Chapter 381
"Paris is more beautiful than I remember it." Augusta said quietly. "GeraldandI came here on our honeymoon, and we'd revisit every year on our anniversary. I haven't been back since he died." She shook her head. "I should bring Neville. Gerald would have loved to have shown him the sights."
"I lived here for a number of years." Remus murmured. He'd felt exiled; unableto find work in England and without anyone to care that he was absent fromhis homeland. It was nothing, Remus thought guiltily, compared to what Siriusand Harry had had to endure. "It's a beautiful city."
"Now I feel very boring." Richard commented wryly. "We usually holiday inour
place in Spain so we've rarely gone anywhere else."
"It was the fashion when I married to travel through Europe," Augusta
commented, picking up her tea and wincing at the taste, "not the Grand Toursthat used to be but the premise was similar."
"I rather had no choice in the matter." Remus pointed out gently. "It was travel
for work or find a position in the muggle world."
"Well, now I feel less boring." Richard quipped. He grinned. "This is the most
exciting thing I've done in years."
"Thank you for letting us come with you, Remus." Augusta added. Remus didn't think he'd had much choice in the matter. He rememberedall
too well the Potter Alliance meeting with only the Ancient and Noble Houseswhere Sirius had spilled the beans on the issue of Harry's affinity with thefamily magic…
"…and so after discovering my Grandfather's research into it, we think that theorigin story he found probably has the best explanation for why Harry canaccess your family magic; he's the most powerful wizard of his generation." Sirius sat back in his chair at the head of the Black Manor dining table. The afternoon tea spread was half-diminished, most of the gathered alliestucking in before Sirius had begun to speak. Remus observed who looked disturbed and who seemed more acceptingaround the table from his position at Sirius's left-hand side. They'd all hadtotake an Unbreakable Vow not to speak of anything revealed at the meetingwith anyone outside of the meeting before Sirius would let themattend, despite their existing oaths to the House of Potter or not. Augusta, on Sirius's right, nodded sharply. "Well, I think I can speak for most of
us here when I say we can understand your reticence in sharing this beforenow." Daniel Greengrass cleared his throat. There was a half-eaten and completelyforgotten scone on the plate in front of him. "How powerful is Harry?"
"As powerful as Voldemort." Sirius stated simply. Some of the allies flinched at the mention of the evil wizard.
"Or Albus, if you would prefer that comparison." Sirius added smoothly. Daniel leaned forward. "Everybody here knows that Voldemort is aroundinsome form thanks to you, Sirius, and the return of the Potter alliance." Henodded in Augusta's direction, acknowledging her part in constructing thealliance. "We all also know there is a plan that you and the Ministry, the DOMand the DMLE are pursuing to deal with him once and for all, although wedon't know the detail of it. Helping you by creating a strong Wizengamot
politically is one of the reasons I know I agreed to the alliance."
"Me too." Albert Goldstein added. Everyone else around the table nodded.
"And," Daniel said, "I think there are many of us who regret that last time weallowed Voldemort to gain the power he did and to have become so
complacent in the years since that we accepted his former cohorts andsupporters gaining as much political ground as they did."
"I think these things are partly why we all joined the alliance." Griselda
Marchbanks muttered. "We feel we are at least doing something to defeat thebastard now!"
"Importantly," Daniel stressed, his brown eyes gleaming with a surprisingamount of passion, "we all feel that this time, no matter that it is Harry's
banner we are gathering around, that we are not leaving a child to deal withVoldemort this time."
"What I think Dan is trying to say," Albert interjected dryly, "is that we
understand why you haven't said anything about Harry's power before now;
why you're keeping it quiet as much as possible. If You-Know-Who's continuedexistence was publically known and Harry's power was also known, it wouldbe far too easy for everyone to simply turn to your boy as the answer toYou-Know-Who." Sirius nodded gravely, and while Remus couldn't see relief anywhere on
Sirius's face he knew his friend well enough to know Sirius felt relief at
Albert's admission. "That has been a concern." He sighed. "Frankly, it is still aconcern because evidently Harry's affinity with the family magic is gainingnotice." He waved at Richard Bones. "Not just from you guys but BenjaminNott was kind enough to point out why Selwyn and Wilkes had agreed toadétente with the House of Black."
"It's rather hard for it not to gain notice when the totems keep showing upfor
Wizengamot sessions." Richard said dryly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 382
"Hear, hear." Griselda said.
"So, Arcturus found this origin story." Tiberius Ogden looked over at Siriuscuriously. "He knew about the lad's power?"
"There was an incident ruled by the DOM as need-to-know when Harry
was…well, very young, shall we say?" Sirius gestured toward the older man. "Harry managed to call the Black family magic and the Potter family magic. Arcturus and Charlus both witnessed it."
"I forget Harry has Black blood." Daniel commented. "His Grandmother wasaBlack, wasn't she?" Sirius nodded.
"One thing I don't understand," Carl Branstone cleared his throat, "why if heisso powerful has the scuttlebutt from Hogwarts been that he's, forgive mefor
stating it so bluntly, Sirius, but average?"
"Honestly, Carl has a point. We all expected Harry to be powerful," said JulianSapworthy, "but after the general rumour mill said that he was average
academically, I think most of us thought that the incident with Voldemort
when he was a baby was some kind of accidental magic rather than real
power." Sirius frowned. "There are a number of reasons but the main one is that after
Halloween in 'eighty-one, Albus placed a binding on Harry's power becausehewas concerned about the nature of Harry's scar, the one he received whenVoldemort cast the Killing curse at him." He waved his hand at the collectivegasp of horror; placing a binding in such a way was very frowned upon. "Albushad his reasons and he's apologised to Harry."
"You resolved the concern and had the binding removed?" Daniel inquired.
"Yes to both." Sirius agreed. "As most of you already know, Harry and I spent
some time at the Valley clinic in the States at the beginning of the Summer…"
"And rather than that time being primarily dealing with your healing as we'veassumed, Harry received healing alongside you." Griselda concluded briskly.
"The majority of the time we spent there involved retraining Harry's control of
his magic." Sirius conceded.
"What was Albus thinking?" Elphias Doge commented banging his fist onthetable. "To restrict the lad's power that way! It's unthinkable!"
"It didn't surprise me." Augusta said tartly. "Albus always thinks he knowsbest."
"It also explains why my daughter wrote to me that Harry's academic
performance has changed." Daniel commented, reaching for his napkin. "Hispower increase would be part of that, I assume?"
"On the practical side." Sirius agreed.
"And gaining a guardian who cares for him has done the rest." Augusta pattedSirius's arm. Sirius smiled at her. "He also understands more about his responsibilitiesandheritage now."
It was a deflection, Remus knew, from the implication that Harry's previousguardians hadn't cared for him. Some of the gathering didn't miss it though;
Daniel's eyes sharpened perceptively.
"While I don't wish to come across as suggesting we do let Harry deal withYou-Know-Who," Joseph Smith spoke up quietly, "my question is whether weactually believe the origin story that Arcturus uncovered and if so, does Harryhave the ability to defeat You-Know-Who using the family magic?"
"Good questions." Albert stated, reaching for his tea.
Remus cleared his throat before Sirius could reply. "Let me take the first
question as I've been involved with the research." Everyone turned to look at him.
"When we realised that Harry had an unusual relationship with his Housetotems, Bertie, Minerva McGonagall and I all looked into this with Sirius's andHarry's permission." Remus explained. "There are a multitude of origin storieswith only two things in common; firstly, that Merlin was involved in somewaywith the creation of family magic, and secondly, that it was created to defendour world."
"So Arcturus's origin story?" prompted Richard enthusiastically.
"Is one of many and what has become increasingly obvious to the three of usresearching is that the truth has long been forgotten." Remus concluded. "However, Arcturus's origin story does explain in a way the others do not whyyour House totems might have responded to Harry following the oath of
alliance that was made. But it's equally likely that the oath itself might havesomething to do with that."
"Ah." Richard frowned. "I hadn't considered that."
"It's a very good point," Daniel motioned with his teacup, "I felt somethingtugon my family magic during the first Potter alliance oath-taking but it wasn't
until the September session when I took part in the oath that my family
magic…shifted."
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"Weasley is in an alliance with the House of Potter too, isn't he?" Albert
questioned. "If it was just a question of oaths surely his totemshould haveresponded?"
"But he's not in the formal Potter alliance." Joseph pointed out. "Not like us." His hand swept around the table, taking in the gathered representatives of theAncient and Noble Houses within the alliance.
"You're suggesting that there needs to be an agreement between the original
thirty families for the magic to be called by a powerful wizard within the
collective?" Richard argued. "Because that's not going to happen."
"Not in any lifetime!" Carl agreed wholeheartedly. "Five of those families arelost now!"
"And the likes of Wenlock will never agree to anything!" pointed out Griselda. Remus exchanged a bemused look with Sirius as the rest of the table starteddebating the matter heatedly. Bemusement shifted to amusement whenGriselda made her point by whacking the back of Albert's hand with a spoon. Sirius shifted in his seat and coughed. It was enough to silence everyoneimmediately.
"Well, I think the debate has probably provided evidence for Remus's initial
answer to the first question of whether the origin story is true which to besuccinct is 'we don't know.'" Sirius said dryly. There were a few chuckles as everyone conceded the point.
"Has Harry used any of our family magic outside of the Wizengamot sessions, Sirius?" asked Daniel.
"He used the Longbottom magic to save Neville from a curse at the WorldCup." Sirius revealed. He held up his hand at the eager faces. "But again;
Neville swore his magic was Harry's in his fealty oath. We don't knowwhether
the fact that he called it is related to the origin story or not."
"What does the lad say?" asked Tiberius with characteristic bluntness. Remus could see from the tension in Sirius's face that he was debating
whether to answer honestly or not. Sirius sighed heavily and reached for his abandoned coffee. "Harry saidthat
when he went to protect Neville using our family magic, the Longbottombear
was just there waiting for him; that he just knew he could call it."
"And what does he say about calling the rest of the magic?" pressed Tiberius. Sirius shifted in his seat. "He has the sense that he could call it all if the
situation was bad enough but it would have to be very, very bad." His lips
thinned. "He also thinks that in such a circumstance he would pay for callingit
with his own life and magic. He wouldn't survive it." The revelation sobered the group.
"And that answers the second question." Albert muttered quietly.
"But he could use it to defeat You-Know-Who…" Carl sighed at Sirius's hardlook. "I'm sorry, Sirius, I'm not suggesting that we ask that of him."
"Good because that will only be happening over my dead body." Sirius
snapped.
"I can't blame you, Sirius, and well, after that ill-considered remark it's evenmore understandable to me why you wanted to keep this quiet." Griseldasaid, glaring at Carl herself. Carl held up his hands. "For the record, I don't believe asking a fourteen year
old boy to sacrifice himself is the answer to getting rid of Voldemort. I happento very much agree with Daniel's comments from earlier that our apathy last
time was disgraceful and one of the reasons why I joined this alliance wastodo my part this time in defeating You-Know-Who."
"For what it's worth, I don't think further research will help in this matter of thefamily magic." Tiberius's fist banged sharply on the top of the table, punctuating his point. "I'm inclined to go with the lad's view of what he canand cannot call; the price he feels he would pay for using it." Sirius glanced at Remus. Remus sighed. "Unfortunately we agree with you." Daniel motioned across the table. "I think we all know there is a lot you can't
share with us about the official plan beyond the political side, but I'massuming other avenues of defeating Voldemort are being pursued?"
"Yes." Sirius confirmed briskly.
"So, we know what's going on with the family magic and know it's probably
not the answer." Albert stated clearly. "We're also assured you are workingonother measures. Is there anything you need from us beyond political support?Because you know suddenly I don't think I'm doing enough."
"I echo Albert here." Richard said. "Knowing that our families might have beenchosen by Merlin to help defend the wizarding world…I'm not sure just sittingback and providing political support is enough anymore."
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Chapter 384
"Me either." Daniel said with a sigh.
"I'm old," Elphias said bluntly, "but I also feel the same." A chorus of agreement rang out.
"You know I gave Jeremy hell over the fealty but perhaps we should take anoath ourselves." Carl said.
"I don't think that's necessary." Sirius held up his hands. "Honestly, while weare honoured by the fealty of your Heirs, we would never have asked for it. Soit's great that you feel that way but truly political support is what we most
need from you."
"I'm afraid from an age perspective, it's probably all you'll get fromme!" Griselda remarked. "I won't last long in a duel these days."
"There's also the question of too many people knowing too much." Sirius
sighed. "As much as I hate keeping secrets from allies and friends…"
"There's a necessity or rather a balance to be kept between us knowing toomuch or too little especially when you have an evil wizard tormenting your
son." Daniel finished with a sharp nod. "We understand."
Remus was reminded he'd been present for Travers not being Travers inthecourtroom. Daniel motioned around the table. "Perhaps there's a compromise? You
delegate more of the political side to us? Wenlock is building his opposition;
we can help there."
"Damn right, we can!" Griselda remarked, her eyes shining with glee.
"And we can help formulate and get the legislation organised." Leonard Abbot
said loudly above the clamour of agreement. "You remain the leader andincharge but let the rest of us do the legwork."
"I agree," Augusta said turning to Sirius, "and you should let us help you withresearch. You don't necessarily need to disclose why you need somethingresearched; we can simply research any given topic without you having toexplain it."
"I would be up for that." Richard said.
"Any help you need to protect Harry…" Carl offered. "You only have to ask." Everyone turned to look at the head of the table.
"What say you, Sirius?" Augusta asked with a smirk. "Will you accept our
help?" Sirius's expression melted into one of confidence complete with a
Marauderish smirk (and Remus knew his friend was already plotting howtowork all the Ancient and Noble Houses present offering additional and
unconditional help to his advantage just as Arcturus had taught him). "Howcan I possibly say no?" And so Sirius hadn't said no which was how Remus found himself a monthlater in Paris with Richard and Augusta tracking down the Lumiere sourceOllivander had mentioned in Arcturus's memory. It had worked out thoughsince the rare antiquities dealer Remus had found had insisted on dealingwiththe Head of a House not with a lowly steward. Unsurprisingly Sirius hadnointentions of leaving England with the Tri-Wizard Tournament only a coupleof
days away. Richard and Augusta had both been told by Remus and Sirius that
the Lumiere document they were after had mention of the Deathly Hallowswhich were being considered as one potential way of defeating Voldemort but
nothing about the location of the Hallows. Remus checked the time. "We should make our way to the Plaza Magique." Richard sighed but obediently drank down his coffee. Augusta left the
remainder of her tea – a sign that she hadn't enjoyed the taste at all. The entrance to the Plaza wasn't far from the café. A small bar providedacover in much the same way The Leaky Cauldron did for Diagon Alley. The
dealer, Armaund Fevrier, was located just off the Plaza down a cobbled
side-street they easily found. His undistinguished door had a simple plaquewith his name on it and Remus rang the doorbell. A busty rotund woman with red cheeks, flyaway blonde hair and a large whiteapron answered. "Yes?" She asked rudely in French.
"Good afternoon, Madame," Remus answered flawlessly in the same language, "Madame Longbottom and Lord Bones are here to see Monsieur Fevrier asscheduled." He handed her the parchment that Fevrier had sent confirmingtheir appointment. The housekeeper sniffed. "This way." She showed them to a front parlour but
didn't offer them refreshments or to take their coats. Augusta raised her eyebrows expressively at the lack of manners as she tookoff her gloves and unwound her scarf.
"She reminds me of the nanny Amelia pushed into the pond when we werechildren." Richard confided with a wink. Remus stifled a laugh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 385
"What's the betting Monsieur Fevrier will keep us waiting here a while?" askedRichard, shucking off his own coat and placing it on the armof the chair he
had chosen to sit on.
"My mother didn't raise a fool, Richard." Augusta parried, arranging her longskirt as she sat down.
"Mine didn't raise one either." Remus said dryly when Richard turned to himwith a grin. Richard pouted. "You're both no fun!" He motioned at Remus. "You were quitethe prankster in your youth; you must have some stories." Remus grinned back at him and began a tale of how the Marauders hadturned the DADA classroom into a tropical jungle during their fourth year. Hehad segued into a slightly different story of pranking the Professors for theleaving feast in their fifth year by the time Fevrier showed up. The tall thin man looked as though a stiff breeze would blow himover. Hisbald head was as chalk white as the rest of his complexion. His hoodedblackeyes gave little away.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting." Fevrier began as he took Augusta'shand and kissed her knuckles.
"I hope the wait was worth it," Augusta said in flawless French, "I amMadameLongbottom, Regent of the House of Longbottom." She waved a hand at
Richard. "This is Lord Bones, Head of the House of Bones." Fevrier shook
hands with him. "We are here in Lord Black's stead. You have already
corresponded with Remus Lupin, his steward."
"The werewolf, yes," Fevrier dismissed Remus as unimportant without somuch a look in his direction. Augusta bristled and Remus shook his head minutely. There was no point
getting upset about it. France might have had better working regulations for
werewolves but discrimination was still rife.
"Perhaps we can speak English as Lord Bones does not speak a great deal of
French." Augusta said as Fevrier sat in an uncomfortable chair opposite her. Remus and Richard retook their seats.
"Of course," Fevrier said in heavily accented English, "my apologies, LordBones."
"Quite alright." Richard said politely. "Shall we get down to business?"
"You indicated that you had knowledge of the document Lord Black seekstopurchase." Augusta added. Fevrier smiled superiorly at them, clasping his hands together lightly. "The
Lumiere parchment is a rare document. It has been many years since it waslast sought."
"Lord Black has an interest in rare things." Augusta said. Fevrier tilted his head. "Do not think me an idiot, Madame, I amwell awareof
why Lord Black would be interested in this parchment." He smiled again. "Hisward is the last of the Peverells, non?" Augusta smiled sharply in return. "Then you need no explanation as to why
Lord Black is keen to secure this document for Lord Potter's family vault."
"And perhaps to learn of the secrets of the Hallows, n'est pas?" Fevrier
rejoined, not losing his smile in the face of Augusta's lack of reaction.
It was Richard who chuckled wryly. "I'm fairly sure that Sirius knows that
learning the secrets of the Hallows is pointless unless he finds out wheretheyare." He grinned at Fevrier. "I don't suppose you have any leads on where theHallows might be? They are rare antiquities after all." Fevrier hung onto his smile but only just. "I suspect that Lord Black may knowmore than you think."
"I'm certain he does," Richard agreed happily, "but why he wants the document
isn't pertinent to our discussion; you either have information for us or youdon't. If you have it, we'll pay a fair price as already agreed; if you don't, then
you have wasted our time and yours."
It was the first time Remus had heard an underlying hint of steel in Richard'svoice. Augusta sent Richard a look of approval.
"Very well," Fevrier conceded, "there are three known copies of the Lumieredocument. The original resides in the French Ministry of Magic within thearchives as it was seized during the Revolution from the King." He gave asmall shrug. "It will not be easy to locate given the state of the archives."
"The other copies?" prompted Augusta impatiently.
"The second copy – a duplicate of the first – is held by Lumiere's remainingdescendant, Vivien Verte." Fevrier waved a hand in an expressive gesture. "Vivien is part Veela. She lives in a protected enclave in Alsace. She has
allowed no-one to see the document in over fifty years." Protected enclaves meant that a Veela would be required to make contact. Remus struggled to think of a Veela that they knew well enough to entrust
with such a task and came up empty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 386
"The last copy is a translation from the original Latin into Italian and is ownedby the Italian wand maker Cavietti. He once tried to sell it to me some yearsago but we disagreed on the price." Fevrier's long fingers tapped the armof
his chair.
Richard and Remus exchanged a look.
"Can you provide proof of Cavietti's document?" Richard asked. Fevrier huffed. "Do any of you speak Italian?" Remus did but he wasn't about to tell Fevrier that. He shook his head alongwith Richard and Augusta.
"I have a memory of his showing me the document in Rome when we met
last." Fevrier said. "I am uncertain whether it would be useful to showit toyouas you do not speak the language."
"Is there a moment where the document is shown?" asked Remus. "Italianisclose to Latin; we should be able to make out enough of the written versiontomake a determination." For a long moment Fevrier looked as though he was going to ignore the
question as Remus had asked it but when Richard stared at the dealer
pointedly, Fevrier nodded. Richard waved his hand. "Bring on the memory then."
"I agree." Augusta concurred. The dealer regarded them thoughtfully and unfolded himself fromthe chair. Apensieve was produced in short order and they all entered along with thedealer. The memory began with Fevrier at the door of Cavietti's shop being greetedbythe wand maker himself. Cavietti was a short stout man with black greasedback hair and a small handlebar moustache. He wore simple plain robes. Ashe led Fevrier through the shop, Remus noted it was surprisingly minimalisticwith only a small counter, a waiting area and a room where matches betweencustomers and wands were evidently made. The back roomwas equally tidy;
a large workbench took up the centre with cabinets filled with materials
covering all the walls. A door to the side led to a storage roomwhich waswhere Remus assumed Cavietti kept his wands. The memory showed a framed parchment covered in a cloth lying on theworkbench. Cavietti stopped in front of it.
"Here it is." Cavietti said in Italian. Memory Fevrier nodded. "Let me see it then." The cloth was removed.
Remus stared at the parchment eagerly. The seal at the bottomlooked
authentic…
"This is very clever, no?" Fevrier said. "Just enough of the original translatedtobe believable but not enough to give away the secrets contained within that
document. It is said that Albert Lumiere was wise to create this deceptiontodivert attention from his Ancestor's original parchment."
"How much?" Cavietti said. The memory ended and Remus came back to himself with a start. He kept hisexpression blank but caught Richard's eye and gave a minute shake of hishead.
"I propose that you place me on retainer and allow me to make the initial
approach to Cavietti." Fevrier announced. "I am certain I can negotiate a gooddeal for Lord Black." Richard smiled. "I'm afraid any kind of retainer agreement will have to be
discussed with Lord Black."
"Indeed," Augusta said.
"The fee as agreed." Remus withdrew the bank draft from his pocket.
"Very well." Fevrier said, plucking the envelope from his hands. "I would not
wait too long before securing my services."
"We'll take that under advisement." Augusta said dryly. They were ushered out quickly and spent a moment in front of the houseslipping on coats, gloves and scarves. Augusta sniffed heavily at the rudeness of not being allowed to dress properlyfor the outdoors before being shown the door. She lead themback to thebar, ordered them all Firewhiskeys and directed them to a booth at the back. Remus cast the privacy charm before he raised his glass in a silent toast andknocked it back. "Well, that was almost a waste of time."
"Almost?" questioned Augusta, knocking back her own drink, "I would say it
was a waste of time."
"No, some of it was useful. He did earn the fee for meeting us." Remus
disagreed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 387
"I'm with Augusta." Richard said, nursing his Firewhiskey. "What was useful?"
"He corroborated the intelligence we had on the original," Remus said, "Bertietracked the likely location of it down to the French Ministry and has already
asked his counterpart if he could see it. He's waiting on the reply."
"Which could take forever." Augusta said.
"Exactly," Remus said, "but that Fevrier confirmed it was with the FrenchMinistry…"
"Confirms that Bertie's tracking is probably on target." Richard said with asmile. "And I assume the other useful information is Vivien Verte?"
"Yes," Remus said, "Minerva suggested a while ago that we track down
Lumiere's family; she managed to find a genealogy book that listed MadameVerte as the last living descendant." He sighed. "But we were unable to locateher…"
"Until now." Richard completed.
"I don't suppose either of you know a trustworthy Veela who we could asktoapproach her?" Remus asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid I don't know any Veela." Augusta said. "I recall Dorea had a penpal
for a number of years – a Marguerite Limone. I think they were vaguely relatedthrough Dorea's mother; cousins several times removed. Minerva may knowher better."
"I'll ask her." Remus said.
"What about that whole thing with Cavietti?" Richard asked, curiosity all over
his face. "You were quick to say no."
"Fevrier confirmed in his discussion with Cavietti in the memory that the
translation is incomplete." Remus said simply.
"You speak Italian." Richard stated with glee.
"Enough." Remus said. "Really once you've learned Latin, stumbling throughany of the romantic languages is quite easy."
"For you maybe." Richard laughed.
"So Cavietti's parchment is of no use?" Augusta said with a sharp nod. "I
thought so."
"I think it may have been the version that was told to Arcturus." Remus said.
"I'll have to look at my memory of seeing the memory; I might be able totranslate more of it. Certainly what I did translate in my brief glance indicatesit could be Arcturus's original source."
"Well, not a waste of time then." Richard said, raising his glass. "What areyougoing to do with Fevrier?"
"He's a character, isn't he?" Remus murmured.
"A rude and untrustworthy one." Augusta said sharply. "You're not seriously
thinking of doing any further business with him?"
"Putting him on a retainer and letting him get the Cavietti version for us might
ensure his continued silence to the likes of Voldemort's supporters over here." Remus said. "Moreover, Sirius will probably want the Cavietti version if only totake it off the market for anyone else."
"Good point." Richard drained his drink. "Shall we head back to the
apartment?"
"Sounds like a plan." Remus said. The three of them were staying in the Blackapartment near Notre Dame. They gathered their things as Remus dispelled the privacy bubble.
They'd taken a step away from the booth when Remus caught a sniff of
perfume and froze. He turned immediately in the direction of the scent. Collette Panierre smiled back at him. Her strawberry blonde hair was tiedbackinto a French plait. Her delicate features, liberally sprinkled with freckles borethe faint scars of her lycanthropy. Her blue-green eyes met his with
amusement.
"Collette!"
"Bonjour Remus, my friend!" Collette sprang forward and embraced him, kissing both his cheeks with Gallic flair before moving back to regard himproperly. Collette had been the one bright spot in his spying days; if anyone had ever
come close to convincing Remus that joining a formal pack had benefits, it
was Collette. Collette had been fifteen when she had been bitten by a werewolf after gettinglost in the forest on her way home after dark on the night of a full moon. Her
mother had home schooled her, determined that her daughter would haveevery advantage regardless of her lycanthropy, and the werewolf responsiblefor the bite had apologised fulsomely and taught Collette everything he knewabout coping with the condition, including introducing her to his usual pack. She and Remus had been occasional lovers when they were younger but withthe understanding that it was never leading anywhere.
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Remus drank in the sight of her. Augusta coughed delicately.
"Forgive me," Remus said, hastily turning to introduce Collette to AugustaandRichard. Collette wrapped her arm around Remus's. "You will forgive me if I steal
Remus from you for a few hours. We have so much to talk about! My brothersare keen to talk with you again." And that was enough to start a flurry of nerves within Remus's gut becausethe only brothers Collette had were part of the pack she ran with. Richard evidently guessed enough from Remus's sharp look to be concerned. "Remus?" Remus took a breath. If the pack wanted to talk with him, he should probablyat least listen to what they wanted to say. "I'll meet you back at the apartment
for dinner."
"If you're sure." Augusta pressed.
Remus nodded. Augusta shot Collette a hard look. "We will be waiting for himand I expect himto be returned in the same pristine condition as he is now or there will betrouble." Collette inclined her head. Richard and Augusta said their goodbyes anddeparted. Remus felt Collette squeeze his arm.
"You have good friends." Collette said with a sigh. "You always did."
"I hope I can still count you among them." Remus said bluntly. She smiled and nodded. "You are safe, Remus; I promise."
It was as much reassurance as he was likely to get, he realised. He fell intostep beside her as she headed back to the Plaza and an apparition point. The side-along finished in front of a rustic looking bar on the other side of
Paris. The rundown outside screamed 'locals only' but Remus set aside his uneaseand followed Collette inside. The dark interior was cosy rather than
threatening. One side of the room had a long scarred wooden bar in front of averitable treasure trove of alcoholic beverages and an old-fashioned coffeemachine. Two old wizards, their hands gnarled with age, sat playing dominoswith glasses of Firewhiskey in front of them. The other side of the roomwasfilled with small wooden tables whose surfaces looked sticky, old and
non-matching chairs piled around them in odd numbers. They were all empty. Collette grinned at him and pulled him through to the back room. The small
space was filled with a card table and more mis-matched chairs. It was
already filled with five men and another woman. Remus identified one of the men immediately. "Tomas!?" The Bulgarian Auror stood and shook his hand. "Let me introduce you; thisisGregor, my pack Alpha." The pack Alpha of the Slavic werewolves, Remus determined, shaking handsand trying to appear unaffected as his heart raced. Gregor took over the introductions as Tomas stepped back. "Giovanni
Lippott." He waved at the brown haired man next to him.
Giovanni had been the pack leader of the Italian pack for more years thanRemus had been born. Remus was very respectful as he shook hands withhim.
"Otto Klein." Gregor continued around the table. The German werewolf Alpha, Remus noted as the blond Aryan bowed his headin acknowledgement rather than offering his hand.
"And you already know Robert Martin," Gregor waved at the man who hadpulled Collette into a hug, "and Sian Kelly." Robert must have taken over as the leader of the pack in France, Remus
mused, taking in the comfortable familiarity of affection between himandCollette. He and Robert hadn't interacted much during Remus's time withthepack but he had a vague recollection of a fair and intelligent wizard whohadbeen a fisherman before he'd been turned. Sian, all dark hair and flashing blue eyes, smiled at him sharply. She was part
of Fenrir's pack – the pack that ostensibly was based in England – but shedisliked Fenrir. They'd been friends of a sort when Remus had tentatively
started his spying but they had clashed over Remus's refusal to depose Fenrir
and take the pack for himself.
"Please take a seat." Gregor said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 389
Remus sat down and shucked off his coat. He was unnerved, he could admit
that to himself. He had effectively been shanghaied into a meeting with theEuropean werewolf leadership. It was the type of meeting that Albus haddreamed of him attending back in the first war and one that Remus hadalways taken pains to tell him would never happen – Remus just wasn't
important enough to attract the attention of the werewolf leaders and, frankly, given his spying, he had thought at the time it was for the better that they
disregarded him.
"You will forgive us for the impromptu nature of this meeting but when wereceived news that you would be in France this day we thought it prudent toact and request your forgiveness at the lack of notice." Gregor explained.
"I admit that I'm intrigued at the intrigue." Remus said politely. Collette grinned at him and slipped out of Robert's hold. "Let me get youall adrink. Hot chocolate for you, Remus?"
"Thank you." Remus said. They waited until she left before speaking again. Gregor began. "There are two matters on which we should speak…"
"Three," corrected Sian interrupting. Gregor bared his teeth at her. "Remember you are present at our indulgence, Sian." Sian flushed.
"We hear the news that Britain has established a new Committee to look intothe affairs of magical races and creatures; to review existing legislation withthe intent to overhaul the entire system." Gregor motioned at Remus. Remus nodded. "It was proposed at the October Wizengamot and passedwitha majority."
"Ah, yes. The infamous Potter alliance." Gregor said with a smile.
"Harry's agenda has gained a great deal of support across the political
spectrum." Remus defended briskly.
"An agenda wholly supported and promoted by his guardian Lord Black." Ottogestured at Remus. "Sirius Black has something of a reputation." Gregor grunted. "There are those of us who remember himfromhis timeasaHit Wizard. He was ruthless."
"We were at war." Remus said simply.
"The political landscape in Britain has changed with a speed that has
surprised those of us on the Continent." Otto commented. "Possibly becauseyour Mister Crouch has been distracted with other matters. Perhaps becausewe were not expecting…" he made a frantic gesture at Robert as he struggledfor words. Robert opened his mouth but someone else spoke first.
"Nobody was expecting Sirius to tear down the British wizarding world andremake it for the Boy Who Lived." Sian said brusquely. Remus couldn't prevent the smirk that emerged at that. Sian and Sirius hadmet only once but the meeting had been fraught since Sirius had always beenoverprotective about Remus and Sian had been annoyed that Remus hadgood friends outside of the pack.
"You really should have done." Remus said to her. "Nothing is more important
to Sirius than Harry."
"How far is he going to go?" asked Sian impatiently.
"In other words," Giovanni slipped in smoothly, "what is the agenda wherewerewolves are concerned?"
"Equality and help." Remus answered promptly. "Harry believes that
werewolves are primarily wizards and witches who shouldn't lose their rightsjust because they've been infected with lycanthropy." Sian growled. "So you have already set him against the packs?" And this was always what Sian and he had disagreed on fundamentally.
"Sian, you believe we are werewolves first," Remus stated calmly, "that beingbitten, whether out of choice as you were bitten, or by accident as Collettewas, or in a purposeful act of violence as I was bitten, makes us somethingother than human, something supernatural and special. You believe that weshould all embrace the wolf and the pack; that they provide us with a societyand belonging that we won't find anywhere else." He paused. "I can appreciatewhy you and everyone within the packs feels that way, why the packs evolvedin the first place. The prejudice against us is harsh even in countries like
Bulgaria where the laws are certainly fairer on paper than many other
countries."
"But?" prompted Giovanni with interest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 390
"But," Remus replied, "excepting the true shifter communities in Africa andtheAmericas, werewolves are made not born. We all start out as human. Someof
us want to remain human; have the same opportunities as other wizards and
witches; have the same lives as much as we can as those we had beforewewere bitten." He shrugged. "The only way for that to happen is if the prejudicewithin our society is tackled and one day eradicated. Harry wants that." Hehad to work to keep the tears out of his eyes and the emotion out of his voice. "Harry wants that for me."
"And what does he think of the packs?" Gregor asked, shooting Sian a lookthat told her to remain quiet.
"He knows they exist and we've talked how most of them provide werewolveswith a community and support system." Remus explained. "We've also talkedabout why some of the packs sided with Voldemort in the last war and whymost stayed neutral." He rubbed his chin. "If Harry has any view, it's that solong as nobody sides with Voldemort in the way Fenrir did in the past, he'sfinewith the packs."
"And your Lord Black?" Otto pressed. "Will he be fine with us on that basisalso?"
"Yes." Remus said with conviction. "As long as you don't intend to hurt Harryinany way, Sirius is a live and let live kind of guy. If you intend to set yourself
against Harry in any way," he shot Sian a look, "then Sirius will tear downtheentire world to eliminate you and every single member of your pack." He
paused for a beat. "And I would be right beside him." Gregor laughed delighted apparently with the bluntness. "And this…this is whywe wished to speak with you."
The moment was broken by Collette arriving back with the drinks. Espressocoffee for Otto, Giovanni and Robert, a bottled beer for Sian, a glass withclear
liquid that Remus decided was probably vodka for Gregor and hot chocolatefor himself. Sian huffed out an exasperated breath as she gestured with her beer at him. "Sirius hated the packs."
"Sirius hated my spying on the packs and putting myself at risk." Remus
corrected. "He also hated that some werewolves did side with Voldemort andwent around terrorising people."
"You could have stopped that if you'd challenged Fenrir for the pack." Siandeclared.
"We are not getting into that argument again." Remus said firmly. "I amnot anAlpha." The others around the table exchanged amused looks.
"My dear Remus," Gregor said with laughter colouring his words, "you wouldnot be sat at this table if you were not an Alpha."
"Oh." Remus had no idea what to say to that.
"Tomas informed me that you do not think as a wolf," Gregor continued, "andthus you do not see that you are the most powerful wolf in your country. Youoccupy a place of authority within society; you can influence those whoarereshaping the laws and public opinion. Within the pack you have createdfor
yourself, you are the only true wolf and therefore the Alpha."
"If you declared your pack open to others, others would flock to join you." Ottopicked up where Gregor stopped. "This actually is the second thing we wishtospeak to you about." Remus felt breathless and wondered if it was shock or panic. He took a longsip of comforting hot chocolate.
"And the third reason is the reason why Sian is here; because the majority of
Fenrir's pack no longer wishes to follow him." Robert said. Sian glared at him but nodded as she turned to Remus. "Fenrir has gone backto his Master like a dog with a wagging tail." Remus stiffened. "He's rejoined Voldemort?"
"Over a month ago." Sian waved her bottle at him. "We didn't knowat first; hejust disappeared for days without word of where he had gone or what he wasdoing. Then he came back and broke the news last week at a pack meeting, before disappearing again."
"Damn it." Remus swore furiously. Voldemort was gathering quite the inner
circle; the missing Travers, the unknown Polyjuice guy who everyone agreedmust have had some connection to the LeStranges, Peter, and nowFenrir. And they all posed a threat to Harry. He was going to kill Fenrir himself, Remus decided; he wouldn't let a rabid animal like Fenrir harmHarry.
"You know, Remus, that the majority of us didn't take part last time." Siansaidurgently. "Fenrir was our Alpha but only those who were stupid followedhiminto the raids. Most of them are dead now or have gained some maturity torealise that Fenrir's leadership made things worse for us not better." She sat
back, an air of defeat on her face. "We all recognise that this time we won't
survive it if he embroils us in a war, either because he himself will beat usintosubmission or because Sirius will come after us." She looked up at him, blueeyes hard with determination. "Which is why we need a new leader."
It was a variation of the same argument they'd had in the last war. But withthe acknowledgement that apparently he held some kind of Alpha status, Remus felt his wolf's sense of responsibility surge. He took another sip of chocolate to steady himself. "Why don't we tacklethisin order?" He waved around the table at Gregor and the other leaders. "I
assume your packs wish to negotiate some kind of neutrality between themand Sirius?"
"We wish to negotiate some kind of neutrality between us and you as theAlpha of your pack." Gregor corrected gently.