"The Walls Between Us"
Part II: Us and Them
Chapter Ten
The full moon hadn't been particularly bad, though a few days later Remus felt that he still wasn't recovered enough to face what he was about to face. A few weeks' time wouldn't even be enough to prepare him. In fact, even if he hadn't been a werewolf, Remus felt that he would never be quite ready to visit Grandma Ellis' house.
He knew how it would start; as he entered the house, he would be swarmed by aunts who would comment on how much he had grown and would leave his cheeks stained with ruddy lipstick. Then he would be surrounded by a gaggle of young cousins who would climb on him and grab his hair and scream. He would spend the next few days chasing after these cousins, trying to keep them away from Grandma Ellis' prized vase that had been passed down for generations and was displayed, of all places, on a pedestal in the hallway that the children loved to stampede down.
Remus would do all of this without magic, of course. This was his mother's side of the family and they were to know nothing of magic. To this side of the family, Remus' father worked a regular office job and Remus went to St. Brutus' school, or something like that. What was the name of the school he was supposed to be going to? He would have to ask his mother again.
Remus was trying to make as much time as possible before they left. He was dreading the days he'd have to spend there, not only because of the exhausting time with his family, but also because it was deeply unsettling to be anywhere without his wand ready.
"We can't leave yet. I'm waiting for Cordelia to get back. I don't want her to be worried when she finds that I'm not here, and she can't come looking for me while we're at Grandma Ellis' house," Remus said, gazing out the window and waiting for his owl to return from her delivery to Sirius.
"Remus, she's not stupid. She'll know we're gone," his mother protested.
"Well, you know, just in case, we'd better wait," Remus' father said. He wasn't overly fond of his in-laws and he was also reluctant to leave.
"I may be a Muggle, but I know how smart those owls are. If you're really worried, leave a note for her. She'll be able to understand." There was a distinct tone of finality in Remus' mother's voice, and she turned to go down to the car to wait for the two Lupin men.
Remus reluctantly wrote a note for Cordelia with the address and instructions that she was not to deliver any letters to the house unless it was an absolute emergency. Grandma Ellis would probably have a fit if an owl suddenly swooped into her living room. After one last look at the comfort of his quiet bedroom, Remus left to go down to the car for the long drive to Grandma Ellis' house.
Remus' father cornered him in the upstairs hallway.
"I got something else for you for Christmas," his father said, handing Remus a small package. Remus opened it and found that it was a series of connected leather strips with buckles and small metal clasps.
"It's a holster for you wand. You wear it on your forearm and in times of need it will react to the magic in your body and drop your wand into your hand. You'll have to wear long sleeves for the next few days, but I think that's better than being without your wand, isn't it?"
Remus had to agree that it was, and he thanked his father for the gift.
Their reception at Grandma Ellis' house had been exactly what Remus had predicted. The waxy lipstick stains wouldn't come off his cheek for a whole day, and he was surrounded by screaming children at every waking moment (and often while he was trying to sleep as well). It was nice that his cousins wanted to be around him and loved him so much, but Remus wished that they would express their love by being good and not playing so close to Grandma's treasured vase.
"This vase is Grandma's most prized possession," Grandma Ellis proudly told the children on the first afternoon of their visit. "It's been around since even before I was born. One day it will belong to one of you."
Grandma Ellis was full of pride as she spoke of her vase, but the children weren't interested. They were restlessly jostling each other as they stood in the hallway in front of the vase. Remus was holding his youngest cousin and she was beginning to pull at his ears.
"If it was ever broken, Grandma would be very sad, and it could never be replaced," Grandma Ellis continued on, but her speech was unheard. A game of cops and robbers had suddenly broken out and the children went stampeding away down the hall. Remus sighed and followed after them.
At one point, during a rare break from child chasing, Remus' father cornered him in the laundry room.
"You know, if we need to, we could always... get away for a bit," Remus' father said, glancing over his shoulder in terror. A number of harrowing conversations with his in-laws had left him unnerved and jittery. "We could sneak out back, Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron for some drinks. Get a bit of a break. Get some drinks."
Remus nodded. Right now, alcohol felt very necessary. As much as he loved his family, visits to Grandma Ellis' house were always exhausting and nerve-wracking. But the Leaky Cauldron escape plan was never put into action because a few seconds later the door burst open and a number of young cousins tumbled in, engaged in a game that seemed to be 'who can make the most noise'. From that moment on, Remus didn't have a moment to himself with his cousins hanging off him at all hours of the day.
Remus knew his cousins loved him, but that was probably the problem. They constantly wanted to show him how fast they could run, or how long they could stand on their heads, or they wanted him to join in their endless games. Meal times were particularly trying; there was always a scuffle over who got to sit next to Remus at the table, and Remus would inevitably end up eating with at least two children perched on his lap.
New Year's Eve finally gave Remus a chance to sit down and relax; the children had been given glasses of bubbly juice and were having a fun time playing 'grown-ups', which involved acting as sensibly as they could. Remus, being a real grown-up, was excluded from the game, though he couldn't say he was too disappointed about it.
Remus sunk into the armchair next to the children's play-table. Here, when Remus finally had a moment to himself, all he could think about was that he missed his friends deeply. More than anything, he missed Sirius. It was hard enough that they were separated for two weeks, but he hadn't even been able to write to or receive letters from Sirius for the past few days.
If Remus had stayed at Hogwarts like Sirius had wanted him to, they would be sitting together by the fire right now with champagne. Remus managed a smile at the thought. It would be a nice, quiet New Year's Eve celebration, and as the minutes ticked down to midnight, they'd be looking forward to sharing a New Year's kiss.
The countdown to the New Year was beginning, though Remus didn't have quite enough energy to get into the spirit. Almost dreamily, he watched his family dancing with excitement.
"Three, two, one!"
There was a huge bang and Remus wondered for a second if fireworks had gone off, but the sound had come from the door being blasted open. There, in the doorway, were two figures in black robes and masks - Death Eaters.
Remus' wand had dropped from the arm holster into his hand in a second, and his first instinct was to cast a Shield Charm around his cousins and himself. As spells bounced off the shield, he did his best to push his cousins behind the table for shelter, throwing stunning and disarming spells at the Death Eaters as he did.
The sound in the room was deafening; the screams of his family, the crashing and shattering as spells ricocheted around the room. There was a loud crash as Remus' father managed to blast one of the Death Eaters into the next room, and followed to continue the duel there.
The other Death Eater, a woman, came after Remus. Remus was entirely focused on moving the duel away from his family. He managed to hit the Death Eater with a blasting spell and knocked her back down the hallway. There was a shatter that must have been Grandma Ellis's vase, but Remus didn't have time to think about that right now. Remus needed to protect his family and disarm this Death Eater.
The Death Eater was cackling horribly over the crashing sounds of walls breaking and windows shattering. Remus was acting quickly, not even conscious of what he was doing. He cast spell after spell at her, shielding himself from her retaliating spells. Remus' father was now at his side, joining him in fighting the Death Eater.
The Death Eater slipped on a piece of broken vase and stumbled. This was Remus' chance. Instantly ropes appeared and bound her limbs tight to her body.
"Expelliarmus!" he cried. There was a loud crack, but the spell hadn't hit her; she had Disapparated away.
With the battle ended, the house suddenly seemed oddly quiet. The only sound in the hallway was the laboured breathing of Remus and his father as the dust settled.
"Are you okay?" Remus' father panted, and Remus nodded in response. He knew that he had a horrible gash on his leg but right now his heart was thundering so hard that he didn't feel the pain.
There was the sound of children crying in the next room and instantly the Lupin men were tripping over each other to get there. Remus had barely stepped into the room before his mother threw her arms around his neck, her wet face pressed against his neck.
"You're- you're-" his mother couldn't manage much more than this as she squeezed him tighter in the hug.
Over his mother's shoulder, Remus could see his other family members in varying states of distress, but - Remus sighed in relief - very much alive.
"What in the world was that!" Grandma Ellis wailed from where she had taken shelter behind the Christmas tree.
Remus' mother released him from the hug and she turned to face her own mother. She laughed a nervous, exhausted laugh. "There are some things we need to explain to you, mum."
Remus' father nodded to them. "Alright. Delva, handle things here. I have to go alert the Ministry. Remus, that Death Eater is stunned in the next room. Watch him until I get back," he said. Remus nodded in agreement. His father Disapparated away, causing Grandma Ellis to let out a shriek of terror and one of Remus' aunts to instantly faint.
Remus stepped through the broken door frame into the next room. The window had been shattered and a shelf of china had been toppled forward during the battle. The Death Eater was lying flat on his back, unconscious and with unbreakable ropes binding his limbs. His sleeve had been pulled upwards by the ropes and the Dark Mark was visible on his arm.
Why had these Death Eaters come? Attacks on Muggle families were typical of Death Eater activities, but it seemed too strange of a coincidence that they attacked a family that just happened to have two wizards in their midst. It didn't seem like the Death Eaters had been aiming to kill, either. They had come to attack, but they hadn't used any Unforgivable Curses.
Remus kneeled down beside the Death Eater and took off the mask. He recognized this boy; he had graduated from Ravenclaw last year. He was hardly older than Remus, and yet he was already working for Voldemort. Remus thought back to what Sirius had said before Christmas holidays: "Voldemort has got quite the advantage over us because he starts them young." Had this boy already had the Dark Mark while he was at school?
From the next room, Remus could hear his mother explaining the world of magic to the other family members. The children were still sniffling and there were frequent exclamations of shock from other relatives. Remus could only imagine how strange it must be to learn that a whole magical world secretly existed. It was the same discovery that Remus' mother had made when she found out she had married a wizard. But what had changed now was that war was building in the magical world, and this war was threatening to spill over into the Muggle world, as was evidenced by the attack that had just taken place.
It was almost half an hour before Remus' father returned with a group of Ministry wizards. One of the wizards still had a party hat on; he had obviously been interrupted from a New Year's Eve celebration.
A short, squat wizard in green robes seemed to be the head of the group. "We'll take this Death Eater back to the Ministry so we can question him when he wakes up," the wizard said. "We've got some people working on repairing the damage to the house, and the Obliviators will be here soon, in case anyone in the neighbourhood saw or heard the battle. We also have some people checking out your place back home. You two just wait here"
Two wizards Disapparated away with the unconscious Death Eater, and Remus and his father sat in the room in silence. Everything seemed surreal. Remus could hardly believe what had happened in the past half hour; he didn't want to think about what might have happened if Remus and his father had been without their wands or hadn't managed to fend off the Death Eaters.
In the next room there was still the sound of some family members sobbing, and Remus' mother was now explaining what the Obliviators were doing so that the neighbours would never know. The repair wizards were working on the hallway, but it sounded like no matter what they did, they couldn't get the prized vase back together. Some objects became so infused with the magic of family ties and memories that they couldn't be mended even by magic, and it seemed like this vase had too much history in it to ever be properly repaired.
The short wizard returned to the room. "John, I've got bad news. We've just checked out your place, seems that's been ransacked too."
"What do you mean? Are you saying they were targeting us?" Remus' father asked, horrified.
"Could be just a coincidence, just a random break in. The place is a mess, but it doesn't look like anything is missing. How many days have you been here?"
"I'm going to the house," Remus' father said, having not heard the wizard. The wizard grabbed Remus' father's arm to stop him.
"Hold on, John, if this was a targeted attack there could be more Death Eaters waiting for you to show up there. You should stay here. How many days do you think you could stay?"
Again Remus' father hadn't heard what had just been said. "There were protective wards on the house, there's no way a Muggle could have broken in. It had to have been a wizard attack. But it doesn't make sense... they weren't breaking in to steal anything, so they weren't thieves, but if they were targeting us, why didn't they attack us here first? How did they find us?"
Remus suddenly felt very sick. "I left that note for Cordelia," he said quietly, remembering how he had left the note with this house's address laying on the windowsill of his bedroom. He had led the Death Eaters right to them.
His hands were trembling and his stomach was twisting with guilt. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground, but he could feel that his father and the Ministry wizard were looking at him.
"Come on, Remus. You can't blame yourself for this," his father said, resting a hand on Remus' shoulder. "No one could have foreseen that something like this would happen."
"That's right," the Ministry wizard said. "If anything, you should be proud. Both of you should, for defeating two Death Eaters and protecting your family. Not many wizards who face Death Eaters come out so lucky. And you've also helped the Ministry by capturing one of the Death Eaters so we can question him about the attack and about You-Know-Who's operations."
"But I…" Remus started, uncertain of what to say. He knew that what his father and the Ministry wizard said must be true, but it was still hard to shake the feelings of guilt. Even worse than that was the fear of knowing that this seemed like their family had been targeted. But why?
There was a crack of Apparation in the next room and another scream from Grandma Ellis.
"That must be the Oblivators," the Ministry wizard said, leaving the room through the now repaired doorway. Remus and his father followed.
The repair wizards were gone and everything in the room was exactly as it was before the battle. The broken windows and walls were repaired and all the objects that had fallen were back on their shelves. The shards of Grandma Ellis' vase still lay on the floor in the hallway, but all the other broken china was fixed. The real change in the house was the haunted faces of Remus' family members, who were still in varying states of distress after the attack.
The Obliviators were talking to the head Ministry wizard. "The memories of all the Muggles in the surrounding houses have been modified. We don't know what kind of magic the Death Eaters performed outside, so we erased all the memories for the time before, during, and after the attack would have taken place."
"Good. Merlin, Crouch is going to have a fit about this one. Completely unexpected, plenty of Muggles involved, Aurors didn't even show up..." The wizard shook his head. "I don't suppose you could Obliviate Crouch as well? Heh."
Grandma Ellis had cowered away from all the wizards since they began arriving in her home, but now, in a fit of bravery, she approached the Obliviators.
"Do it to me. To all of us. We want to forget this," she managed to say, voice shaking.
The wizard shot a quizzical look at Remus' father. "Your family is reacting pretty badly to this, huh?"
"This is Delva's side. They're Muggles, they weren't aware of magic," Remus' father answered.
The Obliviators were stumped as to what to do, but eventually, seeing that this was what the family wanted, they agreed to clear the family's memories of this night. The family didn't want to remember anything of magic or the battle that had happened.
Remus stood with his mother and father as he watched his other family members line up to be Obliviated. Remus was surprised by their request at first, but he supposed that this was for the best. He thought that if he was Muggle, with no way of protecting himself against any of this, he would rather not know of the danger that existed. Being blissfully unaware of the truth would be better than living in fear of something like this happening again and knowing that they had no defence against it. Especially for the children; they were too young to understand what had happened, and it would better if they weren't haunted by this memory.
And so, the family's memories were erased and artificial memories were created so that everyone remembered that they had a perfectly lovely New Year's Eve. Of course, the broken vase had to be explained somehow.
"Tell them that I did it," Remus' father said solemnly, "Say I was drunk and I knocked it over."
"Dad, don't do that! We'll never be forgiven!"
"It has to be done. Someone has to take responsibility for it."
With the house repaired, injuries healed, protective wards cast, and the family and neighbours Obliviated, the Ministry wizards Disapparated away. There was almost no trace that the battle had happened, other than the shattered vase in the hallway.
It would be too hard for the Lupins to say here now, with the memory of the attack lurking in their minds while the rest of the family was completely unaware of it. After such an experience, one that could have ended much worse, it would be impossible to try to pretend that nothing had happened. They couldn't go home, so Remus and his parents quickly arranged to go stay at his father's parents' house.
It was nearing two in the morning as Remus and his father packed their bags into the car. Perhaps it was a good thing that they decided to leave; being that Grandma Ellis now believed that Remus' father had destroyed her prized vase, the Lupins had overstayed their welcome. Remus' mother was inside apologizing for her husband's behaviour again and again, and Grandma Ellis' wailing could be heard even from the street.
For the first time since before the battle, Remus' father looked at him and smiled.
"Well, the good news is that I don't think we'll be invited back for Easter."
Remus had to laugh, because at a time like this, what else could you do?
[A/N: This is the half-way point for the story – ten chapters finished, and ten left to go. Thank you to all my regular reviewers, and if you haven't left a review yet then please take this half-way point as an opportunity to check in with your opinion about the story. This story has a huge readership (thank you!), so I'd like to hear from you guys!]