The Master of Death

Chapter34: Bottled Anger

The sound of voices grew louder with every step he took and soon Harry could make out the words that were spoken. "-can only guess. Last we know they were close to Fort William."

There was no charm blocking him from listening today, unlike the other times during the holidays when a whole bunch of teenagers had been staying at Grimmauld Place.
When Harry had reached the foot of the stairs, he reached out with a hand and as soon as he'd pressed his palm against the wood of the door, he went through it.

"But that was weeks ago," Kingsley said in his soothing voice, just as he entered. Harry shook off the weird feeling of moving through solid matter and looked at the group gathered around the table. Next to the dark-skinned Auror sat Dedalus Diggle – who thankfully showed no sign that he'd been obliviated just minutes ago - instead he was twirling his hat in his hands. Minerva McGonagall was occupying the chair to his left but her head was turned in the other direction, eyes fixated on Dumbledore who sat at the end of the table. The headmaster was stroking his white beard while he listened to the conversation, nodding thoughtfully from time to time. On his right was Moody, of whom Harry could only see the backside of, but the Auror's appearance was just as uncanny as Tonks', who sat next to him with her signature pink hair, followed by Molly and Arthur Weasley. Harry spotted Sirius on the opposite end of the table, a grim expression on his face, as he was residing in his usual seat next to the fireplace. Close to him sat Mundungus who didn't seem to be listening at all, instead, he was loudly rummaging through his pockets. On Sirius' other side stood Bill Weasley. He was hovering over a map.
Harry had already seen it, shortly before he and his godfather had visited Conall's pack.
A few strands of Bill's hair had left his ponytail and fell into his face, dangling over the map just like his earring with the fang attached to it. Harry briefly wondered if his brother Charlie had given it to him. Arthur's gaze was also trained onto the scribbles and he leaned towards his son, looking at the spots that Bill was tracing with his fingers.

Remus was absent, probably still on his mission. But Severus Snape was there, although the man seemed like he didn't want to be here at all. He was looking at Kingsley, clearly ignoring his left where - apart from an empty chair – Mundungus was the only thing separating him from Sirius.

"It's the only trace we have right now," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Well, we know Greyback is heading towards the south," Bill said, eyes on the map. "We only know of two areas in which werewolves run in packs big enough to be of interest to him."

"Then he is probably going to the one that's residing around Aberfoyle," Tonks mused. "That one is closer if their last location is still anything to go by."

"But we shouldn't only focus on the big packs," Kingsley said. "Smaller groups might be actually more inclined to join a side."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, but Sirius snorted. "Isn't that why Remus is out there, searching for this supposedly lone wolf who wants to join the light side?" There was a hint of bitterness in his voice and by the way, the other's reacted, Harry could tell that it was a topic, which had already been discussed more than once.

"Another werewolf on our side is a great asset. You know that just like anyone here," Moody started in his usual gruff tone.

"We don't even know if the rumours are true," Sirius resumed, anger spiking his voice and he leaned forward. "Maybe we are just wasting our time-"

"Black, I would be thankful if you could reduce your whining to a minimum," Snape interjected and Sirius' head snapped around. "We are here to actually discuss matters of importance... Just because you are emotionally-"

"If we could return to our actual topic, perhaps?" Kingsley suggested. The potions professor actually seemed inclined to let it rest, but then Sirius opened his mouth.