In the delightful lull taking place until Dudley and his mother returned, Minerva sat up again and surveyed the neighborhood. No one was outside, though it was a rather pleasant day. All the houses looked alike to Minerva.
It had been a good thing they were all clearly marked, or no doubt she would have watched the wrong house all day. She saw a moving truck roll by, the words, "Marvelous Movers" emblazoned on its side.
Deciding this was as good time as any, she leapt off the wall to take an early afternoon constitutional.
-----2:06 p.m.
Severus had managed to salvage the potion once Dumbledore had left. It was a new formula, sent to him by brewmasters in Eastern Europe. It was tentatively being called Wolfsbane, and it worked as a sort of antidote for werewolves.
It had yet to be determined whether it cured lycanthropy, but they did know it kept the wolf tame during a full moon. Severus wished to brew it and administer it to Lupin come the next full moon. The researchers who had sent it to him did not have regular access to werewolves willing to test the potion. Severus had hopes of convincing Lupin to let him experiment on him.
He added a few more ingredients and returned the mixture to bubbling. He sat back, knowing there were a thousand other things he should be doing. Today was a day of great celebration, for him more than most. He was free, he reminded himself.
He strode to the window and looked outside. Most of the students had retreated inside after lunch for a nap, or to play games in the Great Hall. Flitwick and Sprout had everything well under control.
------2:14
Dumbledore left Gringotts laden with several odd-shaped packages. He had thanked Fangburr several times over before exiting onto Diagon Alley. He was heading back to the Leaky Cauldron when he spied Olivander.
Steering himself over, he stepped inside the wand. "Olivander!" he called as the man disappeared down an aisle.
He turned and came back. "Dumbledore!" he answered.
The two men embraced. "What brings you here, today of all days? I wouldn't have thought you would have the time." Olivander said.
Dumbledore smiled, "Today is a day of celebration, dear boy. Why are you not out celebrating with the masses? I hear the fields near Kent are filled with merry-makers."
Olivander's face dropped and became serious. "There are indeed several reasons to celebrate, I'll not deny you that, Albus, but there are also reasons not to celebrate. James and Lily Potter will be sorely missed."
Dumbledore nodded gravely.
Olivander continued, "I suppose young Harry will be sent away somewhere safe?"
"Oh, yes. Lily has a sister with a son a little older than Harry. He will be safe there." Dumbledore informed him.
"What do you have there?" Olivander asked, noticing Dumbledore shifting the parcels from Gringotts around.
"A few things James left to me." Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.
Olivander looked interested, but said nothing. "You should be getting back to Hogwarts, I suppose? But I wonder if you would have time for a quick drink of firewhiskey with me."
"Oh, yes." said Dumbledore. Olivander summoned the bottle and poured two shots. Handing one to Dumbledore, they clinked the glasses together and downed the drinks in one go.
The both coughed as they slammed the empty glasses back down and looked at one another. They both chuckled as Olivander helped Dumbledore out the door.
-----2:27
Sirius was currently stopped in front of the Leaky Cauldron, pacing back and forth. "Fine." he muttered, turning back in to a dog. He pawed at the door. Arty opened the door.
Sirius barked "Arty!" before he realized she wouldn't understand. He pushed passed her and ran through the pub, shouts of 'catch that dog!' rising up behind him. Fortunately, Doris Crockford was entering from Diagon Alley.
Sirius ducked between her legs, throwing her off balance. He ran down the length of Diagon Alley, rushing by several witches and wizards. There was a heavily-laden wizard Sirius almost knocked over in his haste, but he kept running until he was well beyond Gringotts.
Sirius turned back in to his human form and apparated to Remus' house.
-------2:36
Remus arrived amidst a flurry of activity. The main receiving hall of the Ministry was packed with constant arrivals. The security wizard at the far end had given up trying to register everyone's wands. Remus stopped by his desk, handing his wand sympathetically to the man, who smiled thankfully at Remus.
The man handed Remus his wand back. Remus pocketed it and pushed his way through the crowd. He managed to board an elevator quickly and rode to level two.
He stepped off, only to find the hall abuzz with activity. Remus strode through a pair of heavy oak doors. Moody stumped in from behind him.
"What are you doing here, Lupin?" he said gruffly. "I told Dumbledore to keep you at Hogwarts."
Remus was a little taken aback, but replied evenly, "I want to help."
Moody grunted.
"You can help by not taking up precious floor space." he said.
"I can help you locate Sirius." Remus persisted.
"Yeah, a great lot of help you were this morning." Moody growled.
Remus' face fell. He'd been drunk still, and tired beyond belief when the Aurors had showed up at his rooms at the Leaky Cauldron. Moody walked past him.
"Never mind, Lupin. I was only teasing. We have things well under control. I think you've been through enough. Why don't you head back t Hogwarts, or back home for awhile and get some rest?" Moody suggested.
Lupin looked down at his robes, realizing he hadn't changed since going out last night. "If you sure there's nothing I can do..." he trailed off.
Moody placed a rough hand on Remus' forearm. "I promise you, lad, you'll be one of the first we owl when we lay hands on him, don't worry."
Remus nodded and thanked Moody. He promptly left the aurors office, heading back to the main hall, its polished wood floor still shining where Remus could glimpse it between people's feet.
Nodding to the security wizard, he stepped in to one of the gilded fireplaces and, dropping the handful of floo powder he had grabbed, shouted clearly, "Lupin residence!" Immediately he was engulfed in green flames.
------2:53
Sirius was back in Diagon Alley. He'd waited for Remus for nearly twenty minutes before getting nervous. He didn't know where his friend could be. Sirius felt bad thinking about last night. He hadn't meant to threaten Remus at wand-point, really. But he'd had an inkling Remus had been the spy.
After all, friend or not, werewolves were dark creatures. And Voldemort had been targeting populations of dark creatures. There was even rumor of a potion being developed that could tame werewolves during their transformations. Voldemort had been very interested in it; Sirius remembered Lily or James mentioning it once.
He'd broken in the back door, Remus never kept it locked, he thought fondly. Everything had been very neat and tidy. He sat at the kitchen table for ten minutes, before getting a prickly feeling on the back of his neck.
A phrase from one of the Daily Prophet articles had popped in to his head, "The Ministry has received help from some of Black's closest friends and are quite confident they will locate him soon enough....." Some of Black's closest friends. Damn. Remus was helping the aurors.
He'd left immediately after, turning back in to his animagus form as soon as he was out the door. He was now back in Diagon Alley, watching witches and wizards go by, gabbing excitedly. There was definitely a festive feel to the air today.