ambivalence

Walburga swept into the very same room she and Burke had been in less than a hour before (without a huff for she would never do such a thing thank you very much) and sat down on the very same couch she had sat in less than an hour before. The trip back from Askaban had been shorter than the one there partly because they now knew the route and another because she was absolutely furious and it wouldn’t be prudent to commit mass murder in front of Burke. Not while he was focused on her son’s case at least. She took in a breath to steady herself. Now was not the time to loose her temper,and it definitely was not the place. Not in front of the lawyer. Said man came over and sat on the couch opposite her.

Both sat in silence. Neither knew how to start the conversation. She decided to take the initiative and begin.

“He truly is innocent then.” She had never doubted that fact for she did know the boy but there was always that satisfaction of being right. She quite enjoyed it Burke pulled out what looked to be two sheets of parchment and set them down in front of them.

“Yes, I have copied down his confession along with any extra details.” He looked over the two sheets in front of him added, in a mournful tone, “Although that isn’t much. We were only able to get the broadest of context. Ideally we would have pried into detail about all those around him before he was accused but the ministry is clearly fighting us every step of the way.”

She glared at the paper. This was definitely ‘not ideal’. Everyone seemed eager to fight them at every turn.

“The ministry is growing to be an even larger problem then I assumed. The name ‘Black’ is enough to receive a prison sentence with how some other members of my family have acted in recent decades but I didn’t expect this level of resistance.” She took another breath to try and steady herself. Now was not the time.

Kreacher popped in, almost silently, carrying a tray of what appeared to be calming tea. He always knew when she needed something. She nodded at him as he set it down.

“What do you propose we do Mr Burke?” She asked while sipped her tea. It was definitely calming, she now only felt a small urge to commit mass murder instead of the overwhelming need she had felt not moments ago. There must have been added magical components. She had heard of such things but never actively though about it. Burke looked taken aback by her question but quickly composed himself.

“Ah, as I believe I mentioned earlier, we need witness statements. We need to provide at the very least reasonable doubt of his guilt so that we may begin to prove his innocence. Veritaserum would probably be used at some point. Although there are some tricky laws around those, the added rumour that your family can resist it, whether its true or not. And there’s the added issue of Dumbledore.”

He made a face at the man’s name. He most likely had his own reasons for despising the man though she wondered what that could be. What could Dumbledore have done to a half-blood, bastard child? If anything he should be in the man’s favour.

“If he knew that Heir Black wasn’t the secret keeper for the Potters he at the very least is purposefully turning a blind eye to his incarceration and at worst is the one behind it. Although I couldn’t say why.” He sighed and stared at the table, seemingly without seeing it.

Walburga herself pursed her lips and stared blankly at the papers. That was the question was it not? Why? Why did there seem to be no active investigation? Why did that blasted old man want her son locked away? Did he orchestrate it, or was this simply taking advantage of an opportunity? Either way, what did he gain?

This was most certainly an annoying topic, and one she feared she’d have to revisit very soon. However it was also one that would have to wait.

Who would want to help her free her son but also be able to convince others of his innocence? It would have to be someone he was close to, someone with not much to loose, or maybe something she could hold over their heads? Perhaps he had a girlfriend somewhere?

Walburga paused as an idea came to her, and she thought back to when he was at school. He had always hung around those same three boys. There was the Potter and Pettigrew boys but they weren’t options for obvious reasons. But there was one more, what was his name? She thought back to every conversation they had had, every letter and any reports she had gotten from the school. Her fingers drummed on her cup (a nervous tick of hers although she’d never admit it) and suddenly, she had it.

“Remus Lupin.” He was the other boy that Sirius had hung around with. If there were any other options she did not know them, did not trust them or knew they would not help her in this particular endeavour, from fear of association with either the House of Black or ‘the right hand to the dark lord’ or from the fact that the fall of the House of Black ment the rise of their own. Her sudden speech pulled Burke out from his thoughts and he looked up.

“Pardon me?” He asked, very clearly trying to pretend he had been listening. He was not succeeding.

“He’s one of the boys Sirius used associate with,” She waved him off, she didn’t like having to repeat herself, if he wasn’t listening the first time he would have to figure it out. “I will contact him and see if he might be of help. I assume I may owl you to arrange details on when our next meeting will be?” She had had quite enough of the man’s presence. For all that he was helping, with competent skill, she was not a ‘people person’. They were all too loud and annoying. She raised a single, perfect eyebrow and Burke took that as his queue to leave, agreeing hurriedly and disappearing out of the door. She assumed kreacher showed him out.

She turned back to her thoughts, her fingers still drumming on her cup. She would have to look into Lupin. She didn’t want another Pettigrew scenario, with how the country was, it was always a possibility.

Walburga got up and went up towards the Lords study. The better quality the paper the more seriously requests were taken for some reason, and if the Black family seal was on it, any request she made would be answered within a day. Curious how their last name would have others bending backwards for them, yet also lead to severe persecution.

Once she reached the study she paused, just for a moment. She had never spent much time in here. Only for the occasional letter or book and of course the letters to Burke. It was Orion’s while Arcturus lay indisposed in bed, holding the seat only in name while Orion did everything, and he’d never allowed her to enter without reason or express permission. It was odd, to hesitate. She had never hesitated before now.

Squaring her shoulders she pushed open the door. Orion was dead and she had work to do.

She marched in and pulled open the drawer with all the different papers and parchment. She payed no mind to her dim surroundings, only a small light to illuminate the dark room and sat down. The desk was a pristine ebony, with stationary neatly laid out; a quill and ink pot in the corner, a pile of books, a blood red candle, a small silver statue of either a crow or raven (she didn’t know much about birds of all things). She quickly drafted the letter, then wrote it again in beautiful swirling letters atop the branded parchment. Calling for kreacher she sealed the envelope with a stamp of the crest of the house of black. There was no way for her to use the Lord’s ring due to some heavy enchantments put on the thing - anyone who wasn’t the lord would get their hand removed, even the heir - so she would have to make due with the simple family crest of three birds (either crows or ravens. Maybe both?) and a sea of stars, a knights hand holding a rapier. She always loved looking at it when she was a girl. Even now, so many years later.

Kreacher came took the letter away to owl and she made her way back downstairs. A reply would probably arrive by the next day.

The next morning she was proven correct, as when kreacher brought her her breakfast, a parcel accompanied it. After finishing breakfast she settled down and opened the parcel. Inside was a small stack of papers, probably copies of all the originals, all detailing something of Lupin’s life, although there wasn’t much about his childhood though that wasn’t shocking. Children in the wizarding world were a rarity, and each born is special, kept safely hidden away until their time for Hogwarts.

All this information and she didn’t even have to leave her house, the Black name held weight after all, even after all these years of scandals. And manic dark lords.

Opening the parcel, it revealed slightly less then a regular person would have but after the war she wasn’t surprised. There were far more pressing concerns after all, and for one who fought in the war, it was expected even. At first glance there was absolutely nothing unusual about Lupin. He was recruited by Dumbledore straight out of Hogwarts so there weren’t many employment records. What little there was was spotty at best. He seemed to get a job and loose it after a month or two, and always for unexplained absences. Walburga looked more closely at this. His absences seemed to happen around the same time, about every month. Wait.

It had to be a coincidence. He couldn’t be, could he?

She called to kreacher for him to bring her a book of past moon phases. She pulled the massive book onto her lap and flicked through it. It held everything a Black could want to know about the night sky. From when to perform fertility rituals to how to how to get the stars themselves to curse someone. The only reason she hadn’t use these curses on someone like Dumbledore was that there was a heavy toll on the caster so she wanted to save it for someone special, for when the time was right. A pity, truly. She had heard such interesting stories of the results from her older relatives when she was a girl.

Looking at the pages, spelled to show whatever moon phases the reader wished, her suspicions were proven correct. Lupin’s absences aligned perfectly.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.