A/N: Word of advice: if your father decides to go frugal and convinces himself he can paint a six-bedroom-house with his kids in a week, tell him to go get his head checked... I apologize for the delay but between exams (I'm one exam away from graduating!), a week-long vacation and painting duty (as well as cleaning duty) my time to write was pretty limited. The chapter didn't quite turn the way I'd planned but, well, if I kept scapping stuff, it wouldn't be up for another month...
That said, go ahead and read :D Oh, and, by the way, can't forget to wish Harry Potter a happy birthday since it's 31 July!
Everything happened very fast, yet incredibly slow after the lynx-shaped patronus entered the room and shouted out the dreaded message in Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice.
Later, Izzy would remember it all but, at the moment, the whole scene was hard to register: the sounds of glass breaking mixed with people running and shouting at each other as furniture was moved and knocked over everywhere by everyone's movements towards the exits. It was all a big blur for her at first – all she could register was her heart beating louder and faster than she thought it ever could and George's hand grasping hers incredibly hard as they ran, like he feared he'd end up losing her in the crowd of hysterical guests that kept bumping into them from all directions. Everything seemed to move in a slow motion around her, almost like it wasn't real.
At some point during her running, her eyes landed on Harry, who appeared to be standing near Muriel's table flanked by Hermione. He looked just as stunned everyone else, yet, at the same time, ready for combat as he held his wand in his hand. His eyes scanned around the crowd of sprinting guest for something or someone too – Ron, Ginny, his family, maybe? – and met hers for just a second, right at the same time Ron appeared by their side and Hermione grabbed both of their arms – it only took one blink from Izzy's eyes for all three to be gone from her sight. Just gone. Later it would occur to her that might have been the last time she's see her brother for a very long time.
But suddenly, as some guest bumped into her really hard from the side, nearly knocking her over if it wasn't for George catching her, everything became much clearer. The blur and the slow motion started to fade and she could actually think again. It only took her mind a moment to register what Hermione's ability to apparate with the boys meant. "The wards are broken," she mumbled.
Ahead of her, George, who'd already resumed running and pulling her behind him, turned to her with an inquisitive look in his eyes. "What?" he asked, clearly not having heard what she'd said over all the noise.
"The wards are broken," she said in a louder fashion. "I saw… people are apparating now." And if people could get out, they could so much more easily get in too…
He cursed under his breath and paused for just a moment, considering if he should do the same – apparate away. Not for himself, of course – the day when George Weasley turned his back to a fight to save his own arse was still miles away from being witnessed. But Isabelle Black was a completely different matter – he simply couldn't brush off that incredibly powerful feeling that he needed to get her out of that place as soon as possible. To get her home where she'd be safe. It felt vital and, for some reason, he couldn't seem to come up with any strategy related to the fight that was about to come other than how to get her out of there. And why? one might ask… He knew why – as much as he really didn't want to acknowledge it, he knew exactly why, of all people in that bloody wedding, his family included, Isabelle Black was the one he was so badly dragging away from harm.
"Let's just go," he ended up telling her, concluding that apparating from somewhere where people bumped into them every five seconds wouldn't be the best of ideas unless they wanted to drag someone with them or end up splinched.
"Go where?" she yelled back, finally completely aware of the chaos that was her surroundings. "George?"
He didn't respond, just dragging her once more behind him to the nearest exit from the marquee, and she didn't ask again as her attention was suddenly cast on trying to spot her parents in the crowd. She couldn't find them anywhere in the middle of that mess and imagined the situation would be the same for them. If only she'd brought with her the two-way mirror Harry had left her…
She was able to spot a few familiar features in that mess of people, though: a flash of blonde hair somewhere that she could just tell belonged to Luna, someone in white wedding robes that was no doubt Fleur and several girls wearing dresses just like hers who would be her fellow bridesmaids…
And minister was still there too, she noted. While Bones seemed to be more than willing to fight whatever attack was coming their way, yielding her wand right out of her robes, a couple of Order members whose names Izzy couldn't recall seemed to be trying to convince her she needed to leave and save herself.
"… as long as you're alive and out of their reach, people will never accept Voldemort's crew as their rulers, Minister. You need to go!" one of the order members, the female one, was telling the woman.
She wasn't able to see the woman's reaction to that as, right at that moment, George pulled her out of the tent, passing right by Tonks, who seemed to be trying to make some crowd control, on their way out. A wave of cold air nearly froze both of them just as they stepped outside which, along with the fog that was forming, announced the Dementor's arrival.
"Crap," George cursed. "We've got to go now."
Her eyes widened and she looked at him in alarm. "What? Go where?"
He pulled her aside from the tent's exit so no one would bump into them. "Brace yourself."
And the last thing Izzy could see before he apparated them away from the Burrow was a blurry image of several black-clad individuals apparating nearby. The next thing she knew, she was going through the always unpleasant feeling of apparition and then she and George were standing alone in some alley, away from the noise that had filled the air at the Burrow.
"W… what…?" she mumbled, just gathering her new surroundings before turning to George with wide eyes. "What the hell did you do? Where are we? Take me back! There were Death Eaters there!"
"Sorry to point out the obvious but I got you out of there because of the Death Eaters," George replied, his tone far from its usual joking and relaxed tone. "You need to go home."
Home? It was only when he said that that she realized the alley they were in was just a couple of buildings away from 12 Grimmauld Place. He'd brought her home, she thought, torn between relief and fury, the latter quickly overpowering her feelings. "No, I need to go back. My parents are in there at the Burrow!"
"So are mine – my whole family, as a matter of fact – and that's why I'm going back there just as soon as I make sure you're at home for your own bloody safety," he replied.
She gave him an appalled look. "Oh, that's great! How chivalrous of you. You get me out of the Burrow and want to make me stay home 'for my own safety' yet you want to turn around and march right back there. I'd completely forgotten you were the one out of us two who's invulnerable to injury!" she yelled sarcastically. "If you get to go back, so should I! I learned more about dueling in the year both of us were in the DA than most people do their whole lives!"
"I know but it doesn't work that way, Isabelle. Merlin…" he said, his voice filled with exasperation before he tried and changed his tone. "Look, I'm not the one out of the two of us who's still underage. You've got no place being in the middle of that mess. The Burrow is minutes away from becoming a battlefield!" And Merlin, he thought, did saying that just make him sound like his mother?
Hearing that only served to make Izzy angrier. Her eyes practically blazed. "That's awfully hypocrital of you, George! You never gave a crap of whether you were underage or not, much less where you had place being! What makes my case so different? Me being a girl?"
He rolled his eyes at how absurd that was. "This has nothing to do with you being a girl and you know it," he replied. Normal people said 'thank you', not 'take me back and let me blow myself up' when someone took them out of a bloody battlefield. Why couldn't she be one of those people for just a day? "You… Isabelle, this is about as clear as I'm willing to make myself be right now, so do me and yourself a favour by listening: you're my friend and you were with me when those Death eaters came, therefore it's up to me to keep you safe because, while you're a fifteen-year old schoolgirl, I'm a member of the bloody Order of the Phoenix. Here is where you're the safest, so just go home, tell your house-elf to close the floo connection just in case and stay there until your parents come back. I'm not taking you back, Isabelle."
Frustrated, she pursed her lips and looked at him. He looked more serious than she'd ever seen him or even thought a Weasley twin being capable of being. Still, that didn't change the fact that she was pissed off. "Damn you, George," she hissed. "You are such an idiot!"
"I may be an idiot but you're going home, Isabelle," he carelessly replied, circling her with one arm and tugging her towards the alley's exit. "I've got somewhere else to be."
She huffed. "I can't believe you're going back. That just makes you an even bigger idiot."
"Says the girl who's been yelling at me to take her along," he cheekily replied.
She let out a sound of frustration and just looked away from him. Merlin helped her if that guy couldn't annoy her more than anyone else she knew. Big idiot… And why her, anyway? Why had he dragged her out of the Burrow and not someone else such as any of the dozens of family members he'd had running all over the place too? While at the moment the fact that he's picked her, of all people, to save just annoyed her, for a little moment she almost let herself fall into the delusions of some infatuated girl – which she refused to believe she was – and saw that as a sign George might… just might return her… odd feelings towards him.
Still, it didn't make her any less furious that he was making her stay home like some defenceless child… which she wasn't. Defenceless or a child. She'd been right in the middle of the Battle at the Department of Mysteries in the previous year and made it out practically unscathed… That sort of gave her more battle experience than George and yet the hypocrital jerk was determined to be the one to go back. Just thinking of it made her even more frustrated for the most varied reasons. "If you get hurt or killed over there, George," she couldn't help threatening, "I swear to Merlin I'll find a way to bring you back just to kill you all over again."
George rolled his eyes. "A concerned death threat… every bloke's dream," he replied dryly. "Just go home, Isabelle. I'll be fine and, before know it, your parents will be home."
"You can't really promise that, can you?" she replied.
"No. But your parents always made it back. All you have to do is trust them to do it again and you won't drive yourself mental," he informed her.
"Easier said than done," she told him faintly.
And something in the way she said it or maybe in he way she looked him in the eyes made him see it: she was scared. Beneath that whole I-might-just-punch-you front she was putting up for him ever since he's gotten her out of the Burrow, she was actually terrified. And why wouldn't she be? Her parents were somewhere riddled with Death Eaters and Dementors, her brother had vanished to Merlin-knew-where… their lives had pretty much changed from that day on. He couldn't honestly say she was the only one shaking inside about that…
On her spot, Izzy also seemed to be observing him closely and proceeded to look away from him when she caught his eyes meeting hers. "I'm fine," she said like she could read his thoughts and thought being scared made her weak…
He rolled his eyes. "Come here," he told her.
"What for?"
"Just do what you're told for once, Isabelle," he told her. "I'm sort of in a hurry here."
Nervous, she bit her lip and looked back at him a bit sceptically before taking that little step further and unknowingly allowing him to wrap his arms around her in a comforting hug that caught her, and even him, by surprise.
As embarrassed as she might feel for the first few seconds, that closeness just felt so incredibly soothing that she couldn't help relaxing… soothing and more right than she'd have ever expected or would like to admit. For a moment, she could actually let herself forget what was taking place miles and miles away at the Burrow. She was having her moment.
"It's gonna be fine," he told her. "One way or another, it will… or else Fred and I will probably be out of business pretty fast."
She had to chuckle at that comment and took a step back. "You're still an idiot," she informed him.
"And you're still going home," he replied.
She let a little frustrated breath but, before she could stop herself, she found herself leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on his cheek. "For luck… so you don't blow yourself up or anything," she lamely told him before turning on her heel and making her way along the street leading to her house.
George just stood there, immobile and watching her with wide eyes. Well, she'd gone and done it… That was so not the time… or the place… or the age… He was doomed in so many different ways he couldn't even begin to name them all – the battle ahead of him kind of started looking tame as opposed to only a handful of those. Fred would never let him hear the end of it because he always knew when something was going on with him…
At a distance, Izzy looked over her shoulder to see if he was still there and, when she spotted him, she appeared to give him some sort of annoyed look. Back to being pissed off, he guessed. Maybe she was right and he should have allowed her to fight – he couldn't deny that, were their roles reversed, he's have been equally furious. But he still didn't regret taking her away, even if it was for purely selfish reasons.
When, a few seconds later, he finally saw Grimmauld Place's door opening and Gabriel McKinnon letting his granddaughter into the house, he became even surer he'd done the right thing. She was home and she was safe. That was what mattered.
He'd rather be the idiot who'd pulled her away from danger than the one who'd let her get hurt. And, Merlin, didn't the reason behind that just annoy him…
Maybe he might have found it amusing if he was aware he wasn't the only one feeling that.
They'd never really stood a chance, Sirius thought angrily as he stood by Mia's side while the Death Eaters rounded up the rest of the people that hadn't managed to escape the Burrow around them. Not against that bloody army Voldemort had sent over, outnumbering them by more than three to one after most people had managed to escape.
True, he and the rest of the Order had tried to put up a fight against the invaders but, little more than five minutes into what could scarcely be called a battle, when a third of them had already been disarmed and another third was lying either stunned or injured on the floor, they'd realized that standing down would be their only chance of escaping with their lives. As brave as they might want to believe they were, all of them knew that they were no use to their side if they were dead and, that time, Voldemort had no doubt had the upper hand over them.
"Do you think they're okay?" Mia anxiously said by his side in a barely noticeable whisper. "Izzy and… Harry."
Sirius sighed. At least, he thought, the kids had apparently escaped. While Harry had simply vanished into thin air along with Ron and Hermione, indicating he'd likely anticipated his departure to the Horcrux hunt by a few hours, his daughter had last been spotted by Tonks escaping the marquee along with George Weasley only to not be seen again after that. He could only hope she'd been taken somewhere safe. "Wherever they are, they have to be better off there than they'd be in here in here, love," he reassured his wife.
She sighed and nodded, looking aimlessly around the group of guests, order members and Weasleys the Death Eaters had gathered in front of the Burrow while they searched the house. Everyone seemed to be trying to hide their terror, some more successfully than others.
At a distance, Remus stood at one of the group's edges with Tonks, his arms firmly wrapped around his wife's waist like he was trying to protect her and their unborn child – and, for once, the metamorphagus didn't seem to be fighting back any of her husband's protectiveness at all, just resting her head on his shoulder with a sort of lost expression on her face. It didn't take Mia much thinking for her to conclude her husband's cousin must be shaken up the news of her fallen mentor, Mad-Eye. The man had always had a soft spot for the clumsy auror he and Kingsley Shacklebolt had under their wings.
It was hard to believe Alastor Moody was dead. How or by whose hand he'd lost his life, though, was still a mystery – somehow that made the whole thing feel worse, not knowing how he'd died of if he'd suffered. It was unbelievable. The guy had lived through more near-death experiences than likely all of them together… in a way, everyone had always expected him to be the one outliving them all just to have a laugh about how his constant vigilance had paid off in the end. But it only took once for it to be all over, she thought – that just showed how fragile human life was, no matter how strong or special they grew to believe they were.
Truth was none of them really had any idea of what was going to happen, when or if they'd be able to go back home to their families and make that whole thing nothing more than a bad memory.
"What do you think they are going to do to us?" Mia heard herself asking Sirius.
He sighed and, that time, couldn't bring himself to lie for her sake. "I don't know, love," he admitted, wrapping one arm around her and rubbing her arm, not only to soothe her but also to warm her.
The air around them was freezing cold over being utterly laced with the Dementors' presence. From the spot where he stood, Sirius didn't even dare looking up to see them floating over their heads, sucking any good feelings inside them with their bare presence – just the feeling of having them around, even at a distance, made him feel sick, like he was being pulled right back into his Azkaban years and, even worse, made him wonder if he wouldn't end up right back there before the clock hit twelve that night. The whole scenario just seemed too horrifyingly 'perfect' for sadistic creeps like Voldemort and his pals to skip on. Something told him that, sooner or later, there would be a cell at that black hole with his name on it.
The thought made him gulp heavily and, for the hundredth time since they'd surrendered, he tried to come up with an escape strategy… only to find himself faced with none again: they were literally surrounded by a wall of Death Eaters, their wands had been confiscated until 'further notice' and there were new anti-apparition charms all over them. They were rats in a cage, for all that was worth. It killed him to know that.
"… found this one wondering around the woods," Sirius suddenly heard someone saying nearby, making him turn in the direction of the voice only to see a beefy bloke pointing his wand at what appeared to be a Weasley twin's back while he addressed a Death Eater named Yaxley.
Sirius gulped and looked around the crowd for confirmation that Fred was still among them, hoping, really hoping he'd managed to sneak out at some point only to be captured again, as opposed to the other scenario in his head. That wasn't the case, Sirius quickly concluded by spotting the joke-shop co-owner's presence between Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan several yards away as they aided Molly Weasley in caring for those who'd gotten injured during the fight, oblivious to what was taking place yards away.
That could only mean the one they'd captured was George, which brought up quite the question for him and Mia – if George was over there and he'd been the last person see with Izzy, what had happened to her in the meanwhile?
By his side, Mia, certainly mirroring his thoughts, gave him an uncertain look but didn't say a word. He just grasped her hand in return.
"Ah, another ginger one. A Weasley brat, no doubt. That makes seven with the one covered in pustules upstairs," Yaxley's voice said before addressing George directly. "Got lost, boy?"
"Not really. I was looking for a place free of scum but you seem to be everywhere these days," Sirius heard George replying.
"Quiet," the beefy bloke said, prodding George with his wand in a threatening manner. "What do I do with this wise-arse's hide? Someone ought to teach him a lesson. Can I…?"
"You have your orders until he comes, Beadle. Just confiscate his wand and stock him with the others," Yexley replied before looking at George. "Next time you want to make an escape, genius, try to use your wand instead of your feet."
"I'll keep that in mind," George replied dryly.
Non-amused, the beefy bloke named Beadle gave the redhead a hard push towards the group Sirius and Mia were included in and walked him there at wand-point, complaining under his breath about their orders, whatever they were.
"A pleasure to meet you too, mate," George said after the beefy bloke gave him one last push that landed him right by Sirius's side. "An endless pit of joy, that one," he mumbled under his breath in annoyance before turning to Sirius. "I've got to say this isn't quite the situation I'd expected to find when I came back for the rest of you. I was thinking of something more along the lines of a battlefield…"
"What happened to Izzy?" Sirius asked him, ignoring the younger man's observation
George huffed, obviously still frustrated. "She's fine. I took her home," he replied. "She didn't take it too well. Wanted me to haul her back here so she could help you…"
For the first time that night since the Death Eaters had shown up, Sirius's lips curled into a little smile. "That's my girl."
"So the house is safe, then?" Mia asked. "They didn't try anything over there?"
George shook his head. "It seemed quiet enough to me. I didn't spot any suspicious character around or anything. I saw her getting in and everything…"
Relieved, Mia closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "Thank you," she told George. "Thank you for getting Izzy out here. Just the thought of her being here in the middle of all those curses flying around…"
He shook his head, knowing he'd gotten Isabelle out of there for purely selfish reasons. "It was nothing," he assured Mia before turning to Sirius. "What happened here, anyway? How did they get us so fast?"
"Have you seen how many of them are out here?" Sirius asked in reply, his tone still full of frustration. "There are just as much in your parents' place searching every inch of it – about three for each one of us. We never stood a chance – they had us five minutes into the fight and all we could do was laying down our wands before they started trying to whack people instead of just injuring them."
"Wait, 'started trying' to kill people? You mean they weren't trying already?"
Sirius shook his head. "Not really. The worst I saw flying around here was the Cruciatus curse – not that it's a particularly good sign, anyway but at least there were no killing curses, from what I saw. If you asked me, I'd say the Death Eaters had orders not to really aim to kill as much as to hurt and capture… And something tells me they're not happy about it," he said, noting the looks of pure boredom and annoyance in many of Voldemorts' minions faces.
George nodded. "Well, that explains Mr. Niceguy's temper over there," he said, nodding at Beadle. "The bloke kept complaining about something under his breath… couldn't quite catch what it was but he did mention something about having to answer to 'half-blood scum', whatever it was."
"Half-blood scum?" Sirius repeated, confused. From what Harry had told him from his lessons with Dumbledore, Voldemort himself was as half-blood as they came, although he'd always tried to keep that fact away from common knowledge. But certainly none of his supporters, no matter how stupid or how cocky they might be, would ever dare to think of their master as Half-Blood Scum. Odds were he'd know right away and have their heads mounted on the wall or something equally gruesome.
"They do seem to be waiting for someone to come," Mia offered. "I heard that one… Yaxley, I think, reminding that other man of his orders before someone was to came. Who do you reckon it is? You don't think it's…" she paused, gulping "…actually him, do you?"
Sirius shook his head. "I think that, if he was ever planning to show up, he wouldn't have missed the 'fun' part when curses were flying all over. But let's hope not, in any case," he admitted. "Last thing we need is that one's presence added to the mix."
"And what about… out favourite Seeker?" George asked, purposely lowering his tone and avoiding Harry's name. "I take it he's not around at the moment."
"Gone with the usual two," Sirius replied, sighing. "Although our surprise guests still think one of them is right over there in the house suffering from a certain highly infectious disease. They're avoiding him like the plague."
The redhead had to grin proudly. "Yeah, I gathered they found the ghoul. Some of our best work, mine and Fred's. Took us weeks to make it realistic but it was worth it."
"It was a brilliant idea," Mia admitted with a sigh. She wished covering Harry's escape would be as easy as Ron's…
George huffed. "Any news from how Mad-Eye…? I mean, the Patronus really did say he… or did I mishear it?"
Sirius shook his head. "You heard it right. And we haven't heard anything since. Neither about that nor about how they finally managed to take the ministry down. It's just a bloody mess and we're right in the middle of it."
"If you asked me, I'd say the world has really hit rock-bottom today," George agreed, his tone more serious than ever. "Well, I'd better go check on Mum and the others," he announced. "Oh, and, before I forget, when you see Izzy, tell her she can be pissed off all she wants. I'm not sorry."
Mia gave him a little smile. "Don't worry – she doesn't usually hold a grudge for very long," she assured the younger boy with a little smile before he walked away and she turned to her husband. "What now?" she asked, feeling a bit lost. She wasn't used to that. Having to remain in one place, powerless against the threat breathing down their necks. If there was a fight, she'd ideally fight it. If there was a problem, by Merlin, she'd try to solve it. But now there were dozens of problems she saw herself unable to try and solve and a fight they had already lost. It was disconcerting at the very least.
"Now we wait," Sirius simply replied.
And they did. But at some point, the wait seemed endless. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes like hours, hours like days. The Dementors' presence didn't seem to help that feeling fading – in fact, minute by minute, the air seemed to get colder and everyone's moods gloomier. It just served to remind them of their condition as prisoners and, for the first time since she had gotten Sirius back, Mia allowed herself to believe she could actually understand how twelve years in Azkaban surrounded by Dementors felt like. If what she felt at the moment was even a fraction of what Sirius's reality had been like all that time, she just couldn't grasp how he'd managed to make it back to her. She was sure her sanity would have broken in there after a year, at the most.
Overwhelmed, she wrapped one arm around Sirius and was satisfied when he responded by holding her close. If Voldemort and his crew planned, in any way, to send Sirius back to that place, Mia thought, she'd willingly die fighting them before she let them do that ever again.
"Black… and Black," a voice suddenly called behind them, nearly making Mia gasp and jump in startlement. She turned around to see herself facing some golden-haired Death Eater she'd never seen before.
"What?" Sirius barked back.
"Your presence is required in the house," the man insisted in a bored tone.
"What for?" her husband insisted.
Annoyed, the man narrowed his eyes. "No questions. Now, Black," he said, starting to reach for his wand and promptly pointing it at both of them. "Don't make me go over there and fetch both of you."
By Sirius's side, Mia carefully eyed her tense husband and saw the unsure look on his face, like he was trying to figure out what their best shot was: staying and paying the consequences or going and finding out what they had planned for them… it was almost certain that they'd have to go through the second, in any case. He looked at Mia as if asking for her opinion and she gave him a little nod, mouthing 'we're together on this'.
It was only then that, firmly holding Mia's hand, he took one step forward, towards the waiting Death Eater. "Fine," he mumbled.
Two other men joined the blond one to escort them to the house and, for each step they took, Sirius and Mia couldn't help feeling their heartbeat raising.
What the hell could be awaiting them? Questioning? Torture? Death? Not knowing was the worst part, since it allowed their imaginations to head in the most gruesome directions. There was just no limits to nastiness when it came to Voldemort.
When they reached the Burrow's back door, which usually led to an always comfortable and familiar environment, they felt like they were about to step into hell in whatever form it had chosen to take for them. The golden-haired Death Eater knocked on the door and, when it opened, a more familiar one stepped out – Alecto Carrow.
"Ah, look who we have here, Amycus," the woman said in a taunting tone before her twin brother stepped out of the Burrow behind her. "Our former prison-mate."
Amycus's face became covered with a mocking smile too. "How's life going for you, Black? Heard you fathered a bunch of brats – can't wait to meet them."
Sirius's whole body tensed even more. "What is that supposed to mean, you bloody bastard? If you get ten feet close to any of my kids, you'll be dead before you know it."
Both twins made mock-scared faces. "Oh, Black is threatening us. Maybe we should hide," Alecto said before someone behind them cleared his throat and spoke.
Spoke in a very familiar and very unpleasant voice. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave the small-talk for later – we're on a schedule here. Just bring them inside and leave," Severus Snape said before the Carrows, clearly displeased, shifted their positions in order to open a passageway between them into the house.
But neither Sirius nor Mia took a step – they just stood there, frozen. Neither of them had seen their former co-worker since he'd betrayed them and murdered Dumbledore. The nerve, Sirius thought. The nerve that bastard had not to stay hidden in his little hole.
With his arms crossed and a slightly impatient look on his face, Snape appeared at the end of the passageway the Carrows had created. "Forgot how to walk, Black?" the man asked. "Because I'm sure we can make you remember."
"You son of a bitch," he mumbled under his breath. If he had a wand on him… If he stood a chance at all…
"Sirius," Mia said in a concerned tone. "Let's just…" she nodded her head towards the door and gave his hand a little tug before starting to walk towards it. Her husband followed her but tenser than she'd ever felt him and perfectly silent. Like a bomb about to explode.
By the time they were already standing in the Burrow's kitchen, Mia made sure she and Sirius stood at a safe distance from Snape, who was busy signalling at the Carrows to leave.
"I still think we should be part of this too," Amycus stated. "Help loosening their tongues, if you know what I mean."
"Well, it was me the Dark Lord gave the task of questioning them to, not you," Snape told the other man. "This is one of those times when it doesn't matter if you trust me or not – our Master does and his opinion is the one that counts."
Amycus sneered and locked his jaw before turning on his heel and walking out of the room with his sister on a tow, locking the door behind him.
Just as soon as he found himself alone with them, Snape gave Sirius and Mia a hard look. "Sit," he commanded, pointing at the chairs by the table.
"We'd rather stand," Sirius hissed. "We don't sit with traitorous murderers by principle."
Snape gave him an angry look. "Don't push it, Black. I'm willing to make this easy for you if you also make it easy for me – time is too short to waste with your little games."
Sirius didn't move an inch and just stood there with his arms crossed.
Frustrated, the former potions master turned to Mia. "Amelia, I strongly advise you to remind your husband that there are much worse ways for me to get him to sit. And I really don't mind using them on someone who keeps wasting my time."
Alarmed, Mia turned to Sirius and gave him a pleading look. "Let's just get this over with, Sirius. Please."
He remained immobile for several seconds but, taking in the look on Mia's face, ended up giving in. "Fine," he mumbled, towards one of the chairs and sitting down as Mia took the one by his side. "Happy?" he asked Snape, who stoically sat opposite them. "Let me ask you a question before you have a chance with yours. Do you get a kick out of it? Being a double-faced bastard? Murdering Dumbledore, the only bloke on this planet with enough faith to even consider trusting you? Getting good people like Lily and James killed? That's right – we know it was you who blabbed about the prophecy to your precious Master… who put a bull's eye on their heads. Trust me, if I had my wand on me, you'd be dead for it by now."
"Where's Potter?" Snape asked, promptly ignoring Sirius's accusations.
"What? No answer?" Sirius replied sarcastically. "Guess you really are a soulless piece of crap."
The death eater's lips pressed hard together, forming a very thin, tense line before he reached for the wand in his robes and pointed it at Sirius who just sat still, making an effort not give his nemesis the pleasure of showing him any hint of fear. "If you think your little accusations matter anything at this moment, you're very wrong, Black. So tell me right now and don't make me ask you a third time: Where. Is. Potter?"
"We. Have no. Idea," Sirius replied in the same tone. "And, let's be honest, if I did, which this time I really don't, you'd be the last person I'd spill the beans to. I'd sooner die at the wrong end of that blood-covered wand of yours than do it."
"I'm sure that could be arranged," Snape replied.
"Sirius," Mia hissed, her tone shaky.
"It's the truth," her husband said.
Snape narrowed his eyes and pulled the wand away just a little. "Let me get this straight: neither of you," he said, looking between Sirius and Mia, "know where Potter is?"
"We don't," Mia confirmed.
"You really expect me to believe that? That Potter just left without saying a thing? Left you behind without a word of where he was going?"
"Believe what you want – it's the truth," Sirius told the former head of Slytherin.
"Hum," Snape mumbled thoughtfully, reaching into his robes with his hand. "Then I suppose it wouldn't make a difference for you if one of you drank this," he declared, removing a small glass bottle from his robes. "Veritaserum."
Sirius narrowed his eyes at the other man. He couldn't say he hadn't seen that one coming "So you say. You don't think I'm stupid enough to just go ahead and drink anything you feed me, do you? That's poison, for all I know."
"I suppose you'll have to try your luck, Black."
"I suppose we'll have to test how badly I'll beat you without a wand," he said in reply.
Snape let out what seemed to be an annoyed breath and pointed his wand at Sirius again. "Black, shall I remind you that there are two associates of mine right outside that are not half as patient as I'm being right now? You wouldn't believe the lengths they're willing to go to in order to get you to drink this. Maybe I should fetch them for this."
"Knock yourself out," Sirius replied, putting on his bravest front. "It's pretty pathetic, though, that you find it necessary to fetch your palls to help you subdue an unnarmed…"
Snape made a quick move with his hand causing a flash of red to come out of his wand and, before he knew it, Sirius was being thrown out of his chair and flying back until the nearest row of cupboards, causing a pile of plates standing on the counter to fall with a breaking sound into the sink.
"Sirius!" Mia shouted, jumping to her feet in a fraction of a second and running to her husband's side.
"I'm fine. I'm fine," he quickly told her, despite the sharp of pain on his shoulder-blade, which had taken most of the fall against the cupboard. He was pretty sure nothing was broken or dislocated, though… or at least he hoped it wasn't. Still, it didn't hurt half as much as his pride, which only motivated him to glare at Snape in a defying fashion like he barely felt bothered. "Really, Snivellus, if this is all you've got…"
By his side, Mia let out an angry sound. "Enough, Sirius! This is not the place or the time for you two to poke each other like you're still at Hogwats!" Mia told her husband, completely out of patience for his and Snape's antics as she helped him up to his feet and then back onto another chair. "This is enough," she said before looking sternly at Sirius and then at Snape. "Just give me the potion and be done with it, Severus. I'll drink it."
Sirius turned to his wife, his face covered in shock. "What? No way! Are you insane, Mia?"
"It doesn't matter," she said, sitting back down. "We don't know where Harry's gone – no potion is going to change that. And besides, they're not letting us out of here until he gets to question at least one of us and there are worse ways for him to get the truth than Veritaserum," Mia said before turning to Snape. "Am I wrong?"
"You were always the wise one out of your little duo," Snape commented dryly. "So if it's settled, then, will you do the honours, Amelia?" he said, handing the little vial to Mia, who started uncapping it. "I have more of it, in case you're wondering if you can get away with spilling…"
"Don't," Sirius said just as Mia finished uncapping the bottle, grabbing her arm before she had a chance to drink, ignoring the burning pain in his shoulder. "I'll do it, then."
Snape gave Sirius a little sadistic smile. "The expression 'if you snooze, you lose' is crossing my mind right now. Your wife accepted to take it first – you lost your chance, Black."
"Oh, screw y…"
Snape pointed his wand at Sirius again. "Back. Off," he slowly ordered, receiving a defying look from Sirius in return. "We have been very nice to you so far, Black – we have orders to give you a chance, after all, for all the honour a pureblood is due, regardless of his respect for his blood status. That might not last, though," he said, looking threateningly right into Sirius's eyes.
"Sirius, it's okay," Mia said, using her free hand to nudge his hold away from her arm. She couldn't let her husband turn that into a fight. Not when he was unarmed. Snape was right in one thing – so far the Death Eaters hadn't been as bad as they could have been and it would be stupid to provoke then into giving that up without a properly conceived plan in their sleeves. "It's just veritaserum – it won't hurt me," she assured him, hoping for her own sake it was true.
Looking his wife in the eyes as she nodded encouragingly, Sirius finally let go although he could still feel the terror in his mind drumming in synchrony with his heart – all of a sudden, the dull ache on his shoulder became like a tickling feeling as opposed to his fear for Mia. Trying to use every last bit of control he had in him, he turned to Snape and glared some more. "That had better be all it is – veritaserum."
"If you used your brains for anything but childish purposes, Black, you'd see how dumb it would be for me to kill either of you before getting to question you," Snape simply replied before turning to Mia again. "Well?"
Mia gulped before lifting the vial and stopping right before it touched her lips. "I'd cheer for your heath, Severus, but that doesn't seem so fitting when the purpose of this potion is to be honest in the first place," she commented before finally drinking it. She'd taken Veritaserum before – one time in her sixth year during potions class when they were studying it that particular potion. In her memory, its taste had had quite an intense flavour – sweet to the point of being sickening. That time, though, it didn't quite live up to her memory: the taste was still very sweet but not as much as she recalled it. Maybe her memory was tricking her but the liquid didn't seem quite as thick either when she swallowed it. Odd.
Several seconds passed in silence as Sirius looked at her expectantly, gripping the hand that he'd grabbed at some point she couldn't recall. It was almost like he half expected – and fully feared – she might drop dead at any moment, poisoned by the former potions master.
"Are you okay?" her husband asked.
She turned to him fully intending to respond in an affirmative fashion but what came out wasn't quite what she'd planned. "Of course I'm not. But that's obviously not because of the potion," she heard herself saying.
Sirius gave her an odd look in return but seemed to settle down, just patting her palm under the table with his hand in a soothing fashion.
"Brutally honest, I see. Well, it must have settled already, then," Snape concluded in a careless tone. "I suppose we can get started." He cleared his throat before asking the first person. "Are you Amelia Davis Black?"
"Yes," she replied.
"What kind of question is that? Are you too mentally defected to recognise her now?" Sirius asked in confusion.
Snape glared at him. "Certainly not as much as you are to ask that question. I'm sure I'm not the first person to tell you about a certain potion that can give you someone else's appearance. Now be quiet, Black or else I might consider having you stunned until I'm done questioning your wife. I'm sure you'd like that."
Sirius pursed his lips together but held his tongue. The last thing he wanted was to leave Mia alone at that creep's mercy.
"Do you know where Harry Potter is?" Snape inquired.
"No, I don't," she replied.
"Really?" Snape said. "He didn't give you a single hint of where he might go?"
"No," Mia told him.
"Hum," the former potions master mumbled. "Do you have any way to contact him?"
"No, I don't." And, in her mind, she thanked Merlin the watch she'd give Harry only went one way when it came to keeping contact – that left her enough room to omit without lying.
"Are you aware of any meeting settled with him? To be somewhere at some specific date and time?" Snape continued.
"No," she replied. "What are you people doing with us after this questioning is over?"
"I'm the one asking the questions, Amelia," Snape simply replied. "Was Potter ever here today at this… gathering, whatever it was?"
Mia hesitated. "Yes, he was at the wedding." Keeping it hidden didn't really matter anymore. Harry was long gone.
"Hum… interesting," Snape said, raising an eyebrow. "See, I was told by my… associates that many people had sworn they'd never seen Harry Potter around here today."
That time, Sirius couldn't hold his tongue. "I'm sure I'm not the first person to tell you about a certain potion that can give you someone else's appearance," he declared, mimicking the other man's earlier words exactly.
The former Slytherin just glared at him but decided to ignore Sirius's intervention before looking back at Mia. "So, he was here hidden under Polyjuice Potion?"
"Yes," Mia replied.
"And is he still here? Hidden under someone else's form?"
"No. I've already said I don't know where he is," she said, starting to feel frustrated.
"And when did you last see him, exactly?"
She sighed, recalling the last time she'd laid eyes on her godson. "A few minutes before the Death Eaters arrived… he was in the marquee," she answered. "After that, he was gone."
Snape just nodded and then checked his watch for the time. "One last question," he stated, looking back at her. "Can you think of any other reason why Potter might have left today besides escaping capture?"
Mia gulped and felt her skin chilling. It hadn't occurred to her he might ask that question. It simply hadn't. That was the one question knew the exact answer to and, despite knowing it was impossible under Veritaserum's influence, she simply couldn't answer truthfully. She couldn't take away from Harry the one step he had ahead of Voldemort – hunting down the Horcruxes while the dark lord remained oblivious to the fact Harry knew about them in the first place. She couldn't do that to Harry, she thought, closing the hand she did have connected with her husband's into a hard fist.
"Well, Amelia?" Snape insisted.
"Mia…" Sirius started to whisper.
She gulped another time. She could try and stay silent – Veritaserum could make her be truthful when she spoke but it couldn't make her speak on its own. There were other ways for Snape to get her to speak, though, ranging from unforgivable to the tamest blabbing jinxs… One way or another, she was set to end up giving Snape an answer and, the longer she took, the more determines he'd be to get it out of her. So, despite knowing she stood no chance, she tried with all her might to lie. And when her voice came out, she did. "No," she managed to say in a strangled tone.
"I'm sorry, I didn't get that," Snape said.
"I said 'no'," Mia repeated in a louder tone, barely managing to hide how amazed she felt at her ability to lie. How was it possible under veritaserum when she hadn't taken any of the so-told shady antidotes for it circulating in the Black Market? How the hell had she lied? "I can't think of any other reason."
Her former colleague eyed her for a second. "Are you sure, Amelia?"
She met Sirius's eyes for a moment before answering and could see small, almost unnoticeable signs of surprise on his face. He was clearly trying as hard as he could not to give her lie away. "Positive," she replied, looking back at Snape as she gained a bit more confidence in her unbelievable ability to lie.
Snape observed her for a few seconds with a thoughtful look on his face but seemed to just give in after a while. "Very well," he mumbled, leaning back against his chair. "I think we're done here. I should probably warn both of you that if, by any chance, Potter returns and you don't turn him over, you'll be committing the crime of harbouring a fugitive from the ministry's own wanted list. Named by the Minister itself."
"Now that's something I can't picture Amelia Bones doing," Sirius replied.
"Amelia Bones was relieved on her position, Black, haven't you heard? She's right up there at the top of the wanted list with Potter. Pius Thicknesse is the new Minister."
"With your beloved master pulling the strings as the puppet master, I imagine," Sirius asked sceptically. "In any case, what, may I ask, is a school-aged kid doing in the ministry's wanted list?"
"Potter is wanted for questioning concerning his role in Albus Dumbledore's death," he replied calmly.
Both Sirius and Mia eyed the man in disbelief. "That's absurd!" Mia yelled. "You, more than anyone, know everything there is to know about Dumbledore's death since you're the one who murdered him! You know it. We know it. The world knows it."
"The world knows what Potter told them," Snape said, his tone not letting any feeling by.
Sirius shook his head slowly, full of disgust. "You really are the worst excuse for a human being I've ever had the displeasure of meeting," he said.
"My heart is breaking, Black," Snape replied sarcastically.
"That's rather hard since you don't seem to have one in the first place," Mia replied furiously. "How can you just sit there and tell us so calmly you're letting a seventeen-year-old boy be implicated in a murder you committed? How? Lily was the only decent friend you ever had and all you did was mistreating her son. Now you want him captured and, by obvious extension, dead – like it doesn't mean anything she gave her life to save him. Lily would be disgusted to see what you've become, Severus," she told him, her voice more full of hate than Sirius had ever heard it.
"Don't speak of her," the man said through his teeth. "Don't speak for her."
Mia shook her head. "I've got every right to speak for her because this is exactly how she'd feel. She was my best friend… she was as good as a sister to me. I raised her son for her."
"She was my friend first," Snape replied before he could help himself, immediately regretting them.
"Then it's a pity you didn't cherish that because when you had Lily Evans as a friend, you had everything," she told him and, by Merlin, from the look on his face she could tell he knew she was exactly right. It only angered her more. "You had a second chance at doing good for Lily through Harry and you blew it. You blew it so badly, Severus."
Snape didn't speak, just kept his lips pursed together in anger for several seconds at the same time his hand clutched his wand so hard it might snap. For a moment there, Sirius could almost swear an actual feeling other than anger crossed his nemesis' face – pain… regret, maybe… It just didn't make any sense. If the man still had any sense of loyalty to Lily, how could he be paving every step of the way leading to Harry's potential death? It would be simply sick.
"Out!" the men bellowed after a few seconds, by the time it looked like he might just curse the life out of them.
"What?" Mia asked.
"I said get out, Black! Both of you! We're done here," Snape declared angrily, not sparing him another look as he started to scribble something on a piece of parchment he'd apparently just fetched along with a quill from inside his robes. "Go outside and join your little friends," he added in disgust. "We'll deal with all of you in a little while."
It was with the question of what Snape meant by 'dealing with all of them' in her mind that Mia stepped out of the house with Sirius by her side and was escorted back to where the rest of their friends were huddled together, still waiting to see what was going to happen to them. Night had fully fallen by them, leaving it up to just a few garden torches to serve as sources of light, which made the whole thing seem even more menacing. Up on the sky, the Dementors were barely visible, only giving themselves away when they occasionally passed in front of the shrinking moon.
"Mia," she suddenly heard her husband whispering by her side as they walked, two Death Eaters watching only a couple of steps behind them. She turned to him to see him eyeing her with a confused look on his face. "In there… You…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence for her to be sure he was referring to her lying. "I know," she simply replied.
"How…?"
"I don't know," she truthfully said.
"Oi, yeh two! Quit whisperin'," one of their guards demanded, closing the distance he still had behind them and giving both of them a shove, to which Sirius reacted with a grunt.
Yaxley, who seemed to still be guarding the group of captives, frowned at seeing them being brought back. "Re-joining us so soon?" he asked.
"What? Disappointed they didn't have to drag us here on stretchers?" Sirius replied dryly.
"Can't say I'm not," Yaxley replied, surprisingly honest.
Several faces seemed to be surprised at seeing them back so soon and so apparently unscathed – truth was even Sirius and Mia themselves were surprised at it…
"Are you two alright?" Remus immediately asked in concern just as he and Tonks reached them.
"Just peachy," Sirius mumbled in a frustrated tone. "Anything happen in our absence?"
"Nothing major," Tonks replied. "They questioned a few people, kept on searching the house… What did they want from you in there? We were going mad imagining what they were doing to you in the house… we were already putting a plan together with the Weasley boys…"
"Cause a distraction, maybe steal a few wands and try and get you out…" Remus filled in.
Mia shook her head. "Trust me, you weren't the only ones expecting the worst but it turns out they just wanted to question us under Veritaserum…"
"And you won't guess who they sent to do it," Sirius added, absently rubbing his still aching shoulder.
"Snape?" Remus guessed.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What?… How…?"
"Attention!" Snape's voice called behind them, making everyone turn around to face him and easily solving the mystery behind Remus's guessing.
Sirius and Mia turned around to find most Death Eaters seemed to have gathered in front of the Burrow's door, firmly flanking Snape, who stood one step in front of them. Killing Dumbledore seemed to have caused the former Potions Master to rise into a high position in Voldemort's hierarchy, yet the looks of disgust many of the other Death Eaters gave him behind his back showed he hadn't quite earned all his peers' respect.
"The Dark Lord has requested I passed a message on to all of you," the man announced when he was sure everyone was listening, his voice a monotone. "We are not your enemies."
"Yeah, right," Sirius mumbled to Remus, who just remained silent in return. An echo of many whispers filled his ears, coming from various sources around him – Sirius didn't seem to be the only one sceptical to that statement after all the killing Voldemort had been responsible for. One had to be mentally retarded not to see the irony…
Ignoring the voices, Snape cleared his throat and continued. "Putting order back into the Wizarding World is all we seek as well as correcting… misgiven ideas that seem to have been spread lately concerning starting with this one: there is only one enemy to the Wizarding World and that person is Harry Potter."
More and louder whispers filled the air, underlining the disbelief in everyone's minds. Clearly, Snape had picked the wrong crowd to preach to. Yet, once again, the man ignored them.
"It is Potter we are after and not all rightful witches and wizards in general. The Dark Lord cherishes Wizarding Blood and does not wish to see it uselessly spilled or wasted."
And the purest it was, no doubt, the most 'cherished' it would be, Sirius quickly guessed. No doubt a blood cleansing was on the way – it had, after all, been Voldemort's plan from the beginning.
"That is why," Snape continued, "as a token of his mercy, our master has requested you were harmed as little as possible today and set free to go home to your families."
The feeling that came after that statement was bittersweet for Sirius and Mia – the relief of knowing they were going to make it home was undeniably marred with suspicion for the reasons why they were being let go. It couldn't be that easy, could it?
"However," Snape added, promptly turning to Sirius and Mia as if reading their minds and issuing them a direct warning, "any and all individuals or organizations proven to be directly aiding Potter, communicating with him in any way without properly informing authorities to help arranging capture or hiding his location and plans will not be extended the Dark Lord's mercy. They will be tried and they will pay with no less than an extended stay at Azkaban. No tolerance. On the other hand, all information concerning Potter's whereabouts and plans or about anyone aiding him will be properly rewarded with the Dark Lord's generosity."
On her spot, Mia's hand reached for Sirius's. It was no surprise they were out to get Harry – hearing it straight, however, added a whole other edge to it.
"You can consider this your second chance at proving yourselves faithful to the Wizarding World's rule and you might find it useful to rethink your allegiances. Rebellion will not be tolerated," Snape declared, before turning to the Death Eaters and giving them some sort of signal that had them starting to disapparate away. As his peers made their exits, Snape waved his wand and a series of wands came out of one of the Burrow's windows, each making its way to its owner. "Consider yourselves warned and do trust you'll hear from us again soon," Snape warned one last time before vanishing as well.
A/N: Well, hope you guys liked it! Feedback is really welcome! Review!