Chapter 10
Damage Control
Author's Note: This is a rather short chapter. Ron and Hermione will be coming to La Rochelle in the next chapter.
When Sirius and Amelia arrived via Apparation into the Auror Department, Kingsley, John Dawlish and Amelia's secretary, Samantha were waiting for them, as requested. Kingsley led them out of the Auror Department, and John Dawlish walked behind them a few feet while Sirius and Amelia walked with Samantha.
"Good morning, Samantha," Amelia said, "How is Katrina?"
"Very well," Samantha said, "I asked her to move in with me last night. She contacted me via Floo, and she was so terrified because of the break-out, and I invited her over to my flat, and asked her to move in with me, so she wouldn't be scared to live alone. She didn't even go into work at the Apothecary today."
"Wonderful," Amelia said, "Would you like an Auror watching your house, if only for a little while? Katrina might feel better."
"Not right now," Samantha said, "But if I feel we need one, then sure."
"Good," Amelia said, "Samantha, I need you to go to the Daily Prophet and set up a press conference for myself and Sirius to take place exactly two hours from now. We will give our statements and answer a few questions then."
"Yes, ma'am," Samantha said.
Samantha took a separate lift, while Amelia and the three Aurors headed into another and made their way onto the first floor, where the Ministerial offices were. When they arrived, Scrimgeour's personal Secretary, a young witch, stood up and greeted them.
"Scrimgeour is expecting you in his office, ma'am," the witch said.
"Whose office?" Amelia asked.
"S-sorry, Minister," the witch stammered, "I meant your office, ma'am."
So... he is called Amelia's office his own at the moment, is he? Well, we'll see about that.
Kingsley led Sirius and Amelia into the office, while Dawlish remained outside the door. Scrimgeour stood up when he saw them.
"I do hope you aren't expecting me to take a chair that is not my own, Rufus," Amelia said.
"Are you back from your honeymoon then?" Rufus asked.
"No, but it is still my chair, Rufus," Amelia said.
Rufus bowed slightly and stood up then rounded the desk and sat in one of the chairs. Sirius pointed his wand at the empty chair, and it vanished and appeared next to Amelia's behind her desk. Sirius sat down in it while Amelia took her own chair.
"May I remind you, Rufus," Amelia said, "that you are only in this position in my absence. You are still the Senior Undersecretary. I think I was generous enough to give you some more leverage in my absence, but I could very well control my job while on my honeymoon. It would be difficult, but I could do it."
"Could you?" Scrimgeour asked, as he looked from Amelia, to Sirius, then back to Amelia, "You go on your honeymoon and not ten days later, there is a prisoner escape! That has never happened in the history of the prison!"
"How is it Amelia's fault?" Sirius asked, "Do you think she walked into that prison and freed two prisoners?"
"No, of course not," Scrimgeour said, "But she is the reason the Dementors are gone from Azkaban! That had more to do with it than anything else. Not to mention a prisoner is dead, probably murdered by one of the Auror guards, a guard you helped train and put there, Sirius. Lucius escaped because something happened to the walls of his cell, and the Aurors didn't see it until it was too late! Nobody knows how Pettigrew escaped."
"Enough, Rufus," Amelia said.
Scrimgeour narrowed her eyes as he looked at Amelia.
"Your letter to me yesterday," Amelia said, "was nothing more than trying to gain control of my title the Wizengamot gave to me. I was elected into this seat. Your job was given to you by me. I could easily take it away if you continue to talk to me or my husband like this. As it is, you can keep your job for now as long as you don't anger me any further than you already have. Mistakes were made, but it is not the past we need to work on it, it is the future. How many Aurors are out in the field at this very moment searching for Pettigrew and Malfoy?"
"Three teams of two at the moment," Scrimgeour said, "We are working on more."
"Six Aurors?" Sirius asked.
"Many other Aurors were doing their own missions," Scrimgeour said, "Important missions. I could not ask your substituteto call them off or their missions would be complete failures. We don't even know where to start looking for Pettigrew or Malfoy. We checked Malfoy Manor, and there were signs of damage. Malfoy had probably been there, but he was long gone."
"Do you know why he was there?" Sirius asked.
"Hoping to go home to get supplies and stuff," Rufus said, "I'm sure he knew it wasn't a good idea to stay there."
"Amelia and I have another theory," Sirius said, "And this cannot leave this office or lives will be on the line. Many of them. Do you understand me?"
"Sure," Rufus grunted.
"We believe Lucius Malfoy is trying to search for his son," Sirius said, "Possibly kill his wife. He probably doesn't know yet that Narcissa and Draco have separated themselves from him in all ways but Draco's bloodline. Both have the surnames of Black. Narcissa has taken everything of Lucius', he has nothing. Also, I talked to Narcissa and Draco last night. They are going to move to Norway with Andromeda and Ted Tonks in less than a week. Draco will go to school at Durmstrang come September."
"Good theory," Rufus said, "Where are you headed with this?"
"Think, Rufus!" Sirius said, "If Lucius cannot find his son, where do you think the first place he is going to want to look – a place he'll believe his son will definitely be at."
Rufus frowned. "Hogwarts."
"Exactly," Sirius said, "Amelia?"
"You should be happy, Rufus," Amelia said, "We are going to be doing what you hoped would happen if you became Minister instead of me. Come September, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade will have security of Aurors around the premises of both locations, and the Hogwarts Express will also have Aurors on the train and in King's Cross – in the station, they will be in regular clothes so they do not stand out in a crowd."
"I already have plenty of plans set up to do those three things," Rufus said, grinning.
"Then we can work together on this," Amelia said. "After this meeting, Sirius is going to go to his office and look through last-year Auror Cadets, who will have the most experience, as well as Aurors who can be taken out of the field, and they will be specially trained for their new positions at Hogwarts and Hogsmeade."
"Every Auror-Cadet who takes this job will automatically be named a fully-fledged Auror if they have a successful year at Hogwarts," Sirius said.
"Who will lead this group?" Rufus asked.
Sirius smiled. "Nymphadora Tonks."
He had come up with this idea the night before when Remus had told him that Dora would be going to Hogwarts with Remus. She could be Remus' Assistant Professor and he trusted her the most to handle the guards, even if she was only a Cadet. If she did very well in this position, he would automatically put her into a fully-fledged Auror position by the time she returned to the Department.
"She's but a lowly Cadet herself," Rufus said, "And isn't she your cousin or daughter of your cousin or something?"
"She is one of the most well-experienced Cadets in the group," Sirius said, "Well enough that Alastor Moody had requested her apprenticeship during his own missions."
Professor's Assistant and leading the Auror guards, Sirius thought, Give Andie and Remus what they want, but also give Dora what she wants – she's probably having a hard time at the moment with being asked by her own mother to leave the Auror Cadets for a year, even if it meant being with Remus. This way she could do both.
"Well, all right," Rufus said, "It is obvious you've been thinking about this."
"We weren't sitting on our asses when we got the news about the escape," Sirius said, "We may be on our honeymoon, but we still know how to do our jobs."
"Love, why don't you go and get started on that list of Aurors to work at Hogwarts?" Amelia asked. "Find a few more Aurors to get on the job to find Pettigrew and Malfoy as well. Rufus and I are going to go over the strategy on the best way to set up the guards at Hogwarts. I will see you in back here for the press conference."
"Sure," Sirius said, "See you soon."
Amelia smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Sirius stood up and made his way out of the office.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, as Sirius, Kingsley and Dawlish were finishing up putting together the two separate lists, one for Hogwarts, one for prisoner search, Sirius heard a knock on the door.
"Door is open," Sirius said.
The door opened and Dora walked in, then shut the door behind her.
"Sirius," she said, walking across the room, "Remus said you were going to be in the city today. How is your honeymoon?"
"Brilliant," Sirius said, "And it will be even more brilliant when Amelia and I can get out of here and back to France. Is Remus treating you well?"
"Perfect gentleman," Dora said, then her hair went red, and she had a mischievous grin on her face, "when I want him to be. When I don't... well, he's still perfect."
"Were you playing safe?" Sirius asked.
"Sirius!" Dora squeaked, blushing, "You are as bad as my Mum."
"Just wanting to make sure my favorite little Cadet is happy," Sirius said.
"More than you can imagine," Dora said, "What did you call me about?"
"Remus says you're going to head to Hogwarts with him in September, yes?" Sirius asked.
"Going to talk to Albus at the end of the month," Dora said, "I sent him a letter this morning, and received one not an hour ago. He wants me and Remus to meet him at Hogwarts on the 30th."
"The day before Harry's birthday," Sirius said, "Hmm, probably a coincidence. Anyway, I am sure he will give you the Assistant Defense Professor's job, but I want to give you another job as well."
"Meaning at the same time?" Dora asked.
"Yes," Sirius said, "Starting in September, a group of Aurors and last-year Auror Cadets such as yourself will have an assignment at Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. They will be there as security guards."
"Is this because of Wormtail and Malfoy?" Dora asked.
"Indeed," Sirius said, "I want you to be the leader of this group, even though there are Aurors in your group higher-ranked than you. If you agree, you will not be one of the guards on duty, you will overlook them as well as remain Remus' Assistant Professor. Now let me tell you the main benefit to this – other than being with Remus as much as you want."
Dora grinned.
"If you do your very best as the leader," Sirius said, "This will count as your last year of Auror Cadet training. You will be a fully-fledged Auror by this time next year if you are successful for the following two terms at Hogwarts."
Dora's eyes went wide. "You mean it?"
Sirius smiled and nodded. Dora closed in on him and hugged him.
"I accept!" she squealed lightly, "Remus will be so happy."
"Brilliant," Sirius said, as Dora backed away.
Sirius handed her a folder of parchment, that had all the names of the desired Aurors for the Hogwarts job.
"Take a look through that folder just to make sure you're okay with everyone in there," Sirius said, "You'll be leading them – I don't want you to lead someone you may have problems with. When you approve of them, send messages to all of them about their new assignment. You and Dawlish here will then train the group with specifics on guarding students, such as keeping an eye on students in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade – you know, making sure no students are out past curfew, keeping head count on groups of students who will be shopping in Hogsmeade. You were recently a student, I'm sure you can come up with stuff, yes?"
"Definitely," Dora said.
"Good," Sirius said, "You're excused, Cadet. You too, Dawlish. Please start on these tasks now. And Dawlish? She's your partner for this. But she is also my cousin. Also... her boyfriend can be a mean son of a gun when he wants to be. Treat her with respect."
"Yes, boss," Dawlish said.
Dawlish stood and followed Dora out of the office. Sirius looked at the folder of names that he had assigned to look for Malfoy and Pettigrew.
"All of these Aurors can be called back in over the next few days?" Sirius asked Kingsley.
"Yes, boss," Kingsley said.
"Do so, and tell them about their new assignments," Sirius said, "If they find Malfoy or Pettigrew, they are both wanted alive, not dead. Do you understand me? If either are captured while I am on my honeymoon, I want to be alerted right away. You have permission to reach me at Floo call-name Potter La Rochelle, but only for emergencies."
"I understand," Kingsley said.
"I need to head back up to Amelia's office," Sirius said, "The press conference will take place in a few minutes. Remain here and get started on these names. The office is yours until I get back next month."
Sirius stood up and headed across the room to the door.
"Oh, and Kingsley?" he said, turning back to the large black Auror.
"Yeah, boss," Kingsley said.
"Watch Rufus Scrimgeour for me while I am away," Sirius said, "If he is getting too cocky with his current temporary position, let me know."
"Would this be filed under aforementioned emergencies?" Kingsley asked.
"Indeed," Sirius said.
"He won't threaten your wife's job with me around," Kingsley said, "That is a promise."
"Thanks, Kings," Sirius said, "You're a good mate."
Kingsley smiled and bowed slightly. Sirius turned and headed out of the office.
When he arrived at the Minister's Secretarial office, the large room was crowded with chairs, and media, including journalists and cameramen, filling those chairs. A podium was placed in front of the chairs. Sirius walked across the room ignoring questions from the media. As he reached out to open the door to Amelia's office, it opened and Amelia walked out. She smiled when she saw him.
"Perfect timing," Amelia said, "Let's get this over with so we can get back to France."
Sirius smiled and took her hand, then led her over to the podium. The media immediately began talking all at once.
"Quiet!" Amelia said, "We will take your answers after I give a statement."
The media quieted down and Amelia cleared her throat.
"Yesterday afternoon between the hours of noon and two-o-clock Azkaban time," Amelia said, "High-security prisoners Peter Pettigrew and Lucius Malfoy broke out of Azkaban. It is unknown how Pettigrew escaped, but it is suggested that Malfoy broke through the enchantments of the wall of his cell and Apparated out of it, without a wand. There are investigations into high-security prisoner Bellatrix Lestrange's death, and it is believed an Auror attacked her when she threatened him and proceeded to kill her. In the scuffle, the walls of the neighboring cell in which Lucius Malfoy resided was damaged along with Lestrange's cell. This is the blame for Malfoy's escape. It is unknown which Auror murdered Lestrange at the moment. Albert Gale, the boat ferry Captain of Azkaban is missing and feared dead. It is believed one of the two prisoners have his wand and are armed and dangerous.
"I will not go into details of how many Aurors are searching for the two prisoners, because any information could help the prisoners elude escape. Please know that measures are being taken to make sure these criminals are apprehended. We have already foreseen that the fugitives could evade capture for weeks or months, and we are well-prepared for this. Parents of Hogwarts students need not fear. Hogwarts will be highly secured with Aurors around the castle, Hogsmeade itself and the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. Again, I will not go into further detail than that. We will now take questions in order of how you are seated."
Amelia pointed to the first seat on the left.
"Witch Weekly," the witch asked, "Are you and your husband still on your honeymoon? Or has this put a damper on things?"
"We are still on our honeymoon until the middle of August," Amelia said, "But that does not mean we have forgotten our jobs. I am still the Minister of Magic, Sirius is still the Head of the Aurors. We have taken time out of our leisure to do our jobs and we will do our jobs still if it means we can do our part to improve things. Next?"
"Do you believe this break-out would have happened if Dementors were still guarding Azkaban?" a wizard said, "A prisoner was murdered by an Auror because they taunted the Auror. Dementors would never do that."
"Need I remind you a Dementor Kissed Edward Borgin?" Amelia asked, "We cannot trust Dementors. They are Dark creatures. I do not regret that decision at all."
"What about the rumors that Lucius Malfoy is looking for his son?" another wizard asked.
"That is confidential information, Mr. Tate," Sirius said, "If any of you get that information or any information owing to that of Malfoy's ex-wife or his son, you could endanger both lives. I know the identities of every single media staff in here and where they work. If I see or hear anything about Malfoy's ex-wife or his son in the media, the staff here of that particular source will be brought up on charges. Do you all understand?"
Everyone murmured in consensual agreement and understanding.
"Next question?" Amelia asked.
"What can you tell us about Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley," a woman asked, "and why are they accompanying you on your honeymoon?"
"No comment," Sirius said, "We are not here to discuss our private lives or the private lives of my godson or his friends."
The questions went on for another half-hour, but most of those were having to do with Pettigrew or Malfoy. And then one final question came up.
"What do you two want to tell the public who say the two of you need to be taken out of office?" a witch asked.
"One horrible event and we're seen as the bad guys?" Sirius asked, "Please remember that if it wasn't for me or my wife, Lucius Malfoy would be walking around here freely – a Death Eater having power inside the Ministry. Several other criminals who are in Azkaban would be walking free. Look to the future, not at the past, at one single horrible event. We caught Lucius Malfoy once and sent him to Azkaban. We can do it again."
"I can't say it any better," Amelia said, "Thank you, that is all."
Sirius took Amelia's hand and they walked out of the office.
"Hmm, now what should we do?" Amelia asked.
"Go see what the pups are doing," Sirius said, "Spend some time with them. Have an early dinner. Then steal their bathtub for a few hours and take a relaxing bath together. Then I'm going to give you one of my massages and spend the rest of the day in bed with you showing exactly how much I love you. Then... well... that all depends if I want to get out of bed when my beautiful wife is in it with me."
Amelia chuckled. "Sounds good to me, Mr. Black."
So... next chapter is when Ron and Hermione will visit. Sorry... I keep delaying it, but it would have been a total change of direction from the way this chapter has already gone.
I hope to start the third year of Hogwarts by Chapter 20, and I think I will be able to... I have probably four or five more chapters before the honeymoon ends, and then there will only be like... two weeks or so until the new term begins, so yeah... year 3 should begin anywhere between 5-10 chapters from now, just to be safe.
There is a couple things that seem incredibly unimportant in this chapter that have bigger parts in the future of this story... one isn't too big but will have major impact in at least one chapter between years 3 and 4 of this story.
More to come!