"I went to check on the Death Eaters; needless to say they will never kill again. I didn't do it, they were dead when I got there," Hydrus said quickly, when he saw the horrified looks. He told them about how the ghouls had gotten them, but held back on the carnage. They were grown wizards and could figure it out on their own. He then recapped his errand, leaving out the being watched feeling. The entire time his voice was steady and his face contrite. "So, you see I didn't want them to die that way. I was still undecided what to do with them exactly. I was actually thinking of wiping their memories and binding their magic."
The two listeners shared a glance and then looked back to the immortal. They could see he was telling the truth and Sirius broke the silence first, "I thought ghouls only fed in magical graveyards."
"No, they go wherever there is a dead body," Remus explained. He was more versed on magical creatures, being one himself.
"Yeah, I thought the same as Sirius, so I didn't ward for them," Hydrus said, the more he thought about it the better he felt. Those people will never kill, rape or maim again. Even though he hadn't planned on seeing them dead, this was for the best. He kept those thoughts to himself and showed nothing on his face.
"It was an honest mistake," Remus said gently, bringing Hydrus from his thoughts. "It is not well known that ghouls hunt in the Muggle world. Besides, your letters were a sign of genuine guilt."
"Yeah, don't beat yourself up over it," Sirius piped in. "I'd've probably made the same mistake."
Hydrus let out a sigh of relief, he had been worried about how they would take it and he really wanted his family to stay together. "Let's get you to driving, Remus."
So the two men donned their jackets and went to the garage. Hydrus only pointed out the parts of the car and what they were for; he'd take the werewolf out when he knew what each was. When they were done, Hydrus grabbed Sirius and took him for a test run. Sirius wasn't as rusty as he thought, so Hydrus was comfortable enough to let the man use the car until he got his own. They were going to have to get magic-upped licenses for everyone.
They were playing video games when Harry got up and Hydrus remembered another letter he had to write. So he excused himself to his room and wrote the Board of Governors about the Room of Hidden Things. He once again used the printer and left it unsigned. It would be interesting to see what they'd do with everything.
He set up his lab and brewed the potions for Sirius, for which the man was thankful. They watched the telly to see if the non-magicals had discovered the carnage, and were relieved when they hadn't. Soon enough they all went to bed, worried about what tomorrow would bring.
The next morning after breakfast, Remus went and got the Daily Prophet, just to see if the story had broke. It had, the headline read:
Missing Members Found: Signs of the Dark Mark Confirms Suspicions.
The article that followed stated that Bartemius Crouch Sr. was the first on the scene. He ranted that someone had murdered his son, even though the investigation said it was the ghouls. No one could explain why so many members of the magical society were in the Muggle cemetery in the first place. It was only when the Dark Mark was found on all of the bodies (Bartemius Crouch Jr.'s included) that it was established that they were followers of He Who Must Not Be Named. The newspaper even printed one of the letters to see if anyone could identify who wrote them as they were wanted for questioning.
"Well, that's that," Hydrus said, after he read the paper out loud. "Good thing I made you take that vow, or you'd turn me in," he said jokingly as he folded the paper and placed it on the coffee table.
"That's not funny," snapped Sirius, making Hydrus wonder about his sudden change of attitude. "If anything ever gets out you could wind up in Azkaban. Then we'd have to take Harry and run."
"Why, the house is paid for, and under enough wards and charms you'd be safe here," Hydrus said confused. Then it dawned on him that the blood wards would fade. That would be bad. He had better figure out a backup ward, then again with the Fidelius they should be safe enough.
"Calm down, Sirius, you heard that they concluded it was a ghoul attack and they have no leads," Remus said, putting his hand on the other man's shoulder.
"I just don't want to lose anyone else," Sirius said, after he took a few deep breaths.
"You won't," Hydrus tried to sound reassuring.
"You can't know that. You've changed so much already, what you know of the future is useless," Sirius said with a bite. "I'm not saying it isn't for the better, I'm just saying we can't count on your knowledge."
"I made sure my magical signature was gone, there is nothing tying me to this." He felt sure this was true. "If it makes you feel better, I'll be extra careful about who I talk to and what I do in the future."
"Yeah, you do that. I'm going to go and brush up on my Occlumency," Sirius left the room, stomping his way up the stairs.
The mood was tense for the rest of the day, even Harry was fussy with all the strain in the air. It took until the afternoon to get Sirius to calm down enough to not snap at everybody, and that was only after Hydrus shoved a Calming Draught down his throat. The younger Black took to his room after that, and Hydrus had no idea what he did, but he came down to dinner in much better spirits.
Monday came and Sirius drove himself to the clinic and when he returned he was stressed again. He had a journal clutched in his hand and was looking at it with a grimace. He took it to his room and stayed there for the better part of an hour. When he reappeared, he settled into his chair and said, "I just want you two to know how thankful I am to have you in my life," he said uncomfortably, shifting in his chair and not meeting their eyes.
"We will always be there for you, Padfoot," Remus said, while Hydrus nodded in agreement.
"Well, good," the dogman said. He then put in his video game and got lost in the zone. The other two men shared a look and then shrugged; they weren't comfortable sharing their feelings either. So they went back to what they were doing before, and like many men before them ignored that that ever happened.
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