Conspiracy

Remus sat nervously in the headmaster's office with Minerva, Albus and Kingsley. Albus had introduced David as the topic for their meeting and Remus was worried that he would not be able to keep his knowledge to himself. There was something about Albus that just made you trust him and want to tell him all you knew. He forced his expression to be neutral and hoped that nobody would pick up on his unease, a mistake could be lethal. Remus stretched his senses to keep tabs on the emotions of the people in the room. He needed all the information he could gather to thread his way through this conversation. It was Minerva who spoke first after Albus had introduced the subject.

"Why isn't Severus here? He told me that he had known David for years. He must know him really well because he allowed him to tease him about his black robes. He didn't even give a sarcastic retort."

"I have doubts as to Severus's impartiality on this subject," said Albus mildly. "I have had several conversations with him about David and he refuses to give me any information about him. All he will say is that David was not a Death Eater or supporter of any dark wizard." He did not add that Severus had declared that David's past was David's secret to keep. He did not want his current listeners to take the same moral ground. "He says that he is a remarkable man who has been through some terrible ordeals but has the best interest of Hogwarts at heart."

Remus debated whether to point out that if they wanted David to trust them with his background then conspiring to gain his secrets was not the best way of going about it, but decided that as much as he wanted out of this meeting it would be in David's best interest to know what was going on.

"David was very keen to keep his surname a secret at Sirius's trial. Do either of you know what it is?" he asked Remus and Minerva.

"I have been searching my memory for Davids," said Minerva frowning in thought. "I believe he might have been a beneficiary of Harry Potter's will which you may remember I was executor for. I cannot remember the surname of the David involved, and even if I could I am not really meant to be discussing the will."

"We know from the trial that David was a friend of Lily and James and that Lily thought he would be part of Harry's life so it makes sense that Harry knew him too. What I don't understand is how – the wards on Privet Drive would have notified me if a wizard was in regular contact with him and David did not meet him here," said Albus.

"I know that Severus knows what David's surname is," said Remus. "David made a comment about how a conversation about his name was the first indication he had that Severus had a sense of humour."

"Are David and Severus involved?" asked Minerva. "They seem to spend a lot of time together."

"I have been wondering that too," said Remus thinking that it would be a very good way of hiding their true relationship.

"As I understand it," said Kingsley, "David is of joint British-Spanish nationality so either country could have his birth and education records. Albus asked me to conduct a discrete search for them, but I was unable to find any. I estimated him to be between thirty and seventy. I was hoping that you might be able to narrow my search."

"As I recall from what David said," began Remus helpfully, "he has 'Spanish roots' which could easily mean roots in the Spanish language which would bring most of South America into the picture."

Kingsley slapped his bald head in exasperation. "It would be almost impossible to search that many countries without somebody wondering what was going on. Not to mention the time it would take, and it would all be for nothing if we've got his age wrong."

"Do you know when his birthday is?" Albus asked Remus. "That would help to narrow the search."

"No," said Remus, "but I met him in April or May and he hasn't celebrated one since then to the best of my knowledge." He congratulated himself on this true but very misleading statement.

"Is there anything that either of you know that could help?" asked Kingsley. "He knew some highly classified information and his explanation was unsatisfactory. If I can't track down who he is and thereby find out how he knew it is looking like Severus has been leaking which does not bode well for him."

"I don't believe Severus would do that!" protested Minerva. "He is extremely loyal to Albus."

"I do not believe Severus would betray me either," said Albus. "And I am exceedingly pleased to hear you defend him. You would not have done so, not so long ago." Minerva had the grace to look sheepish. "But the point remains that David knew some things that only a few people in the Order knew, and that Voldemort knew. Severus has declared categorically that David is not a Death Eater, but it is possible that he has Severus fooled."

"Perhaps I should reveal something," said Remus. "My werewolf side makes me quite sensitive to people's intentions. I can tell if someone means to harm me or not. That was how I knew when I met Sirius in the Shrieking Shack that it was only Pettigrew that he was dangerous to. I have never sensed that David wished me any harm."

"What about the incident in the corridor – he broke several of your bones," pointed out Minerva.

"Yes," agreed Remus, "but he didn't intend to hurt me, it was a reflex action. One which is less likely to be repeated if we gain his trust. There is something else in his favour which I don't think he wanted you to know about because it could make you feel guilty, but he was offered a Wilfred's Choice and he chose to prevent Albus's murder at great personal cost."

The other three occupants in the room were stunned. "If he was indeed offered a Wilfred's Choice then there will be some record of it. The fact that it involved me would suggest that it was offered while David was in Britain so it should be our ministry who recorded it," said Albus. "Kingsley would you be able to access the Department of Mysteries' records?"

"No," said Kingsley, "at least not directly. But I might be able to interest an unspeakable in checking it for me. If David has not actually registered the choice he was given then the department would be interested in meeting him. I could offer the contact information and if it was taken up then we would know that he either was offered the choice or knows the person who was."

"I don't think David would want to be identified as someone who was offered a Wilfred's Choice," said Remus emphatically. "He would not want the publicity and I know for certain that he does not like discussing what happened to him. I understand it was extremely traumatic and he is lucky to have survived as well as he has. If it would get you to trust him he might be persuaded to reveal the details."

"It would explain why he appears to hate me," mused Albus. "If he suffered in order to save my life."

"I don't think that is why he dislikes you," said Remus. "Yours was not the only life he saved through the choice but as far as I know you are the only one he dislikes."

"It would appear we are no further forward," said Minerva. "The task of tracking down David's records seems impossible and the mystery around him has increased. Severus would have his reasons for trusting him, particularly since the hat did not put him in Slytherin which is a blind spot of his."

"That's a thought," said Kingsley. "What about the hat, if you sorted him then the hat would have read his mind."

"I was wondering when one of you would ask me my opinion," groused the hat. "But all I can say is what I said to Albus after I had sorted David. He is intelligent and powerful and extremely loyal to his friends. He has had a horrible life so far due to various notaries of the Wizarding World and while I don't believe he would ever go dark the way you are all treating him would be the best way to ensure that he does. Give the poor man a chance. His secrets are his own business – and frankly many of them you are better off not knowing."

"That," thought Remus, "sums things up rather nicely." Unfortunately Albus ignored Alph and went on to make a list of all the things they did know about David. Remus made sure to add some misleading titbits like David being a good friend of James Potter. Then Minerva had a bright idea.

"David seems to know a lot about Hogwarts. He is able to communicate with the castle and he knew the sorting hat and the head boy initiation ritual, but he was taken by surprise by the teacher's initiation. Therefore I think he was a student here rather than a teacher. He has been very reluctant to tell us where he went to school – what if it was because he attended Hogwarts?"

Remus was worried. "If he had," he said, "it would make sense of how he knows so much and yet claims not to have any OWLs or NEWTs. Assuming he was a student under a different name he could not claim those qualifications without revealing himself. If I remember what he said correctly he would just have not come back one term, possibly a letter was sent by the muggles he lived with stating that he had died or some such excuse because otherwise I expect someone would have tried to locate him. That all suggests that even if he studied for his NEWTs he never took the exams."

"So," said Kingsley processing the information in true investigator fashion, "we're looking for a student who was possibly head-boy, probably a Gryffindor and disappeared one holiday. The student was raised by muggles which means that someone would have been sent to accompany him to Diagon Alley before he started. All we need is to cross match those attributes and we have him. Best to start working backwards from the class of 1990 I reckon to give him time to work with Flamel after he leaves."

"We might be able to narrow if further," said Minerva. "What if we ask him to tackle a boggart? The shape it takes could be the same as when he was a student which would help."

"So you see," Remus explained to David that evening in their office while the faculty thought they were marking essays, "Albus is going to arrange for you to be called upon to deal with a boggart at some point in the near future."

"He'll get one hell of a shock if he does," said David smiling. "There were several at Lions' Den so the moment I had company – i.e. Sirius last Saturday – I set to at removing them. I imagine my boggart is rather unique and would particularly embarrass our esteemed headmaster. Unfortunately it could also narrow down his quest as to who I am. This calls for some cunning."

"I'm surprised that it is no longer a dementor. I think Sirius's has been one ever since Azkaban."

"Nah, I've faced that fear and overcome it so they no longer frighten me. Now I just have to sort out a plausible excuse as to why seeing Albus nearly naked bothers me so."

"That's your boggart?" choked out Remus the gears in his head turning very fast. "I understand now why you didn't want anything to do with him and refuse to forgive him. I assume that is why you can forgive Severus but not Albus."

"You're taking the concept very calmly."

"I think I'm just in shock. Once I've fully processed what it means I will explode."

"If it helps, I've taken steps to ensure the safety of other students. You might have noticed that Albus has taken to wearing gloves while school is in session? He can't come into skin contact with anyone under the age of nineteen without unpleasant results. He asked me to lift the curse over the summer as a last resort since Minerva and Poppy had been unable to do so. I examined what the curse was and then refused stating that it would be irresponsible for me to remove such a curse since it was obviously designed to protect people and frankly I was concerned as to whether I should work in a school whose headmaster was under it. Albus was not pleased with me!"

"I can imagine," said Remus dryly. "I don't know how you can be so forgiving though."

"It is difficult," agreed David. "In some ways what Albus has done to me is worse than what Voldemort has done to me, but he is needed if Voldemort is to be defeated. I am keeping my temper in check in the mean time. Spending time with the dead also helped, they had had a long time to reflect on the mistakes they made in their own lives and the thing they kept drilling in to me was the importance of forgiveness and giving people second chances. I can't quite bring myself to do that for Albus yet, but perhaps one day I will. Don't look at me like that, I'm not noble or anything I'm just a product of my experiences like everyone else."

"I don't think 'everyone else' could have gone through what you did and not have blown up the Ministry and decapitated Albus as soon as they got the power to do so."

"Yeah," said David quietly. "But don't tell Sirius. He thinks that I caught Albus skinny dipping in the lake. Apparently Sirius caught him swimming when he was a student and Albus asked him to join him. Sirius protested that he had no swimming trunks and Albus said that he didn't either. As I understand it Sirius mumbled something about being meant to meet you lot and ran for it. He said the incident was so bizarre he never told you about it. So my dear Marauder I need your help. I have to somehow engineer a situation whereby I end up seeing Albus in a state of undress to make my boggart seem plausible."

"Far be it from me to quell your troublemaking, but if we do this, and I agree that it is necessary and all in a good cause, we mustn't do it in front of the students. We must not cause them to disrespect their headmaster."

"So what do you suggest? Strip poker? I'm quite able to stack the deck."

"He might not want to play," said Remus. "And even if you stacked the deck Sibyll is both bound to play and bound to loose."

"Sounds like the voice of experience!"

"Experience I could do with out," muttered Remus. "Christmas party when I was your teacher. Sibyll prepared the punch; everyone got drunk apart from Severus. Her stripping off is one of the few memories I retain from that night. I doubt any of the staff would be willing to repeat that performance."

"Perhaps a spell? I could set up something in a doorway he would go through. A curse to make his robes undo themselves or something similar. It's just incredibly important that I don't get caught."

"Perhaps if the context was innocent," suggested Remus. "I mean it would be explainable to have a spell like that on the door to your bedroom or the door to a changing room. The only question is how to get Albus to walk through said door. The spell itself could be rather mild; you just need to do something else, innocently, to Albus which would interact badly with it to create the wanted result."

Inspiration struck David, "No, I think I have a better idea, but it will get Sirius into trouble, hopefully he will think it worth it – after all I am sure he would like to play a long distance prank on the staff. I'd say that he needed to work off some anger but you and he took my tale very calmly."

Remus blushed. "I had worked out the pertinent points before we talked to you so I had tried to prepare Sirius for them and had come to terms with them myself. The only thing that I didn't tell Sirius was how I thought Severus fitted into everything because I didn't think he would be able to hide his knowledge."

"I'm realising how extremely lucky I am that you're on my side," David complemented Remus who subconsciously reached for the cat pendent that hung beneath his robes as a symbol of his loyalty to the Crimson House. He felt lucky to be on David's side too.