ink - sirius black

thievery and depth

November 25, 1979
7:46 pm
The Burrow

Anneliese looked slowly to James, then Lily, then Dumbledore, who just nodded.

She was trying to decide if she wanted to stay and figure out what they were talking about or follow her gut instinct to get the hell out of here before getting too deeply entangled in whatever mess was afoot now while she still had a chance.

"Why did all of the Death Eaters leave?" Anneliese asked, breaking the silence. "It can't just be because this old man showed up. What's going on?"

There was a wooden creak as the side door swung open, all heads turning as Regulus walked in, pure panic written all over his face. Callaway instantly knew Myra had told him something based on his expression, the only way he would have known to come here.

"We have an issue," he said, nodding in acknowledgement to Dumbledore. "I'm not trying to interrupt anything here, but look."

Sirius's eyes widened as he lifted up his sleeve, the previously faded Dark Mark severely black and writhing against his brother's milky white skin.

"What does that mean?" Dorcas asked, eyes darting from his forearm to his eyes.

"It means that Myra got a call for an attack, and I'm guessing the only reason all of you are in here right now is because they all just went away," Regulus said, planting his hands on the back of a chair. "And I'm guessing you thought it's because Dumbledore showed up."

Black shook his head with a dry huff of laughter, looking down at his mark with a furrowed brow, concentrated in the burning pain shooting through his whole torso.

"The reason you were saved is because all of them were summoned somewhere else," Regulus said, wincing as the searing sensation intensified. "Which means that Voldemort just figured something out, and based on this, he's angry-"

Sirius and Remus both rushed over to help Regulus as he stumbled against the counter, clutching his arm as he was cut off by his own pain.

None of them could imagine how it felt to be called by the Dark Lord, but knowing that this boy had a very high pain tolerance yet quite literally couldn't speak because of the torment being inflicted upon him right now, they could imagine that it was very far from pleasant.

James and Lily exchanged a glance with Dumbledore, hopeful for some guidance, but he looked equally as confused as they were.

"How do they know?" Lily asked in a hushed voice, one hand going over her belly. "You only found out a few moments ago."

"Someone else must have been there," Dumbledore replied after a few moments. "It's the only reasonable explanation. It truly does make sense. Voldemort has spies everywhere. I should have known it wasn't safe to have so much as an interview in such an eavesdropping place."

James looked at the headmaster in disbelief before taking off his glasses and digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, hoping he and his wife could wake up from this nightmare already.

"Someone else must have been where?" Marlene asked impatiently, getting sick of all the whispers. "I know half the people in this room have a place to be besides here right now, so can we just get this over with?"

"Very well, Miss Mckinnon," Dumbledore said, standing up and clasping his hands. "It would be best if only Anneliese, Sirius, James, Lily, Remus, Regulus, and Leo stayed in the room. Everyone else please exit or make your way home. The less people, the better."

There were a few offended glances exchanged among the Longbottoms and more permanent residents of the Burrow, but none of them questioned the headmaster's authority.