The Speaker and His Wraiths

Let It Slip

Chapter 63

Thoughts and Confusion
Remus wasn't sure what to make of the two girls sitting across from him. He knelt with a sketchbook face down under one palm, trying his best not to crush it with unnecessary force despite the tension and anxiety he felt growing in him. Remus needed to understand before jumping to conclusions.

"Professor Lupin-" He held up a hand and Granger fell silent. She bit her lip, giving away her own anxiety.

"I think we should start from the beginning." Remus said, "Miss Weasley, is this your first time designing an outfit such as this?" He saw her wince.

"... No." Granger gave her what seemed to be an outraged look, though perhaps betrayed would be a better word, which was telling in a number of ways. It meant Weasley was being honest, that Granger disapproved, and they both shared a connection to the dark figures in Remus' memory of that graveyard meeting. It was not a good sign.

"Miss Granger." Remus said. Granger straightened, her eyes snapping back to him. "Do you know what these are for?" He tapped the notebook with one finger.

"They're for the twins." Granger said firmly, "They're working on a new project, that's all."

"A project for what?"

"For..." Granger glanced at Weasley, who looked a bit miserable.

"They're for a Shield Set." Weasley said quietly, answering when Granger didn't.

"A Shield Set?" Remus echoed, "What's that?"

"Fred and George found a way to weave protective enchantments into clothing, making them repel or stop some harmful spells." Weasley explained, slow and wary.

"They're just trying to protect people." Granger added quickly, "It's nothing, Professor, really." Remus said nothing for a moment.

He vividly remembered a figure clad in black, identical to the figure sketched in Weasley's notebook, taking the full brunt of a powerful stunner with nothing more than a small stumble. A seemingly impossible feat, yet it seemed the twin Weasleys that had once been no more than amusing pranksters were creating enchanted pieces of clothing that were somehow in the hands of people as dangerous and unpredictable as the Speaker and those Wraiths.

"Have your brothers been selling this new equipment?" Remus asked finally.

"No." Granger said the same time Weasley answered, "Yes." They looked at each other in hesitant dread. It would've been amusing if not for the knowing foreboding in Remus's stomach.

"I see." Remus whispered, "I'm not going to pretend to understand what's going on here, so I'd like very much for you two to be honest with me." He didn't leave room for argument in his tone. "Do you know who the twins made these Shield Sets for?"

The girls said nothing to that, which was more telling than they probably thought it was. They were both in on whatever was happening, and so were the Weasley twins. Remus did not like what that implied. If they were involved with the Speaker in any way...

"How about we try something else." Remus shifted to sit cross-legged and closed the sketchbook, pushing it back towards Weasley. Her eyes followed the motion but she did not move to take it back. "I'm going to talk, and you are going to listen." They nodded.

"Let's say the twins received an offer to make these special outfits, and they accepted. I presume they were offered a lot of money for this job. Perhaps also you, Miss Weasley, for designing them." Remus looked between them. Weasley was staring at her lap miserably, while Granger was staring at him with sharp brown eyes. "The twins made a handful of these outfits, and gave them to whoever paid them for it. Now tell me, is that scenario correct?"