Disclaimer: This is the part where we all bow down and pay homage to J.K. Rowling for her inspired fiction. Without her Harry Potter, the Marauders, and this fanfic would not exist. As for me, I lay claim to Ani Hellsing, her family, and any other character that you don't recognize.
Author's Note: Apparently I'm the slowest person alive. My own mother heard that J.K. Rowling was pregnant before I did. And apparently so did my boyfriend. I ought to hang up my mantle as a Rowling fan. Oh well. I'll have to produce some good chapters to make up for it, eh?
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Saturday night in London and something was not right.
After leaving Sirius, Ani had not felt ready to return to the quiet vigil at Lynx's bedside. Unwilling to discuss her whereabouts for the afternoon with her mother—and most certainly unable to keep the color out of her cheeks—she had decided to stroll around St. Mungo's for awhile, at least until she could be reasonably certain her mother was asleep on the camp bed in the corner.
But rather than the peace and quiet she'd hoped the walk through the cool halls would inspire, a heavy trepidation began to spread through her shoulders. Rolling them to abate the tension, Ani tried to ignore her unease and guided her thoughts to something more pleasant—Sirius.
It had taken all of her will power not to cry out in protest when he had finally pulled away from their second, heart-stopping kiss. "The Potters will be expecting me and James," he explained, tracing the curve of her cheek with his thumb. "I really ought to go back."
"Okay," she replied, her voice sounding strange to her own ears. She looked away—more than she could admit, she didn't want him to leave. She had no desire to be alone in the remaining hours before their plan was to take place.
"Listen to me, Ani," insisted Sirius, turning her face to meet his again. "Go get some sleep and try not to be frightened. Everything's going to be okay. We won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm not scared," she said impatiently. "I'm worried about you, all of you. I don't care what happens to me: but if something were to happen to you or Remus or Lily or my dad… I just couldn't handle that."
He snorted and in spite of herself she grinned. "Nothing's going to happen to me," he assured her, one corner of his mouth quirking into a grin. "And I've no doubt in my mind that Evans would take out ten of those bastards before they so much as looked at her."
She laughed. "Well, you're right about that," she agreed. "Still, I worry… can't help it."
"Just keep your mind off of it," he advised.
"I'll do my best."
His face had darkened for a moment. "Ani," he said seriously. "When I come to get you… I won't be able to act like myself."
"I know that," Ani answered.
"I know you do," he replied. "Only I want you to remember, no matter what they have me say or do, that I'm on your side. Okay?"
"Okay, Dad," she teased, and they giggled.
He bent his head then and kissed her again, softly, and neither of them had laughed.
The memory of that kiss smoothed and warmed her, but did not abate the sensation she'd been trying to escape. Nerves, she told herself. Nothing more. Sirius is right, you need to sleep.
She glanced down at her watch and gaped in shock—half past nine. Where did the evening go? she asked herself incredulously. Turning in place, she made her way back to the lift she knew was at the end of the hall and headed for Lynx's room. Cassie Hellsing, whose worry and constant watchfulness had left her exhausted and weakened, would most certainly be asleep. With any luck Ani could creep into the room and climb onto the extra camp bed next to her mother without waking her.
Ani's steps slowed as she approached Ward 49. Her agitation prickled. The normal nighttime murmurs of sleeping patients and soft footfalls of Healers had been replaced by a low, intense buzzing as of voices in hushed conversation. Tension hung in the air like London fog, swirling around her head. Her heart rate stepping up a pace, Ani hurried towards her brother's room, where the noise seemed to be originating.
Let him have woken up, she begged whatever god would listen. Please, let him be awake.
She was within two steps of the room when a familiar figure stepped out and carefully shut the door behind him.
"Rion!" Ani exclaimed, trying desperately to sound happy to see him and to ignore the clenching in her stomach at the sight of his drawn face. "What are you doing in London? Aren't you watching the restaurant?"
"Where have you been, Ani?" Rion asked in a low voice.
"I met up with Lily and the Marauders," she informed him, her stomach rebelling further. "Lily took our Floo to meet me. What's going on, Rion? What are you doing here?"
He didn't answer, and within moments the clamor of her heart had drowned the silence. "Rion?" came her voice, as though from far away.
Her brother stepped forward and put his arms around her shoulders. Dizziness overwhelmed her. Rion pulled her close and tucked her into the hollow between his arms and his heart. "Ani," he whispered against her hair. His arms banded tighter around her. "Ani. Baby, Lynx is dead. He died earlier tonight. There was just too much damage. He's dead, Ani."
She should be screaming. She should not be in this much pain, this much agony, without screams wrenching themselves from her throat. It was not possible. How could she be silent?
But silent she was. She stood there, noiseless, and let Rion cradle her in his arms with burning tears pouring down her face.
---
Saturday night in London and Sirius' mind was on the Scripture.
Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
He took a deep and calming breath and as a result, his heart turned to Ani. Ani, her face calm and set as they planned her father's fate. Ani, the fading sunlight illuminating a halo of reddish-gold in her hair. Ani, her lips yielding to his and her arms twined tightly around him outside of St. Mungo's. Ani, sleeping safely for a few more brief hours. With all he had in him, he prayed—not for his safety, but for hers.
"There. I've just seen them go in," came the fierce whisper from a point to Sirius' right, jangling his already stricken nerves. "If they try anything, you just yell and we'll jump out and take care of them. Don't try to be brave, alright?"
"They won't try anything," he whispered back, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. It was always vaguely disconcerting to try and talk to James when he was under his invisibility cloak. "We don't have any other plan if they do."
"We just have to hope that the urge to kill every blood traitor they can will lull their suspicions," Remus' voice chimed in from his position beneath the cloak. "Just stick to the plan and we'll all be fine. Now. Are you ready?"
He looked up at the decaying and sinister façade of the Hired Hand, Knockturn Alley's most frequented—and unsavory—pub. Sneering gargoyles, faces and wings worn by weather and time, prowled sentry on the roof and a dim and eerie light emanated from the few windows. The knocker on the door, decorative rather than functional, was in the shape of a twisted, grimacing face. A chill ran through him and his stomach threatened to rebel, but he forced it into submission almost instantly. "I'm ready," Sirius answered.
James said grimly, "Good." There was a slight shuffle as they followed him to the front door. "Let's go, chaps."
Forcing his expression to one of disdainful and haughty nonchalance, Sirius reached for the handle of the front door and clamped his teeth down against a cry of pain. The handle, which was shaped like a withered claw, had twisted instantly to grab his hand. It shot a needle-sharp talon into his flesh so that a blossom of red blood appeared on Sirius' flesh. Behind he could hear James strangle a horrified gasp. He struggled against the door's grip and goosebumps pricked his flesh as the knocker's mangled face breathed sinisterly, "Enter, pureblood."
With a blink, the handle released him and the wound on his hand had healed. Sirius fought an urge to turn on tail and run as far away as he could, but pushed open the door instead. James and Remus brushed against him as they entered close behind him and the door slammed shut, enclosing the three of them deep within the enemy's camp.
The light shone so low it seemed red and flickered every so often like the pumping of heart's blood. The Hired Hand was packed full of figured tucked into shadowy corners, men and women that seemed part of the night itself. Sad thing is, this is probably the safest place to meet them, Sirius thought darkly. Better here, in their midst, than in a dark alley.
He resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder. Though no one, himself included, would be able to see Remus or James, but the less attention he brought to himself, the better. Instead he scanned the room, looking for the faces he sought and feared all at once.
They found him first.
"Little cousin."
He forced himself to keep from jumping. Berating his speeding heart, he turned to face an especially dark booth and the black forms within. His cousin's terrible and beautiful face peered out at him haughtily, candlelight snapping in her black eyes. At her side with his arm resting casually around her shoulders was Rodolphus Lestrange, pale and imperious, his cold eyes gleaming.
"Black," Lestrange greeted him, and shifted to make room in the booth for the newcomer. His voice held a note of caution that warned Sirius to beware. Be very ware, he told himself. He looked to Bellatrix's left and saw, with a clenching his stomach, the other two members of the group: Regulus Black and Severus Snape.
"This is a surprise," Lestrange continued as Sirius sat down next to him. He signaled a ghastly looking waiter. "I don't recall ever seeing you in here."
Sirius shrugged and ignored Snape's leer and Regulus' suspicious glare. "Two shots of firewhiskey," he ordered, and the pockmarked waiter bowed away obsequiously. "I was back in London with James," he explained loftily, "and he insisted on spending the evening with Lily Evans. I just thought I could make better use of my time."
"I seem to remember you rather being a fan of Lily Evans," Snape sneered.
He arched a disdainful brow at Snape and replied coldly, "Yes, and I seem to remember you being rather less obnoxious. Pity I was wrong."
A glimmer of triumph sparked in Sirius' chest as Lestrange allowed himself a chuckle. Snape blanched and scowled as Sirius relaxed slightly and took a sip of the firewhiskey the waiter brought him. "Anyway," he went on, slightly emboldened by the drink. "When Remus showed up with Ani Hellsing, it was a bit much. I decided to leave, find someplace more suitable."
He sipped again and pretended not to notice the look that Bellatrix and Lestrange exchanged. His brother laughed and Sirius ignored a surge of hatred. Stay calm, he ordered himself. Don't blow this over Regulus.
"Ani Hellsing?" Regulus asked, sipping his own drink and eyeing his brother. Once upon a time, Sirius might have felt a twinge at what he saw of his own face in his brother. Now he felt only contempt. "The same Ani Hellsing that caused that lovely little display with Father in the study? And you say she came with Lupin? The half-breed?" Regulus laughed maddeningly and said, "What's the matter, brother? Can't even keep a girl now?"
The insinuation stung, but the fact that Regulus had played right into his hand somewhat soothed his piqued pride. "That she did," he replied, voice cool. "We had a bit of a falling out. After the incident on the train I simply mentioned to her that it might be, shall we say, wiser for her to stay away from types like Evans… especially if she were interested in seeing more of me." He shrugged. "The incident with Father before I left for James merely affirmed what I've long suspected: I may not like it, but I was born a Black, and if I play my cards right, I can have everything."
"What's all this, little cousin?" Bellatrix asked demurely, her voice falsely sweet. "Finally decided to take your rightful place in the family? Follow through on your father's footsteps?" She snorted, all pretense gone. "I'll believe that when I see it."
"Believe it," Sirius countered boldly. "What do I have to gain from Ani Hellsing? Nothing. But what do I have to gain from being a Black?" He grinned and repeated, "Everything. All I have to do now is figure out a way to do it before I can convince my father."
There was a dangerous pause. Snape looked like he would enjoy nothing more than hexing Sirius into oblivion. Regulus seemed no more convinced of his brother's change of heart than Sirius would have been had the situation been reversed. He might have lost hope if not for the fact that his cousin's usual look of disdain had been replaced with something darker and crueler—something joyfully, gleefully vicious.
In the end, it was Lestrange who assured Sirius of victory. Exchanging another glance with Bellatrix, he leaned towards Sirius. A glimmer lit his grey eyes. Unwittingly, Sirius remembered the look in those eyes when they'd slowly raked over Ani on the Hogwarts' Express. He liked their expression no more now than he had then. He tried to push that thought away and forced himself to meet Lestrange's eyes.
"Prove it," said Lestrange.
Sirius smiled coldly. "Tell me how."
---
"So all we have to do now is wait."
Remus sighed and drained his second flagon of butterbeer. The hollowness of James' voice, back dropped by the low chatter of the other patrons, only intensified the dread that had been taking over Remus since their departure from Caradoc Dearborn's flat. The butterbeer had done nothing to warm him.
It had been he, Remus, who suggested they stop at the Leaky Cauldron before returning to the Potters'. It was for Sirius that he had suggested it, for he had looked pale and peaked when they'd finally met up back in Diagon Alley. He was shaking when he found them. James and Remus, finally certain that Lestrange and the others had bought Sirius' ruse, had fled from the Hired Hand as quickly as possible, slipping out behind a wizened and shrunken old wizard. Remus and James had moved through the dank alley under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak until the bright lights of Diagon Alley spilled over them once more. Then, chests heaving, they collapsed into a bright doorway a few shops down from the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius had emerged nearly a quarter of an hour later and the three of them had walked into the pub in silence.
"I'm to meet them around dusk on Sunday," Sirius said quietly. "Lestrange said we'd go from there."
Had there been anything in his mouth, Remus would have spat it out. "I thought we agreed this would happen on Monday!" he hissed. "Ani won't be ready!"
"What else could I do?" snapped Sirius. "I couldn't say, 'No, Sunday's no good for me to kidnap the girl, can't we reschedule?'"
"Why did he want to do it Sunday?" James hurriedly asked. Remus bit back his impatience to wait for Sirius' reply.
Sirius sighed and looked into his drink. He'd come out of the Hired Hand smelling strongly of firewhiskey but had stuck with butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron. "He said something about being able to…" He sighed and raked a hand over his head, and Remus felt a twinge of pity at his friend's anguish. "He said we could have a bit more fun Sunday night." He dropped his voice a level and went on, "He said that their Lord—Voldemort, I assume—had hinted at having a meeting later in the week, and so would be less likely to show up then."
He rolled his shoulders. "This is a game to Lestrange," Sirius said bitterly. "The others, even Bella, are fanatical when they talk about their 'mission' or their Lord… not him. It's just sport." He struggled for a moment. "He doesn't even know or care who they're hurting or killing. It's just free time amusement to him."
The three were quiet for a moment. Finally James spoke again, his eyes glued to the table. "Did they say anything about Cephas?"
Sirius shook his head. "But whenever I mentioned Ani, Lestrange got this glint in his eye," he replied, voice terse with abhorrence. "Whatever they're doing with him, he thinks they can use Ani to make it easier… use her as bait." He grimaced. "It's sick."
"You got that right," James agreed gloomily, and Remus nodded.
He was silent while James and Sirius finished their drinks. Sirius' information had only confirmed what he already suspected—the danger they were about to place Ani in had gone beyond anything they'd ever considered.
How could Dumbledore have agreed to this? he swore inwardly. He's supposed to protect her at all costs!
Dumbledore knows more about this than you do, an inner voice reminded him. He was right to let you into the school, wasn't he, when everyone else would have turned you away? Maybe he's right about this too.
Maybe, he answered back. But maybe not.
"We better head home."
Remus jumped at James' voice, then nodded mutely. They laid their tip on the table and headed for the queue at the fireplace just as the fireplace chimed ten. Remus thanked his lucky stars that his parents had not heavily questioned his request to stay with the Potters for a few days: Sasha Lupin, no matter what the moon phase, was especially nervous about her eldest son being out after dark.
James stepped into the fire first, the green swirling about him and swallowing him into the depths. Remus, second in line, followed suit and took a deep breath. He'd never taken well to traveling by Floo, and by the time he stumbled over the Potters' hearth, he was nauseous as well as heartsick.
He was so disoriented that it took him a moment to register why James looked so stunned. He glanced at Mrs. Potter, who put a steadying hand on his arm as he wobbled towards her, and then his jaw dropped. Lily Evans, her eyes red-rimmed and her face milk-white, was seated at the kitchen table with a grave looking Harold Potter.
"Lily!" Sirius gasped as he stumbled out of the fire behind Remus. "What are you doing here?"
She cleared her throat and held out a piece of parchment. Remus took it as James and Sirius crowded in around him to read it. Unfamiliar handwriting scrawled shakily across the page, and as his eyes absorbed it, Remus felt his veins burn with pain.
"Lily—Lynx died tonight at St. Mungo's. Ani has barely spoken except to ask me to write and tell you what happened. She also said not to come: she said something about going ahead with the plan. I don't know what it means either; she's in shock. I know she doesn't want you to worry, but I'd feel better if you were here.
I'm doing okay. Mum is about as bad as could be expected.
—Rion"
It took him a moment to realize that Sirius had swirled around in place. He charged for the fire and grabbed a handful of Floo powder. He would have thrown it in if Mrs. Potter hadn't grabbed him by the wrist and halted him in his place.
"There's nothing you can do for her tonight, Sirius," she said gently.
"We have to go," Sirius said desperately. He shot a pleading look at Lily. "She needs us."
"Ani needs you to keep your head about you and to help her not to lose any more family members, Sirius," Mr. Potter replied sharply.
The Marauders shot incredulous looks at Lily. She told them?! Remus' brain shouted. "What did you say?" James asked his father slowly.
"Lily didn't tell us," Mrs. Potter said gently. "Dumbledore did. He's told us everything."
"How?" Sirius asked, shocked. "And why?"
"Unless—" James went on, realization spreading over his face at the same time as it filled Remus' mind.
"You're part of Dumbledore's order, Mr. Potter," he said softly.
Harold Potter—tall, lean, and suddenly looking older than his time—sighed. "Yes," he answered, his voice equally low. He looked at his son, who was gazing at his father with an expression bordering on disbelief. "I contacted Dumbledore as soon as we heard that Cephas was missing. He already knew, of course—he doesn't miss a beat, that man." Mr. Potter sighed. "Anyway, it was he who told me to give the Dark Mark—that parchment I found—to Rion." He looked around the room, meeting each set of eyes in turn, ending with Remus'. "He knew that it was Ani who had to save her father… and as much as he hated to do it, he had to set the pieces in motion."
Lily laughed softly. "And here we thought we were so clever," she murmured.
"I can't believe you never told me, Dad," James said quietly.
"There was no need for you to know, James," Mr. Potter replied. "Voldemort is beyond dangerous—he's mad. If I had my way, you wouldn't know a thing about this." He sighed and met his wife's eyes. Mrs. Potter let out a shaky breath. "But you're Ani's friend, and this is Ani's battle."
Remus watched as Mr. Potter pushed to his feet and crossed the room to Sirius. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Son," he said quietly, "the best thing you can do for Ani is to help her save her father. Ani has suffered a very great loss, but she has a mission to fulfill. She needs her wits about her." He squeezed Sirius' shoulder. "If you go to her tonight, she will lose her focus."
"Her focus isn't important!" Sirius insisted. "She needs to be taken care of!"
"Sirius," James said quietly, "you can't expect her to keep her mind together when you're trying to take care of her. If you went up to her and offered your comfort, you'd be forcing her to admit to what happened… forcing her to make herself weak in front of someone she needs." He looked solemnly at Lily. "I couldn't do that."
Remus felt something within him hurt. The look on Sirius' face… the agony in his voice… and it wasn't his brother who lay dead at the hands of Voldemort. How can Ani survive this kind of pain? he asked himself.
But he knew. She had to survive it so that she would not have to go through it again. And a look at Sirius' face told him that he knew it too.
James sighed. The room suddenly felt like a tomb.
"So all we have to do now is wait."