Disclaimed
Author's note: Super long chapter! Feed back appreciated. Ack! Evil computer. Path not valid? That sucks! Grrr. Ok rant over, sorry. On with the story.
In Fire Lies Redemption
By Marz
Chapter 18: Four Left Feet
At first glance things did not look so bad. If someone on the street were to peer in a window, (though they wouldn't because of the charms), they would see a group of mostly men, laughing, drinking and chatting amicably. There was a bit of smoke in the air from numerous pipes, but it was hardly noticed amid the smells of a well stocked and expensive buffet that wafted across the crowd. No one wore masks or praised He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. To really understand it, one had to listen closely.
Tonks swallowed. The mustache was driving her insane, but she did not let herself scratch it. She had observed William Lockwood for almost forty eight hours. I can do this. I'm an Auror. I can do this. She swallowed again. If I stand in the corner all night they'll know. Besides, less then half of them are initiated Death Eaters. She checked her pockets one last time for her emergency portkey to Hogwarts, her only way out of the anti-disapparation wards. Here goes nothing.
Lockwood approached a group talking about the mud-bloods they'd like to see fired. Lockwood picked up a tanker of mead, though he drank very little of it. Lockwood guffawed at a crude joke about what mud-bloods thought their wands were for, and told his own, which came to the conclusion that it took five mud-bloods to light a candle. If anyone thought Lockwood was behaving oddly they did not mention it.
Two hours went by, and Tonks started to believe this mission would go off without a hitch. Then a masked Death Eater appeared on the small stage at the far end of the hall.
"Pure Bloods!" he called.
Immediately the hall was silent. Tonks slowly worked her way towards the stage.
"I thank you for coming and supporting our noble cause!"
"We thank you for the mead!" called a wise ass in the back of the crowd.
There was a bit of laughter, but it died down quickly. The crowed was possessed of a nervous anticipation that made Tonks rest her hand on her wand.
"It's time for the entertainment to begin."
The Death Eater stepped to the side and waved to someone in the shadows at the back of the stage. A door creaked open and two more masked Death Eaters strode out. Between them walked a terrified woman and a small boy, no older then six. The crowd surged forward, pressing as close as they could to the stage. The woman wore muggle clothes but something about her seemed very familiar to Tonks. The little boy was nearly fused to her arm and his mouth soundlessly repeated the word "mommy" over and over again.
The lead Death Eater nodded. One of his companions grabbed the boy and tore him violently from his mother's arm. The child let out a wail of dismay and the mother tried to follow him, but blue light knocked her off her feet. The boy was carried out through the door at the back of the stage.
"Get up," the Death Eater said to the woman.
She climbed to her feet. Her eyes darted about.
"Muggle, do you remember what you were told earlier?" the Death Eater asked.
The woman nodded. "You said if I could do something entertaining, my son and I could go," she said in a very small voice.
"Have you thought of something entertaining to do?" the Death Eater asked. The sneer in his voice was audible.
"I…I can…tap dance," the woman said, ringing her hands. Her eyes went to the door they'd taken her son through.
"That's not quite what we meant."
As the sickening little show held the crowds attention, Tonks worked her way over to the buffet table. She ducked under it and pulled out her mirror.
"Molly Weasley!" she whispered onto the cool glass surface.
Nothing happened. The wards were blocking mystical communication as well.
She could take the portkey back to Hogwarts and get the rest of the Order, but that would take nearly an hour. Tonks was fairly sure the woman would not last that long. There was also the possibility of more prisoners back stage. Tonks didn't think about it very long. She knew if she did, she'd realize what a bad idea it was. She tapped her wand to her forehead and disillusioned herself.
The crowd's attention was still focused on the stage, where the terrified woman tried to tap dance while dodging curses and drinks that the men below tossed at her. Tonks slid into the shadows at the side of the stage. A Death Eater stood to the right of the door. She'd have to walk between him and the involuntary dancer to get to it, and a disillusion charm was not the same as a cloak of invisibility. Tonks was thinking about crawling past on her hands and knees when the muggle woman slipped and fell. Instead of standing back up she threw her arms over her head and curled up in a ball. The Death Eaters rushed towards her. Tonks darted through the door.
A hall lead off the back of the stage, and Tonks slipped along it. The shouts of the crowd died away. She could hear other sounds now. Weeping and a low voice, muttering. The hall ended in a single room, the door to which hung open. Half the room was comprised of a large cage. Three teenage girls in short skirts huddled together at the farthest corner of it. They'd probably been on their way to a club. An orange haired girl was crying. A girl with cornrows looked shell shocked. A girl with short black hair glared at the three Death Eaters leering at them through the bars.
The little boy was not locked in with the others. He lay on the floor a few feet away, his eyes staring blankly at nothing. For a moment Tonks thought they'd killed him, but he twitched slightly as one of the Death Eaters took a step towards him.
Tonks raised her wand and crept up behind the men leering into the cage. They were standing close enough for one shot to take them both, but the third one was too far. He'd have time to fire at least one curse at her. On three then, she thought. One…two…two and a half…
"STUPEFY!"
The red light sprayed over the two men and they dropped heavily against the bars of the cage. She threw herself aside as a green light blasted a hole in the floor. She rolled and came up on her feet. The Death Eater brought his arm up in a slashing motion but Tonks dove under the curse, firing another stupefy up into his face. The Death Eater collapsed. She hopped upright looking back at the door, but no one was rushing up the hall way toward her.
"Who's there?" called the glaring girl in the cage. She pulled her two friends to their feet.
Tonks shook off the disillusionment charm and William Lockwood's form as well. They goggled at her. Tonks tapped the door of the cage with her wand.
"Alohamora!"
It sprang open, but the girls made no move towards it.
"Come on!" Tonks said waving at them.
"Who are you?" the glaring girl repeated.
Tonks bent over the little boy.
"Finite," she whispered, lifting whatever hex the poor kid had been hit with.
"I'm Tonks," she said, helping the little boy stand up, "And we are all going to be very dead if we don't get out of here very quickly."
She fished the Hogwarts portkey out of her pocket. It was an old watch with a broken band.
"Come here, quick please."
The three girls came towards her.
"Ok, here's how this works. Everybody put a finger on the watch," Tonks put it in the glaring girl's hand, and waited until they each had. "This is going to send you to my old school. The teachers there are really nice people and they'll make sure you get home alright. I'd appreciate it if you could tell the Headmaster that Tonks could really use some back up."
"What about my mum?" the little boy asked.
"I'm going to get her in one second, but it would make this whole daring rescue thing a lot easier if we knew you were somewhere safe."
"I want my mum," he said again.
"She'll be along in a minute," Tonks said.
When they all had a finger on the portkey Tonks tapped it with her wand. The four muggles disappeared.
Four down, one to go.
She pulled off all the Death Eater's masks and got a good look at them, as she probably wouldn't be able to make an arrest that night. The least slimy mask went over her own face and she pulled up the hood of her black cloak. Her plan was simple from then on. She'd knock out all the lights, disillusion the muggle woman, shout "Aurors are coming," and then sneak the woman out in the following chaos.
The first hitch in the plan came up immediately.
"Nox!" she shouted at the top of her voice. For an instant the hall was completely pitch black, but the lights came back on immediately. The two Death Eaters on the stage trained their wands on her and the rest of the crowd just stared.
"Oh hell," she muttered. "REDUCTO!"
The red light that flew from her wand blasted away half the stage and sent the two Death Eaters flying. The muggle woman dove off the stage, only to be caught by the crowd. Tonks waded in after her.
"Immobulous!"
Her spell flew out and froze half the crowd in their tracks. She pulled the woman out of their hands, slapped her with a quick "Finite!" and rushed for the door. The Death Eaters had regained their feet, but the crowd around them was too thick to get a clear shot at the fleeing women. Tonks blasted open the doors of the hall.
"Wait! My son!" the woman called, trying to pull away.
"I sent him to Hogwarts, already!" Tonks gasped, dragging the woman up the steps.
A green light splashed across the wall above their heads.
"The school?" the woman asked as the skidded out of the alley, and sprinted up the street.
"Are you a witch?" Tonks gasped, pulling them both out of the way of another curse.
"My husband is a wizard," she said.
Tonks slipped in a puddle and the woman dragged her back to her feet. They ducked behind a dumpster.
"I'm Tonks by the way," she whispered, holding out her hand.
The woman shook it. "Annie Chapman."
The dumpster exploded.
The line wrapped all the way around the block, and after twenty minutes of waiting he wasn't anywhere near the door. Though he was far from the most strangely dressed person in the line, Remus was sure he was getting more then his fair share of disapproving looks. It was one of Sirius' old outfits. Sirius was always hanging out in muggle night clubs, and frequently managed to drag the three other Marauders along. He remembered seeing muggles dressed in clothes like this, though that was nearly twenty years ago. As a man in leather pants and a shirt made out of netting walked passed, Remus examined his own attire once again.
He'd had to transfigure it a bit, as it was much too tight in some of the more personal areas. He'd wanted to take in the cloth around the calves and ankles, but he remembered something about bellbottoms being fashionable, so he left them alone. Powder blue really isn't my color either, he mused as a woman in a vinyl body suit squeaked past. Maybe I should have worn the platform shoes.
He checked his pocket watch again. It was ten past ten. He nearly dropped the watch as an arm slid around his waist. He looked over in surprise at an unfamiliar woman in a very tight, very short red dress that supplied far too little insulation for standing around outside in early November.
"Hey sweetheart," she said.
"Hello," he said as politely as he could, trying unsuccessfully to return the aforementioned arm.
She didn't seem to want it back. He tried to sort of twist away from her, but she hung on.
"It's not that I'm offended Miss, but I think you've mistaken me for someone else."
She just smiled at him. "No, I'm sure you're you."
Remus looked at her more carefully. She was in her mid twenties, and tall with dark brown hair. He still couldn't place her. He figured she was trying to cut the line.
"Miss I'm waiting for someone else and they might be a bit put off if they see me standing with you."
The woman didn't look at him as she spoke, but the corner of her mouth was turned up in a faint grin. "No worries Mr. Lupin, Lim isn't the jealous type."
His eyes darted about, searching the street for other observers.
"No need to get jumpy," she said. "She was just a bit concerned you wouldn't get by the bouncers."
"What's a bouncer?"
"See those two massive blokes on either side of the door? They don't let just anyone in. A club's gotta' maintain its reputation you know."
Remus shrugged, looking up and down the street again.
They continued to move forward at pace of dead snail. It took them another thirty minutes to get to the front of the line. By that time the woman was wearing Remus coat, and his teeth were chattering loudly. He'd handed it over to her after she complained about being cold, though it was a struggle not to recommend that next time she put on some clothes before going outside. As they got closer, he notices a faint vibration in the cement beneath his feet. He fought the urge to turn back. He was trying to quantify the numerous bad feelings he had about the situation when they finally reached the single entrance to the Turn-Up Club. Above the door hung a neon sign shaped like a turnip with the club's name inside it, glowing blue. The bouncers gave him a quick once over.
"Are you sure you wouldn't be happier going somewhere else?" said one of the huge men.
Both were snickering slightly.
"Most likely," Remus answered coolly, "But I'm meeting someone here."
They looked as if they were going to turn him away but the woman, whose arm had not relinquished its hold on his waist, leaned toward the towering man on the left.
"Lim says hi, Erik," she said in a voice so low the other bounce couldn't hear.
Remus might have missed it too, if not for his condition. Erik the bouncer's face paled. He waved them through. Remus tried to hand over the five pounds cover but the man wouldn't take it. He drew back as if he feared the slips of paper would burn him. The woman pushed through the door, pulling him along as he found his feet starting to drag.
The sound was too much for him, though the smells were a close second. He pressed his hands to his ears and tried to go back out, but the woman dragged him forward. He was tempted to stun her and run, but he'd have to expose his poor ears to get to his wand. His whole head rang with the pulsing sounds. Lights blinked on and off. He stumbled into a wall as they moved deeper into the building.
He'd been to muggle clubs before but they were nothing like this. The building looked like a factory, but instead of textiles, it produced bad dancing. There were numerous raised platforms, all covered with people, jumping, wiggling, and waving their arms to the terrible pulses of sound that were attempting to be music. A series of steps led down into a pit full of people, and when Remus realized the woman was leading him there he tried to turn back again, but could no longer find the exit. They pushed through a sea of moving bodies, and eventually made it through the pit to another staircase. It led to another platform that was not nearly so crowded. A few small tables surrounded a bar, were people were lined up once more, this time for plastic cups of liquor.
The woman led him to an occupied table right at the edge of the platform. There were no railings, and it was a ten foot drop to the pit below. The occupant of the table wore a red tunic over black pants. A black scarf covered her head and snaked around her neck and chin. Red tinted glasses obscured her eyes. Remus sat down in the chair across from her, his hands still covering his ears.
The woman who brought him there held out her hand to Lim, and received a roll of money. She took off Remus' coat and settled it on the back of his chair, then disappeared back into the crowd. Lim leaned across the table, holding out two funny little lumps of plastic, one of which had a few bits of metal sticking out of it. He looked at her in confusion. She pulled back the edge of her scarf, revealing an ear that must've had more then twenty gold rings pierced through it. It took him a moment to realize she had a lump of plastic stuffed in there too.
Remus took the objects and quickly stuffed them in his ears own ears. Immediately the horrible noise of the club was reduced to a tolerable background thrum, though the vibrations of it still rattled his teeth a bit. He was about to ask Lim how they were supposed to conduct a meeting under these conditions when her voice buzzed in his left ear.
"You don't look like you're having any fun sweetheart. You want a drink?"
He shook his head, though he really did. He figured there was some kind of muggle machine inside the ear plug. He didn't know how she was going to be able to hear him, but he asked anyway.
"Why here?"
She smiled faintly.
"Mostly because it's not easy to find somebody in here. If you'd brought uninvited guests, I'd be long gone by now. Plus there's a show starting soon that I guarantee you won't want to miss. Mind if I look at your leg?"
"What…?"
She leaned around the table and caught hold of his right ankle. Before he knew what was happening he found his chair tipped back on two legs, and her iron grip on his ankle was the only thing that kept him from tipping the rest of the way. She pushed up the powder blue cuff, looking for the huge gash she'd bandaged for him less then a week before. Only the faintest white line showed that it had ever been there. She traced the line with the fingers of her free hand, as if she didn't trust her eyes.
Remus leaned forward, trying to catch the edge of the table so he could pull himself upright again. He looked around but no one else seemed to be paying attention. Not that he was any less embarrassed. After a few more seconds of inspecting she let go. His chair landed back on all four legs with a thump. He glared at her, but she didn't' seem to notice.
"That's fairly amazing," she said. "Most paper cuts don't clear up that neatly."
Remus shrugged. "I thought we were here to trade information on Death Eaters," he said pointedly.
"Of course we are, Love. Skipping the small talk then."
She reached under the table and brought out another file folder. This one was filled with crude hand drawn maps and sketches. Remus paged through them. The maps were marked with dates and labeled Reapers, Black Outs, or others. There was a picture drawn in crayon of a huge cloaked figure with long spindly fingers reaching for a group of people.
"We got that one from a little girl, said she could see them coming."
Remus nodded. The girl was probably a muggle born witch. "Some of us can."
Lim looked thoughtful. "That should make the show even more interesting then."
"Who drew the picture?" Remus asked.
"I can't tell you that sweetheart. It's confidential."
"That girl could be in danger. If she's one of us, she's our responsibility."
"Whereas a normal kid in a Dementor infested area is not?"
"That isn't the same."
"I thought we were here to trade information on Death Eaters," Lim said, turning to the next page of the folder.
A map with hundreds of little x's marked Reaper covered the page. The Reapers also had little numbers by their names, and a few were underlined with red.
"I've got people watching hot spots all over the city, but when the Reapers go out into the residential areas it's harder to track them. Most of the time, they're gone before I can get a significant force together to deal with them. Most of the time innocent people end up dead. I'd like to set up a line of communication. I call you, you pass along the information to your police force, or whoever is in charge of rounding up maniacs, and they go about rounding up the maniacs. It's not that complicated really."
"I don't work for the 'police' and they wouldn't put much stock in information I sent them."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm a…I'm not trusted."
She opened her mouth as if she were going push for more information, but something over his shoulder caught her eye.
"You said some of your kind can see Dementors?"
He nodded.
"Be a dear and tell me what's going on down there then."
Remus whirled. In the flashing lights and strange sounds it took him a moment to pick out what she was referring to. Then he saw.
In the center of the pit below them, the dancing had mostly come to a halt. A circle of clear space appeared around a man. For an instant Remus thought the man was dancing with someone in a long black cloak, but then long gray hands wrapped around the man's head. The hood of the cloak fell, revealing the slimy mass of tissue that passes for a dementor's head. Remus pulled his wand but it was too late. The man's arms and legs spasmed. The creature released him. The man fell to the floor. As people rushed in to inspect the now soulless man, the Dementor glided up over their heads, disappearing among the shadows of the club's towering ceiling.
Remus looked back at Lim. She was watching him passively.
"Is…does…does that happen often?" he asked.
"Three or four times a night on weekends. The paramedics drag them off to the hospital. The popular theory is that they're overdosing on some new drug, but they've yet to find a trace of anything in the tox-screen. So sweetheart what did you see? And you might want to put that away," she said pointing at his wand.
"That happens every night?"
"Every night the club is open."
"Oh Merlin," he muttered. That would most definitely explain the sudden increase in the dementor population. Where were the Aurors? There were supposed to be dark detectors all over the major muggle cities watching for this sort of thing. He felt cold, and his eyes went toward the ceiling once more.
"We can still reach him--"
"He hasn't gone!"
"Sirius!"
Harry's desperate voice echoed in his ears as the dementor passed over head. It did not attack anyone, but those it came near paled and grew silent. The creature moved on and the patrons of the club shook off the momentary discomfort the evil entity created. After a moment Remus shook it off as well. Lim watched him, looking completely unaffected.
"Why do people come in here?" Remus asked amazed.
A second dementor floated down over the crowd, feeding off the emotions of the people below. They didn't seem to care, lost in the pounding sounds and the crush of bodies around them.
"It's a very exclusive club," Lim said.
Remus was gathering his thoughts when a strange large man stumbled up to their table. His face was red and he was sweating under a heavy jacket. His nose was crooked from numerous poorly healed breaks. His jutting jaw and heavy brows gave him a cave man sort of appearance and his buzz cut hair showed off a scarred scalp.
"Lim, You gorda come right now! They're &%#$ing burn 'in down half a St. Claries and …"
"How long ago Hooligan?" she interrupted him.
"I got the call just now," he said, holding out a mobile phone as proof.
"Right then, go round up the bikes, Love. We'll be up in a minute."
Hooligan peered suspiciously at Remus, then nodded and disappeared back into the crowd.
"Feeling up to the encore?" Lim asked him.
The five Gryffindors sat in a circle on the second floor landing of the astronomy tower. Every once in a while a pair of students would scoot up the steps past them, but they had a deck of cards and a pile of poker chips as an alibi, and the Marauder's Map gave them all the advanced warning they needed.
"So is everyone concentrating?" Hermione asked.
They nodded or mumbled yes.
"Segundo verto veritas." Hermione said.
"Segundo verto veritas." They repeated. "Segundo verto veritas. Segundo verto veritas. Segundo verto veritas."
They chanted together, trying to activate the Verto potion. The book had instructed them to keep their minds open and wait for the feeling of their second true form to over take them. Though they were supposed to keep their eyes closed, Harry kept peeking at his friends. Ron looked like he was really into it. Every few seconds his skin would glow with the strange blue light it had taken on when he first drank the potion. No one else was having much success. Neville's forehead was so wrinkled in concentration that he looked pained. Harry was a little worried. He hadn't glowed at all according to the others, he just convulsed. Hermione swore if it happened again, they'd turn themselves in.
Harry's eyes wandered to the Marauder's Map. No one was coming up the stairs, and Filch was lurking in the greenhouses. Suddenly a key appeared in front of the gates of the school. A second later the key faded away, replaced by four dots. Only one of them was labeled; Marcus Chapman.
"Look at this!" Harry said, breaking everyone's concentration.
After frowning at him they gathered around.
"Who do you think they are?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Ron said. "Look there, Hagrid's about to catch them."
They watched the dot labeled Rubeus Hagrid, and another dot labeled Fang, approach the new cluster of dots, who momentarily froze, then went tearing up the steps of the school.
"Maybe we should check this out," Harry said.
They'd landed on wet grass in front of huge gates. In the faint moon light, Marcus could see two stone pigs decorating the pillars on either side of the thick iron bars. He looked at the three girls. They hadn't landed very well and had a lot of mud on them.
"Are you alright?" asked the girl with spiky black hair.
Marcus nodded.
"I'm Alicia."
Marcus nodded again.
"That's Jolie," she said pointing to the girl with cornrows and a hundred copper bracelets on each arm. "And that's Mary." She pointed to the crying girl with fake looking orange hair.
"I'm Marcus," he finally said.
"Do you know where we are?"
"The lady said we were going to a school," he answered.
Suddenly the gates swung open with a huge groan.
"Should we go in?" Jolie asked.
"I don't see anything but ruins," Alicia said, squinting in the darkness.
"There's a castle," Marcus said.
He could see lights coming from some of the high windows.
"Where?"
He pointed, but they needed glasses or something because they kept squinting and asking him dumb questions about how far away it was, and could he see any people.
"We can't wait here forever," Alicia said. "Lets go."
She pulled the others to their feet, though Mary tried to sit down again, and wouldn't stop crying. With Marcus in the lead they marched up the lawn. Marcus thought they should sit where they landed and wait for his mom, but Alicia was older, so she was in charge. They were almost to the steps when a booming voice echoed around them.
"Hey! Hold it there! Yer not spose' ta be out on the grounds this late!"
The voice came from a huge man, who was coming towards them quickly, with a crossbow in his hand. At his side a huge dog barked. Mary screamed and they ran. The doors of the castle opened as Jolie and Alicia slammed into them. They looked around stunned.
"Where'd this come from?" Alicia asked awed.
Another bark from the dog sent them running again. Marcus couldn't keep up. He called for them to wait, and Alicia came back for him, but the others disappeared into the maze of staircases and hallways. Alicia called after them but they didn't answer. They heard more running feet. Alicia grabbed his arm and pulled him down a staircase. It was cold, dark, and wet down there. Marcus wanted to leave but Alicia said it would be easier to hide. After creeping along forever they finally stopped by a suit of armor. There was a space behind it, and Alicia told him to climb in. He did.
"Alright. You stay here. Don't come out for anything. I'm going to find a phone and call the police. You stay put and be very quiet alright?"
He nodded.
"I'll be back soon." She put her finger to her lips and shushed him one more time, then went back up the hall.
He tried to be quiet, but his heart was so loud, and he was sure people could hear him breathing a mile away. He wanted his mother. Dad hadn't come back from work two weeks ago and now those people took his mum. His throat hurt. He clamped his hands over his mouth so he wouldn't make noise, but somebody heard him crying.
That somebody giggled. He looked up. A see-through man was floating above his head, grinning down at him.
"Has Peeves found himself a poor lost little firsty?" it asked.
Marcus screamed and forgot about hiding.
Alicia crept up the steps. She could hear voices in the huge hall, and peeked around the corner. A stern looking woman in a long flowing dress was talking to a heavy set woman in a bathrobe. She backed up, but she knew she'd have to cross the hall eventually. There weren't any phones in any of the other rooms she'd been able to get into. They must be upstairs. She strained to hear them.
"…muggles in the school. Poor things. Hagrid must have frightened them half out of their wits."
"I'm more concerned about how they got here. What fool is leaving portkeys lying around?"
Suddenly five teenagers charged down the steps across the hall from her. She pressed herself against the wall trying to avoid notice.
"Potter! All of you! Get back to the common room now!"
"But Professor!"
"I'll not here a word of it Ms. Granger! Go or you'll all receive detention!"
Alicia scooted back down the stairs as foot steps approached her. A short teenage boy with messy black hair, glasses, and red paint on his forehead stepped onto the stairs in front of her. He looked a bit surprised. After a quick glance at an old bit of parchment in his hand he said hello nervously.
"Hey," Alicia replied.
"Potter!" The woman in the long dress came to the top of the steps as well. Her eyes immediately fell on Alicia.
"Well, come out of there. We don't have time for all this foolishness," the woman said.
Her voice was so much like that of Alicia's middle school principle she found herself obeying without question. She followed the woman and the messy haired teen into the center of the huge hall. The woman in the bathrobe stared at Alicia in surprised and a tall boy with red hair stared at her legs. There was a lot of the suspicious staring until the stern woman spoke again.
"How did you get here?"
Alicia swallowed. These people did not seem cruel or threatening, but a couple of them held those strange sticks in their hands, like the men in the masks had.
"I ain't saying nothing until the police get here," she said trying to sound sure of herself.
"Ain't is not proper English and you have used a double negative," the woman said, assuring Alicia that this was indeed a school of some sort. "Now it is important that we know how you arrived, and from where, so that we may send you back. What is your name?"
"I ain't…I'm not going to tell you. You could be working for them."
"Working for who?"
"Those men in the skull masks."
"Death Eaters?" asked a boy with a round friendly face and shaggy brown hair.
She shrugged.
Suddenly the boy called Potter shouted "Malfoy!" and took off down the stairs she'd just come from. The red haired boy and girl took off after him.
Harry sprinted towards the dudgeons with the Marauder's Map in his left hand and his wand in the right. Dumbledore might think it was safe to let Malfoy walk about the school unsupervised and armed, but Harry knew better. He came to another short flight of stairs and jumped down. His trainers slapped loudly on the stone floor. He could hear Ginny and Ron running behind him, and cursing and crying up ahead.
A group of Slytherins had someone cornered outside the potion's supply room. He'd seen all their names on the map. All seven of the students in front of him had parents in Voldemort's inner circle. Harry did not slow down as he came upon the group. He fired a stunning curse into their midst and plowed through. There were yelps of surprise and failed attempts to catch him, but he was going too fast. As he past Malfoy he threw an elbow, catching him in the side of the head. He saw the boy then.
Marcus Chapman could not have been more then five or six. He was crying and covered in mud. Harry whirled and put himself between the boy and the goons.
"Is there a problem here?" he asked coolly, his wand aimed at Malfoy's pale pointed face.
Harry jumped a bit in surprise as the boy grabbed the edge of his shirt. "They're going to kill me!" he wailed.
Malfoy smiled and started to speak but another voice cut him off.
"Don't worry!" called Ginny, skidding to a stop on the other side of the group. "They couldn't kill a fly. It's not that they wouldn't try, they just don't have the spell work for it."
The Slytherins looked to Malfoy for instructions, but just then Ron Weasley appeared in the hall behind his sister. They sized each other up. Harry knew the long and the short of what was going on in their heads. The Slytherins knew far more dark spells then the Gryffindors, but the Slytherins had never been in a real battle. The decision was rendered moot by the arrival of a panting Professor Sprout.
"Found…him, did…you?" she asked.
The Herbology professor took in the situation, but seemed to ignore the raised wands and hate filled glares.
"Well Potter…don't just stand…there. Bring him along."
Ron and Ginny raised their wands a bit to show they had Harry covered, should any of the Slytherins decide to curse despite the presence of a teacher. Harry nodded faintly in return. He bent down to take the little boy's hand but, quicker then he could speak the muddy child had attached himself to Harry's neck. He had to pick him up or strangle, so he chose the former. The Slytherins didn't move aside to let him past, so he shoved his way through, kicking shins whenever possible. When he was past Sprout spoke again, lung function fully recovered.
"Potter, Weasleys, up to Dumbledore's office. The rest of you, back to your common room, it's after curfew."
With that she turned and led the way. Harry marched after her and the Weasleys took up the rear.
Remus hated motor bikes. He hadn't ridden on one in almost a decade, and though he didn't think it possible, this was even more uncomfortable then the last time. As usual he was the passenger. That did not bother him so much, as he would not try to pilot such a death trap on his own. What bothered him was the change in design the bikes had undergone since his last traumatic experience. There was almost no wind screen, and the driver was practically lying on their belly while riding. There wasn't much space for a passenger. The seat sloped down so he kept sliding forward into Lim. He tried to scoot back, but a second later he'd just slide forward again. Lim told him to quit wiggling every few blocks.
Her steering didn't make the journey any more pleasant either. They were traveling at an ungodly speed and she leaned so far into turns he was sure they were going to fall over. They weaved between other speeding cars and once she even cut across the sidewalk. Remus didn't pray on a regular basis, but he found he had a lot of words for the higher powers on that trip. When they finally skidded to a stop in an alley, his legs shook and his stomach was still trying to catch up with him. A moment later Hooligan skidded in behind them. He had a large black case strapped across the back of his bike.
Remus climbed off the bike and nearly fell over. Why muggles invented such painful forms of transport, he'd never understand. There was a sudden groan of metal and he turned. Lim and Hooligan were gone.
"Come on Love, we haven't got all night!" called a voice from above.
He looked up and saw them climbing a fire escape. He couldn't jump high enough to reach the bottom of the ladder and grudgingly accepted a hand up from Lim. The building was fairly large, eight stories tall, but it seemed abandon, as did most of the neighborhood around it. The roof provided an incredible view. He could see for at least a kilometer in every direction. Immediately flashing green lights caught his eye. He went to the edge of the roof and squinted. Six blocks away, and getting closer every second, were two figures fleeing a hail of curses.
Lim and Hooligan had opened the black case. Lim was taking out a rifle and Hooligan had a set of muggle binoculars. After a moment inspecting the fight, the hulking man handed them over to Remus. It took him another few seconds to figure out the focus. He got it working just in time to see Tonks struck down.
He may have shouted something. He wasn't sure. He was vaguely aware of the muggles staring at him as he pulled his wand and disapparated.
Tonks couldn't stop screaming. Annie grabbed her arms and tried to drag her to safety but the next crucio struck her, and then they were both writhing in agony. A boot struck her in the stomach, but Tonks barely noticed. She couldn't control herself. She felt her face wildly changing as if that would make things hurt less. Maybe a spastic Metamorphmagus was just funny. Their laughter echoed in her head.
Tonks was certain her head was about to explode when suddenly everything stopped. For a moment the whole world seemed to be standing still. She thought perhaps she was hallucinating, as the next thing she found herself able to focus on was the Death Eater flying through the air. Someone was speaking, but her ears were ringing too much for her to understand. A hand grabbed her wrist. With huge effort she turned and saw that Annie had crawled back over to her.
Then Remus walked by. She was almost sure it was a hallucination then, as he was dresses as a refugee from funky town. She knew she had to help and with Annie's assistance she managed to sit up and find her wand. Remus fired another blasting hex into the mob of dark wizards and they scattered, tripping over each other to get out of the way. Tonks aimed her wand at a Death Eater, but before she could speak there was a resounding crack. The man crumpled to the ground, and blood dribbled from a small round hole in the forehead of his mask.
She picked out another target. Her Stupefy sounded weak even to her own ears, but the man coming at Remus from the right fell with a satisfying thump. Another crack split the air, and a bit of brick work shattered above the remaining mob. Dust rained down on their heads. Tonks fired another stunning curse, but her arm shook so badly she nearly hit Remus in the back. The cracking sound came again, three or four more times before the remains of the mob disapparated. Then they were alone in the street.
Tonks looked around. Seven of the men from the recruitment meeting lay unmoving. Remus checked them over, and then came to her side. He gave Annie his awful powder blue jacket.
"Did…they get to Dumbledore?"
"I don't know," Remus answered slightly nervously. "I came from somewhere else."
Tonks pulled on the flared leg of his trousers. "So I see." She tried to smile but it ended up a wince.
"Can you walk?" he asked.
"Don't know," Tonks answered.
It took Remus five minutes to get them both on their feet. Annie seemed in better shape, but Tonks nearly had to be carried. They had progressed nearly four meters when the Aurors arrived. Remus looked toward the tall building where he'd left Lim and Hooligan, but he saw no sign of them. As an Auror handed the three of them a portkey to the Ministry, he was sure he could hear a pair of engines roar to life, and the distant squeal of tires.
The door to Dumbledore's office was already opened. One of the armchairs had been stretched out into a long sofa, and three disheveled teenage girls sat upon it. They had been loaned Hogwarts school robes, as McGonagall found their attire far short for the sake of propriety. They were all sipping cups of tea as Professor Sprout and the Gryffindors marched in.
Dumbledore waved toward an armchair, indicating Harry should set Marcus down. Harry tried and failed. The little boy had wrapped his arms around Harry's neck, and his legs around the older boy's waist, and no matter how Harry extolled the virtues of the chair, the kid wouldn't let go. When Harry tried to pry him off, he started to wail for his mother. It took Harry several minutes to stop him yelling. Ginny tried to bribe him off with a biscuit from the tea tray, but that also failed. After several more minutes of prying and pleading, it was decided Harry would stay, and Ron and Ginny would return to Gryffindor tower, where Hermione and Neville had already been sent.
Harry sank into the armchair. Marcus adjusted himself so his legs would not get squished, but kept a tight grip on some portion of Harry at all times, in case somebody tried to pull him away. The Headmaster brought a small cup of tea and a few biscuits over for the boy, but Harry had to hold them, as the boy decided he had to grab onto Harry's neck until the Headmaster was back behind his desk.
Harry was a bit surprised that the Headmaster had been unable to charm the kid, as most students couldn't stand in Dumbledore's presence for more then three seconds without being over come with the desire to behave themselves. The little boy refused to answer questions. He refused to do anything other then wail for his mother or cling to Harry like a gibbon.
The Ministry was called, and they insisted they would send someone to pick up the girls and return them home, but Harry checked his watch, and by two in the morning they still had not arrived. Harry tried to remove the boy several more times, but even in his sleep he had an iron grip. Harry finally gave up, and settled back in the chair. He set his glasses on the edge of the Headmaster's desk. The last thing he saw, as he let his eyes sink closed, was Dumbledore observing him, with a faintly sad look on his face.