Erwin's Message from The Burrow
It was a grim Sunday morning the day after their Hogsmeade visit. The Young Order, along with the rest of the school it seemed, were oddly quiet during breakfast time.
'Are we all going to visit Evan and Regulus after breakfast?' Alice asked in an attempt to break the silence.
'Sev and I were planning on it,' Lily answered. 'Though I doubt if madam Pomfrey will allow all of us in at once.'
'I don't care,' said Frank, looking cranky as he was playing with his food. 'I need to see them.'
Owls started to pour in, and soon the great hall was filled with letters baring messages from concerned parents. An owl had also dropped in for Severus, delivering the Daily Prophet as usual.
Severus spread out the paper in front of the group for everyone to see. The news on the attack had made it to the front page, including the names of Regulus and Evan, but not by whom they were attacked.
'This is bad,' said Remus, looking grim. 'So very bad.'
'No mention whatsoever of Bellatrix Black or Lucius Malfoy,' Severus gritted through his teeth as he rolled up the paper. 'Somehow I doubt Crouch even bothered to question Malfoy. The things I'd do to slip that bastard some truth serum.'
As Severus tucked the paper in his pocket, a spotted owl was soaring above him. Gracefully the owl landed in front of him, held out her paw bearing a message and a package, and left right after Severus untied it.
Once he unrolled the parchment however, nothing seemed to be written on it.
'What you got there, Sev?' Lily asked.
'No clue,' he answered, holding up both sides for Lily to see. 'The letter is empty.'
'That's odd,' Lily said, still looking at the parchment as if she expected something to appear. 'Maybe whoever send it made a mistake. What about the package?'
Severus shrugged. 'No clue, but for all I know the package may be unsafe,' he said, and tucked the empty letter and the package in his backpack. Severus knew better of course, than to think it was just an empty sheet of paper. Damocles hadn't exactly been hiding his recipe for the wolfsbane potion the first time, so the only other person Severus assumed this had come from was Erwin.
'I can't bare eating any more food,'said Frank. 'Shall we just go to the hospital wing and sneak in?'
They all agreed with Frank's statement and headed their way towards the hospital wing in a pack.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't around, so they all took the risk to sneak inside and found Evan and Regulus's beds aside from each other.
Evan was looking bad. He had a large gash on the side of his head that Severus recognized as his own Sectumsempra spell, and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for sharing that spell with anyone else. He knew how to heal it, but couldn't do it in front of everyone else without raising suspicion.
On the other side of the curtain that separated the two beds was Regulus, who was already sitting upright eating breakfast. 'Wut bwings yall here?' Regulus asked with a mouth full of food. 'Siwius jus' left.'
'Checking in on how you're doing, of course,'said Alice. 'And Evan, but he still seems to be out cold.'
Severus pulled out the newspaper from his pocket and handed it to Regulus.
The difficulty in which Regulus read the paper made it clear that he wasn't going to be released from the hospital wings any time soon. Through the process of reading, his face started to fall.
'My parents will know,' Regulus said with a shaking voice. 'They will know and they are not going to be happy.'
'What is it that they'll know?' Mary asked.
'My parents are avid supporters of the Dark Lord,' Regulus said, his hands running through his hair in frustration. 'The fact that Sirius is rebelling against that is bad enough, but now they'll know about me too…'
'Regulus,' Severus said as he took the paper back, 'I say this to anyone who's putting up a resistance against the Dark Lord, but if you're looking for protection, Dumbledore can help you out.'
'I talked to Evan about that as well,'said Regulus. 'He told me all about what Dumbledore could do for me if I ever need it.'
'Then please do so once you're released from hospital,' Severus urged him.
'I will,' Regulus assured him. 'Are you all still going to have a meeting today?'
'Haven't really thought about that,' said Frank. 'But if everyone's up for it, I would like to continue today.'
'Evan won't be able to introduce Occlumency though,' Mary said. 'At least not for a while.'
'There's still Lily who wants to go through sign language with us too,' said Severus. 'Evan and Regulus will just have to catch on later.'
'Sorry Regulus,' Lily said to him. 'I'll help you through what you and Evan are missing out though.'
Regulus shrugged it off. 'I'm sure I'll be back by next week. It's a good thing I learn quick enough.'
'Before we leave Regulus,' Severus said, looking around to see if madam Pomfrey was somehow lurking around the corner, 'do you have any idea what Malfoy was after?'
'No clue,' Regulus answered. 'Sorry to disappoint.'
The group decided that it would be best to leave before madam Pomfrey caught sight of them, and headed for the Room of Requirement. Severus could've sworn once they left the hospital wing, he saw Vanity sneak in as well, probably to visit Evan.
Once there, after Frank's usual lesson, Lily taught the class the very basics of sign language. After she made sure everyone had warmed up their fingers, she taught them how to sign the first half of the alphabet.
Severus was glad when it was all over. The mysterious letter he had received that morning had started to take over his curiosity, and made him less attentive then usual during the Young Order meetings.
'Lily,' Severus called for her at the end of her lesson. 'Is there anything you need to do in the lab?'
'Not particularly no,' Lily said. 'Why?'
'Would you mind if I spend the rest of the day alone in there?' Severus said, laying out his words carefully. 'There are some things with that wolfsbane potion that I need to focus very intensely on.'
'That's perfectly fine,'said Lily. 'I was planning on spending some time with Alice and Mary anyway.'
'Did I just hear you say wolfsbane?' Remus asked in shock as he passed them on their way out. 'Isn't that a poisonous plant?'
'The leafs are, the roots aren't,' Severus assured him. 'And yes, I am using it for the potion I'm brewing for you.'
Remus's eyes grew big at Severus saying it out loud. 'Could you not—' Remus said in an attempt to argue, but Lily cut him off.
'—I kind of figured it out myself, Remus,' Lily said, making sure no one could hear them. 'And it's fine, I'm not afraid of you, if that makes you feel any better.'
Remus didn't look as if someone not being afraid of you was something to be happy about, but he relaxed a little nonetheless.
'Don't tell anyone, please.'
'My lips are sealed,' Lily assured him.
'The potion ought to be ready by the end of the month,' Severus told Remus.
'Don't I have to drink it the night before my transformation?' Remus asked.
'Sadly, no,'said Severus. 'You'll have to drink it every day two weeks prior to the full moon, and it's not going to be pretty.'
'Whatever it takes,'said Remus, though it was clear he was not looking forward to drinking a potentially deadly potion.
Severus left the group and headed down to the lab. He sat down behind the desk, pulled out his wand, tapped the letter three times and mumbled 'Aparecium.' As expected, letters had started to form on the paper. By the numerous ink blobs on the paper, it was obvious that it was written by someone who wasn't used to writing with ink and quill.
Dear Severus,
News travels fast. I am aware that Hogsmeade has been under attack and that you, Lily, and a few other students have been involved. I can only hope that each and every one of you are safe.
I'm currently in a town called Ottery St. Catchpole, and spend a lot of time out here with Arthur Weasley (who has taken a particular interest in me, I might add) and his wife Molly, both of whom remember you and Lily from their time at Hogwarts. Apparently Molly has been keeping an eye on Lily and some of her friends to join the Order after she graduates. I suppose I can't be mad at Lily for keeping this from me, I am, after all, hiding this from my own wife as well. Arnica still believes that I am meeting up with old friends from my time in the Army, but I don't know how long I will be able to keep up that lie until she finds out.
As for my purpose in the Order, right now they have assigned me to do this thing called background checks. Many of you-know-who's supporters (Arthur has filled me in on that), are just as often registered on Muggle birth certificates as Magical ones. Being ex-military apparently has its privileges, as they often believe I'm only searching for old military friends, and am given free range to search through archives without raising too much suspicion. Also, being a Muggle, I am quite under the radar as I am deemed lesser by these people, which only works in my advantage.
Regarding your father, Severus, there's still much debate going on regarding what happened to you and your mother. Dumbledore is still speculating that magic had been involved, and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if that were true. Dumbledore's main suspicion is that your father may have been something called 'Confunded' rather than (if I remember correctly) 'Imperiused'. I'm not sure how to differentiate between the two, but either way I don't like the sound of either.
As I don't know when I will be able to write again, I added some gifts to this letter for Lily's birthday. They all come from Arnica, Petunia, and me.
I've got to cut this short. Arthur wants me to look at some car- and motorcycle parts that he has acquired and is demanding an explanation on how it all works.
Look after yourself Severus, and I am sure that you are looking after Lily too.
Love,
Dad
Severus couldn't help but smile at the letter. Of course Erwin would be spending time at the burrow, and it was no secret that Muggle loving Arthur Weasley may have had something to do with that.
The fact that Erwin got involved in acquiring background information was a brilliant move on his behalf, so Severus picked up a quill and parchment, and started writing his response. If there was a small chance that Erwin could investigate Bellatrix Black and Lucius's Malfoy's backgrounds, any information would be welcome.
Indeed it was concerning that magic had been involved in his father's trial. A part of him wished that the whole debate would be put to rest and have him locked up for good. A more rational part of him however, knew that if magic had been involved, someone else had been out to get him, and that made it all the more dangerous.
After he finished his letter, Severus used an 'Illegibilus' charm on it so all the letters would be scrambled, and sealed it off with candle wax.
He would show Lily the letter Erwin had sent tomorrow, but for now, it felt good to have some time to himself.
