DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, who isn't me. The only profit I get from this is personal satisfaction.
Black on Black
Charlemagne, Mundungus thought to himself, you owe me big time.
His old friend had requested that he go to Azkaban, visit all of his friends, and give a few newspaper clippings to certain convicts: the Lestranges, Sirius Black, Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, and several other Death Eaters. Since there was the highest Dementor concentration near the Death Eater cells, Mundungus was feeling quite miserable, even with his Auror escorts casting Patronuses of their own.
Handing out newspapers, though, wasn't the real reason Charlemagne asked Mundungus to come to Azkaban—it was to steal from the cabinet that carried the wands of all the various inmates. It used to be that a wizard's wand could get snapped the moment they were convicted. Some uppity wizards called for a policy change shortly before the whole thing with You-Know-Who got big, and so many a Death Eater wand was still confiscated and unused for nearly a decade.
Charlemagne had gotten the bright idea to steal the wands and sell them to people who wanted them. Charlemagne called dibs on Bellatrix Lestrange's wand for a witch whose cousin got killed by the Death Eater Queen and wanted to see if mutilating the twisted wand would help her feel better. Anything else, it was decided, was for Mundungus to do with as he wished.
When Mundungus got close to the office Charlemagne told him had the wands, he put up his Patronus.
"Get rid of that," one of the escorts said.
"Yours weren't helping much," Mundungus replied.
"It's visitor policy. Put out your Patronus or we'll have to remove you from the premises immediately."
A disillusioned Charlemagne cast a Confundus Charm on the unsuspecting escorts. "You won't remember me or the person you were escorting. You won't remember anything in particular about the events of today," he told the Aurors. To Mundungus, he said, "keep that Patronus up and close to me. Make another one for yourself if you can and make sure no one else comes by."
"What about the Aurors in the office?" Mundungus asked.
"I think I can take care of them." And he was gone.
It was almost a shame that Charlemagne didn't have a good Patronus himself—almost, because if he had, Mundungus probably wouldn't hear about this crazy scheme at all, let alone profit from it.
It was the second-to-last day of the term. Dumbledore had given Tonks a pile of memories to base her Bellatrix performance after, and after several weeks of practice, she felt like she could convince Bellatrix herself that she was the real one. Well, maybe she wasn't quite that good, but the chance that the goblins would spot the imposter was looking pretty slim.
Tonks knew she had to be insane to go along with this scam, but she felt like she had to help the Weasleys with their Saintlike problem somehow. And if it so happened that the Saintlike One wasn't lying about You-Know-Who corrupting Hufflepuff's cup to make himself immortal...well at least she would have done her part in stopping that. At the very least, she would be able to snap her crazy aunt's wand by the end of it. How the Saintlike One had managed to get it she'd never know, but Dumbledore was able to give it to her a couple days ago and she'd gotten a feel for it.
After using the Headmaster's fireplace to get to Diagon Alley, she walked confidently towards Gringotts, while taking a quick glance at Dumbledore's copy of the Saintlike Parchment every few steps. The Saintlike One hadn't sent her any messages yet to convince her that he was risking himself. She decided that if he didn't keep his word by the time she stepped inside the doors, she would immediately morph back into herself and go to her own vault.
Just as she was a couple steps away from the door, a scrap of parchment flew over her shoulder and into her hands. She stopped and stepped aside to read it.
I'm here, it said in the Saintlike One's handwriting.
"And how do I know it's really you?" she muttered under her breath as this new slip of parchment dissolved in her fingers. She felt something nudge at the sword she had wrapped around her waist, underneath her cloak and when she turned to look, another parchment fell into her hands.
Voldemort would probably have thought that sword was cool enough to corrupt, if he had known about it.
Tonks watched as this parchment too dissolved in her hands. Apparently he wasn't going to be using his normal method of communication, so Tonks tucked the Saintlike Parchment away. At least she knew that the Saintlike One (or someone he trusted) was there, albeit disillusioned. If he accompanied her past the Thief's Downfall, then she would be able to see who he really was. Maybe he just didn't want Dumbledore or the twins to know that someone else had met him in the flesh.
"Stay with me," she whispered as she walked into Gringotts like she owned the place.
She strode up to the goblins, demanded to see her vault, and presented her wand for identification. They didn't even flinch after seeing a patron who was widely known throughout the wizarding world to be in Azkaban. Apparently the goblins really didn't know or care about the witch's history, as long as they got their gold in the end.
Soon, Tonks was brought to one of the carts. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she entered the cart and the hand did not release even as they began shooting through the underground maze. The Saintlike One was with her. Excellent.
As they went through the waterfall that was the Thief's Downfall, Tonks voluntarily shifted back into herself—just to be safe—and waited for the Saintlike One would appear so she could tell the goblins that he was an approved companion.
But he didn't appear. It was then she realized his hand's touch on her shoulder was gone. The Saintlike One had trapped her here and she had to be extremely lucky if she was going to get out alive and free. She changed back into Bellatrix before the goblins could notice. Even if the Saintlike One was going to alert Gringotts to the intruder, it would be best to preserve the illusion for the goblins in front of her for as long as possible.
Then the unthinkable happened: another dissolving parchment was placed into her hands.
I'm still here, don't worry.
How had he done it? How could he possibly get through something that was guaranteed to break all concealing enchantments?
"Is there something wrong, Mrs. Lestrange?" one of the goblins asked.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Tonks pouted in a near-perfect imitation of her aunt—she was extremely grateful that her Bellatrix persona no longer required much thought to enact, even when she was as flustered as she was. The cart began to increase in its already very fast speed until they suddenly stopped. Tonks resisted the urge to vomit as she followed the goblins to the Lestrange vault. As the Saintlike One mentioned, there was a dragon there and the goblins made a clanking noise to scare it off. Tonks pretended to be unfazed by it, like a feral dragon was the most normal thing in the world. Once they got to the vault itself, of the goblins placed his palm on the door and let Tonks in.
"I demand my privacy," Tonks said.
"Just tap the entrance when you're done," the goblin replied and he sealed the doorway shut.
"You still here?" she whispered.
Parchment appeared. Yep. Parchment dissolved.
"How did you do get past the waterfall?"
Several seconds later, more parchment.
Borrowed something Dumbledore's been holding onto for a few years while he wasn't paying attention. Don't tell him: I don't want him to know that I know about it.
"So you stole it? Or right, 'borrowed' without asking. Never mind. Do you see the cup anywhere?"
The sword began to move of its own accord, rising out from under the cloak, and pointed to a small cup near the back of the vault. Tonks carefully climbed over the treasure to it. She tripped, of course, but the Gemino and Flagrante curses did not activate, probably since she was a blood Black. The moment she touched the cup, she felt darkness emanating from the it and promptly dropped it.
Yeah, there's really dark magic in there, the newest bit of parchment said. Use the sword on it.
Tonks took the sword and slashed at Hufflepuff's cup. The cup erupted and flew the Lestrange treasure all over the place. Tonks was surprised that the Saintlike One didn't activate the security spells either. Maybe whatever he stole from Dumbledore was protecting him too.
The Saintlike One, of course, gave her more dissolving parchment. Congratulations. You just took a major step in stopping Voldemort from coming back. Now your time as an Auror will be filled with sunshine and rainbows.
"How do you know what I want to do after I graduate?" Tonks asked with a raised eyebrow.
I know everything about everything. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home.
"Not so fast," Tonks said. "You're going to show me what you are. You aren't getting out of this vault without my permission, so you might as well give up now, Saintlike One."
You've been talking to the Weasley twins, haven't you?
Tonks cast an immobilizing charm in the direction of where the latest parchment came from. It may not have been cast with her own wand, but she heard a satisfying thump anyways. She felt around for the body and pulled at soft fabric.
A Weasley twin looked up at her.
"You said you'd stop possessing him, you lying snake!"
The Saintlike One cancelled Tonks' spell and pointed his wand at her. "Imperio."
Tonks felt herself walk towards the vault's entrance as she heard the Saintlike One get up from behind her and, presumably, replace the invisibility cloak.
"Tonks, I'm really, really sorry about this," he said in George's voice. George's voice. It made her sick to even think about it.
Tonks exited the vault and was forced into following the orders to act normal and leave. She didn't fight back—she couldn't let the goblins know that she wasn't Bellatrix—but she would not let the Saintlike One get the best of her. She'd murder him the next time she saw him.
As she exited Gringotts, Tonks felt something poke her from behind. Gryffindor's sword fell by her feet and one final scrap of disappearing parchment hovered in front of her face.
You shouldn't leave the sword of Gryffindor where the goblins can get it. And by the way, I'm not possessing anyone today. No one knows that Polyjuice taken after the Thief's Downfall works just fine as long as you weren't using it before you went through it.
She heard a pop and the Imperius Curse subsided. Tonks changed her appearance and quickly went for the nearest fireplace connected to the Floo Network. A moment later, she was back in the Headmaster's office.
"How did it go?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Tonks told (or rather screamed at) Dumbledore about what had happened. He wasn't nearly as bothered by it as he should have been.
"Don't you understand?" Tonks cried. "He used an Unforgivable on me!"
"You were prying into his identity," Dumbledore said with a shrug. "He asked rather nicely that you not do that."
"That is absolutely no reason to forgive him for controlling me! It's in the name: unforgivable!"
"Did he leave you to rot? Did he expose your identity? Did he force you to satisfy his every primal craving and whim? No, he did not. He only made sure you completed a plan you had already agreed to follow and would have followed anyway, had you not started meddling in his business. I am rather confident that he had your best interests at heart and that whatever his reasons for preserving his masquerade are valid."
"The Weasleys are right," Tonks spat. "You have been bewitched and if I don't want to end up like you, I'd better stay as far away from this as possible. If I'm not already corrupted and about to lose my mind too."
"As far as I know, he won't be needing your services any longer. Will you please return the Saintlike Parchment to me?"
"It belongs to Fred and George Weasley. And I have a feeling that they won't be giving it back to you." Tonks left the office in a huff and cast a few blasting curses on the idiot Headmaster's stuff on her way out.
"I always did think I had too many things," was the last thing she heard Dumbledore say before she ran down the stairs to the gargoyle and to the meeting-place she had arranged with the twins and Charlie.
The Weasleys were a lot more sensible than Dumbledore when Tonks told them about her ordeal. They understood how wrong it was to cast the Imperius Curse on Tonks. They understood that she had risked a lot for them. They were also very grateful to get Dumbledore's Saintlike Parchment back.
Charlie tried to burn both Saintlike Parchment copies, but only the edges barely singed a little before fire simply stopped being effective. Other attempts between the first-years and sixth-years to destroy the parchments weren't successful either. The only reason they didn't try to dispose of them by hiding them or flushing them down a toilet was the possibility that they might fall into the wrong hands. Tonks suspected the Saintlike One planned it that way.
Manipulative git.
That was way too close, George thought as he Apparated inside the Shrieking Shack. He felt awful for using the Imperius Curse on Tonks, but after becoming desensitized to it after those months of using it on himself, it slipped out and he couldn't end it until he left her presence. The dose of Polyjuice he had taken simply wouldn't have lasted long enough before Tonks did something drastic. If she had seen his true form, he would have lost all the protection and freedom of his James Oliver identity at best and been forced to confess that he was a time traveler and thus kicked out of the universe at worst. He couldn't think of any other actions besides the Imperius that would have saved him, but that fact didn't make him feel any better. So he decided to be productive to get his mind off things—he still needed to find the diadem so he headed for Hogwarts and the Room of Requirement.
George decided to try something new this time. He closed his eyes and brought up the memory of what the cup felt like and tried to find something that felt the same. He didn't sense anything, but he picked a direction and began walking (and tripping over things) and tried to detect Voldemort's evil soul. When George felt like he wanted to just give up, he opened his eyes and, right in front of him, was an old tiara. He touched it and knew for a certainty that it was a Horcrux. He grabbed a nearby broomstick, flew back to the entrance, and headed towards Dumbledore's office.
George placed the diadem in front of the gargoyle. As an afterthought, he put Harry's cloak with it. It had been invaluable in getting past the Thief's Downfall—thank Merlin for George hearing the story of the Gringotts break-in enough times to realize the power of the Cloak of Invisibility—but Dumbledore would now know that George had nicked it and would want it back in his safe-keeping.
He left Hogwarts before writing on the Saintlike Parchment, Diadem recovered and with cloak at gargoyle. Locket should be recovered soon. And, just in case the twins had already taken Dumbledore's copy of the Saintlike Parchment away from him, George sent his raccoon Patronus up to the Headmaster's office.
The plan to retrieve the locket was very easy to put into motion. All he had to do was flick his wand and wait for the news.
Sirius looked at the crossword that was dropped off by a visitor to Azkaban a few days ago. He'd completed it already, but since the paper was the newest thing in the cell in he didn't know how many years, he tried to milk its entertainment value for all its worth.
He thought he was hallucinating when he saw the letters start to dance on the page. But no, they were definitely moving in a precise way. They rearranged themselves:
ThE InnOCent pRiSOneR ShOuLd eSCape. THE RAT SuRviveD. ALLY wAiTS aT PADFOOT THE GRIMM'S PLACE wiTh VENGEANCe PLANs.
When school got out and the Weasleys were all back at the Burrow, Charlie, Fred, and George did their best to act as if nothing was wrong. That proved difficult when the Daily Prophet declared the news:
SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN!
The three brothers remembered that the Saintlike One claimed that Sirius Black was the only one who could order a certain House-elf around. Now he was free to do all the horrible things he wanted to and no one was going to stop him. The moment they could, the boys escaped from Mum—and the rest of the family who wouldn't understand—and hid up in the twins' room.
"The Saintlike One must have broken him out of Azkaban, and Dumbledore let it happen," Fred said. His face looked far harder than what any twelve-year-old boy had a right to have. George looked exactly the same.
Charlie took Fred under his right arm and George under his left—like Mum had done to them earlier when she'd first heard the news—but hopefully this time it would be more effective since they knew that he knew. "You took away his ability to contact Dumbledore," he told them. "Fred here can stop the possessions. The Saint won't be able to use either of you anymore."
"He won't need to," George choked out. "He has a Death Eater on his side now."
Charlie couldn't think of a good reply to that so he just held his brothers tighter.
Merlin, help us.
George waited outside at 12 Grimmauld Place. He'd erected some wards—not of future-Bill-caliber, but good enough to keep the Ministry from poking their noses for a little while. Sirius had discovered the message, of course, but George wasn't sure about the state of mind Sirius was in at the moment, so he kept his guard up.
A familiar black dog appeared at the end of the road. George stood up and whistled to him. "Padfoot! Come here, boy!" The dog hesitated. "Come on! I need you to catch me this giant rat that has this gross wormy tail!"
Padfoot perked up at that and ran for George, who led him inside 12 Grimmauld Place. The moment the door closed, Sirius morphed back, pushed George up against the nearest wall, and put a hand threateningly around his neck.
"Who are you? What do you want? What do you know about Wormtail?"
"I'm a friend," George said without showing any fear. "I know Pettigrew didn't die and that he was Secret Keeper, not you. I want to get you healthy again and then we can take care of Wormtail. He's not going anywhere."
Sirius looked George for a moment before releasing him. "If Peter hears that I've escaped, you might never find him again."
"Don't be so sure about that," George replied with a smile. "But before we do anything else, I need you to give Kreacher some orders and then I'll get you somewhere no one will ever find you."
"We're not staying here?" Sirius asked.
"You hate this place. I've got other options, so I'll use them. But first we deal with Kreacher."
Sirius sighed, then took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Kreacher, you maggot! Come here right now!"
Kreacher slowly walked down the stairs and bowed mockingly to Sirius. "Yes, Master? You return after all these years just to order me around? How thoughtful—"
"Order him to give me the locket Regulus stole from Voldemort before he died," George said.
Kreacher's eyes widened. "You know about Master Regulus' locket?"
"Yes," George said. "We're going to destroy it."
"Don't tell him that," Sirius hissed to George but Kreacher had already Apparated away and back.
"Here it is," Kreacher said.
"Is that what you want?" Sirius asked George.
It looked like the broken thing Ron kept in a box in his closet, only whole. "Yep, that's it."
"Kreacher, I order you to hand it over." To Sirius' surprise (and maybe just a little for George) Kreacher did so without a fuss.
"Now that that's that," George said, "grab my arm. We've got places to be."
"The Shrieking Shack?" Sirius asked when they arrived in the rickety-looking old building.
"This is just temporary until I can make other arrangements. You know how to get back to Hogwarts from here, I take it?"
Sirius snorted.
"Right. Well, since you're here, could you take the locket up to Dumbledore's office? He doesn't have to see you—just make sure he gets it, okay?"
Sirius nodded, shifted back into a dog, grabbed the locket in between his teeth, and ran through the tunnel to Hogwarts. As an afterthought, George conjured a stick and sent it to where Sirius would need to press the knot to immobilize the Whomping Willow. Sirius barked—whether from gratitude or annoyance, George didn't know.
When George felt enough time had passed, he sent his Patronus to Dumbledore and had it go down his office's stairs before dissipating. Sirius came back down the tunnel a little while later. "Mission complete. Now what?"
"Now the hound gets a healthy snack," George said as he tossed an apple into Sirius' hands. "And once you're up for it, I'd like some help nicking Voldemort's diary."
"I never knew the evil git had one," Sirius said as he chewed on the first real food he'd had in years. "I wonder if we could tease him about the girls he liked as a teenager."
Yep. George was definitely looking forward to spending some quality time with the Marauder.