A/N: And yes, yes, we all know Book VII is now officially scheduled to come out in July. We are all very excited. Now get over it.
And 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 the one before the one before 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-NINE B: ANOTHER FINE MESS
A short while later, Orion, Arabella, Harry, Lupin, and Voldemort found themselves in one of the dungeons of the old castle. The wizard's people had relieved each of their wands and anything else they had felt was magical, including a small stone Dumbledore had given Harry just before they left the castle that morning. The old wizard had called it 'last resort' as he had handed it to Harry, but had said nothing more about it and Harry hadn't had much time to ask.
Inside the large cell, Arabella, Lupin, and Harry sat on one side of the stone bench that was set against the wall in the back while Voldemort sat on the opposite end, one leg drawn up in front of him with his arms wrapped around it as he stared out through the bars at what seemed to be nothing imparticular. From time to time, Arabella had glanced over at him to see what he was doing. But in the time they had been in the cell, the man hadn't so much as moved or said a word. The lack of movement wasn't so unusual. Arabella had seen the man from her window at Hogwarts on more than one occasion sitting at the lake for hours at a time, never seeming to move so much as his position.
It was the silence part she couldn't understand. From her time with him, it seemed the man hardly ever shut-up. It was as though once in Sirius' body, the man had suddenly discovered the power of speech and couldn't wait to give it a good trying-out. But for the past hour, having decided their best plan for escape was, as in any good game of chess, to wait for the other side to make their move, Arabella had taken to studying the man down the bench from her. To try and analyze what might be going on in his mind at the time. But the only answer she kept coming back to wasn't a thought at all. It was a feeling. One that had, over the past hour been steadily growing until she felt it was practically a physical thing. And the last she expected from him.
Fear.
She had thought she had sensed the feeling in him several times before now. But back then he had always controlled it. As long as they were moving, he seemed to feel more at ease. But now they were caged and apparently unable to escape. The next move belonged to their opponents. And that was apparently not a situation Voldemort apparently liked very well at all.
Whispering something quietly to Harry, Arabella got up from next to him stepped down to the other side of the bench, where she slowly seated herself next to Voldemort.
A pair of eyes followed her progression in their peripheral vision.
"What is it about this other wizard that frightens you so much?" Arabella asked softly as she took her place on the bench.
Voldemort sat in silence for a few moments before answering her.
"I don't know that 'frightens' is the right word."
"Scares?"
"You're quite humorous, Ms. Figg. It's little wonder what Mr. Black sees in you."
"And one of those qualities, I've been told, is that I'm fairly perceptive. And all I'm perceiving from you is fear."
Voldemort continued to stare in front of him, never once turning to face her.
"You've told us very little about this wizard." Arabella stated quietly. "But if he is enough to frighten you above anyone else, then he must be powerful indeed."
"I have explained how dangerous the man is. As well as might he be deranged. I have seen this man's power. Seen what he can do. What he is capable of. And nor am I ready to disregard the notion that this man is really only one of several we are up against, all pooling their power against us. I would find that cause to frighten anyone with any sense." He replied, glancing at the front of the cell, where Orion had been standing for the past hour, only changing his position occasionally as he stood leaning against the bars in an almost bored fashion. "Unlike some people, who don't seem to have the good sense to be frightened."
"I see no point in dwelling on an emotion that will contribute little to our escape." Came the answer from the bars.
Voldemort got up and stalked over to the bars.
"And what has standing here at these bars for the past hour, ignoring the danger we are in, done for you?"
Arabella strategically moved herself back next to Harry. If Voldemort and Orion were going to get into it again, she felt it was her place to protect her godson from the potential fallout.
'Flying debris' coming quickly to mind.
"I haven't been standing here 'ignoring the danger'." Orion replied in a deceptively calm voice. "I simply haven't been letting the situation direct my emotions." He turned a small smile to Voldemort. "Unlike others."
"Do tell, Mr. Black." Voldemort responded. "Was it that fine tuned, analytical mind of yours that got us into this mess to begin with? I thought Aurors were suppose to be so good at sensing traps."
"My attention has been a little divided as of late." Orion answered in the same quiet tone. "What with having to watch out for Arabella and Harry...and you." He added in a particularly sarcastic tone.
"I can look out for myself very well."
Orion looked about the cell before turning back to Voldemort. "And such a fine job you've done."
"You might take into account that I'm not standing in this cell alone, Mr. Black."
Orion only frowned at the comment as he turned back to the bars.
"Speaking of people in the cell," Voldemort went on, "one might ask where is your boggart. He hasn't made an appearance since our last encounter with the lovely Becca. And why are we even here since surely he could have dealt with the wizard's people upstairs as easily as he did before."
Orion kept his stare fixed outside the bars. "I don't like to have Bo defending in closed in spaces. He gets...excited sometimes. I didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt."
"I would have thought your boggart would take care not to allow any of us to come to harm, Mr. Black."
"I was referring to the wizard's people."
"The wizard's...those maniacs attacking us?" Voldemort ask in disbelief. "You were worried about those people getting 'hurt'?"
Orion only nodded.
"Why?"
"For good reason."
Voldemort sighed as he turned back to see what the others in the cell were doing for a moment, then turned back to the Unspeakable. "Well, if you haven't been standing here contemplating the rose garden we're currently stuck in, or how to keep the casualty count down, what exactly have you been doing?"
"Trying to get us out of this 'rose garden' with the lowest number of casualties."
"And?"
"Even if we had a wand, we couldn't get out on our own. The cage is surrounded by wards to keep us from breaking out through magical means and the lock will only respond to the right key. But none of us currently has the option of searching about for it unless they carelessly left it somewhere in this cage."
"Then call your boggart. Surely he could find it without any trouble."
Orion said nothing for a moment. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because this wizard has been learning. And he set this castle up to bar Bo from getting in presently."
"Presently?"
"He's working on it." Orion replied with a small smile.
Voldemort gave Orion a cold smile in return. "Then I guess it will be up to me to provide our cavalry this time."
Orion turned to the man. "Cavalry?"
"You say your boggart is blocked from getting into the castle?" Voldemort ask.
Orion studied the man for a moment. "For the moment."
"Do you know if the magic blocking him is specific to just him?" Voldemort ask, knowing well the Unspeakable's proficiency not only with creating wards, but with feeling out their uses as well.
Orion paused for a moment again, feeling out the wards around them. "It appears to be. Why?"
"If the magic is centered on keeping your boggart out, then perhaps for the moment our host is distracted working on that. I would think a spell that could keep your boggart out would have to be fairly complicated and require a great deal of power."
Orion neither confirmed or denied the man's suspicions.
"And the wards surrounding this cage? Are they specific too?"
"To what?"
"You said earlier the ward was designed to keep us from using magic to get out. Is that all it is set up to do?"
Orion paused for a moment, feeling out the ward around the cage again. "It seems to be." He responded finally.
"I'll need a wand." Voldemort stated matter-of-factly.
Orion scoffed at the request. "If we had a wand, we could get out of here ourselves!" He snapped back.
"Not unless it was the wand that opens that particular lock." Voldemort pointed to the door of the cell. "And our chances of getting our hands on that particular wand from in here are slim indeed. However, that isn't the wand I need. I can use any wand. It doesn't matter."
"For what?"
"You suggest that this castle is currently surrounded by a very powerful magical ward. One directed at your boggart, but one nonetheless. I need a focal point to get through it. Hence, a wand."
"Well, then, we'll have to wait for one to come to us."
"Which will be...?"
"They'll have to feed us some time."
"Assuming they don't intend to leave us down here to starve."
"Then we'll have to think of something else. But in the meantime, we'll work on getting you a wand."
"And you expect whoever comes down here to feed us to leave one on the tray?"
Orion gave the man a cold smile. "No. But as I said, this man is learning...from us...and about us."
"And?"
"And I intend to teach him a lesson he won't soon forget."
Voldemort stared at the man next to him for a moment before returning to his seat on the bench. Positioning himself this time, Arabella noted, as far to the end as he could without falling off.
The wait for opportunity wasn't as long as Orion had thought it might be. A few moments later a woman came down the steps and approached their cell carrying a small tray.
"I was told to feed you." She stated plainly. "Move away from the bars."
Orion did as he was told, but kept his attention positively fixated on the woman. As she glanced back up at him, he favored her with a small smile.
"That's very kind of you." He said in a soft, gentle voice. "Thank you."
The woman gave no reply, but her eyes never left Orion's. But as she stepped up to the bars, she reluctantly tore her gaze from his and turned her attention back to her task.
Orion smiled again slightly. He could feel her emotions coming to the surface. Sometimes it was so easy, it was laughable. Her focus wasn't all on her work anymore. A small distraction was all he needed.
"Perhaps you would be kind enough to answer a question?" Orion asked, trying his best not to make it sound condescending.
The woman set the tray down and shoved it through a small opening in the bars. She apparently didn't like being near the cell with the odds stacked considerably against her. But once she backed away from the bars, she turned back to the man in the cell.
"What question?" She replied.
"What exactly is suppose to happen to us?" He asked as softly as before. "We have no idea why we're even being held here."
"Really?" She answered with a small laugh. "Somehow I don't believe you're actually that naive."
Orion stepped up to the bars, giving the woman his most charming smile. "All right. Perhaps I have some idea. But that still doesn't answer the first question."
"And I should know the answer to that?" She asked, clasping her hands in front of her.
"Well, I hoped you could give us at least some idea." There was no harm, Orion figured, in trying for a little information along the way to a subtle seduction.
The woman seemed to think the question over. "I suppose you're to be kept here for the time being."
"Kept?" Orion questioned, putting a decidedly hopeful tone in his voice. "So," he added with a small smile, "we're not to be killed outright?"
"The lord has no desire to kill you." She replied, casting a quick glance to the sole figure at the end of the bench before glancing back at Orion from under her lashes. "Well, not all of you." She added.
Orion followed her stare, then turned his characteristic smile back to her. "I wouldn't stop him." He replied quietly.
The woman looked puzzled. "But the man is your friend." She stated.
Orion shook his head. "All captives aren't in cages, Love." He replied.
The woman's eyes shifted again to where Voldemort sat. "He controls you?" She asked.
Orion only nodded very slightly in return.
"The lord would be interested to know this." She said quietly, turning her stare back to Orion. "He says you work together to try and destroy him."
"I have no desire to kill your master." Orion answered sincerely. "Given the chance, I would gladly serve him."
The woman's interest peaked considerably. "Really?"
Orion pressed his point. "After all," he stated softly, "there's so much incentive within his ranks."
The woman positively blushed at the comment.
"I will speak to my lord about this." She promised. "I will tell him you do not serve this man willingly, and that you wish to serve him. I am sure he would gladly accept you."
"Wait!" Orion stated, reaching between the bars and grabbing her arm. But he quickly released his hold, pulling his arms back inside the bars as he felt the woman pull away from his hold.
"I'm sorry." He replied. "I didn't mean to frighten you."
The woman stood a slight distance from the bars now.
"What do you want?" She asked a bit more formally.
Orion silently cursed himself. One wrong move, made too soon. He wasn't sure he could correct the mistake now.
"Let me talk to him." Orion replied. Everything now he banked on the wizard keeping his followers ignorant of any major information about them. And if he was right, the most crucial piece of that information was Bo.
"You will." The woman replied. "In time."
"No." Orion insisted gently. "Now. I have to talk to him now. There's is a great deal I could tell him. Things he doesn't know about this man." He added, gesturing to Voldemort with a slight turn of his head.
"You can tell him when you see him then."
"You don't understand." Orion replied, lowering his voice to give the impression he didn't want the man in the back of the cage to hear him. But the action achieved it's even more sinister reason as the woman moved a few steps closer to the bars of the cage to still be able to hear him.
Orion gave her a frightened, pleading look. "If the man senses I will betray him, he'll do whatever is necessary to keep me silent. Anything that he has to."
The woman seemed to be considering the situation. All she needed was a small, gentle nudge.
"I am very high ranking in his followers." Orion said quietly. "I know more about the man than anyone could. All his secrets. All his strengths. I could hand your master the keys to controlling this man...or destroying him. Whichever he desires." Orion pressed closer to the bars. "And I would tell him who was responsible for getting me to tell him these things. Who convinced me it was the right thing to do. I am sure that would carry no small reward...for either of us."
The woman's eyes brightened at the suggestion. "No, indeed. My master would be most pleased with both of us. You're ranking within his followers would be assured."
Orion smiled at her. "And I am sure he would not begrudge me a proper, suitable, if not pleasant assistant, to help me acclimate."
The woman blushed again. "Most certainly."
"Then take me to him." Orion whispered to her. "And we will be well on our way."
The woman took a step closer to the bars, her face taking on a look of disappointment. "I don't have the key."
"Can you get it?"
The woman nodded.
"Then be quick." Orion told her, but stopped her all but running out the door. He still hadn't gotten what he wanted. "But don't hurry out." He warned. "If he gets the slightest idea in that little mind of his that we're up to anything, I'll be dead before you come back. And don't come back alone. Bring five...six others with you."
"Why?"
"When he sees you come back so soon, he'll be suspicious. He may have even heard us. You come back alone, or with too few people, and he'll try to escape now more desperately than ever."
The woman nodded quickly, stepping back from the bars. But Orion reached out slowly and took her arm again in a much gentler hold than before. "Wait." He said softly, with a small smile. To his relief, the woman not only didn't pull back, but followed his lead as he guided her with a feather touch back to the bars.
She looked up at him with a welcoming smile.
"What?" She asked, her voice hedged with a touch of silk in it now.
"One last thing." Orion said quietly as he fixed his stare on her's through the bars.
"And that would be?"
"Do you have your wand?" He asked.
The woman looked up at him a bit nervously. But Orion's hold on her arm was light and un-threatening. Pausing for a moment more, she finally nodded with a small smile.
She realized to late that the smile wasn't returned.
"Good." Was all the man before her answered in a very cold voice.
Orion registered the look of surprise the instant after it appeared in her eyes. And he didn't hesitate for a second more. He tightened his grip abruptly and yanked the woman into the bars of the cell. The body hit with a deadening thump against the cold steel. An instant later the woman's unconscious body slumped to the ground outside the bars.
Orion was already quickly searching through the woman's robes when Voldemort joined him at the bars.
"A few more minutes of that, Black," He whispered to the man as he continued his search, "and I would have been dating you."
Orion quickly retrieved what he was looking for and handed it to the man behind him. "Sorry. You're hardly my type." He replied flatly. "What are you going to do?"
Voldemort stepped to the center of the room, "See if I can't summon someone more your 'type'." He replied with a small, mirthless smile.
Grasping the wand between his hands as he held it in front of him, Voldemort closed his eyes and focused on the piece of polished wood. The wand wasn't his, so it would take more effort than usual to get the object to do his bidding. But slowly the wand began to glow in a soft red light. As the other three occupants of the cell watched, the light continued to deepen in color until it was completely black. It then shot straight up toward the ceiling in a near silent explosion of power, and disappeared.
The group sat in silence for a few moments, watching. Harry was about to ask the inevitable 'now what?', when the bolt of light returned, shooting down this time from the ceiling and ending in a second silent explosion as it struck the ground in a flurry of dirt and dust just outside the bars of the cage.
As the dust settled, a lone figure unfolded itself from it's robes like a flower opening itself to the morning sun.
A less accurate description could never have been made.
Standing in the spell's aftermath, was Katlin Griss.