Chapter Fifty Three: Conspiracy Theories

30 December, 1982

Sirius woke up just before the break of dawn.

It was still dark, and he could hear the howling of the wind outside. He slowly and quietly climbed out of his hammock and put on the cloak he had kept prepared the night before. Nathan and Marlene were both sleeping, thankfully, as ensured by the sounds of light snores reaching his ears. Checking he had his wand in his pocket, he tiptoed out of the warehouse and faced the furious gale outside.

It took much longer than expected to reach the rendezvous, mostly because he had to spend much of his energy to shield himself from the wind. He was bent forward in an attempt to not fly away with the force, and he felt that it would not be impossible for the wind to lift him off the ground.

There have been blizzards for days on end, which felt highly unusual to Sirius. It almost felt as though it was nature's way of joining in the war that was raging in the wizarding world.

Finally, two dark dots were seen puncturing the stark white of the surroundings. Sirius quickened his pace and reached Elizabeth, and the man next to her named Robbie. He was breathing heavily – the walk through the storm seemed to have exhausted him more than he had expected.

"Hey," she greeted him with a hug, then introduced her companion. "This is Robbie Runcorn. Robbie, Sirius Black."

The surname clicked ominously in Sirius's mind and he immediately went alert. His hand crept into his pocket and touched his wand, ready to be used at any moment. "Runcorn?" he asked viciously.

Elizabeth seemed surprised and hurt by his reaction, but he ignored her. The Runcorns were notorious pureblood families, known for their use of Dark Arts against muggleborns unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Sirius couldn't trust him.

But Robbie Runcorn seemed oddly unfazed. His hands hung lazily by his sides, not even bothering to take out his wand. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Runcorn. Do you have any problem with that?"

"How do I know you are trustworthy?"

"Sirius!" Elizabeth snapped. "What's wrong with you?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Black," he answered impassively, placing strong emphasis on his name. "But I'm not, am I?"

They stared at each other challengingly for a few minutes, but Sirius refused to concede. "I'm not like my family," he stated firmly, though he didn't know who he was trying to convince. "I have proven it countless times. What is your proof?"

"How about the fact that my wife and five year old son were killed by death eaters?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I have no obligation to answer to you, Black. I am trusting you, and all I ask is that you trust me back."

The stare off continued, and Sirius finally relaxed and pulled his hand out of his pocket.

"Can we now proceed to why you wanted to meet me?" asked Robbie.

Sirius nodded.

Robbie apparated them to Elizabeth's home. When she knocked on the door, it was opened by a young girl, probably no more than fifteen, who grinned upon seeing them.

"Sirius, meet my sister. Anastasia."

Anastasia Bailey eyed Sirius for a moment. "Are you a wizard too?"

"Annie," chided Elizabeth. "Don't be rude."

Sirius registered that during normal circumstances, he would have most certainly uttered a witty remark. But now he was much too worried about Remus to craft up any such response. Furthermore, he was now thinking about how little he knew about Elizabeth. They have never spoken about their families, and seeing that she had a teenage sister has surprised him more than it should have.

They were ushered into the kitchen, where the four of them sat around a round table. He was about to begin when Elizabeth spoke. "Annie, go to your room."

Anastasia glared at her. "I want to know what this is about."

"No, you are too young to get involved," she answered sternly. "Go to sleep."

"I am already involved," she protested. Sirius found himself impressed by her resolve. "I live with a strange magic person in our house, I know all about the war, I have healed injured people. I deserve to know what this is about."

Elizabeth pressed her lips, thinking. She glanced at both Sirius and Robbie, as though expecting their support. When neither of them spoke up, she sighed. "Fine. Stay."

They began their discussion. Sirius first questioned Robbie about his decision to not work under Dumbledore. No matter what he said, Sirius still couldn't shake off the feeling of distrust. Nevertheless, Robbie spoke to him freely, and he discovered that there were more people like him who refused to obey Dumbledore's orders, more people who would rather fight alone than be pawns under him. They were always under constant communication, even though they lived far from one another to increase security, and Robbie reassured him that he wasn't alone and that he would be able to gather a group should he need it.

Perhaps it was Sirius's distaste for purebloods, but he found himself unable to trust Robbie. However, seeing he had no other option, he decided to open up and told him about Remus.

When he was done, Robbie stared at him thoughtfully. Anastasia was the one to speak. "Why did you come here though?" she asked. "Isn't the Order doing anything about it?"

"That's the thing," he answered. "Most of the Order doesn't know of his existence. Only my friends, Marlene and Nathan do. But they have already made it clear they wouldn't take any step unless Dumbledore gives his orders, and I don't think he will bother to risk the lives of his beloved pawns for a muggle he isn't acquainted with. And even if he does – I don't want to wait. What if they kill him?"

Robbie opened his mouth now. "So you don't know where and how Remus was taken, and when and by whom? You are only assuming that he was captured because you overheard –"

"I am not assuming anything," he snapped, slamming his fist over the table. His outburst, although it startled Elizabeth, didn't seem to affect Robbie much.

"How did your friends know that he was captured?"

"Is that important?" he asked with gritted teeth.

"Just answer my question."

"I don't know," he threw up his arms in despair. "Dumbledore, maybe. He knows everything. Maybe a little birdie told him."

"And he told your friends, and not you," continued Robbie in the same calm voice that began to infuriate him very much. "Even though you were the one who were closer to Remus. Doesn't that seem suspicious to you?"

Sirius bit his lips. He hasn't thought about it. "Well, I disobeyed him once," he said slowly. "Made a surprise attack without discussing with him. And he banned me from future missions."

"And you just accepted it?" Robbie seemed deeply scandalised by the idea. "Is it a fucking school? That you will be suspended for disobeying the Headmaster? It's a war, Black. It's a full on war. We need every soldier who would be willing to join –"

"Is that important now?" Sirius yelled, unable to take it any longer. He leapt to his feet and began to pace the room. "I know we both hate Dumbledore, but we can talk about it later. Our first priority should be to bring Remus back."

Robbie stood up as well. "I know, Sirius. But you are missing my point. My point is, I don't trust Dumbledore. He has always been a one man person. He has ulterior motives for everything he does. Maybe there's a reason he chose not to let you know about Remus. Maybe he has other plans –"

"As much as I'm enjoying these conspiracy theories about Dumbledore," he interrupted, "how about we save it for later?"

Robbie looked like he wanted to protest, like he wasn't absolutely certain that it was a good idea, but he decided to let it go. His words nagged at Sirius, increasing his doubts, making him second guess himself, but he forcefully pushed them aside, at least for now. He had more pressing matters to think about.

"When was the last time you saw Remus?" asked Robbie after sitting down on his chair once again.

"Not recently," he answered. He suddenly felt a headache coming on, and he covered his face with his hands, slowly returning to his seat. "A month at least. His home was attacked, so I took him to his father's' house and left him there. Then my friends and I went into hiding."

"That complicates things a lot," Robbie sighed.

"You could go there," suggested Anastasia. "You know where it is, right? Maybe his father knows where Remus was."

"But he's a muggle," said Robbie, sounding like he couldn't fathom how a muggle could come useful in their mission.

"You have been living with us, muggles, for months, and yet you underestimate us," said Elizabeth with a smile. "Maybe it's time you accept that we aren't as stupid as you think we are."

Sirius watched her for a moment. "It's worth a shot."

He stood up, and immediately received puzzled looks from his companions.

"We are leaving now?" asked Robbie.

"No, we are leaving after New Years. Don't you want to see the fireworks first? I've been waiting all year for them."

Robbie jumped to his feet instantly, while Anastasia snorted. "I'll be back in a minute." And he disappeared out through the door.

"Well, I'll go back to sleep then," she announced and followed him out.

Elizabeth pulled Sirius back to his seat and took his hands in hers. He smiled gratefully.

"I'm sorry about Remus."

Sirius didn't answer. He bit down on his lip and simply nodded. His brain constantly tried to force him to imagine what could be happening to Remus right now. Were they torturing him? Who was it that has found him? He had flashes of Remus lying on a cold, stone floor, back arched as the Cruciatus Curse crawled under his skin and inflicted pain unimaginable by anyone.

He quickly pushed the images to the back of his mind and decided to change the topic.

"Aren't you scared of having a wizard at home?" he asked. Elizabeth's thumb ran in circles over the back of his hand, and he felt oddly comforted by the simple gesture. "Your sister is so young, aren't you afraid that she might fall into danger?"

"I am," she answered promptly. "Trust me, I'm scared everyday. But I cannot turn a blind eye, you know? I could have just refused to take Robbie in, thinking that other people would do it. But how can you guarantee that those other people won't turn him away, thinking the same thing?"

Robbie entered the kitchen just then. "Come on, let's get your muggle friend back," he announced.

Sirius took a deep breath and stood up. He hugged Elizabeth goodbye and followed Robbie out of the house, ignoring the constant nagging sensation in the back of his mind.

❇

i updated yay