The Plague Ship

Synopsis: What might have happened if Sirius had been a bit more proactive after the dementor attack on Harry and Dudley? AU, and Hermione had not gone to Grimmauld Place, deciding to spend time with her family. No super-powered Harry.

Timeframe: Starting early August 8, 1995, then continuing afterwards

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Potterverse, so quit asking for loans or donations.

Chapter 3 Connections

A/N: Same rule about italics as above. The 'Bureau pour Voir L'Avenir' (BVA, or the 'Office to See the Future') is the branch of the Gendarmerie Magique (GM) in charge of clairvoyance – possibly due to the genetic imperative of mothers to carry and then protect their children, most clairvoyants and seers are female.

'La Manche' (The Sleeve) is the French term for what the English jingoistically call the 'English' Channel.

Harry Potter and Michel Thibeault had been chatting about quidditch for a couple hours. Sergeant Thibeault had been at the World Cup in England, and they compared notes on the teams they had seen play, and the massive disruption caused when the Death Eaters ransacked the camp. Both had been puzzled at the lack of official response to the vandalism and discussed various conspiracy theories that were floating around.

It was almost seven in the morning when the office floo blazed bright green, and a tall older man in uniform stepped out of it. His kepi bore two stars, and the service ribbons on the left side of his uniform jacket was seven rows long.

Both the Calais officers snapped to attention with sharp salutes.

"Monsieur The Commissioner! This is a surprise. A pleasant surprise! Sir!" snapped out Lieutenant Defense.

General Delacour returned the salute, and smiled. "Relax, boys. I was told you have some visitors."

Lt. Defense cringed a bit. "We did not mean to disturb you, nor require you to come here to our office yourself, Sir. Certainly not at this early hour of the morning."

Delacour smiled again. "Defense, please relax, my boy. You have done absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, you did things very well, and you did not disturb me at all. You followed correct procedure and your actions were exemplary. The girls in the BVA have been telling me for the last month that an event would occur early this morning on the coast of La Manche which would have personal implications and some political importance, so I had prepared to come to wherever I would be needed. Over the years, I have learned to ignore their warnings at my peril – if nothing else because my daughter Sophie works in that department and would give me hell. So, what is the matter here."

Lieutenant Defense sighed, and his stiff shoulders relaxed.

"Monsieur, we have two visitors, who are requesting political asylum. One is the Hogwarts' Tri-Wizard champion, Harry Potter, and apparently an acquaintance of two of your daughters. The other is an escaped convict from Azkaban, who claims to be an ex-auror who was wrongfully imprisoned without trial – the English have issued a 'Kiss on capture' order for him. They, the visitors not the English, strongly request interrogation under veritaserum and the use of a witness pensieve. From our initial questioning, their stories check out. If true, it looks like the Brits are trying to cover up a serious miscarriage of justice."

"By the way, they arrived on that hippogriff that is out in the parking lot there." He pointed out the office window where Buckbeak had just caught another rat.

Delacour nodded and smiled. "I see what the BVA folks were on about. Hmm, yes, this one is going to be hot. Very hot! May I meet these escapees, please? Defense, this is your station. Shall we open your potion locker and sign out two doses of veritaserum, and prepare your witness pensieve?"

Lt. Defense nodded. "Do you wish to lead this interview?"

Commissioner Delacour shook his head. "Lieutenant Defense, you are in charge of this office. You recommended proceeding with their requests for the interview, and I concur. I will be here to help with the more political, and yes, personal aspects, but it is your show." He knew that a good commander did not undermine his subordinates, and certainly not on their own turf.

Defense smiled as this indicated strongly that 'The Boss' had confidence in his abilities and judgement – always a good thing. However, it was also very clear to him that, with his boss's boss's boss in attendance, the correct questions would need to get asked, and that he had better be the one to ask them.

Delacour then turned to Sergeant Thibeault. "Sergeant… Thibeault is it? Yes. Good. You seem to have established a rapport with the boy. This may prove useful. If it is acceptable with the good Lieutenant Defense, please join us in the interview room. The experience may prove useful in the future."

Sergeant Thibeault immediately agreed, while trying to hide his widening smile. To have the Commissioner know his name was a good sign, although it could just indicate that the superior officer had been briefed on the local staff. To say he had done a good thing was a better thing, and to invite him to participate in the interrogation of the asylum seekers was an extremely good thing. But commenting that it could prove useful in his future career implied he would have one, and it could be a very good one at that. Perhaps, soon, he would be able to afford that new Renault minivan that Françoise was coveting, now that Catherine had blessed them with three grandchildren.

As the three officers entered the interview room where Harry and Sirius were waiting, the two Englishmen stiffened. It was obvious that the older officer was of very senior rank (even though he had left his uniform hat and jacket in the man office, so his rank was not so apparent). If his rank was senior enough, it could mean that it was decided that they were politically unacceptable to the French and could be sent back to who knew what – Azkaban, at best.

After Lt. Defense introduced the commissioner, the elder gendarme said, in unaccented English (at least to English ears, as he spoke with a cultured London accent) "Mr. Potter, you may not remember me, but I was at your school for the tasks of the Tri-Wizard tournament, as my daughter Fleur was the Beauxbatons' champion. The request of you and your godfather for asylum has some political implications which may cause some problems and therefore requires the attendance of a senior officer, but I feel that my family owes you, at the very least, the courtesy of hearing your story and lending what assistance I can, within the limitations of our laws of course. As you are no doubt aware, you are now on French soil and under French jurisdiction, not British."

Harry looked surprised, and a bit relieved at this clear statement of which country was in charge here. He said, "Sir, I don't think your family owes me anything. I just did what anyone would do."

Andre Delacour shook his head. "Mr. Potter, I wish that that were true, but the truth is that most people would not have rescued my youngest daughter from the mermen, nor summoned aid when Fleur was critically injured in the last task. Most would look after their own interest to the exclusion of others. You did not, and for that, I thank you. If that was the only reason for my presence, it would be enough."

"However, at the end of the last tasks, when you returned from wherever it was with the body of that other boy, I witnessed the most disturbing actions of your Ministry of Magic. Or should I say, the inactions of the Minister. I have also been following his attempts to discredit you in the press. There is something going on with which my government is most unhappy, and it is my assigned task to discover the truth of the matter. Consequently, we will proceed as your godfather has requested."

Turning to Lt. Defence, the general said "Monsieur Defense, it is your show. Please proceed."

Ellie Granger found a letter in their mailbox, bearing an official looking postmark from Paris. As the family was preparing for a short vacation in the south of France before Hermione had to return to her boarding school, she was concerned that there was going to be some problem with their reservations at the resort, but if that was the case there should have been a note from the booking agency in Toulon, and there was no reason at all for a letter from Paris.

With some trepidation, she opened the envelope, and found that the letter was written on parchment. Hermione had told her family that the wizarding world seemed stuck on using quills and parchment instead of paper and pens, so it seemed evident that the letter was from someone more of her daughter's new world than of her own. Making this relatively obvious deduction, she called Hermione to ask her opinion. Hermione replied (in a rather strained voice, to Ellie's experienced ear) she would come in a minute after she finished what she was doing, so Ellie read the letter. She was surprised, to say the least, with its contents. It read:

My dear Mrs. (Dr.) Granger,

We have not met, but last year two of my daughters attended Hogwarts. Fleur was very impressed with Hermione's efforts at making the Beauxbatons students welcome, and her inclusion of the visiting students in her study groups.

I have become aware that you are preparing to visit the south of France in the near future, before Hermione returns to school. I would like to offer you our hospitality, should you be in our vicinity. Our home is located about one hour's drive northeast of Marseilles.

My knowledge of your plans comes from one of your daughter's friends. He has asked me to tell you that his situation is not grim, but there are people who will tell 'shaggy dog stories' about him. I must confess I do not understand this reference, but he assures me that Hermione will know what he means.

We look forward to seeing you if it works with your plans.

With our regards,

Simone Delacour

When Hermione finally entered the room, she was in obvious distress, and looked like she was either going to burst into tears, or throw up, or both. Ellie passed the note to her, and received another parchment from her daughter. The girl said haltingly "I just received this from a strange owl that I have never seen before. I really thought Harry liked me." Ellie took the parchment note from her. The one Hermione had received read:

Hermione,

I am not going to tell you where I am, because I cannot trust you. I had thought you were my best friend! I had looked forward to returning to Hogwarts, where we have always been safe, and listening to the magnificent lectures from our beloved Professor Snape and enjoy the company of all the wonderful students in his House. Things were going so wonderfully this summer, but my godfather, who as you know betrayed my parents, has kidnapped me. It seems he made arrangements with my loving family who provided him the money to travel. Things look very grim at the moment. I hope he is taking me somewhere where they speak English, as I am pants at languages and he is even worse.

There are people who will likely want to ask you questions about me, and I cannot trust you to keep your mouth shut, unlike Ron who has always been very discrete. He supported me all last year during the Tournament, while you betrayed me. I will not forget that, as I value loyalty above all else.

I hope I never see you again.

Harry

Hermione looked at her mother and started to bawl. "I really thought he liked me. I didn't betray him last year. Ron did!"

Ellie looked at Hermione, and said "Hermione, stop that. You are smarter than that. Don't you see what this is?"

The girl shook her head, spraying her tears around. "He hates me!"

Ellie shook her head. "Smarten up, girl. You said Snape was a bully and an idiot, and you all hated him. And you said his family was terrible, and the students in Snape's House were nasty and barely less than criminals." The young witch nodded, but looked puzzled at her mother's direction of thought.

Ellie continued. "And I don't think I ever heard you describe Ron as 'discrete!" At this Hermione started to smile a bit, as she began to see where her mother was going with it.

"I think that Harry strongly suspected that that owl might get intercepted. He is saying he really values your loyalty to him, and he trusts you, but there are people out there who might want to ask you where he is. People he doesn't trust in the slightest. So he writes a letter which is all backwards so that if someone else sees it, someone who doesn't really know him or you, you can't be held responsible."

"There has been something strange going on, and Harry is very unhappy about it. The term 'grim' is used in both letters, with the one implying that you would understand the reference." Hermione explained about Sirius' animagus form.

Ellie, grimaced at this explanation, and started to look very worried. "May I suggest that we move up our holiday plans a bit? Like, tomorrow, or as soon as possible?"

"Unless I am very much mistaken, Harry is saying that he and his godfather have fled England, and I get the feeling he is suggesting we do the same. Take a look at this letter I received. I think you told me that the Delacours were well-connected. I think Harry has found some powerful friends. And I think we will see your friend very soon."

Ellie looked at Hermione with a non-plussed and somewhat frightened expression. "I think I should not have told you my suspicions. No, I should not have said anything. Okay girl, what are you giggling about now?"

Hermione explained about Hagrid's complete inability to keep a secret, and that her mother had just used a very close approximation of his 'favourite' phrase.

After joining her daughter in the giggles, Ellie added in a much more sombre way, "Unless I am very wrong, Harry suspects that someone is going to try to ask you some pointed and possibly unpleasant questions about his whereabouts, and ask them in a way that you may not be able to resist. From what you have been telling me about the way the newspaper is trying to discredit him and your Headmaster, I don't think they are going to bother staying on the right side of the law about this. Hopefully, they did intercept the letter, and bought Harry's misdirection, but I wouldn't want to bet my life or yours on it. Hermione, I'm going to call your Dad at work, and see if we can move our trip up a bit."