Order Only: Aftermath

[alt_bill]

Nothing so far today.

The code's been sent out to all the analysts to fly silent go deep. No one else has been picked up yet either, to my knowledge, but none of them will be contacting me again until I send out the all clear. We're all flying blind for the time being.

Keep your fingers crossed for us all.

Comments

[alt_sirius]

Bill, I've been up most of the night thinking. Archer may have presented my cousin with a scapegoat, but she won't let up until she knows why he packaged himself up so neatly for her. I'm glad you and Arthur practised your story; keep rehearsing, but make sure you leave room for her to intimidate you.

The time may come when you need to show proof of loyalty. If you don't wish to abandon your post - and I agree with you, it's important to keep you rising at the Ministry - we shall have to think of some way for you to give the Death Eaters something they can use.

[alt_bill]

Something they can use...what are you suggesting, Sirius?

[alt_sirius]

I'm not sure what I'm suggesting yet, Bill. Something - someone - that will take the heat off of you, show them you're willing to throw someone else under the centaurs' hooves.

Trouble is, we can't send one of ours to the slaughter, it's too dangerous. And we can't hand over an innocent, either. That leaves someone who's guilty, but not of what we're doing - and that doesn't suit our purposes at all, even with a solid frame-up.

Maybe ... maybe we could put them on my scent?

[alt_molly]

Are you INSANE?! Are you seriously suggesting that Bill try to doublecross Bellatrix Lestrange by throwing you to them? If he does, and they miss you, they'll be angrier than dragons on a rampage! Why won't they figure he has even more to tell them if he even hints he knows anything about you! Why, they could use legilimacy on him, and then we're really sunk!


And if he does it and they capture you--Sirius, don't you realise what they'll do to you?!

[alt_sirius]

Well, I don't figure on being captured. I'm not that deranged.

And I don't suggest that Bill do anything to imply he's in contact with me. More that he's brought his impressive skills to bear and discovered a clue as to where I might be.

We'd have to be careful, I agree, that it doesn't seem like a diricawl hunt. But it's something to think about.

[alt_molly]

I WON'T ALLOW IT!!

[alt_bill]

Mum, calm down. Please.

I agree, it should be a last resort. But if we need to take the heat off me, Sirius is right, maybe this would help.

[alt_kingsley]

Molly, my friend, gently does it.

Bill's best hope, if he's truly in a tight spot, is to keep his cool and do everything he can to show he's on the Protectorate's side. You know that.

[alt_molly]

Kingsley, I just can't bear this. The not knowing.

[alt_arthur]

Yes you can, Molly, dear. Courage is what is needed, and you're a Gryffindor after all, remember. Right now, Bill needs to keep calm and steady. If you can do the same, that will help him.

[alt_molly]

Oh, you're right. You're right, Arthur.

I'm sorry, Bill.

There's no point in pretending we didn't know this might happen. I'm sorry for...for letting my fears get the better of me. I won't let it happen again.

[alt_sirius]

It's all right, Molly. I promise you I've no death wish, to play right into their hands. But if we do come to the point where Bill has to give them some evidence of his loyalty, I'd rather we arrange a Sirius Black close call than throw someone else to the wolves, even if it's someone who deserves it for something else.

But one thing that does occur to me is that Bill could afford to let some of his shock and dismay through the mask, if he can do it without opening a floodgate.

What I mean is, he did work with Archer on legitimate Ministry business, didn't he? So, it's natural for Bill to be as shaken by the news as anyone else in the Ministry - just not for the reasons we know are the real ones.

[alt_poppy]

All right. I've been thinking about this, and while I sympathise with Molly's concerns, I have to say that I think Sirius is making a sound proposal. Honestly, Molly, I do sympathise: I hate having to sit tight here whilst others of you run terrible risks.

We've just had a terribly close call, and Bill's right that he's not yet out of its shadow. I don't think we can count on the danger passing quickly by, and I believe that Bill is in especial danger because, well, he is a Weasley, and like it or not, the Weasleys have built a reputation for fairmindedness, which this regime has identified as a propensity towards what they term blood-treachery. I hate to say it, but I'll be most surprised if Bill does not come under suspicion. (And I wouldn't trust it if the eye of official scrutiny appeared to pass by him.)

I don't think Bill ought to wait. Caution at this point may only lead to an appearance of guilt.

Here it is: if Bill were truly innocent, he'd have been caught utterly by surprise yesterday to learn that a trusted member of his department may well have been some sort of traitor. If Bill were truly loyal to the Protectorate, then the first thing he'd be expected to apply his formidable skills to solving is the question of whether anything in Archer's work will yield any clues upon a close reinspection. So I'd think Bill ought to be making a deliberate show not only of co-operating with the investigation, but also of re-examining anything in his files on which Archer had a role.

I agree with Sirius that it would be a very good idea if Bill were to 'find' some information he could offer the MLE or the Aurors that would shed some (carefully styled) light to confirm (and shape the interpretation of) Archer's treachery.

And I hate to say it, but I also agree with Sirius that the obvious thing would be for Bill to 'find' some 'encoded' hints that Archer was in league with the Archtraitor Black. And I agree, though with much trepidation, that it's not enough to manufacture evidence of collusion between this conveniently dead traitor and Sirius: what's needed is some clue to Sirius's whereabouts. That's what they most want. It's what all of them would curse themselves to get hold of. And it's the only thing I can think that would appease their thirst for scapegoats if we wish to avoid actually sacrificing someone to their interrogation.

[alt_molly]

Aloysius paid for the Order's safety with his life. All he asked from us in return was that we protect his family.

What will happen to that poor boy Gareth Archer and his mother, if we feed the Ministry information showing that Aloysius Archer was in league with Sirius Black?

[alt_sirius]

Molly, if Bellatrix Lestrange connects that ring to his death, and determines that he deliberately killed himself to avoid being questioned, then we won't be doing anything more than confirming a conclusion they're likely already going to draw.

As for what happens to his family, we have to hope that the fact that he distanced himself for so long is enough of a shield. Or there may be a way for Minerva to intercede - that part of this still has a number of options.

But Poppy's right: Bill ought to go now to his superiors and ask what they need or want from him to help in the investigation. He needs to make it clear that he never suspected Archer, but that if he can be of any assistance he's only too eager to contribute.

We may not need to fabricate my location right away, but I think we ought to be prepared in case it becomes necessary.

[alt_bill]

I can certainly do that--go to speak to Plympton and Massopust, I mean. It'd be better than simply sitting around wondering whether they're about to come after me.

[alt_frank]

all ten fingers and all ten toes, mate.