A/N: So, I had it typed up yesterday and ready to go, but then I had to go to a Thanksgiving dinner that went on for longer that I planned it to... Well, I seriously hope you're not too angry with me :3
Rachel slammed her fist down on Dumbledore's desk.
"What do you mean I'm not getting Harry?"
Her loud exclamation was followed by complete silence in the office Rachel remembered visiting as a student. In the corner of her eye, Rachel saw one of the headmasters in a portrait wake from his slumber and give Rachel a pointed stare. Before Rachel, Dumbledore stood just as calm as before.
"It will be best for Harry to be raised by muggles, in his situation," Dumbledore explained. "We don't want to attract too much attention to him, especially not now with all of the rogue Death Eaters."
"Right, and putting him in the care of the woman that tormented Lily for being a witch is better how exactly?" Rachel countered.
"I know it is difficult for you to understand," Dumbledore continued, "but this is for the best."
"And what about Sirius?" Rachel asked.
"What about him?" Dumbledore replied.
"You know he's innocent," Rachel stated. "So please. Do something."
"Rachel, please understand there is very little I can do," Dumbledore explained. "The courts refuse to accept an alibi for him and he is sentenced. Once the Wizengamot has made up its mind, there is very little anyone can do."
"That's ridiculous!" Rachel shouted. Tears burned at her eyes. "They're just scared! They need to put people away so they never have this happen again, but Sirius is the wrong person! He doesn't even have a Dark Mark!"
Rachel," Dumbledore said, his tone sharper than before. "Go home. Rest. Don't let this concern you too much."
Rachel gritted her teeth together and fought back a reply. She turned and left Dumbledore's office. On her way out, she nearly crashed into Remus.
"Oh, hey," she managed to mutter. "What are you doing here?"
"Just came to talk through some things with Dumbledore," Remus explained. "How are you holding up?"
"Terribly, thanks for asking," Rachel replied. After a long moment of silence she added, "You think we can get him out?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Remus asked.
"Sirius, you think we can save him from Azkaban?" Rachel clarified. She looked up at Remus. "You and I both know he didn't do it!"
"Rachel, he's already there," Remus said with a sigh. "There is very little we can do now."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Rachel exclaimed.
"Because it's true!" Remus replied. "And even if I agreed, he definitely wouldn't want me rescuing him."
"And why the hell not?" Rachel questioned threateningly.
"We were on bad terms," Remus said. "There is no reason I should have contact with him."
"That's childish," Rachel retorted.
"There are more important things," Remus countered.
"How can you say that?" Rachel exclaimed.
"That's childish," Remus replied. "Honestly, you are an Auror. The Wizarding World needs you like never before. So forget it, Rachel. You can't let your emotions get the best of you in these times."
"Fine then," Rachel muttered. "I guess I'm on my own."
With a tired sigh, Rachel placed another folder into the large cabinet. There had been so much paperwork since Voldemort had disappeared. One would think that the disappearance of an evil and powerful wizard would be the solution to everything, but the incident caused a lot of Death Eaters to act up.
The door to the small office opened and Mad Eye walked in. Rachel looked up questioningly.
"Nearly done there, Fredricks?" he asked.
"Not even close," Rachel grumbled in reply.
"Good, let's go," Mad Eye said.
"But—"
"I said, let's go," Mad Eye repeated. "I have a mission for you."
Rachel tugged on the hood of the black cloak she was wearing, causing it to almost completely cover her face. She held a tight grip on the wand hidden up her sleeve and moved quickly along the gloomy streets of Knockturn Alley.
Her mission was quite simple. She was supposed to listen in on a rumored Death Eater gathering in a suspicious little shop called Borgin and Burkes. Her objective was to return to the Ministry unnoticed and with plentiful information on active Death Eaters and their next moves.
So it would quite obviously be disappointing if they were all just gathering for a nice lunch.
Especially since she had two Aurors backing her up and listening in through a Charmed brooch.
With a begrudging sigh, Rachel pushed open the door to the shady shop and walked in, her head hanging and face completely hidden. In regular circumstances, she would come off as suspicious and be discovered immediately. But honestly, everyone in Knockturn Alley walked around like that. Hanging her head and pulling her cloak closer to her actually helped Rachel fit in.
Rachel's feet glided soundlessly on the filthy stone floors as she approached a cabinet filled with skulls, voodoo dolls, and treasures of Dark Magic, pretending to browse and take interest. Only a few minutes later, the bell at the entrance rang. Rachel kept her head down and listened closely.
"Come along, Cissy!" a voice cackled. "Don't stand there like a deaf mutt."
"But Bella…"
"Are you scared?"
There was a pause and then the nervous shuffling of footsteps.
Bella, Bella… Rachel racked her brain, trying to match the nickname to any known Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange. In that case, the other woman with her must've been her sister, Narcissa Malfoy.
Rachel saw them move to the back of the shop out of the corner of her eye. Quietly and slowly, she went after them, keeping her eyes on the objects in the glass cases.
"… with the Dark Lord gone—"
"Bollocks! The Dark Lord is not gone, fool!" Bellatrix interrupted a male voice.
"Why, you—"
"If you two get into one more argument I swear I'll sew your lips shut!"
Bellatrix cackled. "No need to get angry, Cissy!"
"Narcissa, don't scold me, scold your sister," the male voice said. "Honestly, she's such a child. We can't go on wreaking havoc without a leader."
Rachel quickly identified the male voice as Lucius Malfoy. Huh, Rachel thought to herself. For Lucius Malfoy, that actually sounded reasonable.
"And why not?" Bellatrix questioned. "We must follow out the Dark Lord's legacy, kill every Mudblood—"
"We are useless without him, Bella," Narcissa said. "We are weak now. If we want to remain away from the wary eyes of the Ministry, we must lay low."
"Will you two stop being such scaredy-cats?" Bellatrix shouted. "What happened to the both of you?"
"The Dark Lord died, that's what happened, you ignorant—"
"I'm ignorant?" Bellatrix screeched, interrupting Malfoy once more. "As if I'm the one going around saying the Dark Lord is dead!"
"Stop this, Bella," Narcissa hissed.
"Stop what?" Bellatrix snapped. "I will be leading an invasion two evenings from now right in the middle of Muggle London. It's your choice if you want to attend, but I'll know you're cowards if you don't."
Rachel turned to leave. She turned too sharply. Her hand hit a glass jar. Its shatter on the stone floor was followed by still silence.
"Fuck," Rachel hissed to herself.
"Need back-up?" a quiet, static voice came from the charmed earring.
"Mmhm," Rachel muttered. She moved to leave as quickly as she could, but she knew she had been noticed.
"You!" Bellatrix shouted. "Stop right there!"
Rachel halted. Slowly, she turned towards Bellatrix. "Yes?" she asked quietly.
"Remove your hood," Bellatrix ordered.
Rachel smirked. "As you wish," she said sarcastically. She brought her hands up and pushed her hood back dismissively.
"You again?" Bellatrix seethed. "I'm getting tired of you, Mudblood."
"Yes well," Rachel started. "I am quite tiresome."
Rachel had not even allowed a millisecond of a pause after she spoke before putting up a protection Charm. Clearly, Bellatrix hadn't hesitated either, because her Crucio bounced off Rachel's Protego. Bellatrix took aim again. Expecting another Cruciatus Curse, Rachel got ready to deflect it, but she was greatly surprised. Before she could set up her Charm, there was a red flash of light and Rachel's wand jumped out of her hand.
"Weren't expecting that, were you, Mudblood?" Bellatrix asked mockingly.
Rachel clenched her fists, bracing herself for what was to come.
"Cru—Agh!"
Rachel's eyes widened as a cage smashed into Bellatrix and the curly-haired woman fell over.
"What the bloody hell—?"
Ropes appeared and bound themselves around Bellatrix, including over her mouth, which turned her screeches into bothersome muffles. Rachel turned to see Kingsley Shacklebolt holding his wand out to levitate the bound Death Eater.
"The Wizengamot summons one Bellatrix Lestrange to their chambers," Kinglsey began, his voice ringing out through the Dark Magic shop as he listed all of Bellatrix's charges, "under suspicions of alliance to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, conspiracy to harm Muggles, thus putting our world at risk of discovery, sixteen counts of attempted murder, twenty-five counts of first degree murder, and innumerable counts of the use of all of the Unforgivable Curses."
Bellatrix gave another muffled scream that Rachel made out to be "Filthy blood traitor!" Well, everyone but her seemed to be filthy.
"Fredricks, Proudfoot, grab the other two," Shacklebolt ordered.
"Wait, sir," Rachel said. "They weren't conspiring to the even tomorrow evening."
"Pardon?" Shacklebolt asked.
"They were, in fact, trying to stop Lestrange from going," Rachel explained. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were trying to start off on a clean slate."
Shacklebolt paused. "Very well. We'll tell Moody to put them under surveillance for awhile then."
"Yes sir."
As Proudfoot and Shacklebolt left with Bellatrix, Rachel turned to Narcissa and Lucius. Silence filled the shop for a long moment.
"You owe me one, Malfoys," Rachel suddenly said. "Here's all I'm asking: don't fuck up your lives anymore. And same goes for that most likely bratty son of yours."
"Why, you—"
"Thank you," Narcissa interrupted Lucius, her voice icy.
Rachel nodded and exited the shop. Now why the hell did I do that?
So, not my best :/ But I have something a bit different planned for the next one.
-Grammar/spelling?
-How did you like it overall?
Thanks for reading! :)
