Thirty-Eight

Coerced Information

Alex awoke to a strange trembling sensation and a hollow, metallic howling sound that seemed to come from all around her. It was cold, and she was lying uncomfortably on a hard stone floor with only her head propped up. Finally she felt her fingers twitch and then she was able to grimace… a tingly feeling going through her as little by little her muscles woke up. Finally she was able to blink, a bit startled when she realized that someone was over her with a phial in hand.

"Ssh, don't make too much noise. Are you all right?" the figure whispered. She gazed at him until she was able to focus on his eyes.

"Ben?" Alex murmured, quite disoriented. "Where are we?"

"Work," Ben said dryly. "Here, drink this. It's alright, just a Pep-up I found in your emergency wallet."

"Since when do you know anything about potions," Alex said, sitting up with his assistance.

They seemed to be in a large, dark basement filled with boxes of paper records. A metal staircase led up to a door, while on the other side of the room partially visible behind the stairwell was a narrow unlit hallway. The only furniture to speak of was a single large desk that sat on a few squares of wooden flooring in one corner. It had a small, rather uncomfortable looking chair, and the desk itself was empty except for a few dangling wires, a desk lamp, and a couple of family pictures.

"Let's get you into the chair," Ben insisted, getting up.

"This is such a strange place. Do you really work here?" Alex asked in confusion.

"Did," Ben corrected, helping her over to his corner. "Let me get you some water."

"What is that awful noise?"

"Oh. We're next to and slightly under a tube station," Ben explained. "Back through that hall there's a metal door that actually leads to the sewers. My supervisor always goes that way when he's going home, so I think it might connect to Myrkinbrek somehow."

"Your supervisor is a goblin?"

"I think I've mentioned him to you before. He's one of the reasons you need to keep it down, though, because I think the Horsemen put him on guard duty," Ben said.

As he went to get some water, Alex fiddled with the light, turning the hood so that she could see better. That was when she frowned, noticing how thin and pale Ben looked. She had thought it had been the lighting at first, but now she was quite sure it was something else.

"Are you all right?" Alex asked. "And where are Jay and Rus?"

"Hopefully they're still right where they should be. How did they find you?" Ben asked.

"I went home to… well, I went home to pick up a few things," Alex admitted. "When I came home to an empty house and the boys' room all ransacked, I got worried, so I sent a flame up to Mum… Father answered. When I told him what's been going on, he told me that he thought you might be in danger…"

"Oh no. Don't tell me he's coming after us!" Ben said in dismay.

"Probably, but why do you say it like that? Aren't you relieved?" Alex asked. Ben suddenly looked around, hearing someone at the door. Alex gasped, noticing his neck. "Ben, you've been bitten!" she said.

"Oh… I was wondering if I had been," Ben said, rubbing his neck distractedly but watching the handle turn on the door. A gnarled goblin poked his head and sneered before coming down the stairs.

"I thought I heard yapping down here," the goblin said.

"Knifetongue, my supervisor," Ben explained.

"I've heard of him," Alex said quietly. "He used to be with Earsinge's mining company. He's a radical from Heckletown."

"We prefer to call ourselves libertarians," the goblin said, baring his fangs.

"I'm surprised that you'd suffer taking orders from any wizard, considering how you feel about all of us," Alex said.

"I hate Snapes more," he decided. "And anyone who promises to rid this world of Snapes is an ally, at least for the time being."

"We have been friends to the goblins for years!" Alex protested.

"Allies to the bank, maybe," Knifetongue snarled.

"Er…no, we've never been that," Alex said, shaking her head.

"Haven't you? Considering all of the times your family has interfered and negotiated with them to prevent a war?" Knifetongue said with distaste. "We yearn for war! We yearn for a chance to wipe your kind out of existence! And Snape has to go and 'smooth things over' time after time to try and prevent it. As for you, I have not yet gotten vengeance for what Platt did to my nephew!"

"He didn't know the daggers were poisoned, Knifetongue! That was Napescar's doing!" Alex snapped. "We were only children, and Xavier was just trying to protect me!"

"Spare me the argument that you were children, it means nothing considering your stupid enough to be seeing him now," Knifetongue said in distaste.

"We're just friends," Alex said firmly.

"Liar! Do you think I'm a fool?" the goblin snarled and suddenly leapt up, backhanding her hard. Alex fell backwards into the wall rubbing the side of her face and looking quite dazed. Benjamin didn't speak, walking stiffly over to her and offering her a hand up with an unusually stony expression.

"That's enough, Knifetongue," said a harsh voice. A robed figure descended the stairs. "It's pointless to attack her before she's interrogated."

"And am I going to be allowed to take part in this interrogation?" Knifetongue asked with apparent interest.

"That's up to your boss," the cloaked figure said.

"Then I think I'll go ask now," the goblin sneered, baring his fangs before turning and stomping up the stairs. The cloaked figure watched him close the door before finally sighing and turning back around. "You're making things more difficult for yourself. You might as well cooperate so that they'll go easier on you."

"Don't they usually send down the bad cop before the good cop?" Alex asked.

"Wha?"

"Maybe the goblin is the bad cop," Ben suggested.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I am being serious here," the figure snapped.

"Well, which one are you? I mean, which of the Horsemen?" Alex asked.

"I am Conquest."

"You mean you're Pestilence," Alex said.

"Conquest."

"Pestilence."

"Look. I researched it myself… it's true that Conquest brings about pestilence in its wake, probably because of razing the land and the dead they leave behind, but the first Horseman is Conquest… pestilence is just a result," he argued. Alex chuckled.

"The only reason they don't call you Pestilence is they probably didn't think you'd go along with joining when you found out you'd be called that," Alex said.

"Would you stop with the mocking Snape attitude already? I'm the only one here who'll help you in the slightest, you know…"

"Then how about helping us get out of here then?" Alex suggested.

"Even if I wanted to help you, they'd kill me for trying," Conquest said. "But honestly, there's really no point risking myself for that because you're going to die no matter where you are. I'm sorry but it's nothing that can really be stopped at this point so I suggest you just take my advice and don't do anything that's going to make your life a living hell until then."

"My life? What about Ben?" Alex said.

"I don't know what they have in mind, but considering they haven't told me anything, it's probably particularly nasty," Conquest said. "I'd better go up and see what's taking that stupid goblin so long."

"Just a minute. I want you to realize the consequences of your decision to leave us in this position, Longbottom," Alex said sternly. The figure stopped halfway up the stairs, but didn't turn or acknowledge the name. "If anything happens to us, your life is going to be on the line no matter what you do. No matter what they've threatened you with, if you're involved in another major crime involving one of my family again, life at Azkaban is the best sentence you can expect. Don't be stupid enough to let this go any further!"

"You look a lot like your mother… pity that you have your father's eyes," Amadeus said, continuing up the stairs. "I'll look after my own interests, thanks. And you'll do well to remember what I said." With that, he went out the door and they heard the sound of him latching it.

"I guess I need to work on my negotiation tactics," Alex said dryly, sliding back down the wall.

"You'd be better off learning how to duck," Ben answered evenly, glancing at the welt on her face.

"I suppose that's because in a way I didn't want to duck," Alex admitted. "Neither did you seem very motivated to help me afterwards. I deserved that one, and we both know it. But I think it's only right that you should also know that I was telling the truth. We are only just friends."

"Please don't try denying you slept with him, Alex," Ben said with a sigh, closing his eyes.

"I'm not denying it in the slightest. I'm simply explaining that emotionally it never really went beyond that," Alex said.

"In some ways that only makes it worse. If you're going to go to the trouble of cheating on me, you could at least have the decency to be in love with him first," Ben said coolly.

"No! You have it all wrong!" Alex shouted angrily. "Love is about family…the one you're born with and the one you create. It's not based solely on romance, which is as much instinct as intimacy. It is a caring that goes deeper all of that, and even deeper than any two people might be feeling about each other on the surface; no matter how angry or upset or frustrated you might get with a person, it's still there. It's certainly not something to be entered into lightly or thrown away lightly, assuming it's even possible to. Considering you can hate and love someone at the same time, I doubt it's that easy."

"You have some nerve saying all of that after the way you've been behaving lately! Or is that why you did it in the first place? You just assumed that everyone would forgive you for crossing the line? Talk about taking love for granted…"

"I can't take it for granted when I didn't have it!" Alex snapped back. "I lost all of that when I left! You and the boys formed a bond I couldn't touch anymore, and I lost my dream of a family entirely! I wanted to be a stay-at -home mother with no work obligations and nothing to stand in the way of just being there for Jay and Rus, and it was stolen from me all because of this accursed ability of mine. I didn't want a career or a life outside of their view…fleeting glimpses of me on the odd day the nanny takes the day off. I didn't want to become my mother!" she said, choking on her own words.

"My mother raised two children on her own, and I didn't want to become mine either!" Ben shouted back. "Life isn't fair, Alex! But that doesn't mean you or I have the right to rip each other apart because we don't like it! And love isn't just supposed to get 'lost' just because you happen to live somewhere else! That doesn't give you the right to take advantage of the situation!"

"It also doesn't give you the right of stealing the affections of our children!" Alex retorted. Benjamin blinked.

"Don't tell me this was some sort of punishment because you were jealous of me, Alex."

"I'm jealous of everyone! Everyone seems to have a right to live their life the way they want to but me!" Alex said angrily.

Ben simply stared at her, breaking the barrage of shouts with a single look, and allowing enough silence that the two of them realized there were others in the room. In fact, all four of the horsemen were at the bottom of the stairs, watching the exchange.

"If there ever was any doubt that Alexandria was her father's daughter, let them rest now," Death sneered.

"She sounds just like him," Conquest agreed. "Especially back when he was teaching."

"No one asked you! What do you want of me, anyway?" Alex barked at the horsemen.

"Uncanny," War agreed. "Shall we test the spell on her to see if it works?"

"No, they may catch on to what it does before we get to our main target," Death said. "Besides, I want to see what she knows in case she passed on the information. War?"

"Don't come near me," Alex warned, taking a defensive stance as the wizard pulled out a phial. "That's the same batch of Veritiserum you tried to give my uncle, isn't it?"

"It's definitely poisoned. It's the wrong color," Ben agreed. Alex stood back up and stared at him.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Duck, Alex!" Ben barked.

"Oh no, not again," Conquest groaned, wondering if was going to be a repeat of what happened with Maurice. But at that instant the flash of a spell came from behind him and Alex immediately crumbled, her legs buckling underneath her.

"Restrain her," Famine ordered.

Ben suddenly found himself walking over to her and pulling her arms behind her back. Alex cried out in pain, and then cried out again when Ben yanked her to her feet.

"I can't help it! How am I hurting you?" Ben asked in dismay.

"Medieval nerve spell," Alex said, gritting her teeth.

"Servants should be seen and not heard," Famine said calmly. Ben glared angrily at him but didn't speak again.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Death suggested. Smiling thinly, War approached and was easily able to pour the liquid down her throat. She coughed, wincing every time. "Name and current occupation?"

"Alexandria Selezin' Clemmons, assistant to Draco Malfoy," she murmured, trying to minimize her mouth movements despite being forced to answer.

"Correct title?" Death pressed with a snarl.

"Mrs," she said, and then got slapped on the face with a glove.

"Correct job title?"

"Minister of Mysteries," Alex heard herself say.

"And who held that title before you?" Death asked, but met silence. "Another dose."

"We still don't know exactly what all he put in that," Conquest warned.

"It doesn't matter," Death said, and War happily poured another phial down her throat. "Who held that title before you?"

"S…Sal Ricks," she sobbed. Death made a gesture of dismissal, and War went back up the stairs.

"And before Ricks?"

"Ludovic Bagman."

"And where is Bagman now?" Death asked.

"Azkaban prison, unless you four know something I don't," Alex said.

"He hasn't broken out of jail if that is what you're implying," Death said before Conquest could react. "Do you know our real identities?"

"Some."

"Then who are we?" Death asked.

"Nelson, Longbottom, Foncé, and you, a former member of Equinox."

"And who else knows this information?"

"Everyone in the Ministry, practically," she admitted.

"And who know you are Minister of Mysteries?" he asked.

"Draco, Percy, Rel, Harry, and Grandfather… and Maurice, apparently."

"Would any of them suspect you are missing?" Death asked.

"N…no," Alex said, but Death squinted at the hesitation.

"But someone knows something, is that it? Who might suspect you are missing?" he asked.

"My father," Alex said miserably. Death gave her a thin triumphant smile.

"Excellent," Death said. "I will have to write him a letter to find on your corpse when he arrives so that he knows where to meet us."

"You're going to kill them now?" Conquest said in surprise. "Why now? Why not just wait until-"

"I am not foolish enough to wait and give her a chance to escape. She is a Minister of Mysteries, after all, she could free herself out of any situation if given enough time. Besides, keeping her here would be a complete waste of resources, especially since she won't survive anyway. Dispose of them, Famine." Death said, turning for the stairs.

"What? But he'll turn them into vampires!" Conquest protested when Death pointed for him to go ahead of him.

"Turn a Snape into a vampire? Don't make me nauseous. I have some standards to whom I father. Besides, one new servant will be more than enough," he said, taking out a goblin dagger and handing it out to Benjamin. "Kill her, then I will finish what I started."

"No! No, please!" Ben begged, but found himself shifting to take the dagger and still maintain his grip on her.

"A fitting end, I think," said Knifetongue with glee, holding the door for Conquest and Death. "And when it comes out she was killed by a goblin dagger, the younger Platt will surely come to challenge it."

"I don't like loose ends, such nasty things to have," Death said, apparently oblivious to Benjamin's begging cries as the door shut.

"Help me! Please someone help me, I can't stop myself!" Ben said with tears of terror in his eyes.

"It's not your fault," Alex murmured quietly, shutting her eyes.

"Enough of this mortal sniveling. Finish her. Now!" Famine ordered.

What Ben murmured next, Alex didn't really hear, closing her eyes and bracing herself as he raised the dagger. She felt his arm moving from around her and knew it was coming, crying out when something prickly hit her chest, followed by a fist. Something prickly? She opened her eyes to see a ruined bouquet of flowers in Ben's hand.

"Ow," Alex said as an afterthought. "I'm quite certain that's going to leave a bruise."

"What is this?" Famine hissed. "Impossible! Where did that come from?"

"Mercy is here!" called out a voice, and Famine turned just as the House Elf appeared.

"Mercy will not let you hurt them anymore! Mercy is here to right her wrongs!"

"I know how to deal with the likes of you," Famine said, drawing his wand.

Immediately Ben reacted, coming out from behind Alex and throwing the bouquet. By the time it had reached Famine's hand it had turned into a dagger again and pierced his hand. Famine simply stared at his hand in surprise, turning it to gas long enough for the dagger to drop.

"You will pay for that, slave," Famine snarled, reaching for his wand. But the wand immediately floated up and out of his reach.

"You will not touch them!" Mercy warned, a blinding light flashing brightly through the room.

"What is going on down there?" Death barked from above while Conquest hurried down the stairs with his wand out, returning the light to normal. Famine stood with his arm over eyes, his hand still carrying a dark hole from where the dagger had been.

"I don't believe it, you actually let them escape? You idiot!" Conquest shouted at him.

"How dare you raise your voice to me? I will have you hung with meat hooks!" Famine snarled, turning to attack.

"Save it, Famine! How did they escape?" Death demanded.

"The House Elf came back," Famine said.

"Then send the other one to catch her," Death ordered.

"I'll do it, he sometimes listens to me," Conquest said.

"I will find them. I will find them and finish them," Famine swore.

"Too bad you didn't do that the first time so we didn't run the risk of them getting away," Conquest said.

"There are not too many places they could go in her current condition," Death mused.

"Famine check the surrounding tunnels. I will check the Ministry. Conquest, you will go to the hospital," Death said. Conquest went up the stairs.

"I do not trust him. If they show up at the hospital, that flesh sponge is not likely to kill them," Famine warned. "Let me have him and I will make certain he carries out his orders."

"You cannot check up on him in the day, Famine, and even if it wasn't, you would be better off worrying more about your own orders. The last thing we need right now is to be at one another's throats." Smiling privately at the irony of his statement, Famine simply bowed his head slightly and slipped off towards the tunnels.