Resolutions
By Neurotica
Thirty-Nine
The kitchen of Number Twelve was in a stunned silence. Nobody could figure out how anyone, least of all Lucius Malfoy, could manage to get into Hogwarts, kill a professor, and get out without being caught. Dumbledore had Flooed in briefly to speak with them, his voice wavering in such a way none of them had ever heard. Sirius was horrified at the prospect that Dumbledore, one of his heroes, would start to cry.
Couldn't really blame him if he had, Sirius thought. He was closer to McGonagall than any of us...
Anger bubbled in Sirius' blood again. Malfoy had been on his list of most hated people for many years, but this time, he'd gone far enough over the line that Sirius couldn't think straight anymore. All he could think of was making Malfoy suffer.
He stood so suddenly that he made the two witches around him jump. None of them had so much as glanced at the hologram of Remus and the other werewolves in long minutes. Before either of them could utter a word, Sirius was up the stairs, his wand in his hand, and out in the cold night. He thought only for a moment about where he would go before he Disapparated with a soft pop.
Remus had just finished calling for the other werewolves and looked round at the females anxiously. Now that he was there, waiting for the males, he felt that this had been a very bad idea indeed. But there was no time to back out. The females looked quite calm and detached from the situation, even bored. Remus tried to mimic their moods, but was quite unsuccessful. His stomach was wriggling with nerves and a feeling he couldn't quite identify—the one thing he knew was that it wasn't good, and he didn't think it had anything to do with werewolves.
Don't let your guard down, Sirius' voice reminded him.
Remus shook himself and looked around the clearing, listening for any noise in the forest surrounding them. Suddenly, and from every direction, he heard howling. As the sound approached, the female werewolves stood, the hair rising from their bodies as they growled in response, baring their teeth. The first werewolf shot out of the trees and one of the females met him in midair. Remus watched, transfixed, as they rolled around the grass in a blur of fur. Another werewolf came at them, and another female attacked. After the fourth, the fight was going quite strong. There were two male werewolves for every female and Remus, yet they seemed to be winning somehow.
Something jumped on Remus' back, forcing him to the ground, and knocking the wind out of him. He rolled over and pinned the white werewolf, swiping hard at his face. Blood gushed all over the ground, and after a few moments, Remus abandoned the fight to join another—the white werewolf was either unconscious or dead, Remus didn't stick around to find out.
Yips, howls, snarls, and growls filled the air for what seemed like an eternity. Remus couldn't ever remember being so exhausted in his life. He was only surprised he didn't seem to have any lasting injuries—more than once, he was certain, he'd been bitten or swiped at, but hadn't had time to dwell on it.
A deep, menacing growl behind him brought him back to the present. Very slowly, Remus turned to face the werewolf he'd been waiting for all night. How he hadn't seen him before now didn't matter—all that mattered was that Remus succeeded now. He was suddenly taken back to the night he'd faced Greyback, and realized how different this was. For one thing, Rudolf knew, coming into the fight, exactly who Remus was.
Remus bared his teeth and growled back, snapping his jaws at the black, bear-like werewolf before him. All around them, the fighting seemed to have stopped—Remus couldn't hear or see any of the others. Rudolf launched himself at Remus, but Remus was ready; he stepped neatly to the side and let the other werewolf fall to the ground on his face. For a moment, he was reminded of a wrestling match he and Sirius had had one full moon night when Sirius had fallen just as he had. He snapped out of it quickly, and while Rudolf tried to snap out of his daze, Remus took that time to launch his own attack.
He heard a huff of breath as he landed on Rudolf and took a swipe at his nose. Rudolf, obviously stronger than the other werewolves, threw Remus off him quite easily, and Remus produced a slight whimper as he hit a tree stump. He shook away the stars that erupted in his eyes to face the other again, and found Rudolf was already limping. Rudolf was advancing on him, yellow teeth bared, eyes filled with a mania Remus had never seen before. Though his first instinct was to step back, Remus stood his ground and bared his own teeth, growling just as deeply and menacingly as the other werewolf.
Around them, the fights had indeed stopped. What was left of the other werewolves had gathered in a circle around Remus and Rudolf, emitting their own growls for the werewolf they were supporting. The two werewolves circled one another, sizing each other up. There was no sign that Rudolf was going to attack—Remus debated on whether he should just yet.
Don't be stupid! Sirius' voice said in his ear again. You can take him, no problem!
The last thing Remus clearly remembered was running towards Rudolf. After that, everything was a mixture of colors, sounds, and pain. Whatever it was that had kept him from being hurt earlier seemed to have worn off, and he could feel every scratch, bite, and slam to the ground. The last thing he saw was himself standing over Rudolf, the other werewolf was obviously too weak to move any longer. Seconds later, everything around him seemed to go black, and Remus saw, heard, and felt no more.
Naomi and Emmeline stared openmouthed at the hologram for long moments, having just seen Remus close his jaw around the other werewolf's throat. Not long after, he fell to the ground and passed out.
"I think it's over," Naomi said shakily, looking over to Emmeline. "I don't think we have to watch anymore."
Emmeline nodded blankly, still staring at her husband. "All right," she said hoarsely. Naomi wasn't sure if Emmeline could move, based on the look of sheer horror on her face. Nevertheless, Emmeline waved her wand, as though it was against her better judgment to do so, and vanished the hologram before dropping her arm back to the table. "What now?" she asked.
Naomi shook her head. "I don't know," she said honestly. Sirius had been gone for an hour now, and though Naomi had been tempted to follow him, she couldn't leave Emmeline tonight. Too much had happened, and Naomi wasn't even certain where her husband had gone.
Stupid oaf, she thought angrily. Always letting his emotions get the better of him... He's going to get himself killed one day. I just hope it's not today...
"What about McGonagall?" Emmeline said very quietly. "Do you think there's anything we can do?"
Naomi shrugged. "Doubt it," she said. "We've got the babies to look after. I'm sure Dumbledore's got it all under control, anyway."
"Any idea where Sirius went?"
"Probably after Malfoy again," Naomi said dryly. "I don't blame him—he was closer to McGonagall than any student I knew. It wasn't obvious of course, but McGonagall stood up for him and pushed him every chance she could."
"What do you mean?" Emmeline asked curiously.
"Well, for example, in our first year, Sirius' parents showed up at Hogwarts one day, trying to get Dumbledore to transfer Sirius to Slytherin. When they wouldn't do that, they threatened to send him to Durmstrang, then threatened to take him out of school altogether. Sirius was fighting it all the way, and his father started to lose his temper—which he did a lot, by the way—and put a hand around Sirius' throat—" Emmeline gasped. "Dumbledore, of course, was quite angry from what Sirius told us, and told Sirius' dad to let go of him or he'd have to make him. Well, even Mr. Black knew not to challenge Dumbledore; he let Sirius go, McGonagall pulled Sirius away, and Dumbledore and McGonagall both told the Blacks, in no uncertain terms, that Sirius would stay where he was until he decided otherwise.
"McGonagall took to smiling at him a lot more in classes when he got an answer right—this was before Sirius and James started causing a lot of trouble around school. A few years later, sixth year, I think, after Sirius moved out of here, McGonagall pulled him aside, into her office, and they talked for a few hours. I never knew what they talked about until Sirius told me a few months ago—apparently, McGonagall had told him it didn't matter what his family was like, he could do whatever he wanted. If he wanted to be an Auror, McGonagall swore to help him any way she could. She basically became like an aunt to him; he went to her when he had a problem adjusting to life on his own and didn't want to come to us." Naomi sighed. "That's not even the tip of the iceberg, really; Sirius has always looked up to McGonagall, and McGonagall has always had a soft spot for Sirius, though if you ever saw McGonagall when she caught Sirius and James in the middle of one of their pranks, you'd never know it."
"I knew Sirius' parents never treated him that well, but... wow..." Emmeline said quietly.
Naomi snorted darkly. "You don't know the half of it. He showed up to James' place after he left with a broken arm and a fat lip. They were horrible, horrible people. It's a wonder Sirius turned out as well as he did, to be honest..."
The fireplace filled with green flames, causing the witches to jump again, and Dumbledore stepped neatly out of the fireplace moments later. "The students have been notified," he said, sounding choked up. "There are Aurors searching for the grounds for any evidence, though I have doubt they will find anything."
"Albus, are you certain it was Malfoy?" Naomi asked cautiously.
Dumbledore looked more furious than she'd seen him in many years. "Quite," he said shortly. "Nymphadora grasped his cloak before he Disapparated. He was forced to remove it and curse Miss Tonks in order to escape. Auror Davies caught sight of him before he left. He attempted a stunning charm, but was too late."
Emmeline bit her lip and looked at Naomi. Both were a bit fearful of the steely tone of Dumbledore's voice. "Is Tonks all right?"
"I believe so," Dumbledore said in a slightly lighter tone. "She has been taken to St. Mungo's for observation. I will visit her later in the day."
"A-and... Minerva?" Naomi asked, her voice cracking. "She's really...?"
Dumbledore nodded, looking older and sadder than anyone either of them had ever seen. "I believe she was targeted for her knowledge concerning the whereabouts of Narcissa and Draco Malfoy. How Lucius discovered she was Secret-Keeper, I do not yet know. And whether she was broken before being killed, I do not know either."
"Sirius went after him," Naomi said tonelessly, staring at Dumbledore's left hand. "He left not long after you did."
"I surmised as much," Dumbledore said quietly. He looked around the kitchen. "Any word on Remus?"
"The fight's over," Emmeline said quickly, not looking at either of them. "Remus is unconscious, as are most of the male werewolves."
Dumbledore inclined his head, knowing she didn't want to discuss it any further. "I will attempt contact with Sirius to inform him. At moonrise, I will send only the most trusted members of the Order, besides yourselves, of course, to bring Remus home." Dumbledore sighed quite heavily. "I should return to Hogwarts. Please contact me if you hear anything about Sirius. I will likewise contact you with further information concerning Minerva's demise."
Naomi and Emmeline muttered their goodbyes as Dumbledore left through the fireplace again, and they were left alone. After a few moments of silence, Emmeline stood up. "I should go check on the twins," she said in a tense voice.
Naomi nodded and let her go. Mira was asleep in her highchair, and hadn't heard or seen any of the events of the night. It'll only be a matter of time before she starts to really understand her surroundings. And Sirius and I can't keep her in this house all her life...
With a heavy sigh, Naomi stood as well, picking up her daughter before heading upstairs. The sooner she went to sleep, the sooner she could wake up in the morning and realize tonight had just been one horrible nightmare.
Remus woke the next morning in a much more comfortable place than he'd been when he'd passed out. Distantly, he could hear voices, but was far too exhausted to open his eyes and find out who they belonged to. He groaned a little as his head began to throb dully and painfully, and the voices became a bit louder and more excited. Carefully, he opened his eyes a sliver and found a group of blurry figures surrounding him, one with long black hair that he had no trouble recognizing. He raised his heavy arm to touch the hair, but instead grasped a soft, warm hand.
He tried to smile. "Hey, beautiful," he said thickly.
"Hi," she said quietly. "How're you feeling?"
"Super. You?" He opened his eyes further just in time to see Emmeline roll her eyes at Naomi, who was standing at the end of the bed looking anxious. "Where'm I?" he asked.
"The cottage," Naomi answered. "Charlie, Fred, George, and Bill came to get you this morning, and once they got you back here, Charlie contacted the Ministry to get the werewolves out of the clearing."
Something stirred in Remus' mind. He tried to sit up in the bed, but Emmeline and someone else pushed him back down. "Celeste and the others... Are they okay?"
Emmeline, Naomi, and the other person in the room exchanged a glance. "Most of the females were killed," the third voice in the room said quietly. At first, Remus had thought it was Sirius, but when the person spoke, he knew it couldn't possibly be—Sirius' voice didn't sound like a deep growl. Remus turned his head and found Mad-Eye at his other side. "Only a few managed to get out unharmed, and they've been taken to St. Mungo's for treatment."
Remus would have buried his face in his hands if it didn't hurt to lift his arms any further. "It's all my fault," he said miserably. "I never should have let them come with me."
"Don't you go blaming yourself, Lupin," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "They did their job, as did you. And if I may say so myself, you did a damn good job."
Searching for another topic, Remus looked around the room. "Where's Sirius?" he asked, finally noticing the absence of his best friend. "He isn't here?"
"Er..." Naomi said uncomfortably. "Sirius had some other things to take care of..."
"For example?" Remus said, a feeling of doom filling his stomach again.
Emmeline sighed and glared slightly at Naomi for some reason before looking back at Remus. "Something happened last night, and it upset Sirius very much—not that the rest of us weren't upset by it..."
"What?" he asked impatiently.
When neither witch answered, Mad-Eye spoke up and told him exactly what had happened while he was fighting werewolves, and where they thought Sirius had gone. By the time he'd finished, Remus wasn't sure if he could breathe or not. He could vaguely feel his head shaking in disbelief and found his eyes were beginning blur again—when he blinked something warm and wet trailed down his face.
"Sirius went after him, didn't he?" he asked shakily, looking from Mad-Eye to Naomi to Emmeline. They all nodded. "Moron."
He was blank. He couldn't think. He wasn't sure what to say to his wife and best friend while they stood staring at him nervously. "I... I'm tired," he finally said. "Would it be all right if I went to sleep?"
"Of course," Emmeline said, surprised. "Er... We'll be downstairs if you need us."
Remus nodded, staring at the ceiling.
"Rest well, Lupin," Mad-Eye growled, clapping a scarred hand on his shoulder before limping out behind Emmeline and Naomi.
Once the door snapped shut, and he was left alone, Remus continued to stare at the white ceiling with no real intention of sleeping. He didn't think he'd ever be able to sleep after what he'd just heard. McGonagall couldn't be dead. She was like Dumbledore to him: unbeatable. And scum like Lucius Malfoy had once again done the impossible by breaking into Hogwarts, probably torturing McGonagall into telling him where his family was before finally putting her out of her misery.
Remus shook his head miserably. How could Malfoy have done what he had before being spotted?
After what felt like hours of going over what had gone wrong at Hogwarts, then having the night before in the clearing crash back into him, Remus finally fell asleep.
Hogwarts had never before been so quiet during a meal. No one spoke while they ate if they had any sort of appetite, and in fact, no one even looked at anyone else. There was supposed to have been a Hogsmeade visit that day, but it had been cancelled—Harry was surprised Hogsmeade visits hadn't been cancelled long ago, to be honest. There'd been only one speech made by Dumbledore regarding McGonagall, and afterwards, he hadn't been seen around the school. Harry guessed he was probably with the Order or the Ministry, or possibly just mourning the loss of his Deputy Headmistress and close friend.
Harry had known for McGonagall years—since the time he had first found out about the wizarding world and Hogwarts. She'd always been good to him—when she wasn't disciplining him. He liked her immensely, like an aunt who wouldn't laugh at jokes until she was far away from eyewitnesses. She was one of the best teachers in Hogwarts, not to mention a huge supporter of Gryffindor Quidditch...
No one had asked the question Harry knew had been on their minds: who would head Gryffindor now? Harry honestly didn't care; whoever took over the job wouldn't do half as well as McGonagall...
"Harry," Ginny said very quietly. "We're going back to Gryffindor Tower..."
Harry nodded a little, got up from the table, and followed his friends out of the Great Hall in a daze. No one stayed up late that night; it seemed they were all too tired and depressed to spend time with their housemates. Half an hour after returning to the common room, Harry and Ron stumbled up to their dormitory where they found Seamus, Dean, and Neville had already gotten into their own beds. The curtains around Neville's bed had been drawn, and every so often, the boys heard sniffs coming from behind them—nobody laughed; they were all close to tears themselves.
Harry fell asleep slowly and quite thankfully. But unfortunately for him, he would not get a peaceful sleep.
At half past ten that night, the cottage door opened and Sirius stumbled through, looking thoroughly exhausted and quite furious. He found Naomi and Emmeline sitting in the living room drinking tea. They jumped a little when they spotted him and immediately demanded to know where he'd gone.
"Where do you think I went?" he asked harshly. "I went to find Malfoy."
"And did you?" Naomi asked.
"Sort of," Sirius mumbled, his anger fading away almost immediately. "I figured he'd go find his family, and I was right about that..."
Emmeline closed her eyes and groaned. "They're dead, aren't they?"
To their obvious surprise, Sirius shook his head. "McGonagall never told him," he said quietly. "The Malfoys are safe." Sirius didn't seem over enthused about this bit of news. "But they've seen old Lucius lurking around."
"They actually told you that?" Naomi asked, sounding surprised.
"Yep," Sirius said carelessly. "Where's Remus?"
"Upstairs," Emmeline said. "Sleeping supposedly..."
"And the kids?"
"Up in the nursery. They seem to like it up there more than they do at Number Twelve."
"Wonder why that could be," Sirius muttered as he left the room. He took the stairs slowly and found the room where he assumed Remus was resting, knocked until he heard the fake snoring from within, and entered. "You may be able to fool your wife and Naomi, but I know better."
Remus rolled over to face him and rolled his eyes. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon. The girls said you'd gone on another suicide mission."
"And I've lived through it once again. Go figure," Sirius said, pulling up a chair. "So how'd it go last night?"
The two talked about anything they could think of that didn't breach the subject of Lucius Malfoy or Minerva McGonagall. Once they'd exhausted everything, they took to staring out the window for hours without speaking. Being friends for as long as they had, they could do this, and not have it be awkward.
Finally, Naomi and Emmeline had come upstairs, unsurprised to find Remus awake. "Dumbledore and most of the Order are here."
"Great, a party," Sirius mumbled sarcastically, earning glares from all his friends. "What, you didn't expect that from me?" He stood and helped Remus get up as well, finding he was quite weak. After helping him put on more than his boxers, Sirius put an arm around his best friend's waist and helped him down the stairs into the large kitchen to find the Order had indeed assembled, and all were looking quite devastated. Emmeline pulled out a chair for Remus, and Sirius sat him down before going to sit on the counter beside Naomi.
Dumbledore slowly stood before them, his eyes a very dull blue. "Good evening," he said quietly, sounding older than ever. "I am certain you all know why I have called this meeting tonight, judging by the looks on your faces." Molly sniffed a little; Bill handed her a handkerchief. "Unfortunately, I have yet to understand how Lucius Malfoy was able to come into Hogwarts undetected, and though I am searching for the reason, I do not know that will find one."
"Don't know how you would," Sirius said quietly. "We've never figured out how he was breaking out of Azkaban, and that place was guarded almost as heavily as Hogwarts."
"But Hogwarts is protected by ancient magic," Remus said hoarsely. "There are ways to detect things that would make your head spin, Padfoot."
Dumbledore nodded. "One of those protections was added much more recently than the rest, and is quite similar to the one that was once over this house when it stood before—the castle walls were supposed to detect the Dark Mark."
"And we already know Malfoy can get past that, don't we?" Sirius said a tad impatiently. "He did it to get to Remus four years ago, didn't he?"
"Can you shut up for two minutes?" Naomi asked him.
Sirius stared at her, but Dumbledore spoke before he could say anything back to her. "Sirius is quite right," the Headmaster said. "However these Death Eaters are breaching our protections, there are only two people in this room who have enough experience with this to truly comment." He looked from Sirius to Remus. "But this is not why I've called you here this evening. The war has reached a point that I fear we may have lost our grip. It is only a matter of time before Voldemort himself attempts to cross the gates protecting Hogwarts. Every attempt we have made to stop Voldemort and his followers from achieving their goal has failed." Many eyebrows rose at this statement. "Our only hope is to be prepared when the time finally comes and we have to battle."
Sirius bit his lip and dropped his eye contact with Dumbledore, knowing what Dumbledore was leaving out. Honestly, he was sick of thinking about Harry facing Voldemort and fighting him. It made him sick to imagine it anymore.
He blocked out the next ten minutes of the meeting, choosing to instead stare at the leg of Remus' chair. The comment that brought him back to the meeting was spoken by Dumbledore answering a question from someone. "Minerva's position within the Order will be discussed at a later date. I've a few suggestions in mind, but I must converse with those people before making a decision." Sirius saw Dumbledore glance at Remus, and struggled to remember what McGonagall's exact position in the Order had been. If he was right, it was only something to do with research or something similar.
"Unless there are any further questions, I believe that will conclude this evening's meeting," Dumbledore said. "I would like to assure those who have children attending Hogwarts that they are quite safe. As I said before, the school is currently under lockdown until dawn, and none are permitted to enter or leave the grounds for any reason without my personal permission."
Normally, chatter broke out when Dumbledore ended the meetings, but tonight, no one seemed to have any desire to talk about anything. Automatically, Molly jumped up, and with Emmeline and Charlie's help, tea and a large platter of biscuits were served out. Dumbledore bid his farewell moments later and began down the hall to the front door. Sirius jumped off the counter and went after him.
"Albus!" he called as the Headmaster's hand grasped the doorknob.
Dumbledore released the doorknob and turned to face Sirius, a polite look upon his face.
"Please don't mention this to the others, but I think I've found Malfoy," he said in a low voice so no one in the kitchen would hear.
The Headmaster's eyebrows rose slightly. "You have? The idea I got from Naomi and Emmeline was that you'd found nothing."
Sirius shrugged. "I didn't want the entire world knowing right away, especially not anyone in the Order. I have a feeling that if they all knew, there'd be a fight for who got first licks."
"I imagine there would be," Dumbledore agreed with a nod. "And where have you located him?"
Sirius gave a grim smile. "Last place I would have thought to look—place has been deserted since Narcissa and Draco were put in hiding..."
"Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore said quietly. "You are certain that is where he is?"
"Positive," the Head Auror said. "I caught a glimpse of him in one of the windows. The only thing is, I don't know if he's alone or not—I doubt it."
"As do I," Dumbledore said. "Do you have a plan of attack?"
Sirius sighed. "Well, I was thinking—"
He was cut off by an upsurge of noise from the kitchen. The table seemed to have moved a few feet, judging by the scraping noise, knocking the teapot and some of the cups to the floor. There was a shout of "Naomi, NO!" followed by more sounds of struggling.
Sirius looked at Dumbledore, startled, before both wizards ran back to the kitchen to find a very odd sight. Naomi was being held back by Remus and Bill Weasley, while the rest of the Order stood between them and Sturgis Podmore. The look on every face was one of shock. Everyone was shouting, and none of Sirius' attempts to quiet them worked. Finally, Dumbledore raised his wand and a long bang sounded from it, causing everyone in the room to cover their ears.
Naomi continued to glare coldly at Sturgis, which Sirius found odd—she and Sturgis had never had any sort of problem. Remus and Bill refused to release her, which was probably a good thing, as she seemed to want nothing more right now than to rip apart the wizard being protected by the other members of the Order.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Sirius said loudly.
"Sturgis was just leaving," Mad-Eye said coldly, one eye locked on Naomi, while the other watched Sturgis. "Weren't you?"
Looking quite afraid of every person in the room, Sturgis nodded jerkily. "Er, yeah, I was..." he said weakly. Moments later, he'd left through the backdoor and Disapparated.
The rest of the Order seemed to decide it was a good idea for them to leave as well. Bill hesitantly released Naomi, but Remus kept a firm hold on her upper arm. Soon, the only people that remained were Sirius, Naomi, Remus, Emmeline, and Dumbledore. Sirius looked to each one of them in surprise. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on?"
"I, too, would be interested in knowing," Dumbledore said quietly, "what would cause a member of the Order to want to attack another?"
"Bloody git," Naomi muttered angrily. "He has no right..."
"No right for what?" Sirius practically yelled.
Remus sighed heavily. "Somehow, we got on the subject of the werewolves. Sturgis said something to the effect that he would never trust anything that turned into a bloodthirsty monster once a month, no matter how normal they seem for the rest of the month, then gave me quite an ugly look."
Sirius stared at them openmouthed for a few moments. "He did not!"
Emmeline nodded. "Before I could jump over the table to scratch out his eyes, Naomi got up."
"Well," Sirius said, pushing down his anger as best he could. "He's only lucky I wasn't in the room, wasn't he?"
"What I don't understand is why Sturgis would say something like that," Emmeline said quietly. "I thought you and he were friends, Remus?"
Remus, who hadn't looked any of them in long minutes, shrugged. "I thought so as well," he said heavily, looking more hurt than Sirius had seen him look in years. "I suppose you just don't know, do you?"
"I am terribly sorry for Sturgis' comments, Remus," Dumbledore said. "It is possible that they were fueled by the events of last evening, but were still quite uncalled for." He sighed. "Unless there is anything more, I must return to Hogwarts. The staff and I have much to discuss. Naomi, if you like, I will fill you in tomorrow when you return to the castle."
Naomi looked around at her friends, still wearing a look of anger on her face. "No, I'll go back with you, Albus," she said. "I should be there." She kissed Sirius, asked him to tuck Mira in for her, smiled at Remus and Emmeline, and followed Dumbledore out of the cottage.
Sirius sat heavily in a chair across from Remus. "Least you know Naomi will still come to your defense, Moony."
Remus snorted and smiled a little. "I had no doubt that she would. Now if you two will excuse me, I'm going to go see the boys and head to bed myself, it's been a long day."
"I'll be up in a few," Emmeline said, smiling at him.
"Night, Moony," Sirius said with a wave.
"Sleep well, Padfoot."
Emmeline and Sirius looked at one another until they heard Remus walking around upstairs. "So he just blurted all that out?" Sirius asked quietly, still unable to believe Sturgis would say something like that about Remus.
"Basically," Emmeline confirmed. "Molly was talking about how well the females had been doing, complimenting Remus on such a good job, and then Sturgis just..." She shrugged.
"I'll be surprised if he ever shows his face around us again," Sirius said. "I might have to go have a talk with him tomorrow."
"Don't bother," Emmeline said. "If that's his opinion, so be it. Remus knows the rest of us don't think like that."
"I've just never gotten used to the idea of someone like Remus, someone who was at the top of his class, and has become so successful in life, still having to put up with stupid prejudices like that. I never thought it was fair."
"It's not," Emmeline agreed. "But that's life, isn't it?"
"You seem to be taking this well," Sirius pointed out.
"What was I supposed to do, use the Cruciatus Curse on him?"
"Nah, not enough of a punishment," Sirius said lightly, yawning. "I should get some sleep too. Haven't been to bed for a few days now..."
Emmeline nodded, and the pair headed up the stairs, turning off lights as they went. Emmeline headed to the room she and Remus were sharing, while Sirius went to see Mira. Regardless of how tired he was, he'd be surprised if he got any sleep tonight.
Harry walked slowly down a flight of stone steps, his footsteps echoing dully off the matching stone walls. He looked all around him with a furrowed brow, recognizing the black flame torches in their stone brackets immediately. But why would he be here again? Hadn't Sirius told them a few months ago the place had been deserted? The thoughts faded from his mind as his feet turned a corner automatically and carried him down a dark corridor towards a large pair of open doors at the far end.
Curious rather than fearful, Harry crossed the threshold and recognized the scene before him. He'd seen it before—not exactly like this, but quite similar: a group of witches and wizards in long black cloaks was gathered in a circle. In the very center, a voice carried through the room as though it was shouting—though, the voice's owner had no reason to shout in order to be heard by his followers.
Carefully and quietly, Harry moved forward to a gap in the Death Eater circle and watched Lord Voldemort pace.
"The time is drawing ever nearer, my Death Eaters," he said quietly, his scarlet eyes scanning the circle and passing right over Harry as though he wasn't there at all. "Each of you is aware of what is at stake, and that you cannot risk failure any longer. I grow tiresome, Death Eaters, that my goals are so very rarely met. Even Lucius could not complete his task completely, though what he did manage, I am quite pleased with." He inclined his head slightly to one particular hooded figure Harry assumed was Malfoy.
"Unfortunately, Lucius' family still remains hidden, and the secret of their location will never be known by any others than those scarce few who have known for months. But that is neither here nor there... We have successfully broken the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix in a very significant way. Minerva McGonagall is now out of our way, which will no doubt have destroyed the hearts of those Mudblood lovers, not to mention how angry it will have made the more... ah... hotheaded of the Order."
Harry knew Voldemort meant Sirius.
Voldemort smiled coldly at them all, sending cold shivers down Harry's spine. "My Death Eaters, it is a sad evening, not only for the Order, but for us, as well. The werewolf Lupin, with the assistance of females from Greyback's former pack, has destroyed what was left of our loyal werewolf army. I find it disappointing that I did not foresee this happening after the death of Fenrir. Remus Lupin has proven his worth numerous times and he would be a very worthy adversary to any of us. But as always, my focus is on Harry Potter. He will not last much longer in a school where a Death Eater can kill a professor and exit its grounds without much resistance.
"Not many of you are aware, but I have recruited yet another spy from within the Order. This spy has worked tirelessly to report any and all information to me. This spy, who could not be present this evening, has given me information on individuals within the Order that I otherwise never would have known. No, no, I will not share this information with you—it should remain a secret; I know how fond of surprises you are..." He laughed softly. "But I digress... Our time is drawing nearer, Death Eaters, and we will be prepared, will we not?"
"Yes, master," said the Death Eaters in a collective whisper.
"I will end this meeting with a reminder," Voldemort said softly. "The war has not ended; the Ministry and the Order are failing; and I am still in control. Do not disappoint me."
With another shudder of "yes, master" around the circle, the Death Eaters bowed and began to file out of the room.
Harry remained behind, watching Voldemort turn his back and look out the window thoughtfully. Raising an eyebrow, Harry slowly approached him, wondering vaguely why his scar wasn't hurting and what Voldemort was thinking. The Dark Lord looked positively thrilled over the events of the last few days. The only thing going through Harry's mind was why no one had told him about what Remus had done. Then he began to wonder who the spy in the Order was. Did Harry know him or her? It couldn't have been Snape; Voldemort had said he'd just recruited the person.
Just as Harry began to think this through, Voldemort tensed and slowly turned on the spot, staring directly into Harry's eyes. He'd expected it, but Harry still wasn't ready for the intense pain in his scar as Voldemort smiled nastily at him.