Content includes character deaths. –N
Draco was the one who came to Peter now. The boy didn't say anything, just made a motion for Peter to follow, and he did. Into the living room, and then alone, he approached the cellar to check on the prisoners at Malfoy Manor. The Lovegood girl. The wandmaker. A goblin. He wasn't sure why they didn't just kill all of them.
"Stand back," he said, raising his wand. "Stand away from the door. I am coming in." He opened the door and came down, letting it close behind him. Was something different about –
Someone jumped on Peter then, forcing his wand arm over his head. Two someones, Peter realized. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
With his silver hand, he squeezed Harry's throat. The boy wheezed. "You're going to kill me? After I saved your life?" Harry gasped and said, "You owe me, Wormtail!"
The hand loosened, just a bit. Peter's eyes widened. He had not meant to. He had not –
"And we'll have that," Ron whispered, tugging Peter's wand from his other hand. That's when the silver hand began to move, fingers surrounding Peter's own throat.
"No!" The Potter boy was on him again, pulling at the hand, tugging as hard as he could. Peter gasped for air and Ron was there now, beside Harry, pulling hard on the silver hand.
Dark spots appeared in Peter's vision. He could hear the boys talking, but as though from a great distance. Blurred like this, Peter could hardly see Harry Potter's scar or his eyes. Moments from dying, Peter could have been staring into James Potter's face.
XXX
Remus Lupin woke feeling like someone had held a jackhammer to his head all night. He'd felt awful like this nearly every month after the full moon for most of his life, but still, it seemed to get worse with age, and he had just turned 38 four days ago. Happy birthday to me.
He rolled over in bed and found a note on his wife's pillow: Re – just got back from Mum's. Will be in the kitchen with coffee when you wake up. x
Wincing slightly, Remus rolled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen and to (a very pregnant) Tonks. Her hair straight and Weasley red this morning, she grinned at him from her seat and the table.
"I'd get up, but –" She gestured to her hopelessly swollen stomach and shrugged. In front of her was one cup of coffee (for him), one cup of tea (for her and the baby), and two slices of cake.
"You didn't have to," he said.
She waved him away. "Don't be ridiculous! I missed your birthday. We need to celebrate."
"I'm old," he said.
"Age is but a number, my dear Remus. And besides. It's chocolate." Her way of celebrating and making him feel better without bringing up the fact that, you know, she had married a man who spent last night as a werewolf. His lips twitched into a smile.
Remus leaned over to kiss her and place a hand on her stomach, where the baby was constantly kicking, it seemed. "I missed you," he said, headache forgotten.
"I missed you too," she said. "Now eat the damn cake so I can take a bite. I'm eating for two, you know."
XXX
It was almost a relief to be back in the field after so long. As soon as Remus heard that Harry had gone to Hogwarts, that there would be a fight, he kissed his wife and son goodbye and left them with his mother-in-law. He found his way into the room of requirement with most of the Weasleys and made his way down to the entrance hall, where he took out one Death Eater with a stunning spell and another with a well-placed jinx.
"Nice one, Professor," Fred yelled. But something was off. The jinx hadn't hit the Death Eater he was aiming for, and it wasn't nearly as powerful as it should have been. He was out of practice.
But now was not the time to think about that.
Someone yelled from the courtyard, and Remus ran after the sound. Parvati Patel and Hannah Abbott were dueling with three Death Eaters, each of them flinging curses at the girls as quickly as they could.
"Stupefy!" One of the men fell to the ground. Another began to advance on Remus and he stunned that one too. But then the world exploded.
For a moment, all Remus saw were bright lights, bursting behind his vision. Then the world came back into focus. The dust in the air. The blood on his hands. The pain racking his whole body. That was Dolohov, he thought.
"Remus!"
Tonks? She couldn't be here. No …
But she was. Tonks bent over him, her hands pressing hard on his side. "T-Tonks –"
"Shh. Don't talk."
"You sh-shouldn't b-be –" He cut himself off with a strangled sort of cough and winced. Such pain –
"You're going to be ok. You have to be."
Remus' vision started to fade again, blurring Tonks' face into an outline. "I l-love you," he managed. Hands on his, but larger than Tonks', and warmer. Remus realized he had closed his eyes and opened them again. He was no longer in pain, and no longer lying on the courtyard ground. Sirius hovered above him, smiling. "Took you long enough," he said. "I was beginning to get impatient."
Remus sat up and looked around. He was still at Hogwarts, under the tree by the lake. It was just the two of them, and a figure by the lake. "Sirius –"
"Hi, Moons." The figure by the lake turned and grinned at them. It was James, hair messy and hazel eyes shining.