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Chapter Four: Meetings
June 15th 1998
"Rena! Rena!" Cappie shouted as he ran down the streets of Diagon Alley waving his hands excitedly over his head to get the attention of a small, slight girl walking down the street in the early morning. The girl stopped and turned around, tucking her wavy blonde hair behind her ears. "I think I found him, Serena!" Cappie stopped in front of her breathing heavily from the run from the Leaky Cauldron to the entrance to Knockturn Alley. "I really think I found him. You were right, he's still alive!"
Serena smiled wolfishly, "Then where is he? I've got a score to settle with him and I'd rather do it sooner than later."
Cappie leaned away from her slightly; Serena's passion and ruthlessness scared him. Some deeply seeded feeling in his gut told him Serena already had a plan for her mother's murderer's disposal. She might also have it centered around his involvement. He remembered the gruesome scene and Serena's screams as he and the other children held her back. Perhaps saving her life with that action. He and the other children swore revenge against Selene Scoresby's killer, but had found no leads to find the man. Cappie knew where he was now thanks to Audrey's notes about the Floo Regulations Department. It had included a very familiar name that made chills rise up Cappie's spine.
Sergius Sloan.
That man's actions changed Serena in the worst way. This whole war had changed everybody. Cappie Garland no longer had the pleasurable innocence of childhood, he thought through his conflicts with others, and always kept his eyes open for the nearest escape route. Serena just went wild, driven by her desire for revenge. She disappeared into the depths of the criminal underworld looking for information on Sergius. Now that Cappie had given her what she had been looking for Serena was going to do something rash, he could feel it in his bones.
Not even old enough for a wand and planning a killer's murder. Where had the world gone so wrong?
"He's in the Ministry, Rena. Floo Regulations."
Serena paled. "Damn. How am I going to get to him then? All my plans involved him going into hiding after the war ended. The Ministry mustn't know he was involved in a murder then… I need a way in without bringing attention to myself."
Cappie tried to dig the toe of his shoe into the cobblestone street. His head told him to keep his mouth shut; his heart was saying something completely different. "Sometime during the summer, Ministry employees can bring their children into work with them to see how things are run."
"How is that supposed to help me?"
"I can give you directions to the visitor's entrance and give you the pass code. If you clean yourself up you should blend right in." Cappie brushed his shaggy black hair out of his eyes as he watched Serena wearily.
Serena smiled her wolfish, predatory smile once more. "Excellent. It's a good plan. I'll need you to help me find him and get him alone. We'll talk about this later." Before Cappie could fully realize what he had done Serena had taken off into Knockturn Alley.
Audrey Causey had no idea of the children's dealings, for why would they tell her these things? Audrey may have been able to put a stop to it had she known, but she didn't know about it and her life pressed on unaware of assassination plans made by children.
The Sneezing Snitch was a shady pub located in Diagon Alley infamous for its nearly nightly brawls. Though it was now becoming famous for its continuous playing of the piano by the pianist. Sebastian Harper played through each brawl with a smile on his face and managed to not get hit by the flying bottles. This impressed Scully, the owner and barkeep, greatly. The Sneezing Snitch also hosted the meetings of the Diagon Watch. Since the end of the war petty crime in the Alley had risen, much to the disgust of the local shopkeepers who then decided to take action. The Watch was the brainchild of the owner of the local sweet shop Russell Bennett, a young local leader with an intense streak of idealism and a need for rebellion rattling in his bones.
It didn't take long for the government to send an Enforcer out to take charge.
Celeste Cadwallader was that Enforcer; despite being from the Ministry she was proving to be rather popular around Diagon Alley. Her stoical persona, stern fairness, and desire to keep locals involved in any and all investigations were a big help in the matter and was beginning to build trust between her and the local community. Audrey believed she was the only Ministry employee most of the locals trusted at this point. Audrey was a bit reluctant to admit she was gaining some respect for Cadwallader; she was blunt, but kind to most people unless they said something stupid. Which was often and results often amused Audrey and her friends.
Pulling out a chair near the back of the pub and propping her feet on the table Audrey made herself comfortable for the wait. It was one of those rare occasions when she beat Septimus to a pub. She usually spent her evenings trying to locate him after he went out for a drink. That was not going to occur this evening seeing as Septimus was coming here for the meeting. He wanted to be there in case Cadwallader had any suspects; he would rather hear the information first hand and have a bit of fun with some of the other shopkeepers in attendance.
Audrey pulled a piece of parchment out of her sleeve to take notes. Audrey had her doubts that any answers to the shopkeepers' questions would be answered tonight alone, but just in case she intended to be prepared.
"Hey, Aud, this seat taken?" John Townsend asked as he pulled out the chair next to her. "How's work going?"
"It's been odd, when are you getting out of the Ministry?"
John smiled, "St. Mungo's opens its apprenticeship program at the end of the summer. I've sent in my application, and I have an interview and a pre-entry exam coming up. I'll still be working at the Ministry while I'm doing the program but I really think I can do this."
Audrey smiled, "I know you can, let us know if you need any help."
"Well, now that you mention it…" There was a sudden thud of a stack of books were dropped onto the table. Audrey's feet flew off the table and she almost tipped the chair over in shock.
"Merlin's pants, when's your exam?" She grabbed the edge of the table and pulled herself forward back onto all four legs of the chair.
"The end of the summer, I've been reading any textbooks I could get for years and this is the exam material I'll need to know. I've got one on wand movements that you'd be able to help me with, Ellie's going to quiz me on cases and the results of spell misfire. There's other stuff too, but those are the things I need to work on the most."
"Good luck to you, Johnny-boy." Audrey looked up to find Septimus looking at the books over John's shoulder stroking his grey scruffy beard curiously. "Hmm, that looks familiar." He plucked a book off the top of the pile and flipped through the pages. "I read this book years ago during my time in the Auror Department. They have Healers reading this to? Is this a new edition?" Audrey and John shrugged as Septimus checked the publication date. "Ah, they went into reprint. Alright, what does an old timer like me need to get a drink around here?"
"Say the magic word," Audrey said flatly.
Septimus just smiled, "Of course, Miss Manners." He turned to the barkeep and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Oi, Scully! Give me some booze!"
Audrey felt her head hit the table as John roared with laughter.
Scully's voice sounded from the under the bar. "I'm closing your tab!"
Audrey struggled to breath through her laughter after hearing Septimus' indignant noise.
"I changed your nappies!" A couple of the other shopkeepers began to howl with laughter as a third began asking how old Septimus actually was. "That should entitle me to free whiskey for the rest of my natural life."
Scully's eyes peered over the countertop like a turtle peeking out of its shell. "Then I should have closed your tab long ago."
Septimus gave a deep belly laugh as he reached for the flask hanging off his belt. "He's got a point." He took a drink from the carefully engraved flask and smacked his lips together as he put it on the table next to Audrey.
She took a moment to admire the careful, delicate engravings of leaves and a great tree on the silver flask. If she looked really closely she could see a few names on it but the artwork always seemed to move as if to conceal them from prying eyes. The one thing that was not making an effort to be hidden were the initials on the top S. P. Lowell, though those letters were more recent then the ones that kept capturing Audrey's attention as these were lined in copper.
Celeste Cadwallader soon walked into the bar and stood ominously in front of it with her arms crossed as she waited for everyone to calm down so she could begin the meeting. Celeste Cadwallader was olive skinned with deep brown eyes and matching hair pulled back in a tight bun except for a few escaping strands by her face. She had a round pretty face that at first glance gave her a look of gentleness instead of a required severity until she fixed someone with a naturally menacing scowl.
According to Russell, Scully thought she was amazingly beautiful, he just had not admitted it to himself yet.
The room quickly grew silent.
Celeste smirked, "Who wants to start the meeting tonight?"
That evening's meeting was the most loud and anti-Ministry so far. No amount of public respect for Cadwallader was going to prevent the locals from speaking their mind about what had happened and tell Cadwallader to tell her Ministry friends to hurry up and find out where the rioters were hiding.
A man sitting at a table near the bar stood up quickly and shouted, "See here Cadwallader, if your high and mighty Ministry doesn't find out where those bloody Death Eaters are hiding they're going to have more problems than they can handle. I think they've reached their limit already." Cadwallader bristled like an angry cat. "And your lot will have a rebellion on your hands if this isn't resolved quickly."
Audrey shook as she listened to Givens' angry speech and the non-subtle threat it contained. A few of the other listeners who weren't nodding in agreement stood up in Cadwallader's defense. Tony Palmer, a newcomer to these meetings, stood and said, "With all due respect Givens, rebelling against the Ministry would not be a good move. They'll probably think we're Death Eater sympathizers or something." There was a low rumble of agreement from the others.
"Hey Tony, those Death Eaters tried to kill me, and the Ministry tried to suck out my soul, I'm on nobody's side here!" Audrey shouted over the rumble of voices. Those sitting nearby laughed. "Either way this goes I look sketchy."
"Tony's right, we raise hell and cause problems there's no telling what will happen. We'll most-likely be taken in for the same interrogation methods used on Death Eaters and similar criminals." Lucia Selwyn stood in the doorway. "Sorry I'm late by the way."
"It's all right, Lucia!" Scully shouted from behind the bar, "Have some wine! We're going to need it tonight."
A man sitting at the table in front of Audrey stood up, "Yeah Selwyn, your family would know all about those methods used on You-Know-Who sympathizers, wouldn't they? I guess you'd know a lot about that particular topic yourself."
John, Audrey, and Septimus stood quickly and pointed their wands, (Or in Septimus' case a cane), at the back of the man's head.
"Hey Fowler, just so we're clear, it's true the Selwyn's are known practitioners of the Dark Arts and You-Know-Who supporters. And that they're a right foul lot to begin with. But let's remember one little detail. They are not my family," Lucia smirked and sipped her wine, much to Fowler's confusion, "my family is standing right behind you with their wands pointed at the back of your head."
Fowler turned around slowly to find Audrey's wand dead even with his nose. Audrey's voice was cold and when she spoke it sent chills down the spines of everyone inside the Sneezing Snitch. There was ice forming at her feet. "Insult my family again, I dare you."
"Don't insult my niece by comparing her to those worthless bigots we have the misfortune to be related too." Septimus said softly as the pub remained silent from Audrey's statement. Septimus never drew his wand unless he was going to use it; he rarely used it for idle threats.
Celeste Cadwallader looked at every attendant to this meeting and smiled grimly. "Anyone else have anything to say?"
The pub remained quiet.
"Good, let's keep it that way. Miss Selwyn, you may take a seat. Causey, Lowell, Townsend put your wands away before you put Fowler's eye out. Yes Lowell, that does include your cane."
Lucia moved quickly to the empty seat that her family was sitting at. As Lucia took her seat she pointed her wand at the leg of Fowler's chair and started trying to unscrew the leg of the chair.
Audrey kept her eyes on Cadwallader as she began to speak again. "Now that we've cleared the air in here we can talk about the real reason we're all here. I want you to tell me anything you have heard about the targets and causes of the riot you have heard about since our last meeting. Speak now, or forever hold your peace."
The Sneezing Snitch remained silent for a moment before it broke out into an excited babble. The locals had had time to swap theories, wild and outlandish ones that had only grown more so since the riot. One theory that Audrey had found highly entertaining was one involving the Ministry trying to cover up an experiment gone wrong in the Department of Mysteries. Another was one involving a huge cover-up of some sort, but those were only the ones Audrey had overheard while she hung around the Leaky Cauldron during the late nights while she played cards. Some she had heard from people where were not intoxicated involved the targeting of Muggle-borns. There was a lot of evidence to support that theory, most of the shops burned down were run by Muggle-borns, but there were also some run by half-bloods and blood-traitors like Septimus. Many people did not want to believe that attacking the businesses of Muggle-borns was the only reason.
"I heard it's part of a plan for You-Know-Who's supporters to attempt another take over!"
"What if they were after something!"
"C'mon Quincy, they were after someone!"
"Bull! It was a random act of violence. Nothing more, nothing less."
Audrey started scratching down every theory she heard.
"I heard a rumor that it was a big political statement by pureblood supremacists."
John hunched his shoulders and clenched his wand tightly in his hand.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Someone shouted sarcastically as the pub erupted in laughter. Fowler's chair suddenly giving way beneath him caused the patrons to laugh even harder as he tried to repair it and ask how the leg had managed to come off as Lucia feigned innocence by finishing her wine.
Septimus leaned over to read what was being written on Audrey's parchment while the patrons began to make several bad leg puns. "Nobody here has a clue, do they?"
Audrey shook her head as Lucia stood up and mentioned a rumored revenge plot and got everyone back on topic to keep Fowler distracted so he wouldn't attach Lucia to his busted chair. Septimus took a long drink from the flask of whiskey on his hip. For the next hour, the rumors grew crazier as everyone became steadily drunker. This led to one of the more civil brawls ever experienced in the Sneezing Snitch.
And it all began with one little remark from Septimus. "Hey, Fowler, I think you owe me some money and a drink."
Fowler had then drawn his wand and several others had followed suit, jinxing their enemies and business competition. Audrey yelped as a leg-locker curse skimmed the top of her head. She then ducked under the table with John and Lucia following as Lucia held a bottle of wine close to her chest to protect it. Septimus was laughing manically as he shot stunners into the crowd. Audrey always knew the man was mad. She looked at John and Lucia who had placed their hands on the table's underside ready to flip it over to use it as a shield. Audrey took out her wand as her friends flipped the table over and she began shooting stunners into the crowd. Somewhere near the bar Audrey heard Cadwallader calling the meeting to a close as Sebastian Harper played a fast upbeat song on the piano.
"Hey, does my lip look swollen to you?"
Audrey took a quick look at John's lower lip. "Yeah, I think it's a bit swollen. What hit you?"
"Your elbow."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Ellie will, but I'll just tell her it was a freak accident involving a spoon."
"Why a spoon?"
"I have no idea."
The two continued their walk in silence. Septimus and Lucia had left after the fight while John and Audrey stayed to help clean up the mess. Septimus being too sloshed to be of any help, Lucia volunteered to take him back to the Leaky Cauldron so she could take the bottle of wine she had saved from the fight home for a peaceful evening. Audrey wondered how Septimus could do this on an almost nightly basis. She also wondered how Lucia had snuck the bottle past Scully's well-trained gaze.
John stopped and turned around suddenly. Audrey raised an eyebrow as she followed John's gaze finding this scene oddly familiar. The sound of John's muttering, "That is sad," never registered in Audrey's mind.
The scene was familiar enough; only now Audrey could put a name to the tall, redheaded man who was helping the surviving twin home.
"Maybe we should give him a hand," Audrey said quietly. John winced as George began to sing a wizard drinking song and fell over. "That's nice."
"Let's go Audie," John said as he jogged over towards the two redheaded men. "Hey, Weatherby, you want some help?"
Audrey rolled her eyes as she followed John to help pick George up off the street.
"Don't call me Audie."
"Cappie calls you that."
"He's a kid!" Audrey huffed as John put one of George's arms over his shoulder. "He cheats at cards by the way."
"Noted," John chuckled as Percy put George's other arm over his shoulder. "How've you been Percy?"
"I've been better!" Percy replay as George suddenly burst into song, surged forward and nearly took the two men down to the street below. "George, stop that!"
"There once was a wizard with a very large wand!
Whose lass did not know what to do-"
"GEORGE!"
Audrey's hand flew up to her mouth to muffle her laughter, causing Percy to glance back at her in red-faced embarrassment. John was biting his lip so he would not laugh.
"I am so sorry," Percy said quietly as John put a silencing charm on George so he wouldn't wake the neighbors. "He doesn't usually sing."
"I've heard worse." Audrey laughed harder at the plainly confused George who was moving his mouth and trying to finish the song while under the silencing charm.
They arrived in front of George's shop at this point. Percy pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. "I've got it from here if you both want to go home."
John shook his head, "I'm good. Audrey?"
"I have nothing else to do."
The shop was a mess. Audrey could tell there had not been any kind of business transactions here since the middle of the war. She knew George had been in a terrible state since his brother died, but the dust and cobwebs confirmed Audrey's idea he had just given up on everything.
The men took George upstairs to sleep it off while Audrey looked around the shop. She had her fill of that fairly quickly and looked out the window to the burned out husk of her old home across the street. There were a lot of memories in the skeleton structure of that old building.
Audrey sighed as the smell of books and magic filled her senses.
There were muffled noises coming from the stairs. John and Percy's muffled voices grew louder as they entered the shop.
"Thanks again for the help, John," Percy said quietly.
"Not a problem, if you need any help in the future you know where to find us." John replied as he went to the door with Audrey moving next to him. "The Leaky Cauldron or if we're not there go to the Sneezing Snitch and ask for Scully."
"Scully knows everybody in the alley," Audrey clarified at Percy's confused glance. "If Tom doesn't know where we are, Scully probably will."
"I'll keep that in mind." Percy grinned and Audrey noted the lines of exhaustion around his eyes.
Audrey nudged John, "I think time we were heading back."
"You're right, Aud. Percy I'll see you tomorrow."
"You too, John. Tell Ellie I said hello." He reached out and shook John's hand and then reached out for Audrey's. "Audrey?"
"See you later," Audrey took his hand and shook it politely with a smile, before reaching for the door and stepping out into the night.
Author's Note: I do like to explore how things that happened during the war affected completely different people. I may have mentioned this before.
Alright, let's talk about revenge. It's an old business with little to no pay. It's a motivator if someone has wronged another person. Serena Scoresby lost her only parental figure during the war, she knows who did it. I think Serena's gone off the deep end in grief and at least wants to expose him for murder if she can't kill him. But she knows she may need help from Cappie to get to Sergius. But let's be honest here, any plan cooked up by a couple of ten year olds is going to have some major holes in it. Does that make you feel better?
All right, this was mostly filler, but Serena and Cappie's scene may or may not be important to the plot.
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