Farewell?
Raise a glass for ignorance, drink a toast to fear,
Beginning of the end is come, that's why we all are here.
Strike up the band and play a song, and try hard not to cry,
And fake a smile as we all say goodbye…
("Goodbye, Goodbye" by Jars of Clay)
Tense was the word that best described the atmosphere at the Potters' house that night; tense and fearful. The five people gathered in the one lighted room tried hard to be merry. It was hard to accomplish when they knew that this might very well be the last time they saw each other.
Sirius and James reminisced about the pranks they had pulled at Hogwarts. Remus tried to tell his friends how much they all meant to him, and choked back tears. Lily sat very still and her face was white. Peter didn't say anything at all.
Finally, Remus rose to leave.
"I'm sorry I'm going now," he said, "but I must leave."
"Take care, Moony," James told him. Remus nodded and hugged his friend, kissed Lily on the cheek, and went from the house. They stared after him for a long time.
"Right," Sirius said finally. "We should perform the spell soon. Then I'll take Peter to the place I've got for him, and I'll go off too."
"I really think we should have told Dumbledore, asked his advice," Lily said nervously.
"Everything will be all right, Lily," James assured her, putting his arm around her. "We'll be safe soon."
"I hope so," she said quietly. "I'm just so scared…"
"Don't be," Sirius said. "Voldemort isn't that powerful… he can't read minds, and there's no way he'll find out that Peter's Secret Keeper."
"Let's begin, then," James said. His face set, he pulled out his wand.
Then one of the Twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?' And they counted out thirty pieces of silver. – Matthew 26:14,15
Pettigrew hurried through the streets, trying not to think too much about what he was going to do. Some part of him hated that he was betraying his friends. It's them or me, he told himself. Nothing I can do about it. The dark lord has ordered their deaths. I want to live. He told himself, over and over, that looking out for himself was the most important thing he could do. Finally, he believed it. I'm not a traitor. They're the ones who are wrong. Why should anyone oppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? He's the one who will make us strong again, make the Muggles bow to us. The ones standing against him are the traitors, traitors to our kind. I am simply the blade that justice uses.
When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or in rain?
– Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 1&2.
How could Remus have known, when he left the Potters' house, that the next time he saw James and Lily, they would be dead? He was sure that they would be safe, once the Fidelius Charm was performed and Sirius in hiding. Voldemort would never find them. He looked up at the sky as he headed home and was pleased to see that heavy clouds obscured the light of the half moon. But it was cold; he shivered a little and pulled his jacket closer around himself. Everything will be fine. It'll all work out. Voldemort will be defeated soon and we'll be able to live our lives without fear.
Lily and James said goodbye to Sirius. He'd come back to let them know that Peter was safely hidden. Voldemort would not find them now. Sirius said he'd see them in a few weeks, when things were a bit safer. They nodded and he climbed onto his bike, looking down at them as he flew off into the night. Years later, he would remember that scene as if his brain had taken a picture of it; his friends, arms around each other, standing outside watching him, their faces obscured by darkness. And then would come the vision of a week later…
Two broken bodies, lying in rubble. A bent and twisted pair of glasses, the lenses shattered. Two wands, destroyed almost completely. A ruined home, a crying child.
Pettigrew, screaming false accusations. The explosion. People crying in pain and fear. And his own laughter, bubbling up from who knows where. Laughing and laughing, laughing because his world was gone and there was nothing he could do. Laughing because he had failed his friends. Laughing at the Ministry people as they took him away.
Remus would never forget that day, either, the day he learned that of the five people who meant most to him in the world, three were dead and another was insane, had been working for Voldemort, and was imprisoned. Again and again his mind showed him the scenes he had not seen: Voldemort killing James, killing Lily, as they tried to save their son, Sirius blasting Peter into a thousand pieces and laughing the whole while. Now I'm the last. Who would have thought it? We all were sure that James would go far, end up as Minster of Magic, most likely. And Lily, so full of happiness and hope, would go with him. Sirius, laughing, mischievous, irresponsible Sirius, -how could he have done such a thing? So ironic that, of all of us, it was Peter who was the hero in the eyes of the Ministry. Peter, least of all of us, him to stand up to Sirius like that. Shock does strange things to people. Perhaps that's what made him so brave.
Remus turned from the granite slab marking the Potters' grave, carved with their names, the dates of their birth and single date of death, and a Latin inscription, translated as 'Death did not divide them.' He sighed as he walked back toward London, toward life, and wiped tears from his eyes. Poor Harry, poor boy. What will he think when he learns this story? And is this truly the end of all our adventures, my friends? Or do you await me even now, waiting for the day when I shall join you? Shall we ever meet again?
Does anyone like this story? Do you have any comments that might help me with my next piece? Please let me know!
~ Eilonwy