Chapter Twenty Five
Does it bite at your edges? Do you lie awake restless?
Arthur Weasley looked up as Sirius and Remus entered the kitchen. He was poring over a law book, and writing a letter at the same time.
“Ok, so they can’t destroy his wand before the hearing, I’m writing that down. What else? I’ll tell him not to leave the house - that’ll have to do, we’re against the clock here.” He hastily signed the parchment, and sent it off with an owl.
“Hello, you two, please sit.” Arthur never seemed to lose his cool or friendly tone. It was weirdly reassuring, and Remus could see why he was good at his job. “First of all, Harry’s completely fine. Dumbledore’s at the Ministry now, we’re going to sort this all out.”
He was interrupted by the arrival of an owl, with a note for Sirius. “Bloody hell.” he said as he read it. “Did you know why he performed magic - he says he’s been attacked by Dementors?”
“What?” Arthur frowned. “In muggle territory?”
Remus rose up. “I told Dumbledore he wasn’t safe there, we need to get him, now.”
He and Sirius were already halfway out the door when Arthur stopped them. “We can’t just go and get him, if you’re seen with him, Sirius, it’ll only make matters worse.” Seeing their strict faces, he went on. “For the record, I completely agree with you. But we’ve got to make decisions as a team. We wait for Dumbledore to get here and we’ll come up with a plan.”
Firstly, they needed a reason for the Dursleys to be out of the house. Tonks took the lead on that, designing with great flourish a certificate for an imaginary ‘All England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition’. Moody snatched it out of her hands before she was done.
“Hey!” She cried out.
“Yes, yes, very nice. But time is of the essence here. And muggle pictures don’t have moving grass in them.”
“Oh yes, damn.” She went to amend it, and placed it in an envelope. Hermione quickly intervened before Tonks and Arthur could stick too many stamps on it, offering to address and post the letter herself. Muggle post was much slower than wizarding, and they had to wait an agonising three days before they heard from Mrs. Figg that the plan had been a success.
Finally, finally, it was time to rescue Harry. Sirius hated to be left behind, but Remus convinced him it was for the best. “It’ll only be a few hours, I promise.” he said, squeezing his hand under the table before he left.
As it was, they’d assembled a large group to collect him. Remus thought it was too big, but apparently the prospect of rescuing Harry from a muggle home was enticing to the others.
They arrived to an eerily quiet house, but the atmosphere was quickly destroyed by Tonks tripping over some furniture in the hallway.
“Bloody hell!” She exclaimed.
“Tonks!” Remus hissed. “Do you have to destroy everything you see?”
“I’m sorry!” She shot back. “Eloise has enchanted the furniture at home to just avoid me - I’m not used to this!”
“Hello?” Another voice rang out. “Moony?”
A second later, Remus was being charged at by a spiky haired boy.
“Harry!” He smiled into the hug. “I’m so sorry - are you ok? We’ve… we’ve come to get you out. This was the earliest I could manage.”
Harry looked round at all the unfamiliar faces in the hall, bewildered.
“Wotcher, Harry.” Smiled Tonks.
“Go and get your stuff, we’re getting you out of here. Tonks will help you pack.”
The two stomped off, while Moody checked the house out for danger. He was baffled by ordinary muggle items such as wires and spent a long time investigating a faint buzzing sound, which Remus couldn’t be bothered to explain to him was just electricity. He excused himself and went to see what was taking Harry and Tonks so long. He arrived in Harry’s room just in time to see Tonks raising her wand.
“Whoa, whoa - Tonks, what are you doing?”
“What? I’m helping pack!”
“You can’t use magic around Harry - that’s the whole reason we’re in this mess! He has the bloody trace on him”
“Oh shit, sorry Harry. But it's a bit of a stupid rule, if you think about it. Only really works on muggle-borns”
“Add it to the list of injustices.” Muttered Remus grimly.
“Ok,” he clapped his hands. “Let’s get you out of here.”
*
They arrived back to the middle of a meeting, and Remus was called away immediately. Harry glimpsed Sirius’s face through the door, but was quickly intercepted by Molly Weasley, who directed him upstairs to Ron and Hermione.
Remus could tell from Sirius’s face that he was desperate to see his godson. He was forming the beginnings of a request to postpone the meeting when he spotted both Hagrid and Dumbledore. Clearly, something big was afoot.
“Lupin, welcome, welcome.” Said Dumbledore grandly. “We were just discussing Hagrid’s upcoming trip.”
Remus glanced towards Hagrid, who looked a little nervous. For the next couple of hours, he barely had a moment to think about Harry, but he quietly took Sirius’s hand as he sat. “He’s ok.” He muttered. “We’ll talk to him later.”
They turned their attention to Dumbledore.
“You’ll need to make it look like you’re going on holiday to France.” He was saying. “So you’ll need to pack like a tourist. Are you prepared to perform the spell for Gubraithian fire when you arrive?”
“Better be before” interrupted Charlie, who had spent time around giants a few Summers prior. “The giants won’t like it if you perform magic in front of them.”
“Should we skip the magical gifts altogether then?” Asked Arthur worriedly.
“Nah,” replied Hagrid. “They’ll like the fire, jus’ as long as they don’ see me making it.”
“Then that’s settled.”
Remus frowned. “So everyone here is on board with reaching out to the giants now, even though we’ve been reducing their freedoms and rights year on year?”
“Remus -” Dumbledore began.
“No, I know what you’re going to say. But it’s bullshit, and you know it.” He could feel his anger rising, but he couldn’t stop it. “It’s the same as last time with the werewolves, you had me thinking I could change things, only to drop the pack without a second glance the moment they weren’t needed anymore.”
“The pack you speak of sided with Voldemort last time.” He was interrupted, surprisingly, by Moody. “None of them faced criminal charges, what else could we do? It was clear they had no interest in the world of wizards.”
For a moment, Remus was lost for words. Dumbledore took advantage of the silence to continue what he’d started to say before.
“Can I remind you that it was down to me that you were able to attend Hogwarts? That Hagrid was able to attend? I have no issue with diversifying the student body -”
“And all you ask for in return is a lifetime of servitude, giving you access to our people to use as you wish.” Remus stood up. “Hagrid, if you wish to go on this mission, I can’t stop you. But I want no part in it.”
He left the room, and paced restlessly up and down the corridor. Glancing up, he saw what looked like an ear on a sting being hastily pulled away. He recognised it as belonging to Fred and George. Well, let them listen. He stepped outside, reaching for Sirius’s jacket on the way, knowing the pockets contained cigarettes. He heard footsteps behind him, and turned, expected Sirius. It was Moody.
“Need a light?”
Remus didn’t, but he inclined his head politely.
“Your outburst in there wasn’t useful.”
Moody was always frank with him. Whether he thought it was right or not, he didn’t say. “You might not agree with his methods, heaven knows I’ve disagreed with him over the years too. But look at the bigger picture. Because if you stay involved, and bring your group in on this, you can actually negotiate some rights in exchange for the assistance of the giants.”
Moody looked out onto the street contemplatively, giving his words a moment to settle. “You have to put your emotions aside, and be pragmatic. What did your friend say - that we all stand to lose if Voldemort returns? That goes for giants too.”
“You were at the meeting?” Asked Remus, surprised.
Moody only smiled. “Just remember who the real enemy is. That’s all I can ask of you.”
He stepped out into the street, and promptly disapparated without so much as glancing back. A couple of minutes later, people started to congregate in the hallway. Remus supposed the meeting had ended. He paused with a hand on the door, and decided to climb in through the window instead to avoid seeing anyone. It was childish, but on this occasion, e thought it was a well deserved response.