A Web of Lies
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, nor do I claim to be. None of the people, places, or things from the Harry Potter universe are mine. However, certain people, places, and things in this story are my own creation, like Ursula, Xander, and several other people. This story was written purely for entertainment value.
Chapter 1: Midnight Wanderings
Harry awoke and instantly knew something was wrong. For one, the sun was only just dawning outside. For another, there seemed to be quite a commotion down stairs. And in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, any sort of commotion was not a good thing.
Quietly slipping out of bed, as to not disturb Ron, he tiptoed to the door and down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he was shocked to find Hermione perched there, straining to hear what was being said in the hall.
"What's going on?" he whispered, sitting down beside her.
"I don't know. Snape and McGonagall showed up, and McGonagall was crying, Harry. She started to say something really loud, but I didn't get to hear it because they shushed her and managed to keep the curtain closed on Mrs. Black's portrait, but only just. No doubt her half-shriek is what woke you up."
Harry raised his eyebrows the moment Hermione had said "McGonagall was crying." Harry had never once seen his Head of House's eyes so much as water.
He heard a slightly raised voice that would have been considered shouting in relation to all the other voices. "We don't know for sure," it said. "We have to keep this quiet. Someone has to continue sending in paperwork and such under his name, making everyone think he's still around. We cannot let the Ministry get a hold of this. This must be kept a secret, understand?" Harry recognized the voice as Mad-Eye Moody's, and strained harder to hear the response. Hermione was now bent so far forward in an attempt to hear that he was half surprised her back hadn't snapped yet.
"Alastor, please! You must keep quiet! The children are rather nosy. Wouldn't want them to get word of this, would you? Potter has been known for sneaking out of bed and eavesdropping, after all," came the cold drawl of Professor Snape's voice. Harry's fists clenched.
"Harry!" Hermione whispered sternly, glancing over.
"Sorry," he whispered back, unclenching his fists.
"Severus, really. Must you be so mean to the boy when he's not even around to defend himself? Even if he was, I certainly don't want you saying anything to him. Not after what's happened. Just leave him alone, understand?" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. Harry looked down. He hated Snape enough, did Ron's mother honestly need to go and give Snape more ammunition by making him seem like a delicate object?
"Fine, Molly. Saint Potter gets his way once more." Hermione's mouth flew open and she grabbed Harry's arm.
"They're coming this way!" she mouthed. Harry blanched and scrambled up, Hermione close on his heels as he tore up the staircase as fast as he could and still remain quiet. He paused just inside the nearest doorway, flattening himself against the wall for fear that one of the party might glance up and see his shadow. He heard their indistinct voices go into the kitchen, where an Imperturabable Charm had been placed on the door, making it impossible to listen any longer.
"What was that about?" Harry whispered, when the coast was finally clear.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" Hermione said. Harry couldn't repress an eye roll. Hermione always seemed to think everything was so obvious, especially when it wasn't.
"Stop that! No, it's obvious someone from the Order is missing. Someone important, or else why would they have to make sure the Ministry didn't find out?" she stopped, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Too bad is wasn't Snape," Harry muttered.
"Harry, honestly! Are you trying to tell me you wouldn't care at all if Snape was killed by Voldemort?"
Harry smirked and said, "Yes, that's precisely what I'm telling you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed before someone downstairs gets the urge to use the lavatory."
Hermione blushed slightly at the realization that they'd hidden in the bathroom and hurried. Upon returning to his bedroom, Harry found Ron sitting up, trying to flatten his flaming red hair, which was tousled by sleep. "Wha s'matter?" He asked, yawning widely.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep."
"Don't say that. You have to tell me."
"Why?"
Ron yawned once more. "Because I'm your friend, and I said so." Knowing he was right, Harry sat down on his own bed.
"There was something going on downstairs," he said. "From what Hermione told me, Snape and McGonagall had shown up and McGonagall was crying, if you can believe it. Someone's gone missing, but they're going to keep sending in this person's paperwork as if they're around. They don't want the Ministry to find out. And Snape's being a right git, as usual, and…what's the words your mum used to describe it? Oh yeah, 'picking on me when I'm not there to defend myself'."
Ron's eyes widened. "Someone's gone missing? Any ideas on who it might be?"
Harry shook his head. "Hermione says it's got to be someone important, otherwise the Ministry wouldn't notice, but she hasn't figured it out yet. Anyway, it's not even seven yet, so I'm going back to sleep." Ron nodded in agreement and lay down as well.
"I think I may have figured it out," Hermione announced, slipping into Harry and Ron's room and carefully dodging the tittering pile of books beside the wardrobe. They were hurriedly packing to board the Hogwarts Express, as it was leaving in approximately three hours. Always ones for procrastination, they had waited till the last minute to pack. "Wait- you're not even packed yet?" Hermione said in a disapproving tone, glancing around.
"What does this look like?" Ron asked, gesturing to his half full trunk, "It's packed, just not all the way." Harry shook his head and took his set of books from the pile.
"Anyway, you were trying to tell us you figured out who someone was."
"Oh, right," Hermione said. She sat down on Ron's bed, rearranging the assortment of Chudley Channons pins, pennants, and posters, "The person that went missing. Percy."
Ron dropped the thick volume of Defensive Spells: A Precise and Dangerous Artwork on his foot, then howled in pain and hopped around, clutching his smashed foot. Harry's mouth had fallen open, but he'd managed to keep a hold on Hedwig's empty cage, which he was moving out of the way.
"It's not really that surprising. Think about it, Ron. Percy left the Ministry and hasn't been heard from since. Maybe they've now discovered he's missing, and are trying to keep it quiet."
Ron shook his head. "That's not possible. Dad's Minister of Magic, so why would they try to keep it quiet from him? Also, Percy has been heard from. He made up with Dad, and he found Percy a job somewhere. Just because we still don't talk about doesn't mean he's fallen off the face of the earth. It's just Mum still hasn't forgiven him, so we try not to mention it."
Hermione looked rather cross at being proven wrong. "Then you tell me. Who's gone missing? And why are they keeping it from the Ministry if your dad's in charge of it?"
Ron opened his mouth, and then closed it, looking extremely bitter. Harry, however, had launched upon an idea, and, taking this moment to say the one thing to Hermione he'd always wanted to say, said, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Ron guffawed into a shirt he was holding, and Hermione just glared.
"The reason they don't want the Ministry knowing is because Fudge is still around there somewhere. He got fired, sure, but he's got people in there that are still loyal to him. They're afraid that these people will tell him about whoever went missing. He's still got connections all over the place, including the Daily Prophet. It wouldn't be hard for him to get an article published about whoever's disappearance it is," Harry finished.
Hermione nodded. "You guys had better pack. Mrs. Weasley is extremely frustrated at the moment. If she sees you're not packed yet..." Ron looked frightened for a moment before dumping everything hurriedly into his trunk and snapping it shut. Harry too, latched up his trunk. Hermione left to go get her things.
As Hermione opened the door, they heard Mrs. Weasley shout up the stairs, "Boys, bring your things down! We have lots to do and little time to do it in." Ron breathed a sigh of relief at getting everything packed in time.
Gathering up his broom, his trunk, and Hedwig's cage, Harry started downstairs, Ron right behind him. They found Mrs. Weasley at the bottom of the stairs with a scroll of parchment hanging magically in front of her and a quill scribbling furiously . "What are you doing?" Ron asked, dropping his stuff beside his sister Ginny's.
"Organizing the guard," Mrs. Weasley mumbled, distracted. Ron groaned loudly, getting Mrs. Weasley's attention.
"Excuse me? Do you have a problem with the guard? Do you have a problem with being safe? WELL?" Ron stood there beet red, examining his feet, much as Harry had done yesterday on the staircase. Ron slowly shook his head.
"Good. Now, go into the kitchen and get Tonks. Tell her it's urgent. Harry, will you just go get Hermione and Ginny? I'd like to leave early, we may have to make a few detours on the way there."
When Mrs. Weasley said "a few detours," she really meant many. After everyone had loaded their things into the four cars they were taking, and left at five minute intervals. After heading straight for the station for about five minutes, they suddenly doubled back and went thirty kilometers in another direction before going back on course. After nearly an hour more of detours, they finally arrived at King's Cross.
Groaning loudly, Ron hopped out of the car and stretched as if he'd been in there for a year. Harry hadn't even exited the car yet and could already hear Mrs. Weasley, yelling at Ron for being so impatient. Harry grinned in spite of himself.
It was then he noticed how peculiar his ex-professor, Remus Lupin, was acting. He was trying to pull a briefcase out of the boot, and glanced apprehensively to the station, as if afraid to go inside. It took Harry less than a minute to figure out why Remus was having such trouble. "It might help," he suggested politely, "If you open it a bit further." He then pushed the lid of the boot fully up so Remus could pull the briefcase out.
Chuckling nervously, Remus said, "Yeah. Just a bit distracted."
"I can tell," Harry said, "What's going on?"
Remus sighed and walked away from the car, Harry followed. "I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. I mean, it's not like you won't find out."
Harry quickened his pace, doing his best to match Remus' hurried pace. "I'm returning to my post as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Remus said slowly, as if he expected to be scolded for it.
"Really? That's great! But, I mean, what about your…er…condition?"
Remus grimaced for a moment and then replied evenly, "Dumbledore set it all up. Every month during the week preceding the full moon and the full moon days themselves, concerned parents are welcome to come to the school and watch me drink the potion and be taken away from all the students." Harry could tell from the anger in Remus' eyes that he wasn't happy about the arrangement.
"Why did you come back? Could they not find anybody else? Well, it's just, a lot of parents had to have been angry about it."
Remus chuckled slightly. "Actually, they don't know yet. But you're right, they won't like it. And no, they couldn't find anybody else. You're stuck with me. Besides, Dumbledore thought it best to have as many Order members as possible in Hogwarts for safety measures."
The worry Harry had had over who the missing person might be vanished instantly at his elation at the prospect of his favorite, and all of Gryffindor's favorite, professor returning. However, his worry quickly returned when they arrived at the school and he discovered that the castle itself felt like it was keeping something from him. After exiting the thestral-drawn carriages, the trio made their way up to the castle.
"So, Remus only told you that he was returning? Nothing about the disappearance?" Hermione asked in a hushed whisper. Remus had ridden in the same compartment as them in the train, so Harry hadn't been able to say anything to Ron and Hermione about how he'd hoped Remus was going to reveal the missing person.
"Right," Harry said, skirting past a group of giggling Hufflepuff girls.
"That's weird. You think he'd be more worried about who's missing than the job," Ron said, and Hermione looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"You haven't realized it yet, have you?" Ron and Harry both shook their heads. "Dumbledore hired him because he wanted more Order members around. Whoever's missing is someone from the castle, it has to be. Dumbledore's trying to keep it from happening again by filling the staff with more trustworthy people." They had entered the Great Hall and were taking their seats at the Gryffindor table when Ron's mouth fell open. He was staring in horror at the High Table where the staff was seated.
"Ron, what is it?" Hermione asked.
"Percy," Ron said, pointing a shaking finger at the table. Harry and Hermione both looked up to the table to see Percy chatting merrily with Remus, who was silently nodding along, although he appeared to have stopped listening ages ago.
As Harry's eyes roamed over the rest of the staff table, he felt his heart drop. He glanced over to the others. Hermione was looking right at him, her eyes wide. Ron was still staring at Percy, and hadn't noticed yet. "Ron," she said. "Look at the middle of the table. Who's missing?"
Ron looked, and his jaw dropped, even further. "Where's Dumbledore? He's always up there when we get here," Ron said, turning to look at them.
"It was him," Harry said. "Dumbledore's the one that's gone missing."
A/N: Special credit to Smadronia for beta-reading. Please review!