Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to J. K. Rowling. Tilia belongs to me.
Twenty-four: Potterwatch and the Battle of Hogwarts
Tilia Apparated into her front yard with a curse. She stumbled, swore again, and then ran into the house. "Remus!" she called.
"Yes?" he asked, surprise on his face as she caught him in a tight embrace. He had just swung his cloak around his shoulders. "What happened? You're supposed to be at work."
"Narcissa was there," Tilia told him as she released him. "She was talking to Edmund, around the corner from where I come in. Cissa said she needed to talk to me—he told her I wasn't coming in today. I'd only just got there, so I turned to leave, but Bellatrix was behind me already. I thought she'd hit me with a spell, but now I'm not sure…well, anyway, of course I Disapparated. I can't go back."
"I guess not," Remus murmured, pulling her back against him in another hug.
"And where are you going?" she asked.
"Potterwatch today if—" he paused as he glanced out the window, then borrowed what had been one of Sirius' favorite swearwords.
"What is it?"
He drew his wand quickly and tapped her cloak. "Finite Incantatem," he hissed. She looked at him, confused, as a slight crackle marked the end of a spell.
"What?"
"I guess Bellatrix did manage to spell you. It must've been a tracking spell," he said quietly. "They can't get in, they can't even see us without the password, but they know we're here now."
She turned to look out the window, and saw four Death Eaters standing on the pavement just outside the wards, waiting. "I'm sorry," she began, but he shook his head to stop her.
"It's not your fault."
"Just so long as you remember to tell everyone to Apparate directly inside the wards now," she said. "We can check after. If they don't know the password, they shouldn't be able to get in anyway."
He nodded grimly. "I'll be sure to mention it," he said. He glanced at his watch. "I'd better go." He gave her a small smile. "Fifteen minutes. Password's 'Albus.'"
"Go on, then. And be careful," she said.
He nodded again, once, then slipped out the door. He didn't chance it, simply Disapparating from the porch with the grim satisfaction that he was defying Voldemort literally right under his Death Eaters' noses.
The memory blurred, changed, and for a moment Harry stood in the Great Hall on the night of the last battle; the students were being evacuated and Kingsley was assigning leaders to groups: Fred and George to the "secret" passageways, the Heads of Houses to the towers, and himself, Arthur, Remus, and Tilia to the grounds…
The scene dissolved and reformed into utter chaos. The invisible Harry whirled on the spot, unsure as to whether this was Remus or Tilia's memory, since he had viewed what seemed to be a mixture of both. He knew nothing of what had happened during the fighting that night, except what he had seen himself. A flash of red flew wide straight through him and he turned to see Remus retreating from Dolohov, simply holding a shield against the Death Eater's barrage of spells.
"You can't hide behind that shield forever, werewolf," Dolohov called.
Remus didn't answer, grimacing as one of Dolohov's spells slipped passed the outer edge of the shield.
"He doesn't need to," Tilia panted, appearing behind the Death Eater at a dead run.
"What—?"
Tilia dodged suddenly, and Greyback, who had been tailing her, was blasted backwards by Dolohov's curse. Remus' Stunner caught the Death Eater in the back as he made to turn.
"Thanks," Remus and Tilia said simultaneously. They both grinned at each other, then ducked two Stunning Spells and turned back-to-back…
Silence suddenly pressed heavily on Harry's ears. The grounds were dark, devoid of the flash of spells as people dueled, but seething with Death Eaters. And then came McGonagall's horrible scream as the castle's defenders saw the supposedly-dead Harry in Hagrid's arms. This time he was able to make out Tilia, Remus, and Molly Weasley's cries on the heels of Ginny, Ron, and Hermione's outburst, just a beat before the whole crowd took up the cry and spilled out onto the lawn.
And then Neville dared to defy Voldemort, acting Harry supposed, in an effort to get to Nagini as Harry had asked him to…and Voldemort unwittingly handed Neville exactly what he needed to finish it. And in a blur, the crowd rushed forward as Neville destroyed Nagini and the reinforcements came over the wall to join Grawp and the centaurs.
This time, Harry was able to pick people out of the crowd. As the mass of people sought to get into the Great Hall, or were driven there, he saw Remus and Tilia deflecting curses aimed at those who couldn't see the curses coming, saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley beaming at the sight of Charlie in the lead with Slughorn, both of whom were throwing curses. And right behind them came Edmund Daughton, throwing clay balls that exploded on contact, apparently containing some sort of acid, which explained some of the stranger injuries Harry had heard about in the general aftermath. He also saw McGonagall and Kingsley struggling to engage Voldemort, to minimize the damage the Dark Lord was causing…
And then the memory skipped, fading out and back in to the end of the battle. He caught a glimpse of his younger self, surrounded by his five closest friends. Not far from them, Tilia had grabbed Remus and was kissing him soundly, despite the fact that they were in public. Remus was crying for the first time in twenty years—this time from happiness.
And all across the Hall the same words were echoing: "It's over…"
"Harry?"
He whirled and his eyes widened as he saw that the present day Remus and Tilia had finally found him.
"Harry, what—?" Tilia began, but he cut her off.
"I'm sorry. I was trying to find my book, and I tripped, and the cabinet was open, and I don't know how to get myself out, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
Remus gripped his arm. He stopped babbling.
"It's okay, Harry. How long have you been in here?" Remus asked as all three floated up from the depths of the Pensieve.
"Um, what time is it?"
"Half past ten," Tilia told him as they gently landed in the living room.
"In the morning?" Harry asked. The other two nodded and Harry groaned. "All night, then. And I'm gonna be late."
"I'm sorry," Remus said. "We only just got up. We thought you'd left, until we noticed that the Pensieve was glowing."
Harry shrugged. "I should have turned a light on. Anyway, thanks for getting me out. Um—" he paused. "I have to go, but, can we talk later?"
Tilia and Remus glanced at each other, then nodded. "Of course," Remus said.
Harry sighed in relief. "Thanks. And I really am sorry."
They waved it off, and Harry darted upstairs to get ready for another day of Auror training.
A/N: Alright. If there are any questions about a seeming plothole, or about something that happened, or about what someone said, feel free to ask. If it is something Harry doesn't know--something he didn't see explained in the Pensieve--it might end up in the next chapter. I will try to use Harry's questions to wrap up anything that he (and by extension, the readers) might have missed...