There was a small amount of balance restored to Remus' life after his injury at the barn and his discussion with Sirius. He had, for once, taken the time to heal up before taking on any more missions. This was much to the surprise of many of the other members of the Order. Remus, in his turn, was surprised by how much they were all surprised.
He'd managed to have a civil conversation with Tonks, too, their first since the night outside Yaxley's house. He had been worried it would be seen as leading her on, but Sirius had persuaded him to stop 'being so bloody rude'. As his friend had put it so eloquently. He and Tonks had been friends before the whole reveal of feelings thing, good friends. He wanted to be friends again.
There were small, regular weekly gatherings at Grimmauld Place now, in addition to the Order meetings. Remus had begun to attend them, sometimes. He'd still rather have been out doing something. Sirius, however, had made it clear that his friend's presence was very much appreciated. They'd not had any more discussions about feelings since the night after his injury, that wasn't something they did. But it had been made clear to Remus anyway.
He arrived for one of these from another day of stalking out Lucius Malfoy, a job he still returned to a couple of times a week just to check in on the man. It was clear he was up to something. Albus had warned him that Voldemort wanted a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, the one concerning Lily, James and Harry, and it had become apparent that Malfoy was involved in that plot.
Malfoy had always been known for skulking around the Ministry. However, he had generally confined that lurking to around the heels of Cornelius Fudge, other influential figures in the Ministers office, and a few Heads of Department. Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, never entertained Malfoy and he seemed to have all but given up on her. Others were more willing to listen to the aristocrat, despite or maybe because of the rumours of his Death Eater affiliations.
Today, Remus had been hanging around outside the in-fill Senior Undersecretary's office on Level One of the Ministry of Magic. Lucius Malfoy had been closeted in there with a few lackeys for a couple of hours before he stalked his way out, several Ministry juniors hot on his heels. Not Percy Weasley. He might be a staunch Ministry man now, but even he seemed to draw the line at Malfoy. He dismissed them curtly before getting into the lift, giving Remus time to slip inside the lift with him.
For the third time this week, Malfoy had taken the lift right down to the Department of Mysteries. He had got out, and walked down the corridor, through the door at the end, and straight into the Department of Mysteries itself.
Remus hadn't even known it was that easy. He needed to find the time to try it without Malfoy.
Why, though? Why was it so easy for Malfoy to get into the Department of Mysteries? It was entirely possible Malfoy's wealth and connections had bought him some kind of access that others wouldn't have. It shouldn't. But unfortunately Remus knew all too well that the wizarding world worked like that sometimes. Status, and blood status, opened many doors He'd experienced it himself more times than he was willing to try and count.
Remus was also unwilling to rule out use of the Imperius Curse. He'd come up against Malfoy before, in the last war. The Imperius Curse was a bit of a speciality for the Death Eater.
He was running through his discoveries about Malfoy in his brain, looking for links, as he arrived at Grimmauld Place for the gathering. He decided to ask Sirius for advice. Sometimes two minds were better than one. Sirius had some knowledge of Malfoy from when he was a proper member of the Black family and expected to attend the various pureblood society functions.
If Kingsley, Tonks, Arthur or Mad-Eye were around, they might be able to tell him more on the protections of the Department of Mysteries too.
Distracted, he tripped into the umbrella stand that Tonks always had trouble with and awoke the portrait of Mrs Black on arrival. Amid much screaming from Mrs Black, and curses from Remus, what seemed like half the Order came out to see who'd arrived. None of them helped him.
To a final shout of 'filthy half-breed', an insult Remus had always taken personally, he managed to get the curtains closed.
"My mother was glad to see you, then!" Sirius laughed.
Remus ignored that, and made his way into the kitchen to join the others who had slowly filed back into the room now nothing interesting was happening in the hallway. He grabbed a butterbeer from the fridge. Much as he felt like he would have liked something stronger, everyone else was on the softer stuff and it was never a good idea to move onto the hard spirits too soon. He looked around for someone who'd be interested in discussing his Malfoy Mystery.
Sirius was laughing with Fred and George Weasley, now inducted as full members of the Order of the Phoenix since they'd left school. Remus had enjoyed that story. It was a piece of magic he and his friends would have been proud to have created, and Umbridge was one of the worst examples of a witch he'd ever met. Some Order members had tended to underestimate the twins, but Remus never had. He knew they were very intelligent young men, and had occasionally tried to encourage them to apply themselves a little bit more. It had usually fallen flat. However, he had to admit they were definitely using their skills to their full abilities for the Order.
Tonks was sat with Mad-Eye Moody, looking serious. They seemed to be discussing a case. Best to leave them alone. Even if he was now able to have a short conversation with Tonks without it turning into an accusation he was killing himself on purpose, it was best not to push it too much.
Kingsley and Arthur were over by the fireplace, having a deep discussion about something. Remus decided to try them first.
The two were about as different to look at as they could be. Kingsley, with his dark skin and dark hair, dressed in long purple wizards robes, and Arthur, pale skinned with red hair and a tatty knitted jumper and Muggle corduroy trousers. However, both of them had a lot of knowledge about how the Ministry worked.
More than Remus, who with the exception of Order missions had tended to avoid it. Particularly the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where he was technically supposed to register himself at the werewolf desk in the Beasts division. He'd never actually registered. He was opposed to the principle.
He walked over to join Arthur and Kingsley. Their discussion had looked important from a distance. On getting closer, Remus realised it was about Quidditch. He'd never had Arthur down as a Quidditch fan. Although, given that every Weasley child with the exception of Percy had played Quidditch for Gryffindor, perhaps he should have worked it out.
"I really don't think the Wasps have a chance," Kingsley was saying. "Not against the Tornados. I've never seen a better performance from them, they could be unbeatable this season."
"Not the Wasps perhaps," Arthur replied. "Maybe Puddlemere though. They really rejigged their team mid-season and their new Chaser is excellent."
"The Tornados Seeker can get the Snitch so fast, Chasers are almost redundant. Ah, Remus, what's your take?"
Remus knew next to nothing about Quidditch. He had watched every match when James had been on the house team at school, and ignored pretty much everything else about it. He could reel out one or two facts Ginny Weasley had taught him, but that was about as far as it went.
"About all I know is that the Cannons are useless."
Arthur smiled. "Ginny told you to say that, didn't she? It's true, but I suspect she was mainly trying to irritate Ronald by getting you to say that."
"I suspect your youngest will go far in life, Arthur," Remus said, looking to turn the subject away from sport as quickly as possible. "I've got something I wanted to pick your brains about too. I've been tailing Lucius Malfoy lately, as you know."
"That old creep," said Kingsley, with an unusual amount of venom for the very calm man. "Anything we can get him for? Asking as an Auror as well as a member of the Order."
"Unfortunately I don't think there's much we can get him for professionally," said Arthur. "Merlin knows I've tried enough times. He's got at least a handful of Muggle objects with some very dangerous enchantments on them, but I can't get anything to stick. The last time, I think Fudge personally intervened."
"I suspected that would happen," Kingsley said. "What do you think, Remus?"
"I don't know of anything we can try and pin him for," said Remus carefully, cautious of who was hearing. The Order generally operated on a principle of members all having a similar level of knowledge as one another, but there were some things that were best not openly broadcast especially when they didn't exactly know what was going on. "He's been visiting the Department of Mysteries a lot, though. I think he's likely to be involved in Voldemort's plans in the Department. Do either of you know what the security is like down there? Should he be able to get in there with ease?"
"I doubt it," said Arthur. His freckled nose was screwed up in worry. "I can't get into it. Had to go down and see one of the Unspeakables recently about a Muggle telephone that… well, it was horrible… and I had to wait at the door for someone from the Department to come and collect me. Lucius doesn't even work for the Ministry, he should have less access than me."
Kingsley also looked concerned. "The Department of Mysteries has the most heavy protective enchantments and wards of the whole Ministry. Someone very high up would have had to have given him the permissions personally. Either an Unspeakable, or Fudge himself are the only ones with the permission. Magical Maintenance aren't even routinely allowed down there."
Remus felt a growing sense of unease, and an urge to run straight to Albus with this knowledge. "I was able to follow him through into the Department," he told the others. "He didn't know I was there. He's been there three times in the past week."
They all paused for a moment, each thinking about the possible plans Malfoy might have. None of the scenarios any of them could come up with were good. Their thoughts were interrupted by laughter from the other side of the room; Sirius and Tonks were playing some kind of game that involved Sirius standing on a dining chair and which was apparently very funny.
A stab of jealousy hit Remus in the chest. No, he thought to himself, you rejected her and besides, they're friends. And why shouldn't they be?
"I think we should take this to Albus tonight" said Arthur. "Give me an hour or so to check a few things at the Burrow, and I'll go. I'll take the twins, I could use their help."
Running a hand through his hair nervously, Arthur called for the twins and set off. Kingsley and Remus watched him go in silence. Remus wished he'd gone for the stronger drink. This whole thing was going to end horribly, he could tell as much from here.
"I've got a bad feeling about all of this," Kingsley said, breaking the silence. Remus nodded.
"Hey, why the long faces?" asked Tonks, sidling up to them. Sirius had disappeared from the room, and Moody was now sitting alone scribbling frantically on a piece of parchment. His magical eye was completely still and focused out the back of his head. Remus looked away quickly. He hated it when Moody's eye did that.
"Oh, Malfoy,"
"That dick," said Tonks conversationally. "What's he done now?"
"More what is he going to do," said Remus. He quickly re-hashed the previous conversation he'd had with Arthur and Kingsley for her benefit. She listened incredulously, her eyebrows disappearing further up under the slight fluffy fringe she had today the more she heard.
"There's no way he should be in there, none at all!" she said when Remus had finished.
"Exactly what Arthur and I said," Kingsley nodded.
"What are we going to do about it?" Tonks asked. She looked ready for action now. She was agitated, shuffling her feet slightly as she spoke. Her wand hand had disappeared up her sleeve, where she usually kept her wand even when not wearing robes.
"We must follow our proper processes," Kingsley said. "Arthur is checking our facts, to make sure the security on the Department is what we think it is. He's alerting Dumbledore. If he has access, he may be planning an assault on the Hall of Prophecy on Voldemort's behalf. It may be soon. It would be unwise for him to have got the permissions before he is ready to act. Even Fudge wouldn't be able to explain away how he was getting in there."
"You don't think he's talked Fudge or someone into it, then?" said Tonks, looking nervous. "He's got it by force."
"Imperius," Remus said. He was certain now that Malfoy was using the Imperius Curse to get what he wanted out of Ministers, and he suspected Kingsley felt the same.
"That's illegal! And to use it right under the nose of the Minister, in the Ministry itself! Even Malfoy couldn't do that!"
"It's sort of his speciality," said Remus. "Back in the first war, we think he had at least twenty wizards doing his bidding under the Imperius Curse. As you know, it's difficult to monitor illegal curses where there is a large quantity of magic happening, and nobody has ever put a higher level of monitoring on the Ministry. It would be difficult to, as the Ministry is about the only place dark magic may be performed completely legitimately in understanding the nature of or destroying Dark objects. Add that to Malfoy being incredibly good at the curse, and he will have been able to make his subject act very naturally even while under his complete control."
"Much as I would prefer him not to be, I think Remus is right," said Kingsley. "We had best alert all Order members in the Ministry to the high likelihood there is at least one Imperio-ed member of our staff."
Ever practical, and always acting as soon as possible, Kingsley wordlessly cast a Patronus to relay his message with a flourish of the wand concealed in the sleeve of his red and gold robes. His spell casting always appeared effortless, if with a slight tendency towards the dramatic.
"What now?" asked Tonks. Almost for something to do, she had removed her own wand from her sleeve and was gently twisting it in her hands. If Mad-Eye hadn't still been writing intently, he'd have blown a gasket at the sight of such unconsidered wand movements. It made even Remus slightly nervous. As if to prove him right, a flurry of purple sparks fell out of the end of Tonks' wand, and she hurriedly replaced it into her jacket.
"We wait," Remus said. "It would be foolish to act without Dumbledore."
"Arthur will get my message, and can relay it on the Albus," said Kingsley. "They should have an answer within the hour."
"I hate sitting around when there's stuff to do," said Tonks. She strode to the counter and started rootling around in a cupboard for glasses. "I need a drink. Anyone else?"
"You've been hanging around with too many Gryffindors," said Kingsley with a rare smile. "Our recklessness and poor impulse control is rubbing off on you."
"I've always had poor impulse control," she replied. "Ask Mum. I'd never really had that down as a particularly Gryffindor fault. Sirius, Harry and Ron have it, but you and Remus don't, and neither does Hermione."
"I grew out of it, on the whole," said Kingsley. "Remus and Hermione are unusual."
"He really is," said Tonks. "We wouldn't have him any other way." Remus felt distinctly uncomfortable as he accepted the tumbler of Firewhisky she was passing him. It was dangerously close to flirting with him. Flirting. With him. Nobody flirts with Remus Lupin. Ever.
Kingsley was chuckling, which was highly inappropriate.
"You've gone red, Remus."
Remus decided to leave the room and look for Sirius. It was the dignified response to being flirted with, and not cowardice, whatever Sirius would have to say on the subject. Not that he would tell Sirius. That would have just end in him laughing at Remus. Like Kingsley just had.
He'd started stepping towards the doorway of the kitchen when Sirius ran through it, eyes and hair wild.
"Harry," he choked out. "Harry has gone to the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort has lured him there."
Remus dropped his Firewhisky, and a resounding crash on his left suggested that Kingsley and Tonks had both done the same.