A/N: I do not own Harry Potter & Co. or The Boondock Saints.
A/N 2: This chapter has some torture in it.
A/N 3: The goblin name discussion mentioned briefly in this chapter is just making fun of the cliché that everyone seems to use that same names for goblins regardless of the story.
Chapter 8: Lines are being drawn
November 28th, 1998
London, UK
Remus left Hogwarts that night after the Order meeting drew to a close. During his conversations with Alastor, the man confessed to having put his home under the Fidelius charm. Once he was outside the wards preventing apparition he disappeared with a soft crack. He reappeared back in London near the Leaky Cauldron. He walked up the street and found a taxi to take him to Moody's home. After the taxi had left, he removed a slip of paper from his pocket and committed the secret to memory. A sturdy wood and brick home phased into sight. Rolling his eyes briefly at the man's paranoia, he entered the home and made his way to the attic.
Just as Alastor had described, there was a small table with writing supplies near his owl's cage. He began to write the message to Sirius. He apologized for his actions and then gave a detailed accounting of the Order's plans for Kevin. He finished by letting him know that both he and Alastor would do what they could to make sure that nothing happened to Kevin if he should be captured.
After reading through the letter once more to make sure it was complete, he opened the cage. The large light brown barn owl stared at Remus calmly while he attached the letter to it leg. However, it refused to leave the cage. Alastor had warned him ahead of time that his owl would not deliver anything without first getting a password. Remus had been astounded by the level of paranoia that reflected but none the less he gave the password "Dragon slayer." No sooner had he finished saying the password and the owl was out of its cage and flying out the window.
Remus only hoped that Sirius would read the letter and begin to forgive him for being so impossibly dense. Maybe tomorrow he's be able to look at himself in the mirror again.
November 29th, 1998
DMLE, Ministry of Magic, London, UK
Amelia Bones was sitting behind her desk reviewing the latest reports on Death eater raids. A steaming cup of tea was sitting in front of her and she shuffled through the papers. The reports did not contain any new information. As usual the Death Eaters attacked and left before the Aurors could capture any of them. There was still no clue where they were operating out of or who their members were. Of course, there were many suspected of being Death Eaters during Voldemort's first rise but thanks to Fudge, many had been released on the flimsiest of excuses. No doubt they were all back serving their master now that he had risen again.
The door to her office opened after a polite knock. Her secretary, a junior Auror name Pelsey poked his head in. "Ma'am Senior Auror Shacklebolt is here for your appointment."
Amelia didn't look up; she just said absently "Yes, please send him in." Since Voldemort's second rise, she had begun to suspect that a handful of her Aurors were also members of the Order of the Phoenix, perhaps the worst kept secret in the wizarding world. The same Aurors always seemed to be first on the scene. There was a chance that they were unmarked Death Eaters but Amelia held most of them in high regard and suspected they were following Dumbledore's banner rather than Voldemort's.
Kingsley Shacklebolt was a tall black man with a shaved head and dark eyes and an Auror she had kept her eye on. He walked into the office and stood stiffly in front of Amelia's desk waiting to be recognized. She waited a moment while she finished reading the final pieces of a report before turning her attention to Kingsley.
"What do you have to report Kingsley?" There had been a spectacular defeat for the Death Eaters a couple of nights ago in a muggle neighborhood. Someone had killed what appeared to be the entire raiding party and even one of Voldemort's inner circle had not escaped the carnage.
"Ma'am, the Obliviators have modified the memories of everyone that was on the scene. The bodies of the Death Eaters have been taken to the forensic wizards to determine the cause of death. At a glance, it looks like they were killed with muggle weapons, though some of the bodies do show spell residue."
"You're saying that muggles are responsible for killing one of Voldemort's inner circle?" Amelia asked trying in vain to keep the amusement from her voice. If muggles were responsible, it was most likely someone with illegal guns. Had the Death Eaters stumbled onto a bad scene or had they been specifically targeted?
It was Kingsley's turn to smile. "Yes ma'am." He sobered up a moment later "Ma'am, it's unlikely that the Obliviators were able to find everyone. I would be very surprised if most the survivors hadn't scattered before we ever arrived on the scene."
"I'd had the same thought, but as of yet there has been nothing in the muggle press. So if there were witnesses, they haven't told anyone. So there is no danger for the moment, at least nothing we can do anything about. Now, what makes you think they were killed with muggle weapons?"
"As I said, most of the bodies did not have any spell residue. Also, the wounds were clearly not made with a knife. It might have been a firearm of some sort. By the size of some of the wounds, it had to be a powerful one too."
Amelia studied the man standing before her. He was a wizard through and through and though he did not give credence to the pure blood nonsense he was never one to bother with muggles. It merely seemed to confirm the suspicion she had held for some time.
"Why were you on the scene so quickly? We had not even received word at head quarters of the attack when you had communicated in." Amelia asked curiously.
Kingsley stuttered for a moment in surprise before coming up with a reasonable answer "I was having dinner with a friend, Arthur Weasley, nearby and heard the cries." It would have been a reasonable answer if he made it a habit of eating in the muggle world.
Now Amelia frowned openly. She folder her hands tightly in front of her on the desk and stared at the man coldly. The man was lying to her and she would not stand for that. "Would this be the same Arthur Weasley that was working late that night? And since when did you begin frequenting muggle restaurants?"
Kingsley's mouth opened for a second before he snapped it shut again. He was unable to think of a lie that Amelia would believe so he remained silent hoping she would drop the matter but knowing she wouldn't.
"Auror Shacklebolt, I asked you a question. Why were you at that restaurant?" Amelia was not a physically intimidating woman but when angry she had an aura that told others she was not to be trifled with.
Kingsley knew he couldn't lie to her. Clearly she suspected he was involved somehow, he could only hope she didn't think he was a Death Eater. Still, he was reluctant to answer and was trying desperately to think up an excuse that could get him out of this.
Her eyes flashing with anger now, Amelia asked again coldly "Unless you want to go to a holding cell, I suggest you answer me. Were you there as an Auror or a member of the Order of the Phoenix?" There it was, her suspicion was laid out on the table for all to see.
There was no choice now. Amelia had already guessed the answer. "Yes ma'am, I was there as a member of the Order."
Amelia expected the answer but she was still incredibly disappointed in one of her best Aurors. "You realize that I could have you arrested for being part of a vigilante organization? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."
Kingsley was shocked. Of course the Order was not sanctioned by the Ministry but it was run by Albus Dumbledore. How could she possibly object to his participation with a group led the leader for the light? "Ma'am? The Order of the Phoenix is led by Albus Dumbledore. Surely you don't object to a group led by him?"
"Unless I'm mistaken, Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster for Hogwarts and head of the Wizengamot. Nowhere in those responsibilities is he given authority to lead a guerilla war against Voldemort. I will give you a choice, you can swear an oath to give up your participation in the Order or I can fire you and have you thrown into Azkaban for membership in a vigilante organization." When she first began suspecting that some of her Aurors were members of the Order, she took the time to come up with contingency plans. The men and women were too good to fire or throw into Azkaban except as a last resort. The oath had been the best approach that she could come up with that wouldn't hamstring her Aurors.
Kingsley was silent for a few moments as he thought over what was being asked of him. If he was thrown in Azkaban, there would be nothing that Albus could do for him and he would be useless in the fight against Voldemort. At least if he gave Amelia is oath; he would keep his job as an Auror and continue to save lives. Realizing that again he had no real choice open to him, he took the oath.
Once Kingsley had sworn the oath, Amelia relaxed somewhat. Her shoulders slumped a little and she relaxed into her chair. She understood his desire to do more. For too long, she had been hamstrung by the Fudge. Because of him, too many Death Eaters had gone free and the Auror resources had been cut. "Kingsley, I understand your frustrations. Now that Voldemort has made his presence known, I can act without repercussions. Fudge wouldn't dare block what I have planned or the public would tear him apart."
"My joining the Order was in no way a reflection of your leadership ma'am. As you said, the Aurors have been held back by Fudge and his head-in-the-sand approach to fighting this war. I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I didn't do something." Kingsley said sincerely.
"I won't ask you to betray your former comrades but I'm curious. Despite Albus' claims to fight against Voldemort there has been little evidence of the Order doing anything. What has he been having people work on?"
Kingsley weighed his position and felt that Amelia had a right to know all the information available that could be of use in fighting the Death Eaters and Voldemort. "Albus believes that Harry Potter is the key to winning the war against Voldemort." He went on to explain the prophecy that Dumbledore had hinted at. He also told her that Harry had been found living under the name Kevin MacManus.
The shock of Kingsley's revelations was plain on Amelia's face. She couldn't believe that Harry Potter had been found and more importantly it had been kept secret. "Has anyone approached him yet? Does he know anything about the wizarding world?" She couldn't help but ask.
"We think he has had recent contact with Sirius Black so he knows something of our world. There is reason to believe that he and his brothers had been having dinner at the restaurant that the Death Eaters attacked." He paused for a moment, gathering his courage before pressing on. "Yesterday on Dumbledore's orders two members of the Order … um…they kidnapped him from his home."
Amelia's mouth dropped open before being replaced by a grim expression. "If I find out that you had any part in this, oath or not I will throw you in Azkaban."
"No, I didn't find out about it until afterwards. Apparently, Harry was not happy with the situation and used a muggle firearm to shoot Albus. If Albus had not gotten help as quickly as he did, then he probably would have died."
Now Amelia was chuckling at the image of the great Albus Dumbledore being brought down by a muggle gun. "So that disturbance at Hogwarts, that was caused by Harry?"
Kingsley shook his head "I think that was Sirius Black and probably Harry's brothers. They shot and stunned those Aurors before escaping the grounds."
"This changes things. We can't let Albus get his hands on the young man. If he is willing to stoop to kidnapping I don't want to imagine what lengths he will go to ensure that Harry fights Voldemort for him. Kingsley, I need you to keep your position in the Order for now. You are to report all plans and activities directly to me. Most importantly, any information you get on Harry Potter should be passed to me immediately. I will also have an emergency portkey issued to you. If they do manage to kidnap him again, I want you bring him to the Ministry safe house. The way Albus is treating him, we'll be lucky if the young man doesn't join Voldemort out of spite."
"Do you really think Dumbledore is capable of pushing Harry Potter that far that he would join the man who killed his parents?" Kingsley asked with a worried tone evident in his voice.
"Honestly, no I don't. I never would have expected Dumbledore to condone kidnapping either. The most realistic outcome would be Harry Potter leaving the wizarding world behind."
"What if Dumbledore is telling the truth and there is a prophecy?"
Amelia shrugged her shoulders. "If there is a prophecy than it's all in the hands of fate anyway. That being said, Dumbledore couldn't tell the whole truth if his life depended on it. There is something that he is holding back because he wants to control the situation."
The two Aurors were silent for a moment. Kingsley was coming to terms with the fact that he would be working against Dumbledore, thankfully he was still doing it for the right side though. It was also a relief that she hadn't asked if there were other Aurors that were members of the Order.
Something Amelia said came back to him and Kingsley asked curiously "Ma'am you said that you can act without repercussions now that Voldemort's return is public knowledge. What do you intend to do?"
"I have a meeting later today with Jonathon, the goblin manager of the UK branches of Gringott's. I…"
Kingsley cut her off "Jonathon? The manager of Gringott's is named Jonathon?"
Amelia laughed at the surprise on her Auror's face "Oh yes most goblins have quite human sounding names. It is only to satisfy our prejudice that they adopt an alias like Griphook. Regardless, I'm taking a page from the muggle's book on dealing with terrorists and criminals. Any suspected Death Eater will have their assets frozen until they are cleared of suspicion. Proven Death Eaters will have their assets seized by Gringott's and the Ministry."
"Fudge is willing to go along with this? Most of his supporters are suspected Death Eaters."
Amelia's grin this time was predatory "I know but he can't stop it without destroying his career and public image."
After letting that sink in, Amelia cleared her throat and dismissed him. "You have your orders Auror Shacklebolt. I expect regular updates."
Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Kingsley left Amelia's office.
December 3rd, 1998
The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole UK
Arthur Weasley, Ministry employee and clandestine member of the Order of the Phoenix, was walking back from the grocery store in town. Though it was cool, the sky was clear and the moon was out. At his side was Hestia Jones, an Auror with the DMLE and like Arthur a member of the Order. She was joining them for dinner then together they would go to the Order of the Phoenix meeting later in the evening. Privately, Arthur thought she might have a bit of a crush on his oldest son Bill but unfortunately, he was still in Egypt working on his latest curse-breaking assignment from Gringott's.
As they got closer to the Burrow, a sickly green light filled the night sky. A shimmering green sphere rose high into the sky and burst forming a skull with a snake slithering from its mouth. Arthur's entire body went cold. The Weasleys were the only magical family that lived in this portion of Ottery St. Catchpole, it couldn't be a coincidence.
Both Arthur and Hestia took off running towards the Burrow, the groceries lay scattered on the ground forgotten. What they found was Arthur's worst nightmare. Death Eaters surrounded the home which was engulfed in flames. There were screams coming from inside and he could see Molly and Ron beating at the windows trying to get out. The Death Eaters had sealed his family in to burn them alive.
Prior to that evening, no one would ever describe Arthur as anything but a friendly, pleasant man always willing to lend a helping hand to someone in need. The sight of his home burning and listening the screams of his family filled him with a hate he had never known. As soon as he was close enough, he yelled Avada Kedavra; the pale green spell shot from his wand like a bullet and ended the life of a masked Death Eater.
When the Death Eaters turned and started casting their own spells, Arthur yelled for Hestia "Run, get Dumbledore we need the Order here now!"
Hestia didn't want to leave, but she knew that the two of them would never hold off all these Death Eaters. So she began to run back the way she came until she reached the edge of the anti-apparition wards and disappeared with a loud crack to reappear at Hogwarts.
Desperation driving him to levels he had never before reached, Arthur was unleashing a barrage of blasting, cutting, and bone breaking curses. He didn't spare a second to see if any of his spells connected or did any damage. Another killing curse flew from his wand, catching another Death Eater in the face. He was preparing to cast the killing curse again when Arthur pitched forward onto the earth unconscious. A Death Eater stood behind him with his wand drawn.
MacNair turned to the Death Eater "Well done, but if he is dead, you will experience the most painful death possible. I will see to it." He motioned for two of the Death Eaters to pick up Arthur's body. "Take him to Lord Voldemort; he wants to question him personally." The Death Eaters chuckled coldly before dragging Arthur away.
MacNair waited a few more minutes and enjoyed the sight of the Burrow in flames. The screams from the Weasley family had finally stopped. He smirked; it was one less blood traitor family to worry about. After giving the signal, the Death Eaters portkeyed away back to Voldemort's headquarters to plan their next move and to watch the Dark Lord interrogate Arthur Weasley.
Seconds after MacNair and the other Death Eaters left, the Order of the Phoenix began to arrive. They spread out looking for Death Eaters. Hestia Jones along with Albus were directing the Order members. When no Death Eaters were found, they rushed to the Burrow and after a few minutes were able to bring the flames under control. Most of the home was destroyed but the doors and windows were still standing because of the spells placed on them by the Death Eaters.
It took Albus another few moments to remove the spells from the front door. Hestia had suggested just blowing through a wall but the condition of the home was such that it could collapse at any moment. Inside in the kitchen were the scorched remains of five people. Gasps could be heard from some of the older members who had long been friends with the Weasley family.
"Where's Arthur?" Someone asked.
Hestia said "He was either killed or captured by the Death Eaters. If they killed him, they would have left the body behind so I would guess he has been captured." She was proud of herself for managing to keep her voice cool and professional but all she really wanted to do was cry. The Weasleys had always been so wonderful to her, practically accepting her into the family. Now was not the time for tears though, she needed to be strong. There were only five bodies that meant that Bill and Charlie were probably unaware of what happened. Percy had abandoned the family for his ministry career long ago. "Albus, I am going to contact Bill and Charlie, they need to get home so they can bury their family."
His shoulders slumped, Albus looked truly defeated. "Yes thank you Hestia."
Someone asked angrily "Albus, where is Harry Potter? Why did he let this happen?" Like many wizards, even Order members expected Harry Potter to be their savior again.
Albus addressed the Order "Harry did not want to help us. He was most clear in his wishes."
"Has he gone dark, is that it? It's his job, if he had done what he was supposed to, the Weasleys would be alive right now." Someone else called out. There were angry mutters agreeing with the speaker.
"He owes it to the wizarding world, it doesn't matter what he wants! What are you going to do about this Albus?" Yet another member spoke out.
"I agree. It is Harry's duty to face Voldemort. We already have Order members waiting for him outside of his home. But for some reason my locator spells have failed to find any trace of him. Rest assured he will be made aware of his duty to the wizarding world."
There were still some angry mutters but most of those members present began to leave with the expectation that Harry Potter would take care of Voldemort for them. They did not want to face the Death Eaters or Voldemort, it would be much better to let someone else do it.
December 4th, 1998
Unknown Location, UK
Voldemort strolled into the dungeon. Arthur Weasley had been kept there for close to a day. Many would have expected him to be tortured with the Crucio or cutting curses. Perhaps, a bone breaking or bludgeoning curse thrown in for good measure just to keep things interesting. However, when it came to good old fashioned torture, Voldemort preferred to use his hands and a few simple implements. If there was one thing that he had admired in the muggle world, it was the torture techniques that they had developed.
Crossing the room, Voldemort approached a fire pit in the middle of the floor. He drew a poker that had been resting in the banked coals. For a second, he admired the glowing orange metal and the heat that was radiating off it. A slow smile grew on his face; it was time to wake Arthur up from his little nap.
Fire poker in hand, Voldemort strode over to where Arthur Weasley was hanging from the wall where he was shackled. Without even a second's hesitation, he pressed the glowing end of the fire poker against Arthur's chest and held it there. A long agonizing scream was ripped from Arthur as the skin on his chest blistered and smoked.
Gasping for breath, Arthur tried to glare at Voldemort but he didn't have the strength to raise his head. After dropping the fire poker onto the floor, Voldemort grabbed a handful of Arthur's hair and yanked back hard pulling his head up so Arthur could look into his eyes. "Arthur…Hopefully you'll me more talkative than you were last night. All that anger, you do realize it isn't healthy to keep it all locked up inside you?"
Arthur spat in Voldemort's face. "You monster, Harry Potter will defeat you. You'll burn in hell for everything you've done!"
Voldemort didn't flinch or react in any way to Arthur's act of defiance. He did take note of his promise though. It was interesting that when most of the wizarding world believed Harry Potter to be dead Arthur Weasley promised retribution from him. Perhaps the Order did have some information he needed to obtain. He released Arthur's hair but not before slamming his head into the wall.
Groaning, Arthur sagged against the shackles. His legs were too weak to hold him upright. "What do you want with me? Why don't you just kill me the way you did my family?" He asked hoarsely.
Voldemort's evil laugh echoed of the stone walls of the dungeon. "Oh I have every intention of killing you Arthur Weasley but not until after I've gotten every piece of useful information from you. Then you will die knowing that you failed not only your family but the entire wizarding world."
The next few hours were the worst in Arthur's entire existence. Voldemort employed all sorts of torture techniques he had learned of during his travels. Branding irons, fire pokers, knives, bamboo chips, they all made an appearance. Through the wonder that was magic, Arthur wasn't even allowed the escape of passing out. He was forced to experience ever mounting pain as skin was cut open or burned away, bones were broken and then healed only to be broken again, and throughout it all Voldemort was taunting him.
Finally, Arthur couldn't take it anymore. Begging between sobs "Please I'll tell you anything just please stop."
Grabbing his hair once more, Voldemort looked into Arthur's eyes when he asked "But how do I know if I can believe anything you have to say? You could by lying to me just to save yourself from a little pain."
"I won't lie to you, please you must believe me!" He said imploringly.
Everything Voldemort saw in Arthur's eyes told him that the man was broken. He wouldn't willingly lie to Voldemort. The fear of further pain was too great. "Very well, I'll trust you. So tell me what you know about Harry Potter."
Arthur almost babbled in his eagerness to give Voldemort information that he wanted. He explained their search for Harry and how they had eventually found him living under the name Kevin MacManus right in London. He finished his tale by describing the meeting with Albus in the infirmary and the wounds that Harry inflicted on Alastor Moody and Albus in his effort to escape after being kidnapped.
Like Albus, Voldemort knew that Harry Potter was not dead. There was still a residual connection between them from that fateful Halloween night. Try as he might, there was nothing to be gained by exploring the link. Something seemed to block it on Harry's end. Voldemort had suspected Occlumency but perhaps something else was hiding his location. It was an idea that would need to be explored.
It was amazing to him the lengths that Albus would go to in order to get his hands on the boy. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage; it was possible that Albus had alienated the boy to such a degree that he would be willing to join forces with him. Once Dumbledore was out of the way, he would be able to destroy the Potter boy at his leisure.
Surprisingly, the Order had not had any other real plans beyond the search and kidnapping for Harry Potter. The instances where they had managed to stop a raid by his Death Eaters tended to be more luck than anything else.
Once he was sure that Arthur had given him all the information he knew about Harry Potter and the Order, he lifted Arthur's head one final time. "Legillimens!" He whispered and ripped his way into Arthur's mind. The man had been well and truly broken. Everything he had shared had been true and there was nothing that had been held back. Voldemort continued to tear into his mind searching for any tidbits that might have been overlooked. Snarling in disgust at the overwhelming amount of useless muggle knowledge the man had, Voldemort pulled out of Arthur's mind.
Arthur was incoherent; his sanity had been destroyed by Voldemort's assault.
Voldemort used a small dagger to carve a message into Arthur's chest before slashing both wrists. In a short amount of time, Arthur Weasley, father of 7 was dead.
After placing a portkey on the body, Voldemort activated it; send the remains to the gates of Hogwarts.
He had things to do now. The first thing was to compose a message to Harry Potter offering him a place at his side. Perhaps he would even offer some training, of course nothing that could be used against him but it would do no good to have a useless servant. The letter had been written and sent on its way with his owl when he called his Death Eaters together. Like Dumbledore, he would start his own search for the boy.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, UK
Minerva McGonagall was walking the grounds of Hogwarts when she noticed a murder of crows that appeared to be crawling over something, possibly the remains of some unfortunate animal. Casting a quick spell, the crows scattered with startled caws. The birds cries were replaced with Minerva's scream when caught sight of the ruins of Arthur Weasley's body.
Albus and the other professors came running a few minutes later after they received Minerva's signal. Since Harry Potter's escape they had setup a warning system to bring the other staff members when help was needed. This was the first time it had been used. Pomona Sprout started crying when saw the body. Filius Flitwick and Albus took charge of the situation. Filius conjured a blanked and wrapped the body up while Albus levitated it to bring it back to Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie would have to be notified that they had another family member to bury.
Albus sighed, it was more critical than ever to get Harry Potter now. If Arthur had been tortured he may have disclosed what the Order knew about Harry Potter and his whereabouts. The boy must be made to fight, there was no other choice.
December 8th, 1998
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, UK
It had been more than a week since Kevin's surgery and he was still stuck in bed most of the time. The doctor had decided that given the first set back it was better to be on the safe side so he had ordered Kevin restricted to bed rest for two weeks. It had also given Kevin a chance to get to know Sirius better.
The two were talking quietly one afternoon a few days after the surgery. Sirius had been describing some of the escapades that he and Harry's father had been part of during their school days. Kevin laughed at the stories but more importantly, he began to feel a connection to his birth parents. It had been such a relief when Sirius first told him what had happened, to know that he hadn't been abandoned by them. He had been upset that his aunt would do such a thing but it wasn't nearly as important to him anymore.
Through it all, there was a question that kept coming up in Kevin's head. Finally, he couldn't hold it back anymore. "Sirius, why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" As much as he liked Sirius, he didn't know why the man was willing to give up any semblance of a normal life for someone he had just met, even if he was his godfather.
Sirius just stared at Kevin incredulously. "Don't you want me here?" His face reflecting his sorrow at the prospect.
Kevin rushed to reassure the man "No, it's not that at all. I'm just amazed that you would be so willing to give up your chance at a normal life for someone you haven't seen in 17 years."
Sirius actually sighed in relief. "Kevin I don't think you really understand. I didn't leave the wizarding world because I had been betrayed or maybe I should say that wasn't the only reason. To me, the bigger crime was how they treated you and how they planned on using you. I know you don't know me all that well yet but you were the thing that kept me sane while I was in Azkaban. Since the day I first held you, I've loved you as if you were my own. I'm not sacrificing anything by being here because as long as it is with you, then I'm where I belong." Sirius blushed a little at how sentimental that sounded "Wow, I could write greeting cards with that kind of emotional crap."
Kevin laughed softly relieved somewhat at the joke. "And you're really ok with all this, with what we're doing?"
"To be honest, I would be a lot happier if you have not been the one to have to do this. It's hard to doubt the truth of your dreams given who is helping you. That just means that my job is to make sure you can kill Voldemort and live to do whatever you want with your life. Hopefully you'll allow want me around for that too."
"I don't know if I will ever want to live in the wizarding world. I'm sure there will always be a connection to it of some sort but the little I've seen hasn't really impressed me." Kevin said honestly. He didn't want Sirius to stay with them expecting Kevin to return to the wizarding world when all was said and done.
"It doesn't matter to me. I left the wizarding world years ago. When I was your age, I couldn't imagine living in the muggle world but now after having done so…magic is great but you're right, there's so much that the average witch or wizard will never experience because they seclude themselves."
After that, the two men fell into a comfortable silence, simply enjoying the quiet company of the other.
December 9th, 1998
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, UK
In between time with Sirius and his brothers, Kevin had been learning to sense the magic within him. It was slow going. He had yet to accomplish anything with his magic but he was certain it was just a matter of time. His teachers were showing him how to meditate. According to them, it was the easiest way to sense his magic at first. Once he was able to accomplish that, they would work on sensing it while not meditating.
There had been glimpses of his magic a few times so far. It wasn't anything he saw inside himself; it was more of a feeling. Warmth would spread over his body along with an almost tingling sensation. In time, he was told, that would go away but for now his magic was trying to make itself known to him. The first couple of times he had felt it, he instinctively tried to reach out and grab it only to have it slip through his fingers. Kevin had to learn to call his magic to him, if he tried to force it nothing would ever happen.
That's what he was working on today. Kevin had been meditating for close to an hour when the door to his room opened startling him from his trance. Opening his eyes, he let out a groan of frustration. His magic had been so close; it had been dancing just outside of his reach. "Fuck, I almost had it!"
Connor had the grace to look a little embarrassed but Murphy and Sirius were oblivious. Sirius blurted out "Kevin you won't believe this." He handed Kevin a picture of the Order from before the time of his parents' death.
Kevin studied the picture, spending more time looking at the somber expressions on his parents' faces than anything else. "What am I supposed to be looking for?"
"It's Dumbledore, Connor and Murphy say he is marked." His face was a cross between malice and sadness. Sure the man had left him in that hellhole of a prison but never suspected there was any real malice behind it. Now he wasn't so sure.
"Oh yeah, I knew that already from when I shot him. Guess I forgot to tell you." Kevin said a little sheepishly.
Murphy laughed softly but Sirius grumbled "How do you forget to mention that Albus Dumbledore, the supposed leader for the light is no different than Voldemort?"
Connor answered for Kevin "I don't think his goals are evil or wrong Sirius. It is his methods. By the sounds of things, he crossed the line long ago, willing to sacrifice everything in the name of his cause. In his case, it's probably true that the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
"I know, it's just so hard to wrap my brain around. For all my life, he has been looked up to as some sort of paragon of good. Now I find out that he's damned just like those he's been fighting against."
"How do you think I feel? I almost put a bullet through his head instead of his shoulder."
"It's good that you didn't. People wouldn't understand yet and they would end up hunting you down with a greater ferocity than Voldemort. Despite his faults, Dumbledore has thoroughly hoodwinked the wizarding world into thinking he is infallible." Sirius said.
Connor warned "That may be but it won't save him. It just means that we will have to be careful when we take him out."
