The door had been closed again. People knew, now, that Cecilia and Remus were not receiving visitors at this time. Their days since Remus had arrived with Sirius, never expecting, in his heart, for Cecilia to be there, and Cecilia never to see Remus again were slowly fading. Life was returning to normality.
But what was normality? Here, in this life, they had barely spent a year in each others' company. The battle in the grounds of Hogwarts had taken place barely three months ago. Little over a year ago, Cecilia had not even received the letter asking her to go to 12, Grimmauld Place. That was here. There, it had been twelve years.
Even now, Cecilia wished she could take up Snape's offer. To have a spotless mind would mean an extraordinary burden would be removed from her thoughts.
Sitting in the striped fabric, wooden-framed sofa in the cottage's living room she looked down at "Mysterious Mythology", which had lay on the coffee table in the same position as the had left it the day she had returned on her own there. The afternoon's light irradiated the cover, making it glow emerald green, its embissing glowing like a strip of fire around the cover.
"Grimelda and her Shoe" stood out, with the heroine being able to change time so that midnight was delayed. All this time, and it was only now, with the benefit of hindsight, was Cecilia able to see all that the "Going" had done. All this time in her company, annoying her, beguiling her, teasing, and only now, at the end, its beauty was revealed.
Remus, a hammer in one hand and nails in the other, sat down next to her. He could have done the repairs by magic, Cecilia had reminded him. But, he had explained, it felt good to do some by hand. He noticed her looking at "Mysterious Mythology" as he poured himself some tea.
Cecilia remembered the time he had given her the book, explaining as nonchalantly as he could that it might help her understand the wizard world better. It had helped her. But, by her reckoning, not even wizards could understand the wizard world.
"It will all be OK," Remus said, taking her hand.
"I know it will," she replied. He placed her hand on her stomach and held it there, lightly, and rubbed her fingers, smiling.
"He will be a beautiful boy: spirited, but quiet, thoughtful, exploratory. Liking the outdoors."
"He will be yours and mine," Remus replied. "Unless we have a girl."
Then, he let go of her hand and, next to "Mysterious Mythology" placed a tin-plated box. On its lid the word "Salt" had been stencilled in white.
"This was for my Grandmother. She was a muggle. My granddad made it for her. I wish I'd have known him." Cecilia smiled. Aloysius Lupin...Lindvald Halen. And here he was again, hiding clues in plain sight. For "halen" was the Latin for "salt-maker".
"And her brooch," Remus continued, lying it on the table next to the tin. "I gave this to you once, and I'd like to give it back to you again."
And it was given once more, wasn't it , Aloysius? Cecilia asked, in her own mind. You said I would forget. I havent yet.
"Of course," Cecilia said, and allowed him to pin it to her cardigan. "I have something for you, too."
From her pocket, Cecilia curled her fingers around a vial, as precious as those that Harry had taken. She placed it into Remus's.
"There is a lunar eclipse tomorrow. This will, if you take it then, eradicate everything from your body, your blood, and you will be and werewolf."
"Truly?" Remus looked down at his hand, the blue-purple liquid sparkling back up to him. He looked at her, an expression the like of which Cecilia had never seen on his face before. No, that was not true. She had seen it once before, on the night of the Yule party at Sirius's house. It was an expression, a precipitation of hope, pure hope.
"You did this?"
"I couldn't have made it without Aloysius; I couldn't make it here. The conditions were only right...there. I could never make it again. I did it, chemically, but Lindvald turned it into a potion. The difference between Jupiter and the sun. Just needed one spark."
Remus sat next to her, stunned at the gift she had given to him.
"Will you take it?" Cecilia asked.
"Do you want me to?"
"I want whatever you want. You have spent most of your life with this." But then Remus's face darkened. He handed it back to her. "I have a as you said. But I need to know you would love me for me, with or without my furry problem."
Cecilia placed it in the coffee table, then poured herself out another cup of tea.
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Arthur Weasley sat silently in the courtroom while the Wizengamot heard the same story, for the record, of the defeat of Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore, who was to resume his position as Supreme Mugwump following the trial, had given evidence, as had Tabitha Penwright. Severus Snape was on the stand, and had also reported on the trap laid over careful decades to which this was the ending.
"There is genetic evidence for the Continuum of Wizards," Snape continued, placing the little vials that had been used by Harry in front of them. The Wizengamot wizards leaned forward, though there was little to actually see. "That changes in the environment can augment, add to, magial ability."
There was a pause, a change in the air, thought Arthur Weasley, with a self-satisfied expression on his face. He had always known the special place muggles had in the worldAnd then Amelia Bones put up her hand
"Are you suggesting," Miss Bones began, craning over the edge of her desk to look at Snape, "that muggles can do magic?" At this, there was a whisper amongst the jury.
"It is a muggle science which describes the effect: methylation, a phenomenon I intend to research and present to the Wizengamot in due course." He looked around, making sure everyone in the chamber heard him. "If a muggle finds himself in a magical environment for some time he may die, which is unfortunate. But he may also gain magic, albeit temporarily. I have reason to suspect that wizards in the past isolated themselves to protect muggles. Like we do now, in fact," he added. "With this understanding, I may even go as far as to suggest that there could be educational integration, if handled well, in the future, to futher understanding and co-operation."
"In that case," Pierre Bonaccord, outgoing Mugwump declared, "I know of no-one better to handle it than you, Severus Snape."
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Cecilia did not wait up. She did stir a little when a black dog nosed its way into the kitchen and became the elder Black sibling who then went on to carry in the bruised and bloody body of his friend into the living room. On hearing a noise, Cecilia pulled on her dressing gown and trod carefully down the stairs.
A "crack" of a wizard disapparating made Cecilia jump, but she could not discern who it was. Her eyes looked at the coffee table. Between the "SALT" tin and "Mysterious Mythology" was where she had put the vial of potion. But it was not there now.
A wave of contentment flooded Cecilia and, leaving Remus by the fire to sleep, she climbed the stairs back to bed.
On repeating her treading downstairs, she was surprised to see the bruised and battered form of Remus sitting on the settee drinking tea and eating hot buttered toast. He beamed at Cecilia as she got to the bottom step.
Getting up in haste and spilling the tea, which Cecilia almost made to clear up using magic, he bounded over to her and took her in his arms. Then, kissing her firmly on the mouth, he dropped to one knee."
"Cecilia, I'm asking you to marry me," he said, his words firm and, yes, full of hope. Cecilia slid to one knee too.
"You already did that, and I said yes," Cecilia explained. Perhaps the potion had affecte his mind. But Remus was shaking it, smiling, his sandy moustache curling up at both ends.
"I mean today."
"Marry you today?" asked Cecilia, incredulously.
"You cured me, you and my grandfather. And I want today to be the first day of the rest of our lives."Cecilia felt her face drop.
"We can go to the stones, the ones by Keswick." He fumbled in his pocket and produced a plain gold band.
"It's Bessie's wedding ring." He held it out, expectantly. "We could go there before lunch; Sirius could preside. I am sure we have enough time to get a few people together, Molly could knock up something – she'd like that, now she isn't catering for the Order any more."
"Yes," nodded Cecilia, pulling him to her. "Yes, Remus, I will marry you today."