Alignments Installment 27
wellymuck Installment 27
Series title: Alignments
Series summary: Friends come together and pull apart under the pressures of the first war with Voldemort.
Series rating: PG-13
Author: magnetic_pole
Word Count: 2700
Installment 27: Alliances, April 1981
Summary: Loyalties shift as the political situation deteriorates. Three late-night conversations and one the following morning.
This installment follows directly on the previous two, Things That Shouldn’t Have Been Said and Turned.
*
“Remus? Sirius?”
It was well past midnight, and Edie Johnson was standing in the flat in Notting Hill, brushing the Floo powder off her jacket and her jeans, looking around the darkened sitting room, and wondering if, perhaps, there had been a mistake.
“I’m here,” she called more loudly now. “It’s Edie.” She looked around and saw a thin line of yellow light under the bedroom door. She walked to the door and knocked on it tentatively.
The bedsprings creaked, and Edie heard the fall of footsteps and low voices. “Coming, Edie,” someone called.
“I’ll be in the sitting room,” she replied.
Remus was the first to arrive, fumbling with his spectacles, still wearing his robes from the night before. His cheeks were pink and his hair mussed and his robes a little wrinkled, and as Edie was studying him she was struck by how very ordinary he seemed.
“I got your owl,” Edie said, suddenly feeling awkward.
“Thanks for coming,” Remus said. He smiled at her shyly. “I don’t bite, you know. Not at this time of month.”
“No, of course not,” Edie said in a rush, and impulsively pulled him into a hug. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
“I’m sorry about earlier tonight,” she said, pulling him back down to the sofa with her. “I didn’t think. Hestia put me right afterward.”
“I suppose it can be a bit of a shock,” Remus said.
“That’s no excuse,” Edie said firmly. “I know better than that. That whole scene was awful for you, and I didn’t do anything to make it better.”
Remus shrugged.
“You may get an owl from the Ministry, though,” Edie said, looking at the floor, unable to meet Remus’ gaze. “Hestia’s two friends were upset. Didn’t think you should be allowed and all that.”
“That’s fine,” Remus said mildly. “I won’t be here to receive it.”
At that moment Sirius walked in, also disheveled and pink cheeked and a little distracted. “Thanks for coming at this time of night, Edie.”
Edie nodded at him. “You said you needed a favor? That it was urgent?”
“Remus needs to go into hiding in Muggle London,” Sirius said. “We thought you might be able to ask someone to help him find a job and a flat.”
Edie looked from Sirius to Remus, puzzled. “Why? There aren’t actually any laws against...”
Remus shook his head. “It’s not just about tonight, although actually there is a new directive against werewolves appearing in public.” He hesitated, then began to tell her about his work for the Order and the anonymous letter he had received.
“You don’t want me to be a Secret Keeper?” Edie asked when he had finished his story.
Remus shook his head again. “The werewolves are about to throw their support behind Voldemort. I don’t see a good ending to this for me, no matter what happens. I think the best thing for me right now is to leave the wizarding world altogether.”
Edie nodded briskly. “I can do that. My parents can help. They can be trusted. You want to leave tonight?” She paused as Remus nodded. “What about you, Sirius?”
“I’m here until Voldemort takes over the Ministry,” Sirius said, exchanging an unreadable glance with Remus. “Then I’m joining Remus.”
“This wasn’t how I intended to tell you, but I’m about to leave, too,” Edie said slowly. “My parents are trying to organize the house elves to leave their positions when Voldemort takes over, and they think our family will come under attack again. Angelina is already in Jamaica.”
“This will split the Order,” Sirius said softly. “McGonagall and Dumbledore support a gradual emancipation, but not this. This will destabilize things even further.”
Edie shrugged. “Things are already out of control; who knows what will happen. And as for the Order, we’re already lost Dadelus Diggle and Eileen. Dorcas and the Prewitts are dead. There will be new leadership. Maybe even Alice and Lily,” She smiled suddenly. “I think I recruited Hestia tonight. She’s going to talk to McGongall in the morning.”
Remus reached over and squeezed Edie’s hand. “Tell you parents I wish them the best,” Sirius said. “Maybe this is the revolution they have been waiting for. Maybe something good will come of all this.”
“I hope so,” Remus said.
They sat there together silently for a moment, then Edie stood up. “Ready to go, Remus?”
Remus stood up and walked over to Sirius, placed an arm around his waist, and kissed him gently and slowly on the lips. They stood there for a moment, intertwined, and then broke apart. Remus flushed and readjusted his spectacles, and Sirius looked away, avoiding Edie’s eyes, his profile impassive.
“Right,” Edie said, flushing herself a little, glancing at the floor, noticing a small bag near the Floo. “That yours?” Remus picked up the bag and took a handful of Floo powder. “Johnson household, Brixton,” Edie called loudly, and in an instant they were gone.
*
Peter was halfway to bed before he noticed he was not the only one in his flat. He froze at the sound of movement, listening to a light breath coming from nearby.
“Lumos,” he whispered. Susan was sitting at the table in the kitchen, her head resting on the table, cradled in the crook of her arm.
“Peter, is that you?” Susan asked softly, sitting up, blinking, and shielding her eyes against the light.
“Susan? What are you doing here?” Peter said with a sigh of relief, waving his wand in a long sweep so that the entire flat brightened. “I didn’t think you’d still be here when I got back.”
Susan looked at him with pink, swollen eyes.
“Lily and Alice came back from the restaurant and picked up the babies more than two hours ago,” she said. “Where have you been?”
“At my par--" Peter began, and suddenly he understood what Susan was doing here, long after the babies had gone home. “Susan, sweetie, you were worried about what I was doing, weren’t you?”
He walked over to the table and pulled up a chair next to hers. He summoned a box of tissue and held one out to her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t at my parents.”
“I know that,” Susan said. “I looked for you there.”
“Can you keep a secret?” Peter asked, watching Susan carefully. “Even from Lily and Alice?”
Susan looked at him, questioning, hesitant, then nodded.
“I’m helping form a new group,” Peter said, a note of pride creeping into his voice. “One that aims to end all this violence.”
“Not the Order?” Susan asked softly.
“Not the Order. Sort of...in addition to the Order,” Peter said. “We’re looking for...shared interests. Things both sides have in common.”
“Things we have in common with You-Know-Who?” Susan asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“No, not You-Know-Who,” Peter said quickly. “But wizards who might otherwise support him. Who could be persuaded to help bring all this to an end.”
“Why aren’t you telling anyone?” Susan asked.
Peter sighed and leaned back, reaching over, wrapping his arm around Susan’s shoulders. “You know Alice and Lily, James and Sirius. They’re the type to fight to the bitter end, and die trying. We don’t think we need to. Some kind of compromise can be worked out.”
“I don’t think you compromise with You-Know-Who,” Susan said doubtfully.
“Look, don’t worry,” Peter said. “I’m working with Dadelus Diggle, do you remember him, from the Order?”
Susan nodded.
“It’ll be fine,” Peter said, squeezing her shoulders. “This will all be over soon.”
Susan nodded again and rested her head against Peter’s shoulder. She reached out and found his hand and laced her fingers with his.
“When all this is over,” Peter said. “We can think about us again. About getting married, settling down together.”
Susan smiled shyly and kissed him on the cheek.
*
It was now well past three a.m., and Frank still hadn’t spoken to her.
Nothing like this had happened to Alice before. Not in all their time together at Hogwarts, not in two years of marriage. Sometimes Alice got angry or cross, but Frank was always the calm one, the patient one, the one who knew how to handle a crisis and how to right things that had gone wrong. This evening they had come home from the restaurant in silence, and Frank had sat down at his desk to review his Ministry paperwork without looking even at her.
Alice had put Neville to bed, casting a spell on the door as she left, her mother’s recent words still clear in her mind: Only the children will survive the next year. Protect them first. Alice shuddered. Her mother’s clairvoyance had frightened her many times while she was growing up, but this last prediction had unhinged her completely, and Frank had held her in his arms for hours after she heard it.
After she put Neville to bed, Alice had joined Frank in the sitting room, flipping idly through some of Moody’s latest updates, watching her husband out of the corner of her eye, waiting for him to break the silence between them. Frank showed no signs of looking up from his work. An hour passed, then two. Alice set down the updates and watched his quill scratch across the parchment. Shortly after three a.m., Frank set down his quill and rested his head in his hands.
Finally she could stand the silence no longer. “Frank?” she asked hesitantly. “Are you angry with me?”
Frank sighed and turned in his chair to face her. “Why didn’t you tell me, Alice?” he asked.
Ah, so that’s what it was, Alice thought. She took a deep breath.
“I didn’t know, Frank,” she said as calmly as she could. “Not until tonight.”
“What do you mean you didn’t know?” Frank’s normally quiet voice was rough and too loud for the hour. “How could you not know that one of your oldest friends was a werewolf?”
“I suppose it never came up,” she said. “I can see where he wouldn’t want to tell anyone.”
“You’re an Auror,” Frank said. “Didn’t you see the signs?”
Alice just shook her head.
“You asked him to be Neville’s godfather.” Frank was frowning, his lips pressed together in a tight line.
“I thought he’d make a good father, Frank.”
“What did he say in response, Alice? ‘Yes, Alice, of course, I have a taste for young boys?’” Frank’s voice was rising now.
Alice winced. “Hush, Frank. You’ll wake Neville. I’m sorry,” she added meekly. “We can ask someone else.”
“Right,” Frank said. They sat in silence for a moment, then Frank got up. “I’m going to bed.”
Alice followed him into the bathroom, then into the bedroom. They were both lying in bed, silently, not touching, before Frank spoke again.
“Not your mother, Alice.”
Alice sighed. Alice’s mother was unlike any other mother Alice had ever known. Since her father’s death, she lived in a small cottage in the countryside with dozens of magical plants and two cats she seemed to be able to communicate with. She read tea leaves and Alice’s mind like other people read the morning paper, with detail and accuracy and a certain dispassionate interest. When Alice was growing up, Dumbledore had stopped by and conducted frequent, intense conversations with her behind closed doors. Alice was both fiercely proud of her and a little frightened of her powers.
“No,” Alice agreed reluctantly. “Perhaps not. It was difficult growing up with her. There is such a thing as too much magic.”
Frank did not respond for a moment.
“What about mine?” he asked.
“Augusta?” Alice laughed despite herself. “Frank, I love you and I love your family, but Augusta is so...nineteenth century.”
“There are worse things than being a little square.” Frank said with the slightest touch of defensiveness in his voice.
Alice snorted. “Square?”
“She’d do a fine job with Neville if something happened to us,” Frank said quietly. “You know that.”
Alice sighed. “I do. Let’s talk to her over the weekend.”
“No,” Frank said. “We’re going first thing in the morning. And bringing Neville.”
“Bringing Neville?”
“You’re obsessed these days, Alice,” Frank said. “You’re going to get yourself killed. You’re going to get both of us killed.”
“I’m going to bring down Voldemort first,” Alice said grimly.
“That’s just what I mean,” Frank said. “I know you love Neville, but he’s not safe with you. I’ve already spoken with my mother. She’ll take care of him, just until things are better.”
“Frank,” Alice appealed helplessly.
“I’ve already made up my mind,” Frank said. He rolled over, facing away from Alice. They lay in silence until they both fell asleep, one just after the other, as the sun was rising.
*
James arrived in Hogsmeade at dawn and made the long walk up to the castle. Hagrid met him at the gate and let him in.
“Minerva says you’re here to see ‘er,” he said. James nodded. They walked up to the school in companionable silence, listening to the early-morning sounds of birds and the lake. They parted at the front doors, and James made his way through the hallways to the office he still remembered well.
Much to James’ surprise, though, Minerva McGonagall’s office was not occupied by the professor he expected but by a tall, thin black-haired boy leaning over a pile of parchments.
“Sirius,” James said, and Sirius looked up at him and nodded. His eyes were dark and tired, but the skin along his neck was white and unbroken. James swallowed and looked away quickly.
“Good morning, James,” he said quietly. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“Meeting McGonagall before classes,” James said, taking a seat. “I’m thinking about quitting at the Ministry to work full-time for the Order. No point in any new Ministry directives these days. What are you doing here?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Sirius said shortly. “Minerva said I could go through her reports.”
“About last night...” James said, clearing his throat.
“Remus is gone,” Sirius said brusquely, interrupting him. “Went into hiding last night.”
“What?” James asked.
“He was being blackmailed. His contact was killed last week. He thought he was in danger,” Sirius said.
“Oh,” James said, his head spinning. “You didn’t tell me any of this.”
“No,” Sirius said.
“Where is he?” James asked.
“I don’t know,” Sirius said. “It’s safer that way.”
James nodded.
“He wanted you to tell Lily goodbye,” Sirius continued. “He didn’t have a chance.”
James nodded again.
“I suppose that was inevitable,” James said slowly. “He’s safe now. And you’re...” He caught his tongue, but Sirius had already sent him a sharp look.
“I’m what?” Sirius asked.
You’re free, James thought. If you haven’t already been turned. He shook his head weakly, trying to dispel the thought.
“Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?” he asked instead. “We’re both home, and Lily and I are planning on cooking. You haven’t seen Harry in ages.”
Sirius looked at him seriously for a moment, then nodded. “I can tell you about a spell I’ve been working on. Fidelius. In case Lily needs to go into hiding one day, too.”
They were deep into conversation about Lily and Alice and Voldemort, about the probable collapse of the Ministry and the immanent dissolution of Moody’s current team of Aurors, and about the endgame they were all playing, when McGonagall arrived.
“Potter, Black,” she said with a smile. “I can’t believe I trusted you two alone in my office.”
“Desperate times and all that,” Sirius said, the ghost his old self showing through. “Look, Minerva, I have good news and bad. Which would you like to hear first?”
McGongall cocked her head. “The good.”
“We have a new Order member, Hestia Jones. My year, do you remember? She is going to visit later this morning.”
McGongall nodded. “And the bad?”
“Two down for the count, Remus and Edie. They’re both going into hiding. I’ll tell you more about both later today.”
McGonagall looked at Sirius carefully, as if assessing him. “I hope they are safe.” James thought he saw a gentle, maternal expression in her eye. It vanished before he could be sure.
Sirius nodded. “I do, too.”
“Well, then,” McGonagall replied briskly, nodding at James. “Is the news about Potter good or bad?”
James smiled. “Depends on how you want to look at it. I’m leaving the Ministry, thinking about joining you here.”
“Sirius, keep Potter off my hands,” McGonagall instructed. “I’m sure there’s something for him to do. I’m off to class.”
She was out the door before they could respond. James stood to go.
“No work for me yet, I still need to resign,” he said. “But we can talk about it tonight?”
Sirius nodded. “Tonight,” he agreed.
“Thanks for looking into Fidelius for us,” James said, suddenly feeling awkward. “I knew I could count on you.”
Sirius nodded again. “You can.”
Not knowing what else to say, James turned to go.
Next chapter: Freedom/Exile
Series title: Alignments
Series summary: Friends come together and pull apart under the pressures of the first war with Voldemort.
Series rating: PG-13
Author: magnetic_pole
Word Count: 2700
Installment 27: Alliances, April 1981
Summary: Loyalties shift as the political situation deteriorates. Three late-night conversations and one the following morning.
This installment follows directly on the previous two, Things That Shouldn’t Have Been Said and Turned.
*
“Remus? Sirius?”
It was well past midnight, and Edie Johnson was standing in the flat in Notting Hill, brushing the Floo powder off her jacket and her jeans, looking around the darkened sitting room, and wondering if, perhaps, there had been a mistake.
“I’m here,” she called more loudly now. “It’s Edie.” She looked around and saw a thin line of yellow light under the bedroom door. She walked to the door and knocked on it tentatively.
The bedsprings creaked, and Edie heard the fall of footsteps and low voices. “Coming, Edie,” someone called.
“I’ll be in the sitting room,” she replied.
Remus was the first to arrive, fumbling with his spectacles, still wearing his robes from the night before. His cheeks were pink and his hair mussed and his robes a little wrinkled, and as Edie was studying him she was struck by how very ordinary he seemed.
“I got your owl,” Edie said, suddenly feeling awkward.
“Thanks for coming,” Remus said. He smiled at her shyly. “I don’t bite, you know. Not at this time of month.”
“No, of course not,” Edie said in a rush, and impulsively pulled him into a hug. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
“I’m sorry about earlier tonight,” she said, pulling him back down to the sofa with her. “I didn’t think. Hestia put me right afterward.”
“I suppose it can be a bit of a shock,” Remus said.
“That’s no excuse,” Edie said firmly. “I know better than that. That whole scene was awful for you, and I didn’t do anything to make it better.”
Remus shrugged.
“You may get an owl from the Ministry, though,” Edie said, looking at the floor, unable to meet Remus’ gaze. “Hestia’s two friends were upset. Didn’t think you should be allowed and all that.”
“That’s fine,” Remus said mildly. “I won’t be here to receive it.”
At that moment Sirius walked in, also disheveled and pink cheeked and a little distracted. “Thanks for coming at this time of night, Edie.”
Edie nodded at him. “You said you needed a favor? That it was urgent?”
“Remus needs to go into hiding in Muggle London,” Sirius said. “We thought you might be able to ask someone to help him find a job and a flat.”
Edie looked from Sirius to Remus, puzzled. “Why? There aren’t actually any laws against...”
Remus shook his head. “It’s not just about tonight, although actually there is a new directive against werewolves appearing in public.” He hesitated, then began to tell her about his work for the Order and the anonymous letter he had received.
“You don’t want me to be a Secret Keeper?” Edie asked when he had finished his story.
Remus shook his head again. “The werewolves are about to throw their support behind Voldemort. I don’t see a good ending to this for me, no matter what happens. I think the best thing for me right now is to leave the wizarding world altogether.”
Edie nodded briskly. “I can do that. My parents can help. They can be trusted. You want to leave tonight?” She paused as Remus nodded. “What about you, Sirius?”
“I’m here until Voldemort takes over the Ministry,” Sirius said, exchanging an unreadable glance with Remus. “Then I’m joining Remus.”
“This wasn’t how I intended to tell you, but I’m about to leave, too,” Edie said slowly. “My parents are trying to organize the house elves to leave their positions when Voldemort takes over, and they think our family will come under attack again. Angelina is already in Jamaica.”
“This will split the Order,” Sirius said softly. “McGonagall and Dumbledore support a gradual emancipation, but not this. This will destabilize things even further.”
Edie shrugged. “Things are already out of control; who knows what will happen. And as for the Order, we’re already lost Dadelus Diggle and Eileen. Dorcas and the Prewitts are dead. There will be new leadership. Maybe even Alice and Lily,” She smiled suddenly. “I think I recruited Hestia tonight. She’s going to talk to McGongall in the morning.”
Remus reached over and squeezed Edie’s hand. “Tell you parents I wish them the best,” Sirius said. “Maybe this is the revolution they have been waiting for. Maybe something good will come of all this.”
“I hope so,” Remus said.
They sat there together silently for a moment, then Edie stood up. “Ready to go, Remus?”
Remus stood up and walked over to Sirius, placed an arm around his waist, and kissed him gently and slowly on the lips. They stood there for a moment, intertwined, and then broke apart. Remus flushed and readjusted his spectacles, and Sirius looked away, avoiding Edie’s eyes, his profile impassive.
“Right,” Edie said, flushing herself a little, glancing at the floor, noticing a small bag near the Floo. “That yours?” Remus picked up the bag and took a handful of Floo powder. “Johnson household, Brixton,” Edie called loudly, and in an instant they were gone.
*
Peter was halfway to bed before he noticed he was not the only one in his flat. He froze at the sound of movement, listening to a light breath coming from nearby.
“Lumos,” he whispered. Susan was sitting at the table in the kitchen, her head resting on the table, cradled in the crook of her arm.
“Peter, is that you?” Susan asked softly, sitting up, blinking, and shielding her eyes against the light.
“Susan? What are you doing here?” Peter said with a sigh of relief, waving his wand in a long sweep so that the entire flat brightened. “I didn’t think you’d still be here when I got back.”
Susan looked at him with pink, swollen eyes.
“Lily and Alice came back from the restaurant and picked up the babies more than two hours ago,” she said. “Where have you been?”
“At my par--" Peter began, and suddenly he understood what Susan was doing here, long after the babies had gone home. “Susan, sweetie, you were worried about what I was doing, weren’t you?”
He walked over to the table and pulled up a chair next to hers. He summoned a box of tissue and held one out to her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t at my parents.”
“I know that,” Susan said. “I looked for you there.”
“Can you keep a secret?” Peter asked, watching Susan carefully. “Even from Lily and Alice?”
Susan looked at him, questioning, hesitant, then nodded.
“I’m helping form a new group,” Peter said, a note of pride creeping into his voice. “One that aims to end all this violence.”
“Not the Order?” Susan asked softly.
“Not the Order. Sort of...in addition to the Order,” Peter said. “We’re looking for...shared interests. Things both sides have in common.”
“Things we have in common with You-Know-Who?” Susan asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“No, not You-Know-Who,” Peter said quickly. “But wizards who might otherwise support him. Who could be persuaded to help bring all this to an end.”
“Why aren’t you telling anyone?” Susan asked.
Peter sighed and leaned back, reaching over, wrapping his arm around Susan’s shoulders. “You know Alice and Lily, James and Sirius. They’re the type to fight to the bitter end, and die trying. We don’t think we need to. Some kind of compromise can be worked out.”
“I don’t think you compromise with You-Know-Who,” Susan said doubtfully.
“Look, don’t worry,” Peter said. “I’m working with Dadelus Diggle, do you remember him, from the Order?”
Susan nodded.
“It’ll be fine,” Peter said, squeezing her shoulders. “This will all be over soon.”
Susan nodded again and rested her head against Peter’s shoulder. She reached out and found his hand and laced her fingers with his.
“When all this is over,” Peter said. “We can think about us again. About getting married, settling down together.”
Susan smiled shyly and kissed him on the cheek.
*
It was now well past three a.m., and Frank still hadn’t spoken to her.
Nothing like this had happened to Alice before. Not in all their time together at Hogwarts, not in two years of marriage. Sometimes Alice got angry or cross, but Frank was always the calm one, the patient one, the one who knew how to handle a crisis and how to right things that had gone wrong. This evening they had come home from the restaurant in silence, and Frank had sat down at his desk to review his Ministry paperwork without looking even at her.
Alice had put Neville to bed, casting a spell on the door as she left, her mother’s recent words still clear in her mind: Only the children will survive the next year. Protect them first. Alice shuddered. Her mother’s clairvoyance had frightened her many times while she was growing up, but this last prediction had unhinged her completely, and Frank had held her in his arms for hours after she heard it.
After she put Neville to bed, Alice had joined Frank in the sitting room, flipping idly through some of Moody’s latest updates, watching her husband out of the corner of her eye, waiting for him to break the silence between them. Frank showed no signs of looking up from his work. An hour passed, then two. Alice set down the updates and watched his quill scratch across the parchment. Shortly after three a.m., Frank set down his quill and rested his head in his hands.
Finally she could stand the silence no longer. “Frank?” she asked hesitantly. “Are you angry with me?”
Frank sighed and turned in his chair to face her. “Why didn’t you tell me, Alice?” he asked.
Ah, so that’s what it was, Alice thought. She took a deep breath.
“I didn’t know, Frank,” she said as calmly as she could. “Not until tonight.”
“What do you mean you didn’t know?” Frank’s normally quiet voice was rough and too loud for the hour. “How could you not know that one of your oldest friends was a werewolf?”
“I suppose it never came up,” she said. “I can see where he wouldn’t want to tell anyone.”
“You’re an Auror,” Frank said. “Didn’t you see the signs?”
Alice just shook her head.
“You asked him to be Neville’s godfather.” Frank was frowning, his lips pressed together in a tight line.
“I thought he’d make a good father, Frank.”
“What did he say in response, Alice? ‘Yes, Alice, of course, I have a taste for young boys?’” Frank’s voice was rising now.
Alice winced. “Hush, Frank. You’ll wake Neville. I’m sorry,” she added meekly. “We can ask someone else.”
“Right,” Frank said. They sat in silence for a moment, then Frank got up. “I’m going to bed.”
Alice followed him into the bathroom, then into the bedroom. They were both lying in bed, silently, not touching, before Frank spoke again.
“Not your mother, Alice.”
Alice sighed. Alice’s mother was unlike any other mother Alice had ever known. Since her father’s death, she lived in a small cottage in the countryside with dozens of magical plants and two cats she seemed to be able to communicate with. She read tea leaves and Alice’s mind like other people read the morning paper, with detail and accuracy and a certain dispassionate interest. When Alice was growing up, Dumbledore had stopped by and conducted frequent, intense conversations with her behind closed doors. Alice was both fiercely proud of her and a little frightened of her powers.
“No,” Alice agreed reluctantly. “Perhaps not. It was difficult growing up with her. There is such a thing as too much magic.”
Frank did not respond for a moment.
“What about mine?” he asked.
“Augusta?” Alice laughed despite herself. “Frank, I love you and I love your family, but Augusta is so...nineteenth century.”
“There are worse things than being a little square.” Frank said with the slightest touch of defensiveness in his voice.
Alice snorted. “Square?”
“She’d do a fine job with Neville if something happened to us,” Frank said quietly. “You know that.”
Alice sighed. “I do. Let’s talk to her over the weekend.”
“No,” Frank said. “We’re going first thing in the morning. And bringing Neville.”
“Bringing Neville?”
“You’re obsessed these days, Alice,” Frank said. “You’re going to get yourself killed. You’re going to get both of us killed.”
“I’m going to bring down Voldemort first,” Alice said grimly.
“That’s just what I mean,” Frank said. “I know you love Neville, but he’s not safe with you. I’ve already spoken with my mother. She’ll take care of him, just until things are better.”
“Frank,” Alice appealed helplessly.
“I’ve already made up my mind,” Frank said. He rolled over, facing away from Alice. They lay in silence until they both fell asleep, one just after the other, as the sun was rising.
*
James arrived in Hogsmeade at dawn and made the long walk up to the castle. Hagrid met him at the gate and let him in.
“Minerva says you’re here to see ‘er,” he said. James nodded. They walked up to the school in companionable silence, listening to the early-morning sounds of birds and the lake. They parted at the front doors, and James made his way through the hallways to the office he still remembered well.
Much to James’ surprise, though, Minerva McGonagall’s office was not occupied by the professor he expected but by a tall, thin black-haired boy leaning over a pile of parchments.
“Sirius,” James said, and Sirius looked up at him and nodded. His eyes were dark and tired, but the skin along his neck was white and unbroken. James swallowed and looked away quickly.
“Good morning, James,” he said quietly. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“Meeting McGonagall before classes,” James said, taking a seat. “I’m thinking about quitting at the Ministry to work full-time for the Order. No point in any new Ministry directives these days. What are you doing here?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Sirius said shortly. “Minerva said I could go through her reports.”
“About last night...” James said, clearing his throat.
“Remus is gone,” Sirius said brusquely, interrupting him. “Went into hiding last night.”
“What?” James asked.
“He was being blackmailed. His contact was killed last week. He thought he was in danger,” Sirius said.
“Oh,” James said, his head spinning. “You didn’t tell me any of this.”
“No,” Sirius said.
“Where is he?” James asked.
“I don’t know,” Sirius said. “It’s safer that way.”
James nodded.
“He wanted you to tell Lily goodbye,” Sirius continued. “He didn’t have a chance.”
James nodded again.
“I suppose that was inevitable,” James said slowly. “He’s safe now. And you’re...” He caught his tongue, but Sirius had already sent him a sharp look.
“I’m what?” Sirius asked.
You’re free, James thought. If you haven’t already been turned. He shook his head weakly, trying to dispel the thought.
“Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?” he asked instead. “We’re both home, and Lily and I are planning on cooking. You haven’t seen Harry in ages.”
Sirius looked at him seriously for a moment, then nodded. “I can tell you about a spell I’ve been working on. Fidelius. In case Lily needs to go into hiding one day, too.”
They were deep into conversation about Lily and Alice and Voldemort, about the probable collapse of the Ministry and the immanent dissolution of Moody’s current team of Aurors, and about the endgame they were all playing, when McGonagall arrived.
“Potter, Black,” she said with a smile. “I can’t believe I trusted you two alone in my office.”
“Desperate times and all that,” Sirius said, the ghost his old self showing through. “Look, Minerva, I have good news and bad. Which would you like to hear first?”
McGongall cocked her head. “The good.”
“We have a new Order member, Hestia Jones. My year, do you remember? She is going to visit later this morning.”
McGongall nodded. “And the bad?”
“Two down for the count, Remus and Edie. They’re both going into hiding. I’ll tell you more about both later today.”
McGonagall looked at Sirius carefully, as if assessing him. “I hope they are safe.” James thought he saw a gentle, maternal expression in her eye. It vanished before he could be sure.
Sirius nodded. “I do, too.”
“Well, then,” McGonagall replied briskly, nodding at James. “Is the news about Potter good or bad?”
James smiled. “Depends on how you want to look at it. I’m leaving the Ministry, thinking about joining you here.”
“Sirius, keep Potter off my hands,” McGonagall instructed. “I’m sure there’s something for him to do. I’m off to class.”
She was out the door before they could respond. James stood to go.
“No work for me yet, I still need to resign,” he said. “But we can talk about it tonight?”
Sirius nodded. “Tonight,” he agreed.
“Thanks for looking into Fidelius for us,” James said, suddenly feeling awkward. “I knew I could count on you.”
Sirius nodded again. “You can.”
Not knowing what else to say, James turned to go.
Next chapter: Freedom/Exile