PB12
Disclaimer – just having fun with JKR's characters.
Chapter 12
Narcissa sat with her back stiffly straight as the boat glided across the expanse of water. Boats carrying prisoners were manned – unless they were hoping the prisoner would throw themselves overboard. Narcissa had heard that that happened on occasion. Visitors – unless they were Ministry VIP's tended to have to go it alone.
Visitors were not common; it took a dedicated and sturdy relative or friend to even think of going to see someone in Azkaban. Narcissa smirked – of course a determined enemy was a possibility as well.
She hated Bella, more than she hated even the Dark Lord. At one time they had been close, but after Bella had received the Dark Mark she had grown farther and farther apart. The Dark Lord had become everything to Bella. Narcissa hadn't understood the obsession – the once handsome wizard was now quickly becoming terrifying in appearance and in his actions.
Lucius had managed to always avoid letting Narcissa be marked – and that had now been easy to accomplish.
When the Dark Lord had been defeated by the Potter boy Lucius had insisted he'd been imperioused and along with a staggeringly large number of galleons he'd been freed almost immediately – but not immediately enough. Bella had heard about Lucius' denial of Voldemort and had gone straight from torturing the Longbottoms to insanity to the Malfoy Manor.
Lucius was not back as yet and Narcissa was left to face her sister's wrath. She'd tried to reason with Bella – to remind her that family was most important – that protecting family was paramount. Bella had not listened – she had screamed and ranted, and then had cursed Narcissa. She'd known Narcissa and Lucius had wanted more children – that they'd been waiting for 'more peaceful times' to start in on a Weasley – sized brood.
She'd hit Narcissa with a dark curse that made conception impossible. "I'll make sure you never bear that traitor another whelp!" Bella had screamed and sent the dark curse at her sister.
Narcissa had been devastated … and the worst part was telling Lucius. He'd never blamed her – but he had ensured that Aurors had found Bella's hideout immediately after that. Still, it cut Narcissa deeply every time she would see a wistful look in Lucius' eyes when he would watch Draco. Certainly half of Lucius' hatred of Arthur was fueled by jealousy.
Now she would have to see the hateful hag again. Only the knowledge that it was to keep Bell's beloved Dark Lord defeated and gone that persuaded her to do this. Lucius and Severus knew the cost to her to face Bella, and if she had shrunk from it, she knew they would not have pressed her.
The boat docked and Narcissa managed to disembark with the help of a balance spell. An unhappy looking guard met her at the end of the rather weathered wooden dock. Did they not know any upkeep spells – or did they like the ominous look it gave?
The guard silently led her to the warden's office, who looked at her in puzzlement. She'd never visited anyone here, before, let alone her crazy sister.
Narcissa had found it difficult to come up with a good reason to be here, now, and fell back on 'needing to finalize some family business. "I need to have Bella sign off on some papers – I want to completely extricate her from all my old Black family vaults … I don't want her magic mixed into it any longer." She explained.
The warden nodded in understanding. The Malfoy family had been slowly dragging their name out of the mud and once again being looked up to and now with their 'rescue' of Harry Potter they were definitely on the upswing. Cutting off the insane Bellatrix LeStrange was a wise move.
"We'll keep the dementors at the other side of the prison until you leave … but please try to make the visit as brief as possible …" The warden said. With the Malfoys aligned with 'the Boy Who Lived' it didn't hurt to be as accommodating as he could be without breaking any rules.
Narcissa nodded and rose, "I have no wish to be near her for longer than absolutely necessary." That was certainly the absolute truth.
A guard took her down the dismal hallways – away from the lower levels and up to the areas that were usually more heavily patrolled by the dementors. The higher the level – the more dementors.
"She's right down 'ere, ma'am." The guard said. "Jus' aroun' the corner from that cousin 'a hers – Sirius Black."
Narcissa smiled and nodded, after all he'd just saved her from a lengthy search for him. The guard opened the door and cast a few spells – binding Bella with chains to a chair and reinforcing the warding – Narcissa could leave the cell whenever she wished, but Bella could not. Of course the guards would be alerted when she left – and expect her to be leaving.
Narcissa gave the guard another smile and he nodded deferentially and left her with her sister. Bella immediately started cackling and mocking Narcissa in that irritating baby – talk. But Narcissa ignored her, and stood by the doorway, waiting to be sure that the guard had left.
Once the area seemed clear, she let Severus out of the pocket, whispering to him. He shook his wings out and flew down the hallway to Sirius' cell and entered it, transforming back into a wizard.
Sirius watched the raven in confusion – and then anger when his most hated enemy appeared – Snape. Severus didn't waste time trying to reason with Sirius – they would need time, proof and privacy to convince a dyed in the wool Dumbledore – adoring Gryffindor of anything.
Before Sirius could pull together a good stream of insults Severus cast a spell to force Sirius into his animagus form. He once again mentally thanked Lily for telling him about the marauders having achieved their animagus forms. When they had renewed their friendship she'd told him about it when he'd told her about being a raven – which had helped a great deal with spying, of course.
He could have simply transfigured Sirius into an animal – but that may or may not hold when going through the wards. The last thing they needed was for Sirius to get away and going haring off to Merlin – knew – where. Severus brought out a bundle of ragged clothing and conjured a fake Sirius to wear them. It would hold for a time and hopefully when it wore off it would be enough days later that Narcissa would not be suspected.
A twist on the spell made it impossible for Sirius to transform back. A quick confundus and coercion spell and Severus whispered an order to the Grim. Severus flicked a spell to open the cell door and popped into the raven and the Grim followed obediently. The door swung shut and relocked just as the spell had asked it to.
The doors only alerted the guards when person crossed them – not when an animal did. They flew and trotted down the hall and the grim stopped in front of Bella's door. The raven flew in and landed on Bella's shoulder.
The interview between the sisters had not gone well. Narcissa had ignored Bella with a tranquil smile while Bella ranted with frustration. She looked totally baffled by the sight of a confounded dog and a raven.
Narcissa stood and finally spoke. "I wanted you to have something to think about, Bella. You must get so very bored at time. Just know that you have helped me ensure that the Dark Lord will never rise again – and you will never know exactly how …" At Bella's look of confused horror, she smiled. "… you should never have cursed me as you did, Bella …"
Bella rattled the chains and managed a very credible growl, furious at the idea that she might be helping her beloved Lord's enemies. She narrowed her eyes in rage, "I should have killed your brat before I left – you wouldn't be smiling, now, you Blood Traitor."
Narcissa held her composure with difficulty. "Pleasant dreams, Bella – I'll send a copy of the Prophet when our victory is complete."
Narcissa went out the door and threw the invisibility cloak over the grim and put the raven back in the pocket of her cloak. The grim followed her obediently as she made her way down to the entrance where the guard and warden awaited her.
"She wasn't very cooperative, but I think I got what I came for." Narcissa said complacently.
The warden nodded and the guard took her back to the boat. The grim followed her into the boat after the guard left, a good thing, as the cloak began slipping, even with the sticking charm she had put on it. Narcissa allowed a few tears to fall as she went back across the sea. Even knowing how far gone her sister was, it had hurt to hear her regret not killing Draco. It made leaving any lingering feelings for her sister far behind her much easier.
Lucius and a portkey awaited her and they landed in the rooms they'd put together for Sirius. With the spells off Sirius popped back into himself and lunged at Lucius, hands clutching for the wand. Lucius sidestepped and winced as the wizard fell heavily to the floor. The skeletal form looked like it should shatter at the force of the impact.
Narcissa quickly hovered Sirius to an overstuffed chair and put a sticking charm on him. Weak as he was it should be enough.
"Sirius – we rescued you from Azkaban as soon as we found out you were innocent." Narcissa said before he could start cursing.
Sirius sneered. "Really … how very noble of you 'Cissa. What do you intend? I won't help you with anything your Death Eater husband and friends …"
"Well, we're quite sure that you want to help your godson … you do recall Harry, don't you?" Lucius broke in.
Harry came in the door, and Sirius looked stunned. "Harry ….? What have they done …?"
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Severus went back to Hogwarts after watching the lengthy argument with Sirius. He had ranted at length, pleading with Harry to 'run', then saying it wasn't Harry – or he wouldn't be there willingly, then weeping that Harry was in terrible danger.
Severus had tried to stay out – he would only infuriate Sirius more. But he'd finally had enough after the raving seemed to be upsetting Harry. He spelled a calming potion and super-strength nutrient potion into Black.
They had a battalion of elves bath him – several times - and then feed him. A dreamless sleep was forced down his throat – they would try again in the morning.
Meanwhile, Severus reported to Albus. "I got Harry alone for a few days after the racehorses' accident. I talked to him again about the Horcruxes and he helped me destroy the diadem … he is quite determined now to destroy them all – and I believe I have him convinced that you are the one with the information needed to find them all." Albus nodded and stroked his beard with a smile … at last the boy was coming around. "I couldn't quite convince him to go looking for the Stone … he keeps saying that if you have hidden it and protected it – that it must be safe and he would only mess up what you have done …."
Severus watched Albus carefully, hoping the flattery would help cushion the blow about the stone. They did not want Harry running through that gauntlet, no matter what Albus insisted on.
Albus pursed his lips and thought. Not having Harry go after the stone was disappointing, but getting his trust was more important, and Severus would have difficulty convincing Harry of what a great wizard Albus was and imply he needed help with the stone at the same time. At last Albus nodded with a smile and said, "Well done." And waved Severus off – that always irritated Severus, Albus acting like he was a trained beast that had done their trick and could run back to the kennel again.
He left the tower and stalked to Quirrell's office to placate the parasite on the back of the DADA teacher's head that dared to imply he was still a Dark Lord.
"We've found a way past the Cerebus – it falls asleep to music." Quirrell piped up immediately.
Severus managed to act surprised and imparted his own news. "The devils snare, of course will give way to a sunlight spell, and then the 'key room' … well the keys are spelled against being summoned, so you may need to actually chase it. The chessboard isn't so heavily protected – but you'll have to use the most powerful smashing hex you can summon to cut through the protections that are there and destroy the chess set so you can go on through. You'll have to deal with the troll … but Quirrell is supposed to be the expert there …" Severus curled a lip at the nervous DADA teacher. "I can tell you which potion to take at the next obstacle …" Or maybe get mixed up and have you drink the poison, Severus thought. "… but the final chamber has the Mirror of Erised and I've no idea of how that obstacle works." Severus ended with what he hoped sounded like dejection instead of relief.
Quirrell looked nervous at this and there was infuriated hissing from the back of his head that made Severus' stomach lurch.
"You will find out how it works … and soon, Severus." Voldemort ordered angrily.
"It won't be easy … he refuses to tell anyone of what he has done with the mirror." Severus answered a bit sulkily. "But I will work on him … it may take a bit of time."
Voldemort hissed angrily, but he was in no position to kill one of the only two wizards currently helping him. Severus was clever – but even he would need time to get the information.
Severus escaped with a sense of relief. Things were progressing, but that didn't mean there weren't hazards – like a psychotic Dark Lord possessed teacher and a power-hungry unscrupulous Headmaster.
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A/N – a short chapter, but at least I got it done.