Owls and Musings

Chapter 12

With a flash of fire and bright light, Fawkes and Dumbledore arrived at the cottage later that spring. Esme came running in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel.

"Merlin, I was right!" she exclaimed.

"Of course you were, my dear. Dolores Umbridge has finally succeeded in ousting me from the school, temporarily at least. I've taken a few days to set some things up at Headquarters, but I am here now. She won't be able to use my office," he added, grinning conspiratorially.

"That evil...well, we were prepared. I just hope the students are," she mumbled as she led Dumbledore up to the guest room.

"They will be, they will be," he assured her thinking of the Weasley twins and Harry's study group.

"Do you need anything?"

"No. I take your warnings seriously and left a kit here at Christmas." He patted her cheek, and conjuring a perch, placed Fawkes on it.

"Now, let's get serious on that research of yours. I have some time to go searching."

"That's the problem," she said as they went across to her office. "I have no idea where to start looking. The actual research into Horcruxes is done, but how to apply it to Him? Are you certain this is how He has managed to stay alive all this time?"

"Fairly certain, yes. It fits some information I have managed to obtain, and it matches his grandiose opinion of himself." He sat down in a wing chair. "It also fits within his idea of conquering death."

"Well, aye, I guess it does. In any case - yes. In answer to your original question, multiple Horcruxes are possible and knowing his history - probable. The nature of the Horcrux is that it hides a bit of the person's soul - a murderer's soul. That is the only way you can make one. The act of a wizarding murder literally rips the murderer's soul in half. Before the pieces can merge again, the murderer can encase one of the halves in an object. As long as that object remains intact, the body can perish but the soul lives on."

"And magical powers, do they halve as well?"

"Interestingly, no. They remain in full strength. The ability to use them requires a corporeal existence of some sort. Possession would be one way of accomplishing that. Most of this information I obtained from my colleagues in the Eastern European communities. They tend to have a more - open - viewpoint concerning the practice." In fact, it had taken her nearly the entire time since Albus had given her the project to get the information from her colleagues. While it was an acknowledged practice, it was still difficult to find definitive information on the technique. She now knew more about Horcruxes and their manufacture than she really wanted to know. It made her feel a touch slimy just thinking about it.

"And is the wizard aware when a Horcrux is destroyed?" he continued probing.

She shook her head. "All of my research indicates that no, he is not aware. Once it's severed and contained, he is no longer aware of it."

"Ahh... that could be advantageous." Pressing the tips of his fingers together, he tapped them against his chin.

"The question now becomes two fold," he started musing aloud. "How many and what are the objects he would use?" He was quiet for a moment longer then shook his head. "It's late and too much has happened this night. I'll be able to think better in the morning," he said smiling over at Esme. "Thank you for all your work on this. There is still much to do but you have been of invaluable help." He rose, bestowed a kiss on her head and walked out to his bedroom. Esme noxed the lights and headed downstairs.

Next morning, Dumbledore caught her up as to what had been happening at the school since December.

"Dumbledore's Army? That was clever!" She laughed.

He chuckled over his tea. "Yes, it was quite clever. That poor child is going to have those spots for a long time. Miss Granger's hex was quite effective."

"How is Severus handling those extra lessons?"

"I'm afraid that was a mistake. Severus has cancelled them, this week actually - right after I was forced to leave. Apparently Harry saw a memory that had been stored in the Pensieve. It was highly embarrassing to Professor Snape; from his school days."

"Ahh, let me guess...their fifth year at O.W.L.s?"

He raised his eyebrow at her.

"You forget I am a Gryffindor - we knew everything those boys did. I remember Lily was not enamoured of them at the time...they were quite the prats at that age."

"Apparently Harry discovered that as well. He has idolised his father since discovering the truth about his parent's abilities and the manner of their death during his first year with us. He was not pleased to discover that, in a way, Severus was somewhat justified in his opinions of James."

"The problem is that James grew out of pratishness and Severus never let go of the grudge." She looked at the headmaster who had made a non-committal noise. "Surprised? I love him, but after a dozen years I am quite aware of his blind spots. He tolerates Remus but he will never let go of this grudge against James and Sirius." Flicking her wand, she sent the dishes to the sink.

"Did you know he had a soft spot for Lily?" she asked him. "That is why he considers it part of his duty to protect Harry. He felt so guilty at her death."

"Yes, I knew. I'm surprised he told you though." He raised his eyebrows in her direction.

"Late night confessions are good for the soul," she explained. "I have green eyes as well and he sometimes makes the comment that green eyes can always get him to do things. I just finally asked him about it. After a few false starts he got out that he had once had a crush on her when they had to share potions together." She shrugged. "Old history."

"That may be, but it guides his outlook on life to this day. I must say though that, since he has committed to you, he has been a tad less cynical over the last few years."

She chuckled. "Oh, I don't think his students would agree with you!"

"Well, he does need to keep up appearances." He chuckled with her. "But, when I can get him alone, he relaxes enough that I can see the good your relationship has wrought in him; he has hope." He patted her hand in a fatherly way.

She was quiet for a while as they headed back up to her study. When they had settled themselves in, she turned the conversation to Dumbledore's next moves.

"I need to get more information before I can proceed any further. I feel closer to the answers." He paused for a moment. "I will tell you this, I think Harry already destroyed one Horcrux, Tom Riddle's diary, in his second year. He rammed a basilisk's tooth into it, destroying the soul part and restoring Ginny Weasley. But what concerns me," he leaned in toward her, "is the fact that Tom left it behind in Malfoy's care without telling him what it was, just that it would open the Chamber. Severus tells me that Voldemort's anger with Malfoy was terrible when he discovered what had happened with the diary. Lucius was supposed to wait until Voldemort told him what to do with it and instead chose to use it for his gain."

"But he had essentially made it disposable." She was incredulous.

"Exactly. That is what led me to believe there was more than one Horcrux. He made the diary at the age of sixteen. He was already killing back then."

She shuddered involuntarily.

Dumbledore continued, "I've been collecting memories, over the years, from people who have known Tom and his past. This has been extremely hard to do - most people are reticent to speak of this knowledge. I still need a few more to coalesce my theories. Then...then I will show Harry..." His voice had lowered to almost a whisper and his eyes took on a faraway gleam.

Esme felt as if she was holding her breath and gave herself a mental shake. "How are you going to obtain this information?" she asked quietly.

He looked up at her, startled out of his reverie. "I have several places to go and people to hunt down. If you don't mind, I will use your humble abode as a base camp for this endeavour. I don't want this mixed up in Order business. The less people who know what we suspect, the better and safer it will be for Harry and Severus," he pointed out. She nodded her head in agreement, sitting up straighter in her chair with newfound conviction.

"I don't mind. Just let me know how I can help," she stated.

"You've done a lot just with this research. Thank you, my dear. Now, it is my turn. I think later this spring though, I will introduce you to the rest of the Order."

"I'll leave you to it then. I have a few lessons to give today. If it gets too much for you, just cast a muffling charm on the room. Severus does it all the time." She grinned at him and headed down the hallway to the stairs hearing his chuckle behind her.

+++

Tap, tap, tap.

Esme turned over in her bed.

Tap, tap, tap.

What was that noise...

Tap, tap, tap.

Esme finally woke up and realised there was an owl at her window. She got up and opened the sash to let the bird in. He hopped to the inside sill and held out his leg for her to untie the message, it was sealed with the St. Mungo's seal.

She unrolled the parchment as the bird flew off, mission completed.

Miss Esmerelda Scott,

We regret to inform you that your aunt, Minerva McGonagall, is currently a resident of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries as the result of several stunning spells received this morning at Hogwarts. We request your presence at this time.

Sincerely,

Hepzibah Caducus

Admissions Co-ordinator, SMHMMI

"Lord have Mercy! What've they done?" she exclaimed.

She summoned some clothes from her wardrobe and quickly changing, grabbed her wand and ran out of the house to the apparition point.

She appeared in a dingy alleyway, two blocks from the hospital. A young, purple haired witch in Auror robes over a pair of ragged-knee jeans and a Weird Sisters tee was leaning against the side of the building.

"Wotcher! You must be McGonagall's niece?" she asked brightly.

"Aye, I am."

"Yeah, you look like a younger version of her - nicer, though." She pushed herself off of the brick and promptly stumbled over a piece of rubbish in the alleyway as she walked up to Esme. "Bloody rubbish! I'm ok, don't worry. I'm Tonks by the way, I'm to take you over to the hospital."

"What happened, do you know?" Esme was amazed this flamboyant girl was an Auror.

"I wasn't on duty, but yeah, I know." They began walking up the street, Tonks surreptitiously watching everything around her. "Umbridge - you know about Umbridge? Well, Umbridge decided to sack Hagrid in the middle of the night. Hagrid put up a fight when they tried to stun him and woke up the entire castle. Minerva tried to stop them but they turned around and stunned her - four stunners straight to the chest - with no warning."

Esme's breath caught in her throat.

"Here we are." Tonks looked around to make sure no Muggles were around and walked up to whisper at the dummy in the window, "Esmerelda Scott to see Minerva McGonagall."

The dummy winked at them and Tonks led Esme into the building. As it was still very early in the morning, the waiting room was clear of visitors. A bored receptionist sat at the window rifling through a current copy of Witch Weekly, snapping a piece of gum between her teeth, a ragged looking quill stuck behind her right ear. She looked up at Tonks as she approached the desk.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked in a bored and put-out manner. Tonks and Esme just slid looks at each other in joint amazement.

"Minerva McGonagall, stunning injury," the Auror requested.

The girl sighed and pointed at the sign behind the desk with her wand tip, "Go to the fourth floor and check at the desk there." She returned to reading her magazine, clearly feeling she had fulfilled her duties to these visitors.

Tonks shrugged and the two women headed through the double doors that led to the stairs. When they reached the fourth floor - Spell Damage Ward -, another bored receptionist gave them the professor's room number.

"I'll just wait for you out here then, shall I?" asked Tonks as they reached the door.

"Yeah, thanks Tonks."

"I'm to accompany you to Headquarters later."

"I think I'll stay here most of the day. You look knackered. Come back for me this evening, why don't you?"

"Are you sure? I could really use some shut-eye. Between Order business and Auror assignments I'm burning the wand at both ends." She sighed, letting her exhaustion show on her face.

"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere."

"See you then!" she said gratefully. Tonks sauntered off down the hallway back to the stairs as Esme entered the room. The long row of empty beds ended at a bright window where the sun was just starting to appear. The last bed was occupied by a sleeping witch and seated beside her was Dumbledore. He looked up as Esmerelda traversed the length of the ward.

"How is she?" she whispered to him as she gazed down at her aunt who looked nearly as white as the sheets that covered her. Her hair had been let down and the soft waves of the gray streaked auburn tresses softened her facial features so that they did not appear so severe.

"Doing better, my dear, doing better," he whispered back. "Four stunners to the chest though is quite a lot of magical energy focused in one vital area. She is very lucky to be alive. It is a credit to her own power that she was able to survive such an attack."

Esme nodded mutely and took the chair next to the professor.

"Have they said how long..."

"I believe they said about a week. She will be fatigued for awhile but she should come out of this safely."

"Thank you, Albus. Is it safe for you to be here?" she asked him solicitously.

"I'm fine. All the healers on her case are Order members." His eyes twinkled at her above his glasses. "I believe, since you are in London, we will have that introduction soon. Maybe when Minerva is well enough to be moved from St Mungo's in a few days. Oh, yes - she won't be here long. She can stay at Headquarters for the last few days of her recuperation and then go back to the castle." He stood up after patting her hand. "I have several meetings today but I hope to see you this evening for dinner at number twelve, Grimmauld Place."

She just nodded mutely and reached a hand out to take one of her aunt's as Minerva slept on.

+++

The kitchen at Grimmauld place was full of Order members. Minerva had been released and was spending some time at Headquarters before returning to Hogwarts. Dumbledore was there to lead the meeting and give the correct news regarding the happenings at the Ministry. Esme had stayed in London to be with Minerva. She had received an owl from Severus the night before.

My dearest Esme,

Well, the Toad - as you (and most of the students) call her - is sacked and Owl post is back up and relatively safe. Once again Potter has not left well enough alone and, because he would not study Occlumency correctly, let the Dark Lord set a trap for him bringing along all his friends to get caught with him. As I'm sure you know by now, Black is dead.

Dumbledore tells me you are at Headquarters right now, so I may see you at the meeting tomorrow evening. It will be hell seeing you and being unable to do anything about it. Maybe your dream was wrong?

I will tell you now I will not be able to come out this summer. The Dark Lord has insisted that I let Wormtail stay at my house. I am unsure whether this means I am his keeper or he is mine. Do not fly to the house; Wormtail is an Animagus and would recognise you as one as well.

I am glad your aunt is doing well. I really do look forward to having her return to the castle as soon as she can; just don't tell her that. As Albus says, I must keep up appearances.

With Love, always,

Severus

And Severus was there this evening. Dumbledore, ever the wise leader, was introducing Esme individually to the other Order members who had shown up that evening.

"Miss Scott, I believe you remember Severus Snape from your school days? He is a Professor of Potions at Hogwarts now and the head of Slytherin House."

"Of course, it is good to see you again after such a long time, Professor Snape." She held out her hand and he took it in his, giving it the slightest of extra squeezes. She let her fingertips linger a bit longer than they probably should have as she removed her hand, but no one, except perhaps Dumbledore, noticed.

"My pleasure, Miss Scott. What will be your capacity within the Order, may I ask? I believe your expertise in school was transfiguration - I am not quite sure how that would apply to the Order's needs at the present time." He smirked down at her over his nose, taking the role of newly met colleagues to heart. If she could have, she would have stepped on his foot. But she smiled instead.

"I am a former research associate for the Ministry. I've been working on some research projects for Professor Dumbledore," she pointed out.

"I see." He drew out the last word, his voice sending shivers down her spine. Their eyes flashed at each other in warning. He was right: this was hell. She did not like seeing him when he had to play one of his parts. She broke the eye contact first, letting Albus lead her on to the next person.

"Remus! So good to see you!" She felt rather than saw Severus' sneer as she greeted her old House mate, planting a kiss on the werewolf's cheek while giving him a warm embrace. Remus stiffened momentarily as he caught the pheromones on his old friend's skin. His heightened werewolf sense of smell alerted him that there was more going on with Esmerelda than was on the surface. There was an old familiar smell about her as well, something that was not her but was around her now. He pondered this silently as he let himself respond to her embrace.

"Esmerelda, when did Albus bring you in?" asked Lupin, letting a slight uplift of the lips soften his face at the sight of an old school chum.

"Oh, quite some time ago. I'm terribly sorry about Sirius," she said consolingly.

"Thank you, Esme." He gave her a wan smile which brightened somewhat as Tonks came up to him with a drink. Her hair was a mousy brown today and she still looked as knackered as she had at St. Mungo's. "Have you met Miss Tonks, Esmerelda? Esmerelda was two years behind me at school, Nymphadora."

"Oh, then you knew all of the Marauders?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I wasn't really allowed to prank, you see - with McGonagall as my aunt - so I tended to live vicariously off the stories of these pranksters. Although Remus never instigated any of the pranks, that I can remember." She sent a sly look in his direction.

"I'll have to get some stories from you later," Tonks said conspiratorially, but without any real conviction in her voice. She turned away from them and wandered back over to the drinks table to speak with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Snape stepped away from her as she approached. Remus' eyes snapped to Severus and at once realised where the familiar scent on Esmerelda had come from.

Esme stepped a bit closer to Lupin to ask, "Is she alright?"

He shook his head. "Sirius was her cousin. It was quite a blow for her to lose him. He started fighting Bellatrix after Bellatrix had finished with Tonks. She feels a bit guilty over it. Feels he would still be alive if she had been able to handle her aunt," he explained.

"I've been at St. Mungo's all week only coming here to sleep." She shook her head in commiseration. "I'm afraid that a lot of what happened is news to me. You're staying here as well, aren't you?"

"In and out, when I'm not on Order business," he agreed. He leaned closer in to his old friend and whispered very gently in her ear, "You can't fool an old wolf, Esme; your scent is all mixed up with Severus'." She startled and shot him a quick glance of fear. He rushed to quell it. "No, no one else knows. The nose knows," he said tapping a finger alongside his own. "Are you happy?" he asked her quietly. She lowered her eyes to hide the sudden gleam in them and nodded 'yes'. "Does Minerva know?" This time she shook her head 'no'. Before she could say anything more Albus led her to the next person. She let a smile stay on her face as she flipped a hand in farewell to her friend.

After the report and dinner, she excused herself to climb upstairs to her room. Severus had left before dinner - Molly said he never stayed to eat - and she was feeling overwhelmed by all the people in the small space. Used to wide open spaces at the cottage, she had discovered she definitely was not a city girl. She pondered on the fact that Remus had managed to notice her involvement with Severus. Just as she was doing this, a knock came on her door.

"Enter."

Remus came in, gently closing the door behind him and casting Silencio on the room.

"I thought we should talk," he started.

She turned back to her packing. "About?"

"About what I sensed this evening." He came over and sat on her bed watching her fold her clothes into her small valise.

"Well, let's put it this way. You are the third magical person to know about this, the first being Dumbledore and the second is a house-elf named Wizby." She put the last article in and snapped the case shut.

"Does he truly make you happy?"

"Very much so, what little time we have together. And before you go all marauderish on me, I'm very well aware of his double role and how he must play it. This is why no one else can know - not even my aunt!" she emphasized, shaking her finger in his direction.

"Tonight must have been hell for you then. How long?"

"You have no idea, and it's been 12 years." She sighed and came over to sit next to him. He placed a brotherly arm around her shoulder and gave a squeeze. She smiled and then poked him in the ribs. "Speaking of romance...you and Tonks? I saw how you looked at her," she teased. Remus smiled down at her.

"Maybe. We'll see. I'm much too old for her though and too dangerous. I won't deny there is an attraction though."

"Well, good for you. I wish you happiness," she told him sincerely.

"And you too, Esme. I'll see you at breakfast in the morning?"

She nodded 'yes' and after a quick hug, let him out of her room.

Esme returned to the cottage the following morning. She had met many interesting members at the meeting the previous evening but no new assignments were forthcoming. Albus still wanted her to find out more information on Horcruxes from her continental contacts. Setting her bag in her bedroom and pouring out some food for Casey, she headed upstairs to her study to start sending owls to more research contacts.