AN: Well a big thanks to my reviewers so far. You are awesome and I really wasn't expecting any reviews, given my extremely lame title and summary.
Lucidity– I've read some of your fics! Unfortunately, Remus does not meet up with his sister in this chapter. Though she is central to the plot, I must admit she doesn't have a very active role in this fic (it's Remus-centric, or tries to be), as I'm not very good at writing original characters. (hence why I'm stealing JKR's. Ooops, that reminds me. . .)
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, except for Roberta Lupin, and she's not much more than a name. Anything you recognize does not belong to me, but to JKR. Now, back to more pleasant things: Reviewer Responses!
Please don't notice the title. I was hoping everyone was like me and didn't bother overmuch with titles and thus I picked an excessively lame one. Oh well... And you said I write well!! Yea! You are super, thank you so much for saying that.
Pallas- I hope you like this too, and I'm glad you found the first bit interesting. Thanks for taking the time to review.
Kuutamo- Hanging onto my every word? Gulp I'm going to go through and rewrite some bits now, knowing that. I hope you like it.
In this installment the plot, like gravy, thickens (this is the title to a very bad play, I would give props to the author, but I'm too lazy to Google, so there you go). Again, I'd like to thank JKR's revamped site for giving me an incorrigible plot bunny, which quite literally hopped in my head with its huge bunny feet until I joined FFN, and typed out the first chapter of this fic at three o'clock in the morning. It's kind of weird and I've never read anything similar, so I don't know what you'd expect from the first bit, but you probably won't get that here, so I'm kind of original. Whatever, I'm rambling now, and anyone who has seen this has probably skipped right over it and to the actual story, so I'll stop now. :)
Following the distressed cries of the bird, Remus found the owl flapping wildly in a magical net by the back window of the Blacks' old library. With a simple incantation, he freed the panicked owl and detached the note from her leg before she flew off with an indignant hoot.
Shaking his head, Remus examined the letter. To his surprise, it was addressed to him and written with Dumbledore's unmistakable enchanted green script. Curious, he broke the seal and began to read.
Remus,
Your presence is required at the Ministry today, as soon as you are able to leave. Please apparate to the office of Arthur Weasley and you will find out more there. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Remus was immediately confused by the message. What could possibly be going on in Arthur Weasley's department that required his presence? Did someone curse a coffee-maker, or something? He really couldn't imagine what Dumbledore would be doing there, either, but decided he ought to do as the letter instructed and apparate over right away.
With a crack, Remus landed painfully near the corner of one of the desks in Mr. Weasley's office, banging his knee against the sharp edge.
"Ah, Remus, good you got the owl," said Arthur Weasley distractedly as he shuffled through some paper airplanes on his desk. Remus ceased rubbing his knee and looked about the cramped office. He had been here once before, when Arthur had insisted he see a set of headphones he'd been given, but today the office was looking much more disorderly than usual, as was its occupant. Paper and parchment littered the floor and there appeared to be a few scorch marks on the carpet, most likely left from Howlers. Arthur seemed worse for wear as well; his robes were wrinkled, as if he'd slept in them, and his eyes were bloodshot behind his spectacles. He also looked terribly busy, not bothering to glance at Remus from the parchment he was reading, nor did he say a word to his guest for a few minutes as he scribbled a note and sent a paper airplane whizzing out of the office.
"Sorry about that," he said with an exhausted sigh and rose from his place to shake Remus's hand. "We're awfully busy, you know. They're revamping the entire place and a whole new administration's been brought in. Fudge is out, you know. The ICW had a fit when they found he'd been covering up about You-Know-Who's return. They've kicked him and all of his cronies out, and that means literally dozens of Ministry workers. He and a few others are under investigation now. The ICW's not too happy about the level of Death Eaters working for the Ministry, and Fudge is going to take the fall. Anyway, because of this, a lot of us are having to pick up the slack. That's why I'm so busy. I've been working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, going through some old files of theirs." He gestured to the messy floor, indicating the pieces of parchment strewn about the place.
" Apparently, Fudge and others helped some of the pardoned Death Eaters, you know Malfoy and the like, make their documented crimes disappear and so now I'm sorting all that out. You know, helping build bigger cases against the ones we've got now and those who helped them escape the first time."
Remus nodded to show he understood. He'd read in the Prophet that the International Confederation of Wizards (or ICW, as Mr. Weasley called them), had forced Fudge and many others out of office and was currently controlling most of the British Ministry in addition to building cases against the recently captured Death Eaters and dishonorable officials. Apparently, corruption ran deep in the British Ministry of Magic, and many furious editorials had been published about the subject over the past week.
"Yes, well you see, that's what I need to talk to you about," Arthur continued at a rapid pace but Remus couldn't possibly imagine how he was involved in any this. For a split second, he thought they might suspect him of being a Death Eater, just as they had years ago, but he quickly pushed that thought from his head. "And Dumbledore too. I owled him first, asking what I should do about all this and I believe he owled you, yes? Well, anyway, he suggested I simply speak with you bluntly. Now, let me see, where did I put that file . . . " the beleaguered wizard bent over and searched his parchment-covered desk and floor. After a moment, he popped up again, with a nondescript yellowed file in hand.
"Here it is!" he announced, triumphantly holding the thick folder of papers above his head. As he turned it around, Remus could see 'Case Closed' printed in angry red letters across the front.
"They had a time getting this one open. Number of curses and sealing charms on it. Some nasty Dark Magic too, not that it should surprise anyone, considering. And then I had to send it back because some of the documents themselves had been written with disappearing ink and whatnot, but they've got it all sorted out now. Here, have a look."
He handed Remus the file, opening it to reveal a sight Remus had not expected to see. The first thing that caught his eye was the photo paper clipped to the right corner of an official looking document. It was his sister's picture; the same photo he had given to Gideon Prewett seventeen years ago.
"What's all this?" he asked as he stared at the still school picture of his sister, forever frozen in that moment. Remus met Arthur's eyes and saw that the older man's face had become quite serious.
"It's your sister's case file, I believe. See," he said and pointed to a name printed in faded blue ink at the top of the document, which Remus now recognized to be a missing person's form, "Roberta Anne Lupin. Your sister. This is the form Gideon filled out when you reported her missing – see there's his signature. Now these," Arthur flipped past a few pieces of old parchment, "are things you know about. The stuff you told Gideon, the reports on your parents, etc. Nothing too suspicious. But here," Arthur turned to a piece of parchment with a different photo clipped to it. This photo, however, was magical, and the man in it sneered nastily at Remus whilst holding up a serial number. "Here is what I needed to speak to you about."
"What's this doing in my sister's file?" Remus asked, thoroughly confused. He didn't recognize the man in the photo, and couldn't fathom what he had to do with his sister. The man looked to be in his fifties or sixties (though it was harder to tell with wizards), and he was apparently under arrest, as indicated by the serial number. The photo itself looked to have been taken years ago, as it was in black and white and some of the magic appeared to have worn off, preventing the man from moving much.
.
"That's the wrap sheet of Thaddeus Nott. His actual wrap sheet, not the one they have on public file. That one just has that he was acquitted of any crime. This one has the original Auror report on his case and arrest – and some confessions. Apparently, the Aurors and others were bribed or threatened or whatever to get rid of this file. Nott was in well with Fudge, you know, and got off. But these bits of evidence were never presented to the courts."
"I still don't understand what this has to do with my sister. Did they just put his file in with hers so nobody would find it?"
"No, it has to do with your sister," said Arthur slowly, looking as though he didn't really want to say anything. "Basically, when the Aurors raided Nott's house, it says here, they found your sister."
Arthur paused for a moment to let this information sink in. Remus stared off in shock, not believing what he had been told, then he looked at the report. He read the Auror's report, hand written in a dark green scrawl. It outlined how they had apprehended Mr. Nott in December of 1981 and in his custody found a Muggle girl identified as Roberta Lupin. It said nothing more of Remus's sister, and he looked at Arthur for further explanation.
"If you'll turn to the next page, you'll see the bargain Nott struck with Fudge and Crouch," Arthur continued with a new hint of gravity in his voice. Remus turned to the next piece of parchment to find the agreement with the three men's signatures at the bottom. He tried to read the document, but there was a lot of legalese and, not being a solicitor, Remus again asked Arthur for help.
"To give you the short of it, it says Nott would give the locations of Dolohov, Jugsen, and Karkaroff in exchange for his acquittal. In addition, Nott would give witness against them so long as he was allowed to officially marry your sister, and any mention of her whereabouts kept secret."
"What?!" was all Remus could say as his jaw dropped. The Ministry didn't do things like that did they? They didn't use people as bargaining chips. Even Fudge wouldn't stoop that low. And his sister . . . She was just a kid, they couldn't . . . And why would he want to marry her? She was a Muggle, what did Nott care? None of this made any sense.
"Yes, the Ministry okayed it," answered Arthur with a look of disgust. "The certificate's next, your sister's not named properly, just Roberta. I expect they did that in case anything got out."
"But why?" asked Remus bewilderedly. "I suppose I can understand why he kidnaped her and held her prisoner and all," here Remus paused and gulped as he tried not to think of all that his sister had suffered, "but why marry her? Was he really that obsessed?"
"Maybe," said Arthur, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his robes, "the Death Eaters are bunch of psychopaths. I've stopped trying to understand their actions. But there is a more . . . understandable reason for Nott marrying your sister. Apparently, he needed to legitimize his son."
"Son?" Remus suddenly felt as though he was going to be sick. As if murdering his parents wasn't enough, they had to . . . to do this to his sister. And then the Ministry had helped this sick bastard. And now some Death Eater's kid was running around because of it. And it was his sister's kid too, his nephew. A million questions flooded Remus's mind and he took a much needed seat on the top of Arthur's cluttered desk.
"Are you going to be all right, Remus?" asked Arthur in a fatherly manner, putting his hand on Remus's shoulder.
"Yes, yes. I'll be fine, thank you. It's just such a shock," Remus replied, uttering one of the largest understatements of the year. He was more that just shocked. He couldn't believe all this was happening after seventeen years. For that entire time he had believed his sister had simply been killed and her body not found, and though that was a horrible situation to cope with, this was definitely worse.
"Of course. But I have more to tell you," Remus braced himself. What else could there possibly be? "Nott married her, we think, because it gave him full rights over his son. Meaning, if you or anybody else ever found out you wouldn't have any legal right to take the boy away. His birth certificate's next, by the way. I believe you even taught him at Hogwarts. Do you recall a Theodore Nott?"
Remus looked at the name emblazoned horizontally across the next parchment. It read 'Theodore John Nott'. His birthday was February 12, 1981. Only two days after their mother's birthday, Remus though absentmindedly. Thaddeus Nott's name was on the bottom of the page, but there was no sign of Bertie's. Under 'mother' the only word listed was 'Muggle' and Remus remembered that, as far as wizarding records were concerned, Muggles didn't really merit mentioning.
That birthday would put the boy in Harry's year, and Remus racked his brain trying to recall that one name out of the hundreds he had taught two years ago. All he could remember was the boy's name, sloppily written atop a rather good essay about vampires. He couldn't even recall the child's boggart.
"No, not really," said Remus finally, and he ran his hand through his greying hair in frustration. "Is there anything more?"
"Yes, unfortunately," Arthur took the file from Remus and closed it. "You know we've captured Nott in the battle in the Department of Mysteries?"
Remus nodded and closed his eyes, trying not to think of Sirius and all the horrible memories that night awoke.
"He's in very bad shape," Arthur continued in an irritatingly official voice. "But they've managed to question him some, and he's given some new information. We've asked about your sister, after finding this file, and he just said that we'll never find her. Kingsley expects we'll get more out of the boy, and so does our spy. We've got a very good case against him as it is. But we would like to convict of the crimes against your sister as well. The ICW's adamant about doing things right this time, and your sister deserves justice."
"Thanks for telling me all of this, Arthur," said Remus standing up. "But I've got a feeling there's more that you want from me."
"Yes, sorry there is. What we have right now on Nott would get him five years in Azkaban," Remus opened his mouth to protest this forcefully, but Arthur stopped him. "Though we doubt he'll ever be able to aid You-Know-Who again because of his injuries, we want to put him away for a long time. We've got information about what he did to your sister, but it's all inadmissable in court. Our spy's heard some things, and we have that original Auror's report, but neither of those could be used in his trial. We need the boy, as physical evidence that his mother is Roberta Lupin and possibly his own testimony against his father. Our spy is very hopeful that he will cooperate and help us convict Nott. We also need to find out what exactly happened to your sister. Nott seemed to imply that she was dead, but we don't know anything for sure, and the boy can help us find out."
Remus quickly squashed that hopeful voice in his head that emphatically shouted that his sister could be alive. He rationalized that his sister was most likely dead and had been for some time, but that voice countered that she had been alive less than fifteen years ago, she could just as easily be alive today. Trying to concentrate on something else, Remus figured that he still didn't know what they wanted him to do (and he knew he was about to be asked to do something) and he needed to find out.
"So what do you want from me," he tried again, hoping that now Arthur would get to the heart of the matter.
"There's just one problem with that plan: we don't know where Theodore Nott is," Arthur had the decency to look embarrassed about this, though he had nothing to do with it. Remus now had the distinct feeling he was about to be asked to go on a wild goose chase in search of the boy, something he didn't particularly want to do.
"According to Snape, he was planning to go home with Draco Malfoy, but our information tells us he's not there. Nor is he at the Nott residence. We know he's somewhere in London, as we are certain he boarded the train. We just don't know where, exactly."
"And you want me to look for him, right?" put in Remus with a twinge of annoyance in his voice. It wasn't his job to scour London for errant teenagers. The Ministry had people to that.
"Not exactly, though your help has been asked as a member of the Order," Arthur said, surprising Remus by not expressly affirming his suspicions. "It shouldn't be too hard to find him. Our spy already has an idea of where he might be and we've sent out some officials from Magical Law Enforcement to find him. He can't have gone far in less than twenty-four hours. We really need you for after they find him. The Department of Magical Families and Children's Welfare, which has been taken over by the ICW, by the way and is running much more smoothly, has declared you to be his guardian. They're really working quite efficiently. You should receive an owl shortly about the matter. At any rate, after they find him, we'll need you to explain things and hopefully you'll be able to persuade him to tell all he knows. I'd suggest you speak with Severus. He knows a good deal more about this."
"Yes, of course," said Remus in a detached manner. His thoughts were all befuddled and mangled; he had no idea what to do with all the information Arthur had given him. Nor was Remus dealing well with the shock of it all, and the only thing that came to mind was, "I can't have custody of him, I'm a werewolf."
As part of the Ministry's outdated code on werewolves, Remus was expressly forbidden from adopting children, or having any non-biological child in his custody (it was also a tricky matter for a werewolf to be allowed custody of their own child, but there's the Ministry for you). But Arthur had an explanation for this turn of events as well.
"The ICW's suspended those laws, for the most part. They're using the international agreements about werewolves, which I'm sure you know are a bit more tolerant. Anyway, the witch who's organized all this reviewed your file and declared you fit for trial parenting and said that your lycanthropy was practically an nonissue."
"Oh," muttered Remus, a little dumbfounded. He was in too great a shock at the moment, to appreciate all the implications of having the Ministry's regulations nullified. Millions of thoughts and possibilities whirled about his brain in such a tremendous speed and volume that he couldn't sort anything out properly. "So, what should I do now?"
"Go to Hogwarts, get a good meal in you, and speak with Snape if he's there. We'll contact you if anything turns up here," Arthur instructed helpfully, putting his hand on Remus's shoulder in a consoling manner. "I'll see you later."
"Yes, thank you, Arthur," Remus managed to mumble before he apparated back to Grimmauld Place, wondering if this day could have been any more trying.
AN: There you have it. Chapter two. Tell me what you think, constructive criticism is welcomed, but I warn you my plot bunny will likely ignore it (little devil that he is). I still don't have a beta, so if anyone out there is dying to check my grammar, wording, etc. (any aspiring English teachers reading?), you are welcomed to help. I know I'd love to check over somebody's bad writing (sarcasm ending now). If anyone has any title or summary suggestions, they would most definitely be appreciated, because I'm rather unsatisfied with both. Review please!! Thanks for reading!!