18 September 1997
Rain pelted the window as Dudley slammed his glove into the punching bag. Remus hadn't returned yet, but he'd sent a message the day before with just the cryptic words, "Partial success."
As his left hook slammed into the bag, Dudley grimaced. He'd never liked winter, and ever since two summers ago, cold and dark made him tense and jumpy. Every passing day was shorter, bringing winter closer. Worse, rather than bright electric lights, there were only a few flickering candles to extend the working hours. Feels like I'm in a bloody soap opera, he thought. At the thought of soap operas, his heart twinged. The lack of television was particularly painful now that summer had well and truly vanished. Even at Smeltings, where the students' viewing hours were limited on the single television, he'd been able to watch much of the autumn programming. Television was, in fact, the only thing Dudley had ever liked about the chill, damp autumns at Smeltings – new programs, new series, new debates and speculation. Television meant family togetherness, friendship, relaxation, excitement. He'd marked the days of the week by television programs. And this year – his final year – he'd have been entitled to his pick of seats and to choose the show, on a rotating schedule with the other Upper Sixth Forms.
Dudley tore off his gloves and dropped to the floor for a series of crunches.
The day prior had been a flurry of excitement and activity. Petunia's bombshell – that she knew Snape's old address – had more than impressed the weirdos. It had sent them into a frenzy. They'd sent and received a whole circus of silvery, talking animals going POP POP POP here and everywhere, as they shared the news and left for other safe houses. Remus had refused – repeatedly – to give his location, so they'd have to fill him in as soon as he returned. While the older Dursleys were pleased, excited at the prospect of making something happen, Dudley had felt useless and ignored.
Dudley stretched, his face twisted in irritation. He wanted to extend his workout hour, but he couldn't – shower schedule. Thanks, Mum. He wiped out his gloves and headed to the bathroom. Couldn't linger too long, either.
They always left at least one of them home with the Dursleys, for security. Tonks was the one at the cottage right now, and she was about as happy about it as the Dursleys were. The difference between their freedom and the Dursleys' confinement had never felt starker. Especially as things seemed to be much safer in the last few days. Based on Dudley's triangulation theory, they had only sent one person out at a time to areas that weren't under the Fidelius Charm, and they'd limited their excursions to fifteen minutes. It had worked. The Order members had suffered no further attacks. Meanwhile, Dudley and his parents stayed put. Of course, no one had thought to thank Dudley or give him credit for figuring out how the Death Eaters were targeting them. Tonks hadn't even gone out for new batteries for him.
He scowled and slammed his bare fist into the bag. Then he head-butted the bag, a stupid, yet satisfying move. His coach would have set him to scrubbing the gym mats for that one. But, he thought, rubbing his head as he headed toward the shower, his Coach might as well be on the other side of the moon
After his shower, Dudley paced in his bedroom. He didn't fancy heading downstairs to watch Tonks doing her own pacing.
POP! Dudley looked out the window, hoping to see Dedalus or Hestia. Oh. HIM. Goody. Before Remus could open the door, Tonks bolted out. She leaped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and crushing his neck. Her bare calves stuck out from her robes and her hair changed color several times. She started kissing his wrinkly, slashed-up face and running her hands through his grizzled, nasty hair. Remus staggered back, wrapped one arm around her back, and supported her legs with the other. Disgusted, Dudley turned away from the window.
Everyone else was happy, but he was miserable. Despondent, Dudley flopped face down on his bed, burying his face in the pillow so he could scream into it. Unsatisfied, he flipped onto his back and screamed as loudly as he could.
Nobody checked on him.
After lunch, Remus had fallen asleep in one of the sitting room easy chairs. Hestia and Dedalus had returned and wanted to meet with everyone.
"Should we wake him?" Dedalus asked. "I hate to disturb him, but if we were spotted, time is of the essence."
Dedalus was still wearing Dudley's clothes – a red and white tracksuit he'd shrunk down, along with Dudley's trainers, also shrunken. Petunia had said he'd stand out like a sore thumb in Cokeworth in his usual kit. Dudley hadn't trusted him to shrink and restore his precious leather jacket, but the tracksuit jacket was warm enough for early autumn. Underneath the jacket, Dedalus had on one of his own button-downs, though Dudley had insisted he had to leave off the starched collar.
"Oi! Remus, wake up!" Tonks yelled. She threw a pillow onto her husband's stomach. He opened one eye and grinned.
"Ah, Dedalus, Hestia. Welcome back." He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and shambled over to shake their hands.
"Made it through alright, then, Remus?"
He waved off Dedalus' concern. "Yes, the … er… medicine worked fairly well, on the whole. Even got some sleep. But more on that later." He glanced at the Dursleys before turning his attention to the people who mattered. "But Hestia, Dedalus - where'd the two of you get off to? You said you had something big going on?"
Hestia brushed her robes off and sat down. "Snape. Thanks to Petunia here, we've got a lead on his house. I've been at Muriel's, consulting with our weapons experts. Long story short – they're up for it. Plus – you'll like these –" she pulled a stack of hats out of her satchel and passed them round. "Shield Hats. The Ministry bought up a few hundred some time ago, and our boys have been improving them while they're stuck at Muriel's. Got a lot of time on their hands, Fred and George. Dedalus, what about you?"
Remus and Tonks looked at Dedalus, expectantly. Petunia took advantage of the distraction to set her Shield Hat down on the side table. Vernon followed suit. Dudley kept his in his hands, turning it over and looking for tricks. The hat looked too small for his head, but magic things behaved strangely when it came to sizes. For all he knew, if he put it on, it would swallow him whole. He tucked it under his elbow.
Dedalus beamed at everyone. "Oh, I found it alright. I took the bus in from Birmingham – quite an adventure, I can tell you – a whole story in and of itself. Then tramped about, starting from the old factory and down to the river. And wouldn't you know – just dripping with Dark magic, on one little, innocent Muggle street. You can fair feel the Wards. You can't see his place, not with the Wards up, but you can see where it isn't, if that makes sense." He patted his track jacket and pulled a pocket watch out of an inner pocket that hadn't existed when Dudley wore it. He looked at the watch and whistled. "Well! It did take a fair bit of time, doing things the Muggle way. You ought to have seen the way the bus driver opened the door. I thought it was some sort of trap, at first – I wish Arthur had been there with me."
"Any others?" Tonks asked.
"Hmm?"
"Other Death Eaters? Snatchers?"
He rocked back on his heels. "Houses next door were unoccupied, this time of day at least. Nobody about in the street. Spinner's End, his street's called – Petunia was quite right about that bit. Excellent memory, I congratulate you, dear lady!" He bowed to Petunia. "But there might be any number of people inside Snape's house, you know." He smacked his lips. "I say, what about some tea? I'm quite parched after that bus ride."
At that moment, the kettle whistled. "Excellent!" Dedalus said. He whisked his wand, and the Dursleys dodged to the side, not wishing to be accidentally scalded as the kettle and tea things zoomed in from the kitchen.
From the track suit jacket, he pulled out several items he lay on the table. "Dursleys, would you mind terribly telling me about all these delightful artifacts I've collected? It's never too early to be thinking of Christmas. Anything valuable?"
The potential Christmas presents consisted of a bus ticket, a rusted beer can, a crumpled advertisement for shaving cream, and a syringe.
"You didn't poke yourself with that, did you?" Dudley asked. "They can get you sick, those needles."
Dedalus picked the syringe and examined it. "A needle, you say? How would one sew with this, I wonder? Where does the thread go, in this little tube at the top?" He attempted to pry it open.
"Watch it!" Dudley yelled. "Give it here – I mean, drop it. Get rid of it. It's rubbish, mate. You don't want whatever diseases the junkie left on it, do you?"
Dedalus raised his eyebrows. "Well, if you insist." He lay the syringe back down and Vanished it.
"Go wash your hands! Thoroughly!" Petunia shuddered.
"First things first!" Dedalus replied and started pouring out the tea.
"Hepatitis! AIDS! SYPHILIS!" Petunia yelled. "What can you be thinking?"
"Were those meant to be spells?" Dedalus asked. He sighed and patted her hand. "I feared this might happen - that living with grown wizards, immersed in magic, you'd start trying it yourself. But it won't work, you see."
Petunia jerked her hand away and ran to the kitchen. Dudley heard the water running. His father's eyes were closed. Vernon was counting under his breath, trying to keep control of his temper. "Better wash up," Dudley told Dedalus.
"Go on, Dedalus," Remus said. "Those needles are dangerous to Muggles, you know."
Dedalus bowed, a bit stiffly, and joined Petunia in the kitchen.
Hestia, Remus, and Dudley drank their cups of tea in silence. Tonks jotted a few notes on the timeline board. Vernon swayed, back and forth, flexing his fingers over and over again.
When Dedalus and Petunia returned, after some minutes, Vernon asked, "So. Time to plan the attack?"
"Mmm," Dedalus said, taking a sip of his tea, "nothing like a cuppa after an outing. Well, our greatest challenge will be how to get there. From what I can tell, he's set up his Wards in concentric circles, but irregular and unpredictable in shape. Several streets away from his house, there are detection wards. Looks like he's jumpy about aerial attacks, too, because he's got up a tricky bit of magic that'll cancel the Levitation Charm on a broomstick. Then there's a tight anti-Apparition ward and Protego Totalum around the few last houses on his street. No Muggle wards, though – I suppose he needs to let the neighbors come and go."
Dudley's heart thudded through several beats.
"The thing is," Tonks said, "Snape wasn't ever all that hard to steal from. Charlie and I broke into his office loads of times."
"I was thinking," said Dedalus, "that the anti-Apparition wards wouldn't be too difficult for two of us to tear down. If we use some of the spells the Ministry's banned. Just, as soon as we do, he'll be alerted."
"We should attack during the day," Remus said. "On a school day. Some time when he's likely to be in a part of Hogwarts that's difficult to leave."
"Those detection wards," Hestia asked. "What are they detecting?"
"Movement. Magic."
"Won't you have set them off then?" she asked.
"Certainly," Dedalus said. The steam from his teacup wafted around his white eyebrows.
"Then, he'll heighten security," she said. "Dedalus – what if he gets some Snatchers to watch the place for him or sets up a Fidelius Charm? There'll be no way for us to attack it, then."
"How does he get there?" Dedalus mused. "Has to walk in, same as us, right? Has to get out the Hogwarts gates, Apparate to the outskirts of his neighborhood, walk in? Devilish inconvenient things, Anti-Apparition wards. They're a bother to everyone, friend and foe alike. You'll have noticed I didn't put any around this place. What I mean to say is, it's inconvenient for him to check up on the old place. I walked around his neighborhood and felt around for Dark magic. Is he really going to hare off from the castle at every whiff of magic?"
"He doesn't have to, though," Tonks said. "One press of the Dark Mark, and he can get some underling to go for him."
Dedalus shrugged. "And what does the underling see? A quiet neighborhood fallen on sad times." He checked his pocket watch again. "IF anyone checked up after me, he's probably stayed no longer than it took for this tea to brew."
Remus said, "Severus was always chary of letting us know much about his life. He kept his conversation to direct Order business. A poor, Muggle neighborhood… I expect he hasn't invited many Death Eaters out to the place. That limits the number of people he could ask to watch over it for him. Our greatest risk is that he'll use a Fidelius Charm."
"Then there's no time to waste," Dedalus said. He had finished his tea and dabbed his lips with a handkerchief before rising to his feet. "Shall we be off then?"
Dudley was amused to see the shocked looks on the others' faces. He'd gotten used to Dedalus'
Petunia spoke, in a quavering voice, "Dedalus? Could – could – might I have a quiet word with you before you go?"
"General Jones?" Vernon asked. "A word, please, if you don't mind?"
Hestia sighed and closed her eyes while she responded, "Vernon, I've told you. I'm not a General. This isn't the army. Please call me Hestia. And I swear, if you salute me one more time…"
His mustache bristled. "Ma'am. Please. A word. In private."
"Fine. But we haven't decided on a plan of action."
"I have a plan, never fear," Dedalus said. "Planned it all out on the bus ride over to Cokeworth. No sense explaining it twice, though. I say those of us attacking the place go over to Muriel's, get Fred and George, and I'll fill everyone in there. So, who's in?" He beamed at the group.
"I'm… indisposed still." Remus twisted his hands. "Can't it wait a few days? I'd love to be able to help, but I'm about to fall asleep again."
"I'm in," said Tonks and Hestia, simultaneously.
Dedalus winced. "Er – Tonks, I think you'd ought to stay." He gestured at Remus, who was slouched in his chair and blinking his eyes. "Remus is in no fit state for Dursley-duty, and we'll need a point of communication. I'll call you in, first thing, if there's trouble."
She scowled. "This is because I'm pregnant, isn't it? You can't go about treating me like a fragile little doll, just because I'm carrying a child. I've every reason to end this war as quickly as possible—"
"Of course, of course," he said, not meeting her eyes. "Just, it'll be easier to manage as a mission of four."
Tonks slouched back in her chair. "Fine! I'll stay. But send a Patronus, first thing. Hestia, Dedalus – promise me?"
They promised.
"And, look – make sure to keep the mission short, yeah? Fifteen minutes, tops, and then Apparate to separate locations before coming back here." Tonks gripped the edge of the table. "We can't afford more losses. No pressure, or anything."
Vernon cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak.
"Alright, Vernon," Hestia sighed. "I'll hear you out. No need for formalities." She waved him into the hallway. Dudley wondered what his father could have to say. Probably tips on how to kill more Death Eaters.
"Please – before you go, Dedalus?" Petunia whispered. She'd sidled up to Dedalus, who started at seeing her at his elbow.
"Certainly," he rose and bowed. Petunia pulled him into a corner, where she bent down to whisper into his ear. He started back in surprise, then nodded a few times and shook her hand. Petunia twisted around to block Dedalus from view, but Dudley moved over a few feet. From this angle, at his height, he could see past Petunia's shoulder. Dedalus turned his handkerchief into a cluster of black flowers, handed her one, and tucked the rest into his jacket.
Hestia stormed in from the hallway, followed by a frustrated-looking Vernon. "Let's go, Dedalus."
They Disapparated, leaving the Lupins and Dursleys to stare at each other in yet another awkward silence. The nameless owl with the hurt wing shifted in his sleep on the hearth. They looked at the owl for a while instead of at each other. Dudley found it unbearable. He had no idea what to say, so he cleared away the tea things, assisted by no one.
"Well," he heard Remus say behind him, "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll turn in. That way, if there's trouble, I'll be able to pitch in."
"I'll come too," Tonks said. "I'm well sick of this sitting room."
23 June 2020
11:00 a.m.
Nicole was still in the office. Her meeting was going long, a good sign the clients hadn't just canceled or postponed til 2021.
"Kids?" Dudley asked. "Let's surprise Mummy, yeah? Get the picnic things together before she gets done with her meeting. Get your beach things, too."
"We're supposed to check in on school, though," Davianne said. "At 11:30."
"Good thing your dad's a tech genius, then," Dudley said. "My phone has a hotspot – I'll set your background, and you can check in from the beach."
Dom had already left to pack.
As Dudley emptied a bowl of fruit into a large shopping bag, he wondered whether he should make sandwiches. Nah, he thought, and tossed some cheese, condiments, and a loaf of bread in after the fruit. Better to make them fresh. He added a knife, too, for slicing everything up.
He reached in the drawer for his car keys and looked down with fondness at the faded symbols on the buttons. No matter the craziness, at least they got to get out of the house. He knew the way to Walpole Bay Tidal Pool by heart, of course, but he looked it up one last time before packing the car. Good, still open to the public. And… just in case he felt up to it.… Another address.
"Dad?" Dom said, racing down the stairs with his beach bag. "Dad? Don't you want to open your presents first, before we go?"
"Nah," Dudley said. "Let's get to the beach first, and I'll open those presents when we get back."
