Into the Blue
Book 1: Way of the Warriors
Chapter 29 – Veil of death.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, and Harry Potter to J.K. Rowling. I don't own anything…
TIMELINE: AU. The fifth and final instalment of the OOTB-series. Takes place during the Order of the Phoenix and begins where Come What May (part 4) left off. Includes spoilers for Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.
SUMMARY: BTVS/HP crossover. With Voldemort's return, and the Ministry's refusal to see it, things are more chaotic than usual. Not even Hogwarts is safe anymore, something Harry and the rest of the trio, along with Sarah, who is to start her first year, is about to experience first hand. Remus and Buffy face problems of their own, at the same time as they must try and save Sirius…from himself. United they'll stand, divided they'll fall – but as the Wizarding World descend into darkness, will the light side conquer or crumble?
Sirius, Buffy and Remus, accompanied by Moody, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt hurried through the empty Ministry corridor, towards the plain black door that would take them into the Department of Mysteries.
Snape had returned to Hogwarts, his role as a spy not making it prudent for him to be what was likely to be a battle against several Death Eaters, if not Voldemort himself. Before leaving, he had said that he'd already sent off a Patronus to Dumbledore with the barest hints of what was going on, and that he was on his way to Grimmauld Place. Alyssa had chosen to stay behind, as she was the weakest fighter between the seven of them, and someone had to inform Dumbledore exactly what happened when he arrived. And Phoebe was still asleep upstairs and could not be left alone, especially with Kreacher still in the house. Since they'd been in a hurry, Sirius hadn't had time to order him back to his den, so who knew what he'd do next if given the chance.
"No sign of Dung, just like I suspected," Tonks snorted. "Brilliant guard, that. Why even put him on the rotation?"
"Dumbledore," Buffy, Remus, Moody and Shacklebolt chorused, while Sirius pointed his wand at the door at the end of the corridor and made it to fly open. Once inside, the group was met by even more doors, identical to the one they'd just stepped through, and in the middle of the circular room was a faint splatter of what looked like drops of blood. The walls were lit by candles burning with a blue light.
"Which way?" Buffy asked grimly. Harry had obviously gotten a vision when she hadn't. Harry had always had more visions about Voldemort than her, but the vision this time had obviously been sent by Voldemort to Harry specifically which meant he knew about them and had learned to manipulate the connection. She had to assume Voldemort did not know about hers. She still didn't even know why she had gotten visions of her own – if she was connected to Harry, somehow, or Voldemort, or if they were just Slayer dreams.
"We'll have to split up," Moody said.
"Bad idea for any of us to go alone," Remus said, ever cautious. "We don't know what to expect."
"We're wasting time," Sirius hissed. "Two groups of three. You, me and Buffy. Moody, you take Kingsley and Tonks. Hopefully, we'll...meet somewhere in the middle."
Not bothering to check if anyone followed him, Sirius strode across the room to one of the doors, frowning when it refused to open.
"Are all of them locked?" Tonks wondered.
"Not this one," Kingsley said as he opened one of the doors to Sirius' right.
"Nor this one," Buffy said, holding open one on Sirius' left.
"Good luck," Tonks said, smiling faintly before she followed Kingsley inside their chosen room, Moody on her heels.
The room the three Aurors entered was long and rectangular, lit by lamps hanging low on golden chains from the ceiling. Several chairs and tables had been knocked over, and there were craters in the wall from the where spells had impacted. In the middle of the room, a large tank filled with green liquid stood, containing what looked to be brains.
"Oh, no!" Tonks gasped as she took in the sight of the room's occupants and all three hurried forward:
The youngest Weasley was lying on her side, completely still - for a moment, Tonks feared the girl was dead, but no, she'd only been stunned - a silent rennervate woke her up. A bit away, a blonde girl lay sprawled, but she was groaning: obviously knocked temporary unconscious, not stunned. A bit away from her, Hermione lay, also unconscious - Shacklebolt hurried to the bushy haired girl's side, but nothing he did seemed to wake her.
"Ron!" Ginny gasped as she woke, looking around wildly until she caught sight of her brother who was being helped by Moody. The boy had been wrapped up into what looked like long tendrils that had unraveled from one of the brains, and had been choking when Mad-Eye reached him. Finally, they managed to get rid of them and Ron gasped for breath as Ginny clutched him.
"Where is Harry?" Tonks demanded to know. "And who else is here with you?"
"I don't know where he is!" Ginny cried, even as Ron giggled in her arms, looking thoroughly unhinged, clearly affected by something, but Tonks couldn't tell what. "I was stunned! Neville is here too, and Sarah - "
" - Sarah Lupin?" Tonks gasped. Merlin, Buffy and Remus were going to be pissed. "She's just a first year!"
"We tried to stop her, but she insisted on coming!"
"We don't have time for this," Moody said gruffly. "The kids are more or less alright - "
" - I'm afraid the kids are not all alright," Kingsley interrupted, looking grim, standing up from his position next to Hermione. "Granger's been hit by a curse I don't recognise, but in my opinion she needs professional medical help. I'm fairly certain there's something going on with her that I can't spot. Internal bleeding or something even worse." Ginny paled. "I've put her under a stasis charm for now, but it won't last that long."
"It will have to last long enough," Moody said. "We've got to find Potter before it's too late. How many Death Eaters are here, girl?"
"I-I don't know. There were ten, maybe eleven or twelve to start, I'm not sure."
Moody nodded sharply. "You'll have to stay here in the meantime. Can you manage that? Hopefully, no other Death Eaters come through, but if they do - "
" - I'll handle them," Ginny said grimly, clutching her wand in a tight grip.
Remus, Sirius and Buffy stepped into a room sparkling with dancing light that shone like diamonds. Clocks of all types and sizes covered almost every surface, and the floor was covered with sand and glass from shattered time-turners. But the thing that held the trio's attention was the strange sight of the Death Eater running amok inside the room, crashing into and turning over desks, crying and bawling: somehow, his head had shrunk, or rather, his head had gone back in time, while the rest of his body had stayed in its adult shape. It made for a horrifyingly comical sight - a baby's head on top of a thickly muscled Death Eater.
"Who is that?" Buffy gasped.
"No idea and I don't care," Sirius growled, a silent stunner sending the grotesquely looking wizard to the ground. With him silenced, the room was now filled with ticking noises from the many hands of the room's large amount of clocks. "Harry is obviously here already."
"So we're late for the party," Buffy muttered as she and Remus hurried after Sirius towards one of the many doors that hopefully led to Harry and whoever he had brought with him - Ron and Hermione were probably a given. On the way, they passed a fallen grandfather clock - from the look of it, someone had fallen into it, but no one was there now. The broken glass shards from the fallen time turners cracked under their feet as they made their way across the room.
"On three," Sirius muttered, pointing his wand at one of the doors. "One...two...three!" He slammed the door open with a well aimed spell and the three burst through it. Luckily, it seemed they'd timed it well - at the same time as they burst through their door, Tonks, Moody and Shacklebolt arrived through another.
They had appeared on what seemed like the top of a rectangular room built in several levels made up by large benches of stone that went from wall to wall, giving the appearance of stairs leading down some twenty feet, creating a large stone pit. In the center, there was a raised dais, where Harry had been cornered. On top of the dais stood a large stone archway with a fluttering Veil stood, looking strangely ominous.
At the Order members' appearance, the Death Eaters spun around, and then, the spells were flying. The Order members jumped down one level at the time, slowly making their way further down into the chamber.
"SARAH?" Buffy screamed in both shock and anger as she caught sight of her daughter, next to Neville by the side of the stone bench at the bottom of the room. The Longbottom heir was bleeding heavily from his nose whereas Sarah had a large gash that stretched from her left cheek, going diagonally upwards over her left eye, the right side of her forehead and disappearing into her hairline, the normally blonde strands colored light red from blood.
"Mom, look out!" Sarah screamed back, her eyes widening as she saw a Death Eater approach from behind. Buffy spun around, her wand flashing through the air to form a shield charm, right on time, and Rodolphus Lestrange's orange spell burst apart as it crashed against it.
"You are so grounded for coming here!" Buffy shouted at her daughter, before she put all her focus on the fight ahead of her. Out of the corner of his eye, she saw Harry dive out of the way of a stray stunning spell coming from above, moving towards Neville and Sarah by the lowest bench. "Harry, take the prophecy and get out of here! All of you!"
Before Harry could obey, an explosion hit the area right between the three children, a crater now separating them, with Harry on one side, and Neville and Sarah on the other. As Harry scrambled backwards, a thick arm seized Harry around the neck, forcing him upright.
"HARRY!" Sarah shouted. "Mom, do something!"
But Buffy couldn't, too busy defending herself against Rodolphus' spells. Even though he'd spent years in Azkaban, the man was a strong and silent caster. She barely recognised half of his spells which meant she couldn't risk using shielding spells except once in a while. She had to duck away from the rest, which gave her no real chance to retaliate with something powerful that would put him out of the game. She had never been so thankful for her superior reflexes since Rodolphus seemed to be the superior dueller. Knowing her best chance laid in disarming him physically rather than magically, Buffy tried to move closer, but unlike most Death Eaters, he seemed somewhat intelligent and made sure to stay out of her reach: as a result, they were moving further away from all three of the children.
Frantically, Buffy looked around for someone to help as she sidestepped a silent Cruciatus Curse: two Death Eaters had been taken out, but there were still plenty to go around. Sirius was caught up in his own duel; Kingsley was fighting two masked Death Eaters at once; Moody seemed to be losing his fight against Dolohov, whereas Remus was battling it out with Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix Lestrange was cackling madly, having a blast as she avoided the spells raining down on her from Tonks, sending back her own, far more destructive, curses, at the young Auror.
"AARGH!" The sudden shout of pain came from Macnair, the Death Eater with his arm across Harry's neck: whatever the reason, Buffy hoped that meant Harry now had things under control. The Gryffindor's shouted "STUPIFY" a second later confirmed it.
Sirius wand was a blur as he battled Mulciber, the two moving across the room at almost the same quick speed they were casting in. He passed Harry, Neville and Sarah, right before his Godson stumbled on something: Sirius's grey eyes narrowed when he caught sight of an unconscious and bleeding Mad-Eye to his left. His opponent, Dolohov, was heading towards Harry now, his wand outstretched and his face twisted with glee.
Sirius gritted his teeth, increasing the speed of his spells even more, knowing he had to finish the duel quickly: Harry, Neville and Sarah combined would not last long against Dolohov. Fast he might be, but Sirius thought he had one thing up on Mulciber - if he remembered it correctly, the man wasn't known for being particularly clever, except when it came to using the Imperius. Well, there was no time like the present to test the man's deductive skills. Smirking, Sirius cast a silent spell, green in color, in Mulciber's direction and the Death Eater's eyes widened in shock as he reflexively stepped out of the way of what he believed to be a silent killing curse - and stepped straight into Sirius' silent stunner instead.
Fooled by a harmless charm that helped withering flowers bloom anew (though it was green, it was also far lighter in color than the killing curse), Sirius' thoughts of Mulciber's intelligence had been proven correct. With him taken care of, the Animagus turned his attention to his Godson, Sarah and Neville: Neville was lying on his side, his legs jerking from a Tarantallegra curse, Harry having fallen atop of him. Sarah, it seemed, had been petrified sometime during the course of the battle, and Dolohov was in the midst of a summoning spell for the prophecy orb that Harry held in a tight grip.
"Accio proph - "
Sirius rammed into Dolohov with his shoulder before the man could finish the spell, sending him flying out of the way. Enraged, the Death Eater got to his feet before Sirius could completely regain his own balance, and he was faced with another duel. Sirius could feel he was beginning to tire - being coped up in Grimmauld Place hadn't helped him to regain the fitness he'd held before Azkaban, and he'd wasted a lot of energy on the speedy Mulciber. Luckily, Dolohov was a slower dueller, even if his spells carried far more force behind them. Sirius' own spells were holding just as strong, and though some tiredness had set in, adrenaline would keep him going.
Sirius' eyes narrowed in confusion as Dolohov drew back his wand in a slashing movement he did not recognise. He prepared to duck the moment it left his wand, not knowing what it would do, but before the Death Eater could finish, Harry jumped up from behind him with a well-placed "Petrificus Totalus!"
Sirius let out a bark-like laugh as his legs and arms snapped together and he toppled backwards. "Nice one!" He threw himself over Harry, forcing his head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew over them. "Now I want you to get out of - " They ducked again and a jet of green light narrowly missed Sirius - he had a feeling that that had not been a gardening spell as it had been sent by Bellatrix. He hissed in anger when he saw Tonks fall from her position halfway up the stone steps, her limp form rolling down from level to level.
Bellatrix let out a triumphant shriek as she ran back towards the fray. Sirius saw her attention turn to Remus who was still duelling Lucius Malfoy, and he knew he had little time - the werewolf would not be able to handle them both. "Harry, I want you to take Neville and Sarah and run!"
Not bothering to listen to see if he followed his instructions, Sirius dashed to intercept Bellatrix, but was a little too late: Remus was already in the midst of battling both her and Malfoy on top of the dais in the middle of the room, rapidly losing ground until Malfoy suddenly left, heading towards the direction Sirius' had just come from instead. Sirius growled in frustration as he realised this meant the children would be in danger again...
"Moony, get Malfoy, I've got Bellatrix!" Sirius shouted, sending off a silent curse towards his mad cousin. The witch screeched in anger as she was now forced to fend off spells from two directions.
"Are you sure?" Remus panted.
"I'm sure," Sirius growled, his eyes narrowed in determination.
Remus nodded sharply, and then, right before Bellatrix' newest spell could connect, he dove aside, while Sirius smoothly stepped into his place, flicking the curse away with a twist of his wand.
Remus raced down the dais towards Harry, Neville and Sarah, who, during Sirius' absence, seemed to have gotten things fairly well in hand: Neville had the prophecy and Malfoy had just been blasted off his back by a powerful Impedimenta sent by Harry. Before the angry Death Eater could recover completely, Remus stepped between them. He had noticed Sarah's presence early on but had paid it little mind - to be honest, once Snape had informed them exactly which ones of Harry's cohorts that had been caught in Umbridge's office, he'd been more than resigned to the possibility of it. That did not mean he was happy about it, but he had chosen to push his anger aside to focus completely on the battle - Sarah could get an earful from both him and Buffy once they were all safely back at Grimmauld.
"Harry, round up the others and GO!" Remus said as he deflected the spell Malfoy had aimed at Harry and Neville back at him. "Lucius, I don't believe we got to finish our duel," he said.
The blonde aristocrat sneered. "It will be my pleasure to end you, wolf," he snapped, and then the spells were flying between them once again.
Knowing better than to underestimate an opponent, no matter who it was (Lucius, for all his arrogance also had the skill to back it up when he managed to keep that arrogance in check), Remus focused entirely upon his duel. Even so, his senses still picked up on of what was going on around him: he could hear the sound of ripping fabric followed by the sound of glass shattering on stone, and then a muted ethereal voice, even if he could not make out any actual words. If he was not mistaken, the prophecy had just been smashed. Remus couldn't help but think it was good riddance. Sidestepping an entrail-expelling curse from Malfoy, Remus sent back a knockout curse followed by a shield against the Death Eater's bone-breaker. In the background, he thought he heard Sarah's voice:
"Dumbledore!"
Lucius already naturally pale face paled even further and he faltered, unable to duck Remus' stunner in time. The werewolf grinned toothily as the man fell down against the bottom of the dais, knocked out cold.
"DUBBLEDORE!" Neville shouted, his speech obviously impaired by the blood running from his nose.
"Retreat!" Remus heard one of the still masked Death Eater's who was duelling Kingsley alongside his comrade shout. He left the duel, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps, but was pulled back as though he had been hooked with an invisible line. Looking up, Remus saw Dumbledore standing at the foot of the steps, his wand outstretched and his eyes blazing with anger.
Dumbledore's arrival had slowed the Death Eaters' enthusiasm, and in a matter of moments, almost everybody had stopped fighting, the Death Eaters defeated. Looking up from where she'd secured Rodolphus in a tangle of unbreakable ropes after knocking him out with a well-placed uppercut, Buffy's eyes met Remus' from where he stood guard over a stunned Lucius Malfoy. Smiling, she walked over to him.
Only one pair was still battling it out – Sirius and Bellatrix were still exchanging spells on top of the dais not far from where Remus and Buffy now stood, their muscles tense as they prepared to jump in if necessary. But the spells were coming hard and fast and both duelers were moving around so much that Buffy noted in dismay that it was just as likely one of them would hit Sirius if they dared to interfere. Remus squeezed her hand and they exchanged a grim look. They had to have faith Sirius could handle his mad cousin.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Sirius shouted, his laughing voice echoing around the cavernous room as he ducked Bellatrix stunner. And then a second one hit him straight in the chest and his smile froze on his face.
Buffy abruptly let go of Remus' hand, dashing forwards – she could see Sirius' trajectory in her mind's eye - his current position was right in front of that strange Veil…he was falling backwards… She dashed up the dais towards the stone archway with its fluttering curtains and stretched out her arm - she was so close! Her hand clasped Sirius forearm just as he began to fall through it and she began to pull… Her eyes met Sirius', and for a moment, hope glimmered there, hope that she could pull him to safety...
But to Buffy's horror, she was being pulled down with Sirius, rather than the other way around, Slayer strength be damned. As abruptly as it had appeared, the hope was extinguished, turning into shock and fear that she knew was mirrored in her own expression. An unnatural force that paid no attention to the laws of gravity was pulling both of them into the depths of the Veil, and a bright white light met Buffy's eyes.
Buffy realised then, too late, that she had miscalculated, that she had made a terrible mistake: her body refused to obey her and panic struck. Her limbs and muscles were frozen stiff and it was impossible to pull herself up. Instead, her feet left the ground and the rest of her body was pulled down through the archway that held that damned Veil, and for a single moment, it felt as though she was floating in a cloud of white nothingness.
She heard the echoing sound of a triumphant scream from somewhere above...beyond. And then, they were both falling.
Falling...
Remus stared in utter disbelief at the Veil through which both Sirius and Buffy, in her attempt to save him, had fallen through. They did not reappear. Dimly, he heard someone - Sarah, some distant part of him noted - was screaming. He looked down at his right hand, which, only moments ago, had held Buffy's, her last touch a lingering ghost. How could she be gone?
He looked up at the detached doorway with its fluttering curtains in confusion, for a moment expecting Sirius and Buffy to reappear on the other side... but then he realised, it wasn't that kind of entrance. It was one way only. It let people in, but it didn't let them out. They were gone.
"SIRIUS! SIRIUS! BUFFY!"
"MOM! MOM!"
In a daze, Remus' heard Harry and Sarah's shouts of devastation, followed by their sprinting footsteps, and there they were, both rushing towards the dais.
Remus reached out, grabbing them both and pulling them back: Sarah fell into his arms willingly, but it took all his strength to hold Harry back.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry," Remus said faintly, his voice accompanied by Sarah's keening cries of devastation as she sank to the floor, leaning her head against his right thigh and clutched hold of his legs as though it was the only thing anchoring her here.
"Get them, save them, they've only just gone through!"
"It's too late, Harry," Remus' voice trembled as he reached down with the hand that was not grasping Harry's upper arm in his, to pull shaky fingers through Sarah's hair. She was bleeding, he realised.
"We can still reach him!" Harry insisted, still struggling against his grip, but Remus' supernatural strength held true."
"Thereʹs nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… nothing any of us can do. They're gone." His voice broke, but his heart...his heart shattered.
It was the crack of dawn when Remus and Sarah left the Ministry, after a harrowing interrogation from the Ministry's Law Enforcement and Minister Fudge, who had shown up just in time to witness Voldemort and Bellatrix escape. Tonks and Moody had been taken to St Mungo's, which left Kingsley and Remus as the only adults left capable of answering their questions of what had happened in the Ministry that night.
Kingsley had handled most of the talking, which was just as well, since the Aurors had been trying to make it sound as though Remus had been there as a Death Eater, which was just ridiculous. Prejudice against werewolves still ran rampant. If Remus hadn't been in a state of shock from Buffy's...disappearance (he couldn't call it death, not yet, not yet, it was too soon), perhaps those accusations would have bothered him more, but as it was, they had barely registered. Remus could barely focus on breathing, using his daughter as an anchor to keep himself from breaking down, clutching on to Sarah's shoulders, desperately trying to make sure that, she, at least, was still there with him. Instead, Shacklebolt had defended Remus far better and far more eloquently than Remus would have done for himself.
Sarah, even though she was just as devastated and really should have been taken to a Healer for her head wound, had been given the unenviable task to tell things from the students' point of view, as she was the only student left at the scene capable of answering: Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Luna had been sent to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing via a portkey created by Dumbledore before they could be questioned - not that Ron or Hermione would have been in any state to answer.
Harry too had been sent back to Hogwarts, first of everyone. Remus didn't know what had happened to him after he - despite Remus' efforts - had broken free of his grip the moment it slackened to run after Bellatrix who had managed to escape her bonds. From Dumbledore's grim look, it hadn't been anything good, and probably something to do with Voldemort, who, it seemed, had finally shown his face right in time for the Minister to get a good look. Hopefully, the night's events would finally make Dumbledore tell Harry about the prophecy and everything else he knew. There had been enough secrets.
Sarah had told the Aurors and Minister Fudge her story, beginning from outside Umbridge's office, to her capture by her Inquisitorial Squad, and attempt at a Crucio sent at Harry (which the Minister seemed happy to ignore), to an escape from Umbridge in the Forbidden Forest, a Thestral ride to the Ministry to rescue someone that Harry cared about (Sarah had claimed ignorance when the Minister wanted to know who, exactly), and then a fight for their lives against the Death Eaters until the Order arrived. Her voice had trembled and been incoherent in places, probably both due to her head wound and details she did not want to divulge, but all in all, she had held up well. She seemed to be holding up better than Remus was, to be honest.
Just as Fudge and one of the Aurors, Dawlish, seemed ready to press his daughter for more details, Dumbledore had interrupted, pressing Fudge for answers in regards to the requests he'd given the Minister earlier that night. Remus didn't know what those requests entailed, nor did he particularly care, but from the Minister's flustered look, he had a feeling they had been leaning more towards demands. Remus had taken the chance to slip away with Sarah - no one stopped him as they left the chamber with the fluttering Veil which would play a starring role in his nightmares from now on. The two walked back into the Entrance chamber, the corridor, the elevator upstairs and then out of the Ministry entirely, where he apparated them both back to the steps of Grimmauld Place.
"Dad?" Sarah was trembling, her voice choked, as she spoke: "What are we going to tell Phoebe?"
Remus closed his eyes. "I don't know, darling. I don't know," he said as he opened the door, his heart tired and heavy.
Inside, it didn't take long before Alyssa and a bright eyed Phoebe appeared. "We were beginning to worry!" Alyssa exclaimed. "Phoebe woke up when Dumbledore arrived - we've been waiting for hours." The smile on her face faltered slightly, something in Remus or Sarah's expression clueing her in to the fact that something was wrong. "W-where's Sirius and Buffy? Sirius wasn't arrested, was he?"
Finally, Sarah's composure broke and she burst into tears, dashing up the stairs before Remus could stop her - not that he was in any mind to. "Could you check her head?" He asked Alyssa. "You're a better healer than me."
Phoebe glanced from the stairs back to Remus, clearly not certain whether she wanted to stay or follow her sister.
"Of course." Alyssa frowned. "Remus, what is going on?"
Swallowing, Remus lowered himself onto his knees in the dirty hallway, grasping Phoebe's face between his hands. He blinked, trying to keep the tears at bay, but from the way his sight was blurring, he knew he was unsuccessful. "Sweetie...something...happened to mum, okay, baby?"
"What?"
"There was a fight, and Sirius was...well, he was in trouble. He was falling into this...well, artifact, and your mom jumped up to help him, only...only..."
Behind Phoebe's back, Remus heard Alyssa let a choked noise of sudden understanding.
"...she was too late, Phoebs. And they both - " Remus abruptly cut himself off, swallowing, trying desperately to regain some equilibrium as Phoebe looked up at him with confusion but also complete trust - trust Remus didn't deserve. "They both fell."
"But they'll be alright," Phoebe stated. "Right? I fall all the time and I'm always alright."
"No, Phoebe, they... the artifact they fell into, it...it leads somewhere else. A place you can't come back from."
"I don't understand." Phoebe's lower lip wobbled. "Where are they? Dad?"
"I...they're...sweetie...they're gone." His voice broke, and the next two words almost refused to leave his mouth. "They're...d-dead."
Phoebe shook her head wildly, tears beginning to stream from her face and she abruptly took a step back, out of Remus' grasp. "No. NO. You're lying. They're not dead. They're not!"
"Phoebe..." Remus' voice was weak and trembling as he reached out a hand to the younger girl.
"They're NOT!" Phoebe repeated and then, she too, was running, sprinting up the stairs where Sarah had disappeared. Three seconds later came the ominously loud slam of a door.
Remus remained on his knees, staring at a spot of ingrained dust on the floor.
"Remus..." Alyssa's voice made him look up, their eyes meeting. There were tears in both their eyes. "I...they're really gone?"
Remus nodded tiredly, and Alyssa pressed her lips together tightly, stretching to her full height. She pulled in a sharp breath. "Well, then," she said, managing to sound almost normal if not for the slight tremble in her voice that gave away her true emotional state, "I-I'll go put the kettle on, shall I?"
"Not really in the mood for tea," Remus said hollowly, and Alyssa's shoulders slumped, the forced bravado leaving her as quickly as it had come.
"No," she agreed, her voice dull and empty. "Me neither."
Silence reigned. There was nothing else to say.
Remus gripped Phoebe and Sarah's hands tightly, Phoebe's in his left, Sarah's in his right, as they waited on Plaform 9 3/4 for the Hogwarts Express to arrive, to greet Harry as he disembarked. All three were dressed in dark colors, their mood somber. After what had happened at the Ministry, Sarah had decided to not go back to Hogwarts for the rest of the term, and Remus had no objections.
It was just as well really: once again, he was facing the same problem he had when Buffy had been in her coma - the chance that his children might be taken away from him by the Ministry because he wasn't considered a 'fit' guardian due to his lycanthropy. Dumbledore had said he would handle it, and with Umbridge currently in disgrace and the Ministry eager to make up for their mistakes, hopefully his influence would mean Remus could keep custody. But until he had an official notice of approved guardianship in his hands, he would not take any chances. Even here, he was on edge, keeping a look out, both for Death Eaters and Ministry Officials.
He wasn't the only one looking around for threats: all over the platform, parents who were waiting for their children to arrive were glancing around in fear. The Daily Prophet had finally released the truth about Voldemort's return by way of an official statement from Minister Fudge - who was not likely to remain Minister for very long, truth be told.
Dumbledore and Harry had been vindicated, but as a result, a shadow had fallen over the wizarding world. No one was safe, hadn't been since Voldemort's return, but now with the truth out there, no one felt safe either. And since Voldemort would no longer gain any advantage by lying low, it was only a matter of time before chaos reigned. If Remus knew the wizarding world right, once the terror and panic set in for real, once Voldemort began his attacks, people would not be looking inwards to save themselves - they would be screaming for people like Dumbledore, for Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived, to save them all, and blame them if anything bad happened.
The Hogwarts Express arrived at the Station and Sarah gripped Remus' hand tighter in hers. It was the first time since the events in the Department of Mysteries that she would see Harry and the others again.
The injury Sarah had sustained, although healed, had left a scar that stretched diagonally across her face, but the worst scar was not visible. Seeing her mother die had left the normally energetic girl cold tempered and solemn. Phoebe, too, was grieving, her innocence abruptly ripped away from her that early dawn when Remus had been forced to tell her what had happened.
There was no laughter, no smiles, in Grimmauld Place anymore, just silence and sadness. Even Walburga Black's portrait remained uncharacteristically silent, the bluster having gone out of her when she heard of Sirius' death. Of Kreacher, Remus had seen no hide nor hair - the house-elf had made himself scarce, perhaps realising the werewolf was likely to wring his neck, should he see him again.
Students were beginning to embark the train. There was no sign of Harry or his friends yet, but a brunette girl was making her way towards them, carrying a strange plant with quivering branches. "Sarah," she said, biting her lip. "I'm so sorry about your mother."
"Thank you," Sarah mumbled. "How have things been for you, at Hogwarts, with me gone? Was Lavinia and Cathy awful?"
The girl, who must be Sarah's friend, Amanda, Remus realised, shrugged. "Kind of. But I kept out of their way, so for the most part, they left me alone, aside from a few nasty comments." She held out the plant. "I believe this is yours. I tried to take care of it, but I don't think it likes me very much. It seems depressed."
When Sarah took the plant, to Remus surprise, the plant stretched out a long branch towards her face, caressing her cheek with the tip of it, the brownish-black flowers on the plant fluttering. Sarah cracked a small smile, and the flowers slowly turned orange, then back to brown, then black, before finally settling on blue. "It's a mood plant," Sarah said, seeing Remus confusion and Phoebe's fascinated expression. "I got it from Neville. It can sense how I feel and tries to comfort me, I guess."
"That's a wonderful gift, Sarah," Remus said quietly.
Sarah nodded. "Thank you for bringing it back with you," she said to Amanda who smiled, blushing lightly.
"It was no problem. Will I see you next year? Or have you left Hogwarts for good?"
Sarah glanced up at Remus before responding. "It depends. But I think I'll go back."
"Then I'll see you on September 1. Will you write to me?"
"Of course," Sarah nodded.
Amanda smiled quickly, before she walked away, waving goodbye.
"There's Harry!" Phoebe pointed, and indeed, it seemed Harry and his friends had finally gotten off the train, and were now heading towards them.
Mad-Eye, Tonks, Molly, Arthur and the twins who had hung back a bit, now stepped forwards to join Remus, Sarah and Phoebe along with two people who must be Hermione's parents as the children approached.
Neville waved to Sarah and sent a quick smile her way. It looked as though he wanted to walk over to her, but before he could any closer, he was intercepted by his grandmother. A moment later, both were gone, Augusta having apparated them both away from the platform.
Hermione headed straight for her parents, happily falling into their welcoming embrace - Remus did not know how much she had told them of the events of the past year, but he had a feeling it was far from the truth, or else they would not look so carefree now.
"Ron, Ginny!" Molly called, hurrying forwards and hugging them both to her tightly. "Oh, and Harry dear ‐ how are you?"
"Fine," Harry said, an obvious lie, as Molly pulled him into a hug.
"Hello, Harry," Remus greeted hoarsely when Molly let go of him.
"Hi," Harry said a look of confusion on his face. "I didnʹt expect … what are you all doing here? Where are the Dursleys?" He searched the Platform for any presence of his relatives, frowning when he didn't see them.
"Well," Remus said, his smile bittersweet, "didn't Buffy and I make it clear that you wouldn't need to go back there?"
For a moment, Harry gawked at him owlishly, looking from Remus soft smile, down to Phoebe who was also smiling, to Sarah.
"What do you say, Potter?" Sarah asked, and for a moment, a genuine grin crossed her lips. "Is our company good enough for you this summer? Else I'm sure we can arrange for the Dursleys to come pick you up - Dumbledore is very keen on that, for sure - "
" - No!" Harry quickly exclaimed, his eyes wide. "No, definitely not." Harry smiled, biting his lip in a move very reminiscent of Lily, his green eyes shining with shocked delight. "I'd love to spend the summer with you."
End of Book 1: Way of the Warriors
To be continued in Book 2: When Lightning Follows Thunder
A/N: And so ends book 1. I'll see you in chapter 30, the first part of Into the Blue book 2: When Lightning Follows Thunder. That will be the final part of the Out of the Blue series so we are slowly but surely moving towards a resolution. I hope you'll stay with me until the end. /Ida
