The Order of the Pheonix

Chapter Five

Edge of forest, Xing

The man, Dumbledore, had hidden her inside a small clearing with the promise that he would be back as if that would be a comfort. Anya scoffed as he left then pulled on the ropes, he had magicked around her. She hoped when he returned, he would bring water. Her last abductor had forgotten to give her water the first two days and it had been terrible.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, had made his way to town after ensuring the rude girl wouldn't disappear off into the woods. He didn't want to see her harmed after all, even if she acted like he was the villain in this situation. Her insistence that Elric would not involve himself was ridiculous. He was already involved; this was a hostage exchange and Elric was the one who had forced him to this extreme.

He reached the town and found a phone booth, annoyed again with the necessity of resorting to this muggle communication device. When the voice at the other end asked what he required he demanded politely to be connected with the Dracma King. There seemed to be some confusion from the woman but eventually the call was placed when he mentioned the girl.

"Who is this?" a male voice responded moments later; anger clear in his tone.

"This is Albus Dumbledore, I wish to discuss an exchange of prisoners. The girl for the boy." Dumbledore said calmly.

"What have you done to my daughter?" the man demanded, not properly acknowledging the message. Dumbledore sighed and shook his head; this slow minded man would make this process harder.

"You want to meet, have this out then?" Elric's voice interrupted, surprising Dumbledore who had not realized there was more than one line connected into the call. "Release Anya back to Xerxes and meet me on the edge of the city and we can talk."

"I demand the return of Harry Potter immediately." Dumbledore responded. "The girl will be released happy and unharmed when he is returned."

"You misunderstand the situation." A third voice interrupted. "You see, you are hiding somewhere in my country, with the kidnapped child of an ally while demanding another's ally's child. You sir, have no leverage. Return the child immediately and you will be released back to Europe. Refuse and you will spend the rest of your undoubtably short time on Earth in the worst jail cell we can manage."

This was not going according to plan; the other leaders clearly had been brainwashed by Elric as the Boy had been. The offer to let him leave was appealing in a way, he could regroup and bring more forces to collect the child properly. He also needed to get back to his school before they ruined it completely.

Amestris

Interrogation of Sirius Black

Sirius Black, Alphonse determined, was a dangerously unhinged man. He honestly believed that he was doing the right thing, that taking Yuery was the only way to protect him. His methods were what made him dangerous, not necessarily his convictions. After all, many of the people in their lives in this room felt they needed to keep the child safe. Edward had taken him to begin with to protect him, so it wasn't the ideal, it was the refusal to see that Yuery was already protected.

"You wish to remove the child from these borders, where he is surrounded by both physical and magical barriers, and a loving home to hide him away in the heart of enemy territory?" Alphonse asked calmly, far more so than he felt. "You genuinely do not see the flaws in your logic, do you?"

"I have doubts of Elric's desire to protect Harry given the company he keeps," Sirius responded ignoring Remus' flinch and Snape's scowl, "More than that, however, is the concern of leaving him in the care of Muggles. No matter if they are well intentioned how can they possibly keep him properly safe in the face of the most dangerous wizard of the age?"

"Voldemort cannot enter these borders. Furthermore, the child is surrounded by magical protectors, and has been for years." Alphonse shrugged, he hoped to reason with the man. Perhaps then they would not have to worry about him attempting an escape.

"No one in this room would wittingly cause harm to that child Sirius. He has been raised by this family his entire life as far as he remembers and if you could just see how happy and well adjusted, he is you would stop this foolish campaign." Remus pleaded with his last remaining original friend. "Voldemort and Dumbledore are the enemies here Sirius, not the Mustang-Elrics and not Severus Snape."

"Furthermore, you as well as every other Hogwarts raised wizard heard of the abilities of the great Nicolas Flamel, an Alchemist. He is surrounded by those who could rival Flamel, they are hardly 'muggles' a term you would be well suited to avoid within these borders." Severus said drily, he did not hold out hope for changing Sirius' mind unlike the others. He was glad they had bound his powers and would have no ability to escape and cause further harm. "Now, explain how exactly you thought as a wanted murder you would be a better protector for the child than a family that has kept him hidden well over a decade?"

"I didn't kill anyone! I was framed." Sirius yelled, before he paused to reconsider his claim. "I now have killed several in an attempt to escape and find Harry, but I had no choice."

"To make the Killing Curse work, you have to WANT it to work Sirius. You may tell yourself and Remus that you are innocent, but you are as guilty as Dumbledore. You desire the child of your friend and damned the consequences." Severus sneered. "The least you could do is admit the truth to yourself."

"I only ever wanted to keep Harry safe, even if I had to hurt others to do it." Sirius said as Remus frowned and the others shook their heads.

"Thank you for being honest." Alphonse replied after a moment. "I am afraid I agree with the feelings of the Fuhrers, and you are not safe to be set free, not with your refusal to seek another point of view."

"Of course, you would agree with them, clearly you are related to them." Sirius said bitterly.

"I also agree with the assessment." Chen said with a sniff. "I do not like Elric but agree with the situation being out of hand."

"I am not dangerous to anyone; I only want to protect my family. Harry belongs with me; James and Lily wanted me to care for him if anything happened to them and for years, he has been kept hidden from me. "Sirius said, after shaking his head at them all. "It is my duty to protect him."

"Harry Potter does not exist." Severus snapped. "Yuery Elric is the child you have relentlessly obsessed over. You killed innocent people in pursuit of the child yet claim innocence yourself. Admit to yourself what you have done, it is the only way forward."

"Why would I take the advice of a Death Eater?" Sirius growled.

"Why would you trust a werewolf?" Remus inserted quietly. "Had it ever occurred to you Sirius that a man can change his mind from the mistakes of his youth? I have argued repeatedly for that exact leniency for you please just consider your actions."

"There is a world of difference between trying to save my godson and signing up to be a Death Eater Remus." Sirius snarled.

"Is there a world of difference between spying on people and killing a half dozen men and women? Yes, I agree there is. So, bear in mind which was you." Severus snarled in return.

"This isn't helping. Has the serum worn off?" Chen asked with an impatient tone. "The Emperor is requesting answers in regard to his intent should he be allowed sanctuary in Xing following his sentence."

"The serum is still active." Remus said, eyes wide at the unexpected offer.

"Should you be granted eventual sanctuary would you attempt to violate the terms of your release and shelter?" Chen asked carefully, "Keeping in mind of course that there would be restrictions placed upon you and your abilities in regard to a return to Amestris."

"Why would anyone offer me this?" Sirius asked as he thought over the wording. "Would this just be another attempt to keep me from my godson?"

"It would be an offer to keep you here instead of returning to England, you would be restricted to Xing, Amestris itself would be out of bounds for you as it is with Albus Dumbledore. Yuery Elric would also be out of bounds, though he will be whether the offer is extended to you or not." Alphonse responded. "Bear in mind however, this offer is not yet on the table. It may become so should you behave while in custody in Amestris for however long they deem necessary."

"The trial isn't over yet." Remus reminds them all.

"No, it isn't but the evidence has already been damning that a sentence is a given at this time." Alphonse shook his head. "It is also for the best, there are those who would seek vengeance should he receive no imprisonment for his crimes. There are some who are already angered that he is not being tried on harsher terms. Death in Battle is an honorable listing, but not everyone is comforted by the honor."

Disquiet filled the room before Alphonse added simply, "I myself would be hard pressed to not want the higher charges. Then again, my brother was always the calm one when it came to dealing with these things."

Sirius wanted to argue again, but then he thought about the offer. It was likely that given the wording of the offer that he would spend far less time than the others arguing the point would wish to have him locked away. It was for the best that he holds his tongue, and reminded himself once again that there is nothing between

Malfoy Manor

Sitting Room

The first issue they had to consider, once it was agreed they would use the Longbottom boy, was actually finding him. He should, in theory, be easier to locate than the Potter boy who was beyond reach. However, the Longbottoms seemed to have disappeared recently when all of the children had been sent home early from Xing.

Lucius wondered briefly if his own child had gotten scooped up in whatever safehouse they had placed the other boy, but it seemed unlikely as the Weasley brats, and the mud blood girl all appeared to be where they were meant to be according to Rookwood when Lucius had asked. No, someone must have worried that Black would go after Longbottom after he finished Potter and moved accordingly.

Rookwood had learned that Black had been captured in Amestris without getting close to the boy and was currently on trial for his crimes. None of them concerned themselves with the rest of that report as Black was never a Death Eater to begin with and was now no longer an obstacle either. Likely, Lucius decided silently as he brooded in front of the fire, his original assumption that his wife and son were with Snape was accurate.

That was another complication as well, that he hoped would not surface anytime soon. The Diary was missing. Narcissa had to have taken it, she would not have known what it was, Lucius himself didn't know what it was, but it did belong to Voldemort, and he deeply hoped he was not asked to produce the book anytime soon.

Pettigrew tiredly slipped into the room, sinking into a nearby chair without saying a word. Lucius scowled deeper into the fire but refused to speak. Voldemort must be resting then, if the other man was here bothering him. Pettigrew looked worse for wear, having spent the last few weeks or months caring for their master around the clock. Soon enough though, he would no longer be needed.

"He wants to know if you have a lead on the boy yet." Pettigrew asked after a few minutes when it became apparent Lucius was not going to speak first.

"Not yet, I have others searching for him, but it could take some time." Lucius frowned, then added with a snort. "Black spooked them all and now they are worried he is trying to finish what he started years ago."

"Fools." Pettigrew agreed. "He wasn't easy to sway to begin with and if we take too long, he will change his mind you know."

"There is simply no way to get to the Potter boy. You have heard the charms placed around Cselkcess. They increased them after Black broke them and Dumbledore disappeared. There are rumors he tried to get in as well and failed." Lucius said. "That is why we proposed using Longbottom to begin with. From my understanding nearly any child of a member of the Order of the Pheonix would work for the spell."

"Who knows, the spell is one of his own inventions. It is possible that it was tailored to work only with a particular child, and he is just humoring us to make things more difficult."

"You have spent too long thinking about this. He would not waste his own time with such petty games."

"Wouldn't he? I believe he enjoys watching us jump through hoops only to inform us they were the wrong ones all along. I have spent months with him in my care."

"Why would he do something that would drag out his dependence on you Pettigrew? He would want to be free of that burden as quickly as possible, hence his impatience. No, he must agree Longbottom would work as well. We just have to find the brat."

"Well then why aren't you out there looking?"

"I have people looking as we speak. Connections inside the Ministry who will find him within the next few hours if they know what is good for them."

Before Pettigrew could respond a bell chimed somewhere in the house and he sighed. "Time for his potion then. Find the kid Malfoy or find a way to get the other one. That was the message he gave me for you." Lucius sighed angrily after Pettigrew rushed out. He was never bold, so the message with its unspoken threat was from their Master himself. He was going to have to go searching personally.

Xing Forest

Dumbledore returned to the clearing where he had hidden the girl with supplies carried in his bag and annoyance on his face. Anya stared at him silently, even as he untied her with a flick of his wand and floated a flask of water and loaf of bread to her. "It appears your father isn't so desperate for your return after all, he had both Elric and the Emperor of Xing join the call only to refuse my terms without thought."

"I told you they wouldn't give you Yuery." Anya shrugged as she drank from the flask. If Huan's Dad was involved it shouldn't be long before she was rescued now. After all they were in his country. "Why would a Father agree to trade their own child to free another?"

"Harry isn't really theirs though. I told you; they stole him and I'm just trying to return him to where he truly belongs."

"Lt. Fuhrer Elric is the only Dad Yuery has ever known." Anya said with a shrug. "He's been my friend for years mister and I can tell you now that his Dad and Mom love him as much as they love his brothers and sisters. Even if he was adopted, they don't care."

"Kidnapped, not adopted."

"According to you."

Dumbledore frowned but didn't say anything else as he pulled a second flask from his bag, this one filled with the strongest alcohol he had been able to find and took a long drink. It was going to be an annoying few days if they were going to be stubborn about this, but he still believed he could convince them to see reason. Then he could head home with the boy and get his school back.