Aurors Part VII
This part starts in the past, then goes to the future.
The Ministry seemed to be incredibly busy for such an hour of the night. Officials barely glanced at James, Sirius, and Remus as they hauled their unconscious prisoners in. James grabbed a passing warlock.
"What's going on?" he asked. The warlock didn't seem to realize what James was asking for a minute.
"Big raid, they're just coming in now. Said they've got prisoners."
"Hey, we've got prisoners," Sirius said, but it was no use; the man had escaped James' grip and rushed off.
"Where did these come from?" another wizard asked. Sirius recognized him at once; Cornelius Fudge, who worked in Jenny's department. He'd had a hard time with the little man once when he came to get Jenny a few minutes early from work, but now perhaps Fudge could be useful.
"Mr. Fudge, we were supposed to be ambushing an agent, but a half-dozen Death Eaters showed up. We captured these and brought them in." Sirius prodded the nearest with his toe; the man did not move.
"Yes, yes. We're quite busy now, but we'll get to you in a minute."
"But these are Death Eaters!" James said sharply. "Shouldn't someone here be responsible for questioning them or putting them in a cell somewhere?"
"I'm sorry, that's not my job, and I really must go, they need me desperately over there-"
"Sod it! No wonder Voldemort is beating us, if this is the best we can do!" Sirius looked very mad and his words had been quite loud; several nearby wizards gasped and a witch dropped the stack of papers she was carrying.
"Mr. – ah,"
"Black. Sirius Black." Sirius spoke slowly so that Fudge could not mistake his name.
"Mr. Black, such talk does not help and borders on treasonous! Men have been investigated for less!"
"Let them investigate me then, I don't care, just have them investigate these gits first." James and Remus looked at each other. Sirius was in top form now and if they didn't stop him he was liable to wind up punching Fudge right there.
"Sirius, let him get on with his job," James said. "I'm sure it's important." Fudge seemed to miss the sarcasm and headed off, looking relieved.
"Why did you stop me, I was just getting started," Sirius growled, staring after Fudge. But a distraction occurred just then that took their minds off the little man and his bumblings.
A dozen Hit Wizards along with two men the boys recognized as skilled Aurors had just Apparated into the room, accompanied by four bound figures. Three were men the boys did not know; the fourth, however, was a woman. Remus gasped.
"Reesa!" he exclaimed, and would have started forward, but James grabbed his arm.
"Wait, we need to see what's going on," he muttered.
"I don't care, they've got her and they shouldn't!" he replied, shaking James off and rushing at the Hit Wizards. He had his wand out and seemed about to yell a spell. The Hit Wizards had their wands out too, and James knew who would come off the worst in such an exchange.
"Stupefy!" he yelled, pointing his wand at Remus, who slumped into a heap instantly. Sirius was already halfway across the room; he hurried over and bent over their friend.
"What do you think happened?" James asked, crossing to Sirius.
"I don't know." Sirius looked shaken. "But I saw his face, just before you stunned him, and his eyes – and it wasn't Remus, James. I don't know what happened, but it wasn't him."
"I think I know what happened," James said grimly. "It was that Reesa. I've remembered about her now; my father knew hers somewhat. Her mother was a Siren. She must have had a spell on Remus, she must be working for Voldemort."
"What is Moony going to say when he wakes up and finds out?" Sirius asked. "I don't think he'll be very happy."
"I don't know, Sirius," James shook his head.
"What do you mean, a Death Eater?" Remus stared from James to Sirius and back. "How could she be?"
"She admitted it before about half the Ministry, Remus. She also admitted to bewitching you. And several other men, so don't think you were the only one." James looked unhappy. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it's true."
"You mean she was just trying to use me?" Remus looked miserable as well. "I don't understand."
"Can you remember what you told her this evening?" James asked. "Did you mention what we were going to do?"
"Why would I do that?" Remus was indignant. "I know better than that!"
"Think, Moony," Sirius said firmly. "Think about what happened."
"I can't – no, wait!" He looked up suddenly. "I did tell her! I knew I shouldn't but I did. And the first time I met her I told her all sorts of stuff. I never even suspected her of bewitching me."
"Of course you didn't." James was looking sympathetic now; he put a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Remus, we knew it was a bit out of character for you to fall in love with someone so fast, but, well, we didn't think anything was wrong."
"How many others?" Remus asked. "How many other men did she – bewitch?"
"I think three," James said. "Apparently you were the only Auror. Most of them are older, more experienced than we are…probably carry around charms to ward off friendly girls." He tried to smile but it died halfway across his face. "From what I've heard she was trying to get inside information. Fortunately we don't have much."
"We're both sorry for you," Sirius said, putting a hand on Remus' shoulder in an unusually gentle way.
"Can I just be alone for a while?" Remus asked. "I want to think." They hesitated, looking at him. "Go on, I'm not going to throw myself out a window or anything. No Siren is worth that." He managed a small half-smile, and they nodded and left.
(present)
Uncle Vernon's behavior was growing more erratic. An owl had arrived and dumped a letter on his head – it had somehow flown down the chimney. The letter had borne the Dark Mark again. It said simply, We are coming. This seemed to galvanize Uncle Vernon to action. While Harry washed the breakfast dishes, he and Aunt Petunia sat with their heads together whispering. After Harry came in from taking out the garbage, Uncle Vernon spoke to him, a trifle nervously.
"Ah, we're going on vacation. Today. To, er, Australia."
"Are we?" Harry looked as uninterested as he could.
"Well, we are. You're staying here. We don't have enough money to take you." He turned and ran off toward his bedroom, where Aunt Petunia was frantically searching for socks.
Harry just stood there, mouth hanging open. He'd always known the Dursleys hated him, but he'd never thought they'd do this – run off and leave him to face an evil wizard alone. What was he to do? With the Dursleys gone, he wouldn't be safe from Voldemort on Privet Drive any longer.
He could write to the Weasleys – but it would take time for the letter to get there, and he'd be alone for that time. Not that he was worried about being alone; still, he didn't want to have to face Voldemort. He could write to Dumbledore – but he didn't know where Dumbledore was or what he was doing. He hadn't heard from Sirius in ages, it seemed. So what was he to do? He couldn't just sit here, or at Mrs. Figg's, where no doubt the Dursleys would try to leave him, but what was he to do?
I could get my broom and fly to the Weasleys', he thought. No, that was no good. He'd been there several times, yes, but he didn't know how to get there. He'd get lost. I could go stay at the Leaky Cauldron, perhaps. Yes, that sounded like the best idea. He began to throw all his belongings into his trunk, then stopped. How on earth was he to get this huge trunk, plus Hedwig's cage, to London? It was impossible. He couldn't leave it, and he couldn't use magic to shrink it or anything because he was underage.
"Hang on," he said aloud. "There's that witch next door. I could ask her to shrink it for me, maybe. After the Dursleys leave, I suppose." That seemed like a good plan to him, so he finished putting his books into the trunk, then sat down at the window to wait.
The Dursleys weren't carrying that much luggage with them; they seemed to have decided to get out as fast as possible. Soon Uncle Vernon's company car was heading off down Privet Drive, and Harry stood up. He had his wand in his hand; somehow he felt better when it was with him, like he was taller and stronger and –well, safer. It was drizzling slightly outside; the neighbors appeared to be in their houses, and he didn't see anyone peering through curtains. He wasn't sure why he should care if they saw him, it wasn't as if any of them were waiting for a chance to attack him. Harry walked up to the house next door and knocked. The witch, Jenny, opened the door and smiled at Harry.
"Oh, hello, Harry. Do you want to come in?"
"Yes," he said. He'd stuck his wand in his belt, but his hand hovered near it. Perhaps some of Uncle Vernon's paranoia had rubbed off on him, but he didn't feel very safe, even here.
Jenny had him sit down in the kitchen and poured him a cup of tea. "What's the matter?" she asked kindly. "Are you worried about something?"
"Yeah," Harry said, taking a sip of tea. "The Dursleys left, see."
"They what?" She had been about to take a sip of tea, but now her cup hung frozen three inches form her face.
"They left. Went on vacation and couldn't take me, they said."
"Uh-huh." She put down her cup and rolled her eyes.
"So I'm going to go stay at the Leaky Cauldron, but I need some help, shrinking my trunk or something, it's too big for me to lug there."
"Of course, Harry. I can take you there, if you like."
"Thanks." Harry was a bit surprised, somehow, that someone he barely knew would offer him such assistance.
"Or you could stay here a few days, I could look after you, until Sirius gets back into the country and you can ask him what to do."
Harry stared at her. "Sirius?" he managed after a minute. "You – Sirius – you know about Sirius?"
"I do," she said evenly. "In fact, I'm glad you came over now. I got a letter from him this morning saying he'll be back soon. He asked me to let you know too – he doesn't know I'm here, of course, nobody but Dumbledore knows that."
"I guess you're one of the people Dumbledore told him to alert?" Harry knew he was still staring and took another sip of tea.
"You could say that." She smiled at him. "I'm Sirius' wife, Harry."
Now Harry really stared. "I didn't know he was married!"
"Oh, no doubt he didn't exactly have a chance to tell you." She didn't seem to mind that much. "In fact, if things had worked out a little differently, I might have been your foster-mother. I'd have liked that." She smiled sadly. "I was a good friend of your mother's, Harry."
"So, where is Sirius?" Harry asked, not sure how to respond to her words.
"He didn't say." Again Jenny smiled. "Doing something for Dumbledore, you know. But he'll be back soon."
"Good, I hope so." Harry knew that he'd feel better, somehow, if Sirius was in the country, even if he were hundreds of miles away.
"So, would you rather stay here or go to the Leaky Cauldron?" Jenny asked. " I should warn you that the Leaky Cauldron is full of foreign warlocks right now and you'd have a hard time getting a room, but I think we could manage it if you wanted."
"No, I think I'll stay here if you don't mind," Harry said. Surely this would be the first place Sirius came when he got back? He wanted to see Sirius as soon as possible and ask him what to do. And this woman had been a friend of his mother. He knew he could trust her.
"That's wonderful." She smiled at Harry again. She certainly seemed a cheerful person, Harry thought. "There's two spare rooms upstairs, but I'd better warn you against going into the basement."
"Why's that?" Harry asked curiously.
"Because I've got my oddest plants there." She gestured at the various flowers and such that grew in pots around the rest of her house. "I couldn't leave them when I came here, could I? But the Man-Eating Hyacinths and such are downstairs where they can't hurt anyone easily."
"So that garlic and stuff, you grew that yourself?" Harry was interested, mildly. He didn't think Herbology was that great, but perhaps man-eating plants were different.
"Oh, yes. And I've got a regular contract with St. Mungo's to supply Mandrakes and other restorative plants. Do you like plants?"
"Sort of, I guess. It's Neville who's best with them in my year, Neville Longbottom." As he spoke he aw something in her eyes, perhaps sadness. "Did you know – Neville's parents?"
"I did," she said. "Frank Longbottom was a very good Auror, you know. Not many people could have stood up to what he went through. Such a shame, that." But there was now a damper, it seemed, on the conversation; Harry finished his tea in silence.
"Right," he said. "So – should I get my stuff now?"
"That's a good idea," Jenny agreed. "I'll come with you." She stood up; Harry saw that she had a wand at her belt too. "Just in case," she said, seeing his eyes linger on the wand. "We don't want to take any chances, do we?"
Severus Snape was alone in his office, pacing up and down, glaring at the bottles on the shelves, thinking.
He was in a real dilemma, there was no arguing about that. Voldemort had given him an order, and if he failed, he would doubtless be punished severely. If he wasn't careful, Voldemort could learn of his double-agent role. He knew what that meant.
But on the other hand, he could not kill Sirius Black – whatever he might have liked. For a brief instant he allowed himself to think of how very satisfying it would be to finally kill his old rival. But he could not do that. He had renounced Voldemort, he was no longer a Death Eater, he had not been one for many years. He would not kill Sirius. Voldemort wanted him to, and that was reason enough not to do a thing.
So how was he to pull this off? If he simply did not kill Sirius, Voldemort would know he was a traitor. If he made it look as if he had tried but failed, he would be punished, but perhaps not killed. There had to be a better way, though. And then suddenly an idea came to him fully-formed, and he almost smiled. It just might work. At once he set off from the dungeons; he would have to speak to Dumbledore, and he might be in London right now. Time was precious, and Snape wasn't going to waste a single second of it.
Harry was enjoying his stay with Jenny; she was very kind to him and her plants were fascinating. She told him all about them, and he had a feeling his Herbology score this year would be much better than previously.
Late the third night, he sat in his bedroom doing his homework. Somehow he'd been unable to shake the habit of doing his assignments in the dead of night with a flashlight. He'd heard Jenny go to bed a few hours ago, which was too bad, because he had a question about this essay on potion ingredients she might have been able to help him with.
Then he heard a noise downstairs, someone moving around. He paused, quill over the parchment, frowning. He had heard noises a moment before, a bedroom door opening, but hadn't really thought about them. Now he wondered why Jenny had gotten back up.
Maybe I could ask her about this if she's not too tired, he thought. He put down his quill and went to the door and crept quietly along the hall.
Downstairs, he could see a light; not wandlight or electric light, but the light of a fire. He also thought he could hear someone speaking, and it didn't sound like Jenny. Silently he went down the stairs partway.
There was a fire in the living room grate, and a person's head in it. Harry didn't recognize who it was, but he and Jenny were engaged in low conversation. Neither could see Harry from where he stood.
"… you're sure he doesn't know a thing?" the strange man was asking.
"Not a thing." Jenny smiled. "He's far too trusting, you know."
"All the better for us," the man said. "We'll be coming for him day after tomorrow – there are a few obstacles we need to get out of the way first."
"Black?" she asked sharply.
"We've taken care of him already, don't worry." The man gave a cruel smile that Harry could just make out. "Dumbledore has been distracted, you know."
"Of course I do," she said with a laugh, not a kind laugh, but a scornful, hateful laugh. "After all, he doesn't have a clue about me, now does he?"
"Black is our only worry, and as long as he hasn't been warned we'll have no trouble killing him," the man said. "Have you heard from him?"
"Yes," Jenny said after a tiny hesitation. "A letter. I sent a reply – don't worry so much, it'll be fine. I didn't tell him anything."
"But he might notice-"
"I don't think so," she said coldly. "You worry too much."
"And you don't worry enough," he retorted. "All right. Thursday at midnight, we'll be there."
"I'll have the boy under my control," she promised.
Harry didn't wait to hear any more but fled quietly back to his room. There he thought hard about what he'd heard.
Jenny was a traitor, obviously. She was planning to hand him over to Voldemort. They were planning to kill Sirius. He had to get out of here, and now.
He heard her coming back up the stairs and flung himself into bed. She looked in, he could hear her, and then went to her own room. Harry sat up.
He'd have to get out tonight. He could fly to Diagon Alley, he'd be safe there. Quickly he pulled open his trunk, grabbed his Firebolt and Invisibility Cloak, and opened the window. He hesitated. He'd never tried flying out of a window before, and this one wasn't very big. He'd better get out there and perch on the ledge, take off from there. First he put on the Cloak, then clambered through the window. Silently he took off through the night, heading for London and, he hoped, safety.
He reached the Leaky Cauldron around dawn, dropping to the ground and pulling off the Cloak wearily. The flight had been uneventful. He was just glad the place was open.
Hurrying inside, he found the bar deserted apart from a wizard hunched over something that smelled good. Harry looked around for Tom, the barman. Then he realised who the wizard was.
"Professor Lupin!" he exclaimed, and hurried over. Lupin turned to him.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" He smiled, but Harry could see worry in his eyes.
"The Dursleys left, and I was staying with this woman, Jenny, she said she's Sirius' wife."
"Yes, she is – why are you here at this time of morning?" Lupin looked very puzzled and he pushed his plate away from him so he could put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, I must say you look rather dreadful."
"She's a traitor, I heard her talking to someone, they were planning to hand me over to Voldemort."
Remus' hand on Harry's shoulder tightened. "Are you sure of what you heard?" he asked.
"Positive. There's nothing else it could have been."
"Come with me." Remus stood up and led Harry up the stairs to a room. He knocked on the door.
"Sirius, it's me, let me in."
The door swung open at once. Remus ushered Harry in.
"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. "Why are you here? You look exhausted."
"I am, been flying most of the night." Harry sat down on a bed. He recounted his story for Sirius quickly. "I'm afraid they're out to kill you too."
Sirius frowned. "Something is very wrong here."
That sure sounded like an understatement. "I'm sorry I had to tell you," Harry said. "I mean, if she's your wife and all…"
"That could not have been Jenny," Sirius said firmly. "You've never met her, Harry, or you wouldn't say that. Maybe it was someone pretending to be her."
"It could have been," Harry admitted, though he didn't really think so.
"You said she was planning to kill Sirius," Remus said. His brow was wrinkled. "You didn't mention that to me."
"She did, or the other one did – they most certainly said they were going to have 'no trouble killing Black'," Harry recalled.
"That proves it couldn't have been her – not that I thought it was," Sirius said, glancing at Remus. "You agree, I'm sure?"
"Yes, I do." Remus was frowning. "Now we have to find out where Jenny really is."
"Yes, she could be in trouble. At least we know she's alive," Sirius said.
"Hold on," Harry said. "Can I ask just how you know it couldn't have been her? I mean, isn't there the slightest chance?"
"Not likely," Remus said. He looked at Sirius, who nodded. "First of all, if Jenny was a traitor – which wouldn't happen – she wouldn't be trying to kill Sirius. They – if Sirius dies, Harry, so does Jenny. And the reverse is true."
"How on earth is that possible?" Harry asked.
"It's a very long story," Sirius broke in, "which I shall tell you sometime, but not now. Right now we've got to go see this woman." He frowned. "I should have known something was wrong from that letter," he said to Remus. "I told you it sounded weird."
He looked at Harry, who was wearing a puzzled expression. "It just didn't seem like Jenny," he elaborated. "She was quite angry with me when I left two weeks ago, you see. And there wasn't anything about it in the letter, nothing at all. I didn't really think about it then but now I see…"
"All right, then, we'll go," Remus said. "Harry, you stay here – or, no, I don't know if it's that safe here either…"
"The Weasleys?" Sirius suggested. "They'll be glad to see you, I'm sure."
"I'm coming with you," Harry said firmly.
"Harry," Sirius began, but Harry shook his head.
"I'll be careful, I promise. But I've had enough of waiting around and not knowing what's happening. I'm coming along."
"He sounds just like James, too, doesn't he?" Remus said wearily. "I don't suppose it's any use to argue."
"But you'll wear that Invisibility Cloak," Sirius said. "And you'll stick close to me, and at the first sign of trouble, get out of there."
"Fine," Harry agreed. "Now, are we going?" He threw on the Cloak.
"Just a minute," Sirius said. He disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later looking very different.
"What happened to you?" Remus asked, trying not to laugh. Sirius' hair had turned bright yellow; he sported a mustache and beard and was wearing Muggle clothes. He looked absurd.
"Don't want to be recognized," Sirius explained. "Too much time if we get stopped."
Harry hid his grin and followed Sirius and Remus from the room. He felt much safer now that he was around them.
The three – two visible, one not – landed in a little park near Privet Drive around ten in the morning. They hid their brooms so as to not attract attention and Harry led the way to Number Six. There Sirius knocked on the door.
It opened a few minutes later, and Jenny- or the person who claimed to be Jenny – looked out. She gasped.
"Sirius? Remus? Why are you here? How did you find out?" She looked a bit panicky, no doubt because Harry had vanished and she was afraid of what Voldemort might do to her – or what Sirius might do if he knew the truth.
Sirius' face was cold as stone, and just as hard.
"Who are you?" he asked in a tone that matched his expression.
"What on earth are you talking about, Sirius? It's me, Jenny!"
"It is most certainly not," Remus said. "We've spoken to Harry already, whoever you are."
"I don't know – what is going on?" she asked, eyes wide with panic. Harry saw, from where he stood, what the others could not; her hand was moving slowly toward her wand.
"Stupefy!" he yelled, pointing his wand at her. She keeled over backward. Sirius looked at him – or tried to, he was actually looking at a spot two feet over.
"Why'd you do that, Harry? We needed to question her."
"She was going for her wand," Harry explained.
"I see. Well, we'd better get her inside." Sirius' words were light, but his face was suddenly lined with worry. "Harry, you've been inside this house. Is there anywhere someone might be hidden?"
"I don't think so – wait! The basement!" Harry thought quickly. "She never let me down there, she said there were man-eating plants and such."
"I think it's time we saw the basement then," Sirius said grimly. He grabbed the imposter's feet, Remus her arms, and hauled her inside.
"I do hope none of the neighbors saw that and called the police," Remus said.
"Nah, Aunt Petunia's really the only busybody in the neighborhood," Harry assured him. "Everyone else tends to their own business."
"This the door?" Sirius asked, pointing to one that Harry knew led to the basement.
"Yes." Sirius jerked it open and began to head down the stairs quickly. Remus followed and Harry went too.
There were plants down here, but they seemed to be either Muggle plants or dormant; certainly none tried to eat them as they made their way toward a door at one end of the basement. Sirius tried it.
"Locked," he muttered, then pointed his wand at it and said "Reducto!" It vanished in a cloud of smoke and a loud bang.
"Really, Sirius," Remus said as they waited for the smoke to clear, "can't you ever just unlock them? 'Alohomora' works just as well."
Sirius ignored him and ducked inside. Harry peered in too.
There was a bed in the room, and on the bed was a woman, an exact duplicate of the one who was upstairs unconscious. Sirius was bending over her, his hands unusually gentle as he checked her pulse.
"She's alive, of course, but I think she's in a trance," he called over his shoulder to Remus. "I'm going to try to wake her up."
"No, let me,' Remus said. "You know I was always better at that in school. You wouldn't want to hurt her."
"Of course not," he said. "Okay then, Remus, go ahead."
Harry stepped forward so he could see. Remus pointed his wand at the sleeping woman's forehead and muttered something. A jet of golden light came out of his wand. It hit the woman, who stirred a bit. Her eyes began to blink. Sirius bent over and kissed her, and that seemed to finish the job Remus had started; her eyes opened wide and she threw her arms around his neck.
"I think we found the real Jenny," Remus said dryly to Harry. Harry noticed that the hood of his cloak was falling off, so he just pulled the whole thing off. It seemed safe enough.
When he was done, he looked back at Sirius. Jenny was sitting up now.
"How long has it been?" she asked him.
"Since what? Since I left or since you've been here?"
"Since I've been here," she clarified.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "When were you attacked?"
"It's been at least a week," Harry put in, "because the imposter moved in a week ago. Unless that was you?"
She shook her head. "No, I was attacked the day before I was supposed to come here – I suppose this is Privet Drive?"
"Yes," Sirius and Harry said together.
"You're Harry, of course," she said, looking at him. "We haven't met."
"Well, no, but I know who you are," he said. "The imposter told me."
"You've got your mother's eyes." She stared at him. "When I see them, it's almost as if she's looking at me through you, do you know that?"
"People are always saying I have her eyes, and I look like Dad," Harry answered.
"It's true," Sirius put in.
"All right, Sirius, I want you to tell me exactly what happened," Jenny said. Then she smiled. "First though I have to tell you that I'm glad you're here safe and I'm sorry I yelled at you like that."
"I should apologize for a few things too," Sirius said. Remus caught Harry's eye and gestured toward the stairs with his head. Harry followed Remus quietly.
"Believe me, you don't want to stay there once they start apologizing like that." Remus grinned at Harry, a surprising grin on his face, an almost Sirius-like grin. "That's the way it always used to be… sometimes they were worse than – than your parents, Harry." He sighed sadly. "Perhaps we'd better check on our prisoner and see if we can revive her. She might have some – information – for us."
Harry nodded and they went together to the couch where the woman lay.
"Let's wait a bit," Harry said. "If she's taken Polyjuice Potion it should wear off soon enough, right?"
"Yes, of course. It could be useful if we knew who she really is before trying to question her."
"Or him," Harry said grimly, remembering suddenly the story he had heard only a few weeks back about Mrs. Crouch, who had died in Azkaban wearing her son's appearance.
"Or him," Remus conceded. They took seats across from the unconscious woman, both with their wands in their hands, and waited.
It couldn't have been very long, but it seemed like an eternity to Harry before anything happened, and that was just Sirius and Jenny emerging from the basement. Jenny looked down scornfully at her sleeping double.
"I'm going to find something to eat," she said, moving toward the kitchen. "Tell me when you find out who this is."
"Too bad we don't have any Veritaserum," Harry remarked. "That did wonders for Crouch."
"I don't think we'll have much trouble persuading her to answer our questions," Sirius said grimly. His face was again set in hard lines and he kept smacking his wand against the palm of his other hand.
Then, as they watched, a transformation occurred. The woman's hair changed subtly; it was about the same length and hue as it had been, but it looked somehow less healthy. Her face changed, too, from Jenny's pleasant features to a lined and cruel looking visage. Harry gasped, because he had seen this woman before – in a memory.
"Marissa Lestrange," Sirius said slowly, looking down at her. "She escaped from Azkaban with the Dementors, didn't she? I remember her there. She and her husband were two of Voldemort's strongest supporters, but that didn't keep them safe from the Dementors. She screamed for a long, long time, that one."
"Marissa Lestrange?" Jenny asked. She'd just come into the room, carrying tea with her. "I suppose it was her husband who attacked me, then – I didn't recognize him, he'd changed so much."
"Well, she's one the Ministry will be pleased to get back," Sirius said grimly.
"No wait," Remus put in. "Hold on. Harry, they're expecting her to hand you over to them tomorrow night, right?"
"Well, yeah, but I'm sure she's told them by now I escaped – they might be on their way here now!" Harry sat bolt upright at this thought.
"Don't worry, Harry," Remus said calmly. "We went to school with Marissa. I won't deny that Azkaban may have changed her a great deal, but there was always one thing about her – she made mistakes frequently, and often made them worse by trying to get out of them by herself. She might not have told Voldemort yet."
"How are we supposed to find that out?" Harry asked. "She probably won't just tell us."
"You said it yourself a few minutes back," Remus went on. "Veritaserum."
"You've got some?" Harry was surprised. From what he'd heard, the Ministry regulated the potion very strictly.
"We can make it," Sirius said. "Remus and I know how."
"Don't bother to ask how they learned it, Harry," Jenny said. "They won't tell you –and you probably don't have to ask. I've got most of the ingredients here, thanks to dear Marissa's thoughtfulness." She gestured at all the plants everywhere. "And what I don't have I'll bet you do – you've got your school supplies somewhere, I imagine?"
"Yeah, they're upstairs," Harry said. "What do you need?"
"Armadillo bile, dragon's blood, and powdered unicorn horn," Sirius said. "And the cauldron, of course."
"Right," Harry said and raced upstairs. When he got back, he found that Sirius and Remus had built a fire in the grate and were now busily hacking at plants.
"Good," Sirius said, looking up as Harry came in. "I can start simmering these." He brandished some roots. Harry put the cauldron over the fire and Sirius dumped the roots in casually. While Remus stirred in the unicorn horn, he shredded leaves from another plant, one Harry did not recognize.
"Ah, shouldn't you be measuring that?" Harry asked as Sirius dumped it into the bubbling cauldron. "Snape always told us that things can go very wrong with potions if you're not careful."
"Harry, you're talking to the wrong person." Harry turned to see Jenny coming in, her arms full of more leaves and such. "Sirius here was best known at Hogwarts for consistently blowing up his concoctions in Potions, or coming up with truly interesting substances that did very unexpected things." She glared at him. "But we need this to be right, Sirius."
"Fine, you do it," he said, gesturing for her to take over. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, it's turning blue!" Remus called. "Can you remember if it's supposed to do that, Sirius?"
"I think so," he said. "It's been a while since I've made it, you know. Jenny, just toss those in there, will you?" He turned back to his shredding.
"No doubt it will explode as soon as I do so," Jenny said to Harry. "Ah well. I'd better warn you, if we get everything worked out and you come live with us, it could be like this all the time."
"Great!" Harry said happily. "Have you got a house? Sirius never told me." Jenny was standing as far from the cauldron as she could and still reach it. She dumped the plants in quickly and jumped back.
"Well, what do you know," she muttered. "It didn't explode."
"No, and it's almost done," Remus said. "We just need those – ah, good, you're done." Sirius stood up and put his pile of leaves in. Remus gave the potion another stir; it turned green, gave off a puff of acrid smoke, and Remus pulled it from the fire.
"Go wake Sleeping Beauty," Jenny told Sirius, her eyebrows drawing together and her mouth tightening into a straight line. "I'll get a bottle to put that in and we can give it to her."
Harry watched anxiously as Sirius revived Marissa Lestrange and pointed his wand at her. "Ennervate," he said harshly. The woman's eyes opened slowly, and she sat up. She smiled coldly.
"So, Sirius Black. We meet again."
"Marissa Lestrange," he acknowledged. Jenny came back with a bottle for the Veritaserum and a cup in her hands. Remus slowly poured the potion into the bottle and put a little in the cup. Jenny handed it silently to Marissa.
"What is this?" she asked scornfully. "Poison? Would you kill me so quickly, then?"
"Not poison, though it should be," Sirius growled. "Drink it."
"I refuse," she said, drawing herself up haughtily.
"Drink it or I will kill you." Sirius looked at her. His words had not been dramatically emphasized at all, he had simply stated fact. She must have realized this, for, after a moment when she seemed to consider things, she drained the cup.
She thinks it is poison, Harry realized. She thinks she's going to die.
"Now, tell me exactly what Voldemort had you do," Sirius said, in the same cold voice. Harry was struck suddenly how he sounded so much like Dumbledore had that night in the hospital wing, talking to Fudge.
Marissa's voice was toneless, like Crouch's had been. "My husband and I went to your wife's house and stunned her. We took her here in the middle of the night to hide her. Then he left and I moved in disguised.
"I put the Imperius Curse on Dursley, just had I had been instructed. Then I befriended Potter. When he was left behind, he came to me as I had hoped. It wasn't hard to convince him to stay.
"I suppose he overheard me talking to my husband last night… it was a risk but we had to arrange the details."
"Have you informed Voldemort that Harry escaped?" Sirius asked.
"No. I told no one, hoping to recapture him before I had to tell my master."
"Good." Remus looked at Sirius. "I've got an idea, you see."
"I think I know what you are planning." Sirius looked at Jenny, who nodded.
"Right. So it's my turn to help save the world?"
"If you don't mind." He smiled for the first time since they had begun to question Marissa. Harry felt totally lost.
"Er, if you don't mind telling me, what are you planning to do?" he asked.
"Simple." Jenny allowed herself a smile almost as cold as Marissa's had been. "This woman is going to go down in that basement room where she was keeping me. And I'm going to be here tomorrow night to hand you over to Voldemort."
"Meanwhile, Remus and I will be waiting for whoever shows up," Sirius put in. "With any luck, we could capture some of Voldemort's chief supporters. Perhaps even Wormtail."
"So I just have to stay here?" Harry asked.
"Well, I'd prefer you went somewhere else, but they might check before they come to make sure you're here," Sirius said. "So yes, you'll stay here."
"Don't worry about anything," Jenny said reassuringly, "though I doubt you really would. Your father would have thought this all a grand prank."
But Harry didn't really think it was a joke; he thought of all the things that could go wrong and winced. Still, he wanted to do what he could to help fight Voldemort, so he agreed.
"Splendid," Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I never got breakfast today."
"Me either," Harry remembered, and suddenly realised he was famished. "I'm hungry, let's eat."
Standard disclaimers of course. I'm already working on the next bit so again the wait shouldn't be too long. And for all of you reading this: are you reading Call of the Wild by the WolfieTwins? If not you're really missing something – it's the best story here. So I'd suggest reading it if you haven't already. (After all, it is a long wait until Book 5.)