Unofficial Portkey Archive

DISCLAIMER: The fact that I don't own Harry Potter makes me sad, but I don't cry because I'm one of those people who look horrendous when they cry.

A/N: I saw the trailer for the movie of HP 5, and I'm excited. Daniel Radcliffe's so hot. As I am inspired, prepare for my longest chapter to date!

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
- Aristotle

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
(a game of wits and politics)

He stood unmoving in the corner, cloaked in darkness. His lip bled from where he had bitten it, hard. In the bed in the center of the room, his mother whimpered as the wizard moved over her, and his hand slashed down, cracking hard against her cheek. She quieted immediately.

The boy, watching, felt a tear slide silently down his cheek, but he did nothing. Always before, when this man arrived - which was once or twice a month - his mother had banished him to the kitchen. Now he knew why.

Finally, the man was done. He withdrew from the woman lying prone on the bed, a bruise purpling on her face. He stood up.

"You should be used to this by now," he said, sounding almost amused. Picking up his robe, he slipped it on. "I've been coming to you since before Narcissa and I got married."

"And I ask you every time to stop," she said. Her eyes were dry, but her fists were clenched. Bitterly, she added, "Why don't you force her instead of me?"

"I do. But I can't enjoy it with that frigid witch." The man ran his fingers through his blond hair, attempting to fix it. "Don't try to lock me out again. It annoys me." His tone was casual, but his eyes glittered in warning.

She did not respond, and he strode towards her, raising his hand.

The boy couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Stop!" he yelled, rushing forward. The man turned in astonishment, completely unprepared for the sudden onslaught as the boy hurled himself at him, hitting with small fists whatever he could reach.

The woman cried out and grabbed the boy, pulling him back just as the man growled and struck out. His blow caught the boy on the temple, sending him careening into the corner of the bed. His jaw hit the wood and began bleeding.

"Damn it!" the man yelled. He glared at the woman, who was curled over her son, sobbing. "That brat had better not be here next time!"

"Don't ever hit him again!" The woman's anger had drowned out her fear of him, and she stood, advancing on him, magnificent in her fury.

"How long was he watching?"

"He was here when you began kicking the door in!"

"I wouldn't have had to if the spell you used wasn't immune to the Alohomora charm," the man retorted. But he had never seen her so angry before, and he made no move to physically intimidate her as he always did. "Who the hell is he anyway?"

"My sister's son," the woman lied. The boy sat on the floor, holding his head as if to contain the pain. She stood protectively in front of him. "My nephew. I told him to hide and stay quiet until you left."

"Your sister? The one you told me you stayed with for over a year when Narcissa and I became engaged?" He was scowling. He had searched for her then, but been unable to find her, and thought she was gone for good, until he found out she was working in a tavern in the countryside. Then he had bribed the owner into firing her, and warned her he would sabotage all her other jobs the same way unless she worked in London, close to him.

"Yes," she spat. "She's the one. Now get out."

"He's like a damn shadow. I never even noticed him."

"Get out."

"Bloody hell." Giving the boy one last disgusted look, the wizard pulled up his hood to conceal his face, then swept imperiously from the room. They heard the door close behind him, then his footsteps descend the stairs as he left the dingy inn.

She closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, sinking to the floor to hold the boy "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have a sister," said her son, still holding his head.

"I know. I'm sorry." When she found out she was pregnant, and knew Lucius would never leave Narcissa for her - knew that she didn't even want him to - she had used up all her money to go to Italy, as far from Lucius as she could afford, where she gave birth to her son. Over a year later, her money gone and no job forthcoming (she never did learn to speak Italian fluently), she had returned to England, lying low, hopeful that Lucius had forgotten her. But he had found her.

The boy put his arms around her. The blood was flowing less copiously now, congealing on his jaw and neck, but it stained her frayed dress. "It's not your fault," he whispered, and for the first time in as far back as she could remember, she wept.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville arrived at Tonks' room at St. Mungo's just as Lupin was leaving.

"Where are you going?" asked Harry, startled.

"To talk to the captured Death Eater," said Lupin quickly. He seemed to be in a great hurry.

"Why?" asked Neville.

But Hermione understood. "To ask him what he did to Tonks, and how to cure her," she answered for Lupin, who was straightening the blanket over Tonks.

"Right," he said distractedly, already on his way out. "I asked a healer to check in on Tonks while I'm gone, but I'm glad you're here to stay with her..." The door closed softly behind him, and the five Gryffindors were left alone in the room with the still-unconscious Tonks.

Ron shook his head. "He didn't even ask us what we're doing here."

"Well, he had more important things to think about," said Ginny, going to Tonks' bedside. "He's clearly anxious for Tonks to get better."

"But the news about the captured Death Eater was in the paper yesterday morning," said Ron. "It's already sunset today. If he's so anxious to find out how to help Tonks, why is he seeing to it only now?"

"Maybe something came up," said Hermione. "We'll ask him later. It's probably why he was in such a hurry when we came."

"So what do we do now?" Neville shifted his weight from one foot to another, looking uncomfortable.

"Wait for Lupin, I guess," said Hermione. Harry and Ron nodded. "Yeah."

Ginny shrugged. "Sure. How long can it take?"

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, gave Lupin a look of unconcealed dislike. "Aren't you the one helping Demetria Laguna with her case?"

Lupin gritted his teeth. He had come to the Ministry only to find that the Death Eater, who had told officials cryptically to call him Shadow - which they had no choice but to comply with, since his real identity remained a mystery - was being held in a maximum security cell at Azkaban. To his frustration, Lupin hadn't received the clearance necessary to visit him, even though he had pulled every string he could think of. He had identified himself as one of the founders of the Order of the Phoenix; he had called on a high-ranking Ministry official, Arthur Weasley, to vouch for him; he had explained that he was doing this for Nymphadora Tonks, a respected Auror of the Ministry. But the denial was implacable. He was not allowed to see the captured Death Eater.

So Lupin had requested an audience with the Minster of Magic to plead his case. It had been granted immediately, as though Scrimgeour was waiting for him. As though Scrimgeour had been waiting for just such an opportunity to get back at him.

Now, with that first question, Lupin knew with certainty that his suspicions were correct, and he silently thanked Merlin that he had preempted the Minister. He responded with outward calm. "Yes. I'm helping Demetria Laguna."

"I see." Scrimgeour smoothed his face into a semblance of calm indifference, but animosity glittered in his eyes.

Lupin hoped his own dislike for the Minister wasn't as evident in his gaze. "I need to speak to the Death Eater you captured yesterday."

"I'm afraid access to him is very privileged," said Scrimgeour. "If we allowed you to see him, we'd have to allow every reporter and curious witch or wizard to do the same. He's dangerous. He has already confessed to attacking an Auror."

That last sentence had been thrown in for his benefit, he was sure. Lupin kept his face serene. "I'm not Rita Skeeter or some random thrill-seeker. My reasons for needing to speak to him are more than valid, because the Auror he attacked is my fiancee, Nymphadora Tonks."

"Congratulations," Scrimgeour interjected, his eyes narrowing, and Lupin knew he hadn't done Tonks a favor by confirming their relationship, which the Minister must already have heard rumors of.

"She's in St. Mungo's," he continued. "Unconscious. The curse used on her was complex and unusual, and the healers don't know what to do about it. They witnessed a similar case back when the Dark Lord was at his peak, and the wizard in that condition passed away in his sleep after a few months. He never regained consciousness, too. But there's still hope for Tonks. The healers think if they can just find out what kind of spell was used, they have a much better chance of coming up with a remedy."

"I'll assign an Auror to question the Death Eater, then," said Scrimgeour. "He can find out and let you know."

But Lupin didn't want some stranger trying indifferently to extract the information that was life-and-death to Tonks. To him. He wanted to see Tonks' attacker, to ask him personally, not just what he had done, but what had motivated him. "I want to be the one to question-"

"I assure you we won't use the Unforgivable Curses on him," Scrimgeour interrupted coldly. Lupin's lips compressed at the not-so-veiled reference to the Laguna case. "We shall bargain with him. But information is precious, as you know. It is far more important that we discover the identity of the other renegade Death Eaters out there. I'm certain he must have been associating with one or more of them."

"So helping Tonks is secondary to-"

"Ensuring the safety of the entire magical community, yes," Scrimgeour cut in again, and his tone was icier than ever.

"You're not going to let me see the Death Eater?"

"No. And that's my final decision." Scrimgeour waved his hand at him in a gesture of dismissal and bent back over the papers on his desk. The meeting was over.

In that moment Lupin hated him. "Very well, Minister. I'll see you at the trial before the Wizengamot. I'll be with Demetria Laguna."

Scrimgeour looked up to glare at him. Lupin met his gaze evenly, then turned and left.

It was an effort not to slam the door behind him.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"I win!" Neville crowed.

The five Gryffindors sat in a circle on the floor. They had been playing Exploding Snap for hours, after a number of attempts at conversation had failed. Ginny asked about the Laguna case, and Neville withdrew, refusing to speak of it. Hermione tried to talk, and so did Ron, but the two of them shut each other out, and it was so awkward that both of them lapsed into silence, deciding to leave the talking to others. Neville gamely discussed the memories of D.A., which was fun, but reminiscing only took so long, and Ginny and Hermione went all cryptic and defensive every time the boys began talking about what an arse Malfoy was. In desperation Harry brought up quidditch, but as neither Neville nor Hermione had too much knowledge of or interest in the game, that topic soon died down as well.

Finally a healer entered to check on Tonks for the third time. Finding that they were still there, hours after they had arrived, and taking sympathy on them, she lent them a deck of cards.

"We don't want to disturb Tonks," said Hermione.

"We'd be happy if you did," the healer sighed. "Any sign that she's about to regain consciousness is welcome."

And the endless bout of Exploding Snap began.

At first Harry and Ginny with their superb reflexes had won all the games, but as they grew bored, they began to let Ron and Hermione win. Then they got bored, and began to let Neville win.

Which made Neville very happy. He had won literally a dozen games in a row.

"It's almost midnight," said Ron, lying on his back on the floor. "I wonder when Lupin will return?"

"It's Saturday night. We'll wait until tomorrow if we have to, I'm sure Professor McGonagall won't mind," said Hermione decisively.

Ginny groaned.

"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at her with concern.

She planned to meet Draco at midnight, but she couldn't very well admit that. "Nothing," she muttered. "My back aches from sitting on the floor for so long."

"Shall we walk?" Hermione suggested.

Ginny jumped up. "Sure," she said.

"We'll walk with -" Ron began.

"Oh, stay with Neville," said Hermione sweetly. Neville was dealing out the cards. "He wants to continue playing." And with that, she pushed Ginny out the door and darted out after her.

"You really hate my brother, don't you? Too bad Harry's too nice to save himself," said Ginny wryly. She shot Harry and Ron a glance just before the door closed. They wore identical expressions of horror at the prospect of yet another round of Exploding Snap. They didn't have any other option. Neville didn't know any other card game, and was slow to learn others they tried to teach him; so slow, in fact, that they got exasperated and gave up trying. Once Ron suggested he sit out a game, but he was so hurt that they gave up on that too.

Exploding Snap it was.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Hermione airily. Her attempt to play dumb was spoiled when she asked, too lightly, "By the way, why are you so anxious to get back to Hogwarts?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ginny shot back nonchalantly.

The two girls giggled. But then Ginny saw a clock on the wall strike midnight, and her face fell.

Hermione frowned. "You're meeting Malfoy, aren't you?"

Ginny inhaled sharply, taken aback. She stopped in her tracks and scowled back at Hermione. "Tell me the truth. Are you psychic?"

"No, I heard one of your roommates ask you this morning where you went to last night. She said she woke up and you weren't in your bed, and you were smiling like a loony last morning, so I assumed…"

"You did not assume, you deduced. It's actually annoying how perceptive you are, Hermione. It's like I can't keep anything from you."

Hermione grinned. "I can't help it. So you are meeting Malfoy?"

"Yeah."

"Don't get pregnant."

"That's not funny."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You forget, I've had boyfriends, too. I'm not saying you should abstain, I'm just warning you to be careful."

"But Ron would never -" Ginny gasped. "Krum?"

Hermione flushed. And Ginny, forgetting Draco for the moment, burst out laughing.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Shacklebolt and Lupin strode rapidly through Azkaban, the former worried, the latter stoic.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Shacklebolt muttered, looking around as he used a set of keys borrowed from a guard to open the gate that led to the wing especially reserved for Death Eaters. Faces looked back sullenly at them, the same faces that had once looked down their noses at them. Nott, Lestrange, Crabbe, Goyle-

"As I told the guard, I'm here to see Lucius Malfoy," said Lupin with a calmness he didn't feel. Damn, it was hard to resist interrogating Shadow, when he was so close, mere jail cells away, but he knew Scrimgeour would relish the chance to punish him for going against a direct order. "I trust our esteemed Minister hasn't thought of banning me from doing that yet?"

"It's a good thing you thought of speaking with me, and gave me a chance to interrogate Shadow, before you went to the Minister," said Shacklebolt. "You knew he was going to ban you from seeing this Shadow Death Eater, didn't you?"

"And eventually you as well, since you're the Auror I trust best and that fact is well know," said Lupin grimly. "I suspected from the start. As soon as I read in the paper that the captured Death Eater was in the hands of the Ministry, and that he had confessed to being the one who had attacked Tonks, I knew what Scrimgeour would do. He has many faults, but stupidity isn't one of them - he didn't rise in the ranks of the Ministry by ignoring golden opportunities thrown his way. He's probably restricted access to Shadow to a very select few by now. As I said, he knows you're my friend; you won't get anywhere near Shadow after this either. Who do you think he'll assign to question him about what he did to Tonks?"

"Some junior Auror who won't be able to get a useful word out of Shadow," said Shacklebolt, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Remus, but he's remarkably good at saying a lot while revealing almost nothing. He refused to speak about Tonks or any fellow renegade Death Eaters. He did tell me some things about his past, though. But first, tell me - what do you hope to gain by speaking to Malfoy?"

Lupin said, "Didn't he tell us that he gave his wand to `others like him?' Other Death Eaters. I know we weren't able to get any more out of him, but this time I'll do whatever I can to make him talk, short," he inserted ironically, "of the Unforgivable curses. I want to know who he gave his wand to."

"You want to bargain with the Minister." Shacklebolt was impressed. "Brilliant. You're playing his game of wits and politics - you'll trade information about renegade Death Eaters for permission to question Shadow yourself. You're doing this for leverage."

"For Tonks," said Lupin simply. He looked at Shacklebolt. "What did Shadow tell you?"

"A lot, but all of it too vague to be useful. I think he was telling the truth, but only to avoid talking about more important things. He said his father was a Death Eater, and his mother was a Mudblood, and he had only become a Death Eater himself to get vengeance on his father after his mother died. It seems he's illegitimate. The way he tells it, his father was married to someone else, and only forced himself on his mother."

"How did his mother die?

"I don't know. He said he once saw his father hurting his mother, and that his father never returned after that. Nothing about the mother's death. But a half-brother was mentioned, I presume on the father's side, who, in Shadow's own words, `got everything I also deserved.'"

"Ah, envy," said Lupin. "So he did seek vengeance. But not upon his innocent half-brother. Why did his mother put up with his father?"

"Shadow implied that his father was very powerful, both in terms of prestige and magical capabilities. He said his mother could never fight him, nor reveal him, for she knew no one would believe her. And he would punish her for sullying his name."

"A tragedy indeed. And did he get his revenge?"

"Oddly enough, I don't think he did. He said he only joined the Death Eaters during the Dark Lord's second uprising, and he was too lowly in the ranks of the Death Eaters to get close to his father. By the time he rose up, his father had already been punished by others."

"Others? Who?"

"He didn't say anything more. I thought perhaps I could get a clue from his appearance. He has dark hair and gray eyes, and is much younger than you would expect. I would put him in his early twenties. His features are strangely familiar, although I can't quite recall where I've seen them before."

They reached Lucius Malfoy's cell, and Shacklebolt unlocked another gate. The high-risk prisoners were kept under charmed locks that only a key with the corresponding charm - or Voldemort, as experience had proven - could open. He and Lupin entered warily.

Lucius was huddled on the floor, his head lowered in apparent sleep. But he looked up dully at the sound of footsteps. His gaunt, emaciated face caught the flickering torch light from the hallway.

Shacklebolt paled.

"Malfoy." Lupin studied him coolly. "We're here to ask you more questions-"

He was cut off abruptly as Shacklebolt seized him by the arm and dragged him outside, locking the door hurriedly behind him. He pulled Lupin down the corridor, far out of Lucius' earshot.

"What is it?" Lupin was completely bemused.

Shacklebolt stared at him. "I always think of him as he was at the height of his powers, perfectly healthy, impeccably groomed. And Shadow's so thin, unkempt, and dirty. That's why I couldn't think who he resembled."

Lupin's eyes widened. "What are you saying?"

"Remus - I think Lucius Malfoy is Shadow's father."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

He had been stood up.

Draco, seriously irked, glared at the door, willing Ginny to open it and come in.

But the door remained closed.

It was two o'clock in the morning. He had been waiting for Ginny for over two hours. He told himself it was time to leave - clearly, she didn't plan to show up - but he stayed where he was. Ten more minutes. He'd give her ten more minutes, and if she still didn't show up, he was going back to the Slytherin dorm and never speaking to her again.

Ten minutes came and went.

Ten more, he promised himself, and he was gone.

Thirty minutes later, he repeated the mantra to himself. Ten more minutes. He sat down and folded his arm across his chest, planning just what he would say when he yelled at her.

A few minutes past five o'clock, the first faint hints of sunlight already visible on the horizon, the door finally swung open. But Draco didn't even see it. He had fallen asleep on the window ledge, his head leaning against the wall.

The door closed softly, and a silvery cloak fell to the floor, revealing Ginny.

Lupin had turned up near dawn, looking so preoccupied that they badgered him to share what he had discovered, but he refused to reveal anything, saying he still needed to sort it out for himself. He sent them home promising to tell them what he could as soon as they returned, but at the moment, he wanted them to return to Hogwarts and get some sleep. He apologized for his late return, but said it couldn't be helped. He wouldn't explain why. The mystery drove Hermione crazy, and she wondered aloud what was going on all the way back to Hogwarts.

As soon as they reached the Gryffindor common room, the boys headed off to their dorm to sleep. Hermione warned Ginny again to be careful, and went to her own dorm. Then Ginny rushed off.

Her hair was disheveled, for she had practically run to the astronomy tower. The logical part of her knew that Draco would be long gone, but the other part - the crazy one - had propelled her to come anyway. Just to make sure.

And he was there. Asleep, but there.

She thought about kissing him, but didn't have the nerve. So she shook him instead, gently. "Hey."

His eyes opened drowsily.

And she couldn't resist. She did kiss him then, but lightly, brushing her lips lingeringly over his before pulling away. "I'm sorry I'm late."

Draco rubbed his eyes and sat up straight. "Ginny?"

"I'm here, Draco."

"You're late." He yawned.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, and yawned, too, but covered her mouth. He hadn't bothered.

"What took you so long? Why are you tired?" More alert now, the drowsiness fading from his eyes, Draco looked at Ginny. She stood in front of him, struggling to suppress another yawn.

"We visited Tonks," she explained.

He closed his hands around her wrists and tugged. She fell forward without resisting, and he settled her on his lap, enjoying the feel of her body against his. She was over four hours late and dead tired, but she had made the effort to come. He was moved.

As was she. He hadn't known where she was, or why she was late, but he had waited anyway, waited until he had fallen asleep. She leaned her head against his chest and put her arms around him.

"Rest," he told her. She was weary. Everything else could wait.

And, content, Ginny dozed off in Draco's arms.

A/N: Please review!

-->