Chapter 39 – Safe and Sound
Note: Chapter Title from Taylor Swift's song 'Safe and Sound'
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
Now that that's out of the way, let's begin…
Last time,
"We've got an assault plan, and the timing just moved up. Tomorrow. We rescue them tomorrow. But I am going to need something from you," Moody tells Remus. Remus nods though his brows crease in concern. "I'm gonna need a few of those invisibility cloaks."
Now,
George sits at the dining room table in the Fortress, rubbing at his forehead in exasperation. They had a plan, and it had been a good one. Dumbledore disagreed.
"We are so few in numbers as it is, Alastor. We cannot lose more on a full frontal assault against the enemy headquarters, teeming with fanatic Death Eaters," Dumbledore tells them sternly.
Remus narrows his eyes at the man and George feels the tension in the room grow as everyone braces themselves. "We're talking about children."
"They made their choice."
"Like fuck they did!" Remus all but yells, "You think any of them were given a damned choice? You think anyone has had a choice in any of this? We're at war, Albus, all the kids are trying to do the best they can in a situation they could never prepare for."
"As I recall, you managed that just fine," Dumbledore responds.
Remus scoffs, "Your memory is faulty. As I recall, I broke before it ended, was useless for the rest of it, and continued being useless for fifteen years." Remus steps closer as he sees the hesitation on Dumbledore's face. "I don't want to see another generation of broken children. We can save them, right here, and right now."
"Rem-"
"Well what the hell are we even fighting for if not our children?" Remus challenges, surprisingly calm as he cuts Dumbledore off. Everyone waits, unsure who will look away first.
Then Dumbledore nods, "Very well."
Harry screws his nose up as he steps out of the floo, unhappy to be back in Grimmauld Place. He's never liked this house, it's always reeked of pain. Still, Ginny had said there's a horcrux here. Harry's not sure how she knows this, but he's not really interested in 'how' at the moment. He has to get this done. The sooner Voldemort is weak enough to know Harry could kill him in a second, the sooner Dumbledore falls. It's the last piece of the puzzle, and then Harry's plan can finally come to fruition.
"Okay, if I were an evil locket, where would I be?" He asks himself as he walks into the house proper. Instinctively, he heads to the attic first. But while walking up, he feels a pull, hears whispered words, and wonders how he didn't notice it before. He walks into the room with Regulus Black's name on it and finds a woman standing by the window, he freezes. She turns around, a smile on her face. It doesn't exactly relax him, not when he recognises her as Bellatrix Black.
"Hello Harry," She says.
Harry blinks, "Erm, don't take this the wrong way but uh, aren't you dead?" Bellatrix giggles slightly, then reaches out to the wall, her hand passing right through. "You don't look like a ghost."
"I'm not," She says, "Not exactly. Actually, I'm not sure what I am. But I'm here to help." She points to a dresser across the room, "You will find what you're looking for in there."
"Why are you helping me?" Harry asks, even as he walks towards the dresser, "I mean, why are you here, how are you here? I don't…I don't understand what's happening."
"I came to help you, Harry. But also to thank you." Harry looks at her in confusion, she smiles sadly. "Delphini."
Harry's eyes widen with understanding, "Oh." He turns away, locating the locket and picking it up, grimacing at the feeling of it. He looks back at Bellatrix hesitantly, "I'm not sorry I lied. About who she is, I mean."
Bellatrix shakes her head, "You did the right thing. And I know you'll be a wonderful father."
"How do you know?" He asks, looking nervous.
"Because you care. That's step one, and you've nailed it." Harry chuckles at her words. She smiles in amusement before taking on a more serious expression. "Right now things are difficult, but when your plan succeeds, you will know who you can and who you can't trust. You won't be alone. It'll all be worth it, then." With that, she just fades away.
Harry looks around in confusion for a moment before he takes a deep breath and looks at the locket in his hands. "Okay, that's one. The diary is gone, the diadem is gone, I've got the locket. Now I've just got to get that damned ring from Dumbledore. And figure something out for Nagini," Harry frowns, "And hope she's the only one he's made that Ginny wasn't aware of." Harry huffs, "I hate having to hope for something."
The moment the Order leaves to Malfoy Manor, Ginny slinks away from the other kids left behind and goes to Sirius and Remus' room. She starts searching around, trying to put things back where she found them as she goes.
"They aren't going to have left something they are this afraid of out in the open."
Ginny rolls her eyes, "Yes, Tom, I'm aware of that. That's why I'm looking under things."
Tom huffs inside her head, "I'm just saying, I know them well. I could help if you'd listen to me."
"I'm not in the mood to let a dude currently living in my mind start telling me what to do."
"What, don't trust me, Ginny?" Tom asks, part teasing part challenging.
Ginny sighs, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "Do you understand that having you here makes me feel like I'm still possessed?" Ginny can feel the hesitation on Tom's part. She nods, "I'm sure you of all people can understand why that feeling is unnerving. So I'm going to keep making my own choices here."
"The sooner you find it, the sooner I get my own body again."
Ginny hesitates for a moment, then she nods slowly, "All right, fine. Where would you suggest?"
"Try behind the bedside table."
Ginny goes over, pulling it out slightly to look behind, "There's nothing here," She tells him.
"Try feeling under the top, there's a little lip there." Ginny does so, grabbing hold of what she finds there and pulling it out. She looks at the stone vial containing Salazar Slytherin's potion everyone has made such a fuss about. She feels Tom's smirk. "Jackpot."
It's bizarre, really. It's always when you're at your most busy that you finally notice the things you haven't before. For example, here Remus is, fighting through Death Eaters in Malfoy Manor, a situation that feels very familiar but Remus is trying not to think about that. No, what he's noticing, is that of all the Death Eaters they're fighting, Lucius Malfoy is not one of them.
And there's Greyback. But Lillie is no where to be seen.
There's Hyperion Greengrass, but Daphne isn't here either.
How are they supposed to rescue people they can't fucking find?!
Remus feels a small vibration from his pocket, he frowns, unsure who would be calling him right now. He pulls out his phone as he keeps fighting, answering it when he sees it's Phia.
"Now's not really a great ti-"
"It's me, Remus," Lucius voice comes through.
Remus blinks in shock, almost getting hit with a wildly thrown curse in the process. "So…is this a good call or a 'Voldemort is threatening my sister again' call?"
"I've got the kids who would willingly come, I used your attack as a distraction to get them out. They're at your house in France."
"What? Y-"
"Tom's gone, Remus. I mean, Voldemort's still there, and I suppose technically that mutated body is supposed to be Tom but…there's nothing of him left in there."
Remus frowns, hearing Lucius sound quite distressed by this, but then he catches sight of the man in question. The rage on Voldemort's face, the madness, he's only seen that once, in a memory. Lucius is right, that's Ariana, not Tom. Remus sees Mundungus hit the ground. Sirius grabs him, pulling his body behind a wall. He reappears a moment later, shaking his head to those Order members who had noticed.
Mundungus Fletcher is dead.
"We need to get out of here!" Remus calls.
"Remus!" Tonks calls in shock.
"Trust me."
It takes a moment, then they do, all apparating away. Remus stays long enough to see Lucius come into the room, nodding to Remus before making it look like he was here all along. Remus apparates away.
"What the hell?" Bill demands.
Remus sighs, "They're at my house in France."
"What happened?" Peter asks as he, Dumbledore, and Del enter the room, Del carrying baby Rema.
Everyone looks to Remus expectantly.
"If I tell you all what happened, then the mole will know what happened," Remus reminds them, looking pained. The expression is shared by all, they know he's right.
"Uncie!" Rema calls, reaching for Remus who smiles at her, walking over and taking her from Del.
"Hi there, Princess." Rema giggles at him.
"Perhaps you can fill me in while Mr Pettigrew and Miss Tonks go to retrieve the children?" Dumbledore suggests, Remus nods.
Remus and Dumbledore walk into the study, Remus bouncing Rema slightly as he leans against the desk. "Lucius snuck them out. He said…" Remus trails off for a moment, looking down at Rema, stroking her hair gently. He looks back at Dumbledore, "He said Tom's gone. All that remains is Voldemort."
"Do you know his motives for helping us here?" Dumbledore asks as he takes a seat on an armchair.
Remus shakes his head, "Could have something to do with what happened to Harry, could have something to do with Draco being here now. I really don't know. What I do know, is that this act won't be forgiven. If Voldemort finds out what he did, he's done for."
"Which is why you wouldn't risk the spy knowing." Remus nods though the question was mostly rhetorical. "We'd best make sure they don't find out then."
"How do we do that when we don't know who they are?" Remus asks.
Dumbledore sighs, "We need to uncover the identity of the mole."
"We'll compartmentalise information," Remus suggests, "If we keep track of what Voldemort is finding out, we should get a better idea of who it might be."
Albus smiles at him, nodding, "It's good to have you back, Mr Lupin," he says as he walks out of the room.
"Y-What, no, I didn't agree to that!" Remus calls after him. He hears Dumbledore chuckle and rolls his eyes, grumbling under his breath as he follows Albus out of the room.
"Harry's fine," Remus hears Andrea Polka saying. He follows the voice and sees Andrea hugging Lillie close to her.
"Remus!" Daphne calls happy, running over and hugging him when she sees him.
Remus smiles, "Hi Daphne. Are you all right?" He asks.
Daphne nods, "I am. Thanks for helping to look after Astoria."
"I can look after myself, Daph!" Astoria complains from a ways away where she's talking to Draco about something in hush tones. Daphne rolls her eyes but puts her hands up in surrender as she walks over to smooth things over with her sister.
Remus looks over the room, and for the first time in twenty years or so, he sees a room full of happy people and doesn't have any deep or depressing or reminiscing thoughts.
He just smiles, and moves nearer to Sirius, Hermione, and Benni.
Lucius stands at the top of the staircase in the Manor, taking a deep breath and straightening his robes. He walks down, facing Voldemort calmly.
"You wanted to see me, My Lord?"
Voldemort nods calmly, holding his wand in his hand, a fact that is not missed by Malfoy.
"I've been conducting an investigation into exactly what happened yesterday, how the children escaped, why Dumbledore's people suddenly retreated when they did." Voldemort watches Lucius as he continues speaking, "I know what you did, Lucius."
"My Lord?" The moment Voldemort starts glowering at him, Lucius gives up all pretence and accepts the fact that he's not walking out of here alive.
"This is outside the terms of our deal, Lucius. That makes you a traitor." Voldemort looks at him, no hint of regret in his eyes, and sees none in Lucius either. "You know what we do to traitors. But first, I want to know why."
Lucius lets out a breathy chuckle, "When we first met we fought, and I almost died to stop you. I knew then that it would always end this way, just waiting for whatever reason would finally push me over the edge. And I found it."
Voldemort nods slowly, then lifts his wand, "Avada kedavra!" Lucius' body thumps to the floor. Voldemort shakes his head, "I should have killed all three of you that day." Then he walks away.
Draco and Hermione Malfoy both jerk awake, sitting up and gasping as they feel pain and loss flow through them. And they feel love, the love their father felt for them. And then death.
The rest of the people in the Fortress are awoken by screams and panicked yells from multiple directions. They jump into action, running different ways but finding similar scenes. Blaise and Ron trying to comfort a sobbing Draco, and Ginny and Pansy holding a shell-shocked Hermione, tears falling silently down her face.
"What the hell happened?" Remus asks Pansy, the question mirrored by Moody addressing Ron. Neither know.
"Father…Lord Malfoy I mean, he-he's…" Hermione tries to explain, she looks up in fear, "Draco!" She calls before she gets up and sprints out of the room, going down the hall to the room the others are in. She quickly takes Ron's place at his side, hugging her brother close.
It's a minute later that Draco feels a hand on his shoulder, he looks up slightly to see Harry, a mildly out of breath Ginny leaning on the doorframe behind him, apparently having run through this house, to the floo, then through Potter Mansion, and back again. Peter is beside her looking just as out of breath.
"Dray, what happened?" Harry asks quietly.
Draco drops his head onto Harry's shoulder. "My Father…he's dead."
"What?" Pansy asks as multiple gasps are heard around the room.
"We felt it," Hermione explains, rubbing lightly at her chest like she can still feel the pain. "I get why Draco would, I don't know how I did."
"Whether or not the gift was passed on to you, your Father was a powerful empath. There had to be some empathic connection between him and his kids," Moody tells her as everyone else remains in shocked silence.
Hermione leans into Sirius' hug as he kneels down beside her, putting an arm around his daughter.
"I'm so sorry, Mio," He whispers, holding her close. She cries into his chest.
Everyone disperses, trying to give the children space to grieve as those closest to them comfort them.
Eventually they join the others down in the dining-room, no one currently in the mood to go straight back to bed so Molly and George had fixed some snacks for everyone.
It's then that Draco realises, "I'm an orphan."
Blaise's eyes widen, "Shit…so am I."
Everyone looks around awkwardly, none sure how to respond to that.
"It had to be Voldemort, right?" Pansy asks, everyone concurs except for one problem.
Harry cringes, "They seemed kind of…close," Harry awkwardly says, "This can't have been out of nowhere."
Draco pulls his legs up to his chest, "I'm pretty sure they were sleeping together." Remus chokes on his tea, Sirius patting his back as he tries to breathe.
"Why would he kill him, then?" Hermione asks in a quiet voice, unsure how to grieve a man she barely knew, but one who had come to mean so much to her in such a short amount of time. Del puts an arm around her shoulders and places a kiss on her head.
"It had to be because of us, right?" Lillie asks, looking to Remus. "I know we weren't meant to tell anyone but, he's already dead."
Remus shakes his head, "If you and Daphne truly didn't say anything, then only Dumbledore and I knew that he got you out."
"Doesn't that…kind of mean you're the spy?" Tonks questions with a frown.
"Why would he ensure to keep this secret if it would incriminate him so easily?" Fleur asks.
"Yeah but, at the same time, only four people knew and he's the only one out of those four who could conceivably be the spy," Severus points out earning a glare from his ex-husband. "I'm not saying you did it, I'm just saying."
Remus rolls his eyes, but notices Harry looking at him critically. "I'm not the spy!" He tells him.
"Hey, I'm not getting involved," Harry says, eyes wide and hands up in surrender, "I'm only here for them," He explains, pointing to Hermione and Draco. Then he frowns, "It's just, I've been wondering how he knew that I knew he's my father."
"Right, you said Professor Lupin had told you, that's why you weren't surprised by that bit when you saw 'Mione's family tree," Ron remembers, Harry nods.
Remus huffs, "I didn't tell Voldemort," He insists.
"If you didn't tell him about Lord Malfoy, isn't the only other option that the Headmaster did?" Daphne poses with a confused look, not believing either option to be possible.
"How could either of us have beaten the veritaserum?" Remus asks challengingly.
"You or not, the spy did that anyway, and we still don't know how," Bill replies, but then Moody's head snaps up.
"Unless they didn't."
Everyone looks at him in confusion.
"Everyone said under the serum that they aren't the mole," Arthur reminds him.
Moody shakes his head, looking at Remus, "Not everyone spoke."
Remus looks confused, "Moody, I did answer."
"But you aren't the only one in there, are you?" Once more the room freezes, all looking to Remus in shock and suspicion as they realise what he means.
"Sirius –" Remus says, voice sounding terrified, "– take my wand."
Sirius leans forward, taking the wand from Remus' pocket as Moody pulls his out and points it at Remus as a precaution.
"Moony wouldn't, he-he was coming round, he wouldn't betray us!" Tonks insists.
"He was locked away because of the Wolfsbane when we first discovered there was a mole, wasn't he?" Sturgis points out.
"Only on a full moon. We were very separated at that point though, yes, but he's taken over while I was asleep before, maybe since my mind wasn't consciously controlling the body that could've given him the leeway needed to do it," Remus suggests.
"And we insisted on lowering that barrier," Arthur states, rubbing at his forehead.
Severus suddenly gasps as he remembers, "I had a vision, earlier in the year. I couldn't…" Severus trails off, looking horrified and panicked as he gets up, pacing. "I thought Sirius was dead, I didn't think it could be possible."
"What, what did you see?" Del pushes.
Severus looks back at the group as he stops pacing. "Remus and Sirius facing off in the Ministry Atrium. Sirius was trying to talk him down from doing something, but it didn't work. Remus cast the killing curse."
Everyone looks horrified.
"Except it wasn't Remus, it was Moony," Sirius adds, looking heart-broken, "Our pup."
"Do you think you-know-who knows that?" Peter suddenly asks.
"What difference does that make?!" Astoria exclaims, looking shocked by all of this.
"Pete does this, if he's asking it's important," Severus tells her, "I don't recall us ever telling Tom about any of it."
"He knows," Remus reveals, tapping his fingers nervously on the table. A tic he'd picked up since quitting drinking and, although irritating, one the others much prefer. "Back when they had me the first time, Greyback tried to get me to join him but I refused. He thought Moony might be more receptive to the idea and brought him out in front of Gaunt to ask. I don't remember what happened exactly but they kept torturing me after that so I always sort of figured he'd said no."
"Moony was very protective of you back then, I don't think he'd have joined in the middle of that," Sirius comments.
Severus frowns, leaning against the wall and observing Remus for a moment. "Unless there was something he wanted to protect even more. A child, perhaps."
Remus' eyes widen as he realises what his friend means. "Oh." He sighs, "Oh. Oh my god. Oh he knew, dear god, he knew. That's why he betrayed us. He knew about Ella."
"And Ella is…?" Astoria asks.
Remus takes a deep breath, "Ella was the unborn child that Albus unknowingly killed. My unborn child."
"…well that'll work up a werewolf alright," Mary responds, unsure what anyone could really say to that.
"I had no idea Trixie was pregnant, but Moony probably would've known. Scent or something I'm sure."
The whole room seems to let out a breath, overwhelmed with just…everything.
Harry looks at his hands, he should be worried about what Moony might have told Voldemort about Inimicus, and he is, but all this conversation has really done is make him want to go back to Delphi. Sirius walks over, putting a hand on both his shoulder and Hermione's. When he looks up, he sees the same anguish in his Dad's eyes that he feels, along with understanding. It's that knowledge that he's not alone that allows him to focus on the matter at hand once more. Because Voldemort did not know who Inimicus is, that much was obvious. Obviously Moony has no cause to hate him like he does Dumbledore, but if you're going to turn on…Harry holds back the head nod he almost performs. Because Voldemort hurt Moony just like he did Remus, they mentioned that earlier. He joined him because Dumbledore killed his Cub, not because he believed in him. Harry inadvertently gave Moony another option, and one that allows him to back up his Pack's Cubs, one of the main reasons Remus joined as well, Harry is sure.
None of that really matters to Harry though. Moony just made Remus' worst fear come true and gotten people he cared about killed. He made Remus get people he cared about killed. This is a problem.
"What do we do?" Bridget asks unsurely. She's not part of the Order and has no interest in becoming so, but this is her Wolfie and that's different.
"I don't suppose you actually looked into a cure when Lucius suggested it, did you?" Remus asks Severus, a pained grimace coming over his face as he thinks of his now deceased friend.
"No, I didn't."
"Yeah, neither."
"Werewolves are made of magic, aren't they?" Benni asks. Everyone looks at her in confusion. "Well, the personality of the wolf isn't already there, but the infection, it's related to magic itself, isn't it? And that's what makes the wolf part of the mind." Remus nods at her. Benni frowns, "If we temporarily bind your magic, would it stop Moony from being able to do anything? While we work out what to do, that could stop him from hurting anyone else, right?"
"It doesn't work like that. We'd have to block the personality in with the magic now and isolating that part of his mind from the rest of it? As far as I've been able to tell there's no way to really do that," Severus tells her earning confused looks. Severus shifts on his feet awkwardly, "I looked into a few options a while back." There's an awkward tension as the main reason behind their divorce is suddenly shoved up in everyone's faces again.
"Did you ever find anything promising?" Remus asks him, pushing all other feelings aside.
Severus hesitates, eyes flicking to Harry before he can stop them. "A legend, of a man who cured lycanthropy."
"How?" Sirius asks in shock. None in the room could remember ever hearing a legend like that.
"Supposedly he controlled death and altered it to only kill the wolf."
"My parents looked into that," Remus says, the memory coming to him suddenly, "Tracked it down as much as they could and discovered it wasn't real. 'Controlling death' was casting the killing curse and only hitting the wolf. It's not possible to survive that curse, so the legend can't be real."
"Well, I thought that too, then that happened," Severus says, pointing to Harry. Or, more specifically, to his scar. Harry traces it lightly with his finger.
"Nobody can control the spell like that," Moody tells them, "Potter was a fluke."
"Riddle-Potter-Black," Harry corrects.
"Oh for fuck's sake, are you really gonna do that? I mean that's what, 20 seconds of time no one's ever gonna get back every time someone addresses you?" Ron rants. Harry just smiles smugly, nodding.
"Okay but, you do have weird control over that spell," Daphne points out, "That's how you killed Greg's Dad, right? You used the killing curse but you didn't even cast it."
Harry looks at her in confusion as everyone looks at him in shock. "Who the fuck is Greg?"
"Goyle," Draco replies quietly.
"Huh, was this when Voldemort was resurrected or was this in the non-existent Department of Mysteries?"
"Resurrection," Blaise answers.
"Oh is that who he was," Harry states, nodding slowly.
"You cast the Killing Curse on someone?!" Sirius all but screeches.
Harry rolls his eyes, "Not on purpose. Father cast it on me and then…I don't know what happened but I just did it and then I couldn't believe I'd done it and then I was getting crucio'd and I didn't think on it again until…well, anyway."
"He's got the same connection to that curse as you do the Imperius," Arthur comments, looking to Remus who nods.
"Apparently."
"I do?" Harry asks, not knowing about Remus' thing with the Imperius curse.
"Yeah, I cast it a few times before I learnt how to not. Or, well, I'm not sure I ever did but it just sort of stopped happening? I don't know. I didn't even know I'd done it the first time, I just thought Severus decided not to be a dick that day."
"Wait, I'm sorry what now?" Severus asks, "I thought it was with the Boggart."
Remus cringes, "Well that was the first time I knew for sure I'd done something. But you said my eyes glowed and it reminded me of the time I saw your eyes glow and then you did what I wanted and at the time I was confused why you did."
"…awkward…" Sirius says quietly.
"You said you cast it a few times, by accident?" Peter asks, knowing it's true because well he was there for most of it, but it niggles something else at the back of his mind. "I remember in the graveyard, you were just as shocked. It had never happened before, had it?"
Harry shakes his head, glaring slightly at the mention of Peter's role in the events of that day. "Not that I was aware of at the time."
"But it's happened more than once?" Moody asks.
Harry curls in on himself slightly.
"That's what happened with those Death Eaters! Oh, I knew you hadn't just lost your damned mind," Hermione says as she remembers the three Death Eaters he killed that day.
"Look I didn't mean to do any of it, the spell gets cast on me and then shit just happens and I don't know why and I don't even think about it until it's over and the feeling's gone and then I've got no idea what's just happened but I can't take any of it back," Harry rambles, looking like he's trying to hide how afraid he is.
"Yeah, that's familiar," Remus says.
"Do you think you could do it? Kill the wolf, I mean," Mad-Eye asks.
"For fuck's sake, Alastor, my son is not doing that!" Del says ferociously, pulling Harry towards her to hold him close.
"I'm-you ca-it's no-…" Harry cuts off everything he was going to say, just looking frustrated.
"Del, no one is going to make him do anything," Sirius tells her, putting a hand on her arm. She loosens her hold on Harry slightly but doesn't let go fully, much to Harry's disgruntlement.
"Oigh," Hermione mutters under her breath, a feeling echoed by everyone who has ever tried to talk to Harry about his parents. Any of them. Ever.
"It's never happened without someone casting the curse on me first," Harry tells Moody, "And if someone did that first, well, I can't guarantee that I wouldn't consider it too much trouble and just kill Remus as well."
"We wouldn't be risking having someone cast it on you anyway!" Molly insists.
"We cast the Imperius curse on Remus to test it," Sturgis reminds them.
"I was against that too!" Molly shoots back, "And that one had no chance of killing him! And this one really would be illegal!"
"We know it doesn't work, it's been cast on him how many times now?" Blaise asks, looking at Harry who scrunches his nose and starts putting fingers up as he counts off instances.
"Four? I think. Godric's Hollow, Graveyard, Ministry, three-ish days ago or whatever that was I don't know everything from then is a little…fuzzy," Harry says, wincing slightly, "I don't want to risk accidentally killing Uncle Moony."
Remus rubs at his forehead, "We're going to have to make sure I can't go anywhere."
"We can adjust the warding around the Fortress to do that," Blaise informs them.
Moody nods, "Come help me do that, Kid." Blaise agrees and the two walk off.
"I guess, now that he can't get to Voldemort, we should all go to bed," Molly suggests, knowing they aren't going to solve this whole lycanthropy thing in one night.
"Hey, not to like, detract from the whole murder of a Father thing –" Ginny starts to say, sending an apologetic look to Draco and Hermione, "– but school starts in a day. We've lost our DADA teacher again."
Severus sighs, nodding. "I need to go speak with Dumbledore. Can you all handle…this," He says, awkwardly flapping his hand in Remus' general direction.
"Yeah, we got it, go," Tonks replies. He nods and heads through the floo. "Who the hell are they going to find in a day now that Re can't just step in for a bit?"
"Good Morning, third years," Sirius greets with a forced smile, "I am Professor Black. Today we're going to be discussing Animagi."
