The Witch He Left Behind
A/N – Standard disclaimer here. Anything recognizable is owned by JKR and various corporate interests.
Chapter One – Tears for the Fallen
27 July 1997 late – The Burrow
The kitchen door slammed, and everyone stared silently as Harry walked across the yard. Hermione glanced up and caught Ron's eye. As he started to head for the door, she silently shook her head. Without a word, she followed Harry out into the dark, pulling the door closed behind her.
The silence in the kitchen was broken by Tonks' quietly crying into George's shoulder. "Is there anyone outside the Order we should let know?" George looked up as he tried to comfort the grieving auror.
"I never heard Mad-Eye mention anyone outside the Order. There must be someone." Gazing around the room, he looked at each face for some answer to his question.
"Alastor wasn't one to have many friends." Arthur began. "After all of those years as an auror, losing so many to dark wizards, he was difficult to get close to." Smiling sadly he looked at Tonks.
"I think you were the one he was closest to over the past few years." Taking off his glasses, he began to polish them absentmindedly as he began to hum an old tune.
"Arthur?"
Tonks looked up, staring. "When Mad Eye didn't think anyone was paying attention, he would hum that song. He never would tell me what it was about or why." Looking to Arthur expectantly, "It was always in those moments when we were discussing old cases or people he had worked with years ago."
Molly put her hand on Arthur's arm and looked him in the eye. Something passed between the two of them, and Arthur's expression softened slightly as she nodded in recognition of his understanding.
"You know someone has to tell her. She can't hear it from the Ministry or as a rumor." Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.
"One of us has got to go."
"Tell who?" Looking bewilderedly between the two Weasleys, Tonks implored. "Alastor never mentioned anyone, any family."
"His family is all long gone," Molly answered quietly. "He lost his parents early and his brother was killed by a dark wizard long ago." Smiling sadly at Ginny, she continued.
"There was a girl that Alastor cared about, very deeply long ago. He felt that if he stayed with her, it would only endanger her and make her a target." Tears blurred her eyes as Ginny turned to her father, crying softly into his shoulder. "I know she never forgot him, though she went on with her life. Arthur?" Turning towards her husband, she looked shockingly lost.
"I know, I'll tell her." Kissing Ginny gently on the top of her head, he raised her face towards his. Nodding towards the door he whispered, "Harry isn't Alastor Ginevra, but things don't always work out the way we want them to. There are some things that can't be fought." Holding his only daughter tightly, he looked around the room.
"I'll only be gone for a bit."
Looking directly at his youngest son, Arthur nodded. "Ron, I'm not going to ask what it is that Dumbledore has for the three of you to do, but you need to go out there and talk to him, and keep those two from trying to leave tonight. It will be safer for all three of you if you wait until his birthday to leave, at least."
Taking a deep breath, Arthur continued, "Molly, let Minerva know I'm coming. I'll be safe enough if I disapparate just outside the fence towards the Quidditch pitch." Hugging Ginny once more, Arthur and Ron walked out through the back door together as they left the kitchen and headed quietly into the night.
"Mad-Eye and McGonagall?" George snorted disbelievingly while Tonks quietly shook her head.
"No, but Minerva should know as soon as possible and she'll know where to find who we need to tell the quickest." Looking around the kitchen, Molly nodded sadly to Fleur as she began to move towards the stove, levitating the kettle onto one of the burners.
A loud crack broke the silence outside the gates of Hogwarts. Arthur Weasley stared at the locked gates, waiting for someone to come down from the castle and let him in. Stepping off the side of the carriage path, that old song began to play through his head.
I'll tell me ma when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pull my hair, they steal my comb
But that's all right till I get home
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Hogsmeade city
She is courting one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me, who is she?
Watching the path past the gate, he noticed the bobbing of a wand light drawing nearer. As it came into the pools of amber light cast by the lanterns that hung from the gates, he recognized the distinctive profile of Horace Slughorn slowly approaching from the castle. Steeling himself for an encounter with one of his least favorite professors from his time at Hogwarts, Arthur stepped into the light and waited for his old Potions Master to unlock the gates.
"Arthur, my boy. Good to see you." Horace moved his wand lazily and the gates to the school grounds opened just enough to allow Arthur to slip in.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, Professor. " Arthur replied, a bit stiffly. "There was news that I needed to convey to Professor McGonagall and some others that needed to be delivered in person." He walked alongside Slughorn, not noticing his appraising gaze.
"Quite all right, my boy. I spoke to Minerva for a bit before I came down here to let you in. She felt that under the circumstances it would be better if she were in her office in case there was any contact from the Ministry about 'matters'." Watching Arthur's sharp look out of the corner of his eye, Slughorn continued his slow way up the road.
"And after all these years, I do believe that you might call me 'Horace'. I know you call her 'Minerva', at least when none of the students are around. We were having tea, discussing plans for the coming year when Molly's message arrived. How is your lovely wife?"
A bit taken aback by the sudden affability of a man whom he could have sworn didn't remember his name after seven years of classes, he slowly replied "Not well, things are very unsettled these days, what with a wedding coming on and everything else that's happening. "
Looking around, Horace stepped off the roadway under the branches of a gnarled wych elm growing near the drive. Gesturing to him, there was a strange look in the older wizard's eyes.
"Arthur, I need to talk to you and this is the safest place to do so." Looking at Arthur expectantly, he motioned him closer to the tree.
"Every day I take a walk around the grounds at sundown, and I cast several spells to prevent this particular tree and whoever is under its branches from being easily noticed or overheard." Smiling ruefully at Arthur's bewildered expression, he continued.
"I've made a habit, these past few years, of making certain that I knew where it was safe for me to be in case I needed to fade away."
Looking slightly alarmed, Arthur stepped closer to Slughorn under the branches of the tree.
"All right, Horace. What do you need to talk to me about that you couldn't say up at the castle?" Looking around once more, Slughorn visibly steeled himself and took a deep breath before beginning.
"I'm not a brave man, I told Dumbledore that before I came out of retirement." Smiling wryly, Slughorn continued. "I'm not one of his bloody Gryffindors or Phoenixes or whatever he's calling you lot these days, but I can see what's happening and for all my faults, I do care about this school and the students here."
Noting Arthur's disbelieving look, he added. "All of the students, not just the ones in my own house."
"I'm certain that's true, but why tell me tonight?" Arthur asked, wanting to get on to the castle and the unpleasant task at hand. "Why tell me anything after all these years?"
"Arthur, I don't say this very often, but I'm certain that I clearly misjudged you and Molly back in your school days." Fumbling with his wand, the light under the tree began to move back and forth.
"Last year I was very impressed by your daughter, and with your son there at the end. It seems I misjudged him also.
If those two are any indication of what you and Molly Prewitt were, then I would have been well served trying to mentor the two of you as I did so many others." Seeing the look in Arthur's eye, he hastily added "And I would have been much better off with the friendship of you two as a person. I know that I tend to be superficial and callow, but I do value those true friends that I have and those students that I care for."
Looking astonished, Arthur wasn't certain that he shouldn't have checked to see if someone was impersonating Slughorn before the conversation began. The look in his eyes must have betrayed his doubt, causing Slughorn to chuckle and shake his head.
"Yes, yes. I'm me. You put too many sopohorus beans in your Draught of Living Death back in your 6th year. The fumes put half the class to sleep and they missed History of Magic the following period. I dare say that was the first time people fell asleep before they got to Binns' class." Smiling at Arthur, he relished the embarrassed look on his face
"I'll grant it's you, but why?" Clearly puzzled, Arthur watched Slughorn as he struggled to answer his question.
"My boy, the truth is that even I can see where things are going, and that sides have to be taken. I've been on my own side for so many years, that if I'm very careful, the other side won't notice that I've taken yours." Smiling ruefully, he shook his head.
"I'm fairly certain that Albus had this in mind when he dragooned me out of retirement, but here I am. Both he and Minerva agree that the role for me to play is one of egregious self-centeredness and to seemingly ignore everything going on around me while I do what I can to keep students as safe as possible.
"But there will be some things I can't do directly. I'll do my best to look after your Ronald and Ginevra next year here at Hogwarts. I'd like to say I would look after all four, but you must keep Harry and Hermione from coming back. From what I'm hearing from the few contacts I have left in the Ministry, neither one will be safe here. I don't think Harry's lovely friend will be safe anywhere here in Britain.
"That young woman has more talent than I've seen in many years, and if the two of them ever stop running from each other long enough to think about it, the pair of them will be a force to be reckoned with."
"Molly and I think the world of both Hermione and Harry and we'll do what we can for them." Arthur replied warily, not knowing exactly how far he could trust the older man.
"It sounds as if you have a plan for Hermione"
Nodding, Horace looked around again. Seeing that they were still alone in the darkness that surrounded them, he nodded conspiratorially and lowered his voice a bit.
"Two days after your son's wedding, the SS Victoria will leave Southampton bound for New York. If they want it, passage will be held for Ms Granger and her parents; I have a former student who is associated with that particular shipping line.
"The ship will unexpectedly put in at Halifax in Canada on its way to New York and they will depart then. Another former student of mine will put them up, he has an estate near the Fundy shore and even if things spread across the ocean, they should be far enough away from everything to be safe."
"Let me know by the day before your son's wedding and I can make arrangements for them to escape." Staring at Horace in amazement, Arthur shook his head slowly.
"Thank you Horace for your kind offer. I know for a fact that her parents are already in hiding. I don't know where, but I have faith that she's thought this out well. As for her, I would appreciate it if you would look surprised when she doesn't get off the train in September. Skiving off an entire year is a very unHermione like thing to do but I'm afraid that's their plan." Closing his eyes, Arthur smiled sadly.
"It would take more than Voldemort to keep that one from Harry's side."
"I'll be very surprised and saddened that I lost a pair of my most promising NEWT students after this summer." Horace said, looking appropriately saddened with just a hint of surprise around the eyes.
"Harry's breaking up with Ginevra was just public enough that it will help protect her this coming year." Smiling sadly, Horace nodded at the look on Arthur's face.
"She's a very capable and intelligent young witch, but I knew first day of Potions last year where Mr. Potter's future lay. Amortentia never lies, though sometimes it takes a while to be proven correct."
Arthur's smile faltered as he suddenly remembered why he was here. "Horace, I still have an unpleasant errand up at the castle so I might as well get on with it." Seeing Horace's questioning look, he held up a hand.
"It's not a story I can tell, just now. I have to bring some bad news to someone, news from long in their past." Looking at Horace in a new light, he added, "Look after Poppy if you get a chance."
Pointing towards the road, the two men walked to the castle while that funny old tune continued to play in the back of Arthur's head
Alastor Moody says he loves her
All the boys are fighting for her
Knock at the door and ring the bell
Saying, oh my true love, are you well?
Out she comes, white as snow
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
Old Johnny Murray says she'll die
If she doesn't get the fellow with the roving eye
Standing before the door to the hospital wing, Arthur began to wonder if he was the right person to be here tonight. Minerva had offered, but this was something that he felt he should do for Alastor. The trouble was, Alastor's life left few that knew him and very few that had known him as long as Arthur had.
Alastor had never directly spoken of her, but between things he had said, and things she had said, and a long conversation with Dumbledore sitting here in the hospital wing while Alastor was recovering after his imprisonment during the Tri-Wizard Tournament had allowed him to piece together the story.
Seeing dim lights in the hospital wing, he slowly opened the door and peered inside. Seated at her desk, Madam Pomfrey was going over charts and lists by the light of a single candle.
"Poppy?"
"Arthur, how lovely." Standing, she walked towards him; concern began to show around her eyes.
"Has something happened to one of the children?" Looking around to see who was with him, she began to look more worried. "Do you need me to come to the Burrow?"
Saddened that her first thought was that she was needed for one of the children, he took her by the arm and began steering her back towards her office.
"There were some problems earlier, but Molly has them under control. " Looking helpless, he sat in one of the two chairs in her office and looked at the other. "Please sit Poppy, there's something I need to say, to tell you. Molly and I thought it would be best if you heard it from one of us rather than after the fact."
"Arthur, you're starting to worry me. If everyone at the house is fine, what could it be? Have those muggles been mistreating young Mr. Potter again?" Looking more concerned, she began to worry about one of her more frequent patients over the past several years.
"Harry's at the house and he's fine." Looking down at his hands, he sighed. "There was a problem earlier, an incident. " Not wanting to tell her anything that could come back to compromise her when things got even uglier with the Ministry, he continued. "I know you were close to Alastor at one point."
"Alastor Moody?" Looking flustered, her face began to acquire a bit more color than usual. "We grew up together. Too long ago. I doubt we'd spoken a dozen words since before he was here in the wing after what happened during that terrible tournament." Looking sharply at Arthur, her voice raised just a bit. "Why are you bringing his name up after all this time?"
Seeing the look in Arthur's eyes, her own began to fill with tears. "I haven't thought about him at all, not at all." Turning her head, she began to cry softly. Arthur put his hand gently on her arm,
"We don't know all the details Poppy. It happened earlier this evening. There was a problem. Death Eaters." He faltered, seeing the pain tense her entire body. "The Dark Lord was there." Taken aback by the look in her eyes as she looked up, he ended softly.
"There wasn't anything anyone could do."
"Did he die alone?" She asked softly.
Nodding his head slowly, Arthur pulled back as she suddenly grabbed an empty cauldron from the table beside her desk and hurled it into the darkened ward outside her office door. As it crashed, caromed, and banged off beds and tables she shook her head.
"Damn the man. He rides off rid the world of evil and leaves me behind to 'be safe' and almost fifty years later I finally hear the words that I've dreaded every day since he walked out my parent's door and my heart breaks again because he died alone." Shaking her head, she looked up at Arthur.
"After he left me I met, loved, married and then buried another man. Why?" Looking imploringly into Arthur's eyes, Poppy's eyes asked for the truth after almost a half-century.
"Did he even remember me?"
Thinking of the tune that Alastor had hummed from time to time, and the lyrics he sang while semi-conscious after his ordeal two years ago, Arthur smiled sadly.
"He always remembered you Poppy. Alastor had many flaws, but never did he forget those he cared for, those he loved. He wouldn't let that stand in the way of his crusade to make the world a safer place, and he was very peculiar in his thoughts on how to protect those he felt he was responsible for. But I can say without question that he remembered you, that he still cared."
As he listened to her speak of her childhood and the boy up the lane who became 'Mad-eye Moody' to the rest of the wizarding world, Arthur smiled as he watched Poppy Pomfrey gather herself together. Knowing there probably wouldn't be a funeral for Alastor, this was all the remembrance she would get.
Someday, when things were normal, he would tell her of Mad-Eye Moody and the song he hummed when he didn't think anyone was listening and he sang, one dark night in the twilight of his life.
Later that evening, as he wandered down the dark hall towards McGonagall's office, Arthur smiled a bittersweet smile as he hummed the last verse and chorus. Somehow it summed up the life of a man who spent it running from the things he was trying to protect.
Let the wind and the rain and the hail go high
Snow come tumbling from the sky
She's as nice as apple pie
She'll get a fellow by and by
When she gets a lad of her own
She won't tell her ma when she gets home
Let them all come as they will
It's Alastor Moody that loves her still
I'll tell me ma when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pull my hair, they steal my comb
But that's all right till I get home
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Hogsmeade city
She is courting one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me, who is she?
A/N I was listening to Gaelic Storm and this story appeared. Minor tweaking of the lyrics, but who's to say what the original ones were.