𝟓𝟕 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬
Breaking into the Lestrange Manor was too easy. It's not like it hadn't been done by Order members before. The easiest method was the small square window in the back of the house that led to the house elves' quarters. If you could manage to time the break in perfectly, when the house elves were out performing their duties, it was a breeze.
"Give me a hand," said Artemis, clutching her wand between her teeth and reaching for the windowsill.
Sirius crouched down and put his hands together. She stepped in the center of his palms and he boosted her up to the window with ease. "Don't fall," he muttered.
"Don't drop me," she shot back.
He chuckled, watching her take a pocket knife out and jimmy the window lock open by hand with admiration lingering in his gaze. Sure, all of the doors and windows were protected from magical lock-picking, but Artemis had picked up a few useful muggle skills over the years.
"Got it," she said, cautiously sliding the window open. "All clear."
"Ready?"
She nodded. "Always."
In one motion, Sirius boosted her the rest of the way through the window. She landed cat-like on the floor of the house-elves' quarters, careful not to make a sound. She watched the window expectantly until Sirius tumbled through too, making a marginally less graceful landing than Artemis. "Very smooth," she said, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"Better than last time."
Sirius and Artemis shared a small smile, remembering the last mission they'd gone on together, when Sirius had thrown himself through a window a little too haphazardly and consequently broke a vase and a table in the fall.
"Let's go," said Artemis. "If we can find enough illegal shit, we can have the Lestrange's sent to Azkaban in time to get a full nights' sleep."
They crept through the house, Artemis leading the way, Sirius a few steps behind, wands at the ready. The place was dark, but it was quiet, which meant the occupants of the house were asleep. Most likely. Artemis kept her wand at the ready anyhow. In a dark wizards' house, you never knew what kinds of traps and hexes could be lurking around every corner.
"Art, look at this," Sirius whispered.
Artemis followed his gaze to a mantle absolutely filled with dark magical artifacts. They all but ran to it. "Don't touch anything," said Artemis.
"What, would I get turned into a rat or something?"
She nudged him playfully. "Worse. Much worse. Here look at this- the Goyles have something just like it."
"What's it do?"
"Curses anyone who touches it to die a very painful death within a year."
Sirius grimaced. "So you don't know when it's going to happen? You just have to wait a year, knowing you'll die at some point?"
"Yeah," said Artemis. "So don't touch it."
Sirius shone the light from his wand over the mantle. "Half of this shit is definitely illegal. But is it Azkaban-worthy?"
"This is," said Artemis, focusing on a pendant hanging from the mantle. Moody had shown her a picture of the exact artifact and explained very clearly its effects. "If you put it on, everyone you love dies. It's been heavily banned for a long time, this is the only one that hasn't been destroyed. Could definitely have Lestrange locked up for... I dunno how long."
"Probably not long enough."
"Probably not," a strange voice came from behind them.
Sirius and Artemis whirled around. Rudolphus Lestrange stood in the doorway, wand at the ready, malice in his eyes. Artemis dug her hand into the pocket of her robes and pulled out her auror badge. "I'm an official from the Ministry," she said, reciting what Moody had instructed her to say. "We've found illegal artifacts in your residence, and must now escort you to the Ministry of Magic for your punishment to be decided."
"Well, if time served isn't enough, why don't I do you a favor and give you more to report to your boss?" Rudolphus drawled. "Avada Kedavra!"
Sirius shoved Artemis out of the way as the jet of green light flew past them and into the mantle, shattering a number of artifacts in its path. "Fuck!" said Sirius, then raised his own wand. "Sectumo!"
Artemis was on her feet in an instant, her own wand at the ready. Rudolphus dodged Sirius's curse and threw one of his own back. "You fight like Bellatrix," said Rudolphus, his voice unsettlingly calm. "Only when she gets crazed and aggressive, I quite like it. With you, it's rather pitiful."
"Stupefy!" Artemis said on instinct, more in defense of Sirius than anything.
Sirius cracked a smile at Rudolphus. "And where is my dear cousin?"
"Out for the night, unfortunately," said Rudolphus. "I'm sure she would've loved a visit from the blood-traitoring side of the family."
"What a shame," said Sirius. "She left you alone here, did she? Didn't want to bring her embarrassment of a husband out of the house? I mean, I s'pose someone has to do the housework, but a guy like you-"
"Crucio!"
Rudolphus's curse wasn't aimed at Sirius. It caught Artemis off guard, slamming her in the chest and sending a ripping pain straight through her heart. She screamed, but managed to fight the worst of the effects off. Moody had trained her well.
"Impedimenta!" roared Sirius, and Rudolphus was knocked off his feet. He flew back into the far wall of the room, breaking the cruciatus curse on Artemis.
She got to her feet and waved her wand at Rudolphus. Ropes sprang from thin air, tying him to the wall. "Expelliarmus," she said lazily, and his wand clattered to the ground. Sirius kicked it out of the way. Artemis stared at Rudolphus with fire in her eyes. "Now that we're sure you'll stay still, you can expect a visit from my supervisor within the hour to discuss the repercussions of your actions. Come on, Sirius."
"Wait," said Sirius. He stepped closer to Rudolphus and pressed the tip of his wand to the man's neck. "Listen very closely. I let you off easy this time for the sake of dignity. But if you ever hurt Artemis again, with one spell, I will blow you and everyone you love into little bits, and I'll make it slow and painful, hear me?"
Rudolphus said nothing. Artemis couldn't help smiling a little. "Come on, Sirius. We've got work to do."
Artemis and Sirius were already joking about the events that took place at the Lestrange house when they let themselves into their own. Artemis tossed her wand on the kitchen table and jumped onto the counter while Sirius rummaged through the pantry for snacks. "You send a signal to Moody, right?"
"As soon as we left, yeah," said Artemis. "He'll be pissed we didn't kill the guy, but I think he'll break down under questioning so it's not a total loss."
"I can't believe he did the cruciatus on you."
Artemis shrugged. "I can. Honestly, I feel like I'm used to it now. I'm always twitching these days from all the side effects."
"There's got to be some cure for that," said Sirius.
Artemis nodded, but before she got the chance to say anything else, there was a loud crack and Mary had apparated onto the kitchen floor, on her knees, her face tear-stained. Sirius and Artemis both jumped. "Mary," said Artemis, jumping down from the counter. "What are you doing here? What's happened?"
Mary could hardly get a word out through all the sobs. Sirius and Artemis knelt next to her, exchanging worried glances and trying to get a coherent sentence out of their friend. Mary was hysterical.
"Mary," said Artemis, holding Mary's face in both hands. "Tell us what happened. You're scaring me."
"It's Marlene," Mary choked out at last.
Sirius and Artemis's eyes met, full of fear. They both knew what had happened before Mary even said the words. War had taught everyone to expect the worst.
"She's dead," said Mary. "They're all dead."