Tere levitated up to the first floor window and climbed in, frowning over the strange idea that she should be careful not to trip or knock something over. Why did she fear being clumsy?
A night orb bathed the room with muted light. She walked over to the cot placed against the inside wall. An infant in a blue romper lay staring up at her with big, dark eyes. He smacked his tiny lips, gazing at her expectantly. She felt a rush of love so strong her knees almost gave out.
Mummy's here for you, baby. Nobody's going to take me away from you again.
After casting a Privacy Ward on the room, Tere used a spell to cleanse the baby's nappy and carried him to the rocking chair. She felt awkward positioning Ori to nurse. He latched on immediately.
Her milk let down in a rush that eased the tightness in her breasts and left a patch of wetness on the right side of her shirt. "Note to self, both sides let down." At the sound of her voice, the baby glanced up, smiled, and promptly resumed nursing. She bent to kiss the top of his head. "Little charmer." He smelled so good. Clean and pure. Tears prickled her eyes.
In the low light, his downy hair looked turquoise. Tere raised a hand to finger her own hair. It was short and spiky.
Twenty minutes later, the baby was burped and dressed. She shrunk everything in the room to fit into a Featherlight brand rucksack and smiled at the baby dozing against her chest, snug in his carrier. "We're going out the front door, sweetie, just as soon as Mummy casts a Sleeping Charm on the wicked witch."
She gripped her wand.
And if Auntie wakes up she'll wish she hadn't!
-
In Hogwarts Castle, Remus Lupin awoke from a bad dream only to plunge into a nightmare.
He had dreamt that Dolohov defeated him in battle using a spell he called Living Death.
"You look like you're in eternal slumber, but we know better, don't we, Lupin?" The Death Eater chuckled nastily. "Greyback wants to deal with you personally, but he didn't say what condition you had to be in."
Remus heard his wife shout his name, listened in dread to Bellatrix taunting, "I'm not finished playing with you, wittle Tonksie!"
Blind and immobilised, he was tortured by fears for Nymphadora.
Dolohov nudged him with his shoe. "Bet you'd like to know what's going on, wouldn't you? Too bad I'm not in the mood to play commentator."
Remus felt his body lift into the air. After floating for several seconds, he abruptly dropped to the ground. "A pack of your former students are headed this way, professor. Enjoy playing corpse until the battle's over and Greyback makes you one permanently."
Trapped inside an unresponsive body, Remus heard Voldemort declare a temporary truce to allow his enemies time to gather their dead. His was not the only body carried into the Hall, but the voices around him were too hushed or incoherent with sobs for Remus to decipher the names of any casualties except one: Fred Weasley.
Remus was moved to a chamber off the Hall, but his thoughts remained the same. Where was Nymphadora? What had happened to his wife?
His mind began to play tricks. He relived his wedding day, and then held Teddy moments after his birth. At one point, Remus imagined he was dead and speaking to Harry from beyond the veil, his spirit accompanying the boy to confront Voldemort. It was a surreal, out-of-body experience.
Remus had almost entirely disconnected from reality when the meaning behind the faint roar of cheers finally penetrated his mind. Voldemort was dead! Harry lived. The war was over.
He thought about Teddy growing up in a world where Voldemort's reign of terror was a matter for the history books or children's stories about a boy wizard. Perhaps a bonfire night would be held each May, with an effigy of Voldemort burnt like the Muggle Guy Fawkes. Children young and old would celebrate.
Not until he realised that the glow of the bonfire he imagined was in actuality sunlight did it dawn on Remus that his eyes were open. He blinked, and cried in happiness. The curse wasn't permanent! The spell was breaking!
The first thing he did when he was able to move was look around him.
The body lying next to him was his wife.
His first thought was that Nymphadora had fallen victim to the same curse Dolohov used on him. He scooped her up only to stare in horror. While the skin of her face was pale, the back of her neck looked bruised. Blood collected at lower levels when it no longer pumped throughout the body. It was liver mortis. Incontrovertible proof of death.
His mind rebelled. She was all the colour and joy in the world. He needed her. Their son needed her. In the dark reaches of his being, his wolf needed her. Tears coursed down his face as he reached for her hand.
The sight of pearl pink fingernails made his heart leap into his throat. His wife would never wear that colour. Candyfloss pink, bubblegum pink, or hot pink were the shades she preferred, and since Teddy's birth, she had thrown out her polishes. If she wanted colour, she morphed her nails. Nymphadora worried that the baby might grab a polished fingernail and suck on it.
His fingers shook, but Remus managed to scratch a pink thumbnail with one of his own short nails. The polish chipped. He laid the body on the floor, thanking every star in the heavens that whoever the unfortunate woman was, she was not Nymphadora.
"My God! Remus! You're alive!" Arthur Weasley stood in the doorway, face white with shock. "I—I came to check on Fred."
"And found me." Remus levered himself up, suppressing a groan at the ache in his joints. "I'm so sorry for your loss and regret I gave you a start. Dolohov struck me with a curse he called Living Death. It only now wore off."
"Did he use it on Tonks as well?"
Remus said, "I don't know." He saw Arthur gaze at the impostor's body and shook his head. "That isn't her."
-
One hour later . . .
-
Humbled by the gladness expressed for his return, especially by Harry, Remus was no closer to finding Nymphadora. Kingsley and the other Order members had questioned every person who had patrolled the grounds. No one had seen his wife after she ran out of the castle. Slughorn provided Veritaserum for use on Dolohov, but even when compelled to tell the truth, the imprisoned Death Eater laughed in their faces.
"I saw her fall and nothing else," he said. "How the bodies were exchanged—why they were switched—I don't know. Bellatrix never told me her plans, but she brooded over them like a hen waiting for her chicks to hatch." He laughed, mocking their frustration. "The black hen has the last cackle, eh?"
Fenrir Greyback was beyond questioning. In order to avoid prosecution for his crimes, he had used his claws to slit one last throat: his own.
The group that remained to help with the search gathered at one end of the Gryffindor table.
Molly Weasley was beside herself. "Why did I kill Bellatrix?"
"She was an evil bitch who deserved to die." George leaned across the table to clasp his mother's hand. "I'm proud of you."
Molly shook her head. "If only I'd known—"
"No one could have," Arthur said firmly.
Harry cleared his throat. "We know why Voldemort wanted to capture me, but why would he order Bellatrix—"
"Maybe he didn't," Ginny said.
Hermione nodded. "Bellatrix didn't immediately tell Voldemort that you were captured, Harry. She could have been waiting to tell him her plan—"
"Whatever that was," Ron said glumly.
Arthur looked at Remus. "My family has a habit of finishing other people's sentences," he said with the ghost of a smile. "But we mean well."
"I appreciate it," Remus said, "and believe the children are right."
Before he could suggest they examine Bellatrix's corpse for clues, Minerva McGonagall rushed into the Hall from the staff entrance. "Lupin. In my office. Immediately!"
Her imperious tone reminded him of errant student days, but Remus was mature enough to recognise the worry bracketing her mouth. "Yes, of course," he said, following her at once.
She kept up a brisk pace, ushering him into the circular office while calling, "Remus is here."
"Only Remus? Where is Dora? She needs to know too!"
His mother-in-law sounded on the verge of hysteria. Remus took her hands in his. Although dread gripped his heart, he asked gently, "Where is Teddy?"
Andromeda burst into tears. "He's gone!" she wailed. "I went to check on him and he was gone! Everything was gone!"
Gone....
Remus could sense the wolf inside, snarling to track down whoever had stolen his mate and pup. He felt a rare unity with the animal. Nymphadora and Teddy were everything to him, and they were gone.
He vowed to find them.
-
-
A/N: MollyCoddles wrote a "denial fic", Web Weaving, that used an out-of-body experience to explain Remus' presence in the forest. Tonks and Remus made plans in her story that made me wonder what would've happened if their deaths had been faked for dark reasons.
The readers who reviewed the last chapter and made me feel like I was walking on sunshine (and don't it feel good—hey!) were . . .Calenmarwen, Carnivalgirl, ctc, ElspethBates, Freja Lerke-Falkenborg, giftedfred, ishandtwofourths, JoClaire, Jokegirl, Kate's Master, lauraart123, Melora, Moontime, Niph, Nocturna Mae, Phoenixtear19, RedCloakedMaiden, Rose of the West, siriuslycrazy4snuffles, sunny9847, Takin' Me On, tambrathegreat, Temperance 'Joy' Brennan, theTwilightLamb, TilTheLastRoseDies, and zephyr of shadows.