Black Night
Part Twelve
Rated R
Narcissa/Lucius, Bellatrix/Severus
By the time they had finished interrogating Damein a second time - this time in the back room, with him adding in the fact that he had heard the man threaten to put Andry under the Imperius if she didn't 'do as she was told' - the drizzle had turned into sleet and frozen rain pelting down on them. Sirius had conjured a large umbrella when they were out of sight, and the four of them were huddled under it, Snape next to Bella in the back, and Sirius and Remus in the lead.
"I don't understand," Remus was saying. "Why are we going this way? What did we find out that leads us in this direction?"
"For a werewolf, you're particularly unobservant," Bella said softly, almost teasingly. "I thought you were supposed to have excellent sight and hearing."
Sirius muttered something indistinct, and Remus turned towards him, exposing a shoulder to the outside corner of the umbrella and swearing rather badly when his Muggle sweater's sleeve was instantly soaked.
"Excuse me, but which of us was the one who caught onto Jasin's plot in fourth year?" he demanded. "I don't remember IyouI overhearing the plan or seeing him sneak his wand into the hat."
"Doran Jasin?" Snape asked with sudden interest. "Wasn't that the boy who got expelled for -"
"Yes," Sirius and Remus said at the same time. "I caught him," Remus explained. "Please don't tell Regulus, any of you, he'd kill me."
"Doran and he were best friends," Sirius said with a shrug. "Slytherin year-mates, the only ones of the year, correct? Ah! Look at this!"
He bent down, but Remus had thrown out an arm and snatched him by the back of his shirt, pulling him back upright.
"Wait," he whispered. "Don't be foolish, Sirius, it stinks of Dark Magic."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course it does, and I was supposed to know that how?"
"You were supposed to let professionals check it out first, how about." Remus reached into a pocket and pulled out a glove, then reached down and lifted the wand, carefully examining it. He closed his eyes tightly. "Everyone be careful. Move back, take the bloody umbrella."
Snape got a glimpse of what it was they were arguing about as he gladly obliged - a wand.
"What's Andry's look like?" he asked Sirius.
"That," Bellatrix answered, surprisingly calm. "Blue spruce and dragon heartstring, twelve and one-half inches, quite sturdy. That's it."
"I think it's a Portkey," Remus said quietly, "and also armed with several hexes. Of course, I can't be sure, but I think they hoped that some idiot like you, Sirius, would do exactly what you were about to do. You'd be burned to ashes, or asphyxiated, or slashed to bits, and then Portkeyed to wherever - the middle of the Red Sea, or the Headquarters of Voldemort. Either one would suffice."
"But Voldemort did not order the attack, or Andromeda's disappearance," Snape said stiffly.
"Your sources are, I don't doubt, reliable," Sirius shot at him.
"Just because the Dark Lord did not orchestrate the attacks, or my sister's disappearance, does not mean that the people who did are not in some way connected to him," Bella said quietly. It struck Remus that the only other people who called Voldemort the Dark Lord were generally his followers, and he wasn't sure if Sirius had noticed this as well, but his friend's face was stony.
"So what do we do?" Sirius asked Remus after a moment of silence.
"I can try to dismantle the charms, but if I deactivate the Portkey charm by mistake, we could lose any hope we have of discovering where it would lead us. Since the attackers seem to think quite a lot of themselves, it might lead us directly to them, and in turn. . ." Remus trailed off, letting Bella finish for him. Her eyes had dulled to haunted.
"Andry," she whispered. She looked up at Remus. Then at Snape, and then to Sirius, and back to Remus again. "How strong are you?" she asked him, in a flat voice that told him this question was necessary.
Sirius spared him an answer, however, by saying in a slightly dry voice, "Well, after - er, in our sixth year, he threw me across the common room without looking short of breath. Er - right after a full moon." He looked thoroughly uncomfortable, and it didn't take Bella long to figure out why.
Bellatrix bit her lip, looking quite unlike herself. "Well," she said quietly. "Well, perhaps. . . perhaps magic is the road to take, then. . .can you produce a Patronus?"
"Yes."
"When did you first learn it?"
Remus looked uncomfortable. "My fifth year."
"What form does it take, and how big is it?"
Again, he looked uncomfortable and hesitated for a long moment before saying, "It takes the form of a stag. Normal-sized for a nearly-adult male stag."
Bella's eyebrows raised at how specific he was, but she nodded. "That will do. Yours, of course, Severus, I know -"
"So long as you remember that it changes from time to time to -" Snape said quietly.
"A snake, I know, I know. A raven generally, a snake under dire circumstances or when you're really pissed off. Mine is usually a large black swan. What's yours, Sirius?"
Sirius just blinked at her. "Mine still changes sometimes," he said softly. "I only managed to make it corporeal in training this July."
"You did?" Remus said, sounding surprised. "I didn't know that. You used to be hopeless at it."
"It's a bit smaller than it ought to be," Sirius said quietly.
"What is it?" Remus and Bella asked at the same time, and then looked at each other breifly.
"It's a wolf," Sirius answered, not looking at any of them. "You want me to be specific?" he added when he looked up in the silence, seeing their startled expressions, his tone taking on a defensive, angry note. "It's a werewolf."
"Oh," Remus said softly. Snape didn't say anything, looking unmoved as usual, and Bella gave Sirius a sort of half-teasing smile, although she looked honestly moved.
Sirius looked away. "All right," Bella said, her voice quieter but still commanding. "Remus -" He could have sworn Snape flinched at the repeated use of Remus' first name. "- you set the wand down and come back over here. You're going to freeze otherwise. Trust me on this one, all right?" Remus IwasI shivering, so he joined them again under the umbrella.
"Happy memory, now, and focus on charging down the wand," Bella said. Snape and Sirius both looked at her as if she were crazy, but Remus said softly, "Do it," and they all pointed their wands forward.
Snape had his eyes closed, and a breif smile played across his face. Bella slipped her hand into his free one, staring at the wand as if she were seeing something else. Remus' eyes were rolled back into his head, and Sirius was focusing hard, his face tense but the corners of his mouth quirking upward.
"One," Bella whispered, "two, open your eyes, boys, you have to watch it, THREE!"
From the tips of their four wands burst a stag, a raven, a werewolf - and not a black swan, but something entirely different.
A thestral.
All four Patronuses had charged forward, but they slowed as all of their owners were startled out of their concentrations. Then, "Focus!" Bella cried, and the four animals charged forwards again, circling the wand. A dim fire seemed to circle the piece of wood for a moment, and then it turned black and roared up, a wall around Andry's wand, and images flashed inside the flames.
Then they died, and the Patronusus stopped circling, heading back to their mistress and masters. The ghostly raven landed on Snape's shoulder before vanishing, Sirius reached out a hand as if to lay it on the werewolf's head, Remus bowed his head to the stag with a smile on his face. Bella, shaking, just stared at the thestral.
Then the creatures were gone as if they had never been, and the wand lay in a patch of dried mud that was quickly soaked again.
"Bella," Snape said finally, softly. The two of them were staring at each other, Bella shaking, Snape looking worried.
"That was powerful," Remus whispered. "And the Dark smell is gone. It worked. How did you know, Bella?"
But Bellatrix didn't answer, and Remus did not seem surprised at this. He glanced at Sirius, who looked with slight embarrassment back at him.
"Thestral," Sirius whispered, moving closer to Remus so that Bella couldn't hear.
"Could you see it? I mean - would you be able to see it, even if you hadn't - seen someone - have you?"
Sirius nodded. "I could see it - and I have seen -" His voice was very strange, strangled, almost. "You?" he managed.
"My mother," Remus said softly.
"I'd forgot," Sirius answered. "I'm stupid, Remus. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
Neither of them spoke for a while, and it occurred to Sirius that even if Bella and Snape hadn't seen anyone die before, they had recently - when Ted killed the man who had attacked them.
But he had an odd, unsettling feeling that that was far from the first time the two Slytherins had seen anyone die.
By the time they had finished interrogating Damein a second time - this time in the back room, with him adding in the fact that he had heard the man threaten to put Andry under the Imperius if she didn't 'do as she was told' - the drizzle had turned into sleet and frozen rain pelting down on them. Sirius had conjured a large umbrella when they were out of sight, and the four of them were huddled under it, Snape next to Bella in the back, and Sirius and Remus in the lead.
"I don't understand," Remus was saying. "Why are we going this way? What did we find out that leads us in this direction?"
"For a werewolf, you're particularly unobservant," Bella said softly, almost teasingly. "I thought you were supposed to have excellent sight and hearing."
Sirius muttered something indistinct, and Remus turned towards him, exposing a shoulder to the outside corner of the umbrella and swearing rather badly when his Muggle sweater's sleeve was instantly soaked.
"Excuse me, but which of us was the one who caught onto Jasin's plot in fourth year?" he demanded. "I don't remember IyouI overhearing the plan or seeing him sneak his wand into the hat."
"Doran Jasin?" Snape asked with sudden interest. "Wasn't that the boy who got expelled for -"
"Yes," Sirius and Remus said at the same time. "I caught him," Remus explained. "Please don't tell Regulus, any of you, he'd kill me."
"Doran and he were best friends," Sirius said with a shrug. "Slytherin year-mates, the only ones of the year, correct? Ah! Look at this!"
He bent down, but Remus had thrown out an arm and snatched him by the back of his shirt, pulling him back upright.
"Wait," he whispered. "Don't be foolish, Sirius, it stinks of Dark Magic."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course it does, and I was supposed to know that how?"
"You were supposed to let professionals check it out first, how about." Remus reached into a pocket and pulled out a glove, then reached down and lifted the wand, carefully examining it. He closed his eyes tightly. "Everyone be careful. Move back, take the bloody umbrella."
Snape got a glimpse of what it was they were arguing about as he gladly obliged - a wand.
"What's Andry's look like?" he asked Sirius.
"That," Bellatrix answered, surprisingly calm. "Blue spruce and dragon heartstring, twelve and one-half inches, quite sturdy. That's it."
"I think it's a Portkey," Remus said quietly, "and also armed with several hexes. Of course, I can't be sure, but I think they hoped that some idiot like you, Sirius, would do exactly what you were about to do. You'd be burned to ashes, or asphyxiated, or slashed to bits, and then Portkeyed to wherever - the middle of the Red Sea, or the Headquarters of Voldemort. Either one would suffice."
"But Voldemort did not order the attack, or Andromeda's disappearance," Snape said stiffly.
"Your sources are, I don't doubt, reliable," Sirius shot at him.
"Just because the Dark Lord did not orchestrate the attacks, or my sister's disappearance, does not mean that the people who did are not in some way connected to him," Bella said quietly. It struck Remus that the only other people who called Voldemort the Dark Lord were generally his followers, and he wasn't sure if Sirius had noticed this as well, but his friend's face was stony.
"So what do we do?" Sirius asked Remus after a moment of silence.
"I can try to dismantle the charms, but if I deactivate the Portkey charm by mistake, we could lose any hope we have of discovering where it would lead us. Since the attackers seem to think quite a lot of themselves, it might lead us directly to them, and in turn. . ." Remus trailed off, letting Bella finish for him. Her eyes had dulled to haunted.
"Andry," she whispered. She looked up at Remus. Then at Snape, and then to Sirius, and back to Remus again. "How strong are you?" she asked him, in a flat voice that told him this question was necessary.
Sirius spared him an answer, however, by saying in a slightly dry voice, "Well, after - er, in our sixth year, he threw me across the common room without looking short of breath. Er - right after a full moon." He looked thoroughly uncomfortable, and it didn't take Bella long to figure out why.
Bellatrix bit her lip, looking quite unlike herself. "Well," she said quietly. "Well, perhaps. . . perhaps magic is the road to take, then. . .can you produce a Patronus?"
"Yes."
"When did you first learn it?"
Remus looked uncomfortable. "My fifth year."
"What form does it take, and how big is it?"
Again, he looked uncomfortable and hesitated for a long moment before saying, "It takes the form of a stag. Normal-sized for a nearly-adult male stag."
Bella's eyebrows raised at how specific he was, but she nodded. "That will do. Yours, of course, Severus, I know -"
"So long as you remember that it changes from time to time to -" Snape said quietly.
"A snake, I know, I know. A raven generally, a snake under dire circumstances or when you're really pissed off. Mine is usually a large black swan. What's yours, Sirius?"
Sirius just blinked at her. "Mine still changes sometimes," he said softly. "I only managed to make it corporeal in training this July."
"You did?" Remus said, sounding surprised. "I didn't know that. You used to be hopeless at it."
"It's a bit smaller than it ought to be," Sirius said quietly.
"What is it?" Remus and Bella asked at the same time, and then looked at each other breifly.
"It's a wolf," Sirius answered, not looking at any of them. "You want me to be specific?" he added when he looked up in the silence, seeing their startled expressions, his tone taking on a defensive, angry note. "It's a werewolf."
"Oh," Remus said softly. Snape didn't say anything, looking unmoved as usual, and Bella gave Sirius a sort of half-teasing smile, although she looked honestly moved.
Sirius looked away. "All right," Bella said, her voice quieter but still commanding. "Remus -" He could have sworn Snape flinched at the repeated use of Remus' first name. "- you set the wand down and come back over here. You're going to freeze otherwise. Trust me on this one, all right?" Remus IwasI shivering, so he joined them again under the umbrella.
"Happy memory, now, and focus on charging down the wand," Bella said. Snape and Sirius both looked at her as if she were crazy, but Remus said softly, "Do it," and they all pointed their wands forward.
Snape had his eyes closed, and a breif smile played across his face. Bella slipped her hand into his free one, staring at the wand as if she were seeing something else. Remus' eyes were rolled back into his head, and Sirius was focusing hard, his face tense but the corners of his mouth quirking upward.
"One," Bella whispered, "two, open your eyes, boys, you have to watch it, THREE!"
From the tips of their four wands burst a stag, a raven, a werewolf - and not a black swan, but something entirely different.
A thestral.
All four Patronuses had charged forward, but they slowed as all of their owners were startled out of their concentrations. Then, "Focus!" Bella cried, and the four animals charged forwards again, circling the wand. A dim fire seemed to circle the piece of wood for a moment, and then it turned black and roared up, a wall around Andry's wand, and images flashed inside the flames.
Then they died, and the Patronusus stopped circling, heading back to their mistress and masters. The ghostly raven landed on Snape's shoulder before vanishing, Sirius reached out a hand as if to lay it on the werewolf's head, Remus bowed his head to the stag with a smile on his face. Bella, shaking, just stared at the thestral.
Then the creatures were gone as if they had never been, and the wand lay in a patch of dried mud that was quickly soaked again.
"Bella," Snape said finally, softly. The two of them were staring at each other, Bella shaking, Snape looking worried.
"That was powerful," Remus whispered. "And the Dark smell is gone. It worked. How did you know, Bella?"
But Bellatrix didn't answer, and Remus did not seem surprised at this. He glanced at Sirius, who looked with slight embarrassment back at him.
"Thestral," Sirius whispered, moving closer to Remus so that Bella couldn't hear.
"Could you see it? I mean - would you be able to see it, even if you hadn't - seen someone - have you?"
Sirius nodded. "I could see it - and I have seen -" His voice was very strange, strangled, almost. "You?" he managed.
"My mother," Remus said softly.
"I'd forgot," Sirius answered. "I'm stupid, Remus. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
Neither of them spoke for a while, and it occurred to Sirius that even if Bella and Snape hadn't seen anyone die before, they had recently - when Ted killed the man who had attacked them.
But he had an odd, unsettling feeling that that was far from the first time the two Slytherins had seen anyone die.
