After speaking with Xenophilius, Remus and Sirius went back to Azkaban, to check on everything and everyone before they went home. Some of the Goblins were already back to work, angrier than ever, and almost everything was cleaned. Tonks had warned Remus that she wouldn't be back until morning because she had a report to write and they wanted to check with Arthur and Molly before they left.
"I thought the two of you were back home already!" Arthur exclaimed when he saw them both coming his way.
"No, we went to check on Xenophilius, reassured him, told him Luna would be able to stay with us for as long as he needed. How's Bill?" Remus asked.
"He should be fine, Molly's just being overly worried. She's been on edge a lot lately, what with all the family being in the Order..." Arthur replied, shaking his head.
"It's understandable. Well, don't worry, we can keep the kids until tomorrow afternoon, even later of you want to spend some time just with her." Sirius offered.
"That's nice and not a bad idea... maybe we'll only pick them up after dinner tomorrow if that's alright with you." Arthur nodded and Sirius smiled.
"Of course, the more the merrier. I've also sent Kreacher to warn Augusta that Neville could stay with us until tomorrow evening if she wanted to rest." Sirius assured.
"Good then. Fred and George will probably go to work tomorrow morning anyway. Well, I should get back to this. We have to give the Daily Prophet the list of escapees, dead and injured. Cornelius wants to destroy the wands of the prisoners who escaped but I don't see the point, they'll just get new ones." Arthur informed them.
"And we have to speak with Rose and Luna before the Daily Prophet arrives home." Remus reminded Sirius who nodded.
"See you tomorrow evening then. Thank you for the kids, we appreciate it." Arthur called after them before he turned back to a man waiting to give him a report.
.
When Sirius and Remus walked through the door, everything was quiet in the house, which made sense since it was almost 3am. They saw a light coming from the living room and they smiled, seeing everyone sleeping there, on the floor, the couch, the armchairs... It was a real pyjama party.
Fred and Rose were sleeping side by side, but under different blankets and there was a small space between them. Remus was glad to see that Fred was being reasonable. Harry was sleeping near Ron, Ginny was next to Hermione with Luna... They were all there. Dudley and Draco were side by side, it looked like they had fallen asleep talking.
"You're back! It's been so long since your message, I was getting worried." Narcissa greeted them in a whisper.
"Cissa! You shouldn't scare us like that! We thought everyone was asleep!" Sirius exclaimed, holding a hand over his heart.
"I was waiting in the kitchen, reading. I couldn't sleep. What happened?" She asked and the three adults headed into the kitchen to speak without waking the children up.
Remus and Sirius told Narcissa what happened, who had been killed, who had been injured...
"Lucius escaped then?" She asked.
"Yes, he did... Though I... I couldn't stop him but I did leave my mark on him..." Sirius confessed.
"You left your mark?" She asked, confused.
"I used on him one of the hair coloring spells I tried for my white strand. One of the most powerful one." Sirius replied with a very "Marauder" smile.
"With that smirk of yours, I'm almost afraid to ask which color you chose."
"Pink of course, a bright flashy pink that even Nymphadora never managed to get on her hair." Sirius declared with pride.
"Poor Lucius. I know I've been angry at him lately, for putting our son in a position where he had to risk his life in order to be with people who made him feel safe and happy, but his hair were always his pride, he spent so long caring for them each day..." She shook her head, amused and, deep down, relieved that he was still alive.
He was still her husband, and no matter how angry she was at him for his choices, she still loved him deep down.
"Well, either he grows to love pink as much as Umbridge does or he cuts them all off to become bald, because they'll always grow back this way now, unless he finds a counter curse." Sirius told her.
"Well, I'm going to go and get a few hours of sleep while I can. Full moon coming and all... Sirius, wait for me to speak with Rose, please?" Remus asked his friend.
"Of course. You're her Godfather, it means you get to deliver the bad news." Sirius assured him.
"We should get some sleep too, while we can. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a long day." Narcissa suggested.
"True, but you have the possibility to go back to Headquarters and get some quiet if you want. I'm keeping them all until the afternoon, though Fred and George will probably go to work. Ron and Ginny will leave after dinner. Neville will leave some time in the late afternoon. Luna will have to stay longer though, at least 2 weeks until her father is better." Sirius shook his head.
"I don't mind being here. I'm as surprised as you are, but I love being in a full house. All this time, it's always been just Draco, Lucius and me. I knew I wanted more children and that Lucius either didn't want more or couldn't have more, but being here today showed me that I still want that... A house full of kids... I want more children Sirius, and I don't know how I'll do this now..." She whispered.
"You're still young Cissa, and attractive. I'm sure you'll find someone else if that's what you want. There's always a solution. Once this war is over and we've won, everyone will know that you changed sides, that you're on the good side of things. You'll have no problem meeting someone nice and kind to have more children with, unless Lucius changes sides." Sirius reassured her.
"I love Lucius, Sirius, but you have more chance to convince Albus Dumbledore to give up sweets forever than to see Lucius change sides. He'll go home and see Armand Malfoy's painting missing from our bedroom, he'll probably guess that I took it and he'll end up taking down the painting in the living room. He'll know we left for good, that we truly turned on him. It's over. The Dark Lord will know too soon enough. It's only a matter of time before either Lucius or the Dark Lord put prices on our heads. For this reason, next time there's a battle, I want to join, to let Lucius know that I'm not on his side anymore, that he doesn't make decisions for our family." She told her cousin.
"You're safe, and so is Draco, don't worry. Even at Hogwarts. I swear to you, I'll keep an eye on him." He reassured her.
"I know, I trust you Sirius. That being said, you're right we should get some sleep. You don't mind me staying tomorrow, right?" She asked him.
"Hey, if you love having a full house, you're more than welcome. You should sleep in Remus' old bedroom tonight, it's the quietest." He advised her before he conjured his pillow and blanket from his bedroom, created another armchair and decided to get some sleep in the living room with the kids, to make sure he'd wake up when they did. Before he got some sleep though, he went back in the kitchen.
"Kreacher?" He called.
"Yes, Master Sirius?"
"I need you to hide the Daily Prophet tomorrow morning until I'm awake. I don't want any of the kids reading it before Remus and I have a chance of speaking with Rose and Luna." Sirius warned the house elf.
"Very well, Kreacher will do it." he promised.
"Thank you Kreacher. Have a good night." Sirius smiled at him before he went to sleep on his conjured armchair.
.
A large group of Death Eaters, some injured and others not, found themselves at Malfoy Manor that night. Jenny Collins had managed not to be injured, but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, so she stood awkwardly in the doorway of the living room where they were being debriefed and dispatched by the Dark Lord himself.
"Dolores, you take Miss Collins with you to Riddle Manor, make sure she has a comfortable room. I'll come and debrief the two of you separately later. I have plans to discuss with the two of you." Voldemort spoke.
In the middle of all this chaos, Lucius had caught a glimpse of his reflection and of the color Sirius had given him. He was presently trying all the spells he knew of to get rid of it but he was failing. Voldemort had quickly informed Lucius that his family wasn't home, that they had moved up in Draco's pretend game and it shocked Lucius to know that his wife had gone too.
As the other Death Eaters were being cured and healed, mostly by Severus Snape who had been asked to stay behind, Lucius took a tour of his house, checking what his wife and son had taken with them. He was surprised to find out that all the reserve of money they had at home had been emptied and that a lot of valuables were gone. When he entered his bedroom, it took him over 20 minutes to notice what had changed. Beside the fact that his wife had taken all of her possessions, a painting was also missing.
"Something's troubling you, Lucius? You should be glad to be home, and proud of your son's bravery." Voldemort told him.
"I am very grateful for my new freedom my Lord, I just worry... Narcissa and Draco took everything of value and my wife took with her everything she owned here, even things she couldn't possibly use while on the run or in hide out. All the hidden gold is gone, along with the jewelry... And a painting that used to be in our bedroom, the same man that this one, Armand Malfoy, is missing. Armand is almost never in the paintings of the manor, he likes hanging out at the Ministry of magic much better but I still worry... They're both excellent Occlumens... I wonder if they're truly working for us undercover, pretending to have run away, or if they have betrayed us and switched sides." Lucius spoke of his doubts.
Before the battle of the ministry, he had noticed that his wife had been distancing herself from him, that she seemed more and more unhappy about their present position.
"You think they're betraying us?" The Dark lord asked for confirmation.
"I do my Lord. I cannot be sure, but when in doubt, it's always best to assume the worst of people." Lucius replied.
"They seemed pretty sincere to me, and there could be plenty of explanations as to why your wife took everything. The main goal was to make it look to everyone else, even my followers who didn't know of their true plan, like they had run away from us. Maybe she wants it to look to the Order like she's leaving you for good. As for the painting, it might have broken down, or maybe she took it to be able to communicate with you, she seems resourceful enough. Rest, and try to rid yourself of this color, Dolores might take it as a personal invitation, a sign. We'll wait a bit and see how things goes. Thank you for telling me of your concerns Lucius. I appreciate your faithfulness to me." Voldemort spoke before he walked away, making sure Lucius knew to leave alone the man that was resting in Draco's bedroom.
.
Sirius luckily woke up before the kids and so he went in the kitchen and took the Daily Prophet while Kreacher prepared breakfast for everyone.
The Daily Prophet had a picture of Azkaban on its front page and a very complete retelling of the events. There was a list of the dead and injured, the names of the people who weren't Ministry Officials, Members of the Order of the Phoenix, who had come to help and pictures of the escapees. He was just done reading it when he heard noise coming from the living room. Fred, George and Rose were awake and entered the room.
"Morning, Sirius." George greeted while the other two nodded their greetings.
"Good morning. Shouldn't the two of you get to work?" He asked the twins.
"We took the morning off, warned everyone. We'll get there around 10 or 11, surprise the employees by coming sooner than we said we would to see if they behaved or not." Fred replied.
"What happened last night?" They asked Sirius.
"Some minor injuries on our side. Xenophilius is the one who was injured the most, please don't tell Luna, Remus and I will tell her ourselves. He'll have to stay at the hospital for a while and Luna will be staying with us." Sirius replied.
Sirius was looking for a way to avoid telling Rose about her kidnapper escaping with Voldemort when Remus arrived.
"Remus, right on time. I haven't told Rose but it's time I think." Sirius exclaimed.
"Tell me what?" Rose asked.
"Rosie, you know that you're safe, right? Here or even at the store, you're safe, you know that?" Remus asked Rose in a soft voice.
Rose's frowned, nodded and asked:
"She escaped, right? That's why you're looking so worried about me? Jenny escaped with Voldemort like she said she would?" Rose asked and Remus nodded.
"She won't get near you." Fred assured Rose who smiled at him.
"Don't worry, Remus, I know I'm safe. It was to be expected, she told us she would join Him at the next opportunity, didn't she?" Rose replied with a smile, trusting them to keep her safe.
"You're very brave. Don't worry, she won't go near you." Sirius told her.
"Are the others still asleep?" Remus asked.
"Yes, though I don't know how they can still sleep with Ron's snoring like he does." George chuckled, helping himself with some breakfast.
"Don't worry Remus, I know you have to get to work too. I'll tell Luna and I'll take her to her house to pick up more clothes so she can stay here comfortably for two weeks." Sirius assured his friend who nodded.
"Did Tonks leave again already?" Rose asked Remus.
"No, she came home an hour ago, she went to get some sleep. She's not needed at work until tomorrow morning, so she might pop by some time this afternoon." Remus shook his head.
What did you think?
After making Narcissa admit that she wanted more kids, I've decided on a new pairing for her, though I don't know if they'll have kids. Can you guess who?
Review please
Lorelei Candice Black