"I know." Arthur admitted quietly. "It's just…I think she's just feeling displaced with Harry. We both decided to treat him as one of our own because it was obvious he wasn't cared for, and in your Mum's eyes, Sirius has taken her child away from her."
Bill sighed heavily. "Dad, he was never hers, and if you two had truly wanted to treat him as one of your own, why didn't you make more of an effort to get him away from his previous situation?"
"We tried," Arthur retorted, a flash of anger creeping into his voice, "after the Chamber, I tried when I spoke with Professor Dumbledore about the life debt but he was insistent that the muggle place was safest for Harry and I let his judgement overrule my own. Your Mum talked with him too with the same result." He slumped against the workbench and folded his arms. "To be truthful, I think part of your Mum's problem with Sirius is that he managed to do what we couldn't."
That was unfortunate and there was a thick layer of guilt in his father's voice. Bill repressed the urge to sigh again. "At least you tried and Harry obviously appreciates what you and Mum did do. But speaking as your Heir who is also in the service of the House of Potter, Mum needs to back off Sirius and you need to tell her that before this party tonight and definitely before tomorrow and Harry's birthday bash."
Arthur nodded wearily. "What about your service, Bill? Are you enjoying it?"
"I am," Bill said, "I mean, it's mainly been research so far, but we put a theory to Croaker yesterday and hopefully getting called in means we got permission to go ahead and check it out."
"Be careful." Arthur said.
Bill embraced his father tightly. "Good luck with Mum." Somehow Bill thought his father had the more dangerous job of the two of them. He hurried out of the shed and beyond the wards before apparating straight to the Ministry.
He just made it to the conference room in the DOM on time, sneaking in and taking a seat by Caro only a moment before Croaker, Bones and Scrimgeour arrived.
Caro shot him a look and Bill gave her a wink in response. They'd bonded over their shared love of curse-breaking and while Caro hadn't been able to say much about her MI7 experience, she and Bill had managed to trade a few stories. She was fascinated by his tales of Egypt and he had found her stories of adventures in undisclosed places equally as interesting.
A briefing folder appeared before Bill and he opened it to check that most of it was the information he and Lawrence had put together. He glanced around the rest of the room and realised that the five sat on the other side of the conference table were probably the Rat Squad.
Bones cleared her throat. "OK, so brief introductions and then we'll start." She pointed at the nearest person which was Bill.
Bill gave a small wave. "Bill Weasley but I'm pretty sure the hair gave it away."
Everyone chuckled and the introductions went quickly. Croaker stepped into give the briefing, sketching out for the purpose of the Treasure Team in vague terms for the Rat Squad, the background to Little Hangleton and why they thought one might be there. Bill felt his adrenaline start to flow as the anticipation built; they'd gotten the permission – he could taste it.
Bones took centre stage, a formidable presence in her no-nonsense blue robes, her hair tied back in a serviceable bun and her posture parade ground perfect. "OK, listen up. These plans were proposed by Lord Black and agreed by the War Council last night."
"In one hour, Wood, Chambers and Ambrey are to go scout the Manor; Brooks and Cambridge the Gaunt cottage." Bones said. "If Riddle and Pettigrew are there, set up passive monitoring and retreat."
"If they're not there, then Caro and Bill will go in to look for the object we think Riddle has secreted there." Croaker added. "Lawrence, you'll remain here at base for any information they need on the fly."
Lawrence nodded, his long grey hair covering his face.
"While the Treasure Team work to find their target, the Rat Squad will keep look-out." Bones said. "If Riddle and Pettigrew turn up, set up the monitoring and retreat."
"Ma'am, why are we retreating?" Ambrey asked bluntly, her Mediterranean looks of dark hair and eyes with olive complexion looked exotic in the sterile conference room. "Shouldn't we capture them both?"
"We need the treasure before we can tackle Riddle. If they make their way to Little Hangleton, we'll know where they are and can move on them at a moment's notice." Bones explained briskly. "If the Treasure Team find the target, they'll retrieve it and put in a duplicate, re-establish the traps and depart. Rat Squad will set up monitoring in case Riddle finds his way there. Any other questions?"
There was silence.
"Well, one final thing from me then," Croaker said with a smile, "it's come to the attention of Lord Black that incentives have been offered outside of these teams for finding the rat. Lord Black sent me a note this morning saying he wants to make the playing field fair so…if you find the rat, the Rat Squad gets a thousand galleons each. Treasure Team – you'll be getting a thousand galleons each for every item you bring in."
"Let's get to it." Bones ordered.
They separated outside the room with Caro taking Bill down to the Unspeakables' locker room. He changed into a more generic muggle outfit of denim jeans, checked shirt and a windbreaker anorak. He exchanged his dragon-hide boots for hiking boots. He settled for tying his long hair back with a strip of leather and replacing his fang ear-ring with a silver stud that couldn't get caught on anything. His curse-breaking tools went into a small back-pack.
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