Chapter X

A/N 1:Kindly substitute the word "effing" with its ruder equivalent while reading. As a non-native speaker of English I have no idea if this can be safely used in a T-rated story...

Rodolphus Lestrange pulled his no longer pristine black robes closer around himself. Though it was late in June, it was a chilly morning. The non-abating drizzle permeated everything, and he had no shelter, not even the leaky roof of some abandoned shed. He was a hunted man as well as a haunted man, and he'd lost his grounding when that Weasley cow had killed Bella.

He and she had been quite recently married - a marriage of convenience but very much to his liking, as she was a beautiful and high-spirited young woman - when the dark loser had first launched his Pureblood Superiority campaign. Bella had proposed they join up at once, but doing so they'd walked right into what was ultimately a trap. Not that she'd ever seen it that way, completely focused as she was on the Cause, devoted as she was to their leader until her last breath. He had, but only after it had all gone to the dogs.

He had embraced the Cause wholeheartedly. Purebloods ought to rule the world and those effing mudbloods must break their wands or else die lingering deaths. Muggles were hardly better than animals. He had looked forward to hunting them some day, even before merely casting AKs at them became boring.

Bella had never stopped enjoying herself until the day she died. But Rodolphus wasn't nearly as good at casting the Cruciatus as she used to be. Some time during the Second War he'd given up his attempts to match her. Bella could have tortured those sodding Longbottoms into insanity without anyone's help. She'd been one hell of a woman. A bit scary at times, but this had merely added spice. A bloody shame they'd had to spend their best years in that hellhole of Azkaban. He'd have loved to see Bella bear his children and raise them to embrace the true belief.

But in the end the dark loser had turned out a sham. He'd made them swallow lies, not death. Yesterday, Rodolphus had found a discarded copy of the Quibbler in a small village in Yorkshire. It was a special war issue that contained an account of the dark loser's life, among other things. At first, Rodolphus had thought it was no more than an effing piece of Ministry propaganda. He'd refused to believe Riddle hadn't even been a Pureblood. After brooding on it for a while, though, he'd had to admit it did make sense. If Riddle had been a Pureblood, he'd never have trusted Snape, the half blood, over Bella. Severus Sodding Snape, who had been Riddle's undoing together with that other thrice-cursed half blood, Potter. A Pureblood wizard would have sent them both to the werewolves. Riddle had betrayed the Cause from the very beginning. They'd staked everything on a falsehood.

But the treason of Bella's entire family had almost been worse. It was a mercy she'd never found out that she was the only one who had had remained true to the bitter end. Her sisters and cousins had all preferred husbands, children, friends and apparently even a bloody house-elf, to the Cause. True, some of them had got what they deserved, but in a just world all of them would be dead.

And he, Rodolphus Lestrange, was here to bring a little more justice in the world.

&&&

Remus laid the Daily Prophet screaming DEATH-EATER BROUGHT TO JUSTICE aside with the headline down. Someone had just Apparated in the garden. Or two someones, to be precise. Andromeda's wand, which she was using to levitating plates and mugs to the table for lunch, jerked. The crockery crashed to the floor, except for one plate Remus managed to catch in a reflex. Teddy, dozing peacefully in his baby rocking chair, woke up and began to simper.

'Shh,' Remus said, hurrying to the door. 'Harry!' he exclaimed, when he saw who had invaded the garden. 'What's up?'

'Merlin's soggy suspenders,' grumbled Ron, pulling his left foot out of the pond. 'Why didn't I remember this was here? Well, at least I didn't get splinched.'

'Use a drying spell,' Harry told him. 'Can we come in, Remus?'

Inside, Andromeda had managed to Repair the shattered crockery. She lifted Teddy out of the rocking chair and kissed his nose. He gurgled, happy with the world again.

'Something up?' she asked.

'We've just been at the briefing,' Harry replied, turning his gaze from the baby. 'Those two Aurors got a good dressing down from Robards. But we've actually come to warn you. Rodolphus Lestrange has been seen near Salisbury Plain.'

Andromeda clutched Teddy against her chest. 'Lestrange?' she said faintly. The baby grabbed the collar of her robe and tried to put it in his mouth.

Wasn't Rodolphus Lestrange the husband of Dora's murderer? 'Maybe we'd better -' Remus began.

Andromeda shook her head. 'I'm not about to break down.'

Seeing her face, Remus had his doubts. He turned to Harry. 'Does he have a wand?'

Harry looked at Ron, who was lingering in the doorway, rolling his eyes now. 'I didn't stay to ask,' he confessed. 'Lestrange seems to have run from the battle, but whether someone had disarmed him first... I can make a Floo call to Robards's office to try and find out.'

'Was Rodolphus the Death-Eater who... killed me?' Remus heard himself say.

'Huh?' said Ron. One of his feet was still outside; he'd managed to spell his trouser leg dry but not his shoe. 'What makes you think so?'

Harry opened his mouth. If he was about to suggest that Lestrange might be skulking around the area because he wanted to have another go at Remus, he might have a point. But apparently he had second thoughts, for he held his tongue.

'I just wanted to know,' Remus said, telling himself he was entitled to a modicum of curiosity regarding the trifling matter of his own demise. Especially as he wanted to find out exactly what curse had hit him, and the caster was bound to know.

Andromeda sighed. I wish you'd drop this, her facial expression said. Remus wished he could.

'It was Dolohov who got you, Remus, not Rodolphus Lestrange. He was defeated by Professor Flitwick in the battle and sent to Azkaban,' Harry answered Remus's question. He gestured towards the living room. 'Shall I Floo Robards now?' Without waiting for a reaction he headed off to the fireplace.

Sent to Azkaban? Well, in that case he'd have to pay the prison a visit someday, to ask his "killer" what curse he had used. But that could wait. Remus turned to Andromeda again. 'If Lestrange is prowling around Wiltshire, maybe you should -'

'I won't hide, if that's what you were going to say,' she cut him short, her voice low and somewhat strangled. 'Whatever effect the name Lestrange may have on me, I'm not afraid of Rodolphus. Both Ted and I were better duellists in our fourth year than he was in his seventh. You know who I think is a greater threat - and that threat isn't further removed than the Plain is. Malfoy Manor's in Wiltshire, too.'

Remus still doubted that Narcissa Malfoy wanted to abduct Teddy, but it seemed futile to restart the argument. Arguing with Andromeda was hard labour in any case.

In the silence, they could hear Harry's Floo conversation as background noise from the living room. Ron, who had withdrawn to the garden bench outside the kitchen, was muttering to himself. 'Bloody hell! Why doesn't this spell work on leather?'

'Because leather dries more slowly than cloth.' Andromeda handed Teddy to Remus. 'Come, I'll do it.'

Ron's shoe was dry and back on his foot by the time Harry returned from the fireplace. The Chief Auror was not in his office, he told them. But he had managed to speak to Dawlish, and according to him Lestrange had fled the battlefield with his wand, before anyone could disarm him.

'Just as I expected.' Resolutely, Andromeda resumed her previous task of laying the table. 'Harry, Ron, will you be staying for lunch?'

The two young men exchanged a look. 'That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid we've got something else to do,' Harry announced with a glint in his green eyes.

Remus could guess what the something else was. For a moment he considered offering his assistance, but though he did have a working wand now he wasn't sure he could be called a fully qualified wizard yet. And these two young men were adults, more experienced than many wizards and witches twice their age.

'Good luck then!' he said.

'See you.' Harry smiled at his godson. 'Bye, Teddy!'

Remus lifted one of Teddy's chubby arms to wave at him.

&&&

Lucius Malfoy was looking for his son. They would be going over the finances of the Malfoy Estate, sadly shrunken after the upstart impostor Riddle had foisted himself and his entourage of thugs upon their hospitality for prolonged periods of time. The amounts of money he'd had to cough up to purchase their acquittal had something to do with it as well, but they had been a necessary evil. It was fortunate so many Ministry employees kept running in the ancient treadmill of corruption, despite the Operation New Brooms launched by Shacklebolt. All the same, unlike his father, Draco must learn to make ends meet from the outset, which Lucius feared would not be to his liking.

It was, of course, possible his son was playing truant precisely because he suspected this. But it wouldn't do, Lucius decided. No indulging on this count. He swept out of the card room, where Draco also shone with his absence, and headed up the stairs, nodding at some of his forefathers' portraits in passing. If the boy was still lying in, he'd half a mind to cast an Aguamenti on him; it was half past one in the afternoon.

However, Draco wasn't in his bed, nor was he sitting behind his writing desk in the adjacent room. Borage's potion book was lying on it, spread open at the page featuring the Felix Felicis and flanked by a piece of parchment covered in notes. Draco was studying for his NEWTS, he knew. As the tests hadn't been held at the normal time due to the series of unfortunate events ending with the Battle of Hogwarts, all seventh years were granted the opportunity to do them at the end of August. The Ministry had even offered special tutoring to Muggleborns who had been kicked out of school last year. Galling, but only to be expected.

Lucius knew that Narcissa was mortally afraid their son would want to chose a career in the outside world and set up his own household once his test results were in, and it occurred to him that this might be the reason she wanted to adopt the cub. A silly fear, and a silly wish. Neither would come true.

He was about to leave when his eye fell on the last word on the parchment. Or rather, on the signature at the bottom, for now he saw that, far from containing notes, it was a letter. The signature belonged to his surviving sister-in-law.

'Dear Draco,' it said. 'You are welcome to visit Remus and me in The Mudhole' - was that the Mudblood Ted Tonks's sorry sense of humour? - 'and make the acquaintance of the little werecub, whose name, by the way, is Teddy. Who knows if you and he won't get along splendidly - the two of you are related, after all. We appreciate your offer to be of service and hope to discuss it during your visit here. Please let us know when it will be convenient for you to come. Kind regards, your aunt Andromeda.'

Lucius snorted. So Draco had sent the badly matched, tasteless couple a note offering to baby-sit the werecub, and they were taking it seriously? What a lark. Chortling, he laid the letter back on the desk, but his amusement evaporated soon. Of course, it wasn't as if his son could write any less-than-pleasant letters these days; like Lucius's own, his owl post would remain Ministry-supervised for a year, just like their Floo calls would be monitored and their Apparating licences had received the Conditional stamp. Money couldn't buy everything, alas.

With a sigh, he made to resume his search. However, on leaving the room he suddenly remembered that Narcissa had told him she'd be going to the Ministry this morning to retrieve her wand and inquire whether the Aurors were going to act on her letter about the Lupin brat (which he'd have intercepted if he thought they would, as he was checking her owl post). Was Draco keeping her company? In that case, seeking him here would be pointless.

Oh well, we'll look at those ledgers tomorrow, Lucius decided, not without relief. He went downstairs again. A quarter to two; almost teatime. He was about to call the new house elf, when Narcissa came out of the parlour, brushing off her elegant robes. She was looking moderately satisfied, just the way he liked her.

'Ah, good, you're home,' he greeted her. 'Did all go well, dear?'

'Most of it,' she replied. 'Thankfully, I've got my own wand back - I really hate to use Bella's; maybe I should have buried it with her.' Lucius nodded understandingly. 'As for the other matter, the only thing the Aurors did with our letter was send it on to a hit wizard called Gumboil. Very annoying.' Lucius nodded again. 'You'd think they'd be a little more grateful for my role in keeping Potter alive, but no.' Lucius spread his hands. 'So I went to Gumboil's office, and guess what? He's going to arrest Andromeda!' Now Narcissa laughed gleefully.

What for? Lucius wanted to ask, but then something struck him. 'You keep saying "I". Wasn't Draco with you, then?'

'Draco?' she asked, frowning, which didn't become her. 'No, isn't he at home?' When Lucius told her of the letter he'd found on their son's desk, the frown disappeared. 'Well, that's obvious, then. He went to have a look at the cub. It's a cute little metamorph, actually, though I doubt he'll like it before he's got children of his own. I'll be curious to hear his assessment of the situation over there.' She smirked.

Had she send Draco to gain incriminating evidence, or what? Lucius didn't quite know what to make of it, or of his sister-in-law's arrest. But he shrugged it away, confident that his wife's peculiar obsession with the Lupin cub would blow over soon.

'Well, dear,' he said. 'Let's have tea then and wait until he returns.'

TBC

A/N 2: Gadira got half of the Tolkien allusion right: Sharkey is Saruman, the wizard-turned-evil. The other one was Little Haywood, where Tolkien spent some time with his wife recovering from trench fever in 1916.

3: Next chapter: things will definitely take an unpleasant turn!