A Snake in the Nest, Chapter Six
A.N. Votes are as follows:
Fred/ George: 2
Scabbers (NOT Peter): 1
Luna Lovegood: 3
Sirius Black: 3*
Remus Lupin: 2*
James Potter: 1*
Peter Pettigrew: 1*
Peeves: 1
* This person voted The Marauders. So they managed to get four votes.
Exploring, as it turned out, wasn't nearly as interesting as it had sounded. No less than seven doors were locked, on being the bedroom at the end of the hall. Cooro explained the spell to the others, but no-one else seemed as interested in it as he was.
He didn't tell them he'd seen Remus cone out of it back in December.
The other rooms are devoid of both dust and life. There are several more bedrooms, a pantry, a library, an office, and the basement. They spent the most time there, looking at the old trunks and boxes that create a maze of epic proportions. It seems to Harry that the basement is rather larger than it should be, and wonders if it has been extended to fit the horde of things.
Nana makes an interesting discovery, in one of the lower-lying trunks near the strange silver door. Inside is nothing but photos, sorted into different boxes labeled with different names on each. They are looking through, with Ron telling them who they are when Husky gasps lightly.
In his hands is a box, like the others, with the name Weasley written carefully across the front. He hands it to Ron. He looks inside, and his eyes widen after a few moments.
"It's… my Mum and Dad. During the war. Look! There's Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred n' George… even me!" He is only an infant in these, but his eyes shine with the realization.
"And here's a few of Uncle Fabien and Gideon. Mum's brothers. They died, in the war…" He falls silent, and closes the box, beginning to place it back in the trunk.
A set of large hands stop him, and he looks up at Senri, who pushes it back onto his lap.
"Keep it; Remus won't mind." Ron smiles a bit, and sets the box down, apart from the rest.
Cooro looks in the trunk again, and pulls out a few more boxes, one labeled Potter and the other is blank. Harry stares at the Potter one, wondering just how many photos are lying around with his parents in them.
As it turns out, the Potter box has plenty more than his parents. There is what looks like far more relatives than he'd guessed existed, though he was saddened by this. It simply meant there were more deaths than he'd guessed. Senri insists he keep this one as well.
The last one is the best find by far, Harry decides. It is filled with Quidditch photos, from games for the Cup to Hogwarts games. And it isn't just from his parent's generation, they find. Ron spots his brother Charlie in a few near the bottom. It cheers them all up.
Cooro stands, opening his mouth to say something, when a loud gurgle is heard. It is echoed by Ron's, and after laughing at them both, the children gather the photos back up and leave.
They troop upstairs to eat lunch, and glance at the one photo on the counter. It's still empty, though none of them know why. Remus had taken the other one with him, so it was unclear if the occupants are in that one, or simply somewhere else.
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The four occupants in question are receiving the same lecture James and Lily had had, and these last two wondered why they had to hear it again. Hadn't they made their decision already?
There were a few differences in their rules, though; one, they could visit the living versions of themselves' minds, and two, they could jump between the two photos that had been coated in potion.
"We're staying, of course; far more interesting in there than anywhere else." Remus rolls his eyes at the long speech they'd heard. Honestly, what else would they choose?
"And besides, we're not dead. There isn't anywhere to go, really." The angel that gave the speech looks annoyed at their decision, but he nods.
"Very well. You'll be sent back, though when you'll arrive I do not know; time works oddly there." James raises an eyebrow.
"Don't you mean here?" The angel shoots him a disdainful look.
"This place existed first. So no, I mean it is strange there." With that, he sends them away.
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Remus walked as quickly as he could away from the boat, hoping to avoid talking to the official that was following him.
No such luck.
"Where're you headed?" Didn't this guy know when to give up?
"Home." Remus didn't bother looking back at him, focusing on getting far enough away to Dissaparate away.
"You sure? I mean, we could go to lunch or something…" The guy was hitting on him? Remus took a deep breath before answering.
"No, thank you. I have to get home." The man frowned, though Remus couldn't see it, and opened his mouth to respond again when Remus gave up and simply Dissaparated away.
The man scowled, then reached into his cloak and pulled out a flask. He took a long gulp, then began walking back to the dock.
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Sirius slipped behind the bed, the only place in the cell he could get a semblance of privacy. Not that most of the people here were very worried about it.
Carefully opening the package, he reached inside. The first thing he pulled out was a letter.
Pads,
First off, I want to apologize. For thinking you were the traitor, for not telling you what I was doing for Dumbledore. For everything that happened in that bloody war.
You're no doubt wondering why I changed my mind so suddenly, and the reason for that is very odd; a photo. Stop giving me that look, I'll explain.
Sirius chuckled a bit, then his eyes widened at the fact. Should that be possible, with dementors here?
In a strange accident, a potion of some kind spilled on two photos, and produced a strange effect; they can talk, Pads. One of them is in the package.
Try not to be too obvious about it, or someone is bound to notice.
-Remus
Sirius choked back a snort; Moony still couldn't find a way to end a letter. He reached into the parcel again, feeling the photo and one more thing, a thin rectangle. Pulling it out, he smiled widely, and even the dementor gliding past his cell couldn't make it go away.
In his hands lay a chocolate bar.
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Albus looked up as an owl flew through his window, holding out it's leg. He smiled in recognition; it was Remus' owl Romulus, and he remembered the many jokes about it killing Remus eventually. A dark subject, but he couldn't resist a chuckle as he took the letter; the owl was one of the sweetest he'd met, making the theory silly.
He slit open the letter, and though he'd never admit it, his eyes widened as he read it's contents.
Dear Albus,
I do hope you're having a lovely summer. Mine has been rather hectic, but pleasant. Harry and Ron are visiting, and the house is full of laughter, something I haven't heard enough of in the past few years.
To get to business, I have rather odd news. Whoever was trying to summon Voldemort works at the Ministry. I'm still trying to find out where, and who, but it is worrisome that that can happen under their noses. I fear the worst; that an official may have been corrupted and is using their influence to use the Dark Arts.
Now, there is something else I'd like to share with you, but I fear the subject is rather delicate, and I do not wish to explain by owl. If you could drop by, or arrange a meeting, I would appreciate it. You will not be disappointed in what I must tell you.
Lastly, though I am sure you heard of it, the meeting with the Ministry went well. They will check in every once in a while, but I see very little chance of getting any worse than that. Certainly not landing them in the Department of Mysteries.
I wish you well,
Remus Lupin
P.S. The security at Azkaban is horrifically lax; it is worrisome that a person can go in without an escort.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the last comment; why would Remus be visiting Azkaban, or know of the security there. Surely he wouldn't visit anyone there, would he…?
He looked at the letter again, noting that the writing was a bit jittery, as though the person who had written it had been shaking.
Yes, he would go there, and Albus got the feeling that he would find out at this meeting. He quickly wrote a reply and sent Romulus off with it.
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'Scabbers' hadn't felt this nervous since he'd become the traitor all those years ago. They knew, knew he was the real reason James and Lily were dead, and knew he was hiding out in rat form. He felt thankful he had no markings.
Except his missing finger. He eyed it again, and slipped further back in his cage, feigning sleep as Ron came in. Ron glanced at him, tossed some food inside and left again. On his way out he placed a box on his bed.
He ate what appeared to be the remains of a turkey sandwich, then slipped back into the darkness.
'They don't know… they don't know…'
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Ron ran upstairs, the boxes under his arm and a sandwich in his hands. He set the box on Harry's bed, then went to his own. Scabbers lay in his cage, fast asleep in the darkest corner. He put the sandwich inside for when the rat awoke, put the box away and left.
'Why couldn't I get a cool pet, instead of Percy's old rat?' Ron shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought. His parents did the best they could, but with seven kids things were tight often. He had no reason to be greedy; at least he had a pet.
He laughed as he went down the stairs, remembering when he'd bitten Goyle's finger. It was funny that he'd only bitten Goyle, not him or Harry. Kinda like he knew what was going on.
He shook his head. That was ridiculous.
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Harry sat on the couch, between Cooro and Husky. Nana and Senri sat on another couch, and Ron took a seat in the armchair as he returned from feeding Scabbers.
"I still don't get how you never got any of our letters, Harry. I've never heard of an owl not delivering their post." Ron looked a bit troubled at the whole thing. No letters had arrived since he got here, now that he came to think of it. None except one for Remus that had arrived a few minutes before. Romulus, the owl, had looked a bit annoyed that Remus wasn't home, but let them put the letter on the table instead of leaving to look for him. Cooro now had him in his lap, stroking his feathers.
"Maybe something is taking them? Like your uncle, perhaps?" Husky seemed more suspicious than confused, though Harry would bet that that was because of how he'd grown up. Who wouldn't be paranoid after that?
"Owls wouldn't let his uncle near the letters unless they were for him." Nana responded, looking up from whatever she was sewing. All he could see was that it was a pale yellow, and that didn't mean much.
"Well, they could have dropped them on his window sill or something, and someone found them." He supposed that could be it, and said so. Ron looked dubious, but admitted that Errol could have done that by accident.
"And Romulus might have been confused because by going so late at night or something. We only sent one or two to your house before we used Muggle post." Cooro noted, looking up at the ceiling in contemplation.
"But that doesn't explain Neville's letters going off… hey, where is he? I thought you said he'd be joining us soon, and the weeks half over." Senri, who had been watching Romulus, looked up at Ron.
"Couldn't make it." Nana continued to tell him the rest.
"He sent a letter at the last minute. Apparently his grandmother wanted to visit some old friends in Spain, and is dragging him along. Maybe later in the summer, though…" Ron nodded, disappointed. It was only a month and a half before school, though.
Cooro looked up abruptly, though his hand never wavered on Romulus' back. Senri and Nana looked up as well, and stood as one, walking to the front door and opening it just as Remus walked up. He looked at them and laughed, walking in and letting them close the door behind him.
"Remus! You're back!"
'Well. Way to state the obvious, Cooro,' Harry couldn't help but think, but he laughed and stood to greet Remus as well. Harry told him of the letter, and they sat in silence as Remus read it. He smiled, nodded to himself, and put it in his pocket.
They sat in the living room again, with Remus in another armchair. He had Romulus now, and the owl looked rather pleased with himself.
"So, can you tell us what your errand was?" Husky asked from the couch. He hadn't moved, and simply looked up at Remus.
"How about this? I'll tell you if you tell me what you did today." Husky grinned a bit, but it was Nana who spoke.
"We looked around a bit, mostly in the basement. Found a trunk full of photos…" Ron jumped in, and Harry was thankful that he didn't have to.
"We found a bunch of our families… can Harry and I keep them?" Remus looked a bit surprised, then nodded.
"I'd forgotten how many things ended up there. You can keep them. I might look around a bit more, see if I can find any more." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then focused on them all.
"I went to see Sirius in prison today. He now has one of the photos. I also sent a letter to Dumbledore…" As he spoke, a polite knock was heard from the door.
"And I do believe that's him. Run along now, we have some private matters to discuss." His eyes twinkled in mirth as he looked at Nana, which caused her to guess that she was allowed to eavesdrop. They left, and Remus opened the door to reveal the Headmaster, who smiled at him.
"Good evening Remus. I believe we have some things to discuss."
And….. That's it for now. See you all in about two days.