I SPY || 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

Chapter 16. Maledictus

Muffled voices vibrated through the vents of Twelve Grimmauld Place, stirring Astrid Moody from her slumber. Opening one blue eye groggily, and then the other, the young woman sat up in bed, her blonde waves tousled, the strap of her white silk night gown hanging off her shoulder. She pulled the cord of the old wall lamp beside her bed and checked the clock on the table beside her, it read 2:42am. With a furrowed brow Astrid pulled the covers from her body and dragged herself out of the bed. Approaching the floor vent, she dropped to her knees and pressed an ear against the vent, holding her breath to try and decipher the words more easily.

            "Arthur.... Snake... Potter..." Was all her sharp ear could make out. With a sigh Astrid grabbed her wand and tiptoed over to her door. As smoothly as she could the girl twisted the brass door knob in her hand and pulled the door ajar slowly.

            "Lumos," the witch whispered breathily as she slipped through the doorway and into a pitch-black corridor. Having arrived at the winding staircase Astrid hesitantly looked over the banister, two stories below she could see the glow of a fire. She listened over the railing to the faint voices, but they were even harder to interpret than through the vents. With delicate steps even a ballerina would be proud of she slowly snuck down the stairs, as she neared the bottom, she pressed herself into the wall.

            "Nox," Astrid whispered, extinguishing the light at the end of her wand. Astrid descended the last flight of stairs with extreme caution, she could hear the voices more clearly now.

            "How is it Harry knew of the attack on Arthur, just as it was happening?" The voice of Sirius Black questioned. Astrid padded towards the open doorway which was the source of the golden glow, she pressed herself to the wall beside it silently, slowing her breathing she listened carefully.

            "Dumbledore and Snape believe there's a connection between the boy and you-know-who, a connection that allows Harry to see into the Dark Lord's mind, and unfortunately for us, vice versa." Growled the familiar voice of her father. #

            "How can we sever this connection?" Sirius asked his voice had a slight quiver to it, he was worried.

            "They don't know if we can," Alastor admitted roughly.

"Where is my god-son now?" Sirius almost sounded panicked.

"Snape has the boy, training him in occlumency," Alastor grumbled "I've told Albus for years now that boy needed training in the art of occlumency,"

"If he'd been trained to block out you-know-who, he never would have known about Arthur," Sirius pointed out with a sigh, "Let's be thankful Harry saw this and aid was sent just in time,"

"Still, I started training Astrid in occlumency at eleven years old!" Alastor barked, "Speaking of, get in here girl, haven't I told you it's rude to eavesdrop?!" The sound of her father's walking stick being loudly banged against the floor made Astrid jump slightly. With a deep sigh she rounded the doorway and entered the dining room, where her father was seated in the chair she had occupied at dinner. Sirius was stood, both arms stretched out in front of him leaning on the back of a dining chair, his head lowered between them. He looked up as Astrid entered the room, a small sad smile flashed on his face for a second, before he dropped it and resumed his dark look.

"What's happened?" Astrid asked as she wrapped her arms around herself awkwardly, she rubbed her upper arms as the cold of the stone floor travelled up her bare feet through her legs to her upper body, where goosebumps now began to form across her shoulders and arms.

"How much did you hear?" her father enquired.

"Something about an attack on Arthur... and a connection between Harry Potter and you-know-who," She gulped.