Sins of the Father

Edwina winced as she entered the Common Room. It seemed like each and every Slytherin was packed in there, all talking at once. She felt the familiar clench of pain in the region of her chest, like a claw tightening around her heart. She wanted to shout, to scream at them to just shut up, but nothing would come out of her throat, even if she did try.

The topic of conversation was, of course, the Tri-Wizard Tournament and who might try to enter. She could care less. It was the other announcement this evening that concerned her.

She needed to speak to her brother. Evan was a little prat, but family was family and they needed to stick together on this one. She wondered again how it was that she managed to have a brother who was so different from herself. If it wasn´t for the fact that they both strongly resembled each other, she´d have put him down as a changeling, or maybe the result of some illicit affair of their mother. Merlin only knew that Mother had plenty of other illicit actions--there was a good reason that she was in Azkaban.

She had to wander a bit through the crowd, letting the waves of noise wash over her. Her head was throbbing by the time she spotted him. Evan was talking furiously to Leighton, his hands gesturing in a way that could only mean Quidditch. Edwina eased her way over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What the...oh. What do you want?" he looked annoyed, but then, that wasn´t unusual.

She jerked her head towards the corridor leading to the dormitories.

Evan grimaced, but nodded. "I´ll see you later, "he told his mates. "I have to talk with her."

"She talks?" laughed Garrett, his crooked teeth painfully evident.

Edwina thought longingly of a certain curse she knew that would cure his dental problems once and for all. He´d have no teeth left, certainly, but life was like that sometimes.

She followed Evan out of the room, into the corridor. The girls´ rooms were to the left, the boys´ to the right, and dead center was the room the prefects shared, so that they could listen for the footsteps of anyone foolish enough to be out at night. Fortunately, the noise level here was lowered to a dull roar.

"What do you want, then?" asked Evan. "Is this about Moody?"

She nodded.

"You think we should do something."

She nodded again.

"You think we should talk to Professor Snape, is that it?"

Bad idea to go to the Professor first, she thought. The prefects might take offense. Better to ask one of them first, then have them approach Snape. They´d remember, later, that the Rosiers had bothered to use the chain of command. But rather than say any of that, she just shook her head.

"Not the Professor..." Evan looked confused. "Then who do we talk to?"

Really, the boy was thick. She raised her eyebrows.

It took him a minute. "Prefect. One of the prefects."

She smiled.

"Right,then. Might as well do it now."

They went back into the Common Room. Evan made a beeline for Montague, the Sixth-Year Prefect. Edwina followed at a slower pace. Richard Montague was the star chaser for the Slytherin team, as well as a top student and prefect. He was tall, dark and handsome, with the most extraordinarily pale eyes. She really would have preferred to deal with Charlotte D´Arcy, the other prefect.

Montague was deep in conversation with Warrington, Sykes and Nott, who looked a little worse for the wear. She´d heard that he´d been trampled at the World Cup, but it was another thing to actually see the bruises. Evan had wanted to go see the finals, but Grandfather had not been well and Uncle Owen was busy with negotiations in Tibet.

"This might be for the best," Montague was saying to an obviously unhappy Warrington. "Yeah, Wood graduated, but they still have Potter and Johnson, and the Weasleys. We´ve only yourself, myself and Malfoy ready for action, and, let´s be realistic, Malfoy probably hasn´t gotten any better over the summer."

Warrington looked like he wanted to argue the issue, when he noticed the Rosiers standing beside them. "Anything we can help you with, Rosier?"

"Need to talk to Montague," Evan´s voice broke a little.

"Later," Montague waved them off. "Come see me tomorrow."

Evan shrugged and looked up at her. She tightened her lips and then leaned down to tap Montague on the shoulder.

He glared at her, his light eyes as sharp as steel. "Later, I said."

She took a deep breath. "Now..." To his astonishment, she added, "Please."

"She´s pretty upset," added Evan, trying to capitalize on the moment. "We need your advice, as a prefect."

"I see," Montague sighed and rose from the table. "Excuse me, gentlemen. Duty Calls."

He led them outside the Common Room and down the hall to one of the empty Dungeon classroom. He leaned against a desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "So. Would you care to tell me what this is all about?"

He was looking at her, but she nudged Evan, who gave her a dirty look, then replied, "Moody."

"And?"

"I don´t know if you know this. He killed our father, years ago. Put our Mum in Azkaban, as well."

Montague´s face changed. He glanced at Edwina. "Is this true?"

She nodded.

Evan continued, "We don´t talk about it much, but of all people..."

"Yeah, I can see that," he seemed to think for a moment, "You two can´t be the only ones here whose family Moody has gone after. I heard he was quite a terror way back when. I doubt he´d single you out."

"Why take the risk?"

"Listen, it´s highly unlikely. Moody WAS an Auror. He´s a teacher now. You know how Dumbledore is. I wouldn´t worry about it. Just ignore him as much as you can outside of class. Can you do that?"

"I guess," Evan agreed reluctantly.

She felt a flash of annoyance go through her. Her brother had no backbone. Which meant she´d have to speak up. To Dickie Montague, of all people.

"But..." she started, barely above a whisper.

"Yes?" Montague narrowed his eyes. He obviously wasn´t used to being questioned in his decisions.

"Our father died, but he nearly took Moody with him. Moody won´t forget that," she felt the anxiety rage in her, and pushed past it. "The Ministry still watches us, because of him."

"Really? And how do you know that?"

Bastard. He just couldn´t take her word, could he? "I was there last time they searched Grandfather´s warehouse. They told my Uncle."

"In front of you?" his voice was highly skeptical.

"They didn´t notice me." No one did. And sometimes, she used that fact to her advantage. Be silent, then strike! Salazar Slytherinhad supposedly uttered those words centuries ago. Edwina had taken it as her motto.

"They came to the warehouse two or three times last summer," added Evan, helpfully. "Our grandfather was really upset, but there´s nothing he can do about it, because of Father."

Montague leaned back and closed his eyes for a second. "Damn. I don´t know what to tell you. We´d better talk to Professor Snape on this. He should still be in his office, with classes starts tomorrow and all. Come on."

The professor´s office was just down the hall. It was a fascinating place that sometimes reminded her of her family´s warehouse, filled to the brim with interesting objects. Potions wasn´t her best subject (charms was), but she found the subject interesting, and useful, considering she´d probably end up working somewhere in the family business after she graduated.

The Rosiers were importers, supplying magical items for use in potions, wand-making and many other endeavors and traveling far and wide in search of goods. She and Evan rarely saw their guardian, Uncle Owen, since he was often abroad on business. He´d send the occasional owl post, from places like Bora Bora, Cartahena or Islamabad.

As Montague had predicted, Professor Snape was still up working, frowning over a list of names. He looked up at they entered, his black eyes darting from Evan to Edwina, then back to the prefect. He listened quietly while Montague explained the situation.

"You were right to come to me." He finally replied, after the prefect had finished. "I warned the Headmaster about this, actually, when I heard he intended to hire him. But..." and he shook his head, "Dumbledore has his own reasons for doing things."

"Nothing´s happened as yet," Montague pointed out.

"As yet," Snape stood and walked around his desk. "But I know Alastor Moody. He doesn´t forget and he doesn´t forgive. These two won´t be the only ones who will have to take care around him. But Miss Rosier has a point. I remember that Moody was in St. Mungo´s for months recuperating after his encounter with Rosier." He stroked his chin a moment, considering. "So. This is what we will do."

"I will pass on your concerns to Dumbledore, in writing. It won´t make a bit of difference, but it will be documentation if something happens later. Mr. Montague, I want you to keep an eye on how Professor Moody is treating the Slytherinstudents, especially Mr. and Miss Rosier here. Get the assistance of the other prefects if necessary. I´ll leave that to your discretion. Report back to me."

"I understand."

"As for you two," and he turned his attention to Edwina and Evan, "I want you to come straight to me if he makes any threats or harasses you in any way. Be careful around him. Try not to be alone with him. If he does anything, I want witnesses. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Evan replied. He looked impressed.

Edwina nodded, relieved. Moody was here, there was nothing she could do about that, but at least now, her back was covered.