In Clover

Lucius sits in his cell at the Ministry plotting how to wiggle his way out of the sticky situation he is in, when the door opens and Narcissa appears in the doorway. She crosses the room and touches his face briefly saying, "how are they treating you?" Lucius wants to be open with her as he has not been alone with her in a long while. Yet, he feels it necessary to maintain a regal stoic facade that the rest of the wizarding world is a custom. He replies, "As well as one can expect from the... Ministry". He attempts to relay through his thoughts how he has missed her and that their conversation is definitely not private.

Meda returns from work with her head full of heavy, worried thoughts about James, about Sirius, about Lily, even about Bella. She spent the day clandestinely putting together a volunteer emergency triage support team for the attack. As she walks in the door she lets out a quiet sigh.

"Ted? Home yet?"

As Healer-in-Charge of the Center for Creature-Induced Injuries, Andromeda has access to 'floating' staff as needed. She let's Healer Smethwyck run the Dai-Llewelyn as he pleases though she knows change will be coming over the next few weeks. It irritates so she puts it out of her mind.

What pleases her is the adjustments she has made to the schedule, putting these floaters on the over night shifts and keeping Lily to herself. She's just finally got it arranged to her liking and on the morning of the sixth smiles as she greets Lily.

"Good morning," she says, crisp and amiable. She is about to inform Lily about her meeting with Healer Smethwyck, but there is a curious look about Lily. She wants to ask further but restrains herself. She knows Lily has been up to something, just not what or why.

Now that the date for the trial has been set and charges have been brought against Lucius, Narcissa has difficulty getting admittance to see him. She does finally and touches his face softly before drawing her hand away. She hasn't been granted much time to speak with him and there is a lot to tell him.

"How are they treating you?"

Frank arrives at the Ministry and delivers the bag of Remus and Sirius' mail to the Improper Use of Magic office. He tells them it is correspondence belonging to an M.W. and to get through it quickly and have it returned that evening. Then he goes to the Wizengamot Administration Services and has all of the mail for Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin sent to the Ministry first to be checked for anything harmful before being sent on the appropriate recipients. Figuring he's going to find the same mail issue at the Potter's place in Godric's Hollow he stops by the Aurors office and grabs a bottomless bag.

Next he floos to the Potter household but finds no one home. He does find mountains of mail like at Sirius and Remus' house, just as he expected. Frank gathers it together in the bag, shrinks the bag, puts a protective charm on it, and stuffs it in his pocket.

Frank keeps the Potters updated with regular reports of the Lestranges activity. They aren't supposed to talk about it with anyone because it is an ongoing investigation, but they do know they're being watched by Death Eaters and that there have been Aurors stationed at in Godric's Hollow since the end of the war.

Frank needs to talk to either James or Lily about this today. Maybe Lily is on duty at St. Mungo's. When he reaches the Potions and Plant Poisonings Center he discovers she's been transferred. A lift ride later he finally finds one of the Potters.

"Evening, Lily," he greets her.

Sirius has had an interesting day. After he left with the Lupins, Remus' mother made him eat breakfast before they left, and fussed over him enough that Remus' dad had to remind her he was a grown man. They were both protective in their own ways, though it was obvious her position had long been that Remus must be allowed to have a life, to stand on his own two feet.

When Remus' father decided that Sirius had been through enough, they took the floo to the pitch at Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire. They weren't even through the gate before they were recognized.

It seemed to Sirius that all personal feelings aside, people just loved being close to celebrity. He was mobbed for autographs from every conceivable quarter until the manager of the pitch rescued them.

The tickets Remus' father had were fine as far as Sirius was concerned but the manager of the pitch insisted that they come with him where the press commented on the game and employees of the pitch made sure things ran smoothly from a technical (magic) point of view.

Rita was there and scolded him for not letting her know he would be there. Sirius introduced John Lupin to her and Rita licked her ruby lips and gave him a sharks smile a Great White would be proud of. Somehow he just knew the words 'father-in-law' would make it into the morning edition.

The match was between Puddlemere United and the Holyhead Harpies. It was a fast, exciting game that John and Sirius enjoyed very much.

It wasn't until they were leaving that someone shouted 'bloody shirtlifter' and 'wolf fucker' at him. Sirius turned a big smile on his detractors and said, "Bloody right I am. Tossers."

John pulled Sirius to the floo before more words were exchanged and Sirius made an apology for the ruckus and then his farewells.

By the time he returned home it was close to three in the afternoon. Remus wasn't home yet so Sirius went into the kitchen for a snack.

Which is where he saw the largest pile of mail in his life. They had left the window open in case something needed delivered but this was ridiculous.

"Bloody hell."

Crouch has had a busy day. He's set the date for the Malfoy trial which took up most of his morning. Even for a man with his power putting aside an inquiry and moving straight to trial took some effort. Both Malfoy and his wife have been notified and the rest of his day has been spent in a meeting with Head of the Auror Department, Alastor Moody, working on shifting personnel resources so that the hunt for Greyback can commence immediately. Crouch agreed with all of Moody's suggestions. They assigned their best people for the job including a promising first year; Scrimgour and Savage were obvious choices as they were two of the best Senior Aurors they had. The Longbottoms were excellent Junior Aurors along with Shacklebolt, Jones, Proudfoot, and Dawlish, a promising first year Auror. They decided assigning two Hit-Wizards to the team was appropriate and so Larrup and Ferine were also on the mission.

Crouch was finished with his paperwork for the day and was preparing to leave when Moody returned with a grim look on his face. With him was Frank Longbottom who had been working the Lestrange case. Crouch knew whatever they had to say it couldn't be good news. He singled for them to come in and close the door.

"I take it Bellatrix Black is about to make our jobs more difficult," he said quietly.

Without Alice to wake Frank and put him on baby duty, he sleeps in until almost ten in the morning. That is a little surprising but not really alarming considering she'd been on duty with Savage. He rolls out of bed, showers, dresses, has a bite to eat and then floos to his sister-in--law's house, Molly Weasley. When he arrives, Molly is in a state and it has nothing to do with Alice's lateness in picking up Neville.

Molly thrusts that day's edition of the Daily Prophet under his nose and forces him to read the front page.

Molly can't decide whether she is pleased that something is being done about those horrible new werewolf regulations or infuriated that Remus and Sirius are a couple.

Frank and Alice have been running interference for Remus for years. Molly has a whole list of 'nice girls' for Remus to meet. The fact he's gay is something Alice has known for several years and eventually shared it with Frank.

He didn't realize Sirius and Remus were a couple, but figures Remus wanted it kept on a need-to-know basis.

That's all fine with Frank, though the front page of the Prophet strikes him as a rather ostentatious coming out. He doesn't get a chance to learn very much with Molly dithering on so. When he finally makes his escape he makes a point of picking up a copy of the wizarding rag and then it all becomes clear.

It's coming on about noon by the time he makes it back home and Neville is ready for a nap. Frank puts him down and then applies himself to a few case files he's been working on.

It is mid-afternoon when an officious looking owl arrives at Wiltshire with a scroll stamped with the Ministry's seal. Narcissa hesitates to open it, she doesn't think she can take more bad news today. The Daily Prophet had been filled with horrors that have her doubting whether she can ever show her face in public again.

Before cracking the dried wax and reading the contents of the scroll, Narcissa takes a Calming Drought brewed by her husband's close friend Severus and has Dobby bring her tea.

Sitting in her private study (which she uses mostly for writing post and reading romance novels), she waits for the potion to take affect and then cracks the seal and slowly unfurls the the scroll.

She can scarcely believe what her eyes tell her to be true. Though the inquiry was due to last through February, it has been cast aside and a trial date has been set for eight days hence.

Eight days was hardly time enough to prepare a defense! They mean to find him guilty and justice has been made a sham!

Narcissa finds herself terrified with no idea what to do. She turns to the only support she knows she can count on for sound guidance, even before going to see her husband. She hasn't much time and she's no idea what to do.

She throws the powder into the fireplace and flees to the comfort of her Aunt Walburga.

It is nearly 3AM when Lily's shift at St. Mungo's ends, and she's exhausted. With James working days at the Wizengamot and Lily working nights in her new ward as a Healer, she hasn't had a moment to speak to her husband and barely knows what's going on with their plan for werewolf rights. It's not that Lily doesn't care about werewolf rights; she cares immensely, but thinks that there are other projects that are important too that could use money, time, and research. But just like in Hogwarts, her husband has tunnel vision when it comes to protecting his own. It is both endearing and frustrating.

The lights are off in the kitchen and living room. Harry is quiet, so Lily tries as hard as she can not to be clumsy. It's not her fault she's still somewhat gangly at 22 years old, though, and she spills Harry's sippy cup of juice onto the floor in the dark.

But, it has a desired effect -- she can hear James' footsteps on the stairs.

It is fortunate for River that she read the front page of the Daily Prophet before she got to the complaint editorial. Her mind was already buzzing with how to get that money to her hospital when she was hit with a familiar list of complaints. She had shown the department chief for the Potions and Plant Poisonings Center, Vinius Dram, the same list and more besides.

She needs that money.

She knows just who to put Potter and Black in touch with to get their charity underway, but how to guarantee the money comes to her hospital and not to some research facility? Damocles Belby's research at the hospital had been turned down several times for a lack of funding for his work, but there was no doubt when it came to brewing, the man was an absolute genius. It was a shame he'd become obsessed with this pet project of his. She would love to have him on her staff.

Belby had always wanted access to the Center for Creature-Induced Injuries, which River's predecessor had fought him on...

River taps a manicured nail against her desk. She wanted Andromeda and Lily on the Creature-Induced Injuries floor for their influence over Potter and Black. Andromeda was sharp. River had worked with her long enough to know she would see right through River. But Lily was just a young thing who didn't dare to disagree with a River. That was her way in. Lily wanted to work with potions, well, River wouLd deliver her to Belby and when he was done with Lily she would be a Potion Master Class 1 at the very least. In return, Lily just had to do one eensy little thing. Get that charity money committed to the Center for Creature-Induced Injuries. River could stop funneling money from other resources and Vinius Dram could get his floor back on track.

River quickly checked the staffing chart. Lily was due to work an overnight shift. That gave River plenty of time to write a few owls to get things in motion for Black and Potter.

Millicent should have read the Daily Prophet before leaving her house that morning. The moment she steps into the Atrium she is attacked by a hoard of reporters.

"What do you have to say in response to Black's allegations that your proposed werewolf legislation is a ruse?"

"Were you aware that well-known werewolf Fenrir Greyback wasn't registered?"

"Did you know that Greyback targets children?"

"What are you going to do about MLE's lack of action regarding rogue werewolves?"

Somehow Millicent makes it to her office. She tells her secretary to hold all calls and that she is not to be disturbed.

By the time she is done reading, she doesn't know who she wants to strangle more? Black, Potter, or Crouch.

"Get Crouch in my office now!" she snarls at her secretary.

Remus lay half asleep beside Sirius. He wondered whether or not Sirius was actually asleep. He seemed a bit too still. If he was actually sleeping, wouldn't his mouth be half open leaking drool on his pillow?

Outside, it was snowing and raining at the same time. Lovely.

Remus repositioned himself so that he was laying Sirius's chest.

Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap...

Remus whimpered and pulled the blanket up over his head. Not an owl... "Come back later. Shoo."

He wasn't particularly in the mood to open the window.

TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP!

It was a persistent little feather brain.

Remus sighed. He must have left the kitchen window closed by mistake. Poor thing. Despite his inner protests to sleep all day, Remus climbed out of bed and opened the window for delivery owl.

It shook its feathers splashing rain and melted snow all over his night shirt. He took the rolled newspaper from the owl and kindly fetched his wand to cast a charm on the bird to protect it from the rain and snow, after drying it. "Sorry," he told the owl. It nipped Remus's fingers and flew away.

Remus sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. He lightly tapped Sirius on the head with the rolled newspaper paper and whispered, "Morning, Sleeping Beauty."


(OOC--- Alice can pop in whenever! Remus is on his way downstairs. :3)

( FRONT PAGE )





( State and Political )





( Complaints Editorial )

The next letter Sirius must pen is to Meda. This one is harder somehow. He thinks she'll eventually come around but before she does, she is going to be a terror.

( Once Mercury leaves number twelve, Grimmauld Place, he flies to a quaint cottage in the Cottswolds, the Tonks residence. )

After Rita leaves Sirius makes sure Remus is all right and then says he needs a few minutes to pen a letter. Sirius and Walburga had come to an uneasy truce that would now be shattered. Sirius feels certain Rita will be burning the midnight oil to make sure this story hits the morning edition. Sirius will have the decency to forewarn his mother.

( Sirius' raven Mercury sits in the sill of Walburga's window, cawing balefully to any and all who will listen. )

Rita clutched a baby blue handbag to her chest and examined the door. This appeared to the proper address. Honestly, normal wizards kept their floo open for just such visits! Now then, where was that blasted muggle button. Ah, there it was. Rita rang the doorbell and waited outside the door tapping her foot with a forced- but oh so convincing- smile plastered on her lipstick red lips.

She could hardly contain her excitement. For the first time in her life- she had LOOKED FORWARD to Christmas being OVER, just for this.

Black had quite the house pet, and Rita wanted the full scoop!

River has been getting complaints from patients treated with potions administered by the hospital. She calls Vinius Dram, the Chief of Potions and Plant Poisonings into her office for a chat. Once the door is closed and Vinius is sitting across from her, she pushes a stack of parchments at him, every one of them a complaint.

"What is going on in your department Dram? Your potioneers are some of the best, so why am I getting complaints?"

[OOC: This is to further things with a few other plotlines. Christmas and party posts are hard to make happen. Decide for yourselves how your character's Christmases went. Also, please feel free to continue any ongoing threads.]

Once the holidays were behind them and both Black and Potter had declared their intent to assume their seats on the Wizengamot, Dumbledore summons James, Remus, and Sirius to his office at Hogwarts. As a former Gryffindor he admires their pluck, but he knows they cannot know what an uphill battle lies before them. Werewolves garner very little sympathy on the court and even lass since Greyback has decided that with the fall of Voldemort, he must rely on his own...abilities in order to increase his influence on the Wizarding World.

Albus wants to be sure the boys know what they are getting themselves into. On the Wizengamot, he is Chief Warlock, and even his authority has made little difference.

"Come, sit," he offers, as the three young men stand in his doorway like scolded schoolchildren. "Would you care for tea?"

It was Sirius’s birthday, and despite fate’s attempts to ruin the day, Remus hadn’t given up yet. He had the flat to himself, and decided to risk attempting to cook dinner for Sirius. Sirius loved curry and Remus had seen Sirius cook curry often enough to have a general idea as to how it was done.

He had a favorite Sinatra record playing in the background as he worked in the kitchen.

It wasn’t going well…

I can do this.

Remus would be the first to admit, that he shouldn’t be allowed within a 100 meter radius of anyone’s kitchen. He barely passed his Potions OWL in school, and never bothered to take NEWT level classes. Remus knew the subject well, in theory, but there was something about mixing ingredients over an open flame that drew disaster whenever Remus was involved.

Cooking shouldn’t be difficult. Follow the recipe, pay attention. It was simple enough. The recipe made sense on paper. Cooking spells made sense on the pages of his books. So, why was it that applying spells to recipes never seemed to go right for Remus?

It seemed unfair that the same Remus (former prefect, studious, meticulous Remus) who could cast obliviate (don’t ask) by second year, could burn water and turn spaghetti into soup.

I can do this. Remus rolls up his sleeves, brushes the cumin out of his hair (how did it get there?), and embarks on his third attempt at curry sauce.

The kitchen looked like a war zone and the flat reeked of spices.

Fortunately, Sirius wasn’t due home for another hour, at least, and cleaning spells were one thing Remus was good at. Ta, that I can do.