Welcome to Paradise

Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slums and some call it nice
I want to take you through the waste land
That I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise

"Did he just up and ask you?"

Remus sipped his tea. He tried to act casual, but the request had thrown him off guard. His eyebrows rose. "Yes, he stayed behind after my lesson and asked if I could help him."

"What do you plan to do?" Vala asked, delicately holding a cup of tea.

"Help him," he stated quite obviously.

She pretended to sip the tea. Every so often she would spill some, accidentally of course. "How do you plan to come around that?"

"I'm not sure…" he trailed uncertainly, staring off in space.

She set the cup down gingerly. "Why not the Patronus Charm?"

His eyes flickered to her. "That's highly advanced magic, Vala--well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level."

She picked up her glass again. Looking at him over the rim just before she acted out a sip, "So?" After the staged drink, "Harry's a very bright boy. Why shouldn't he be able to handle it?"

"Did you ever hear what happened on the Express?"

She stared at him oddly, curious of the seemingly change of topic. After a short lapse of time, "No, I don't believe you ever mentioned it."

"A Dementor came aboard."

"A Dementor? The students must have been terrified."

"I assume they were… I was a little shaken up myself."

"I'm sure you were," she replied. "But so?"

"Harry fell unconscious. He began to tremble and cry… One can only imagine what he might have seen," he answered distantly.

Vala shifted. Her mind flickered between two memories, that of Fae and Remus' crystal ball, and the night the Potters died.

"He's affected worse than others, and he's embarrassed by it. I want to help him, but I don't know how much he can take."

Vala rest a hand on his. "Is this the same boy who battled against the Dark Lord in his first year and a Basilisk in his second?"

Remus nodded solemnly.

"Then what's a Patronus Charm?" she asked rhetorically. She leaned back again. "He can handle a little challenge."

"Maybe so, but what should I do about the Dementor?"

"What about it?"

"I can't bring one into the school. Dumbledore'd have a fit."

She traced the rim of her cup. " Why not find something that looks like a Dementor?"

He shook his head. "I'd might as well dress up in a black cloak. It has to have the feel of one."

"Hmm…" her eyebrows knit together. "I know! Why not a Boggart? Didn't you mention using one in a previous lesson?"

To her surprise, he frowned.

"What? Why wouldn't that work?"

He looked up. "Oh, it's not that it wouldn't work. It's a terrific idea. It's just…"

"Yes?" she asked steadily, leaning in.

"Well, I've no idea where to find one."

She slapped his arm. "Oh Remus, you're getting naïve in your old age. Come now, did you honestly believe there'd only be one? This is Hogwarts; it's probably got hundreds of Boggarts! What day is it?"

He stared at her. "Monday."

"And you scheduled him on Thursdays?"

He nodded slowly.

"Perfect. Start looking for a Boggart tomorrow, and have it by Thursday night. I guarantee you'll find one. And if all else fails contact me and we'll search that flat of yours. It must be a Boggart Cabaret by now."

They shared identically soft smiles. "You're probably right… What time is it?"

"Nearly five."

He began to stand up. "Then I better be on my way."

"Yes," she agreed, gathering her cloak. "We're hosting another dinner, and I assume you have classes to organize?"

"More or less."

Remus tightened his cloak; Vala let hers open. The air was chilling, but she'd always been partial to Winter. It was a sign of serenity. Summer was unbearably hot, Fall killed everything, and Spring was overrated. Winter was different. The air was dry and crisp. Animals were just as well extinct. The snow drifted from the sky and everything whitened. It was simple. Not a lot of things happened in Winter.

Colds were never a threat. Kissing Saxon's iced lips were a threat. But that didn't matter right now. Right now she was in good company, and right now she was free.

She glimpsed at Remus, a broad smile creeping across her face. It quickly faded away. Remus looked paler than usual. She sobered in observation.

He sensed her change of mood. Remus was like that, sensing the slightest twitch, the slightest change. "Yes, I'm afraid it's nearly that time of month."

A smile flit across her lips.

"What?" he asked, trying to hold back a grin.

"Nothing… Just… um," she bit her lip, "Don't use that phrase again. It sounds wrong."

The shield broke, and he fell into a round of hearty laughs.

She dropped into a bright and broad smile. Seeing him happy was enough for her. A little laughter; that's all she really needed in her life.

It was a long road they walked, laughing and joking. At the end of it he wished her goodnight and she kissed his cheek. It had been, all in all, a great evening.

~+~+~+~

"Sir, he's arrived."

Ares swiveled in his chair, his fingertips pressed together, and peered at the servant over his steepled fingers. He drummed his fingers together. He let time lengthen, and watched the servant squirm. A smile twitched at his crooked lips. Finally, "Show him in."

Gratefully, the servant exited. Soon Ares was accompanied by a new visitor. A younger visitor. A visitor with light brown hair, flickered with a small amount of silver strands.

The visitor let an eyebrow raise. "You called?"

~+~+~+~

Vala stared emptily at her hands. When avoiding all eye contact, it was best to stare at your hands. Some resorted to wineglasses and others to napkins, but they were amateurs. While staring at an empty bottle, you have the threat of letting your eyes drift and catching that of another's. Another who's waiting for you to do just that.

"I hear the Ministry hasn't got any leads on Black yet," a young witch brought up.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Saxon shift and stare curiously at the witch.

"I suspect he's using black magic," she continued knowingly, persuading others to join in.

"Imagine that," Saxon drawled, "Black using black magic."

Light laughter waved over the dinner party, a shrill burst of enjoyment from the young witch in particular. Saxon curled his lip in satisfaction. Laughter is no achievement, Vala noted, when they're only afraid of you lashing out and disposing of them without leaving a trace.

"But seriously," Saxon began, "It takes no great wizard to escape the Ministry. Why, look at my abundance of guests! We've got everyone from the Crabbes to the Zabinis. All we're missing is my dear father, Ares."

Vala looked up, risking the threat of catching wandering eyes. And she did, that of Saccades, but his were easily redirected. She rested her gaze on an older wizard. The wizard held an old, rickety staff his nose, his fingers curled over it. He looked to be a sturdy, strong man in his youth, but time weathered on him and now he was only a shell of his former self. The man grunted. Vala assumed he was German. An image flit across her mind, that of an elderly man reclined in a beaten chair, who grunts his hello's, his good-bye's, and his how are you's. She bet he was a grandfather.

"What was that, Mr. Danner?" Saxon called in his mirth.

The old man glared up, a toothpick pressed between his lips, twitching with the picking of his teeth.

A wizard, four years Vala's senior, leaned towards her and whispered, "That's Old Phil Danner, a crazy sod if I ever did see one."

She stared at the wizard. He seemed sociable. An odd find at a Malfoy dinner party.

The man grunted again, and looked away. He'd lived several years, and he'd seen more arrogant men than that of Saxon Malfoy. He wasn't about to waste his time on another.

Saxon frowned. This was his dinner party, and he wasn't about to be snubbed by an old man. He rose, or began to at least. Vala touched his arm, a silent request for him to take his seat. Saxon glared at the elderly wizard, but did as Vala asked.

Everyone is here, she thought, even those Saxon hates… what is the occasion? And vaguely she wondered by Ares had not come.

~+~+~+~

"Black's like a canary… He brings song to the coal miners, and brightens their day. Some think he's mad, to sing like that in a dark hole, but he doesn't care… and he continues to sing until there's a leak of gas, and he's choked. This death can go unnoticed, and several can follow it, or it can meet realization." Ares weighed the other wizard, and continued, "Black holds the truth. But the truth is in our favour. Black is held as a madman, and has few, if any allies. Now I understand you have a connection to Black…"

The wizard stared through judging eyes, and nodded.

Ares smiled. Well, he didn't so much as smile as curve his lips in a sadistic, icy smirk. You had to give him credit, he smiled as much as a Malfoy could.

"Find our friend, convince him of your loyalty, and slay him…" He threw a bag of gold at the wizard's feet. "And see to it that he never finds those allies."

(A/N: Sorry, dah-lings! This chapter fell right into my last week of school. Exams end the 28th, so I should be getting back on track.)