Consequences
By Neurotica
Six
Thanks to the use of wandless magic on Emmeline's part, Dumbledore was able to track the witch's location in the French mountains within minutes. Sirius had already gone to wake Molly and Arthur, and had contacted Tonks and Kingsley. Carefully, a portkey was created to take them directly to Emmeline. Sirius refused to listen to anyone's suggestions about him staying behind; he took charge of the operation under the strangely amused eye of Dumbledore.
Using a teapot, the three Aurors disappeared from the kitchen. Sirius immediately pulled out his wand when they landed on the side of a mountain. He reached over and grabbed Tonks' arm before she could fall over. "You're too much like Harry, you know that?" he muttered to his bright blue-haired cousin.
"Shut up, Black," she muttered back.
"Sirius, you're sure it was Emmeline you talked to and not another Death Eater under Polyjuice?" Kingsley asked.
"If it's not her, then we've just captured another Death Eater," Sirius said casually. "Lumos. C'mon."
Tonks and Kingsley shook their heads at one another and followed their boss. They could be walking into a trap, and Sirius wasn't thinking twice about it. If Mad-Eye Moody had been there, they'd all be petrified on the ground, receiving a long lesson on "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" They could be following Sirius into their premature deaths. But they were Aurors. This is what they lived for. And they had to follow orders from their leader... even if he was a psychotic madman at times.
"He's gonna be the death of us, you know," Tonks said conversationally.
"I've been thinking the same thing lately," Kingsley said.
They grinned at one another and began to jog to catch up to Sirius. "Ready?" he asked his Aurors. They nodded, their wands still held at the ready. Emmeline should be right around—
"Sirius?" a voice called hesitantly.
The Head Auror snapped his head to his right and ran into the mouth of a cave. "Moron," Tonks said.
"Your cousin," Kingsley muttered, jogging away before Tonks could slap him.
Emmeline sat on the floor of the cave, leaning against a wall, cradling an obviously broken arm. The relief on her face at the sight of the three Aurors was more than evident. But before Sirius could move to help her, Kingsley grabbed his robe. It was his job to make sure Sirius didn't get himself killed, after all. He performed the same forensics spell he'd used on Karkaroff's dead body. A minute later, a hologram appeared above Emmeline's head. It was her.
"Sight for sore eyes, you are." Sirius grinned, helping the witch from the ground. Her ankle wouldn't support her; it looked to be shattered.
"Ferula," Tonks muttered. Bandages and splints shot from her wand around Emmeline's arm and ankle. Sirius raised an eyebrow. Tonks shrugged. "That was the first spell I mastered at Hogwarts."
"Speaking of Hogwarts," Kingsley said. "We need to get going. I don't want to stay out here longer than we need to."
"It's so good to see you three," Emmeline said, leaning on Sirius as they walked out of the cave. "I don't know what happened to Remus... Death Eaters... everywhere..."
"We'll talk once you've gotten some rest, Emmeline," Kingsley said. He'd re-charmed the portkey to get them to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had taken down the charms around the hospital wing, but they only had twenty minutes from the start of the mission to get to the school. The four Order members touched the teapot, and ten seconds later, they arrived in the Hogwarts hospital wing. The Headmaster was waiting for them along with Pomfrey, McGonagall, Moody, and—to Sirius' great disgust—Snape.
Sirius immediately led Emmeline to a freshly made bed and allowed the school nurse to examine her. Everyone but Snape began to barrage the Aurors with questions about where they'd found Emmeline. Kingsley and Tonks patiently answered their questions. Sirius just happened to glance at Snape. The Potions Master had an odd look on his face as he watched Pomfrey mend Emmeline's injuries. He seemed to sense Sirius' stare; he turned and used his trademark glare on the Auror.
Half an hour later, Pomfrey ordered everyone out of the room, saying that Emmeline needed her rest. Dumbledore led the group to his study where they were met by three house-elves with tea trays. Sirius wondered vaguely where Dumbledore was keeping Kreacher now...
Their impromptu Order meeting covered everything that had occurred in the last four days: Diagon Alley, Remus and Emmeline, Harry, Kreacher, and the potential spy inside Number Twelve. Sirius, of course, demanded more information on this, but Dumbledore wouldn't expand on what seemed to be an accidental slip of his tongue.
The sun was rising quickly over the Quidditch pitch, and Dumbledore deemed it time for the Aurors to get some sleep. Snape would remain at Hogwarts until that afternoon, when Dumbledore would come up with a plan to bring him back to the Ministry. Until Emmeline was well rested, they decided (rather, Pomfrey decided for them) to leave their questions unanswered. Since Harry was seemingly all right (Snape assured Sirius—through Dumbledore—that he'd recover completely in the next few days), Sirius decided it time to return to work. He had a lot to catch up on, and there wasn't much they could do for Remus until they had more information about what had happened in France.
Dumbledore kindly offered to let the Aurors to sleep in the Hogwarts guest quarters. Exhaustedly, Tonks led the other two out of the study and down the school corridors. Once they reached their room, none of them said good night; Sirius didn't even make it to the bed that had been setup by the house-elves; he collapsed on the sofa and fell asleep seconds later.
In a dark flat in London, a blonde woman with striking hazel eyes sat on her black leather sofa, her knees pulled to her chest, her head buried in her arms. She never thought the choices she'd made fourteen years ago would lead to this. Her life, once happy with a wonderful man who would support her through almost anything, was now miserable with an evil Dark Lord dictating her every move. She'd known of all her master's plans before the majority of the rest of the Death Eaters. They'd been carefully thought up, these plans, and they were seemingly foolproof; she'd made sure of that.
She blamed herself, of course, and with good reason. Her best friends' son was dead; the poison had undoubtedly done its job, and the only person who knew the antidote was a Death Eater in Ministry of Magic custody. One of the only men she'd ever loved now hated her, and was as good as dead once the other Death Eaters caught up with him. He'd fight, of course; that was the only way Remus could be taken down. He'd fight until his last breath. She could only recall one time in Hogwarts when he'd assaulted another student.
Regulus deserved it, though, she thought.
If she kept up with the life she had now, she'd be dead in ten years, if that. She'd been lucky enough to avoid participating in the majority of the Muggle torturing—that was an advantage to being the Dark Lord's top strategist...
The only advantage, she thought bitterly.
She had been serious about going to see Dumbledore. She should have done it years ago, when Remus had first told her to. She'd been caught up in her own independence and ending the war on her terms. Perhaps, she'd thought all those years ago, the war would end before she'd have to do anything she'd regret. And then she and Remus would be able to live happily ever after. But that night at Remus' was the one she regretted more than anything else she'd done.
When Sirius had been released from Azkaban, she'd been thrilled. She'd known what Peter had done—she'd tried to tell Remus, but he wouldn't listen... Peter had manipulated her into not only ruining her life and letting her two best friends meet their deaths, but also framing her other best friend. Enough lives had been ruined by her, and she needed to do something about it.
She stood from her sofa, found her spare wand, and prepared to Apparate.
Naomi had made a decision... She just hoped he'd listen...
Sirius held his head in his hand, his eyes closing of their own accord after only three hours of sleep. He'd need to get some proper sleep soon, or he'd end up at St. Mungo's needing a pepper-up potion. He'd never realized how amazingly uncomfortable his desk chair at the Ministry was until this day. Maybe he could convince Bones to order some new ones...
"SIRIUS!" someone screamed in his ear.
His arm jerked, his head fell and hit the desk hard. Looking up, rubbing his bruising forehead, Sirius glared at his second-in-command. "You're fired," he muttered, rolling his eyes at Kingsley's grin. "What d'you want?"
"Just thought you'd like to know that the Department of Charms Research was able to transform Karkaroff's body to its original—ugly—form," Kingsley said, sitting on the edge of Sirius' desk.
"Good," the other wizard said. "It was bad enough seeing that scum posing as Remus. At least I'll rest easy knowing some form of my best friend isn't being buried just yet—"
"Always the optimist, aren't you, Black?"
"Speaking of being buried," Sirius said, ignoring his friend's comment, "when are they tossing that bastard's body in the sea for the sharks to eat?"
Kingsley chuckled. "I'll get right on that, boss."
"You do that," Sirius muttered, burying his head in his arms.
"It'll all be over soon, you know," Kingsley was saying. Sirius grunted in response. "We'll find Remus and he'll be fine. You'll see."
Sirius slowly removed his head from his desk. "Have you ever lost your entire family to one person?" Not waiting for a response—he knew the answer—Sirius went on. "I have. Not just my blood relatives, mind—not that I give two shits to the wind about the majority of them, but everyone I came to care about, everyone I'd give my life for... I've either lost them, or am in the process of losing them, or I've almost lost them multiple times.
"The only woman I ever loved enough to want to marry was murdered by Voldemort. The only two people I considered (at the time) a brother and sister were killed by him. Two of my best friends joined that evil bastard. My godson who's as good as a son to me... let's not even get into that... And now Remus. It's like... I don't even know what words to use to describe it."
"I know," Kingsley said quietly. "You've been through some rough shit, Sirius, but you've got to move on from that. That's what Voldemort wants; he wants your morale to be less than zero. And why are you looking at me like that?"
Sirius' jaw had dropped and his eyes were wide as galleons. "You said his name," he whispered in awe. "Bloody hell, Kingsley! You said 'Voldemort!'"
"Yeah, yeah," Kingsley muttered, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Don't tell the whole world."
Sirius grinned. "Aw, my wittle Kingsley isn't afwaid of the big bad word anymore..."
"Pinch my cheek and Voldemort won't have to worry about you anymore," Kingsley threatened.
Sirius laughed, but before he could reply, Dumbledore walked in the office.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said. Sirius noticed he wasn't calling them 'boys'—did he only reserve that for him and Remus? "I wonder if it would be at all possible for one of you to take something to the holding cells for me?"
"Of course, sir," Kingsley said. "What do you need—oh, right..."
"Evans isn't busy. Kingsley, would you grab him for me?" Sirius said distractedly as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Actually, Sirius, I would prefer it if one of you ran this particular errand," Dumbledore said with a pointed look at Sirius.
Sirius' brow furrowed and he looked over to Kingsley. The other Auror shook his head hopelessly and mouthed 'Snape'. "Oh," Sirius said, finally cottoning on. "Right, Kingsley, if you would kindly escort the Headmaster to the holding cells, then."
"You got it, boss," Kingsley said. "After you, sir."
Sirius watched them leave. He'd forgotten Snape wasn't in his holding cell. Hell, he'd nearly forgotten Snape even existed. Hopefully, for Sirius, no one realized the cells were a Death Eater short; that could have caused a real uproar in the community. And god forbid Rita Skeeter ever found out...
"I-I'm looking for Sirius Black," said a vaguely familiar voice in the middle of Auror Headquarters.
Sirius looked away from the spot on the floor he'd been staring at and at the person talking to one of his Aurors. The Auror looked into Sirius' office and pointed, directing the woman where to go. He narrowed his eyes dangerously as she gave the Auror a forced, nervous smile in thanks and made her way to the office. Slowly, he stood, his breathing growing shallower in anger.
"Hey, Snuffles," she had the audacity to say. "Can... I come in?
"Close the door," Sirius said in a carefully controlled voice.
Hesitantly, and with good reason to be, she closed the door. Sirius distantly saw one of the younger Aurors wiggle his eyebrows suggestively at him as he closed the shades on the windows to his office with a wave of his wand. He didn't say another word to her until he was certain the room was completely soundproofed.
In one swift movement, he moved forward and pinned her roughly against the wall by her shoulders, his wand sticking sharply in her throat. "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled.
"Sirius, please," she begged. "Just—just listen. Please."
"Listen?" he said, pushing her further against the wall. "You want me to listen to you? You're a bloody Death Eater!" he roared.
"I know about Remus... and Harry..." she said quietly, ignoring the evil look Sirius was giving her.
"What about Remus?" he spat. Another thought hit him, and he unknowingly lessened his grip on her. "You know where he is?"
"Well, no, but I know what might happen to him..."
"Yeah? And what's that?"
"The Dark Lord's trying to get the werewolves on his side again. They don't trust him right now, and I think that's due to what Remus said to them before all this started. But he thinks if he has Remus, the werewolves might side with him," she explained quickly as she noticed Sirius starting to back off. "They switched Karkaroff with Remus. Remus escaped, Sirius."
Sirius lessened the pressure of the wand on her throat. "He escaped?" Naomi nodded. "Moony escaped from the Death Eaters?"
"At least ten of them," she confirmed.
Sirius let go of her completely and backed up into his desk. "He's all alone out there," he muttered. "He got separated from Emmeline, and he's all alone..."
Naomi's brow furrowed. "They said they killed the woman…"
"Who said that?" Sirius muttered vaguely.
"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, McNair. They were the ones in charge of finding Remus."
"She's safe," Sirius muttered.
"Good," Naomi said with an odd look in her eyes. "That's good..."
"Why are you here, Naomi?" he asked weakly.
"I want your help," she answered promptly. "You and Dumbledore and Remus. I need your help."
"Yeah?" he said, his anger returning. She nodded. "Give me one damn good reason that I shouldn't lock you up right now."
"I can't give you one. But Sirius, I know things. There're things going on that if you knew... Sirius, you have to trust me..."
"I did trust you, Naomi," he said quietly, looking sad. "I trusted you like I trusted James and Lily and Julia and Peter. Remus trusted you. Remus loved you like nothing else. He was going to marry you and give you the best life he could manage. You ruined that, Naomi."
"I know, and I have no excuses that could even begin to justify anything I've done, and—"
"Stop," he said, looking away from her. "I could get sacked for this... Letting a Death Eater just walk out of here... Hell, they'd probably lock me back up in Azkaban. Not to mention this is against every sense of ethics I have... I'll be thrown out of the Order... Remus'll probably never talk to me again..." He sighed. "I'll help you. I don't know why. Blame it on insanity, stress... God dammit, I'm losin' my mind. Where are you living now?" he asked
"I've still got my flat in London and I work at the Leaky Cauldron."
"Remus told me," he muttered. "Look, I'll talk to Dumbledore and we'll be in touch. Don't attract any attention to yourself in the meantime. And I swear to God, Naomi, if this is a trap..."
"It's not," she assured quickly.
"Right. Get out of here. Do your... Death Eater rubbish or whatever it is you do. I'll be in touch."
"Thank you," she said sincerely. Sirius nodded jerkily, looking in another direction.
He didn't watch her as she left. He'd regret this, he knew it, but just the fact that she walked into Auror Headquarters in broad daylight to talk to him... Maybe it was a setup; highly probable... And Remus... Naomi said he'd gotten away from ten Death Eaters. If that was true, and Remus was still alive…
"I need a drink..." Sirius muttered. "A very, very strong drink..."
Harry sat across from Ginny on his bed, a chessboard between them. Hermione was curled up next to them reading some book. Fred and George were working on something at Harry's desk—they refused to tell the others anything. Ron had just gone downstairs to fetch tea and biscuits.
"Who d'you reckon's going to be Defense Professor this year?" Ginny asked, moving her knight.
"I don't know," Harry said. "Maybe Mad-Eye will do it again. He wasn't too bad."
"Yeah, but the Order will want him here, won't they?" Fred said, turning from the desk.
At that moment, Ron reentered carrying a tea tray. "Hogwarts letters just came," he announced.
"Finally," Hermione said, sitting up beside Harry.
Ron sat the tray on Harry's bedside table and began handing out letters.
"Mine's a bit heavy this year," Hermione said, reaching across Harry.
"Yeah, so's mine," Ron said.
"Mine feels normal," Harry said, opening and reading his letter. The room remained silent for a few minutes while the students read their letters. The silence was broken when Hermione let out a loud squeal.
"Dammit, Hermione!" Harry cried, covering the ear she'd just screamed in.
"Sorry," Hermione said, obviously not meaning it; she was grinning ear-to-ear, tears shining in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" George asked.
"I'm a Prefect."
"My condolences," Fred said in a solemn voice. He was drowned out by Ginny as she began to squeal along with Hermione. She took the shining Prefect badge from her friend to examine.
"Good job, Hermione. Should have known you'd get it." Harry grinned. "I wonder who the other Prefect is. What do you reckon, Ron?"
"Ron, are you okay?" Ginny said concernedly, looking at her brother.
Ron was staring wide-eyed at something in his hand. "What is it, mate?" Harry asked, leaning over the taller boy's shoulder for a better look. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed.
"What?" the twins said in perfect unison.
"Ron's the other Prefect..."