The Boxing Day Meeting

Chapter 38

Thursday, December 26

"Catherine! Over here!"

Tonks was waving at her from her place in the dining area of Headquarters, indicating the seat she had saved for her. Catherine smiled gratefully as she slid into her seat between Tonks and Charlie, opposite to Hestia.

Tonks looked different than Catherine remembered - happier and her hair too was a shocking purple, a bright contrast to the mousy brown she had been used to for the past couple of months.

"You look better," said Catherine curiously.

Tonks beamed and Catherine noticed a sparkle in her eyes. "I feel better," she said happily.

Before Catherine could wonder what had caused the difference, Tonks let out a hefty sigh. "Whose brilliant idea was it to have a meeting on Boxing Day?"

Charlie leaned forward to join in the conversation, "I'd rather be here than at home doing chores."

"Had a boring Christmas, did you?" asked Catherine inquisitively.

"Nah, it was alright, I s'pose – being with family after a long time and all," said Charlie, shrugging. "But I didn't leave my job in Romania to sit around and transfigure gnomes into ugly fairies."

Fred and George apparently heard what Charlie had said and one of them (Catherine thought it was Fred, but she couldn't be sure), scoffed derisively, "Oh, shut up, Charlie! We know you were the one who found it adorable that we stuffed him into a pink tutu!"

"That was Ginny, you idiot!" retorted Charlie. "I nearly threw up when I saw that hideous excuse of a fairy!"

"And thus you gave him wings and very sparkly ones at that!" grinned the other twin making Tonks and Catherine snicker in amusement.

"Watch your tongue, young man!" screeched Molly Weasley from the doorway, arriving with her husband exactly when Charlie had started spewing obscenities at his brothers.

Charlie looked around at his mother sheepishly, before glaring at Fred and George, who had moved away and were greeting Sirius Black rather heartily.

"Gits," muttered Charlie. He turned towards her and Tonks again. "How did you girls spend your Christmas?"

"I spent it at my parents' house as usual, along with Angie," said Catherine, shrugging. "Dad always insists on celebrating Christmas as a family, seeing as we spend very limited time with them - first due to Hogwarts and now work. Says that's the only downside of us being witches. He's a Muggle, you see."

"I had the most wonderful Christmas this year!" exclaimed Tonks, beaming, and was interrupted when Black yawned and leaned onto the table. He propped his head on one hand and his handsome face caught the light. Catherine thought she saw a dark bruise on his jaw and also on his forearm.

"Speak for yourself. I haven't slept in twenty-eight hours!" he groaned.

"Well, I slept like a baby," said Tonks cheerfully to which he grumbled.

"Of course you would've."

"What's up with you, Sirius?" asked Charlie.

"He kept me up all night," sighed Black as he buried his face into his hands, sounding exhausted. "And he wants me tonight too!"

"It has been the first time you've both been together since he got back," said Tonks consolingly.

Catherine blushed as her mind went down the gutter. Hestia's rosy cheeks went pinker and Charlie coughed uncomfortably from beside her.

"I'd forgotten how tiring it was to stay with Remus," said Black, looking up at her over his hands. "The scratches I can handle – I've gone through an entire cauldron of Dittany — but the bruises!" he exclaimed, pointing to his bruised face. He rubbed his face tiredly. "I don't have the energy for this! I'm probably getting too old to keep up with him."

The silence was so deafening that Catherine could almost imagine hearing the vehicles passing by outside the house.

Black looked around him at the sudden quiet, raising an eyebrow and very clearly at a loss. "What?"

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat loudly and bustled into the kitchen. Almost everybody looked away, embarrassed, when Tonks burst out laughing.

"So, uh… where is Remus?" asked Bill hesitantly, drawing up a chair next to his father. Tonks was still laughing so hard that no sound was coming out and her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. She finally gasped for air and said through heavy breaths, "They thought – you – you and him—" and she dissolved into laughter again.

Black looked at her like she had gone mad before his eyes widened and he groaned, "Oh, for goodness' sake! It was a full moon last night. I kept him company as an Animagus!"

It took a moment for Catherine to remember that Lupin was a werewolf and there was a collective sigh of "Oh!" in understanding, and in some cases, relief.

The twins and Lee Jordan apparently found it extremely funny as they laughed uproariously and the others snickered at their amusement. Black, for his part, was unabashedly glaring at Tonks, even though Catherine could see his lips quirked at the hilarity of it all.

Kingsley Shacklebolt and Moody had arrived at that moment, taking their seats next to and opposite Black respectively. Mrs. Weasley entered the dining again with a pot of tea and levitated it over their heads skilfully, pouring the liquid into each cup.

As much as Catherine had been slightly alarmed when she had first met Lupin, he had always been unfailingly polite and she felt rather sorry that he had to go through that, especially on Christmas.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to share her sentiment as she frowned sympathetically. "Poor Remus! That too on Christmas night!"

The chattering around the table quietened slightly when Tonks grinned. "Well, he had a wonderful Christmas, if Sirius is to be believed!"

Just as another round of amused chuckling rippled through the room, the door opened and Albus Dumbledore entered along with Professor McGonagall to murmured words of greeting, the levity in the air finally disappearing.

Dumbledore politely replied to their greetings as he took his seat at the head of the table. Catherine thought he looked tired, almost like Black did, but as soon as Professor McGonagall sat next to Moody, the meeting commenced and she pushed the thought out of her mind.

Dumbledore said, "My sources have given me new information that Lord Voldemort plans to attack and infiltrate the Ministry. Rufus is an able Minister, and as frustrated as we might be that his Ministry has not made much progress in crippling Voldemort for good, he is an important asset to the Wizarding World, as we are certain of his loyalties. And thus, Voldemort may plan to either kill him or Imperius him, and it would be of utmost importance that we prevent such a thing from happening."

Moody spoke, "Shacklebolt could discreetly warn Robards, who can step up the Minister's security."

"It would be prudent to keep an eye on all of the Heads of Departments too," said Arthur Weasley.

"With only two of us in any position to even meet the Department Heads, I don't see how it is going to help," said Kingsley, his deep voice reverberating through the room. "But maybe we can notice if there is any sign of someone being Imperiused and let the higher-ups know immediately."

"That is all that we can do for now," said Dumbledore with a dip of his head in acquiescence.

Charlie spoke up from next to her, "Catherine and I have been keeping tabs on Travers and we definitely heard it mentioned twice that the Carrows have rejoined You-Know-Who's ranks."

McGonagall made an expression of disgust and the sentiment was shared by many around the table.

"Alecto and Amycus, is it?" growled Moody. "They weren't part of his Inner Circle the last time."

"With half of them in Azkaban, they got promoted it would seem," said Catherine.

After that bit of depressing news, Fred and George put in their two sickles.

"Madam Malkin has been keeping an eye out as she had promised."

"She says she's noticed a booming black market trade taking place in Knockturn Alley," said George.

"And any of them could be working for You-Know-Who," finished Bill.

"Isn't that why we have Mundungus Fletcher?" asked Molly Weasley, her face wrinkling in disgust at the mention of the name. "As much as I consider him a worthless addition to the Order, he could be of some help in getting to know the shady dealings which take place in Knockturn Alley."

"Mundungus wouldn't deal with the Death Eaters," said Fred confidently.

"But he could be holding valuable information that would not reach our ears otherwise," said Dumbledore nodding, as he steepled his long fingers in thought. He took a moment to deliberate before announcing, "I suggest questioning him before we Obliviate him for good."

Almost everyone around her looked a little surprised at that, but Catherine could not even fathom who this Mundungus Fletcher was.

Arthur voiced aloud, "Obliviate him, Albus? You mean—"

"Make him forget everything about the Order, yes," said Dumbledore, now leaning back in his chair. "Although he knows the location of Headquarters, he will not be able to reveal the location since this house is under the Fidelius. Yet, he is still a loose thread that could unravel everything we are working towards at the moment. His usefulness in the Order is long past. He knows who the members were a year ago and it would paint a higher target on us all if he ever finds himself in the wrong hands. It would be merciful for him and for us if he was removed from the Order, but not before we get what we want from him."

Everyone seemed to absorb what Dumbledore was saying. Catherine was slightly alarmed that being removed from the Order meant discarding your memories of the Order too.

"So, who will go looking for Mundungus?" asked Kingsley. "He could be anywhere and he is not exactly easy to find."

"Oh, I think Sirius will be up for the job," said Dumbledore, looking at Black, who simply nodded.

Dumbledore continued speaking to Black, "After myself, you're the only one who can intimidate him and it would be wise of us to use it to our advantage. I'd like a word with you alone before we leave, Sirius."

Black narrowed his eyes, before nodding, "I'll find him within the fortnight."

Dumbledore inclined his head in agreement and the meeting proceeded with each of them relaying their missions to Dumbledore.

Angelina, Oliver, Lee, and Alicia had been working together in keeping track of Rowle and Selwyn and had learnt that they were plotting to indulge in some Muggle baiting, especially the Muggles surrounding homes of the likes of Pius Thicknesse and Gawain Robards in a move to terrorize the wizards in proximity.

McGonagall looked worried as she remarked, "This is as good evidence as any that You-Know-Who might try to capture and Imperius them, effectively installing his puppets into the Ministry."

The meeting got over shortly after that and the crowd started to disperse. Dumbledore stood up and looked at Black. "A word, Sirius."

Black jerked his head to his right, indicating the room next door, and led Dumbledore out of the dining.

oOo

Sirius shut the door and waved his wand, charming the door of the small sitting room to be sound-proof. Dumbledore stood by the window and turned around to look at Sirius. "Are you alright, Sirius? You look tired."

"I could say the same of you," said Sirius, raising his eyebrows before he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "It was a full moon last night."

"Ah," said Dumbledore, with a nod of understanding. "Remus is lucky to have you as his friend."

"Yes, well..." trailed off Sirius with a roll of his eyes and Dumbledore cut straight to the point.

"You know why I wanted to talk to you alone."

Sirius frowned as he guessed, "You've found the location of another Horcrux?"

"I believe I have," said Dumbledore solemnly.

"Where is it? When can we set off?" asked Sirius eagerly.

"I would like you to report to me once your business with Mundungus is finished, after which we will depart," said Dumbledore. "I, too, will have settled my affairs at Hogwarts by the time we are ready to leave."

Sirius nodded before remarking, "What do I tell the Order? Mad-Eye will not be very tolerant if I leave my post. We are already stretched thin as it is."

"I assure you, it will not take more than a day," said Dumbledore. "Meanwhile, I must warn you again that this information is not to be revealed to anyone, not even Remus. I know that we can trust him, Sirius," he added with a raised hand as soon as Sirius had opened his mouth to argue. "But this is sensitive information that cannot reach Voldemort at any cost."

Sirius was slightly annoyed by the secrecy, but some rational part of him could understand the wisdom behind his caution. "Does Harry still not know about the Horcruxes?" Surely, he would have been buzzing with questions already if Dumbledore had told him by now?

"Not yet, but I am getting to the vital information as soon as the holidays are over," conceded Dumbledore. "How is he doing? I heard Scrimgeour finally got a word with him."

"That bloke has enough nerve alright!" fumed Sirius. Just the mention of Scrimgeour set his teeth on edge. "Harry didn't go into much detail, but the gist of it was that he wanted Harry to work with the Ministry. Just what Scrimgeour asked me too, of course. But he also wanted to know where you were going."

Dumbledore frowned, the lines on his face more pronounced, "Last I heard, the two Auror trainees have been removed from guard duty outside Hogwarts."

Sirius' lips were twitching when he said, "Harry may have told him that he was wasting his time with having you followed when there was more useful work that needed to be done."

Dumbledore chuckled, "It seems I owe Harry my gratitude."

oOo

When Sirius headed home that afternoon, all he dearly wished for was to sleep. He was sufficiently distracted when he saw Harry practicing the iron-conjuring spell, which he had taught the basics of just that morning.

Sirius had come home after an entire night spent with Remus on the full moon and he had wanted to hit the sack. But Harry had been sitting round the table at breakfast, looking glum, which he thought had to do with their visit to Godric's Hollow last evening.

Sirius had suggested that it was a good time to begin learning the spell to conjure iron and so they had retired to the duelling room and had taught him the basics, before getting dressed to leave for the Order's meeting.

"I hope your practicing is going better than my day," said Sirius as he took off his coat.

Harry didn't respond as he was concentrating very intently on thin air. He waved his wand and incanted aloud, 'Ferrifors!'

The air in front of him might have shimmered, but it did not solidify at all like he had hoped and Harry sunk into the couch dejectedly.

"Conjuring is trickier than transfiguring things," said Sirius consolingly. "You expend more magic as you aim to convert the air around you into a solid substance. It's perfectly understandable if you can't achieve this even for months! But there is no harm in knowing the theory and how to put it in practice."

"But what good is theory if it can't save my life!" cried Harry in frustration.

"Maybe you need to clear your head," said Sirius. "Why don't you go flying outside for some time?"

Harry nodded morosely as he stood up. "Are you coming with me?"

"You go on, Harry. I need to get some sleep before tonight again," said Sirius.

He nodded understandingly before he went outside.

oOo

Harry had to admit it was very relaxing to fly outdoors; the rush of cold air made him feel alive and he could forget the prophecy that had been on his mind ever since he had come home last night.

He had thought seeing his parents' grave would give him the peace of mind that he had wanted. But all it had done was bring home the fact that he, too, was marked for death. Just briefly, he had found the idea of joining them strangely alluring.

Harry shook his head violently as if he could shake off the thought by the physical action alone. He had a home now and Sirius and his friends. The idea of leaving them was even more painful and so with that grounding thought, Harry descended his Firebolt. He had had enough of the cold wind and so he headed towards the shed where Buckbeak was kept.

The grey Hippogriff was huddled on the ground of the shed, which was charmed to stay warm. When Harry entered, he opened his eyes and watched him like a hawk. Harry bowed without breaking eye contact and the Hippogriff returned the gesture almost immediately. He walked forward and sat down with crossed legs and started to stroke the animal lazily.

"How are you?" he murmured and the huge beast nuzzled the side of his face in a gesture of affection, making him smile.

How long he sat there with Buckbeak, he did not know, but the sky had started to darken by the time Sirius found him in the shed. He seemed more rested and awake as he exclaimed, "There you are! Have you been out here all this time?"

He came forward and Buckbeak immediately stood up and walked towards him. Sirius patted him affectionately and Buckbeak seemed to be truly enjoying his touch.

"How do you do that?" asked Harry. The thought had been bugging him for so long.

"What?" asked Sirius distractedly, his attention focused on Buckbeak.

"How do you not bow to him and he's okay with it?"

Sirius became quiet as he led Buckbeak towards Harry and sat down next to him, the Hippogriff settling himself on Sirius' other side. "You don't spend two years with someone entirely and not develop at least a modicum of trust." He looked at Buckbeak adoringly, "And he's saved my life on more occasions than I can count."

"What did you do as soon as you escaped, Sirius? Where did you go?" asked Harry curiously.

Sirius looked at Harry, grinning. "I headed to the South of France, actually, because I knew the Dementors wouldn't follow me there."

"What?" said Harry, surprised. And Sirius was telling him this just now?

"Oh yes," said Sirius matter-of-factly. "That's why I wanted to visit it again last summer with you, you know. The first time I went there, all I could think of was bringing you with me too, someday."

Harry beamed when Sirius' expression turned solemn. "What's eating at you, Harry?"

Harry's smiled dropped as he mulled over that question. "It's—it's nothing. I was just thinking about the prophecy."

"What about it?" asked Sirius, his eyebrows furrowing.

Harry did not answer for a long moment and they sat in companionable silence. At last, Harry found his courage to be honest with Sirius as he said hoarsely, "'Neither can live, while the other survives…' What if I don't?"

Sirius' jaw clenched and his eyes darkened, but Harry was glad that he took his time to answer. He did not want to hear white lies or empty promises.

"I will be honest with you, Harry," he said, turning to look at Harry properly. "I can't make you any promises. But what I do know, is that it isn't death that we must fear. I, for one, would rather die than stand back and watch this world be consumed by the darkness that is Voldemort and his regime. That's why I joined the Order. Your parents believed in it too."

And there it was - the thing that had been on his mind all day.

"Why didn't they just save themselves instead of dying for me?" asked Harry, troubled.

Sirius was gazing at Harry with such intensity that Harry had to look away. He felt Sirius' hand gently card through his hair, causing him to look up at him again, when he murmured, "There are things worth dying for."

oOo

Tuesday, December 31

"Your wand movement is a bit wonky. You need to move your entire arm, not just your wrist," said Sirius. It was the last day of the year and a particularly cold evening; the wind was howling outside, the trees creaking and rustling. Harry was in the drawing room with Sirius, trying yet again to produce a shield of iron that never seemed to want to appear.

Sirius demonstrated the spell by incanting 'Ferrifors!' with his wand arm moving in an efficient circular motion. Harry watched in awe as a round, solid wall of glinting, silver-coloured iron materialized in front of him, floating in thin air like a shield. After a couple of seconds, it dissolved and Sirius continued, "You need to picture the size and its appearance very firmly and fix it in your mind. It needs to become an effortless thought, so once you need to conjure one, you don't think about it for too long."

It looked easy when Sirius had shown him, but after nearly an hour, Harry's frustration was running high and Sirius decided to call it quits for the night, as it was New Year's Eve after all.

"Only you and me tonight, it would seem," said Sirius, as he lounged comfortably on the couch, drinking eggnog from the mug Hary had given him. Remus and Tonks had gone out on a date to celebrate New Year's Eve together. Briefly, Harry was accosted with the memory of his own date with Parvati a fortnight ago. He had been too upset and had actually drunk a little too much. He remembered being upset even before he had spotted Ginny with Dean. Why had he been upset in the first place?

Harry strained his memory and he finally remembered bits and pieces of conversation from that night. "Malfoy," he breathed at last, setting down his eggnog.

"What?" asked Sirus, looking a little drowsy.

"Malfoy!" exclaimed Harry again, slapping his palm to his forehead. "I remember! I wanted to tell you as soon as I could, but then I got distracted—with—uh…" Harry trailed off as he remembered something else. He could not even distinguish it from reality and his own imagination. Still, it would be better if he kept that to himself.

"What's up with Malfoy again?" asked Sirius, knitting his eyebrows together.

Harry tried to recollect what he had heard. "I was in Slughorn's party on the last day of term— and Malfoy was there. I don't remember exactly why, seeing as he wasn't invited…" said Harry, who then shook his head, annoyed. "Anyway, Snape took Malfoy alone somewhere and I followed them."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Of course you did."

Harry ignored him. "I heard Malfoy confess to Snape that he was working for Voldemort."

Sirius raised his eyebrows as he sat up a little straighter. "What did Snape do?"

"He—he was offering to help him, I think," said Harry, frowning as he could not remember exactly what they had spoken, word-for-word. "He kept asking Malfoy what he was up to. But, Malfoy said he didn't want Snape to 'steal his glory'."

Sirius was quiet and Harry looked at him expectantly.

But, he was a little disappointed when Sirius said moodily, "I hate to even suggest this, but maybe Snape was trying to find out what Malfoy was doing on Dumbledore's orders?"

"Nobody is that good a liar," said Harry, quickly. "I thought you, of all people, would understand that Snape could be helping him!"

Harry had been hoping Sirius would back him up as he always did.

"As much as I loathe him, he has actually been very useful for the Order," said Sirius, pulling a face. "We've saved more lives with his information than without."

Though Harry was surprised to hear Sirius even utter a word about Snape in a positive light, he ploughed on. "But, he's playing the double act! How can we be sure we can trust him?"

Sirius sighed, sounding a little frustrated. "Look, I don't trust him! But Dumbledore does, and seeing as he's the only one that can put a stop to this, I don't see exactly what we can do."

"Well, I'm going to tell Dumbledore as soon as term begins," said Harry, stubbornly. "Malfoy is a Death Eater and he's definitely up to something."

"Harry, I don't deny the fact that Malfoy is a Death Eater," said Sirius, with a sigh. "He probably is, seeing as we practically heard him admit it, when Narcissa touched his arm. But, I know Dumbledore and I'm telling you – don't expect him to treat this as new information. He might even know more about this than we do. Whatever Malfoy is up to, Dumbledore will take care of it. You promise me, you won't meddle yourself into this unnecessarily."

Harry could not believe that Sirius was pushing this under the rug with a 'Dumbledore's problem, not yours' attitude. Wasn't he the one who had said that he would rather die than do nothing and watch Voldemort and his cronies take over the Wizarding world?

He crossed his fingers behind his back and tried to keep a straight face. "Okay, I won't meddle unnecessarily, Sirius."

Sirius' eyes narrowed, but before he could speak, the door opened revealing the half-frozen forms of Remus and Tonks. It seemed to be a snowstorm outside and the wind was howling hauntingly, bringing in swirling sleet to their doorway.

Remus shut the door with one hand and turned to move but was stopped when Tonks made a sound of annoyance. She raised her gloved hand, which had frozen along with Remus' hand.

She pulled out the crusty glove, unsticking herself from Remus and nearly ran towards the fireplace, stretching her arms out in front of the fire. She sighed contentedly. "Fire! How warm and toasty are you!"

Sirius chuckled, "Why don't you just cast a warming charm on your clothes?"

Remus removed his scarf and pulled out his wand. "She would if she knew how to."

Tonks opened her mouth to argue, but shut it as Remus had waved his wand and her clothes became bone-dry in an instant.

She hugged herself, "Oh, this is cosy!"

"So, how was your date?" asked Harry, glad for their distraction.

"It was amazing before it turned out to become horrible with all that snow!" exclaimed Tonks as Remus dried himself with his wand and sat on the couch.

Tonks removed her coat revealing her canary yellow jumper, whose sleeves she pulled over her fingers for extra warmth.

"We didn't even make it to the café after we left the park," sighed Remus as he leaned back against the couch.

Twitchet popped into the living room at that moment. "Would masters and miss care for some hot chocolate?"

"Yes," agreed Harry and Tonks in unison, the latter drawing the word out with a longing sigh.

"We should have just stayed at home," said Remus as Twitchet bustled back with four steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"It wasn't all bad, Remus," assured Tonks, as she stood up and moved to sit on the couch, squeezing next to him. "Oh, you're so warm!" She snuggled into him and Remus' face reddened as both Harry and Sirius groaned.

"Ugh—I think I'm going up to bed," said Harry, scrambling to get up and scooping his mug to take up to his bedroom.

Sirius was grinning. "Come on Harry, it's not like they're snogg— Okay, I'm going to bed too!"

Harry had taken only two steps on the staircase when the grandfather clock by the fireplace struck twelve and chimed. Sirius opened his arms in a sweeping motion as he exclaimed, "Oh, hey! Happy New Year everyone!"

And after all three of them chorused their own "Happy New Year!" the room was empty, save for two people huddled together on the couch.

oOo

A/N: Oh, get a room you two!

Thank you to my reviewers who I couldn't reply to personally. Each review puts a smile on my face and gets me fired up with motivation every single time!

Thanks to evadnekapaneos for beta-proofing this chapter. You're an angel!