Summer of Discontent.
2 of 3-
Figg of the Summer Tree
Let us continue our journey! (okay that sounded poncey... never mind)
-*-
3rd August--
"Sirius and Remus- I'm sorry to have to tell you that the ministry are still in denial of Volemorts existence once more... I'm glad to see that you have found Remus and are planning on completing your task in the next few days. You may wish to go as your dog form. I have not told Arabella or Mundungus about yourselves. I think you should proceed with a great deal of caution. I would not have entrusted you with this if i had thought it would have compromised your freedom, so please do not make rash descisions. As far as i have head from our spies within the death eaters, they are not planning anything anytime soon, Voldemort is too busy punishing those who disobeyed him and recruiting new help. Take care, and fare well- Albus Dumbledore."
"What's a death eater?" A lady sitting on Sirius's lap looked up at him with a vague look of wonder.
"Evil pieces of filth wizards." Sirius shrugged, "Servants to their master cuz they're too wuss to play it alone."
"Trust you to put it blandly." Remus shook his head, "I cant believe you Sirius, you've been here just over a month and you're... you're..."
"Go on.. say it." Sirius egged.
"You havent changed a bit." Remus sighed. "Do you think we should tell Harry of our little visit?"
"You're leaving?" The lady asked
"Sorry." Sirius winced, "Its really very important... No actually i want it to be a late- sorry i missed your birthday, lets blow up the dursleys anyway- surprise visit."
"I hope you werent serious."
"Pity that, because i was really looking forward to it." Sirius picked up a piece of parchment, folded it up and put it in his robe pocket with a fesh quill and Remus's old wand. Remus had recently been down to Diagon Alley under the pretense of breaking his old wand to buy a new one for himself, so Sirius could have his old one. For some odd reason, any wand that belonged to Remus worked extraordinarily well when Sirius used it, and vice versa.
-*-
"D'you think she was upset i left her behind?" Sirius asked Remus as they trudged through a dense thicketed area.
"Are women all you think about?" Remus asked, stopping to unhook his robes from a stray piece of bracken.
"Well no, i think about food a lot," Sirius joked. "There was this wonderful slice of cake..."
"Allright." Remus waved away his friend's comment. "Listen, we're going to have to refrain from using magic. There are all sorts of guards put up against it, and i'm sure the ministry has this place surrounded with magical detectors, and to put it into context, if any wand magic is used, you get the wrong end of a distribution charm."
"Do you know the bandwidth?"
"A few continents." Remus frowned, "I heard some wizard was passing through the area and didn't know about them and he found himself in the middle of Texas five minutes after using a stunning spell on a wild animal."
"Ouch." Sirius sympathised. "That must have been pretty damn annoying."
"So you see the importance? We dont necessarily even need to place a hex, just pick up our wands..."
"And kaboom, instant vacation." Sirius nodded, "Dont worry, i'm not planning on doing anything stupid... yet."
They walked on for a while, passing roads and fields until they reached a small sign post that stated in no uncertain terms- "Welcome to Little Whining."
"Sirius, maybe Padfoot is a good idea now.." Remus muttered, seeing some people giving them odd looks in the dusky light, then next time he looked, he was being accompanied by a large dog.
"We're through the magical barriers." Remus muttered, looking down at an oddly shaped crack in the pavement, "Look, theres the ministry's mark."
Sirius barked, and ran up to a small house on the corner of a street that said "Magnolia Crescent."
"Yes i know we're close now." Remus walked on calmly, whilst Sirius ran in circles around him, trying to get him to hurry up. "Do you have to act rabid?"
Remus turned into Privet Drive, Sirius had run on ahead and was sitting with his tail swishing outside number four. Remus looked up at the windows of the first floor. None of the lights were on, in fact the house looked deserted, no car was in the driveway. He frowned, then conjured up a leash. He could have sworn Padfoot had stuck his tongue out at him as he attached the leash to him and forcibly dragged him along to number eleven.
"Hello, Arabella?" Remus smiled at the ageing lady as she opened her door.
"Remus! Goodness gracious, what a surprise, come in! And your dog too, what a lovely dog he is too..." Arabella let them in, her cats scattered at the sight of Padfoot.
"To what do i owe this pleasure?" Arabella gestured to them to sit down.
"I'm afraid it isnt all good news." Remus shook his head, "I'm here, or more likely, WE are here on orders from Dumbledore, who is asking you to do something i'm sure you're going to find preposterous..."
"Oh?" Arabella frowned, "What might that be?"
"Trust me. believe what i am going to tell you because it is true."
"Remus, after all those years, of course i believe you, i dont need Dumbledore to verify it for me." She laughed gingerly, still loooking at the dog who was now staring at her.
"Sirius Black... he's he's innocent Arabella. We were fooled and he himself was framed, he has spent those twelve years in Azkaban for something he didn't do."
"Impossible!" Arabella sounded extremely shocked. "How come?"
"Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus... it was he, who killed those people, he was the Potter's secret keeper, i really dont have time to explain, but as soon as you meet Dumbledore, i'm sure he will have time to tell you the details."
"Maybe i should explain." Sirius had transformed and was sitting on Arabella's carpet looking slightly subdued.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Arabella pointed at him.
Sirius winced, he'd done it again. The rest of his life was going to be like this. "Yes, its me. Please, trust us, we're here on Dumbledore's orders, he needs you back at Hogwarts, all the old crowd, we're heading out to Mundungus Fletcher after this, its about Lord Voldemort."
"gracious." Arabella sank back down in her chair. "What a day this has been."
-*-
"Sirius... you're welcome here anytime you understand?" Arabella patted the black shaggy dog's head. "I'm glad it has been expained to me, i shall be heading to Hogwarts as soon as i can, i wish you well for the rest of your journey."
"Thanks." Remus smiled as he and Padfoot headed back down the street they had come up yesterday evening. They heard the door close behind them and Remus smiled down at Sirius. "Charmer." He grinned. "Harry's now?" He asked. He didn't need to bother asking for an answer, the dog had gone haywire again, back outside Number four, the car was in the drive and it looked lived in again. Maybe the Dursleys had just been out for a concert or something, Remus wondered.
Sirius suddenly stopped dead, and transformed, right there in the middle of the street. "Remus, we cant go in there looking like this..." He pointed his wand at himself, and his tired greying robes took the form of an expensive muggle suit. He then did the same to Remus.
"Sirius, what are you doing?"
"Being let into the house, you realise that nobody will be able to get in there from the wizarding world unless invited? Especially not me."
"That.. is a good point." Remus nodded, then pointed his wand at the street curb outside the Dursleys- "Automobilius." An expensive cream coloured mercedes was now outside their driveway.
"Good taste." Sirius nodded. "Who are we then?"
"Business men, wanting to do a deal with er... whatever that Vernon person works as.."
Sirius frowned, "I seem to remember Lily telling me he worked with a drills company." He shrugged, "Worth a try."
Remus rang the doorbell.
"YES?" Vernon answered the door, "What do you want?"
"Mister Vernon Dursley?" Remus asked, "We work for er..."
"Dogstar Engineering Company, we're interested in doing a deal with you." Sirius finished. Remus threw him a thankful look.
"Oh yes?" Vernon looked over Sirius' shoulder and saw the gleaming mercedes, his attitude towards them changed immediately. "Come in, come in, let me introduce you to my wife..."
Harry was eating his miniscule breakfast when the doorbell had rang. He could have sworn he heard the voices of Professor Lupin and his godfather... "Dogstar?" Harry muttered, trying to glimpse the people through the keyhole of the kitchen door.
"This is our son, Dudley." Vernon said proudly, pushing his son forward. "Very proud we are... yes... very proud."
Sirius was fighting the urge to make some very ungainly comments about Dudley's size, he was about to speak when Remus nudged him in the ribs.
"We'd like to show you our plans..." He stood up, "Maybe if i could lay these out on the kitchen table..."
"of course of course..." Vernon nodded showing them the way into the kitchen, he opened the door and found Harry crouched down by the doorframe... "What are you doing BOY! Get out of here..." He hissed under his breath. Harry was about to scamper up to his room when he saw Sirius's face from behind Vernon....
"No i dont think i will." Harry stood up facing Vernon.
"WHAT?" Vernon boomed. "CUPBOARD! NOW!"
"Really, Mr. Dursley..." Remus said, pushing past the great lump into the kitchen... "That's no way to talk to a powerful wizard."
"Especially when his godfather and legal guardian is in the vicinity." Sirius stepped forward, offering his hand.. "Sirius Black at your service... or maybe not your service."
"Sirius! Professor Lupin!" Harry was practically beaming, Petunia and Dudley were creeping backwards out o the kitchen and Vernon was becoming increasingly beetroot coloured.
"You know... you can call me Remus now." Remus said to Harry, "I dont teach you any more."
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Vernon bellowed at Remus and Sirius.
"Nuh-uh." Sirius shook his head. "We're here to talk to Harry... And to talk to you.. about Harry."
Vernon gulped.
"We're powerful wizards..." Remus started, pointing his wand at Vernon.
"And of course, i'm a murderer... escapee." Sirius watched with immense satisfaction as Vernon and petunia paled at this. "So you're giong to do as we say, because, as you know, we're wizards and we have ways of keeping watch over you whilst not being there..."
"Now... this is what we want..." Remus pulled out a piece of parchement, that unscrolled and rolled across the floor.
TBC
2 of 3-
Figg of the Summer Tree
Let us continue our journey! (okay that sounded poncey... never mind)
-*-
3rd August--
"Sirius and Remus- I'm sorry to have to tell you that the ministry are still in denial of Volemorts existence once more... I'm glad to see that you have found Remus and are planning on completing your task in the next few days. You may wish to go as your dog form. I have not told Arabella or Mundungus about yourselves. I think you should proceed with a great deal of caution. I would not have entrusted you with this if i had thought it would have compromised your freedom, so please do not make rash descisions. As far as i have head from our spies within the death eaters, they are not planning anything anytime soon, Voldemort is too busy punishing those who disobeyed him and recruiting new help. Take care, and fare well- Albus Dumbledore."
"What's a death eater?" A lady sitting on Sirius's lap looked up at him with a vague look of wonder.
"Evil pieces of filth wizards." Sirius shrugged, "Servants to their master cuz they're too wuss to play it alone."
"Trust you to put it blandly." Remus shook his head, "I cant believe you Sirius, you've been here just over a month and you're... you're..."
"Go on.. say it." Sirius egged.
"You havent changed a bit." Remus sighed. "Do you think we should tell Harry of our little visit?"
"You're leaving?" The lady asked
"Sorry." Sirius winced, "Its really very important... No actually i want it to be a late- sorry i missed your birthday, lets blow up the dursleys anyway- surprise visit."
"I hope you werent serious."
"Pity that, because i was really looking forward to it." Sirius picked up a piece of parchment, folded it up and put it in his robe pocket with a fesh quill and Remus's old wand. Remus had recently been down to Diagon Alley under the pretense of breaking his old wand to buy a new one for himself, so Sirius could have his old one. For some odd reason, any wand that belonged to Remus worked extraordinarily well when Sirius used it, and vice versa.
-*-
"D'you think she was upset i left her behind?" Sirius asked Remus as they trudged through a dense thicketed area.
"Are women all you think about?" Remus asked, stopping to unhook his robes from a stray piece of bracken.
"Well no, i think about food a lot," Sirius joked. "There was this wonderful slice of cake..."
"Allright." Remus waved away his friend's comment. "Listen, we're going to have to refrain from using magic. There are all sorts of guards put up against it, and i'm sure the ministry has this place surrounded with magical detectors, and to put it into context, if any wand magic is used, you get the wrong end of a distribution charm."
"Do you know the bandwidth?"
"A few continents." Remus frowned, "I heard some wizard was passing through the area and didn't know about them and he found himself in the middle of Texas five minutes after using a stunning spell on a wild animal."
"Ouch." Sirius sympathised. "That must have been pretty damn annoying."
"So you see the importance? We dont necessarily even need to place a hex, just pick up our wands..."
"And kaboom, instant vacation." Sirius nodded, "Dont worry, i'm not planning on doing anything stupid... yet."
They walked on for a while, passing roads and fields until they reached a small sign post that stated in no uncertain terms- "Welcome to Little Whining."
"Sirius, maybe Padfoot is a good idea now.." Remus muttered, seeing some people giving them odd looks in the dusky light, then next time he looked, he was being accompanied by a large dog.
"We're through the magical barriers." Remus muttered, looking down at an oddly shaped crack in the pavement, "Look, theres the ministry's mark."
Sirius barked, and ran up to a small house on the corner of a street that said "Magnolia Crescent."
"Yes i know we're close now." Remus walked on calmly, whilst Sirius ran in circles around him, trying to get him to hurry up. "Do you have to act rabid?"
Remus turned into Privet Drive, Sirius had run on ahead and was sitting with his tail swishing outside number four. Remus looked up at the windows of the first floor. None of the lights were on, in fact the house looked deserted, no car was in the driveway. He frowned, then conjured up a leash. He could have sworn Padfoot had stuck his tongue out at him as he attached the leash to him and forcibly dragged him along to number eleven.
"Hello, Arabella?" Remus smiled at the ageing lady as she opened her door.
"Remus! Goodness gracious, what a surprise, come in! And your dog too, what a lovely dog he is too..." Arabella let them in, her cats scattered at the sight of Padfoot.
"To what do i owe this pleasure?" Arabella gestured to them to sit down.
"I'm afraid it isnt all good news." Remus shook his head, "I'm here, or more likely, WE are here on orders from Dumbledore, who is asking you to do something i'm sure you're going to find preposterous..."
"Oh?" Arabella frowned, "What might that be?"
"Trust me. believe what i am going to tell you because it is true."
"Remus, after all those years, of course i believe you, i dont need Dumbledore to verify it for me." She laughed gingerly, still loooking at the dog who was now staring at her.
"Sirius Black... he's he's innocent Arabella. We were fooled and he himself was framed, he has spent those twelve years in Azkaban for something he didn't do."
"Impossible!" Arabella sounded extremely shocked. "How come?"
"Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus... it was he, who killed those people, he was the Potter's secret keeper, i really dont have time to explain, but as soon as you meet Dumbledore, i'm sure he will have time to tell you the details."
"Maybe i should explain." Sirius had transformed and was sitting on Arabella's carpet looking slightly subdued.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Arabella pointed at him.
Sirius winced, he'd done it again. The rest of his life was going to be like this. "Yes, its me. Please, trust us, we're here on Dumbledore's orders, he needs you back at Hogwarts, all the old crowd, we're heading out to Mundungus Fletcher after this, its about Lord Voldemort."
"gracious." Arabella sank back down in her chair. "What a day this has been."
-*-
"Sirius... you're welcome here anytime you understand?" Arabella patted the black shaggy dog's head. "I'm glad it has been expained to me, i shall be heading to Hogwarts as soon as i can, i wish you well for the rest of your journey."
"Thanks." Remus smiled as he and Padfoot headed back down the street they had come up yesterday evening. They heard the door close behind them and Remus smiled down at Sirius. "Charmer." He grinned. "Harry's now?" He asked. He didn't need to bother asking for an answer, the dog had gone haywire again, back outside Number four, the car was in the drive and it looked lived in again. Maybe the Dursleys had just been out for a concert or something, Remus wondered.
Sirius suddenly stopped dead, and transformed, right there in the middle of the street. "Remus, we cant go in there looking like this..." He pointed his wand at himself, and his tired greying robes took the form of an expensive muggle suit. He then did the same to Remus.
"Sirius, what are you doing?"
"Being let into the house, you realise that nobody will be able to get in there from the wizarding world unless invited? Especially not me."
"That.. is a good point." Remus nodded, then pointed his wand at the street curb outside the Dursleys- "Automobilius." An expensive cream coloured mercedes was now outside their driveway.
"Good taste." Sirius nodded. "Who are we then?"
"Business men, wanting to do a deal with er... whatever that Vernon person works as.."
Sirius frowned, "I seem to remember Lily telling me he worked with a drills company." He shrugged, "Worth a try."
Remus rang the doorbell.
"YES?" Vernon answered the door, "What do you want?"
"Mister Vernon Dursley?" Remus asked, "We work for er..."
"Dogstar Engineering Company, we're interested in doing a deal with you." Sirius finished. Remus threw him a thankful look.
"Oh yes?" Vernon looked over Sirius' shoulder and saw the gleaming mercedes, his attitude towards them changed immediately. "Come in, come in, let me introduce you to my wife..."
Harry was eating his miniscule breakfast when the doorbell had rang. He could have sworn he heard the voices of Professor Lupin and his godfather... "Dogstar?" Harry muttered, trying to glimpse the people through the keyhole of the kitchen door.
"This is our son, Dudley." Vernon said proudly, pushing his son forward. "Very proud we are... yes... very proud."
Sirius was fighting the urge to make some very ungainly comments about Dudley's size, he was about to speak when Remus nudged him in the ribs.
"We'd like to show you our plans..." He stood up, "Maybe if i could lay these out on the kitchen table..."
"of course of course..." Vernon nodded showing them the way into the kitchen, he opened the door and found Harry crouched down by the doorframe... "What are you doing BOY! Get out of here..." He hissed under his breath. Harry was about to scamper up to his room when he saw Sirius's face from behind Vernon....
"No i dont think i will." Harry stood up facing Vernon.
"WHAT?" Vernon boomed. "CUPBOARD! NOW!"
"Really, Mr. Dursley..." Remus said, pushing past the great lump into the kitchen... "That's no way to talk to a powerful wizard."
"Especially when his godfather and legal guardian is in the vicinity." Sirius stepped forward, offering his hand.. "Sirius Black at your service... or maybe not your service."
"Sirius! Professor Lupin!" Harry was practically beaming, Petunia and Dudley were creeping backwards out o the kitchen and Vernon was becoming increasingly beetroot coloured.
"You know... you can call me Remus now." Remus said to Harry, "I dont teach you any more."
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Vernon bellowed at Remus and Sirius.
"Nuh-uh." Sirius shook his head. "We're here to talk to Harry... And to talk to you.. about Harry."
Vernon gulped.
"We're powerful wizards..." Remus started, pointing his wand at Vernon.
"And of course, i'm a murderer... escapee." Sirius watched with immense satisfaction as Vernon and petunia paled at this. "So you're giong to do as we say, because, as you know, we're wizards and we have ways of keeping watch over you whilst not being there..."
"Now... this is what we want..." Remus pulled out a piece of parchement, that unscrolled and rolled across the floor.
TBC