Veracity Puzzles 2

Many thanks to our reviews – oh wait! We only got 1! What else is new?

DF: It was a fabulous review

Angelo: One of the best ever, true constructive critique, big talent evident… a mostly good interview that didn't hide points of dislike or questions or personal insights

DF: (sigh) wouldn't it be nice if the world were filled with those?

Angelo: So sad they're so rare… SOOOOOO

DF: We say

Angelo: and acknowledge Miss Lesley

DF: As a wonderful reviewer

Angelo: And cause of this update

THANKS MISS LESLEY

Chapter 2: Rigid Criminality

Draco blasted a Death Eater with a stunning charm. "Impressive potency" Julian commented. "Disiliocatus!" he roared. The bolt erupted from his wand and hit one of the Death Eaters in the arm. There was a nasty crack and the man fell over clutching his arm – which was twisted and bent at every possible place to break.

"Where did you learn all those spells?" Draco asked.

"Being kept in the keep gives a lot of reading time," Julian said. He ducked a stun spell and flipped his legs in the process. "SAAAAAAAADDDDD" he sang and gestured with his wand. The purple whip slashed across the Death Eaters chest and she keeled over dead.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco exclaimed. The disarming charm hurled a Death Eater into a bin. Julian looked around…still a great many of them. "What do we do?"

"This way!" Julian grabbed Draco's arm and unleashed a potent killing Curse that hurled a dead body into a group of Death Eaters as its head spun continuously on its shoulders. Draco was hauled down an alley but Julian who slotted his wand into his cane again

"Keep your wand out!" Draco exclaimed.

"Not right now" drawled Julian. "This way" there was magic in the air behind them – someone was battling the Death Eaters. "Aurors" said Julian. "In this particular area they're very quick on the response times". He hurried up a set of steps and pulled a vial out of his sleeve. Julian kicked in the door and they entered the odd warehouse. The creaky boards were coated in dust and debris of all manners was scattered across the floor. Julian popped the vial and doused it on a rather ugly stone sculpture.

"Come on, we have to touch this now" Julian said. "Your mother left this one to ensure you got to safety". He and Draco touched the statue. The tug behind Draco's naval was a shock but he heard Julian give an almost sensual gasp that was remotely like pleasure. Weird.

Draco looked around. "The Portkey's been destroyed by that potion" explained Julian. They were in a studio apartment that looked out on London's rooftops. "We should be safe, that Portkey was secret Narcissa was careful to make sure no one could trace it. None of Voldemort's men knew about it. If they find it they'll never be able to trace us."

"Why are you doing all of this?" Draco asked quietly.

"Because I have to" sighed Julian. "Narcissa made me promise, she let me out of my room and asked me to get you away if anything happened. I did as she asked, promised you'd live."

"Why?"

"Like I said, your mother is important to me" Julian said flatly. "Don't bother asking again you're not getting any more then that – and before you ask I have no attraction to her beautiful as she is. She's like an older sister or Aunt or close relative actually."

Draco nodded silently. "I'll accept that – besides my mother was devoted to my father… even if he never noticed my existence I admired they were so dedicated to each other" Draco slyly made eye contact with Julian. "Did my mother See this happening?"

"Only she knows that" Julian said with a cool smile as he purposely made eye contact. "Don't bother trying to read my thoughts," he said as he walked closer. "My mind is like a shiny mirror. You won't read my mind because you can't."

Julian turned and walked away. "Want lunch?"

"What? Were you the cook as well?"

"I was a lot of things. I am a lot of things," Julian murmured. "I can be a lot of things – but I'm never predictable…I can cook. What do you want?"

"I don't particularly care" Draco muttered as he turned back to the window.

"Well fine by me" Julian snorted as he sashayed out of the room in a confident stride and entered the kitchen. Draco stared down at the streets below and sighed. Julian was the first person he'd met that he couldn't read (well he'd never actually tried to read the mind of Voldemort)…it was shiny and cold – like a prism. Or a mirror.

Hermione examined the book making Hmm noises. "It's a very old tome," she said. "Just based on the lack of an authors name alone it's very old…"

"And the tattered cover and shrivelled yellow paper isn't a clue?" Ron snorted. For that he received a swat to the arm.

Hermione eased the book open and examined the table of contents. "Seers. Necromancers. Succubuses. It's a list of the rare types of magical gifts and some are born with. Parselmouths and the like" she flipped through a few pages. "But MUCH more detailed then any other book I've ever seen"

"And you've seen a lot, eh?" Ron said. Hermione looked at him levelly. "What?"

"I thought it might help…Ron what did Malfoy Mansion have to do with the attack on that tower?" Harry asked. Ron blinked and then nodded. "I haven't seen the connection"

"Course not…you haven't been getting the daily prophet" Ron sighed. "What happened was that the Ministry of Magic went to take the Malfoy's in for questioning. Narcissa and Draco and any servants they had…then someone made a tip off by owl, said there was an Army of Death Eaters on the grounds – thing was that it was all a distraction, the Ministry totally lost sight of everything else."

"All their Aurors ran to the manor," Hermione said. "No one saw the Apparating Death Eaters near the tower. They attacked and the few remaining Aurors barely held them off…a tour group was halved by the deaths – some Aurors died…things went manic."

"And Dumbledore sent us to get you" Ron sighed. "Decided something bad was welling up and that you had to leave. Course they all know something, the Big Order People – but they're not letting much on."

There was a loud crash. "CAREFUL!" shrilled a woman's voice.

"OH GET A GRIP LAVITNIA" a man's voice snapped. Ron, Hermione and Harry rushed out of the bedroom onto the landing. Down below a woman could be seen using the Reparo spell to mend a shattered vase. She was a petite witch in white robes with her dark hair pinned back off her sharp features. The trio followed her into the drawing room.

"Lavitnia I'm fine!" snapped the man.

"Quincy – calm down" Remus said.

"I am calm" grimaced the man. "I've faced worst on my travels. It was an incomplete hex and all it did was make me heavy as a brick for a while. Remus used the counter curse!"

"Still" Lavitnia said levelly. "You couldn't stop yourself swaying and falling against the vase out there – it looked expensive."

"It looked ugly" Quincy replied. He was a sallow skinned young man with blonde hair that flopped across his bright blue eyes. "I was trying to walk free of Kingsley and I tripped on my own feet."

"How often does that happen?" snorted Lavitnia. "Just let me check you out with a few spells and then we'll see – okay?"

"Fine" Quincy muttered.

"Harry. Hermione. Ron" Remus said. "If you plan on coming in, then please do so. There are some people I'd like you to meet. Quincy this is Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Everyone this is Quincy Morgaulle"

The blonde gave a little wave. "Hi" he smiled. "That's Lavitnia Bolgrav," he added. "Healer-Auror-Torturer" for that he received a jab in the ribs.

"What happened?" asked Hermione.

"Death Eaters" Quincy said. "We got called out to the area near the Thames, there were quite few, most of them were dead when we got there. They seemed to be chasing someone or something. Details are, alas, sketchy"

"I think this is why Dumbledore moved you here" Remus said slowly. "The Death Eater activity really is getting very frequent."

Harry had a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. He felt something bad was coming quickly…

Draco looked at Julian over the dinner table. The boy had removed his tailed coat with the high collar; he wore a tight black t-shirt underneath. "What did my mother do?" Draco asked. "To earn your – allegiance?"

Julian chewed thoughtfully on a piece of roast beef. "I've lived in the Keep all my life – Narcissa actually took the time to ensure I was – all right," he said. "If that doesn't clear up the mystery – tough. It's all your getting"

Draco watched the other boy then slowly returned to his meal.

"Potter can be lured out of hiding" Bellatrix said as she, Pettigrew and two other Death Eaters Dresden Mulhullard and Cornelia Caldor. Cornelia had a gaunt face and thin purple-painted lips with a long blonde hair. Dresden was Scottish, his scraggly red hair and chiselled face were untouched by emotion.

"How?" Pettigrew asked.

Bellatrix said nothing she merely gave him a smouldering glare. Mulhullard spoke up. "Perhaps way can farce his hand," he said.

"Yes" mused Cornelia. "We can capture some of his friends?"

"Their families are protected, their homes would blare with alarm to summon Aurors if anyone with a dark mark approaches them" Bellatrix hissed.

"There's one person we can get to," a voice said. The woman walked down the steps, she wore a long black dress with flowing silk sleeves ending in strands of beads. "By retrieving him. From beyond the Veil. Sirius Black!"

"He's dead" Pettigrew said flatly

"No" smiled the woman. "He's merely beyond the veil…"

Break

"Harry!" the voice was constant in Harry's dreams. He'd watch the scene in the Department of Mysteries over and over again…and he'd here Sirius saying his name. A goodbye? A plea? Harry struggled in the grip of the nightmare as he lay in the four-poster bed – the heat ran through his insides but the cold sweat slithered along his skin in a sheath of film…

"Please!" Harry gasped. "No!"

It was instantaneous. Malfoy raised his wand and pointed it at Harry. "Avada Kadavera" he snapped…there was a flash of green.

A boy dressed all in black was standing before Dumbledore, a cold smile on his lips. "So Albie" he sneered. "You're doing it again – getting in the way of my survival… what did I ever do to you that you must make my life such a painful, boring, pathetic existence?"

The beautiful woman walked down the steps towards Harry. "I'm the new DADA teacher," she said. "And I've heard many good things about you in that class Mr Potter. The pleasure's all mine."

A world of mirror and crystal spread out before him. "Mirrors are a reflection of the soul Harry," a voice said behind him. "In this world all spirits pass, all memories dwell, all truths are shown and all illusions become reality. This is a gateway into the realm of death, a dimension before demise"

Quincy smiled. "You've got a lot of promise – take a look at the Duelling trophies and you'll be thanking your parents" he grinned.

"IF I HEAR ONE MORE WORD ABOUT VIKTOR I WILL PUT A BAT-BUGGER CURSE ON MYSELF" roared Ron across the breakfast table.

"Is ickle baby Potter all wu-weed and scay-ward?" Bellatrix giggled as Harry's vision peaked out from a statue to her left as she strode across a grey hall, her long velvet and silk gown rustling.

"Leave him alone!" Pansy Parkinson snapped as she helped Draco up, she had her wand drawn and Blaise Zabini was handing Draco's wand back to him while keeping his one trained out before him.

"Sirius Black" a woman's voice said. "Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew. Severus Snape. Lilly Evans. James Potter. Quincy Morgaulle…you three made my life hell in school. I'm really rather spiteful – coffee?"

The ghost rolled his eyes. "Nick? Nearly Headless Nick sent you? Well you might as well come in then even if I detest that Headless Hunt Sycophant's every whim and ploy to get noticed" the door behind him opened.

"Yes the young lady came in to purchase some crystals" the old woman behind the desk nodded. She adjusted her witch's hat and smiled. "Very cool one she was – very unloved"

Narcissa Malfoy looked up at the boy. "Julian…Draco might be in danger – if he is you'll see him dragged away. Promise me you'll save him"…she looked at the boy then directly at Harry with an unreadable look in her eyes then turned back, there was a distortion as she did almost as though she had stepped out of time for a moment.

"There's always a way out of the veil" someone said.

Harry sat up with a cry and kicked off his covers. He took a few deep breaths and then lay back down – the night was still…unnerving. He swallowed and pressed deeper into the mattress as he pulled the covers back on...

TBC

Sorry this is so short but we only got 1 review.

However it was brilliant and very well structured. In the next chapter a lot of things happen- there's rows in Grimmauld Place, Dumbledore and Snape give reconnaissance, "Can Sirius be revived?" you ask – wait and see, the Death Eaters go looking for the boys, there's a fire fight and some arrests – and they're not all pretty either! But just let us make this quite clear: MALFOY DOES NOT GO SIMPERING AND PLEADING FOR FORGIVENESS and another thing… we write faster with REVIEWS