Remus Lupin sat at the large, wooden table in the kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, drinking a cup of tea and reading the Daily Prophet. He was just getting absorbed in an article on a new Irish Chaser when green flames leapt up in the hearth.
"Hello, Remus," Charlie Weasley said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Hello," said Remus, setting his paper down. His sleepy eyes crinkled around the corners when he saw Charlie.
"Is Mum around?" Charlie asked.
"No," said Remus. "She went shopping for supper. Anything I can help you with?"
"Just wanted to tell you all bets are off," chuckled Charlie. "The deed has been done."
"Really?" Remus said, his eyebrows raised. "I thought they'd hold out until at least July."
"They went to the ballet." Charlie rolled his eyes.
Remus shook his head, a half-smile playing around his lips. "So, who won the pool? I know I lost two knuts."
"Fred and George," said Charlie. "It figures; they were always good at divination."
"I don't know why Mundungus let them bet at all," said Remus, disgusted.
Charlie shrugged and sat down at the table. "I wouldn't have let them, but I know better."
"Well, I'd better go tell Dung so he'll have a head start when they begin looking for him," said Remus, rising from the table. "Give me an hour."
"Will do," said Charlie, waving his wand and watching a cup of cocoa float to him. "It'll give me plenty of time to read your paper."
0
Dumbledore was sitting on the balcony of his family home in Switzerland, sipping a glass of mint lemonade, when a large owl swooped down and landed next to him.
"Hello, there," Dumbledore said, reaching for the parchment attached to the owl's leg. "What do you have for me?"
Dumbledore unraveled the parchment and began reading. His face paled as his eyes ran over the page. His pallor turned red as his eyes reached the end of the page.
"Damndable woman!" Dumbledore thundered, startling the owl on the railing as he leapt from his chair. He flapped his arms helplessly as his mind searched for words.
He bellowed in frustration instead. He raised his wand in the air and with a loud crack, he was gone.
0
"Madam Sophia?" a young witch said tentatively as she knocked at the door to Sophia's office.
"The door is unlocked, child. You're more than welcome to come in," said Sophia, her eyes crinkling over the top of her silver- rimmed spectacles. "You're new to the department, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma'am," said the witch. Her short black hair curled out in all directions and her red toga made her light skin and dark eyes stand out. "My name is Helen."
"Odessa's girl?" Sophia asked. "I hear you do well in Charms."
"Yes, ma'am," said Helen, looking nervous. "Unfortunately, I'm not here for a pleasure visit."
"Out with it, girl," said Sophia, frowning.
"There's a man outside! He's demanding to see you," Helen blurted out quickly. "Loudly." She looked scandalized.
"Ah," said Sophia, taking her glasses off and folding them up. Her hands were shaking as she pushed them into a worn brown leather case. "I should have been expecting that."
"But ma'am," Helen faltered. "How did he find us?"
"He followed his line," said Sophia, shaking her head.
Helen looked confused, but Sophia said nothing more as she used her cane to rise to her feet and toddled out of her office.
0
Dumbledore glowered as he tapped his foot impatiently on the floating piece of ice. The drawbridge lowered from the enormous ice fortress.
He knew better than to storm in, as much as he wanted to. He assumed this place had the same type of wards the Brotherhood had. Although he felt like exploding, the reality didn't appeal to him.
The heavy double doors creaked noisily as they opened, and he watched a small, hunched figure draped in green begin walking towards him, a dozen or more Amazon warriors in close ranks following beside and behind her. The older woman's descent was slow, and the younger females had to pace themselves. They finally made it to the end of the drawbridge after what felt like an eternity.
He saw her eyes and he deflated.
"Why, Sophie?" he found himself asking quieter than he would have thought himself capable of. He was surprised at how much the sadness came out in his voice.
"We both had obligations," said Sophia, her face pained. She stepped apart from her platoon and closer to him. They walked a few steps away. "I didn't see any reason to ruin your life."
"You couldn't possibly have ruined my life."
"I didn't want to bring attention to her. I tried to go to England to tell you later, but… it didn't turn out well and I returned," Sophie said bitterly.
"Now she's grown and not a child anymore," reminded Dumbledore.
"I can't change what has happened, Albus," said Sophia, shaking her head. "All I can say is I was trying to protect you and our daughter."
Her blonde hair had gone white and gotten much, much longer. Her back was hunched, and Dumbledore remembered her tall, with a spine of steel, and a stubborn streak to match. Her heavy, green cloak was pulled tight around her to keep out the cold, so he couldn't tell if she had kept her slight figure, but he guessed she had by her thin face.
He shook his head sadly at her and then looked at the other witches.
Alexandra stood in the middle of the ranks of Amazons, her wand at her side and her bow slung over her shoulder. She heard her arrows rattle in their case as she began shaking. Kari nudged her with her elbow. It wouldn't do to become a mess when she was supposed to be setting an example of professional behavior to the new trainees.
She stared at Dumbledore and tried to memorize every detail of him.
Something stirred inside her that she hadn't felt since she had been a very small child, and her stomach began feeling queasy. Her head felt light. She noticed she was chewing on the inside of her bottom lip and her jaw was clenched. She was trying to convince herself that she was too old for this. Another part of her screamed he was going to go and she was going to miss her chance.
Something in her broke as she saw him shake his head and pull back from her mother and her inner-child won.
"Father!" Alexandra cried out and pushed her way through the ranks that hadn't turned at her cry.
She didn't know how he really felt about all this. She didn't care.
Dumbledore raised his eyes and saw a pretty red-headed girl pushing her way through the ranks of archers. She looked like his mother.
"Mighty Merlin," Dumbledore whispered, stepping forward to see her. "Sophie, she's beautiful."
Alexandra wanted to hug him, to shake him and ask him where he had been, to kiss his wrinkled face, to smack him for losing contact with her mother. As she got closer to him, she realized she didn't know what to do.
She felt stark, naked, and open.
Dumbledore made the decision by embracing her.
Alexandra was held so tightly, she was having trouble breathing.
The other girls wouldn't understand. Most of them considered love to be an impractical thing that happened to other people.
"Run along now," Alexandra heard her mother say to the troops. "We'll be fine. Shoo."
Alexandra looked over her shoulder to see the troops walking back up to the fortress in broken ranks. She caught Kari's eye as she looked over her shoulder, and the sisters locked eyes. Kari quirked a corner of her mouth at her.
"I think," said Dumbledore carefully, "that we have some catching up to do."
0
Hermione sat in Severus' subterranean laboratory with a black leather book in her hand. She ate an apple as she turned the pages. An otherwise hidden portal was open behind her and a dozen books sat on a stone shelf.
"Find anything interesting?" Severus asked as he walked into the cave with a wooden box rattling with empty potions bottles.
"It's interesting," admitted Hermione. "I'm just not sure why anyone would want to do some of it."
Severus shrugged. He looked uncomfortable.
She decided not to push it any further. She continued reading Divination by Reading Entrails by Marissa Lumpkettle.
"I thought you hated divination," said Severus, glancing at her.
"I do," said Hermione. "But this seems more scientific than staring at a hunk of glass."
Severus shrugged. "It's not."
Hermione turned the page to see an illustration of a vivisected Muggle. She felt goose bumps rise on her arms and she closed the book.
"Stopping already?" Severus said, an eyebrow raised. "
"I feel like stretching my legs," Hermione lied. "It would be a shame to waste the day."
"We could go to the lake."
"So you can fish?" Hermione asked, an eyebrow raised in mimic of his.
"We can have fresh dinner," said Severus practically.
"Yes, we would starve were it not for your ability to provide for us," said Hermione sarcastically, a smile playing around her lips. She walked up behind him and shyly encircled his waist with her arms.
"The carpet is ready to go," said Severus.
Soon, Severus was steering the flying carpet out of his mother's garden and west towards the lake.
"How large is your property?" Hermione asked, startled by the expanse of land.
"It is a clever illusion," said Severus. "The lake is behind that crop of trees."
"Lake?" Hermione spluttered. "It can't be any bigger than a pond."
"Well, it's quite large when you are six," said Severus hotly.
"Is that when you and Pieter named it: 'The Lake?'" Hermione asked.
"Probably," said Severus, nodding as the carpet brushed over the tops of the fruit trees in the orchard. He reached out and pulled an apple off a branch as they passed and bit into it.
Hermione tried to picture Severus at six and couldn't. His mother had to have pictures lying around somewhere.
They soared over the field, past the orchard, and brushed the tops of the evergreen trees near the water.
Hermione was delighted at the trees growing in the shapes of tables and chairs.
Severus waved his wand and a golden dome surrounded the area. The air began warming immediately. Hermione slipped her fur cloak off and shook the chill out of her limbs.
Severus walked over to a tree stump. A single thin sprig tapered out of the center of it and jutted upwards a few meters before thin branches laden with light leaves spread out overhead to form an umbrella.
Severus took what looked like small glass blocks out of his pocket and set them on the surface of the naturally formed table. He waved his wand and they grew into preservation chambers. He slid the top off one and took out a sandwich.
"This is very nice," Hermione said pleasantly. She slid the top off another one to find it full of bait. "EW!"
"Oops," said Severus, setting his sandwich down and closing the top of the box she had opened. "That one is mine."
"Thank heaven for that," said Hermione grimacing.
"The other one should be safe," said Severus, walking to the shoreline with his box of bait.
Hermione sat near Severus, eating her lunch as he cast his line. When she was through, she went over to a reclining tree and nestled into a nook that seemed carved out just for the purpose of creating a cozy place for reading.
Hermione glanced up from her book from time to time to watch Severus reel in his line.
After a few hours, feeling satisfied with her reading material, she looked at Severus curiously. "Is the pond fit for swimming?"
"Yes," Severus said over his shoulder. "The bottom is sandy, so you don't have to wear shoes."
"Perfect," said Hermione, walking by him, completely nude, and descending into the water.
Severus watched as his line wriggled itself away from her.
He was thankful it was enchanted to avoid anything but fish.
"Are you going to come in?" Hermione asked cheekily.
"No," said Severus.
"Suit yourself," she said, floating by on her back and sneaking looks at Severus' expression.
Severus watched Hermione float on her back and sighed contentedly. She certainly was a pretty girl, if infuriating at times.
On the other hand, if she weren't so infuriating, she wouldn't be running through his mind half as much as she did.
She watched as he disrobed, and began giggling hysterically as he entered the water.
"What's so funny?" he demanded as he swam and wrapped his arms around her. She had an enchanting way of squirming in his arms when she laughed.
She wrapped her legs around him and put her hands on his shoulders. "I thought you didn't want to come in."
Severus growled suddenly and let go of her, effectively dunking her.
Hermione came up spluttering and resembling a wet sheepdog.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked between coughs.
He brushed the hair out of her face and patted her on the back. As his hand went by her face, she saw a skull and snake etched into his skin of his left forearm.
She grabbed his hand and stared at the burn.
"It looks like it was branded into you," Hermione said, her fingertips hovering above the mark as if she wanted to touch it.
"It was," said Severus stiffly. "It only comes back when it's activated."
Hermione looked at the crinkled skin.
"Why does it look fresh?" Hermione asked sharply.
"It's frozen in stasis," said Severus, dipping it under the water. "Hidden inside the body and when the spell is woven, it 'wakes up' as it were. I think we should get back in the house. Just to be safe."
Hermione looked up and failed to see anything unusual.
They climbed on the carpet with just their cloaks wrapped around them and flew back to the manor.
"Cherv! Secure the manor!" Severus barked at the little elf as they landed.
His eyes grew wide and he scampered into the house. Immediately all the shutters slammed shut. The back door slammed and disappeared as soon as they were inside.
Hermione followed Severus through the house, listening to the fortifications fall into place in and around the manor. They quickly went down to the basement and his laboratory. He pushed on a picture of a Mandrake and Hermione saw a brilliant red fire burning in a cubby hole in the wall.
"This is a direct line to the Order." Severus explained before he stuck his head in. "Twelve, Grimmauld Place!"
Hermione paced impatiently.
"Hold on," Severus said indignantly as he pulled his head from the flames. "The Dark Lord is on the loose and he says, 'hold on.'"
"Who?" asked Hermione.
"Lupin," said Severus, his lips pressed thin. "Dumbledore is off somewhere, and no other news has arrived."
A small silver bell started ringing somewhere nearby, and a small glass orb on a shelf began glowing orange.
She watched as the little color Severus had drained from his face.
"What's going on?" asked Hermione, her voice quivering.
"The Ministry's under attack."