There's Love In Information
C10: Dealing With Troublemakers
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters.
That Monday the entire family minus Luna Floo'ed into the D.M.I.I. offices, since Madame Bones had asked for an early meeting and was due to arrive in ten minutes, which would give them just enough time to have some coffee.
Bellatrix especially was not amused at the early hour and grumbled constantly until Hermione handed her a cup of coffee. "Here you go love. We wouldn't want to be snappy with Madame Bones." Hermione said sweetly.
Bellatrix shot her a dark glare as she drank her coffee, sitting down in a dark corner of the office so she could wake up at least a little bit.
Hermione only smiled at her lover. "Shades of Christmas past, isn't it Fabe?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yes it is. Now you at least know where I get it from."
"I've known that for a long time Fabe, especially now that I know some things about your youth." Hermione said with a smile.
"I'm sure it can't be worse than you have actually seen me do, 'Mione." He said as he took a sip of coffee.
The brunette smiled at that. "Really? I think that I have never seen you run around naked, although I suppose I'm glad for that."
That made him blush a bit, as did Dora while Narcissa frowned a bit at the memory. "Yes, not the brightest moment of my darling niece and nephew."
Bellatrix merely grinned at her youngest sister. "Oh hush Cissy. Don't act like we didn't share a laugh over that, because I remember that night very well."
Narcissa huffed as she made her way to the office she shared with Andromeda, who merely smiled at them. "I've missed this banter between you two. It's always a good source of entertainment."
Bellatrix smiled at her sister, now slightly more awake. "I don't think we can help it. It's too easy for either of us to press each other's buttons. You and I are much more alike in personality for that to be fun. We'd both just get angry and storm off."
Andromeda smiled at that. "Ain't that the truth. It has certainly happened plenty of times before, and I am sure it will happen again."
"We'll find something to bicker about I'm sure." Bellatrix said with a smile as she pulled Hermione into her side, and almost into her lap.
Hermione just smiled and allowed herself to slip into the raven haired witch' lap. "I see you're finally ready to act like an adult again?"
Bellatrix just stuck her tongue out at her lover as Draco Floo'ed into the office, a bit surprised to see his entire family here already. "Well this is a surprise I did not expect this morning." The blonde said with a smile.
"Madame Bones is due to arrive in about five minutes, for a meeting with us, my Mom and Hermione, so we figured it would be a good idea to get some coffee in mother before she might snap at the head of the D.M.L.E." Fabian said with a smile.
Draco smiled at that. "Good idea, we wouldn't want the legendary Black temper to sour interdepartmental relationships." He said with a wink.
Bellatrix quirked an eyebrow at her nephew. "You don't have to worry about that Draco. I still know how to behave in a professional environment, some I heard you sometimes still struggle with."
He blushed a little as he took a seat at his desk, after getting himself a cup of coffee. "First days don't count, aunt Bella. We hadn't even set up the complete rule book yet."
Bellatrix smiled at that. "I wasn't talking about that first day Draco. I was talking about your first New Year's Ball. Or have you forgotten about that?"
"I try to, but you and Fabian always remind me of it." He grumbled softly.
Fabian just smiled at him. "Like you don't remind me every year of one of my many slip-ups during any party we've attended together."
Draco only smiled at that as Luna and Fleur Floo'ed into the office, the smaller blonde smiling when she saw her mother there. "Good morning everyone. You're all here early, especially for a Monday." Luna said with a soft smile.
Bellatrix smiled and went to hug her daughter. "Good morning sweetie. I trust you had a good weekend with your girlfriend?"
Luna nodded as Fleur smiled at them. "We had a great time Ms. Black. We mostly talked about what we want out of our relationship."
"That's never a bad thing to do, but I have to say that I'm surprised that you two are here so early." Bellatrix said kindly.
Luna smiled at her. "We always come in early, Mom. It gives us time to get our day started properly. I thankfully have not inherited the Black family gene that makes me hate early mornings."
Bellatrix just smiled at her as Luna went to get some tea for herself and a cup of coffee for Fleur.
Not much later Madame Bones Floo'ed into the office. "Good morning everyone. I trust you all are well?"
They all nodded at her. "We are Madame Bones, shall we talk in my office?" Fabian asked with a smile.
She nodded and followed him and the three women into the office. "What do you think they need to talk about?" Draco asked softly.
Luna smiled at him as she took a seat at her desk. "There has been an altercation between Hermione, Mom and Harry Potter over the weekend, and I think they just want to nip this problem in the bud before it has a chance to escalate into something bigger." She said softly.
He sighed softly at that. "I should've known Potter and the Weasel would try to screw things up at some point. I just didn't expect them to do so this quickly. Throughout school they've been the types to watch things turn to hell before acting, and every time they didn't Hermione was involved in one form or another. It was amusing to see them flounder around in the last months though."
Luna giggled at that. "It was, especially during that final battle when Harry didn't have a clue what to do and Hermione staunchly refused to help him because of how rude he was being to her."
Draco only nodded at that, picking up some files while the waited for Pansy and Ginny to come in.
…
In the office everyone had just taken a seat. "Why do I have the feeling this is not going to be a talk to catch up?" Madame Bones asked with a soft smile.
"Because it probably isn't going to be. We have two things to go over, and neither of them are good news I'm afraid." Dora said softly.
Amelia sighed softly at that. "I expected as much to be honest. I'll of course do everything in my power to help, whatever it may be or what you might need."
Hermione smiled at that. "One of these things you can certainly help with. This past Thursday Bellatrix and I were shopping in Diagon when we were confronted by Harry, who immediately jumped to conclusions when he saw us together, and while I didn't see him, I felt that Ronald was close by too. I of course do not need to tell you that this wasn't the first time this happened and we fear that this might escalate at some point, which given the current situation is something we would like to avoid."
"I feared this might happen despite of my warnings to both of them. There will be serious repercussions for Harry at least when he comes in today, I do hope you understand I cannot put Ronald under the same because he didn't actually participate in the confrontation, I will however put him under even stricter observation. He'll make a mistake soon and then we can file formal charges against him. Harry will be a bit more difficult because of his status as the Vanquisher of Voldemort. We need to be subtle about this, but he will not get away with pursuing his own justice anymore. This I promise you both." Amelia said kindly.
Bellatrix nodded and smiled at her. "We know Director, and we appreciate you wanting to hear us out. We are both more than willing to provide our memories through a Pensieve if necessary. Like Hermione said we don't want this to escalate any further, but I also want you to know that we will retaliate if they decide to move against us."
"You are of course well within your rights to do that Ms. Black, and I wouldn't expect you not to, but I will makes sure this will not escalate any further. You have my word on that. As for your memories, they would be very much appreciated." Madame Bones said kindly.
"You can use our Pensieve, it is a model we've improved upon so it will feel less invasive and there will be more details in the memories." Dora said with a smile.
Bellatrix and Hermione nodded at that. "We would like that. We can do that after our talk if that is okay with you two." Bellatrix said with a kind smile.
"Of course aunt Bella. We got that specifically for cases like this and the inevitable situation that we needed to extract memories from suspects in a less friendly way. This does however bring us to the second point of what we need to talk about." Dora said softly.
Madame Bones smiled at that. "Yes, I'm pretty sure it can't get any worse."
"Oh it can and it will. There also isn't an easy way to say this, so I'm going to just say it. Over the course of the last week we have continued our information dive on Yaxley's notes and we have found very promising things that have led us to the location of both Fenrir Greyback and the Lestrange brothers. Greyback is hiding in hills near Hogwarts and that is something we are not equipped to deal with so we were hoping you would be willing to arrest him and then deal with him. We don't need him for information. Either of the Lestrange brothers will be far more useful for figuring out where Lucius is hiding." Fabian said with a soft smile.
Madame Bones nodded at that. "We would be glad to. When do you think you will have the information ready for us to make a plan?"
Dora and Fabian shared a look at that. "A week should suffice, and we plan to go after the Lestrange brothers at the same time, since we're sure Greyback won't have any means of communicating. He doesn't carry a wand as far as our investigations have shown, so that should make it a little easier."
"We will still have to be careful. He may not wield magic, but he is known to be very vicious. I don't expect that he will be brought in alive." Madame Bones said softly.
Fabian nodded at that. "It is something we calculated to be honest, he is too dangerous to take into custody again. I also think Kingsley won't mind being rid of him."
"I would like to think that too, but we'll set up a meeting with Kingsley before we finalize our plans. He'll appreciate being kept in the loop on this particular case." Amelia said with a soft smile.
Dora smiled at that. "We were planning to do that when the time is right. There is still a couple of weeks worth of planning we need to do before we're ready to start planning the raids. We'll keep you informed of course."
"I expected as much, and while you are planning the raids for the Lestrange brothers, I will do the same for Greyback and share details with you, as well as the team I plan to dispatch to his location." Amelia said kindly.
Fabian smiled at her. "We shall do the same. Hermione and my mother will be joining at their request. My mother especially has unfinished business with the pair of them."
Amelia smiled and nodded. "I am well aware of that. I certainly don't see any objection to it."
Dora smiled at that. "We didn't think you would, and if you have some time, there is something more personal Fabian and I have to discuss with you."
"While you do that, we'll go and socialize a bit. I have a feeling Cissa will appreciate some sister time." Bellatrix said with a smile.
"Don't tease her too much Mom. Aunt Cissa takes her job very seriously."
Bellatrix only nodded and the two witches gave both Fabian and Dora a hug before taking their leave.
…
When they were alone Fabian and Dora once again turned to Madame Bones. "As we said, this is very personal and it is something you hopefully assist us with. A number of years ago I was raped by Bill and Charlie Weasley and since we were so caught up in preparations for the war against Voldemort, I put it to the back of my mind, but I can't live with the feelings of them violating me anymore. All of those memories haunt me every day, and I can't keep up appearances anymore. I need them to pay for what they did to me." Dora said softly.
"Dora, I'm so sorry that happened to you. I will do everything in my power to make sure they will pay for this, and I understand that this may be hard for you to retell, but I will need to know everything that happened that night before I confirm things with your memories." Amelia said with a soft smile.
Dora nodded at that. "I understand Madame Bones, and I will tell you everything. It all happened two years ago, the evening before Dumbledore was murdered. I was out at a bar with some friends after my shift when I suddenly felt sick. It is also important to know that both of them propositioned me at some point, Charlie while we were in school together, and Bill after I had graduated, but since I had no interested in being a notch on their belts I turned them down, several times in fact. I believe that they drugged me and then took me somewhere. The next thing I remember is waking up naked somewhere in Knockturn Alley with no conscious memories of what happened and my family draping a cloak over me. Over the years my memories of what happened have slowly come back and Fabian has been instrumental in helping me piece things together and help me heal at the same time."
Amelia smiled at them. "I had a feeling you two were together, and I am glad you have found someone who is worthy of your enormous heart. It also explains why you have always spoken nothing but praise whenever he came up in conversation."
Nymphadora smiled at that. "We have only been together for a short time, just before the D.M.I.I. came into being, but we've been dancing around each other for many years. We finally just decided to take the plunge, something neither of us have had any regrets about, I might add. But having said that, Fabian has always been and will always been my rock and comfort."
"I figured as much. I've never seen you happier than the last couple of weeks." Amelia said with a kind smile.
Dora smiled at her as she went to get their Pensieve while Fabian went to bring back Bellatrix and Hermione so they could extract all of their memories.
That was a lengthy process because of the different method they had used to enchant the bowl, but in the end it was an easier method because of the memories were immediately stored in a named vial so that they could be easily recognized and processed if need be.
"I think that with these memories I will be able to put some more pressure on Harry to drop things against you and Bellatrix, and if he doesn't, I'll make sure he'll face the consequences." Amelia said as she stashed vials in a pocket of her robe.
"We appreciate that Madame Bones. Let's hope he will finally see the light, so to speak. Like we said before we really don't want things to escalate any further than they already have." Bellatrix said with a soft smile.
Madame Bones nodded and smiled at them. "I'll be sure to review these immediately when I get to my office, and bring them both in a review once they come in."
They all nodded at that as Madame Bones took their leave, after which Bellatrix and Hermione finally were able to relax a little. "That went better than I ever thought it could've gone. Perhaps finally we'll be able to live our lives in peace." Bellatrix said softly as she pulled Hermione into her lap.
Hermione smiled at that. "While I doubt it, it is good to know that there will finally be consequences for their actions. No longer will they be able to get away with being heroes of the war to justify their actions. Ron especially has gotten a very big head since the end of the war and it is high time he is taken down a few notches."
"And if all goes well he won't be the only Weasley that is going to be in trouble." Dora said softly.
Bellatrix smiled at her niece. "I'm proud of you Dora. I can't imagine the courage it must've taken to retell everything."
"Thanks aunt Bella. It was high time that I shared it with someone other than my boyfriend." Dora said softly.
"What happened Dora?" Hermione asked softly.
"I was raped a couple of years ago by Bill and Charlie Weasley because I refused to have sex with them, and Madame Bones is going to help me get justice." Dora said in barely a whisper.
Hermione gave her soft smile. "I'm so sorry Dora. We will help you wherever you may need us." The brunette said softly.
Dora smiled at her. "I know Hermione, and thank you. I know I haven't been the most welcoming to you over the years, but I hope you know that was only because of your crush on Fabian at the time. I've never been good at letting go of grudges."
Hermione smiled at her. "I know Dora, and while it is true I had a bit of a crush on Fabian in the beginning of our school career, I learned very quickly we would work better as friends instead of lovers. I saw very early on that he only had eyes for you in that sense."
The Metamorphmagus smiled at her. "We were pretty obvious about it, weren't we? I'm very glad to have you in my corner now Hermione. You are one of the people I have looked up to for a while now. To have overcome what you have is amazing and I admire you greatly for it."
Hermione blushed a little at that. "Thank you Dora, I've always admired you as well because you are not afraid to express yourself without minding the consequences."
Dora smiled at that. "I would gladly help you come out of your shell even more, Hermione. I'm pretty sure aunt Bella would appreciate that side of you too."
Hermione merely smiled as she squeezed her lover's waist, the four talking for a bit longer before the two witches left.
…
After lunch Fabian and Nymphadora gathered the rest of the team in their conference room. "So, as you might have noticed we've had quite a lengthy meeting this morning, most of which concerned personal things, but also something that concerns all of us. Thanks to everyone here we are getting closer to the core of the new Death Eater movement, and as such there will be no less than three raids to arrest a three of them. This will happen in a couple of weeks when we have a plan to work with. Since we're going after three people at once, we've asked Madame Bones to work with us to make one of the arrests. The Aurors will be taking Greyback into custody, while we as a Department will go after the Lestrange brothers. This mostly because we can get more information about Lucius from them than we can get from Greyback."
They all smiled at that. "Another raid so soon, how exciting." Luna said with a bright smile.
Fleur and Fabian both smiled at that. "It's still a little bit off, Moon, and I doubt it'll happen soon, but we're very happy with all of the work everyone has put in to make this happen. I know we had a lot of information to process after Yaxley's capture, most of it thanks to Narcissa and Andromeda, and the way you have all sorted through it and made the connections makes me very proud of our young department, and gives me good hope for the future. However, there will be something different about the future raid on the Lestrange brothers. My mother and Hermione will be joining us for the raid on Rodolphus Lestrange because of those personal reasons I mentioned earlier. Both of them have suffered at his hands and we want to give them the opportunity to have some measure of justice."
"Will they follow our rules and not go too far? Personal reasons or not, it helps no one if he ends up dead." Fleur asked softly.
Fabian nodded at her. "Hermione and my mother have helped us set up these rules, and they have given us their word that they will work within them. They want to see him tried as much as we do."
Fleur smiled at that. "Good, I'll admit I was a bit worried because I know how personal reasons can cloud ones judgment when it comes to cases like this."
"We know Fleur, which is why we want to talk to you and Ginny in a little bit. There is something else you two can help us with." Dora said softly after sharing a quick look with her boyfriend.
The two women smiled at that. "Of course. We're mostly done with our files for today for now, there are a few things we need to double check still, but those can wait for a bit."
Fabian and Dora smiled and nodded. "Very well, are there any questions so far on what we've talked about?"
Everyone shook their heads at that. "Everything is clear so far. We'll start on the documentation on Greyback for the Aurors in the meantime." Pansy said with a smile.
Fabian nodded at her. "That's a good idea Pansy. We're expected to work closely with Madame Bones on this and she'll handle the information handling to her Aurors. Are you okay with being our postal worker for this?"
Pansy laughed at that. "Of course Fabian. Someone has to do it, and I don't mind being the Department owl for this case. It's in all our benefit after all."
He smiled and nodded at that. "That it is, but for now I think everyone has been caught up. Shall we talk in our office?" He asked Ginny and Fleur.
The two girls nodded at that and followed them to their office, the four of them taking a seat once Dora had closed the door. "This sounds serious. Is everything okay?" Ginny asked softly.
"Unfortunately it is, and it is quite personal and involves you both at some point, and since there is no easy way of saying this, I'll just go ahead and say it. A few years ago I was raped after a night out with some friends, and from my memories we have found out the ones responsible were your brothers Bill and Charlie, which was another reason Madame Bones was here today. She is going to help me get justice." Dora said softly.
Ginny and Fleur both looked angry, but it seemed that anger was not directed at her. "Did this happen after you refused to have sex with them? I heard Bill talking to Charlie about it before the engagement party. I never knew it was about you though, or I would've said something a lot sooner. I told Mum of course but she didn't believe me, and quite frankly told me to stop trying to upset the happy home, something we haven't been for a very long time. Which is one of the reasons I haven't been home in months. I refuse to share a house with people who think that kind of behavior is okay. If there is anything I can do, just name it, I'll gladly help you." Ginny said kindly.
"He did the same to me every time I refused to sleep with him. I wanted to stay pure until marriage, but he took that away from me. He was so controlling and abusive that I was afraid to leave him. I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you stay safe. I had at least hoped as long as he had his way with me, he would stay away from others." Fleur said softly.
Dora smiled at them and took one of their hands. "It's okay, no one could have foreseen what they would do. I'm glad they at least left you alone Ginny. I wouldn't have put it past them to do something to you too."
Ginny smiled sadly at that. "Not for lack of trying mind you. They tried to force themselves on me when I was younger, which is why I developed the Bat-Bogey in the first place. They feared what would happen if I turned it on them. I am pretty sure they've been grooming me for a long time, thinking back on everything."
"Would either of you be okay with having some memories stored through our Pensieve? They might help Madame Bones get them convicted quicker." Dora said softly.
Both Fleur and Ginny nodded at her. "Of course we are okay with that. They deserve to be punished for what they did." Fleur said softly.
Dora nodded at her. "They do, and I am so grateful that you are willing to help me with this. I was afraid you wouldn't believe me."
"If I hadn't gone through the same I might not have, but having seen what they're capable of, there is no question who I am going to side with, which leads me to a question of my own, if you don't mind?" Fleur asked kindly.
Dora and Fabian smiled at her. "Of course we don't mind Fleur. What can we do for you?"
The blonde smiled at her. "I've been in contact with my sister, who after hearing what I do now, was hoping to be able to get an interview with you once she graduates from Beauxbatons, and I think she might be a very good addition to the Department. Not only is she a regular potion prodigy, but she is also very adept at advanced charms and hexes."
Dora and Fabian shared a look at that. "Interesting, I think we'll have a place for her here if that is what she wants to do." Fabian said kindly.
Fleur smiled at them. "Thank you. I will relay this message to her. Is it okay if she contacts you personally too? It might be easier for her to show her experience like this."
"We don't mind Fleur, but I do have to ask one obvious question. How are you going to handle living space and such?" He asked kindly.
"She'll probably live with me for a while, but I am sure she'll find her own place in no time. She's as crafty as she is pretty, a lot like me in that aspect, or perhaps my parents will provide her with a place to live. They did it for me too after all." Fleur said with a smile.
He nodded and smiled at her. "Good, if there are any problems with that, there are a few houses within our family that are available if we would ever need them."
Fleur and Ginny both smiled at that. "Since we're all confessing things. There is something I need to tell you. Over the last few weeks I've been dating Pansy, and I thought it only right to inform you of this." Ginny said softly.
Fabian smiled at her. "That's okay Gin, although I have to say that I'm a bit surprised given how antagonistic you two were to each other at school."
"We've talked about that quite a bit over the last few weeks, and after hearing her reasoning I understood. Slytherin was too dangerous a house for her to voice her true feelings. Apparently she's had a crush on me for quite a while." The redhead said with a slight blush.
"We expected it to happen at some point. At least the entire Department is paired of now. I do have to ask you the same thing Fabian asked Fleur though. Can you assure us that this won't interfere with either of your duties?" Dora asked with a smile.
Ginny smiled at them both. "We promise this won't have any effect on our duties. If anything we will be more vigilant because I've noticed we have a tendency to keep each other sharp in the field."
Dora and Fabian smiled at that. "Then we don't have any issues with it, which even if we did was pretty hypocritical of us, given that ninety percent of our department is now dating someone within the department. I think the only ones not dating within the department are Draco and my aunts, and I have a feeling that Draco is going to ask if we have a spot for Astoria as well." Nymphadora said with a smile.
"If he does ask, I won't make a problem of it. We have plenty of space to expand if necessary, as long as our core principles remain the same, but for now, I think we've all earned an early day off, given what is to come and the hours we are going to have to put in to make it all work in time." Fabian said with a soft smile.
Ginny and Fleur smiled and nodded. "Thank you Fabian. I think we can all use it. We'll see you tomorrow." Fleur said kindly.
He nodded and smiled at her as the two women made their way over to their girlfriends. "I'm so proud of you Dora. I know it wasn't easy for you retelling that three times today." He said softly once they were alone.
She smiled and crawled into his lap. "I had you next to me every time, that made it easier to tell it. It was also high time Hermione knew what happened. Out of everyone in our corner now, I needed her to understand the most."
He just smiled and kissed her softly. "I will always be here for you baby, no matter what you're going through. I made a commitment to you, and I intend to honor it forever."
Nymphadora smiled at that. "Perhaps we should wait a little while before we go home. I suddenly feel very inspired to properly christen our new office."
Fabian just smiled at her as they waited until everyone had left, at which point Dora crawled onto his desk and lifted her skirt, showing her lover that she had gone commando all day as she spread her legs.