Double Trouble 3
Pinned
It was late at night, a stormy night. The wind howled around outside our house and rattled the windows. We were all sitting around the table, drinking tea, when there came a knock on the door. I glanced toward it, nervous. Ever since I'd learned the truth about my father, I'd been a little afraid that someone would find out and think we were in league with Voldemort. James looked nervous too, but Mum's face was hopeful. Uncle Remus went to get the door.
Someone was standing there, tall, dripping wet and shadowed. The lights had been flickering; now they went out, plunging the room into darkness. I heard Mum muttering to herself, and suddenly five or six candles lit themselves. Pale light filled the room, making strange shadows on the wall. I shivered a little and drew nearer to my brother.
"Moony?" the figure asked. His voice was harsh and weak. Uncle Remus nodded and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind him. I couldn't much move, I was so nervous. He pulled back his hood, and I saw wild tangles of hair. Two dark eyes shone out of his sunken face. I shivered, just a little. This wasn't exactly how I had pictured meeting my father.
"Jenny?" he asked.
"Hello, Sirius," she said softly. He was sopping wet and shivering. Uncle Remus pulled out a chair and he sank down into it, sighing. I noticed that the floor was covered in mud and water. Mum would be having a fit if James and I made a mess like that, I thought. But she didn't say anything. Worry crossed her face. I thought she was going to speak for a moment, but she closed her mouth without saying a word. Crossing the room, she poured a cup of tea and handed it to Sirius –Dad, I reminded myself. That's my father. I've never seen him before, but he's my dad. He drank the tea and suddenly smiled, briefly. I wanted to smile back, but couldn't seem to make myself. Suddenly, I realized that perhaps everyone in the room was as nervous as I was. Dad's eyes flashed toward James and I, and he looked at Jenny in puzzlement. She took a deep breath.
"Sirius, these are James and Lily. Our children." Her face was totally without expression as she spoke.
"Our children?" he repeated.
"Yes," she said as calmly as she could.
"Hello," James said slowly. Our father looked at us for a long moment.
"Nice of you to tell me, Moony," he said.
"I didn't really have a chance, now did I?" Uncle Remus asked. "We were too busy with other things the last time we met."
"Yes," he said reflectively. He turned back to Mum and smiled. It really didn't look as if he were used to smiling. "It's been a long time, Jenny." His feelings were impossible to read because of the way his beard covered his face, but I thought that his words were full of pain and sorrow.
"It has," she said levelly, trying to hide something, but what? Anxiety? Happiness? "Are you hungry?" He nodded. She started to fix something to eat. I began to feel like laughing hysterically. This was so strange. Nobody here seemed to be acting the way they should be. I wanted to say something, but couldn't.
"I suppose they're keeping an eye on this place?" Dad asked Uncle Remus casually.
"They are. I hope you came in as a dog?"
"Only way to travel on a night like this." He shivered a little as the wind picked up.
"It was nice of you to tell me that you were an Animagus when we were dating, or when we got married, or at any time," Mum said. I wasn't sure if she was angry or not.
"I –I wasn't quite sure how to tell you," Dad said quietly. "And I thought you probably already knew. Lily knew before James told her."
"Well, I didn't," she said. She still was speaking in a level tone.
"That was a long time ago," Dad said slowly. Nothing of what he was feeling seemed to show in his eyes. Mum gave a small sigh.
I noticed suddenly that Mum and Uncle Remus were both wearing their wands where they could grab them quickly. So they're afraid that something will happen, I realized. Mum handed Dad a plate.
"I hope that's enough, I can make more," she said, her eyes not really looking at anything.
"Thank you," he said quietly. There was a long silence. I wanted to say something, to run or scream or do anything but just sit there. But it was Mum who broke the silence.
"Oh, this is idiotic!" she said loudly, standing and throwing the towel which she had been twisting in her hands to the ground. "What are we thinking of? You'd think none of us had ever met before." I saw Dad grin behind his wild beard. It brought life to his face.
"I'm glad to see you've lost none of your fire, Jenny," he said.
"That's just because you're around," she snapped. "You could drive anyone crazy!"
"I've missed you, too," he said quietly. For an instant, I thought Mum would throw a plate at his head, but instead she started to cry without making any noises. Uncle Remus caught our eyes and gestured that we should go to bed.
Of course we didn't. James and I just went to my room, which was right above the kitchen, pulled up the small section of floorboard that we'd cut to make a spy-hole, and looked silently down into the candlelit room. Mum had stopped crying and was talking now.
"I've missed you, Sirius, missed you every day that you've been gone. I – I'm sorry that I thought that you were a traitor."
"What were you supposed to think?" he asked wryly. "I know the evidence against me is still pretty bad." He sighed and leaned back in the chair. I noticed then just how thin he was. Azkaban wasn't easy on people. Neither are Dementors, I thought, and shivered.
"We'll change that," Mum promised. I noticed that Uncle Remus seemed to have left the room, too. "Somehow we'll figure out a way."
"If we catch Pettigrew," Dad suggested. The way he said Pettigrew, you might have thought it was the dirtiest word anyone could say.
"How?" Mum asked. She moved a chair and sat down near Dad.
"We should be able to think of something, together," he said. "It's possible that Dumbledore might help us."
"I think he would, but I also think it would draw too much attention to us to do that," Mum said. "We've got to solve this one on our own." She smiled, briefly. "You think we can manage?"
"Between you, me, and Remus, Pettigrew's as good as dead already," Dad said firmly. He yawned.
"We're doing nothing tonight," Mum said firmly. "If you've eaten, you can come with me. I'll find you something else to wear, and you can wash up." She looked him up and down. "And you can get rid of that beard. It looks horrible."
"Not many barbers in Azkaban," Dad commented wryly. "After all, Dementors don't need them."
"Sirius, you're incorrigible. Sometimes I think that you'll make a joke out of dying."
"I'm not that bad," he protested.
"You are, but let's not debate the point tonight." She paused, getting to her feet. "I've got your wand. I'll give it to you tonight or tomorrow, whichever you like."
"Thank you," he said. "I never thought I'd see it again." He stood. "I never thought I'd see you again, either," he said slowly.
"I know," she whispered. "I – I thought you'd killed those people, of course, but I couldn't get myself to hate you, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't forget you either." I noticed that she wasn't looking at him as she spoke, but at the floor. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. Dad reached out a hand and touched her shoulder. She turned her eyes to his face.
"I wish that I could say the same," he replied. "But in Azkaban, the Dementors took almost all my memories of you. There were a few horrible ones, but mostly, the time I spent with you was happy." He looked at her, standing there silent, for a moment before continuing. "Your face was one of the first things to come back to me after I escaped," he said quietly.
"Oh, Sirius," she said, taking his hand. "We'll get everything straightened up, my love. We'll be able to live the rest of our lives together, the way we should have had these past years."
"I hope so," he said. "If only we can."
"We will," she declared, and led him from the room.
I replaced the floorboard and James went off to his room without either of us saying a word. Then I got into my bed and closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come.
James and I, Adhara circling overhead, wandered happily through the forest one bright summer afternoon in July. Our parents were back at the house, enjoying the sunshine as well. I know that I still was amazed at having a dad around. But James and I had both agreed that our father was great. He'd spent a lot of time with us over the past three weeks since showing up at our house. Of course, it wasn't as if he could go anywhere else; the Ministry was still after him, of course. He was looking a lot better already; he'd shaved off that horrible beard and Mum had given him a haircut, and she seemed to be trying to put twenty pounds on him in a week.
"It's too bad that Dad and Uncle Remus are leaving tomorrow," James commented.
"I know," I agreed. Uncle Remus had gone somewhere a few days ago –he hadn't said where –and when he got back, he and dad were going to hunt down Pettigrew. "Maybe it won't take long, and he'll be back soon."
"Have you thought about what that will mean?" James asked me.
"Sure I have," I said. "Maybe we'll get to see other wizards now and then. We might even go to Hogwarts!
"I don't know if we will be allowed to," James said. "But if we are…"
"Anyway, it'll be really neat to have Dad around all the time."
"I think Mum has been a lot happier these past few weeks than we've ever seen her."
"Of course she has been," I said. "What do you expect of her?" We were interrupted by a crackling branch. I whirled around, feeling nervous. Out of the trees stepped Adhara the centaur. She looked very concerned.
"You are not safe," she said, ignoring my brother's open mouth and amazed expression. "There is danger around. Go now!" I thought it would be a good idea to do as she said, but James wanted to ask questions.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Who are you?"
"Go!" she said again. I pulled on James' arm, but he dug his heels into the ground.
"There aren't supposed to be centaurs around here. What are you up to?"
"James, let's go now!"
"I just want a few answers." He ripped his arm from my grip. I turned, hesitating to flee and leave my brother alone, but afraid of what might happen next.
"Too late," Adhara said. Into the clearing came a dozen men, wearing black robes and holding their wands ready. I felt horribly afraid. Their leader was a short, thin man with small eyes and colorless eyes. He motioned to his men. One shot something at the centaur. She fell to the forest floor. I stood frozen where I was in terror. James gave me a shove to get me moving and we tried to escape, but it was hopeless. One of the men shot a burst of white light at me, knocking me to the ground. I tried to get up, but couldn't.
"Run, James!" I yelled. He was near the edge of the clearing and might have made it. But he turned back to try to stop the men.
"Don't touch my sister!" he yelled. The leader laughed and shot a curse at him. James fell in a heap near me. I felt the world spinning and knew I was about to faint. Then the world went dark.
Jenny and Sirius were outside, enjoying the sunshine and relaxing.
"Remus will be back tomorrow," Jenny said contemplatively. "Maybe you should have gone with him. I know it's not easy on him…"
"I wanted to spend time with you and the children, Jenny. After all, Remus and I are going to hunt down Pettigrew. I hope it won't take long, but I don't know that for sure." His face set in hard lines. Jenny sighed.
"Just be careful, dear," she pleaded.
"I will be," Sirius promised. "As careful as I can be."
"Which isn't very." Jenny rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I should be going with you. On your own, you're likely to get yourself killed."
"Remus will be with me," Sirius pointed out. "If you can't trust me, can you at least count on him to keep me from doing anything too foolish?" He smiled and put his arm around her. "He does have sense."
"Yes," Jenny snapped, "but you never listen to him. You never did, just to me, or James…" she trailed off, blinking a little to hold back tears.
"Hey," Sirius said gently, "I'll listen, okay? I won't do anything too stupid."
"Oh, you," she laughed. "I just wish that I was going."
"We've been over this before," Sirius reminded her. "You have to stay here with the twins." He grinned. It still seemed to look out of place on his face. "I'm still having trouble with the idea that I've got kids."
"I never did think you were much for brains," she teased. He painted a look of injury across his face. Jenny laughed. "Oh, but I've missed you, Sirius."
"I've missed you too, Jenny darling," he said, embracing her. "I promise, we'll get Pettigrew and have everything settled fast enough. Then we can pull our lives back together."
"Yes," she said firmly. "So no slip-ups, all right?"
"Fine." Their conversation was interrupted suddenly by the arrival of Adhara. The bird was very upset about something; her right wing was missing feathers.
"Something's wrong," Jenny said, worry in her voice. "What is it? Oh –the children!" She began scanning the forest, as if hoping to see some sign of them.
"Look!" Sirius said abruptly. He pointed to an owl that was coming closer and closer. It circled them and dropped a paper on Sirius' head. He picked it up, read it quickly. As he did so, his face went white. He thrust it to Jenny, unable to speak. Fear making her heart leap to her throat, Jenny scanned the note.
Padfoot, old friend,
If you want your children to remain unharmed, do nothing and wait for my instructions. They're perfectly safe now –guests of myself and my master. They will be safe as long as you do not attempt to find me or attack the Dark Lord. Greet your lovely wife for me.
The note was unsigned, but it hardly needed a signature.
"Wormtail!" Sirius hissed, clenching his hands into fists. "If only I'd killed him when I had the chance!"
"That's not important now," Jenny said. She was trembling with fear, trying hard not to panic. My children have been kidnapped! What am I to do? James and Lily, captives of Voldemort!. "We've got to figure out what to do. We need to tell Dumbledore, the Ministry."
"Yes," Sirius said. "We'll send them this note –it just might convince them that I'm telling the truth." But as he spoke, the note burst into flame. In four seconds, it was ash.
"Wonderful," Jenny said bitterly. "What are we going to do?"
"We'll have to get Moony here. He and I will go after Pettigrew."
"Remus can't come back today, you know that! It's still full moon. And if you go after Pettigrew, what will happen to James and Lily? Will he hurt them? We need to get the Ministry in on this. You'll have to hide, though."
"I'm not leaving you alone," Sirius said firmly. "What if Wormtail tries to hurt you?"
"I can take care of myself," Jenny protested. "It's James and Lily who need protection. We need Dumbledore. And you know what will happen if the Ministry shows up and you're here."
"I don't like the idea of hiding," Sirius said, "but I suppose you're right. I'll hide –but nearby. Where?"
"The forest?" Jenny suggested. "It's huge, they'll never find you."
"Then I'll get my wand and go now, you clean things up so that the Ministry won't know I was here." He didn't look happy with the plan, but they didn't have a better one.
"Right," Jenny said. She seemed in much better control of herself now that a course of action had been decided upon.
Jenny's mind raced as she quickly cleared away all traces of Sirius' stay at their home. She'd tell Dumbledore first, he'd know what to do. Remus would be back tomorrow, he'd help. Very convenient that this happened during the full moon, she thought grimly. Pettigrew's taking as few chances as he can. As soon as she'd finished her task, she sat down and wrote a brief note to Dumbledore. Her hand shook a little from worry as she wrote.
Professor Dumbledore:
My children have been kidnapped. I believe that one or more of Voldemort's men may be behind this. Please come immediately.
She signed the note 'Jenny Anderson' from force of habit, then thought for a moment. Finally, she left it. If the Ministry really was reading her letters, she didn't want them wondering why she'd started using her proper name after all these years.
Dumbledore's reply arrived quickly, in less than three hours, but she spent the whole time worrying and it felt more like three days. He said that he would bring Ministry of Magic officials down immediately. Jenny hoped that Sirius would stay out of sight. He isn't that stupid, she told herself. I don't think he'd let himself be caught like that. But it just added to her worries.
It was dark when the Ministry officials arrived. Dumbledore led Cornelius Fudge into the room. The third person to come in was Severus Snape. Jenny felt shock and a bit of fear at the sight of the man who had nearly had her husband killed not long ago. He had no expression on his face, but a glint in his eye suggested that he was enjoying himself.
"Minister Fudge," Jenny said, letting her surprise show in her voice. "I didn't expect you to come."
"I'm afraid that the Minister received some information shortly after we got your message," he said. "Your children may have been kidnapped by Sirius Black." Jenny felt like laughing in Fudge's face, but refrained. She was terrified for her children, after all, and just because Fudge was wrong about the culprit didn't mean that the children weren't in danger.
"Why do you think that?" she asked. Fudge seemed to be relieved that she hadn't started screaming in terror or fainting.
"We received a message, telling us to call off the manhunt on Black or that the children would be harmed," he said. Jenny glanced at Dumbledore. There was no hint of his thoughts showing in those impenetrable blue eyes.
"In that case," Snape began smoothly, "perhaps you have less to fear than you thought. I doubt that Black would harm his own children."
"They are his?" Fudge queried. "I mean, I know you were married…"
"Of course they're his children!" Jenny snapped. "But I don't remember telling you, Snape."
"It hardly takes a genius to figure out whose children they are," Snape said slowly. Jenny felt his eyes boring into her. "Though I did not know that the two of you were married." Jenny felt herself flush.
"What can we do?" she asked, addressing Dumbledore. "They –they could be killed." She began to tremble and tried to get a grip on herself.
"We must be very careful," Dumbledore said. "Their abductor is a very devious, very evil man." Only Jenny knew that Dumbledore meant Pettigrew rather than Sirius.
"The hunt for Black has been redoubled," Fudge put in. "I mean, we can't just let him do things like this, can we? We'll find him soon enough…"
"That's what you've been saying for a year," Snape reminded him. He turned toward Jenny. "I know it must be hard on you, but don't worry. We'll catch that madman and save your children." His expression was curious; she rather thought he was trying hard not to smile. He must be savoring this, she thought bitterly. He always did hate Sirius, and me too.
"That's right," Fudge said, nodding.
"But we must be careful. After all, Black isn't sane. Who knows what he could do?" Snape's expression was duly sympathetic, but Jenny could see the malice in his eyes. She wanted to scream, to strangle him, to try to convince Fudge that Sirius was innocent, but she knew how futile any of those things would be. I have sense, right? That's what I've always said. Now's the time to use that sense. I'm going to do the best acting job in the history of the world, and then they'll leave and Dumbledore and I can actually make plans. She took a deep breath.
"He may not be sane, Minister, but nothing will have happened to his intellect. Sirius was always a superb chess player. If he is behind this kidnapping, you might as well assume that he has six or seven plans lined up, traps arranged, and defenses secured." She paused for a moment. "So you'd better have me in on your plans. James and Lily are my children, and I am the only person who ever defeated Sirius at chess. If you want to defeat him now, you'll need my help." You might have gotten somewhere catching Sirius if you'd taken my offer of help last year. You didn't believe me then that I was on your side. But now I know what side I'm on, and you'll never beat the two of us. But you aren't the opponent, are you? It's Pettigrew- or Voldemort.
"That's a very moving speech," Snape said. "I'm sure the Minister will include you in any decisions?"
"Oh, yes, that sounds like an excellent idea, Severus. It might be wise for you to come up to London for a few days."
"I don't know, Minister," Jenny said. "I'll have to think about that."
"Yes, of course. I must be off now. Severus, are you coming?" Snape followed the Minister from the room. Jenny watched them go. Once they had left, she turned back to where Dumbledore stood.
"I'm very scared," she said bluntly. "Pettigrew's got my children, and there's no telling what he'll do."
"He wants something," Dumbledore said. "What might that be?"
"I think he's terrified of Sirius. He and Remus were going to head off after Pettigrew tomorrow, to try to catch him, to clear Sirius' name." Jenny shook her head. "Or it could be some design of Voldemort's that we don't know about yet." She took a deep breath to quiet the panic rising in her. "What are we going to do?"
"We have to wait for him to make his move," Dumbledore said. "You should come to London, I think. Where's Sirius?"
"Hiding. As soon as they're all gone, I'll get him and we can work things out."
"That may not be wise," Dumbledore cautioned. "Severus is clearly not convinced of where your loyalties lie."
"Even after my children have been kidnapped?" Jenny was incredulous. "He's insane."
"He's not insane," Dumbledore said quietly. "He really does think that Sirius is guilty, though I doubt he'd listen to evidence to the contrary. And women on the Dark Side have done terrible things before, even to their own children. If he thought you were working for Voldemort, he'd do anything he could to convince Fudge to have you arrested."
"I have to tell Sirius something," Jenny said, staring out into the darkness. "I'll come up to London, but I've got to let him know."
"I can manage to make sure that you won't be followed," Dumbledore promised, "but you can't take too long."
"All right," she said. "I'll go in a few minutes. I should get him some spare clothes and things." She looked around uncertainly. "I –I have to do something," she said at last. "There's got to be something I can do to help find them."
"Don't worry about that right now," Dumbledore said firmly. "Concentrate on one thing at a time. But if it makes you feel any better, I don't think Pettigrew will hurt James and Lily. He wants them for some reason, so he won't be anxious to harm them."
"I hope you're right," she whispered, and slipped from the room.
She hurried into the forest, her wand showing a few feet of the path ahead of her at a time. She just hoped that Sirius was where she thought he was.
As she reached the clearing with the white rock where she thought Sirius might be, she slowed. There didn't seem to be anyone there. A minute later, though, Sirius appeared.
"What's happened?" he asked, seeing the bundle that she carried. She explained the past few hours' events.
"That Snape," Sirius growled, his face darkening. "Don't let him give you any trouble, Jenny."
"I won't," she assured him. "I'll go up to London tonight and get in touch with Remus tomorrow."
"That sounds like a good plan," Sirius agreed.
"What will you be doing?" she asked.
"I can't just sit around doing nothing," he said, prowling around the clearing. "I have to try to find where Pettigrew's holed up. If the Ministry's off on a false scent, it might be up to us to get James and Lily out of there."
"Sirius, he's sure to know that that's what you'll do," Jenny cried. "He'll have traps in place and you'll be killed! I can't lose you, not after I just got you back again! And –if you go after him, he might hurt James and Lily!"
"I can't just let him have them," Sirius said bluntly.
"Voldemort will kill you," she said, crying.
"He won't kill me, love," Sirius assured her, wrapping his arms around her. She was trembling. "I have to do something, though, can't you see that? If I hadn't come here, they would never have been in any trouble. I can't just leave them. They're my children too."
"Oh, Sirius, be careful, please be careful," she pleaded.
"I can take care of myself," he said.
"Not very well," she retorted, sniffing back tears. "I'd have nothing to do if that was the case."
"I promise, I'll get the kids, and I'll be fine. There'll be plenty of time afterwards to debate whether or not I'm careful, or an idiot." He held her for a long moment.
"I need to get back," she said reluctantly.
"Jenny," Sirius began. She looked at him. He paused for a long moment before continuing. "If –if this doesn't work right, I – I love you, I always will. Just –that's all." She looked at him a long moment.
"I love you, my husband," she said, and kissed him. Then she slipped back off toward home.
Disclaimer: I invented Jenny and the twins and both Adharas. J.K. Rowling and her publishers own the rest.
Brief explanation of the title: All the titles in this series are chess terms. Pinning means that one player has a piece attacking his opponent, but if the opponent moves, he loses another piece, usually a more valuable one. So if Sirius goes after Pettigrew, the twins are in danger, but if he doesn't go after Pettigrew, there's no way he'll clear his name.
Next piece expected: who knows when? I should have time to work on this this week, but I do have Alternity, and I need to get some pieces of Magical Mischief Makers done before too long.