Disclaimer: I don't own HP, I only own Evan and Iris.

This is really just a filler chapter, but Aludra gets a big clue in it, hence the title ;-D

17-9-2023

Chapter Two

Scattered Clues

Aludra was the first of the sleeping trio to wake up. Quietly so as not to wake her sleeping friends, she carefully disentangled herself from Iris' tight grip, pulled on her Gryffindor red dressing gown over her lilac nightdress and slid on her gold slippers before slipping from the room, casting a silent glance over her shoulder at her friends to ensure she hadn't disturbed either of them. They'd had a rough night and deserved to rest. She redid her sleeping braid as she descended the stairs, heading for the breakfast parlour. The door was open a crack and she paused, hearing the upset woman's voice coming from within.

"I know nothing can change about what I did!" Lady Potter exclaimed in an upset voice. "I just want to get to know her! I hate that she can't stand to stay in the same room as me for more than a few seconds."

Aludra started in surprise at the responding voice. "Lily, she does not know you," her Granddad Albus replied in a gentle but firm tone. "All she knows is that you and James hurt the father she adores. You cannot expect a loving daughter to set that knowledge aside."

"I know," Lady Potter said dejectedly. "I just-it's so hard to treat her like she's just Evan's friend and not-"

"Lily, if you truly want a relationship of any sort, then you simply have to take it slowly, building trust and care, as with any relationship," Granddad insisted firmly.

Aludra backed away quietly before she could hear anything else. She was utterly bewildered by what she had just heard. Why was it so important to Lady Potter that they have a relationship with each other? What did she mean when she said "just Evan's friend"? What other connection could they possibly have with one another?

"What're you doing out here, little star?" Her father asked tiredly, making her jolt in surprise and spin around. By the looks of it, Sirius hadn't slept at all last night, and Aludra felt a stab of worry for him. This case was personal for him of course and he was taking it hard. She understood that. But still she was worried for him. He wasn't taking proper care of himself. At this rate, he was going to burn out within weeks. Maybe she should speak with her aunts and uncles. Or even Emma. Probably Remus and Emma would be best.

Even if Aludra was still amazed (though that didn't mean displeased) to know that her father was in an official courtship with Miss Emmeline Vance, an old friend of the Marauders from their Order days. Emmeline, a healer at St. Mungo's and the second daughter of Lord Vance of the Noble House of Vance, was five years older than them, and had been a friend, but not in their close circle, since the War. Apparently, when he wasn't investigating the Chamber and petrifications last year, Sirius had been calling on her. He'd asked for an official courtship at the end of June, once he'd discussed it with Aludra to make sure she was okay with it, and she could only hope that he didn't lose his chance at a loving relationship with a kind and intelligent woman because of Pettigrew.

Merlin knew the blasted rat had taken enough from them.

"Lady Potter is in the breakfast parlour speaking with Granddad," Aludra told him honestly, not mentioning the details of the conversation that she had just overheard. It was too confusing, and honestly there was a warning note in her mind, cautioning that she might not want to understand.

Sirius huffed. "Of course, she is," he muttered. "Merlin, it's too bloody early to be dealing with that woman. Ally, I know this hard, alright? And I'm not asking you to forget everything and embrace the Potters like old friends. Merlin knows I'd be a hypocrite if I did that. But try and get along with them, alright? For the sake of peace in the house at least."

"I'm always polite to them!" Aludra huffed. "I just- I don't like having them here. You're stressed enough already."

"Don't worry about me," Sirius insisted. "I'm the adult here. I worry about you, not the other way around. Understood?"

Aludra nodded, knowing perfectly well that she would never not worry about her father. He clearly knew it too from the huff of laughter he released, before herding her to the breakfast parlour. Lady Potter and Granddad fell silent the moment they entered, and Aludra quickly hurried to her grandfather's side to hug him.

"Granddad! What are you doing here?" She asked brightly, as if she'd just discovered his presence. Dumbledore smiled down at her.

"Can a grandfather not come to visit his favourite granddaughter whenever he wants?" He teased gently in response.

"You're always welcome," she assured him. "But I thought you were working on some project this summer?" Aludra didn't know what it was, but she suspected it had to do with Voldemort, as she knew Dumbledore was working with the Taskforce on something, though everyone was sworn to secrecy about the details.

"As it happens, I've done what I can for the moment," her grandfather stated. "The ICW meeting finished last week, so I came back home to begin preparing for the coming year. Seeing as I haven't seen you in a few weeks, I decided to hand over your letter in person. As young Evan and Iris are here too, I have theirs as well."

"Well, I'm glad to see you," Aludra replied sincerely. Typically she saw her grandfather almost every Sunday for dinner during the holidays (excepting the weeklong International Council of Wixen conference during July). This summer, however, he'd been too busy with his mysterious mission to come over more than once or twice, and Aludra had missed him.

Dumbledore smiled at her warmly, blue eyes sparkling with a twinkle she'd inherited through the adoption ritual. "I'm glad to see you too, my dear girl," he told her fondly. "Unfortunately, I have a meeting with the Minister in an hour to discuss guarding the Express on September 1st and I must leave. I'm only here to drop off your letters. But I will be here for Sunday dinner, as usual."

Aludra sighed, but such was the consequence of having such an important man as Albus Dumbledore as a grandfather, and she was used to it, even if she didn't like it. "I understand, Granddad," she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

He embraced her and kissed her forehead, before handing over her letter and giving Evan and Iris' letters to their mother. He said his goodbyes to Sirius and Lady Potter before Flooing away just before Evan and Iris stumbled into the breakfast parlour in their pyjamas.

"Mornin'," Evan yawned, stretching as he made his way to the sideboard to serve himself a full English breakfast (sans bacon, which he hated). Iris, meanwhile, copied Aludra with a light breakfast of a bowl filled with granola and fruit, something Granny Hope had gotten her into eating and Iris had picked up from her.

"Good morning," Iris echoed with a sweet smile.

"Good morning my darlings," Lady Potter smiled at them. "Your letters are here!"

Iris' hazel eyes lit up in excitement and she nearly dropped her bowl. Sirius saved it with a quick wave of his wand and dismissed the excited girl's flustered apologies.

"Not to worry, Iris," he assured her. "I remember when Ally got her letter. She spent the entire week waking up before dawn to check if it had arrived. When it finally came, she woke me up at half-six in the morning trying to persuade me into going to Diagon Alley right then and there!"

"Daddy!" Aludra protested with a blush. "I was excited."

"And you had every right to be," Sirius assured her fondly. "It's a big day in a wixen's life. Here, let me summon our camera to take a photo."

"Should we wait for Dad?" Iris wondered a little wistfully, clearly reluctant to delay opening the letter for any reason.

"No need, I'm here," Lord Potter ducked into the room followed by a tired Remus who was smiling gently at his goddaughter. "Sorry my flower, I was on the Floo. Go on now, open it."

Sirius raised the camera and snapped several photos of Iris opening her letter and reading it aloud to the others with a look of pure joy and delight that warmed Aludra's heart for her younger friend.

"Can we go to Diagon?" Aludra asked her father, the younger Potters giving hopeful looks to their parents. "It's just as important to get the supplies in person as it is to get the letter. It helps it sink in that you're really going to Hogwarts."

"It should be fine," Sirius agreed after exchanging looks with the Potter parents. "But none of you are to go off on your own, understood?"

The trio nodded eagerly, and Sirius nodded back. "Right then," he said. "Everyone run and get dressed when you're finished eating. We'll leave at twelve, when the worst of the rush is on. It'll make it harder for Pettigrew to find anyone specific in the crowd."

"Listen to Sirius, alright kids?" Lord Potter added seriously. "He knows best."

"Yes Dad," Evan and Iris chorused in unison.

Thankfully, the trip to Diagon went smoothly and quickly. Within three hours the group had returned to Black Manor, Iris still glowing with excitement. She rushed to her room in the guest wing as soon as they got back, eager to bury her nose in her new textbooks, while Aludra and Evan made their way to the small drawing room she had claimed for herself this summer.

"I wonder who our new DADA professor is," Evan mused. "Dad was complimentary of the textbook at least, so that's something. And it's not like it can get much worse than a wannabe Death Eater possessed by Voldemort and a fraud who tried to obliviate us."

Aludra grinned slyly. "Oh, I think everyone will be pleased," she said happily. He eyed her suspiciously.

"You know who it is?" He half-asked, half-stated.

Aludra was too excited to play games, and she nodded, bursting out, "It's Uncle Remus!" She clapped excitedly as she made the announcement.

Evan grinned broadly. "That's brilliant! But who's going to be covering for him as your family's Steward?"

"Oh, he hired an apprentice last year," Aludra explained. "What with needing to help research the Heir. She's clever, a muggleborn named Mary Cattermole."

Evan nodded thoughtfully. "How'd the Lockhart trial go?" Evan asked. "I was following it, but then..." He trailed off.

Aludra grimaced and nodded. "Guilty on all charges," she confirmed. "He got 155 years in moderate security. He Obliviated 15 people, and that's ten years each, and then another five for the attempted assault in the Chamber. Plus compensation of two thousand Galleons each per person he Obliviated, and his books have been pulled, with all royalties to go towards the compensation. Skeeter ripped him to shreds."

"Good," Evan grumbled. "Bastard deserves it. Did your dad figure out how Ginny got the diary in the first place?"

Aludra scowled. "Daddy suspects it was Lucius Malfoy," she informed her friend. "It seems like he slipped the diary in with her things last summer. But there's no proof, so the bastard gets away with it again. Daddy did manage to get him kicked off the Board of Governors, though, and he was fined for threatening the Board members. And Daddy forced Mrs. Malfoy to free Dobby, then hired him as a Black elf. He's been assigned to our chateau in France, seeing as our old elf there died recently."

Evan growled in frustration. "But Mr. Malfoy essentially gets away with it due to no proof."

Aludra nodded unhappily.

Evan scowled at his shoes in annoyance as he fell silent for a moment before he bit his lip, glancing at her. "Did you hear anything about Pettigrew?" He asked softly.

Aludra sighed, unsurprised that this topic had finally come up. It was a tender one for Evan. After all, Pettigrew's betrayal had led to the attack that had eventually killed Amaryllis Potter, and that was a grief that Evan had never recovered from.

"He's been sighted in a few places, but only briefly. It's expected that he's spending most of his time in his rat form. Finding one rat among all the ones in Britain..." Aludra trailed off, giving a helpless one-shouldered shrug.

Evan scowled and kicked at the carpet. "How'd he even escape? It wasn't in the Prophet."

Aludra scowled. "A mixture of stupidity, arrogance and inexperience," she said flatly. "A new Auror was assigned to Azkaban prison duty. He apparently decided that there was no need to use the Animagus-proof handcuffs when opening the door to feed Pettigrew his dinner. He felt that the Dementors were enough. Pettigrew knocked him out, stole his wand, changed and fled." Said cocky young Auror had been fired for the fiasco, but Fudge had covered it up in the news to protect the Ministry's reputation.

"He's after me, isn't he?" Evan said darkly. "That's why he attacked Peverhall last night."

Aludra bit her lip. "Daddy hasn't said anything about that to me," she said cautiously. "From what I know about the reports on Pettigrew in Azkaban, he's very insane. You can't rely on logic when trying to figure out what he wants. He might have gone to the Hall because it was familiar."

"That's not it," Evan shook his head fiercely. "He's coming for me. And when he comes, I'll be ready for him. He won't get away with what he did. Not this time."

Aludra eyed him worriedly but stayed quiet. If it became a problem, she would mention it to someone. For now, she'd hope it was just his revived grief talking.