Forsaking Fate

Negotiations

Chapter 14

As Harry stepped into the hallway off the Headmaster's staircase, he stared in alarm as Sirius came flying past him up the stairs. Turning around, Harry ran back up after him. Coming up behind his Godfather, he listened as Sirius told everyone about the bracelet.

"We have to get it off," Sirius said desperately.

Sitting quietly against the wall, leaning lightly on Lily, Julia closed her eyes in defeat.

"Why should we?" Tonks asked, folding her arms across her chest. "She's just going to be sent to Azkaban anyway. We'll be helping everyone if we just let her die. She won't suffer and we won't have to waste time on a trial or space on a cell.

Lunging forward, Sirius closed his hands around the collar of her shirt.

"That's my child you're talking about! Now, you're going to help remove that thing because if she dies, you will be joining her!"

Smacking his hand away, Tonks just frowned at him.

"Sirius, calm down," Dumbledore ordered. "We'll remove the bracelet."

Nodding, Sirius turned on his heel and left.

*****

Two hours later the silver bracelet had been removed and over the next several days, Destiny gradually became better and by the end of the first week was breathing on her own. Still, there was no sign that she was going to be waking up any time soon, if at all.

Seeing the pain that his childhood friend had been forced to endure, Harry promised himself that as soon as she woke up, he was going to attempt to fix the mess that he had helped create.

*****

Walking swiftly through Voldemort's headquarters, Remus and Dakota Lupin squeezed each other's hands tightly. Approaching a group of shape shifters, they paused long enough to whisper their information before moving on. Behind them, the group stared in horror at the retreating couple's backs.

"That bastard!" an old woman hissed.

"He won't get away with it," a young man with brown hair muttered.

Nodding to each other, they separated to spread the news: Voldemort had attempted to kill the Necromancer Queen.

All loyalty had disintegrated for the Dark Lord.

*****

Watching the Lupins move stealthily through the mansion, Draco smiled bitterly. There was no help to be had from the good guys and now they would be outcasts from even the dark.

Shrugging, Draco moved away from the wall he was leaning on. Something would work out to keep them alive.

It always did.

*****

As classes came to an end on Friday, Harry hurried off to the Great Hall to eat so that he would have time to sit by Destiny's bed before the Order meeting tonight.

Shoving food into his mouth, he hurriedly placed what was left of his dinner into his napkin before standing.

"Are you leaving already?" Hermione asked, disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm off to the hospital wing."

Though Destiny had been placed in a room separate from the main wing and no one was supposed to know she was there, Harry had informed his friends to stop them from snooping around to find out on their own.

"I'll come with you," Ron stated, climbing to his feet.

"You don't have to," Harry replied uncomfortably.

"I know. I want to."

Nodding his acceptance, they left hurriedly, waving to Hermione who had reburied her nose in her book.

Arriving, Harry took his usual seat by the bed while Ron dragged up a chair to sit at the foot of it. Staring at the small pale face on the bed, Ron asked the question he'd been thinking about for over a week.

"Why did she decide to betray You-Know-Who? I mean, she was so high up that she must have been having a great life. Why would she do it?"

Harry was silent for so long that Ron didn't think he was going to respond, but finally he did.

"I don't think she ever believed in Voldemort's cause. Did you ever notice that she only joined him after it was announced what she was?" Swallowing difficultly around the lump that was suddenly lodged in his throat, he looked down guiltily.

"Harry. . ." Feeling helpless, Ron said faintly, "It wasn't your fault. . ."

"Then who's was it?"

Thinking hard, Ron finally answered decisively, "It's the Ministry's fault."

"How's that?"

"The Ministry passed all of those laws and started arresting people all over. Maybe she just wanted to protect those innocents and it was the only way she could think of."

Nodding slowly, Harry fell silent.

"Do you think she deserves Azkaban?" Harry asked.

Shaking his head, Ron said, "She doesn't deserve that."

"My parents don't agree with you there."

"Mine either."

"I wish I could go back to second year and have had the courage to stay friends with her. Maybe then Remus, Dakota and Destiny wouldn't be facing such horrible futures."

*****

As the Order meeting stretched into its second hour, Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Looking around, he saw his father shifting restlessly around and grinned.

As the topic turned from the attacks to where all of the refugees that were heading to Hogwarts were going to be placed, the door opened and five people stepped into the room. Rising swiftly to his feet, Dumbledore was reaching for his wand when Draco Malfoy lunged. Instantly, the wand was gone from his fingers and a hand was wrapped tightly around his throat. Pulling him backwards into a corner so no one could reach him with out going through the Headmaster, Malfoy bared his fangs, poised to strike. All of this had happened in the space of a heartbeat leaving the Order still sitting and unprepared.

Clapping her hands slowly, Constance Meara stepped forward smirking dangerously. "Nicely done Mr. Malfoy." Nodding his acknowledgement, Malfoy kept his attention on the Headmaster. "I wouldn't attempt to attack us. Draco here will crush your precious old man's throat before you can kill him--or any of us for that matter."

Silence reigned before Harry spoke up. Nervously, he stepped forward. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Constance laughed. "I want to go shopping in Diagon Alley. What about you Stanton; what do you want?"

"I suppose I want to be able to have a job," he replied thoughtfully. "Sitting around with no purpose becomes rather tiresome after a couple of hundred years."

Returning her attention to Harry, she tilted her head to the side. "You know what we want, now do something about it."

"Why should we do anything for you?" Dumbledore asked before gasping for breath as Draco Malfoy's grasp tightened. Feeling his fingernails bite into his palms as he watched the Headmaster fight for breath, Harry gritted his teeth. "We have your Queen," he gasped. "You have no leverage here."

"Oh, but we have plenty of leverage," Stanton replied. "We have your life."

"I am old; I am ready to die."

"You may be ready to die," a male voice stated from beneath the hood of a cloak at the back of the group, "but the Order is not ready for you to."

"I never figured you would join such a group Remus."

"I had no choice."

"There is always a choice!" James snapped.

"What choice? Like the choice Draco had when he was sent to the experimentation camp for simply being? Or like the choice Destiny had when the Ministry decided to use tracking devices? There has never been a choice because we've never been trusted enough to have had a chance!" Silence rang through the room as everyone stared at the usually calm werewolf. Loosening his grip on Dumbledore, Draco allowed him to breath easier. "All we're asking for is a chance."

Incredulously, Sirius asked, "So you're holding Albus hostage because you want a chance?"

"Sirius, stop being stupid." Julia reached out and smacked her husband upside the head. "Nobody was really listening to them, so now they're forcing us to."

"Why don't we sit down and talk this out?" Dumbledore offered calmly.

Glancing over at the other four, Draco let go at Remus' nod. Smiling, Dumbledore stepped away and conjured up more chairs for them.

"Just remember," Constance warned, "if something happens to us while we're here, we have people in position ready to kill your precious children. Don't disappoint us."

After a moment, Dumbledore nodded. "Alright, we're listening now. What do you want to say?"

Glancing at each other, Remus leaned forward and stated seriously, "We want children to not be taught to fear us. Yes, there are people who will kill for the fun of it but humans do that too. We want to stop being called Dark Creatures. If we can't be declared human then we want to be called Magical Beings.

"Magical Beings?" Tonks mused, smiling. "I like it."

Nodding to her, Constance said, "Fear creates hate, and hate creates more hate which had led us to where we are now. This has to stop before we all destroy each other."

Nodding, Dumbledore agreed with them. As discussion continued, Harry slipped out the door and made his way to the hospital wing.

*****

"Things are better now," Harry whispered squeezing the Necromancer's hand. "Your friends are negotiating with the Order to get things fixed." Several minutes passed before he spoke again. "I thought of a way to help you stay out of Azkaban. You can tell the Order what you know about Voldemort. I know you can't spy like Snape but you've been much closer to him than anybody so maybe you can help us think of what he'll do next."

Feeling the hand in his squeeze his lightly, he jumped.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes. . ."

Smiling at the raspy voice, he jumped to his feet. "I'll be right back with Madame Pomfrey."

"No. . ."

"Why?" Not receiving a reply he became concerned. "Do you know who I am?" Again there was silence. Reaching out, he poked her in the arm.

"Hmm. . . Stop it. . ."

Smiling, he realized that she was just trying to sleep. Deciding that she was in no immediate danger he sat back down and leaned back in his chair to wait.

*****

In Dumbledore's office, the meeting was coming to a close when Draco added that there was still one more thing they needed done.

"Until the end of this war," Draco stated, "Destiny Black is not to be sent to Azkaban."

"I cannot guarantee you that," Dumbledore replied regretfully.

"We're not saying that you have to clear her of any charges," Stanton answered. "We just want her left alone until the end of the war. As soon as Voldemort is dead, she's all yours."

"Why would we agree to such a request?" Moody snapped. "Why should we risk her escaping when we have her now?"

"You're going to agree because without her we cannot control the rest of our people." Smiling Dakota continued, "You understand of course."

Nodding slowly, Dumbledore agreed to their terms.

"Of course," Draco drawled, "We would be very happy if she was only given the most minimum of sentences."

Laughing, Dumbledore said, "I'm sure you would be."

"So, now what?" Tonks asked.

"Now we wait for Destiny to wake up."