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The Girl in my Arms	By : PotionMaster Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 3779 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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A Day of Meetings

Arabella, Remus and Severus were having breakfast the next morning when the owl arrived. Arabella read the note it carried while Remus fed it bits of toast from his plate.

*Albus is concerned by what Minerva told him about Adi's family and wants to call a staff meeting at eleven this morning to discuss her. Since he's organising that anyway, he suggests we have a meeting of the Order after lunch to discuss the growing rift between the school and the Ministry, and our new assignment. He thinks it would be better if we had a group of people to contact in case of an emergency, rather than just him, and if some of the staff know then they can cover for us too. He wants to know if we're OK with that? If so, he suggests the three of us have lunch privately with him so we can talk about anything we might wish to keep private, * Arabella summarised the note for her lovers.

"I'm not anxious to let the rest of the Order in on our operation, the more people that know the more at risk we are, but I can see the sense in Albus' suggestion," Severus mused.

"Not to mention the fact that we'd have to let them all in on the details of our private life," Remus added.

Severus groaned, " I hadn't even thought of that!"

*OK, we're none of us happy about it but are we going to do it anyway? * Bella asked.

Severus and Remus looked at one another, Severus nodded slightly. "I guess we are," Remus answered.

Bella scribbled a reply and tied it to the owl's leg before opening the window and sending it back to the Headmaster.

*It's ten-thirty now so we've got half an hour before the staff meeting. *

"Darn, not enough time to break in the new rug," Remus laughed.

"Break in - That's why you bought the rug? So we could have sex on it?" Severus asked.

"Well it wasn't the only reason, but the last one was a little uncomfortable."

* Guys, as fun as this conversation is and believe me it's conjuring some great mental images we do have some things to discuss before the meeting. We need to remember that no one knows we can communicate mentally and avoid doing it too much in the meeting, * Bella thought.

"Good point," Severus answered. "Fortunately we've only been doing it for a couple of days so we should be able to go back to our normal behaviour fairly easily. We have to decide who we're going to tell about it though."

"Well, no-one until we've discussed it with Albus, I would have thought," Remus said. "But after that I think we should tell Sirius, he'd really resent being kept in the dark."

*And Megan and Filius, * Bella added. *But I think we should leave it at that. The less people that know the better if you ask me! *

Severus stood up, "Come on, we may as well get this staff meeting over with as soon as possible. Bella, you'd better go back to your room and leave from there. Remus'll just have to try not to be seen by anyone. I'll follow in a moment once I'm sure he's got a reasonable head start on me, there's no point pushing our luck."

Remus arrived at the staff room first to find Professors Sinistra and Vector already there. Greeting them, he found himself a seat near Megan and waited for the others to arrive. Professor Binns arrived next, followed by Professors Sprout, McGonagall and Valerian. Then Severus arrived with Bella right behind him. Bella came and sat down on the other side of Megan and the two chatted unobtrusively. Professor Dumbledore arrived then, along with the rest of the staff.

"Good Morning everyone," Albus greeted them cheerily. "For those of you who weren't still at Hogwarts, I apologise for interrupting your holiday but I assure you that we will try and keep things as brief as possible and then you will all be free to return to wherever you are supposed to be."

"Now as some of you already know, " he continued. "We have a new student in Ravenclaw House. She arrived last night after I finally managed to convince the board of governors that we should accept her. Her name is Adolpha Night and she is a werewolf."

Several of the staff gasped at this and a couple of them glanced over at Remus to see what his reaction might be. Since the news wasn't a surprise to Remus, he simply continued to watch Albus and the rest of the staff eventually focussed their attention back on the Headmaster.

"Naturally it will be necessary for certain concessions to be made to her condition. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion, her transformations will likely be very wearing for her while she is still growing and it may be necessary for her to be absent from classes for a few days around each full moon. As her heads of house, Filius and Arabella will be responsible for assisting her to keep up with her classmates and obviously Remus will also be helping her in any way he can. However, her condition itself was not the reason I called you all here. Arabella and Remus made some observations after meeting her last night, which led me to discuss her family situation with Minerva, and we are both very worried by the conclusions to which we have been forced to come. Minerva has been dealing with her family while I was debating the matter with our illustrious governors," Albus' lips twisted in a wry smile as he said this, leaving the staff in no doubt that the 'discussions' had been far from amicable or simple. "Minerva believes that there may be a family situation of which you should all be aware. I will allow her to explain our concerns to you more fully."

Professor McGonagall rose and nodded to her thanks to Albus. "Adi's father was not at all pleased with the idea of allowing her to come here. At first I thought he was just being overprotective but having talked to him many times over the last few months in an attempt to get his permission, I have seen some disturbing evidence in regards to his treatment of his daughter. He believes that his daughter died eighteen months ago when she was attacked and the child that remains is no more than a monster. As far as I can tell, he tolerates her presence in his home only because he would not be able to get rid of her without awkward questions being asked. He did not want her to come to Hogwarts both because he did not wish to be publicly associated with the girl and because he feels it is wrong for a creature like Adolpha to mingle with normal children as if she were one of them, I'm paraphrasing here you understand." As she had continued to speak Minerva's eyes had revealed the passionate anger she was trying to control in regards to Adolp fat father. Anyone paying close attention to Remus, as his lovers had been since Minerva rose to speak, would have seen a similar anger burning in his own eyes. "I did not see any evidence of actual abuse, beyond the verbal and mental torment he seems intent on inflicting upon the child, but from what Arabella saw last night I believe there may be some. We need to watch the girl carefully this year and see if it becomes necessary to recommend to the Ministry that they find her alternative accommodation with a foster family." Minerva took her seat again when she finished and Albus rose to conclude the discussion.

"The child is very shy and under the mistaken impression that if anyone discovers her secret she will be sent away. I hope that a Christmas spent with the Ravenclaw students who have remained here will help a little in that regard but we must watch for signs of bullying. The child practically has victim tattooed on her forehead and until she gains some confidence, she is certainly vulnerable to the attentions of the older students. If we can find a subject in which her strengths lie and encourage her interest, we may be able to bring her out of herself somewhat. Unless anyone else has any comments or suggestions, I think that concludes the meeting." He looked around the room but no one seemed to have anything of relevance to say, other than a few suggestions of things that the staff would like to do to her father if they could only get him alone for five minutes. When no one spoke up Albus told them all they were free to go and left the room.

*Guys, I think we should tell Megan and Filius about our new relationship before the meeting this afternoon. It's not fair for them to find out at the same time as a group of people we're not particularly close to. I don't want us to draw too much attention to ourselves though, * Bella thought.

*I agree, * Sev answered. *Especially since we've already informed Sirius. I'll follow Albus, and you and Remy can see if you can get them alone for a moment. I'll meet you in the Headmaster's office. *

Remus made his way to Bella's side as Severus left the room and the two of them attracted Megan's attention as she headed towards the door.

"Meg," Remus said quietly. "We need to talk to you and Filius in private. Everyone else is heading off now. Can you get him to stay for a moment so we can talk without the others being around?"

Megan looked at him curiously, "OK. Is anything wrong?"

Bella shook her head emphatically, =Everything's fine, we just need to tell you something before this afternoon. =

Bella perched on the table next to Remus as the others left. Megan attracted Filius' attention and the four of them hung back as the room emptied. When they were alone Megan demanded, "Well? What's up?"

=Sev, Remy and I became a triad a few days ago, = Bella signed with a grin.

Megan squealed excitedly and hugged her, before throwing her arms around Remus, who looked slightly taken aback.

"Congratulations," Filius said. "Although I might wish you'd waited until after the New Year since Megan bet me 5 galleons that you'd get together before then!"

Remus laughed, "Well I can't wait to see Sev's face when he finds out you've been betting on his love life!"

"He should consider himself lucky I didn't try running a book on it," Megan said. "The three of you are by far the most interesting thing to happen at Hogwarts for years!"

=Oh I don't know. I think the two of you come a close second, = Bella signed, smiling broadly when Filius turned a deep shade of red. =Listen though, Sev and I have a new assignment which means we have to tell the rest of the Order this afternoon, but no one outside of it can know. We're telling you now because we didn't want you to find out with the rest of them. =

Megan nodded seriously, "We won't breathe a word to anyone, but whatever it is the two of you are up to, for Merlin's sake be careful. I don't want to lose either of you!"

"I agree," Filius said. "Try to remember you're a Ravenclaw, not one of those foolhardy Gryffindors and keep out of trouble!"

"Hey," Remus exclaimed laughing. "On behalf of foolhardy Gryffindors everywhere, I resent that remark!"

Filius waved a hand dismissively, "Oh I didn't mean you! How you ended up amongst those idiots is beyond me, I've always thought you'd have made a good Ravenclaw."

"I'm quite happy in Gryffindor thank you very much, but coming from you I'll take that as a compliment. We'll see the two of you this afternoon, we've got to go, we're meeting Sev in Albus' office and lunching with the Headmaster. It wouldn't do to be too late."

Professor Dumbledore waited until his three teachers were comfortable settled and well-supplied with food and drink before asking them what they wanted to discuss with him. Severus and Remus both looked across at Bella, who glared at them each in turn.

*Not being able to speak should mean that I don't get stuck as spokesperson in situations like this! * she complained.

*Sorry, * they both sent at the same time.

Remus cleared his throat. "As you appear to know," Remus started. "Bella, Severus and I are - involved. Um, with one another." He paused again, unsure exactly what he was saying.

"I'm sure it's not necessary to warn the three of you about the danger should your relationship become general knowledge while Arabella and Severus are engaged in their undercover activities," Albus warned. "However, on a personal level I am happy for you all. Would I be right in thinking that since you became a triad you have developed some new abilities? Or maybe experienced a surge in power?" he asked.

"How did you -" Severus started.

"It isn't uncommon for triads, especially committed and well-balanced triads, to experience a growth in their powers and abilities. The three wizards involved can often draw on one another's abilities and power reserves. This sometimes manifests itself in new abilities, sometimes as a growth in magical strength. With a strong enough connection to act as a grounding force, it is often possible for a wizard to achieve higher levels of focus and power, resulting in a lessening of their need for an external focussing element such as the spoken word or the wave of a wand. Since you wanted to talk to me I assumed you had experienced something similar," Albus explained.

Severus and Remus were looking at him blankly, the full implications of his explanation not immediately occurring to them, but Bella, he was pleased to see, wore a thoughtful expression as she began to consider the various ways in which their powers might be augmented.

"We've developed a telepathic connection," Severus told him.

"Oh that's very impressive," Albus exclaimed. "Very few triads develop their powers as quickly as the three of you seem to have done. I'm by no means an expert on the subject however. I can give you some texts that you might find helpful. I assume you don't intend to share these developments with the rest of the Order this afternoon," he said.

"We'd rather keep it quiet for now," Remus answered. "We'll tell our closest friends but other than that we think it would be wise to keep it hidden for the moment."

After lunch Remus, Bella and Severus helped Albus to rearrange his office for the meeting. Having shrunk the desk to get it out of the way, they conjured some chairs.

"I hate it when I have to hold these meetings in my office," Albus complained. "There's no way everyone's going to fit. If we conjure enough chairs, there won't be room for all the members of the Order. Some of you young ones are going to have to sit on the floor I'm afraid."

"How many of us are there going to be?" Remus asked.

"Including me there will be twenty people here. One of my spies is going to make an appearance too, I think he might be able to help you with your new assignment," Albus explained. "Hmmm, I think I hear voices. Minerva must be bringing some of them up already."

*Let's make a statement guys. I don't want to have to try and convince anyone that we're serious about each other, * Bella thought.

*What do you want us to do? * Remus asked.

*I thought the three of us might take that two-seater settee over there. We'll fit if we sit close together. Sev, you sit in the middle, * she instructed.

*You're not planning to do anything overly dramatic here, are you Bella? * Severus queried cautiously.

*Who? Me? * Bella asked. *I'm shocked that you would even think such a thing! *

Severus glared at her suspiciously but did as he was told. Remus sat one end with his arm along the back of the sofa, around Severus' shoulders and Bella curled up the other end, leaning her head against him. The door opened and Minerva entered, along with almost all the Weasleys. Only the two youngest children were absent. Molly and Arthur greeted everyone warmly, before finding themselves seats. Percy joined them, looking around the room curiously, while the other Weasley children found themselves a space on the floor. Bill looked across at Bella and smiled hesitantly. She smiled back. "Later," she mouthed. He nodded and turned his attention back to the door, which was opening again to admit more people. This time Megan and Filius entered, accompanied by Professor Bethany Vector and Oliver Wood. Oliver looked slightly overwhelmed by his surroundings and hurriedly sat down next to the twins again and Filius sat on the other couch.

Megan looked over at Albus, "Rolanda's waiting downstairs for the others. She'll be along presently. I hope."

"Thank you Megan," he nodded at her and then returned to his conversation with Minerva.

Shortly thereafter Rolanda Hooch arrived, accompanied by Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher and a large black dog. As soon as the door had shut behind them the dog transformed into Sirius. Megan, Filius and Bethany, along with the older Weasley children gasped as they recognized him. Percy opened his mouth to say something but his father laid a restraining hand on his arm.

"Yes that's Sirius Black. Yes, he's on our side and no, he didn't do it," he said. He glanced across at his son and smiled, "Don't worry about it, pretty soon weird stuff like this will seem perfectly normal."

"No one saved me a seat I see," Sirius grumbled, carefully avoiding looking at his two friends who were snuggling Severus.

Bill moved over slightly and patted the floor next to him. Sirius smiled gratefully and sat down next to him, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Once they were all settled, Albus conjured cups of tea or coffee for them.

""I'm glad you could all make it at such short notice," Albus said. "There's only one person still to come and he should be arriving via a portkey any moment now." A slight rushing noise was heard, like sand filling an hourglass, and then Lucius Malfoy appeared in the middle of the room. Chaos erupted as several people exclaimed angrily while others turned to Albus, demanding explanations. Bella froze when she recognised the new arrival and the colour drained from her face.

*Shit, not now. I can't do this, * she thought in a panic. Severus' arm tightened around her. *What's wrong? * he asked. She shook her head, refusing to try and explain in a crowded room.

*You're a fully trained Auror, Bella, * Remus thought. *You could probably take him apart with your bare hands now, not that Albus would thank you for it. For now, let's settle for not letting him see that he's getting to you. *

*You're right. It was just the shock of seeing him like this. I didn't expect to react so strongly, it was all a long time ago, * she replied.

"What the hell is he doing here, Albus" Arthur demanded furiously, raising his voice to be heard above the uproar.

"I understand everyone's shock, but I assure you Lucius has been one of our most valuable assets for quite some time," Albus said calmly. "While I generally find it advisable to keep my spies separate from the rest of you, Lucius will hopefully be playing an important role in a current operation and I thought I should let the rest of you know which side he was really on. It would be unfortunate if he got caught in the crossfire after all. Lucius, why don't you find yourself a seat and then we can start."

Lucius looked around the room disdainfully. Raising one eyebrow he said, "I think I'll remain standing, thank you Headmaster." As he strolled to the back of the room where he took up a casual pose leaning against the wall, he looked around again. "Intriguing. Every wizard in this room is a pureblood Albus, I hadn't realised quite what a snob you really were. Although," he continued a sneer entering his voice as he glanced at the Weasleys and then at Remus. "Some of them only just qualify."

"Lucius," Albus warned him.

"Merely making an observation, Headmaster," he answered coolly.

Albus ignored him and spoke to the room in general. "Before we start, does anyone have anything they need to discuss?" There was a brief silence as he waited to see if anyone would speak up. "Very well then, let's get to the point. Most of you know Professor Pettigrew, at least by reputation, and know that until recently she was working as an Auror. It appears that her forced resignation was a gambit on Cornelius' part to get her on to the staff here as a spy."

Arthur interrupted, "I assume Bella knew nothing about Fudge's scheming then?"

"She was only informed when she was called to a meeting the day school broke for Christmas. Cornelius believes that by working here she can get on Severus' good side and that he will bring her into the Death Eaters from where she can feed information back to the Ministry."

"How precisely did he expect her to do that?" Arthur asked. Bella blushed and looked at her hands and Albus opened and shut his mouth a couple of times as he tried to find a tactful way of putting it.

"Oh Merlin," Arthur exclaimed. "When did Fudge decide to add pimp to his resume?"

"But, but that's -" Percy started.

"Illegal?"

"Immoral?"

"Unethical?" The suggestions came from all sides of the room.

"Quite," Albus stated. "We've decided to explain this too all of you because I'd like them to have as wide a range of people to contact as possible, just in case something goes wrong. Remus will be their main contact I assume, but they need several back-up contact points. Lucius, we'll need your help to establish Bella as one Voldemort's followers since Severus isn't as trusted as Fudge seems to think."

"What were you planning to use as your reason for changing sides?" Lucius asked Bella.

=The same thing Cornelius used to try and get me to work against Albus. Sirius' presence at the school. The Ministry already suspects that Albus is helping him and since I'm supposed to blame him for my injuries, I should be furious with Albus. That should be enough for a start. After that you can convince me of the 'rightness' of your cause, = she signed.

Before Lucius could answer Arabella Figg interrupted, "Could someone please translate what she just said for those of us who don't understand all that hand waving?"

"I'm sorry Arabella," Albus said. "I have kept you rather too busy to learn sign language over the last few months. Remus can translate if necessary. Now Lucius what were you going to say?"

"Miss Pettigrew's cover story seems a little fragile to me. After all if Sirius' name were to be cleared before she had been accepted it could cause some difficulty" Lucius mused.

"I can't see that happening in the near future," Sirius said.

"Oh I don't know. I rather thought these might help," Lucius replied throwing an envelope to him.

Sirius opened the envelope and withdrew half a dozen photographs. "Bloody hell," he exclaimed. Bill looked over his shoulder and gasped.

"Isn't that?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Sirius stated. "Photographic evidence the he's still alive. Of course all this proves is that I didn't blow him up, doesn't show that I had nothing to do with James and Lily's deaths."

Bella started signing rapidly at Albus.

"Of course," he exclaimed pulling the documents Cornelius had given Bella from his desk drawer. "This does though. This report proves that the same person who cast the spell that supposedly killed Peter was present in Bella's kitchen the night she was attacked and at Godric's Hollow. Since the photos prove Sirius didn't cast the spell then Peter must have done."

"Do they though?" Molly queried thoughtfully. "The photos prove Peter is alive certainly, but that could just mean that Sirius is a terrible shot and hit the muggles instead of Peter."

"Not true, Molly," Mundungus Fletcher interrupted, his voice distorted slightly as he chewed on his ever-present pipe. "If Peter had turned up alive a few days after he was supposedly attacked then that argument would make sense, but to vanish for fourteen years and then reappear in the company of a group of Death Eaters - I assume the photos do show him keeping bad company, young man?" he asked Sirius.

"Oh yes, they show his new friends," Sirius answered bitterly, glaring at the pictures of the man responsible for the destruction of the Marauders."

"Well then," Mundungus continued. "Hardly reasonable behaviour for an innocent man is it?"

"I agree," Albus said. "But it does mean Bella's going to have some trouble convincing the Death Eaters you're on their side."

"Not necessarily," Severus said, deep in thought. "Do you think that you could convince Cornelius to keep this under wraps in order to not wreck the operation?" he asked Bella.

=Probably, why? What are you planning? = she queried.

"Well the Ministry could issue a press release stating that interrogation of Black under Veritaserum had revealed that he was not responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter and then Peter's death could be put down to an abortive attempt at arresting the guilty party. That would allow them to release him, after all twelve years isn't an unreasonable sentence for the accidental deaths of some civilians who were unfortunately caught in the crossfire, but it would still give you the opportunity to change sides. After all, the Ministry would have just released the man who killed your brother ..."

=That might just work, = she signed. =Albus, what do you think? =

"It sounds plausible. It all depends whether you can convince Fudge to play along."

=I can't say for sure until I try it. If all else fails, I'll just have to claim that I don't believe the evidence clearing Sirius' name and hope that Voldemort's too keen on getting another spy at Hogwarts to care. =

"All right, well I don't think we can do anything more on that front for now until Arabella has spoken to the Ministry," Albus continued, gesturing to Bella. "Does anyone have anything else to contribute?" Albus asked.

"Yeah, I want to know how long Bella's been dating Professor Snape," Bill said, grinning broadly. Bella blushed bright red and buried her head in Severus' shoulder, shaking with silent laughter. *I hate the Weasley sense of humour! *

"About twelve years actually," Severus informed him dryly. Bill's mouth dropped open, not having seriously expected any answer, let alone that one.

=Of course, we've only been involved with Remus for a few days, = Bella added.

"Bloody Hell!" Bill exclaimed. Under his breath he muttered, "I wonder if there's video." The comment was so quiet that most of the room stared at Sirius in concern when he started to choke on his coffee. Remus just glared at Bill.

*Would you mind if I dropped your ex in the lake? * he asked Bella.

*Why, what did he say? * she replied.

*Trust me when I say you don't want to know!*

Albus cleared his throat, "In the absence of any serious queries, I suggest you all go home and enjoy the rest of your Christmas holidays."

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The Girl in my Arms