I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.
When Mihnea tracked down the Weasley twins to ask for a set of extendable ears, he had been expecting to have to pay for them. However, their reaction to his request wasn't what he thought it would be.
"So Connie told you about our ears, eh?" Fred had said. "What does someone like you need them for anyway? I hear you're good at listening in on people without any help."
"Well, lets just say that the person I want to listen in on is starting to realize that I'm paying attention to what he's doing." Mihnea replied. "I get sent on errands before he'll hold any meetings in his office now."
"Ah. Sounds like you're talking about Snape." Fred said meaningfully. "Say no more. We've got you."
George studied him. "If you need a set of extendable ears we could let you borrow ours, but we don't know if we can make a new set just for you."
Mihnea's brows furrowed. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Why not?"
"They're finicky little buggers." Fred told him. "Hard to make. We'd been fiddling with ours for nearly two years before we got them working right."
George nodded. "Technically, we could make a new set, but..." he frowned at his brother. "We had a bit of a run in with our mother and we don't have the resources for it anymore."
"The supplies are expensive." Fred clarified. "We had loads of stuff put back just in case, but mom set fire to everything. We managed to save the few notes we kept, but we don't have the money to replace the rest."
Jesus Christ, and Connie had spent a week at their house? Their mother sounded like a nightmare to deal with. His mom might get mad if she found out about him doing something she didn't approve of, but Mihnea couldn't imagine her destroying anything that belonged to him, no matter how awful it was. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It was starting to sound like this was going to be a bit more complicated than he thought it would be, but he really wanted these things. Money wasn't really an issue for him, but it obviously was for the twins. He just needed to know what sort of timeline he was looking at. It was time to start bargaining.
"How long would it take you to make them if you had everything you needed?" he asked.
Fred and George looked at each other. "A few weeks." they said in unison. "It's hard to say for sure, but it shouldn't take longer than two... three at the most."
That's not so bad... Mihnea cleared his throat. "I'll pay for all the supplies." he told them, then paused. If they were going to put weeks of time and effort into something, they deserved to paid for it. He wasn't sure what sort of price they would put on that, but he could make them an offer they couldn't refuse. "First Hogsmeade visit is this weekend. You guys go shopping and get whatever you want. I'll take care of the bill."
The twins eyes lit up with interest. "Anything we want?" Fred repeated.
Mihnea inclined his head to show he was serious. "Anything. No holds barred. I've got plenty of money."
If they had any reservations about his offer, they didn't show it. When they got to the village that weekend, the boy found himself visiting every shop that sold something that could possibly be useful to the twins. Zonko's, of course, wound up being the place where he spent the most. The rest went to various magical supply shops and apothecaries that sold potions ingredients and spell materials they used for their inventions. Mihnea got the impression that they were taking advantage of having free reign to rebuild their stock of supplies. It didn't bother him in the least. He had agreed to it, after all. He rarely bought things anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Their little shopping spree got him in the mood to make a few purchases for himself. As he was talking to the owner of Honeydukes about getting a case of blood pops (the man never said a word about him buying so many since he had a vampire in his own family), he heard the twins discussing something amongst themselves.
"Hey, what time is it?" Fred asked his brother.
George consulted his watch. "Oh, right! It's about that time."
"Righto. I'll clear a path. Can't have him bumping into someone."
What the devil were they up to? Fred made his way toward the back of the crowded store, while George carried an armful of stuff up to the counter. Rather than sweets that were already made, the twins had pulled out a selection of candy making ingredients. It must have been for something they were working on.
"Do I want to know?" Mihnea asked as he plopped everything down by the cash register.
George blinked at him, then realized he wasn't talking about the stuff he had picked out. He looked back in the direction Fred had gone. "Oh, that. McGonagall wouldn't let Potter come because he couldn't get his permission slip signed. We're helping him out a bit."
Ah. One of his brows went up. "So you showed him the secret passage?"
Weasley went still and looked at him. "How did...?" then his eyes narrowed, almost accusingly. "You followed us last year, didn't you?"
Mihnea just shrugged. "What would you have done if it were you?"
George looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it and just huffed. "Damn, you're good." he paused when he caught sight of the man behind the counter slipping his case of blood pops into a brown paper bag. He watched silently as it was passed to Mihnea. Once the man's attention was diverted toward ringing up the other things, he leaned forward to whisper. "Are those for the...?"
Mihnea shot him a look. "Yes."
George seemed to understand his non verbal warning of not saying too much out loud. He studied the bag, then cleared his throat.
"I've always wondered about those things." he commented quietly. "I thought they were supposed to be a joke."
It was strange, knowing that Weasley knew enough that he could talk about something without having to worry about it. With the way it was phrased, no one around them would understand what they were talking about. The large amount of people made it noisy enough that it would be hard to hear them anyway.
"No, they're real." Mihnea replied. "And I've heard they're not bad."
"Huh." George said, looking like he found it interesting and nothing more. "Well, that's awesome for them."
This was the first time he and Weasley had ever talked to each other about anything directly relating to vampires, and Mihnea found himself intrigued by his attitude. He'd heard from Connie about the way George acted, but hadn't really seen much for himself. He honestly wasn't that bad after all. Mihnea felt a small tug and looked down. Pixie had her eyes focused on a display of chocolates and was pulling at her leash like she wanted to get free so she could feast on them. He rolled his eyes and reached down to pick her up.
"No, baby, chocolate is bad for you." he told her. "You can't have it."
She gave him a disgruntled meow and tried to squirm out of his arms. George just watched the scene in amusement.
"I can't believe you keep your cat on a leash like a dog." he said.
"She doesn't like being left at the castle by herself." he replied. "And if I let her run loose here, she'd get into something."
He'd brought her to Hogsmeade once without a leash and Pixie had been so enamored by the smell of food wafting out of the pubs that it had taken him two hours of searching to figure out where the hell she was. His cat didn't particularly like being put on a leash, but she had gotten used to it. The only thing she seemed to enjoy was wearing the harness. She was too big and had gotten too strong for a simple collar. Pixie could wriggle her way out of one with enough effort. But the harnesses that she had to put her legs through were impossible to break out of. She seemed to find them more comfortable than an ordinary collar as well. Mihnea wound up with a whole collection of them, and his cat had first choice of which one she got to wear. For the past week, she had a thing for the pale blue one with white rhinestones. How he had wound up with such a damn girly feline, the boy had no idea. But Pixie was his baby, so she generally got what she wanted if he was able to give it to her.
The cashier finally finished tallying up the other purchases and Mihnea handed over the appropriate amount of money. George was gathering up the bags when Fred showed up. He moved deliberately, like he was trying to keep something no one could see behind him where it wouldn't be touched. When he came closer, Mihnea could pick out Potter's scent. He must be hiding under that invisibility cloak he'd heard about. If other students saw him, he'd get in trouble for sneaking out, so he had to remain out of sight. Fred grabbed a couple of bags to take a load off of George.
"You fill him in?" he asked, glancing at Mihnea.
He quirked a brow. "You won't get any trouble from me." he told him.
"Excellent!" Fred replied, then turned his head slightly and lowered his voice so no one would hear him. "Stay close and don't touch anyone."
Yes, Potter was hiding, and the twins were keeping him from doing anything that would get him discovered. Once they all were outside of the store and in open air again, they didn't have to worry so much about people hearing stray bits of conversation. Fred and George had gotten so much stuff from various stores that there was no way for them to carry it all. They had to conjure up a wagon to put all the bags in. Mihnea put Pixie back down on the ground and drew his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket to slide them on. The sun was bright and while it didn't usually bother him, it was still annoying. Potter's disembodied voice came out from where he had to be standing between the twins.
"Bassarab's in on this too?" he asked, sounding incredulous.
"Shush!" George told him, not looking at the space the voice had come from. "We're all mates, so no worries."
The younger boy waited until they reached the outskirts of the village where there were fewer people to pull his invisibility cloak off. Potter appeared to be relieved by the feel of the autumn air. Mihnea could imagine it got hot under that thing after a while.
"What are you doing here?" he asked Mihnea, looking cautious.
"What, him?" Fred said, jerking a thumb in his direction. "He's with us. Just doing a spot of business."
Mihnea couldn't help but be amused by how guarded Harry was acting. It was too irresistible. "I won't bite you, Potter." he said.
The boy remained watchful, but seemed to loosen up a bit. George glanced back toward the village. "Where do you suppose the others have gone off too? We told them we'd catch up."
"Don't know, but we'd have the most luck hanging around one of the pubs." Fred commented. "You know Ickle Ronnikins isn't going to go long without wanting to eat."
One of Mihnea's brows went up slightly. He didn't know much about the younger Weasley, but if Constance was with them, he had a pretty good idea of where their little gang might be.
"If Connie had any say in where they went, they'll be in the most dangerous place they can find." he piped up.
The twins looked at each other meaningfully. "The Shrieking Shack it is!"
Mihnea's suspicion turned out to be correct. When they reached the line of trees surrounding the Shrieking Shack, the four boys saw Connie, Weasley, and Granger standing just outside the gate of the property. They were doubled over, breathing heavily like they'd been running. Before any of them could call out to announce their presence, Malfoy showed up with his little group of buddies to make a royal ass of himself. He made out like the only reason the three of them were there was for Ron to check out his 'dream home' since his family all lived in one room. The moment that comment left Draco's mouth, Fred and George looked like they wanted to jump out and strangle him. Potter, however, took the initiative. He disappeared under his invisibility cloak before anyone could say or do anything, then went over to scare the ever living shit out of them. Draco got shoved down on his ass and hit in the head with a stick, then Goyle had his trousers pulled down to his ankles before being whirled around so fast it made him too dizzy to stand. Mihnea was satisfied with just watching. Potter wasn't half bad – using the rumors of the shack being haunted to get away with terrorizing his enemies like he was. Not bad at all.
When the three younger Slytherins finally pulled themselves together enough to run away screaming and tripping over each other, Mihnea and the twins decided it was time to step out of the collection of trees. Constance and Granger were laughing merrily. Ron looked more anxious, though still thankful that Malfoy and his friends were gone. Connie caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye and looked over.
"Please tell me you guys had something to do with that!" she said, still laughing.
The older boys all shook their heads. "Nope." the twins replied with identical grins. "It wasn't us."
Granger sobered a bit and looked around. "Then who..."
Ron froze stiff as a board and whimpered when something none of them could see flipped the ties of his jacket up and down. Granger saw it and went wide eyed. She reached forward and grabbed, pulling the top of the invisibility cloak off of Potter's head. It was a bit disconcerting to see the boy's head floating in the air, devoid of a body, but they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Bloody hell, Harry!" Weasley exclaimed, trying to brush off the expression of fright he'd been wearing. "Did you have to do that? You took a few years off my life!"
Potter just snickered with his tongue held between his teeth. Now that everyone was aware that he was with them, Connie asked the twins if they had helped him get out of the castle without being caught. Fred and George reported that Harry had gotten himself out, though they had given him a hand in figuring out how to do it. Apparently, they had a map that depicted the castle and grounds of Hogwarts, as well as all the people within and what they were doing. When they saw Potter was banned from coming to Hogsmeade with the rest of them, they decided that his needs outweighed theirs and gave it to him as a gift. Mihnea was impressed. A magical object like that would be a handy thing to have in a tight spot, and considering that the escaped wizard on the loose was looking for Harry, that map might give him advance warning if he managed to get into the castle. Granger showed off her Gryffindor colors by making a fuss about Harry needing to turn it into a teacher when they got back. It was no wonder she and Constance were such good friends. The girl didn't seem to mind breaking dozens upon dozens of school rules when it suited her, and yet she was still going to badger someone else about doing it? As she and Potter were having their little argument, Mihnea noticed Ron giving Pixie some weird looks.
"You have a problem with my cat, Weasley?" he asked.
The younger boy immediately snapped to attention and shook his head. "No! Absolutely not. I've just..." he stopped, looking like he wasn't sure whether he should talk at all and risk making him mad. "I've never seen a cat on a leash before..."
Mihnea rolled his eyes and sighed. Was it truly that big of a deal? "It keeps her out of trouble." he said, giving the same explanation he'd used on George.
"Oh... Huh." Ron said, then nudged Granger in the ribs. "You should get one of those for Crookshanks."
The girl turned away from Potter and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare go off on that ridiculous rant of yours again." she warned. "I told you my cat had nothing to do with it."
Since he had no idea what they were talking about, Connie had to explain. Once he'd been filled in on the situation, Mihnea arched a brow.
"Let me get this straight. You let your rat run loose in an area where you know there's a cat that likes to chase it around, and you're upset because he might, possibly have been eaten?" he asked.
Hermione pointed at him, appearing vindicated. "See? That's exactly what I've been saying!"
Ron puffed up like he was going to argue about it, but was stopped.
"Guys, please!" Harry interjected before the two of them could say anything else. "You agreed to stop fighting about this."
From the way it sounded, the boy had been asking for it, Mihnea thought to himself. Allowing an animal that was known prey for other animals in the area to run around loose was just begging for something bad to happen. Constance quickly diverted everyone's attention by suggesting they head back to the village and get a drink from the Three Broomsticks. Apparently the three of them had been planning on it before he and the twins arrived. It was a short walk, but it required going back through the small collection of trees again. Potter would be free to enjoy the open air until they reached an area with more people. However, the moment the main strip of Hogsmeade came into view, every one of them gave a noticeable pause.
"Bloody hell..." Fred muttered. "What's he doing here?"
"What?" Granger asked, peering in the direction the twins were looking. "Who?"
George pushed Harry back where he wouldn't be spotted, then pointed toward an open, black carriage that Professor McGonagall and man Mihnea had never seen before were climbing out of. They had stopped right in front of the Three Broomsticks, and the short man in dark colored robes held out a hand in greeting to the owner, Madam Rosemerta.
"That's Cornelius Fudge." he told them. "He wouldn't be here if something important weren't going on."
"Fudge!" Connie exclaimed, taking a small step back. "That's the Minister for Magic?"
Damn it all to hell. Though Mihnea knew it couldn't possibly have anything to do with him or Constance, he didn't feel the least bit comfortable with that man being around. Potter peered around everyone's shoulders to get a look for himself.
"Yeah, that's him." he said. "I remember him from the Leaky Cauldron."
The boy suddenly went still and listened intently to the conversation he was having with Rosemerta. It sounded like the woman was upset about loosing business because of the presence of dementors in the area. Fudge attempted to soothe her by saying it was necessary with a killer on the loose. But when the owner of the pub asked why Sirius Black would have any interest in coming to Hogsmeade, Potter's name was dropped. McGonagall quickly shushed the Minister and gestured for all of them to go inside the pub before they were eavesdropped on.
"Blimey..." Ron whispered. "They're talking about you, Harry."
Potter's brows furrowed. "They might say something important." he commented. "We need to get closer."
That was a great plan, except for one problem. After Harry pulled his invisibility cloak back on and they headed over to the entrance of the pub, one of the female employees kept them from getting inside.
"I'm very sorry," she said. "But there's no underage wizards allowed in today. You'll have to come back another time."
Fred and George gaped at her. "Do what?" they said in unison. "There's never been a rule about that before!"
The blonde witch gave the two of them a look. "Well, there is today." she announced. "Now, I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but I have to ask you to leave."
They all retreated a few steps back when the door was shut in their faces and looked around at each other.
"They're probably only doing that because the Minister is in there." Connie commented with a frown.
"Yeah, but if he's going to talk to them about Black, he wouldn't have a conversation in the middle of a pub, would he?" Ron asked. "She said it's only underage wizards who aren't allowed in."
"Because underage wizards are more likely to snoop around, smart one. The Three Broomsticks has rooms on the upper floors." Mihnea said, thinking out loud. "If they were going to talk about something important, they'd go up there where they wouldn't be heard."
He gave Constance a meaningful look, then turned his gaze toward the empty spot where he knew Potter was standing. He and his cousin were supposed to be acting as spies to gather important information for their family. Something like this definitely qualified. But if they couldn't get inside themselves, they would have to find a more creative solution. He handed Pixie's leash off to his cousin.
"Potter, keep your mouth shut and follow me." he said, then turned on his heel to walk back toward the pub.
"What do you think you're doing?" Granger hissed from behind him.
Mihnea paused and glanced over his shoulder. "You want to find out what they're talking about, don't you?" he asked, sliding his sunglasses down his nose. Though he couldn't see Harry, he could tell from his scent that he hadn't moved. "I suggest you move your ass, Potter. The longer you stand there twiddling your thumbs, the further ahead of you they'll get."
That seemed to get through to the boy. His scent grew stronger, indicating to Bassarab that he'd walked closer. At least Potter had some sense about him. Now that he was assured that he was going to go along with the plan, Mihnea just had to distract the door girl long enough for him to get inside. That wouldn't be terribly difficult. He was capable of being quite charming when he wanted to be. People who worked at pubs generally weren't paid very well They did it because they liked the social interaction, or because they needed the money. And the girl who had barred their entrance didn't seem to actually like her job. She did it because she had to.
When the woman opened the door, she didn't look very happy to see him. Her hazel eyes narrowed.
"I told you there are no underage wizards allowed in today." she said, repeating the statement she'd used last time she saw him.
Mihnea took off his glasses and gave her his best winning smile. "I understand and I apologize for taking up your time. I know you must be very busy. But, you see, my friends over there were hoping to have their first taste of butterbeer." he pointed back to where the others were standing. "It's their first visit to Hogsmeade and they've really been looking forward to it."
She glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at him. "I'm very sorry, but rules are rules. I can't let you inside."
"Oh, I know." he replied, nodding in understanding. "I was just wondering if you could get a few for us. We wouldn't have to come inside for it. You could just pass them through the door and we'll drink them outside. There's no harm in that, is there?" When he saw her thoughtful pause, he sensed that she was considering it. He cleared his throat. "It's just a six-pack of butterbeer. I promise, I'll make it worth your while."
The woman studied him. "We can only sell alcoholic beverages inside the pub." she said. "I could get in a lot of trouble..."
Mihnea reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag he kept his money in. "I don't know if I could stand working in a place like this." he began, pouring a healthy pile of sickles and galleons out into his hand. "Too noisy, and I hear the pay isn't very good." he held the money out to her. "Just one six-pack. You can keep the change for yourself."
Given the amount of money he was offering, there was going to be a lot of change left. She'd be getting a hell of a lot more than the butterbeer itself was worth. He could see the gears inside her head turning as if her mind were an open book. Such a large tip, and dozens of things she could use the money for. She certainly wouldn't get such an amount from any other customer... The woman gazed intently at the money for a long moment, then took the coins and put them into one of the pockets of her dress.
"Wait here." she instructed, then narrowed her eyes again. "Not a soul knows about this, you understand? And if anyone sees you with these drinks, you didn't get them from me."
Mihnea inclined his head. "I don't even know your name, love."
With that, she nodded in understanding, then withdrew into the pub to retrieve the drinks. The moment she was gone, Mihnea nonchalantly pushed the door open wider so Harry could get through. He felt a small brush against his side as he slid by, then Potter was gone. The woman came back with the six-pack and gave him another warning not to reveal where they had come from. The door was shut in his face for a second time, and Mihnea headed back toward the others.
Everyone except Constance was gaping like a fish. He just put his sunglasses back on and held up the pack of bottles he'd just bought.
"You wanted drinks?"
They decided to head back toward the wooded area near the pub to sit down. There were a couple of benches over there that were away from the main flow of traffic, so they'd be less likely to be seen drinking something they shouldn't have outside. Mihnea was the only one who chose to sit on the ground. He was propped up against a tree with Pixie sitting in his lap. It was a little bit away from the others and he kept his eyes trained on the door of the Three Broomsticks. Watchful for the smallest sign of Harry's exit.
"You know, he's really not that bad." Ron commented quietly as he pulled the cork out of his bottle. "For a Slytherin."
Connie wanted to roll her eyes. It took him nearly three years to figure that out, did it? But she supposed it was better late than never. Beside her, Hermione was studying Mihnea curiously.
"Why isn't he sitting with us?" she asked in a low voice. "He's not over there because he thinks we don't want him around, is he?"
Constance shook her head. But before she could open her mouth to explain that he was a bit old fashioned, Mihnea's voice carried over.
"It's common courtesy to allow girls or people younger than you to have your seat." he said.
Fred and George looked at each other. "Hey now!" Fred called out. "You don't have to treat us like we're babies. The three of us are the same age!"
Mihnea glanced at him and pointed to himself. "I'll be sixteen in a couple of weeks and your birthdays aren't until April. I'm the oldest, so stop complaining."
Technically speaking he was closer to being a full year older than the twins, but his birthday was marked as being in November since that was when Alucard found him. Picking that day was easier than trying to figure out exactly when he was 'born'. Six or seven months didn't really make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things.
From the way she was acting, Hermione felt that it was awkward to be around someone who was helping them without including them in some manner of conversation. She cleared her throat.
"So... what were you three doing here together?" she asked in an attempt to break the silence. "I wasn't aware you guys were friends..."
Mihnea looked thoughtful, but the twins took care of the response. "Bassarab and Georgie here worked out some kind of truce over the summer." Fred announced. "We decided right then and there we'd all play nice."
Ron's brows furrowed. "Truce? I didn't know you guys ever fought! What do you need a truce for?"
Mihnea slid his glasses down his nose to peer at him. "Once the boys start noticing your sister, you'll learn all about what a 'truce' means. Ginny is a pretty girl, Weasley."
The moment the words left his mouth, Ron bristled and looked like he wanted to jump up from his seat. "Don't talk that way about my sister!"
"That's it, right there." Mihnea said, gesturing to him. "That's why we needed a truce." he paused to give him a reassuring look. "And I was only making an observation. Calm down."
"Anyway." George piped up, bringing the subject back on track. "Mihnea wanted a set of extendable ears for himself, so we worked out a business arrangement. He said we could get anything we wanted today and he'd pay for it."
One of Connie's brows went up as she glanced at the wagon full of bags they'd been pulling around. "So that's what all that stuff is?" she asked. "I was wondering where you got the money for all of it..."
Fred and George puffed up proudly. "Yep!" they said in unison. Fred looked over at her cousin. "How much did we spend today, anyway? We haven't been keeping track."
Mihnea turned to dig around in his pockets and pulled out a stack of receipts. He glanced through them as if doing some mental calculations. "Mmm... you're up to about... 130 galleons. Give or take a few."
The twins immediately went very still, looking horrified. "No way! You let us spend that much?" they asked.
Mihnea shrugged. "That was part of the deal."
"No, mate!" George exclaimed. "Absolutely not! That's way too much! We could never charge that much for a set of ears!"
Fred leaned over to rifle through the bags in the wagon. "We got a little crazy and weren't thinking." he said. "We really don't need all this stuff. Some of it can go back..."
"If you start taking things back to stores to get your money back, I'm going to get offended, and you do not want to see me when I'm offended." Mihnea interjected. His tone was calm, but the look in his eyes was serious. "I was always taught that you get what you pay for. Consider this my way of making damn sure that these things are a worthwhile investment." When he noticed the twins didn't appear terribly comfortable with that, he sighed. "If it bothers you that much, you can write it down as a credit. If I ever need something from you in the future, I get it for free until we're even."
Fred and George looked at each other consideringly. "That sounds fair..." they said.
"You have to let us pay for the butterbeer though." George said. "It's not right for you to have to pay for that too."
Mihnea snorted. "I bought that stuff so Potter would have a way to get inside." he said. "None of you asked for it, so it's mine. I don't like butterbeer, so you can have it. Just leave that last one alone for Potter and give the corks to me when you're done."
Constance was aware that Mihnea had his moments of 'niceness', but this was a teensy bit strange for him. The deal with Fred and George, she could understand. It was in his nature to do something like that. But he could have found another way to keep the barmaid occupied without buying something he knew they were all looking forward to getting a taste of. And the request for the corks was just plain weird.
"Since when do you keep butterbeer corks?" she asked.
"I don't." he replied. "I'm saving them for someone else."
Someone else? Who the devil would he be saving them for? If Mihnea was close enough to someone to be willing to do things for them, surely she would know about it. Connie opened her mouth to ask, but was stopped when Mihnea's eyes turned back toward the pub as if he caught sight of something. The others noticed as well and when they followed his gaze, they all saw the door open and shut with no person there who could have done it. Harry must have finished. But after waiting several long moments, there were no footsteps nearby, and no cloak removed. Was he just standing there?
"What's going on?" she asked.
Mihnea couldn't say anything in front of the others, but with his acute senses, he'd be able to figure out exactly where Harry was even if he couldn't see him. Her cousin looked... perplexed. Then his expression softened somewhat.
"I knew it was going to be something bad." he muttered. "Come on."
Ron and Hermione blinked at each other. "What?" Ron asked. "Go where?"
Mihnea pointed off in the opposite direction. "He ran off that way."
"How can you possibly know where he went if you can't see him?" Hermione demanded as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.
Mihnea pushed himself up off the ground and gathered Pixie into his arms. "I have very good hearing." he replied in a short tone. He grabbed the last unopened bottle of butterbeer, then walked off without explaining further.
Since he was their only means of finding out exactly where Harry was, they all jumped up to follow his lead. Mihnea made his way outside of the village itself, to a small outcropping of rock. It was far enough away that no one would ever see them there, but still, Harry remained invisible. As they drew closer to one particular boulder, Constance understood why. It was very quiet, but she distinctly heard the sound of sniffles. Whatever Harry had heard the Minister talk about with Rosemerta and McGonagall, it was bad enough to make him cry. She couldn't recall ever hearing the boy cry over something before, and it was heart wrenching. Mihnea paused before getting too close, and Ron stayed back as well, looking unsure about what to do. But Hermione went directly toward the sound and felt around for where the cloak could be. Once she found it, she gently tugged it off of him.
Harry was hunched over in a slump, his hands pressed to the sides of his face with his elbows resting on his knees. When he felt his cloak pulled off, he looked up – first at Hermione, then around at the others. His eyes were wet, but there was also a... strange expression in them. Something akin to betrayal almost.
"Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked gently.
Harry shook his head. "He... he was their friend." he said quietly. "My parents... they were in hiding. They made him their secret keeper and he betrayed them. Sirius Black, he's..." he stopped for a moment and looked around again. "They made him my godfather. And he... sold them out like they were nothing! He was their friend!"
The last few words were so harsh and bitter, they came close to being an angry shout. Connie put a hand to her mouth in shock. To find out the man who killed your parents and was now hunting you down had been their friend... and he had been close enough to be made Harry's godfather. Had things been different, Harry might have been sent to live with him rather than his aunt and uncle. Oh god, that was truly awful.
"Harry." Connie said, going over to drop down in front of him next to Hermione. "Harry, listen to me. It is going to be okay. Black is going to be found and he's going to get what he deserves. Do you hear me?"
When he looked at her, Harry's eyes were filled with a level of hatred she'd never seen in him before. "I hope he finds me." he said in a low voice. "I want him to find me. Because when he does, I'm going to be ready and I'm going to kill him."
Considering the situation, he had every right to feel that way. Constance couldn't imagine what she would do if she were in his shoes. She'd probably want to hunt down the bastard and torture him to death. But she wasn't in his shoes and she could understand the importance of clear thinking.
"Harry." she said, quietly but seriously. "I know this is a lot. But... do you remember what Mr. Weasley told you? 'Don't go out looking for him no matter what you hear'. Black is dangerous and that might be exactly what he wants. It would make getting to you easier. You need to stay where it's safe. Make him work for it. And if he ever does get to you... he'll have to get through the rest of us first."
Hermione's head bobbed in agreement. "We do this together. We're not going to leave you do deal with this on your own. Ron?"
When they looked over their shoulders, Ron was in full agreement as well. Surprisingly enough, the idea of having to face down a powerful dark wizard if necessary didn't scare him as much as the shack had.
"Right." he said with a nod. "I'm not going to let anything get to my best friend." he crossed his arms over his chest and snorted through his nose.
Fred and George exchanged a look then gave their brother a playful shove in back. "Like you could scare Black off." they said together with a grin. Then they looked over at Harry.
"You think we're going to lay around being wet blankets?" Fred asked. "Hell no. Sounds like a mighty good test subject for our new fireworks if you ask me."
"You think if we shoved them up his arse before we lit them, he'd go airborne?" George asked.
"Don't know, but we can sure find out." Fred replied.
Mihnea walked over and silently held out the butterbeer to Harry. The boy studied for a long moment, then turned his eyes up to him.
"But... but there were only six of them." he said, sounding confused. "And there were six of you. I thought..."
"Butterbeer is too sweet for me." Mihnea said. "I've never liked the stuff. I figured you would need it more than anyone else."
Harry was completely taken aback by the action and looked like he wasn't sure of what to do. Finally, he inclined his head and pulled out the cork to take a sip. As the other boys drew closer to their group, Mihnea cleared his throat.
"By the way, Potter, everything I've heard about your parents says they were fighters." he began. "Mine are too. I'm lucky enough to still have both of mine, but if one of them were ever killed and I found out who was responsible, I would hunt them down. Even if it meant burning down the world to do it."
Constance knew that Mihnea was fully capable of doing it too. And for a moment... just a small, fleeting moment, it seemed that he and Harry were in perfect accordance. Her cousin had been through enough suffering as a child that he probably understood the boy's feelings on a deeper level. Maybe it was the idea of a bunch of teenagers talking about how they were going to kick a dark wizard's ass, or maybe it was the small injection of humor the twins through into it. Whatever it was, Harry looked around at all of them and let out a deep breath.
"Thank you."
A.N: I realize that in one of the earlier chapters I referred to Mihnea being thirteen during Christmas holidays when he should have been fourteen. I've gone back and fixed the mistake. Sorry about that, but I suck at math. O_o In my defense, J.K. Rowling isn't that great at math either, so there. ~blows a raspberry~
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