author_by_night | Neither Here Nor There: Chapter Ten

Title: Neither Here Nor There

Fandom: Harry Potter

Chapter: Ten

Rating: PG-13

Summary: It's been six months since the war, and everyone's ready to try moving on. Lyall Lupin and Andromeda Tonks are coming to terms with the death of their children, finding solace in one another - but how long can they stay close in the face of absence? Kingsley Shacklebot is trying to lead a country that has been left bitter by war, so distrustful many even doubt him. And Hestia Jones is trying to harbor all she holds dear, which is hard when there's secrets she's never had the heart to reveal.

Percy was to meet Audrey at the cafe across the street from the Ministry.

He was exhausted, and knew she likely was as well. The search had taken all afternoon and night, going into the wee hours of the morning. They hadn't had any luck.

After this, Percy was to meet with Kingsley. He couldn't even begin to think what that would entail right now; he needed to focus on Audrey. Assuming she'd bother to show.

Much to Percy's relief, after about twenty minutes she came in, looking as though she hadn't had much sleep. she sat down across from Percy.

Audrey looked down at the teacup in front of her. "You ordered me tea already, I see."

"The least I could do."

Audrey laughed halfheartedly. "Thank you."

She looked out the window. "I had no idea Penelope would be in such bad shape. Or that it started all the way back at Hogwarts... I wish I'd known."

"No one knew. Not even her closest friends."

"I know. I just hate that I couldn't help her. That I can't help her now."

"We'll find her."

"I hope so."

Audrey looked back at Percy. "Are you still in love with her?"

"No. And I swear I was going to tell you. I thought it would only be a matter of days..."

"But it wasn't. What if she'd never been ready?"

"I was going to tell you if she didn't give in soon. But she's also improved, believe it or not. I was helping her."

"And yet you also couldn't stop her from running. Percy, Penelope is deeply, deeply troubled. I know you were trying to do the right thing-"

"I had to do it," Percy interrupted. "I couldn't let another person down in the name of my career."

"But you let me down by keeping this from me for weeks. And isn't your brother an Auror?"

"I didn't want to put you in the middle of this. Or Ron."

"Well, you have," Audrey retorted. "Do you think people aren't going to wonder what we knew?"

"It's not a crime to have someone stay with you, you know," Percy pointed out.

Audrey gave him a look. "It is when it's wasting Ministry time and resources. You, of all people, should know that. You wasted a lot of people's time, including mine. And Penny... Penny needs more help than you were giving her."

Percy had known it all along; it was just so easy to brush off... thinking if he did one damn thing right....

"I know," he said. "I'm sorry."

Audrey rubbed her forehead. "It's not just that. You were hiding your ex-girlfriend in your house."

"Audrey-"

"Well? Can you really blame me for being bothered by that?"

Percy took her hand and squeezed it. "I promise this is the last secret I'll ever keep. I love you."

"I know. I love you too. But..."

"But...?"

Audrey closed her eyes. "I'm having trouble reconciling all of this. It's too much."

Percy didn't like where this was going. "What are you saying?"

"I don't know." Audrey sighed. "I need to think, and so do you."

"You don't understand," Percy blurted.

He didn't mean the way it came out. What he had wanted to say was how hard it was to keep Penny from Audrey. How she was the first person he was going to call, but Penny begged him not to, and she'd been so scared, so upset, so confused that he hadn't had the heart to go against her wishes. That Penny knew about Audrey, and understood he'd moved on - she'd stopped loving him a long time ago anyway. He wanted to tell Audrey that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him, that being with her was truly the change he'd needed to make in his life...

But she'd already left him alone, the keeper of two cold cups of tea.

Andromeda had never thought she'd be sitting in a small office opposite of the Auror Department with Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, unless it was to testify that they had hurt her in some way.

Right now, she felt as though she had been their accomplice.

They'd probably chosen Daphne Greengrass to do the questioning because from Narcissa and Draco's perspective, she was an equal. It had been a good decision; while reluctant, Narcissa and Draco had given their testimonies of the things they'd found in their homes, and Andromeda had given hers.

"Okay," Daphne said, nodding to Hestia, who was writing it all down. "Thank you. Now, I have to ask..."

"We didn't have a thing to do with her disappearance - I told you that from the beginning," Narcissa said wearily. "Nor did Lucius."

"Are you certain of that?"

"Lucius is already in prison; what point would there be in lying for him?"

"I know who did," Draco said suddenly.

Everyone looked at him.

"Well?" Daphne prompted.

"It was Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange... along with a few others, but from what I could tell it was mostly their handiwork. I heard them bragging about it."

"What exactly did they do?"

"They held everyone at wandpoint... told Penelope if she didn't hand over her wand, they'd kill all of them. So she did, and they... killed them all anyway." Draco's voice changed. "Even the children. I didn't understand why, they were innocent - I mean, it was a waste of time."

Andromeda couldn't stop herself: "Empathy is a good thing, Draco."

Draco didn't respond.

Daphne tapped her foot impatiently. "Then what happened?"

"They tortured her. Probably didn't have to, she was already screaming - yowling like a cat being hung by its tail in the rain, they said."

Andromeda remembered the time Aunt Walburga had hung Bellatrix's cat by its tail in the rain. Bellatrix had only been seven or eight; fortunately their mother had made her stop. Bellatrix had never trusted Aunt Walburga after that... and yet she'd used that very horror from her childhood as an analogy to her own wrongdoings.

"How did she get away?"

"She grabbed her wand and ran. They let her go, because they knew they'd finished the job. More than killing, they liked emotional torture."

"And that's all we're saying," Narcissa finished, putting her hand on Draco's shoulder.

"No," Daphne said, "I have more questions..."

"We're not answering them."

"You have no other choice. The only reason you two aren't in Azkaban with Lucius is because you helped win the war. Don't think they're not still suspicious of you."

"They're? You're on their side, remember?" Draco laughed. "I know you were spying on our House the whole time."

"That's what you think," Daphne returned. "But is it true?"

Andromeda hid a smile.

"I'm trying to help you," Daphne continued in a somewhat nicer voice, "because I always admired you in school. That Granger girl always trying to beat you, the torture you endured our third year when the Hippogriff attacked... and then, you're asked to kill the Headmaster. You've suffered so much, and I don't want them to think you're anything less than the man you are."

Andromeda would have snickered, except they all knew the part about Dumbledore really was true...

"What else do you need to know?" Draco asked.

"I need to know how well you and your family knew Penelope."

"She was a Mudblo-Muggleborn. Mother and Father didn't know her at all."

"And you?"

"Penelope was a few years ahead of me. We barely spoke. Although she did take points off of Slytherin once. Wrongfully so if you ask me - we argued quite a bit about it. I told her I hoped she was the monster's next victim - it was our second year, see."

"Did you ever interact with her outside of that?"

"No."

"Mrs. Malfoy?"

"No," Narcissa said.

"And Mrs. Tonks?"

Andromeda shook her head. "No."

"So none of you have any idea what the messages may have meant? We've figured out Draco's, it was a clear allusion to the things he said when they were in school. But we can't work out what she meant."

"You don't think she's going to put a sleeping charm on me, do you?" Narcissa asked.

"Most likely not, but it doesn't hurt to -"

The door opened, and a young woman - Audrey, was it? - walked in.

"Audrey!" Hestia sounded surprise. "You took the afternoon off, I thought?"

"I was going to, but while at home I was looking at Andromeda's copy of that drawing... I've worked it out."

Audrey's eyes were red; clearly she'd needed the day off. Hestia mouthed something to her, and Audrey shook her head.

"Do they need to be here for this?" Daphne asked.

Audrey hesitated. "Well - it might be important, should Penelope decide to act further on this sentiment in any way. I realized something important. In the muggle play, Hamlet-"

"-Hamlet wasn't a muggle play," Draco interrupted.

"What?" Audrey looked confused.

"Muggles just think Shakespeare was one of them. No, he was a wizard. Ergo, Hamlet was a wizard play, Muggles just took all the magic references out."

"That's a lie," Audrey retorted. "A lie spread by families who didn't think a Muggle from Stratford could write such wonderful plays, I imagine."

"What did you work out, Audrey?" Daphne asked impatiently.

"That the drawing is actually a reference to Ophelia. You may recall that Ophelia went mad."

Andromeda thought of the smiling girl in the pictures the Prophet had released, then remembered a production of Hamlet she'd seen with Ted...

Draco frowned. "Didn't Ophelia drown herself?"

"I don't think that's what she's implying," Audrey said gently. "I think it's more of a metaphor."

"Does this all mean it really started when the attacks at Hogwarts did, though? My second year?"

"It appears to be that way."

Draco looked uncomfortable.

"Is that all?" Narcissa asked.

Daphne, Hestia and Audrey all exchanged a look.

"Yes," Daphne said, "you may go."

Narcissa and Draco sauntered out.

"Andromeda?" Hestia had put down her quill. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Andromeda lied. "I'll see you later, Hestia."

Andromeda couldn't shake the horrible feeling as she walked down the hall, however... why her? What had she ever done to Penelope?

A thought was beginning to form, but a shriek from Narcissa interrupted it.

"I TOLD you not to meddle!" Narcissa sounded furious. "I was pulled away in the middle of a gathering with my friends! It was most humiliating!"

"That's what you're getting out of this? A young lady is missing. And don't think we don't all know you know something."

"How dare-"

"-drop the act. Oh, I don't think you or Draco were involved directly, by any means. But you at least have an idea of what was behind the incident at Hogwarts all those years ago. I wager Lucius was involved, no?"

"Of course he wasn't," Narcissa said thinly.

"I hope not. Because I'd hate for something to happen to you. Or Draco."

Narcissa's eyes widened, and without another word, she disapparated.

Kingsley had spent all morning deliberating with Humphrey Williamson, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. For all intents and purposes, he technically was also the Senior Undersecretary, as Kingsley had never formally designated anyone else to the position. His intent had been for Percy to ascend to it.

Kingsley liked Percy. True, he could be pompous and even a little irritating, but he meant well - in all respects. Moreover, Kingsley had never met anyone with a better work ethic.

Except for this particular instance.

The facts were these: Percy had lied as a top Ministry official. His actions had hindered the efforts of the Auror Department and the Muggle Liaison Office. It was the very thing that should not have happened at such a crucial point in time, and Kingsley had to approach this as the Minister, not as a friend.

Still, he could be as fair as possible.

Percy stood in front of Kingsley's desk; Humphrey Williamson stood next to Kingsley. He confirmed everything Kingsley laid out.

"Do you have anything to add?" Only one thing - with the exception of the morning of 14 February, nineteen-hundred and ninety nine" (he's prepared for this, Kingsley thought), "none of my actions interfered with my work as Junior Undersecretary."

"No," Kingsley agreed, "they did not. But they interfered with others' work."

"I realize that, Sir."

"I understand. Unfortunately, you still broke many important rules. Therefore, we deem it necessary to administer the following punishment. You will be suspended without pay for a total of six months to the day."

"Oh." Percy said. "I see."

"You may take your things."

"Right."

Percy stood up, and shook hands with Kingsley. "It's just as well; this development will let me think about things. Someone was just telling me I ought to."

"Percy-" Kingsley began.

But he stopped, because there was nothing he could say.