AN: Albus Dumbledore is incredibly hard to write. I hope you all enjoy this delayed Christmas present! Mother Russia's over a year old now and yet Harry hasn't even arrived at Hogwarts yet. Ah, well! Happy New Year, too!

Chapter Thirteen – A Grave Miscalculation

Albus Dumbledore liked to think himself prepared for anything. With all his careful planning, spying, and back up plans upon back up plans he certainly felt himself justified in this. But sometimes a niggling doubt in the back of his mind would make him uneasy. But he would quickly beat back those doubts and the voice that questioned him. If he listened then there could be chaos, he would have to go back through everything and quite possibly ruin some of their best chances because of prying and unease. The niggling he'd been experiencing recently though would not go away. Perhaps it was partial because he hadn't heard a word from Arabella in the past few weeks. Maybe it was because Harry's birthday was tomorrow and it filed Albus with a strange sort of melancholy as it always did to think that the little boy was one step closer to having to face Tom. Or it could have been the fact that disquieting rumors had been going through the Ministry recently. Nothing concrete or big. Just mentions of Aurors on mission that they weren't permitted to speak of (Albus quickly noted that known of these Aurors had a connection to his Order and therefore no loyalties to him) and of a strange visitor having arguments with the Minister. Some suspected him to be a younger lover; others claimed he might be the illegitimate child of the Lady Minister, or, the most unnerving to Albus, that he was someone else. Someone only spoken of in whispers by the most senior of the Ministry, someone who even Albus tried not to think of too often.

Albus decided it was all of these though and was quick to mentally defend his surprise visit to the Minister, because surely there was some simple reason that the Supreme Mugwump would be visiting her. A reason that had nothing to do with second guessing and paranoia.

Humming to himself Albus noted the pointed absence of the secretary as he stepped out of the fireplace to the Minister's private office that only the Minister and certain Department Heads and higher-ups possessed access to. The next second he heard the shouting and drifted forward to listen, feeling like a child listening at a keyhole. It was a rather apt description he decided as he swept closer to the half open door to Millicent's office.

"For the last time Arthur no! We don't have any information! We don't have anything at all! Until we do you are forbidden to act! Is that understood?" Millicent Bagnold, current Minister of Magic and what Albus had long considered someone without possession of any sort of temper, shouted at the top of her lungs.

CRASH! Albus blinked startled. Whatever it had been sounded rather expensive.

"Like hell! You expect me to sit on my ass and do nothing? Have you gone around the bin Millicent! Damn it! You could at least bring in Dumbledore! The man's sure to have some little spies tucked away who can find something if the Aurors you're using are too incompetent!" a male voice snarled out accompanied by what sounded like fists slamming on a desk. "Or better yet you could let me FUCKING DO SOMETHING!"

"NO!"

SNAP!

"You've broken the desk!"

"You act like that's the only bloody fucking thing I broke!" the young man snarled again. "Tell someone! FIND HIM DAMN IT!"

"Calm down Arthur." Millicent cut in after a few moments of silence, voice cold a brooking no room for argument. "You will go home and you will say nothing."

"Like hell I wi—"

"That's an order from the Minister of Magic of England." Millicent said and the room went quiet. Albus wondered at the emphasis and tried to place the male's voice. It sounded vaguely familiar. The more he thought about it the more uncomfortable it made him. He knew that voice and it filled him with unease.

"Fine."

Only his long years of life kept Albus from so much as blinking as the door in front of him was violently thrown open by a powerful gust of magic that he felt into his bones.

"Then perhaps I should allow the Supreme Mugwump his time with you." Arthur Kirkland purred, green eyes triumphant and a sly smirk on his lips. Millicent swung to look at Albus looking both furious and almost resigned. she quickly regained her composure and gave Kirkland the coolest look albus had ever seen.

"Go now Arthur, what's done is done and I will not have you doing anything else. Do not think to come to my office again unless I call you." Millicent said coldly, looking fiercer than Minerva when protecting her cubs. albus was a bit impressed, though Kirkland wasn't.

"I will see you soon Millicent and when I do I hope you'll have some news." Kirkland's eyes flickered to Albus and he had the distinct impression he was being dissected. It was an uneasy feeling, one that Albus never appreciated especialy when coming from Kirkland. Someone whom Albus had been wary of since they met back in 1890 not long after his father had been sent to Azkaban.

He hadn't aged a day.

"Albus." Kirkland acknowledged, smiling as if he understood Albus's unease and was trying to erase it, as always albus was even more troubled by the fact that despite himself it worked. He could feel a certain pull towards the man that told him that he was trustworthy and he could relax around him. It was a more powerful version of what had drawn him to Gellert, the instant sense of kinship.

Albus didn't like it.

With a last nod to Millicent, Kirkland left the room and the Floo roared outside of the office moments afterwards. Giving the woman a moment to collect herself Albus turned to the Minister with a smile.

"Is there something wrong Millicent?" Albus questioned with a smile.

Millicent looked almost murderous.

. . .

It hadn't taken the Minister long to come up with a logical excuse to leave him. After making sure to send Minerva a quick message that he may not be returning in time to welcome their newest Defense of the Dark Arts candidate and assigning her to take care of the man Albus followed his first instinct and quickly found himself at Arabella Figg's house. Unsurprisingly he was met with the startled mews of several cats among them a rather exotic looking new Queen who gave him a regal, but dismissive once over. What did surprise him was a tan looking Arabella in loose tan pants, a short sleeved shirt, large floppy hat, and flip-flops, who immediately upon seeing looked to be about to burst into tears.

"Oh thank Merlin you came! Did you get my owl?" the woman said wringing her hands clearly anxious as those cats closest to her meowed in distress and butted their heads against her or twined their bodies around her attempting to calm the woman down.

"I am sorry to say I did not Arabella." Albus told her with a frown. "I just happened to decide to stop in and I must have missed it. What is it that has you so distressed?"

"The boy's gone Dumbledore!" Arabella said, or rather yelled, looking at anything but Albus as she explained. "I left for a quick holiday in in Africa and found the most delightful new breed of cat to breed with my Kneazles. Their part serval. Took a good deal of convincing to get the Muggles who were breeding them to let me have some, their still in the experimental phase and my holiday lasted longer than I thought it would. Jonquil here took to my Henry faster than we thought and we had to delay the trip until she was well enough for travel."

"Arabella," Albus interjected, gently but firmly to make the woman get to the point. He was barely keeping himself calm and he needed to know what happened now.

Arabella nodded, looking calmer now, but still upset. "I just got back and the first thing I hear is that their was a fire at Number Four. Everyone but the boy died! And Albus someone took him and by the sound of how smoothly he was passed over it sounds like the man might have been magical, but he's definitely unknown to me."

Albus could feel his plans shatter around him, but more importantly he felt a keen loss. Lily and James's son, two of his favorite pupils, taken by some stranger and his entire family dead. It felt as if all of his long years hit him in one swift blow.

"Dumbledore!" Arabella gasped horrified as the world seemed to tilt and Albus stumbled. The small woman stopped him from toppling over and very carefully eased the very, very old man into a seat. Feeling shaky Albus looked at Arabella with sad, twinkle-less blue eyes, he did his best to give the distraught woman a comforting smile.

"I'm sorry my dear, it seems my old age is catching up with me. Please describe the man who took Harry." Albus demanded gently. If anything the woman looked more distressed and when she spoke it was in a quiet, gentle tone one normally used with the feeble minded.

"Dumbledore," Arabela began doing her best to look gentle, but her eyes very worried. "The boy I've been watching is Dudley Dursley, remember? Harry Potter was placed elsewhere."

For the second time in the past five minutes Albus's world changed completely, he did not let it show this time though and simply smiled at Arabella, refusing to show his shock and dismay.

"Of course, how silly of me Arabella. I've just been thinking of Harry because his birthday is tommorrow. Now please continue your story of how the man looked."

Arabella didn't look convinced, but complied and Albus recognized the man in a instant. Arthur Kirkland had Dudley Dursley, which meant the person the Ministry was looking for and had gotten the mysterious green eyed man so upset over was Harry. Albus excused himself after he finally managed to calm Arabella, though the woman still seemed to be under the impression he was going senile and he didn't doubt she'd be sending Minerva a note very soon. Albus would handle that later though, for now he needed to see the remains of Number Four. The street was dark when he arrived so no one was out and about, Albus truly wouldn't have cared if they had been though. His mind was too filled with dread and horror. He sensed traces of magic remaining in the burnt out property and one quick spell told him who exactly had cast the lesser fiendfyre that had killed the Dursleys and burned their home.

Bellatrix Lestrange.

The same woman was supposed to have died along side many other high security prisoners, including Sirius, in February during an accidental fire caused by an over eager new guards wrongly cast warming charm.

If Arabella's news made him feel old, this made Albus feel ancient. He barely managed the energy to get back to Hogwarts where Minerva was waiting for him a piece of paper in hand in his office. Seeing the wariness on his face the woman instantly went to concerned and with a heavy heart Albus sat, wondering how he could even begin to explain his grave mistake.