Refugee

Cordelia was called away as soon as she and Frank had arrived at the Stuttgart Ministry. Rough hands pulled him downstairs into a dungeon-like room, telling him things he didn't understand. They also took his wand.

Now, Frank was surrounded by impenetrable lines of silver light. He felt like an animal in a cage. Next to him, the red-haired Death Eater woman was confined in a similar fashion. She looked around nervously, twisting her hair between her fingers. The other people in the room seemed to be Death Eaters as well; Frank couldn't see any symbols of the Grindelwald supporters on them. Some green-robed Aurors were standing guard.

Frank forced himself to breathe calmly. Did they suspect him of being a Death Eater himself? From their point of view it made sense of course. He was an unidentified British wizard who had been caught fighting side by side with a Death Eater. What else would they think?

A wave of dread swept over him. He remembered that the British Aurors had been allowed to use "any amount of force necessary" if they suspected someone of being a Death Eater. It was very likely that this was similar here, especially after an attack like this. He didn't know how many people had been hurt or killed even though the Grindelwald-supporters had done most of the killing if he had observed this correctly. Why hadn't any of them been captured anyway? Maybe the Ministry was still secretly cooperating with them. Frank didn't want to imagine his fate if that was true. But even if it wasn't, it would be extremely hard to prove his innocence without understanding their language. If Cordelia was busy elsewhere, anything could happen.

Again and again, some Aurors walked in to take prisoners upstairs with them. None of them came back. When about half of the dozen captured Death Eaters were gone, they came for Frank. "Mitkommen!" one of the Aurors said.

Frank didn't need to understand him precisely to know what he was supposed to do. They wanted him to come with them. Both Aurors had their wands in their hands while they walked him upstairs. They reached a room that looked like an atrium; it was much smaller than the one in the British Ministry though. There was no fountain but a few benches and plants. The Aurors stepped through one of the doors and a few moments later, they found themselves in front of a heavy door on a long corridor. One of the Aurors knocked and a female voice told them to enter.

The two Aurors led Frank into the room. It was an interrogation room that didn't look unlike those in the British Ministry were Frank had interrogated Death Eaters himself, once upon a time. It was empty safe for a small table and a few chairs. On the table sat Ari Shafir and a woman with half-long brown hair. Frank had seen her at the end of the battle as well. A relatively young man wearing Ministry robes and the Healing Oath bracelet sat in a corner.

Frank had to sit down on the chair facing the two Aurors. The ones who had brought him in left again.

Frank looked at the man and woman in front of him and the third man observing the scene thoroughly. He had a terrible feeling of déjà vue. Cold sweat was emerging on his face and his hands were shaking. Frank knew that this would only make him seem more suspicious but he couldn't help it He was totally exposed to those people, stripped of his wand. They could do to him whatever they wanted.

"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" the female Auror asked.

Frank forced himself to say something. "I'm sorry, I don't understand." Why did his voice shake so badly? He was embarrassing himself completely.

"Alright. Let's do it in English," the woman said.

"Yes, please," Frank said slightly relieved. He really needed to get a grip on himself. This was the German Ministry. He knew Ari Shafir. The man wasn't a Death Eater and he didn't resemble Rabastan Lestrange either, safe for his built. The woman's hair was brown rather than black and her face looked completely different from Bellatrix' and the young Healer's eyes were blue rather than grey and his hair a much lighter shade of blond. It wasn't them. He needed to regain his self-control.

"You will be taking Veritaserum so we can confirm your assertions," the German Auror said. "Are you going to take the potion voluntarily? It is the better option for everyone involved."

Frank hesitated. Veritaserum would be best to prove that he was telling the truth. It was impossible to lie under its influence even though a skilled Occlumens was able to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Frank had never been too good at this. Auror Occlumency to completely hide important information yes, but he had never learned to hide his current thoughts and emotions very well. They could ask him anything and he would tell them about it. The torture, his escape from Saint Mungo, the names of the people he had spoken to in Serbia and most importantly, the truth about the Horcrux. He might inform Shafir about this but not those other people he didn't know at all. If the woman said the truth, there wouldn't be a way around this but he still had to try. Maybe he would be able to hide the information about the Horcruxes with his Auror Occlumency.

"I'd rather not take Veritaserum," he said his mouth very dry.

"You will be required to do so if you don't want to be treated as a Death Eater," the Auror said. "Unless there's a medical condition that makes the use of the potion overly risky. Are you suffering from such a condition?"

Frank didn't know what to say again. There had been a Death Eater who had proven to be allergic to Veritaserum after having been exposed to the Cruciatus curse previously. He had died painfully in front of Alice but no one had really known what exactly had caused his death. She had felt very guilty in the months afterwards though. Frank wasn't sure if having been exposed to the Cruciatus curse more than 20 years previously would still count as a medical condition that kept him from being forced to swallow Veritaserum and if it did, did he want to use this as an excuse? He didn't want them to think he was weak.

"Not very talkative now, are we?" the Auror woman said rather sharply. "Do you even want us to know why you're here?"

Frank didn't hear the second sentence at all. In front of his inner eye, he saw Bellatrix Lestrange standing over him saying the exact same words before casting the curse again. He covered in front of the two Aurors expecting the pain to return at any moment.

From far away, he heard Shafir say something quietly in German.

"Why aren't you telling us that you've had the Cruciatus curse used on you?" Shafir asked in English. "That's just what we've been asking."

Frank wondered if he had used Legilimency. He didn't like the idea of anyone knowing what he was thinking and feeling at the moment. Couldn't they simply leave him alone.

"It's been many years ago," Frank said. "I didn't want to fuss about it."

"Well, if that's the case, I should check his magic before he's given Veritaserum," the Healer said. It was the first time Frank he got involved.

"Go on then," the German Auror said a hint of impatience in her voice.

Frank suppressed a sigh. He didn't want to endure this magic pattern spell again. If only he had the pattern made in Serbia with him. He could simply show it to them.

There was no choice now though. He'd have to endure the spell. Frank's body and magic resisted it even more than they had done last time in Belgrade. The Aurors looked annoyed but the Healer told them that this was a normal reaction. When he had finally made the pattern, he only needed to look at it for a short moment, to tell the others: "Using Veritaserum in his case would be completely irresponsible. Cruciatusfluch-Schädigungen in diesem Ausmaß habe ich hier noch nie gesehen. Es ist größtenteils verheilt, aber bewusstseinsverändernde Tränke könnten leicht einen Rückfall verursachen. (I've never seen Cruciatus curse damage to this extent here before. It's mostly healed but mind-altering potions could easily cause a relapse.) "

Frank didn't know if he felt relieved or offended. Relieved because he would be spared the Veritaserum and offended because the Healer considered him this weak. He wondered what he had said in German. Obviously something Frank hadn't been meant to overhear.

"Well, I suspected that much," Shafir said. "I can cast a Truth spell on him instead."

Turning to Frank, he explained. "This won't force you to tell the truth but it will show us if you lie. It can't be fooled by your magic but if you try to do so, the light will turn red."

Shafir cast his spell with an incantation Frank had never heard before. A white light shone around Frank. This would be highly useful for any Auror. Another thing they could add when the true British Ministry was reinstated, if that ever happened. If Frank continued like that, he wouldn't be much help in this process.

"It's very simple," Shafir said. "If the light vanishes, he has told a lie."

"Very well," the female Auror said. "What is your name and what is your profession?"

"Frank Longbottom. I was an Auror under the old British Ministry."

"Have you ever been a Death Eater or supported the wizard calling himself Lord Voldemort in any way?"

"No, I did not. Never." The light remained, of course it did.

Frank was surprised that the German Auror used Voldemort's name. Dumbledore had encouraged them to do so at Order meetings but Frank had stopped it after leaving Saint Mungo's. It was a name he had designed for himself after all. Using it honoured him more than calling him You-Know-Who or similar. Still, many people were afraid of it and she obviously wasn't. By now, he assumed that she wasn't a Death Eater sympathizer but maybe one of the Grindelwald supporters.

"Why have you been tortured?"

"It was back at the end of the First War. You-Know-Who had vanished and some Death Eaters wanted to restore him to power. I knew where he was hiding and they wanted me to tell them."

"Did you?"

"No."

"Who were the perpetrators?"

"Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange and Barthemius Crouch junior," Frank said slowly so the Aurors would be able to write down the difficult names.

There was an incredulous look on the young Healer's face. "The Rodolphus Lestrange? The one who's leading the British Health Care Department now?"

"The very same," Frank confirmed.

The Healer looked as if he wanted to say something; the German Auror cleared her throat.

"He's definitely telling the truth," Shafir said.

"What happened then," the Auror asked. She obviously didn't want to waste more time on this than necessary.

"I've been at Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for-" Frank paused for a moment. "Fifteen years if I'm correct. Then I got better and left the hospital."

Frank told them about his life as a Muggle and about his journey to Serbia. He didn't mention the Horcruxes but he did tell them that he had destroyed a dark artefact there and also bought his new wand. He also told them truthfully about his reasons for coming to Germany and his role in the fight. Afterwards, he told them that he'd like to stay here at least for a while. There seemed to be a relatively high number of British people here and he'd probably get information from them.

The light kept shining all along.

"Very well," the Auror said in the end. "My apologies for treating you so rudely in the beginning. It wasn't clear to me that your behaviour was due to your past experiences."

"It's alright, you were only doing your job," Frank said. He couldn't really complain about her behaviour. Crouch wouldn't have asked about someone's health before administering Veritaserum or doing worse. "I would have done the same if I had been in your position."

"You are eligible for asylum in Germany as a victim of a foreign regime who has to fear further persecution."

She handed him a stack of papers after having put her signature and a stamp on some of the papers. Frank finally learned her name this way. Verena Ohlsen. "This is your formal application. You'll find everything you have to do on there. If you consider applying for work as an Auror here, you'll be required to undergo therapy first and hand in a certificate that you have regained the necessary fitness."

She handed him another piece of paper. "This is a list of English-speaking Healers who offer this kind of treatment. You're not the first immigrant from the UK with this particular problem. You definitely should try to learn German if you intend to stay longer though."

Frank thanked her even though he didn't feel grateful at all. Therapy? He wasn't ill. He had proven that he was able to fight, had even helped destroy a Horcrux. There was something else though. Not the first immigrant with this particular problem? A glimmer of hope.

"You don't know by chance if my wife is here as well, do you? Alice Longbottom."

"She didn't arrive here in Stuttgart," Madam Ohlsen said. "I would remember that. She might have come to another part of Germany though. France has admitted quite a few immigrants as well. When you hand in your application, she will be informed if she's here in Germany."

Frank thanked her again and collected his papers. Cordelia had told her that she would meet him at the train station after her shift if everything went well. Frank still had two hours to spend.

The Ministry building wasn't far from the main station which meant that Frank had plenty of time to himself. He wasn't too happy about that though. Stuttgart didn't seem to have its own magical section. There were lots of Muggles everywhere and Frank had to be careful not to walk into anyone. He considered visiting one of the cafes but decided against it because he wanted to save his money. He didn't know how things would turn out after all. So he went into one of the bookstores and found out that it actually sold English books. He was quite fond of Muggle detective novel. The right people almost always won there.

Frank didn't buy any of these but a dictionary so he could start understanding what went on around him a bit better. He sat down on a bench and started to search the dictionary for words that were important for wizards. The weather was nice at least though the sun was slowly setting.

When he arrived at the main station, he had to wait twenty minutes for Cordelia and spent the time looking around the station which he hadn't done very thoroughly last time. There were announcements for trains to the airport all the time. He could simply get a ticket and fly back home from here. At least in theory. Frank feared that entering the UK as a wizard would be harder than leaving it. He didn't feel like returning to his Muggle life either. If he went there, he wanted to go with a purpose and so far, he didn't have sufficient information for that. Frank looked at his asylum application. The idea of spending the rest of his life here in a foreign country didn't appeal to him at all. It was probably easier for a half-blood like Cordelia who was at home in two worlds anyway but his family was one of the oldest British pure-blood families, tracing their line back to the witches and wizards of Avalon. His magic was bound to this land or at least that was how he felt. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life so far from home. He didn't want to be a refugee who had fled like a coward rather than fight for his country.

"Hello Frank."

He flinched at being spoken to so suddenly and turned around. It was of course, Cordelia.

"Verena told me that everything went well," she said. "Let's go to my flat. I don't think anyone will really try to overhear us here but we should be careful. It's quite late."

She told him the address and both of them apparated back to Heidelberg. They followed a small path between various hedges and crossed a street. The house in front of them looked completely Muggle.

Reading Frank's expression correctly, Cordelia said quietly: "Yes, I'm living in a Muggle house, better to keep a low profile. The flat itself does have some magical enhancements though. The owner conveniently keeps forgetting mine every time he wants to check something. We can talk freely inside."

Frank nodded and they entered the house, Cordelia lived on the third level.

"What a day," she said when they were finally inside and had the door closed. "At least no casualties among Aurors and civilians. If we hadn't had help, this would have gone very differently though. Shafir was quite indignant. Didn't think we were doing enough to keep his charge safe."

"Well, I think you did your best," Frank said. "You couldn't expect such a large scale attack."

Cordelia sighed. "He isn't quite wrong. We should have been able to predict this. At least now, the Minister won't be able to believe that the Death Eaters don't try to cause havoc here anymore."

"Didn't she believe this so far?"

Cordelia shook her head. "Didn't want to believe it. No one wants to be forced to do something about it because it's hardly possible without breaching the Statue of Secrecy. This could cause very severe problems. The British Muggles won't take any attack from the continent quietly. There'd be hell to pay for everyone. Muggles have very deadly weapons nowadays. Closing your eyes is the easier option."

Frank couldn't deny that this was a serious problem. "I also think that British wizards and witches should free themselves of this on their own," he said. "Wouldn't it be possible to support the resistance in their efforts?"

Cordelia sighed. "That's what the Israeli government suggests. They keep trying to get the International Confederation of Wizards to take action but so far to no avail. They want sanction sand they suggest supporting the inner-British resistance and supposedly attempt to assassinate You-Know-Who."

"Assassinate You-Know-Who?" Frank asked. This was an ambitious goal indeed. Madam Jovanovic had already told him about the sanctions.

"They think that everything will crumble down when he's gone. His reputation as "Dark Lord" and people's fear probably is what keeps his system together," Cordelia explained.

Frank thought that this was likely to be true. Still, if killing Voldemort was easy, Dumbledore would have done so many years ago. Frank and the foreign Aurors had been able to destroy one Horcrux but it was quite likely that there could be more.

"Supporting the resistance isn't easy because they aren't able to reach them," Cordelia said. "I know from Gary Williamson that there is a resistance but they are extremely careful for obvious reasons. It shouldn't be impossible if they really made an effort though."

"I think so too," Frank said. "Gary Williamson is here as well?" Frank remembered his younger colleague well. Williamson had been his junior partner for a year, a very talented and brave man.

"Yes, he's going to visit tomorrow evening. We were actually supposed to get the day off tomorrow but this isn't going to happen now of course. Still, we're going to grill tomorrow evening after work. Do you think you could get the food? Money should be here. I probably won't have much time after work. There's a Muggle supermarket just round the corner. You should be able to find everything without speaking German. They're used to English-speaking visitors here."

"Of course," Frank said. "Thank you for inviting me." And for entrusting me with your home and money, Frank thought. It was really kind of her. He was looking forward to the meeting with Williamson as well. At least there were some survivors even though they all had chosen exile over resistance.

They sat down on Cordelia's kitchen table and ate bread with cheese and ham. Cordelia looked extremely tired. She had to keep herself from yawning. Frank wasn't surprised. She had had an extremely busy day. After a quick shower, he went to sleep in her guest room and fell asleep right away. His dreams weren't untroubled though. He dreamed of Verena Ohlsen actually casting the Cruciatus curse on him before she turned into Bellatrix Lestrange and laughed about his stupidity. Frank woke up drenched in sweat and decided to use one of the Muggel sleeping pills he still kept.