Chapter 38. Crazy Mad-Eye Moody
Harry tried his best to bring Astrid back to the castle, back to safety, he tried to help her to her feet, lift her, drag her… But she was a dead weight, buried into a tight ball, her face hidden beneath a mop of blonde hair. The only movement she made was the gentle shaking of her silent cries.
Harry returned to the castle, alone, where a large dark mark hung in the sky above the astronomy tower… above where Dumbledore lay motionless in the stone courtyard. Harry pushed his way through a crowd of students, gathered around the shocking scene, and keeling by Dumbledores side he moved some stray hairs from the wizards face lovingly. Taking the horcrux they had ventured to get that night from Dumbledores hand he slipped it into his pocket and lay a sad hand on the dead-man's chest. Staff and students looked on in sadness, heartbroken by the tragic loss of the brilliant headmaster. Ginny dropped to her knees beside the boy-who-lived and pulled him into a tight embrace. Minerva, filled with overwhelming sadness, but also anger, raised her wand to the sky and illuminated its tip, causing a small break of light to appear through the mouth of the dark mark. Madam Pomfrey soon joined her, raising her own wand, and then Luna shared the same idea, raising her own wand and pointing it to the dark stormy sky. Ron and other students soon joined in too, and before long all wands in the courtyard were raised solemnly, their collective shining light breaking and dissolving the dark mark above them.
"Potter," Minerva sighed sadly, crouching to the boy who sobbed silently into Ginny's shoulder. Harry looked up with teary eyes.
"Astrid… P-Professor Moody… she needs you," Harry choked out.
"Where?" Minerva asked, scanning the crowd of students for Astrids face.
"Hagrid's hut… they took Everly," Harry exhaled.
Minerva put Professor Flitwick in charge of the courtyard, and sent Ron and Hermione with Hagrid to go alert the portraits in Dumbledores office of his murder, which they soon passed onto members of the Order.
Minerva then scurried out of the school gates and through the Forbidden Forest, tramping plants and fauna she hitched up her skirt and hurried in the direction of the burning hut.
"Professor Moody?!" Minerva called out worriedly when she emerged from the tree line. "Professor Moody?! Astrid?!" Minerva called out. Just then she spotted a curled-up figure in the grass, illuminated by the orange glow of the fire. Minerva approached cautiously at first, and upon seeing the tangled mop of blonde waves upon Astrids head she broke into a run, arriving behind Astrid she threw herself around the girl, her arms encompassing her. She absorbed Astrid's shakes and cries, and leant her face lovingly against the girls back.
"Oh my dear, oh you poor girl," Minerva whispered with a sob.
"They took her," Astrid choked out from below a mass of tangled hair.
"I know… I know… don't you worry, we will get her back, we will, somehow," A tear escaped Minerva's eye as she made a promise that she wasn't entirely sure she could keep.
"What am I to do?" Astrid asked, raising her head she turned to the older woman, with red eyes and mascara-stained cheeks she sniffled.
"Don't fret dear, come… let us go back to the castle, we will figure things out from there my dear," Minerva whispered as she brushed down Astrid's wild hair, but the girl shook her head.
"No," the blonde choked out.
"Come, you must, you can't stay here," Minerva pleaded, pulling Astrid to her feet. Astrid complied and allowed Minerva to wrap a comforting arm around her shoulder, and escort her back to the castle.
"What are we to do?" Molly whispered sadly from the kitchen of the newly built Burrow, despite being new, the Weasleys had her rebuilt to be exactly the same, they loved their mismatched architecture and refused to replace it with anything else. Though they did end up making it a little less lopsided, it was, everywhere else, identical to the original house.
"There's nothing we can do, not right now," Lupin sighed, as he leant against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared out the window in thought.
"I will have my granddaughter back so help me Merlin, I'll walk in there by myself if I have to," the gruff voice of Moody raged.
"Don't be silly Alastor… Malfoy Manor… it's a fortress," Tonks sighed.
"Any fortress can be stormed, the death eaters have already proven that, but it takes time and meticulous planning, we can't just march up to the front gate," Lupin told old Mad-Eye firmly.
"We don't have time, who knows what they plan to do with her!" Alastor hissed.
"They took the child alive, that's as good a sign as any," Lupin reasoned with the man, "She's also a Malfoy, or half one at least… if there's any semblance of good in that man, he will protect his daughter."
"Malfoy is a filthy coward! Couldn't even stop his friends from taking my granddaughter, you think he'd lay down his life for an infant?!" Mad-Eye raged, banging the dining table with his fist.
The sound startled Astrid slightly as she sat on the sofa with her knees drawn up to her chest. She had only been half listening as she stared at nothing in particular in a numbed state. The voices hushed as they glanced over her, checking to see her reaction to his fathers' words. But she didn't react, she just remained curled up and stared, it's all she had done for days. In fact, today was a good day, as she had actually gotten herself out of bed, not dressed though, since she still remained in her oversized white t-shirt and black running shorts. Most the time she just laid under the covers and cried, or stared at the ceiling in silence. She'd hardly eaten or drunk anything for four days, and it was starting to become evident as her skin lost its glow, her hair it's shine. She moved around weakly, slowly; in truth she only just had the strength to stand upon her two legs.
"We can only speculate and presume at this point, we have no inside knowledge, no idea what the Dark Lord is planning next," Lupin sighed, clenching his fists.
"I can't believe Severus did it, how he could do it," Tonks whispered sadly.
"Dumbledore trusted him most, above anybody else," Molly sighed.
"I knew all along he was a slimy bastard, not to be trusted, I told you, all of you," Mad-eye grunted through bared teeth, "And you all said I was just crazy Mad-Eye Moody,"
Silence fell upon the Burrow as there was no arguing with Moody on that front, Lupin, Molly and Arthur especially had defended Snape endlessly. Tonks looked over the empty shell that looked like Astrid with sad eyes.
"I can't even imagine how she feels," Tonks exhaled, her and Remus had been trying desperately for a child, or rather, she had. Lupin wasn't wholly convinced it was the best time, and no wonder when infants were being snatched from their cots by death eaters.
"She will be hurting worse than anything any of us has ever felt," Molly knew as a mother, there was no pain like it, she remembered when Ginny had gone missing in the Chamber of Secrets, it tore her apart.
"I feel the villain for saying it, but there are bigger things happening right now than a missing child, whilst tragic, it cannot be our focus, defeating the Dark Lord must be," Lupin's words were correct, but that didn't mean they fell softly on the ears of Alastor Moody. The man stood abruptly, he shot Lupin a disgusted look and limped over to his daughter, who didn't even flinch, move or even acknowledge his presence as he sat down beside her.
"We will find her Astrid," Alastor told her as he propped his staff aside and wrapped his arms around his daughter, Astrid gave in and melted into her father, turning around she buried her face into his coat and returned the embrace. He patted her back lightly, and gave it a slight rub as she sobbed into him. "And I will hurt… no kill… every death eater I get my hands on until we do, Merlin mark my words,"
Meanwhile, over at the Malfoy estate, a billowing ball of black smoke and fabric hurtled towards the gates over the tree tops of the manor's extensive grounds. Landing effortlessly Severus Snape strutted out of the smoke towards the large iron gates before him. With a wave of his wand the enchantment protecting the manor let him through, and he passed through the tall gates as if they were made of smoke, the enchantment quickly resealed itself as he passed through effortlessly.
He continued to strut down the hedged driveway and marched into Malfoy Manor without knocking. Climbing the stairs, he braced himself for what could lie ahead, as the Dark Lord always had some kind of surprise up his sleeve. As he reached the top of the stairs there it was, todays surprise, floating as if suspended by her hips above the table was Charity Burbage, Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. Snapes eyes fell from Burbage to the long dining table full of the Dark Lords supporters, each of them staring in his direction. The dining hall was eerily silent, not even a crackle gave out from the fire.
"Severus," breathed the Dark Lord, "I was beginning to worry you had lost your way." Unusually he was sat at the other end of the table than usual, and turned to greet his most trusted follower. "Come, we've saved you a seat," Voldemort wheezed and motioned to his left where an empty chair sat.
Severus moved obediently to the empty seat, and only upon reaching it did he see what sat upon the Dark Lords knee. There Everly slept soundlessly in Voldemort's lap, his long boney fingers wrapped around her entire body, holding her tightly to his black robe. Severus took his seat, and eyed Lucius Malfoy further down the table, his son Draco next to his right, his ex-wife to his left. Lucius didn't dare look up, didn't tare his eyes from the table at all, he just stared, waiting for the meeting to be over with.
"You bring news, I trust?" Voldemort asked.
"It will happen Saturday next, at nightfall," Severus announced clearly.
"I've heard differently, my Lord," The gravelly voice of Yaxley butted in. "Dawlish, the Auror, has let slip that the Potter boy will not be moved until the 30th of this month. The day before he turns seventeen,"
"This is a false trail," Snape announced loudly, his voice dominating over Yaxley's, "The Auror Office no longer plays any part in the protection of Harry Potter. Those closest to him believe we have infiltrated the ministry."
"Well they got that right haven't they?" The man sandwiched between Draco and Yaxley laughed.
"What say you, Pius?" Voldemort asked, nodding to the man who sat at the other end of the long table.
"One hears many things, my Lord. Whether the truth is among them… is not clear," Pius spoke.
"Heh," The Dark Lord chuckled, an amused smile on his face. "Spoken like a true politician. You will, I think, prove most useful Pius," The Dark Lord's words made Pius' mouth nearly upturn into a smile.
"Where will he be taken?" Voldemort questioned Severus.
"To a safe house, most likely the home of someone in the Order," Snape informed him, he waited to see if he would be punished for not having more exact information. But punishment never came. "I'm told it's been given every manner of protection possible… once there it will be impractical to attack him,"
Voldemort nodded in understanding and adjusted the baby on his knee as her small weight began to dig into his boney body. A small cough caught his attention. Bellatrix leaned forward, eager to speak.
"My Lord, I'd like to volunteer myself for this task," Bellatrix breathed, "I want to kill the boy." A cry of pain rang out from one of the rooms in the manor, the sound disturbing Everly and causing her to stir.
"Wormtail!" Voldemort shouted. "Have I not spoken to you about keeping our guest quiet?! They have disturbed the child!"
"Yes, my lord," Wormtail stammered, "Right away, my Lord," the rat-like man scurried off to deal with the noise. Switching back to his calm wheezy voice Voldemort addressed Bellatrix…
"As inspiring as I find your bloodlust… Bellatrix… I must be the one to kill Harry Potter." The Dark Lord announced. Bellatrix lowered her head disappointedly. Voldemort stood now, pressing Everly against his shoulder he looked over the table menacingly.
"But I face an unfortunate complication…" He started; with his free hand he pulled his bone like wand from his robe. "That my wand and Potters share the same core… they are in some ways… twins. We can wound but not fatally harm one another…" The Dark Lord explained, he dropped his wand down onto the table and began to round it with the infant gurgling nonsensically against his shoulder. "If I am to kill him… I am to do with another's wand…" Voldemort announced as walked behind the chairs of his followers, he looked over each of them, deciding which one to de-wand. "Come, surely one of you… Would like the honour? Hmm?" Voldemort asked as he got to the end of the row. Rather than rounding the table and stalking the other side he began to retrace his steps back up the table towards the Malfoys. Draco's glanced up as he felt the Dark Lords presence behind him, then two arms reached in front of the boy's face, lowering the infant into his lap. Draco took her gladly, holding her tight he pulled his sister to his chest. Lucius glanced to his right with a sigh of relief that his child was now in the safe arms of her brother. But relief came too soon for the senior Malfoy.
"What about you… Lucius?" The Dark Lord hissed as he pressed his hand against Lucius' chair.
"My Lord?" barely choked out as he looked up at his master.
"'My Lord'" Voldemort mocked him with a tiny voice, then the Dark Lord's face fell dark as he reached out his veined hand with an open palm. "I require your wand."
Lucius' jaw tensed, and with trembling fingers he reached for his cane, pulling his snake headed wand from it and handing it over with shakings hands. He retreated into himself as the Dark Lord looked upon the wand.
"Do I detect elm?" Asked You-Know-Who as he ran his hand along the wand.
"Yes, My Lord," Lucius nodded, suddenly the Dark Lord snapped the snake headed handle from the wand with an almighty crack, causing Lucius to flinch in his seat.
"And the core?" Voldemort asked calmly. Severus looked at the scene with pity, he remembered the proud man Lucius once was, and how it would be killing him inside to be so publicly castrated of his wand in such a vulgar way.
"Ahem," Lucius cleared his throat to best try sound strong, "Dragon heart string, my Lord."
"Dragon heart string, hmm," Voldemort looked at Lucius disgustedly before dropping the silver snake head to the table. Lucius flinched once again and pressed himself into his seat, averting his gaze. Voldemort decided to give the wand a go, with a little flick he levitated Burbage further down the table, elevated above it's shiny black top, everyone looked up at her with hard eyes.
"To those of you who do not know… we are joined tonight by Miss Charity Burbage… who until recently taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Voldemort announced, "her speciality… was muggle studies."
Small laughs escaped the lips of his death eaters.
"It is Miss Burbage's belief that Muggles are not so different from us… she would… given her way… have us mate with them," Voldemort's words earned disgusted noises from a few of his followers, most notably Bellatrix Lestrange. "To her the mixture of magical and muggle blood is not an abomination… but something to be encouraged."
Charity Burbage looked down on the table helplessly, spotting her old work colleague she called out to him with all she could manage: a whisper.
"Severus," her eyes pleaded with him to help, "Severus please… we're friends," She whispered. Voldemort smiled wickedly before stabbing Lucius' wand at the woman and shouting:
"Avada Kedavra!"
Her body hit the table with a large thud, startling not only the baby in Draco's arms, but the boy himself, as she jumped slightly at the sound. He held Everly close to him and buried his face in her soft blonde hair, hiding his frightened face from those around him.
"Nagini," Voldemort cooed, "Dinner."
Days without Everly soon turned to weeks, and soon it had almost been a whole month since she was taken. The Burrow was bustling with people, preparing for something that Astrid had taken no mind to. She could sense the overwhelming amount of people, but never actually focused on who was there, she just curled up in the corner of the sofa, her body angled away from the room, towards the wall, she hugged a cushion tight to her chest and stared out of the window at the setting sun across the horizon.
She felt the sofa dip in front of her as someone sat down, for a moment she glanced, seeing her father's worried face staring back at her, he reached up taking her little hand in his large one, and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles gently.
"We will be leaving soon," he told her gruffly, "We don't know what we'll be facing out there when we have Potter, it's likely to be a full-scale attack… We've… well… it's risky, but the boy needs us Astrid, he needs to defeat you-know-who, then we can bring Everly back to us, you understand?"
Astrid nodded in response as she took in his words.
"When will you return?" Astrid choked, her throat was hoarse and rough, from so long without talking and so little to eat and drink. Her father had a strange demeanour about him, something was… off. He was worried, but not in his usual paranoid way, it was unsettling.
"A few hours, we will be bringing him here… stay put, stay safe, stay vigilant and Merlin's Beard… go shower, you're a scruff," He chuckled deeply, pinching her cheeks, she shrugged away from him, and for the first time in weeks the corner of her mouth upturned a little. "I love you," He said simply, the words almost sounded foreign to Astrid's ears coming from his mouth, he rarely ever said them. Standing up he leaned over, pressing both hands to her head and placed a kiss between them on her greasy blonde hair.
"I love you too Dad," Astrid croaked as he pulled away.
Later that evening Molly and Ginny Weasley as well as Astrid waited patiently for every one's safe return with Harry Potter. Their return seemed to be taking longer than expected, Astrid had noticed the shift in atmosphere between Ginny and her mother, the two were beginning to grow tense with worry. When the trio heard a commotio outside Molly and Ginny ran from the house worriedly. Astrid slinked after them into the humid summer night.
Hagrid emerged from the swamp with Harry in tow.
"Harry, Hagrid," Molly stammered at the sight of them, "Where are the others?"
"Is no one else back?" Harry asked bewildered.
"They were on us right from the start, Molly, we didn't stand a chance!" Hagrid sighed. Astrid took this as her que to return to the house, her arms wrapped around her body nervously as Molly and Hagrid finished their conversation as they followed the young professor into the house.
"Any news on my father?" Astrid turned to ask the half giant. He shook his head no as he bobbed into the house.
"Things were too crazy up there, death eaters everywhere, couldn't see the forest for the trees it was that crazy," Hagrid explained.
"Here!" The shout of Remus Lupin caught everyone's attention, "Into the house!" He yelled as he dragged one of the twins in with Harry.
"Oh, my boy." Molly choked as she saw the blood oozing from her son's ear. Remus and Harry set the lad down on the sofa and Molly flew to his side, gripping her boys hand. Remus didn't hesitate then to shove Harry against the wall of the fireplace, his wand held to Harrys face.
"Lupin! What are you doing?!" Hagrid yelled.
"Remus!" Astrid cried out. "What the hell?!"
"What creature sat in the corner the first time Harry Potter visited my office in Hogwarts?" Remus asked desperately.
"Are you mad?!" Harry yelled.
"What creature?!" Remus pressed.
Harry stuttered wildly before he answered.
"A grindylow!" Harry cried out. Remus stared into Harry's eyes for a second before eventually letting the boy go.
"We've been betrayed… Voldemort knew you were being moved tonight, I had to make sure you weren't an imposter," Remus panted. Harry nodded understandingly. The sound of another arrival caught Remus' attention and he ran out the door.
Astrid moved to Molly, crouching by her side she put a hand on the woman's shoulders.
"He's gonna be fine, Mol, do you want me to get you something?" Astrid asked.
"Bandages… please, Astrid," Molly breathed as she kissed Georges hand. "Bottom left cupboard, medical box,"
Astrid followed the woman's instruction, tip-toeing into the kitchen she found the cupboard and the medical box. She pulled a pack of bandages from it's contents, a potion for pain too, and then returned to Georges side. By now more of the Order had arrived, in fact it was everyone except her father and Mundungus.
"How are you feeling, Georgie?" Fred asked. Molly took the bandages and potion from Astrid's hands with a warm thankful smile.
"Saint like." George answered.
"Come again?"
"Because he's holey," Astrid smirked, understanding his humour.
"She gets it," George laughed winking at the blonde.
Astrid approached Lupin as the twins had a moment together, with furrowed brows she asked the man:
"Where's my father?" Bill Weasley awkwardly moved over to the pair, Fleur trailing behind nervously.
"I don't really know how to say this Astrid…" Bill sighed, "But your father, he's dead,"
It was as if someone had slapped her in the face with a fish, she was confused, hurt, and in disbelief. She furrowed her brows and shook her head.
"What? No, what are you talking about?" She whispered, her eyes darted around the room looking for either her father or Mundungus, he couldn't be dead. Absolutely not! The room had fallen silent, and all in it looked upon Astrid as she inhaled the news.
"I'm sorry Astrid… Mundungus… he took one look at Voldemort… and dissapparated…" He told her sadly. A lump formed in her throat. How could this be? How could she lose her only two members of her family in such quick succession? First he baby, now her father. Tears burst from her eyes as she shook her head in pure disbelief.
"No, no he can't be, my father… he doesn't die, he can't," She choked. Lupin sat and held his head in his hands, shaking it slightly. Tonks embraced Astrid from behind. Wrapping her arms around her she rested her chin on Astrids shoulder and hushed her as she wept.
"That… that means… what family do I have left? I have nobody…"
"You have us, you have all of us, we are your family too, we love you Astrid," Tonks whispered from her shoulder. "I'm going to take her to bed," she announced to the room, guiding Astrid by her arm, Molly made a move to go to Astrid's side but Tonks motioned for her to stay. "I'll take care of her Mol, you take care of George,"
Five days of mourning later and it was Fleur and Bills wedding. Tonks had been Astrids rock in that dark time. Determined not to let her fall into her numb shell again just as she was starting to come out, Tonks made it her mission to make Astrid smile and laugh. She kept her busy with games, conversation, baking and books. Astrid loved books, she fell back in love with reading, immersing herself in fantastical fictional lands to help her escape her dark reality.
"What you got there?" Tonks asked as she broke into Astrids room unannounced. She was on her window seat, leant against the frame reading in the summer sun. Astrid simply flipped the cover in Tonks' direction. Little Women.
"Sounds terribly boring, you know what isn't boring?" Tonks wide smile sat down on Astrids bed in the small guest room.
"Go on," Astrid sighed as she watched Tonks suspiciously.
"Getting all glamorous and pretty," Tonks laughed making a kissy face. "Fleurs already getting ready, I think we should start on you too,"
"Fleurs the bride, she can have all day to get ready, it's her day…" Astrid reverted her eyes back to her book, "besides I'm not even sure I want to go… it just seems so terribly soon for a celebration," She sighed, looking out of the window at the large tent that now engulfed the grass outside the Burrow.
"You have to go; how else will I enjoy the party?!" Tonks asked, as she jumped up and launched herself at Astrid's trunk, which Molly had been so kind to pack her chambers into and bring to the Burrow that night at Hogwarts. She pulled out practically everything inside in search of a dress.
"You have so many clothes," Tonks sighed as she started a pile on the bed. "I bet that's the Beauxbatons princess in you." Astrid just rolled her eyes.
"I used to live just outside Paris, it's impossible not to shop all the time when you're so close to the fashion capital of the wizarding world," Astrid slammed her book closed as she huffed in her defence.
"What's this?" Tonks asked, pulling a little chiffon wrapped bundle from the trunk. Astrid jumped to her feet quickly and moved for the little parcel, but Tonks, being the taller woman, held it high above her head out of Astrid's reach.
"It's not funny Tonks, please!" Astrid choked as she jumped for the parcel. Tonks eventually handed the chiffon square over to the young woman upon seeing her distressed face.
"Sorry Astrid, I didn't know it was something special," Tonks sighed. "Mind if I take a look?"
Astrid eyed Tonks for a moment before unwrapping the parcel which was wrapped in a baby pink chiffon scarf. Sitting on her bed she unfolded the scarf to reveal two white handkerchiefs.
"All that fuss over handkerchiefs?" Tonks teased. Astrid picked one up delicately, showing her the stitching in the corner. SB. "Sirius," Tonks breathed, running her fingertips along the embroidery. Astrid nodded.
"He gave me this when I threw up in his bin," Astrid snorted fondly at the memory, "I didn't realise at the time… it was probably morning sickness," Astrid breathed sadly.
"And this one?" Tonks asked, picking up the other handkerchief and turning it over to reveal some fancier initials… LAM. "Oh," Tonks said simply.
"He gave me that the day he told me he wanted me," Astrid remembered it well. When she took that handkerchief from him she was only pretending to be interested in him, to gain intel for the order… and here she was… over eighteen-months later, madly in love with him, her now fiancé, and mother to his child. Astrid ran her fingers over the monogram and silently prayed Everly was with him, and they were taking care of each other. Tonks took Astrid's left hand and squeezed it supportively, before running her thumb over the emerald ring that sat on Astrid's ring finger.
"And he certainly got you, didn't he?" Tonks smirked, "As much as I despise him, I must admit, he has good taste... in rings and women," Tonks laughed. Astrid laughed too.
After a little gossip Astrid carefully repacked and tied the two handkerchiefs in the silk chiffon scarf and packed them away in the bottom of the trunk.
"We never did find something for you to wear…" Tonks hummed as she rummaged through the pile of clothes. "Oooh! What about this one?" Tonks asked with a wide smile, she stood and held the dress to her frame to model it for Astrid.
"That one, really? I don't really think it's my colour, I don't even know why I bought it," Astrid raised her brows at Tonks choice and let out an exasperated sigh.
"This one, one hundred percent! You're wearing this."