November 1981

[rosie_rues]

I've been doing a lot of preliminary work for a fic set late 1981/early 1982, and an odd thought occurred to me.

Why did the Lestranges go after the Longbottoms when they did? Why then? Why Frank and Alice?

I found myself wondering if it had anything to do with Sirius' apparent return to the fold. I have no doubt that Bellatrix and Sirius, both being wild, were close as children, a closeness which would have easily become hatred as Sirius turned away from the family. So, we come to late 1981. The Dark Lord is dead, and so are many of the Order, Bellatrix's immediate counterparts. Sirius is once again her favourite cousin, but he's already in Azkaban, brought down at what Bellatrix might consider his moment of glory.

It's easy to see why Bellatrix might want revenge, not just for Voldemort, but for Sirius. But why the Longbottoms?

We know Frank and Alice were highly respected aurors. We also know that Sirius was taken from the scene by Magical Law Enforcement (which seems to be mostly aurors - it isn't clear from book to book). As non-suspect members of the Order, they would probably have been on alert, especially once they ceased to be Voldemort's secondary target.

Did Frank and Alice arrest Sirius?

Comments

[copa-cetic.livejournal.com]

That thought never occured to me. That's such a fascinating idea, and it makes sense. Would Bellatrix know that Sirius wasn't a traitor-by seeing Pettigrew in Death Eater meetings or was there so much secrecy involved that even Bella wouldn't know who gave the information about the Potters?
You should write something about it, it's such a great idea.

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

Aha! Yes! There had to be secrecy about Pettigrew being the spy or Snape would have known. Snape was sure that Sirius had betrayed the Potters in PoA.

In the same way, I suspect that no one knew that Snape was spying for Dumbledore (in the first war, anyway) until the Wizengamot testimony. Otherwise he would have been dead as a doornail, because Pettigrew would have known and betrayed him.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

Oh, that makes sense. The more I think of it the more I suspect the Death Eaters were probably organised in cells. Some got caught, some faded back into the population, and none of them really trusted one another or knew what was going on.

[rosemaryandrue.livejournal.com]

*points down* schemingreader said it. I do think Pettigrew was a secret. Bellatrix is Voldemort's weapon. His strategist, if he had one, probably wouldn't have trusted her with any sensitive information.