If anyone has been following this story I apologize for not updating for ages. This chapter and the following were supposed to be one but they turned out to be way too long so I broke it into two chapters therefore if one of these doesn't seem to have much of a point that's the reason.
Please also note that this story was planned before the release of Deathly Hallows and therefore if bits seem odd that is the reason. Also note that the story is set between the sixth and seventh book and if the timeline seems odd the reason above applies. Since this is the first update since the release of Deathly Hallows there will start to be references though no real spoilers
Disclaimer: Deathly Hallows is awesome, clearly I'm not as good a writer as J.K Rowling and clearly I don't own Harry Potter.
"You blew up a car?" Katie exclaimed throwing down the Daily Prophet, which rather inevitably had the headline "TEENAGE DEATH EATER ON DESTRUCTIVE RAMPAGE" followed by an inaccurate animated drawing of a particularly nasty looking young man sending a non-ending series of jinx, hexes and curses at three rather brave and heroic looking Aurors.
Without answering her, he picked up the paper and began to read the article on the front cover.
Incredible new events occurred late last night in the hunt for alleged teenage Death Eater Sage Valentine, aged 17, student at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry with startlingly close connections with the "Boy Who Lived". In a bizarre move the assailant returned to the scene of the initial attack on unarmed ministry workers at Grimsfield Road, North London, the result of which left three dead. The ministry of magic are so far unwilling to give specific information yet it is alleged that in the chase from the scene involving Mr Valentine and an unspecified number of Aurors there has been a casualty and that Valentine has escaped after causing a certain amount of damage to the surrounding area. It is also believed that Valentine is still accompanied by a Miss Katherine Hill , also aged 17, however it is thought that the Auror office no longer suspects her involvement in criminal offences yet this raises the question as to why she is still in the company of Mr Valentine. There are suspicions within the ministry that Miss Hill has become a hostage to Valentine yet there seems little evidence to confirm this.
It is thought that around Eleven o'clock last night Sage Valentine accompanied by Katherine Hill approached Grimsfield Road from an unknown direction and disabled two muggle security officers before entering the tent in which the three bodies of the still unnamed murdered ministry workers still remained however in doing so triggered an intruder charm that alerted three also unknown Aurors. Given that the Ministry is yet to release a statement it is uncertain as to exactly what happened next however The Prophet has gathered some evidence and can say the following. It seems evident that Valentine and Hill escaped the tent by unknown means, the assailant then sought to escape to an area in which apparation was possible yet was prevented from doing so by an unknown factor. It is then known that a chase ensued in which a local muggle car was ignited and that the chase continued into a muggle department store where it is believed that a casualty was occurred among the Aurors and that Valentine escaped to an unknown location via apparation. The severity of the casualty is also unknown.
The events at Grimsfield Road have, needless to say, caused a great deal of unease within the ministry this morning. The muggles involved have been treated and obliviated and teams of magical repair workers have been working tirelessly throughout the night to repair the damage caused. Yet within the ministry there is debate as to what the events mean. There is a strong argument forming throughout a number of ministry officials that Valentines returning to the scene of the initial attack suggests a need for knowledge and therefore suggests innocence within Mr Valentine. However there is a second argument emerging that the events during the ensuing chase prove Mr Valentines ruthlessness. Continued page 3
Sage didn't bother carrying on reading the next part of the article instead he sat blank faced and unbelieving that the current scenario was real, that his world was falling apart. He let the paper slide out of his hands, all too aware that Katie was still watching him and as he did so he brought his hands over his eyes and gave a quick unintended sob. He couldn't help it and the next thing he knew tears were flowing freely and silently down his cheeks as he sniffed loudly. He felt an arm curled gently around him but didn't look up.
It was strange he thought suddenly she was acting as if they had known each other for years yet they had known each other for just over a day in actuality. Well, he thought he'd pulled her away from the clutches of the Aurors and protected her from dementors just as she'd taken a stunning spell for him. That wasn't something you were likely to forget. No, he thought, there was no one he'd rather be with now than her, they were in this together and nobody else would understand that.
Sage's best friend at Hogwarts was not a Gryffindor. It was not unheard of at Hogwarts for a group of strong friends to appear from different houses but it was unusual. Hannah Abradakin was an exceptionally talented witch, second only to Hermione Granger and was in Ravenclaw. Sage had found her in a corridor in floods of tears in his second year after a Slytherin had hit her with a leg locking curse and stolen her wand telling her that the Basilisk would come and get her as she was Muggle-born. Sage, who was himself a pure blood though had never known his parents, had unfrozen and comforted her before instantly going to McGonagall. The result of this incident was that a sixth year Slytherin who Sage never found out the name of was put in detention for two months and an instant relationship had arisen between Sage and Hannah. Sage had quickly found that Hannah who appeared to be rather unapproachable was actually a rather spirited young witch. A few people had been surprised to see Hannah weeping openly at Dumbledore's funeral a few weeks previously. Did Sage feel the same way about Katie? Maybe, but the truth of the matter was that right now she was the best friend he had.
Sage looked up at Katie who also had tears flowing down her cheeks. Sage pulled a grin onto his face; he was already ashamed of the weakness he had shown.
"So" he said "What next?" he pulled himself to his feet and swooped over to the broken table in the centre of the room and sat down.
Taken aback by his sudden change of mood Katie paused for a few seconds before answering, "Well the paper hasn't told us anything new has it?"
"Only that you aren't a suspect anymore, though that's probably not true" Sage replied.
"True but what about that stuff you picked up in the tent?" Katie said in a grim tone. Sage had not looked at this since they had been in the tent. The previous night the two of them had found this house in silence after he had revived Katie. As soon as they had checked the house thoroughly, Sage gave her an outline of the chase from his perspective including the death of the Auror at the top of the store. Katie had fell asleep within minutes after this while Sage stared into the darkness for some time before he too fell into shallow and disturbed sleep.
Presently Sage walked over to the discarded blazer, which was now covered in tears and various stains and was far beyond repair and pulled out the photographs and name tag which were still covered in ashes from the tent. He laid out the photographs on the table and stared at them briefly while Katie walked over and followed suit. The photos were just as unpleasant and just as unhelpful as they had been the previous night.
"Well we know there are two bodies rather than two and they weren't killed by the killing curse but we don't know why that is so that doesn't help" Sage said bitterly.
"It may" Katie replied "I mean, why did the Prophet say that these people were killed by the killing curse instead of telling the truth?"
"I suppose that Auror was right when he said that the public wouldn't want to know?" Sage replied thoughtfully.
"There was something wrong about that Auror" Katie said.
"Yeah I agree but that's just another reason to avoid him" replied Sage.
"You don't think he's corrupt do you?" Katie said with an air of wondering.
"Maybe" Sage said, he had himself wondered the same thing but there was no way he would find out at the moment so it was better to come back to the matter at hand "Do you think its possible that the bodies were disposed of like this to hide their identity, I mean this way who knows who they really are, we've only got the name tags to go by".
"That's a fair possibility "Katie replied also deep in thought, "there were only two bodies also so that could mean…"
"That the third person on the tags could be a suspect" finished Sage "but we've still got to work out which one isn't one of the bodies"
They both went over to the table and peered at the three name tags. The first had in bold lettering EVANGELINE STEROPPE, DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT on the second EDWARD STRASSENHOUSER, DAILY PROPHET EDITOR while on the third a sticker was stuck over the tag with the word ICEBERG printed on it.
"Iceberg" Sage remarked "a nickname you think?"
"I dunno, take the sticker off "Katie replied and Sage did so revealing the writing FRY NARK, DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
"Have you heard of any of them?" Sage asked.
"No but that's another lie on the Prophet's behalf, it said that all three victims were Ministry worker whereas here we see that one of them worked for the Prophet instead."
"Ok that is strange but we're still no closer to finding which one wasn't a body, we need help from people in the ministry and I don't think many of them are likely to have a friendly chat with a insane, rampaging teenage Death Eater " Sage said bitterly slumping again as if defeated.
"Actually" Katie said slowly" there is someone we can trust"
"Really?" Sage answered disbelievingly "Who?" Katie looked at him as though the answer was too simple to put into words and when he frowned she said simply "Mum!"
"Your mother?" Sage asked disbelievingly "How do we know we can trust her?"
"Sage she's my mother" Katie retorted angrily. Sage, who had never known his own mother, somehow knew to trust Katie. After a few seconds he replied.
"Ok Kate, but how do we contact her?" There was again the look of apparent obviousness on Katie's face before she spoke.
"Oh of course you're a wizard, we use a telephone Sage"
"Ok we use the tele-thing, go come on!" Sage answered exasperated.
A few minutes later Sage and Katie walked out onto the street in the mid-morning sun. They walked quickly and quietly in order to get as little attention as possible, Katie had a frown on her face.
"Sage you said you grew up in an orphanage right?" She asked and when he nodded she continued "But then how come you don't know anything about muggles like telephones and stuff?"
"Well actually I've only been at the orphanage since I left Hogwarts a few weeks ago and I stayed in my room most of the time because the others thought I was weird with my robes and wand and so on. It was only a very temporary set-up until I could get a place of my own. I actually used to live with my Aunt Quintess but she was old and she died around Easter time. She was the closest thing I had to a mother. I miss her." he said solemnly, he then gave her a quick smile "But life goes on I suppose and we've got bigger problems now."
They didn't speak until they found a large red phone booth. They both went in and Katie inserted a few coins they had taken from her uncle's house yesterday. The phone rang several times before it was picked up. They both held their breath.
"Hello" a voice emerged from the handset.
"Hello Mum" Katie answered trembling despite herself.
"Oh hi James, How are you? No I'm not coming in to work today! No, no, no, ok I'll talk to you in a sec', hang on!" Sage looked at Katie and mouthed "What?" but she didn't reply. In the background they could hear "No, sorry it's a friend I'll just be a minute". There was a pause and then.
"Katherine, Katie is that you?"
"Yeah it's me" Katie replied pale faced.
"Oh thank heavens. Are you alright? The whole place is crawling with Aurors and there after you Katie."
"I'm ok mum" Katie replied frozen to the spot and speaking slowly.
"Ok, I haven't much time, are you with Sage Valentine?"
"Yeah I am but…"
No, no we haven't got time for this, look there are lots of people in the ministry that believe Valentine is innocent, myself among them. Now listen to me carefully, Katherine, you're going to be alright, just stick with Sage. I need you to meet me at the café on Freeway Street, you know the one?"
"Yeah I know it, Mum" Katie answered tears welling in her eyes.
"Ok good I need you both to meet me there at two got it? I've got some people I need Sage to meet?"
"Aurors?" Katie asked the tears erupting and flowing down her cheeks.
"No not Aurors, somebody Sage will know, ok? Ok, Katherine I love you and I'll see you at two in the Café at Freeway Street.
"I love you mum" Kate sobbed.
"I know sweetie, Oh yeah, of course James, ok, ok, right yeah, see you then. See you. Bye." The phone line went dead.
Thank you for all who have reviewed or even read this story. Reviews always make me smile, even if there negative!
Next chapter: Help is at hand. Prepare for some cameo appearances.