Under the Sturgeon Moon
Under the Sturgeon Moon
A few weeks had passed since I had broken the Imperius Curse on Ben. I'd accompanied him home that day to help him explain to his (Muggle) parents what had happened to him, and why it was necessary for all three of them to go into hiding until we could be sure Greyback would no longer be a threat to them.
Tulip and her parents, along with Mr Weasley and the kind witches and wizards in the Muggle Liaison office at the Ministry had helped arrange for a specialised portkey and protected housing for the Copper's in another part of the country. They left early the following day. The story they told their friends was that they had inherited a large estate from a deceased grandparent that they would need to spend several months settling, so their restaurant was left in the hands of a trusted employee temporarily.
It had been extremely hard saying goodbye to Ben not knowing when I would see him again, but knowing he and his parents would be safe made it bearable. The Ministry had been told the whole story, or enough to get them to agree to help. They had also insisted on no contact with the Copper's for the time being.
Greyback was officially listed as a wanted fugitive in the WCU based on mine and Ben's testimony of him using an Unforgivable Curse. Unfortunately, that wasn't made public knowledge due to the newly appointed Minister for Magic. Cornelius Fudge had firmly decided against "starting an unnecessary panic" as he put it, in a reply letter to our department.
After the Copper's had been safely transported and hidden, things seemed to slow down in our day to day lives. Alexi made a remarkable recovery under the care of experienced Healers at St Mungo's. And all three of us had returned to work, eager to chase down any new leads that would help us find and capture Greyback, although there hadn't been many.
Barnaby and I had also finally set a date for our wedding and begun planning. I'd initially wanted a late summer wedding, and even though we were holding it in our garden and not planning for it to be large, it was still too short notice with everything else going on. We eventually settled on Wednesday October 30th, after making sure to check that it was at least several days after the full moon, to accommodate the three Werewolves we'd invited.
I'd put in a request at the Ministry the same day we sent out our invitations, that Ben and his parents be allowed to attend, in disguise if necessary. I'd used every bit of leverage I had at the Ministry to pull strings and was overjoyed when I received their approval. I also received a short letter in the Muggle post box we had never used before. I likely wouldn't have ever checked it at all if the thoughtful Muggle postman hadn't remembered to put the little red flag up for us.
Dear Samhain and Barnaby,
Thank you for the invitation and getting the approval request expedited! Mum and Dad have talked about nothing else since we got word from our Liaison. Things have been really quiet here, and boring, we're all going a bit batty honestly. I'll be sending your gift out tomorrow, a day after I post this letter to give you a heads up to check your Muggle post box for a package.
I hope you're all doing well, can't wait to see you in October!
Your friend,
B.C.
I'd received the parcel a few days later but hadn't opened it. Curious as I was, Barnaby had insisted we follow tradition and leave all gifts unopened until after the ceremony. I couldn't help making fun of him a little, teasing that he'd better be ready for the most untraditional wife and marriage. He laughed with me and said he was more than ready and could handle anything.
There were still a lot of details that needed arranging as the end of August approached, but the upcoming full moon took priority. Normally the WCU didn't work on Sunday's but Uncle Cecil had requested we all meet up in Hogsmeade at moonrise that night to see if we could pick up a fresh trail on Greyback.
Every lead we'd followed up until that point had gone cold and we were all anxious for him to finally be captured. Alexi more than anyone, he'd been having nightmares and flashbacks of his attack for days. We crafted a cover story to excuse his absence on the night of the full moon, but he'd been working tirelessly up until that day and Uncle Cecil could plainly see he was overworked and exhausted and didn't mind giving him the night off.
Penny had managed to smuggle Wolfsbane Potion out to Alexi that whole week so while he'd still be locked in our attic, we knew he'd have the easiest transformation possible. Chiara also had purchased her own Wolfsbane, and admitted that this time she was fully prepared for every possible scenario of transforming with Alexi.
They were both a bit giddy at dinner that night, clearly looking forward to being together. One person who was not giddy at all was Diego. He was stoic and sullen and I didn't need to barge into his mind to figure out why. Alexi had started spending some nights over at Chiara's flat recently. Quite a few nights too, leaving Diego home pining.
To take his mind off his feelings I asked Diego what he had planned for that night. "My hags and I are going to have a few drinks at the Leaky Cauldron. That is, if Tom will have us after you lot destroyed the place." He said it in such a snide way that I flinched. I knew Diego was upset but to use what had happened with Ben as a weapon was uncalled for.
I thought of a few well chosen comebacks but it was Merula who answered him first. "Excuse me, your what?" Barnaby chose that moment to stage a loud fake cough to cover his laughter as he got up from the table and started clearing plates away.
"Sorry, my queens of course, that's what I meant. Who said hag? Not me." Diego backpedaled hastily under Merula's wrathful glare. Ismelda did her best to smooth things over. "Right, well we should be going soon then. Happy hour has just started so it'll be hell to get a decent table."
The three of them got up and Diego did not even say goodbye to Alexi before they left. Not that Alexi noticed, he had been playing footsie under the table with Chiara who was now playfully baring her teeth and growling at him. I really hoped they could all work it out in a civil way. The last thing we needed was another explosive episode of romantic/friendship drama.
I got the dishes washing themselves as Barnaby fetched our WCU uniforms and closed off the main staircase after Alexi and Chiara had gone up hand in hand. I performed Muffliato just in case their activities got noisy and we Apparated into Hogsmeade together.
Uncle Cecil was waiting for us outside of the Hogs Head Inn when we arrived with a loud crack in the quiet village. "Excellent timing! Moon rise is late tonight but that doesn't stop a Werewolf transformation. I've seen with my own eyes a beast make the change in the middle of the wildest thunderstorms without so much as a glimpse of the old girl up there shining through."
I smiled, Uncle Cecil had a tendency to come off as dense and bumbling sometimes but he was actually extremely knowledgeable and had decades of experience. The three of us began combing through the cobblestone streets for anything suspicious.
After a few hours though, we hadn't found a single sign of Werewolf activity and Uncle Cecil decided to call it a night. Obviously Greyback had moved on from terrorising Hogsmeade and could be absolutely anywhere. Feeling disappointed, Barnaby and I Disapparated home together.
I thought we might still salvage the night, knowing our house was empty for once, of everyone except the Werewolves locked in the attic of course. It would be nice to be able to run around naked or do whatever an about to be married couple wanted to do in the privacy of their own home.
My excited thoughts came to an abrupt halt however, as we stepped out from the cover of our 'Apparition hedge' and saw the front door of our house standing wide open. There was no one in sight, except for a small lumpy object on the doorstep. Barnaby and I exchanged a worried look and silently agreed to proceed cautiously.
"Homenum Revelio." I cast the spell in a whisper, and found that we were indeed alone. I took Barnaby's hand in mine while keeping my wand held at the ready as we approached the front door to our house. When we got up close enough to see, I gagged and held my hand up over my mouth trying to force myself not to vomit.
The lumpy object was a dead cat. And not any dead cat, our Muggle neighbors dead cat, Mitsey. And she wasn't just dead, she was absolutely mutilated. The fur and skin had been savagely ripped off down to the tail, her belly had been crudely torn open, and all of the organs were missing, including her eyeballs.
I buried my face in Barnaby's chest but he pulled me back, away from the cat, and into the shadowy covering of the side of the house. He looked at me with frightened eyes. "The door to the main staircase is open Samhain. Either someone got in or Alexi and Chiara got out."