Chapter Nine: Distraction
Sirius hadn’t been asleep long, when Ron stormed into the dormitory, slamming the door into the wall.
“Wake up, boys,” he said loudly, startling the Weasleys out of their beds.
“What’s going on?” Lee asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.
“There’s been another attack, and I need to know exactly where Sirius was yesterday; as the only suspect last time there was an attack here, Sirius is the first suspect this time. I want to hear if there was any time between eight in the evening and two in the morning that he was alone or can’t be accounted for, and I’ll be questioning the four of you one by one to make sure the stories match up. You first, Lee,” Ron answered; by the way he spoke it was clear he was speaking as an Auror and not as their uncle.
The Weasleys had been with him for most of that time, until around one in the morning when he had gone off to talk to Dumbledore, but they wouldn’t have known he’d left his bed, so they could testify in his behalf. The only problem was that they had been out in the Forbidden Forest, and using their illegal Animagus abilities on top of that; they needed an alibi that wouldn’t get them into all kinds of trouble, and they hadn’t taken the opportunity to cook up a likely story that they could all repeat back exactly the same way.
Luckily, they had an old standby plan for such an event; Hermione had started questioning them separately after various pranks to see if they would slip up, and they hadn’t had much warning for those situations either. Closing his eyes, Sirius sat back and used Legilimency to show his friends a plausible evening’s worth of events; they had been studying, which led to playing Wizard’s chess and Exploding Snap, until they had had to stay up late to finish their homework, and all of them had been asleep ever since. The idea of using Legilimency this way had come from Brian, and it had kept Sirius in practice with the ability.
One by one they were led out and questioned, until Sirius was left waiting alone in the dormitory. He knew the Weasleys would stick to the story, and he wasn’t too worried. If it came down to it, he could prove to his uncle that he had been the phoenix that helped save the victims, but he was sure he didn’t want to tell anyone else about what he could do. Dumbledore’s portrait had proven himself surprisingly good at keeping confidences as Sirius had learned over the years, and the Weasley quadruplets would keep his secrets as well as he kept theirs, so there were no worries there. There was just no reason to get anyone else involved with that yet.
Finally, Ron entered the room again, a relieved expression on his face.
“Well, Sirius, it looks like you have a rock-solid alibi, and witnesses that will vouch for you. If there was any doubt about your whereabouts last night, I’d have to take you into custody, and not even Harry could keep you in school. As it is, I think security at Hogwarts is about to be tripled, so try to stay out of trouble.”
Ron turned to leave, but Sirius called after him.
“Don’t you have any idea who did it, though?” he asked, not liking this turn of events. Increased security would likely cause the culprit to go to ground instead of catching him, and Sirius told his uncle so.
Ron hesitated before answering, obviously debating on how much to say.
“Since I’ve been with the Aurors, Sirius, I’ve only been involved in tracking down one sociopathic killer. He was an old ex-Death Eater that went crazy, but he was still smart enough to give us a hard time, and all he wanted was chaos, the kind that comes with killing people. I don’t think the person responsible for what’s been going on is much different, so I think you can be certain they’ll strike again, no matter the security measures we take. It will be a matter of pride for him.” Ron paused for a minute, thinking about what he had said, before nodding. “Yes, I think we can be certain he’ll strike again.”
***
Ron was absolutely right about security. For the next week, the students couldn’t go anywhere without seeing Aurors patrolling the halls, and keeping an eye on everything. Ron still appeared to be in charge of the investigation, and could often be seen coordinating patrols and taking reports, though Nymphadora Lupin, the Head Auror who still preferred to be called Tonks, was seen talking to him several times, so everyone knew things were serious.
Sirius couldn’t go more than five feet down a hall without passing an Auror; the seventh time it happened, Sirius tried a very subtle bit of Legilimency and was pleased to discover that if the Auror knew Occlumency he didn’t bother keeping his shield up around children. He was less pleased to discover that Aurors were being placed specifically to watch him, showing that the Ministry was still suspicious about him, or at least they were making sure no one could say they weren’t fully exploring all of the options. Either way, it was exceptionally annoying; he had no doubt that he could lose them by becoming invisible, but then they would search for him and assume he was off committing heinous crimes.
Sirius found out how serious the investigation was on the fourth day after the attack. The three Hufflepuff students had been released from the hospital wing that day and everyone in the Great Hall wanted to ask them questions and find out what had happened first hand, and all three of them seemed to be enjoying the attention. One of them, however, kept drawing Sirius’ attention. She was a fifth year student that did fairly well in her classes, though Sirius only knew her by reputation. Something about her seemed wrong, and Sirius became determined to find out what it was. As he stared at her from across the Great Hall, he started getting impressions from her; cunning, maturity, and experience, mainly. Those were things he certainly wouldn’t expect to feel from any student at Hogwarts, and he started to get excited, thinking he may have found the culprit masquerading as a student. Quickly, he probed at the girls mind, hoping to find some evidence before running to find the Aurors, which wouldn’t be hard since he could see three of them in the room. Instead, however, Sirius was pushed out of the girl’s mind instantly and forcefully, and the girl started looking around suspiciously. Sirius tried to cover his shock and appear as though he hadn’t been staring at her, but he saw her look at him from the corner of his eye and caught the slight smile. Then someone began pushing into his mind, and there was little doubt who it was. Sirius might have been concerned, but he found that it wasn’t difficult at all to keep her out. The girl must have known she wouldn’t get in, so she changed the way she was using the Legilimency.
Wotcher, Sirius, a familiar voice said in his head, and Sirius’ eyes bulged. He’d never done this before, but he’d felt what she had done, and was able to repeat it.
Tonks? he asked, thinking he recognized the voice.
You catch on quick, just like your father. And you have a very impressive Occlumency shield, too. I don’t think I should be surprised you noticed, but I don’t suppose you’d tell me how you knew something was up? Is my nose crooked?
You felt wrong, not like a student, Sirius answered, still amazed at this form of communication, and shocked to find the Head Auror doing what appeared to be undercover work. It proved that this was the biggest case the Aurors were working on. I don’t think I can explain it any better than that, and I don’t think anyone else will notice. Undercover, right? Have you found anything? And how are we talking like this?
Tonks laughed in his mind. You can do it, but you don’t know how? I thought your father showed you; he’s the one that taught me, and it took me two years to be able to answer back to him. It’s just a slight difference in the way the Legilimency works; instead of trying to break in, you just try to communicate. And yes, I’m undercover, and no I haven’t found anything. As long as you don’t say anything, I still might have a chance. It looks like someone else wants a word with you, though, so I’ll leave you to your business, and watch whose mind you try breaking into in the future.
Sirius looked away from her to see Samantha looking at him thoughtfully, her lips pursed in a peculiar manner.
“You know, if you fancy Shannon I can try and set the two of you up,” she said finally. “We’re in the same Herbology class, you know.”
Sirius felt his face immediately flush scarlet, an embarrassing trait that he had been repeatedly sorry for inheriting from his mother.
“It’s not like that at all!” he stammered, trying to think of something to say to convince her.
“You’ve been staring at her for the last several minutes, Sirius,” she said, lifting her eyebrows. Sirius almost felt like she was testing him, though he couldn’t say why. “Why don’t you ask her to go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend; the Aurors are still letting us go.”
Everything crashed into Sirius at once. The way she was standing with her arms folded, the expression on her face, and what she was saying could only mean one thing; she was jealous! For some reason that made Sirius feel very good.
“Actually, I was wondering if you would go with me,” Sirius said. He was feeling brave since deciding she was jealous over him, but he was still completely shocked with himself for being so forward.
Samantha was apparently surprised as well, judging by the way her eyes widened. Still, she smiled, and Sirius was reminded how pretty she was.
“I’d like that,” she said, unfolding her arms. “Where shall I meet you?”
“How about in the common room, so we can walk there together?” Sirius asked.
Her smile broadened. “Ok, it’s a date then,” she said, before leaving the room.
“A date?” Sirius said quietly, his smile fading. I’m going on a date!
Nice one, Sirius! Tonks said in his head, congratulating him. Harry will love hearing about this!
Sirius said nothing as he picked up his things and left the room, though he couldn’t help the smile from growing back. He’d never been on a date before, and he was nervous, but he was really excited about it, too.
***
“I’m telling you, Harry, it was Fawkes! It looked just like him!” Hermione said for the second time. “Even Ron thinks it was Fawkes, now.”
“I’m telling you, Hermione, that’s impossible! I felt Fawkes die! It must be some other phoenix,” Harry said crossly, pouring some tea for Hermione before sitting down in his favorite chair in the living room.
Hermione had come over to tell Harry about the latest incident, and Harry and Ginny had invited her to stay for tea while the younger children were all down for a nap. That actually meant they were just playing quietly, but their parents were content to let that count.
“I looked it up, Harry,” Hermione answered. “No two phoenixes look alike, and this one looked exactly like Fawkes.”
“Why couldn’t it have been Fawkes, Harry?” Ginny asked reasonably. “Phoenixes aren’t supposed to be able to die permanently; maybe he’s just been doing other things until now, when he felt that he was needed again.” Harry looked a little angry about the whole situation, which didn’t make much sense to her.
“If Fawkes were alive, he’d have come back to me,” he said finally.
“Are you jealous, Harry?” Ginny asked, incredulously.
“No!” Harry said quickly. “Fawkes and I were friends, even more than friends. We were connected mentally. I would feel it if he came back. I’m glad that there’s a phoenix at Hogwarts that is watching over things again, but I’m sure it wasn’t Fawkes. And it’s been a long time, Hermione, so you can’t be positive that it wasn’t slightly different.”
“I suppose so, Harry,” Hermione said reluctantly.
“If it’s not Fawkes, though, why is there a phoenix at Hogwarts?” Ginny asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” Harry said, just as quiet now. “But hopefully it can help.”
***
“The security is too tight, my lord,” he said, his voice shaking in fear at having to tell his master that his wishes weren’t plausible. “It would be impossible to strike again without getting caught.”
“My plans are never impossible!” the voice hissed. “I will prepare a distraction for the Aurors; a small demonstration that will remind them that they have problems outside of Hogwarts. In the aftermath, when the Aurors are forced to be elsewhere, I want another strike. And I want someone dead this time!”
“Of course, my lord,” he stammered, bowing. “Of course. It will be as you say.”
“It always is,” the voice said, with a low chuckle.
***
Sirius tried to ignore the teasing he caught from the Weasleys as he prepared for his date at Hogsmeade, but a lot of it was making him nervous.
“Where are you going to go?” Brian asked, laughing.
“I don’t know,” Sirius said, ceasing his pacing and looking up in alarm. “Don’t you think she’ll know where she wants to go?”
“Girls like guys to be decisive, Sirius,” Lee said with a grin. “She’ll want you to decide.”
That didn’t fit with what Sirius had seen from his mum, or any of his aunts for that matter; if they wanted to go somewhere, they seemed to tell their husbands so, and then they would be taken there.
“I guess we’ll decide together,” he said finally, giving up on his hair and sitting down to pull on his shoes. “I’m leaving, and I don’t see any point in taking advice from a bunch of guys who have never been on dates themselves.”
That seemed to shut the Weasleys up fast enough, and Sirius managed a smug grin as he left the dormitory. The grin faded as he swallowed nervously, before squaring his shoulders and making his way downstairs. Nothing would spoil his day.
Samantha was waiting for him, and her easy manner had him smiling in seconds. Before he knew it, they were on their way to the village, holding hands once again.
Three hours later, Sirius was still having a grand time. They had visited all of the fun shops, bought a large load of candy, and looked at all of the new products from Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, which had taken over Zonko’s years earlier. Now, they were stopping for lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and arguing good naturedly over what the most exciting new Weasley product was.
“I tell you, Sirius, the screaming bookmarks are the best; can you imagine someone opening their book in the middle of class and having it scream at them? They’d fall out of their desk,” Samantha said around a swallow of butterbeer.
“I still think the latest fireworks are better,” Sirius countered with a smile. “The whole class would fall out of their desks if you could manage to light one.”
“Not even your friends, the Weasleys, are that brave,” Samantha said with a laugh.
Sirius was getting ready to answer when a resounding boom echoed through the room, rattling mugs and bottles, and causing people to look up in surprise. The noise continued, and before long they could here screams echoing outside.
“Stay here,” Sirius said quickly before rushing outside with a few other older wizards all of whom had their wands drawn.
Nothing could have prepared Sirius for what he saw; Dementors glided through the streets while the unmistakable forms of Inferi stumbled among them. People were running in every direction, but laughing figures in hooded robes with white masks were among them casting curses at everyone they could reach. Above everything, the Dark Mark cast its sickly green glow, chilling Sirius to the bone. He ran back inside and grabbed Samantha by the hand and pulled her towards the door.
“We need to get out of here,” he said urgently. “They’ll be coming into the stores before long. We need to get back to the school.”
Samantha’s questions were cut off as they got outside and she could see what was going on herself. They ran down the street, towards Hogwarts, until Sirius caught sight of several Dementors clustered around a group of second year students. The children were crying, having no idea what to do, and no one was going to their aid.
Without thinking, Sirius stopped and waved his wand.
“Expecto Patronum!” he shouted, and watched as his hawk Patronus shot out and drove the Dementors away. He rushed over to the students with Samantha, and he was pleased to see that she didn’t panic at all, but rather immediately began comforting the students, trying to get them to run towards the school with them. Before they could get them moving, however, a group of the Inferi arrived, causing the children to break down hysterically again. Luckily, however, Sirius had been instructed by his father on how to get rid of an Inferius, and since his transformation he had grown very good at fire spells.
Raising his hand, Sirius wordlessly cast one of those spells. Anyone watching would have seen Sirius’ arm catch fire and send it hurtling into the Inferi, incinerating them instantly. The students were stunned into silence, as they looked at him, and he could see hope shining in some of their eyes, even despite the lingering effects of the Dementors. Suddenly, Sirius realized that he could really make a difference, and that he had no choice but to try. He met Samantha’s eyes.
“I have to go back,” he said simply.
“Let me come with you, then,” she said stubbornly.
“Someone has to take these kids back to the castle,” Sirius said in exasperation.
Samantha hesitated before nodding.
“Alright, but as soon as they’re up there I’m coming back,” she said firmly.
Sirius nodded, but only because he knew that once students got back to the castle, the teachers would never let them come back. What he didn’t expect was for her to grab onto his arm as he was leaving and pull him back before kissing him full on the mouth. It didn’t last long, but Sirius still found himself weak-kneed afterwards.
“Take care of yourself,” she said fiercely, before gathering the students and herding them up the road.
Sirius shook himself before rushing back into the village, not even noticing the smile that grew on his face as he drove Dementors away from their victims and cremated Inferi. Before long, the townspeople began to notice that they would be safe where he was and the Death Eaters noticed that there was someone who wasn’t running. Sirius found himself in a duel with several wizards that left him dodging Cruciatus and Imperius curses, while he tried desperately to stun his attackers, while shielding a group of frightened villagers. Using all of his skills, he was able to hold them back, but he knew that he couldn’t keep it up forever.
Then, suddenly, Lillian was at one side and James was on the other, while the Weasley quadruplets peaked out of an alley that allowed them to open up a crossfire against their opponents.
“Need a hand?” James asked, and began volleying curses at the Death Eaters rapidly; he didn’t have Sirius’ power or control, but he was quick and had an excellent aim.
“Trying to be a one-wizard army again, I see,” Lillian said jokingly, as she also joined in. She wasn’t quite as good at dueling as James, but she had learned the Bat-Bogey Hex from her mother, and she was very good at that.
It seemed for a few moments that the students would win, as Sirius was able to stun three of the Death Eaters in quick succession, but then the Death Eaters upped the ante. The first jet of green light ricocheted harmlessly off of a wall, but it signaled a change in tactics that all of the students found terrifying, especially when the second caught one of the villagers full in the chest. He died instantly, a shocked expression on his face as his body crumpled to the ground.
Sirius’ shock was such that he let his guard down and was hit by an Imperius curse, and immediately the shock left him, replaced by a feeling of deep contentment.
Curse the students next to you, a voice said in his mind, and Sirius felt a compelling need to obey. But the students next to him were his family.
“NO!” he shouted, throwing the force pushing down on his mind back with a huge push. He felt a surge of power within himself, and watched as the Death Eater that had cast the Imperius curse fell over clutching his own head.
Despite successfully throwing off the Imperius curse, however, Sirius had stood unmoving for too long, and a Cruciatus curse came next. Sirius bent down, screaming as he experienced pain unlike anything he had ever felt, while his siblings frantically tried to distract the Death Eater who was holding the curse on him. Then, distantly, Sirius heard one of the quadruplets screaming the same way, and he knew they were in trouble as well. Closing off his mind against the pain, Sirius staggered to his feet, holding back the screams that still wanted to burst out. Struggling back into the battle, Sirius was finally able to stun his attacker, and also manage to shield Lillian from a nasty cutting hex that she hadn’t seen coming. As the pain faded, Sirius began to move forward to help the Weasleys. Then the cry started up, the same from both sides, said with either fear and loathing or hope and triumph.
“It’s Harry Potter!” they cried.
True enough, Sirius was shocked to see his father leading a small group of witches and wizards into the fray, managing to look fearsome with his flashing green eyes despite the ragged Knight Bus uniform he was still wearing. With him were Fred and George Weasley, Stan Shunpike in his own purple uniform and looking as though he didn’t quite know what was going on, and a half-dozen Aurors from the detail at the school. From sounds coming from the other side of the town, Sirius assumed his Uncle Ron was somewhere down there with more Aurors and fighting as well. Sirius joined the fight again, though there was little need; his dad demolished the Death Eaters, and had the lot of them Apparating away in fear in only a few minutes.
As the fighting ceased, Harry sought out his kids, and gathered them around, making sure all of them were okay. Sirius was still aching from his time under the Cruciatus curse, but decided he’d felt worse after Quidditch accidents, and felt that if he kept telling himself so, his body might actually believe him. Chris Weasley was feeling similar aches and pains, but seemed to be alright as well.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked his father in disbelief.
"Fred and George have a very effective security system set up at all of their shops, and they knew something was going on immediately. They called me, since I'm a part owner, and Ron, since they knew he was close, and we met up and charged the Death Eaters from both sides of the town, so fewer would escape. I don't know how well that worked, but it looks like we caught a fair few," Harry answered with a grin that didn't quite hide his concern for his children and nephews.
“I’m proud of you, kids,” Harry said, as several of the townspeople began reporting what had happened to the Aurors, telling how Sirius and his siblings had stood up to the Death Eaters alone. “But your mother would be very upset with me if I didn’t say something about leaving adult matters to the adults.” A twinkle grew in Harry’s eye. “Sometimes, though, adults don’t know up from down, and it takes younger people to do what’s right. I’m very proud of all of you.”
Fred and George both echoed that sentiment, while Fred paid special attention to Chris, making sure his son was okay.
After that, Sirius was taken with Chris to the hospital wing, to make sure there wasn’t any lasting damage, while the rest of the students were escorted back to the castle. Harry stayed with Sirius until he was settled in a bed and they were alone before speaking.
“I’m sorry your date ended this way,” he said, smiling, “but Tonks said the girl seems to really like you, so I guess she’ll forgive you. Were you enjoying yourself?”
Sirius grinned and took a few moments to tell his father about his date before Harry changed the subject.
“Have you found anything on the map, Sirius? Anything out of the ordinary?”
“I’ve kept a close watch out, and the Weasleys have been helping, but we haven’t seen anything, and I know we looked before the last attack without seeing anyone out of the ordinary,” Sirius said, the frustration evident in his voice.
“It’s not up to you to solve all of the problems here, Sirius, so don’t feel bad. I want you to consider that the person might be another student though, which would explain why you haven’t seen anyone else. If that’s the case, finding out who it is will be even harder. With the Death Eaters coming back, the Ministry probably won’t be able to spare as many Aurors, either, so this could be a dangerous situation at Hogwarts. Take care, okay?”
Sirius promised his father that he would be careful, and Harry left to go say goodbye to the rest of his kids, leaving Sirius to worry about what he had heard.
***
It was late, but Samantha was determined to see Sirius in the hospital wing. The students from Hogwarts had been surprisingly lucky during the attack; other than Sirius and Chris there weren't any others in the hospital wing, since most students had either remained hiding in the shops, or had run or been escorted back to the school in good order, mostly due to the quick thinking of older students like Samantha or the Prefects.
Samantha was sure Sirius would have known that they wouldn’t let her go back to the town after helping the second year students back, and she wanted to call him on it. She also wanted to find out how he felt about her; every time she thought about that kiss, her face flushed in embarrassment. She hadn’t been thinking at the time, and had no idea if he thought she was being too forward or not, and she really didn’t want to scare him away. She could tell that he was somewhat shy under his tough exterior, and she found that quality to be very endearing.
Still, she was somewhat upset with him for having the nerve to get hurt after she had told him to take care of himself. Lillian had told her it wasn’t serious, though, after looking at her for several moments with a very shrewd expression. She had smiled about it, and Samantha knew she approved; Lillian had known that she liked Sirius since the year before, and they had talked about it at length, as best friends do.
Boys complicate everything, she thought, as she rounded the last corner that would take her to the hospital wing. Then she screamed as the shadowy figure jumped out at her, and then pain consumed consciousness.