|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: tess Story: Matris Vereor Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 15 Words: 32,026
‘That was a fine, fine lunch, Molly,' Mad Eye Moody barked as he slammed his hand down on the clean scrubbed table. ‘Best I’ve had since the last one.’ Molly smiled at the old Auror as he continued. ‘Now, are we clear on all the rules? Nothing permanent; no Unforgivables; nothing I can’t fix; and above all, CONSTANT VIGILANCE.’ Moody swung his magical eye over to Ginny and Bill, pinning them with an icy stare. ‘We’re bringing down the wards and anyone could swoop in if they knew where it was. Get in, get Harry, and get out. The rest of you can stay and play, but I want that boy brought here within ten minutes of your arrival. Is that understood?’ Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had arrived shortly after Mad Eye, removed his head from behind the scroll Harry had written. The expression on his face was mutinous as he eyed the Weasley children before fixing his eyes on Ron. ‘And if you don’t, any hopes of joining the Auror’s program after you finish Hogwarts will be tossed into the gutter. Think of this as an opportunity to prove yourselves.’ He folded the parchment and placed it back on the table. Minerva stood up and drained her teacup. ‘I’ll be with Poppy at Flourish and Blotts; we’ll be taking care of Albus, should anyone need either of us.’ With a twinkling smile in her eyes she patted Molly on the shoulder. ‘And do make sure to teach that dreadful behemoth of a cousin a lesson in manners.’ Fred and George smiled identical evil grins. ‘Don’t worry, we will,’ they chorused. Everyone at the table began to untangle themselves from the table, and Moody twisted his face in what would have been a smile, if half of his face weren’t so battle-scarred. ‘Right then, I’ll be off. I’m going to go drag Mrs. Edgecombe away from her Floo control panel. Arthur, you should get going on your part in exactly one hour.’ Arthur looked very excited. Lupin stretched as he stood up. ‘I’ll be expecting Harry here in an hour and 15 then,’ he said. ‘Aren’t you going to come join in the fun?’ Fred asked. ‘Yeah, it wouldn’t be the same without you!’ exclaimed George. ‘What if we need inspiration?’ Fred implored, tugging at Remus’ robe as he made puppy eyes at the Marauder. ‘What if there’s a monster under the bed?’ George affected a high-pitched voice, clutching at his short sleeves, shivering in fear. ‘What if there are Hinkipunks in the bathroom?’ Fred followed suit, wailing a bit. ‘Or Lethifolds in the closet?’ Bill ventured. George smiled in approval. ‘Or great big scary bat-like creatures who flap around—’ Ron started, but was cut short ‘—Looking to take points from woefully unprepared Gryffindors?’ a dark, forbidding voice purred from the doorway. The voice had the effect of silencing the entire room. Four teenagers stood absolutely still. Minerva and Molly shared a smile. ‘Good afternoon, Professor,’ Molly said politely. ‘What might you be doing here?’ Folding his arms and standing very straight in the doorway the sallow-faced man spoke in a low tone. ‘I was under the impression from Minerva that there might be some fun to be had today.’ He directed his next comment to the tall Transfiguration mistress. ‘As you mentioned, if I deigned to remove myself from my painfully misunderstood corner of the dungeons. You did mention that there would be ample compensation for my services.’ Ron opened his mouth, and Ginny stepped on his foot. ‘We’ll just be getting ready upstairs,’ she smiled brightly at her mother. Charlie cottoned onto the idea quickly. ‘Yes, Fred and George, will you help me get some ropes together? We may need them today.’ With that, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Charlie made a tactical retreat upstairs. x x x x x Minerva smiled as the youngest Weasleys pounded up the stairs and entered the conversation. ‘Yes, Severus, we would appreciate it if you would help. You were, after all, one of the founders of this operation.’ ‘Indeed,’ the man smirked, showing an unfriendly menace. ‘And I would appreciate it if you would be so good as to keep confidences when they are placed with you,’ he sneered as he slowly entered the room. Professor Snape looked startlingly out of place in the warm kitchen of the Burrow. He was swathed from neck to toe in his customary pitch-black work robes, his high collar appearing to hold his head upright. All of the sunlight streaming into the kitchen seemed to be absorbed by his presence, and the room seemed to lose its cheerful demeanor. Molly spoke up. 'I’ll be covering the educational portion of today’s operation.' At this the professor chuckled darkly. 'Mrs. Weasley, I do hope you realize what you’re saying.’ Molly nodded her head. ‘I do realize it’s hopeless. But I would appreciate your presence, especially if you would be willing to threaten them with something suitably frightening.’ The Potions master turned a sickening smile onto the matriarch. ‘It would be my pleasure,’ he said in a dangerous voice. ‘I will arrive after you have had some time with them. You do realize that my other associates will be expecting me to invite them to crash this particular party.’ Bill smiled. “We were hoping you would do just that, Professor. It would be the perfect cover to get Harry out of there.’ Molly looked worried. ‘You don’t mean—' ‘You know precisely to whom I am referring, Mrs. Weasley. And if you thought this would be an easy thing to do—’ ‘—Molly, do consider that this presents an altogether too-perfect opportunity,’ Remus Lupin said, stepping in to the fray. ‘Alastor, Kinglsey and Tonks will handle the problems…unique to this situation from a legal standpoint, and Severus won’t bring them into the situation until the last minute.’ Molly looked at Alastor. ‘Are you certain, that my children will be safe and out of there before his crowd gets there?’ Moody snorted. ‘Molly, those kids can handle themselves far better than you give them credit for.’ Molly seethed, and Arthur stepped in. ‘Molly, let them help. Kingsley will make a Portkey, and we’ll leave on your signal.’ Kingsley nodded his head in agreement. ‘Lupin, are you sure you don’t want to come join us?’ Charlie asked. ‘We all have scores to be settled.’ Lupin allowed a bit of his more feral of grins to overtake his face. ‘Not this close to the full moon, Charlie. If I were to lose control…’ his voice trailed off meaningfully. ‘That’s quite right,’ Molly said, patting her son on the shoulder. ‘Even I will be restraining myself from yelling.’ Everyone in the kitchen turned to stare at Molly. ‘Well, I have it on good authority that I’m much more frightening when I’m not yelling,’ she said, her eyes twinkling. All three Weasley males shuddered. ‘True, very true,’ Bill spoke up. Minerva stood up, and took out her wand. ‘Do you want to keep this chair, Molly?’ Molly looked at it appraisingly. ‘Yes, actually. That would be lovely.’ Minerva waved her wand, and the chair glowed orange for a moment. ‘Well then, I’ll be on my way. May I take a copy of that letter?’ Molly reached over the table and retrieved the parchment. ‘Here, take it; I don’t want to see it ever again.’ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Minerva McGonagall Flooed back to the Leakey Cauldron with Fred and George, who were on their way ‘to pick a few things up from the shop’ before their mission began. Minerva did not wish to be a party to that in any way, and headed to Flourish and Blotts, where she had arranged to meet her dear friend and long-time colleague Poppy Pomfrey. The book store had recently renovated to include a small coffee shop inside, and it was here that Minerva waited for Poppy, reading through a copy of Transfiguration Today. She had barely made it half way through Batleemo Druel’s article on the debated history of Switching Spells when a distinctly clean smell entered into Minerva’s sinuses. A few moments later the source of that scent – a blond woman with keen grey eyes dressed in healer’s robes, sat down across the table from her. Minerva surveyed her friend over the top of her glasses. ‘Poppy, we’re doing it. Today. Expect a large young man named Dudley to be sent to you.’ Poppy waved her hand dismissively. ‘Pish-posh, I don’t care about that. Tell me about the boy, is he okay?’ Minerva’s eyes hardened and narrowed, ‘The uncle struck him twice. Harry claims he was asking for it, and told Molly not to come after him; that he’d learnt his lesson.’ She watched as Poppy’s shoulders sagged. ‘He didn’t care that he’d been hit?’ Minerva shook her head briefly. ‘No. He cared, but what he cared about is a serious matter of concern. I want you to take a look at this for me, and tell me what you think of the writer’s state of mind.’ She withdrew a folded up piece of parchment and handed it to the woman. Poppy spread the parchment out on her lap, smoothing the folds as she began reading it. ‘’lo ladies, what ‘kin I get for yeh?’ A struggling artist had appeared in front of their table, wearing all black Muggle clothing that was tight to the skin, and sported an assortment of silver jewelry. ‘Iced Gilly-water, please,’ Minerva asked. ‘Apple-mint fizz, extra mint,’ Poppy said, smiling at the young waiter. The young man tapped his wand on his notepad, and walked away in a huff. Minerva sat back and watched as her dear friends’ face shifted through a variety of emotions, finally settling on a steely glare. As their drinks appeared the healer savaged her apple with the small pointed end of the umbrella that came with it. Minerva smirked. ‘Fred and George will be the culprits, and Kingsley Shacklebolt will be handling the paperwork.’ ‘Pity,’ Poppy remarked, ‘You should have let Severus at him.’ Minerva put on her best Cheshire grin. ‘Oh, don’t you worry. He’s in on it, too. I reminded him that he had a reputation to keep up, and if he would be so kind as to help torture a few people, he could cover his tracks easily.’ Poppy nodded approvingly. ‘Worthy of a Slytherin, Minerva. Very astute of you to plan that out.’ Minerva looked offended. ‘Hermione Granger.’ She said tartly, ‘would challenge any Slytherin’s brains, in any graduating class.’ Poppy thought for a minute. ‘Neil Woodshot, class of 88.’ Minerva didn’t waste a second in replying ‘Emma Greenstone, same class, had his NEWTs beat by eight points.’ Poppy sat back and smiled. ‘We’ll continue this over our victory dinner; I assume you want me to call Albus for help?’ Minerva sipped her drink and smiled. ‘Indeed, do you think you could pull it off again?’ It was Poppy’s turn to look offended. ‘I believe so,’ she said dryly. ‘Every time I call him about those kids he pops over with Fawkes on his shoulder and hands out candy like he’s Father Christmas for the day. I’ll just pretend not to see one of them. That will get the tears going enough to convince him to come along.’ Minerva was already counting a few Sickles in her palm ‘Excellent, I knew I could count on you, I’ll see you at dinner; I imagine they’ll be heading over to the house within the hour.’ ‘Forget it, I owe you one anyway.’ Poppy quipped as she stood up, dropping a Galleon on the table and sweeping Minerva’s money back into her lap. ‘And he’s really quite adorable,’ she added, gazing wistfully at the starving artists’ posterior. Minerva snickered, and the two turned to leave. ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Fred stood in the doorway to his shop, looking on proudly at the crowd of young boys and girls thronging through the shelves. Occasionally one would turn into an animal or even a vegetable. Parents stood in the parent’s corner, some looking green at the prospect of what their children might spend their allowance on, others looking green with envy that they were no longer children. Lee Jordan was chatting up a pretty young lady about something she had painted recently, blissfully unaware that his hair was cycling through several different colors at once. Seamus Finnegan was holding court with three young Slytherin girls who were quite intent on seeking revenge on behalf of their roommate, who – by the looks of it – had just suffered a rather upsetting break-up. Fred pitied the poor bloke. That girl wore clothing that bespoke of Daddy’s sizable billfold. George was rummaging through the desk behind the counter, occasionally calling out suggestions to Fred. 'Stomach liner?' he called out loudly. ‘Whatever for? We want to hurt him, not help him.’ Fred called back. ‘Can’t leave evidence though,’ George replied. ‘Poppy’s taking care of him. She’s in on it.’ Fred shouted as a few children ran by shrieking in headless hats. George fell silent and grabbed a few more things out of the drawer. ‘Don’t forget a few Distractible Laughables,’ Fred shouted over the pleasant din of the shop. ‘Got it.’ George called out. ‘And Infinite Itching Dust’ Fred shouted. ‘And some of that Permanent Pond Scum,’ Lee suggested over his shoulder. ‘A swamp in their basement wouldn’t go amiss; my Mum goes spare every time it rains.’ Seamus said as he handed a box to Fred. ‘Excellent idea!’ Fred smiled and clapped his hand on Seamus’ back. Seamus smiled in reply to George as he made his way to the till, followed by three girls who had identical evil grins on their faces. George couldn’t help but tear up; it was so good to see the next generation enthusiastic about their plots of revenge. With their pockets full, the twins apparated back to The Burrow.. ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ Albus Dumbledore checked his pockets. Full. He had made sure to be dressed in his favorite robes. Long and purple, with galaxies swirling across them, they looked as festive as Fawkes – who was between burning days and now regally perched on his shoulder – looked beautiful. He checked his schedule, which was conveniently being eaten by Fawkes. He checked his Child-Tracker; Harry was doing some yard work, nothing unusual there. He left a note for his deputy headmistress, alerting her to the desperate situation his Healer had found herself in over at the children’s Vanishing Sickness room, and that he would be back in a few hours. He waited patiently for Fawkes to finish eating his schedule, and then grabbed his tail feathers. ‘Let’s go, boy; those poor children are dealing with a woman who can’t see through Vanishing bacteria, and they feel invisible.’ Fawkes let out a joyful trill, for he did love to be adored by young children, and he and the Headmaster were gone in an instant. As Dumbledore touched down on the scrubbed floor, he heard the heart-wrenching sobs of the five young children trapped inside on a warm summer’s day. ‘But….but when will anyone be able to see me?’ hiccupped one girl. A boy behind her on a bed was clutching a teddy bear, tears making their way slowly down one cheek. It just broke Albus’ heart to see it. Poppy spun around wildly. ‘Ashley, please, put your hand on my arm, that’s a girl. If you just take your potions you’ll be visible soon.’ Dumbledore deftly produced a sherbet lemon and walked over to her. ‘I can see you,’ he smiled. The girl startled, and looked at him hesitantly. She turned her large brown eyes up to the wizard. ‘You, you can?’ Albus’ heart melted, and his sizable brain began to take leave of his head. ‘Of course I can, dear. Would you like a sherbet lemon?’ The girl smiled through her tears and accepted the candy. Soon Albus and Fawkes were busy with the most important job they had in the summer: being fawned over by small, sticky children in desperate need of reassurance, and candy. x x x x x Little Whining was what one could call a planned community. The neighborhoods were neatly organized; the shopping areas and industrial areas were all clearly labeled and compartmented. Each housing development was an echo of that planned neatness; the houses of Privet drive were all the same size and shape. The only sign of individual creativity came from the color of the cars – grey and greyer. This was typical of the neighborhoods of Little Whining, where any sign of creativity was frowned upon. . Due to his growing paranoia Vernon decided to put up a fence in the back yard. Harry, of course, was to paint it every summer since it was installed. Not one single mark could mar the surface, and painting it was slow going. Once again the sun beat down relentlessly, and Harry was covered in paint by nine in the morning. Up and down the ladder he went, sweat dripping in his eyes as he breathed in some of the foulest smelling paint he had ever had the displeasure of working with. Harry was still painting the fence at noon when Hedwig fluttered over to him, and landed on an unpainted portion of the fence next to him. She cocked her head towards him and stuck out her foot. A light blue envelope with mist pouring from the edges was attached to her ankle. Harry gulped. What could a blue envelope mean? ‘Meet me upstairs,’ he hissed. He jumped off the ladder and ran inside, taking the back stairs two at a time. He threw open the door and ran through the kitchen, paying no heed to Petunia, who was on the phone laughing as the screen door slammed shut behind him, or his uncle, who was asleep on the couch behind his newspaper. Harry heard a blustering snort and a muttered ‘Damn World War II programs,’ before he heard the television go mute and his uncle’s snores resume. Harry burst into his bedroom and threw open the window. Hedwig flew inside, clipping his head with her wing as she did so. ‘I’m sorry, girl, I couldn’t open it outside,’ he explained, fingers trembling as he undid the strings. With a loud hoot she flew over to her cage and clicked her talons on her perch in disapproval. Harry eyed the blue envelope, and sighed, wondering what blue signified. Shame? Disappointment? ‘Whatever it is, I deserved it,’ he muttered, and with that thought in mind he opened it. There was no shouting. There was no magnified voice. Instead he heard a throat clearing, and Mrs. Weasley’s voice softly entered the room. ‘Harry, I want you to know that I love you like a son. I can’t believe that you would feel a need to apologise to me. If there’s anyone who deserves an apology it’s you. Harry sat very still in shock. ‘Harry, ever since that first day at King’s Cross I’ve always wondered why you were alone at the station. No child should be sent off to their first year at school alone. You should have had a family there, a mother to smile proudly and shove you off onto the train. Regardless of what kind of child you were, Harry, you deserve all the love in the world. You deserve to have someone other than yourself motivate you to do your homework, although I believe you’ve set a good example for Ron in that area. As to the matter at hand, regardless of what you think you’ve done wrong, you haven’t done anything to upset myself or Arthur. We’re very, very proud of you, and Ron and Ginny, and Hermione. And we’re very disappointed in the behavior of your relatives. You deserve better than that, Harry. When I read your letter last night I realized that I’ve failed you. I hope you can still find it within yourself to reach out to our family, and let yourself find a home with us. We’re coming for you, Harry. Come home with us. Arthur and I love you very much, and we’ll see you very soon.’ The blue envelope hovered in place while Harry sat on the edge of his bed, not moving, not daring to breath. Harry sat in stunned silence registering the loud crashing noises from downstairs only briefly in his mind, though he did not notice the high pitched screams of Petunia Dursley, nor the pounding footsteps on the stairs.
|