Unexpected allies
‘He’s gone.’
Albus swept into his office, skirting round them and taking his own seat at his desk. They'd been there several hours now. Told to wait while Albus ‘looked into things’. At his words, Remus felt bile rise in his throat and a roaring in his ears. He blinked and turned looking for the source of the noise, only to realise that it was coming from inside his head.
‘What?’ Sirius’ voice was too quiet, too far away.
‘The impostor has fled,’ Dumbledore said, calmly, lacing his fingers together on his desk. The noise was getting louder and Remus reached up to press his hands over his ears, trying to dull it.
Everything had happened very quickly after they had discovered Moody, crumpled in the bottom of the secret compartment. Sirius’ eyes had widened dramatically as the reality of the situation had dawned upon him, and he had disappeared from the mouth of the trunk, the office door slamming behind him. Remus had remained, trying desperately to revive Moody.
‘Rennervate… rennervate…’ he’d cast it over and over, ‘C’mon Alastor! Rennervate.’
Minutes had passed and the chill of the strange room had begun to seep through Remus' clothes and into his bones. He had put out a hand and felt the iciness of Alastor’s cheek and covered him in his own coat - the one Sirius had given him for Christmas - the warm one with the stars on the inside. He had shaken him and cast the spell again, his teeth chattering from the cold and the panic. He’d heard the office door and stood over Alastor’s body, wand raised, ready to defend him - And then Poppy had been there, pulling him away, pushing him back up the steps into Sirius' arms. Albus had appeared too, moving swiftly into the trunk, and levitating Moody gently upwards, into the room and onto the bed.
‘If you’ll excuse me,’ Dumbledore had said in a grave voice, and he had swept from the room without finishing his sentence, to alert the Ministry? To lock the doors? To catch the culprit, surely?
Apparently not.
‘Someone has been to inspect Crouch’s property,’ Dumbledore continued, ‘But it appears deserted. There is evidence, however, that several people have been living there.’
‘Who?’ Sirius barked. Remus could see the expression on his face. He was furious. I shouldn’t have stopped him, he thought. That night in Formby, we should’ve fought our way in, found Peter.
‘That we have not been able to as yet confirm -’
‘No, who did you send? Why didn’t you send us?’
‘I can assure you the job has been done thoroughly,’ Dumbledore said, voice steady.
‘Albus -’ Sirius began, the frustration clear in his voice, but he was cut off by a knock at the door.
Dumbledore rose briefly as Snape entered, gesturing to an empty seat on Remus’ other side. Severus did not turn to look at either of them, but out of the corner of his eye Remus saw Sirius stiffen slightly, his hand tightening the arm of his chair.
‘Him?’ Sirius spat, ‘You sent him?’ Remus could feel Sirius looking at him, waiting for him to say something, to agree, but his brain still wasn’t cooperating. Dumbledore did not react, turning to Snape as if waiting for him to speak.
‘A meeting has been called,’ Snape said quietly, pulling his left sleeve up to his elbow. The mark stood out starkly against his pale skin, ‘I have ignored the order,’ he continued, ‘But I could still go, if you wish, and make my excuses -’
Dumbledore paused, his blue eyes thoughtful. He looked at Snape for a long moment, and then down at his desk, rearranging the quills that lay there.
‘No,’ he said eventually, ‘The excuses will still stand at a later date if necessary. If you were to go now, he may require you to reveal information that is not ready yet,’ he paused again, ‘Has -’
‘Karkaroff has fled,’ Snape said, anticipating the question.
‘What is happening here?’ Sirius said, looking between them, ‘Ignored what order? What’s Karkaroff running from?’
Snape rolled his eyes, ‘The Dark Lord has called a meeting of his most loyal followers. We can only assume that this means he has returned.’
‘What?’ Sirius stood up suddenly. Remus felt his stomach turn and he gripped the arms of his chair. What was happening? Not four hours ago they’d been on their way home - Harry safe from the Second Task - only two Horcruxes to go -
‘Surely this is not a shock to you?’ Snape hissed.
‘What is that supposed to mean?’
‘Well perhaps if your ‘rescue’ hadn’t been quite so indiscreet -’
‘We knew this was a likely eventuality,’ Dumbledore said, raising his eyebrows at Sirius, who took a step back, and sat heavily down on his chair, ‘It is a little earlier than we had hoped, and so we must now act with urgency,’ he paused and looked at each of them in turn, ‘and co-operation.’
Sirius crossed his arms. Dumbledore continued:
‘The impostor that was impersonating Alastor Moody -’
‘Who was it?’ Sirius asked, sharply.
Dumbledore glanced at Snape.
‘Alastor will be able to confirm this when he wakes,’ Dumbledore said, ‘But evidence from the house and my subsequent re-interview of Winky, have led me to believe that it was Barty Crouch’s son -’
Remus went cold. He looked up, meeting Dumbledore’s eye for a moment. A series of snippets of conversation ran through his mind: ‘- turned him into a ferret’ - ‘showed us the Unforgivable Curses’ - ‘my Masters’ - ‘a body -’
‘Sirius,’ Remus breathed, something suddenly clicking in his brain. Sirius looked over at him, eyes questioning.
‘He kept calling you Sirius,’ Remus said again, ‘And he never had before.’
Sirius’ eyes went round, ‘And all those little digs he made -’
‘Polyjuice?’ Remus said, thinking of the hip flask and turning to Snape.
‘I’ve had Boomslang skin going missing all year,’ Snape replied, failing to hide the bitterness in his voice.
‘He showed them the Unforgivable Curses,’ Remus said, staring up at Dumbledore. He could feel something boiling horribly under his skin, ‘He demonstrated them. In a lesson, in front of Harry - and Neville,’ he hesitated, ‘So - so it was him then? That put Harry’s name into the Goblet of Fire?’
Dumbledore said nothing. Remus cursed himself. Why hadn’t they done more that evening in the Hog’s Head? Gone to Dumbledore then? Kicked up more of a fuss? So many missed opportunities! How could they have let this happen?
‘I didn’t see it either,’ Dumbledore said, quietly, as if he had read Remus’ mind and for a moment.
‘I’m going to kill him,’ Sirius growled.
*
‘I can’t believe he picked Snape over you,’ Sirius said, as they made their way back down the long drive. The comment was almost light-hearted, but his tone was still dangerous.
‘He didn’t,’ Remus shook his head, ‘I turned him down. He asked me and I said no.’
‘Still,’ Sirius replied, ‘Insane decision on his part.’
‘I can’t leave you to do this on your own.’ And I need to make sure you don't do anything stupid.
With the real Moody in the hospital wing for an indeterminate amount of time, Albus had asked Remus if he would consider covering the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. He had been more than a little tempted at the prospect of being better placed to protect Harry, but there was also a need to redouble their efforts with the Horcrux hunt; they needed to track down Hufflepuff’s cup. Instead, Severus had been given the position, Dumbledore confident he could persuade a contact to take over Potions.
‘Who do you think he’s going to get in for the Potions classes?’ Sirius wondered as they headed towards the winged boars.
‘Dunno,’ Remus replied.
‘Imagine if he asked Slughorn and told him why - don’t know if the old man could take it…’
Albus was to begin some extra sessions with Harry. Sirius had objected violently to his original suggestion that Severus might be a good candidate to offer some supplementary Defence training, and to Remus’ surprise, Dumbledore had conceded, and offered to do it himself. They had no knowledge of how quickly Voldemort might act, and despite their reluctance to accept that they might not be able to protect Harry in any eventuality, they had to admit that it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.
The future of the Triwizard Tournament was unclear: Karkaroff’s desertion of his students would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention, and Albus had said he would need to consult the Ministry about how to proceed. He had sent an owl while they were still there, requesting an audience with Fudge to discuss - both the Tournament and their evidence of Voldemort’s return. He hadn’t seemed particularly eager for the meeting.
‘Didn’t seem like Albus had much faith in Fudge did it?’ Sirius commented as they reached the gates.
‘Have you?’
‘Are you alright?’ Sirius stopped and looked at Remus, concern in his eyes.
‘Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just -’ Remus hesitated, ‘Just a lot of stuff happened.’
Sirius nodded, ‘I know, I’m trying to talk about it but you’re not really saying anything.’
Remus could still feel the effects of the panic that had washed over him in Dumbledore’s office. His head still felt like it was full of glue.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, trying to make a coherent statement, ‘I just haven’t - I -’ he shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Hey,’ Sirius’ voice was suddenly soft, ‘Hey, Moons, it’s OK. What’s happened? What’s the matter?’
‘I just -’ Remus tried again, his neck was hurting, as if his head was too heavy, and he reached up to rub the back of it. ‘I just can’t believe we let this happen - a Death Eater - at Hogwarts this whole time, teaching Harry, spending time with him on his own. Anything could have happened! We’ve been running around out here doing all kinds of mad things to try to keep him safe but the threat was right there - at school -’
He stopped suddenly at the pained look on Sirius’ face.
‘- sorry, sorry, I’m sorry -’ Remus said, desperately, I-’
‘No, no,’ Sirius reached forward and took both Remus’ hands in his own. ‘I know,’ he hesitated, ‘You think it’s time to run? Pull him out of school? Go abroad?’
Remus wanted to say yes. He had a sudden picture of them going home, packing a bag, picking Harry up on a broomstick from the tallest tower - flying into the sunset - but it was too late.
‘If Voldemort’s already back - we can't - what are we -’
Sirius’ eyes had turned steely. He was holding Remus’ hands very tightly now. He was looking away, somewhere over Remus’ shoulder, back towards the school.
‘He destroyed my life, one before,’ Sirius said, ‘He took everything from me. He took James, and you and then he crawled into a hole and hid. I’ve only just started getting it back. It isn’t going to happen again.’
*
They apparated from just outside the gates, back to the Hog’s Head to collect their things. Aberforth gave them a nod across the bar that made Remus think he must already be completely abreast of the latest developments. They then apparated again, this time home to Grimmauld Place, Remus keen to get back to the library.
‘Master Sirius! Master SIrius!’
Kreacher had opened the front door as they had arrived, one after another on the doorstep. Sirius had nearly crushed him as he tried to step inside, making room for Remus to land.
‘Master Sirius!’ he squeaked again, his huge eyes wide and brimming with tears.
‘What is it?’ Sirius replied, urgently, pushing his way into the hall and looking around, ‘What’s happened?’
‘The most wonderful thing!’ Kreacher croaked, a tear freeing itself and rolling down his cheek, ‘Mistress Cissy has come home!’
Remus pushed the door closed behind him, turning to find Sirius staring down at Kreacher in surprise - or disbelief - or suspicion?
‘What do you mean, Kreacher?’ he said slowly.
‘Mistress Cissy!’ Kreacher smiled up at him, ‘She has come back home - she is here, in the kitchen.’
Sirius glanced back at Remus and drew his wand.
‘Is she alone?’
Kreacher hesitated, his smile faltering a little as he nodded. Sirius stepped round him carefully, beckoning to Remus with his free hand, and set off down the hallway, stopping for Remus to catch up with him as they reached the kitchen door.
‘What do you think she wants?’ Remus breathed, as Sirius placed his hand on the door handle.
‘She just wants to talk to you,’ came a haughty voice from the kitchen, ‘Really Sirius, you should know not to bother with whispering behind doors in this house.’
Sirius rolled his eyes and pulled the door open, wand still raised, to reveal Narcissa Malfoy, sitting more gracefully than should have been possible on a wooden bench, with a full tea service laid out before her.
‘I see Kreacher has made you at home,’ Sirius scoffed, as he stepped down into the kitchen, skirting around her to lean against the fireplace. Remus followed him into the room, moving the other way, to stand by the cellar door.
‘You can put your wand away,’ Narcissa said, placing her own in the centre of the kitchen table, ‘I pose no threat to you.’
‘As if you need a wand to pose a threat,’ Sirius retorted.
‘As if you do,’ she replied airily, taking a sip from her tea cup. Remus didn’t think he had ever seen the set before. He wondered which of Kreacher’s secret heirloom stashes it had been retrieved from.
‘What are you doing here?’ Sirius asked.
‘You told me to come to you, if I wanted to share information.’
Sirius hesitated. Remus could see the indecision on his face. He wanted to trust her, but he wasn’t sure -
‘How did you get in?’
‘Kreacher.’ she said, looking at Sirius as if it was the stupidest question she had ever been asked. ‘You might want to revise the list of who can pop by, you know. If I'm still on it -’
‘What do you know?’ Sirius asked, interrupting her. She pursed her lips and exhaled lightly.
‘The Dark Lord has returned.’ she said, simply, ‘Lucius was summoned, earlier this evening. He just gave me the news.’
‘Is that it?’
‘What will you give me for more?’ Narcissa laid her tea cup neatly down in its saucer and looked up at him, squaring her shoulders. She was impressively beautiful, Remus thought, briefly, as she had Sirius stared at each other with their matching grey eyes.
‘What do you want?’ Sirius asked.
‘I want you to get us out,’ she said firmly, ‘Draco and I. I want no part in the war this will start, and I want him out of it too. Safe.’
‘You think I can do that?’ Sirius said.
Narcissa considered him for a moment, as she sat, perfectly composed, her back straight, her hands in her lap.
‘You yourself have escaped,’ she said, ‘More than once. I think you can come up with something.’
Sirius paused, glancing only momentarily at Remus, gauging his reaction.
‘Tell us what you know.’
Some kind of potion, and a spell, Narcissa had explained, although it had happened before Lucius had got there. Voldemort had been angry. He had wanted to wait, but the discovery of Moody and flight of Barty Jr had forced him to act.
‘What was he waiting for?’ Remus had asked, sat opposite Narcissa now, his own cup of tea in his hands.
‘The spell required a blood sacrifice,’ Narcissa explained, matter-of-factly, ‘He had wanted the Potter boy, but I suppose, in a pinch, anyone would do. Apparently Crouch offered up his own father.’
Remus’ stomach had tightened at the mention of Harry. He was impressed that Sirius had kept his composure.
‘He interrogated those that answered his call,’ she continued, ‘Wanted to know why they had not sought him out earlier, and accused them of false loyalty. Apparently he has been skulking around Albania in some kind of sub-human form drinking unicorn blood and venom from his snake -’ she shuddered. ‘He praised those who went to Azkaban - said something about Bella being rewarded once he frees her - your old friend Wormtail’s cut off his arm to prove himself - Lucius wants to do something to please him. I need to get Draco -’
‘He’s no friend of ours,’ Sirius cut her off and Remus reached for his hand on the bench, squeezing it gently.
Narcissa ignored him. ‘So?’ she asked pointedly, ‘What are you going to do?’
Remus regarded her carefully. She was looking back at them, her eyes wide and hopeful, as if this really was her only option.
‘Did you know,’ he asked slowly, glancing nervously at Sirius, who nodded briefly in response, ‘that Lucius was in possession of Voldemort’s childhood diary?’
Narcissa’s brow furrowed slightly, but she nodded.
‘I knew,’ she said with a deep sigh, ‘It was the highest honour he could bestow, apparently, the entrustment of one of his relics. And then that moron went and used it to enact petty revenge on Arthur Weasley of all people,’ she trained her eyes on Sirius again, pleading silently with him, ‘When the Dark Lord finds out - we need to be gone.’
‘Do you know of anything else he - bestowed?’ Remus pushed on.
She looked away from Sirius and across at him, examining him thoughtfully. Remus could see her holding her hands, tightly in her lap to keep them still. She was doing a pretty good job of hiding it, but she was scared.
‘I might do.’
‘If you do,’ Sirius said, quickly, ‘And you help us get it, then I swear I will do everything in my power to protect you.’
‘And Draco.’
‘And Draco,’ Sirius agreed.
Narcissa paused once more, her gaze fixed on Sirius. Her knuckles were white. She bit her lip.
‘Cissy, I swear,’ he repeated, in a voice that Remus knew meant he was telling the truth.
‘It’s in Bella’s vault,’ Narcissa whispered, ‘And I’ve got her wand.’
*
‘I want to know what’s going on. Stop trying to fob me off.’
‘Harry -’
‘I know you know. Fred said he saw you leaving Dumbledore’s office really late after the task, and now Snape is teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts -’
‘Who’s teaching Potions?’ Sirius asked.
‘This old guy, Slughorn,’ came Ron’s voice from somewhere behind the mirror, ‘He’s so obsessed with Harry -’
Harry rolled his eyes, ‘That guy from the pub at Christmas,’ he confirmed, ‘He’s definitely good at Potions but if he mentions mum again -’
Sirius snorted.
‘Has Professor Dumbledore been to see you?’ Remus asked, taking the mirror from Sirius and propping it up on the table so they could both see Harry’s face in it.
‘He sent me an owl,’ Harry replied, ‘I’m supposed to go up there in an hour. Will you please tell me what is going on!’
‘Dumbledore will -’
‘Probably not tell me anything,’ Harry cut in, ‘C’mon, don’t pretend like you think I’ll be getting information from him. Tell me. Or I am going to start asking around -’
Remus sighed and looked at Sirius, who was examining Harry’s face very carefully.
‘I feel like we should be telling you this in person,’ Sirius said, ‘We could -’
‘Unless you can get here in the next five minutes, then like this is going to have to do.’
‘Are your friends there?’ Remus asked, and Ron appeared a moment later, squashing his face against Harry’s.
‘I am,’ he said, ‘Neville’s here. Hermione’s downstairs.’
‘Go and get her,’ Remus said, ‘Might be good for you all to be together.’
Ron disappeared and Harry’s face changed - the defiant look he had been giving them becoming one of trepidation.
‘What’s happened?’ he said again, more quietly, ‘Where is Moody? Has he had to go back to the Aurors? Is it a dark wizard thing?’
‘Not exactly -’
‘I’ve got her!’ Ron shouted, and there was a sound of a door slamming and footsteps. They caught a flash of Hermione’s curly hair and the mirror moved violently as they clambered onto Harry’s bed.
‘OK,’ Harry said, holding the mirror up so they could see them all, ‘We’re here. Tell us.’
‘OK -’ Remus inhaled sharply. Why hadn’t they practised what to say?
‘Moody wasn’t Moody,’ Sirius said, suddenly, ‘He was a Death Eater in disguise.’
‘What!?’
All four faces stared back at them with big round eyes. Remus nudged Sirius in the ribs with his elbow.
‘You want to do it?’ Sirius said, nudging him back.
‘It’s a very long story,’ Remus said, slowly, as Sirius glared at him, ‘But yes, it appears that the real Moody was attacked, just before term started, and captured, and an impostor was teaching in his place. We found him the afternoon after the task, but unfortunately, the impostor escaped.’
‘So that’s why Snape’s taking the lessons,’ Hermione said.
‘Correct,’ Remus nodded.
‘Couldn’t you have come back?’ she asked, and then reddened slightly, realising what she had said.
‘Yeah,’ Harry agreed, ‘Couldn’t -’
‘I’ve got something else important I need to be doing,’ Remus replied, glancing at Sirius again. ‘Unfortunately, the escape of this Death Eater has also led to -’ he paused, ‘And I don’t want anyone to panic here, because you are all perfectly safe -’
‘Led to what?’ Harry said sharply.
‘Unfortunately -’ Remus tried again, pausing, searching for the right words.
‘It’s him, isn’t it?’ Harry said, his face tense.
‘Who?’ Ron said, looking at Harry, who kept his eyes fixed on the mirror.
‘Voldemort,’ Harry replied, grimly. ‘Voldemort’s back.’
The conversation had continued a little longer, Remus and Sirius attempting to reassure the children where they could, but neither of them felt they'd been particularly successful. The revelation that it had been Barty Crouch’s son had hit Neville particularly hard, the name meaning much more to him than any of the others. It had been Ron in the end that had reached an arm out and pulled Neville in for a hug.
‘It isn't common knowledge yet,’ Remus had cautioned them, ‘Professor Dumbledore has contacted the Ministry and I expect he will make a decision about what to share with you soon, but currently there is the smallest chance that Voldemort is not aware that we know, and we must maintain any element of surprise we can.’
They had nodded solemnly, looking at each other with fear on their faces, and then Harry had needed to go, for his appointment with the Headmaster.
‘Let us know how it goes!’ Sirius had called, as he snapped the mirror shut.
‘Well,’ Sirius sighed, rubbing his temples as he stared down at the blank mirror in front of them, ‘That could have gone worse.’
Remus stood up, lifting the kettle onto the stove and turning to lean against the fireplace as it boiled, absent-mindedly watching Kreacher who was aggressively polishing the newly recovered tea service at the other end of the table.
There was a tap at the window and he turned, to find an elegant eagle-owl perched on the sill. He crossed the room and opened the latch, pulling a slip of paper from its leg.
‘Its from Narcissa,’ he said, looking up at Sirius, ‘She has a plan.’