked, "Does Dumbledore know that we have custody of Harry?"
Shaking her head no, Dora replied, "Not yet, but he will soon. He told Amelia to contact him to arrange for her to meet with Harry at the Dursleys."
John's chuckling brought everyone's attention to him so he cleared his throat and said cheerfully, "So what happens if she never contacts him? Do you think it will slip his mind or will he just figure that it is best to not remind Amelia about talking to Harry?" Seeing everyone contemplating what he had just said, he continued, "From what I know of Dumbledore, he really sounds like the type to prevent or delay that meeting anyway."
"That's probably true, he does have an unnatural interest in Harry and who can and can't reach him. Personally, I think it's related to that prophecy that we still have to get Harry to listen to." Dora said seriously.
"Why don't we just invite Amelia over for dinner here one evening and let her meet with Harry if he's okay with that?" Andromeda asked.
Nodding in agreement, Annabelle said, "I think that would work for the best and it will show her that we are involved in both aspects of his upbringing if John and I attend as well."
"That's a good idea." Ted said congenially while everyone else was nodding in agreement.
Checking her watch, Dora changed the topic, "Sirius should be back from Hogwarts by now with his 'guest' if he was successful." She then proceeded to bring everyone up to speed on the events from the day and their plans to capture Snape and the wand maker from Knockturn Alley.
~AQ~
Harry and Hermione had said goodbye to their friends after the leaving feast and had Dobby and Winky bring them back home afterwards. They arrived to an empty house and decided that a quiet dinner was the perfect ending for a stressful day.
Once dessert had been polished off, they snuggled up on the couch in the library, with Harry reading over Hermione's shoulder. They were going over the book about Coatl's that Remus had given them when exclaimed, "Harry! Look at this passage!"
Moving his eyes to where her finger was indicating, Harry read the passage before untangling himself from Hermione and moving to the middle of the room. He shimmered for a second before he shifted into his animagus form stretching his wings tentatively.
Hermione had never seen his wings unfurled before so she sat down on the floor right in front of him. Very carefully, she reached out and asked, "May I touch them?"
Harry the Coatl gave her a nod of his scaly head and slithered a little closer to give her better access to his wings. Once she was done inspecting them, he waited until she had moved away and extended his wings to their fullest extent. Letting instinct take over, he flapped his wings a few times and rose into the air.
He found it extremely difficult to hover so he began trying to fly about the room. It was surprisingly harder than it looked and very tiring trying to fly indoors. After a couple of minutes, he landed unceremoniously in a heap on the chair, too tired to transform back just yet.
Moving over to where Harry collapsed, she gently lifted the upper portion of his torso onto her lap while whispering how proud of him she was.
After a few minutes under her ministrations, Harry slithered to the floor and transformed back with a smile on his face. "That was brilliant!" he blurted excitedly.
"I never thought that I would see a Coatl in person, let alone one flying! I'm so proud of you, Harry!" Hermione said happily. "Now, you are going to be a good husband and tell me exactly how it feels to make the transformation." She told him while giving him a look that brooked no excuses.
Gulping slightly at the look Hermione was giving him, Harry nodded and proceeded to tell her everything that he experienced when he was changing forms.
~AQ~
Severus Snape regained consciousness and began taking stock of his surroundings without opening his eyes or even giving any hints that he was awake. It took exactly three seconds for him to realize that he was in serious trouble. He was naked, bound tightly to a chair, and his wrist was probably broken.
Realizing that he wouldn't get any more information without taking a look around, he opened his eyes and was quickly forced to shut them when a bright light shown directly into them.
Suddenly, a harsh voice barked, "There's no use struggling, Death Eater. In a few minutes, we are going to dose you with enough veritaserum to have you singing your deepest, darkest, secrets."
Unable to see the person speaking, Snape closed his eyes and waited patiently while he surreptitiously tried to free himself from his bonds.
Fifteen minutes later Remus entered the basement with a bottle of veritaserum, a recording quill, and a pad of parchment in hand. He joined Sirius behind the light so Snape couldn't see them and nodded once.
Seeing his friend nod that he was ready, Sirius silently stunned Snape and proceeded to force open the Death Eater's mouth.
Remus poured three drops of the truth serum down Snape's throat then stepped back behind the light. Once Sirius had joined him, he cast a voice altering charm on himself and sat down to begin the interrogation.
Sirius made sure that his glamour charms were in place and after receiving a confirming nod from Remus, he conjured a large tub of ice water and a bucket before proceeding to place Severus' feet into the frigid water.
Once he was satisfied that everything was set, Sirius began slapping Snape in the face until the man woke up.
Shivering and disoriented, Snape tried to focus on the face of the man in front of him but all he could see was shadows due to the bright light shining into his eyes.
Suddenly, a voice behind the light asked, "Are you a loyal Death Eater?"
Compelled by the potion to answer, Snape slurred, "No."
Somewhat surprised, Remus recovered and asked, "Where do your loyalties lie?"
"With Albus Dumbledore." Snape answered even though he was desperately trying to fight the effects of the Veritaserum.
Remus sat there mulling over what Snape had just revealed. As an Order of the Phoenix member, he knew that the man was a spy but had always felt that Severus was loyal only to himself.
Curious, Remus asked, "Why are you loyal to Dumbledore?"
Snape was now visibly struggling against the potion but it's hold was too strong and he gasped out, "Because the Dark Lord killed the only woman I've ever loved."
Putting the pieces together, Sirius yanked Snape's hair back forcing the man to look directly into the bright light and growled, "Who's hair is in that locket?"
"Lily's." Snape whispered as tears streamed down his face.
Disgusted with himself, and the man in front of him, Sirius quickly let go of Severus' hair and stalked over to the far corner to compose himself. With his back against the wall, he slowly slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his head hanging between his knees as he lamented the loss of his best friend and the women he loved as well.
Realizing that Sirius was lost to him for a few minutes, Remus returned to the questioning, "Why are you so hard on Harry Potter?"
Even under the effects of veritaserum, Snape realized who his two interrogators were. Compelled to answer the question, he looked up to where he knew Remus Lupin was sitting and said, "Because, Remus, Harry is a daily reminder of what I threw away in my anger."
There was a thump as Remus' hand hit the table in shock before his head followed. The only sound in the room for the next few minutes was the not so silent weeping of three men that had lost a woman that they loved from afar.
Chapter 38: Opening Gambits.
It took Sirius a few minutes to compose himself after the emotional roller coaster that their questioning of Snape started. Blinking back the tears, he stood up, angrily strode over and yanked the Death Eater by his greasy hair so that they were face to face. In a menacing voice, he hissed, "What would you do if presented with the opportunity to harm Harry, Hermione, Remus, or myself?"
Compelled by the truth serum still flowing through his veins, Snape said, "I would not harm Potter but I would do my best to see the rest of you injured or dead."
Remus' head snapped up at hearing Severus' declaration and he bolted to his feet in a towering rage. His eyes had completely changed over to amber showing that the wolf was extremely close to the surface.
Looking into his friends face, Sirius quickly backed away at the sight of the amber eyes dilated in anger and the slight fangs poking out of Remus' mouth.
Even through his potion's induced haze, Snape realized that the man approaching him was partially transformed. Panicked, Severus was trying everything in his power to escape the bonds that held him securely to the chair. Shrieking in terror while he struggled fruitlessly against the restraints, he shouted, "Stay away from me you filthy werewolf!" As Remus continued towards him, he quickly glanced over at Black and bellowed, "Keep him away from me!"
Furious, Remus reached down, grasped the sides of Snape's head and lifted him clean off the floor until they were eye level. His voice was barely recognizable as he growled, "You will never get the chance to harm another innocent." Before Snape could respond, or Sirius recovered from his shock, Remus slammed Snape back onto the ground and gave a violent twist with his hands.
Snape's screams stopped abruptly with the ominous snapping noise as the angered werewolf broke the Death Eater's neck. With a howl of rage, Remus grabbed the dead spy and hurled him across the room and into the wall, shattering the chair that Snape was bound to in the process.
His mouth hanging open in shock, Sirius slowly approached his best friend with his palms open outwards. Quietly, he called, "Remus?" He watched his friend struggling for control of his emotions but was at a loss on how to help him.
Suddenly, Dora was there, wrapping her arms around the enraged man and whispering words of comfort in his ear. As she felt Remus begin to calm down, she pulled him down to the floor and continued to console him.
His amber eyes still sparkling, Remus looked up into Dora's face and saw understanding and acceptance rather than the revulsion he was expecting. "Why?" he rasped, his voice beginning to return to normal.
Stroking his cheek, Dora whispered, "Because you're a good man, Remus Lupin, and I couldn't give my heart to a monster." Before he could contradict her, she placed a finger over his mouth and said firmly, "You are not a monster." Waving her hand in the general direction of the cooling body in the corner, she said with conviction, "Snape was a monster and got everything he deserved."
"How much did you see and hear?" Remus asked quietly.
"All of it." Dora replied truthfully as she continued to stare into his amber eyes before leaning down and placing a loving kiss on his lips.
~AQ~
The unmistakable sound of the metal lock being slid back woke Draco with a start. He had been trying to avoid falling asleep but his need for rest finally overpowered his fear and he drifted off in a semi sitting position in the corner of his bunk. He tried to make himself as small as possible as the figure on the bunk above him grumbled at the disturbance.
"Come on Travis, we have to be on station in ten." shouted the auror from the door to the man on the top bunk who was in the process of climbing down.
"Keep your robes on, Hamish, I'm coming!" grumbled Travis as he sat down on the lower bunk to pull on his boots. With a leer, he turned to the corner where he knew the Malfoy boy was cowering and drawled, "Sleep well, Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco had frozen in fear when the man started climbing down so he missed the exchange between the two aurors. When the large man sat on his bed, he did something he hadn't done since he was five, he wet himself.
"Blimey!" Travis blurted when the stench hit him causing him to scramble off the bed and move towards the door. "He soiled himself!" he yelped to his partner in disgust.
The last thing Draco heard was the laughter of the two aurors as the door was sealed cutting off all noise from outside his cell.
~AQ~
Ted and Andromeda were down in the basement of headquarters finishing up the second round of Goyle's interrogation while Dora, Remus, and Sirius were talking about what to do with Snape's body. They were being just loud enough in their discussion that Goyle was able to hear everything.
Suddenly, Snape's lifeless body was dumped at the foot of the stairs right in Goyle's line of sight, causing the large mans anxiety levels to skyrocket. Seeing the fear on their prisoner's face, Andromeda drawled pleasantly, "Oh, don't you worry about Severus, dear. He's quite dead."
Seeing his panicked eyes dart between the dead body of his comrade and his captors, Ted asked, "Is there anything else you would like to tell us that could prevent you ending up like him?" while his thumb pointed in the general direction of the crumpled body on the floor.
Being under the effects of the truth potion still, Goyle's addled mind took that request literally and he began a lengthy tale of every wrong doing that he was ever a part of or had heard of. By the time the potion wore off, Goyle was exhausted and Ted and Andromeda had fifty pages of very disturbing notes.
Disgusted with the man in front of them, Ted stepped forward and said coldly, "I promised that we wouldn't kill you and we won't." Seeing Goyle sag slightly in relief, he continued, "However, we can't just let you go either." Taking aim, he pointed his wand at Goyle's face and said, "Obliviate!" while concentrating on the desire to erase everything back to the level of a baby.
~AQ~
Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office in the highest tower of Hogwarts. The only noises were the occasional whirring and puffing of various magical trinkets scattered about the room. His gaze was unfocused while he tapped his finger tips together in front of his lips.
He knew without a doubt that Snape was dead. The life stone that Severus had given him hung from his pinkies on a fine golden chain. Instead of its usual vibrant white, it dangled there, blackened and cracked; the ultimate proof that his primary spy within Voldemort's ranks was lost forever.
The burning question in his mind was, 'Which side did the deed?'Dumbledore knew that Severus was only tolerated because of his support. Part of him hoped that it was someone from the Order that got him because the thought of Voldemort questioning Snape would be devastating on many different levels.
Resigned, Albus sighed softly before opening the top drawer of his desk and gently setting the stone inside then slowly closing the drawer. It was as close to a proper burial he could give his dead spy unless the body was actually found.
Going on the assumption that Snape was compromised before he died, Dumbledore began mentally going through his plans that would have to be altered. Fortunately, he didn't really trust Severus with too much information because of his proximity to very dangerous people so not much would have to be changed.
Struggling up from his chair, he shuffled over to his lab and retrieved the vial of the Elixir of Life. Swirling the liquid slowly, Dumbledore admired the shifting shades of red as the firelight illuminated the bottle. Gathering up his courage, he pulled the stopper and downed the contents in one quick gulp.
Nicholas had once described how if felt when you drank the Elixir of Life but until you experience it for yourself, words didn't do it justice. Dumbledore's veins burned with a liquid fire as the Elixir did its work. The pain was excruciating, causing Albus to cry out as he fell to his knees as the empty vial slipped from his fingers and shattered on the stone floor.
Another wave of pain seared through him, causing Dumbledore to fall forward. He barely got his hands out in time to prevent banging his head on the stone floor. The agony was so great, that the cuts from the glass embedded into his hands barely registered.
Fifteen agonizing minutes later, the pain subsided and Albus struggled to his feet and staggered towards his private chambers. Head swimming from the Elixir, he barely made it to his bed before collapsing unconscious face down.
~AQ~
Watching his cousin comfort his best friend, Sirius sighed in relief before silently levitating Snape's lifeless body up the stairs before returning for the mindless Goyle, Sr. Once he had both of them in the parlor, he tied them together and called, "Dobby!"
There was a slight pop when Dobby appeared in the room and said politely, "How may I help, Master Sirius?"
Sirius waited for Dobby to realize that there were two other bodies in the room before saying, "We need these two to be found in Knockturn Alley in the morning. Can you arrange for that without being discovered?"
Ears back at the slight on being seen, Dobby coolly replied, "Of course, sir. I will take care of that immediately." Without waiting for any other commands, Dobby stepped over and grabbed a hold of both bodies and disappeared with a much louder than normal crack.
Wiping the sweat off his brow, Sirius mumbled, "Note to self, don't make the elf angry." Shaking his head ruefully, he left the parlor to search for some liquid medicine of the alcoholic variety for everyone.
~AQ~
Harry wandered downstairs to stretch his legs and fetch a glass of water. In his hands was one of his books on occlumency. He was so engrossed in the text that he didn't notice Hermione's parents leaning against the counter and talking quietly amongst themselves.
When John and Annabelle saw Harry walk in, they noticed how immersed he was in his book so they continued talking quietly. Their smiles grew larger as Harry moved around the room on autopilot as he gathered his drink and left the room without ever noticing that he wasn't alone. It was something that they had seen Hermione do hundreds of times in their old home and it filled them with joy to see how comfortable Harry had become in the house.
Motioning with her hands for John to keep quiet, Annabelle silently followed Harry up the steps towards the library. He was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't even notice his in-laws trailing half a landing behind him.
Harry flopped down next to Hermione and handed her his glass without even looking up from his book. On autopilot, Hermione had extended her hand at that exact moment and plucked the glass from his hand without tearing her gaze from her book either.
John and Annabelle stood in the doorway transfixed by the scene in front of them. The two teens were displaying a level of communication not achieved outside of couples that had been married for decades and sometimes not at all. They watched the silent interactions between Harry and Hermione for a few minutes in awe before Annabelle said softly, "It's getting late. Are you two going to turn in soon?"
Startled from their private thoughts, the two teens jumped slightly in their seats before Hermione squeaked happily, "Mum, Dad!" before hopping up and racing over to them to exchange hugs. Harry followed at a more sedate pace before exchanging his own hugs and pleasantries with the in-laws.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Granger. How was your dinner?" Harry asked politely when he stepped back from Annabelle's hug.
"It was enlightening. Dining in a magical house takes some getting used to." John smiled as he answered Harry's question.
Remembering fondly all of the meals he'd eaten during better times at the Burrow with the Weasleys made Harry smile in return before he answered knowingly, "Yes, it does. Doesn't it?"
"Why don't you two get ready for bed? We have a big day planned for tomorrow and we'll have to get started early." Annabelle said warmly as she steered the young couple towards their room.
~AQ~
With a soft pop, two aurors appeared in the alleyway directly across from the wand makers shop in Edinburgh, Scotland. Kingsley stood motionless, his cloak pulled closed against the slight chill in the air, as he searched the area for anything out of the ordinary.
Deciding that nothing was amiss, he gestured to his partner and they quickly crossed the street and opened the door to the shop with their wands at the ready. The bell above the door chimed as they entered causing Kinglsey to flinch at forgetting something so elementary.
The tinkling of the bells brought the shopkeeper out of his workshop to greet his visitors. Wiping his hands on his apron, Mr. Davidson noticed the drawn wands and auror badges and asked carefully, "How may I help you gentleman today?"
Having no easy way to break the news to the shop keep, Kinglsey motioned for his partner to stand guard by the door and said calmly, "We're here to escort you to a safe house. Mr. Ollivander was killed and turned into an inferious today."
Leaning against the counter for support, Armand took a few moments to gather himself before whispering, "Does this mean what I think it does?"
Looking the old man in the eyes, Shacklebolt answered, "It does. Now please gather up your things, time is of the essence. We think Voldemort is targeting all of the wand makers in Great Britain for some reason."
Just as Armand was beginning to gather his supplies, Shacklebolt's partner, barked out a harsh whisper, "Shite! We have company!" and began setting as many defensive spells on the front of the shop as he could. When he was done, Smyth turned to them and asked, "Is there a secret way out of here?"
The wand maker nodded and pointed behind the counter before moving over to it and undoing the concealing and locking spells. Once they were gone, he opened the door and motioned for the aurors to follow him.
Kinglsey was halfway down the trap door when he realized that his Smyth wasn't following him. With a questioning look on his face, he peered back at his partner.
"Go. I'll hold them off while you get Mr. Davidson to safety." Smyth said resolutely while looking Kinglsey in the eyes.
With a nod of understanding, Shacklebolt whispered, "God speed." before closing the hatch behind him. He felt the concealment charms go back up seconds before he heard the front door being blasted apart. Seeing the wand maker standing by the tunnel, he gently pushed him in the back and whispered, "Go. Smyth is going to buy us some time."
With a shocked nod of acceptance, Armand turned and began leading Kinglsey down the hidden passage to safety. At the end of the tunnel, there was a small, dimly lit, room with a ladder going up through another trap door.
Pointing to the hatch, Kinglsey asked, "Where does this lead?"
"The door leads to the basement of the pub on the street behind my shop." Mr. Davidson whispered before continuing, "It's owned by my cousin so we should be safe."
There was a loud blasting noise followed by a showering of dust from the carved ceiling. Eyes widening in horror, Kinglsey vanished the trap door and practically dragged the old wand maker up the ladder with him in his haste. Just as they cleared the trap door, a cloud of dust and debris blew upward.
"Damnation." Kinglsey muttered before turning to Mr. Davidson and saying solemnly, "Grab my arm, I'm going to apparate us to the safe house before I contact Madam Bones."
~AQ~
Smyth ducked behind the one of the shelves containing wands when the door was blasted apart. Shrapnel peppered the wall and counter with lethal force making him glad he was lucky enough to get to safety. Before the dust settled, he fired two quick blasting hexes in the direction of the front door and dove behind the shopkeeper's counter.
Yaxley was climbing over the remains of the front door when the first curse struck his shoulder spinning him around in a shower of blood. He landed in a heap next the door frame where his partner, Gibbon calmly stepped over his bleeding body with a shield at the ready.
"Come out wand maker and I'll make your death quick." Gibbon hissed in anger. With a flick of his wand the dust in the air dissipated and he took stock of the situation. There were dozens of wands scattered about from where he had blown in the door but no sign of the wizard that owned the shop.
Smyth knew he only had moments until his hiding spot was located and he would be forced to fight for his life. He knew that he needed to give Kingsley more time to get the old man to safety so he crept to the edge of the counter and held up a transfigured mirror inches from the floor.
He could see a black robed figure just inside the hole in the front of the shop and the feet of another lying in a pool of rapidly spreading blood. Steadying himself, he rolled clear of the counter and barked, "Avada Kedavra!"
Gibbon saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and instinctively yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" at the unidentified person.
The two killing curses struck each other and the magical explosion that followed ripped apart a good portion of the shop. Gibbon's last thought as he was sent flying through the air was of his family before his neck was snapped by the force of the impact with the stone wall.
Nigel's eyes widened briefly in surprise before he was blasted backwards into the base of the shelves behind the sales counter. The shelf teetered for a moment before it came crashing down onto the counter burying the injured auror under hundreds of wands.
Moving slowly to protect his injured ribs and hip, Smyth poked his head up to assess the situation. Before he could move any further, the shelf above him gave an ominous creaking noise and split in half and his world exploded in pain before he blacked out.
~AQ~
The explosion sent the residents both scurrying for cover and peering from their windows to see the commotion. Once the smoke cleared, some people ran forward to see if they could help Mr. Davidson while others flooded the floo network with calls to the Ministry of Magic for help.
The auror on duty, the freshly demoted Dawlish, sent a flying memo to his superior and went back to reading Rita Skeeter's recent article about the disaster in Hogwarts and grumbling about a lack of respect.
Fifteen minutes later, the desk sergeant received the vague memo and dispatched an auror to Edinburgh's version of Diagon Alley to investigate. He then sent a memo to Amelia Bones letting her know what happened and what action was taken before returning to his mountain of parchment work.
Amelia was sitting in her favorite chair by the fire in the den of her row house not far from the Prime Minister's residence when a lynx patronus burst through her living room wall and began to speak with Kinglsey's voice.
"The wand maker is secure but we ran into trouble. Smyth held them off while we got out." The lynx finished speaking and faded from existence, its purpose fulfilled.
"Damn." Amelia muttered as she rose from her seat and headed for the floo, her tea and book forgotten on the end table.
As she stepped out of the fireplace into her office, she noticed a memo floating around the room. Snatching the annoying piece of flying parchment out of the air, she ripped it open and read the missive. She checked the time on the memo before tossing it down on her desk and heading for the duty sergeant.
"Masterson!" Amelia barked when she rounded the corner into the greeting area where the desk sergeant's desk was located. "Gather up a full squad with a healer and send them to Mr. Davidson's wand shop in Edinburgh. Tell them that we may have a man down and I'll meet them there in thirty minutes." Without another word, Amelia strode out of the office to the apparition point in the atrium before vanishing with a soft pop.
She reappeared outside a non-descript farming village in Wales before disillusioning herself and heading towards a rundown farm house overlooking a small stream. Once she reached the door, Amelia knocked twice, paused, knocked four more times and stepped back a foot from the door.
Kinglsey heard the code being knocked and hoped that it was his boss at the door. Motioning to Mr. Davidson to stay quiet and to cover him, he cautiously opened the door with his wand drawn. After confirming that the person at the door was indeed his superior, he waved her inside and began casting wards around the door for some added safety.
The small safe house had that faint musty smell that often resides in homes that don't see enough use. The inside was much nicer than the exterior due to a liberal amount of magic in use but it wasn't opulent by any stretch of the imagination.
Once Shacklebolt was finished with his defensive spell casting, Amelia waved both men over to the seats in front of the fire so they could discuss a few things. Clearing her throat, she said warmly, "I'm glad to see that you both made it out alive. I have a team on the way to Edinburgh to see if Smyth is okay as well."
"Thank you, Director. I hope he made it. The tunnel collapsed just as we were climbing out." the large auror replied in his surprisingly alto voice.
Climbing to her feet, Amelia said seriously, "I'm not going to tell anyone that you are here. If someone comes to collect Mr. Davidson in my name, escape if you can. If not, kill them before they can return the favor."
Mr. Davidson bobbed his head jerkily in understanding as he tried to process all of the shocking things that had been thrown at him today.
Kingsley nodded once in acceptance with a hard look on his face before saying, "If we don't hear from you in two days, we'll move to the backup safe house and I'll try to find someone I can trust to contact."
"Find Auror Tonks." Amelia replied immediately. Seeing Shacklebolt's frown, she said, "She's deeper in this mess than you are and knows a great deal about what is going on. She also has the resources available to help or to hide Mr. Davidson if things go pear shaped."
Intrigued, Kingsley said cautiously, "I promise that I'll do that if it comes to it. Good luck, ma'am."
"Thank you, Kingsley." Amelia said somberly before heading out, hoping that Smyth was still alive.
~AQ~
The last three days had been some of the longest, and loneliest, of Ron's short life so far. The reality of what he had thrown away in his jealousy and fits of temper really hit home on the ride to Kings Cross Station at the end of the term.
He spent the bulk of the time talking with Ginny and Neville about his feelings and the events of the year after he had apologized again. Following their advice, he had been trying to write an apology to Harry and Hermione but they just didn't sound right when put on paper. The evidence of his frustration was littered all over the floor of his bedroom.
Sighing in frustration, he crumpled up his current attempt and hurled the ball of parchment at the bin in the corner. Not knowing what else to do, he stood up from his desk and began pacing his room while muttering to himself.
Charlie had filled his parents in on what he had learned at Hogwarts about Ron and his actions. Molly had wanted to send a howler at first but her husband had put his foot down and said that they would speak with their youngest son when he returned home for the summer holidays.
She was carrying Ron's laundry up to his room when she heard him muttering under his breath. Deciding that this would be a good time to broach some of the issues from the school year, she knocked lightly and opened the door.
"Ron?" Molly called softly as she watched her son pace the room.
Startled by his mum's voice, Ron jumped a little then blurted, "Mum! Knock or make some noise next time!"
Chuckling at her son's antics, she smiled and warmly said, "I did knock. You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn't hear it so I opened the door." Watching Ron blush slightly reminded her of how young he really was. After closing the door softly, she sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her.
When Ron finally sat down, she pulled him into a one armed hug and asked, "Have you been thinking about what happened between you and Harry and Hermione this year, dear?"
With an audible sigh, Ron slouched down and put his head in his hands. A few seconds later, he mumbled, "I really messed up and I don't think that they are going to forgive me this time."
Before Molly could respond to Ron's outburst, she realized that he was sobbing silently. Shocked because he hadn't cried in front of her in a few years, Molly did what came natural to her, she pulled her youngest son into a hug and whispered words of comfort to him while trying to figure out what to do.
~AQ~
Voldemort stood alone in the cemetery in Godric's Hollow looking down at the tombstone of Ariana Dumbledore. His visit with Grindlewald had proved very enlightening and he planned to use every tool at his disposal in his quest to bring Dumbledore down.
With a casual flick of his wand, the earth parted and a casket gently rose out of the ground. It was in remarkably good shape considering how long it had been buried. Another swish and the lid vanished, revealing the perfectly preserved body of Albus Dumbledore's younger sister.
With a maniacal grin on his heavily disguised face, Voldemort began the process of turning Arianna into an inferius. Once he was done, he admired his handiwork momentarily before grabbing the animated corpse and apparating to Hogsmeade.
The unusual pair appeared with a pop in the alley behind the Three Broomsticks. Seeing no one around, he quietly opened the back door to the tavern and turned back to his newest minion and whispered, "Kill everyone in the pub!"
Once Arianna the Inferius was inside, he closed the door behind her and magically sealed the door. Moving to the front of the tavern, he began to magically seal the windows too. By the time he vanished from Hogsmeade in search of a new building to set up as his base of operations the screaming had already started from inside the Three Broomsticks.
Chapter 39: With a new day dawns.
Rating: M…you have been warned! I don't own it and this is done for enjoyment, not profit.
Steam poured from the untouched mug of black tea on the corner of the paper strewn desk; its comforting warmth wasted as Cornelius Fudge continued to flip through the documents that Lucius had given him the other day. In the hustle and bustle of the completion of the TriWizard Tournament and the insane accusations that the Dark Lord had returned, he had simply forgotten about them until now.
Oh, how he had wished he had read this before the conclusion of that blasted tournament! The packet of information from Lucius had contained detailed notes about Sirius Black's escape, his unregistered animagus form, and Dumbledore's machinations for the past few years as a precursor to taking the post of Minister of Magic for himself!
Perspiration glistened on his upper lip as he continued to read through the details of Dumbledore's subtle changes to policies and laws that Cornelius had worked so hard to get passed into law. Changes that would bring about his downfall from the Ministers post unless he took swift action to counteract the political assassination attempt.
Fudge pushed himself away from his desk and poked his head out of his office and spoke condescendingly to his secretary, "Fetch Delores and a fresh tea set, then clear my morning schedule." Without waiting for a response, he closed his door with a snap and strode back to his desk and flopped down into his chair with a sigh.
~AQ~
While Fudge's morning was turning out to be an exercise in political maneuvering interspersed with moments of blind panic, Rita Skeeter was having quite the opposite start to a new day. She had received an invitation from Bathilda Bagshot to discuss some very delicate matters the day before and had eagerly replied that she would be at the revered historian's house first thing in the morning.
Her morning got even better when Bathilda dropped the proverbial bombshell that Albus Dumbledore had been Gellert Grindelwalds' gay lover. She confessed to Rita that she had been harboring that secret at Dumbledore's request because of her love for his deceased sister, Arianna, but that she could no longer keep her silence because of her guilty conscience at being related to Gellert and not doing anything to stop his descent into madness.
As Bathilda continued to regale her guest with indiscretions from Dumbledore's youth, Rita's quick quotes quill was going a kilometer a minute over pages and pages of parchment. When Ms. Bagshot began producing photos of the two infamous wizards together, along with private correspondence, Skeeter shuddered in orgasmic glee. Originally, she had thought to write a brief article for the Daily Prophet but with all of this information she was going to publish a book instead! A book that would earn her millions of galleons and forever engrave her name in the annals of reporters everywhere!
~AQ~
The mid morning sun streaming in through the window right into the closed eyes of Albus Dumbledore woke him from his pain induced slumber. Blinking owlishly, the headmaster slowly rolled to his side and sat up on the edge of his bed. Gingerly, he stood up and began to shuffle towards the loo only to stop in mid stride with a surprised look on his face.
Tentatively, he bent double at the waist and attempted to touch his toes. The normal stiffness and pains associated with this movement were noticeably absent and when Albus stood up again, he had a huge smile on his face. He began moving his arms and legs in various directions and performing a multitude of different stretches before letting out a whoop of laughter. All of his normal aches and pains that had been catching up to him were gone! With a spring in his step and a tune on his lips, he walked briskly to the loo to get ready for the new day.
As he started to disrobe for his weekly bath, he looked down and let out a startled, "Ooh!" Slowly, as if it would disappear if he touched it, he let his hand drift downwards to say hello to a long lost friend. "Oh, my!" he exclaimed as he began to reacquaint himself with, himself. Lost in his rediscovered youth, Dumbledore's ministrations became more frantic and with a last tug he howled out, "Gelle!" before painting the magical mirror with his pearly essence.
Unnoticed by Dumbledore, Fawkes sat rooted in his bird bath in the corner of the loo watching the entire spectacle with a look of horrified terror etched onto his avian face. Unable to cope with the images carved into his brain, Fawkes did something he hadn't done in more than a century; he had an unscheduled burning day.
~AQ~
Staring into a much cleaner mirror in a nicely appointed bathroom of a London Row house, Remus Lupin tentatively reached up and touched his teeth; his still elongated canine teeth. To make matters worse, his eyes also remained a brilliant shade of amber. "Oh bugger!" he mumbled as he began putting toothpaste on his toothbrush while staring at his own face.
While he brushed his teeth on autopilot, his formidable intellect was working overtime on the changes in his body. As he took a mental inventory, he noticed that his sense of smell, eyesight, and hearing were all sharper this morning. However, the biggest difference was that he could no longer feel the rage of the wolf inside of him howling to break free.
Startled by his discovery, Remus stopped brushing his teeth and focused his mind inward to where he knew the beast within him dwelled while toothpaste foam began to dribble down his chin and onto his hand. As his mind reached the area where the savage beast should be, he felt nothing; and yet everything, at the same time. A great sense of calm enveloped his curious mind and instinctively he knew what to do.
With a push from his magic, his bones began to shift and fur sprouted all over his quickly changing body. When the change was complete, Lupin stood stock still staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. His memories of the change while under the influence of the wolfsbane potion allowed him to see the differences in his current form versus his prior feral one.
Where his feral werewolf form had been much lankier and smaller, his current body was larger and much more muscular. His facial features were more of a cross between a man and wolf than before and his fur had changed to a much darker brown, almost black, instead of the sandy brown it was before.
Willing his magic to revert him back to human, Remus noticed that the transformation, while uncomfortable, no longer hurt and was much faster now. With a grin that wouldn't look out of place on a Cheshire cat, he finished cleaning up in the bathroom and headed down to the kitchen for a spot of breakfast with a side of mischief.
~AQ~
Not really a morning person, Sirius Black stumbled and shuffled into the kitchen with his eyes barely open. He noticed a dark shape sitting at the breakfast table and muttered something that may or may not have been a greeting before continuing to pour himself a cup of coffee. Snagging a pastry that Dobby must have left on the counter, Sirius flopped ungracefully into the chair opposite Remus and began spooning copious amounts of sugar into his coffee.
Before he could ask, the cream was pushed across the table to him and he mindlessly picked it up and poured far too much into his cup of what could no longer be called coffee. After a few sips of his cup of 'coffee', Sirius was beginning to feel a bit more awake and alert. Realizing that Moony was far too quiet for being such a morning person, he looked up just as he was about to take a sip from his drink.
His brain froze as he tried to comprehend the massive werewolf sitting at the table across from him as if it was an everyday occurrence while reading the paper. "Was that the London Times?"Coffee began pouring onto the table from his tipped cup as Sirius continued to stare slack jawed in absolute terror.
Finally, his brain seemed to reengage and he let out an unmanly shriek of fear while franticly backing away from the table. In his haste to escape, Sirius got tangled up in the legs of the chair and toppled over backwards. Panicked, he shot to his feet just as Dora burst into the room with her wand drawn followed closely by John and Annabelle.
Looking around the room for any sign of danger, and finding none, Dora blurted out in confusion, "What's going on in here?"
Sitting at the table munching on a scone and sipping his tea, Remus answered calmly, "I've got no idea. Sirius just started screaming blue murder while he was drinking his cup of Jane."
Indignant, Sirius shouted, "Cup of…Wait a minute!" and jabbed an accusing finger at the still seated Remus before continuing, "There was a great big bloody werewolf sitting at the table just a minute ago!"
"Cor, blimey! It's weeks to the full moon you dolt! And it's morning, not nighttime!" Dora huffed in annoyance as her eyes narrowed slightly as she took a closer look at the perfectly composed Remus. With a flick of her wrist, the table was clean and the mug repaired, before she flopped into the recently vacated chair while John and Annabelle sat down much more gracefully.
Remus let out a chuckle and said softly, "Well, you two are definitely related by the way you abuse the chairs around here." Looking back up at Sirius, he asked innocently, "Too much sauce last night, Padfoot?"
Sirius was now standing with his back against the far counter, his heart still hammering against his ribcage, as he tried to figure out what had just happened. "Wait; what?" he replied before blurting, "I didn't drink that much last night!" before continuing indignantly, "What the hell is going on?"
Gazing intently at Lupin, Annabelle said, "You look different this morning, Remus."
Turning to look at her fully for the first time, he held her gaze and gave a rueful smile but said nothing.
Being male, and usually clueless about such things, both Sirius and John didn't notice the difference in their friend but Dora and Annabelle blurted out simultaneously, "Your eyes! Your teeth! What happened?"
His ghost of a smile got a little bigger and he said simply, "I'm not sure, but I don't think I'm going to change at the next full moon unless I really want to."
Shocked by his friend's statement, Sirius came back over to the table to get a closer look at the changes in his friend. Stumped, he simply said, "That doesn't make sense."
Shrugging, Remus pushed back from the table slightly and said, "I don't understand it either, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."
Curious, and being a big science fiction geek, John asked eagerly, "Well, can you show us?"
Remus' silent reply was the arching of one eyebrow before he quickly began morphing right before their eyes.
As the fur began sprouting on Remus, Sirius and Dora backed up quickly and drew their wands with identical looks of dread. The change took seconds and when it was complete, Remus was gone and sitting in his chair was a beast that looked well over two hundred kilos and somewhere around two and a half meters tall covered in dark fur and muscle.
Careful not to startle anyone, the werewolf calmly reached forward and picked up the last bite of the scone and popped it into its mouth and began to chew.
Too shocked for words, Dora went to sit back down and completely missed her chair while Sirius stuttered softly, "But, but, that's impossible!"
Annabelle reached a hand halfway across the table and asked softly, "May I see your hand?"
With a nod of acceptance, Remus placed his massive paw on the table palm up and watched with interest as Annabelle began moving his fingers and slowly turning his hand over to inspect the back while she mumbled, "Amazing!"
Gathering her wits about her, Dora climbed into her chair and took a long look at Remus in his new werewolf form and mentally cataloging the differences between the old one and the new. After a few seconds of hesitation, she grabbed his other hand and began a very similar inspection to Annabelle's. Finished with her inspection, she looked into his eyes and asked softly, "Change back please?"
His body rippled momentarily before he reverted to his natural form leaving four stunned individuals sitting or standing in the kitchen staring in wonder at him. Blushing slightly, Remus said, "Any more tricks you lot want me to perform or can I finish my breakfast now?"
~AQ~
Draco was standing at the small corner sink wearing just his shirt as he tried to do something that was beneath his station, clean his own clothes. He was so engrossed that he didn't hear the door to his cell open over his mutterings about having to clean like a common muggle.
The sound of the lock snapping shut brought him out of his funk and he spun around holding his now dripping clothes in front of his naked lower body only to come face to face with what he was sure was part troll.
Before Draco could speak, the giant of a man rumbled, "'Ello boysie. Aren't you a pret'e one?" while stepping forward and pulling the wet clothes away and tossing them into the corner of the cell. Leering at Draco's attempts to cover himself, the drunk man slurred, "'Ere I was lookin' for a bit o' spare when those bleedin' aurors showed up and tossed me in 'ere."
Ignoring Draco's increasing struggles, the large man bodily tossed the blonde boy onto the lower bunk and began removing his robes. Once he was naked, he climbed on top of the petrified boy and slurred joyfully, "No sense passin' up a perfectly good trip down bournville boulevard."
Seeing the abject look of terror in the boys' eyes, he smiled his gapped-tooth smile and said huskily, "Don' you worry your pret'e lil 'ead, ole Nigel's gonna give you a right good rogering!"
More than one person in the prison could have sworn there was a pig in the cell block due to all the squealing that morning.
~AQ~
Alecto Carrow was officially bored out of her mind. Lucius and Amycus had both left about thirty minutes before to make their report to the Dark Lord, leaving her to mind the shop while they were away.
Too much tea and not enough activity left her antsy and her bladder full. Unable to stand the pressure anymore, she deserted her post behind the counter and dashed for the loo to relieve the pressure in her bladder. She reached the loo and began pulling up her robes only to begin cursing up a storm, "Oh, bugger it all to hell!" Grumbling, she began trying to unbutton her trousers while muttering, "How the hell do those stupid blokes stand this?" Giving it up as a bad job, she violently yanked her pants down and sat on the toilet like a woman instead of standing like the polyjuiced man she was impersonating.
Alecto was so absorbed in her mini drama that she failed to hear the chime above the door sound or the sudden absence of sound beyond the partially open door to the loo.
~AQ~
Ted Tonks was crouched under a disillusionment charm in a, filthy, urine soaked, alley across the street from the wand maker's shop in Knockturn Alley taking his turn staking out the premises while they came up with a plan to take out everyone in the shop quietly. Luck shined on him when he saw two of the three people he was sure were Death Eaters inside the building apparate away after a brief discussion.
Realizing that he wasn't going to get a better chance, he darted across the street and after checking that it was empty, he slipped into the shop and cast a silencing ward and another quick spell to locate the third person. His last spell alerted him that his quarry was somewhere in the back at the end of a very narrow hallway.
Standing partially in the hall with his wand drawn and pointed at the door, Ted waited a few seconds as he listened for any sounds before he began to creep forward. He heard the distinct sigh and the tinkle of someone using the toilet and quickly closed the distance to the slightly open door.
~AQ~
Letting out a sigh of relief and pleasure, Alecto leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees while she waited for her bladder to empty. "What the hell?" she mumbled when she discovered that she couldn't hear anything from the front of the shop; not even the usual noises from the street. Realizing that something was wrong, she began to fumble with her clothes to reach the wand that was now trapped in the bundle at her ankles.
~AQ~
Ted heard the muttered curse from the loo and a sudden rustling of clothes. Not wanting to lose his advantage, he swiftly approached the partially open door and kicked it as hard as he could while keeping his wand pointed into the room.
The door blew inward with tremendous force and hit the man on the toilet right in the head causing him to drop his wand into the bowl and crash backwards into the tank of the toilet.
Time seemed to freeze momentarily as they stared into each other's eyes before the man on the toilet drove his hand into the bowl to reach for his wand. Before his wand could clear the toilet seat, the bright red flash of a reducto spell left Ted's wand and hit the man right between the eyes.
The spray of blood, bone, and brain matter was spectacular. Ted was covered in gore almost as badly as the floor, walls, and ceiling of the small loo. Wiping something disgusting from his eyes, Ted slowly reached down and lifted the right sleeve of the man's shirt to find what he was expecting, the Dark Mark of Voldemort.
Realizing that he needed to get out of their quickly, Ted moved back into the main part of the shop and reapplied the disillusionment charm before slipping out the door and apparating back to Grimmauld Place.
~AQ~
Lucius and Amycus were finishing up their report to the Dark Lord over a marvelous breakfast courtesy of the remaining Malfoy House Elves.
Voldemort wiped his pale lips on the starched, embossed, white linen napkin before folding it in half and setting it down on his plate. The silence hung heavy in the air as the Dark Lord peered over his now steepled fingers at his two increasingly nervous minions. Leaning forward slightly, he tapped his index fingers together rhythmically for a few seconds before hissing menacingly, "Let me summarize. You left Alecto," his gaze locked onto Amycus and he continued with a sneer, "your precious sister, all alone in a wand shop to set an ambush for the aurors or some of Dumbledore's people."
Inwardly, Lucuis cringed at the all too pleasant tone coming from his Lord. It was a tone he knew well and it promised pain if Voldemort wasn't happy with the answers he was about to receive.
Stupidly, Amycus didn't notice the danger signs and said simply, "Yes, Milord. She will be more than capable of handling things while we are away."
"I see." Voldemort said pleasantly as he leaned back in his chair and slowly pushed it back from the table a few inches before continuing in a conversational tone, "And how well do you think she will withstand an assault if she is ambushed or simply overwhelmed by superior numbers?"
Alarm bells were ringing in Lucius' head as he listened to the Dark Lord while trying to discretely move his chair further away from Amycus. A brief glare from the Dark Lord halted his movement and served to increase his nervousness.
Amycus sat there like a fish out of water, his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out, as he processed the words of his master. Panicked, he blurted, "Milord! May I go back to the shop to ensure that she is unharmed?"
Voldemort made a dismissive gesture with his hand while saying, "Go and check on your sister. I will send Lucius along after we finish our discussion."
Alecto practically ran from the room in his haste to check on his sister. Once he was gone, Voldemort turned to Lucius and hissed menacingly, "I'm sure Alecto is already dead. Her death can be used to our advantage though." Leaning forward in his chair slightly, he leaned his forearms on the table and practically growled, "I want you to stoke Amycus' grief and rage and then point him at Amelia Bones. She has become a problem that we need to deal with."
Sensing a clear dismissal, Lucius got up slowly from the table and after a quick nod to his lord, he headed for the exit to begin his new task, thankful that he had escaped his master's wrath. Just as he reached the dining room door, Voldemort casually threatened, "Do not make another monumental blunder in judgment again. We can salvage this situation because we got lucky."
~AQ~
Aberforth Dumbledore was on his way over for to the Three Broomsticks for his weekly breakfast with Rosmerta when he noticed that the door was locked and there was a faint odor of burnt meat in the air. Worried, he drew his wand and unlocked the door. He had barely crossed the threshold when the smell of death hit him full in the face. Fortunately, there were only a few bodies strewn throughout the demolished interior of Hogsmeade's most popular establishment.
Very carefully, he moved into the room to check for any survivors. As he neared the bar, he heard a wet ripping noise followed by the unmistakable sounds of chewing. Fearing the worst, Aberforth held his wand at the ready as he stepped around the edge of the smoldering wreckage of the bar, only to come face to face with an inferious instead of the vampire he was expecting.
A moan of despair escaped his lips when he realized that the animated corpse had been feasting upon the remains of his on again off again girlfriend, Rosmerta. The beast turned at the sound of Aberforth's grief and stared momentarily before charging with alarming speed for a corpse.
Instantly, a bright orange flame erupted from the tip of his wand and engulfed the oncoming inferius in its fiery embrace. Tears poured down his face as he watched the body of his sister die for a second time. Once the body was reduced to ashes, he sank to his knees and howled in anguish as the pain from his sister's death hit him all over again.
~AQ~
Hannah Abbot was the summer holiday maid for Tom at the Leaky Cauldron and it was her first morning on the job. She had already cleaned two of the rooms on the third floor of the inn and was making her way towards the last room on that floor. Pushing her cart down the hall, she hoped that this guest had at least left a tip for her, unlike the guests from the other two rooms. "Cheap bastards." She mumbled while knocking on the door. When she didn't receive an answer after a few seconds, she pulled out her ring of keys and called out, "Maid service!" and unlocked the door.
With practiced ease, she bumped the door open with her hip while backing into the room dragging her cleaning cart. Once she had the cart in the room, she called out again, "Maid service!" and turned towards the bed, only to come face to face with two naked men.
It took her brain a moment to catch up with what her eyes were seeing before she screamed.
When Gregory Goyle, Sr. heard the scream, he shifted his body slightly to get a better look before returning to his task at hand. His movement exposed the lifeless eyes of Severus Snape and when Hannah's gaze locked on her former professors, she began screaming in earnest. The rhythmic slapping of Goyle's thighs against Snape's buttocks could be heard clearly every time Hannah paused to take a breath before screaming some more.
Tom, the innkeeper, burst into the room with his wand drawn and a curse on his lips, ready to protect his niece at all costs. The curse died on his tongue when he took in the macabre scene in front of him. He had seen a lot of strange things in his forty plus years of running the Leaky Cauldron but this was a first. Composing himself, he silently stunned the larger man and watched in morbid fascination as he slumped onto the back of the obviously deceased Severus Snape.
Not wanting to contaminate the crime scene, Tom gently guided Hannah out of the room before closing and locking the door behind him. She was hyperventilating but otherwise looked to be unharmed so he gently sat her down on the steps before sending a messenger spell to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Unsure of what to say, he silently wrapped his arm around his niece's shoulder and rocked her while they waited for the aurors to arrive.
~AQ~
Mundungus Fletcher was trying to sleep off a drunk in the ministry holding cells when the incessant squealing woke him up for the second time that morning. Grumbling and stumbling to the door of his cell, he removed his shoe and began pounding on the cell door while yelling, "Will somebody please tell the moron in the cell next to me to shut up! A man needs his sleep, you know!"
Satisfied, Dung stumbled back to his cot and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
~AQ~
Auror Trainee Kenneth Worthington IV was a pureblood with high aspirations but not enough gold to get far in the corrupt environment of the Ministry of Magic. He was a firm believer in pureblood supremacy and believed that with the right connections, he would rise to the top of his department in just a few years.
When the Malfoy boy was hauled into the cells the other day, he did everything he could to make sure the boy's stay was comfortable. He gave him a private cell while making sure that he didn't do anything to offend the future head of the Malfoy Family.
So when the drunk in the corner cell began ranting about squealing noises coming from the cell next to him, young Mr. Malfoy's cell, he put down his morning paper and tea and went to make sure the esteemed young man was okay.
He opened the cell door and stopped dead in his tracks. Draco was curled up in the corner of the lower bunk pointing his wand at a piglet that was running in circles squealing in a panic while trying to find a way out.
Realizing that someone must have played a joke on the poor boy, Kenneth quickly stunned the disgusting animal and picked it up to remove it from the cell. Concerned, he turned to the boy and asked gently, "Are you okay, Mr. Malfoy?"
Draco had been in a blind panic when the brute of a man was about to mount him like some common tart that he almost forgot about the holdout wand that he kept up his sleeve that the auror didn't take when he was thrown inside. Unable to articulate a spell, he jabbed his wand at his attacker and his magic responded to his desperation and transfigured the man into a piglet.
He had curled into the corner of the bed and covered himself with the sheets while keeping his wand pointed at the pig in case his transfiguration failed. Suddenly, he realized that the squealing had stopped and the kind auror that helped him maintain as much of his dignity as possible was standing part way in the cell holding an unconscious pig.
Clearing his throat, Draco managed to sound as haughty as possible and half drawled, half shrieked, "No, I'm not alright! Some wanker threw a squealing pig from the kitchens in my cell!"
Blushing at the mild rebuke, Auror Worthington said hurriedly, "I'm so sorry, Milord. I'll make sure this pig finds its way back to the kitchens and report this to my superiors."
Smiling inwardly, Draco conciliatorily said, "Please forgive my rudeness. Someone just wanted to play a joke on me, I'm sure. No one needs to get into trouble on my account."
"As you wish, Sir." Kenneth answered with a smile before asking, "Do you need anything else to make you comfortable?"
Draco took a look at the pig slash would be rapist in the aurors' arms and said simply, "Perhaps a bacon sandwich and a spot of tea wouldn't be a bad way to start my morning after such a rude awakening."