Chapter 9

A/N: I love reviews. They make me all warm and fuzzy.

* * *

A soft knock at the door woke Polyxena. Whether it had been minutes or the dreaded four hours, she didn't know, for she couldn't even find the strength to tell the Death Eater to go fuck himself. Through half-closed eyes, she saw a square-jawed wizard about her mum's age with thick, straw-like hair stealing across the room to where she lay.

"Whofuckreyou?" she managed in a sleepy groan.

"Podmore," he returned quickly, "Sturgis Podmore. I'm not a Death Eater. I see you've had your Cruciatus session; did you get Dolohov? He's the worst. Here." Sturgis touched the end of his wand to Polyxena, and a comforting warmth seeped through her.

"Thanks for that." Blinking, she rose cautiously and continued, "Podmore. I saw your name in the guestbook. You've been here a long time."

"Over six months," he sighed. "But they forget to do their rounds half the time. They only torture me once every day or so. You're new though; I heard you talking with Dolohov. You know Mad-Eye Moody?"

A slight pink tinge stole over Polyxena's cheeks. "Yes, I'm his... we're... I'm in love with him." With an apologetic shrug when Sturgis raised a straw-colored eyebrow, she whispered, "Are you... in the Order?"

"I am. I was sent to Azkaban for six months last year, but when I got out, the Death Eaters brought me here. I was under the Imperius, you see, so that I would steal from the Department of Mysteries for You-Know-Who. After I was released, they wanted to keep me nice and quiet. You're not in the Order, are you?"

"No, but I've been to your headquarters. I'm Polyxena Ollivander, and... "

"Not Hecuba Smethwyck's daughter!" cried Sturgis in surprise. "She was a year ahead of me at Hogwarts, was Hecuba. She was... " He chuckled. "... well, she was something. I take it you're looking for the wandmaker?"

"Yes, Alastor and Dung are helping me, but Lestrange kidnapped me after I tortured Nott and the other Lestrange." She paused. "I had one of the special Dark wands my father had made. Dung says he nicked them off a rat-faced bloke... "

"Wormtail, yeah," Sturgis assented. "You wouldn't have seen him. He's mostly at Snape's... "

Polyxena's brow knitted. "Severus Snape? Isn't he... ?"

"He's a double agent working for Dumbledore, though Mad-Eye doesn't trust him a bit. He even has some wild theory going that Snape's going to kill Dumbledore and bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts."

Hiding a smile, she said, "I know; I've heard that one. Well, that's Alastor for you. Speaking of whom... " She pulled two crystal phials from the pockets of her robes. "He gave me this. We were going to question people in Diagon Alley, but Mundungus blew our cover. Polyjuice Potion."

Sturgis took one of the phials in his large, square hand and stared at it in awe. "Brilliant. Bloody hell, Polyxena, not even the Dark Lord will be able to... There's enough for about fifteen minutes each here."

"Exactly. So here's what we'll do: when Dolohov or whoever comes back at two, you Stun him from behind, preferably before he gets the chance to torture me. Take a hair and his uniform, stash him in a closet, and call for backup. When the supervisor gets here, Stun him, and I'll take a hair. Then we go get robes and masks, and we're free."

"Polyjuice Potion. I could kiss you!" burst out Sturgis. "But I won't," he added hastily with a glance at her shocked expression. "Don't wager old Mad-Eye would appreciate... well, anyhow, we've got ten minutes. I'd best get behind the curtain."

* * *

As Moody and Dung hastened up the path toward Riddle House, Dung tottering on his bandy legs and Moody stumping as fast as he could, Mad-Eye glimpsed two frantic Death Eaters tearing down the hill toward them.

"Alastor!" cried one. "Wait! Don't... "

"Stupefy!"

A bolt of red light hurtled toward the first Death Eater, who blocked it and threw aside her mask. "It's me, you mad, paranoid, old... It's me. And Sturgis."

Moody's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do I know? It looks mighty suspect, what with the both of you in Death Eater's robes. Unless Mundungus has some Veritaserum... "

"I was on top the last time," countered Polyxena unabashedly, ignoring Dung's eager glance, and flung herself at Moody. "Gods, Alastor, I thought I was... " she continued in a whisper. "If you hadn't given me that Polyjuice Potion... " Raising her head, she kissed him full on the mouth. "I thought I'd never see you again. And you!" Turning, she pressed her lips into Dung's unshaven cheek.

"Aww, P'lyx'na," he mumbled, blushing to the roots of his straggly ginger hair. "It was nothin', really... Jus' doin' m' part for the Order." His bloodshot eyes had landed on the man behind Polyxena. "Sturgis, y' old bastard!"

"Wotcher, Dung," replied Sturgis wearily. "Nick anything good lately?"

"Th' special Darks... " began Mundungus, but Moody cut in,

"No. Too dangerous. We have to get back to headquarters." Moody's eye swiveled toward Riddle House. "The Death Eaters should be realizing any time now that two of their prisoners escaped with their clothing."

"And the Death Eaters insignia tote," added Sturgis. "Dolohov had filled his torture quota for three consecutive months."

"Lestrange is Death Eater of the Week!" Polyxena piped up. "I got this before we had to dash." Extracting a large basket from beneath her robes, she said, "Royal Riviera pears and Jonagold apples. Almost makes me want to join up. I do rather like these uniforms."

Mad-Eye glowered at her. "You want to be in with the Darkest of wizards there ever was? You want You-Know-Who to torture you every time you slip up? Think you can murder Muggles with a clean conscience? Then go on, up the hill you get."

"She was joking, Moody. They're comfortable t-shirts, is all." Noting Polyxena's wounded look, Sturgis made a repressive gesture at the ex-Auror. "Now are we going to Apparate or are we going to Apparate?"

* * *

With four separate cracks, the quartet appeared before 12 Grimmauld Place and hastened to the dank foyer within, where Dung immediately tripped over an end table.

"Children of filth! Disgusting, villainous... Oh, hello," screeched Mrs. Black's portrait, eyeing Sturgis and Polyxena's borrowed clothing. "At last, they have returned to avenge the house of my fathers! My Regulus shall be... "

Moody quietly slid the curtains over the bad-tempered painting. "Take off those vile things," he snarled at the two faux-Death Eaters. His magical eye traveled slowly over Polyxena's robe. "Bloody hell, they've even got black trainers to match."

Hanging up his robe and mask, Sturgis agreed, "Yeah, You-Know-Who is rather strict on dress code and protocol. He hexed Rookwood last week because he tore his Dark Mark shirt chasing after a Muggle-born. I'll go fetch something from the closet; back in a mo'."

Polyxena squinted at Moody partly in confusion and partly in anguish. Perhaps I shouldn't have thrown myself at him like that when he had just asked whether I was a Death Eater. And to say to Sturgis that I'm in love with... Well, more fool me. "I'd better go change, too," she spat acidly. "Wouldn't want you thinking I joined up with the Dark side and have a plot to kill you, now would I?" Tossing her thick, shiny hair, she stomped down the hall to the bedroom where her things were still stored, irritation simmering so that she did not notice that Moody had come stumping after her. After she had slammed the door with a satisfying crash, she pooled Lestrange's robe on the floor by her ankles, quickly followed by the cargo trousers and the logo tee she had joked about keeping.

"Constant vigilance," came a low hiss from just beyond the threshold.

"Alastor!" she yelped, groping for the robe she had just discarded. "What the fuck do you want?" Furiously, she glared into his mismatched eyes. "Going to berate me about Dark wizards again? You're right, you know. In between Cruciatus sessions and being toyed with by Voldemort, I really considered a career in Dark wizarding. If I hadn't been unconscious between torture... "

"Enough," growled Moody, clapping a gnarled hand over her mouth. "That's enough. Do you think I want to hear about you being tortured? That I want to see anyone walking around in Death Eater's robes after what they've done to half the Order?"

"Oh," Polyxena managed, feeling rather stupid. "I just thought... "

"I know what you thought." Clasping her bare shoulders, he continued gruffly, "I watched Sirius Black die last summer, I answered the call after the Longbottoms were tortured, I saw Marlene McKinnon taken by You-Know-Who's followers. I took all this in stride; came with the job, didn't it? But when Nott kidnapped you... " He trailed off, shaking his head. "I was more than worried about you, lass."

"Oh, Alastor." Polyxena reached up to run her fingers through his hair and crushed her mouth against his in a heavy, bruising kiss. The rise and fall of her chest was ragged against his worn traveling cloak, and her fingers worked frantically at the fastenings. At last, with great tearing of fabric, his robes fell behind him on the stone floor, and she hungrily roved over his bare flesh, tasting and touching and kissing every inch of skin she could find.

"Polyxena," he groaned thickly, half-dragging her over to the bed and cupping her arse as they collapsed there in a tangle of limbs. He knelt over her, taking her mouth in a searing kiss and teasing her nipples with his thumb. "Gods, Polyxena, I... " Parting her knees slowly, he tasted the hot flesh of her inner thigh, biting his way up to her sex and running his tongue along her cleft, until he finally nipped at her clit and glided over it with short, feathery strokes.

Polyxena gave a strangled shriek and clutched the balled up blankets tightly in her fists. "Please," she panted, "please. I want it with you inside me, Alastor. " She felt him nod, and then he moved back up her body and kissed her, leaving her own taste on her lips. "Now," she moaned. "I have to have you now." Wantonly, she opened her legs, taking him into her and wrapping them tightly around him as he sheathed himself completely, thrusting deeply and frantically. Polyxena's hips rose, meeting each stroke eagerly until the gasping, dizzying heat overwhelmed her, and she came on an inarticulate cry of satisfaction.

He followed almost immediately after and fell limply on top of her, dimly realizing that she had been kissing him all the while. When he made a move to roll over onto his back, her hand held him.

"Stay," she whispered, threading her fingers through his grizzled hair. "I like having you here."

Alastor smiled his lopsided grin and pressed his lips softly to her forehead. "Fair enough."

A moment or two later, they heard a great shuffling from the corridor, and Sturgis' exasperated voice sighing, "Dung, come away from that door!"

* * *

An hour later, Polyxena awoke nestled in the hollow of his shoulder and enjoyed the heavy sleepiness of his arms. Throwing a leg over him, she drew herself up to straddle him and slowly ground her hips against his already semi-tumescent length as he blinked drowsily. His erection unfurled before he was even fully awake, and Polyxena sank down to take him into her wetness. She'd only meant to please him, but soon felt herself grow just as aroused when she felt his strong hands grasp at her thighs as he thrust deep inside her, so far that she gave a whimper of pain just before she felt him come, convulsing underneath her in a fierce orgasm that brought her own.

"Are you awake now?" she queried innocently, bending to kiss the tip of his remaining bit of nose.

"One would hope," he growled, sitting up slowly. "We'd better get back to the kitchen. Dung and Sturgis will be wondering what became of us."

Polyxena quirked an eyebrow. "They're not that thick, Alastor. And Dung was listening at the door. Didn't you see him?" she teased lightly. "Constant vigilance?"

At once, Moody sobered. "You're right. I let my guard down." He ran an irritated hand through his grey hair. "Check the area for possible spies. That's the first thing they tell us in Surveillance and Espionage."

"It was only Dung," she countered, pulling on a clean robe. "Can you really blame him? I mean, the man has sex with hags."

"It could just as easily have been a Death Eater," he reminded her severely.

"Oh, Alastor." Polyxena sighed and tapped her wand against his torn robe. "Reparo! Here, put this on; we've got work to do."

When the pair finally ambled out to the kitchen, Sturgis was nursing a cup of tea and Mundungus had collapsed into a ragged heap that smelled very strongly of Ogden's. Polyxena busied herself with the teapot, taking a cup to the table while Moody drank deeply from his trusty flask.

"Right then," said Sturgis calmly, without a flicker of discomfort at what the couple had been up to moments before. "Polyxena only started to tell me about your search for the wandmaker. Clearly you've struck a nerve with the Death Eaters if they went to the trouble of taking her as a hostage."

Moody regarded him through narrowed eyes. "Dumbledore told us that the bloke Mundungus there nicked the wands from is... "

"Wormtail," finished Polyxena. "I described him for Sturgis. He doesn't stay at headquarters, though; he's assigned to help Snape."

"Snape." Moody's heavily scarred face seemed more menacing than usual. "You think he might have mentioned that he's got that filthy traitor in his own house."

"Snape never said... ?" Podmore trailed off in surprise. "Bloody hell. You'd think that sort of thing would benefit the Order. Yes, he's had Wormtail for months, cleaning his house, making him drinks, cooking his meals... "

"That sounds a bit dangerous, doesn't it?" remarked Polyxena. "Having all your food prepared by a known enemy."

Moody grinned at her before he said darkly, "There's no real proof that Wormtail is Snape's enemy."

"Dumbledore trusts him," began Podmore earnestly, and Mad-Eye gave a soft snort of disbelief. "And Dumbledore is a far better Legilimens than he lets on."

"And Snape is one hell of an Occlumens," thundered Moody. "When we start to trust these shady characters... "

At that, Mundungus stirred slightly. "Some'n say m' name?" he groaned, forcing his bloodshot, baggy eyes open. "'S th' meeting over?"

"No one mentioned you." Polyxena peered over at his dissipated form. "Go on back to sleep."

"P'lyx'na," he said with a bit of a leer. "An' Mad-Eye, y' old dog. I knew y' had it in y'. I was just sayin' t' Sturgis b'fore I had m' drink that th' Extendable Ears could turn a decent profit in th' secondary market, know what I mean? If th' Weasleys had some fall off th' back of a broom, who'd be th' wiser?"

"The Weasleys are members of the Order," growled Moody sternly. "And using those things to listen outside of other people's bedroom doors... "

"Stealth an' Tracking, innit, Mad-Eye?" joked Dung uneasily. "Don' get all outta your cauldron an' turn me into a ferret."

A vein appeared in Moody's forehead. "That. Wasn't. Me," he snarled. "That was the impostor who... "

"We're getting nowhere with this," interrupted Polyxena loudly. "Suffice it to say, Sturgis, that we've been able to determine that my father is in fact with Harz."

Raising his head slightly, Dung added, "An' Dumbledore said th' Death Eaters Imperiused ol' Ollivander so he'd go with them, an' Wormtail's workin' for both, an' Harz kidnapped th' wandmaker. We've gotta find Wormtail an' have him lead us t' Harz." Dung shuddered slightly. "Dealin' with th' Death Eaters an' Harz's lot all in one day, dunno... th' Engorgement Charm," he muttered apprehensively, reaching down as though to check that his family jewels were still intact.

"Precisely," agreed Polyxena, disregarding the bit about the dreaded charm. "Except for one thing. Voldemort told me that my father owled him asking to help with the wand situation. No Death Eaters put the Imperius Curse on him; he just closed up his shop and left. When Harz got hold of him, he probably took over the property and leased it to Stop 'n' Jinx." With a bleak expression, she wordlessly accepted the flask from Moody. "To stop my father joining Voldemort."