Chapter 28:

Cure

April 2005

Remus POV:

They all stood there looking at me. Am I not speaking clearly? Did they hear what I said? Oh, wait, Harry's holding a baby...Harry's holding a baby! He and Ginny had their baby, and by the looks of the blanket, I'd say it's a boy. Wow, what an amazing day. "Harry, congratulations! What's his name?"

"What did you just say?" Harry asked back, his mouth hanging open.

"I asked you what his name is."

"No, before that. Did you say that Ewan found a cure?"

"Yes, Ewan wrote from Canada, he's discovered the cure to Lycanthropy. He's sure that it will work, he's tested it there and there are no side effects. He's coming here to start administering it to everyone we have coming to the clinics each month," I explained, and within a heartbeat, Anwen's arms were around my neck and she was crying.

"Oh my God, Remus, this is..." she wept into my shoulder.

"Hey, hey, calm down Winnie. This is good news," I soothed her and looked over at Sirius, who was nodding his head as he mouthed 'she knows' to me.

"Did he give you any indication what the breakthrough was? He's been working on it for over twenty years," James questioned and I shook my head. I was sure that once Ewan was in the country we'd have more information, but for now, I didn't know anything else.

"The note was short, but he arrives by international Portkey tomorrow afternoon. He's anxious to see all of us. He'll be thrilled to meet your baby as well, Harry," I added and he nodded. "Come to think of it, it would be nice if I were introduced to your child there as well."

"Sorry, Uncle Remus, you just took us all a little by surprise there. It is my pleasure to introduce to you James Sirius Potter," Harry added proudly, and Anwen let go of me so that I could lean over to look at the newborn. He had his mother's soft features at this point, and was napping comfortably.

"He's beautiful Harry, looks a lot like Ginny," I said and Harry looked startled for a moment.

"Ginny," he muttered, "she's probably wondering what's keeping me, um, I need to take the baby back in there." He was clearly as flustered as I was when all three of my kids were born. I watched as he slipped back into the delivery room with little James and then looked at James and then Anwen and Sirius. He had his arm around her, and she was still very much smiling and crying.

"Anwen, dear, you're like a leaky faucet there."

"I know," she said with a nod, "but, it's finally over. Your whole life...and now it's done. I'm just so..." she sucked in a deep breath, "happy." I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I know that you are, Winnie. I know." I righted myself and looked at James.

"How does it feel to be a grandfather?"

"Amazing, I just can't believe that we're here, that it all gets to be this good. We're alive, and happy and life is just..." he sighed.

"Merlin's shorts, he's waxing philosophical," Sirius interjected. "Guys, come on, we're sounding like some sort of old farts that are ready to sit in a rocking chair, talking about the good old days. We fought to have the chance to have these things, we sacrificed a hell of a lot and paid our dues. Now, I would like to go and toast my namesake with some fine Firewhiskey, anyone want to join me?"

"I will," Ron piped up for the first time since I arrived and everyone started to laugh.

"Of course you would, dear. I think that's a great idea. Let me slip in and see Ginny and then we'll be off," Hermione suggested and went inside the room and Lily came out.

"Oh, Remus, Harry just told me. Congratulations," she gushed as she hugged him.

"I think that you've got it wrong there, dear. I should be congratulating you, Grandmum."

"I like the way that sounds," she gushed as she went and put her arms around James. WIthin a few minutes, we were on our way back to Fairer Garden to toast the good fortune of the day.

June 2005

Anwen POV:

"Did you read over this morning's intelligence reports?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry responded and I looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. He knows I hate it when he calls me ma'am. "Sorry, you just look so funny when I call you that, and I have a really hard time calling you Head Auror Hodgson-Black, even after three years."

"Fine, call me Anwen when we're alone then, just don't call me ma'am. Makes me sound old."

"But, you are old." I looked at him incredulously.

"You know, I'm still in charge of assignments. You'd better be nice to me," I teased back. "Anyway, what did you think of the report from the Lake District?"

"I'm not sure. None of the incidents have been particularly devastating, and yet, there are so many of them," he responded.

"I agree. Harry, take a couple of your team up there and have a look see. We arrested the youngest Nott brother up there a few weeks ago, I just...I don't know. I have a bad feeling about what we're seeing in those reports. We're sure that the information about what's housed up there is safe, right?" I asked him. There were only six of us who knew what was buried in the Lake District at the end of the war. King, Carl Braudish and Tonks had carried out the task themselves. Lisette had been told when she was Head Auror, and Harry and I were informed when we came to our positions.

"I'm sure. There isn't even a file on it. I doubt that they're related in any way, just some strange coincidence, but, I'll take Ron and Seamus up to check it out later. What's your schedule like today?"

"I'm here all day, except for a lunch meeting with Remus. Go ahead and deal with this during office hours, and then you can get home to your wife and son. How's she doing, by the way?"

"Well," Harry sighed, "J.P. doesn't seem to want to let his Mummy sleep much. He wants to eat every few hours, and seems to be awake more than he should be. I keep telling her that I can get up with him, but she wants to be a supermum or something."

"Continue reminding her that you want to help," I explained, "and if that fails, do what Sirius did. Slip her a sleeping potion so that she'll have no choice but to let you get up with J.P. at night. I like the nickname, too."

"We needed to come up with something because we kept getting confused on whether we were talking about my Dad or my son. J.P. seems to fit."

A knock at the door interrupted our conversation, and there stood Remus, dressed only in his Muggle clothes. I cocked my head to one side to look at him as I greeted him. "Is it that time already?"

"If you're busy, I can wait," he offered.

"No," I shook my head, "we're done here. Give me your report directly please, Harry. I don't want it falling into the wrong hands."

"Will do. See you tomorrow then. Bye, Remus." Harry added as he left the office.

"So, we're not wearing robes?" I asked.

"I thought that we could take a little walk, and get some lunch from that Thai place that you like so much," he said and I understood that it meant we were having a conversation that needed to be away from Ministry and family ears. I slipped my robes off, and grabbed the sweater that hung behind the door to my office and pointed the way out, closing and sealing my door as I left.

We made our way through the Atrium and out onto the street through the visitors entrance. When we were a block or so down the street, I looked up at my best friend as I wove my hand onto his arm. "I know that your wife is home today, she's not on the duty roster; and all three of the kids are at school, so why is it that we're walking through Muggle London?"

"Can't a bloke just want to spend some time with his friend?"

"We all had dinner together two nights ago, Remus, what's going on?" It was obvious that something was really bothering him.

"How did Stella handle the last cycle?" he asked, still evading me.

"She was fine, Remus. It's been three cycles now, she finished her inoculations and other than consuming almost as much rare steak as her Daddy on the day of the full moon, there isn't any sign of the infection anymore," I explained.

"Her blood tests have all been normal?"

"Remus, there are no signs that she ever had Lycanthropy; in fact, we both know that it was her blood that helped Ewan finally figure out the cure. He said that she was developing a natural immunity to the infection all on her own, he just figured out how to speed it up and then duplicate it. Remus, Stella is fine; now please, tell me what's bothering you."

He directed us over to a bench in the little park that we were walking through, his face looked worn and tired and he was making me very worried now.

"Anwen, do you know how long most people lived once they were bitten?" I shook my head at him. "Five years, although many don't make it through the first year at all."

"What does this have to do with you? You've been fine for a heck of a lot longer than five years," I said.

"Forty, Anwen. I've been living with the infection for forty years. That's roughly 500 transformations. 500 times my body has been ripped apart, and then had to knit itself back together," he said sadly. I leaned my head on his shoulder, giving his hand a pat.

"I know. I was there for a lot of those knitting back together mornings, but I still don't understand."

"Anwen, it's...every time that I went through a transformation, it aged me, just a little. Ewan said that he hadn't ever seen what he saw in my blood, because there just weren't werewolves that had been going through the cycles as long as I had," he told me sadly.

"But you're done with them now. I know that you've had absolutely no signs the last three months, James said that the two of you stayed up for a while playing chess the first month, but when nothing happened, he went home. Remus, you're cured." He sighed.

"I am, but the damage is done, my body is older than it should be. My life is going to be cut short because of living with the changes for so long." I couldn't process what he was saying, my head and heart were hurting so much at the thought of loosing him.

"How long?"

"Ewan couldn't say. Five years, maybe ten. Don't worry, Stella should be fine, she's still so young and resilient, but I'm...Winnie, how do I tell Tee?"

"I don't know," I whispered. This isn't fair, it took him so long to find happiness, to let himself live, and now...he wouldn't see his children grow up or have their own kids. He wouldn't be allowed to spoil his grandchildren like Sirius and James were.

We sat in silence, watching life going on around us in the park, a few tears feel from my face, but for Remus' sake, I didn't want to cry now; I'd wait until I was alone. After a long stillness, he began to speak again.

"I don't want you to dwell on this, Winnie. I just needed someone else to know, I needed to share it with someone. I've still got time, and Ewan says that I'm in good health otherwise. I made an appointment to see your brother and Healer, hoping that maybe they will have some way of holding this off for a little longer, but I'm not going to stop living just because my life isn't going to be as long. I want to do just the opposite. I want to get the most out of the time that I have left. Promise me, you won't be sad, please."

I finally turned my head and looked at him, and he was smiling. If he can smile now, then so can I. "I promise." We stayed on that park bench through the rest of lunch and for half of the afternoon, thinking about things that he needed to do in the time that he had left.

July 2005

Sirius POV:

"Okay, kids, we lost the last two years, but I have a really good feeling about this year. Hope has a cold and Ginny is really off her game from giving birth, so I think that we have a shot of beating them. Now, John and Bastien, remember that Uncle James has a bad knee, so if you get a chance to hit is knee with the Bludger, feel free to do so," I told the kids and I heard Anwen make an indignant sound.

"They will do no such thing," she corrected me. "Boys, you will not hurt James on purpose. If we win, we win because we played well, not because we cheated."

"But Anwen," I pleaded, and she gave me that look.

"Who did you bet on the match with this time?"

"Um, well, fifty with Harry," I said and she let out an exasperated sigh, "and thirty with Ron," and her eyes grew wide, "and one hundred with Ginny," her mouth hung open.

"You bet one hundred and eighty galleons on our friendly family match. Sirius Black, you do remember what they say about a fool and their money?"

"Yes, dear. Anyway, go out there and play well, kids, we've got a good chance this year."

Stella and Jamie had been part of our little pep talk, but they weren't flying. Jamie had never really taken to flying and Stella didn't like Quidditch, which for the life of me I couldn't figure out. They both went to sit on the blanket that was spread out under a large tree where Hermione was sitting with J.P., and Laure had little Eva. Both of the young women were pregnant and trying to stay out of the sun. Ron was getting more food from the buffet table, and talking with Tonks. Haf and his wife, Rachel were sitting on the deck, drinking iced tea. The Lupins were sitting on another blanket under another tree, and Minerva was in a deck chair between the two groups. Grandma Mimi never missed a family Quidditch Match. Kingsley and Lisette had promised to stop by, as had Patty and her family.

I watched the kids mount their brooms, and laughed at how quickly Lilyan took off on hers. She'd gotten her very own, brand new broom for her birthday six months ago, and she was fast on it. Ginny had been working with her, and called Lilyan a natural Chaser if she'd ever seen one; she'd gone so far as to take her up to Holyhead with her when she visited her old team, and let her fly around and get pointers from the coaching staff there. I could see the surprised and pleased look on Minerva's face as she watched our eldest daughter zoom around our pitch. Gryffindor may have another first year on their team again. It's only been fourteen since that happened.

Ethan played for the house team this year, as a Chaser, and he was good. He took to racing his sister, and I loved to watch them bop and weave as they practiced throwing the Quaffle back and forth. Edmund quickly mounted and joined them, and I wondered if they often practiced together, because they moved with rather well–choreographed precision.

"That's what you have to look forward to, Minerva."

"I see that, Sirius; but they'll still have to try out, and keep their course work up," she replied and I shook my head at her. Always tempers her excitement, doesn't she.

John and Bastien would be playing Beater, and I could see them discussing strategy. John was surprisingly large and well built for a 10 year old. He was stocky, and tall, and I could see glimpses of Anwen's brother, Wyn, in him. I would be playing Keeper, which wasn't my favorite position, but the kids all knew what they liked to play at this point, so who was I to get in their way.

I watched Anwen and Harry playing cat and mouse, high above the pitch. The two of them took their rivalry as family Seekers seriously, but not too seriously. Harry had learned a few years ago, however, to keep the trash talking to a minimum around her. He'd bad mouthed her flying skills, and subsequently found himself with a week of night shifts, patrolling the marshes. It was cold and wet and thoroughly unenjoyable. Ginny and I both laughed, because we knew that he'd learned his lesson. They were two for two at catching the Snitch. I flew up to where Anwen and Harry had come to a hover over the pitch.

"You still haven't learned, have you? Harry, my lack of height is an asset here. Less drag," she teased.

"Yeah, but old lady, your speed isn't what it used to be. You've gotten slow."

"Oh, really, well then, we'll see who gets that Snitch, and I'll even wager on it."

"Anwen, you don't bet!" I said shocked.

"We're not going to use gold, the loser has to do the winner's quarterly status reports," she suggested and Harry raised his eyebrow at her. They both hated the darned things, and they'd moan and groan when they had to fill them out, but if they didn't, the department didn't get any supplies for the next quarter.

"Oh, you're on, Aunt Winnie," Harry said as he held out his hand. Anwen spit in hers and then shook Harry's hand. "Ugh, that was gross," he added as he wiped it on his pants leg.

"Muggle tradition. May the best Seeker win," she added proudly.

I looked down and the rest of the friends that we'd invited were here, and I nodded to Remus, who went over and released the Golden Snitch. It flew up and greeted both the Seekers, and then flew off, signaling the beginning of the Match. Remus threw the Quaffle up, and Lilyan immediately caught it and took off.

Lily was playing Keeper, and though she'd never played in school, she was quite good at the position now, which I suspected was due to the amount of time she spent with her children practicing in their yard. As good as she'd gotten, Lilyan was better, and the score was quickly ten nothing.

Lilyan scored three more times, and Ginny twice, so the match was kept nice and close. Anwen and Harry were flying lazy circles over the pitch, simultaneously watching for the Snitch and keeping an eye on each other. Anwen looked over at me and winked and I knew that she was going to try something.

A minute later, when play had moved to the other end of the pitch, Anwen came zooming toward me; and Harry immediately took the bait. She leaned into her broom and she came whipping around the one goal and then twisted around another. Harry was trying to follow her, but she was moving so fast that he got flustered and over shot the turn and went zooming off the pitch. Anwen flew back up to the area over the middle of the playing field and just smiled and swung her legs happily. "Will you never learn?" she taunted Harry as he rose up to fly near her again.

The match was fast, and the scoring was high. We were ahead, but only by twenty points, three hundred ten to two hundred ninety, when Anwen took off again. This time, Harry just watched her, but as my eyes moved to follow her line, I saw a glint in the close leaves of another tree. She's seen the Snitch, and he thinks that she's just playing, this is too funny. Anwen was over three quarters of the way to the Snitch when Harry finally figured out that she wasn't playing this time, she was actually going to catch it, thereby winning the game.

Everyone stopped to watch the two Seekers, the Snitch dove down close to the grass, and I watched Winnie go after it. It wasn't until she was nearly at the ground that it occurred to me that she was going too fast, and I watched as she plowed into the ground, tumbling off of her broom and landing on her neck and then her back falling with a thud to the ground.

I flew as fast as I could across the pitch, but Remus was already to her by the time that I got there, as was Haf, who was taking off his sweatshirt to ball under her head.

"Anwen, hey sis, wake up," he said to her, lifting her eyelids to look at her eyes. "Come on there, sis, wake up."

I knelt down on the other side of her as she started to come around, her eyes struggling to open up.

"Rachel, go and fire call St. Mungo's and tell them that I'm bringing her in. Remus can you put a stabilizing charm on her neck for me, please?" Haf asked, and his wife ran off while Remus did the charm on my wife.

"Hi, honey," Anwen croaked out, lifting her hand. "I got the Snitch." I started laughing at her.

"Yes you did, love. Yes, you did."

Anwen POV:

"You get all those reports done, Mr. Potter?" I asked Harry as we stepped through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters on September first. We were doing the pre-boarding sweep of the platform ourselves. Due to the unrest in the Muggle world, after the bombings this July, we'd decided that we needed to be on higher alert as the children left for Hogwarts.

"Yeah, yeah. I was up half the night to get them finished. Perhaps it would have been easier if you'd given me the data I needed before yesterday afternoon," he complained.

"Well, I am recovering from a broken shoulder and three pulled muscles in my back," I reminded him. I'd actually felt completely fine for the better part of a week, but he didn't need to know that.

"I know. Remind me the next time that I want to blow off my work, I should plow my broom into the ground," he grumbled back and we both got onto the train. We did a complete pass on board, and there was nothing, so we got off and went to check the outside. I changed over into my bird form, while Harry changed into his wildcat and we checked the exterior, I flying above, Harry slinking below. We met on the far end of the train.

"There's nothing up top," I told him.

"Nothing below either. Should we go and check the Muggle train station again. We've got about a half an hour before families will start showing up," he suggested and I nodded. We both transformed our robes, and slipped again through the barrier.

"We're not likely to find any magical tampering out here, so keep your eyes open for anything suspicious," I reminded him.

"I went to the Anti-Terrorism seminar with you, Anwen. I remember," he reminded me and I couldn't help but smile. After the bombings in July, I put together a group to go with me to a Muggle informational class about how to spot potential bombs or other questionable behavior. Kingsley was all for it, but carving the money out of the budget turned into a rather arduous task. Harry and I finally gave up on trying to get the Financial Affairs Department to see the point of such an expenditure, and went straight to the Minister's office for approval.

We'd walked about two-thirds of the way through King's Cross when Harry spotted an abandoned box behind a rubbish bin. It looked odd, as the bin was nearly empty. I put a shield up over it, and Harry cast a window charm, and sure enough, there was a small bomb inside. Given it's placement, if it had gone off, it would have taken down a support and pulled at least this section of the ceiling down.

"We need to destroy this. I'm going to put my shield up and compress it, I should be able to just make it disappear, I like I did with that bit of old Voldy that was attached to you. Can you put up another shield though, and a Silencing Charm, just in case?" I asked.

"Sure, but be careful. I don't want to explain to Uncle Sirius why you blew yourself up," he retorted, only sounding mildly amused.

I raised my hand and visualized the bubble around the box getting smaller and smaller. When I got it down to the size of a golf ball, there was a small flash and pop as the thing detonated, but it wasn't noticeable to the Muggles around us. I breathed a sigh of relief when it was over.

"So, do you think that any of them know what nearly happened here today?" Harry asked as we headed back toward the Hogwarts Express.

"Nope, and they never will. I think I may have just justified our taking that seminar however," I quipped back, and Harry agreed. "Come on, our families should be here any moment, Lilyan and Emma are leaving for school for the first time." I was feeling quite melancholy about my little ladybug leaving for school, even though I knew that she was ready.

"You going to weep all over the platform again, Aunt Winnie?" he teased as we passed through the barrier.

"No, not this time; but just you wait. In eleven years when J.P. is getting on the train, you're going to feel a whole lot different," I reminded him and he just nodded. "Oh, and by the way, I'm off duty at noon, so you get to fill out the paperwork on the bomb removal, and remember to send a copy of it to the Muggle Liaison Office, the Minister's Office and one for the Muggle Prime Minister." Harry just groaned at the thought of more paperwork.