Chapter 11: Breaking the News
It was a normal evening. We were in the salon; James was on the floor with Harry and I was amusing myself with watching them. My two loves. Alive. Safe.
The world swirled into darkness. Blurred images...panic...fear...the nursery...Harry crying...me screaming...green light...high-pitched laughter. So cruel, so cold. No...NO!
Slowly, I clawed my way back to consciousness, desperate to escape the horrible images. I wanted to believe it was a nightmare, but something in me thought it was more of a premonition. I never thought much of divination, but that new divination teacher...well, she's no fraud.
Someone was still laughing when I opened my eyes, but this was more genuine, not at all like the indifferent voice laughing at my death. It was Harry, laughing at an embarrassed Remus. He probably mistook Harry for James, the poor man. Making others uncomfortable always bothered Remus, which he most likely thought he did.
"Oh," I yawned, trying to mask my feelings. "You're both awake." Oh dear, I don't think I fooled either of them. They both looked extremely apologetic for waking me, at any rate.
"I'm fine," Harry said, swaying as he stood up. I immediately grabbed his arm to steady him. He pulled away, as if he didn't want to add another burden to my heavy load. "Really, Mum, you don't need to worry about me." Stupid boy. I'm your mother. I'll always worry about you.
Remus furrowed his brow in confusion, making his face look so old. "Mum?"
"Something happened that sent me and two of my friends back in time seventeen years."
"If you are James and Lily's son," began Remus. Always one step ahead, that man, "which I'm sure you are, Harry, then I hope you haven't been messing around to land yourself here."
"I was not!"
Remus chuckled, "I was only joking." That calmed Harry down. It did my heart good, as well. Seeing Remus laugh always makes me feel better. It shows the real Remus, not the monster people claim him to be.
"I'm gone five minutes to get coffee and that's the time both of you choose to wake up," Sirius whined, poking his head in the door. Even under his light-hearted demeanor, though, I could tell he was still upset about Harry's news. With the attack, he hadn't had time to deal with it either. "Come on, everyone's worried about you."
You must understand, everyone at the Order worries all the time, that's a given. But it takes a lot of worry to create such a fuss...or a lot of curiosity. Wondering what everyone was so worked up about, Remus asked, "Just what have you been up to since you got here?"
"He did more damage to Voldemort's following in one hour that the Order's done since day one," James said, coming through the door. Even though he was trying to hide it, the pride in his voice was obvious. I looked over at Harry then. The poor boy is just as readable as his father. It looked like all his life, the only thing he'd wanted was to make his parents proud.
"Oh?"
"He conjured a Patronus - looked exactly like me - that got rid of about a hundred dementors, brought down at least twenty Death Eaters, and fought Voldemort himself to a standstill. Would've gotten him, too, if the bastard hadn't turned tail and Apparated."
"I don't know about that..." muttered Harry with a dark undertone.
"Where, pray tell, did you learn to do that?" Remus asked, his old, mischievous, Marauder gleam in his eye.
Then, to my amusement, Harry plastered a grin on his face, a grin that I had seen for years on James' face. "Well, you taught me everything I know about Patronuses."
Apparently, Remus noticed, too, for he said, "I'm sure your father taught you a trick or two, as well."
The air immediately became smothering with tension. Harry's face twisted in pain and he couldn't look at Remus at all. He must be all Harry has left and, if things are still like this in the future, then Remus is in constant danger of being murdered by werewolves. Although...there is Peter. Harry hasn't mentioned him...
I grabbed James' arm, but my eyes never left Harry. We have to spare him this. James placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Go find your friends. We'll talk with Remus."
All three of us watched somberly as Harry headed out the door. For a few moments, we continued to stare at the door, until Remus said in a forced voice, "Something happens to you in the future."
"Yes," whispered James, his voice wavering. I took his hand in mine. As much as I wanted to help him, I could tell he wanted to do this himself. He squeezed my hand in acknowledgment. "Harry spoke with us for the first time last night."
"What?" Remus mouthed, too shocked to make the words sound.
"He told us - shouted is more like it - that Voldemort...murders us...before he turns two."
"No!" Remus' eyes became wild. He looked at me, his eyes pleading me to contradict James. He must have seen the answer in my eyes, because he buried his face in his hands. I'd only ever seen Remus break down like this once, after a particularly heated Defense Class debate on the topic of werewolves. It didn't feel right to see him so upset.
"Believe me, Remus, we don't like this anymore than you do," James whispered gently.
"You don't understand, James. I'm selfish. Peter has started drifting away from us. Now I find out that I'm going to lose you two. And I'm not going to find love because of what I am. All I'll have is Sirius for the rest of my life."
He admitted it himself, that he was being selfish, I'll give him that. It was also too painful to tell Remus that Sirius will die sometime before Harry is seventeen. I was still livid, though. "Who will Harry have? Sirius?" I exploded. "My sister? At least you've known us, Remus. He only has the little time he's spending with us now to remember us by."
Remus looked ashamed of his outburst already and I was quickly becoming ashamed of mine. We all sat in an awkward silence. Even James seemed at a loss for words, as hard as that is to believe.
Finally, Remus broke the silence, "I couldn't care for Harry, we all know that. But, I'll do my best to watch out for him. And I'll make sure he knows you. I'll make sure he knows the truth and I'll let him know everything you've done, for me and for everyone else."
"Thank you," we both whispered. That's all Remus can offer, but it will be enough; Harry has shown us that. It is truly comforting to know that Harry will never be completely alone.
James rose from his chair. "Shall we go then?"
Remus and I both got up and followed James through the door to face whatever came next.
