Trojan Horse – Part III: Puppet on a String
To all of you who asked, this explains why it's called 'Trojan Horse.' Well, it partially explains it.
~
Helen Irwin walked along the passage deep under Stonehenge, shivering a little despite the warmth. A guard saw her. He leered, and said, 'Alexander de Laurent wants you in the antechamber of the Hall. He's been waiting a good twenty minutes now, and I think he's pretty pissed off. I'd hurry up if I were you.'
Helen did not reply, though she acknowledged the message with a faint nod. But her steps were very slow as she went towards the Hall, Voldemort's throne room.
She opened the door. Inside was a man, pacing about. He turned when she came in.
'Helen, my darling. I've missed you these past few months. So you got my message last night, did you?'
Helen faced him. 'I'm through with this, Alexander. I'm not going to have any more to do with you, or your master. I'm not going to spend any more time doing little favours that give your master a stronger foothold.'
'Oh, I rather think you will, my dear.' He smiled at her, and she flinched. 'Incidentally, I hear you're going by your maiden name these days. Hoping Dumbledore won't notice his new teacher is really Helen de Laurent, eh? Have you heard from your sister lately?'
For a second, Helen was dumbfounded. 'What?' she asked. 'What do you mean?' Then, as understanding began to cross her face, she said breathlessly, 'What's happened? How did you find out? What's happened to them?' For a moment her fear was forgotten with this new horror.
'Oh, they're perfectly all right,' replied de Laurent. 'I think they're enjoying their stay.'
'They're here? You took them from Emma's house and brought them here?'
Before he could answer, the clear voice of a child rose from inside the Hall, and was answered by another child.
'Laura,' gasped Helen. 'Paul.' She flung herself at the door to the Hall. Alexander de Laurent stepped quickly before it.
'No, you'll stay here and talk to me. They're fine, for the time being. After all, they're my children too.'
She struggled in vain, trying to slide out of his grip. For a second, the affable mask dropped from his face.
'Just stand still, damn you,' he hissed in her ear. Helen's face twisted in pain as his hand tightened around her arm, and she obeyed. 'Now, listen. No more of this nonsense about not helping me.'
In a trembling voice, Helen said, 'What do you want me to do?'
'That's better.' He smiled. 'You're at Hogwarts, perfectly placed to help me. At the equinox, we're going to make our attack. And if you help us, it will be easy. Easy as killing a child.'
She turned whiter.
'What you, my dear Helen, will do is very simple. You will open the door for Voldemort and invite him to enter. You know that is one of the greatest, most powerful and basic spells of all that is on Hogwarts. Without permission from someone inside, nothing – nothing without good intentions – can enter and do any damage. Like Troy, like all powerful citadels, it can only be taken from within.'
Helen was shaking. 'I can't. I don't care what you do. I'm not going to betray them all, my students, my colleagues … no, I won't,' she gasped.
Alexander de Laurent's face turned hard. 'Oh, Helen, you will. You do know where your children are now, don't you?'
She covered her face with her hands. In a muffled voice, she said, 'You wouldn't. They're your children too, you said so yourself.'
'In this matter, nothing is more important than my master's will,' responded Alexander, though a fleeting look of rebellion crossed his face. 'Helen, I swear I would.'
There was such certainty in his voice that she could not but believe him. And in the silence that followed she heard Voldemort's soft voice speaking in the next room, and her son Paul answering, and a snatch of her daughter's carefree laughter.
'I – I'll do it.' Her voice was very low, and even as she spoke she hated herself for it. And may I be forgiven, she cried in her head.
Alexander de Laurent nodded. 'Good. Now, I'll send you another message nearer the time. How have you explained your absence from Hogwarts?'
Helen tried to muster her thoughts. 'I'm here for Minerva,' she said bluntly, not mentioning Remus and Sirius. Enough was enough, perhaps they might escape. 'Let me take her with me.'
Alexander shrugged. 'The McGonagall woman? My master said he has no further use for her, not with you helping. I can do what I want with her. If it will help you get into Dumbledore's favour at Hogwarts, why not? She's in the Red Chamber. Please take her, she's nothing but a nuisance. I'll tell the guards to look the other way.'
Helen did not thank him.
'Off you go, then.'
'At least let me see Laura and Paul,' she begged.
'No. They'll stay here with me.' He seized her arm a second before she tried to enter the Hall again. 'No. Leave. Take your McGonagall and get out of here.' Alexander de Laurent pushed her to the door. 'Farewell, my Trojan Horse.'
As she went through the corridors, Helen tried to steady herself. Nobody must suspect her. She thought of what she had agreed to do, and gave a shudder of horror. She could not imagine that she could hate herself more. But the sounds of her children's voices and Voldemort's were still ringing around her head. She had no more choice over what she did than a puppet, tugged this way and that by the puppeteer, dancing whatever dance she had been set out to do. Alexander knew which strings to pull that would make her obey. And so she would betray them all.
She came to the Red Chamber and stood outside the door for some time until she felt calm enough to face Minerva McGonagall. With a hand that trembled a little, Helen unlocked the door. It was completely dark inside.
'Minerva?' she called uncertainly. Taking her wand, she made a light. 'Are you there?'
On the couch, Minerva raised her head. Dazzled even by the dim glow from the wand, she said faintly, 'What, again? I have nothing to tell you.'
Helen crossed to her. 'Minerva, don't you know me?'
The woman's bloodshot eyes peered up at her. 'Helen Irwin.' It was a statement. 'What on earth are you doing here?'
'Dumbledore sent me for you, with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin,' Helen explained breathlessly. Her voice shook. 'Look, Minerva, there's no time for explanations. If we go now, we'll be able to get out.'
Minerva did not reply, but instead struggled to her feet.
'Can you manage?' asked Helen foolishly, seeing her ashen face. 'What's happened to you?'
Minerva stumbled across to the door. 'I'll be fine,' she muttered.
Helen's mind was too full of her own pain to think very clearly on Minerva's troubles. 'Come on, then.'
They encountered nobody in the passageways, for Alexander de Laurent had summoned the guards away. Minerva was concentrating very hard on remaining upright, and did not speak. Helen looked at her with a kind of wonder. Minerva had a courage she could never have, the courage to risk everything for what she knew to be right. But she's never been where I am now, she told herself. They went up the ladder, Helen going up after Minerva and holding her to keep her from falling.
Outside, the skies were lightening behind the thick clouds. Out of the warm tunnels, Minerva began to shiver. Her robes had been torn and rent during her imprisonment, and she had no cloak. Helen noticed after a second.
'That's no good. Here, you'd better wear mine.' The biting air made her pull herself together. She reached for the Auditus stone around her neck. 'I'll tell Remus and Sirius to come out, and we can go back to Hogwarts.'
Minerva raised an eyebrow as Helen spoke into the stone. 'Remus, Sirius, Minerva's with me, come here.'
The stone did not glow, as it should when it was operating. Helen frowned and tapped it with her wand. Nothing happened. Perhaps it knew what she was, she thought irrationally. Perhaps only good people, honest people, could make them work.
'Let me see.' Minerva extended a hand shaking slightly with cold. She was unable to make the spell work. 'It's You-Know-Who, he's done something to the magical fields,' she explained wearily.
Helen frowned, and looked at Minerva. 'I think it would be better if we go straight back to Hogwarts, then,' she suggested. 'Dumbledore might be able to contact Sirius and Remus.' She wanted to get as far away from Stonehenge and Voldemort as she could.
Minerva did not protest, unaware that Remus was in the fortress. She sat behind Helen on the broomstick and they shot off into the sky.
As they flew, Helen had to suppress the urge to blurt everything out to Minerva in the hope that she might be able to do something. But there was nothing that could be done. She had agreed, Voldemort had her children, she had no choice. Behind her she could feel Minerva shaking with cold and fatigue, and she flew more quickly.
Eventually they landed on the step outside the front door of Hogwarts. Minerva and Helen dismounted, and Minerva opened the door.
'We've got to go straight up to Albus,' she said, her teeth chattering. Helen nodded silently. She wasn't sure she could face Dumbledore like this, but she seemed to have no choice. She took several steadying breaths. Minerva's face was set and fixed, but Helen could see what a tight hold she had over herself to keep from collapsing altogether, and she took her arm.
They did not knock on the door to Dumbledore's office, and it admitted them without question. Professor Dumbledore was writing something and humming under his breath.
'Albus,' Minerva said urgently as she entered. He looked up, and sprang to his feet.
'Thank heavens you're back. Are you all right?'
She nodded, not altogether truthfully, and Dumbledore pulled out a chair. 'Sit down.' He looked at her drawn face. 'What happened? Have you been in there since yesterday lunchtime?'
'Yes. Never mind about that. Albus, they're planning an attack on Hogwarts.' Helen paled. How did she find out? 'Sometime soon – I don't know the exact dates. And the snows are intended to wear the Muggles down. I think – I'm afraid that he's planning to make a move against us. And of course you know his eventual plan.'
Calmly, Dumbledore nodded. 'I've been expecting that. But what I'm most concerned about is the snow. People are dying, Minerva, freezing to death. I need to know how I can stop that.'
'I've found out about that too. Let me explain…'
~
'So, what did you do with Sirius and Remus?' asked Dumbledore when Minerva had finished explaining what she had heard, turning to Helen.
'I don't know where they are,' she answered in a very low voice. 'The Auditus stone stopped working, and Minerva was freezing, and we couldn't hang around.'
'Remus is still in there?' demanded Dumbledore, and his blue eyes darkened. Helen flinched, and he said quickly, 'No, I think you did the right thing, Helen, I'm just worried.' He fumbled around on the desk. Minerva turned to Helen.
'Remus is in that place? You left him there?' she asked angrily. 'Why didn't you say at once?'
Helen didn't answer, and Dumbledore shook his head at Minerva. 'It's her first placement,' he said gently. He picked up the chart.
'Remus is still inside.' Helen glanced at the chart. It looked like a contour map, but she knew it showed magical fields. She did not recognise the traces Remus left, but there was no mistaking the powerful swirl of closely-set and tangled lines that was Voldemort. Dumbledore seemed to be able to read it easily.
'And you said your Auditus stopped working? Let's see if we can get in touch with him.' He picked up a stone that looked like the one around Helen's neck, save that it was about twice as large. Helen watched tensely as he murmured a few spells. Nothing happened.
'No.' Dumbledore's face was a mask. 'What about Sirius?' He looked back at the chart and tapped it with his wand.
'Sirius is inside as well.' He raised an eyebrow, and then smiled. 'I wouldn't like to be in Voldemort's shoes, with those two inside. I think it'll be all right. But we can't get in touch with them.' He paused to think. 'Well, let's give them a bit of time before we get too worried.
Minerva was swaying a little where she sat. Dumbledore looked straight at her.
'Oh dear. You really should go lie down, Minerva. In fact, I think Poppy should have a look at you. Helen, can you run over to the Infirmary, please?'
Thankfully, Helen left the room. As she went through the corridors, she was glad there were no students around. The sight of them all, other people's children, whom she would sacrifice for her own, would have hurt too much. She half-closed her eyes to blot out the school from her sight, and walked with stumbling steps.
~
Remus' legs were cramped and his head ached. He wanted to blow his nose, but he did not dare make any sound. The man had been working at the desk for hours. Gradually, he eased himself into a more comfortable position, and edged towards the door in case it should open for long enough for him to get out. What had possessed him to come in here, anyway? Always leave yourself a way out, it was one of the golden rules he had been taught about this kind of work.
He wondered about Sirius and Helen. Sirius would not be happy about the long delay, he knew. He had no clear idea of how much time had passed, as he could not see his watch under the Invisibility Cloak, but he knew he had been here much too long for safety. And if Sirius took it into his head to come after him, anything could happen.
After he had been standing there, the Invisibility Cloak around him, for about another hour, the door swung open.
'Sir?' A short, apprehensive-looking man came in.
Remus seized his chance. He slipped past him into the corridor, but paused to listen. Anything that might help him with this awful task would be welcome.
'Yes?' The man at the desk turned around impatiently.
'That woman – the cat spy – she's gone!'
Remus was delighted and puzzled. How had Minerva escaped? He listened intently.
'That's not my affair. It doesn't matter anyway.' The man seemed singularly untroubled. 'His lordship stated that it no longer mattered whether we could get any information from her. Possibly she's been released.'
Remus did not linger. If Minerva was out, he too could leave. He wandered back through the passages, wondering how to get back to the exit. After a number of wrong turns and hopeful following of people who looked like they might be going out, he began to get worried again. A movement behind him caught his eye. Someone was emerging from a side passage, moving stealthily. Remus looked back, and gasped. As he raced back, he nearly tripped over the Invisibility Cloak.
'Sirius!' he hissed. 'Sirius! Stop!'
Sirius looked wildly around, and Remus grabbed his arm.
'What the – Remus, is that you?'
'Yes, come on, Sirius, what if you'd been seen?' As he spoke, he was pulling the Invisibility Cloak over both of them. 'Come on, we're going out. Why on earth did you come down here? You should have stayed outside.'
'I came to find you,' explained Sirius simply. 'Are you all right?'
'Yes, yes,' answered Remus. 'I'm fine. Now, let's go.'
'What about Minerva?' demanded Sirius, not budging.
'She's gone.' Remus dragged at his arm. 'Do you remember how to get to the entrance?'
Sirius nodded, and then said, 'Yes, it's down here.' He led Remus through the passage he had entered by. 'What do you mean, she's gone?' he demanded, and Remus explained in a breathless whisper, falling silent whenever they saw someone. At last Sirius led him to the tunnel he recognised, and he saw the ladder that reached up to the Altar Stone.
'Right, go on up,' said Sirius. 'I'll come after you.'
Remus ducked out of the Invisibility Cloak and began to climb the ladder. At the top, he hesitated. How did he move the stone? Remembering how he had got in, he pushed it. Nothing happened.
'Problem?' called Sirius.
'I can't make it open.'
After a few more tries, both with his wand and his hands, he shook his head.
Sirius swore. 'Come down, let me have a go.'
Remus obeyed and took the Invisibility Cloak from Sirius. He climbed up the metal rungs at great speed and stood poised precariously at the top. Remus bit his lip as Sirius balanced on the rail to reach up and push at the rock. His hand tightened around his wand.
Sirius tried some spells and nearly lost his balance as he waved his hand in the air with a commanding word. Remus raised his wand ready to help him should something go wrong. Glaring at the rock and holding on to the top rung of the ladder with one hand, Sirius uttered fluent and imaginative oaths. As he swore, the rock began to move. Remus raised an eyebrow.
'I guess there is some use for your foul language,' he called, smiling, and began to climb up the ladder behind Sirius, trying not to trip himself on the Invisibility Cloak. Sirius reached out his hand and pulled Remus out of the tunnel, and pushed the rock back to cover the entrance.
They stood in the snow for a moment, blinking in the morning light. Sirius gave a shiver.
'Moony, next time someone asks for a volunteer to go look around Voldemort's stronghold, don't say anything, okay? I was worried out of my mind about you.'
'I don't plan on going back in a hurry,' said Remus emphatically. 'Not without a map, at least.' He thought about the web of identical tunnels and shuddered. 'Well, we'd better get Helen and get back to Hogwarts.'
His words reminded Sirius of what had happened earlier.
'Helen vanished,' he said bluntly.
'What? You mean they got her? Is that why you came in?'
'I came in to find you. I don't know what happened to Helen. But she wasn't in the place we sent her to. I went over there when you were late back, and there was no trace of her.'
'Perhaps she had something to do with Minerva's escape.' Remus frowned. 'I did tell her she was to remain there, though. Well, who knows? Perhaps we'll find her back at Hogwarts. It wouldn't surprise me if she got frightened.'
Sirius snorted. 'She shouldn't come on these things if she's going to run home when it gets a bit scary,' he said.
'Well, she's new,' said Remus tolerantly. 'I'm more worried about Minerva. I overheard Wormtail telling someone she'd been tortured. I don't know how far she could get on her own.'
'Wormtail? By the Furies, I wish I'd been there. Anything to get my hands around his neck….'
Remus sighed. 'If you'd tried anything in there, you'd never have come out again.' He looked down for a moment. 'Well, we'd better go and see if Helen's come back. If she's not, I think the best thing would be to go back to Hogwarts.'
'All right then.' Sirius picked up the broomstick and Remus mounted behind him. Flying tandem on a broomstick with Sirius was always unnerving, as Sirius enjoyed the kind of dives and loops that would make even a good Seeker pale. In the end he had found broomsticks a bit dull, and had spent a lot of time working on the Shadow. But this time Sirius flew more or less direct to the grove, only making one steep dive at the end that sent Remus' stomach into his throat.
'She was through here, if I remember rightly.' Sirius led the way in amongst the trees. It seemed different under the light of day, he thought. Remus noticed the footprints in the deep snow.
'Look … someone came here and took off on a broomstick.'
Sirius followed his gaze. 'No – two people,' he said. 'Those are Helen's boots, and I don't know about the others.'
'Must be Minerva. I guess Helen did take her back to Hogwarts somehow.'
'Well then, we'd best get going.' Sirius picked up the broomstick, and Remus mounted behind him. His knuckles were white around the handle as Sirius kicked off into the air.
'Can you not do that?' he said after Sirius did a low swoop over the top of Stonehenge that made him feel ill.
'I wanted to see if Minerva was anywhere around. Don't you trust me?'
'With a broomstick? You must be joking.' Remus managed a laugh, which made him feel a little better. Sirius took the broomstick onto a steep climb, and then right over in a perfect loop.
'Please…' said Remus shakily as they came shooting down. 'Let's just get back to Hogwarts, shall we?'
'Don't you want to have some fun?'
'Not the kind where you fly upside down.'
'That's a good idea,' said Sirius, looking over his shoulder at Remus with an wicked grin. 'I wonder how far we could go….'
Remus would have held on to the handle more tightly, if that had been possible. But Sirius simply leaned forwards, and they shot off through the sky.
~
Remus still felt a little ill when they arrived. Sirius made a perfect nosedive landing on the doorstep, and Remus almost fell in his haste to get off. His knees felt a bit weak. Sirius' face was flushed and his eyes glittered.
'There, that wasn't so bad, was it?' he said. He looked at Remus' face and laughed. 'You should fly more often. Put a bit of colour into your cheeks.'
'I think I've had enough flying to last for months now.' Remus gave a crooked smile. 'Anyway, we'd better go and find out what's happened to Helen and Minerva.'
'Oh, yes, I almost forgot. See, flying makes you forget your troubles too.' Sirius pulled open the door and they went in.
'You took your time. I see even that Irwin woman is more competent than you are,' Snape greeted them as they went up the stairs. Sirius scowled at him, but Remus raised his eyebrows questioningly.
'She's here? Was Minerva with her?'
'Oh, you didn't even know that?' Snape's lip curled. 'They've been back for hours. Crash your broomstick, did you?'
Sirius gave him an evil look. 'I never crash. Not like some people I could mention.'
Remus took a deep breath and cut off Snape's retort. 'Where is she? And where's Helen?'
'I couldn't say.'
'Come on, Remus, let's go find someone decent to talk to.' Sirius put a hand on his shoulder, turning him away. Remus remembered something, and reached into his pocket.
'I think I'd better take this to Dumbledore,' he said, pulling out the map he had taken.
Sirius glanced at it. 'That's no good, it's in Russian. What's it for, anyway?'
'It's for where the snow spell is situated. It's a map.'
'I can see that.' Sirius took it and began to trace out the roads and contour lines with his finger. 'I wonder which part of Russia it's in?'
'Perhaps Dumbledore will know. Come on, let's go up.'
In the passage, they met Helen. Remus smiled at her. 'So, what happened? Did you go into the fortress?'
'Where did you vanish to?' added Sirius. 'Last night I went to find you, but you weren't there.'
Helen looked from one to the other, feeling like a cornered animal. But she knew what she was going to say.
'I – I heard some noises from where I was in the grove, and so I went to have a look. And I found that there was a second entrance to the fortress, I suppose it was an emergency exit or something. And I went in.'
'You really should have remained outside,' Remus said, but he didn't sound angry. 'But it worked out all right, so I suppose it doesn't matter.'
'Well, I … tried to contact you on those stone things, but they didn't work. Anyway, I found the Red Chamber and I brought Minerva out.'
'Wasn't it guarded?' asked Sirius.
'Um – I didn't see any guards. I think I was just lucky, though.'
'I'm amazed that you found her and weren't noticed,' said Remus with a smile. 'It was a real maze under there, wasn't it?'
'Yes, yes, it was.' Helen's eyes flickered from one to the other of her interlocutors.
'Still, you got Minerva out, and that's what counts. Where is she? Is she all right?'
Helen sighed with relief at questions that she could answer truthfully. 'She's gone to the Infirmary. Madam Pomfrey says she'll be fine after a bit of rest, and she'll have the weekend to recover.'
Remus realised that it was Saturday, and also that he hadn't had any sleep since Thursday night. He yawned.
'Well, we're going to go up to Dumbledore and tell him we're all right, and then I'm going to get some sleep.'
Sirius grinned. 'Me too.'
~
The League was meeting again the following morning, very early. Everyone except Minerva was there; Madam Pomfrey had had to speak sternly to her before she would stay in the Infirmary.
'Right, well, you've had time to have a look at the charts I gave you.' Dumbledore smiled around the table.
'You didn't translate them,' said Snape sourly. 'I don't know about the others, but I for one can't read Russian.'
'So I haven't. Oh well, it's quite pretty, isn't it?' Dumbledore paused to admire the swirling Cyrillic script. 'I can't read it either, but Professor Flitwick did give me a translation – I wonder what I did with it?'
As Snape snorted with irritation, Dumbledore pushed the papers around the table in front of him around. 'Ah yes.' He glanced at the two pieces of parchment for a moment, and nodded to himself as he compared the two scripts.
'Well, anyway, the spell is somewhere in Siberia, it's that place that's circled in red ink. Most of you don't really need to trouble yourselves about it. But I want someone to go there straight away and do their best to disable the spell.'
As he looked around the table, Sirius nodded. 'I'll go. I don't suppose there will be any journalists wanting to ask me questions there.' He grinned, and Snape's face turned even more sour.
'Yes, you may be right,' replied Dumbledore. As Remus made to volunteer as well, he smiled. 'Remus and Sirius will go. Wonderful.' He gave a decisive nod. 'You'll travel as Muggles. I can't afford you to be seen.'
Sirius made a face. 'You mean we have to wear those awful Muggle clothes? I hate them. Last time I had to go anywhere as a Muggle –' Remus elbowed him. None of the others knew about this particular exploit, and he thought it would be best like that. From the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye, Remus guessed that he had somehow found out already. That was no surprise.
'Well, I'll make some arrangements for you two, you'll probably be able to leave by the end of the week. Now, as well as the snow spell, we have a suspicion that Voldemort is going to make some kind of attack soon. So, I'd like work to begin on the defences. Severus, your help would be invaluable, and Irene, and anybody else who's interested.'
Lady Irene de Beale nodded slowly. 'Do you have any more information?'
'I'm afraid not. Now, I have something else to tell you. As you are all now aware, Voldemort has his headquarters at Stonehenge. Of course, you all remember – I hope – from your schooldays that Stonehenge is a powerful magical site. But what you may not realise is that Voldemort can make use of the magic of that site himself, he can channel in into his own work.'
'You mean he gets stronger just by being at Stonehenge?' asked Miranda Goshawk. 'I didn't realise that.'
Arion the Wanderer was nodding. 'I suspected something of the sort. So, we have to get him out of there.'
Dumbledore smiled. 'As always, you've got it right. Just as Voldemort can use the power of Stonehenge, so can we. If we can win it back, we shall be able to channel the strength of the ancient wizards into our own works.'
'Well,' said Remus, 'it's not going to be easy. It's very complicated, and equally well-defended.'
'Of course. Well, let us apply our brain cells to the problem.'
Everyone was silent, and Dumbledore twiddled his thumbs. 'If anyone comes up with a good idea, please do let me know. But for now we will concentrate on getting rid of the snow spell. Sirius, Remus, I'll make all the necessary arrangements, I'm sure the Ministry will be able to sort out the paperwork. Muggles do love to have bits of paper, they think it will make everything all right. I'm told you need all sorts of papers to go to Russia. I do hope they're interesting.' He smiled at them. 'So, everybody, let's make our preparations.' Sirius and Remus smiled at each other. Opposite, Helen swallowed hard as Snape turned his eyes towards her.
~
The soft bed was very uncomfortable. A bed of nails would be more fitting, thought Helen bitterly. She turned over and tried to make herself feel at ease. But it was not the fault of the bed that she couldn't sleep. The darkness seemed to be closing in around her. The room was blacker with her eyes open. She turned over again, and rubbed her eyes. If only she could sleep. But it didn't seem very likely, she had not slept last night or the night before, or before that. How long had it been? It felt as though it had been a thousand years since last Friday, but it was only Wednesday now. And ever second of that time she had only been able to think of what she had promised to do.
The sound of her own voice agreeing to betray Hogwarts echoed in her ears. What would happen, she wondered, if she got up now and went to find Professor Dumbledore and told him everything? Straight to Azkaban, she supposed. But she felt as if she were surrounded by Dementors already.
What if the Dark Lord didn't keep his side of the bargain? She was not so naïve as to suppose he would be bound by what Alexander had said. Surely, surely Alexander would protect them? She felt a terrible twist of pain at the thought of her children.
The equinox loomed ahead of her. She had only a few short weeks for some miracle to happen that would mean that everything would be all right. But she knew that there would be no such miracle. They didn't happen, not when you needed them. And she would betray everything, everyone who had been so kind to her, her students and her friends. She knew she would do it. Voldemort had her children.
Finally she got up, deciding there was no point lying awake. But she did not put on the lights. Instead she opened the curtains and stared out into the sky. On the desk lay two photographs. She picked them up, knowing exactly where they were in the dark, and looked at them in the light from the waning moon. Two smiling faces waved at her, and her eyes blurred with tears.
~
'Helen's ill.' Minerva spoke flatly. 'One of the students says she just fainted in the lesson this afternoon.'
'Dear, dear, that's not good.' Dumbledore's expression was concerned. 'How is she now?'
'She's in the Infirmary, and Poppy says she needs a lot of rest.'
With a slow nod, Professor Dumbledore said, 'So, what shall we do about her classes?'
'Severus will want to take them.' Minerva sounded less than thrilled at this idea.
As if on cue, Snape came into the staff-room, looking grumpily from one to the other as he deposited a heap of books on his desk.
'I heard that Irwin woman is ill. Is it serious?' His expression seemed to indicate he rather hoped it would be.
'I don't think so,' replied Dumbledore gently. He glanced at Minerva, who shook her head.
'Do you need someone to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts?'
Minerva glanced at Dumbledore. 'Well, as a matter of fact, I think that we've been very fortunate in the timing of this, and we'll be all right,' he said. Minerva let out a sigh of relief.
'You mean you're going to ask the were – Lupin –' he corrected himself at Dumbledore's sharp glance ' – to teach?' Snape's face was even darker. 'I don't suppose the parents will be very happy about that. Besides, he's going to Russia.'
Dumbledore smiled. 'I have an alternative plan for Russia. And the owls can't get through in this weather, thankfully. I think the students won't object too much. '
Snape snorted. 'We'll see about that.'
'You'll see about what?' Sirius entered the room. He looked at Snape without warmth, and turned to Dumbledore. 'Have you got the – what d'you call it – the airplane tickets yet?'
'They're on their way. It was most amusing, speaking with the Muggles at the airport. Is Remus anywhere?'
'He's in the library again. Last time I saw him, he was surrounded by a mob of students asking him questions.'
Dumbledore chuckled. 'Good, good. Can you tell him I'm sorry to break up the party, but I need him to come here?'
Snape swished out of the room, and Sirius glared at him. As Snape slammed the door, he nearly crushed Madam Pomfrey, who was coming in as well as Sirius leaving.
'It is busy here today, isn't it?' observed Dumbledore. 'Poppy, my dear, what can we do for you?'
'I'm a little worried about Helen Irwin,' she said in her calm voice. 'From what I can get out of her, she's not been eating or sleeping properly for days. But she's being very reticent with me, and I think she must have something on her mind. Do you know of anything that might be troubling her?' She glanced from Minerva to Professor Dumbledore.
They both frowned. Minerva shook her head.
'As far as I know, everything should be going just fine. She ought to be very proud of herself after what she did last Friday,' said Dumbledore with a smile at Minerva. 'She acted bravely, if a little rashly, and she succeeded completely. Perhaps I'll go and have a word with her after I've seen Remus.'
'That might not be a bad idea,' said Madam Pomfrey. 'Perhaps she'll tell you what's troubling her. She needs complete rest and peace of mind for about a week, I think.'
Sirius returned with Remus. 'I'll come down shortly, Poppy,' said Dumbledore. 'Now then, Remus. I have a proposition for you. Sirius, it concerns you as well. You might have heard that Helen's ill? Well, we need someone to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. And, as luck would have it, you're here when we need you. But this means that you won't be able to go to Russia.'
Sirius made as if to protest, but stopped himself at the look of pleasure on Remus' face at the thought of teaching again.
'In a way, that's not altogether a bad thing,' continued Dumbledore. 'I was thinking about it, and I realised that if you're going to be there for any length of time, it would not be convenient for Remus. So, Sirius, you'll need someone else to go with you. How about Arion?'
Sirius nodded slowly. Remus shot him a look of gratitude.
'Good, good. Well, then, I'll have a word with him. Remus, I think Helen's stuff will all be in the classroom, if you want to find out what you need to prepare, and have a look at the timetable. There aren't any more lessons today.'
'I know. Well, then, I'll go sort something out.' Remus looked again at Sirius. 'Thank you.'
Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. 'You'll wish you'd come, I heard Russian girls are very pretty.'
Remus smiled. 'Perhaps I shall. But they'd be wasted on me. You'll have a good time, I'm sure.' He went towards the door and down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Harry met him in the corridor.
'Professor Lupin? Are you going to be teaching us now?'
Remus raised an eyebrow. 'How did you know?'
'Because Professor Irwin fainted in our lesson, and Hermione said they'd have to ask you to teach us. Ron was afraid they'd let Snape take over.'
'Professor Snape, Harry,' Remus rebuked him gently. 'No, I will be teaching for a while.'
Harry grinned. 'Brilliant! Have you got any creatures for us?'
'I'll have to think about it. There's something called a snow demon which might be interesting, all things considered.' Remus paused for a moment. 'I don't know if I can get hold of any, though. I shall ask Hagrid.'
'Professor Irwin was teaching us about succubae. They were interesting to start with, but they're a bit boring now. I'm fed up of examples from history. It was getting a bit like Professor Binns, except that you can interrupt Professor Irwin.'
With a laugh, Remus said, 'Well then, I'll see what I can do.'
TO BE CONTINUED
Hope you liked that. Sorry it took so long, I haven't had much time lately. But very soon I will have a lot more!
Blaise.
26th March 2000