The Order
29th of June, 1997.
Raiden Moody walked through the ministry. He was looking for his uncle, but he was also trying to fish for information. So far it was clear enough that most people working in the ministry didn't want to believe Dumbledore when he said the Dark Lord was back. It wasn't that surprising even if it was highly foolish.
He walked into the Auror office like he belonged there and no one seemed to want to question him on that point.
"Ray, it has been a while," Dora said as she rushed up to him.
"Too long," Ray said. "But that is life for you. How are you doing?"
"Great," Dora said and her hair turned golden blonde to match his. "You need to meet my boyfriend. He is amazing and I know you would get along."
Ray smiled at Dora. "Unfortunately, I do not have very much time to spare at the moment," he said. "I wish we could hang out, but Uncle wants my help and there is some unrest that needs dealing with and then I have a job out of the country," he said and he could tell that Dora had hoped they could at least hang out a little. "I'm sorry."
Dora sighed and smiled. "No, that's okay," she said. "I just haven't seen you in so long and I was hoping… you know."
"I know," Ray said.
"Moody is in Amelia's office right now," Dora said. "I think they are arguing, but I wouldn't know for sure."
"Maybe I should deal with that," Ray said. "I'll try to make time for a drink and some time after summer, yeah."
Dora perked up. "That would be great," she said. She gave him a hug and Raiden continued over to Madam Bones' office. He knocked on the door and waited.
"Finally," Alastor said gruffly as he opened the door. "You're late."
"Sorry about that uncle dearest," Ray said. "I took the long way and did a bit of a listen around. Is Albus Dumbledore a threat to the Minister?"
"That depends on who you ask," Amelia said. "He certainly refuses to listen to any mention of You-know-who's return."
"So the team we want is a no-go then?" Ray asked.
"As it looks like right now, yes," Amelia said.
"How about we spin it then? Say it is a group with special training against unknown threats and hint at acknowledging Dumbledore as such," Ray said. "If done right the Minister will jump for joy and it might just calm him down some as well."
Amelia gave Alastor a pained look. While she could see the benefits of his suggestion it wasn't the way she preferred doing things. "When can you be available to lead that Mr Moody?" she asked.
"Me? Madam Bones," Raiden said.
Amelia smirked. "Yes, Mr Moody. I would like you to lead the group that is selected," she said. "Alastor will aid you but I want you at the lead."
Raiden was shocked, and he was sure it showed.
"Close your mouth boy," Alastor said.
Raiden pulled himself together and straightened up. "I see Ma'am. I am unavailable until September," he said.
"Then Alasor and I'll see what we can do until then. If nothing else we could pick out appropriate candidates," Amalia said. She sat down and sighed. "The fact that we need to lie to protect the public is disgusting."
"Sometimes we have to do what is necessary rather than what we would want," Alastor said.
Amelia nodded slowly. "Well, at least we have a plan. Do we know anything about the Death Eaters?" she asked.
"They are lying low. The Dark Lord has a tight leash on Fenrir for now, but it won't last so we should probably try to deal with him as soon as possible," Raiden said.
"We should have dealt with him years ago," Alastor said grumpily. He grabbed Raiden's shoulder. "Let's leave Amelia to it, lad. You and I have somewhere to be," he said. "Until next time, Amelia," he said.
"Thank you for everything, Alastor," Amelia said. "I'll be in touch Raiden."
"I look forward to it," Raiden said. He jumped away from Alastor as a spell passed by him. He called out a goodbye to Amelia and rushed out the door as Alastor kept throwing spells at him.
The Aurors got out of their way as Ray rushed through the office. He stopped and brushed his robes off once he left the office behind. "So where are we going now?" he asked.
"Just follow me," Alastor said. His cane slammed heavily against the stone floor until they reached the elevator. Once in the atrium Alastor grabbed Raiden and apparated them to a dingy-looking street. The houses looked like they could use some renovations. Number eleven's porch was filled with black trash bags and number thirteen was overgrown with ivy.
There was no twelve though. Raiden turned to Alastor because he assumed that the missing number was important. He could tell there was some kind of magic trying to get him to not care about the missing house number, but it wasn't working.
Alastor handed him a slip of parchment.
'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Grimmauld Place number 12'
Raiden chuckled as another house seemed to appear out of nowhere between number eleven and thirteen.
"Let's head inside," Alastor said. He shuffled over to the door and opened it up. The entrance hall was dark. The only lightbulb in there looked dirty. The light barely reached the floor. Heavy curtains covered one of the walls and a strange umbrella stand that seemed to be made out of bone stood near the rickety stairs to the upper floor.
Raiden followed Alastor as they headed down a short set of stairs and ended up in the kitchen. It was just as dirty as the hallway and Raiden drew his wand and sent out several cleaning spells.
"We're early," Moody said.
"Do we just meet or will people want food?" Raiden asked.
"Molly tends to feed people," Moody said. "She might bring something."
"Would it be awful if I made something too?" Raiden asked.
"Go ahead, lad," Moody said. "People like food." He sat down by the table. He certainly wouldn't mind some of Raiden's cooking again.
"Who owns the house?" Raiden asked.
"This is an old Black property," Moody said. "It is currently owned by Sirius Black."
"The escaped convict, the one they claimed was behind the mass breakout?" Raiden said.
"Well, that's what they say, but Sirius would rather feed Bellatrix to crocodiles than get her out of Azkaban," Alastor said.
Winky had shown up and was helping Raiden clean the kitchen. She was muttering as she worked. She could tell there was an elf in this house and they were not taking care of it. It was blasphemous. She would certainly like a word with them. She couldn't though because Master couldn't be seen with her while he was Raiden. It would be bad, and she didn't want to make her Master sad. Instead, she helped him clean up so he could cook without poisoning everyone.
Raiden handed Winky a shopping list and she left and came back in a jiffy.
"Thank you, Winky," Ray said. "Could you ready a bedroom for my apprentice? We will not stay long, but he should have his own room. Take the blue room in the family suite."
"Winky will fix," Winky said before popping away.
"That is a very dedicated little elf," Alastor said.
"Hard to believe she used to work for the Crouch family," Ray said.
Alastor huffed. "Far too cheerful for that old stickler," he said. "Good things she got away from that "
"Had her in shambles before I employed her," Ray said. He started the oven and dug into the bags that Winky had brought. "How much too early were we?" Ray asked.
Alastor chuckled. "It seems some people are running late. Or maybe I got the times mixed up," he said.
"Or maybe you knew I would start cooking if you brought me to an empty kitchen. You just wanted some of my pies," Ray said. "Do you miss my cooking so much, Uncle Dearest?" He smiled brightly at Alastor.
"Don't oversell yourself, kiddo," Alastor said grumpily, but there was the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Ray laughed as he put the dough in the fridge. He looked around for a cutting board and a knife before just drawing his wand. He wasn't going to ask Winky for his own knives, and he wasn't working with the dull ones in this kitchen either.
"Smells good down here," Sirius said as he entered the kitchen. "Didn't know anyone had arrived yet. Hello Alastor."
"Good evenin' Sirius," Alastor said.
"And… who are you?" Sirius asked Ray.
"I am the amazing, the fabulous…"
"This is my nephew Raiden," Alasor said, interrupting Ray's triad.
Ray sighed. "Oh, but Uncle I was having fun," he said while pouting.
Sirius laughed deeply and sat down by the table. "I was worried Molly had arrived already," he said. "What with the food smell coming from here." He looked around. "I don't know how you managed but this place looks presentable. I didn't think it could get this clean. What are you making?"
"Meat pies," Ray answered. "So you don't get along with Mrs Weasley? She seems like a nice enough person."
"She is overbearing and loud and bossy," Sirius said. "And she likes to tell me how I should do things. She wanted to move in here and help me fix the place up, but I put my foot down. I hate this place. It doesn't need fixing." He sighed. "Besides, it is kind of pointless unless Harry comes here, and I don't know where he is."
"Have you tried sending him a letter and asking?" Ray said. "Isn't he, like, turning seventeen this year? He was in your fourth-year class back when you taught at Hogwarts, Uncle?"
"He was," Alastor said. "Damn, good kid too."
"I guess," Sirius said. "I just haven't been very good at keeping in contact with him. He writes to me every other month, but, well, I don't always write back. I just don't feel like I would do much good. He's got friends and he's got his cousin Kato or something and apparently Remus has been staying with them. No one needs an escaped convict to get in the way." He hid his face in his hands and sighed.
Ray was glad that he was facing away from the other two. He hadn't known that Sirius felt this way. He guessed that once the Longbottom's moved out he should do something to get Sirius away from this house. "Sounds to me like you need to get some professional help. Though that might be hard considering your current situation," he said. "I mean we really should try to do something about that."
"Know any way to catch a rat?" Sirius asked. "The one who actually committed the crimes I was locked up for can turn into one."
"Well, there are probably a couple of ways to be honest," Ray said. He got the pie dough out of the fridge and spelled it out in several tins.
"I guess you might want to get on that then," Alastor said.
Ray sighed. "Yes, uncle," he said. He filled the pies and added lids before shoving them into the oven a few at a time. He cleaned the kitchen up again as he waited for the pies to bake.
A loud crash could be heard from the hallway and an ear-piercing scream followed.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Sirius roared as he rushed out of his seat and headed upstairs. He was swearing as he came back down with Dora in tow.
"Hi Dora," Ray said.
"Great, Alastor brought you," Dora said. "That is fantastic. Oh, and cousin Sirius, sorry about the portrait."
"Don't worry about that," Sirius said. "I just wish that we could get rid of it." He sat back down and looked over at Ray as he hugged Dora. He smiled. They looked cute together.
Dora sat down next to Alastor. People were showing up now. Bill and Remus walked in together.
"Oh, that smells good," Bill said.
"Mamas special," Ray said. "Vegetable and meat pies with some pizazz. She loved making them whenever we were going to have people over. I'm Raiden Moody by the way. Grouch over there is my uncle dearest." Ray threw up a shield and blocked the spell heading his way.
More people showed up and Ray took the last of the pies out of the oven.
Molly and Arthur were carrying dishes as they arrived. A lovely fruit salad was placed on the table with pigs in a blanket and deviled eggs. Ray made the table and sat down next to Dora just before Albus arrived.
For a while, everyone partook in the food and spoke amongst themselves. Even Severus Snape seemed to at least enjoy the food even if he didn't seem too happy about the company.
Eventually, the table was cleared and Albus called the meeting to order. "As you can all see we have a new member in our midst. This is Raiden Moody, nephew of Alastor. It is always great to see another person who wants to see us safe through these troubled times," he said. "Now before we get down to business I would like to ask those who may know, where is Harry Potter?" He looked towards the Weasley family.
"Why does it matter?" Kingsley, one of Dora's colleagues, asked. "He is on summer holidays. Do we need to keep tabs on him?"
"Unfortunately, yes we do. Without Harry we cannot hope to defeat the Dark Lord," Albus said.
"It is such a horrible thing to place on his shoulders, Albus. He is just a child," Molly said.
"He becomes of age in a month, mother," Bill said. "He isn't a child anymore which does bring me to a question: why aren't we training him if he has to fight the Dark Lord?"
Ray looked up at Albus. He was wondering what the old headmaster would answer. If he had to fight then why wasn't he being trained? It wasn't that strange a question.
"I have opted to give Harry a childhood, but you are certainly right and I will be taking care of that as soon as school starts back up," Albus said. "That however does not answer my question '
"He is safe," Alastor said.
"As great as that is, it doesn't help us," Albus said. "What if something happens? We need to know where he is."
"He is safe," Alastor said.
Bill was trying his hardest to not crack up. "I believe he is staying with his cousin Kato Peverell," he said.
Peverell. Albus had heard the name before, but he didn't know the man. He was young and had presented a cure for lycanthrope that had actually worked. Remus was cured.
"Doesn't that Peverell hang out with Malfoy?"
Ray wasn't sure who asked, but of course, it set everyone off. Apparently, it was impossible to trust anyone who even remotely spoke to Lucius Malfoy.
A loud bang silenced everyone.
"How about we don't judge Kato based on a person he has spoken to a few times," Remus said irritably. "Kato is a good man "
"I'm with Remus," Bill said. "I've worked with Kato. He will put his life on the line to help others. I somehow doubt he would work for You-know-who."
"Kato delivered my son," Remud said. "He saved Leoline's life. I wouldn't be here today without him. Not after Lana died." He sat down again and sighed.
It was silent for a moment before Albus cleared his throat. "Well, if you have worked with Mr Peverell would you be able to get to Mr Potter should we need to, William?" he asked.
"I can," Bill said. "I have been to his home. I will also take this moment to remind people that the Longbottoms are back to health because of Kato Peverell."
Quite a few of the people who had started screaming earlier now looked rather sheepish. Kato Peverell had done a lot of good.
"That could just be a way for him to gain people's trust," someone said.
Albus sighed. "I shall have a talk with Mr Peverell. I'm sure we can come to an agreement," he said. "If you can get to Mr Potter, Bill then we shall put the matter to rest knowing that you can get to him if necessary please let him know that you can take him to a safe haven should he need it."
"Sure," Bill said. He doubted Grimmauld Place was safer than Ennerdale and Harry wouldn't move no matter what Dumbledore said, but he would talk to Harry. He needed to know just how desperate these people were if nothing else.
Then the actual meeting started. Albus asked for information about Death Eaters.
"They are laying low," Severus said. "The Dark Lord has a very short leash on Greyback right now; he does not want people to know he is back. The Ministry is playing straight into his hands as of right now," he said. "He wants what is hidden in the Department of Mysteries, but he doesn't seem to be in a hurry."
Albus nodded slowly. It worried him somewhat that Voldemort wanted the Prophecy, but there wasn't very much they could do about that right now. They would just have to keep an eye on the department.
"As long as they are laying low there isn't much we can do, is there," Ray said. "We are working on an Auror angle, but we can't promise anything."
"It would be surprising if Fudge allowed for his Aurors to amass against a threat that he doesn't believe exists," Sirius said.
"Well, we might not actually tell him what the group is for," Ray said. "We have a few ideas though nothing is certain yet."
Albus nodded. "That is great," he said. "Hopefully that will at least mean that the ministry will not fall to Voldemort quite so easily should it come to that."
The meeting continued but nothing else of importance was really discussed. Raiden walked behind Dora as they left. She stumbled over the umbrella stand. "Oomph."
Ray helped her back up as the curtains ripped open next to them.
"Intruders, half-bloods, filth. Out of my house!"
Ray looked up at the curtains. They had parted to reveal a portrait with an elderly woman raving in her frame. "Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place!"
Dora looked pained. This was the second time today she woke Walburga up. She watched as Ray walked up to the portrait and touched it.
"How dare you touch me. Filthy, horrible man."
Ray grabbed the frame.
"It is stuck to the wall," Sirius said.
Ray turned to him and cast a silencing field around the portrait so he could actually hear. "Do you want to get rid of it?" he asked
"We've tried but she must have stuck it to the wall," Sirius said. His eyes widened as Ray turned back around and grabbed the portrait again. He lifted it down.
"Where do you want it?" Ray asked.
"Eh, well I would prefer to just burn it," Sirius said.
"Does this place have a yard?" Ray asked.
Sirius pointed towards a rickety door.
"I guess I'll see you some other day," Ray told Dora. "Have a nice evening."
"Bye, Ray," Dora said. "Good night cousin Sirius."
Sirius smiled when he answered then he followed Ray down the hallway.
The garden was overgrown and messy. It was almost impossible to open the door, but Ray managed eventually. He didn't care how much he banged the portrait since Sirius clearly wanted it gone. He felt bad that he hadn't cared for Sirius as much as he felt he should have. He could at least do this for him.
"Can she hear us?" Sirius asked.
"Yupp, she can," Ray said. "Do you want to hear her?"
"No, I'm fine," Sirius said. He looked at the portrait of his mother. "Bye-bye mother. I hope you burn in hell. As soon as I can I'm gutting the house and I'll convert it to a muggle home." He moved back.
Ray raised the portrait into the air before setting it on fire. The ash rained down gently over the overgrown garden.
"What has the disappointment done to the mistress' portrait?" a scabby-looking elf asked in horror.
"I had it burned," Sirius said. For a moment he looked as insane as the Ministry was portraying him.
The house-elf glared at Sirius. "How dare you? Little Sirius has always been a disappointment to Mistress," Krecher said.
Ray sighed. He could tell that this was a house-elf that was not feeling well. He wondered if he could get Sirius to give him that elf. He needed to come to see Sirius before the end of Summer. Maybe he could spend the last week before school with Sirius. Maybe it was time to tell him about Nirn and rescue him from this house. After he had dumped Draco back with his parents though.
"I will see you again Mr Black," Ray said.
"Thank you," Sirius said. He didn't turn around as Ray left. He felt a lot better. Maybe it was time to start tearing the house out. He smirked. This was going to be fun.
30th of June, 1997.
Harry looked at the latest letter Lucius had sent him. Apparently, the Dark Lord's parents had once lived in Little Hangleton. How Lucius had found that out, Harry had no idea. It sounded like a good thing to check out though. He tucked the letter away and got into his Kato glamour before heading out.
Little Haggleton was a downtrodden little town. It looked like it had never seen better days. The manor house that Tom's father had once inhabited seemed to have disappeared some time ago. No one questioned it and no one cared. Kato assumed that the same spell that had hidden Grimmauld Place was also at work here.
His focus wasn't on the muggle home, however. If Tom's mother descended from the Slytherin family they might very well have owned something like the Hufflepuff cup down in the Lestrange's Vault or the diadem that Kato had later found out belonged to Rowena. It made some kind of twisted sense that Tom would have used items of value to store his soul in.
The Gaunt house looked even worse than the rest of the village, and it wasn't just because it was abandoned. The dead snakes and discarded snake skins certainly didn't add to the decor. Someone had nailed a snake to the door. Kato looked at it with disgust. If these people were proud of their heritage, they wouldn't have done things like this. The snake hissed at him as he approached and Kato hissed back. As the door swung open he took a step back. There was a lot of magic in this house and most of it felt familiar. He didn't enter the house. There was too big a risk that there were curses that he could not detect. "Bill," he muttered. He needed at least Bill. Another Curse-breaker wouldn't hurt, but at the very least he wanted to have Bill along. He apparated home.
"Winky has put room in order," Winky said. "Will Master check if it is to your liking?"
"Absolutely, though I doubt you could do a bad job, dear," Kato said.
"Winky could miss something," Winky said.
Kato smiled as he walked over to the family rooms and opened the door to what would be Draco's room. He would make sure Winky wouldn't have to feel like she had missed something. The bed looked nice; it was a double no larger for a single person larger than a double was a bit overzealous. "I think this looks great," he told Winky. It was decorated in soft blues and silver with a creamy white as the base. If Draco wasn't happy with this he would just have to live with it. "Remember that Draco does not have the right to order you around. If he does anything mean to you I want to know about it," he said.
Winky nodded and smiled at her Master. She was Master's elf and only listened to him. She liked helping Mr Moony and little Leo. She loved Madam Alice and her husband Frank. It was nice to have people in the house. It got so empty when Master went to school or travelled.
The wards chimed as someone apparated into the foyer.
Kato headed down and smiled as he came face to face with Bill. "Just the man I wanted to speak to," he said. "Fantastic timing Bill. Was there something you wanted or did you just want to drop by?"
"Well, I have a message from Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter," Bill said stiffly. "If you feel the need there is a safe house that you can escape to, just let me know."
The corners of Kato's mouth twitched for a moment before he started laughing. He could see Bill relaxing through the tears gathering in his eyes. "I'm sure that if Harry needs protection from Kato he will let you know," he said.
Bill chuckled. "Yeah, I know it sounds kind of stupid when you know the truth," he said. Then he rubbed the back of his head. "I have a more personal reason for coming through," he said. "Fleur and I would like to know if you would be willing to host our wedding here at Ennerdale?"
"When?" Kato asked.
"We want a winter wedding so I would assume sometime around New Year's maybe. I don't think she has an exact date yet," Bill said.
"At least you are asking in advance," Kato said. He didn't see any problem with hosting a wedding. He knew that the Longbottoms were moving home in early November because their wards would be done then, and he knew they wanted to go home. He might have Sirius over, but maybe Remus could help him deal with that. "Winky!" he called.
Winky appeared in front of him in seconds. "What does Master want from his Winky?" she asked.
"Would you like to help set Ennerdale up to host a wedding this yule?" Kato asked.
Winky's eyes widened and teared up. "Who be getting married?" she asked.
"Bill and Fleur," Kato said.
"Miss Flower is getting married? Winky asked. She looked at Bill. She liked Bill because he had helped Master a lot. Bill and Fleur were such a nice couple. It made her so happy they wanted to get married in her home. "Winky would love to help," she said.
"Good, then I want you to set a weekly meeting with Fleur where you can start planning. I also want you to ask for Bill's opinion though. Both of them are getting married after all."
Winky nodded. "Winky will help," she said. '
"After Alice and Frank move home you might want to increase those meetings, but I think that two months is plenty of in-depth planning."
"You might want to invite Fleur here at that point and give her mother access to the apparition point. It will make it easier for us to plan things together," Bill said.
"When the Longbottoms move out, ready their old rooms for Fleur with family," Kato told Winky.
Winky nodded; she had a lot of things to add to her calendar. "Do not worry about it Master," she said. "Winky will take care of everything."
"Fantastic, Winky," Kato said. "Now for more dour news… I think I found another of those Soul Anchors and this one is protected quite heavily. The good news is that no one will stop us from dealing with it since it rests in a rather remote area that is easily accessible."
"Jena doesn't have anything right now. I assume extra hands might be good," Bill said as he considered what Kato had said. If it was a soul anchor then it needed to be dealt with.
"Could you get a hold of her? I'll pay hazard and overtime and medical if that comes up but only if I can't just fix it," Kato said.
Bill chuckled. "Do I get that too?" he asked cheekily.
"If you want to," Kato said.
Bill laughed. He knew Kato would pay whether he wanted it or not. "I'll be right back. It shouldn't be hard to find Jena," he said. He headed off to get their colleague while Kato got some lunch ready and fetched some rune stones and some charged gems.
"Whoa this place is huge," Jena said as she walked through the door into the living room. "You said this is Kato's place. He's loaded."
"It is mostly family money. If I understood him right," Bill said. "He wanted it large enough to have a lot of people over without losing the homey feeling."
"I think he has managed pretty darn good," Jena said. "This place is beautiful."
"Why thank you most of the credit for that must be given to my most wonderful house-elf Winky. She takes great pride in her home," Kato said as he walked into the room. "I have lunch ready to go so we should head out."
Jena smiled. "Bill pulled us by Dumac and signed some papers with him," she said. "I hope that is alright."
"That is fine," Kato said. "I'll have to go by before I leave the country. I have a few things to do in Diagon Alley anyway so it won't be a problem."
"Where are you going?" Bill asked as they headed back to the foyer.
"Romania," Kato said.
Bill smirked. "Give Charlie and smack on the back from me then and make sure he knows that I will curse him if he doesn't show up for my wedding," he said. "Preferably before the two of you get too busy with other things."
Kato rolled his eyes. "Get your head out of the gutter, William," he said. He took their hands and apparated them to the Gaunt house.
"This is about as far from your place as one could get I think," Jena said as she looked at the house. "Why are there so many dead snakes?"
"I think there is some kind of spell drawing them in," Kato said. "If I can, I'm going to remove it. These snakes are drawn here, but they can't leave."
"I don't like snakes, but that is still awful," Jena said.
"I'll keep any living ones off us," Kato said. He pulled the door open. "I don't know if you can feel it, but this place reeks of magic."
Jena nodded slowly. "It's giving me bad shivers," she said. "Thank heavens I'm not alone," she said. "You really know the best places to take a girl, Bill."
"What! The view is breathtaking. There is local wildlife and a spooky element," Bill said. "It is perfect."
Kato chuckled. Bill sounded so much like Fred and George that it was quite obvious that he had at least aided in the creation of their passion. "I'll have to take Fleur's word on that," he said.
Bill stuck his tongue out at him. "I'll have you know she enjoys date nights quite a lot, thank you very much," he said. Then he got serious. "We will have to scan and handle any curses that are in here," he said. "Can you guard us?" He looked at Kato.
"I certainly can," Kato said. He stood perfectly still for a moment before a wave of magic gently settled around Bill and Jena. Kato didn't move into the house after them. Instead, he made sure that their shield held. His full focus was on protecting them. Qozul had flown down from his shoulders and grown to his full size so he could protect his Monah.
Bill walked forward slowly. He cast several detection spells and was almost blinded by the response. There were so many curses both major and minor that lay weaved in this house. Some were old and some were new. Some worked together and others seemed to almost fight one another.
"This is a mess," Jena said. "Whoever did this is both a genius and insane. They could have killed themselves while laying the groundwork for most of this."
"Considering I'm pretty sure we're talking about You-know-who here I will happily agree, but maybe don't speak too loudly in case he gets ideas."
Jena gave Bill a pained look. "Please don't remind me. The only reason I feel comfortable doing this is that I know Kato has our back," she said. "Pissing off insane Dark Lords is more his area than mine."
"Crazy Necromancers and spirit leeches," Bill said distractedly as he dismantled a curse cluster. His eyes narrowed suddenly. "Get out!" he screamed. He threw up a shield in front of him and heard how Jena scampered out of the house. The shield around him moved out and caught the incoming spells. The shield cracked under the pressure.
Outside the house, Jena was staring at Kato as he reached out with his arms. His eyes, like molten pools of gold, flew open and he spoke in that strange language that Jena didn't understand. She saw how the dragon by his feet looked up at him.
Gems attached to Kato's belt dimed in their glow.
Inside Bill was countering the curses as quickly as he could. Kato had bought him time, and he was going to use it to his advantage. It was a battle against time. How long could Kato keep going?
The ward cracked and the last few curses slammed into Bill sending him backwards.
"Get me in there," Kato told Jena.
Jena nodded. She got up and walked inside. She fought her instincts to run up to Bill and check on him. Instead, she focused on the curse matrix. She had to make it safe for Kato to come in and heal Bill. Bill would be okay. She could hear his staggered breathing and pained groans. She worked as fast as she could. Tears started gathering in her eyes. "Not again," she started muttering as she worked. She could feel the magic of Kato's shield around her trying to soothe her. The shield had moved back over Bill so nothing new would hit him.
Kato started moving into the room slowly. He couldn't wait for Jena to get done. They would lose Bill if he did. He knelt next to his friend and studied the curses. With the secondary shield he had placed close to Bill's skin, he should be able to lift the curses off. He lifted Bill's head and moved in under him. "I've got you," he said. "Fleur would kill me if I let you die like this.
Bill's eyes flew open as his body shuddered in pain. He locked eyes with Kato and screamed out in pain. Why did everything hurt so badly? He managed to grab onto Kato. "Make… it… stop," he choked out.
Kato closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and pulled Bill's consciousness into his own mind.
Bill's head spun around and around until he landed on a crisp green field. He looked up at the blue sky and followed a cloud with his eyes.
"You have a strange way of ending up in here don't you?"
Bill sat up and looked straight at Rhavaniel. So that's how the pain had stopped. "I guess we're connected deeper than I thought," he said. "I didn't know he could do that."
"Kato will do all he can to save you," Rhavaniel said. "He works better if you aren't also screaming in pain. At least here he knows that a part of you is safe."
Bill nodded slowly. "It is nice here," he said.
Rhavaniel shrugged and laughed. "If you don't count the bandits and the rabid wolves I guess," she said. She held a hand out to him and pulled him up. "Last time you were here Kato was in duress. This time he is calm and you are the one in pain. The two of you are connected deeply enough that we can tackle what has happened to you from here. Are you ready?"
Bill closed his eyes. He wasn't sure what she was suggesting. "You mean we can enter my mind from here?" he asked.
"A part of it," Rhavaniel said. "But most importantly we can aid Kato."
"Are the others joining us?" Bill asked.
Rhavaniel shrugged. "Maybe if we need them," she said. She started walking towards some trees and Bill followed her. Eventually, he could see a small house that looked broken and twisted much like the Gaunt's house.
"Kato is good, but he is fighting a lot of different things right now. If he only had to deal with the curses he could do it, but right now your life and the curses that have affected you are so intertwined that he cannot untangle them," Rhavaniel said.
They walked into the twisted little house. It was larger on the inside than on the outside. There seemed to be only one big room and it was filled with coloured string in a big tangle. Bill looked around and sighed. This reminded him of the time he had taken all of his mother's yarn and spread them around a room because he wanted to play at being a spider. Molly had been so disappointed with him. It had taken hours to put all the balls of yarn back together.
"So this looks like a right mess," Rhavaniel said.
"It does," Bill agreed. He found the end of one of the colourful threads and started winding it together.
"You seriously think we need to clear this up manually?" Rhavaniel said.
"That's what mother taught me," Bill said. "There are consequences to breaking the thread."
"Oh, turnips," Rhavaniel said. She sighed heavily then she moved over to another thread and started winding it up. It turned out to be harder than she had first thought. The threads were so heavily tangled that she had to twist around and at times they even exchanged balls with each other.
"Ouch," Rhavaniel moved away from one of the threads and rubbed her arm. Just touching it had hurt if they had to gather that one it would be painful.
"Maybe we stay away from the ones that hurt," Bill suggested.
"You don't say," Rhavaniel growled.
"This one is thinking that maybe Rhavaniel-dra and Bill-jo needs some help," Naya said as she appeared by the door leaning against the doorframe.
"Naya please," Rhavaniel said miserably.
Naya laughed. She jumped over a thread and headed deeper into the nest. "Pass Naya-ko your ball, Rhavaniel-dra," she said. "This one will untangle in here, yes." She caught the ball as Rhavaniel threw it.
Bill chuckled as he continued untangling his own thread of yarn until he could no longer reach the rest of it. "Let's trade!" he called to Naya who smirked and threw her ball over to him.
Rhavaniel had started on a different thread and was slowly gathering it together.
Suddenly, as they were passing balls of glowing yarn back and forth the building started shaking violently.
"I don't think that is a good sign," Rhavaniel said calmly.
"Me neither," Bill said. He wondered why he didn't feel more worried about it as he kept rolling his yarn up. Maybe being in Kato's mind dulled the panic or maybe he was more detached from his body than he thought. He wondered briefly how dangerous what they were doing was. How healthy was it to separate someone's consciousness from their body?
The house stopped shaking and strings of yarn started glowing even brighter.
"Hold on to your balls," Rhavaniel said.
The floor gave way under them and they were falling. At some point, Rhavaniel and Naya disappeared and Bill was falling all alone through the darkness with only three glowing balls of light as company. He reached out and grabbed onto the orbs. Their light intensified as he brought them together. He pushed as hard as he could until they had all merged. Then he could hear a roar in the distance. From within the folds of darkness, he could see the golden glow of a dragon coming closer and closer. "Krinahkro," he whispered. He made the orb glow brighter to lead the dragon right until Krinahkro pulled him out of the air. He was no longer falling.
Bill coughed as he returned to his own body. He rolled over on his side and felt Kato's hands on his shoulder and back.
"Let's not do that again," Kato said softly.
Bill shook his head. "Sounds good to me," he said hoarsely. He pushed himself up to sit and looked around. "Where is Jena?" he asked.
"I sent her away after she uncovered the Horcrux," Kato said. "It really wants you to wear it and I didn't want to have to deal with another curse like the one that got you. I don't know if I can heal the scars. You might have to live with those."
Bill pulled his shirt up and looked down. His chest had several angry red slashes across it.
"I would suggest some time off after this. Thank Kyne that we made it official for the both of you," Kato said as he walked over to a different room. He threw fire into the room before containing it within. "I doubt it will survive that," he said.
"You aren't exhausting yourself again, are you?" Bill said.
"I brought my charge gems this time," Kato said. "I have been using them instead of my own reserves. This time I planned for everything to go to hell. Still, I'm not infallible and you took the hit."
"You saved me though," Bill said. "That's what matters. I wouldn't have wanted you to go alone. We have no idea what that might have done to you."
Kato smiled at Bill. He was right of course. There was no telling what would have happened if he had attempted this on his own. He could be dead or dying now. "I know," he admitted. He looked back into the burning room. "How hot do you think I need these to be?" he asked.
Bill didn't answer. Instead, he got to his feet and caught his bearings. His head was spinning and he felt weak.
"Go grab a drink from the basket. Qozul is guarding it outside," Kato said.
Bill nodded. He walked outside and grabbed a bottle of juice out of the basket. He had just finished drinking it when Kato walked out of the house. He was holding a walnut-sized stone in the palm of his hand.
"What is that?" Bill asked.
"I don't know," Kato said. "But it is magical somehow. It is old too, much older than anything else in that house."
"Could be dangerous," Bill said.
Kato nodded. "That's why I'm not going to leave it here," he said. "Do you want to go back to Ennerdale or should I drop you off somewhere else?"
"Do you have a spare bed?" Bill asked.
"I have several," Kato said. He held his arm out and Qozul landed on it as she shrank back down so he could lay on his favourite spot around Kato's neck.
"Then I think I would rather go with you than go home to Mom and Dad. I'll never hear the end of it if I do," Bill said.
"Good, then I'll call one of Glint's team over to have you checked on. I'm not losing you because of some stupid oversight," Kato said.
Bill sighed. He didn't disagree though. It would be stupid to not ask for a second opinion after what had happened. Then once he was clear to leave, he would be heading over to Fleur's place.