Chapter 24: On the Right Path

Chapter 24

On the Right Path

Remus pulled out his wand and motioned her to lead him towards the noise. Slowly she moved towards the door when a rather loud crash came from the back of the house. They made their way down a long hall. There were steps towards the back, but they noticed a door to the left and thought they should check that first. As they entered the room, Hailee noticed that it was a study. It was a rather dark room with books lining shelves around the perimeter and a large oak desk in the middle. Just what Hailee had been looking for she noticed the large snakes carved into the wood and shivered. As they approached the desk, they heard a crash from above and then a large bird buzzed Hailee's head. It landed on the desk in front of them. The poor bird's feathers were askew and it looked thin.

"This must be the Malfoy's owl. Look what is tied to its leg?" Remus wondered aloud.

They slowly made their way towards the bird it snapped at them. Hailee raised her hands and froze the bird mid take off. Remus walked over to the bird and took the letter off its leg. Hailee took the bird carefully towards the front door. She set it on the ground. Then went to the front door leaving it open only a crack she said, "enervate". Without looking back, the bird took off and headed high into the sky.

"Hailee, I think we have something here," Remus called from behind her. "Here read this."

Remus handed her the letter.

Dearest Severus,

I know this is hard for you, please be patient my darling. We can be together very soon. Lucius and Draco are in Azkaban. I must deal with some of the legalities. Soon, my love, you will not have to answer to that mud blood lover Albus Dumbledore. These last years have been so hard to be without you, but in the Dark Lord's service, we will have greatness. Soon darling very soon we will be as one and Lucius that fool will be dead.

Eternally

Narcissa

"Oh my goodness, Dumbledore has to have this now! Remus, he is in terrible danger. Snape That git is playing him. Did you save Fawkes's feather?" Hailee exclaimed.

"No, it burst into flames when I removed the letter," Remus said.

"You are going to have … No … MERLIN!" Hailee yelled.

Just then, a beautiful phoenix appeared before her. "I need to get a message to Dumbledore Merlin but I need a feather and you need to return to Harry. Is that ok" Hailee asked the phoenix? Merlin turned and allowed Hailee to remove a tail feather. He turned to let out a quivering note and disappeared as fast as he had appeared. Hailee grabbed a piece of parchment from the desk and handed it to Remus. "Write to him; tell him we will bring proof when we return but to beware."

Remus scribbled onto the parchment.

Albus,

We have become aware of a problem. DO NOT TRUST SEVERUS. We will bring it back when we have completed our mission.

Remus and Hailee

Hailee took the parchment from Remus and attached it to the phoenix feather. She said Dumbledore and it vanished.

Hailee looked at Remus. "What is it, Remus?"

"Well, I saw the Weasley's. They are with Charlie, I don't know exactly what happened to him, but he was hurt pretty badly in the battle to save the Grangers. They were all there, except George. No one has seen him. I didn't tell them that he had left us but … What on earth is he playing at?" Remus informed her.

"I don't know Remus he hasn't been the same since at least the train ride, but I don't know maybe it is all just getting to him. We haven't talked much lately." Hailee said.

Remus looked like he was thinking hard about something, but Hailee interrupted him. "Maybe be we should move on Remus." She suggested.

"I just keep thinking we are missing something. Let's find the bedrooms and check them too. "Remus mumbled.

They went upstairs checking each room, they found nothing. At the end of the hall, Remus opened the door to find what had to be the bedroom of none other than Draco. Hailee moved towards the desk at the far side. Sitting down behind it, she started to check the drawers. Remus was looking at the bedside table and the closet. Hailee found his letter from Hogwarts. Draco had gotten only four O.W.L.S.

She found a diary. Flipping through the pages, she read.

Sent to Dark Lord today, He burned that disgusting dark mark on my arm. I hate the way it looks. I hate Great Hangleton. How am I going to do all that he wants of me? I can't begin to be so savage. There are classier was of going about this. We should just put them all in Azkaban and forget those vile creatures existed. That is a good job for the dementors. I am all for the purity of blood but murder. Mother says I am a coward, but why should I dirty my hands with Mud Bloods when I can avoid them just as easily. Mother says I must be a real man and take on my Father's duties since he was so careless to get himself caught by that mud blood Potter. Potter will not win this battle even with his sister at his side. She is annoying; if she wasn't a filthy mud blood, too I might consider her for my own…

Hailee quit reading as she about tossed her cookies. "Not a snowballs chance on the equator." She thought. "Remus I think I found Voldemort. Little Hangleton is outside of a larger Village, Great Hangleton. That is where they took Draco for his meeting with Voldemort. He was marked as a death eater. "Hailee told Remus.

"Oh, Hailee this is getting more and more twisted. Let's just make our way towards the Riddle house and we can go from there. "Remus advocated.

"Ok, Remus but you look like you could use something to eat. Let's go into town, have a coffee, get our barrings, find a map, make a plan and then we can apparate where we need to. how do you feel about changing our original plan in a very short amount of time we have gone from being a quartet to a duo. I'm quite confident in us I have this gnawing feeling we should get going as quickly as we can. I get the feeling that we should all be together. Remus, are you getting ill? "Hailee asked.

"No it is about a week from the full moon and I am starting to get tired. I didn't get my wolfbane potion last time and it takes a lot more out of me when I don't." Remus admitted.

"Can Dumbledore brew it in time? I must admit I do not know that much about your potion." Hailee inquired.

"Yes, I think he can."

"We will have to hurry up and get this done then we can go back to headquarters and if Dumbledore is busy we will make the potion. I am quite adept at brewing potions. Remind me and we will stop for the ingredients and a book of such potions in Diagon Alley on our way back."

Remus nodded and said. "Thank you, Hailee. We are so lucky that you came to us now." standing in the ruins of the Malfoy estate Remus hugged Hailee for the first in her life Hailee felt like she belonged.

With that, they headed out of the Malfoy Estate and down the road towards town. After a twenty-minute hike, they came upon a town that was bustling with activity. They found a small café and ordered burgers and fries. After they ate, they made their way towards the alley. After making sure that, there wasn't anyone around Remus apparated both of them to outside the village of Little Hangleton. It didn't take long to figure out what direction to go as everyone in town was talking about the fire last night. "Did you hear the noise, the firemen said it was uncontrollable, Riddle, Exploded the house did." They followed the

the direction of gossip across the small town. The end of the street brought them to the ruins of what was the Riddle House.

The house looked like a bomb had hit it. There was debris scattered out from where the house had once stood. An elderly man was standing there looking up at the house.

He looked at Remus and Hailee. "Did you know those people? That poor young girl caught off guard like that. She was hurtled back about one hundred feet. Got some nasty burns on her back. No one knew her either. We saw a strange bunch in and out of here…. Oh sorry, the names... Phillip… Phillip Moreo." The man extended his hand.

Remus took his hand and shook it. "Lupin, Remus Lupin and this is my daughter Hailee." Hailee knew that he was just saving time by calling her his daughter but she liked it. It felt so right. "We were making our way through town and heard the rumours. They seemed so unbelievable we thought we would have a look for ourselves."

The man accepted this and said, "Nice to meet you Remus and you too Hailee but I must be off to work now. Good luck in your travels." Then Phillip Moreo turned on his heel and walked back down the street where Remus and Hailee and just come from.

"Young Girl you don't suppose it was Ginny. Do you?" Hailee wondered.

"I don't know but I think we have to check it out. If it is then she will need some proper care at St. Mungo's" Remus replied.

They went a few blocks and asked a young woman where they could find the local hospital, and she pointed them in the right direction. When they entered the building, Remus went to the desk and said, "I am looking for my niece. I was informed; she might have been in an accident last night. The explosion at the Riddle house." Remus waited for the women to respond.

"You are her Uncle. Funny I don't see the family resemblance. She had such flaming red hair. Anyway, she was taken to a burn centre in London. I will get you the information you need. "