Hermione woke up in a hospital bed, her entire body aching and painful. She felt dazed and confused; she reached up and tentatively touched her forehead. It wasn't bandaged, so she must have been moved to a wizard hospital… she knew they had high security rooms at St. Mungo's; they probably had an Auror posted outside her door to watch her. Her head still ached horribly and she felt like she'd been beaten all over.
What the hell had happened…? It was all a blur. Something had made her fall; she knew she had fallen and struck her head on either the sink or the tiles on the wall, pretty damned hard… she'd blacked out for a moment or two. Everything after that was just… insane.
She imagined she'd seen Pansy, but not the Pansy that she'd known… this woman was nothing but spite and malice and hatred; filthy and pure insanity. That creature had attacked her from behind once the door behind her had closed… and… wait. There had been a muggle girl in there, maybe eighteen or so, washing her hands when she'd come in. The girl had smiled at her and gone on about her business while Hermione had gone to the back stall and opened it when another stall had opened… and… she'd hit the wall.
Memories slowly began to filter back to her, disjointed images that really made no sense to her at all. She was tied… but… but that was a muggle hospital. Only magic could… magic. Oh Merlin… It had been magic. She recalled a wizard's duel going on all about her; she had returned the wand to Severus when she had finished with her last patient. She had been completely helpless… A woman had come out of the stall and used a stunning spell. She'd fallen and was bound up, magically bound from head to toe, even her mouth covered so she could not cry for help…
She had hit her head so hard on the tiles that she was seeing stars, but she heard the killing curse used and watched that poor girl fall to the floor, her last scream cut short by the evil green glare of that horrible spell. The evil witch had turned to face her then and Hermione was sure that she only had moments to live. The woman had been so demented, her eyes… she would never be able to get the memory of that woman's eyes out of her mind.
Then the door had slammed open… she'd barely been able to focus on what had been happening. There was a duel then, unlike any she had seen since the battle against Voldemort and the Death Eaters… But she had to be imagining that; that bathroom had been much too small for what she'd thought she'd seen. It was Severus, she knew that… but… the woman… he called her… no. Hermione frowned as she tried to get past the confused jumble her memory insisted on being twisted into. He'd called her Pansy… it had been Pansy Parkinson; she had come to kill Hermione for turning her in.
But it couldn't have been! Pansy was never that good at any type of dueling spells; she'd been completely hopeless dueling at school. And she'd never managed to master unspoken magic and the spells that the woman had cast with frightening speed were rarely accompanied by the spell's verbal component. Then everything had gone dark; Hermione had thought for a moment that she finally passed out but she felt the two of them fight over her, then…
Hermione couldn't remember any more. Severus had gotten her away from Pansy, she remembered that, and still felt the sting of where they had rolled through glass shards to evade her, but… but then what happened? How had she gotten here? And where was Severus…?
Kingsley Shacklebolt glared at the employees of the Ministry of Magic standing before him. The young man had just started in his position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the beginning of the year; he never should have been put on this detail. The older woman had been an Auror long enough that she should have known better than to leave her partner alone in the hospital even for a few moments. They had been the ones assigned the duty of watching over Hermione even though she was in the custody of Severus Snape, as an extra layer of protection. "So perhaps you two can explain to me exactly what happened this morning at the hospital?" He suggested; his tone a low and dangerous growl. "There were two of you; you should have remained on post as you were instructed."
"They didn't stay in the room where Mrs. Weasley was assigned to be, sir… and we did not expect her to go farther down the hall for any reason. Mr. Snape did not inform us that she was deviating from the plan." Trevor Walston said quietly. "I know that's not an excuse…"
Kingsley snorted derisively. "Bloody well right it's not an excuse. You're both too damned young and inexperienced and should never have been trusted to oversee this situation." He grumbled, sitting back in his chair. "So why did it take you so long to respond to the situation?"
"We responded once we heard the explosion sir; she must have had the room silenced so that we couldn't hear…" the younger man began.
"There was no silencing spell when the Department of Magical Law Enforcement showed up with their memory charms to do the cleanup."
"I had stepped out, sir." The older witch admitted quietly. "There had been no sign of Miss Parkinson and I did not think that a moment or two…"
"And where was your partner?" he leveled cold eyes on the young man, who flushed deeply and was unable to meet Kingsley's gaze.
"His girlfriend works at the nurse's station on level two, sir." The woman said quietly.
"Not my girlfriend… and at the rate I'm going not bloody likely that she's going to be. I took her a drink, sir, I was away only a moment."
"And now you both know that a moment is all that is needed. One moment and you could easily have been the reason for grief in more than one family." He growled. "Tell me what happened next?" he prompted.
"I responded to the bathroom door, and Trevor responded to the outside of the bathroom."
"Parkinson had exploded a hole big enough for me to come around from behind and I was… well, it was a much shorter distance for me to just head out the door…" he said, flushing hotly. "She'd used an Instant Darkness Powder and she had some Seeing Glasses on, the type they sell over at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to see through the powder's effects."
"And how did you know what had caused the darkness?"
"I've used it myself, sir. It comes in handy really, when you need just a moment to get what you need to done." Trevor answered, confident in his reasoning. "I used a vanishing spell to clear the blackness right when we heard her use the killing curse at the two on the floor…"
"And you?" he asked, looking over at the woman.
"I had to protect them, sir… I didn't have any choice." She answered quietly.
Kingsley sat back, frowning in thought; he needed no further explanation as he knew the outcome of the situation. "Both of you are on suspension pending an investigation. I'm leaving your discipline up to the Minister of Magic himself."
"Yes sir." The Aurors said quietly.
"Get out of here. I've done all I can here for the night; I'm going to see Tonks." He said, rising with a grunt of effort and a bit of a wince. He mumbled a soft curse at his body for its weakness and moved to the fireplace; he activated the floo network and was on his way.
Kingsley made his way through the halls of St. Mungo's, trying not to think of his own frequent visits here for various ailments. He needed to find Tonks and make sure that everything was all right. He got directions and eventually made his way to one of the waiting rooms. Remus sat quietly on one of the benches, his face looking more careworn and tired than ever. His wife sat close to him, cradled in his arms, her face streaked with tears and her hair a deep blue. Tonks was held in his arms, sitting close to him, tears rolling down his cheeks; they'd been like this since they had been called to come to the hospital.
"Any news?" Kingsley asked quietly.
"None yet. They've had him behind closed doors for over an hour." Tonks whispered.
"But no news is better than bad news." Remus said, trying to be optimistic, glancing at a closed door. "They've been coming and going out of that room every couple of minutes, but no one says a damned word to either of us."
Kingsley scowled. "I'll get them to talk to you." He growled.
"No… no please. I want them to try everything they can and I don't want anything interrupting them…" Tonks said, gazing up at her old comrade. "Please, just let them work…"
Reluctantly Kingsley nodded. "Very well… have either of you eaten?" Remus shook his head, his lips touching his wife's blue hair. She did not answer at all, not even looking up at him. "You need to eat..." he began.
"Kingsley; I'll be sick if I eat anything." Tonks murmured.
"You haven't been feeling at all well lately, have you?" Kingsley frowned.
"It's been a little stressful. I'm fine, it's just stress."
"You did promise to see a healer." Remus said softly in a concerned tone, stroking her hair tenderly. "We ARE at the hospital…"
"I won't leave. I don't care if I die here I won't leave." She murmured.
"This IS a hospital, and this waiting room could be used as an exam room if necessary." Kingsley said.
"I'm fine. Just… I just want to sit here that's all. They'll be out any moment, they really will…"
"…absolute rubbish, I am FINE!" A voice from beyond the door snapped quite angrily and all three of them looked over at the door, which was being pulled open. Severus Snape came through the door, glaring over his shoulder. "I will not be poked, prodded or put up with any more of this for a moment more!"
"Severus…!" Remus breathed, relief seeming to make ten years slide off his face. "Oh Merlin…"
Tonks said nothing, coming to her feet and rushing to him, seizing him in a tight embrace, her hair brightening and revealing her relief and joy. He halted to keep from being bowled over by her, rather surprised. "Tonks? Remus…? They sent for you…?" He asked.
"They told us you were in a magical coma." Remus said, rising. "We wouldn't have stayed away for anything…"
"It was the backlash of her spell; she tried to use the Killing Curse on me." Severus said quietly; he had not realized how bad off he had been. "But I stopped her; I know I got that mad harpy of a woman; Pansy. She's dead?" Severus asked.
"Yes." Kingsley said firmly. "She is, without a doubt, dead."
Severus sighed deeply, holding his mate tightly as Remus came and wrapped his arms about them both. "Good… that's one less lunatic to worry about out there…" he said firmly. "Let's go home…"
"Mr. Snape!" Medi-Wizard Trellin came out of the room, scowling. "We are not finished with you, sir."
"Oh, yes you are. I'm in quite capable hands, I assure you, and my mate has as much experience at caring and tending to hurts and ills as any of you in this entire hospital!" Snape retorted, settling one arm about Tonks and the other about Remus. "He is quite skilled, my Remus. But you are all so damned prejudiced against his 'disability', as you like to put it, that you refuse to see beyond it."
"Severus, it's all right. I'm used to it." Remus said soothingly.
"You shouldn't have to 'get used' to anything, Remus. You were a brilliant Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. You have a knack for healing and for defensive spells; you should be absolutely anything you want to be, and the idiots at the Ministry treat you as if you're a leper."
"That's the Ministry, I…" Trellin began.
Severus was having his say even if he was never allowed to set foot in this blasted hospital again. "He is a werewolf, yes, but he has NEVER injured anyone while in his shifted form! Greyback is long dead and I would thank you all to stop treating him as if he is that maniac come back to life!"
"I am NOT against you on this; I would quite enjoy having Remus Lupin come in and work with me, if only the hospital would allow it." Trellin answered in just a sharp a tone as Severus had used on him. "I'm not administration, though. And you need to be cleared before you go home; even Remus has limitations on his capabilities and both of your mates need you to be healthy."
Severus hesitated, scowling.
"Just a moment or two more, that's all we ask of you." Trellin said quietly.
"Oh just go along with him Sev… and have him check Dora while he's at it…" Remus suggested.
"Remus, this isn't the time…" Nymphadora began.
Severus raised an eyebrow at her. "This is precisely the time for such things. I will agree to go if you will, my lady."
She gazed up at him and sighed, leaning her head back against his chest. "You know I won't argue with that; I want to be sure you're going to be okay…"
"Of course, as do I with you. Healer? After you." Severus gestured to the door he had just left. The wizard led the way back into the room and Remus started to let them go but Severus was having no part of that; he kept a firm grip on his male mate as well. "See you later, Kingsley. I've got things under control." Snape assured, pulling Lupin into the room along with them.
"So I see." Kingsley chuckled, turning to go his own way.
Malcolm Parkinson checked his reflection in the mirror; he'd altered himself enough so that he didn't even recognize his own reflection. He'd had enough of waiting; it was time to go and find out what had happened to his daughter. He swept his cloak on and hurried out the door. It seemed to take forever to flag down one of these ridiculous muggle cabs and ride into London. He didn't bother with paying the driver, using a confundus spell on him to make the driver think that he had already gotten his pay with an average tip.
He eventually got himself to the street he had sent his daughter to; why had that little bitch not come back? Had she managed to gather together the willpower and strength to break through his control through the Imperious curse? Or had she failed again and was afraid to return to him? No matter; he would track her down and get her back where she belonged; at his side and at his beck and call.
As he approached the hospital he slowed his pace; the building was a veritable hive of activity. He recognized several Aurors and also members of the Ministry of Magic. Well, that was to be expected, had his daughter managed what she had planned.
He didn't stop moving, kept walking and pretended to favor his right arm. He'd injure it if he had to, to get himself inside and find out what exactly had happened.
A couple of wizards stood outside the doors and each of them were holding probity probes. He smiled to himself and continued onward, their wands wouldn't find anything on him. His wand wasn't on his person and he carried nothing magical at all; if that was all they had for security here it would be simple work to get past.
Inside the emergency room seemed to be full of only muggles, all sitting around and waiting for something, probably to be seen. He followed their example, though it galled him to do so. He went to the counter and scrawled some idiotic made up name, then turned to look for an exit deeper into the building. Restroom, ah, that was the ticket. He moved through a door and went back into the hospital. The ladies' room had a sign on it claiming it was out of order. Pansy had said she was going to wait in the bathroom, she was certain that Hermione would want to use the restroom at some point or another…
He drew near and slowed, pretending to nurse an injured leg. Two members of the Ministry were outside the door talking.
"She blew a hole in the wall; we've nearly got that repaired. She really didn't do much damage to the room; most of it was to Severus Snape and Mrs. Weasley…" another said quietly.
"What did they do with her?" the first asked.
"Her body was taken to the Ministry." The second answered. "The others were taken to St. Mungo's for treatment."
"I heard Snape took a lot of damage…"
"They both did. Never would have guessed that she had that much skill."
"Doesn't matter what skills she had; she won't be hurting anyone anymore." The first one responded with a satisfied tone. Those words took a moment to sink into Malcolm's mind as he ambled on into the men's room.
She… they couldn't mean Pansy. They couldn't. She was much too resourceful to allow anyone, even that arrogant bastard Severus Snape to overpower her. She was too clever, she was… he stumbled and fell against the wall.
"Hey… hey mister; are you okay?" Someone asked but he barely heard them as the full impact of what had happened struck him, momentarily crippling and blinding him. His daughter… they meant that she was dead… first his wife taken from him by Voldemort's misdirected fury, then his created sons snatched from him by those bastards at the Ministry and that arrogant fool Malfoy, now his daughter was dead and out of his reach forever. It was all out of his control; everyone was stealing his life away from him. He felt no responsibility at all for what had happened; it was not his fault! Now he had nothing left. Nothing to live for, nothing to defend…
He pushed the hands away of the muggle trying to help him back to his feet and burst into an unsteady run. His steps became more sure as he fled, not even knowing or caring where he was going. He burst past the guards at the door and did not care that they were shouting at him. Nothing mattered. He had to get somewhere and devise a plan. Anywhere, somewhere far from here, he would keep running until he had left it all behind.
He may have had his last living relative snatched from him, but he was not finished; oh, no. He would make them all pay for what they had taken from him. The Dark Lord was beyond retribution as he was dead, but there were several he intended to make suffer for what had happened to him and his family. Severus Snape; there were ways to make that man suffer. If only he could figure a way to get his son back; his precious little Dark Prince. He would make them pay. He would find a way to settle the score with them all. And the most obvious targets for his new unbridled fury were Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy and Harry Potter.
August Bebel paced back and forth in the hotel room with growing impatience. He had not eaten in over a day, and the water and coffee in the room could take him only so far. He was starving and he was having an incredibly hard time focusing on his work. He had substandard equipment and all his notes were gone… Parkinson expected him to somehow recreate the embryos with nothing, nothing at all. But he had been trying.
Parkinson had been constantly casting he imperious curse on him to force him to work nonstop, but the man had been gone for hours. He couldn't concentrate with his stomach feeling like it was gnawing on his spine. One of residents in a neighboring room had brought in Chinese food and he could smell it clearly through the walls. Merlin that smelled fantastic…
For perhaps the millionth time in his life he wished he were a wizard; he hated not having any powers. Malcolm was really emphatic about the fact that they were being hunted but August had not seen any such thing; it had been really quiet and they had not moved at all. He had not seen any newspapers but then he had been much too busy to look at anything but his work.
It didn't matter; he was going to get something to eat. He had no way to conceal himself, nothing had been provided for him. There was no cloak here for him to use or any sort of potion. He really needed to get some food; any food at all would do. He spat a curse and snatched up the keys and what little pocket money he had and hurried out the door. Hopefully he'd get back before Malcolm returned, and the other man would be none the wiser. He closed the door behind him securely, gathered his coat close about him and hurried out.
He made his way out of the hotel, looking about. It did not take him long to see a little café and he moved hurriedly through its doors, intent on nothing more than getting one, perhaps two plates of food to fill his aching stomach.
"I hate to disturb you, Remus, but I need to speak with Tonks. It is rather urgent." Kingsley said in his quiet tone, his head hovering in the fireplace. He'd felt a fire call would be much more appropriate considering what this household had been through.
"She is resting, and unless the ministry is ON FIRE I will not have her or Severus disturbed...!" Lupin answered crossly, his eyes flashing dangerously. It was much too close to the full moon and he was having difficulty controlling his emotions today.
"The ministry is not burning, but this could actually be more important than that. You see, Remus, we've captured August Bebel." He answered.
"Bebel...?" He looked confused for a moment, not recognizing the name of the man; then it was clear that recall of the man's place in the scheme of things swept over him. "Oh... oh Merlin." He murmured. "All right; I will tell her. But I can't promise she'll come. It's been one hell of a day and we're all exhausted..."
"Exhausted, perhaps, but not asleep Remus." Nymphadora corrected, coming up behind him, slipping an arm about his waist as she gazed down at the fire. "Problems, Kingsley...?"
"Not a problem, my friend; a success. We have August Bebel in custody."
"Brilliant! I'll be right there." She assured. "See you soon." Shacklebolt smiled and his face vanished from the fireplace.
"Dora, you aren't going." Remus frowned at her.
"You worry too much; I think you've forgotten to take your potion in all of the excitement." She said, stroking his cheek. "I'm going to make sure that you get it from Severus before I leave. Don't worry so; I'll be perfectly safe. It's inside the ministry and I won't be alone when I question him. Besides, love -- he doesn't have any powers; he's a squib."
"Magic can be done without a wand." He reminded.
"I know that as well as you do. Don't you think they'll have checked him for any sort of dangerous devices before they even brought him inside?"
"I know your Aurors know what they're doing, Dora. I know they checked him over, but that doesn't mean I have to like it..."
"It's my job, and..."
"…and you must, of course, perform your duties to the utmost. We would expect nothing less of you, Dora." Severus commented as he came out of the bedroom.
"And what are YOU doing up? You're supposed to rest today, you're wearing yourself down to nothing." Remus scowled at him.
"I've taken a restorative." Severus answered smoothly, holding out the potion to control Lupin's werewolf side when the moon came to fullness tonight. "I do believe our Dora is correct. You need to take this, I see you forgot it this morning and I've been seeing much too much of the wolfing gold in your eyes today."
He sighed, not liking the situation at all. "You still shouldn't go, either of you. You both should rest today. Whatever it is you're working on will be there tomorrow..."
"I want to be there when Bebel is questioned." Tonks answered. "Pansy may have been stopped but her father was the mastermind behind it all and I'm sure that there's more to this entire mess."
"Those little Guardians in Lucius' home could attack another child if I do not continue my work with him." Severus responded. "Next time I don't believe the one they choose to attack will survive."
"I'm going with one of you." Lupin said stubbornly.
"Take your potion, Lupin, and you can come with me." Severus answered.
"I've done nothing wrong." He said quietly, looking upset at being pulled away from his meal - his second plate - at the diner. He had been forced to take veritaserum the moment he arrived and it was in full effect. He was secured in the interview chair often used for meetings of the Wizengamot; his arms and legs fastened with magical bonds to the arms and legs of the chair.
"You created infants with sperm taken without knowledge or consent of the fathers. You were part of a plot to create a new Dark Lord." Tonks scowled.
"I helped to create babies, this is true." He said agreeably, pointedly ignoring Tonks and speaking to Kingsley Shacklebolt only. "I was working with a man who had an inspired vision; is it his fault that you cannot comprehend the value of his work?"
"Value?!" Tonks growled in surprise.
"Why, yes. Value. Someone with such strength, trained and protected, would easily become Minister of Magic, and would be capable of regaining control of our population. You cannot deny that you must have many members of your Magical Enforcement Department go out every day and stop foolish performances of magic. Someone powerful as the one we were grooming would have no need of such a thing; he could handle enforcement himself."
"...what...?"
"Perhaps it was wrong how the seed was secured; I will not argue with you on that point. But the securing of the necessary items was not of my doing and not within my control. I used only what I was given, and performed alteration and fertilization and implantation... I did nothing more than Mrs. Weasley did and she was not hunted as I..."
"She turned herself in to END this madness."
"She was as blind as the rest of the world. Even his own daughter did not comprehend the beauty of his design. The simplicity of it..."
"What the bloody hell do you mean by that? Simplicity??"
"Why of course. What would be needed if a leader were so powerful? We would not need all this ridiculous bureaucracy you have here. All that would be needed would be the young Prince and his entourage..."
"How would that be better?" Kingsley asked, prompting the man to continue to speak.
"How could it not? Your government here is as bad as ours in my home country. People vying for power, people getting hurt or forgotten or simply brushed aside when policy changes... I was born to magical parents and have never developed my powers. I was treated as a muggle by my home government; we are not even allowed to touch anything magical there..."
"This is not Germany, Mr. Bebel."
"Perhaps not." he said, glaring at the black man with flashing eyes. "But what do you do with the non-magical members of your society? You label them as squibs. If they are lucky they are married into magical families and embraced by your culture. If they are not they are forced to live as muggles and are sneered at by wizards and witches alike. Even your schools do not allow for non-magical children to learn any sort of potions or magical vocation; though we cannot DO such things we certainly can TEACH them!" he snapped. It was clear this had been a sore point with this man for a very long time. "Only Malcolm Parkinson saw my capabilities; saw what I could do and how I could be of benefit to him. and to the wizarding world. I showed him how I could gather power and only he saw that I could be great in my work. I gained training in potions from wizards as well as training in chemistry from muggles; I have the best of both worlds and only suffer limitations in my level of magical ability. Power can be stored you know, and used for other purposes. I used stored power to work the magic necessary to do the alterations to the seed and eggs..."
"Stored power? You mean, of course, blood magic?"
"Blood magic." he sneered at the term. "You speak with the fears and limitations of wizards wrapped prejudices of the middle ages!" He scoffed. "Magic gathered by the loss of life and pain need not be by violent means! One simply has to be present when life is lost to gather the power. Even Merlin used such methods, it has been documented!"
"Do you deny killing was done to gather this power?"
"I did not kill them. Other people were given that task, not I. Warrington was assigned to terminate many of the mistakes that were made."
"Terminate the mistakes?"
"At first my experiments were... not successful. Most died on their own, before they were fully matured enough to be born." He shrugged.
"This had no effect on you? Didn't you care?"
"Care? They were not even babies; they were not even human at all. I should care about wasted tissue with no life?" he asked, clearly having no emotion about that at all, and then he sighed. "It is necessary to sacrifice to enable progress to occur… only great progress can be made if life is lost. Surely you understand that? These... failures... were a necessary step to achieve the perfection I reached with the Circle." He waved his hand with a complete lack of emotion or concern, but then looked a bit worried. "You have not killed them? The children still live, do they not...?" He asked.
"They live, but their torture and mistreatment is being blocked from their minds." Tonks glared at him.
"How they were raised was not my concern; I was concerned with magnifying their powers and strengths." He relaxed once more.
"Enlighten me as to how these children were to change our world."
Bebel gritted his teeth, trying not to answer, causing himself great discomfort. "The Prince was to unite all the governments."
"How?"
Again the words came out despite his best efforts to stop them; his knuckles were white where he gripped the arms of the chair. "He would choose leaders for each of the countries... the enchantress would ensure that they remained completely loyal to the Prince and no other, maintaining his control over them and keeping them under his power, and enable him to rule equally and fairly over all the wizarding communities about the entire world."
"So your enchantress has formidable powers?"
"More than she herself knows, and more than that dolt Warrington will ever be able to explain to you. She is able to completely control a wizard who tested genetically to be more than a quarter selkie and half siren with minimal training." He snarled, hating that he could not keep from speaking.
"Dangerous." Kingsley murmured.
"Brilliant!" He snarled back at him. "How else to ensure that the leaders remain loyal? Parkinson is not a madman; he is a visionary! You at the ministry are the ones who are mad, expecting your system to continue to function as it stands! The populace cannot possibly choose the proper wizard to lead the Ministry; the wizarding public in general is a collection of idiots and fools who are easily led astray by a handsome face and a catchy pitch line! How many truly effective English Ministers of Magic have there been? You can count them on one hand! Bagman was a joke - he ignored the constant reports and allowed the return of the most dangerous wizard of all time! His replacement was no better, and the fool who runs things now is more interested in his girlfriends and maintaining the status quo than in what is going on in the ministry!"
Kingsley was not about to debate about the efficiency of any of the Ministers of Magic; this could very well be an interview viewed by the Minister himself. "So you agree that He Who Must Not Be Named - Tom Riddle -was dangerous."
"Yes, he was very dangerous." he agreed.
"Then why did you try to recreate him?"
"I did not recreate him. All traces of his body were destroyed as was that of his father and mother; we did search before we began the process."
"Again, I ask. Why try to recreate him?"
"I never tried to 'recreate' him, you bloody fool! That was never my goal and never the goal of Parkinson, he hated the Dark Lord for taking his wife from him. My goal, which I did achieve, was to create a new Lord. Genetically he was powerful enough to unite the world..." he insisted, as if trying to make Kingsley see his point. "He could have been our salvation, now in Malfoy's hands he's going to be the same as his brother; nothing worthy of paying attention to beyond a legend and a prophecy and what could have been." He growled.
"There's been no prophecy of a return of the Dark Lord." Tonks scowled at him. Bebel was much too happy to be able to keep his mouth shut for the comfort of either of them; there had been no question in the statement Tonks had made and he did not have to answer but it was clear by his smile that he knew something. Tonks and Kingsley exchanged a glance. "Has there been a prophecy of someone rising to control all the Ministries...? Of a Dark Prince rising?" Kingsley asked pointedly.
Again Bebel fought to keep silent, grinding his teeth together. "Yes." The word was forced magically out of him.
"Have you seen or heard this prophecy?"
"Not directly, no."
"Who has?"
"Malcolm Parkinson." He growled, the words through clenched teeth.
"So you were operating under the word only of Malcolm Parkinson that this would come to pass?"
"He shared his memory with me. Malcolm treated me as a fellow wizard, not as some useless castoff because of my lack of powers!" He snapped.
"So you saw this prophecy through Malcolm's memory... did he use a Penseive?"
"Yes." He mumbled.
"Who made the prophecy?" he pressed further. "We can simply pull the memory from your own mind, you know. Don't force us to take that step."
"Harkiss." He tried not to speak once more; the name was almost unintelligible.
"Harkiss? Cecily Harkiss is a Seer?" Kingsley asked directly.
"Yes." He hissed.
"Hm. We ought to see if we can contact Miss Harkiss..."
He glared at them, wringing his hands and trying to free them from the magical chains that bound him in place, pulling hard enough to make his wrists redden and now begin to trickle blood.
"Where is Malcolm Parkinson?"
"I don't know." He answered quickly.
"You don't know… that means he left rather unexpectedly, did he?"
"No; I expected him to go when his daughter had not returned. He puts such store in her skills and abilities, I don't understand it at all... I kept telling him we did not need her. She had never been useful before and his hanging on to her was only going to harm our cause. She is the one who stole; neither Malcolm nor I did that. You've nothing to charge us with, my own government will have me extradited back home and I will be free to continue my work…"
"Let's re-word that, shall we?" Tonks interrupted him before he could work up a real speech. "Where did Malcolm Parkinson have you stay these past weeks?" she said in a calm, clear tone. They had a chance to catch this bastard with this little lapdog's assistance.
"Freil Hotel, Room 319." He answered with much more reluctance.
"And you've a key?"
"My left coat pocket."
Tonks secured the key, smiling in satisfaction. "Very good... we'll just see if your little master has come home since you stepped out for a bite and see if we can't bring him to justice as well." She said, thoughtful.
"No! You can't! You mustn't stop him, don't you understand?! He's working to BETTER our communities, to make our lives more meaningful…!" he managed to pull hard enough to tear the flesh of his wrist, his hand and the binding becoming covered in blood.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Kingsley snapped and the man froze in place, his objections silenced as well as his struggles; his bleeding magically stopped as well.
"We have to secure him, even tighter security than Mrs. Weasley. I have a request from the Unspeakabless to review the information stored in this man's brain." Tonks said, gazing at the man a long moment.
"That might not be a very good idea; we want his knowledge to vanish." Kingsley said quietly. "We do not want this to ever occur again, even from within the ministry."
She turned away. "Agreed. Let's get him placed under a temporal stasis spell." she suggested.
