Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people. Good enough?
The Return of the Gray Ghost
Part II
The next two weeks proceeded apparently as those prior to Penelope's meeting with what they were now terming the Gray Ghost Support Group, with two exceptions. The first was that Molly was raving about Penelope's abilities at making chamomile tea. She claimed that it was the only thing that allowed her to sleep at night. Penelope was slowly weaning the distraught woman off the calming draught, but it was still helping her. Penelope felt that much of it was psychosomatic.
The second was that that Penelope had taken a job at the Ministry, continuing Percy's work – in more ways than one. Her official title was "Executive Administrative Assistant, Magical Transport Division, Floo Network Section." Her unofficial job duties were those of go-fer, tea-girl, and chimney sweep, and her unofficial title, according to Melinda Edgecombe, was "that Mudblood girl."
Penelope didn't mind, though. She had a list, and it was growing by leaps and bounds every day. 'Inbred pure-bloods,' she thought, 'are too stupid to realize that calling the Ravenclaw that handles their crooked sets of books names is not conducive to proper working relationships.'
Every evening before heading home from work, she would slip her diary and charmed duplication quills into her purse, and walk out with a copy of every shady transaction that happened in the department for the day. A lot of it was general graft that always runs rampant in a bureaucracy, twenty galleons trading hands to jump the scheduling queue to sometime in the current century for a hookup, another twenty for looking the other way when one of Dumbledore's portkeys were used without it being registered beforehand, minor things like that. When Julia Crabbe came in with ten thousand galleons, however, it set off alarms Helen Keller would not have failed to notice. No details were present on the accounting, of course, but a quick check of the work schedules showed that a maintenance shutdown had suddenly been put into the queue for that night.
The next time she was sent out for tea, Penelope lofted an airplane note to her father-in-law to meet her for lunch, and to see if the "Support Group" would be able to meet after work. After she returned to her office, she placed a quick floo call to Molly, informing her that Sharon Marchbanks, Amelia Bones' "friend," wanted to talk with her over dinner that evening. That might not have been the best thing to say to Molly.
"Penelope, dear. Are you sure that you want to be alone with that woman?" Molly asked.
"Yes, Mum. Why ever would I not be willing to discuss my loss with someone who is in much the same situation?"
"But dear... I'm not sure you would know about this, given your young age, but there has been talk about Sharon and Amelia..." Molly trailed off suggestively.
"You mean about them being lesbians?" Penelope asked, point blank.
"Dear! I mean, I would never say such a thing, but Rita Skeeter said that they had a relationship, even before dear, sweet, gullible Edgar passed on."
Penelope had heard from Pop just how much fun "dear, sweet, gullible Edgar" had gotten up to with his wife and her "friend." If the Death Eaters hadn't taken him out, he'd have died with a smile on his face from a terminally sore willy. If the two wanted to continue their relationship in a manner similar to how they had with Edgar while he was alive, Penelope knew that Edgar had been happy for them both. But she couldn't let this slide.
"Mum, are you still believing the poison that harpy Skeeter is spewing? You know what she's like. If she gets it in her head that something will sell papers, that's what goes on the front page. That whole 'outing' episode came around because she was tipsy and propositioned Amelia one night, and Amelia laughed in her face." Penelope replied heatedly.
"W...Wh... What?" Molly spluttered. "Wherever did you hear that?"
"From Sharon. She and Amelia were having a 'girls night out' at the time, which is where Rita got the ammunition for that article. But, since Rita never EXACTLY wrote that either of them were died-in-the-wool carpet munchers; they couldn't bring her up in court. That's how Skeeter makes her living. Lies, half-truths, and innuendo. Judging by the fact that she's in size 32 dresses that show off her cankles nowadays, I'd say she's pretty good at it, too. She knows just how far she can go without getting into a lawsuit. Anytime she gets too close, she shifts targets to someone that can't fight back for a while, like Potter or just about any Muggleborn."
"All right, dear," Molly sighed. "I'll give Sharon and Amelia the benefit of the doubt for you, if you'd like. But please be careful tonight, and make sure to come home in time to fix my tea for me, please? I just can't seem to sleep without having you safe at home." Molly smiled at her daughter in law as she said it.
Penelope felt like she was talking to a particularly slow-witted child, speaking to Molly. She loved the woman dearly, but logic and clear thinking were not something she was noted for. She was honest, straightforward, and fiercely protective of her family and its status. Unfortunately, she still thought that everyone else was honest and straightforward, especially those witches and wizards at the Daily Prophet. Even with the experiences of her so-called "adopted son," Harry Potter, to prove to her that the Prophet was simply a misspelling of "profit," she continued to believe every word that Skeeter and company printed. Maybe, just MAYBE, she'd be able to break her of that habit before she was sent to be with her beloved Percy.
After receiving a very short note from Arthur confirming lunch plans, Penelope sent another airplane off to Sharon Marchbanks to meet immediately following work for a walk from the Ministry to the 'Cauldron, so that she was not technically lying to Molly. 'Of course,' Penelope thought. 'Just because Rita happened to be correct in this particular instance didn't mean a thing about what she had told Molly. She and Sharon were both in mourning for their significant others, their best friends.' It would be perfectly natural for them to get together to talk on the way to destinations near each other. Besides, there's safety in numbers, and no one would think twice about what she might be up to tonight if she had someone to use as an alibi. If her coworkers thought the 'Halfblood Lipstick Lezzie' was hitting on the 'Bereaved Mudblood Bitch;' that was far better than the truth. The truth would either get her sent to Azkaban or killed before she had a chance to enact her revenge. Being thought of as the village bicycle was better than that. If playing that role would get her her earrings and end the Malfoy line, she was more than willing to pay that or any other price.
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Her meeting with Arthur was short and sweet, because Melinda wanted her lunch brought to her at precisely 12:20 that afternoon. She explained what had happened that morning while wolfing down a sandwich and a small order of chips.
"Are you sure it's not just routine maintenance at the Abbott's?"
"If it is, it came up awfully fast after Julia Crabbe came by. Normally we get at least a week's notice before something like a shutdown happens. I know the Abbott's haven't called in complaining about their service. A quick look at the matrix shows everything is fine from the Junction onto the Main Trunk. They aren't having any problems anywhere west of London. As it is, we won't even have a chance to send an owl out to Blackpool to let them know their service will be down tonight. It just doesn't add up, so something is going to happen, Pop. I know it is."
"All right. We'll meet at the twins' shop after dinner tonight and stake out Paul and Rosie's. Charlie needs a bit of a workout. He's getting too cocky from beating up on his brothers. Let's see what happens when he plays point in a real situation."
"Thank you, Pop."
"For what?"
"Believing me. Believing IN me. And for letting me believe in myself."
"You don't need to thank me, but you're very welcome, Penelope." Arthur replied. "Now get going. You have five minutes before the cow has a coronary."
Penelope chuckled at the thought of a Jersey cow with Melinda's face kicking all four hooves up in the air from a heart attack. "Later, Pop." She kissed him on the cheek and returned to work.
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After work, Penelope met with Sharon in the lobby, where they exited together and walked to the Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat while having a bit of small talk. During their conversation, Sharon noted that when certain names came up, Penelope's eyes would turn to stone. After they finished their dinner, the pair departed for Muggle London together. After walking a couple of blocks, Penelope stepped into an alley, turned to Sharon and said, "Well, this is where I get off the beaten path. Thank you for having dinner with me."
Sharon looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You're using me as an alibi, aren't you?"
The blood drained from Penelope's face. She should have realized that the lover of an auror and politician for thirty years would be able to read situations and decipher motives as second nature. It was a mistake to underestimate this woman. 'Should have gone out to eat with Tonks. The changeling's natural hair color has to be blonde. Too late now. My alibi is going to be shot to shit.'
Sharon pressed her advantage. "Is it legal?"
Seeing her victim squirm, she grabbed Penelope's left sleeve and exposed her forearm. Penelope jerked her arm away and drew her wand with her right. Anger now replaced fear. "What are you doing, bitch? Do you really think that I of all people would be walking around with that bastard's tattoo on my arm? They fucking killed my HUSBAND! What I'm doing may not exactly be legal, but it's right. You have thirty seconds to convince me not to obliviate you and running the risk of some touchy questions down the road."
"Easy. easy... I had to check. It's a dangerous world nowadays, and you were acting very strange. I swear that as long as you're not out to kill Harry Potter or something stupid like that, you've still got your alibi. Four ninety-six alpha, twelve thirty three delta by sixty-eight zeta. It's my flat's apparation coordinates. If you decide not obliviate me, go there with me now, and then when I step into a different room, go do whatever it is you're doing. After that, come back. You can tell me or not, your choice. You just have to come back after you're done so that if I get hit with veritaserum, I can say that we left the Ministry, ate dinner, we went to my place and you left my flat that evening. Unless someone at the Ministry has grown a set of balls lately, no one will have the nerve to ask what we were doing there. Edgar put three hit wizards with big mouths in the Permanent Spell Damage ward thirty years ago for talking about the three of us out of turn. It hasn't been an issue since. Good enough?"
Penelope sighed. "All right. No, I'm not a defense professor, so I'm not trying to kill my almost-adopted brother-in-law. I'll trust you enough to go to your flat to get off the street here. We'll have a short conversation, and you will step into the loo. Later, I'll be back and you can see me leave. Thank you, Sharon. If it makes you feel better, I like you and I'd have really hated to have to mind-wipe you."
Sharon grinned wryly and said, "I like you too, kiddo, and I'd have hated to be mind-wiped. Let's go."
"Wait." Without another word, Penelope disillusioned herself, concentrated on the coordinates, and apparated away. As she arrived at her destination, she immediately dove to the front and left of her position, rolled twice and...
Slammed directly into the couch after landing wrong on some piece of breakable furniture. Sharon arrived just in time to see her coffee table turn to splinters and her couch relocate itself two feet closer to the wall than it was normally. "I see someone has trust issues," was all she could say before giving in to her need to snicker. The snickering turned into an laugh that had more than a bit of hysteria mixed in. "You remind me of Alastor the first time he came here," she managed to gasp out while finally getting her breath back.
Penelope remained disillusioned, more to hide her embarrassment than from thinking of possible dangers. "Well, let's just say that while I may not have been taught by Professor Moody, I had someone else drum 'Constant Vigilance' into my skull."
It was true. Arthur had been working with all of the kids to raise their abilities. Charlie may hold the current title of 'Gray Ghost,' but the rest of them were likely to be needed as a backup, and sometimes he might need to be seen in the same place as the 'Ghost. Arthur had said that last time his biggest problem had not really been the Death Eaters, but keeping the secret from Molly and the Headmaster's little group of friends. Dumbledore would become suspicious if Charlie was "busy" every time the 'Ghost was out and about, and might even turn him in to the aurors, just to guide him back to the Light, of course.
"Of course, Alastor was paranoid about the Sorting Hat wanting to look in his mind at Hogwarts," Sharon returned.
Penelope removed the spell and returned to sight. She then burst into giggles at the thought of a scarred; one legged eleven year old holding the hat at wand point. "I can't say I blame him. That Hat was a complete pervert. You should have seen the images it flashed at me when it was trying to figure out if I would fit into Hufflepuff."
"I did. Why do you think it put me in that house?" Sharon returned with a leer. "Now, what can you tell me about your activities for tonight?"
"Not much, I'm afraid. It is probably illegal, but it's not immoral. At least I don't think it is. I'm doing this for Percy's memory and myself. Is there going to be trouble? Yes. Without a doubt. Are people going to get hurt? You betcha. With luck it will be the Death Eaters that are doing all the hurting. No, I can't tell the aurors because I can list you an even dozen that are either out and out Death Eaters or at least Voldemort sympathizers, and there are probably a hundred others in the Ministry that could find out about it. I like breathing too much to allow that to happen. Now, that's probably more than I should have told you, but less than what you want to know."
Sharon frowned. "You're right on both counts. If you're going after those bastards, I'll alibi you, though. It's the least I can do. Just make sure you pop back here when you're done so that we can get the story straight, and BE CAREFUL. I wasn't kidding when I said I liked you, kiddo. You're smart and you have style. That said, I think it's time I started a bath water running."
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"Well guys, sorry I'm late. My alibi took a bit longer than I thought to set up," Penelope said as she arrived.
"Alibi?" Charlie questioned.
"Yes. As it is, I'm the only one of us that doesn't have one. Charlie, You're staying at Bill's flat. You were both home tonight, and can cover for each other. Arthur told Molly he was on the trail of a biting toilet seat, and his logbook will reflect a night of looking for one that he could get a sample of the magic from, but was on a wild goose chase. The twins are in the same boat as the two of you. I had to come up with a reason to get out of the house, and still be safe from prying eyes at the Ministry. Sharon figured out I was up to something, but is covering for me. After our little session tonight, I go back to her place, and she sees me leave. Then she can honestly say we left work, got supper, went to her place to talk, and I left after whatever goes down. Nice and airtight," Penelope smirked.
"Sharon?" Charlie asked. "The dyke Amelia was with?"
"Charles Emerson Weasley!" Penelope scolded. "Sharon is a nice lady that just lost a good friend! I doubt that you have proof of what their sex life was like, so I will thank you not to bring it up. Besides, even if she is a lesbian, it's not like anybody at work can think any less of me. As is, they will think what they want and continue to be blind to what I really am. And that works into my plans just perfectly," Penelope finished off he tirade with a devious grin.
Arthur chose that point to derail the conversation they were on and bring the meeting to its purpose. "Now, here's what's probably going to happen tonight. Abbott Manor in Blackpool will be attacked tonight. The floo is due to be shut down at eight, and be down for two hours for maintenance. That's the timeframe for the attack. It will be full dark by then, so it could happen at any time after eight, but I'm betting it will be at eight on the dot. Death Eaters don't strike me as the most patient of people. Here's how I see our part playing out…" He then went on to detail everyone's parts.
The twins then loaded everyone up with some the nastiest creations they had come up with. Charlie looked at one of the items in particular. "Fred? George? What's this?" He asked, holding what looked like three metal balls connected with five feet of piano wire.
The twins grinned at each other as Charlie held up one of their most brilliant ideas. "Oh. That?" Fred began.
"That's what we call a bola constrictor"
"Mark Two."
"Dumbledore thought the first version was too dangerous to use, as the ropes might crush bones and hurt his 'breeding stock' as it began to squeeze the victim."
"We saw the error of our ways, though."
"He was right, though. Even you must admit that, little brother."
"By four and a half minutes. Yes, I agree. I'm so glad we improved them." George looked back at Charlie with a feral grin. "Now it will cut right through the bones."
Charlie shook his head. "Where did you two come up with something like this?"
"Oh. Blame that on Bill."
"He was the one that told us about those gowcher people he saw in Argentina, and how they use something similar to catch cattle and to hunt with."
"Needless to say, Dumbledore forbid us to give these to anyone in the Order."
"Even Moody. So if we use these, we –"
"need to make sure no one else sees them, or he'll know we were in on tonight's festivities."
Bill grinned and shook his head at his little brothers. Trust them to take something as useful as a set of bolas and make them into a tool to cause mayhem. He'd never been prouder of them in his life. "You know guys, I've come across a few other things you might be interested in… improving later on. We'll talk about those later on, though. Now, the Death Eaters will probably have a standard three-man team and a few sappers to bring down the wards and put up their own anti-app and anti-portkey wards. Those three are going to have to keep up the chant unless they bring their own runestones, and I don't see them as being willing to go to the work of mapping and carving the stones just to do a quick and dirty job like this. They only need the wards for a short time to keep people in the house and away from the site until it's too late. Here's how I propose to put a kink in their plans. Guys, are these bolas self guided?"
"No"
"We've gotten quite good at throwing them, though."
" We even practiced on our brooms."
"Okay. You two will take out the two that are guarding the chanter. Penelope, you take the chanter himself. They have to go down fast and without anyone else finding out, or our asses will probably be in a sling. While you're doing that, the three of us will continue with Dad's plan. After you get them dealt with, you'll find us where the screams are. With a bit of luck, it'll be their screams, not ours."
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A series of pops would have been heard, if there had been anyone near the apparition point a quarter mile from Abbott manor. All six disillusioned Weasleys came in, dropped and rolled away from the point of entry and scouted the immediate area. Charlie, as the nominal leader while on the mission, cancelled the spell after he received five "Clear" reports. The clan quickly took up lookout posts to watch and wait for their chance to ambush the ambushers.
At eight ten, Penelope Weasley's spell-enhanced eyes winced as the area lit up with the heat signatures of twenty plus targets that appeared a short distance away. Penelope sent the agreed upon signal through the communication mirror the twins had provided, giving a brief thought to the conversation the 'Ghosts had had when they were introduced to the idea.
"Heard about it from Harry, we did."
"He told us about how Sirius had given one half of a set"
"to him and he never even thought to use it to talk to him."
"Well, after a short talk"
"rather long series of talks, really"
"with Remus, we came up with our version."
"But what do they do?" Penelope asked.
"They are a set of communication mirrors, Penelope."
"Modified to be used in a group."
"Instead of the original two way communication"
"that Sirius and James had"
"Ours will work for up to eight people."
"Does the Order know about these?" Arthur asked.
"Yup, but Dumbledore"
"Shot us down again,"
"said there were more than eight members"
"in the Order and didn't want to be seen as playing favorites."
"I don't think he's really interested"
"in our work, since we dropped out"
"of his precious school."
"Well," Bill chuckled. "His loss is our gain. How's it work?"
"Each of us is assigned either a corner or a cardinal point,"
"and then tap your point and then who you want to talk to."
"If you want to broadcast to all of the mirrors,"
"just tap the center. Then just talk."
"The person on the other side hears and sees you."
"Your mirror shows who your talking to. In their station."
"When you're done, double tap your own point and its back"
"to being a mirror again."
Penelope had cast a couple of charms on her mirror and was astounded at the number and complexity of enchantments on it. "You threw your OWLS, didn't you? You threw all of your grades at Hogwarts. You could have gotten at least E's, and probably O's in Transfiguration, Charms and Potions." she asked, shrewdly.
"Muggle Studies, Runes and Arithmancy too, Sis."
"And an O in DADA NEWTS, thanks to Harry."
"We're better than Alicia was in the DA,"
"and that's what she got."
"We've been found out, dear brother."
"But at least it was by a Weasley"
"so our secret is still safe. "
"Just don't tell Mum. We'd"
"never hear the end of it."
"I appear to be in the company of genius," Penelope said. She then grinned and said "Either that, or a couple of idiot savants."
The twins adopted looks of hurt before joining the rest of the family in their laughter. "At least Percy was smart enough to pick a girl that could get along with this family." The twins then hugged her from both sides.
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As she came back to the present, the twins met up with her on their brooms. She quickly unshrunk hers and joined them in the air.
"All right, Sis?" George asked.
"Yes. Just wool gathering. I won't let it happen again."
"Careful, Sis." Fred said. "We need our wits about us tonight. Now isn't the time for pre game jitters."
"I'm okay, guys. Thanks."
The three flew silently around the perimeter until they had spotted the warding crew. They then took up positions fifty feet up and behind the group to wait for their chance to strike. In a depressingly short period of time, they saw the wards collapse and most of the Death Eaters apparate away.
Fred and George began to swing the bolas above their heads as they dropped down on the remaining ward crew. When they were twenty feet away from their targets, they let fly. Fred's flew true and his target was shortened by a head. George was a bit high, wrapping around the man at mouth level. The weighted ends caused the piano wire to shear through the man's lower jaw and slice the carotid artery.
The Death Eater who had been chanting stopped as he was showered in blood. Before he had a chance to say anything, Penelope's stunner took him in the back. Penelope summoned the three Death Eater's wands, and pocketed them. Fred and George quickly transfigured their captive into a rock and pocketed him, with a mutter of "For later." The other two were changed into broken twigs. The three disillusioned themselves and headed for the distant manor.
They quickly caught up with Bill and Arthur, who were backing up Charlie from the air. Charlie was down on the ground, and was currently slipping up behind a group of five Death Eaters at the front of the manor house.
The man in gray tapped the centermost Death Eater on the shoulder and asked "Private party or can anybody dance?"
All five turned around at the sound of an unexpected voice. The ones on either end lost their heads as both twins bolas flew true to their targets. As the blood started to fountain, Charlie's steel-toed, dragon hide covered boot came up hard between his target's legs. The man went down, thinking that he would have preferred the Cruciatus curse to having his testicles forcibly relocated to his chest cavity. Vomit precluded his ability to speak, much less call out to his compatriots. Three stunners dropped the last two Death Eaters before they had a chance to say anything.
Charlie apparated into the house to inform the Abbotts that the anti-apparation wards were down and send them to safety. This left the rest of the group to secure their prisoners. Transfiguring the Death Eaters once more, the group returned to their initial apparation point to await Charlie's return.
George and Bill staked out the unconscious prisoners. Penelope vanished their clothing while removing their wands. Arthur had warned them all that Voldemort had the ability to call his Death Eaters to him with the Dark Mark, and that it acted as a portkey. As it was a part of their bodies, they could not be stripped of their way to escape. Fred and George got a wicked gleam in their eyes as they took the sticks they had transfigured earlier and quickly cast another spell on them. They then proceeded to insert the sticks roughly into their prisoners.
When Penelope, Bill and Arthur looked at them, they snickered as they told their family that they had booby trapped the sticks to revert to form when anyone casts a finite or rennervate spell on them. "Just in case they are recalled before we can get back to them." Penelope had an evil smile on her face as Arthur and Bill looked a bit green.
As they were finishing, Charlie returned to them. "Well, the Abbotts have left, and the Death Eaters are trying to figure out how to get a stone house to burn. I'm so glad our family keeps track of its bloodlines so our parents and grandparents weren't brothers and sisters. Now, do we deal with these four or try to take more of them out?"
"We start small. This is enough for now. We won't have time to get back to them before they give it up as a bad job. Let's start with McNair, here and see if he knows anything. Even if they don't figure out they can't burn the place down, Voldemort will be recalling them soon," Arthur replied.
The twins disabled the trap on one of their prisoners before joining the others out of his line of sight. Penelope conjured a quill and parchment, and then nodded to Charlie that she was ready. Charlie restored the Death Eater's consciousness. Walden McNair took one look at his captor and said, "I was under the Imperious curse."
"Oh please, and my name is Prince John, and I'm the rightful King of England. Tell me what I want to know, scum."
"Fuck you. The Dark Lord will chew you up and spit out you bones," McNair sneered.
"Perhaps. But you won't ever see it."
"Oh. Right. All you're going to do is turn me over to the Ministry. I know your kind. I won't even go to trial."
"Well, you're half right. You won't go trial, that's true. But you're not going to the Ministry. If you tell me what I want to know, you might be thankful."
"What, you'll let me go?"
"No, I'll give you a quick death."
"Do your worst. My Lord will flay your skin from your bones when he catches you."
"I thought you knew. Nobody can catch the Gray Ghost," Charlie replied.
McNair looked unsure for a moment, but tried to bluff. "You ain't the Ghost. He's either long dead or an old man by now. So quit playing dress up and let me go and I might just let you live."
"Ghosts never age, fool. I guess we do this the hard way. Reducto." McNair screamed as the curse removed his left foot at the ankle. "Give me names of all Death Eaters and sympathizers."
McNair looked up at Charlie and gasped, "Fuck you."
"Reducto." And McNair's right hand disappeared in a pink mist. "I can do this all night. Names, scum."
McNair started babbling. Penelope was scribbling furiously behind him. McNair was still naming names when the Dark Lord recalled their prisoners.
The Weasleys apparated back to Diagon Alley to discuss the battle and check the names gained from McNair. While Penelope was checking the names, Arthur, Charlie and Bill received a message from Dumbledore to meet him at Grimmauld Place. As they apparated out, Penelope finished her list, confirming several of the suspects she had, while adding another ten to it. Penelope hugged the twins, and with a whispered "Thank you," disillusioned herself and returned to Sharon's flat.
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Sharon walked back into the living room with two glasses of wine as Penelope was removing the disillusionment. "Care for a drink before you go?" Sharon asked.
"Thank you, Sharon. I'd like that." Penelope replied.
As they sipped their wine, Penelope developed the shakes. Sharon pulled her into a hug, whispering to her "it's just the adrenaline, dear. It will pass. You're back and okay, and none the worse for it." Finally, Penelope broke away from Sharon and ran to the loo to vomit.
Penelope tried to apologize when she returned to the living room, but Sharon was having none of it. "Nonsense, dear. Amelia and Edgar were the same way when they came back from a mission. It's a common reaction to the stress of a battle. Now, if you've washed up a bit, you need to get home to Molly before she gets suspicious."
Penelope nodded. She hugged Sharon tightly to her and whispered "Thank you, for everything."
"Think nothing of it, dear. Amelia and Edgar would want me to help you. Just drop me a note the next time you need me," she replied.
"I will." Penelope downed the last of the glass of wine, and apparated to the Burrow, ready to face Molly.
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"Oh, Penelope, dear! You're home! Arthur called and said he was going to be on a raid tonight, so he wouldn't be home until late." Molly said. Then, she too, a deep breath and started again. "I'm so sorry about what I said earlier about that nice Sharon. You were exactly right about that disgusting Skeeter woman. I should know better than to believe anything that woman writes." Molly gushed. Penelope thought that she must not have been the only one to have a bit of wine tonight.
"That's okay, Molly. I forgive you. I really don't know what her relationship with Madam Bones was, and I don't really care. All I know is that she knows what it's like to lose someone close to her, and she's willing to talk to me about it."
"Really, dear? So how did your evening with her go?"
"Well, we had a quick bite at the 'Cauldron and walked for a bit. Then we went to her flat and got to know each other, and talked about Percy, Amelia and Edgar. She tells me she still misses Edgar, and that Amelia did as well, right up until the end. She told me that she was certain Edgar and Amelia were waiting for her on the other side, but would be quite cross with her if she did anything to rush to join them." Penelope replied, thankful she had thought of the answer beforehand.
"Yes, they always were together. It would take a crowbar to get them apart back in the old days. I thought those two women would die when Edgar was murdered. It was just like I was when Fabian and Gideon…passed on." Molly sniffled. "And now… With Percy… I… I just…"
Molly broke into sobs. Penelope quickly gathered the older woman into her arms, comforting her. "Sshh… It's okay, Molly. It's okay. I know," she murmured, rubbing her back.
After she got the woman calmed a bit, she said, "Let's get you a nice cup of tea now, and get you up to bed."
Penelope laced her own tea with a bit of her calming potion tonight, as well. As soon as Molly was in bed, she went to her own bed and climbed in. "Percy, my love. It has begun." A single tear slipped from her eye to make its way to the bed sheets.
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In Scotland, Harry Potter was treated to a most disgusting vision.
Voldemort was upset. It seemed that four of his Death Eaters did not come back from a simple raid on some blood traitors, and four of them were stripped naked and stunned, and one of them appeared to be injured and babbling the names of his followers, while he rest not only failed in their mission to kill the blood traitors but didn't know what happened to his other followers!
"McNair! Crucio!"
Luckily for Walden, the effects of the spell forced him to expel the stick from his bowels. "What happened, McNair? And be quick. My patience is at an end."
"It was the Gray Ghost, My Lord. He caught us from behind while we were fighting the blood traitors, My Lord. There were a dozen of them in front of us and we didn't have a chance when he came up behind us."
"LIES! CRUCIO!"
McNair jerked for the next two minutes under the influence of the pain spell. "I swear, My Lord! He came upon us from behind! You can ask the others if you don't believe me!"
Voldemort waved a hand to awaken the three naked, stunned Death Eaters. All three bodies exploded as the twin's booby traps were engaged. For the three stunned victims, at least the pain was mercifully brief as the dead bodies were restored to full size while still inside their rectums. Voldemort and most of the inner circle was covered in gore, feces, and partially digested food.
Only Bellatrix' insane cackle could be heard for a full minute before Voldemort exploded into action, casting the Cruciatus curse on every Death Eater in attendance and driving Harry out of the vision.
After Harry vanished the vomit the vision had caused, he wrote everything down he could remember to give to the Headmaster in the morning. Maybe he would get lucky and find out what had happened that night, but he wasn't going to hold his breathe. So far, the Headmaster had treated him better than he had last year, but still refused to give him any real training or information about the war. 'It's almost like he wants me to fail,' Harry thought to himself with a sign.
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