Chapter 16
Just Rewards
Alaw spent so much time under the invisibility cloak these days that she felt quite naked without it. She'd just finished eating an early dinner and was making her way to her rooms, after bidding Hermione farewell on the second floor landing. The Fat Lady snored softly as Alaw passed her portrait and when she turned onto the west wing corridor, Sir Cadogan jerked out of his own snooze.
"Good evening my lady! You'll be glad to hear that all had been quiet on my watch."
"Good to know. Galahad!"
"Correct!"
The portrait swung open, but before Alaw could step into her room, a spell flashed past her. Alaw yelped and sprang backwards, feeling her hair ruffle in the wake of the jinx.
"Evening Mudblood."
Her heart now thudding, Alaw looked down towards the end of the corridor. Theodore Nott stood there, his wand out, and a triumphant smirk on his pinched face. Alaw drew her wand and prepared herself to run. Sir Cadogan was beside himself.
"Dishonourable cad!" he raged. "How dare you attack a lady from behind! I shall fetch Professor McGonagall!"
"Go ahead, she's still at dinner entertaining that ugly cow from the Ministry," Theodore sneered. "Now then Mudblood, I've been longing to have a little chat with you. Why don't we go somewhere more private?"
He advanced on her with his wand held aloft and Alaw glanced behind her, checking her means of escape. She knew that if she carried on down this corridor, away from Gryffindor Tower, she'd end up in the West Wing. It was an isolated part of the castle, perfect for an ambush.
"My lady! Hide yourself within, and I shall fetch assistance to deal with this villain!" Sir Cadogan urged.
Alaw glanced into the safety of her rooms but Theodore shot another spell at her that she just barely dodged. Alaw ran for it, heading for the West Wing, with Sir Cadogan shouting curses at Theodore as he pursued her. Alaw had to duck and weave as two more hexes were shot after her. She knew if she was hit, all would be lost. She dove through the door at the end so forcefully that it crashed off the wall and made an unholy racket. Alaw now had a choice, turn right down the new corridor, or take the stairs directly opposite her up to the roof. The decision was made for her when a meaty hand shot out from behind a suit of armor and tried to grab the back of her robes. Panicking, Alaw forgot her wand and punched Goyle full in the nose, following it up with a swift kick between the legs. Goyle sunk to his knees, wheezing, and Crabbe, who'd been hiding with him, raised his wand.
"Pituita!" Alaw cried, her own wand barely a few inches from Crabbe's face.
The proximity was apparently helpful as Alaw would normally have been unable to perform the bat-bogey hex, defence never having been her strong suit. Whilst Crabbe howled and tried to beat away the bats now erupting from his nose, Alaw dashed up the stairs. Theodore had by now arrived and shot after her.
"Keep running Mudblood!" he shouted. "Because when I catch you, we're going to fuck you till you can't stand!"
In her panic, Alaw tripped on the stairs and she scrambled to right herself.
"Glacius!" she yelled, jerking her wand behind her. She heard Theodore swear as he slipped on the now ice encrusted steps. When she burst out onto the battlements, Alaw slammed the door shut and slashed her wand in an X movement.
"Coloportus!"
The lock clicked into place and Alaw took a second to collect herself. Coloportus only worked in one's casting was strong enough to counter the Alohamora charm. Alaw waited tensely as she heard the Slytherins reach the door and attempt to open it. The keyhole glowed but the door remained intact. Alaw smiled, proud of her own charms work. However, Coloportus was no defence against -
"Fuck!" Alaw cried, backing away hastily as the door was blown off its hinges by a powerful blasting curse. Theodore was red faced and panting but grinning widely and he stepped over the broken pieces.
"End of the line, Mudblood. Oh I'm going to enjoy this."
Alaw was trapped, her back was pressed against the parapet and Crabbe and Goyle joined their leader and were out-flanking her.
"You do know Voldemort has a thing about killing me himself, right?" Alaw asked, trying not to let her voice shake.
"Oh we're not going to kill you," Theodore said. "No, we're just going to make you wish you were never born. Our Master will be pleased to hear we put you in your place."
"Please send him my regards. NOW!"
Theodore frowned and then he and his cronies shrieked as half a dozen jinxes blasted them from all sides.
Sick of eating alone these days, Draco had opted that evening to sit with Blaise at the Slytherin table. Blaise was good company as he did not require much conversation was usually happy to sit in comfortable silence. That evening however, he interrupted Draco's reading to nudge him in the ribs.
"Hey, isn't that Amelia Bones?
Draco lifted his head from his book and looked up at the staff table. Sure enough, sitting between Professors McGonagall and Sprout was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The three witches were deep in earnest discussion and further down the table, Umbridge kept shooting them suspicious glances.
"What's she doing here?" Draco asked, his brow furrowing. Daphne Greengrass, who was sitting just far enough from them that it couldn't be said that she was sitting with them, said in an undertone,
"I saw her in the village earlier, I think she's visiting her niece. You know, Susan, in Hufflepuff."
Draco glanced over at the Hufflepuff table and watched Susan Bones play chess with Hannah Abbot for a few moments. But then, inevitably, his eyes slid over to the Gryffindor table. He couldn't see Alaw or her friends so he assumed they were eating up in her rooms again. He just hoped she was being careful, Theodore had stepped up his plans to corner her someone isolated and Draco knew he'd been staking out her rooms. Remembering the dragon pendant he'd given her for her birthday last year, Draco wondered if it's protective charm had worn off yet. Surely it had, but Alaw was good with Charms, if he could work out how to enchant the pendant, she definitely could.
"Aw!" Draco cried as Blaise kicked him under the table. "What was that for?!"
"You were gazing wistfully into space," said Blaise flatly. Across the table, Daphne sniggered. Scowling, Draco concentrated on his cottage pie, chewing a little more forcefully than was necessary. Daphne watched him in exasperation.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, why don't you get over yourself already and go and talk to Alaw? It's painfully obvious that you miss her."
Draco fixed Daphne with his coldest sneer.
"Why would I miss that dull, uneducated Mudblood? That potions project last year was torture, she nearly cost me my O.W.L."
Daphne look her head and rolled her eyes.
"Coward," she sniffed contemptuously. "I wouldn't give up so easily on a friend, no matter what Theodore threatened."
"Oh really?" Draco snarled, his temper flaring. "Then tell me, why aren't you sitting with your pal Tracy? After all the jabs Theodore's been making about her mother, I would have thought you'd be sticking by her."
His cruel dig did the trick. Daphne's face went white with fury but she didn't retaliate. Instead, she got up and stomped away to sit with Millicent Bulstrode.
"Well, you handled that gracefully," Blaise said dryly. Draco ignored him and went back to his food.
They managed to get all the way through dinner without incident, but just as Draco was finishing off his apple crumble, there came an almighty BANG from the Entrance Hall. People at the house tables screamed and quite a few glasses of pumpkin juice were upset. Up at the staff table the teachers leaped to their feet and hurried to investigate, though their passage was slowed by the students who also got out of their seats to snoop.
"Everyone remain seated, please!" called Professor McGonagall, but hardly anybody listened.
The Slytherin table was closest to the exit so Draco was able to beat most of the crowd out of the hall. There was already a sizable group of students in the Entrance Hall, all gasping and giggling at the spectacle before them. Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle, trussed up like Christmas turkeys and dangling in midair by their ankles. Their entire bodies were bound by ropes, except their left arms, which had been pulled above their heads and tied together at the wrists. Whoever had done this to them had cut away the sleeves of their robes so that their forearms were bare for all the world to see. Draco felt sick to his stomach as the laughter subsided and the voices in the hall grew shocked and frightened as people caught sight of the dark stain on each Slytherins arm.
By now the teachers had arrived and were trying to negotiate the trapped boys onto the ground without hurting them. Umbridge was barking orders at the students, trying to disperse the crowd, but the cry had already gone up.
"The Dark Mark!"
"They have the Dark Mark!"
"I saw it, on their arms!"
Draco's hand wrapped convulsively around his own concealed tattoo, feeling it's presence more keenly than ever. Blaise, who had followed him out of the Great Hall, glanced at him sharply from the corner of his eye. Blaise didn't know Draco had taken the oath and joined the Death Eaters, Draco had never told a soul, but he suspected. By now, Professor Flitwick had levitated Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle onto the flagstone floor and cut their bonds, but now the atmosphere in the hall was verging on full blown hysteria.
"You have to arrest them aunty!" Susan Bones cried, clutching Madam Bones' arm. "They're Death Eaters!"
"Don't be ridiculous girl!" Umbridge snapped. She looked furious. "The Dark Lord is dead! There are no more Death Eaters!"
The students all around them erupted in protest.
"But the mark! They have the mark!"
"They must be Death Eaters, how else did they get it?"
"You have to arrest them!"
"Silence!" Umbridge shrieked, a little hysterically.
There was a click and a flash of light as one of the Gryffindor first years, an irritating boy by the name of Colin Creevey, snapped a photograph of the guilty Slytherins. Umbridge turned on the boy, her eyes popping madly.
"Give me that camera!" she demanded, advancing with her wand drawn. The Gryffindor did not hand over his camera, instead taking another photograph of the enraged witch as she approached him. Madam Bones stepped past her Ministry colleague and looked down at the Slytherin boys, still trying to disentangle themselves from the ropes.
"I will need to speak to all three of you at once," she said coldly. "Pomona? Might we use you office as it is closest?"
"Of course," said Professor Sprout.
As Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle were led away and Professor Flitwick got the gawking students to go about their business, Draco's gaze fell on Snape. His godfather was muttering urgently with Dumbledore near the giant hourglasses that marked the house points. The headmaster shook his head, his expression grave. Then both men raised their heads and looked at something above them. Draco followed their gaze and saw, leaning over the banister of the grand staircase, Alaw, Granger, Longbottom, and the four Weasleys. All of them were grinning and as Draco watched, Alaw blew a kiss to the headmaster. Dumbledore did not look amused and quickly turned to sweep after Madam Bones through a door next to the stairs. Blaise had also been watching and he leaned in to mutter to Draco,
"Say what you will about your Mudblood friend, but she's bloody brave."
The following day, Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were officially suspended from Hogwarts, and the Room of Requirement played host to its first celebration party.
"To the Flames!" Ron toasted, raising his goblet high and slopping some oak matured mead onto the stone floor.
"The Flames!" they all cheered. Alaw took a large gulp of her Gillywater and grinned.
She had hardly stopped grinning all day. She had smiled as Theodore and his henchmen were marched away by Madam Bones. She had beamed when Rufus Scrimgeour had turned up an hour later with a couple of Aurors in tow. She had smirked all through Defence Against the Dark Arts whilst Umbridge sat before her with a face like thunder. And she had whooped and swung Neville around in delight when the news reached them after dinner that Theodore and company had been taken out of school.
Though a suspension was for from an actual expulsion, and certainly no where near an arrest, Alaw had decided to celebrate anyway. She felt that with a war looming, opportunities to party would be few and far between and they must seize every chance that came their way. The Weasley twins had risen to the occasion as usual, with three crates of contraband Butterbeer from the kitchens, as well as sandwiches, crisps, miniature pork pies and cocktail sausages, and a few of their own Weasleys Wildfire Wizzbangs.
The room itself had provided them with a magical record player, but no records, so Hermione had dashed back to Gryffindor Tower to bring a selection. Now they were all swaying along to Fat Bottomed Girls and Hermione was actively dancing with Neville, which made Alaw smile. Susan came to join Alaw at the little clutch of sofas and armchairs in the corner.
"That was very well done," she said approvingly and Alaw chuckled.
"Thanks. I can't tell you how pleased I am to get that bastard out of our hair."
The only thing dampening the party for her somewhat was the persistent twinging in her chest. Somewhere out there, Voldemort was in a towering temper. She just hoped he took it out on Theodore and no one innocent. Susan perched herself on the edge of the sofa and took a sip of Butterbeer.
"Well I'm just glad we got aunty on side. There's no way Fudge will be able to deny that You-Know-Who is back now."
"Want a bet?" Alaw laughed bitterly. "Denial is a powerful thing. But at least this'll convince the more sensible people at the Ministry. Plus, they can't cover this one up. Too many students saw it, I bet most of them have already written home about it."
Hannah came to join the conversation.
"We need to get in touch with more people at the Ministry, as many people as possible if you ask me."
"I was thinking about Barty Crouch," Alaw admitted. "Last May, when all this first kicked off, he didn't seem to side with Fudge much. And he's in a good position as head of International Cooperation."
To her surprise, Susan pulled a face.
"Oh I think we can do better than him, Alaw. According to aunty, he's a nasty piece of work."
"Really?" asked Alaw, setting her Gillywater aside. "Why? What's he done?"
"I'm not sure exactly, but he and aunty don't get on at all. He's very hard-line. Strict. He used to be really competent and people wanted him to be Minister for Magic when the war ended, but then his son went to Azkaban for being mixed up with the Death Eaters. He never got over it, especially when his wife died right after."
Alaw's shoulders slumped. She'd been somewhat banking on Barty Crouch being on their side. He was highly placed in the Ministry and he was tied in with her plans to bring about a reconciliation with Percy. Percy worshipped the man, if he supported them, perhaps Percy would find it in his heart to come home.
"Oh," Alaw said, disappointed. "Well, I guess I'll just have to think about it some more. Not tonight obviously, tonight we're celebrating."
She picked up her drink and got up to go and choose a record from among Hermione's collection.
The Flames had a raucous evening in the Room of Requirement, they drank and danced well into the early hours of the morning. By four however, only Alaw, Hermione, Ron and Neville remained in the room, lounging on the sofas and yawning hugely.
"I might make a move," said Hermione, getting up and stretching. "I know tomorrow is Sunday but I was hoping to get a wiggle on with that Charms essay."
Before she could move however, they all jumped as a voice echoed around the room.
"Alaw Jones."
Alaw, who had half-expected this call, leaped up from the sofa and dashed over the corner of the room that held the small potions lab, the cupboard for storing ingredients, and the work bench. It was on this she had placed Sirius' mirror, properly mounted on a stand so it could be used right. Sirius' face was swimming in the glass and as she approached, the image became clearer.
"Alright Sirius?" Alaw asked, grinning. "Calling to congratulate me eh?"
But Sirius wasn't smiling, in fact he looked incredibly grim. He look his head at Alaw.
"You blind bloody fools, what were you thinking?!"
Alaw's smile slipped and she frowned at her godfather.
"What do you mean? I thought you'd be pleased, we got the bastards! We caught them red handed!"
"Why do you think Dumbledore hadn't done anything about Nott and his friends? He didn't want to shake things up so soon!" Sirius cried. "The Order of the Phoenix is no where near ready to take Voldemort on properly, so Dumbledore was playing the long game, waiting to see what Voldemort's plans might be, instead of charging in head first! Now you've poked the dragon and forced Voldemort to play his hand."
"Why, what's happened?" asked Ron anxiously. He, Neville and Hermione gathered around Alaw who stood there with her arms folded.
"Nothing yet," Sirius conceded. "But it's only a matter of time before he retaliates. He was lying low, gathering his forces, but now you've royally buggered up his plans."
"Good," said Ron and Alaw simultaneously. Alaw was not going to take this telling off lying down, especially when she felt like they'd done a bang up job. Sirius scowled.
"It is not good!" he snapped. "We had an idea of what his plans would be before, but now? He'll be unpredictable, and we might not be able to learn enough before he strikes. You've buggered up Dumbledore's plans as well."
"Even better!" Alaw cried. "Look, we've forced those morons at the Ministry to open their eyes and rid Hogwarts of a particularly nasty little turd, I don't see what the problem was. Theodore was like a cancer in the castle, see we cut it out."
"Alaw," Sirius groaned. "I know you don't like him, but you'd have been better off keeping a low profile and letting the Order deal with things."
"Theodore Nott tried to rape me," Alaw said coldly.
There was a sticky silence following these words. It was hard to tell in the chipped and stained glass of the mirror, but Alaw thought Sirius had gone rather pale.
"He what?" he asked quietly.
"The other night, when we ambushed him and his mates. That was what he was going to do when they caught me, he shouted it at me. And I've overheard him boasting about attacking other girls too. So I don't care if I've buggered up Voldemort and Dumbledore's grand schemes, we're not pawns in their bloody chess game! I care about the here and now, not the 'greater good'."
She sketched air quotes around the words and she could see that Sirius was getting more and more uncomfortable.
"Al," he began weakly but she marched closer to the mirror and leaned in.
"Sirius, I want you to give Dumbledore a message from me, and I want you to use these exact words. If he doesn't start caring about his own students, he can go fuck himself!"
Alaw turned on her heel without giving Sirius a chance to respond and stalked out of the Room of Requirement. I probably shouldn't have said that, thought Alaw as she made her way through the dark corridors and up and down winding staircases. She'd meant every word of course, but Sirius was their only point of contact within the Order and she needed to keep him on side. But what right had he to lecture them about being reckless, after all the things he and the Marauders got up to at school?! After taking a shortcut through a tapestry of a sleeping dragon, Alaw arrived on her corridor where Sir Cadogan was snoozing in his portrait. Instead of disturbing him, Alaw ducked through her invisible Finn's Window and emerged into her darkened bedroom.
Why had Sirius had to call and ruin the evening like that? They'd been having a wonderful time, Alaw had been brimming with triumph, but now all she had was the bloody pain in her chest and the beginnings of a headache. She flung herself on the bed and closed her eyes, trying to imagine how pissed off Voldemort, and Dumbledore, were that night.
The next day was cold and crisp, but the sun was shining weakly on the grounds as Alaw strode across them, wearing her Slytherin jumper, Muggle jeans and a thick traveling cloak under it Invisible cousin. Her head was little tender after all the drinks last night but her chest was still paining her and she hadn't wanted to stay in bed a moment longer. After grabbing a quick, early breakfast in the Great Hall, she'd decided it was high time she went to see Emrys.
It had rained in the night and the wet grass squeaked under her feet as she walked. The tree tops of the forbidden forest swayed lazily as she approached, but Hagrid's hut remained silent and lifeless. Alaw paused near the front porch and glanced sadly up at the smokeless chimney. Where was Hagrid? According to Sirius, Madam Maxime had arrived back in Beuxbaton safely from her trip to see the giants, but no word had been heard from Hagrid in months. Perhaps the Death Eaters knew something, but if they did, the young ones hadn't mentioned it whenever Alaw had spied on them.
Shaking her head, Alaw continued on her journey and soon gained the peace and quiet of the trees. It suddenly occurred to her that, without Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle to eavesdrop on, Alaw had no way of gathering information about Voldemort's plans anymore. Not that those idiots had ever been privy to their master's schemes. They'd only been useful as thugs and spies. If only Alaw had her own Snape, someone within the Death Eaters who could feed her information. But that kind of power was well beyond her, so she'd have to think of some other way.
When she reached Emrys' clearing, she found his cave empty, though the mangled remains of a squirrel lay abandoned at the entrance. Raising an eyebrow, Alaw stood up tall and turned slowly on the spot, scanning the bushes.
"I know you're there mate," she called. "You're not going to jump me this time!"
There was silence for a few moments as Alaw continued to peer into the trees, then there was an almighty rustle from above her head and Emrys came swooping down from the branches of a tall oak. Alaw leaped out of the way and Emrys landed with a graceless thump on the forest floor. He righted himself and shoved his head into Alaw's stomach, winding her.
"Food?" he asked eagerly, sniffing her hands and circling around her back.
"No, not today," she said and Emrys gave a displeased sneeze. His tail had tangled itself around Alaw's legs so she stepped carefully out of the coils and scratched him under the chin and up behind his ears, which he enjoyed.
"If you can't even sneak up on me, how do you expect to catch a deer? Or a goat?" she asked him and Emrys growled low in his throat, affronted at her slight on his stalking skills. "Anyway, I thought we could try flying today."
At once, Emrys perked up and he bounced around the clearing, snapping his jaws excitedly. He wasn't much of a talker, but he communicated his feelings well enough with actions. Alaw thought it a good idea to let him exercise as he'd been getting increasingly restless as he approached full adulthood. There was a spot overlooking the lake that Alaw guided him to, a rise in the earth that would provide a good launching point. Emrys was rearing to go but when Alaw took out her wand he backed away and growled suspiciously.
"Don't worry mate, I won't hurt you. I'm going to put a spell on you that will hide you from other humans. Then you can fly around and no one will see you," Alaw explained.
Emrys was extremely reluctant, but eventually he stayed still long enough for Alaw to cast a Disillusionment charm. She'd got the idea from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, where the author offered advice on how to hide one's pet Hippogriffs from Muggle view. It didn't work exactly as Alaw had envisioned it. She was usually good at Disillusionment charms, she'd made the apple they'd worked on in class so completely invisible that when Crabbe had knocked it spitefully off her table, no one had been able to find it, until Goyle tripped on it and landed on his arse.
But living creatures were harder to hide, especially something as magically powerful as a dragon. Even when completely still, Alaw could clearly see his outline as a blurred disturbance in the air. Ah well, it would have to do. If anyone did happen to look out over the lake this early in the morning, all they would see what something big moving over the water. Hopefully they'd just think it was the Giant Squid.
"Ok then, you ready?" Alaw asked and Emrys bent his scaly front legs to let her scramble onto his back.
She still wasn't entirely comfortable doing this, but Emrys preferred to have her with him when he flew, and it would make him stronger. But there was no real way to sit on his back, which had jagged spines jutting out of it at intervals. Alaw settled herself between two of them and leaned forward to grip another. Again, not the best way to hold on but it was all she could do for now. Hagrid had made noises about crafting her a saddle before he went away but that was no use to her now.
"Alright, let's go!" she cried, steeling herself.
Emrys gave a brief roar, crouched low, and them launched himself from the overhang. He spread his wings wide and soon they were gliding over the surface of the lake. Alaw gasped as the cold air whipped her hair back and made her face numb, but she laughed all the same. Terrifying this may be, but it was exhilarating. Now she could understand why everyone was so obsessed with brooms.
"Higher!" Emrys roared, sweeping his wing down and climbing several feet.
"No! Stay low, you'll be seen!" Alaw shouted back over the rush of the wind.
Emrys growled in frustration but did as she suggested, dropping to dip the tip of his wing into the water. Alaw stretched out a hand and did the same, whooping gleefully. But then, suddenly, Emrys rolled over in mid-air and Alaw slipped off his back to land with a splash in the lake. She kicked for the surface and emerged spluttering in cold and shock. Emrys had looped back around the hover in the air above her, his wings flapping furiously to keep himself steady.
"You utter shit, you did that on purpose! Bad dragon!" Alaw laughed.
Half an hour later Alaw returned to the castle, still a little damp from her dip in the lake. Emrys had made her swim back to the shore where she found him snorting his dragonish laugh. He'd stopped when she splashed water at him. Her drying and warming charms hadn't worked perfectly so Alaw was shivering by the time she reached the Entrance Hall, where she found an unusually high volume of people standing in groups and talking among themselves. The Great Hall was packed for breakfast and when she peered inside she spotted Hermione, Neville and the Weasleys at the Gryffindor table, so she went to join them.
"What happened to you?" asked Neville in surprise when Alaw sat down next to him. "Why are you all wet?"
"Dragon trouble. Anyway, what's all the buzz about?"
The others exchanged dark looks and Hermione handed Alaw a copy of the Daily Prophet. Alaw took one look at the headline and swore colourfully.
MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM: DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR
Alaw's eyes swept down the article, a new curse escaping her lips with every other sentence read.
"We hand them three honest to god Death Eaters on a frigging plate, and this is their response?!" she said when she'd finished reading and slammed the paper down on the table. "It's a joke! A fucking joke!"
She wasn't exactly being quiet and many people turned to see what all the shouting was about. Hermione flapped her hand at her to make her pipe down and Alaw sat on the bench, seething. Ron however, smiled.
"I can't wait to see McGonagall inspected. Or Snape! Umbridge won't know what hit her."
"She will if I loose it and punch her in the teeth," said Alaw darkly.