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harlequin320

Gingerstorm101

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Chapter 26: Tension

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was suspicious by nature, so Genni's admission of natural Legillimency skills had put him on edge. He knew that nobody really liked him but they all respected him; which made it much easier to get his point across, when trust would have sufficed for anyone else. Genni had neither of these, and Moody had known that was going to make her self appointed job much harder. Now it would be almost impossible. He eyed the study, as though expecting an enemy to jump out from behind the various pieces of functional furniture, his gaze finally settling on Genni as she took to her favorite seat by the window.

Genni was nervous; this was going to be hard to explain to anyone, but to explain it to Moody was going to be even harder. The man was the most logical person she'd ever heard of, so to tell him that she had been behind the veil and everything that had happened while she was there was a task that seemed to be next to impossible. She decided that simply being straight forward was the best possible approach, so she braced herself with a deep breath and looked up at Moody. Ensuring that she maintained eye contact, she jumped in head first.

"While I was unconscious, I went behind the veil."

If this statement had shocked him, no sign showed on his face. He continued to stare at her, as though waiting for the rest of her explanation, so she continued.

"While there, I spoke with my father and the founders. They said..." at this point, her emotions started to get the better of her, so she took a moment to compose herself once more before continuing. "They said that there were two prophesies; one real, one fake about Voldemort. The real one is only known by Albus Dumbledore. I need your help to formulate a plan of action for this year. I need to know the best way to get the information about this prophesy from him. I need..." she swallowed heavily. "I need to not be alone in this." At some point during her speech her eyes had drifted downwards. She looked back up at the ex auror, doubt written all over her young face.

For his part, Alastor was stunned. He had no doubt that she was being sincere; no one spoke of going beyond the veil lightly. He also had no questions about who the founders were, as there were only four people referred to in that way. He was astounded at the fact that there were two prophesies, and that Dumbledore had kept the contents of the true one secret. He also registered the fact that he had started to refer to his old friend by his last name- a habit which he usually reserved only for those whom he didn't trust.

He studied the young woman before him. She was quite capable of doing this on her own, but right now she was unsure of herself. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Genni, who had begun to nervously fidget. Deciding to put her out of her misery, he stomped over to a straight backed chair across from her window seat. Conjuring a piece of parchment and quill, he began writing. "I believe you, now lets get to planning missy." Genni smiled in relief.

Unfortunately, you can't have that large a group of people in a confined space for long before everyone starts to get on one another's nerves. Tension had been slowly mounting in the house all morning, and so it was inevitable that someone would snap. That someone just happened to be Lilly. She had been watching her old friend Sirius' interaction with her eldest daughter during breakfast, and had her suspicions that he might have taken a fancy to the young woman. This coupled with both the stress she had been feeling already, and the fact that Remus had been studiously avoiding her attempts to reconnect with him since the flying incident meant it was only a matter of time before something put her over the edge and her notorious temper would surface. The incident that made her snap was relatively small in comparison to her blow up, but that didn't seem to bother her one bit.

With the children needing to finish off their assignments and preparations for the coming school year, it was decided that all the adults- including the Grangers- would begin to research for their extra training. Lilly had spent most of the time practically in solitude; it seemed that everyone was either busy with their own tasks, or in the case of Remus trying to avoid being anywhere near her. After closing yet another useless book about practical defense (Practical my rear end!) she decided to switch topics for a while, in order to help her concentration. She stretched as she stood, her t-shirt riding up slightly to reveal her toned stomach. Remus, who had been watching her from his spot across the room, groaned. Shaking his head of the numerous inappropriate thoughts he was suddenly having about his old friend, he decided to hide amongst the bookshelves in the mind arts section of the library.

When he got there, he was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he failed to notice Lilly arrive and reach for the same book he had decided to study. Their hands touched, sparks of electricity and desire charging the air around them. He turned to see who had caused such a strong reaction in him, and seeing Lilly, literally jumped as far back from her as he could. Lilly, who was hurt by the actions of her old friend, finally lost the tentative hold she had on her temper.

"That's it! This is ridiculous!" her voice echoed through the previously silent library, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Remus, having been on the receiving end of her temper before began to slowly back up. There was no mistaking the frustrated tone in her voice- he'd heard it too many times at Hogwarts, usually when James had done something incredibly stupid to get her attention. This would not end well. Lilly, quickly working herself into a righteous rage began to advance on him.

"I don't know where you get off behaving as though I've got dragon pox, Remus John Lupin, but I swear if it doesn't stop right this minute, you'll wish I did have it!"

"L-Lilly?"

"Don't you even try to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! You've been avoiding me like I have the plague since yesterday, and just now you jumped, literally jumped away from me when our hands touched!" she was truly furious now, and Remus was backed up against the wall, with no means of escape. In his fear, he seemed to have forgotten that while he had a wand, Lilly did not. Her eyes flashed triumphantly for a moment when she saw that he could back away no further.

"Now, I want an explanation. Right. This. Minute! Or does all those years we were friends at Hogwarts and after not mean as much to you as it does to me?" at this point, furious tears began to gather in her eyes.

"No! Lilly, of course it means something! I-I-I just..."

"You just what?" she snapped, poking him in the chest with each word. Remus looked into her furious, tear-filled eyes, and the control he had been trying to maintain finally snapped. With a speed only capable of being achieved by being a werewolf, he grabbed her wrists and spun her, pinning her to the wall. He placed his hands either side of her head, and looked directly into her eyes. Lilly gasped at his movements, and the intense mix of emotions she could see on his face. Tension, so thick you could barely breathe, filled the air around them. Lilly nervously licked her lips, and at the sight a low moan found its way into Remus' throat. His eyes, more amber than normal, flicked back and forth from her eyes to her lips. An internal battle, practically already won by base instincts continued on in the background of his mind, his human conscience battling with wolf desires.

Remus began to lower his head to hers when reality came crashing back to them, in the form of Sirius, chuckling at the pairs predicament. Fury once again filled emerald-green eyes, and she took the opportunity afforded to her by Remus' embarrassment to push past him. She stormed over to the chair that Sirius was lounging in, and began poking him in the chest with every furious word she spoke.

"And what do you think you're laughing at, mutt?" Her words stunned him, and for the first time, Harry Potter was able to witness his godfather lost for words.

"Don't think I don't know what you were up to this morning!" a growl sounded low in her throat. "And don't think that I'll just stand by while it happens, either." Harry, unable to help himself, began to laugh. She spun on her heel, facing him. "And YOU! What do you think you're laughing at, young man? Do you think you'll get away with it when he doesn't? Hmm? Well, you've got another thing coming! You are going to stop avoiding me, and start to get to know both myself and your little sister, starting today!" and with that, she stormed from the room. Harry simply looked at his godfather, who was still gaping, then turned to Hermione and said "Now I know where you get it from."

"Get what, Harry?"

"I agree with Ron," he said, smiling. "Brilliant, but scary."

The only sign that she'd even heard him was the comical dropping of her jaw. Harry burst into laughter once more.

Snape Manor wasn't the only place where tensions were beginning to mount. At Grimmauld Place, Arthur Weasley was beginning to think that Merlin himself was against him. His two youngest children seemed to be everywhere he went, and although his wife and his twin sons were trying to run interference it only seemed to be making things worse. Perhaps the worst part of this though, was the fact that they weren't being overt about their desire to know what was going on; it seemed that for the first time in their lives, Ron and Ginny had learnt the art of subtlety, and they were using it to perfection in the furthering of their cause. It was driving Arthur mad.

He sighed and headed towards the kitchen, knowing that his wife would run interference for him for as long as possible. It was barely midday, and he had already run into the troublesome duo (for once not a reference to the twins) at least a half a dozen times. They seemed to be everywhere at once; no matter where he went in the house to escape one, the other would already be waiting for him, or would appear soon after. They wouldn't even ask him any questions, they would simply stare at him, as though willing him to feel guilty about his lack of information providing. They may have lacked tact, and their subtlety certainly wasn't in the same class as the adults, but for the most part it was working. They were slowly wearing him down, and it was only a matter of time before he cracked.

As he entered the dingy kitchen, his wife handed him the perfunctory cup of coffee and he sat down, an almost wistful sigh of relief leaving his lips. His relief was to be short lived though. Within moments of him taking the first sip of his beverage, his youngest son entered the kitchen. Giving his father a wide berth and a meaningful look, he sidled over to his mother and asked what was for lunch. Arthur Weasley gritted his teeth and willed his temper down, and his lips to stay closed. He had already told them off once, he wasn't about to lose his temper again. Ron took a sandwich from his mother and sat at the table, directly across from his father. Giving him another loaded look, he began to eat. Arthur gritted his teeth tighter, and a muscle in his jaw began to tic ominously. No, he would not lose his temper. Not yet.