A/N: Not much to say, except,

As always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Go back and read the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before this one.

Chapter Thirty-Three A: Would You

A few moments later Orion was sitting in his superior's office, once again trying to summarize what was going on around him.

"Things haven't really changed much." Orion finally finished. "Voldemort just keeps following Arabella around like a love-starved puppy. Whatever attention he can get he takes. Good, bad...it's the indifferent he can't handle."

"So he's persistent?" Bale ask.

Orion smiled slightly. "Very."

"And how is Figg responding to all this attention from him?" Bale inquired.

"At this point," Orion concluded, "I'm just happy if Arabella doesn't kill him as a knee-jerk reaction. I think he's really starting to get to her...and not in a good way."

"Just make sure the ever-resourceful Ms. Figg doesn't do him a permanent injury. We still need Voldemort to find this wizard. That'll be a bit harder for him to do if he's dead."

Orion barely hid the smile on his lips. "Yes, sir." he answered dutifully.

"And what about your plans when this is all done? In the end we have no guarantee that Voldemort will release your brother."

Orion's smile dropped completely. "I'm working on that angle as a possibility." He answered. "One way or the other, Voldemort is going to release my brother."

"And then?"

The smile slowly crept back over the younger man's lips. "My plans there have never changed." he replied with a note of deep satisfaction in his voice. "Voldemort is still a criminal. I couldn't care if from this day forward he's a candidate for sainthood. The man has tortured, murdered, and terrorized the whole of our community for years. Once this is over, he is going to pay for those crimes. Hopefully by spending the end of his miserable life in Azkaban as a mindless hunk of flesh rotting in a cell as cold and dark as his soul."

Bale gave a brief nod. "Just make sure Arabella knows what is expected of her."

"She will."

Bale leaned back in his chair as he studied the other man for a moment. "Are you ready for the journey when Voldemort decides to leave?"

Orion nodded. "I'm actually expecting that to come any day. He's getting more anncy by the day."

"Anncy?"

"He acts like he's waiting for some sign. I don't think the day is of his choosing or surely he would have left by now. He's waiting for something."

"Any idea what we're looking for?"

Orion shook his head. "Not a clue. But I'm keeping a close eye on him. Sooner or later he'll make his move, and when he does I'll be ready."

Bale studies his agent again in silence for a few minutes. "You know you don't have to take this mission, Orion." he stated. "Just say the word and I'll assign someone else."

Orion shook his head. "I'm the best pick for the job, Orin. You know that.

And despite what my lovely bride thinks, I doubt even you consider me so much of a wash up that I can't handle even this."

Bale raised an eyebrow. "You know about Katlin's concerns?"

"How could I not?" Orion stated. "She chewed over them for days, sure that the after-effects of the poisoning would be the death-knell of my career. Actually I'm surprised all you got away with was a mission assignment. Here I was half expecting a promotion and a raise just so you could prove you still loved me." he added with a smile.

"Don't love you that much." Bale grumbled. "But still, you feel there's a problem, just say the word and I'll replace you."

Orion shook his head again. "Like I said, I'm the best pick for the job. Voldemort has no reason to suspect my tagging along. And I suspect he'll still bulk at the idea. Any other agent he'd out-right refuse and likely try a runner on us. The last thing we need is he and Harry disappearing with no idea where they've gone off to and no way to even find out or follow them."

Bale nodded. "All right. But remember we have no way to know what to expect here. But once you start on the journey, keep in close contact. I want to know where you are and what's happening every minute. No surprises."

Orion nodded once as he got up, then headed home.

Back at the house Arabella set about laying out the table for dinner. She carefully set three places, solemnly wishing it were just two. Orion always begged off dinner, but Arabella took no offense in it. Although his explanation was he had work to do, she knew all too well that another place was set and waiting for him each night at his parents house, where his own family waited for him each evening, five eager young children all clamoring at once for their father's attention. And although she would rather he had remained at the house, she knew that the few precious hours he got to spend with them was worth more to him than almost anything, and she wasn't about to deny him that. Especially when he returned each night looking happier than he did all day.

But it seemed to her that the cost of his happiness was her irritation. With no plausible reason to ban him from the table, Arabella found herself forced to share her dinner with Voldemort without the comfort of a buffer. Harry, while usually a proverbial fountain of conversation in ordinary situations, was becoming positively reticent around the dark wizard as of late, restricting his answers to the fewest words possible.

And so that night, much as she anticipated, dinner was a unpleasant torture for her as she tried to remain polite to the man on her left while keeping an eye on her godson.

Despite stew being one of his favorite meals, Harry sat at the table, absently moving his food about his plate while actually eating very little of it.

A fact that didn't go un-noticed by another occupant of the table.

"You need to eat something." Voldemort stated in a tone that wasn't quite an order, but wasn't exactly a request either.

Harry looked up briefly from his plate, but just as quickly turned his stare back to it. "I'm not very hungry." He replied quietly.

Arabella looked over at her godson. "Are you feeling all right, Harry?" She asked with concern.

Harry seemed to consider the question for a few moments.

Or more to the fact, he thought of how to answer it at all. What he was, was missing Sirius. He worried almost constantly about his godfather. If he was all right, trapped in his body, while Voldemort ran about freely with it. The thought that frightened Harry the most was if Voldemort would ever give up Sirius' body. Or if in the end, once they had defeated the other wizard, if he would just apparate away somewhere and Harry would never see his godfather again.

Harry slowly turned his eyes to his godmother. Once again their silent understanding seemed to pass between them as she gave him a warm, embracing smile.

"It'll be all right, Harry." She promised. "You'll see."

"How can you be sure?" Harry asked. "What if in the end, he won't give Sirius back his body?"

Voldemort suddenly lifted his head, a slight frown etched over his features at being discussed as though he weren't even sitting there.

"You don't need to talk to me, Harry." He stated sullenly. "But being ignored is just rude."

Harry turned a sharp stare to the man sitting next to him at the table. "All right then." He stated a little more forcibly. "Then tell me that. Is that what you're planning after I help you find this wizard? Just disappearing with Sirius' body somewhere?"

Voldemort leaned slightly over the table towards Harry. "I said I would release your godfather's body back to him when this was over. I keep my word."

Harry pulled back just slightly from the man leaning towards him. "I want to talk to him." He blurted out suddenly.

Voldemort pulled back. "What?"

"I want to talk to him." Harry replied a bit bolder. "To know he's all right."

"I allowed that just a few days ago."

Arabella quickly came to her godson's defense. "Voldemort, please." She said softly. "Let him talk to Sirius. Please."

Voldemort turned to her with a slightly odd expression. One that hung somewhere between irritation and something Arabella couldn't quite put her finger on. After several very long, silent seconds passed, Voldemort turned his attention back to Harry.

"All right." He replied. "But this is the last time before we leave. The transfer of control isn't some idle game. It stresses the body considerably. Something you would do well to remember."

Harry simply gave the man sitting next to him a small smile. "Thank you."

The change over seemed to Arabella to take longer than usual. But in the end, past a brief, slightly confused gaze, she saw the unerring look of Sirius staring back at her from those eyes.

Launching herself into his arms, Arabella welcomed him with a short but affectionate kiss, making sure he knew just how much she missed him and leaving no doubt she couldn't wait for this whole nightmare to be over.

"Sirius?"

Sirius looked over at the questioning stare of his godson. "Well, I hope so." He replied with a wink. "I'd hate to think Arabella goes around kissing the dark one like that."

Sirius found himself nearly knocked out of his chair by his godson's enthusiastic welcome as well. But he quickly pulled Harry back and stood him in front of him at arms length as he set the teenager with a serious stare.

"Harry, you know my time is limited, so I have to talk fast and you have to listen. OK?"

Harry quickly nodded, knowing from experience that they had no way of knowing when Voldemort would cut their time short or for what reason.

"First, what Voldemort told you is true, Harry. The change-over stresses the body, and its not something we can afford, all right. So limit pressing him to letting you talk to me to when you really need to, not just to visit, OK?"

Harry nodded quickly again.

"Good. Secondly, I can't stress enough to the both of you how important it is to not irritate the man. The more threatened he feels, the more he locks down a tighter grip on me. Even though Remus warned him about the possible effects of doing so, he's not taking that warning much to heart. But the more accepted he feels, the less cautious he becomes, and the more influence I can exert. You understand?"

Harry frowned at the suggestion. "You still want us to be nice to him?"

"I want you to be a little less hostile to him, Harry. I can react to positive feelings a lot clearer than a slap in the face, all right? Everything you do to Voldemort, you do to me. And irritating him just brings up his defenses, and its a lot harder for me to fight against those. Remember that."

"You want me to go around hugging him?"

Sirius gave his godson a small smile. "Maybe not that far. But don't slap me either just to spite him, all right? Just...be nicer to him. I think you'll be surprised how far just a little kindness can take you. Especially with Voldemort. He isn't used to people acting...normal around him. Nor is he use to unconditional acceptance. It's something most of us take for granted. Being able to walk into a room and just talk to people. For all else he is, Harry, Voldemort is a man cut off from normal conventions. People react to him one way usually. Fear. And that fear often breeds hatred. Just...try being a little nicer to him. You'll be surprised how much easier he'll be to get along with if he's not always on guard against everything and everyone."

Harry paused before answering this time, staring back at the man before him. Finally he slowly nodded again. "All right, Sirius." He replied.

Sirius quickly turned to Arabella. "And you," he said, pulling her against him again, "you remember only one thing for me."

Arabella gave him a soft, warm smile. "And what is that?"

Sirius fixed his gaze on her, not one ounce of warmth answering her's. "You remember I love you. And you never forget that. Not ever."

Arabella's expression quickly turned to confusion. The declaration had sounded more like an order than anything. But before she could say anything she felt the body holding her stiffen and she quickly pulled herself out of the arms holding her.

When next she looked into the man's eyes, she could only see the cold darkness staring back at her again. Sirius was gone again, and in his place was the man he had just told her to be more accepting of.

Heaven above! Did he have any idea what he was asking of them?

But Arabella quickly shook off her uncertainty. For all her questions, she had only one answer. One choice. Sirius would not have ask her to do this if he didn't have a good reason.

And there was no time like the present to start.

"Thank you." she said simply. "I appreciate you letting us talk to him again."

Voldemort seemed to shrug off her appreciation. "Don't expect it again any time soon. We'll be leaving here shortly, and once we begin the journey to track down this wizard, I can't have Black distracting me simply because you get lonely for a chat."

Harry, having quickly retreated to his chair, turned his eyes suddenly to the man. "Leaving?" He asked. "When?"

"Shortly." was the only answer Voldemort offered, turning his attention back to his supper.

Later that night, Arabella answered a knock on her door praying fervently that it was anyone other than who she was expecting.

A wave of relief washed over her as she greeted Orion in her doorway.

"Long evening?" He inquired as she stepped back with a sigh to let him in.

"It's always a long night with Voldemort." She replied. "But at least this one was a little more productive than usual. Especially for Harry."

"Harry?" Orion questioned as he closed the door. "What was so different about tonight for Harry?"

Arabella turned back to him. "Harry wanted to talk to Sirius again, and Voldemort agree to it."

"You talked to Sirius?" Orion's interest peaked. "What did he have to say?"

Arabella shook her head. "Much the same as always. He ask us to be nicer to Voldemort. He said that if Voldemort felt we were accepting him more, than he wouldn't feel he had to be on guard all the time. That he wouldn't cut Sirius off from us as much."

"Sounds like good advice to me."

"Easy for you to say." She replied, walking across the room. "You don't spend half the time I do with the man."

Orion gave her a small smile. "Because I'm not the one he wants to spend time with."

Arabella turned back to him. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Haven't you noticed anything about him?"

"Aside from his being an irritating little...?"

"Exactly, Arabella." Orion pointed out. "He's being irritating. Why?"

"He's good at it?"

'He won't leave you alone, will he? You said it yourself. He comes to you a hundred times a day for half a million little reasons." Orion stepped in front of her, meeting her questioning stare. "He wants to be around you, Arabella. The reasons aren't important. Just as long as they accomplish his goal."

"Which is?"

"Being near you without being obvious." Before Arabella could respond, Orion turned her about in his arms so she now stood facing the floor length mirror that hung in her room.

"Look at yourself, Arabella." He whispered in her ear from behind her. "You are a very beautiful woman. And no matter how indirectly, you have shown him some attention."

"By yelling and cursing at him?"

"Attention is attention, Arabella. But more importantly, yes, by yelling and cursing at him."

"Then he's stranger than I thought."

"Listen to me." Orion whispered softly in her ear again. "Yes, you yell at him. You swear. You curse. I wouldn't turn down a bet that you're just five minutes away at any given moment of striking the man. And you do it because you aren't afraid of him. You aren't some mindless little Deatheater doing anything he says without question. I have no doubt you are very intriguing to him. A woman who he is starting to see as an equal. A very competent...very attractive equal."

Arabella paused as she studied her reflection for a moment.

"What is it you want me to do?" She asked in a whisper.

"Play to him. Give him what he wants."

Arabella came out of Orion's embrace in a fury.

"What!" She nearly shrieked at him. "You think I would...that I would ever...!"

"Attention, Arabella." Orion pointed out quickly, holding his hands up in front of him. "All he wants right now is your attention. Give that to him. Talk to him. Be a little nicer to him. Spend more than five minutes alone in a room with him."

"And when that gets old, and he wants more, then what do you suggest I do?"

"I suspect we'll be done with him by then."

Arabella turned to the floor, hugging her arms tightly.

"I don't think I can, Orion. He's..."

"...Sirius." Orion finished for her quickly.

Arabella looked up at him.

"Beneath it all, Arabella, he is still Sirius. Just think of things in that perspective."

Arabella turned back to the floor.

"You are still an Auror, Arabella. You dedicated your life to fighting evil forces. And there is none more evil than the one that presently has its interest focused on you." Orion wrapped his arms about her and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Use that, Arabella. It may be our greatest weapon against him."

Arabella wrapped her arms tighter about her body, hugging herself as though warding off a chill.

"Do you have any idea what this is like for me?" She asked in a low, solemn tone. "To look at him, and see Sirius. To hear him speak, and to hear Sirius' voice. And every time, hoping, and praying, and wishing that maybe that time...maybe this is the time he managed to break free. That he's come back to me."

"Give him what he wants, and someday Sirius will come back to you, Arabella. But in the meantime, know that the more attention you show him, the kinder you are to him, that somewhere underneath all of that, Sirus hears you too. And maybe the sound of your voice, or the touch of your hand is what keeps him alive. What gives him the strength to try and break free. And maybe one day he will manage it."

Arabella thought back to Sirius' parting words to her. 'Remember I love you. Never forget that.' Maybe this is what he was talking about. What he was trying to tell her in his expression. Although it may be Voldemort she is talking to, that underneath the surface he was still there. That the kinder she was to Voldemort, the weaker his defenses and the more possibility he could break free.

But the thought brought with it a fear lurking in the back of her mind.

"Voldemort will kill him before he lets him go free." She stated forlornly.

"Then what better excuse to try and exercise a little control over the man? To get him to a point he won't do anything that would upset or hurt you." Orion turned her back to him. "You're doing this as much for Sirius as anyone, Arabella. Remember that."

Q&A

Silverfox:

Ah, but that's exactly why I picked the word. It would take Arabella a moment to place exactly what Katlin meant (and I didn't imagine it as an afternoon tea scene, but a passing remark in a hallway, so by te time Arabella has realised that though intercourse covers the same meaning as conversation, conversation doiesn't cover all the meanings of intercourse, Katlin would most likely already be out of reach for further questioning ...)
I loved to see the relationship between Katlin and Orin in this chapter. Am finding Orin more and more interesting in fact.

Like the reasoning, Dear. And indeed, leave it to Katlin to use a little word play to make a point and then a clean escape.

Trust me, Orin Bale is a very interesting character. He actually evolved off of a small snippet of a show I saw once. One of those ones with all letters in the title, I think. I only saw bits and pieces of scenes with this character in them. And actually, Bale evolved more out of the 'presence' of the character than his actual personality. Based solely on what I thought of when I looked at the character, the head of the Unspeakables came into being. Orin Bale is a man who, in the most understated way imaginable, gets your attention when he enters a room.

As this chapter showed, his relationship with Katlin is a unique one. Several people may not have liked the idea that they were what could be described as almost downright amiable to each other. But you have to look at the big picture to understand the relationship. Katlin is no longer a blind follower of Voldemort. Someone had once suggested I was going to introduce her into the story and then 'reform' her.

That isn't what has happened with Katlin at all. She is still a Deatheater, still an Elite, and she still believes in the tenets of how she sees society around her. But she also sees that the man who guided her all these years isn't the man he used to be, and that perhaps she'd do well to do a little thinking for herself these days.

But she's also no fool. She knows that a lot of people still blindly follow Voldemort and will do whatever he says no matter how little sense there is in it. Based on that, she remains close at hand to try and steer him away from some of his 'less noble' ambitions.

Knowing that her ideals are still there but that her loyalties have shifted a bit, Orin sees her as an extremely valuable ally in stopping Voldemort. Even though their ultimate goals may not be the same, they both see him as a very dangerous man.

MasterLupin:

well Orion is up to something, and Voldermort had a verbal backslap to the face. Which may alter Voldermort's attidue and cause him to change his plan of trying to get Arabella wraped around his finger. I predict that Voldermort will take on a new means of getting to Harry. I think that he will try to infuence Harry on the trip, maybe try to brib him to his side like he did in the first movie Voldermort tempts Harry with the power to bring back his parents in order to get to the stone. I think that if Voldermort was to do this, that Harry may become weak and ponder his postion.

Orion is always up to something, Dear. It's his nature.

The beauty of Voldemort's plan is it is adaptable. Which is probably why he has managed to take it as far as he has. Until he took over Sirius' body, Voldemort had little else but time on his hands to sit and think out pretty much every blessed contingency to his plan. At this point the others would be hard pressed to throw something at him that he hasn't anticipated or planned for.

The beauty of variables to one's plans is you never know where they will come from. Whereas Voldemort planned to cover every possible situation around him, he never once considered that he himself might become the problem.

In manipulating Harry, Voldemort knows that, in the end, he holds one powerful trump card. Sirius. That there is nothing Harry won't do to ensure his godfather's safety. But being that as it may, Voldemort's trump card is becoming something of a problem in and of itself. Voldemort may have some control over the situation because he holds Sirius prisoner. But equally does Sirius hold Voldemort prisoner in that if anything were to happen to Sirius, Voldemort is SOL with pretty much everyone.

Ummmm..., don't think that Harry will fall to Voldemort's charm any time soon. Harry is still very much on his guard against him.

CelticHeiressFiona:
Another great chapter, as always.

Thank you, Dear.

Skahducky:

Where is Orion going? I wonder if Voldemort's going to change his demeanor now that people are catching onto him. Please update soon!

Actually, funny you should ask.

Originally, Orion was simply running off to see the local plot device, meaning he wasn't really going anywhere, I just needed to close out the scene and that seemed an easy way to do it.

Why did he take Bo with him? Contrary to what people may think, Orion rarely goes anywhere without Bo, or that he isn't at least in some form of contact with him. Especially as tense as things are getting. A fact that will figure into the plot later.

People are catching onto Voldemort? Dear, they aren't even close to figuring out what the dark one is up to, trust me. Voldemort didn't spend the last year plotting and planning just so your average three year old could figure things out. And as for his demeanor, he has very little control over that. Most of Voldemort's change in temperament has to do with Sirius. Without that influence, Voldemort would be back to his old nasty self faster than you could say 'Kill the muggles'.

All reviews are as of 12/10/2006.

And remember,

A train stops at a train station.

A bus stops at a bus station.

On my desk I have a work station...!