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Chapter 3 - The Cabin
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It seemed as thought she had just fallen out of her bed when she was being shaken awake by Lupin. Her vision was blurred slightly and she rubbed her eyes and focused on the clock. 3 AM. Ridiculous.
"Wake up, Hermione, I know it's earlier than you thought but I figure if we can get all your things together quickly, we can apparate there and get your luggage unpacked and settled. If I explain everything once we get there, you can catch a few more hours sleep and I can take the first watch this morning. You can have a lie in and all that, no worries." Lupin said as Hermione contiued to gaze at him with unseeing eyes as the sleep slowly drained away from her. When she didn't answer, he just continued shuffling around her already packed bags. When he was finished, he motioned for her to get up and hurry to say goodbye to Harry and Ron who were also up just as early, it turned out, and just as unhappy about it.
Harry told her about the meeting he was to survey and then told her about how he was going to track down the remaining horcruxes. He seemed determined to succeed.
"I just wish they would tell us about whatever that secret mission is. I overhead Mr. Weasley talking with Tonks about it and it sounds to me like it's at the Ministry. I sneaked a peak at some blue prints they had floating about but they caught me before I could see or hear anything else. Security is bound to be tighter ever since our fifth year though..." He broke off and Hermione had the sneaky suspicion that he was reminiscing about Sirius. His face was slightly contorted into a frown, but then it cleared over quickly and his eyes hardened. Hermione found it upsetting that his normally attractive features were usually cold as ice; though, she didn't blame him. Her face was sometimes like that (slowly getting more often, it seemed).
They finished off their goodbyes and Ron talked very shortly with her (he was never much of a morning person, Hermione thought) and she returned to her room, catching a glimpse of Lupin and Tonks sharing a rather passionate kiss. Lupin broke it off quickly and they separated. Lupin looked down and cleared his throat rather loudly but Tonks looked all the cheerier to see her. After several more drawn out goodbyes, Lupin and Hermione finally managed to get a hand on all their luggage and they apparated together away from the dusty warehouse.
"Well, this is it," Lupin said simply, setting down his luggage and taking a look around. They were at some sort of small log cabin in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Hermione wondered vaguely what was with the Order members choosing extremely remote, or desolate locations.
Lupin showed her around. It wasn't exactly large, but it wasn't necessarily small either. She wondered again why anyone would have a cabin in the middle of these seemingly vacant woods. The thought was no sooner in her head when...
"Dumbledore magicked this here during the first war. Didn't seem to trust Lucius. He was a trusting man, yes, but he wasn't stupid. He knew when people were acting under things such as the Imperious curse and those of whom are acting of their own accord, and Lucius was one of those people. Doesn't look like its been used since though..." Lupin trailed off. He shrugged and told Hermione to take the room on the left while he got upacked and then they would talk briefly.
When Hermione opened the door, she thought wildly of some tent hitched up in the middle of the room (because they were in the woods) but she saw a fairly modern decor. The room was dark and she had to light a few of the candles that littered the room. A queen sized canopy bed with a midnight blue cover and two dressers with a large antique mirror. Though the room was in the middle of the cabin, it still had a window that pictured a raging hurricane-like storm outside. Hermione immediately recognized this as the same type of windows the Ministry of Magic used, thought she didn't know enough about them to know how to change the weather to a more pleasant one., she would be sure to ask Lupin. When she was unpacked and putting the last sweater in the dresser, Lupin waltzed in and she took a seat on her bed.
"Professor..." Hermione began, "How do you change the weather in the window?"
"You know, we've never quite figured that out. Serverus used to stay in here all the time to "watch" Lucius, more like spread Dumbledore's secrets to, ahem, and anyway, that window has never changed that I've seen. Oh well, anyways, have you even thought of how we are supposed to keep an eye on both the little ferrets? Come on, put your mind in the game, I want to see if you can figure it out, after all, you're one of the greatest minds of your era!" Lupin explained jovially. Hermione blushed, she had actually thought about this quite extensively.
"Well, I figure that firstly there will be a magic field around the manor just like there is at Hogwarts so I'm assuming that any muggle equipment is out of the question. Second, If the Malfoy's really are as devious as we all know they are, then their bedrooms are likely to be on the second or third floor, assuming that there are that many floors, of course." She said looking at Lupin.
"You assumed correctly, go on," he said.
"So, we have to find a way to either get into their house, which would be extremely dangerous, especially with only the two of us, if not a deathtrap, so, we should find a way on the outside which means we have to find a way to look in through the windows of the upper story. Now, I don't know about you but I don't have the kind of balance to be on a broom for 8 hours, which I originally thought of at first. Also, I can't morph into anything that would help me with this mission in the slightest. So, naturally I started thinking about the way a criminal would work, which means something illegal. The first person besides the Malfoy's or Deatheaters would be Mundungus Fletcher. Now, if I assume correctly, Mundungus is in league somehow with Ali Bashir which means he would have access to illegal flying carpets. And THAT'S how we do it. Of course, we'll have to used some version of extendable ears if we want to try and listen to what's going on inside the mansion. So what do you think?" She implored of Lupin who was leaing against the doorway smiling and looking impressed.
"Very well done, it took me much longer than that." Lupin said, walking out of the room and returning with a large brown paper bag. He set it down on the ground and pulled out a handsome looking rug that had to be at least 10 feet long and five or six feet wide. She could definately sleep on it if she had to.
"An Axminster rug, supposedly to seat up to 6. Bissalama Version 2, which means have a good trip in Arabic. You were right about Ali Bashir and Mundungus; they were pals back in school and everything. Now, since it's about 5 o clock, I'll star my watch soon, by the time I get back I should be able to tell you everything that I've found out and you can begin your shift around 9 or 10 tonight. Meanwhile, you can hang around here and have a look at the books we have here and go through some of the things you would have learned in your seventh year at Hogwarts. I think there may even be a book on Animagi which I know you would find useful eventually. Anyways, you can go ahead and get some sleep for now, I'm going to grab some things and head out. Any questions?" Lupin asked her.
"No, not really," she responded.
"Alright, Mcgonagall left a list of the curriculum over on the table in the kitchen and you can eat whatever you like in there, it's stocked. Goodnight... again, Hermione." And with that Lupin turned around, carrying the rug under his arm and closed the door.
Hermione immediately flung herself back on the dark comforter and without a second thought to anything, she fell asleep.
-+-+
Draco woke up with a start and took a glimpse at the clock on his bedside table which read 5:58 AM. There was no way he was getting back to sleep anyways and even if he could, his father would probably yell at him for "sleeping his life away". Grudgingly, he lifted up his black sheets and put some pants on over his silky silver boxers and a suitable shirt and left his room, closing the door behind him. He descended two flights of stairs and made his way to the kitchen where his mother and father were already sitting. His mother was gazing at her plate while his father sifted through the Daily Prophet --looking disgusted, occasionally sipping his coffee. A few house elves could be seen in the next room, scurrying about frantically trying to get breakfast completely ready. With all the movement they were making, most would expect pots and pans making mass amounts of noise but there was almost no sound at all. Draco was not surprised, it was the mark of a good house elf after all, and Malfoy's got nothing but the best. Neither of this parents looked up when he seated himself down between them.
"Where are the goddamn eggs!" Lucius shouted angrily, throwing down his Daily Prophet. Narcissa didn't budge but Draco looked up, slightly amused. Draco loved it when Lucius yelled at everyone that wasn't himself. It brought him great joy to watch the others around him get that panicky look about them. Almost everyone got that look, it could make even the strongest men go weak in the knees. Not Draco though, he had been brought up with it. It still caused him to sit up completely straight and become deathly silent but it didn't strike near as much fear into him as it used to when he was a child. The house elves squeeked and only about ten seconds later, the entire table was covered with savory foods; way too much for 20 people, let alone 3. They ate in silece for a while, the Lucius spoke.
"You know of the meeting today, I've spoke to your mother again but she still thinks it is unwise for you to go to the meetings or become a fullfledged Deatheater until you are 18."
"But I'm already of age! I'm not 18 for another 8 months! Mother, can I not just start going, I mean I do not think you of all people should be able to tell me what to do!" He said, outraged, rounding on his mother. Lucius said nothing, just snorted as if he thought Narcissa was below him, which even in Draco's opinion, she was. Hell, even she thought she was. She had bee a trophy wife of course, a hood ornament if you will, she had long since lost most of her personal opinions but she stuck to this one firmly.
"No" she said simply while the houseelves hurriedly scuttled around cleaning up. Draco knew better than to retort because although she hardly talked around his father, that did not mean she was weak with her spellwork. Draco got up, kicked the nearest houself (Corky) and stormed off to his room.
-+-+(1962)
Whilst Lupin was away, Hermione slept until about 11, which was significantly later than usual. When she woke up, she noticed the enchanted window was only slightly foggy. Then she reazlied two things: That later that evening she would have to be watching the Malfoy's and that the window was different, even though Lupin said it never changed. When she looked back, however, it was back to its storming, though it was merely raining, a slight drzzle rather than the hurricane like before. She pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. After she ate breakfast, she grabbed the list off the table that Mcgonagall had left Lupin and perused its contents. Most of the things on the list were supplied in the books that Lupin had left in the Reading Room, as he liked to call it.
She settled herself down, emersing herself in work and reading for hours, ate a bit more, then practiced some useful spells. She did in fact find the book on Animagi and she felt like Lupin was right; it was very interesting. Perhaps she would start working on registering in a later date. Before she knew it, night had fallen and she heard a faint pop come from the other room. Moments later, she heard the door to the Reading Room open behind her and Lupin sat dow on the old 70's couch. It was covered with some disgustingly orange, flowery design.
"Well, I was expecting some sort of disturbence or at least something, but it was easier than I thought. I went ahead and borrowed Moody's old invisibility cloak, or more like blanket... he always was one to be too paranoid. Turns out the Axminster and the invisibility cloak work perfectly together. Draco's room is the corner one on the Northwest wing on the third floor and Lucicus and Narciss'a is in the East wing., second floor, so we don't have to worry about them seeing us at the same time. Fortunately, Fred and George invented these devices sort of like the Muggle hearing aides. You can stick them on the windows or walls of anywhere, then put the other one in your ear and hear aything on the other side. Didn't come too cheap though, they gave me a discount, or so they say, but they're way too concerned with making money, those two. Anyways, it was worth it, I put one on each window. The other plug that goes in your ear, well, you can tune it with the little knob on the side to which one you want. Draco's room is set to 3, Lucius and Narcissa's room is set to 7. I wrote them all down on this sheet here. I don't have a clue what we're supposed to do about the rooms without windows though, but I suppose we've done enough for today. So, are you ready? All you have to do is fly Southwest for about 10 minutes and turn right, follow the creek and you should see it straight away. It isn't hard to miss, trust me. All I want you to do for today is view Draco, on the Axminster, and under the invisibility.. tarp. Record all you see or hear in this notebook," he said handing her a blueish notebook and a quill. He went on to explain all about the rug, gave her the ear piece and turned it for her to channel 3. She said her goodbyes and stepped outside under the cloudy sky and got on the enchanted rug. She flew off, waving at Lupin only to realize he couldn't see her because of the invisibility cloak. She felt a sinking sensation in her stomach because in roughly 15 or 20 minutes time, she would be looking into the face of the man who tried to kill Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, her beloved ex-Headmaster. She scowled and flew on into the night. (2620)
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