The Road of Life- Saying Goodbye
lone astronomer
Stuff I do not own (commonly known as a disclaimer):
James, Hogwarts, Lily, Allya, Mioré, Sirius, Harry, Clara, Cornelius Fudge, Vera, Fox, Sierra, Remus ::sniff, sniff:: the Ministry of Magic, Britain, Germany, France, a car, Clara's husband Michael, a picture of Draco in leather (Sirius I have, Draco, sadly not)…Person that stuff belongs to:
It's either unclaimed, the UN's, or J. K. Rowling's.What is mine:
Remus' immortal soul, Sirius' ex-motorcycle Nova, and the keyboard and notepad I am writing this on. If you want a character, kindly ask to borrow him or her.Archive:
Anywhere and everywhere (for any piece of fiction from me), as long as this little spiel gets to stay here and I'm notified about it.Note from the esteemed author:
Guess what? This is basically a prelude of what's to come. I hate to leave you guys with one of those, but that's how it's gotta be. Sorry. The beginning's a bit rocky; it had to be that way, too. And we skip over a lot of time. It's necessary, okay?* * *
Saying goodbye
Going away
Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say
Touching your hand
Wondering why
It's time for saying goodbye
Saying goodbye
Why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say
Foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye…
-The Muppets, Saying Goodbye
* * *
"You know it'll be good for Harry," he said astutely, emotionlessly, facing his best friend in the world and wondering why things could never be the same.
She's gone, James.
"Yeah," Sirius answered, in the same neutral tone. "I guess I do."
"And you know it's too painful here. And that I have to go."
"Stay," Sirius said, pleaded, and Remus' expression agreed.
"I can't," James said. "My new job starts in a week- the British ambassador to the German Ministry can't be late for work, now can he?"
Harry didn't say a word. It didn't seem as if he knew how- everything he'd learned had been all a-jumble of late.
"Goodbye, James," Allya said quietly, lips a thin line, eyes closed. Vera, on the floor at her feet whined softly. Fox picked up on it; he whimpered a bit, too. Sierra, asleep in the next room over, said nothing, but turned restlessly in her sleep, as if she knew something was drastically wrong.
"Goodbye, Allya," James answered her stiffly, formally, hefting a suitcase in each hand. A horn blared outside. "That'll be the taxi. Can't Apparate with Harry, you know," he said, trying to be strong. "Goodbye, Moony, Padfoot, Mioré." He lowered his head to look at Vera and Fox, and also to let out a single tear that had been threatening to show itself to his friends. If they saw, he knew, he wouldn't be able to leave. "Bye, you two."
Vera clung to Allya's robes, and more tears fell from her mother's eyes. Fox stood a bit shakily, using James' cloak to steady himself, and tried feebly to hold him back.
Remus, biting his lip, pulled his son into his arms and watched his friend walk out the door.
Hillside Manor had never seen such a flood of tears, nor would it ever again. To lose first Lily and Morgana, then James and Harry a month later, and three days before Christmas, at that, was too much for what was left of the Marauders.
Merry, merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
We hope it's a good one
With nothing to fear…
Merry Christmas,
War is over…
"But at what cost?!" Sirius yelled at the Muggle tape deck. "At what cost?! Lily and Morgana are dead, you stupid …" he checked the label, "Beatles. And James and Harry are gone-"
"Not such a merry Christmas," Allya agreed gloomily, adding another ornament to the tree. Baby's first Christmas. That one was for Morgana, before she'd… Allya didn't want to think about it anymore.
"We'll have to make the best of it, I suppose," Mioré commented, hanging her own ornaments on the tree. Sierra's, Vera's, and Fox's first Christmas ornaments from the year before hung rather forlornly on the tree. The tea-light charm Remus had done wasn't as good as the ones Lily used to do- but it was beautiful nonetheless.
"Perhaps we need a bit of our own music," Remus said, turning off the Muggle device that tended to remind him of Lily a bit too much.
"What we need is eggnog," Sirius grumbled as Allya went to sit at the piano and Remus Summoned his violin.
"I'm with you all the way, Sirius," Mioré said.
"I know."
Sirius conjured the eggnog, and the two of them sat on the floor beside the piano, listening to the haunting (and slightly off-key) duet play and waiting for the sweet darkness of intoxication to come over him.
Allya banged her head on the keys. "Does anybody actually want to wait until tomorrow to open the gifts? It's not as if we have anything better to do."
"When depressed, open presents," Remus said philosophically. "Always cheers me up," he added cynically in a dark mutter. "Right. We did send that one gift to Harry, didn't we hon?"
Allya nodded. "And we did mention in the letter that he shouldn't let his dad see it…" Harry, however, wasn't quite three years old, and it was unlikely that the speaking parchment they'd charmed and sent along with the gift had any effect on him. On the other hand…
Somewhere in Germany, what was left of the Potter family were sharing a very quiet Christmas. "What's that, Harry?" James asked tiredly, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"Can't tell," Harry answered, and ran away with his gift to his room. He hid it under his mattress, and that was where it stayed for nearly five years, until he deemed it safe to bring it out.
* * *
Time passes slowly when it's the end of your world…
* * *
"Your hair's a mess, Harry," the painting told him, scowling. For a five-year-old, Harry thought, she sure had attitude.
"I know. Did you notice yours is the same way?" he asked, planting his hands on his hips.
The girl in the painting deepened her scowl. "It was painted that way," she insisted, tossing her head. Hazel eyes watched his every move. "What're you doing, anyway? You haven't spent this much time in your room since you accidentally set all of the gardener snakes in the neighborhood on Lukas from next door."
"Packing," Harry answered absently, shoving some more junk into a box. A picture of him with his father when he was four fell off the dresser and cracked. "Scheib e."
"Harold James Potter!" the picture shouted at him. "Watch your language. You're only eight, after all."
"It's not my fault Lukas' swearing rubbed off," Harry muttered crossly, dusting off the frame and packing it anyway. "Well, I reckon that's all of it. 'Cept you, that is, Morgana."
"You're not putting me in there," she objected, making a placating gesture with her hands. "No way. I'm fine out here in the light, as it is, thanks."
"I'm not leaving you here," Harry insisted, and shoved her on top of the pile. "Come on. I promise I'll unpack you first."
Great
, Morgana thought. How many boys actually get to pack their little sisters away and ship them off? "Fine," she acquiesced, "But I'll be ornery if you don't get me out of here soon."Harry's brow wrinkled. Quite the vocabulary, too. "What's ornery mean?"
"Never mind."
"Well, sir, we need you here for the election," the office secretary's head portrayed her nervousness. "Er- a couple Unmentionables and some people in the office called for a vote of no-confidence in Minister Fudge, and we're having another election."
"Great," James said, not really meaning it. "And I've got to move for that?"
"Sir, they're- they're reassigning you."
James' glasses slipped off of his nose; he barely caught them before they hit the floor. "They're what?"
"You heard me, sir. They want you in administration."
James made a noise of disgust. "Don't call me sir. Who's 'they'?"
She merely shrugged. "I'm not authorized to know, actually, but there's a rumor that it's Dumbledore, Longbottom and Crouch that are calling for you."
"Wonderful," James muttered. "Just- just swell."
"Sir?"
James glowered.
She bit her lip. "Sorry. Er, Mr. Potter- I've been instructed to help you if I can."
"I feel old," James said to no one in particular. "Erm- sorry Miss…?"
"McTavish, sir. Clara McTavish."
"Well, Miss McTandra-"
"McTavish," Clara corrected.
"Clara," James said instead, "it's really been lovely talking to you, but my son and I have a bus to catch, so…"
"I understand, sir. Good journey."
"Yeah," James grumbled. "Jolly good journey indeed."
But the secretary was already gone.
"About time we sacked the old phony, too," Allya grumbled, throwing her rucksack onto the couch and collapsing in a chair. "Thinks he's the best thing since Quidditch."
Vera and Archer Fox rushed out from who-knew-where, Lupus tagging along behind them like an oversized devoted terrier.
Remus agreed, scooping Vera into his arms and holding her upside-down, so that her already messy head of dark hair got even more tangled. "Hi, dad!"
Fox, too, soon found himself upside-down, suspended by his ankles and looking up, up, up at his mother's face. "Hullo, Mum!"
The door swung open, permitting a gust of very cold November air to permeate the room. "Sirius!" Allya yelled, "Close the door, we'll all catch pneumoni- I sound like your mother," she broke off and said to Remus. "Excuse me, I have to go wash my mouth out…"
Sirius' grin was indescribably large as he plunked himself down into a chair, the back door still wide open. "You'll never guess who got nominated for Minister today," he said as the children piled in his lap screaming, "Uncle Sirius!"
"Who?" Remus asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.
Sirius' smile shrank somewhat as he recalled the past few years. "James Potter."
END OF PART ONE
So, this is going to be a multiple-part series. This is, quite obviously, part one. Bet you're all loving the bit about the portrait of Morgana- she grows! But Harry doesn't know she's his sister. More on that next part- someone gets really, really pissed off at Jamie-boy.
Ah yes- my challenging question: Which part of Rain, Replacements and Regrets happened to me. You're all wrong so far, actually- it's the roses. A very sweet someone grabbed them off the bushes at a mini-golf course for me this summer, tearing the flesh on his palms and afterwards being chased by the owner of the mini-golf establishment. I myself injured myself when I got them- darn thorns!
This won't be done for a while, I'm warning you. This was barely a teaser! So I got it up fast, it was all written in one day, blah blah. Not a big deal. I'll be in Florida soon enough. Sunshine… ahh… Cape Coral, here I come!
Oh yeah, don't forget to review!
