A/n: Well, I almsot decided to screw my own system of updating my stories equally in rotation just so I could put this chapter up and get reviews for it. BUT, then I decided not to, so here it is NOW, instead of a while ago, and for that I apologize. Anyways, read, let me know what you think, and review me, for it makes me very, very happy and motivated to write more. :D I am giving nothing away, so read on.
Chapter 12
Cornelius Fudge sat behind his desk and began filling out a stack of paperwork that needed filling out. His office was quiet but for the ticking of his wall-mount clock and the scratching of his quill on paper. The temperature of his office was quite agreeable too, considering the foggy chill that had descended on the country over the past few days.
When he finished one paper, he promptly set it aside and was about to begin in on another when his eyes caught on the day's edition of the newspaper, The Daily Prophet, half-buried under other papers on the corner of his desk.
Fudge frowned at it as he recalled the small article near the back saying that some unnamed Professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry objected to having a Ministry representative on staff. The information was apparently gathered from an anonymous source. Though Fudge would never admit it out loud, he guessed the "anonymous source" was most likely a hardened Ministry loyalist who assumed some teachers objected to Professor Umbridge's presence.
It didn't matter to him, really, in any case. The more discredit to Hogwarts, the better.
"Unnamed Professors." Fudge mumbled to himself and shook his head. "By that they mean Dumbledore."
Fudge returned to his paperwork, though now he couldn't seem to stop his mind from drifting a little back to Hogwarts and Dumbledore. How could such a once powerful wizard like Dumbledore be so blinded by an attention-seeking child's lies?
And then that business with the Patronus and the Muggle. He'd thought he'd finally caught Harry Potter in one of his fantastic lies in front of an audience. How could anyone believe that Dementors had swooped down on him and attacked him in the middle of a Muggle neighborhood? It was rubbish. Absolute, contrived rubbish.
It was quite infuriating to recall how he'd been talked around and talked into a corner at Potter's hearing. Dumbledore had managed to keep Potter in school by mere technicalities. But then, everyone knew the old man had gone soft and unconditionally favored Potter.
Fudge sighed a little and stood to pace. He didn't especially want to waste thought on the crazy headmaster and his small following of crazy students, but it seemed he'd riled himself up enough remembering the news article that he needed a moment to collect himself and think on another subject.
Just he finally was turning his thoughts elsewhere…
He happened to glance at the clock the same instant the intercom on his desk beeped for his attention. Fudge jumped a bit at the sudden noise and went over to his desk. It was just nine p.m. and he wondered what on earth his secretary could want at this hour.
Fudge hit the talk button.
"Gladys, shouldn't you be gone by now, like everyone else in this institute?" he said and released the talk button.
"Just leaving sir." She responded immediately. "But there's a man – "
"Good." Fudge cut her off. "And send him home. No more appointments or meetings after eight o'clock."
"Sir, it's your – "
At the same time Gladys was trying to speak, in the background Fudge could hear a man shouting and hollering. "FUDGE! CORNELIUS!
Then a security guard's voice was heard, also in the background. "Sir! Come back!"
"What in the blazes – " Fudge began but was interrupted by Gladys.
"Er, he's on his way, sir."
"What? You just let a madman – "
"It's Allan, sir. Your brother."
"Why on Earth – "
"I'll let you deal with it." Gladys clicked off, leaving Fudge standing by his desk, thoroughly confused.
Why in the world was his brother calling on his at work? At this hour? And why had he been shouting so?
Before Fudge could contemplate and wonder any further, the door to his office burst open with an enormous bang causing Fudge to jump severely. His younger brother Allan stood in the doorway, looking exceptionally pale, wet, dirty, scared and frazzled - a way Fudge had never seen his brother before in his entire life.
"What in heaven's name is going on?" Fudge demanded, very alarmed by his brother's state. Allan was one of the biggest neat-freak Fudge had ever known and that included Barty Crouch Sr. Rest in peace. Fudge thought.
"I-I-It's h-h-him…" Allan stuttered uncontrollably and was shaking violently. "I-I s-s-saw h-him…"
"Him who? Allan, him who?"
Allan shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, Fudge was deeply shaken by how haunted and terrified Allan's eyes were. Only one person has ever been able to instill that type of fear… Fudge thought but refused to believe anything until his brother had explained himself.
Allan took a deep steadying breath after closing his eyes briefly again, both actions which seemed to reduce the trembling in his body significantly.
"I was walking home from work. Normally I don't – I just Floo – but the weather was cool and foggy and you know how I enjoy walks in the fog." Allan gave the impression of smiling wryly, though his mouth barely twitched from its grim set.
Fudge nodded. Everyone had their very strange little quirks that those closest to them really only knew. Fudge liked to eat oranges in the bathtub and Allan liked to walk in the fog. Fudge had never understood his brother's quirk, but again, everyone had their odd little thing.
"And I heard talking… voices… cold voices! Colder than the chill of the fog." Allan shivered. "Right near Bones' place." He swallowed and continued. "I got closer, and I could hear what they were saying… so I slowed my step to a stop. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but something in me just couldn't' walk away without knowing what they were talking about."
Allan shuddered hard and took a breath before carrying on. "They said to quiet down or they – the Bones' – would hear. That Madame Bones had the ears that could hear a kitten mewing across the street. Then someone instructed the others – I don't know how many there were and no one said names. They were told to… t-told to… t-to simply kill them and leave not another thing out of place. That HE would be along to put up the Mark."
"My word…" Fudge breathed, scarcely hearing his own voice.
Allan began shaking all over again. "I was frozen in place! On the spot! I couldn't move no matter how much my head screamed for me to run! And then there were screams – " Allan seemed to become even paler (which seemed hardly possible) and even more frightened as he told his tale. "And then someone yelled… someone yelled – " Allan swallowed several times before he was finally able to say it. "T-the killing curse, Cornelius!"
Fudge gasped in spite of himself. This was a major shock. Not just the news that the Bones had been murdered, but the fact that it was coming from Allan's mouth made it pure fact without evidence. Allan was the most grounded, practical, earth-bound, realistic, facts-only person Fudge had indeed ever met. Some had come close, but his brother was the most. Most of the time Allan came off as cold, distant and emotionless because his hard-core no-nonsense manner. He wondered – not for the first time, though possibly at the wrong time – how in the world Allan's wife Judy, one of the most creative, imaginative, castle-in-the-sky and fairytale-endings people Fudge had ever known, had ever ended up with his brother.
Opposites attract. He thought and was abruptly brought back to the situation at hand when Allan started talking again.
"And that's when it happened!" Allan exclaimed, his eyes as wide as they would go.
"Good gracious, we're not even to the point, yet?" Fudge said tensely. What more could there be?
Allan paused and when he spoke again, his voice was trembling even more than his hands, a feat in itself. "The Dark Mark – in all it's horrifying green glow – shone out of the mist above the Bones' house. And several figures began emerging from the mist… all wearing long cloaks with their hoods down…" His eyes seemed to widen although it was hardly possible for them to do so. "And at the front of them… l-leading them… w-was… HIM!"
Fudge sank weakly into his chair, his knees shivering. He knew who "him" was. Knew exactly. He refused to admit it though. This can't be happening… Refused to believe it. Not until he heard it word for word.
He licked his lips nervously and ventured, his voice barely more than a whisper, "Him… who?" His heart was pounding with fear in his chest. And with three words, nearly all of Fudge's worst fears and realizations came true.
"YOU-KNOW-WHO!"
Several seconds went by, neither speaking. Fudge's mind was reeling in a thousand different directions, none of them clear or calm. He didn't know whether to scream in fear, start crying, pound his fist on his desk angrily, or collapse on the floor.
It can't be… Allan wouldn't lie… it has to be… you know Allan… I can't believe it… he wouldn't be mistaken… I can't… he wouldn't lie… I can't… not on something like this… help... Dumbledore was right… I'm scared… help… how can this be… he couldn't be… what do I do… help… what do I do… somebody help me… tell me what to do…
"So I ran." Allan began again, sounding emotion choked. Fudge slowly raised his eyes to him, forcing his mind to quiet and listen just a little more. "I ran as hard as I could and I Apparated in a frenzy. I'm lucky not to have splinched myself – extremely lucky. In fact I believe it was a miracle… I have no idea where I Apparated to – have no idea how that's possible either… but I kept running. I knew… I knew what they'd done and if they knew it was me, I'd be dead." Allan gave a humorless chuckle. "Who am I kidding? If they knew it was me, I will be dead, much sooner than later."
Allan paused briefly and finished his tale. "I kept running until I recognized something. The Ministry was the next closest thing. Thank goodness you were still here."
Fudge was now breathing hard, the shock and gravity of everything Allan had been saying sinking deeper. "How could this have happened?" he breathed.
Before either of them said anything more, the evening security guard rushed full-blast into the office, followed immediately by Gladys. Both were flush faced and panting heavily as if they'd chosen to us the stairs instead of the elevator. Which, as it turned out, they had.
"Mr. Minister – Fudge, sir!" the guard panted. "Your brother just – I couldn't stop him, sir, I – "
"It's alright Willy." Fudge said, feeling suddenly very drained. "Next time if it really is a madman next time, I'd appreciate it if you managed to stop him."
"Yessir." The guard, Willy, gulped air. "Also, sir, we took the stairs thinking it might be faster to run down them then wait for the elevator and then, sir, we got an urgent owl – found us in the stairwell, sir, and – "
"Is this about – " Fudge started to interrupt Willy but was in turn interrupted by Gladys.
"The Bones' have been murdered." She said, her voice hollow. "A group of wizard patrols found them."
"The report also stated that the Dark Mark was above their house." Willy added solemnly, already beginning to recover from his rush down the stairs.
Fudge stared at them a moment and then sighed, burying his head in his hands. That confirmed Allan's story completely.
It suddenly felt as though a massive weight had stacked atop Fudge's shoulders and he didn't have a clue how to remove it. It felt as though his world was breaking apart, right now as he sat in this somewhat spacious Ministry office. But what felt worse, was the feeling that his world had been cracking and splitting for much longer than he'd cared to take notice, somehow managing to ignore it all this time. This last act was the shattering point.
"Sir?" Willy started after several moments passed with no one speaking.
Another moment went by before Gladys timidly asked, "What do we do?" Her voice still sounded hollow though now she sounded scared as well.
Fudge finally looked up, a very small spark of determination in his eyes. "What hasn't been done since the last time something of this nature occurred."
"You mean – " Allan began.
"Last time there were murders and Dark Marks was when…" Willy gulped and finished quietly. "When You-Know-Who was around."
Fudge nodded and Gladys made a noise halfway between a whimper and a gasp.
"Tomorrow the Bones' death will be all over the news and surely the newspaper. We'll schedule a national address – or, an Address to the Nation, if you will – over the radio, on the Wizarding World Network." He sighed. "Somehow I have to find a way to make the Ministry still look right and deliver the news that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back without creating mass doubt and panic."
Allan shook his head. "Good luck, Cornelius. You're going to need it."
A/n: Hope that was good and long to satisfy y'all. So, review me! Let me know what you thought (good, bad or ugly - hopefully not ugly, lol). Yes, review and I will share a piece of my coveted Aero bar (if there's any left by the time you review, that is... (munch, munch... melt...) lol). Anyways, as always, check my bio to see what's new and all the jazz.