It's ALIVE!
Hey, I'm back. I graduated from college in May, moved home, planted my garden, painted the house, bing-watched Parks and Rec, went out of state for Memorial Day, and finally settled down to write this chapter. It isn't very long, I'm very rusty, the next chapter will likely be huge and exciting enough to make up for this.
Chapter 55
Sirius was oddly proud of the little plants sprouting up in his new garden, though Remus had commented on the gardens total lack of organization. He, Tonks and Remus were up in the loft of Sirius's house, and Sirius was gazing fondly out the window at his fledgling garden, conveniently forgetting how opposed to it he'd been a few weeks ago. Remus was pouring over Sirius's desk, catching himself up on the current political situation, and Tonks was stretched out on the floor with the cat on her chest.
"So the Toad has denied any and all involvement in the plot against Mad-Eye," she said, hoisting the cat into the air as he meowed in protest, "but her underlings might be persuaded to talk eventually. Enough of it has come to light that an official apology to Mad-Eye has been issued, but we're getting opposition from within the department to launch an inquiry at her."
Sirius grunted in frustration, turning his attention to his cousin and his cat, who looked as if he might scratch her nose off in a moment.
"At least Moody has been vindicated, and the provocation has stopped."
Tonks hummed in agreement, though she was still frowning in disapproval of her departments divided stance. Their conversation was interrupted by Remus, who was looking up from Kreature's reports for the first time since sitting down to read them.
"Is this report correct?" He asked, waving a page in the air, "Malfoy has withdrawn his opposition of our allies in the Wizengamot?"
Sirius nodded, and Tonks sat up and reached for the report, which her soon-to-be husband handed to her. She read it quickly, her expression darkening.
"I don't understand," she finally said, "he's been strongly positioned for years, and he's backing off now? I thought we haven't been able to get anything solid enough to force him down."
"We haven't," Sirius said, "but we have forced many of his contacts into retreat, and his old pals have been forced out of positions of power. He's likely backing down to lay in wait of the right opportunity to strike back at us. He's never liked to act alone, and he's smart enough to act defeated in order to avoid public humiliation or political scandal."
"Either that, or he's up to something even more subtle…" Remus muttered, and Sirius shot him a curious look. "Think about it, Sirius; Malfoy really hates to lose. His family is known for staying in the background until one political side had begun to overwhelm their opposition, at which point they declare their loyalty to those who come out on top. For all he knows Voldemort is dead, never to return, and we're coming into power."
Tonks pulled a disgusted face. "You think he's capable of putting his pride aside and aligning himself with us? Because I don't see that happening, even if we would accept him."
"Maybe not standing with us, but not standing against us either." Remus replied. "And we must remember that the sins of the father are not placed on his children; if Lucius's son is not taught to hate us, we might see some change for the better in the future generations."
Sirius was now making a face similar to the one Tonks was making. "You might be right that he's maneuvering to avoid opposing us politically, but as for the other stuff, I'll never trust a Malfoy."
"Hmmm," Remus hummed, turning back to the desk, "just as I remember many a young Gryfinndor saying in our Hogwarts years; I don't care what house you're in, I'll never trust a Black."
Sirius flinched uncomfortably, and Remus continued. "If I remember correctly, it was James who set those people straight, by wand point occasionally. Perhaps you should ask Arya what she thinks of the matter."
Tonks was nodding thoughtfully from the floor. "He's right, Sirius. I got the same treatment at school, when my classmates learned I was your cousin, that Bellatrix was my aunt. Just because a family is rotten doesn't' mean we get to judge the children by the parent's actions."
Sirius let his breath out in a frustrated puff, and forced himself to unclench his hands. "Fine, you're right, and I'll try to keep an open mind. But kids who learn hate at their parent's knees don't usually stray far from their beliefs. Andromeda and I made it out of that life because we met the right people at the right time and that allowed us to see past our upbringing. Of the five of us, only two made it out in time to avoid the dark mark."
Remus and Tonks nodded solemnly, and went back to their previous pursuits.
Bored and looking for a way to lift his mood, Sirius took a small mirror from his pocket and wandered downstairs while he waited to see if Arya took his call. It had been awhile since he'd talked with her at length, and since her Saturday was free of classes he hoped she'd be able to chat.
The mirror stopped flashing and his daughters face appeared in the depths of the small surface.
"Arya! How you holding up? Aren't exams in a few weeks?"
"Exams?! Right! Yes, two weeks… Doing fine." She sounded very distracted, and Sirius heard who he thought was Hermione in the background, making destressed noises at the mention of exams.
"Are you alright? Is something happening, because I can be down there in seconds-"
"What? No, everything is fine! I'm just distracted is all, with exams, and no one has found anything out about the unicorns, it's almost the end of the year and no news about the Stone either, and I've had no time to think about who's behind all this because of the dragon, and…" She seemed to realize she'd said too much, because she fell silent and stared at him with a chagrined look at his horrified face.
Sirius managed to unlock his jaw, and gave a strangled shout of "DRAGON? What do you mean, DRAGON?"
Hermione's panicked face appeared over Arya's shoulder. "Just a little one mister Black, sir, just a baby!"
Arya was now nodding vigorously. "It really is just a baby, barely breathing fire at all!" Half of her right eyebrow was singed off, and some of Hermione's hair looked charred. Sirius opened his mouth to reply, by she rolled over him, "And we're getting rid of it! Tonight."
Sirius took a deep breath to steady his fraying nerves. "And how exactly are you getting rid of a baby dragon?"
A lot of people would pay a lot of money to get their hands on a dragon young enough to subdue, but they were also the type of people one would find skulking down Knockturn alley. If his daughter was planning on meeting with a dragon dealer, he was putting his foot down.
Arya seemed to read his mind, even though he knew that was impossible through the mirror. "It's nothing shady, Sirius! Do you really think I'd sell a dragon to someone who would chain it up to guard their treasure, or drain its blood for potions? We contacted Ron and Ginny's brother in Romania and arranged a drop with some of his colleagues. Ron doesn't even know, since he refuses to learn occlemency…"
Did that mean Arya was teaching her friends? He shouldn't be surprised by that, nor by the fact that Hermione had apparently progressed further than the others.
Hermione was nodding along with her, and Sirius relaxed a bit. Friends of Charlie Weasleys weren't likely a bad sort, and the dragon would go to a sanctuary amongst its own kind instead of into an abuser's hands.
"Great. How are you smuggling it to the smugglers?
"A very steady, fireproof crate, the invisibility cloak, and the tunnel under the whomping willow. They wanted to meet on the top of the astrology tower, but how in Merlin's name they expected to just fly through Hogwarts boundaries is beyond me… And hauling a dragon through a heavily patrolled castle didn't sound fun either. We had to use an express post owl to get the change of plans to them in time."
More relaxed now that he knew the full story and was remaining calm, Arya began to chat of more mundane topics, and it was now Sirius who was a bit distracted. He didn't ask who the dragon belonged to, because he was sure there could only be one suspect (bloody hell Hagrid, a dragon?) and he was also wondering if Dumbledore had his fingers in the pie. Everyone knew you couldn't just fly into Hogwarts with no invitation, and only the Headmaster had full power over the castles protection. If those dragon workers thought they could fly to the Astrology tower, it was likely Dumbledore had given them permission.
He had never figured out how that man knew absolutely everything that went on in that castle.
Later that night, as the last light drained from the sky over the castle and stars began to appear in the sky, Dumbledore stood at his office window looking down at the dark figures stirring outside of Hagrid's cabin. With the charm on his half-moon spectacles improving his vision he could make out Arya Potter and Hermione Granger next to the unmistakable figure of Hagrid, who appeared to be crying over the slightly smoking crate on the ground.
Dumbledore's heart went out to the man. Few people he knew had the capacity for caring the way that Hagrid did, and he always grew attached to those the rest of society feared or rejected. But it could not be helped; dragons could not live in wooden cabins, and they needed the care of their own kind to flourish. At least with this arrangement he would not be punished for letting his tender heart get the best of him, and Dumbledore felt proud that Arya had come up with such a clean solution.
Both the girls and the dragon crate disappeared under the cloak, and Dumbledore watched the grass flatten along the path to the willow, which froze in contradiction to the breezy night air. He sighed, turning away from the window, and spoke to the portraits on the wall.
"Quirrell's current position?"
"Library, sir!" Piped up a former headmistress. "Portraits report that Minerva has eyes on him."
"Good, good… He will likely not make a move until I leave the castle. If I do not come up with a believable excuse to vacate the premise soon the curse will no doubt move things along for us. I will schedule a disturbance for after exams, in case it is noisier than planned. Minerva would never forgive me if I disrupted the finale testing. Anything else going on that I should know about?"
He settled behind his desk and clasped his fingers gently under his chin as the chatter from the portraits filled the room. Most was information that was irrelevant, and much of it petty. To him it was invaluable. He knew the gossip, the friendships and rivalries that filled his halls, he deduced rumors from facts and sorted the information in his mind. He was headmaster of Hogwarts, and to him that meant more than running the school, - it meant that he was guider and protector to every child left in his care.
If his heart twisted because he was letting one student and her friends run into more danger than any of the others combined, his head at least knew that it was necessary.
