Hermione leaned closer, her eyes dancing with curiosity. "What did you do, Lucifer?"
"I simply suggested to the old hag's portrait that if she didn't seal her canvas lips this instant, I would find her hidden ancestral vault in Gringotts and turn every single Black 'family' heirloom into worthless Muggle slag," Lucifer whispered with a slow, wicked smirk. "It's remarkable how quickly pure-blood 'fanatics' value their gold over their bigotry. Still, she put up a good fight, I tell you, but don't need to worry..."
Sirius let out a barking laugh, raising his goblet to Lucifer. "Bloody brilliant, Morningstar! Now, where were we before the family drama? Ah, yes, the truth."
xxxxxx
After saying that, he turned to his godson with a sharp, conspiratorial wink. "Where exactly would you like to start, Harry?"
"Where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news every evening," Harry said, his eyes never leaving his godfather's face. "And there hasn't been a single thing that looks like him yet. No funny deaths, no mysterious disappearances, or anything—"
"That's because there haven't been any suspicious deaths yet," Sirius answered smoothly, leaning his elbows on the long wooden table. "Not as far as we know, anyway... and we happen to know quite a lot."
"Significantly more than Voldemort thinks we do, anyway," Remus added, offering a grim, quiet smile.
"How come he's suddenly stopped killing people?" Harry asked, his brow furrowing deeply in confusion.
"I think that one's a bit self-explanatory, Harry," Lucifer said, as he adjusted his posture against the bench. "The man doesn't want to draw any premature attention to himself. His glorious return didn't exactly go to plan, did it? You surviving that graveyard completely messed up his grand entrance. You let us bear... witness and immediately reveal what happened before he could prepare."
"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the exact moment he got back was Albus Dumbledore," Lupin noted. "And you made sure the Headmaster knew at once."
'That's what they believe, anyway... and if they want to happily, I say let them, Lucifer thought to himself, his lips curving into a hidden, cynical smirk. The intricate chess pieces of his own timeline manipulation were far too complex for this kitchen to understand.
Harry sat entirely quiet for a long second, processing the information. "But... how exactly has that helped us?"
"Are you kidding, mate?" Bill asked incredulously, pausing with his knife over the breadboard. "Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort was ever genuinely scared of."
Lucifer didn't miss the brief, knowing glance Harry shot toward him from across the table, who knew firsthand that Voldemort feared Merlin's lethal potential just as much, but the rest of the Order remained completely blind to that fact.
"Thanks entirely to you," Sirius said, gesturing to Harry. "Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned to his body."
"So what exactly has the Order been doing this entire month?" Harry asked, his green eyes scanning the faces of Arthur, Bill, Sirius, Remus, Mundungus, and Tonks.
"Working as hard as we possibly can behind the scenes to make sure Voldemort can't easily carry out his initial plans," Sirius said.
"How do you even know what he's planning?" Harry asked quickly.
"Dumbledore's got a remarkably shrewd idea," Lupin explained, taking a slow sip of his tea. "And his instincts normally turn out to be exceptionally accurate..."
"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning first?"
"I would imagine the absolute first thing he'd want to do is build up his dark army again," Lucifer interjected, his fingers tracing the silver links of his sapphire necklace. "Back when he was still reigning terror over Britain, he commanded massive numbers of Dark witches, wizards, and bloodthirsty creatures. The Giants will be just one primitive ally he will try to regain... He's not stupid enough to try and violently overthrow the Ministry with only a handful of escaped Death Eaters."
Harry turned his head back to Sirius. "So you're actively trying to stop him from recruiting more followers?"
"We're doing our absolute best," Sirius answered him, his smile souring. "Or they are, at least, since I'm trapped inside the damp walls of this house."
"How?"
"Well, the main challenge is to try and convince as many influential people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them properly on their guard," Bill said. "It's proving to be incredibly tricky, though."
"Why?"
"The Ministry, obviously," Lucifer scoffed, letting out a sharp, humoured whistle. "Fudge was absolutely furious and staunchly refused to believe that Voldemort came back. It's going to be spectacular when this entire delusion comes back to bite him right in the arse."
"But why?" Harry asked desperately, his frustration rising again. "Why is Fudge being so incredibly stupid? If Dumbledore—"
"Ah, well, you've put your finger right on the dead center of the problem," Arthur said with a wry, tired smile. "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is completely frightened of him, you see," Tonks said sadly, her pig snout nose shifting back into her standard features with a low sigh.
"Frightened of Dumbledore?" Harry asked incredulously. "Why?"
"Frightened of what he's up to," Arthur explained, adjusting his horn-rimmed glasses. "You see, Fudge has convinced himself that Dumbledore is plotting a coup to overthrow him. He genuinely thinks Dumbledore wants to be the next Minister of Magic."
"That's completely ridiculous! Dumbledore doesn't want—"
"Of course he doesn't," Arthur said smoothly. "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a vast majority of the public wanted him to take the office when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten just how much popular support Dumbledore maintained, even though the old man never officially applied for the job."
"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore is much cleverer than he is, a vastly more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry, he was forever owl-mailing the Headmaster for help and advice," Lupin noted. "But it seems Cornelius has become exceptionally fond of power now, and much more confident. He loves being the 'Minister of Magic', and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one, and Dumbledore is simply stirring up public trouble for the sake of destabilizing his platform."
"Typical politician," Lucifer scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Incapable of seeing past their own fragile egos."
"How can he possibly think that?" Harry demanded, his voice shaking with visible anger. "How can he think Dumbledore would make a lie like this up—that 'I' would make it up?!"
"Because accepting that Voldemort is officially back would mean facing a level of terror and chaos the Ministry has not had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," Sirius said bitterly. "Fudge simply cannot bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable for his regime to convince himself that Dumbledore is lying to destabilize him."
"There's absolutely no way that strategy can backfire," Lucifer said sarcastically, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. "Like I said, this is going to come back to bite him hard on the arse. You don't ignore a lethal tumor and pretend like it isn't there, Fudge... You do something about it to prevent further damage. Yeah, it's gonna hurt like hell to remove it, but it'll save your life in the long run." He took a slow pull of his butterbeer. 'When it's out that Voldemort is back, Fudge won't remain Minister for much longer after that.'
"So you see the core problem, Harry," Lupin said. "While the Ministry insists there is absolutely nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince the public he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry is leaning heavily on the editors of the 'Daily Prophet' not to report a single word on what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering. So, most of the Wizarding community are completely unaware anything happened... in that graveyard, and that makes them incredibly easy targets for Death Eaters if they start using the 'Imperius Curse."
"So not only is Fudge's denial going to make things worse, but keeping the public blind will allow Voldemort to grow his army back to full size through use of magical influence..." Lucifer said, his tone dripping with dark sarcasm. "This shit just gets better and better by the minute."
"But you're telling people, aren't you?" Harry asked, his gaze darting around at Arthur, Bill, Sirius, Remus, Mundungus, and Tonks. "You're letting people know he's back?"
The adults all smiled humorlessly, exchanging heavy looks.
"Harry, think about the logistics for a single moment before speaking," Lucifer said, gesturing with his hand. "Sirius physically can't tell a soul because he's still a wanted fugitive by the Ministry with a massive price on his head. Lupin is a registered werewolf; they aren't exactly popular or trusted among witches and wizards, even if he takes the 'Wolfsbane Potion' every full moon cycle. And Tonks and Arthur would instantly lose their jobs at the Ministry if they randomly interweaved into a casual conversation that Voldemort was back."
"And it's remarkably important for us to maintain spies within the Ministry," Sirius added, "because you can bet your last gold Galleon that Voldemort will have his own agents operating inside those Departments."
"We've managed to successfully convince a few key people, though," Arthur said, trying to offer a silver lining. "Tonks here, for one—she was too young to be in the Order last time, and having active Aurors on our side is a huge tactical advantage. Kingsley Shacklebolt has been a real asset too. Since he's officially in charge of the task force hunting for Sirius, he's been feeding the Ministry false intelligence about Sirius hiding out in Nepal."
"But, if none of you are putting out the word that Voldemort's back—" Harry began.
"Who said none of us were putting the news out?" Sirius asked with a sharp smirk. "Why do you think Albus Dumbledore is currently in such massive trouble with the government?"
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"They're trying to discredit him," Lupin explained. The Ministry controlled 'Daily Prophet' was spreading lies, reporting that Dumbledore was losing his grip, and had already removed him from his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards following his warnings about Voldemort's return. Sirius added that they were even trying to revoke his First Order of Merlin as well...."
"What about the chocolate frog cards?" Hermione said so quietly, only Lucifer heard her, and he merely glanced at her, she looked down in response with a tinge of pink.
"Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do so long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards," Bill added with a grin, briefly breaking the tension as Hermione struggled to keep a straight face.
"It's no laughing matter," Arthur said shortly, his smile vanishing instantly as he adjusted his glasses. "If he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could end up in Azkaban. That is the absolute last thing we want, Albus Dumbledore locked up in a cell. While 'You-Know-Who' knows Dumbledore is out there and wise to what he's up to, he's going to go cautiously for a while. But if Dumbledore is out of the way, well, You-Know-Who will have a completely clear field to conquer."
"Not if I have a say in it," Lucifer said, straining to sit up straight against the wooden bench.
"Do you mind?" Sirius asked, looking down at him with a mix of surprise and intense curiosity.
"I'm not afraid of Voldemort or his pathetic followers," Lucifer said, his tone carrying a dark, grim finality. "I killed many of them last summer in that graveyard. That act alone has already severely set him back on getting the old 'pure-blood' crew back together. I am absolutely not going to let him run freely if something tragic does happen to Dumbledore. I'll make sure he falls permanently before the 'Power of Destruction', as well as every single fool who chooses to stand beside him."
No one in the kitchen really knew what to say in response to that. A heavy, stunned silence hung over the table. Hermione glanced around, realizing that no one wanted to try and contest Lucifer; they knew for a fact they wouldn't win against him in power or wits.
"So..." Harry said, breaking the silence as his eyes locked onto his godfather. "What exactly is he after right now?"
"We don't know for certain," Sirius answered quietly, leaning forward. "But it has to be something he didn't have access to last time... we just—"
"That's enough," Molly's sharp voice suddenly rang out from the deep shadows beside the kitchen door. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and she looked entirely furious.
Lucifer didn't care about her temper at all, casually taking a sip of his remaining butterbeer.
"I want you in bed right now, all of you," Molly ordered, her gaze cutting aggressively across Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione.
"You can't just boss us—" Fred started to argue, his ears turning red.
"Watch me," Molly snarled. She was trembling slightly with rage as she looked over at Sirius, but before she could open her mouth to yell at him, Lucifer spoke up.
"With all due respect, Molly, you are not my mum, so don't pretend like you are," Lucifer said, his voice calm, or as calm as he could manage given the lingering pain in his muscles. "She is the sole reason my Dad did not kill me when I was young, choosing to banish me from his home instead. I haven't seen her in literal Eons, and she is as good as dead to me. So, please, don't pretend you carry her authority."
Molly's lower lip trembled with shock, entirely unable to handle a teenager speaking to her with such authority. Finding herself at a complete loss for words, she rounded violently on her children instead. "You three in bed, NOW!" She then turned a furious glare to Hermione. "And I want y--"
"No," Hermione cut her off cleanly, her chin held high as she stood her ground. "I'll go up to bed exactly when Lucifer does."
Molly looked like she absolutely could not stand her authority being openly contested by everyone in the room. The moment her three children scurried out of the door, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
"That was oddly satisfying to witness," Sirius said with a wide geographic grin.
"I highly doubt that was necessary, Lucifer," Remus said softly, shaking his head.
"She needed the reality check, I feel," Lucifer countered, resting his chin on his hand. "She is far too used to her authority only being challenged by her own kids. This little display has made her realize she can't boss around everyone still attending Hogwarts."
"At any rate, that's really all the information we currently know," Remus said, standing up to clear the remaining cups. "So it is probably best if you two head up to bed anyway."
"I'll go up in a minute..." Lucifer muttered. He braced his hands against the table, finding himself having a remarkably hard time getting up as his knitted muscles flared with residual pain from the Boggart blast.
"I've got to go see exactly what you did to that awful portrait in the hall," Sirius said, eagerly exiting the kitchen. A moment later, his cheerful, booming laughter echoed down the narrow stone steps. He came running back into the basement room, looking ecstatic. "You completely got rid of it! How on earth did you manage that?"
"A secret as old as time itself," Lucifer said. He tried to keep a straight face, but after a moment, he couldn't hold his internal laughter anymore. "I quite literally used an overpowered curse to turn the canvas to absolute dust and then 'Scourgify'd' the residue away into nothing."
Sirius looked like Christmas had come early, clapping the boy on the shoulder. "And you successfully got all the other shouting portraits along the wall too! Lucifer, you are officially welcome at Grimmauld Place any time you want to visit."
Lucifer offered a warm smile as Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Mundungus, and Harry all filtered out of the kitchen to head upstairs, leaving him and Hermione completely alone in the quiet room.
"Are you actually okay enough to walk?" She asked him gently. She shifted on the wooden bench so she was facing him fully while he still braced himself against the table.
"Yeah... with some physical help..." he said, holding out his right arm.
Hermione reached out and grabbed it immediately, pulling him up and helping stabilize his weight on his feet. "Thanks, Hermione... I'm really glad you stayed down here with me."
"I am too," She said softly, and slowly let go of his arm once he had his balance, looking up into his dark eyes. "So... while you were upstairs, Sirius actually helped me with testing my mental shields."
"Really? How did that happen?" Lucifer asked, his interest peaking as they slowly began to move toward the door.
"It turns out he's a natural 'Legilimens,'" Hermione revealed, a small, proud smile on her face. "But don't worry, my mental shields held up perfectly. I made absolutely sure I had nothing... nothing that we did together at Lux sitting on the surface of my mind while he was testing me."
'And I absolutely had none of my lewd thoughts about you exposed either, Lucifer, don't worry', she thought to herself, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. 'Those specific memories are kept entirely safe in the deepest chambers of my mind.'
"I'll need to remember to thank him properly tomorrow..."
They left the basement kitchen together, navigating the narrow stairs and heading up to the dark floor where their bedrooms were located. Lucifer stopped directly outside the door to the room Hermione was sharing with Ginny.
He turned to face her, his features softening. "I'll see you in the morning." He leaned forward.
Hermione met him halfway, her hands resting gently against his chest. They shared a soft, sensual kiss for a few quiet seconds before parting, just staring deeply into each other's eyes.
"I love you, Lucifer," she whispered into the quiet corridor.
"I know," Lucifer whispered back, a soft smirk playing on his lips.
Hermione watched him turn and enter his own bedroom before she turned the handle to go into her own. Her mind was already racing, ready to tell an eager Ginny everything the adults had talked about downstream. 'I can at least wait to tell you the heavier details, until you fully recover from your injuries...' She thought fondly, a brilliant smile on her face as she shut the door.
xxxxxxx
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