A/N: A bit faster this time. Yay! Attentive readers and HP fans will notice I confused the times a little, for now we're in 1978/1979 already and something should've happened a year earlier. Mea culpa - can you forgive me? Apart from that, reviews would be very welcome and if you've got a question, feel free to ask.
XIV. MISSIO
Time seemed to fly. Summer turned into autumn turned into winter and before they knew it, the Mondegreen family was gathered together again, as most families are two days before Christmas. The need to do so originates from the age-old human instinct to huddle together in times of darkness and cold. Family means home, a hearth, a fire, it promises warmth. But although she was surrounded by no less than fourteen of her relatives, Leslie had never felt colder. Her heart and mind were as frozen as the icy flowers winter had planted on the windows of the London townhouse. Cold and numb she sat on the carpet in the living room, hugging her knees to her chest, staring into the flames which gave her no warmth, listening and not listening to her parents' words. Beside her, Robert and Cecily automatically held hands, Pheline clasped the book she had been reading, her brother Melvin sat motionless and white-faced next to Joffrey, who picked at loose threads in the carpet, pretending not to notice Frederic's comforting arm around his shoulders. Melissa stood behind her brothers, arms folded, looking out of the window, apparently unimpressed by anything her parents, aunts and uncles had to say.
To everyone's surprise, first to speak out was Lady Georgiana. "Just so I understand you right", she began with a dangerous undertone of scorn. "Molyneux? Isebella? Clarence? You will take your children and leave the country to guarantee your safety?"
"Yes, Mother." Leslie's father was calm. His sister Isebella glanced at him before gently adding, "And you are coming with us."
"No."
"Mother…" Clarence impatiently flicked back a curl of blonde hair.
"I said no", Georgiana interrupted him. She was a tiny, almost frail person, but her voice and eyes demanded respect. "I was born here, and I will die here when my time has come, and those people who think wearing masks can justify their atrocities shall not have the power to change that. You can go if you think it necessary. I will stay." And almost inaudibly she added, "I truly am glad your father did not have to live to see his children become cowards."
The frosty silence which followed her speech was suddenly interrupted by Dodgson, the butler, who entered without knocking (something which had never occurred before), looking slightly dishevelled with a nasty, bloodstained hole in the glove covering his right hand which held a silver tray. "I beg your pardon, milord, madams, sirs. There was an aggressive express owl for Miss Leslie."
Leslie took the envelope from the tray and ripped it open. As her eyes scanned the few lines, she paled and got up quickly. "Thank you, Dodgson", she grinded out. "Please call a taxi." Ignoring her parents' warning looks she stormed out, ran down the stairs, threw on her beloved turquoise coat and shoved her feet into her winter boots. She made sure her purse was in her pocket and was just about to open the door when Cecily called her back. "Leslie! Where do you think you are going?"
"St Mungo's." Leslie stepped out into the whirling snow. "Emma is having her baby."
A few hours later, she walked home from the tube station, still filled with wonder at the little miracle she had witnessed. A glowing red spot in the darkness told her Melissa had gone out to smoke again. Her cousin looked up. "Jesus wept, you look crushed."
"It was nerve-stretching."
"Well?" Not even the fag could hide Melissa's curiosity.
"It's a boy. Cedric. They're both fine, Amos is with them. Emma is glad everything went so well considering the little is nearly a month early. He is very tiny for a baby but he will grow fast. Mr and Mrs Levine arrived when I left. He told me he would give his wife into professional care today, after visiting their grandchild." Leslie leaned against the house wall. "He is such a pretty child, Melissa. I'm glad I was there." She didn't say 'and not here' but they both knew she had thought it. Melissa drew lines in the snow with the tip of her shoe and inhaled and exhaled; then she said, "Fred and I will join the Irish Wizarding Resistance against the Death Eaters."
"Oh." After a moment, Leslie burst out, "I don't want to go to France – or Austria – or anywhere, Liss. I want to stay here."
"I know", Melissa answered. They fell silent for a while. Finally, she held out her pack of cigarettes to Leslie. "Want one?"
"I don't smoke. I wouldn't even know how to do it."
"Never too late to learn, cousin."
Leslie took one.
Half an hour later they went inside. They were late for dinner, smelled of smoke (mostly Melissa's), and Leslie had absented herself without excuse – not the best conditions for a calm and serious talk with one's parents. However, she didn't give them a chance to refuse, simply took their arms and led them to her father's study.
"Well, what is it?" Molyneux said impatiently. "We shouldn't let the others wait much longer."
Leslie took a deep breath. "I won't go to Austria with you."
Her parents said nothing.
"This is my last year at Hogwarts. It would make no sense to change schools in the middle of the term. Moreover, Emma needs me here. I know you don't approve of her motherhood, but she is still my friend. And…I have to agree with Grandmother, it wouldn't be right to leave now. If this Lord Voldemort and his henchmen become more powerful, Great Britain will need every wizard and witch who can fight. All of my friends will be here, and – and in April I will turn seventeen and be able to do what I want", she added with triumphant surprise. The thought of majority age had only just occurred to her.
"Leslie, dear", her mother said. "It will be dangerous here. We might never see you again if you stay."
"Well, you still have Robert and Cecily."
"Don't be silly", her father burst out. "You are our first-born; you are just as important to us as the other two. We won't let your stubbornness and mislead heroism drive you into an early death."
"It's not heroism, it's patriotism", Leslie protested. "And who says I will die? I don't intend to go to war, but to maintain peace as far as possible."
"Then what will you do after school?" Molyneux demanded to know. "You cannot live alone with your grandmother, and we will sell this house."
"I'll find something", Leslie answered defiantly. "If you don't decide to disinherit me."
Caroline put a hand on her husband's arm to stop him from saying something he would regret. "Then be it as you wish. Of course, your grandparents will be disappointed if you don't come with us, but rather that than have you sulking around all the time. Now let us go to dinner. God knows we have been waiting long enough."
It was decided, and so, at the end of the Christmas holidays, Leslie was the only Mondegreen child to return to Hogwarts. Her parents and the twins had moved in with her mother's parents, Ferdinand and Christine Denstone, in their small Habsburg palace somewhere in the Austrian Alps. Aunt Isebella, her husband Thomas Richmond and their children Pheline and Melvin had gone to France, to live with Caroline Mondegreen's sister and brother-in-law Felicity and Timothy Lawrence, Jonathan and Lynnette's parents. Frederick, Melissa and Joffrey now stayed with their mother Shannon's relatives in Ireland. Uncle Clarence would join them as soon as he had found someone to look after Lady Georgiana.
But her family weren't the only ones to have left England - Desiree didn't return to school, either. Mr and Mrs Lejour had decided to avoid the danger of both being killed by Death Eaters and Desiree failing her N.E.W.T.s and had taken her to Morocco. As Emma was at home with her child, there were only three girls in the Hufflepuff seventh-year dormitory. Leslie had never felt this lonely. Jemima and Jolanda were her friends, but being twins they interacted so well she often felt excluded. All of her (close) cousins were abroad, and Sirius and his friends didn't attend school anymore. The only person she could have talked to was her grandmother, who spent her days crocheting useless doilies and dusting off her husband's ancestors' portraits in a big old manor in Dorset, miles away from Hogwarts. There was only one advantage: She had a lot of time for studying. Therefore, the marks she got in her N.E.W.T.s were the best ones she had ever achieved. As soon as she had got them she applied for nurse training at St Mungo's.
The letter of acceptance reached her as she was sitting in the Hogwarts Express trying not to cry as the familiar walls and towers disappeared into the mist forever. Jemima and Jolanda shared her gloom. The twins didn't yet know what they would do. "Something with animals", Jolanda said. Jemima thought of becoming a teacher. "But anyway, there's no need to hurry." They all knew what she meant: Everything was insecure, no one knew if their life would be the same in a year. Perhaps this was the last day they could be as happy and care-free as the students they had been. And as if this thought had occurred to all three of them at the same moment, they started distracting themselves, recalling memories from their earlier years at Hogwarts, laughing at the silly things they had done, remembering Emma's horrified expression in their first flying lesson and Dessie's permanent complaining about her Gobstones club. Only when the train made its way through the outer boroughs of London, their laughter and chatter ebbed away.
"Shit", Jolanda finally broke the silence, ignoring her sister's disapproving glance. "I'm going to miss you so much, Les."
"I'll miss you two, too", Leslie answered and a giggle slipped past the big lump in her throat. The twins snickered along. "Too-too", Jemima imitated and wiped away a tear. "Yes, absolutely. No one to tell us gruesome stories about horrible cousins and petty aunts. Promise to send us an invitation to your and Sirius's wedding, will you?"
Leslie gasped. "How…I mean, what makes you think I want to marry that bugger?"
Jemima rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Leslie. We're not as close to you as Emma but it was pretty hard not to notice, considering you said his name in your sleep."
"Yeah, and who else might he be waiting for?" Jolanda pointed out of the window. The train had come to a halt and through the mist and steam they could see Sirius standing on the platform, absent-mindedly playing with a bunch of keys.
"Alright, you've got me", Leslie sighed. "We never broke up. But", she added hastily, "we aren't planning to get married. Please don't tell any of my family…Jemma, Jolly, please."
"Who do you think we are, a pair of Slytherstinks? Of course we won't tell them, will we, Jem? Do you have any idea how bloody expensive an owl to the continent is these days?" Jolanda nearly hit a tiny third-year while manoeuvring her trunk out of the compartment. Jemima sighed. "Joll, for the sake of decency, stop swearing and watch where you're going!"
Their familiar bickering was the last straw. By the time she safely arrived on the platform, Leslie was crying her eyes out and so were the twins. They hugged tightly and for five minutes couldn't let go. But Mr and Mrs Boot were waiting, and Leslie had to catch her next train, so they said a final goodbye and separated. Leslie lifted her trunk. Her feet felt leaden. She wouldn't be able to take another step…
"May I help you with that?"
"Sirius!" Oh, how good it was to hug him, to bury her face in his leather jacket, to feel his firm grip around her waist! "I've missed you so much."
"I know." He laughed quietly. "I'm afraid I haven't got much time, though. Come on, you've got a train to catch." With one hand he carried her trunk, the other one held hers until she got on the train to Dorchester. "Bye, darling", he muttered before he kissed her. "Have a nice journey. I'll visit you soon."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He kissed her again. "Oh, and Lily is in Poole next weekend, for her stupid sister's wedding – I might bring her along. Lily, not her sister."
Leslie's face lit up. "I'm sure Grand Georgie won't mind. Sorry, sir", she apologized to a man who couldn't get onto the train because she was blocking half the entrance. She stepped aside. When she looked out of the door again, Sirius had taken a step back and waved at her. She waved back until the doors closed and the train started moving. Soon enough, she couldn't see King's Cross anymore and halfway through Richmond, the rain started to pour down as if to break some unknown record. Leslie sighed, took out her copy of Emma (Pheline's farewell present) and made herself as comfortable as possible.