A/N - Happy New Year to the best readers! I hope you all had a nice and safe New Year's Eve. Total coincidence this chapter includes a little bit of the children's new year.
This story is rapidly coming to its end, the story is fifteen chapters total, in case I haven't mentioned it. As with the other stories in this series, no epilogue. Year four is outlined and I'm starting to write it. I might have more idea on when I start publishing when I finish this one.
Thank you for the reading and I hope you enjoy.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
The exchange of presents for those at Malfoy Manor was obviously delayed and the day after Draco's release from St. Mungo's the family settled around the tree and passed out the presents. It was a bit quieter and the extravagance typically felt on this day now seemed cold. Everyone, while trying to put on a brave face, still were dealing with the fears and emotions from the prior month.
"So, we are obviously not having the ball this year. That isn't to say we won't ring in the new year as a family, but it will just be us." Narcissa looked at her son and tried to let her fears for him evaporate. "Well, us and the Longbottoms. I think Neville has enjoyed having someone else his age and Aggie, let's just say she hasn't stopped talking about Crooks. We probably need to check and make sure she doesn't try to take him home with her again." With that comment and thoughts of the youngest Longbottom's previous attempts at cat-napping, the family laughed for the first time.
On the afternoon of December the thirty-first, Hermione found herself looking at the dress she wore for the Hogwarts dance. "I know this isn't quite the same as Hogwarts, but I think it will work for tonight. Don't you?" Hermione looked at her mum and nodded, her fingers still running down the dress. "I think you picked out a lovely dress dear."
"Thanks Mum. Do you think Cissy would mind helping me with my hair?" The blonde witch, who just walked into the room, smiled.
"Not at all, what do you want to have done? Something is similar to how your had it for the dance?" The trio of witches settled around the vanity and began playing with Hermione's hair.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
While the witches plotted how to tackle Hermione's hair, Draco listened to his father and Frank Longbottom discuss the plans for the upcoming term. A term he would not be able to attend. He would be sequestered in the Manor until sometime in the future. He was unsure how long he'd be stuck indoors, but from the comments his father just made, it wasn't going to be a short time.
"Dad, would you explain what the elves are going to do again?" The plan to make it appear as if the school was in use was top secret, but given the children were all too sneaky for their own good, they combined everything they heard and drew some very accurate conclusions. In the end, Lucius and Frank agreed to give them a bit of information and the children agreed to not speak of the plan unless Lucius or Frank were present.
"I'm still not totally sure how they are going to do it, but using some masking magic, they are going to make it appear as if the students and professors are going about their daily activity. Given what happened to you, the elves are going to add a ward that will not allow a human to pass on the grounds at all. This is going to include the tunnels and floo connections. The only working floo connection will be from Sophie's office at the new school and only to her office at the castle."
Frank, listening and nodding along, made the decision to give Draco a touch of comfort, "There are more than a few enchantments on those floos. Additionally, there are some blood protections limiting who can access that floo. Five people have the authorization to activate either floo. All five are aware of the current state and have taken an unbreakable vow to keep this secret until such time as the danger is gone."
"So until whoever cursed me is caught, nobody can say anything." The two older wizards nodded slowly, "Since I was the one cursed and know just how horrible it is, I'm not going to say a word about it. I want them caught." When Draco began to mutter darkly his father only looked at the boy. "I want to get back to school. There are things I want to do, but I have to get back to the building, back to the quidditch team and back to classes."
"I believe it is going to happen Draco, this is only temporary." When Draco didn't look convinced, Lucius shrugged, "It'll be longer than you want and you will complain, but at the end of this, it's not forever." A weary sigh and resigned nod was all Lucius received as a response. "Now, go get ready for dinner. Wear nice robes, I think Hermione is going to dress up a bit and you don't want to look like a slob."
"Yes Father." The two fathers laughed at the boy as he left the study.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
The celebration of the new year was the smallest one the Malfoy's remembered in years. But, the family was safe, they were more than thankful. The party consisted of more laughter than what had been around the home since the children arrived home. Narcissa and Jean were overwhelmed with emotions when Draco and Hermione started to dance. Harry laughed and elbowed Blaise.
"It's like that evening in the common room. For being kids, they certainly like to dance." Neville commented when the pair spun past him. The evening ended, not with fireworks, but hugs and kisses shared between the families. With the comfort and safety provided by the ancient home, everyone felt their stresses melt away. Concerns for the children lessened as the new school was ready to accept students and this year Lucius added a few new enchantments bound by his blood. No one would pass onto the property without his knowledge.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
The last couple weeks of the holiday season sped by and soon the end of their break from school approached and Neville mentioned getting a letter from Susan Bones asking what was going to happen. Neville's comment went unanswered by the children of Malfoy Manor because none of them knew what, if anything they could say. When the children asked Lucius the only response was silence. Hermione saw something waver in his grey eyes and held her stance firm, hoping Lucius would give in.
"As you know you'll be at the new school this year. Parents will be informed the students will be schooled at an alternate location but will not be provided any more detail. The elves have tweaked the buildings so they don't look exactly like what you had last year."
The children seemed confused by the subterfuge. "We don't know who is involved and after the term last year it became common knowledge the new school was in Wiltshire, no one confirmed it was on our property, but there are only so many locations with sufficient space to house a school so large. This way when the students inevitably tell their parents they won't immediately know where they are."
"So we play along and act like we don't know where we are."
The students and parents arrived on platform nine and three quarters to find a strong DMLE presence. Lucius snorted at it, Amelia had not agreed with anything the Regents wanted but was forced to stand down when the Minister reminded her how a student was attacked while at the school. It was only when her own brother said he didn't want Susan at Hogwarts did Amelia finally bow to pressure. Now the DMLE acted as if they always wanted this. "Quiet Lucius, I'm nervous enough as it is."
Narcissa stood with the children within arm's length. If anything happened she was grabbing the three of them and taking the emergency portkey. She was only here because Draco told her to go and that Kitmu would watch him. Aster and Usher spent the last few days laying a few new special elf created protections on the property should anyone uninvited try to pass onto the grounds. That included the grounds where the school was situated.
Lucius pulled Narcissa to his side and the trio of children huddled close to each other. They were reminded before showing up to keep the impression Draco was still under the effects of the magical coma. It wasn't that hard to pull those frayed emotions, he'd not been back with them all that long.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
The Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station as usual and once it disappeared from the view most parents left the platform. The DMLE remained, as they would since the office was tasked with protecting the platform to ensure no one tampered with it before the train returned for the spring holiday.
The plan to mask the location of the students began almost as soon as the train pulled from the station. At the first rail exchange, the actual Hogwarts Express became invisible and a second Hogwarts Express appeared to continue the trip to Scotland. The elves stood ready in Hogsmeade and ensured if anyone observed the station and train's arrival, the individual saw the students arrive and return to the castle as always. It was a good thing the elves sensed something was wrong.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
With the start of the new term, the review of the enchantments at Hogwarts slowed. In addition to Filius and Mitchell's continuing to identify what enchantments existed, Severus spent time adding what Phineas Black detailed in his journals to a large map. As a bit of practical experience, the children started to review what Phineas wrote and draw the enchantments.
After confirming the accuracy of the work, the enchantments were added to the extensive and complex layout. This map had a mirror duplicate stored with the Charms Master. Filius compared what he found at the school to what Phineas noted. Over the holiday, Filius started to notice some consistency in the wards identified but not yet on the master map. Filius made the comment to Sophie, but cautioned her in assuming all unidentified enchantments were placed by Dumbledore.
"Severus is adding a new enchantments or two every few days. Until that slows down, I'm loathe to make a blanket statement. Plus I'm getting more worried about those ruins Mitchell keeps finding. He mentioned a couple ideas on their purpose and that combined with a couple of these unidentified enchantments could explain how someone got through the first line."
Sophie didn't like what she was hearing, "Let's see how much we can work out by the time classes start." Filius returned to his work and wondered what else might be in the estimated hundred or so of pages yet to be read.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
After the students settled into their second term at the new school, Lucius and Severus settled in the professor's room discussing what they should do. It had been over two and a half months since Draco was cursed and closer to six months since the identification of who escaped from Azkaban. The Ministry hadn't publicized the escapes, wanting the convicts to think their disappearance was still unknown. But, what annoyed both the wizards was the lack of success in finding the pair. They couldn't have just disappeared and no one really thought they left the country.
"I've been thinking," Severus thought about the idea knocking about his mind. "We have been having issues with protective enchantments here and at home. What if the individuals trying to access the grounds around the Manor were our missing felons?"
Lucius nodded slowly, "Cissy mentioned the idea a week or so ago. Reg reminded everyone how bad Sirius was in Charms. From what Usher told me, whoever it was almost took down the wards a couple of times. The only reason the property remained secure was because of the elves." It was something Lucius didn't like to think too much on and was incredibly glad he treated his elves with respect.
"I hadn't realized they were so close. No, I agree, Black wouldn't have been the one, but didn't you say Amelia or Frank let it slip whoever helped them out Azkaban was the same individual as placed the curse on Miss Abbott and Draco?" There was a dawning in Lucius's expression.
"I hadn't put that together yet. But, you are right. There is at least one other person in play here." Lucius was not pleased at missing something so obvious, "So what does this mean for Blaise? And honestly, the others as well. I still don't understand why Draco was targeted."
Severus shrugged. "I don't know. It's been plaguing me since that day. He is safe at the Manor, Kitmu has that boy wrapped in cotton wool. It's the rest I worry about. But, then we aren't any better in the large scale. What of when we are back at Hogwarts?" Lucius only leaned his head back on his chair.
"I don't know Severus, I mean we know exactly who is in the school. That map of Harry's, it's been more than helpful the last two years. Once those enchantments are reset and the new ones added, it will be the veritable fortress the founders wanted it to be. But what of the greater world, outside of Hogwarts? Especially Hogsmeade."
"We either have to keep someone on them at all times or have a way to watch the entire village. If we can't do that, I hate to say it because I know how excited they all are, but, if we can't protect them, they need to stay at the castle. And I just don't mean the four of them, but all the students."
"Watch the village…" Lucius's thought trailed off. "I think I need to place a visit to France. I'll hopefully get back to you tomorrow." Lucius quickly flooed home and called for Narcissa. "Cissy, I need to speak with Dora."
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Dora Tonks was surprised to get a note from her mother while at work. Luckily she was in the office, otherwise it would have sat on her desk until she found it. And her desk wasn't the cleanest of places. After a quick read of her mother wrote, Dora grabbed her cloak and left her office. When she arrived at her parent's home and found her aunt and uncle waiting for her.
"Hello Dora dear," Narcissa stood and hugged her niece. "I hope work is going well." The other witch nodded knowing the visit wasn't social. Especially since they'd been informed of Draco's accident. The family didn't gather that year for the holidays, but sent their regards to the family in Wiltshire along with presents. "We need to make more visits since you immediately knew something is wrong. Lucius,"
"Hello Dora, if you remember, at Yule, not this year but the one before, Regulus gave Harry some items and your boyfriend seemed to know about them." Dora nodded remembering how enraged Remus was after they got home that night.
"Remus should be at home. Let me call him." A short while later Remus Lupin stepped through the grate and nodded to everyone in the room. Dora, on the other hand, wrapped herself around Remus and gave him a blush worthy kiss. The wizard, who one night a month represented the one of the worst things the magical imagined, didn't like to display affection publicly, but knew Dora did it to annoy him. She seemed to enjoy their evenings when Remus was a bit upset.
"What can I do for you?" Lucius provided a slightly altered explanation of the past few months but accurately informed the family of the issues with the Black and Malfoy wards. After explaining they were still trying to determine who wanted to access the property, Lucius embellished the story and made it seem as if the DMLE thought it was an attempted kidnapping plot in order to get at any of the vaults. Lucius didn't have to explain not only would the Malfoy vaults be at risk, but also the Black, Potter and Zabini vaults. "What do you need?"
"Thank you Remus. You were the one that created the map of Hogwarts originally, right?" The other wizard nodded slowly not sure what the Marauders Map had to do with an attempted kidnapping. "We are worried whoever it was has given up accessing our property but hasn't given up their plan. The kids are third years and can go to Hogsmeade. The first visit was canceled due to weather, but with the new term started … " Lucius stopped speaking when Remus realized what could happen.
"You want a map of Hogsmeade." Lucius nodded, "When is the first visit this term? I should be able to do it, but I might have to visit it to make sure I have everything and any changes since I was in school are updated." At everyone's confused expression Remus smirked, "The map is driven by the memories of the area by whoever creates the map. The map sort of becomes almost sentient at that point and as the user, who doesn't have to be the creator, finds new things, the map updates. Since this is such a sensitive thing, I'd like it to be as right as possible from the get go."
"Saturday, this Saturday," Lucius, glad to have been born with a quick mind and penchant for cunning, hadn't planned to answer questions about when the visits were, "I've been planning on telling the kids they need to stay at the castle for this trip. They are going to be devastated, but I'm not about to risk them." Remus nodded.
"Yes, I remember how excited we were when it was our first visit. If I start today, I might be able to get it done. I'll let you know by Friday one way or the other. Dora, how do you feel about a visit to a Scottish village?"
"I love our romantic getaways." She brushed her lips across his, "Ok, I have to get back to work. I'll take off a day and we can spend it there. Deal?" Remus nodded and Dora left, returning to the French Ministry and her desk.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Lucius and Narcissa remained at the Tonks home catching up with Ted and Andi. "Lucius, you should go see what Ted did to the telly you sent us." Andi smirked a bit and waved her sister towards the kitchen. "Let them chat, I have gossip." The sisters grabbed a seat, glass of wine, and talked about the latest dramas.
Lucius stepped into the back den, the room that now housed the present from the Malfoy family. "So muggles have a way to record shows and replay at their leisure. The biggest issue is running out of tape, —" Ted lifted a black block and waved it in front of Lucius, "— or it not starting to record." Ted motioned to a device connected to the telly. "This is a muggle VCR, I've done a bit of work and it now records shows and never runs out of tape."
Lucius definitely knew a good idea when he saw one. "What are you going to record?" Of course, Lucius thought about quidditch matches when he couldn't watch.
"The Olympics," Ted clicked through some channels until he found what he wanted. "This is one of the muggle stations. I figured out how to get the telly to pick it up." When Lucius's eyes lit up, Ted smirked, "I wrote up what I did. Thought you might like to add that option, you know for those that wish to pick up more options. But the games start in a couple of days. It's in Lillehammer this year, so there isn't too much of a time difference for once."
"The Olympics?"
"Yeah, the muggles restarted the old Greek tradition almost a hundred years ago, now every four years they have a worldwide competition to find the best athlete. This is actually the first time the summer and winter games aren't in the same year."
"And the people that compete, they train year round I take it?"
Ted smirked, "Yes. Many have written books on how to train or other suggestions for someone not considered a world class athlete to get better at some event."
This was better than trying to find time to ask Matt when Rich wasn't around, "What sort of sports are there?"
Ted spent an hour talking about the winter sports and then the summer events. At the end of the conversation Lucius knew what he needed to do and that was to contact a business associate in Norway to find some books on how the Norwegian muggles trained.
After spending a bit more time with Andi and Ted, Lucius and Narcissa returned home. They got together all the things Remus would need to create a new map and sent them off before dinner. "Do you think it will work?" Narcissa became increasingly worried after Lucius pointed out continuing vulnerability with the Scottish school. She pushed those fears from her mind, Draco was safe and the rest of her children were settled in the school at the back of the property.
If they had been at Hogwarts and had this been an actual Hogsmeade weekend, she would have planned to be in the village from just after breakfast until the last student returned to the castle. There was no way she would risk her children, or any children for that matter.
"I do, I just don't know if it will be done as quickly as we hope. The sooner we have it, the sooner we can start figuring out who our adversaries are." Lucius pulled Narcissa into his arms.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
On Thursday before lunch, Remus and Dora arrived at the Three Broomsticks. The couple grabbed a booth and discussed their plan. After agreeing on what would work the best, they ordered some food when the kitchen opened for lunch.
Remus spent a bit of lunch telling Dora about his visits to Hogsmeade. As the pair finished their meal, Rosemerta appeared and waved at Remus. "It's been a long time, Peter pops in every so often." The werewolf smiled at the bar matron. She was always quite pleasant to him.
"Yes, after everything, I couldn't stay. You could call this me facing my demons." Rosemerta nodded in a knowing way.
"Stop by before you leave, we can have a drink and you can introduce me to your lovely significant other." When Rosemerta winked at Dora, the wizard choked and blushed before pulling Dora from the bar.
"What was that about Remus? Is there something you want to tell me?" The witch danced around Remus as he walked a bit from the bar and stopped where he couldn't be heard. "She's quite the attractive woman…"
Remus growled and pulled Dora to him, "You are mine Miss Tonks. You will only be mine. Understand?" With a shiver of anticipation, Dora nodded. "Good let's get this done, I now have plans for this evening." The pair began the meticulous process of walking up and down all the streets and looking at each store. Remus thought about all the tunnels and which buildings had one. If Lucius was smart, he'd get that map from Harry and use the pair as a set.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Sitting on the hill toward the Shrieking Shack, a large black dog watched the village in boredom. Sirius left his traveling companions to get some distance because he was about done with the lot of them. He wanted to get his bearings on the village as it had been years since he was there. As an animagus, he could track the children and if he had to chance to grab any of them, he wanted to be ready.
He neither noticed the wizard with brown hair nor the witch with bubblegum pink hair when they exited the pub. His unfocused gaze didn't realize the pair were walking each street in a deliberate fashion similar to what they did at school with their map.
Being in the village brought up many memories of his younger days. The animagus began to think about his time in the village. Memories of the village morphed into memories of his school years. Sirius grunted when he remembered the map, it would be bloody useful. He didn't know what Remus did to make it, but if he could figure it out, there was enough knowledge of the school to get a useable map. He didn't really want to mention it to Albus, the old fool.
But creating a map would take a lot of extra effort, instead Sirius just planned to get a kid and not worry about a map or the school. With that idea the black dog stood as the breeze blew toward him from the village. When he sniffed he recognized the scent and began to scan the streets. Not seeing the wizard he expected, Sirius chalked it up to time and how he had just been thinking about Remus.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
It was only after Remus and Dora returned to their home the wizard noticed something odd. As he muttered, Remus pulled his notebooks from all those years ago and walked through everything three times, Dora was focused on a few reports she had to review before Monday. After hearing him grouse for far too long, "What's wrong?"
The wizard looked up and shook his head. "Something's wrong, come look." Dora walked over and looked to where Remus was pointing and saw a dot labelled 'Sirius Black'. "I don't know what I did wrong, I looked at the notes and the only thing I didn't add was the insult charm. But, he can't be there." Dora continued to look at the map and think about what Remus said.
"Stay here, don't, —" she paused in her thought as her finger landed on the dot, "— don't do anything." Dora quickly left after calling out for the French Ministry and Remus continued to watch his former friend. The witch sped through the halls and directly into the office of Luc Beaumont. Dora knew it was getting close to the end of the day, but Luc typically stayed later on Thursdays to get ahead for Friday.
The wizard may now be the head of the law enforcement branch of the French Ministry, he was still Dora's mentor and told her his door was always open. "Luc," Dora stood in the door until he acknowledged her and once he did, she entered and shut his door. "Have you heard anything from the British Ministry?"
Luc knew Dora never asked questions without a reason, so if she was here so late in the day, on her day off asking about the British Ministry, something was wrong. "No, not that I have heard. Should I check with the Minister?" Dora sat for a moment and thought.
"I don't know Luc. I have a bit of a story and the conclusions I'm drawing are just, —" Stopping because she didn't know what to say, "— they are just impossible." Luc waved the witch on and Dora began to explain everything from the map of Hogwarts, to the suspected kidnapping attempts and what Remus did that day. Luc seemed quite impressed with Remus's creation as a student and cocked his head to the side. Nothing Dora said would cause her to be so uncomfortable. "Sirius Black showed up on the map. He's in Azkaban, or he is supposed to be."
Luc now understood Dora's concern. "Let me do a bit of research. Go home and I'll ring you later. Maybe I can come by and discuss things with you and Remus." Dora agreed and quickly returned to her home knowing Remus would be freaking out.
As she stepped through the floo into her home, she was already speaking, "Luc will visit later, he is trying to figure out if our homeland let anyone know. He believes the map is accurate Remus." Both watched the dot as it moved around the village and found themselves very uncomfortable with just what his presence could mean.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
After a late night discussion with Luc, Dora and Remus agreed to hold off on anything until Friday afternoon. Luc wanted to look into a few other things and thought he should also be present when they presented the map and findings to Lucius Malfoy.
Dora knew what her uncle would be like, he never liked to be kept waiting, but this was getting beyond him. Or at least she thought it was. Lucius, on the other hand, paced in his study, he expected to have heard from Remus by now. The pair went to Hogsmeade yesterday and from what Remus explained, he should have finished the map Thursday night.
Even if it was barely lunch time, Lucius needed to know the status. It was as he decided to call on his niece himself, his fire roared to life. "Hi Uncle Lucius, would you mind if Remus and I, and someone else came through?" Shaking his head, Lucius opened the floo and watched the three individuals appear in his study.
"Luc Beaumont?" Lucius remembered the tall French auror from the issue with Dumbledore a couple years earlier. "Dora?" The witch looked to Luc who began to explain the situation.
"Hello Lucius. Dora explained to me what you asked Remus to create to protect the children. After Remus created the map, he noticed a name that should not be there. We, the French Ministry that is, have been trying to determine if we were informed of a prison break. Typically neighboring law enforcement groups are informed as a curtesy. We've found most of those who escape try to get out their country as quick as possible."
Lucius nodded and spoke up, "I shouldn't be the one telling you this, but I suspect you already have some idea and can keep a secret until you are told officially. Sirius Black escaped along with Blaise Zabini's mother." Dora sucked in a gasp of air, she heard about the young wizard's mother over the first Christmas she spent with the boy.
"I know the Ministry decided to keep the knowledge of the escape under wraps in order to give them an advantage. But, this, —" Lucius pointed to the map Remus set on his desk and his finger fell the dot identifying the location of Sirius Black, "— changes everything."
"Remus agreed to come with Dora and I as we address the issue with your Ministry. My concern is what role you want to have in this endeavor." It was Lucius's turn to be surprised.
"Honestly, I would like to keep the fact a map of Hogwarts exists a secret. Would it be possible if we, —" Lucius broke off his statement and began to pace, "— possible if we tell them Remus had a theory about the creation of such a map and because of the risk I believed existed for the children, I asked Remus to create this map? As he is, —" Lucius nodded to the ring on his niece's finger, "— part of the family, he is aware of Draco's condition and my continuing concerns."
It was a stretch and there was a good chance someone in the Ministry would ask too many questions. "I can't think of anything else, but I need to tell you a few other things. Things I hadn't told you and now regret my lack of openness." Lucius informed the visitors of how the Regents closed the school but that fact was a closely guarded secret. How the elves are using special magic to give the impression the school is full of hundreds of children and adults. How this would have been the first Hogsmeade weekend and they were trying to figure out how to cancel the phantom visit without people in the village or watching the village asking too many questions.
Luc nodded at the other wizard. "Very impressive, I suspect my British counterpart will be less than pleased to discover she was, yet again, a bit behind the times. It does my French heart good to know we are in a far better place to protect the children." At Lucius's confused expression, Luc turned to Dora, "Maybe show Lucius the reality dream charm we have. And maybe you and Remus can take another short vacation this weekend. I've heard Scotland is cold but pretty this time of year."
With that statement, Luc returned to his office knowing Dora and Remus would follow eventually. They needed to arrive at the British Ministry as an international traveler. Also knowing Dora would inform Lucius on everything, Luc settled at his desk, plausible deniability was always a good thing.
Back in Wiltshire, Dora settled on the couch and beckoned Remus to her side. "If you remember, the boys gave me a box of jokes and gags for my last birthday. One of the items was a patented daydream charm, it takes your dream and added such vivid detail, it seems real. What Luc said, we went to the Weasley Twins and asked to modify it for official use. We altered it from a potion that is ingested to something we can place in the air. The effect on whoever breaths it in will see what we want. In this case, a village full of students."
"How do you stop everyone in the village from being impacted?"
"We watch and wherever Sirius is, we target that area. It's good for about six hours, more than enough time for the aurors, and no offense, but even your DMLE should have enough time, to track and capture Black." Remus leaned on the couch and thought more about Luc's comment, "I also think we need to place a few decoys. With some polyjuice and my lovely fiancee's metamorphosis skill, we could have the 'children' be there. And I believe they are the target. This way my former friend can stalk the children without them being anywhere near the danger he poses."
"I agree with Remus on this Uncle Lucius. I like this plan, plus I've always wanted a bit of revenge for what that dog wanted to do to Remus. You know how bad of an idea it is to upset a Black witch." Lucius couldn't deny that comment, Narcissa could destroy a person without blinking an eye or chipping a nail if she was motivated enough, "We will go get Luc and then head to the British Ministry. I think we can really limit your part of this."
Dora sat a bit longer nodding to herself, "I like your idea about using the holiday and our relationship, does Madam Bones know of your concerns for the children's safety." Lucius snorted but then nodded. "I figured you'd not be quiet about such a thing. Remus or I will let you know what we discover."
The soon-to-be married pair returned to the French Ministry to begin their part of the plan. What the British Ministry thought was a good idea, amazed everyone outside of that island.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
When Amelia Bones was called into the Minister's office and saw a pair of French aurors and Remus Lupin she was, admittedly, confused. After hearing the carefully spun story on the creation of the map and who appeared on it, she was ready to call in her department and begin to plan how to apprehend Black.
"We don't know if Maria Zabini is with him or not. And remember there is at least one other wizard, and as we don't know who it is, we need to proceed with caution." Amelia nodded when the Minister reprimanded her, she knew all that, she just wanted to get the man back behind bars. "Luc, those odd imperious curse victims from the continent, —" The minister paused and thought how to phrase his comment, there was more the French didn't know, "— there was a gap between the last individual you identified and when we discovered a Hogwarts student last spring."
The French aurors sucked a breath and were ready to yell about not knowing, it was only when he continued that Dora started screaming, "Just before the holidays, Draco Malfoy was cursed while at Hogwarts." She didn't know what curse afflicted her cousin and to learn it was this, she was beside herself. It was only when Remus held her and calmed her enough to hear the rest of what tale the Minister wanted to spin, "Auror Tonks, I now believe your Aunt did not inform you over the holiday, but Draco was cursed by the same person. What we found when we identified the escape was the magical signature of the individual who placed those curses is the same as what was done at Azkaban."
The French aurors were less than impressed with the British. Trying to not display his displeasure, Luc sat for a moment to think through his response. The European aurors had not been able to fully identify the magical signature of those afflicted since the victim died. They could only tell it was done by the same person but not identify the signature.
"Have you compared this signature to others in your justice system? We may have more missing than the two you've already identified." Luc's displeasure increased when he heard the British didn't track magical signatures. "If you provide me a copy of the signature, I will compare it to what we have on the continent. All of the countries banded together to create a single database. You may want to think about adding this to your processes."
Amelia fumed, yet again the Ministry was being shown up, but maybe they were too complacent, "You may be right. After we've gotten this settled, I'd like to understand what you do. If you'll come with me, I can get you that signature. Auror Tonks, I will inform Lucius and Frank Longbottom of this and have them work with the headmistress."
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Luc immediately stormed from the lab, with a copy of the magical signature and results in hand. Dora didn't say a word as she returned to her office. She wasn't sure what she wanted to know, if the signature they identified was accurate, that would mean it had been over a year. She knew the signature was vaguely similar to a number of individuals but since the copies the various European law enforcement groups obtained were from a deceased individual, the analysis was inconclusive.
While she waited for Luc, Dora began to pull the items needed for the next morning. Remus made a copy of the Hogsmeade map for the British DMLE, removing the tunnels connecting to Hogwarts and his extra knowledge of the Shirking Shack. It remained as a point on the map, but nothing more.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
A/N2 - So it seems like some of the secrets are getting figured out. If you wonder, I imagine Luc looking like Chris Hemsworth.
