A/N: Our heroes are preparing for a trip...
Chapter XVIII: Portkey
"Are you all packed?"
"Almost."
Regulus was trying to close his chest fruitlessly and finally giving up, used his wand to do the task. "Done."
"I'll go check on James, he is always the one who takes the longest," Andromeda said.
"Really? I thought that was you," he remarked.
"As a matter of fact, I was done way ahead of you."
With that she left his dormitory and proceeded to her brother's. Regulus watched her leave and his mind swam with the memories of two nights ago - he was finding it difficult to not think about it when she was around. Even more strangely, she had gone to check on James, but he was already starting to miss her. Another thought in his mind questioned the normalcy of these feelings...
At the breakfast table, he received a letter with the morning post from his father and in the same rush one had also dropped in front of Andromeda. The urgent design of the envelope meant he could not put it off and upon opening it, the letter read for him to be ready to depart the school by nightfall with Andromeda and the rest of their friends. Andromeda's eyes skimmed her own parchment and when they looked at one another, he knew the same request had been made of her. Jane and Holly protested the short notice, but did not complain and had promptly finished packing several hours later. Regulus' mates were still out and about gathering their belongings and disappeared on occasion under the pretence of saying goodbye to friends.
"Finished!" Albus locked his own chest successfully. "Granted, I could have been done hours ago."
"Congratulations," Regulus said sarcastically. "Where did Otto go again?"
"Something about seeing Jane," Albus shrugged. "They had an argument earlier."
"Right," he looked out the window. When was Andromeda going to return?
"You can't tell me what I can and cannot pack," came James' approaching protesting voice.
"Yes, I can," his sister did not concede her authority, "one, I'm older, and two, you're supposed to listen to me."
"Regulus!" both of them walked through the door. "Tell her she can't boss me around."
"What's going on?" he raised an eyebrow.
"He has way too much for a short trip," Andromeda told him, rolling her eyes. "I'm telling his he doesn't everything."
"Oh," he nodded wisely, "I agree with you, James."
"You do!"
"Yeah, I mean, she bosses me around and when I try to do something about it - ow!"
His response was promptly cut short by a strong punch on the shoulder.
"You were saying?" she challenged him half-seriously, but he could still see the threat in her eyes.
"You and I are in the same boat, kid," he finished quickly, ready to jump away should she try to discipline him again. "But listen to your sister. She has a point here. We're not going to be there long."
"Alright," James said, exasperated. "And don't follow me back to my room!" he told Andromeda.
"Fine," she agreed. "But I will come check on you in a half hour."
Muttering under his breath, James trudged out of the room and back up the staircase.
"Make it forty-five minutes, no?" Regulus snaked beside her. "Give him more thinking time..."
"Oh, yes, because you're concerned for him," she smiled.
"Of course, I am," he kissed her neck. "After all, he is as important to me as he is to you."
"Touching," she said, but did not pull away. "I can't believe we're going all the way to Romania."
"Hey, it might be fun," he smiled on his own turn. "Don't be so grim."
"What do you know about Romania?" she asked him. "My parents don't know anything about it either."
"Hey, new people, new culture and another language," he reasoned, "it will be a nice change from jolly, old, boring England."
"We're not boring," she said, but then a doubt crept in her mind. "Are we?"
"Ask the French," he looked at her pointedly.
"Aye, what do they know," she waved a hand.
"Well, a lot about snails and wine," he said, "you know, about snails that drink wine. Do you know what it takes to arrest a drunk snail? The Irish would be proud..."
This caused her to giggle, quite uncharacteristically for her otherwise stern personality. "I like it when you make me laugh."
"You're welcome, mademoiselle," he bowed, removing an imaginary hat in the process.
"You two mind getting another room?" Albus suddenly came into the conversation. "I'm still here, you know."
"Sorry, mate," Regulus said. "Pity Holly isn't here, we could have a quartet."
"What!" Andromeda's eyes widened at the proposition.
"No thanks, mate," Albus shrugged. "After third year, I'm not sharing another bed with you."
Andromeda looked from one to the other. "What?"
"Nothing, love," Regulus put a hand around her shoulders. "Only kidding." Yet, the crimson tinge on her cheeks did not go away...
"I'm going to check on James," she said quickly and made a beeline for the door.
"What's gotten into her?" Albus looked at her retreating form.
"I have no idea," Regulus shrugged. "She's not usually like this."
"Listen, mate, I'm going to find Holly. When were your parents supposed to arrive?"
"Five," Regulus said. "We've got all of forty-five minutes before we leave."
"That's why," he jumped to his feet. "Hold the fort down while I'm gone." Regulus could not quite interpret the significant look Albus gave him.
Right as he left, another voice shook the calm air. "You said half an hour!"
"You better be ready!" Andromeda nearly shouted back, before she stumbled back in the room.
"What was that about?" Regulus walked up to her. "Why did you leave so suddenly?"
"To check on my brother," she said quickly.
"Come on, be honest with me," he implored her.
"I told you, to check on James," she reinstated her position more forcefully.
"I'm honest with you, why can't you be honest with me?" he did not retreat.
"Look, we're leaving in a half hour, where is everyone else?"
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm serious, Regulus. We can talk nonsense later, but now we need to be ready. Where are Albus and Otto?"
"Someone call my name?" Otto's head poked in the doorway. "I'm all ready, you know."
"Good, welcome back," Andromeda turned to him. "Have you seen Jane?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm here!" she chirped from somewhere behind Otto.
"You see Albus on your way up here?" Regulus asked Otto.
"Yeah, he's coming," Otto told him. "He found Holly, she was shaken up for some reason. Maybe ask him, I don't know."
"Really?"
"It's what he said," Otto shrugged. "I hope it's nothing serious."
The unspoken worry was precisely the fear of another kidnapping, much like the one that caused them a near brush with death. All of them knew Holly was brave in her own way, but she was not able to take stress beyond her limits very well. Otto and Jane retreated back down to the common room under the pretext of waiting for everyone else to come down.
Albus and Holly did come back soon enough, and Holly still had tear streaks on her cheeks. Hearing her unsettled voice, Regulus and Andromeda rushed down the staircase to meet them. Jane was already helping her sit down on the couch, while Otto conjured a cup of steaming hot chocolate.
"What happened?" Regulus questioned Albus almost immediately.
"I'm still trying to figure that part out, but I have a suspicion."
"S-so many, s-s-s-so cold," Holly kept stuttering over and over again.
Regulus' eyes betrayed a genuine worry when he looked at Albus. "Do you think?"
"Dementors? Yes," Albus sounded he didn't want to believe it himself either.
"This far, at Hogwarts?"
"I don't know, mate. There must be something seriously wrong for them to be here," Albus frowned in concentration. "Maybe the ministry is losing grip again."
"My father told me about the last time he saw Dementors at Hogwarts and that was in the last war against Voldemort."
"Well, we're still young and that war wasn't very long ago," Albus reminded him. "I wonder if dark magic ever takes a break."
"Whatever happens, we don't want to have Dementors to deal with, they're better off in Azkaban."
"Holly knows how to perform a Patronus Charm, doesn't she?" Regulus asked his friend as he looked on Jane trying to sooth the shaken girl. Otto was on her other side putting up an effort as well.
"She does, yes," Albus confirmed, "the problem is that she might have been surprised and you know how she takes surprise...I still can't believe how lucky it is that I found her on time."
"She'll be fine, mate," Regulus placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe it's a good idea to train her some more when she recovers in matters of defence...I'll help you."
He had barely finished his thought when a brilliant column of fire shot in the air from the fireplace and with a whirl of disembodied wind, Harry, Ron and Draco materialized into the common room.
"I am never travelling by Floo again!" they heard Ron say as the smoke dissipated and he coughed to clear his lungs. Andromeda thought on her feet and immediately threw one of the windows open.
"Hi, kids!" Harry greeted the collective bunch.
"Hi, dad,' Andromeda nearly ran to embrace him.
"Mr. Potter," Regulus acknowledged him very much in his father's reserved, dignified demeanour.
"How are you, son?" Draco advanced Regulus and embraced his consequently. "I've missed you."
"I'm very well, father," Regulus told him, "although you might know about - "
"I do, yes, but now is not the time, nor the place. We need to be off."
"Where is James?" Harry asked of Andromeda.
"He's with Sirius, still getting ready, I think," Andromeda said. "I told him to be done an hour ago."
"I'll be back," Harry nodded to his best mates and disappeared up the staircase.
"What happened here?" Ron asked as his eyes settled on Holly, who still held the blanket tight around herself.
"She saw Dementors," Otto told him. "Here, at Hogwarts."
Ron's expression quickly turned from concern, to shock, and the colour drained from his face. He and Draco exchanged a look. "Dementors?" he repeated. "Are you sure?"
"I have never seen her so shaken," Albus replied this time. "What else could it be?"
"Dad! I swear, I was ready the entire time, Andromeda is lying to you! Ask Sirius, he'll tell you!"
"Enough out of you," Harry was succinct with him. "We're going!"
"Come on, love," Albus eased Holly on her feet. "We're going."
"I'm going to get her trunk," Andromeda said, "Jane, come help me."
"Hurry up," Harry told his daughter, "We need to be off very soon."
Both girls ran up the stairs and not even a minute later returned, each bearing a side of the impracticable trunk.
"All set?" Draco took out a pouch of the Floo powder and threw it in the fire. "Albus, take Holly through first, Sirius, James, you two are next."
"Do we - "
"No arguments," Harry said forcefully.
Startled, the boys duly followed. "You girls next, then the boys, and we'll be last, with the trunks."
Efficiently, our heroes disappeared one by one in a whirl of colour, Ron levitated the trunks, sent them through and finally, the three of them closed off the exchange.
They reappeared in the Auror Department, in Harry's office. Hermione, Ginny and Luna were already there, waiting to meet them; they looked visibly relieved at their safe return.
"Welcome back," Hermione went up to Harry. "Everything alright?"
"Holly had a slight scare," Harry nodded at the blonde girl, "saw Dementors, apparently."
"Oh, my," Hermione's eyes widened, "the last time we saw them around the school - "
"I know," Harry nodded significantly.
"What about our parents?" Jane asked of the three women in general.
"They are safe," Luna replied. "For the time being," she waved to indicate she was talking to Otto, Albus, Jane and Holly, "they have been placed under memory charms and transferred to Australia. Everyone except Holly has Muggle parents, and they need not be at risk. However, Holly, your parents are there too until it is safe for them to return to Britain."
"And you didn't tell us this?" Otto did not look very happy. "Our opinions don't count?"
"I'm sorry," Luna indeed looked apologetic, "but we did not exactly have the time to consult you."
"You were kidnapped, remember?" Ginny intervened. "Your parents were next on the list around that time."
"You knew we were kidnapped?" Otto momentarily forgot his anger.
"After the letter from Andromeda arrived," Ginny admitted. "It is a standard procedure to keep the relatives of abductees as safe as possible, even if that includes deporting them temporarily under a false identity..."
"How do you know something was going to happen to them?" Albus asked.
"We don't," Ginny said, "but it is a safe assumption if you were kidnapped for some reason."
"It makes sense," Otto reflected more to himself than to them. "Still, I wish you'd let us know earlier."
"No way, mate," Regulus said. "Else you and I would be on the next plane to Australia."
"Can we at least see them soon?" Holly asked - she had nearly recovered her usual composure.
Hermione looked at the girl with genuine compassion. "We have reason to believe that it is not a good idea for the meanwhile, but as soon as the option comes up, certainly."
"Nobody is saying what's going on," Regulus' expression finally found an outlet. "Why are we here? Why are there Dementors at Hogwarts? Why were we kidnapped?"
Harry and Ron looked at one another. "There is another powerful Dark organization growing," Draco broke the overdue news. "The centaurs you were kidnapped by must have been on their side. They are traditionally posed against wizards..."
"What else do you know?" Regulus was determined to squeeze out as much information as he could.
"They killed one Auror some time ago," Harry said, "when I led two rookies on a mission."
"Do you know who did it?"
"We caught two of them," Harry told him. "Brought them back here for questioning." He nodded to Ron.
"Harry and I subjected them to an interrogation," Ron continued, "but that didn't really work."
"What happened?" Andromeda had grown from justifiably supportive of Regulus' position to deeply curious.
"They have a new trick up their sleeve, compared to last time," Ron explained, "they burst into flame on the utterance of a spell. They can commit suicide anytime and anywhere the fidelity of their organization is at stake. Oh, and they have a new name - the Unspeakables."
"That is really disturbing," Otto noted to Albus nodding agreement.
"So why were we kidnapped?" Regulus persisted.
"I'm afraid we don't have an answer to that, yet," Hermione said. "Intelligence is scant and not reliable. All we have are scattered reports and nothing concrete."
"What would it take to find something concrete?" Regulus' frustration edged into his voice.
"Enough, son," Draco reprimanded him firmly, "apologize to Hermione."
His jaw set, Regulus uttered the apology half-heartedly, but his hard expression did not change.
"Is there anyone working with them?" Otto took over the job of questioning from his friend.
"Inevitably, they will have allies," Hermione said, "but right now it is difficult to determine their nature."
"Alright," Ron interjected, "the next part is our trip to Romania."
"Yeah, how are we getting there?" Regulus' mind changed almost immediately.
"For the purposes of security, a portkey," Ron said. "We have several to accommodate all of us."
"We're seeing Bill and Charlie," Ginny said as the first real smile of the day spread across her face.
Ron set several mugs on Harry's desk, uttered "Portus!" as he tapped each one with the tip of his wand and soon enough, a sphere of soft blue light emanated from each mug.
"Alright, pick a portkey and let's go," Harry said. "Ron, Draco and I will go last."
One by one, everyone disappeared in a brilliant flash towards their collective destination and the last three charmed the portkeys to disable as soon as they had gone.
Charlie had agreed to make his dragon compound the base of operations while they remained in the country and journeyed to the two southern neighbours to gather the three final ingredients for the werewolf cure.
"Welcome," Charlie greeted the newcomers. "Bill will be right out."
In contrast to his calm welcome, Fleur was beside herself with excitement at the company. "Hi, hi, hello! `arry! Hermoine!"
"Charlie, where are Mom and Dad?" Ron approached his older brother. "Did they come here?"
"No, sadly," Charlie shook his head. "They chose to stay in England, said they weren't going to get involved this time."
"They did enough last time, I know, but for safety's sake," Ron reasoned, "didn't you try to convince them?"
"I did, Bill did too, but to no avail," Charlie emphasized their exhaustive efforts. "Hopefully they don't become a target, and the Burrow is well protected as it is."
"That's true," Ron said.
"Now, I assume you're not here on holiday," Charlie continued, "Harry said you'd tell me why this trip is so important."
"Well," Ron pointed at Regulus, "because of him."
"What's wrong with him?"
"The short and the long of it, he ran into a werewolf and now he's one too. We're here for the cure."
"That's all?"
"Not quite," Ron told him, "we're heading up an Auror investigation into this new group operating
in England. It may have some links here in the Balkans that are of operational interest."
"Are they dangerous?"
"Definitely," Ron said, "how dangerous isn't clear yet, but we have lost an Auror already and they can kill themselves at will. All in all, they remain a big black box."
"That thoroughly stinks, little brother," Charlie sympathised with him. "I'm going to see what is taking Bill so long and tell him to think of something to cheer you up."
"Thanks," Ron said, seemingly alleviated a little bit by the responsibility on his shoulders.
**
"Hey."
Sitting sat on the bench under the starry night alone with his thoughts when he heard her voice.
"Hey, you. Why out so late?"
"Couldn't sleep and saw you out here," Andromeda said. "Why are you not sleeping?"
"Thinking, is all."
"You seem to do a lot of that recently."
"Do I have a choice?" he asked rhetorically. "No clue what's going on and I have to deal being a werewolf."
"That will be over soon," she tried to calm him.
"I don't know," he said. "I can't shake the feeling there is another reason we're here."
"I don't know, either," Andromeda admitted, "but wouldn't getting some sleep be a good idea?"
"it would,' he agreed, "but there is too much on my mind tonight."
"What do you think they want?"
"Who?"
"Whoever kidnapped you," she replied.
"Money? Influence? Power?" he fired off the first few suggestions that came into his mind. "It's the story of men, muggle and magic."
"Maybe they know our parents, maybe that's why they wanted to send a message."
"Maybe," he shrugged. The cool wind rustled the remaining leaves on top of the surrounding leaves and took a few with it.
"It scares me how much they might know about us," she said, pressing herself closer to Regulus, but whether form the fear or the chilly night, he could not fathom.
"Well, they're doing their best to find out more about them," he rejoined. "They'll have a weakness, they're bound to."
A/N: Two weeks later. Updating shouldn't be taking this long...
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