DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling except this computer and the poem, which has been taken from Thomas Hardy's poem To An Unborn Pauper Child. But Jane Durham is my character.

-Chapter Twelve-

Hark, how the peoples surge and sigh,

And laughters fail, and greetings die:

Hopes dwindle; yea' Faiths waste away…

Troubled Times

Harry crumpled the day's Daily Prophet into a ball and threw iton the floor. There were more reports of massacre and death. It was becoming difficult to differentiate each day's paper from the next, for everyday brought identical news of catastrophes and new destructions.

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading (The Deepest of the Dark Arts by Alexandra Morgan) and picked up the paper.

"Hogsmeade shops ransacked!" she read aloud, "Two more muggle villages burnt, 56 people murdered in Bristol, including three ministry officials who tried to save the muggles- oh this is getting worse!"

"The deatheaters sure have been busy." Ron commented wryly.

Harry did not answer. He had been sitting there in that stupid house reading stupid books that said nothing about destroying horcruxes for the past two weeks. He was still as far from killing Voldemort as he had been at the time of Dumbledore's death. And meanwhile everyday the terror increased. He was beginning to feel guilty.

"Harry," Hermione exclaimed suddenly, "there is something about Florean Fortesque here."

Harry and Ron bent forward to read the news Hermione was pointing at. It was a tiny piece at the bottom of the second page. "Ice-cream seller dead" ran the headline. Harry felt another stab of guilt. The article was short.

'Florean Fortesque, the ice-cream seller at Diagon Alley who had been missing since last July was declared as dead by the Ministry yesterday. The declaration was made after investigations made by St.Mungo's healers on an unidentified skeleton proved it to be the skeleton of the unfortunate man. The skeleton had been discovered by a group of aurors at an undisclosed location last Saturday. According to the healers, Fortesque had died atleast ten months ago.

Fortesque had no family and had lived alone for the last ten years. His death was today mourned by the British Society of Veroudostoffy of which he had been the president till he retired in 1982.'

"I wonder why Voldemort killed him." Harry murmured to himself.

-XXX-

"All of us have to be careful." Said Prof. McGonnagall. "We have already lost three Order members this time, we don't have Dumbledore anymore (her voice shook as she said this), and we very nearly lost Sturgis."

Sturgis Podmore, a square-jawed man with thick straw coloured hair smiled weakly. His face still showed the gaunt paleness so characteristic of the inmates of Azkaban.

"We must constantly be on our guard so as not to be caught unawares by our enemy. If any of us see the signs of anything unusual at anytime, he or she must contact the order at once. We all know our duties, let us keep our eyes open."

Everybody stood up and started leaving one by one. The two hour long meeting was over.

Harry saw Lupin getting up. He whispered a few words to Tonks who whispered back and they left the room together. Harry followed them out to the dark drawing room. He saw them smiling and saying a few more words, and then with a kiss, Tonks apparated into thin air. Harry stepped forward.

"Professor Lupin?" he called.

Lupin turned at him and smiled.

"So Harry, " he said, "how do you like your first Order meeting?"

"Gloomy." Harry answered truthfully.

Lupin's smiling face grew serious. They were standing near the old staircase.

"Yes," he replied, tired lines marking his young face, "you could say it was. Since Dumbledore died, the Order meetings have had a subdued note about them. Something has happened to our optimism and confidence. The deatheaters are killing anytime they like and we haven't been able to do anything."

Harry stared at him. When had he seen Lupin this downcast?

"It seems we are beginning to believe that we will lose the war." Lupin added.

"No we will not." Replied Harry firmly. His fist clenched tightly around the cold hard locket inside his pocket.

Lupin smiled again.

"Of course we won't." he said. "Now Harry, I think I must go now. It's quite late and I have work for the entire day tomorrow."

Harry nodded. "Do you think it will work?" he asked in a whisper. "Will you be able to find anything in houses they don't live anymore?" The Order had assigned Remus with the job of searching the deserted houses of the deatheaters on the run.

" I am hoping I will find something useful." He replied. "I am going to start with the Averys. What are you doing?"

Harry looked up. Lupin had said the Order would not interfere.

"I am not interrogating you Harry, you don't have to answer me if you don't want to." He hastily added.

"I was thinking of going to the Ministry tomorrow." Harry said. Lupin looked at him in surprise.

"I want to visit the Veroudostoffy department." He clarified.

Lupin's face cleared. "You found out about your parents then?" he asked lightly. "Well, goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Sir."

Lupin turned and smiled. "It's about time you stop calling me 'sir' you know. Goodnight Harry." He disappeared with the swish of his old gray cloak. Harry stood there, watching the spot where he vanished and then slowly started climbing the stairs.

None of them noticed the curtain flutter slightly over an old portrait on the wall.

-XXX-

"Master I have news." He whispered as he knelt before the Dark Lord.

"I hope your news is more useful than your previous information." he replied.

Draco's breathing suddenly became rapid.

" Master, " he gasped, " the werewolf Lupin is going to visit the houses of deatheaters today."

"Lupin is Tonk's fiancé." A voice said inside his head.

- Draco is a faithful servant.

"Tonks and her mother has been kind to him."

-The Dark Lord would kill his family. The voice fell silent.

"He will start with the Averys. It is still early, he might just have started."

"Very well." Replied the Dark Lord. " Go after him, Bella, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Malcolm."

The six deatheaters bowed and apparated into thin air.

"Is that all?" he asked.

Draco gulped again.

"Master, Potter and his friends are going to the ministry today, to the department of Veroudostoffy."

The Dark Lord's scarlet eyes gleamed in the darkness that characterized the room, even during the day.

"The ministry! I do not wish to be there. Severus, you will bring the boy to me. Kill the two spares if you like, but bring Potter alive. And do not be seen till you've got him. Wait and watch. Take some others with you."

Severus Snape bowed.

"I am pleased to be of service Master. Potter will be brought before you." He vanished with a sneer.

Another man stepped forward.

"Master," he began, with a hungry look on his face.

"You have been of use Fenrir, you helped to get Draco inside their Headquarters. You will be rewarded with the remains of Lupin and Potter when I am done through them." The Dark Lord laughed a low, spine-chilling laugh of satisfaction.

A wave of nausea washed over Draco. He secretly wished he could have given up Greyback instead of either Lupin or Potter.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" asked the cold voice, "return to Headquarters. As no one is going to suspect you, I believe you could still be of use to us."

"Master," Draco implored, "can I meet my mother just once?" he was almost crying.

"That isn't necessary. You see, Narcissa does not know what I have ordered you to do, and so it is not advisable that you meet. And now return to your post before your unnecessary delay further annoys me."

-XXX-

Jane Durham, the president of the British society of Verodostouffy was a pleasant woman in her forties. She had brown hair and lively violet eyes that looked even more excited at present than usual. She was absolutely thrilled about having Harry Potter and his friends in her office. Quite apart from the boy's being famous, she had once worked with James and Lily Potter. So she rustled around happily, showing them valuable antiques, demonstrating the use of various instruments and trying to explain to them how verodostouffs worked.

" I knew Florean Fortesque." Said Harry Potter suddenly. "But he never told me he had been a verodostouff, or that he had worked with my parents."

"Florean was a strange man." Replied Durham. " He had two passions in his life-making ice-creams and finding Ravenclaw's coat of mail."

"Finding what?" asked Harry, suddenly sitting up straight.

"According to legends, Rowena Ravenclaw had a coat of mail made by elves out of the finest goblin wrested gold. Florean's aim in life was to find it. He had tried and failed to find it during his career in office. And then last year, a few days before he was dragged off, he came up to meet me, saying that nobody stopped to buy ice-creams these days so he was going to look for it again. "

"So you were the only one who met him?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice steady as he felt his heart hammering madly againt his ribs.

"Oh no," she replied, "we were low onthe essence ofwerguluat that time and it is a rare but indispensable potion ingredient in veroudostoffy, and we could not find it in any apothecary. So I requested Dumbledore to lend us some and he sent Snape with the bottle. He was here when Florean arrived."

"We need to go now." Said Harry, standing up.

Ms Durham looked surprised. "But won't you see the…"

"I am really sorry, but we must leave now. We will come back again. verodostouffy is fascinating." Said Hermione.

"Well if you must,.." she looked disappointed but smiled all the same.

They walked through the well-lit passageway in silence, each thinking the same thing. When they reached the hall, Harry stopped.

"So this is why he killed him.' He said quietly.

N.B: Chapter 13: Love in Hard Times.

P.S: Don't worry; Snape is lurking around somewhere.