So remember how I said this chapter and the next one were going to be the last...I lied! There's going to be at least three more, maybe four. I haven't quite figured it out yet. The next chapter is actually 95% done, i just need to finish editing it. I could have added it onto this one, but the resulting chapter would have been WAY too long! These last few chapters will cover much more time than this story previously has, so if you have any questions, just ask!
Please drop me a review. I've had a really crummy day, and reviews make me smile!
For an instant, Miranda couldn't breath. She had always assumed that one of them would die, but she'd been trying not to think about it. She tore away from Harry, bursting out of the curtained entrance to her little room. "Tom!"
Several Aurors were gathered around one of the corner beds, and suddenly, one of them pitched sideways. There was a second of disruption before arms were around her, and a hand in her hair. "Randa." She started sobbing, holding onto her brother with all the strength her weakened body could exert.
She had waited for years to hear his voice again. "Oh Tom."
Tom laughed, trying to withhold tears, "Don't cry, Randa. Please don't cry. You're going to turn me into a blubbering idiot. These men are already trying to do that. I don't need you to help them."
"I never thought I'd see you again!" She cried as he kissed her hair. They had both changed so much. He was now well over half a foot taller than she was. They weren't the children they had been the last time they were together, but inside, they both felt like nothing had changed.
"I know, Randa, and I'm so sorry. All I wanted to do was protect you. I screwed up so badly, Randa. I've missed so much." Tom stepped back, "You're so beautiful, Randa. I always knew you would be. I should never have gone looking for help the way I did."
"It's okay, Tom, really. All that matters is that we're all okay." Miranda said, smiling through her tears. "Harry and I are going to have a baby."
Tom looked at her, aghast. "But I thought..."
"Yeah, I know, but..." Miranda started, but Tom pulled her to him again.
"I'm so proud of you, Randa. Through everything, you've managed not to be totally screwed up." He laughed, "Although I have to say, having been the host for a tyrannical serial killer, I'm not doing too badly either. At least Ginny's not entirely put off by me." He grinned at his sister, "I suppose I have you to thank for that though, my silly little Horcrux. Our bond is the only possible reason I can think of as for why I have retained my impossibly good looks."
Miranda sighed, "You never were one for humility. Were you, Tom?"
"Never." He breathed out, his eyes finding Harry, "I suppose I owe you a story."
Harry took Miranda back in his arms, "Why will you only talk to me?"
Tom rubbed at a bruise on his cheekbone. "You married my sister. That alone credits you personally for this exposition, but more than that, I'm the reason that that terrible creature was released further upon the world. My insecurity ruined your life. I feel responsible for every single life he took with my body and magic. You ended it."
"I did what had to be done." Harry said, gripping Miranda's thin hand.
Tom nodded, looking down at his own skeletal fingers, "I know, and the only reason you did so was because of a prophecy." He looked sharply up at Harry, "For years, I tried to break free of him, and for a long time, the best thing I got was linking my mind with an unfortunate young woman. I'm the one who gave her the prophecy. I am the psychic. Trelawney was just my conduit. Additionally, Voldemort may have been powerful, but nearly all of the mental magic he used was my own. With two prophecies, I attempted to warn the outside world."
"You got my parents killed." Harry said, horrified, his fingers unconsciously digging into Miranda's shoulder.
Tom winced, "I swear, I had no idea. I had no idea he would find out about it. That is one of my biggest regrets. But that first prophecy is what made you who you are. I don't regret that. I sought out the power to protect my battered and abused little sister, and a demon answered me. I was young, and I took all of his lines. He took over little by little. By the time I realized I'd lost myself to him, I didn't have my sister in my life to remind me why that was such a bad thing."
Miranda's eyes were filled with tears, "Tom, I'm sorry."
He smiled weakly at her, "It's not your fault, Randa. I'm the one that convinced you to leave." Miranda opened her mouth to object, but Tom shushed her, "I slowly hated what I had become, I resisted him, sent the prophecy, and then imagine my surprise when I was suddenly free. You freed me, and my memories of Miranda flooded back into my mind. You brought my sister back to me, and you gave me the power I needed to fight him. For the time he was bodiless, so was I. I found you and I watched you. But he could sense me, and that's why he chose to use Ginny to come back. He could tell I was taken with Ginny's candor and bravery, and he tried to destroy her."
"So it's your fault that Ginny almost died?" Speaking with Tom was frustrating him, especially since it was seemingly upsetting Miranda more and more.
Tom's eyes darkened, "Yes. That's just another in a long list of things I will never forgive myself for. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to everyone."
"How did you become trapped again?" Miranda asked.
"Voldemort used a bone from our father to bind the two of us back together. I couldn't watch over you anymore, and I couldn't do anything more to protect either of you. But I did do my best to begin drawing my magic away from him. As I pulled my magic back, he began to lose his grip. Dumbledore helped with the destruction of the Horcruxes."
They continued on for another hour or so, until Miranda nodded off against Harry. "You should take her to bed, Harry." Tom advised, rubbing his chained wrist again. "We need to take care of her from now on out. And we need to work together. They're going to come after us."
"Who?" Harry said, confused.
"What's left of the Ministry." He looked at his sister wistfully. "Everything she did wrong, she did for me." He smiled, "And everything she did right, she did for you." He looked back at Harry, his eyes dark, "They will come after her with everything they have. They will do the same to me, but I don't care what happens to me. Even if they decide to give me the Kiss, she'll have you to protect her. I can live with that."
Three weeks later, and Harry was pacing. "Harry, we need to go." Miranda urged, adjusting her dress over her baby bump.
"I can't." He said, pulling his fingers through his hair.
"You have to, Harry! Everyone expects us to be there." She said, taking one of his hands into her own. "Look at me." He did so reluctantly, emotion overwhelming his green eyes. "What's wrong?"
He clenched his jaw, and Miranda put her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. After several minutes, he finally relaxed into her touch, putting his own arms around her, "If I go, then that means that they are all really dead. All of those people that died because of me."
"Harry, they died for what they believed in. No one blames you." She gave a little laugh, "There are people that blame me, Tom certainly, but not you. You're their strength. We need to be there." Harry knew she was right, but what she had forgotten in these last few weeks was that she was his strength.
The Ministry had indeed come after her and Tom, but after an excruciating investigation, they had issued a very deliberate sentence. Both Tom and Miranda had been forced to turn over their wands or, in Miranda's case, the splinters of what had been her wand. Tom's was fully dismantled by Olivander, and he was ordered to never be in possession of a wand ever again. It was to be reevaluated in the future if or when Miranda would be allowed to regain ownership of a wand. Additionally, Tom was to remain within a hundred yards of a member of the Weasley family or Ministry official at all times.
Kingsley, who had been appointed interim Minister of Magic by the remaining Aurors, had been lenient, but Harry still couldn't imagine not being able to do magic. Kingsley had also blatantly said that if Miranda hadn't been married to Harry, she would have been under the same punishment as her twin.
Miranda had taken it all in stride though, parting easily with the broken pieces, giving them to Olivander. The old wizard had hugged her, and promised to fix it for her. She had thanked him, and promised him that she would come by his shop to help out when she could.
Harry was looking at her now, amazed at how, in just three weeks, she had begun to glow. Madame Pomfrey had been fastidiously monitoring Miranda's food intake and forcing toxic smelling potions down her throat. The effect was a burgeoning bump on her abdomen that they had kept closely guarded. Very few people knew that she was pregnant, but they had decided to just put it out there at the memorial. She wasn't comfortable in the tight dress she was wearing, however, regretting the idea, and Harry could tell.
"You're right, Randa. Here." He said, pulling the cloak that had covered her after the Final Battle onto her shoulders.
She sighed, breathing in the scent of the cloak, "This is for him too." Miranda whispered, "At least for me. I was so cruel to my Papa before he died, Harry, and that's what I'll live with." She looked up at him, her hazel eyes glistening, "I love you."
Harry kissed her, "I love you too." She pulled him down for a heated kiss, and, once it was over, he chuckled, "Love, let's go before someone barges in on us again."
Miranda glared at Harry as he laughed, walking out the door to their magical tent, pulling her along. A week earlier, there had been an unfortunate incident involving Miranda's wildly fluctuating hormones and the Weasley twins' innate urge to snoop. She still couldn't lay eyes on either one without turning pink in the face.
Walking into the crowd of mourners, Harry and Miranda blended in. If only for a moment. Hermione rushed up to them, shooting a grateful look to Miranda before hugging Harry, "Everyone's been waiting on you."
"Sorry, 'Mione." He said, blowing a bit of her puffy hair out of his mouth.
Miranda smiled when Ron came from between his twin brothers and joined the hug. She spotted her own twin over George's shoulder. He was trying to make Ginny smile, but she was just staring at her brother's coffin, a vacant expression on her face. Tom finally gave up on his jokes, and instead put an arm around Ginny's shoulders.
"You're looking awfully shiny." Said Draco, sidling up next to her.
She glared halfheartedly at him, "It's a hard day." She put a hand on his arm, "Are you alright?" Among the casualties had been Narcissa Malfoy. Lucius had yet to be found.
He shrugged, "I'm pissed. She shouldn't have died. He should have."
"I'm sorry, Draco." Miranda whispered.
Draco gave another shrug, "I still have Severus."
"How is he?" She asked. "I've been meaning to visit my infirmary mate."
Draco chuckled a little, "Trust me, he's better without you pestering him about potions. I though he was going to cry in relief when Harry finally took you out of there."
The crowd suddenly became more hushed, as Remus Lupin walked towards Tonks' coffin. Her heart broke for him, because now she couldn't even imagine losing Harry. Andromeda was holding a distressed Teddy, but Remus refused to look at his son. Miranda had heard that he had been ignoring his son, but seeing it was hard.
Those that had been killed during the battle were being laid to rest on the far side of the lake, and a memorial was being erected there for all to see. Throughout the ceremony, led jointly by Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley, Miranda held Harry's hand tightly. There were lots of tears, and when the numerous coffins were lowered into the ground, several people fell to their knees.
As the ceremony finished, the mourners moved around the lake to go into the Great Hall. It was quiet, as no one really had much to say, which made the scream that echoed from the Forbidden Forest that much louder.
Chaos erupted, Harry pushing Miranda towards her brother before running headlong into the forest with a large group of men. Unwillingly, Miranda allowed her brother to drag her back to the village of tents set up on the Hogwarts grounds to house people as the castle was rebuilt. Everyone stayed in the center, eyes trained on the forest. Fifteen minutes later, and all of the men that weren't Aurors rejoined the weary crowd.
"What happened?" Miranda asked Harry, checking him over for any injuries.
"Fenrir Greyback just killed Lavender Brown." He said, his voice hollow. "The Aurors are going after him." There was an inhuman growl, and Remus Lupin ran towards the forest. It made sense that he would have done so. Greyback had been the one to kill Tonks, and Remus seemed intent on revenge.
Harry instinctually ran after him, only to be stopped by Ron, "No, mate. You've got Miranda to think about."
Then a great battle of the minds began, lasting well after the Aurors had returned, giving up on their search. Miranda was silent throughout it, hearing her name and several others thrown about, but in her heart, she knew that none of it mattered. She had to do what was best for Harry. Silently, she backed away from the crowd, and ducked back into the tent she had shared with her husband for the last few weeks. Her hands were steady as she packed a bag for him. Most of his things were still in the castle or at the Burrow, but there was enough in the tent for him to manage with camping wise.
She knew that Harry's Gryffindor morals wouldn't let him leave Remus to chase after Fenrir in the Forbidden Forest. Harry would want to help one of the only parental figures he had left in any way he could. Conversely, if she asked him to stay, he would. It was one of the things she loved about Harry, his loyalty was unwavering.
"Go, Harry." Miranda said firmly when she returned to the impromptu verbal battle ground, holding his bag out to him, causing the others to stare at her in shock. "If you don't go, the guilt will never stop eating away at you. We can't start our life together like that."
Harry beamed at his wife, feeling so lucky that he had her, "Thank you, Randa." He whispered, taking the bag from her hand and embracing her. "I'll only go a week or two. I need to try to bring him back. He's not in his right mind, and I can't let him get himself hurt."
She laughed bitterly, "I wish I could go with you. We could find him in like two days."
Harry chuckled, "I know we could, but you need to stay here where it's safe. I couldn't stand it if you or our little cub got hurt." Miranda gave a small smile at the nickname Harry had given their baby.
"No more than two weeks." She said sternly.
He smiled, leaning to kiss her bump, "Fourteen days, promise." Harry kissed her on the lips again, "I love you."
She gave him a dazzling smile, "I love you too, be careful. We need you in one piece."
"I will, Miranda. Don't worry." As he bounded off, Miranda felt a calmness fall over her. She had to trust him. He had defeated Voldemort. What could possibly be worse than that in the forest? She realized she was being naive, but pushed those thoughts into the back of her mind. She would see Harry in two weeks. She had to. Not seeing him wasn't an option.
You guys thought all the doom and gloom was over, didn't you! Not so!
Press the blue button and leave me a review! Next chapter coming soon!
-Jenn
P.S. REVIEW! :)