Chapter 26 â“ Fioraâs Letter
Ron breathed in the scent of Hermioneâs hair, felt her flushed cheek against his. An overwhelming sense of relief flooded through him â“ he had prepared himself for a huge row, and instead theyâd had an actual conversation â“ sheâd even laughed!
âI guess not being normal isnât so terrible, is it?â she murmured.
And maybe it was because she was so close, but not looking directly at him, that he was able to muster the courage to clear his throat and say, âWell, I certainly wouldnât want you to be normal. If you were, I donât think Iâd lo-â Unfortunately, just before the word left his mouth, they were both startled by a racket at the door. Sounds like someoneâs let a few Bludgers loose in the hallway or somethingâŚRon thought, as he and Hermione jumped up. He gave her a fleeting glance. I love you, you know? He sent the thought out to her right as a very familiar voice piped from the other side of the bedroom door.
âHey, you two!! Hope youâre decent, weâre coming in!â Ginny and Harry burst through the door.
âGin! What in bloody hell are you â“â Ron raged, very put out at being interrupted at such a time. He wasnât one to declare his love every day, and he felt the opportunity slipping away from him. But his best friend interrupted tersely.
âNo time, Ron, this is serious,â Harryâs eyes were worried.
âWhat is it?â Hermione, on Ronâs right. He put his arm around her shoulder.
âItâs Lupin â“ and Tonks. They never made it to Paris. Theyâre missing,â Ginny responded grimly. Ron turned to Hermione, saw his own shock reflected on her tired face. âGo ahead, Harry, read it to them,â Ginny handed a piece of paper to him. Ron hadnât noticed it until that moment. It looked like a letter of some kind.
âWell, actually, they may have made it to Paris. But they didnât see Lupinâs friend, Fiora Podlink,â Harry clarified. âThis letter is from her. They never made it to her shop. I saw them Apparate with my own eyes on Sunday afternoon. Lupin said they were heading to Paris directly. Itâs Tuesday now and â“â
âWednesday, actually,â Hermione interrupted. âWednesday morning â“erm-â she checked the wall clock over her dresser, âThree-twenty-seven a.m.â
âTwo and a half days,â Ron said, âThey should have been there. Way before now.â The four of them stood in morose silence for a few moments, letting that fact sink in.
âI saw them Apparate!!â Harry seemed to want reassurance from this. âAnyway, Gin, youâd better tell them what you told me before I read this letter,â he waved it like a white flag, in defeat.
âWait a minute, wait a minute,â Hermione interrupted as they all sprawled in various places in her room, âWhere did you get the letter, Ginny? How do we know itâs really from Fiora Podlink?â
Ron saw Harry and Ginny exchange smirks. âWell, I sort of â“ well, lifted it,â Ginny hugged her knees to her chest, rocked back and forth. âKingsley Shacklebolt came to Mum and Dad with the letter, letâs see, about two hours ago? I was, well, making myself a midnight snack in the kitchen and couldnât help but overhear -â
âEavesdropping, is what you mean, right, Gin? Playing innocent?â Ron interjected, laughing a bit.
âWell, in this case, Iâm glad they underestimated wittle Ginny,â she made a face, and Harry laughed and hugged her.
âLetâs focus, everyone,â Hermione stated in a steely voice, puffing a long strand of hair out of her face. Ron glanced over at her, and couldnât help thinking how cute she was when she got bossy. Knowing how peeved sheâd be if they started goofing off, he bit the sides of his mouth to keep from grinning. Hermione continued, âLupin and Tonks are, very likely, in danger. This isnât helping.â
âYes, maâam,â Ginny replied, a twinkle in her eyes, âWell, apparently Lupinâs been staying with Kingsley in London for awhile â“â
âNot with Tonks?â Ron asked. Even he could see how cozy those two had become recently.
âRon! Focus!â Hermione smacked his knee.
âYes, maâam,â he answered, imitating Ginny perfectly. Harry and Ginny burst out laughing, and even Her Royally Focused cracked a smile.
âAnyway, Lupinâs been staying in Kingsleyâs flat for awhile, working on whatever heâs been working on for the Order in town,â Ginny continued, âAnd Lupin instructed him to receive all owl post for him while he was away. Kingsley knew where Lupin and Tonks were going, he even mentioned knowing Fiora Podlink from her work at the Ministry. Lupin and Tonks had arranged to stay at a flat in Paris, some friend of Tonksâ dad. Well, Kingsley got a little nervous when he didnât hear from them all day Monday â“ Tonks said sheâd send word when they were settled â“ and then tonight, this letter arrives,â she gestured to Harryâs hand.
âWell, go on, Harry!! Read it!â Hermione gripped one of the bedâs posts. She was sitting on the floor, leaning her head against the side of the mattress. Harry rolled his eyes at Ron and began reading,
âRemus,
I hope this letter finds you, and finds you well. I am sitting in the shop, worried sick about you and your friend Nymphadora. Although itâs late Tuesday evening, and I was expecting you two days ago, I cannot help but glance up each time a figure walks by my door, expecting to see your familiar face. Now I am afraid, that by asking you here, I have put you in danger somehow. I regret not getting your Parisian address ~ I am hoping the owl I send this with finds you, wherever you are.
Remus, several things have happened in the past few days that have caused me great concern ~ one which occurred less than an hour ago. The first is something that has been whispered about for the past several weeks ~ that Fenrir Greyback and his cohorts have been prowling both banks of the Seine in search of young victims ~ both magical and Muggle. I know that it has been a concern of yours as well, but I hadnât realized that he had crossed to the Continent. Now I understand your eagerness in visiting me ~ it wasnât simply to rehash old times!
The other thing directly relates to Peter and all weâve discussed about him. I told you I did him a favor many years ago, the night before Lily and James were killed. At the time, I thought it was insignificant ~ this was, of course, before we found out the terrible news. As you know, I was working part-time for the Ministry then and was looking towards setting up my own curio shop. Well, you know how Peter was; he was always bringing me little knick-knacks and other objects of interest, telling me they were for the âgreat shop I would own someday.â Itâs still so hard for me to reconcile that sweet, shy young man with the subservient killer he actually is.
Anyway, from the time he graduated Hogwarts, several times a month Peter would bring me these âgiftsâ and I would of course receive them gladly. But that night, it was something very different. I look back now and realize what I fool I was, but how could I have known? As you have said, itâs time to stop blaming, and time to start fighting. And youâre right.
That night, the night before that horrible, horrible night, I had no idea what news awaited all of us. I was in my flat in London, eating a late dinner, when Peter arrived. He looked a bit more flustered than usual, and he didnât often arrive at such a late hour, but you remember Peter ~ he was always a bit dotty around girls, and this seemed like little more than his usual nervousness. I offered him tea, which he accepted distractedly. He said he had something for me. I confess, the way he said it ~ I was afraid whatever it was he had was going to include a declaration of his feelings for me. But that wasnât the case.
Peter lifted a beautifully carved ornamental cup from his robes and set it on my table. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and even before I attempted any spells on it, I could tell it was a powerful magical object. I protested that he could not give something of such worth to me ~ I could clearly see the badger on the side of the cup and knew that it has surely belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. He interrupted me ~ he said that this particular piece wasnât for me, but he needed me to protect it. He wanted me to Transfigure the cup into something else, anything else, and keep it safely with my growing store of objects. Which I did willingly. I held onto the cup, and didnât ask Peter where or how he had gotten it. And then, we got the terrible news about James and Lily and Sirius, and I assumed him dead, like the rest of the wizarding world.
I was foolish, Remus, and my ego got in the way of clear thought. I knew Peter had strong romantic feelings for me, and I never felt like he would put me in harmâs way. From you, I have learned he wasnât the man all of us thought he was. And then, there was what happened earlier this evening.
I still have the cup, which is still in its Transfigured state. Roughly an hour ago, I noticed a red light emanating from the storage room. I went to investigate, and the cup was in a state of flux ~ it kept switching back and forth between the object it really was and the object I had turned it into. And it was glowing, brilliant red. I was afraid already because of your absence, but this has terrified me, Remus. I am taking a terrible risk putting this down on paper, but I donât know what else to do. I bewitched the storage room but I have no idea what magical powers this object has. I dare not write my worst suspicion in this letter.
I will wait another two days here in Paris. If I do not hear from you by then, I am going to contact Arthur Weasley directly, he is an Order Member and a trustworthy source.
~ Fioraâ
Harry finished the letter, his voice hoarse from reading aloud. They all sat in solemn silence. Ron felt warm with shock. He couldnât believe it. Hermione jumped to her feet next to him and began scooping her belongings into her knapsack.
âWhat â“ what are you doing, Hermione?â Ginny queried. She didnât seem as dazed as he himself was, but Ron suddenly remembered she has read this letter before, at least once.
âWhat do you think? Weâve got to get to Fiora before she writes that letter to your dad! We all know what that cup is! And â“ and â“ what it did? Glowing red? A few hours ago? That was exactly the same time as â“as Ron â“ as Kreacher â“â Hermione didnât complete the thought aloud. She looked helplessly between Harry and Ron.
âWhat about Kreacher?â Ginny asked, confused. The other three exchanged glances, as Harry and Ron got to their feet.
âNo time now, Gin â“ Hermioneâs right, weâve gotta get a move on,â Harry ran his hand distractedly through his hair, making it stand on end. Ron knew he had to move, but couldnât seem to make his frozen limbs work.
âWhere are we going?â Ron asked this superfluous question because he couldnât quite get a grip on reality. Everything was spinning out of control. He was so very tired, more tired then heâd ever been in his life. And sleep wasnât coming any time soon.
âRon!â Hermione practically shrieked, and he could tell she was barely keeping it together. âYou heard me! We have to get to Fiora now.â
âWeâre going to Paris?â Ginny exclaimed.
âNot you, Gin,â Harry and Ron spoke this together.
âDammit!! Not this again!â Ginny stamped her foot.
âNo, theyâre right Ginny,â Hermione has stopped moving finally, âNot only can you not Apparate, but we need you to go back to the Burrow and do some damage control. You have to return the letter, as well. Weâll also need one other thing from you, because the three of us arenât going to the same place.â
âWe arenât!??!?!â Again, Ron spoke in tandem with his friend. His stomach turned icy at the determined look on Hermioneâs face.
âNo, I donât think so. If weâre going to get to the bottom of this, and fast, weâre going to have to split up,â Hermione shrugged. âI donât see any other choice.â
The Time is Now by Hermione816
Chapter Notes: Ginny arrived at Grimmauld Place with startling news ~ and a piece of paper that was going to make it a very very long night for all four of them....