I am immensely sorry about killing off Desarie and Shane. They were two of my favorites of my OCs. But I had originally planned to kill them. I don't know why. Maybe to show Bellatrix would stop at nothing to get at Aero. Maybe because I wanted to show that these people were dangerous, and war effects everyone, including the innocent, like Selena. Maybe I wanted to have a reason for Aero to grow up a little.
And...things are probably going to be a little faster now. A lot of things are going to happen soon, I've got it planned in my head. Oh, and I'm already planning another branch on my HONORS series, a Next Gen. fic... :) And Marauder Honor is going up within the next few days again. Secret Honor is already up. I might add a few more Honor Branches. And some characters are going to be crossing over, just to let you know, not that you have to read the other stories to figure it out when they do, just saying. Maybe one in this chapter...
Charlie arrived later that morning, having come from Romania. He looked slightly green, as one would before they get sick, but he brushed off his mother's numerous inqueries on his health with simple 'I'm fine, mum's. He just wanted to get upstairs, where they said Aero had been since she got there, and see Selena. He wanted to see Tonks as well, because the little voice in his head was nagging him about her and he somehow needed to just lay eyes on her for a split second to truly convince himself that she was fine, it was Desarie and Shane who were gone.
Everyone who knew Charlie Weasley said he was a simple man. He did what he wanted. He was honest and straight shooting, he wasn't materialistic in the least and he could enjoy the solitude of his job. He didn't need much. Didn't want much. But the range of thoughts and emotions that were currently clashing inside him were anything but simple. Truthfully they unnerved him, feeling so much all at once. It was also a little unbalancing to know he now had responsibilities other than the Dragons back in Romania. There was an actual kid involved now.
He was nervous about meeting Selena, though he had met her a few times, she didn't know him like she knew Aero, he was sure. Aero was close, she was able to properly be there for their Goddaughter and if Charlie was honest with himself, he hadn't felt right calling himself the Godfather, like he was replacing Simon. But according to Shane, Simon had clearly expressed it to him when the Hit-Wizard accepted the title that should anything happen to him, they'd give Selena the privelage of knowing another.
He was angry that the Minister of fucking Magic couldn't send someone out to tell him. It had to be Tonks, writing in a hectic fashion, tear blots smudging her ink, writing him from London saying the last of their friends were dead...and Selena needed him. He was angry, because he should've been there. He should've been there when Fudge talked to Aero. He had met the Minister once while attending something with his father when he visited, and he knew how the man could be. So Charlie felt slightly guilty that Aero had to deal with it all on her own, hearing the words that if they had not come from Tonks he wouldn't have believed. He wondered if Aero even knew he was the Godfather, if she had thought she was alone.
And he felt empty. Despite the anger and the guilt and anxiety, the overwhelming sense of emptiness was consuming him. His two friends were dead. It was sudden and unpredictable and it shocked him to his core. It was unbelievable. He had to read Tonks' letter almost one hundred times before it even began to process. He just couldn't have imagined them dying.
And then Tonks was stepping around the corner, towards him as he stood uncertainly by the stairs. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks, her hair had lost its colorful vibrancy and instead was her natural dirty-blood butterscotch color. Her eyes were as dark as her mother's now and her skin seemed paler. She was not the Tonks he knew, and he wondered if she would ever be that happy-go-lucky girl with the fuschia hair again.
She launched herself into his arms, and he gripped her in a bear like hug, probably dis-alligning a few things as he squeazed her. But they were making sure the other was real, alive and safe. The sudden loss of their good friends had scared them both to wits end and neded to make sure the other wasn't going to disapear before their eyes.
She cried into his shoulder and he felt his heart breaking. Tonks was a cheerful person, a little accident-prone at best, but even when she fell or broke a bone, she never shed a tear, just laughed it off as the rest of them tried to restart their hearts. But she was crying. He held her tighter, if all possible.
"Don't cry, Tonks. Please don't cry." he pleaded quietly.
"Th-they're gone, Charlie!" she cried.
"Shhh, shhh Tonks."
She choked on a sob and pressed her face into his broad shoulder, her short nails digging into the thick, sun-touched skin of his neck.
Charlie glanced up and saw the pained expression on Sirius Black's face, no doubt trying not to remember when this was him regarding his friends. His mother watching them with watery eyes, a hand to her mouth, and his dad's arm wrapped comfortingly around her. Remus, a friend of Sirius' stood there, leaning against the wall, his eyes glued to Tonks' small form huddled in his scarred arms. He vaguely wondered about the intensity of the older man's gaze and made a mental note to ask Tonks' about it later.
He put Tonks back on her feet and brushed some hair from her eyes.
"I'm gonna go upstairs. See you when I come back down?" he asked.
She nodded, still crying, and wiped her eyes with the back of her gloved hand. Her eyes were simply heart-breaking right now. He placed a brotherly kiss to her forehead and leaned down to engulf her in another hug.
"Lupin can't take his eyes off you." he said lowly, a small smirk on his lips as his whispered words made her choke, but not on a sob this time.
When he pulled back Tonks' eyes were wide and child-like, like how he remembered, and her face was glowing red.
"I take it it doesn't bother you?" he asked, amused.
Tonks seemed to glow brighter and she thwacked his arm for good measure, pitifully scowling at him as he dodged up the stairs with a rumbling laugh.
"I'm gonna make dinner tonight just to spit in you food, Weasle." she snipped.
"Wouldn't that be the same as you kissing me? Sharing saliva...that brings me back to fifth year when -"
"Charlie!" Tonks screeched, positively blushing now.
Charlie couldn't help that one really. It was worth it to distract both himself and Tonks and embarrass her like that the way he used to all the time. Her reactions were always amusing to him. Not to mention Lupin jerking from her perch against the wall, his eyes wide and stumbled and Sirius let out a bark of laughter at his friend and Lupin's cheeks tinted as well. Two birds, one stone.
"Keep screaming my name, pet." he rumbled as he quickly went up the stairs, avoiding the hex cast by his friend that singed the wall.
And then another screaming errupted and shouted and Charlie remembered hearing about Mrs. Black's portrait. Charming woman...
He made his way to the floor his mother said occupied Aero's room and found a door at the end of the hall, the only one without some sort of plaque on the front. He knocked once and cracked the door open, popping his head inside.
His brother's tiny girlfriend was curled up on a window seat, reading a small piece of paper and twirling a small metallic thing between her fingers. A small lump was in the bed, covered by blankets and numerous stuffed animals. The shockingly golden hair of his Goddaughter caught his eye and his gut twisted, thinking how much just the glimpse of her made him think of her mother.
"Alright, kid?" he asked.
"Better than you and Tonks, I reckon." she shrugged.
Charlie sighed and nodded his head.
"Tonks is a wailing mess, though now she's a blushing mess..."
Aero raised an eyebrow at the comment and something akin to curiosity flickered across her face before returning to her indifferent expression.
"What you got in your heads?" he wondered, pointing.
She glanced down and shifted her position to face him, her legs hanging off the side of the window bench.
"Fred gave me something before I left. Guess he and George found a location for the shop, one with that loft above it they've been dreaming of. He said I could live there with Lena, or at least use it as a front for the Ministry if I wanted to stay here. Got me a key and everything." she said.
Charlie was mildly impressed, though not shocked, with the twins' ability to purchase a location and start their lives without their mother even knowing. He was also very proud of said boy for obviously sticking by his girlfriend, despite the fact she now also how a kid to raise. Charlie couldn't help but think that those two boys were now fine young men.
"So he doesn't have a problem with you being a 'mother' now?" Charlie clarified.
Aero shook her head. She lifted her eyes, almost guilty looking, to his.
"He's not the one with the problem." she murmured.
Charlie took a seat at the foot of the bed, facing her, and careful not to jostle the sleeping girl.
"Then who does...?" he asked quietly, though he was pretty sure he knew.
"...me. I'm not sure I can handle being a parent in any way shape or form, to anyone, let alone my friends' only child. I mean...she's everything good in them. She's amazing. But what if I'm not? What if I mess it up? What if I was the wrong choice for her Godmother?" Aero admitted.
Charlie wasn't shocked she felt that way, anyone would, but he was surprised she'd admit such a thing to him, if he remembered what Fred told him about her. She was a quiet, emotionally-stunted person, he thought, though not by her own fault. Then again, both were in the same boat. They were both now looking at a lifetime of taking care of their dearest friends' last living memory. Charlie wasn't around enough to know Selena and Aero wasn't old enough to know anything about taking care of her.
"Man, this is ridiculous." Charlie said suddenly, a smile creeping onto his face.
Aero glanced up, eyes confused and something about her expression reminded Charlie of a puppy.
"We didn't even have to have sex and we get a kid."
Aero's mouth opened, in shock perhaps, and she stared at him before he saw her lips quirk.
Charlie thought for a moment.
"So...which one of us is going to tell my little brother we have a kid together?"
Charlie managed to convince Aero to go downstairs, considering Sirius had had a heart attack when they told him of the attack and hadn't seen her since. She came down the stairs with him, Selena asleep under a Sleeping Drought so she wouldn't wake until they figured everything out. When she reached the kitchen Aero had barely enough time to duck before a jet of bright light soared over her head and heard Charlie yelp.
She glanced up and saw the red head had been hit with a stinging hex. She turned to see Tonks with her hands on her hips, a satisfied expression on her face and wand in her hand. Aero gave a questioning look, slightly startled, and Tonks merely shrugged in response, like stinging a Weasley was no big deal.
"Charlie dear, are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked from her seat.
"M'fine Mum..." Charlie said, his voice slightly muffled and held out two thumbs up.
"Charlie, you look awful mate." Bill commented.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"Next time, Weasle, keep your mouth shut." Tonks said simply before sitting back into her chair.
Remus, who sat a few seats down, looked slightly distressed and stared wide-eyed at the younger witch. Sirius was sniggering at his poor friend in his hands. Aero glanced wearily between the two before slipping out the doorway and sitting down beside Remus and Sirius -
and was promptly hit in the arm rather hard.
"Sirius? Ow!" Aero exclaimed, grabbing at her arm and glowering at the man.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you were dead!" He cried.
"So you hit me?"
"Yes."
Aero opened her mouth and stared agape at Remus who just shrugged.
"Between the two of you, I sense more grey hairs on the way." he said with a sigh.
"You mean you have hair left that's actually colored?" Sirius muttered.
Remus cut his eyes to look at the man.
"You're not looking so smashing yourself, Padfoot."
"What are you babbling 'bout? I'm glorious, as always."
"Have you even looked in a mirror, you mut?"
"At least my hair is all one color, Moony."
"The grey makes me look rather distinguished."
Sirius snorted and Remus rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Tonks was rolling an apple across the table to Charlie, who struggled to open his mouth with his cheeks as puffed out as they were. Aero looked upon both sets of people. They all had these lives she had never truly been aware of. Like Tonks and Charlie with Desarie and Shane and Simon, who Aero struggled to remember. Or Remus and Sirius with all their friends, like Sirius' school lover that he had told her about...D-something. She wondered where she was now, doing what, if she had kids, if she had even survived the war. She was weary to ask Sirius about it.
"Dumbledore says he's got some new members, members from the previous Order rejoining. Finally managed to get ahold of 'em, he said." Bill was saying.
"Who are these people if they're so difficult to get a hold of?" Arthur wondered.
"Maybe they've been in hiding? Or relocated the last war?" Bill suggested.
"Maybe they're really important...you know, high risk people?" Tonks inquired.
"Perhaps. Or maybe they've just been unwilling to join." Bill shrugged.
"Are they coming here?" Sirius asked.
"Probably. Dumbledore'll be making a visit sometime soon, probably arranged a meeting." Bill said.
"And you don't know who they are?" Remus asked and Aero caught him cast a quick glance at Sirius.
"Nah. Dumbledore didn't give names, seemed happy they were rejoining though." Bill replied.
"Any word if there was a girl?" Sirius asked casually, staring at a burnt mark on the table.
"Might be. Think he said there were some siblings coming in, three of 'em if I remember correctly.
Aero watched Sirius intently, watching his eyes flick up to stare at Bill before pursing his lips almost indifferently and nodding. Remus was frowning, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Sound familiar?" she wondered.
"A...little. There were three sets of siblings before, if I remember correctly. The Prewett brothers, the Cavanaughs, and the Dumbledores." Remus told her.
"Dumbledores?" Charlie asked, finally getting his face back to normal thanks to his mother.
"As in plural?" Tonks added.
Remus nodded.
"Dumbledore, and his brother Aberforth. He runs the Hogsheade Inn."
Tonks and Charlie both had looks of surprise on their faces.
"The Prewetts are my uncles, now we know about the Dumbledores. Who are the Cavanaughs?" Bill inquired.
Remus cast Sirius another glance and Sirius seemed to have perked slightly, though still staring elsewhere.
"The Cavanaughs went to school with us. Two Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw if I remember correctly. Daelyn, the sister, was in our year. Then her two younger brothers, twins, Masen and Magnus. We lost contact, like we did with almost everyone else, after Voldemort's downfall..." Remus said, looking crestfallen.
"Were you friends with them?" Tonks asked sympathetically.
"I-yes. Daelyn was a friend of ours, and we fought alongside her brothers multiple times." Remus told them, gesturing to Sirius.
And then it clicked. The D-something Sirius had told her about, the girl he had loved or something, her name was Daelyn. Daelyn Cavanaugh.
"Don't look so sad, Remus. You may have lost touch, but they're all alive." Tonks said.
"We don't know that." Sirius muttered.
"But obviously, the three siblings coming back..."
"We don't know it's them. There were more than three Cavanaugh's. And they could be other allies of Dumbledore's from the first war. Doesn't mean it's them." Sirius said gruffly.
Apparrently sensing the dismal atmosphere at the topic, Bill changed the subject to that of hearing rumors from mutual friends that Charlie had found a romance, which Charlie quickly denied with a blush and deflected to Tonks, cheekily asking her about her own love life and she rebounded teh interrogation question to Aero about her and Fred's sex life, which made Sirius shout an angry 'OI!' and proclaim she was a virgin and Aero bounced the question back to Bill regarding his 'English training with Fleur Delacour' to which Molly Weasley said absolutely nothing was going on with that French girl who was much too young for Bill regardless.
On her way out of the kitchen with a coveted sandwich made behind Mrs. Weasley's back for Charlie, otherwise the older woman would have protested he'd ruin his dinner, Aero and the others, Tonks and the elder Weasley boys, came face to face with some new faces.
There was a man and a woman at the front, probably around Sirius and Remus' age yet undeniably younger looking, like how the two should have looked if Sirius hadn't gone to Azkaban and Remus wasn't stressed about everything so much. And then Aero blinked. Several times.
"Mrs. Spinett?" she asked, astonished.
The woman looked around at her and paused in her walking. She was taller than her daughter by a few inches, with dirty blonde hair, some dark brown streaks running through it. She had deep blue eyes, and while her coloring didn't really match Alicia's, her face was practically in the same image.
"Ah, Aero dear. I didn't know you were here. What a surprise. How are you?" Mrs. Spinett asked warmly.
"A-ah, fine. Thanks. I've definately had uhm...better days." Aero said with a shrug.
Mrs. Spinett's eyes softened considerably.
"Dumbledore told us about the recent...events. My condolences on your heavy loss. All of you." she said.
And this time, when someone said their condolences, she actually believed it.
"Thank you." Tonks said.
Charlie nodded in response.
The man, Mr. Spinett, a very tall and broad shouldered man with Alicia's coloring cleared his throat, giving them all a smile before taking his wife's hand.
"Samantha, we must be going if we're going to meet up with Dumbledore..." he reminded her.
Mrs. Spinett jumped a little and smiled again, nodding. "You're right of course, Jake, my apologies."
She looked back at them all for a second and said "See you all later" before entering the kitchen. The rest of them stood outside the door for a moment and heard Remus utter a suprised exclamation, greeting them both, just as Sirius did. Obviously, they had been inthe Order before as well.
"Mrs. Spinett's in the Order? I never knew that...I wonder if Alicia knew that." Aero muttered, walking into the Parlor room as Tonks ran upstairs to get Selena.
"From what my parents told me, from what they learned from my uncles of course, is that a lot of people fresh out of Hogwarts joined up in the Order, like the Potters and Sirius and Remus. Word had gotten around and those who were loyal to Dumbledore, like the ones I just mentioned, joined up. Maybe they went to school with Sirius and Remus?" Charlie asked.
"I'm still wondering about the others that Dumbledore said were coming. The Spinetts are here, which means Dumbledore will be here soon, which means the others have to be coming as well, right? Sirius and Remus seemed slightly tense when I mentioned them." Bill said, leaning back into a chair.
Aero pulled out her flask and took a sip. She had a headache. And she still felt extremely drained. Tonks came back into the room with Selena on her hip, holding one of her stuffed animals and look sleepy from her nap.
Charlie straightened up a little and Aero felt her heart clench just looking at her. She could see Desarie in the way she jutted out her bottom lip when Tonks went to put her down and she wanted to stay held up. Stubborn apparrently was a Hale-woman trait. And in her blonde curls, which Desarie always complained were unruly and too thick to do anything with. And she saw Shane in her, when she laughed loudly when Bill made a funny face at her and the way her eyes seemed to sparkle. Shane's green eyes.
It was almost painful to look at her, her parents so evident in her every feature, her every action, and the loss so fresh. But she was her Goddaughter, and she loved nothing more than she loved that girl. And Selena couldn't have a guardian loose it. She knew it wasn't healthy to freeze her mourning, but she had to take care of her Goddaughter. Selena had no one left other than her and Tonks and Charlie.
"How're you, Lena?" Tonks asked brightly, though her eyes seemed more watery than usual.
"Sleepy..." Selena said, rubbing a fist over her eyes.
"You just had the longest nap I've ever seen. How in Merlin's name are you tired?" Aero asked, arching an eyebrow.
Selena gave her a dimpled smile in return.
"I dunno!" she giggled.
Aero gave a short, quite laugh.
"Selena, you remember uncle Charlie, don't you?" Tonks asked. "And Uncle Bill?"
Selena looked over at the two brothers and nodded excitedly.
"You gave me the baby dragon." Selena said, pointing happily to Charlie.
"Charlie!" Tonks exclaimed.
"You gave her a baby dragon?" Bill asked.
"No! Of course not! Not a live one!" Charlie defended.
"A dead one...that's not sanitary." Aero commented dryly.
Charlie sputtered for a moment and then shook his head.
"Funny. No, a stuffed animal one, of a Hebridean Black, thank you very much." Charlie stated.
Aero shook her head.
Bill cleared his throat as Tonks sat Selena in Charlie's lap and watched as he looked down at the blonde who was obliviously playing with her toy. He looked alarmed, obviously having no clue what to do.
"Uhm...I don't mean to be the one to bring up the flaming pink elephant in the room here, but...arrangments have to be made..." they all looked away quietly as he spoke.
"Whether the Minister likes it or not, Charlie, you'r her godfather. And Aero's the Godmother, and generally it's encouraged you both raise her..." Bill continued uncomfortably.
"Right...uhm, Aero?" Charlie said, his voice gruff.
Aero glanced up, somewhat reluctantly.
"Uhh...Well I was planning on staying here to stay with Sirius...and you live in Romania..."
Charlie nodded and pursed his lips.
"Well, obviously things need to be changed here." Bill stated. " Charlie? What're you going to do?"
"I can commute, work in Romania, spend occassional trips there if need be...meanwhile would Sirius mind...?" Charlie asked.
"Not at all. House is rather empty as is. We can make up a room for you..." Aero said immediatley.
Charlie nodded.
"Good. Good. Uhm, and then...well the Will will come out later, I suppose. Until then, I suppose you have a front-place to live in for the Ministry?" Bill asked.
"The twins' joke shop location. Loft above it." Aero told him.
"Alright then. Don't tell mum. There's of course, the matter of the uhm..."
"Funeral arrangements." Tonks murmured.
No one talked for a moment.
"I think you and Charlie should do them." Aero said.
Both looked up in surprise.
"Us?" Tonks asked.
"You knew them better, longer...you do it." Aero replied.
"I-" Tonks started.
"We'll do it." Charlie interrupted.
"We will?"
"Of course. Aero has enough on her plate right now, and I think that if she's willing to give us the sole rights to do the funeral for our friends...we should."
Tonks sighed.
"Alright..."
"Uhm, yes, well then." Bill said awkwardly.
"I have to go." Aero announced.
"Why?" Tonks asked.
"I want to assure my own bank account, so I'm moving some things from my parents' vault to mine." Aero said.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Charlie said.
"Why?"
"Your parents are after you. What if they find you? You're safer staying in the house." Charlie said.
"I'm not going to hide from them."
"They'll kill you."
"I doubt they'll be at Gringotts."
"They were at the Ministry that night!" Tonks shouted. "Desarie and Shane died!"
"I know!" Aero shouted angrily. "I know that! I know it should've been me out there! They died by my own parents' wands because of me! I get that! Don't you think I understand that?"
Tonks looked suddenly abashed, but no less determined.
"I'm not...no one blames you. You and Bill might've been dead if they hadn't...I'm not saying I'm glad they...or that you didn't...I just..." Tonks ran a hand through her hair frustratedly.
"I won't just sit and lose you too." she muttered.
Aero blinked in surprise.
"Tonks...I'll be fine." she said quietly.
Tonks shook her head. Her eyes had filled with tears.
"I bet that's what they thought too. It's what we all thought." she whispered.
"I'll be careful..." when Tonks still shook her head Aero sighed. "Tonks. You can't keep me locked up, hidden away here for the rest of the war."
Tonks' lip trembled and she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away stubbornly. Aero felt slightly guilty about how much her cousin was worrying over her. She gave a sigh of her own and strode across the parlor floor, reaching up on her tip-toes and encircled her arms around her cousin. Tonks responded by holding her in a tight grip that was almost back-breaking.
"I have to go...I'll be back, Tonks." Aero said before disentangling them.
"But -"
"I'll go with her." Bill volunteered.
Aero thought he looked a little too eager.
"You just want to see Fleur." she accussed with narrowed eyes and a smirk.
Bill faked being shocked.
"I most certaintly -"
" -ARE." Charlie finished for him with a roguish grin of his own.
Bill looked bemused at them all.
"Think whatever you want. I'm simply helping her with her English."
"Right. And how many closets the Bank has." Charlie muttered under his breath.
Bill's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he thonked his little brother behind the head.
Charlie swore and Tonks gave a muffled laugh, hands over her mouth. Charlie looked at her, as if betrayed. She laughed harder.
Aero rolled her eyes, yanked on Bills arm and headed out the door, barely paying any attention to the group standing outside the room, making their way in the hall. She brushed the arm of two older men, a blonde and a brunette and accidentally bumped into a younger woman with golden hair held up in a messy bun and an Owl hooting reproachfully on her shoudler. The woman turned to look at her and Aero caught a glance of hazy, unclear eyes that when caught in the hall lights looked almost turquoise in color, and she wondered where she had seen those eyes before, before muttering an apology and walking out the door to apparrate with Bill.
"But My Lord, surely she vill come around." he pleaded.
A dark chuckle echoed throughout the room.
"She has, according to her Guardians, always been like traitors in her family, more than her parents. She has disgraced her blood for years with that blood-traitor boy. Though...both are of pure-heritage. Both from the Black line, if I'm not mistaken. Perhaps we can convince them otherwise, concerning their loyalties. Lord Voldemort is very forgiving, you see...and I dislike the spilling of magical blood, especially the richness which both pocess."
The boy nodded eagerly.
"It would be highly amusing to once again gain the upper hand over that old fool, taking two of his trusted fighters under my control..."
"You are so clever, My Lord. You could do it, bring two of his truest fighters to your side...it would weaken them substantially." Thantos Stict said quietly.
"It would, wouldn't it?" Another dark chuckle. " But I get it from my sources she won't leave the boy. They are...in love."
Laughter broke out around the room, taunting and mocking at the phrase.
"She doesn't know how to love, the little bitch!" Bellatrix shrieked happily.
"She's left him before. And he her." Lucius drawled.
"Yes, but would she leave him again? If she left him, you could certainly have her, Vaine...she's of pure-blood and nobility, pocessing the Black traits. If we can turn her from her strayed ways I'd welcome her to the family." Voldemort said with a wave of his hand and an arrogant grin.
"We wouldn't even be having this conversation, had she been at the Ministry like she was supposed to." Bellatrix spit, glaring at the woman on the floor.
"Dear, impatient, Bella...if we can avoid spilling her blood, the mixed blood of two of my most loyal servants, than it shall be done...I'm sure Ebony dear didn't mean to give false information..."
"No...no my Lord...I thought she would...but..." Ebony whispered hoarsely from her spot on the cold hard floor, her head bleeding.
"My Lord," Snape murmured, sparing a glance at Ebony, his face impassive " I've been told that someone tipped Professor Umbridge off, who then stopped Black from leaving teh Castle via Dumbledore's fireplace."
"Oh? And who tipped off the Ministry Professor?"
"That, I'm afraid, I am unaware of."
Someone shited in their chair, the rustling echoed throughout the room.
"Someone seems to have protected her. I'm curious as to whom..." Voldemort said.
"I doubt, it was anyone within this group, as none of us would have been able to reach Hogwarts...and no one here seems to keen on keeping Black alive..." Snape replied cooly.
"Indeed. Then there is a perceptive rat at Hogwarts...oh how fun." Voldemort murmured with a grin.