Promises Unbroken

Promises Unbroken

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Inner Circle

They were in the shielded dueling area again, getting ready for yet another practice duel. Off to one side, Jones worked her way through a series of warm-up wand movements, but Sirius simply leaned against the wall, picking disinterestedly at the sleeve of a new set of robes. He was bored out of his mind, and ready to begin--this was their fourth practice duel in as many days, and he was getting tired of it all. Two days had passed, now, since he'd discovered the origin of the Distance Seeing Enchantment, but he hadn't learned anything more, and nightmares continued to plague him. The only bright spots in it all were his friends and Julia, with whom he spent every possible moment.

Hestia Jones, however, was definitely a negative part of every day, and she was walking towards him now. Sirius ignored her approach, continuing to lean against the wall and poke at his robes and waiting for her to say the first word. It's about time, he thought acidly, stifling a yawn. How many practice wand movements can you do in twenty minutes? At least concentrating on his sleeve kept him from rolling his eyes.

"Late night?" Jones asked impolitely.

"Something like that."

"Oh?" she asked. "Simply 'something'? Or did you perhaps spend a little too much time out with friends?"

"What are you talking about?" Something in her tone made Sirius look up. He wasn't about to tell her that another round of nightmares had kept him from sleeping properly, and didn't quite care what she thought of him, but this was getting nasty.

"Consorting with Death Eaters, Black?" Jones growled

"Huh?" He stared at her blankly.

Her gaze burned in to his. "I asked if you were consorting with Death Eaters."

"You want to cast a Anti-Confundus Charm on yourself and then ask that question again?" Sirius demanded, rolling his eyes. "Think about where I've been and answer it yourself."

"I'm talking about Julia Malfoy."

"Oh. What about her?" Sirius cocked his head at the Auror nonchalantly, but Jones leaned close to him, speaking softly and with threat radiating from her eyes.

"I know she's a Death Eater," Jones snarled. "I've been working the case on her for six months. So, unless you want to find yourself labeled a traitor, I suggest you start paying attention."

Sirius snorted. "Bet you found that case closed up recently, didn't you?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about," she spat.

"Don't I?" he challenged her, grinning nastily. "It is closed, isn't it? For 'lack of evidence', perhaps? Or maybe because she's on our side now."

"Surely you don't believe her," the Auror snapped. "She's a Malfoy!"

"And I'm a Black," Sirius retorted. "Your point? People's choices define what they are. Not their blood."

"Fine thing coming from you."

"Actually, yes, it is," he replied. "If there ever was an example of someone going against their blood, it's me. One of my best friends is an Auror. Another is a werewolf. Then there's the Muggleborn. I might also mention that my brother was a Death Eater, and look what I'm doing for a living."

"I know what you are, Black, and that's not what you'd like people to believe."

Sirius finally stopped leaning against the wall and stood up at his full height, looking down at her. "The only thing I know, Jones, is that I don't care what you think about me," he snarled. "I know where I've been and what I've done, and I'm here for the same reason you are--to bring Voldemort down. So if you'll stop treating me as if I'm some sort of nutcase or Death Eater spy, we'll get along a lot better."

"One of these days, I'm going to uncover all those secrets that you've been hiding, and then we'll see what side you're really on," Jones growled.

"Search all you want," Sirius replied. "I have nothing to hide." But his thoughts turned dark for a moment. Except for the spell that was placed on me that I still don't understand. Except for the reason why Voldemort wants me back so badly, and alive if possible. And the fact that I've become a linchpin in this war, and I don't know why.

"I'm sure," she snapped angrily. Sirius was sure that she was going to continue, but he was sick of being doubted and dragged down.

"Shall we get started?" he cut her off. "After all, we're here to do more than just talk."

If looks could kill, he'd have been Avada Kedavra'd on the spot.

Finally, though, Jones seemed to tire of glaring at him and strode away in a huff, heading towards the other end of the dueling area. Reaching the other starting point, she turned to face him with fire burning in her eyes, and her wand came up without warning. It began with spells crossing wildly in the air, burning through shields and impacting walls when turned aside. It ended with Jones sitting on the ground and glaring at the sight of her wand in Sirius' hand.

She was on her feet in an instant, and one long and bony finger was pointed aggressively in Sirius' direction. "You're too reckless," she snapped. "If you did that in a fight against a Death Eater, you would be dead or worse!"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Not well enough, it didn't." She caught her wand as Sirius threw it back to her, still frowning. "You're dangerous."

He grinned. "That's the idea."

"To other Aurors," she snapped, stalking towards him and pushing Sirius' exasperation over the edge. "Not to enemies."

"Come off it, Jones," he demanded. "How many times am I going to have to beat you before this ends?"

"It will end when I say you're ready." The finger was waving in his face, and Sirius had to strongly resist the urge to bite it off. Padfoot would have, he was sure, and suddenly he missed his animagus form. Being a dog required so much less politeness.

"And when's that going to be?" he insisted

"When you're bloody ready, that's when!"

"I think," a quiet voice intruded from the doorway, "that he is ready now."

Both spun, but Sirius recognized the voice before Jones managed to squeak, "Minister!"

Albus Dumbledore swept into the dueling area, his bright green robes sweeping around him. He smiled benignly at the Auror's surprised expression, and then winked at Sirius, who coughed to cover his smile. Those glittering blue eyes definitely told him that he had won.

"You won't mind, Hestia, if I borrow your student for a little while?" Dumbledore asked politely. "From what I've seen, he seems to need little further instruction, anyway."

Jones stared, and finally managed to say in a strangled voice, "I don't mind."

"Thank you." Dumbledore turned to face him. "Shall we, Sirius?"

He would have gladly followed Dumbledore to the ends of the earth for rescuing him from Jones, so Sirius didn't argue. Instead, he left the dueling area at the old man's side, not even bothering to spare Jones a parting glare. Several moments passed in silence as they walked through Auror Headquarters, then the Minister of Magic spoke quietly.

"I apologize for interrupting your work, Sirius, but a pressing matter has arisen." Suddenly, blue eyes twinkled again. "I have noticed, however, that you do not seem entirely disappointed."

"I'm heartbroken," he replied dryly, and Dumbledore laughed.

"Sincere as always, I see."

Sirius smiled slightly. "So, what's so important that you've come to fetch me yourself?"

But Dumbledore did not answer. Instead, he handed Sirius a small scrap of paper, upon which were familiar words:

The Country House, at 12 o' clock.

The Inner Circle reforms.

Sirius felt his eyes widen, but when he looked up, Dumbledore was gone. Quickly, he checked his watch and realized that he barely had any time to spare. Heart pounding, Sirius made his way through headquarters and to the nearest Apparition area, sincerely hoping that he remembered the way. It had been, after all, a very long time since he'd been a true member of the Order; ever since his escape, the Inner Circle had seemed unwilling to approach him once more, and Sirius had been sure that his seat from ten years before had been taken by another. Now, however, things seemed to have changed.

He took a deep breath to still his racing heart, and Apparated.

----------------

The Order's "Country House" was much as Sirius remembered it. To the uneducated eye, it seemed to be nothing but an abandoned farmhouse, standing alone in an overgrown field of what had once probably been wheat, but was now only weeds. Ninety-nine percent of the time, that was exactly what the house was, too--but it was the one percent that truly mattered. The farmhouse was owned on paper by some fictitious Muggle, but that hardly mattered. The table that lay deep inside the country house did.

Sirius walked swiftly across the field and approached the decaying front door, feeling the wards lifted before him as he came. Once, he had known the ward-keys himself; but now, after ten years, he was as clueless as any visiting Death Eater. They were subtle things, those wards, but no less deadly because of that, which reminded Sirius of how lucky they were to have Dumbledore on their side.

He stopped. The door had no knob or knocker, just as he remembered. However, as he was attempting to recall how to open it, the door slid aside of its own accord. Sirius smiled to see Dumbledore waiting on the other side.

"Welcome back, Sirius."

He stepped inside. "I'm surprised to be here."

"Why is that?" The old wizard frowned slightly.

"It's been ten years. I was sure that someone else would fill my seat." As he spoke, his eyes darted around the hall. It was as run down and dusty as ever, Sirius noticed, but as before, nothing ever seemed to take the final step towards falling apart.

"Ah," Dumbledore remarked slowly. "You see, that was the problem. Fawkes would not accept another. In retrospect, I suppose that I should have known you were alive because of that."

Sirius shrugged. Another man might have blamed his friends for never finding him, but he did not. He reserved all that bitter hatred for Voldemort.

"But come," the legendary wizard smiled. "The others are waiting, and it is time for the Fifth Circle to be formed."

As Sirius followed Dumbledore deep within the basement of the Country House, he rapidly reviewed all he remembered of the Order. He, James, Remus and Lily had all been inducted into the Inner Circle in 1981--but that had been the Second Circle, which meant that deaths had forced the circle to be reformed twice in the last ten years. He frowned, thinking of those with whom he had once sat in the Circle: good friends who were now gone. Both Alastor Moody and Minerva McGonagall were dead; Sirius found himself wondering distantly who had filled their seats. But thinking of them brought back pain, so he forced himself to stop. Too much had changed while he'd been gone.

Dumbledore stopped before a rusted metal door, tapping it twice with his wand. The door opened with a creak of protest, revealing a very different room from the dusty and old house they had just left.

The Inner Circle's chamber was simple and windowless. A shining oak table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by eight comfortable chairs. Fawkes' perch occupied the far corner, and a few books laid scattered on a side table, but other than that, the room was empty. There was no old-fashioned lighting in the room; all illumination was provided by magic, and in its consistent and strong light, Sirius noticed Dumbledore's pensive sitting behind Fawkes' perch. But it was the chairs that caught his attention, and he was gratified to see that they had not changed.

At first glance, the eight chairs looked identical in shape and make. However, if one looked closer, the differences were more apparent. Upon the back of each was inscribed one word, the name of that seat, which was also conveyed to the witch or wizard who sat in it. Directly in front of Sirius was Wisdom; its name was engraved in pure white and tendrils of the same color were handcrafted expertly into the wood. To its left was Knowledge, in gold, followed by Time, in blue and Discovery, in red. Directly across from the Wisdom seat was Power, engraved in black, and to its right was Secrecy, in bronze. Following that was Temptation in silver, and Truth in gray. Engraved upon the glistening table were the words: Wisdom opposes Power. Time precedes Discovery. Secrecy counters Knowledge. Temptation reveals Truth.

The door clicked shut behind them, and Sirius took his first look at the four wizards and two witches who had been waiting in the room. He knew all their faces already, and smiled to see James, Remus, and Lily all still present. To Lily's right stood Arabella Figg, and next to her was Mundungus Fletcher. The last wizard, however, was not exactly someone that Sirius was expecting to see, and the sneer on Snape's face told him that the Death Eater wasn't exactly pleased to see him, either. The immature kid in him wanted to make a comment, but Sirius ruthlessly repressed the urge. If Dumbledore wanted Snape there, it was Dumbledore's right, as the head of the Order, to chose.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Dumbledore said quietly. "I had not intended to reform the Circle so soon, but Fawkes has been rather insistent as of late. So, since we have no new members who require explanation of the process, I see no reason to delay. Fawkes?"

The red and gold phoenix immediately flew down from his perch and landed gracefully upon the back of the Wisdom seat. Having been through the formation process before, Sirius knew what would happen, but it was still interesting to see. As the eight of them stood in silence, Fawkes' eyes drifted over them all, but with hardly any hesitation, the phoenix lifted off and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder, indicating that he should take the first seat. It was no surprise; in all four of the previous circles, the aging wizard had sat in the Wisdom seat as the head of the Order, and none expected him to ever leave.

The second seat turned out to be no surprise, either. Immediately after Dumbledore took his seat, Fawkes alighted to the Knowledge seat, barely touching down before landing on Remus' shoulder. Calmly, Hogwarts' headmaster sat down to Dumbledore's left, leaving the phoenix to chose the occupant for Time.

The Time seat had belonged to Minerva McGonagall the last time Sirius had sat in the Circle. Now, Fawkes chose Arabella Figg, who sat with an expression of vague disbelief. Discovery, however, was doled out in due fashion to Lily, who had held the same seat back in 1981, and judging from the expression on her face, had sat in it ever since. The next seat, however, proved to be more interesting. When faced with the Power seat, Fawkes landed on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius stared at the phoenix, dumbfounded. When last in the Circle, he had sat in at Secrecy, a distinction he had never understood until becoming James and Lily's Secret Keeper. Back then, Alastor Moody had been in the Power seat. But Fawkes always made his choices for a reason, even if why wasn't immediately apparent. So, after a short hesitation, Sirius took the seat directly across from Dumbledore, who could not hide the look of slight surprise on his face.

Next, Fawkes chose James for Secrecy, oddly enough, and then placed Dung Fletcher to his left at Temptation. Finally, completing the circle at Truth was Snape. They all sat in silence for a long moment, looking at each other.

"Well," Dumbledore finally said. "We have the Fifth Circle. What news is there?"

James spoke up immediately. "No trace has been found of Crouch Junior yet. Alice Longbottom is still leading the investigation, but so far she's turned up nothing but dead ends." He turned to Snape. "Unless you know anything?"

"Nothing whatsoever. Crouch has not shown up at any Death Eater meeting I have been at, either," the other replied. "Unfortunately, I have a feeling that something odd is going on where he is concerned."

"I agree," Figg commented. "And his father is acting rather strangely, too."

"That could just be a consequence of having learned his son is a Death Eater," Lily put in. "You know you Crouch is."

"Maybe." But Figg was frowning as if there was something she couldn't put her finger on.

There was a moment of silence, after which Remus suddenly asked, "Sirius, have you found out the origin of that spell yet?"

"Yes." He forced the need to shiver back and explained for every one else's benefit. "Remus and I were researching the origin of a spell Voldemort attempted to use on me with the incantation Mandatus Prospicio Subigum. It's actually called the Distance Seeing Enchantment, and enables the caster to see through someone else's eyes, even at long distances."

"I've never heard of it," Snape commented. The others exchanged glances, shaking their heads to communicate the same point. But Dumbledore spoke very softly.

"I have."

Sirius looked at him closely, hoping for answers. But the old wizard must have seen the look on his face and shook his head slightly. "I have never heard of successful employment of the Distance Seeing Enchantment, although I know Grindelwald attempted to use it several times. All of his victims died."

"Oh." Sirius felt a rock drop in his stomach.

"How do you know that it failed?" Snape suddenly interjected, his dark eyes focused unerringly on Sirius.

He met the hostile gaze. "I assume that he wouldn't be hunting me this way if he could use me."

"The Dark Lord is a master at manipulation," Snape sneered. "If I were you, I would not presume to guess at his motives. You would undoubtedly be wrong."

"In this case, Severus, I believe Sirius is right," Dumbledore said before Sirius could answer. "And I believe that there is more to Voldemort's sudden obsession with finding you than your escape from Azkaban."

All eyes swiveled to face the Order's head as he drew his wand from inside his robes. "I also believe that it is time to reexamine an assumption that we have been making for many years."

Ever so slowly, Dumbledore's pensive floated over to land in front of him. After staring into its depths for a moment, he touched his wand to the silvery surface. As a shadowy figure rose from the pensive, draped in shawls and revolving slowly, Dumbledore remarked quietly, "Some of you will recognize this prophecy. Others will not."

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

James and Lily exchanged silent glances, but Dumbledore spoke again into the quiet as the shadowy figure disappeared.

"I had always assumed that this prophecy meant that the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July of 1980. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times." He took a long and deep breath. "We had originally believed that the prophecy referred to either Harry Potter or Neville Longbottom, both of whom were born in July and whose parents had narrowly escaped death at Voldemort's hands three times.

"That is why, as we know, that Sirius acted as James and Lily's Secret Keeper, just as Frank Longbottom's mother preformed the same task for Frank and Alice. Voldemort chose to view Harry as the more important threat, though, and captured you, Sirius as a way to reach him. However, you did not break.

"And then there was nothing."

Suddenly, Sirius felt very cold, and he noticed as James shivered to his right. "What are you saying?" his friend asked.

"I believe," Dumbledore said very slowly, "that the prophecy may no longer be valid. Or at least our interpretation of it may not be. For example, we have always assumed that the term 'born' simply meant the birth of a child. But in retrospect, I believe that the word may be symbolic for something else. Such as induction into the Order of the Phoenix."

There was absolute stillness. Even Fawkes did not stir.

"Seventeen wizards were inducted into the Order 1980, the year when a relatively new group of witches and wizards had managed to defy the Voldemort three times." Dumbledore continued. "Six are now dead, and one is in Azkaban. Four of those were inducted as July came to a close--and all of you are sitting in this room. But only one of the ten has directly and openly confronted Voldemort and survived. Only one of them has so occupied the Dark Lord's mind and efforts to find him that all his other concerns have faded in importance."

Sirius felt himself tense as seven pairs of eyes focused on him.

"I think, in its original form, the prophecy may very well have meant what we thought it did. Much time, however, has passed--but prophecies still have a disconcerting habit of coming true. I believe that this prophecy has adapted itself for the present, and that the man spoken of is no longer Harry Potter or Neville Longbottom. I believe that it is one of you four--Sirius, James, Remus, or Severus."

For a long moment, Sirius felt as if he couldn't breathe. The world seemed to freeze as Dumbledore's words spun around in his head, repeating themselves over and over again. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to shut the others out and find a way to disprove Dumbledore's words...but he couldn't. He just didn't know. Somehow, though, he had an uncanny feeling that Dumbledore had been looking at him when he spoke those words. There was a reason why the old wizard had mentioned his name first. Sirius opened his eyes slowly, staring at the polished tabletop.

"But it could be anyone," he finally whispered, looking at Dumbledore for reassurance.

"Very true. It could be anyone." The legendary wizard's blue eyes met his own. "It could be you." He paused. "Any of you."

"This is still only a bunch of guesses," James said from Sirius' right. There was a deep and empty feeling in his stomach now that just wouldn't go away. "The prophecy says that he must 'mark him as his equal'. That hasn't happened yet. To anyone."

"No, it has not," Dumbledore agreed. "And as Sirius said, it could be anyone--Harry, Neville, or any of you four. But I feel that Lord Voldemort will unknowingly mark one of you as his equal in the coming days."

"Yet that still can change," Lily said quietly. Dumbledore nodded.

"You're saying that the prophecy is in limbo right now?" Snape asked dubiously. His eyebrows were pinched together in an expression of supreme doubt.

"As strange as it sounds, yes. This is a turning point in time, and the war may very well depend upon what happens in the next few weeks. But I feel--I know--that something will change." He stopped speaking suddenly, seeming very old and fragile for the first time since Sirius had known him. Dumbledore blinked quietly, and shook his head, appearing unable to speak. Surprisingly, it was Remus who spoke next in a quiet and strong voice very much like Dumbledore's.

"Everything will change."