In a gesture very unlike her, Hermione paced the room for the tenth time. This had been a bad idea. A very bad idea. She glanced out of the window, anxious for the other to return. That is, provided that Rita wouldn't be into hiding by now.
I should have just taken the mark. Or bought an owl.
When working for a Dark Lord it wasn't exactly handy to have no way of contacting said Lord. She really needed to speak to the man, or at least to someone who was closer in rank to him and could convey the message. Her head was bursting with all the plans she had, but she had no approval from anyone for any of them, really, as Rita had pointed out. Not that the woman cared much for authority, she had made a sarcastic remark about it, but the words had put Hermione back in her place, or it felt like that at least.
She was a friend of Harry, but that was the only point that made her worthy of being noticed by Him. All her other attributes seemed to slim her chances down. Muggleborn, not yet graduated or even having completed her OWL's, no fighting experience, no contacts in the Wizarding World who could speak for her… she wasn't even an official follower of the Dark Lord… She was book-smart, but as she'd often found out through her adventures with Ron and Harry, that was, while handy, not always enough.
And thus, to gain approval of her plans, she had sent the only one who could reach Voldemort. Skeeter in her beetle-form. It was a desperate move really, because while Rita wanted to sink her teeth into the juicy stories and rile the world up just as much as Hermione did, Hermione wasn't too sure if the woman thought of her as useful or someone who was holding her back. The threat of revealing Rita's secret only worked when the other was near the girl. It would be so easy to just fly away and hide like Lovegood had done…
The girl sat down on her bed, sighing deeply. Rita had been gone nearly a day already, and Hermione didn't think she'd come back. Her head shot up when the door opened, but it was just her mother. The knot in her stomach tightened when she realized she'd have to do without the witty, biting comments of Rita from now on.
"Hey sweetie. Can I come in?"
"Sure." Hermione sighed.
"Is... is she gone?"
Hermione tried not to throw her mother an angry glare at the relieved tone. She knew that her parents didn't like to be involved in anything magical, but they hadn't had to avoid Rita like the plague.
"She'll be back." the girl said, wrapping her arms around her body, taking a defensive stance.
"Hermione…"
But the witch didn't listen anymore, and merely stared at one of the green quills and the rough draft of several articles they had worked on together.
"She will." she whispered.
The sunlight fell on one of the windowsills, and an attentive house-elf wiped a bug off the wall, making it fall out of the window. The elf turned around and continued dusting off the ornaments in the living room, not looking back as the bug persistently landed on the ledge again. The sound of footsteps was to be heard, and the small elf disappeared with a loud crack into thin air mere seconds before the master of the house entered, his robes billowing majestically with each of his strides. He turned sharply and sat down on one of the chairs, his long spindly fingers tapping impatiently on the arm rest as he waited for the other to sit down as well, opposite of him.
"Miss Shay." he softly spoke, receiving a slight bow of the head from his guest.
"Lord Voldemort."
"I am pleased that you answered my call so quickly. I must disappoint you however in your assumption of already being hired."
"Ah?" the woman –or girl, really- inquired.
"You are deemed one of the few who is capable of acting out your job, even without magic. However, 'capable' is not enough. I do not yet have proof that you are able to ensure the safety of the one I want you to protect."
"Through your messages, I gathered that I would not have to deal with other magicians like yourself and my possible future charge?"
"Your possible future master already has the best of the best looking after him when magicians are around who could be bearing harmful thoughts towards him. The work I have for you, is to both protect him against Muggle threats and serve as someone who gains me the trust of the Muggle government."
"How so?" Shay asked, a confused frown in her words even though her face didn't show it.
"In the Guild, you got into contact with witches and wizards, all of whom were your superior. You had to deal with that because otherwise you wouldn't have survived. The Muggles I am going to approach however, have armies behind them, numbers, a country full of possible enemies. When starting to negotiate with them, I cannot have heavily armed wizards there to protect the ones I want to. It would give a completely wrong message. Another Muggle though, while still a guard, would not be, in their eyes, as dangerous to them. The second point I would like to get across is that I already am working together with Muggles, who also accept wizards as their betters."
Shay's lips straightened slightly at both his mentions of wizards being superior to her, but she wistfully didn't comment on it. Both the occupants of the room knew that the Dark Lord was speaking the truth.
"And how do you wish for me to prove my… capability?"
"If it were anyone else you'd have to guard, I would suggest a trial period, but I will not risk that this time, not with him. Therefore, I'm going to give you a… test of sorts."
The girl's eyes narrowed. "I'm listening."
"This evening, we are going to attack the headquarters of one of my greatest enemies. If you can hold your own against great sorcerers, you will be more than competent for the job you really will have to fulfill." Shay stiffened, her eyes wide. "Of course, you will stay close to my side so you will not be in as much danger as my other followers, and I will be able to observe you through the fight."
"I need… time to think on this. I am not planning to throw my life away." she finally said.
"You have one hour. Now, I still have things to prepare for tonight. Tabby!" The elf appeared again, bowing deep. "Keep the lady company and make sure she doesn't touch anything until I return."
"Of course, Master." the creature said, turning its large, green eyes towards the guest, unmoving and not blinking.
The green beetle skittered over the wall and slipped in between the crack of the door right before it closed. "Now, Skeeter." the Dark Lord said, turning around, eyes gleaming dangerously. "You can either change and explain why you are here, or the last thing you see will be a pretty emerald flash." he continued, his voice threatening. A second later, a woman stood before him, her shoulders square in an attempt to look less afraid. His lip curled when she took a quick step backwards and hit the wall as he leaned towards her. "Well?" he inquired.
"I came here with a request." she spoke up, her voice pitched high and breaking slightly.
"Speak."
"One of you followers, Hermione Granger, held me captive for months."
"And now she released you, and the only thing keeping you from going is that she knows your secret and you will be forced to register if she spreads the knowledge?"
"I... how…"
"It is not very hard to figure out," he pointed out. "So, why has she sent you here?"
"She has no other way of contacting you. Sadly, my other form is not suitable to carry messages, so I cannot take any of the articles with me she wanted to ask permission for…"
"Articles?"
"Granger plans to throw… more chaos in, while spreading your beliefs."
"I always did like her brains. Yet, I need something more concrete than that."
"First of all, she wishes for me to write a book about Dumbledore. About his life, his real life. For that, though, she needs memories…" she seemed to hesitate, as if realising she had no proof of anything she said. He analysed her voice with suspicion, but could hear no lies in it, and relaxed slightly. "And further?"
"She recently told me that she wants to bring up the point of goblins and wands…" Rita said, grimacing as if she couldn't stomach the idea.
"I've got to give it to her, she knows exactly what to do. Very well, return to her and tell her that she may work on these two issues, but these two only. Things are started to tumble down, but I do not wish to be buried under the debris. Concentrate your energy on this and get everything out of it that you can. Now, I do not have more time for you, so this will be goodbye."
"But…"
"No buts." he sharply said, his eyes flashing. "You will do as I command you. Oh, and also…" he said, and made a sign with his hands. A large owl appeared in a red flash, screeching loudly. "I prefer it if my house isn't defiled by bugs. Speaking of which…" He pointed his wand lazily, and Rita fell to the floor, screaming in pain. When he at long last released the Cruciatus curse, it took her a minute to regain her senses and sit up, shaking. "I do not appreciate people sneaking into my house."
"The memories…" she said with a quivering, but persistent voice. the Dark Lord raised one hairless eyebrow at her defiance. Even most of his death eaters would not dare to continue after receiving the torture curse. It was also for this, that he answered at all instead of just throwing her out.
"You will get those after I have seen some result on the issue of goblins. One of my followers informed me of that you are trying to publish in the Quibbler?"
"Yes…"
"I will tell Lovegood to let you. Ah, and speaking of memories… Obliviate!" Rita stared unfocused at the point of the quickly drawn wand for a few seconds. "It wouldn't do to have you remember my guest…" he muttered, before turning away and quickly continuing his way, leaving the dazed reporter behind him.
The wards shifted slightly a minute after, telling him that the woman had left. "Hermione Granger…" he muttered. He would have to keep an eye on that one. At least she had been so bright to remember asking for permission.
XxX
Shay shifted uncomfortably under the never-ceasing stare of the creature in front of her and let her fingers slide over her hidden daggers again. She had been intrigued when first receiving a letter from no-one less than the Dark Lord, but she was seriously reconsidering the wisdom of coming here. Of course, she knew it would not be an easy job, but she felt that she was ready for it. The test however… She shouldn't have contacted wizards…
She sighed deeply, gazing at the room with contempt after checking her mp3-player -one of the very first ever released- and noticing the magic in this place was fucking it up so much that it wasn't useable anymore. She had no idea how magicians survived with only one popular band…
Long minutes dragged on, in which she tried to avoid the eyes of the elf and think. Was this worth risking her life in such a way? When receiving the first letter from the Dark Lord, she hadn't been able to believe what she saw, and when she had finally processed that it was no joke, she had thanked her luck. Only few Muggle assassins got tasks from wizards, and it was a sign of high respect. It would definitely be good for her career, which had been in a bit of a dip he last… years. Ever since she had gotten into a fight with some of the veterans in the Guild, they had done everything possible to make sure she didn´t get hired anymore, despite being one of the better ones.
However, fighting in a wizard attack as a test…
She sighed again and ran a hand through her loose, smudgy blond hair. If she were honest to herself, there was no way in which she couldn't accept this test. Turning down such an opportunity without having even tried it was unthinkable, while, if she succeeded and got the job… Her career might get that huge boost that she desperately needed.
Her mind was made up long before the hour was over, and when the Dark Lord entered again and raised an eyebrow, she merely smiled grimly, stood up and offered her hand.
Harry looked around, every pair of eyes grim behind their masks. The cold winter wind made him shiver, as did the muddy pools of water he splashed through. Muggle children peeked through the windows before being pulled back by their parents, and Harry could vaguely hear the sirens of the police who tried to come closer but hit a Confundus web every time, ever circling around the area of the fight. It was strange. He had always thought that battles like this were fought in open fields, but here they stood, in dark, narrow streets, waiting for their Lord to give the sign.
They all could see the door, and the small sign with a 12 on it, thanks to the slip of paper the Dark Lord had saved from when it had been given to Lucius in summer. The occupants seemed to have realised that too, apparently, as the door swung open. Harry rose an eyebrow and tightened the grip on his wand as a huge... bubble came out of the door. On a closer inspection, he saw that it was a sort of shield spell, cast by members of the order who hid behind it.
"So, you will fight us here?" a familiar voice barked, and Harry saw Moody, face grim as he watched the Death eaters. "Here, for all Muggles to see?"
"I would have invited you to fight in my back yard, but I really think the house-elves would be upset if your wooden leg trampled the hellebores." Marvolo sarcastically said, and waved his wand, a misty golden haze erupting from it. "And Muggles seeing magic also happens to be one of my main goals. Now, will you hide behind your petty shield forever or will I have to tear it apart myself?"
"You can never win." Moody yelled, and spun around, only to steady himself against the wall a moment after.
"You didn't really think we wouldn't seal this place off, did you?" Lucius said in disgust. "We're far from amateurs."
"Malfoy… I knew you were evil all along."
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I refuse to discuss the perceptions of 'evil' with you, or point out how many people you killed or had their soul sucked out because you believed it was just."
Before Moody could reply, the Dark Lord had gotten impatient and spoke a single word that droned through the streets and tore the shield apart as if it were made of paper. The Ex-Auror immediately retaliated, and only narrowly missed a second spell that was thrown his way.
Harry actually trembled with excitement now, the time that they had tortured Umbridge together entering his mind again for some reason. The rows before him started moving, raising their wands as one. Harry's eyes shot to a door that was suddenly slammed closed after a Muggle was nearly hit by one of Moody's 'defensive' spells. Harry wondered if Marvolo could really make Moody think that they would let the Muggles remember all this. It would be very beneficial if Dumbledore felt pushed to act in fear of Muggles spilling all secrets, but in reality, the web that prevented any non-magical being entering or leaving would also deal with their memories after a few hours. As the Muggles they had approached had warned them, the government and press should be accepting wizards if they wanted to have any chance of not having to deal with witch hunts.
And then, the real fight began. Harry had to duck and twist his way through, hindered in his movements by the mass of other fighting people, ally and enemy alike, in the narrow London streets. They spread like wildfire, and Order members ran out of their Headquarters, instantly firing spells. It was pure chaos, and Harry finally understood what Eyolf had warned him for. No duels, no rules… only violence. What none would have suspected though, was that Harry was now thriving on that violence.
He struck Mundungus down, the thief, with satisfaction. The little rat had tried to hide behind a stack of crates to protect himself, but it was of no use. He fell down, bleeding from a large wound in his right leg. Harry hesitated only a moment before striking again, slashing his wand down to cut the wiry neck open as well. He looked over to Marvolo, who was battling both Kingsley and Moody, while trying to maintain a shield spell over a short, blonde woman. The teen frowned, still not knowing what to think of her. Right before leaving, Harry had asked him who she was, but the man had waved it aside, too busy with preparing the attack to answer. Harry also hadn't felt like fishing the answer out of him through their mind link, when it was clear that everything that had been occupying Marvolo's mind by that time would most likely have given the other a killer headache. Still, he didn't exactly like seeing that his lover was giving someone special protection, while he should be focusing on himself.
He didn't have more time to ponder on it when a singeing spell whizzed past his ear, leaving the unpleasant smell of burnt hair behind. He whipped around to face a grim-looking Sirius, and for the first time since the start of the battle, Harry was not glad with the anonymity the Death Eater mask he was wearing gave him. He did not want to battle the man, but he knew that it was unrealistic to hope Sirius wouldn't have been there. It was his house after all.
He brandished his wand, pointing it at the other, trying to keep his arm steady as he looked into the piercing grey eyes, that were more lively than Harry had seen them before. The long, dark hair clung to the man's still sunken in, pale cheeks, wet from the rain.
He had expected some of Sirius' typical insults to be thrown towards him before the fight started, but the man surprised him by immediately trying to get him to lose footing. It was only after a few seconds that Harry realised that the man had been an Auror before he'd been condemned to Azkaban. It seemed that his godfather had not forgotten his training. Harry cursed when he was pushed back far too easily, and he knew that it was because he didn't want to hurt his godfather. He looked around, desperate for an escape route, but found none that wouldn't get him into an even worse situation.
Strangely, Moody saved him. Both of them heard the ex-Auror's curse before it hit a target, and both were just as shocked, though Harry somewhat less than Sirius, who had dropped his wand arm and looked at the Order member. The fighting momentarily stopped as Alecto Carrow dropped dead on the ground, only to continue in full force in the blink of an eye. Harry eyed Sirius, who was looking pale and mouthing the curse over and over as if he couldn't believe the words that had been shouted had been real.
Harry couldn't imagine what the man felt at the moment… He only knew that Sirius' beliefs about the Order had shifted in that moment, the moment one of them had uttered one of the Unforgivables in combat, one of the darkest curses, and had went on fighting as if nothing happened, not even reprimanded by the other Order members.
Only when Sirius finally focused on Harry again, did the teen realise that he'd done nothing but look at Sirius for minutes, and he finally found his voice. "Not everything is black and white Sirius." he said. "You might not have seen it till now, but the Light is not as good as you seem to think."
It looked like something clicked in the man's mind, and his eyes widened. "Harry!"
"Yeah, it's me.. I-" Harry started, but never got the chance to finish that sentence.
"They make you fight?" Sirius suddenly shouted, blowing up with rage. "How dare he! My godson! In battle!"
"Now wait a minute…" Harry threw in weakly.
"That bastard!" Sirius continued, eyes lit up with rage, but after a few more insults Harry finally gathered enough anger and strode over to Sirius to drag him into an alley that wasn't yet filled with burning crates and fighting people. Carefully checking to see if no-one had seen them enter the alley, Harry crouched down and pulled Sirius next to him behind a metal trash bin. He flinched when his godfather lost balance and accidentally pushed Harry against the freezing cold metal while he was trying to find his own balance. Both of them froze for a moment, hoping the clanging noise it had made hadn't been heard. Finally, the teen turned to Sirius again,
"I chose this!" he hissed. "He actually wanted me to stay at home but I insisted weeks ago that I wanted to go! And do you honestly think that Dumbledore wouldn't have made me fight for the Order? Dumbledore, the biggest manipulator on this planet?"
"He means good…" Sirius protested. "He doesn't always have the right means, but it was him who fixed the mess Voldemort made last war!"
"To gain power! Why, why are you so blind!" Harry hit his fist against the brick wall and winced after that because of his own stupidity, rubbing his sore knuckles with his other hand.
"Harry…"
"We need to talk Sirius." the teen sad, suddenly feeling tired and weary. "Just the two of us. No Order or Dark Lord to interrupt us now… I must admit that the first time we spoke, in summer, I was… too impatient." To avoid looking his godfather in the eyes, Harry fumbled with his mask, taking it off, as he'd noticed the wary glances Sirius kept shooting at him. He studied the pattern, which was unique for every mask, as he waited for Sirius' answer.
"Harry... we never spoke in summer about such things…"
"We did! You just… you wished to forget… And so you were Obliviated" Harry sighed. "But as I said, I went at it the wrong way… I really, really want you to see why I made the choices that I did. Please, give me a chance. I honestly love you, you're the closest thing to a father I could ever have, and it hurts me to see how far we've drifted apart since the first time I met you."
"What, when I was a demon dog who scared the crap out of you?" Sirius grinned, on which Harry rolled his eyes.
"Not quite." he grinned back, and his heart grew lighter at the seemingly carefree moment between the two of them. He'd forgotten Sirius' small habits, and almost took delight in the swearing words the man carelessly threw around. The pure-blood habitat he'd lived in for months now deemed themselves above such vulgar language, and it made Harry feel very out of place whenever Lucius pierced him with an icy look again if he even said as much as 'damned'.
"Alright… I'll give you a chance to explain yourself and will try… not to be too prejudiced. But you have to understand my point of view too… I fled everything Dark when I was young because I saw how wrong it was… how cold and cruel those people where, who put their blood above everything. The Dark broke up friends, family… I lost both James and Peter to it."
"Pettigrew has always been a coward." Harry sneered, angry at the thought of the sniveling rat. Luckily, Marvolo didn't allow the disgusting being in their home anymore with the exception of death eater meetings. Sirius' eyebrows rose, and he gave harry a quizzical look. "What? That I joined the dark doesn't mean that I like every single person on our side… I'm sure it's the same for you. Does anyone like Mundungus?" For Sirius' sake, he used present time instead of past, even though he had just slain said man.
"More than Snape…" Sirius huffed. Harry wisely chose not to comment on that.
"So when… when can we talk?" Harry asked, hoping that he didn't sound too desperate.
"What about this Sunday?"
Harry bit his lip, thinking. "I have an... appointment in the afternoon, but the evening would be fine."
"Where do you need to go to in the afternoon?" Sirius frowned, and then got a grin on his face. "An appointment… you make it sound so formal. Do you have a date?"
Harry rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching. "No Sirius, it's not a date. I'm just busy that time." He didn't really feel like explaining his trauma at the current moment, in this filthy alley while they could be separated at any given moment if someone decided to run through here.
"Alright, fine, don't tell. But if I find out you've been seeing a girl, you're going to hear about it from me! You're far too young for that, and besides, I haven't even given you my famous tips on how to charm your way through the world yet Harry!" the man joked, obviously thrilled for this moment of peace between the two of them. The teen couldn't imagine how it must've been for Sirius, to suddenly realise that your godson had been with the people he considered enemies all along… But all Sirius' talking about girls made him worried. How would he ever get the man to accept Marvolo? His stomach dropped, but Sirius didn't seem to notice. Perhaps Lucius had taught him more already than he'd thought. "Anyways, how will I reach you?" the other asked, oblivious.
Harry frowned. He hadn't thought of that yet. He could hardly give the location of their home away, and he didn't know how to produce a portkey.
While he was still thinking over how to get around those problems, a flash lighted up the alley and they had to hurriedly jump out of the way when the stray spell blew up part of the stones that covered the ground. "It seems we've spoken long enough." Sirius said with worry. "Harry, get out of here, I'll cover you. I know that you say you wanted to be here, but it's my duty as your godfather to protect you. Merlin knows I haven't been doing my job very well till now. Listen up, Dumbledore… prepared something for you. The plan hasn't been fully worked out yet, but it'll happen soon enough. Damned secrecy spells make me unable to tell you anything more but… be careful. Now, Go!"
"What about Sundays?" Harry shouted after him as Sirius threw up a shield spell and ran out of the alley, but the man didn't hear him anymore. At a loss of what to do, Harry looked back at the mask, and his face got a grim look before he put it on again. Sirius' intentions of keeping him out of battle were good, but the man's assumptions were wrong. He was not a mere follower, he was supposed to be the Dark Lord's left hand, his betrothed, and he'd be damned if he fled like a coward.
Read and Review!
xx GeMerope
