HP Midnight Light

- December 1980, 12 - Rozier Estate

"Edgar Burns is dead. He didn't last until the apparition ended." Batty Jr. leaned over and whispered in her ear, "News from Pediru."

"Great." Cornelia fiddled with her fingers lazily, "What else did he say?"

"Dumbledore declared that the Potters were in danger, and he used this as a reason to send a lot of people around the Potter Manor. However, Pediru said that the house in Fertile Earth was just a sack, and there was nothing in it except the Aurors who were waiting for the rabbit. nor."

Cornelia's movements paused for a moment: "So that's it... I'm almost going to be tricked."

"Shall we break the news to the Dark Lord?"

"Don't worry." Cornelia pondered for a moment, "Let's see what news my father will bring back, and... wouldn't it be better if we could catch the Potters directly."

Little Barty nodded in agreement without thinking: "Besides, Dumbledore also sent Lupine out. But even Pediru doesn't know where Lupine went."

"It seems that this is a very secret job." Cornelia thought for a while, "Will he ask him to contact someone? For example-Brother Greengrass?"

"Not likely." Barty Jr. shook his head, "Although the Greengrass brothers are very active, they obviously have nothing to do with the Death Eaters or the Order of the Phoenix. Sean seems to be fascinated by a woman recently, while Gavin is Thoroughly enjoying his freshly minted 'author' status."

His words kept Cornelia uncharacteristically silent for a while, and she looked up in disbelief: "Shawn will be fascinated by a woman?"

"It's true." Little Barty replied with a wry smile, "He showed her great hospitality without expecting anything in return. Everyone said he was serious this time."

The surprised expression on Cornelia's face gradually faded: "Actually, there's nothing to be surprised about." After all, even she would be sincere, let alone Sean.

"None of the above are really useful things that Pediru gave us." Batty Jr. showed a mysterious smile, and he bent down and whispered a long series of words in Cornelia's ear.Cornelia's expression gradually changed from curiosity to shock, and finally she almost jumped up:

"Is he sure?"

"It doesn't look like he's lying." Little Barty said, "I pushed him a little bit. I told him that he had already betrayed Edgar, and the Order of the Phoenix would never forgive him anyway. .So he has only one choice, and that is to work for us to the end."

"How did he react to that?"

"He was almost terrified. So I continued to fan the flames, and then he told me it, trembling."

Cornelia's eyes grew brighter: "We should tell the Dark Lord about this!"

"Pedilou dare not lie, he knows that we can easily kill him." Batty Jr. added a more reassuring sentence, "He even swore that even if I use Veritaserum or Inspirit If you want to test him, you can guarantee that he is telling the truth."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Cornelia ecstatically. "Excellent! Peter is more useful than I thought! Well, tell him he will get what he wants when it is done!"

"I will, and there's one more piece of good news you might like."

"Say."

Barty Jr. smiled: "My father revealed that Signus didn't say anything valuable. He thought he was still hoping that the Death Eaters would rescue him."

"Did he know the news of Catherine's death?"

"Probably not yet."

"Then send this news in, Batty." Cornelia showed a cruel smile, "It can be regarded as adding a little fun to his prison life."

"No problem." Little Barty agreed, "I can encourage my father to take me to Azkaban to inspect and take this opportunity to tell him the news."

"Your father intends to let you enter the Ministry of Magic?" Cornelia couldn't help asking.Little Barty patted her shoulder lightly:

"He's been thinking about it. But I don't have any interest in it. Of course, if you want, I'll try."

"Your energy should be used in more useful places, but don't make your father suspicious..." Cornelia waved her wand to conjure up a small bottle and stuffed it into Little Barty's hand, "Remember to add oil and vinegar, I really want to know him Will she shed a couple of tears hypocritically?"

"What do you want his tears for?"

"After all, he is my old opponent." Cornelia smiled. "I have always wanted to see the day when he cried bitterly and surrendered to me. If possible, I really want to visit the prison in person."

-June 12th - Parkinson Manor

Even if it was Christmas, the Aurors in charge of watching them would not leave.They stood in every corner of the room like lifeless armor. Although they were silent, their eyes were as sharp as eagles.

Edmund stared at the sumptuous Thanksgiving meal in front of him in dismay. There was no doubt that the house-elf's culinary skills would only improve with time, but he was not in the mood to taste the food at all. .

Hyacinth had asked Tata to remove the plate three times, and now she bit her dessert spoon and raised her head: "What? You've been so depressed that you decided to commit suicide by hunger strike?"

"You have a good appetite." Edmund knew that the Aurors could hear their conversations, but he couldn't control his resentment gushing out. Edmund desperately needed to quarrel with someone to vent his anger, and Hyacinth He is the only person in this room who is alive and can talk to him, "It wasn't me who was crying and looking for death before."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the one who's going to die. Then what's the matter with you? Why are you panicking? Didn't you boast in the past that you were the calmest, calmest, and least panicky?" Hyacinth said solemnly. After scooping up the ice cream, "No one here will suddenly pull out their wand and kill you."

Edmund was convinced that an Auror had let out a slight sneer, and he was forced to lower his volume: "You don't need to be sarcastic at me, anyway, just watching me lose my temper is enough to make you happy!"

"No, I like to add insult to injury. And you can slowly adapt to this kind of life." Hyacinth put down her spoon and looked at him pityingly, "No wand, being watched, unable to step out of the door...Thanks to the Ministry of Magic, now You and I are finally on the same level."

"Don't forget that you can't leave here either. Isn't that what you want most? It's a pity that the Ministry of Magic has not granted your wish."

Hyacinth was not irritated at all, she shrugged calmly: "I can take it one step at a time. As you said, just seeing you jumping over the wall in such a hurry makes me so happy that I can't sleep."

She found with pleasure that Edmund was visibly on the verge of anger.

"You take your time, I'll take a step first." Hyacinth dropped the napkin. Although she had the upper hand in this brief quarrel, she was not happy.

Thinking about it carefully, there are only a handful of Christmases that can be described as "beautiful" since she can remember.The last one was two years ago, which meant that she and Sirius had been separated for more than a year.

What does a year mean?It's not the dim face, the loss of memory, the extinguishment of love, but the kind of hope that dies little by little.Time seemed to calm down the impulse for a while, she did seem to have calmed down, she did seem to have regrouped, but only she knew, time also deepened her frustration.She was becoming more and more unsure, assuming that one day she could really escape, what would be waiting for her outside this cage?

Hyacinth pushed open the door of the baby room rashly, and Tata was gently ringing the bell to lull Pansy to sleep.

"Get out." Hyacinth ordered coldly.She knew Tata was actually innocent, but emotionally she couldn't forgive him for being an accessory.

Tata put down the bell in a panic, bowed, and hurriedly exited the door.Hyacinth stepped forward and looked at the baby who was almost strangled by her in the cradle. There was no doubt that Edmund loved this daughter very much. This was not only reflected in the luxurious decoration in the baby room, but also in Pansy's ruddy The complexion and that lazy, pampered look.Seeing someone coming, Pansy laughed subconsciously, and stretched out her hand towards Hyacinth.

"You were born to be cursed," Hyacinth whispered, but Pansy ignored it. She stared at the buttons on Hyacinth's clothes with interest and kept blinking—she had indeed inherited the curse. Ossings' hair, unfortunately she looked more like Edmund.It is doomed that Hyacinth will not have any warmth towards her anyway.

No one can be gentle with demons.

"You are so pitiful and hateful." Hyacinth said to herself, "If you were not born by me, I would definitely sympathize with you." She reached out and picked up the bell left by Tata beside the bed—

"Don't do that!"

Pansy's giggles stopped abruptly.

"Why are you panicking?" Hyacinth froze for a moment, then raised the bell in her hand with a triumphant smile, "I just wanted to see her on a whim."

Edmund remained calm, only watching her warily.

"Don't worry." Hyacinth threw the bell to him, "I promise I won't touch a single hair of her hair." She walked around him dully and walked out the door, but Edmund stopped again she:

"Pencey was right."

Hyacinth raised her eyebrows: "In other words, you finally decided to admit your mistake?"

As expected, Edmund gave her the answer in silence.

"Do you think I have forgotten what you did to me? Do you think time can smooth everything? That's just what you think, Edmund." Hyacinth took a step back, her false smile from Her face disappeared completely, "One day you will pay for your sin and stupidity."

-December 12th - Potter Manor in Godric's Hollow

The door of the Potter family was knocked suddenly.

"I'll answer the door." James stopped Lily from getting up, she muttered vaguely, got up and went to the next door to check if Harry was sleeping well.James picked up the watch beside the bed and checked the time - 04:30 in the morning.

People from the Order of the Phoenix should still be patrolling.James grabbed his wand and walked down the stairs. The doorman was still knocking endlessly.

"Who?" he asked.There are only a few specific people who can get past the protective spell to the front door, and the protective spell cannot fail silently:

"it's me."

"Padfoot?" James was sure that he had heard correctly, he opened the door in confusion, and the uninvited visitor outside the door was his friend, "Why did you come at this time? What happened?"

Without saying a word, Sirius handed him the cage in his hand: Brookshaw was grinding his claws with a wire in boredom.

"Did you come early in the morning just to give us a cat?" Of course James knew Brookshaw's background, and he immediately understood that something must have happened in a short night that he didn't know.So James invited Sirius in while joking, "Since you're here, don't rush to leave."

"I don't need it anymore." Sirius refused the offer to enter the door, he forced the cage into James' hands, "I don't want to see it."

"What happened?" James took a step towards the door, and with his movement Sirius took a step back, hiding himself deeper into the darkness.

"Who is it, James?" Lily asked upstairs.

James glanced at the silent Sirius, raised his voice and answered, "It's Padfoot, let me have a word with him." He closed the door behind his back, "What's going on?"

Sirius remained silent.

James waited patiently.

"Last night I went to the Ministry of Magic's archives." Sirius lit a cigarette in disregard of James' condemning eyes, and at the same time he seemed to have the ability to speak as the smoke rose, "then I saw Parkinson's was set aside. I... I looked."

"What shady criminal record does he have?"

Sirius raised his head, but James couldn't see his face hidden behind the smoke: "I saw his...marriage agreement."

Their shadows were elongated in the dim light.Staring at the shadows on the ground, James spent ten seconds imagining the worst possible outcome.

"There are three additional terms."

"What is it?" James asked softly.

The red cigarette butt flashed and went out, and suddenly, it fell to the ground.Sirius raised his hand limply half way down, and he hugged himself coldly: "Parkinson has the right to consult all her letters; Parkinson has the right to restrict her if necessary." actions—"

"That's impossible!" James interrupted him. "No one can restrict other people's actions. Why would the Ministry of Magic approve such ridiculous terms?"

"The reason he gave was that she was mentally unstable. Of course, this is not the worst." Sirius' voice gradually cooled down. "The third rule: unless she dies, their marriage will take effect forever."

James savored every word Sirius said, knowing exactly what it meant.

"This means that as long as she is alive, Parkinson can control her for a day." Sirius narrated flatly, "If Parkinson is dead... I don't think he will leave a loophole. He planned this agreement It's been a long time, and every consequence must have been considered. To be honest, I even admire him a little." Sirius even laughed softly at the end, and James felt a creep. He felt that for a long time in the past, Sirius It seems that the calm surface that he has tried to maintain is about to crack, and he will be resurrected from the dead and walking dead of last winter.

"But why did she sign it?" James tried to draw Sirius' attention away, "I mean... even if he threatened her with something, why did Hyacinth sign such an agreement? She should be able to guess Got something behind this, or did she not read the appendix at all? Listen, Sirius, there must be something wrong here! Maybe she was in too much of a hurry and ignored the appendix, or maybe Parkinson just didn't show her the appendix ——Listen to me, there are too many things to do here!"

"I don't know." Sirius suddenly walked into the light, and James saw his face paler than snow, and Sirius watched him slowly unfold a bleak smile, "The only thing I know is: this time, We have absolutely nowhere to go."

"It's not like that. We can still apply to the Ministry of Magic to abolish it." James didn't know what he was talking nonsense, and he didn't know if the Ministry of Magic really allowed them to do so. He just wanted to comfort him as soon as possible Sirius, "If we can present enough evidence to convict Parkinson—"

"The Ministry of Magic has already delivered its ruling against Parkinson and they will not change the sentence already announced."

"Then go to Parkinson's Manor!" James felt that he was about to lose his mind, "Go in the name of members of the Order of the Phoenix, you will always have a way to invalidate that agreement!"

"I'm in a dilemma, James, you know this." Sirius looked up at James, his gray eyes were very quiet, with a kind of eternal sadness like the deep pool of an ancient well, "If I go , What will those people in the Order of the Phoenix say? If I don't go, then I have to continue to endure this kind of suffering. But I can neither lose my status as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, nor... "

His words stopped suddenly.

James stepped forward worriedly: "Padfoot—"

"No, I've lost her." Sirius stared at James and said this in a tone of no emotion, and then he turned suddenly and strode out of the Potter's courtyard.

"Siris Black!" James exclaimed angrily. He forgot Dumbledore's warning and chased after him without hesitation.

Sirius walked quickly to his beloved motorcycle, and he heard the empty dream castle in his head begin to crumble into nothingness, the fact that they had jointly ignored for the past year was finally revealed.It turns out that the truth is so cruel, and it is so painful to let go of four years of existence.

He raised his wand with a flick—

"What are you doing?" James ran after him and stared at where he had just cast the spell. "Why are you—why are you doing this!"

Sirius stared at the motorcycle, which no longer had the letters "SW" on it.He suddenly remembered the day they had written them up, when he had really imagined eternity.

He remembered that Hyacinth had asked if he should spell the two letters on the motorcycle forever.

He refused.He said no one or anything could destroy them.

But now he erased them with his own hands.How easy it is to erase letters, just as difficult to erase memories.

If she had been willing to marry someone who had treated her well after leaving him, Sirius thought he might even have given his blessing.But now?They have been separated, no one is happy, no one is free.In the end, the short-lived love between them became the shackles that shackle each other. They drew the ground as a prison, and no matter where they were, their souls would suffer.This is an unsolvable riddle they have set with their own hands.

"What's wrong here?" The members of the Order of the Phoenix on duty appeared and asked what happened, and James signaled them not to come over.

The hot tears turned cold at an inconceivable speed in the winter night, just like the cold moonlight on his pillow for countless nights in the past.

He knelt down slowly, and put his cheek on the place where their initials were left, feeling the last remaining warmth of her fingers on it.

-January 12th - Order of the Phoenix Headquarters in Godric's Hollow

Dorcas yawned and sank lazily into the sofa.Her mother had been secretly sent to relatives abroad a few months ago, so she could focus more on the Order of the Phoenix, which was also the main reason why she volunteered to stay on duty tonight.

Suddenly there was a gust of wind chime at the entrance of the headquarters, which meant that someone had returned.

But Dorcas waited a while for no one to come in.

"Who's outside? Why don't you come in?" She stood up and walked to the door and asked.

"You know." A deliberately lowered voice came from outside the door.

Dorcas frowned. She couldn't think of anyone who would be interested in such a childish prank: "I know? Who?"

"You guessed it right!"

Dorcas was silent for three seconds.

"Damn it!" she screamed, raising her wand for the last spell.

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. Peter's desperation for Voldemort in the original book may also be partly due to his lack of choice: after the traitor's identity was exposed, Peter had no other choice but to return to Voldemort.

2. The Ministry of Magic's ruling on Edmund: magic is forbidden, he is under surveillance, and he is not allowed to leave his house without authorization.

3. [Accomplice status]: It refers to Tata's monitoring of Hirsings according to Edmund's order.

4. "Night of Dawn" has proved that at least the first two of Edmund's three agreements did not count at all, which will be explained later.

5. On the one hand, people in the Order of the Phoenix don’t trust Sirius very much; on the other hand, if he leaves the Order of the Phoenix, the Death Eaters will come to him immediately, and Sirius will also lose the convenience brought by his membership in the Order of the Phoenix, such as Check the file.

6. The death of Dorcas——[(Voldemort knocks on the door) Dorcas: Who?Voldemort: You know!Dorcas: You know? Who? Voldemort: Correct!Dorcas: F***] A stalk from ins, not original.

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1981