AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following features my OCs Jimmy and Mireet O'Bannon and their 6-year-old son Robert.
Any other time, the laughter of children would fill Mireet O'Bannon's heart with joy.
Not today.
She stopped in the upstairs hallway of Number 12 Grimmauld Place and drew a deep breath. More high-pitched chortles erupted from the bedroom of James and Albus Potter.
Will they ever laugh that way after tomorrow?
The tall, slender Frenchwoman with blond hair cascading past her shoulderblades hesitantly stepped toward the open door. She peered around the frame. She wanted to smile at the sight before her so badly.
Instead her lower lip quivered.
Six children knelt around a large piece of parchment, magical crayons in hand.
"That's not funny," Hugo Weasley whined.
"Yes it is," Albus grinned wide.
"Rosie dropped a branch on your head." Mireet's son, Robert Rejean O'Bannon, pointed to one of the many drawings on the parchment.
"I wanna draw flowers!" Lily Potter piped up. "Yellow."
The crayon in her hand transformed from orange to yellow. She immediately started drawing circles on the parchment.
"Flowers are for sissies." James gave his sister a dismissive wave. "I'm gonna draw a dragon." He looked at his crayon and said, "Red."
"Yeah!" Robert cheered. "Have your dragon burn up all of Lily's flowers."
"Shut up, Robert."
"Yeah! Burn the flowers!" Albus pumped both fists. "Dragons are cooler than flowers."
Robert, James and Hugo all laughed.
Mireet felt a dagger plunge into her heart. What she wouldn't give for tomorrow to never arrive.
Robert looked up and spotted her. A smile formed on his round face. "Hi, Mommy. James is gonna draw a dragon."
Lily spun around, her blazing red hair whipping to one side. "James wants to make his dragon burn up all my flowers."
"You shouldn't do that, James. Flowers are very beautiful."
"They're girly, Mom," Robert blurted.
"Do you want to draw with us, Mrs. O'Bannon?" asked Rose Weasley.
"No. You children do it. I just . . . I just want to watch you have fun."
Rose shrugged and turned back to the parchment. Mireet watched James draw his dragon, while Robert urged him to have fire come out its mouth . . . lots of fire. Both Albus and Hugo hooted with joy.
Mireet lowered her head and closed her eyes. Why do they have to grow up so fast?
"Hey. You all right?"
Mireet turned to find a short red-headed woman with a face full of freckles approaching.
"Hello, Ginny."
Ginny Potter canted her head. "Everything all right with the children?"
"They're fine. For now. It's just . . ."
She looked back into the bedroom, then to Ginny. Mireet crossed her arms and walked down the hallway.
"Well, I can tell something's on your mind," Ginny said, following her.
Mireet's shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. She stopped at the staircase and turned around. For a moment she thought back to their time together at Hogwarts during the year of the Tri-Wizard tournament. They'd had so much fun playing for the Triad hockey team formed by her husband, Jimmy O'Bannon. Such carefree days, before the war changed everything.
Even with Voldemort long dead, his shadow still lingered over them.
"I can't help thinking about tomorrow."
Ginny briefly lowered her eyes to the floor. "I've been thinking about it a lot, too. But we agreed. When they turned six, we have to take them there. They have to know."
"I know, Ginny. But . . . I can't help but feel we're robbing them of their innocence." She looked past Ginny to the bedroom, where laughter, and Lily's protests over burning her flowers, spilled from.
Ginny sighed and leaned against the wall. "You have no idea how many times I've wished for a spell that could stop time, to let them remain children forever. Then we wouldn't have to tell them about all the bad things in the world."
"There are times I feel like a bad mother. I see how Robert looks at the world with such wide, pure eyes, and I know he'll never have that gaze again. And it'll be because of me."
Ginny stepped over and gently grasped Mireet's arm. "I felt the same way when we did this with James last year. And I'll feel the same way with Albus, and with Lily two years from now. But if we don't tell them, don't show them, that will make us bad parents."
Mireet nodded. Her long-time friend was right.
But being right wouldn't make this any easier.
XXXXX
Mireet froze when the alarm clock rang the next morning. She did not want to get out of bed, did not want to expose Robert and the other children to the darker side of the world.
Jimmy rolled over, squeezed her hand and kissed her on the head. "C'mon, hon," his Bostonian accent filled her ear. "Let's get moving."
She noticed Jimmy taking longer than normal to go through his morning routine. Despite his brave front, she knew he didn't look forward to doing this any more than she did.
The children chattered happily during breakfast. Mireet and the other adults were rather subdued. She also didn't eat much more than a couple slices of toast. In fact, Jimmy, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione also picked at their food more than they actually ate.
After the children polished off their second helping, Harry said, "All right, kids. Brush your teeth and get your coats. We'll be leaving as soon as Grandmom gets here."
"Why can't we go?" Lily complained.
"Yeah!" Hugo bounced in his chair. "I wanna come, too."
Mireet's lips tightened. She wanted to tell them not to be so anxious. To enjoy their years of innocence, to hold off learning about the real world for as long as possible.
"When you're older." Ginny said, staring at a spot on the table.
Both Lily and Hugo mumbled as they marched away from the table.
Ten minutes later a rush of green flame burst from the fireplace in the living room. A plump woman with streaks of gray through her red hair stepped out.
"Grandmom!" Lily was the first one to rush over to Molly Weasley, nearly bowling over the older woman. The other children, including Robert, also hurried over to her.
"Oh, hello my little angels." Molly hugged and kissed them all.
"You be good for Grandmom, okay?" Harry told Lily as he kissed the top of her head.
"That goes for you too, Hugo." Hermione hugged her son.
"I'll see you all in a bit." Molly forced a smile. One look into the woman's eyes and Mireet could tell she felt the same as everyone else.
Mireet sighed and took hold of Robert's hand. Jimmy sidled up to her left and squeezed her hand.
"Ready, babe?"
She simply nodded.
A loud crack filled the room. Blackness surrounded Mireet. Her heart leapt in fear. She could no longer feel Robert's or Jimmy's hands in hers. Were they all right?
As quickly as it came, the blackness vanished, replaced by blue sky and sunlight. They stood at the bottom of a small rise that led up to a wrought iron fence. A gnarled tree stood near the gate.
"Where are we, Mommy?" Robert asked.
Before she could answer another crack shattered the air.
"Mireet!" Fleur Weasley trotted over to her. The two former Beauxbatons students hugged.
"It's good to see you again, Fleur."
The half-veela Frenchwoman hugged and kissed both Jimmy and Robert as a tall red-haired man with a scarred face came over to them, holding the hand of a small, skinny blonde boy. Behind them came a beautiful young girl with a shining, angular face and strawberry blond hair and a round-faced young man with thick brown hair.
"Edward!" Robert darted over to the boy holding Bill Weasley's hand and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Victorie. Teddy. I didn't know you'd be here, too." Mireet hugged both teens.
"We just thought . . . it was appropriate, you know." Teddy Lupin bit his lip and looked up at the rise.
More cracks split the air. Dean and Luna Thomas appeared with their youngest child, Harold. Seconds later two more people Apparated. One was a short, dark-skinned woman with her long hair in braids. The other was . . .
"George!"
Jimmy bounded over to George Weasley. The two exchanged high-fives and pounded each other on the back. Jimmy then hugged George's fiancé, Branwen Shacklebolt.
Once the greetings had concluded, Harry looked at everyone and said, "Well, shall we?"
A somber mood descended over Mireet and the rest of the adults. Taking both Jimmy's and Robert's hands, she followed the others up the rise. Her heart beat faster as they got closer to the gate. Beyond it stone markers rose from the ground.
"What is this place?" asked Robert.
Mireet closed her eyes. So it began. The tearing down of her son's innocent view of the world.
She tried to answer, but couldn't force her mouth to open.
"It's a cemetery." Jimmy spared her. "It's . . . this is where they bury people when . . . they're no longer with us."
"Why?"
Jimmy worked his jaw back and forth. How do you answer a question like that? Mireet racked her brain, trying to recall how her own parents explained the concept of death to her.
She couldn't remember.
"It's . . . tradition." That was the best answer she could come up with.
Mireet scanned the rest of the group, catching snippets of conversation. The other adults seemed to have just as hard a time as her and Jimmy trying to explain the concept of a cemetery to their children.
George put a hand on the gate and hesitated. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. Branwen gently rubbed his back. Mireet felt a tear slide down her cheek.
"What's wrong with Uncle George?" Rose stared up at Hermione.
"It's . . . well, this is a very hard place for him to be."
Ron looked away, shielding his eyes with a hand. Ginny's grip on Harry's hand seemed to tighten.
With a loud sigh, George pushed open the gate.
They followed the surviving Weasley twin and the niece of the long-time Minister of Magic into the cemetery. The children looked around with curiosity. Not the wide-eyed kind Mireet had grown used to. She sensed the children knew this was not a happy place.
They walked for a few more meters before stopping at the first tombstone. Harry moved forward, Albus at his side. Mireet sniffled and wiped her eyes when she noticed the name.
COLIN CREEVEY.
"What's wrong, Dad?" Concern fell over little Albus' face. Mireet wondered if he'd ever seen his father like this before.
"This is . . . this was someone I knew very well back at Hogwarts."
"He was a very sweet little boy," Mireet said in a shaky voice. "Always smiling, always friendly." Guilt welled up inside her for all the times she thought Colin Creevey annoying. All he wanted was to make friends, to please people. Never had he expressed a desire to hurt anyone.
And look what happened to him.
"He was always running around with that camera of his, taking Harry's picture." Ron managed a soft chuckle. "I half expected him to start a Harry Potter Fan Club one day."
"What happened to him?" Rose looked from Ron to Hermione.
Silence hung over the group. No one seemed too keen to answer.
Finally Ginny screwed up enough courage. "He was killed by . . . by a very bad man named Lord Voldemort."
"That's the man Uncle Harry beat, right?" asked Edward.
"Yeah. I beat him." Harry stared hard at Colin's tombstone. "Not soon enough, though."
Mireet squeezed Jimmy's hand tighter. She could feel the guilt radiating from Harry.
"Why would Voldemort kill someone who was so nice?" asked Harold Thomas.
Again, silence surrounded the group.
Jimmy took a breath and answered. "Because there are people like Voldemort who don't like nice people. And he thinks it's okay to hurt them."
A quizzical look came over Robert's face. "Why?"
Ginny turned to face him. "Because Voldemort was very powerful. And he felt that made it all right to hurt people weaker than him."
"That's not nice."
Mireet half-laughed, half-sobbed at Rose's comment.
"No, honey." Ron put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "It's not."
They moved on to another tombstone . . . actually a pair of them. This time Teddy stepped out in front of them, with Victorie at his side. The corners of his mouth twitched as he moved his head from one tombstone to the other. Victorie slid an arm around the boy's shoulder.
"Do you know them, Teddy?" Albus walked over to him.
Teddy nodded and continued staring at the tombstones. "They're my parents. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks."
"Were they nice people, too?"
Teddy looked down at Albus with a half-smile and patted him on the shoulder. "They were nice people. That's what your mum and dad and everyone else says. You see, I never knew them."
"You didn't know you mum and dad?"
"No, Al." Teddy shook his head. "They were both killed when I was really little."
Albus frowned as he stared up at Harry's godson. "My dad never knew his mum and dad either."
Harry lowered his head. Ginny leaned her head on her husband's shoulder.
"What happened to them?" Harold asked.
Ginny turned to the boy, her eyes glistening with tears. "They were killed by Lord Voldemort's people, just like Colin. They were trying to protect your parents and all our friends when some bad people attacked Hogwarts. But they . . . they died helping us."
Tears slid down Ginny's cheeks. Mireet leaned against Jimmy, who wrapped an arm around her waist. She continued to stare at Ginny. Her friend had been rather close to Tonks. Even after all these years remembering those lost during the war never got easier. Mireet wondered if it ever would.
"So . . . so . . ." Harold spoke in a shaky voice. Mireet figured if he hadn't inherited his father's dark complexion, the boy would be pale as a ghost right now. "Can Voldemort come back and . . . hurt my mum and dad?"
"You don't have to worry about Voldemort, Harold." Dean stroked the boy's hair. "Harry got rid of him forever."
"Yeah." Albus swung around to face the Thomas family. "So everything's okay."
Mireet's legs trembled. She stared at Albus, imagining all the hope he felt. His belief that because his father killed Voldemort nothing else could hurt them.
A spasm hit her slender body. Now they'd have to crush that belief.
They continued through the cemetery until they came to another tombstone, more ornate than the others.
It read . . . MINERVA MCGONAGALL
"Who's this?" Rose pointed to the tombstone.
"That's our old Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall," Ron answered. "Also the head of Gryffindor House, and later on she was Headmistress of Hogwarts."
"Did Voldemort kill her, too?" Edward asked.
Jimmy shook his head. "No. Even though Harry got rid of Voldemort, there were other bad people, bad things out there."
"Professor McGonagall fought these creatures called the Stacyx," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "They lived inside TVs and killed Muggles. But we defeated them, just like Harry defeated Lord Voldemort. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall died during the battle."
"Was she nice, too?" Robert asked.
"Not to me she wasn't." George managed a weak chuckle. "She used to put me and . . . me and Fred in detention all the time. Your dad, too, when he did his year at Hogwarts."
"She was nice in her own way." Hermione grinned at Robert. "She was strict, but she cared about all the students at Hogwarts . . . and she was a very good teacher."
Edward looked up at his father, Bill. "Are the Stacyx all gone, just like Voldemort?"
"Yes they are. But it's like Jimmy said. When we stop one bad person or creature, another one tends to show up."
"Why can't you get rid of all the bad things in the world?"
Fleur put both her hands on Edward's shoulders. "I wish we could, dearest. I'd never want you or your sister or your cousins or friends to ever have to face something like Lord Voldemort or the Stacyx like we did. But that is the nature of evil. It's always around. We just have to be ready in case appears again."
They moved on from McGonagall's tombstone, stopping at others. Ernie MacMillan, who died during the war with the Stacyx. Bentley Basham, whose Vulcan Forgeus Spell wiped out the Stacyx, at the cost of his own life. Ted Tonks, murdered by Death Eaters while on the run with Dean Thomas and the goblin Griphook.
The group's pace slowed when they neared the final tombstone, the one that seemed to evoke more emotion than any other here. Mireet gripped her husband's hand as tight as possible, even as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
"M-Mommy?" Robert asked hesitantly. "Why are you so sad?"
Mireet gathered herself to answer. "It's just . . . this was a very special friend to your father and I. We probably never would have met if not for him."
"It's because of him I went from hating Hogwarts to loving the place." Jimmy wiped his eyes.
Mireet looked down at her son. Robert looked astonished to see his father crying. In his eyes Jimmy was a big, tough hockey player. Would he understand that there were some things in this world that could make the toughest of men cry?
Mireet pulled Robert against her leg as they all stopped at the tombstone. George let go of Branwen's hand and slowly approached. Ron had his face buried in Hermione's shoulder. Ginny leaned against Harry. Bill looked down at his feet while Fleur rubbed his back. A sob racked Mireet's body. Jimmy pulled her into him. Robert squeezed her hand with all his strength. It made Mireet cry even harder.
"Good to see you again, Fred." George reached out and clenched the top of the tombstone.
Through eyes blurred by tears, Mireet focused on the name carved into the headstone.
FRED WEASLEY.
"Albus . . ." Harry swallowed before continuing. "You know the Fred your mum and me talk about sometimes? This is him. This is your Uncle Fred."
"He's the one you tell the funny stories about, right?"
"Yes," Harry answered in a strained voice.
Mireet sniffled. "He always found a way to make people laugh."
"Like all those pranks we pulled at the Yule Ball." A very brief smile crossed Jimmy's lips.
The statement created a ripple effect through all the adults.
"Remember the fireworks he and George let loose during Fifth Year."
"Remember when Neville ate one of their Canary Creams?"
"Remember the portable swamp . . ."
"Remember the dungbombs . . ."
"Or the diarrhea jinx . . ."
"And the Marauders Map," said Harry. "I could never thank those two enough for that one."
Soft laughter mingled with the sobs. Mireet grinned and shook her head. Fred had been dead for fourteen years, and he could still make people laugh.
George turned around, straightening up and stiffening his face. "Come on, kids. Come say hi to your Uncle Fred."
The kids hesitated, looking up at their parents.
Finally, Rose stepped forward. After she took two steps, Albus followed, then Edward.
"Go on, Robert." Mireet gently tapped her son on the back. "It's all right."
Before long Rose, Albus, Robert, Edward and Harold all gathered around Fred's tombstone.
"Did bad people kill Uncle Fred, too?" Rose asked.
"Yes," George nodded. "Yes they did."
"Why?" Robert turned to him. "If he was so funny, why did they kill him?"
Mireet didn't know how George managed to hold it together to answer her son.
"Because . . . those people who killed Fred didn't like laughter or fun or . . . love. They wanted to get rid of anyone who cherished those things. But Fred fought and died to make sure that didn't happen."
One of the children sniffled. Mireet's insides collapsed at the sound.
"I want to meet him," Rose said with a quivering lip.
Hermione lost it. She let out a high-pitched sob and turned to Ron, who wrapped his arms around her.
Rose's crying soon became as loud as her mother's. Albus put a hand on her shoulder. Robert, his own eyes glistening with moisture, hugged her.
Mireet turned away and buried her face in Jimmy's shoulder.
They had done it. They'd taken away their children's innocence.
XXXX
The green flames evaporated around Mireet as she stepped out of the fireplace. She slapped at the dust on her robes and strode into the living room. She sighed, thinking about the lunch she and Jimmy had with George and Branwen. Usually such a get-together was jovial. Not this time, not with yesterday's visit to the cemetery fresh in their minds. And the children. To see them cry around Fred's tombstone, to see them so quiet, looking so depressed when they returned to 12 Grimmauld Place . . .
They'll never be the same again.
Head down, she trudged through the hallway, wishing Jimmy was here. But after lunch he had a meeting at the Ministry of Magic to pitch his idea for A Muggles' Guide to the Wizarding World for the parents of Muggle-born students.
"Welcome back."
Mireet lifted her head in response to Ginny's voice. The redhead swished her wand and cleaned one of the kitchen windows.
"Hello, Ginny. How are Robert and the other children?"
To her surprise, Ginny beamed at her. It was the first true smile she'd seen from anyone since yesterday. "Come see."
Ginny led her to the back door. Mireet gazed out the window at the back yard.
Robert, Albus and Rose ran around the grass, each one holding a stick in their hand.
"Take that Voldemort!" Albus pointed his stick at a tree. "Zap!"
"This is for hurting Uncle Fred." Rose raised her stick. "Zap!"
"Rose! There's a Stacyx behind you." Robert bounded over to her, waving his stick. "Zap! Zap! Zap!"
"Yea!" Albus jumped up and down. "We're heroes, too."
Mireet covered her mouth with her right hand. Her body trembled. She absorbed the scene in front of her. These children, who'd been crying at the cemetery yesterday, were playing and laughing, just as they had before that emotional day. They'd been exposed to the horrors of the world, been told of the good people, the dear friends, who had died in battle.
Yet they could still have fun . . . and in a way she could never imagine. In a way that honored men and women like Fred and Ernie and Professor McGonagall.
"What are you doing, Rose?" Robert stood over the girl, who was plucking grass.
"We need to get some water. I wanna make a portable swamp just like Uncle Fred."
Tears formed in Mireet's eyes. Moments later she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to find Ginny next to her, smiling.
"See. They're going to be all right."
Mireet patted Ginny's hand and turned back to the children. Yesterday's visit to the cemetery may have robbed Robert and the other children of some of their innocence.
But not all of it.
- THE END –
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I decided to do this in Mireet's POV because I felt I've never really fleshed out her character. Hopefully I succeeded to a degree in this story. Also, several of the references made throughout this story are from some of my previous fanfics. The Triad hockey team was formed in "The Puck Drops Here," which is also my first story featuring Jimmy O'Bannon. Jimmy and Mireet's relationship comes to light in "Moving On." The Stacyx and the deaths of McGonagall and Ernie MacMillan are chronicled in my epic "The Airwaves War." The HP kids are also featured in "Our Last Special Night," which focuses on the relationship between Robert and Rose. As for George being engaged to Kingsley Shacklebolt's niece, well, so many fics have George getting together with Katie Bell or Alicia Spinnet. I have absolutely no problem with either of those pairings, but I just wanted to do something a little different.