The Dark Lord Part Two: Zombies

"Wait!" Remus called.

Ginny Potter paused. She was just about to leave work and head home, but her boss had caught up to her before she could reach the door. Katie Bell, her best friend at the office, followed Lupin as he approached her.

"Ginny," Katie began, "we're just headed out for drinks. You should join us."

"I'd love to," Ginny replied, "but I've got to get home. I've got to see to—"

"Objection, your honor," Remus addressed Katie, "but I know for a fact that counselor's son is staying at a friend's tonight. So she has no reason not to come with us."

Ginny was taken aback. Alright, yes, Al was staying at Freddie's. Maybe she didn't have to stay home this evening, but she had been trying to politely say no without outright saying she wasn't interested. She had half a mind to just tell him to bugger off.

But that'd be a really lousy idea, seeing as how Remus had given her the job when no one else in Palm City would touch a Potter. Besides, she hadn't had a night out since before Harry had… Well, maybe it would be good to get out of the apartment for a change.

"Okay," Ginny folded her arms over her chest. "Let's go."

~CAPE~

They took Lavender to Trolley Park. Ron frowned. He had no idea what to do for her now.

"I've seen this before," Moody informed the younger men. "It's a psychoactive drug. It induces susceptibility to suggestion, paranoia, and paralysis."

"So it creates zombies," Harry said.

"We need to get her to a doctor," Ron interjected.

"She doesn't need a doctor. She needs a surgeon of the mind—me," Sirius said, coming up behind the group. He clasped Ron's shoulder briefly before approaching Lavender's prone form.

"You said you know who did this to her?" Ron asked Harry. The hero sighed.

"Look, every precinct in the city has a file labeled: 'the Dark Lord.' Whenever you have an odd unsolved case of kidnapping or murder, where there was something inexplicable about it, you add it to the file. The Dark Lord's just a myth, like the boogieman."

"It's not a myth," Ron disagreed. "I've heard rumors about guys who were hired to move this kind of drug in the city. Only they tried to cross the dealer and then they disappeared."

"Even if there was somebody the myth was based on, we wouldn't have a clue to go on," Harry pointed out. Their eyes tracked to where Sirius was working with Lavender. Maybe they did have a lead, after all.

Sirius was sitting by Lavender, holding one of her hands, and trying to hypnotize her.

"I serve the Dark Lord," Lavender protested.

"I know. And the Dark Lord wants you to cooperate with me. Now, we're going to go on a journey in your mind. Tell me what you saw…"

A distraught Lavender, reliving the experience, recounted as the men in masks and hoods attacked her as they stole the truck. She broke off and started whimpering, but Sirius strove ahead.

"Where are you?" he demanded.

"Trolley—track 12," she gasped out.

"Alright; rest now," Sirius instructed her.

"I know where that is," Harry told his friends. "I can lead you there."

"I should stay with Lavender," Ron said.

"Go," Sirius told the redhead. "I'll watch over her."

~CAPE~

Moody, Harry, and Ron walked along the dark tunnel where Lavender had been taken by her kidnappers. It was a really, really dark tunnel and dirty and probably had insects and spiders…

"Hail Mary full of grace…" Um… "What's the rest?!" Ron asked.

"Relax, Ron. There's no one here—" And of course Harry had to speak too soon. These tracks were supposed to have been abandoned. Yet there was definitely an oncoming trolley. The pedestrians threw themselves to the sides of the tunnel just in time.

Harry's heart stopped racing after the threat had passed and he'd found that the three of them had survived unscathed.

They continued walking along the tunnel until they came to a room. It looked like it was being used as a storage facility. Harry frowned. They'd found a stash of the toxin that was used on Lavender.

"Harry, take a look at this!" Ron called. There was a map tacked to one of the walls, and on it traced in red—

"That's the parade route," Harry said. "The Founders' Day parade is the day after tomorrow. Millions of people turn out for that. And these terrorists have a truck with spraying equipment on the back. They're going to spray the citizens along the parade route with this stuff…"

"Turning them into zombies," Ron finished. "Zombie-terrorist sounds like a rotten combination."

"Too bad you can't call off the parade," Moody grunted.

"Maybe I can't, but I know someone," Harry said. Oh god. He'd rather hoped he wouldn't have to work with that slimy, back-stabbing git again.

~CAPE~

Katie, Remus, and Ginny were seated at a table, laughing.

"Do Judge Slughorn!" Katie urged Lupin.

"Court will now take a recess for lunch. Where's my crystallized pineapple? Bailiff! Secure the crystallized pineapple in my chambers!" Lupin imitated the judge. The two women giggled.

Lupin smiled at Ginny, reached out and covered her hand with his. The redhead was startled and pulled her hand away.

Oh, Merlin. He was flirting with her. This was so wrong.

"It's getting late. I have to go. Goodnight," she babbled as she shot to her feet.

"Ginny!" Lupin called after her as she hurried away.

~CAPE~

Draco Malfoy walked through the parking garage to his Mercedes. He unlocked the door and got into the driver's seat, ready to leave ARK and head home to his family. Then he gazed into his rearview mirror and saw that he wasn't alone. The Cape was in the backseat. Malfoy swore and pulled his gun on the vigilante.

"You!" Malfoy spat.

Harry raised his gloved hands to show they were empty.

"Malfoy, the Dark Lord is real."

"What?"

"He's real, he's got an army, and he's going to release a toxin on the crowds at the Founders' Parade. You have to cancel it."

"Me? Even if I believed you, I can't cancel it."

"Oh that's right. You're only the Chief of Police. Why don't you grow a pair and stand up to Snape?"

"Hey, you can't talk to me like—"

"There are going to be families at the parade, Malfoy. Your family is going to be there, right? You can't ignore this."

"Do you have any proof?" the blonde asked. The Cape nodded.

"Yeah; if you come with me, I'll show you what I've found."

~CAPE~

Malfoy glanced from the map to the toxin canisters.

"You said this creates zombies," he bit his lip.

"What's the matter, Malfoy? You have a dead guy that's mad at you?" Harry taunted his betrayer.

"That's it! I've had enough of you!"

"You want to take me on?" the Cape asked. "Fine; you name the day and the time, but not now. Not when we have to find the Dark Lord before he puts his plan into action."

Malfoy nodded.

"Alright," he said, agreeing to a temporary truce.

~CAPE~

Back at home, in bed, Ginny sobbed.

"That wasn't flirting," she said to herself. "It's… too soon. Oh god. You were always so jealous," she addressed her husband's spirit. "I feel you watching me, Harry. Judging me as I try to raise Al. I'm trying, I'm doing my best, but it's just so hard!" she cried.

"I miss you so much."

~CAPE~

The day after Hermione had uploaded Neville's information about the missing heir to her blog, she received a video in reply. The blogger played it.

"Hello, this message is for Orwell. My name is Bellatrix Lestrange. I'm a nurse at St. Mungo's Sanitarium. Tom Riddle is here, Room 236. I've got his admission papers," she held them briefly in front of the camera.

"They're trying to keep him hidden, but it's not right. You have to come, but please be careful! He's not supposed to have visitors." The screen went blank as the video ended.

Hermione tapped out a quick reply: "I'll send a reporter."

~CAPE~

"Mr. Snape," Malfoy entered his boss' office.

"Yes?"

"We need to cancel the Founders' Day parade."

"Excuse me? This parade is our celebration. We are founding a new era for the city. We can't cancel it."

"We can if we have to for security reasons."

"We are the city's security," Snape retorted. "You want to announce that we can't ensure peoples' safety at the parade?"

"We received a tip that a terrorist is planning to attack the parade-goers with biological weapons."

"And who did you receive the tip from?" Snape's black eyes bored into Malfoy's.

"The Cape," the younger man answered eventually.

"You got the tip from the Cape. Did it occur to you that the Cape is the terrorist you should be watching out for?"

"I'm prepared to look into that, but I still…"

"Prepared to look into that?" Snape repeated. "No. You'll do what I say and arrest the Cape or you'll leave your badge on my desk."

"Sir," Malfoy turned on his heel and left Snape's office. Alone, the billionaire looked at the empty seat across from him. Well, at least it was physically empty. He saw his other half, Chess, sitting there.

"Kill them," Chess advised.

"No. Go away," Snape ordered the apparition.

"Kill them all," Chess suggested.

"All of them, even the Cape?" Snape asked.

"Especially the Cape," Chess answered. Severus shouldn't get so attached to that vigilante.

~CAPE~

"Orwell sent a woman?" Bellatrix Lestrange didn't bother to conceal her disappointment from Hermione.

This was the second person to have that reaction in two days. The blogger was getting pretty tired of this sexist shite. If it didn't help her hide her identity, she'd put an end to the belief that the blogger was male.

"Summer Ferrin," Hermione introduced herself. "Are those the admission papers you showed in the video?"

"Yes," Bellatrix handed them over reluctantly. "He's in Room 236. But—"

"He's not supposed to have visitors, I get it. I'll be careful," she replied before hurrying up the stairs. She located Room 236 and slipped inside.

"Hello?" she called. "I'm looking for Tom Riddle."

"There's no one here by that name. This is my room," a man replied. Hermione drew closer. He appeared to be a good looking man, brown-haired, chiseled chin. He looked as if he was no more than a year or two older than she was, but she knew from the date of his parents' deaths that that couldn't be true. He was sitting in an armchair, a blanket over his legs. Hermione was left with the impression that the limbs didn't work properly.

"Oh? Have you been here long?" Hermione asked.

"Not very long," the patient replied. Hermione looked pointedly around the room, full of the stuff he'd accumulated over time, including piles of books and papers, and—her eyes widened. There was a crib in one corner. The poor man had been here since he was a baby, hadn't he?

"How about I open a window?" Hermione suggested.

"There's a breeze from that window. Not really a breeze, it's more like an air current—careful!" Riddle admonished her. She'd stepped over one of his piles on her way to the window, nearly knocking it over. "I have everything in order!"

"Okay," Hermione said. She turned to a book on top of one of the stacks. "The Lindbergh baby," she observed.

"Not much of a tragedy, if you ask me," Riddle said. "He was what? Twenty months old when he was taken from his parents? Enough time to get to know their faces, their voices, to begin to talk and walk. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me."

"What's this?" Hermione asked, picking up a sheet of paper from another pile.

"No! Don't touch that!" Riddle exclaimed.

"Did you do this?" Hermione asked, examining the drawing. "It's really good."

"It's the design for a building," Riddle admitted. "I have nothing but time here so I make plans. Not that any of those plans come to fruition."

Hermione sat in a chair opposite him.

"You know what? I think you are Tom Riddle," she said. The door to the room opened, revealing Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Tea?" she offered.

~CAPE~

Ron stopped by Harry's hideout, to find the vigilante at work on the computer. Harry was reading about Orwell's hunt to track down Riddle. There seemed to be some connection to the Dark Lord. One of the Dark Lord's victims had been the Riddles' estate lawyer.

He left a message on his partner's voicemail. Then a chirp went off, startling the redhead.

"What was that?"

"It's just my phone. Relax," Harry picked up his headset, put it on, and answered the caller. It was Malfoy!

"We found the truck. How fast can you get here?" the blonde asked.

~CAPE~

The Cape looked around warily as he approached the truck. He didn't see anyone in sight, but he figured he should be cautious. The last time he'd shown up somewhere after telling Malfoy where he would be, he'd been ambushed and then framed for Chess' crimes.

He reached a gloved hand out to open the door to the truck's passenger compartment, and came face to face with an ARK officer. Before he could turn around, Harry was surrounded by ARK policemen, their weapons trained on him.

Malfoy walked through the ranks to him and handcuffed the Cape.

The Benedict Arnold was betraying him again! Perfect; could this day get any better?

Author's Note: This chapter has not been beta'd, so by all means, quibble away.

Thanks to Orwell, dem bones, and IronAmerica for reviewing!

Once more, if you're enjoying the fic, please check out The Cape. The series is on DVD, and the episodes are still online. If you like the show please spread the word.

-Boycotting NBC.